Spinach Appetizers

This recipe, originally from my mom, has been around for many years. It is really delicious, and yet it has sat in my recipe box, unused, for a long time. The truth is, with so many great cookbooks at my fingertips, I don't often reach for my recipe box and the treasured recipes that it holds.

I was reminded of these spinach appetizers by my friend, Kathy. I'm helping her with an open-house party this weekend, taking food, as well as being there in the roll of caterer/friend. She asked if I could make the spinach appetizers, which used to be my old standard party recipe. In fact, she asked if I could make two pans.

There is nothing fancy about this, and I admit that with almost a pound and a half of cheese, anything is bound to taste good. But it's more than that. It's the grated apple, the chopped onion, and the spinach, coming together with the old cheddar and parmesan. It's the savoury goodness, that truth be told, is delicious any time of the year.

*The day after... The party was a success, and this spinach appetizer was happily consumed, especially by one guest. There was a woman who was thoroughly taken with the appetizer and was thrilled that she could eat them, even with her dietary restrictions (no wheat). I had to give her the truth, that the dish does have flour in it. She looked disappointed, but resigned. The news, however, didn't stop her from helping herself to another piece as she sauntered by the buffet table some time later! Apparently, they were worth the consequences.

Spinach Appetizers
10 oz. pkg frozen chopped spinach, liquid squeezed out
4 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature or softer
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. milk
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. all purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1 lb. aged cheddar, grated
4 oz. mozzarella, grated
2 oz. Parmesan, grated
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, pared and grated
1/2 t. fine sea salt
1/4 t. fresh ground pepper

1. Butter a 9x13 pan and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat the eggs with soft butter. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and milk. Stir in the cheeses, onion, apple and spinach. Mix well.
3. Spread the spinach mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting. Cut into small squares and serve warm.

Rose Petal Pound Cake

Last summer, I was at my sister's house and she offered me a slice of rose petal angel food cake. A gift from a friend, the cake was everything an angel food cake should be, just more interesting. The cake had a very subtle rose smell and there were bits of rose petals throughout. I was enamoured of this cake, and it was the reason I bought 5 rose bushes at the end of the summer.

This summer, only one of those rose bushes has made it through the winter, but what a glorious specimen it is. Known as "Salet", this rose originally came from France and is very fragrant, but in a nice way. The rose bush is already on its second round of blossoms, but let me assure you that the first round didn't go to waste.

My neighbour Nancy is a first-rate gardener and has encouraged my green thumb, inviting me to horticultural society meetings and giving me bits of advice. Last week, when my special little rose bush was just starting to flower, Nancy and I stood out on the sidewalk admiring the beautiful pink buds and petals. She was looking at the rose bush with a gardener's eye, while I was looking at the same plant with something totally different in mind. "Do you think the petals will be OK to...." The look of shock on her face made me double over with laughter. She guessed what was on my mind.

I made two rose petal cakes this week. The first was an angel food cake that really didn't turn out all that well. Angel food cakes seem to be tricky and, unless you are making them all the time and you have mastered the knack, there is plenty of room for errors. The second cake was my new favourite. I have made one plain pound cake and one rose petal pound cake. To achieve excellent results with a pound cake, there are a number of rules you should be adhering to. I hope I have included most of them in the directions for the recipe. I also added a little rose water to give the cake a little more fragrance - not too much, please.

I used a 2-piece tube pan and during the first 20 minutes of baking time, the batter leaked out onto the tray beneath (I at least learned something from the first time I made the cake and placed a pan underneath). I want to get a 1-piece tube pan, light in colour, that will suit this cake perfectly. Something to keep in mind is the greasing and flouring of the pan. Do not rush and miss any spots. You will see them when the cake comes out of the pan (or doesn't come out of the pan in parts).

Enjoying your roses, either in the garden or in a cake, is one of summer's special pleasures. I hope to enjoy my roses, in and out of the kitchen, for many weeks to come!

Rose Petal Pound Cake

12 oz. unsalted butter, at room temperature + more for greasing the pan
3 cups all purpose flour + more for dusting the pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rose water
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup or more of untreated rose petals, gently washed and patted dry, roughly chopped

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease a light-coloured 10" tube pan with butter. Add couple tablespoons of flour to the pan and shake the flour until it coats the pan evenly. Tap out any excess flour and set aside. The inside of the pan should be smoothly and evenly coated with butter and flour. Any gaps or clumps that you have will affect the end result of your cake.

