Dish. A New Kind of Cookhouse

Across from Slegg Lumber in the industrial section of Sidney is Dish. Billing itself as a cookhouse and diner, Dish is run by Geoff Pinch and Chris Gurr, two highly skilled chefs that are riffing on diner and comfort food classics.

You won't find anything prefab at Dish. All baking is done in-house - the weekend cinnamon buns slathered with cream cheese icing are worth the trek itself - as are the corned beef and sausages. The ribs are smoked too, and all sauces, dips, marinades and preserves are the chefs' own recipes. This is a new kind of diner deliciousness.

I've made the trek for weekend breakfast where specials such as banana pancakes and eggs entice at $5.00, but hearty rib-eye steak and eggs, or the many bennys and French toast varieties on offer, are just as fine. And hearty.

I popped in for lunch with a friend last Friday, and settled in for some of Dish's specialties.

That cafe classic, cream of broccoli soup, is served here with a homemade broth and fresh broccoli with just a bit of cream to round it out. The thick cut onions rings to accompany had a hot crispy batter revealing juicy and slightly caramelized rings within.

A crunchy julienned pear slaw held up bbq ribs, first smoked and then slathered with the house sauce, delicately sweet and tangy. The meat fell off the bone with very little coaxing.

On the left, a potato croquette stuffed with blue cheese was topped with a slice of house sausage, all smothered in an onion gravy.
Let's take a closer look, shall we?
Did someone say diet? I thought not.

Next up, the crispy chicken burger, one of four on the menu, sees bacon, cheddar, lettuce and tomato with a garlic-chilie mayo.

I don't know how they do their frying but it must be done quick and hot because the coating on the chicken was absolutely crisp and perfect, revealing juicy chicken meat. And the toasted bun was greatly appreciated.

And for dessert, mini cones of pistachio ice cream drizzled with caramel sauce and crushed nuts.
Thanks, guys! See you soon.

Recent Saanich Farm Finds

Friday's foray into the Saanich farmlands was and is always reassuring. Just knowing that our Island's pioneer farmers have not thrown in the towel but have found new energy and inspiration to continue to grow wonderful food, has me excited for the produce to come.

Michell Farms, set on 400 acres, and which I have spoken about before, still has winter onions, squash, cabbage, potatoes, apples and sweet, sweet carrots, and their surrounding fields are being prepared for planting.

The real score on Friday was a 4-lb. bag of locally grown and milled flour. Grown by the nearby Doehnel family, I had purchased the wheat in berry form last year, and it made wonderful wild mushroom "risotto." The flour is sold in whole wheat or white form, and I tried the white flour in a no-knead bread, the kind that Mark Bittman made famous a few years back.

The resulting bread had a golden colour and sweeter almost malty aroma and flavour, with a denser crumb than what I achieved with my usual standby, Rogers unbleached flour. The protein count in the Snowbird flour is 11.9 percent - if that means anything to you, or if it means anything to the overall product. I'm a neophyte with protein/gluten analysis.

I will make the bread again, using half Snowbird and half Rogers to see if there is any difference. Regardless, buying local wheat is just another feather in our local and sustainable cap.

The latest on-farm market to open to the public is Vantreight Farms, a long time farming family (since 1884).

For the last three years, they have been developing programs on their farm and with other organizations to address environmental and local food security issues.
The backdrop of the small stand are acres of almost-open tulips that will be offered on a u-pick basis. I can hardly wait!

According to a print-out given to fans, Vantreight has expanded their food crops and acreage from five varieties on 50-60 acres which were sold primarily to wholesalers, to over 60 varieties of fruits and vegetables grown in both greenhouses and fields, totaling over 100 acres of food production! Further expansion is planned for 2011. (They own over 400 acres).

Endive and mizuna.

Collard greens, exotic carrots and baby bok choy, with Babe's Honey to round out that local feeling.

It's going to be a healthy 2010.

