Roman Mustard

I found this recipe while looking for ideas on what to do with the quail I'd gotten. The body of the post says the recipe is "adapted from Apicius, and it's about 2,000 years old". However, one of the commenters notes that the recipe is from a different Roman writer, Columella, from around 1AD. I haven't looked into it any further to see which author the recipe should actually be attributed to. All I know is that it makes freakin' awesome mustard and I think this is going to be my go-to mustard recipe from now on.

I've made mustard before. It wasn't particularly difficult. However, it also wasn't good enough for me to keep coming back to again and again. It was a novelty. Something that was kind of cool to say I could do, but not a replacement for other mustard. This though? This so is! As a basic recipe it makes a delicious, sharp, hot mustard with a thick, slightly coarse texture. A lovely, tangy mustard in its own right. And it seems like it'll take tweaks and modifications really well. I think it would make a wonderful base for various flavoured mustards. You could play around with different nuts or types of mustard seed as well as all sort of additions and inclusions! I am extremely excited at the possibilities here!

Roman Mustard
From Honest Food
1/2 c. pine nuts
1/2 c. slivered almonds
1 c. brown mustard seeds
2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 c. cold water
2/3 c. red wine vinegar

1. Add pine nutes, almonds, mustard seed, salt, and cold water to blender.
2. Purée on high (or using the frozen drink setting) until mixture looks fairly uniform (or it gets too thick to blend). Let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Add vinegar. Stir by hand a little bit to get some vinegar down to the blades of the blender.
4. Blend on high for a few more seconds to get vinegar evenly mixed and attain a thick, uniform, slightly grainy mustard.
5. Keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to a year.

Paneer Pasanda

The creamy, nutty pasanda is a favourite curry of ours; there's a local curry house that makes chicken pasanda, and we always order it when eating there. This is our first attempt at making a pasanda at home. It lived up to our expectations.

The recipe as written expects you to prepare this as a side dish or appetizer, cutting long "fingers" of paneer, grilling them, and then serving them soaked in pasanda sauce. We made it as a main course, pan-frying smaller cubes of paneer and serving it over rice.

Ingredients

• 400mL coconut milk
• 64mL slivered blanched almonds, ground
• 5mL coarsely cracked black pepper
• 2.5mL coarse salt
• 10-20 fresh curry leaves
• 6 whole cloves
• 4 green or white cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Malai paneer from 2L of cream, cubed
• 30mL canola oil
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped

Procedure

1. Pour the coconut milk, almonds, pepper, salt, curry leaves, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon into a pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove from the heat and add the paneer cubes, ideally covering them all completely with the sauce. Set aside for ~30 minutes so the paneer can soak up the sauce and absorb the flavours.
3. Remove the paneer cubes from the pot using a slotted spoon. Transfer them to a bowl to drain further.
4. Heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until it softens and browns around the edges, 3-5 minutes.
5. Add the sauce, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce heats through and thickens, another 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
6. Meanwhile, heat a generous amount of oil in a skillet and pan-fry the paneer cubes until golden brown. Add any additional sauce that drained off to the onion/sauce skillet.
7. Heat the sauce back up (if necessary) and mix in the fried paneer.
8. Eat.

Malai Paneer

Paneer is India's sole cheese. It's firm, slightly crumbly, and doesn't melt but does grill or fry quite nicely. It's a heat-acid curdle, so it's easy to make at home but is not at all safe for the lactose-intolerant (like myself and my sister); if that's a concern, use lactose-free milk or cream in its preparation.

660 Curries has two paneer recipes, one made with whole milk and one made with cream. It's the cream version that we usually make, and that I've reproduced here.

This recipe is for a plain paneer, but you can easily mix in spices during the cheesemaking process, to complement whatever curry you'll be using it in or just enhance its appeal as a snack -- as we did with the paneer below.

Ingredients

• 2L 10% cream
• 64mL white vinegar

Procedure

1. Bring the cream to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to prevent it from scorching or suddenly boiling over.
2. Stir in the vinegar and remove from the heat. Wait for the curds and whey to separate, ~30 seconds.
3. Line a colander with a double layer of cheesecloth, making sure you have some extra hanging over the edge. Pour the cheese and whey into the colander, and let it drain.
4. Wait until the cheese is cool enough to handle, 5-10 minutes.
1. If you're going to add seasonings, now is the time; mix them well into the curds.
5. Fold the cheesecloth over the curds and squish them to squeeze more moisture out.
6. Once you aren't getting any more moisture out, return the wrapped curds to the colander and place a heavy weight on top of them, such as a pot filled with water. Leave them for 3-6 hours (or in the fridge overnight) while the remaining liquid is squeezed out.
7. Unwrap the cheese, and re-wrap in plastic wrap; keep in the fridge for up to a week.

If you don't get enough liquid out during the squeezing-and-pressing phase, the paneer won't hold its shape very well; you get a very soft, crumbly "cottage paneer" that disintegrates into something resembling scrambled eggs when heated. It's still very tasty, but a completely different texture, and it can't really be sliced or pan-fried.

Moghalai-Style Chicken with Spinach, Almonds, and Raisins

We're cooking curries again! And this one is delicious, chunks of chicken simmered in an onion-almond-raisin sauce with a few spices. It takes about 30-40 minutes to put together, much of which is spent simmering or stirring occasionally, so you can use the time to do other things -- prepare a side dish, say, or (as we did) tidy up the spice cupboard and perform laptop surgery.

It calls for Punjabi garam masala; it's very easy to put together, and we previously posted the recipe as part of the Paneer Pizza recipe. We served it over brown rice cooked with cinnamon, star anise, and ghee.

As with all recipes from 660 Curries, we've halved the salt for this writeup, but no other alterations have been made.

Ingredients

• 64mL canola oil
• 1 large red onion (or two yellow onions), finely chopped
• 128mL golden raisins
• 128mL slivered blanched almonds
• 1kg boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ~2cm chunks
• 15mL Punjabi garam masala
• 5mL coarse salt
• 2.5mL cayenne
• 2.5mL ground turmeric
• 1 package (~300g) fresh baby spinach leaves (or chopped full-size spinach), or thawed frozen spinach

Procedure

1. Heat the oil in a deep skillet (or pot) over medium heat. Add the onions, raisins, and almonds, and cook until the onion softens, the almonds are toasted, and the raisins turn honey-brown and succulent, 10-15 minutes.
2. Stir in the chicken and cook until it sears and turns light brown in places, ~10 minutes.
3. Stir in the spices and cook for 20-30 seconds.
4. Stir in the spinach and 128mL water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is wilted and the chicken cooked through, 5-10 minutes.

Maple Glazed Salmon

Another AllRecipes recipe. This one needs a bit of lead time because of the marination but is delicious and very, very easy and simple to put together. We served it over lemon rice with peas.

The grocery store didn't have salmon, but did have rainbow trout on sale, so we made it with that and it was delicious.

Ingredients

• 4 large (~150g) filets of salmon or trout
• 100mL maple syrup
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1.25mL salt
• 1.25mL garlic powder
• 1.25mL freshly ground black pepper

Procedure

1. Combine all ingredients except salmon in a small bowl.
2. Place salmon in a glass baking dish. Pour marinade over salmon. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes, turning halfway through.
3. Bake at 400°F for ~20 minutes or until fish is delicate and can be flaked with a fork.

Balsalmic braised chicken

From AllRecipes. We modified the recipe slightly in adding mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved
• peanut oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 225g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 540mL tin of diced tomatoes
• 125mL balsamic vinegar
• 5mL dried basil
• 5mL dried oregano
• 5mL dried rosemary
• 2.5mL dried thyme

Procedure

1. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the oil over medium high heat; brown the chicken, ~4 minutes/side
3. Add onion and mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have released their juices and the juices have cooked off and the onion is starting to brown.
4. Add the garlic. Cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
5. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 15-20 minutes.

Serve over brown rice.

Deconstructed stuffed pepper casserole

Via Everyday Dishes, this is basically a stuffed bell pepper turned into a one-pot casserole. It comes together quite easily and is really, really tasty. Expect it to go fast.

Ingredients

• 500g extra lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 3 red or yellow bell peppers, coarsely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 450mL of diced tomatoes, in their juice
• 450mL of beef broth
• 225mL of tomato sauce
• 10mL beef bouillon
• 15mL worchestershire sauce
• 5mL italian seasoning
• 250mL long grain white rice, uncooked
• 500mL freshly grated cheddar cheese

Procedure

1. In a deep skillet or nonstick pot over medium high heat, brown the ground beef in a bit of olive oil.
2. Add the onions, bell peppers, and garlic. Stir together with the beef and cook until the onions are starting to turn translucent and the bell peppers are starting to soften.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in diced tomatoes, broth, tomato sauce, bouillon, worchestershire sauce and italian seasoning.
4. Bring to a boil, then stir in the rice.
5. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for ~25 minutes, until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid and cooked through.
6. Remove from the heat. Stir lightly to fluff the rice, then sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and re-cover until the cheese has melted, ~5 minutes.

