Monday, February 7, 2011
Epicurious
You may have already noticed that several of my recipe links involve epicurious.com. It is my constant go-to for recipes. It contains a database of recipes from Gourmet, Bon Appetit and Self magazines, and their weekly newsletter is full of great new recipes and tips. And if you ever have time to kill, and want to have a bit of a laugh, check out their "Buzz Box", which shows which recipes have been receiving the most comments. While this will usually point you to the most popular recipes, it sometimes just points you to posting wars among readers. And then there's my favourite: the comments posted under the recipe for Salted Water for Boiling. Hours of entertainment!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
And Sometimes, We Fall Down
Regardless of how much I love to cook whole foods and eat well, every once in a while, I have to take a detour off the high road. Today, I opted for a weekly meal plan that is a little less ambitious than normal, while also learning an important lesson about when NOT to get off the high road.
I recently picked up some brie and a 'fresh' fig and balsamic compote from the Safeway deli, remembering the fig and walnut butter that I loved so much, and thinking that it would be a nice treat in the evening. I finally got around to them tonight, and I was sorely disappointed. The compote tasted watered down and not very fresh, which shouldn't come as a surprise, since it can sit in the deli in a plastic container for weeks. If I want a fig compote, I should make it myself, or at the very least buy another jar of the fig and walnut butter. It's more like jam, and so doesn't pretend to be 'fresh.' Even the brie was disappointing. I think I'll just have to hold out for a visit to the Bulk Cheese Warehouse in the next while.
As for my meal plan, I got the healthy and bean-filled dinner out of the way tonight, with roasted spaghetti squash and lentil tomato sauce. The rest of the week will be a little more pedestrian, but still (mostly) whole foods.
Monday
BLTs and sweet potato fries (I still have a chunk of my dad's home-smoked bacon in the fridge leftover from our pizza night. It will do wonders in a simple sandwich...although nice tomatoes are painfully difficult to find this time of year)
Our bread of choice is the multigrain loaf from Christie's Mayfair bakery. I never get tired of it, and I eat toast most mornings. Christie's is the main reason I haven't ventured very far into making my own bread...
Tuesday
Roast chicken, roast potatoes, peas, salad (I've been serving chicken a lot in an effort to get through the Hutterite chickens in my freezer, which are rapidly getting past their prime)
Wednesday
Sloppy joes (since we're heading out of town on Thursday evening, I was aiming for something freezable, in the event of leftovers. I (uncharacteristically) suggested chili, because I know my husband loves it, and we don't have it very often. He countered with the suggestion of sloppy joes. That's something I have never made before, so I found a slow-cooker recipe online. You can't go wrong with a recipe that calls for ketchup, mustard and brown sugar, mixed with ground beef. I'm serious! That's my favourite meatloaf topping, so I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with my first try at sloppy joes. Every once in a while I have to pull out the redneck ingredients and give a nod to my country roots)
As for veggies on Wednesday, I'll probably just cut up some more carrots, cucumbers, peppers and celery to have with the leftover dip from Saturday's party.
Thursday night, we'll be driving home to my parents' farm, and having dinner somewhere along the way, so the meal plan this week is a short one.
I recently picked up some brie and a 'fresh' fig and balsamic compote from the Safeway deli, remembering the fig and walnut butter that I loved so much, and thinking that it would be a nice treat in the evening. I finally got around to them tonight, and I was sorely disappointed. The compote tasted watered down and not very fresh, which shouldn't come as a surprise, since it can sit in the deli in a plastic container for weeks. If I want a fig compote, I should make it myself, or at the very least buy another jar of the fig and walnut butter. It's more like jam, and so doesn't pretend to be 'fresh.' Even the brie was disappointing. I think I'll just have to hold out for a visit to the Bulk Cheese Warehouse in the next while.
As for my meal plan, I got the healthy and bean-filled dinner out of the way tonight, with roasted spaghetti squash and lentil tomato sauce. The rest of the week will be a little more pedestrian, but still (mostly) whole foods.
Monday
BLTs and sweet potato fries (I still have a chunk of my dad's home-smoked bacon in the fridge leftover from our pizza night. It will do wonders in a simple sandwich...although nice tomatoes are painfully difficult to find this time of year)
Our bread of choice is the multigrain loaf from Christie's Mayfair bakery. I never get tired of it, and I eat toast most mornings. Christie's is the main reason I haven't ventured very far into making my own bread...
