Red Rice Dosa

1 cup semolina
1 cup red rice flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup water
1 T cumin seeds, toasted
1 red bird chili, minced
2″ piece ginger, grated
handful curry leaves
1/4 cup vegetable oil
cilantro, chopped
sea salt

Sieve the semolina and flours. Toast the cumin seeds in a pan until fragrant. Add the cumin, grated ginger, chili, curry leaves and cilantro to the flour along with the buttermilk. Mix well.

Cover the bowl and let stand at room temperature for about an hour. Add some water to achieve a batter with a pouring consistency.

Heat a crepe pan or nonstick frying pan until smoking hot. Dip some wadded paper towel into the vegetable oil and carefully coat the inside of the pan.

Stir the batter. Add about 1 oz of the batter and tilt to coat the bottom of the pan. Some holes may show giving the effect of lace. That’s how it should be. Cook one side on medium-high heat for 30 seconds then flip. The dosa should be thin, browned and crispy.

The elk tenderloin is from Eramosa Farms which sell their organic elk every Tuesday at The Riverdale Farmers’ Market. Elk is very lean so you would want to cook it no more than medium. Not only does it have great flavour, it’s also nice and tender. Definitely worth picking up.

First I marinated the tenderloins in some chopped garlic, balsamic vinegar, sweet red vermouth, worcestershire sauce, rosemary, sage, brown sugar and black pepper. Best not to add any extra salt (beyond the worcestershire) because the salt will draw out moisture from the elk at this point. Marinate for a couple of hours, making sure each piece of meat is getting its fair share of the marinade.

Season the tenderloins with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Sear or grill the tenderloins on high heat then finish in the oven. Rest the meat in a bowl covered with foil for about 10 minutes.

The chanterelles were foraged north of North Bay — exact location unknown. Mushroom pickers are pretty secretive when it comes to the location. If they tell you, they have to kill you.

Sweat half of a small, finely diced onion in some oil and butter. I used grapeseed oil. You get the buttery flavour and raise the tolerance to heat. Turn up the heat and sautee the mushrooms. Season with some salt and pepper.

To make the puree, sauté some diced onion in a little oil then add some spinach and peas with the water that was clinging to the washed spinach. That’s it. Then use a stick blender to get a textured puree. A bit of olive oil, mint, basil, salt and white pepper is in there also.

Dinner was casual today. Just some salads partaking of typical Mediterranean ingredients. First up: a tomato salad with some radicchio, basil and halloumi. I got the idea for the basil leaf on the halloumi from a Jamie Oliver show — I think it was ‘Jamie At Home.’ He was frying up some halloumi out in his greenhouse. If you sautee the cheese with a flat herb sprig pressed on, it will actually stick. Looks kind of like a decorative tile. The green and white leaves are variegated basil. Dress with some evo oil, sea salt and balsamic vinegar.

Next up are some cauliflower florets that have been tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and smoked paprika, then roasted at 450°F for about 20 minutes. After some lemon juice was mixed with the cauliflower. Accompanying are some olives, oranges and toasted pinenuts. Sweet, sour, salty and smoky. Very nice.

Finally there’s some seared eggplant slices with sea salt, olive oil, mint and toasted pinenuts. Although I didn’t drizzle any vinegar or citrus juice on top, it would go well with this. Because I basically had a big plate of all the salads, the lemon from the cauliflower dish intermingled with the eggplant and made it all good. If the halloumi wasn’t in the first dish, some chunks of tangy goat’s cheese would be great. You could roll it up on your fork and make an impromptu involtini.

This salad is a combination of forelle pear, belgian endive, radicchio, radish, green-leaf lettuce, brebis (sheep’s milk cheese from France, like a creamy feta) and toasted almonds. The vinaigrette has some argan nut oil (from a tree which grows in Morocco) in it, which along with the almonds adds a complimentary ‘nuttiness’ to the bitter greens and sweet pear.

Argan Oil Vinaigrette

50 ml argan oil
150 ml grape seed oil
100 ml apple cider vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp white pepper

This shortcake recipe was adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey R. Shere. What resulted were light, little cream cakes — not the crumbly shortcakes that are more like a scone.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup plain yogurt

(Instead of yogurt, the original recipe called for 3/4 cup of thickened cream + 2 tablespoons to brush on the top of the cakes.)

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Cut in the butter until it resembles cornmeal. Gently mix in the yogurt. Turn this out on a floured work surface and knead just until the dough comes together. Try not to overwork it.

Roll the dough 1/2 inch thick. Use a circular cutter or the rim of a glass to cut rounds of dough. Place rounds on a baking sheet. If you like you can brush the tops of the cake rounds with some cream or egg wash. Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the tops are golden. Cool on a rack.

Cut open the rounds and fill with berries and whipped cream. The whipped cream has some sugar and vanilla seeds in it. I found the cakes reheated well even when eaten the next day. Here I have drizzled some passion fruit syrup on the plate and hidden an extra dollop of whipped cream behind the mint (which some might appreciate).

Ripe nectarines and a freshly cut piece of parmigiano-reggiano. Late-afternoon on a beautiful day; wisps of cloud in a clear blue sky. A chilled glass of sauvignon blanc was not unwelcome. Add in some wildflower honey and toasted nuts for a more substantial repast.

Summer is here at last…