Birch Syrup and Whiskey BBQ Sauce

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As we're coming close to the end of the calendar year, we found that we have very little Birch syrup left from our Spring tapping. Although we have sold quite a bit, very few people actually know what to do with it.

Earlier this year, our Chef had cured some char with Birch syrup and coffee grounds. However, until now, we've not really had much chance to experiment further.

Among other things this week, we decided to make a BBQ sauce with some of our Birch syrup. We were inspired by a Yukon recipe. We're so impressed with the results, we felt this had to be the topic of our post.

The three essential ingredients to our sauce are: Birch syrup, our own Tomato relish (the recipe was covered in previous blog entries), and good old Canadian Whiskey.

Three essential ingredients: Canadian Whiskey, Ridge Berry Birch Syrup and Tomato relish

The recipe consists of:

250 ml Birch Syrup (one  bottle)
280 ml Tomato relish (one jar) - note: Ketchup could be used
250 ml Whiskey - reduced to half by boiling
150 ml Grape seed oil
4 Tsp Dijon mustard
4 Tsp Cider vinegar

The whole thing was simply put in a blender and the result was impressive, a golden brown sauce.

Birch syrup and Whiskey BBQ sauce

We had to try it on some great cuts of Canadian beef and the new BBQ we have now installed in the manor's new courtyard. For this, we marinated our steaks for no more than an hour.

Putting the new BBQ and courtyard to the test

The result was simply superb, thumbs up from everyone. In fact, this was probably the best steaks we've ever had (and we've been to a lot of steak houses over the years). The sauce maintained the juiciness of the meat. The taste was a wonderful BBQ flavour of sweet and sour. However what tied it all together was the flavour of the smokey, woody Birch syrup. We will definitely be doing this again ...and again over the years.

Aside from our farm work, we've also actually been getting ready for the Holiday season. In the background, we've been processing our own liqueurs; what we call the Ridge Berry Cassis, Framboise and Anise. This work actually started over 3 months ago when we were picking fresh berries from the field.

We jarred some of the berries and just covered them with a strong alcohol (Grapa is good but Vodka can be used just as well). After 3 months, the alcohol has been infused with the colour and taste of the berries. We filtered the berries and added half an amount of sugar for every amount of liquid. Over time, the sugar is diluted into the alcohol.

This week, it was time for us to bottle the results.

Our very own Ridge Berry Anise, Cassis and Framboise

What we now call the Ridge Berry Framboise and Cassis are liqueurs of Purple Raspberry and Black Currants. They are great as an after dinner digestif or even as a complement drizzled over sorbets.

The Anise was produced with our very own Fennel and some additional spices. The result is a licorice-like taste very reminiscent of the Pastis which is often served in the south of France. It will be amazing over ice during the Summer months.

Over the past couple of years, this city family has come to adapt rather well to the farm. We've also been rather surprised at some pretty mundane things. Earlier this year, we discovered that Potatoes had fruits. As some of our plants now go to seed this Fall, we were actually amazed to see how cauliflower actually flowers! It's a really beautiful plant.

So this week, for the city folks, we'll close with a picture of a flowering Cauliflower.

Flowering Cauliflower

The Sunchoke

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When we first arrived at the farm, we were determined to grow some Jerusalem Artichokes. We knew them as a delicacy which was rather hard to find in the city, but that was about it. Never did we realize that this was a native plant.

In fact, the Jerusalem Artichoke is also known as the Sunchoke and basically has nothing to do with the Middle East. It is a poor translation of the Italian "Girasole Articiocco" which translates to Sunflower Artichoke.

At first, we tried to get roots of this pant via the Internet. For some reason every site promoting this plant seemed to be out of stock. As a result, we were quite pleased to get some last Fall from a local patron. After learning how well they grow here and doing some research, we ended up seeing this native plant just about everywhere in Niagara. It grows wild on the side roads throughout the country side.

Our first batch of Sunchokes ready for planting

We decided to let Chef have his try with some of the roots and he produced a wonderful cream soup. We then decided to dedicate a raised bed to this amazing plant. The problem is come Spring time, we completely forgot which bed we used and could not find the roots.

