Archive for the 'chicken & turkey' Category
(Or I could say Rosemary Roasted Chicken Breasts with Yukon Gold Potatoes, if I were writing a fancy schmancy menu.)
And that’s right, I had dessert first. As if I wasn’t still all blissed out from the barbecue extravaganza on Sunday, today I got to attend an ice cream social at Bernard Callebaut (Chocolaterie) to celebrate their new chocolate and white chocolate soft serve and hazelnut and white chocolate ice cream bars. We got to doll up our soft ice cream (talk about my two favorite worlds clashing in the best possible way - BC chocolate and soft ice cream) with bowls of hazelnut sauce (made of equal amounts caramelized sugar and ground toasted hazelnuts, and that’s all) and dark, thicker-than-molasses karamel sauce that’s well worth the hour on an elliptical trainer I’m sure each mouthful costs. (Both can be had at any BC location.) Oh, and also? Summer Fruit Creams. Chocolate cups filled with fresh fruit purees (I tried mango, passionfruit and apple-raspberry) blended with crème fraîche; each flavour (mango, banana, Saskatoon Berry, lemon, Marionberry and passion fruit) is being produced for only two weeks this summer - limited edition chocolates, you might say.
While I’m on the subject of Bernard, I’d like to clarify if I haven’t before that Callebaut chocolate and Bernard Callebaut chocolate are not the same thing. If you see chunks of Callebaut chocolate in the bulk section of the grocery store for a ridiculously low price, it’s because it’s not Bernard Callebaut, it’s Barry Callebaut. Long story; suffice to say if it doesn’t say BC it’s not BC. And it’s well worth seeking out.
This was late afternoon, so when I got home and pondered the dinner dilemma, I was too full to be hungry or creative. So what seemed to me the ultimate cop-out was actually quite satisfying and simple; all I did was throw the chicken pieces in a baking dish and dice a couple Yukon gold potatoes around it, toss the lot with some oil (canola or olive) and salt and pepper, and threw a couple sprigs of rosemary on top only because it was either use them or toss them out tomorrow. About an hour in the oven and dinner was ready, but I still wasn’t hungry.
In other news, I’ve been tagged by Shawna of Daily Deliciousness to share 5 things about me. Who am I to turn down a game of tag?
What was I doing ten years ago?
1998… I had just closed my low-fat bakery, One Smart Cookie, and was trying to convince Subway to sell my cookies in their stores. Whenever someone from Subway would call, I’d answer the phone, “One Smart Cookie!” And when they’d ask for me, I’d say “please hold, I’ll see if she’s in her office.” It was also around that time that I decided if the Best of Bridge and Looneyspoons girls could self-publish a cookbook and make a go of it, I probably could too.
What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?
1. Go to the gym (spinning class) - does it count if it was on my to-do list but didn’t get done?
2. Attend an ice cream social at Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut (I feel far too guilty to label free ice cream “work-related”, although technically I suppose it was - this was definitely checked off my list. In spades.)
3. Buy and send cards to two friends who have lost family and friends
4. Plan presentation for Diabetes Expo (does it count as work when I’m a volunteer presenter?)
5. Put up more posters and send out press releases for Ramsay Rocks (if you’re in Calgary on June 22 - come to the party in the park behind Ramsay school!)
Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Bernard Callebaut soft ice cream or white chocolate ice cream bar coated in thick dark chocolate
2. granola with yogurt and berries
3. toasted whole wheat bagel with peanut butter (half)
4. Riceworks Sweet Chili brown rice chips
5. John Cusack
Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Get my teeth fixed (this makes me sound like I’m a candidate for Extreme Makeover - just cavities and residual damage/broken molars from a dentist we had as kids who did more work than he needed to, and a shoddy job of it, but my estimate is $10k and since I work out of my spare room, I don’t have dental. Why didn’t I marry a dentist? Maybe I could have an affair with one?)
