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. 

Friday February 7th, 2014

Dinner for 2

Curry Coconut Shrimp with Jasmine Rice
Fennel and Pink Grapefruit Salad

It has been a busy week and a busy day so dinner tonight is super easy and tastes fanatstic.

I made curry coconut shrimp over jasmine rice.   The rice was made as directed on the package.  The shrimp dish is super easy.  I pealed and deveined the shrimp.  More than enough for two but this is always eaten if there is any left over.  I heat a couple of tablespoons of red Thai curry paste, 2 cloves of garlic minced and a little fresh grated ginger in a frying pan over medium heat with a little oil.  Then I add in a can of coconut milk and warm it to a simmer.  I toss in the shrimp to cook them through.  Serve over rice topped with plenty of fresh chopped coriander (cilantro).  

 My salad is made with grapefruit segments, finely sliced fennel, finely sliced red onion and sunflower sprouts.  The dressing is a vinaigrette made using grapefruit juice, olive oil, grainy mustard and white wine vinegar.  Fresh and delicious.

Friday January 31st, 2014

Dinner for 4

Star Anise Spiced Peanuts
Chinese Style Snapper
Stir Fried Bok Choy
Firecracker Corn
Hot and Sour Cucumber Salad
Fried Rice 

I love 'celebrating' Chinese New Year with a wonderful feast of food and this year it fell on a Friday Night.  I should have planned this better and had a big group over but it looks like it is just us minus our boy.  

I started with these Star Anise Spiced Peanuts.  I found the recipe here.  They were easy to make and rather addictive.  I love peanuts.

Baking this whole snapper in the oven then pouring hot oil over it at the end is such a great way to eat a whole fish.  Topped with plenty of coriander (cilantro) and green onions.  This recipe was used to make the fish. 

I often make stir fried bok choy as it is a favourite in our house.  I cleaned and trimmed the baby bok choy and then left it in the colander until I was ready to stir fry.  It only takes a few minutes to cook.  I heat the wok with a little peanut oil and sesame oil then add garlic to taste.  One or two cloves is good for a serving for four in our house but add more if you like.  Then I toss in the bok choy and fry until it is just wilted tender.  I usually add a little soy but I decided to leave it off today.

Firecracker corn was found in the Complete Chinese Cookbook by Ken Hom.  I recommend this cookbook if you like cooking Chinese food.  Everything I have made out of this book has been fairly straight forward and very tasty.  I used frozen corn for this dish.

The hot and sour cucumber was also from Ken Hom's book.  It was everything I love about quick pickles and then has the crispy fried garlic too.  Nice.

Fried rice is also a staple in our house, often sent in a thermos for lunch.  There are many ways to make fried rice.  I keep mine extremely simple because my girls, especially the youngest, like it this way.  I always start with cold cooked rice. I heat some canola oil and sesame oil in my large frying pan over medium high heat.  I add in the rice and stir fry adding a little soy sauce as I do.  When the rice is heated through I add two to three beaten eggs and stir fry them in.  It is a simple as that. Of course you could add garlic before the rice and of course vegetables and or meat with the rice.  It all depends on your tastes.

Friday January 24th, 2014

Dinner for 4

 Salad with Sunflower Sprouts and Grapefruit

Lobster Mac & Cheese
Cheesecake Pops

It is cold and blowing outside but inside tonight we are having a wonderful bright salad and comforting lobster macaroni and cheese.  Just a quiet night with four of the five family home members for dinner tonight.

The salad is spinach, sunflower sprouts, red onion, and grapefruit with a dressing that included grapefruit juice, thai chillies, green onion, oil, salt, pepper and a little rice wine vinegar.

The lobster Macaroni and cheese was made based on this recipe by Barefoot Contessa.  However, I just used panko bead crumbs for the topping instead of the butter infused crumbs from the recipe.  My husband has been asking me to make this dish and he loved it.  I made a couple without lobster for the girls but our youngest preferred the lobster.  I had enough to prepare a few extra small dishes which I froze for quick easy meals.