Chicken bacon pumpkin gnocchi

Based on a recipe from Nutmeg Nanny, this produces an extremely heavy and filling dish of gnocchi in a rich, creamy pumpkin sauce. The chicken didn't detract from it but didn't contribute much either; we'd probably leave it out (or replace it with something else) next time.

The original recipe calls for bacon; we did it with spicy pancetta.

Ingredients

• 1 pie pumpkin
• 1kg vacuum-packed gnocchi (2 packets)
• 400g pancetta, chopped into small chunks
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
• 250g cream cheese
• 250mL freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 10mL smoked paprika
• 2.5mL cayenne
• 2.5mL garlic powder
• 250mL half and half cream
• a bunch of green onions, finely sliced

Procedure

1. Bisect the pumpkin, extract the guts, brush the exposed face with olive oil, place face down on a baking sheet, and bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until fork tender.
2. Peel the pumpkin and mash the flesh to produce 300-400mL of pumpkin purée.
3. Set a pot of water to boil (for the gnocchi) in the background.
4. Set a large, deep skillet or nonstick pot over medium heat. Cook the pancetta in a bit of olive oil, until well browned but not quite crisp. Remove to a plate of paper towels with a slotted spoon.
5. Add the chicken to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until cooked through. Remove to the same plate as the pancetta.
6. Add the cream cheese, and stir gently until it starts to melt.
7. Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi according to package directions.
8. Add the pumpkin puree, parmesan, paprika, cayenne, and garlic powder. Stir to combine.
9. Stir in the cream.
10. Stir in the gnocchi, chicken, and pancetta. Cook for ~5 minutes to warm the chicken and gnocchi through.
11. Stir in the green onions.
12. Eat!

Smothered Pork Chops

This recipe from Cook's Country is easier than it looks. It takes a while to make -- figure at least 30 minutes prep time, then an hour and a half in the oven ­-- but the short ingredient list means that it's easy, just time-consuming. And the result is tender pork chops soaking in a thick and delicious onion gravy.

Make sure to have a backup plan for once you've eaten all the meat, because you'll probably still have gravy left afterwards. Serve it over brown rice.

Ingredients

• Spice mix:
• Note: if using the spice mix we have on the counter, that has no salt in it; you will need to salt the chops and sauce.
• 30mL Lowry's Seasoned Salt
• 15mL onion powder
• 5mL garlic powder
• 5mL sweet paprika
• 5mL freshly ground black pepper
• 4 bone in blade or rib end pork chops, ~225g each
• 250mL all-purpose flour
• 125mL peanut oil
• 2 onions, quartered through the root and then sliced thinly
• 750mL water
• 15mL cider vinegar

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the spice mix components.
3. Put the pork chops on a drying rack over a rimmed baking sheet (to catch drips). Rub 2.5mL of spice mix on each side of each pork chop.
4. Combine 20mL of spice mix with half the flour (125mL). Dredge each pork chop in it.
5. Heat the oil in a deep-sided skillet over medium high heat. Pan-fry each pork chop until golden brown on both sides, ~3-4 minutes per side. Return the chops to the rack.
6. Pour off the oil/pork fat/flour/spice mix from the skillet into a liquid measure. Return 64mL to the skillet over medium heat.
7. Mix in the remaining flour and stir until it becomes a thick, peanut-butter-coloured roux, ~3 minutes.
8. Add the onions and remaining spice mix and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions begin to soften, ~2 minutes.
9. Slowly stir in the water to form a smooth gravy.
10. Simmer for ~2 minutes, until it starts to thicken.
11. Pour half the gravy into a baking dish. Put the pork chops on top, overlapping them if necessary. Cover with the rest of the gravy.
12. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 1.5 hours.

Maccarony Cheese

Two Ounces of best Glocester Cheese, 4 Ounces Cheshire Do. grated – put it into a Stone Mortar with two Eggs, two or three Spoonfulls of Sack or Mountain Wine, beat it ’till it’s well mixt and Light – Boil the Maccarony in Water very tender, then drain it well, put it on a Dish or Plate and lay the prepared Cheese all over it and brown it with a Salamander.

This late 18th century recipe for macaroni and cheese comes courtesy of Cooking in the Archives. We adjusted the cheeses somewhat and doubled it; the recipe as we cooked it is presented here.

It's very tasty and comes together extremely quickly and easily. It also, unlike most macaroni and cheese recipes, calls for no dairy apart from the cheeses themselves, which are both aged and cultured -- no milk or cream. This makes it good for lactose intolerant folks such as myself.

Ingredients, for 1 lb short pasta:

• 120g double gloucester cheese
• 240g medium (1 yr or so?) cheddar
• 4 eggs
• 60mL sweet or dessert wine

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Cook pasta al dente. 
3. While pasta is cooking, grate cheeses into a bowl. Add eggs and wine and beat together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Drain pasta and put in a baking dish. Spread the cheese-egg mixture evenly over the top of the pasta. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned.

Lemony Pesto Pasta with Peas

From The Lemon Bowl, this recipe scales well and comes together incredibly quickly. As written it's for ½ lb of pasta; I've doubled it for consistency with the recipes from The Classic Pasta Cookbook, but as cooked we actually scaled it up by a factor of 3, ensuring that it would feed all of us and leave us with copious leftovers.

Symbol suspects that it would be even better with bacon (or pancetta?) crumbled into it.

Ingredients

• 500g small pasta (we used mostly orecchiette with some shells mixed in)
• 500mL frozen green peas
• 150mL prepared pesto
• 150mL fresh basil, thinly sliced
• 60mL freshly grated parmesan
• 10mL lemon zest
• 5mL chili flakes

Procedure

1. Bring the water to a boil and cook the pasta in it.
2. When the pasta is ~2 minutes away from al dente, add the peas.
3. Drain the pasta and transfer it to a bowl (or back to the pot). Toss with all remaining ingredients (piecemeal or after combining them first, whichever is more convenient).

I did say it came together really fast. :)

Quick Cashew Chicken

Courtesy of ChefSavvy, a relatively quick cashew chicken recipe -- their stated time of 20 minutes seems a bit optimistic, but it still comes together reasonably quickly despite the long ingredient list.

We actually made a double batch (twice the ingredients listed below); it scaled up nicely.

Ingredients

• Sauce:
• 60mL soy sauce
• 8mL rice wine vinegar
• 8mL brown sugar
• 8mL sesame oil
• 15mL hoisin sauce
• 450g chicken breast, cut into bite-sized cubes
• 64mL cornstarch
• 15mL oil
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 250mL unsalted raw cashews
• green onions and sesame seeds for garnish

Procedure
This is a stir-fry, so once things start hitting the wok things go fairly quickly. So it's a good idea to prepare all the ingredients in advance.

1. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl.
2. Put the chicken and cornstarch in a large ziplock bag. Toss to coat the chicken.
3. Toast cashews over medium high heat until golden brown. Remove from the heat immediately.
4. Heat a wok and coat it with oil. Add the chicken and stir-fry until browned, 3-4 minutes.
5. Add the sauce and stir. The sauce will thicken almost immediately as it absorbs cornstarch from the chicken.
6. Add the bell peppers and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Stir in cashews, then remove from the heat, garnish with sesame seeds and green onion, and serve over rice.

Fettucini al Limone

This is basically fettucini alfredo cut with lemon. It's extremely easy to put together, short on ingredients, and deliciously refreshing.

The book says to cook the sauce "until the cream has reduced by half", the same as for alfredo. However, this will result in a thicker sauce than a plain alfredo, thanks to the curdling effect of the lemon juice. Taking the sauce off the heat a bit earlier will result in a higher sauce:pasta ratio while still maintaining alfredo levels of thickness.

Ingredients (for 1 lb dried, store-bought pasta)

• 45mL butter
• 30mL freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 5mL freshly grated lemon zest
• 250mL heavy cream
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 125mL freshly grated parmesan

Procedure

1. Put the pasta water on to boil.
2. Put the butter, lemon juice, and zest in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, bubble it with the lemon for about 30 seconds.
3. Pour in the cream. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the desired thickness is achieved. Remove from the heat.
4. Meanwhile, add the pasta and some salt to the boiling water and cook al dente.
5. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Return to medium heat and toss with the sauce and the grated parmesan for about 15 seconds until the pasta is well coated. Serve.

Notes

The book says to cook the sauce "until the cream has reduced by about half", same as for alfredo. however, the lemon juice curdles and thickens the cream quite dramatically. So you can get away with taking it off the heat earlier and get the same consistency, or you can cook it down the same amount for a thicker sauce than a typical alfredo.)

Baked pasta with four cheeses

Another winner from the Classic Pasta Cookbook, this recipe comes together quite easily once you have the cheeses on hand. It takes a bit more time than most pasta recipes due to the extra baking step, but is still pretty quick. It is a pretty heavy and creamy meal, though, so you probably want to add something salad-y to balance it out.

The recipe as written calls for penne. We used a 2:1 mix of green rotini (made with spinach, broccoli, kale, and zucchini) and plain penne.

