Echo Bay Vineyard, Else Wines, Rigour + Whimsey - Okanagan Falls, BC
Images from Environment 911 Blog - Sustainability in the Okanagan Winery Circuit
September 23, 2020
Okanagan Crush Pad - Summerland, BC
Images from Environment 911 Blog - Sustainability in the Okanagan Winery Circuit
September 23, 2020
I wrote a few recipes for BC Living from when I went camping on the August long weekend (at Twenty Mile Bay) - Gourmet Camping Recipes for Your Next Camping Trip.
Some of them are long, so I figured I’d break each of them down into their own posts (means extra photos too!) - the first being Jackfruit Tacos (click for recipe), followed by breakfast with a Chickpea & Potato Breakfast Hash (recipe for that here), and finally we have Green Curry.
You can 100% make this at home (any of them really), but a lot of the tips are for how to prep before you leave, and minimize effort at the campsite.
“Skip the roasted weenies and indulge in these easy-to-make camping recipes! These dishes might look fancy, but much of the prep work can be done at home (and then frozen), and all of them can be done on a camp stove if there's a fire ban. Oh, and they can also all be made vegan!
So make your grocery list, get shopping and start prepping these delicious and nutritious camping meals...”
Green Curry with Ginger Rice (paired with The Hatch 2019 B. Yanco)
While this may sound way too fancy for a camping meal, it’s essentially a one-pot production that you barely have to monitor. The second pot comes into play if you want to make your rice fresh at the site, but you could make it ahead of time at home and just mix it right into the curry.
Another good thing about this dish is that if there is leftover veg from breakfast (think onion, peppers, potatoes, etc.), you can toss them right in here. No waste and you can chop everything in the morning, meaning more time on the beach.
Once again, this can be made vegan by eliminating the chicken (which I diced and froze ahead of time so by night two it was ready to go and I didn’t have to handle raw chicken on site), or substituting in some tofu, as the rest of it is just veggies!
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can coconut milk
⅔ cup water (approx.)
1 vegetable bouillon cube
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp (possibly more to taste) green curry paste
About 200 g of mushrooms (your choice, but I went with shimeji and shiitake)
½ red pepper, cut into strips
1 or 2 baby bok choy, roughly chopped (spinach works too)
About 20 snap peas, ends trimmed
Thumb of ginger (optional), sliced
1 cup jasmine rice
Basil, optional
INSTRUCTIONS
Cook the rice in a pot to the specifications on the package (adding in some optional ginger for flavour, removing after rice is finished) and set aside.
In a pan, heat the olive oil on medium and then add the onion, sautéing for a few minutes, before adding the garlic and the green curry paste.
Add in the chicken if you are using it and cook until just no longer pink.
Add the coconut milk into the pan and stir until the paste has been dissolved. Then add in the mushrooms and red pepper. You may need to thin the sauce out more here, depending how you like your curry. If so, dissolve the bouillon cube in the two-thirds cup of water, and then add it to the pan. (You can transfer to a large pot if your pan doesn’t fit this.)
Bring to a boil and then turn to low and let it simmer. You can taste and see if you need more curry paste (if so it may be easiest to dissolve it in a small bowl with a bit of the curry broth, and then add it in).
After the liquid has reduced a bit, and you have the spices where you like, add in the bok choy and the snap peas and cook for a few minutes until just tender (you want a bit of crunch to them still).
Turn off the heat, plate the rice (with the ginger discarded) and then scoop the curry mix on to it. Tear the basil and add on top (optional) and enjoy the view.
Drinks: There’s not much you can’t pair with a spicy curry, but a cold, dry, white wine is a sure bet. I tried The Hatch Winery’s B. Yanco a few months back from the Stable House Bistro takeout window, and fell in love. I’ve paired it with so many meals since, and on the beach as the sun went down sipped on between bites of this dish was another success.
I wrote a few recipes for BC Living from when I went camping on the August long weekend (at Twenty Mile Bay) - Gourmet Camping Recipes for Your Next Camping Trip.
Some of them are long, so I figured I’d break each of them down into their own posts (means extra photos too!) - the first being Jackfruit Tacos (click for recipe), and now I present Chickpea & Potato Breakfast Hash.