Our youngest requested cheese cake for tonight because her brother (our resident cheesecake expert) had made one for the event he was going to but left none for us.  Since I had no time to get a cheesecake made we settled on President Choice Cheese Cake Pops.  The salted toffee were better than the triple chocolate  but I think we all prefer the creations made by our own expert.

Friday January 17th, 2014

Dinner for 6

Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese
Hamburgers with choice of toppings, grilled peppers, grilled onions, tomatoes, lettuce, pears, mustard, pickles, ketchup, blue cheese, cheddar, havarti, etc.
Bourbon Glazed Peaches with Ice Cream. 

I was feeling like imparting a little summer into this winter. This has been the coldest winter since our return to Canada 4 years ago.  It has been a little hard to take after 6 years of South Australian winters, which we would escape for five weeks each year and return to Canadian summer.  So I was in the mood for a great burger and peaches.  Luckily I froze a baskets of peaches when they were at the peak of their season.

My son's girlfriend does not eat meat so I was working out an alternative burger for her when a friend suggested I pick up a quinoa patty from Paisley Fine Foods.  That is what I decided to do and it got great reviews from my guest.  The rest of us ate beef burgers that I prepared adding egg, garlic power, onion powder, worcestershire, salt and pepper then cooked on my grill pan.  I roasted some whole red peppers in the oven, then placed them in a plastic bag so I could easily peal them.  I grilled the onions in a frying pan and all of the remaining topping were found in the fridge.

The spinach salad was just baby spinach, chopped red onion, crumbled blue cheese and a homemade balsamic vinegrette.

The recipe for the bourbon glaze was found on line here but I didn't have any whole fruit only cut frozen fruit.  My solutuon, make the glaze as directed and add 2 cups of chopped frozen peaches.  Cook until warmed through.  Top over icecream.

This was tasty and loved by those that ate it, but I would change it in the future if I was using frozen peaches again.  I found it too sweet so I feel a little less sugar but more peaches, maybe 4 cups would be better.  Also I believe it could have used a little more bourbon.  The left overs, it made a lot of glaze, were used on waffles the next day. Of course I will also try grilling the peaches when summer finally rolls around again. 

Friday January 10th, 2014

Dinner for 1

Mushroom Risotto

The first week back to school after the Christmas break here in Southern Ontario has been a little dodgy to say the least.  Monday the buses were cancelled in our area and Tuesday all the schools were closed due to the extreme cold.  A little extra Christmas vacation was a bonus for the kids but set me behind on all my work.  My husband was traveling this week and happily managed to drive and catch all his planes without any dire incidents.  Thank goodness.  It was a very late return on Friday for him so I planned dinner for 1.  More practice on my much loved mushroom risotto.

This time I am using Jamie Oliver's recipe from his book Jamie's Italy.  I made the base risotto and added chopped roasted mushrooms and garlic in.

I still need practice.  Tonight I thought the rice was a little under cooked and I may have added too much cheese.  I am going to keep on practicing this until I have mastered my favourite dish.

Friday January 3rd, 2014

Dinner for 4

Turmeric and Saffron Curry
Ruby Grapefruit, Lime and Scallop Salad
Stir Fried Bok Choy
Pretzels with Hersey Kisses and Peanut Butter M&M's

Wow it is the start of 2014 already.  Times flies sometimes.  The Friday night dinners are off to a quite start.  Tonight it is my husband, my son, his girlfriend and myself.  Our two daughters are also hear but not interested in scallops so they are having some pasta.

We are starting off with a favourite broth.  This recipe is from Vij’s: Elegant & Inspired Indian Cuisine . I've been making it a lot lately.  It is simple to make, the colour is beautiful and we all think it is so tasty.  I doubled the recipe so that we could have some leftover but it is just too popular with my son and his girlfriend, they ate it all up.

