Archive for the 'one dish' Category
I had the urge tonight to make a proper dinner, rather than serve everyone whatever I had been testing that day. And it occurs to me that there have been a great many non-dinners here. Isn’t that what it was supposed to be all about?
There was a small pot of leftover rice in the fridge, so I thought I’d make fried rice. Which triggered a memory of a recipe for garlic fried rice, which I decided to seek out, most likely at a moment I was struggling with writers’ block or some such. (I’m easily distracted to food sites, and like to tell myself it’s all in the name of research, even when I should really be working on something else and reading up on recipes I want to try isn’t really that pressing.)
The recipe, for Asian-style chili with garlic fried rice, was at Kitchen Play, and – behold and lo! – it was a contest! With a deadline of today! A clear sign if ever I saw one.
I thought at first the combo of ground sirloin and sliced steak was odd, and could probably be streamlined, and then I started second guessing the ingredient list, my brain automatically offering up my usual substitutions, until I decided to get over myself and just do what I was told. (More or less.) I’m glad I did. I love the combination of ground sirloin and strips of steak – together they have a great texture. And it means I can use more Canadian beef! (Alberta, even!)
Mike said: “write this one down”. And so here I go:
Asian-style Chili with Garlic Fried Rice
canola oil, for cooking
1 onion, chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, sliced or chopped
1/2 lb. sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 lb. ground sirloin
1 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground chipotle chili pepper or chipotle hot sauce (I used a few glugs)
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4-1/2 can coconut milk, plus extra for serving
1 tsp. sriracha sauce
2-4 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
lime wedges, for serving
Garlic Fried Rice:
canola oil, for cooking
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 cups cooked long-grain rice
salt, to taste
In a large, heavy skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat and sauté the onion for 2 minutes, until starting to soften. Add garlic and cook for 5 minutes, then add the beef strips. Sauté until the redness of the meat is almost gone, about 4 minutes. Add the beef broth, cover and boil for 10 minutes, letting the steam out and mixing once halfway through.
Add the ground sirloin and spices, and mix thoroughly. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and the sauce thickened.
Stir in the tomato sauce, coconut milk and sriracha, reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Stir in the cilantro and serve over garlic fried rice, topped with a drizzle of coconut milk. Serves 4.
For Garlic Fried Rice: heat a generous glug of oil in a heavy skillet (cast iron works great) set over medium-high heat. Cook garlic for a minute or so until the edges get a faint shade of gold. Add rice and a couple of pinches of salt. Stir for about 5 minutes, until it begins to faintly brown and toast. Best eaten warm.
February 28 2011 | beef and one dish | 11 Comments »
I’ve been shirking my dinner duties, I know. Sorry. Today I made baked bread soup. Mostly because it sounded so intriguing – don’t you think? You cook down a ton of veg – the usual onion-carrot-celery trio, plus garlic, thin-skinned potatoes, kale, savoy cabbage, tomatoes and smooth white kidney beans – it really is pure virtue in a pot, this. Then you tear up almost half a loaf of crusty bread and poke the pieces in, and refrigerate the lot overnight. I did the whole thing in an enamel-covered cast iron pot – it went from stovetop to fridge, then into the oven the next day. On day 1 it doesn’t seem like all that much, but overnight it morphs into something much better, and then when you bake it uncovered rather than reheat it on the stovetop, it gets all crusty around the edges, almost like a casserole. I thought it needed some freshly grated Parmesan on top – don’t you agree?
The original called for 1 lb of dried white kidney beans, which are soaked, simmered, and then partly pureed. You could do this, of course. But I don’t want to turn you off at the prospect of having to soak and cook your beans before even starting on your “soup”, which then must sit in wait for a night before you can bake it. You could of course start with dried beans if you like.
It’s like a big ol’ salad, condensed and warmed up for winter. If you’re the type to crumble crackers into your soup and won’t be too upset at not being able to actually slurp it, you’ll love it.
In other news, this site has expanded a little. Dinner with Julie is now a citizen of the Republic of Facebook. All the cool kids were doing it, and I succumbed to peer pressure. That’s right, I have another page to update. It will be like Dinner with Julie Lite®. I do like the idea of posting little snippets and links and photos here and there in between the bigger posts, which I’m hoping will go back to being more dinner-oriented. I have some ideas. Stay tuned.
