Feast on East Coast flavours
Recipes celebrate the many delicious ingredients available on the East Coast
The growing season in Atlantic Canada is brief, but the flavours leave indelible marks on our palettes.
We yearn for those first fresh tastes of locally-grown produce like asparagus and rhubarb. We anxiously await the signature scarlet tinge of Atlantic Canadian lobster and its sweet morsels.
These flavours are uniquely ours, attributed to our unique terroir nurtured by the breath of the ocean.
This week, enjoy my master quiche recipe that will carry you through the seasons, a dip from a crustacean-loving Prince Edward Island nutritionist and a portable dessert recipe from an avid baker in Nova Scotia
Quiche is a French classic, and the egg pie is easily recognized all over the world. Quiche tastes wonderful hot out of the oven and continues to be delicious as it cools down to room temperature. It’s a wonderful dish to enjoy outdoors at a picnic; I find it pairs so well with fresh air. This egg pie is quite versatile; it can be a place to use up leftovers or elevated to pure elegance.
My quiche recipe incorporates fresh, local asparagus and hot smoked salmon. If you prefer fiddleheads, this is a great place to enjoy them. The slight astringency of asparagus balances out the richness of the salmon, and the egg mixture unifies the dish, while adding a wonderful creamy texture.
Hot Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Quiche
For the dough:
1 1/2 cups (6oz) all-purpose flour 1 tsp granulated sugar
Pinch of salt (if using salted butter, omit the pinch of salt)
8 tbsp (4 oz) unsalted butter, frozen and then grated and stored frozen while you gather the rest of the ingredients)
3 to 4 Tbsp ice water
Place the flour, salt and sugar into a food processor and pulse until well
combined. Add half of the butter and pulse 6 times. Then add the other half of the butter and pulse six more times. You should have a mixture that resembles a coarse meal, with many butter pieces the size of peas. Add two tablespoons of ice-cold water (without the ice) to the food processor bowl and pulse several times. Continue to add more ice water, slowly, a teaspoon at a time, pulsing several times after each addition, until the mixture just barely begins to combine together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again. Just remember, too much water will make the dough tough. Use your hands to press the crumbly dough together and shape into a disk. Work the dough only enough to just bring the dough together. Do not over-knead or your crust will end up tough. Chill for an hour in the fridge or, if you are in a rush, 30 minutes in the freezer should be sufficient as long as your freezer isn’t too packed. Place the dough disk on a lightly floured, clean flat surface. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. If the dough is a bit stiff, use your rolling pin to press down on the centre a few times. Roll dough out into a 12-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie pan. To blind bake the dough, your oven will need to be pre-heated to 350 F. Line the pie shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Dried beans or rice work well for this. Blind bake for 40-45 minutes. What we are looking to do here is cook it through with minimal colouring. The golden-brown crust will come from the second baking with the quiche fillings. For the filling:
4 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
Pinch of grated nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup crumbled Boursin or Goat’s Cheese
150 g hot smoked salmon
1 bunch asparagus, tips removed and reserved for the top and the remainder cut into thin rounds) 2 green onions, sliced thinly
3 tbsp fresh dill
To assemble:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
To the blind baked crust, add in this order: all of the asparagus rounds (season with salt and pepper), parmesan, hot smoked salmon, fresh dill, green onion, your choice of cheese, nutmeg, and asparagus tips (arranged in a decorative way for attractive presentation). Mix the eggs and whipping cream together with a pinch of salt and pepper and slowly pour the mixture into the prepared quiche.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes until the egg mixture stops moving and the top takes on a slightly golden-brown finish. I would
check your quiche at around the 30-minute mark to see if you need to rotate the quiche in the oven and to check on the level of doneness. Quiches can be finicky, so timing is not exact.
Lobster Roll Dip
Tracy Michael is a registered dietitian and co-owner of Nourished Kitchen Dietitian Consulting in Prince Edward Island. She enjoys her career as a community dietitian and is passionate about helping Islanders develop a healthy relationship with food. Follow her on Instagram at nourished.kitchen.
She shares her recipe for a deliciously light take on P.E.I. lobster that comes together in minutes; once you’ve coaxed the lobster meat from its shell.