Ingredients, for 500g dried pasta

• 125mL table cream
• 15mL butter
• 128g fontina, grated
• 64g mascarpone
• 64g gorgonzola (the recipe calls for hard crumbled gorgonzola; we used gorgonzola dolce and it turned out just fine)
• a generous portion (perhaps 500mL) of finely grated fresh parmesan

Procedure

1. Start the pasta water boiling and preheat the oven to 450°F. Once the water is boiling, toss in some salt and the pasta.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt the butter into the cream over medium low heat.
3. Stir in the fontina, mascarpone, gorgonzola, and half the parmesan. Stir continuously until it has melted and the sauce is smooth and creamy. (If the sauce ends up thickening into a kind of elastic glop, stir in more cream until it cooperates.)
4. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and remove from the heat.
5. Once the pasta is cooked molto al dente (about a minute before al dente), drain it and add it to the pot with the sauce. Toss well until covered.
6. Fill a casserole dish with the pasta/sauce mix. Top with the remaining parmesan. Bake until the parmesan turns golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
7. Let stand for 5 minutes, then eat.

Pennette with a Creamy Sundried Tomato and Prosciutto Sauce

Another recipe from Hazan, this one comes together very quickly. I've made some changes from the version given in the cookbook, cranking up the onion and prosciutto and cutting out the salt (the increased prosciutto adds enough on its own). As written it calls for penne, but I find I prefer the smaller penette.

Ingredients for one pound dried, store-bought pasta

• 30mL butter
• 1 medium-sized yellow onion, finely chopped
• 150g prosciutto, thinly sliced into sheets and then sliced or shredded
• 250mL heavy cream
• 50mL coarsely chopped sundried tomatoes in oil
• freshly grated parmesan

Procedure

1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat.
2. Sautee the onion in the butter until it softens and starts to turn golden
3. Add the prosciutto and sautee until it starts to brown
4. Add the cream and tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the cream has reduced by about half.
5. Add the pasta (cooked al dente) and the cheese. Toss to coat the pasta and mix with the sauce components. Serve with additional parmesan.

PB&J Smoothie

I spent a while looking for new smoothie recipes a few weeks back and came across one for a PB&J smoothie that appealed to me. I jotted down the ingredients and was fully intending to follow the recipe, but one tweak lead to another and I ended up with something fairly different from the original in the end. Tasty, but not very much like the recipe at all.

PB&J Smoothie
1 c. strawberries
1/2 banana
1/4 c. plain yogurt
1/4-1/2 c. vanilla almond milk
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 Tbsp. honey

1. Blend and enjoy. (You may need to adjust the amount of almond milk depending on whether or not you're using fresh or frozen fruit and how thick you like your smoothies.)

Tropical Fruit Smoothie v2.0

I wasn't planning on making any smoothies yesterday, but the toddle-bot had other ideas. Sifting through the freezer, I realized that I had most of the bits for a tropical fruit smoothie, so I figured I'd give that a try. Using coconut yogurt instead of plain really upped the deliciousness quotient though!

I didn't really do a lot of measuring for this one and I made it again today with slightly different proportions, but it turned out to be one of my favourite smoothies so far, so I figured I'd jot something down anyway.

More Delicious Tropical Fruit Smoothie
1/2-3/4 c. coconut Greek yogurt
1/2-1 banana
~1/2 c. frozen pineapple
~1/2 c. frozen mango
~1 Tbsp. honey
0-4 Tbsp. cashew milk

1. Blend and enjoy!

Apple-Cranberry Baked Oatmeal

Yet another online find that I neglected to record the URL for. Sorry 'bout that.

Baked Oatmeal
1 c. steel-cut oats
1/4 c. butter
4 c. hot water
1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
3-4 apples, peeled and chopped
8-10 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
1-2 c. cranberries (fresh or frozen)
3 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 c. pecans, toasted and chopped
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. applesauce (unsweetened)
1/4 c. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Combine steel-cut oats, 2 Tbsp. butter, and hot water. Set aside.
2. Mix the ginger and cinnamon together.
3. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a pan over medium heat.
4. Add apples, 2-4 Tbsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. spice blend, and 3/4 tsp. salt to the pan. (Original recipes calls for 2 Tbsp. of sugar here, but I used more cranberries so I bumped the sugar up a bit as well.) Cook the mixture until the apples begin to caramelize.
5. Off heat, stir in cranberries. (Original recipe calls for 1 c. but I had some extras so I just threw them in. I think there were close to 2 c. of cranberries in the end.) Set the fruit mixture aside.
6. Add rolled oats, remaining spice blend, nutmeg, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/2 c. pecans into steel-cut oat mixture.
7. In a separate bowl, combine milk, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla.
8. Fold milk mixture into oat mixture.
9. Grease a casserole dish (or Dutch oven).
10. Spread half the fruit mixture in the bottom of the greased dish.
11. Pour oat mixture over fruit.
12. Top with remaining fruit and 1/2 c. pecans.
13. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes.

Γίγαντες Πλακί (Giant Baked Beans)

I found this recipe during some aimless Internet wandering. It looks to be a slow cooker adaptation of γίγαντες πλακί (gigantes plaki) or giant baked beans. Apparently dried runner beans (γίγαντες) are traditionally used for this. I couldn't find any, so I tossed in some great northern beans instead. And wow! Did they ever come out nice! This one is definitely a keeper. This was both easier and more delicious than any other baked bean recipe I've ever tried. Seriously good.

Γίγαντες Πλακί
~450g great northern beans (or gigantes if you can find 'em)
2 bay leaves
~1 tsp. red pepper flakes
6-8 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
4 onions, chopped
1 (28 oz.) can San Marzano tomatoes, smashed/broken up
a few sprigs of thyme (or maybe 1 tsp. of dried)
~1 tsp. dried oregano (optional)
~150g cubed pancetta
1 good-sized hunk of Parmesan rind
8 c. chicken stock
2 Tbsp. olive oil
pepper, to taste
crusty bread, to serve

Apparently with the traditional method, you cook the pancetta and vegetables first and build a fond and all that good stuff. I think the beans are meant to be soaked overnight as well. However, this slow cooker version just has you throw everything in the pot at once and cook it on high for six hours. My slow cooker is currently out of commission, but letting it simmer on the stovetop all afternoon certainly seems to have done the trick. I did have to add a bit more water partway through cooking, but that was no trouble. And other than that brief intervention, it was completely hassle-free!

And did I mention that this is probably the most delicious bean dish I've ever tried? Ever. Seriously. This made a huge pot of beans. We've been eating them for a week. And I'm okay with this! I'm not tired of them yet and I will certainly be making more in the future!

Cranberry Smoothie

I used to sometimes make cranberry smoothies that consisted of nothing but plain yogurt, frozen cranberries, and a tiny bit of honey. They were probably reasonably healthy, they were certainly nice and thick, but they were also almost inedibly tart. I recently came across an actual recipe for a cranberry smoothie, so I figured I'd give that a try. I'll admit, I tweaked it a bit, but the original was gonna be hella watery. Honestly, I'll probably tweak it even more if I make it again. I'll share three versions here: the original, the tweaked version I made today, and what I'd do next time.

Cranberry Smoothie
1 c. cranberries
2 c. water
1 1/2 c. almond milk
1/4 c. raw cashews
1/8 tsp. stevia
4 ice cubes

Cranberry-Yogurt Smoothie
1/2 c. frozen cranberries
3/4 c. vanilla almond milk
2-3 Tbsp. raw cashews
2 Tbsp. honey
1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt

Better Cranberry-Yogurt Smoothie
1/2 c. frozen cranberries
1/2 c. vanilla almond milk
1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp. almonds
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. frozen raspberries

Overnight Oatmeal

I can't remember exactly where I first heard about chia "pudding", but I know it's definitely not a new thing. Honestly, it never really appealed to me. Sure, it's easy and maybe I should've given it a chance, but it just didn't sound that good to me. I just felt like the texture would be off-putting. So I never tried it. And it never really occurred to me to use chia for anything else.

Then I came across a few "overnight oatmeal" recipes. I assumed it was some sort of slow cooked crockpot concoction like I'd seen once or twice before. But no! Uncooked oatmeal thickened with chia. Interesting... That I might actually be able to get behind.

I've tried a few similar versions so far. I'm still tweaking it, but I like the results so far!

Mixed Berry Oatmeal
1/2 c. quick oats
1/2 c. mixed berries
1 tsp. chia seeds
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. vanilla almond milk

Brownie Batter Oatmeal
1/2 c. quick oats
1 Tbsp. Nutella
1 tsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. chia seeds
1 tsp. maple syrup
2 cherries, chopped (next time I'd use 4)
1 Tbsp. chopped hazelnuts
1/2 Tbsp. chocolate chips
2/3 c. vanilla almond milk

Apple Blueberry Oatmeal
1/2 c. quick oats
~3/8 c. apple pie filling (preferably homemade)
~3/8 c. blueberries
1 tsp. chia seeds
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. wheat bran
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. vanilla almond milk

These all follow pretty much the same procedure. Just mix everything together in a mason jar or somesuch, stir it up, and pop it in the fridge overnight. The brownie batter one called for using the nuts, berries, and chocolate chips as a topping, but I think I'd just mix everything together next time.

