Tasty Tangents

Food, life and other morsels

May 5, 2009
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Strawberry rhubarb pie

Strawberry rhubarb pie

Strawberry rhubarb pie

I had a craving, which isn’t unusual for me, so I picked up some locally (though greenhouse) grown rhubarb, which is just coming into season in these parts. I decided I would make a Strawberry rhubarb pie from my trusty Joy of Cooking book, but I ended up making a few modifications, as usual.

Here’s what I did…

Combine:

-2 cups of unpeeled, diced rhubarb
-2 cups of quartered, fresh strawberries
-1 cup or more of sugar (to taste)
-1/4 cup all purpose flour
-1 teaspoon grated orange rind
-2 tablespoons lemon juice

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into an uncooked pie shell (I used a pre-made Pillsbury dough from the refrigerated section at the grocery store) and cut strips for a lattice crust top. Bake at 450C for 10 minutes, reduce temperature to 350C and bake for an additional 40 minutes or until most liquid is gone and crust is golden brown.

Sweet, tarty goodness ensues.

May 2, 2009
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Spring seasonal vegetables

Local asparagus for sale at Covent Garden Market in London, Ont.

Local asparagus for sale at Covent Garden Market in London, Ont.

Asparagus, fiddleheads, some lettuce, radishes, green onions and spinach are all spring vegetables that you can likely pick up at the grocery store or local farmers market these days. And the bonus is they will count towards your quota in becoming a locavore, or someone who eats locally grown food. (I just read the term recently online, too cute.)

Whether local eating is important to you or not, the extra flavour that you’ll find in something that hasn’t travelled thousands of kilometres can be really surprising, and it has certainly caught my attention. The ultimate in local for me is tomatoes grown in the backyard garden in the summer, those winter greenhouse tomatoes that ripen on the truck just can’t compete in the flavour or texture department.

April 28, 2009
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Bakery fresh

Vidalia Bakery's Bread Cluster

Vidalia Bakery's Bread Cluster

This weekend we visited the lovely Ontario town of St. Jacobs. We hit the local outlet mall before heading to the downtown strip. After a stroll along the main street, some window shopping and a rest on a bench in the sun, we headed into a little bakery (at least it looked little from the outside) for a coffee and snack. Vidalia Bakery is much bigger on the inside than it seems, with lots of fresh bread and sweets even late on a Sunday afternoon. We opted to sample a cream puff and a lemon meringue tart along with the coffee. Delicious, and the perfect size to satisfy a sweet craving without breaking the caloric bank. All it took was a little bit of time at a picnic table in the sunshine and I’m officially excited for the arrival of patio season! I think there really is something about a small town bakery. And the “Bread cluster” we brought home, a combination of whole wheat, rye and egg bread, is definitely proof of that. It’s a creative way to bake, and perfect for a family with lots of different tastes.

April 25, 2009
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Too many places to eat

A server at one of my favourite diners posed this question a few week ago, “What’s the difference between a diner and a restaurant anyway?” Being a food fan, I figure this is a question I should know the answer to. Doing some online research unearthed some very interesting theories. Here are a few:

-a diner is open long hours, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner at any time
-a diner offers quick, affordable food
-a diner is a 1950s throwback that uses a skillet and fryer as primary cooking methods
-a diner comes prefab and is long and narrow so it can travel down the highway

Something else I hadn’t truly thought about is just how many options are out there. You can grab a bite at a cafe, diner, bistro, trattoria or a restaurant. The label used for the eatery seems to indicate theme/ethnicity, price, formality, speed and hours.
Back to the question at hand, I decided to see what Wikipedia had to say on the matter. For diners it seems that they were once prefabricated restaurant buildings, but now encompass all locales that serve similarly casual food and stay open late.
A restaurant, on the other, is a far more general term that covers just about anywhere you can get something to eat or drink.

And that’s my lesson for the day.

April 24, 2009
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Making veggies fun

Veggies on a skewer

Veggies on a skewer

While you’ve got those chicken thighs on the bbq, may I also humbly suggest any combination of veggies on a skewer with a little salt, pepper and olive oil. The key to making it look good is a variety of colours, just looking at at it makes me drool. The key to getting it to cook right is to make sure all the veggies are the same thickness, so they’re all ready at the same time. And don’t be afraid to leave a little crunch even in your cooked veggies. There’s no way to undercook vegetables, but it’s easy to overcook them.