Its a Food Life

Curry Love

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:05:00 +0000

GWH and I are completely in love with all things curry so I checked this book out at the library. I will definitely have to buy it and add it to my collection.

Sweet Mango Curry Chicken

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, sliced lengthwise

1 hot green chile pepper, minced (I used two)

1 tbsp minced ginger root

1 tbsp Indian yellow curry paste or masala blend (I used Patak's Madras)

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 cup coconut milk 1/2 cup chicken stock

1 large firm ripe sweet mango, peeled and sliced

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup thin strips red bell pepper

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in chile pepper, ginger, and curry paste; cook, stirring, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add chicken and stir until coated with spices. Stir in coconut milk and stock; brint got a simmer, scraping up bits stuck to pan. Reduce heat and simmer gently, stirring often, until chicken is no longer pink inside and sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
Increase heat to medium and stir in mango. Cook, stirring gently, just until starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in salt. Serve sprinkled with green onions and red pepper.

I served the chicken with basmati rice and rotis. Delicious.

TOURTIERE - IT'S FRENCH, EH

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:53:00 +0000

There seems to be an underlying theme with my menus in the last couple of weeks. French. Perhaps, it is an unconscious protest in response to reading Bill Buford's, Heat in which Mario Batali's disdain for all things French is mentioned again and again.

I belong to a dinner club in which the host picks a theme and we all bring a dish to correspond with that theme. The latest gathering was an International Christmas dinner and I decided to make Tourtiere. Tourtiere is a traditional Quebecois Christmas dish and even though Quebec is still in Canada, much to the dismay of the Parti Quebecois, this dish feels somewhat foreign as it is not in my traditional Christmas line-up. If GWH has his way, though, it will be added from now on because he loved it although his opinion is probably skewed because I am pretty sure the fact that I decorated it with a Moose made him biased.

So Bon Apetit and Joyeux Noel to all!

...........See I am bilingual!

Tourtiere

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) cubed peeled potato

1 lb (.5 kg) lean ground moose
1 lb (.5 kg) lean ground pork
2 cups (500 mL) mushrooms, finely chopped
3/4 cup (175 mL) celery, finely chopped
3/4 cup (175 mL) chicken stock
2 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each pepper, sage and thyme
1/4 tsp (1 mL) each ground cloves and cinnamon
Pastry for double pie crust and cut outs
1 egg yolk

Directions
In saucepan of boiling salted water, cover and cook potato until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and mash; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together pork, moose, mushrooms, celery, stock, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, cloves, cinnamon and potatoes. Set aside.

On lightly floured surface, roll out 1 of the pastry discs to scant 1/4-inch (5 mm) thickness. Fit into 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Spoon in filling. Roll out remaining pastry. Brush pie rim with water; cover with top pastry and press edge to seal. Trim and flute.

Roll out scraps; cut out desired shapes. (Make-ahead: Wrap tourtiere and shapes separately; refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Or overwrap in heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to 2 weeks; thaw in refrigerator. Add 20 to 30 minutes to baking time, covering with foil after 45 minutes; remove foil for last 10 minutes.)

Mix egg yolk with 2 tsp (10 mL) water; brush three-quarters over top. Arrange cutouts on top; brush with remaining egg wash. Cut steam vents in top.

Bake in bottom third of 400°F (200°C) oven until hot and golden brown, about 75 minutes.

NOTES:
If you find that the crust is browning too quickly, then cover loosely with tin foil for the remainder of cooking time.

I am submitting this to the Hearth n' Soul Blog hop.

which comes first the chicken or the egg?

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:08:00 +0000

This month's Daring Cooks challenge was to poach eggs and there were a couple of recipes that were provided to us along with this challenge. The obvious one, of course, is Eggs Benny, which is one of my favourite dishes. I have made Eggs Benny several times and in many different variations - back bacon, spinach, tomatoes, ham, lox, crab, shrimp, to name a few - so I decided to make the other recipe provided, Oeufs en Meurette. This is a recipe that I have never even heard of, let alone made.

We usually have a big breakfast/brunch on at least one day of the weekend so this Oeufs en Meurette was going on my menu for Sunday. I don't know if it was the power of suggestion after reading the recipe for the Oeufs en Meurette but I had an urge to make Coq au Vin for dinner on Friday. When preparing my grocery list, I soon realized that the sauce for both of these dishes was VERY similar, in fact close enough that I could kill two birds with one stone. I decided to make the Coq au Vin on Friday night and reserve some of the sauce to have with the Oeufs en Meurette on Sunday...... so in this case the chicken, definitely, came before the egg.

Coq au Vin

Recipe from Alton Brown Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

24 to 30 pearl onions
4 chicken thighs and legs, or 1 (5 to 7-pound) stewing chicken, cut into serving pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water
6 ounces salt pork, slab bacon, or lardon, cubed

8 ounces button mushrooms, quartered

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 (750-ml) bottles red wine, preferably pinot noir
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 medium onion, quartered
2 stalks celery, quartered
2 medium carrots, quartered
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 to 8 sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups chicken stock or broth

Directions

Cut off the root end of each pearl onion and make an "x" with your knife in its place. Bring 2 to 3 cups of water to a boil and drop in the onions for 1 minute. Remove the onions from the pot, allow them to cool, and then peel. You should be able to slide the onions right out of their skin. Set aside.
Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the chicken pieces, a few at a time, into a large (1 or 2-gallon) sealable plastic bag along with the flour. Shake to coat all of the pieces of the chicken. Remove the chicken from the bag to a metal rack.
Add the 2 tablespoons of water to a large, 12-inch saute pan over medium heat along with the salt pork. Cover and cook until the water is gone, and then continue to cook until the salt pork cubes are golden brown and crispy, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the salt pork from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, using the remaining fat, add the pearl onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and saute until lightly brown, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside. Next, brown the chicken pieces on each side until golden brown, working in batches if necessary to not overcrowd the pan. Transfer the chicken into a 7 to 8-quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven.

Add the mushrooms to the same 12-inch saute pan, adding the 1 tablespoon of butter if needed, and saute until they give up their liquid, approximately 5 minutes. Store the onions, mushrooms and pork in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Pour off any remaining fat and deglaze the pan with approximately 1 cup of the wine. Pour this into the Dutch oven along with the chicken stock, tomato paste, quartered onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Add all of the remaining wine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the chicken in the oven and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the chicken is tender. Maintain a very gentle simmer and stir occasionally.

Once the chicken is done, remove it to a heatproof container, cover, and place it in the oven to keep warm. Strain the sauce in a colander and remove the carrots, onion, celery, thyme, garlic, and bay leaf. Return the sauce to the pot, place over medium heat, and reduce by 1/3.

Depending on how much liquid you actually began with, this should take 20 to 45 minutes.

Once the sauce has thickened, add the pearl onions, mushrooms, and pork and cook for another 15 minutes or until the heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, remove from the heat, add the chicken and serve. Serve over egg noodles, if desired.

NOTES/VARIATIONS:

I did not marinate the chicken overnight.
I added all the ingredients to the slow cooker and cooked it on high for about 3 1/2 hours and on low for about another 1 1/2 hours.
I served it with mashed potatoes.
I omitted the tomato paste, quite by accident, but the results were good anyways.
Delicious!

Oeufs en Meurette

From Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, seen on Epicurious

Ingredients

8 eggs (size is your choice)
1 bottle red wine (750ml/25 fl. oz.)
2 cups (400ml/16 fl. oz.) chicken stock

1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
Bouquet garni (thyme, parsley, bay leaf)
½ tsp. (2 ½ ml/3g) black peppercorns
2 Tbl. (30 ml/30g) butter

¼ lb. (115g) mushrooms, sliced
¼ lb (115g) bacon, diced

16 pearl onions, peeled (200g/7oz.)
Vegetable oil for frying
8 slices of baguette, ¼” (6mm) thick
2 Tbl. (30 ml/30g) butter, room temp.

2 Tbl. (30 ml/20g) flour

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat wine and stock together in a large pan and poach eggs a couple at a time for 3-4 min. Yolks should be firming but still a little soft. Set them aside.

2. Add the veggies, herbs, and peppercorns to the poaching liquid and let the sauce simmer until reduced to half volume. This will become the meurette sauce.

3. In a separate large skillet, melt 1 tbs. (15ml/15g) of the butter on medium-high heat and sauté the mushrooms until soft and then set aside. Add in another 1 tbs. (15ml/15g) butter and the bacon, frying until browned, then set aside on a paper towel. Turn down the heat to medium, add in the pearl onions and sauté until softened and browned. Then drain off the fat and add the bacon and mushrooms back to the pan and set aside off the heat for the moment.

4. In a medium skillet, heat a few tbs. of oil and then fry the baguette slices until browned on each side. Add more oil as needed. Set the fried bread (croûtes) on a paper towel and then place on a baking sheet in an oven that is set to 200F/95C/gas mark 1/4 or whatever your lowest setting is to keep them warm.

5. Blend 2 Tbl. (30ml/30g) butter and flour together to form a paste of sorts that will be used as the thickener for the sauce. Whisk this into the reduction sauce until the sauce starts to thicken.
Strain the sauce over the skillet of mushrooms, bacon and onions, and return the skillet to heat, bringing to a boil. Season with salt & pepper to taste, then set aside again.

6. Reheat the eggs by placing them in hot water for a quick minute. To serve, plate a poached egg on top of a croûte, and then ladle some of the mushrooms/bacon/onions and sauce on top.

NOTES/VARIATIONS:

I used the sauce from the Coq au Vin for the Oeufs de Meurette
I cracked the eggs into a pot of gently boiling water with vinegar
I use a very scientific method to check to see if the eggs are done - I touch them with my index finger
I usually drain the poached eggs on a paper towel

Blog-checking lines: Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

cook the books club - heat

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:10:00 +0000

Our current reading assignment for Cook the Books is Heat {An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany}, by Bill Buford.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Buford's telling of his experiences in various professional kitchens, particularly the tales of Mario Batali's kitchen in his three-star restaurant, Babbo. Based on my limited professional kitchen experience, I found his account to be entirely believable. Although most of my restaurant experience has been from the other side of the heat lamp as a server, I have witnessed first hand the ginormous egos that take up most of the room in these kitchens already lacking in space.

About twelve years ago, I had the opportunity to work in the kitchen of a restaurant. Friends of mine owned a small bistro that served a variety of foods, including steaks and gourmet burgers along with a few Greek specialties. I was between careers, at another "what am I going to do now?" interval in my life. They were short a cook and knowing first hand my abilities and my passion for food as we had shared many meals together, he asked me if I wanted to cook with him at the restaurant. Before I said yes, I considered the effect this might have on our friendship because we were very close friends and I didn't want to jeopardize this. My curiosity or my thirst for a challenge got the better of me and against my better judgment, I decided to give it a go. Before I go any further, I have to explain something here. He is Greek, as Greek as they come. Not that there is anything wrong with that but if you can imagine the healthy ego of a European man combined with the ginormous ego of a chef, you will understand why there was no room for me in that kitchen. I squeezed in anyways and had a little fun in the process before I decided I could no longer breathe. When I told him that I didn't think that the restaurant kitchen was for me, he said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!" We laughed about that for a long time. I am glad that I left before it was too late to laugh.

Near the end of the book, Mr. Buford comes to a realization.

"Alarmingly, we then left to get something to drink (Mario was parched), when he put the question to me again: so, a restaurant? And I realized: no. I did not want a restaurant. When I started, I hadn't wanted a restaurant. What I wanted was the know-how of people who ran restaurants. I didn't want to be a chef: just a cook."

As I read this, I found myself nodding. That was me: just a cook.

Throughout the book it is said over and over again that a good pasta dish is about the pasta, not the sauce. So I decided I would make fresh pasta for the first time and then at Mr. Batali's suggestion, top it off with just a basic tomato sauce in order to let the pasta take center stage.

Mario Batali's Basic Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Spanish onion, 1/4-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 medium carrot, finely grated
2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
Salt
Spaghetti, cooked al dente
Whole basil leaves, for garnish
Grated Parmesan, (optional)

Directions

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot, and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

When ready to use, the cooked pasta should be added to a saucepan with the appropriate
amount of sauce. Garnish with basil leaves and cheese, if using.

Note: I used a fresh pasta recipe from Giada de Laurentiis and the recipe will follow in a later post.

This is my submission to "Cook the Books" which is hosted by Rachel of the Crispy Cook, Deb of Kahakai Kitchen and Jo of Food Junkie, not Junk Food.

