Sweet & Spicy Tuna Salad Wrap

10 Mar

Tuna salad was a staple growing up in my house. My dad makes a pretty darned good version and it’s one of the go-to lunches at our place these days. While I do love the creamy, mayo-based tuna salad sometimes I crave something a little lighter and with different flavours.

To that end, I make a tuna salad with a base of sesame oil instead of mayo which gives a nice smooth, slightly nutty quality to the salad that is offset with the bright, sweet mango slices. I also add in some hot sauce for a good bite and avocado to balance out the heat.

Ingredients

1 can tuna, packed in water
1/2 sweet pepper, chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1 1/2 tb sesame oil
1 small handful cilantro, roughly chopped
1 ts hot sauce
1/2 lime, juiced
salt and pepper
1/2 mango, sliced
1/2 avocado, sliced
1 handful greens
2-3 large tortillas

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together tuna, pepper, onion.
2. Add the sesame oil in slowly, 1 tb at a time. If the flavour is strong enough for you after 1, stop. This is definitely up to personal tastes.
3. Add in the cilantro, hot sauce, lime juice and salt & pepper to taste.
4. Lightly season the avocado with salt, pepper and lime juice.
5. Spread the tuna salad down the middle of the tortilla. Place the mango & avocado slices on top, then the greens.
6. Wrap ‘er up and eat!

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Citrus Salmon

15 Feb

Salmon is one my favourite fishies so I’m always looking for new ways to make it. I think I’ve pretty much mastered the coconut salmon and J makes a fantastic black pepper- and coriander-coated salmon dish. I wanted something simple, flavourful and easy to make so I decided to give this one a whirl!

Serves 2.

Ingredients

2 salmon fillets, boneless & skinless
1 lemon
1 orange
2 tb cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper
2 tb olive oil

Directions

1.  In a shallow dish, zest the orange and the lemon. Squeeze out all the juice, as well. Toss in the cilantro, reserving a little for garnish, and stir.
2. Place the fillets in the marinade and coat the fish. Marinate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 400F.
4. When the 30 minutes are up, heat the olive oil in a skillet to medium high. Shake off the excess marinade and place the filets in the pan. Cook 2 minutes and then flip. Season with salt & pepper as you cook.
5. Place the pan with the fish into the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes. (I lean toward cooking it for less time rather than more.)
6.  Remove the fish from the oven and plate. Garnish with leftover cilantro and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.

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Meatloaf Cupcake

11 Feb

The Hot Biscuit strikes again! She made individual, mini-meatloaves with mashed potatoes that she piped on to the tops of the loaves to look like icing! A couple of minutes under the broiler and this fabulous little “meatloaf cupcake” was ready to go. What a great idea!

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White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

24 Jan

It’s been a while since I’ve headed into the kitchen to bake, but it was an especially cold weekend and the idea of freshly-baked cookies was too much to ignore. I had seen this recipe in Bite Me and I could hear it calling to me. The tartness of the cranberries contrast the sweet cookies beautifully. I can guarantee that once you make these for the first time, you are going to want to make them every weekend! (Sorry in advance to your waistlines…)

Yields 16 large cookies.

Ingredients

1/2 c softened butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 large egg
1 ts vanilla
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 ts baking soda
1/4 ts kosher salt
1 1/2 c white chocolate chips or pieces
1 c dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a mixer (or with your mixer), cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar at medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla and mix til the batter is fluffy.
3. On low speed, add the flour, salt, baking soda, chocolate and cranberries. Mix until the flour disappears. DO NOT OVERMIX!
4. Drop heaping tablespoons on the prepared baking sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the edges start to brown.
5. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

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Crispy Cod Sandwich

20 Jan

I’m a big cod fan (as evidenced by the many portions of cod I had in Vancouver) but I don’t always think to buy it. We’re trying to eat more fish at home and while we love salmon & tilapia, we were due for a change. So to the  fabulous Bite Me cookbook we turned and tried this recipe out. The cod came out buttery with a great crispy cornmeal coating and the homemade tartar sauce that accompanied it? More, please. J substituted hamburger buns for onion buns and I think it came out better that way.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1/2 c yellow cornmeal
1/2 ts salt
1/4 ts pepper
1/4 c milk
6 cod fillets
1 c mayo
1/4 c chopped pickles
1 tb lemon juice
2 ts Dijon mustard
pinch of cayenne (or more if you want it to be spicy!)
6 buns
shredded lettuce

