Salsa came on with an explosion in the early 90s. For years Canadians had been chopping up their tomatoes and onions with a soupcon of peppers, simmering it down with sugar, vinegar and spices and calling it chili sauce. All of a sudden a tangier, hotter and more aromatic sauce became a great big commercial success - and a home canner's sauce of choice. Salsa.

Not the dance and probably more accurately called a pico de gallo. But the sauce came labelled salsa ("salsa" means sauce in Spanish), and salsa it's stayed. One of the first recipes I tried and published in the magazine became the Cooking Lesson. It was straightforward and didn't require a lot of exotic ingredients to make a mildly hot and pleasing relish. Letters from readers told the story of it success among home canners and repeated phone calls every preserving season reminds the test kitchen how many readers have enjoyed our "Peppy Salsa". 

We can only imagine how many readers have spooned the salsa over grilled cheese or macaroni and cheese, rolled it up with fajitas or added it to zip up dips and quesadillas. While the pepper crop is at its most gloriously crisp and colourful, and late harvest tomatoes still available, it is wise not to waste a moment getting into the kitchen to make at least a modest supply of your own salsa. You'll be glad in December when you wrap the jars labelled "Christmas Salsa" and offer them to your best friends. Think ahead and include a recipe so your friends can make their own next summer. Maybe they'll follow your example, and share.

A word of warning, invest in rubber gloves when seeding and chopping hot peppers.

You may say that you can handle the heat, but in this salsa recipe you are working with 8 oz (250 g) jalapeno peppers and the heat accumulates to the burning point. And you never know, even if you're sure you're never going to touch your eyes or lips, you will. That fatal touch will cause your eyes to water, your mouth to burn. You will be miserable. So, before buying the peppers and tomatoes, get yourself either the looser and more awkward dishwashing rubber gloves or the form fitters available in drug stores and some supermarkets. 

While you can "chop" the vegetables, dicing or cubing them makes for a more attractive sauce.

Tried and True Salsa

When peeling a large quantity of tomatoes, cut a largish but shallow "x" in the bottom of the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes, top down, in a heatproof bowl or basin. Cover with boiling water and let stand for up to 60 seconds or until tomato skins loosen especially at the "x". Lift out with a slotted spoon, chill briefly in cold water and peel.

Prepping vegetables for any salsa, sauce or relish is rather time consuming. Try to have some diversion - a friend who will help and then share the spoils, a favourite program or movie or the music that matches the salsa beat.

Ingredients:  

6 large jalapeno peppers (8 oz/250 g)

8 cups (2 L) peeled and coarsely diced tomatoes (about 8 to 10 large, 4 lb/2 kg)

3 cups (750 mL) coarsely diced Cubanelle, Anaheim or mild banana peppers (3 large, 3 lb/1.5 kg)

2 cups (500 mL) diced onions

1 cup (250 mL) diced sweet yellow or red pepper

4 large cloves garlic, peeled and diced

2 cups (500 mL) real apple cider vinegar

1 can (5-1/2 oz/156 mL) tomato paste

2 tbsp (30 mL) granulated sugar

1 tbsp (15 mL) salt

2 tsp (10 mL) paprika

1 tsp (5 mL) each dried oregano and ground cumin

1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped fresh coriander

. On a cutting board and wearing rubber gloves, cut jalapeno peppers in half lengthwise. With a small spoon, scrape out seeds and membranes. Trim off stems; dice finely to make 1 cup (250 mL). (A little extra won't go astray, but will make the salsa a little hotter.)

. Place the jalapeno peppers in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or saucepan; stir in the remaining vegetables - the tomatoes, Cubanelle peppers, onions, sweet yellow pepper and the garlic. Stir in the vinegar, tomato paste, granulated sugar, salt, paprika, oregano and cumin. 

. Bring the salsa ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until the liquid is no longer watery and individual ingredients are cloaked in the tomato sauce, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Stir in the coriander now, or add a little chopped fresh coriander to salsa when you serve it. The flavour will be fresher and more pungent - for coriander lovers a dream come true. 

