Foodie Road Trip on the Shores of Lake Erie

We are incredibly blessed to live in beautiful southern Ontario, home to an amazingly diverse culinary opportunity.  There is an abundance of locally grown and produced foods in our region.  In fact, eating locally within 100 miles of our home is exceedingly easy.  The vast majority of our food is actually grown and produced much closer to home!

Cherries are in season so I decided to take a foodie road trip to the shores of Lake Erie.  Highway 3 (Talbot Trail) runs along the Lake Erie shore between Niagara Falls and Windsor.   It meanders through small little towns, home to various annual food festivals, homestyle restaurants, and quaint shopping.  There are countless orchards and vineyards, a few mushroom farms, fisheries and so much more.  The rich fertile sandy loam produces some of the best fruits, berries, onions and carrots that you can find.   It is common to see food trucks along the route especially during the summer months.   Highway 3 really is a gorgeous route with stunning eyecandy and lots to explore.

I left the house early in the morning to make a shorter version of my normal foodie run route.  This time I made a couple of stops before heading to the lake to enjoy a bit of the beautiful scenery while enjoying a cup of coffee.  The sky was so blue!  The air was already turning warm so I headed onto a couple of orchards to the east.  My stash of goodies grew with each stop!  On the way home, I stopped at the mushroom farm.  I have been buying my mushrooms from them for about 30 years!  At one time they were less expensive than store bought but now are about the same price.  The big difference is they are fresh picked.  I only bought two 5 lb boxes this time.  My final stop was at the Dutch Market for coffee and fresh baked goodies.  I came home with a lot of fresh produce - apples, plums, blueberries, green beans, strawberries and mushrooms.  I even bought a bottle of sparkling apple cider.  All-in-all it was a very successful foodie road trip!

Tweety Bites (No Bake Cookies)

It has been a cold, damp summer thus far which has given me a bit more time indoors.  Late last week it suddenly turned very hot and humid, bringing a few nasty storms with the change.  I wanted to do a bit of experimenting in the kitchen but didn't want to use the stove or oven.  I came across a recipe for no bake treats and immediately thought it could be tweaked to use hemp hearts.

Hemp hearts are about the size of sesame seeds.  They have a nutty flavour with a firm yet somewhat chewy texture.  Typically they are used to boost the protein content as they contain just over 3 g protein per 10 g (1 tbsp).  Hemp hearts  are also high in omega 3 and 6 polyunsaturated fats.  They can be stored at room temperature but for best taste, they can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

I buy Canadian grown hemp hearts at our local health food store.  They are on the expensive side at $14 for a 454 g (1 lb ) container but it lasts a long time.  I like sprinkling a teaspoon of hemp hearts on top of plain Greek yogurt for breakfast.  

No bake cookies and bars are perfect hot weather treats.  I experimented with hemp hearts to make no bake treats that are not only easy to make but a tasty low calorie, low car, high protein, tasty treat.  I used organic 90% cacao dark chocolate for dipping.  Clearly, I need to practice my dipping skills but overall, I was rather pleased with the results.  The cookies are tasty, with a slightly nutty flavour.  The chocolate adds a nice note.  These are not really sweet cookies but they are tasty. 

Tweety Bites
recipe by:  Garden Gnome

113 g (4 oz) cream cheese
140 g (3/4 c plus 3 tbsp) hemp hearts
1/2 tsp homemade vanilla extract
40 g (1.4 oz) 90% cacao dark chocolate

Soften the cream cheese at room temperature in a small bowl.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Stir in hemp hearts until well mixed.  Roll into 20 equally sized balls.  Place balls on Silpat lined baking sheet.  Flatten balls with fingers.  Cover and place baking sheet in refrigerator for an hour.  Melt chocolate in small bowl place over slightly larger bowl containing boiling water.  Carefully tip the bowl with the melted chocolate and dip each chilled cookie, replacing the dipped cookie onto the Silpat.  Chill.  Remove from Silpat for serving.

Note:  These cookies should be kept in the refrigerator.  I put them in a container to enjoy as desired.

Happy Canada Day! 2015

148 Years Young
Strong, Proud and Free
Oh Canada!

Low Sugar Strawberry Jams

While I home can year round and have even taken to doing a bit of canning at our vacation home, this time of year through the end of September tends to be busier.  The canners (water bath, pressure) are going almost daily often several times in one day quickly putting up various fruits and vegetables as they are in season.  Unfortunately, I missed asparagus season.  There is still local asparagus available but the price is too high for preserving.  Strawberries just started.  We were on a road trip Saturday so I came home with a flat of local strawberries and fresh, free range eggs. 

I made three batches of low sugar strawberry jam, all using Pomona's pectin (low methoxy pectin).  This pectin does not rely on sugar to gel so it is possible to use sugar substitutes like maple syrup, honey, stevia or agave.  If sugar is desired, it is used at a considerably reduced about usually 2 cups or less per batch in comparison to regular pectin that uses about 7 cups of sugar per batch.  The end result is the ability to create gourmet low sugar jams.  However, reduced sugar also means a smaller yield since sugar is a bulking agent as well.  This small price is well worth it for me. 

I also used a secret ingredient (non-alcoholic) to enhance the flavour of the jam.  I am pleased with the flavour and texture of the jam.  However, there is a bit more floating fruit than I would have liked.  Floating fruit is common with jams even when following the guideline to stir for five minutes before jarring.  This does reduce but not eliminate floating fruit.  The easy remedy for floating fruit is simply stirring the jar of jar when first opened.  Floating fruit does not affect the texture or flavour of the jam but it is not a desirable visual element for competition.