Introducing: The Hot Biscuit!

23 Sep

The HB and I have been friends for over ten years and I have been more than happy to be her guinea pig and recipient of her extreme culinary generosity in that time. Of all the things she makes, I’d have to say her ginger cookies are my all-time fave:They are completely and utterly addictive. There is no other option but to eat however many you can get your mitts on. (And even with my tiny hands, I can grab a lot of these.) They are simple, not overly sweet and once you’ve had one, you’re going to want a lot more of them.

She also makes absurdly tasty pie. Come on: you know you want this lemon meringue pie…

And thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, there’s the double  chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Yeah, those are no good, either.

Now, the HB likes to expand her horizons. Cookies, pies…they’re awesome and believe me, no one is turning them down. But the girl ALSO makes her famous chocolate salty balls: delicious truffles that are completely irresistible. She makes lemon tarts, brownies and crisps .

And her piece de resistance? A freaking three-tier wedding cake! Below is the test run cake that a few of us were fortunate enough to get our greasy paws on. As usual, she had nothing to worry about as the cake was rich, scrumptious and definitely second-helping-worthy.

It should be noted that she *is* taking orders. If you’d like to get in contact with her, let me know and I’d be happy to pass along your info to her! Believe me, you will not be sorry. The woman cooks with love and it shows.

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Halibut w/ Roasted Grape Tomato Salsa

22 Sep

J made this dish for his mom’s birthday last week. I can’t wait to have it again! The recipe is courtesy of Christine Cushing. First one we’ve made of hers and I will definitely be searching out more!

Halibut can be a bit expensive. If you don’t feel like splurging, haddock would work in a pinch!

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, cut in half, crosswise
12 red pearl onions, blanched and peeled
5-6 tb olive oil
2 lime (zest & juice)
5-10 thyme sprigs
salt & pepper
4 60z halibut (or haddock) filets
1 tb thyme, chopped
2 c basmati rice, cooked

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375F.
2. Add 2-3 tb of the olive oil, tomatoes, pearl onions, zest & juice of one lime and thyme sprigs into a roasting pan. Roast until tomatoes and onions start to soften, roughly 7-10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, season fish with salt and pepper, zest from 1 lime and chopped thyme. Add 2tb of olive oil to sauté pan over medium high heat. When pan is hot, sear both sides (1 to 2 minute per side).
4. Transfer the fish to the roasting pan.  Roast the fish with the vegetables for 7-9 minutes.
5. Plate the fish with the tomatoes & onions, drizzling some of the juices from the pan.  Serve with the rice.

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Spaghettini w/ Feta & Cherry Tomatoes

21 Sep

Easy, tasty and gave us the chance to use some of the cherry tomatoes from the garden.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 lb spaghettini
2 garlic, minced
10 pearl onions, peeled & halved
1 c cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c feta, crumbled
1/4 c basil, julienned
1/2 lemon, juiced
4 tb olive oil
salt & pepper

Directions

1. Boil the salted water for the pasta and cook to the directions on the package.
2. Heat 2tb of olive oil to low-medium in a sauce pan.
3. Add onions.  Saute 5 minutes.
4. Add garlic and tomatoes and saute for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Strain pasta, reserving one cup of water.
6. Gently mix the onions, garlic & tomatoes to the pasta. Add the rest of the olive oil, feta, basil & lemon juice.
7. Stir, adding salt & pepper to taste. For a creamier texture, add in the reserved pasta water.

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New Family Traditions

16 Sep

Growing up, my parents always did the holiday dinners. My job was to be the helper: setting the table, peeling things, tidying up around the house, etc. Thanksgiving is always held up at the cottage and a few years ago, my mom decided that she no longer had the inclination to haul a turkey and all the accompanying dishes up north, so turkey was out and ham was in.

Now, there’s nothing *wrong* with ham, per se, but it’s just…it’s just not Thanksgiving. So, a couple of years ago, my brother and I took on T-giving duties. My side of the bargain: turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies. My brother does the stuffing and brings dessert; dad does the gravy; and mom’s in charge of cranberries. I was a little nervous makin’ up the bird for the first time, but I think we were all pleased at how it turned out! OK…so I was very proud. I didn’t poison anyone and I didn’t turn the white meat into sawdust! And  I had some fun chasing my brother around the cottage, threatening him with the turkey neck…

So, this year, there will be an herb-crusted turkey. And cornbread stuffing, courtesy of the awesome husband. There will be veggies and salad and mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberries and dessert. Most importantly, my family will be around the dinner table teasing each other, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. For all of this, there is much to be thankful.

