watermelon radish and haloumi salad

It got magically hot here in Victoria in the last week. After months about complaining about cold and damp and having to wear all these sweaters, I was immediately complaining about the beautiful, sunny, lovely weather that I have been hoping for for weeks. It's too hot, I don't have the right clothes for this, I can't sleep. It was a sweltering 23° C yesterday and and I was whining.  I did have the perfect meal to go with the wonderful weather though. Light and summery, you only need to turn on the stovetop for a few minutes to grill the cheese, or you can barbecue it if you are careful not to let it drop between the grill bars. 

Haloumi is a strange and delightful cheese. If you haven't tried it before, it may sound a bit odd, but don't let that put you off. It's salty and very firm and mild flavoured. It has the magical property of not melting when heated, so you can grill or roast it and it holds its shape and develops a fantastic crispy-toasty exterior. It also squeaks in your teeth when you eat it, which sounds a little weird and rubbery but in a way that is so satisfying. It's hearty and sort of meaty almost and makes a meal out of a light salad. 

If you can't find haloumi, feta cheese will work too. It can still be grilled or pan fried, but it's a little more melty than haloumi so it might spread a bit. 

watermelon radish and haloumi salad: 

• 2-3 watermelon radishes, scrubbed and sliced paper thin 
• 3 big handfuls arugula
• pea shoots or microgreens
• a few sprigs parsey, chopped
• 1 package haloumi, sliced into thick blocks

In a lightly oiled grill pan fry the haloumi slices over medium heat until dark grill lines appear and flip. You can also use a regular flat pan, but you won't have the delightful grill lines. 

Combine vegetables and lay haloumi slices on top. 

basil dressing:

adapted from Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• salt and pepper 
• 1 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Drizzle over salad and serve immediately. 

damn fine cherry pie

I didn't watch Twin Peaks the first time around, largely because I was a toddler when it first aired and a lot of the great weirdness of it would probably have been lost on me. I always had it in the back of my mind as something I knew I was supposed to watch, and should get around to one day. There are so many cultural references to the show floating around that I had picked up a bit of Twin Peaks through osmosis. But then when I heard a new season was being coming out, I finally got motivated to watch it, and it's really good you guys! I'm sure it's news to you, but it's just as good as everyone said all these 26 years. 

I wanted to pay homage to Twin Peaks' new season with a Double R Diner special, a cherry pie and a cup of strong black coffee. 

I know it's a bit early for fresh cherries, at least where I live, so I used some jarred sour cherries and some frozen sweet cherries. You can use all sour, or all sweet and fresh cherries will work too. 

crust:

adapted from Bon Appetit

• ⅓ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 big pinch salt
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chilled butter, cut into pieces 
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup cold water

Combine almond flour, granulated sugar, salt, all-purpose flour and butter in a food processor and pulse until mixture is just combined and has a sandy texture. Combine egg yolks and water and drizzle them over the flour mixture. Pulse until just combined. Add a few drops more water if the dough isn't coming together.

Dump the dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and squish it into a rectangle. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours or overnight. 

On floured parchment paper, roll out just over half the dough to 1/4" thickness, until it's large enough to line a 9" pie plate. Transfer the dough to the pie plate and trim excess. 

Roll out remaining dough until 1/4" thick and use a small piping tip to cut out polka-dot holes in the pie top or slice vents with a knife. 

filling: 

adapted from Martha Stewart.

Note about cherries: Fresh or frozen is fine, I like a mix of sour and sweet cherries. Because it's a bit early in the season, I used 5 cups sweet frozen cherries + 1.5 cups jarred sour cherries, drained of syrup. If you use frozen, make sure to thaw, rinse and drain well on paper towels to prevent sogginess. 

• 2 pounds cherries
• 2 tbs corn starch
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs heavy cream 
• sanding sugar for sprinkling

Pre-heat oven to 400° F. 

Toss cherries, sugar, lemon juice and corn starch in a large bowl. Place filling into the dough lined pie pan. Drape the top dough layer over the cherries and trim off excess dough. There is quite a bit of extra, which can be frozen for another use. 

Pinch the two layers of dough together all around the edge. Beat together egg and cream and brush over pie top. Generously sprinkle with sanding sugar and bake on lowest rack in the oven for 60-70 minutes. If the edges brown too quickly, wrap tinfoil around the edges.

