Monday, February 27, 2012

vday recap

when i first started on this little adventure & was putting together my business plan, i wanted to do home deliveries a few nights a week... ummm, that didn't quite happen. i honestly had no idea how much work it would be to get ready for the market each weekend. that being said, the home delivery (or office delivery) is something i'd still like to get into... perhaps it will necessitate hiring a weee bit o' help, but we'll see.


the valentine's day delivery was my first crack at it. it was a little harried, particularly given my lack of organizational skills, but i was really pleased with how all the food turned out and the delivery aspect wasn't nearly as hectic as i had feared.

the main issues revolved around packaging & technology. i am clearly not an i.t. wizard. i had quite a lot of help organizing my delivery schedule, finding the most efficient route, and typing up heating & plating instructions. however, on the day of, my printer wasn't working, google maps wasn't cooperating and trying to switch between mac's and pc's was just not happening. not gonna lie, frustrations with technology coupled with an intense time crunch, resulted in me becoming a volcano of rage... but it passed and i got it all done.

ok, so enough griping, back to what's important - the food!!!
it was either squash soup or a roasted beet salad for first course.


the bright squash soup was adorned with the muted tones of spiced maple syrup, cardamom cream and a little crunch from some toasted pepitas. the beets from noggins were dressed with a little balsamic vinegar & acadian maple syrup, then the salad was assembled with organic arugula, candied walnuts and pickled red onions. everything was fresh, never frozen, and individually packaged so the integrity of each ingredient would be preserved. 

mains courses were either beef, chicken or vegetarian. the beef, from getaway farm, was the bourguignon adapted from julia childs' recipe. i love this recipe. normally i can't be bothered to actually follow recipes and normally just refer to them for inspiration, this is my one exception - i still don't follow it to a 't' but it's pretty darn close. it was served with a mash of potatoes, celery root & parsnips with a little roasted garlic & sour cream. i totally recommend adding a smidge of celery root or parsnip to your next batch of mashed potatoes, it just makes something so traditional (and boring in my opinion) a little more modern & fun. 

the chicken was from maple & ewe farm. they're down in the valley and owned by the sister of one of my neighbours - great stuff. i brined, pan seared and then herb-roasted the breasts while making stock with the bones. resulting in a rich chicken flavour, and the lean white meat retaining its moisture through all the cooking & reheating. it was served with blue cheese gnocchi, studded with crispy bacon & wilted spinach. 


i heart blue cheese gnocchi, i first had it during first year university in montreal and i realized, perhaps, i do actually like blue cheese... who knew? fyi - there are a few frozen individual portions of the gnocchi in the freezer at the market... $7.50 and reserved for people in the know ;)

however, i think the vegetarian option might have been my favourite of the day. it was a lasagna of roasted cauliflower, sweet potato and cherry tomatoes with kale, creamy leek bechamel, hearty pasta, goat cheese and ooey, gooey mozzarella cheese. i was a little apprehensive about the flavour combo, thinking it might be a little too wacky, but one of my helpers and i sat down and ate one, and were both pleasantly surprised. i made up a few extras as well - also in the freezer at the market if you're interested ($20).

then it was dessert time. passionfuit tarts, chocolate 'bars', and chocolate mousse filled red velvets.


haha... they look a little hilarious but went over really well. they were topped with raspberry cream cheese frosting & fresh berries. thank goodness everyone liked them... i have an order for 150 on friday... eeekkkk!

the brownies were pretty popular as well and the picture of decadence:


served with white chocolate creme anglaise and fresh strawberries. i've also become addicted to the passionfruit tarts and think they will be regular fixtures on the weekly farmer's market menu as well. 

so i've officially recovered and had so much positive feedback - thanks folks - so it was definitely all worth while. next time, i'll just have to plan a menu with a few less teeny portions of ingredients... but all in all it was no harder than when i first started going to the market, now i could practically do that in my sleep... and i do sometimes ;)

okee dokes, time to plan for this week - roast pork dinner, fish cakes and soooo many cupcakes...

1 comment:

  1. Picturing you as a volcano of rage just made my whole Monday better. Also those cupcakes look pretty hilarious "naked".

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