2. Sift the 3 cups of flour, with the baking soda and salt, 3 times. Combine the milk, vanilla, and rose water.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium-low speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar, about a 1/4 cup at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and beat until satiny smooth, about 3 minutes.

4. Add one egg at a time to the butter mixture, beating for 15 seconds after each one. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour alternately with the milk, in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat just until the batter is smooth and silky. Gently fold the chopped rose petals into the batter.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and firmly tap on a counter to allow the batter to settle evenly. Bake until light golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Invert cake onto a rack and let cool completely before slicing.

The Good Egg and a lot of Chicken

Summer is almost here and today I picked up our first veggie box of the season. I had also requested 6 fresh-from-the-farm chickens to be picked up at the same time. After seeing how the chickens were being raised, I emailed the farm practically begging for a chance to buy 6 chickens when they were ready. The chicks spent their days in a movable coop, being moved to a new patch of grass everyday. I was very impressed.

Along with our full veggie share (you can also order a 1/2 share), I picked up 2 quarts of strawberries (our strawberry season is just starting), 2 green house cucumbers, 4 honey-garlic wild boar sausages and 4 sweet italian sausages. Lisa tallied up the total for me - $234.00. Oh my.

Now let's step back for a minute. I had already paid for our veggie share, so that wasn't included in that number. "How much are the chickens per pound?" I casually asked Lisa. "$4 a pound." The price didn't seem unreasonable, but I couldn't wrap my head around the total. Lisa asked one of the farm hands to take the chickens out to my car, so I didn't realize the size of the birds.

When I got home, I unpacked the car, taking several trips to get all of the chicken out of the trunk. I started thinking, "Wow, this is a lot of chicken." I had asked Lisa for 3 whole chickens and 3 chickens that were already cut in half. Each bag of chicken had a sticker with the weight and price. A 9-pound chicken is very big. Now imagine 6 of them - sitting on your counter, waiting to be cut up.

If I wasn't such a procrastinator, my knives would be nice and sharp all the time. Do not try to cut up chickens with a dull knife. It is very easy to cut yourself, and it's miraculous that I didn't. The chickens wouldn't fit into the fridge so they had to be dealt with right away. I sharpened my favourite knife the best I could, and proceeded to carve those monsters up into pieces. The picture above was at about the halfway point. It was chicken madness.

I was up to my eyebrows in chicken when Ellen came over with the ear checker from her doctor's kit. "I need to check your ears," she told me seriously. "Now??" I asked. She nodded and I bent over, chicken covered hands (and arms) held out behind me, and had my ears checked. The good news is, they were fine. Unfortunately, my hands are still slightly raw and an old callus from my restaurant days has resurfaced. Cutting up one chicken is not a big deal - cutting up 6 chickens, that look a lot like little turkeys, is another matter all together.

Eventually, I had all of the chicken seperated into bags, labelled, and ready for the freezer. My freezer has never, ever been this full. I had to take a cake out of the freezer to make some room. One of my neighbours (with 4 kids) happily took it home. I might have considered keeping it for ourselves, but while I was playing butcher, I had a strawberry-rhubarb crisp in the oven, and even I had to draw the line somewhere.

If you are thinking of trying Cooper's chickens or local chickens from your neck of the woods, it may be wise to ask a few questions.

• Can you get the chickens completely cut up? If you can, I would recommend asking them to include the backs and wing tips for making chicken stock. I have just finished straining 8 litres of stock for soups and risottos. For my chicken stock recipe, go to November 15, 2007.
  
• What is the average size of each chicken? If the chickens are smaller, you may wish to have a couple of whole chickens for doing roast chicken. I left one of mine whole, for a special occasion.
• How much are the chickens per pound? They will cost more than the grocery store chickens, but they are sooooo worth it.
• Make sure you have the space in your freezer or fridge to store the chicken.
• Check out Coopers Goat & Veggie farm at www.coopersfarm.ca

Pickled Asparagus

Here's the deal - I haven't opened any jars of pickled asparagus yet because they need at least another couple of weeks to pickle. And since this is the first batch of pickled asparagus that I have ever made, I pass this recipe on to you to try at your own risk.

Lorne happened to be out getting his morning paper last week while I was gardening and he pulled in to have another chat. I asked him why the recipe hadn't mentioned anything about mustard seeds, when I could see lots of mustard seeds in the jar he had given me. He seemed surprised that the mustard seeds had been left out of the recipe, but didn't recommend an amount for the seeds. As I mentioned in the initial blog entry, his pickled asparagus had a little hot pepper, black and pink peppercorns, and who knows what else. Obviously, he uses his recipe as a base and has added ingredients over the years.

