The Leafy Cauldron

Fun and Fresh Food

I Had a Picnic (and Got Married): The Herb Infused Picnic Drink Edition

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Further to my last post on grilled vegetables and that weird wedding thing, I had the other crazy idea of making sure I made the drinks interesting (and myself), as well. We didn’t have endless amounts of money to spend on food and fancy vessels to serve that food, so my goal was to make everything was colourful and vibrant as possible and still serve about 40. In addition, I had no interest in really having cut flowers (or carrying any because what even is that?! I’m not an ornament; I’m a human being – even on the day I was a bride), but decoration was still important to me. The answer was obvious very quickly and clearly:  fresh herbs! They’re beautiful, fragrant and delicious.

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So herbs, it was. The season was perfect for large bundles to be available from the Farmer’s Market (The down-and-dirty Jean Talon, specifically) for more than reasonable prices. When I selected the dozens of bundles of herbs, the farmer was curious if it was for a restaurant. My trusty maid of honour and attendant were nice enough to run translation from English to French for me and explain it was a wedding. The man assured us we could exchange the herbs if they didn’t hold out until the day of the wedding and then began piling free herbs and vegetables into our hands. Ahh, the market was already my favourite place to go, but this was above and beyond anything I’d expected. I did go back last weekend (for basil to make pesto) and showed a picture or two of the presentation and was gifted with even more free produce, including the most super delicious tomatoes ever. I didn’t have my translators this time, so the conversation was, um, difficult. Damn it, my French is the worst still and I’ve been here a year and a half. I’m going to jot down their name next time because I want to add it to this post. Right, so back to the wedding (which is far duller than farmer’s market talk, let me tell you) and those herb infused drink recipes.

First, here, have a picture of my maid of honour and her love, our attendant (and photographers and driver and bodyguards and saviours) :

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OK, right back on track, when one thinks of a picnic, one may think of iced tea and lemonade. I also thought they were complimentary to my menu and each other. I picked rosemary lemonade and a strawberry-basil iced tea. I needed drinks I could make a couple days beforehand and I wanted 6 litres of each. I bought a box of a dozen 1 litre mason jars and everything worked out dandy. Combined with a couple of cases of bottled water, and everyone was well hydrated. The thing about having your wedding in a park, is you don’t really know what your set-up is going to be until you arrive and you see what’s free. I was pleased as possible with what we were able to accomplish. It ended up being a drink station and the cupcakes on two separate barbecue stands and all of the food on a round-ish picnic table, including the seats.

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Rosemary Lemonade

Makes 1 litre

1 cup sugar
7 cups water
4 sprigs rosemary
4 – 5 lemons, the juice of

In a small saucepan, add 1 cup of water and the sugar to a boil. You’re making a simple syrup here; nothing fancy. Once the water is boiling and all the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and put 2 sprigs of rosemary in the syrup. You’re going to let the syrup cool with the rosemary in it. This will infuse the simple syrup with plenty of fresh herb flavour.

Juice the lemons into the container you plan on serving the lemonade in. Once the syrup has cooled, remove the rosemary and add it to the lemon juice. Top with water, mix well and garnish with more fresh rosemary. Also, please taste before serving because I like a nice tart lemonade, but I sweetened this more than I normally would because it was for guests whose palettes I was not familiar with.

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Strawberry-Basil Iced Tea

Makes 1 litre

1 cup sugar
1 large fresh basil, plus more leaves for garnish
8 black tea bags (something strong; I used Red Rose, like a good Canadian)
4 cups (just under) boiling water
2 1/2 cups cold water
1/2 cup frozen whole strawberries (cut them in half if they’re large)

Again, simple syrup: bring 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a boil. Once all the sugar has dissolved, take off of the heat and add the fresh basil. Let it infuse and cool together.  Brew double strong tea, 8 tea bags to 4 cups nearly boiling water. Let the tea steep for 5 minutes and then let it cool. In the container you are serving it in, add the steeped tea, strained simple syrup, cold water, frozen strawberries and 5 or 6 large fresh basil leaves.