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with foil and use some cooking spray to ensure the fish won’t stick.
2. Combine the cornmeal, salt & pepper in a bowl. In a separate bowl, pour the milk.
3. Dip the fish in the milk first, then dredge it into the cornmeal mixture.
4. Bake for 7 minutes. Then flip over the fishy and bake another 6 minutes.
5. For the tartar sauce,  whisk together the mayo, pickles, lemon juice, Dijon and cayenne.
6. Toast the buns and then smear the insides with the tartar sauce. Place the fish in the buns, top with lettuce and voila!

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Eating Vancouver: Thursday

17 Jan

And what could top all this fun, frivolity and fish? Thursday’s dinner at C Restaurant just under the Granville bridge. There was some debate as to where my coworkers and I would have dinner on our last night in Vancouver, but after a quick search of the internets, C looked to have the most appetizing and interesting menu and it also afforded a view of the water and Granville Island.

So off we went and we were certainly not disappointed. Greeted warmly by the staff, we were shown to our window-side table. A bottle of wine was picked and then it was on to the really tough decisions. I was fairly certain that any choice would have resulted in scrumptious food arriving at the table, but I was ultimately swayed by the very fancy Caesar salad: romaine lettuce, quail eggs, parmiggiano reggiano and crispy prosciutto slices with an anchovy dressing. I would now like quail eggs to accompany just about all my meals from this point on. That’s not so much to ask, is it? The golden yolks were soft and creamy and cooked perfectly, balancing nicely with the salty dressing, the crunchy lettuce and crisp prosciutto. More, please.

For the main course? Roasted sablefish (which is a fancy name for black cod. Whatever you call it, I’m going to want it) with lobster ravioli, peas, chanterelle mushrooms and…lemonade foam. Full disclosure here: that last ingredient almost stopped me from ordering the dish. Call it a preconceived bias if you will but when I see foam on a menu, I’m immediately turned off. To me, it is the height of pretension. Right up there with the server explaining to me how I should eat my food. In this case, though, I figured it was worth a shot and if I didn’t like it, I could always scoop it off with my spork. (Oh yeah, they provided me with a spork. I wish I’d swiped it.)

So this dish absolutely took the proverbial cake. The fish skin was perfectly crisp and the fish itself was well seasoned. All the accompanying ingredients of the dish were complimentary and I wish I could make it all at home. The lobster broth at the bottom of the bowl was rich and flavorful, without overwhelming the other delicate flavors. And the dreaded lemonade foam? I have to admit that it was a really nice touch as a bright flavor that lifted the dish nicely.

My dining companions and I shared a few bites with each other and it appeared that anything ordered was done beautifully. The foie gras coins that accompanied one dish were as decadent as they should  be, with herbs running through them. The sweetbreads, which I’d never had before, on another dish were delectable and reminiscent of sausage in taste. By the the end of the meal, the plates were just about completely scraped clean and there many a content sighs around the table. Unquestionably, a meal to remember!

One last thing before I wrap up: our hotel had a daily selection of different jams that were all a little different than what you might get at the store. On Wednesday, we had to know what it was we were eating – there were flavours that we couldn’t place. It was sweet, a little savoury and then there was a hint of…something. Turns out it was a strawberry, lemon and black pepper jam and I will definitely be searching that out when I get back to Toronto and I highly recommend you do the same!

I can’t wait to go back to Vancouver to see what else it has to offer. On my next visit, I really want to try out Vikram Vij’s restaurant(s) as I’ve been hearing about them for quite some time now and they look nothing short of spectacular. I’m told that his higher end place is not to be missed – a true dining experience. So look out, Vancouver: I am coming back with an even bigger appetite next time!

