Vert-à-Go

photo by avantgardener4

People take their jam seriously. And why not? Your choice of jam can make or break your morning slice of toast. Having grown up with a mother who made raspberry freezer jam every year, I have a distinct preference for homemade jam. I find store-bought jam to be too cloying, and the chunks of fruit a sad shadow of their former selves. It’s so easy to make your own freezer jam, which doesn’t require cooking, complicated equipment, or any canning experience. It can also be more economical than the store-bought version. And unless (like Frances) you eat it four times a day, one batch of it should take care of your jam needs for the rest of the year.

There’s only one problem with a single batch of jam, though. Maybe you are only passionate about raspberry jam, or do not wish to start your day with anything but apricot jelly. But what if you like to mix it up a little? It could quickly become a big chore to make three or four different flavours, not to mention the fact that you probably couldn’t possibly get through 15 or 20 jars in a year.

A fun way to solve this problem is to start a jam collective–a small group of jam enthusiasts who trade a jar of their jam with each of the other members of the group. This way you end up with a number of different flavours, and also have an excellent excuse to get together with your group this autumn for a swap party. Of course, you needn’t restrict your collective to jam. Maybe one of your friends makes a massive batch of salsa each year, or maybe you were up to your armpits in cucumbers and made a dozen jars of dill pickles–or perhaps another friend has a freezer full of Saskatoon berries, while you harvested 30lbs of Swiss chard. As long as the items are pretty much equivalent in agreed/perceived value, anything goes!

Below is the invitation I sent out to the prospective members of our jam collective–please feel free to use, adapt, and distribute it as you like!

The Number One Ladies’ Jam Collective *

I am planning to form a small jam collective this summer. Each member would make a batch of jam (5-6 jars, depending on how many want to join), and then distribute one jar to each member, thereby promoting greater jam diversity and breakfast delight throughout the year!

A few simple guidelines:

• Either freezer or cooked jam is fine, as long as members agree that they have enough freezer space to accommodate the planned amount.
• Jars do not have to be new or a uniform size–in the case of freezer jam, reusing old jars is encouraged.
• The jam needs to be safely edible, but do not stress about presentation! Martha Stewart will NOT be invited to join this  collective.
• When labelling the jam, please put your name on it so we know who to give credit to when we scarf it down each morning.
• If anyone would like their own jars back for next year, I would be happy to organise their safe return, so let me know.
• Jam-making is open to and should be encouraged in both sexes and all ages! You will create good jam karma if you teach a newbie how to make jam while you make yours.
• Do you know other people interested in joining? Creating your own spin-off jam collective chapter is an excellent way to spread the (jam) love! Pun-filled chapter names are, needless to say, highly encouraged.

If you are interested in taking part, please let me know, along with the kind of jam you would like to make (maybe have a second choice in mind in case everyone wants to make the same thing). If you’re too busy or don’t feel like taking part, no worries! I can easily open it up to other people. You guys are simply the A list.

I also thought it would be nice for us to get together one evening in September or early October to do the trades, have a visit, and drink some wine! Unless your jam is a darkly-held family secret, could you please send me the recipe/product used? I will make up a little recipe booklet that everyone can take home in case they want to try their hand at someone else’s  delightful jam next year.

Thanks and talk to you soon!

Susan

* Our jam collective happens to be comprised of women (hence the name), but it needn’t be. I believe that everyone–male or female, child or adult–needs to learn food cultivation, preparation, and preserving skills. Women should not have to bear the sole responsibility for whether or not a household eats in a thoughtful and sustainable fashion! It is everyone’s individual responsibility, and it will only become more and more important for everyone to have this knowledge in the coming years.

Next week (Sunday 31 August) will be the last Sunday market day for the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. The Wednesday markets will continue to run as long as possible (market organisers would like them to continue all year if there are enough vendors and products available), and the regular Saturday market will also continue on as usual.

When you really want sour cream, there isn’t a whole lot that you can satisfactorily substitute for it–somehow I just don’t want to put plain yoghurt on a burrito or a baked potato. But while it does last for ages in the fridge, I rarely seem to be able use it all up in time simply by plunking it on as a condiment. It’s one of those things that can easily get pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten about.

My neighbour gave me some perishable food items before she went on holiday a few weeks ago, including a partly-filled tub of sour cream. It only reached its best before date yesterday and was still looking fine, but I couldn’t see the point in putting it back into her fridge as a welcome home gift. Magically, the tub contained precisely 1/2 a cup of sour cream, and I also had small amount of rhubarb on hand that wasn’t really enough to make anything else. And as she was the one who gave me this incredible muffin recipe in the first place, it seemed only fair that she should find a few of them waiting for her upon her return.