Tuesday
Roast chicken, roast potatoes, peas, salad (I've been serving chicken a lot in an effort to get through the Hutterite chickens in my freezer, which are rapidly getting past their prime)
Wednesday
Sloppy joes (since we're heading out of town on Thursday evening, I was aiming for something freezable, in the event of leftovers. I (uncharacteristically) suggested chili, because I know my husband loves it, and we don't have it very often. He countered with the suggestion of sloppy joes. That's something I have never made before, so I found a slow-cooker recipe online. You can't go wrong with a recipe that calls for ketchup, mustard and brown sugar, mixed with ground beef. I'm serious! That's my favourite meatloaf topping, so I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with my first try at sloppy joes. Every once in a while I have to pull out the redneck ingredients and give a nod to my country roots)
As for veggies on Wednesday, I'll probably just cut up some more carrots, cucumbers, peppers and celery to have with the leftover dip from Saturday's party.
Thursday night, we'll be driving home to my parents' farm, and having dinner somewhere along the way, so the meal plan this week is a short one.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
A Good Excuse for a Party
Much foodiness has occurred over the last few days, and I have been remiss in my writing:
Thursday: meeting with kitchen designer to review his ideas, followed by Vietnamese food delivered from Nha Trang to our friends' house. The food was excellent, as usual—we opted for the Vietnamese dinner for four (spring rolls, wonton soup, satay beef and vegetables, Vietnamese ginger chicken and tofu with tomatoes, and then added a special bird's nest (fried noodle basket topped with stir-fry) and salad rolls). Our children, amazingly, played well together, and it was in some strange way refreshing to only have an 18 month old poking at our five month old, because he seemed far less likely to do any damage compared to 40lb-D's usual hijinks.
Friday: prepping for a family birthday dinner, to take place Saturday. Supper was a momentous occasion, because D completely cleared his plate. The winning dinner was pork piccata with lemon caper sauce, simple roasted baby potatoes, steamed broccoli, and sauteed carrots and zucchini.
Saturday: spent today preparing for a homemade pizza party to celebrate Uncle Kevin's birthday. Grandma and Grandpa came, as well as six kids ranging in age from 5 months to 17 years. Keeping in mind potentially fussy eaters, I kept flavours relatively simple:
Veggie plate with dill dip
Avocado, radish and orange salad with lemon Dijon vinaigrette
Ham, black bean and mango pizza (inspired by a quesadilla I sampled many years ago—it has become one of our pizza standards) with old Cheddar cheese
Chicken, bacon, caramelized onion and mushroom pizza, with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese
Classic Hawaiian pizza
My mom's amazing devil's food cake with vanilla ice cream
I started planning on Thursday, made my grocery list, and sent D and Dad to the grocery store Friday night while I went to my book club meeting. Late on Friday night, I threw together the pizza dough, to sit overnight. I have to put in a plug for my Kitchenaid mixer at this point, because making pizza dough has never been easier. Throw the ingredients into the mixing bowl, attach the dough hook, turn on, and walk away. It's worth the investment!
Made the cake before noon today and spent the kids' naptime (which they have thoughtfully coordinated again) chopping and prepping so that all of my ingredients were ready to be spread on the pizzas as our guests arrived. I reveled in my lovely ingredients, such as my dad's home-cured and smoked bacon, smoked pepper on the chicken breasts before we grilled them, and the liberal use of bacon fat as a cooking medium for the onions and mushrooms. I didn't manage to make my own tomato base, but instead relied on purchased salsa for the ham/black bean/mango combo, and a jar of fire roasted tomato sauce for the other two. The pizza was a hit.
And damn, Mom. Your cake is simply fantastic. It is my measuring stick for all cakes. I confess that I don't understand the goal of a 'fine crumb' in a chocolate cake. Any finely crumbed cake I've ever tasted seems dry. Mom's cake is moist and chocolatey, while managing to avoid being either too dense or too sweet. Topped with simple chocolate butter icing and good vanilla ice cream, it is probably the only birthday cake for me. I occasionally venture out to try new ones, because it is in my nature to search out improvements. But I have yet to find an improvement on this cake. Dare I say, at least according to my tastebuds, it is perfect.
Mom's Devil's Food Cake
Mix in a large bowl:
3 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
2 c. sugar
1/2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
pinch salt
Make a well in the centre.
Mix together:
2 eggs
1 c. oil
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
Add to dry ingredients. Then add:
1 c. hot coffee
Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate to cool completely. Top with your favourite icing and serve with ice cream.