2. Build some new buildings, buy vehicles and sponsor school for the families of Ubuntu in Rwanda.
3. Launch some new companies with the express purpose that the money they generate support various charities
4. Make sure none of my family and friends need to worry about bills anymore.
5. Buy a car (or two) that isn’t a red Honda Accord, and a Mac, and John Cusack (I could be his Sugar Momma)
It’s of course a given that I’d do some travelling (what the hell, I’m a billionaire)
Places I’ve lived:
1. Calgary
2. Vancouver
3. Toronto (but only until grade 2)
Jobs I’ve had:
1. Mascot (Howdy , one of the mascots for the 1988 Winter Olympics, the ATP Elephant, the Alpha Milk Bear)
2. Cashier at Mmmmmmmarvellous Mmmmmmuffins
3. Photographer for the Bargain Finder
4. Nanny
5. Owned a low fat cookie bakery (One Smart Cookie)
Tag, you’re it!
1. M at Tartelette
2. Dana at Dana McCauley’s Blog
3. Meena at Hooked: on Heat
4. Ellie at Kitchen Wench
5. Jen at fresh cracked pepper
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June 03 2008 | chicken & turkey and eating out | 8 Comments »
I know, this hardly sounds like an ideal late-May dinner. October, maybe? But it has been raining for a week and the temperature has hardly crept past 10 degrees. We’ve had to turn the furnace back on, and as I write this I’m wrapped up in a flannel blanket like someone from a Neo Citran commercial.
I picked up a 2 pack of chickens at the grocery store yesterday, and, as always, it’s exactly as much work to roast two than it is to roast one. So why not set myself up for a weeks’ worth of leftovers? Leftover roast chicken is the most versatile kind; I’m already envisioning a nice big chicken Caesar salad tomorrow, maybe some quesadillas the next day, and when almost all the meat has been stripped off - soup. Or perhaps, since my Dad is out of town, I’ll bring the spare over to my mum to ensure she doesn’t subsist on Pizza Hut for the next 4 days.
Generally when I roast a chicken I don’t bother with any prep beyond rubbing it with a bit of oil and sprinkling it with salt and pepper, but since I now have a healthy crop of fresh thyme in my garden, I thought I’d put forth a little extra effort. So I crushed about 6 cloves of garlic into a few tablespoons of olive oil, and grated in the zest of a lemon, too. I went out in the rain and plucked out about half of my crop of thyme, careful not to completely obliterate my supply. I came inside, washed it and lost it.
Seriously. I completely lost my thyme somewhere in my kitchen, and never found it again. I wonder where my brain told me to put it. So… chicken with lemon and garlic it is. It would have been fab in the mushroom risotto, too. Not to mention the beets and carrots…
Roast Chicken with Lemon and Garlic
The only difference between roasting and frying chickens is size; fryers are a little smaller.
1 or 2 chickens, roasters or fryers
a couple tablespoons olive or canola oil
4-6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lemon
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped, or 1 tsp. dried (optional)
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 450°F. In a small bowl, mix the oil, garlic, grated zest of the lemon and the thyme. Pat the chicken dry, put it (or them) into any sort of dish or roasting pan, and rub all over with the oil mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in half and put inside the chicken, or put half inside each.
Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375°F and cook for about another hour, or until the juices run clear and the joints wiggle in their sockets.
The risotto, of course, is because I haven’t been able to shake the memory of Mike’s barley risotto from River Café. (I wish I had the nerve to email Scott and ask for the recipe, but I don’t, even though he’s one of the nicest chefs I know.) It was simple to make, actually, exactly the same as making regular risotto with rice, but a little slower as the barley doesn’t absorb the liquid quite as quickly. This risotto would be great with a bit of blue cheese crumbled in at the end, so that it barely melts.
Mushroom Barley Risotto
Use any kind of mushrooms you like in this risotto. I found some dried ones and soaked them; if you do this, you can use the soaking liquid along with the stock, but make sure you strain it to get rid of any grit.
canola or olive oil, for cooking
2 Tbsp. butter (optional - you could use only oil)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup pearl or pot barley
5 cups stock (I used a 1L tetra pack of stock plus about a cup of water that the dried mushrooms had soaked in)
2 cups (or as many or as little as you like) chopped mushrooms - button, brown, Portobello, or 1 cup dried mushrooms, rehydrated in boiling water
1 garlic clove, crushed
In a medium pot, heat a drizzle of oil with a tablespoon of butter over medium heat and sauté the onion for a few minutes, until it’s soft and translucent. Add the barley and cook for another minute, then pour in about a cup of stock or other liquid.
Cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Add another cup and cook in the same way, adding stock and stirring until all the stock is absorbed. It should take almost an hour.
Meanwhile, heat another drizzle of oil and the remaining tablespoon of butter in a large skillet and sauté the mushrooms until they release their moisture and start to turn golden. Stir into the risotto and season with salt and pepper.
Serves 4-6.
But. Truly? My favorite part of this meal by far was the roasted beets and carrots, cooked again in a balsamic-honey glaze that virtually candied them. I ate almost the whole batch, then mopped up the rest of the sauce from the pan with a chunk of bread, fantasizing about how next time I’ll double the sauce ingredients and pour the whole mess over a bed of salad greens, maybe with some crumbled goat cheese and toasted pecans. After the gym.
Beets take longer to roast than carrots; I wrapped them in foil and stuck them in alongside the chicken for the first hour, then pulled them out and cooled them outside and slid a pan of chunked carrots tossed in oil into the oven beside the chicken. When they were starting to turn golden and the beets were cool enough to handle, I peeled them and sliced them into a skillet with 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons of honey and 1 tablespoon of oil - in retrospect there was enough oil in the pan with the carrots. The carrots went in too and I turned up the heat until the mixture bubbled and thickened, covering the veg with a sticky glaze. It was fantastic.
Honey-Balsamic Glazed Roasted Beets & Carrots
You don’t need measurements here - but I’ve listed the proportions that I used; you can adjust each accordingly. The veg could be roasted in advance, then reheated in the balsamic and honey on the stovetop just before serving.
3 largish beets, tops trimmed
4 largish carrots, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
olive or canola oil, for cooking
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey or maple syrup
Wrap the beets in foil and roast them in the oven (at 350F - 400F, or whatever temperature the oven happens to be on) for 45 minutes to an hour, until tender. Set them aside until cool enough to handle.
Peel and chop the carrots and toss with a drizzle of oil in a baking pan. Roast for about half an hour, turning once or twice, until soft and starting to turn golden. Place the balsamic vinegar and honey in a large skillet, then add the carrots to the skillet along with any oil that has accumulated in the bottom of the pan, and when the beets are cool enough to handle, peel them with your fingers and slice into wedges into the pan.
Set it over medium-high heat and cook until the mixture bubbles and the liquid thickens, coating the carrots with a sticky glaze. Serve immediately, or cool and serve over a salad.
Serves 4 (or 2 if I’m there).
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May 24 2008 | chicken & turkey and grains and veg | 2 Comments »
Conclusion: the roast chicken stuffed with crumbled falafel was a stupendous success.
I decided that since the bird had already been given a middle Eastern theme, I’d dress it up a little with a rub - a paste made with 2 Tbsp. olive oil, a crushed clove of garlic, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper and 1/4 tsp. allspice. (Mashing it together proved once and for all that my mortar and pestle is useless. Pretty, but the smooth marble does not promote grinding; it rather allows everything to slide around unless you directly bash it with the end of the pestle. I’ve seen those coarse ones at Winners for under $20, and imagine they’d do a much better job of it.)
I’ll spare you the photo of the goopily rubbed raw chicken. It just doesn’t look appetizing at all. But after an hour and a half in the oven:
Huge success. The rubbed-down crispy skin was fantastic paired with the falafel stuffing, which was admittedly mushy, but in the best possible way, all loosened up by the chicken juices. I could hardly contain myself from picking at the crispy bits coming out of the bird and in the bottom of the pan. OK, I didn’t restrain myself at all.
To go with it, a Greek salad. Chopped tomato, cucumber, slivered purple onion, crumbled feta, tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette - Newman’s Own Balsamic Vinaigrette makes a perfect Greek salad dressing, but I don’t buy bottled salad dressings since they’re so easy to make - particularly balsamic vinaigrette.
