Edible Weeds: Yellow Rocket

I saw a pretty yellow flower and am fairly certain it is a Yellow Rocket. I took some slightly fuzzy photos and posted them below.  This plant is classified as a weed in Ontario. It is edible, though some sites indicate that there is a risk for kidney trouble from eating the leaves.  It is likely best not to overindulge in this particular green.  It's also known as Wintercress and as Herb of St. Barbara and can be made into a soup.  Older leaves are bitter.

Here are links to recipes:
Yellow Rocket Soup
Sauteed Yellow Rocket & Yellow Rocket with Bacon and Shallots
Random Yellow Rocket Suggestions
Bread Spread, Wintercress Salad, Sautee & Patties

Info from:
1) Edible Wild Food: Yellow Rocket
2) Ontario Wildflowers: Yellow Rocket
3) Ontario Weeds: Yellow Rocket
4) Plants for a Future: Barbarea vulgaris

2014-02-17: Willowdale Lembas Bread

There are tons of Lembas Bread recipes online.  Here is another, in its first, unrefined version.

Actually, this was originally supposed to be a tortilla recipe, but I messed it up royally.  The tortillas were bland, tasted funny and also fell apart.  So I ended up mixing together half of the tortilla recipe and other things I found in the kitchen, inspired by looking at about half-a-dozen Johnny Cake recipes.  It's amazing how half the things thrown together in this manner are still edible!  On a side note, the maseca used in the recipe ended up in my kitchen due to inspiration from this book:

It is a fascinating read, and members of this particular tribe can be sustained for a day on some maseca.

Willowdale Lembas Bread
version 1.0

1/2 cup of Maseca (this is a special type of Corn Flour)
about 1 cup of water
1 egg
About 1/2 cup of whipping cream (will try regular milk for future renditions)
About 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sugar

Mix all the ingredients together. Bake in greased loaf pan in a preheated 350 degree Celsius oven.

I think I baked it for about 40 minutes. It smelled burnt.  And yes, when I opened the oven, the crust had burnt.  It was on the top tray, too close to the element.  So this bread would be better served by baking in the middle rack.  I sliced off the cooked and the burnt bits, and stuck the rest back into the oven.  Perhaps I should have baked it in separate loaf pans instead of using only 1.  Anyways, the cooked and burnt bits had a nice, light and crisp texture.  The remaining stuff that got put back into the oven was dense and heavy.

2014-02-15: Tuna Balls

I threw this together when I got home one night, using things I found in the cupboards.  It would have been nice to write down the amounts, but I was hungry.  This dish also turned out too salty, so perhaps I should have drained the tuna before use or omitted the soy sauce.

1 slice of onion, diced
1 can of tune + liquid (maybe eliminate this next time)
Splash of soy sauce (maybe eliminate this next time)
Some dried oregano
Some black pepper
Some dried basil
1 egg
Some maseca (corn flour)
panko
1Tbsp garlic butter
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drizzle some olive oil on the bottom of an oven-proof dish.  Put panko on separate plate and set aside.  In bowl, mix all ingredients together. Form mixture into balls and roll in panko.  Place on greased dish and bake about 30-45 minutes until done.  The panko and outside will be golden brown.

Ate these with some pasta.

2014-01-19: Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Pancake with Blueberry Sauce

The following experiment occurred when I found a bunch of things in the back of the fridge and another bunch of things at the back of the cabinet, plus a banana starting to go brown.  So the following recipe requires much adjustment.  The coconut in the pancake gave a very odd texture - gritty, chewy, dry.  Maybe it had an odd texture because the coconut was sitting at the back of the cabinet for way too long.  Perhaps fresh coconut might be better.  Alternately, omit the coconut.

Also, I wanted to use up the semi-sweet chocolate chips.  This resulted in a too-sweet pancake.  Next time use much much less chocolate chips.

The blueberry sauce on its own was tasty.  Unfortunately, mixed with the chocolate chips and the banana in the pancake, it all became way too sweet.  Maybe blueberry sauce on plain pancakes would work better.

Here is the raw, first draft version of the recipe (version 1.0):

Pancake:

1 banana
3/4 cup water
1 cup Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix
3/4 cup chocolate chips, semi-sweet  (adjust down to 1/3 cup for next experiment)
3/4 cup dried, unsweetened coconut (omit, or adjust to 1/3 cup, or use fresh for next experiment)

Mash banana. Mix all ingredients together.  Fry up pancakes.  Try not to use too much butter in the pan.

Blueberry Sauce: (may wish to omit in favour of using maple syrup)

1 cup water
1 cup blueberries (used frozen)
2 Tbsp sugar (too sweet? omit for next experiment)

Mix ingredients together in a small saucepan. Boil and reduce to the desired consistency.

Repeating for added emphasis: this iteration of the experiment was way too sweet and resulted in reduced amounts eaten in one sitting. It was also very heavy in the stomach.  Not certain if or when I will repeat this experiment.

2014-02-10: Roast Garlic, Lemongrass and Sweet Potato Soup

There are plenty of versions of this soup on the net.  This particular version came from the box of recipes passed to me by my mom and was a clipping from Gusto! Volume 4, Issue 1, from 1997, on page 13.  I didn't have lemongrass so substituted lemon rind.  Accidentally put too much fresh thyme and crushed peppercorns in the cream-and-yolk glaze.  Also discovered that this soup retains heat extraordinarily well.

Ajisen Ramen

Ajisen Ramen
5229 Yonge Street
North York, ON    M2N 5P8
416-223-0618

www.facebook.com/ajisenrammencanada

There's also another location somewhere in downtown Toronto.

Forsythe Family Farms

Forsythe Family Farms
10539 Kennedy Road
Markham, ON   L6C 1N8
905-887-1087

(On the East Side of Kennedy, North of Major Mackenzie Drive, South of Elgin Mills)

Fresh locally grown fruit and vegetables.
Fresh baked goods.

Farmers Market

Harvest Festival in October. Pick your own Pumpkin from the Pumpkin Patch.

Fresh Fruit & Vegetables & Pumpkin Pie!!