So, I always tell people I live in the clouds, which is true in a symbolic way but also in a physical way. Every year around this time the clouds really start to envelop us, swallow us up into their dreamy wisps, transport us to the land of long sleeps and somber walks through the misty forest. It’s nice to have a welcoming bowl of soup when you get home. That’s about all one can do in a land of clouds, dream, eat soup, play music, watch endless lost episodes on netflix (guilty) and eat more soup, okay and maybe some of that freakin’ amazing organic chocolate ice cream.
There’s something in me that waits for these short days and long nights, it is renewing in its way and brings a certain sense of retreat, but that it’s ok. We wrap ourselves in comfort foods and find that green stuff is at a major lack. Next year I’m going to try and build up some cold boxes to grow kale and hardy greens into the winter. I dislike buying greens from California or farther, the amount of energy it takes to get them here as opposed to what they give, it’s just heinous. Not to mention food prices are soaring, a woman in our area wrote a book on sustainable small town food dynamics and it’s distributed to food cupboards all over the place. The comparative living expenses and food cost in this area of BC (and most of Canada, likely) is akin to that of a third world country, not what most consider one of the richest nations in the world to be experiencing in their rural communities. Luckily there are a lot of amazing farmers who sell their produce at very fair prices and grow their food with love.
Squash is one of my favourite soup additions come winter, it’s loaded with vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, B vitamins and loads of essential minerals. It’s rich and creamy texture is welcomed warmly and paired with rich nutty brown butter and nutrient dense sweet potato topped with crispy bacon, it all makes for a mightily fulfilling meal.
1 sprig fresh rosemary, destemmed and roughly chopped
1 Tbs melted bacon fat or oil of choice
¼ C butter
6 C chicken or vegetable stock
½ tsp sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
6 slices of bacon, chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F
In a large bowl combine squash, sweet potato, onion, garlic and rosemary, toss with bacon fat or oil until evenly coated and spread onto a baking sheet or roasting pan. Roast for 35-40 minutes.
In a large pot melt butter on medium and allow it to cook on med-low until the milk solids in the butter turn brown.
Add your roasted vegetables, stock and salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
Heat a heavy pan and add bacon, cover on medium heat and allow bacon to get nice and crispy.
Puree the soup with an immersion blender or transfer it to your blender until smooth and creamy.
Serve topped with a dollop of sour cream or coconut cream and a spoonful of crispy bacon.
We all know those people who are “meat and potatoes” kinda folks, my pops is one, so is my sister. These little bites are their kinda food, so if your throwing or attending holiday parties and you need to please everyone, these are your ticket to the hearts of meat and potatoes people everywhere. I seem to morph into a meat and potatoes kinda gal when winter hits, the comfort and nourishment inherent in a beef stew that’s been simmering all day long, or crispy roasted potatoes with roast chicken or eggs for breakfast. Necessary additions for bone chilling Canadian winters. But then spring arrives, and summer and again I morph into a near vegan, fresh raw salads and berries in abundance, oh the days of yore.
So this is my first ever entry into a contest (omg) hosted by the little potato company, who lovingly hooked me and a bunch of other Canadian food bloggers with a few bags of their fabulous little potatoes. It’s no secret that I have a penchant for all things dubbed “little” or “baby”, they are just so much better than their large counterparts. These potatoes are no exception, especially the blue ones, I adore blue potatoes and all blue foods for that matter. It wasn’t easy choosing what to do for my entry, there are endless potato ideas afloat in my head. I thought given the holiday season that it would be nice to make some food on a stick, because a. everything tastes better when its on a stick and b. its the season of potlucks and holiday parties where typical hors doevres lack the robust filling qualities which these balsamic rosemary glazed meatballs and roasted garlic potato bites provide.
I hope to throw some more delicious holiday appetizer recipes at you before the new year, soon we’ll be embarking across the province to visit my parents. I’ll be pumping out loads of healthy treats and holiday favourites so stay tuned and sign up for my newsletter to not miss a post.
Balsamic Rosemary Glazed Bison Meatballs and Roasted Garlic Potato Bites
Author: Chantelle
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20
Ingredients
Meatballs- 1 lb. ground bison (you could also use beef)
¼ C white onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp pepper
1 egg
Potatoes- 1 lb. little potatoes, I mixed blue and yellow potatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs fat of choice, I used bacon fat
1 sprig fresh rosemary, removed from stalk
Glaze- 1 C balsamic vinegar
1 tsp raw cane sugar (optional- speeds up the process)
1 sprig fresh rosemary, left intact
20-25 little skewers or toothpicks
Instructions
Heat oven to 400F
Pre-boil the potatoes for about 10 minutes. Drain well and add to a baking dish or cast iron skillet with your fat, garlic, rosemary and salt. Roast for 40 minutes turning halfway for evenly golden potatoes.
For the meatballs combine ground meat with onion, garlic, salt, pepper,rosemary and egg. Form into little 1½ inch balls about 1 Tbs worth of mixture and place on a lined baking sheet with a metal rack. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
For the glaze add balsamic vinegar, sugar and rosemary and let it reduce until it reaches a syrup like consistency, about 20 minutes. Pour the glaze over top of the meatballs.
Skewer a roasted potato and a meatball and serve with extra balsamic.
Let me just start by saying, I never knew making gravlax or lox as some call it, to be so astoundingly easy. If you’re unfamiliar gravlax is cured salmon, just as flavourful as smoked salmon without all the work. Seriously guys this is easier than cooking a salmon in the oven, it took me all of 5 minutes and 2 days in the fridge and the result is stunning! The colour from the beetroot is just unbelievable, wild salmon is beautiful to begin with but infuse it with beetroot and the monochromatic natural fuchsia hue is almost too pretty to eat. Almost.