Grateful for Laughter and Twice Stuffed Turkeys

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 16:43:00 +0000

Yesterday was American Thanksgiving but in Canada, we celebrated over a month ago. This works out perfectly for me because I have a tendency to be late. So this is my Canadian Thanksgiving post just in time to coincide with American Thanksgiving. So depending on which country you are in, I am either tardy or timely.

Cooking has always been a passion of mine. Through my teen years I loved to cook and did a lot of it to help out my single, working mother. Holiday dinners and cooking turkeys, though, were ultimately the responsibility of my mother even though I helped her with every step of the process.

I was around twenty when I was setting up my first household and decided that I should invite everyone over to my house for Thanksgiving dinner. I was going to make the best Thanksgiving dinner any of us had ever had. There would be turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie from scratch. If they did not know that my middle name was Susie, as in Homemaker, they would surely find out soon.

I made the stuffing the way my mother always had: tear the bread, chop the onions, add the seasonings and the melted butter, and then stuff the cavity of the bird. While chopping the onions, I had a little accident that involved my finger and the knife and had to find a band-aid to quell the flow from my bleeding digit. No big deal, it was just one more incident in a series of kitchen mishaps. Carry on. I proceeded to stuff the bird using my hands to press the moist bread mixture as far into the cavity as I could. Next I seasoned the bird with poultry seasoning and other spices, laid sliced onions over top and put it in the roasting pan. I stood back to admire my work, proud of my accomplishment.

This feeling of pride was short lived because it was then that I realized that my band-aid was missing. I did not want to consider the possibilities of where it might be and, frantically, I searched everywhere – the counter, the floor, the garbage can– but it was nowhere to be found. I had no choice but to “unstuff” the bird. How many of you have “unstuffed” a bird before it was cooked? I emptied the contents of the bird’s cavern into a bowl and then moved it, piece by piece, to another bowl in an attempt to find the missing band-aid. Did I find it? No, but I felt fairly satisfied that it was not in the stuffing so I re-stuffed the turkey and placed it in the oven.

Before dinner, I did end up finding the elusive band-aid hiding in a corner on the floor where the baseboard and the wall met. I can’t tell you how relieved I was because even though I went through every single piece of stuffing and was fairly satisfied that the band-aid was not there, I still had visions of someone taking a bite and getting that odd look on their face. You know the look. The one that says, “I am not exactly sure what I just put in my mouth combined with how am I going to get it out of here as fast as I can without anyone noticing.”

The rest of the dinner went well. The mashed potatoes were buttery and creamy and the turkey moist and delicious. And then there was the stuffing. Well, the stuffing was superb, if I do say so myself, and only the beginning of what was to become known as my signature holiday dish. Everyone loves my stuffing. It is probably the one thing that my ex-husband misses about me so I often save some for him to send via my daughter.

It was only after dinner when we were all sated and languishing, in that comatose state that is only brought on by eating a turkey dinner, that I decided to share the story of my twice-stuffed turkey with my guests. We had a good laugh. Occasionally, over the years, this story has been retold and then we laugh again. I am grateful for this laughter.

This year I invited Giada to join us, teeth and all. She wanted to add lemon rind to my stuffing but I wouldn't let her. I don't thing she really "got" us but we did enjoy her mashed potato dish.

Baked Mashed Potatoes

with Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs

from Giada's Family Dinners, by Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well. Mix in the milk and melted butter. Mix in the mozzarella and 3/4 cup of the Parmesan. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish. Stir the bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the mashed potatoes. Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time; cover and chill.

Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

causing a stir

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 19:32:00 +0000

Risotto is the dish to make if you want to cause a stir because that is exactly what you will be doing for about a half an hour - stirring. This is the first time that I have made risotto but definitely not the last. It has all the makings of a comfort dish, especially this one by Giada de Laurentiis which includes vanilla and butternut squash. Mmm, creamy. This is not a dish to be making if you don't have a kitchen where you can visit with your guests while you are cooking because you will be tied to that pot for a while. You could always insist on a new kitchen before you make it. That would probably cause quite a stir.

Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto
from Giada's Kitchen - New Italian Favorites
by Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable broth
1 large vanilla bean
3 cups peeled cubed (1-inch wide) butternut squash, about 12 ounces
2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon
3/4 cups finely chopped onion (from 1 onion)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

Directions

In a medium saucepan, warm the broth over medium-high heat. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and add them, and the bean, to the broth. When the broth comes to a simmer reduce the heat to low. Add the butternut squash to the simmering broth and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the butternut squash to a side dish. Turn the heat on the broth down to very low and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to of the broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes total. Discard the vanilla bean. Turn off the heat. Gently stir in the butternut squash, Parmesan, the remaining tablespoon of butter, and salt. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl and sprinkle with chives. Serve
immediately.

Note: I used chicken broth instead of the vegetable broth.

ode to a pumpkin

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:06:00 +0000

Ode to a Pumpkin

Oh Pumpkin, Oh Pumpkin, how great thou art

There are all sorts of recipes of which you're a part

Your orange globule presence is everywhere

In magazines, on doorsteps and the food blogosphere

It must be the season for your merits to be shown

We all want to claim you and make you our own

In muffins and cookies and casseroles and soups

You must use a pumpkin to remain in the loop

Oh Pumpkin, Oh Pumpkin, you're a glorified gourd

But frankly, I admit you're making me bored

So here is my recipe, I've had my fun

I've cooked with a pumpkin and now I am done

Pumpkin and sweet potato puree
with orange and thyme

from Fine Cooking Magazine Oct/Nov 2010

Online here

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 Tbs. unsalted butter; more for the baking sheet
1 small (1-1/2 lb.) Sugar Pie pumpkin
1 medium (2- to 2-1/4 -lb.) Sugar Pie pumpkin
1 large (14- to 16-oz.) sweet potato
2 Tbs. light brown sugar
1 tsp. finely grated orange zest
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F.
Generously butter a rimmed baking sheet. Cut the small pumpkin in half lengthwise and put it cut side down on the baking sheet. Cut a 1/2-inch lid from the stem end of the medium pumpkin and put both pieces cut side down on the same baking sheet. Cut the sweet potato in half lengthwise and place cut side down on the same baking sheet.

Cover the vegetables tightly with foil and bake until the sweet potato and halved pumpkin are very tender, and the larger pumpkin is tender when pierced with fork, about 1-1/2 hours. Let stand until cool enough to handle.

Scoop the seeds from the halved pumpkin and discard. Remove the skin and put the flesh in a food processor. Peel the sweet potato and add it to the processor, along with the butter, brown sugar, orange zest, and thyme. Purée until smooth and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Scoop the seeds from the larger pumpkin, leaving the shell and flesh intact. Season the inside of the pumpkin lightly with salt and pepper. Transfer the purée to the pumpkin shell and top with the lid. (If you can’t fit all the purée, put the remainder in a small baking dish, cover, and bake alongside the pumpkin.) Put the pumpkin on the baking sheet and bake until the pumpkin and purée are heated through, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and serve, spooning the purée from the pumpkin.

Notes:

I added Rosemary and garlic to this recipe because I am on a Rosemary kick right now and garlic is a must.
I have nothing against pumpkins or those that choose to cook with them. I was just taking note of how many pumpkin inspired recipes there are right now. A lot.

rouladen - regional recipes Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 04:57:00 +0000

Our next stop on the Regional Recipes tour is Germany. Joanne from Eats Well With Others chose Germany this month for obvious reasons. Yes, Oktoberfest. Can you imagine? An entire festival dedicated to drinking beer, eating hearty food and singing oompah pah at the top of your lungs. ~~Barbaric!~~ Fun!

The whole premise of Oktoberfest actually sounds like a meeting of the Starfish Club. These "meetings" usually involve lots of food, free flowing beer or wine and definitely a whole lot of singing. Our mantra: Sing like there's nobody listening............or looking, as the case may be. A picture is worth a thousand words. Need I say more?

Rouladen
Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients
2 lbs ~~beef~~ moose round steak, cut and pounded into thin slices
1 medium onion, chopped fine
5 slices bacon, chopped fine
3 large dill pickles, chopped fine
1/4 cup Dijon mustard or grainy German mustard
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup red wine
4 tbsp flour

Directions
Cut round steak into thin slices and if necessary use meat tenderizer to pound meat to an approximate 1/4 inch thickness. To minimize the mess, cover the meat with plastic wrap before you pound it.

Saute bacon and onion until onion is translucent, approximately 5 minutes over medium heat. In a small bowl mix onions, bacon and pickles.

Spread a thin layer of mustard over each slice of meat, followed by a thin layer of the bacon mixture.

Roll each piece of meat into a "log" and secure with a couple of toothpicks.

Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a large skillet and place the rolls of meat into the skillet. Brown the meat over medium to high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the beef stock and red wine. Cover and simmer for a few hours. Add a little water to the pan as necessary.

Remove meat rolls from the pan and make a gravy with the remaining juices by adding a flour and water mixture, ensuring that the flour is mixed into the water well to avoid lumps. Increase heat to medium high and add flour mixture to pan while stirring with a whisk. Continue stirring until the gravy has thickened to the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon gravy over the meat rolls and serve with mashed potatoes or spaetzle. Guten Appetit!

categories and cravings

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 20:27:00 +0000

I often find myself categorizing my dinner guests according to their food and drink preferences. After someone has sat at my table a few times, I will usually know which categories they fall into.

For instance, I will know if you like red or white wine and whether or not you are a beer drinker and if so, do you prefer a lager or a pale ale? In our house, there are two categories of beer: Corona and brown shi#*. Can you tell which one I like?

I will know whether you are a ~~boring~~ traditional meat and potatoes sort or if you have an adventurous palate and are up to trying different ethnic foods. And if so, what level of heat do you like/can you stand? I have three categories: Wimp, Middle of the Road and Masochistic. So tell me, are you hot or not?

Do you like seafood? If not, I will usually make you try a fresh Sockeye Salmon dish, at least once, because this fish has been known to convert more than a few non-believers. In my opinion, it is the least fishy of fish. GWH likes to push the raw oysters on our guests because he simply cannot understand how anyone could not like these little morsels of oceanic ambrosia. I have discovered that under the right circumstances, i.e. lots and lots of champagne, that they are actually pretty good; the taste is reminiscent of a light ocean breeze. Did I mention that he insists that you chew them? Eww, right?!

Do you have a sweet tooth? There are some people that you can count on to have dessert. Every. Single. Time. You barely have the question out of your mouth and they are nodding their heads in agreement, fork in hand and a gleam in their eye because they know that their craving for sweet will soon be satisfied.

And speaking of cravings, how do you feel about chocolate? Are you passionate about it? Do you crave it? Do you hide it in the freezer? And if so, do you prefer milk, dark or white? This week's theme at I Heart Cooking Clubs is Chocolate Cravings and I chose to make Chocolate Pizza from Giada's Family Dinners cookbook. As you will notice, in this recipe there are three different flavours of chocolate to satisfy each category of chocolate lover. Although, because all the chocolates are melted together, this really will not work for those in the "all foods must be kept separate and cannot touch" category.

Chocolate Pizza

Ingredients
1 pound homemade pizza dough, recipe follows, or purchased pizza dough
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/4 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, toasted
Position the oven rack on the bottom of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.

Directions
Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough to a 9-inch-diameter round. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. Using your fingers, make indentations all over the dough. Brush the dough with butter, then bake until the crust is crisp and pale golden brown, about 20 minutes. Immediately spread the chocolate-hazelnut spread over the pizza then sprinkle all the chocolate chips over. Bake just until the chocolate begins to melt, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the pizza. Cut into wedges and serve.

Pizza Dough:

Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for bowl

Directions
Mix the warm water and yeast in a small bowl to blend. Let stand until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor to blend. Blend in the oil. With the machine running, add the yeast mixture and blend just until the dough forms. Turn the dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm draft-free area until the dough doubles in volume, about 1 hour. Punch the down dough and form into ball. The dough can be used immediately or stored airtight in the refrigerator for 1 day.

Notes:

I used Pilsbury pizza dough.
I sprinkled a little brown sugar on the outer edge of the pizza crust.
I added dried cranberries and used pecans instead of hazelnuts.
Next time I would reduce the cooking time for the crust as I found it took a little longer than one minute to melt the chocolate and the crust was a little too hard.

I have linked this post to the following sites.

smorgasbord for the senses

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:01:00 +0000

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival which was held at the Granville Island Market. It was a veritable smorgasbord for the senses.

