My Housekeeping Space

Yam or sweet potato pockets

2011-09-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

This week sweet potatoes, or better known here in our corner of the world as yams, were on sale. Of course I bought a bagful of them and looked around for recipes. These buns appealed to me because for our afternoon coffees we always have to have something sweet as an accompaniment. My husband is able to finish off a whole plate of cookies with one mug of coffee. So I am always on the lookout for things that are at least healthier than those commercial cookies I was forced to buy during my lengthy illness I thankfully have behind me now.

But to get to the point, I made a small batch of these buns and, sure enough, they were gone before I could snap a picture of them. So I had to breach copyright laws and use the photo taken by Manang, the creator of the recipe. Actually I may as well send you to her website because she has a slideshow that details all the steps necessary in the creation of these lovely and healthy little gems:
Kusina ni Manang

Turkey nuggets

2011-08-31T22:29:00.000-07:00

I discovered half of a large turkey breast lurking in the back of my freezer. Unfortunately it has been sitting there for almost two months, so I was worried about "freezer taste". I figured that if I soak the meat for a good while in lukewarm water and then marinate it with some exotic spices, things will turn out all right. And they did.

I read somewhere about using cardamom in a meat dish but I did not taste such a dish yet. So I thought that this was as good a time as ever for experimentation. This is what I did.

I cut the meat into relatively small pieces, then I marinated them for half an hour with the following spices:

1 lb turkey breast pieces
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 crushed garlic
dash ginger powder
salt, pepper

Then I made a batter by putting in the blender:

½ cup grated Cheddar cheese
3 tablespoon sour cream
½ teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
salt, pepper to taste

I poured this on the meat pieces and let it sit for another 15 minutes. In the meantime I lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil and sprayed that with PAM. Then I mixed into the meat 2 tablespoon cornmeal and arranged the pieces on the baking pan. I drizzled a little extra oil on the whole thing and then let it bake under the broiler. When one side got a nice colour, I turned the pieces over to give the other side a chance.

We had a nice coleslaw as an accompaniment, as well as some dipping sauces. Some of us had pitas alongside, refreshed under the hot grill, others who have wheat sensitivity (like myself) went with parsleyed rice.

It was a bit of an unusual taste experience but we liked it, I will definitely repeat it!

Chayote soup

2011-08-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

I have recently discovered this wonderful vegetable. It is actually a member of the squash family. It grows on vines, and they harvest it when it is still quite tender, about the size of your palm.

For a long time I eyed it with suspicion, until one day I read that its taste is not unlike that of kohlrabies. I LOVE kohlrabi, particularly in the form of kohlrabi soup. So when I ventured to give chayotes a try, I made a nice soup out of them.

Chayote soup

2 chayotes, peeled, seed removed, chopped
a handful of parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups or more of stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk
salt, pepper to taste

Prepare the chayote, chop the parsley, then heat the butter in a saucepan. Throw in the parsley and saute it for a minute to release the flavour.

Add the chopped chayote, sprinkle the sugar over it and saute until some of the pieces start to develop a golden edge. Pour the stock in, cover the pot and let it cook gently for some 10 minutes. Doesn't need much time, it becomes tender very quickly.

When it is crisp tender, make a paste using the flour and a little milk. Stir it until smooth, then dilute it with the rest of the milk and add it to the soup. Adjust the saltiness of the soup, and let it simmer few minutes longer.

That's it!

The resulting soup lacks the robustness of kohlrabies, I still prefer those instead of the chayote version. Not that it is not enjoyable, because it is. But I will look around for other ways to make use of these. Actually I very much enjoy eating chayote raw, as is. I did not try the salad recipes I saw on the net.

All in all, chayotes now joined my culinary repertoire.

Middle Eastern rice casserole (pilaf)

2010-11-08T11:40:00.001-08:00

This is a wonderful one pot complete dish that needs only some veggies or pickles on the side to make it a full dinner experience.

2 ½ cups rice (preferably Basmati)
2 cups green lentils
1 pound ground beef (lamb is even better)
2 large onions
2-3 potatoes
1/3 cup raisins
a handful of dates
salt, pepper
saffron (or a pinch of turmeric)

For this dish you wash the rice until the water stays clear to make sure that there is no starch left that could make the rice sticky. Then you have to pre-soak it for up to four hours, until the grains will become nice and plump. Finally you bring a big pot of lightly salted water (about 6 cups) to boil, add the rice and bring it back to boil. Keep checking the rice while simmering it on low for a few more minutes, the grains should be slightly al dente when you drain the rice off in a colander. When drained properly, pour it back into the pot, add a little oil to keep the grains separate, taste for salt and pepper and adjust if necessary.

In the meantime, cook the lentils until tender but not falling apart. Drain.

When you have the rice and lentils both ready, chop the onions and saute them in a little oil until translucent (some like it fried to golden). Add the ground meat, some salt and pepper, and saute it until looses its pink, then add half a cup of water and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until the water evaporates. Wash the dates and raisins, then chop the dates into quarters or smaller, and mix them into the ground meat, together with the lentils. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust.

Now generously oil a Dutch oven, peel and slice a few potatoes, just enough so you can cover the bottom of the pot with the slices. Pour half a cup of water over them, then pour in half the rice. Now add the meat mix and top it with the second half of the rice.

Poke a few vents into the mix all the way to the bottom, place a folded kitchen towel over the pot and place the lid on top of it. The reason for this is that if you just cover it with the lid, the water gets condensed, drips back and will make the rice soggy. On the other hand, if you cook without the lid, the top of the casserole will get too dry and not completely cooked through. Now put the pot over low heat and let it cook for about 20 minutes. At that point lift the lid and towel and smell. You should smell a bit the fried potatoes at the bottom. If not, let it cook just a little longer.

Remove the pot from the heat, dissolve the saffron (or turmeric) in a bit of warm water, pour it over and lightly mix the rice and meat, while making sure that you do not scrape up the potatoes from the bottom. Turn the mix out onto a platter, then lift out the potatoes and arrange them in a circle around the edge, golden side up.

Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars

2010-11-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

Since this year we bought a couple of oversized pumpkins for Halloween, I decided to make good use of them. One of them is processed already: I peeled it, cut it into inch thick cubes, steamed the whole thing in a large pot, then I left the cooked mass in a colander for a couple of hours, until most of the liquid drained off. Then I mashed the pumpkin into a puree and packed it in plastic containers that went in the freezer. I left one box out.

The next step was to look for a recipe. The boys wanted pumpkin pie but I felt that this time maybe we should do something different, so I promised them a pie for next week. Then I looked around on the net. I found this easy recipe on the blog called Culinary in the Country.

It sounded good, so I decided to try it. We did not regret it. Very nice! The recipe is definitely staying in my repertoire. It did turn out looking a little different, though. The pumpkin layer is much lighter in colour, and the 3/4 cup topping was not enough. Next time I will use only 2/3 of the dough at the bottom, and 1/3 on top, or maybe even half and half. As for the recipe, you can just go there for it. One more thing, the 16 tablespoons of butter is actually half a pound, no need to fiddle with a measuring spoon.

Super easy banana ricotta ice cream

2010-08-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

Wow! I just discovered a great new, and what is also important, super fast and easy ice cream recipe. We had a long hot and steamy stretch of weather here in Toronto and I looked around for something easy to make. Since I did happen to have a few frozen bananas in my freezer, this recipe at "the minbaker" caught my attention. I did make ice creams with frozen fruit and whipping cream before, but that is too calorie rich to have it too often. This idea of using reduced fat ricotta really works! I made it for the family today and it was an instant success. No time for taking pictures, though... This photo is from the source of the recipe...

Easy Banana Soft Serve

2 ripe frozen bananas
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar

In a food processor, combine frozen bananas with remaining ingredients. Process until smooth. Divide into 4 serving bowls and serve it right away.

Blog hopping

2010-08-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

I have been cooking a lot of East Indian dishes in this past year. As such, I have visited a lot af good blogs that offer Indian fare. The last such successful contribution to my family's culinary experiences came from Show Me the Curry. We had their Chicken kofta curry. It is particularly helpful that they have a lot of videos that demonstrate the right techniques for preparing their recipes.

Another Indian blog with very detailed explanations is Kajal's Dreams. I am planning on preparing her spinach dhokla sometime in the next few days.

I also discovered a set of Jordanian blogs that each focus on certain dishes. One of them is the Hummus blog, another one is dedicated to Falafel, while another one is dedicated to Rice recipes. So I suppose my direction is in the process of changing...

Balsamic Mushrooms

2010-02-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

I make mushrooms as a side dish often, but I just found a recipe with a very simple extra ingredient that can make a whole lot of difference. From Cherry at sakurambokitchen. It is very quick, just as good at room temperature as hot off the stove. And it is nutricious. What else do we need?

Balsamic mushrooms

1/4 cup olive oil
12 ounces to a pound of white mushrooms, halved, quartered or sliced
1 tsp garlic
1 corn
1/4 red pepper, diced
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (the magic ingredient)
salt, pepper

Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Fry garlic. Add mushrooms, and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar, salt, and season with pepper. Add corn and red pepper. Cook 1 minute more.

I served it as a side dish for meatballs, with rice.

My best ever scalopped potatoes

2010-01-29T17:07:00.000-08:00

This was one of those inspired moments when you add a bit of this, a bit of that, and you end up with a dish that turns out better than any other version you ever prepared before. I must put it up here to make sure I will be able to repeat it again, to make sure I will not upset my family with lesser casserole. This is what I did:

cca 9 lbs potatoes
½ to 1 lb dry sausages, preferably smoked, like a Chabai
½ cup oil
¼ cup bacon bits
5-6 eggs
1 pint (500 gr) sour cream
2 cups milk
1 Tbs chicken soup powder, or Mr Dash, or any other flavour enhancer
salt, pepper

Cook the potatoes, let them cool, then peel and slice them. While the potatoes cool, slice up the sausages and fry them slightly in the oil. This will make the sausages tastier and the oil will be infused with the sausage flavour. When you take it off the heat, stir in the bacon bits, also. Scoop the coins out with a slotted spoon, the bacon bits can stay.

Oil a large casserole dish. I prefer the wider, flatter variety, as that produces a casserole with lots of crunchy corners and surfaces. As you peel and slice the potatoes, they can go directly in the pan. Layer them down alternately with the sausages so that the top layer will be potatoes.

Now take a bowl and whip the sour cream in it until smooth. Add the eggs one by one, then the oil with all the bacon bits. Stir in the milk, eyeballing it to have approximately enough liquid to cover the top layer of potatoes also, then flavour this sauce, making sure that the flavours are quite stronger than normal, because the potatoes will absorb and mellow them.

Pour a spoonful or two of extra oil on the top, and bake it (350F-) until the edges are golden and the top is crunchy. In our family this constitutes a hearty meal, served with pickles, beet relish, or tomato salad.

