You may know these as Matrimonial Squares. I have always known them as Date Squares. Regardless what they are called, they are tasty. Growing up, Date Squares were pretty much a staple in our household. They are a good, wholesome square made with a tasty date mixture sandwiched between two layers of a rolled oats, flour, and butter mixture. While these squares can be made with margarine, they are ever so much better when made with butter! I add a touch of orange rind to my recipe as it gives them a nice tangy taste.
Date Squares
Date Squares
Ingredients:
12 oz dates, chopped 1 cup boiling water 3 tbsp boiling orange juice 3 tbsp brown sugar 1½ tsp vanilla 3/4 tsp almond flavouring
1⅔ cups rolled oats (not instant) 1 cup + 2 tbsp flour 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1 tsp baking soda ¼ tsp salt Scant 1 tbsp grated orange rind 1 cup cold butter
Method:
Assemble ingredients.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 9” square pan with parchment paper.
In saucepan, combine dates, boiling water and orange juice, and brown sugar. Let stand 15 minutes.
Over medium-low heat, bring date mixture to a boil and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens, about 3-5 minutes. If mixture thickens too fast, add a couple of tablespoons of water, one tablespoon at a time.
Remove from heat and add vanilla and almond flavouring. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, soda, salt, and grated orange rind.
Cut, or grate, in the cold butter until mixture becomes coarse crumbs.
Press between a scant ⅔ of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the slightly cooled date mixture over crumb base. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over date filling.
Bake until crumbs are golden, about 25 – 30 minutes.
Let cool completely in pan on wire rack. Remove from pan and cut into squares.
Date Squares are a wholesome dessert with a date filling sandwiched between a sweet and buttery oatmeal crumb base and topping
Course Dessert
Keyword Date Squares, squares
My Island Bistro KitchenMy Island Bistro Kitchen
Ingredients
12ozdates, chopped
1cupboiling water
3tbspboiling orange juice
3tbspbrown sugar
1½tspvanilla
¾tspalmond flavouring
1⅔cupsrolled oats (not instant)
1cup+ 2 tbsp flour
1cupbrown sugar, packed
1tspbaking soda
¼tspsalt
Scant 1 tbsp grated orange rind
1cupcold butter
Instructions
Assemble ingredients.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 9” square pan with parchment paper.
In saucepan, combine dates, boiling water and orange juice, and brown sugar. Let stand 15 minutes. Over medium-low heat, bring date mixture to a boil and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens, about 3-5 minutes. If mixture thickens too fast, add a couple of tablespoons of water, one at a time. Remove from heat and add vanilla and almond flavouring. Let cool for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, soda, salt, and grated orange rind. Cut, or grate, in the cold butter until mixture becomes coarse crumbs.
Press a scant ⅔ of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the cooled date mixture over crumb base. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over date filling.
Bake until crumbs are golden, about 25-30 minutes.
Let cool completely in pan on wire rack. Remove from pan and cut into squares.
Recipe Notes
Yield: One 9x9 pan of squares
[Copyright My Island Bistro Kitchen]
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Old-fashioned Oatcakes served with Brie and J.J. Stewart’s Cranberry Champagne and Crystalized Ginger Preserves
Oatcakes are very versatile and take such basic, simple ingredients. A cross between a cookie and a cracker, they are savory bites and are not overly sweet. In fact, I would describe these artisan cookies/crackers as having a nice short, crisp texture. Scottish in origin, oatcakes probably made their debut in Canada when they arrived along with Scottish immigrants. Continue reading Old-Fashioned Scottish Oatcakes→
When I have ham, I traditionally boil it and add all the veggies to the same pot in the last 30-40 minutes and let them cook in the broth. You can find my recipe for this comfort food meal here.
Baked Glazed Ham
However, sometimes, I like to make it a bit more special by baking and glazing the ham. Hams are very economical when bought on sale and they yield a good amount of meat if you are serving a crowd or wanting leftovers — I love leftovers because it means a few days of little meal prep!
Baked Glazed Ham
For this baked glazed ham, I started out with a cured ham (bone in). I scored the surface of the ham in a diamond pattern, cutting in between 1/8″ and 1/4″. At the intersection of each diamond, I inserted a whole clove.
The oven was preheated to 325F and the large roaster was lined with tin foil to make clean up easier. The ham was placed on the roaster’s wire rack. I then poured 1 1/2 cups of root beer into the roaster, ensuring that the ham was not sitting in the root beer.
I brushed a very thin, light coating of the sweet and tasty glaze on the ham (recipe follows).
The cover was placed on the roaster and the baking began as the steam from the root beer infused the ham with additional flavor as it baked. About 50 minutes before I estimated the ham to be baked, I applied a thicker coating of the glaze, making sure it penetrated into the ham meat through the scored lines and I returned the ham to the oven to continue baking. About 25 minutes later, I reapplied the glaze. When the ham was cooked, I removed it from the oven and let it rest about 15 minutes before carving it. This makes it much easier to carve clean slices that stay whole.
The ham was served with scalloped potatoes and a medley of stir-fried colorful vegetables.
Baked Glazed Ham Served with Scalloped Potatoes and Stir-fry Vegetable Medley
[Printable recipe follows at end of posting]
Glaze for Baked Ham
Ingredients:
1/4 cup orange juice 1 tbsp honey 3/4 tbsp mustard 1 tbsp pineapple juice 2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar 1/2 tbsp cornstarch 1/4 tsp ginger
Method:
Assemble ingredients.
Combine brown sugar and cornstarch together. Add all remaining ingredients into a small saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar-cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.
Brush very lightly over uncooked ham. About 50 minutes before ham is estimated to be baked, apply a thicker coat of the glaze to the ham, ensuring it penetrates into the diagonal cuts in the surface of the ham. About 25 minutes later, apply another coat of the glaze and return to oven to finish baking. Allow ham to rest for about 15 minutes before carving.
Take your baked ham to the next level with this easy-to-make sweet glaze
Course Main Course
Cuisine Canadian
Keyword baked glazed ham
My Island Bistro KitchenMy Island Bistro Kitchen
Ingredients
¼cuporange juice
1tbsphoney
¾tbspmustard
1tbsppineapple juice
2½tbspbrown sugar
½tbspcornstarch
¼tspginger
Instructions
Assemble ingredients.
Combine brown sugar and cornstarch together. Add all remaining ingredients into a small saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar-cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.
Brush very lightly over uncooked ham. About 50 minutes before ham is estimated to be baked, apply a thicker coat of the glaze to the ham, ensuring it penetrates into the diagonal cuts in the surface of the ham. About 25 minutes later, apply another coat of the glaze and return to oven to finish baking. Allow ham to rest for about 15 minutes before carving.
There is nothing that says pampering more than breakfast in bed! In fact, there doesn’t have to be a special occasion to serve a special someone a breakfast tray. And, it doesn’t have to be overly fancy. Toast or a croissant along with fresh orange juice and coffee will somehow seem much more special when served on a pretty tray in bed.
Today, however, because it is Easter and eggs are synonymous with the season, I prepared baked eggs as the main component for the breakfast tray. A recipe I often use is the one I shared in the story last summer about the Burns Poultry Farm. To add some color to the baked eggs, today I added some grated cheddar cheese, sliced cherry tomatoes, onion, and green pepper.
Coffee always tastes more special when served in a fancy cup and saucer. A single-serving sized coffee butler keeps the replenishment coffee hot.
Colorful spring tulips were specially selected to match the entrée. Pretty good match, I’d say!
