Summer Flowers-Eat 'em While You Can.

Fig.1. A Flowery Omelet

Summer is coming to a close which means zucchini flower stores are diminishing fast.  The Birri Brothers in the Jean Talon Market still has the flowers available and I suggest you pick some up and get some summer into your mouth before potatoes, beets, squash and cabbage dispense a hostel take-over on the Birris. 

There was a time when delicacies such as Zucchini flowers were only available for a few short weeks, now, because of greenhouses and restaurant demands; the flowers are available all summer.  But all good things must come to an end so get some before they’re gone and make an omelet.

Fig.2. Use a non-stick

Omelet With Zucchini Flowers, Potatoes and Onions.

Some people remove the inner part of the flower. I’m referring to the stamen or pistils in the center of the flower, the part covered by the pedals. I generally eat them. I do, however, look into each flower just to make sure no ants are napping in there. Eating an ant will not hurt you, like my son likes to say, ‘it’s protein’.

Fig.3. Mis-en-place

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons of olive oil

6 small potatoes, diced small

1 onion, chopped,

6 to 8 zucchini flowers

4 eggs

Salt and pepper, to taste.

Fig.4. Prepped

Directions:

Add the oil to a large, non-stick pan set over medium high heat. Add the potatoes and onions and cook until potatoes brown slightly, about 15 to 20 minutes. (this part is important. Getting your potatoes golden brown will make them taste like French fries, make sure you stir occasionally. That’s why I add 5 tablespoons of olive oil, because the potatoes need to be cooked proper.) Add the zucchini flowers evenly about the pan but don’t stir. Whip the eggs until they homogenize, lower the heat to medium-low and add the egg.  Cook until the surface of the omelet solidifies but doesn’t dry up. Add salt and pepper and eat. Great for lunch the next day in a Panini.

Maine-ly Good

I have a passion for Maine that lies in her sandy beaches, hides in her misty mornings, and is fed by her ocean of seafood.

As a child my parents would do the trek down to Old Orchard Beach every construction holiday, my sister and I along for the ride. I remember the smells of the boardwalk, my father’s longing for lobster, and my mother’s craving for fried seafood platters.  My parents may have unwillingly instilled their longings and desires for seafood into me (as well as some issues demanding serious therapy) because the flavors of the sea draw me to Maine, and this year, the yearnings got the better of me.

If my pictures below make you want to head to Maine, then my intentions will have been fulfilled.

Fig.1. First stop, the Portland Lobster Co, located on the docks of Portland Harbor. Recommended by locals. 

Fig.2. Ordering in the rough. It's a term used in Maine. It means you're in a seafood restaurant in which you order your food at a counter, at which point you're given a number; you pick up your food at another counter when your number is called.

Fig.3. The dangers of eating outside and harbor-side in Portland, Maine.

Fig.3.5. Lobter roll and fried clams.

Fig.4. Clam Chowder (on the thick side) and steamers. (Basically steamed clams. You dip them in water first to wash off the sand and grit, then dunk them in drawn butter.)

Fig.5. Crab sandwich, fried clams, and chowder.

Fig.6. The artisan coffee craze has also hit Portland. Coffee beans roasted over wood, a first for me. The espresso was bitter (in a good way) and on the strong side (in a good way) and rather expensive. (In a bad way)

Fig.7. Later that morning, we went lobster fishing. 

Fig.8. Captain Dan from Lucky Catch informs us deckhands on the rules. The lobster he's holding is a 'keepa'

Fig.9. J's Oyster located along Portland harbor.

Fig.9.5. The freshest and best steamed clams I've ever had. J's Oyster has four clam steamer ovens specifically designed to do nothing except steam clams. 

Fig.10. The freshest oysters I have ever had. Great place.

Fig.11. If you're in Portland and want to cook your fish or seafood yourself, Harbor Fish Market's the place; the ocean is literally 50 feet away from this place.

Fig.12. The Clam Shack in Kennebunk. The best lobster roll and fried clams in Southern Maine.

Fig.13. The Clam Shack's lobster roll; fresh and perfect. Plump, fried, fat-bellied clams, and freshly squeezed lemonade. My dinner companion claimed this to be, "a perfect meal" I would have to agree. (except when I need a plate a pasta.)