Pesto crescents

2010-01-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

This recipe will yield a relatively large amount of crescents. If you want, you can fill half of the dough with jam, a nut or chocolate filling.

2 lbs flour
2 Tbs fry active yeast
2 c milk
1/2 c white wine (or soda water)
1/2 c butter (margarine)
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp salt
2 or 3 egg yolks
a jar of pesto (basil, olive, or sun dried tomato)

Knead all these together to get a nice, smoothly elastic dough. If too stiff, you can add a few spoonfuls of sour cream. If sticky, add a little extra flour. Let it rise till double.

Separate into balls and roll each ball into a circle. Cut the circle into wedges, smear a little pesto on each and roll them up. Arrange them on parchment lines cookie sheet and let them rise a little. You may brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle some Parmesan or sesame seeds over them.

Cardamom coffee cake with almond filling

2010-01-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

(Picture) – to follow

flour, altogether 3 ¼ - 3 ½ cups
1 package active dry yeast
2/3 cup milk
6 Tbs butter or margarine
1/3 cup sugar
1 ts salt
1 egg + 1 yolk
½ to 1 ts ground cardamom

Heat the milk, butter, sugar and salt together in a cup. It should be still comfortably warm to your hand. Take a large bowl, put in it 1 ½ cup flour, cardamom, egg and yolk, and beat it with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes. Then add enough of the remaining flour to have a moderately stiff dough. Turn this out onto a floured surface and knead it for another 3-4 minutes. Now put it in a greased bowl and let it rise to double it original amount.

In the meantime prepare the filling:
½ cup almonds
½ cup sugar
1 ts cinnamon
1 egg white

Toast the almonds spread on a sheet of aluminum foil in a toaster oven. When cool enough to handle, grind it in a grinder or blender. Beat the whites to stiff, gradually adding the sugar. Then gently fold in the almonds and the cinnamon.

Now take off 1/3 to ½ of the dough. Roll out the rest into a 10x10 inches rectangle. Spread the filling over it, then roll it up jelly roll fashion. Make a ring and place it on a parchment lined sheet. Now make a rope out of the smaller ball of dough, wet the top of the large ring and form a ring on top of it with the rope. With a pair of scissors snip diagonally into the rope at regular (cca 2 inches) intervals, then twist these leaf shaped sections one outward, one inward, all around.

Let it rise again a little, then bake the cake at 375F for about 25 minutes. You can put some aluminum foil over it if the top seems to brown too quickly. When done, let it cool, then drizzle the icing over it.

Brown butter icing

Heat 2 Tbs unsweetened butter, stirring constantly, until it turns brown. When cool, gradually add 1 cup powder sugar, adding ½ ts vanilla and further easing it with drops of milk to get it to drizzling consistency. Now pour this by tablespoons over the top of the cake and let it dry.

New Year's Day open house

2010-01-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

We had a great New Year's Day open house. It is a recent "tradition" that our family started a few years ago. Our doors open at around lunch time (12:30 this year), and goes on for whenever the last guests leave. There is a little detail about this year that I did not appreciate: the first guest arrived at 12:20, ten minutes before the official opening... Please, people, don't do that! (...they are my relatives and I know they won't mind my public disclosure here :) Give a little extra time to the hosts, they are NEVER ready right on time, there is always something forgotten that they remember in the last minute.

Anyway, aside from me still being in the shower when guests started to arrive, we had a successful open house this year. The fireplace was crackling invitingly, the buffet table was laden, the coffee machine was exuding its heady aroma, and the mulled wine was gently warming on the stove. For the earlier guests we had finger food, both savoury and sweet, then around dinner time we had a few warm, more substantial dishes added to the menu.

This is the list of this year's offerings: cold turkey breast stuffed with chicken liver pate, olive pesto rolls, almond rice, cabbage salad. On the sweet side: cardamom coffee cake with toasted almond filling, the all-time favourite Bacardi rum cake, brownie-cheesecake slices, walnut slices, and peanut brittle. For the later warm fare I always make a big pot of chili, because that always tastes even better when prepared ahead and reheated. We also had an artichoke cheese cake that was reheated in the toaster oven, and I had some puff pastry cups that I filled with a salmon-scrambled eggs filling, both prepared ahead of the time, just assembled and heated before serving.

I managed to take only a few photos, I will post those recipes in the coming days.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T19:21:00.001-08:00

Armenian khurut

2009-12-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

Here is a recipe I inherited from my Armenian great grandmother. My grandmother still used to make it occasionally, but my mother did not bother with it any more. I still remember the taste of it and one day I will make some (I promised to myself...).

So what is this mystery food? It is a potted mix that is used to flavour dishes, mostly soups. I did try to look for it on the net without success, so maybe modern Armenians don't bother with it either. If so, then I consider it doubly my duty to post it here as a heritage recipe. Of course, it may happen that in Armenia it goes by another name. I would appreciate if someone who happens to pass by could comment on it. There is another recipe I never found anywhere and which unfortunately I do not own, I just remember it from my childhood. It was called HARSNEMADNAG and it was a cigar shaped cookie. I would very much appreciate the recipe if you happen to have it...!!!

For now here is the description of how khurut was prepared in my great grandmother's house:

Bring 1 liter (4 cups) milk to just below boiling point, let it cool a bit, then mix in ½ liter (2 cups) pure sour cream (which does not contain any gelling agent), cover it and let it stand at room temperature overnight. Next day bring large quantities of milk, 6-8-10 liters, again to boiling point, let it cool and mix the previous day's clotted batch into it.

Cover and let this big pot sit in a warm room for three weeks, stirring it every day. After the three weeks put the resulting yogurt on the stove and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until it becomes as thick as good sour cream.

Meanwhile get a huge amount of parsley (about the size of a 10 lb bag of potatoes, or maybe even more), pick the leaves off the stems and grind these leaves in a food processor (the old recipe suggests a meat grinder), adding 10-12 celery tops (leaves only), and maybe some fresh tarragon leaves. Put the ground mix into the yogurt and keep simmering while stirring until it becomes as thick as marmalade.

Distribute this among jam jars while still hot, screw the tops on, turn them over for a short while, then store the jars in a dark closet. It will last indefinitely, or at least until next year. They usually prepared it in August or September.

It is used by adding a spoonful or so, mixed with fresh yogurt or sour cream, into soups or sauces, adjusting the amount to get a pleasingly sour taste.

Bean curd rolls

2009-11-23T13:53:00.000-08:00

This dish is really nice... in a rustic Chinese way. I like it, my younger one likes it, other members of the family thought it tasted "too Chinese"... It is true that the five spice taste was very prominent. So one can tone that down a bit.

My main problem, though, was not the taste but the bean curd sheets that I used. I bought fresh sheets that do not need soaking. But they turned out to be much thicker than the soakable dry variety, I couldn't wrap the rolls properly, and they did not allow proper steaming to take place. Even after an hour the filling was still uncooked. So I just made balls of the rest of the filling and steamed them separately. You can see a couple of them, behind the rolls on the photo. Then I dried the rolls and panfried them under a lid. This made the stuffing cook nicely and had the sides of the rolls crispen up, but the ends remained chewy.

In the end I also cut the remaining bean curd sheets up into smallish squares, marinated them (dipped them) in the sauce that I prepared for the rolls, and fried them. They came out a bit leathery but tasty. They did not seem to soak up any of the oil. I had to wipe them dry after they cooled. You can see also some on the photo, peeking out from under the balls.

All in all it was OK, there were no leftovers. But I will have to make some further adjustments before repeating it. And if someone can enlighten me as to how to handle the thicker non-dry bean curd sheets, what recipes are they really meant for, I would appreciate a comment about it here below... :)

And now for the recipe (taken from Paula at NibbleDish)

Wrappers:
• sheets of bean curd

Filling:
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 2/3 cup of grated carrot
• 1 1/2 cup bean sprouts, blanched
• 4-5 dried shiitake (I used soaked wood ear)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons of potato starch

Sauce:
• 3 tablespoon of light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil

Chopped spring onions for garnish

Soak the mushrooms, then chop them. Mix all the filling ingredients. If you use dried curd, soak that also first, then cut the sheet into smaller squares. Fill them with the few teaspoons of the filling, arrange them in the steamer and steam them until done.

Home made cough syrup from ribwort

2009-08-31T21:23:00.001-07:00

Home made cough syrup can be made using the lowly ribwort, a much maligned weed from your lawn. I just went through a bad case of cold, and while looking for home remedies I found this recipe on Klostersuppe mit Haube. Since I have ribwort growing in abundance on my lawn, it wasn't hard to gather the necessary amount, which I did, the syrup then I prepared, tested, and I can report to you that it worked quite nicely. :)

So now I am going to share with you the recipe in good old English:

½ - ¾ lb ribwort leaves
3 cups water
1 thick slice of a lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ lb brown rock candy
2 lb sugar (or honey)

Wash well the leaves and chop them up roughly. In a pot bring the water, lemon, lemon juice and and the rock candy to a boil, add the chopped leaves and then let it simmer on the lowest possible heat for 20-30 minutes. Now sieve it through a cheese cloth lined sieve, pressing out the juices thoroughly. Add the sugar to this liquid and let it simmer for about an hour, until it becomes thicker, more syrupy. Pour this syrup into prepared bottles and keep it in a dark cupboard until needed.

Good bye!

2009-08-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

Our beloved Mother, Grandmother and Mom-in-Law has passed away this week.

May her rest be peaceful!

Maque choux - a Louisiana dish

2009-07-07T01:03:00.000-07:00

After a long period of hurried slamming together whatever ingredients happened to be available in my kitchen, I had a short period of smoother sailing. I used these calmer days to add some new entries to my other pages, but then I did a little coasting around in the culinary world, too, peeking into other people's pots, looking for exotic dishes. That is how I discovered the maque choux. Doesn't this name itself have an intriguing sound?

The original (I suppose Native) recipe sounded too blah, Emeril's recipe needed Emeril's own sauce, so I opted for Nola's New Orleans Maque choux recipe. Of course, I used bacon drippings. I tend to cook healthy, low fat dishes most of the time, noone in my family has cholesterol, diabetes or any such ailment, so the occasional little indulgence does not upset our overall health. The dish turned out very nicely, I will repeat it.

Maque choux, my version

bacon drippings with oil added to measure about 4 - 5 tbs
3 cups frozen corn
1 onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup celery, sliced thin
1/2 cup green peppers, sliced paper thin
1 ts chopped garlic
1 cup canned whole tomatoes, chopped
salt, pepper
a few spicy sausages, I used some chipotle flavoured ones from European Meats in Kensington Market. They sell them frozen in 5 and 10 lb batches.

Saute the onion until glassy, add the celery, garlic and green peppers. Saute a bit, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes, then add the tomatoes, corn, adjust the seasonings, and place the sausages whole on top of the simmering vegetables. Let it simmer simmer for 15 to 30 minutes, then take out and slice the sausages to be distributed and arranged on each plate of food.