. Pour into prepared 1-cup or 2-cup (250 or 500 mL) preserving jars, leaving 1/2-inch (2 cm) headspace. Seal with prepared discs, and bands. Boil in boiling water canner for 20 minutes. (See Canning Basics below). 

. Makes about 11 cups (2.75 L) salsa.

Canning Basics: 

. Ensure that you have enough preserving jars in perfect condition. Wash, rinse and air dry. 

. Always use new lids. Place in a bowl and five minutes before filling jars, cover the lids with hot, not boiling water to soften the sealing compound. 

. Before starting to cook the salsa, fill a boiling water canner about two-thirds full; add the preserving jars, letting them fill with water. Cover and start to heat about 30 minutes before preserve is ready to jar. 

. Using canning tongs, move the jars from the canner to a tray beside the stovetop. Increase heat under the canner to bring the water closer to the boil while filling the jars. 

. Using a funnel and a 1/2 cup (125 mL) metal dry measuring cup, fill the jars to within 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) of the top. If you've used the funnel and scoop chances are there won't be any salsa on the rim of the jars. Or, not much. But inevitably, some will slop over; wipe any off using damp paper towel.

. Place the prepared discs on the jars, and with a firm but not forced motion, screw on the bands until resistance is met, then tighten just to finger-tip tight. 

. Use canning tongs to transfer the filled jars safely to the rack in the canner. Lower rack into the water. Add more boiling water  if necessary so that the jars are covered by 1 inch (2.5 cm).

. Cover the canner; bring the water to a vigorous boil. Time the boiling from this point. 

. At the end of the boiling time, turn off the heat. Remove the cover and let the boiling subside. Lift the rack and with canning tongs, transfer the jars to a rack or folded thick towel.

. Let stand for a day; wipe, label and check each jar. Properly sealed jars have lids that curved down. Jars with lids that didn't snap down need to be refrigerated and relished within 3 weeks. But before you think you'll lose half your preserves, note that if you have used new lids, real preserving jars and respected the headspace and sealing gospel given above, it will be extremely rare that a jar doesn't seal properly. 

The lids are all curved down and the jars, now cool enough to label, will be stored in a cool dark spot until needed for gift giving, or to partner with the perfect extra old Cheddar and Dijon mustard grilled cheese sandwich on really chewy whole grain bread.

At a recent good-friends dinner party, our host Monica Gray served a magnificent ragout of lamb (somehow I can't bring myself to say "stew" when it comes to something that's as delicious as her braised lamb) on a bed of barley. There was an audible excitement around the table, part surprised talk, part the smacking of lips. How novel. Not rice, not potatoes, not polenta, not noodles, not even couscous, bulgar or baguette - something altogether more interesting and delish. Barley.

From bottom left, hulled pot barley, top is pearled barley with outer bran polished off and right bottom, stone ground barley flour

Reputed to be the world's longest cultivated grain, barley was the grain of choice for thousands of years. Alas, the grain fell out of favour a few hundreds of years ago in much of the richer more fertile and populated parts of the world - in China, rice became the number # grain.  In Europe, rye and the ascent of wheat linked to a preference for lighter whiter breads rather than heavier darker barley bread pushed barley to the geographic perifery of the continent - to Scotland and Wales, for example, where barley grew more reliably than other grains. There barley has lived on in soups, flat breads, breakfast cereal - and in the production of beer and scotch. Most of Canada's barley goes to livestock feed. For most Canadians, and I'm not counting the barley that goes into beer, barley is simply not everyday.

But back to dinner, if barley is darn good, why is it neglected? Does it need a little promo? I'm willing to bet good money that all five of the couples at Monica Gray's table went out and bought a bag of the grain. Barley has such good bones. It's healthy - high in soluble and non soluble fibre, tasty in a toasty granary way, like rice goes with just about everything the refrigerator can throw at it, not expensive and what pushes it over the top- it has texture. Firm, but not al dente in the Italian risotto  way, with a lovely little bounce, yet tender. Some say agreeably squishy.

