"Knowledge is the food of the soul." Plato
Good day, followers!
As mentioned last week, I went to the 10th annual Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention on Thursday with my Dad and Uncle Jeff. Our purpose for going was a morning's talk about growing hops, with hopes of one day having our own mini 'hop yard' up at our 10 acres in Norfolk County!
We headed out to Niagara Falls early to register and make sure we got good seats. The convention centre was abuzz with farmers and city folk alike and there was a lot to see and do. The convention floor held dozens of exhibits encompassing ever aspect of farming, while several sessions were going on upstairs. At the same time our speakers were informing us on hops, the other rooms were having talks about anything from Farmer's Markets, to Apples, Tender Fruit and Dealing with Water. All very interesting subjects! Now, I'm not going get into the topic of hops today since my 'Homebrew Month' starts next week... But, what I can say is that after spending the day surrounded by Ontario farmers, I was inspired to do some cooking! On my way home, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some Ontario produce and make us up a tonne of delicious root vegetable fries for dinner!
We headed out to Niagara Falls early to register and make sure we got good seats. The convention centre was abuzz with farmers and city folk alike and there was a lot to see and do. The convention floor held dozens of exhibits encompassing ever aspect of farming, while several sessions were going on upstairs. At the same time our speakers were informing us on hops, the other rooms were having talks about anything from Farmer's Markets, to Apples, Tender Fruit and Dealing with Water. All very interesting subjects! Now, I'm not going get into the topic of hops today since my 'Homebrew Month' starts next week... But, what I can say is that after spending the day surrounded by Ontario farmers, I was inspired to do some cooking! On my way home, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some Ontario produce and make us up a tonne of delicious root vegetable fries for dinner!
Simple and Tasty Recipe:
Ontario Root Vegetable Oven Fries
(serves 6 to 8)
1 large potato, scrubbed and cut into french fry shape
1 large sweet potato, scrubbed or peeled and cut into french fry shape
2 large carrots, scrubbed or peeled and cut into french fry shape
1 large yellow turnip (rutabaga), peeled and cut into french fry shape
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
fresh ground pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place all of the cut vegetables into a large bowl and toss with the oil, salt and pepper (it was important to cut the veggies into similar sizes, so they cook evenly). Spread the root vegetables out single layer onto two lightly greased trays. Do not overcrowd.
Remove the trays after 15 mins of roasting and turn the veggies over. Return to the oven and roast for another 15 to 20 mins until the root vegetables are browned and crisp. Enjoy!
Why stop at potatoes to make fries, when there are so many great locally grown winter vegetables available right now?! These oven fries were so good and my surprising favourites were the turnip fries! Yum! I also used rainbow carrots for something a bit different and the purple ones added such great colour to the mix.
After the convention, we went to Niagara-on-the-Lake to my fave pub The Olde Angel Inn for lunch. With hops on our minds, we ordered up some brew and discussed the upcoming month of blogging. I hope you all come back next week as 'Homebrew Month' gets underway! Without saying too much, I will be starting with the origins of beer, will continue with the key ingredients, will show you all the step by step method of making homebrew with my Uncle and will include a recipe featuring beer for each blog! How fun is March going to be?! Well, have a great rest of the weekend and I hope you will all be back next week! Bye for now!
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