Archive for March, 2009
Fridge and freezer getting sparse (but then again not really). Please send produce. (W continues to plow through several apples and pears a day, has frozen berries in his smoothies and loves his dried apricots. Please don’t call child services.)
Today’s pasta creation made use of ricotta still left over from shooting last month, half a bag of penne pasta from the near bottomless (or backless? that sounds more like a sexy dress) dry goods cupboard, some frozen chicken breasts and spinach, and some jarred pesto. Penne boiled while chicken cooked in skillet with just a bit of oil, salt and pepper. Penne tossed with a few spoonfuls of pesto and about half a cup of ricotta. Shake of crumbled spinach added to browned chicken in pan until thawed, then dumped over pasta. Peppered. Who needs recipes?
One Year Ago: Brown & Wild Rice and Barley Salad with Chick Peas, and ice cream with Warm Chocolate Peanut Butter Sauce
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March 12 2009 | leftovers | 8 Comments »
I am quite slow on the uptake. That memo probably took awhile to get out.
I have been meaning to revisit the Thai chicken thighs since a conversation broke out on the topic months ago. I have just now gotten ’round to digging some skinless chicken thighs out of the freezer and throwing them in the slow cooker with a cup of salsa, a couple big spoonfuls of peanut butter, a squirt of soy sauce and lime juice, and a small spoonful of grated ginger. Served over leftover rice, fried up in a little canola and sesame oil with some frozen peas. V. tasty. In fact, my parents popped by tonight after a meeting and almost finished the leftovers cold, at the kitchen counter, standing up. My Dad asked what was in it. (This is a v. good sign.)
Seriously, this is about as easy as it gets. It looks a little watery at first, but give it a chance – the sauce will cook up nicely. Just be gentle with them when they’re done; if you take of the lid and give it a stir, all the thighs will come apart and you’ll wind up with juicy chunks with naked bones swimming around the pot.
Thai Chicken Thighs
8 skinless chicken thighs
1 cup salsa
1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter (any kind)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 tsp. grated ginger
Put everything in the slow cooker and set on low for 6 hours. Serve warm over rice.
One Year Ago: Oven Roasted Barbecue Ribs
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March 11 2009 | chicken & turkey and slow cooker | 20 Comments »
Friends, gather ’round to bear witness here to the near miraculous transformation of the humble root vegetable.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. You know carrot cake? It can be made using pretty much any root vegetable! This one is made with carrots, beets and sweet potato; I brought it in to the Eyeopener this morning and made myself plenty of friends. The best part: I found mid-cake making that I was out of applesauce, and used instead a jar of baby food squash, and it worked just perfectly. (Generally I would use a cup of applesauce, but I got away with one 125 mL jar of baby food.) Canned pureed pumpkin would work as well, and both have far more nutrients than applesauce.
Root Vegetable Cake
This is just like a carrot cake – after all, carrots are root vegetables – but using any combination of beets, sweet potatoes and carrots you like. If you like, use baby food squash or sweet potato puree in place of the applesauce, or replace half of the oil with applesauce (use 1 cup oil and 1 ½ cups applesauce) or pumpkin puree, which is nutrient dense and goes well with grated root veg.
3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour
2 cups (500 mL) sugar (I sometimes use half white, half brown sugar)
1 Tbsp. (15 mL) baking soda
2 tsp. (10 mL) cinnamon
1 tsp. (5 mL) salt
1 cup (250 mL) canola or vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger (optional – or 1 tsp. dried)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 packed cups coarsely grated carrots, beets, sweet potatoes or a combination
1 cup (250 mL) applesauce (sweetened or unsweetened)
1 cup (250 mL) chopped walnuts, pecans, raisins, or dried cranberries, or a combination of dried fruit and nuts
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray a Bundt pan or two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, ginger and vanilla. Add the oil mixture, grated vegetables and applesauce to the dry ingredients and stir by hand until almost combined. Add the nuts and dried fruit and stir just until the batter is blended.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes for a Bundt cake, or for 40-45 minutes for layer cakes, until the tops are cracked and springy to the touch and the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan.
Cool the cake(s) in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then loosen the edge with a knife, and invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. If you decide to frost the cake, make sure it is completely cool first, or the frosting will melt and slide down the sides. Makes 1 cake, serving 16.