Could it be that cooks think barley takes too long to cook? Anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes. Yes, it takes longer than a microwave snack, couscous or instant mac and cheese. But, not really a long time to simmer- about the time of parboiled rice, a tad longer than new potatoes. Is it hard to find? Well, maybe - bags of barley - there are two kinds usually available and virtually interchangeable when it comes to the dish - pot barley with only the hull removed is a little longer to cook, and pearl with the outer bran polished off so the kernels appear 'pearled" occupy a tiny bit of a shelf beside the dried beans, lentils and chick peas. You need to be a scratch cook to know where to find barley in the supermarket. But bulk stores and health food stores are a reliable source of barley, and in some, you can even find barley flour - an interesting addition to breakfast pancakes.

Enough talk. Do try barley  in soup as the Scots do, make it into a risotto or pilaf with Mediterranean accents. Replace some of the hard or all-purpose wheat flour in pancakes, muffins, scones and up to 25% of the volume in yeast-raised bread with barley flour.  And certainly make barley the basis of summer salads.  In salads, barley is way better than pasta - doesn't drink up all the dressing and  go flacid and bloated after a few hours, is an improvement on rice simply by staying moist and tender, and best, will impress your friends and family with your discovery of a brand new albeit antique grain that could use a little recognition. 

Barley Salad with Red Onion and Feta

Ideal for a summer lunch, perhaps on a weekend menu, try to leave extras to pack for lunches during the week. The peas in the photo are shelled - ready-for-the-pot peas increasingly available in produce sections of chain stores, and in specialty stores.

2/3 cup (150 mL) pearl or pot barley

2 cups (500 mL) water (approx) 

3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt

1 cup (250 mL) cooked fresh peas, or thawed frozen peas

3/4 cup (175 mL) diced sweet red pepper

1/2 cup (125 mL) diced red onion or sliced green onions

2/3 cup (150 mL) crumbled feta cheese (3 oz/100 g)

2 tbsp (30 mL) shredded fresh spearmint leaves or basil

3 tbsp (45 mL) extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp (15 mL) white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly ground pepper

12 inner leaves of Romaine or softer Boston Lettuce

. In a medium saucepan, bring barley, water and 1/2 tsp (2 mL) of the salt to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until barley is tender, and water mostly absorbed, about 25 minutes. Check near end of cooking time to see if barley needs a little extra water. Drain if necessary and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with a fork and set aside to cool.

. Add peas, red pepper, red onion, feta, mint, oil, vinegar, pepper and remaining salt. Toss gently to combine. Let stand for a few minutes for flavours to blend. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 day. Taste and reseason if necessary.)

. Arrange lettuce in shallow pasta bowls. Spoon salad into cupped portion of lettuce. 

. Makes 4 servings.

Tip: There are many possibilities for the cheese - shredded old Gouda, ricotta salata or extra old Cheddar or cubed Asiago. Feel free to chop in some cherry tomatoes too if you are eating the salad within an hour of its completion. 

Barley Buttermilk Pancakes with Honey Butter

Barley flour, available in bulk, health and some supermarkets add a nutty flavour to weekend pancakes. I like to dress up a stack of pancakes with sliced strawberries or peaches or a generous scoop of  blueberries or raspberries - in addition to the Honey Butter.

1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (125 mL) barley flour

1 tsp (5 mL) each baking powder and baking soda

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

2 large eggs

1 tbsp (15 mL) creamed or liquid honey

2 cups (500 mL) buttermilk

2 tbsp (30 mL) canola oil

Honey Butter:

3 tbsp (45 mL) soft butter

1 tbsp (15 mL) creamed or liquid honey 

Pinch cinnamon

. In large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and barley flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

. In separate bowl, whisk 1 of the eggs with honey until smooth. Whisk in remaining egg, buttermilk and oil. Pour over the dry ingredients, whisking or stirring just until batter is smooth. 

. Heat skillet or griddle over medium heat; brush with canola oil. Using a 1/4 cup (50 mL) dry measuring cup, pour batter into the skillet. When bubbles rise up in the batter, burst but do not fill in, after about 2 minutes, turn over and cook the other side of the pancakes until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter and oil as needed. 

Ready to turn

. Honey Butter: Meanwhile, in a medium bowl with a fork, mash together the butter, honey and cinnamon. Spoon over hot pancakes.

. Makes 12 pancake, 4 servings.

Bob's Red Mill brand has a wide selection of grains and baking products, now distributed in some supermarkets as well as specialty stores.

