I talk about food, you read it.
Archive for September, 2011
Fish Tacos
1It’s not very often that I eat alone. I always have J around to fulfill our deal of “I cook, and he cleans”. The other night J had a business dinner and was able to go to The Boathouse so I was left to dine solo. Originally I was going to break out some Mr. Noodles or KD but instead I opted to take advantage of this night and whip something up that J doesn’t prefer. It was going to be a fish taco night for one!
J doesn’t like fish tacos because they’re “fishy”. He prefers to keep his seafood and Mexican separate while I love the combination and went the extra mile to make my taco night amazing.
Ingredients
- 2-3 fillets of your favourite fish. I used Basa fillets
- Dry rub
- Yellow peppers, sliced
- Tomatoes diced
- Sour cream
- Citrus avocado slaw
- Small flour or corn tortillas
Dry Rub
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli powder
- 1 tsp powered garlic
- 1 tsp powered onion
- Zest of 1 lime
- Salt and pepper
Citrus Avocado Slaw
- 2 cups grated cabbage (a mix of purple and green is nice)
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- 1 lime, juiced
- Small bunch of cilantro (chopped)
- 1 avocado
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chilli powder
To make the slaw. In a large non-reactive bowl mix together all ingredients and mix. Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving so the flavours can meld.
Make the dry rub by adding all ingredients together and sprinkle over fish. Let sit for at least ½ hour, the longer the better. Heat olive oil in a pan and fry fish for about 2-3 min per side, until no longer opaque and flakes easily.
Once fish is cooked, assemble tacos by first putting a layer of coleslaw, peppers, fish, tomato and sour cream. You really could add anything to your taco, this is what I chose and I LOVED it.
If you are using a mild white fish like me I would just lightly dust the fish with the rub. It’s pretty flavourful and strong so you don’t want to overpower the fish. If you are using a stronger flavoured fish like salmon you might want to add a generous amount of rub. I was amazed on how easy this was and delicious it was. The crunch of the coleslaw really goes hand in hand with fish tacos especially when it’s creamy with avocado, sour with citrus and spicy with chipotle. I wish I had made more so I could have leftover. I even think J the non fish taco eater would have really liked these.
Chicken stuffed with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese
0It seems that we’re going to be in a heavy rainfall warning for the next 7 months. I am not sure why summer came so late and left us fast but I guess I will embrace fall with comfort foods. Bring on the soups, stews and things that will make you want to curl up on the couch in a blanket.
In celebration of all things fall I made a mushroom stuffed chicken breast that brought me a little closer to that blanket. Who am I kidding; I’m under a blanket even in the summer.
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 6 ounces cremini mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
- 4 ounces goat cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
For the Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
Prepare the chicken: Lay the chicken breasts on a piece of plastic wrap; place another piece on top and pound with a mallet or rolling pin until each breast is about 1/2 inch thick. Set aside.
Stem the cremini mushrooms and put the caps and stems in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Melt the butter in a medium-size sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms. Sauté until the mushrooms have released their liquid and the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375. Coat each chicken breast with 1-2 tablespoons goat cheese and top with 1/4 of the mushrooms. Roll up each breast burrito-style: Begin from the bottom, roll into the middle. Tie each roll with 3 pieces of kitchen twine or securing with toothpicks. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in the oven on parchment lined baking sheet for 15 to 20 min, until no longer pink.
Make the sauce: Place the shiitakes in a mixing bowl and add 2 cups boiling water. Allow the mushrooms to soak for 15 to 20 minutes, until the liquid gives off a rich, earthy fragrance. Strain, reserving the liquid. Thinly slice the mushrooms and put aside. In a small sauté pan over medium-high heat, bring the mushroom liquid to a strong boil and reduce by half, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and stock and reduce by half again, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the sliced shiitakes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, swirling the pan until it’s incorporated and the sauce is glossy. Season with salt and pepper.
When chicken is cooked, top with mushroom sauce.
When I made this I used fresh shiitake mushrooms so I wasn’t able to soak and create a mushroom broth. Instead I just added chicken stock to be reduced and coloured with a bit of soy sauce (a bit). My sauce was more like really flavourful mushrooms and not so much of a sauce but that was fine by me. This chicken was yummy and wasn’t really all that much work.
Grilled Lobster
1J and I were walking around Costco talking about how we needed to cut costs, save money and then low and behold I walked up to a 4 pack of wild lobster. Yes, lobster isn’t recommended for people who are trying to budget their money but for 10 bucks it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Especially since I haven’t ever cooked lobster before, this was also a new challenge for me.
After going over a few recipes, I decided to grill my lobster finishing them off in butter on a pan. They were so delicious; I can’t wait for next surf and turf night.
