Janet Is Hungry

Salmon with Tuscany Beans and Heirloom Tomatoes

2009-09-18T07:21:00.001-04:00

Last night for dinner, I made a delicious Salmon recipe from the July/August edition of Clean Eating Magazine, my new FAVORITE cooking magazine. I have already made 3 recipes from this issue alone. This is unheard of for me, usually I buy cooking magazines a couple at a time (I have a cooking magazine habit) and then I will read them, drool over the pictures, chose a few that I want to make, then throw the magazine in a pile and never make the recipes. So when I find a magazine like this, that is actually worth the $6.99 cover price, I might actually subscribe!

This salmon was delicious. Marco ate it all up, he loved the bean salad, and was cajoled into eating the salmon with the lure of a chocolate covered jube jube from Candy Mountain (does that make me a bad mother? Hey, he ate the salmon! That's good for him right?). Unfortunately, Claire, at the mature age of 10 is no longer susceptible to such cajoling and would eat nothing on her plate. She went to bed hungry, I'm sure.

Will this prevent me from making this dinner again? Not a chance. My kids eat what they're served (or not), but I refuse to cater to their finickiness. Besides, my theory is that you will never LEARN to like something if you never eat any of it...

Salmon with Tuscany Beans and Heirloom Tomatoes
Serves 4

1 15oz can of white kidney beans
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 large red pepper, chopped
4 salmon filets
1/2 cup fresh dill, minced
cooking spray
2 large heirloom tomatoes, chopped (I used about 400g)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 shallots, minced (I used 1/4 cup chives - that's what I had)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2oz capers, drained and rinsed (I didn't have any on hand)
salt and pepper to taste

1. To make the marinade, mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, shallots, garlic, and capers.

2. Pour half of the marinade over the salmon and sprinkle with the dill. Let the salmon sit for about 30 minutes (or up to a full day in the fridge).

3. In a bowl mix the beans (rinsed well) with the onion, and red pepper and toss with the remaining marinade. Let sit. Right before you are ready to serve, toss in the chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. In a non stick pan, misted with cooking spray, cook the salmon (5-7 minutes per side depending on the thickness) until it is cooked through.

5. Serve with bean salad.

Camping Chocolate Orange Cakes

2009-09-08T07:21:00.000-04:00

This is not a great picture, because it was taken in the dark, but I just really wanted to share this recipe. It was great.

We were camping last weekend, and my daughter's 10th birthday fell on the Saturday so I made these campfire cakes for everyone. The cake was cooked inside an orange peel and it just gave such a yummy refreshing orange flavour to the cake. I served the cake with a little bit of whipped cream. It was also fun to scoop your cake out of the orange peel with a spoon. You could also make this in the oven at home, and I intend to try that sometime (it was too good to save only for camping).

Campfire Chocolate Orange Cakes

1 package Devil's Food Chocolate Cake mix (enough for a one layer cake)
egg, oil and water etc (whatever is needed to prepare the cake according to the directions
8 medium size navel oranges (thick skinned are best)
Tin Foil
Whipped Cream

1. Slice the top off of each orange and scoop out all the flesh (a grapefruit knife and grapefruit spoon worked well). Keep the lids matched up with their respective orange peels. Don't throw all that great orange flesh out. I saved it in a ziploc bag and made orange creamsicles for the kids when we got home.

2. Prepare the cake mix according to the package and spoon it into the orange peels. Don't fill them more than about 2/3 full. (Hint: Set the oranges in plastic cups so they stand up while you fill them, muffin tins would work too).

3. Replace the lid and wrap the orange in tinfoil.

4. Place on the barbeque for 25 minutes. You could also put the foil wrapped orange right in the coals of the campfire. This gives off a fabulous orange aroma.

5. Wait a few minutes for the cakes to become less scorching hot and top with whipped cream.

Huevos Rancheros

2009-09-03T07:20:00.000-04:00

This isn't really much of a recipe and it's probably not all that authentic, but I wanted to post it anyway, due to it's deliciousness...

I made this for dinner the other night because I had to throw something together quickly for myself before Mario and the kids ate... I didn't have high expectations, having had scrumptious huevos rancheros at a local restaurant called George's Kitchen in Belize...

BUT... it was pretty darned good and very healthy. You can use homemade salsa with fresh tomatoes (if you want to feel more like you actually made a recipe) but mine was good with bottled salsa...

Huevos Rancheros
Serves 1

1 flour tortilla
2 eggs
1/4 cup grated Monterrey Jack Cheese (about 15g)
1/2 cup salsa
chopped fresh cilantro
cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat your oven to 300F, put the tortilla on a dinner plate and throw it in to warm up both the plate and the wrap...

2. Heat up the salsa (in the microwave if you want... gasp!)

3. Fry the eggs in a non-stick pan coated with cooking spray. I did mine sunnyside up (season with salt and pepper).

4. Remove the plate and tortilla from the oven (put on oven mitts first - OUCH) and slide the eggs onto the tortilla. Spoon the hot salsa around the eggs, and sprinkle with cheese and cilantro.

Penne with Roasted Tomatoes and White Beans

2009-08-26T07:02:00.000-04:00

No, your computer monitor is not on the fritz!! I am actually posting TWO DAYS IN A ROW!

I just had something else to post, and I figured I'd better get it up now, before I forget.

About a month ago, I suggested to my husband Mario that we start having one meatless dinner per week. He was a little reluctant, but as long as I promised not to feed him anything strange (by his definition strange would include tofu), I managed to convince him that this was a good idea (or at least not a horrible idea)...

So, I'm working hard to show him how good meatless meals can be, and I think this dish went a LONG WAY towards that. It was delicious, and he went back for a second huge helping!

This recipe is from Ellie Krieger, and I got it from the Quick and Fresh, Fine Cooking Magazine. I remained true to the recipe, only I cut down the olive oil from 3 tbsps to 2 tbsps.

Penne with Roasted Tomatoes, Garlic, and White Beans

3 large ripe tomatoes (2 pounds)
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 15.5 ounce can of white kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
8 ounces of penne pasta
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1. Slice each tomato into wedges and discard the seeds (I forgot to seed mine, and it made my sauce a little juicier, which was OK). Toss the tomatoes in 1 tbsp of the olive oil and spread on a baking sheet.

2. Throw the unpeeled garlic cloves on the baking sheet too.

3. Roast at 450F for about 35-40 minutes until the tomatoes are starting to char.

4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the penne. When the penne is about 1 minute from cooked throw in the drained and rinsed beans (to get them hot).

