Back to the kitchen...

Summertime cooking is tough...Rory and I get so caught up with being active, social, and just plain old hot, that cooking tends to move down the priority list a bit.  I hope that my blogging escapades keep me at it, I'm going to make an effort to be more organized!

I received my final Wanigan produce delivery last week - disappointing yet again! The bananas and the apples, for the third time all bruised! What on earth are they doing to the poor produce over there?  I suspect the produce is getting damaged during delivery.  It's the only delivery service that doesn't use a Tupperware container, they deliver everything in a large plastic bag.   I substiuted a couple of items again, this time I opted for no leaf lettuce because with the first and second delivery, it came wilted and browning and I ended up tossing it (ugh... i hate waste too).  I got some more fiddle heads, some snow peas, some leeks,spinach, a tomato, strawberries, oranges, pears, apples, and I can't remember what else, I was underwhelmed.

I haven't been making anything too spactacular, Rory bbq'd some pork chops last week (marinated in the PC Korean BBQ sauce - really not good for you but delicious and a crowd pleaser), served with steamed snow peas and fiddleheads, and rice.  Rory's really beginning to master the grill - I can't remember the last time something wasn't cooked to perfection! The chops were tender and juicy, and most importantly not overcooked!

I used my wanigan tomato, and some store bought local leaf lettuce to make a nacho dip for guess, a pot luck!  Nacho dips are always a hit, here's my recipe.

Layer 1: Combine one 500mL container of light sour cream, and one container of softened light cream cheese with a mixer until smooth.  Add 1/2 package of taco seasoning (you can also make your own, chili powder, cumin, a little salt), and 2-3 finely sliced green onions.

Layer 2: Salsa, whatever you like!

Layer 3: cheese, cheddar or something a little sharp

Layer 4: chopped lettuce

Layer 5: seeded, chopped tomatoes - roma work best

(Another layer I like to add occasionally is refried beans, which would go under the cream cheese/sour cream layer).

We did manage to put one spectacular dinner on the table last week, and it was a cardiovascular disease inducing feast:

Grilled Baretta Farms sirloin, garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed cremini mushrooms with cream and balsamic vinegar, and peas.

 

Yes, it was as delicious as it looks! The extremely well marbled steak was brought to room temp before seasoning with s&p and grilling to rare.  I love a rare steak, the rarer the better!  Allowing the meat to come to room temp before grilling (take it out of the fridge an hour before cooking time) will allow for more even cooking.

The potatoes were yukon gold (I could not find Canadian potatoes at my Loblaws last week, so I went with US), cut in to large pieces (skin intact), and boiled along with a large clove of chopped garlic until tender (about 12-15 minutes), drained and mashed with the good stuff - butter and cream, s&p.

The mushrooms were the show stopper for me.  One 8 oz package of Ontario cremini mushrooms, sliced and sauteed in about 1 Tbsp of butter with s&p, I had to add a splash of water after 5 minutes, because they were getting a bit dry.  Once the water had evaporated and the mushrooms started browning and sticking to the pan, I deglazed with a couple tsp of balsamic vinegar and added a couple of Tbsp of cream.  I would've been happy with a bowl of those mushrooms for dinner.

Peas - I always keep Green Giant peas in the freezer.  Throw em in boiling water for a minute or two and voila.

This really had the potential to be a full on local meal, minus the pesky US potatoes - but not bad.  Baretta Farms is located just outside of King City (20 mins or so from TO), and my Loblaws carries their poduct. Yay!

So my delivery with Wanigan is (thankfully) complete!  Cancelling was easy, but on the whole I would not be able to recommend their services, they simply don't provide as much bang for your buck, and the quality of the produce was extremely disappointing.

  On to the next candidate: Green Earth Organics.  I've just completed my online sign-up.  Wow, so easy.  It looks like I'll be getting a delivery on Tuesday, 2 days notice - spectacular!  A regular box containing 11 items costs $37 (plus an initial $20 deposit for the delivery container), this is comparable to the other organic delivery services.  There are three delivery options:

$37 Regular Harvest Box, $47 Family Harvest Box, or the $60 Super Harvest Box.  You can also Create Your Own Bin, ensuring that you always get exactly what you want (The individual produce items are pricey though - $4 for an Ontario cucumber, yikes!)

 I was able to see the contents of my first delivery immediately, and make up to 4 substitutions.  Very user friendly website.  Amazing local content - 8 of the 11 items are Ontario (of course I reazlize they have an advantage in that it's now practically summer).  Very impressive start!  We'll see what the quality is like.  Organic is the focus of the service, but it appears they do their best to source local items.  They also offer the option to add other organic grocery items to your order, there's even a tab labelled '100km food' - neato!

Ok, I'm off to organize myself for the week ahead - I know what I'm going to receive with my delivery, so I'm going to come up with a reasonable meal plan, and try to stick to it!

Stay tuned and happy eating!