The mixed berry one called for a whole cup of milk and was quite tasty, but a bit watery. The brownie batter one called for quite a bit less milk, but came out just a bit too thick. The latest attempt is just chilling in the fridge now, but I'm thinking that 3/4 c. is going to be just about right.

Veggie Sandwiches & Protein Salad Plate

I'm sick and I'm tired, but between the two of us TF and I actually managed to throw together a reasonably healthy, quick, and easy dinner this evening. The sandwich recipe came from... somewhere on the web... PopSugar maybe? And the salad is basically a copycat of my lunch at the Boathouse last week.

Veggie Sandwich
2 slices bread (I used a nice sprouted whole grain, but use whatever you enjoy)
2 Tbsp. hummus (I'd use a bit more next time)
2-3 slices of tomato
9-10 slices cucumber
~1/2 a carrot, grated
~1/4 of an avocado, sliced
alfalfa sprouts (if you have them; we didn't so we went without)

1. Toast your bread.
2. Spread 1 Tbsp. (or more) of hummus on each slice of toast.
3. Pile on the veg and close the sandwich.

Next time I might try adding a Tbsp. or so of tzatziki if I have any on hand. A little bit of cheese might also be nice. This is one situation in which I might make a case for a nice thin slice of "American" cheese or mild-medium Cheddar.

Another interesting variation might be swapping out the tomato for thinly sliced apple or pear and adding a bit of blue cheese. I'm thinking a nice Honey Crisp apple or Anjou pear would work well here.

Protein Salad Plate
2 handfuls mixed greens
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
1 radish, sliced thin
6-8 slices cucumber
1/2 carrot, grated (optional)
2-4 Tbsp. vinaigrette (to taste)
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1 tin tuna, drained
1-2 Tbsp. mayonaise
5-10 grinds black pepper

1. Combine all the veg, add the dressing, and toss.
2. Stir mayo and pepper into tuna
3. Place sliced eggs and tuna on top of salad and serve.

Sticky Buns

Thank you Cook's Illustrated for making my first foray into sticky bun making a wildly successful one!

Sticky Buns
Sllightly adapted from Cook's Illustrated May/June 2016
Flour Paste
2/3 c. water
1/4 c. bread flour

Dough
2/3 c. milk
1 large egg + 1 yolk
430g bread flour
1 packet instant yeast
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Topping
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. white corn syrup (dark is fine, I just didn't have any on hand)
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 Tbsp. water
1 c. pecans, chopped (ideally toasted as well, but I didn't have time)

Filling
3/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Flour paste: Whisk water and flour together in a small bowl. Microwave, whisking every 25 seconds, until mixture thickens to stiff, smooth, pudding-like consistency. (Mine seemed done after 25 seconds, but I think I should give it a little more cooking next time. Maybe two rounds at 20 seconds each rather than one at 25.)
2. Dough: In a large bowl, whisk milk and paste together until smooth.
3. Add egg and egg yolk. Whisk.
4. Add flour and yeast. Mix for a few minutes until flour is moistened. Let stand for 15 minutes.
5. Add sugar and salt. Mix for several more minutes. (I added another couple Tbsp. of water at this point because I thought the dough looked too try, but in hindsight I should've just left well enough alone.)
6. Add butter and mix for another 5-10 minutes.
7. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Turn into greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise (~1 hour).
8. While dough rises, grease a metal 9x13 pan (I used 1 square 8x8 + a loaf pan. Buns in the 8x8 were fine, but the loaf pan didn't work so well.) Pan must be metal, don't use glass!
9. Topping: Whisk melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt together until smooth.
10. Add water and whisk until incorporated. Pour mixture into greased pan and sprinkle evenly with pecans.
11. Filling: Combine sugar and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.
12. Back to the Dough: Turn dough onto floured surface and press/stretch into a 18x15" rectangle.
13. Sprinkle filling over dough, leaving a 1" border. Gently press to adhere.
14. Gently roll dough into a long, loose cylinder. (ie. start rolling on a long edge to make an 18" long cylonder.)
15. Use dental floss to slice into 12 equal portions.
16. Place buns in prepared pan, cover with plastic wrap, and leave to rise for another hour or so.
17. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Tent with aluminum foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes. (Place a baking sheet on the oven rack below the buns during baking to catch the inevitable drips.)
18. Allow to cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes.
19. Place baking sheet over pan and invert. Allow buns to cool for a further 10 minutes before serving.

These were absolutely perfect. Couldn't ask for a better sticky bun. They don't need any tweaks or changes. That said, just because I'm curious, I might try making one slight change next time just to see how it works: I want to see what happens if I skip chopping the nuts and just line the bottom of the pan with whole pecan halves and then pour the sticky topping over that before adding the buns to the pan. I doubt it will actually be an improvement but, as I said, I'm curious so I'd like to try it.

Beef in Adobo

We usually keep a few tins of chilis in adobo on hand, for a warm, smoky sauce that emphasizes the flavour rather than the heat of the chilis. This recipe, however, makes the adobo from scratch.

And it's amazing.

The original recipe calls for ancho and pasilla chilis, and flank steak; we had none of these, and replaced them with guajillo and california chilis and stewing beef, respectively. There is nothing to complain about the results, and the beef comes out deliciously tender.

As accompaniments and toppings, it suggests flour tortillas or rice and queso fresco or feta. We used brown rice, tortillas, and cheddar cheese.

Adobo Ingredients

• 1½ oz dried ancho or guajilla chilis, stemmed and seeded
• 1 oz dried pasilla or california chilis, stemmed and seeded
• ¾ C salsa verde
• ¾ C chicken broth
• ½ C orange juice
• ⅓ C packed brown sugar
• ¼ C lime juice (~2 limes)
• 1½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper

Beef Ingredients

• 3 lbs stewing beef
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• an entire garlic bulb, minced (no, that is not a typo)
• 1½ tbsp cumin, ground

Procedure

1. Adjust oven rack to middle-bottom and preheat to 350°F. Arrange anchos and pasillas on rimmed baking sheet and bake until fragrant, ~5 minutes.
2. Immediately transfer chilis to bowl and cover with hot tap water. Let stand until softened and pliable, ~5 minutes. Drain (or reserve! Halfway through making this, we realized that we should have saved the delicious chili-water water to make the chicken broth with. Sadly, the original recipe doesn't suggest this).
3. Combine chilis, salsa verde, chicken broth, orange and lime juices, sugar, oregano, salt, and pepper, and puree in blender until smooth, ~1 minute. Set aside (but taste the blender blades first).
4. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.
5. Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook beef until browned all over, ~10 minutes -- you may need to do two batches, there's a lot of beef. Remove beef using slotted spoon and buffer.
6. Add onion and ½ tsp salt to pot. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 3-5 minutes.
7. Add garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
8. Stir in adobo, beef, and any accumulated juices. Bring to a simmer.
9. Cover pot and transfer to oven. Bake for 90 minutes.
10. > put beef in face

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

We made this ages ago, but it was really tasty and we don't want to lose the recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1 onion, halved and sliced thin
• 1 tsp minced fresh thyme
• ½ C dry white wine
• ¼ C all-purpose flour
• 1¾ C chicken broth
• 1 C heavy cream
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 (2½ lb) rotisserie chicken, skin and bones discarded, meat shredded
• 2 tbsp poppy seeds
• 15 ritz crackers, crushed coarsely

Procedure

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat to 350°F.
2. Melt 2 tbsp butter over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. Add mushrooms, onion, thyme, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are beginning to brown, ~5-7 minutes.
3. Add white wine and cook until evaporated, ~3 minutes.
4. Stir in flour until vegetables are well coated. Cook for 1 minute.
5. Stir in broth and cream, scraping up any brown bits, and cook until slightly thickened, ~3 minutes.
6. Stir in cream cheese and cook until melted, ~2 minutes.
7. Stir in chicken and 1 tbsp poppy seeds. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to 8" baking dish.
8. Microwave remaining 2 tbsp butter until melted. Add crackers and remaining 1 tbsp poppy seeds and toss to combine. Sprinkle evenly over chicken mixture.
9. Bake until golden brown and filling is bubbling around the edges, ~15 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Pan-Seared Chicken with Spicy Pinto Beans

Another Cook's Country 30-minute recipe card. As written it calls for two tins of pinto beans; we didn't have any, so we went with one tin of black beans and one of refried pinto beans. It was easy to put together and really tasty.

Ingredients

• 4 (6-8 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced lengthwise and/or pounded flat
• ½ C sour cream
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 large tin black beans
• 1 tin refried pinto beans with jalapeno
• 1 C medium salsa
• ½ minced fresh cilantro

Procedure

1. Whisk together sour cream, lime juice, cayenne, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper together in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat until shimmering. Add chicken and cook until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Remove to plate.
4. Add whole beans and cook until they begin to blister, ~2 minutes.
5. Stir in salsa, refried beans, ¼ tsp salt, and ¾ C water. Mash beans lightly with a potato masher and simmer until slightly thickened, ~4 minutes.
6. Stir in cilantro and sour cream and lime mixture and return chicken to skillet until heated through. Serve.