From the leftovers I can tell you, this tea keeps getting better the longer it sits.

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I leave you with another view of my much-loved herbs, taken sometime at the beginning of setting up.

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I Had a Picnic (And Got Married): Roasted Vegetable Edition

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For no other obvious reason, other than insanity, I decided to cater my own wedding. OK, to be honest, I hate wedding and never anticipating having one of my own to plan, so I knew that to make it tolerable, it would have to be to my standards – simple, warm, no creepy patriarchal traditions, and focused on who my now-husband and I are.

I couldn’t be happier with how things went, and I’ll be interspersing ordinary recipes with posts about the wedding – especially the food. The spread was gorgeous; strangers snapped pictures.

For today, roasted vegetables!

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Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus, ends snapped off
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

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Preheat your oven to 400 F (205 C).  Place asparagus in a large bowl and drizzle the oil, garlic and salt over the vegetables. Toss with your hands, to make sure the asparagus is evenly coated. Arrange asparagus on a large baking sheet, so they are laying mostly flat. I knew mine were going to be served at room temperature, so I crowded them a little more than usual. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until your desired level of browning is reached.

Roasted Onions

6 onions, any kind you like
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

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Preheat oven to 400 F (205 C). Cut off ends and peel onions. Slice lengthwise and then into wedges that are about half an inch at the thickest spot. The size is not important, you’ll simply have to watch them in the oven and adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Lightly grease your baking sheet with olive oil. Arrange the onions in a single layer on the baking sheet and pour the remaining olive oil over the onions. Evenly pinch the salt and thyme over the onions. Roast for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the onions are a beautiful caramel colour.

Roasted Herby Yams

4 medium yams, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of red pepper flakes

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Preheat oven to 400 F (205 C).  In a large bowl, combine the yam rounds with the other ingredients and toss to coat evenly. Arrange the slices so they are flat on a baking sheet. Roast for about 45 minutes or until the slices are tender and starting to brown. Serve at room temperature, for optimal deliciousness.

Roasted Zucchini

12 small zucchini (I did a mix of yellow and green because that’s what the market had)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
6 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

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Move one rack of the oven up to the top rung. Preheat oven to 450 F (230 C). In a small bowl, mix the olive oil and garlic. Slice the ends off the zucchini, then slice them into quarters, lengthwise, then in half. Place skin side down on baking sheet. Brush the oil mixture on the tops of the zucchini. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, so they start to release some of their water and they get a little colour. Remove from the oven and toss with herbs and salt and pepper.

Wedding Menu

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Having spent countless hours pouring over pictures of bright and colourful foods, my wedding’s officiant (oh, and bestie) made a significant amount of progress on the weddings menu yesterday. After a little sleep, I’ve hammered out the final product.

We’re having the wedding in a public park, with just over 30 guests. It’s relatively casual event, with a picnic motif. My dress is a mint green and the wedding party (Maid of Honour and Best Man) will be wearing bow ties. For the only part that really gets me excited – THE FOOD – I want to set up a salad and sandwich bar for our guests to assemble their own food, so bright colours and contrasting flavours and textures are really important. The plan is to have two long plastic containers filled with ice and the components of each bar sitting in their own containers on top of that ice.

Prepared Salads
coleslaw with creamy cilantro dressing
quinoa salad with edamame
roasted new potato salad with fresh sage, rosemary and roasted garlic
For Sandwiches
brown bread, white bread, pita bread
marinated mushrooms, falafel patties and marinated tofu
roasted fennel, sweet potato, eggplant, onion, zucchini
salad ingredients
For Salad
assorted baby lettuces, spinach
cherry heirloom tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, celery, green beans, daikon, shredded beets, feta (maybe if it’s not awful but I can’t trust the reviews on the Happy Herbivore’s site because people always kiss her ass)
pickles, olives, capers, raisins, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hot peppers, pickled turnips
fresh flat leaf parsley, basil, dill, cilantro, mint, chives
Spreads and Dressings
beet tahini, spicy lemon aioli and tahini peanut sauce
oil olive, lemon and herb vinaigrette, roasted red pepper balsamic vinaigrette and poppy seed dressing
Misc
roasted corn on the cob half plain, half in a cilantro lime chili butter
thai salad rolls with mango, smoked tofu and basil
Drinks
rosemary lemonade, strawberry basil iced tea, iced mochas, water
Desserts
wedding cupcakes – green tea with raspberry buttercream
butter tart squares (Hello! We’re Canadian!)

