Kale Chips, an unusual treat

Why can't I be different and unusual... like everyone else? – Vivian Stanshall

This must be the most unusual fish and chips I have ever eaten. Kale and smoked mackerel. And it won’t be the last time.

I rank smoked mackerel as a bit of a guilty pleasure. Sadly, I don’t eat it often enough. In an enclosed space it can be a bit overpowering. But the health benefits far outweigh that “minor” issue.

Oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring and cod) contain significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids help improve cardiovascular health by lowering the levels of triglycerides and "bad" cholesterol in the blood. 

I like my mackerel heated in the oven. Both the fish and kale bake for 15 minutes, so it made sense to do them at the same time. But I didn’t come here to talk about smoked mackerel. I came here to talk about kale.

Since mackerel is a fish powerhouse, one should really pair it with its vegetable equivalent to get a really good bang for your dietary buck. Few compare to kale.

Healthy stuff

Dark leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, dandelion greens, etc) contain many nutrients important to maintaining good health. Iron, Vitamins K, C and A, copper, potassium, manganese, phosphorous, calcium, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories – they’re all present in kale. 

Interesting fact: kale contains more calcium than milk. All told, it’s one of the world’s most nutrient-rich foods.

But people seem to hate it. Or love it.

I used to fall in the middle. I liked it, but didn’t go out of my way to get it unless I was  a) feeling guilty for past food transgressions, or  b) had something particular in mind to make. Let's face it, besides putting it in a salad or soup, you have to get “creative” with kale.

But my negative opinion has changed. I have discovered a quick way to make kale into a vegetable you put on your grocery list intentionally. This would even be a good snack to have for watching TV.

Kale chips are so easy to make, too. All you need is a knife, some olive oil and salt. Not too much, though. I found that out the hard way!

Kale Chips

Prep: 5 min  |  Bake: 12-15 min  |  Serves 4

1 bunch of kale, washed

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

optional: pepper or parmesan

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Shake all the water off the kale after you wash it, and pat it dry with paper towel. It needs to be dry for the oil to adhere.

Cut the thick rib/stems away from the leaves. How far up the leaves you go will depend on the size of the rib.

Tear into manageable pieces, or you can leave them whole. Place the leaves in a bowl, top with the oil and massage over the leaves with your hands to coat well. 

Arrange the leaves rib-side up on one or two cookie sheets. The leaves shouldn't overlap. Sprinkle with pepper and/or parmesan (optional). 

Bake in the centre of the oven for 12-15 minutes. They should be slightly browned at the edges – no more.

Remove the leaves from the oven and sprinkle with salt. You’ll be surprised how crispy, rigid, and chip-like they are.

And delicious. Can’t forget delicious.

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Seared hoisin tofu with radish & bok choy

If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever. – Thomas Aquinas

Does plastic-wrapped tofu ever go bad? I found a package in the refrigerator that I had forgotten a long, long time ago.

Never one to shy away from an “experiment,” I decided to use it. It looked fine, and smelled fine. Tofu, by its very nature, is a fermented product, so I felt fairly safe.

Now I don’t advocate ignoring “best by” dates on food, but did you know that many expiration dates have nothing to do with food safety.

It can be confusing. Here’s a quick break down by the language used on packaging. But don’t take my word as gospel. If you have any worries, listen to your inner alarm.

Use-By / Best By / Best Before Date

These terms are usually found on shelf-stable products like mustard and peanut butter. This date is the manufacturer’s date when the product begins to loose “peak” freshness when unopened. 

It has nothing to do with it being spoiled. Products dated this way may begin to loose colour, texture, etc., after this time. By examining the product you can easily tell if it’s bad.

And fermented products, even after being opened, are an entirely different ball of wax. Fish sauce, kimchi and the like can last a very, very long time. Very, very long.

Sell-By Date

This is used on perishable items like meats, fish and dairy. It’s for stores to know how long to display an item. After that time it starts to look a little ratty. 

Expires On Date

This is a date that has been legislated for safety by the government. Use it before the date or toss it. Buh-bye.

Of course, use common sense when eating food that you’ve had for a while. But there are many resources to find out how long foods will last. Google is your friend.

The tofu looked fine, smelled fine and tasted fine. And I lived to tell the tale. Actually this recipe was one of the better tofu dishes I’ve ever had.