5. Drain the pasta and beans and return to the pot.

6. For the sauce, remove the garlic from the baking sheet and squeeze the flesh out into a small bowl. Mash it, and add the lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil and a dash of salt. Stir to combine.

7. Add tomatoes to beans and pasta. Add the roasted garlic sauce and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

8. Serve with Parmesan.

Salmon with Yoghurt Dill Topping

2009-08-25T06:38:00.002-04:00

My apologies for going so long without posting. It has been a busy busy summer. And yes, we have still been eating all summer long, but I've been a little boring with my recipes (reverting mostly to old already posted faves). I have also been trying to eat a cleaner, healthier diet... which often leads to less food-porn worthy blog material.

This meal here was healthy while also meeting my other unofficial blog material criteria... (1) I actually remembered to take pictures before I was halfway finished eating; (2) It is something new; and (3) It was picture worthy.... oh yeah and of course, (4) It tasted good.

We all loved this (kids included), and it will be making an unbloggable return appearance in my recipe line-up!

Salmon with Yoghurt Dill Topping

1 1/4 cups plain fat free yoghurt
20 kalamata olives, chopped
15 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

2. If you are barbequeing this, as we did, it is easier to put the salmon on the barbeque and add the topping after (rather thay trying to transfer it onto the grill without spilling). So... arrange your barbeque for indirect grilling and cook the salmon with the topping for about 20 minutes (until is cooked through). Your cooking time will depend on the thickness of the salmon.

3. Alternatively, you can put this on a baking sheet in a 400F oven until cooked through.

Shrimp Summer Rolls with Two Sauces

2009-06-25T10:59:00.004-04:00

I have been wanting to try making homemade summer rolls for some time, and I finally found a good excuse. I made these for a party at my Mom and Dad's place last weekend. I made a trial run ahead of time at home for the family and we had them for dinner. The picture above is from the trial run.

I was a little worried that my kids wouldn't eat them, so I told them we were having Egg Rolls for dinner (they LOVE Egg Rolls... Egg Rolls and Chicken Balls ARE Chinese Food to them). So, we were about halfway through dinner, and Claire had eaten a couple of the summer rolls when she says, "Mommy, I think you might have done something wrong, these don't taste like Egg Rolls". So then I had to fess up and explain the difference between Egg Rolls, Spring Rolls and Summer Rolls.

I tried out two different dipping sauces in the hopes that one would emerge as a clear winner to take to the party. But, Claire and I favoured the Peanut Sauce, and Marco and Mario liked the Sweet Chili Sauce. Given the stalemate, I decided to go ahead and make both for the party. I had a lot of leftover Peanut Sauce the night that I made them at home, so I used it on a stir fry and it was fabulous. (Only the peanut sauce is pictured above, sorry!)

These aren't as finicky as one might think. The important part is to get a little system going with all your ingredients laid out in order. The night I made them at home, I had some trouble with the summer rolls sticking to each other. So for the party, I tried misting them lightly with non-stick cooking spray before I set them on the platter. Then I covered them with damp paper towels before I covered the tray in plastic wrap. This worked nicely. I made them about 2-3 hours ahead of time, and they didn't dry out, and the cooking spray kept them from sticking.

Summer Rolls

1 generous cup lettuce (I used mescalun mix)
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup rice vermicelli noodles (about 2 oz uncooked)
1/2 cup shredded carrot
4 green onions, cut into 3" pieces
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil
1/4 cup chopped mint
6 oz cooked shrimp, roughly chopped
8 8” round sheets rice paper

1. Prepare all your ingredients and set into piles close to your work surface.

2. Set about 1" of hot tap water in a shallow dish that is a little bigger than the rice paper wrappers (I used a round cake pan).

3. Prepare your work surface with a couple of layers of paper towel in order to absorb the excess water from the wrappers.

4. One at a time dip the wrapper in the water. Hold each one in the water until softened (over soaking might make them easier to rip). After one or two, you'll get a feel for how soaked they should be.

5. Set the wrapper down on your paper towel and at one end stack the ingredients: noodles (about 20g per wrapper), shrimp (about 20g per wrapper), then the rest of the veggies (eyeball about 1/8 of each pile).

6. Roll burrito style. Fold the bottom up, sides in, and then roll the rest of the way. Spray with cooking spray if you are making ahead (very lightly - you don't want them to feel greasy).

7. If serving as a finger food, slice in half diagonally and set on a serving tray.

Sweet Chili Sauce

2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tsp chili paste with garlic
2 tsp soy sauce

1. Mix all ingredients together. Chill until ready to serve.

Peanut Sauce
I got the Peanut Sauce recipe from the blog, The Chef and The Photographer, and it was fabulous.

2 tbsp finely chopped shallots
2 tbsp finely chopped lemongrass
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a small non-stick pan, saute the shallots, lemongrass, garlic and ginger in the sesame oil until soft.

2. Add broth, peanut butter, brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat, covered, for about 5 minutes.

3. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing all the juice you can out of the garlic, shallots etc.

4. Add lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Chill until ready to serve.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Tahini Sauce

2009-06-19T06:53:00.000-04:00

When I was little, I really didn't like lamb, and consequently I avoided it completely for years. But then about 5 years ago my Mother-in-Law made a Rack of Lamb with a rosemary biscuit-like crust on it, and I loved it! I'll have to make and post that recipe sometime. Since then, I can't get enough, lamb has become one of my "go-to" favorites, especially when we are out in restaurants.

We are planning a trip to New Zealand for this upcoming December, and the part of our trip I am most looking forward too (aside from getting to visit with my Sister-in-Law and her Husband, of course)... is getting to eat lamb, lots and lots of lamb....

This meal, here, combines some of my favorite things - lamb, and Middle Eastern flavours. The next night for dinner, I made pita sandwiches with the left over lamb and tahini sauce with tomato, lettuce and onion. They were fabulous! It was actually pretty funny, I wrapped the sandwiches up using squares of waxed paper. My kids did not eat the lamb the first night, when it was served as in the picture, above (with roasted golden beets, steamed snow peas and Israeli couscous). However, when I made it into the wraps, they gobbled them up.