Jenny’s rhubarb streusel muffins

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1-1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup diced rhubarb
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2  tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping: Blend 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup chopped nuts, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp butter (melted)

In a small bowl, blend cream, oil, and egg. Set aside. In another bowl, mix flour, rhubarb, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir wet ingredients into dry until just moistened. Drop into muffin cups and top with topping. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes.

What I have in the fridge:

• corn on the cob, new potatoes, broccoli, green pepper, yellow zucchini, green onion, cucumber (Saskatoon Farmers’ Market)
• cauliflower (Dutch Growers’ Farmers’ Market)
• green beans, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, turnip, carrots, lettuce, herbs, jalapenos, raspberries, a handful of ‘free range’ crab apples (various gardens)
• most of a large (6.5lbs) Pine View Farms chicken that I cut up yesterday

What I`ve made/am planning to cook this week

• barbecued garlic marinated chicken with grilled potatoes and corn on the cob (used 1/2 a breast)
• a double batch of beany broccoli soup (a pureed white bean and broccoli soup from The City Gardener’s Cookbook)
• chicken cauliflower curry (used the other 1/2 breast, and adding cherry tomatoes and crab apples)
• potato salad, green salad, Moroccan tomato salad, green bean/corn/tomato salad
• pasta–something involving fresh herbs or tomatoes
• zucchini tomato frittata
• French country chicken soup (great for freezing for winter)

I need to come up with something to use up some broccoli stems as well as the remaining half-cauliflower…possibly a vegetable pot pie or casserole, or a quick stirfry. I could always make more soup too, but it will depend on the weather.

Every time I walk past the dill in the garden I start dreaming of Taunte Maria-style summa borscht….and I must make another batch of this amazing vegetable chowder and put some away in the freezer. It is a fair amount of work, but so worth it. This past April I found a container of last year’s chowder in the freezer and when I heated it up, it tasted just as great as it had months earlier–it was such a morale boost to get a glimpse of the heady days of summer that still lay ahead.

Last Friday my sister dropped by the Borden Farmers’ Market on her way back from North Battleford to Saskatoon. The most exciting discovery at this excellent weekly market was the locally-grown apricots for sale. Grown just over the south side of the Borden Bridge, these baby-sized apricots have amazing flavour and the most incredible aroma (I would actually describe it as perfume). My four-year-old declared, wide-eyed, after his fourth or fifth, “I have NEVER eaten anything like this in my entire life!” Me neither–but you can bet I’ll do whatever it takes to track some more down soon. The thought of jam made with these little guys almost sends me into a Homer Simpson-style drooling trance.

Borden Farmer’s Market

• Fridays 1-7pm (May to October)
• Borden Fire Hall
• Borden, SK (40 minutes north of Saskatoon on Highway 16)

This morning my sister and I headed out of town to pick raspberries for a couple of hours. I have a small raspberry patch in the back garden that has kept us in breakfast berries for the past few weeks, but they’re nearing the end of their season. The kids and I could happily eat raspberries every day for the rest of our lives, so it seemed like a good idea to get some extra tucked away into the freezer.

Although there are quite a lot of u-pick raspberry farms outside of Saskatoon (search for ‘raspberries’ in the product field at the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association web site), we plumped for the closest–Rhodes’ Raspberries and Blackcurrants.

Started four years ago by Peter Rhodes, this family-owned orchard grows eight different varieties of raspberries on ten acres (including Boyne, Souris, and Red River, among others). We picked Novas and Skeena today, both of which were large and very sweet. The Novas had a slightly ‘wilder’ taste, but we liked them both a lot.

And as you can tell by the farm’s name, it also produces blackcurrants–two acres of the antioxidant-packed fruit. Rhodes says that his blackcurrants are a particularly hearty variety from Poland and have been very successful in the Saskatchewan climate. The blackcurrants we saw were plump and beautifully formed, and had an excellent flavour–quite tangy, so highly suitable for cooking and preserving.

Rhodes also has some some exciting news for expat Brits and transplanted west-coasters–he has planted blackberries this year, which he hopes will bear fruit next summer. Not generally considered hardy in our climate, this variety of blackberry is claimed to be able to withstand -40C temperatures. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that they make it!

How to freeze raspberries (or blackcurrants)

Choose firm, dry berries. Lightly inspect berries for foreign matter or blemishes. Refrigerate immediately in shallow containers. Freeze unwashed* on trays in a single layer until hard (about 30 minutes). Pack quickly into freezer bags, removing as much air as possible, or freezer containers, leaving 1 cm (1/2 inch) headspace.  Rinse and drain just before use.

– from the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Asssociation

* I tend to wash mine first; I actually submerge them in water to drive out any hidden critters (an unavoidable hazard with raspberries), then drain really well and freeze on a tray. Get them into the freezer as quickly as possible after picking to maintain vitamins and texture.