Add some fresh fruit and toast and the breakfast was complete. A great way to start someone’s day!
Happy Easter!
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It has been awhile since I have shared a tablesetting so I thought Easter would be a good opportunity to show you how I have designed my Easter tablescape this year.
I have opted to use my formal china for this setting. The pink and lavender floral design fits in with the traditional shades of Easter. I have charger plates in various colors for different seasons and events. This year, I am using a soft shade of pink that compliments the china well. This, of course, sets the color scheme for the tablescape.
For the tablescape, I am using a couple of squares of faux grass as the base. I have added a few small Easter ornaments and sprinkled some decorative Easter eggs here and there.
A number of years ago, I did a lot of decorative painting and painted designs on these wooden eggs.
I like to bring these eggs out every year and incorporate them into my Easter decorating.
At the head of the tablescape, I took a china bunny from my collection and presented her on a pedestal cake plate surrounded by Easter eggs. She commands the table, don’t you think! An easy-peasy tablescape.
Because the tablescape itself is somewhat busy, I have kept each place setting relatively simple so as not to compete with the table’s focal point.
This tablescape was quick and easy to pull together and, best of all, cost nothing since it was constructed using materials I already had. I am a big proponent of repurposing decorations from my existing seasonal collections of ornaments.
The other great thing about this tablescape is that, with no real flowers involved, it can be prepared several days in advance and enjoyed in the lead-up to Easter instead of for just a day or two. While I do love my floral arrangements, it’s not always necessary that they be in every tablescape. Also, this tablescape works well if any guests have scent allergies that can be worsened by the presence of scented floral arrangements.
So, there we have it….my Easter dinner table for 2014.
What are the elements you usually incorporate into an Easter tablesetting?
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Even though Easter is late this year, we still have a lot of snow on PEI. Last week’s moderate temperatures (and no new snow, thankfully) saw the snow settling and starting to melt away. However, we still have plenty in stock!
After such a long, arduous winter, I am so ready for spring and some color other than white snow. My Easter Afternoon Tea this year has yellow as its theme color. I have this Gibsons (England) vintage teapot that I have been wanting to use for a long time and its colors seem to suggest a yellow theme. I like its oval, elongated shape. I also have my Easter tablecloth square with yellow chicks and purple eggs and flowers so yellow it is with some hints of purple.
Gibsons Vintage Teapot
I have a little growing collection of teacups and saucers. I am featuring a couple of newer acquisitions in this afternoon tea, both of them spring-themed.
The first is my daffodil cup and saucer manufactured by the Rosina China Co. Ltd. in England. I love the shape and floral design on this cup including the design carried through to the inside of the cup.
The second cup and saucer features little purple violets (one of my all-time favorite flowers) with yellow accent flowers. It’s a Royal Albert china cup and saucer and also carries the floral design to the inside of the cup.
My tea selection today from my wee table-sized tea box is Bentley’s Lemon, Honey & Chamomile Herbal Tea.
Yes, even the tea has a yellow cast to it, in keeping with today’s yellow color scheme!
One of my grandmothers gave me this [now vintage] Withernsea England Eastgate Pottery vase when I wasn’t very old. It’s now part of my Easter collection and today it holds bright yellow and white daffodils for our afternoon tea table.
I have folded plain white napkins into bunny ear shapes for each place setting and added a chocolate to each plate because chocolate is so popular at Easter!
Bunny Ears Napkin Fold
I have prepared three kinds of sandwiches for this afternoon’s tea. The first is a triple-decker sandwich with egg filling on potato and green onion bread. The second is honey glazed ham sandwiched between slices of Chia bread. And, the third is a cucumber sandwich on flax bread.
I like to use different breads on my sandwich trays, not only for their unique flavors and how well they enhance the fillings I have chosen, but also for their appearance.
The old question is …. are crusts removed or left on? I think this is really a matter of preference and also how dark the crusts are. I prefer to remove them because I think the sandwiches plate more attractively if the crusts are removed. I save the crusts and make them into crumbs to use for other purposes such as the stuffing for a roasted turkey as I am not one to waste food.
Even though I have a featured dessert for my Easter afternoon tea, I have included a selection of some sweets on the tiered server.
A closer peek? Raspberry Jam Squares, spring- and Easter-shaped shortbread, and chocolate peanut butter balls.
These are the jam squares I featured in my story recently about JJ Stewart Foods and Soda Company. You can get the recipe here.
Raspberry Jam Squares
So, about that featured dessert ……..
I like decorating cakes so I made a vanilla cake, sandwiched it together with lemon filling (keeping the yellow theme going!), iced it in the basket weave design, and decorated it with sugar Easter lilies that I made with royal icing (yes, they are tedious to make and extremely fragile).
Whenever possible, I like to present my decorated cakes on pedestal plates as it gives them more prominence and elegance.
I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into my Easter afternoon tea.
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My family has a long history of planting Vesey’s seeds. I well remember my grandmother receiving, by mail, the white envelope bearing the Vesey’s seed catalogue.
She would spend many an hour perusing the catalogue, marking an “x” beside the seeds she planned to order and turning down the relevant pages.
Vesey’s Seed Catalogues Throughout the Years
Now, this might not seem strange to you but what is ironic about it is that this woman never ordered a different variety of beans, peas, lettuce, or any other seed from one year to the next! Nevertheless, she sure enjoyed those little catalogues (particularly when they started to have photographs in them) and, each spring, she would mail off her seed order (on an order form much like the one in the photo below) and, a few weeks later, the much anticipated small white box of seeds would arrive in the mail from Vesey’s in York, PEI.
Vesey’s Seed Catalogue Order Form
Today, we either order the seeds online, by phone, mail or, for many of us Islanders, we simply drive to the Vesey’s store to pick up the seeds. However, in my grandmother’s day, this would have been about an hour’s drive from her house and her way of doing much business was by regular postal service.
Vesey’s Seeds, York, PEI
Planting a garden was of particular importance to my grandmother’s generation because the produce from the garden was what sustained a family through much of the year. In-season, families would enjoy fresh produce from their gardens but they also ate from the gardens for the rest of the year, too. Cucumbers were grown for pickles; beets would be canned; parsnips, onions, and carrots were stored in cold cellars for use over the winter. Pumpkins and squash joined them and were used for jams and pies through the long, cold winter months. You see, in my grandmother’s time, there were no big supermarkets with imported produce and, as far as farmers markets were concerned, they weren’t an item in rural PEI because most everyone had their own vegetable gardens in which they grew the produce they needed.
Once the frost was out of the ground in June, out would come the Vesey’s box of seeds and the planting process would begin. My grandmother’s garden was always large. She and my grandfather would debate over the straightness of the drills because, if they weren’t in proper line, people driving by would think they didn’t know how to plant a garden! And, she wanted to make sure the garden looked full and lush because no one wanted to be known for having a “poor” garden. That’s why she relied on Vesey’s seeds that she trusted to produce a good garden. I think my grandmother got great pleasure out of tending her garden and harvesting and processing its products. Today, we plant a smaller garden but still use Vesey’s seeds because we know we can trust them as they have been tested to ensure they will grow in PEI’s short growing season.
This year marks the 75th Anniversary that Vesey’s has been in business. I recently sat down with Heidi Carmichael, horticulturalist at Vesey’s, to talk about the seed company’s operation. Heidi has been with the company for five years and supervises the seeds that are brought in for trials and monitors how well they do in the vegetable trials. Every seed that appears in Vesey’s catalogue has been grown in a trial plot at Vesey’s to ensure it will grow in our Island climate.