At one point while we were eating the sandwiches, I said to my husband, Mario, "This is the closest I've ever come to a good homemade shawarma sauce". Claire (looking a little stricken) says, "What do you mean, HOMEMADE, didn't these come from a restaurant?? How come they are wrapped in this paper???" I explained that I just did that myself to help make them easier to eat. Well, their enthusiasm for the meal vanished immediately and we had a job getting them to finish. How could they love something one minute (when they thought it came from a restaurant), and then hate it the moment they realized I made it! I was mortally offended (as I am most nights when they turn their noses up at my cooking!!).

Roast Leg of Lamb with Tahini Sauce
from Eating Well Website

8 medium cloves garlic, divided
2 1/2 tsp salt, divided
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp ground mace
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 4lb boneless leg of lamb, butterflied and trimmed
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Mince 6 garlic cloves. Place in a small bowl with 1 1/2 tsp salt and mash into a paste using the back of a spoon. Stir in the oil, mace, cardamom, paprika, cinnamon, cumin and cayenne until combined.

2. Lay lamb out flat, with the cut side up. Spread three-quarters of the spice paste over the cut surface. Roll the lamb closed and tie in several places so it is about the shape of a large football. Spread the remaining paste over the outside. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

3. Mince the remaining 2 garlic cloves. Combine with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl with lemon juice, tahini, parsley, yogurt, and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

4. About 20 minutes before you are ready to grill, preheat a gas grill (with all burners lit) to 400°F or build a fire in a charcoal grill and let it burn down to medium heat (about 400°F).

5. Roast Lamb in BBQ over indirect charcoal until it reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees. (You can use a gas BBQ, by turning off the burners on the side where the lamb is, or roast in the over at 400F). Total cooking time will vary, but will be approximately 1 hour.

6. Transfer lamb to a platter and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with the tahini sauce.

Grilled Eggplant Salad

2009-06-15T07:18:00.000-04:00

This was a delicious salad that I made a few weeks back when my Mom came over for dinner on her 65th birthday. This salad was the appetizer, for the main course I made BBQ leg of lamb with tahini sauce (recipe coming soon!) and for dessert we had Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding. The recipe for the salad dressing called for smoked paprika, but I only had hot paprika on hand. So, even though I cut down the amount a little, my salad dressing had some serious kick, or as my six year old, Marco, would say.... this salad "stings my tongue!"

Turns out I could have gone ahead and added a cup of hot paprika, my kids weren't going to touch this salad anyway (I think they ate the cheese curls only)... so in that case, I figure I might as well continue to make it the way the adults prefer it... stinging tongue and all!

Grilled Eggplant Salad
from Eating Well Website

2 small eggplants (about 1 pound total)
1 1/4 tsp salt
cooking spray
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 plum tomato, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (I used 1 tsp hot paprika)
3 cups mixed baby salad greens
2 oz Manchego cheese

1. Make decorative stripes down the length of the eggplant with a vegetable peeler, and then cut the eggplant crosswise into 1/2" thick slices. Spread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. Let stand 15-20 minutes then rinse thoroughly and pat dry.

2. Preheat BBQ to medium. Lightly spray eggplant with cooking spray and grill for about 10 minutes total (turning halfway) until eggplant is soft and has grillmarks on both sides.

3. In a blender, puree the oil, vinegar, tomato, garlic, paprika and 1/4 tsp salt.

4. In a large bowl toss salad greens with half of the salad dressing.

5. On 6 salad plates, arrange a few slices of eggplant. Drizzle with remaining salad dressing, and then top with salad greens and a few curls of Manchego Cheese (make curls with a vegetable peeler).

Tomato Cream Penne with Artichokes and Chorizo

2009-06-01T07:06:00.000-04:00

I apologize, everyone must be getting so bored with seeing this same soup bowl over and over again. I'll have to start trying to be more creative with my photo staging.

Years ago when Mario and I were in University, we had a standing date night every Wednesday with another couple at a local Italian restaurant. This restaurant, which is now closed, had half price night on Wednesdays. The four of us would order 1 medium pizza with Italian Sausage, Tomatoes and Onion and have a slice each for an appetizer, and then we would each have a main course. Mario and I usually ordered the same thing (a testament to how good this meal was, because normally Mario won't order the same thing as me). We loved a dish called "Tortellini Hayden", it had bacon, artichoke hearts, onion, and tortellini in a tomato cream sauce. It was so good and it came with a nice hunk of baguette toasted with garlic butter (all this for around 10$ a person).

I have made numerous attempts over the years to re-create "Tortellini Hayden", sometimes more successfully than others, but I have never recorded exactly what I did, so each time I have to start from scratch figuring it all out.

This dish isn't exactly the same, it has chorizo along with the bacon and penne instead of tortellini, but overall it was inspired by the original "Tortellini Hayden" and if anything, the chorizo was an improvement.

This time, I wrote it down...

Tomato Cream Penne with Artichoke and Chorizo

1 can artichoke hearts (quartered)
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup chopped chorizo sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp each basil and thyme
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 lb dry penne
2 cups strained tomatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
Freshly grated Parmesan

1. Saute bacon and drain fat, reserving about 1 tsp of the drippings.

2. Return bacon and tsp of dripping to pan and add chorizo, garlic and onion. Saute until onion is soft.

3. Put penne on to boil.

4. Add artichokes, tomato sauce and spices and allow everything to simmer while pasta cooks.

5. Drain pasta and add to sauce along with cream. Stir until cream is incorporated and heated through.

6. Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan and serve.

Black Bean Soup

2009-05-29T07:10:00.000-04:00

I have discovered a great recipe for black bean soup. Although I don't really consider myself a "soup" person, the rest of my family loves their soup. There are a few soups which I do enjoy - they are mostly the hearty, meal in a bowl type of soups. A favorite of mine is pea soup - I'll have to get that posted someday soon.

This is a soup that simmers all day long in the crock pot. I love coming home from work to the smell of dinner already prepared. This recipe would be great for those rainy summer "non-BBQ" type of days, and makes a fine meal with a hunk of crusty bread and a side salad. It wasn't as spicy as I would have liked, so next time I might opt not to remove the seeds from the jalapeno pepper. I also throw a bit of grated Monterrey Jack cheese on the top for the sake of my kids, because for some reason it helps them see past the little bits of "green stuff".

Black Bean Soup
from Cooking Light Magazine, March 2009

1 lb dried black beans
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup water
1 tbsp ground cumin
3 bay leaves
1 jalapeno pepper (seeded and finely chopped)
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp salt

Garnish
Chopped cilantro
Sour cream
Grated Cheese

1. Sort and rinse the beans, cover with water and let stand overnight to soak.

2. The following morning, drain the beans, and add them to your crock pot along with the chicken broth, onion, water, cumin, bay leaves and jalapeno.

