Besides being both published locally and written by Le Caveau‘s Jason Lynch, there’s so much to love about this book. At first glance, it is the the dark styling and close up photography that stands out. It places you inside the kitchen, giving you a first hand view of the chef at work. It’s a nice change from the many food styled books of late. With an emphasis on seasonal produce and seafood, Straight From The Line presents a varied collection of recipes ranging from simple Nova Scotian favourites like Blueberry Grunt to the more exotic, ingredient heavy Chicken Marrakech. Most are geared toward the home cook, those without all the commercial equipment and team of chefs at their side.

Simple doesn’t ever have to mean packaged.

The best part however, Jason himself. His philosophy rooted in quality local ingredients and simplicity is evident in every recipe, in every written passage. He’s straight up about his experience, the profession, sourcing locally, cooking for children, even entertaining. His honesty is refreshing. You can’t help but feel the title is more than just an ode to life “on the line” in a restaurant. It’s fitting. Driven by his childhood spent on a farm in rural Nova Scotia, Jason embodies supporting local, apparent by his commitment to offer the freshest, locally sourced menus at Le Caveau and solidified throughout the book. He makes a point to guide you not only through the seasonal produce available in Nova Scotia, but also the everyday big name grocery store. In today’s reality of a highly packaged and processed food system, I’d say help navigating the grocery store is welcome. At the very heart of the book, a desire to find the best possible ingredient and keep it simple. “Ingredients don’t need to be overworked, dehydrated, turned into a powder or into a bubbling volcano. There’s no reason you can’t just let a strawberry be a strawberry.” Amen to that. 

Though I am thoroughly excited to try my hands at his  gnocchi à la Parisienne with blue cheese, I really wanted to make something that embodied the book, that spoke to its essence, its simplicity. With Fall temperatures in full effect, it was a carrot soup that stood out. The funny thing is I rarely make soup. In truth, there was much of my life where I hated soup. I didn’t grow up with the puréed fall harvest soups or ethnic noodle soups I’ve come to love. It was all Campbells back then. And I wasn’t into it. Not even the classic grilled cheese and tomato soup combo would entice me.  Yeah, I know, big weirdo.

It wasn’t until tree planting that soup took on a whole new meaning. You see, tree planting isn’t for the weak of heart. It’s hard. It’s damn hard. There’s the physical labour equivalent to running a marathon daily. There’s the insane amount of bugs. Then there’s Mother Nature. She doesn’t care that you’re out in the elements bending over for 12 cents 3000 times a day. She doesn’t care that it’s not supposed to snow in June. She certainly doesn’t care that there’s no protection on the block, no solace from the harsh elements. When the rain comes pounding down for 8 straight hours, you can do nothing but suck it up and keep going, soggy feet and all. Sounds glamourous doesn’t it. There was but one saving grace out there in the woods, the food. For many, returning home daily to a hot bowl of soup and a slice of freshly baked bread made up fro whatever Mother Nature threw at them. I had no idea soup could become such an important part of someone’s day. There were even those that consistently told me soup was their absolute favourite part of tree planting. It was then that soup and I made up. 

Jason’s carrot and cilantro soup with coconut milk, though I think more aptly named carrot coconut soup, was the perfect fit. Smooth in texture and quite subtle on the palate, this soup allows those local carrots to speak for themselves. According to the recipe, serve it garnished simply with fresh cilantro, a bunch of cilantro if you’re me. Being the flavour junkie that I am though, I went ahead and threw together pumpkin seed-cilantro pesto because why not.  Then I went and drizzled it with PURE maple syrup. Produced locally by NSCC’s culinary gem Peter Dewar, this chipotle lemongrass infused maple syrup was stunning. Smokey and sweet with a hint of lemongrass, I imagine it’d be good on anything. I even had the last delicious bowl today with the same pesto and a nice dollop of Greek yogurt. Amazing. 

See, it’s the kind of recipe you’d make again and again, each time adjusting it to suit your tastes, topping it with whatever you desire. With passages encouraging you to become comfortable making substitutions and, above all, have fun in the kitchen, this is precisely what Jason would want. 

The post DISH | Straight From The Line: a review + carrot coconut soup appeared first on eathalifax.

But, like always, the clouds parted and the sun shone through.

This birthday, besides the amazing gifts from the man, I got to spend my birthday with a crew of food bloggers from across Canada. Nothing like a twitter party to lift the spirits and remind you of everything you have to be grateful for. The party celebrated the release of Get Your Grill On with Turkey & Mushrooms, an e-book collaboration between Mushrooms Canada, Turkey Farmers of Canada and ten of Canada’s best food bloggers, many of whom I had the pleasure of meeting at FBC2013. I was beyond thrilled when Mushrooms Canada asked me to moderate the party because, if there is one thing I love more than anything, it’s talking food. Despite it being the fastest hour of my life, I wouldn’t have spent my birthday any other way. Big thanks to the team at Mushrooms Canada, Turkey Farmers of Canada and all the participating bloggers for making my day. Plus, the e-book is nothing short of incredible. I suggest hitting up the Mushrooms Canada and Tasty Turkey facebook pages, throwing a like their way, then getting your download on. These are 20 recipes sure to spices up your summer grilling.

But what this post is really about is the Back to the Roots grow your own mushroom kit. Part of the unbelievable swag at the FBC conference, Mushrooms Canada graciously gave all attendees a kit to take home. Somehow in all the craziness (like the lack of power during registration perhaps), I had totally forgot to snag one. As the weeks went by and the instagram pics started surfacing with the mushroom play by play, I knew I had missed out big time. But, lucky me, the awesome ladies of Mushrooms Canada whom I enjoyed a nightcap with at the conference went ahead and mailed me one anyway so I could get in on the action.

And action is exactly what I got. Both Brent and I became mesmerized, rushing to the windowsill each morning to see the progress. It was as if you could stand there and literally watch them grow. We even harvested at day 9, a day earlier than expected. I don’t know what’s going on in our house but I can’t wait to turn that box over and do it all over again. Uh huh, the kits can magically produce up to four mushroom harvests. You have got to hit up Back to the Roots to order one for yourself. Even better, share a pic of your fully grown mushrooms on their facebook page and they’ll send a kit to a school of your choice. How cool is that? 

I eat mushrooms on the regular so when these bad boys were ready, I could easily have put them in just about anything. These oyster mushrooms, however, were destined for something bigger, something I’ve been obsessed with lately. If you read my last post – wait, what? you haven’t? Stop everything right now and get on that! – it’ll be no surprise that I went ahead and made me some ramen. 

Needing some key ingredients, I jumped on the new ride (I also got an ol’ school bike for the bday) and pedalled my way to an Asian grocery store here in Dartmouth. I was hoping to make my own dashi with kombu and bonito but they carried neither. Looks like it’s commercial dashi stock for me. Have I lost you yet?

This recipe may not have the depth of flavor of proper ramen but it’s quick and easy and mad delish. It’s also one of those things that can be topped with just about anything, including the almighty egg. #putaneggonit 

The post DISH | Happy birthday to me + mushroom ramen appeared first on eathalifax.