Mushroom Barley Pilaf

A number of chefs know and use barley - they're always pushing the envelope when it comes to a tasty blend of novelty and good food. Example?  The exuberant handlebar-mustachioed Massimo Capra of Mistura, the Food Network and cookery book introduced me to barley risotto a number of years ago. For restaurant service his trick was to precook the kernels to plump but still firm stage. Then when the order came in for barley risotto, he's start a little saute of oil and aromatics, add the barley and heat it to steaming and tenderness with a little stock and send it to the table with a flurry of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Then, a few years back when Monica Gray and I went mushroom hunting with naturalist extraordinaire Bob Bowles at Severn Lodge near Georgian Bay, the Lodge's chef Hubert Obermeier served what is essentially a pilaf - no continuous stirring as with risotto - with grilled tuna. Here's my version of Obermeier's delicious barley dish you can serve with your choice of grilled or roasted fish, chicken, lamb or pork chops, beef or duck. 

1/4 cup (50 mL) butter 

1 onion,or 2 shallots, diced

1/4 tsp (1 mL) each salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup (250 mL) pearl or pot barley

2 cups (500 mL) chicken stock or vegetables stock

4 cups (1 L) chopped mushrooms, about 12 oz (375 g)

1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice (approx)

2 tbsp (30 mL) minced fresh parsley

. In medium saucepan with heavy bottom, melt half of the butter over medium heat. Add onion, salt and pepper; cook, sirring until onion is softened, about 4 minutes. 

. Stir in barley; cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add stock and 1-1/2 cups (375 mL) water; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer just until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 30 to 40 minutes.  Remove from heat; let stand for 5 minutes.

. Meanwhile in a large skillet, melt remaining butter over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and saute, stirring occasionally, until no liquid remains and mushrooms have started to colour golden brown, about 8 minutes.

. Scrape mushrooms and any pan liquid over the barley; sprinkle with lemon juice. With fork, toss gently; taste and add more lemon juice is you like. Sprinkle with parsley.

. Makes 4 generous servings.

Tip: Shiitaki caps have the most flavour of all supremarket-available fresh mushrooms.  

And why not? A little over a week ago I sat down to a wedding dinner at Langdon Hall Country Inn, on a hillside overlooking the Grand River in Cambridge, Ontario. Chilled bowls arrived, cupping the most beautiful green pea soup, slashed across the top with a bold stroke of creme fraiche and a trail of what turned out to be prosciutto crumble. 

"This chef", I thought to myself, "loves vegetables. He lets them speak for themselves'. The soup was icy cold as behooves a warm evening and at the first spoonful there was silence at our table. Even the bride and groom focused their bliss on the perfect essence of peas - delicate but summery, a touch sweet yet refreshing. Nothing spoiled its simplicity.

Executive Chef Jonathan Gushue proved his admiration for vegetables as the meal progressed, and graciously agreed to share his simple but splendid summer soup. I have served it twice in the last week, to surprise that it's so good... and surprise that it's made out of peas! As for getting the right peas for the soup, if, unlike Langdon Hall which has gardens that provide fresh peas to the kitchen, a good produce store, roadside stand or farmers' market is the best bet for buying fresh peas in their pods. Lacking all of the above, choose frozen peas - one of the few vegetables that freezes well. Avoid the multi-sized peas and zero in on the packets of small peas. They retain the lovely sweetness of summer and are worth the extra pennies.

You can make your own bold design on the top of the soup with a plastic squeeze bottle filled with creme fraiche or sour cream.

Chilled Sweet Pea Soup

Serve in wide bowls, white if possible,  so the creme fraiche and crumble make a dramatic statement. You don't need a lot of soup - a half to three-quarters cup  (125 to 175 mL), depending on your bowls,  is plenty to start a summer party dinner. 

1 tbsp (15  mL) butter

3 shallots, peeled and diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

4 cups (1 L) water or vegetable broth

4 cups (1 L) shelled peas

1/2 tsp (2 mL) vegetable oil

3 thin slices prosciutto 

2 tbsp. (30 mL) fine dry but fresh breadcrumbs

1/3 cup (75 mL) creme fraiche or 30% sour cream

. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the shallot and garlic; fry gently, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. 

