Spring Sowings and Peas...Please

Hi again!

After a long hibernation this winter I've finally awoken to the smell of spring and the many gardening and cooking possibilities that await us in the growing season ahead! My thoughts are on fresh snap peas picked and eaten instantly- save a few for a warm lentil and goat's cheese salad or stir-fry with sesame oil, cashews and rice noodles for an easy dinner. Mmm, the potential for enjoyment is endless...

I hope that everyone had a restful winter because now is certainly the time to begin preparing for the growing season if you haven't started already. For those of you in the UK I'm sure the daffodils are blooming and the weather is 'absolutely balmy' at this point in the season- Enjoy :)

Here it is the first day of proper spring for gardeners across the Okanagan Valley. My neighbour and I were both in the garden this morning planting our first crops of the year. Admittedly I'm playing it safe for now and simply planting cold and frost-hardy peas (Snap peas and regular shelling peas), and Broad beans (also known as Fava beans) which are great sautéed as part of a warm salad. Throwing in some chance (this is like garden financials!) you could plant some lettuce seeds now and they will happily start growing when the soil gets reasonably warm - probably in one month's time- but sometimes the weather surprises you with a really early crop- always a treat!

Last autumn I planted some Kale in mid-August expecting that would allow plenty of time for it to provide a late crop before the winter months set in. Unfortunately the Valley doesn't experience the extended 'Indian Summer' months that I had so enjoyed in the UK, so the Kale's growing season was cut drastically short. However, in the spirit of experimentation, I left the plants in the soil to see if they would survive the winter and continue to grow in the spring.

To my surprise the Kale has started to grow again after the harshest winter seen in years. The snow is still on the mountains and didn't leave the ground until very recently so I am seriously impressed with this Kale and very pleased to be getting an early crop of spring greens. Hurray for positive results! From now on I will plant Kale in the early spring AND early August.


Random Musings:
A little note about winters in Canada:
From what I've experienced this year, being 'new' again to the snowy winter season, winters here are simply enjoyable, quiet, and relaxing. They seem to consist of playing many board games and watching lots of films, trudging through the occasional bit of snow to the local wine bar or café, visiting with friends while bundled up in ski jackets and scarves around huge log fires (going for the maximum warmth factor here), and of course- to offset the pounds of sweets enjoyed over Christmas - lots of skiing and snowshoeing in the great (and very wild) outdoors!

Of course many people here seem to opt out of all of the above and 'fly south' to the U.S states of New Mexico or Arizona where they can enjoy the same activities as in the summer here, but all year round. These people are called 'Snow Birds' by the Americans and a large portion of my family is also a part of this mass migration south. From what I've heard there are literally thousands upon thousands of Canadians in this part of the U.S every winter. I've also been told that a local group has created an entire colony somewhere in Panama...
My view is that, although these trips make for a great renewal, due to the bright, warming sunshine, they can also take away from the forced rest and natural hibernation that a cold and snowy winter provides- something I noticed was greatly missing in the UK- where life was g0-go-go all the time. However, you have to wonder, after experiencing the longest winter ever, not only what I'll say when I'm 60, but also what I'll say next winter.

I wish everyone a productive and enjoyable first couple weeks of Spring season seed sowing!

Elana

Chestnut, Vanilla & Rum Melktert

Looking through my collection of custard tart recipes I found this traditional South African recipe and adapted it by adding the last of my dried local chestnuts and soaking them in rum, to celebrate the end of the harvest season, and to kick-start the holiday season. This tart is deliciously creamy and ideal for the festive, cold winter months.

The generous covering of cinnamon sugar on the top combined with the boozy richness of a bottom layer of halved, rum-soaked chestnuts, and the filling of vanilla-infused custard makes a tart that should get a first-place vote from every family member (if the varied tastes of my family are anything to go by!). Made with a gluten-free crust which holds up fantastically when cut, and lasts for up to 1 week in the fridge, this recipe will endure the festive week around Christmas when other favourite goodies compete for a place on the dessert plates.

Note 1: the filling will fill a 22 cm (9") spring-form tin as well as a little cake tin on the side (nice for sampling before tucking in to the actual tart!
Note 2: Leave a good 2 hours for the creation of this dessert; it is well worth the care and attention.

5 tbsps rum
400ml Double cream
1/2 of 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
50g unsalted butter
4 eggs, separated
100g granulated sugar
Chestnuts: 2 small handfulls of pre-boiled and peeled chestnuts
2 tbsps of gluten free flour mixture (10ml each of potato starch, tapioca starch and white rice flour)
2 tbsps of cornstarch / cornflour
2 tsp cinnamon
75g brown sugar with no lumps


To allow for maximum rum absorption, break the chestnuts into halves and place in a shallow container that can just barely contain the chestnuts in 1 shallow layer and spoon over 3 tablespoons of rum. Leave to soak until their use at the very end of the recipe.