One-Pan Sweet Potato Chorizo Dinner

The original recipe calls for cooking chicken thighs and serving them with a potato-chorizo mixture. I swapped out the potatoes for sweet potatoes and although I did keep the chicken in, I wouldn't bother with it next time. It was extra time and expense to cook and didn't really add anything to the meal.

Sweet Potato Chorizo Dinner
Adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
2 Tbsp. ghee
1 1/2-2 lbs. sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2" chunks
100-150g chorizo sausage, halved and sliced thin
250g baby spinach
smoked paprika
salt and pepper

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes and cook, covered, until lightly browned (~5 minutes).
2. Add chorizo and cook, uncovered until potatoes are tender (~5 minutes).
3. Add spinach and cook until just wilted (~2 minutes).
4. Sprinkle with paprika, salt, and pepper to taste.

I might throw a chopped onion in the pan a few minutes before I add the sweet potatoes next time. I think that would be tasty. Especially if I had any red onions on hand!

Brunswick Stew

I was initially somewhat dubious, but this was really good! I do want to try tweaking the recipe a bit next time, but it's definitely worth making again.

Brunswick Stew
Slightly Adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1 onion, chopped fine
3/4 c. ketchup
4 c. water
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 lb. russet potatoes, cut into 1/2" chunks
250g kielbasa, sliced and quartered
6 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 (14 oz.) tin diced tomatoes
1/2 c. trimmed green beans
1/2 c. frozen corn

1. Heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until softened.
2. Add ketchup and 1/4 c. water and cook until fond begins to form and mixture has thickened (~6 minutes).
3. Add chicken, potatoes, kielbasa, vinegar, 1 1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire, mustard, garlic powder, salt, pepper, pepper flakes, and remaining 3 3/4 c. water and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender (30 minutes).
5. Transfer chicken to plate and allow to cool slightly. Shred with 2 forks and return to pot.
6. Add tomatoes, beans, and corn and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
7. Stir in remaining 1 1/2 tsp. (1/2 Tbsp.) Worcestershire sauce.
8. Serve with crusty bread and soft butter.

I'm really pleased wiht how this came out. I think next time I'd just add a bit more veg and pepper flakes to give it some more kick.

Brunswick Stew (Now with More Vegetables!)
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1 onion, chopped fine
3/4 c. ketchup
4 c. water
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 lb. russet potatoes
250g-350g kielbasa, sliced and quartered
6 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tin diced tomatoes
1 c. trimmed green beans
1 c. frozen corn
1/2 c. zucchini slices (optional)
100g baby spinach (optional)

Chicken Thighs with Fennel and Chickpeas

I loved the lemoniness of this. Would definitely cut the fennel smaller next time though. The "wedges that don't fall apart" proved quite awkward to eat.

Chicken Thighs with Fennel and Chickpeas
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, cut into wedges (would core and slice next time)
3 Tbsp. garlic paste
juice of 1 lemon + 2 tsp. zest
1 1/2 tsp. coriander, ground (or 1 tsp. ground coriander)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 c. dry white wine
2 (15 oz.) tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 c. large, pitted, brine-cured green olives, cut in half
~2 c. broth (I used a mix of chicken and vegetable)
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 baguette, sliced

1. Season chicken with 1 tsp. salt and pepper. (Next time I might add a little cayenne as well.)
2. Heat oil in ovensafe skillet (we had to use a pot) over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until well-browned on one side (8-10 minutes). Transfer to a plate.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Add fennel and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt. Cook, covered, until browned (3-5 minutes per side.)
4. Add garlic, lemon zest, coriander, and pepper flakes and cook, uncovered until fragrant (~1 minute).
5. Stir in wine. Cook until almost evaporated (2 minutes).
6. Stir in olives, broth, lemon juice, honey, and chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Nestle chicken into liquid.
7. Transfer to oven and bake, uncovered, until chicken registers 175F (~15 minutes).
8. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with baguette slices.

Beef Lombardi

I'll start right off by saying that this was perfectly fine, but it definitely didn't wow me. It wasn't overly difficult to put together, but I think I'd rather put the ingredients and effort into other things all the same. It was alright, but just not good enough for me to really be excited about making again.

Beef Lombardi
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes with red chiles
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes with chili seasonings
340g wide egg noodles (I like "No Yolks" best)
1 1/4 c. sour cream
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. corn starch (I just realized that I totally forgot the corn starch in mine!)
6 scallions, sliced thin
230g Montery Jack cheese, shredded

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pan.
2. Add beef, onion, 1/2 tsp. salt, and pepper and cook until beef is done.
3. Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook for an additional minute.
4. Add tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
5. Meanwhile, bring ~4L water to a boil. Add 1 Tbsp. salt and noodles. Cook for 2 minutes. Reserve 2 c. cooking water and drain noodles.
6. Combine sour cream, cream cheese, cornstarch, and 1/2 c. water in the empty pasta pot. Whisk until smooth.
7. Stir in scallions, noodles, remaining 1 1/2 c. cooking water, and 1/2 tsp. salt.
8. Spread noodle mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x13" baking dish (ours is a bit on the shallow side so we actually ended up using a roast pan).
9. Spread beef mixture on top of noodle mixture.
10. Sprinkle grated cheese over the beef and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

If I do ever try this one again, I think I'd try adding a bell pepper or two to the beef mixture. And I feel like the noodle mixture might benefit from some additional flavour: maybe a little bit of vegetable broth and/or some Worcestershire sauce. I'm not sure. Peas might also be a nice touch to make this feel a little more vegetably and balanced. And I would probably just use plain diced tomatoes next time and then toss in a few chile flakes and/or a minced chipotle in adobo to bring the heat. Apparently the original recipe calls for tomatoes and chiles separately but the folks over at the Test Kitchen deiced to replace two ingredients with one. The problem is that I can't find the same brand that they used here and the tomatoes and chiles that I got just didn't seem to have much kick or flavour to them.

Bottom Round Roast Beef

A very simple roast with a butter-based sauce.

Bottom Round Roast Beef
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
1 (4lb.) boneless beef bottom round roast
2 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
2 Tbsp. canola oil

1. Pat roast dry with paper towels and sprinkle with 2 tsp. salt. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
2. Combine 1/2 tsp. salt, rosemary, thyme, and peppercorns and grind in spice grinder.
3. Pat roast dry again and brush with canola oil. Sprinkle with herb mixture.
4. Bake at 250F for ~2 hours or until internal temperature reads 135F.
5. Turn off oven and allow roast to stand in hot oven (without opening door) for another 30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and allow to stand for a further few minutes then slice thin against the grain. Serve with zip-style sauce.

Zip-Style Sauce
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 c. Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a small pot over medium heat, whisking constantly. Sauce is done once it comes to a simmer.
2. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Basque Green Beans

This one is from a couple weeks ago, but I didn't get a chance to write it up at the time. It was really good though and the toddle bot absolutely loved the beans, so I wanted to make sure it didn't get lost or forgotten.

Basque Green Beans
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 onion, sliced thin
2 red bell peppers, cut into strips
3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 1/2 lbs. green beans, trimmed
1/4 c. water
1 (14oz.) tin diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp. cane vinegar (use sherry vinegar if available)

1. Cook bacon until crispy.
2. Add onion, bell peppers, 1/2 tsp. salt. Cover and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
4. Add beans, water, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Cover and cook ~10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Stir in tomatoes. Cover and cook until slightly thickened (~5 minutes).
6. Stir in vinegar and 1/2 tsp. pepper.

I served this alongside a bottom round roast (from the same magazine). Very nice combo!

Strawberry Pancakes

I had initially been planning on making either smoothies or porridge for breakfast this morning, but I was still in a pancake sort of mood, so I figured I'd do another batch of those instead. Plain pancakes seemed kind of boring though, so I decided to Google around for inclusion and flavour ideas. I made it as far as a Food Network slide show featuring "drool-worthy" pancakes. I had been planning on picking out one of those recipes to try this morning, but I didn't even get halfway through the list before Alex dragged me off. Before the laptop shut though, I did get a glimpse of "Strawberry-Granola Pancakes" and figured I could try something like that and just make it up as I went along.

Strawberry-Granola Pancakes
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. granola (I would've put more if I'd had any)
1 tsp. strawberry jam
1 tsp. apple jelly
5 frozen strawberries
1 1/4 c. milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
vanilla yogurt

1. Combine flour, salt, 1 Tbsp. sugar, and baking powder. (I also added the granola, jam, and strawberry concoction at this point, but I think I'd change that around next time.)
2. I only had about a tsp. of strawberry jam left, so I improvised: Place strawberries, jelly, and 1 Tbsp. sugar in empty jam jar. Microwave for 1 minute. Cut/mash/break up strawberries.
3. Add milk, egg, and butter to dry ingredients.
4. Add granola, jam, and strawberry concoction (if you haven't already).
5. Cook over medium heat.
6. Serve with vanilla yogurt.