3. Cook on low all day (about 10 hours or so).

4. Just before serving, stir in lime juice and add salt to taste. Spoon into bowls and top with sour cream, cheese, and cilantro.

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

2009-05-21T07:20:00.000-04:00

This is the dessert that I made for dinner at Easter. I know this is almost cruel, since it calls for Hot Cross Buns and you probably won't be able to find those in the grocery store to make this recipe until next spring. Yet, it is worth the wait, and I decided that I should post this now, before it gets buried in my alarmingly sizeable photo archive of unposted recipes.

I usually buy Hot Cross Buns for the kids as soon as I see them in the store each spring. They love to eat them split and toasted with a little butter for breakfast. Well at least LAST year, they loved them. Children, however, can be fickle (especially mine) and a favorite treat last year, can turn into one step up from fried liver this year.

So, I took my regular everyday Bread Pudding recipe with a few tweaks and made this delicious bread pudding with the surplus buns. We loved it so much (even the kids), that I ran back out to the grocery store and bought three more packages of Hot Cross Buns, so I will be able to make this six more times before next Easter!

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

4 Hot Cross Buns
2 eggs slightly beaten
⅓ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
3 cups unsweetened almond milk

1. Cut buns into 1" cubes. Spray an 8" round cake pan with cooking spray and dump the cubes in.

2. Mix together the eggs, sugar, salt and almond milk (you can certainly use regular milk instead, I've discovered that I like almond milk in bread puddings because it adds nice flavour and it is thick like using whole milk without as many calories).

3. Pour the milk/egg mixture over the cubed buns and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 325F.

4. Bake for 1 hour. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Fish and Brewis

2009-04-12T21:48:00.002-04:00

I made fish and brewis (pronounced "bruise") for dinner on Good Friday. This is a meal that has a lot of nostalgic appeal to me. I associate fish and brewis with my childhood, and it is something that my Mom made fairy often whenever she could find the ingredients. The recipe originated a long time ago in Newfoundland, where it was prepared by sailors who were often at sea for long periods of time without access to fresh ingredients. Fish and brewis is very simple to make, as it only has three ingredients. Some of the ingredients are only readily available in Eastern Canada, but nowadays thanks to the internet, I can order them on-line.

Here are the ingredients: Purity Hard Bread, Dried Salt Cod, and Salt Pork Fat. The hard bread is a hard block of dried biscuit that will literally crack your teeth if you try to bite into it (sounds yummy eh?)... wait, it gets better. The Pork Fat gets fried up into little bits of heaven that Newfie's like to call, "scrunchions". So, you have to soak both the hard bread and the salt fish overnight to make them edible and then the next day it all gets fried up in the fat that has been rendered from the scrunchions. In Newfoundland, this meal is often served for breakfast to patients undergoing cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. OK, I made that last bit up (about the cardiac patients, not the breakfast!)

I can honestly say that this was one of my all time favorite meals as a child (yes, I was a peculiar child). Apparently, my own children are NOT as peculiar because they hate fish and brewis. It is actually a little stressful for them, you see they hate the fish, but like the bruise. Problem is, once the dish is prepared, the two are pretty much indistinguishable. So the kids will be sitting there examining, and sniffing each morsel of food trying to determine what the heck it is...half the time they get it wrong, and fish comes flying back out in a projectile fashion, "nope not bread". Oh well, what can I say... they are "mainlanders".

Fish and Brewis

3 hard bread cakes
1 lb dried salt cod
1 cup cubed salt pork fat back (about 100g)

1. Soak the hard bread in a large bowl of cool water overnight at room temperature. Make sure you add a lot of water because these suckers really swell up.

2. Soak the dried salt cod overnight in cool water at room temperature. In the morning, you can change the water to help remove more of the salt.

3. When you are ready to eat, drain the fish and boil it for about 20 minutes in a fresh pot of water.

4. Meanwhile, fry up the cubes of pork fat in a large non-stick frying pan until they are golden brown and crispy. Remove the scrunchions with a slotted spoon and set aside.

5. Drain the hard bread, and the fish and add it to the frying pan with all the fat from the scrunctions. Fry this whole mixture up for about 5 minutes, breaking the larger chunks of fish and bread up with your spatula. Right before serving you can either mix the scrunchions back in, or sprinkle them on top.

6. Serve with a homemade tomato relish or chutney of some sort (mine is pictured with a caramelized onion chutney).

Belikin Beer Battered Shrimp with Lisette's Secret Sauce

2009-03-22T17:03:00.006-04:00

We just returned home, yesterday, from our annual family vacation to San Pedro, Belize. While there, I made a very important discovery... Janet is Hungry has a lot of fans in Belize. More than I could possibly count! (using one hand)

I am not kidding when I say that all this adulation has seriously gone to my head.

The President of the Belizean Chapter of the Janet is Hungry fan club, Jesse (of the San Pedro Daily), has made a personal request for more local Belize recipes on Janet is Hungry.

Not wanting to disappoint my only groupie, I scrambled to put together a recipe using some ingredients that I associate with my vacations in Belize: Belikin Beer (of course), shrimp (I would have used conch if it I could get it here) and Lisette's Secret Sauce (a staple in most Belizean kitchen's - well I think so anyway, having only ever been in one Belizean kitchen - my Mom's).

I have, on returning from previous vacations in Belize, experimented with some other local recipes, such as fish tacos, orange crusted snapper, and shrimp ceviche.

I also promised Jesse to take a stab at Belizean Stewed Chicken with Rice and Beans, but this will have to wait until another time when I am less travel weary. For those not familiar with Lisette's Secret Sauce, it is a sweet tangy sauce made with peppers, lime juice, carrots and sugar, etc.

Belikin Beer Battered Shrimp with Lisette's Secret Sauce

1 lb large shrimp (peeled and deveined with tail intact)
1 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 cup Belikin Beer (or other pale ale)
Lisette's Secret Sauce (or other dipping sauce)

1. Heat skillet with 1/2" of oil over medium-high heat.

2. Mix batter ingredients (flour, egg, and beer) until smooth. Should be the texture of thick pancake batter.

3. Wash and pat shrimp dry, season with pepper.

4. Dip shrimp in batter and fry in batches until golden brown on both sides (they cook very quick, about a minute per side).