Ingredients
- 4 small or 2 large Lobster Tails
- Bunch of chives
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1-2 tablespoon butter
- 2 chives chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 shallots chopped small
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 2 table spoons water (keep a small glass of water beside the stove)
- Small bunch fresh parsley chopped
Put chives and olive oil in blender until chives are bashed up. Set aside.
Cut your lobsters in half leaving the bottom of tail intact. Pull meat from shell place on plate and pour chive oil over lobster meat. Let side in fridge for an hour.
Start grill, heat to med-high to high. Sear lobsters for one minute per side and finish them on the stove.
Heat pan to med high and melt butter. Add garlic, shallots, lemon and water, cook until fragrant. Tip the pan up so all the butter goes to one side. Put lobsters on the other side so they’re not in the butter.
With a spoon, scoop up butter and pour over lobster repeatedly. The lobsters will cook from the indirect heat of the pan and hot butter. This will take about 5 minutes, or until the meat puffs out, turns white and becomes slightly firmer. If butter mixture looks like it’s running out, add a tablespoon more water. The water will continue to evaporate during the cooking process.
Add parsley to butter scoop over lobster, serve hot.
Fennel Tomato & Sardine Linguine
0To sardine or not to sardine, that was the question.
I found this recipe online and from the photo it looked scrumptious. A nice green garnish, some lemon scented breadcrumbs over a lovely bed of pasta. The reviews were marvellous and some who disliked sardines even commended on such a delicious recipe. Before making this I don’t think I have eaten sardines but I like seafood, in fact I LOVE pickled herring, anchovies in Caesar salad, fish sauce in Vietnamese so I assumed that this would be just as good.
Word to the wise, if you don’t like sardines you won’t like this.
Ingredients
- 1 tin sardines packed in olive oil (about 4 ¼ oz.)
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 fat cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed, and roughly chopped
- 1 small or ½ large bulb fennel, fronds reserved
- 1/4 teaspoon
- 1 cup canned peeled tomatoes with their juice, gently crushed
- 2 ounces white (dry) vermouth
- 1 medium lemon, juice and zest
- 1/3 cup toasted bread crumbs
- 3/4 pounds dry linguine
Bring a very large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.
Open the sardine tin and drain a tablespoon or so of the oil into a wide skillet (the amount of oil in the tin will vary by brand, so add additional extra virgin olive oil if necessary to make up a tablespoon). Warm the oil over medium-low heat and add the garlic, cooking until fragrant.
Trim the fennel and slice the bulb very thinly (a mandoline works great here). Add to the skillet with a sprinkle of salt, raise the heat to medium, and cook until the fennel is soft and beginning to caramelize. Add the chile flakes and let them sizzle for a minute, just until fragrant, then add the tomatoes with their juice. Cook until the liquid is reduced, then add the vermouth and let that reduce slightly.
Add the sardines to the skillet with the tomato and fennel mixture, breaking up slightly but leaving some chunks. Zest the lemon and combine a tablespoon or so of zest with the toasted breadcrumbs, then set aside. Juice the lemon and add the juice to the pan. Taste and adjust salt if necessary.
Add the linguine to the boiling salted water, cooking it until it is just short of al dente. Using tongs, transfer the linguine to the sauce to finish cooking, adding a little bit of the starchy pasta water and tossing gently to combine. (You’ll want to leave this a little wet, as the breadcrumbs will soak up the sauce and dry the pasta out a bit once you’ve added them.)
Transfer the pasta and sauce to a large warmed serving bowl (or individual pasta bowls), add a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle on the toasted breadcrumb-lemon zest mixture, and garnish with picked small fennel fronds and the remaining lemon zest
I don’t want to completely disregard this pasta because I think all the elements are there for a wonderful meal but I just do not like sardines and eating this confirmed it. If you like them then I think you would LOVE this dish. The tomato and fennel sauce was delicious pre-sardine and that just added a salty, fishy element to the dish that was just a bit more then I could handle. The lemon scented breadcrumbs gave a nice texture and aroma to the dish as well. So for all you sardine lovers, try this!
If you’re not a sardine lover, then omit them. I will definately try this again without.
Easy Stir Fry
0Something everyone needs to have is a good stir fry recipe. It’s essential for those days where you take meat out of the fridge but are too tired to go from there. Stir fry seems to be everyone’s “go to” meal that requires minimal thinking. I usually have most of the ingredients already in my pantry and I just add whatever veggies I have on hand.
The other night I made us some sesame stir fry which was delicious
Ingredients
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated or minced ginger
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 cup broccoli ( I used an entire small head)
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup carrot sliced
- ½ lb chicken
Slice chicken and season with salt and pepper. In a bowl whisk together soy sauce, chicken stock, sesame oil, brown sugar and cornstarch.
