Archive for the 'one dish' Category
Last night, at around dinnertime, I decided to clean out the fridge. Don’t ask me why this suddenly seemed like a good idea. It’s one of those tasks you commit to finishing as soon as you start – not only because everything is out of the fridge and splayed across every iota of counter space (and some floor and chair space), but because once it’s out you can see the many layers of disgusting multi-hued, gummy/sticky/crispy/petrified muck that was underneath everything. Some of the containers I pulled out were left over from the It’s Just Food shoot in February. Here I thought it was all sourdough starter.
While I was on my knees with my head in the fridge, W sawed the edge of the wooden countertops with the serrated edge of the barbecue flipper at perfect 1-inch intervals, and fed a $16 wedge of Parmesan to the dog. To be honest, I don’t even remember what we had for dinner. I think I ate a few spoonfuls of sour cream and the end of a bag of Triscuits.
So I finished the fridge with about 10 minutes to get to my Artemis meeting. We’re closing in on our annual Gallery Calorie event – a Saturday afternoon of gallery and restaurant hopping up and down 17th Avenue with food and drinks at each venue (noon-4pm), after which everyone converges at Tompkins Park (in front of Mount Royal Village) for a huge party afterward – there is a band, and an art race, and wine and martinis and bacon wrapped scallops and cupcakes – and I’m emceeing – and all proceeds going to benefit Peer Support Services for Abused Women. (It’s on Saturday, June 13, if anyone wants to come! Email me at onesmartcook[at]hotmail dot com if you do – tickets are hot off the press and I have an envelope of them sitting here beside me on my desk. They are $40-well worth it and all toward a great cause!)
When I got home after 10pm, having stopped for groceries on the way, I opted out of my post to answer some questions for … drumroll please … The Kitchn! Who want to feature … drumroll please … MY kitchen as one of their kitchen tours! Which meant I had to clean it a little (really I just told Mike to) – that’s what it takes to get this kitchen clean – a camera crew or some threat of public footage. But The Kitchn! How cool is that? So I answered some questions for them instead of doing my usual post here. I was sure you’d understand. (Look for it tomorrow, I think!)
Tonight I gave in to W’s persistent request for yellow noodles. He may have meant macaroni & cheese – I dunno. When I asked him for the first time to choose his own clothes and get himself dressed (any other time I’ve attempted this he chooses “naked”) he came downstairs in two shirts and announced “I’m wearing my shirtpants!” So instead of being the kid who wears a superhero suit everywhere he goes (that was Ben), mine will be the kid walking around wearing another shirt as a skirt, with arms flopping along beside him. Hopefully I can at least convince him to wear his Shrek underpants.
Please pardon the trashy yard. Keep in mind that it is scarcely spring yet here. At least there is no Lou poo visible. (He is responsible for the gaping chasms behind W though.)
Sesame Noodles with Pork
a drizzle of canola or olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice or balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey or sugar
a tiny squirt (about 1/8 tsp.) chili sauce or sambal oelek
1/2 lb. fresh thin Chinese egg noodles, rice noodles or spaghetti
leftover pork (I used about half a pork tenderloin, cut into strips)
1 small carrot, cut into ribbons using a vegetable peeler
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)
a handful of cilantro, torn
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds (optional)
In a large skillet heat the canola oil and sauté the garlic and ginger for a few minutes, until soft but not brown. Transfer to a bowl and add the sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, honey and chili sauce.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package directions, or until tender. Drain them well in a colander. When the pan is empty, add a little more oil and toss the noodles in the pan, letting them sit for a bit to get nice and brown, then tossing them around. Add the pork and sauce, and toss to coat and heat through.
Transfer to a large bowl and add the carrot, green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds. Toss to combine everything and then divide among bowls or refrigerate for an hour or two to allow the flavours to meld. (Or you could hold off adding the pork and veg and refrigerate the noodles and sauce overnight, then add the pork and veg just before serving. Or heat everything through in the skillet if you don’t want it to be cold.) Serves 4.
One Year Ago: Homemade Falafel
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May 07 2009 | one dish and pasta and pork | 19 Comments »
This morning upon waking (and the alarm was so cranked and so sudden it jolted the million dollar idea I had brewing right out of my head) my gut instantly ordered up two Easter Creme Eggs over easy, with a side of candied bacon, toasted hot crossed buns and a latte. For elevenses, perhaps some mini eggs and Hershey’s kisses. Easter withdrawl bites.
So I got up and ate a banana, and grabbed a cheater latte from Starbucks en route to CBC (tall Americano in a grande cup – fill with milk – almost a latte, but half the price). But instantly upon arriving, a co-worker walked up to me with a pan of brownies. With chocolate frosting. His wife really wanted me to try them. You know, to give my opinion. What could I do? Really, it would be impolite to turn him down. So that’s how I came to have chocolate before 8 am on the morning after Easter weekend.
