Woke Up Ravenous!!!!

Woke up ravenous this morning. Moose eyes are just the fix.  Lining a muffin tin with prosciutto, adding a little goat cheese and Dijon mustard to the bottom and finish with an egg.  Into the oven at 350F for about 10 - 12 minutes (look for the white to be cooked and the yoke to still be soft....it is a very fine time line!  This does not need salt as the prosciutto is salty.  Finish with some pepper and get a fresh croissant to dip in.  

Not hungry anymore and ready to start the day!

                   Have A Fabulous Day Everyone

Carrot Cake Recipe/ Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Here is the recipe for the carrot cake and with a few modifications, chocolate zucchini cake....which at this time of the year is a delight for all those giant zucchinis in the garden!!

For the Cake:

1 1/2 cups of white flour, 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour,(i will also substitute spelt flour for the wheat sensitive)  2tsp baking powder, 2tsp baking soda, 4 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar,1 cup of raisins,1 cup of walnuts,chopped, 1 1/4cup of oil(i have been using grape seed oil as of late).
4 eggs slightly beating, 2 cups carrots,grated, 1 cup crushed pineapple,drained, 2tsp vanilla.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Stir in sugar, raisins and walnuts.  Make a well and add oil, carrots, pineapple, vanilla and eggs. Blend well.  Pour into a greased 9 or 10inch round baking pan and bake in a 350F preheated oven for approximately 1 hour until skewer comes out clean.  Cool.  To prepare the icing, beat together room temperature cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and icing sugar and continue beating until smooth.  Cut the cake in half horizontally and spread some icing between the two layers, before icing the whole cake......i didn't do this as you can see in my picture and the cake was still delicious. 

I also added some lemon zest to this recipe just to make it a little fresher tasting.  It was added in the icing and cake.

Now for the Chocolate Zucchini Cake.
Remove the pineapple.  Exchange the carrots for zucchini and add 3/4cup of Coco Powder.  I also added orange zest and a bit of juice for a nice fresh flavour.  the juice helps give a little more moisture since there is another dry ingredient (coco powder) being added.  I used the zest and juice of 2 oranges for my recipe.  Bake at 350F for about an hour or when a skewer pulls out clean from the centre.

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY EVERYONE!!!!

Camping and Cooking

The best kitchen window in the world is no window, doors, walls, it is being outside!!  Whether back country skiing, summer camping the more remote the better.  It is amazing what can be pulled off on the fly!!
I recently join ROAM Adventures www.iroamtheworld.com for an amazing camping/ rafting vacation as their chef and it was fabulous.  Although the original plans had changes on the way it was a beautiful trip with wonderful people and the scenery was spectacular with a huge water fall and lots of birds. Sleeping out under the stars wasn't bad either!
Here is a dinner that was enjoyed on the first night.  Some fresh BC Wild Sockeye  Salmon with a coarse cornmeal crust, fresh local blueberry, cucumber, onion and thyme salsa, coleslaw, mash potatoes (got to get the kids interested), asparagus and carrot cake for dessert....I did pre-make that as baking facilities were not available and prep is the name of the game out here in the wild!
Enjoy and please share your favorite outdoor back-country extravaganzas.

 The kitchen...............

 Best crew ever, singers, musicians, general comedians, dish assistants and guides!

The prep area.

 Dinner!!

 Carrot cake, oh yeah this recipe is incredible.

The dishes for 24 people and me cooking in at the camp.

Breakfast the next day was sausage, eggs to order, Spanish omelet, homemade granola, yogurt, juice, raspberry scones (pre-made), apricot and lemon cake.

Harvest, Hikes and Good Eats

  This is one of my favorite sunflowers in the garden this year.  I have found myself really examining it from bloom and now it is growing seeds for next years garden.....already planning!  The harvest thus far has been fabulous, potatoes, leeks, beets, butter crunch lettuce, broccoli, various peppers, strawberries, carrots, fava beans (my new favorite and there will be a lot of these next year), snap peas, various squash, kale, french beans, fennel, Brussel sprouts(i am hoping these finish, but great learning experience),Jerusalem artichoke,tomatillos, garlic, onions and lots of herbs!  A lot of new things were tried this year and the learning experience of the garden is one of my favorite things about summer.  Cooking various meals from the garden is my other favorite and I hope you enjoy some pictures as much as I enjoyed making the pictures!!!

A little Thai curry stew.  I love to go grocery shopping everyday in the garden and see what is ready to eat!!

Duck for dinner, yes please.  This particular one was a cupboard cleaning meal.  using ingredients that will need to  be eaten and replaced was fun.  There is a lot going on in this bowl but it was delicious!

 My quick version of Huevos Rancheros.  Hands down my favorite breakfast!!!  Not the prettiest but sure delicious!

This meal was some garden goodness!  Curried Lamb Shank....this was from the lamb that was purchased last spring from a local source.  The veggies were from the garden plus some Paneer, spice and coconut milk.  So Good!
What have you been eating from your garden?  Have any questions???? Please ask!

 The wee George and a Mountain Goat.  They hung out just staring at each other for a long time!

 The crew at the base of Gimili Peak!

 I almost stepped on this!  Large and in charge in the mountains!