It’s vegan up until you add the optional egg(s), so you decide what you’d like!
“Skip the roasted weenies and indulge in these easy-to-make camping recipes
These dishes might look fancy, but much of the prep work can be done at home (and then frozen), and all of them can be done on a camp stove if there's a fire ban. Oh, and they can also all be made vegan!
So make your grocery list, get shopping and start prepping these delicious and nutritious camping meals...”
Chickpea & Potato Breakfast Hash (paired with Creek & Gully Cider, Century Pét Nat)
Chickpeas are so versatile for camping because they obviously keep well, but they can also be used in so many dishes. We showed you this recipe for Curry Chickpea Sandwiches that made for an easy lunch, but now we’re incorporating chickpeas into breakfast. The best thing about this dish is you can change things up with what's in season when you head to the campground. Zucchini everywhere? Toss it in. Rolling through Chilliwack? Grab some corn. But whatever is in the vegetable crisper will do!
INGREDIENTS
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
½ small red pepper, diced
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp paprika
12 small or fingerling potatoes, sliced in half
Handful of baby spinach
1 or 2 twigs of fresh rosemary (stems removed)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs (eliminate these to make it vegan, can sub in diced avocado)
Salt and pepper
(NOTE: Again, you can add other vegetables like zucchini, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, etc., just keep in mind cooking times of each, and if you might have to steam things before tossing them in.)
INSTRUCTIONS
In a small pot, boil some salted water. Boil the potatoes for approximately 5 minutes until just softened (you don’t want them to get mushy). Drain and set aside.
In a large cast-iron pan (don’t be afraid to lug this camping if you have a car, as it’s so versatile) or frying pan, heat a tablespoon of oil and then add the onion, cooking for a few minutes before adding in the red pepper and softening for a few more minutes.
Add in the chickpeas, sprinkle the cumin and paprika on, and stir to combine everything, then add in the spinach and cook until wilted. Bring everything to one side of the pan and add half a tablespoon of oil to the other side and place the potatoes, cut side down, into the pan.
Chop the rosemary finely and sprinkle on top of the potatoes with a bit of salt and pepper. How much rosemary depends on your taste, as it’s pretty powerful. Rotate the potatoes after they brown for a minute on the one side. (Give the chickpea mix a turn here too, as you don’t want it to burn or stick).
If you’re using the eggs, clear a space for them in the pan, and drizzle the last of the olive oil into that area, then crack both eggs, sprinkle with salt and pepper and let them cook. If you have a lid for you pan, now is a good time to put it on so the eggs cook on the top faster, or you could place some tin foil (a camper’s best friend) over the top.(Another idea would be to scramble the eggs in a bowl, and pour them over the chickpeas, and then cook to mix—great if you don’t like your eggs runny.)
Once cooked, evenly distribute on to two plates and sprinkle with any additional salt and pepper needed.
To complement your coffee or tea, you could go the traditional route with a breakfast/brunch drink and have a mimosa, or you can skip the sugary OJ and pair this dish with Creek & Gully Cider. I sampled a few of them on this trip, but the pairing of the Century Pét Nat, was definitely a great call for this meal.
Serves 2”
Written and Photographed for BC Living
”Five Easy Tips for Making Pizza At Home”
August 5, 2020
“You’ve perfected your banana bread and your sourdough loaves are on point. What’s your next move? Might I suggest stepping up your homemade pizza game
Making pizza at home is easy and lots of fun. Everyone can make their own personal pizza with toppings to suit their own particular tastes. Plus, it’s an engaging family activity and a creative date-night idea.
You could go the easy way and buy pre-made, pre-baked or frozen dough... and you could get the store-bought sauce off the shelf... or pre-shredded cheese and still make a good pizza. But, there are simply ways to make that pizza even more delicious and rival the in-restaurant experience.
Here are a few tips to upgrade your homemade pizza skills, and really wow your crowd (or yourself)...