The famous Market is a foodie's paradise and my eyes thirstily drank in the beautiful displays - luscious blackberries piled in a blue-black pyramid; fresh, tender balls of boccoccini; jellied, rosemary chicken confit; and elaborate, exquisite desserts that were too lovely to eat.

My ears tingled with pleasure as they listened to the many authors of various genres share their insightful advice and read from their own works, published and unpublished, but my ears were especially thankful to experience the men's choir, Chor Leoni, perform alongside the author, Jack Hodgins, as he read from his numerous and humorous tomes. It stirred my soul.

The feel of the intermittent, cool, light breeze on my face, as we dined al fresco on the balcony of the Sandbar Restaurant overlooking False Creek, was so refreshing in the otherwise, balmy October air. From this vantage point, we had a most perfect view of the city lights.

And of course, I could not give a sensory account of the weekend without mentioning the cornucopia of tastes and smells - sweet and sour lemon chicken; white-chocolate latte with chocolate whip (oh, em, gee!); warm, cinnamon crepes; deep, rich Shiraz; lemon-zested Dungeness crab cakes; tender, sweet, lightly-battered calamari; crispy bacon and fried eggs with baked beans; tender Chinese dumplings dipped in a light, sweet soy sauce; the salty, sweet air of the ocean breeze (happy place!); fresh, crusty bread dipped in Balsamic vinegar reduction and extra virgin olive oil; globes of creamy chocolate; sharp, herbed, pungent Cheddar cheese; Sockeye Salmon with Red Curry-Coconut Sauce alongside aromatic Basmati rice and delicately flavoured fresh, plump, raspberries in a salad of crisp tender greens and so much more.

Our hotel suite was equipped with a full on kitchen so we decided to stay in for dinner on Saturday night. We enjoyed the view of Vancouver, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, through the floor to ceiling windows of our lofty suite. The low, sexy strains of Leonard Cohen permeated the room as we supped on fresh Sockeye salmon and sipped on deep, dark aromatic red wine. Very Canadiana don't you think. Hard to take.

Sockeye Salmon with Red Curry-Coconut Sauce

adapted from In the Kitchen The Costco Way

Ingredients

1 13 1/2 oz. can coconut milk

1 cup tomato basil sauce

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 cube chicken bouillon

1 tsp red curry paste

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper

4-6 to 8 oz. salmon fillets

In a medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, tomato sauce, ginger, chicken bouillion, and curry paste. Bring sauce to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; immediately lower temperature to medium-low and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro and remove from the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile brush the salmon with vegetable oil and season to taste with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill for 3 - 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked to taste.

Pour the sauce over the salmon and serve wth rice.

Notes:

1. I used some leftover Marinara sauce with basil added instead of the tomato basil sauce.

2. For the red curry paste, I used Patak's vindaloo sauce.

3. I baked the salmon in the oven for about twenty minutes.

Photo Credit: Sandra Fiedler

memories of manicotti at midnight

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:06:00 +0000

I have always been a foodie. I have fond memories of Easy Bake Ovens and tea parties with leftover pancake sandwiches. Even as a teenager, when, as we all know our focus can become a little obscured, I stayed steady on the food path.

I remember one particular night where we were hanging out with the "gang", back in the day that's what we did in small town Canada, my girlfriend and I decided that we were hungry and that we were going to go back to her house to have "something to eat". Now when you picture "something to eat" for a teenager that usually means Kraft Dinner or Pizza Pops, right? Something that requires the least amount of effort. Not for us. We were food snobs, even then. We were craving something hearty and real.

After perusing the cupboards for possibilities, we decided on making Manicotti at midnight. We gathered the ingredients, took out the pots and pans and thawed the meat in the microwave. We then proceeded to make the Manicotti along with lots of noise and a big mess, I am sure. Her poor mother.

I don't think that I have actually made Manicotti since that night but it is said that food evokes memories, right? But what about metabolism? Can food bring back your metabolism? The last time I had Manicotti, I was definitely a lot lighter and this pasta diet seems to be working for Giada de Laurentiis as well. So I decided to try her Manicotti recipe and here it is, my new weight loss plan.

Giada de Laurentiis
Photo by Gavin Bond

Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 small onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

2 dried bay leaves

Directions

In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)

Beef and Cheese Manicotti

Ingredients

4 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 pound ground ~~beef~~ moose
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
14 (8-ounce package) manicotti
1 (15-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta
3 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup grated Parnesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups Marinara Sauce (recipe above)
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

Directions
Heat a heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil, onion and ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until the meat browns and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and cool.

Brush 1 teaspoon of oil over a large baking sheet. Cook the manicotti in a large pot of boiling salted water until slightly softened, but still very firm to the bite, about 4 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the manicotti from the pot to the oiled baking sheet and cool.

Meanwhile, combine the ricotta, 1 1/2 to 2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, and mix. Stir the cooled meat mixture into the cheese mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil over a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Fill the manicotti with the cheese-meat mixture. Arrange the stuffed pasta in a single layer in the prepared dish and spoon the remaining sauce over.

Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese, then the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan over the stuffed pasta. Dot entire dish with the butter pieces. Bake the manicotti uncovered until heated through and the sauce bubbles on the sides of the dish, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the manicotti stand 5 minutes and serve.

grape leaves stuffed with ground moose and rice

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:16:00 +0000

I remember a neighborhood that I lived in long ago and the first time we were invited across the street to join our neighbors for dinner. These particular neighbors owned a restaurant and he was as Greek as they come. I decided that I would bring Spanacopita to dinner. One of the other guests remarked that she thought that I was pretty nervy to be bringing Spanacopita to this particular house. I really hadn't thought anything of it until she mentioned it.

This was the beginning of a long friendship borne of a common appreciation for good food and good wine. We shared many meals together, simple and extravagant, and from them I learned to make several Greek dishes. Moussaka was a Greek dish that I tackled on my own, though, and he said that mine was better than his mother's.

They would often go to visit YaYa, as they called his mother, driving for about an hour both ways. When they returned it was almost certain that they would be bringing dolmades made by YaYa's loving hands and they would often share them with us. We would eat them cold with our fingers as a snack and they were usually accompanied by beer. It was a good combination.

Over the years venues change and people come and go but the memories linger. For me, these memories most often seem to take the form of meals shared. I haven't seen either of them for many years now but when I saw that this month's Daring Cooks challenge was to make dolmades, I was excited because this is one of the Greek dishes that I had never made. So, I know you are wondering, did I make a dish worthy of sharing at a Greek's dinner table? All I can say is...YaYa would have been proud.

Grape Leaves Stuffed with Ground Meat and Rice
with Apricot Tamarind Sauce/ Yebra
Adapted from Aromas of Aleppo by Poopa Dweck and Michael J. Cohen. Published by Harper Collins, 2007

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Hashu/Filling

Ingredients
1 pound (455 gm) ground (minced) ~~beef~~ moose
1/3 cup (80 ml) (2 1/3 oz) (65 gm) short grain rice
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) all spice
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) cinnamon
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) kosher (coarse) salt
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) white pepper
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup (5½ oz) (150 gm) pine nuts **optional**

Directions:
Soak rice in water, enough to cover, for 30 minutes. Combine meat, rice, allspice, vegetable oil, cinnamon, salt, white pepper, onions, garlic and if desired, pine nuts, in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.

If using grape leaves preserved in brine, put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them to remove the salt. Make sure that the water penetrates well between the layers and leave them soaking for about twenty minutes and then change the water a time or two using fresh cold water. If using fresh leaves, plunge a few at a time in boiling water for a few seconds only, until they become limp, and lift them out.

Ingredients for assembly:
1 pound (455 gm) hashu/filling (see recipe above)
36 preserved grape leaves, stems trimmed, drained, rinsed and patted dry
1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil
6 dried apricots – or more if you desire
3 tablespoons (45 ml) tamarind concentrate
¼ cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (9 gm) kosher (coarse) salt

Directions

Place a grape leaf on a flat surface, vein side up. You can trim the little stem if you would like.
Place about two teaspoons (10 ml) of the filling in the center of the leaf, near the stem edge.
Roll the leaf end to end, starting from the stem edge. As you roll, fold the sides of the leaf in toward the center. The leaf should resemble a small cigar, about 2 to 2 1/2 inches (50 mm to 65mm) long.
Repeat with the remaining leaves and filling.(You can freeze the stuffed grape leaves at this point. Just line a baking sheet with wax paper. When firmly frozen, transfer to an airtight plastic bag place back in the freezer.)

In a medium saucepan put in the vegetable oil and then place the filled grape leaves in the pot with the seam at the bottom.
Place apricots in between the stuffed grape leaves. Cover and cook over low heat for 5- 8 minutes or until the grape leaves begin to sweat.
Using all three tablespoons, place a little of the tamarind concentrate over the rolls.
Combine lemon juice, salt, and water and then add to pan, filling it ¾ full.
Weigh down the grape leaves with a heat proof plate or board to prevent them from unraveling. Cover and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes. Alternatively, place the saucepan in an oven preheated to moderate 350°F/180°C and cook for an hour.
Spoon cooking liquid over the grape leaves occasionally. You will know they are done, when the grape leaves are neither soupy nor dry.
Tilt pan sideways over serving platter, allowing the grape leaves to tumble out. Try not to handle them individually to reduce unraveling. Alternately you can try spooning them out very gently.

Notes:
Tamarind paste can be found at Asian, Mexican or Indian grocers. You can also find the pods (a little more difficult) and make the paste yourself. It is akin to a sweet/tangy tea flavor.

Blog-checking lines: Our October 2010 hostess, Lori of Lori’s Lipsmacking Goodness, has challenged The Daring Cooks to stuff grape leaves. Lori chose a recipe from Aromas of Aleppo and a recipe from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food.

teriyaki cedar-planked salmon with fruit salsa

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 03:33:00 +0000

This year in the Pacific Northwest, we had the largest Sockeye Salmon run since 1913. My freezer and I are very grateful for this event. Of course, GWH was out fishing every moment that he could. He often got up at three in the morning just so that they could get out there and secure their "spot". That's dedicated..... or crazy. Nonetheless, I am glad that he is crazy because now I have salmon in the freezer.

During this fishing frenzy, we had company from Arizona and I wanted to cook a meal that represented our local flavours. I decided on Teriyaki cedar-planked salmon with fruit salsa.

GWH has a "famous" Teriyaki sauce recipe that he has used for years and he brags about how good it is. And it is good. Very good. It is so good that all I had to do was add a little honey to the recipe. He didn't think this was necessary and he really didn't want me messing with his "famous" recipe. So I explained it to him like this. Just think of me as the honey. Like the sauce, you were good before the "honey" was added but now you are better. Ahh, he says.

GWH's "Famous" Teriyaki Sauce

He makes this sauce in bulk and then stores it in the fridge in the soy sauce tin.

4 liters Kikkoman soya sauce

1 lb. garlic cloves

1 lb ginger root

4 oz. green onion

26 oz. Demererra sugar

9 oz. cooking sherry

2 tsp. olive oil

Coarsely chop all ingredients.

Mix all ingredients in large pot. Bring to boil, simmer for 40 minutes. Refrigerate overnight and strain next day.

Teriyaki Cedar-Planked Salmon

1 Salmon, filleted
2 cups GWH "Famous" Teriyaki Sauce
1 cup honey

Soak the cedar plank over night in a cooler or large bucket filled with water. You may need something heavy to submerge the plank.

Marinate the salmon in the Teriyaki Sauce for at least two hours. Remove salmon to cedar planks and reserve marinade. Mix marinade with honey to create a glaze. Spread glaze over salmon.

Place cedar planks on hot barbecue and cook until done approximately 1/2 an hour, depending on the size of the fish.

The plank will smolder and create a smoky flavour throughout the salmon.

Serve with fruit salsa.

dinner with destiny

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:12:00 +0000

Do you believe in destiny? I do.

Here is destiny as defined by the Free Dictionary by Farlex:

destiny [ˈdɛstɪnɪ]n pl -nies

1. the future destined for a person or thing; fate; fortune; lot

2. the predetermined or inevitable course of events

3. (Philosophy) the ultimate power or agency that predetermines the course of events

I believe that there were a series of unexplainable events that prompted me to make this particular dish. You too will be a believer once you hear my account of the events as they occurred.

First of all, friends of mine traveled all the way to Japan to get me this cute, little soy sauce server. Wasn't that nice of them and why did they pick Japan?

Really, it was just a coincidence that their son was living there at the time.