I'm sure they'll have to expand that little farm stand soon. Other plans for the farm include organic certification for 6.5 acres with more in the future. And an incredible initiative to create heat and energy through anaerobic digestion of organic matter. The bio digesters will allow Vantreight to grow food year-round in their greenhouses as well as provide the community with 'green energy.' (Think nearby Saanich Peninsula Hospital). This is nothing short of awesome.

Vantreight Farms have come a long way from being known for their daffodils. But still, who can resist a couple of freshly picked bunches of the yellow flowers. A sure sign spring is here.

Pecan Pie

I nailed it!

After years of tinkering with this dough and that filling, I've struck recipe gold. Hah!

The dough stayed fluted - in its rustic way - and the filling set up nicely. Pastry, flakey.

What more could you ask for? Um, the recipe?

The Pastry

Makes 2 - 9" pies

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

200 gr. (7 0z.) soft, unsalted butter cut into cubes

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup, more or less, ice water

Combine flour, salt and butter in a medium bowl. Work the butter into the flour and salt with your hands until you achieve a crumbly texture. Stir in the egg yolk.

Sprinkle water over the mixture and toss with a fork until the dough gathers together easily into a ball.

Divide into two equal size pieces, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. Before rolling out, let dough come up to room temperature. Roll out over a flour dusted board. Place in pie plate. Flute the edges and refrigerate while you make the pie filling.

Pecan Pie Filling

Enough for one pie

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup light syrup

2 T. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

2 1/4 cup shelled pecan halves and pieces (mix it up a bit!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk until combined the first six ingredients. Fold in the pecans until thoroughly coated. Pour into the pie shell.

Bake until set, about one hour.

Cool. Eat.

Rites of Passage

I'm still on the search for the perfect pizza pie crust. Something that doesn't take hours to rise and re-rise, shape and then rise again. I tried out the basic dough recipe from Jamie Oliver's first cookbook The Naked Chef. The recipe can go from bread to buns, focaccia to pizza. It's not as silky as other recipes that require multiple risings so I added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the mix before kneading. It is quick - only 40 minutes or until doubled in size. Cut into 4 equal shapes. I froze two and the other two I formed into pizzas.

Having just received the new River Cafe Classic Italian cookbook, I wanted to make something from it as an ode to the founder of the River Cafe Rose Gray, who passed away in February.

Potato and rosemary pizza has been a personal favourite of mine and when I saw it in the book it was a shoe-in. I liked the addition of capers requested in the recipe for a bit of tang.

I laid down a bit of tomato sauce first. I had some leftover vodka sauce from the night before so I reduced it as thick as possible. Then came layers of sliced cooked potato alternated with mozzarella. Chopped fresh rosemary and the flowers, capers and good olive oil drizzled on top and on the outer crust.

Next came an improvisation. Spinach tossed with sauteed garlic, feta cheese, an egg and dried oregano. I topped that with sauteed shallot, sauteed mushrooms, sliced fresh jalapenos and mozzarella. A good drizzle of olive oil. It's kind of a spanakopita kicked up a notch.

475 degree oven on a pizza stone. Get a pizza stone. The dough turned out big and doughy and I think thin is the way to go. Next time, I'll try the River Cafe's recipes for Tuscan pizza dough that clocks in at a two hour rise.

Regardless, the pizzas were both fantastic!
Oooh baby!

For antipasti, the side by side recipes from the River Cafe book, Peperonata ( stewed peppers) and Fagiolini con Prezzemolo (green beans with parsley and vinegar) provided colour, sweetness and snap. The slow cooked peppers become jam-like and the snappy green beans are tossed at the last minute with garlic, olive oil and red wine vinegar with chopped flat leaf parsley.

A lovely accompaniment to pizza either before or during. Here's to you Rose Gray for so much inspiration and so many great recipes.

Roasted Onions

I'm a sucker for good looking produce. When I'm out at Michell Farms in Saanich I can't resist the boxes and bags of vegetables grown on their vast acreage. But often with impulse bulk buying comes the realization that you have a surplus of food that is in need of being used up. Now.So, we'll be eating onions over the next few days. To use up the bulk of the surplus, roasting is efficient.