For added flavour and colour you can also sprinkle some freshly chopped basil, thyme or parsley on top of the dishes.

Buffet style spaghetti pie

2009-02-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

We just had a birthday party, and I have to tell you about one of the most successful dishes I put on the buffet table. It was so successful in fact that I did not manage to get a picture taken at all before it was gone. Instead, I decided to use the photo from the blog where I found the recipe, whose owner by the way is also a magnificent photographer in the Netherlands, and give full credit to her for the whole package. It truly is a package, as it has extensive photo instructions on the whole process of putting the dish together.

So, please, go and visit her blog, What's cooking?.

Beef with fresh mango sauce

2009-01-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

12 thin slices of lean beef

Marinade:
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind juice (optional)
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar (or regular white)
1 small onion (or 2 shallots) chopped

Sauce:
2 ripe mangoes
3 teaspoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoon lime juice
3 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few drops of hot chili oil (Saigon) - to taste
chopped basil leaves

Place the beef slices with the marinade ingredients in a zippered plastic bag and let them marinate overnight. Then just before serving fry, broil or barbecue them to desired doneness.
Blend the sauce ingredients and serve it with the meat, accompanied with rice. Sprinkle it with fresh. chopped basil leaves. I served the chopped basil on the side in a small bowl, and I also added grated zucchini as a side dish, sauteed with garlic in a bit of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Cheesey veggies

2008-09-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a simple dish that one can throw together either for a quick lunch, or as a side dish at dinner time.

4 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoon flour
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

2 tablespoon oil
1 medium sized onion
2 garlic cloves
1 zucchini
1 large carrot
1 pound broccoli florets
about two cups cauliflower florets
2 celery ribs
2 tablespoon lemon juice
about 1/2 a pound of Swiss cheese slices

Bechamel sauce:
Heat butter, stir flour into it and keep stirring for a few minutes. Lift it off the heat and slowly stir in the milk. Put it back and whisk it until it thickens a little. Do not bring it to boil completely. Add the parsley and stir a bit more before removing it from the stove.

Now put the carrots and the cauliflower on the stove in an inch of water, bring it to boil and let it simmer for 7 minutes, at which point pour the veggies into a colander and rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking.

In the meantime saute the onions in the oil until softened, then add the cruched garlic and stir it until it becomes fragrant, about 2-3 minutes altogether. Add the zucchini, broccoli and celery, season with salt and pepper, add the lemon juice and cook for 7-8 minutes.

Oil a baking dish and set the oven for 350F. Mix the carrot mix with the zucchini mix and the sauce. Dump the whole thing into the baking dish and cover the surface with the cheese slices. Bake it for 15-20 minutes, until the top turns golden.

I also added some asparagus. It is out of season now but I had one of those tall slim bottles of white asparagus in the cupboard. If you can get fresh asparagus, use about 1/2 a pound, and cook them together with the carrots and cauliflower.

Finally I placed a few sprigs of thyme on top for decoration and a little extra fragrance. They are growing in the backyard. Not for long though, it looks like we are in for an early and cold winter this year.

Sumpoogi aghtsan - Armenian eggplant salad

2008-08-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

2 to 4 eggplants, altogether about 2 lbs
1 green pepper
½ red pepper
1 small onion
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 to 3 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ to 1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chili pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 to 6 teaspoons olive oil
juice of 2 lemons (1/4 cup)
olives and cheese (optional)

The best way to prepare the eggplants is by grilling over fire, but you can also just bake them or microwave them until they are soft when poked. Remove them, make a slit at the bottom and place them on a cutting board, slanting it towards a plate so some of the bitter juices, if any, can drain. When cool enough to handle, cut each one in two and gently cut and lift away the flesh. If grilled, you have to pick the charred skin off in bits, then rinse off whatever is left on the eggplants. Cube the cleaned flesh and put in a large bowl. Add the peppers, tomatoes and onion, chopped very small (size of a corn kernel) as well as the parsley, and mix them. Don't worry if the eggplants get mushy a bit in the process, it is to be expected.

In a separate bowl mix the spices and garlic with the oil and lemon juice. Pour it over the veggies and stir it well. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. You can also add some olives and some grated hard cheese, like Kaseri.

Foie de veau provencal

2008-08-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

I found a little piece of paper among my forgotten recipes with this recipe on it. I remember when we had this dish at the Le Petit Gaston, on Baldwin St. here in Toronto. I am not even sure whether the restaurant still exists or not. This dish was made by its original owner, Gustav Schwalb.

According to Schwalb, the dish can only be its best if we use Provimi liver for it. For a long time I did not know what he meant. Now, thanks to the internet, I was able to figure it out. Otherwise the recipe itself is quite simple.

2 tbs soft butter
1 tbs finely chopped fresh parley
1 large clove garlic
1/2 lb liver
2 tbs dry white wine
salt, pepper, oil

In a small bowl mix together thoroughly the butter with parsley and garlic, and season it with salt and pepper to taste.

In a heavy frying pan heat 1-2 tbs oil to medium heat, then add 1 tbs of the butter mixture. When the butter melts and begins to sputter, add the liver slices and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Remove the liver from the pan and place it on a warm serving dish.

Pour off the cooking juices from the pan, put it back on the stove, pour in the wine and add the rest of the butter mix. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom with a spatula (deglaze), then pour the hot sauce over the liver.

Quickly arrange on the plate whatever you want to serve it with and serve immediately. The recipe gives you two portions.

Since I did not prepare this dish right now, I looked around for a temporary picture until I will snap one of my own. The one I found on flickr looks pretty close, I hope the owner won't mind. The way Schwalb served it, if I remember well, was simply with some mashed potatoes, and sliced fresh tomatoes and cucumbers drizzled with a balsamic vinegar based dressing. Very simple fare yet very tasty.

Mandarin chicken (New World style)

2008-08-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

We love Chinese food, the authentic kind. But today I was hit by a wave of nostalgia, I remembered the first time we, my husband and I, ate Chinese food soon after we arrived to Canada. A new friend invited us out who, poor as we all were in those distant student years, wanted to treat us. What could have been cheaper and tastier than Chinese food? In those days (early 70's) it was REALLY inexpensive. He took us to Dundas, east of Spadina, to a small greasy spoon. Spadina itself wasn't Chinese yet. We were impressed by his expansive knowledge of Chinese cuisine. :) He ordered General Tsao chicken, some greens in oyster sauce, I forget the rest. But quite for a while after that, when just the two of us ventured into a Chinese restaurant we dared to order only their Dinner for Two. Refinement of the palate came with the gradual increase of the contents of our wallet.

Today I was looking around for dinner ideas when I chanced upon the recipe of General Tsao Chicken. I enthusiastically rolled up my sleeves and started to prepare it, only to find that I remembered it wrong, I did not have any canned pineapples in the pantry. Instead I found several of those small cans of Chinese mandarins. So what can one do in such a situation, I replaced the pineapple juice by the mandarin juice. And guess what! It turned out just great.

1 pound chicken breasts (cut into 1" pieces)
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 c. sugar
1/8 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/4 c. mandarin juice (drained from a can)
1/8 c. white distilled vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely grated
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. cornstarch, mixed with 3 Tbsp. water
4 green onions, sliced

Dredge chicken in cornstarch and fry in a wok or a teflon skillet over medium heat until golden brown and crispy. Sprinkle cayenne over the chicken and keep warm on low heat. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine sauce ingredients (sugar, soy sauce, juice, vinegar, garlic, and ginger) and heat gently. When sauce is smooth and sugar has dissolved, take it off the heat, add cornstarch mixture and back on heat stir constantly until sauce has thickened. Now pour the sauce in the wok and stir to coat the chicken. Serve with hot rice, as well as green onion and hot red pepper flakes on the side, so people can add some as they like it.

I fancied up our rice with chopped celery leaves, white pepper and grated lemon zest. For the greens we had steamed kale in black bean sauce.

Fast and easy way to rid the house of ants and fruitflies.

2008-08-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

I found the best way - at least for me - to successfully get rid of these buggers. And the solution is... tra-rah... the vacuum!

It started with a recent invasion by giant ants. No matter how well I cleaned the kitchen, they kept coming. Eventually they got so bold that they tried to climb up to the counter via my leg. In my frustration I grabbed the recently used vacuum hose still lying at my legs and sucked the bold warrior off my shin. And then the idea stuck. I started to vacuum up the other ants, too. The strategy proved to be successful. It seems that there were less ants then I first estimated, I must have kept seeing the same few returning again and again. Well, the bunch is gone now! Apparently they suffocate very quickly inside the bag.

And then it occurred to me that this may work for fruit flies, also. This actually turned out to be an easier task than the hunt for the ants. Ants are fast and smart. Fruit flies are slow and dumb. They like to perch on the wall just above the garbage can in a crowd. When I vacuum them, they just sit and wait for their turn. They can also be sucked up in mid flight.

Not only did I manage to reduce the pesky cloud of fruit flies in the kitchen, I also reduced the number of those that infest our compost can in the back of the house. There obviously was a connection...!

Cherry clafouti

2008-07-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks now I have been eying the cherries that finally showed up in the stores. At first they cost an arm and a leg, of course, but now they are larger, riper and cheaper! I could not resist any more. I bought a big bag of them, we ate half of it upon my arrival home, and then I proceeded to remove the pits from the rest of it and use them for a nice batch of clafouti.

Today is the first day that it is not so hot and/or humid, yet by the evening it did get humid again and it looks like it is going to rain. Although it was really nice in the afternoon, I still decided to do the baking on the back porch, using our large toaster oven that has a convection mode, too.

It turned out very yummy! This is the recipe I used:

1 1/4 c. milk
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c. flour
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 lb. cherries, pitted (drained, if using canned)
2 tbsp confectioners' sugar

To make batter, put the milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and flour with 1 tbsp butter in a food processor or blender and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Brush an 8-inch baking dish with the remaining butter and pour a very thin layer of batter into the dish. Put in a preheated 350 oven to bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, arrange the cherries over the top and cover with remaining batter. Return the clafouti to the oven for 30 minutes, until it is firm and golden. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve warm.

------------

It is a neat idea to half-bake half of the batter before adding the cherries. I did not bother with this two stage version, though. I poured all the batter in at once and just scattered the cherries on top. Instead, I used an old family trick to keep the cherries from sinking. I sprinkled a spoonful of flour on them before spreading them on top of the batter.

Saving time!

2008-07-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

I just discovered a website, waitless.org, dedicated to saving time by doing things smartly. Here is for example a neat trick for peeling boiled potatoes in mere seconds. There are other neat ideas there like quick peeling an egg or a surefire way of soothing a cranky baby instantly. But I doubt I will ever try to turbo park my car their way... :)

Two years of blogging!

2008-07-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

Wow! Just after I posted this recipe I realised that today is the second anniversary of my blogs. I started exactly on July 5th two years ago. Although a small time blogger, I luckily installed ClusterMaps and I know that people do chance on my pages occasionally even if they do not leave comments.