Tuscan Baked Bread Soup
adapted from Saveur, Issue #46
canola or olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
2 celery ribs, thickly sliced
2 thin-skinned potatoes, chopped
1 large bunch swiss chard or kale, ribs removed and leaves torn or coarsely chopped
1/2 small savoy cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped
1 796 mL can whole plum tomatoes, undrained
1 L chicken or vegetable stock
3 thick slices day-old country-style crusty white bread
1 19 oz (540 mL) can white kidney or navy beans, drained
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat a good drizzle of oil over medium heat and saute the onions for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add carrots, celery, potatoes, chard and cabbage. Add tomatoes and stock, cover, and cook for about an hour, until everything is soft.
Tear the bread into chunks and add it to the pot, along with the beans. Cool completely and refrigerate.
The next day, preheat oven to 375º. Heat the leftover soup in the casserole in the oven, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 1 hour. For the last 30 minutes, do not stir; let soup brown lightly. If you like, top it with some Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
January 18 2011 | one dish and soup and vegetarian | 12 Comments »
It’s funny, when I get swept up in weeks and months of eating poorly – too much grazing on too much junk (I really am more lowbrow than people think I am) – how quickly I forget how much I love grainy salads like this. Quinoa with black beans and mango, wild rice and lentils, brown rice with barley and chickpeas – all jumbles of good things that make me feel and function so much better (and far wider awake) than a diet of toast, Cheezies, coffee and wine. Funny, that.
Funny too how my body never seems to forget how much it adores Cheezies and chocolate.
I do need to wean myself off of a few things. I’ve been dancing around the subject of the new year here – I haven’t quite embraced it with as much chutzpah (yet) as I usually do, but I suppose I should go ahead and address the obvious before it turns into February. Apologies in advance for the rant.
I’m so tired of the same old new year, new YOU! message we’re all inundated with every January. (Although, admittedly, the old me is in need of a bit of an overhaul. Emphasis on the haul.) Post-holiday, everyone talks about a need to detox – yet I don’t think of Christmas and all the wonderful things that came with it as a toxin we need to cleanse ourselves of. It’s like the idea that food is sinful and dieting and exercise is our penance. Although I can certainly appreciate the concept of self-improvement, I despise the (first-world) message that comes every January: that we’re not good enough and we’d better get working on becoming the very best we should be, that version of ourselves that we’re all capable of achieving if we just work harder at it. No pressure.
What’s wrong with the old me? The old of all of us? Whatever happened to being happy with what we have, and who we are? And really, is a constant reminder that we all need to be improved upon the best motivation? No wonder so many of us wind up unhappy, defeated and discouraged, annoyed with ourselves that we can’t be all that, do all that, and pull off a bikini by summertime.
I’m almost done. Feel free to skip all this and scroll down to the recipe.
Of course this new year, new you season does act as a catalyst, the tipping point where our environment changes, encouraging a collective jump onto the healthy bandwagon.
And yes, it will come as no surprise that I too need to lose weight. Confession: I’m up almost 50 pounds from this time last year. 50! Pounds! I could cite various and myriad injuries (to my foot, knee, back, psyche) of 2010 that slowed me down, physically and motivationally, but I don’t want to excuse it away. Because really it was all that Salted Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie (I see a trend here), more time spent in front of the computer, an increasing number of food events and a higher than average love (obsession?) of it all. I’m a food writer. I spend my days thinking about, writing about, researching, preparing and photographing food. Case in point: I leave for Vancouver first thing in the morning for a few days touring restaurants and checking out other food-related events and locales. Please don’t hate me. The point is, I need to ensure my hobby, passion and job, while paying the bills doesn’t also cause my physical ruin.
I also need more sleep. It’s the most fun thing on my to-do list.
Which is all to say you’ll likely see more of this sort of thing around here in the coming weeks, and also – I may be cranky. Don’t worry, we won’t go without brownies and the occasional waffle. I’m trying to remind myself of all the good-for-you stuff I do love – beany, grainy salads keep well and travel well, so they’re easy to stash away in the fridge for security reasons (defense against take-out) or bring with you when you need something good to go. Nutty, chewy wheat berries (the entire kernel of wheat, minus the hull) are well worth seeking out; they make a great foundation for a salad – similar to barley but mahogany-coloured and smooth. Great for breakfast, too.