Vesey’s Seeds was started in 1939 by Arthur Vesey (now deceased). The current owner, Bev Simpson, began working with Mr. Vesey when Bev was just 16 years of age. Today, he is joined by a son and daughter who also work at Vesey’s, a company known for its excellent seed quality products, loyalty to customers, and good customer service.
Vesey’s seeds come from all over the world. However, before a seed variety will be offered for sale, it will be grown and tested in Vesey’s trial plots, usually over a couple of years so the seeds can be tested over different summers with different growing conditions. It is important that imported seeds pass the germination test as well as a purity test for no diseases or weeds. The company has two acres of trial plots for regular vegetable seeds and one acre for hot field crops like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. It’s not uncommon for 90-100 tomato varieties to be under trial at the same time.
Both new and existing varieties of seeds in the annual Vesey’s seed catalogue get tested every year. Today, Vesey’s markets over 700 varieties of seeds and some are not vegetables that you might think would grow in cool Maritime climates, like avocados and watercress, for example.
Vesey’s sell both conventional as well as organic seeds to respond to the growing demand for organic products. Heidi tells me that, each year, Vesey’s adds more organic seeds to their offerings.
A long-time mail order company, I asked Heidi if the popularity of online shopping in recent years has impacted their operations. She says internet sales have grown and, while the paper copies of the catalogues still remain popular, they are seeing more web orders for seeds. In fact, they ship their seeds all over North America and shipping orders make up the majority of their sales.
A Small Sample of the Seed Selection at Vesey’s Store in York, PEI
Seventy-five years is a significant milestone in any company’s business. I asked Heidi to what Vesey’s attributes their ongoing success and longevity. She believes, first and foremost, it is Vesey’s customer service. Second, the availability of good quality land to test seeds to ensure that what they offer for sale will actually grow in our climate. Third, the long-time experience of seed-testing and growing means gardeners can trust that Vesey’s seeds are credible. Fourth, the company has carefully and intentionally grown and kept up with the times. As Heidi says, Vesey’s is “not just seeds” – you can buy everything you need to garden at Vesey’s because they have different departments like rototillers and lawn tractors, landscaping needs, and flowers and bulbs, for example.
Heidi says Vesey’s is continually searching out new vegetable and seed varieties and they remain current on what customers are looking for. For example, as Canada becomes more culturally diverse, Vesey’s is looking at the foods immigrants to Canada are likely to be seeking. This year, the company is currently testing vegetable seeds like Chinese greens because there are a number of Asian immigrants in the country.
Something that Vesey’s has started doing is putting together convenient theme garden packages of seeds. For example, they offer a salsa seed package that will contain the seeds you need to grow all the vegetables and herbs for making salsa. This makes it easier for the customer who doesn’t have to go in search of individual seed packages and put together their own seed package combinations. Vesey’s also offers a tomato-themed seed package that will contain a collection of several different kinds of tomatoes from early to late varieties, including beefsteak, plum, and cherry tomatoes.
Before we ended our chat, I asked Heidi if she could offer some advice for the first-time gardener thinking about starting his or her own garden. Here are her tips:
1) Get a soil sample analysis. Take a small sample (about 1½ cups) of your garden soil to a government-run lab that will do a soil analysis for you. There is usually a nominal fee involved but the analysis will tell you what you need to add to your soil for nutrients. For example, it may indicate you need to add lime and/or peat moss to make more acidic nitrogen to help your plants grow better.
2) Start with a small plot so it won’t be overwhelming and be sure you are up for the challenge and have the time to weed, water, and maintain the garden.
3) Plant the garden close to your kitchen for convenience and also for ease of regular watering purposes. If your garden is planted too far from your kitchen, it will make it more of a challenge to tend to it and to harvest and use your produce. Make sure the garden is planted in full sun.
4) Grow what you like to eat and know that you will use. Plant some seeds that will quickly yield produce, such as greens like spinach, so you’ll see some quick results. Tomatoes and peppers are good suggestions, too, because they can be eaten on their own as well as used in many recipes. Herbs are also good for first-time gardeners because they are easy to grow and are very versatile in their usage and can be dried for winter use.
5) If space is limited, consider growing pole beans and trellised cucumbers and beans as this will leave more ground space to grow other vegetable varieties.
Vesey’s trial plots are located behind their main building in York, PEI, and are open to the public. Heidi tells me each plot is marked to indicate what is being grown so you will know what seeds Vesey’s is currently testing and that may make their way into a future catalogue. In case you are wondering what happens to the produce from the trial plots, Vesey’s donates it to the local food bank.
When you are visiting the trial gardens during peak growing season, be sure to also stop by “Arthur’s Memorial Garden”, a garden established in honor of the man who began the seed company 75 years ago.
As the old saying goes, if you want to be really sure where your food comes from, grow your own produce. It’s been a long, cold, brutal winter in the Atlantic Provinces this year and most — particularly gardeners — are yearning to see some plant growth. It may still be a while before any of us can dig around in our gardens or see any locally-grown produce; however, it is not too soon to start planning our vegetable gardens and making our seed selections. So, while blizzards may still be hitting Eastern Canada when the calendar tells us it is spring, why not head over to the Vesey’s website and browse through the colorful photographs of garden-fresh vegetables and dream of summer gardens and fresh produce.
My thanks to Vesey’s Seeds and, especially to their horticulturalist, Heidi Carmichael, for taking time out of busy days to talk with me about gardening.
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today.
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Today is National Tartan Day. Tartan Day is celebrated each year on April 6th which coincides with the signing of the Scottish Declaration of Independence — the Declaration of Arbroath — in 1320.It is a day of observance to recognize and celebrate the Scottish heritage and the contributions of the Scots and their descendents to Canada’s history, development, and culture.In Canada, the day first originated in Nova Scotia in the late 1980s and then later spread across the country culminating with it being proclaimed, on October 21, 2010, by the Minister of Canadian Heritage, as an observance day all across Canada.I understand it is also celebrated in several other countries around the world.Tartans are, of course, synonymous with Scottish descendents.Tartan Day has a particular significance on Prince Edward Island because, according to the PEI Government website, people of Scottish descent make up the largest ethnic group in the Province[1].
Canada, as a whole, has the Maple Leaf Tartan as its official tartan which became an official national symbol by ministerial declaration on March 9, 2011. Most provinces also each have their own unique official tartan.The PEI tartan was designed and registered in 1959 by Elizabeth Jean MacLean Reed from Covehead, PEI.Through an official tartan design contest, Mrs. Reed’s tartan was selected and adopted as PEI’s official tartan on June 16, 1960.
Official Prince Edward Island Tartan
The colors of the tartan each represent some aspect of the Island:The overall reddish-brown color signifies the redness of the Island soil; the green portrays the grass and trees; the white represents the whitecaps of the waves that lap our shores, and the yellow is said to stand for the sun[2]. If you have ever had the opportunity to fly in over PEI on a beautiful, clear, sunny day in spring, the landscape of the Island does look like a tartan checkerboard with green fields and trees and the red land. The traditional PEI tartan is a very good depiction of the colors of the Island.
In addition, the Island also has an official dress tartan.
Prince Edward Island Dress Tartan
This tartan was designed by Ben Taylor, Scott MacAulay, Barbara Brown, and John (Jock) Hopkirk.Unveiled on June 25, 1992, the dress tartan is a different design from the official provincial tartan although it maintains the overall reddish-green color scheme.[3] The PEI dress tartan substitutes white blocks for one of the darker colors in the traditional tartan.[4]
I recently spoke with Barbara (Brown) Yorke, one of the designers of the PEI dress tartan, to find out when the dress tartan would be worn. Ms. Yorke tells me that the dress tartan is often worn by highland dancers who favor the lighter color (than traditional tartans which tend to be darker) because the kilts, with matching socks, made of the lighter tartan makes the dark shoes of the dancers stand out.
