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Nuno and I had a chance to visit Flat Rock Cellars Winery this weekend.
This winery is located on the Niagara Escarpment in Jordan. It's actually in an area of Niagara I've never ventured to before and is located in a very rural setting. The main reason we trekked out was to visit El Gastronomo Vagabundo.
This cart is parked at the winery selling inventive tacos, salads and desserts using seasonal and fresh ingredients. I ordered 'Last Samurai' Taco which was tempura salmon, wasabi, cucumber & pickled ginger with a dessert of banana fritters, vanilla ice cream and coconut caramel.
Nuno had the prix fixe menu which was 'Gara Yakka' Taco which was a combination of yellow curry, chicken, eggplant and crispy garlic and 'Triad' taco of san choi bao and a Heirloom Tomato salad of watermelon, cucumber, beet chips with house vinaigrette. I sampled Flat Rock's Twisted wine (love!).
Everything was incredible! Oh my gosh, seriously, if you read this you must go. Actually, first let me know you are going so I can invite myself along. Nuno and I kept saying that we felt like we were on vacation. The setting actually felt a little California-like. Not that it was dry and barren like Sonoma & Napa, but there was a nice breeze blowing up the escarpment from the lake in the August heat. Also, the tortillas were so reminiscent of what we ate while on honeymoon in San Fransicso. I think I'd recommend this experience over and above all other wineries in Niagara if you've already visited Hildebrand and Inniskillin. This is a much more personal and easy going type of winery experience and perfect for summer dining al fresco.
I'm a little behind in blogging about Friday night's dinner of Grilled Steak with Southwestern Three-Tomato Salsa and a side of Grilled Peach Salsa.
The Southwestern Three-Tomato Salsa was a blend of fresh field tomatoes, heirloom tomato assortment (from Inn the Pines) and jarred sundried tomatoes. It was very nice on steak, almost a little too flavourful because I'm not sure I really got much steak flavour through.
The Peach Salsa was delicious! It pretty much goes with any type of fish or meat. The recipe made tons so we have it around for the next few days to eat on the side. Chipotles go so well with peaches! Seriously.
Over my holiday up north I read 'A Homemade Life' by Molly Wizenberg. This is my first blogger turned author book (as she blogs Orangette). I haven't read her blog yet, but as I read through 'A Homemade Life' I could relate to Molly in so many ways. I thought I was obsessed with food, well I may have met my match. She had me at Banana Bread, that's for sure. Anyone who can admit to a weakness for banana bread is top notch in my book. And I was totally intrigued when she wrote about adding crystallized ginger to chocolate chip banana bread. It was on sale at Bulk Barn this week and another recipe I have coming up called for crystallized ginger. We also had 4 super overripe bananas (which my mom told me to throw away)... no no no mom, I'm Making Banana Bread! Yep, all signs pointed to giving the broken oven a go and baking banana bread anyways (I hope in the future to go into detail about the oven issue, but suffice to say, it's broken and VERY expensive to repair. Damn built-ins.) After an hour, I got the old oven to crank to 340 (on a recipe that called to 350) and baked off a most perfectly executed version of 'Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger' from A Homemade Life. Here it is 4 hours later.
I missed out on one of those 'mommy meet-ups' for this. Well worth it I say! It's the most sophisticated banana bread I've ever baked (um... that's not saying much really). But it worked out beautifully, tastes wonderful and freezes! Sigh, why don't I have friends like Molly? Maybe because I miss out on social functions to stay home and bake.
A side of P.C. Dolce De Leche Banana spread, it took this banana bread to new heights!
It's official. After Thursday night's three recipes in one meal I found myself having gone through exactly half the Everyday Food Fresh Flavor Fast book. That's 125 down and 125 to go!
I decided to take on this personal challenge as something for myself. When everything I had in me went to Owen and for the first time I was not working or in school, I struggled to find something to nurture myself. I considered taking cooking classes but then realized as a nursing mom I couldn't be available to leave for hours at a time. Not only that, the cost! After deciding to work through Everyday Food I realized this made way more sense. No charge other than what I'd buy in groceries. I see this sort of like taking a class because I'm learning so much but setting my own pace.
