J(and)Me - Cooking Jamie

Pressure Cooker Problems

2012-02-12T04:07:00.000-08:00

Better late than never, I pulled out the pressure cooker tonight. I've been meaning to get around to this risotto recipe all week. So I read the manual front to back, and got busy chopping up all my veggies. Feeling quite nervous, I sauteed the diced veggies over a medium heat, then added the rice and stock. I carefully put the lid on the cooker, and locked it into place. My concern was about the heat of the burner, as I really had no idea what I was doing. The recipe calls for "high", but I took that to mean the setting on the pressure cooker, and not the heat from the burner. So once steam started to come out of the valve, I reduced the heat to low-medium. I let it cook for the alloted 8 minutes, but the pressure cooker valve never popped up (which I think was supposed to happen). Then I removed it from the heat and let it cool, while I prepared my shrimp. Since the valve never popped up, how was I to know when I was ok to open? When the steam stopped, I tried to release the lid, but it would not open. The safety lock would not budge. So I put the cooker in the sink and ran cold water over it. Still wouldn't budge. I called my mom, who has been using a pressure cooker all her life. But hers is not the same, and she wasn't sure what to tell me. So I let the water continue to run over it, and checked it every few minutes. Eventually, about 25-30 minutes after I removed it from the heat, it finally opened.

Obviously, the risotto was quite overcooked. That is not the way I like it. But I persevered, and added the grated parmesan cheese and the fresh spinach to wilt. I loosened it with some water from the kettle I served it with some shrimp spread over the top. It was tasty, but under seasoned and overcooked. Next time, I will season as I go along, and I will make it the traditional way (i.e. on the stove top without a lid). I do want to master the art of pressure cooking, but I think I need to find someone who knows what the heck they're doing to help me out! I mean, I don't want to blow up my kitchen. Any volunteers?

Creamy Asparagus Soup

2012-02-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what stress can do to you, isn't it? I've had a lot of it lately, so cooking gets put on the back burner. It's weeks like this where I am thankful for my stash of frozen leftovers. It sure helps with the temptation to hit a fast food drive through on the way home from work (which I resisted). However, today I had the day off, so I was able to putter around the kitchen. I made some stewed fruit and a fresh batch of granola this morning, and the "kids" all showed up for chicken fajitas for dinner. In between, I was feeling a bit peckish so decided to whip this quick soup up for myself.

259. Creamy Asparagus Soup (Jamie At Home, page 22)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

I actually had to double check my list to be sure I hadn't made this once already! Strange, as it's so simple and full of things I love. The only substitution I had to make was green onions for the leeks. When would asparagus and leeks ever be in season together? Not that anything is really in season right now anyways. We are getting another blast of wintery weather this weekend. Not that I'm complaining, since we've hardly had a winter at all. Heck, last week I was able to pick a handful of parsley from my outdoor garden! In February! Hard to believe.

This soup takes less than 1/2 an hour to make. It's just onion, celery, and leek sauteed in some olive oil for a few minutes. Then add chopped asparagus (minus the tips which are saved for later) and some stock. Simmer for 20 minutes, then puree with an immersion blender. Season to taste, add the tips back in, and simmer until they are tender. Jamie suggests serving with toasted ciabatta and a soft boiled egg. However, I went with a buttermilk scone from the freezer. A quick and healthy late lunch/early supper for me!

Jamie's Fish Suppers

2012-02-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

I discovered the most amazing fresh fish counter last week. It's in the United Grocery store I posted about last week. They have live tanks with fish and lobster, and a huge variety of fresh fish and shellfish on ice. And on top of that, a massive frozen fish section that rivals the entire frozen section in my 'usual' supermarket! It inspired me to revisit Jamie's Fish Suppers, and realize that they aren't outside of my reach after all.

258. Rainbow Trout with Horseradish Yoghurt and Balsamic Beets (Jamie's Fish Suppers)

Channel4.com recipe link

I defrosted some of my blanched beets from last year's garden, and dressed them with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Then, I substituted wasabi paste for the horseradish, and mixed it into some plain Greek yogurt along with the juice of half of a lemon. I drizzled the trout with a bit of olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper. All that was left to do was pan fry the fish filet, skin side down to start, then flipped over for the final 30 seconds. I drizzled the fish with the other half of the lemon to finish.

I made some Baked French Potatoes yesterday, so I scooped them onto my plate as a base. Then I layered the trout, the yogurt, and the beets on top, and finished it off with some chopped, fresh spinach. I was actually quite surprised at how well everything blended together in this dish. Yummy!

Happy February!

2012-02-03T07:44:00.000-08:00

Who knew that this blog has had over 30,000 hits in just over 2 years??? I recently discovered the cool Stats tool that gives me all sorts of breakdowns on the site. The most popular posts are anything from Jamie's 30 Minute Meals book. It seems folks are pretty interested in obtaining those recipes. With good reason: they look mouth-watering when he makes them, and they seem so easy. The good thing is, they really are! I am hoping to do a few more of them this month. Hey, if you're reading, how about leaving a comment? ;)

It's starting to feel a little bit like spring out there, and yesterday Wiarton Willy predicted an early spring. Unfortunately, Punxsutawny Phil did not. Who to believe? The Canadian, of course! I started fantasizing about planting my garden, and decided it was time to order this year's crop from OSC Seeds. I want to try new things every year, so this time I went for a lot of greens: 'Extra Curled Peppercress' which apparently can easily be grown in containers in a bright window, 'Paris White' Cos Lettuce, and a variety of swiss chard called Rhubarb Chard, two different types of squash: Starship Hybrid' summer scallop type, and 'Bon Bon' Hybrid winter type, Chioggia Beets, 'Large Musselburg' Leeks (same as last year, because they were stellar), and a few herbs: Basil (Thai) 'Siam Queen', Sage, Cilantro, and Roquette (arugula).

I only have limited space, and I also have 3 dogs that tend to dig, so I have to be careful. Carrots are out, because the dogs will sniff them out and dig them up in the blink of an eye. I've tried cucumber for two years running with no success...probably because of poor soil. And the green beans last year never even got a chance to develop before the rabbits ate the leaves off the plants. I will also buy 6 or 7 different tomato plants when the time comes. But I think this is probably more than I can find room for already! I always get overly ambitious. I have to remember that you can plant just a few seeds of each type, and save the rest for later.

Finally, I added my name to "Foodie Penpals for February" at The Lean Green Bean yesterday. Sounds like fun! I love that they opened the program up to Canadians this time. So look for details on my giving and receiving later this month. This weekend, I plan to finally brave a recipe in my brand new pressure cooker. It's been sitting for almost a year, but I read that it can be successfully used to make risotto. I also plan to get out and enjoy the sunshine! :)

Are you a food snob?

2012-01-30T11:28:00.000-08:00

During last night's dinner extravaganza, which was a design-your-own stir fy and then mom-will-cook-it-for-you night, I was informed by my 20-something daughter that I was becoming a food snob. Yep, you heard me, a food snob. WTF? Apparently, it's because not only am I particular about what I will and will not eat, I also try to tell others what they should eat. This said in the midst of me catering to each person individually so that I don't offend by using an ingredient that might be on someone's 'hate' list.

I explained that I eat healthy because I don't want to get sick....meaning now (with my IBS) or in the future (with cancer, diabetes or heart disease). And that is OK, as long as I don't try and pass that wisdom along, I guess. I'm not sure what prompted this....maybe because of the comment I made at lunch, about the hot dogs, pierced with spaghetti noodles, smothered in a jar of pre-made Alfredo sauce that they had concocted. I might have said that there was no nutritional value on the plate. But seriously, it made me want to chuck my cookies. And I didn't want to think what it was doing to their insides.

Today I was checking the weather forecast, and came across this disturbing video. Apparently, the woman driving the car was having a 'diabetic emergency' and didn't know what she was doing. I am amazed that she survived it.

If not wanting my kids to end up like this makes me a food snob, I guess I'll have to live with it. How do you walk the fine line between 'health conscious' and 'food snob'?

Avacado For Dessert?

2012-01-29T13:25:00.000-08:00

I have heard of avacado ice cream and avacado smoothies, but I've never tried either. It just doesn't seem like something that should be made sweet....but when I saw someone make a chocolate pudding out of it on TV, I decided it was time to give it a try.

Guiltless Chocolate Mousse (from The Ambush Cook on The OWN Network)

oprah.com recipe link

I figured that, if I liked this, it would be something that I could make at a moment's notice, if I needed a chocolate hit. It requires no cooking. So I put 'avacado' on my shopping list this morning, and after lunch I whipped this up in the blender. The recipe calls for one avacado, 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 1/2 cup honey. I probably used about 5 tbsp of honey because I didn't want it to be overly sweet. However, it was plenty sweet and I would probably even cut it back to 4 tbsp if I did it again. I ended up adding a swig of soy milk because it was slightly too thick for my blender. Next time I will use the immersion blender instead.

The resulting mousse is creamy, rich, and smooth. You would NEVER know there was an avacado used. Amazing! Now, I"m not sure I agree with the "guiltless" part of the title, because as we all know, avacado is high in fat (albeit a heart-healthy fat), and honey is just a healthier form of sugar. But there is a ton of fibre in both the avacado and the cocoa powder! ;)

Hits And Misses

2012-01-26T16:24:00.000-08:00

I've been cooking up a storm this month, haven't I? I think I've broken the record for the number of blogs. However, I'm kind of winding down a bit. Last night I planned to try out the 30 Minute Green Curry Chicken recipe, but I decided I was really just craving something tried and true. So, although I used Jamie's double pan method of frying the chicken thighs, I skipped the curry sauce, and just made some mashed potatoes and steamed green beans instead.. Tonight I really just wanted something quick because I was absolutely starving when I got home.

257. Veg Frittata (Jamie's Food Revolution)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

I don't believe this one is in the book, but it looked easy and I had a package of fresh spinach in the crisper, so I went with it. Just saute an onion, add the spinach, then add that to your eggs & cheese mixture with some salt & pepper. Put it back in the pan, then under the broiler for 3 minutes and voila, dinner is ready.

I found the spinach to be a little overpowering in this dish (which is odd, because I love spinach!) If I did it again, I'd probably only use half the amount listed. Otherwise, it was OK. I ate this with a slice of a date nut loaf I'd made earlier in the week.

Date A Nut Bread (from "Crazy Plates" by Janet & Greta Podleski, page 63)

This is a low-fat recipe that replaces some of the oil with applesauce. It also includes chopped dates, chopped pecans, buttermilk (I used plain yogurt), and graham cracker crumbs. I'd never seen the crumbs used as anything but a base before, but these were mixed in with your dry ingredients. Strange but true!

Overall the bread is good, but I find it a bit dry. I am not sure if I baked it too long or it's as a result of the lack of oil. So not one of my best efforts, but still tasty. It only has 5.4 g of fat per 1/20th of the loaf....but let's be honest, there is no way I'm eating less than 1/10th in one sitting. ;)

Chinese Rabbits & Vegetarian Chili

2012-01-24T16:17:00.000-08:00

I looked up the Chinese zodiac signs today, just for fun, and discovered that I am a rabbit. When I read the description for rabbit, I just had to laugh:

"Rabbits are gentle and kind-hearted, but also have spines of steel and can focus single-mindedly on their goals. If you’re a rabbit, you’ve never met a diet you can’t master, easily following meal plans and recipes. Food revolutionary, Jamie Oliver is, surprise surprise, a rabbit."

So here I am, attempting to eat more vegetarian dishes. I found this great recipe on Jamie's site this afternoon and decided to try it for dinner. Not sure what book it's from, or whether it will be in a future book, but I am very glad he posted it!

256. Vegetarian Chili
JamieOliver.com recipe link

The first step involves roasting some peeled and chunked sweet potato in a 400F oven for 40 minutes, after sprinkling it with a pinch of cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, and lightly coating with olive oil.

Next, saute some onion, garlic, and peppers in a bit of olive oil until soft. I decided to substitute some roasted red peppers from a jar since I didn't have any fresh ones, so I left them to be added until the end. Then add the chopped stems of a small bunch of cilantro, a couple of diced red & green chiles, a heaped teaspoon of ground cumin, a level teaspoon of cinnamon, and a level teaspoon of cayenne. I did not seed my chiles, so I opted to use a milder chile powder. Add a 800ml tin of diced tomatoes and two 400ml tins of beans. I used about 540ml of 'bean medley' and 270ml of black beans. I also threw in a good handful of frozen zucchini, left over from my garden. Let this simmer for a half hour or so, then add your cilantro leaves and your roasted sweet potato, just prior to serving.

This chili was exceptional. The contrasting texture of the dry, roasted sweet potatoes gave it almost a meaty consistency...very filling and satisfying. I topped it with a bit of plain yogurt to cut the spiciness a bit, and ate it with toast. Mmmm mmmm good!

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

2012-01-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

Also known as Happy Chinese New Year! In celebration, I decided to try out an Asian-inspired 30 Minute Meal tonight. In preparation, I ran through a new Asian grocery store called United Grocery, to try and find szechuan peppercorns. I am not sure what I found is correct but it will suffice. I did, however, marvel at the amazing produce and wide selection of ingredients! I think I just found my new favourite place to shop!

255. Rib Eye Stir Fry & Dan Dan Noodles (Jamie Oliver's Meals In Minutes, page 206)

This came together very, very quickly when I got home from work. I really like the way you assemble the bowls first, and then just add to them individually. It works when not everyone likes the same things (as always happens in this house!) I used round steaks in place of rib eyes.

So first off, you quickly coat your steaks in salt, pepper, ground szechuan peppercorns, five spice, and olive oil on a board. While your griddle pan is heating and your water coming to the boil, get your greens ready. I quartered some shanghai bok choy and rinsed some snow peas. Then I got my bowls out and put a sprinkling of szechuan pepper in each, along with some soy sauce and a tiny bit of minced, fresh garlic. Jamie also advised that you should add chili oil to each bowl, but as I didn't have any (and didn't want the extra calories and fat) I skipped this step. I also didn't need this to be so hot that the kids wouldn't eat it.

I salted the water and put the greens in the pot, covered it, and put my steaks in the griddle pan for 2 minutes on each side. Then I removed them to a clean board and rubbed them with more minced garlic and olive oil, and let them rest. (Jamie suggests grated ginger and chopped chilis as well, but I skipped these to keep the kids happy.) I removed the wilted greens to a large bowl, and put the egg noodles into the slightly green water, along with a stock cube, to cook. Meanwhile, I chopped some green onions and added them to the bowls. I also added a squirt of lime juice and a tiny bit of honey to each. I sliced the steaks on the diagonal.

Once the noodles were done, I used tongs to move some into each bowl, and ladled in a small bit of the broth as well. Then each kid had the option of the greens and some bean sprouts as garnish, and of course let's not forget the steak! Once the kids had everything they needed, I proceeded to dress the remaining greens with a teaspoon of black bean sauce, a bit of olive oil, and the juice of half a lime. These were for MY bowl. I also garnished mine with some chopped red chile, for that little extra kick.

This went over really well! The szechuan flavour was nice, but not overwhelming. However the minced, raw garlic really sticks with you after the meal ends. All in all this is a quick, easy, healthy dinner that I think even the kids could pull off without me. I didn't time it but I'm almost certain that I came in very close to 30 minutes. Of course, I didn't make the Hibiscus Tea. ;)

The Quickest Pizza Ever

2012-01-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

I decided to test myself tonight....I had a one hour window between televised figure skating events, so I thought I'd whip up this quick pizza recipe for dinner, plus one of the accompanying salads.

253. Cheat's Pizza & 254. Mozzarella Salad (Jamie Oliver's Meals In Minutes, page 60)

DailyMail.co.uk recipe link

I splurged on a $2.99 container of bocconcini today for this recipe. I defrosted my last 2 cubes of pesto, and opted to use my pre-made tomato soup in place of the quick tomato sauce Jamie makes. The ingredients were just about identical! Unfortunately, I couldn't find any fresh basil in the store today. But I figured the pesto would suffice. So I assembled everything I needed on the counter, and got all my equipment ready to go, before clocking my time. I started at 6:21.

The dough is quickly made in the food processor, combining one and a half mugs of self-rising flour, a lug of olive oil and half a mug of tepid water. Any mug will do. It amazes me that this makes a dough with the standard blade attachment...but it worked like a charm, and in seconds. I divided the dough in two and rolled it out on a floured surface.

I pre-heated the oven with the broiler on, and put a frying pan on a medium-high heat. I sprayed the pan lightly with olive oil, and carefully lined it with one of the pizza doughs. I spread it with sauce, then topped it with turkey pepperoni (in place of salami), some finely chopped chili, and some torn mozzarella. I sprinkled it with bashed fennel seeds, and grated some parmesan over the top. I dotted it with a few dabs of pesto. Then I put it under the broiler for 4-5 minutes.

While it was cooking, I quickly tore up the remaining mozzarella, drizzled it with pesto, sprinkled with ground pepper, and grated some lemon zest over the top. This gave me something to munch on, because I was hungry! My son sampled a piece and literally spit it out. He hated the texture of the cheese, and said it had no flavour. I didn't mind it, but I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's very milky, I'll give it that. But I much prefer it melted.

I made a second pizza for my son. When it came out, the time was 6:48. So less than 30 minutes and I made two of them! Ok, so I didn't make the other 2 salads or the dessert. But hey! I'm impressed with this recipe. The quickest pizza ever, and it was really tasty. The dough was impressive. And the recipe is something I won't forget. This one's a keeper!

Veganish?

2012-01-19T04:34:00.000-08:00

I learned a new word yesterday on Oprah - "veganish". Apparently the definition is "moving towards veganism". That sounds like me. Don't know if I'll ever get there, but I'm really trying to move in the right direction. The hardest things are dairy and fish (seafood). I am not sure how much I believe that eating seafood is bad, but I can see the definite downfalls to dairy.

So one of the vegetarian meals that didn't make the 30 Minute Meals broadcast is another take on tomato soup. I have already done 2 tomato soup recipes, #33 from Food Revolution, and #199 from Jamie's Dinners. However, this one is really strange in that it involves NO stock. How do you make a soup with no stock? I'm game to try!

252. Tomato Soup with Chunky Croutons (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 78)

DailyMail.co.uk recipe link

The ingredients: 2 1/4 pounds of cherry tomatoes, 4 large tomatoes, quartered, one small bunch of basil, 2 red onions, 1 red chile, 4 garlic cloves, and 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar. I purchased 4 pint containers of grape tomatoes last week, so those worked out perfectly. However, I substituted a can of whole tomatoes for the 4 large tomatoes, and instead of fresh basil I used one of my frozen thai basil pesto cubes, and the remains of a bottle of freeze-dried basil.

The method: combine tomatoes, sliced and deseeded chili, and peeled & crushed cloves of garlic on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, mix everything around, and put in a 425 F oven on the top shelf, for 12 - 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large pot. saute slivered onions in some olive oil. When they are soft, add the balsamic vinegar and let reduce for a few minutes. Once the tomatoes come out of the oven, add them (and all their juices) to the pot.

Everything in the pot is put into a blender (in batches) and pureed until smooth with the basil. The soup should be served over croutons made from a torn ciabatta loaf that has been toasted in the oven. Since I'd just returned from the dentist, I decided to forgo the toasting. You can drizzle the soup with some cream, or add a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream to taste. Being veganish, I opted for a bit of soy milk. ;)

The soup is delicious and the balsamic onions plus the chili give it a real kick. It is quite thick but I found that I liked it that way! I think of all 3 versions, this is my favourite tomato soup recipe of the lot.

Cost of ingredients: $7

Servings: 4 generous portions

Sicilian Pesto

2012-01-17T05:39:00.000-08:00

I was tidying up the kitchen the other morning and taking stock of what I had left over for work, what I should make for dinner, if anything needed to be used or frozen, etc. I discovered that what remained of my live basil plant wasn't looking so lively. I don't know why it's so difficult to keep basil growing in the house, but I've never had any success at it. So I decided to make this pesto before I went to work...I figured it would keep in the fridge for a day or two.

251. Trapani-Style Rigatoni (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 42)

The pesto literally (Jamie's favourite word) takes 2 minutes to make in the food processor. So after kicking the problem dog out the door, I threw in the basil, some skinned almonds, a chunk of parmesan cheese, half a fresh chili, a bunch of multi-coloured cherry tomatoes from my recent market spree, a squirt of anchovy paste, and drizzled in a bit of olive oil. When it was a smooth paste, I scooped it out into an air tight container and put it in the fridge. Then I let the dog in and gave him a treat. :) And ended up making chicken stir fry for dinner that night because the kids showed up.

I popped into the grocery store on my lunch hour today but the closest pasta I could find to rigatoni (without breaking the bank) was penne rigate. So I put that on to boil while I diced up a few of the remaining cherry tomatoes. I kept a mug full of the cooking water aside, in case I needed to loosen things up a bit. I strained the pasta, then combined it with the pesto, added the tomatoes and a bit of the water, and garnished with the last 2 basil leaves. :)

I didn't give my son a choice, as I presented this to him as dinner. He was quite apprehensive about almonds in his pasta, but one bite brought him around. He said it was quite good! I thought it was great and would definitely make it again, because it's so quick and easy. The chili provides a nice kick but it's not burn-your-mouth-off hot.

252. Griddled Endive Salad (Jamie's Meals In Minute, page 42)

This is one of the salads that goes with this pasta in the book. I had picked up a few tiny little green Belgian endives at the market the other day, so this sounded right up my alley. I put a griddle pan on a high heat and sliced each endive in half. I placed them sliced side down in the pan, to char. Meantime, I finely chopped a couple of sprigs of rosemary, added a bit of minced garlic, and then used a lug of my balsamic dressing, left over from the other day.

Once I'd flipped the endives over to char on the other side, I brought them over to the board and roughly chopped them up. Then, I combined everything in a bowl and called it a salad. Different, for sure, but tasty (if you like endive, and I do). As it's quite an acquired taste, I didn't force it on the boy. :p

Wonky Summer Pasta

2012-01-16T03:59:00.000-08:00

How better to fight the winter blues, than with a summer recipe? Sure, nothing is actually seasonal, but it's available, for a price. And I found $25 to blow at the farmer's market to bring back my food inspiration this week.