I'll also share my pizza dough recipe, since I have tried several, and settled on this one as my favourite. I've adapted it from The Lazy Gourmet cookbook, incorporating whole wheat flour and being even lazier than the Lazy Gourmet in my mixing techniques:
3 T. fast rising yeast
2 1/2 c. hot water
2 T. olive oil
2 T. honey
2 T. salt
3 1/2 c. EACH whole wheat and all purpose flour
Place yeast, water, olive oil and honey in a mixing bowl and let sit a few minutes until the mixture starts to foam. Add flour and salt and mix by hand or using a dough hook until it forms a shaggy dough. Knead for five minutes (or just keep that beautiful mixer running for five minutes while you do other things). Let rise, covered, for 30 minutes, or in the fridge overnight.
Roll and stretch thin onto your favourite pizza pan and top with your favourite toppings. Bake at 400F 20-25 minutes.
I often make just a half batch, which is enough for one generous meal for four. Lately, I've been making the entire recipe and then freezing half, so that I have pizza dough on hand for a later date. Tonight, I used the whole batch, which made two large rectangular and one 12-inch round pizza, and fed six adults and five kids (baby G just sucked on a piece of mango) with probably a generous 1/2 a pie leftover for tomorrow. Mmmm. Pizza for breakfast! ...and chocolate cake for dessert.
P.S. I apologize for the lack of photographs. I will try to get better at that. Tonight, my husband said, "You should take some pictures for your blog." I said, "Go ahead, I'm busy." He took a couple, but they're not great. I think it's time to think seriously about an SLR camera...
Thursday: meeting with kitchen designer to review his ideas, followed by Vietnamese food delivered from Nha Trang to our friends' house. The food was excellent, as usual—we opted for the Vietnamese dinner for four (spring rolls, wonton soup, satay beef and vegetables, Vietnamese ginger chicken and tofu with tomatoes, and then added a special bird's nest (fried noodle basket topped with stir-fry) and salad rolls). Our children, amazingly, played well together, and it was in some strange way refreshing to only have an 18 month old poking at our five month old, because he seemed far less likely to do any damage compared to 40lb-D's usual hijinks.
Friday: prepping for a family birthday dinner, to take place Saturday. Supper was a momentous occasion, because D completely cleared his plate. The winning dinner was pork piccata with lemon caper sauce, simple roasted baby potatoes, steamed broccoli, and sauteed carrots and zucchini.
Saturday: spent today preparing for a homemade pizza party to celebrate Uncle Kevin's birthday. Grandma and Grandpa came, as well as six kids ranging in age from 5 months to 17 years. Keeping in mind potentially fussy eaters, I kept flavours relatively simple:
Veggie plate with dill dip
Avocado, radish and orange salad with lemon Dijon vinaigrette
Ham, black bean and mango pizza (inspired by a quesadilla I sampled many years ago—it has become one of our pizza standards) with old Cheddar cheese
Chicken, bacon, caramelized onion and mushroom pizza, with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese
Classic Hawaiian pizza
My mom's amazing devil's food cake with vanilla ice cream
I started planning on Thursday, made my grocery list, and sent D and Dad to the grocery store Friday night while I went to my book club meeting. Late on Friday night, I threw together the pizza dough, to sit overnight. I have to put in a plug for my Kitchenaid mixer at this point, because making pizza dough has never been easier. Throw the ingredients into the mixing bowl, attach the dough hook, turn on, and walk away. It's worth the investment!
Made the cake before noon today and spent the kids' naptime (which they have thoughtfully coordinated again) chopping and prepping so that all of my ingredients were ready to be spread on the pizzas as our guests arrived. I reveled in my lovely ingredients, such as my dad's home-cured and smoked bacon, smoked pepper on the chicken breasts before we grilled them, and the liberal use of bacon fat as a cooking medium for the onions and mushrooms. I didn't manage to make my own tomato base, but instead relied on purchased salsa for the ham/black bean/mango combo, and a jar of fire roasted tomato sauce for the other two. The pizza was a hit.
And damn, Mom. Your cake is simply fantastic. It is my measuring stick for all cakes. I confess that I don't understand the goal of a 'fine crumb' in a chocolate cake. Any finely crumbed cake I've ever tasted seems dry. Mom's cake is moist and chocolatey, while managing to avoid being either too dense or too sweet. Topped with simple chocolate butter icing and good vanilla ice cream, it is probably the only birthday cake for me. I occasionally venture out to try new ones, because it is in my nature to search out improvements. But I have yet to find an improvement on this cake. Dare I say, at least according to my tastebuds, it is perfect.