Then, recently, I attended a cooking class that was taught by the chef from one of my favourite restaurants. This restaurant was in Vancouver for over thirty years and recently closed due to leasing issues. I was very sad to see it go. One of the last times that I was there, I had a tuna appetizer that was to die for. At the cooking class, I discovered from this chef that the secret was in the togarashi spice.

Do you think the restaurant closed just so this chef could be free to teach a cooking class that I would attend?! Freaky, huh?

Then my mother brought me some togareshi spice.... you see where I'm going with this, right?

Then about a month ago, I came upon this blog called Regional Recipes which is hosted by Joanne of Eats Well With Others. The participants of this blog cook their way around the globe visiting a new country every month. And you will never guess where we are going this month. Actually, you probably will. Yup, you guessed it. JAPAN. How weird is that? Is that not destiny?

Okay, there is one more thing. I know you really don't need anymore convincing but it is what it is. When I searched the internet for a recipe using tuna with togarashi spice, this is the recipe that I came up with and I only, just now as I neared the end of this post, noticed the significance in the name. And that's the truth. Too funny.

Karma's Togareshi-seared ahi tuna

2 teaspoons shichimi togarashi (available at Asian markets)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 pound fresh ahi tuna

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Combine the seasonings well, then coat the tuna with them. In a large, hot saute pan, add the sesame oil, then sear the tuna evenly on all sides till desired doneness.

Remove from the pan, slice and keep warm until serving time. 2 servings.

Orange-ponzu cream sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons cooking sherry
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 pound butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Kosher salt and ground pepper

Simmer the soy, citrus juices and sherry in a saucepan until reduced by half. Lower the heat, add in the evaporated milk and simmer for 2 minutes. In a ramekin, add about 1/4 cup of water to the cornstarch to create a paste. Whisk into sauce until slightly thickened. Take off stove top and whisk in the soft butter, a little at a time, until dissolved. Season with salt and pepper. Makes about 2/3 cup.

Both of these recipes were adapted from this site.

I loved this dish. The meaty consistency of the tuna is unlike any other fish that I have eaten. Even in the photo above it looks like sliced steak, doesn't it?

Photo credits go to my daughter, Kyla Macdonald.

GWH - gentleman who hunts

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:45:00 +0000

It is that time of year again: hunting season. My husband, GWH, goes hunting every year. It is his passion. And every year at the end of the hunt, he starts planning for next year’s hunt. He lives, eats, breathes hunting and plans everything to the umpteenth degree.

GWH stands for Great White Hunter, as a few friends and I jokingly call him, but it may as well stand for Gentleman Who Hunts. When you think of a hunter, do you conjure an image of some trigger-happy, red neck in an Elmer Fudd hat whose main goal is to put a trophy head on his wall?

Think again. When I think of a hunter, I think of someone who is passionate about nature and the outdoors, someone who cares about the future of the animals that he hunts as well as their ecological environment. I think about someone who is honest about where his food comes from and only takes what he needs, someone who appreciates that the lives of these animals are used to sustain ours. I think about someone who is dedicated to carrying on these traditions and passing them on to future generations, traditions that promote companionship, camaraderie, and respect for nature.

For me, to sit down to a table knowing that the meat that we are eating is completely organic, from an animal that lived in its natural environment, is very satisfying. Yes, I used to be one of those who were squeamish at the mere mention of wild meat. But seriously, people, our meat does not come from a conveyor belt in the meat factory.

So, alas, my Robin Hood will leave me once again. I have learned to keep my whining to a minimum. (You’re going for how long?!) I know better than to try to stifle his passions just as he knows it would be futile to try to stop me from reading, writing or cooking but I will miss him, dearly, once again. Be safe, GWH.

Chili-Lime Moose Meatballs

Glaze
¼ cup (50 mL) soy sauce
2 tbsp (30 mL) lime juice

2 tsp (1 mL) ginger root
2 tsp (10 mL) curry paste
2 garlic cloves, pressed

¼ cup (50 mL) honey

Meatballs
1 lb (450 g) ground moose

¼ cup (50 mL) plain dried bread crumbs
1 egg
2 tsp (10 mL) grated fresh ginger root

¾ tsp (4 mL) salt

1 garlic clove, pressed

¼ tsp (1 mL) ground cayenne pepper

2 tsp (10 mL) curry paste
2 green onions, sliced
Lime wedges (optional)

Whisk together soy sauce, lime juice, ginger root, curry paste, honey and garlic in small bowl.

Combine moose meat, bread crumbs, egg, ginger root, salt, garlic cayenne pepper and curry paste in a medium bowl; mix well.

Using level small scoop, form moose mixture into 40 meatballs. Place meatballs in (12-in./30-cm) skillet; cook over medium-high heat 8-10 minutes or until browned, turning frequently.

Remove skillet from heat. Pour glaze into skillet; stir meatballs to coat. Place meatballs onto serving platter and top with green onions. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Yield: 20 servings
U.S. Nutrients per serving (2 meatballs and about 2 tsp/10 mL sauce): Calories 70, Total Fat 3.5 g,
Saturated Fat 1.5 g, Cholesterol 25 mg, Carbohydrate 4 g, Protein 5 g, Sodium 200 mg, Fiber 0 g

Note: Meatballs can be cooked and frozen 3 days in advance. To reheat, place frozen meatballs in skillet with ¼ cup (50 mL) water. Cover; heat 7-8 minutes or until hot. Remove from heat; stir in glaze.

Curry Paste: I used Patak's Vindaloo Curry Paste. A red Thai curry paste would work as well.

cook the books club - climbing the mango trees

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:21:00 +0000

Our current reading selection for Cook the Books Club is Climbing the Mango Trees - A Memoir of a Childhood in India, by Madhur Jaffrey. If you are looking for a book that provides insight into Indian food and culture with a little history lesson thrown in, then you will find it here. If you are looking for a memoir that reads like a novel complete with plot and character development, this is not it.

Certainly, there were moments of intrigue and whimsy. Such was the story of the Lady in White who made a frothy ambrosial drink from dried seafoam and dew.

"It was, indeed, the most ephemeral of fairy dishes, a frothy evanescence that disappeared as soon as it touched the tongue, a winter specialty requiring dew as an ingredient. Whenever I asked the Lady in White how it was made, she would sigh a mysterious sigh and say, "Oh, child, I am one of the few women left in the whole city of Dehli who can make this. I am so old and it is such hard work. What shall I tell you?"

This book is filled with cooking methods and recipes but does not go much further than that, which is fine because she does this well. I loved the descriptions of school lunches with her friends when they all unpacked their tiffin-carriers and she compared the different foods that they had brought. Their various religions played a dominant role in those differences.

"Sudha's food was as Jain as Abida and Zahida's was Muslim. It was completely vegetarian, devoid of onion and garlic, as those bulbs were thought to arouse base passions; devoid of tomatoes and beets, as their color was reminiscent of blood; and contained no real root vegetables, as pulling out roots killed the entire plant."

I find it quite ironic that Madhur Jaffrey has made such a success out of cooking and did not learn to cook until she had left home. Her mother taught her to cook by "air mail" when she found herself longing for the tastes of home and had no kitchen or servants to order her food from. She had to do it herself if she wanted to eat in the manner which she was accustomed.

I tried to order some food from my "kitchen" but nobody listened so I had to do it myself. First of all, I had to do the shopping because I couldn't find any servant to do it for me. As I enter the Indian grocery store, the sounds of a loud Indian voice ululating from the radio greets me, the rich, exotic aroma of Indian cooking fills the air and of course there are posters of Bollywood movie stars on the walls . It was like being transported, just for a moment, to another country. I had been there before but this time I noted my surroundings, carefully. As always, I walked in with a list in my hand and was immediately asked if I needed any help. Do you think I looked out of place? Probably. Here comes the white girl thinking she can cook like an Indian woman. I am sure they snickered behind their hands. Well, I showed them as I walked out of there with my spices and my twenty pound bag of Chapati flour. "How may Rotis do you think I will get from this bag of flour," I jokingly asked. "Oh, you have no idea," she said. She was right, I had no clue but I was ready for some serious roti making.

I gathered all the ingredients on my counter. It made a colourful display reminiscent of a foreign marketplace so I had to take a picture.

Then I ordered some Rotis from the kitchen. The recipe for this flat bread is pretty basic. I used 3 cups of Chapati flour, about 1 1/4 cups of water and about 3 tablespoons olive oil. Mix all of these ingredients together to create a dough. Knead for about seven minutes and then let the dough rest for about 2 hours. Separate the dough into balls and roll each ball out into a fairly thin circle using more Chapati flour for dusting.

I cooked the Rotis over medium heat on a round cast-iron pan called a tawa. When the colour changes and bubbles appear, turn it over. Spread butter or ghee over the cooked side.

Serve warm.

With Cucumber Raita. Mix 1 cup of plain, thick yogurt with 1/2 cup drained, chopped cucumber, 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin and 5 tablespoons chopped cilantro. This yogurt mixture serves to cut the heat of the spicy Indian foods and it is really quite delicious with Rotis.

The next dish that I ordered from the kitchen was this one.

Madhur Jaffrey's Basmati rice with dill and cardamom.

Serves 6 or more

Use a gentle folding action to stir the rice for this delicious pilaf, since it is very delicate and, as Jaffrey pithily points out, "You have paid for whole grains, not broken bits."

The quantities are generous, but leftovers are good cold as a basis for a rice salad with chopped tomatoes and fresh coriander.

A 16floz/500ml measure of basmati rice

3 tbsp olive oil

One 3 inch/8cm cinnamon stick

5 whole cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

Half a small onion (about 2½oz/85g), sliced into fine rings

Small bunch dill, chopped

22floz/650ml chicken stock (Waitrose Cooks Ingredients stock is a good ready-made option)

Put the rice in a bowl and pour over enough water to cover. Swill the rice around with your hands, then drain through a sieve. Repeat several times, until the water is clear not cloudy.Drain, then add fresh water to cover generously and leave to soak for 30 minutes before draining again.

Pour the oil into a heavy pan, one which has a tight-fitting lid and will just fit the cooked rice. Set on a medium heat and when the oil is hot add the cinnamon stick, cardamom and bay leaves.

Stir for five seconds, then put in the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion turns reddish brown.

Add the rice and dill. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir until the rice grains look translucent (about two minutes). Add the stock, plus about 1 tsp salt if the stock is unsalted, and bring to the boil.

Cover tightly. Reduce the heat to very low and cook for 25 minutes.

Keep covered in the pan until you are ready to eat.

Then from the kitchen, I ordered:

Madhur Jaffrey's South indian-style stir-fried green beans

Serves 4-6

In India a kind of lentil called urad dal is used to add crunch and a nutty flavour, but peanuts also work well. Asafoetida is a resin with a pungent smell which softens on cooking to a musky scent Jaffrey describes as "truffle-like". It's excellent with beans and vegetables.

12oz/340g French beans cut into 1inch/2.5cm pieces

1 tbsp peanuts (not roasted)

1 tbsp olive oil

¹/3 tsp ground asafoetida

1 tsp whole mustard seeds

2 dried hot red chillies

8-10 fresh curry leaves (optional)

¼-½ tsp cayenne pepper

Half a lemon (optional)

Bring a large pan of water (about 3½ pints/2.2L) to the boil, add 1 tbsp salt and the beans. Boil hard for four minutes until the beans are cooked through. Drain and cool under a cold tap. Meanwhile, crush the peanuts in a pestle and mortar into peppercorn-sized pieces. Pour the oil into a frying pan or wok and set over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the asafoetida, mustard seeds, peanuts and whole dried chillies. As soon as the mustard seeds pop, tip in the drained beans and the curry leaves, if using. Turn off the heat. Toss well, add the cayenne and season with salt.Heat up over a gentle heat and serve, squeezing over a little lemon juice at the last minute if you like.

From an article published at Telegraph.co.uk

The dishes kept pouring from the kitchen.

Madhur Jaffrey's Chickpeas cooked in tea - Dhabay Kay Chanay

"Cooked in tea? You might well ask! This is the trick that all the vendors at truck stops use to give their chickpeas a traditional dark appearance. The tea –leftover tea may be used here – leaves no aftertaste. It just alters the colour of the chick peas.For speed, I have used canned chickpeas. As they are already cooked, they need just 10 minutes of gentle simmering to absorb the flavourings. I have also used canned chopped tomatoes. If you wish to substitute fresh, chop them very finely and use 1/2 cup instead of 1/4 cup.This chickpea dish may be served with store-bought pita bread, a yogurt relish, and some pickles or salad. It could also be served as a snack or as part of a more elaborate meal with meat or chicken, a green vegetable, and rice."