240. Wonky Summer Pasta (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 46)

This was summer in a bowl, for sure. Lots of yellows and greens. I purchased a nice, living basil plant and used about half of it. A quarter was pounded to a paste in the pestle & mortar, and another quarter was chopped roughly (with a few small leaves reserved for garnish). For the sauce, you combine egg yolks, olive oil, some freshly grated parmesan cheese (done with my new food processor's parmesan/ice grating disc attachment), salt, pepper, lemon zest & lemon juice. To this you add your pounded and chopped basil.

The pasta is cut into strips from a fresh package of lasagne sheets, and boiled very quickly for a minute and half. The trick is to combine it with the sauce, a bit of the cooking water, and eat it immediately. As Jamie would say, otherwise it gets a bit "claggy". If this happens, add more of the cooking water to thin it out a bit. I made enough for 2 portions, so I will find out how well this translates to left overs today for lunch. Fresh, it was delicious.

241. Herby Salad (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 46)

This recipe calls for pancetta. However, I am trying very hard to stay away from red meat, so instead I substituted some turkey bacon. I browned it in a pan with a little olive oil and a crushed garlic clove. I added some fennel seeds towards the end, for flavour. For my greens, I used a bag of baby arugula, but Jamie says you can also use watercress (or a combination of the two). To this, I added some halved grapes (which are actually on sale for $1/lb this week at No Frills!) Also, he suggests adding a small bunch of mint and a small bunch of tarragon. I pulled what little mint I could find off my anemic mint plant in the kitchen. I really enjoy tarragon, so I splurged on a small bunch and added some to the salad.

The dressing is a combination of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I did this in a jam jar so I would be able to keep it in the fridge for the rest of the week. I am really trying to eat at least one salad a day so this will be helpful. So, you combine your greens & grapes with your crumbled (or in my case, sliced) bacon/pancetta, sprinkle over the fennel seeds, and dress at the last minute. I thought this salad was really good. I look forward to my left overs!

242. Limoncello Kinda Trifle (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 42)

This dessert actually belongs to the Trapani Style Rigatoni meal, but I swapped it out since I had more of the ingredients for it than I did for the Pear Drop Tartlets that I was supposed to make. This one calls for oranges, Limoncello, lemon, marscapone cheese, and raspberries (or other seasonal fruit). However, I didn't have Limoncello (since I don't drink) or marscapone cheese (since I priced it at $6.99 for a container, which I thought was ridiculous). I did, however, have some 35% whipping cream in the fridge that needed to be used up.

The first step is to combine your juice and/or alchohol with some lady finger cookies. I used a combination of the juice from a few clementines and the juice from a lemon. I placed this, and the cookies, in the bottom of a baking dish. Then I whipped my cream, added confectioner's sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and juice, and spread this over the cookies. I topped it with fresh blueberries and then grated over some dark chocolate. It seemed a rather odd combination to me, but I went with it.

Yum! Really, really tasty and very quick to make. I will make this one again in a pinch, for sure.

The cookies dissolve into a delicious, orangey base, and the dessert is actually quite light and refreshing. And hey, what a way to use up fruit! :)

Inspiration, where have you gone?

2012-01-15T04:23:00.000-08:00

Yikes. Yesterday I found myself trudging through the grocery store, throwing stuff in the cart and having no inspiration whatsoever about what I wanted to cook for the upcoming week. That hasn't happened in a while. So this morning, I thought that maybe I should look through the Meals In Minutes book to find some. And I discovered that there are quite a few vegetarian (or almost vegetarian) meals. I also discovered that while there are only 40 episodes of the TV show, there are 50 meals in the book. Really! This page is a great guide to which episodes contain which meals. Very helpful if, like me, you downloaded the show and do not have episode descriptions attached!

So thank God, I feel inspired to head down to the farmer's market today and get myself some fresh ingredients, like living basil (not the stuff they sell in those pre-packaged plastic wrappers that's already half dead) and decent organic vegetable stock cubes (not the ones with the first ingredient listed as 'corn syrup', and containing MSG). Who knows what else might inspire me when I get there?

I have the following on my list of 'must try' 30 Minute Meals - and I'm really only posting this to remind myself in case I lose my inspiration again! I think it's the horrible, bone chilling cold weather that's doing it. I detest winter.

Episode 2-12 Wonky Summer Pasta
Episode 2-10 Cheat's Pizza
Episode 2-08 Trapani-Style Rigatoni
Episode 1-13 Stuffed Focacia
Episode 1-08 Oozy Mushroom Risotto

And not shown on TV, the Tomato Soup with Chunky Croutons, Crunchy Veggies & Guacamole, and Sticky Prune Sponge Desserts on page 76. :)

Chocolate For Dinner

2012-01-13T16:38:00.000-08:00

I splurged today on a Japanese lunch....I sometimes do, on payday. Tempura and sushi, yum! I am always so stuffed that I come home not needing dinner. On the drive home from work, I decided that tonight, I would just make something decadent and chocolately for an evening snack. When I got home, I read a tweet from Jamie about some new "comfort food" recipes on his site. I followed the link and discovered this one, which jumped out at me, as I had every single ingredient he listed. That doesn't often happen!

239. Baked Chocolate Pudding (Jamie's Kitchen, page 280)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

This recipe starts out with an ice cube tray filled with a mixture of melted, bittersweet (70% cocoa solids) chocolate, combined with a bit of hot, strong coffee or espresso. So I did this quickly, using up my last Starbuck's vanilla flavoured Via packet, and then while it froze, I had a nice soy latte with the remainder. :)

A while later, I greased 3 ramekins, and refrigerated them. The recipe makes enough for 6, but I decided to half it. Then, I made a sponge mixture using more of the bittersweet chocolate melted with butter, egg yolks, ground almonds, rice flour and egg whites whipped with sugar. I put a little of the sponge mixture into each ramekin, then pushed a frozen cube of the chocolate & coffee mixture into each one. I filled the ramekins with the rest of the sponge mixture, placed them on a baking sheet, and put them in a pre-heated 375 F oven for about 18 minutes.

They acted like souflee, and rose up nicely. I sprinkled each one with some chopped hazelnuts and dug right in, as the recipe instructs that you should eat them immediately. Unfortunately, there is no way I could eat more than one, so the other 2 will have to wait and I'll see how they taste as left overs.

The top was cake-like, but underneath it was pudding all the way. Not sure if they should have stayed in a few minutes longer to firm up, but I am not complaining. Pure and utter decadence...so rich.

Next up, something vegetarian and healthy. I mean it. ;)

Turkey and Sweet Leek Pie

2012-01-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

It's not often I find a recipe on the net that doesn't have a single negative comment, but this would be one. I saw a nice bunch of leeks this week for $3.99 and although it kills me to pay for them, after being overrun with them this fall, I bit the bullet. I really wanted to try this recipe and I'd been saving the remains of the Christmas turkey in the freezer, already chopped, just for this occasion.

238. Turkey and Sweet Leek Pie (Jamie's Family Christmas)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

The recipe calls for 2 kg of leeks. Wow! My "big" bunch weighed in at only about a pound and a half. Not nearly enough. So I added 2 large cooking onions and decided to call it enough. I was probably a bit short on the turkey, anyways. I sauteed some bacon in butter and olive oil, and added the leaves from a good handful of thyme. I added the leeks and onions to the pot, and stirred every few minutes, but kept the lid on for a good half an hour. When everything was cooked down to a 'melt-in-your-mouth' texture, I added the turkey. Next comes a couple of tbsp of flour for thickening, and finally the turkey stock. Optional is creme fraiche. I actually had some 35% cream in the fridge so I used 2 tbsp of that instead. I seasoned to taste, and then scooped this mixture into a strainer, over a large bowl.

While the gravy was straining, I rolled out my puff pastry. The instructions are to crumble some chestnuts over the dough, but I didn't have any of those (and figured they probably be gone from the grocery store at this point, too). The recipe does call for a few sage leaves, but my sage plant has pretty much given up producing (even in the heat of the kitchen). However, the parsley outside in the garden is still going strong, even after 12 inches of snow last week. So I pulled a good handful of it, and chopped it up. I spread this over the dough, and then folded the dough in half and rolled it out a second time, in the rough shape of my baking dish. I filled the dish with the turkey and leek mixture, and covered it with the dough. Finally, an egg wash, and everything was ready for the oven @ 375 F for 35-40 minutes.

OMG! Another wonderful left-over creation from Jamie. I don't know how he does it, but he makes me like left-over turkey...again! The gravy seemed a bit thin but I can thicken it up today when I reheat this pie for dinner. I like the concept of instant gravy coming from the cooking of the filling. Awesome!

Cookies For Rookies

2012-01-08T14:54:00.001-08:00

So, I have a new addition. Probably the nicest piece of kitchen equipment I've ever owned. And a great bargain. It's a fire engine red, 12 cup Kitchen Aid food processor with the additional 5 disc attachment box. I priced one out at $319 at Sears (on sale!), without the extra discs. I got mine for $150, no tax. :) :) :) Kijiji is my friend

Of course, I immediately tried it out when I got it home. I made bread crumbs with the little 4 cup mini bowl and blade attachment. Works like a charm! Very heavy duty. It will get a good workout in this house. I also used it to break down some regular rolled oats for a cookie recipe that required 'quick' oats.

Cookies For Rookies (from Crazy Plates by Janet & Greta Podleski)

This recipe calls for light margarine and light peanut butter, but I had neither. So I made it with what I had, and substituted 1% plain yogurt for the buttermilk. I am sure it upped the calorie count dramatically....I also made 15 oversized cookies instead of 30 small ones. Hey, I figure the kids will devour these before I get a chance to eat them so I'm not too worried about it this time.

1 cup quick oats
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup light peanut butter
1/3 cup light margarine
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Mix the peanut butter, margarine, buttermilk and brown sugar and then add your dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Roll into small balls and place 2" apart on a baking sheet that has been sprayed lightly with cooking oil. Flatten with a wet fork and bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. Makes 30 small cookies. Each cookie should have 80 calories with 2.7 grams of fat.

Caesar Salad & Lemon Pudding

2012-01-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

I made a quick dinner for 4 tonight of burgers (veggie for me!) and caesar salad, with lemon pudding for dessert. I thought I would try out Jamie's "light" version of the salad, and finally get around to making the Recipe To Riches luscious pudding recipe.

237. Caesar On The Lighter Side (??)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

I'm not sure where this recipe comes from, but I'm thinking one of the recent TV shows? The only differencea between this and Jamie's original Caesar dressing recipe is the use of plain, Greek yogurt instead of creme fraiche, and much less olive oil. However, I decided to use light (5%) sour cream instead. Still worked out great, same great taste. I sauted a little pancetta to use as "bacon bits" and added a sprinkling of extra grated parmesan cheese.

Glo's Luscious Lemon Pudding (recipe by Glo McNeill, Recipe To Riches)

FoodNetwork.ca recipe link

I've bought these a few times as a President's Choice product, but I knew it couldn't be that difficult to make them. I love that the recipes are posted online! So we quickly zested and juiced some lemons, whipped up some egg white to stiff peaks, and combined the remaining ingredients. I folded the egg whites in and poured the batter into a greased baking pan. And then I realized that there had been no sugar! I checked the recipe and sure enough, there was supposed to be sugar mixed with the flour. Oops! So I threw a cup of sugar in and folded it through. I wasn't sure if it would dissolve, but what the hey, too late to look back, right? I put the baking pan in a shallow roasting pan and filled it half way to the top with hot water. Everything went into the oven for 50-55 mins.

It looked good coming out of the oven!

The final product was maybe a bit more pudding-like than we expected, but totally delicious. More lemony than the store-bought stuff, but that makes it even better. Next time, I'll give it an extra 5 minutes. And put the sugar in correctly. :p

Mmmmmmmm, I will do this one again!

Goodbye, Dear Friend

2012-01-07T07:01:00.001-08:00

It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you......my trusty food processor has kicked the bucket. Yes, I tried to grate one package of pizza mozzarella too many. Upon putting a small chunk of cheese down the chute on Thursday evening, it snapped the latch on the lid in two and quit. There is no fixing it. I took these pictures to remember it by.

There is a sticker visible dated 1980(!!!), so it lived a good life. I believe it belonged to one of my grandmothers, before making it's way into my kitchen. So now I'm on the lookout for another one. Hopefully, a newer one. Perhaps even a bigger one. LOL. I'm focusing on a 10-13 cup Kitchen Aid or Cuisinart, I think. There are a few on Kijiji that look promising. I'm open to recommendations, though! :)

Eton Mess & Chorizo Pie

2012-01-05T04:06:00.000-08:00

Last night a friend came over and we had much fun cooking from Jamie's new 2011 yearbook, which we both got for Christmas. ;) We actually made the cake first, but I reversed the order because you should eat your dinner before your dessert (unless you are my daughter who swears by the idea that you need to eat dessert first in case the world ends). It is 2012 you know!

I swear we were in the kitchen for at least 2 hours, but I think we wolfed the meal down in 10 minutes while watching Jamie's Great Britain!

235. Individual Chorizo Pies (Jamie Magazine, 2011 Yearbook, page 123)

These are so not on my IBS meal plan, but what the heck. I knew I'd pay for them later (and I did!) But they were a lot of fun to make. The first part was to finely chop all the veggies, then saute the onions & fennel until soft and starting to darken. After the first 5 minutes, add the red pepper and a pinch of smoked paprika to the mix. While the veggies cool, finely dice the chorizo sausages (we used the food processor). Once cool, combine veggies with chorizo and your mince pork (although we used lean ground beef instead). This will be your filling.

If there are two of you (like us), then one person can be making the pastry whilst the other is making the filling. Measure out your self raising flour, add salt, and then add a mixture of butter and water that has been melted together on the stove. This hot liquid gets mixed into the flour to form the pastry, which is rolled out to a 5 mm thickness. We found that since the pastry was quite hot, even though we floured the counter, it stuck. Next time, I think we'd let it cool more.

Jamie says that you should divide the filling into 8 equal portions and let it refrigerate for a bit. Then, place the portions on the dough, leaving enough space around each so that you can fold the pastry up around the filling and cover it completely. We managed to get 7 pretty well covered. He suggests using a pastry cutter and cutting out small rounds to place on the top of each 'pie' to serve as a lid. By the time we got to that stage we said "screw that" and just egg washed the pies and put them in the oven for 35 minutes. We were tired and we still had a salad to make. LOL.

They were delicious. My son loved them so much that he ate a left over one for breakfast the next morning. Do not tell him there was fennel in there! The flavour of the chorizo really shines through.

236. Eton Mess Cake (Jamie Magazine, 2011 Yearbook, page 130)

I've heard Jamie go on about Eton Mess this and that for years, so it was high time I found out what all the fuss was about. The first step to this recipe was making two thin sponges. The batter consisted of butter, sugar, egg yolks, and a bit of milk. It came out very, very thick, so much so that it was hard to spread in the pans. But we decided to trust Jamie (which became the theme of the night). The next step was to whip up the egg whites with sugar to make meringue. We did this in my stand mixer but try as we might, they would just not whip to stiff peaks. We eventually gave up and just rippled some mashed strawberries through the meringue as instructed, and then spread the meringue evenly over each sponge. The cake tins went into the oven for 20-25 minutes to bake.

Once the cakes were cooled, I beat up some whipping cream with the seeds from a vanilla pod. This was spread over one of the cakes as a filling, and then covered with sliced strawberries. Then we topped it with the other cake and put this in the fridge to set. Once it was time to dig in, we sprinkled it with icing sugar.

Oh wow! What decadence! What a sugar rush! Totally delicious and naughtly. I hope my son finishes off the left overs because I probably don't need to eat the remaining half cake myself.....

The Comedy Known As Home-Made Sushi

2012-01-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to make my own sushi, but was never quite brave enough to try it. However, I purchased a bag of sushi rice, a packet of nori, and a tube of wasabi paste a while back. The rice I've been using as sticky rice. The wasabi I've used mixed into mayonnaise to give it a spicy kick. The nori has never been opened. I had one frozen yellowfin tuna steak kicking around the freezer, calling to me. So I thought that I could maybe sear it but leave it pink in the middle (since it's not sushi grade and to use it raw would probably not be a good idea). I'd seen Jamie make sushi on the Naked Chef Christmas In New York episode, but for some reason the recipe doesn't seem to be in the Naked Chef cookbooks. So I rewatched the episode and jotted it down.

234. Sushi (Naked Chef, Season 2, Christmas In New York episode)

Ingredients:

Tuna, sliced thinly

Crunchy veggies, sliced into batons

Wasabi paste to taste

Nori sheets

400 ml sushi rice

450 ml water

Rice dressing:

6 tbsp rice wine vinegar (but I used white wine vinegar)

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

The first task is to cook your rice, and then spread it out on a baking sheet to cool. So I grabbed the bag of sushi rice and measured half of what the recipe called for out on the scale. Wait a minute, what's that black bit? I think it's moving. WTF???? Bugs???? Are you serious???? Argh.

So I tore the cupboard apart, pitching everything that was not sealed or in an air tight container. A while back I bought a bag of durham atta flour on clearance, and even though it has never been opened, I think it was the source of the bugs. When I opened it, it was crawling. To be safe, I tossed the remainder of the sushi rice and the arborio rice too, which both had a few crawlies in them. Pissed me off royally because they are both so expensive. But ewwwwww. Everything else seemed ok. I washed the cabinet out and put everything back. Then I triple washed my little bit of sushi rice to be sure there were no bugs in it. Did I say ewwwwwww?

Ok, while the rice and water were heating up, I combined the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and placed it over the pot to heat, just enough to dissolve the sugar. Then I popped the lid on the pot and let the rice cook for about 12 minutes. Once it was done, I took it off the heat and let it sit for a further 5 minutes with the lid on. Then I spread the rice out on a baking sheet and let it cool. Once cooled, I combined it with the dressing, and wow, does it ever make it taste great!

Next up, I rubbed the tuna steak with a bit of olive oil, and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I seared it for a couple of minutes on each side, and on all the edges as well. I went through my veggie drawer and chucked everything that didn't look good anymore (since that seemed to be the theme of my day anyways) and came up with a red pepper and a jalapeno pepper to thinly slice. Hey, red and green are Christmasy, right? Might as well let the season go out in style. Tomorrow it's back to the grind.

I cut a piece of nori in half, then placed it shiny side down on the sushi mat. Then I spread some of the rice over the nori, put a layer of tuna down the middle, smeared it with wasabi paste, and layered a few slices of the red and green peppers down the centre as well.

The hard part was rolling it. The mat is a great little invention, but even so the first one was too full to properly close. However, I got the hang of it by the second one. I managed to make 6 rolls before I ran out of ingredients. I wrapped 3 of these in cling film, for tomorrow. Then I cut 2 more for my dinner, and left the unclosed one whole, to eat as a hand roll.

They are pretty basic, and the fillings didn't really stay in the centre where they belonged, but I am still pretty proud of myself, all in all. :)

New Year's Brunch

2012-01-01T07:08:00.000-08:00

Well, it's here, and it's grey and wet and cold. Supposed to be turning into a windy, snowy couple of days with accumlations of 10 cm expected by tomorrow. Guess I'll be doing a lot of cooking! I started this morning with a feast.

232. Griddle-Pan Waffles (Jamie's Christmas With Bells On)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

I've been itching to try this one since I saw the Christmas special. So this morning I made up a batch of self-rising flour (since so many of Jamie's recipes call for it), then mixed up a half batch of the simple batter for these waffles. While this sat for 1/2 an hour as directed, I started some bacon, put the milk on to heat, and whipped up a fruit salad comprised of blueberries, strawberries, banana and 1/2 a pomegranate.

I put the griddle pan on high to get it hot, then reduced the heat to medium, added a knob of butter and created two waffles on either side of the pan. Even so, I still had trouble flipping them, but managed it in the end. When they were done, I put one on a plate for my son who will no doubt heat it up after he's slept off his New Year's festivities. The other I put on my own plate, and garnished with a drizzle of maple syrup, as Jamie suggests, because the batter is unsweetened. Then I topped it with some fruit & yogurt, and had a couple of small pieces of bacon on the side.

233. Double Malted Milk (Jamie Magazine, issue 24, 2011)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

This sounded so similar to the way I made my homemade chai tea every morning that I just had to try it (minus the whiskey!) So I heated 1/2 a litre of milk, added a cinnamon stick, a clove, and bashed up two cardamom pods, and one tiny little peppercorn. Then I mixed in 2 heaping tablespoons of Ovaltine. Mine is of the chocolate variety but Jamie's recipe calls for Horlicks, which was easily 3 times as expensive in the grocery store.

I divided this up into our two new pug mugs, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it! I can see myself drinking this on occasion as a substitute for chai tea. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This weekend, I have been watching the old "Naked Chef" series for fun. It's interesting to see how his recipes have evolved over the years (and his vocabulary!) This morning, I was tickled to see him make a "Christmas Bombe" in the "Christmas In New York" episode from the second season. He baked chocolate sponges to use as the lining, doused them with Grand Marnier, and filled the bombe with a mixture of ricotta cheese, sugar, chocolate, slivered almonds, cherries & glace fruit. He froze it solid, then took it out and sprinkled it with cocoa powder. Then he did a flambe using more of the liquor. I think I might have to try this version next year!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T04:09:00.000-08:00

Well it's still 2011, but I've revamped the blog somewhat to make it more visually appealing, and I figured I'd do a quick tally of what I've accomplished this year. My resolution last year was to finish my JO cookbook collection, and I've done that, because yesterday I ordered the only missing volume - Happy Days With The Naked Chef - from Chapters online. So far, no sign of an entry for Jamie's Great Britain, although you can get it on import from Amazon for $50. I think I can wait. But I got the 2011 Jamie yearbook for Christmas, and I have a cooking night planned with a friend on Tuesday to try out a couple of the recipes.

My resolution for 2012 is to make even more plant-based recipes, and cut back even farther on dairy & meat. I've got wind of the documentary "Forks Over Knives" and it's made me think. I haven't even seen it yet, but just reading all the press and testimonials is pretty impressive. My dad passed away way before his time, at 60, from a massive heart attack. He struggled with weight issues as far back as I can remember. My mom has just been diagnosed with pretty severe osteoporosis and is having some problems with mobility. So I am quite motivated to NOT follow in either of their footsteps, healthwise.

