Recipe for Delicious

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye.

2010-09-07T06:00:00.004-03:00

Wonderful readers,

After much hemming and hawing, I've decided that it's time to stop writing Recipe for Delicious. I can't tell you how much fun I've had over the past five months cooking, writing, and talking with you, but I've realized that I just can't keep it up for two reasons:

1. Starting today, I'm going to be a full-time bachelor-of-education student in addition to my job. While I'll still be cooking up a storm (we have to eat!), photography and writing time will now be homework time.

2. I'm kind of addicted to this blog and I'd like to spend more time doing other things. I'll still be reading your wonderful blogs--they're all bookmarked and a part of my morning web browsing--but I need to play outside more and get back to reading the shelves and shelves of books I've neglected.

One thing I'm really looking forward to is trying a few of the recipes I've found and invented in the last few months for the second time. We haven't had the same meal twice in ages! I've learned an incredible amount about cooking, baking, photography, networking, and writing. I know some of these skills will come in handy when I'm teaching high school. I'm already dreaming up ways to incorporate cooking and online publication into my classes. If you're a reader who's been thinking about starting your own blog, do it! It's so much fun and it's a great way to nurture your creativity and meet wonderful people who share your interests.

Thank you so much, readers, for your contributions to this blog through your comments, emails, and your own blogs where I found recipes and inspiration. Thank you to my family and friends who encouraged me to start this project. Thank you to my guinea pigs who ate the gourmet triumphs and the epic failures. Thank you Chris for doing so many dishes, taking pictures, sharing in my excitement, trying everything, and pretending that a big bowl of booze-soaked carrots is a balanced dinner.

I leave you with the recipe for my favourite cookies in the whole wide world. Enjoy.

Gramma's Chocolate Drop Cookies

Ingredients:
½ cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp cocoa mixed with hot water to form a paste
2 cups flour
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F
Blend together butter, brown sugar, egg, and cocoa paste.
Sift in flour, baking soda, and baking powder
Blend in milk and vanilla.
Stir in nuts.
Bake at 350°F for about 12 minutes.
Cool and ice with white icing .

Gramma's white icing

Ingredients:
A little butter
A little milk
A little vanilla
Some icing sugar

Instructions:
Combine. You'll know when it's ready.

Pairs nicely with gratitude, new chapters, and a cold glass of milk.

Mom's Tea Biscuits

2010-09-06T06:00:00.002-03:00

Go preheat your oven to 450°F. Right now. Go!

While your oven heats, let me tell you that these are the greatest biscuits in the world. My mom always makes them when she makes homemade turkey soup. They are light and flaky and delicious. They make me think of my family squished around the table in the kitchen of the house where we grew up eating off the table that's now in my apartment from stoneware dishes that have retired to the cottage. The table got squishier as we got older, but the biscuits stayed the same.

As a terrible baker, I used to screw these up pretty consistently. As a kid, I remember adding 3/4 of a tablespoon of salt rather than the teaspoon. Those were gross. As an adult, I mixed up the cream of tartar and the baking powder. Luckily those never made it into the oven. Even if you have to start over again once you screw up the measurements, these are worth it. Plus, now that I'm getting over my baking phobia, I'm actually getting these right on the first try. They're pretty easy unless you're bake-a-phobic or a little stunned like me. The most important thing about this recipe is that you don't overwork the dough. You should handle it as little as humanly possible. Overworking will result in little hockey pucks. These are really quick too. My mom would put them in the oven once she added the potatoes to the soup (last ingredient), and they would come out of the oven right when the soup was ready to serve.

Okay, your oven's probably not quite heated, but you can start getting your ingredients together now. Enjoy!

Mom’s Tea Biscuits
Makes about 14

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
4½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp cream of tartar
2½ tbsp sugar
¾ tsp salt
3/4 cups butter
1 slightly beaten egg
1 cup milk

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 450°F
2. Sift together dry ingredients.
3. Cut in ¾ cup butter
4. Add egg and milk and stir until dough just comes together.
5. Turn out onto a floured surface.
6. HANDLING AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE, barely roll it out and cut with a floured cookie cutter or drinking glass.
7. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 12 minutes.

Pairs nicely with my mom's turkey soup or just some butter.

Corn on the Cob Two Ways

2010-09-03T06:00:00.003-03:00

I learned an amazing corn-cooking method from my mother-in-law. All you do is husk the corn and wrap each cob in plastic wrap. Punch some wholes in the plastic with a fork, and throw it in the microwave on high. Cook for two minutes, plus one more minute for each additional cob. For example, I would cook four cobs for 6 minutes. This method is great for a few reasons: 1.) it's brainless; 2.) it doesn't involve any additional fat but tastes A-MA-ZING, 3.) if you leave the cobs in the plastic wrap, they'll stay hot, hot, hot for quite a while, so you can make them at any point during meal prep.

Well, Chris looooves corn, but as you may know, we've stopped using a microwave, so this method was out of the question. Luckily, I recently found a wicked recipe on Siggy Spice's Blog. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it: if you want creamy, buttery corn, cook it in cream and butter. We whipped this up the other night and it was creamy and delicious. I think I still prefer the corn unadorned, though. Cooking it with the milk and butter in the water took away some of the lightness that I love. If I had a choice between a pot and a microwave, I'd go with the microwave. Or just water without the cream and butter.

Anyway, now that you know my recipe, try Siggy's too and see which method you prefer:

Siggy's Corn on the Cob

Ingredients:
6-8 ears corn, husks and silk removed
water
1 cup milk (Siggy recommends whole but we had skim)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 stick butter

Instructions:
1. Fill a pot big enough for your corn half full with water--make sure it's enough to cover all the corn.
2. DO NOT SALT THE WATER! Siggy explains that salt will draw out the corn's moisture and make it bitter.
3. Add butter, milk, and sugar and bring to a boil.
4. Add corn to boiling pot and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook 8-10 minutes until just tender.
5. Remove corn from the pot and serve with butter and salt.

Pairs nicely with those little corn pokers.

Chai Ricotta French Toast

2010-09-02T06:00:00.005-03:00

After a couple of attempts, I figured out chai French toast. In our first French toast adventure, Jannette had mentioned adding chai to drained ricotta, so that's what I did. I used the Tazo pre-made stuff because it has a really strong flavour. I also added some chai concentrate to the egg mixture. This sort of worked. There must be a lot of sugar in the chai because the bread got kind of burnt looking. It tasted fine, it just got really, really dark. One thing I learned is to stuff the bread with way more filling than you think it can handle. Really pack it in there. I used a cake decorator to get it in there. Whack it down on the counter when it seems full, then add some more filling. This was a really decadent breakfast that I will certainly make again.

Here's the recipe with approximate measurements:

Chai Ricotta French Toast
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 pieces raisin bread, sliced into 2-inch thickness
4 eggs
3/4 cup chai concentrate, divided
1 small tub of ricotta, well drained
2 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sliced peaches
1/4 cup blueberries
2 tbsp sugar
maple syrup
whipped cream

Instructions:
Stir sugar and fruit together and set aside.
Stir together ricotta, icing sugar, and 1/2 cup of chai until well combined.
Cut a pocket into bread. Stick your fingers in to open it up, then add filling using a cake decorator.
Beat together eggs and remaining chai.
Dip both sides of bread in egg mixture for about 30 seconds.
Cook bread in an oiled skillet over medium to medium-high heat until well-browned on each side.
Serve topped with fruit, maple syrup, and whipped cream.

Pairs nicely with a cup of blueberry green tea.

Cucumber Dill Canapés

2010-09-01T06:00:00.003-03:00

Here's a tasty little appetizer that is nice and light and summer-y. Chris's Aunt Bernice and cousin Gill often make these or something like them when they come to visit. I saw this recipe the other day on Tasty Kitchen and thought I'd give it a try to use up the cucumber in my fridge. I made one slight modification, which was to use those Grisol toasted baguette rounds rather than fresh bread because I wanted some crunch. Oh, and I halved the recipe here because the whole recipe makes like a million. I'm still eating the (delicious!) leftovers for lunch two days later. If you like dill, you'll like this recipe. Here it is:

Cucumber Dill Canapés
From Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:
Half of an 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1-2 tbsp dry Italian style salad dressing mix
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 box baguette rounds or melba toast rounds
1 whole cucumber, sliced

Instructions:
1. In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, dressing mix, dill weed, and mayonnaise.
2. Spread a thin layer of the mixture on each slice of bread and top with a slice of the cucumber. Cucumber can be cut into thin strips instead of slices when it’s for something fancy with a carrot peeler.
3. Sprinkle with some additional dill and serve.

Pairs nicely with fingers and a cocktail napkin.

Bruschetta

2010-08-31T08:00:00.002-03:00

I brought this bruschetta to a spaghetti dinner at Geoff and Steph's recently. It's an easy and tasty appetizer that requires few ingredients but has tons of flavour. I like to keep bruschetta simple, but I find a splash of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of parmigiano reggiano really bring it to life. Here's my recipe:

Julie's Bruschetta
Makes about 30 toasts

Ingredients:
9 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
20 basil leaves
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Pinch of kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette, thinly sliced
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated

Instructions:
1. Toss together tomatoes, garlic, 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Cover and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour.
2. Brush baguette slices with remaining olive oil and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. When baguettes are just about cooked, stack basil leaves and roll into a cigar shape. Slice thinly and toss with tomato mixture.
4. Pile 1 tbsp of the tomato mixture on each toast and sprinkle with parmigiano.
5. Serve immediately.

Pairs nicely with a glass of sauvignon blanc.

Easy and Amazing Stuffed Chicken Breast

2010-08-30T06:00:00.003-03:00

This delectable stuffed chicken breast came out of my freezer!

I made a couple of these one night because I had made too much of the filling, took a gamble, and stuck the extra one in the freezer. Chris took one bite and immediately commented that it did not taste like it had spent two months in the freezer. Success!

I have a theory that you can stuff a chicken breast with pretty much anything. One time I had some leftover Boursin cheese spread. That on its own was delicious in a chicken breast. Whatever you stuff it with, make sure you thoroughly salt and pepper the outside of the chicken first.

The filling of this chicken combines my favourite things: red pepper, spinach, goat cheese, and garlic. A recipe for happiness.

There are a few methods for stuffing chicken. I've tried the pounding method with little success. It's messy, time consuming, and hard to get the filling to stay in. To use the pounding method, you really need boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I like to use bone-in, skin-on breasts because they stay moist and flavourful, and still look like chicken breasts after cooking. With the bone-in, skin-on breast, the best method is the pocket method: take a paring knife and cut a pocket in the thickest part of the breast. Stick your fingers in there to really open it up. Jam the cooled stuffing in there, bang the breast on the cutting board a couple of times, and shove in a little more stuffing.

Other times, I've soaked wooden skewers in water and sewn the pocket shut before cooking. I didn't skewer this one when I stuck it in the freezer; I just pulled the chicken skin over the opening thinking it would freeze in that position. I was sort of right. I cooked it without a skewer, and while some of the filling kind of oozed out in the oven, I didn't lose any to the pan. I might use skewers if I was making it for company, but maybe not if I just came home from work.

When you brown the chicken, make sure you start by placing the breasts skin-side down in the hot pan pan. By placing it skin-side down first, you're making sure the side that will be presented on the plate is browned in a clean pan so it looks the prettiest (thank you Martha).

Here's the trouble I usually encounter: if there's too much oil in the pan when you throw it in the oven (there usually is), it smokes up the whole house. I've tried using oils with higher smoke points, but it still happens. I've also tried accepting the smoke and opening the windows and waving at the smoke detector. The lesson is, use very little oil in your pan. Or, transfer the browned breasts to a baking sheet to put in the oven. The trouble with not cooking it in the pan is that it makes making a delicious pan sauce more difficult. Maybe just set the chicken aside after you've browned it, wipe the excess oil out of the pan, then toss the chicken back in and throw it in the oven.... I'll try that next time.

This is the easiest and most impressive way to cook chicken. You can also toss quartered baby potatoes in oil and whatever seasonings you like, and cook them in the same pan as the chicken.

Here's the recipe (it's long, but I promise it's uncomplicated):

Julie's Easy and Amazing Stuffed Chicken Breast

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
¼ cup red bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups spinach
¼ cup unripened goat cheese
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
½ cup chicken broth (the lower sodium the better)
¼ cup white wine
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Soak 2 wooden skewers in hot water. Set aside.
3. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat in a skillet.
4. Add red pepper and shallot and cook until softened.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add spinach and garlic.
6. When garlic is wilted, stir in goat cheese and let it melt.
7. Set filling aside to cool.
8. Cut a pocket into the thickest part of the chicken breasts. Fill with stuffing and sew shut with wooden skewer. Or simply pull skin over the pocket.
9. Thoroughly salt and pepper the outside of the chicken.
10. Heat remaining oil in a skillet over high heat. Sear chicken, skin-side down first, until well browned. When chicken lifts easily from pan, flip and brown the other side.
11. Wipe excess oil out of the pan, place skillet in oven and cook until internal temperature reaches 160°F –about 25 minutes (make sure you’re measuring the temperature of the chicken, not the filling).
12. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
13. Put pan back on burner and heat over medium high. Pour in ½ cup chicken broth and scrape up brown bits. Add wine and lemon juice and allow sauce to reduce.
14. When sauce has reduced by half, stir in butter.
15. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Pairs nicely with a ten-dollar bottle of white wine.

Minted Eggplant

2010-08-27T06:00:00.000-03:00

Yes, Mom: eggplant. Stop scrunching up your face.

I didn't try eggplant until I was in graduate school. My Gramma made my Mom eat it once as a child and I think it traumatized her a little, so it never crossed our plates. Neither did ox tail soup for that matter... Anyway, the vegetarian option at the university cafeteria usually consisted of eggplant and tasted pretty good. Eggplant is a very mild vegetable with flesh that gets quite soft when cooked. It picks up other flavours, much like zucchini.

I saw what looked like a nice summery recipe for minted eggplant on Ciao Chow Linda's site not long ago and decided to give it a whirl since I absolutely adore mint. I bought cute little baby eggplants, mostly because of their cuteness, and now you know most of the ingredients. This dish comes together really quickly, which is always nice on a week night. We shared the eggplant for dinner along with some bread and the most A-MA-ZING cheese. It was a ginger mango Stilton. Sweet, creamy, and tangy. Sadly, Chris was not a fan of these cheese, so I had to eat it all by myself. I am such a martyr. Luckily, he did enjoy the eggplant.

I thought this dish was good, but not otherworldly amazing. I think that I made one mistake which was to ignore Linda's suggestion (silly me) of a non-stick pan in favour of my grill pan. This prevented the eggplant from caramelizing as well as it would have on a full-contact surface. I have one more little eggplant in the fridge, so I might try again later this week with the proper pan.

Here's the recipe:

Minted Eggplant
From Ciao Chow Linda

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant or 2-3 small eggplants
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Handful of fresh mint leaves
Salt and pepper
Lemons

Ingredients:
1.Wash and slice the eggplant into quarter-inch slices.
2. Toss the slices with some salt and let them sit in a strainer for about an hour. This will help the eggplant release excess moisture.
3. Pat slices dry with paper towel, then rinse under cold water and pat dry one more time.
4. Heat olive oil to medium in a pan. Add one layer of eggplant slices and cook until well browned on both sides. You may need to brush on extra oil as you go if the eggplant slices are looking dry. Set cooked slices on paper towel to drain.
5. Meanwhile, chop the mint and quarter some lemons
6. Once the eggplant is cooked, toss some garlic in the pan with a little more oil and cook until just browned.
7. Arrange slices on a plate. Season with salt and pepper, and top with garlic, mint, and a squeeze of lemon.

Pairs nicely with a Stella.

Snazzy Egg Salad

2010-08-26T06:00:00.002-03:00

This is a fancied-up egg salad from Jill's Test Kitchen that I found via Tasty Kitchen. It's a neat way to make a sometimes uninspired recipe a lot more interesting. This would be lovely for a fancy event where you would find crustless sandwiches. On the other hand, it could be a weeknight supper, if you're like me and don't attend a lot of crustless-sandwich events.

Here's the recipe:

Snazzy Egg Salad
From Jill's Test Kitchen

Ingredients:
4 whole hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
2 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp minced shallot
2 tbsp pine nuts
1 tsp chopped fresh mint
1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. Separate cooked egg whites from yolks. Add whites and three yolks to bowl.
2. Add mustard and yogurt and mash into eggs.
3. Stir in cranberries, nuts, herbs, and salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning.
4. Serve egg salad on toast, in pita pockets or any other bread.

Pairs nicely with a cup of tea.

Chicken Balsamico

2010-08-25T06:00:00.002-03:00

Here's an easy weeknight meal that I got from Stacey's site. It was quick and tasty and involves mostly pantry ingredients. One thing I didn't do that I should have is to get the chicken out of the pan immediately when it's done or it gets kind of soggy.

Here's the recipe:

Chicken Balsamico
From Stacey Snacks

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin
1 cup flour
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 minced garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme

Instructions:
1. Stir together flour, salt and pepper on a plate. Coat chicken with flour. Shake off excess.
Cook chicken in a large skillet until really well browned (approx 4 minutes each side).
Add garlic and cook one minute.
2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer with lid on for 10 minutes.
3. Remove chicken and continue to reduce sauce over medium high heat for a couple of minutes.
4. Strain sauce and serve over chicken.

Pairs nicely with a glass of Riesling.

Whisky-glazed Carrots

2010-08-24T06:00:00.002-03:00

If I had to pick a vegetable that I would pass over on a buffet, it would be carrots. I would not pass over these carrots for anything.

Oh these babies are good. Really, really good. Pioneer Woman's whiskey-glazed carrots are serious business. The glaze is a big glorious bowl full of sugary, buttery booze. Or boozey, sugary butter. Or buttery, boozey sugar. Whatever. You'll have to work hard to resist licking this bowl. These came together in about ten minutes. I would make these for a holiday dinner in a heartbeat. On this particular night, they were kind of the main course, because the meat I was cooking just wasn't fast enough for these babies. We had the meat later for dessert.

Here's what to do:

Whiskey-glazed Carrots
From Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, divided
2-3 pounds carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
½ cup Jack Daniels
¾ cup brown sugar
½ tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter over high heat.
2. Add carrots in batches cooking for just a minute or two until they start to brown. Set aside.
3. Add whiskey to skillet and allow to evaporate for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium and add the rest of the butter.
4. Once butter has melted, sprinkle in brown sugar. Stir to combine and return the carrots to the skillet.
5. Cover and cook for about 5 more minutes.
6. Uncover and add slat and pepper. Cook until carrots are tender and glaze is thickened.
7. Serve immediately sprinkled with chopped chives.

Pairs nicely with a readiness to consume more carrots than is reasonable.

Levoni's Beef Yogurt Curry

2010-08-23T14:07:00.000-03:00

Here's a recipe that had me drooling all over my TV remote. It's from the show Simple Fresh Delicious that airs on Viva (the boomer-targeted version of the W Network). It's filmed in Alberta (hooray Canadian programming!)and the host, Levoni Walker, is the second sexiest woman in cooking (no one beats Nigella and her Harlequin descriptions of food). Levoni has an Australian accent and an inhumanly perfect manicure. I love watching her show, and I was recently watching a rerun of an episode where she made recipes using yogurt. All of the recipes she made that day looked amazing, but the one that I absolutely had to make first was this Beef and Yogurt Curry.

FYI: The recipe calls for chuck roast. The woman in the meat department told me that chuck and blade steak are the same thing (learn something new every day).

Do you ever make something and just have a great time making it and going through all the steps in anticipation of the finished product's mind-blowing amazingness only to find that the finished product is merely very good? I'm pretty sure I think the best part of cooking should be the eating, but this time the cooking was the best part. Few things compare to a Le Creuset with a bottom covered in brown bits to be deglazed.

The dish was a little underwhelming. I know this sounds dumb, but it tasted too beefy.

Uh, Julie, it's beef curry.

Yeah, I know, but beef is a much more dominant protein than chicken and it kind of took over the rest of the ingredients. I think it probably tasted just perfect for a beef curry, so if you're into beef curry, this may be the recipe for you. I would make this again, for sure. I think my expectations were just a little too high.

Anyway, here's the lovely, beefy recipe:

Beef and Yogurt Curry
From Simple Fresh Delicious
Makes about 6 servings

Ingredients:
2-4 tbsp canola oil,
2 1/2 lbs (1.25kg) blade steak, diced
2 large onions, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 1/2 tbsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp crushed dried chili (this was pretty kicky, so adjust according to your taste)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup Greek yogurt
14 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained (or half a 28 oz can which is all I can ever find)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
Extra yogurt to serve

Instructions:
1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a dutch oven. Brown the beef in batches (if you crowd the meat, it will steam and won't brown), adding more oil if needed and set aside.
2. Add a little more oil and cook the onions in your now beautifully brown-bitty pot, scraping up the bits as the onions release their moisture. Cook for about 10 minutes until browned and softened.
3. Stir in garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, chili, turmeric, and cardamom. Cook spices for a couple of minutes until fragrant.
4. Add cinnamon and begin stirring in yogurt a little at a time (this keeps it from splitting--whatever that means).
5. Stir in tomatoes and salt and add beef and any accumulated juices to the pot.
6. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours.
7. Remove lid and continue to simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens (20 minutes or so)
8. Stir in herbs and top with extra yogurt.

Pairs nicely with the reasonable expectation that beef will taste beefy. And red wine.

