Category: Cooking

Wait, Where's Spring?!

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In two days we’ve entered a deep freeze. The garden is full of tulips but you would never know it is spring by the weather. So what better than a hot spicy dinner to raise the temperature? We were over at Brian and Eric’s store yesterday, and we picked up a batch of kidney beans. Last night we cooked them up, so we had the perfect starting point. But chili seemed too obvious.

Instead, we cooked a batch of vegetables, including celery, carrot, onion pepper, and cauliflower. To this we added some beans, a chipotle, and a big handful of basil. After a good simmer, we sat down to a warming meal. Ahhh.

Change of Seasons Chicken

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Yesterday we had a typical Canadian spring shock to the system. After days of gloriously mild weather, it turned very chilly, gray, and windy. Since we spent the day running around (Alliance Française for French class, some lunch, then the Canada Blooms show, then errands…whew!) we wanted a warming sort of dinner.

We made this easy chicken and pasta dish, which serves 3 (leftovers for Sunday lunch, with a salad).

Cook 100g (3.5 oz) whole wheat spaghettini.

Meanwhile, in 10ml (2 t) olive oil, sauté a leek that has been sliced and rinsed (white and light green parts only) until it starts to become translucent. Add 125 ml chopped cauliflower (1/2 c) and two spears of asparagus, sliced into bite-size lengths. Put a lid on this and give it a couple of minutes to release a bit of liquid. Then stir in a diced tomato, 30ml (2T) pesto, and 60ml or 1/4 c of pasta water. Lid, turn down the heat, and let it simmer til the pasta is done.

Drain the pasta and mix into the veg. Put the lid back on and let the whole thing sit on very low heat for 3 or 4 minutes for the flavour to develop.

Enjoy!

And Patrick's Legacy Continues…

Last night, a lovely, if smaller, family dinner. And this morning, a chance to relive the memories over a plate of corned beef hash, topped with a nice fresh egg. One more meal to go out of last night’s Boiled Dinner…for lunch, Potato and Cabbage soup.

For the breakfast: in a nonstick skillet or seasoned cast iron pan, cook a chopped mix of whatever veg are left over, with a small dice of any leftover corned beef (if there is any!) when it’s getting nicely browned, make a small hollow for each egg and tip them gently in. Cover and cook until the eggs are done as you like.

Next…off to Mass and then to prep for the afternoon ceilidh.

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Luck of the Irish

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It’s been said that St. Patrick’s Day was given to the Irish as a break from the sacrifices of Lent. Whether or not that’s true, one thing is for certain: around here St. Patrick’s Day means Boiled Dinner. Whether the family gathering is large or small, we cook a bit pot of corned beef with onions, carrots, potatoes and cabbage. Somehow no matter how much meat is set aside to make hash the next morning, it is somehow stolen by leprechauns and only the vegetables remain. Still, they make a lovely soup, combined with the cream left over from the Guinness cake.

Slainte!

Warmly Yours…

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There’s so much to be grateful for on a sunny Sunday like this one. The garden is full of little birds, and we’re warm from eating banana raisin pecan cinnamon oatmeal. Although we are big fans of food cooked slowly, I have to admit that the day I learned to make old-fashioned oats in the microwave was a happy day. No more instant mush. And no more standing and stirring a pot to keep it from sticking. I’ve been warned that my recovery from eye surgery will be a slow one, but it is punctuated by moments of brilliance, when suddenly I can see in a whole new way. Tomorrow…back to the gym!

Pain Perdu

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Sunday morning…full of surprises! We were sitting at the table reading our (virtual) newspapers and having coffee, when the tiny birds departed the feeder en masse. We thought it was a cat at the heart of the matter, but on top of the fence sat a falcon. Not your everyday city breakfast visitor. Then he spied us, and made a hasty departure.

We retired to the stove and made ourselves some whole wheat French toast…with strawberries from our frozen cache, and just a little bit of Canadian maple syrup.

The Slow Road to Deliciousness!

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The weather in Ontario this week hardly constitutes the kind of weather for “cold weather food”. But it’s a small sacrifice for something so delicious. We had two lovely local lamb shanks in the freezer. While those were browning in a Dutch oven on top of the stove, we chopped a carrot, a hot pepper, a leek, and a stalk of celery. When the shanks were browned we turned the oven to 350F. Then we added the veg and sautéed until they were softened a bit. After deglazing with a little beer, we added a stalk of thyme (the leaves will fall off and the stem can be fished out before serving). Other flavours included a few raisins, 3 chopped dried apricots, 6 pitted, chopped black olives, some oregano, chili powder, and ground cloves.

We poured over a pint of diced tomatoes (or half a large can), covered it, and put in the oven for 20 minutes. Then we turned the shanks, let it go for another 20 minutes. For the last 10 minutes we took the lid off, and in the meantime, made mashed potatoes. The lamb was fall-off-the-bone delicious. Happy Groundhog Day!

Purple Chicken Soup!

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After roasting a chicken the other night, we decided to make some soup with the leftovers. All was going well, until it came time to add the vegetables. There were good choices – garlic, ginger, celery, onion and mushrooms. Some tasty small pasta. Then the trouble began…I decided to use a couple of carrots that were in the fridge. One was purple. Not thinking, in they went. Before I knew it, the soup was an awesome shade between fuchsia and lilac. We’re too frugal to throw out an perfectly good pot of soup…so after eating a bowl with some homemade rye bread, we put the rest in the freezer to serve to some adventurous young visitor!

Playing Chicken

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’twas in the dead of wintertime…yet it hardly seems it. We had a great walk around the neighbourhood today, and it was chilly but the sun was blazing. We spent the afternoon readying the house for the New Year, after the post-Epiphany cleanup.

Then to dinner. An amazing chicken breast (the whole thing, not just parts) from Plank Road Market. The husband did it as a simple roast, nothing added. We mad a little garlic mash and served it with a salad of Ontario veg, many hothouse-grown. Lettuce, arugula, cukes, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Dressing of mustard, chicken fat, and cider vinegar. A little candlelight, some East Dell wine. Ahhh…

What ELSE Can I do with Leftover Turkey?

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Even though we’ve been featuring all sorts of gorgeous treats around our house for the last few days, sooner or later calmer heads must prevail. So for lunch, we made this delicious Turkey Avocado Salad. Next on the agenda, a long, calorie-burning walk, before heading to another holiday open house…