Friday May 2nd, 2014

Dinner for 4

Cucumber and Poppy Seeds
Mixed Mushrooms with Cinnamon and Lemon
Butternut Squash and Tahini Spread
Roast Chicken with Sumac, Za'atar and Lemon
Baby Spinach Salad with Dates and Almonds
Mejadra and Yoghurt with Cucumber
Chocolate Fudge Cake

My Friday Night Dinners have been small affairs lately, rarely with guest besides my son's girlfriend.  Not exactly what I had in mind when I started but perhaps they have run their course. That is okay.  Change is good.  However tonight's dinner is deffinately special.  When we moved back to Canada we landed in a city where one of my dearest friends from university has lived for some time.  We met up with him early on, at our house warming, but having lives running in different directions has proven to make it difficult to get together.  After speaking with another dear university friend who lives in California I was determined to have Friday Night Dinner including my local buddy.  I started putting the wheels in motion, but finding a Friday night that would work for both of us put it 6 weeks in the future. At least a date was booked, and that date is tonight.  I then mentioned this to our mutual friend in California and he said perhaps he would drive all the way to Southern Ontario to join us. It has been a long time since the three of us have been in the same room.  This would be a surprise for both my husband and our dinner guest. Some long left friendships would be restored over a fabulous meal tonight.  What an evening. 

 We started the evening with cucumber and poppy seeds,

mixed mushrooms with cinnamon and lemons,
  

 

 and butternut squash and tahini spread all served with some crusty sourdough bread.  

All of these dishes were delicious.  The mushrooms were the biggest hit and are now in my regular rotation of starters and sides, they are just that good and so easy.  The tahini spread was enjoyed tonight and the leftover was enjoyed by my son, which is good because the vegetables he will eat is very limited.  The left over quick pickled cucumbers were a great addition to Saturday lunch as well.

The main meal was roast chicken with sumac, za'atar and lemon.  This was also enjoyed by everyone although there was a little left over which my son loved and is now often requesting.  Good thing it was easy to make.

The accompaniments to the chicken were baby spinach salad with dates and almonds (a very tasty salad I have served before)

and mejadra , which is lentils and rice, served alongside yoghurt with cucumbers.  I think the lentils needed to be cooked a little longer, I am not that experienced with lentils but the flavours were great. This is a dish I will practice some more.

To end a fantastic dinner with great friends I served chocolate fudge cake.  FANTASTIC!!

The cucumber and poppy seeds, the mixed mushrooms with cinnamon and lemons, the roast chicken with sumac za'atar and lemon, as well as the chocolate fudge cake recipes were all from Ottolenghi The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.  The recipes for the butternut squash and tahini spread, the baby spinach salad with dates and almonds, and the mejadra and yoghurt with cucumbers all came from Jerusalem also by Yotom Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. 

Friday April 11th, 2014

Dinner for 1

Thai Carrot Soup

Well tonight it is just my daughters and I for dinner and they are not in the mood for anything 'fancy'.  That makes it dinner for one.  I am not up for attempting risotto tonight so instead I am eating Thai carrot soup from my soup swap made by another amazing cook I know.

It even came with the add ins.



What is a soup swap?  Well this winter another mum in my neighbourhood suggested we get a bunch of us together and each week we make a soup and swap mason jars full.  We started with 6 ladies in two groups so you would give away two jars and get back two jars.  It became popular quick and we expanded to 9 participants but it wasn't long before a few decided to drop out.  We finally hit equilibrium at 8 ladies and changed our exchange to one jar a week with one person.  It has been great fun cooking soup and trying new soups all winter long.  It has been a long winter but yummy soups has made it brighter.

Friday March 28th, 2013

Dinner for 6

Spring Rolls
Cucumber Salad
Thai Hot and Sour Soup
Pad Thai
Salted Caramel Pot de Creme

My sister is in town today and back at my dinner table.  It has been odd not having her here most weeks since she moved away.  She loves Thai food so that was my theme tonight.  Pad Thai being her favourite.  The dinner is rounded out by my husband and myself as well as our two oldest children and one girlfriend.  Fun and casual.

Yummy spring rolls.  Always a favourite in my house.  I am getting faster at rolling them but they are still a little time consuming.  But worth it.

Cucumber salad.  Fresh and delicious.  I love fresh coriander (cilantro).

Hot and sour soup.  It tasted a whole lot better than it looked.  I love hot and sour soup but this one sure wasn't pretty.

Pad Thai.  Made for my sister as it is one of her favourite dishes.  Of course I love it too.  All the colour has fallen to the bottom of the serving dish so this picture does not do it justice.  It was fantastic and we managed a little left over for the following day. All the Thai recipes were found in Simply Thai Cooking by Wandee Young and Byron Ayanoglu

Well out of the Thai theme was dessert.  I am trying to master some high end desserts.  This was my first go at a pot de creme.  I think the caramel needed to be cooked a little more to darken the whole thing up a bit but they were delicious.  There were none left over.  This recipe was found in a magazine.  I will add a link when I remember which one. Some days are like that.

 

Friday March 21st, 2013

Dinner for 4

 Indian Beetroot Dip & Coriander and Mint Chutney with Pappadums
Bengali Fish Curry

Chicken Tikka

Dhal
Naan
Spiced Yoghurt with Almonds

Dinners have been hit and miss a lot lately as life has gotten in the way of Friday Night Dinners.  Tonight my husband requested Indian, so the meal was inspired by his request.

