Delightful People, Delicious Cheese, And A Recipe

I wrote recently about a visit I made to the Old Country Market in Coombs.  While we were in the area, we took time for lunch at BoMé, an artisan cheese maker just down the road.

Coombs is an excellent education on the importance of not forming judgements based upon first impressions, and BoMé is no exception.  The business is situated next to a lot currently being excavated for concrete block mini storage buildings, and found in what appears to be a house repurposed for its current use.  There are tables on a concrete patio outside the front door, and it's not until you step into the building itself that you gain a clear idea of the delightful food and excellent service on offer. 

Inside the front door, you're greeted by a spotless deli-style cooler stocked with various house-made cheeses and desserts, and shelves displaying an assortment of locally made jarred goods, spices, and gift-ware. There's a spotless kitchen behind the deli area and, as you head further into the building, a clean and comfortable dining room with glass walls on one side that allow guests to look down into the cheese making kitchen below.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a charming young man, who took us through the menu with enthusiasm and happily explained every item in the deli case, offering samples of any of the cheeses we cared to try.  Once we were seated and awaiting our lunch - prepared by his equally pleasant mother - he came over and explained the purpose and function of the various pieces of equipment on the cheese-making floor.  He and his dad make the cheeses so he was able to explain in detail how it all worked.  His passion for their work was quite endearing.  We thoroughly enjoyed his company.

Lunch was delicious.  I had a beef, vegetable, and barley soup with a slightly sweet and sour flavour reminiscent t of sauerbrauten and my friend had a very tasty schnitzel sandwich.  The portions were a good size:  sufficient but not so generous as to be overwhelming.

Before we left, my friend and I both purchased cheeses to take home.  I bought a tub of shepherd's cheese - an incredibly flavourful, feta-based cream cheese with garlic, sun dried tomato and herbs - and a tub of their house-made tzatziki, made with a mixture of topfen (quark) and Greek yogurt.  

I enjoyed some of the tzatziki with veggies for supper the following day.  It was delicious, and had a much firmer consistency than tzatziki made with yogurt alone.  The texture inspired me to use it in a sandwich.  I've included the sandwich recipe below, including - for those of you who aren't fortunate enough to be able to visit BoMé - instructions on how to make a similar tzatziki at home.

TZATZIKI AND TUNA SANDWICH

For the tzatziki:

• 1 English cucumber (seedless cucumber), grated
• salt
• 225 grams (1 cup) quark
• 225 grams (1 cup) plain Greek yogurt
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1 Tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Salt the grated cucumber generously and then use your fingers to toss the cucumber shreds and distribute the salt throughout.  Allow it to sit for at least 30 minutes then squeeze out as much moisture as you can.  Rinse the squeezed cucumber shreds to remove the excess salt and then, after squeezing them dry again, place them in a bowl.  Add all of the other ingredients except for the salt and pepper to the bowl and combine them thoroughly.  Taste the tzatziki and then add salt and pepper to taste.  At this point,  I would put the tzatziki in the fridge for an hour or two to allow the flavours to develop.

For the sandwich filling, combine:

• 1-170 gram (6 ounce) tin of tuna.  (I used flaked light tuna because that's what I could afford but if you can afford better, by all means use that.)
• 1 chopped green onion (scallion)
• 1/3 cup tzatziki

This makes enough filling for two sandwiches.

To assemble the sandwiches:

Toast two ciabatta buns under the broiler.  When they're toasted, butter each half of each bun.  Divide the sandwich filling over the bottom halves of the two buns and then top the filling with thinly sliced red bell pepper, sliced tomato, and lettuce.  Put the "lids" on the sandwiches and serve them immediately, before the fillings have time to soften the crisp toasted surfaces of the buns.

Enjoy!  And if you do find yourself in Coombs please stop in at BoMé,  I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Shopping at Old Country Market in Coombs

Last week my friend Colleen and I went to Old Country Market in Coombs. Coombs is about an hour's drive north of where I live. It's a popular tourist destination. I've written about the market before but this time I wanted to share its atmosphere at the height of the busy season

The Old Country Market has changed a lot over the years.  Originally its focus was primarily on fresh produce, then for quite a while it was the place to go for quirky and/or unusual, gifts and home decor.  Now, in addition to those things, they have a huge selection of international foods, an excellent deli, and a bakery.  Here on the island, OCM is the go-to place for ingredients not found elsewhere.  I know that the internet has opened international shopping to all of us but I still prefer to make the drive and support our island's local economy.