Serves 4 to 5
2 cans (19 oz each) chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
¼ cup vegetable oil
generous pinch ground asafetida, optional
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium-small onion (6 oz), peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
¼ cup canned chopped tomatoes
2 tsp peeled, finely grated ginger
1¼ cups prepared tea (use a plain black tea; water may
be substituted)
1-2 fresh, hot green chilies, cut into very fine rounds (do
not remove seeds)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground toasted cumin seeds
1 tsp store-bought garam masala
3-4 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Drain the chickpeas. Rinse them gently with fresh water. Drain again. Put the oil in a wide pan and set over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the asafetida. Let it sizzle for a second. Now put in the cumin seed sand let them sizzle for about 15 seconds. Put in the onion. Stir and fry until the onion turns quite brown
at the edges. Put in the garlic and let it turn golden, stirring as this happens. Now put in the tomatoes.
Stir and cook them until they turn dark and thick.Add the ginger and give a few good stirs. Now put
in the chickpeas and all the remaining ingredients.Bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and simmer,
uncovered, for about 10 minutes, stirring gently now and then. Taste for balance of flavours and make
necessary adjustments.
From Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick & Easy Indian Cooking
© 2007 Chronicle Books

Madhur Jaffrey's Salmon with mustard seed and coriander

For marinating the fish:
2lb/900g skinless salmon fillet (ideally cut from the thicker end of the fillet)
¹/3 tsp cayenne pepper
¹/3 tsp ground turmeric

For the sauce:
3 tsp whole brown mustard seeds
1½ tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp curry powder (Jaffrey uses Bolst's hot curry powder, available from www.indianfoodandspices.co.uk, but any curry powder will do)
½ tsp cayenne pepper
6oz/180g tomatoes, coarsely grated (messy, but possible – the skins will be left in your hand)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp whole fennel seeds
15-20 fresh curry leaves or 6 bay leaves or fresh coriander

Cut the salmon into matchbox-sized pieces.
Mix the cayenne and turmeric with ¹/3 tsp salt and rub the mixture into both sides of the fish. Put in a plastic bag or a covered dish and refrigerate for at least one, and up to six, hours.
Now make the sauce. In a clean coffee grinder or mini food processor, grind 2½ tsp of the mustard seeds. (You could also do this with a pestle and mortar and lots of elbow grease, or even use mustard powder.) Put the ground mustard in a bowl with the coriander, cumin, turmeric, curry powder, cayenne, tomatoes, ¾ tsp salt and 4floz/110ml water. Mix well.
Heat the oil in a wide, shallow pan (a deepish frying pan or sauté pan is ideal) over a medium-high heat. Add the remaining mustard seeds and as soon as they begin to pop add the fennel seeds. Stir and pour in the spice mixture and another 8floz/225ml water.
Add the curry leaves, if you have them, or bay leaves. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 10 minutes. (At this point the sauce can be cooled and refrigerated for several hours.)
To cook the fish, reheat the sauce (in the wide, shallow pan again) and lay the fish in it. It's important the fish cooks in a single layer, so if you are doubling the quantities, use two pans.
Simmer for five minutes, then carefully turn the fish and cook for another 4-5 minutes until just about done.
Scatter with coriander (if you aren't using curry or bay leaves) and serve with rice or naan.

From an article published at Telegraph.co.uk

Photo credits go to my good friend, Karen Dyck, who was happy to have her first paid photo gig. I paid her in food. It was a win/win, I think.

Banana Bread Pudding with Rummm Rummm Sauce - Regional Recipes August

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:24:00 +0000

A few of years ago we took a Caribbean Cruise and our first port of call was San Juan, Puerto Rico. We had about eight hours in port and decided to poke around. Hmm, what to do?

Perhaps, the Historic District of Old San Juan. I love old buildings. This sounded perfect. We didn't do this.

How about Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve with its mangroves, boardwalk trails, and manatees. Sounds wonderful, right? We didn't do this either.

It would have been just like us to find some authentic, local restaurant with a delicious sounding name such as Ramiro's or Ajili Mójili so that we could experience some of the local flavours. I believe this is one of the best ways to get a feel for a place and its people. That makes sense, right?. Yes, it does. But we didn't do this either.

So where did we go, you ask? Well, after we were herded off the ship in cattle-like fashion, we headed straight to the Bacardi Rum Factory. Yes, rummm, rummm. (This is said in a way that sounds like you are making car engine noises) Rummm, rummm, rummm. Yes, that's it.

GWH loves rummm, rummm, especially dark rum and we were not visiting the Caribbean without paying homage to the Rum Gods.

The Temple of Rum

The Wall of Rum

The God of Rum

So we went, we learned and we sampled. And we bought rum.

There is actually a point to me telling you about our trip to Puerto Rico three years ago. Regional Recipes has chosen Puerto Rico as its culinary destination this month. As I thought about Puerto Rico and recalled our trip to the Bacardi Rum Factory, it was obvious to me that I had to make a dish that involved rummm, rummm. Here it is:

Banana Bread Pudding with Rummm Rummm Sauce

Ingredients

Pudding
6 slices whole wheat bread, cubed
4 Eggs
4 bananas, sliced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups warm water
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Rum Sauce
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp dark or amber rum

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Place bread cubes into 6 small, greased souffle dishes. Layer with sliced bananas. Beat together eggs and cinnamon. Then add remaining ingredients except pecans and sauce. Pour mixture evenly over bread, soaking completely. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake for 50 minutes and serve warm with rum sauce.

To make rum sauce, melt the butter, add the brown sugar and cream. Boil rapidly for about 10 minutes while stirring. Add rum and serve over pudding.

Note: I served the warm pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with the rum sauce.
Yummm, Yummm!

This recipe was adapted from here:
http://www.grouprecipes.com/76490/banana-bread-pudding-with-rum-sauce.html

perogies - daring cooks challenge for august

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:25:00 +0000

Once a year my husband, GWH, leaves me for another woman. Sylvia. Yes, he packs all his things into his truck and drives for about eight hours to see her. And every year, I take him back with open arms; the heavy perfume of fried onions clinging to his clothing, sour cream on his collar. What does Sylvia have that I don't, you ask? .......Perogies; Sylvia has perogies. Sylvia has beautiful, amazing perogies, apparently. Hmmph.

So you can imagine my hesitation when I saw this month's Daring Cook's challenge revealed:

"The August 2010 Daring Cooks' Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n' Bites and Anula of Anula's Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale."

My first thought was, "That's what she makes. That's her dish" But then an idea began to formulate. I was going to cook my man back to me. No longer would he have to go elsewhere for his perogies! He would eat his perogies at home!

So I set aside a day to make perogies; clad in babushka, apron and bare feet; my face scrubbed clean to reveal my best ruddy complexion. I even considered phoning my Polish girlfriend for a little Eastern Bloc support. I imagined Sylvia in her kitchen, her large capable hands kneading the dough. Her name was probably actually Olga or Lara or something like that. I had visions of my husband pulling into the gravel parking lot of Sylvia's Restaurant, the theme song from Dr. Zhivago playing on his radio. He screeches in, jumps from his truck, leaving the door open in his hurry to get to her, the strains of the poignant music echoing through the parking lot. (The scene is in slow motion now) He runs up the stairs and opens the door as she places the fresh plate of steaming perogies on the Formica table. He sinks into the chair and her name, like a sigh, escapes from his lips. Sylvia.

Okay, enough already. I had had enough. I was going to make perogies better than Sylvia or Olga or whatever her name was. So I set out to do just that. I started first thing in the morning because I had heard that it took a long time to make these perogies. These Russian* women were a hardy type but then so were us Newfies*. I decided that we needed to have a full Russian meal to go with our perogies so I proceeded to make Borscht and Cabbage Rolls first. I skirted around the perogy thing. I was avoiding it. Afraid my perogies wouldn't measure up. Finally, I decided it was do or die. Around 3:00 I thought that I had better get it done if I was going to serve perogies for dinner.

Cabbage Borscht

Cabbage Rolls

I made the filling, rolled out the dough, then put my mini scoop of filling in the middle of each circle. Okay, now was the moment of truth, I needed to close up those little circles. I picked one up in my small non-Russian hands, folded the dough around the filling and proceeded to pinch the ends together. Hmm, this was not so bad. Pretty easy, in fact. Sylvia who? So I sealed all the little packages and then stood back to admire my well formed, perky little perogies.

Perogies served with cabbage rolls, kielbasa, fried onions and sour cream

Following is the recipe provided for the challenge:

Russian Style Perogy

Dough Ingredients:
2 to 2 1/2 cups (300 to 375 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
About 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water

Filling Ingredients:
3 big potatoes, cooked & mashed
1 cup (225 g) cottage cheese, drained
1 onion, diced & sauteed in butter until clear
3 slices of streaky bacon, diced and fried till crispy
1 egg yolk (from medium egg)
1 tablespoon (15 g) butter, melted
1/4 (1.25 ml) teaspoon salt pinch of pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients for the filling (it's best to use one's hands to do that) put into the bowl, cover and set aside in the fridge until you have to use it.
2. Place 2 cups flour in a large bowl or on a work surface and make a well in the center. Break the egg into it, add the salt and a little lukewarm at a time (in my situation 1/2 cup was enough). Bring the dough together, kneading well and adding more flour or water as necessary. Cover the dough with a bowl or towel. You're aiming for soft dough. Let it rest 20 minutes.
3. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out thinly (1/8” or about 3 millimeters) cut with a 2-inch (5 cm) round or glass. Spoon a portion (teaspoon will be the best) of the filling into the middle of each circle. Fold dough in half and pinch edges together. Gather scraps, re-roll and fill. Repeat with remaining dough.
4. Bring a large, low saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop in the pierogi, not too many, only single layer in the pan! Return to the boil and reduce heat. When the pierogi rise to the surface, continue to simmer a few minutes more ( usually about 5 minutes). Remove one dumpling with a slotted spoon and taste if ready. When satisfied, remove remaining pierogi from the water.
5. Serve immediately preferably with crème fraiche or fry. Cold pierogi can be fried. Boiled Russian pierogi can be easily frozen and boiled taken out straight from the freezer.

There was no stopping me now. I decided to get creative with my fillings. After all, variety is the spice of life, right? And I am pretty sure Sylvia doesn't have perogies like these.

Blueberry and Lemon

Served warm with vanilla ice cream and blueberry sauce

To the potato mixture, I added sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, garlic and cilantro.

We haven't tried these ones yet but when we do I think I will serve them with a

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce or a Tomato Romescu.

Bananas and Chocolate

Served warm with vanilla ice cream and chocolate shavings

Mmm gooey and good

So this year when GWH leaves me to go hunting - and leave me he will - he won't be stopping at Sylvia's. He has asked that I make him some perogies to take with him. And I will do so, gladly. Sorry Sylvia.

* Note: This post was not meant to offend any Russian women. I believe that being a Newfie, and the subject of many, many jokes, gives me some license to poke fun at other ethnic groups, just a little. And to prove my ability to laugh at myself, you will find some Newfie jokes here.

wine, women and song - starfish club adventures

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:01:00 +0000

The young girl at the counter innocently asks, "What group do you belong to? We look at her puzzled, "Group?", we say. She lifts her chin, taps her collarbone and says, "The necklaces. You all have the same necklaces." "Ah, yes", we say, "It's the Starfish Club. Have you never heard of us?" We walk out laughing at, yet, another joke that was meant just for us.

What is the Starfish Club, you ask? Well, it is a very exclusive club. It is thirty-plus years of friendship; it is love, acceptance and complete permission to be yourself, whoever that is at the moment. It is knowing the significance of red picnic tables, purple houses and "Blue Bayou". It is walking into a bar singing, "I Will Survive" in perfect unison. It is knowing all the words to "Ophelia" and "Life is Sweet" and understanding the need to break out into song at any given moment, wherever you are. It is not having to explain your every heartbreak and every joy because they are already recorded in the Club's archives. It is where you go to get a reality check because the other members of the Club often know you better than you know yourself. I am forever grateful to have a lifetime membership in this Club.

I have just returned from a weekend with the Starfish Club feeling very full, physically and emotionally. I have to admit to a great display of gluttony that involved the four of us and a buffet. It was actually reminiscent of a scene out of Monty Python's "Meaning of Life". It wasn't all piggery though because in the midst of all this eating, my spirit was nourished as well and I am never too full for this. Club "meetings" are always a feast for my soul.

