46


Cow-op food


While rhubarb seems to be


kind of a ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ thing, I believe there’s pretty


Jude’s Kitchen JUDIE STEEVES


universal agreement on the importance of eating local: everyone appreciates and enjoys the special flavour of locally-sourced, farm-fresh food. So, it’s exciting to see a


Vancouver Island co-operative take that to the next level and offer


consumers an online farmers’ market where they can order local products for pickup weekly at a central location. They call it the Cow-op and not only is it convenient for consumers but also for farmers, who pre-sell their products before harvesting them, reducing waste and ensuring top- quality, very fresh local produce. It’s also led to production of a cookbook with contributions from the many young and older food producers, processors, foodies, chefs, gardeners and home cooks in the Cowichan Valley. Called Cowichan Grown:


Seasonal Recipes & Local Wisdom, the book is full of yummy-looking and unusual recipes for local food as well as tips and information about growing and eating it, its history and traditions. I tried a couple of the recipes and everyone thoroughly enjoyed them.


June is also a wonderful


month for enjoying the first bounty from the garden, including stems of that controversial vegetable (which most consider a fruit


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JUNE 2018


Lunar cake is a delicious way to serve up rhubarb. JUDIE STEEVES PHOTOS


as they like its bitterness with lots of sweet), rhubarb. Many herbs are also at their peak and oregano, thyme, sage and tarragon are ready to harvest and dry, freeze or preserve in oil or vinegar for enjoyment long after the plants are covered in snow in the garden. I like to shear off the top third or so, just before they bud and blossom, which encourages new growth to pop out from those cut stems to enjoy fresh for the rest of summer. Cowichan Grown includes


recipes for everything from asparagus and stinging nettles to prawns, lamb, berries and broccoli, beef, tomatoes, squash and apples, to chicken, pumpkins, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. It’s organized by the season, which makes a lot of sense to me, with some glorious photography that makes your mouth water. It’s available online at [www.cow-op.ca].


LUNAR CAKE


Jill and Jean Pierre Coupe of Cedar Grove Farm grow a variety of fruits and vegetables on their five- acre hobby farm in Westholme. They say the cake’s name comes from its resemblance to the surface of the moon when baked. It’s delicious.


Batter: 1/2 c. (125 ml) butter 1 egg


2 c. (500 ml) flour 1 tsp. (5 ml) baking soda


2 c. (500 ml) rhubarb Topping: 1/4 c. (60 ml) butter


2 tsp. (10 ml) cinnamon


• Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. • Sift flour, salt and soda. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. • Toss rhubarb chunks with a spoonful of flour and mix into the batter. Spoon into a buttered 9x13-inch pan. Smooth the surface. • Blend the topping ingredients together and sprinkle over the batter. • You may sprinkle shaved almonds or pecans over the topping. Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes.


BOBOTIE


Pamela Walker grows blueberries today, with grazing sheep and patches of vegetables as well, but she used to have a restaurant and this traditional South African dish attests to her skill in the kitchen. I confess I didn’t use nearly as much oil as the recipe calls for, and I used lean ground beef, but it was still most unusual and tasty. I found an ounce of almonds was about a quarter cup and three ounces of raisins was about a half-cup.


2 onions 5 tbsp. (75 ml) olive oil


26 oz. (750 g) minced lamb or beef 1 tbsp. (15 ml) mild curry powder 1 tsp. (5 ml) ground turmeric 2 tomatoes salt, to taste


2 tbsp. (30 ml) wine vinegar


2/3 c. (150 ml) lamb or beef stock 1 oz. (25 g) chopped almonds


3 oz. (75 g) raisins 2 eggs


1 1/4 c. (300 ml) milk 3-4 fresh bay leaves, to garnish A South African dish, bobotie is a Vancouver Island favourite.


• Blend curry powder and turmeric with vinegar and set aside. • Place bread slice in milk to soak for 20 minutes and set aside. • Fry onions in oil until golden. Add meat and stir until just beginning to brown. • Turn oven on to 350° F to pre-heat. • Skin and chop tomatoes. (I used frozen ones from last summer’s garden) • Add vinegar mixture, stock, tomatoes and salt to the meat and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes. • Squeeze milk (reserving it for later) from the bread and break it into small pieces, then stir into the meat together with the almonds, raisins, brown sugar and jam or chutney. • Spoon mixture into a shallow casserole dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. • Beat eggs with reserved milk and add a little salt. Pour over the cooked meat mixture and arrange lemon slices and bay leaves in the custard. Return to oven for a further 30 minutes until the custard is set. Serves 6.


1 tbsp. (15 ml) Fat Chili Farm’s crabapple jam 1 large slice bread


thin slices of lemon, plus


1 1/2 c. (375 ml) sugar 1 tsp. (5 ml) vanilla 1/2 tsp. (2 ml) salt


1 c. (250 ml) buttermilk 1 c. (250 ml) brown sugar


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48