I originally started this as a way of trying new recipes while I had the time on my maternity and to keep a blog as notes on the recipe. Blogging about this will come in handy then when I return to work. I can reflect on details about these recipes like how long it took to make, what I'd revise, and if we even enjoyed it. What I didn't realize about doing this was just how much this has benefited my family. On top of the learning experience, I'm making fresh, homemade & healthy food for Nuno and Owen and that's been the biggest benefit of this challenge.I was just looking ahead to what's to come. I'm nervous about making a leg of lamb and venturing back into the disaster of lamb chops. I have to find tomatillos and serrano chillies somewhere. I'll be eating a chicken drumstick (haven't tried one in 15 years). I'll be trying flounder and red snapper for the first time. I have another kale recipe to contend with (and choke down). I get to make ice cream sandwiches! There are also two delicious chocolate cakes I look forward to baking. And I'm most excited to prepare a Chocolate & Peanut Butter Pie!
If you read my blog, thanks for joining me on this experience!
Yesterday we ate what I consider to be the perfect summer dinner.
It all started picking up the produce at Inn the Pines and Nokara Farms. Both of these farm stands are located in north end of St. Catharines at 7th Street exit.
We had Grilled Fish Kebabs with Cherry Tomatoes, Sauteed Corn with Bacon and Scallions and Grilled Eggplant with Yogurt Sauce!
The Grilled Fish Kebabs were a combination of tilapia and salmon. The corn for the Sauteed Corn with Bacon and Scallions was freshly sliced off the cob. I always pass when it comes to eating corn straight off the cob, but I've discovered the pleasure of fresh corn in salads and relishes. I feel like I'm finally able to enjoy summer corn! The Grilled Eggplant with Yogurt Sauce is a somewhat deconstructed baba ganoush with elements of tzatziki. There is quite a bit of this sauce left over so I'm looking forward to veggie dipping off it over the next couple days.
Owen's dinner was a concoction based on a few elements of this meal. I steamed a portion of salmon and tilapia for him and then added the yogurt dressing (yogurt, parsley, lemon and cucumber) to the fish. I know it sounds odd, but it tasted great. The true test was seeing Owen's reaction. I gave him a bite and he absolutely loved it! Combining salmon and tilapia tastes really good. It really brings out a whole different flavour which is quite unexpected but more pleasant than each fish on its own. I'm starting to feel like a baby chef over here.
If that wasn't enough, I also made a summery dessert. This stemmed from trying to deal with all the peaches I blogged about earlier this week. I was quite undecided what to do with them all and found myself unable to work through them fast enough. I also discovered that cooking peaches can sometimes make them taste like canned, which is a complete waste. So I started to stress when I noticed some starting to go bad. I then remembered seeing a recipe for a no-bake Fresh Peach Pie that my mom made when we were kids. I quickly went ahead and made two pies.
Wow, seriously, as simple as this is, it's so great. Because most of the peaches are sliced and uncooked, they taste so fresh (as the recipe name suggests). I have to share this one with you all!
Glazed Fresh Peach Pie (Mom)
4 c sliced peaches
½ c water
¾ c sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp butter
1 baked 9” pie shell
Crush enough peaches to make one cup leaving the rest. Combine 1 c crushed peaches with water, sugar and cornstarch. Bring to a boil. Cook over low heat until clear (2-3 min) stirring constantly. Add butter & cool. Spread sliced peaches into pie shell, then pour cooked mixture over them making sure they are all covered. Chill for 2 hours. Top with whipped cream and serve.
I had a couple tweaks on my pie. I used a store bought graham cracker crust, added lemon (to prevent browning) and a bit of Peach Schnapps (for extra flavour) and deducted the extra liquid from the water measurement. I also pureed the cooked peach mixture for a creamier texture.
This is Honey-Soy Grilled Pork Chops with Crunchy Bok Choy.
Very simple and fresh! The marinade was super good on both the pork chop and baby bok choy. I even enjoyed the bit of charred flavour on the ends of the leaves. I also made the side of rice suggested in the book. I used basmati rice and it is flavoured with rice wine vinegar and red pepper flakes. All super yummy.
This recipe was also do-able for Owen to eat. I steamed unseasoned portions of pork chop and a baby bok choy then processed it with rice. He loved it and gobbled it right up. I'm a proud mom of a baby bok choy eater!
This is my new favourite thing - blue cheese on salad! So it was perfect timing to make the Roasted Portobello Salad with Blue Cheese from Everyday Food.
Being a salad and using the BBQ makes this a perfect mid-summer meal. It was so super enjoyable because it felt sophisticated and special with little effort. A total make-again!
Yesterday morning I headed out to Werner Farmstand (Lakeshore Road in Port Weller) in search of peaches. A farmhand was actually unloading and sorting as I arrived and I asked for a basket of seconds. What I purchased is what I'd guess to be 8 pounds of peaches!