This weekend the Starfish Club took a mini road trip to Chateau Ste. Michelle, a winery in Northwest Washington, to see Natalie Merchant and to immerse ourselves in her amazing voice, once again. It has been fourteen years since the Club last saw her although her voice often fills the rooms of my house or blasts from the speakers of my old jeep as I drive down the road singing at the top of my lungs to the heartfelt strains of "I May Know the Word"; her voice and her profound lyrics resonating through and from me. It was a wonderful concert at a beautiful venue. I was very perplexed, though, to see all those people knowing and singing all the words to her songs. Didn't they know that this was "my" Natalie? Weird.

Natalie's latest album, "Leaving Your Sleep" is actually a collection of poems by early and mid twentieth century poets with a few nursery rhymes thrown in. It is a playful, insightful collection filled with many memorable moments. There is a song on this album, adapted from a poem by Eleanor Farjeon (1861 - 1965), about a greedy young girl called Griselda.

"...Griselda is greedy as greedy can be

She snoops about the larder for sundry small supplies

She breaks the little crusty bits off rims of apple pies

She pokes the roast potato dish when Sunday dinner's done

And if there are two left in it, Griselda snitches one..."

Who knew that this would become the theme song for the weekend because I certainly felt like "Greedy Griselda" as we sat eating plateful after plateful of food at that buffet. Even though I didn't think that I would ever be hungry again, I decided that I was going to recreate one of the best dishes from the buffet; the American Pot Roast. This dish was among the most memorable and it was sooo good! Oh no, I feel a Griselda moment coming on!

American Pot Roast

Ingredients
3 lbs Chuck Roast
3 tbsp oil
salt and pepper
6 cups water
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup beef bouillon powder
6 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1 onion, sliced
3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped

Directions
Salt and pepper the roast. Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the roast on all sides. Place roast in a crock pot and add remaining ingredients. Cook on low setting for 8 hours. The roast should be quite tender by this time. Remove roast, veggies, bay leaves and thyme from pot and use the juices to make a gravy. Perfect with mashed potatoes.

Note: I used a moose chuck roast but the roast at the buffet was beef. Both were very good.

cook the books club - the school of essential ingredients

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:35:00 +0000

Recently, in my ever consuming perusal of food blogs, I came upon this online Cooking/Book Club called, "Cook the Books". I loved the idea of combining two of my greatest passions, cooking and reading, and without hesitation, I declared myself in. GWH just shook his head at me in exactly the same way that I would shake mine at him if I were crazy enough to be up at three o'clock in the morning when he went fishing.

"Cooking the Books" is hosted by Rachel of the Crispy Cook, Deb of Kahakai Kitchen and Jo of Food Junkie, not Junk Food. The premise of the club is to read the chosen book, to cook something inspired by the book and then to write a review and post your recipe on your blog. The current title is The School of Essential Ingredients, by Erica Bauermeister.

I was trying to decide how to review this book without sounding too much like I was gushing. As I was trying to put into words how the book made me feel, my mantra of the moment came to mind - write from the heart, right from the heart - and it certainly seemed to me that Erica Bauermeister has done just that in this first novel.

I love the idea that good food is intricately intertwined with our emotions, that it can be healing and that cooking for someone is an act of love. To me, this book is reminiscent of Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquival, not as fanciful, perhaps, but equally as provocative and charming.

The book is set at a restaurant called Lillian's that becomes The School of Essential Ingredients every Monday night when the restaurant is closed. The classes are taught by the restaurant's owner, Lillian. Lillian has the uncanny ability to know just which ingredients are essential to her students although there are no recipes used in her classes.

As I read the book searching for inspiration for that perfect recipe, I changed my mind several times. Each time a new character's story was introduced to me, I decided that I had found my recipe. There was something about each one that spoke to me; that I could relate to.

The book starts out with Lillian as a little girl. She instinctively learns to cook to fill the void left by a physically absent father and an emotionally absent mother. Abuelita, a woman who befriends Lillian and becomes her cooking mentor, says to her, "Sometimes, nina, our greatest gifts grow from what we are not given." I love that line for so many different reasons.

Claire is the young mother whose life has melted into that of her husband's and her children's so that she, as a singular ingredient, is lost. "She became the frame for the picture that was her son and daughter" In the first cooking class, they cook crab; specifically, they kill and dismember the crab. The author then describes the birth of Claire's first child and that first moment when she realizes that her life will never be the same again. "She kept thinking the waves would slow or break for a moment, but they didn't, one after another until there was nowhere left to go but in, to dive down and hope for air on the other side, but there was no air, no way out, just a desperate reaching and grasping until finally she felt something deep inside her - not physical, not emotional, simply her - break into pieces. And into the arms of that cracked apart person that had been Claire, they placed a baby and a love came out of her, through the pieces, that she didn't even know was possible." Who would have thought that the description of the crab's demise could be such a beautiful metaphor for childbirth, but it was.

Crab is my favorite seafood and we have caught our own many times. I didn't even have to read this chapter to know that I was making crab!

Carl is the solid, steady, family guy. An insurance salesman who has been married to Helen for many years. "Flour is like the guy in the movie who you don't realize is sexy until the very end.....Butter is so much more alluring. But the thing is, flour is what holds a cake together." Helen finds the temptation of "beurre" irresistible and, at forty one, has an affair. She comes to realize that the "flour" is her essential ingredient and decides to stay in her marriage. Carl forgives Helen because he just can't imagine a life without her. Their fortitude is rewarded as they both choose the "white cake" as their dessert in the dinner that is their lives and to all those that watch, their satisfaction of a meal enjoyed is very evident. "A white cake is the opposite of fireworks and fanfare - it's subtle, the difference in texture between the cake and the frosting as they cross your tongue. It's a little harder to accomplish...but I have to say, when it works, it is sublime."

Antonia is a kitchen designer who comes from the old country where everything, including cooking and food, is steeped in tradition and the kitchen is the heart of every home. She finds herself working on a kitchen with a fireplace that reminds her of her grandmother's kitchen. This brings to surface a longing for home. "Antonia had grown up in a stone house lived in by generations of families whose feet had worn dips into its limestone steps, where the smells of cooking had seeped into the walls like a marinade." and "Over the course of the day, the heat from the fireplace would stretch across the kitchen toward the warmth of the stove until the room filled with the smells of wood smoke and meat that had simmered for hours. Even as a little girl, Antonia knew that when the two sides of the kitchen met, it was time for dinner." I love the pictures that these words evoke. When the class makes Pumpkin Ravioli, with hazelnuts and shallots spiced with a little nutmeg, it is like patina on Antonia's tongue and in this dish, she finds a little taste of home and happiness.

This chapter had me looking for a hearty pasta dish with complicated spices where one bite transported you to an exotic old-world country where even the recipes are ancient. Ah, Tuscany.

Tom's story is a love story; a tragic, beautiful love story. He falls in love with and marries, Charlie, a vibrant, feisty woman who loves to cook and lives life to the fullest, in and out of the kitchen. After they have enjoyed an amazing, sensuous dinner that she has cooked for them, she says to Tom, "I've met guys who see sex like dessert - the prize you get after you eat all the vegetables that make the women happy. I guess I see it a little differently....I think sex should be like dinner. And this is how I like to eat." Charlie becomes terminally ill with cancer and Tom watches as her life slowly seeps from her body. "Promise me you'll keep cooking when I'm gone...not just eat, cook." Fate leads him to Lillian's and it is only there, at the School of Essential Ingredients that Tom begins to learn to truly appreciate the gift that is Charlie's legacy. "They'll eat it, he said, and then it will be gone. That's what makes it a gift, Lillian replied."

After this chapter, I was so making a sexy red sauce!

Chloe is a young girl in search of the approval that she has never received from anyone - her mother, her father, her co-workers, or her boyfriend. Lillian gives her a job in the restaurant and allows her to attend the The School of Essential Ingredients. It is there, as she learns to cook, that she begins to feel safe. "On a tortilla, with a bit of crumbled white queso fresco, it was both satisfying and invigorating, full of textures and adventures, like childhood held in your hand." This safe place allows her to gain the approval of the most important, person of all, herself. "That's a good tomato - you don't need to mix it with anything."

Tortillas, tomatoes, cilantro, peppers... I am always up for a little Mexican food. Would this be the inspiration for my recipe?

An older woman who struggles to hold on to her memories as they become more and more elusive, Isabelle finds kindness and patience in Lillian and in her fellow students. "Isabelle had always thought of her mind as a garden, a magical place to play as a child...Every year the garden grew larger, the paths longer and more complicated. Meadows of memories....She had always considered that one of the luxuries of growing older would be the chance to wander through the garden that had grown when she wasn't looking. She would sit on the bench and let her mind take every path, tend every moment she hadn't paid attention to, appreciate the juxtaposition of one memory against another. But now that she was older and had time, she found more often than not she was lost..." Isabelle shows up for cooking class one night only to discover that it is the wrong night. Lillian graciously seats her in the restaurant and proceeds to serve her a wonderful meal as if it was meant just for her. The exquisite food sparks her taste buds and her memories and we are taken on a meandering tour of the paths of Isabelle's "garden". Tom joins her for dessert, at Lillian's prompting, and they each contemplate lost memories. At which point Lillian says to Tom, "I am starting to think that maybe memories are like this dessert. I eat it, and it becomes a part of me, whether I remember it later or not."

The idea that memories are brought on by familiar tastes and smells had me in search of my own memory triggers to give me inspiration for my recipe. Cinnamon, cabbage, oregano, molasses all evoked a certain nostalgia in me. Hmmm, what would it be?

Ian's mother gives him a gift certificate to The School of Essential Ingredients as a birthday gift. He remarks to his sister that this is an odd gift coming from a woman who was so preoccupied by her art that she barely had time to cook for them as they were growing up. He soon discovers that she has given him this gift because she recognizes that he could be as passionate about cooking as she is about painting. "When I paint, it brings me joy. I wanted you to have that too." Ian is smitten with Antonia from the moment that he sees her. Finally he works up the courage to ask her to dinner and for dessert he decides to make her a tiramisu; a dish created in deep contrast to Ian's analytical, logical mind and in tribute to Antonia's creative energy. "The texture was warm, creamy and soft, like lips parting beneath his own, taste utterly lacking in precision, luxurious and urgent, mysterious and comforting."

Tiramisu, anyone? I have made this dish before but this time I would make it better; with a deeper understanding of the complexities.

As I contemplated all the different cooking possibilities that presented themselves throughout the course of this book, I tried to really connect to what my "essential ingredients" were. On this particular evening that I decided to cook for this review, I was making dinner for just my husband and I. I didn't know what it would be until the last minute. At one point I thought that I would make something that involved a roue paste because I thought it would be symbolic of the fact that I was grateful to have both "flour" and "butter". The following is the sauce that I made for my husband, GWH.

Red Wine Reduction Sauce

Ingredients
6 sprigs fresh thyme
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup green onion tops, chopped
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp beef bouillon powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bottle good red wine

Directions
Add thyme, garlic, green onion tops, Dijon mustard, beef bouillon powder and olive oil to a heavy bottomed pot. Slowly add the bottle of wine and simmer, stirring occasionally, for approximately an hour or until sauce begins to thicken. When it has reached its desired consistency, drain the sauce in a small sieve to remove the stems.

I served the sauce over a strip loin steak, alongside skewered baby potatoes, peppers and sweet onions.

"...time will change the taste into something smooth - the difference between polyester and velvet."

Notes: You always need to bring a little of yourself to the "sauce" so I added a little thyme from my own herb garden which gave it the distinct taste of my individuality. The garlic was a nod to the things that we enjoy together and the green onion tops were a compromise as this is the part of the onion that I often throw out, much to the chagrin of my husband. Without trying them, how would you know if you like them or not? I have discovered that I really do enjoy them. The Dijon mustard adds a little bit of mystery (it's french, you know!) that helps the sauce to grow into something a little more complex and the bouillon adds a little salt to balance it. The wine is a very integral part of the sauce and I chose to use a precious bottle of our wedding wine. I was counting on the wine to bind the sauce with all the emotions - love, happiness, contentment - that we felt on our wedding day. Lastly, make sure that you "drain" all the unwanted, unnecessary, negative components of the sauce so that you are left with all that is good to make a deep, richly satisfying sauce. So, I know you are wondering, did he like the sauce? Did he appreciate all that went in to it? Yes, the results were amazing! ...and the sauce was good too.

isn't it ironic, don't you think?