The following photo shows the comparison of the traditional and dress Prince Edward Island tartans with the dress tartan (on the left-hand side of the photo) being much lighter in color.
Traditional (Right) and Dress (Left) Tartans of Prince Edward Island
My celebration of Tartan Day involves an afternoon tea using, of course, my Prince Edward Island tartan teacups and saucers. My tea selection today is Bentley’s Lemon, Honey & Chamomile Herbal Tea.
On my menu for Tartan Day are egg salad sandwiches with dill, along with fruit cake, coconut roll dates, and Scottish oatcakes, of course, to represent my Scottish heritage.
I am using my small ivory and gold-colored teapot this afternoon since it fits in with the rich tones of the Island tartan.
Let’s take a closer look at the elements on the tea table and the significance they bring to a Tartan Day afternoon tea.
One of my favorite tea sandwiches is the traditional egg filling sandwich which is particularly good flavored with dillweed. The yellow egg salad filling represents the yellow in the tartan. The dill and green grapes depict the green in the tartan.
Scottish Oatcakes seem appropriate for my tea table today along with some fruitcake which, incidentally, has the colors of the Prince Edward Island tartan (you’d almost think I planned that but I didn’t!). I added a couple of coconut roll dates to round out the sweet tier.
I used my small two-tier server today. It’s ideal when I am only serving two courses at afternoon tea and it doesn’t take up much room on a small tea table as I am using today.
And, when it all came together, here’s what my tea table looks like today.
My choice of flowers for the tea table are these bright and colorful tulips, grown on PEI in the Vanco Farm greenhouses in Mount Albion. It has been such a long miserable winter, with blizzard after blizzard for the past four months on the Island, that I need colorful flowers to brighten my life! The colors of these seemed to work with my color scheme for today’s afternoon tea.
I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into how My Island Bistro Kitchen celebrated Tartan Day today. Do you celebrate Tartan Day? What are your traditions for the day?
Happy Tartan Day!
[1] Source:The Government of Prince Edward Island website. http://www.gov.pe.ca/infopei/index.php3?number=1526
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Today, I am sharing a recipe for one of my favorite ways to serve pork – Pork Chops in Mushroom Sauce. It’s very simple and easy to make and uses very few ingredients, none of them uncommon or hard to find. In fact, many cooks likely already have the ingredients in their kitchens. Continue reading Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce→
I am always thrilled when I discover products made on PEI. I recently paid a visit to the small commercial kitchen of J.J. Stewart Foods and Soda Company in Stratford, PEI, where I met with owners and sole employees of the company, Heather and Thom MacMillan.
Under the brand label of J.J. Stewart, the MacMillans are producers and purveyors of a number of fine food products that includes preserves, flavoured mustards, sauces, pickles, salsa, lemonade, sodas and, of course, their signature artisan root beer.
While I was anxious to find out more about the products they make, I was first curious to learn about J.J. Stewart and his connection to the company.
The MacMillans tell me that the J.J. Stewart branding came about because of the root beer they were making. They have been producing their artisan root beer since 2009. When they were searching for a brand name for it, they discovered that Heather’s grandfather, John James Stewart, made and sold root beer in the early 1900s in his general store in Wood Islands, PEI. So, with the lineage and history, it seemed only fitting that their root beer should bear his name.
So, that explains the root beer but what prompted the production of the sauces, preserves, maple mustards, and pickles? The MacMillans have been in the tourism business for many years. They decided it was time to downsize and slow down so they sold their hotel business in Wood Islands and moved to Charlottetown. However, their retirement was short-lived as their lifelong entrepreneurial spirit was still prompting them to do something else. Both like to cook and when the Embers Company in Kinkora, PEI, became available for sale about three years ago, they bought it along with rights to the recipes for specialty food condiments that were already well-known and received on the market. They have continued to produce those items as well as develop, test, and market new items, like Peanut Butter and Cranberry Champagne Jam with Ginger, under the J.J. Stewart label.
The dividing line between mass-produced mustards, preserves, and sauces and those produced by the MacMillans lies in the care and attention to detail that can only come with hand-producing small batch quantities, using high quality ingredients, and adhering to a strict individual quality control process.
Large Cooking Pot inside the J.J. Stewart Kitchen
The difference can also be discerned in the taste and flavour when pure ingredients are used. Wherever possible, the MacMillans use regionally-produced products. Thom says he can actually pinpoint the berry field at Penny’s Farms in Belfast, PEI, where the strawberries are picked for the J.J. Stewart Strawberry Preserves! The berries for their blueberry products come from Wyman’s near Morell and the cranberries and raspberries are locally sourced as well. Cucumbers for their mustard pickles come from local roadside farm stands which offer the freshest of garden vegetables. The maple syrup comes from Acadian Maple Products in nearby Nova Scotia. J.J. Stewart products have become synonymous with quality so much so that the MacMillans tell me that people buy their preserves by the case in the summer and their freshly-made mustard pickles are a fall favourite which customers also buy by the case to have as their winter supply.
Like any food product produced and marketed for sale on PEI, the MacMillans are subject to food regulation and provincial inspection processes to ensure their products are safe for the market.
Bottles of Dill and Chardonnay Maple Mustard Waiting to be Labeled
The artisan foods produced by the MacMillans are a perfect blend of modern and traditional fare. Under the J.J. Stewart label that bears his picture, look for modern products like blueberry salsa and blueberry barbeque sauce and a number of flavoured mustards along with old favorites like mustard pickles and raspberry and strawberry preserves.
With distinctive flavour pairings like Dill and Chardonnay Maple Mustard and Wild Blueberry Sauce with Grand Marnier, for example, the J.J. Stewart line of products brings together the best flavour combinations. J.J. Stewart products are both delicious and very versatile. Whether used independently on their own as they are or incorporated as an ingredient into a recipe, these quality products are palette pleasers.
Over the next while, follow my blog postings as I use a number of their products in different recipes.
I am sure J.J. Stewart would have been happy to sell these products in his general store and he would, no doubt, be both thrilled and proud to know that his descendents are carrying on the tradition of producing artisanal root beer and other tasty products. The J.J. Stewart speciality item products are available in select locations in the Maritimes. For example, they can be purchased at the PEI Co. Store in Charlottetown’s Confederation Court Mall, at Riverview Country Market in Charlottetown, and at several other locations across the Island as well as at Sugar Moon Farms in Truro, Nova Scotia.
Thom MacMillan at the J.J. Stewart booth at the Charlottetown Farmers Market
Each Saturday morning, you can also find Thom at his booth at the Charlottetown Farmers Market where sales are brisk and you’ll find regular customers returning week after week to pick up their favorite J.J. Stewart products. Farmers markets are great venues for customers and producers to meet and interact. In fact, Thom says he gets the greatest feedback and new product ideas from his regular Saturday morning customers. Be sure to drop by the Farmers Market and taste the J.J. Stewart products at the tasting bar set up in their booth.
Tasting Bar at the J.J. Stewart booth at the Charlottetown Farmers Market
In the summer months, their products are also sold in their own J.J. Stewart Mercantile Store in Cavendish, PEI. Additionally, products are also available online at www.jjstewartfoods.com and they ship across North America.