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Eating Vancouver: Wednesday

15 Jan

I was really looking forward to dinner on Wednesday as some old colleagues of mine had made reservations at Miku, a Japanese restaurant in the west end of Vancouver.  I’d been perusing the menu for a couple of days prior and was, to be honest, totally overwhelmed at the variety of delicious options it presented. Meeting first for a drink – a golden mojito that I will definitely be making at home – at the Pan Pacific Fairmont, we popped over Miku across the street and were promptly led to our giant table perfect, as one friend pointed out, for sharing!

Leaving it to my dining companions to choose our dishes for the evening was a good move and everything that arrived on the table was not only delicious, but fresh and gorgeously presented. We started with a beer and then sake (choosing the cups was especially fun, resulting in a barrage of Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade jokes) and then it was on to the endless rounds of beautiful seafood.

Not necessarily in this order, we had:

-Goma-ae: assorted vegetables in a handmade sesame sauce

-Aburi Tuna: albacore tuna on a bed of crisp vegetables & dressed with masatake sauce (made with onions, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil)

-Ebi Fritter: lightly beer battered tiger prawns served with a chili cream sauce

-Sockeye Salmon Sashimi

-King Roll: ebi tempura, snow crab & avocado topped with tobiko, with a chili cream sauce

-Salmon Oshi Sushi: local salmon pressed & dressed with our Chef’s own soy & Miku sauce, topped with jalapeño

-Miku Roll: salmon, uni, snow crab & cucumber rolled in tobiko & topped with Miku Sauce

-Coal Harbour Roll: ebi, salmon zuke, lettuce, cucumber & ikura, paired with honey mustard & topped with rice crackers

-Red Wave Roll: snow crab & avocado wrapped in maguro & topped with masatake sauce

Though it all disappeared quickly from the table, the resounding favourite among us was the salmon oshi sushi, which we renamed “fish cubes.” (Appetizing, non? I promise, this dish is not to be missed!) The heat from the jalapeño slice and cracked pepper paired well with the smooth, rich taste of the ruby red salmon between the sticky stacks of rice. These mouthfuls were so good that we had to order another round.

Among the food, the friends I hadn’t seen in ages and the couple of bottles of sake, it was definitely right near the top of the best meals I had out here on the west coast.

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Eating Vancouver: Monday & Tuesday

12 Jan

This week, I’m out on the beautiful west coast. I haven’t been out here since I was 15 and while I have fond memories of my first trip, I definitely didn’t appreciate it the way I do now. This applies to the stunning mountains, the rolling waves of the Pacific and the friendly, relaxed vibe of Vancouverites; however, this is exponentially true of the food. As soon as I found out that I’d be coming out here, I started making dinner plans. I want to eat and I want to eat well, dammit.

First stop: a night out with my cousin on Monday. We met at the downtown hotel where I’m staying and wandered around til we found somewhere that struck our fancy. And where was this place? A little Japanese spot that look enticing. First up? Bring us a Sapporo and some warm sake, my good man!

Once that important decision had been made, it was on to the food. You just know the seafood is going to be incredibly fresh which automatically gives it a leg up. We order a variety of yummy things: salmon, tuna, shrimp, crab, California rolls….and they quickly disappear. Friendly atmosphere, great sushi, even better company: the makings of a great night.

Next, on to lunch at our hotel. Generally, I’m kinda “meh” about hotel food; however, this place does it up really, really well.  Lunch is done tapas-style, but we were absolutely ravenous by time we ate so no sharing for us.  Instead, we ordered sides and a “main.” Asparagus with melted parmiggiano reggiano was ordered by everyone at the table and my companions opted for the flatiron steak with sauteed wild mushrooms and caramelized onion aioli while I opted for the caramelized black cod in a ginger-carrot broth with bok choy and taro chips. De-freaking-lish. The fish was cooked beautifully, flaky and tender, and the broth was bright and warming. A great lunch option as it was filling without making me pine for my comfy hotel bed just a few floors away.