Serve with a damn fine cup of coffee, preferably in a foggy little seaside town enshrouded in mystery and cedars. 

salty macadamia, caramel & chocolate tart

This one is just a wee bit intense. If you think of desserts on a spectrum from the snacky, light and morish, the muffin and streusel cake end of things, right down to the richest flourless chocolate cakes, this tart falls well into the latter end of the continuum. I had to cut the slices pictured here in half, they were so rich. I don't want to make it sound like a bad thing, I really loved this tart. It just isn't a tart to be trifled with (I think that's what I would like on my gravestone: She was not a tart to be trifled with.) It should be administered in teeny little doses to avoid acute sugar toxicity. Which is a good thing, because macadamia nuts are stupidly expensive, and they'll go a long way if you only serve very thin slivers. I think the macadamias are worth it, they are so buttery and salty, but feel free to substitute the nut of your choice. 

Don't skimp on the salt here, it's a great balance to the tart's sweetness and richness. A very strong cup of coffee would also go very nicely with a slice. 

salty macadamia, caramel and chocolate tart: 

crust: 

• 1 1/2 cups graham crumbs 
• 6 tbs butter, melted 

Coat graham crumbs evenly in butter and press into the bottom and sides of a 14" rectangular tart pan. 

filling:

adapted from Bouchon Bakery

• 1/2 cup golden syrup, corn syrup or liquid glucose 
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 tbs butter 
• 3/4 cup whipping cream 
• big pinch of flaky salt
• 1 cup salted & roasted macadamia nuts

Put the macadamia nuts in an even layer in the prepared tart pan and place the pan on a cooling rack or heat-proof surface. 

Bring the syrup or glucose to a boil in a large saucepan on high heat. Add sugar a third at a time, stirring to incorporate each addition. Cook until the syrup reaches 350°F on a candy thermometer. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the butter. Stir in cream, working carefully. The syrup will bubble vigorously, watch out! Add salt and stir constantly until the mixture comes back up to 248°F.  Pour over the macadamia nuts in the pan until the caramel is 2/3 the way up the side of tart. Save any extra caramel in an airtight container in the fridge for ice cream. Chill the tart until it's no longer warm to the touch. 

chocolate ganache

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped or chocolate chips
• 6 tbs heavy cream 

Over a double boiler on medium low heat (or a metal bowl set over a pan with a couple inches of water in the bottom) melt chocolate and cream together, stirring to incorporate everything together well. Once fully melted, let the ganache cool slightly and pour over the top of the caramel, smoothing with a spatula. Finish with a little sprinkle of flaky salt. 

crispy giant beans

I think that novelly sized things are always compelling. Miniature or giant versions of familiar objects are oddly captivating, as many a roadside tourist attraction can testify. There's nothing quite like a giant shrimp, banana, ball of twine. Australia seems to have particular expertise in creating these large scale models. I also enjoy small things, and I heartily recommend Victoria's wonderful, if slightly odd and not always perfectly to scale, Miniature World. If you have a rainy day in Victoria, there are worse ways to spend it than this sweet and strange little attraction. All these big and small things have new interest once resized, ordinary and strange at the same time. 

These giant beans hold the same appeal for me. They are sometimes called gigantes beans, or corona beans and they are huge, about 1.5 inches long. I have been thinking about making these them for about 7 years, ever since I first saw them on the excellent 101 Cookbooks. I hunted around Victoria for them, either dry or canned, but I couldn't find them anywhere. I looked online, willing to pay a bit extra for shipping for these huge , unusual beans. How much could dried beans cost, right? Apparently a lot. I did find them online, but the shipping cost to Canada was so high I couldn't justify it. 

I finally found some in a Greek deli when I was out of town for a friend's wedding. I wanted to buy up a few cans for various giant bean experiments, but I was travelling extremely light so I only got one. Only one chance to see if the huge beans would be tasty enough to live up to my rather overly built-up expectations. But they totally did, they were great. Super crispy outside and creamy on the inside. If you can't find the giant beans, you can always use cannellini or similar small white beans. It will still be delicious. But if you spot the giant ones, they are worth it. And maybe send some my way, since I have now used my entire stockpile. 

crispy giant beans:

inspired by 101 Cookbooks

• about 2 cups giant white beans, canned or dry, soaked and cooked until tender

• 6 cups arugula & spinach

• 1 tin artichokes, quartered

• 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped

• grapeseed or other neutral oil

In a large frying pan, heat a few tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Add the beans in an even layer, making sure all the beans are touching the bottom of the pan. Fry until the beans are crispy on the bottom, 2-3 minutes. Flip all the beans over and continue to fry until all the beans are golden brown on both sides. Canned beans might be a little more crumbly, so flip gently. 

