Autumn is a very busy time for many people. For the Wet’suwet’en, it is a time to hunt, preserve, and prepare meats and vegetables for the winter season. It is also a time to come together to enjoy the abundance of fresh food and the generosity of the Creator. Thanksgiving has a similar sentiment. It is a time to gather with family, eat delicious food, and give thanks for the things that you are blessed to have in your life.
With this in mind, October’s recipe of the month is a Cranberry Sweet & Sour Goose Breast. It is a delicious addition to a Thanksgiving feast or can be served as a tasty main course on a crisp fall evening.
Peach season is upon us and why not take advantage while we can! This wonderful Crepe Cake with Peach and Apricot compote makes for a delicious Sunday Brunch item or a seasonal dessert. The combination of the delicious peaches and sweetness from the vanilla ice cream will have your guests in awe.
This Zucchini pasta is a nice alternative to a traditional pasta noodle. This dish is a light, fresh, and flavourful option for those hot summer nights. Serve as an appetizer, or add a light protein, like chicken or fish (shrimp would be a great choice!), and serve as a main.
Spicy and fresh, this salad is perfect for those humid summer nights where food is the last thing on your mind.
For a quick dinner, you can make the salad ahead of time (be sure to make the dressing fresh though, to not lose its vibrancy). Grilling the flank steak only takes 15 minutes – including resting.
Foraging season has begun and ramps, or “wild onion”, are beginning to sprout up all over. Growing in large patches where the sunlight breaks through the forest’s tree canopy, you can almost find them from smell alone. The aroma of onion and garlic is fairly pungent on these tender spring onions. If you go out ramp hunting, make sure you follow foraging procedure by only picking five percent of what’s available (or what you can process within three days, as they go off quickly).
These pork buns are a staple on any Dim Sum menu, and can also be quite filling. I recommend hosting a Dim Sum pot-luck party to disperse the labour of all the little bites, but they also make a great meal on their own with some sautéed Chinese greens drizzled with Oyster sauce alongside.
This recipe is adapted from Paul Bertolli and Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Cooking, although there are innumerable variations on this French bistro classic. This dish is at its very best with thin baby leeks, but can absolutely made with larger leeks halved lengthwise.
As dreary March gives way to spring, you might even consider adapting this recipe to early asparagus, making sure to blanch the green spears ever so lightly, and dressing them in the vinaigrette rather than marinating them, so that they retain their brilliant green colour.