back to the market...

hard to believe it's friday again. but i'm sure it is because my prep list tells me i have a monumental amount of baking to do today.

last weekend was an absolute blur of activity, the market was a bit slower than usual but it was ok since i was preoccupied with making sure that everything was in order for the event i catered on saturday night. it was a surprise wedding for some of my best customers. everything turned out really well & i got a lot of positive feedback from the bride, groom, their friends & their family. after my 21 hour work day, followed by the sunday market, i needed to take a couple days off so i haven't gotten around to the full blog post about it yet. here's a teaser for now:

soooo, back to the market tomorrow. it's supposed to be blazing hot, there's a cruise ship of 3000 people in & it's the natal day long weekend so who knows what it will bring, but i'm feeling pretty prepared nonetheless.

i've already prepared and packaged up two main courses this week, have a good jump on the salads, finished most of my prep for the dinner party i'm catering tomorrow night after the market & have already put a decent-sized dent in my baking.

the first main is an oldie but a goodie - a brand new batch of shepherd's pies. it's getaway farm beef cooked up with a lot of the flavours reminiscent of my bbq sauces with lots of onions, garlic scapes, peas and fresh corn. it's topped off with cheddar-green onion mashed potatoes and this week i was a little heavy on the cheese... extra decadent mwahahaha.

smalls $10 larges $20

the next main was an all day undertaking - jambalaya! it was really rewarding in the end but jeez louise it was a lot of work. i cooked lobsters, broke them down and made stock with the bodies. braised shani's farm chicken, shredded it & added the bones to the stock. blanched shrimp, peeled them & added the shells to the stock. grilled chorizo from sweet william's. cooked off a ton of vegetables in my secret spice blend, added rice and cooked it all up with my master stock. added a bunch of lemon, roasted red peppers, den haan tomatoes, pickled chillies and kale from my garden. and finished it all off with sliced green onions.

smalls $11 larges $22

also in the freezer there's:

fish cakes & baked beans       salt cod, savoury, molasses, serves 2         $15

lobster mac & cheese         foxhill cheese curds, leek bechamel, panko crust      $20

grilled chicken & parm    white bean & roasted garlic ragout, grilled veggies  sm $10 large $20

bbq pulled chicken          chipotle rice, black bean & corn succotash, cheese    sm $10 large $20

chicken, leek pies            puff pastry lid, broccoli, bacon, rich gravy   sm $10

brined pork loin  maple mustard sauce, raddichio, fennel, chard, bacon & gnocchi s $10 l 20

vegan lasagna       olives, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, kale, tofu, citrus, pasta sm $9 lg $18

grilled tofu        zucchini, arugula, white bean ragout, creminis, tomatoes, corn sm $9 lg $18

this week for salads i will have sweet potato, broccoli & quinoa.

the sweet potato & broccoli will remain the same but the quinoa is getting a bit of a makeover to reflect the season.there will be lots of cucumber, tomatoes, arugula, oregano, garlic scapes, peppers and a myriad of herbs from my garden.

as far as baking goes, i'm sticking with the usual spread, although i will probably have banana cupcakes instead of carrot ones this week. and it will definitely be getting a shake up starting next week, because...... drum roll please...... lynne will be back! my avid baking, blogging, dancing friend arrives on sunday night for another fun-filled august chez moi. blog post frequency will definitely increase over the coming weeks due to her influence, so stay tuned.

time to bake see, see you over the weekend.

ps: don't forget i'm there sundays - sometimes it's a little boring and visitors are always appreciated!