One Year Ago: Ham and Black Bean Soup
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March 10 2009 | cake | 24 Comments »
But wait – these are healthy. No really. They are made with oats, bananas, canola oil and just-peanuts peanut butter – and no sugar – all the sweetness comes from the over-ripe bananas. I had seen a recipe for Nikki’s Healthy Cookies over at 101 Cookbooks some time ago, and this afternoon upon flushing my lower kitchen cupboards (sounds much like an enema, doesn’t it? Seriously – you’d be amazed at what came outta there) to sort and consolidate the hundred or so bags of flours, grains, lentils, dried fruits and assorted weird ingredients, I decided I needed to make something using at least some of it. Plus I had three near-black bananas in the fruit bowl, W needed a wintery day project, and we were going to my Mom’s for dinner, and promised to bring cookies. And she’s diabetic. Now I’m no Sherlock Holmes, but all signs pointed to me making these.
The original recipe called for almond meal, which I didn’t have (and didn’t much feel like making out of whole almonds, although I easily could have) – it occurred to me that almond butter would do the trick, and then – of course – peanut butter to go with the banana! The all-nut nut butters are pretty dry anyway. I almost added an egg. And just a bit of sugar or honey. But I held off, and I’m glad I did – these are actually really good and held together very well. They are not very sweet, but definitely sweet enough for kids and diabetics, and even myself, which is surprising in my current chocolate-addicted state. My only regret is not using some of my Bernard Callebaut or Scharffen Berger chocolate stash, and opting instead to use up a (rather crappy) chocolate bar Mike bought for the low low price of $3 from a kid fundraising door to door. (On the wrapper was a cartoon guy in a canoe with the slogan “Tip a Canoe!” – how could it not be good quality chocolate?)
Peanut Butter & Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies
3 large, very ripe bananas
1/2 cup all-natural (just peanuts) peanut butter, or almond butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups old-fashioned (large flake) or quick oats
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 – 1 cup chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl mash the bananas with the peanut butter, oil and vanilla. In another bowl stir together the oats, coconut, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients along with the chocolate and stir until combined.
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet, or one that is sprayed with nonstick spray, and bake for 12-14 minutes, until just set.
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
Speaking of my overstuffed cupboards, I have decided to take a Thelma & Louise approach to this no-shop business. I believe it has been two weeks today, and I’m going to keep going. Not only because I feel like it hasn’t really been much of a challenge yet, but because it really has been refreshing to use some of this stuff up, rather than continue to stockpile it. I mean really – should I have to cram everything I buy into an already full freezer/cupboard/shelf? Something is wrong with this picture. I’m sure I’ve saved a ton of money, too.
One Year Ago: Honey Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Ganache
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March 08 2009 | cookies & squares and snacks | 42 Comments »
Ah, the midnight posting. How I’ve missed you.
I bailed on both my invitations to do something fun and exciting tonight, after a mild panic over what to make for dinner in time to do both. I was about to resort to something along the lines of oatmeal or smoothies when my next-door neighbour/friend popped in the back door with a bag of something. He’s a chef – the bag, as I hoped, held lamb ravioli, colourful chopped veg and a container of balsamic reduction. Dinner.
I thought I still didn’t have time. When he left I put it in the fridge, thinking I’d make it tomorrow.
My neighbour has just launched The Passionate Plate, which is like one of those meal assembly places but you don’t have to actually go anywhere or assemble anything; all you do is go online and order, and a chef prepares it all and delivers it to your door. Pizza is so last week.
To elaborate: Tender Lamb shoulder braised in red wine, mixed with tangy goat cheese and wrapped in hand made pasta dough. Served with a rich reduction of aged balsamic vinegar and herb-infused beef broth. I boiled some water, threw the ravioli in and as it cooked, gave the finely chopped veg a quick turn in a hot pan, poured over the sauce, as I drained the pasta the sauce bubbled down until it was thick enough to drag a spoon through and leave a trail (this took about a minute), and poured it overtop. (I did this backwards: the package instructed I put the sauce down first and top it with pasta and cheese; it likely would have looked more cheffy and properly plated this way.) It was very tasty, and was finished in under 10 minutes. Ten! There’s convenience food and there’s real fast food – Hamburger Helper will put you back half an hour, and trust me, you’ll be worse for it.
Plus, with near-ready meals like this, you can have people over and pull off a relatively fancy (and fresh) dinner in next to no time, for not much more than buying the ingredients and assembling them yourself. And less than ordering pizza. Or on crazy weeks, have dinner delivered to your door for the week to pull out and finish when you get home from work. OK, now I am coming across as an infomercial. At least I’m not plugging the Thighmaster.
One Year Ago: Curly Gaspetti with Bison Meatballs
March 06 2009 | leftovers | 52 Comments »
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