My Island Bistro Kitchen’s Old-fashioned Jam Squares
For my feature recipe today using a J.J. Stewart product, I have chosen to use their Raspberry Preserves in old-fashioned vintage jam squares. For this recipe, you need to use a superior quality jam or preserves because that is what gives the square its flavour. Red jams or preserves work best because, for plate presentation purposes, they are the most showy. I found the J.J. Stewart Raspberry Preserves to be a nice, thick consistency which is necessary in order for it to stick to the dough and not be runny when the squares are cut.
My Island Bistro Kitchen’s Old-fashioned Jam Squares made with J.J. Stewart’s Raspberry Preserves
My Island Bistro Kitchen’s
Old-fashioned Jam Squares
These are an old-fashioned favourite that I grew up with. They are easy to make and take common ingredients. While any kind of jam may be used, they are most showy when red jam (preserves) is chosen.
Ingredients:
⅓ cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond flavoring
½ cup white sugar
1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
⅛ tsp cardamom
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
½ cup J.J. Stewart Raspberry Preserves
Method:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Assemble ingredients.
Ingredients for Jam Squares
Prepare 8”x8” pan by lining with parchment paper.
With electric mixer, beat butter well. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond flavouring. Mixture will appear lumpy.
Sift and mix together sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom.
Grate the rind of one lemon. Stir in grated lemon rind.
Add dry ingredients to butter-egg mixture and blend thoroughly.
Gather up dough and shape dough into a small oblong shape.
Cut off about ⅓ of the dough and place in freezer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, press remaining ⅔ dough into prepared pan. Place pan in freezer.
When the reserved dough has been in the freezer for 15 minutes remove both reserved dough and the pan from the freezer. Evenly spread the ½ cup raspberry preserves over dough in pan.
Using a grater, grate the chilled and reserved 1/3 dough evenly over the jam.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until topping on square is lightly golden in color.
Let square cool completely in pan before removing and cutting into 16 squares.
Jam Squares
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Be sure to visit my Facebook page atMy Island Bistro Kitchen. You may also wish to follow me on twitter @PEIBistro, on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen”, and on Instagram at “PEIBistro”.
Prince Edward Island Brewing Co., Charlottetown, PEI
Prince Edward Island is well known for its seafood and potatoes, both of which are major industries on the Island. However, what many of you may not know is that there is an emerging industry on the Island that involves beverage making. Blueberry juice, apple cider, cranberry juice, wine-making, spirit distilling, and beer-brewing are all happening on PEI.
Today, I am taking you with me on a visit to the Prince Edward Island Brewing Co. in Charlottetown where the local artisan brewery, now set up in its spacious new state-of-the-art facility on Kensington Road, brews award-winning ales and lager. After we tour the Brewery, we’ll head downtown to the Gahan House Restaurant to talk with the chef about beer pairing and find out how he uses beer in making a traditional Maritime dish – Fish Cakes – and, yes, he shares his recipe 🙂
My guide at the Brewery today is Al Douglas, Director of Branding and Community Engagement. We begin our chat in the modern and spacious lobby of the brewery.
Lobby and Bar at the Prince Edward Island Brewing Co
The brewery had its beginnings 13 years ago when owner, Kevin Murphy, operated it under the name of Murphy’s Brewing Co. in a restaurant (Lone Star Café) he owned in Charlottetown. The brewery then moved its operations to the Gahan House Restaurant in Olde Charlottetown and, when it outgrew its space there, moved to a location on Walker Drive. After two years in that location, it became apparent that the demand for the product was increasing as they were running out of beer mid-season. So, in 2013, to increase their brewing capacity, the brewery moved to their current newly-refurbished building at 96 Kensington Road.
Prince Edward Island Brewing Co. brews both ales and lagers the old-fashioned way with no preservatives, additives,or pasteurization. The brewery currently brews eight ales and one lager which is aptly named “Beach Chair Lager”. The Beach Chair Lager has the distinction of being the first-ever canned craft beer produced in Atlantic Canada. Al says their most popular products are the Beach Chair Lager and Sir John A’s Honey Wheat Ale. They do brew some seasonal specialties like a pumpkin ale in the fall and Dunkel, a vanilla and bourbon oak-infused dark lager over the Christmas and winter period.
I asked Al what sets their beers apart from others on the market. He tells me that it is a locally-brewed product that uses no preservatives or additives. Additionally, the naturally clean and clear PEI water is easier to filter. Consumers today are conscious of where the products they consume come from and there is support for products that are produced locally, like the brewery’s ales and lagers.
The brewery’s beers have won awards attesting to the quality of their products. In 2011, the Sir John A’s Honey Wheat Ale was awarded the Canadian Brewing Awards’ gold medal. In 2012, the brewery won both gold and silver medals and, in 2013, was awarded the silver medal from the Canadian Brewing Awards.
On Tap at the Prince Edward Island Brewing Co.
The beer is available onsite at the brewery and is also sold in all liquor stores on PEI and in many restaurants, cafés, and bars around the Island. If you are off-Island, look for the beers in select locations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta, and British Columbia and, come spring 2014, in Ontario.
What makes the current location of the brewery unique is that it has a huge area where they can host large events like weddings and concerts. Check out the chandelier and the contemporary white chairs in the photo below.
Event capacity is up to 500 persons and Al tells me they have held a number of events already, have more planned, and bookings are brisk for wedding receptions for the upcoming wedding season. Two full-scale kitchens onsite, including a large brick oven, allow for food preparation for large numbers.
Serving Kitchen at the Prince Edward Island Brewery Co.
The brewery employs 16 full time employees over the winter and, in the summer, that staff complement increases to 25-30 that includes both full and part-time employees. The brewery has two certified brew masters on staff.
Prince Edward Island Brewing Co. supports local producers, buying local ingredients where possible. For example, the Sir John A. Honey Wheat Ale uses honey from Honey Dew Apiaries in Canoe Cove. The blueberry beer uses a blueberry purée from PEI Berries Ltd. in East Montague. This means the brewery has a year-round demand for these two ingredients since both beers are brewed all year. This is good news for the support local movement.
So, what goes into beer making? There are four basic ingredients: water, grains (malt), hops, and yeast. Extra flavorings such as blueberries or honey may also be added. Each of the main ingredients contributes important properties to the beer. The water carries the flavour, the malt adds sweetness, color, and flavour, the hops add flavour, aroma, and some bitterness to counter or balance the sweetness from the malt, and the yeast converts sugar extracted from the malt into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas that adds flavour. Yeast is what causes the beer to ferment.
“Fresher is better. Having a brewery in the community is where you’ll get the freshest beer.”
— Chris Long, Master Brewer – Prince Edward Island Brewing Company
What’s next for the PEI Brewing Company? This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference where the Fathers of Confederation first met to begin laying the framework for what would later become Canada. In honor of this event, the brewery has brewed a Fathers 2014 Commemoration Pack of beer.
I asked Al if there was one product they brewed that surprised them in terms of its popularity. He says the blueberry beer was initially developed to be a seasonal beer available in the spring/summer season but it became so popular that customers and restaurants were continuing to ask for it other times of the year that they now brew it year-round.
In addition to the retail store, a bar, and a cold beer store on the premises, 45-minute tours of the brewery are available for $10/pp (+HST). This includes a sample of the hand-crafted beer in the tasting room as well as a tour through the facility, starting with the ingredients room where you can see samples of the ingredients and smell the hops.
The tour takes you past the large brewing tanks.
Inside the Brewery
A pristine brewing operation.
The tour concludes in the bottling center area which was really busy today.
