And now, the sour of summer...

Yesterday I was watching The Food Network and was inspired to make a deep fried lamb chop wrapped in bacon. How can that be bad? Deep fried and bacon. So on my walk to the neighbourhood butcher I was pleasantly surprised to see the sour cherries are out! I carefully picked about 3 cups worth and then made my way to the butcher to get my lamb. So tonights menu?

• Fennel salad with cucumber and parmesan
• Deep fried lamb chops wrapped in bacon
• Mini sour cherry pies

The fennel salad is a lovely addition to any meal. Fresh and easy to make in 5-10 mins!

1 whole fennel, cut in half and then sliced very fine (preferably with a mandolin if available)
1/4 cucumber (sliced equally as fine)
Fresh italian parsley, chopped
olive oil
red wine vinegar
lemon
Parmesan cheese

Combine the fennel and the cucumber and then throw on the parsley. Drizzle with olive oil, red wine vinegar and then squeeze approx. 1/2 lemon on top. Shave on thin slices parmesan cheese and then sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.

Chill until ready to serve, but serve at room temperature.

Next, Deep fried lamb chops wrapped in bacon

Lamb chops
Bacon
Homemade pesto with additional olive oil to make it a little liquidy

Individually wrap each lamb chop in bacon. Try to tuck the bacon in at the end so it doesn't fall off. Bring the meat to room temperature. Place the chops into the hot oil, ensuring that the oil covers the meat entirely. Cook for approx. 5 mins. You want to serve the meat medium rare.

When it is finished, place on your plate and drizzle your pesto around and on top and serve hot with your fennel salad.

Sour Cherry Tarts (makes 5)

Pie Pastry for single pastry (see instructions in post Pie Pastry 101)
3 cups sour cherries, pitted
5 + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg
LG muffin tin

Make your pastry and roll it out according to instruction in Pie Pastry 101. Using a cup approx the same size as the opening of your muffin tin, extend 1" beyond and cut the pastry in circles.
Place the pastry into the muffin tin and fill with your fruit mixture.
For the top, cut thin strips with leftover pastry to make a lattice top.  Crimp your edges, and brush with eggwash and then sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp. of sugar. Chill for 30 mins.

Place into a 400 degree preheated oven for 10 mins and then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and cook for 30-40 mins or until top is golden brown.

Enjoy...

The sweet of summer

I love summer. The sun, the heat, the beautiful flowers, and the garden fresh bounty. At my house, I have a garden that sits in full sun from 11am until sunset. So this year, I planted vegetables for the first time. Just so you know, I have been renovating my house for that last 3 years, and finally got the back garden pulled together last year, so this was my first year planting. This picture was taken at 6:30 pm, just to give you an idea of the light.

Remember, I have never planted a vegetable garden before. A garden yes, but vegetable no I always had shade. So I started this year with rhubarb and two different tomato and hot pepper varieties. I have already learned a lot, like next year buy fewer tomato plants. In case you hadn't noticed, they seem to be taking over my garden. But I will use them, tomato sauce, oven dried tomato, etc.which of course I will share here with you. However, the reason for todays entry is that I have already had the luxury of using something from my garden, rhubarb. I was sure to purchase a plant that was a few years old as you can only harvest rhubarb from a plant that is at least 2 years old.
So, what did I make? Strawberry rhubarb pie! Mmmm....so good. With local Ontario strawberries, sweet and delicious and rhubarb from my garden, this was a delicious pie, better than most if I do say so myself. :)

So, the recipe starts with the pie pastry, which you can view in my blog entry on pie pastry. The filling is made as follows:

4 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups chopped strawberries
3-6 tbsp cornstarch (I like mine less liquidy so I use 6 tbsp)
2 tbsp sugar

Mix it up and roll out your pastry and place it into your pie dish. Fill it with your fruit, remember, it may seem like a lot, but it cooks down, a lot.

With the top, once you have rolled it out, you will slice it into 10 equal sized strips (approx. 1"). Take your longest piece and lay it across the centre of your pie, and then follow it with the next longest directly across, making a "+" . With each following piece, be sure to alternate top and bottom, creating your lattice.

Make an egg wash and brush your pie and sprinkle with sugar.

Allow it to chill for 30mins, before placing it into a 400 degree preheated oven for 10 mins, and then turn the heat down to 350 and bake for another 50 mins or until the crust is golden brown. Allow it to come to room temperature and enjoy...