. Add the water; cover and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the peas; cover and bring back to the boil. Boil for about 4 minutes or until peas are tender. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.

. Puree with an immersion blender, or in batches in a stand blender or with a food mill. Set a sieve over a large bowl; set the bowl in the bottom of the sink. Being careful not to burn yourself, pour the pureed soup into the sieve. Press the soup through the sieve, working the mash well to get as much of the tender peas through the sieve as possible. This gives the soup its texture. 

. Chill soup; cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours. Taste, adding salt if desired, keeping in mind the prosciutto crumble scattered over the top of the soup.

. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet. Over medium heat, saute the prosciutto until crisp. Let cool; pat off any fat. Chop coarsely and whiz in a clean coffee grinder or small food processor until the prosciutto is in very fine almost whispy pieces; set aside. (Note that you can chop this finely, but it won't be quite as delicate as Chef Gushue's.

. In a small dry skillet, toast the breadcrumbs until golden; combine with the prosciutto. (Make-ahead; cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.)

. To serve, check the soup for thickness and saltiness. If you used vegetables broth the soup will not need any salt, but made with water, it will. Also check for thickness; whisk in cold vegetable broth or even milk, if a thinner soup is preferred.

. Ladle the soup into chilled bowls. Swirl with a generous stroke of creme fraiche and a line of prosciutto crumb crumble. Serve any remaining crumble to add to the soup.

. Makes 6 servings. 

Tip: Use a small plastic squeeze bottle with a wide opening tip for stroking the soup with creme fraiche.

Fresh Pea Mash - aka Fresh Pea Crostini

This slightly rough puree atop homemade toasts or melba toasts evolved out of an idea volunteer historic cook Vi Cardella suggested for an appetizer menu served at an Ontario Wine Society event at Campbell House Museum in Toronto. Suits vegetarians, is not expenseve, and in cooking world where so many cooked dishes are brown, these emerald green crostini stand out - for looks and for taste. One-bite size is recommended.

Spoon the seasoned mashed peas on toasted baguette, garnish and pass around. Or, spoon the mash into a bowl, topped here with sour cream or creme fraiche and sprinkle with snipped chives. Guests can dig down and scoop up enough to mound on crackers or melba toast. For the picture I sliced a whole wheat baguette and with a cookie cutter, cut out rounds which I crisped in the oven. A little rustic looking, but tasty.

2 tbsp (30 mL) butter

1 shallot, peeled and minced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

3 cups (750 mL) fresh peas, or frozen small peas

2 tbsp (30 mL) water, vegetable or chicken broth (for non vegetarians),  (approx)

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

1/3 cup (75 mL) freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (real Parmesan cheese)

1 tbsp (15 mL) sour cream and mayonnaise

20 slices ficelle or thin baguette, whole wheat if available 

Garnish:

1/2 cup (125 mL) sour cream

Fresh chives, and chive blossoms, if available

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the shallot and garlic; mix well. Cover and sweat* the vegetables to soften them, and encourage them to share their suble flavours with the peas.

. Stir in the peas and water. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until peas are tender and broth has evaporated, about 5 minutes.For fresh peas you may need to add more broth to keep the peas moist.

. Add the cheese, stirring to encourage it to melt in with the peas. Let cool slightly; puree in food processor until still slightly chunky. Whirl in the sour cream and mayonnaise. (Make-ahead: Transfer to airtight container and let cool in refrigerator. Cover surface directly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to 1 day). 

. Meanwhile, toast the slices of ficelle just until golden; let cool. Spoon pea mixture onto toasted slices, Top with a dollop of sour cream and a dusting of snipped fresh chives, and possibly some separated chive blossoms.  

. Makes 20 pieces.

* Sweat: to cook over low heat in oil or butter to draw out juices and flavours of a food, usually vegetables, without browning. A cover is usual when sweating vegetables for a soup, stew or mixture like this mash of peas.