Lots of beer being bottled at the Brewery this afternoon!
Bottling Beer at the Prince Edward Island Brewing Co.
The brewery was certainly a hive of activity today!
And, the end result – pallets of boxes filled with bottled artisan beer ready for shipping to customers.
Pallet of Beer
For more information on the Prince Edward Island Brewing Co., visit their website.
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Up until a few years ago, if you went into a restaurant and asked what the server recommended as a drink with a certain dish, you would most likely be provided with a wine suggestion. Today, however, you might very well receive the suggestion of a beer pairing with your meal. To find out what dish would go particularly well with the PEI Brewing Company’s beers, I went to the Gahan House in Olde Charlottetown where, incidentally, they still brew onsite all the beer served in their restaurant.
Gahan House Restaurant, Charlottetown, PEI
Chef Dwayne MacLeod of the Gahan House suggests a good Maritime dish to demonstrate how beer can be used as an ingredient and/or paired with food – Fish Cakes made with salt cod and haddock. Chef MacLeod says the beer brings out the saltiness in the food and several of the Prince Edward Island Brewing Co. beers pair very well with fish cakes. He also suggests, if beer is used as an ingredient in the dish, the same beer would pair very well as a beverage with the meal. So, if you cook the potatoes for the fish cakes in beer, as Chef MacLeod suggests can be done, then the same beer would pair well as a beverage with the fish cakes.
Chef Dwayne MacLeod’s Fish Cakes
Chef MacLeod has graciously shared his recipe for fish cakes. He has two beer pairing suggestions to go with the fish cakes. The first is the Gahan Iron Bridge Brown Ale (pictured in the photograph below). He says this beer will introduce a nutty and caramel flavour to the meal. His second suggestion is a wheat ale like the Gahan’s Sir John A’s Honey Wheat Ale. It is a light beer and will not overpower the flavors of the fish but will add to the flavour of the salt cod.
Gahan Iron Bridge Brown Ale
Chef Dwayne MacLeod’s Fish Cakes
(from the Gahan House Restaurant in Charlottetown, PEI)
Fish Cake Ingredients
1.5 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
1 lb. haddock
1 lb. salt cod
1.4 oz green onion
1 tsp. garlic
2 oz oil or bacon fat
Sauce Ingredients
½ quart (2 cups) mayonnaise
1.7 oz. horseradish
1 cucumber
Method for Fish Cakes
Soak salt cod in water for 12 hours. Drain and rinse cod and chop up finely in a blitz machine.
Cook haddock in water.
Cook potatoes. If desired, cook the potatoes in beer and water (ratio is 2 parts water to 1 part beer). Cool potatoes.
Finely chop green onion and garlic.
Mix haddock, salt cod, green onion, and garlic together. Portion out 2 oz for each fish cake and form into a patty.
Heat oil or bacon fat in pan over medium to medium-high heat.
Place fish cakes in hot oil and cook until the edges start to turn golden brown. Once golden brown, flip the cakes and cook the other side the same.
Serve with the cucumber sauce and enjoy.
Method for Sauce
Remove the seeds of the cucumber with a teaspoon and blitz the cucumber very well in a Blitzer. Mix the cucumber with the mayonnaise and horseradish. Season to taste.
Yield: 4-6 servings of fish cakes
Fish Cakes Paired with Beer
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today.
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Tis the day for the wearing of the green! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
My teatime today offers some aspects of a time-honored classic menu but also offers some more modern fare to tempt the palette.
Teatime Menu
Warm currant and orange zest scones served with a selection of jams
Spinach Pinwheel Wraps filled with roasted turkey breast, cheddar cheese, and fresh spinach
Pistachio & Chocolate Pudding
Tweed Squares
Lemon Spritz Cookies
Tea Selection: Twinings Irish Breakfast
Instead of the traditional sandwiches, I opted to serve these pinwheel wraps which are super easy to make. I used a garlic herb cream cheese spread mixed with a good quality olive oil to make it almost the consistency of mayonnaise. I spread that over each spinach wrap, then added two thin slices of roasted turkey. I added some chopped orange pepper and fresh spinach and then sprinkled grated cheddar cheese over the top. I rolled the wraps and placed them in the refrigerator for about an hour before slicing and serving them.
After the sandwiches came the scones, fresh and warm from the oven.
I brought the wee bottles of jam home with me from Stratford-Upon-Avon last October. I knew they would fit in perfectly with my teatime menus and would bring back nice memories of a wonderful cream tea we enjoyed in Stratford-Upon-Avon!
In keeping with my green theme, I made these small pistachio puddings.
The base is ground up chocolate cake (ground Oreo cookies would also work). My featured Island product today is chocolate sauce made on PEI by J.J. Stewart Food and Soda Company. I drizzled a couple of teaspoons of the tasty sauce over the chocolate crumbs then added some pistachio pudding, topped with Cool Whip and sprinkled with chocolate crumbs. A tasty little dessert!
My tea choice for today was Twinings Irish Breakfast blend.
Since we were having our tea around noontime, I figured I could get away with a breakfast blend tea and this black tea is one of my all-time favorites….anytime of the day.
And, of course, I used my Shamrock-patterned dishes
and my Irish linens that I bought some years ago at the Blarney Castle.
Instead of flowers on my tea table, I chose a small Oxalis plant, more commonly known as the Shamrock plant, with its tiny star-shaped white flowers. (I looked but didn’t find any four-leaf clovers on this plant!)
And, of course, I wore the sweater I also bought at the Blarney Castle.
And, when it all came together, this is what my tea table looked like.
I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into how we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. What are your St. Paddy’s Day traditions?
Pistachio and Chocolate Puddings
Assemble ingredients.
The little glasses I used only hold a scarce 1/4 cup so, if you are using larger dishes, you will need to vary the amounts accordingly but it is easy as there is really no right or wrong measurements in these puddings!
Add about 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp of ground up chocolate crumbs to each dish. Lightly tamp the crumbs on the base of each dish. Drizzle about 2 tsp chocolate sauce over the chocolate crumb base.
Prepare instant pistachio pudding mix according to package directions. Spoon about 2 tbsp pudding onto chocolate base of each cup. Top with Cool Whip (or your favorite whipped topping). Sprinkle with chocolate crumbs.
An Irish Blessing
May your troubles be less
and your blessings be more
And nothing but happiness
come through your door.
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If you like blueberries, you will love these Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes. Serve them with maple syrup or double the blueberry flavor by adding the delectable Blueberry Sauce. Continue reading Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes→
Gingerbread with Whipped Cream and Brown Sugar Sauce
Do you have certain desserts that you associate with different seasons or times of the year? Gingerbread is one dessert I tend to associate most with the coldest winter months for some reason. It’s a plain but tasty dessert any time of the year but it’s a particularly good comfort food in the dead of winter. Continue reading Gingerbread→
Today, I am featuring my recipe for the Bistro’s Bran Muffins, the perfect breakfast muffin. These easy-to-make classic bran muffins are wholesome and packed full of flavor. Continue reading The Bistro’s Bran Muffins→
Cool fall and cold winter days always put me in the mood for good old-fashioned homemade soup — dinner in a pot and it smells sooooo good simmering away on the stove. So, my soup pot today contains Hamburger Soup in the making. Continue reading Hamburger Soup→
Is there anything more genteel than afternoon tea! And, is there anything more perfect for a tea event than petit fours. They are so dainty covered in poured fondant; it’s like each one is a tiny parcel waiting to be unwrapped to see what lies inside. For these, I used a simple white cake sandwiched together with rich strawberry jam.