The main course of ruby grapefruit, lime and scallop salad was inspired by this recipe however I changed a few things to adapt it to what I had on hand.  With no watercress I used a combination of baby spinach and rocket (arugula) for the salad base.  I also thought I had macadamia nuts in my pantry but it turns out I didn't, so for the nuts I used some blanched slivered almonds.  The fish market hear never has scallops with roe attached so I just used frozen Nova Scotia scallops, some days I really miss living near the ocean.  Well maybe most days.

Stir fried bok choy is often enjoyed in our house.  My eldest daughter and husband love it.  I trim and clean the baby bok choy, today it was what they call the Shanghai variety, and leave it in the colander until I need it.  In the wok I use a little peanut oil and toasted sesame oil.  I heat it to almost smoking, toss in about a tbsp of finely chopped garlic then almost immediately toss it the bok choy.  I stir fry it until it wilts, add a splash of soy and rice vinegar and them plate it up.  Simple goodness.

Dessert today wasn't really a dessert.  I got no Christmas baking done this year for many reasons, so I was pleasing the children with a sweet salty favourite.  You can find variations of these all over the internet so I am not sure who should get the credit for them here.  They are supper easy.  Lay pretzels out on a cookie sheet. Top with a Hersey Kiss and put them in a 180C oven for about 3 minutes.  Take them out and put the M&M on top.  Let cool completely.  My eldest daughter helped make them, it was fun in the kitchen with her.  Unfortunately no pictures were taken before the 3 and 1/2  trays of them were gobbled up.
 

Friday December 27, 2013

Dinner for 10

Christmas #3

Pork Loin stuffed with Couscous and Feta
Trout Stuffed with Lemon and Thyme with Prosciutto and Cornichon Sauce
Roasted Brussel Spouts
Mashed Potatoes
Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese and Dried Cranberries
Christmas Baking by Family

Christmas is that busy time of year when you are rushing around doing way too much.  I try not to get to caught up in it all. My husband and I don't usually end up with a lot of social obligations during this festive season which helps us not to be overly booked. We do have family gatherings though, which to me is what Christmas is all about.  Spending time with those you love.  The first is my family.  We have traditionally gathered at one of the sisters' houses the weekend before Christmas.  We eat a traditional dinner of turkey and all the trimmings we grew up with.  It is nice.  

Then comes the actual Christmas day.  For the years we lived in Australia we did various things, nothing traditional, a favourite being a pot luck gathering of expats we knew living there.  On the return to Canada we have kept the day low key and I have cooked less traditional dinners as my children were not use to the traditional turkey and didn't miss it.  However for the last couple of years we have had my husbands mother staying with us for Christmas so we have gone back to the traditional dinner on Christmas day too.  My mother in law is simply not someone who will try anything outside of her tastes.

The third Christmas gathering is with my husband's brother and his family, which happens between Christmas and New years and includes their Mum. We rotate the hosting and this year is our year.  Knowing it is a tough crowd, 5 kids and a picky mother-in-law I tried to keep it fairly simple but I wanted to try some new things.  I just wasn't eating turkey again.

This beautiful pork loin from Thatcher Farms was stuffed with feta and couscous then roasted with pears.  The recipe used can be found here. It turned out beautiful and very tasty.  My Mother-in-law loved the pear and pork, although I am pretty sure she ate around the couscous stuffing. New and different is not her thing.

The trout was more for me as I love having fish for Christmas after spending 6 years near the ocean.  This recipe was delicious.  So tasty stuffed with lemon and thyme and of course who wouldn't love a prosciutto parsley sauce.

The sides to round out the meal included mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts roasted with olive oil salt and pepper and a spinach salad.

I added red onion, dried cranberries and blue cheese to spinach leaves and mad a balsamic vinaigrette with some grainy mustard in it. Next time I think I will add mandarin orange segments too.

Dessert was all the Christmas baking in the house brought and made by various visitors and myself.