Barley & Wheat Berry Salad with Chickpeas and Feta
of course the measurements here are approximate – add as much or as little of everything as you like.
1/2 cup wheat berries
1/2 cup pearl or pot barley
1/4-1/2 cup golden raisins or chopped dates
1 19 oz (540 mL) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup crumbled feta
2 celery stalks, chopped
a big handful of Italian parsley, chopped or torn
1/4 purple onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive or canola oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar or lemon juice (or to taste)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a medium saucepan, cover wheat berries with a few inches of water; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let stand for an hour. (Alternatively, soak them in water overnight.)
Pour off most of the water from the wheat berries, add the barley to the pot and cover with water by a few inches; bring to a boil and cook for 40 minutes, until both barley and wheat berries are tender. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop them from cooking; drain well and transfer to a bowl. Stir in the dates and let cool completely.
Add the chickpeas, feta, celery, parsley, onion and walnuts; drizzle with oil and vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed. Makes lots.
January 09 2011 | beans and grains and one dish and salads | 40 Comments »
Happy bean day! Oh yes it is. I wonder why Bean Day doesn’t get as high billing as Christmas?
Fortunately our freezer is stacked with enough bags and containers of chili (some labeled, most not) to keep us fed until Thanksgiving. I keep making large batches of practical, freezable, beany things like chili to stash away for mealtime emergencies at a rate that does not at all sync with the number of mealtime emergencies there actually are in this house. I suppose when I’m completely unorganized in all other areas of my life, it makes me feel totally on the ball to be making dinner ahead of time.
I eat vegetarian black bean chili because I love it, not only because it’s the new year and good for me. I added a ballast of mac & cheese partly because I still had leftover cheese stubs from our polyester & cheese Christmas party, and partly because I adore church supper-style chili, which is traditionally served on a bed of mac & cheese. If you haven’t tried it this way, you should. Isn’t anything better served on a bed of mac & cheese?
Also, my friend Lauren is hosting this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free (GAHIGF) – a monthly online event for which a theme is chosen, and bloggers create gluten-free dishes based on the theme. Lauren’s theme of choice: Follow the Calendar. As in, check out all the food-related Official days of the month, and pick one. January 6th happens to be Bean Day. (It’s also Shortbread Day. Whomever assigned that one kind of missed the mark.) Beans are totally my bag, baby.
The beans are kind of a no-brainer in terms of gluten-free-izing a recipe, but mac & cheese – I would miss that if I couldn’t eat gluten. There had to be some sort of a challenge here. There are gluten-free pastas out there – some made of quinoa, some corn – I’m a particular fan of brown rice pasta, which has a smoother mouthfeel than whole wheat pasta (which of course isn’t gluten-free, but we can eat it in our house) – be warned that it will make the cooking water much muggier than your regular pasta.
If you want to skip the pasta, this chili would also do just fine over a baked potato. Still, I’d likely add a dose of cheese on top. Or a blob of sour cream to offset the heat of the chili.
Note: just before I took this, as I was heating up the chili in a small pot on the stove, I opened another can of beans for something else, and got the 7 bean blend by mistake, and so dumped half the can into the chili. Which is why you see more than just black beans and chickpeas in the photo. Really, you could use any beans you like here.
Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
canola or olive oil, for cooking
2 onions, chopped
2 red, yellow or orange bell peppers, seeded and chopped
5-6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1-2 tsp. chopped chipotle chili en adobo (optional)
1 tsp. cumin
2 19 oz. (540 mL) cans black beans, drained
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can red kidney beans or chickpeas, drained
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can diced or fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 small can tomato paste (a couple heaping spoonfuls)
sour cream, chopped avocado, grated cheese, chopped green onion and/or chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)
Toss everything but the garnishes into a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Alternatively, saute the onions, pepper and garlic in a drizzle of oil in a large pot set over medium-high heat, add everything else, bring to a simmer, turn the heat down and cook for an hour, or until thick. Chili is always better the next day – if you like, cool and refrigerate it, then reheat the pot or individual servings.
Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese
An adaptation of Pam Anderson’s Shells and Cheese, Gluten-Free, from Perfect One-Dish Dinners- by way of Gluten Free Girl and the Chef.