Petit Fours
Today’s tea is more on the sweet side. A selection of some of my favorite squares, melting moments, divinity fudge, and macarons.
Tea Table Fancies
The addition of a lovely fruit scone never goes wrong, particularly when spread with delectable homemade strawberry jam.
Fruit Scone with Strawberry Jam
What would Valentine’s be without chocolate-dipped strawberries. In keeping with the pink theme and the delicate pink dishes, I have dipped the strawberries in pink chocolate.
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
These dishes with their dainty pink rose design are perfect for a Valentine’s tea.
These hand-decorated cookies are sure to be a conversation piece.
This four-tier server is perfect for small tea tables since it doesn’t take up much space yet accommodates the different courses of the tea.
While roses are the most commonly associated flower with Valentine’s, there are other flowers that are equally as beautiful. Today, I have chosen delicate pink tulips from the greenhouses of Vanco Farms in Mount Albion, PEI.
Tulips are said to symbolize perfect love and the different colors of tulips have different meanings. Pink tulips symbolize affection and caring.
Can you tell the color theme was pink!
These scones, fresh from the oven, and lightly dusted with confectioner’s sugar, melt in the mouth and are a perfect prelude to the next course of sweets!
I like this antique silver teapot. It lends elegance to the table.
Even Cupid drops in for a visit!
There is something cozy about a winter afternoon tea by the fireside.
I love this pink and white tea set. So delicate.
The tiny flowers on the cookies and petit fours are made from fondant.
I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into my Valentine’s Tea.
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today.
Be sure to visit my Facebook page atMy Island Bistro Kitchen. You may also wish to follow me on twitter @PEIBistro, on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen”, and on Instagram at “PEIBistro”.
As many of you know, I am part of the year-long Canadian Food Experience Project. Each month, food blogger participants are prompted by a prescribed theme upon which to base a posting on their individual blogs. The February theme is “My Canadian Love Affair”.
What follows is the menu and description of my Valentine’s dinner 2014, using several of my favorite Island food products. In order to meet the timelines of the Project, I have prepared my dinner a week early so it can be included in the Project’s monthly round-up. My Canadian Love Affair is all about the great local food produced on Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province.
When I think of foods that I love, well….there are many! But, coming from an Island blessed with rich red fertile soil and surrounded by the sea, I would have to say that seafood and potatoes would rank high on my list. So, for my Valentine’s dinner, I have incorporated both but the potatoes in one of the recipes may be presented in a form that could surprise some of you. Here’s a taste to whet your appetite ….
The following is the four-course menu for my Valentine’s Dinner which features some of my favorite Island products:
Starter
Island Mussels
(steamed in apple cider and herbs and dipped in Island-churned butter)
Soup
Jeff McCourt’s PEI Seafood Chowder
(a rich, smooth, and creamy chowder filled
with a variety of PEI seafood and Island potatoes)
Main
Lobster Newburg served in a patty shell accompanied by a crisp green salad
(lobster and mushrooms in a rich sherry and cheese sauce)
Dessert
Chocolate Potato Cake
Wine Pairing: Rossignol’s Little Sands White Wine (PEI)
PEI Mussels
It would be hard to surpass PEI mussels. They are shipped all over the globe and are world renowned. There are many ways to prepare mussels and there are many different liquids in which they can be steamed, each of which will give a slightly different flavor to the mussels. The important thing about steaming mussels is to use very little liquid. Using too much liquid will diminish the flavor of the mussels. It is the steam from the liquid that forces the mussel shells open, not the amount of liquid itself. These delicacies take very little time to cook – they are cooked when the shells open, a process that generally takes about 5-7 minutes. Be sure to discard any shells that have not opened during the steaming process.
Today, I have steamed the mussels in a small amount of apple cider enhanced by a sprinkle each of lemon thyme, parsley, and basil all dried from our garden last summer. How much liquid is needed is based, of course, on how many mussels are being steamed. Because I was only steaming about 15-20 mussels for these two appetizers, I only used about 2 tbsp of apple cider.
While mussels are used in various recipes, including mussel chowder, the most common way to eat mussels on the Island is dipped in melted butter (oh-là-là!). Mussels are a common food found at many get-togethers because they are quick and easy to prepare and are so very tasty.
For the second course, I couldn’t bypass an all-time favorite of mine – a good seafood chowder.
Seafood Chowder
This recipe comes courtesy of the Culinary Boot Camps at the Culinary Institute of Canada in Charlottetown. This award-winning recipe was developed by Chef Jeff McCourt who was the chef instructor at the one-day “Island Flavors” Boot Camp that I attended a couple of years ago. This chowder was one of the dishes that participants made at the Boot Camp. The Culinary Institute kindly gave me permission to share the seafood chowder recipe as part of the story I was writing on the Boot Camps. If you find yourself on PEI during the summer/fall seasons when the Culinary Boot Camps are operating, this is a fantastic way to learn about cooking with local Island products and flavors. Click here to see my story on the Boot Camps and to get the PEI Seafood Chowder recipe.
I have made many seafood chowder recipes but have not found any that I liked better than this one. It is filled with a great variety of delectable Island seafood along with PEI potatoes and has a rich, tasty chowder base. Seafood chowder is a great way to sample several different kinds of local seafood all in one dish. This recipe suggests a variety of seafood that includes lobster, oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, and crab. On PEI, we would typically serve the seafood chowder with crusty rolls, biscuits, or baguette slices.
For my main course, I simply had to choose lobster! Lobster is still the seafood king on the Island and Islanders love their lobster.
Lobster
The most typical way Islanders enjoy their lobster is straight out of the shell, dipped in melted butter, and served with potato salad, coleslaw, and rolls. A jellied salad and slices of tomato and cucumber are also often included.
There are numerous enterprises around the Island that, seasonally, serve lobster suppers that generally consist of mussels, seafood chowder, lobster in the shell, salads, rolls, and a selection of pies and other desserts. There are three main lobster supper venues on PEI. Saint Anne’s Church Lobster Suppers in Hope River, not far from Cavendish, PEI, began in 1963 when a priest came up with the idea to have lobster suppers as a means to raise money to pay off the $35,000 mortgage on the church. New Glasgow Lobster Suppers in New Glasgow, in operation since 1958, and Fishermen’s Wharf Restaurant in North Rustico also serve full lobster suppers as well. A traditional lobster supper at one of these establishments is a must-stop for lobster lovers visiting PEI. In addition, most restaurants on the Island will feature lobster in one form or another on their menus. Last summer, I crisscrossed the Island in search of the best lobster roll on PEI since these are a common menu item for many restaurants. Click here to read about which one was my favorite.
The popularity of lobster is somewhat ironic. Today, it is a high-priced food, often considered by many a luxury and reserved for special occasions. However, on PEI, that was not always the case. I remember speaking with an Island woman who grew up about 65 years ago in an Island fishing community where her father was a lobster fisherman. She remembers being embarrassed opening her lunch at school and revealing a lobster sandwich since lobster was associated with poor people! My, how times have changed!
As a child, I had no interest in eating lobster. In fact, when my family was having a “feed of lobster” at home, my mother always roasted me a chicken! They would coax me to try the lobster but it just didn’t appeal to me. Finally, as a young adult, I gave in and tried a bite of lobster….well, let’s just say that’s when my love affair with lobster began and I’ve been making up for all the years I didn’t eat it!
So, it would be a logical choice that I would choose lobster as the main course for a special Valentine’s dinner. I have opted to go with a traditional Lobster Newburg served in light and airy patty shells accompanied by a crisp green salad.