Refried Bean Pupusas with Curtido

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Growing up in Winnipeg, I always managed to have an in with a Salvadorean family, so although it may seem a little strange that this Canadian ginger’s favourite childhood dish would have been pupusas, there you have it. For those not in the know, pupusas are a corn tortilla that have a super tasty bean (or cheese or pork) filling and are topped with a spicy cabbage salad. I think I may have tried once or twice as a child to assemble these, but simply lacked the dexterity to work with the relatively delicate nature of masa harina. Going gluten free provided me with the perfect opportunity to try again! I served these to company for dinner and the leftovers a day later as part of a large brunch. Big hit!

pupusas

I’m only providing the bean recipe, but daiya mozzarella would be a wonderful filling on its own and combined with the beans. No beans for my fiance because he is allergic them, with soy appearing to be the only exception. Traditionally the curtido has onion, cabbage and carrot, but (again) my fiance is allergic to raw carrot, so I subbed red pepper, for sweet and apple, for crunch. These are such a fun thing to eat and it only takes a little practice to get used to working with the dough, so you should definitely try them. Or, go out and find a pupusaria.

Makes 16 pupusas, with leftover refried beans

Curtido

Half a head of cabbage, shredded
Half a red pepper, deseeded and cut into matchsticks
Half a firm apple (I used Granny Smith), cored and cut into matchsticks
1 small onion, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water

curtido

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but longer is better! You can stir the mixture around to make sure it’s pickling evenly, but if you’re letting it sit overnight, that won’t be necessary.

Refried Pinto Beans

1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil (or whatever you have on hand)
2 cups cooked pinto beans
3/4 cup green salsa (any flavourful and non-chunky salsa would do the trick)
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed in your hand
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of smoked paprika
Salt, to taste.

In a large (and scratch-proof) skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute for several minutes until the onions are translucent. Add in the beans and salsa and stir to combine. Now it’s time to start mashing the beans, which I always do with a fork. Add the broth in, a little at a time, mashing between additions. Once the beans are fully mashed, lower the heat, add the seasoning and let cook until the desired consistency is reached. The beans are going the thicken up a bit as they cool, so keep that in mind. Once cooked, set aside and let cool until you can handle them by hand. My fingers are mighty tough because of all the cooking I do, so just do what you need to to be comfortable.

pupusa ingredients

Pupusa Assembly

4 cups masa harina
2 2/3 cups warm water
pinch of salt
Oil, for the griddle and your hands

Combine all ingrdients in a large bowl and mix with your hands. It’s going to seem, at first, like you’ve got too much water going on, but it firms up quickly as the corn absorbs the water. You may need to add a little more masa harina or water, but I’d rather you let it sit for 10 minutes covered on the counter and then decide if it needs more. You’re going to be working quite a bit with the dough, so you need it not to crack when shaping it.

Divide dough into 16 balls. Preheat a lightly greased griddle to a medium high temperature. Cover hands in oil and mold one of the balls into a cup-like shape. If the dough is cracking, you need more water, so wet hands and reshape the ball with the extra moisture. If you’ve never worked with corn tortillas before, you’ll need a little practice. Once you’ve formed the cup, add a tablespoon of refried beans and seal the ball back up. Now, you’ve got to flatten the ball, with greased hands, into the familiar tortilla shape. Cook on the heated griddle, a couple of minutes a side. Repeat until all pupusas are stuffed and ready to eat. You can keep the already cooked ones covered, in a low oven, to keep them warm.

Top with curtido and eat.