Ricotta-stuffed Tomatoes

2010-08-20T06:00:00.002-03:00

Ricotta-stuffed tomatoes are something you may know from Pioneer Woman's buddy Pastor Ryan. Well, I saw these long ago, and felt like making them the other night when I wanted a lazy supper. I just kind of winged it because I knew the three main aspects: tomatoes, ricotta, bread crumbs. I confess, I was expecting more of a hallelujia chorus with these. They were definitely tasty, but I wasn't letting out involuntary noises of ecstasy or anything. Next time I'll toss the bread crumbs with some olive oil. I didn't want to douse my dinner in oil, but drizzling left a lot of them dry and raw tasting. I might also add an egg to the cheese mixture to make it stand up a little more. I over-stuffed the tomatoes a little and the cheese just slid off some of them. Anyway, this is really easy and I would definitely try it again. Here's the recipe:

Ricotta-stuffed Tomatoes
Adapted from Pastor Ryan

Ingredients:
3 roma tomatoes
1 cup ricotta cheese, drained
8 fresh basil leaves
A handfull of fresh oregano leaves
1 large clove of garlic, pressed
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions:
1. Halve the tomatoes, scoop out the insides, and lay them cut-side-down on paper towel to drain.
2. Stir together cheese, garlic, and herbs.
3. Fill the tomatoes with the cheese mixture.
4. top with panko and a drizzle of oil.
5. Bake at 400 until the bread crumbs are browned.

Pairs nicely with a glass of chardonnay.

Winning Combo #3

2010-08-19T06:00:00.001-03:00

Okay, you're going to like this. You're really going to like this. So remember all that strawberry freezer jam that Chris made? Well, I've found its soul mate.

Have you ever had Nutella? Chris and I always thought people who ate Nutella were crazy and considered sugar cereal a healthy breakfast. Then we tried it. Oh boy.

THEN, I tried a nutella and strawberry freezer jam sandwich on toast.

I would serve this to Thomas Keller for dessert. I really would.

I made a lot of noises while I was eating this sandwich. I also made a lot of noises when I ate the second, third, and fourth one. Turns out this counts as any meal of the day. I know because I've eaten it for every one.

My picture is of the two love birds on a graham cracker because I could never wait long enough to take a picture before I ate the sandwiches. It's also awesome on a graham cracker. In fact, you could probably just dip a spoon (or finger) in both and eat it that way.

Oh, if you happen to have any more freezer jam (like that's going to happen once you try this), it is amazing over my Greek yogurt panna cotta too.

Pairs nicely with each other.

Ricotta Peaches

2010-08-18T06:00:00.002-03:00

Here's a recipe that has become a go-to when I have company coming. It's Proud Italian Cook's
roasted peaches with amaretto ricotta and it is heavenly. Even people who don't like peaches enjoy this dish. I guess it's hard not to like something that's slathered in booze-soaked, sugary cheese. Proud Italian Cook's recipe calls for additional garnishes of sliced almonds, honey, and candied orange peel. I've done it this way, and it's delicious, but sometimes I skip the orange peel if I'm in a hurry and add strawberries or blueberries. If you felt like it, I bet you could add all three.

One of the things I like about this dessert is that it can go a long way. You could serve up to 8 people with the recipe below if you had a hefty dinner and didn't want a big dessert. This makes it a pretty affordable option. On the other hand, I could eat the entire recipe below by myself given the chance....

I can't stress enough how important it is that you try this. It's that good.

Here's the recipe:

Roasted Peaches with Amaretto Ricotta
From Proud Italian Cook

Ingredients:
4 peaches, halved and stoned (hee hee hee)
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tub ricotta cheese, drained
2-4 tbsp granulated sugar
2-4 tbsp Amaretto liqueur (Disarono)
½ cup sliced almonds (toasted if you want)
4-6 tbsp honey
Candied orange peel (optional)
Blueberries (optional)
Raspberries (optional)

Instructions:
1. Mix drained ricotta in a bowl with sugar and amaretto to taste. Refrigerate
2. Place peaches cut side down on a baking sheet.
3. Rub with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon, and brown sugar.
4. Roast for 20 minutes at 400°F.
5. Stir candied orange peel into ricotta if using.
6. Serve peaches topped with ricotta mixture and sprinkle with sliced almonds and fruit and drizzle with honey.

Pairs nicely with the need for an easy and impressive dessert.

Pea, Bacon, Pepper Pasta

2010-08-17T06:00:00.001-03:00

This recipe represents two truths to me: 1.) cooking really isn't that hard 2.) A little know how doesn't hurt and isn't hard to come by.

Here's what happened:

The other night, I delayed going home from work because Chris was working until 10:00 pm and I hate farting around the house by myself. I got home around 8:00 (my work day actually ends at 4:30) and loafed around for a bit. I didn't really get hungry until about 9:00, when I was hit with a sudden craving for greasy, crispy fast food.

As I'm sure you know, 99% of the time, fast food is never as satisfying as you think it's going to be. It winds up tasting crappy and stale and unlike actual food. It makes me feel like the the edible woman as I imagine the greasy, filler-packed "food" traveling through my body. But I really wanted some chicken fingers. I actually had my shoes on and my purse in hand when I shook my head and looked in the fridge. Things were pretty bleak. A little leftover produce that needed to get used and some cheese. I looked in the cupboard. I chewed on the stale remains of a bag of tortilla chips as I mulled over what to make. I saw the end of a box of flax spaghettini and I knew it was going to be pasta.

I was still craving some kind of protein, so I looked in the freezer. Hooray: bacon! Tip: freeze bacon in groups of two strips. you can put three sets of two strips in a freezer bag folded into thirds. Then, when you just need a teeny bit of bacon, you only have to use a teeny bit. It also thaws really fast (especially if you thaw it by throwing it in a hot pan--I'm sure this is some kind of bacon sacrilege, but at least I didn't go to McDonald's, right?).

In fifteen minutes, I wound up with a gourmet(ish) meal that tasted great, contained real ingredients, didn't cost a fortune, and was much healthier than any fast food (sorry for the picture quality, by the way, but it was about 9:30 when I took this). Now, if I didn't know a teeny bit about cooking, I might have succumbed to the lure of imitation food. But it doesn't take much to know that bacon and peas and shallots are friends, that lemon, parm, a splash of white wine and some goat cheese get along great, and that oregano belongs in pasta dishes. I guess what it really comes down to is thinking of dishes that you've enjoyed and what ingredients they contained that tasted good together. Also, keep some sort of pasta or grain in the cupboard, and some kind of cheese and produce in the fridge. I hope I'm not getting preachy here (okay, I know I am), but what I'm saying is, you can cook! Really! (I'm sure many of you read this blog because you already know you can cook, but I'll bet there are also many of you who don't).

Granted, you may have to eat a few frogs (that metaphor doesn't really translate, especially if you like eating frogs) before you find your kitchen groove. For example, I discovered at about age sixteen that you cannot just shake a little of everything in the spice rack into the spaghetti sauce. Cloves just do not work there. But it's kind of fun figuring it out.

So that's my story: keep a few reasonable pantry ingredients on hand (in this case, shallots, pasta, lemon, wine, parm) and you can make a meal that will satisfy and taste good. Also, try this particular dish because it was awesome! The only thing that would have taken it into out-of-this-world territory is a little teensy bit of heavy cream. But I was trying to be healthier than fast food, so I suppose it's just as well. Maybe ricotta...

Here's what I did:

Pea, Bacon, Pepper Pasta
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 strips bacon
1 small shallot
1/2 a small, sweet red pepper, sliced
1/2 cup snap peas, trimmed and halved
a couple of splashes of white wine
1/4 cup goat cheese
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
1/4 cup reserved pasta water
2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 servings of flaxmeal spaghettini, cooked according to package instructions

Instructions:
1. In a sautee pan, cook the bacon and set aside on paper towel to drain.
2. Leave 1 tbsp bacon fat in the pan and sautee shallot and pepper until softened.
3. Add peas and wine and cook until wine is reduce (just a minute or two).
4. Stir in goat cheese and parm and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Add pasta and reserved water and toss until pasta is well combined with veggies and sauce. Serve with additional parm reg.

Pairs nicely with a tiny bit of willpower and a modicum of skill.

Key-lime-curd Pie

2010-08-16T06:00:00.005-03:00

Well, the key lime pie I made the other day was really tasty, but it has nothing on this pie. I used the second bag of key limes to make an adapted version of Jen's lemon tart recipe, which Chris and I are completely gaga for.

Jen's recipe called for the juice of 2 lemons and the zest of three. This didn't mean much in relation to weensy little key limes, so I just guessed a half a cup of lime juice and the zest of all the the limes I juiced. It turned out great. I used a frozen pie shell because I didn't feel like making a bigger mess and I had it in the freezer. Chris is the pie crust expert around here, not me.

This pie was off the charts. The key lime pie was great, but I can't see myself ever making it again now that I've got this recipe. It's smooth and sweet and tart and amazing. It's also stupidly easy. You just stir. Seriously. That is it. Grab some limes (I'll bet regular will be fine) and go to town.

Key-lime-curd Pie
Adapted from Use Real Butter

Ingredients:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice
1 scant cup sugar
6 eggs
10 tbsp butter, cubed
zest of all the limes you juiced
1 frozen pie shell

Instructions:
1. In a double boiler (or a heat-proof glass bowl if you don't have a double boiler), whisk together juice, eggs, and sugar until well combined.
2. Set over simmering water and add butter.
3. Whisk constantly until thickened.
4. Remove from heat and whisk in zest.
5. Pour curd into pie shell and bake at 375F until set and just golden (about 22 minutes)
6. Die of happiness.

Pairs nicely with every meal of the day.

Iced Mint Tea

2010-08-15T06:00:00.002-03:00

Speaking of refreshing drinks, here's another one:

When I was an undergraduate, I spent my summers waitressing at a seafood restaurant in Halifax. A restaurant with a big patio doesn't exactly benefit from air conditioning. Keeping cool was pretty hard, but I found a great way to do it. I would brew mint tea and pour it in a pint glass full of ice. The cold drink plus the... mintyness of mint was so refreshing. Lately I find myself working the summer months away in a scorching-hot corner office in an ancient building with no air conditioning. I always imagined a corner office would be an achievement, not a torture chamber. Anyway, I decided I deserved another mint tea refresher.

Um... here's the recipe?

Iced mint tea

Ingredients:
mint tea
water (boiled)
water (frozen)

Instructions:
1. Brew tea.
2. Add ice.
3. I guess you could add sugar...?

Just as an extra endorsement of how awesome this stuff is, Chris--hater of all things tea, coffee, and general hot beverage--thought this was pretty tasty.

Pairs nicely with being overheated.

Strawberry Watermelon Cooler

2010-08-14T06:00:00.001-03:00

Here's something I concocted on a scorching hot day after work. It was mostly a matter of what fruit was in the fridge that needed to get used up and what was in the liquor cabinet.

Sidenote: we are not big drinkers, but since I've gotten serious about cooking, you would certainly think we are by the look of our liquor cabinet. So many recipes call for things like cognac, whiskey, vodka, tequila, wine, etc. (and that's not even counting dessert) that I've got a pretty well-stocked bar.

This was a pretty tasty drink, but I might add some sugar or grenadine next time.

Here's what went into the blender:

Ingredients:
2 cups watermelon
2 cups strawberries
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
juice of one orange
juice of one lime
4 oz white rum
2 oz peach schnapps

Instructions:
Blend.

Pairs nicely with sippin' while making dinner.

This salad brought to you by the mandolin slicer

2010-08-13T06:00:00.000-03:00

I bought a cheapy little mandolin slicer the other day after unsuccessfully attempting to slice fennel paper thin by hand. Obviously I needed to use it immediately, so I decided to make a pile of paper-thin slices of foods that were in my kitchen and call it a salad. It turned out to be delicious and, if I do say so myself, a little snazzy.

A mandolin slicer is pretty much the most fun ever. It's a very affordable kitchen indulgence. Mine was ten bucks.

Here's what I did:

Mandolin Salad

Ingredients:
1 lemon, sliced
1 lime, sliced.
1/2 cup fennel, sliced
1 peach, sliced
1 handful of dried cranberries
1 handful of flaked almonds
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:
1. Arrange ingredients in a fun way.
2. Drizzle with olive oil.

Pairs nicely with a love of uniform slices.

Key Lime Pie!

2010-08-12T06:00:00.014-03:00

I absolutely love lime, and I've wanted to try making key lime pie for ages. Well, I was in the city recently and I saw bags of key limes at Pete's Frootique. I had no idea how many key limes I would need to make one pie, so I bought two bags (way too many) just to be on the safe side. When I got home, I used this recipe, which I'd bookmarked on Tasty Kitchen.

By the way, in case, like me, you're wondering what the heck a key lime is, it's just a teeny weeny lime. I wasn't really able to discern much of a difference between key limes and regular limes like I could with meyer lemons. This pie was so easy and tasty that I don't think I'll wait around for key limes anymore; I'll just use the regular ones. I think I'll use the rest of my limes to make lime curd. I'll let you know how it goes.

One of the things that really appealed to me about this particular recipe was the graham crust that included sweetened coconut. It was a great crust and I will definitely try it with other pie recipes.

Oh and yes, I realize I went a little overboard with the green food colouring. With gel food colouring, a little goes a loooooooong way. AND, I know it's probably sacrilege to add food colouring to a key lime pie, but I'm generally a pretty sacrilegious person.

Also, if you could spell sacrilege on the first try, I bow down to you.

Key Lime Pie
From Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1-¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
⅓ cups sweetened coconut
2-½ tbsp sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
½ cups fresh key lime juice

For the topping:
1 cup heavy cream
½ tsp vanilla
1-3 tbsp sugar
Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine graham crumbs, coconut, sugar, and butter with a whisk in a medium sized bowl.
3. Press crumb mixture evenly into a shallow nine-inch pie pan.
4. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool.
5. Whisk together sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks. Add in lime juice and whisk again until thoroughly combined.
6. Pour filling mixture into cooled crust and bake for 15 minutes.
7. Cool pie on a wire rack, then chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.
8. When ready to serve, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla together until soft peaks form. Serve over pie.

Pairs nicely with a cold glass of milk.

Summer Harvest Israeli Cous Cous

2010-08-11T06:00:00.003-03:00

This was my first encounter with Israeli cous cous. I am a fan. Remember Orbitz? That drink with the floating coloured balls that lasted for like six months in 1997? Well, thankfully, Israeli cous cous is nothing like that. The texture in your mouth is pleasant, and it's filling but not heavy.

For this supper, I just grabbed all the leftover veggies in my fridge, roasted the tomatoes, sauteed the other veggies and tossed it with the cous cous in some lemon and oil. Chris and I both really enjoyed it. I also loved it cold for lunch the next day. By just barely cooking the beans and peas, they maintained their colour and their crunch.

Here's the recipe:

Summer Harvest Israeli Cous Cous

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
Kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
5 garlic cloves, tops cut, skins on
1 small shallot, chopped
1 cup yellow beans, trimmed and cut to one-inch lengths
2 cups snap peas, trimmed and cut to one-inch lengths
One large red pepper, roasted and cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 cup israeli cous cous
1-1/4 cups veggie broth
Juice of half a lemon
about the same amount of extra virgin olive oil
A handful of basil leaves
Lots of parmigiano reggiano, grated

Instructions:
1. Toss tomatoes with 1 tbsp olive oil and some salt and pepper.
2. Roast tomatoes and garlic cloves for about 30 minutes at 400F. Discard garlic cloves
3. At the same time roast your red pepper cut-side down. You may have to finish it by broiling until the skin is blackened.
4. Bring broth to a boil and add cous cous. Simmer until cous cous is tender and liquid is absorbed.
5. While cous cous is simmering, sautee shallot in remaining olive oil until soft. Add peas and beans with a pinch of salt and cook for about a minute or until peas turn bright green.
6. Whisk together extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice
7. When everything is ready, toss it together and top with basil and parm.

Pairs nicely with Riesling and requests from friends (I'm looking at you, Greg) for more meatless entrees.

Maple Walnut Arugula Salad

2010-08-10T06:00:00.005-03:00

Here's a great salad I made for supper the other night. Maple syrup and walnut oil make a great vinaigrette. The sweetness of the grapes and vinaigrette is contrasted with the peppery arugula and tart goat cheese, and homemade sour dough croutons add a nice crunch. We really enjoyed this and made it again the next day for lunch. Give it a try!

Maple Walnut Arugula Salad
Ingredients:

Salad:
6 cups arugula
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup day-old sour dough bread cut into cubes
1 tbsp olive oil

Vinaigrette:
3 tbsp walnut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp rice vinegar
Freshly cracked white pepper, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste

Instructions:
1. Toss bread cubes with olive oil and bake at 400F for ten minutes or until golden.
2. Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients.
3. Toss arugula with vinaigrette and top with remaining ingredients.

Pairs nicely with a glass of Chardonnay.

Beef and Pea Stir Fry

2010-08-09T06:00:00.002-03:00

Quick suppers for us often involve beef, noodles, and things like soy sauce and hoisin sauce. Stir fries are great in the winter for a quick meal, but they're perfect for summer too because you only have to have the stove on for about five minutes.

This stir fry was 98% pantry ingredients (another thing that makes stir fries great). I used some lovely peas from the farmers' market and a portobello mushroom that was kicking around the fridge after my stuffed mushroom dinner the other day, but everything else was stuff I always have. I highly recommend keeping unsalted cashews in your cupboard. They are great for making stir fries and curries a little more interesting both in flavour and texture.

Here's the recipe:

Beef and Pea Stir fry

Ingredients:
1 pound beef cut into strips (I buy the strips already cut at the grocery store)
Peanut oil (eyeball how much you'll need)
2 cups snow peas, trimmed
1 portobello mushroom, sliced
1 cup unsalted cashews,
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce, divided
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
pinch sugar
2 tsp corn starch
1/4 cup water
2 servings spinach rice vermicelli

Instructions:
1. Marinate beef strips in a 2 and a half tablespoons soy sauce
2. Toast cashews in dry pan.
3. Put a pot of water on to boil.
4. Heat a little oil and stir fry the peas with little salt until they turn bright green. Set aside.
5. Add a bit more oil, and stir fry the beef until browned on the outside. Add mushrooms about halfway through cooking beef. When beef is browned, set aside.
6. Add sauce mixture to pan and stir for 30 seconds. Return beef, mushrooms, and peas to pan and stir until combined and heated through. Throw your noodles in the boiling water for about a minute.
7. Serve beef over noodles and top with cashews.

Pairs nicely with iced tea.

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Mint

2010-08-08T06:00:00.000-03:00

I made a salad with watermelon, mint, green beans, and halloumi cheese a while ago, which was pretty tasty. I've heard many people sing the praises of watermelon and feta, so I decided to give it a try. I stuck with the mint, and I made a dressing with oil, honey, and lime.

What a fantastic salad. I ate it all and then had to go back to the kitchen and make it all over again. It was bright and summery--the perfect balance of sweet and salty with the..... minty-ness(?) of mint. I would eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert all in the same day. It's truly fantastic. Seriously. You should probably go make this right now.

Here's the recipe:

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Mint
Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 cups seedless watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 big handful fresh mint, chopped

Instructions:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, honey, salt and pepper.
2. Whisk in oil.
3. Toss crumbled feta in dressing and pour over watermelon.
4. Finish with a generous sprinkling of chopped mint.

Pairs nicely with being home alone so you don't have to share the delicious salad.

Ricotta-stuffed Portobello Mushroom

2010-08-06T06:00:00.005-03:00

Don't you love when what you're expecting to be a crappy boring night with a crappy boring dinner turns out to be awesome?

Chris and I have been working completely opposite schedules lately, so I eat a lot of meals by myself. The other night I was not looking forward to a lonely supper by myself, so I stayed at my office until about 7:30 editing a document. I wasn't looking forward to going home to an empty apartment, but I was looking even less forward (we'll just pretend that's an expression) to an empty apartment that was still a complete disaster after a busy weekend. The only thing I knew I had for supper was a bunch of asparagus. I went to the grocery store to kill time and circled the produce section like four times. I randomly grabbed some roma tomatoes and a couple of portobello mushroom caps, which I'd never bought before.

When I got home, I discovered that Chris--wonderful, darling Chris--had scoured the apartment. Heaven! I got to make dinner in a spotless kitchen without having to do any cleaning. I threw together some flavours that seemed logical and stuck them in the mushroom cap. I topped it with some impromptu tomato sauce and served it with a side of asparagus. It was AWESOME. I will definitely make this again. Here's what to do:

Stuffed Portobello
Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 asparagus spear, sliced in thin rounds like a green onion
1 small shallot, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
pinch dried basil
pinch dried oregano
1/2 cup ricotta
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano
1/4-1/2 cup bread crumbs
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 roma tomato, diced
splash of white wine
4 basil leaves chiffonaded

Instructions:
1. Scrape the gills out of the mushroom cap.
2. Heat butter and oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic, and asparagus and cook until softened. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Leave oil in pan.
3. Combine cooked veggies with cheese, bread crumbs, and herbs. Pile on top of mushroom cap and coat with a sprinkling of parm.
4. Bake on a foil-lined, oiled baking sheet at 375F for about 20 minutes or until the cheese browns.
5. While mushroom is cooking, bring tomato and wine to a boil in the skillet used to cook the veggies. Reduce heat and simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated.
6. When mushroom is done, stir the basil into the tomatoes and top the mushroom with the tomato sauce.
7. Serve with a side of asparagus.

Pairs nicely with a glass of the wine you splashed in the tomatoes.

Raspberry-Brie Panini

2010-08-05T06:00:00.003-03:00

Oh baby. This is a sandwich. As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. It's pretty basic: grilled cheese filled with raspberries, brie, and honey. Do I need to tell you more? To make it a panini, smush it down while cooking with a hot pan (use oven mitts). A perfect dish to make a meal out of all the lovely raspberries that are available right now.

Pairs nicely with a glass of iced tea on a sunny day.

