Friday October 26, 2013

Dinner for 7

Baba Ghanoush, Dukkah and Za'atar with Bread for dipping
Spinach Salad with Dates and Almonds
Lamb Chops with Autumnal Roots, Shoots and Fruits
Dukkah Crusted Ocean Perch
Cheese Course (1608, 6 yr Cheddar, Emerite Blue, Bliss and a soft Goat Cheese)
No-bake Lemon Cheese Cake
Raspberry Fizz to Drink

My son wanted a Friday Night Dinner for his birthday this year.  Due to the busy schedules of teenagers we had to move it to a Saturday and even then one friend ended up having to cancel.  My son and I worked on the menu together.  He loves lamb and middle eastern flavours.  After trying to work around food allergies and diet restrictions we came up with the above menu to suit all.  

The teens all dressed up for the occasion like they were off to a high end restaurant.  One of the guests even brought me flowers ... she is welcome back anytime. 

I worked as the chef and my husband was the waiter. My daughter worked as the official food photographer.  This is the first time I have not sat at the table of one of my dinners.  All went well.  With me not sitting down and eating each course the timing sure went off without a hitch.

It started with baba ghanoush, dukkah and za'atar with bread for dipping.  I don't think I will ever go back to store bought baba ghanoush again, this was so tasty.  Having dukkah with bread and olive oil reminded me how much I love it.  There was also grated fresh tomatoes to dip your bread in before dipping it in the za'atar. 

The recipe for the baba ghanoush was from Jerusalem a Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.  I made the dukkah using a recipe from Taste I have been making it for a long time so I don't always follow it exactly and this time I used almonds in place of the hazelnuts.  I bought the za'atar locally.

The Spinich and date salad was also from Jerusalem a Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.   I loved this salad and plan to add it to my regular rotation of side dishes.  It was delicious.

The mains included the lamb with two sauces, the dukkah crusted fish and a parsnip thyme and leek mash.

The recipe for the fish is something I have also been doing a long time.  I bread the fish by dipping it in seasoned flour, then milk then dukkah and bake it in the oven. The fish stays moist and the crust gets crunchy.  The other dishes were based on a recipe from BBC Food .  Not having fresh currents available for the red current and green chilli sauce I used frozen raspberries in their place.  I also did not have pomegranate powder to sprinkle on the lamb so I used a little sumac instead.  It was all rather tasty.  The yoghurt and date sauce could be eaten on it's own in my opinion.

Some of my son's favourite cheeses purchased from our favourite cheese shop Ouderkirk and Taylor.

We forgot to get a photo of the cheese cake before it was devoured by the guests.  We did get a shot of the Raspberry Fizz at its fizziest, it is favourite alcohol free drink in our house.

Friday October 25, 2013

Dinner for 5
Sesame Steak Salad with Asian pear
Noodles with Soy Dressing
Lemon Cheesecake  

Tonight we are having a casual Friday Night Dinner. Tomorrow we are having the official 'Friday Night Dinner' for my son and seven of his friends as a birthday celebration. The complicated and busy lives of working teens meant a Saturday date would work better. 

I thought one of my adult nephews might drop by tonight so I was keeping the menu simple and easy to expand for 6 if he could make it.  Unfortunately in the end it was only us.

 A yummy stir fried steak salad topped with toasted sesame seeds, asian pear and green onions.

Noodles with a simple soy Dressing.  I could eat these all day long.

Leftover no bake lemon cheesecake from the birthday celebration yesterday.  This is so light and fluffy made with whipped evaporated milk, cream cheese, sugar and lemon jello to set it.  All in a graham cracker crust with a little extra crumbled on top.  This is one of the first successful desserts I ever learned to make, way back when I was in high school.  It is still a favourite.

Friday October 18, 2013

Dinner for 4
Pork and Ginger Wonton Stir fry (sort of a deconstructed dumpling)
Bok Choy and Garlic
Lemon Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Icing and Macerated Raspberries

It has been a crazy, busy, short week.  After not having Friday Night Dinner for so many weeks you would think I would be well organized.  But I am not.  Truth be told I am rarely well organized.  I think I might be missing that gene.  The oldest is out so it is the girls, hubby and I for dinner tonight.

