Wednesday 27 February 2013

Red Cabbage Salad

sorry didn't take a picture.

Red Cabbage Salad

-1/2 of medium sized red cabbage washed and soaked in salted water for 20 minutes, chopped
-3 green onions
-2 apples (I used gala, with skin on) sliced like match sticks
-2 carrots sliced like matchsticks (I used white carrots)
-2 ribs of celery
-salt and pepper
-juice of 1 lime
-2 tablespoon maple syrup
-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
-1/3 cup olive oil
-roasted almonds or sunflower seeds

-I soak my cabbage in salt water, then chopped it up.  I added the, chopped green onions, apples, carrots, celery, lime juice, maple syrup, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil.  Stir well and let sit in fridge for half an hour, the red of the cabbage bleeds into the other vegetables and the salad has pink hints.  add the sunflower seeds and roasted almonds when ready to eat.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Tarragon Rubbed Roasted Chicken

I had written this herb off, years ago I ate it and disliked it, so I thought I should really try this spice.  So, I made two tarragon recipes.  I started by actually eating tarragon.  So I felt a pasta sauce would work well and I also felt that cooking a rubbed chicken would also induce my children try tarragon.  it has a rich licorice flavour.  My kids essentially inhaled the chicken.  So it was a success.

Tarragon Rubbed Roasted Chicken

-1 chicken, washed, and skin lifted
-1 onion half to stuff inside the chicken
-1 full lemon including zest
-2 tablespoons butter
-2 tablespoons tarragon chopped plus 2 sprigs of tarragon to stuff the chicken
-2 gloves of garlic (1 to stuff in chicken)
-2 shallots chopped
-1/2 cup white wine
-salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375.  Zest the lemon and set aside the lemon zest, cut lemon in half.  Chop two cloves of garlic, tarragon, shallots.  In a small bowl mix together the tarragon, garlic, shallots, and lemon zest. In a pan placed the washed chicken (make sure you pat it dry) and gently separate the skin up to be able to stuff butter under the skin.  Inside the chicken a shake sea salt and freshly ground pepper, then stuff with half a lemon, half an onion, 2 sprigs of tarragon and garlic.  Take the butter mixture and coat the chicken ensuring that tarragon, garlic, and shallots are placed under the skin.  Squeeze the other half of lemon over the chicken and add the wine to the bottom of pan.  Cook in the oven for about an hour and 10 minutes.  (depending on size of chicken).  The skin should be crispy and the chicken moist and delicious.  You can make an amazing gravy out of the dripping by transferring to a pot, boiling and adding corn starch or flour mixture.






Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

-1 medium butternut squash, peeled,  chopped and seeds removed
-2 leeks washed well and diced
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-2 ribs of celery chopped
-3 potatoes peeled and diced
-3 medium carrots peeled and sliced
-1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
-1 tablespoon chili powder
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 can of diced herbed tomatoes
-900ml of broth

In a large sauce pot on medium heat add leeks and oil.  When soft add the butternut squash, the potatoes, celery, carrots, broth and spices.  Allow to cook until all ingredients are soft, about 30 minutes.  Then add the can of tomatoes and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.  I topped each bowl with fresh pepper and parmesan cheese.

This soup freezes well.


Sunday 10 February 2013

Three Mushroom Medely

Three Mushroom Medely

-1 tablespoons olive oil
-3 shallots chopped
-1 cup cremini mushrooms sliced
-1 maitake mushroom broken apart
-1 handful on enoki mushrooms separated
-1/3 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
-1 teaspoon tamari soya sauce
-1/4 cup grated old white cheddar cheese

-in a frying pan on medium heat add oil, shallots and cremini mushrooms.  Cook for about 5 minutes then add the maitake mushrooms, stir.  After about 3 minutes add wine, soya sauce and cheddar cheese.  Allow to cook stirring frequently to ensure cheese does not stick to pan.  Allow to cook for anout 5 minutes and then add enoki mushrooms, stirring them into mixture for 1 minute and serving.