Unexpected Salad

2010-08-04T06:00:00.006-03:00

Here's something I never would have thought to try before I started this blog: grilled watermelon salad with bacon and fennel. Crazy.

Here's something you probably weren't expecting: did you know that you can set off a smoke detector with watermelon? Yes. Really.

I don't have a barbecue (sob!), and I was already making brussel sprout pasta on the stove, so I used my trusty grill pan to cook the watermelon (that is such a weird thing to type). I oiled the water melon as per the instructions, and as the melon cooked, the smoke started to rise (no doubt the fault of the oil). My wonderful guest spent the first part of her visit fanning and then dismantling a smoke detector. Anyway, after the smoke had cleared (mostly) and the photos were taken, we bit into this salad and discovered that a grill, watermelon, fennel, and bacon are positively alchemical. This salad was delicious. The different flavours danced around our mouth in little taste explosions, each one reminding us of its presence (I realize how dopey that sounds, but that's really what happened!). Truly awesome.

You simply must try this. Even if you don't eat meat, try the combo of watermelon and fennel. They are wonderful together.

Here's the recipe:

Grilled Watermelon Salad
From Seaweed Snacks via Tasty Kitchen
Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 large chunks of seedless watermelon (really big--see picture)
1/4 fennel bulb slices paper thin (my kingdom for a mandolin)
4 pieces of bacon cooked (I didn't cut them up, but you certainly could)
Juice of half a lemon
2 splashes of olive oil

Instructions:
1. Set watermelon to drain on a few sheets of paper towel. Change it once. Total time about an hour.
2. While melon is draining, cook your bacon and set aside.
3. Coat watermelon with a little olive oil and grill a few minutes on each side on a really hot grill. If you're indoors, have someone ready to fan the smoke detector (or use an oil with a higher smoke point like grapeseed).
4. Whisk together lemon and olive oil and toss with fennel.
5. Stack ingredients in a fun way and serve.

Pairs nicely with a friend willing to fight with your smoke detector.

Brussel Sprout Pasta

2010-08-03T06:00:00.002-03:00

I think that most sensible people make something that they know how to make and that they know tastes good when they have company coming. I don't work that way. When I have company coming, they're guinea pigs. Sometimes this can be a tad stressful.

The other night, my wonderful friend Liz was coming for dinner. She is the most easygoing, positive person you could ever imagine, so it's pretty irrational to stress about a guest like her, but stress I did. I laid awake and hemmed and hawed endlessly over what to make. Eventually I decided to serve a variation on this bacon, shallot, and brussel sprout pasta and an awesome salad that I'll show you tomorrow. So not only was I making a recipe I'd never tried, I was cooking a vegetable I'd never had before. Anyway, all the stress was for naught. The food turned out great, with one little mishap which you'll learn about tomorrow. I really don't know why people get so grossed out by brussel sprouts. They're just a green vegetable. They taste (shockingly) like a green vegetable: delicious! This pasta was light and creamy and tasty. The leftovers reheated the next day in a skillet beautifully.

Here's the recipe:

Creamy Brussel Sprout and Bacon Pasta
Adapted from Good Life Eats

Ingredients:
5 strips bacon
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 ounces brussel sprouts, trimmed and quartered (from top to bottom)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
kosher salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, finely grated
2 servings flax meal spaghettini

Instructions:
1. In a heavy skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Set aside.
2. Remove 1/2 the bacon fat from the pan (discard or save for another use), add shallot, and sautee over medium heat until starting to brown. Meanwhile bring water for pasta to a boil.
3. Add brussel sprouts and water to the pan. Cover and cook undisturbed for 3-5 minutes until tender.
4. Remove lid and increase heat to medium high. Cook until any remaining water has evaporated. Throw pasta in the pot.
5. Stir in cream, thyme, and parm and season with salt and pepper.
6. Add pasta to the skillet and toss to combine.
7. Serve with additional parm.

Pairs nicely with a glass (or two) of sauvignon blanc.

100th Post: Julie and Julie and Julia

2010-08-02T06:00:00.006-03:00

100 posts. Can I believe it? Heck yes. I've been blogging my butt off! It's been a lot of fun and I've tried all kinds of great new recipes. I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing, and I hope you'll stick around for the next hundred posts.

I feel that a blogging milestone calls for a post about getting back to basics. In that spirit, I give you the following:

I finally got up the courage to try a recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Don’t get too excited.

I bought it about five months ago and it doesn’t have pictures which I find makes a recipe terribly scary. It also makes a lot of references to itself, so there’s a lot of page turning and paying attention required. Anyway, I’ve shied away from it up until now.

On the weekend, I was watching Julie and Julia. Julie was trying to poach an egg, and I felt a sudden rush of bravery.

A little background: I don’t actually even know how to boil an egg. I know. Scary. You've been following a food blogger down the garden path who can't even boil an egg. I hope you don't feel too betrayed. The reason I can't boil an egg is because my mom gave me this gadget that's like an egg mood ring. You just throw in the boiling water with the egg and it tells you when the egg is cooked through. If I didn’t have the gadget, I would probably just fry my egg. So if I’m scared of boiled eggs, you can imagine how terrifying poached eggs seem.

Anyway, today I felt ready to tackle poached eggs.

A little more background: I hate runny eggs. Poached eggs are supposed to be runny. I decided not to try and cook them until the yolks were solid, but I did decide to cook them just a little longer than the recipe suggested—6 minutes instead of 4.

I followed the instructions exactly and got it right on the first try. The yolk was thickened but still a little runny (at least by my standards). I sprinkled it with a little pepper and some fresh thyme. As I ate it, I kept trying to eat around the runny part. Suddenly, I had eaten the whole thing and was scraping the last bits off the plate. I guess my aversion to runny eggs is not as strong as I thought. It tasted different than a hard-cooked egg. It tasted great—rich and creamy.

Once upon a time I liked my steak well done and over time I’ve come to like it medium-rare. Maybe my egg preference is about to evolve too. And maybe I’ll try a more complicated recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking soon. Or not.

Here’s how to poach an egg:

Poached Eggs
From Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Instructions:
1. Bring a couple of inches of water to a simmer in a pot. Add 1 tbsp vinegar for every quart of water.
2. Crack the egg into a saucer or little bowl. With the bowl as close to the water as possible, slip the egg into the pot.
3. Gently pull the egg white over the yolk for a few seconds. Add additional eggs in same manner if desired.
4. After four minutes, lift the egg out of the pot with a slotted spoon (a skimmer if you’re Julia Child) and press with your finger. The yolk should still be soft.
5. Rinse cooked egg in a bowl of cold water to get rid of the vinegar.
6. Roll egg around in a slotted spoon to drain the liquid off. Serve.

Pairs nicely with milestones and a little bravery.

Strawberry Soupsicles

2010-07-31T06:00:00.001-03:00

This is the last solution Chris found for our strawberry "problem." We decided to have this strawberry soup for supper (Yup. We really did). It was brainless. You just blend. We had a bunch leftover, so we poured it into a popsicle mould. The popsicles were awesome!

Strawberry Soupsicles
Adapted from strawberry-recipes.com

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds (1200g) fresh or frozen strawberries
1/4 cup (75 g) vanilla yogurt
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Blend Strawberries and yogurt.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients.

3. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

4. Pour whatever you don't eat into popsicle moulds and freeze it.

Pairs nicely with double fisting.

Stuffed Poblanos

2010-07-30T06:00:00.003-03:00

I found some poblano peppers at the grocery store the other day and decided to stuff 'em. I winged it (sort of). I used Roberto Santibanez's recipe for ranchera sauce, but I improvised the stuffing. I roasted and peeled the peppers before stuffing them as I'd seen in other recipes, but they kind of fell apart (which is why I photographed them in the baking dish). If I did this again, I would try stuffing the raw peppers. I made a ton of ranchera sauce and froze the rest in freezer bags, so making these for a weeknight meal will be really quick in the future. This was an easy and pretty tasty dinner. You can stuff peppers with a whole range of things from different meats to beans and rice. Here's what I did:

Ranchera Sauce
From Roberto Santibanez

Ingredients:
3 pounds ripe tomatoes, roasted, peeled and cored (I used canned crushed tomatoes out of laziness and it still tasted good)
2 Serrano chiles
2 large garlic cloves
A 2-inch piece of Mexican cinnamon stick (I used a grocery-store cinnamon stick)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 small white onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt, or as needed
1 teaspoon sugar, or as needed

Instructions:
1. Combine tomatoes, chiles, and garlic in the food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent (4 minutes).
3. Add the tomato mixture and remaining ingredients. Simmer until slightly thickened (30 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and adjust seasoning if necessary. Remove cinnamon stick.

Julie's Stuffed Poblanos
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 poblano peppers
1/2 a small package of ground beef (or you can cook the whole thing and freeze the rest)
1/2 a small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cayenne
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 cup Ranchera sauce
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
Sour cream
Cilantro

Instructions:
1. Broil peppers until blackened. When they're done, wrap them in foil for about ten minutes. Peel the peppers, then cut a slit in one side and remove the seeds (this is when mine fell apart).
2. In a skillet, saute onion, garlic, beef, and seasonings until beef is no longer pink. Drain fat.
3. Stuff in-tact peppers with beef filling and cheese or roll beef and cheese up in less than in-tact peppers and secure with a tooth pick.
4. Pour ranchera sauce in a baking dish and nestle the peppers in the sauce. Top with remaining cheese.
5. Bake covered at 400F for about 20 minutes. Then remove foil and bake until cheese is bubbly.
6. Serve topped with sour cream, cilantro, and maybe some tortilla chips.

Pairs nicely with a Corona

Guest Post: Strawberry Freezer Jam

2010-07-29T06:00:00.074-03:00

Here's part two of Chris' battle with too many strawberries:

Did I say strawberry freezer jam? Because I meant sugar jam with strawberries.

So, I had a few extra strawberries (see yesterday's post) and had already frozen some and made a pie. I decided to use the remaining strawberries to attempt making jam for the first time. The recipe, which I followed from the package of pectin, was wonderfully simple and it tastes delicious.

I had enough strawberries to make two batches. Now, we have enough jam to last the whole winter. No more wondering "what's really in this?" when I spread jam on my toast in the morning. Sadly, I'll know exactly what's in it: massive quantities of sugar.

Strawberry Freezer Jam
From the Certo package

Ingredients:
2 cups crushed fresh strawberries
4 cups sugar (Yes. Seriously.)
1 (1.75 ounce) package dry pectin
3/4 cup water

Instructions:
1. Mix crushed strawberries with sugar, and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, stir the pectin into the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 1 minute.
3. Stir the boiling liquid into the strawberries.
4. Pour jam into containers, seal the tops, and leave for 24 hours.
5. Place containers in freezer, and store frozen until ready to use.

Pairs nicely with a diabetic coma.

Guest Post: Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

2010-07-28T06:00:00.003-03:00

This is a guest post by my sous chef and better half, Chris. "Somehow" he found himself with far to many strawberries, so he's going to tell you how he dealt with them.

I am the kind of person who thinks about strawberry season all year long. When I was a kid I used to eat so many strawberries I'd get hives. Unfun as the hives were, they were a small price to pay for the juicy, delicious enjoyment of fresh local strawberries.

The other day, I stopped by a strawberry u-pick and was a little overzealous with my picking. The result was a kitchen full of strawberries slowly losing their freshness. I froze most. I made freezer jam (see tomorrow's post) with many others. And I also made this pie.

I've never made a lattice top pie before. I found this helpful clip for weaving the dough. In the video, the host rolls and pinches the excess around the edges. I too rolled and pinched, but it turns out I should have cut some of that excess because the resulting crust was big and dense.

I brushed an egg/water mixture on top to help it brown and watched excitedly as it did. I learned after that this makes for a tough crust.

The pie crust recipe is from Chef Dennis. It was quick and easy and worked well. Only after I had completed it did a notice his comment, "...my pie crust was not quite up to standards..." Oh well. The filling comes from Epicurious.com. Overall, we really enjoyed this pie.

Pie Crust
From More Than A Mount Full

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup chilled butter
1/4 cup chilled shortening
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
5-6 tbsp of ice water

Instructions:
1. Cube the butter and shortening and keep cold.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt into a food processor and pulse twice.
3. Add the butter and shortening and pulse a few times until crumbly.
4. Add 5 tbsp of ice water and run processor until dough forms. Add more water if the dough is too dry.
5. Form a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. The less the dough is handled the better. Refrigerate for one hour.
6. REPEAT RECIPE FOR TOP CRUST (or just double it the first time if you're braver than me)
7. Roll on a floured surface and transfer to pie plate.
8. Keep dough cold until you are ready to fill it.
9. Roll second dough thinly on a floured surface and cut into strips and weave onto the top of the pie.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Filling
From Epicurious.com

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb
3 1/2 cups halved strawberries
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

2. Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
3. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour 25 minutes.
4. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

Pairs nicely with an over-abundance of strawberries.

Mini Crab Cakes with Cilantro-Lime Mayo

2010-07-27T06:00:00.006-03:00

Well, lobster season ended here a little while ago, and the landlord lobster gravy train pulled out of the station. Thus, I was pretty excited the other night when my landlady knocked on the door with a pile of snow crab legs fresh off the boat and fresh out of the pot (snow crab season is not over--well, now it is, but it wasn't a few days ago). This was the first time I'd ever had fresh crab. It was delicious! So sweet and tender. As I extracted all the meat from the shells, I ate a ton. I didn't even wind up having a technical supper, I ate so much crab. The rest I put in the fridge to make crab cakes the following night.

I found a recipe on Epicurious that was pretty darn easy. The toughest--well, most time consuming--part, was grating a cup of parm reg with my microplane, so overall a pretty easy recipe. I listened to the commenters and adjusted the quantities of a few ingredients--mostly upping crab, decreasing cream cheese. I changed a couple of ingredients and I mixed up a quick cilantro-lime mayo to serve with them.

One thing I was wildly impressed with was how well these reheated. I finished them two days later for lunch and they tasted as good as they did when I first took them out of the oven. To reheat, I just threw them in the oven for ten minutes on 350F. These crab cakes were rich and tasty. They went perfectly with the sauce and I would definitely make them again. Especially if someone gave me free crab.

Tip: Snow crab freezes really well. That is, if you have any left over. Store it in a container or freezer bag with a little bit of brine (boil water and salt until salt is dissolved. Allow to cool and you've got brine!). Be sure to leave room in your container for the water to expand.

Here's the recipe:

Mini Crab Cakes
Adapted from Epicurious.com
Makes 24

Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup finely grated parmigiano reggiano, divided
1 large egg
1-1/2 tbsp Greek yogurt
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
4 tsp plus 4 tbsp fresh chives, chopped and divided
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 generous pinch cayenne pepper
10 ounces snow crab meat, coarsely shredded
1-1/2 cups panko
5 tbsp unsalted butter
Freshly ground white pepper

Instructions:
1. In a medium-sized bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.
2. Add egg and 1/4 cup of parm and beat until well blended.
3. Add yogurt, lemon zest, 4 tsp chives, salt, and cayenne. Beat until well-combined.
4. Fold in crab meat and chill.
5. Preheat oven to 350.
6. Toss together panko, remaining parm and chives, and pepper. Drizzle in melted butter and toss with a fork until crumbs are uniformly moistened.
7. Generously spray a mini-muffin pan with nonstick spray. Press about a 2 teaspoons of the panko mixture into each muffin cup. Fill cups with generous mound of crab mixture and top with more panko.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cilantro-lime Mayo

Ingredients:
1 to 1-1/2 cups mayo
small handful cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 garlic clove, pressed
juice of half of a really juicy lime
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
Kosher salt to taste

Instructions:
Combine ingredients in a bowl. Chill until crab cakes are ready and serve on the side.

Pairs nicely with a glass of Riesling

Foraging for Edible Wilds

2010-07-26T06:00:00.019-03:00

I'm so excited to show you this. I thought of posting about this way back in March when I started this blog. We finally got a chance to go to my family's cottage in Tidnish, Nova Scotia, on the weekend, which is where I find these wonderful things. I grew up calling them crow's feet, but it turns out they're actually called glasswort . These little guys grow in salty marshes in among the grass.

The other day, we swam (well, walked, really) across the river at low tide and picked a whole bunch to have with our surf and turf dinner (we picked them in the top right part of the above photo). We were feasted on by mosquitoes while picking them, but it was so worth it. Crow's feet taste exactly how you'd imagine a green vegetable that grows in salt water would taste: delicious. They are perfect steamed with butter. There's a fibrous stem inside, so you can pull the green part off the stem with a fork. Or you can be serious about it and stick it in your mouth, close your teeth around the end and pull the stem out through your teeth.

Here's what to do:

Steamed Crow's Feet

Ingredients:
As many crow's feet as you can find
Butter, butter, butter
H2O

Instructions:
1. Pick crow's feet from slimy marsh puddles that resemble primordial ooze. Do not fall in.
2. Feed the mosquitoes.
3. Swim across river while rinsing mud, seaweed, and gunk of the roots of the crow's feet.
4. In the kitchen, trim off roots and thoroughly wash crow's feet.
5. Scratch mosquito bites.
6. Steam for ten minutes or until crow's feet are tender and easily release from inner stem.
7. Slather with butter.
8.Chow down.
9. Scratch mosquito bites.

Pairs nicely with shooting pop cans off a stump with a pellet gun for dessert (that's just how we do it in my family).
Also pairs nicely with a steak and one of these guys:

Saskatoon Bars

2010-07-25T06:00:00.003-03:00

I got very excited when I saw this recipe on Dinner with Julie. I grew up picking Saskatoon berries at the cottage for my Gramma to make jam and pies. If you've never tried these little beauties, they are sweet and juicy. They look similar to blueberries, but are a much darker purple colour. It takes a lot of hand-picked berries to make jam or a pie, so when we were kids, Grampa rigged up great little picking buckets by cutting the top third off two-litre pop bottles, punching two holes in the rim, and tying on a long string handle. That way you could hang the bucket around your neck and keep both of your hands busy picking berries.

When we moved into our current place last summer, I was thrilled to discover a great big Saskatoon-berry bush at the bottom of our yard. I had a bunch of berries in the fridge when I saw Julie's recipe, so I immediately whipped up a batch of these easy and tasty cookie bars. I also had a tub of raspberries that my Gramma had picked in her backyard, so of course I threw some of them in too. If you don't have access to Saskatoon berries, you can use blueberries. Saskatoon berries are so delicious, they're hard not to eat right off the branch, so I could understand if you didn't have enough left by the time you started baking.

Here's the recipe:
Saskatoon Bars

From Dinner with Julie

Ingredients:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups Saskatoon berries
1/2 cup raspberries
1 cup icing sugar
1 capful almond extract
1-2 tbsp milk

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Cream canola oil, butter, and sugar in a large bowl.
3. beat in eggs and vanilla
4. Add the flours and baking soda and stir until ingredients are just combined.
5. Spread 2/3 batter in a greased 10x15" pan.
6. Sprinkle an even layer of berries over the batter and top with globs of the remaining batter. The batter with spread as it bakes and you want some of the berries exposed.
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden around the edges and springy to the touch.
8. Combine remaining ingredients. Add as much milk as needed to achieve a drizzling consistency and drizzle over bars.

Pairs nicely with nostalgia and a great big glass of milk.

Another Day, Another Naanza

2010-07-23T06:00:00.011-03:00

Happy Friday! Here's another quick supper brought to you by naan. Great for a day when you don't have a lot of energy to cook because you woke up thinking it was Saturday, only to find it was Thursday.

I'm becoming a real fan of adding stuff to your pizza (well, I suppose it's not your pizza, is it? I didn't make it for you and you didn't eat it. My pizza. Sorry.) after it comes out of the oven. Things like greens and oils, and salt and pepper. The raw toppings add a whole other dimension to the pizza. For this pizza I added arugula, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper. It was excellent. Here's what I did:

Arugula and Tomato Bo-Naanza

Ingredients:
naan (garlic naan is great for pizza)
pizza sauce
fresh mozzarella
cherry tomatoes, pre-roasted for about 30 minutes with olive oil, salt, and pepper
baby arugula
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions:
1. Top naan with pizza sauce, mozza, and tomatoes.
2. Bake at 425°F until cheese bubbles (7-10 minutes).
3. Top with a bunch of arugula, a drizzle of oil, and some S&P.
4. Enjoy.
5. Relish the small number of dishes you have to do.
6. Put off doing dishes anyway.

Pairs nicely with a long day at work.

Raspberry-Vanilla Panna Cotta with White Chocolate Ganache

2010-07-22T06:00:00.005-03:00

Here's panna cotta number three . Good GOD I love this stuff. Excuse another poorly lit attempt at sunset photography. I'm sure a quick google search of "how to take pictures at sunset" would rectify this problem, but who thinks of this kind of stuff when they're about to eat dessert? Not me!

This is another yogurt-based panna cotta which means it's completely healthy and there's no reason to worry about the cup of cream you're consuming. Well, quarter cup--unless you eat the whole batch, which I certainly wouldn't judge; I lick the pot (which is harder than you'd think). And no, math whiz, the cream in the ganache does not count. Nobody likes a know-it-all (Defensive? Me?).

Flavoured yogurt works just great here (just like I knew it would!). I might use part fruit yogurt and part plain Greek yogurt next time just to up the tartness a little. I also liked adding whole pieces of fruit as a nice little surprise for when you cut into it.

I really can't encourage you enough to try panna cotta. You don't need a silicone mould; you can just pour it into individual serving dishes and refrigerate it that way. Then you don't have to worry about getting it out of the mould in tact. And really, who cares what it looks like as long as you get to eat it.