But the raison d'etre of this particular foodie blog of mine is more personal. It helps me keep track of some of the stuff I cook, not necessarily the ones I am the most proud of, but the ones that I manage to take photos of. Even then I sometimes end up with stray photos on my desktop with no memory of what exactly went into the recipes, so they never make it to these pages.

But the most important part of blogging for me is the sense of connectedness, the sense that I am part of something bigger than the space enclosed by the four walls of my kitchen. I very much enjoy the free flow of ideas, the raw sense of almost touching each other, if only in a virtual way.

I believe that this ability to literally peek into other people's lives will eventually make it impossible to harbour the hatred that still permeates so much of our world. When our kids will have grown up playing video games online with each other, chatting daily with people from the four corners of the world, even cooking together - virtually eating at each others' tables, it will be increasingly harder to then go and blow each other up.

May we all have many happy anniversaries!!!

A cross between parathas, pupusas and lángos.

2008-07-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

It started out by settling on a recipe for West Indian potato patties (I suppose, originally Aloo Parathas), but in the process of recipe searching I also looked at a video of how they make pupusas. So I ended up with another fusion recipe that can be varied with all kinds of fillings, possibly even dessert types, like berries or grated apples, in that case, of course, sprinkled with icing sugar instead of serving it with salsa.

But I am getting ahead of myself. This is what I made:

Dough

* 2 cups flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 cup water
* oil

Filling

* 4 cups water
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 lb potato, cooked and mashed
* 1 small onion, finely chopped
* 1 green onion, very finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, crushed
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1 hot red pepper, seeded & minced
* 4 cups vegetable oil (for deep frying)

In a bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Add enough water to form dough and knead. Let rest while preparing the filling.

In another bowl mix all the filling ingredients. In my case, I waited with the hot red pepper, I made a few first for my MIL, then I went all out and made the filling fiery hot for the rest of the gang.

I rolled the dough first into a long rope, I sliced it into largish golf ball sized chunks, then I took each ball and with oiled hands I flattened them as a saw it in the pupusa video. (Not as skillfully, though...) Then I placed a little filling in it, pinched it together well, flattened it a bit in my hands, then placed it pinched side down on the table and patted it to about 1/3 inch (1/2 cm) thick disk. I slipped this into a pan of hot oil set to medium hot and let it turn golden, turning it over once, while I prepared the next patty.

Drain them on paper towels, and serve hot with a good fresh salsa and sour cream or yogurt.

Chicken with figs and goat cheese

2008-06-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon oil
200 gr package dried figs
1 small roll of goat cheese (about 60 -80 gr)
3 tablespoon lemon juice
5 tablespoon honey

Chop the figs into small pieces, if too dry, soak them for a few minutes in water before slicing. Cut the cheese into cubes. Slice the meat across into narrow strips. Sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper, and fry them in the oil until they gain some colour. Remove them from the pan and throw the figs into the drippings. Add the honey and pour the lemon juice on it, then stir it just for a few moments until the figs soften. Add the cheese, and when that starts to melt throw the meat in to quickly heat through.

Serve with plain rice and some steamed veggies.

A little about my culinary past...

2008-06-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

So often do I chance on blogs that are dedicated to a mother's cuisine, proudly displaying the recipes, boasting about a wonderful childhood with delicious aromas wafting non-stop from busy kitchens. I never really pondered about such matters before, but now it hit me - I don't have such memories...

I grew up in the post WWII's darkest Stalinist communist era. Ingredients were scarce to start with, plus I had a gradmother who never really stepped into a kitchen before the war, she had "staff" to take care of the household. My mother had ambitions for a professional life, studied medicine, and luckily so because even though she worked around the clock alongside her husband in small town hospitals, and it seemed to us kids that the results were a more bountiful life compared to other families around us, looking back now I realize how meager it was.

My grandmother was the one who ran our house. She was a very smart woman, educated, well read, but she wasn't used to do any kind of work, let alone manual work. So our house wouldn't have been well kept if it weren't for my mom, who on the other hand was a neat-freak, for whom everything had to be organized and sterilized. As a result we witnessed lots of mini clashes, and we learned to cover for our grandma by helping her clean up (by often sweeping stuff under the carpet if time was short - and I mean this literally) before our mom came home.

Our grandma wasn't a very good cook, either. She tended to just slam together meals in the last minute, using whatever was available, guided by instinct, the result of which sometimes was all right, other times... not so all right. We even re-wrote the grace we said before eating to fit the occasion. When the meal did not turn out well, instead of saying (translation) "Come, oh Lord, be our guest, Please, bless the food you provided", we said "Come, oh Lord, be our guest, Please, eat the food you provided..."

On the other hand, our grandmother was a great storyteller. We could listen to her for hours as she was telling us among other things about the parties they used to have, she described the magnificent dishes that were served, so well in fact that we could actually taste them in our imagination. This in turn developed in me the ability that whenever I read a recipe I can accurately "taste" it.

My mother cooked very rarely, but when she did - it was wonderful. She acquired somehow a few really good gourmet cookbooks and she prepared the dishes from them precisely, with great care. During holidays, when she usually took over the kitchen, we were overjoyed. There were exotic dishes, in spite of using the most ordinary ingredients, we had guests over, and she prepared a new menu every time. My father grumbled once in a while, he was the type who didn't mind having the same dishes over and over again. But then, when I started to cook as a teenager and tried unusual stuff, he was the only one who found even my atrocities praiseworthy. Like the time when I finally understood enough English to try a recipe from an old Good Housekeeping copy that a kind neighbour gave me for language practice. It called for cream cheese, and for me that meant those small "La vache qui rit" type triangles. I made some cookies using those salty little cheeses. Everybody thought they were horrible, except my Dad. He said they were the best cookies he ever tasted!

When we finally managed to leave for the West (wow - 37 years ago!), I threw myself into "discovering the World". New ingredients, new recipes day after day. To this day I rarely cook or bake anything repeatedly unless by request. My kids were so spoiled from this point of view that I even had to put up with such criticism occasionally: "But Mooom, didn't we have this already two months ago?" My cooking used to range from Chinese stir fries to Argentine empanadas, from Arabic kibbeh to Norwegian lefse, and so on, sampling from every cuisine on Earth. Nowadays I am forced to hold back, partially because I am very busy and I often only have time to just "slam together" something quickly, but also because we have my 87 year old mom-in-law living with us, who is very conservative in her tastes and who cannot chew because of her full double dentures. But even within these limits I do try to change things around, to create new taste combinations. Looking through my archives, this aspect doesn't seem to come across here very well. But writing these entries and then looking through them occasionally, not to speak of visiting the ever increasing number of great food blogs, inspires me to push those limits, to get more adventurous again.

Carrot Cream Pudding or Variations on Gajjar Halwa

2008-06-13T13:51:00.001-07:00

Well, as I foresaw, my enthusiasm for the cooking marathon remained just that, enthusiasm. Although I feverishly cooked and took photos, I did not have the time to take care of the blog itself so I ended up now with a bunch of nice photos, half of which I can't tell you what went into their recipes. I always make changes to recipes I find either in books or on the net, simply because often I don't have all the ingredients or I know that my family would not like that particular taste combination. Therefore if I do not jot it down immediately, in a few days I have no memory as to what exactly went into it. I suppose that is how other people operate, also, and that is the main reason why we like to put our successful dishes up, just so we ourselves have a record of it to be able to recreate it another time.

I will try to remember and redo some of the dishes of which I have now these nice photos waiting around, ready to be posted. One of them I do remember and will post it here right away for my visitors' edification. :) It is a "fusion" recipe of sorts. A while ago I prepared an Indian gajjar halwa or carrot pudding, following the recipe closely. We found it too rich, too buttery. Now I prepared an in-between dish that I think falls halfway between a carrot halwa and a khir (rice pudding). The family loved it and wants me to put it on the oft repeat list. This is what I did, let me know what you think:

1 kilo (2 lbs) carrots
1 litre (4 cups) milk
3 tablespoon rice flour (I used coarse ground type)
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoon butter
handful of raisins
cardamum powder to taste
pistachios for garnishing

I cleaned and sliced the carrots into large chunks, then cooked it in a little water until I could pierce them easily with a fork. I drained off the water, put the carrots in the food processor (or in two-three batches in a blender) and ground them down, using some of the milk which I preheated in the microwave oven. I poured the mass back into the pot, added the rest of the milk with the sugar, rice flour, cardamom and raisins, and cooked it until it thickened, about 20-30 minutes. A this point you can distribute the pudding in serving bowls, sprinkle some chopped pistachios or almonds on top, and wait until it cools. In my family puddings are usually consumed as soon as they reach a comfortable temperature without burning your mouth. :D

Corn and summer squash stew - Recipe Marathon #2

2008-05-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

I had some squash left over and I used them for the following mixed vegetable dish. It was served with rice, and sauted turkey sausage slices on top.

Corn and summer squash stew

3 small summer squashes
1 cup (after chopped) mushrooms
2-3 tbs oil
4 cups corn
1 cup tomato sauce (I used RAGU original)
1 tbs chopped fresh basil
1 tbs dill (less if dried)
salt, pepper to taste

Slice the squashes very thin, chop the mushrooms, then saute the two in the oil until softened. I used a flavoured oil that I kept from a jar of Italian antipasto of mixed mushrooms, five different kinds they were if I remember well. It definitely added to the total experience. Now add the corn, a bit of water if necessary and let it simmer a while. Finally add the tomato sauce, the fresh basil, adjust the taste (sometimes a little sugar helps, too) and let it simmer until the sauce thickens and the flavours meld.

If you don't have ready made tomato sauce at hand, you can first saute some chopped onions and garlic, and instead of the sauce then use diced tomatoes. A little extra rosemary and thyme will add to the aroma as well.

Squash stew for the Recipe Marathon

2008-05-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

I love food blog cruising! It is such a delicious pursuit, almost bordering on the naughty. Why? Because I feel like a "peeping Tom", or whatever the female version of it might be called, looking into other people's kitchens, checking out what they are up to, "stealing" some of their cooking secrets. Do you see what I mean? And because I myself do not have that much time to cook, I satisfy my hunger for choice and variety by looking through food blogs for about 10-15 minutes daily, looking at the pictures, reading the recipes, almost feeling the tastes in my mouth. Sometimes I like something so much that I am compelled to find the time and prepare it.

I was cruising a bit again this morning when I chanced on this cooking challenge, the Recipe Marathon. This prompted me to try and find the time to either participate or just "parallel run". :) And if not every day, but at least doing an "off and on" marathon.

So today I ran over (it's a marathon after all) to the veggie store and got these lovely small baby squashes. I would usually make the recipe below with larger summer squashes and stuff them with the ground beef mix. But these baby ones did just as well, although I only stuffed a few, to have one per person, the rest I just chopped up.