Greek Salad
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 English cucumber, chopped
1/2 small purple onion, slivered or finely chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta (or as much or as little as you like)
Balsamic vinaigrette:
equal parts balsamic vinegar and canola or olive oil
a small squirt of Dijon mustard
a small clove of garlic, pressed (or bash it and leave it in the jar to infuse the dressing, but don’t let it pour out when you top your salad)
drizzle of honey or maple syrup
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May 09 2008 | chicken & turkey and salads | 2 Comments »
I know, some days I sound like the biggest food snob.
I’m cooking for 160 tomorrow night at Willow Park, and since the menu includes arancini, I needed to make a vat of risotto in advance.
I swear, risotto is one of those things that sounds ultra-fancy, you may pay a fortune for in a restaurant, but it’s just rice. I promise it’s easier than steamed rice; it’s as easy as making oatmeal. It’s nursery food.
If you love risotto, just try it once. Once you’ve figured it out, there are all sorts of possibilities with risotto. I just stuck with the basic lemon-parmesan version I made last time, but after I scooped some of it out it occurred to me I could tear some fresh spinach straight into it, and it would just wilt into its warmth. It was great.
Since I was busy prepping other things, I pulled a chicken from the freezer, stuck it in a bowl of warm water to thaw, and then roasted it, knowing it would be super with the risotto and the leftovers will feed the boys tomorrow in my absence. Another zero-effort dish, unless you count rubbing it with oil and sprinkling it with salt and pepper. The spent lemons I used in the risotto filled up the cavity nicely, too. (Hint: roasting chickens is a great way to keep cast iron skillets well-seasoned!)
So really, the idea behind risotto is that you stir it lots (in contrast with not disturbing it as it cooks) in order for the rice to release its starch into the dish, making it thick and creamy and oatmeal-like. Which is what makes it particularly difficult to screw up; you just keep on adding liquid, cook until it absorbs it all, and add more and keep on stirring until the rice is tender. If there’s too much liquid, it will eventually absorb it; if there’s not enough, add more. You warm the stock first so that it doesn’t cool the risotto and slow the cooking down every time you add some.
Lemon Parmesan Risotto
a drizzle of olive or canola oil and a small knob of butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups Arborio rice
6(ish) cups chicken or vegetable stock, warmed up
1/2-1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
zest and juice of 1 lemon
another small knob of butter, if you like
In a medium-large pot, heat the oil and butter over medium-high heat and saute the onion until it’s soft and translucent. Add the rice and cook for a minute, just to coat the grains with oil.
If you like, add a splash of white wine and cook until it’s absorbed or evaporates. Add about half a cup of stock and cook, stirring, until it’s absorbed. Continue adding stock a half cup to a cup at a time and cook, stirring (it doesn’t have to be constantly, just frequently) until it absorbs the liquid. When it’s all used up it should be about half an hour, and the grains should be soft. If they still have a crunchy core and the liquid is used up and absorbed, just add a little more water.
When the rice is cooked and it’s nice and creamy, stir in the cheese, lemon zest and juice, and butter. Stir until the cheese melts. (If you like, stir in a handful of chopped fresh spinach, parsley or basil too, and it will wilt into the risotto.)
Serves about 6.
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April 17 2008 | chicken & turkey and grains | 3 Comments »
I know, it’s quite a drastic change from last night, isn’t it?
I’ve never eaten at the Highwood - the SAIT culinary program restaurant, where for $38.50 you get to choose an appetizer, soup, salad, entree and dessert, and the very capable student chefs get to practice on you. My friend D made reservations for ten and we all congregated there at 6, taking time over Singapore Slings, Chi Chis (yes, pure white ones with slices of orange wrapped around a maraschino cherry and skewered with a teeny plastic sword, served in those open fishbowl glasses you see in 70s movies with shag carpets) and gin & tonics before we got to dinner, which took until 9:30 to work our way through. Now it’s quarter to 11, and considering I have to be up at 4:30 am I should really put this post off until tomorrow and get some sleep, but that would sort of defeat the purpose of this whole project, wouldn’t it?