Here's the recipe:

Raspberry-Vanilla Panna Cotta with White Chocolate Ganache
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

Panna Cotta:
1 package powdered gelatin
1/4 cup water
1 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
1 cup raspberry yogurt
1/4 pint raspberries crushed with a tsp sugar
1/4 pint whole raspberries

Ganache:
200g white baker's chocolate
1 cup whipping cream

Instructions:
1. Bring cream, sugar, and vanilla to a simmer in a sauce pan.
2. While cream is heating, combine gelatin and water in a small bowl. Allow to soften.
3. Remove cream from heat and stir in gelatin.
4. In a bowl, whisk yogurt and mashed strawberries until smooth.
5. Whisk cream mixture into yogurt.
6. Pour into a silicone mould sprayed with non-stick spray.
7. Push 3 or 4 whole raspberries into each cup and refrigerate until set.
8. In a small sauce pan, bring cream to a simmer.
9. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk until smooth and refrigerate.
10. To unmould panna cotta, very carefully run a knife around the very top edge of the mould. Gently pop out the panna cotta and invert on a plate. Serve topped with ganache and more raspberries.

Pairs nicely with... oh God, who cares?! I just want another one!

Scallops with Grapes

2010-07-21T06:00:00.016-03:00

Here's the second half of my Rachel's-trifle-esque dinner.

Not too long ago, I was driving to work and listening to Information Morning on CBC as usual. The food columnist was interviewing a restaurant critic who was making what sounded like a delicious dish: scallops with grapes. I scribbled the ingredients (there were only a few) on the back of a receipt and went to work. The other night, we tried them alongside bacon-wrapped pineapple.

This was a quick and easy dish. It was a little different, healthy, and kind of neat. It was quite tasty, but we were far more impressed with the bacon-wrapped pineapple. We also started taking bits of the bacon from the pineapple and eating it with the scallops. There must be some kind of magnetic force that pulls bacon and scallops toward each other. Anyway, this is a quick, light, and tasty summer meal which I would probably make again.

Here's the recipe:

Scallops with Grapes
From CBC's Information Morning
Serves 3

Ingredients:
15-20 scallops
1 1/2 cup seedless green and red grapes, halved
1 tbsp olive oil (approx)
1 tbsp butter (approx)
1 small shallot, chopped
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Heat butter and oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet until oil shimmers and butter is melted.
2. Dry the scallops with paper towel and add them to the pan--in batches if necessary; don't crowd them. Cook on first side until caramelized. Flip and cook another minute. Remove scallops and cover with foil to keep warm.
3. Add shallot and a little more butter if necessary and saute until just browned (a minute or so).
4. Add grapes, lemon juice and zest, and salt and pepper. Saute until grapes are heated through.
5. Return scallops and any juices to the pan and stir to coat with sauce.
6. Add parsley and serve immediately.

Pairs nicely with a love for CBC Radio One.

Bacon-wrapped Pineapple

2010-07-20T06:00:00.013-03:00

Remember that Thanksgiving episode of Friends where Rachel makes the trifle? Well, you might think that's what happened to me if you saw what we had for dinner last night. Chris said it looked like I had mixed up a fruit salad and bacon-wrapped scallops. I made scallops sauteed with grapes, which I'll post tomorrow, and bacon-wrapped pineapple. I saw the recipe for bacon-wrapped pineapple on Tasty Kitchen and knew it was going to be good. Granted, anything you wrap in bacon has a 99% chance of being delicious. They were involuntary-moan-inducingly awesome. Amazing. Bacon-wrapped pineapple, where have you been all my life?

I did these in the oven, but you could easily do them on the barbecue if you have one (lucky you). I did find the bacon kind of stuck to the cooking surface. I don't know if oiling the surface would make much of a difference--bacon is so fatty on it's own--but I might try a little oil next time.

As far as skewers go, if you were serving it as a party appetizer, you could use toothpicks. If you were serving it at the table, you could use long barbecue skewers with four or five pieces per skewer. I wrap the ends of my skewers with foil to keep them burning (a great trick if you forget to soak them).

Here's the recipe:

Bacon-wrapped Pineapple
From Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:
Fresh pineapple, cut into bite-sized chunks
Strips of bacon, cut in half
Brown sugar for dredging

Instructions:
1. Dredge bacon in brown sugar.
2. Wrap each piece of pineapple with a piece of bacon and skewer to secure. Place on a cooling rack over a jelly roll pan lined with foil (easy cleanup!).
3. Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes. Finish under the broiler if bacon isn't quite crispy yet.

Pairs nicely with--who cares! Just make this!

So THAT'S Fettuccine Alfredo

2010-07-19T06:00:00.010-03:00

I have always thought that fettuccine Alfredo was revolting. That's because I've only ever seen it in the form of chain restaurant fair and jar sauce. I couldn't really even figure out what was supposed to be in it. Well, I came across Michael Ruhlman's Blog the other day. He's the food writer behind all of Thomas Keller's cook books (If anyone were to buy me The French Laundry Cook Book or Ad Hoc At Home, I wouldn't be mad. Just sayin'.), and he had a recipe for fettuccine Alfredo as part of a discussion of cooking real, simple, and delicious food. There are seven ingredients: cream, butter, cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and pasta. I liked all of them, so I decided to give it a go.

It's funny how fettuccine Alfredo sounds almost exactly like what little kids eat when they're in their I-don't-like-red-sauce phase. In fact, Ruhlman's recipe includes cream, which truly by-the-book fettuccine Alfredo does not. Little kids actually got it right!

The only modification I made to the dish was to serve it topped with some chicken that was pan fried with butter and garlic. I figured I should balance out the fat with at least a little bit of protein.

This dish was really tasty, though I'm not sure quite delicious enough to be worth consuming so much butter, fat, and white pasta (Just for the record, I'm not one to shy away from fat if it's only going to be replaced by crappy processed fake food. I'd much prefer a reasonable portion of a real ingredient with some nutritional value over just about any amount of unpronounceable food alternative any day. But even for me, this bowl of fat was pushing it just a little.) It would be a good dish to serve to little kids or picky eaters, I think. It doesn't reheat terribly well; it kind of breaks down into a puddle of butter and limp noodles, so only make as much as you'll eat in a single sitting. I do suggest that if you've only ever had "fettuccine Alfredo" from a jar or chain restaurant, to try this once. It's velvety and sumptuous and, despite its ingredients, strangely light.

Here's the recipe:

Fettuccine Alfredo a la Ruhlman with Chicken a la Julie
From ruhlman.com
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Chicken:
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, pounded flat-ish
1 tbsp butter (because there just wasn't enough in the pasta)
1 tbsp grape seed oil (has a high smoke point and keeps the butter from burning)
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of garlic powder

Pasta:
1 cup cream
salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste
2 ounces butter, cut into a few pieces
4-6 swipes of nutmeg on a zester or grater
12 ounces fresh pasta
2 ounces freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions:
1. Heat oil and butter over medium-high.
2. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
3. Cook chicken moving it as little as possible until well browned and cooked through. Let rest for 5-10 minutes, then slice.
4. Bring water to a boil. When it's boiling, salt the water and cook the pasta.
5. Meanwhile, in a pan that's big enough to accommodate the pasta, bring the cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg to a simmer.
6. Reduce the heat and whisk in butter one chunk at a time.
7. Remove pan from the heat.
8. Drain the past and toss it with the cream.
9.Sprinkle most of the parm and toss pasta again to distribute the cheese. Add more cream or milk if it becomes too thick.
10. Serve sprinkled with remaining parm and topped with sliced chicken.

Pairs nicely with the third night of our Godfather marathon (Pure coincidence. Seriously).

Winning Combo #2

2010-07-17T06:00:00.002-03:00

Here's two more things that don't constitute a recipe, but they definitely belong together and I thought you should know (I look out for you like that):

Boursin Garlic and Fine Herbs cheese...

and Cranberry Hazelnut Rain Coast Crisps.

If I never wanted to make an appetizer again, I could just always bring this. Both products are a little pricey, but it probably works out close to the price of a dish you would cook (at least that's what I tell myself). I get the cheese at the grocery store, but the crackers I have to get at health food stores and fancy pants grocery stores. Now you know. You're welcome.

Pairs nicely with--I just told you!

Blueberry Muffins with a Touch of Lemon

2010-07-16T06:00:00.024-03:00

I baked! Again! Muffins almost feel like they can't be baking because I find them way too easy. I used the same quickbread recipe that I used for the rhubarb loaf. I feel like I must be starting to understand baking because I very comfortably made a substitution for the buttermilk when it looked a little questionable. I replaced 1 cup of buttermilk with 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup skim milk, a 1/4 tsp vinegar, 1/4 tsp lemon juice. It worked like a charm. I also just kind of assumed that a massive quantity of high-bush blueberries (the big honkin' ones) would work. There were so many blueberries in a couple of muffins that the bottoms had a hard time supporting the tops. But really, if a blueberry muffin that's practically collapsing under the strain of its blueberries doesn't work for you, I'm not sure we can be friends anymore. These muffins were moist and delicious and came together lightning quick.

Here's my recipe:

Blueberry Muffins with A Touch of Lemon
Adapted from Canadian Living
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 pint of high-bush blueberries
zest of 2 lemons

Instructions:
1. In large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.
2. In separate bowl, blend sugar with oil; whisk in egg, buttermilk, zest, and vanilla.
3. Stir into dry ingredients along with blueberries just until flour is incorporated. Spoon into muffin tins. Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on top of muffin batter.
4. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until cake tester inserted into centre comes out clean.
5. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to let cool completely.

Pairs nicely with a Saturday morning when you want a quick breakfast so you can get yourself to the farmers' market.

Ravishing Radishes

2010-07-15T06:00:00.003-03:00

Look at these beautiful radishes! I got these at the farmers' market mostly because of the colour. Then I had to find something to do with them. The only place I've ever seen them was in salads, but I wanted to make something else. A Googling of "radish recipes" yielded this recipe for radish and goat cheese raita. It contained things that were all in my fridge, so I gave it a go. It was pretty tasty. I added some lemon juice and pepper to give it a little more depth of flavour. Here's the recipe:

Radish and Goat Cheese Raita

Ingredients:
200g of fresh, firm radish, topped and washed
300ml of rich natural organic yogurt
100 g of fresh soft goat's cheese
2 tbsp of chopped fresh mint
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Thinly slice radishes.
2. Whisk together yogurt and goat cheese.
3. Fold in radishes, lemon, and mint.
4. Serve with bread, crudites, or spicy food.

Pairs nicely with dippables.

Gorgeous Greek Salad

2010-07-14T06:00:00.003-03:00

This is the Greek salad I served with the pork souvlaki. It's my parents' friend Billy's recipe, and it's a fantastic summer salad for barbecues. Billy makes it with lettuce, but I decided to skip that part because traditional Greek salad doesn't have lettuce and because it just seems to take up space. The lettuce might come in handy, though, if you needed the salad to serve a big crowd. The recipe also calls for olives, and if I was making it for a crowd I might add olives, but Chris and I passionately hate olives, so I usually skip them. You could use jarred roasted red peppers, but I like to use fresh because it takes zero effort to make your own.

What really makes this salad sing, I think, is the mint. I don't know if most Greek salad calls for mint, but it brightens up the flavour incredibly. You can prep most of the ingredients ahead of time, but make sure you chop and add the herbs at the very last minute. Here's the recipe:

Billy’s Greek Salad

Ingredients:
Vinaigrette:
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1½ tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp minced fresh oregano leaves
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 medium garlic clove, pressed
6 tbsp olive oil

Salad:
1 small red onion, sliced
1 medium cucumber,thickly sliced(2 cups)
2 large tomatoes cut into 12 wedges
¼ cup loosely packed, freshly torn parsley
¼ cup loosely packed, freshly torn mint
1 roasted red pepper, cut into thick strips
20 large kalamata olives
5oz crumbled feta (1 cup)

Instructions:
1. Marinate onions and cucumber in dressing for 20 minutes.
2. Combine with other ingredients and serve.

Roasted Red Peppers
Instructions:
1. Cut peppers into quarters. Remove seeds and ribs.
2. Place under the broiler skin-side up on a foil lined baking sheet until the skin is thoroughly blackened.
3. Wrap tinfoil around peppers to keep heat and steam in. When cool enough to handle, peel off and discard blackened skin.

Pairs nicely with pork souvlaki

Pork Souvlaki and Tzatziki

2010-07-13T07:00:00.022-03:00

Pork souvlaki is something I used to buy frozen. President's Choice makes really tasty frozen pork souvlaki, and it was a staple weeknight meal for us. I always thought that they seemed like something I could easily make myself, and I've been meaning to for a while. The other day, I looked around and found this recipe. Souvlaki is incredibly easy to make, and it's really tasty. It requires few ingredients and little time, and you can use the marinade for any meat. If you wanted to, you could definitely make your own frozen pork souvlaki. Just make way more than you need, skewer and freeze the rest in freezer bags. Or skip the skewers. Just freeze the cubed pork in the marinade and skewer it once it's thawed.

For these, we used Greek pitas which were a little dense. Next time I'd probably use pita pockets so that there's more emphasis on the meat than the bread. We topped them with diced tomato, red onion, lemon, and tzatziki. I served the souvlaki with a truly awesome Greek salad, which I'll post tomorrow. I did these in the oven under the broiler, but they're great on the barbecue too.

Here's the recipe:

Pork Souvlaki
Adapted from About.com: Greek food

Ingredients:
2½ pounds of pork tenderloin, cut in 3/4 inch cubes
1 teaspoon of ground oregano
½ teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 tablespoons of red wine (or good red wine vinegar)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 lemons cut into wedges
Tzatziki
Warmed pitas

Instructions:
1. In a bowl, toss together first seven ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Note: If using vinegar, the meat will taste too vinegary if you marinate for more than two hours. With wine, you can marinate up to two days as long as you use salt.
2. Thread meat onto soaked wooden skewers. Cover the exposed ends with foil to prevent burning. Six pieces of meat per skewer should result in about 12 skewers.
3. On a foil-lined pan, broil the meat turning until well browned, about 15 minutes.
4. Hold skewer in a pita and pull stick out of meat.
5. Top souvlaki with diced tomato, onion, lemon juice, and tzatziki.

Tzatziki
From Kalyn's Kitchen
Makes 3 1/2 cups.

Ingredients:
3 cups Greek yogurt
1 lemon, juiced
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced
1tbsp kosher salt for salting cucumbers
1 tsp dried dill weed
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. In a strainer, combine cucumber and salt. Allow to sit for half an hour. Dry cucumber with paper towel.
2. Combine cucumber, lemon, dill, garlic, salt and pepper in food processor. Pulse until fairly smooth.
3. Stir cucumber mixture into yogurt.
4. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Pairs nicely with a cold beer.

Highland Hummus

2010-07-12T06:00:00.008-03:00

Chris and I drove around the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park on the weekend. If you live in the Martitimes and you've never done the Cabot Trail, you really need to. Chris and I both grew up in Nova Scotia and went for the first time last fall (it is spectacular in the fall). We couldn't believe we'd never been and we vowed to go more often--hence this trip.

I had this brilliant idea that I would make some picnic snacks to take with us for lunch which would also give me something to blog about. I decided to make hummus. Now that I have a wonderful food processor, hummus is just about the easiest thing going. I was going to take a lovely picture of our fancy little picnic with the ocean and the mountains in the background just for you.

Well my plan was foiled. One thing about coastal regions of the North Atlantic: they're pretty flippin' windy. We couldn't put anything down on the picnic table without having to chase it across the grass. Then we heard what sounded like barking and decided we didn't want to stay and find out if it was a coyote (I'm only mildly paranoid). I decided to give up on my picnic shot, enjoy the glorious day, and make more hummus for you when I got home. In the mean time, we saw sights, hiked to waterfalls, swam at ocean inlets, dined at the Keltic Lodge, and poked around touristy shops.

Okay, back to my regularly scheduled programming.

Hummus: It's beyond me why anyone would buy hummus when it's this simple and delicious to make yourself. By the same token, I suppose it's beyond some people why I would use canned chickpeas to make hummus when I could use dried. Go figure. Anyway, I've got a few other hummus recipes up my sleeve, but this one is the basic one. Here's how I did it:

Hummus

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and pressed (more if you don't need to interact with other humans)
1 lemon, juiced (I squeezed every last drop out of a really juicy one)
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp hot Hungarian paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Dump it all in the food processor and process the bejesus out of it. Add a little water if it's too thick.
2. Taste and add a little more of any ingredient you deem necessary.
3. Serve with bread, pita chips, tortilla chips, veggies, or anything else you might like to dip in hummus.

Pairs nicely with high winds and rugged coastline.

Mom's Brownies

2010-07-11T06:00:00.014-03:00

I'm about to share with you my mother's amazing brownie recipe. Try to stay calm.

When we were in junior high and high school, my sister** and I used to run upstairs and mix these up on commercial breaks, bake them while the show was on, then run upstairs and get them on the next commercial and eat them hot out of the pan as a TV snack. Chris and I have done the same a few times. It's how I made this batch. I started at 11:00 pm.

When we were kids, there was always a battle for the corner pieces--generally initiated by my dad. Weird, because the corners are generally the driest. Anyway, I think that because of brownie corners, we grew up thinking that everyone's family would steal your dessert off your plate at the dinner table if you didn't keep two eyes on it at all times. Kind of weird when you try it at someone else's house only to discover that this isn't the case.

Here's the recipe. Now run. RUN to your oven!

Mom’s Brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
4 1-oz squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup flour
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Melt butter and chocolate.
3. Blend in sugar
4. Blend in eggs one at a time (make sure chocolate mixture isn't too hot before you add the eggs).
5. Add vanilla.
6. Stir in flour and nuts.
7. Spread in a greased 8x8 pan (I used a 9x9, which is why my brownies are so skinny).
8. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

I topped these with chocolate butter cream frosting spiked with a little Bailey's (not a Mom recipe from high school incidentally).

Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 pound butter, room temp
1-1/2 oz semisweet baking chocolate
1 tsp vanilla
4-6 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp Bailey's (taste it. You'll know when to stop)

Instructions:
1.Beat butter until fluffy add icing sugar until desired consistency is reached (you'll still have to add more).
2. Chop and melt chocolate in a double boiler. When chocolate is smooth, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
3. Add chocolate, vanilla, and Bailey's to the frosting and beat until smooth.
4. Add more icing sugar until it gets back to the right consistency.
5. Frost your brownies and chow down. (I recommend not over-icing them like I did).

Pairs nicely with cravings and commercial breaks.

**Happy Birthday, Kel!

Vanilla Chai Latte Panna Cotta

2010-07-09T06:00:00.002-03:00

Here's my second attempt at panna cotta. It's truly beyond me why people don't have panna cotta every day of the week. It's so, so, so, so easy! It's also a great dessert for scorching hot summer days as it only requires about ten minutes in front of the stove and it results in a cool, creamy, refreshing treat. This time I built on a recipe from Dinner with Julie for chai panna cotta. I had a vanilla bean in the cupboard, so I threw it in the cream. When the panna cotta was ready, I tasted it without adornment and it was a little blah. Then I thought of things that are good on top of a latte. I added shaved semi-sweet chocolate and caramel sauce (the refrigerated ice cream topping kind). Then, after I took the picture, I thought of adding a dusting of cinnamon. This panna cotta went from okay to absolutely delicious.

If I do this again, and I think I will, I'll skip the skim milk altogether and replace it with more chai concentrate. Then the chai to dairy ratio will be more like a latte and hopefully have a little more kick.

Here's the recipe:

Vanilla Chai Latte Panna Cotta
Adapted from Dinner with Julie

Ingredients:
1/3 cup skim milk
2/3 cup Tazo chai concentrate
1 cup whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1/3 cup sugar
1 package gelatin
1/4 cup water
semi sweet chocolate shavings
caramel sauce
cinnamon for dusting

Instructions:
1. Combine skim milk and chai concentrate in a sauce pan and heat to a simmer. Remove from heat. The chai can be made ahead. I made enough earlier to have a drink and have leftovers for the panna cotta.
2. Bring cream, sugar, and vanilla to a simmer in a sauce pan.
3. While cream is heating, combine gelatin and water in a small bowl. Allow to soften.
4. Remove cream from heat and stir in gelatin.
5. Whisk cream mixture into chai.
6. Pour into mould sprayed with non-stick spray.
7. Refrigerate until set. To serve, invert panna cotta onto a plate. Top with chocolate shavings, caramel sauce, and a dusting of cinnamon.

Pairs nicely with a cup of green tea.

Cosmo Cupcakes

2010-07-08T07:00:00.002-03:00

Okay, this is pretty exciting. I found this recipe for cosmo cupcakes on Tasty Kitchen. The concept is positively brilliant: just replace the water in the cake mix with your favourite mixed drink. I see peach schnapps in my cupcakes in the near future. Bailey's and coffee in your chocolate cake anyone?

When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make them for my neighbour's 40th birthday party. These cupcakes just screamed fabulous and forty, which my neighbour definitely is. The appropriateness kind of ended there, though. There's just something a little incongruous about a barn dance and a cosmopolitan....

These cupcakes were good, but not out of this world. They were insanely sweet. I can't imagine eating two in one sitting. I feel like this is the beginning of something great, though. I will definitely keep trying ways to booze up my cupcakes.

One thing's for sure, though: licking the bowl is way more fun when there's booze.

Tip: keep a supply of cute dollar store plates, bowls, and trays to take to parties. Then, if you don't get your dish back, you haven't lost something that's really nice or part of a set. You're also giving something reusable to whoever winds up with the dish instead of creating waste. I learned this from my mom when we were in high school and going to parties. She had already lost most of her spoons to our lunch bags by that point.