Pea Mash Crostini with Mascarpone

Instead of layering the pea mash, sour cream and chives onto a toasted slice of ficelle, spread the toasted slice with mascarpone or cream cheese (about 2/3 cup (175 mL), add the pea mash and garnish with  chive flowers, snipped chives or thinly slice green onion, the white part for contrast. If you fancy a red and green colour scheme, finely dice enough red onion to make 1/2 cup (125 ml). Soak in cold water for 15 minutes; drain and pat dry. use to garnish the pea mash. 

What You Need to Know about Fresh Peas in their Pods

. Choose crisp bright green pea pods that are well filled with medium-size peas. Avoid a combo of bulging pea pods and thin hardly filled pods. The peas will be of different sizes and will not cook evenly.

. Plan to cook fresh peas the day you buy them - the longer they are from harvest the more of their sugar has turned to starch. If life deals you a delay in enjoying the peas, wrap the pods in a clean kitchen towel, enclose them in  plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 2 day. Won't be quite the same, but better than no fresh peas at all.

 . Cook peas, covered, in 2 inches (5 cm) boiling water until  tender, about 2 to 5 minutes. Or steam for about 8 minutes.

 . 1 lb (450 g) whole peas in their shells yields about 1-1/3 cup (325 mL) shelled peas.  

Shelling peas is fun to do at the end of a warm afternoon, on the back porch, and with kids who will eat almost as many peas as they shell and drop into the pot.

Ricardo Larrivee has the kind of boy next door look and charm that has made him a print, radio and tv star. But his work is not just personality and appearance, his recipes are rigorously tested and edited.

Ricardo Larrivee is a neat guy. Passion to burn. Talent to project his love of food and its importance in the lives of Canadians. He wants everyone to know how to cook, and he wants everyone to sit down together and eat.

No time! Too much going on! You counter. According to this father of 3 whose successful Ricardo and Friends plays on Food Network Canada, whose magazine Ricardo and cookbooks are bestsellers, everyone deserves an hour to have dinner with family. About  half of it to cook, the rest to eat and spend time with these people you love most. Sitting around the table, Ricardo recounted, there might not be a lot of talk at the beginning. You know the situation: "What happened at school today", parent asks. Child's answer: "Nothing" and so it goes, but after a few minutes, real conversation began as food gets passed around and everyone relaxes. Kids learn how to help and to enjoy food, even as they take the requisite "one bite" of something new.

Ricardo was in Toronto recently to promote his newest cookbook, Ricardo, Meals for Every Occasion (Whitecap, $35), and together we had a public conversation as part of the arts program of First Canadian Place. He talked about how eating together generates conversation not just with family. For example, the idea for the handsomely photographed book, came out the kind of glow-time around the table at the end of a dinner with friends. They found themselves discussing the sometimes awkward, sometimes challenging entertaining situations they found themselves in and needed solutions. What do you do, for example, when people arrive before dinner and stay on? Or, stay over. What do you serve people who come from Europe and think Canadians eat wild food all the time. What's on the menu when the guests are always late, or when someone important, say your boss is coming for dinner, or when it's men only and they can't be trusted to follow a recipe?

Ricardo takes a lighthearted approach to these situations and the food, but the solutions are practical with just that touch of inventiveness that gets someone turning  the pages of the book have regular "Great idea" moments, as she patches a sticky onto the page.  Here are a couple of "Great idea" stickies you too might enjoy too.

A quick and easy appetizer tray with Dukka in the bowl at the top, and the Red Bell Pepper Spread bottom left. Good bread, olives and extra virgin olive oil give guests something to nibble on while you, the host, gets cracking with dinner.

Red Bell Pepper Spread

When friends and family drop in...and stay, a few quick recipes go a long way to keeping you smiling and still happy to see them. You love them, after all. Ricardo claims this recipe is too simple to be a proper recipe and tried adding all sorts of things. Eventually he gave up and went back to the original 4 ingredients. "Sometimes, simpler really is better."

4 red bell peppers, halved and cored

1/4 cup (50 mL) olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 With the rack in the top position, preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2 Place the peppers on the baking sheet, skin-side up. Brush lightly with some of the oil. Broil until the skins blacken, about 15 minutes.

3 Place the peppers in an airtight container. Let cool and slide the skins off.

4 In a food processor, puree the peppers with the remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with mini pitas, spread on slices of baguette as hors d-oeuvres or as a dip for crudites. 