I was babysitting for a friend this morning and she had just received a new cookbook for her birthday, Mad Hungry Cravings by Lucinda Scala Quinn .  I was leafing through it and saw many recipes I would like to try but I landed on Pork and Ginger Wonton Stir Fry for tonight.  At least I think that is what it was called.  That is what I wrote down at the top of my notes, but it seems I either got the name wrong or I left out ginger when making my notes because there was actually no ginger in it.  Maybe I should have thrown some in.  

It was pretty tasty but I did have a lot of trouble with the wontons sticking together, then getting over cooked.  I think if I was to make it again I would use Udon Noodles and throw in some bright vegetables to make it look more appetising.  Sometimes Friday Night is good for trial and error. Bok Choy is often stir fired and often eaten in our house. I just trim add rinse the baby bok choy and mince a little garlic.  I get the wok hot, add some oil (vegetable and sesame oil) toss in the garlic for thirty seconds add the bok choy and stir fry until wilted.  I then season with a little soy sauce.

I didn't have time to whip up dessert but I did find some pre-made cupcakes at the store.  I added vanilla butter cream icing with extra whip cream that I was using on my friend's birthday cake.  I used some frozen raspberries to make a little sauce on the side.

Not to bad for a crazy, busy, short week.  It certainly appealed to my daughters.  Especially the dessert.

 

Friday August 23, 2013

Dinner for 7

Boiled Fresh Corn on the Cob

Grilled Vegetables with Maple Balsamic Dressing

Grilled Salmon, Shrimp and Steak with Garlic, Parsley and Chive Sauce

Wild Blackberry Tarts

After a few weeks of no dinners due to travel and summer fun I ended up doing a Friday Night Dinner at my Dad's this week.  I was travelling to my Dad's place to pick up my youngest daughter from a fun filled week at 'Grandpa Camp'.  My dad had agreed to entertain and care for my youngest and my nephew for a week at his house in cottage country.  We will see if he ever volunteers for that again.  

I had brought up some fresh vegetables from the Farmers' Market  but I didn't really have a plan.  When I arrived, my Dad asked if I would make dinner for him and some of his neighbours.  Of course I agreed.  I had beautiful corn, zucchini, mushrooms, sweet peppers and red onions.  All I needed was a protein for this glorious summer BBQ at my Dad's beautiful riverside home, and a plan.  My Dad suggested I look through the Aussie BBQ cookbook I had given him when I was living in Australia.   I found a wonderful surf and turf recipe which I adapted for the evening. 

First order of business is to clear off the picnic tables and set them together for a wonderful alfresco dining by the river.  Does it get any better than this?

The corn is at it's peak right now.  I just boiled it for 8 minutes in salted water and served it up.  I like it just with pepper but I let the guest dress it with becel (my dad has no butter) and salt and pepper as to their taste.

I grilled all the vegetables together in one of those handy dandy grilling baskets.  Then tossed them with a dressing of:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tsp Dijon Mustard

1Tsp Maple Syrup 

Salt and Pepper

The Salmon, Shrimp and Steak were all grilled on the BBQ then topped with a sauce from The Great Aussie Barbie Cookbook by Kim Terakes.

1/3 Cup Olive Oil

4 Tbsp Butter (again I used Becel here)

2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp Dried Oregano

1/2 Cup Flat Leaf parsley, finely chopped

1/2 Cup Chives, finely chopped

Melt Butter and heat oil in a fry pan.  Add herbs and heat through then pour over the cooked protein.

We finished the meal off with Wild Blackberry Tarts made by my Dad.  The blackberries were picked on his property.  Yummy!

This was a great meal.  Fresh and eaten outdoors.  Best part was being able to cook for my Dad's neighbours who have been so supportive of my Dad since the death of my Mom in the Spring.  Nice to give back to great people. It was also nice to show off my cooking skills to a new group of people.  They gave me rave reviews which always fuels my passion.

 

 

Friday August 30, 2013

Dinner for 2
Grilled Wild Sockeye Salmon
Spinach Salad

Wow it has been weeks since I have been home to cook a Friday Night Dinner.  There was Hillside Festival, a trip to Kingston to visit my sister and her family, a weekend get-away in Toronto with my sisters, a Soccer party for my youngest daughter and a visit at my Dad's.  That brings us to the Labour Day Weekend and the 'end' of summer.  Where did it go?