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:25:00 +0000

Lots of people ask me for recipes - my friends, my mother-in-law, my kids, my sister. You will notice that I used the word sister in the singular form. The Potato Princess phones me for recipes and cooking advice all the time; the Twisted Sista, not so much. She dances to the beat of a different drummer or should I say, she cooks with a different set of taste buds. Anyone who makes a dish where lima beans are the main ingredient has to be a little off kilter, right?

So when I received a phone call a couple of weeks ago from someone looking for a recipe, I thought nothing of it. I looked it up, emailed it to her and that was that. Then the irony of it occurred to me. This particular person was my Cooking teacher in Grade 8! She taught me some of my basic cooking skills. It was in her classroom that I first learned what a roue paste was, where I made Welsh Rarebit and Scotch Eggs and now she was asking me for a recipe.

Okay, I must confess. She did not just decide to phone me up one day, ~~thirty~~ ten years after high school, out of the blue, looking for a recipe because she had heard what a great cook I was. Here's the real story: I am friends with her daughter and I had served this particular dish at a party we both attended and I suppose she told her mother about it, who then in turn phoned me for the recipe.

But I like the sound of it better when you don't fill in those details, "Yeah, my high school Cooking teacher called me up the other day looking for a recipe, and here it is."

Tortilla Cups with Mango Salsa

Ingredients
4 oz (125 g) Monterey Jack cheese
3 (6-in./15-cm) flour tortillas
2 tsp (10 ml) olive oil
1 mango
1/4 cup (50 ml) roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry
1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded
2 tbsp (30 ml) finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 lime
1/4 tsp (1 ml) salt
Additional finely chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Cut cheese into twenty-four 1/2-in. (1-cm) cubes. Brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Stack tortillas and cut into eight wedges using pizza cutter for a total of 24 wedges. Press tortillas into cups of a small muffin pan. Place one cheese cube into each cup. Bake 5-7 minutes or until edges of tortillas begin to brown and cheese is melted.

Meanwhile, for salsa, dice mango and roasted pepper. Finely chop serrano pepper, onion and cilantro. Juice lime to measure 1 tbsp (15 mL). Combine mango, peppers, onion, cilantro, juice and salt in a bowl; mix well.

Remove pan from oven to cooling rack. Cool cups in pan 2-3 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan to serving platter. Divide salsa evenly amongst cups. Sprinkle with additional finely chopped cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately.

Note: If desired, 1 medium peach or nectarine can be substituted for the mango. As you will notice in the picture above, I used grated cheese because I had some already grated but I would recommend using the cheese cubes instead.

The sweet juiciness of the mango combines perfectly with the fresh summery taste of the cilantro while the pepper finishes it off with a little heat. Mmm, make lots.

nut butters - daring cooks challenge for july

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:22:00 +0000

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

The nut butters were fairly easy to make but it meant using a food processor. My food processor of twenty years recently packed it in. I had to borrow my mother's food processor for the pate challenge and my girlfriend offered to lend me hers for the nut butter challenge. I finally ordered another food processor but only after GWH researched it inside and out because that's what he does. Just sayin'.

Anyways, last night as I am making my last recipe for this challenge, look what showed up. Listen, can you hear that? It's me making Tim "The Toolman" Taylor sounds.

It is a beautiful thing and I can't wait to use it but timing is everything!

Where were you when I needed you?!

There were four recipes provided to us and we had the option of choosing from these and/or choosing one of our own using a nut butter in a savory dish. I made three out of the four recipes as well as a few of my own creations.

These were the recipes that were provided:

Chicken with Curried Tomato Almond Sauce

This recipe was quite good. Curry, need I say more?

Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

This recipe was okay but if I made it again I would add something to kick it up a notch.

Walnut White Bean Dip with Rosemary & Sage

This is one that I didn't make but it looked interesting.

Of all the recipes provided, the Asian Noodle Salad was by far the most memorable. This sauce was like music on your tongue and when the song was over the notes lingered deliciously. This is a tune that I will play over and over again. Mmmm happy place.

Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing

Ingredients:
Cashew Butter
1 cup cashews

Cashew Dressing
1/2 inch (1 cm) slice of fresh ginger, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup (120 ml) cashew butter
1/4 cup (60 ml) soy sauce
3 tbsp (45 ml) sugar
I used only 1 tbsp of sugar
3 tbsp (45 ml) vinegar
3 tbsp (45 ml) sesame oil
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp (75 ml) water
Hot sauce to taste (optional)
I used about a tablespoon of Hot Chili Sauce (Rooster Sauce)

Noodle Salad
1/2 lb (225 g) linguine or rice noodles
I used rice noodles
1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
1/2 lb (225 g) small or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
I used leftover pork tenderloin cut into small strips
1 large red bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into thin strips
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, sliced
1/4 cup (60 ml) slice green onions
1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped fresh basil
I used 1/2 cup (120 ml) cilantro
1 tbsp (15 ml) chopped cashews (optional garnish)
Lime wedges (optional)
I also added mango, carrots and blanched green beans and I julienned all the vegetables.

Directions

Make cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth.
Prepare cashew dressing: Combine ginger garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and water in food processor or blender. Process blend until smooth. Be sure to process long enough to puree the ginger and garlic. The dressing should be pourable, about the same thickness as cream. Adjust consistency - thinner or thicker - to your liking by adding more water or cashew butter. Taste and add your favourite hot sauce if desired. (If the cashew butter was unsalted you may want to add salt to taste) Makes about 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) dressing. Store any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.
Prepare noodles according the package instructions in salted water. Rinse and drain noodles. Set aside.
Heat oil in large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add shrimp to the pan and saute for about 3 to 4 minutes or until opaque throughout. Alternatively, cook shrimp in boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes or until done.
Slice basil into thin ribbons. Combine noodles, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and basil in a large bowl. Add about 1/2 cup (120 ml) cashew dressing, toss gently to coat. Add more cashew dressing as desired, using as much or as little as you'd like. Scatter shrimp on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over salad or serve with lime wedges. Sprinkle with chopped cashews, if desired.

Throughout the month, I had leftover nut butters hanging out in the fridge so anything that I was making was fair game to be nuttered. I would be like, "Hmm I wonder what this would taste like if I just added some Almond Butter". The following are the dishes that I chose to enhance with Nut Butters and I think they turned out quite well.

Lettuce Wraps

with Peanut Sauce

Cedar-Planked Sockeye Salmon

glazed with Teriyaki Almond Butter and...

...served with Fruit Salsa

I recently had this wonderful, decadent Cashew Soup at a Dinner Club and it was the inspiration for this recipe. I had leftover Maple Salmon that was destined to become chowder so I decided to make the Salmon Chowder and add Cashew Butter. Good call. It was quite delicious. I would suggest serving it in small portions, though; perhaps as a starter to a meal, as it is very rich.

Salmon Chowder with Cashew Butter

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 celery stalks, chopped fine
2 carrots, chopped
2 cups baby potatoes, halved or quartered
3/4 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 1/2 cups homo milk
2 cups salmon, cooked and broken into chunks
3/4 cup cashew butter

Directions:
Saute onions, garlic and celery in a little oil or butter until tender. Add carrots, potatoes, white wine and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Add milk, salmon and cashew butter. Heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the chowder is too thick, add some more milk until you get the desired consistency.

I thoroughly enjoyed this nutty challege. It was fun to create these dishes and fun to eat them, of course, but it was also great to see what the other Daring Cooks came up with. There is amazing skill and creativity out there. Check out some of the others here.

i never promised you a herb garden

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:12:00 +0000

....um yeah, actually you did. GWH said he would build me a boxed herb garden. He just didn't say when. But because I wanted my herbs right here and right now, I decided to do it myself, in a simpler form. Does it sound like I am complaining? Absolutely not! GWH & Co. just built this big, beautiful deck for which I am forever grateful. But one end of this big deck was screaming out for parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. I obliged by planting a very nice assortment of culinary enhancements that will eventually make it to my pot - parsley, sage, rosemary, basil, chives, dill, oregano and this wonderful smelling curry plant. I have visions of Meryl Streep in It's Complicated, basket in hand, serene smile on face, happily picking fresh produce to be used for that evening's dinner. Ah, happy place. Phffft... settle down. It's just a few herbs in pots not a full on garden. Oh, well a girl can dream. My little herb garden on my big, beautiful deck will suffice until GWH builds my real herb garden. Cause, yeah, actually, you did promise me a herb garden.

Fresh Tomatoes with Basil and Feta

Ingredients

2 - 3 Ripe Tomatoes, sliced

1 cup Feta Cheese, crumbled

1 bunch Fresh Basil, shredded

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup Olive Oil

Directions

Arrange sliced tomatoes on a plate in a decorative fashion. Sprinkle feta on tomatoes and then the basil over top. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and oil. Simple, beautiful and delicious!

oh my canada

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 04:20:00 +0000

I was born on the far east coast of Canada in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and I grew up on the far west coast of Canada in Squamish, British Columbia. I know that there is a lot of land and culture in between these two coasts but all the emotions and pride that these two points on the map evoke in me are My Canada.

My Canada is an island in the Atlantic Ocean where the steel blue sea crashes against the unforgiving coastline to create a proud, stoic, beautiful scene that is reflective of the hardy people that live there - people who speak with a musical lilt in their voice and who will always set one more place at the table.

My Canada is majestic mountains and tall, ancient trees where the Pacific Ocean meets the sky to provide breathtaking, soul soothing seascapes; where the people may have "West Coast Webs" but truly appreciate the rain for the way it makes everything so green and lush and where every opportunity is taken to enjoy the amazing outdoors that they have been blessed with.

My Canada is salmon, oysters, crab, lobsters and prawns. Salt beef, mustard pickles, cod cakes and bottled moose. Maple syrup, back bacon, cabbage rolls and baking powder biscuits. Blueberries, peaches, sweet corn and baby potatoes. Baked beans, scalloped potatoes, roast beef and yorkshire puddings. Butter chicken, sushi, souvlaki and dim sum. Gouda, cheddar, bleu cheese and feta. Mmm... My Canada is delicious!

So, moy son stay where you're to and I'll come where you're at and we'll have a scuff and scoff to celebrate My Canada and yours. What is your Canada?

Happy Canada Day, from coast to coast.

Cedar-Planked Salmon with Maple Mustard Glaze

1-1/2

(680 g)

salmon fillet

1/4

cup

(50 mL)

maple syrup

tbsp

(25 mL)

Dijon mustard

1/2

tsp

(2 mL)

salt

1/4

tsp

(1 mL)

pepper

Soak an untreated cedar plank in water for 30 minutes or for up to 24 hours; place salmon on top.

In small bowl, whisk together maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper; brush half over salmon.

Place plank on grill over medium-high heat; close lid and cook, brushing once with remaining maple mixture, until fish flakes easily when tested, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to serving platter.

Crab and Lobster Cakes with Red and White Sauce

(198 mL )

crabmeat

lobster tail

eggs

tbsp

(25 mL)

sour cream

tbsp

(15 mL)

lemon juice

1-1/4

cups

(300 mL)

bread crumbs

tbsp

(25 mL)

red onions

tbsp

(15 mL)

fresh dill

1/4

tsp

(1 mL)

Worcestershire sauce

1/4

tsp

(1 mL)

hot pepper sauce

1/4

tsp

(1 mL)

salt and pepper

tsp

(5 mL)

vegetable oil

Roasted Pepper Coulis:

red pepper

tbsp

(15 mL)

olive oil

onion

garlic clove

1/2

cup

(125 mL)

tomato juice

tbsp

(15 mL)

white wine

tsp

(10 mL)

basil

1/4

tsp

(1 mL)

salt and pepper

Dill Cream:

1/2

cup

(125 mL)

white wine

3/4

cup

(175 mL)

whipping cream

tsp

(5 mL)

butter

tsp

(5 mL)

flour

tbsp

(25 mL)

dill

pinch

salt and pepper

Place crab in sieve. Remove lobster from shell; dice and add to crab. Press out liquid and remove any visible cartilage or shell.
In large bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream and lemon juice until smooth. Stir in crumbs, onion, dill, Worcestershire and hot pepper sauces, salt and pepper. Mix in crab and lobster. With damp hands, form by 1/4 cupfuls (50 mL) into 8 cakes, each scant 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. (Make-ahead: Arrange on waxed paper-lined rimmed baking sheet; cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.)
Lightly brush large nonstick skillet with oil; place over medium heat. Fry cakes, in batches if necessary and brushing lightly with oil if needed, until golden and crisp on both sides, about 4 minutes per side.

