Monday Updates – August 9

Oysters
I have been buying oysters from a great seafood shop in Ottawa called The Whalesbone Sustainable Oyster & Fish Supply. Usually I will steam them and them eat them with some buttery garlic sauce. They are a super-food when it comes to nutrient density, especially for zinc, B12 and vitamin D. I heard they are even better for you when raw but didn’t feel comfortable preparing them at home. So I went to the Whalesbone Oyster House restaurant and ordered a few raw oysters. Something about having them served on a nice platter with some fresh lemon and horseradish made them seem easier to eat. I absolutely loved them! The texture of raw oysters is so much better than cooked. I don’t think I’ll ever cook them again.

Dairy-free
I’m still going strong on the dairy-free challenge. It’s actually been more enjoyable than I thought. I’m experimenting a bit more with snacks since I don’t have yogurt to rely on. Also I have been rendering lard and tallow, which are great for cooking with. Expect to see some new snack ideas this week (hint: bananas!).

Wild Weekend
This weekend was a great weekend of wild food. I found some wild-picked blueberries at the Dekok Family Berry Farm stand. They had just been picked that day and were absolutely amazing. Expensive, but worth the price for the most delicious berries ever. I think I ate about 3 cups worth and put the rest in freezer bags to freeze for later.

I also found a hunter on a local classified site who was looking to trade wild boar meat. They had hunted it on a reserve in Quebec last fall and were tired of eating it. I could only offer them some grass-fed beef but they seemed pretty happy with it. So I traded them some grass-fed beef steaks, stew and ground for wild boar chops, ribs and ground. I can’t wait to try it.

Meat & Seafood Cooking Class
At first I was very excited for the organ meat lessons, and I still am, but even more so now I’m looking forward to the oyster shucking and raw fish lessons! It starts in a little over a week (August 18). The giveaway is over and if you didn’t win but still want to register, email me for a $20-off coupon kat.garson @ gmail.com. You can sign up for the course by clicking here.