Winter is officially here, it’s bloody hard to take a good photograph with the sun hidden behind the mountains all day. Now is the essential time to ensure we’re getting enough omega-3 and vitamin D. What’s more enjoyable way than salmon? Those who know me, know that I adore Jamie Oliver. His show Jamie Does, shows him gallivanting on foodie adventures all over the world. This recipe is from the Stockholm edition, I didn’t follow the recipe to the T but it worked out great anyways.
There you have it, I’m going to post my version of the recipe as well. This homemade beetroot gravlax is so beautiful just by itself but I have been enjoying it with fresh simple salads, poached eggs and with india curries.
Oh my how lovely to be able to sit and write without distraction. My little baby has just started pulling himself up to standing and I can’t take my eyes off him for 30 seconds. Luckily his papa gets him all snuggled up to go for walks in the morning. So somewhere between watching Mav crawl and climb all over the place I fit in good food. I gave the baby a bucket of onions to play with and set to work making these sticky honey garlic spare ribs from a local farm. Eating local can be really expensive sometimes but there are certain things that remain affordable. Buying cheaper cuts that need a little more lovin’ is a good way to save a buck. These rich, meaty ribs go really well with kimchi, you can buy it or make your own but it’s high probiotic zing pairs oh so nicely.
The days have become dark and short all of a sudden, sometimes I feel like I’m living in a cloud this high up in the mountains. There are rare days when it clears and you see the snow capped beauty in full shine, I love those days. I received this gentle reminder the other day that winter is all about going within, that our ancestors before electricity would’ve been sleeping for 12 hours at this time of year. Remembering to take it easy is so important. I get really hard on myself about not.doing.enough. when really I know that I do what I can, the time and space will come, but for now, it is what it is!
I know these look like yam fries, they are stained orange from the paprika. I think I can safely say they’re even better than yam fries, more of an earthy robust taste that just doesn’t compare. The lime aioli is also spiked with garlic and begs you to drench every fry in it. Recently we ordered our bulk organic vegetables to store for the winter. Being relatively unfamiliar with parsnips, I only ordered 5 lbs. Now that I’ve tasted these I think I’ll be ordering more, the parsnip is a noble vegetable, it may look like a carrot but the texture and taste differ in a palate pleasing way.
We actually enjoyed these for breakfast with sunny side up pastured eggs, a great fuel for a productive happy day. It reminded me of being in some hipster cafe that charges fifteen bucks a plate. Parsnips, in reality are mighty affordable and wholly underrated. I can see the sign outside the bistro right now, “parsnip fries are the new yam fries” I wouldn’t contest.
Now if you want to make your own mayo, which I strongly recommend, check out this post on the easiest most foolproof way to do it. Also, feel free to switch up the aioli, I know not everyone in the world likes cilantro so even a simple garlic aioli would be stunning with these fries, they really are the star of the show.
3 large parsnips, peeled and cut into ¼ inch strips
1 Tbs smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp sea salt
2 Tbs coconut oil, melted or preferred cooking fat
½ C mayonnaise
¼ C cilantro, finely chopped
1 Tbs lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F
Using a large bowl or ziploc bag, add oil, paprika, cayenne and salt. Add the parsnip strips, cover the bowl and shake until all the fries are evenly coated with spices and oil.
On a large baking sheet lined with parchment, spread an even layer of fries and bake for 30 minutes. For the last 5 minutes turn the oven to broil for extra crispy fries, just watch them closely.
Combine mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice and garlic in a jar and shake well.
Serve the mayo drizzle over the fries or on the side.
As a young girl I was given full freedom to experiment and have fun in the kitchen. I remember once combining raw rice, strawberry jello powder and flour resulting in a horrid red goo and a nightmarish dish to clean. My best friend growing up would always join in and together our cooking antics messed both our mothers kitchens daily. Our most memorable kitchen nightmare were the famous salsa sandwiches, we thought they were genius at the age of 9. Pitas stuffed with tortilla chips, salsa and cheddar. We’ve both come a long way, she’s an amazing chef at an accomplished Edmonton eatery and I write about my creations on this wee little blog. We all start somewhere, you can’t expect to not make mistakes in the kitchen. The key to finding your cooking mojo is to just have fun. Cooking is an art form and this quote rings true for me, you don’t hold back when you’re in love. You can’t. You can’t hold back when you make art of any type, or it will lack the essence of expression which has no boundaries or rules. So open your fridge, rip apart your cupboards, forget the rules, blend,mash,chop, throw together what inspires you. Okay there are basic boundaries an artist stands by, you want your paint to stay on the canvas, you want your food to taste amazing. Here’s my equation for creative success in the kitchen… Balance the sweet, salty, bitter, spicy, umami aspects and the rest is cake. If I’m making a salad for example this mandarin (sweet) kale (bitter) ginger (spicy) sunshine sauce (umami) lime roasted cashews (salty) I can use whatever I have on hand and create something delicious by following this simple guideline. Look closely at your favourite recipes and you will likely see this pattern.
Combine kale, mandarins and onion in a large bowl and set aside.
In a blender combine the sunflower seeds, lime, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil, ginger, garlic, salt and coconut sugar until smooth and creamy.
Coat the kale with ginger sunshine sauce and toss with cashews or additional sunflower seeds and sliced red chile (optional)
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
