I talk about food, you read it.
Archive for January, 2012
What the Huck – Huckleberry Wheat Ale
03 months ago
When it comes to the weekends I’d like to think anything goes as far as food and drink. We try so hard to eat right during the week, which may or may not actually work out. We’re pinched for time so we’re making foods that are fast and for those of you who have kids it’s also important that your kids are also going to eat without throwing food on the floor or running away.
I know for me the weekends that aren’t jam packed with events are the perfect opportunity to make those long slow cooked meals that fill your home with a delicious aroma of what’s to come. During that waiting period relaxing with a nice glass of wine or beer is essential. The last time I was able to do this I tried What the Huck, huckleberry wheat ale by Fernie Brewing Company.
It’s a little bit of a lighter beer and first reminded me of summer. I could imagine myself reaching for an ice cold beverage in the sweltering heat and huckleberry wheat ale could be that beverage. It’s crisp, tangy and slightly creamy. This is an unfiltered beer so it will be a little foggy looking. I think it would be great with chicken or citrusy seafood. This was originally a seasonal product but due to its popularity it’s now available year round. If you’re a fan of lighter unfiltered beer then definitely give this a try!
French Toast
0A few weeks ago my parents came over for dinner and my mom brought me a special present along with her. Not just any old special present, but a present she knew would make me a very happy girl. She brought me food. Oh Mom you know me so well.
She brought me and J some fresh homemade (from a bakery in Chilliwack) cinnamon apple bread. I am sure she could make this bread with her eyes closed but sometimes seeing this type of yummy delight in a farm fresh market would make the best of us break down and buy it.
My first thought was to just go nuts and eat the stuff, but my Mom suggested French toast. Of course, French toast would be fabulous! I used a super simple basic French toast recipe but omitted the cinnamon since the bread itself had a lot of cinnamon.
Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- butter or vegetable spray
- 4 slices day-old bread (baguettes work great too)
Whisk together eggs, mill, and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl.
On medium heat, melt a little butter until it starts to slightly bubble. Dip a slice of bread in egg mixture and let some excess drop off. Place slices in hot pan and cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Flip and cook again for another 2-3 minutes, again until golden brown. Repeat until you’re out of egg mixture.
I haven’t had French toast in a while and what an amazing treat to have it made out of this specialty bread. It was absolutely amazing. Thanks Mom!
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What was I blogging about last January? Lemon Meringue Pie
Bread Dipper
0Don’t you love it when you make something by accident that turns out to fantastic! I know I do.
When I was making French Onion Soup I realized that I added too much butter/oil to my onions after they started to reduce. I didn’t want to pour it out so I just let the onions cook away thinking that it would just cook off but I was wrong. It just sat at the bottom of my pot bubbling, taunting me and ridiculing my cooking abilities. After a while I spooned out as much as I could and poured it in a bowl with the hopes that it would be a yummy infusion from the garlic, onions and shallots.
I was right!! I threw in a bunch of herbs and this mistake turned into a wonderful appetizer. Using this herbed, onion infused oil as a bread dipper was the perfect thing to start out the evening. It was deliciously sweet and with the addition of herbs there was this flavour explosion that almost made me want to lick the bowl. I can’t wait to try this, on purpose, for a bread dipper in the future.
Poached eggs with a Creamy Dill Sauce
0I really think that my favourite kind of eggs has got to be poached. I love that the white of the eggs are nice and soft while the yellow is runny thick and flavourful. You can put a poached egg on pretty much anything and add anything to a poach egg. There are a million videos, website and articles on how to poach a perfect egg so I highly suggest that if you don’t know how, this year is the time to learn.
My latest poached egg adventure consisted of a dill sauce over a bagel. I was little worried that the sour cream base might be too strong for an egg but I was wrong. It was delicious.
Ingredients
(Serves 3-4)
- ½ cup sour cream (or more depending on how many you’re making)
- 2 tablespoons mayo
- ½ lemon juiced
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill chopped
- Salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients together, use as a topping for eggs. This would also taste great as a vegetable dip.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
0Since its still January, national soup month, I want to share another soup that is now on my top 5 list of soups. Tortilla soup has been something I have wanted to make for a very long time. I love Mexican food but I always seem to get hung up on the ooey gooey cheesy meals then I miss out of Tortilla soup. It’s actually pretty healthy but still super delicious, which is a great combination, as long as you don’t overload it with cheese and sour cream. Don’t let the long list of ingredients overwhelm you, it’s actually really easy!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 jalapenos, finely diced (leave out the seeds if you don’t want spicy)
- 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced (or a tsp of chipotle powder)
- 1 small yellow pepper chopped
- 1 can of corn
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (or regular diced)
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 4-5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
- 2 limes, 1 juiced, plus wedges for garnish
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 (8-inch) flour tortilla, grilled, cut into thin strips (or chips) (optional)
- 1 avocado, pitted, sliced
- 1 cup shredded Monterrey cheese (OR SOUP CREAM)
In a large soup pot, heat vegetable oil on med-high. Add diced onion, garlic, jalapeno and chipotle, stirring, cook until they start to become soft, about 8 min. Add yellow pepper, corn, tomatoes, black beans, cumin and chicken broth. Bring temperature back up to a low simmer.