Squash with ground beef stuffing

2-3 medium sized summer squashes (or large zucchinis, or several small ones)
1 lb ground beef
1 onion
2 tablespoon oil or butter
1 egg
2 slices multigrain bread, ground into crumbs in a blender
1 cup cooked rice
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
salt to taste
For the sauce:
1 can basic tomato sauce or 2 cups homemade
herbs and spices to your liking

Peel the squashes and scoop out the insides. Arrange the scooped out flesh at the bottom of the pot in which you will cook the stew. If the squashes or zucchinis are too small, you can just cut them into cubes, and from the meat mixture make meatballs. Otherwise proceed the same way with the recipe.

Chop the onion finely and saute it a bit in the oil or butter. Grind the two bread slices into crumbs in a blender or food processor. In a bowl mix together the meat with the rest of the ingredients, stuff the prepared squash boats with some of it, and if there is more, form meatballs. Tightly pack these on top of the scooped out stuff, then pour water over it to just barely cover it. Bring it to boil. At this point I like to sprinkle a little chopped dill in the water and add a spoonful of chicken soup powder.

Cover the pot and let it boil for about 20 minutes. By that time the water should have reduced somewhat. Pour in the tomato sauce and add some spices, like coriander, garam masala, some chopped green chilies, chopped green parsley or coriander leaves, whatever your family likes. Now slowly simmer it until the sauce thickens. Taste it, adjust the seasonings. I usually add a little sugar at this point if the sauce tastes a bit too acidic.

Spicy chicken with corn

2008-05-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that this blog is all about speedy dishes. Today I again managed to throw together a nice - and fast! - dinner. For the main dish I made this easy chicken dish, while a pot of pasta was cooking in the background, and my older son chopped up a bowl of salad ingredients. For dessert we had the apple squares featured below, which is another fast and tasty favourite of my family.

Chicken

2 or 3 large breasts
1 onion
2 tablespoon oil
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2-3 cups frozen corn
1 cup canned tomato sauce
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) hot pepper

Cut the breast into small chunks, chop the vegetables. Fry the onion in the oil until it softens a bit, add the peppers and saute them together for a few minutes. Add the chicken and let the cubes fry with the veggies until all of them turn white. (I started to work on the dessert - see below - while this was going on.)

When I saw that the chicken cooked through, I added the corn and the tomato sauce, together with the spices, covered the pot and let the dish simmer until everything and everybody was ready.

For hot pepper I use hot Korean paprika, the kind they use for making kimchi. Very powerful stuff, but my family loves spicy food. I also have at home and use other heat producing substances, from ground American chili peppers to hot Thai ground chilies preserved in oil.

While the chicken was simmering away, I finished the dessert, shoved it in the oven, drained the pasta, dressed it, and finally mixed the salad with some salad dressing I keep in the fridge. We were just sitting down to the table when the squares finished baking, so I pulled the pan out, cut a few squares and set them on a large plate to cool while we had dinner. By the time we finished the main course, the squares cooled just enough so we could serve them. Some of the younger, sportier members added a little extra ice cream on top.

Apple coconut squares

2008-05-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Base
1/2 cup (120gr) butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
grated lemon zest
pinch salt (if the butter is not salted)

Topping
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup freshly grated coconut
2 1/4 cups thin slices of apples

Let the butter soften at room temperature for a while. Mix it well with the sugar and flour. Grate a little lemon zest into it, too. Now pat this into an appropriate sized pan (9x9 inches?) to form a thin bottom layer, and bake it for 10 minutes at 350F.

Meanwhile beat the eggs with the sugar, mix the flour with the baking powder and add to the eggs with the vanilla. Hopefully you have a helping hand around who in the meantime peeled and sliced the apples. Now mix those in also, together with the grated coconut.

When the base starts to get pink around the edges, take it out, let it cool a few minutes, then spread the apple topping evenly over it. Put the pan back in the oven and let it bake for about 20 more minutes, or until the top starts to gain a nice color.

Cool, slice, enjoy!

Well dressed veal

2008-05-02T22:49:00.000-07:00

After a lengthy struggle with post-surgery problems (wisdom-tooth extraction with complications - see my Musingspace blog) I decided to get busy in the kitchen again.

I had a nice slab of lean veal, which I put in the freezer for a short while and then sliced it thin. I sprinkled each slice with a little pepper, then I crushed a big fat clove of garlic with half a teaspoon of salt and smeared a bit on each piece. I stacked them, covered them with plastic wrap and put them aside.

Next I chopped up half an onion finely, put it in a pan with a tablespoon of oil and let it saute slowly, stirring occasionally, while I peeled some potatoes. I grated these using the grater disk with the large holes of the food processor. When all in a bowl, I rinsed it in water, squeezed it as dry as possible and added it to the onions which tarted to turn golden here and there. First I put a lid on the pan and let it steam for a while, while I peeled and julienned a few carrots. I peeled a couple of apples, too (the green, sour variety is better then a too sweet kind), chopping them fine. When that was done, I checked the potato which was half cooked by that time. I raised the heat, added a bit more oil and fried it stirring constantly until it started to colour a bit, at which point I added salt and pepper to taste and put it aside.

Next I sauted the carrots with the apples over a tablespoon of butter (olive oil would do, too), added some salt, pepper, a teaspoonful of curry powder and a pinch of cinnamon, and kept stirring until started to go limp but was still crisp a bit. I would have liked to add some anise, too, but my husband doesn't quite like it. Nevertheless it turned out very nice and fragrant.

Now that the side dishes were ready, I kept those hot on lowest heat on the stove while I quick fried the meat slices.

I arranged the plates by spooning some of the potatoes in the middle, covering those with the meat slice, and then putting a neat pile of the carrot mix on the top. I planned to also place a sprig of parsley on the side for colour, but when I looked in the fridge I found that they were all old and yellow. Oh well...

Fish in wine sauce

2008-04-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

I don't have too much time lately but I had to invite some friends over -- after all one cannot put dear friends off indefinitely. One must live a little every once in a while, no...? :)

Strapped as I am for time, I did not prepare an overly fancy dinner, the kinds I used to do that made me cook feverishly for two days ahead of time. I put together a nice antipasto platter for appetizer, served in the living room with crackers and soft fresh grain bread. Then for the dinner itself, we had a thick soup made with some turkey stock I had frozen down from some time earlier, a box of frozen mixed veggies that I keep in the freezer (I always buy two 2 kg bags at No Frills, cook them in a little water with a couple of soup cubes, and freeze dozens of small containers of the stuff to be used in soups, as side dishes or in potato salads), and a small batch of freshly made nockerls that I drop directly into the soup, using a handy small device.

For the main course I made the fish, for which I give you the recipe here below. And finally for desert I bought an almond danish ring from the Danish Pastry Shop on Pape Ave, refreshed it in the toaster oven to make it hot and crisp, and served it with fresh sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

Recipe

Stock
bones, head and tail of fish, skin, too, if you do not want to leave it on the filets
1 onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup dry white wine
1 bay leaf
5 peppercorns
1 celery stock
a few sprigs of parsley
salt to taste

Fish
1 inch ginger, grated
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1small sticks lemon grass, chopped fine
pinch salt

Sauce
1/2 onion, grated
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup wine
fish stock
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 reaspoon Dijon mustard
lime juice, salt pepper

For the stock, which I made earlier in the day, I chopped the onion and sauteed it in the butter on medium heat. When it started to gain colour, I added the rest of the ingredients and another liter (4 cups) of water. Counting from the time it starts to boil, simmer it on low for 20-25 minutes, removing the scum that keeps forming on the top. When done, take the pot off the heat and let it settle. If the fish was fat, you may want to remove some of that from the top. Then take a fine sieve, or use coffee filter, and sieve the liquid. Don't pour the stock, use a ladle.

For the fish I mixed together the ginger, mustard and lemon grass with a little salt, I rubbed the fish slices with the mix and put them aside.

When the stock was ready, I made the sauce. I sauted the onion in the butter, just until it became glassy looking. Then I added the flour and stirring constantly I added the wine, then enough stock to have the consistency I like (some people like it thinner, others thicker). Finally I added the spices, some lime juice, salt and pepper.

When it was time to serve the main course, I melted some butter in a pan, added the filets, and sauteed them for about 3 minutes per side, turning once, until they flaked easily.

Served it with parsley potatoes and the sauce.

International Year of the Potato

2008-01-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 to be the International Year of the Potato. What a silly idea, you may say, to honour such a common, lowly edible. Yet, historically speaking, potatoes are relatively new on our tables. The only corner of the world where they were known, cultivated and consumed, for some 7000 years before they became even known to us, was way up in the Andes Mountains.

The Spanish first brought some samples over to Europe sometime around 1570. But it was considered just a curiosity, studied by botanists, until good old Monsieur Antoine Parmentier, a French apothecary, started to promote it, eventually persuading the royal court to start using it. He spent several years in a German prison earlier where they fed the inmates potatoes, food which at the time was only seen fit for pigs and prisoners.

It took a while for the general population to start using it, but when they did, they did it to such an extent, that when the potato blight wiped out potato crops for a while, famine ensued. The famous Irish potato famine reduced the population of Ireland by 20 to 25 percent between 1845 and 1852.

Today we are facing a different sort of problem. There are new varieties showing up in our markets daily, so much so that sometimes we have a hard time deciding which variety should we choose.

In my childhood I ate lots of potatoes in different shape and form. During Communism this lowly tuber became a daily fare on every table. We ate it in soups, breads, side dishes, casseroles, even desserts. Then my children advised me that I should not cook it often because it "makes us fat", it is at the top of the "high glycemic food list", so I neglected it lately. Now that this year is declared to be the Year of the Potato, I will try to incorporate it more into our diet. And what better way to do that in the least obvious and visible way (so as not to draw the attention of my children) is by incorporating them into some lovely rolls. I have yet to get around to making them, but I think I am getting rather inspired by this lovely photo I found on FLICKR.

And now to an appropriate recipe from Cooks.com:

POTATO ROLLS

1/2 c. lukewarm water (105 degrees)
1 pkg. dry granulated yeast
1 c. mashed potatoes
1 1/2 c. potato water
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. shortening
1 tbsp. salt
2 well beaten eggs
8 c. sifted all-purpose flour

Allow yeast to soften in lukewarm water. Combine hot, freshly mashed potatoes (very smooth and free from lumps) with potato water, sugar, shortening and salt. The heat of the potatoes and potato water will melt the shortening. When cooled to lukewarm, add softened yeast, beaten eggs and 4 cups of the flour and mix well. Then sift in all but 1/2 cup of the remaining flour and mix until smooth. Rub the 1/2 flour into a bread cloth or board, turn dough onto the board and knead until the dough is as smooth as satin.

A bit more flour may be sprinkled on the cloth in the dough is at all sticky, but don't work in a lot more.