Here's the rundown of recipe counts since I started this blog over 2 years ago now!

Jamie's Cook Books:
Jamie's Food Revolution - 105 (62%)
Jamie At Home - 39
Jamie's Meals In Minutes - 33
Cook With Jamie - 11
Jamie's Dinners - 7
Naked Chef - 5
Jamie's Italy - 4
Jamie Does - 3
Naked Chef Takes Off - 3
Jamie's America - 2
Jamie's Great Britain - 2
Jamie's Kitchen - 1
Happy Days With The Naked Chef - 1
Jamie Oliver's Food Escapes - 1

Jamie Magazine: 4

Jamie's TV Specials:
Jamie's Family Christmas - 3
Jamie's Christmas With Bells On - 3
Jamie Cooks Summer - 1

This weekend, I am doing recipes to use the the bits and pieces of Christmas that are still hanging around my fridge. First up, I made a version of the Easy Cranberry and Apple Cake, using a couple of apples and mixing in the leftover cranberry sauce. Then I decided I needed to do something with the raw, cut sweet potato fries in the crisper. I cut more than I needed on Christmas Day. In my Forks Over Knives research, I came across this great little recipe for Sweet Potato Dal. I have loved making Indian dal for years, but had never thought to combine it with sweet potatoes and spinach. I made a double batch so that I could have lots of leftovers for lunches next week. I think it should freeze well too. It's delicious!

Tomorrow, I plan to make yet another batch of my favourite, Jamie's Pumpkin Rice Laska Soup (aka Party Squash Soup). I still have half of a huge butternut squash left over, along with a container of the pureed stuff from Christmas dinner. Bring on 2012!

Unveiling The Bombe!

2011-12-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

Last night was the night. I made a big pot of Chile Con Turkey for dinner, and the Bombe was just the right way to finish it off. So I put it in the fridge to defrost while we made a quick visit to Starbucks to peruse the sale items and indulge in Creme Brule and Chai Tea soy lattes. Then when we got home, I melted some good, dark Belgian chocoalte over a pot of simmering water.

The Naked Bombe:

The Chocolate Winter Pudding Bombe:

It was a bitch to slice, even after more than an hour in the fridge. And given that this was the second bombe we made, it didn't have as much ice cream as the first. But it was still glorious. The mango rum came through really strongly, but strangely I didn't mind it. I loved all the combination of flavours. It's a good thing, because we've barely dented this one yet, and there is still another one down in the freezer!

More Christmas recipes

2011-12-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. A week's preparation and pretty much two full days cooking, and it was gone in maybe half an hour. LOL. It never ceases to amaze me. But everyone loved everything and went away full and happy. So I was happy. I made a couple of different recipes this year, including an Emeril Lagasse quiche on Christmas Eve (for Christmas morning), but my main influence was Jamie.

229. Apple and Cranberry Sauce (Jamie's Family Christmas)

JamieOliver.com link

This wasn't any different than making applesauce, except for the cranberries. :p It called for a splash of water, but I substituted the juice of a clementine instead, since they were sitting there. It also calls for the addition of a cinnamon stick, but I didn't have one, so I sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon over the finished product. I made this a few days before Christmas and put it in the fridge. Another job done!

230. Winter Pudding Bombe (Jamie's Family Christmas)

JamieOliver.com link

We had a blast assembling this on Christmas Eve. I've never bought a pannetone before, but I saw them on sale so I had to pick one up. We assembled all the ingredients on the kitchen table after dinner, and found an old glass mixing bowl to serve as our "pudding" bowl. First off, we had to line the bowl with 3 layers of cling film (or plastic wrap, as it is called here). We sliced the pannetone and layered the slices around the edges of the bowl, drizzled them with a little mango rum left over from our Carribean cruise, then slathered them with a mixture of strawberry and rhubarb-pineapple jam (the only two jams I had in the fridge). Then we filled it half way up with some quality Real Dairy vanilla frozen yogurt (instead of ice cream). On top of that, we layered some glace fruit, some pistachios, some canned bing cherries, and one clementine, segmented or sliced. Then we filled the rest with frozen yogurt, covered it with another couple of slices of pannetone, and drizzled everything with more mango rum.

We covered our bowl with more cling film to seal it tightly, and pressed down on it with a plate. Then we sent it down to the freezer. Since we still had lots of ingredients left over, we decided to do another one. This time I found a plastic mixing bowl that was roughly the same size. Everything was going swimmingly until we realized that we'd run out of cling film to seal the bowl at the end. Ooops! So we improvised with the plastic wrapping from the pannetone and an elastic band. Down into the freezer with this one too! Hey, they will keep for a few weeks at least, I would think, so why not?

Believe it or not, we were far too full on Christmas to even think of eating the Bombe. I made pumpkin pies with whipped cream, my DIL brought homemade eggnog muffins, and a friend brought some little mini raspberry cheesecakes....not to mention the shortbread, cherry balls and magic cookie bars floating around. Maybe I'll dig it out on Boxing Day. Rest assured, I will take a picture of it when I do!

231. Simple As That Celeriac (Jamie's Christmas With Bells On)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

I was chopping up the Christmas veggies this afternoon.....carrots, squash, turnip, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.....and I decided why not? I had picked up a celeriac a couple of weeks ago when I saw it on sale. So I peeled it and diced it and put it in a large frying pan with olive oil and a bit of thyme. When we were getting fairly close to eating, I put the heat on and let it saute, stirring every once in a while. It got fairly dark before I decided it was soft enough. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and put it on the buffet with everything else.

I got a lot of "what's that?" and "ewwwww" when I told them what it was, but most people tried a bit and I sure didn't hear any complaints. So I think it went over fairly well. There wasn't much left over, anyways!

Get Ahead Gravy

2011-12-22T03:22:00.001-08:00

Jamie has a great site up this year, with tips and recipes for the holiday season. I'm trying to do something every day this week, to make Christmas Day a little less stressful. So last night, since I had the oven on anyways making Ground Beef Wellington, I quickly threw together the ingredients for this next recipe. One less thing to do!

228. Get Ahead Gravy (Jamie's Christmas With Bells On)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

This is really a recipe that doesn't require much attention. Just throw chicken wings, bacon, some veg, and some herbs and spices in a roasting pan, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with a little olive oil, and put it in the oven for an hour at 400 F. Then mash it all up, add flour, add water, let it simmer on the stove for a half an hour. Strain, refrigerate or freeze until you need it.

Then on the big day, take it out of the freezer when you put your turkey in the oven. By the time it comes to make gravy with the drippings, just add your pre-made gravy and voila! Instant gravy. :) All the muss and fuss has been done in advance. Sure sounds like it is going to make my life easier. Thanks, Jamie!

Chicken In Milk?

2011-12-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

I took some chicken thighs out of the freezer last night, and set them in the fridge to defrost. At work today, I was surfing to find a new recipe in which to use them. I get sick of the same old, same old. And I knew I didn't have the ingredients for Piri Piri. I found an interesting recipe from the only JO book that has been released in Canada that I don't yet own!

227. Chicken In Milk (Happy Days With The Naked Chef, page 182)

I have to admit, milk and chicken didn't really sound very appetizing at first. But when I started reading through the comments on the recipe, it seemed unanimous that this was a different but delicious combination. So I figured why not?

The first step is frying the chicken in a lot of butter and a bit of olive oil. However, once you get it golden and crispy, you discard the fat, and the flavour is in the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. This worked wonderfully. Then the chicken is thrown back into the pot, along with fresh sage, half a cinnamon stick, the zest of two lemons, and milk. This goes into the oven for 1.5 hours. The idea is that the lemon zest will curdle the milk. However, I didn't really notice that happening with the 1% milk I used.

I served this with some basmati rice and steamed green beans. The chicken was moist and delicious, but I didn't think the sauce was all that. Until I reread the recipe and realized I had completely forgotten to add the TEN cloves of garlic it called for. Yeah, that might have kicked it up a couple of notches. Oooops!!! So I will have to do this one again sometime, when I've learned to read. :p

Christmas With Bells On

2011-12-18T17:19:00.000-08:00

I've had one of the worst weeks in recent memory. I came home from Quebec satisfied but exhausted, running on 3 hours sleep, and then to top it off I tripped over my boot laces while taking the garbage out, and fell flat on my face the next morning before work. I smashed my knee and got road burn all down my one arm. I was in no shape for working, let alone cooking at night. I hadn't grocery shopped in two weeks. The fridge was completely empty, save for condiments, so we had been eating from the pantry and the freezer all week. Thank goodness someone in this house tends to cook more than they can eat, and freeze the left overs! ;)

Yesterday I took it easy, did some Christmas shopping, watched Jamie's Christmas shows, present and past, and finally went grocery shopping. Today I felt up to tackling the annual Christmas baking extravaganza, so with the help of my daughter and her girlfriend, I made cherry balls, shortbread cookies, and a pan of magic cookie bars. Tonight, I decided to put together one of the quick recipes Jamie unveiled in his newest Christmas show from the UK.

226. Epic Hot Chocolate (Jamie's Christmas With Bells On)

Channel4.com recipe link

This is just a dry mix of cocoa powder, corn starch, icing sugar, Horlick's malt powder (I used Ovaltine), grated dark chocolate, a pinch of salt and a pinch of cinnamon. I didn't realize just how awkward it is to finely grate chocolate....what a mess. Next time, I think I'll use a spice grinder or something instead. But I persevered and got it done. I combined everything in a jam jar, screwed the lid on tightly, and shook it up. This should keep in the cupboard indefinitely.

Jamie suggests that 10 heaping tbsp of this mix is enough for 2 pints of milk. Converted into cups, that would be 2.5 heaping tbsp per cup. To me, that is a bit extreme. In the show, the hot chocolate looked very, very thick, and he used it to dip his waffle "soldiers". As I wanted to drink it, I doubled the amount of milk. That seemed like a better consistency, and yet I still found it almost too "dark". I didn't think such a thing was possible! It's decadent, that's for sure. :)

Just A Song Before I Go

2011-12-06T02:47:00.000-08:00

Does anyone remember that short but sweet little song, by Crosby, Stills & Nash? God, I love(d) it. Tomorrow, I fly off to Quebec City for 5 days. This will be interesting, since it's the first time I've flown to a skating event in 10 years. Back then, I wasn't much into healthy eating. Nowadays, I'm wondering if I can pack some honeycrisp apples, soy milk, and a thermos into my suitcase for smuggling into the arena. Hee, how times have changed. Apparently, we have a mini fridge and possibly a microwave in our suite, so I am hopeful that I will be able to cope.

I've been eating up the Pumpkin Chicken Chile leftovers, and yesterday I nuked a bowl for lunch at work. Then, I added some chopped cilantro that I just happened to bring in a ziploc bag in my pocket. A co-worker was passing my desk, and let out a big sigh, exlaiming "oh, Lisa....." in a bit of a disgusted tone. Seriously? It smelled like heaven! He asked me what I was eating, so I said "chile". He said that there was no way that it was chile, because chile has ground beef in it and it doesn't have chicken or chick peas. It also doesn't have any 'green stuff'. Wow, it constantly surprises and saddens me how narrow some people's culinary minds can be. I didn't mention the pumpkin......

I made a quick dish for dinner the other night that I thought I should blog, even though I didn't take a picture and I have no idea what cookbook it comes from. It's dated Nov 28, 2011 though so I wonder if it might be from Jamie's Great Britain? Or the new Christmas special which is coming out in the UK next week entitled Jamie's Christmas With Bells On.....

225. Wood Fired Shellfish

JamieOliver.com recipe link

This recipe calls for mixed seafood, like clams, mussels, prawns & scallops. If I lived by the seaside, I'd be able to go out and get those fresh. However, here it's not quite so easy. However, they do sell these little frozen packs of mixed seafood that look intriguing (and are fairly inexpensive), so I bought one and threw it in the freezer for a rainy day. That describes this past weekend for sure! Nothing worse than cold, December rain....except maybe for cold, December snow. Can you tell I'm not a big fan of winter? Someone tell me why I'm flying to Quebec again?

Anyways, the recipe instructs you to make a bit of a viniagrette to mix with your seafood. So using my trusty pestle & mortar, I crushed a bit of garlic with some lemon zest, and added olive oil, salt & pepper. Then I ceremoniously dumped my little bag of mixed seafood on a baking tray and added the viniagrette. Unfortunately, no wood fire here, so I popped it into the little toaster oven on a high heat and just let it warm through and crisp up a bit.

I am sure my co-worker would have been mortified at the look (and contents) of this dish. There were definitely mussels, clams, shrimp and squid in there....not sure about scallops. I accompanied it with a baked sweet potato and some asparagus. I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty this seafood mix was! Considering it was all deshelled prior to even being put in the bag, it tasted of the sea, I swear. I would definitely do this one again. Talk about a quick and easy dinner! And this mix would go well in any type of a chowder, I'd bet. Oh the possibilities....

Feel Good Chicken Broth

2011-12-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I made the most amazing Pumpkin Chicken Chile. It simmered in the crock pot all day while I was at work, and by the time I came home (early) my son was chomping at the bit to have a bowl. I was surprised, to say the least, since I figured he wouldn't go near it with a ten foot pole. It was full of chick peas, for goodness sake! But he had a friend over and the two of them couldn't wait until I shredded the chicken pieces and served it up, with halved, toasted pitas. I had made it a bit spicy, to my taste, using a combination of dried ancho chile, a fresh jalapeno, and a sliver of a Scotch bonnet. The boys were sweating by the time they finished but they both said they thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

Today I knew I needed to do something with the remainder of the chicken that I had quartered for the chile yesterday. I found this simple broth recipe and decided to see if I could, for once in my life, make a fairly clear chicken broth.

224. Feel Good Chicken Broth (Jamie's Dinners, page 156)

This recipe actually called for an entire chicken, but since I left quite a bit of meat on the bones (plus the wings) I figured it would be fine. Just cover with water and add a couple of carrots and sticks of celery, along with one slice of bacon, then cover and simmer for 1 1/4 hours, skimming the white foam off the top occasionally. Add a few sprigs of rosemary for the last 10 minutes, then strain.

I was amazed at how clear this came out. I am not sure what I normally do differently, but I will be using this method next time for sure. I decided to make myself a quick bowl of hearty chicken noodle soup for lunch, using the stock, the meat I picked off the bones, along with some mushrooms, egg noodles and a bit of jalapeno. It was delicious.

Jamie's Bits and Pieces

2011-11-29T04:08:00.000-08:00

What's with the naughty blog titles lately? I think it's because I'm bored. Last night I was bored, so I was watching the Food Network's rerun of Jamie's Meals in Minutes (even though I have them all on my hard drive) and Jamie was doing tapas. Little mouthfuls of deliciousness. At one point, he challenged the viewer to go and try something, RIGHT NOW. So I did. I went into the kitchen and got a bit of cheddar cheese, a couple of drips of honey, and some instant coffee. And I put them all together and put them in my mouth....and you know what? It didn't suck. I actually enjoyed it. So I had another one. Who would have thought that those 3 things would go together? Jamie, of course. God, he makes me laugh sometimes. In a good way.

Anyways, after that I got inspired to make something. Of course, I had to eat up some left overs, so I put the chicken, potatoes and carrots from a few nights back on a baking sheet to warm in the oven (not in the microwave, where they would have gone soggy). Then, I started looking through the Meals in Minutes book to see what quick thing I could make as a dessert, using up some more bits and pieces. I found it in the "Meatball Sandwich" meal.

223. Banana Ice Cream (Jamie's Meals in Minutes, page 222)

This recipe is basically the same as the one to make the quick mango frozen yogurt. You combine frozen sliced bananas with natural yogurt and honey, in a food processor, until smooth. However, Jamie's twist this time is to scoop the 'ice cream' into balls and roll it in some unsweetened coconut. Mmmmmm, coconut, you don't have to tell me twice! And I always chuck my overripe bananas in the freezer, so I had plenty of those. However, after I blended everything up I found that it was too soft, so I put it in the freezer to harden up a bit first.

I loved this combination! I actually used up some pre-flavoured peach yogurt that was kicking around the fridge, instead of natural yogurt and honey this time. Gotta use up those bits and pieces! Thanks for the inspiration, Jamie. You never fail me.

My Sexy Buns

2011-11-27T07:02:00.000-08:00

Heh, gotcha. That's actually the title of the segment of the show from the series "Jamie Does", where Jamie makes this messy but delicious looking recipe. He's in Stockholm, Sweden at the time, and I thought it was about time that I tried something from my newest book acquisition. And I always find miserable, rainy days are the best days to bake!

222. Sexy Swedish Buns (Jamie Oliver's Food Escapes, page 168)

This one stuck in my mind for over a year, until I decided it was time to try it. I had some fresh blueberries on hand, and I was craving some type of a sweet, yeast bread this morning. So I set to work early, mixing up the dough, and letting it rise for an hour while I did the usual, mundane morning stuff like walking dogs and tidying up dishes from the night before. Just a standard mix of milk, butter, eggs, salt, and flour. The only different thing about this dough was the addition of a teaspoon of ground cardamom. Yum! It's the prominent spice in chai tea. :)

I combined 14 oz of blueberries with the zest of a lemon and some sugar. Jamie suggests using an orange instead, but I was fresh out. I mashed this up and let it sit while I prepared my baking sheet, lining it with parchment paper and dotting it with butter. I sprinkled 1/2 of my 1/3 cup of brown sugar over it. Ok, now comes the messy bit. I stretched my risen dough out to a large rectangle shape, then using a slotted spoon, spread about half of the blueberries over it (leaving most of the juice in the bowl). Then I folded the edges of the dough up like an envelope, and proceeded to knead everything around until the blueberries were well incorporated into the dough. I divided the dough into 8 pieces, and formed each into a sausage-like shape. Then I wound each piece around itself to form a ball, and placed these on my baking sheet. Making a well in each bun, I spooned the remaining blueberries over the top. I sprinkled the buns with the rest of the brown sugar, and set this in a warm place to rise for another 20 minutes.

The buns baked in the oven at 350 F for about 25 minutes, until golden and crispy. The kitchen smelled amazing. However, I have to say that I found that these weren't all that special....they weren't overly sweet, the cardamom didn't really come through enough for my liking.....they weren't really all that sexy. I ate one, and I liked it ok, but it needed something. Maybe butter or icing. My son took a bite and made a face. He dared to call it dry and said it tasted like a blanket. That seems a bit extreme to me but hey, last time I used cardamom he said it tasted like cough medicine. Baby steps. LOL

Never boring....

2011-11-26T14:36:00.000-08:00

I happened on a repeat of Jamie's "Meals In Minutes" on Food Network Canada the other day, and I wondered why I hadn't jumped on making this meal the first time around. Salmon, mango, cilantro, what's not to love?

219. Asian-Style Salmon, 220. Noodle Broth and 221. Sprout Salad (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 186)

I cut the recipe in half to start, but as I'd only defrosted one salmon filet, I had to cut that part down by half again. First up was the spicy sauce for the fish, so I decided I'd just put half in the fridge for another night. Into the blender went garlic, ginger, chile, soy sauce, half an onion, and the juice of a lime. This is placed in your baking dish, and the salmon filet, after being coated with some salt, pepper, and five spice, is placed on top, displacing the sauce. The idea is to leave the skin side up to get crispy. Unfortunately, I could not find any salmon with skin on this time around. Maybe next time. I dipped my finger into the sauce and it almost blew my head off! I only used about 1/8 of a scotch bonnet. Wow.

Put your fish into a 480 F oven for about 18 minutes. In the meantime, start your broth. Saute some scallion, ginger, garlic, and chile. Add some five spice powder and cornstarch, and stir around. Then add some stock or a bouillon cube and boiling water. Finally, add some sugar snap peas and fine egg noodles, bring to the boil, and cover. To get your salad going, combine some bean sprouts and chopped cilantro in a bowl. Toast some cashews in a little olive oil and honey, and add to the salad when browned. Chop up a mango and add to the salad, then dress it with a combination of soy sauce, sesame oil, and lemon juice. Jamie suggests adding chile but I figured that the other two dishes probably had enough heat to keep me going for awhile!

Everything with this recipe was easy peasy and fell into place with no problems. I divided my noodle soup into two bowls, drizzled with lemon juice and a bit of cilantro, and topped one bowl with my salmon. I spooned a little of the remaining sauce on top and called it dinner. I didn't time it but this didn't take long at all. Plus, it's not hard to remember so I'll probably do it often when in need of a quick fix.

I totally loved the whole meal. The salmon was perfectly cooked and the sauce was not overpowering, as I feared it might be. The noodles were oozy and luxurious and I liked the effect of the cornstarch on the broth. The salad was cool and refreshing and I went back for seconds. One thing I can say about Jamie is that his recipes are NEVER boring. Having eaten bland food all my life, it's what keeps me coming back time and time again. Kick ass flavour!

Jamie In Toronto

2011-11-19T18:17:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday I did a crazy thing....I drove to Toronto after work to catch Jamie in person at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. It's a good 2.5 hour drive to get right down into the heart of the city, especially fighting the traffic on a weeknight, but I did it with the help of a friend. We didn't get home until almost midnight and I had to get up for work the next day. Only for Jamie!

He was, as always, inspiring, funny, and a bit naughty, but the one thing that was missing was cooking. He was not given the opportunity to cook on stage....instead of he was basically interviewed for an hour and a half. As much as I enjoyed it, it was not my favourite format. I hope, in future, that they realize that Jamie's biggest draw is the way he inspires people with his passion for food. Let the man COOK!

The evening was in support of his new book, Jamie Oliver's Great Escapes (aka Jamie Does). Everyone in attendance got a copy. It's a lovely book and I can't wait to start cooking from it! I only wish that once, just once, I'd get an opportunity to have a book signed. I'd love a chance to tell Jamie just how much he has changed my life for the better.

So tonight, I had the family over for dinner. My oldest son requested "those chicken skewers you make". So I made my famous chicken souvlaki, along with tzatziki sauce & caesar salad, and I thought I'd also make potato salad to round things out. Finally, the perfect opportunity to try another "Evoloution" recipe. To err on the side of caution, I also made a batch of my usual potato salad with egg and mayonnaise....for the picky eaters.