Rhodes’ Raspberries and Blackcurrants

• RR3 Site 300 (Box 45)
• Saskatoon, SK S7K 3J6
• (306) 934-6748
• peterrhodes2@sasktel.net
• Web site: www.rhodesraspberries.ca

How to get there: Take Dundonald Avenue, which becomes Valley Road past the Saskatoon Landfill. One minute past the landfill, turn right onto the Cedar Villa Estate gravel road. Once you get past the Chappell Conservation Marsh, turn left onto the first gravel road (it’s the only left-turn gravel road before Cedar Villa Estates).  The orchard gate is ¾s of a mile down this road on the left.

Prices:

• Raspberries $10/4L ice cream pail (u-pick) or $20 pre-picked**
• Blackcurrants $15/4L pail (picked over), or $20 (picked over and all stems removed).

Cash or cheques accepted.

**It takes about an hour to pick a pail. Be prepared to do quite a lot of picking on your knees–I recommend long trousers, long sleeves, and arriving early in the day. Bring your water bottle (but save room for some of Peter’s delicious ice cream or sorbet at the end!)

It’s still cool, I’m still feeling sick, and I still had a couple pounds of those old carrots to use up, so I summoned my remaining strength and threw a few things into the soup pot for lunch. Ginger has long been used by the Chinese to treat colds and flu (its strong yang properties are good for sore throats, congestion, and sinus pain, apparently). Indian Ayurvedic medicine also recommends curry dishes to alleviate the same symptoms. I can’t swear to their medicinal properties, but I know that a soup made with these aromatic spices always makes me feel better!

I used Premala’s madras curry powder, which is produced here in Saskatoon–it is a nicely balanced blend of spices and not too hot for little ones to enjoy too. You can find their spices, sauces (I highly recommend the cilantro hot sauce), chutneys, and spicy peanut spread at a number of grocery stores throughout the city, and they also have a stall at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market.

Curry carrot ginger soup

• 1Tb butter and 1Tb olive oil
• 2 small onions (about 3/4s of a cup), chopped
• 1 clove garlic (I only had one remaining clove; you could always use more), chopped
• a knob of fresh ginger (mine was a little wizened on one end but still had good moisture inside), peeled and grated
• 1Tb curry powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2lbs of carrots, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 4 cups of vegetable or chicken stock (I used chicken on the advice of Jewish grandmothers everywhere)
• 2Tb fresh lemon juice
• 2Tb lemon basil (optional: I just happened to grow some this year and thought it would be a nice addition)
• 1 cup of milk (optional: if your soup is a bit thick or you like it a bit creamier, you could add some milk at the end)
• garnish: fresh chives and dill

Melt the butter with the olive oil in the pot and add the onions, garlic, ginger, and curry powder. Cook on a gentle heat until the onions are softened (about 5 minutes–don’t let them brown). Add the carrots and stock, bring to a boil, and simmer until carrots are tender (about 15-20 minutes). Add the lemon juice and lemon basil, then whiz the soup with a handblender or in a regular blender. Add salt and pepper to taste, and milk if desired. Serve with chopped chives and dill.

Serves 4

On a cool-ish day like today, when three-quarters of our household has been felled by a rotten cold, it seemed like a good time to make something warm and comforting to eat for supper. Somehow a salad just doesn’t seem that appealing when you’re nursing sore throats! (Cold cucumber slices might be the exception.)

My crisper drawers are filled to bursting with vegetables at the moment, some of which have been there for quite some time. Normally I am much better about keeping track of what’s in there and not buying anything unnecessary, but a combination of events have left me with me with double quantities of rather aged vegetables: first, I was away for a couple days last week, and then my neighbour left for 2 weeks, generously gifting me with the perishable contents of her fridge. We’ve been harvesting daily from two garden plots, and yet I was still unable to resist buying not just one, but TWO bags of new baby carrots* the other day, despite already having a nearly full bag of old crop carrots languishing in the fridge. This plethora of carrots had further managed to hide a truly elderly bag of celery from sight, and I also had a bag of beet stems which I had somehow not yet found a use for, despite pulling them out to look at them every day for two weeks.

To make things short, I had a lot of veggies that wouldn`t even win second prize in a beauty contest, and they weren’t about to get any prettier. But as any restaurant chef (or your grandmother) knows, after you clean out the fridge, it’s time to put soup and stew on the menu–slow-cooking brings new life to sad sack vegetables. There’s no need to be scared of them and you don’t have to throw them out just because they’re not at their peak anymore. After all, you wouldn’t chuck away an entire apple just because it has a little bruise–you just cut around the bad spot and eat the rest, right?