Luckily, we also discovered this plant in the back of the old manor. As we were preparing to landscape this year, we decided to take those roots and appoint a special raised bed just for them.

It did not take long for us to find the "lost" roots we had planted the previous Fall. The bed was planted with Squash and the Sunchokes completely and effectively took over the entire space, destroying our Squash vines in the process. So we now have two beds filled to the rims.

The Sunchoke is a species of Sunflower and a beautiful one at that. It will grow well over 6 feet and will carry beautiful yellow daisy-like flowers into the Fall. The stems are thick and very strong.

Blooming Sunchokes

Since some of these plants have already gone to seed and since it is now time to clean some of our raised beds for next year's planting, we decided to tackle the harvesting of some Sunchokes as well as prepare them for the late Fall and Winter months. In fact, with the strong winds coming over the ridge some of these very tall plants are starting to fall over. Their root structure is not very deep.

Sunchokes going to seed

The edible delicacy of the Suchoke is in those roots or tubers of the plant. In fact, they are prolific "multipliers". One tuber will easily generate another dozen in one growing season.

One tuber generates a significant amount of food in a growing season

Although a great and healthy food which was used by both aboriginal and settlers alike, there are a couple of issues associated with the Sunchoke. One of these is its short shelf life.

Once taken out of the ground, the roots will not last long and need to be kept in a cold and very humid environment. They tend to blacken and turn limp.

The best way to store the Sunchoke is basically to keep it in the ground. Since we intend to use this as a source of food this Fall and during the Winter, we prepared our beds by cutting the Sunchokes down to about 12 inches. This will prevent the plants from falling over in the wind, while we will always be able to find them even in the snow.

A Sunchoke bed ready for the Winter

 The Sunchoke root resembles the size and shape of Ginger. Its taste however is mildly sweet and very similar to its namesake the Artichoke. It can be processed very much in the same way as you would potatoes. However, it can also be eaten raw in salads where it has a flavour and consistency similar to that of Water Chestnuts. Because the skin of the Sunchoke tuber is rather thin, it does not necessarily need to be peeled to be enjoyed.

Our first roots we simply processed as we would roasted Potatoes. We brushed clean the Sunchoke roots, cut them into bite size pieces and roasted them with olive oil, Garlic and fresh Thyme.

Sunchokes ready for roasting

One note of caution, you do not want to overcook the roots. They do tend to become "mushy" when overdone.

This brings us to the second problem of the Sunchoke. They contain a lot of inulin.

Inulin is found in many plants and is a zero calorie polysaccharide. Inulin is used by the plant to store energy. It is zero calories simply because our bodies cannot digest it. The result is that it can cause flatulence.

Our bodies can adapt to inulin, but the best way to overcome this problem is to wait a little later in the year to harvest the roots. As the Fall progresses, the plant will be stressed by frost. The more frost it is subjected to, the more the plant will transform this inulin into sugars.

Earlier, we indicated that the best way to store the Sunchoke is in the ground. There is however the possibility to pickle and can Sunchokes. We decided to give this a try as well.

Our recipe is simple. We cut the roots into small (less than 1/2 inch) bite size pieces. We place these overnight in a brine consisting of lemon juice, water and salt. The ratios were 250 ml of lemon juice for 2 litres of water and 1/2 cup of Kosher salt. This prevents the roots from browning.

We then prepared a vinegar solution consisting of 6 cups of cider vinegar, 1 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar, and 1 cup of sugar. To this, we added 3 Tsp of mustard seeds, 2 Tsp of Turmeric, 2 Tsp of Chili fakes and 2 tsps of dry powdered mustard. We also added 3 large Bay leaves and 3 cloves. The whole thing was boiled and brought back down to room temperature.

We then simply canned our Sunchokes with this mixture.

Canned Sunchokes

The result is a great crunchy pickle which seems to be perfect as an accompaniment to Middle Eastern or North African dishes. It can also be used simply as a "munchy" with beer.

