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Pizza Margherita is becoming a regular favourite at our house. The basic sauce consists of fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Topped with mozzarella, parmesan, field mushrooms and fresh basil from our garden. I find not adding any grease producing meat as topping makes the cheese brown earlier than it should so to fix that drizzle a little olive oil on top of the pie before putting it in the oven.

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The Complete Keller: The French Laundry Cookbook & Bouchon

I’ve yet to take on the task of any Keller recipes but I have leafed through both The French Laundry Cookbook and Bouchon and they are stunning books.

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Red and white scarf resembling marbled fat. On the scarfs reverse side, the colours are inverted making it a leaner cut of bacon. $35 from Shopsin’s General Store.

I love bacon. Salty, smoked, striped with marvelous fat. Doesn’t get much better than that. Bacon’s just one of those things that makes everything taste better, like melted cheese, and according to Masako, soy sauce, but I tend to disagree with that one.

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• Texas Fried Okra - I’m growing orka in the garden this year so this sounds good.
• Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less - New York Times -
• $1 Kitchen Secrets: Ten Herbs And Spices That Will Make Simple Foods Pop -
• The Seattle Times: Food & wine: When picky eating doesn’t stop at 5 ? or even 55 - I’ve always concidered myself a somewhat picky eater, but compaired to these guys…

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I picked up this bento box from Muji last winter while in Japan. It looks small but I never seem to go hungry when bringing this and a piece of fruit on the side, and on the days when I need a bit extra I pack my stacked thermal kit (not the same one but close) that holds rice, miso soup, meat and veg in their own separate container. It packs more than enough food then again weighs as much as a large infant so I’m reluctant to lug it to work everyday.

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So far this has been my favourite summer recipe. Yaki-Onigiri (background), which has replaced potatoes on the grill in our house, grilled red peppers and spicy Thai basil and lime tiger prawns. Optional (not pictured) Corona with lime.

For the marinate; 1/4 c lime juice, 1/4 c fish sauce, 1-2 minced clove garlic, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1-2 finely chopped red chilies with seeds removed, and a handful of fresh basil and cilantro. I finely chopped the herbs but ended up giving it all a spin in the food processor in the end. This recipe came from a heavily discounted copy of The Asian Grill: Great Recipes, Bold Flavors

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Frankie helping Masako make dinner. What’s not pictured is the apron her mother made for her which we’ll be selling soon.

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Go for a drive in the country. Enjoy the fresh air. Have a picnic. Walk through a blueberry patch. Chat with a farmer. Savour a fresh raspberry. Go for a hay ride. Visit with an emu.

The family and I will hit the Saanich farms, Silver Rill Corn, Babe’s Honey and the Ostrich Farm among others. List of all participating farms as well as maps found here.

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Like cookbooks, kitchen equipment is a talisman; people believe that buying the right kind will make them good cooks. Yet some of the best cooks I’ve known worked with a battered batterie de cuisine: dented pots and pans scarred beyond recognition, an old steak knife turned into an all-purpose tool, a pot lid held just so to strain pasta when the colander was missing, a food processor with a busted switch. They didn’t complain and they didn’t apologize; they just cooked.

Times food columnist Mark Bittman, aka The Minimalist, outfits a kitchen with the basics for less than $300.  While I’m totally guilty for spending more than $100 on my Henckels Santoku knife, the rest of our kitchen is fairly minimal, which is bound to happen with a tiny space like ours. (more…)

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