Salmon patties

Worried that the babies were getting sick of scrambled eggs every day for lunch, I decided to try something new. Quick salmon patties to the rescue, recipe courtesy of Kidspot Kitchen. They liked them and so did I! It made a nice change from eggs. Now off to find even more lunch ideas ...

Bocconcini picnic sandwich

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Heeee!

I just read about fanny food — food that is warmed up and flavour-enhanced by spending an hour under someone's buttocks.

Food writer M.F.K. Fisher once made a guest at her home sit on a cling-wrapped baguette sandwich for an hour before proclaiming that lunch was ready. She then instructed him to stand up and retrieved the squashed sandwich, cutting it into finger lengths and serving it with baby pickles and red wine.

Wish I could have had lunch with Ms. Fisher! I never would have thought to involve bums in a cooking process.

The French have a similar but more sophisticated approach named pan-bagnat or bathed bread, in which a baguette is hollowed out, spread with olive oil, filled with salade niçoise, and then tightly wrapped and left to soak.

S makes a sandwich like this that we've taken on road trips and to picnics. The secret is to make it a few hours in advance and tightly wrap it to let the flavours blend before eating. Unfortunately, neither of us had the brilliant idea of sitting on it until now ...

If any of you make this, I would love to hear from you! The recipe has already been taste-tasted by friends Squeaky and Shady and they love it.

Bocconcini picnic sandwich

baguette
cherry tomatoes, halved
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
bocconcini, halved
fresh herbs
arugula
salt and pepper

Generously drizzle baguette halves with olive oil. Add a layer of arugula and halved cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Add some fresh herbs, such as thyme or basil. Cut the bocconcini balls in half and lay on top, cut side down. Mix some balsamic vinegar and olive oil together and drizzle over top.

Wrap sandwich in cellophane and let rest for about an hour — underneath someone's bum if you wish — to let the flavours meld.

Eat and enjoy!

Charcuterie from patio to balcony

Murray Street's charcuterie on Flickr by beFOODled.


beFOODled's charcuterie on Flickr by beFOODled.

S and I recently discovered Murray Street, a restaurant in the Byward Market that serves upscale Canadian comfort food. Since the Ottawa Foodies have already done a great job of reviewing it, I'm going to tell you about how a recent visit there reaquainted me with a timeless French classic, the cheese and charcuterie sharing plate.

The chefs at Murray Street buy artisanal cheeses and make their own pâtés and terrines using locally sourced meats. For $30, you can order a combination of either three meats and two cheeses, or the reverse. The charcuterie, pictured above, comes with crostini in a cute burlap bag and three sauces: one with plumped-up raisins, an apple jelly, and a cranberry and orange compote. With two glasses of wine, the cost is closer to $42 plus tax and tip.

We ordered three meats — keilbassa from the Elk Ranch, a thick slice of country terrine with smoked pork tenderloin, and a pork rillette (in the photo, it's the white spread in the jar and the best value because you get quite a bit). My favourites were definitely the cheeses because they had the strongest and most robust flavours. We chose a sharp seven-year-old Pine River cheddar (delicious with the apple jelly) and the Fritz Kaiser Le Douanier, an ash-coated cheese from Quebec.

The Murray Street charcuterie is nice for a special occasion when one is feeling decadent (and solvent), but on Sunday, S and I made our own version at home for less than one-third of the price.

Our Sunday balcony charcuterie, also pictured above, included genoa salami and spicy soppresata, an Italian dry-cured salami. We also had sliced baguette, olive tapenade, bristling sardines and a small plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping bread. Not forgetting two cheeses — gouda, my favourite Dutch cheese, and Rouy, a mild-tasting, orange, soft surface-ripened cheese from Bourgogne, France, which comes in an orange cardboard box (and was on sale for $3.99 at La Bottega!).

I love eating this way because of the tapas-like variety of choice, and the big, strong flavours. It also always brings back fond memories of similar meals — of lunch with my aunt and uncle and then-little cousins in Edmonton, and with S's parents in the Rockies, crowded around the tiny convertible table in their Westfalia camping van. And most recently, of France, when S and I made this for dinner one night in our room with cheeses bought from the sweet little market at La Bégude-de-Mazenc. Ah, memories with food!

Murray Street Kitchen | Charcuterie | Wine
110 Murray St.
Ottawa, ON K1N 5M6‎
613.562.7244‎


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