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Coconut Curry

15 Sep

I absolutely love curries. I think they have a great balance of sweet and spicy and are incredibly versatile. I frequently make a Thai-influenced coconut curry that comes out better each time I make it so it shows up at the dinner table a lot around here.  The recipe below is vegetarian, but should you choose to add meat or seafood (like I did in the picture), it’s equally delicious. Great to take for lunch the next day – your coworkers *will* be jealous. 🙂

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 tb sesame oil
2 ts minced ginger
2 garlic cloves
1 sweet pepper, chopped
5-10 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 c green onions, chopped
2 ts curry powder
3 ts red curry paste
1 ts ground cumin
4 ts soy sauce
1 ts brown sugar
1 ts salt
14 oz coconut milk
1 lime
1/2 ts hot sauce
3 c rice, cooked
2 tb cilantro

Directions

1. Heat your oil to medium in a large sauce pan and add the garlic and ginger. Saute 1 minute.
2. Add pepper, mushrooms and green onions. (If you’re using meat add it in this step, too. For shrimp/fish, wait until the coconut milk goes in.) Saute 2 minutes.
3. Stir in curry powder, curry paste and cumin. Saute 1 minute.
4. Add soy, sugar, salt & coconut milk, hot sauce and 1/2 the lime juice.
5. Simmer, but DO NOT BOIL, for 10 minutes. At five minute mark, add in peas.
Stir, taste and adjust if necessary.
6. Remove from the heat.
7. Serve over rice, sprinkle with cilantro and squeeze remaining lime juice on top.
8. Devour.

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Why I’m Going To Miss My Parents’ Garden

13 Sep

My parents are moving from their three-bedroom, two-yard home into a condo in the coming months. (Make no mistake, though this is the home I grew up in, I’m very excited for the next chapter in their lives!) I will miss much about that house, especially the backyard with fruit trees, a raspberry bush and the garden. Every year, my dad plants all sorts of things – even corn. (Sadly, not much corn and no baseball players emerged.) A couple of years ago, J and I planted a few things including hot peppers and mint, the latter of which promptly took over the back half of the garden. Sorry, Dad.

What I will miss most, though, are the tomatoes. I always knew summer was winding down when the tomatoes came out in full force: little ones, big ones, red ones, yellow ones…all delicious in their own right, all practically falling off the vines, ready to be picked. Once you’ve had home grown fruit and vegetables, it’s hard to beat.

So, to all my dad’s hard work, I say thank you. To all the gardeners and farmers, keep up the amazing work. I, for one, appreciate it even more now that it won’t be in the back yard for us anymore.

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Comfort Food

10 Sep

Everyone’s got ’em. You know, those foods that you crave when you’re having one of THOSE days. Maybe they take you back to childhood or maybe they’re a more recent discovery; but, either way, they’re the foods that can make you literally sigh with relief.

For me, the list is fairly short: roasted chicken, soft chocolate chip cookies, matzoh ball or orange-ginger-lime soup, samosas, aaaaaaaaaaand….red wine.  No, it’s not food, but it’s verrah, verrah comforting after a long day. What all of these food(-like) items have in common is their ability to remove stress and replace it with happy memories. Even the making of these dishes can be therapeutic! A really good stress relief? Pounding cutlets with a pan or rolling pin. That feels goooooooooood.

How about you? What are your particular favourite comfort foods?

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Kitchen Disasters: Funnel Cakes

7 Sep

In the kitchen, not everything turns out the way it’s intended. When I first started cooking, I was really into desserts. For some reason, I got it in my head that I wanted to learn how to make funnel cakes. How hard can it be to make and fry batter and open a can of filling?

I did some test runs with J’s supervision. I made up the batter. I heated up the oil, checking the temp with a wooden spoon.* I carefully piped out a long string of batter, criscrossing the pan. Naturally, I burnt the first one a little, but on subsequent batches, got the hang of it. They were delicious and I had something new in my repertoire!

Fast forward a month, and I’m at a girlfriend’s place having offered to make her funnel cakes. (Oh, and they were going to be dinner.) We had everything we needed: ingredients for batter, blueberry pie filling and vanilla ice cream. We were ready to pig out. I made up the batter, heated the oil and checked the temp. We seemed ready to go!