I gave my last-ditch stew some extra summery zing with fresh green beans from the garden and lovely earthy new potatoes. And I have to say that it was absolutely delicious. Now, I just need to tackle that 20lb case of ripe peaches and that huge bag of rhubarb…**

11th Hour Stew (aka It`s Now or Never)

• 1.5 pound package of stewing beef (Benlock Farms, via the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market)
• 2 small-ish onions (old crop, so one was going a little dodgy on the outside–just peel off the offending layer/s), chopped
• 4 carrots (which needed a good shave to get rid of those white hairs, frankly), sliced into rounds
• 3 stalks of celery (what I could safely rescue from that limp old bag), chopped
• a big fistful of beet stems (well-picked over to get rid of the dodgy ones), chopped
• one clove of garlic lurking in the butter compartment, chopped
• a half-bag of last year’s frozen fresh tomatoes (about 2 cups) which I had discovered in the freezer and which was starting to form ice crystals since I robbed half of it for something else last month
• half a dozen mushrooms (the last of a bag), chopped
• a nice big handful of green beans, broken into bite-sized pieces
• 6 small/medium new potatoes, quartered
• a bottle of Paddock Wood Vienna Red beer (any beer will do, as light or dark according to your taste)–or use water or vegetable/beef stock

Brown the beef in a bit of oil in your big stewing pot, throwing in the onions and garlic partway through. Then add all the vegetables (apart from the beans and potatoes), the frozen tomatoes, and the beer. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and slowly simmer for an hour and a half, adding water if need be. Twenty minutes or so before you’re ready to eat, add the potatoes. When the potatoes are tender, throw in the green beans for five minutes or so while you’re setting the table. They should still have some bite; don’t cook them to within an inch of their life.

Serves 4 with bread, butter, and dill pickles–you’ll have leftovers for 2 that you could serve over egg noodles–go grab some at the farmers’ market!

* Sovereign Colony’s new crop of carrots are now available at the 8th St Sobeys! These are the most delicious carrots you can buy at a big chain grocery store, and they`re grown just down the road in Rosetown. Keep an eye out for their potatoes, which should be arriving at Sobeys soon too.

** Tomorrow! I`ll do it all tomorrow! August`s bounty has a habit of turning me into Scarlett O`Hara.

photo: Hoppy new beer!

I love local micro-breweries. They allow you to try out interesting and unusual brews, while at the same time helping you to reduce your beer miles. How serendipitous! So it’s been delightful to see (and taste!) the success of Paddock Wood Brewing over the past few years. Located on the east side of Saskatoon in Sutherland, the brewery and its off-sale store are, sadly, usually a little off my beaten track. Today, though, I happened to be driving by, so I popped in to have a look at what was in the cooler.

And how exciting! Along with the four delicious craft beer varieties usually found in the liquor board store–Czech Mate, 606 IPA, Bête Noire, and Black Cat–the fine folks at Paddock Wood now have two new beers available at their brewery off-sale store for a limited time only:

• Brambling Bitter, a UK-style summer ale (5.2%) that is finished with Brambling Cross hops from the UK (ok, so the ingredients aren’t all local–but hops weigh about half as much as air, right?)
• Vienna Red, a clean red lager (5.2%) with toasted malt and a European hop finish

I haven’t broken into my 6-pack of the Brambling Bitter yet, but I can personally attest to the tastiness of the Vienna Red lager because right now, while supplies hold out, you can pick up a case of 24 bottles of Vienna Red for a mere $30 (regularly $54). Who could resist such a deal? Not me!

If you`re partial to a mass-produced red lager like Rickards Red, I think you`ll enjoy Paddock Wood`s Vienna Red even more. Western Living described it as a “lager that loves sunsets and campfires….[and] begs to be tried out on a trip to the lake.” Beer geeks can check out some of the following reviews to get the nitty gritty details:

Ratebeer.com

Beerpal.com

Beeradvocate.com

Get some cold ones while they`re hot!

Paddock Wood Brewery

1-116 103rd Street East
Saskatoon, SK S7N 1Y7
(306) 477-5632

retail@paddockwood.com

Store hours:

• Monday-Friday 9am-5pm
• Saturday 9:30am-5:30 pm

Tonight’s salad–lettuce, spinach, mesclun mix, tomato, green beans, oregano, thyme, lemon basil, chives, dill–came entirely from our garden. In terms of food miles and taste, it doesn’t really get much better than eating vegetables that were growing within a few steps of your house a half an hour before suppertime.

I just started pulling out some of the oldest lettuce this afternoon, which was getting a little brown around the edges. I’ll re-seed the pots tomorrow with a fast-sprouting variety like mesclun, and have started using the fresh patches of greens in the front garden. With luck, I shouldn’t have to buy lettuce until freeze-up!