218. Evolution Potato Salad (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 111)

This is totally different from anything I've ever eaten in the "potato salad" family. First off, no mayo. Secondly, no eggs. And bacon? Why not. So I boiled some potatoes in salted water, drained them thoroughly, and then dressed them with olive oil and lemon juice while they were still hot. I seasoned with salt and pepper, and sprinkled with chopped chives. I added a couple of large spoonfuls of natural yogurt and mixed everything up well, then sprinkled with some crispy bacon bits. I chilled this in the fridge until dinner time.

I was impressed that some people tried both types of potato salad. Everyone agreed it was very good. I liked that it was lighter than the usual, and of course the chives gave it a nice flavour. I'd definitely make it again.

~~~~~

So I've been downloading Jamie's new UK series, Jamie's Great Britain, and I am loving it! The most recent episode was probably one of the best Jamie shows I've ever seen. It celebrated Ango-Indian cuisine, and I just wanted to eat everything he made, it looked so mouth-watering. The recipes are up on his site, so I will grab them while I can so I can try them out before the book hits shelves over here. Although I've heard that it was seen in a local Costco....makes no sense since it is not even listed on the Chapters/Indigo site as a pre-order.

For The Love Of Leeks!

2011-11-13T14:12:00.001-08:00

I saved my last few remaining bunches of precious leeks for a really leek-a-licious recipe, one that treats the leek as a vegetable in it's own right, instead of just an ingredient. I couldn't let the growing season end without checking this one off my list. Does it really go with the Korean Beef and rice I'm having? Does it matter? LOL

217. Baked Creamy Leeks (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 223)

The recipe calls for 1 and 3/4 pounds of leeks. I went out and pulled the last 4 or 5 bunches in my garden, and cut off the excess greenage. When I weighed them....they weighed in at exactly 28 oz or 1 and 3/4 pounds. I couldn't believe it. :p

I quartered them lengthways and washed them very thoroughly to get rid of any remaining dirt in between the leaves, and then roughly chopped them. With my tennis elbow, this was no small feat. I sauteed them in a large pan with butter, olive oil, garlic and some thyme. Once soft, I combined them in a large bowl with just less than a cup of evaporated milk (although the recipe actually calls for heavy cream) and 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese. I seasoned with salt and pepper and spread this mixture into a baking dish, then topped with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. I popped the dish into a 400 F oven for 20 minutes, until bubbling and golden on top.

Oh my God! This is like french onion soup on a plate! It's to die for! I am going to have fun pairing this up with different mains for the next few days, because it makes a lot! Oh, and the Korean Beef was pretty damned good too! I don't think that slow cooker site has let me down yet.

Recipe To Riches: Hazelnut Bannock Pie

2011-11-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

I've been intrigued by the show "Recipe To Riches" on the Food Network recently. It's kind of like Canadian Idol, only with cooking instead of singing. Each week, three finalists present their dishes to the judges, and then go through a 'batch up' challenge, to make 200 or even 500 portions of their recipe. The winning contestant has their recipe made into a President's Choice product. I have bought a few of these products to sample, and they've been great, but this morning I finally tried making one of the recipes myself.

Melaney Gleeson-Lyall's Bannock Hazelnut Pie

FoodNetwork.ca link

I loved the ingredients for this savoury pie, because they were things I already had in the pantry and they were incredibly healthy to boot. Unfortunately, the only butternut squash I had weighed in at over 6 lbs, and since I was cutting this recipe in half, I only needed half a cup. So I ended up taking some time out from this recipe, and baking a batch of Jamie's butternut squash muffins. I also froze an extra large bag of cubed squash for a rainy day. Another time consuming thing was deskinning the hazelnuts. I was surprised that my local Bulk Barn didn't sell them already blanched. So I put them on a cookie sheet and roasted them for 10-15 mins, let them cool, and then rubbed them in a clean tea towel to remove their skins. At the same time, I cubed up some sweet potato, and boiled it for the bannock. The instructions stated that it needed to cool completely so I wanted to get it done early.

Ok, time to make dinner! I combined cubed squash & carrots, and diced celery and onions. I minced a clove of garlic and finely chopped up some rosemary and parsley from the garden (can you believe it's still growing?) I sauteed the veggies, added some shredded sweet potato and the herbs, and thickened with flour. I had to use some homemade chicken stock in place of the vegetable stock, because that was all I had, but since I am not a vegetarian, no biggie. Last but not least, the hazelnuts, which I had roughly crushed with my pestle & mortar. I followed the instructions and lined the bottom of my baking pan with the finished stew.

Now onto the bannock, which I had heard of but never tasted. It was quite easy, just a quick dough of butter, flour, baking powder and salt, that also included the cooled, pre-cooked and mashed sweet potato. I formed it roughly into the shape of my pan, and put it over the top of the stew. I sprinkled the remaining crushed hazelnuts over the top and placed the pan into a 350 F oven for 45 - 55 minutes.

Final result: success! The pie was delicious.....especially the bannock topping, which was light and fluffy. I was very impressed and can think of numerous ways I'd like to use it in future. My daughter's friend was adventurous enough to have a portion of pie for dinner, and she went back for seconds. Wheeee! Thanks Melaney. :)

Final Harvest

2011-11-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe we are already in November, and yet there are still things growing in the gardens! Today I got around to pulling all my tomato and pepper plants, which were long dead, but the leeks and chard up by the house are still kicking. So I decided I should blanch and put the chard down for the winter before a heavy frost kills it all. Apparently the leeks should be ok even with a bit of snow, so I'm going to leave them and use them as needed. No point pulling them just for them to go rotten in the fridge.

Something I didn't forsee was blanching and putting brocolli down as well. However, yesterday when I was leaving the grocery store, I saw a man carrying what I can only describe as a monster brocolli.....seriously, it was too big to fit in a bag so he had by the stalk and was carrying it upside-down. I turned around and went back in to see what I'd missed. I was thrilled to find a huge selection of these gigantic, local Ontario brocollis!

The one in the foreground is regular sized brocolli that I still had in the crisper. The two in the back are what I came home with. It took me a good couple of hours to cut them up, blanch them, and get them into freezer bags, but for $0.99 each I couldn't resist! They will last me months.

Tonight I decided to do another Jamie recipe that called for chard, before it all ends up in the freezer. I actually had a package of locally raised lamb chops in the freezer that needed to be used up as well, so this was perfect. Were they Barnsley chops? Probably not. LOL.

216. Pan-fried Barnsley Chops With Creamy Cannelli Beans, Rainbow Chard and Salsa Verde (Jamie At Home, page 50)

This was kind of like a 30 minute meal, minus the dessert. I added some mashed potatoes to the equation to satisfy my IBS dietary requirements. Instead of opening a can of cannelli beans, I decided this morning to soak and then cook some dried cranberry beans that I had in the cupboard. Once soft, I dressed them with olive oil, minced garlic & a bit of red wine vinegar, and seasoned with salt.

Since my chard was already blanched, all I had to do was make the salsa verde and cook the chops. I combined my last two gherkins, 1/4 clove of garlic, half a small bunch of flat leaf parsley, half a small handful of mint and the same of basil, and chopped it all together on a cutting board until fine. Then I put it in a small bowl and added some olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and salt to taste. The only ingredents I skipped were anchovies and capers, both of which I'd run out of. However, it still tasted great!

I rubbed my lamb chops with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and pressed them down in a very hot frying pan for 2 minutes. Then I turned them over, and put the pan in a 450 F oven for about 10-15 minutes to finish them off. When they came out, I removed them from the pan, and deglazed it with the juice of half a lemon. I quickly warmed my chard and dressed it with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice as well. Then I used the gravy to pour over my potatoes, beans and chard.

Wow, what a taste explosion this combination of flavours was! I really enjoyed it. I was tired after it was all done, but I'd made a fair amount of food today. I am glad there are enough left overs that I don't need to cook again tomorrow night!

Quick Mango Frozen Yogurt

2011-11-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last few days in an arena, and while I managed to avoid eating the crap they serve at the snack bars, my diet has been questionable at best. Not enough fruit & veg, and certainly not enough sleep = low immunity. I can feel a cold coming on. So I need to get back to proper cooking this week.

When I originally made this 30 minute meal, I didn't get around to doing the dessert portion. Tonight, I made myself a filet of sole and a cauliflower/potato mash with a caesar salad, but I craved something sweet afterwards. The Halloween candy has been flowing freely lately and I need to get away from it. This seemed like the perfect idea!

215. Quick Mango Frozen Yogurt (Jamie's Meals in Minutes, page 50)

I halved the recipe because I wasn't sure how well this would keep in the freezer (and I am only one person!) So in a food processor, I combined 8 oz frozen mango chunks, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 tbsp honey, the juice of an orange (the recipe called for a lime but I didn't have one) and a few sprigs of fresh mint. Once I ushered the dogs outside, I turned it on and let it process until everything was smooth. It took longer than I thought...I had to stop it a few times and stir. Then I put the mixture, which was a bit like melting ice cream, into a bowl and into the freezer to firm up for a half an hour or so.

Jamie suggests serving this in cones, but I just used a bowl and spoon. I really liked the texture, not too hard and not too soft. My daughter & her girlfriend tried some and said that they liked it, but it wasn't as sweet as they were expecting it to be. Of course, that is kind of the idea, a healthy option for dessert. I really enjoyed the hint of mint. This recipe is definitely a keeper, and it's something you can play around with. There are so many different frozen fruits to try!

Squash and Ricotta Pasta Bake

2011-10-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

I was looking at Jamie's new book, "Jamie's Great Britain", on his website, and this recipe popped up with the other new recipes from his book. It looked like a perfect way for me to use up another squash. :) Perhaps one day the book might even be available here in Canada. :p

214. Squash and Ricotta Pasta Bake (Jamie's Great Britain)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

One thing I dislike about a lot of recipes is the vague terms that are sometimes used....a lug of this, a knob of that, and this time, 'one butternut squash'. I have 3 of them on the counter, but they are very different in size. I remembered one of Jamie's recipes from a video I saw, in which he uses only the neck end of a butternut squash, but puts the end that contains the seeds in the fridge for later use. I looked it up and it calls for 14 oz of squash. So I decided a full squash would then weight 28 oz. I chose the smallest one of the bunch I had and it weighed in perfectly!

So I peeled and cubed the squash, sliced an oversized clove of garlic, picked the leaves off a bunch of basil, and finely chopped the stalks. I put a couple of 'lugs' of EVOO in a pot, then sauteed up the garlic & basil stalks for a few minutes. I added a 28 oz can of plum tomatoes, brought it to the boil, then added the squash. I covered this and let it simmer for about a half an hour to get soft. During that time, I grabbed a litre of turkey stock from the freezer, and put it in a pot to defrost and heat. Ok, so Jamie has this listed as a vegetarian recipe.....ooops. If that concerns you, use vegetable stock instead.

Once this was done, I took it off the heat and added the torn up basil leaves, then the stock. Instead of 5 tbsp of ricotta cheese, I substitued about the same amount of light cream cheese (because that's what I had in the fridge). I boiled another pot of water and cooked my pasta for 'a few minutes less than the package directions'. So my 11 minute penne became 8 minute penne. I rubbed a large baking dish with olive oil and combined the sauce and the pasta in it. It came right up to the edge, and it seemed very watery. However, I've yet to make a Jamie recipe that failed for any fault of Jamie's, so I decided he knew what he was doing, and I went with it. I topped this with a large handful of grated parmesan, and about 150 g of shredded mozzerella cheese. I even followed Jamie's instructions and got a couple of sprigs of sage, rubbed the leaves with olive oil, and sprinkled them over everything. Then I very carefully transferred the baking dish to the preheated 400 F oven and let it cook for 15 or 20 minutes.

It smelled delicious while cooking - my daugher came in and said it smelled like grilled cheese in the kitchen! It came out all bubbly and golden and very appetizing. It was still quite saucy when I cut into it but I just ladled some sauce over my portion and dug in. Let's just say I ended up practically licking the bowl clean, it was so good.

Fast Food At Home

2011-10-22T04:07:00.001-07:00

It's taking me a while to get back on track since returning from vacation. Work has been hectic, and I've been dealing with my dogs and cats, one of whom just had dental surgery. I've made two big dinners in the past week, but the left overs are all gone. So last night I wanted something that required minimal effort but I didn't want to resort to something unhealthy. I decided it was time to use up one of the multiple squashes sitting on my counter. Hey, they are almost giving them away at this time of year, and I can't refuse!

213. Whole Roasted Cricket Ball Squash (Jamie At Home, page 366)

I don't know if this was really a 'cricket ball' squash, but it was round and green and looked about the size that would fill one person up, so I used it. I just happened to have a partial jar of sundried tomatoes soaked in oil in the fridge, and some left-over sliced mushrooms from the big stir fry party the other night. So following Jamie's advice, I lopped the top off the squash carefully, and removed the seeds. Then, I rubbed the inside of the squash with some of the oil from the tomatoes. I combined coriander seeds, dried red chili, cinnamon and dried oregano in a little pestle & mortar and ground it to a powder. I seasoned the inside of the squash with salt and pepper and then sprinkled it with the spice mixture. I chopped up the sundried tomatoes, and added them to the squash, and threw in my mushroms for good measure (they are optional). I put the top back on the squash and roasted it at 350 F for about 45 minutes. Then I let it cool for another 15 minutes or so before digging in.

This was delicious! I gobbled it right up. It was very filling and also very warming on such a cold, damp night. Who needs fast food when you can whip something simple like this up in no time? Ok, maybe it needs an hour or so to cook, but the preparation took about 2 minutes. The rest of the time I went about my business, walking dogs and catching up with the PVR. :p

I'm back!

2011-10-14T14:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while since I posted. I've been on a Caribbean cruise, searching for mangoes....unfortunately, they were not in season, but one amazing tour guide managed to scrounge one up to split between the entire group, so I got a couple of bites at least. Next time, I'm going between the months of May and July. ;) My travel mates were not foodies, and had no interest in trying the local cuisine of the islands we toured, so I was pretty much on my own trying to find anything like that. But I succeeded once or twice.

The food in the dining room on the cruise ship was unbelievable. I over-ate the first night to the point where I was up in the wee hours, so I learned to try and pace myself a bit after that. But it was so hard to only choose one appetizer and one main entree....especially when the waiters were so accomodating. I admit, some nights I ordered more than I could finish. But I was never dissatisfied with anything I ordered. Imagine being in a five star restaurant every night, without limitations as to price. OMG! Here is the rundown of my meals on the vacation of a lifetime.

Day one: We ate lunch at the buffet as soon as we boarded the ship. I tried a variety of the cold salads and the hot fish entrees, which were pretty good. The dessert bar was amazing but I went pretty easy, saving my appetite for dinner. In the dining room, I ordered guacamole and tomato salsa with crisp tortilla chips for my appetizer. I asked for extra guacamole because there was not enough. Then for my entree, I decided to try out the chef's special daily creation called "Indian Vegetarian". Basically, the chef will create you dishes using two fresh vegetables, lentils & basmati rice. You don't know what you are going to get. I detected kidney beans, potatoes, and I'm not sure what else, but it was divine. For dessert, I treated myself to the vanilla creme brulee.

Day two: This was our day at sea, so we ate lunch at the sandwich bar. Really big, delicious turkey sandwiches. For dinner in the dining room, it was formal night. Formal means lobster, so I was excited. I started with west Indian roasted pumpkin soup, and then had my duet of broiled Maine lobster and jumbo black tiger shrimp. I asked if I could have a second lobster and they said of course! Then for dessert, cherries jubilee.

Day three: We toured St. Thomas, and ended up at gorgeous Magen's Bay beach which had a snack bar. I was totally disappointed to find pizza and burgers...nothing authentic. I ordered a BLT. However, dinner in the dining room did not disappoint! The appetizer was a study in sushi, and the waiter automatically brought me two plates. The main was penne mariscos, which was pasta with shrimp, calamara, scallops and mussels in a tomato cream sauce, topped with grilled salmon. To die for! Dessert was a warm fig, date and cinnamon cake that was far too rich for me to be able to finish.

Day four: We spent the day on a catamaran off the coast of Barbados. The crew served us a spread of chicken, fried flying fish, salad, bread, coconut cake, and lots and lots of rum punch. I stuck to ice water until they offered pina coladas. :) For dinner, I ordered Tom Ka Gai to start, which was a chicken soup with coconut and lemongrass. It was very good. Then I had assorted seafood, Newburg style, which consisted of black tiger prawns and ocean scallops, tossed with creamy lobster sauce, served with saffrom pilaf rice. For dessert I stuck to the fresh 'tropical' fruit plate, which did not seem all that tropical to me. I mean, if I can grow it in Canada, how tropical can it be?

Day five: The same tour guide who got me the mango arranged a wonderful, local spread of treats for us all to try for what he called 'breakfast', on the island of St. Lucia. It was all prepared by a friend of his, and included some type of salted fish balls that were to die for, johnny cakes, breadfruit balls, passion fruit tarts, and so many other things that I can't remember now, but my plate was stacked so high I had to bring it on the bus to finish it. There was also fresh avacado, coconut and papaya, and some wonderfu coconut candy. I was in seventh heaven. On our way back, we stopped for 'lunch' out front of his friend's house. He ran in and brought up back some warm, freshly baked loaves of bread and some locally made cheddar cheese to put in between for an impromptu sandwich. Heavenly! On the ship for dinner, I chose vine ripe beefsteak tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, marinated with basil leaves and virgin olive oil as my appetizer. I followed that with oven roasted tom turkey with sage and onion stuffing, pumpkin scallion hash as I decided I needed a brief respite from seafood. For dessert, some old fashioned apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

Day six: We were touring an old fort in St. Kitts, where I came across a snack bar. There was freshly BBQed chicken, but the thing that jumped out at me was the soup selection. The man behind the cash had a vegetable in his hand that he was peeling that resembled a squash. He told me he was making fish soup, but had a batch of conch soup that was ready to go. I was sold! He also sold me a freshly made bottle of mango juice. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to eat these delicacies before boarding the bus again, but I was able to secure a lid for my soup and save it until we hit the beach. It was amazing to eat fresh conch soup while sitting in the surf! Dinner that night started with dueling appetizers for me - escargots bourguignonne and delice of the ocean, comprised of black tiger shrimp, ahi tartare, and hickory smoked Pacific salmon, served with watercress and american cocktail sauce. For my main, I selected Martini braised basa fillet with tomato, chili and fennel, served on a sundried tomato, chive and potato gallete. It was awesome. For dessert, I think everyone at the table chose the baked Alaska.

Day seven: We took a taxi into the downtown area in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten. After swimming and shopping, our entire group ended up at a McDonalds, if you can believe it. The menu was not the same as in Canada, but I found a "deluxe" fish burger so I tried that. Others chose the "Chicken Mac", a play on the Big Mac. I was relieved to get back on the ship, and order New England crab cakes, along with a delightful iced mango cream soup flavoured with ginger for my starters. I joked with the waiter that it might also be my dessert. For my main I got panko crusted jumbo shrimps. True to my word, I couldn't find anything on the dessert menu that I liked more than the mango soup, so I got another bowl. It may have been the best thing I ate all week.

We spent a couple of days in San Juan, Puerto Rico after the cruise ended. I never did get a taste of any local food, but I was told that the mofongoes were good. We ended up at a grocery store with very little cash to our names, so we managed to purchase a pre-cooked chicken, a loaf of french bread, a bag of coleslaw veggies, and a bottle of Ranch dressing for under $10. This became not only our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner, but we also had left overs for the follow day's lunch!

I got home a couple of days ago, and yesterday decided I needed to cook something fresh. My garden is still growing rainbow chard and leeks, so I made another delicious Spinach and Feta Pie, and a batch of Cheat's Pappardelle with Slow-Braised Leeks and Crispy Porcini Pangrattato to tide me over until the weekend. Then, I will do the traditional Thanksgiving spread, albeit a week late. :p

4 Hour Quiche

2011-09-24T04:31:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I was having a house full of people for a pot luck BBQ, prior to a friend's wedding rehearsal. So I decided it would be a good time to try out a recipe that contained all sorts of ingredients I'm not supposed to eat. :p

212. Spinach and Filo Pie (Jamie Oliver's Meals In Minutes)

I had been gathering the ingredients for this recipe for a few weeks. So I dug the eggs & cheese out and put them on the counter. Then, I went out into the garden in the rain, and pulled a bunch of the yellow chard, to masquerade as spinach. I removed the stalked and rinsed the leaves. I also threw in the remained of a container of baby arugula, and a few basil leaves.

The filling consists of 5 eggs, 1 pound pre-washed spinach leaves that have been wilted down in a pan, a pinch of oregano, the zest of a lemon, 1/2 a grated nutmeg, 12 oz of crumbled feta, 2 oz of grated cheddar, and of course, a lug of olive oil. My only substitution, other than the chard/arugula/basil blend, was some cottage cheese for the cheddar. I just wanted to use it up.

I got the filling combined, and then went to get my phyllo dough from the fridge. It had been in there for a while. Unfortunately too long, because it was moldy. Ugh! So I ran to the store to buy more, but of course they only sell it frozen. So everything was put on hold for a couple of hours while it defrosted on the counter. What started as a 30 minute project was taking a lot longer than anticipated....no fault to Jamie. ;)

Ok, finally everything was ready, and the phyllo didn't give me any hassles this time at all. I got a 20" piece of parchment paper out, patted it with olive oil, scrunched it up and then flattened it back out again, and lined it with a few overlapping pieces of pastry. More olive oil, a sprinkling of cayenne peppers, salt & pepper, and another 2 layers of pastry, same process. Then this whole thing, including the paper, is placed into your 10" frying pan, on a low to medium heat. The excess pastry is just folder over the top, and you can trim away the excess paper. Press the pastry down into the pan and then fill it with your egg mixture. Heat for a few minutes, just to get things going, and then put it into a 400 F oven for 18 - 20 minutes.

I actually found this a really easy recipe, that shouldn't take more than 30 minutes if I do again. It easily lifts out of the pan when it's cooled, and it disappeared in record time when the crowd came in. In fact, it disappeared so fast I didn't have time to take a picture of it (but I managed to scharf a piece down)! I heard murmurs of 'who made the quiche?' and 'it's delicious' as I wandered around, so I think it was a hit. My mother (who hates everything I make) was raving about it. Will wonders never cease? And no one even guessed they were eating the dreaded chard. Ha ha ha ha ha. This is a keeper. Well, if for no other reason, I have to make another one to use up the remaining phyllo pastry before it goes moldy. :p

Bits and Pieces

2011-09-21T16:07:00.001-07:00

I don't feel like I've been doing a lot of cooking this week.....more just putting things together and eating them. As always, I hate waste, and I've had a lot of bits and pieces of things hanging around that needed to be used up. Tonight, I felt like trying a couple of the components of Jamie's 30 Minute series, but I wasn't up to tackling a whole meal. I had already decided that I wanted to use up the remaining shredded veggies from last week's Winter Veg Coleslaw, and I also had a left over cob of cooked corn. I dug out half a package of the clear yam noodles that I love eating in Korean chap chae, and figured I could do a quick stir fry, seasoned with soya and hoisin sauces. I had 4 jumbo shrimp in the freezer, and while watching the latest episode of 30 Minute Meals, was inspired to make this recipe as a side.

210. Spiced Shrimp (Jamie's Meals in Minutes, page 166)

I don't generally like leaving the shells on shrimp, but I made an exception since Jamie was so adamant about it with this recipe. So I spiced the shrimp with cayenne pepper, cinnamon, salt & pepper. I added a couple of garlic cloves, some fresh thyme, and a tiny bit of lemon juice. I drizzled all with olive oil and put everything under the grill for about 8 minutes.

These shrimp were delicious, and just kicked up my veggie stir fry that extra notch it needed. I even ate the first one with the crispy shell, but it's not really my thing, so I peeled the other three. Still, this is a nice way to cook up jumbo shrimps, if you have them.

211. Quick Lemon and Raspberry Cheesecake (Jamie's Meals in Minutes, page 66)

I went searching for lemon curd the other week, and found it on the top shelf of the British jams and jellies section of the supermarket. It wasn't cheap, but what the heck, every once in a while you have to treat yourself, right? So I pulled it out tonight to make myself this decadent looking dessert.

The base is just ginger snap cookies (I used rich tea biscuits), hazelnuts, lemon zest and butter. I put the cookies and nuts into a clean tea towel and bashed them up with a rolling pin. I melted the butter, and combined everything together. This I pressed into the bottom of 4 small glasses. Then, I topped each with a heaping tablespoon of lemon curd. Since I had no raspberries, I sliced up a fresh nectarine instead for my fruit element. Then, I substituted some plain, fat free yogurt for the cream cheese or marscapone or creme fraiche that Jamie suggested. I combined a cup of yogurt with a tablespoon of icing sugar. This was my 'cheesecake' topping. And last but not least, a quick shaving of dark chocolate for decoration over the top.

Mmmm, decadant describes it. I need to learn how to make my own, fresh lemon curd.

Chicken and Leek Stroganoff

2011-09-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Boy, has it turned cold fast! With temperatures down to 6 C overnight, I think it's time to pull most things from the garden this weekend. Zucchini & cucumber are already gone, but I still have tomatoes, peppers, melons & beets that should likely come out. I think the leeks & rainbow chard are ok for a bit longer.

I don't know how I skipped over this recipe for 2 years without trying it. I mean, it's in the twenty-minute section, clocking in at only 19 minutes, what's not to love? And 19 means 19, as the cooking time is only 15 minutes and the only preparation ahead of time is washing & slicing a leek, and boiling water. Everything else is done whilst the cooking has started.

209. Chicken and Leek Stroganoff (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 34)

This week I've been trying old and new recipes that involve leeks. Tonight I wanted a quick dinner, so this one jumped out at me. I went outside and pulled the leek from the garden, along with a handful of parsley, which seems to love the cooler temperatures! I made a spur of the moment decision to switch out the rice that Jamie suggests as a base, and use pasta instead. I've had a lot of rice lately.

I put the leek in some olive oil to start, then added a glass of white wine & a glass of water, along with some salt and pepper. I loosely covered this while I sliced the mushrooms & the chicken breast. I finely chopped the parsley, saving a few leaves for garnish. I got my pasta cooking, then added the chicken, parsley & mushrooms to the leeks. Jamie calls for 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream, but I substituted 2% evaporated milk instead, and added it to the pan. I let this simmer for about 10 minutes, then poured it over my cooked noodles.

I found this to be a lovely little dinner. Too bad that one of my kids hates mushrooms and the other hates leeks.....more for me!

What Is Normal?

2011-09-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

I was advised this morning by my co-workers that nothing I eat is 'normal'. I can't tell you how many times I've heard this, and each time it leaves me reeling at what 'normal' has come to signify to most people, in a culinary sense. The other day I watched Jamie's One Young World speech, and I was so happy to hear him address this issue. He talked about how 2 or even 3 generations of people now consider processed food 'normal', depending on what country you live in. I know in my world, we are at 3 already. Unfortunately, my kids still buy into it, despite my efforts to change that. My mom lives on packages, cans, and frozen prepared food. I was basically raised on it. I have to go back to my grandparents to find a generation who actually ate real food, every day. I am lucky that both of my grandmothers were fantastic cooks who liked to teach me their tricks. I wish they were still around, because we would have the most fantastic conversations now.

This morning, I happened to be eating some quick oats, mixed with water, and topped with a home made rhubarb & apple compote for sweetness. It's easy, it's quick, it has no preservatives, and I can control the sweetness or tartness with the amount of fruit I add. It is portable and I can use what limited resources we have at work to make it (i.e. a fridge, a hot water tap and a microwave). How sad is it that a 'normal' breakfast to most here stands for an artificially flavoured instant oatmeal packet - or more likely, a store bought coffee and donut? Don't even get me started on lunch or dinner. :(