Round up into a ball and place in a well greased bowl. Grease top of dough well and cover with damp cloth. Keep cloth damp. Place in refrigerator.

This is enough for about 4 dozen small rolls. If you would like a dozen tonight, cut off about 1/4 of the dough before refrigerating. All this fourth to rise until double in bulk. Then roll out the dough to about an inch thick and form them into small loaves. Brush tops with melted butter, let rise until nearly double, slash the tops across, then bake in a hot oven about 20 minutes.

To make rolls later on, cut desired amount off the refrigerated dough, make into rolls and let rise until doubled. This cold dough will take longer to rise. Bake in hot oven (about 400 degrees) about 15-20 minutes.

Multigrain bread for breadmachine

2008-01-22T20:36:00.000-08:00

Well, what do you know! I got myself a breadmachine at a good boxing week sale. And why on Earth, I wonder now, did I not do that sooner?! I have sooo much fun with it. But not only I. My whole family is excited about the ever changing stream of fresh breads. On the average we consume two breads in three days, and I very rarely make two of the same. I love "tweaking" the recipes. Here is the latest that the family requested to be repeated unchanged. I decided to immortalize it here for in case I still go too far astray in the future, and they want this one again.

Dump all these in the machine:
1 1/3 cups water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lecithin
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup taff flour (or buckwheat)
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/3 cup soaked or slightly pre-cooked millet
2-3 tablespoons wheat germ
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

Bake it at Basic setting, with light or medium crust. When it beeps, you can add a handful of chopped (raw or toasted) nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, or a nice mix).

Torta con dulce de leche

2007-11-16T20:48:00.000-08:00

I have discovered the new PC Dulce de Leche at Loblaws, and I decided to use it for something more interesting than just snacking on it directly from the jar, or sweeten our coffees with it. I searched around for some authentic South American recipes and I found this: Alfajor de Dulce de Leche.

Well, you must agree, it does look spectacular. But to me the dough sounded too simple, and I wasn't happy with the burned looking edges. So I decided to try another approach. I used a pancake dough that forms the basis of a traditional Hungarian dish, Csusztatott Palacsinta, or rather a variation of it of my own. For the rest I followed the Spanish recipe, using the dulce de leche and finishing it off with the whipped meringue topping. Since I don't usually have much time to spend on niceties, the topping wasn't piped on, I just smeared it on and poked peaks into it with a fork. But those peaks browned nicely, and the torte as a whole was a great success with the family, only remembering that I missed another photo opportunity after even the last crumb was gone.

But the above photo gives you a general idea, and here are my changes:

4 eggs
2 + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup cake flour
4 tablespoons butter
1 jar dulce de leche
ground nuts (I use walnuts)
2 extra egg whites

First I made sure to put out the butter a while earlier to get it to room temperature.
When ready, I separated the eggs, whites in one bowl, yolks in another. I poured the milk in a blender, added the flour and ran it until it got nice and smooth.
I beat them, and when it started to stiffen I added 2 tablespoons of sugar one by one until the mass turned into a nice shiny meringue.
I just exchanged the bowls for the one with the butter, I whipped it quickly until frothy, incorporated the yolks one by one, together with the 2 tablespoons of sugar and the 1 teaspoon vanilla. I then added the milk-flour blend, mixed it together well, and then I gently folded the whites into it.

I heated a little oil in a crepe pan, spread a 1/2 inch layer of the frothy mass into a round, and fried it at medium heat until the bottom looked golden when I lifted a corner with a fork. Notice: I only cooked one side of the pancake! The top should look a bit suspiciously undercooked. Then I flipped it frothy side down onto a plate.
While the next pancake was cooking, I spread some dulce de leche on the ready one and I sprinkled a generous amount of ground nuts over it. Flip the next pancake onto this one, frothy side down.
I repeated this process until I used up all the dough.
During the last pancake I beat the extra 2 whites with 3-4 spoonfuls of sugar (to taste) and a bit of vanilla, piled it on top of the torte, and slid it in the oven under the broiler for a few minutes to get the meringue browned on the tips.

Mine was eaten still warm :P - but you can wait for it to cool. I imagine it should be good both ways, although I, too, prefer it warm.

During my search I found another interesting recipe, Torta con le Mele e Dolce de Leche. I think I will try that, too, but I will use choux pastry for it.

Pate with white wine

2007-06-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

There were so many things going on in the family for the last half a year now that I hardly had time for even such essential activities as cooking, let alone adding to my blogs, for a long long time. But life goes on, things do tend to ease (or is it that I just got used to the new conditions...?) and every once in a while I manage to venture away from the tried and true lightning fast lunches and dinners.

One such venture was a pate I prepared half out of memory, half using ad hoc additions. Are they innovative? Probably not. After all there isn't really anything new "under the sun". But it was a relatively new taste experience for the gang, deemed worthy of keeps even by my finicky male family members. The photo I took of the crackers is - of course - out of focus, because I had exactly two minutes to take it. But I hope the recipe itself will be found inspirational enough for at least some visitors to start them on a creative path. So here it goes:

1 lb beef liver
1/2 lb chicken liver
1 chicken breast
1 onion
chicken broth cube
1/2 ts marjoram
3 hardboiled eggs
3 tbs margarine (or rendered chicken fat)
paprika, salt, pepper
2 tbs flour
2tbs oil
1/2 c white wine

I chopped up the onion into large chunks, added the sliced up beef liver, enough water to cover, and the chicken broth cube. Brought the whole thing to boil and let it simmer for half an hour. Then I added the cubed chicken breast and kept on cooking. I also cooked the eggs, let them cool and then peeled them.

When both the liver and the meat were nice and soft, I added the chicken livers and the marjoram. After this I kept an eye on the pot and cooked it just until the chicken livers were not red any more. I took the pot off the stove and let it cool to lukewarm.

The final ingredient was a roux made of the flour and oil, fried until it became light blond, at which point I took it off the heat, waited a minute, and then I slowly stirred the wine into it. It was still sputtering a bit but it quickly cooked into a not too thick paste.

Now I put everything, meats, eggs roux, into my blender (a nice big VitaMix) and blended the pate to a smooth paste, using just enough of the cooking liquid to give it a thick pancake batter consistency. (It thickens further as it cools) I adjusted the flavouring with some extra salt, pepper, and a bit of paprika. The wine was seemingly overpowering at first, while the mix was still warm, but it became very mild and pleasing as the pate aged - which it did not have too much time to do in our house, I can imagine it getting even nicer after a day or so if given the chance.

Maroccan meatballs

2007-01-16T23:03:00.000-08:00

Lately the growing Indiophile trend made some headways in my kitchen, too. Canada, and I suppose all of North America, is slowly turning their attention towards the Indian subcontinent. So I have been cooking lots of curries, pulaus and pakoras. But when it comes to meatballs, I return to Mediterranian tastes.

Here are the lamb koftas we had today for dinner:

- 600 g ground lamb
- 2 onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- salt, pepper to taste
- 2 eggs
- olive oil
- some grated lemon zest
- 1 cup(or more) water

Chop the onion, press the garlic, and mix them well with the meat. Add the spices and the lightly beaten eggs, then form the meatballs and sprinkle some flour over them.

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, lightly fry the meatballs until they turn grey on the outside. Then pour the water in the pan and grate some lemon zest over them Let them cook, covered for about 20 minutes, until the balls are cooked through.

Sprinkle some chopped parsley over them and serve them with rice and toasted pine nuts.

Flapjacks...!?

2006-12-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

The season is filled with parties and celebrations. Besides the holidays we have had two birthdays in the family this month with one more coming in mid-January. I have been cooking and baking and everything got vacuumed up by guests and family members before I even had a chance to get the camera out. So forget about pics and/or recipes for now. Except for today, when our younger one complained that "how come no dessert to go with the dinner"? And this in a family where desserts are usually served only once or twice a month. I suppose the onset of addiction to sweets is very rapid.

So... I told the wise guy to go and find a recipe that he can prepare for himself - thinking that he will abandon the idea. Wrong! After googling a bit he decided on a flapjack. He apparently was vacillating between two recipes: old fashioned and Epicurious's pancake type flapjacks , but then he still decided to go with the simpler one.

We all enjoyed his creation, it brought back memories :) for the older generation, and I promised to prepare a batch of the pancakey version soon.

White pea bean stew

2006-12-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

First of all I have to apologize for the lack of imagery, but this dish also fell victim to my family's vacuum-style eating habits, not giving me a chance to snap an artful representation of it. Well, next time! Because by popular demand there definitely will be a next time. :)

Yesterday I discovered a bag of who knows how old white beans, about a pound of it. I soaked it overnight, and this morning I cooked it for a while before I had to go for my doctor's appointment. So I just took the pot off the stove and resumed after I got home.

First I thought I would make a bean salad with some other colours added. But then I decided to go for a little spin on the net, and I happened to find a recipe for a Basque White Bean Stew. Hmmm... it sounded good, but I didn't have any leeks at home. I looked around in the kitchen and I found two hafty broccoli stems, leftovers from yesterday's broccoli quiche. I figured, they should do as far as vegetable content is concerned.

Everything went well, except the beans did not soften fast enough and the family was clamouring for food. Half an hour later the beans were acceptably soft but the dish seemed still too watery. So I used bit of flour to give the sauce a bit of body. But by that time the family was too hungry and it became obvious that the amount in the pot will not be sufficient to appease their hunger. Luckily I had some lovely Basmati rice, the addition of which then completed the creation of this lovely dish.

Ingredients:
1 pound (1/2 kilo) white pea beans
3 tbs olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
2 thick broccoli stems, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon/half cube chicken or beef soup flavouring
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups cooked rice
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons dried dill weed

Soak beans. Pour off soaking water, add fresh just to cover, bring it to boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer until the beans are al dente. At this point you can pull it off the stove and wait until ready to finish it.

Chop the vegetables (onions, peppers, broccoli stems), then saute them in the oil for 5-10 minutes. Add to the beans, the flavouring, and cook the whole thing until the beans are softened.

Sprinkle the flour over, add a bit of water if necessary to create a sauce and cook it to thicken. Stir the rice into the pot, together with the parsley and dill, again adding some water if needed. Simmer a bit longer to get the flavours to mix properly. Make some final adjustments with some extra salt and pepper before serving.

Italian cooking site with illustrated instructions

2006-11-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

I was not well for a while but I will try and contribute to my blogs a little more from now on. I guess I must be feeling better because I agreed to have a dinner party at our house today. And it turned out really well, too! To tell the truth, I did start preparations two days ago, making sure to get everything done. I actually decided that I like this type of a schedule because it allowed me to prepare everything ahead of time, at a relatively leisurely pace.

I prepared a European style dinner and in the process of looking for ideas I found another good site with step-by-step illustrated instructions. It is the site of this lady in the picture, Anna Maria Volpi, born in Italy, now living in California. Her site, Anna Maria’s Open Kitchen is chock full of great Italian recipes (and I don't mean spaghetti and meatballs) with lots of guidance to help you get great results.