5. Drain on paper towel, and serve with dipping sauce.

Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya

2008-12-03T07:09:00.001-05:00

Back in September, Mario and I decided to start a new tradition. We established a regular Friday restaurant night for our family. We didn't want this to be a fast food night, we believe the kids are getting old enough, and can be well behaved enough to eat in some nicer places. We also think that it's a good idea to expose them to some different cuisines.

So far we've taken them out for Indian, Lebanese, Cantonese and most recently we took them out to a Cajun restaurant. They loved all of it. Interestingly, they seem much more willing to sample new things when they are in a restaurant, than when they are at home. They loved the Indian food the most. Imagine that! I don't think I even tried Indian food until I was in my 30's.

As usual, I am making a really short story very long. What I am leading up to is the fact that I often get inspired by these dinners out, and when I saw my kids devour the healthy looking Jambalaya at the Cajun restaurant, I decided this dish would make a great addition to my at home repetoire.

So I set about finding a good recipe. I ended up using bits and pieces of several recipes that I found on-line. This recipe had quite a bit of kick, so if you don't like the heat (or if your kids won't eat spicy food) then ease back on the cayenne and paprika.

Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya
(makes about 6 cups of Jambalaya)

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp hot paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1 tbsp butter or oil
1 cup diced Andouille sausage
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced pepper
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced tomato
3/4 cup long grain white rice
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3-4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups shrimp (about 1/2 pound)
3 tbsp green onion

1. Mix the spices and seasonings together (first 7 ingredients).

2. Preheat the oven to 350F.

3. In a large oven proof dutch oven or skillet, saute onion, celery, green pepper and garlic in butter for a few minutes until softened.

4. Add sausage and cook another minute or so. (Note: I wasn't able to find Andouille in my local grocery store, so I used a lean Kolbassa instead, it worked fine, but Andouille would be the more "cajun" choice... or at least less "polish").

5. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, rice, stock, spices, and worcestershire. Bring to a boil and then set the pot in the oven uncovered for 25 minutes (most of the liquid will be absorbed).

6. Add the shrimp and the green onion and return to the oven for 10 more minutes, or until the shrimp is cooked through.

(Note: I weighed everthing with my digital food scale as I added it and calculated the nutrional information to be roughly 215 calories per 1/6th of the recipe. The recipe makes about 6 cups.)

Old Fashioned Cake Doughnuts

2008-11-28T19:38:00.007-05:00

Nothing beats homemade doughnuts. Well, that is nothing except for Muskoka Cookies, Peach Squares, Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake, Butter Tart Squares, Fresno Pudding, and Chocolate Banana Cake. Not my Haupia though, joking aside, please don't ever make my Haupia, make somebody else's Haupia.

(Note: I hope everyone CLICKED on all those links! That's why I put them there people! And I can check, you know - well I think I can, anyway, well maybe not... I mean I'm sure I could if I was at all technology savvy, but I should probably just stick to cooking.... and rambling, I'm good at that - the rambling that is.)

OK, so where was I? Doughnuts. Right.

So the doughnuts are yummy.

You can either douse them in cinnamon sugar or icing sugar. I always keep a spice bottle in my cupboard filled with cinnamon sugar that I make with 3 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon (for anybody who might be fractionally challenged that means I would add 1 tablespoon of cinnamon to 3 tablespoons of sugar). This is great to have on hand to sprinkle on toast. I used the whole bottle on these doughnuts.

These are best served still warm.

Old-Fashioned Cake Doughnuts

1 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup milk
4 cups flour (plus a little more if dough is sticky)
oil for frying (lots)
Cinnamon Sugar (tons)

1. In a large bowl mix the sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

2. Add eggs, milk and melted butter. Beat well.

3. Add 3 cups of the flour, beating until blended. Add one more cup of flour and beat well. The dough should be soft and sticky but firm enough to handle. If you feel its necessary, add up to 1/2 cup more flour.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for one hour (I once got a question from a reader as to whether when I said "chill" I meant in the refrigerator... um yes that's what I meant, but I can see how this could be confusing, I could have meant "Like OK, cover with plastic wrap, and then um like chill, ya know on the couch, for like an hour... like OK?")

5. After you're done chilling on the couch, remove your dough from the fridge and begin heating about 1" of oil to 360F in a large metal skillet. I actually don't have one of those fancy schmancy candy thermometres (hello Santa are you reading?)... somebody remember to ask me after Christmas how many candy thermometres I get...

6. Working half the dough at a time, roll it out on a floured surface to about 1/2" thickness. Cut out circles using a doughnut cutter. If you don't have a doughnut cutter (Santa?) then use a regular cookie cutter and cut out the hole with the screw cap off a 40oz bottle of Newfoundland Screech.

7. Decide that you are too cool for school and take a big swig of the Screech for no good reason. Once the burning subsides and you stop crying and sputtering, push the scraps of dough back together, re-roll and repeat steps 6 through 7 over and over until (a) all the dough is used up or (b) you pass out.*

8. Gently drop the doughnuts in batches into the hot oil. Flip them over as they puff and turn them a couple more times as they cook. They will take 3-4 minutes in total and they will be lovely and golden brown all over.

9. Remove from the oil and set them on paper towels (that removes all the fat, you know). Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar. Enjoy them hot, and eat at least four, you need some carbs in your belly to soak up all that Screech.

*Janet is Hungry will not be responsible for any mishap (foreseeable or unforeseeable) that may arise as a result of drinking alcohol in close proximity to a pan of hot oil.

Bacon and Cream Cheese Roll-Ups

2008-11-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

This recipe is a long time favorite of ours (and our friends). I made these most recently for a party that we hosted on Halloween. One of my friends specifically requested that I make "the bacon things" for the party... and they go pretty fast!

We actually had a little discussion about how you could pretty much wrap ANYTHING in bacon and improve on it! Then, much to the dismay of my guests, I happened to mention that, as many times as I have made these appetizers, I have never actually sampled one. They just seem a little "dangerous" to me.... I think they would be "more-ish".

People who know me well, know that I don't do things well in moderation, I have an ALL or NOTHING kind of mentality. I compare this to the day that I first tasted Poutine... I probably should have never had that first bite, because then I wouldn't know what I was missing everytime I walk past the chip wagon that parks itself right outside my office building (solely to taunt me, I know). Ask me if I have EVER ordered a "small" poutine.... yeah, I rest my case.