1 lb. gluten-free macaroni or pasta shells (brown rice, quinoa, corn-your gluten-free fave)
a drizzle of canola or olive oil
1 lb. grated sharp white cheddar, Gouda, or your favourite meltable cheese, grated
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (I use my rasp)
1/2 cup sour cream
Topping:
1 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs (here, Danny demonstrates how to make them)
2-3 Tbsp. melted butter (I usually use half butter, half olive oil)
Preheat the oven to 350° and spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.
Boil the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water – allowing enough water to give the pasta space to move around – according to the package directions or until it’s al dente (tender but still firm). Drain the pasta immediately, drizzle with a bit of oil to keep it from sticking together, and set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the grated cheese, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and sour cream, in a large bowl; dump in the pasta and toss it to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour into the casserole dish.
Mix the gluten-free breadcrumbs and butter, then sprinkle evenly over the top of the pasta. Bake until the pasta and cheese are bubbly and the crumbs are golden brown, about 35 minutes.
January 06 2011 | beans and freezable and one dish and slow cooker | 15 Comments »
Like so many, I went to bed last night watching crews rescue trapped miners in Chile. This morning when my alarm clicked on, the first sound that came over the radio was news that half of the men had been successfully extracted. I was inspired to dig up a Chilean recipe – relating in the best way I know by making a stew similar to what those men may be going home to eat with their families, and sitting down to eat it with my own.
Also – I’d like to introduce a new family member, a 4.7 L red braiser I brought home from the Le Creuset store last week. (No, they didn’t give it to me – I wish – I didn’t get a deal nor was I coerced into reporting back here. I just decided that I deserved a Le Creuset, dammit, and I went and bought myself one, right after purchasing the fanciest and most expensive coffee I could find at Phil & Sebastien. I needed a little retail therapy.) If you haven’t heard the news, we now have the only stand-alone Le Creuset store in Canada, in the new part of Chinook mall. It will allow you the experience of being a kid in a candy store all over again. A kid who doesn’t get nearly enough allowance to buy all the mojos she wants.
This stew was a great way to break it in. (I must say though, I’m surprised that the handle can only tolerate temperatures up to 375F. I really don’t want to have to go and replace the handle when I just bought the thing. Staub cookware, also made in France, has handles made of nickled steel or brass that can take temps up to 500F.)
This has slow-cooker potential, but I wanted to do it in a pot, like they would in Chile. I braised the meat in the oven rather than simmer on the stovetop for an hour, as instructed (I’m a bit of a culinary rebel) and used a small roast I had in the freezer from Buffalo Horn Ranch, which I diced and browned and which tasted surprisingly like flank steak, I think. Or perhaps I’m just having flashbacks of the flank steak stew of my childhood.
After braising the meat with the onions and carrots, you add the potatoes and green beans and peas, which you don’t want to cook to death, and finish them off. And top off the lot with a poached egg. Once the egg parts of our dinners were gone, my sister went and got the sour cream and lobbed on some of that, and was it ever a Good Idea. Chilean Hangover Stew, meet Beef Stroganoff.
This is called Hangover Stew because it’s often served on Mondays as a means of using up the leftovers from the Sunday barbecue – it’s a dish served all over Chile. This version is adapted from Saveur, issue #14 – of their adaptation of the version at Raquel Orellana’s Restaurante En Familia in San Fernando, Chile.
Hangover Stew
canola or olive oil, for cooking
2 lb. flank steak, cut across the grain into 2″ strips, or a small beef or bison roast
4-5 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken, beef or vegetable stock
2 thin-skinned potatoes, cut into thick sticks
1/4 lb. string beans, trimmed and cut in 2″ pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
one egg per person (optional)
In a large heavy pot or skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat and brown the meat, in batches if you need to so that it doesn’t crowd the pan, seasoning with salt and pepper as it cooks. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two, then add the cumin and oregano. Set it aside or transfer to a pot (if you’re braising in a different pot than you’re browning in).
Add the onions and carrot to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Return the meat to the pot or transfer the onions and carrots to the pot the meat is in, and add the stock and 2-3 cups water. Cover and bake at 300F for 4 hours.
Add potatoes, beans, peas, parsley and cilantro; cover and return to the oven for another half hour, or until the potatoes are tender.
Meanwhile, poach your eggs in simmering water as if you were going to serve them on toast; ladle the stew into wide bowls and top each with an egg. Serves 6ish.
October 13 2010 | beef and one dish | 14 Comments »
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