Friday March 15, 2013

Dinner for 3

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Roasted Potatoes

Pancetta Wrapped Chicken with Glazed Date Sauce

Apple Crisp

It is March Break this week in Ontario and I have taken my two daughters up to my parents place in cottage country.  That means Friday Night dinner is on the road this week.

My parents have a somewhat restrictive diet now that they are in there 70's.  They have to avoid things high in salt and cholesterol as well as grapefruit.  Plus they have things they definitely don't like ... spice of any kind for my Mom and ginger, arugula and a lot of seafood for my Dad.  This sort of limits the foods I prefer to cook but it gives me a chance to explore other avenues.  My parents are willing to try new things but my mom loves a few of my standard dishes, like roasted potatoes, so I decided to combine new and old.

Roasted brussel sprouts are by far the best way to eat this vegetable and it is so simple.  Trim and half the brussel sprouts.  Place them in a baking dish with a generous amount of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Pop in the oven at 200C for about 20 minutes.  Yummy.  These turned out a little darker than I usually do them, my parents oven is hotter than mine, I really need to get use to it.

My mother absolutely loves my oven roasted potatoes.  She always wants me to make them when I visit.  She believes I even make them better than my Dad, sorry Dad.  I make them the way Jamie Oliver does on his show.  Par boil pealed and quartered potatoes.  Drain and steam dry them.  Put them in a baking pan with olive oil, salt and pepper then into the 200C oven for about 40 minutes until they are nice and crispy on the outside.

New to the menu was the panchetta wrapped chicken.  Everyone loved it, although I reduced the sauce a little too much so it was too thick.  It was a little sweet for my liking but it sure was a hit with my parents.  They support my 'chefiness'  a lot so it always makes me feel extra great when I cook them something they truly love. Recipe was found in a Good & Fresh Magazine by Better Homes & Garden Winter 2013.

Finished dinner with apple crisp.  Another of my Mom's favourites that I make.  I know my parents don't use butter but I snuck it in here.  A little decadence is always deserved once in a while.  I peel and chop apples into small pieces.  Enough to fill four ramekins.  The topping is 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1 tsp cinnamon.  I blend the topping together with my hands until it is a nice crumbly texture.  You can add flour to get a better texture if need be.  Then I bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 180C.

Friday March 8, 2013

Dinner for 2

Udon Noodle and Shiitake Mushroom Soup
Seared Scallop Salad with Sweet Chilli Dressing
Apple Pie

 I know, I know apple pie is a little odd with this dinner  but it is my birthday weekend and I am craving warm apple pie with a nice slice of cheddar cheese so that is what dessert is tonight.

Dinner tonight is just for my Husband and I so it is light, simple and tasty.  The udon soup is a super easy dish I learned to make in Australia.  It is my go to starter if I am serving up Asian dishes that don't have a rice or noodle component to them.  

The recipe is from the back of a package of Udon noodles.   

Boil 2 cups of water and add a few dried Shiitake mushrooms.  Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and finely slice them and add them back to the pot.  Add a 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of soy sauce (I use reduced salt) and 2 tbsp of sugar.  Simmer for another 5 or 10 minutes.  While simmering cook noodles according to directions.  Place noodles in the bottom of the bowl.  Add broth and mushrooms.  Top with sliced spring onions and plenty of fresh grated ginger.

The seared scallop salad is an interpretation of this recipe .  

I used sweet chilli, soy and lime juice for the dressing.  I seared the scallops on both sides in a hot pan with a little oil.  Then I added 2 tablespoons of the dressing and continued to cook the scallops for another minute.  For the salad greens I used arugula, mixed baby greens, snow pea sprouts, mustard sprouts, mint and cilantro.  The greens were dressed with the remaining sweet chilli lime dressing and the seared scallops were added.

I admit I cheated with the apple pie.  I used frozen pastry, but if Jamie Oliver can so can I.  I pealed and cut my apples and cooked then in a frying pan with a little cinnamon, sugar and butter then I put them in the pie and baked it.  

Friday March 1, 2013

Dinner for 1

Udon Noodles with Chicken and Baby Bok Choy

Well today was one of those rare Fridays where I was cooking only for myself.  They may become more common place as my anchor guest (my sister) moved away this past summer.  No one has volunteered to be my anchor yet.

Friday night dinners started because my husband was always traveling for work and a group of friends would support me, in my single parenthood, by inviting me over or by me having them over for company.  It helped a lot during the time that I was living overseas, far from my family, and my husband was mostly working on another continent.  

I sure hope this is a rare occurrence.  I prefer at the very least cooking for the two of us. 

Tonight's dinner was pretty simple and my daughters did share in it.

I cooked the Udon Noodles then rinsed them.  

I cut one chicken breast into thin strips then stir fried it in a little peanut oil. When it was cooked through I set it aside to keep warm.

I wiped out the wok and added a little more oil plus 2 cloves of garlic minced and a teaspoon of finely grated ginger. That was stir fried for 30 seconds and then I added half a red pepper cut in strips and 8 baby bok choy trimmed and rinsed.  That was cooked for a couple of minutes then the chicken and noodles were added to the wok followed by a slurry of 1/2 cup of stock, a table spoon of oyster sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil and a teaspoon of corn starch.  Everything was tossed together with a splash of soy sauce and then topped with sliced green onions.