For the Gluten free Pastry:
1 egg
75g unsalted butter at room temperature
75g icing sugar

In a food processor combine the cubed butter, icing sugar and egg. In a bowl stir the flours together with the xanthan gum and add to the butter mixture.
75g tapioca starch
50g potato starch
125g white rice flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Pulse until the pastry forms a ball. Flatten the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This can be made ahead of time and left in the fridge until required.

Place the disc of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and roll out. The dough may be resistant to stretching but keep rolling until you reach a thickness of roughly an 1/8th of an inch. Drape the dough over a 20-22cm spring-form/loose-bottomed cake tin. You may have to patch the dough a little around the sides and top edges but rest assured it will look great in the end. You can even leave the top edge looking uneven which adds to the character -making it a little more rustic looking; just be sure to keep the sides quite high- you want the dough coming up to at least 2cm from the top of the springform tin. Prick the base with a fork and chill for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190°C.

While the pastry is chilling put the cream in a pan with the butter and half the vanilla pod. Bring to a boil, then quickly remove from the heat, and leave the mixture to infuse.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and prepare to weight the pastry for baking. Cut enough parchment paper so that it will cover the base of the pastry and so that it can be filled with baking beans (I use rice grains which is often a cheaper option than buying baking beans). Try to evenly distribute the weight so that it reaches the outer edges of the pastry base to prevent rising.

Bake the pastry for 10 minutes and remove paper and baking beans/rice. If the fork marks reveal the tin base then brush the pastry with a beaten egg to help seal it. If given the egg-wash treatment then return the pastry to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

While the pastry is baking whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar, then whisk in the flour mixture and the cornstarch. Sieve the heated cream into the egg yolks and stir, then return mixture to the pan to cook on a low heat for several minutes, stirring the entire time until the custard thickens*, then remove from the heat.

Add the rum to the custard and stir. Place the rum-soaked chestnuts into the base of the pastry in a single layer (save any additional chestnuts for another use). Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Pour the custard on top of the egg whites and quickly fold together until just combined. Pour the custard mixture into the cake tin then sprinkle with a mixture of the brown sugar and cinnamon.

Bake the tart for 25 minutes at 190°C until set. When cooked there should still be a slight wobble in the middle. Leave the tart to cool before diving in.

*If the mixture heats for too long or is not constantly stirred then lumps will form. If this happens, then don’t worry, just strain the mixture through a sieve working it through with a wooden spoon. This does take time however, and may affect the end result, so is best avoided.

Quince 'Cheese'

The more I learn about the quince fruit the more fascinated I become. I was first introduced to the quince in London when I came across an article from my favourite market's (Borough market) magazine that highlighted local artisans. Two women had started a line of preserves which was being sold in high end bakeries like Konditor and Cook and high-end delicatessens, but in addition to the amazing jams with flavour combinations like vanilla bean and strawberry, they made a traditional recipe of quince cheese. This raised some questions in my head. Like how do you get the quince in the cheese??

It turned out that quince cheese is a hardened jelly made with equal quantities of sugar and fruit (you can use any kind of fruit to make any type of cheese) cooked for several hours until turning a deep red colour which looks stunningly jewel-like. The grainy quality of the quince produces a wonderful texture, and when left to 'cure' for 1-2 months in a cool place the cheese becomes perfectly sliceable- great for cutting into cubes, eating as a sweet meat or powdered with sugar like Turkish delight, and for bolstering your rich meat dishes or gravy with a little je ne sais quoi.

The article mentioned that I could find the quince cheese in the market at Neal's Yard dairy- THE best place in England to buy (and taste) hundreds of artisan produced British cheeses. It was already one of my favourite places in the market, but it just got extra points. We stood in the long queue and bought some infamous quince cheese. We were instantly hooked.

History tells us that quinces have been used for cooking for possibly thousands of years originating in Asia Minor. They migrated to the Mediterranean where the Romans often served them stewed with honey. Today, especially in Spain, you will find that quince 'cheese' is regularly cut and served with a cheese platter, or sliced to accompany a lovely aged Manchego cheese, sometimes for breakfast.

When I discovered this autumn that quinces were growing in peoples' yards in our neighbourhood all I could think about was making quince cheese. My Eastern European neighbour is friendly with one of the households who lets the supposedly troublesome quince fall to the ground, and takes it upon himself to (I quote) "give them to the people".

Lucky me! The recipe for quince cheese seemed very secretive at first - I only knew that the ladies in London were using a traditional Spanish recipe that was completely natural using no artificial preservatives. With luck this summer I acquired two excellent books on preserves that had two differing recipes for quince cheese. Because only one recipe had a photo of the finished product I decided to go with that one, but it became an incredibly labour intensive process taking around 5-6 hours to complete. Possibly the method in the other book is less time consuming. The rewards of slaving away- battling the fibrous quinces- have certainly been great. The recipe made enough that we can enjoy it throughout the winter and still have enough to cut into 'cheeses' or coat in powdered sugar for Christmas gifts.

Give quinces a try - their fragrance alone is enough of a reason to experiment. They can be turned to fragrant jellies, cheeses, compotes, sauces and more to have with any food from a piece of toast to a richly flavoured roast dinner.