It was a slippery slope from there. When I did my piece and got the chance to leave early at the very same time friends called to ask me to go for muffins and lattes at Cafe Rosso, I went. Everyone knows that socializing is good for your health, right? Even the rich and famous and obviously very knowledgeable Dr. Oz said so on Oprah last week. So really, it was akin to going to the gym. My membership ran out anyway. So that brings us to 10:30. Two lattes (one real), a muffin and a brownie.
Hypocrite that I am I spent the rest of the day telling W that candy was not good for him and he could have an apple for a snack, whilst reaching up to the stash of Lindt chocolate eggs on top of the fridge.
But I did have a fairly adequate dinner. Last night as I was doing dishes I put a pot on to boil some noodles – fettuccine, only because there was a bit lingering in a tall glass canister that has been taking up prime counter space for too long, and although I have nothing against fettuccine, I never actually make it – so that I would have no excuse today to not make quick peanut noodles with plenty of vegetables. I already had a jar of peanut sauce in the fridge, and some pea pods, although I would have preferred asparagus. I always like cutting carrots into ribbons with a vegetable peeler when they are to be consumed along with noodles, and I love slivered red peppers. I generally prefer peanut noodles with leftover roasted chicken (or one from the deli), but a few shrimp from the freezer work too. If they’re still raw, you can throw them in the pot with the noodles for the last minute or so of cooking time, and drain the whole thing together in the colander. It’s a great way to blanch any veg that are going in as well.
Tomorrow, I am determined to get through the day without one bite of chocolate. (Should be simple, considering I ate it all today. I had to shut it up somehow.)
Peanut Sauce
Peanut sauce is a wonderful thing. Double the recipe (leftovers keep well) if you want extra to pour over cold noodles or dip satay, lettuce wraps, rice paper rolls, grilled chicken or shrimp. Use more or less broth to make the sauce as thick or thin as you like. If you like coconut flavor in your peanut sauce but not the saturated fat it contains, add a teaspoon of coconut extract.
2-4 Tbsp. chicken or veggie broth or coconut milk
1/4 cup peanut butter (preferably the just-peanuts kind, but any will work)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar or honey
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar or lime juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. sesame oil (optional)
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. curry paste (optional)
Combine all the ingredients in a blender or jar and whiz or shake until smooth. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve it. Makes about a cup.
Per tablespoon: 26 calories, 1 g total fat (0.2 g saturated fat, 0.5 g monounsaturated fat, 0.4 g polyunsaturated fat), 0.7 g protein, 3.9 g carbohydrate, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 g fiber. 35% calories from fat
One Year Ago: Ground Lamb with Peas and Yogurt (Keema Matar)
April 14 2009 | one dish and pasta and vegetarian | 20 Comments »
I know – a little ridiculous, isn’t it? Lobster? Me? On a Tuesday of no real consequence? I don’t think I’ve ever bought and cooked a lobster tail before, but found myself picking up a frozen one yesterday in order to address the issue of a glut of last year’s frozen lobster in the Maritimes (which doesn’t seem to be affecting prices on the prairies at all) on the show this morning. Marketers are calling it the new bologna. (Which, I can’t resist saying, is baloney. Bologna is selling for $2-$4 per pound, lobster is still around $30+ for the frozen stuff.)
If a couple weeks ago I went through a cake phase, I’m now tripping through a sort of dumpling phase; these food themes seem to come out of nowhere. I never plan them; if I do, they hardly ever pan out.
This week I have made peroghies, two kinds of ravioli, pork wontons, spinach pasta (I suppose that doesn’t technically count, although it was doughy) and sourdough dumplings. Am I missing something? Oh yes, my waist. Not that I had one before.
To top it off, this morning I made lobster gnocchi. Or rather I made the actual gnocchi last night, in between shifts searching in the cold, windy dark for a lost dog. I mixed the dough, rolled it into ropes, cut and rolled the pieces on the tines of a fork while talking on the phone (to a friend who kindly went out in search of said dog. No, it wasn’t Lou – have I mentioned I’m dogsitting, and currently have three in my charge? Does inhaled dog hair count as fiber intake?) It is due to this circumstance I can attest making gnocchi by hand is neither time consuming nor requires a particular degree of focus. The idea came from one of my favourite dishes at Brava Bistro. You can find the recipe on their website, but it was altogether too complicated for my level of motivation. I decided to dumb it down a little, and wing it.
I was going to make ricotta gnocchi, but the ricotta was used up in that lasagna, so I ended up throwing a few russet potatoes into the oven to make plain old potato gnocchi instead. I thought I was settling. I was not.