Cosmopolitan Cupcakes
From Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

cupcakes:
4 tbsp Triple Sec
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup cranberry juice concentrate, thawed
3 whole egg whites
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp lime zest
1 boxed white cake mix, Duncan Hines
1 drop pink or red gel dye (optional)

frosting:
2 sticks butter
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp cranberry juice concentrate, thawed
1 tsp lime zest
1 tbsp Triple Sec
6 cups icing sugar

Instructions:
1. Stir lime juice, cranberry juice, and Triple Sec together.
2. Combine with remaining cake ingredients and beat until smooth. Add dye if desired.
3. Divide batter between 18-24 cupcake papers and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
4. For the icing, beat 2 sticks of butter until light and fluffy.
5. Add the juices, zest, and triple sec. Beat to combine.
6. Add the sugar gradually, until icing is spreadable and not runny.
8. Frost cooled cupcakes.

The recipe noted that you could choose to put all the drink ingredients in the icing, or just choose to highlight one and use a larger quantity. I might do this next time. The icing packed a bit of a wallop.

Pairs nicely with a big glass of milk and turning 40 with style.

Pico de Gallo

2010-07-07T06:00:00.003-03:00

Here's the recipe for Pioneer Woman's pico de gallo. Pico de gallo is easy and tasty. It's just a lot of chopping. Ree says that if you add some pico de gallo to mashed avocado, you've got guacamole. I tried this too. This guac is not quite as good as my regular recipe, but if you’re making pico de gallo anyway, it’s certainly serviceable.

My guacamole takes about 2 minutes to make in the food processor. This pico de gallo takes a lot more work because you’re finely chopping a lot of veggies, but you do wind up with two different dishes when you do it Ree’s way. I can definitely see this happening in the future.

Here's the recipe:

Pico de Gallo
From Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
4 whole roma tomatoes
2 medium shallots
3 whole jalapeno peppers
cilantro
lime juice
salt to taste

Instructions:
1. Finely chop tomatoes, shallots, and jalapenos. Add to bowl.
2. Chop a bunch of cilantro and add to bowl.
3. Season with salt and squeeze juice of half a lime over mixture.

Pairs nicely with corn-based dippables.

Tequila Lime Chicken

2010-07-06T06:00:00.005-03:00

Now this is awesome. The recipe for this tequila lime chicken comes from Pioneer Woman and it is just delicious. Easy too. It involves a couple of brain cells because you have to plan ahead enough to marinate the chicken for at least an hour or so, but other than that it's pretty simple stuff. I did make one mistake: I forgot to add the oil to the food processor, so about an hour into marinating, I dumped some oil into the ziploc bag where the chicken was marinating, sealed it up, and squished it around. It seemed to work fine. We cooked it in a grill pan, but it would also be great on the barbecue.

I served the chicken topped with PW's pico de gallo (which I'll post tomorrow), avocado slices, tortilla chips, and sour cream. You could definitely slice this chicken up and put it on a salad, a creamy pasta (mmmm, that might have to happen), or in some sort of dish that involves wrapping it in a tortilla. It's got wonderful warmth and spiciness. Chris was a little wary of this dish when I was making it. I accidentally leaned over the food processor, breathed in some tequila fumes and almost fell on the floor. This did not increase his confidence, but in the end he was very vocal about how awesome it was.

Here's the recipe:

Tequila Lime Chicken
From The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
3 whole limes, juiced
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 tsp kosher salt
½ cup cilantro
½ cup tequila
5 tbsp olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese with peppercorns, grated
pico de gallo
sour cream
avocado slices

Instructions:
1. In a food processor, combine lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, salt, cilantro, and tequila. Process until fairly smooth. Add olive oil through feed tube until combined.
2. Pound chicken between sheets of plastic wrap until flattened. Place chicken and marinade in a bag and marinate for a few hours and up to overnight.
3. Oil grill pan and heat to medium high. Cook chicken on both sides until cooked through.
4. Top chicken with cheese and place grill pan under broiler until cheese is bubbly.
5. Serve with pico de gallo, sour cream, avocado slices, and tortilla chips.

Pairs nicely with a Corona.

Pomegranate Mousse Cake

2010-07-05T06:00:00.016-03:00

Have you ever bought something off the TV? You're watching an infomercial and Billy Mayes (rest in peace) just absolutely captivates you with his Mighty Putty, or Vince somehow manages to convince you that chopping garlic isn't fun (I love chopping garlic) and that you need a Slap Chop? Or you finally listen to Chuck Norris' advice and buy the Total Gym?

No?

Well, me neither, but I now understand what it feels like to be staring at the screen while your hand, completely independent of your brain, picks up the phone and starts dialing. In my case, though, my hand was getting out pots and turning on burners as I stared at (and drooled on) my computer (which just happened to be in my kitchen...).

My infomercial was for Pomegranate Mousse Cake (I know. Your hands are starting to twitch).

I saw the recipe on Chef Dennis' blog a few days after POM pomegranate juice was on 2 for 1 at the grocery store and a few more days after Chris had gone to the store for a teeny tiny carton of heavy cream and come home with a litre (all they had). In a moment of what I can only describe as serendipity, I pretty much had all the ingredients for pomegranate mousse. The recipe starts with making a pomegranate reduction and then a pomegranate curd. Reductions are brainless, and I had made lemon curd before, so I figured I could handle pomegranate curd. It's pretty much exactly the same as lemon curd.

At this point, I wasn't planning to make the cake, I was just planning to make a big bowl of mousse and serve it in dessert bowls drizzled with the pomegranate syrup recipe I'd found on Tasty Kitchen the day before (or just sit in front of the TV with a mixing bowl in my lap and lick it off my spatula until it was all gone). The recipe for the reduction called for pomegranate liqueur, which I didn't have, so I subbed in Triple Sec, which I think worked just fine. The mousse called for one-and-a-half packets of gelatin. I had half a packet kicking around, and since I wasn't making the cake I figured this would be fine.

The curd was easy--just a lot of whisking over a double boiler. It took longer than Chef Dennis suggested (closer to 20 minutes than 5-7), but the bowl I used wasn't perfectly round, so I think a lot of heat from the water was escaping. That, or my heat was too low. In any case, it came together without much trouble.

The mousse was just as easy: Make whipped cream. Fold in curd. At this point I realized that Chris and I could not possibly eat that much straight mousse. I really wasn't in the mood to bake a cake. Also, I didn't have the right sized cake pans to do what I wanted, and I was getting kind of tired (this whole project had started at about 8 pm), so Chris went to the grocery store and bought a little white pound cake.

The pomegranate syrup was just another reduction except it involved a few more ingredients than the first one. I took it off the heat before it was completely reduced and brushed some on the layers of pound cake. Then I boiled it down to a caramel-like consistency to drizzle on top.

Here's where the half packet of gelatin started to matter. Mousse is not sturdy enough to support three layers of pound cake on top (maybe I should have gone with angel food cake now that I think about it...). It also starts to soften outside the fridge, and despite how quickly I was working, it rapidly started to look like the leaning tower of mousse cake. Thinking quickly, I stuck in a few wooden skewers to stabilize things. As you can see, it wasn't the prettiest cake (here's Chef Dennis' version ), but making the components was pretty easy and, hot damn, was it ever delicious! I`m a little proud of myself for this one despite the lean and the store-bought pound cake (I'm only one woman!).

Here's the recipe:

Pomegranate Mousse
From More Than A Mount Full

Ingredients:

For Reduction:
32 oz pomegranate juice (POM Wonderful)
2 oz pomegranate liqueur (I subbed Triple Sec)

For Curd:

2 eggs
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup pomegranate reduction

For Mousse:
4 1/2 tsp (1 1/2 packets) powdered unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup water
3 cups pomegranate curd (I don't know how much I made, but I used all of it)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar

Instructions:
1. Reduce POM down to ten ounces and add pomegranate liqueur. Allow to cool.
2.Whisk together all curd ingredients except butter in a heat-proof bowl until well combined.
3. Place bowl over a saucepan with an inch of simmering water, and whisk in butter a little at a time as the mixture heats up (Do not let it boil!). Allow curd to cool.
4.Place gelatin in a bowl with water and let it sit until all the water has been absorbed. Heat gelatin in the bowl over simmering water until it dissolves into a clear liquid.
5. If curd has cooled down too much, warm it back up over simmering water. Whisk in gelatin until well combined. Set aside and allow to cool to room temp.
6. Whip cream until medium peaks form, gradually adding sugar as it stiffens.
7. Gently fold cream into curd until just combined. If you over mix, you'll ruin it. Chill.

Pomegranate Syrup
From Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 cup pomegranate Juice
½ cups honey
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp butter

Instructions:
1. Boil gently in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan until reduced by half (I took some out before it had reduced all the way to brush the layers of cake).

To assemble the cake:
1. Brush cake layers with syrup, and spread an even layer of mousse between stacked layers.
2. Cover the outside of the cake with remaining mousse and drizzle with pom syrup.
3. Garnish with pomegranate seeds if you have them, or raspberries if you don`t.
4. Keep in the fridge.

Pairs nicely with late night trips to the fridge with a fork.

Peach Chutney

2010-07-04T08:00:00.005-03:00

There's a woman named Anu at our farmers' market who makes the most incredible Indian chutneys. They are truly special. The other day, I needed one peach, so I sent wonderful Chris to the store and he came back with a big box of peaches because they weren't selling them individually. I needed to find something to do with the rest, so I decided to use some to make chutney.

I googled around for ginger peach chutney recipes hoping to approximate Anu's and found this recipe. It was easy to make and it tasted good. Definitely serviceable, but it paled in comparison to Anu's recipe. I think there may have been too much vinegar. I would serve this to company without question and Chris and I ate it on our bagels for days, but I will continue the search for a truly amazing chutney. In the mean time, I'll just keep buying from Anu.

Here's the recipe in case you don't live near Anu:

Peach Chutney
From Canadian Living

Ingredients :
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
1/4 tsp pepper
8 cups sliced peeled peaches
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup cider vinegar

Instructions:
1. In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat; cook onions and spices, stirring often until onions are softened (about 5 minutes).
2. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered stirring often until reduced to 8 cups and thick enough to pile on spoon (about 1 hour).
4. Cool and serve.

Pairs nicely with a bagel and goat cheese.

Rhubarb Loaf

2010-07-03T08:00:00.004-03:00

I bought some rhubarb at the farmers' market last weekend and used some of it to make a strawberry-rhubarb galette. I still had a bunch left afterward, so I searched around for recipes and found one for rhubarb muffins or loaves. It looked good, and I had recently inherited a silicone loaf pan from Chris' grandmother, so I opted for a loaf.

I don’t care what the recipe said; this is cake. Not bread. Not muffins. Cake. Delicious cake.

I made a bunch of mini muffins (cakes) with the little bit of extra batter. I didn’t take a picture of them because I ate them all while the loaf (cake) was cooking (oops!). This was my first ever loaf (cake) and it was really easy. Baking is becoming less and less scary with every attempt. Maybe I can keep trying stuff as long as I make sure I always have two times everything I need so that I can screw up the measurements once.

Here's the recipe:

Rhubarb Loaf (cake)
From Canadian Living

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups chopped rhubarb

Ingredients:
1. In large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.
2. In separate bowl, blend sugar with oil; whisk in egg, buttermilk, and vanilla.
3. Stir into dry ingredients along with rhubarb just until flour is incorporated. Spoon into greased loaf pan.
4. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until cake tester inserted into centre comes out clean.
5. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to let cool completely.

Pairs nicely with a glass of skim milk and a little butter.

Avocado Club

2010-07-02T07:00:00.003-03:00

You might notice that a little redesign happened here. I wanted to make things a little more reader friendly. I welcome any feedback or suggestions.

On with the blog:

If Chris hadn't married me, he might have married a clubhouse sandwich. For probably the first year we dated, it was the only thing he would order if we went out to eat. Just in case you're in the Maritimes and looking for a great club, here are some sandwiches that get Chris' official stamp of approval:

Your Father's Moustache in Halifax, NS
Gahan House in Charlottetown, PEI
Snow Queen Family Restaurant in Antigonish, NS

I found a club recipe recently that sounded great. Actually, it was a BLT recipe on Epicurious that replaced mayo with an avocado spread. Add chicken and cheese to a BLT and you've got a delicious club. So we did. We used three slices of bread per sandwich for the sake of traditionalism, but you could easily make this sandwich with only two slices.

This sandwich was awesome. Chris ranked it among the top clubs he's had. Here's how we did it:

Julie and Chris' Awesome Avocado Club
Adapted from Epicurious.com
(Serves 2)

Igredients:
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
1 tbsp peanut or canola oil
1 tsp kosher salt, divided
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
4-6 slices bacon
6 slices whole wheat sandwich bread
1 roma tomato, sliced
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
2-8 leaves any lettuce depending on size
6 slices aged cheddar
1 extra ripe avocado
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp chili powder

Instructions:
1. Lay chicken breast between sheets of plastic wrap. Pound flat and season with garlic powder, pepper, and half the salt.
2. Heat oil in skillet over high heat. Brown chicken on both sides until cooked through. After chicken has rested, thinly slice it.
3. In the same pan, cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towel and set aside.
4. In a food processor, combine avocado, lemon, chili powder and remaining salt. Process until fairly smooth.
5. Toast bread and spread avocado mixture on each slice.
6. Layer ingredients and skewer each sandwich with four toothpicks. Cut into quarters with a serrated knife and serve.

Pairs nicely with a cold beer and a refined clubhouse palate.

From Accidental Omelettata to On Purpose Frittata

2010-07-01T08:00:00.012-03:00

Happy Canada Day! If anyone needs me, I'll be relaxing with a cold beer, hopefully on a beach (wait, that's illegal).

So since I realized that what I thought was simply a perfected omelette was actually a frittata, I've been thinking about frittata possibilities and actually making one on purpose. The other day, I knew I had a lot of half used produce in the fridge that was nearing its expiration and a bunch of eggs, so I planned a frittata for dinner.

This was supposed to be a quick and easy dinner after a really scorching day in a hot stuffy office. And it was, sort of. Let me explain.

I had five eggs and a giant non-stick frying pan that would be way too big for a frittata with only five eggs. Chris and I have amassed quite a collection of frying pans in the 4+ years we've been together. Actually, part of the reason I knew Chris was the person I should marry was that only a couple of months into our relationship, he understood that I considered a Paderno frying pan to be a sweet and thoughtful gift for my 22nd birthday. Three birthdays later, he got me a teeny, tiny one-egg non-stick frying pan, which I use ALL THE TIME to make breakfast or saute half a shallot.

Anyway, the more into cooking I've gotten over the past few years, the more specific my needs (who am I kidding? Wants) have become in terms of pans. Since then, my wonderful parents have birthday and Christmas gifted me just about every pan a home cook could possibly need.

But I live in an apartment. By apartment standards, we have a wonderful kitchen with loads of counter space and plenty of cupboard space for someone who's not a cooking fanatic and doesn't have 8 kinds of noodles saved for a noodly day. But I am a cooking fanatic, and I do have eight kinds of noodles saved for a noodly day, so I have completely run out of cupboard space (I would give up some of the noodles for a Kitchen Aid stand mixer in a snazzy colour. Just sayin').Thus, three of my frying pans had found their way to the deep, dark depths of our six-foot-deep, busting-at-the-seams storage closet.

As we drove home from work, Chris and I debated the merits of stopping at the grocery store for more eggs, or making individual frittatas in my teeny, tiny pan. I was too tired (read: lazy) to stop at the store, but by the time we got home (about one minute), I didn't want to use the teeny tiny pan. I wanted to make a big frittata that you cut up like a pie because I have a blog that needs a picture of a big frittata. I looked half-heartedly in the front quarter of the six-foot-deep, busting-at-the-seams storage closet, then sadly went to the kitchen to start making stupid little frittatas.

But then wonderful Chris, who had just spent the day substitute teaching grade seven math to a bunch of students who would rather be anywhere but math class on a hot June day (which is like herding mosquitoes), dug all the way to the back of the closet and got out my birthday Paderno frying pan--the perfect-sized pan for a blog-worthy, five-egg frittata picture. So what I'm saying here, albeit long windedly, is that it was quick and easy dinner after a really scorching day in a hot, stuffy office for me. And Chris is great.

Wow that's a lot of off-topic talk for a post about stirring some eggs and veggies and cheese in a pan. Frittatas are easy. I will definitely be making more of these for dinners. I used asparagus, garlic scapes, leeks, tomatoes, cheddar, fontina, and fresh dill. Overall, we both enjoyed this very much, but I would probably use asparagus for something different before I'd put it in a frittata again. It kind of dominated the eggs. The dill was also a little overpowering, so I might skip it next time. I imagine a leek, tomato, cheese, and garlic scape frittata would be just about perfect.

One more thing before I give you the recipe: I've read here and there that cold and room-temperature frittata leftovers are tasty. I saved a piece to test that assertion for breakfast the next day. Verdict: cold frittata=gross. Sorry, but no.

Here's the recipe for a tasty, slightly dilly, HOT frittata:

Weeknight Asparagus Frittata

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil

1 leek, sliced

5-7 asparagus spears, cut into 1.5-inch pieces

1 garlic scape, chopped

10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup fontina cheese, grated

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

5 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 tbsp fresh dill

Kosher salt

Black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat oil over medium-high. Add veggies and cook until softened.

2. While veggies are cooking, whisk together remaining ingredients.

3. Add egg mixture to softened veggies and cook over medium heat until the edges of the frittata are set.

4. Place pan under broiler until eggs are set and the top is browned (3-ish minutes?).

5. After frittata has cooled for a minute, loosen the edges with a spatula and slide it onto a plate.

6. Slice and serve.

Pairs nicely with long windedness and weeknight levels of kitchen effort.

Best Fridge Clean Out EVER

2010-06-30T08:00:00.007-03:00

Sometimes using up leftovers is a bit of a chore. This was not one of those times.

I had a bunch of fruit I needed to use and some frozen puff pastry. I decided to make something resembling pie. I have no pie pans, so I opted for galettes (read: pies with no pans). They were soooooo delicious. Like the delicious-est. I'll give you the ingredients and some vague quantities, but I didn't measure anything and I don't think you need to either. This is pretty hard to screw up. Just take any fruit, some sugar and some puff pastry and you've got the makings of a masterpiece.

Idiot-proof Galette

Ingredients:
Some rhubarb, sliced
Some strawberries, sliced
A bunch of sugar
A bit of cornstarch
A little cinnamon
OR
Some blueberries
Some peaches, sliced
A bunch of sugar
A bit of cornstarch
A little cinnamon

A sheet of frozen puff pastry
1 egg
A splash of water

Instructions:
1. Stir ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Dump in the middle of the puff pastry and fold the edges in.
3. Brush the edges with egg wash (egg beaten with water) and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Serve with whipped cream.
5. Die of happiness.

Pairs nicely with a nice cold glass of skim milk.

Impromptu Pasta

2010-06-29T08:00:00.003-03:00

This is a thrown together pasta I made to use the green garlic I got at the farmers market. I make versions of this on a regular basis depending on what's in the fridge that needs to get used up.

Impromptu Pasta

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small shallot, chopped
1/2 small red pepper, chopped
2 stalks green garlic, white parts chopped, long leaves saved
1/4 cup unripened goat cheese
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano
1/2 a lemon, juiced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 servings of whole wheat spaghettini

Instructions:
1. Saute shallot, red pepper, and white parts of garlic in oil until softened.
2. Stir in cheese, oil, and lemon juice.
3. Toss with pasta, top with green parts of garlic and more parm.

If I could find the pine nuts I know are somewhere in my kitchen, I would have thrown those in too. Spinach also works well, as would a little white wine.

Pairs nicely with nights home alone (are you imagining Kevin McCallister and the aftershave? because I know I am).

Guacamole!

2010-06-28T08:00:00.002-03:00

We had awesome nachos last night. We usually make pretty good nachos (we take them seriously); we layer the ingredients so there's not a big pile of topping-less chips underneath, and we bake them instead of broil them so they heat evenly throughout (sometimes we finish them under the broiler, though, so the cheese on top gets nice and bubbly).

I think there were four factors in the particular awesomeness of these nachos: 1) we used blue corn nachos, which are just more flavourful than white ones (or maybe I just think they are...); 2) we used shallot instead of onion; 3) we seasoned the chicken (leftover from a lemon thyme roast chicken) with chili powder, cumin, garlic, and lime juice; 4) I made killer guacamole--really! I finally got Chris to come around to it!

The nacho toppings were tomato, red and yellow bell pepper, shallot, jalapeno, chicken, and sharp cheddar cheese. We also served guac, sour cream, and salsa.

Here's my guacamole recipe. I halved it and it still made about twice as much as we needed for supper for two. Guacamole doesn't keep for very long, so don't make more than you'll eat in a day or two.

Julie's Guacamole

Ingredients:
2 avocados, roughly chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 ripe tomato, chopped
½ lime, juiced
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Process all ingredients to desired smoothness (I like it fairly chunky, so I just pulse it).
2. Save one avocado pit (keeps the avocado from turning brown). Place in bowl. Cover and refrigerate.
3. Serve with nachos

Pairs nicely with a cold one.

Roasted Beet Salad

2010-06-27T07:00:00.003-03:00

This is a simple yet spectacular salad. I tried to replicate one that I had at a restaurant and it turned out beautifully. It requires few ingredients, but they come together to make a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The only time consuming part is peeling the beets, but if you do that ahead of time, you can throw this salad together in about one minute. You can use any kind of beets, really. My favourite are golden beets, so I used those and some candy cane beets for extra colour. Neither of those varieties stain your hands, dishes, clothes, or teeth nearly as bad as the purple ones.

By the way, if you've only ever had pickled beets and think they're gross, you're right. My Dad aptly described them the other day as tasting like a dirty potato bin. However, you need to try roasted beets. They have an incredible sweet, earthy flavour.