Seared hoisin tofu with radish & bok choy

Time: 15 min  |  Serves 2 or 4

1 tbsp vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1-2 Thai bird eye chillies, diced

1 lb extra firm tofu

1/4 cup water or vegetable stock

2 tbsp hoisin

1 tbsp soy sauce

4 baby bok choy

1/2 cup sliced radish (or daikon)

1 bunch green onion

1 tsp five spice powder

salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a wide skillet with the garlic and chilli. Sauté for a minute or two. Don’t burn the garlic. Remove the garlic and chilli and set aside.*

While the garlic and chilli is infusing the oil, slice the tofu in half and then into 8 pieces. Add the tofu and brown well on both sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper while it is cooking.

While the tofu browns, pull the bok choy apart into individual leaves, thinly slice the radishes and chop the green onions. Set aside. Mix together the water, hoisin and soy. For a deeper flavour you can also add a couple teaspoons of fish sauce.

After the tofu is browned, add the hoisin mixture. Let the mixture evaporate until it thickens and coats the tofu on both sides. Do not let the sauce disappear completely, just thicken. Remove the tofu to a plate.

Add the bok choy, radish and green onion. Sprinkle with the five spice powder and some salt and pepper. Cook until the bok choy leaves have wilted slightly.

Serve with a dollop of additional hoisin on each plate.

* I left my garlic and chilli in the pan, but it’s very easy to burn when cooking the tofu. So it’s easier to remove them and add back with the bok choy.

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The Small Garden: Update 1

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. – Robert Louis Stevenson

This is the main garden, with the tasty things that deer like to nibble.
Hence, the fence. (I'm a poet and don't know it.)

It’s been a while again, I know... Hopefully this will assuage my guilty conscience. And what better way to do it than to talk about what’s growing in our small garden. Our veggie garden.

Whoever plants a seed shows faith in tomorrow. If we had no hope we would plant no seeds. Nurturing takes time, like a garden, and the benefits of your spent love and devotion might not be immediately evident. But day by day the seeds you plant will grow, until you reap the harvest.

Left, radishes that need thinning; right, peas starting their reach for the sky.

Planting a garden, physically or metaphorically, is a balm for the soul, and not strictly in a religious sense. The attention we pay to what or who we care about will come back to us ten-fold. To grow we must nurture, ourselves and others.

But back to plants... You might say that you don’t have room. Hogwash. If you have a sun-lit patio you have room.

This is the other smaller bed, containing herbs in the front and
veggies in the back. They have just started to sprout.

Luckily here in the country we have a little actual ground. Not much, but enough. This is the second year we have put seed to soil here, and will apply last year’s lessons to this year’s garden. My spouse and I planted our patch 13 days ago today. There has been activity, plus a couple light frosts.

So what did we put in? I will forget some things so bear with me.

Kale, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, carrots, parsnips, radishes, rainbow chard, salad greens, peas, beans, pumpkin and squash. I am forgetting a couple.

We also have a perennial herb bed consisting of sage, chives, two thymes and oregano. For tender plants we put in Italian parsley, cilantro and rosemary. Tarragon and basil will follow in a couple weeks. There is nothing better than running outside to gather enough basil for a pesto. Nothing.

We have several fruits growing. What you see above is unripe
haskap berries. We also have blueberries, raspberries and
blackberries. Some grapes are on trellises as well.

If you think about what we've planted you can understand when I say that last summer the only thing I bought at the store was meat, eggs and dairy. I usually make my own bread.

Growing your own vegetables is not a difficult thing to do, and it is not too late. I know friends who are just thinking now is the time to plant. Some don’t until after the Strawberry moon (the full moon of June 12-13), after which all risk of frost is supposed to be past.

I’ve looked at the 2-week forecast. We’re hovering around 10°+ overnight. So I’m glad we didn’t wait. As it was, I knew we were planting later than my father ever did. I could even hear his voice.

Since we planted, there were two instances when we had to cover the squash, pumpkin and tomato plants to protect them from frost, but they came through.

If you don’t want to start seed, now is the time to get to the garden centre. There are tons of plant “sets” probably further along than anything in our garden. So if you’re willing to shell out the cash, you can insta-garden this year.

Regardless of how you do it, you should really take part in your own food security. The cost of a few packets of seeds (or some plants) is far surpassed by the bounty you will harvest.