I had duck as an appetizer (I’m sorry, I’m too drowsy to recall the finite details, besides the truffled potato salad towerette):
And pork tenderloin, fancilly wrapped in some other cured part of a pig (everything was dressed up with pea shoots):
But of course I was unable to let myself off the hook when it comes to dinner duty - anytime I go out to a restaurant to eat, guilt forces me to at least feed the boys before I ditch them. Last night I put a pot of rice on to cook (knowing full well that the aforementioned guilt would set in today sometime during the late afternoon) and turned it into chicken fried rice: fried rice is best made with cold rice, and in fact near impossible to make out of fresh rice. After spending the night in the fridge, the grains are firm and separate, and far easier to fry up without becoming pasty and clumping together. This is one of the fastest and most inexpensive ways to turn scraps of leftovers into something that resembles a real meal. And all in one pan, even. This is far faster (and healthier) than Hamburger Helper:
Chicken Fried Rice for the Boys (or beef, pork, shrimp, vegetable or tofu)
1) heat a skillet with a drizzle of canola and sesame oils, or either one. I use both because the sesame oil is so strong in flavor, and the canola is neutral and withstands high heat well
2) dump in as much rice as you want to cook. Stir it around until it starts to color a little, then dump in some cooked chopped roasted chicken, beef or pork; if you are doing shrimp, save them for the end so that they don’t overcook and turn tough
3) throw in a handful of frozen peas and/or a chopped green onion or two
4) cook it all for a few minutes, then push it all aside and break an egg or two into the space in the pan; scramble with whatever cooking utensil you’re using. Don’t worry about it mixing in with the rice.
5) if you’re adding shrimp, do it now, cooking them just until they turn pink. Add soy sauce to taste. When I went to do this step I discovered that I was out of soy sauce, and so tried to make up for the lack of flavor (how appealing is plain old rice, chicken and peas, unless you’re 2?) with a big pinch of curry powder (curry paste would have worked well too), which was delicious. (Of course I tasted it - quality control is very important.)
6) eat.
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April 02 2008 | chicken & turkey and eating out and grains and one dish | 1 Comment »
My friend Nicole Schon, owner of tnik, is a tea genius. She knows everything there is to know about tea. To be honest, I didn’t realize there was so much to know until I met her.
A few points of note: did you know that in order to get all the antioxidant benefits from your green tea you need to steep it three times? That’s right: steep, drink. Steep again, drink. Steep yet again (it’s kind of weak by now); drink. This can occur over a 24 hour period; no need to guzzle it all at once. It’s good news for those who are >ahem< frugal. Like me.
Also, if you pour boiled water over your tea and then instantly pour it off, you naturally get rid of the majority of the caffeine.
A few months ago she mentioned that she sometimes kept her used tea leaves and stuffed them under the skin of a chicken before roasting it. Brilliant! I have done this with rosemary, and thyme, and butter and garlic, so why not tea? Lubricated with a little soft butter or oil, if you like. As the chicken roasts the skin becomes more transparent, so you can see the tea leaves through it, and it subtly flavors the meat underneath as well as the juices, which may or may not end up as gravy. The only varieties I have right now are Belgian chocolate, a few chais, berry berry, creme caramel and matcha (which is powdered, so wouldn’t work), so I decided to use the rough green tea another friend brought back from Hong Kong. (Speaking of matcha: one of the reasons it’s particularly great for you is that you ingest the whole leaf, rather than straining it out as you do with other green teas. This is another advantage of using steeped green tea leaves in your chicken - you end up eating the whole leaf, so it’s a great antioxidant boost.)
I steeped a pot of it while I put the chicken in its vessel, loosened the skin from the breast meat by shoving my fingers underneath, then scooped out the soggy, spent leaves and stuffed them underneath. OK, I also added a tiny bit of butter. On the outside, I patted the skin dry (to ensure a crispy crust) then slicked it with canola oil and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. Then I put it in the oven at 350 and went back to work until I could smell it roasting and the joints wiggled loosely in their sockets. W prepped some asparagus for me, deftly breaking it as he has obviously seen me do, and rubbing them all down with oil to slide onto the oven rack underneath.
As it turned out, it was serendipidous that I happened on this particular day to use my green tea leaves for stuffing chicken - odd, actually, because I have roasted many chickens since hearing the idea - because when I lifted the strainer basket from the mouth of the teapot in order to more easily scoop out the leaves, having already poured myself a mug of tea, I caught a fleeting glimpse of something three-dimensional in the teapot. AAA batteries, which had clearly been stored there earlier, and now had been steeping in my green tea. Oh the perils of having a toddler in the house.