Heat a large pan or wok with oil on med-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and almost cooked throughout. Remove from heat, set aside
Add a bit more oil to wok, Add red pepper flakes, garlic and ginger, stir fry for about 1 min until fragrant. Add vegetables and sauté for about 5 min. Add chicken back to the veggies, pour on sauce and cook for another 5 min until chicken is cooked, sauce is thickened and glossy.
Serve over rice or noodles.
This is probably the simplest stir fry I have ever made. You still get to eat right away and have the peace of mind knowing the sauce isn’t from a bottle and you’ve made it yourself. If you want to add more or less of anything then it’s very easy to substitute, add or subtract ingredients. I guess that’s why my stir fry never tastes the same twice.
Creamy Spinach Pasta
0Since getting our puppy I have realized how hard it is being a mom. I compare having a puppy to a two year old that isn’t potty trained, doesn’t wear a diaper, and runs around like a maniac and chews furniture. I personally don’t know of a two year old who chews furniture but I could imagine.
I need to expand my repertoire of fast easy recipes now that I need to be cooking and running around at the same time. This is something I adapted from Jamie Oliver’s site and it is really tasty, fast and for mothers who’s kids aren’t covered in fur, the spinach in this recipe is definitely kid friendly.
Ingredients
- Enough penne or any pasta of your choice to feed 4 people
- Olive oil
- 2 tsp butter
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ tsp nutmeg (I didn’t have any)
- 14 oz of fresh spinach, washed toughly (I used a bag of baby spinach)
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup cream (I used J’s half and half)
- 5 oz of mascarpone
- 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 2 handfuls of fresh grated parmesan cheese (must be fresh)
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the pasta, and cook according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile get a frying pan or wok warm, add a drizzle of olive oil, the butter, garlic and nutmeg. When the butter melts, add the spinach. After 5 minutes it will have wilted down and will be nice and dark. A lot of the liquid will have cooked away and you’ll have wonderful intensely flavoured spinach. At this point season with salt and pepper, then add the cream, mascarpone and a little ladle of cooking water from the pasta. Let this come to a simmer and then taste, season again.
Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water, and then stir it into the spinach sauce. Add the Parmesan and toss everything together. It should a nice consistency; if too thick add some of the reserved cooking water. Check once more for seasoning and serve right away.
I thought this was amazing. It was creamy, garlicky and had a very subtle spice from the chilli flakes. The spinach was in disguise which for kids is great, but I wouldn’t have minded a bit more spinach. Just call me Popeye. I will leave that part up to you and your family but don’t take it out completely, its subtle and healthy!
Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone and Bacon
1I never make desserts for J and I at home. The only time I do is his birthday or if we have company coming over. I am not sure why. Growing up my mom always had something whether it was homemade cookies, ice cream or squares she made earlier in the day. When I told J that I was going to make dessert he seemed shocked and pleasantly surprised until I turned on the stove for bacon and told him I was bbq’ing peaches.
For some reason I have been thinking about grilled peaches nonstop. I have seen them in magazines, on the internet, in the newspaper and it was my turn to make these and I am so glad I did!
Ingredients
- 2-3 peaches pitted and sliced ¼ inch thick
- ¼ cup mascarpone
- 2 tsp lemon juiced
- 1 tsp icing sugar
- Honey
- 4 slices of bacon, cooked and sliced
In a bowl mix together mascarpone, lemon juice and sugar. Taste and adjust. Should be very mildly flavoured with lemon and a touch of sweetness, we’re adding honey later so don’t make it too sweet.
Heat up your bbq on med-high to high. Place peach slices right onto the grill. Cook for 2-3 min per side.
To serve, smear mascarpone mixture onto plate, and place 4-5 slices of peach on top. Drizzle a very small amount of honey over peaches and top with bacon.
J gave me a curious smirk when I served him this since he loves all the components but couldn’t imagine how it would taste. Well, it tastes amazing. He and I both devoured this and were amazed how good it was. Bbq’ing the peaches give it a really nice smoky flavour to the sweet peaches and the cheese makes it almost a campfire cheesecake taste. The salty bacon is what really finishes it off. Since bacon is already slightly smoky it really goes together well and the texture and saltiness balance out the sweet and soft flavour of the peaches. Definitely going to be making this again!
Cheesy Califlower
2For myself, traditional mashed potatoes are a comfort food me. Growing up we often got roasted chicken or roast beef with all the fixings and it always included mashed potatoes. To this day I don’t think I have eaten roast beef without it. I guess the only downside of potatoes is that they’re often heavy, starchy and probably not the best vegetable we could be eating. I still will continue to make classic mashed potatoes but when they’re not looking I will substitute them with mashed cauliflower.
