Tomatoes ready for the pot.

It is that time of year again. Labour Day weekend has come and gone, the kids are back at school, and the farmers’ markets are full of bounty. Right now, you can find everything from cucumbers to tomatoes, beets to beans and many fruits like apples and pears. Now, I know, even as a chef, all this goodness can be a little overwhelming. How can anyone possibly be able to use all these ingredients, let alone find space for them in their pantry? Well, what I am about to divulge to you is by no means a secret; it’s pickling and preserving. That’s right! It’s the time of year to grab all those goodies and start experimenting. Go grab yourself some jars, hit up a market, grab your grandmother by the hand and get yourself involved in a pickling party.

I know that there are many preserving experts out there; everyone has a momma, grandmomma or friend who partakes in this every year. Why my own mother-in-law, a Miss Kathy, took it upon herself a few years ago to pair up with a friend of hers who was a pickling master and made her first batch of Mustard Pickle (and what a batch it was!). If you think preserving might be too daunting a task, there are several companies in the Halifax area who sell amazing prepared pickles at the Seaport Farmer’s Market. A few of my favorites are Pat’s Preserves and Tangled Garden. I am also pretty sure that there are many of you out there, who are fortunate enough to have a seasoned “pickler” in your family. If so, take advantage of this and spend a weekend with them learning the ropes!

A good example of a restaurant that takes all of this goodness in is Les Fougères in Chelsea, Quebec. The owners, Charlie and Jennifer Part, are known for their pickling and jam making prowess. If you have ever worked there (as I did many moons ago), you become privy to their “secret” recipes and their way of doing things. Many a night I was bound to the stoves at Les Fougères, blanching and peeling tomatoes, chopping and salting cucumbers, and mixing large batches of spice mix. Their pickles and preserves are so popular, that they now produce them in larger quantities for people to purchase from their onsite shop to take home and enjoy.

Whether you are a seasoned pro at the pickling game, or are giving it a go for the first time, enjoy this time of year and hit up your local market. This time, be prepared to grab that ten pound bag of beets and turn them into the sweet and sour pickled variety, or take the bumper crop of beans and make a spicy pickled version. Anyway you jar it, you know it’s gonna be good!

Here are a few simple and easy recipes that work for the first timer or the expert! Happy pickling.

Bread And Butter Pickles

• 4 quarts small to medium cucumbers; washed
• 3 medium onions; thinly sliced
• 1 red & 1 green pepper; chopped
• 1/2 cup coarse pickling salt
• Ice cubes

Syrup:

• 3 cups vinegar
• 5 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp celery seed
• 2 tbsp mustard seed

Combine cucumbers, onions, peppers and salt. Cover with ice cubes and let stand for 3 hours. Drain well. Rinse with cold water & drain again. Combine all syrup ingredients in a large pot. Add pickle mixture and bring to a boil. Place in sterilized  jars and seal.

This recipe comes from the book “Eleanor’s Recipe Collection No. 2″ and is written by my old Home Economics teacher, Eleanor Never Hayes, from Shawville, Quebec.

East Indian Tomato Relish

• 20 ripe tomatoes
• 4 large onions; chopped
• 4 large red & 2 large green peppers; chopped
• 4 tbsp salt
• 4 cups cider vinegar
• 4 cups sugar

Blanch and peel the tomatoes; coarsely chop. Combine tomatoes, onion, peppers & salt in large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 1/2 hour. Add vinegar & sugar and continue to cook for 2 hours; stirring occasionally and cook until desired thickness. Put into sterilized jars and seal.

This recipe comes from the “A Year At Les Fougères” cookbook (many a night I made this recipe!)

The famous Salade Fougères.

I am no food reviewer, and its not often that I write about restaurants or the meals I’ve eaten in them, but when it comes to Les Fougerès, I gotta give them a shout out!

Charlie & Jennifer Part are the brains behind this operation that is found deep in the Gatineau Hills (Chelsea to be exact). Originally, they owned a little “boite” in Toronto called Loons, but after babies and the allure of a simpler life, they moved their brood to Chelsea where Jennifer’s parents and sister happen to live. As a result, Les Fougères was born in the remnants of an old gas station. To be perfectly honest, my opinion of these two is biased, as I was once their sous chef (yep,that is me on page 142 of their cookbook!), but in the past thirteen years I have never had a bad experience. Yes, it is true that I got married there, and the ten course meal that we ate will go down in history as the best wedding meal EVER, but I won’t let that sway my opinion.