I was happy enough with this but, as is often the case with a new recipe, I'd make a few tweaks next time:

Strawberry-Vanilla Pancakes
1 c. flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. granola (optional)
1 Tbsp. strawberry jam
10 frozen strawberries
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. apple jelly
1 1/4 c. milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
vanilla yogurt

1. Combine flours, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
2. Stir in milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.
3. Microwave strawberries with jam, jelly, and brown sugar. Mash the strawberries around to break them up a bit.
4. Stir strawberry mixture and granola (if using) into batter.
5. Cook over medium heat.
6. Serve with vanilla yogurt.

Pancakes

Whipped up some pancakes for breakfast this morning. If pressed I could probably make them without a recipe (I have in the past), but it's been a while and I wanted a guide for this instance. I just grabbed a basic recipe off of allrecipes. No fancy inclusions. No buttermilk. No whipped egg whites. Just plain pancakes. Tasty. Not super light or fluffy, but perfectly serviceable, comforting pancakes.

Pancakes
Slightly adapted from allrecipes
3 c. flour
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
6 Tbsp. butter, melted

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. (If you're planning on adding inclusions like berries or chocolate chips, now would be a good time to add them.)
2. Pour in milk, eggs, and butter. Stir to combine. (I was always told not to worry about lumps in pancake batter. Get the lumps out of your gravy and your cake batter, don't worry about the pancakes.)
3. Heat pan/skillet over medium-high heat. Add a small amount of oil (preferably peanut oil). Add as many 1/4 c. dollops of batter as will comfortably fit in the pan (usually three or four).
4. When you start to see bubbles on the tops and/or sides of the pancakes, flip them over.
5. When the sides look dry (or you feel they're ready), remove from pan, add a tiny bit more oil, and start your next batch.
6. Serve with your favourite pancake toppings. Suggestions include: maple syrup, honey, butter and jam, fresh fruit and custard or whipped cream, fruit compote, Nutella, sugar and lemon juice, and yogurt.

Roast Leg of Lamb

I don't buy lamb often. It's too expensive. They had some on for 50% off the other day though. I was hardly going to pass that up!

I used the rub from a Jamie Oliver recipe I found and the cooking instructions from a Martha Stewart recipe and met somewhere in the middle. I'd meant to make the mint sauce from the Jamie Oliver page as well, but I completely forgot about it. I might make up a small batch to go with the leftovers tomorrow. Honestly though, the lamb is delicious as is and I love the flavour of the rub. It doesn't need any sauce and part of me wonders if the mint mightn't take away from the delicious lamb and lemon flavours already present.

Roast Leg of Lamb
Adapted from Jamie Oliver and Martha Stewart
1 leg of lamb (mine was ~2.5kg), fell removed
coarse sea salt
pepper
zest of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp. garlic paste
1 bunch fresh rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
~1/4 c. olive oil
new potatoes (~200g per person)
carrots (1-2 per person); peeled and cut into large chunks/quarters
parsnips (I couldn't get any for this, but I definitely would've put a few in if I'd had 'em; 1-2 per person)
onions (1/2 per person, rounded up); peeled and cut into eighths
garlic (1-2 cloves per person); peeled and bruised

1. Combine the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, and garlic in a large bowl.
2. Add 1/2 the rosemary and some salt and pepper. Drizzle over a couple tablespoons of olive oil and toss to coat. Dump veg into the bottom of a large roasting pan.
3. In a small bowl, combine the garlic paste, lemon zest, some pepper, ~1 tsp. of salt per kg of meat, and the remaining rosemary and olive oil.
4. Smear the mixture all over the lamb and place the leg on top of the veg in the roast pan.
5. Bake at 425F for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325F and bake for an additional hour or until internal temperature reads 130F.
6. Broil for an additional 5 minutes then remove from oven and allow to sit for 15-20 minutes.
7. Serve with roast veg. Optionally add mint sauce or gravy. A salad might be nice along side as well.

I think a little bit of lemon zest added to the potatoes could be quite good. Other veg could be added as well if desired. Really though, this roast was pretty much perfect. The lamb was delicious and tender. The rub was amazing. I was initially dubious about the lemon zest, but it was great! Definitely don't leave it out!

Dark Chocolate Orange Truffles

I got to randomly clicking around the Smitten Kitchen blog the other day and stumbled across her post about hazelnut truffles. I decided that maybe it was finally time I tried making truffles myself. I'd always found the idea a little intimidating. I'm not sure why. I've made ganache before and, as she said, truffles are just firm ganache, so I figured maybe it wouldn't be so bad afterall and gave it a whirl.

She got her recipe from Ina Garten, but I just used her instructions so, I'll just link back there for now.

Orange Truffles
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
130g extra dark chocolate (70-75% cocoa), chopped
130g milk chocolate, chopped
1 c. heavy cream
1 Tbsp. orange blossom water
3 Tbsp. Cointreau
1 tsp. vanilla extract
cocoa, sifted (for dusting)

1. Heat cream just to boiling and pour over chocolate. Whisk until chocolate has all melted and you have a smooth ganache. (If chocolate needs a little help melting, place the bowl over a pot of hot/boiling water and continue whisking.)
2. Stir in orange blossom water, Cointreau, and vanilla.
3. Once everything is well-mixed, chill for an hour. (My ganache was still a bit too soft after an hour in the fridge so I actually ended up bunging it in the freezer for 15 mintues or so and that was perfect!)
4. Form into small balls and roll in sifted cocoa powder.
5. Place back in fridge to chill and firm up for another 15 minutes or so.

These are quite tasty. I'd be curious to see how they'd come out with 1-2 Tbsp. of orange juice in place of the floral water. I think they'd also be better rolled in something other than cocoa: I think toasted coconut would be really nice with the orange actually. Finely chopped glace orange might also work well.

There are also, of course, tonnes and tonnes of different flavour possibilities. I might just take a minute to jot some ideas down for next time to get them fixed in my mind.
Cherry Truffles - 3 Tbsp. pureed cherries, 2 Tbsp. kirsch, 1 tsp. almond extract; roll in chopped toasted almonds
Hazelnut Truffles - 3 Tbsp. Frangelico, 2 Tbsp. fresh-brewed coffee, 1 tsp. vanilla extract; roll in chopped toasted hazelnuts
Gingerbread Truffles - 1 Tbsp. ground ginger, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. ground cloves, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 Tbsp. molasses; roll in cinnamon sugar?
Grasshopper Truffles - 3 Tbsp. creme de menthe, 2 Tbsp. creme de cacao, 1 tsp. peppermint extract; roll in hot chocolate powder
Mocha Truffles - 3 Tbsp. fresh-brewed coffee/espresso, 2 Tbsp. creme de cacao, 1 tsp. vanilla extract; roll in hot cocolate powder or finely chopped chocolate-coated coffee beans
Peanut Butter Truffles - 1/4 c. peanut butter, 1 tsp. vanilla; roll in chopped toasted peanuts
Honey-Ginger Truffles - 3 Tbsp. honey-ginger tea syrup, 1 tsp. ground ginger; roll in finely chopped candied ginger

Chicken Scaloppini

From Cook's Country, this recipe turned out delicious -- the crispy outer layer of the chicken didn't really survive close contact with the sauce, but the sauce was delightfully full of mushrooms and the chicken moist and tender. The recipe as originally written claims to serve two; we doubled it (and made some substitutions) and it fed the two of us and the toddlebot for two dinners.

The recipe presented here is the doubled version.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ½ C all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 12 oz cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and sliced into thin strips
• 2 onions, sliced thin
• ½ C capers
• 2 garlic cloves or pearl garlics, minced
• 1½ C chicken broth
• 1 C dry white wine
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• a generous amount of chopped fresh parsley

Procedure

1. Place the chicken breasts on a plate, cover, and freeze for 15 minutes. (This is a good time to prepare the vegetables.)
2. Taking each breast in turn, slice it in half horizontally starting from the thick side, then hammer it flat (to about ¼" thickness) using a meat mallet or the underside of a cast-iron pan.
3. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour.
4. Heat oil in a deep-sided nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add cutlets and cook until golden and cooked through, 2-3 minutes per side. Remove and set aside on a plate.
5. Replenish oil and add mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions. Cook until liquid has evaporated and vegetables are starting to brown, 4-6 minutes.
6. Add capers and garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
7. Add broth and wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Cook until slightly thickened and reduced in volume, 5-7 minutes.
8. Reduce heat to low and whisk in butter.
9. Return chicken and accumulated juices to pan to heat through.
10. Transfer chicken to platter and top with vegetables, sauce, and parsley.

Black Garlic (Cheater's) Stroganoff

I'm tired so I'll keep this short. Got some black garlic. Looked up recipes. Stroganoff was tasty but didn't really showcase the garlic. Next time will take chef's advice and make some sort of savoury sauce to go over meat.