Back left is the herb bed. We haven;'t invested a lot of real estate for the
amount of food we get. We did cut back on the tomatoes this year.
Last year I was running out of ideas to deal with them.

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Taming the scariest vegetable: Artichokes

There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me. – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

It’s Mother’s Day and I’m making dinner for mom tonight. I started thinking about it a few days ago when I was at the grocery store. It has to be something special.

Now, “special” to you may mean something different than “special” to me. It doesn’t mean breaking the bank for dinner, although today you’re allowed. I would prefer to make something that is interesting, unusual and delicious, which often doesn’t mean costly ingredients.

Whole artichoke and one in the process of bring trimmed.

In fact, for part of my planned meal, one ingredient was very, very cheap. I stumbled upon  artichokes at a local grocery. For 10¢ each. They weren’t quite what I would call “baby” but were not large either. Somewhere in-between.

For most, the fear of artichokes starts the second we lay eyes on them. They look like nothing else in the grocery section, and because of that we don’t know what to do with them or even how to tell if they’re “good.” 

This is important. I got fooled the other day by green beans at one of our grocery chains. I had them in the refrigerator for 2 days before they started to turn brown. A total waste of money.

So how do you tell if artichokes are good, and what’s a simple way to prepare them?

As you trim them, place them in lemon water.

Number 1: how to confidently put them in your grocery basket. 

A good artichoke will be green with very little brown spotting, if any. The further you get from where they were grown, the more difficult finding pristine artichokes will be.

The leaves will be tight together and it will feel heavy. If the leaves have started to peel out (like some kind of alien flower) the artichoke will lack flavour. Give them a good squeeze; the leaves should “squeak.” Check the stem, too. If it’s really brown the artichoke is most likely old.

So you have them in your basket. Now what? Buy a lemon. You’ll need it.

Since I was using these in a subsequent dish I chose to trim and roast them, but they can be cleaned and cooked other ways as well. The following is an excellent way to make them as a snack (with a squeeze of lemon) or for inclusion in the Mother’s Day dish I will post (hopefully) in a few days.

At the "heart" of the artichoke you may find "fuzz." It's not
very palatable so remove it. Baby artichokes will be OK.

Number 2: prepare the artichokes for roasting.

Take a bowl and fill it 3/4 with water. Add a few slices of lemon and a squeeze of juice. Artichokes turn brown very quickly due to oxidization when exposed to air. (Like apples when you cut them to make a pie.) So have this on hand. It’s called acidulated water. You can use vinegar in place of the lemon if you wish.

Take each artichoke and start snapping off leaves, starting at the base. Continue to do this until you have exposed internal leaves that are yellow about 1/2 way up.

Trim the area where you snapped off the leaves close to the stem. Trim the stem to 1” long an peel the remaining part of the stem. Then trim off the about 1/3 of the top of the artichokes. Finally cut it in two.

If you are using true “ baby” artichokes, simply place them in the water while you continue to clean the remaining artichokes. If the artichokes are more mature you will want to look at where the leaves emerge from the base inside. If it’s really “fuzzy” scrape the fuzz out. As the artichoke grows this area (the choke) increases and becomes unpalatable. I did remove it with a spoon from my artichokes, just to be safe.

Ready for the oven.

Once all your artichokes are cleaned, preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Drain the artichokes, giving them a good shake. Water gets trapped between the leaves. Add olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coast well.

Arrange the halves on the baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, turning once while they roast. They are done when the base pierces easily with a knife and they are golden brown.

They are now ready to be used in my recipe (lamb and artichoke ragù), or you can eat them "as is" with lemon squeezed on top, or a lemon-flavoured sauce.

See – they’re not so intimidating after all!

Ingredients for roasted artichokes:

6-10 artichokes

1-2 lemons

2-4 tbsp olive oil

salt, to taste

cracked black pepper

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Crispy Italian Portobellos with Pasta

The husband who decides to surprise his wife is often very much surprised himself. – Voltaire

You have to admit, these look pretty tasty.

There’s surprises, and then there’s “surprises.” Some welcomed, some not so much... 

This falls into the first category. Who would think that you could make a delicious dinner with a few mushroom caps, a couple eggs, some bread crumbs and a little cheese?