We started with a beetroot dip using this recipe and coriander (cilantro) and mint chutney using this recipe served with pappadums as well as some bought fried lentils and nuts.  I love beetroot but the rest of my family does not share that feeling.  They all preferred the coriander and mint chutney.  I liked both.

The main dishes consisted of  Bengali Fish Curry which was very tasty and easy to make

and chicken tikka as well as dhal and naan.  I based my chicken tikka off of this quick recipe but found that it wasn't spicy enough for me.  I will keep working on that.  I use the dhal recipe from Simply Bill by Bill Granger every time I make dhal now.  It is super easy to make and those that like dhal in my house love this recipe.  

I usually make my own naan but the day got away from me so it was store bought tonight.

Dessert was spiced yoghurt with almonds.   This is a favourite dessert of mine and has shown up often on a Friday night menu.  It is simple to make and not too sweet.  Tonight I added some candy coated fennel seeds.  Yummy!

 

Friday February 28, 2013

Two Dozen Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Icing and White Chocolate Decorations

No friday Night dinner tonight.  It is the family dance at the elementary school.  No fine dining for me tonight, instead it is junk food in a school gym!  While my older children have no interest in going, my youngest is very keen.  As I am on the parent council that is planning it I certainly should support it.  So off we go.  My husband, our youngest and myself.

There is however a cake raffle and my entry is two dozen chocolate cupcakes with chocolate fudge icing and white chocolate decorations.  Some lucky person will win these.

 Chocolate cupcake is a mix from a box, but I always make it using maximum number of eggs called for, the  oil as directed and milk instead of water.  Not your diet cake.  The icing was taught to me by my mother and has always had a special place in my memories, especially scraping out the pot with my two sisters to get every last fudgy bit.  I melted white chocolate and put it in a zip lock bag.  I then snipped the corner and made scribbles on my silicon mat.  After they had hardened I lifted them off and stuck them in the top.

Icing recipe is as follows:  Melt 56g (2 ounces) of unsweetened chocolate (I have always used 2 Baker's Brand squares) in a double boiler.  Add one can of sweetened condensed milk and stir.  Add a dash of salt and a cap full (1 tsp is probably the correct measurement) of vanilla.  Stir constantly until thickened.  Remove from heat and ice cake.

Friday February 21st, 2014

Dinner for 1

Thai Chicken Burger
Thai Noodle Salad

The Olympics are coming to a close so tonight's dinner should be something Canadian or Hockey related.  Like arena fries, which are always the best.  Instead I have been preoccupied with watching the Olympics and my Hubby is sick so it is just a simple dinner for me tonight.

 I use to pick up Thai chicken burgers from a chicken butcher in Australia.  They were always an easy to barbeque and the same butcher sold marinated kabobs the kids loved.  I decided to try and recreate them myself tonight.

The burger is ground chicken with chopped coriander (cilantro), grated carrot, salt, pepper and fish sauce.  I topped my burger with  sweet chilli sauce, tomatoes and roasted red peppers all on a toasted bun.  This was pretty close to the ones I remember.

 

I also made Thai noodle salad.  The recipe I use is from Simply Thai Cooking  by Wandee Young and Byron Ayanoglu.  The recipe calls for ground chicken and shrimps but I left them out this time to make it a side for my burger.  It was still very tasty and one of my favourites.

Friday February 14, 2014

Dinner for 2

Oysters with Burnt Butter paired with Pomegranate Fizz
Fig and Prosciutto Salad paired with a White Blend from Ontario
Seared Fillet Mignon with Garlic Mash and Roasted Brussel Sprouts paired with a Cab Sav from Australia
Macerated Berries & Vanilla Cream paired with Ontario Ice Wine

It is Friday Night and it is Valentine's Day.  Now I am not one to put a whole lot into Valentine's Day, I buy my kids and my husband some chocolate and if I can, I make a late night dinner for just the two of us.  Anyone with kids and busy schedules knows it is hard to carve out alone time and I often would make a late night dinner for the two of us when the kids were small.  I was so happy to be able to prepare a dinner just for us this Friday complete with wine pairings.

We started with Cooked Oysters with Burnt Butter paired with Pomegranate Fizz.  I have only ever shucked my oysters and steamed or broiled them so this was a new cooking technique.  

I am not sure I loved the oysters prepared this way.  I felt they dried out a little in the oven, but maybe it was a timing thing.  Burnt butter drizzled over them was delicious and the pomegranate fizz made with wine, pomegranate juice and soda water was fantastic.

Second course was Fig and Prosciutto Salad   by Jamie Oliver paired with the white wine I used earlier for the fizz.  

This salad is so simple but so fantastic.  It was worth it to buy real buffalo mozzarella and the best prosciutto I could find.  Only a little bit of each was needed so it wasn't too costly. A definite treat.  I love figs but my husband is not that big of a fan however, he found this salad amazing and was raving about it.  Thank you Jamie Oliver.

The main course was a seared fillet mignon with garlic mash and roasted brussel sprouts.   I paired it with a beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon we brought back from Australia.  The wine we brought back on our return is dwindling so we certainly savour the ones we have now.

 I seared the steaks in butter and oil with a little thyme and cooked them to medium rare, they are toped off with the pan juices and a little green onion.  The potatoes are boiled and mashed with some cream, butter, confit garlic, salt and pepper.  The brussel sprouts are cut in half and roasted in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Usually they continue to show some green for a little less of a brown on brown presentation but unfortunately they were a little over done.  I still have trouble with timing some days.

Dessert was Macerated Berries with Vanilla Cream paired with an Ice Wine from Ontario.

A wonderful way to end a beautiful meal.  Not too heavy or rich.