September 19, 2017

Flatbread with pears and blue cheese

So I never make (or buy) one of anything and when I made the previous pizza I also made this one. I bought beautiful firm pears at the market the other day (yes, it’s fall produce) and thought they would be beautiful on pizza. Usually pear and gorgonzola is the flavour combination I like but I didn’t have gorgonzola and blue cheese worked just fine. I sliced the pears paper thin on a mandolin and... View Article

September 15, 2017

Grilled halloumi with cucumber salsa

Halloumi is one of the only cheeses I know that doesn’t melt and keeps its shape when grilled. This white cheese with firm texture and salty flavour originates from the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean and found also in Greek and Middle Eastern cuisines. Halloumi keeps its shape when cooked because of its high melting temperature but once fried you need to serve it immediately, it does not benefit from sitting around. In... View Article

September 14, 2017

Pizza with mini king oyster mushrooms and feta

We were in Vancouver a couple of days ago and of course went to Granville Island. We still have great produce available in Kelowna since it’s not winter yet so I didn’t buy that much, but still, indulged in a few things. One thing I found were these beautiful mini king oyster mushrooms and I bought a lot. Some of the mushrooms went into a pasta dish, others into vegetables packets roasted in a parchment... View Article

September 9, 2017

Chilled spiced tomato water

Tomatoes are ripe and juicy now and one fun thing to make with them is tomato water. Making tomato water became trendy a while back but I am slow to jump on the bandwagon. However, we had a flavour packed chilled tomato water soup at a recent multi course dinner at the #chefmeetsBCgrape that inspired me to make this soup now. To make tomato water you blend ripe, juicy tomatoes with basil, garlic, shallots and... View Article

September 7, 2017

Lime tarts

I was looking around the cookbook section at chapters a few weeks ago and found this lovely little book inside a beautiful box that looked like a chocolate or high end pastry box. Sure enough it was Laduree’s book Sucre featuring Laduree recipes for its world renowned pastries and sweets. It was the only copy and of course I grabbed it. It started me on a dessert making mania that hasn’t stopped yet. No one... View Article

September 1, 2017

Green beans with mustard seeds and tarragon

Sleepless nights are great for leafing through cookbooks and last night in the wee hours of the morning I got up and picked up Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook “Plenty” off my cookbooks shelves. I had to laugh because I saw that I had tagged almost every page with a sticker meaning there is a recipe that I would like to try. Practically the entire book was tagged. This morning I checked the fridge to see what... View Article

August 23, 2017

Confetti Cauliflower fritters

I am cleaning the fridges after having company on and off for a few weeks. There are odds and ends of beautiful local produce that I’d like to use and create room on the shelves for my next market outing, which in the summer can be every day. These delicious fritters were the result of fridge clean-up. I had a few florets of white, purple and orange cauliflower that I used as crudites (hence the... View Article

August 20, 2017

Crostini with cannelini beans and fried sage

This is a very Italian dish and like most Italian food it is simple and delicious. “Simple” I mean in a sophisticated way. Viva Italia. I cook beans frequently and tend to have some on hand most of the time so it’s easy for me to make these crostini without having to cook them from scratch. The beans can be homemade, slow cooked with aromatics, or if you don’t cook beans from scratch then use good... View Article

August 19, 2017

Beets three ways: beetroot, beet leaves and stems

In keeping with the nose to tail concept that doesn’t apply in my vegetarian kitchen, I am trying to use the whole plant, end to end and not waste any edible parts. You’d be surprised how much we waste in the foods we eat, throwing away good leaves, stems and even roots of some good vegetables. My company last weekend came bearing gifts from the garden, bringing beautiful beets with their greens still attached from... View Article

August 17, 2017

Corn-feta fritters with yogurt-dill sauce

We eat a lot of corn now that it is in season, locally grown and so sweet and tender. Occasionally we have a cob or two leftover, cooked or uncooked, and that’s when I like to make corn fritters. The simplest sauce to serve with it is a tangy yogurt with dill and a sprinkling of good salt. It’s fragrant, tangy and refreshing with the fried fritters. I took the pics outside and had to... View Article

August 16, 2017

New potatoes and yellow beans with creme fraiche and dill

There is nothing like new potatoes lightly coated with creme fraiche and liberally sprinkled with fresh dill and it’s even better with buttery yellow beans fresh from the garden or your local farmers market. It’s one of my favourite summer dishes. I steam the potatoes whole and unpeeled, cook the beans separately in salted water (sometime in the water I steamed the potatoes in) and then combine them in a pot with either homemade or... View Article

August 11, 2017

Avocado salad with dukkah vinaigrette and goat cheese

A beautiful ripe avocado is a special treat and once in a while I indulge. You have to buy it just right, either to serve immediately or to ripen on your counter for a day or two before serving. I have thrown away many avocados that I bought with good intentions and never got around to using. Once they go soft there is nothing to do but discard them. The softness of the avocado is... View Article