Finally, on to dinner this evening at Lift, a cozy restaurant overlooking the water that was recommend to me by a friend who was on the west coast late last year. Greeted warmly at the door by yet another unfailingly friendly Vancouverite, we were ushered to a great corner table. After ordering a glass of Malbec, I spent a long, long time perusing the menu. I. Wanted. Everything. I finally settled on the duck confit salad with
 mango, pine nuts, wild greens and a raspberry dressing as my app…and probably could’ve stopped there. My dinner companions ordered the sea scallops with truffle mashed potatoes and lobster sauce and baked wild mushrooms on polenta, respectively, and we all had a little of each other’s dishes. Wow. Big flavours, each dish cooked exactly as it should be and interesting combinations to boot.

For a main, I had the braised veal cheeks (I swear they’re great, despite the fact they’re, well, face) with side stripe shrimp ravioli, shiitake tempura and spinach. Whoa. Three surprisingly massive pieces of veal arrived in front me and I gasped a little. Wasn’t quite expecting that! But the meat was incredibly tender, falling apart with each forkful. When asked by the server if we’d like to see a dessert menu, a great groan arose from the table, “Uhhhhhh…..noooooooooooo. Fulllllllll.”

Two days in, two days to go. Wednesday night holds dinner out with some friends I haven’t seen in quite a while at what looks like a great Japanese place called Miku and Thursday night is to be dinner with my boss and coworker at a place just outside of Vancouver proper. Can’t wait, but am so very glad that I have access to a treadmill this week. More to come soon!

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Cornbread Dressing

31 Dec

J made this both at Thanksgiving and at Christmas and it was gobbled up quickly on both holidays.  It makes a nice alternative to the traditional dressing – just something a little different! This recipe is from the Joy of Cooking, a book that gets a fair bit of use in our house. This is a two-step process so first I’ll lay out the recipe for the cornbread, then on to the dressing it is.

Serves 8.

Southern Cornbread

Ingredients

1 tb butter/bacon fat
1 3/4 c  cornmeal
1 tb sugar
1 ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
1 ts salt
2 eggs
2 c buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 450F and coat a 9″ cast iron pan or 8″ glass baking dish with the butter/bacon fat. Place the pan or dish in the oven until the fat smokes. The hotter the better as that’s what gives you a great crust.
2. Whisk together the cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until they are foamy. Whisk in the buttermilk.
4.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until just blended.  Remove your pan from the oven and add all the batter at once.
5. Bake until top has browned and the centre feels firm when pressed, roughly 20 – 25 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Cornbread Dressing

Ingredients

1/3 c butter, unsalted
2 c onions, chopped
1 c celery, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c parsley, minced
1 ts dried sage OR 1 tb fresh sage, minced
3/4 ts salt
1/2 ts black pepper
1/2 – 1 c chicken stock
2 eggs*

Directions

1. Crumble the cornbread into bite-sized cubes with your hands.
2. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat and add butter.
3. Throw in onions, celery, peppers, garlic and cook til softened – roughly 5 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the parsley, sage, salt and pepper.
5. Add the bread cubes and toss til well combined.
6. Stir in the stock until the dressing is moist, but not packed together.
7. Adjust the seasonings to taste.
*8. (Only do this step if you are NOT stuffing the bird.) Beat the two eggs and add to the mixture.
9.  Preheat your oven to 350F. Spoon the dressing into the bird OR moisten with additional stock and bake separately until the internal temperature reaches 165F, approx. 30 minutes.

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A’s Kick-A** Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

31 Dec

The Awesome Brother brought these over on Christmas and they were snarfled up in seconds. Yes, snarfled. He tells me that they’re easy to make and I am happy to report that they are even easier to eat. They’re crunchy. They’re salty. They’re sweet.  Believe me, you want them.

Serves 8.

Ingredients
2 cans whole water chestnuts
2 tb Worcestershire sauce
1 c ketchup
1 c brown sugar
1/2 lb bacon
toothpicks
1 tb hot sauce, optional*

Directions

1. Preheat oven 375F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup. Marinate water chestnuts for roughly 2 hours in sauce.
3. Cut bacon in half lengthwise & wrap one slice around each chestnut.
4. Secure the bacon with a toothpick and arrange the water chestnut wraps in a large baking dish, leaving room between each chestnut.
5. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes.
6. Take the chestnuts out of the oven and drain off any excess fat from the bacon. Glaze with remaining sauce.
7. Return them to the oven for another 30-35 minutes until the bacon is crispy.

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