Here's the recipe:

Delicious Beet Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:
For the salad:
4 assorted, medium-sized beets
½ cup crumbled goat cheese
½ cup pine nuts
4 cups arugula or mixed greens

For the vinaigrette:
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
1 tbsp shallot, minced

Instructions:
1. Scrub beets, wrap them tightly in foil and cook for about an hour at 425°F.
2. When beets are cool enough to handle, peel and slice them.
3. Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a jar. Shake well.
4. Toss greens in dressing and arrange beets, goat cheese, and pine nuts on top. Serve immediately.

Pairs nicely with a glass of Chardonnay and a wilingness to reconsider your relationship with beets. Unless you already like beets, in which case, just Chardonnay.

Heaven, thy name is lobster (in champagne dill cream sauce)

2010-06-26T07:00:00.002-03:00

I got some more lobster from my landlords! Woohoo! I bookmarked about 30 recipes to try, but I decided to work with this one from Epicurious. It's actually a recipe for an appetizer where the lobster is served over fancy-pants crackers. As soon as I saw it I said to myself, "nope, that's definitely going on pasta."

This dish was positively glorious. Light yet rich with wonderful depth of flavour. It took a long time to make, but none of the steps were remotely complicated (I say this because 1. I didn't cook the lobster, and 2. I am an expert at getting lobster meat out of shells intact from my serving days). I would definitely make it again. My mother-in-law and I both loved it. Chris doesn't like lobster so he opted for noodles and jar sauce.

I've decided to stay married to him in spite of this (I like his freckles too much).

Here's my recipe:

Lobster Pasta with Champagne Dill Cream Sauce
Adapted from Epicurious
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
2 1-pound lobsters, cooked, meat and shells separated
1 bottle extra dry champagne plus enough water to make four cups liquid in total
1 medium shallot, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup fennel bulb, cut into thin strips
3/4 cup carrots, julienned
3/4 cup leek, thinly sliced
4 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped
4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
Whole wheat spaghettini
Instructions:
1. In a sauce pan, simmer lobster shells, shallots, tomato paste, champagne, and water until reduced to one cup (about an hour).
2. Strain broth through cheese cloth and return to pot. Add cream and simmer until reduced to about 1/3 cup (about 6 minutes).
3. Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté fennel and carrots for about 3 minutes. Add leek and sauté another couple of minutes. Cut lobster meat into large chunks. Add to skillet, cover, and cook until heated through (about 2 minutes).
4. Add 2 tsp dill to skillet and season with salt and pepper.
5. While veggies are cooking, whisk remaining butter and dill into cream sauce. Bring to a bubble and pour into skillet.
6. Serve lobster sauce over pasta and top with parmigiano reggiano.

Pairs nicely with a Stella.

Omelettata?

2010-06-25T08:00:00.005-03:00

This is my absolute favourite omelette. I've been tweaking it forever and I think I've found my perfect recipe. It's not the Julia Child method, but it works for me.

Folding omelettes is a skill I eventually mastered (I can even flip them!), but I really don’t like my eggs runny, and I find omelettes are always runny in the middle. My solution? I don’t fold it at all; I stick the pan under the broiler for a minute or so at the end. That way the top sets and the bottom doesn’t get overdone. It is definitely possible to overcook the eggs under the broiler. When they’re bone dry, they taste like sawdust, so keep a close eye on them. Actually, the more I think about it, maybe this is more of a frittata than an omelette... hmmm.... (I'm slightly embarrassed by this realization, but since I'm having it as I'm writing, I'm leaving it in. I really bare my soul for you, you know).

Whatever, it's delicious. Here's the recipe:

My Favourite Omelet...tata

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
2 eggs
1 small shallot, diced
½ small red pepper, diced
4 basil leaves, cut into strips
1 tsp fresh chives, chopped
2 tbsp crumbled goat cheese
½ tsp fresh lemon zest
Pinch of freshly cracked black pepper
Pinch of kosher salt
Squeeze of lemon juice

Instructions:
1. Heat oil to medium in a non-stick pan. Add shallot and red pepper and cook until softened.
2. Crack 2 eggs into the pan and stir gently with the flat side of a fork for about a minute (if you’re gentle, it is possible to do this without scratching the non-stick surface of your pan. If you’re nervous, I suppose you could use something else--or someone else's pan--but I promise it’s okay).
3. Sprinkle eggs with chives, basil, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and goat cheese.
4. When eggs are just about set, place pan under broiler to set top and melt cheese.
5. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and serve immediately.

Pairs nicely with OJ and confusion over names of certain egg dishes.

Flippin' Spicy Quesadillas

2010-06-24T08:00:00.007-03:00

I'm generally thoroughly unimpressed by what most restaurants call quesadillas. Boring chicken, salsa, and cheese between tortillas is just bland. Not too long ago, during a Saturday-afternoon PBS-cooking-show-a-thon (heaven!), Roberto Santibanez was a guest on Sarah's Weeknight Meals (usually not one of my favourites, but I watch it because she's one of the first shows and by that time of day I'm champing at the bit for all the good shows that come after). He made, among other things, quesadillas with chicken marinated in homemade adobo. They made my mouth water. I knew that the likelihood of me finding the ingredients to make homemade adobo in my town let alone my province was slim, but I figured I could get my hands on some canned chipotles in adobo in Halifax.

A few weeks later, Geoff and Steph (in-law sibs) were Halifax bound, and Geoff called from the road and asked if we needed anything from the city. I immediately said, chipotles in adobo and grapeseed oil. Chris was kind of shocked that I had actually asked them to get me something, thinking that "can we get you anything in the city?" is just something people say but don't really mean. Maybe so, but this is a small frickin' town and if someone is nice (crazy) enough to ask me, I'm taking them up on it.

Anyway, chipotles in adobo didn't translate very well over a cell phone, and Geoff was telling Steph who was writing it on their to-do list and interpreted it as something along the lines of chipotles in a dough ... bow(?). They figured they could find this item, and I had called ahead to Pete's Frootique to make sure they carried such a thing. Naturally, given lost-in-translation-ness of the name, they were unable to find the precious can. Then Geoff, ever the efficient one, asked someone who took them to the opposite side of the store where they figured out what weird thing Julie was saying on the phone. All was well, we all had a laugh, and I got my chipotles in adobo. We'll see if Geoff ever asks if I need anything in the city again, though (thanks, guys).

So the quesadillas:

The quesadillas had serious, serious kick. Adobo, jalapenos, and spicy Monterey Jack cheese packed a major punch (so much violent imagery around spiciness!). Bland was not an issue. It was not even on the same planet. They were also seriously easy except for the part when I smoked up the apartment and set off the smoke detector (Me and my grill pan are still getting used to each other). I marinated the chicken in the adobo from the can of chipotles. The can was pretty big, so I (well, okay: Chris) took the individual peppers and froze them in an ice cube tray with the sauce. Then I popped them out of the tray and threw them in a freezer bag. Now when I need a little bit, I've got a little bit without having to thaw a whole bunch. You can store all kinds of things this way.

NOTE: If handling chipotles and/or adobo, WEAR GLOVES. You can really hurt your eyes or other mucus membranes like nostrils (you nose picker).

If you like spice, this is an awesome and easy meal. Doing the chicken--and even the quesadillas--on the barbecue would also be great. Then you would just smoke up the neighbourhood instead of your house.

Here's what I did:

Julie's Flippin' Spicy Quesadillas
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat
1/3 cup adobo sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack and fontina cheese
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
4 whole wheat flour tortillas
sliced avocado
salsa
sour cream

Instructions:
1. Marinate chicken in adobo in a plastic bag for an hour.
2. Cook on a hot grill until cooked through and a blackened in spots (open your windows).
3. Thinly slice chicken. On two tortillas, spread a thin layer of cheese followed by a layer of chicken, a layer of jalapeno, and another layer of cheese. Top with the other two tortillas.
4. Heat a dry, nonstick pan to medium high. Cook quesadillas on both sides until well-browned and heated through (about 4 minutes).
5. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and avocado slices.

Pairs nicely with a butt load of sour cream and a bucket of really cold beer.

Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta with Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce

2010-06-23T08:00:00.006-03:00

Now here's a dessert that's easy and fancy. Panna cotta. Basically it's creamy jello. I've seen a few recipes for panna cotta around the food blogosphere lately and it sounded so easy, I just had to try it. What really sealed the deal was my mother-in-law giving me a silicone giant muffin pan (a silicone pan that makes giant muffins, not a pan that makes giant silicone muffins or an unusually-sized muffin pan). It's the perfect panna cotta mould (Nerd pause: I checked the Oxford English Dictionary and the spelling of "mould" and "mold" are interchangeable in terms of meaning. One is not a fungus and the other a shaper. It's a Britsh/American thing. I'm taking the British/Canadian spelling option here. I'm so surprised!); you can easily pop the finished panna cotta out of the cup without creating cracks.

The first recipe I picked was Jason's because he used Greek yogurt instead of some of the cream to lower the fat content. I also thought the tanginess of the yogurt would be nice (I was right!). He topped it with strawberry jam. I opted for a sauce of pureed strawberries and rhubarb which was just delicious.

I can't wait to make more panna cotta. I'd like to try a fruit flavoured panna cotta (maybe pomegranate) with a cream sauce. I also want to try a chai panna cotta as suggested by Dinner with Julie.

Here's the recipe:

Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta with Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce
Adapted from Closet Cooking
Makes 4 giant muffin-sized servings

Ingredients:

Panna Cotta:
1 package powdered gelatin
1/4 cup water
1 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
1 cup Greek yogurt

Sauce:
1 cup strawberries, pureed
1/2 cup rhubarb, pureed
1/4 cup strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup rhubarb sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 package gelatin
1 tbsp water

Instructions:
1. Bring cream, sugar, and vanilla to a simmer in a sauce pan.
2. While cream is heating, combine gelatin and water in a small bowl. Allow to soften.
3. Remove cream from heat and stir in gelatin.
4. In a bowl, whisk yogurt until smooth.
5. Whisk cream mixture into yogurt.
6. Pour into mould sprayed with non-stick spray.
7. Refrigerate until set.
8. In a small sauce pan, add all strawberries, rhubarb, and sugar. Boil gently until it reduces by about 1/3.
9. While fruit is cooking, combine gelatin and water in a small bowl to soften.
10. Remove sauce from heat and stir in gelatin. Allow to cool and thicken.
11. Unmould panna cotta and serve topped with fruit sauce.

Pairs nicely with absolutely nothing. It was glorious on its own.

Garlic Scape and Navy Bean Dip

2010-06-22T08:00:00.005-03:00

I got some lovely garlic scapes at the farmers' market. Garlic scapes are the curling part of the green plants that grow from the garlic bulbs you're probably used to seeing.

They have a milder garlic flavour and they're only around for a couple of weeks. I used some of them to make Linda's recipe for garlic scape and white bean dip.

I made a couple of slight modifications; I used navy beans instead of canelini beans (just a totally unfounded personal preference), and I used a fair bit more lemon juice than the recipe called for. I also added one or two tablespoons of tahini because I have some tahini in the fridge that I had great plans for but that I've been neglecting. I thought it added a nice additional layer of flavour. I was tasting as I went and I found that the extra virgin olive oil kind of took some of the lovely tang away from the lemon. I might use less next time (by which I probably mean next year because garlic scapes are around for such a short time). This is a tasty and filling dip and a great way to use your garlic scapes.

Here's the recipe:

Garlic Scape and Navy Bean Dip
Adapted from Ciao Chow Linda

Ingredients:
1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (I used 5 scapes)
The juice of one lemon, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
1 can (19 ounces) navy beans, rinsed and drained
1-2 tbsp tahini
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:
1. In a food processor, process scapes, lemon, salt and pepper until scapes break down a bit.
2. Add beans and tahini and process until fairly smooth.
3. With processor running, add oil in a steady stream.
4. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. Serve with bread, corn chips, crackers, or crudites.

Pairs nicely with someone willing to put up with your garlic breath.

Rasperry, Arugula, and Goat Cheese Salad

2010-06-21T08:00:00.009-03:00

Happy Solstice!

It's really too bad that I didn't get a better picture of this salad (clearly I have yet to figure out sunset photography) because I'm really proud of it. It was a total experiment and it turned out just great. I made it completely with things I had in the house.

Here's the recipe:

Julie's Raspberry, Arugula, and Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients:
Vinaigrette:
2 tbsp blueberry vinegar
3 tbsp grape seed oil
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp honey
tbsp shallot, minced
2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1/4 tsp kosher salt
18 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Cheese:
large goat cheese log sliced into 10 pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp olive oil

Salad:
1 tub baby arugula
1/2 pint fresh raspberries

Instructions:
1. Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a jar. Shake well and set aside.
2. Dip goat cheese slices in beaten egg and dredge them in the bread crumbs.
3. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook cheese until well browned on both sides.
4. Dress arugula and raspberries with vinaigrette and serve topped with breaded cheese.

Pairs nicely with yesterday's Pork Medallions with Peppercorn Sauce

Pork Medallions in Peppercorn Sauce

2010-06-20T08:00:00.005-03:00

My parents came for a visit on Friday. They were coming in late, but my Mom said she wanted a blog-worthy meal so we had a late dinner. I made these Pork Medallions with Peppercorn Sauce from the Williams-Sonoma Cook Book . They were a little fancy and I served them with steamed green beans and asparagus and a spec-tacular arugula salad with raspberries and breaded goat cheese which I'll post another day.

Here's what I learned: when a cook book says coarsely cracked peppercorns, they don't mean hit some whole peppercorns in a ziploc bag with a hammer. My pepper mills don't have adjustable grind settings, so I had to crack the peppercorns some other way. I tried the bottom of a pan, a mug, a rolling pin, a food processor, and a hammer. Ultimately I used about four times the amount of peppercorns the recipe called for because they stuck to the pork so easily, and we wound up scraping most of them off before eating the pork. Well, my Dad** didn't, but I have a pretty high tolerance for spicy food (I enjoy a good curry sweat) and I was scraping them off, so I think he was just trying to act tough (love ya, Dad). Also, cooking peppercorns have pretty strong fumes. I was pan frying the medallions when my parents arrived and they immediately started coughing when they came in the door. I'm sure this happens to professional chefs all the time.

The recipe insinuated that green pepper corns were likely to be packed in brine. Mine were dried, and I added some red ones too for colour. This seemed to work fine. Other than that, I made this recipe straight from the book. I made way too much thinking that everyone would need three medallions. Most of us ate two. After scraping away a few pepper corns, this was a really tasty and pretty easy dish. I would make it again in a heartbeat. We made sandwiches with the leftovers on Saturday which were also quite tasty.

Tip: the skinny end of the pork tenderloin didn't exactly a medallion make, so I chopped it up and added it to a bag of frozen chopped pork that I'll use to make souvlaki (recipe forthcoming) to prevent waste.

Okay, that's enough talk. Here's the recipe:

Pork Medallions in Peppercorn Sauce
From the Williams-Sonoma Cook Book

Ingredients:
8 pork tenderloin medallions (cut from pork tenderloins), trimmed of excess fat
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp coarsely cracked black peppercorns
1 1/2 tsp coarsely cracked white peppercorns
Kosher salt
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
2 tbsp green peppercorns, drained if packed in brine (I subbed half with red peppercorns)
3 tbsp Cognac
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup low-sodium beef stock reduced to 1/2 cup

Instructions:
1. Place a baking dish in the oven and preheat to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Dry medallions with paper towel and rub with oil. Let rest 15 minutes.
3. In a shallow dish, press both sides of pork into peppercorns until well coated.
4. Salt one side of medallions and cook them salted-side-down in a large pan over medium-high heat without moving for about 2 1/2 minutes.
5. Salt the tops and flip the medallions cooking for about another minute. Reduce the heat to very low and continue to cook until firm to the touch (about 2 more minutes).
6. Transfer meat to baking dish and return to oven.
7. Wipe out pan with paper towel and add butter and shallot to pan. Cook over medium-high for a couple of minutes.
8. Add peppercorns and cook for another minute.
9. Return meat to pan with any juices and add cognac. Gently shake the pan for one minute.
10. Add cream and broth and simmer for another minute while spooning sauce over meat.
11. Serve topped with extra sauce.

Pairs nicely with a glass of chardonnay and a hood fan.

**Happy Father's Day!

Cold Spring Roll #2: Fruit Spring Rolls with Chocolate Ginger Sauce

2010-06-19T08:00:00.004-03:00

I've been trying to think of things to do with my spring roll wrappers. One thing I thought of was filling them with something sweet. I poked around and decided on this recipe for fruit spring rolls with ginger-chocolate sauce. I really only took the recipe for the sauce, though. For the spring rolls, I just used the fruits I had on hand: blueberries, peaches, and strawberries.

This ginger chocolate sauce was my first foray into boiling sugar and watching it change colour with my fingers crossed. I figured I had to try it at some point, so I cranked up the heat and wished for luck. Chris did some googling about the right temperature for caramel and what it should look like. Most advice was to forgo the thermometer and just watch for the colour of an old penny. Well, that turned out to be too dark. You really have to take it off the heat about 30 seconds before it's the colour you want. I didn't.

This is ready:
This is ten seconds past ready:
This is what happens when you add cream to too-hot boiling sugar:
At this point I thought all was lost. It actually smelled like cheese sauce (weird, I know) and was bubbling like crazy. Anyway, I kept stirring it off heat and eventually it started to smell more like caramel. I stirred in the chocolate and tasted it. It had a very faint burnt flavour, but after all that work, I wasn't throwing it out. It tasted okay on the spring rolls. If I got it that way in a restaurant, I'd be annoyed, but for my first attempt ever, it was good enough to eat.

I will definitely try making caramel again. I now know that you just need a lot of patience (it takes a long time to start turning brown) and fast hands.

The spring rolls themselves were really tasty. That's not much of a recipe. Just soften the wrappers in hot water for 10-15 seconds, then fill them with sliced fruit, roll them up, and cover them with a damp tea towel.

Here's the recipe for the sauce (good luck):

Chocolate Ginger Caramel Sauce
(Makes about 2 cups)

Ingredients:
¾ cup cream
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 ½ cups sugar
1/2 cup water
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Instructions:
1. Bring cream and ginger to a gentle boil over medium-low heat.
2. Remove from heat and allow cream and ginger to steep for 10 minutes.
3. Pass cream through a fine-meshed sieve or cheesecloth and set aside.
4. Bring sugar and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover for 10 minutes, then start checking every minute or so for a change in colour. It will take a few more minutes to reach the right colour.
5. When liquid is golden, not dark brown, take it off heat immediately and slowly add cream.
6. Slowly stir in cream and return to boil.
7. Stir in chocolate, reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes.

Pairs nicely with a glass of chenin blanc.

Rocco's Heirloom Salad

2010-06-18T08:00:00.004-03:00

More heirloom tomatoes!

I wanted to do something other than a Caprese Salad this time, so I looked to my cookbook shelf for guidance.

My mother-in-law bought me Rocco Dispirito's cookbook, Flavour, a year or two ago. It is a gorgeous cook book. The pictures are just stunning and it's very educational. Rocco shares useful information about the chemistry of blending flavours to make delicious dishes. He encourages you to experiment and taste to learn about the balance of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. I've seen this book very recently on the bargain shelf at Chapters for like 12 bucks, which is crazy for a beautiful hardcover cookbook, and means you should go buy it for yourself or someone you love who likes fancy recipes and pretty pictures of food.*

Digression:
I worked at a Chapters for a year between undergrad and grad school, so I learned a lot about the book industry. When a book comes out in hard cover, it usually costs between 30 and a million bucks. After a year or so, when sales start to slow down, the publisher recalls all of the hardcover copies from the stores and releases a trade paperback version of the book for between 15 and 25 dollars. But now the publisher's got this huge pile of hardcovers, so they sell them back to the stores at a much lower price. Then the stores sell you really expensive hard covers for 15 bucks or less. Cookbooks, which almost never come out in paperback, usually end up in bargain after sales have slowed and the publisher wants to clear up some warehouse space. Moral: When a book you want comes out, if you can wait a year, you can get the hardcover for less than half price.

Anyway, back to Flavour:

The recipes in Flavour are terrifyingly hard. I think Rocco's purpose is to get you to push beyond your comfort zone a little once you start experimenting with different flavours in your kitchen. He gives a difficulty rating for each recipe, and he even groups together the really insane stuff at the back of the book. I like to think of it as an aspirational cook book. Right now, there's only one recipe that I'm not too scared to try, and it just happens to include heirloom tomatoes.

This was a nice light salad. I'm with Rocco that heirloom tomatoes really don't need much dressing up; they're so tasty on their own (this has nothing to do with my fear of wildly complex recipes; it's about respecting heirloom tomatoes). I will try some more stuff from this book in the future, but it's going to take some serious bravery. Maybe I should at least try making pie crust before I delve into any of the recipes for which he recommends hiring a sous chef.**

Heirloom Tomatoes with Orange Zest
From Flavour

Ingredients:
4 large heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced
Finely-grated zest of 2 large or 3 small oranges
1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar

Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Instructions:
1. Layer tomato slices on plate.
2. Sprinkle zest over tomatoes.
3. Dress tomatoes with vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Pairs nicely with delicious ingredients and some mild wusiness.

*I feel like this could be construed as a run-on sentence. I'm alright with that.
**I'm serious. He actually recommends this.

Cheeze Whiz You Say?

2010-06-17T08:00:00.005-03:00

I know that a dish whose star ingredient is Cheeze Whiz doesn't exactly push my culinary skills to new heights, but it is sooo tasty. My mom** used to make these Steak and Pepper Heroes once in a while when I was in high school. I jazzed up the recipe a little with beer, mustard powder, and hot pepper flakes. I usually use a green pepper, but they had Canadian reds and Mexican greens at the grocery store, so I opted for proximity. I don't think it made much of a difference. This is a really easy week-night meal. Even if you forget to thaw the stir-fry strips in advance like I did, you only have to wait about half an hour for them to thaw. I might top each sandwich with some grated cheddar next time.

