Hot bites - STUFFED JALAPENO PEPPERS

This was a great year for peppers.

I planted six jalapeno seedlings in my garden in mid June. I have to admit they were an afterthought I bought on sale. By August, the plants were falling over they were so heavy with peppers. When I harvested them, one plant had 42 peppers on it! The Hungarian banana peppers were also amazing – it’s the first year they turned red in the garden. This extra hot dry summer did wonders.

Then I got an idea: We were at our friends Susan and Rick’s place, and she served stuffed jalapeno peppers. I think she got them from the grocery store but I thought, "I can do that." Here’s what I did:

I made a stuffing with grated parmesan cheese, tiny chunks of mozzarella and a pinch of blue cheese (you could use just about any cheese). I added a tiny dice of European-style cured pork from Emco Meats in Saskatoon (ham or cooked bacon would do). Next, a bit of finely chopped thyme and parsley, and a dash of salt. I sliced the end off the peppers, scooped out all the seeds with a sharp knife and stuffed this mixture inside.

Make a batter with 1/2-cup flour, a pinch of baking powder, a dash of salt and one egg. Add liquid to thin this mixture to the consistency of pancake batter. I used soda water, but you can use regular water, beer or milk. Heat canola oil in a deep pan on medium high. Roll the stuffed peppers in the batter and quickly drop them into the hot oil. Turn once so they brown on both sides.

The jalapenos it will be very spicy to eat; banana peppers are much mellower. If you have batter left over, batter some herbs such as a sprig of parsley, a branch of sage or a stem of flowering borage and deep fry them, too.

A fish tale - FISH BAKED IN SALT

I was watching a French cooking show early one morning when I saw something truly fascinating. I couldn’t understand much of the dialogue, but I could understand this simple technique:

Take a whole fish, head off. Stuff the cavity with lemon and herbs. Place it in a narrow baking pan, completely cover the fish with kosher salt and bake it. I had a fish and I had the salt so I was game to try it.

I started with a Saskatchewan northern pike caught by our friend Ed. A lot of people don’t like filleting northern pike because they have a lot of bones. This technique eliminates that problem. I stuffed the cavity with lemon slices and fresh thyme from my garden. I placed it in a long baking dish and covered it with Sifto Pickling Salt (from the salt mine at Unity, SK.). I used almost a whole 2 kg box; the fish was completely covered but for a bit of the tail. I baked it for 1.5 hours at 325 C. When it came out of the oven the salt was rock hard. I cracked it open with a knife, peeled off the skin of the fish and lifted out the flesh. It came neatly off the bones.

I have to admit, JB and I took our first bites with trepidation. Then we looked at each other and said Mmmmmmm. It was delicious! The flesh of the fish was transformed – it was meatier, tastier and less fishy than usual. Those French...