Traced Elements

Tag: erica osburn

Pemberton Lunch Box Omelettes

This recipe is inspired by the portable egg bites that Starbucks sells. With all the produce available at the Farmer’s Market or in your garden these make a very good high protein lunch! And they are easy to make. This recipe makes 4 omelettes but you could easily double or triple the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 tbs pure olive oil

4 Pemberton free-range large eggs

4 slices high quality thick-cut bacon, diced

1 Pemberton-grown red pepper, finely diced

1/4 Pemberton-grown yellow or white onion, finely diced

4 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half and then sliced lengthwise into thin slices

2 tbs cilantro, finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Method:

Sauté onion and red pepper in 1 tbs olive oil until soft and slightly caramelized. Add cilantro, salt and pepper.

Fry bacon in separate fry pan until crisp but not crunchy.

Add bacon to veggie mix.

Blend eggs in blender on high for 10 seconds. Or beat well with whisk or fork.

Place a silicone muffin pan into a large pyrex casserole dish.

Boil a large kettle of water.

Place 1.5 tbs veggie-bacon mix into each muffin cup. Then pour 1/4 egg mixture into each cup. Place 2 slices of cherry tomato atop each muffin.

Pour boiling water into pyrex dish so it reaches halfway up the sides of the dish.

Bake in oven at 350F for 30 minutes.

Cool.

Enjoy!

September 5, 2019
A Veggie-Laden Twist on Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s Pie is another great dish for experimenting with. It is also great comfort food on a winter evening! Lately I have been omitting tomatoes and garlic from my recipes. I don’t love garlic in particular and I am cutting back on acidic tomatoes. Eliminating these two ingredients is a challenge, as they pack a lot of flavour.

With a lot of time in a good cast iron Dutch oven, you can bring out the flavour in SO many veggies. For shepherd’s pie you can experiment, but this time I used: 1 cup diced green cabbage, ½ an eggplant, a large yellow onion, 2 cups parsley, and several healthy dashes of Worcestershire sauce – as well as S&P.

If you sauté those veggies at a low-medium heat for a good ½ hour – or more, you will have the flavour you want. And not have to resort to tomatoes for zing, or the usual garlic! The other veggie-friendly thing I did was steam a whole cauliflower and then mash it along with 8 fingerling potatoes, with plenty of butter and salt and the cauliflower steam water. All in all, this shepherd’s pie was a hit, and had tons of servings of nutritious veggies in it to boot. This is my re-boot of the usual “carrots, peas and corn” shepherd’s pie – which by my palate has had its day!

Veggie Turbo-Charged Shepherd’s Pie:

Ingredients:

3 tbs pure olive oil

½ eggplant, small dice

1 cup green cabbage, small dice

2 cups parsley, chopped

1 large yellow onion, small dice

1 tsp pepper

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 lb ground Pemberton-area deer meat, or grass-fed lean ground beef

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1 medium cauliflower

8 small yellow potatoes (Pemberton Sieglindes are a treat)

Salt to taste

Method:

Sauté all veggies (except cauliflower and potatoes) until well cooked and caramelised in cast iron Dutch oven.

Brown deer meat/ground beef in a separate cast iron fry pan, then and add to veggie mixture.

Add ½ cup chicken broth and 2 tbs cornstarch. Mix well. Mixture should thicken nicely.

Boil potatoes until very fork-tender.

Steam cauliflower.

Puree steamed cauliflower in food processor fitted with steel blade until very smooth.

Blend cauliflower and potatoes together in stand mixer with butter, salt and cauliflower steam water until you have a smooth consistency.

Pour veggie mix into 9×13” casserole dish and spoon mashed potatoes/cauliflower over top. Spread well.

Bake 350C for ½ hour.

Enjoy!

** Leftovers: next day add a good splash of chicken broth to a serving of shepherd’s pie and it forms a stew that is very satisfying in a Thermos for lunch on the go.

January 17, 2019
Down to the Dregs of the Apples…Use Them Up!

If you are not lucky enough to have effective cold storage, your harvest supply of apples may be looking a little tired right now. If so, I have two fantastic recipes that take advantage of less than perfect, small, slightly shriveled apples that you might be tempted to compost.

Also, I made tarte tatin recently with a fresh supply of delicious coastal apples that were perfectly ripe, and freshly picked. The recipe was from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook and is available at the Pemberton Library. I adapted her Pate Brisee recipe by using spelt flour and the results were tasty!

We are also onto the “dregs” of cricket chirping. Cricket chirping is one of my favourite sounds. They started in late July and almost mid-October I hear a forlorn cricket or two at night. They sound kind of lonely. Cheers to the persistent crickets who usher in shorter days and frosty weather.