Roley

2006-11-24T22:29:00.000-08:00

7 eggs
3/4 cup (170 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup (70 grams) finely ground regular breadcrumbs or graham crumbs
1 cup (200 grams) ground walnuts
1 tablespoon rum

1 box butterscotch pudding (the size that requires 2 cups of milk)
2 egg yolks
1 cup (250 grams) margarine or butter
3/4 cup (150 grams) icing sugar

1 box ladyfingers (dry ones, the kind they use for Tiramisu)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
1 tablespoon rum
1 box (250 ml) whipping cream
sour cherry jam

Beat egg yolks with sugar until frothy and lemon coloured. Beat in vanilla and baking powder. Fold in the breadcrumbs, walnuts, the beaten whites of the 7 eggs, and 1 tablespoon of rum.

Spread it in a baking pan and bake it for about 20-25 minutes, or until it feels springy to the touch.

Prepare the butterscotch pudding as per the instructions on the box. Beat in the 2 egg yolks while it is still hot and let it cool. Then beat the margarine (butter) with the icing sugar until fluffy and slowly beat in the cold pudding. Spread half of it over the baked cake bottom, then mix together the warm milk, coffee and rum, dip the ladyfingers into it and put rows over the cream, spacing the rows about one inch apart. Spread the second half of the cream on top.

Now whip the cream, sweeten it to taste with some icing sugar, and spread it on top of the cake. Then beat a little sour cherry jam, adding a little water if necessary to get it to drizzling consistency. Drizzle some of it over the cake in a decorative fashion. Let it sit for a while before cutting it into squares or rectangular slices.

Bus journey blogging and more...

2006-11-13T18:57:00.001-08:00

I discovered this blog, Route79: Reflections on a bus journey home, while I was looking for some recipe or another. The blogger (Jag) is a Londoner who travels to and from work (Genie/O2 Mobile Internet Service) every day on the (you guessed it) Route79 bus. It contains his daily musings and impressions, with lots of pictures that exhibit great artistic sense. He has several other websites, some of them very technical, like the one on Mobile Streaming Videos. But, most importantly, he also has a great recipe collection, complete with photo instructions to aid you with the preparation process. I should not forget to mention that the recipes are all of a good East Indian home cooking type, asking for lots of lovely spices.

Indian cooking site with illustrated instructions

2006-10-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Although I must admit with embarrassment that I was not able to give credit to the original poster for the recipe below because I have no idea where did I see it, I did give it a try to find it again. I was not successful, but in the process I discovered a wonderful site where the recipes are accompanied with detailed photo instructions. It is called Spice India Online, and if you did not visit it before, make sure you do so now. :)

Red lentil dish

2006-10-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

I just discovered a particularly flavourful dhal recipe. It was so successful with the family that I immediately had to repeat it, and was made to promise that I will not loose this recipe (something I often do...). The masala mix is very nicely balanced, with just the right amount of "bite". Even my East European octogenarian mom-in-law likes it (!). So I encourage you to give it a try and let me know how did your family react to the experience.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 whole cloves
4 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 onion
3 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon ginger
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup red lentils
5 plum tomatoes (canned OK)
juice of 1 lime
handful chopped coriander or parsley

Put the first six of the spices in a pan and dry roast them until they start darkening, mustard seeds start popping, and you can smell their lovely roasted aroma. Then pulverize them in a spice grinder, or with a mortar and pestle, adding to it the chili powder and cinnamon, too.

Chop the onion, saute it in oil until it softens, add the ginger, press in the garlic and saute a few minutes more. The add the spice mix with the salt and stir this for about 5 minutes.

Now slowly add 4 cups of water, scraping the bottom to deglaze the pot, add the tomato paste and dump in the washed lentils. Simmer for until almost ready, about 20 minutes (mine was ready sooner!).

Dice the plum tomatoes, add them to the pot, squeeze in the lime juice, add the coriander/parsley and add some more water if you like it thinner. Finish cooking it to the desired doneness.

I served it with cashew rice, yoghurt and mango chutney.

The final dish has a dark chocolatey hue from the roasted spices. Although my older son (a serious calorie counter) was pleased with the relatively low calorie count, but becried the fact that he couldn't stop himself from having seconds...

Miss Carrie's cookbook

2006-10-08T00:09:00.001-07:00

Caroline Watkins lived in Lawson, Missouri, in the second half of the 1800s. Her handwritten recipe collection was found in a dusty old trunk in the attic. Now it is in the library of William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.

It is fun to leaf through it online. You can see the actual pages, but they are typed out, too. There are also biographical notes, photos of her and her kitchen. I had a good time visiting the site. :)

VideoJug - learn to do anything by watching it on video

2006-10-05T13:26:00.001-07:00

What a great discovery! I for sure will be a faithful visitor there. :)))
VideoJug is a UK website for sharing how-to information and knowledge by using video instructions. Anybody can post. Of course it is moderated, no X rated stuff allowed. Instead you can see instruction on how to do things around the house and garden, care for your pet, how to make drinks, and a long list of recipes, from the simple to the elaborate. Great!

It is based on the concept of YouTube, except here every video has to be useful, instructional. They also explain how to prepare and upload your video, should you find skill you have a burning desire to share.

Apple-coconut squares

2006-10-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

I am uploading this recipe here because I have it in an old cookbook that is already on its last leg and I wouldn't like to loose my favourites in it. But I am sure if and when you try these lovely cookies you will feel the same way, too... :)

Apple-coconut squares

Bottom:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup flour

Topping:
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 oz (100 gr) flaked coconut
2 1/2 cups sliced apples
1 cup chopped nuts

Work together the ingredients for the bottom layer until crumbly. Pat the dough into a 9"x9" pan (no greasing necessary). Bake it at 350F for 20 minutes.

While that is going on, beat eggs, mix in the rest of the ingredients. When the 20 minutes are up, pour the whole thing on top of the bottom layer, put the pan back in the oven and let it finish baking - for another 30 minutes or so.

Be patient, wait at least three minutes before cutting and trying it. Great alone, or served with whipped cream or ice cream on top.

Diana's desserts

2006-09-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful discovery! I was looking for some dessert ideas and found Diana's delightful site, rightfully named Diana's Desserts. Her full name is Diana Baker Woodall. Baker...? you say. What a coincidence (or is it?). :)

Whether it is a coincidence or otherwise, her site is overflowing with wonderful recipes for goodies that make your mouth water just by reading their descriptions. But the site is a feast for the eyes, too. Most of the recipes are accompanied by their beautifully artful photos.

She also has a Tips&Tools section, conversion calculators, a long list of recommended cookbooks. You can also sign up for her newsletter, and she has an online discussion forum. Worth having it in your Favourites folder.

Stroopwafel

2006-09-17T23:48:00.000-07:00

Stroopwafels or siroopwafels are favourites in our house. They make a wonderful kind here in Canada that matches the back home variety to the T. Of course, it is wonderful to just have them with your coffee, gently warming them over your steaming cuppa.

Now, at 101 Cookbooks I found a new way of serving them: with mascarpone and fresh fruit. Yum!

For those of you, who happen to own a pizzelle iron, I recommend this Answers.com page where you have a couple of make-it-yourself recipes.

No verjuice :(

2006-09-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

With heavy heart I have to report that my experiment with the windfall grapes turned sour (pun intended). As per a discussion on the cooking forum I decided to try my hand at making verjuice (French: verjus).

According to literature found on it on the internet, verjuice is squeezed from unripe grapes that are picked when people are thinning the crop in the middle of summer. The obtained juice was widely used for cooking in the more distant past, when lemons were not readily available, and it is becoming favoured again for its milder, grapey taste.

Mine started to ferment almost immediately, and then it went way too sour. The truth is that the grapes were not really totally green any more, it was September already. Which probably caused the sugar in the juice to ferment and turn into alcohol and/or acetic acid. In any case I ended up with bottles of yucky, smelly stuff that I finally decided to dump. But now that I gained some experience, maybe next year...

What did we eat last week?

2006-09-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

A nice new internet friend of mine from India :) asked me what do we usually eat here in Canada, and that I should make a list of the dishes that we had the last week. Hmmm... I am not exactly a typical Canadian cook. We immigrated to Canada when I was young and I really took to the multicultural aspect of Toronto. I love to peruse small ethnic grocery stores, as I described to another online friend, touching, smelling everything, asking when there are no English labels at all. My husband took to my eclectic cooking a bit more slowly, he used to call himself my lab gerbil. Our boys on the other hand grew up with it. Nowadays my younger one actually annoys me with such remarks: "We already had this dish last month! Can't you cook something new? Go find something on the internet, Mom..." They, by the way, prefer South East Asian dishes, very spicy! For the last 10 years they had a favourite pho restaurant, where they dropped the fresh, thinly sliced meat into the boiling soup right there at their table. Then for a while we favoured a - hidden in the corner, mom and pop type - Chinese restaurant, after that an also very home style Indian restaurant, smack in the middle of the Indian district. Lately we started to frequent a Mongolian barbeque, again with freshly sliced lean meats (we like lamb) prepared in front of you, and then you custom spice your stuff yourself. We went there twice already.

OK, so let's just see what did we have for dinner this last week. Here at home I still have to cook at least half the time in a more European style because of my 85 year old mother-in-law who lives with us.
- Hungarian lecsó (pronounced: le-choh), made of chopped red and green peppers, onions and fresh tomatoes, and which I usually enrich with ground meats, this time canned turkey - served with mashed potatoes.
- fish filets (sole) in lemon sauce, with Italian risibisi (parsleyed rice and green peas)
- Moroccan style vegetarian couscous
- chicken curry, spiced spinach on the side, with Basmati rice mixed with chopped roasted almonds
- birthday dinner of Wiener schnitzel, steamed sauerkraut and parsleyed potatoes. Cake, the recipe of which to follow below.
- minestrone soup, lightly panfried rice cakes (with eggs&cheese) and corn mixed with chopped roasted red peppers
- today we will have Thai style stir fried turkey breast with baby bok choy an rice, and I prepared dessert also, kheer - not from scratch, I had a box that I picked up last week at an Indian grocery.

We don't eat desserts regularly. The boys are "dieting" (well, just counting their calories, as it is the vogue today), and I am, ahem, "phat". The only person who likes to have sweets every day is my husband, because he is a tennis champ in the older guys' category and plays several times a week. But I can usually satisfy him with simple dry tea cookies topped with a dollop of fancy home made jam. (Hence those plums...)

Now here is the birthday cake

Daquoise
6 egg whites
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups toasted ground walnuts

Filling
1 pint whipping cream
icing sugar (to taste)
1/2 cups toasted ground walnuts
1 pouch vanilla sugar

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks are formed. Add salt and cream of tartar. Beat in 4 tbsp. of sugar, one at a time. The mixture should be stiff and glossy. Mix the remaining sugar with the ground walnuts an fold into the mixture. Preheat oven to not more than 200F. Grease and flour 2 baking sheets. Or use parchment paper, if you have some available, because you can draw perfect circles on it. Spread the mixture on the sheets in four circles and bake them until they feel hardened (1 to 2 hours). Leave them in the warm oven for another 2 hours.