After three years of staying away, Doug and I finally made the trek back to Les Fougères several weeks ago and enjoyed a most spectacular lunch! Chicken liver pate & Salade Fougères for me (my usual), and Dougie had the wild game terrine and the special of the day;  a salad of garden greens, local beef tenderloin, strawberries, pistachios and a plethora of other garden goodies. Of course no meal would be complete without cheese, and with over a dozen Quebec cheeses to choose from we had our work cut out for us! To finish off our lunch I ordered a little sweet somethin-somethin to help me endure the trek back to Shawville – Frangipane of raspberries with Fleur De Sel ice cream.

After filling ourselves with sumptuous food, a quick stop at the Les Fougères food store was a must. Despite the fact that I would have happily purchased every single item in the shop, I walked away with their own brand of extra virgin olive oil and a few jars of anchovy stuffed olives.

Les Fougères will always remain a favorite for me, hold a special place in my heart and continue to inspire me to cook with balls! (as Charlie always told me to do!)

The other dishes during our amazing lunch.

Click to enlarge.

I once had a co-worker at Les Fougères, who had a four year old boy. He told me a story one day about his son that made me laugh. After hearing this story I hoped that if I ever had kids, mine would do the same. He explained that his family had been invited over to a friend’s place for dinner and that when the main course of pasta came out, his son took one bite, pushed his plate away, turned to the host and said “Your pasta lacks seasoning. I refuse to eat this until the proper amount of salt and pepper is added.” I laughed so hard, and poor Mario was embarrassed by this event, but nonetheless, he was proud that his boy was a “gourmand”.

Along came a “petite gourmande” of my own. My daughter Zoé is all of 19 months, and has been eating solid food for more than a year. Her first foray was like every other baby; bananas, pears, prunes and sweet potatoes, but now and then I’d throw her a curve ball to see how should would react. An asparagus and fiddlehead soup was her first favorite, followed closely by pasta with Taleggio cheese, sundried tomatoes and basil. Yay, my babe was developing a palate more discerning than some adults!

Of course, this wasn’t always true. I have seen a bowl flung against my pale yellow walls after some hard core head shaking. To this day she refuses to eat mango, yet plonk and avocado on her plate and it’s gone within seconds. Cheese is already a major force in her young life; Taleggio is a winner, as is Manchego and Chèvre. I once gave her a dreaded processed cheese slice only to find it stuck suspiciously under her high chair. A few days ago, Zoé decided that the foie gras mousse, that Doug brought back from La Ferme Basque in Quebec, was best served with a sippy cup of local apple cider, and that Serrano ham worked wonders with some steamed asparagus and a side of pears. Saturday mornings are sacred for my family and a definite favourite for Zoé. This is when we make our weekly trip to the Halifax Farmers’ Market. Zoé always opts for a croissant from La Vendéenne and a scoop of gelato from Fox Hill Cheese House. Believe me, this kid knows what she wants!

I had always hoped that my child would to try different things, and give “peas” a chance. Now I can only hope that her brand new baby brother, Philippe, chooses the same path!

Zoé being introduced to her new brother Philippe, while eating of course!

Salade Fougères

Back in the good ‘ol days, I used to work at a restaurant in Chelsea, Quebec, called Les Fougères. At Les Fougères, I got the chance to work alongside Charlie & Jennifer Part; the chef-owners of the restaurant. During the few years that I worked there, I learned many, many things, and have consequently thanked them for shaping my cooking style. One of the items that has never left the menu at Les Fougères, is a salad called “Salade Fougères”. This is a simple yet satisfying salad, and the flavours are out of this world! Yes, I know that I’m talking about a salad, but it has everything a girl like me needs; bacon, cheese and some tangy vinaigrette!

Recently, I was dead tired and exhausted when I came home from work (as per usual these days), and was not in any mood to toil over my stove. What would Doug & I have for dinner? He, of course, always suggests salad, and I, of course, always squawk at the very idea! “No! No greens for me!” But on this fateful evening, I had no energy to fight, so I dug deep into our fridge and found some ingredients that would hopefully satisfy my hunger. Okay, no double-smoked bacon for lardons, but I found some pancetta (still a fatty pork product), some curly endive (not mesclun mix, but heartier and more zippy), and a log of goat cheese. Next for the dressing; dijon, red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt & pepper. Ahhh, all necessary ingredients, for my version of this wonderful salad.

I started by crisping the pancetta in the oven (making sure to keep the excess fat to drizzle on top of my finished salad). I then washed and dried the endive and crumbled the goat’s cheese. Finally, I gave the vinaigrette a quick whisk and tossed all of the components together. These simple steps produced a very sexy salad reminiscent of the “Salade Fougères” I so often crave.

If you ever get a chance to make it to beautiful Chelsea, Quebec, I strongly suggest making a stop at Les Fougères for some exquisite cooking, a mind-blowing wine list, and a Salade Fougères!

Click to enlarge.