Winter Already?

2011-09-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

I've been cooking all weekend. Yesterday, I made steel cut oats for breakfast. Then, I made another huge pot of minestrone soup, to use up the leeks, chard & green beans in my crisper. For dinner, I roasted some beets and broiled some rainbow trout. I had a craving for something sweet afterwards, so I took some rice that was a few days old, rejuvenated it in some soy milk, added sugar, cinnamon and a couple of green cardamom pods, and called it rice pudding. Then I made a quick stewed fruit using rhubarb, apples and a lone pear. This went well with the rice pudding. It also went well with my left-over steel cut oats for breakfast this morning!

Today I wanted to make a coleslaw from the array of fresh veggies I still had kicking around. I happened upon an episode of Jamie At Home called "Winter Veg" where he did just that. I figured that the British winter probably equates to the Canadian autumn, so it sounded perfect.

208. The Best Winter Veg Coleslaw (Jamie At Home, page 384)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

I assembled the following fresh Ontario veggies on the counter:

1 carrot
1/2 turnip (little small purple & white one, not the big rutabaga commonly called turnip)
1/2 fennel bulb
2 yellow beets (from my garden)
1/3 green cabbage
1/3 red cabbage
1 small onion (from a friend's garden)

Alternately, Jamie also suggests you can replace beet & turnip with radish & celeriac, as long as you use 2 of the 4. I proceeded to grate everything up, in batches, in my food processor. Anything that was too chunky, I ran through with a knife afterwards. Then I mixed it all in a large bowl.

I added some fresh, chopped fennel fronds and mint, the juice of a lemon, a cup of non-fat plain yogurt, salt, pepper and mustard. Voila, coleslaw! And how happy was I to see yogurt used in a Jamie recipe instead of mayo or creme fraiche? ;)

When I was younger, my grandmother always used to ask me to bring the coleslaw to any family event. She taught me to make it with green cabbage, carrots, green onion, mayo, and the juice from yum-yum pickles. This one is a little more healthy, diverse & colourful than that! However, I still think she would have approved. She was a good cook and a great teacher.

Cooking From Scratch

2011-09-07T16:12:00.001-07:00

I got into a bit of a conversation today about food, and how often we actually cook something, rather than reheating it. I am proud to say that most of the time, I do cook from scratch, or from a raw state. If I reheat, it's usually something I originally cooked myself. Tonight, I wasn't feeling all that well, but I still wanted something quick and healthy for dinner. One of the recipes from Food Revolution jumped out at me the other day - mango salsa. For something who calls mango one of my favourite foods on earth, it's almost criminal I've never made it before. I decided to have it with a sauteed tuna steak and a baked sweet potato.

207. Mango Salsa (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 272)

I made this with the last small cucumber from my garden, about a quarter of a thai chile, and a slightly underripe mango. To this I added two green onions, a few sprigs of mint, the juice of two limes, salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil to coat. I made it rather chunky, because I was planning to eat it more as a side salad than an actual salsa.

I wouldn't have thought these ingredients would meld together as well as they did. I really enjoyed it and would definitely make it again. It took all of 5 minutes, and there is enough left over for another meal.

Pizza Quattro Gusti (part one)

2011-09-06T15:00:00.001-07:00

I watched Julie & Julia on the weekend, for the first time since I saw it in the theatre. It made me realize I was slacking off. I mean, that woman had a full time job and spent all her free time in the kitchen, never repeating a recipe for a full year! LOL So I decided I should make an attempt to accomplish a few new recipes every week, instead of just remaking my favourites all the time.

I made a quick pot of rice last night to go with some leftover piri piri chicken, and thought I'd try one of Jamie's suggestions to flavour it.

205. Cilantro and Lime Rice (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 96)

Zest and juice a lime, and chop some cilantro leaves. Add everything to your cooked rice with some salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Quick and easy way to infuse some flavour into something bland.

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Last night I also made another batch of pizza dough, and this afternoon I sat down and watched the pizza episode of Jamie At Home, figuring I'd refresh my memory on how to make the calzone filling. But I changed my mind when Jamie talked about looking for inspiration in the garden. The only problem is that I don't have a large enough pizza stone, nor do I have the ingredients to make all four flavours. So today, I bring you the first half of my Pizza Quattro Gusti.

206. Pizza Quattro Gusti (Jamie At Home, page 176)

Youtube video link

I decided to go with the toppings that were based on two of the vegetables that have overrun my garden this year - zucchini & rainbow chard. I managed to find one of the last beautiful zucchini flowers on the plants, and used the only ripe thai chile so far. As far as cheeses go, I have no taleggio or buffalo mozzarella, but I do have havarti and pizza mozzarella, so those had to do. I also subsituted some turkey bacon for the pancetta.

Before I started, I made a half batch of The Quickest Tomato Sauce with some fresh garden tomatoes, and used a cube of my thai basil pesto to flavour it. I rolled my dough out into a rectangular shape, and cut a slice off the one side to create the border in the middle. I blanched my chard, added a clove of chopped garlic, and dressed it with lemon juice & olive oil. Since I dislike underdone bacon, I microwaved a slice to make it crispy.

I was worried that the egg wouldn't cook through before the dough burned, but I think it just made it. I actually enjoyed the runny yolk over the tangy chard. My favourite half, however, was the zucchini & chile side. I'd make that one again.

Thai Basil Pesto and Indian Spiced Chard

2011-09-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

Today is a lazy Labour Day, and all the stores are closed. The weather has turned cool, and I decided it was time to start getting the excess from the garden put down for the winter. I found a great blog on freezing herbs, and it gave me the idea to make a pesto out of my thai basil. I've been using it in every recipe that calls for basil, regardless if it's Thai, Italian or Vietnamese, so I figured why not?

204. Chopped Pesto (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 274)

Strangely, Jamie does not suggest using a food processor to chop things up, but I decided it would make things a lot easier. So I picked all the leaves of thai basil from my 4 plants (about 2 1/2 cups packed), and threw them into the processor, along with a large handful of grated parmesan, a smaller handful of pine nuts, and a couple of cloves of garlic. I added the juice of half a lime (seemed more "Thai" than lemon) and drizzled in the olive oil while it pureed, until the consistency seemed right. Since Jamie provides no quanitities except a 'bunch' of this and a 'handful' of that, I am sure I was right on the money! ;)

I filled 8 small spaces in an ice cube container, and covered everything with plastic wrap. Once they are completely frozen, I will transfer them to a ziploc bag.

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Staying with the theme of pureeing greens, I decided to pick a bunch more rainbow chard today and make an Indian dish that I haven't made in years. I remember it as a creamy, spiced & pureed spinach. I dug out my 20+ year old handwritten recipe, scribbled down in my friend Usha's kitchen, and then I googled to see if I could find something similar online. I came up with this recipe which was almost identical, except that it uses fresh garlic & ginger, which is exactly what I wanted to do. It even suggests trying other types of greens, so it was right up my alley!

My version of Saag

1 lb rainbow chard (stems removed), washed, spun dry, and chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, slivered

1 tbsp grated ginger root

1/2 tbsp mustard seeds

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup water

1 cup plain, fat-free yogurt

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil, and add mustard seeds until they start popping. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add garlic & ginger, saute a couple more minutes, then add spices. Add your chopped rainbow chard and stir until starts to wilt down. Add water, loosely cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Cool slightly, then puree in a blender until smooth. Add puree back into the pot, add yogurt, simmer another couple of minutes. This is traditionally served as a side dish, with rice or naan.

I wasn't really feeling this until I added a cooked, diced potato (effectively making it saag aloo) and ate it with some lightly buttered toast. Bingo! This is exactly what I remembered. Yummy! I plan to freeze a couple of small containers of the saag, for a quick & nutritious meal in the dead of winter. :)

Sweet & Crunchy Beetroot Salad

2011-08-31T16:36:00.000-07:00

I discovered today that the Food Network started airing 30 Minute Meals this week, at 12 pm and 5 pm each weekday. I've set my PVR so I won't miss an episode! It is a really inspiring series for those of us who don't always have hours to devote to cooking, especially on a weeknight....it gives a lot of healthy options when you have the desire to just pick something bad up on the way home. Sometimes, that can take a half an hour all on it's own! So why not use up what's in the pantry instead?

The other day I happened across this next recipe on Jamie's website. It may turn out to be my favourite salad of the summer. It seems an unlikely combination, but it really works!

203. Crunchy Raw Beetroot Salad with Feta and Pear (Cook With Jamie, page 36)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

I just so happened to have pears in the fruit bowl this week, and of course there are still some golden and red beets kicking around the garden, so this was a perfect side dish tonight with a veggie burger. It requires that you cut the beets and pears into matchsticks. I was a little intimidated by that, until I discovered that Jamie thoughtfully included a chapter at the back of the book on chopping techniques. One of the articles just so happens to be beetroot matchsticks, along with pictures. Basically, just cut the fruit or veg into 1/4" thick slices, then pile them up and thinly slice longways. Worked like a charm!

I combined my beet & pear matchsticks with salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. Then, I drizzled over a bit of cottage cheese. The recipe actually calls for feta, but I didn't have any on hand.

The sweetness of the pear goes wonderfully with the sourness of the lemon, and the crunch of the beets gives this salad a wonderful, fresh texture. The creamy cheese is just the icing on top. :)

2 Years and 202 of Jamie's Recipes!

2011-08-28T03:14:00.000-07:00

Not a bad average, if I do say so myself! So, here I am on my 2nd anniversary weekend, and what am I doing? Cooking, and enjoying the fantastic weather, of course. Yesterday, I made a pot of steel cut oats for breakfast: 1 cup of oats to 2 cups of water, with a pinch salt; bring the boil and simmer for 25 - 30 minutes. Doesn't sound like much of a recipe, but for someone who's enjoyed mainly quick oats all their life, it's a bit of a departure. I love the nutty, chewy texture. And I love that you can make a pot on the weekend, and eat the left overs for the rest of the week. Who knew that oatmeal could be rewarmed? In the afternoon, I headed for the beach. This is probably the last opportunity I'm going to have to get in the water this year....well, the Great Lakes, anyways. In 5 weeks time, we take off for a 7 day Carribean cruise!

Last night, I made a chicken tray bake for a late dinner. This morning, I decided it was high time to use up the bits and pieces of veggies in my crisper and make another batch of minestrone soup. There is nothing better for low fat, quick work lunches than some healthy, hearty leftover soup. And look what I found in my garden! I planted these two melon vines as an experiment, fairly late in the season, so I wasn't expecting much. However, the weather forecast says we have at least one more week of sunny, warm temperatures, so I am hopeful that they will ripen before frosts set in. So far, there is the one watermelon and two cantaloupes forming.

Well, it wouldn't be an anniversary if I didn't tie in Jamie Oliver....yesterday I was perusing his website for recipe ideas, and I discovered that he has a new book coming out in the UK called "Jamie's Great Britain".

I went over to Indigo.ca to see if there was a pre-order up yet in, but instead found "Jamie Oliver's Food Escapes".

Slightly confused, I googled and figured out that it this book is actually the Canadianized version of "Jamie Does", which has never been released in Canada.

So of course I placed my order. I am hopeful that this means that Food Network Canada plans to air both the 30 Minute Meals and Jamie Does series this season. Not that I haven't already seen them, but it would be great if they got some Canadian exposure!

Also this past week, the one hour special "Jamie Cooks Summer" was aired in the UK. Not known for my patience, I scoured the web until I found a download of the show, and smiled my way through the whole thing. Jamie's passion for food always brings a goofy grin to my face. Some of the show's recipes are up on his website already, so I chose one to make, to celebrate 2 years of this culinary journey I've been on. Thanks, Jamie!

202. Jalapeno Flat Breads (Jamie Cooks Summer)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

In the show, these are an accompaniment to jerk chicken. However, this weekend, I am noshing my way through a large side of steelhead trout. I already did a batch of tikka with it. I thought that if I BBQed the rest up, it would go well with some spicy bread to wrap around it.

First things first, I didn't have any self-raising flour. I find that it is expensive to buy, so I generally just make my own. For each cup of flour, you add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, and a 1/2 teaspoon salt. So basically, I mixed 250 g flour, 250 g plain yogurt, 2 tsp baking powder, and a 1/2 tsp salt together to make the dough. Don't be fooled - 250 g flour is NOT 1 cup, it's about 1 1/2 cups. I realized that when the dough was still way too wet to knead. So I continued to add flour until it felt right to roll out.

I was thrilled with the way these came out. Reminded me of the homemade 'roti' my friend Usha used to make. I love, love, love them. I would have eaten all 4 if I could. As it is, I was full after 1 flatbread, a 7 oz rainbow trout filet, a fresh cucumber from the garden, and some homemade baba ganouj dip. Mmmm, this is the kind of meal I'd pay big bucks for in a restaurant. And I have left overs! Happy anniversary to me. :)

Beet Salad

2011-08-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

The other day, I picked another batch of beets from the garden. I boiled them up and put them in the fridge to use throughout the week. Yesterday, I thought they would go nicely with some tuna steak, so I took them out and had a peek through the books to see what I could do with them. I came up with a quick salad recipe.

201. Smoked Beets With Grilled Steak and a Cottage Cheese Dressing (Jamie At Home, page 109)

I feel a bit guilty counting this one, as I skipped one of the main ingredients (steak) and I didn't exactly smoke the beets. But I figure this is probably as close as I'm ever going to get to making it, so I might as well count it. It was a different flavour for me and I enjoyed it.

Jamie suggests you wrap your raw beets in their leaves and some rosemary, wrap the whole thing in tin foil, poke a few holes and place it in the coals of a BBQ to smoke until you can insert a knife through easily. I decided that my boiled beets would probably do in a pinch, so I skipped this step and chopped them up into chunks. I tossed them with some tarragon and parsley and dressed them with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Then, I mixed some cottage cheese with the juice and zest of a lemon, and stirred some olive oil and thyme tips through it. This I scooped on top of the beets.

Not a meal by any means, as the recipe was intended, but a nice side salad for dinner. I have never really eaten cottage cheese before so this was a bit of a departure for me! Funny story....I had the left overs for lunch today. My mom was visiting and I had made us both a sandwich. I asked her if she wanted to try some beet salad. She asked what was in it? I said beets, herbs, and a viniagrette dressing. She said what else? I said nothing. She said where's the lettuce? Apparently, the thought of a salad without lettuce was unheard of. I won't even tell you what she said about the cottage cheese! Needless to say, she didn't try any. :p

Evolution Cucumber Salad

2011-08-18T13:08:00.001-07:00

Time to highlight a different vegetable: cucumbers. I haven't grown that many of them, but enough to satisfy my personal needs. Today I was a bit under the weather, and wanted something quick but healthy for lunch. I made myself a sandwich and thought that this would make a nice side dish.

200. Evolution Cucumber Salad (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 114)

I took a series of picture to document this momentous occasion, my 200th recipe! :p So to start, you peel, seed and chop your cucumbers. Add a bit of chopped mint, some salt and pepper to taste, and dress with a lemon juice and olive oil viniagrette (1:3 ratio).

Next up, add a tablespoon of natural yogurt and mix well.

I skipped step 3, which was to add a handful of black olives (yuck). Step 4 was to add some finely sliced red chili. I went sparingly as all I had was a Scotch bonnet and it packs a punch!

Simple, elegant, tasty.

Tomato Soup With A Twist

2011-08-17T18:38:00.001-07:00

I filled another basket with ripe tomatoes from the garden this afternoon, so I thought I should make a quick batch of soup to keep on top of them. I was looking through recipe books for something different to do with a couple of chicken breasts, and happened upon a different variation of tomato soup, so I decided to go with it.

199. Tomato Soup (Jamie's Dinners, page 26)

This recipe is quite similar to the one I usually use from Food Revolution, but it doesn't call for any canned tomatoes, which is a bonus at this time of year. I'd rather use the fresh ones up! So I chopped up a carrot, an onion, some basil stems and a clove of garlic, and sauteed them in a bit of olive oil to start. I covered the pan loosely and put the heat down low to let them sweat, while I boiled a large pot of water and quickly blanched 6 large tomatoes to remove their skin. I roughly chopped the tomatoes and added them to the vegetables, along with about 5 cups of my homemade turkey broth. I let this simmer for about 20 minutes, then I stirred in most of the basil leaves, pureed everything, and seasoned well with salt and pepper.

The twist is the mixture that Jamie suggests you whisk in right before serving: 2 egg yolks, a teaspoon of red wine vinegar, and 6 tbsp of heavy cream. He says it gives the soup a 'shine' and 'silky texture'. I did not have any cream in the house, so I substituted some organic soy milk instead. The heat of the soup will cook the yolks, but be sure you don't put it back on the burner or else you'll scramble them.

Because 4 of my 6 tomatoes were yellow and not red, my soup is a lot lighter in colour than you would expect! I love tomato soup, it's my ultimate comfort food, and this one doesn't disappoint.

Red, Yellow, Green, and Orange

2011-08-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

Tomatoes of course! I love this time of year, and what better time than to finally make what Jamie calls the 'mothership' recipe?

198. The Mothership Tomato Salad (Jamie At Home, page 232)

This is the base recipe to use for a variety of things - a basic salad, a no-cook pasta sauce, or even a salsa. Tonight, I had it as a salad, alongside a toasted turkey & cheese sandwich. Tomorrow, I might have the rest as a quick pasta salad for lunch, which involves scrunching the left overs with my hands first. Jamie is so tactile. :p

The key is to use a variety of different tomatoes, if you can get them, and cut them up into various shapes and sizes. I used an Orange Russian, a Green Zebra, a couple of small, plum reds, and a handful of red cherries. I put them in a colander and generously sprinkled them with sea salt, gave them a couple of good tosses, and let them sit for about 15 minutes over a bowl. This apparently leeches water out of them and, according to Jamie, concentrates the flavour.

While this was happening, I made a quick viniagrette with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a crushed garlic clove, and some very finely chopped red chili. I went outside and picked some purple oregano flowers and thai basil leaves from the garden. Then I combined the tomatoes with the herbs, and dressed them in the viniagrette.

Wow!! I was very surprised and impressed with how sweet the tomatoes became. I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I am looking forward to lunch tomorrow!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2011-08-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

Today dawned up wet and cool, and it seemed to me to be the perfect day for lounging around, picking things from the garden, and cooking. The first vegetable I planted, way back in April, was my little leek seedlings. They started on the windowsill in the house, in one of those little home garden kits you can buy. They survived being transplanted outside in May, and also being buried in an inch of hail not long afterwards. I've babied them along for all these months, and today I decided it was time to pull a couple and give them a taste.

I was absolutely amazed at how the little pre-formed soil packet was still intact at the base of the plant! These are not giants by any means, but they are big enough to cook with at this point. Apparently, they are ok to weather a frost or two as well, so I can leave the others until possibly October, and see how much bigger they become. To celebrate, I made a delicious batch of the "Cheat's Papparedelle with Slow-Braised Leeks and Crisy Porcini Pangrattato" for lunch (and left overs for tomorrow as well!)

It is a fairly simple recipe that involves sauteing the leeks & a few thyme tips in an olive oil/butter mixture, then adding white wine & chicken stock, covering with a cartouche and a lid and letting cook in low heat for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook your pasta (if you want to do the 'cheat' you can use pre-made lasagna sheets and cut them up into papparedelle) and add it to the leeks when they are ready. Use some of the cooking water to loosen it up a bit, season well, and add grated parmesan until the sauce is silky smooth. Top with any extra parmesan and thyme tips.

I also pulled more rainbow chard, just to keep it in check at this point, and a ton of tomatoes. I have quite the variety now, including those cool green zebras, and one yellowish red pointy variety that I think looks almost heart shaped. I don't know what it's called, and I haven't cut into it yet, because it's the only one I've had from that plant. There is one other growing currently but the plant itself isn't looking too great. If I had to compare, it feels like September in the garden rather than August.....I think that killer hot, dry spell we had in July really took it's toll on the zucchini and tomatoes in particular.

Being Frugal Vs. Being Conscientious

2011-08-11T12:20:00.001-07:00

Because I am so frugal, I cannot bring myself to cook something new when there is something left over in the fridge. For that reason last night, when I really wanted to try out a great spaghetti & tuna salad recipe, I ended up eating the broccoli pasta that was still hanging around from last week, some left over green beans from last night, and cooking a tuna steak from the freezer. Still yummy, but not what I really wanted. Thankfully, tonight we are leftover-free, and I plan to make another batch of those delectable turkey & sunflower burgers with beet ketchup. This time, I even have the wasabi paste needed for the mayo!

Another thing that frustrates me is when I find produce at the grocery store that is imported from who-knows-where, when I know that the same item is available, RIGHT NOW, from Ontario farmers. Quite often, I have either just purchased it at the farmer's market, or the store actually carries it alongside the imported item, but for more $$. It's not the difference in price that irks me so much as it is just the idea that the store entices it's customers to buy imported produce over local. And sadly, most people just.don't.care where their produce comes from....if it's cheaper, that's the one they'll buy. Sometimes it's hard to justify the expense (especially when my budget is limited) but I always go for local. It's obviously going to be fresher! And you are supporting your local farmers. <3

Ah, Summer!

2011-08-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

I love summer. I wish it could last all year. Not only do I love the warm temperatures, swimming or just relaxing outdoors, walking the dogs in flip flops and shorts....I also love the variety of fruits and vegetables available. I had my first Ontario corn on the cob last night and it was wonderful. I also have been enjoying some juicy cantaloupe from the farmer's market (because mine doesn't look like it's going to form fruit on the vine anytime soon). However, I've been picking zucchini, cucumber, beets, peppers, chard, and tomatoes from the back garden like crazy, so I'm not complaining! :)

This morning I made a batch of those wonderful chocolate beet muffins (and came clean to the fussy kid about what was in them). He loved them last time, so if he can't get past the idea that they have vegetables in them, I guess there will be more for me. Then I decided to make another batch of the 30 minute vegetable curry, this time using some store bought Patak's mild curry paste, the usual butternut squash and cauliflower, but with a tin of chick peas, some fresh tomato, beet greens in place of the spinach, and one Scotch Bonnet chili. I was pretty impressed with the paste, I have to say. It is quite flavourful. I decided to serve it with chapatti's instead of rice, so I used Jamie's method of drizzling them with a little olive oil, sprinkling them with turmeric, and heating them in the oven wrapped in some moistened parchment paper.

For dinner, I purchased a nice piece of farmed rainbow trout from my usual supplier at the farmer's market. However, since I've been relegated to using the BBQ for fish lately anyways (due to the fussy eaters not liking the smell in the house), I thought 'why not try a new recipe'? I picked up the most recent issue of Jamie magazine the other day and was intrigued with the section on barbecued fish.

197. Barbecued Trout In Newspaper (Jamie Magazine, Issue 20)

The first hurdle I had to overcome was that I never buy whole fish....I just can't stomach the bones. But I decided that I could cut the side of trout in half and lay one half on top of the other, thereby creating a 'cavity' to fill. So I bashed up some herbs in the mortar and pestle, as instructed. There are two variations given - the main one is an Asian inspired mixture (cilantro, lemongras, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, ginger, chili and lime) and the alternative is shown in a little blurb (dill, parsley, chives, fennel seeds and lemon). Uncharacteristically, I decided NOT to go Asian for a change.

So I grabbed some newspaper, lined it with parchment paper, then sliced lemons, and laid the first half of fish on top. I spread the herb mixture over, covered it with the second half of the fish, then more lemon slices, then sprinkled it with salt & pepper and spritzed it with olive oil. I wrapped everything up tight, tied it with some garden twine, and soaked the parcel under the tap for a few minutes. Then the second hurdle.....it was raining outside. Ah well, I won't melt! Here is what it looked like at the start, along side a couple of Lick's burgers for my son.

Fast forward 30 minutes, and here is what it looked like once I unwrapped it. Unfortunately, I didn't get a shot of the finished parcel because it caught fire towards the end so I quickly unwrapped it and doused the newpaper in the dogs' wading pool. :p

It was cooked thoroughly, but it was more steamed than I expected it to be. There was no crispiness to the skin at all, although the lemon & herbs did give it a bit of flavour. All in all, I think I'll stick to my usual way of BBQing trout in future, which is just to put it on the grill skin side down (brushed with a bit of olive oil), and let it get very crispy before flipping it over for a minute. It has a nice texture to it, and it's less of a fire hazard! ;)

Wow, I'm approaching two milestones....my 200th recipe, and my 2 year anniversary. Would be cool if I could get them to coincide!

Broccoli Pasta & Zucchini Salad

2011-08-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

For some strange reason, I came home and decided I wanted to cook, rather than eat the delicious left-over pizza from last night's pizza extravaganza. I was dead on my feet by the time the 6th pizza came out of the oven, so I wasn't expecting to want to cook again tonight. Strange but true. I think it might be because I spent some time on the weekend just browsing through "Jamie Oliver's Meals In Minutes" and I found some really enticing recipes. This one called to me tonight because it did seem as though I could easily do it in 30 minutes or less without making too much of a mess.

195. Broccoli Orecchiette (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 26)

I had about one and a half heads of broccoli in the fridge that needed using up, so I was inspired to make this one tonight. Not much of a simpler way to make pasta than throwing the sauce ingredients in the food processor, and boiling a pot of water, is there? The recipe actually calls for one head of broccoli and one head of broccolini, but I figured the substitution of extra broccoli couldn't hurt. I cut the florets off the broccoli stalks, and put them aside for later.

I kicked the dogs out of the house and quickly whizzed up my broccoli stalks, some leftover anchovies from the freezer (with their oil), a dried red chili and 3 garlic cloves. The recipe called for capers but I didn't have any on hand so I skipped them. I found this to be a bit hard to process so I added what Jamie calls a 'wine glass' of water to loosen it up. Once it was a fine paste, I put a few tablespoons of olive oil into a large, deep frying pan, and added the broccoli stalk mixture. I picked a few sprigs of thyme from the garden and added these, along with some salt and pepper. I left this on a medium heat, stirring every few minutes, while I put a pound of pasta into some salted, boiling water. I did not have a full bag of orecciette, so I went with farfalle instead.

While this was all cooking away, I prepared my salad (see below). After about 5 minutes, I added my florets to the boiling water. Once cooked, I drained the water, reserving a good sized mug of it for the sauce. Then I added the pasta & broccoli to the sauce along with the cooking liquid. I added 3 or 4 oz of my grated parmesan cheese and stirred well until the sauce was silky. I sprinkled the rest of the parmesan over the top as I was serving.

This is best eaten right away, but if you do put some away as left overs, you only need to add a bit of water to loosen it up again. I thought it had a nice flavour and my son said it was good. It's an easy way to get broccoli into the kids, and there is no high fat cream or butter in the sauce, so it's a winner in my books. :)

196. Zucchini & Bocconcini Salad (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 26)

I have zucchini coming out of my ears....this afternoon, I found one that had been hiding under some leaves in the back of the garden, and it weighs almost 3 pounds! I chose a small one to make this salad with...it weighed in at only 8 oz. Jamie suggests you assemble your salad dressing first, in the bottom of the serving platter, and then using a speed peeler, add your ribbons of zucchini on top. The dressing consists of chopped mint, fresh chili, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper. I skipped the addition of the bocconcini because a) I am supposed to be staying away from cheese & dairy and b) I didn't have any anyways.

I really enjoyed this fresh take on zucchini. What a great way to eat it up! Very refreshing and tasty, especially with the little kick of chili in there.