Bacon and Cream Cheese Roll-Ups

1/2 loaf white sandwich bread (square slices are best)
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp italian seasoning blend
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/8 tsp pepper
1 lb bacon

1. Mix together the cream cheese, garlic, seasoning, parsley and pepper until well blended.

2. Cut the bacon slices in half.

3. Cut the crusts off the bread, and spread each slice evenly with cream cheese (I use about a heaping tablespoon per slice, then cut each slice of bread into 3 strips.

4. Roll up each strip of bread and wrap with 1/2 slice of bacon. Secure with a toothpick. I usually just keep going until I run out of bacon. This usually takes about 1/2 a loaf the bread and most of the cream cheese mixture. If you have leftover cream cheese, it is great spread on crackers or toasted bagels.

5. At this point, you can go ahead and bake them, or you can stash them in the fridge or the freezer to bake later (if baking from frozen, add about 5-10 minutes to your cooking time).

6. Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes until the bacon is crisp. Drain on paper towels for about 5 minutes to cool a bit, and serve.

7. Get out of the way quickly, so you don't get trampled.

Pumpkin and Raisin Spice Muffins

2008-11-11T11:48:00.005-05:00

If you are anything at all like me, at some point in mid to late September when you walk into the grocery store and notice the huge display of halloween pumpkins, your heart skips a beat. Starting then, and for the next six weeks or so, you start buying pumpkins like they are going out of style (and frankly they ARE going out of style - on November 1, to be precise).

Then, sometime around now in mid November, you open the freezer to find room for some of your early Christmas baking, and you realize that you have a "type-M" personality. That is "M" for "Messed Up". You really aren't capable of doing ANYTHING in moderation. There is enough frozen pumpkin puree in your freezer to last a lifetime.

If I just described you (yes, I know that is highly unlikely but just humour me, OK?)... it's alright! I'm here to help! Because there are TONS of things you can do with frozen pumpkin puree. Just the other night, I made Pumpkin Risotto for dinner (it was too dark to get good pictures). And I always make at least one batch of my Pumpkin Soup. Of course you can never get enough Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. Another thing I love to do, is stir about a half cup of pumpkin puree into my morning oatmeal with a little bit of pumpkin pie spice and molasses.

These muffins are another favorite way to use up the puree. I got the original recipe from Farmgirl Fare's Blog. They are fabulous with Pecans or Walnuts instead of the dates, but I have stopped putting nuts in any of my muffin recipes, because the school Claire and Marco go to has a "no nut" policy (there is a good joke there, but I try not to make fun of my kids on the blog!)

OK, I have to run... I need to go find room in the freezer for these muffins....YIKES!

Pumpkin and Raisin Spice Muffins

1 cup raisins
3/4 cup orange juice
3 cups white flour
1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup honey
3 eggs
450g pumpkin puree (or one 15oz can)
1 cup chopped dates (or more raisins, dried cranberries, or nuts)

1. Microwave raisins with orange juice for 2 minutes on high, and set aside.

2. Whisk together dry ingredients: flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

3. In another bowl mix butter, brown sugar, honey, eggs and pumpkin puree.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry along with the raisins and orange juice. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in dates.

5. Fill muffin tins almost to the top (makes about 18 large muffins) and bake at 350F for about 25 minutes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

2008-11-02T12:00:00.004-05:00

This year for Claire's 9th birthday, I told her that I would bake her ANY kind of cake she could dream up... Claire is lucky she didn't ask for anything too complicated, it could have been a major flop.... but baking an "invented cake" was fun.

Claire was quite precise, she wanted a chocolate cake with peanut butter in the middle and chocolate on top and then crushed Oreo cookies on top of that.

I thought I could improve slightly on Claire's inspiration. I made a four layer cake with peanut butter cream cheese icing with a chocolate-peanut butter ganache and crushed Pirate cookies on top. (Note: Pirate cookies are a peanut butter cream filled cookie made by Christie... you can probably find an equivalent, if you can't find Pirate's).

This cake was "oh-my-god-good".

This post is really more about the filling and icings, than the cake itself... because I cheated and used a Duncan Hines Devil's Food chocolate cake mix as the base and concentrated on making the icing really good. You know icing is good when you purposefully decide the cake has enough when there's still a half cup in the bowl (which you cannot let go to waste). So you sneak out of the kitchen with the bowl and a rubber scraper and come back three minutes later and yell to the kids, "who wants to lick the bowl?". They come running over, and peer hopefully into the bowl in which you've managed to leave one or two small streaks of icing!!

I knew that for a family of four, we'd be eating this cake for a week if I made a whole one, so I cooked the cake mix in two 9x9 inch square pans. I froze one for later. That way I was able to make a four layer rectangular shaped cake that I could slice like a loaf of bread. The cake made 8 slices (4 each for two nights) and the pieces were frankly WAY too big (although strangely that didn't stop me from cutting the exact same size pieces the second night). The cake was so rich, I probably should have sliced it into 10 or even 12 pieces.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

1 package chocolate cake mix (prepared according to package directions)
8 pirate cookies, (6 to crush in food processor for decorating, and 2 to eat)

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing
10oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 cups icing sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache
4oz semi sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp corn syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream

1. Make cake according to package directions in two 9x9 inch loaf pans. Let cool completely. Wrap and freeze one cake (otherwise, double the icing and ganache and make a whole cake - square or round).

2. Slice the remaining cake in half. And then slice each of the two rectangles into two layers, so that you have four rectangular shaped layers.

3. To make the icing, in a mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese and the butter until creamy. Add the icing sugar about 1 cup at a time, beating between each addition. Stir in the peanut butter. Taste. Sigh.

4. Place the first cake layer down on your chosen cake plate. Spread a layer of icing (Sorry, didn't measure how much I put between each layer), but make it about 1/4 inch thick, there's lots of icing, so you don't need to worry about running out. Repeat with the next layer, and then again with the third layer. Place the last layer on top and then frost the entire cake with the remaining icing. (Note: if you are lucky, you will have about 1/2 cup of icing left over - tee hee)

5. Chill the cake while you are making the ganache. Melt the semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler and stir in the cream, peanut butter and corn syrup. Let cool a few minutes, but not too much, it should still be pourable.

6. Pour the ganache over the cake and spread slightly with an icing knife to encourage it to drip down over the sides a bit.