What I somehow failed to notice was that the oil wasn’t just hot, it was literally smoking. I added the batter to the oil and it…uh…crisped in seconds. Moments later, the entire kitchen was filled with smoke. We opened the window which, while helping to clear the smoke in the kitchen, was not especially effective at clearing the smoke that had completely taken over the two-story house.

Doors and windows were flung open; smoke detectors were temporarily removed; kitties were nonplussed. Twenty minutes later, we had pretty much cleared out the house and were ready to try again. I turned down the heat for the oil a smidge, kept two eagle eyes on the pot and tried again with my girlfriend ready to, once again, howl with laughter at me while ventilating the house. (It’s important to multitask.)  Round two? Success! We gorged on perfectly fried funnel cakes, topped with blueberry filling and ice cream.

And what did I learn from this lung-clogging experience?

1. Keep a very, very close eye on the oil.
2. Fried deliciousness is worth a second shot.

*To see if your oil is hot enough, put the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil. If bubbles form around it, you’re good to go.

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Sunday Dinners: Spice-Rubbed Tilapia with “Papango” Salsa

6 Sep

The first question I expect you’re asking is, “What the hell is papango salsa?” Good question. Glad you asked!
I found a recipe for tilapia with mango salsa and while it sounded delicious, I thought it could be even better with a little more sweetness from a papaya. Thus, papango salsa was born.

On with the recipe…

Serves 2.

Ingredients

2 tilapia filets
3 ts chili powder
3 ts cumin
2 ts oregano
1 ts kosher salt
1 ts pepper
2 ts olive oil
1 small mango, diced
1/2 papaya, diced
1/2 orange or red pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, finely diced
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime (juice)
dash salt & pepper

Directions

Salsa

1. Combine the mango, papaya, pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice salt & pepper and set aside for the flavors to mix. *Note: if you make the salsa more than an hour ahead of dinner, do not add the salt. It will pull out a lot of the moisture in the fruit and the salsa will be watery. Instead, add it before you start cooking the fish.

Tilapia

1. In a bowl, combine chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt & pepper. Taste and adjust to taste, if desired.
2. Coat the fish in the seasoning evenly. (A fork works really well for sprinkling the seasoning evenly if you don’t want to use your fingers.)
3.Heat up olive oil in a large pan to medium high.
4. Add the fish to the pan and cook for 3 minutes per side.
5. When the fish is cooked through, plate and top with salsa.
 

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Finally! New shows on FN!

1 Sep

As I suspect has become clear, I am totally addicted to the Food Network. I will watch just about anything, with the exception of Robert Irvine who lied about his entire resume, Laura Calder who puts me to sleep and that idiot from Road Grill. I have watched, ad nauseum, episodes of Restaurant Makeover, Chef At Home, Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (British, not US), DDD, Giada, etc. I have seen every episode of I Do…Let’s Eat! at least 5 times.  (Weddings and food: what’s not to love??!) But, over the summer, with the exception of The Next Food Network Star, everything is a re-run. EVERYTHING. This gets tiresome pretty quickly, though I’m pretty sure I can watch Lynn Crawford get jumped on by lambs endlessly: check it out at the 12 minute mark or so.

But now?  Top Chef? Check. The Opener? Check. Dinner Wars? Check. Shows are returning with new episodes and new shows are hitting the airwaves and it’s about freaking time. Of the reality shows, Chef is unquestionably the best. Talented people doing what they love. It’s a bunch of Type A’s competing against and living with each other. The judges are knowledgeable and, often, hilarious. It’s infinitely better than Top Chef Masters, though I did enjoy watching some of the best chefs in the world do their thang.

I got a chance to check out David Adjey’s new show, The Opener, last night. All in all, not bad! Adjey is entertaining and very passionate and is clearly modeling himself on Gordon Ramsay right down to the leather jackets….and skin.  (Hard livin’, my friends. It shows up all-too-clearly in glorious HD.) He was always fun to watch on Restaurant Makeover and I anticipate that Opener will do well.

As for Dinner Wars, I’m excited about the concept but I actively loathe Corbin Tomaszeski. He was alright in the short-lived Crash My Kitchen but his episodes on Restaurant Makeover are my least favourite by far.  He’s condescending, rude and generally obnoxious. Maybe he’ll be able to tame his crapulent attitude a bit this time around. I’m all for snark – in fact,  I often delight in it – but he’s too freaking much.

How about you guys? Anyone excited about returning or new shows?

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