Growing up, lobster was a really big deal in my house. My dad took great pride in cooking them perfectly while my mom made her famous potato salad for the side. My sister and I were taught at a very young age how to crack lobsters, a very important (and messy) Island food skill.
My love of lobster has followed me into adulthood and lucky for me, my father-inlaw happens to be a lobster fisherman. I’m proud to be part of a fishing family and look forward to the day my son can join his dad and papa on board, helping band lobsters and set traps.
This recipe is a nod to the humble lobster roll and the perfect addition to any kitchen party. It can be made with fresh, frozen or canned lobster which means you can whip it up any time of the year. Serve with crackers or on top of sliced baguette as “lobster roll bites.”
Makes 2 cups
Ingredients
2 cups P.E.I. lobster, shelled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp green onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp lemon juice
To taste salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients together until well incorporated. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve with crackers or sliced baguette
.
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Bars
Hailing from Halifax, Sachin Seth is a selftaught home baker and cook. He has been experimenting in the kitchen since the age of 13 and loves to spoil his family and friends with his creations.
You may recognize him from Season 2 of The Great Canadian Baking Show. He was chosen from thousands of applicants across Canada. He describes his experience on the show as “life changing” and a highlight of his culinary journey so far.
He’s on Instagram: @sweettoothhfx.
Seth shares his recipe for a delicious rhubarb dessert that will make you very popular at any gathering:
These strawberry rhubarb crumble bars are a great way to welcome spring.
Rhubarb is one of the first plants to sprout in the season.
Rhubarb has a distinct tart and tangy flavour and is often paired with fruits in desserts to provide a balance of flavours.
I like the jam-like texture of cooked strawberries and rhubarb in this bar because it is a stable filling and the fruit holds well even after the bars are cooled and cut.
The special twist in the fruit layer is cardamom, a spice often used in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine.
This dessert can be made in under an hour. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool.
The bars can be cut up into squares and make a great dessert to eat outdoors – no forks required. Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour (375 g)
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (100 g) 1/2 cup granulated white sugar (100 g)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, cold and cubed (288 g) 2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats (26 g) 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling
2 cups chopped strawberries (about 310 g)
2 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb (1/2 inch pieces) (250 g) 1/3 cup granulated sugar (65 g)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp citrus zest (optional)
1/2 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C). Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides of the pan.
Make the crumble mixture for the crust and topping:
2. Whisk the flour, sugars, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and using a pastry cutter or two forks, work in the butter until all the flour is coated and resembles pea-sized crumbles. You can also use a food processor and pulse the flour-butter mixture together until you get peasized crumbles.
3. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a small bowl. Create a well in the middle of the flour/butter mixture and pour in eggs. Gently work the flour from the edges into the egg until the mixture resembles moist crumbly sand. Use your hands if needed, but be careful not to over handle the mixture as the heat from your hands will start to melt the butter.
4. Set aside approximately three cups of crumble mixture. Pour the remaining into the prepared pan and flatten down with your hands or a flat spatula to form a base crust, making sure it is as even as possible. Strawberry Rhubarb Filling:
5. Gently mix all of the filling ingredients together. If you are using frozen fruit, do no thaw but make sure fruit is not frozen together in a sold mass. Spread over the crust.
6. With the remaining crumble mixture, gently mix in cinnamon and oats. Sprinkle evenly over the filling, lightly pressing it into the fruit layer. You don’t want this to be a smooth even layer, rather a bit rough and bumpy.
7. Bake for about 42-50 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Let cool in the pan for about one hour and then transfer to the refrigerator until completely set and chilled.
8. Run a knife around the sides of the bars with no parchment paper. Lift the entire sheet of bars out using the parchment paper overhang on the long sides. Cut into squares. Cover and store leftover strawberry rhubarb bars in the refrigerator for up to one week or freeze (cut or uncut) for up to three months. To defrost, place in fridge overnight or at room temperature for 2-4 hours. Chef Ilona Daniel’s food column, Food Seductress, runs on the first Friday of each month. She welcomes comments from readers by email at chef.ilona.daniel@gmail.com or Twitter.com/ chef_ilona