For us, the Sunchoke turns out to be a great compliment to our garden. It is a beautiful flowering plant; it is easy to grow and prolific (also requires no weeding); it is a healthy food (a good source of fibre and vitamins while being a great replacement to other high calorie starches); it is delicious and versatile.

We'll end this week with a couple of photos which summarize the progress in our growing dome. We're now able to harvest our first bell peppers and heirloom tomatoes!

Bell Peppers from the Growing Dome

Gorgeous Marizol Gold heirloom tomato

Happy Thanksgiving!

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It's already Thanksgiving for us in Canada and we wish all our Canadian readers a wonderful weekend with family and friends.

This week has provided us with beautiful sunny Fall weather and crisp cold nights, turning the foliage into a gorgeous spectacle of colours. However nothing says Thanksgiving like the corn, squashes and pumpkins coming from the local fields.

The local markets are loaded with the colourful harvests of Fall.

One of the best corn available in Pelham comes from Bry-Anne Farms. We may be a bit biased here since Bryan grows some of his corn on our property. However, it has to be the sweetest around and Bryan's philosophy is always to serve his corn as freshly picked as possible so that the sugars have had no opportunity to turn to starch.

Nothing like freshly picked corn!

So for us this week, it was an opportunity to start processing some corn for the upcoming Winter. For the most part we have been freezing it. we cut the kernels from the cobs, blanch them and store them in freezer bags.

This was also a chance to make our first corn relish. To do this we used 8 cups of corn kernels, 8 cups of diced red bell peppers and 4 cups of diced red onions. We simply browned the onions and peppers with 2 Tsp of Kosher salt and then added the corn to cook for another 3-4 minutes.

We added 3 cups of cider vinegar and 2 cups of sugar. We then brought everything to a boil. Spicing is up to taste, however we like to use Turmeric for this relish.

The relish can be thickened with corn starch to get just the right consistency.

Our first corn relish

Making corn relish and packing corn for the freezers generated a lot of cobs. By chance, we stumbled on another recipe  from a time when nothing was wasted: Corn Cob Jelly! We had to try this.

We boiled some of our corn cobs for 1/2 hour and simmered the strained water. For every amount of this water, we added a similar volume of sugar. For 2 qts of water, we also added 12 Tsp of lemon juice.

To set the jell, we added 4 Tsp of Apple Pectin.

The result is pleasantly surprising. The jelly is a beautiful translucent pale yellow and at first has the taste of sweet corn however, the finish on the palate is exactly like honey!

Corn Cob Jelly: quite a discovery!

Of course, it would not be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. This has been a big seller at the Tea Room and Chef has outdone herself this week by using the most beautiful pumpkins available to make the traditional pie, as well as a pumpkin maple pie, a pumpkin pecan pie and even a gluten-free pumpkin pie.

It's Pumpkin Pie season at the Tea Room.

 We'll end this week with an update on the manor's landscaping. It is all now coming into place and our home is looking less and less like a construction site now that some sod has been laid.

A stone bench on the ridge was created using some finds from the original barn flooring

The canine members of the family are also thrilled now that the courtyard in back of the house is finally completed. We now need to furnish this space but it will definitely be welcomed next Spring.

The courtyard is finally complete.

Kiwis by the Bushel

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It's Kiwi season in Pelham!

Our Kiwis are ready to pick and the trellised Kiwis have done very well for us. We have been calling our variety "Arctic Kiwis", however to be frank we're not exactly certain which variety we have. Our vines were planted years before our acquisition of the farm and it seems years before Kiwis were actually considered a viable crop for Niagara.

The "Kiwi" is actually a marketing name for what used to be called the Chinese Gooseberry and there are over a hundred varieties, from small to large, red to orange to green fruits.

Our type of Kiwi is small and blushes red when mature. They have a smooth skin and do not need to be peeled when eaten. We have seen similar Kiwis marketed as "Hardy Kiwis" or "Kiwi Berries".

Ripe and juicy "Arctic Kiwi"

Whatever variety we have on hand, our attempts at pruning and trellising have worked out well and we will now have to work on a dozen rows which have become "feral". They have self-propagated and entangled themselves in wild Grape vines, wild Rose bushes and the occasional Mulberry tree.