7. While the ganache is still wet, sprinkle the cake with crushed Pirate Cookies.

8. Chill until ready to serve.

Rice Fritters

2008-10-15T21:30:00.000-04:00

Have some leftover rice? That's never a problem in my house. Leftover rice always gets used. There are so many things you can use it for. I love taking cold rice salads for lunch (leftover white rice, tomato, cucumber, green onion, garlic and a splash of red wine vinegar and olive oil - yum). My kids simply adore fried rice, which I often make for them with leftovers. You can also throw leftover rice into soup or stew or a sandwich (OK. OK. You got me. I've never put in a sandwich, but I bet you could!!)

Anyway, here's my favorite way to deal with leftover rice. Usually I would make this with leftover risotto, but any leftover rice that is a little on the sticky side will do (you just need to be able to shape it into a ball that will stay formed). This time, I had some leftover Persian Rice. Sadly, I had my Mom and Dad for dinner the night I made it, and in all the excitement I forgot to take pictures of the original rice recipe.

The next day, I made these Rice Fritters.

These are really tremendous! I am surprised that you don't see this on appetizer menu's in restaurants more often, alongside the fried zucchini, potato skins and the nachos... (and they are WAY better than your run of the mill deep fried mozzarella sticks).

I am going to leave the amounts out of the recipe, because it really all depends on how much leftover rice you have. Just start with one egg and about 1/2 cup of crumbs, because you can always add more if you run out, but if you crack 8 eggs and dump out your whole box of panko... well... that wasn't very smart. Why'd you do that?

Rice Fritters

Leftover rice
Panko crumbs
Eggs
Mozzarella Cheese
Dipping Sauce (Marinara Style)

1. Shape the rice into balls that are, in diameter, precisely halfway in between a walnut and a golf ball... just kidding! Just make your balls "yay big".

2. Cut some mozzarella into little cubes (about 1 cm square).

3. Make a depression with your finger in each rice ball and press in a mozzarella cube. Close the rice back up to completely enclose the ooey-gooey mozzarella goodness.

4. Roll the rice balls around in beaten egg, and then in panko crumbs until well coated.

5. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so, to set coating.

6. Preheat oven to 400F (use convection if you have it). Place the rice balls on a baking sheet that you've sprayed with cooking spray. Spray more cooking spray on top of the rice balls. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Turn them around and give them another squirt of cooking spray halfway through. (FYI - the original recipe called for these to be deep fried, but I don't like to deep fry at home).

7. Serve with your favorite marinara-type dipping sauce (I used canned pizza sauce).

Crab and Avocado Mini Quesadillas

2008-09-17T20:22:00.003-04:00

Every once in a while, I absolutely love to just cook appetizers for dinner. I will make 4 or 5 different hot appetizers and put them all in the middle of the table along side some veggie sticks, dip, bread and assorted cheeses. It's a great dinner that everyone loves (especially the kids, since they can pick and choose what they want - which is usually just a lot of bread and cheese). It is also a great way to experiment and test out some new recipes before springing them on unsuspecting friends at a potluck!

This recipe has become a real favorite of ours. If you think it seems fussy, you can always make the quesadillas full-size and cut them into wedges for serving. The original inspiration for this recipe came from a 2007 Holiday Appetizer edition of Fine Cooking Magazine.

Crab and Avocado Mini Quesadillas
makes about 60 appetizers

Mango Salsa
1 ripe mango (peeled, pitted and diced)
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 large ripe tomato, seeded and diced
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
salt and pepper

Crab and Avocado Quesadillas
12 8-inch flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups cooked crabmeat
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
2 ripe avocados, diced
1/3 cup green onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
salt and pepper
olive oil for frying

1. To make the salsa, combine all of the salsa ingredients and let stand for at least one hour before serving.

2. Cut 120 circles out of the tortillas using a 2 inch cookie cutter.

3. Mix together the crab meat, cheese, avocado, green onion, cilantro, and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Spread about 1 tablespoon of crab mixture on each of 60 tortilla circles and top with the remaining circles (you can get this far and the chill the circles until it is time to cook them).

5. Heat a small amount of oil in a non stick pan over medium heat and fry in batches until golden brown. An alternative I have used a couple of times is to spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, load it up with quesadillas, spray the top of the quesadillas lightly with cooking spray, and bake in the oven at 400F until golden. About 10-15 minutes or so.

6. Serve warm with a small spoonful of salsa on top.

Stuffed Calamari with Roasted Jalapeno Sauce

2008-08-26T16:15:00.001-04:00

I've never bought whole squid before. I've bought the little frozen rings and made breaded calamari or pasta with them, but this was my first experiment with whole squid. It was a great success!

We loved this recipe, which I got from Emeril Lagasse. As usual, I made a few small changes (e.g., he used poblano peppers, real mayo and shallots... I couldn't find poblanos, wanted something lower fat than mayo, and was too lazy to go buy shallots).

The only issue we had was that the squid cooks so fast that the stuffing inside really only got warm and not hot. I'd be afraid to cook them any longer for fear of making the squid tough. For me this didn't take away from the taste at all, I still loved it, and will make it again. Next time, I might not let the filling cool down as much before I stuff the squid. Also, I might warm the sauce a bit (or at least make sure it is room temperature, and not chilled). The sauce was great, we loved it! There was enough leftover that we had it the next night on fish tacos, and we used some as a spicy sandwich spread.

Needless to say, Mario and I had this meal on an evening when we weren't eating with the kids. About once a week, we try to feed the kids and put them to bed early and then have a nice late dinner on our own. It's usually a nice quiet, CALM meal. Marco, my 5 year old always says, "Mommy and Daddy are having an o-mantic dinner tonight". He keeps asking when he can have an "o-mantic dinner" with me. I wonder if that means I have to put Mario to bed early? He might be OK with that.

Stuffed Calamari

4 large whole calamari
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1 roasted red pepper, diced small
1/2 cup soft fresh bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
2 tsp olive oil

Roasted Jalapeno Sauce

2 jalapeno peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup mayonnaise (I used light miracle whip)
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the grill.

2. For the sauce, combine the roasted jalapenos and
garlic in a food processor and puree until smooth. Add the mayonnaise,
lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

3. In a saute pan cook the onions and garlic until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool slightly.

4. In a medium bowl, combine goats cheese, roasted red pepper, and bread
crumbs. Mix in the onion and garlic.

5. Stuff each calamari tube with the filling until nice and plump (secure the larger end with a metal skewer or toothpick). Brush each stuffed tube with a little oil to prevent from sticking on the grill.