My biggest problem with gnocchi has always been that it’s just a little too much – too heavy, too gummy. Something I can’t eat an entire bowl of, even when I have no problem downing that much pasta. It just tends to sit in a lump in my stomach. But these were ethereal little dumplings, even eaten plain, straight out of the pot. They were even better tossed with melted butter, which is how W ate his. (After much protest, let me tell you.) But with the lobster stock, simmered down a bit and whizzed with butter? There are no words.
Seriously, I thought this would be a nice sort of thing to make for a special occasion. And it would, but it isn’t nearly as fussy as I imagined it would be.
Potato Gnocchi with Lobster
If you like, throw a handful of frozen peas into the water along with the gnocchi.
Gnocchi:
4 small-medium russet potatoes
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. cream (heavy or half&half)
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 lobster tail, thawed if frozen
1/4-1/2 cup butter, cut into bits
To make the gnocchi, bake the potatoes in a 350 F oven for about an hour, or until tender. (This keeps them from getting watery, and also retains more nutrients and potato flavour.) When they are cool enough to handle, peel them and press them through a potato ricer (looks like a giant garlic press – very effective in getting rid of all lumps) or mash until smooth with a potato masher. Stir in the egg, cream and salt until well blended, then stir in the flour. You should have a nice, soft dough – if it’s sticky, add a bit more flour, a spoonful or so at a time.
Divide the dough into 6 chunks, and roll each into a rope that’s about 3/4″ thick. With a knife or pastry cutter, chop into 3/4″ pieces. Roll each piece over the tines of a fork (I do this by rolling the back of the fork back and forth over each piece, starting at a cut side so that it grips better), then place them on a lightly floured baking sheet. At this point, the gnocchi can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days, or frozen.
To cook the lobster tail, put it in a medium pot with about half an inch of simmering water; cover and cook for 7 minutes. Remove the tail and set aside; continue to simmer the small amount of liquid until it reduces a bit, then add the butter and cook until it melts. To emulsify it, put it through the blender or blend it with a hand-held immersion blender – it should remain liquidy but as it cools will have a consistency closer to hollandaise. Pull the meat out of the lobster tail and chop it.
When your lobster and sauce is ready, cook your gnocchi: bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the gnocchi in batches, not crowding the pot, for about 4 minutes or until they rise to the surface of the water and puff up a bit. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
Drizzle the sauce and lobster meat over the gnocchi, season with pepper if you like, toss to coat and serve.
Serves 4 (with extra gnocchi left over).
Have I expressed strongly enough how excited I am to be sharing my starter with you? And that no one (who identified themselves, anyway) thought I was crazy? I am frantically cutting and feeding bits of it in jars that are quickly taking over my fridge like a giant science experiment. I will come up with the logistics of distribution (and try drying some) soon!
One Year Ago: Homemade Mozzarella
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March 31 2009 | one dish and pasta and seafood | 13 Comments »
Here’s something that for all intents and purposes shouldn’t have a name, but when I go to post it I have to call it something.
We had an all-day meeting going over scripts/recipes/details of It’s Just Food, which we start shooting again in 6 weeks. (Gulp.) I was done around 5:30, but Mike ran into icy gridlock on the way to pick me up, and W had a five-alarm meltdown upon arriving back home and being wrestled out of his car seat (he had just fallen asleep), so by the time we got in the door it was after 7. Fortunately, I had an oh-so-attractive Ziploc baggie of salmon chunks tucked under my arm; leftovers from the event I cooked for on Saturday (at Willow Park, which owns the production company that does the TV show, which is where the offices are). I had this ambitous idea to make a noodle salad with the edamame I have in the freezer, but when I walked in the door and discovered there was still some cooked brown rice in the fridge; sold.
A hot skillet with a bit of butter and sesame oil, cold rice, a few stalks of chopped broccolini which I thrust into a bit of boiling water for a few minutes just to get it going, and some already cooked salmon chunks. A drizzle of soy sauce at the end and truthfully I thought it wouldn’t do much but fill the void, but it was pretty damn delicious. (W did not agree and ate pita pizza.)
The rosemary twists I didn’t make today; they were a test for a photo for an article for Dogs in Canada magazine (a crunchy treat that’s just as yummy for humans as for dogs) and they just happened to be on the bread box while I was cooking up the rice thingy. And it occurred to me that it might make a nice addition to cheese plates or served with wine this holiday season.