To cook the chicken, you can do this 2 ways.
One-add chicken breasts right into the soup and poach in soup for 20 min, or until done.
Or two- you can poach in a separate pot for 20 min. If you chose to cook in a separate pot, poach in chicken broth and you might want to add some seasonings like whole black pepper corns, chilli powder, chipotle powder, cumin and salt. It will help give your chicken some flavour. Just remember to taste it before you put in the raw chicken. I used this cooking method, which worked out well. I also ended up adding some of the cooking liquid to the soup because my soup reduced just a tad too much.
Once chicken is cooked, using your desired cooking method, remove it from the liquid and place on a plastic cutting board too cool. Once cooled, shred with a fork, add back to soup.
Add limes juice and cilantro, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Garnish with tortilla chips, avocado, sour cream or grated cheese…or all of the above. I used avocado and sour cream with a few chips on the side. If you don’t like spicy as much as me, you can leave out the chipotle pepper but don’t leave out the fire roasted tomatoes. I think the Smokey flavours really go so well with the acid from the lime.
I absolutely loved this soup. It was spicy, flavourful, packed full of healthy vegetables, chicken and avocado. It made enough for me to freeze some too and I can’t wait for another tortilla soup night!
Nacho Burger
24 months ago
I guess you could say that my New Year’s Resolutions are almost over and will soon be forgotten. I made it to mid-January so that’s a plus but shame on me. I haven’t posted a daily blog post, I definitely haven’t been exercising, I did however, order a jacket from Running Room with the intention of taking up running again, but it still hasn’t arrived and it’s since snowed. Maybe it will melt by the time my jacket arrives.
I also haven’t been eating as healthy as I would like. I have a problem. I love burgers. I also love nachos so let’s mash those 2 thoughts together and eat Nacho burgers. Yup, good idea, I promise.
Ingredients
- 4 burger buns of your choice
- 4 beef patties bbq’d or grilled
- Pico de Gallo, recipe here
- Jalapenos
- Sour Cream
- Cheddar or Monterey Jack, or both
- Lettuce
This burger is all about the toppings. This is what I put in mine but feel free to put anything Nacho related in yours.
I thought this burger was great. It was spicy from the jalapenos, juicy and tart but not over powering due to the creaminess of sour cream. I think the sour cream is the genius of this whole thing. I really wanted to add avocado as well but the grocery store didn’t have any ripe enough for this meal. It’s too bad because that would have been delicious.
French Onion Soup
0January is National Soup Month and I would assume this was started as part of a cleansing or New Year’s Resolution to eat healthier. I know after eating my way through Christmas I sure can use a few more lighter meals in my repertoire. I made some pretty remarkable soups last year but I got new French onion soup bowls for Christmas that I have been dying to use, so my decision was a fairly easy one when it came to thinking of soups to make.
French onion soup has got to be one of the easiest soups to make. With just a few ingredients you can transform a few stinky onions into something amazing! Okay, it’s more than a few but I promise, it’s not complicated.
Ingredients
- 2 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced
- 1 large red onion, peeled and sliced
- 2-3 shallots, peeled and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minded
- 2-3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup red wine or ½ cup brandy
- 5-6 cups chicken stock or a blend of chicken and beef stock (low sodium)
- 2-3 dried bay leaves
- 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1-2 springs of fresh rosemary (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 baguette, sliced, I prefer diced
- 1-2 cups Swiss, gruyere or emmenthal cheese
In a medium to large heavy bottom pot, melt the butter with oil over medium heat. Add onions, shallots, garlic and salt, pepper. Stir so everything is coated in oil. Some recipes say cover, other don’t but what you’re wanting to do is to let the onions slowly caramelize becoming golden in colour. Stirring every 10 min or so, this can upwards to 45 min to an hour.
Deglaze the pot with wine, which means pour it in and stir the crud off the bottom. Allow to reduce by a little over a half. Now deglaze again with stock and add bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary. Add more pepper and let it reduce again by a third. Taste and adjust seasoning. Preheat your oven to broil.
Pour into soup bowls and top with bread and cheese, broil for 1-2 min until cheese is bubbly. If you don’t have oven proof bowls you can lay the bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, top with cheese and then place the cheesy bread on the soup.
I absolutely love this soup. It rich tasting, filling and delicious. It will warm your bones on a cold day and even though there isn’t’ much to it, it sticks to your bones as well. J and I love this soup. I know my measurements are slightly open to interpretation but that’s because I don’t really measure. Just taste it while you’re making it and adjust it to how you want it. That’s the best way to cook!!