Lobster Newburg
Lobster is fished in PEI from spring through to fall so we have no winter lobster fishing season on the Island. Many of us freeze lobster meat when it is in season to enjoy in recipes, like Lobster Newburg, throughout the remainder of the year. My recipe for Lobster Newburg can be made with either fresh or frozen lobster meat.
Lobster Newburg
Lobster Newburg, although it is often considered an elaborate menu item, is really quite easy to prepare. It’s also a good way to stretch lobster to increase the number of servings you can get from the meat of a lobster. What makes Lobster Newburg so tasty and silky in texture is the sauce. This is a rich, creamy cheese and sherry sauce so large portion sizes are not necessary. I traditionally serve Lobster Newburg in patty shells. However, it can also be presented over toast points or served over a bed of steamed rice. Or, it may be served in small individual casserole dishes with a side of steamed asparagus spears. The recipe for my Lobster Newburg follows at the end of this posting.
Much as Islanders have an enduring love affair with food that comes from the sea that surrounds us, we also have a special fondness for our famous PEI potatoes. For the past two years, I have followed a couple of potato farmers from the planting of the crop to the harvesting process. To read these stories and get a couple of my favorite potato recipes, here are the two links to the postings for Smith Farms of Newton, PEI and Eric C. Robinson Inc., of Albany, PEI.
I have chosen to serve a Chocolate Potato Cake as a finale to my Valentine’s dinner. Yes, potatoes in a cake! It’s amazing how many different ways potatoes can be served. Earlier this week, I posted my recipe for Chocolate Potato Cake on my food blog.
To make this feast truly a PEI dinner, I chose a white wine from PEI’s Rossignol Winery in Little Sands, PEI. The Island has three wineries – the other two are Newman Estate Winery in Gladstone and Matos Winery in St. Catherine’s, PEI. Each makes fine wine that is a great accompaniment to any meal.
Rossignol’s Little Sands White Wine
To compliment the tablesetting, I chose locally-grown tulips from Vanco Farms’ greenhouses in Mount Albion, PEI. Aren’t they beautiful flowers!
Vanco Tulips
So, this is my local flavors Valentine’s dinner for 2014, featuring some of my favorite and most loved local PEI foods and wine. I hope you enjoy them, too!
Lobster Newburg
Ingredients:
4-5 oz cooked lobster (either fresh or frozen)
1 tbsp butter
3 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp butter
1½ tbsp flour
⅛ tsp paprika
pinch nutmeg
¾ cup whole milk or half-and-half
2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese
1 egg yolk, slightly beaten
½ tbsp sherry
1½ tsp brandy
1 tsp liquid chicken bouillon
salt and pepper, to taste
Method:
Assemble ingredients.
Melt first amount of butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add and sauté mushrooms for approximately 2 minutes. Set aside.
In separate saucepan, melt remaining tablespoon of butter. Add flour, paprika, and nutmeg. Whisk in the milk until mixture is smooth. Add cheese. Stir mixture constantly until slightly thickened.
Add approximately 2 tbsp of the hot sauce to the egg yolk to temper the egg so it won’t curdle when added to the hot sauce. Add the tempered egg to the sauce in the pan.
Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, then add the lobster meat and mushrooms.
Add the sherry and brandy and cook and stir slowly for 1-2 minutes to heat the lobster and mushrooms. Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
Serve immediately in baked patty shells or over toast points or steamed rice.
Yield: 2-3 servings
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today.
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We are familiar with cakes made with vegetables like carrot and zucchini. However, have you ever heard of potato cake?
We Islanders like our spuds, there is no doubt about it. Potatoes are a very versatile vegetable and can be prepared and served in many different ways but have you ever heard of having them for dessert? Well, combine potatoes with chocolate and some light spice seasoning and you have a really tasty cake.
What follows is my creation of a recipe for chocolate potato cake. This is a fairly dense-textured cake so don’t look for it to have the same “foggy” and fluffy texture of a typical chocolate cake mix out of a box! Despite the two cups of sugar in the recipe, it is not overly or sickeningly sweet. The potatoes are cooked and mashed really well before adding them to the cake batter. It is important that they be lump-free as, otherwise, you will have lumps in the cake batter. The mashed potatoes should be warm when added to the batter.
You may find two or three of the ingredients different in this cake recipe. For example, I have added a pinch of cayenne pepper because I find it enhances the depth of the chocolate flavor. The key, of course, is not to overdo it – if you add too much, there will be excessive “heat” in the cake….just a pinch is all it takes. The addition of the espresso powder is also another good way to draw out the flavor of the cocoa and lend a mocha flavor to the cake. I have quite a collection of balsamic vinegars from our local Liquid Gold store here in Charlottetown. One of them is the dark chocolate balsamic vinegar which is delicious when simmered on the stove, reduced down, and drizzled over ice cream. If you have never tried a good quality balsamic vinegar reduction in this way, you are missing out on a delectable treat. I added 1/2 tbsp of this balsamic vinegar to the chocolate cake batter. This is a chocolate all-the-way cake!
I recommend baking this cake in a 10″ tube or bundt cake pan. These pans have a hollow tube in the center of the pan and this allows dense-batter cakes to rise and bake more evenly. There is also less chance of the cake falling in the middle or the outsides of the cake baking too quickly and drying out before the centre of the cake is baked.
The key to making this cake is not to overbake it. Start checking it at about the 40-45-minute baking point. If a cake tester does not come out clean at that point, continue to bake it but check it every 4-5 minutes. If it overbakes, it will be dry.
Chocolate Potato Cake
2½ cups flour
¼ tsp salt
2¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
pinch cayenne
⅔ cup cocoa
¾ cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup warm mashed potatoes
½ cup milk
1½ tsp espresso powder dissolved in ⅓ cup hot water
½ tbsp dark chocolate balsamic vinegar (optional, but good)
1½ tsp vanilla
Method:
Assemble ingredients.
Ingredients for Chocolate Potato Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line bottom of 10” tube pan with parchment paper.Grease or spray cooking oil on sides of pan.
Tube Pan Prepared for Chocolate Potato Cake
Sift or whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne, and cocoa.Set aside.
In separate bowl, combine the brown and white sugars.
In bowl of stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy (2-3 mins on medium-high speed).
Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well to incorporate after each addition.
Add the mashed potatoes and beat on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes until batter is smooth.
Add the coffee, liqueur, balsamic vinegar, and vanilla to the milk to make 1 cup of liquid. (Note – if you choose not to add the liqueur and/or balsamic vinegar, replace them with milk so that the liquid measurement equals 1 cup.)
Add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the liquid ingredients, starting and ending with the flour mixture (process is three additions of dry ingredients to two of liquid), mixing well after each addition.
Scrape sides of bowl with spatula as necessary to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
Scrape Sides of Bowl Frequently
Pour batter into prepared tube pan.
Bake for apx. 40-55 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean and the cake springs back to a light touch.Do not overbake or cake will be dry.
Baked Chocolate Potato Cake
Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ice with your favorite frosting.
Enjoy!
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Chocolate Potato Cake
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Be sure to visit my Facebook page atMy Island Bistro Kitchen. You may also wish to follow me on twitter @PEIBistro, on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen”, and on Instagram at “PEIBistro”.
Yes, it can be chilly after a sleigh ride and there is nothing better to warm up with than a bowl of hot, homemade Chili Con Carne afterward! Nothing stirs up a great appetite better than lots of fresh country air! Continue reading Chili After the Sleigh Ride→
(Mostly) PEI and Maritime Food – Good Food for a Good Life!