Black Garlic Stroganoff
Adapted from Black Garlic North America recipe page
2 Tbsp. bacon grease (or butter)
1 onion, chopped
6-8 cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
black pepper
1 lb. ground beef
1 tin condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used wild mushroom)
2 cloves black garlic, chopped
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. milk (next time I'd use beef stock)
1 large dill pickle, chopped (optional)
1 package wide egg noodles

1. Cook onion, mushrooms, and garlic in grease. Add a bit of pepper.
2. Add beef and brown. Sprinkle in a bit more pepper.
3. Add soup and black garlic and simmer for a while. (I would add stock at this point as well next time.)
4. Meanwhile, cook egg noodles.
5. Stir in sour cream and pickle.
6. Serve over egg noodles (or toss with egg noodles).

Tasty, but black garlic doesn't really come through. Next time I'd probably just use 4 cloves of regular garlic and leave out the black garlic entirely, but there will be a next time.

Tropical Fruit Smoothie

Still working my way through the smoothie recipes from the most recent Cook's Country. I didn't like this one quite as well as the Cherry-Almond one, but it was still pretty good nonetheless.

Tropical Fruit Smoothie
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
1/2 banana
1 Tbsp. honey
tiny sprinkle of salt
1/2 c. frozen pineapple
1/2 c. frozen mango
1/2 c. plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. coconut water (pineapple juice or orange juice would also be good options)

1. Puree banana with honey and salt.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary.

Cherry-Almond Smoothie

I usually just bung a bunch of complimentary fruit in a blender with a bit of yogurt and/or juice and/or coconut water when I make smoothies. It works reasonably well. Pineapple and coconut water on its own actually makes a really nice smoothie. However, Cook's Country published some actual smoothie recipes in their latest issue and I have to say, I'm really impressed with the results. Their version uses a banana-honey base and quite a bit more yogurt than I'd normally put, but it makes for an extremely creamy, mellow smoothie. It doesn't taste as fruity or acidic as what I normally make. It's a bit more subdued and more filling as well which is great for breakfast smoothies.

Cherry-Almond Smoothie
From Cook's Country April/May 2016
1/2 banana
1 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. almond butter
tiny sprinkle of salt (~1/16 tsp.)
1 c. frozen cherries
1/2 c. plain yogurt (original recipe recommends whole milk yogurt; I used 2% because that was the only variety available in lactose-free)
2 Tbsp. milk (again recipe recommends whole milk; I used LF 2%)

1. Puree banana, honey, almond butter, and salt together until smooth.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Enjoy!

Dublin Coddle

I had intended to make this on the weekend when time is a bit more plentiful, but things kind of got out of whack, so it didn't end up getting made until tonight. It came out alright in the end, but I'd definitely make some tweaks to it next time. There's potential here, but I can't say that I'm thrilled with the results the first time 'round. So, here's what went into it this time and I'll follow it up with a suggested version for next time.

Dublin Coddle
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country
1 1/2 lbs. yellow-fleshed potatoes, sliced 1/4" thick
salt & pepper
6 slices thick-cut bacon
2 lbs. sausages (original recipe calls for bratwurst or bangers; I used some amazing, locally-made, garlic-y pork sausages we had on hand)
4 small onions, sliced 1/2" thick
~1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 3/4 c. low-sodium chicken stock
2 Tbsp. cane vinegar (original recipe calls for apple cider vinegar, but we ran out)

(See below for an idea of what I did with this. Baked at 325F for 1 1/2 hours. Potatoes were still a little firm in places.)

Better Dublin Coddle
1 1/2 lbs. yellow-fleshed potatoes, sliced 1/8" thick
salt & pepper
6 slices thick-cut bacon
2 lbs. sausages
4 small onions, sliced 1/4" thick
~1/2 tsp. dried thyme
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. chicken stock
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1. Shingle the potato slices in the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Cook bacon over medium heat. Cut into 1" pieces and set aside.
3. Lightly brown sausages in bacon grease. (Do not cook all the way through yet.) Set sausages aside.
4. Add onions, garlic, and thyme to pan with bacon grease. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until onions are soft (~8 minutes).
5. Add chicken stock and vinegar. Bring to a simmer, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan.
6. Pour onion mixture over potatoes. Spread onions evenly.
7. Place sausages on top of onions.
8. Bake at 325F for 1 1/4 hours or until desired doneness.
9. Sprinkle with reserved bacon. Let stand 10 minutes. Serve with salad & crusty bread.

Jalapeño-Glazed Pork Chops with Celery Root Salad

Yet another recipe out of Cook's Country. I just had to switch up the glaze a bit.

Jalapeño-Glazed Pork Chops
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
4 pork chops
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
salt & pepper
1 (250mL) jar jalapeño jelly
6 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and cook in oil over medium-high heat (~6 minutes/side). Remove pork chops from pan.
2. Add jelly and vinegar to now empty pan. Cook 3-4 minutes, until jelly melts and liquid is slightly reduced and thickened.
3. Pour glaze over pork chops and serve with celery root salad.

Celery Root Salad
From Cook's Country April/May 2016
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. whole-grain mustard
2 Tbsp. capers, minced
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. cayenne
salt & pepper
1 celery root, peeled and grated

1. Combine mayo, mustard, capers, vinegar, cayenne, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix well.
2. Stir in grated celery root. Serve with glazed pork chops.

Next time I'd like to try adding a grated apple to the salad. I think it would complement the celery root really well and add a bit more interest and flavour.

Apple Cake

I've been compiling a list of cake recipes to try for a while now. I'm not going through them very fast, but that probably not a bad thing considering that decadent cakes probably shouldn't be consumed with great frequency. I found this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog. She apparently got it from her mother. And her mother, as it turns out, got it from a Home and Garden magazine.

Apple Cake
Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen
6 apples, peeled and cubed (I used Honey Crisp)
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 3/4 c. flour (I used 2 1/4 c. unbleached, all-purpose and 1/2 c. whole wheat)
1 Tbsp. baking powder, sifted
1 tsp. table salt
1 c. canola oil
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. orange juice
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs

1. Toss apples with cinnamon and 6 Tbsp. sugar.
2. Grease pan and preheat oven to 350F. I used a Bundt pan. The original recipe calls for a tube pan.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
4. In a smaller bowl, combine oil, 2 c. sugar, orange juice, and eggs.
5. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
6. Here the original recipe calls for pouring half the batter into the pan, followed by half the apples, then the rest of the batter, and finally the rest of the apples. However, since I was using a Bundt pan and the cake would end up being served "upside down", I reversed the order and did apples-batter-apples-batter instead.
7. Bake at 350F for 1 hour 15 minutes.
8. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

This cake smelled amazing as it was cooking and it definitely delivered on flavour as well! It did not, however, have great structural integrity, so if you're looking for something with perfect presentation, this is not the cake for you. But seriously, so delicious! And over at Smitten Kitchen, Deb advises that it's even better on the second day when the juices from the apples have really sunk in and made everything lovely and moist and pudding-y.

TF's mom mentioned that this sounds like a good cake for serving with custard and I definitely think I'll give that a try next time. ('Cause you better believe there's gonna be a next time!) If nothing else, I think I may have to start making this cake for TF's birthday. He was quite taken with it.

High Tea

Not so much a recipe as a collection of things, but I figured I'd write it up anyway because it went over so well.

For the Tea
black tea (such as English Breakfast or Orange Pekoe)
milk
sugar

For the Scones
scones
clotted cream
strawberry jam

For the Cucumber Sandwiches
white bread
mayonaise
English cucumber, sliced
freshly ground black pepper

Optional Extras
cake(s)
cheese(s)
crusty bread or crackers
spreads, compotes, and/or chutneys to complement the cheese(s)
cookies/biscuits
additional sandwiches

1. Make you cucumber sandwiches (preferably crustless finger sandwiches).
2. Lay everything out on one or more plates.
3. Brew your tea.
4. Sit down and enjoy with friends! Spread the scones with clotted cream and jam, sip your tea, and enjoy some cakes and cookies. :)

Morning Glory Porridge

I've been playing around with this recipe and tweaking it over the past couple of weeks. I tried it with steel-cut oats yesterday and I'm really pleased with the results.

Morning Glory Porridge
1/4 c. dried coconut
1/4 c. nuts (I used slivered almonds and raw cashews, but chopped walnuts would also work well)
1 cinnamon stick
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 c. steel-cut oats
2 c. water
1 carrot, grated
1/4 c. raisins
2 Tbsp. wheat bran
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce



1. Toast coconut, nuts, cinnamon stick, and oats with butter.
2. Add water and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce to a simmer and add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Marmalade-Mustard Glazed Gammon

This was supposed to be served with mashed potatoes and a parsley sauce. I did roast vegetables instead and skipped on the parsley sauce because it really doesn't need any extra sauce with all that glaze.

