Luckily, I don’t remember ever being served brussel sprouts as a kid. They were quite possibly out of our single parent canned peas income. It was not until well into my 20s that I ventured into the much feared brussel sprout land.  My best guess as to the reason behind all the hate is that kids the world over were, and I’m certain still are, being served over cooked brussel sprouts. Mushy, smelly brussel sprouts. It’s no wonder they’ve gotten such a bad rep. 

But the crazy thing is, brussel sprouts are awesome. I’m a huge fan. I even get excited the moment they start to hit market shelves in the Fall. It’s not uncommon to see sprouts on our plates the entire season, usually sautéed simply with bacon and garlic. Yeah, yeah bacon makes everything better. Tell that to the haters.  Even without bacon, it’s all in the cooking. When roasted or fried til just tender crisp, you allow the brussel sprout to shine.  

Last weekend our pal Sheena brought over a brussel sprout salad that had us falling in love with sprouts all over again. Thinly shaved raw brussel sprouts, pork belly, walnuts, and Dragon’s Breath blue cheese provided all the convincing. It was legit. I had forgotten all about eating those suckers raw but since they’re related to cabbage, there’s no reason not to. Plus cabbage is god damn healthy. You got a problem with that? 

This salad, like most salads, is mad easy and highly adaptable. I used hazelnuts and some of the same That Dutchman’s Dragon’s Breath, an incredible local blue cheese that is oddly not blue. Use whatever nuts and cheese you got. You can even throw in some dried cranberries or thinly sliced apple. Your call. Just be prepared to forget everything you thought you knew and let brussel sprouts show you what they’re made of. 

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So, we’ve got some news.

It’s a few weeks coming but better late then never. This right here is our new home for the next month or so. Pretty amazing right?

If perhaps you have a hankering to move out to the country to retire or start your own lil’ bed and breakfast, you can also buy it. Yup, that’s right the guest house is for sale. Steeped in history, Oakdale, its former estate name, is full of the kind of character you just can’t reproduce these days. It’s well worth a drive to Maitland just to see it. You see, the man and I have left our city digs to help a friend. I’m rocking the kitchen at his resto Bing’s Eatery & Socialhouse (also for sale by the way) and he’s put the tool belt back on. Quite the working holiday.

But that’s not the only news. 

Since we’ve been here, a few cool things have happened. First, I was on CBC radio with the awesome Simon Thibault chatting food obsession, tree planting, and even whipping up some mint brownies. You can find both the recipe and podcast on CBC Information Morning’s site.

Then, I went and made it to the second round in the Halifax Food Blogger + Local Conections Sausage Fest 2013 Recipe Contest with this bad boy. If you are in the city this Sunday, head to the Incredible Picnic & Sausage BBQ event at the Halifax Seaport Market to see who takes homes first. There’s also two other cooking contests full of sausage love plus loads more sausage to shove in that pie hole. I’d make plans to be there. 

Lastly, there’s a few other projects I’ve been working on but that’s all top secret for now. And that new blog site? It’s on it’s way real soon, finished or not. In fact, this will be my last post at the old blogspot. I hope you’re ready for it cuz shit is gettin’ real.

And what better way to welcome a country adventure than a simple salad you can throw together with last night’s leftover grilled corn. 

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Whoever said salad had to be a pile of limp iceberg sprinkled with a few sad tomatoes and drenched in some random Italian vinaigrette totally led us all astray. Ditch the garden salad of the 80s and get some Summer into ya. 

Tender orzo gets mixed with fresh and dried tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, and goat cheese then hit with a dressing of minty awesomeness in this updated pasta salad. It’s the perfect Summer salad to showcase the incredible variety of local cherry tomatoes and use up the mint that’s going nuts in the garden. It’s also wicked adaptable. Swap out the mint for basil and viola, a whole new experience. Or substitute feta and oregano for a Greek inspired salad. No orzo? Let any pasta or even quinoa take it’s place. There really is no messing this up. 