My spouse and I attended a fundraiser for a client of mine on the weekend, Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in Canning. For the past three years I have designed the posters for Two Planks & A Passion Theatre as pro bono work.

The night consisted of an auction and dinner served by a Valley caterer. Part of the dinner were breaded portobello mushroom caps. They were pretty darn good. Almost as good as the shrimp...almost.

Since I’m shameless for stealing (I mean “adapting”) ideas from anywhere and everywhere I decided to try to replicate them at home. It seemed like an easy enough task. Some jacked-up bread crumbs, bound breading, etc...

The recipe calls for four caps for two, but I was eating alone so
I made three. Don't shame me... I'm a gourmand and admit it.

And it was. Actually I believe, breaking my arm patting myself on the back, mine were better. They turned out deliciously with a nice, crispy crust.

The only “problem” was what to serve with them. I knew it should probably be pasta because I made the breadcrumbs Italian flavoured. I did not choose a tomato-based sauce. The reason was I already had 3/4 of a sauce sitting in front of me after breading the mushroom caps.

I took my cue from Carbonara. The final technique when you make Pasta Carbonara is to mix an egg and milk into the hot pasta, cooking it in the process. Well, the egg dip was just sitting there. Why waste it?

This vegetarian dish is surprisingly quite filling. In fact, I didn’t feel the need to have anything else (much) in the way of snacks through the evening. I suppose, there was a gut-load of carbs in the pasta.

The meaty mushroom caps were crispy and delicious and the pasta turned out beautifully. If you’ve never had carbonara I know where there’s a really good recipe. The search box for my blog is at the top right...

This one’s a keeper, and it’s so very easy. I have a vegetarian friend – and many others – that would love this, I’m sure.

Crispy Italian Portobellos with Pasta

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 15 min  |  Serves 2

spaghetti or linguine for 2

1 tbsp olive oil

4 portobello caps, stem removed

Italian bread crumbs (below)

1/4 cup flour

2 eggs

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp oregano

pinch salt

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

Italian bread crumbs

1 cup grated dried bread (I used brown bread)

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp powdered garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Heat the oil in an oven-proof skillet and keep warm.

Mix together the ingredients listed for the Italian bread crumbs on a plate. Remove 2 tablespoons of this mixture and set aside. In a soup bowl, beat the two eggs until broken up. Place the flour in a plastic bag. Now you’re ready to do bound breading!

Coat a mushroom cap in the flour, dip in the egg making sure it’s well covered, then coat in the bread crumbs. Place gill-side up in the warm skillet. Repeat with the remaining caps. 

Place the skillet in the hot oven. Bake the caps for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

To the remaining egg mixture, add the milk, oregano, salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and place back in the pot. While the pasta is still hot, slowly pour in the egg mixture, stirring constantly.

Serve two caps per person. Top the pasta with half the reserved bread crumbs and some grated parmesan.

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Roasted Asparagus & Garlic Bisque

I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. – Henry David Thoreau

I bet you didn’t know this, but asparagus is a member of the lily family, some of whose other members are onions, leeks and garlic. If I remember correctly, you can also eat lily bulbs, but digging them from your flower bed would be pretty expensive and decadent. Some are cultivated and eaten widely in Asian countries. But I digress...

Asparagus spears are a great vegetable to eat as part of a heart-healthy diet because they contains no fat, no cholesterol and very little sodium. They provide essential vitamins and minerals without a lot of calories. There’s only about 20 calories per 5.3 oz, so they are very nutrient-rich. 

This recipe takes only a few ingredients.

But not all is rosy in the land of asparagus spears. They do have some – shall we say – interesting side effects.

First up: gas. Did you know it’s common to pass gas 14 times per day? Asparagus ups the ante, because it contains the carbohydrate raffinose that is notoriously difficult to digest. It’s due to a lack of a particular enzyme in our intestinal tract necessary to break it down. So the body has to ferment it to extract the nutrients.

Fun, eh? Raffinose is also contained in cruciferous vegetables (like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc) that make one gassy.

Next: odoriferous urine (otherwise known as stinky pee). Some people notice an odour to their urine within 15 minutes of eating asparagus. This odour is caused by a sulfur-containing amino acid that the body produces during the process of breaking down asparagus. 

Luckily not everyone seems to notice the change in urine smell. It’s still unclear why, but some possible reasons point to genetic factors playing a role in a) if it smells at all, or b) if you can smell it or not. Weird fact, yes?

