We’ve been enjoying a lot of mushrooms of late. There have been two Alberta Mycological Society events in the past month that have had us eating and contemplating mushrooms non-stop.
First was the AMS Expo, the City of Champignons at the Devonian Botanical Gardens. Chad and Thea dreamed up a fantastic soup and mushroom tasting plate that Lisa and I helped them cook and serve.
Then on the Labour Day weekend we headed out to Hinton for the AMS Great Alberta Foray. Above left are some of the edible vareties found that weekend.
Thank you to the AMS for enriching our culinary life and letting us explore the Alberta countryside, turning over logs and hopping over streams in pursuit … Continue reading.
While on the AMS Great Alberta mushroom foray near Hinton, we came across some large patches of Labrador tea.
Labrador tea is a little evergreen shrub. It was once commonly brewed by the natives and used in countless medicinal applications. It was also part of some of the traditional gruit mixtures of northern Europe. (For an explanation of gruit, and why it could be important to our provincial brewing identity, please see Alberta Beer: A Thought Experiment.)
The principle flavour is minty evergreen. I swear when I bruise the fresh leaves I also get a sweet melon aroma, but I haven’t been able to convince others of this, nor have I been able to coax that flavour into solution. … Continue reading.
Yet ev’n this Season Pleasance blithe affords, Now the squeez’d Press foams with our Apple Hoards.
-John Gay
To most contemporary city-folk the word “cider” implies fermented apple juice. My grandparents made the distinction between “cider” (juice pressed from apples) and “hard cider” (fermented apple juice). For now I have simply made cider, and will leave the discussion of hard cider and its variants for another post.
This week we picked about 150 lbs of apples from three different trees:
one beautiful, well-trained tree yielding large, blushing apples, which I will be referring to as “Ron’s apples”;
one crabapple tree with bright red, tart fruit;
one hideous, unkempt tree in our backyard that grows small green apples. The tree
When rose flowers wither and fall from the plant, they leave behind a little green ball called a rose hip. In late summer those hips swell and turn red, and start to look like berries.
They are not berries, as you will discover if you open one up. Rosehips are full of seeds and what looks like white hair. If eaten raw those hairs will irritate your mouth and throat. Don’t eat those hairs raw. The fleshy part around the seeds and hair can be eaten raw. It has an interesting flavour; depending on the plant and the time of year it can taste like fresh cut grass, or a tomato, or possibly a plum.
Today I tried a nifty trick I saw on Alton Brown’s masterpiece show, Good Eats: making rose water at home.
The idea of eating my provincial flower excites me. Unfortunately, our true wild roses have already lost their petals and developed hips. There are, however, several late-blooming domestic varieties still flowering.
Wherever you get your roses from, make sure that they haven’t been treated with any chemicals.
Rose Water
adapted from Good Eats
Ingredients
1 L rose petals, chemical free
2 L water>
The set-up is simple. Start with a very large pot. I used my canning pot. Put a clean brick or heavy ceramic dish in the middle of the bottom. Scatter the rose petals around the brick. … Continue reading.
I’ve had recipes for rhubarb relish passed to me from both my family and Lisa’s. Though one is from Ontario and the other from Alberta, they are uncannily similar: one part chopped rhubarb and one part chopped onion, stewed together with cinnamon, clove, and other “pumpkin pie” spices.
This has been my default rhubarb sauce to accompany meat and hearty bread for the past couple years, but I have to admit it’s not a show-stopper. I’ve been trying to elevate this recipe, and a friend of mine recently found the way. His discovery of rhubarb onion jam was one of those rare times when something in the kitchen goes horribly wrong, but the food turns out better than if all … Continue reading.
While outsiders might consider Wiener Schnitzel or Apple Strudel the national dish of Austria, most Austrians acknowledge a special sausage called Käsekrainer (“KAY-zeh KREYE-ner”) as their greatest culinary achievement.
In a nutshell Käsekrainer is a sausage filled with little cubes of cheese. Like many classic Austrian preparations, it is not entirely an Austrian invention. Käsekrainer has the same relation to Austria that pizza and hot dogs have to the United States: they are unquestionably of foreign origin, but they have been adapted and adopted by the new country.
If you’ll allow me… let’s break down the word Kasekrainer…
“Käse” means cheese.
Krain is the German name for the Slovenian region of Kranjska, historically called Carniola by English-speakers. This is one … Continue reading.
Heurigen (“HOY-ree-gen,” singular heuriger) are special taverns in Austria that serve young wine or cider, depending on the region.
The word heuriger literally means something like “of the current year”. So for instance new potatoes are called heurige erdäpfel. With regards to wine it refers to wine from the last vintage, ie. wine that has not been bottled or aged. Heuriger taverns open up for a couple of weeks at a time so that guests can drink young wine and eat plates of cold food such as cheese, spreads, bread, and charcuterie. The word for these savoury accompaniments is brettljause (“BRET-tel YOW-ze”). Brett means board, as the food is usually spread out on a wooden board. Brettl, … Continue reading.
A special report from Button Soup’s Senior Backyard Correspondent, Lisa Zieminek
With Allan in Austria, I have been tasked with keeping him informed of what’s happening in our new yard, and documenting developments with copious photographs and notes.
A couple weeks ago, the several lilac trees scattered throughout our yard burst into full bloom, filling the air with sweet perfume. Last year we learned that these flowers are edible. The tiny flowers can be added to salads for a splash of color. They can also be made into beautiful, delicate candies that last long after the blossoms have fallen from the trees and their sweet smell has left the air. Rather than keeping the memories of spring with mere photographs, … Continue reading.
The personal website of Edmonton chef Allan Suddaby
We’ve been enjoying a lot of mushrooms of late. There have been two Alberta Mycological Society events in the past month that have had us eating and contemplating mushrooms non-stop.
I’ve had recipes for rhubarb relish passed to me from both my family and Lisa’s. Though one is from Ontario and the other from Alberta, they are uncannily similar: one part chopped rhubarb and one part chopped onion, stewed together with cinnamon, clove, and other “pumpkin pie” spices.
While outsiders might consider Wiener Schnitzel or Apple Strudel the national dish of Austria, most Austrians acknowledge a special sausage called Käsekrainer (“KAY-zeh KREYE-ner”) as their greatest culinary achievement.