Fig.14. We went to the Maine Diner based on the recommendations of a book I bought, and because they appeared in Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. The seafood chowder was fantastic: tasty and none too thick. The accompanying cornbread also good. The rest of the meal best forgotten.

Fig.15. The next night's supper much better.  Fresh Lobster at The Cape Neddick Lobster Pound in Neddick.

Fig.16. Breakfast at Pie in The Sky in York.

Fig.17. Plethora of pies.

Fig.18. They don't make mixers like this anymore. The baker informed me it's close to 100 years old.

Fig.19. Best blueberry muffin ever at Pie in The Sky. Robert Deniro approved.

Fig.20. Bib-wearing-lobster-eater and proud of it.

Portland Lobster Co 180 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101, United States

J's Oyster: 5 Portland Pier, Portland, ME 04101, United States

Harbor Fish Market: 9 Custom House Wharf Portland +1 207-775-0251

The Clam Shack: 2 Western Ave, Kennebunk, ME 04043, United States

The Maine Diner: 2265 Post Rd, Wells, ME 04090, United States

Cape Neddick Lobster Pound: 60 Shore Road, Cape Neddick, Maine 03902, United States

Pie in The Sky:1 River Rd, Cape Neddick, ME 03902, United States

Lucky Catch Cruises:170 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101, United States

Too Many Animals, Not Enough Vegetables

Fig.1. Three thin slices of meat, one large garden salad.

“How many animals have you killed today?” A homeless man said to me as I descended to the Guy/Concordia metro station. I had just finished a class at Concordia and was heading home. The man, standing at the base of the escalators, had his hand out looking for some form of security. His belligerent rumblings were heard by all who flowed up and down the electronic steps, and with my shield up, I walked past him rather than give him the spare change he needed to save up enough for a trip to the SAQ. 

He asked me how many animals I killed because, at the time this occurred, I was considerably larger than I am today, larger by 150lbs, give or take a few.  This comment, apart from make me feel bad, made me think.  I wondered what the answer to his question was: how many chickens, cows, pigs and rabbits had I killed? How many ducks by way of chewing had died as a result of my appetite? Far more than if I ate solely for survival it would seem. While I didn’t do the math, I reckon I had killed far too many animals by way of decadent suppers and larger than necessary portions. And all this exacerbated by my ridiculous desire to chronicle my life as I lived to eat rather than humbly eating to live, and writing stories about that.  I thought about my family in Ripi, Italy, living off the farm. If the belligerent homeless man took a trip to Ripi and asked my uncle how many animals he had killed he would be fully capable of answering him: Two pigs, I veal and four sheep a year, two to three chickens and rabbits a week, and all this to feed a family of 5 adults. (as well as extended family on special occasions) I can tell you that the pigs are transformed into various cured salumi, as well as sausages and some chops. The veal is butchered and the meat vacuumed packed and frozen, as for the sheep, one on Easter and one at Christmas, another 2 vacuumed packed and frozen.

While we cannot all be humble farmers who live off the land, we can be more mindful of our animal consumption, not just as individuals but also as city dwellers, country dwellers, and inhabitants of North America as a whole.  New York Times food writer Mark Bittman holds that North Americans consume 10 billion cows a year. This is a staggering number for 25 percent of the world’s population to be consuming, most of the cows puréed and molded into processed foods and sold to fast food restaurants.  North American chicken consumption is in the 100’s of billions.

I’m not turning into a vegetarian any time soon, but frozen processed foods for me have been a thing of the past for quite a while now, and fast food visits are few and very far between.  As for how many animals I kill daily, I still don’t keep count but there are many days I don’t kill any.

Fig.2. Dry lettuce makes for a great salad.

Garden Salad with cheese and eggs

This lettuce is from my grandfather's garden, the cherry tomatoes are from Birri in the Jean Talon Market. The taste of something so fresh takes offence with each ingredient you add to it. If it’s fresh, keep it simple. The cheese and egg are there for protein’s sake. The key to a great salad is dry lettuce, so take the time to dry it properly. Once your lettuce is thoroughly dry, mix all of your ingredients together and eat. Perfect on hot, summer days.