Rosemary-Parmesan Twists
These crunchy bread sticks are quick to make and can be flavoured with almost anything; serve them in a tall glass or vase alongside a cheese platter, or tuck them into lunch boxes. I used rosemary and Parmesan cheese, but try any of the suggested flavourings or a combination of them, or experiment with your own additions.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
flavourings: 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, 1 Tbsp. pesto, 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (use their oil in place of the oil below), 1/4 cup pitted black olives, 1/2 cup grated sharp cheese, 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese, 1/4-1/2 cup finely chopped nuts, 1 crushed garlic clove
3 Tbsp. canola or olive oil
1/2-3/4 cup water or milk
Coarse salt, for sprinkling (optional)
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add any flavourings you like and pulse until chopped and blended in with the remaining ingredients. Add the oil and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (Alternatively, blend everything together in a bowl with a spatula or whisk.)
With the machine running, pour 1/2 cup of cold water or milk through the feed tube and pulse, adding extra if you need it until the dough starts to come together. This will depend on your flour and what flavourings you added; I usually need 1/2 cup plus about 2 Tbsp. of liquid.
Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gather it into a ball and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Roll the dough out about 1/4” thick, sprinkle it with salt (if you like), and roll lightly to help the salt adhere. Cut into 1/4”-1/2” wide strips as long or short as you like, then twist the strips and place them on an ungreased baking sheet, pressing the ends lightly onto the sheet if they start to unravel. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden.
Makes about 2 dozen breadsticks.
Per stick: 51 calories, 1.8 g total fat (0.3 g saturated fat, 1.3 g monounsaturated fat, 0.2 g polyunsaturated fat), 1.2 g protein, 7.7 g carbohydrate, 0 mg cholesterol, 0.8 g fiber. 31% calories from fat
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December 15 2008 | appetizers and fish and grains and one dish and snacks | 4 Comments »
I did GO! today for CBC Radio, a live (to tape) radio variety show that will air nationally tomorrow morning, if you want to hear what I sound like (while trying not to think of the fact that 600,000 people would be listening) – it’s on at 10am in Calgary, not sure of schedules elsewhere in the country.
This afternoon we had rehearsal before the evening show, which we did live in front of a studio audience at the Engineered Air Theatre in the Epcor Centre for Performing Arts. All took place downtown, close enough to where we live but a slow go considering the winter storm that started to hit the city at rush hour. I had about 45 minutes to come home and collect myself and some things we needed for the show, then get back downtown. Mike started cooking a crumbled sausage and thinly sliced onion, and when it was cooked/caramelized I threw in some chopped red pepper, a cup or so of cooked brown rice, a chopped tomato, quickly blanched chopped broccolini (the original recipe called for rapini, or broccoli rabe, but the store in Edmonton only had broccolini) and a bit of Worcestershire and balsamic (only a teeny drizzle of each). The recipe was a bit of a rough interpretation of one I made in Edmonton (which was topped with crumbled goat cheese – forgot that part!) minus the canned tomatoes and chicken broth, which I felt made it a bit too saucy. Mike loved it. W picked out the rice and meat. I ate most of it in the car on the way back downtown.
This morning, I made biscotti for an event tomorrow night (which may or may not happen, considering it’s in Red Deer). I got tired of the same old biscotti recipe and pulled one up on SmittenKitchen just to try something different. I happened upon her hole-in-one (as in Perfect on the First Try) biscotti, and she was right. I’m not really a fan of hard biscotti, I like it light and crispy without being crumbly, and this hits the mark. Likely on account of the 10 tablespoons of melted butter it calls for, but we’ll just ignore that fact for now. I did cut it back to 1/2 cup – not much of a trim job, but baby steps. Although this is a lovely and subtle blend of orange and almond, I imagine it would make a fantastic template for other biscotti varieties, or would be great drizzled with or dipped in chocolate. I thoroughly enjoyed mine dunked in my Tim Horton’s.
Orange Almond Biscotti
adapted from Bon Appetit, by way of SmittenKitchen
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 large eggs
grated zest of an orange
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
1 egg, lightly beaten, for glaze (optional)
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Mix sugar, melted butter, 3 eggs, vanilla extract, and orange zest in a large bowl. Add flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir with a spatula until almost combined; add almonds and stir just until well blended.
Divide the dough in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into 2 1/2-inch wide log that is about 13″ long on the prepared baking sheet. If you like, brush a bit of beaten egg over the top of each, and/0r sprinkle them with coarse sugar.
Bake for 30 minutes, until golden and set. Cool completely on a wire rack. while you reduce the oven temperature to 250F. When cool enough to handle, slice the logs on a slight diagonal into 1/2″ slices; arrange upright on a baking sheet, allowing room for the air to circulate around them. Bake for another half hour; if you like, turn the oven off and leave them inside to firm up as they cool down.
Makes about 3 dozen biscotti.
December 12 2008 | cookies & squares and grains and leftovers and one dish | 62 Comments »
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