Oven Roasted Vegetables

Oven Roasted Vegetables

-1 red pepper chopped
-1 yellow pepper chopped
-1 medium zucchini sliced like coins
-3 green onions chopped or onion
-1 small jar of artichoke hearts (using 3 tablespoons of the oil over vegetables)
-1/2 teaspoon herb de Provence
-1/2 teaspoon chili powder
-sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  On a cookie sheet toss all the vegetables in the oil from the artichoke hearts.  Season with spices and salt and pepper to taste.  Allow to cook for 30 minutes.  Then broil on high for 4 minutes.



Vegetable Soup

Friday in Toronto was cold, windy and snowy.  There was a terrible storm and I had a sick relative on my hands for the night.  This simple quick soup was hearty, delicious and was perfect for the cold inter day that it was.  I had basically everything in the house.

Vegetable soup

-2 tablespoons oil (olive, vegeatable, butter)
-2 cups of peeled and cubed sweet potato
-1 cup white onion
-3 ribs of celery chopped
-2 carrots
-1 796ml (28oz) can of tomatoes whole with juice
-1 teaspoon herb de Provence
-900ml of vegetable broth
-1/2 teaspoon chili powder
-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

-in a large pot on medium heat add the oil, sweet potato, onion, celery and carrots.  Cook until onions are transparent (about 10 minutes depending in your stove).  Add the tomatoes, broth, chili powder, herb de Provence and pepper.  Reduce to simmer on medium-low heat covered for about an hour or longer.  (It was a cold day so I let it cook on low for a while filling the house with the aromas and warming up the apartment).  This recipe is simple. delicious, you can purée if you wish.



Tuesday 5 February 2013

Spicy black bean dip

Spicy Black bean dip

-1.5 cups black bean soaked over night (cook according to the directions on package) or 2 cans of     black beans boiled for 10 minutes
-1 tablespoon chili powder
-1 teaspoon cumin
-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-salt and pepper
-2 onions
-2 scallions
-2 cloves of garlic
-1/3 cup of red wine
-1 tablespoon tamari (soya sauce)
-2 tablespoon olive oil
-1 cup of water or beef/veggie broth
-juice of 1 lime

-cook black beans (1-2 hours depending on if soaked overnight).  In a frying pan add the spices on medium heat.  Allow the spices to heat up and it enhances the flavour, cook for about 5 minutes.  Spices should be hot and a little steam rising.  Place in a bowl to cool.  Add olive oil to frying pan and add the onions, scallions, garlic and allow them to cook until soft, add the red wine and tamari and allow them to further cook, about 10 minutes on low heat to have fluid to reduce.  Add the beans, spices, water/broth and the juice of the lime.  Allow to simmer together for about 20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper.  Blend or mash and serve.  You can top with salsa, avocados, cheese, sour cream.  Serve with corn chips, pitas or veggies.

(not the best picture, but the dip is tasty)

Monday 4 February 2013

Hearty Chorizo Sausage Stew

It's been freezing in Canada in the last few weeks.  This recipe is guaranteed to warm you up!

Hearty Chorizo Sausage Stew

-4 Chorizo Sausage casing removed
-2 onions chopped
-2 cloves of garlic
-1 cup of red lentils cooked
-2 carrots peeled and chopped
-1-2 turnips or 1 small rutabaga
-1 small sweet potato chopped
-2 potatoes chopped
-1 cup of cooked grain (quinoa, brown rice etc)
-3-4 cups of broth (veg, beef, or chicken)
-1 teaspoon thyme
-1 teaspoon oregano
-1 teaspoon chili powder
-1 bay leaf
-1/2 teaspoon cumin
-salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot cook sausage meat until almost completely cooked, drain fat and add onions and garlic.  While the sausage is cooking in a small pot cook (washed) 1 cup of red lentils with 2 cups of water on medium heat, takes about 20 minutes, I always remove the froth off the cooking lentils.   Once the onions are cooked, add the broth, lentils, carrots, turnip, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and let simmer.  When the root veggies are cooked all the way through, add the whole grain you have precooked, (I added brown rice as it was left overs) and spices.  Allow to simmer on low for about 30 minutes.  The grain will absorb some fluid making it thick.