It was pretty tasty.  I would have put in some shitakke mushrooms but I was hoping the girls would eat it so I left them out.  I also would have preferred a little more heat but that again that would put the girls off.  I could have added a chilli but opted to add a little sirachha to my plate.  Yummy!

Friday February 22, 2013

CANCELLED!

We are going to watch Brave at the school ... no time for fancy cooking.  Family night, well just the youngest my hubby and I.  As much as I love my Friday night dinners I love it when we get to spend time together as a family.  The big ones didn't want to join us this time but the three of us had a great time.

Friday February 15, 2013

Dinner for 2

Grilled Figs
Broiled Citrus Seafood in Bouillabaisse Broth
Raspberry & Pear Salad with Hazelnuts
Granola Mini-Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing and Fresh Berries

My husband was out of town for Valentine's Day so we are enjoying each others company tonight.  Of course the kids are still mulling around but you have to make the best of it.  This meal is more about my favouties than his but I know he will love the seafood.

Starting with a grilled figs inspired by this recipe . I stuffed them with a little blue cheese and placed them on a bed of snow pea tendrils instead of what was called for.  I could eat figs with every meal.  Hard to come by nice ones here in Ontario though.

 

I made this seafood bouillabaisse not that long ago for the End of Days (December 21, 2012) Friday Night Dinner.  It was fantastic so I decided to make it again.  I just wish I could remember where I got this recipe from.  I think it might have been a Cuisine for Two magazine.

I love a salad that has fruit in it.  Especially pears.  Again I based my salad off this recipe using pea tendrils instead of watercress, which tends to be hard to find where I live. 

And finally a little dessert for two.  I am of two minds when it comes to dessert.  I either want it super rich and chocolate or something much lighter and fruity.  I rarely eat dessert actually and often struggle to come up with something to finish my dinners as I don't want a whole cake or pie left over.  This mini cake with icing was just the thing.  I am pretty sure it also came from a Cuisine for Two magazine.

 

Friday February 1, 2013

Dinner for 8

Fried Spring Rolls
Cold Thai Rolls
Green Papaya Salad
Lemon Chicken Soup
Pork Larb
Spicy Thai Noodles
Steamed Snapper with Chilli Lime Sauce
Stir Fried Shiitake Mushrooms and Snow Peas
Banana Fritters

It is Fridays like this that make my heart sing.  Two of my husband's cousins and an aunt are traveling by and decided to stop in for a Friday Night Dinner.  The house is filled with great smells and fantastic company.  I am pulling out all the stops to have a fun filled Thai food feast.

 We are starting with fried spring rolls and cold Thai rolls to please everyone in the crowd. 

We then moved onto the green papaya salad and Lemon Chicken Soup

Both were very Yummy.
 
Then came out the main dishes to be served family style.
 Pork larb

Spicy Thai noodles

Steamed snapper with chilli lime sauce

 

Stir fried shittake  mushrooms and snow peas

I have always loved spicy Thai noodles and pork larb but tonight I think my favourite part has to be the snapper.  It was so spicy.  Wow!  Followed by the Stir fried mushrooms and peas, they were super fresh tasting

And finally, if you weren't full yet, banana fritters.

The company was fantastic. It always makes me so happy, as the cook, to have people raving about my food.  The youngest cousin, who is just in university, felt she had been introduced to trying new things.  That in my book is a win!

Friday January 25, 2013

Dinner for 3

Salt Crusted Lamb with Pomegranate Reduction

Blood Orange and Rocket Salad 

Roasted Beetroot

Pavlova

January 26th is Australia Day!! Since by Friday Night Dinner time here it is already Australia Day down under I am having a dinner celebrating that day.  We spent 6 years living in Australia and my youngest was born there so Australia holds a special place in my heart.

 Lamb is a traditional item for Australia Day BBQ, they even run commercials , but since it is -15 degrees Celsius with a wind chill making it seem like -24 I am not barbequing today.  Instead I salt crusted the lamb and roasted the entire rack.  Pomegranates always remind me of our days in Adelaide as a tree grew between our yard and the neighbours.  Come March they fruit would start bursting open (all those I hadn't picked) and the beautiful rainbow Lorakees would fill the tree to eat.

The lamb was so moist and tasty, this is my sons new favourite way to eat lamb.


I LOVE beetroot.  I LOVE it roasted.  I am the only one in the family so this is all for me.

Roasted beetroot topped with some radish micro greens. YUMMY!!!

Finally to finish off dinner is a simple rocket (arugula is what they call it in North America) and blood orange salad with a vinaigrette made from the juice. The rocket wasn't as peppery as the wild rocket I would eat in Australia but I know I can get that in the summer here.

Whoops, I didn't take a shot of the salad, you can kind of see it behind the wine we drank.

Attempted my first Pavlova here.  I could always buy meringues in Australia so I had never made one from scratch.  Turns out it wasn't that hard at all.  I had no luck finding passion fruit so I muddled some raspberries instead and topped it off with more fresh raspberries.  Tasty!