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. 

Friday July 5, 2013

Dinner for 5

Take Away Canadian Chinese

Spring Rolls

Fried Rice

Deep Fried Wontons

Chicken Balls

Lemon Chicken

Beef and Peppers

Beef and Snow Peas

Lo Mein

 Well I was suppose to still be up north at my Dad's with my family but it has been raining a lot and the mosquitos are becoming unbearable.  We have cut this visit short but I am not worrried because I am sure to be back again soon.  We got home just in time for dinner but I took the night off and we ordered some Chinese take away from my son's favourite spot.

While I love the fried rice, deep fried rice, lo mein and of course there is something truely nostalgic about the chicken balls in that bright red sweet and sour sauce I could pass on the beef dishes.  I certainly prefer my own stir fried beef and vegetables.  I just find the take away dishes to have a very gelatounus sauce that is not appealing to me.  All in all it was a tasty way to end a long drive home after a long time away.

Saturday June 28, 2013

Dinner for 20

Grilled Lamb Kofta Kebabs with Pistachios and Spicy Salad Wraps

Grilled Chicken (for the young kids)

Rhubarb and Sticky Stem Ginger Crumble

Grilled Strawberries with Pimms and Vanilla Ice Cream

Canada Day Long Weekend!!!! Traditionally spent at my parents home on a river located between Minden and Haliburton in one of the cottage areas of Southern Ontario.  It is a weekend spent 'camping' (ie sleeping in tents but having access to the house's bathroom and kitchen).  Dishes are done outdoors with basins of hot water.  There are campfires at night and playing in the river during the day with friends and family.  Truly Paradise.

One day of the weekend is the Canada Day party that includes a pot luck, trivia contest and a gift exchange game when even more people come just for the day.  Such Fun.  The rest of the weekend, the core group (ranging for 20 to 30) is assigned meals to do.  For many years I have done breakfast because I don't mind getting up, usually after staying up late drinking, and making food for the gang.  This year we decided to have only one "BIG" breakfast (which my sister, the other early riser wanted to do) and on the other mornings the folks would just fend for themselves on standard available items like fruit, cereal, toast, yoghurt, bagels etc.

That left only 2 lunches and 2 dinners open to assign.  We gave the lunches to the two families not actually related by blood leaving the Dinners open for my younger sister family and mine.  Everyone in my family knows Friday Night Dinner is my thing but only 9 people would would be up at the cottage on Friday Night.  My 15 year old nephew is a wonderful cook and he wanted to take the lead on his families dinner duty serving pork larb in lettuce wraps.  I happily took the Saturday night so his debut as the lead cook would be for the smaller group.  

Of course with all the excitement of the evening I forgot to take any photos.  You will have to take my word for it that it was a sucess.  One of my Brother-in-laws particularly loved the Grilled Strawberries, now know as BOOZY BERRIES.  It was a build your own kind of dinner with the young kids able to use grilled chicken and non spicy salad in their wraps.

Food was great.  Company was fantastic.  I LOVE cooking for family and friends   

Friday June 21, 2013

Dinner for 1

Well tonight my Husband is out at a squash (the sport not the vegetable) party and I am home with the kids.  The weather has turned hot and humid suddenly after a slow start to the summer.  What shall I cook for Friday Night Dinner for 1?  I have this fantastic leftover Teriaki Salmon from a dinner party I had this week.  Ah ha I know....

I mixed some baby spinach, mustard sprouts, broccoli sprouts and snow pea sprouts, added some quartered cherry tomatoes, chopped green onions and a little chopped cucumber and placed them on a flat bread.  I topped it with the leftover salmon, some coriander and a little bottled teryaki sauce.  I rolled them like a fajita and tucked in.

Light, delicious and perfect for a hot and humid summer night.  Used up my leftovers too.  Win, win in my books.

Friday June 14, 2013

Dinner for 2

Hot and Sour Rhubarb Crispy Pork with Noodles

Sometimes Friday Night Dinners can go horribly wrong.  Tonight was one of those nights.  Thank goodness it was just a dinner for Hubby and I.  Hot and Sour Rhubarb Crispy Pork with Noodles sounds fantastic doesn't it.  I got this recipe out of Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home cookbook.  I have always had great success cooking or adapting Jamie's recipes.  It was my ingredients that sabotaged me this time.  I have a hard time finding pork belly (I now have a farmer I can get it from). In the morning I bought some from the grocery store after looking high and low this week, but it was HEAVILY salted.  And I mean HEAVILY!  I soaked the pork belly and rinsed it all day prior to cooking this recipe but it was of no use.  The dinner turned out too salty to eat.  What a disappointment.  Sadly that was not the Anniversary dinner I had in mind.

It looked beautiful though.  Now that I have a farmer that will butcher me any pork belly I need, I look forward to attempting this again in the early summer when the rhubarb is in season.

 

Friday June 7, 2013

Dinner for 2

Broiled Citrus Seafood with Fennel and Snow Pea Sprouts in Broth
Grilled Asparagus
Peach, Rhubarb Ginger Crumble

I have made the broiled citrus seafood before but with a bouillabaisse broth which contains potatoes.   Tonight I didn't want potatoes so I left them out and added fennel and snow pea sprouts to the broth.  I served the dish with some grilled asparagus.

It was a pretty simple dish and so tasty.  I marinated the split lobster tail, scallops and shrimp in olive oil with the zest and juice from an orange and a lemon plus a pinch of dried chilli flakes.  Then I grilled the seafood under a broiler.  I made a simple broth with a little fennel, tomatoes and adding the snow pea tendrils at the end.  I then ladled the broth into the bowls and topped it with the seafood.  A little finely chopped parsley topped it off.  Grilled asparagus was served as a side.

Rhubarb is currently in season and growing in my garden. I combined the fresh rhubarb with some peaches I froze last summer and a bit of grated ginger.  The crisp topping was made with brown sugar, butter, oats and cinnamon.  All topped off with some vanilla ice cream.