Chorizo Corn Muffin With a Smoked Chipotle Center

Fig.1. Hot muffins: Warning, center is spicy.

I love corn, chorizo, green onions, and smoked chipotle peppers, so it occurred to me in the middle of the night a few weeks ago to make a muffin out of all these things.

While I’ve used corn meal often in the past when making polenta, corn bread is a different thing altogether, and as such, corn meal research was in my future. 
Most corn bread recipes in the American South call for stone ground cornmeal, which means that the hull and the germ of the corn are left in during the grind, and whole corn means more corn flavor. There are different grinds when it comes to corn meal and I tried this recipe with both a course grind, and a fine grind: the fine grind produced a softer, more enjoyable muffin.  Course grinds can be fun, especially if you're going old school and making corn bread in a cast iron skillet. There's a textural difference when using course-grind corn meal, evident with every crunch and in the many pieces of ground corn that will lodge between your teeth.
Decades ago in Italy, before foods became overly processed and people knew how to use their teeth, all polenta was course grind, (especially in the farmlands where mills comprised of 2 large stone disks pulled by oxen.) because the corn was course (a texture akin to small pebbles), the polenta had to be cooked for a long time (45 minutes to an hour) in order to soften and turn to mush.  This is why older Italian ladies will tell you that making polenta builds your arm muscles, as the polenta needed to be stirred constantly. This might have been true 50 years ago, but today, with corn meal ground so fine it could slip through an hourglass in 60 seconds flat, one just needs to add water and it's ready. (How did this become about Italy when it was supposed to be about corn bread in the American South? A trip south of the Mason-Dixon is in my future.)

Chorizo and Smoked Chipotle Corn Muffin

Makes 12

The idea for the smoked chipotle center was inspired by a visit to Tim Horton’s no less. They had a muffin on display whose center contained a menacing ‘fruit explosion’.  Because I ponder upon my recipes for days, weeks and months at a time, the smoked chipotle jelly inserted itself into the mental construct of my imagined corn muffin. There’s something to be said about imagination and cooking: the cook gets to create that which he imagines; what was once a dream becomes reality. (Dam this god complex of mine!) These muffins are great for those outdoor BBQ parties and pairs well with meat and beer. They also freeze well for up to 3 months or so.

Fig.2. Ingredients at the ready

Ingredients:

20oz or 3 cups of finely, stone ground cornmeal

½ cup bread flour

2 tsp kosher salt

3 tbsp sugar

2 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 ½ cups buttermilk

3 eggs

14oz or 398ml creamed corn (I use a 398ml can)

2 cups of chopped chorizo (ask a Portuguese friend where to get this, it’s not hard to find)

1 cup green onions, chopped small

12 small pieces of smoked chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, the size depends on how much heat you can handle. (you can get this at any grocery store in the ‘Latin’ section)

Directions:

Spray the muffin tin with a none stick spray (make sure you spray the inside rounds as well as the top of the tin) and insert a muffin wrapper in each round. Preheat over to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, add the ground cornmeal, bread flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk all the dry ingredients till combined.  In another large bowl, add the buttermilk, eggs, and creamed corn and mix well until all combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold it all together. Fold in the chopped chorizo and the green onions.  Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tin. (I use an ice cream scooper for this.) Top the center of each muffin with a piece of the smoked chipotle pepper, press it in a little. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out with some crumbs attached.

Fig.3. The wet ingredients. Mental note: try this on Shepard's Pie.

Fig.4. Had to put another picture because they're so nice.

Fig.5. Richard Nelson's American Cooking.  

The book above (Fig.5.) is entitled American Cooking by Richard Nelson. Nelson "championed the cause of good cooking in the United States", (James Beard) during a time when the aroma of quick-and-easy, frozen food began emanating from TV Dinners across America. Nelson's book has some great corn-meal recipes: Tamale Pie, Cornmeal Mush, Corn Chili Bread, Cornmeal Dumplings, Cornmeal and Parmesan Cheese, Grits, Johnny Cakes, Spoon Bread, Corn Bread With Sausage, and Texas Skillet Corn Meal. A great book if American style cooking interests you.