Marmalade-Mustard Glazed Gammon
Slightly adapted from BBC Food
1.3kg smoked gammon joint
1 lemon, halved
1 orange, halved
1 apple, halved
1 onion, halved
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
2 good dashes cayenne
1/2 pint ale (optional)
5 star anise
340g marmalade
5 fl. oz. honey
~2 Tbsp. wholegrain mustard
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Roast Veg
5 parsnips, peeled and chopped
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 packed cubed sweet potato and butternut squash
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
~1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
dash cayenne

1. Place gammon in a large pot with lemon, orange, apple, onion, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cayenne, ale, and 2 of the star anise. Add water to just cover everything.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for ~1 hour.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. In a small pot combine marmalade with remaining star anise, honey, mustard, and cloves. Heat until marmalade has melted and everything is well-blended.
5. Remove gammon from cooking water and place in a roasting pan.
6. Drizzle the chopped veg with olive oil and toss with salt, pepper, cayenne, and herbs.
7. Dump the chopped veg in around the meat.
8. Glaze the gammon with the marmalade mixture.
9. Bake at 210C (~400F) for ~45 minutes, basting with additional glaze every 10-15 minutes.
10. When glaze is slightly blackened around the edges and veggies are cooked, remove from oven and serve. (Serving some additional green veg along side probably wouldn't go amiss, I just didn't have anything appropriate on hand when I was making this.)

I'm pleased with how this came out, but I'd definitely tweak it a bit next time.

For the Boil
1.3kg smoked gammon joint
1 lemon, halved
1 orange, halved
1 apple, halved
1 onion, halved
3-4 scallions, rough chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tsp. black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp. whole cloves
2 dried chiles de arbol
2 star anise

For the Glaze
200g marmalade
4 fl. oz. honey
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 Tbsp. wholegrain mustard
1/2 tsp. whole cloves

Sweet Coconut-Cherry Couscous

I tried a different variant of sweet couscous last week and was reasonably pleased with the results. As I mentioned in that post though, I did find the orange zest a little too assertive. I kind of drowned out everything else plus left a bit of a bitter taste which required quite a lot of honey to balance out. It might be interesting to try with marmalade sometime to see if that gives a nice orange-y-ness without being quite so bitter. This time though, I decided to go a different route entirely and I have to say, I'm quite pleased with the outcome!

Coconut-Cherry Couscous
~225g couscous
125g dried cranberries and raisins
1/4 c. dried coconut (I'd probably do 6 Tbsp. next time)
15-20 pitted sweet cherries, halved
750mL milk
cherry yogurt
honey

1. Combine couscous, cranberries, raisins, coconut, and cherries in a large bowl.
2. Bring milk just to a boil. Immediately remove from heat and pour over couscous.
3. Give couscous a stir, then let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Serve topped with yogurt and honey.

Roasted Sea Bass with Chorizo

This was really, really, really good! Not that I got to have very much of the fish itself since the toddle bot ate half of an entire fish on his own. Not even exaggerating. I think he would've eaten even more if there'd been any left. Next time I would definitely double the recipe unless I was only intending to feed myself and the devourer of fish toddle bot.

Roasted Sea Bass with Chorizo
Slightly adapted from BBC Food
1/4 c. olive oil
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
100g chorizo, chopped
dash Italian seasoning (replace with thyme if available)
50g pitted black olives
16 cherry tomatoes
salt
black pepper
1 sea bass, scaled and gutted

1. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and chorizo and cook until onion softens.
2. Add Italian seasoning (or thyme), olives, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Dump chorizo mixture into a 9x13" baking dish or similar.
4. Place fish on top of chorizo mixture and slash skin. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning (or thyme). Drizzle with remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil.
5. Bake at 190C (375F) for 20-25 minutes.

Huevos Rancheros

I had a general idea of how to make huevos rancheros and was just gonna roll with it, but decided to peek at a few recipes at the last minute and ended up mostly following Jamie Oliver's recipe with a few little substitutions and additions along the way.

Huevos Rancheros
Adapted from Jamie Oliver
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped
generous dash cayenne
salt
black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 (226g) jars mild salsa
1 package black beans (230g drained), rinsed
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
6 eggs
6 whole wheat tortillas
Cheddar cheese, grated

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, and bay leaves. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook until vegetables begin to brown.
2. Add salsa and beans. Cook until slightly thickened.
3. Stir in cilantro.
4. Make six wells in the tomato mixture. Break an egg into each well. Cover pan and reduce heat to medium-low.
5. When eggs reach desired done-ness, remove from heat.
6. Serve on warm tortillas with grated Cheddar.

If I'd been making this at home with access to my usual spices, I'd probably try replacing the cayenne with a bit of minced chipotle in adobo. I might also add a dried guajillo chile or two. I'd probably just use diced tomatoes instead of the salsa next time as well.

Pasta with Turkey and Fennel

I tweaked this a bit because I'm traveling right now and didn't want to buy a whole container of fennel seed for just one meal. I decided to try slicing up a fennel bulb and using that instead and I'm really pleased with how it came out. I feel like it might make it very slightly healthier as well since you're getting a bit more veg that way too.

Pasta with Turkey and Fennel
Adapted from realsimple
350g whole wheat pasta
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey (I used 2% fat ground turkey breast)
3-4 cloves garlic
1 bulb fennel, sliced
generous dash cayenne
sea salt
black pepper
Parmesan

1. Boil pasta until al dente, adding broccoli for the last minute of cooking. Drain and return to pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. of oil over medium heat. Add turkey and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne breaking up and cooking until browned.
3. Remove turkey from pan. Add another Tbsp. of oil. Add garlic, fennel, and a bit more cayenne and pepper. Cook until done.
4. Add fennel, turkey, and remaining Tbsp. of oil to pot with drained pasta and broccoli. Toss to combine. Top with grated Parmesan and serve with a salad on the side.

Carrot Muffin Oatmeal

I kept feeling like I was forgetting something as I was making this, but I couldn't think what. Alas it was cinnamon! I'll definitely be trying a few variations on this in the future though, so I can try to remember the cinnamon then. So, here's what I did this time, and I'll follow it with an idea for a variant to try next time as well.

Carrot Muffin Oatmeal
Adapted from allrecipes
2 1/2 c. water
1 packet dried fruit and nuts
1 carrot, grated
2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
dash salt
1 c. quick oats

1. Combine all ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute.
2. Serve immediately with cold milk and/or maple syrup and/or additional sugar.

Morning Glory Oatmeal
1/4 c. dried coconut, toasted
1 cinnamon stick
2 1/2 c. water
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
2 carrots, grated
1/4 c. raisins
1/4 c. dried pineapple
2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
1/4 c. wheat bran (optional)
1 c. quick oats

Shortcut Scandi Meatballs

This was superbly easy to throw together and it was pretty tasty to boot! I think it actually has one of the best deliciousness:effort ratios of anything I've made. I mean, I've definitely made more scrumptious meals, but this was just so very easy.

Scandi Meatballs
From bbcgoodfood
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 grinds black pepper
1 (400g) tin cream of mushroom soup
1 Tbsp. prepared mustard (I used wholegrain)
~1/4 c. fresh dill, chopped
24 Swedish meatballs, cooked

1. Sauté onion and garlic in oil.
2. Add pepper and cook an additional minute or two.
3. Add remaining ingredients, reduce heat, and cook until meatballs are warmed through and flavours have melded.
4. Serve over mashed potatoes with cabbage or other vegetable of choice.

Sweet Couscous

This seems like it could be a fun recipe to play with. Lots of different options for the fresh and dried fruit. I might try it without the orange peel next time; I found it to be a little bitter and overwhelming. It was very tasty otherwise though. Nice with a little honey and cinnamon.

Sweet Couscous
Slightly adapted from allrecipes
225g couscous
125g dried fruit (I used raisins and cranberries)
zest of 1 orange, grated
750mL milk
peach yogurt
honey
fresh fruit (optional)

1. Combine couscous, dried fruit, and orange zest.
2. Heat milk until it just boils. Immediately remove from heat and pour over couscous.
3. Stir couscous and let stand 10 minutes.
4. Fluff with fork and serve with yogurt, honey, and fresh fruit.

I'd like to try this with figs and... some other complementary fruit at some point.

Lentil and Sausage Stew

I was quite pleasantly surprised and impressed with how tasty and flavourful this stew was given the simplicity of the recipe. A+: would make again!

Lentil and Sausage Stew
Slightly adapted from realsimple
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2-3 ribs celery, chopped
2-3 medium carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 bay leaf
15 grinds black pepper
~1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
dash cayenne
200-300g sausage, chopped (original recipe calls for kielbasa; I used saucisson sec)
2 c. French (green) lentils
5 c. stock (I used 1 c. beef stock + 4 c. chicken stock)
5 c. water
1/4 c. fresh parsley
Cheddar cheese

1. Cook celery, carrots, onion, and garlic in oil over medium heat until softened.
2. Add bay leaf, pepper, Italian seasoning, and cayenne and cook another 2 minutes.
3. Add sausage, lentils, stock, and water.
4. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
5. Top with parsley and grated Cheddar. Serve with red cabbage and crusty bread.