Here are two recipes to use when you have processed all your nice large apples and are left with tiny ones that aren’t much use. These recipes just call for tiny pieces of apple and you don’t need to peel them first. Also the tuna patties are super quick, and also portable for lunch on the go. The rice pudding recipe is cooked for 6 hours in the slow cooker and is so easy and a real treat on a frosty evening. One is fast, one is slow, but both simple and easy.

Quick Tuna Burger Patties:

2 cans drained flaked tuna in water

¼ cup real mayonnaise

¼ cup almond meal

1 egg

1 tbs Dijon mustard

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper, or to taste

¼ cup chopped fresh dill

¼ cup finely chopped apple, unpeeled

Method:

Mix all ingredients together and form into 6 patties. Fry on medium low heat in 2-3 tbs olive oil until nicely browned on each side. The longer they cook, the better they will hold together so don’t rush the frying.

Slow Cooker Rice Pudding:

2.5 cups whole milk

½ cup whipping cream

1/3 cup Arborio rice

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup white sugar

½ cup finely chopped apple, no need to peel first!

1 tsp vanilla

Method:

Place all ingredients in a 2 quart soufflé dish and put that dish into a slow cooker crock. Cover with lid and cook on LOW for 6 hours. (Do not cook on high heat as the milk won’t cook as nicely.)

Tarte Tatin recipe can be found in Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook, published by Clarkson Potter and available at Pemberton Library.

Rice pudding prior to cooking

Tarte Tatin: doesn’t look as good as a slice of pie, but the flavour is rich and texture is dense!

October 9, 2018
Soup for a Future Rainy Day – Curried Lentil Cauliflower Soup

We had a cool period for a bit recently and being on the coast, it was a good opportunity to bring out my soup pot. Back into a heat wave so save this one for the next cool spell. I didn’t get a photo of it but it was a hit with some children I served it to as well as adults. Attached is a photo of some beautiful Squamish salal.

Curried Lentil Cauliflower Soup with Coconut Milk and Cilantro

Ingredients:

3 tbs pure olive oil

2 leeks, cleaned and chopped

1 fennel bulb, chopped

4 tomatoes, chopped

1 medium cauliflower, chopped

1 cup cilantro, chopped

6 cups chicken broth

1.5 cups red lentils

2 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

2 tbs cumin

1 tbs curry powder

1 can full fat coconut milk

Method:

Sauté leeks in olive oil on medium low heat until caramelised. Add all other vegetables and cilantro, and sauté until soft and caramelised.

Add broth and lentils and coconut milk.

Bring to boil and simmer 20 minutes.

Blend half of soup in blender until smooth and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired.

July 15, 2018
A Couple of No-Bake Sweet Treats for Hot Pemberton Days

Pemberton is a haven for horse lovers, golfers, mountain bikers, gardeners, farmers, adventure-seeking backcountry enthusiasts, ski and snowboard lovers (who would prefer to not reside in Whistler, or who cannot afford Whistler housing prices), and people who can tolerate extreme heat and bugs.

I am none of those people, and thus look upon May to late September with dread when the temperatures hit north of 28C – which is frequent. However, Pemberton is also a place for people who enjoy peace and quiet and beautiful vistas – this is something I like very much about Pemberton.

In light of the extremely high temperatures we are experiencing as of late, my entry this month will focus on two quick, satisfying and fairly healthy sweet treats. One of them, my peanut butter balls, are a staple in my fridge and I make them often. They are a good source of protein and healthy fats; a healthy peanut butter cup! Secondly, my healthier version of marzipan can be eaten on its own, dyed and made into fun fruit shapes, or rolled out to cover a cake – the famous Princess cake which I think is a Swedish tradition. In any case, sugar is reduced – but it does contain raw egg so do not serve to young kids, and anyone takes a risk consuming raw egg. I will take that chance.

Therefore, my recipes this month do not highlight Pemberton ingredients – but highlight the importance of cooking and baking to suit Pemberton weather. Which seems to get hotter every year.

Peanut Butter Balls (makes 10-12)

(I use a kitchen scale for my recipes and I highly recommend owning a scale for bakers)

6 oz Adams Original Salted smooth peanut butter

2 oz coconut oil, (unmelted)

4 oz coconut sugar

½ tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Coating:

3 squares Lindt 90% dark chocolate

1 tsp coconut oil

Method:

In a stand mixer, mix peanut butter and coconut oil together well. The coconut oil will take a while to fully incorporate.

Add rest of ingredients and blend well.

Refrigerate one hour.

Take out of fridge and form dough into balls using 1 tbs of dough and place on a wax-paper lined plate.

Refrigerate 1 hour

Meanwhile make coating by melting coating ingredients slowly on stove or use a double boiler so chocolate doesn’t burn. If you have a very low setting on your stove, use that.

