Yogurt Panna Cotta with Salmonberry Compote

Shawn 3 Comments

PannaCotta1We’re almost into our third week of June, and our Salmonberry bushes are still producing delicious edibles! But before I go out and brave the teddy bear’s picnic again, I’ve got a whole container full of berries in the fridge ready to cook with.

The rough, acidic salmonberries really pop with other foods that are creamy and mildly flavoured. The first thing I thought of was just pouring ‘em over vanilla ice cream… But as I nibbled on a couple more berries I remembered a well-worn recipe for yogurt panna cotta that might be a bit more sexy. I had paired it with candied lemon peel and green apples before… Delicate, sweet and sour. It would be easy to sub in the salmonberries with a little sugar and orange peel. Panna cotta it is!

Besides, I haven’t got an ice cream maker. Read More

Salmonberries

Shawn 6 Comments

Salmonberry1Summer breeze. Green leaves part. Glowing droplets of sunlight.

I was on my way home from work a couple days ago and I’d stopped to pick some Salmonberries. As I stretched up my go-go-gadget arms towards the gently swaying gems it occurred to me that I had no idea why they were called “Salmon”-berries. Was it the reddish colour? Kind of looks like salmon flesh, I guess. Early summer Sockeye runs are starting soon and the berries are ripening… Maybe that’s it. I wonder if they taste good with grilled salmon?

Then I noticed some of the berries had been really clumsily torn from their pedicels, or roughly smashed and left dangling from the stalk. As if someone with thick awkward fingers and long gnashing teeth had gone to work on ‘em. But that’s nuts, these bushes are massive. Whoever did it would have to be, like seven feet tall… And what’s with the smell?

Like a tanker passing close to shore, a massive black bear glided through the forest scrub thirty feet from where I stood… Whoa.

Wait, bears eat salmon, and they really seem to dig these berries. Maybe that’s why they’re called Salmonberries! What else do bears eat? Hmmmmm… It was definitely time for me to get on home. Read More

Kitchen Redux

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Kitchen Reno1Sometimes you live with something for so long that you think it’s part of the landscape, and accept a massive inconvenience as part of life, ‘cause it’s always been that way.

Then someone with clear vision and a head full of good ideas walks up and gives you a smack… Someone like Lisa:

“Wake up! Your kitchen is tiny! You can’t wash pots in your sink! How do you ever cook anything in here? You… Have… No… Counter… Space.” Read More

Cucumber-Green Tea Cocktails

Shawn 4 Comments

Cuke1It’s going to be about a week until I can properly cook something again. Our kitchen is currently being torn apart and re-configured in new and exciting ways! I’ll post about that once it’s finished, but yeah… No sink, no counter space, no stove, no problem.

There are always other projects…

For instance, Crystal is madly in love with Italian sodas and had been mulling over how to flavour them in a way that avoids store-bought syrups. Pureeing fruits and herbs seemed like the simplest way to impart a fresh, honest taste, but the syrups she made didn’t last very long in the fridge. So, why not skip the sugar and just freeze ‘em as is? Read More