I am keeping it simple tonight because it is crazy hot out and it is just the Hubby and I.

Simply grilled the Salmon on my BBQ with a little salt, pepper, lemon juice and oil.  Topped it off with a little more lemon juice and some chopped coriander.

The Spinach Salad was equally easy.  Baby spinach, thinly sliced red onion, cremini mushrooms quartered and canned mandarin segments all tossed together with the dressing made with olive oil, juice the mandarins were canned in, salt, pepper, white wine vinegar and a little grainy mustard.

Friday July 19, 2013

Dinner for 2/3

Black & Red Raspberry Salad with Speck and Halloumi
Citrus Seared Tuna with Crispy Noodles, Herbs and Chilli
Pan Seared Beef Tenderloin with Blueberries, Shallots and Red Wine
Custard Tart with Strawberries and Cream

I love it when a dinner comes together.

The rain came down today.  Down hard.  It took down a huge branch from our maple tree that blocked our driveway and narrowly missed our neighbours cars.  Luckily it didn't snap our power lines but it did shift the poles.  Sadly it has left a huge scar on our tree and I am afraid we will loose it.

Ignoring all that commotion that occurred just as I was making it, dinner turned out great.  I planned for three simple but tasty courses that involved little or no cooking as it has been crazy hot all week with most days feeling hotter than 40C with the humidex.

The dinner was mainly for my husband and myself but I know our oldest would want the tuna and sirloin so I included him.  Due to the minimum cooking involved, I was able to serve a course, eat and then get up to complete the next course.  This made for a wonderful leisurely dinner which is lovely for my husband and I to have with our eldest child.

The salad was based on one in Jamie Oliver's cookbook, Jamie at Home.  It called for strawberries but unfortunately the best of Ontario's strawberries have come and gone so I opted to use wild black and red raspberries.

The tuna dish was so yummy although, I don't think I crisped the noodles quite right and I forgot to add the scallions.  This dish is from Jamie Oliver's cookbook Jamie's Kitchen and as usual it was easy to prepare and tasted fantastic.  I do think the next time I make it I will just leave the noodles out.

The recipe for the sirloin was also based on a recipe from Jamie's Kitchen however the protein called for was venison.  I didn't have access to venison so I used beef tenderloin which I pan seared and then while it was resting I cooked the sauce in the same pan.  I was going to serve this with some steamed broccoli but given how warm it was and how full we were from the first two courses we decided to save the veg for another day.  I definitely would make this again using any steak and serving it up with steamed broccoli and some mash.  The sauce was that good.

I may have mentioned before, that I am not much of a pastry chef.  Today I really took the easy way out and purchased my dessert from Market Fresh .  I love this market!  The dessert was fantastic.

 As a side note my son baked a fantastic cheesecake the day after my dinner.  Perhaps I will have to 'hire' him to make dessert from now on.

Saturday July 13, 2013

Dinner for 6

 Baguette with Garlic Scape Pesto and Tomatoes
Baguette with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Roasted Strawberries
Quick Sausage Meatballs with a Tomato Basil Sauce, Spaghetti and Sweet Raw Peas
Grilled Strawberries with Pimm's and Vanilla Ice Cream

On Friday night my husband was a a work squash tounament (he won so this is his shout out) and my Dad was staying an extra night at my sisters so I held my Friday Night Dinner plan over to Saturday again.  

Both starters were fantastic.  I made up the first one with some homemade garlic scape pesto, tomatoes, onions and parmesan cheese topping baguette slices.  I found the second one with the goat cheese on pinterest (yes I loose time in that world too).  

The Meatball recipe was from Jamie at Home.  It was super easy.  Jamie manages to do that with so many recipes.  It was very tasty too although I think my sauce simmered a little to long and was a tad thick.

Dessert was based off of Jamie's Grilled Strawberries with Pimm's and Vanilla Ice Cream, also out of Jamie at Home. I made this dessert up north two weeks ago but I changed it up a bit this time.  I used some Orange juice and zest when I roasted the berries and I had no cookie crumble this time.  Instead I added a little almond chocolate dipped cookie I had on hand.  It was very tasty again.