When cold, dip balls into coating. Refrigerate ½ hour. Enjoy!

Marzipan: (makes about 2/3 cup of marzipan)

4 oz almond meal

1 oz icing sugar

1 egg beaten or 1 egg white (you won’t need all the egg)

1 tsp almond extract

Method: Using a Cuisinart, blend almond meal and icing sugar. With blade running add almond extract. Then slowly, add egg one tsp at a time until mixture comes together around the bowl. The marzipan should have a firm texture, not a mushy texture. Now you can do whatever you want with your marzipan, including eating it as-is!

May 15, 2018
Pemberton (by Way of India) Curry – 3 Ways:

If I ever write a cookbook it will be called Why the Heck Not? Culinary Adventures Without Leaving Home.

I am an improviser, both in cooking and baking. Sometimes the results are forgettable, but sometimes everything works. This curry worked. It was a matter of getting “rid” of odds and ends in the freezer and using up odds and ends in the fridge. Curry, like soup, is a good destination for those odds and ends. I will endeavor to contribute recipes to Traced Elements that call for ingredients that come from Pemberton – or can be grown in Pemberton. This curry is a winner: Pemberton Russet potatoes, Pemberton asparagus, parsley, and tomatoes, Pemberton-raised chicken and chicken broth.

The three ways part is this: the curry can be served over a bed of rice or quinoa. However, if it is simmered down, it can be a samosa filling (samosa dough recipe and samosa-assembling and baking method is courtesy of Shelley Adams’ awesome first cookbook Whitewater Cooks).

Then finally, because I love soup, this curry can become a warm and satisfying one. I do not own a microwave, so leftovers are much easier to heat, eat, and enjoy if you just add a cup or two (or more) of chicken broth to them.

Versatile Pemberton Chicken Curry with Asparagus and Tomato:

Ingredients:

3 cups Pemberton-raised cooked and diced chicken breast or thigh meat*

2 cups sliced Pemberton-grown green gage plums (pits removed)*

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 tbs olive oil

2 cloves Pemberton-grown garlic

2 large Pemberton-grown russet potatoes, baked, cooled, peeled, and diced*

1 large Pemberton or Lillooet-grown beefsteak tomato, diced*

2-3 cups Pemberton-grown asparagus, cooked and diced*

1 cup minced parsley

2 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

2 tsp curry powder

2 tsp cumin

1 can full-fat coconut milk

3 tbs gluten-free soy sauce

2 cups low/no sodium chicken broth*

*Indicates this ingredient came directly out of my freezer.

Method:

Use a large heavy-bottomed stainless steel soup pot or a cast iron stew pot. Add 2 tbs olive oil and warm up on medium-low heat. Add diced onion and minced garlic. Let it cook slowly on low-medium heat so the onion caramelises. Do not rush this part. When the onion and garlic mixture is golden brown, turn the heat to medium, and add your diced chicken, sliced green-gage plums, diced tomato, parsley, asparagus, and potato. Let it sauté around so the flavours mingle and cook. Then add your cumin, curry powder, salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Sauté a few minutes more. Finally, add your coconut milk and 2 cups chicken broth. Let it simmer 10 minutes.

**If you are making samosas, let the mixture simmer until there is not too much liquid as that will make the samosas too watery and will not stay formed. At the same time, you don’t want your curry mixture too dry either. Just remember your curry mixture will be encased in raw dough and baked so you don’t want the curry mixture to soak through.

If you are making curry you are almost done. Cook a pot of basmati rice or quinoa and pour your curry over it. You may want to garnish with a chutney and papadum! I would like to make my own chutney but for now it is Major Grey’s from the supermarket.

And if you are making soup, you will want to add 2 to 6 cups more chicken broth, depending on how thick you like your soup.

Samosas (Yields 12):

Samosa dough ingredients (adapted from Shelley Adams’ Whitewater Cooks – her first cookbook)

3 cups spelt flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp paprika

2/3 cup cold butter cubed (for those of you who like to measure ingredients on a kitchen scale, that works out to be 152 grams)

2/3 cup cold water

1 egg, beaten

Method:

To make dough:

Place all dry ingredients in food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles sand granules. Then slowly add enough water until the dough comes together (you may not need all the water). Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

To assemble samosas:

Roll out dough on a piece of parchment paper until quite thin. You will need extra spelt flour to sprinkle so your dough doesn’t stick to your rolling pin. You don’t want thick dough or else your samosas will be too heavy and stodgy. Cut out portions of dough using the lid of a sour cream container (about 4 inches in diameter). Remove your circle and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place a scant ¼ cup of your curry mixture in the centre of your dough circle and fold the circle in half, making a half-moon. Crimp your edges. Do this with the remainder of the dough and curry. Makes about a dozen. Then brush all your samosas with an egg wash using a pastry brush. You will likely have curry mixture left over, and you can freeze that for future meals, as long as your chicken was not previously frozen.