After the layers cool (next day?), beat the whipping cream, sweeten it and mix in the walnuts and the vanilla sugar. Sandwich the cake layers together with the filling. I made a little booboo but it turned out really nice after all: it occurred to me (after I baked the layers) that my mom-in-law may have a hard time with the crunchiness of the daquoise, so I brushed them with some diluted Kahlua liqueur. It turned out that the whipping cream itself would have softened the daquoise adequately, the liqueur was a bit too much, so the cake collapsed a little and became somewhat soggy, closer to a pudding consistency. But sooo delicious!!!

BlogDay 2006

2006-09-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

I will interrupt my plum Odyssey for a moment, in honour of a day I did not know about until now: Blog Day 2006. Unfortunately I am a bit late in recognizing it, the official date was August 31. But better late than never! Being the resident godess of this blog here, I declare (just for here and just for now) September 3rd as BlogDay!

According to the rules of the celebrations, one has to choose five blogs from five different geographical points, as far apart as possible, and introduce them to the visitors of our own blog.

So here are my five choices for this year's BlogDay offering:

1. If you want to read about exotic (Korean...) food experiences, visit Zen Kimchi.

2. A wonderful food blog, Kitchen at No. Nineteen, by a young lady (originally from Malaysia?) in a small Hungarian town.

3. Great Canadian food blog: Domestic Goddess

4. Simply Recipes: extremely well organized blog, full of great ideas, pictures, recipes.

5. And finally here is a truly avid cook/baker from Singapore. She has not one, but THREE blogs on food!
a) She bakes and she cooks
b) The baker's index
c) Crumbs...

Unexpected windfall... of unripe grapes and plums

2006-09-02T21:02:00.000-07:00

My husband called yesterday from a friend he was visiting. The friend asked me whether I would like to have some home grown table grapes and plums. He is a bachelor, this is his first house, he has no use for them. I said, sure! Well, my husband arrived home with over 30 lbs of half ripe grapes and plums, not quite good yet for direct consumption. I was nonplussed. I even posted at the Discuss Cooking forum for advice.

In the end I decided to start with the plums because they seemed to be more fragile. I sorted them in two piles, riper and less ripe. The less ripe pile is left to ripen until tomorrow.

Tonight I worked with the smaller, riper pile. I washed them,

ground them in the blender, put the mush on the stove with the appropriate amount of sugar,

and cooked it.

When it reached the right consistency, I divided the batch in three, I mixed in the first batch 1 cup of ground almonds and a few drops of almond essence, in the second I added 1/2 cup of Jamaican rum, and into the third batch I mixed a jar of peach jam that I made last week, together with 1/2 cup of roasted, chopped walnuts. I reboiled each batch, ladled them into jars, capped them, turned them upside down and they are waiting on the counter to be cleaned and labeled. I will make some photos of them tomorrow.

Spinach-pepperoni nibbles

2006-08-30T22:48:00.000-07:00

I was searching for a nice savoury offering for a small gathering at our house in an old issue of Better Homes and Gardens. A recipe called Spinach and Pepperoni Quiche caught my eyes. It sounded interesting but it wasn't exactly what I needed. So I tweaked it a little and this is what I got.

Spinach-pepperoni nibbles

Crust:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup oil
3-4 tbsp. ice water

Topping:
2 medium peppers (any colour)
2-3 tablespoons oil
1 bag fresh spinach leaves
8 eggs
2 cups loosely packed shredded cheese (I used medium Cheddar)
4 ounces chopped pepperoni
1/2 cup milk or cream

Start by preparing the spinach. I always pinch off the stems because I can't stand those fine strings that can get stuck in our teeth when we use the stems, too. After cleaning, wash the leaves carefully so no sand granules get in the food either. Then wilt it in a pot without adding any extra water. Squeeze it out well when done.

Now chop the peppers and saute them in the oil just until they softens a little. Set aside.

Prepare the dough, pat it into a large pan (I use a short piece of dowel about the length of my palm to roll dough out nice and even right inside the pan) and pre-bake it for 10-15 minutes at 350F.

While the dough is in the oven, take a large bowl, dump all the filling ingredients into it and mix them together vigorously. When the dough starts to get slightly pink around the edges, take it out, spread the topping evenly over it and return it in the oven. Bake it until the top is set enough so you can touch it and it will not stick to your fingers, about half an hour.

Cool and slice it into 1 1/2 to 2 inch squares. You will get several dozen.

If you like the recipe and decide to try it, write me a teentsy little feed-back, will you?

Raspberry filled crepes with pear sorbet

2006-08-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

I made these yesterday for dinner and it is a wonderful summer dessert. Unfortunately I am not a seasoned enough blogger yet to remember the imagery part, I forgot to take photos. Or rather, it was all gone before I remembered to do so. But it is simple enough for you to be able to imagine what it looked like, and next time (because for sure there will be a next time), I will add a nice photo.

Raspberry filled crepes with pear sorbet

For 8 servings

2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
3 lbs of fresh pears or
2 cans (29 oz each) of pear halves, drained
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
(2 tablespoons pear brandy - optional but recommended :)

8 crepes (a nice touch is to add some grated orange zest to the batter)
2 cups fresh raspberries

Creme fraiche, creme anglaise, Devon custard, or whipped creme

Early in the day or the day before:
If you use fresh pears, core them, arrange them in a circle on a plate and cook them in the microwave. When cool, remove the skins and mash them into a puree. If you use canned pears, puree them. Mix the lemon juice into the puree.

Now prepare the syrup by putting the sugar and the water in a saucepan and stir it over medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely. Just before the syrup reaches boiling point, remove the pan and let the syrup cool. (Fill the sink with some cold water and place the pan in it.) When both the pears and syrup are cold enough, mix them together and add the brandy. Pour this into a metal baking pan, cover and freeze. When the mixture is frozen solid, remove, break it into chunks and blend in the food processor (or blender) until smooth and fluffy. Pour this into an airtight plastic container and return it to the freezer.

Before the dinner test the raspberries for ripeness. If they are on the sour side, sprinkle a little sugar over them. Prepare crepes and keep them covered.

Assembly: Melt a little butter in the micro, brush the crepe with it on one side, place 1/4 cup raspberries in the centre and fold it together into a packet. Place it on the serving plate and place a nice round scoop of the pear sorbet on the side. Pour some of the creme nicely over and around it (you can further decorate the plate with a sprig of mint leaves and/or some thinly shredded orange zest) and serve.

Open concept kitchens

2006-07-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

All right, it is time for a big vent and rant...

We live in a brand new home, built according to the latest architectural trends. One large, open main floor, with a galley kitchen in one corner that is open on one side to the living area - dining, living, familyroom combined. Luckily we are renting, so I will only have to live with it for a couple of years. I suppose that will be just about enough for me. From now on I will not even consider looking at an open concept kitchen!

Why do I choose to post my complaints today? Because I had an "accident" again, one of many, today somewhat bigger than usual. What accident am I talking about? The sink is in the open counter between the kitchen and the dining area. Without any splashguard! So whenever the smallest splash occurs, it ends up on the beautiful hardwood floor of the dining area. Well, today it was even more dramatic. One of my "smart" family members perched a large soaking pot (with greasy spaghetti sauce) on top of a smaller bowl. Then another harried member started the tap full force for a quick cold drink, the pot got off balance, tilted sideways, hit the side of the sink, and splashed a big slosh of greasy slop clear across, all the way to the dining table and chairs, soaking a couple of the beautiful Chinese brocade chair pads. Not to speak of the floor, of course. I leave the rest of the next hour to your imagination...

Besides these sink incidents I have a few other beefs about open concept kitchens. These are:
a) Smell. No matter how effective the stove hood is, one cannot completely stop cooking smells from spreading all through the house because of the lack of separation. They escape from the stove, and even more so from the oven. Not very pleasant to sink into your soft bed at night and be greeted by the smells of garlic pork roast, oven charred eggplant, or pungent nam pla emanating from your pillows.
b) Heat. This is particularly an issue in the summer. In our old house I could open windows when baking, even on the hottest sommer day, while I closed the kitchen door so the rest of the house could stay cold. Not so here. The heat from the oven goes straight up to the second floor, making the bedrooms too hot for the night, while the basement gets icy cold because of the overworking airconditioner.
c) Noise. We like to use our living area for quiet relaxation (too). Impossible to do so in this house. The hood is loud, particularly so when at full speed; we have a convection type oven, with a fan going for a while even after turning it off; people come and go, getting water from the tap, using the blender for a quick smoothie, slamming cabinet doors, rattling in the cutlery drawer. Even when I am alone at home, the refrigerator goes off and on close enough to the living room sofa to interfere in the most annoying way with the reading of a good book.
d) Mess. With five people in our family the kitchen is never pristine (an understatement). There are always dishes in the sink, dishes drying in the dripper, cabinet doors left wide open, contents of cabinets strewn around on the counter, sometimes alongside little piles of apple peelings, not to speaks of spills, left for Mom to deal with when she next happens to be in the kitchen. This makes spontaneous entertaining very difficult, if not impossible.

Mark my word, the time is getting nigh when all these fancy new open concept kitchens will quietly be walled in everywhere...

Garlic in food

2006-07-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

I made an interesting discovery today about the smell and aftertaste of garlic. This is what happened:

I was making some hummus b'tahine, which I prefer to be quite garlicky. Not overly so, though, I usually use one large clove for one can of chick peas (cca 400 ml), and I always press it into the blender with a garlic press. Today I had the smart idea to put half of the chickpeas into the blender first, add the garlic, blend it smooth, then add the rest. I did so, it became nice and smooth, but no garlic smell and taste. Hmmm, I say, a new species of garlic they sold me...! I added another, even larger clove. Still no garlic smell. Oh, all right, says I, let me just finish the whole thing. I can go over to the store later and get another, fresher bulb.

When I was done, I could not help having a taste with a bit of fresh pita. First the same bland taste, then "Ya Allaaaah!", the aftertaste hit me like a firebreathing dragon's breath after it ate its way through an entire garlic patch! And then I figured it out: garlic needs oxygen to produce its characteristic aroma. Since I blended in whole cloves, it did not have a chance to develop it. Until, of course, it spread around on my tongue, when its essential oils (allinaise) finally got the chance to properly mix with oxygen, blossoming into this powerful aftertaste.

I wasn't entirely unaware of this before. After all for years I have roasted whole garlic bulbs, and baked Garlic Chicken with 20 whole garlic cloves shoved under its skin, knowing full well that if the cloves are left uncut, the smell does not become overpowering. But I never before experienced such a dramatic example of the oxydization process! :)