~~~~~

Jamie suggests serving a proscuitto & melon salad as dessert, but I didn't have either one of those things on hand. I have never tried that combination, but I've heard it's quite classic. Maybe another day....all in all, this two part meal only took me about 20 minutes to make. I like that.

Better Than Cheesecake

2011-07-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

Last night I made the most guilt-free and delicious cheesecake ever! No dairy, no egg yolks, and definitely no cheese...it's called "Better Than Cheesecake" from the recipe book Eating For IBS by Heather Van Vorous.

It's a very simple recipe that starts with a graham crumb crust (using 1 tbsp canola oil instead of butter). This is baked for about 5 minutes to firm up. Then the ingredients for the filling are all combined in a blender and whizzed up for a few seconds - how easy is that? The secret ingredient is silken tofu, along with egg whites, citrus juice & zest (either lemon, lime or orange), cornstarch and sugar. Carefully pour this mixture into your cooled springform pan that has been lined with the crust. The topping can be any type of berry or fruit, boiled for a few minutes with more citrus juice, and then thickened with a mixture of cornstarch and sugar. My choice of citrus was orange, this time around. There will definitely be a next time, too!

Everything gets assembled and then must chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. The result is a very light cheesecake, but it certainly delivers in flavour! I decided to cut the cake into twelfths, which by my own calculations, based on the specific ingredients used, comes out to 163 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. Wheeeeeee!

You just never know...

2011-07-24T15:08:00.001-07:00

This weekend I headed up to my mom's condo for the annual Elvis festival. As usual, I plotted ways to avoid eating unhealthy foods en route and while I was there. I decided to bake a zucchini loaf, and only bring half with me (figuring no one else would eat it). I also packed a cooler with other healthy ingredients that I might need. The drive was almost 4 hours long, and I had a few cold bottles of water, plus a sandwich made with 1/4 of the salmon filet I BBQed earlier in the week, mixed with chili, herbs, light mayo and yogurt. We stopped at an ice cream parlour in a little town, and I was very happy to discover that they offered soft serve frozen yogurt mixed with your choice of frozen fruit! I decided to indulge.

That evening we had BBQed chicken breast with corn on the cob and a mixed greens salad. I was very impressed. Dessert was strawberry & blueberry shortcakes, with whipped cream (which I declined). Then my mom asked me to bring out my "cake". I explained that it wasn't so much a cake as a loaf, but dutifully sliced up the zucchini bread without much hope that anyone but me would eat it. Imagine my surprise when everyone dug in and said how much they loved it! :o

The next morning, the choices for breakfast were eggs, sausage and raisin toast. I opted for oatmeal and a banana along with my toast, and of course made a run through Starbuck's for my ritual chai soy latte. ;) I snacked at lunch on cherries and pretzels, because I really wasn't hungry yet. Dinner fare was hamburgers, potato salad, and macaroni and cheese (I kid you not). I had realized this might happen, so I'd brought along some veggie burgers for myself, and also some rice vermicelli noodles to make an IBS friendly salad with mint, basil, cilantro, romaine lettuce and cucumbers, dressed with some sweet Thai chili sauce. I had expected that others might also enjoy this side dish, but I received only stares of distaste as I offered it around the table....sometimes I just don't understand people.

After another stop at the ice cream parlour on the way home, I went straight out to my garden to inspect the damage of another steamy weekend with little to no rain. I broke my own rules and watered everything with the sun shining, it was that bad. Then I brought in a few ripe tomatoes and the two largest beets in the garden, figuring I'd use them somehow for my dinner. I washed the beets and their greens, and put the greens aside in the salad spinner. I boiled the beets and left them cooling on the counter. Meanwhile I ate the remainder of the vermicelli salad for my dinner with some left over chicken. My daughter's curiosity got the better of her and she wanted to taste the beets. So we ended up peeling and eating them, and lo and behold, she didn't say they tasted like a**!!! She actually liked them. Will wonders never cease. :p

As I write this, we are getting an absolute downpour. Finally!!!! There may be hope for my cucumbers yet.

Garden fresh goodness

2011-07-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

It's that time of summer when the gardens are crazy and I can't keep up with the weeds - in fact I can hardly see the weeds...try as I might to space things out, they always end up growing together and it's hard to get in between the plants. My 3 little zucchini seedlings have become a massive bush, dwarfing the cucumbers plants crawling around underneath them. I was getting worried that the lack of rain and the intense heat wave we are having was not allowing them to produce fruit....and then the other day I happened to wade farther into the garden and look at them from another angle. There they were! 5 decent sized zucchini that needed to be picked (before they turned into monsters).

The tomatos plants are large and the cages do not contain them any longer. I finally found the first couple of ripe little cherry tomatoes yesterday! And oh, are they sweet. The peppers are doing well, but the few small green ones I've picked haven't gone over well with the kid. They say they taste too strong. I wonder if it's the dry conditions or just the fact that these are supposed to be orange peppers, so we need to let them ripen more. I always just assumed that green peppers were red or orange or yellow peppers that hadn't ripened. Hmmmmm.

Yesterday I got up bright and early and decided to blanche as much of the swiss chard as I could. Apparently, if you pull the leave from the outer edges of the plant, but leave the smaller, inner leaves, it will keep producing through September. So I ended up with two giant batches in the sink for washing. I separated the leaves and the stalks (which I hate to waste) and blanched them in batches, then plunged them into ice water before draining thoroughly and freezing in ziploc bags. They will be nice to add to things in the winter.

Today I had a craving for zucchini fritters for lunch. So I modified this recipe a bit to suit my dietary needs.....more potato, less zucchini (almost half of each), egg whites instead of egg yolks, unbleached white flour instead of whole wheat, and I also added some finely chopped parsley, red chili, and garlic for more flavour. I lightly coated a non-stick pan with olive oil and cooked the fritters on each side until they got brown. Instead of sour cream I used fat-free yogurt mixed with the chopped chives and a bit of lemon juice for dipping. Mmmmm mmmmm good, they hit the spot and are a quick and easy way to use up those zucchini!

Baking Bread!

2011-07-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

Since I have now mastered making pizza dough without even a glance at the recipe (finally!) I thought I should move on to something a bit more challenging. I was actually leafing through a few of my cookbooks looking for a squash recipe for dinner the other night when I came across a recipe for squash rolls....it required me to roast some squash with spices first, so I did that for dinner and then got mixing, kneading and baking the next morning!

191. Spicy Roasted Squash (Naked Chef Takes Off, page 148)

All that was required for this recipe was to make a spice rub out of ground coriander seeds, fennel seeds, red chilis, a garlic clove, salt, pepper and olive oil. Rub this all over your squash, cut into boats. Roast for a half hour or so until tender. This was tasty for dinner with some herbed chicken thighs, and I put the rest in the fridge to use in the morning for my bread baking experiment.

192. Basic Bread (Naked Chef Takes Off, page 184)

Next morning, bright and early, I decided to get my dough going, because it was going to have to rise twice before baking according to the recipe. I followed along through the first few steps, which were almost identical to making the pizza dough recipe except that you substitute honey for sugar. Jamie likes to use equal portions of bread flour and semolina, but I find that a bit heavy, so I used 5 cups of bread flour to 2 cups of semolina (the same ratio I use for the pizza dough). He says it's ok to use all bread flour if you can't get semolina, so I figure I can play around a bit....interestingly, no olive oil at all called for! ;)

So right before you set your dough to rise the first time, you have to mix in your flavourings. I decided to make half savoury and half sweet, so I chose the apricot and hazelnut option, along with the squash option. The guide is to use 1/4 the weight of your dough in flavourings.

193. Squash Rolls (Naked Chef Takes Off, page 193)

Mixing the cubed squash into the dough was interesting....it made things quite slippery, and I felt it necessary to add more flour to make it the right consistency. However it rose up quite nicely, before and after I shaped it into "fat cigar" rolls.

I baked these for about 12 minutes, and then removed them to a wire rack to cool for 15 more minutes, before slathering one with some margarine (oh how I miss real butter) and devouring it for lunch. A bit heavier than a typical bun, but a nice chewing centre. It is amazing how your mind plays tricks on you....even though I knew they were squash and not cheese buns, the orange really makes you anticipate cheese. I wonder if I could pass these off as cheese buns to the picky eaters??? :p

194. Apricot & Hazelnut Rolls (Naked Chef Takes Off, page 193)

I chopped up some organic, dried dates, and toasted some hazelnuts in a little olive oil. I chopped the nuts as well, then combined everything with the dough. In hindsight, I wish I had moistened the mixture with a bit of hot water to bring it to the same consistency as the squash dough, because I think that is why it didn't rise as well. I decided to form it into balls, but they turned out more like triangles (probably because I cut the dough originally into 6, like a pie).

Sadly, these were more like hockey pucks than buns. They actually reminded me of scones, so that is what I have decided to treat them as. I toasted half of one this morning and slathered it with some runny honey. It was delicious.

Summer Treats

2011-07-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

It's funny how I dislike eating cold foods in the winter but crave them in the summer. Me and cold just don't go together well. But this week has been hot and sunny and I've made some really tasty treats, that are safe for my IBS diet as well. I think in future, a lot of the recipes I blog about on here will be modified slightly to leave out fats and dairy. I am hoping that I still find a lot of new Jamie recipes to try, but he does love his high fat dairy products!

Salads are great in the summer, but I need to eat them with an equal portion of a soluble fiber. One of my favourite dishes to order on a hot day is Vietnamese vermicelli with shrimp. So I decided it would be easy enough to recreate at home. I sauteed some shrimp with a little olive oil and paprika for seasoning, and left it over night in the fridge. The next day I assembled this dish to take to work for lunch.

Vietnamese Vermicelli with Shrimp

1 packet (or layer) of thin rice vermicelli or rice sticks (the kind you soak in boiling water for a minute to soften)
shredded romaine lettuce
thai basil, finely sliced
fresh mint, finely sliced
cucumber, finely diced
sweet chili sauce (nuac cham), a Vietnamese dipping sauce for spring rolls, available in Asian supermarkets

Soak your rice noodles, then drain. Assemble your salad ingredients in a bowl, then add the rice noodles and your shrimp (you can reheat the shrimp if you like a warm salad). Then add the sweet chili sauce to taste, as a dressing. I am in love with the flavour of Thai basil (which I have growing in my garden). Together with the mint, it gives this dish a unique taste that I can't get enough of!

Next up, a delicious smoothie made with frozen Ontario strawberries.

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie (Eating For IBS, by Heather Van Vorous)

1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries, very slightly thawed
2/3 cup vanilla soy milk
1 tbsp honey
1 large firm-ripe banana

Puree all ingredients in blender until smooth. Makes 2 servings, each with 160 calories, 2 g of fat 5 g of fiber.

Finally, last night I was feeling a bit deprived without my dairy. I wanted something creamy and sweet and decadent. I've also been craving chocolate lately. This recipe was exactly what I needed.

Chocolate Silk Pudding (Eating For IBS, by Heather Van Vorous)

6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons cornstarch
dash salt
3 cups vanilla soy or rice milk
6 tablespoons corn syrup
3 organic egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

I halved everything so I'd only have 3 servings as opposed to 6. I also substituted maple syrup for the corn syrup, skipped the almond extract, and totally forgot to use the vanilla! But it turned out wonderfully anyways.

