Gilding the fava bean

In the summer, when I get a chance, I love to make the trek down to the Richmond Country Farms market. Their local produce is fantastic, fresh and cheap! On my latest foray I bought a bag of fresh fava beans (also known as broad beans). While fava beans take a bit of work to prepare (they need to be shelled and then blanched to remove their tough outer skins) they are well worth the effort.

Now to the gilding part of my tale. Once home I scoured my cookbooks for a suitable salad that incorporated fava beans. Since it's finally gotten around to being summer on the west coast, I didn't want a heavy meal or one that would require me to turn on the oven. My solution: Lobster Salad with Fava Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Avocado, Corn and Bacon. The base of the recipe is again from Suzanne Goin, but I did make some modifications (like adding fava beans). The combination was delicious.

You could go whole hog and buy a lobster or two to make this salad, but The Lobster Man on Granville Island sells cooked lobster meat and using it makes this salad a LOT easier to prepare. For two people I bought 6 oz of lobster meat and tossed it in a salad bowl with: 5 oz of double-smoked bacon (cut in to lardons and cooked until crisp); 1 cup of fresh corn (sauteed in remaining bacon fat with thyme and salt); cherry tomatoes; 1 avocado chopped, chopped parsley, chopped basil; and 4 oz. fava beans (after prepping as above). I made a simple shallot vinaigrette for the salad and served it over butter lettuce. Yum!

I served a rose with the salad: a 2010 Domaine De Nizas from the Languedoc region of France. An elegant wine to go with an elegant salad -- and a fantastic meal that all started with a fava bean addiction.

Asian Edamame Dip

If you are looking for a tasty, healthy appetizer -- you need look no further than this Asian Edamame Dip that appeared in the Holiday 2010 issue of the LCBO Food&Drink magazine. I have a friend that sends me every issue via our internal mail system and I anticipate its arrival every season. The BC provincial liquor outlet puts out a similar magazine, and while it's improving, it has yet to rival Food&Drink for its recipes, menu suggestions and "food porn" styling.

I first made this appetizer for my book club to rave reviews and since then it's become a bit of a standby. Don't be put off by the thought of making the accompanying wonton chips. They are really very easy to produce if you buy ready-made wonton wrappers (you can find them at T&Ts or in most produce sections of the major grocery chains) and they look quite impressive served alongside the dip.

Of course, if you have relatives like I do that are deathly allergic to soy products -- this is not a good idea to serve without a huge skull and crossbones symbol beside the serving plate and 911 on your speed dial! Otherwise add this to your appy repertoire as a colourful option easily made ahead.

Yellow Tomato Gazpacho and a New Blender

I bought a new toy for my kitchen -- a soup maker and blender, which made making this cold soup a breeze. I've been meaning to buy a good blender for some time -- ever since my food processor packed it in. I did some online research and determined that a Breville or Cuisinart were the best bets for the money (the Vitamix blender is probably THE best, but I was not prepared to invest that kind of money in a blender).

After looking at all the models I decided on the Cuisinart -- largely because it had the most power, at 900w, in my price range. It also has the added feature of being able to saute in the blender jar and keep a soup hot when serving. This wasn't a feature on my must-have list, but now that I have it, I think it will come in handy for making smooth sauces.

As for the soup itself -- here is the recipe. It's from Suzanne Goin (one of my very favourite chefs) and I followed it to the tee. I was able to get nice ripe yellow heirloom tomatoes at the market -- a must for this to turn out optimally. As Suzanne says in her notes that accompany the recipe, "you end up with unexpectedly dramatic results from a foolproof recipe that is easy to make."

Now this is what summer tastes like!

A hankering for saag and paneer

I've been trying to eat more vegetables lately and had a real craving the other night for saag and paneer. I turned to my trusty cookbook - Vij's Indian Cuisine and was not disappointed. The book has an appetizer version that calls for arugula and spinach in the proportions of 1/4 to 3/4 respectively (too much arugula makes it bitter). I discovered the BC Liquor Store's "Taste" magazine has a reproduction of the recipe here if you are interested in trying it out.

Paired with naan and a refreshing Gruner Veltliner -- this was a great simple dinner. The wine I chose was an Austrian 2010 Stift Goettweig Messwein Gruner Veltliner and it really was a perfect match -- very capable of standing up to the spice in the curry sauce.

This was an easy meal to make (note I bought ready-made paneer and naan). I'll replicate this combo again!

The Toronto Crispy Fish Effort

Impressive

Crispy Fried Fish from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc Cookbook

One recipe cooked in two different kitchens to check out the results. I used orange roughy (I know, a poor sustainable choice ... I'll make a wiser selection the next time) ... because I thought it would stand up well to deep frying.

The batter is truly fantastic ... nice and light. I did cut the recipe for the batter in half, which seemed to work just fine despite the advice to the contrary in the cookbook (these are the proportions for half the batter: 3/4 c. whole milk, 4 tab. butter, 1/4 c. warm water, 1 tsp. active dry yeast, 1-1/3 c. all-purpose flour, pinch salt, 1 tsp. granulated sugar, 1 egg lightly beaten, pinch baking soda). I served the fried fish, as recommended, on flour tortillas with shredded cabbage, Piment d'Espelette Aioli and fresh lime juice. (You do not need the creme fraiche that Keller suggests -- not with the aioli).

I also cured the fish in a brine as instructed, which I've never done before to fish, and boy does it ever make a difference -- really enhances the flavour.

Opened a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to serve with dinner (along with some herbed, roasted fingerling potatoes and steamed green beans). The citrusy tones in the wine was a nice complement to the meal. A Spanish Albarino would probably have worked well too.

Recipe gets my vote as a TK keeper. I'll be sure to make this again.