Steak and Pepper Heroes
Adapted from Mom's recipe binder

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 lb beef stir fry strips
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 bell pepper, cut into strips
1 sliced onion
½ cup cheese whiz
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp mustard powder
Splash of beer
Pinch of hot pepper flakes
4 crusty Italian rolls
2 tbsp butter

Instructions:
1. Stir fry beef and garlic for 2 minutes.
2. Add veggies and stir fry until softened.
3. Add cheese, Worcestershire, mustard, hot pepper flakes, and beer. Stir until smooth.
4. Meanwhile, heat griddle and coat with butter. When butter is foamy, place buns cut side-down on griddle and cook til browned.
5. Pile beef on crusty rolls.
6. Serve with dill pickles.

Pairs nicely with a ginger ale.

**Happy Birthday Mom!

Quark and Apricot Stuffed French Toast

2010-06-16T08:00:00.003-03:00

This is the invention of myself and my brilliant friend Jannette. We are awesome. Stuffed French toast has been popping up around the food blogosphere of late. We wanted to make some, but we wanted to make up a totally new recipe. First we were thinking of chai ricotta filling, then strawberry cream cheese. Then Jannette had a brilliant idea:

Quark.

No, not quark. Quark.

This stuff is great. It's texture is very similar to drained ricotta. It's flavour is sharper--more like yogurt or goat cheese. Here's the crazy part: it has no fat and a ton of protein. We decided to mix the quark with apricot jam. We also added some chai to the egg mixture, but that flavour didn't really shine through. Next time I might add the chai to the quark. I also might use the Tazo chai that comes in the tetra pak because it's flavour is so strong.

We couldn't find an appropriate French toast bread that wasn't pre-sliced. This made stuffing kind of a challenge, so we opted to use pre-sliced cinnamon bread and a panini press. Over all, we were pretty impressed with this dish. I will definitely be stuffing more things with quark.

Quark and Apricot-Stuffed French Toast
Serves 3

Ingredients:

For the toast:
6 eggs
¼ cup brewed chai (tea leaves steeped in milk), chilled
6 slices brioche or cinnamon bread

For the filling:
1 cup quark
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp icing sugar
¼ cup apricot jam

For the syrup:
½ cup apricot jam
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp water

Instructions:
1. Combine filling ingredients and chill for at least 3o minutes and up to over night. Remove filling from fridge when ready to start making French toast.
2. Beat together eggs and chai.
3. Soak slices of bread for about 30 seconds on each side.
4. Place bread on hot griddle and cook first side for about three minutes or until well browned.
5. Flip bread and dollop 1/3 quark mixture in the middle of three slices.
6. Place remaining bread cooked-side-down on top of filling and close panini press. Cook until bread is well browned and filling is heated through.
7. While bread is cooking, bring jam, honey, and water to a gentle boil. Simmer until thickened.
8. Serve Toast drizzled with syrup and dusted with icing sugar.

Pairs nicely with almond rooibos tea.

Lemony Potato Salad with Basil and Mint

2010-06-15T08:00:00.007-03:00

Now this is a potato salad. I've never been a fan of the potato, egg, mayo version of potato salad. I usually always skip past it for the macaroni salad. For some reason, I've had a hankering lately, so I looked around and found some mayo-less, egg-less versions of potato salad on Epicurious. I messed around with a recipe for Potato Salad with Fresh Herbs and Lemon to make it a little more exciting and it turned out fantastically. I also took the advice of a commenter on Epicurious and pan fried the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. It was really tasty that way too. It would have been amazing for breakfast with a little bacon.

Here's the recipe:

Lemony Potato Salad with Basil and Mint
Adapted from Epicurious.com

Ingredients:
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 small garlic clove, pressed
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 red bell pepper, diced
½ an orange bell pepper, diced
½ cup shallot, chopped
¼ cup fresh basil, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh mint, finely chopped
½ cup unripened goat cheese, crumbled
½ cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
2 ¼ pounds small red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled

Instructions:
1. Whisk oil, lemon juice, lemon peel, and garlic in small bowl to blend. Season dressing with salt and pepper.
2. Place 1/2 cup dressing in large bowl. Mix in bell pepper, shallot, basil, and mint.
3. Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain; cool 15 minutes. Cut potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes.
4. Add potatoes to bowl with dressing and toss to blend.
5. Add goat cheese and parmigiano. Toss gently so the goat cheese doesn’t dissolve completely. Let stand 10 minutes.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper, adding more dressing, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Pairs nicely with supper time and breakfast time.

Curried Black Quinoa with Asparagus

2010-06-14T08:00:00.003-03:00

I bought some black quinoa last time I was in Halifax. I also got some asparagus at the farmers' market on Saturday which I wanted to use. I decided to combine the two along with some of the other stuff in my fridge in a modified version of this recipe. It turned out really tasty and made a nice light supper. I think it would be great with a poached egg on top too. Maybe I'll do that with the leftovers...

Anyway, here's the recipe:

Curried Black Quinoa with Asparagus
Adapted from Culinary Seductions
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup black quinoa, rinsed
1½ cups homemade chicken broth
6-8 asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 red pepper, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp yellow curry paste
1 roma tomato, diced
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions:
1. Bring quinoa and broth to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 12-15 minutes.
2. In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté onion, garlic, and peppers until tender (about 10 minutes).
3. In a small pot, boil an inch of water. Add asparagus and cook until tender.
4. Add asparagus and curry paste to skillet and cook on low heat for ten minutes.
5. Add quinoa, tomato, and parsley. Stir until well combined and serve immediately.

Pairs nicely with a glass of sauvignon blanc.

My Knives!

2010-06-12T15:15:00.000-03:00

This is the second in a series of posts on some of the tools I use in the kitchen that I like best.

I was raised by a gadget junky. My mom loves doo dads. She has every kitchen doo dad going. Consequently, Chris and I have a lot of kitchen doo dads too. We have an entire drawer devoted to doo dads. As I continue to learn about cooking, I see more and more that a lot of gadgets just take up space (not that I'm prepared to part with any of them--I am still my mother's daughter). I've found that few good-quality tools can do just about everything.

In that spirit, above is a picture of my most important knives. We have a whole drawer full of knives accumulated over the years, but these are the ones that I use 98% of the time.

From top to bottom:

Serated bread knife.
The thing I like about this knife is the off-set handle. I actually have two of these. They're as-seen-on-TV knives called Miracle Blade. You can get the whole set at Canadian Tire for like twenty bucks. I see them in the flyer every other week. Some of the knives in the set are insanely sharp. Speaking of sharp, did you know that the safest knife to use is the sharpest knife? A dull knife is much more likely to slip and remove your finger than a sharp knife.

Eight-inch Henckels chef's knife.
This is my baby. It makes me feel like a professional. One day, I had a conversation with fellow customer at The Bay who was married to a professional chef. She told me a lot about knives and recommended this one. My parents got it for me for my birthday last year (woo hoo!). I now get an inordinant amout of joy from mincing garlic. I don't think I've used the garlic press once since I got this knife.

Henckel paring knife.
I do most jobs with my chef's knife, but sometimes a little job calls for a paring knife. This one came with the chef's knife. Bonus!

Tomato knife.
My mom put this in my Christmas stocking as a joke because I had asked for the chef's knife that year and they had gotten me something else. It was her knife. She didn't actually think I'd want it, but I kept it (I'm such a good daughter). Tomatoes can easily be cut with a serated bread knife, but more often than not, I find myself reaching for this little knife when it comes to tomatoes.

Pairs nicely with things that haven't been cut up yet.

Winning Combo #1

2010-06-11T08:00:00.006-03:00

Recipe might be a bit of an over statement here, but I just had to tell you about it because these two things go together like peanutbutter and jelly. Chris laughed at me when I put this "recipe" in my binder. The reason I put it in is that if I don't have it in my list of appetizers, I might forget about its easy deliciousness when it's time to take an appetizer somewhere. Anyway, I tried this combo on a hunch a couple of years ago and it's never failed me. Here's the "recipe":

Cranberry Cinnamon Goat Cheese Pear Canapés.

Ingredients:
1 large package cranberry goat cheese, sliced
3 pears, sliced
Lemon juice

Instructions:
1. Squeeze lemon on pear slices to prevent browning.
2. Arrange cheese on pears.
3. Serve immediately.

Pairs nicely with a glass of pinot grigio.

Halloumi, Watermelon, and Mint Salad

2010-06-10T08:00:00.009-03:00

This is my second salad involving halloumi cheese. I found it on the BBC Good Food website. This salad got mixed, but positive reviews. Chris** loved it. He thought it was just fantastic. I, on the other hand, liked it. There were a lot of interesting flavours, but instead of creating a harmonious marriage of deliciousness, it felt like they were competing and no one really got to shine. I would make my other halloumi salad again before I'd make this one, but I would definitely make this one again. One thing I might try is drying off the watermelon a little (that seems slightly oxymoronic) to make the salad less watery. Here's the recipe:

Halloumi, Watermelon, and Mint Salad
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
250g package halloumi cheese, thinly sliced
Flesh from 2lb chunk watermelon, sliced
200g fine green beans,
1 small bunch mint, finely shredded
1 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

Instructions:
1. Heat grill to high. Grill cheese for 2 minutes on each side until golden.
2. While cheese is cooking, blanch green beans in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with cold water.
3. Toss the watermelon, beans and mint together with the lemon juice and olive oil, season well, then layer on plates with the slices of halloumi.
4. Drizzle with a little more oil if desired,
5. Serve with warm pita or naan.

Pairs nicely with a glass of Riesling.

**Happy Birthday Chris!

Vegetable Korma

2010-06-09T08:00:00.005-03:00

Delicious curry. This vegetable korma is one of the two curries I have mastered. Both come from Simply Delicious Indian, a fantastic website that has loads of great information about Indian cooking as well as awesome recipes. My goal is to someday be able to make a dinner that involves two or three curries, tandoori chicken, raita, palak pulao, and keema paratha. Okay I guess by dinner I mean feast, but when you go out to dinner at an Indian restaurant, you get to have a bunch of different dishes, so I want to experience that at home. The only trouble is that when I make just two curries at once, my head almost explodes with the brain strain of not mixing up the recipes. I usually do all the prep and line up the ingredients for each recipe on opposite sides of the stove in the order that they go in the pots. Now that I have a food processor, this feat seems slightly more possible. Chopping onions and carrots took all of one minute rather than the usual ten. Someday.... Anyway, on to the korma.

I love this recipe. You can mix it up with the veggies depending on what you have. I usually make sure to use potatoes and carrots, but the green veggies vary. This time I used peas and broccoli. I suppose you could throw in other root veggies like parsnips or turnip if you wanted, though. This recipe freezes nicely, so I usually make a big pot of it on the weekend for a week's worth of lunches. This time I doubled the recipe and got 11 lunch-sized servings plus dinner for myself.

Korma is a creamy cashew curry. The recipe calls for unsalted cashews. For some reason, none of the grocery stores in my town felt like carrying unsalted cashews this week, so I just used salted cashews and cut out the salt later in the recipe. It seemed to work fine.

Vegetable Korma
Adapted from Simply Delicious Indian
Serves 4

Ingredients:
MASALA PASTE:
1 medium size garlic clove, chopped
1/4 cup raw cashews
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 medium size green chili, stem removed
1 teaspoon peeled grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water

KORMA:
2 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups yellow-fleshed potatoes, diced
1 1/2 cups peeled diced carrots
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets and stems, sliced
1/2 cup green peas
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 cup water

Instructions:
1. Heat a small pan over low heat. Add first five ingredients of masala paste (through ground coriander) to the pan and stir occasionally until spices begin to brown and give off an aroma, 3-5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the masala paste in a blender and grind to a fine paste. Set aside.
3. Add oil to a large pan and heat over medium heat. Add onions and stir occasionally until onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes.
4. Add vegetables, turmeric, and salt and mix to combine. Stir occasionally until vegetables begin to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add a little water (about 1/4 cup) and cover pan with lid. Cook vegetables until tender, about 10 minutes.
5. When vegetables are tender, add masala paste (add a little water to the paste, if necessary, if it is difficult to empty the blender container), tomato paste, yogurt, garam masala, and water to pan and mix to combine.
6. Reduce to a low simmer and stir occasionally until sauce thickens slightly, about 3-5 minutes.
Pairs nicely with an apple and a single-serving yogurt (that's what goes in my lunch bag).

Cold Spring Roll #1

2010-06-08T08:00:00.002-03:00

I bought some spring roll wrappers the other day. I didn't have what I felt were particularly spring rolly ingredients in the house, but I was feeling impatient, so I used what I had and made some anyway. They turned out to be really tasty. The warning you hear about any kind of roll is that you shouldn't put too much filling in. I may have taken this directive a little to seriously because I definitely could have made these bigger. I'm excited to make lots of spring rolls. I have a few ideas up my sleeve. Anyway, here's my recipe for clean-out-the-crisper spring rolls:

Ingredients:

For the spring rolls:
roasted golden beets, chilled and julienned
mixed greens
red pepper, julienned
carrot, julienned
buckwheat soba noodles, cooked and rinsed in cold water
spring roll wrappers

For the sauce:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1-2 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1-2 tbsp maple syrup
splash of rice vinegar

Instructions:
1. Slice all ingredients and have them ready to fill wrappers.
2. Submerge wrapper in hot water one at a time for 10-15 seconds until soft.
3. Lay softened wrapper on a clean, damp tea towel. Arrange filling in middle.
4. Fold in top and bottom. Fold over left side and roll tightly toward right side.
5. Repeat with each wrapper.
6. Cover prepared spring rolls with a damp tea towel. They can be refrigerated like this for a few hours.
7. Whisk together sauce ingredients. Taste and adjust to your liking. You may want to add a little water if you prefer a thinner sauce.
8. Serve with spring rolls with dipping sauce on the side.

Pairs nicely with impatience.

Julie's Fool-proof Barbecue Shrimp

2010-06-07T08:00:00.004-03:00

Here's something to throw on your grill tonight. The first time I made this dish, it was a guess. Now it's my go-to recipe for barbecued shrimp. It is absolutely brainless, takes no time (if someone else peels the shrimp, that is), and is made with stuff that's always on hand. This shrimp was a waiting-for-the-steak-to-cook appetizer for my family, but it could easily be the main protein in a meal. You could also toss it on a salad. There are no real measurements; just add and taste, add and taste. Here's the "recipe":

Julie's Fool-proof Barbecue Shrimp

Ingredients:
1 bag of shrimp, peeled and deveined
butter
hot sauce (whatever kind you've got)
minced garlic (garlic powder works in a pinch)

Instructions:
Melt butter and stir in hot sauce and garlic.
Brush butter onto skewered shrimp.
Place skewers on a hot grill. Cook until opaque, flipping only once (Baste with remaining butter if you're brave, but fat dripping on fire is a recipe for flare ups, so be careful. Basting is safer if you're using an indoor grill).

Pairs nicely with a lovely barbecued steak.

Guest Post: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

2010-06-06T08:00:00.002-03:00

This is a guest post by my cousin/friend Jen at Cupcakes Monthly. I got to eat all these cupcakes on the long weekend:
This post is a bit lagging – these cupcakes were all devoured about 2 weeks ago. It was a mega-birthday weekend in our family and I decided to celebrate by baking excessively. The 3 birthday people each received their own flavour… which they sadly had to share.

The lovely 4 year old Birthday Princess received Pink Princess Cupcakes. They were a simple vanilla cake and buttercream icing, but I dyed everything pink. Even the cake itself – which I decided to do last minute and I think was a good decision. Really, when I was 4, if someone handed me an actual cake that was pink, I probably would’ve lost my mind, so I ran with that. Pink cake, icing and Pink sugar crystals on top. Evidently I also gave that little one Diabetes for her birthday,

Next tier was for Kara: Chocolate cupcakes with Peanut Butter icing and Crispy Crunch sprinkles on top. To be honest, the sprinkles don’t have much flavour at all – you can skip those. They do look awfully fancy on top, though!

Finally, there were Carrot Cupcakes for Yemi. Gross. That’s twice in a month that I’ve had to make those which just hurts my soul. At least I got to make up for it with delicious, legitimate cupcakes.

Here's the recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing (I call “Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes):

Preheat oven to 350. (Shock.) Line muffin tins – I got about 15 out of this one, too.

Ingredients:
2/3 c flour
2 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (didn’t use)
3 oz bittersweet chocolate suquares, chopped *Note: Each square of chocolate is one ounce – Easy! 3 squares for this one.
1/2 c plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp, cut into pieces
3 large egg whites, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt. Set aside.
2. Place chocolate squares and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. (Note: I don’t have a heatproof bowl. I just use a stainless steel bowl and watch everything like a HAWK so it doesn’t burn.) Stir frequently until melted and smooth, about 5 mins. Remove bowl from saucepan and let the mixture come to room temp.
3. Add sugar to the chocolate mixture with a wooden spoon, just until combined. Stir in egg whites one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla. VERY gently add flour mixture (slowly, too, or it might fly out of the bowl.) I suggest doing this all by hand – if you use a mixer, you will a) probably overmix and b) surely make a mess.
4. Fill cups about 3/4 full. Bake 18-20 mins. You’ll know they’re ready when you check with a toothpick and only moist crumbs come out. Let them cool in the pan 5 mins, then transfer to a metal cooling rack for an hour.

Icing!
In a bowl, mix together – with a mixer – 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp; 3/4 cup icing sugar; 3/4 cup Natural peanut butter; 1/4 cup heay whipping cream. Be certain to use natural pb because other the icing will be entirely too sweet. Mix until smooth and combined and use right away. I suggest waiting for the cupcakes to cool, then making the icing – it doesn’t take long at all.

Enjoy! And make sure to have plenty of milk on hand for both. Delish.

(Recipe from Shelly Kaldunski’s “Cupcakes…” – as usual.)

To see the other two recipes, check out Jen's blog

Pairs nicely with other bloggers doing the work.

Vanilla Extract

2010-06-05T08:00:00.001-03:00

According to Jen at Use Real Butter, it's easy to make homemade vanilla extract. Apparently it's a one-step process: add split vanilla beans to vodka and wait a couple of months. Above is a before shot. Stay tuned!

Pairs nicely with patience.

Spring Risotto

2010-06-04T08:00:00.002-03:00

To use up the rest of my lovely farmers' market asparagus, I made a delicious risotto. Risotto, I think, has a bad reputation. It's time consuming, but it's also thoroughly uncomplicated and totally worth the time. I'm a bit of a goat cheese junky, but I sometimes find my goat cheese-laden risotto a little thick. This time I used more parmigiano than goat cheese which resulted in a lighter texture. A splash of lemon really brings this dish to life. Next time, I might throw in some lemon zest toward the end as well. Here's the recipe:

Springtime Risotto
Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into one-inch pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
3 small leeks, cleaned and chopped
1-½ cup Arborio rice
½ cups dry white wine
1 litre low-sodium or homemade chicken broth
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1cup grated parmigiano reggiano
½ cup unripened goat cheese
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Freshly cracked white pepper to taste
Kosher salt to taste
Squeeze of fresh lemon

Instructions:
1. Cook asparagus in boiling salted water until tender crisp. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2. Bring chicken broth to a boil in asparagus pot.
3. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add leeks and cook until tender (about 5 minutes).
4. Add rice and stir one minute, coating with oil.
5. Add wine and simmer until liquid is almost evaporated.
6. Add broth one ladle full at a time, stirring quite often. Add the next ladle as the first one is almost absorbed.
7. Continue adding broth until rice is almost fully cooked and liquid is thick and creamy.
8. Stir in asparagus and peas and cook until heated through.
9. Stir in butter, parm, and goat cheese until melted. You may need to add a little more broth at this point if the risotto is too dry.
10. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
11. Serve immediately with fresh lemon and extra parm.

Pairs nicely with a glass of chenin blanc.

Minted Halloumi Salad

2010-06-03T08:00:00.007-03:00

Now this is cool. I encountered halloumi cheese watching Nigella Bites. Nigella Lawson is just about the sexiest person on the planet. Her appeal only increased for me when she introduced me to a cheese that you can cook in a pan. Halloumi gets brown and crispy on the outside and melty in the middle. Heaven!

It's not a cheese I'd ever seen at the grocery store, so I kind of forgot about it, but I was in the cheese section the other day and lo and behold, there it was. I took it home and googled halloumi salads. One ingredient that kept popping up with halloumi was mint. I'm sold. Anything with mint is great in my book. I picked this recipe and I plan to make one that involves green beans and watermelon soon.

The original recipe called for capers, which I didn't have. I know capers are salty, so the first time I made this salad, I just added a little fish sauce to the dressing to make up for it. Once the salad was assembled, though, I discovered that the cheese itself had enough saltiness and what was needed was a little more sweetness. Thus, I omitted the fish sauce and increased the honey when I made it again. I also added way more mint than the recipe called for because I have a lovely little mint plant that grows like the weed it is. I put the original measurement below, but you can add as much as you want depending on how much you love mint. Chris loved this dish. We've had it for three meals in two days! Here's the recipe:

Minted Halloumi Salad (makes two dinner-sized servings)
Adapted from ASDA website

Ingredients:
1 bag mixed greens
12 baby plum tomatoes, halved
4tbsp olive oil
2tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
Small handful fresh mint, chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked pepper
1 package halloumi cheese, thickly sliced

Instructions:
1. Combine oil, lemon, honey, and mint in a jar. Shake well.
2. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
3. In a dry pan, cook sliced halloumi until well browned on both sides (about 2 minutes per side).
4. Arrange cheese on greens and tomatoes, and top with dressing.
5. Serve with toasted pita triangles.

Pairs nicely with a sunny afternoon.