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We got these bad boys from Hutten Family Farm, a fixture at the Historic Brewery Market. This weekend we opted to change up the Saturday morning market routine and instead went back down memory lane at the old market, the original. Honestly, it was a little sad to see it so empty. Well before the Seaport was built, The Brewery Market was slammin’. Always packed and so unique with its maze of a layout. Cool little corridors leading to cool little rooms. All filled with anything you could want. Loads of produce, fish, meat, coffee, bread, herbs, endless food options, and let’s not forget the quintessential market breakfast, the cinnamon roll from Mary’s Bread Basket. Oh yes, we were also there for the cinnamon rolls. Always somehow still warm, these may very well be the best damn cinnamon rolls of all time. Although my girl Georgia’s got some mad cinnamon roll skillz too. Anyway, as always the rolls were incredible. Delicious buttery gooey nostalgia. I admit there were few market visits where I didn’t make a visit to Mary’s and even now every bite brings me back. I’m glad the Brewery Market lives on.

What’s also cool about the Brewery Market now is the number of farm stands and the variety of produce. The Hutten stand alone had so much so choose from like little kinds of eggplant, potatoes, plums, corn, melons (a kind of small yellow watermelon that was ridiculously juicy and delish), onions, greens, peppers, you name it. And, of course, loads of beautiful tomatoes. These tomatoes were destined for a salad as part of a backyard BBQ. We also got some Hutton corn to grill as well as spinach and garlic for the salad from another vendor, Four Seasons Farm. With a visit to our girl Jessi over at Storehouse Butchery, dinner was complete. The all local all delicious Saturday backyard BBQ: steak with blue cheese butter, grilled corn, and cherry tomato salad with maple bacon dressing. Shit yeah. And for once I actually measured something. 

This salad was killer. I swear basil and tomatoes may be one of the best food combos out there. So freakin’ perfect for each other. Plus pairing that with maple and bacon is pretty much a home run. It would also be amazing with lil’ cubes of boccaccini or some goat cheese. Or, if you’re a veggie lovin’ kinda person-I’ll easily eat your share of bacon!-omit the meat. Bam, vegan salad dressing. It’s that easy.

So how easy is it to eat local here in NS? Pretty damn easy I’d say. One visit to a market and you’re set. And doesn’t it just feel right? Like the way things used to be. No million ingredients with chemical names. No factory farmed meat. No traveling millions of miles to get to your plate. Just real food grown by real people. People you can actually meet and form a relationship with. In fact, Sunday, September 16th in Nova Scotia is Open Farm Day. I can’t believe I’m away for this one but it’s your chance to visit one of the numerous farms to meet your farmer and literally learn where your food comes from. Amazing I know. So load those kids into the car (because how important is it in today’s world of convenience foods to teach our kids about real food), pick a farm, and enjoy an awesome day exploring your Nova Scotia.

cherry tomato spinach salad + maple bacon dressing

2013-10-01 22:44:49

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Ingredients

1. 1 pint cherry tomatoes
2. 1 cup spinach
3. handful of basil, the more the better

maple bacon dressing

1. 2 slices of thick cut bacon, cubed
2. 2 cloves garlic
3. 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4. 3 tablespoon maple syrup
5. 3 tablespoon olive oil
6. 2 teaspoon dijon
7. salt and pepper

Instructions

1. To make the dressing, fry up the bacon on low to really render that delicious fat. We used Brother's bacon which I generally love, being so very smokey. However, this time the bacon was-get this-too meaty! A bacon with a bit more fat would have been perfect. (Please note: with a fattier bacon, you could likely use less olive oil.) Add the garlic and saute a few minutes. Feel free to drain off the fat if that's your thing but I simply whisked the remaining ingredients right in the frying pan and seasoned to taste. This dressing is thick and tangy and sweet and salty but, like always, feel free to adjust the ingredients to suit your taste.
2. For the salad, simply chop up that spinach, chiffonade the basil, that's just a fancy word for thinly sliced, halve the cherry tomatoes, and toss with the dressing.

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