While the beans fry, assemble the salad on a plate. Sprinkle hot, crispy beans on top and drizzle with preserved lemon dressing. 

preserved lemon dressing:

• 2 tbs preserved lemon, chopped finely

• 1 clove garlic

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 3 tbs red wine vinegar

• 2 tbs lemon juice

• black pepper

Combine all ingredients and blend until well combined. 

cherry and almond ice cream pie

When I was a kid, I used to make ice cream pie quite a bit. The recipe was very easy and had lots of variations - it had a graham crumb crust filled with ice cream mixed with a can of fruit juice concentrate. If you want to try it, I would highly recommend a vanilla ice cream & lime aid concentrate combo. The vanilla and lime mixture is perfectly sweet-tart and sunny. I also enjoyed making this pie for the opportunity it gave me to eat a few spoonfuls of undiluted limeade concentrate. I had a very sophisticated childhood palate. 

This cherry & almond version of ice cream pie is a teeny bit more sophisticated but only the slightest bit more involved to make. I still used graham crumb crust, and store bought ice cream (feel free to make your own vanilla ice cream if you are so inclined), and added some caramelized almonds and some lovely, syrupy cherries. A slightly grown up but still very quick-to-prepare version of my childhood ice cream pie.

The amounts here don't need to be too exact, and the fruit and flavourings can be swapped out to whatever suits you and is on hand. Peaches would be really nice with the crunchy almonds if you prefer. 

cherry & almond ice cream pie:

• 2/3 cup flaked almonds
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• large pinch salt 
• 3 cups pitted cherries, fresh or frozen both work 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• about 8 cups vanilla ice cream
• 1 1/3 cup graham crumbs or finely crushed amaretti cookies
• 1/3 cup butter, melted 

In a medium frying pan on medium heat, toast the almond until they just begin to colour. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar and pinch of salt, stirring constantly until sugar melts and coats almonds and the nuts are deep brown. Cool nuts on parchment lined baking sheet. 

Bring ice cream out of the freezer to soften for about 15 minutes. 

In a small saucepan, combine cherries, 1/4 cup sugar, almond and vanilla extracts and bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook over low heat until cherries soften and syrup thickens, about 10 minutes. Cool in the fridge. 

Combine graham crumbs and melted butter and press into a pie plate in an even layer. Scoop ice cream onto the crust and smoosh it down with your fingers. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the nuts onto the ice cream. Spoon cherries and syrup onto the ice cream and top with another 1/3 of the nuts. Scoop on more ice cream until the cherries are more or less covered, it doesn't need to be totally even or covered, it's nice if some cherries peek through. Freeze the pie for at least 5 hours or overnight. Slice and serve sprinkled with the remaining candied nuts. 

chimichurri potato salad

Parsley is highly underrated. If you ever though parsley was boring and only for sad garnishes, chimichurri will change your mind. Parsley sings in chimichurri a bright, acidic, spicy and garlicky sort of salsa verde sauce. Chimichurri is Argentinian, traditionally served as steak sauce. But it's also amazing on chicken, fish, vegetables, sandwiches and pretty much everything. I always make a big batch every time because it tends to find its way into all my meals for a few days. 

I had a bit of a childhood potato salad phobia, because typically potato salad was the intersection of two foods that made me highly nervous: gloopy mayonnaise and wobbly boiled eggs. But potato salad doesn't need to have a thick mayonnaise dressing at all. It can have a light, vinegary, herby dressing instead and chimichurri dressing fits the bill very nicely. It's sunny, springy and ideal for picnics and barbecues. 

chimichurri potato salad:

• 2-3 cups parsley (can substitute up to half cilantro if you wish)
• 1/2 cup olive oil 
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• big pinch chili flakes
• generous black pepper and salt
• 2 pounds small, waxy potatoes 

In a large pot, cover potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender and drain off water. 

While potatoes cook, blend all other ingredients in a food processor until a loose paste forms. Toss with hot potatoes and set aside to cool. Serve chilled or room temperature.