Bake your samosas in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. Serve with chutney.

March 14, 2018
Soup’s On – Recipes that Make it Easy to Eat Your Veggies in Winter

First off, thanks to Lisa for getting this website/blog off the ground. There is so much to write about regarding food, especially in Pemberton.

I consider myself first a baker by choice, and a cook by necessity. I still use my oven a lot but in the last few years I have really grown to love making soup. I adore soup and it is my preferred form of food, in all seasons except summer!

You can use so many odds and ends in soup. You can improvise. You can make things vegan, or dairy free, with so many alternatives. Soup can often be a complete meal in a bowl, which is helpful for kids’ thermoses taken to school.

I find in the winter a plate with a bit of starch, a piece of meat or fish, and some veggies on the side is not appealing. I would way rather slurp my meal from a steaming bowl. Chinese medicine, from what I understand of it, states that cooked veggies are easier to digest, and I find it so much more appealing to eat my veggies surrounded by broth in soup-form in cold weather.

This soup recipe started with me looking for a butternut soup recipe online. I found something quite good, or looked as if it had potential, and I made it. I got 7 butternut squashes from my in-laws who had planted a bunch with my kids in their garden. I needed to do something with them because I don’t have a cold room with the perfect temperature that prevents winter veggies from rotting. I need to get my squash roasted, pureed, and then frozen.

I took that initial recipe and have changed it so much that it is an entirely new recipe. I find cauliflower is such a versatile veggie that it can be added to a ton of dishes. The key is that it needs time to sauté slowly which brings out the sweetness and flavour.

My rules of soup-making are: take your time to sauté the veggies low and slow. Second: I add my herbs to the sauté process – I find this adds flavour. Sometimes I will also add a bit of parsley or cilantro at the end, but I always add a lot of those two when I am sautéing my veggie base low and slow. Third: I always double, triple or quadruple cilantro or parsley called for in recipes. (Cilantro and parsley are two items I always have in my fridge.) Ditto for pepper. I always add more than called for.

So here it is:

“Mug of Gold” Butternut-Cauliflower Soup with Spinach:

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion, medium dice

1 large cauliflower- remove and chop florets into very small pieces

2 tablespoons pure olive oil

1-2 garlic cloves, chopped (optional)

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

1/2 – 1 cup parsley, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon coriander

2-3 teaspoons cumin

1/4 teaspoon cloves

2-3 cups puréed pumpkin or butternut squash

1.5 cups blanched spinach

5-6 cups chicken stock*

1 cup plain, unseasoned tomato juice** (home canned ideally): (optional) OR if you don’t have unseasoned tomato juice, just use more chicken stock

1/2 cup full fat coconut milk

pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

1 tsp salt, or to taste

2 tsp pepper, or to taste

Chopped parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Sauté cauliflower florets in olive oil with onion, garlic, and parsley. Sauté until cauliflower is browned nicely and caramelized.

Add salt, pepper and spices.

Add puréed pumpkin or butternut squash.

Add blanched spinach.

Add coconut milk, tomato juice (if using), and stock.

Bring to boil, then simmer on low 10-15 mins. Cool 5-10 mins.

Blend in batches (in high powered, such as a Vita-Mix blender*** if possible)

Adjust salt and pepper. Also you may want to add more stock if you find the consistency is too thick. Do not add more tomato juice, as more than one cup will overpower the butternut.

Serves 8.

*Chicken stock: I roast a chicken once a week. That evening I will put the carcass in a large stock pot with a ton of veggie ends/trimmings that I save in a large Ziploc in my freezer. In that bag I will add: cauliflower stalks and leaves, parsley ends, onion ends, green onion ends, carrot ends, celery ends, sweet pepper stems, etc. etc. The only “end” that doesn’t work is potato ends. And the veggie should be clean. I add the “ends” to the chicken carcass (works out to be about 3 cups of veggie trimmings), fill the pot with water, add 2 bay leaves and about 30 whole peppercorns. Then I bring to boil and simmer for 2 hours. After cooling I drain the broth and when cool, freeze in containers. I pick the meat off the carcass and this meat I will use in soups later.

**Tomato juice: I home canned some juice after canning Lillooet tomatoes. I think the most simple juice is best, so you could use the juice from a can of commercial tomatoes. If you don’t have a mild and unseasoned juice like this, omit the tomato juice and just use more chicken stock.

***Blender: If you like blended soups then a high-powered blender, such as a Vita-Mix, will make the smoothest soups.

Take your time sautéing the veggies!

A mug of gold…this version was spinach-free. Using spinach makes the soup a bit darker.

February 26, 2018