In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until lightly frothy. Set aside. In a heavy double boiler, whisk together the first four ingredients. (NOTE: I didn't bother using a double boiler, and it wasn't a problem.) Gradually whisk in the milk and the syrup, and scrape around the bottom of the and edges of the pan with a rubber spatula until thoroughly blended. Set pan over boiling water and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches a full boil. Continue whisking for one more minute and remove from heat. Add a few large spoonfuls of your hot pudding into your egg whites to temper them, then add everything back into the pot. Bring back to the boil for a minute, then pour into individual ramekins and refrigerate until cold.

Mmmmmm, can you say rich and creamy and decadant? This is the first homemade pudding I've made that didn't turn out too thick. It has the perfect pudding texture. And each serving is only 207 calories, 3 g of fat, and 4 g of fiber. Next up, I'm going to try Heather's recipe for banana creme pie! Who says pie can't be low fat?

Low Fat Fish & Chard Curry

2011-07-07T05:58:00.000-07:00

I still have a glut of rainbow chard in the garden to use. Tonight I wanted to make a really low fat curry, and I thought that chard would be a good addition to one of my tried and true recipes. So I used Jamie's Favourite Curry Sauce and modified it to suit my needs. I had read about people substituting soy milk with coconut flavouring added for coconut milk (delicious, but high fat, even if it is a healthy fat). I decided to try it.

Lisa's Low Fat Fish & Chard Curry (6 servings)

1 lb fresh skinless ocean perch, cut into chunks
2 heads rainbow chard (about 3 cups roughly chopped leaves, 1/2 cup finely chopped stems)
2 shallots, diced
1 onion, diced
6 tomatoes
14 oz organic soy milk
1 tsp coconut flavouring
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1 large knob of ginger, grated
2 red chilis, finely chopped
sea salt, to taste
handful of cilantro, chopped
handful of dried curry leaves, crushed
1 tsp tamarind paste

Heat olive oil in large, deep pan. Add mustard seeds until they start to pop, then add fenugreek seeds, ginger, red chilis & curry leaves. After a few minutes, add shallots, onion, and chopped stems of chard (reserve the leaves for later). Let this soften for 5 minutes or so, add turmeric and chili powder, then whiz tomatoes in a food processor and add to the pan with the soy milk and coconut flavouring. Bring to the boil. Season with salt to taste. Add the tamarind paste and the fish and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the leaves of chard until wilted. Remove from heat, add the cilantro, and serve over hot rice.

Each serving has 216 calories, 8 g fat, 2.6 fibre, 23 g protein.

I thought this smelled amazing while cooking, and the coconut flavour really shone through. I like the texture of ocean perch much better than that of sole or cod. I put a small dent in my rainbow chard but I still have tons left to use. And now the beets are ready to pick as well. No lack of greens this year!

Beet Ketchup

2011-07-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last week, I came across this great recipe for Sunflower Chicken Burgers and I just knew I had to try it. So I made sure to buy some ground turkey in my travels, and made up a batch of burgers Thursday night. However I was not able to top them with the condiments as described, so I decided I needed to rectify that. I had a bag of beets from the supermarket in my fridge that needed to be used up, so what better to do with them than make ketchup?

I started this early Friday morning when everyone else was still asleep. The recipe reads as follows:

Beet Ketchup

1 onion, diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 cups red wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
3 cups cooked, diced beets

Combine everything over medium heat in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 45 minutes until the vegetables are softened. Transfer to a blender and process until smooth. Allow to cool before using. This will keep well for up to a month in your fridge in an airtight container.

I didn't have enough red wine vinegar, so I used up the remains of what I had, and added malt vinegar and white wine vinegar to make up the difference. The smell of this cooking is quite strong...let's just say it woke up the house. LOL. No one was impressed but me, and I am generally not much of a ketchup fan. The end result is fabulous! It really compliments the burgers (which were also yummy) quite well. Next up I will have to make the wasabi mayo for the full effect....next time around. There are no more burgers left!

Rainbow Chard!

2011-06-28T18:01:00.001-07:00

I planted 8 little baby rainbow chard seedlings mid-May in a tiny strip of garden that runs up against the house. I can't believe how well they've done, and the colours are amazing! Red, yellow, white and neon pink.

Tonight I wanted to make a quick soup featuring chard. I found a recipe called "Syrian Lentil Chard Soup--'Adas bi Haamud" that sounded interesting. I added a small bit of spicy chorizo sausage and one red chili, to give it a bit of heat. And I used a can of lentils instead of cooking dried lentils, to save time (I was hungry!)

You can find the recipe here. It took maybe 15 minutes until I felt it was ready to eat. I enjoyed it with some crusty white bread, and I have plenty of left overs. :)

Mixed Fish and Final Friday Show

2011-06-24T14:45:00.001-07:00

Sadly, tonight is the final episode of the L.A. Food Revolution. It sound like Jamie finally makes some headway, so I'm looking forward to that. In anticipation, and also in celebration of my stomach behaving, I decided to make something yummy for dinner tonight. :)

190. Pan-cooked Asparagus and Mixed Fish (Jamie At Home, page 16)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

Last week, I went fish crazy at the grocery store. I bought fresh rainbow trout, and frozen squid, yellow fin tuna, and shrimp. I ate the rainbow trout straight away, but tonight I defrosted some of each of the rest to make this dish. I've watched this epiode of Jamie At Home so many times and every time I think I should try it, but it's always the squid that stops me. I don't think I've ever seen it for sale before....the only time I've even tried it is as calamari in a restaurant, and it's always been battered.

The only preparation for this recipe is to score the squid, snap the ends off the asparagus, and chop a red chili. Season your fish with salt. I went out into my herb garden and pulled some rosemary to flavour the oil with. I also picked a few thyme tips. Then I put a pan on the heat with a bit of olive oil in it, and got cooking!

I did my fish in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. I was amazed at how quickly the squid curled up! I removed it to a cutting board briefly and sliced it at an angle, and then put it back in the pan for a few more minutes. I sprinkled everything with the chili and the thyme and then squeezed some lemon juice over. Dinner in less than 10 minutes, you can't beat that. And a lot cheaper than the $25.99 I'm going to pay at Mandarin tomorrow for crab fest. ;)

My favourite, by far, was the squid. It's so flavourful! And not so rubbery if you only cook it briefly. Unfortunately, my son was so disgusted by the smell of it cooking, he felt the need to leave the house. Why are some people so sensitive to the smell of fish? I think it smells delicious!

In other news, take a look at my swiss chard! I know what I'm going to be having as a veggie this weekend....

Tuscan Tomato Salad

2011-06-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

Everything just came together tonight and I decided to make another batch of Jamie's yummy Summer Veggies Lasagne. When I pulled out the book, I noticed the salad that was supposed to go with it, and I realized that I had everything I needed to make it as well! As this is one of the first days I've had much of an appetite lately, I thought it would be perfect.

189. Tuscan Tomato Salad (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 48)

This salad has really bold flavours, but it pairs perfectly with the creaminess of the veggie lasagne. You start out by tearing up half of a loaf of ciabatta bread into 1 inch pieces, drizzling them with olive oil, and then adding a teaspoon of fennel seeds and a few sprigs of rosemary or thyme. Toss everything well and then place under the broiler until golden. Remove from the oven and put aside to cool.

Meanwhile, on a large cutting board, pile up the leaves from a good bunch of basil, about a tablespoon of capers, 1/2 a pack of anchovies, some roasted red peppers from a jar (I drained my well on paper towels to get rid of as much of the oil as possible), and your tomatoes. Jamie suggests using a mix of smaller and larger tomatoes, and a mix of different colours, but mine aren't quite ready to pick yet so I had to go with the red tomatoes I got from the farmer's market on the weekend. Get a large knife and just chop everything into each other, and put the whole mess into a large bowl.

Dress your salad with red wine or balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. I decided to skip the oil as I'm trying hard to be very low fat lately with my diet, and I really didn't miss it at all. Lastly, add your croutons and scrunch everything up with your hands before serving. Top the salad with parmesan cheese and scatter a few remaining leaves of basil around.

I put half of my croutons to the side to save for tomorrow so they don't get soggy. I think this salad will be quite portable for a work lunch, and of course I have a lot of lasagne left as well!

IB freaking S

2011-06-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

Argh, I've had a horrible week. Monday night I was hit by an IBS attack and it lasted all week. 2 1/2 days I didn't go to work, I was in such agony. In retrospect, especially since I've been tracking all my food on Livestrong's The Daily Plate website, I realize I was eating far too much fat, taking in too many calories, and eating too many trigger foods. It's no wonder my body rebelled. If anyone reading this suffers from digestive problems like chronic diarrhea, constipation, or a mix of both, IBS might be the problem. Unfortunately, there is no definitive test to diagnose it....rather, it's an elimination of all other causes for the problem. I have tried doctor after doctor and none seem particularly concerned about diagnosing me, and I've had most of the recommended medical tests (all negative) so at this point I've diagnosed myself. When I follow the IBS dietary guidelines and keep my stress level in check, I am 100x better. That's good enough for me.

So last night my daughter requested that I cook a recipe from a blog she'd discovered called SkinnyTaste. It was low fat and looked healthy so I said sure! I was amazed she'd even consider eating something like that, since she is so fussy and used to hate peppers as much as she still hates onions. I made a couple of small revisions and we tried something new.

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

SkinnyTaste.com recipe link

I had a fresh turkey breast in the fridge so I decided to bake it and chop it up in place of the ground turkey called for. I also skipped the chopped onions and used parsley rather than cilantro. I had purchased a pack of 'rainbow' peppers and they looked fabulous. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the tray when it came out of the oven. She had friends over for dinner and everyone raved about this meal. I was quite surprised by how flavourful it was. I remember stuffed green peppers from my childhood, made with hamburger, and the memory isn't all that pleasant. LOL. This is a nice, healthier twist on that old classic.

Early Tomatoes!

2011-06-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

This year I planted a variety of different tomato plants, that I purchased from a vendor at the farmer's market. Among them are Green Zebra, Orange Russian, Limmony Medium, and Isis Candy Cherry. I wish I'd written down the rest of the names, but in any case, some of them must be early varieties because I discovered yesterday that I already have tomatoes! Hard to believe since they were just planted on the May 24th weekend.

The sweet orange peppers are doing well, and the thai chilis are recovering from being attacked by birds when they first went out.

The zucchinis are getting huge but as yet, no blossoms. The cukes are doing better than last year, but that's not saying much since last year they did nothing. The beans seem to be the latest veggie under attack from birds or rabbits or skunks, who knows what? But quite a few have been lopped off at the top just in the last two days.

The leeks are doing ok, I think they'll probably be the last thing harvested in the fall. The swiss chard is growing like a weed! :)

The beets are doing ok but currently are just leafy, no sign of beets. That's ok, I like to use the leafy greens in salads when I need to thin out the rows. Sadly, the rainbow carrots are gone....the dogs discovered them and dug the whole patch up. My own fault, I guess, since they didn't really grow large enough to bother with last year and I let the dogs have them in the fall.

My herb garden is doing wonderfully this year. I'm impressed with the thai basil, I didn't expect it to take. I also love the $20 herb pot I got at No Frills, I use it almost every day in my cooking.

I have started another tray of seedlings in the house (the remainder of the Starbuck's seeds - cilantro, thai chilis, and thai basil) as well as more swiss chard. They aren't up yet but I have my fingers crossed.

Steamed Rice

2011-06-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I picked up some lovely farmed rainbow trout at the farmer's market. I also defrosted the pound of Ontario stewing lamb that I bought a couple of weeks ago, and made a tasty tagine with it. Tonight, I wanted to eat the trout for dinner but wondered what to have with it. I had some fresh beet greens from the market to saute, but I wanted some sort of a starch as well, to comply with my IBS guidelines (soluble fibre with every meal). So I looked through Food Revolution and realized that I'd never tried one of the most basic recipes, the one for steamed rice and all it's variations.

187. Light and Fluffy Rice (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 95)

The reason I had avoided this recipe for so long was that I do not own a metal colander. However, tonight I realized that there was piece of the Jamie Oliver pot set that had never been used, and guess what it was? A steamer pot that fit on top of another pot, with a lid. Ingenious. So I followed Jamie's instructions to wash my basmati rice under the tap for a minute, and then added it to a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. I drained it, and then put it in the steamer pot over an inch of boiling water to steam for another 8 minutes (with the lid on of course).

The result was a drier rice than I'd had in the past, even though my usual method of cooking is to steam rice in an electric steamer. But definitely the rice did not stick together, as promised!

188. Lemon, Ginger and Turmeric Rice (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 96)

I thought these flavours might go well with my dinner, as well as with the tagine left overs for lunch tomorrow. So I zested a lemon and grated a piece of fresh (frozen) ginger. I heated some oil and butter in a pan, added the lemon & ginger and a heaped teaspoon of turmeric, and let it get fragrant and bubbly before adding my cooked rice. I stirred everything together well and served it up with my trout & beet greens.

It was a nice compliment to the fairly bland fish & greens, but I think it might be a bit strongly flavoured for the tagine (which in itself is extremely flavourful). I love the bright yellow of the turmeric....natures own food colouring! :)

Food Revolution Fridays

2011-06-10T16:31:00.001-07:00

Tonight we get another new episode of Food Revolution on ABC! So to celebrate that, I thought I'd do a new recipe. On Wednesdays, Jamie has been doing a live-streamed broadcast for those outside of the UK. This week's recipe was Lemon And Parmesan Tagliolini. I couldn't get it out of my head, and tonight when I was looking for a quick meal for one person, I thought I'd give it a try.

I don't know if there is an actual printed recipe, but I just followed along with the video on YouTube. A very simple recipe, just cook your pasta in boiling salted water, adding some frozen peas for the last few minutes, and then toss it in a combination of olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Top with some fresh herbs from the garden, like mint or basil.

Tasty. No recipe required, nothing much needed. A perfect solution to those nights when you are in a hurry and don't have much in the fridge. :)

Pizza with a twist

2011-06-05T03:51:00.000-07:00

Pizza night has become tradition around here. Every couple of weeks I will make up a batch of pizza dough and let everyone design their own masterpiece. Last night I decided to try a different kind of pizza.... Mexican!

186. Oaxacan Pizza (Jamie Magazine Issue 11, recipe by Thomasina Miers)

This is apparently sold at night in the two main Oaxaca streets for people who are rolling out of the bars. LOL. Right up my alley! I had all ingredients required, so I thought I'd give it a go anyways.

So first I made a batch of dough, and while that was rising I got all my other ingredients ready. First, I had to boil some potatoes until tender. Then, I had to finely slice an onion and cube some chorizo sausage. Saute the onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes, then add the chorizo and continue cooking until the sausage browns and the onion is translucent.

Once the dough was rolled out, I placed it on my pre-heated pizza stone and brushed it with olive oil. Then I spread some bits of mozzarella cheese around, and layered the onion/sausage mixture, some freshly picked thyme leaves, and the sliced potatoes. I grated some parmesan cheese over the top (recipe called for pecorino or mature cheddar but I had neither). This went into the oven until browned. Then, once cooling, I topped the pizza with some dried chili, arugula and sliced avacado.

What a different taste! Very spicy, very enjoyable, if I drank I'd probably want a beer with it. LOL. As it was I had a bottle of water and wolfed almost half the pizza down. I made second one for my son, but he skipped the toppings at the end. He said he enjoyed the chorizo, onion and potato flavours which are unusual for pizza. So now I have 4 more portions of dough to play with for the rest of the week!

I had a left over slice for breakfast this morning and I really enjoyed the potatoes...I think this works even better in the morning.

Tastes Of Summer

2011-06-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful, sunny day yesterday, with low humidity to boot. No kids expecting me to cook for them, so I decided to make myself a nice pasta dish for dinner.

184. Asparagus and Crab Linguine (Jamie Magazine)

This recipe is very similar to the Lovely Crab Linguine recipe, but does not call for fennel, and uses a pan to fry off the fennel seeds and red chile pepper. I had over a pound of fresh asparagus in the fridge, so this was right up my alley. I didn't have any linguine so I used some Italian egg noodle papparedelle instead.

I am not fond of shaving asparagus with a speed peeler because it's kind of picky work and there is a lot of waste. So after I shaved as much as I could, I chopped up the remainder of the stems, and the tips, to throw in with the pasta for a minute or two. The shaved bits went into a bowl to be added to the finished dish raw.

So I used two pans, one to fry off the chili and fennel seeds in a butter/olive oil mixture, the other to boil the pasta. I reserved some of the cooking water when I drained the pasta. Everything ends up in the pan, and you season with the zest and juice of a lemon, adding water as necessary to give a good consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Surprisingly, no parmasan cheese is called for, just a garnish of rocket (arugula). Drizzle the finished product with olive oil and tuck in!

This tasted delicious and seriously, no cheese needed. I was amazed.

185. Pussyfoot (Jamie Magazine)

I had a cravy for a nice, icy cold drink after dinner. Being the tee-totaller that I am, I turned to the 'mocktails' section and looked for something that had ingredients that were in my fridge. I came up with this mixture of orange, lemon & lime juices. It called for grenadine but I figured that is a sweet syrup so I substituted a bit of maple syrup instead. Exactly 7 mint leaves are required, and the white of an egg. Everything is shaken and then poured over ice.

I admit it, I skipped the egg white. It just didn't seem necessary (or tempting in any way). The final product was very tasty and refreshing. I'd make it again. :)

Cake Pops!

2011-06-01T05:12:00.001-07:00

Ok, not so Jamie-like, but a treat that has been tempting us in Starbuck's for the last few months. My daughter and I bought a really cute, picture-heavy recipe book for my son's GF recently, and last night was the night decided upon to embark on this adventurous task. We thought we'd start with the simplest recipe....your basic cake 'ball'. No sticks needed, just a lot of really unhealthy ingredients.

I started out by mixing up and baking a confetti cupcake mix (shhhhh, bad M word) while the girls headed off to the Bulk Barn to find the rest of the stuff we needed. I had the cakes cooling by the time they arrived home with tubs of bulk icing, bags of different coloured discs of fake chocolate, and take out Thai food. Wheeeeee, that made me happy.

I was walking the dogs by the time the actual cake ball creation happened but I managed to snap a few pics at the tail end, and of course of the finished product. Basically, you mix the crumbled up cake with the pre-made icing, and roll it into balls. Then you melt the fake chocolate discs in the microwave and drop the balls into this gooey stuff and remove them to harden on a tray. Decorate however you want (and the book has many, many amazing ideas about this, but the girls just winged it).

These balls are twice the size of the Starbuck's ones, easily, but they taste just as good! Now all I want to know is, who is going to eat the rest of these? I had one, that was my quota. ;)

Next up, more healthy fare. I've been browsing a few of my Jamie magazines and I have found some great summer ideas I want to try out soon.

Satay Chicken Skewers

2011-05-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

Last night I decided to make myself something different and tasty for dinner. I didn't rush and didn't set any timers, but I think I was done in a little over 30 minutes. I skipped the fruit dessert and decided to save it for another time.

182. Chicken Skewers, Amazing Satay Sauce and 183. Fiery Noodle Salad (Jamie's Meals In Minutes, page 110)

First things first, I soaked some wooden skewers in water. My big quandry with this recipe was whether or not to use the cilantro called for, as no one in the house likes it but me. I compromised by keeping it out of the salad (since I figured I could add it to mine separately right before eating) but I used some of the stalks in the satay sauce, since it was processed to a smooth consistency. Apparently it was a good call, because my son ate both dishes without raising an eyebrow. :)

The sauce was quick and easy to whip up in the food processor...peanut butter, fresh red chili, cilantro, lime zest and juice, garlic, soy sauce and fresh ginger root. Half is slathered over the skewered chicken breast, and the other half is reserved for dipping. Then the skewers are placed under the broiler for 8 - 10 minutes on each side. While the chicken was cooking, I started on my noodle salad.

I rinsed out the food processor quickly and then whizzed up half a red onion and another red chili. I soaked some Chinese egg noodles in boiling water for a few minutes, then rinsed them under the cold tap before combining them with the veggies and some olive oil, soy sauce, lime juice, fish sauce, sesame oil and honey. In a frying pan, I toasted some cashews, adding a squirt of honey when they started to brown and candied them. I scattered them over the noodle salad.

Jamie serves both the noodles salad and the chicken in little lettuce cups. I did the same, for presentation, but my romaine was really too large to actually pick up and eat that way. The chicken was very good, and I am not usually one to rave about chicken breast, which I usually find too dry. Not this time, not at all, it was quite juicy. The sauce was really tasty, and the noodle salad was fiery as described. I took the left over salad to work for lunch today and it was even better after having sat in the fridge over night. Unfortunately, there was no chicken left over, as my son ate it all!

Perfect Day....well almost

2011-05-22T03:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday dawned up sunny and warm, and my first stop was the farmer's market. I resisted buying many veggies (still have quite a few to use up) but got fresh eggs, fresh tortillas, and a variety of different types of tomato plants. Six, to be exact. The helpful lady selling them said that it wasn't time to plant tomatoes or peppers yet, but I disagree. It's the May long weekend, the May 2-4, the traditional tomato planting weekend! The 14 day trend does not show the temperature dipping below 11 C so as far as I'm concerned, I'm not missing this window of sunny opportunity. So my next stop was a garden centre for bags of soil with compost, and then home to get to work.

I still had half of one garden patch to rake before spreading the soil. After that ordeal I rested and watched a little Nurse Jackie, then went grocery shopping. Then back out to plant tomatoes and peppers! They filled one entire patch (but I gave the tomatoe a generous amount of space, because last year I crowded them terribly. I'm thinking I could probably sqeeze some pole beans in there somewhere still.....

After some Top Chef Canada I headed back out to plant the other patch with bush beans, zucchini and cucumber. Wheeee, I'm done! What a relief to finally get everything in, before the rains come back again for the week. Now the biggest chore is keeping the dogs out LOL.