One of the market's big draws is the goats that graze on its grass roof.  Unfortunately when we were there the goats were all in their house or sleeping under the trees behind the market, hiding from the mid-day sun.  I suspect they're more sensible than we are!  Since goat viewing was not on the agenda, we followed the crowds into the store.

I came home with a pretty eclectic variety of items:  Saskatoon berry jam made here in Canada, pastas from Italy, za'atar, sriracha salt, hot German mustard, Lyle's Golden Syrup from England, tiny anniseed candies from Greece, Canadian-made Indian seasoning blends, some printed paper napkins, and - of course- a couple of "goats on the roof" souvenirs. Mostly, though, I just took it all in.  Visiting the market in the summertime is rather like attending a fair or a carnival:  some of the best entertainment is to be found in people watching.  It's endlessly entertaining even if you don't buy a single thing.

Rather than go on at length about our trip through the market, I've shared some pictures below, taken as we wandered around the store.  You can view them as a slide show by clicking on the first one and then scrolling through,  Enjoy.

A Walk In The Rain

Want to come for a walk with me? It's raining, a not uncommon thing on Vancouver Island, but we're all good with that, right?  If you don't walk in the rain here, you miss out on walking for more than half the year. 

Let's put on our rain gear, grab our umbrellas and go.  Don't forget to bring some water.  We'll be walking quite a distance - 12.4 km/ 7.7 miles - and you need to stay hydrated even on a rainy day.

We'll begin with a stroll to the Sportsplex, with its oval track often used by those nearby for their fitness walks (Personally , I don't see the appeal. I want to see varied scenery when I walk, but each to their own.), past the fields and baseball diamonds...

...to exit via this pretty lane-way. I always enjoy it at blossom time.

From here we're going to walk the length of Lakes Road.  Yes, that is a long hill...

...so we're going to pause at the bridge at the bottom of the hill to enjoy the view before we start the climb. (I apologize now for any raindrops that may have fallen on my camera lens.)

Lakes Road isn't as pedestrian friendly as our route has been so far.  There's a fair bit of traffic and the sidewalk runs out not long past the top of the hill, but it's worth it.  The landscape grows progressively more rural, and offers some lovely sights like this lot whose wild space has been colonized by daffodils.

There's a holly farm further on, with moss capped gate posts, a view of Quamichan Lake, and characterful old trees.  The farm's been there a long time and used to ship holly all over the world.  There's less demand for it these days and I'm glad they're still keeping the trees.

The houses are further apart now and even the newer houses have traces of old farms visible on their property, often in the form of rows of trees along the fence line.

I always enjoy passing by the sheep farm on the shores of Quamichan Lake. These are some happy sheep: the grass is always rich and green.  They know me so well now that they pose when I stop to take their picture. ;)  See how they're all looking towards me?

An old apple orchard near Lakes Road's intersection with Herd Road has recently been pruned.  These trees blossom late - next month - but they're beautifully clad in coats of green velvety moss.

I'll confess that my camera's getting a little heavy around my neck now so I'm going to stow it in my backpack for a bit.  We'll continue walking as planned though, turning left onto Herd Road, continuing through a treed area and crossing another bridge to emerge into rolling pastureland.  There are lots of horses in this area and it's easy to see why they like it.

My eye is always caught by the incongruous, like this lighthouse built to shield an irrigation coupling in the middle of a pasture.  It makes me smile every time I see it.

I'm getting a little weary now. It's been more than 8 kilometres since we started and we're on an uphill route once more.  The hill's less steep than Lakes Road's hill, it's a long, slow undulating climb.  

We're on Norcross Road now, passing small farms and then vineyards.  I'd take a picture of the vineyards for you but, really, they're pretty bleak at this time of year: gnarled black trunks, pruned hard, black with rain, marching along in lines beneath strings of equally black wire.  

There is a view of Somenos Lake though, and it's worth pausing for. Do you see that line of tall fir trees in the background?  Lakes Road is behind it.  We've covered some distance, haven't we.  :)

We're winding it up now.  We'll climb the last bit of this hill, then walk downhill on Bell McKinnon Road until we reach the highway. Cross the highway now,  and treat yourself to coffee and a muffin while you wait for the city bus to take you the last 4km/2.5 miles back to our starting point.  

Wow you guys!  Great walk!  Thanks for coming along with me.  :)