1. Make your own dough
Fresh dough is something to behold and makes a huge difference in texture. You have many options here. You can use a bread-maker machine to make it easy and still end up with a great taste. Or you can make it by hand and let it rise for a while and use it that day. Or you can use a smaller amount of yeast, and let the fridge do some work for you by letting it sit overnight. This step (called cold-fermenting—kind of like what you have to do with sourdough) means you’ll have to plan your pizza night a day or two ahead, but once you try it, you won’t want to go back. Whichever route you decide to go, you’ll thank yourself when you bite into that crispy, chewy crust!
2. Making the sauce
Honestly, it’s so simple, you barely have to pay attention to it, and not only do you end up with a better base for your toppings, you avoid the overly sugary shelf-stable taste. Fresh tomatoes (especially when they’re in season, and you can make a fancy heirloom tomato sauce) work well, but if you get a good can of off-the-vine tomatoes (where that’s the only ingredient), you’re good to go year-round.
Sautée some garlic, add in the tomatoes and a bit of water, shake some spices over it (think salt and pepper, Italian seasoning or oregano), and maybe some fresh basil, and cook it down until, shocker, it’s sauce-like! (At that point you can purée it as well, if you prefer a less chunky sauce.) Make a big enough batch and you can freeze it, and save yourself the step the next time.
Oh, and if you’re feeling ambitious, or have picky eaters, you can also try a white-sauce pizza and make a Bechamel sauce. There are a few pizzas with toppings (mmm funghi with truffle oil) that go really well with a white sauce, which leads me to...
3. Toppings
We’ll start with cheese. I know it’s tempting to get the pre-shredded cheese in a bag and save yourself some time, but the starch on them (why they don’t stick together) makes melting difficult and gummy.
At the very least, shred your own low-moisture mozzarella, or take it a step further and do a combination of a few cheeses that melt easily (havarti and fontina, for example). And if you’re making a margherita pizza, search out fior di latte cheese (or buffalo mozzarella if you can’t find it)—it’s authentic and since the pizza is so simple to start with, you should be using the best ingredients you can find.
When it comes to toppings, many can go right on the pizza, like tomatoes and prosciutto. But throwing on things like raw mushrooms and uncooked meats is going to backfire. You want to cook the pizza at a really high heat (we’ll get into that) and there isn’t enough time for those kinds of toppings to cook thoroughly and become flavourful. Sautée vegetables with a bit of olive oil to soften and bring out juices, and always cook raw meat fully before putting it your crust. That way you’re not over-cooking the pizza to try and get the toppings finished.
4. Turn it up!
I’ve learned in the process of my pizza experiments that if you crank your oven as high as it goes, and if you’ve done everything right with your dough and toppings, it’s going to make the biggest difference. It all depends how hot you can get your oven (and if you follow one of the suggestions in tip no. 5 below), but it should only take a few minutes to cook your pizza.
I’ve worked at 500 degrees the last few times and even if the pizza is a weird shape (it happens) or even if the dough isn’t homemade, it usually turns out beautifully.
Another hot tip (get it?) is to turn the broil on for the last minute or so (you just have to keep an eye on it the whole time, which you should be doing anyway). This will give the top of the pizza a bit of extra attention and melt-time, and because we don’t all have wood-fired ovens in our kitchens or yards, it will help fully surround the pizza with heat.
Another idea is to cook it on the barbecue, as that can get even hotter than the oven, but that will require an extra tool for sure (or else the mess potential is high), which is what the next tip is all about.
5. Try a pizza stone
Seriously it’s a game changer. The stone goes in when you pre-heat the oven and absorbs the heat as it rises. It helps keep the oven temperature even, and when you slide your pizza on, it’s cooking from the bottom, top and surroundings. You can bake other items on this too (bread, quesadillas, pita), so it’s not just a one-trick kitchen toy, and helps regulate heat when you’re baking things that can’t go directly on it.
The best accessory to go with this is a pizza peel. Assemble the pizza, throw down some cornmeal or semolina flour on the peel, place it on and it will slide right off on to the stone (the same when it comes out). Then you’re not dealing with trying to handle 500-degree stones while taking your pizza out. It helps get an assembly line going when you’re making multiple pizzas as well.