Peel the onions and cut them in half. There will be tears. Put them in a large bowl, add a good glug of olive oil, sea salt, freshly cracked pepper and fresh thyme leaves, making sure the onions are evenly coated.

Lay the onions face down on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.Flip the onions over and take a good look at that lovely caramelization. These beauties make a wonderful accompaniment to roasted meats but I've decided to make soup.
Add the onions to a big soup pot along with 7 cups of roasted chicken stock and a bay leaf.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 40 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Remove the bay leaf and use an immersion blender to blend the onions until smooth.
Serve with a drizzle of cream and garlicky croutons.
Or a cheese crouton. Use any cheese you like. Gruyere or emmental would be great but even the goat feta I had on hand worked just fine.
I used 14 onions total to 7 cups of stock. You can elaborate on this soup by roasting some fall apples with the onions. Or use this as a springboard for your own imagination.

The New Normal?

Obesity has reared its overstuffed head in the produce department. I picked up these hefty weights at my local supermarket this afternoon.

Let's get up close and personal shall we? We're all friends here.

OMG, almost six inches at the waistline? Hello!

Below, a healthy regular size jalapeno next to its obese counterpart.

Seriously girlfriend, this is getting out of hand!

Kick-Ass Chai

Spring cleaning. My tiny kitchen is in dire need of a seasonal shakedown. The walls, the ceiling, the oversized platters and bowls, the whisks, mashers and tongs, anything hanging around my stove. With no ventilation save two kitchen windows, my chilie-charring, broiling, searing, roasting, baking, blow torching, boiling and frying take their toll.

I've got the rubber gloves, the sponges and the green cleaning products but what really gets the job done is this broad fueled with a big pot of kick-ass chai.

Things will be shiny and sparkling in no time!

Kick-Ass Chai

Can be doubled or tripled depending on the amount of cleaning to be done!

For every 10 oz. of water, add the following:

3 whole cloves

4 green cardamon pods

4 whole black peppercorns

1/2 stick cinnamon

1 slice ginger root

Boil for 15 - 20 minutes, then add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of loose black tea (depending on how strong you like it). Boil another 5 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup of cold milk and bring back to boil. When it just begins to boil, remove from heat, strain and add honey to taste.

It's good for you and gets the job done!

Note: For extra kick, let the mixture steep before straining.

Pork Shank Redemption

Let's get ready to rumble!Pork shanks, when you can procure them, deliver rich and delicious flavours after a bout of slow cooking. I've had them only twice before, in restaurants, and was intrigued enough to give them a try at home.

I removed the tough outer skin and left most of the revealed fat intact. Salt and pepper, and a good searing like I would any tough piece of meat is essential before a braise.

For inspiration, I looked to India and the cookbook Vij's by Vancouver's Vikram Vij. His recipe for spice-encrusted pork uses pureed onions and tomatoes as the base with garlic, cumin, ginger, turmeric, cayenne and garam masala providing the spice notes.

I tucked the shanks into the sauce, covered and braised in the oven for a few hours, turning the shanks occasionally.

Basmati rice and pappadums were a given accessory for the meal, but for greens I decided to give radish tops a whirl.

Having been wintered over, they've been staring at me from the kitchen window, lush and healthy. And yes, they are edible.

Washed and trimmed, and pretty good raw, I thought they would be best quickly sauteed and finished with a bit of fragrant olive oil and a hit with salt. Its flavour profile is slightly peppery and bitter, and I'm thinking next time, I'll sub the greens for spinach with paneer cheese.

The two shanks fed three people easily.
I sliced the meat from the bone, served with some of the sauce, the greens, rice and pappadums.

Pork shanks redeemed.

Tortilla Soup

Like the beet and cabbage borschts of Eastern Europe and the minestrones of Italy, Mexico's tortilla soup is a simple nourishing broth made from readily available ingredients. Tomatoes, chilies, onions, and chicken broth along with the ubiquitous tortilla, all play a starring role with a herbal hit of either cilantro or epazote, that pungent herb commonly added to bean dishes.