Phillips Longboat Chocolate Porter
04 months ago
Back in December my friend C had a bunch of girls over for a girls night where she cooked us lots of little yummy appetizers, drank wine and talked all night. One of my friends didn’t drink wine though, not that it’s a bad thing. In fact I have been thinking about her beverage of choice non-stop and wishing I had a case of it right now in my hot little hands. She brought a bottle of Phillips beer is made in Victoria BC and they have a lot of wonderful offerings that are both unique and traditional. You can read more here.
Being a port I had the feeling that it would be extremely heavy, thick and that I wouldn’t want more than a couple sips. Turns out it’s actually more like dark ale, except with very little hoppiness. The chocolate finish isn’t as subtle as one might think, it actually is quite chocolaty but that could be because of the ports maltiness. I drank this without food but I could imagine pouring this onto some vanilla ice cream and dying a little bit from tastiness, if people could die from tasty things. I can’t wait to get my hands on some more!
Nippon Sushi Langley
04 months ago
One of my friends and co-workers has been on maternity leave for a few months. So, what once was a daily dose of seeing each other has turned into a rare occasion. In Canada we get a full year of Maternity leave so it will be a long time before we ever get to work together again. We both love Trader Joes, eating and if you check our phones you’ll find daily texts to each other explaining what we made for dinner. There are a few recipes she’s given me, which are on my list of things to make.
We met up for lunch last week and when I suggested a new Sushi place in the area I knew she would be excited to give it shot. We met at Nippon Sushi located at 906-6339 200th st, Langley, BC. L arrived first and browsed the menu while she waited. Upon walking in I was welcomed immediately by the staff and noticed a bright modern sushi restaurant.
L ordered a California roll and unfortunately her gyoza obsessed daughter was in daycare, so she had to be the expert today. The gyozas were a fair size and you get 6 per plate. The meat stuffing tasted like pork and was seasoned very well. The wrappers were soft and chewy but not overly thick.
The California roll was pretty basic and I am sure tasted like a regular California roll.
I ordered a spicy tuna roll and a Philadelphia roll which came together on the same plate with a lovely plastic tree ornament. My tuna roll was minced and mixed with spicy sauce, as well as topped with spicy sauce. The spice level was perfect in my opinion. Just enough to make your nose slightly run but not so much that you need anything to assist in cooling your mouth off.
The Philadelphia roll was also perfect. Cream cheese is an obsession of mine but too much in a Philadelphia roll can ruin a good piece of sushi. Another important component is the smoked salmon, which they also used well. Some places have skimped on the salmon but not Nippon.
The menu is fairly large as well consisting of most of your typical Japanese sushi items, but I think they do offer slightly more than a competitor that is very close by. Miraku Sushi served most of the customers in the surrounding area but now that Nippon is near it will interesting to see what happens. I would definitely come back to Nippon again.
Italian sausage, caramelized onions and wild mushroom pizza
0Pizza in our house usually consists of ham and pineapple. Occasionally I like to add mushrooms and green peppers but for the most part, even though they taste amazing, they’re nothing to write about. I have made, in the past, this yummy prosciutto pizza but since my New Year’s resolution was to be more creative I decided to try a caramelized sausage, onion, mushroom pizza which turned out fabulous.
To some of you this might not be all too original or special, but if you’re in a pizza rut, like J and I were in, try this!
Ingredients
- pizza crust (homemade or store bought)
- Pizza sauce (homemade or store bought)
- ½ – 1 lb ground sausage
- 1 small onion sliced and caramelized
- Wild mushrooms, if you chose to use regular mushrooms at least get crimini, sliced
- 1 lb mozzarella
- Fresh basil and shaved parm for garnish (and extra flavour)
In a medium pan, cook sausage until cooked and browned. If it’s unseasoned you can always add you own mix. I threw in fennel, red pepper flakes, oregano, salt and pepper in mine. When meat is done, set aside. Don’t drain fat. In same skillet, cook mushrooms until just starting to cook down. About 10 min. Set aside. Cook Onion in same pan, heat oil on med and cook onions until soft and starting to caramelize, about 30 min. At this point I added some balsamic to my onions and cooked that down. I didn’t notice a huge different in flavour but it did add some sweetness.
Pre-heat oven to 450. If you’re pizza dough recipe calls for a different temperature, then use that one. Once oven is hot, roll out pizza dough, throw on hot pizza stone if using, or pizza pan. Top with sauce, sausage, onion, mushrooms and mozza. Cook until crust browns and cheese is bubbly.
Once you take the pizza out of the oven, top with fresh herbs and parmesan. The parm will melt into the pizza as it cools.
J and I both really loved this pizza. It was rather time consuming due to having to cook most of the ingredients first. If you’re good at mutli tasking you can cook more than one item at a time. It was also more filling then our usual pizza which was nice because it meant leftovers. I will definitely make this again and also give other pizzas a chance!