But asparagus tastes so good. And it’s not like you eat it every day, so what’s a fart or two between friends? Oh, and some stinky pee.

This roasted vegetable bisque is unbelievably rich, with the potato giving it a great deal of body, the asparagus adding distinct flavour, as does the roasted garlic and the wine. All in all a delicious, yet nutrient-rich, bowl of fantastic-ness. (Eat it in the dark of you’re worried about the cream. Calories don’t count if you eat in the dark.)

If you prefer, you can substitute the cream with a can of evaporated milk. I often do that, unless the bisque is for a dinner party.

I do hope you try this recipe. I usually leave my bisques on the thick side if serving as a main course, but you can thin it slightly and stretch it into an elegant first course for guests.

Roasted Asparagus & Garlic Bisque

Roasting: 1 hour  | Final prep: 20 min  |  Serves 4-8

1 whole garlic head

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 tbsp olive oil

1-1/2 to 2-1/2 cups chicken stock

1 cup coffee cream (or evaporated milk)

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 tsp salt

freshly cracked black pepper

Timing note: Roast the vegetables at least 15 to 30 minutes before puréeing. This will allow them to cool enough to be handled. They can even be done up to 24 hours before and refrigerated.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Keeping the vegetables separated, place each on their own rectangle of aluminum foil. Liberally sprinkle with olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. 

Seal each foil package tightly, place on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour. Let cool before handling.

Reserve 1" of the  tips and set aside.

Cut the tips (1”) from the asparagus and set aside, then coarsely chop the remainder. Squeeze the roasted garlic into a 6 cup blender. Then add the potato, chopped asparagus and any juices and oil that may have collected in the foils while roasting. 

Then add the coffee cream and 1 cup of chicken stock. Purée the mixture until smooth. Pour into a soup pot. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock and the white wine to the blender and pulse for a few seconds to mix any remaining purée into the liquid. Pour into the pot.

Check the thickness of the bisque. If desired, you can add another cup of chicken stock. (I did not.)

Finally, cut the reserved asparagus tips in half again and add to the pot.* Stir the soup together and then taste for seasoning. Adjust the salt and pepper if desired.

Slowly bring the bisque to just under a boil. Ladle into individual bowls and serve.

*Alternatively, for  more dramatic presentation, you can sprinkle the tips on top of the bisque once ladled into bowls.

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Squash Ravioli with Mushrooms and Sage

These men ask for just the same thing, fairness, and fairness only. This, so far as in my power, they, and all others, shall have. – Abraham Lincoln

I’m not about to get into the broader themes of equality. I could, but I won’t...right now. I’m talking today about egalitarian eating, serving a vegetarian main dish at home, and to start, taking a vegetarian out to a restaurant.

This past weekend we took our friend – who my spouse was staying with last school term – out for dinner. It was a thank you for all her help to us. A small one for all she did, but a thank you none-the-less.

It's tricky to go out eating with a vegetarian. Short of going to a vegetarian restaurant, great choices for the non-meaters can be hit or miss. Luckily we found a fantastic place in The Cellar, on Clyde Street in Halifax. Go. There. This. Weekend. But make reservations.

If your pasta dough isn't smooth after kneading don't worry.
The 30 minute "sit" does miraculous things.

Besides several fantastic vegetarian starters they also had squash ravioli. Nothing beats squash ravioli with sage, not even meat dishes. It is the most wonderful combination of flavours. 

Every Italian restaurant worth its salt will have either squash or pumpkin ravioli on the menu in the fall/winter. Most good restaurants vary their menus by the season to offer diners the best in available ingredients.

How to pick a dry squash, maybe...

I love dry squash. Mushy squash is, well, gross. Dry squash is fluffy, light and soaks up butter like it was born to it.

Here's an interesting tidbit for people who dislike "wet" squash as much as I do. I think I have found out the secret to picking a dry squash out of the pile at the market.

The secret is kind of obvious. You lift the squash and compare how heavy ones of similar size feel. I was doing this at the store to get the biggest one for the least amount of money. They sell squash by the pound (most times) and you’re buying a lot of water. I was being cheap.

I have tried other techniques: pressing my fingernail into the skin to see if it dents easily, tapping for a hollow sound, etc. But my new technique makes so much sense. A lighter squash will have less water content. Less water content means drier flesh. This technique has worked so far...