Mom's Devil's Food Cake
Mix in a large bowl:
3 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
2 c. sugar
1/2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
pinch salt
Make a well in the centre.
Mix together:
2 eggs
1 c. oil
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
Add to dry ingredients. Then add:
1 c. hot coffee
Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate to cool completely. Top with your favourite icing and serve with ice cream.
I'll also share my pizza dough recipe, since I have tried several, and settled on this one as my favourite. I've adapted it from The Lazy Gourmet cookbook, incorporating whole wheat flour and being even lazier than the Lazy Gourmet in my mixing techniques:
3 T. fast rising yeast
2 1/2 c. hot water
2 T. olive oil
2 T. honey
2 T. salt
3 1/2 c. EACH whole wheat and all purpose flour
Place yeast, water, olive oil and honey in a mixing bowl and let sit a few minutes until the mixture starts to foam. Add flour and salt and mix by hand or using a dough hook until it forms a shaggy dough. Knead for five minutes (or just keep that beautiful mixer running for five minutes while you do other things). Let rise, covered, for 30 minutes, or in the fridge overnight.
Roll and stretch thin onto your favourite pizza pan and top with your favourite toppings. Bake at 400F 20-25 minutes.
I often make just a half batch, which is enough for one generous meal for four. Lately, I've been making the entire recipe and then freezing half, so that I have pizza dough on hand for a later date. Tonight, I used the whole batch, which made two large rectangular and one 12-inch round pizza, and fed six adults and five kids (baby G just sucked on a piece of mango) with probably a generous 1/2 a pie leftover for tomorrow. Mmmm. Pizza for breakfast! ...and chocolate cake for dessert.
P.S. I apologize for the lack of photographs. I will try to get better at that. Tonight, my husband said, "You should take some pictures for your blog." I said, "Go ahead, I'm busy." He took a couple, but they're not great. I think it's time to think seriously about an SLR camera...
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Meyer Lemon Jackpot
I couldn't believe my eyes when I discovered Meyer lemons at Herbs and Health. I have long been searching for a supplier of Meyer lemons, one of those ingredients that you always hear about in California cookbooks, but which I've never managed to find here. I bought six, not knowing what I would do with them.
I thought it appropriate to look in one of Alice Waters' cookbooks, as she is a fresh Californian food extraordinaire, and one of the first places I ever read about Meyer lemons. And what better to do with them than make classic lemon curd?
I had made lemon curd a couple of time before, using a Canadian Living recipe, but this time I decided to try Alice Waters' version. It seems that lemon curd is fairly forgiving. Recipes call for whole eggs, egg yolks only, combinations of whole eggs and yolks, different amounts of butter, sugar and lemon juice, but I bet they all turn out great (as long as they're not overcooked, that is).
Alice Waters' version came from The Art of Simple Food: Notes Lessons and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution, another one of those wonderful foodie gifts that I've received from good friends.
1/2 c. lemon juice (from approximately four lemons--I used 4 Meyer lemons and one regular lemon)
Rind from one lemon
2 eggs
3 egg yolks (and now to figure out what to do with the egg whites...)
2 T. milk
1/3 c. sugar
pinch of salt
6 T. butter, softened (or cut into small pieces)
Beat together eggs, milk, sugar and salt in a small, heavy pot. Add lemon juice, rind and butter. Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon. Be sure not to boil. Cool and place in a bowl or jar and refrigerate.
I love lemon curd dolloped onto scones, or even simply spread on toast. It's also delicious stirred into plain yogurt for a sweet and sour treat. I may have to go back to Herbs and Health and buy up their entire shipment of lemons. Curd, marmalade, sorbet, and more...
I thought it appropriate to look in one of Alice Waters' cookbooks, as she is a fresh Californian food extraordinaire, and one of the first places I ever read about Meyer lemons. And what better to do with them than make classic lemon curd?
I had made lemon curd a couple of time before, using a Canadian Living recipe, but this time I decided to try Alice Waters' version. It seems that lemon curd is fairly forgiving. Recipes call for whole eggs, egg yolks only, combinations of whole eggs and yolks, different amounts of butter, sugar and lemon juice, but I bet they all turn out great (as long as they're not overcooked, that is).
Alice Waters' version came from The Art of Simple Food: Notes Lessons and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution, another one of those wonderful foodie gifts that I've received from good friends.
1/2 c. lemon juice (from approximately four lemons--I used 4 Meyer lemons and one regular lemon)
Rind from one lemon
2 eggs
3 egg yolks (and now to figure out what to do with the egg whites...)