I am also thinking that to make really good dills (asparagus or otherwise), using the hearty dill weed (which you usually see in the middle of the summer) would give you the best dill flavour. Instead, I used the dill that is available year-round from the grocery store, although I'm betting that the dried dill seed would have been a better choice for flavour.

There has been some debate with my friend, Tamara, on the subject of needing to use a pressure canner to ensure that there will be no botulism, or if the boiling water bath will do. If you were canning vegetables without adding the vinegary brine and turning them into pickles, I would say you should be using a pressure canner. However, the brine is preserving the vegetables, along with keeping any bacteria at bay. At least, that is my hope. Botulism sounds almost as nasty as it probably is.

It is important to pack the asparagus into the jars very tightly. According to my sister, you have to be pretty aggressive when packing the asparagus. I didn't realize that mine weren't packed tight enough and my jars have asparagus that have floated to the top of the jar, leaving the tips out of the dilly brine. This is undesirable in anything pickled, and should be avoided. I also decided I would try a few different ways of packing the jars. Some have the tips pointed up, some have the tips pointed down, and there is even one jar with little pieces that I had leftover from trimming the asparagus to fit the jars. Since then, I have read that tips down are the way to go.

If you end up pickling asparagus, I'd love to hear how yours turns out. Good luck!

Preparing your jars for canning:Either hand wash the jars or run through a hot cycle of your dishwasher. Place the clean jars on a baking sheet and set in a 250 degree oven. Place the snap lids and rings in a saucepan full of water and bring to boil. Keep the lids and rings in the hot water until you are ready to seal the jars. While you are getting this prep work done, drag out your big canning pot, fill it two-thirds full of water and bring to a rolling boil. If you don't have a big canning pot, they aren't very expensive and they are very necessary if you are canning veggies and fruit (I bought mine at the local Home Hardware). FYI - I keep old rings to use again but you should never try to use the snap lids twice. Once a jar has been opened, it must be refrigerated; and once the jar is finished, the snap lid can be disposed of.

Pickled Asparagus
Makes about 7 1-quart jars.

6 lbs. very fresh asparagus, washed and trimmed
8 c. filtered water
2 c. white vinegar (if not using filtered water, increase the vinegar by a 1/2 cup)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
3 T. pickling salt
1/4 t. alum
1 clove garlic per jar
1 sprig fresh dill or 1 T. dill seed per jar
Optional: 3 peppercorns per jar

1. Place the water, vinegar, sugar, salt, and alum into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, wash and trim the asparagus to fit into the jars.
2. Remove the jars from the warm oven. Place one clove of garlic, a sprig of fresh dill, and 3 peppercorns (if using) in each jar. Pack the asparagus tightly into the jars. Carefully pour the boiling brine into the packed jars, being sure to cover the ends of the asparagus that are sticking up, but leaving about a 1/4-inch of space from the top of the jar.
3. Wipe the rims of the jars and place a snap lid on each one, followed by a ring. Tighten the rings well. Place each jar into the rapidly boiling water in the canning pot. Set the timer for 10 minutes. You are basically boiling the jars of asparagus during this process, killing the bacteria that might be inside the jar.
4. When the 10 minutes is up, carefully remove the jars from the boiling water and set on a flat surface to cool. As the jars cool down, you should here the snap lids "snap". This tells you that they have sealed and they are fine to store at room temperature (when those lids pop, your heart will probably start to do a little happy dance!). Don't eat the asparagus for at least 3 weeks to allow the flavours to penetrate the asparagus.

The Asparagus Man

I've made a new friend. His name is Lorne and he is THE expert on pickled asparagus. Let me tell you the story.

I was picking up asparagus last week and happened to catch one of the owners of the farm at home. We started talking about food and I mentioned that I was interested in pickling asparagus. She claimed to know the perfect person for me to talk to - Lorne. Apparently, he has been pickling asparagus for years. She told me to drop in on him, that he would probably be very happy to share his recipe and tips.

Ellen and I dropped by his house one morning. I pulled into the driveway, surveying things from the safety of the car. There were no cars in the driveway, but Lorne was sitting outside in a lawn chair. I waved and he threw his hands up in the air with a look of sheer delight, as if to say, "Finally you're here! It's so good to see you!"

Describing Lorne as tickled pink would be an understatement. Within a minute of our introductions, I found myself caught in a big bear hug from a man that, besides being a pickled asparagus maker of some repute, I didn't know from Adam.