Roasted Pepper Coulis: Meanwhile, grill or broil red pepper until blackened all over, about 20 minutes. Let cool. Peel, halve and seed; chop and set aside.
In nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat; cook onion and garlic until golden, 5 minutes. Add tomato juice, wine, roasted pepper, basil, salt and pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 3 minutes. Put in blender or food processor. (Make-ahead: Let cool; refrigerate in airtight container for up to 2 days.)

Dill Cream: In saucepan, boil wine until reduced to 1/4 cup (50 mL), about 3 minutes. Pour in cream; boil for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, mash butter with flour until smooth; whisk into pan. Simmer, whisking, until smooth and slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in dill, salt and pepper. (Make-ahead: Cover surface immediately with plastic wrap; let cool and refrigerate for up to 8 hours. Reheat over low heat, stirring.)

Reheat coulis; pool generous 2 tbsp (25 mL) each of the coulis and dill cream separately onto each warmed plate. Top with 2 crab-and-lobster cakes.

Recipes from Canadian Living Online

pate party - daring cooks challenge for june

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:11:00 +0000

Recently I joined an online group called the Daring Cooks. It is a forum for those, such as myself, who are obsessed by all things culinary; most are bloggers, some are not . Each month, a different food blogger hosts and puts forth a challenge that everyone is to make and that challenge is not to be revealed on your blog until the 14th of the next month. I was very excited when I found the Daring Cooks because to me it sounded like so much fun.....and I was right, it was.

Here's this month's challenge:

"Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pate recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice."

When I first saw the challenge and saw that I had to make bread, I was a little taken aback because I'm a cook, not a baker. I have always perceived baking to be an exact science that requires precise measuring and measure schmeasure is what I usually say. Not to mention the fact that pate usually involves liver. Eww, right? I quickly got over it and decided to suck it up. I am glad that I did because I tried some recipes that I might not have otherwise; some to be repeated, some not so much.

Note: I changed a few things with the recipes provided and my revisions and notes are in red.

This is the first one that I tried because how could I go wrong with seafood, right? It was not bad but I felt that it could have been a little more flavourful. This could have something to do with the anemic trout that I picked up at the grocery store. It would have probably been way better made with a fresh rainbow trout but would a fresh rainbow trout actually make it into a pate. Hmmm. Maybe not.

Trout and Shrimp Pâté
(Daring Cooks Recipe)
Yields one 6x3 inch (15x7,5 cm) terrine or loaf pan

I made three small ones instead

1 tbsp / 15 ml butter
1/4 lb / 4 oz / 120g medium raw shrimp, deveined, shelled and tailed (about 12 medium shrimp)
1/8 cup / 30ml Grand Marnier (or cognac, or another strong liqueur of your choice) (optional)

I used Sambucca instead of the Grand Marnier

1/2 lb / 8 oz / 240g trout filet, skinned and cut into thick chunks
1/4 lb / 4 oz / 110g raw shrimp, deveined, shelled and tailed (any size)
3/4 cup / 180ml heavy cream
Salt, to taste
Green peppercorn, coarsely ground, to taste
Chives, for garnish
I put a little chopped fennel into the mixture and then used it as a garnish
Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
In a heavy, flameproof frying pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Sauté the 1/4 pound of medium shrimp, stirring often, until pink and cooked through. Remove the pan from heat. (NOTE: These shrimp will be used to form layers within your pâté. If you feel they are too thick – like the ones in the photograph, you might want to slice them in half lengthwise.)
Pour the Grand Marnier over the cooked shrimp. Light a match and carefully ignite the alcohol, to flambé the shrimp. Wait for the flames to go out on their own, carefully tilting the pan to ensure even flavoring. Set aside.
Put the trout and the remaining raw shrimp in a food processor and pulse. Gradually pour in the cream and keep pulsing until you obtain a smooth mixture that is easy to spread, but not too liquid (you may not need to use all the cream). Season with salt and green pepper.
Butter a 6x3 inch (15x7,5 cm) loaf pan or terrine, then line it with parchment paper. Spoon in half the trout mixture, and spread it evenly. Place the flambéed shrimp on top, in an even layer, reserving 3 or 4 shrimp for decorating. Top with the remaining trout mixture.
Prepare a water bath: place the loaf pan in a larger, deep ovenproof dish (such as a brownie pan or a baking dish). Bring some water to a simmer and carefully pour it in the larger dish. The water should reach approximately halfway up the loaf pan.
Put the water bath and terrine in the oven, and bake for 35 minutes. The pâté should be cooked through and firm in the center.
Remove the pan from the water bath and let cool. Carefully unmold onto a serving platter. Decorate with the reserved shrimp, and sprinkle with chopped chives. Cut into thick slices and serve at room temperature, with crusty bread.

At this point, I wasn't quite ready for the bread thing so I made crackers instead. We really enjoyed these.

Simple Crackers

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease two large cookie sheets. Combine the dry ingredients, and then stir in the water and oil and then mix until a smooth dough forms. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half on a cookie sheet. Use a small rolling pin or even your fingers for a rustic, uneven look. Once the dough is spread thin, use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter to cut the dough into squares. The crackers will shrink slightly when cooked. Sprinkle or spray with olive oil. Top with your choice of herbs or spices. I used sea salt and a mixture from Victorian Epicure called Herb & Garlic Dip Mix.

Next, I made the veggie pate. This was probably my favourite. Big Flavour.

Tricolor Vegetable Pâté
(Daring Cooks Recipe) Yields one 25 by 12,5 cm (10 by 5 inch) terrine or loaf pan
          I used four ramekins instead
Line your pan with plastic wrap, overlapping sides.

White Bean Layer
2 x 15-ounce / 900 ml cans cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained thoroughly
     I used 2 19-ounce cans
1 tbsp / 15 ml fresh lemon juice
     I used the juice from half of a lemon, about 3 tbsp
1 tbsp / 15 ml olive oil
     I used 2 tbsp
1 tbsp / 15 ml minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
    I used about 3 tbsp
2 garlic cloves, pressed
I used 4 cloves
Mash beans in large bowl. Add lemon juice, olive oil, oregano and garlic and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread bean mixture evenly on bottom of prepared pan.

Red Pepper Layer
7-ounce / 210 ml jar roasted red bell peppers, drained, chopped
     I had some peppers in the freezer so roasted them in the oven and used them
3/4 cup / 180 ml crumbled feta cheese (about 4 ounces)
Combine peppers and feta in processor and blend until smooth. Spread pepper mixture evenly over bean layer in prepared dish.

Pesto Layer
2 garlic cloves
1 cup / 240 ml fresh basil leaves
1 cup / 240 ml fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup / 60 ml toasted pine nuts
3 tbsp / 45 ml olive oil
1/2 cup / 120 ml low-fat ricotta cheese
Mince garlic in processor. Add basil, parsley and pine nuts and mince. With machine running, gradually add oil through feed tube and process until smooth. Mix in ricotta. Spread pesto evenly over red pepper layer.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
      I found it easier to unmold when I froze the pate beforehand.
To unmold, invert pâté onto serving platter. Peel off plastic wrap from pâté. Garnish with herb sprigs and serve with sourdough bread slices.
     When I unmolded the pate, I put the pesto layer on top. It was more attractive than the bean layer.

I was still not ready for the bread so I decided I would try to imitate those Raincoast Crisp crackers. These were delicious and in honour of our beautiful, rainy home I have renamed them Wetcoast Wafers.

Wetcoast Wafers
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1(generous) tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk (or just plain milk soured with vinegar)
1/4 cup honey

Stir the above ingredients together until blended. Don't overmix!

Then add:
1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans/walnuts/almonds)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds (ground or whole)
1/4 cup Sesame seeds

1 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped (or more, or dry would also work, adjust proportion to taste)
Pour into two 4"X8" greased pans. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees F or until springy. Cool completely on rack and put in the freezer. When the loaves are totally frozen, cut into very thin slices. Lay slices on cookie sheets and bake 15 minutes at 300 deg. F. Turn the slices over and bake another 10 or 15 minutes.

Finally, I made the liver pate. There were mixed reviews. Those that usually like liver pate really enjoyed it. Some of us just can't get it out of our heads that it is "offal".

Three Spice Liver Pâté
(Daring Cooks Recipe) Yields one 25 by 12,5 cm (10 by 5 inch) terrine or loaf pan
I made smaller portions using a ramekin and small loaf pans
1 lb / 454 grams pork liver (or beef or combination)
I used beef. I couldn't find pork
1/2 lb / 227 grams ground pork
1/2 lb / 227 grams pork fat (or pork belly)
2 cloves garlic
2 shallots
1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp / 2 ml cinnamon
1/2 tsp / 2 ml coriander (ground or crushed)
1/2 tsp / 2 ml cumin
3/4 tsp / 3 ml salt
1 tbsp / 15 ml coarse freshly cracked peppercorns
2 tbsp / 30 ml cognac
2 bay leaves
1 package of bacon
Preheat oven to to 350ºF (180ºC).
Cut liver and pork fat into small pieces and add to food processor. Add ground pork, garlic, shallots, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Grind until smooth.
In mixing bowl, incorporate the meat and liver mixture with the cognac and eggs.
Line bottom of baking or ceramic pan with overlapping pieces of bacon. Place a bay leaf on the bottom and then fill with meat/liver mixture. Cover top with another bay leaf and then overlapping pieces of bacon.
Place in oven in the larger baking pan and add enough water to cover 2/3rds of the pan containing the meat/liver mixture. Bake for about 1-1.5 hrs.
The pâté will contract and the juices will be on the bottom. Allow to cool and soak up the juices. Remove any excess bacon and discard the bay leaves. I left the bacon on - how can you go wrong with bacon - and I sprinkled chopped green onions over top for some colour.

The lovely french baguette slices in the picture above are not mine. These below are mine. Notice the deformed one on the right. They didn't rise as much as I would have liked and I probably should have baked them a little longer. Oh, well all is not lost. I now have my first attempt at bread behind me and I will definitely try it again. I ran into Tina Bacon from the Pink Spatula and was telling her of my bread dilemma. Tina teaches baking classes at Well Seasoned in Langley. She directed me towards this site for Artisan Bread. This is the one that I will be trying next. I love that the results are quick. I will let you know how it goes.

French Baguette
(Daring Cooks Recipe)
yield: Three 16" baguettes
Starter
1/2 cup / 120 ml cool water
1/16 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup / 240 ml flour
Dough
1 tsp / 5 ml active dry yeast
1 cup to 1 1/4 cups / 240 ml to 300 ml lukewarm water*
all of the starter
3 1/2 cps / 840 ml flour
1 1/2 tsp / 7 ml salt
*Use the lesser amount in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate), and somewhere in between the rest of the year, or if your house is climate controlled.
Make the starter by mixing the yeast with the water, then mixing in the flour to make a soft dough. Cover and let rest at room temperature for about 14 hours; overnight works well. The starter should have risen and become bubbly.
Mix active dry yeast with the water and then combine with the starter, flour, and salt. Mix and knead everything together—by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—till you've made a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface may still be a bit rough. Knead for about 5 minutes on speed 2 of a stand mixer.
Place the dough in a lightly greased medium-size bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rise for 3 hours, gently deflating it and turning it over after 1 hour, and then again after 2 hours.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface. Divide it into three equal pieces. Shape each piece into a rough, slightly flattened oval, cover with greased plastic wrap, and let them rest for 15 minutes.
Working with one piece of dough at a time, fold the dough in half lengthwise, and seal the edges with the heel of your hand. Flatten it slightly, and fold and seal again. With the seam-side down, cup your fingers and gently roll the dough into a 15" log. Place the logs seam-side down onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined sheet pan or pans.
Cover them with a cover or lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the loaves to rise till they've become very puffy, about 1 1/2 hours. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 450ºF (240ºC).
Using a very sharp knife held at about a 45° angle, make three 8" vertical slashes in each baguette. Spritz the baguettes heavily with warm water; this will help them develop a crackly-crisp crust.
Bake the baguettes until they're a very deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack. Or, for the very crispiest baguettes, turn off the oven, crack it open about 2", and allow the baguettes to cool in the oven.

Whew! I am now officially a Daring Cook. This challenge was a lot of fun and I look forward to next month's challenge. The recipes are revealed to us on the 17th of each month and on the 14th of the month following, I can post my results here for you to see. I wonder what it will be.... Log in next month to find out.