I always thought seconds were bruised and blemished fruit, but can you see anything the matter with these? I think the girl who gathered my load was extra generous. Now to figure out how to use them all up.
I started off by making this Peach Melba for dessert last night.
I just became aware of this old style dessert so I decided to look into it a bit more. I ended up taking elements from three different recipes for my dessert.
First off was making the Peach Frozen Yogurt from Anna Olson's Fresh. Turned out beautifully. Easy, delicious and I'd venture as far as to say healthy because I used two cups of 1% yogurt.
Secondly was the Raspberry Coulis I lifted from Nigella Lawson's Peach Melba recipe.
Lastly, I took the assembly idea from Everyday Food's Grilled Peach Melba which seasons the peaches in butter and brown sugar and grills them on the BBQ.
I think I'll be making this dessert a yearly event because it's a great way to enjoy peaches. Word of warning, if you make this Peach Melba eat it fast - it's melty!!!
Blogging about my life through food is a way of keeping most other parts of my life personal. I like it that way. But of the people who skim over my blog, most are family. Many of whom want to know what Owen's first cottage experience was like and, come to think of it, I'd like to have this archived as well.
We always stop at Webers on the way up and weren't sure if it could happen this year. Life with a baby is scheduled, but you certainly can't force timing.
Luckily we got to Webers right in time for lunch.
"What? We're at Webers and all I get is mashed avocado!?"
This is the 5th generation of our family to cottage here.
We have a height chart set up where everyone is recorded year after year.
Owen and I were the same age coming up to the cottage (8 months), looks like he's got a few inches on me.
Here is our beach set-up. We need plenty of shade and I'd say we're covered!
This pool is ingenious. Although the photo doesn't show, it has a hose attachment and it sprinkles water up front from the bottom of the blowfish's mouth.
As we discovered at the Fallsview Waterpark, Owen loves to splash and touch sprinkling water.
He thinks pools are his personal water fountain.
While up here he cut 3 teeth simultaneously and for the first time fussed about it. He also learned to bum-scootch.
This also happens in his highchair which doesn't have a crotch strap.
We like to visit parks up here and Owen's fond of swings. When he swings forward he will pretend he's running. Totally a new mom here with the shopping cart cover over the swing.
Here is his evening walk to Champlain Park. It's just about his bed time and he's quite pensive as the sun sets.
This swing is at Kiwanis Park. It's part of our daily walk up Kate Pace Way starting at the Pier and turning back at Lee Park. Early in the week we noticed a midway was setting up at Lee Park.
This is Sunset Point swinging at sunrise. "Swing, to reach the end!"
By the pier are two merry-go-rounds and a kiddie train. It's the absolute cutest! I even heard a whooping and hollering from him. Between the swings and train, I figure I'll finally have a roller coaster partner in a few years.
To prime him for rides, I brought him out to Summer in the Park.
We spent time at the midway but didn't ride any rides, just took it all in. He loved it and was so stimulated!
Having Owen with us up here really adds a whole new dimension of fun. No more late nights partying at Wylders anymore.
Plenty of smiles and cuddles!
Soundtrack: Teenage Fanclub - Shadows, The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme, Surfer Blood - Astrocoast
Reading: A Homemade Life - Molly Wizenberg & Nuno's Script
Snacking: Roasted & Salted Edamame, Snapea Crisps, Homemade Chex Mix
So I decided on Anna Olson's Corn and Blueberry Toss from Fresh. This is the salad of this summer for us, so I had to share the good word on how wonderful it is. The corn and half the blueberries are from Inn the Pines farm stand. The other half of blueberries are from what we call the "German Farm Stand" in Ridgeville.
Woah! They have a lot of great produce here. They are located at Canboro Road & Effingham Street. I then made another Peach Buckle from the rest of the peaches on hand.
I also was dying to try these everything-but-the-kitchen-sink style cookies. After making them I'm not sure I'll make them again. They are a thin and crispy type of cookie made with pricey ingredients like super-nice bitter sweet chocolate and dried cherries. They baked up perfectly and everyone at the family reunion was buzzing about them. So they are a crowd pleaser. 
I had a lot of family asking how I could bring three things with a baby. For me it's easy. I made the corn and blueberry toss at 10:30 at night with Nuno's help and baked all afternoon at my parents place after visiting Flat Rock. I have a great sous chef in my husband who will always come into the kitchen and ask, "How can I help?"