2 T. milk
1/3 c. sugar
pinch of salt
6 T. butter, softened (or cut into small pieces)
Beat together eggs, milk, sugar and salt in a small, heavy pot. Add lemon juice, rind and butter. Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon. Be sure not to boil. Cool and place in a bowl or jar and refrigerate.
I love lemon curd dolloped onto scones, or even simply spread on toast. It's also delicious stirred into plain yogurt for a sweet and sour treat. I may have to go back to Herbs and Health and buy up their entire shipment of lemons. Curd, marmalade, sorbet, and more...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Foodie Gifts
This year I got a couple of fantastic gifts from my cousin. After my most recent phone call in which I enthusiastically thanked her for the awesome flour sack tea towels with a butcher's diagram of a pig outlining all the possible cuts of meat, she confessed her strategy for finding me thoughtful foodie gifts: go to etsy.com and type "foodie" into the search engine.
I LOVE the tea towels, and hope to buy more for myself to outfit my new kitchen when it's finally finished, and I will also make a place for the beautiful wood salt box that she gave me for Christmas. If you're ever wondering what to get the foodie on your gift list, you may want to start with Etsy.
I LOVE the tea towels, and hope to buy more for myself to outfit my new kitchen when it's finally finished, and I will also make a place for the beautiful wood salt box that she gave me for Christmas. If you're ever wondering what to get the foodie on your gift list, you may want to start with Etsy.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Busy Mom Tip #5: Delay Gratification
I just pulled some three-colour chip cookies out of the oven, in spite of the fact that at no time during the day were both kids asleep. Little G is growth-spurting and/or teething, which makes him notoriously hard to put down, and D's naps are slowly but surely getting shorter (cringe).
I was successful on the cookie front because I took two days to make it happen. I mixed the batter yesterday in a matter of minutes while making dinner, let it sit in the fridge over night, and it took no time at all to pop them in the oven today. The recipe I used actually calls for the batter to be left in the fridge overnight, since it uses 100% whole wheat flour, and this allows the flour to soak up the liquid a bit more. I used to pass over recipes that required an overnight wait, because I am not a fan of delayed gratification. Now I seek those recipes out, because they mean I'm more likely to reach my ultimate goal of enjoying freshly baked cookies.
I was successful on the cookie front because I took two days to make it happen. I mixed the batter yesterday in a matter of minutes while making dinner, let it sit in the fridge over night, and it took no time at all to pop them in the oven today. The recipe I used actually calls for the batter to be left in the fridge overnight, since it uses 100% whole wheat flour, and this allows the flour to soak up the liquid a bit more. I used to pass over recipes that required an overnight wait, because I am not a fan of delayed gratification. Now I seek those recipes out, because they mean I'm more likely to reach my ultimate goal of enjoying freshly baked cookies.
Product Placement #2: MaraNatha Peanut Butter
I just dipped into a brand new jar of MaraNatha Peanut Butter, and decided I had to share. I have been in a peanut butter conundrum for the last few years. I know that mainstream peanut butter, with its added soybean oil, icing sugar and preservatives, isn't the healthiest choice. But I much prefer peanut butter that has a little bit of added salt and sweetener.
When I was pregnant (the time when I should be eating the healthier food), I caved and went through jar after jar of Kraft peanut butter. Just recently, though, I discovered a much better and absolutely delicious alternative in MaraNatha. The jars I've been buying still don't contain sugar, but the peanuts are ground so smoothly that the texture is like silk, and the nuts are roasted to the perfect point of having their own inherent sweetness. Since I opened a jar of MaraNatha, I haven't looked back.
I also just discovered on their website that this brand has a product called "smooth and sweet", which has added organic cane juice and sea salt. If I ever find that in Saskatoon stores, my life—at least as it pertains to peanut butter—will be complete.
When I was pregnant (the time when I should be eating the healthier food), I caved and went through jar after jar of Kraft peanut butter. Just recently, though, I discovered a much better and absolutely delicious alternative in MaraNatha. The jars I've been buying still don't contain sugar, but the peanuts are ground so smoothly that the texture is like silk, and the nuts are roasted to the perfect point of having their own inherent sweetness. Since I opened a jar of MaraNatha, I haven't looked back.
I also just discovered on their website that this brand has a product called "smooth and sweet", which has added organic cane juice and sea salt. If I ever find that in Saskatoon stores, my life—at least as it pertains to peanut butter—will be complete.
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