Making homemade pasta

Don't be intimidated by making your own pasta. It is really quite easy. Ravioli is a little more time intensive but the work is worth it. All you really need is a hand crank pasta roller, although you can roll it by hand. In Halifax the only place I was able to find one was at Stokes in Dartmouth Crossing. They’re about $29.98. Go and get one. You should have one. It’s great fun on wintry weekends, and sadly we’ll be having more of them before spring.

Homemade pasta cooks in minutes. As such everything that goes into a filling needs to be cooked beforehand. (There is an egg used for binder, but the usual four minutes cooking time is enough.)

Another important tip about ravioli is that you have to make sure they are well sealed on all four sides. If not you will have a terrible, disappointing mess when they cook. I usually pinch them together again just before cooking.

One last note. If you’ve never had fried sage you have no idea what you have been missing. A simple fried sage butter sauce is the perfect complement to these fall ravioli or even plain pasta. Two ingredients, and superb.

I added mushrooms to the sage/butter sauce to make it a little more filling, but that is all. Do yourself a culinary favour and make homemade ravioli soon. If you don't eat them all they can be frozen separately and then bagged very easily.

Squash Ravioli with Mushrooms and Sage

Prep: 1 hour  |  Cook: 3-4 minutes  |  Makes 24 ravioli

Pasta dough:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup milk + 1 tbsp

Filling:

3/4 cup cooked squash

140 g soft goat cheese

1/4 cup parmesan (optional)

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp cracked black  pepper

Sauce:

3/4 cup butter

150 g crimini mushrooms

1/2 cup sage leaves

cracked black pepper

Mix together the egg and milk in a small dish. Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Whisk the egg mixture into the flour with a fork.

Continue to mix with your hands until a ball is formed. If necessary add a slight bit more milk but err on the dry, rather than wet, side.

Place the dough on a board and knead for about 5-8 minutes until relatively smooth and elastic. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest on the counter for 30 minutes. You can also let it rest longer in the refrigerator.

While the dough is resting, make the filling. Mix together the squash, goat cheese egg, salt and pepper. It should be fairly dry and a spoonful will keep its shape. If not, add the parmesan. Set aside.

After the dough has rested cut into four equal pieces. Roll each piece out to a thin sheet. (On my pasta machine I have seven settings. I roll to one from the thinnest – 6.) Roll all four pieces of dough.

Lay one sheet on the counter. It should be about 2-1/2 feet long. Place a rounded dessert spoonful of filling at each end of the dough about 1/2” from the edge. Place 10 more spoonfuls along the dough at equal intervals.

If your filling isn’t equally spaced adjust the balls so they are. Dampen all the pasta showing around the filling with water. Take a second sheet and place over the fillings. Firmly press down between the filling trying to push out as much air as possible. (Air will make them explode when cooking.)

After the top sheet is well adhered to the bottom trim the outer edges and ends with a sharp knife. Then cut down between each ball of filling. This will make 12 ravioli.

Repeat with the remaining sheets of pasta. Place the finished ravioli on a lightly dusted surface or a piece of plastic wrap or tin foil. Don’t worry if they’re not perfect. That is part of their charm.

Make the sauce by melting the butter in a frying pan. Coarsely chop the sage leaves. Chop the mushrooms and add to the butter. Once the mushrooms start to soften add the sage leaves and let cook until the mushrooms have browned and the sage has darkened. Do not let the sage burn. Season with pepper.

Bring water and salt to a boil in a large pot. Add the ravioli and let cook for 4 minutes. Drain and serve with the mushroom/sage/butter sauce.

These ravioli are on the large side. An appetizer serving is usually three or four ravioli; an entrée is six to eight.

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Herb Roasted Tomato Halves

Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you. – Mahatma Gandhi

Beautiful quote, but Gandhi was assassinated... Doubt very much that was a request. But the sentiment remains, even if the great man himself did not.

I seem to be dealing with my own version of "endlessly bountiful" in the form of (you guessed it) our Roma tomatoes. The gift that keeps on giving, and giving and giving... I must sound like a one-note Johnny lately. But it's what's going on.

I do have to say I see the end in sight – just in time for the heirloom tomatoes to start to ripen. Sigh...