Lentil Burgers

2010-06-02T08:00:00.004-03:00

There's a really amazing restaurant in Halifax called The Wooden Monkey that specializes in local, organic cooking with a wide range of vegetarian and vegan options. The last time I was there, I had a wicked vegan lentil burger.

The other day, I was flipping through a little cook book my mom got me when I moved into my first apartment.

Digression: the Christmas she gave me that book, I asked for all house stuff (Brita filter, microwave, swiffer etc.). I got everything I asked for, but I didn't realize that once you start asking for grown-up stuff, you get it in lieu of, not in addition to clothes. It was a pretty self-pitiful Christmas, as my sibs had not asked for house stuff. That was also the same year I got a part-time job at Dairy Queen for a couple of months because I needed some new clothes. Go figure. Now that I am a whole grownup (ha!), I don't long for the clothes anymore. I am wholly committed to coveting small appliances and furniture.

Digression over: the book it called Cooking: A Commonsense Guide. It's a good little reference, and it has some nice recipes. Anyway, I was flipping through it the other day and found a recipe for lentil burgers that sounded similar to the one I'd had at The Wooden Monkey a month or so ago. I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't vegan (contains eggs). Many of the vegetarians I know are vegans, so I always tend to think of vegetarian recipes in terms of whether those friends would be able to eat them if I had them over for dinner. Anyway, I'm sure I could ask one of them for a vegan substitute to bind the ingredients (vegan friends?), but I had eggs, so I used them. The burgers turned out pretty tasty. This recipe wasn't quite as good as the Wooden Monkey's, but it's a great starting point for me to tweak until I get it right. The flavour was pretty mild, so I'd suggest strongly-flavoured burger toppings. I stuck the extra uncooked patties in the freezer. I bet they'll make a quick week-night meal. Or, if a vegetarian were to stop by for a barbecue, I'd have something to throw on the grill for them.

I wish I had a barbecue.

Week-night meal it is.

Lentil Burgers
Adapted from Cooking: A Common Sense Guide

Ingredients:
1 cup red lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 tbsp peanut oil
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala
1 14-oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 egg
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 1/4 cups bread crumbs (I used both plain and panko)
flour for dusting

Instructions:
1. Add lentils to a pot of boiling water and simmer for eight minutes or until tender. Drain well and allow lentils to cool slightly.
2. Heat oil in a pan and saute onions for 3 minutes. Add spices and cook for another minute or two until fragrant. Allow onions to cool slightly.
3. Place chickpeas, egg, onions, and half the lentils in food processor. Process until just smooth.
4. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the rest of the lentils, parsley, cilantro, and bread crumbs. Mix well and divide into ten portions.
5. Shape into patties (the thinner the better) and chill for at least 15 minutes.
6. Flour the patties and shake off excess.
7. Cook over medium-high heat on a lightly oiled griddle or barbecue for three to four minutes on each side.
8. Serve in halved pitas with your favourite burger toppings. I suggest lettuce, tomato, Dijon mustard, banana peppers, cheese (if you're down with that), and pickles.

Pairs nicely with attempts to eat less meat.

Asparagus Pasta for One

2010-06-01T08:00:00.007-03:00

This is a tasty one-pot meal that I made when I was on my own for supper. I used some of the gorgeous asparagus that I got at the farmer's market on the weekend. Cooking the pasta and the asparagus in the same pot is a great way to save on dishes. This recipe seems like a jumping off point for many variations. You could switch the asparagus for broccoli, cauliflower, fiddleheads, or whatever floats your boat. Seasonings can be changed based on whatever you have. This took about ten minutes from start to finish.

Here's the recipe:

Asparagus Pasta for One

Ingredients:
1 cup penne
4 spears asparagus, cut into one-inch pieces
1 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 shallot, sliced
¼ cup ricotta
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly cracked white pepper to taste
Parmigiano reggiano, grated
Squeeze of lemon
Fresh basil leaves

Instructions:
1. Cook pasta, in salted boiling water. When it’s about halfway done, add asparagus and cook until both are tender.
2. Reserve ¼ cup pasta water and drain pasta and asparagus into a colander.
3. Add olive oil to pot and heat over medium heat.
4. Sauté shallot and garlic until just browned.
5. Toss in pasta and asparagus and reserve pasta water. Scrape any caramelized bits from bottom.
6. Stir in ricotta and season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Top with parm, lemon, and basil.

Pairs nicely with a Red Stripe.

Name That Salad

2010-05-31T08:00:00.003-03:00

This great salad is from Use Real Butter . Chris wants to name it. I’ll take suggestions if you have them because he wants to call it Hipster Salad.

The recipe Jen gave was really for this coconut-lime-cilantro salad dressing. She invented the salad it went on, and I copied it verbatim because it looked so delicious.

I would halve the dressing recipe next time; it makes tons, and the dressing only keeps for a couple of days. The salad is light and fresh, with lots of crunch, and a slight creaminess thanks to the coconut milk. I used brown rice noodles the first time, and whole wheat spaghettini the next day. Both worked well. What would you call it?

Pairs well with a hot sunny day.

Naanza?

2010-05-28T08:00:00.006-03:00

Naan pizza is one of our easy supper standbys. They sell naan in packs of two, which is perfect for us--one mini pizza each. Garlic naan makes particularly wicked pizzas. Above is mine. I baked it with canned pizza sauce (I said quick supper!), sliced red pepper, crumbled goat cheese, and dried basil. When it came out of the oven, I drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled a little black pepper. De-lish!

Chris loves Hawaiian pizza--actually, maybe he just loves pineapple, because we had ham in the fridge... anyway, he had hot pepperoni, canned pineapple, and mozzarella. Very tasty. Naan pizza is fun and easy, and a good way to use up many forms of meat, veggie, and cheese that are about ready to be evicted from your refrigerator.

Pairs nicely with a nice cold pop.

Pancakes

2010-05-27T08:00:00.003-03:00

I felt like going meatless for dinner last night, so I made pancakes. I got to use my Le Creuset reversible griddle that came with my glorious pot. It's awesome. It's like cooking on cast iron, but you can wash it just like a regular dish because it's actually enammeled cast iron. I wanted to make the pancakes more exciting, so I added frozen blueberries. On to the recipe:

Pancakes
(makes 12 small pancakes)

Instructions:
Heat griddle

Sift together:
1½ cups flour
2½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar

add:
1 egg slightly beaten
2½ tsp oil or melted butter
1¼ cups milk

Gently stir in:
1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries.

Cook on hot, oiled griddle. Flip when bubbles form in the batter.

Pairs nicely with a steaming cup of Lady Grey tea

Crazy Salad

2010-05-26T08:00:00.005-03:00

I found heirloom tomatoes at my grocery store! So exciting! Why?... because... they're funny looking! They remind me of pumpkins. Chris educated me last night on the science of heirlooms. They're non-hybrid, which means they're open-pollinated (I'll let Wikipedia explain that one).
The dark one is a Cherokee purple from what I can tell. I'm guessing the other two are German red strawberries. Different varieties have distinct flavours.

There's only a couple of things to do with heirloom tomatoes. The most obvious one is a Caprese salad (which Chris calls "crazy" salad), so that's what I made.

Ina Garten was telling me just the other day (well, her cook book was) about how a Caprese salad can be boring or fabulous depending on how you use the ingredients. She suggested using a whole bunch of different types of heirloom tomatoes. There were only two kinds at the grocery store, so I used what I could find. She also recommended lots of sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper, so I obliged. I used lots of nice spicy basil from my Aerogarden, which gave it real zing. Recipes for Caprese salad generally call for fresh mozzarella. In my haste at the grocery store, I grabbed a ball of mozzarella, but not the soft, pure white kind. I'm not sure this was a bad thing. This firmer cheese had a bit more presence than the fresh mozza I've used in previous Caprese salads; I really liked it. I finished the salad off with some extra virgin olive oil and a generous splash of balsamic vinegar.

Voila!

Chris and I both really enjoyed this salad on its own for dinner. Maybe because we had muffins as an after-work snack about an hour earlier... Anyway, it was delicious. When you see heirloom tomatoes in the grocery store or farmers market, try them out.

Pairs nicely with a glass of chardonnay.

The Juiciest Chicken EVER

2010-05-25T08:00:00.004-03:00

Do you ever pick up those free product guides from the grocery store or liquor store? Sobey's and the NSLC (Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation) both put out a seasonal magazine full of recipes, product recommendations, and food and wine parings. The grocery store magazine isn't great; most of its recipes are just trying to sell you store-brand jar sauce to dump on meat or veggies. The liquor store magazine, on the other hand, is fantastic; they're not trying to sell you food, so they give you really awesome recipes from professional chefs from across Canada to try to fancy up your food and drink experience.

This recipe is by no means the fanciest; in fact, it's pretty basic, but it is GREAT. It's a recipe for lemon thyme roast chicken that makes the juiciest, most succulent chicken. The secret is where the lemon goes. You stuff the cavity with quartered lemons, among other things, but you also stick thin slices of lemon between the meat and the skin. As the chicken cooks, the lemon slices keep the breast meat moist, and impart way more lemon flavour than just lemons in the cavity. The one possible drawback of this method is that the skin doesn't get really crispy because of the wet lemons it's laying on top of. For me, this is actually not a big deal because skipping the skin can really reduce the fat of the meal. I still saved the skin with the bones to make broth. You can store the scraps in the freezer.

I served the chicken with baby red potatoes, which I boiled, skin-on with a couple of garlic cloves (I have no idea if the garlic actually added any flavour). Then I drained them, removed the garlic, and stirred in some goat cheese and garlic chives. I also served baby spinach with a balsamic vinagrette.

Here's the recipe for the chicken:

Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken
From Occasions Magazine

Ingredients:
1 3-4 pound chicken
2 lemons, quartered
1 lemon, thinly sliced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, skins removed
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter, softened
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Rinse and thoroughly dry chicken inside and out with paper towel.
3. Fill cavity of the chicken with quartered lemon, thyme sprigs, and garlic cloves
4. Gently lift skin and place lemon slices underneath.
5. Rub butter over outside and season with salt, pepper, dried thyme, and minced garlic.
6. Tie legs together, tuck wings under and tie to body.
7. Place chicken on rack in roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake covered for one hour. 8. Remove foil, increase heat to 375°F and bake for another ½ hour, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 165°F in the breast, and 170°F in the thigh. Baste frequently.
9. Let meat rest for at least ten minutes before slicing.

Pairs nicely with my last Blue Star beer.

A Lesson in Flavour

2010-05-24T08:00:00.003-03:00

Well, I blew it.

In his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth refers to poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings... [that] takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." As we were doing the dishes after my failed supper, I was pouting about my pitifulness. I said I might as well blog about the meal while it was fresh in my mind. Chris reminded me of this Wordsworth quote (sometimes such nerdery abounds in a marriage between an English major and an English minor) implying that I might want to wait to blog until I was ready to reflect in tranquility.

So now that I’m feeling a little more tranquil and a little less self-pitying, it’s time to write an ode to my failed salad:

Ode on Avocado, Shrimp, and Grapefruit Crushed in the Maw of Sesame Oil

Oh sweet fruits of the land and sea,
How, oh how, did I so piteously fail thee?
Thy colours bright and flavours smooth and bitter
Had my epicurious heart all a twitter.
The original recipe for thy dressing seemed lacking
In flavours to make lips start a-smacking.

Foolishly I found your foil
In sumptuous, sinful sesame oil.
Its brown velvet smoothness was quick to overpower
The bitter perfume of grapefruit’s flower.
The avocados luscious and serene,
Were trampled like a drunk-filled min-golf green.

Shrimp? What Shrimp? I couldn’t taste it.
Why, oh why, did I have to waste it?
An epic failure. A lesson learned:
Mess with sesame oil and you’ll get burned.
Sesame oil, you’re such a meany.
So why do I still like tahini?

I will now sit back and await the book deals (yes, I realize that my poem devolves into the Seussical realm toward the end).

Anyway, it’s possible that I also just don’t like avocado, shrimp, and grapefruit salads. There’s not a lot of variation in flavor and texture going on. We still ate it. Chris said it wasn’t nearly as bad as he was expecting (he thought this salad sounded positively gross and that he wasn’t even going to be able to eat it), and he cleaned his plate.
I don’t think I’m ready to give up on grapefruit, shrimp, and avocado salads altogether. I’ll try another recipe sometime and steer clear of the sesame oil. Anyway, here’s the unmodified recipe from epicurious. Hopefully you can do something better with it than I did.

Pairs well with poetic genius.

Tiny Whisk

2010-05-22T08:00:00.004-03:00

I use this thing waaaay too much for what it is. It was attached to a jar of stale hot chocolate mix that my sister-in-law was going to turf. It was way too cute to go in the garbage, so I took it home. It is the best tool in the world for making small amounts of salad dressing or stirfry marinade. It emulsifies dressing in a little bowl far better than a fork does. And it's adorable. Win-win.

I know this isn't particularly relevant since it's unlikely that you'll find one, but I just had to show you because it makes me laugh

Pairs nicely with small jobs.

Fennel Orange Salad

2010-05-21T08:00:00.006-03:00

This is a modified version of a truly spectacular recipe I got from my fabulous friend Jannette. She made me dinner one night which included this great salad. It's light and quick, but still fancy.

Her recipe is for a blood orange and fennel salad. I had a fennel bulb kicking around a bunch of regular oranges. I figured that while there's certainly variation in flavour between oranges that makes each one special, if fennel worked with blood oranges, it would work with navel oranges. The great thing, though, about blood oranges is the gorgeous colour. The pale greeny white of the fennel and the orange-ness of the oranges didn't exactly make for a spectacular visual. To get the red back into this dish, I added dried cranberries. I also threw in some slivered almonds because I had them in the cupboard.

I thought I had made a little too much salad for just me, and offered Chris a bite (he was busy experimenting with leftover lentil burgers), but I quickly didn't want to share any more. This was de-licious. The modifications I made to the original salad are definitely here to stay. Here's the recipe:

Orange and Fennel Salad
(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

For vinaigrette
1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
½ tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp shallot, minced
½ tsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

For salad
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
3 oranges, peeled and segmented between membranes
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup slivered almonds
Fennel fronds for garnish

Instructions:
Combine vinaigrette ingredients except for olive oil (this allows the salt to dissolve).
In a steady stream, add olive oil while whisking constantly.
Toss salad ingredients with dressing.
Garnish with fennel fronds and serve immediately.

Pairs nicely with a sunny week night after a late lunch.

Lactose-free Banana Ice Cream and White Chocolate Ganache

2010-05-20T08:00:00.004-03:00

What's that you say? Lactose free?

Yup. Also vegan and gluten free. And tasty! There's just one ingredient. Can you guess?

All you do is peel and slice bananas, freeze them, and then ice creamify them in the food processor (my new favourite appliance). The first time we made this, Chris added a splash of freshly squeezed orange juice and a drop of vanilla because it wasn't liquid-y enough (I'm sure there's a smarter way to say that). Apparently the riper the bananas, the sweeter and the less banana-y the flavour. The bananas we used were just about to start turning brown when we froze them and had great banana flavour.

The texture is really ice cream-y. The first bite is a little weird, but I kept going back for more bites. The more I ate, the more it was just like eating ice cream.

The second time we made this, after reading A Good Appetite's post about the same ice cream, I added Bailey's, which upped the deliciousness quotient and took care of the liquid-y-ness. Since the ice cream was de-veganized and lactosed up by the cream in the Bailey's (and since I'm no vegan, nor am I lactose intolerant), I also slathered it with homemade white chocolate ganache.

I don't really need to give a recipe for the banana ice cream, but here's how to make ganache: simmer 1/2 cup of heavy cream for every 100g of chocolate. Once the cream is bubbling, pour it over chocolate and stir until smooth. Chill for a few hours. Dip stuff in it or pour it on your ice cream.

It's funny; when I ate the last of the ice cream a few days later, I actually felt guilty eating it. But it's guilt-free! What a world.

Ice cream pairs nicely with dietary restrictions.

Ganache pairs nicely with me and a spoon.

Cucumber Raita

2010-05-19T08:00:00.007-03:00

Raitas are a common condiment* in Indian cuisine. This cucumber raita went really nicely with yesterday's Tandoori-style chicken, and I sopped up all the rest with naan. The recipe is also from The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook. It's bright and fresh and quick to prepare. For just three people's dinner, I halved the recipe and there was still a bit left over to be eaten later with leftover bread. I have about five other recipes in mind that I'd like to try this on. It seems really versatile. I might also mix it up by substituting other herbs for the cilantro. Here's the recipe:

Cucumber Raita
From The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, and minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

Instructions:
1. Place the cucumber in a sieve, toss with 1 tsp salt, and let drain for 30 minutes.
2. Pat the cucumber dry with paper towel and set aside.
3. Put the garlic on a cutting board and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt. Using a large knife, chop and mash the mixture until it forms a paste.
4. In a bowl, combine the cucumber, garlic paste, yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, 1/8 tsp white pepper, and cilantro, and stir to mix well.
5. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
6. Use immediately, or cover and use within two days.

Pairs nicely with things that need sauce.

*I had a long debate with myself about whether this constituted a violation of subject verb agreement. I concluded that it might be, but I'm writing it anyway. I'm wild.

Tandoori Chicken

2010-05-18T08:00:00.005-03:00

Back in my last semester of grad school when I was surviving on an alternating diet of chili and Indian take-out, one of my standbys was tandoori chicken. It's red deliciousness was great for dinner and breakfast!

I was flipping through The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook the other day and saw a recipe for tandoori-style chicken. "Style" signaled to me that this clearly wasn't going to be original recipe tandoori chicken--you need a clay Tandoor oven to make the real thing--but it still looked pretty tasty. The original recipe called for a four-pound chicken cut into pieces, but I had a couple of boneless, skinless breasts in the freezer, so I just used them. I halved the marinade recipe, but I still had enough for at least four breasts.

This recipe definitely didn't recreate take-out Tandoori chicken, but it was really tasty. Chris and my mother-in-law both liked it a lot. In fact, Chris is still talking about it! I served it with raita, which I'll post a recipe for tomorrow; roasted asparagus; and jasmine rice with peas, dried cranberries, and roasted peanuts (I was feeling adventurous). Here's the recipe:

Tandoori-Style Chicken
Adapted from the Williams-Sonoma Cookbook

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1 small, yellow onion, chopped
2 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp hot Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp canola oil

Instructions:
1. Brush chicken breasts with lemon juice.
2. In a food processor, combine all remaining ingredients except canola oil. Process until smooth.
3. Pour marinade over chicken in freezer bags and refrigerate for at least eight hours or over night.
4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil and arrange chicken in a single layer. 5. Drizzle chicken with canola oil.
6. Roast until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.

Pairs nicely with apricot wheat ale.

Back to my old self

2010-05-17T08:00:00.003-03:00

Well, I'm over my confusion about whether or not I can bake. I made cookies, and like normal, I had to throw out the first attempt because I screwed up the measurements. The world is right again.

This is another recipe from Use Real Butter, which originally came from Smitten Kitchen. These lime meltaway cookies are buttery and sweet. You can make the dough ahead and freeze it, which I plan to do in the future.

You're supposed to roll the dough into a log and slice it. I couldn't for the life of me make a neat, uniform log, so I made a rectangle (rectangular prism?) using wax paper with some icing sugar and my pastry cutter.

You're also supposed to toss the still-warm cookies in a bag with some icing sugar, but they seemed too delicate to me. Instead, I dusted the tops of the cookies with the icing sugar. The dough was too wet using Jen's recipe , so I modified it slightly.

Lime Meltaways
(adapted from Use real Butter from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:
12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 limes, grated zest of
3 tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
Extra icing sugar for dusting

Instructions:
1. Beat together butter and 1/2 cup icing sugar until fluffy.
2. Add lime juice and zest, and vanilla and beat until fluffy. If you have a whisk attachment for your mixer, it helps.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cornstarch, and salt.
4. Combine dry ingredients with butter mixture, and beat at low speed until combined.
5. On a sheet of wax paper sprinkled with icing sugar, shape the dough into a long rectangle. Use the back of a pastry scraper to smooth the sides. I also used the right angle of my counter top and refrigerator to make it square (all with wax paper, of course).
6. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
7. Heat oven to 350°F. Remove dough from refrigerator and slice into 1/4-inch-thick cookies. Place cookies on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart. Bake cookies until just slightly golden, about 15 minutes.
8. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, just three or four minutes. While still warm, dust generously with icing sugar.

Makes three dozen.
Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Frozen dough can keep up to 2 months.

Pairs nicely with a cup of green tea.

Flax Bran Muffins

2010-05-14T08:00:00.003-03:00

These muffins are quick, easy, delicious, and about as healthy as they come. They're great for mornings when you don't have time to make breakfast--most mornings for us. We found arecipe on a flax seed meal package and modified it to suit our tastes. We've added different things to it depending on our mood and what we've had in the house. One addition that I've stuck with is cardamom. It brightens up the flavour considerably.

Flax bran muffins

Ingredients:
1½ cups unbleached white flour
¾ cups flax seed meal
¾ cups oat bran cereal
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cardamom
1½ cups finely shredded carrot
2 apples, peeled and shredded
½ cup chopped nuts
½ cup raisins (optional)
½ cup blueberries (optional)
¾ cups milk
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Stir in carrots, apples, raisins, and nuts.
4. Combine milk, beaten eggs, and vanilla.
5. Pour liquid into dry ingredients and stir until ingredients are moistened (DO NOT OVER MIX).
6. Gently stir in blueberries.
7. Fill muffin cups with an ice cream scoop.
8. Bake for 20 minutes for large muffins, and 10 minutes for mini muffins (may take longer depending on how juicy your apples are).

Pairs nicely with oversleeping.