6. Grill each tube for 1-2 minutes on each side, leaving pretty grill marks on
each side.

7. Cut each tube into five nice pieces on the bias. Spoon a nice amount of the sauce over the top.

Chanterelle and Zucchini Frittata

2008-08-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

I have started making lots of frittata's for dinner. This summer I signed up for a local organic farm weekly CSA delivery, and frittata's are a great way to use up vegetables that I otherwise would have no idea what to do with. In fact, there have been times that I didn't even know what the vegetables were. Those nights we have "mystery frittata". Also, the kids will eat just about ANY frittata. So I can hide all sorts of obscenely healthy stuff in there!

I generally follow the same basic frittata recipe and add in my chosen veggies/cheese/meat for the night.

Chanterelle and Zucchini Frittata

1 cup fresh golden chanterelles, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
8 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
dash hot sauce
1oz finely grated grano padano cheese

1. Saute onion, garlic, zucchini and chanterelles in butter until soft in a 8" non-stick skillet (make sure the handle of your skillet is oven proof).

2. Beat eggs with milk, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Pour over veggies in skillet.

3. Cook over med-low heat until bottom and edges of frittata are set (about 7 minutes). Sprinkle with cheese and place skillet until broiler until eggs are set in the middle and the cheese is golden brown.

4. Slice into 4 slices (a lot of frittata recipes say that they serve 6, but if you're eating this as a main dish, I'd say 4 is a more realistic serving size).

Turkish Chicken Thighs

2008-07-28T19:39:00.003-04:00

This recipe was fabulous! I made this for the first time the other night, and it was a huge hit. I have been experimenting quite a bit lately with yoghurt based marinades for meat, because they really tenderize without adding much additional fat to your meal... and well, because they taste really good!

I found this recipe for Turkish Chicken Thighs on the website Eating Well which has tons of great healthy recipes. I had to go out and buy some hot paprika (I found "Hot Hungarian Paprika") and WOW, was it good. It was so much more flavourful than regular paprika. I threw all the rest of my regular paprika out, and I will only be using "Hot Hungarian Paprika" from now on.

Right after I mixed the marinade and tasted it, it had quite a kick to it, and I thought, "uh oh, the kids will never eat this", but after 24 hours in the fridge marinating, it mellowed and the kids never complained about the heat.

The chicken was tender and juicy and the flavour was really great.

The kids were really confused by the name of the recipe, "Turkish Chicken Thighs". Claire said, "well Mom what is it? Like, make up your mind, TURKEY or CHICKEN...." (yes she really did say "like" and she rolled her eyes too). So I explained that Turkey is a country and this recipe combines flavours and spices that are sometimes used in Turkish cuisine. Marco pipes up, "So turkey's eat chicken?" Sigh. This made me think I should try making a Turducken sometime.... THAT would be a fun one to explain.

Turkish Chicken Thighs

8 skinless chicken thighs (I used boneless)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp hot paprika
1 1/2 tsp dried mint
1/2 tsp salt

1. Mix together lemon juice, yogurt, garlic, ginger, paprika, mint and salt.

2. Place the chicken in a ziploc bag and pour the yogurt mixture over the chicken. Close the bag and mush it around.

3. Refrigerate overnight.

4. Preheat barbeque grill to med-high. Remove chicken from ziploc bag and discard marinade. Grill until chicken is juicy but cooked through (about 15 minutes).

5. Alternately, you could place the chicken on a broiler rack in the oven at 400F for about 15 minutes until cooked. Serve immediately.

Chicken Shawarma

2008-07-21T07:00:00.001-04:00

Mario and I have always been big fans of Lebanese food. In particular, we love shawarmas. There is no shortage of Lebanese take out places here in Ottawa where we live and when we were in University, we frequented many of them (usually in the early hours of the morning).

I have experimented several times with making shawarmas at home, but I think it's just one of those things that you will never quite get right without the proper equipment, techniques and of course the secret recipe for that amazing garlic sauce (yum).

When I saw this recipe for chicken shawarmas in the July 2008 issue of Cooking Light magazine, I knew I had to try it. It didn't quite have the taste of an authentic Lebanese shawarma, but we thought this recipe was very good in its own right. The marinade on the chicken was great, and I could eat my chicken breasts just marinated and grilled this way anytime. The sauce was very good, and was probably way healthier than the sauce you would normally get on a shawarma.

Overall, we thought this recipe was a keeper.

Chicken Shawarma
adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, July 2008

Chicken:
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into strips

Sauce:
1/2 cup fat free plain yoghurt
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, minced

Other ingredients:
Pita bread
Chopped lettuce
Tomato slices
Chopped red onion

1. Combine first 6 ingredients of marinade. Cut chicken into strips (I cut each breast into 3 strips) and pour marinade over chicken in a Ziploc bag. Marinade in fridge all day (or overnight).

2. To prepare sauce, combine yoghurt and next 4 ingredients. Mix well. The sauce can be made ahead and stored in the fridge.

3. Preheat barbeque grill. Shake the excess marinade off the chicken and thread on barbeque skewers. Grill for approximately 4 minutes per side until chicken is cooked through.

4. Place pita bread on the grill for a minute or two to warm.

5. To serve, place lettuce tomato and onion on top of the pita bread. Top with chicken and drizzle with sauce.

Salami Cones

2008-07-03T11:39:00.005-04:00

Well, it's been an unforgivably long time since I've written a post, but rather than going into a whole list of excuses (most of them would be made up anyway), I'm just going to give you all a nice new recipe.

I've gotten a lot of e-mails over the past few months, hundreds probably, and to answer the most common question I've been asked.... YES, I am STILL hungry!!

This is a nice little appetizer recipe that I've made tons of times. It's a little finicky to put together, but well worth the effort for all the compliments you will receive.

Salami Cones

1 4oz package of cream cheese
1 cup finely shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1-3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp very finely chopped red pepper
1 package (at least 12 slices) hard salami, thinly sliced
baby dill pickles

1. Mix softened cream cheese with Monterrey Jack and red pepper.

2. Mix in milk. Add one tablespoon at a time until mixture reaches the consistency of cake icing.

3. Spoon into pastry bag fitted with large nozzle (this is why you have to chop the red pepper very fine, or they will clog the opening).

4. Cut each salami slice into 2. Roll each half into a cone and fill with cream cheese mixture. Secure with toothpick and a chunk of baby dill.