Hot Shots - January 20, 2023
Hot Shots - January 20, 2023
Severin R-B Danieli
Hello all,
Another week come and gone, a little less gloomy than last week as we had one and a half days of sun, and everyone was soaking in that vitamin D.
I was up in Whistler last weekend for a few days for a friends birthday, and it was pouring buckets of rain. However, is there anything cozier than being in a mountain town, on a couch with some herbal tea, warm and dry inside, watching the rain or snow fall outside? I would say that is pretty close to peak coziness.
The rest of my weekend was filled with some family time and not much else - the perfect weekend.
During one of the sunny breaks this week, I passed by my soaking wet planter, and saw that, to my surprise and delight, the purple sprouting broccoli is still going strong! Slowly, but surely.
The photo above, was from my husband's hike this past Saturday. He was hiking close to Lions Bay with a few friends, and they came across this edible mushroom. They surmised (though they could be wrong) that it was a laetiporus mushroom, or to use their more common names: sulphur shelf or chicken of the woods. Those may sound like odd names, but apparently this mushroom tastes just like chicken when cooked and can be used as a meat substitute in vegetarian cooking. Who knew!
They also had a backpack with all their wallets, keys, and jackets take a ride down a rushing river... but that's a story for another time!
Let's dive in
Grapefruits!
As some of you may have heard, there is a lot of rain falling on California at the moment, and some produce that is affected by the rain are grapefruits and other citrus.
However, on an unexpected plus side, these grapefruits are absolutely delicious! Still tart, but the sweetest I have ever tasted. I was eating them in slices like you would an orange, and I got a coworker to try a piece with me. She didn't enjoy it quite as much as I did, still pulled a citrus pucker face, but she agreed they were sweeter than usual.
These grapefruits are from Corona-College Heights, or CCH, in California. I was curious about this name and its history, so I did a quick google search. Turns out, the Corona-College Heights Orange and Lemon Association began in, no joke, 1899.
On their website, they outline some of their history, which includes: "several fired, more than a dozen freezes, the Great Depression, two World Wars, about 14 mergers and acquisitions and 100+ years of operating challenges to become one of the world's largest citrus packing houses". Impressed? I sure am.
Watermelon Radish.
Coming to us from Coke Farms, who are thankfully above water now in rainy California, these radishes are sure to brighten up any dish.
Add them into a Buddha bowl for a pop of colour and tang, pickle them, roast them, combine them with some cucumber, feta and mint for a delish salad and top with a lemony vinaigrette.
The greens of the radish are edible, which makes watermelon radishes a zero-waste ingredient. They are an excellent source of vitamin C, calcium, potassium, vitamin A and contain small amounts of phosphorus, copper, magnesium, vitamin K, zinc and folate.
Watermelon radishes are particularly popular in Chinese cuisine and culture, and are known as 'xin li mei; or 'shinrimei' which translates to 'beauty in the heart' or 'beautiful heart' in reference to the radishes bright magenta colored center. In Beijing, raw watermelon radishes are dipped into a sweet bean sauce, or served with fried sauce noodles in a zhajiangmian dish.
Blueberries.
A top tier berry, wild blueberries are native to North America, and were documented as being preserved along with lean meat and fat to be made into a food called pemmican by various Indigenous groups throughout North America, and remembered as 'manna in the winter' by explorer Samuel de Champlain.
Blueberries are part of the vaccinium family, which also include: cranberry, bilberry, lingonberry and the huckleberry.
Growing up, we lived right across the street from Lynn Canyon, and Huckleberries grew in abundance along the paths and throughout the forest. I spent hours and hours in that forest, and ate probably hundreds, if not thousands, of fresh huckleberries.
I even tried to make jam a few times, by bringing a plastic container from the house, picking all the huckleberries I could get my hands on, transferring them into a bowl in the kitchen, adding in some sugar, add in the berries, combine that, and then serve to your semi-confused but wanting-to-be-supportive parents.
Ratte Fingerling.
Three words to describe these guys: nutty, buttery, smooth.
Place of origin: Denmark or France.
According to the European Cultivated Potato Database, this potato was first cultivated in the 19th century. Disappearing in 1934 due to degeneration of the seed, the ratte fingerling reappeared in 1965 and carved out a niche market in France for high-end chefs.
A French heirloom variety, ratte was used by French chef Joel Robuchon, who would make these fingerlings into a potato puree, the ratte potato retains its nutty flavour because of the type of soil the French farmers cultivate them in.
This specific type of fingerling are a low yield variety, are most often harvested by hand, and are categorized as a boutique potato.
Parsley.
Flat leaf Italian parsley to be specific.
I often forget about parsley as an ingredient, and am surprised every time by the punch of flavour it gives. Am I the only one that actually likes the stem of parsley better than the actual leaves?
Parsley for me is most often a salad ingredient, or a topper on a spaghetti dish with pomodoro sauce. There is a lemon-pepper parsley pesto that I would love to try, and it can be used for soo many different dishes.
Used as a spread on sandwiches or wraps, as a dipping sauce, spooned on top of eggs or an omelet, added into a homemade salad dressing for flavour, on top of roasted veggies, spooned on top of a baked potato in place of sour cream, with your favourite pasta... the opportunities are endless!
Thanks for reading along this week & thanks for supporting Disco!
We've had a busy first few weeks of January, and are gearing up for a great 2023.
I wish you all a relaxing and rejuvenating weekend, and I'll talk to you all next week.
Big love,
Severin R-B Danieli