After another brief rest I decided I was getting quite hungry, since I'd only been snacking all day. I didn't want to heat the house up by putting the oven on, but I figured that I could improvise a little bit by using the BBQ for most of the recipe. Yeah, it's a 30 minute meal, but there's nobody here but me, so who's counting? I took my time and enjoyed the process.

179. Steak Indian-Style, 180. Spinach & Paneer Salad, Naan Breads, 181. Mango Dessert (Jamie's Minutes In Meals, page 216)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

The first thing I did was get my left-over jalrezi paste out (I had defrosted it earlier) and mix that in a bowl with some lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. This became a marinade for my steaks. I priced out some Patak's curry pastes at the supermarket (although they didn't specifically have a Jalfrezi) and they are over $5. Good in a pinch but so easy to make yourself, if you already have all the ingredients.

The second job was mixing some plain yogurt with lemon juice, adding some chopped mint and salt, and setting it aside. Then I needed to mix more jalfrezi paste with coconut milk to create a quck curry sauce. Jamie suggests doing this in a pot, but I was doing such a small amount for one person that I decided to do it in a ramekin and microwave it instead.

The salad was a quick mix of baby spinach, watercress, cilantro leaves and a carrot shredded with a speed peeler. I had purchased a block of paneer (and Indian cheese) from the Indian food booth at the farmer's market, so I sliced about half of it up and arranged it in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil. That, I took out to the BBQ with me. I put a piece of naan bread into a damp bit of parchment paper, brushed with olive oil, and put this all into the toaster oven for a few minutes. Then, I headed outside.

I should have let the BBQ get hotter than I did. I put the steaks on and turned the burners up high but I had a hard time getting any caramelization going. Usually, I burn things, but not this time. I managed to brown the paneer on one side, so I flipped it over and sprinkled it with some sesame seeds. Eventually, I took the steaks off, but I knew that I'd overcooked them inside while not achieving much browning outside. I prefer my steak quite rare. Back in the house I went to put the entire meal together.

Other than the over-done steak, I was in seventh heaven. I loved all of it. I ate more than I should have. My calorie count, with the paneer, was off the radar, but I figure I countered a lot of it with all the hard work in the garden. I was so full that I had no room left for the mango dessert (even though mangoes my favourite). So I decided to leave them until morning, when I could eat them for breakfast.

The whole day would have been perfect, except for the fireworks that started going off about 9 pm, which always send the dogs into fits. Perhaps tonight I will compensate by putting the TV up really, really loud...

Rainy days and Mondays

2011-05-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a miserable Monday yesterday was. Where did our warm, spring weather go? I managed to get one of the gardens dug up on the weekend but then never got a chance to plant because it's been raining ever since. Looks like I may not get the chance until next weekend, if the predictions are correct. Oh well, as long as I get everything in by June 1st I think I'll be ok. I am pleased to see that the torrential rains seem to have started my carrots, beets, and chard germinating. That's something I guess.

So what does one do when it rains? One cooks! I've been playing around with recipes that I've made before, but making some twists. I also picked up some wonderful produce from the market on Saturday....my first Ontario asparagus of the season, some lovely little baby bok choy leaves (great for stir fries!), some red chilis, and some live basil and watercress (which is a new-to-me veggie that I've been wanting to try forever). My kids think it weird that I pick and munch on watercress while I'm cooking, but it's very peppery, I like it!

So Sunday, I decided to make another pot of Aloo Gobi, however this time I thought I'd substitute sweet potato for the potato (lower in calories, higher in fibre, just an all around healthier choice I think). That turned out great! I have a container of it for lunch today. Then last night I threw another half batch of Tapioca Pudding in the crock pot, but this time I used some vanilla pods and cardamom seeds, as I'd recently seen another blogger's rice pudding recipe. I figured that whatever you did to rice pudding, you could do to tapioca pudding, right? It turned out yummy, if a bit too thick, because I halved the measure for everything except the eggs (oops!). But still good.

May flowers

2011-05-13T10:11:00.001-07:00

Wow, here we are almost mid-way into May and I haven't made one single post. Never fear, I've been cooking! But mainly tried and true recipes, like Jamie's Chicken Fajitas, Chicken/Beef Chow Mein, Burgers and Sticky Chicken Thighs. My kids really like a lot of the Food Revolution recipes. I couldn't tell you how often that book sits open on my counter when I'm making dinner. A lot of times I take liberties with the ingredients, but it's nice to have the base recipes, you know? I'm even considering buying a paperback copy....it has a totally different picture on it, and my hard cover is pretty beat up (and stained with food). ;)

I planted some of my garden early and I'm now worried that a freak hail storm may have ruined it. So far, none of the beets, carrots or swiss chard have come up. If they aren't up by next week I may have to replant. I'm hoping that the leeks survive....they were bashed up a bit but they are still kicking. I plan to get the back garden ready this weekend (weather permitting) because my peppers are about 6 inches tall and ready to go outside! I have started some zucchini and cucumbers in the house as well, and have seed packets of other veggies ready to plant. I'm going to buy tomatoes from a greenhouse when it's time.

I'm looking forward to the farmer's market tomorrow morning (even if I do have to go out in the rain) and maybe it'll inspire me to cook something new again. Stay tuned!

Spring Veggies

2011-04-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was surprised to see the outdoor farmer's market already set up for business....apparently it was a special 'Easter' market. I picked up some lovely, fresh baby leeks and also some parsnips. They aren't the prettiest things, parsnips, are they? But I cleaned them up today and decided to make one of the only soups left in Food Revolution. No outdoor market this weekend, so I spent this afternoon digging up my gardens and I even planted a couple of things that I think will withstand frost, should we get it. Rainbow carrots, golden beets, cylindrical red beets, rainbow chard, and the little leek seedlings I've had in the house for the last 4 or 5 weeks. Fingers crossed we don't get any more snow!

178. Parsnip and Ginger Soup (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 139)

I'm not normally a parsnip lover, but I was game to try this soup and see if maybe it would give them a new twist. It calls for 2 carrot, 2 onions, 2 celery stalks, 2 garlic cloves, a thumb-sized piece of ginger, and 1 3/4 pounds of parsnips. I had everything but the celery. I decided to use my baby leeks and a couple of stray scallions, and only use one red onion. I also threw in half of a scotch bonnet chile for a kick. You use what you have, right? So I chopped up the veggies, and sauteed them in a little olive oil until they were tender. Then I added stock and let the soup simmer for a few minutes. I pureed it with one of those hand-held blenders, and I added a little pepper for flavour, and a bit of light cream that was kicking around the fridge. I garnished my bowl with some cilantro leaves.

My soup is on the right, Jamie's is on the left. His sure is yellow. I wonder why? My parsnips were almost white, they were so pale. I was almost tempted to throw some turmeric in for colour, LOL. But it tastes great. It'll make a nice lunch for work this week.

Party Cake

2011-04-27T08:56:00.001-07:00

As promised, here is the wonderful "Party Cake" from last weekend. My son has been bugging me to make it since the cookbook arrived in the mail last month.

177. Party Cake (The Naked Chef Takes Off, page 254)

I baked the cake early in the morning, to give it plenty of time to completely cool before applying the cream, berries and icing. It was a simple batter of butter, sugar, eggs, cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and salt, with a handful of sliced almonds stirred in at the last minute. I split the batter between two round cake pans and baked at 350 F for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre came out clean.

Later on, I melted some dark chocolate over a pot of simmering water, along with some butter and milk, to make the icing. I added icing sugar and set it aside to cool slightly while I whipped the cream with a sprinkle of sugar. This was spread over one half of the cake, along with some sliced strawberries and blackberries (raspberries were ridiculously expensive!)

I think it looked very impressive and it sure was tasty to eat. We finished it off this morning, as a matter of fact. ;) I'll definitely make this again.

Inspiration

2011-04-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

You know what inspires me to keep this up? When I can pass it on and feel like it makes a difference. The other night my daughter's friend and I were busy rearranging a couple of bedrooms in the house, to make space for my daughter's stuff. There wasn't much time, but I decided that I needed to eat a meal before heading off to rent the carpet cleaner, our next task. So I threw on a quick Sweet Potato with Cumin, Lime & Chile to bake, and put some frozen shrimp in water to thaw for a few minuites. Then I sauteed them up, coating them with a bit of flour, and seasoning them with salt, pepper and paprika (like in this recipe). I scooped out the flesh of an avacado as a side, and squeezed some lemon juice over everything. I divided this up between two plates and we dug in. It probably took me all of 15 minutes to prepare. I was quite surprised when my daughter's friend not only cleaned her plate, she told me she really enjoyed everything....why can't my kids be that easy to please?

Tonight I had another of my daughter's friends over to cook a 30 minute meal from Jamie's newest book. She chose Killer Jerk Chicken with Rice and Beans and Refreshing Chopped Salad. We skipped the Chargrilled Corn because it isn't in season right now. I picked up the ingredients I didn't have on hand on the way home from work (and she brought the golden rum!) It took me 3 grocery stores before I found what I needed - scotch bonnet peppers (18 cents for two, can you believe it?) and chicken breasts with the skin on. Of course, they also had bones, so I had to debone them before we started. Where the heck can you buy deboned, skin-0n chicken breast? I guess in England you can!

174. Killer Jerk Chicken (Jamie Oliver's Meals In Minutes, page 107)

We sliced through the thick end of each breast so that they would cook evenly, and coated them with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Then we placed them skin side down in a hot griddle pan to brown, while we prepared the jerk sauce. This consisted of scallions, garlic, a scotch bonnet pepper, golden rum, white wine vinegar, thyme, bay, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and honey, all whizzed up in the blender. We flipped the chicken, then poured the jerk sauce into a baking dish, before placing the chicken into it, skin side up. We placed a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme over the top, drizzled the breasts with honey, then put this into a 425 F oven while we prepared everything else.

175. Rice & Beans (Jamie Oliver's Meals In Minutes, page 107)

Jamie always tells you to preheat your pots and pans, so without thinking too much about it, I had put the saucepan for the rice on a medium heat before even starting the chicken. The first instruction for the rice was to put scallions, a cinnamon stick and olive oil into the saucepan and stir around before adding the rice, beans and chicken stock. Well, as soon as the oil hit the pan, it smoked. And smoked. And smoked. We had to open the doors and windows, it smoked so much. Apparently the pan was far too hot LOL. We had to start over with a new pan and more oil. Live and learn!

Second time was the charm, and things went smoothly. We put a lid on the simmering rice and let it cook for about 12 minutes while we prepared the salad and the yogurt dip.

176. Refreshing Chopped Salad (Jamie Oliver's Meals In Minutes, page 107)

This is similar to other salads I've done out of Jamie books. Red pepper, radiccio and romaine lettuce is chopped on a board. Sprouts are added, and Jamie suggests that you also dress the salad on the board. However, since we knew we wouldn't eat all of it, we decided to make our oil/lime juice dressing separately. We grated a small bit of red onion into the dressing to give it a "hum" and seasoned it with salt and pepper to taste.

The jerk chicken was amazing...reminiscent of the Piri Piri Chicken. The yogurt with cilantro was a perfect compliment. As we were eating this delicious feast (which, by the way, only took us about 35 minutes from start to finish), I got a text message from the other friend. She was asking me how to prepare the baked sweet potato like we ate the other evening. She then texted me back to say thank you, and advised that it was the best meal she'd ever cooked for herself. She wanted to know if she could come over another day and learn more healthy recipes.

:)

Pork Roast and Applesauce

2011-04-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

My feet hurt from standing in the kitchen all day. I started out this morning making the cake, and puttered around all day until dinner was ready. The menu:

Turkey
Stuffing
Pork Loin Roast
Applesauce
Gravy
Dinner Rolls
Mashed Potatoes
Glazed Carrots
French Green Beans
Cupcakes
Party Cake

I managed to knock off 3 new Jamie recipes, including the cake that I'm going to wait to blog about in a couple of days. But surprisingly, my favourite recipe was the pork, which I don't generally eat.

172. Perfect Roast Pork (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 195)

I picked this roast up a couple of weeks ago, on 30% off, with this recipe in mind. Now, there were no bones, but there was a layer of skin, which I scored as per the recipe. I made a trivet of veggies and rosemary, and placed the roast on top of it, skin side up. I drizzled all with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. This went into a 350 F oven for an hour and a half or so.

I was surprised at how tender and juicy this was. For some reason I expected it to be dry. I complemented it with another Jamie recipe, the applesauce.

173. Applesauce (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 210)

This recipe is on the page titled "Roast Dinner Sauces". I typically make applesauce with just cinnamon, but this recipe calls for nutmeg and cloves, along with the zest and juice of half an orange, and a pat of butter as well. I got quite a few compliments on it, so I think they made it extra special.

Easter, Chocolate and Calorie Counting

2011-04-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

I've gained 10 pounds over the winter. A combination of not going to the gym or taking walks longer than around the block, using ingredients like cream or creme fraiche, and generally not paying attention to portions, I'm sure. Plus, my current addiction to Starbuck's mini cakes probably doesn't help much, even if they are under 200 calories each. So I'm back to tracking calories again (which is mostly how I lost 45 pounds in the first place).

Oh joy oh bliss, another holiday approaches. My mom is coming out for Easter. She at first told me that she didn't want turkey or ham, because she prefers a roast of beef. I told her that most of us wouldn't eat that, so we were going with turkey anyways. Then she suggested one of those pre-stuffed, frozen turkeys that are "easy". I told her I like to cook, and I prefer to make my own stuffing. So she sighed and appeased, but advised that she was bringing chocolate (by which she usually means those 99 cent solid bunnies from Walmart). I told her I'd rather she didn't, so she said I could just go in the other room if I didn't want any. Thanks, Mom.

What I really don't want is crappy junk food laying around my house. I don't buy it for a reason, and that is that once it's in the house, I have no self control. So my plan this Easter is not to buy any chocolate bunnies or eggs, but to bake a decadent chocolate cake. Ok, so it's going to screw up my calorie counting (which has been going fairly well this week) but at least it will be full of good, wholesome ingredients like pure, dark baking chocolate wafers and 35% whipping cream. LOL. Oh, and don't forget the imported, fresh berries. Anyways, my son has been bugging me to make it so I figured why not? What better excuse than Easter?

Here's another blog that has delicious looking pictures of their attempt at making it. Jamie calls it "Party Cake". Stay tuned.....

Back On Track

2011-04-17T03:51:00.000-07:00

After all that decadence and disaster yesterday, I decided to use up some veggies in the fridge and make a healthy pot of soup for the week.

171. Spring Bean Soup (Jamie's Food Revolution, page 128)

JamieOliver.com recipe link

This was almost like a minestrone, but without the pasta. I started out with the usual base of onions, garlic, carrots and celery, which I sweat down for 12 minutes or so. To this I added cauliflower and brocolli, some diced fresh tomato, and the previously cooked cranberry beans (you could use cannelli beans from a can). I covered the lot with veggie stock and simmered for 10 minutes. The next step was to add a lot of fresh spinach, but I'd gapped it at the grocery store and didn't have any. To compensate, I added a handful of chopped snow peas, and a handful of chopped fresh basil leaves. I seasoned with pepper (no salt needed because of the stock I used).

Jamie suggests that you can partially blend the soup for a different texture, but I didn't bother. I 'pimped' my soup with some grated parmesan cheese, and had it with bread for dipping. It was nice and light and healthy. :)

Phyllo Disaster

2011-04-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd be brave this weekend and attempt something with phyllo (aka filo) pastry. You know, it's supposed to be quite low fat and healthy....well, except when the recipe calls for you to brush it with melted butter, which is always. I've read that you can buy some low-fat butter-flavoured spray to use instead, but that just kind of sounds gross. So I decided to go all out and hope that my self-control would work.

170. Quick Apple And Pecan Strudel With Cinnamon

JamieOliver.com recipe link

Things started out well. My oven was already pre-heated from making another batch of those delicious buttermilk biscuits (this time with fresh chives and cheddar). I sliced up 5 golden delicious apples (well, 4 and a half because the dogs begged for half), and I measured out my chopped pecans, dark brown sugar, and white sugar. I melted 80g of butter for brushing. Following instructions, I placed a clean tea towel on the counter, and laid out my first sheet of pastry. I brushed it with the butter and spread 1/3 of the pecan mixture over it, then repeated that 3 times. The 4th and final sheet of phyllo went over the top. Along one edge I spread the apple/sugar mixture (it seemed like an awful lot) and then, using the tea towel, I attempted to roll it up.

Yeah, this is where it all fell apart. Literally. The phyllo was splitting and cracking and there was too much filling for it to close properly. Then there was the task of trying to get it off the tea towel and onto the baking sheet. I finally just rolled it off and put it in the oven, even though it was completely a mess. I figured no sense wasting all those delicious (and expensive) ingredients, right? So I soldiered on, baked it at 350 F for 20 minute, and took it out when the edges were starting to brown up a bit. It still looked like a big mess. This is the half that mostly stayed together. I didn't bother to photograph the other half.

My self-control completely left me, and I helped myself to an enormous piece....or pile....of the mixture that should have been a roll. It was to die for! Too bad it looks so horrible because I don't think I am going to be able to sell it to my son. As delicious as it is, I really don't need to eat the whole thing myself. In hindsight, I think my biggest mistake was not realizing that the sheets of phyllo pastry were nowhere near as large as the ones specified in the recipe. I probably could have made two strudels with the amount of filling I had. They would have rolled much easier and probably I would have been able to seal them properly. I also think that the tea towel used should have been damp, because my bottom layer of phyllo was dry and cracked by the time I attempted to roll it. Ah well, live and learn. I'll just have to make it again some day!

Another observation....the web site says that this serves 4. I ate probably a fifth of it, and it was too much for one person, seriously. Not that that stopped me. But by my calculations, it was upwards of 500 calories and 28 g of fat (yikes!) Most of the calories come from the pecans, surprisingly, not the butter or the pastry. I might suggest it serves at least 6.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2011-04-15T05:41:00.001-07:00

I have a carton of buttermilk in the fridge that expires today. Which means I have to finish it up, because waste is not allowed. So yesterday I went surfing for a good recipe, and came up with this one.

Easy Herb Biscuits

About.com recipe link

I couldn't believe that biscuits could be this simple. I mean, where is the butter? But I had 5 minutes this morning before work, so I quickly mixed up the flour with baking soda and salt (made my own 'self-rising' flour), then added some dried herbs. With a fork, I mixed in the mayo and buttermilk, and divided this evenly into 12 muffin tins.

I was impressed! They rose up nicely, they were soft and moist inside but crispy outside. I didn't feel at all guilty adding a little dab of butter to the centre before eating. I believe I will go home and make a couple more batches this evening, possibly using some different herb combinations. These will be great for the freezer!

Crazy Weekend Of Cooking

2011-04-11T03:58:00.001-07:00

I was in a cooking frenzy this weekend, it seems. The fridge is now well stocked for the week, that's for sure. Saturday, I made the carrot cake. I also made myself a fish curry, using tikka paste from the freezer, and following this recipe, but substituting some sole and ocean perch for the chicken (so I only put it in after the sauce was bubbling away, it doesn't take long to cook). Sunday, after a healthy piece of carrot cake for breakfast, I started out making a cauliflower salad recipe I found in the blogosphere, to compensate.

Low Carb Cauliflower Potato Salad (from Escape From Obesity)

Recipe link

This is a cool recipe that is reminiscent of potato salad, right down the chopped egg and onion added. Just steam your cauliflower, chop it and treat it as potato. A little sprinkling of dill was a nice finishing touch. I had a bit for lunch and put the rest in the fridge for the coming work week.

~~~~~~~~

I continued on with half batch of Wibbly Wobbly Clementine Jelly to use up 10 clementines I had laying around, then in between a run to the dog park and a trip to Chapters/Starbucks, made up a quick batch of pizza dough. After it had risen sufficiently, I enrolled the twenty-somethings to chop up whatever ingredients they wanted for their pizza toppings whilst I cooked up 6 chicken breasts. These were divided between pizza toppings and the fridge, to be used as salad toppings for lunches. I love cooking with the girls....it's my way of "passing it on". They were all grossed out by the look of the yeast mixture for the dough, but they loved the finished product. :)

Craving Carrot Cake

2011-04-09T18:22:00.001-07:00

I have been craving cake all week again. I've become addicted to those Starbuck's minis. They are small enough not to make me feel guilty, I guess, and they are 'to die for' delicious. But at $1.60 a pop, they really add up. So I thought this weekend I'd just bite the bullet and make a big freaking cake to, hopefully, get it out of my system. I tried to find one that wasn't *too* bad for me.

Two-Tiered Spiced Carrot Cake with Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting (by Janet and Greta Podleski: Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry)

FoodNetwork.ca recipe link

I watched the carrot cake episode last week and knew that this was the ticket. "Only" 370 calories and 17.5 g of fat for a decent sized piece (with icing). Not exactly diet food, but a far cry from the calories in your usual carrot cake recipe. And I thought it was something I could pawn off on my kids, too. No use making it if I have to eat the whole thing myself (unless I want to have to shop for new clothes, because these ones won't fit me anymore).

I mixed up the dry ingredients in one bowl, and beat the wet ingredients with the stand mixer. For the life of me I couldn't find a can of pumpkin at the grocery store (I guess they only stock it during the holidays?) so I had to cook my own from some frozen squash/pumpkin I had. It didn't measure quite a cup so I added some prepared applesauce until it did. I also couldn't find 'Robin Hood Nutri-Flour Blend' so I went with good old all purpose flour. Otherwise I followed the recipe as written. I used my food processor's grater attachment to make quick work of the carrots. So the cake didn't take much time to prepare at all. I mixed the wet ingredients into the dry, and folded in the carrots, chopped walnuts, and shredded coconut. I divided the batter between two round 9" tins and baked for 30 mins at 350 F.

The frosting was an easy mix of light cream cheese, a bit of butter, icing sugar, and the zest of an orange. Instead of frozen OJ concentrate, I used some of the juice of the same orange I had zested (made a lot more sense to me!) After the cake was completely cooled, I assembled and iced it. I don't remember the last time I made a two-tiered cake!

The cake was moist and delicious. The icing was to die for, but after licking the beaters and the bowl it was almost too much. Yep, I think this should kick my cake craving for a while. I hope so anyways.