. Makes 1-1/2 cups (375 mL).

Dukka

Strange name for a seed and nut combo originally written about by Claudia Roden in her landmark book, The Book of Middle Eastern Food  back in the late '60s. The book introduced North African and Middle Eastern food to a world that knew very little of its delights. In England, it created an enormous interest  and caught on in Australia. When she and I were both in Adelaide, Australia for the first Tasting Australia conference/celebration in 1998, she was intrigued to see one of her recipes from the book, the recipe for dukka, so popular and widespread, with so many variations - and so far from its origins. Ricardo tasted dukka in New Zealand, and comments that it's a way better paired with olive oil than the usual oil and balsamic.  "Super classy" is Ricardo's description.

2/3 cup (150 mL) whole blanched almonds

2 tbsp (30 mL) sesame seeds

2 tsp (10 mL) turmeric

1 tsp (5 mL) onion salt

1 tsp (5 mL) celery salt

1 tsp (5 mL) cumin

1 tsp (5 mL) ground coriander

Cayenne pepper to taste

Olive oil

Cubed bread for dipping

1  Using a mortar and pestle or a small food processor, crush the almonds into small pieces. Add the remaining ingredients except the olive oil and bread and mix well. Transfer to a small bowl. Pour the olive oil into another bowl. Serve with bread cubes that diners dip first in the oil and then into the dukka. 

Serves 6 to 8

.

The Thames Valley Melon Company brings wonderfully fresh asparagus to the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto.

When I was growing up in Stratford, Ont, a big vegetable garden with an asparagus bed occupied about a third of our back yard. We ate aspargus every spring, usually  just boiled crisp tender in the tall top of my mother's double boiler and buttered. On the weekends, asparagus sometimes came on toast with a cheese sauce. To prep, we simply  snapped off the butt.

I spent a year in France after university where I met up with white asparagus. Thick as my thumb, milder than the green of Stratford days. 

As a newly wed,  London England was my home, and that's where I learned to eat asparagus cold, with a vinaigrette, or warm, with my fingers. Holding the spear up high, and biting down the stalk till I reached the hard bit at the end, the butt. The asparagus was peeled, the butt trimmed but intact, all the better to hold the spear for nibbling. Comical to look at (if you were from the colonies, like me), but in the end, it made sense. Asparagus became a delicious ritual.

When Marcella Hazan turned the North America's passion for French cooking on its ear with the publication of her first book, The Classic Italian Cook Book (Alfred A. Knopf), I took her advice and blanched my asparagus, grated some pamigiano reggiano (Parmesan cheese) over the top, drizzled on a little melted butter and roasted the spears in a hot oven until "a light, golden crust" formed. Beside the recipe on page 356 is noted, "Excellent, May 1978". 

Since then, spring brings a succession of asparagus - in soup, crepes, stratas, salads with citrus aioli, risotto, pasta, in pinwheel sandwiches, fried in egg and breadcrumbs, omelettes and frittatas, pizza, wrapped in prosciutto, roasted, grilled and dipped into runny eggs. And just plain with butter or olive oil and a squirt of lemon.

No matter the colour, the temperature, fingers or knife and fork, sauced or plain, crusty or not, star of the dish, steamed or grilled, asparagus has more room in my heart than any other vegetable. 

Crucial to asparagus is its freshness. And while going out the back door with a paring knife and coming in with a "feed" of asparagus cupped in my apron is no longer a reality, the best we all can do is support our locally grown asparagus. If asparaus grows nearby, the hope is it's pushing its way through the earth one day, and in the store or farmers' market and your pot the next. If you live near an asparagus farm, like the ones I'm familiar with in Southwestern Ontario, pick your own or purchase  just-picked and count yourselves lucky.

Almost as good as growing or picking your own

Mastering Asparagus

. Choose thick straight stalks with tight tips. Note "thick". Leave those spindly taste-free specimens for out-of-season imports.

. To store, get rid of the ubiquitous elastic holding the bundle, wrap the spears in a clean dry towel, enclose in a plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator. Sitting the asparagus butts in water is often recommended, however, the moisture encourages the asparagus to keep growing and the tips to loosen. In any case, if you love asparagus, long storage is out of the question. Why buy asparagus if you don't intend to relish it fresh?