Before you start thinking I am some trendy baby food diet, I am not. This recipe was actually really good and with the amount of cheese you add it brings the healthy factor way down. I had you at cheese didn’t I?
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 2 cups chicken broth, low sodium
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½-3/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
- Salt and pepper
- I added a blob of mascarpone cheese as well, not necessary but gave it a bit more creamy texture.
Chop cauliflower into small trees (1 – 2 inch pieces). Place in a large pot and cover with chicken broth. Bring broth and cauliflower to a boil and cook until cauliflower is very tender. Drain well; discard broth (unless you want to make soup or something).
Place cauliflower into blender or use emersion blender. Add cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper and blend for desired consistence. I made mine fairly smooth, but you could leave it chunky.
I topped mine with some fresh chopped chives. Served with roasted pork loin and spinach salad.
J was a little hesitant and slowly took a bite while giving me the “this better be good” look. He mushed it around in his mouth a bit until the flavours started to come out. He then asked if there was garlic in it. I didn’t add it, but I might next time. He ended up really liking it and we were both pretty impressed with the taste and consistency. I think this would be a great sub for those nights you want something just a bit lighter then potatoes.
Zucchini Ribbon Salad
0I didn’t end up growing zucchini this year in my garden but I know a lot of people do. My mom usually gives away some and cooks the rest but I think its hard to find a good zucchini recipe. A while back I made some grilled zucchini rolls which tasted amazing but if you want to try something that requires no cooking and less work then you must try this out.
This would look really pretty with both yellow and green zucchini but I only used green.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon Lemon Zest
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 small, fresh zucchini (about 4 ounces each), rinsed and trimmed at both ends
- 1 large ripe avocado
- Leaves from 4 fresh lemon thyme or regular thyme sprigs
Using a mandolin or a vegetable peeler, shave zuchinni lengthwise until all the zucchini is in beautiful ribbons.
Combine lemon juice, olive oil, zest (reserving some for garnish), salt together and whisk, pour onto zucchini. The zucchini should be lightly dressed and not dripping. Let sit for at least 30 min so the zucchini can suck up the deliciousness.
Half, pit and slice an avocado. Place on top or within the zucchini, sprinkle with remaining zest and fresh thyme leaves.
This was so easy to make, really light and refreshing. If you have a garden full of zucchini then you should try a raw salad like this. I think it would also be amazing if you peeled some carrot into it and made a sesame style dressing. Not only is it yummy, but also really pretty!
Lemon Cream Cheese Pancakes with Blueberry Thyme Compote
0After an afternoon of eating at the food cart tour and then heading a to bbq at a friend’s house you would think that we would want to take it easy today, at least for breakfast but nope. I think my tummy was probably thinking that it had died and went to heaven, ready for round two. Since my life revolves around my stomach I listened and made J and pancakes for breakfast.
I had kept stumbling across pancake recipes that included the fresh taste of lemon and blueberries which would be perfect this time of year. So I adapted this recipe from a few that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of. It will take a bit longer to prepare then your typical pancake but I think its well worth it.
Blueberry Thyme Compote
- 1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp fresh thyme and 1 small spring
Lemon Cream Cheese Pancakes
- 1 ½ cup flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 large eggs, separated
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 6 oz cream cheese, cubed
- 3 tbsp butter melted
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Zest of large lemon
To make blueberry compote, heat the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and thyme in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Cook until blueberries burst and release their juices, about 6 minutes. Set aside. Remove spring before serving.
To make pancakes. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks, buttermilk. Add cream cheese cubes and mix with whisk bashing it up until cream cheese has separated into uniformly small lumps, about the size of large cottage cheese curds. Stir in melted butter, vanilla, lemon juice and zest.
Add dry ingredients to wet, and then stir to combine. Whisk two egg whites until stiff but not dry; fold gently into batter.
Heat a griddle or cast iron pan over medium high heat, until a drop of water sizzles. Lower heat to medium; butter or oil pan. Drop about 1/3 cup of batter onto hot griddle and cook until you start to see bubbles onto of the pancake, about 4-5 minutes. Flip and cook again for another 4-5 min. You may need to turn the heat down if they’re browning too fast as these pancakes need more time than most to cook. Serve with blueberry compote.
These pancakes really put regular pancakes to shame. The addition of lemon and cream cheese almost brings a lemon meringue feel to them which is perfect for a summer morning. The blueberry compote just finishes the breakfast off beautifully. Having a bit of lemon it in as well makes the compote a perfect match for the pancakes. The thyme is subtle but also freshens and brightens up the compote. J, mentioned a few times that these were the best pancakes he had ever eaten by far. That definitely made my morning.