At least I have found a new trick in how to deal with them. I could make more sauce, but this night I opted for something a bit different. Roasting and freezing them.

I have to admit that I haven’t tried any yet but there’s no reason they won’t be delicious. You should have smelled these cooking. The kitchen and then the whole house was infused with the scent of garlic and herbs. Wow.

I plan on making some interesting things with these over the fall and winter. They’re like little flavour bombs. As they roast the flavours concentrate.

Just let them cool, put them in one layer in a large zip lock bag and freeze. If you put them in a jumble they will be hell to get apart.

Of course you could use them immediately. Let your imagination run wild. I bet they would be amazing nestled in pizza dough with mozzarella and basil, or smooshed onto toast triangles and sprinkled with some balsamic vinegar.

See what I mean? Those two were just off the top of my head. I bet you’ll find your own favourite way to enjoy these treasures – because treasures they most certainly are.

Herb Roasted Tomato Halves

Prep: 5 min  |  Roast 1.5 to 2 hours

18 Roma or 12 beefsteak tomatoes

5 stalks fresh rosemary

5 stalks fresh oregano

5 stalks fresh thyme

4 lg garlic cloves, chopped large

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Spread the olive oil on the bottom of a rimmed cookie sheet. 

Halve all the tomatoes on the short dimension (so they’re tall, not flat). Arrange on the sheet, turning to coat with the oil. Leave cut side down. Stick the herbs and garlic among the tomatoes.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then roast for between 1.5 to 2 hours. Check at the shorter time. The tomatoes must be beginning to collapse. Continue roasting if they have not.

Let the halves cool on the sheet. Then remove the herbs. If desired, slip off the skins, but it's not necessary.

Use immediately as you wish, or can be kept in the refrigerator for 5-6 days.

If desired, freeze the tomatoes for up to 6 months.

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Canning Mushroom Eggplant Pasta Sauce

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. – Wayne Dyer

I had a change of plans yesterday. I found eggplants and mushrooms on sale for half price at a local grocery.

We tried growing eggplant in our garden this year to miserable failure. If the weather holds through October we might – might – have a couple measly, scrawny examples before frost.

But I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

The sauce after simmering 1/2 hour.

I went to the grocery store looking for deals. This Sunday shopping has put a bit of a wrinkle on on-sale meats and such. Before 7-day shopping, groceries used to put meat on sale Saturday night that the “best by” date wouldn’t last through until Monday.

I thought since today is a holiday the same would hold true. Nope. Perhaps we were early. But I did find eggplant and some excellent mushrooms bagged and at 50% off.

That’s where the change came in. I was going to make tomato sauce anyway, so it changed to eggplant/mushroom.

It may have been fortuitous because this sauce is almost hearty enough to just be served on pasta as it is, no additions. Of course feel free to add what you would like. Chicken or sausage would be good.

So when life gives you lemons (or eggplants) it’s best to carpe diem. 

Hope you like. I’m starting to get a bit of a shelf full of canned goods from the garden. It’s quite a rewarding feeling.

Mushroom Eggplant Pasta Sauce

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 1 hour  |  Yield 3 x 500 ml + a little

Leave chunks when you purée. It makes for a far more
interesting and satisfying end result.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

500 g mushrooms, chopped

1.5 lb eggplant, cubed

8 plum tomatoes, cubed

1/2 cup red wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp capers, drained

2 tbsp fresh basil (2 tsp dried)

1 tbsp fresh oregano (1 tsp dried)

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

In a large Dutch oven pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms begin to brown.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for a half hour, stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is simmering sterilize four 500 ml canning jars.

Once the sauce is cooked, either mash – or purée with a stick blender – about half of the sauce, leaving chunks.

Pour into the sterile jars, wipe the rims and seal. Place the jars in a large pot with enough water to cover the tops about 1".

Process in boiling hot water bath for 35 minutes, then remove and let cool on the counter. As they cool the lids will "pop" down. Once cool, retighten the lids.

Store in a cool, dry place until ready to use. Refrigerate any jars that the lids don’t snap down on. They aren’t vacuum sealed.

Do not process the small amount leftover. Refrigerate it. That little bit of sauce can be used within 1 week.

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Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks? Just ask! I’ll answer quickly and as best as I can. If you like this post feel free to share it. If you repost, please give me credit and a link back to this site.