He ushered me into the house, where he keeps his recipe for pickled asparagus under the phone book in the kitchen. The recipe wasn't where he thought it would be; his wife had been doing some cleaning and must have moved it, he explained. He grabbed a jar of the asparagus and two forks and we headed back outside. I tasted a couple of the asparagus spears, and they were good. Besides the main ingredient, there were cloves of garlic, pink and black peppercorns, and a red chilli pepper. When I begged off having more, he told me that I could take the jar home.

Throughout this time, Lorne kept shaking his head and saying that he just couldn't believe how great it was that I had stopped in. In no time, I found out many details of his life, the pickled asparagus bridging the gap between us. At almost 80 years of age, there was a lot of history to catch up on. Our visit probably lasted less than 15 minutes, but you would be shocked if I told you what I discovered about my new friend during that brief meeting.

While I was there, I had many thoughts running through my mind. "Are you crazy? Don't go into the house with him. What if he's a creep?" And into the house I go. "I hope this asparagus is ok to eat. I wonder when his wife is coming back? Oh, the lengths I'll go to for a recipe..." And out for a tour of his wife's garden I go. What I realized after my visit was that he was not a creep, nor was he senile. I think he was a lonely person who was thrilled to have a young person (ok, I'll say it - a woman) stop in for a visit, express interest in one of his hobbies, and give him the time of day. It amazes me time and time again how food brings the unlikeliest of people together, no matter their ages or their backgrounds.

Around dinner time that evening, I was busy in the kitchen when I heard Ellen call out, "Mom! The asparagus man is here!" Sure enough, Lorne had photocopied the recipe for the pickled asparagus and was dropping it off. Yes, I must have mentioned where I lived. No, I don't mind if "The Asparagus Man" drops by once in a while for a chat. I have followed his recipe to pickle some asparagus since then, and I think he is looking forward to critiquing them for me. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll learn something.

The Creamiest Hummus

Making hummus with dried chickpeas has been on my mental list of "recipes to try" for awhile now. I (finally) remembered to soak the dried chickpeas in water overnight.

There are a number of sources claiming that soaking and cooking dried chickpeas makes for the best hummus. The biggest problem with using this method is remembering to do the soaking - so much easier to open a can of chickpeas. And then there is the cooking of the chickpeas for an hour before you can even start the recipe in earnest. Do not let these factors deter you from making this. You won't be able to whip up a bowl of hummus at the drop of a hat, but you will have a seriously good hummus for those times that you do plan ahead, possibly wishing to impress company (or just yourself).

I used to make hummus quite often, until the kids started turning their noses up at it. They seemed to prefer the supermarket variety, and even that has fallen from favour recently. Hummus is the perfect food for kids. Not only is the hummus itself good for them, but it encourages lots of dipping with fun things like carrot and celery sticks, colourful sweet peppers, rice crackers and pita bread triangles.

It is official - this hummus was really creamy and really smooth. Much smoother than any hummus I have made before. Prior to this, I was always adding more oil and lemon juice to try and get it to the desired consistency, without much success. I can only assume that soaking the chickpeas made all the difference. Or how the ingredients are added the ingredients to the food processor helps, too. Whatever the reason, this hummus was delicious.

The Creamiest Hummus

1/2 cup dried chickpeas
1/8 t. baking soda
3 T. fresh lemon juice
1/4 c. cooking water from the chickpeas
4 T. tahini, stirred well
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small clove garlic, minced (optional)
1/2 t. sea salt
1/4 t. ground cumin
Pinch cayenne
1 T. fresh parsley or cilantro, minced

1. Place the dry chickpeas in a large bowl. Cover with 1 litre of water, and soak overnight in the fridge. Drain. In a large saucepan, bring the soaked chickpeas, baking soda, and a fresh litre of water to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for about 1 hour. Reserve 1/4 cup of cooking water from the chickpeas before draining. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and the reserved cooking water. In another small bowl, thoroughly combine the tahini and 2 T. of olive oil.
3. Place the chickpeas in the work bowl of a food processor. Remove 1-2 tablespoons of chickpeas for garnish; set aside. Add the garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne to the food processor and process until the almost fully ground, scraping down the bowl as you go.
4. With the machine running, add the lemon juice mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube and continue to process for about 1 minute, until the mixture is really smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. With the machine running, add the oil/tahini mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube. Process until the hummus is very smooth and creamy.
5. Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the reserved chickpeas and parsley. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and serve.

*For my hummus yesterday, I omitted the garlic (only because I was out of fresh garlic), and the flavour was still great.