I love pomegranates as they remind me of Christmas and my childhood. Santa always left one in the toe of my stocking. Yesterday when I went to the market they had bags of 5 pomegranates for $1.00. A great deal considering they are usually $2 or $3 a piece here. These were on the reduced rack because the skins weren’t looking so great. They were still nice and firm and heavy. I knew that they would be juicy and ripe.

For years I have struggled with the frustrating task of removing the seeds from their protective pith.

Yesterday when we came home I was watching a holiday special on Food Network Canada. I missed the name of the program but some of the Canadian Food Network Chefs were hanging out and cooking a meal together. Laura Calder, from French Food at Home fame, was preparing an endive and mâche salad with a pomegranate vinaigrette. When preparing the fruit she did it differently than I had seen done before. I tried it this morning and it worked beautifully.

Laura filled a bowl with cool water and then cut the fruit in quarters. She gently removed the fruit under the water. Why this works so wonderfully is that the little gems of fruit sink to the bottom and the pith rises to the surface. Brilliant!

I highly recommend this method. It doesn’t make near as much mess as happens when you tap the fruit out over a bowl.

Turkish Delight has been a favorite in our family for generations. My Mom used to get Fry’s Turkish Delight for me when I was a young child. This morning my little boy, who is a big fan of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, asked me how to make Turkish Delight.

I showed Tobias a video which uses the same recipe I use. The recipe is included in the video. Here is the link.

Turkish Delight with Natasha Levitan

Sometimes we take this backpacking or hiking as a little treat on the trail.

At holiday time we cover our Turkish Delight in chocolate for added decadence.

building the oven

On Sunday our family celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving, albeit a day early, in Algonquin Provincial Park. Believe it or not, we cooked two turkey breasts in an oven that was made out of a cardboard box lined with foil. Instructions on this are in my wilderness cookbook, A Fork in the Trail, in a small chapter related to campground and base camping.

While Bryan, my darling husband, built the oven I prepared homemade cranberry sauce using fresh cranberries, valencia orange juice, black pepper and sugar. I also made stuffing which consisted of Calabrese style Italian bread, diced/cooked Oktoberfest sausage, onions, apples, crimini mushrooms, salt, pepper and sage. Oh and butter too. I baked this in something called an Outback Oven which is a camp oven for backpackers.

the finished product

I put bits of butter and rubbed sage under the skin of the turkey breasts and placed them in an oven bag and then in a pan. This got placed on the rack we suspended inside the oven. The cardboard box oven ran at 350ºF.

How?

Well you preheat 10 charcoal briquettes in a campfire for 15 minutes and then place them in a pie tin at the bottom of the box. The pie tin has to be sitting up on a few rocks so the air circulates. It is pretty accurate but to maintain the temperature you have to replace the charcoal every hour.

It worked out really well. We also roasted sweet potatoes, baby carrots and baby yellow potatoes over the campfire. I forgot to turn the potatoes so, as you can see from the photo, some of the skins were a little dark.

I also received some big news on the weekend from my publisher. The proposal for my second book, Another Fork in the Trail, has been officially accepted. The trail cookbook will be on the shelves in Spring 2010.

daikon radish sprouts — day four

It’s day 4 for the daikon radish sprouts and I’ve noticed that these grow a tiny bit slower than some of the other varieties I’ve grown. With that said, they should be ready for consumption tomorrow. I can’t wait.

Daikon radish sprouts have a mild radish flavor. Next time I might try China Rose radish sprouts which have a bit more bite. The China Rose variety are also quite pretty with a pink hue.

As you can see, the sprouts have little green leaves and the hulls have fallen away. The volume in the mason jar has also increased. These are going to be delicious on a roast chicken sandwich made with some sort of Artisan or Farmer’s bread.

daikon radish sprouts — day three

Well it is the morning of day three for my daikon radish sprouts. I can’t wait until late Monday or Tuesday when they are big enough to use in a nice wrap or on a sandwich.

If you are growing sprouts you have to remember to rinse/water them twice a day. Once they reach the desired size you can stop watering and put them in the fridge.

I thought I’d share a photo of the progress just so you can see how simply and easy this process is.

It is a great thing to do with your young children too. After all, we all remember the seed in the little cup with the damp paper towel and how exciting it was to see it grow.

I’ve been blogging at www.wildernesscooking.com for quite some time now and starting a more mainstream cooking blog was bound to happen sooner or later.  I love to cook and  share my cooking experiences with others which is only fitting seeing as I am a published cookbook author and am working on a second book.

So what’s going on in the Craveable kitchen today?

first day of sprouting

Well I am growing sprouts in a mason jar on my counter. It’s pretty easy to do. All you need is a clean glass jar, a small piece of cheesecloth, an elastic, water and some sprouting seeds.

I started the daikon radish seeds on Thursday around 3:00 pm. I added 1 1/2 tablespoons of sprouting seeds from www.sprouting.com to 1 cup of water in my mason jar. I gave them a swirl and let the seeds rest in the water until about 8:30 pm. Then I put the cheesecloth and elastic on the bottle and drained the water. I sat the jar upside down in a bowl for about 30 minutes to let them drain well.

Friday morning I rinsed and drained them and I am about to do another rinse before I go to bed.

By Monday or Tuesday I should have a great crop of spicy sprouts for wraps, sandwiches, salads or a garnish for soup.

I’ll post another photo later in the day on Saturday or early Sunday morning so you can see the progress for yourself.