Week 6 - PIPERADE

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week - May 21.

Breakfast – Yogurt with preseved apples.
Lunch – Bread with mustard and sliced tomato.
Dinner – Piperade.

Piperade
Here’s a great French egg dish called Pipérade. From May to December, I can find every ingredient produced locally.

1 small green or red pepper (or both), sliced thinly
1 small onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
4 tbsp butter
1/3 cup cooked ham or smoked pork, small dice
fresh basil leaves (or dried)
1 tomato, chopped
6 eggs

Sauté the pepper, onion and garlic in 2 tbsp of the butter until soft. Stir in the ham, tomatoes and basil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook through, place in a small bowl and keep warm.

Melt the other 2 tbsp of butter in the skillet. Mix the eggs and pour into the pan. Cook, stirring now and then, until the eggs begin to set. Spread the pepper mixture on top and cook until the eggs are done to your liking. (I prefer them soft and moist.) Serve in wedges garnished with a bit of fresh basil.

Sources: Bennett eggs; vegetables from the farmers' market.

Christie's Mayfair Bakery

Since bread is the most ancient and noblest of foods, we are blessed in Saskatoon with a bakery that elevates bread to the place of honour it deserves. Christie’s Mayfair Bakery produces magnificent artisinal breads in the European tradition – Italian chibatta and focaccia, French baguette and batard, German volksbrot and old-fashioned peasant sourdough, to name a few.

The signature specialty of the baker is the chocolate bowtie – a croissant fashioned into the shape of a bowtie filled with Belgian chocolate. In France, it would be called a chocolatine and it would be a favourite among children, served with warm milk for breakfast. Here, it’s a favourite with adults, too!

The passion behind this artisinal bakery is Tracey Muzzolini, a young baker who is taking over the business from her parents, Janet and Ennio. (He emigrated from Italy in the 1950s.) Growing up, Tracey swore she would get as far from the bakery as possible – and she did. She moved to Australia and then Toronto. But baking was in her blood. She enrolled in culinary school in Minneapolis where she learned to be absolutely meticulous about bread, using the best Saskatchewan flours, strictly measuring the temperature of each ingredient, and baking in a European-style steam oven. Now she runs the bakery with her brother Blair.

Be warned, there is a lineup at the door every Saturday morning. But if you’re a regular, you’re sure to see a friend to chat with as you wait. There’s a coffee counter where you can sip café au lait, or come for a panini for lunch – each sandwich is named for a European soccer star.

Christie’s Mayfair Bakery: 420 33rd Street W. Saskatoon.
306-244-0506.