For something different, toss (well, place gently) the pizza stone on the barbecue and try cooking your pizza on there. You lose the ability to broil, but because the ‘cue can usually get hotter than an oven, the cook time is about the same. Plus, it’s just a fun idea to make a barbecue pizza!
Like most things in the world of baking and cooking, it may take a few tries to get it perfect. So, start with even just one of these tips, and you’ll slowly add another skill to your repertoire—or at the very least look like it on Instagram.”
Written and Photographed for BC Living
”3 Delicious Avocado Toast Recipes”
August 4, 2020
”Smash up these simple yet flavourful dishes within minutes!
Avocado toast makes such a light refreshing meal in the summertime—one that you can have for breakfast, lunch or even dinner. While smashed avocado on bread is great on its own, there are plenty of ways to jazz it up: you can serve it vegan, vegetarian or even add some seafood into the mix.
Here are three recipes to up your avo toast game...
———
Mushroom, Feta, Avocado Toast
(Can be made Vegan or Vegetarian)
Serves 1 (Can be doubled)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 a large avocado
- handful of mushrooms (whichever are in season/that you feel like eating!)
- 1 tsp olive oil (or coconut oil)
- salt & pepper
- 1 slice of multigrain bread
- lemon juice
- feta (optional - vegan if you have it or want to make it)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Chop mushrooms and sauté in olive oil on medium heat until tender. Toast the bread and while that is happening, and smash the avocado in a small bowl, seasoning with a splash of lemon juice, and then spread onto toast. Layer the mushrooms on top, sprinkle with feta, and salt & pepper. You can also add chili flakes for heat, or hot sauce.
———
Avocado Tofu-Egg Salad
(Can be made Vegan or Vegetarian)
Serves ~2
INGREDIENTS:
OPTION #1 – Tofu Egg Salad
- 1 package of MED-FIRM tofu
- 2 tsp of Shani'seasoning (click to link on how/where to buy)
- 1 tbsp vegan mayo
OPTION #2 - Egg Salad
- 3 or 4 hard boiled eggs
- 1 tbsp vegan mayo
REST OF INGREDIENTS:
- 1 medium sized avocado
- pea shoots (or sprouts of choice)
- paprika
- salt & pepper
- 1 or 2 slices of multigrain bread (can be closed sandwich instead of open face)
INSTRUCTIONS:
OPTION #1 – Tofu Egg Salad
Press and drain the tofu to remove the excess water. Roughly chop the tofu and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with 2 tsp of shani’seasoning (or create your own seasoning with garlic powder, turmeric, paprika, black salt, and pepper – it will take a bit of tweaking to get it how you like it). Once everything is mixed, you may want to add some more seasoning – try it and see if it needs it.
OPTION #2 - Egg Salad Hard boil the eggs, and immediately cool in ice bath. When eggs have cooled, peel them and chop them (can remove yolks if required) sprinkle with some salt and pepper.
TO MAKE THE TOAST: Toast the bread. Smash avocado in separate bowl, then add to the tofu or egg mixture, add in the mayo and combine. Spread on the bread and top with shoots/sprouts (amount is up to you) and a bit of paprika sprinkled on top.
———
Egg, Garlic Shrimp & Roasted Tomato on Avocado Toast
Serves 1 (Can be doubled)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 medium avocado
- 1 egg
- 6 grape tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic
- 6-8 prawns (depending on size, they will also shrink up)
- lemon juice
- 3 tsp olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS:
Slice tomatoes in half, and toss in 1 tsp of olive oil. Place cut side down in a frying pan and roast in pan undisturbed for 5 to 6 mins. Remove from pan, and set aside (covered to keep warm).
In another pan (or the same, and run a paper towel on it to clean it slightly) add another tsp of olive oil, and then add the shrimp. Cook for 2 mins, then add garlic, and toss/flip the shrimp to the other side. Cook until they become pink and slightly toasty. Place into bowl, then squeeze some lemon juice into the pan, releasing the garlic, cooking for a minute, then pour over the shrimp (cover to keep warm). Fry your egg to your liking, toast your bread, and smash the avocado (add some lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste). Plate in this order: Toast, avocado, tomatoes & shrimp (evenly spread around toast), and top with the fried egg with a bit of salt and pepper!