Can't Be Beet

It’s a rough time of year to buy vegetables.  Even I, who love winter vegetables, am getting a little tired of them.  My husband, who doesn’t love them quite so much, is openly rebelling each time he sees a root vegetable on his dinner plate.  We find ourselves succumbing to the lure of imported asparagus, snap peas, and spinach but, lovely as these treats are, we usually try to buy food grown closer to home, both to support local farmers and to help keep our budget on track.

When I brought home beets again today, there was an audible moan from the direction of the living room. I knew I had to change them up a bit in order to make tonight’s supper a little more appealing.  I decided to make beet risotto.  You might want to try this too.  Risotto is more a method than a recipe, but here are the general instructions:

Bring about a litre of chicken stock to a simmer.  While the chicken stock is heating, peel and finely grate a medium-sized beet.  Set it aside.  Zest an orange and set the zest aside.  Cut the orange in half.  You’ll need it later.  Finely chop about a half cup of onion. 

Pour about 2 Tbsp. of olive oil into a heavy bottomed pot and heat it over medium heat until surface of the oil begins to dimple and shimmer.  Add the chopped onion to the pot, together with about a cup of Arborio rice and sauté them until the onions are tender and each grain of rice is coated in oil.  The grains of rice should be a little bit translucent around the edges.  Add the grated beets, the orange zest and a couple of ladlefuls of stock.  Squeeze the juice from the orange into the pan. 

Stir the rice until the stock is mostly absorbed and then add more.  Continue stirring and adding more stock to the rice as needed, until it has reached the texture you prefer.  The risotto should have made its own sauce and be loose enough that it will spread when spooned onto your plate.

Some folks don’t consider a risotto finished until cheese has been added but I think that the beet and orange give this enough flavour that you can forgo the cheese.  If you are missing that creamy dairy texture, stir in some butter or some goat cheese.

Risotto needs to be served as soon as it is cooked.  This one should liven up your plate a bit; just look at the colour!

Aromatherapy

One of the best things about doing what I do is that I get to bake every single day.  Every baked good that I serve comes from my kitchen so early mornings find me baking bread, muffins, cookies and cakes.  I could just buy this stuff—there are lots of great bakeries—but then my kitchen wouldn’t smell nearly as nice.

There’s something universally appealing about the aroma of freshly baked bread. Years ago, when I worked at a bakery, the kitchen would get very hot so we would open the doors to help cool the room.  As soon as we did, the smell would draw people in.  It didn’t matter if it was two in the morning or three in the afternoon, if the aroma of baking bread was wafting out the door passers-by would stop, inhale deeply, and then follow their noses into the bakery.

I bake on a much smaller scale here but the response remains much the same:  My neighbours pause on the landing to enjoy that fresh-baked scent as they go by our door, and guests in my home invariably find themselves standing at the kitchen counter waiting for that first slice to be taken from a still-warm loaf of bread.  The aroma appeals to me too:  It stirs happy childhood memories and, even on the most hectic days, calms frayed nerves. There is no better aroma therapy than the smell of baking fresh from the oven.

Something in the Wind

People with allergies are closely attuned to the seasons.  Their itchy eyes and snuffly noses tell them the seasons’ progression as accurately and clearly as any calendar.  My eyes and nose, together with the pollen on the windshield of my car each morning, are telling me that the alders are pollinating.  I didn’t know though, until I drove by a nearby hazelnut farm, that the hazelnuts are pollinating too. 

The pollinating hazelnut trees got me thinking:  There aren’t many bees around right now so how are these trees being pollinated.  Could it be that the wind does the job for them?  I did some research online and, sure enough, that’s just how it happens.  The same breeze that deposits pollen on my windshield each day carries the pollen from tree to tree, helping to ensure a harvest of hazelnuts later in the year.

Thinking about the wind and about pollination made me think about the farmers who raise the hazelnuts and, indeed, about all farmers:  I’ve always admired the work ethic that keeps farmers farming.  (It's becoming increasingly more difficult for our farmers to make a go of it and yet they keep on working.)  What I hadn’t thought about until today is that farmers are also gamblers.  Every year they stake their livelihood on the vagaries of Mother Nature. 

The calm, clear days that we so long for are no friend to the hazelnut farmer.  They need the March winds to ensure the pollination of their crop.  And, like every farmer, they also need the right amounts of sun and rain—just enough, not too much or too little of either.

Farmers gamble each year that nature will provide the conditions that will carry them through to a good harvest and they gamble, too, that the harvest will not be so good that it causes prices to drop through over-supply.  Pretty gutsy, if you ask me.

Providence Farm

Established by the Sisters of Saint Ann in 1864, Providence Farm has been a part of the Cowichan Valley community for almost 150 years.  In 1979 the Sisters formed a partnership with the Vancouver Island Providence Association.  Together they created a community providing horticultural therapy and vocational training to people who are encountering barriers to education and employment.

Providence Farm grows organic produce and nursery plants and produces furniture and artwork, all of which are sold on site.  In supporting the farm, local residents benefit through the availability of high quality, locally grown produce.  The community as a whole benefits through the farm’s contribution to our food security.  Members of the Providence Farm community benefit through their interactions with each other, with the land itself, and with the many people who visit the farm each year. 

During these challenging times it’s particularly heartening to see such a positive, successful example of sustainable agriculture and supportive community.   If you’d like to learn more about Providence Farm you can visit their website at http://www.providence.bc.ca/ .

Cucina Povere

Cucina Povere translates into English as "poor kitchen."  The term is used to describe Italian peasant cooking; food made from local, readily available ingredients, with very little going to waste.  Many of the Italian foods with which North Americans are most familiar arise from this tradition, including polenta, foccacia al fromaggio, pesto pasta,  Sicilian pasta with anchovies and breadcrumbs, and minestra (a green vegetable soup).

Although the term Cucina Povere is used specifically to describe Italian food, peasant cooking has evolved on the same principles worldwide and, as our tastes become more cosmopolitan, we are learning to appreciate these simple foods for their honest flavours.  From the naan bread and lentils to red beans and rice with every imaginable ingredient in between, these dishes provide solid nutrition and a link to kitchens and cultures far older than our own.

Wedding soup is an Italian/North American soup, evolved from Italian traditions and the ingredients available to Italian immigrants when they arrived in the new world.  The term "wedding soup" is a mistranslation of the Italian language, minestra maritata ("married soup"), which is a reference to the fact that green vegetables and meat go well together.  Enjoy this dish of North American peasant food and celebrate the meeting of new cultures and old. 

Test Day

When I was a student, the words "test day" filled me with anxiety.  At best, they meant hours of review.  At worst, they mean hours of review resulting in disappointing grades.  Now, though, test day means something else entirely. Every Sunday, I test the dishes that will be offered in the coming week's menu. 

Testing the week's menu allows me to adjust seasonings in the dishes, make my grocery list for the week, and to plan my prep and cooking time.  It also produces a completed dish that I can photograph for use on my menus and my Facebook page.  Best of all, though, it fills my house with the wonderful scents of home cooking and provides us with an excellent lunch that we can enjoy on a leisurely Sunday afternoon.  I love test day!