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March 20 2008 | chicken & turkey | 3 Comments »
At this point in the program I have to pause and ponder how much detail I should divulge when it comes to relaying the events that occur in my life over dinnertime. Suffice to say that today there was a crisis; everyone is OK, more or less, but at dinnertime we converged at my sister’s house to do some damage control. My other sister brought roast chickens from Safeway, a loaf of sourdough bread, some oranges and a salad. I brought coffee.
To be honest, in the late afternoon I made another batch of chocolate covered hazelnuts, and ate enough to qualify calorically as dinner. When it became apparent I had to leave the house quickly, with Willem, I put on the pot of chickenoodle soup (I have to say it like that now, since reading it in Nigella’s Feast) that I made yesterday from the chunky, chickeny stock Mike made from a roast chicken left over from shooting a few days before. I poured out most of the stock into freezer containers, leaving all the shredded chunks of chicken in the bottom, brought the rest to a simmer, and threw in a handful of frozen peas and wide egg noodles. Salt and pepper to finish once the noodles were tender, and that’s it.
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March 08 2008 | chicken & turkey and soup | 1 Comment »
Today was the grains show, and the slow cooker show. Another long day.
A couple weeks ago, in a panic over the thought of being away from home for dinnertimes on end, I made a few batches of freezable things to stash away for Mike and W. Not that I didn’t think they could survive happily on eggs and toast.
One of those things (as part of an article I was working on for What’s Up Kids magazine in Toronto) was turkey chili with barley. Barley has more fiber than whole wheat bread, brown rice, or oats. It’s great stuff. And Canada is the second largest producer of it. In Alberta, we produce half the Canadian crop.
The trade-off tonight at 9:30 was so fast that I didn’t get a chance to ask Mike what they ate tonight, but the empty container evidence in the sink suggests it was a turkey chili night. This photo was one I did for the magazine - the piece was on edible bowls. (For kids who like to play with their food, and parents who hate doing dishes.)
Turkey Chili with Barley
Canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 lb. lean ground turkey
¼ cup chili powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper (white pepper, if you have it)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 can chicken stock, undiluted
1 28 oz. (798 mL) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup jarred salsa, hot or mild (optional)
2 19 oz. (598 mL) cans white kidney or navy beans, drained
1/2 cup pot or pearl barley
Low fat sour cream and fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, heavy pot set over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for a few minutes, until softened. Add the turkey and cook until no longer pink. Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Cook for another minute.
Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, salsa, beans and barley and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes. By then the barley should be cooked through.
If you want to serve it right away, let it simmer for another 15-20 minutes, then taste and adjust the seasonings. Otherwise, let it cool and then refrigerate overnight; reheat on the stovetop over medium heat after a day or two. Add some extra stock or tomatoes if the barley has absorbed too much liquid and it has become too thick.
Serves 8.
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February 29 2008 | beans and chicken & turkey and grains | No Comments »
Just got home. Taped the Lunchbox Meals and Salads episodes today. Mike and W ate noodles for dinner. Am feeling like a negligent Mum.
Above are two of the very best camera guys that exist - I truly can’t imagine working with better or funnier people. We have a blast, especially after the 12th hour, when we all start to get a little punchy. They were still hard at work when I left tonight. Here they are getting first crack at the Mac & Cheese with Caramelized Onions & Bacon, which went over quite well as you can imagine.
Picked through the whole day; not sure what exactly was being consumed at dinnertime. The set is totally devoid of outside light and sound - it’s like a deprivation chamber, where you can’t tell what time of day it is unless you look at the numbers on the microwave, or run across the parking lot to Starbucks. Here are a couple of the recipes I picked at most (the Mac & Cheese is Ned’s recipe - I haven’t gone through and made it more clear yet, so just wing it. It will all work out.):
Mac ‘N’ Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Bacon
This is a very hearty flavourful Mac ‘N’ Cheese Recipe, and so much better than the stuff out of the box. It is simple to do on the day you want to eat it but also great to make the night before and bake the next night or even portion it into small containers to re heat at work for lunch. It would also work cold for a picnic.