. The method that provides tender asparagus from bottom to tip is to hold the asparagus by its butt and about a third of the way up the stalk. Bend the stalk until it snaps- at the point where the fibrous butt turns into tender stalk. If you peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler, or an asparagus peeler (and such a utensil does exist) just trim the butt end. Peeled asparagus cooks quite rapidly and has a polished appearance. I have seen the bottoms trimmed to form a point.

. Asparagus often grows in sandy soil. That means rinsing the asparagus thoroughly. There's a saying in professional cooking circles that a restaurant is only as good as the apprentice who washes the asparagus. Grit - be gone!

. Roasted or grilled asparagus is a wonderful way to prepare asparagus for a crowd. Try the grill method this spring when having a barbecue. Simply roll the prepped asparagus in oil, and either roast on a rimmed baking sheet at 400°F (200°C) until crisp tender, about 8 minutes. Or grill, turning to cook through, about the same amount of time.

. To steam asparagus, there is such a thing as an asparagus pot, a tall, slim pot with lid and a perferated insert to load up with the asparagus, lower into the boiling water and remove very efficiently when the spears are tender crisp. The top of a tall double boiler works well too. Bring to boil about 2 inches (5 cm) water in the bottom. For the double boiler, you can bundle the spears together with cotton string.

Looks strange...but it works!

Add the asparagus, tips up, to the water. In both the asparagus pot and the double boiler, the thicker tougher lower part of the stalks boil while the tender tips steam. If blanching asparagus for another dish, e.g. baked with Parmesan, 1 to 2 minutes is plenty, to serve in a salad, about 3, to go straight to the table, start checking at 4  minutes.

The spears are still firm, but tender- ready to drain and enjoy

. To serve hot, untie if necessary, drain, drizzle with melted butter or olive oil and express to the table. To serve cold, plunge the spears into ice water and let them chill just until they're cold. Don't leave them in the cold water, letting their flavour leach away. Drain and pat dry. 

. In a pinch, you can also cook the asparagus lying horizontal in boiling water in a large skillet. Bundling is optional, but makes removing the spears from the water easier.

. Bottom line: If you haven't tried roasted asparagus, make the spring of 09 the season when you were converted to this simple technique!

When a person tires of asparagus pure and simple, there are ways to revive you interest. Take the Asparagus Gruyere Tart, for example, that's an excellent vegetarian brunch/brunch or supper dish, or a sit-down appetizer.

Asparagus Gruyere Tart

2 lb (1 kg) asparagus, usually 2 bunches, butts snapped off

1 pkg (450 g) butter puff pastry, thawed but still cold

2 tbsp (30 mL) Dijon mustard

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) shredded Gruyere cheese

1/2 tsp (2 mL) coarsely ground pepper

1 egg

1 tbsp (15 mL) milk

. Line 2 rimless baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, or grease lightly. Set aside.

. In asparagus pot, double boiler or wide saucepan of boiling water, cook asparagus until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Immediately chill in cold water to stop cooking and keep the texture; pat dry. 

. Unroll each pastry sheet onto prepared pan. Spread evenly with mustard, leaving 1-inch (2.5 cm) border. Arrange asparagus side by side and alternating ends, on mustard. Sprinkle with cheese and pepper.

. In small bowl, beat egg with milk. Lightly brush over pastry border. Bake in top and bottom thirds of 450°F (230°C) oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until pastry is puffed and golden, and cheese is bubbly, about 18 minutes. Serve hot or still warm. Served cold, the Tart looses its charm. 

. Makes 12 appetizer servings.

Substitutions: You can replace the Gruyere cheese with a firm grating cheese such as old Gouda or Cheddar. For the puff pastry, if you make your own or purchase from a bakery, the piece of rolled out pastry need to be 10-inches (25 cm) square.

* Sparrow Grass - when a new unfamiliar word is introduced into a language, it sometimes sounds like another word speakers know well. It's not hard to see how asparagus acquired this charming name in 18th century England when asparagus was still somewhat of a garden novelty.