When properly trellised and pruned, the Kiwis are easy to harvest and form what we like to call "Kiwi coves". It's a rather beautiful site when walking under the trellised vines.

Trellised Kiwis ready to be picked

In fact some of our Kiwis have grown rather large.

A sample of large "Arctic Kiwis" or "Kiwi berries"

The major problem with these fruits is that they do not ripen at the same time. Also, the fruits that have had little exposure to the sun do not turn red. As a result, the only way to test for ripeness is to feel just how soft they are. The softer the better. Since this cannot be efficiently done when harvesting, we have been picking all Kiwis including unripened "hard" Kiwis. These we store in the barn until they soften for sale or further processing.

Harvesting Kiwis has proven to be one of our favourite Fall tasks

What we like to make with our Kiwis is a Kiwi jam which is sold at the Tea Room market.

Our first Kiwi jam of the season

We also like to use the overly ripe fruits (those that would correspond to a late harvest grape) to make what we call Kiwi raisins. These we use in our Tea Room baked goods and we also sell at our market. It is difficult to describe the taste of a Kiwi raisin but they tend to resemble a cross between a conventional raisin and a fig, with a floral and exotic fruit aftertaste.

Kiwi raisins ready for baking

Our favourite use however is still our home made wine. Our Kiwi wine has the taste of a late harvest Chardonnay with an exotic fruit bouquet. This will definitely be our next project for the Autumn season.

On the foraging front, we have been harvesting Staghorn Sumac drupes. It is amazing to see how many people consider this a poisonous plant (confusing it with the Poison Sumac). The two plants are significantly different and cannot be mistaken. The Poison Sumac is not as common in Canada as it is in the South of the United States. It also has a whitish grey berry, nothing like the red and furry drupes of the Staghorn Sumac.

The Staghorn Sumac and its drupe

Since our arrival at the farm, we have been indulging in Sumac tea or what the settlers called "Indian Lemonade". The process for this is perhaps the simplest of recipes you can come up with.

We tend to pick our drupes in late Summer or early Fall (never after a rainfall since it tends to wash away the flavours). These we simply put in a pot, add cold water and let sit over night. The next step is to simply filter out the drupes. The result is a delicious golden red tea, ready to consume.

The simplest of recipes: steeping Sumac drupes in cold water

Depending on one's taste, the resulting tea can be made more concentrated by waiting longer or  by using smaller drupes (which provide more surface area for water to come into contacts with the small furry berries).

This plant was considered a medicinal plant by some aboriginal tribes. In fact it was sometimes dried and smoked with tobacco. Not only is the tea delicious, but it is also associated with a lot of health benefits, including a high concentration of antioxidants. Note that people highly allergic to poison ivy could be allergic to Staghorn Sumac as well.

This year, we decided to go a bit further and we've actually transformed a concentrated tea into a jelly. This jelly retains many of the properties of the Sumac tea and has a mild wood spice aftertaste.

Finally, another fruit to look out for this time of year is the Quince.

Today few people can recognize a Quince or know what to do with this odd pear-like fruit. In the area many "feral" trees can be found and the fruits are definitely worth harvesting.

Every year one of our neighbours tends to surprise us with a new find and this year he did not let us down by bringing in a bag of large and beautiful fruits (thank you John!).

Quinces ready to be turned into jelly.

Since we've not reported on the Ward Manor for quite a while, we'll close this week with a quick update. We're now nearing the end of the landscaping phase, The "hardscape" is almost done and for the first time we can now take a full picture of the old Victorian home.

The old manor in all its splendor

With the internal portion of the house completely refinished, the glass gallery has also hosted a few hundred  visitors this tourist season.

The gallery is open to the public by invitation or appointment

For our Tea Room open house (November 6-8), we will be working on a fundraiser for the Welland/Pelham Museum. Tickets will be sold to view the gallery as part of a tour of three heritage buildings. The tours, to be held on November 8th, will include a briefing on art glass from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, a detailed briefing on the history of the property, as well as a presentation of the various "secrets" of the manor.