Simple White Bean Stew

Summer really has been quite cool this year so stew makes perfect sense. I was in the mood for simple, clean flavours and this really fit the bill. I love beans for their simplicity, and lately I have been making a concerted effort to cook my own and steer away from canned beans. The trick is to get a bag of beans soaking in the morning before you head out of the door, then cook them in the evening as you are noodling around the house. Store the cooked beans in small portions in the freezer and bring them out when you need them.

INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups canellini beans
- 1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes, juice and all
- 1 1/4 cup white wine
- water, if needed
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

METHOD
1. Heat oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add bay leaves, onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and cook for 5-7 mins, until soft but not brown. Add beans and stir well.
2. Add tomatoes, wine, zest, and lemon juice. Add some water if you want a thinner stew. Season to taste. Simmer, covered, until veggies are cooked (about 20 mins). Remove bay leaves, stir in parsley, and serve with some nice Italian bread.

For the Love of Berries (and Summer)

Can fresh berries from the garden make up for months and months of cold and snow? Lately, I am beginning to think yes. Winter was particularly cruel this year, and summer has been rainy and cool, but the berry crop has been absolutely fantastic. We spent the weekend at the cottage and when we came home the canes were laden with berries. After picking I weighed the berries--the total was 6 1/4 pounds! That was enough for 8 jars of jam and a cookie sheet worth of berries for the freezer.
This year we are also enjoying wild blueberries. Last year the birds harvested the berries before I could, but a strategically placed net has thwarted them this year. I only have a small patch in the backyard that yields about 1.5 cups of berries every week. The first crop went into some pancakes, the second into some banana hemp muffins. Speaking of pancakes, I tried the slow-rise pancakes from Vegan Yum Yum. They are totally awesome and worth the extra planning it takes to make them.

I will be back soon with an actual recipe and less gloating about summer berries.

Raspberry Syrup

Did I mention that I am drowning in raspberries? Not a bad thing, I suppose. I thought I would try my hand at a raspberry syrup, mainly for flavouring lemonade this summer. This is pretty serious stuff and little goes a long way as you can see by the deep red colour--a spoonful or two will flavour a tall glass of lemonade. It is not too sweet and still maintains the punch of a fresh raspberry. It is rather thin, so if you want to drizzle it over pancakes, cook some of the syrup with water, sugar, and a thickening agent (arrowroot, perhaps). I made a lot, so half the recipe if you so desire.

INGREDIENTS
Makes 4.5 cups
- 6 cups raspberries
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cups sugar

METHOD
1. Crush berries in a saucepan, add water and lemon juice. Bring to bubbling over med-hi heat and cook for 1 min, stirring constantly.
2. Pass mixture through a fine sieve, using the back of a spoon to get all the liquid out.
3. Place liquid back in the saucepan and add sugar. Bring to boiling and cook for 1 min, stirring constantly (be careful not to over boil).
4. Transfer into a glass jar and cool.

NOTE: if you pour the syrup into a sterilized canning jar and seal, it is hot enough to create a vacuum seal. You might want to seal several smaller jars to use throughout the summer.

Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

One of the things I love about my house is the plethora of raspberry canes in the backyard. I really am not a very good gardener (and the cool northern summers don't help either) which is why I love raspberries. They thrive in our sandy soil and never need watering or fertilizing. Every year the canes provide hundreds and hundreds of raspberries, and we thank them for it. After making 12 jars of jam, I turned my attention to ice cream. The ripple here is actually an old-style jam; the kind people made before commercial pectin. Boiling the fruit activates the natural pectin and turns the sauce into jam. This is a pretty intense jam which does not freeze solid, which I think helps deliver more raspberry flavour.

INGREDIENTS
- 1 recipe vanilla ice cream (cheaper version), made with 1/2 the vanilla
- 1 cup mashed raspberries
- 1/2 cup sugar

METHOD
1. Heat crushed raspberries in a saucepan over med-hi heat, until bubbling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pass though a very fine sieve, using the back of a spoon to mash the pulp and squeeze all the liquid out.
2. Place liquid back in the saucepan and add sugar. Heat to boiling over med-hi heat. Cook for 8-10 mins, stirring constantly. You want the mixture to thicken and coat the spoon you are stirring with. You will notice that the bubbles will begin to bubble within the mixture, rather than bubbling up the sides of the saucepan (if that makes sense). If you are a jam maker, the mixture should "sheet" off a cold spoon.
3. Cool mixture overnight in the fridge, covered.
4. When making the ice cream, drizzle raspberry mixture in for the final 3 churns, or so. You want the ice cream to be solidified before you add in the jam.

SIDE NOTE ON FREEZING FRUIT
Are you burdened with bushels of extra fruit this summer? More than you can possible eat? Freezing is a great idea and makes for a great addition to smoothies throughout the year. When freezing fruit, lay it out on a cookie sheet and stick in the freezer. When frozen, transfer to a container or bag. This way the fruit freezes as separate pieces (instead of one solid mass), making it easy to get just a few pieces out when you need them.

Grilled Portabello and Onion Sandwich

The only thing better than sourdough bread is toasted sourdough bread. The crispy and crunchy outside contrasting with the soft inside just makes for a perfect sandwich. Tonight's recipe is nothing special, but it sure is tasty. And, it is a meal you can make on the BBQ on one of those hot summer days when you want to stay out of the kitchen.

INGREDIENTS
Makes 4 sandwiches
- 4 large portabello mushrooms
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/3 cup marsala, or red, wine
- salt and pepper
- 1 large sweet onion, skin on
- 8 slices sourdough bread, lightly brushed with olive oil on one side

METHOD
1. Remove stem and wash mushrooms. Mix together oil, garlic, and wine in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place mushrooms in a shallow dish, cap down. Toss mushrooms in marinade, and spoon excess into the mushroom's gills.
2. Heat BBQ to med-hi. Place whole onion on the grill and cook for about 15 mins, turning regularly.
3. Grill mushrooms, cap down, for about 10 mins, until softened. I grill mine cap down until marinade cooks down inside then gills (8 mins, or so). Then I flip and grill for about 2 mins.
4. When mushrooms are done, thickly slice. Peel onion using tongs, and thickly slice.
5. Grill sourdough, oiled side down, for a min or so over high heat, until nicely toasted. Assembly sandwiches (I added some Vidalia relish and a splash of Vegenaise).