Packhorses and Prep

Last Friday I was left by my lonesome to pick up the farm share by my variously busy housemates. I decided it was time to see if my new touring bike (a 2009 Jamis Aurora) is up to the task of carrying a big load for a reasonable distance. The results, as you can see, were largely successful.

Here's the steel horsey, freshly returned from her big trip:
These Ortlieb waterproof panniers are my absolute favourite bike touring equipment. They just stink of efficient German quality. The straps are in all the right places, there are just enough pockets for a good amount of organization with a huge inner compartment, and the mounting hardware leaves me speechless. If you're ever wondering if it's worth shelling out the extra coin for them, it absolutely is. Oh man. I'll leave it at that.

A hint at the bounty stored inside...
And a shot of the actual bounty. Behold this week's cornucopia! Watermelon, beets, celery, kale, chard, corn, russet potatoes, roma tomatoes, blue potatoes, and a dozen organic free range eggs.
And as a last word, my best kitchen experiences are always prefaced by prepping everything first. Things go so much smoother if you set out and pre-chop/grate/slice/measure/etc. stuff into bowls before you have to cook it all, and it also appeals to my insane love of organization and containers. Tonight, Ed and I kind of went overboard with prep to make Manjula's cabbage kofta.

By the by - if you haven't yet discovered the pleasure of Manjula's kitchen, go to her website NOW! Every time she opens a recipe video with "Namaste, my name is Manjula" our voices all ring out with "Hello Manjula!". Just try and stop yourself from doing it, I dare you!

Happy cooking, friends!

Taming of the Bar-be-shrew

It's corn season!
As the demise of BBQ-friendly weather looms closer, the 116 Oxfordites have decided to send it off in style.
We boiled some beets, sliced them up and tossed them with olive oil and salt and pepper, and then wrapped them up in foil and let them join some fresh corn on the grill. Serve beets with peppered Ontario goat cheese = pure win.And to usher in the beginning of autumn and the receipt of apples from our farmshare, we made applesauce! Peel n' slice em'...Add some water...Add some brown sugar...Nutmeg, cinnamon, and cayenne (this was an experiment)...Let reduce on high heat...

Turned out kinda thick, and we might have burned it a tiiiiiny bit (poor poor pot), but it is super-amazing when thinned out with some water.
Hope you're all enjoying the fruits of the season, and the beautiful fall weather. I personally can't wait to see more fall produce- squash especially.

The return of the p-flog (picture food web log)

I'm back in Toronto with a new camera, and that means the return of the traditional Mind Grapes entry format where I cook something with my housemates, take pictures of it, and hope that our 3 readers care.

Tonight, we turned this:

Into this:
And this:
Which lead to these happy faces:
I was there too!
For the cucumber soup:

1) Saute a cup of chopped onion in butter/olive oil/margarine/etc.
2) Add 2 cups of veggie broth, 2 cups of diced cucumbers, 1 cup of diced potato, 1 cup of chopped parsley or watercress, salt, pepper, and 1 tbsp of dijon mustard, and cook on medium heat until the potatoes are tender.
3) Remove from heat and use a blender (immersion or otherwise) to puree the mixture. Add water if there's not enough.
4) Put back on low heat and add about 1 cup of cream/milk/soymilk/etc. to taste.

For the seitan stroganoff:

Check out the post-punk kitchen website or Isa Moskowitz' amazing cookbook.

P-flog is back, bitchez!

P.S. You'll notice that the smiling face on the right is new to the p-flog. It's Jessica, one my greatest old friends from yesteryear, and she has just moved to Toronto. More precisely, she has just moved into my house. Let the p-flangels (picture food web log angels) rejoice!

P.P.S. I'm probably taking portmanteauing to a new and undesirable level, so I'll stop now.