Monday, June 23, 2008

Mmm Canada


I seriously suspect I missed the deadline on this, but I will post anyway.
(as it turns out, I am actually the early bird!!!!)
Jasmine and Jennifer organised a blog event; a sweet/savoury taste of Canada and I thought it would be the perfect way to kickstart the blogging. I made this meal LAST WEEK, photographed it and then proceeded to work four doubles and two singles. So I never got around to posting it. Here it is, better late than never...

Canadian cuisine is pretty hard to pin down, in my opinion. We have so many cultural influences to draw on and so many geographical differences that affect what foods are available to us. I have a couple of posts about what Canada tastes like to me, from previous years, and I didn't want to replicate too much. This year, I am obsessed with sablefish and fiddleheads (okay, I have been obsessed with fiddleheads for a while); two ingredients I would say qualify as Canadian Content. Sablefish is harvested off the coast of British Columbia and is (at the moment) a very sustainable fishery. I would suggest checking the Canadian Sablefish Association webpage out for more information. I was concerned to read that Sablefish aquaculture is being looked at right now...


Sablefish on Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Fiddleheads and Arugula

The sablefish was prepared simply ~ no recipe. I sear the seasoned fish, add a splash of white wine and lemon and cover the pan, allowing it to cook stovetop.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Fiddle heads and Arugula

Serves 2

1 sweet potato ( I didn't weigh it, it was probably around 500-700grams)
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup flour

300 g fiddleheads
250 grams arugula
olive oil.

Roast sweet potato until completely soft (40 minutes or so)
Rice cooked sweet potato and allow to cool a little. stir in egg yolk and then flour. Season with salt and pepper. The gnocchi dough will be extremely soft and slightly sticky. Flour your work surface very well before rolling gnocchi dough into logs and cutting off bite sized pieces. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the gnocchi until it rises to the surface. This step may be done ahead of time.

Blanch fiddleheads in boiling salted water until tender. Ice to cool. (nb. According to many websites, fiddleheads may contain toxins and therefore should be very THOROUGHLY cooked. I like living on the edge, but due care and caution should be taken when preparing them.)

Heat a saute pan and coat with olive oil. Once the pan is hot, saute the gnocchi till it is golden brown. Add fiddleheads and arugula and heat through.
Serve and enjoy.