1 box dry Macaroni or penne pasta, whole wheat or regular, or really any pasta you have around your house
1 onion, white or red, thinly sliced
4-5 cloves garlic
6 strips of bacon, sliced
Mustard (Dijon works well)
Half & half cream
Cream cheese, half and half cream, pre grated mixed cheeses, like the Kraft Italian mix
To begin, in a medium sized pot cook your sliced onions in a small amount of canola oil. You need to cook them for probably 12 -15 minutes so the good deep brown in color (also called caramelized) Do not blacken the onions. After they are brown, take the onions out of the pot and add you strips of bacon, cook until they are crisp, pour off the fat, add your garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Then, add back your browned onions, your half and half cream and your cream cheese. Allow the mixture to melt all together. Check for salt and pepper. At this point you can add some mustard, Dijon works very well for its sharpness. It cut through some of the richness of all the cheese and bacon etc. Then add about half or you’re mixed cheeses, your warm cooked pasta and stir thoroughly. At this point you can toss the whole mixture into a baking dish and bake in a 400 oven until golden brown and serve with a simple green salad and you have a great dinner or late lunch dish.
Peanut Noodles with Chicken and Veggies
Peanut noodles are best eaten cold, which makes leftovers perfect to keep in the fridge and take to work for lunch. You can add all sorts of fresh veggies to this dish – peppers, zucchini, bok choy, bean sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, and pea pods are all good choices.
1/2 lb. (250 g) steamed Chinese noodles or spaghetti
1/4 cup (60 mL) chicken or vegetable broth
3 Tbsp. (45 mL) peanut butter
3 Tbsp. (45 mL) soy sauce
2 Tbsp. (30 mL) brown sugar or honey
2 Tbsp. (30 mL) rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tsp. (5-10 mL) grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) curry paste (optional)
2 cups (500 mL) chopped cooked chicken, pork or shrimp, or diced tofu
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 red bell pepper, cut into slices
1-2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped peanuts (optional)
Fresh cilantro for sprinkling (optional)
Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Rinse with cold water in a colander and drain well. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and curry paste (if using) until smooth. Or instead of whisking it, shake it all up in a jar.
In a large bowl, toss the noodles, chicken, carrot, pepper, green onions, and peanut sauce. Serve in bowls sprinkled with chopped peanuts and/or cilantro. Serves 4-6.
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February 26 2008 | cheese and chicken & turkey and one dish and pasta and salads | 1 Comment »
(I like this photo because it looks like Ned is being sucked up into the light fixture.)
I was on set all day and evening today too - there before 7:30 am, left at 10 pm. I’m not really sure what Mike and W ate for dinner, but they appear to have survived. Since we shot the Snacks & Finger Foods and Breads episodes today, that’s what I snacked on around dinnertime. Here are some of the things we made (try the beer bread!):
Cheddar Beer Bread
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated old cheddar cheese
1 bottle beer, at room temperature
2-4 Tbsp. melted butter, or canola or olive oil
Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the cheese and toss to combine. Add the beer all at once, mixing as little as possible just until blended; the batter should be lumpy. Pour the batter into a 4″x8″ or 9″x5″ loaf pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray, and brush with the melted butter or oil. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool.
Sticky, Sweet & Spicy Chicken Thighs
Instead of making chicken wings, which are mostly skin and fat (the fat resides under the skin), and very little meat, we like to make sticky chicken thighs or drumsticks – remove the skin and you have a much more meaty piece you can still eat off the bone with your fingers.
about 2 lbs. chicken thighs and/or drumsticks, skinned
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup maple syrup or honey
1-2 Tbsp. chili sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. grated ginger
Place the chicken in a bowl. Add all the sauce ingredients and toss it all about to blend and coat the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for a couple hours, or overnight.
When ready to roast, preheat oven to 375F. Spread the chicken pieces onto a rimmed baking sheet or in a large, shallow dish. Bake for an hour or so, turning occasionally and brushing with leftover marinade (making sure that you do this for the last time at least 15 minutes before the chicken comes out of the oven, to give it a chance to cook) until the juices run clear.
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February 25 2008 | bread and cheese and chicken & turkey | 1 Comment »
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