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April 2006, Volume 1 Issue 4
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In this issue:
Welcome to the April Foodletter (...ah, April in Paris....)
Recipe of the Month: Pea & Halloumi Cheese Fritters and Dark Chocolate Pudding Cake
Supplier of the Month: Monforte Dairy
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Welcome to the April Foodletter
Happy Spring from Pannifer's!
The snow has all melted, finally, the daffodils are up and the trees are in bud. It's my favourite time of year for gardening - all the work is theoretical and the mosquitoes haven't hatched yet!
In the "Well That Was Good While It lasted, But It Sure Didn't Last Long Enough" Department, our beautiful new sandwich board sign, "Precious" was stolen off our porch last month. Precious was many things - beautiful, good for business, - but certainly not lightweight. Lugging her from the porch to the curb and back again was my upper body workout for the day. Naively, we assumed that this heft would keep her safe from any mischief-makers, but we hadn't reckoned with the annual March Break hijinks.
We posted signs. Our neighbours offered suggestions as to where she might have been tossed. Alan spent many hours hiking along the banks of Black Creek, which winds and twists and loops its way through the village. He says it's quite pretty. I'm looking forward to seeing it all when the ground firms up just a little more.
All of this was to no avail, though. Precious is gone for good. Our business dropped noticeably without her. We had to accept the inevitable. Precious Two should arrive this week. She will definitely be an indoor sign at night, despite the difficulties of navigating the front door carrying fifty pounds of unwieldy signboard.
I hope your lives have been less eventful. Thanks to all who sent casseroles!
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Alan's Recipes of the Month
Green Pea and Halloumi Cheese Pancakes
Ingredients
2 cups Frozen peas (about 2 cups)
½ cup Milk
2 lg Eggs
1 T Cornstarch
1 cup All-purpose flour
½ t Baking Powder
250 g Halloumi cheese* (about 8 ounces), grated using the largest size holes on a box grater (Mozzarella Cheese may be substituted)
1 T Mint, chopped
1 t Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper to taste
olive oil, to shallow fry
* Halloumi cheese is a semi-firm sheep's-milk cheese, Mozzarella is its somewhat less flavourful, cow's-milk equivalent.
Method
Boil the peas in salted water for 2 minutes, then drain. Rinse under cold water then drain again. Puree (or mash with a fork) half until smooth.
Whisk milk, eggs, flours, baking powder and pureed peas in a bowl, then fold in remaining peas, halloumi, mint, salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in non-stick frypan over medium heat. Add tablespoons of the mixture to the pan in batches, pressing down to flatten slightly and fry 2-3 minutes or until golden on both sides. Drain on paper towels.
Great served with a mixed green salad or as an accompaniment to fish.
Dark Chocolate Pudding Cake
Ingredients
3/4 cup Sugar
1 cup All-purpose Flour
2 t Baking Powder
pinch Salt
1 oz Best Quality Chocolate
2 T Unsalted Butter
5 oz Milk (1/2 cup plus two tablespoons)
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Light Brown Soft Sugar
4 T Cocoa Powder
6 T Water
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter an 8 inch x 8 inch pan.
Heat butter, chocolate and milk in a small saucepan until chocolate is melted; whisk together and leave to cool.
Mix sugar, flour, baking powder and salt together.
Beat liquid mixture and dry ingredients together. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Sprinkle on top the sugars, the cocoa powder and the water (without mixing) and place in the oven for about one hour, but start checking after about 40 minutes.
The liquid should sink to the bottom and thicken into pudding. A toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the cake should come out clean.
Leave to stand at room temperature for about one hour before serving.
Best served warm.
Got any food questions? Email Alan and he'll try to help you out.
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Supplier of the Month: Monforte Dairy
We first met Ruth Klahsen in 1990, when she was an instructor at the Stratford Chef School and Alan was a student. As well as teaching, she's worked as a chef at many of the finest restaurants in and around Stratford.
Our paths crossed and uncrossed through the years, and we heard through the grapevine that she'd taken up cheesemaking.
We moved back to Stratford in 1996 to open our B&B. Alan started baking bread for the farmers' market, and one Saturday, a few years ago, Ruth was there, selling her cheese. We took some home and have been hooked on it ever since.
Monforte Dairy opened two years ago, making and selling artisanal sheep's milk cheeses. They have a wide range of flavours and textures, from soft cheeses with a light, slightly sharp taste, through to the Toscano, which is aged to a rich, mellow flavour and can be sliced or grated. And then there's the Halloumi, which has more than a few addicts here at Pannifer's.
While the move from cooking to cheese-making isn't a huge leap, I did ask Ruth why. She explained that cooking in restaurants involves constant pushing to get the finest food you can prepare on to the plates and out to the dining room in a limited period of time. It can be quite a rush, but eventually it's just stressful. With cheese-making, she says, "You can't force it. You have to step back and let it come to you." It fits her personality much better than the constant push, push, push of the kitchen.
We're certainly glad she made the jump. I'm always amazed by the quality of the cheese she produces. A modest perfectionist, she'll allow that "maybe it's getting there". And then she gives most of the credit to "her girls" - the sheep who donate their milk.
Monforte Dairy cheeses are available at the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto (North Building), the Stratford Farmer's Market, Pannifer's of Sebringville (of course!) and other fine food shops, as well as on the menus of many of our finer restaurants. See Ruth's website at www.monfortedairy.com
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Cheers!
Barb & Alan
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