Leftover tortillas are first cut into matchstick pieces, fried and drained. Alternatively, dried tortillas can just be snapped into manageable pieces, fried or not.

A lone epazote (wormseed) plant has wintered over in my garden, and its time had come to be put to use. Epazote's pungent aroma has been compared to petroleum and citrus, but I think it smells just like epazote. It grows easily and reseeds itself. I recommend anyone with a taste for Mexican cooking, trying planting some . You can use it in quesadillas, bean dishes and some moles - but I digress.

Ripe tomatoes or a quality canned variety are blended with white onion and garlic, and as with most Mexican recipes, the blended ingredients are then fried in a small amount of oil or lard to cook out any raw taste and to concentrate flavours.

Chicken stock is added, and I should note here, you can glean extra depth by using a roasted chicken stock or by roasting the tomatoes first.

While the soup is simmering with the added sprigs of epazote or cilantro, condiments are prepared to add to the soup before serving - and at table - should a person require extra heat or other flavour enhancement.

Commonly seen ingredients are avocado, chilie and a crumbly cheese, but lime wedges, crema, cilantro, chopped fresh chilies and even chicharron might be brought to the table for those who really want to guild the lily. Please note: there are NO corn niblets!

The version I made uses fried slivers of chilie pasilla. Also known as chilie negro, the chilie is split down the side with stem, veins and seeds removed. For those that don't know, the veins of fresh or dried chilies contain just as much heat as the seeds.

I like to use scissors to snip the chilie into julienne pieces. Fry quickly in hot oil and drain. Set aside.
If you don't have access to Mexican cheeses such as queso fresco or anejo, you can substitute feta or even grated parmesan. I like using feta. Lined up for action we have chopped jalapenos, crema, lime, feta, fried chilie pasilla and avocado to be cubed before serving.

Taste the broth, adding salt to taste. Remove the herb sprigs before serving.

To serve, stack tortilla strips and crumbled cheese in the middle of each bowl. Ladle the broth into the bowls. Top with cubed avocado, chilie pasilla and swirl in some crema (or whipped sour cream or creme fraiche).

The tortilla strips absorb the broth but still have some crunch, the avocado and the crema add richness, and the crispy chilie pasilla provide an earthy sweet note. You and your guests can add extras as you deem fit but really, sometimes less is more.

Buen provecho!

ETA: For anyone interested in growing epazote, seeds are available locally through Dig This or Westcoast Seeds.

I survived Momofuku's Crack Pie

It's all your fault Momofuku!

Manhattan's Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar has taken the U.S. by the sweet tooth with Crack Pie, a cheeky name given to their riff on the Chess pie, a simple but intensely sugary dessert of butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla. They sell up to 90 of these pies a day, and at $44. each!! I thought it bold that the article in the LA Times by Rene Lynch links to the actual recipe (below), encouraging anyone to make crack at home.

So I did. (I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of the bag of milk powder though, but I'll think of something).

What makes this pie recipe a designer drug is the crust. An oatmeal cookie dough first baked and then crumbled to create a sticky crust with the addition of butter and more sugar.

For those of you without the luxury of a food processor, I used my bare hands to break up the crumbs to the right consistency.
No fluting or crimping just press the crust into the pie plate. A rustic beauty. The pie filling of egg yolks, butter and more sugar gets a hit of vanilla for interest, and looks very much like apple sauce.

The baked edges do get dark but not to worry.
As the article recommends, wait until the pie cools down a bit before you dig in with a spoon. It's like the most decadently gooey butter tart ever. The crust is a chewy, crispy wonder and at one point I could have devoured just the crust. It is very, very hard to stop eating this.

Since the recipe yields two pies, the one left was refrigerated overnight where it firmed up. That morning, I pleaded with my husband to take it to work. Does that make me a dealer?