Spinach-stuffed portabello caps

This is modified slightly from the Cook's Country original. Why would you remove the gills? They're delicious!

Ingredients

• 8 large portabello mushroom caps
• 80mL olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 384mL panko breadcrumbs
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ~3L baby spinach
• ~250g crumbled feta cheese
• 5mL grated lemon zest
• 64mL fresh mint leaves, torn

Procedure

1. Adjust oven racks to upper middle and lower middle positions; preheat to 475ºF.
2. Rub mushrooms with 45mL of oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange gill side down on rimmed baking sheet and roast on lower rack until tender, ~15 minutes.
3. Combine panko, garlic, ~1mL each salt and pepper, and remaining oil in a large dutch oven.
4. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until panko lightly browned, ~2 minutes.
5. Stir in spinach and cook until wilted, ~5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and stir in 250mL feta and the lemon zest.
7. Flip mushrooms gill side up and divide filling evenly among them. Top with remaining feta and bake on upper rack until feta starts to brown, ~8 minutes.
8. Garnish with extra oil and mint.

Baked Ricotta Chicken

Continuing the Cook's Country backlog, this is from the April/May 2017 issue.

Ingredients

• Breadcrumbs:
• 128mL panko breadcrumbs
• 15mL olive oil
• 1mL salt
• 1mL pepper
• Chicken:
• 250mL ricotta cheese
• ~200mL freshly grated parmesan
• 5mL dried oregano
• salt and pepper
• 64mL olive oil
• 4 (~250g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and flattened to ~1cm thick
• 384mL premade pasta sauce
• 30mL coarsely chopped fresh basil

Procedure

1. Combine all breadcrumb ingredients in a bowl. Microwave until panko is light golden brown, 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally; set aside.
2. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and preheat to 425ºF.
3. Process ricotta, parmesan, oregano, 1mL each salt and pepper in food processor until smooth, ~10 seconds.
4. With processor running, slowly add 48mL oil until incorporated. Transfer to bowl and set aside.
5. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat remaining 16mL oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook chicken until browned on both sides, ~6 minutes.
6. Evenly spread half the sauce in the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish. Transfer chicken to dish, layering on top of sauce. Pour remaining sauce over chicken, then top each piece with a quarter of the ricotta mixture.
7. Bake until chicken registers 160ºF internally, ~15 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

Cherry Brownies

I've had my eye on this recipe for TF for over a month now but only just got around to making it. He loves brownies and this recipe in particular looked like it would make the type of rich, dense brownies he especially likes. Plus, extra bonus cherries and almond extract! What's not to love?

Cherry Brownies
Cook's Country October/November 2015
1 1/2 c. dried cherries
1/4 c. + 1/3 c. water
1 tsp. almond extract
60g unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut in 4
6 Tbsp. oil
1/3 c. cocoa powder¹
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c.sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour²

1. Grease and flour 13x9" baking pan.
2. Combine cherries, 1/4 c. water, and almond extract in a small bowl.
3. Cover and microwave for 1 minute.
4. Set aside and let stand for at least 5 minutes.
5. In a separate bowl, microwave chocolate and butter until melted. (Should take 45 seconds or so.)
6. Whisk oil, cocoa, and 1/3 c. water into chocolate mixture. It may look a bit curdled once the water goes in. This is expected.
7. Whisk in eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla.
8. Whisk in sugar and salt.
9. Stir in flour until just combined.
10. Stir in cherries + any residual soaking liquid.
11. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.
12. Bake at 350F (~180C) for 25-30 minutes. (Skewer inserted in middle should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, but should not be overly wet or dry.) For best results, rotate pan halfway through baking.
13. Let cool for at least 1 hour (and preferably 2) before cutting.

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¹ The recipe specifically calls for Dutched, but I just used regular cocoa. I'm sure it would be even better with the proper cocoa, but I was quite happy with the results regardless!
² All-purpose flour is made with fairly hard (high-gluten) wheat. It is much harder the "plain", "standard", or "soft" flours of places like the UK and NZ, but probably slightly softer than "bread", "high grade", or "hard" flours in those regions. That said, I think using hard/high grade/bread flour in lieu of all-purpose would be fine for the vast majority of recipes.

Moroccan Steak Tips and Couscous

I enjoyed the couscous for this, but the steak came out a bit tough and somewhat disappointing. Next time I might just make the couscous part and leave out the steak altogether.

Steak Tips and Couscous
Cook's Country October/November 2017
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
salt and pepper
1 1/2 lbs. sirloin steak tips, trimmed and cut into 2" chunks
1 Tbsp. oil
1 1/4 c. water
1 (440mL) can chickpeas, rinsed
3/4 c. couscous
1/2 c. golden raisins
60g baby spinach (or more to taste)

1. Combine cumin, cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. pepper, and 2 tsp. salt.
2. Season steak w/ 1 Tbsp. spice mix.
3. Heat oil in pan until just smoking.
4. Add steak to pan and cook until browned on all sides.
5. Remove steak from pan and set aside.
6. Add water, chickpeas, couscous, raisins, and remaining spice mix to pan.
7. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for ~5 minutes.
8. Stir in spinach and serve with steak.

For a steak-less variation, I might try slowly cooking some onions in the pan first.

Warm Couscous Salad
1 Tbsp. oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
1 1/4 c. water
1 (440mL) can chickpeas, rinsed
3/4 c. couscous
1/2 c. golden raisins
120g baby spinach

1. Cook onions in oil over medium heat until light brown.
2. Add cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and paprika to pan and cook until spices sizzle and become fragrant, 30-60 seconds.
3. Add water, chickpeas, couscous, and raisins.
4. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, cover, and let stand for ~5 minutes.
5. Stir in the spinach and serve.

Pork and Ricotta Meatballs

This produces meatballs in a tomato sauce, suitable for use on pasta or in sandwiches, or just eaten straight.

Ingredients

• For the meatballs:
• 4 slices white sandwich bread
• 256mL ricotta cheese
• 1kg ground pork
• 128mL freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 128mL chopped fresh parsley
• 2 large eggs
• 2 shallots, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 15mL salt
• 8mL pepper
• 5mL grated lemon zest
• For the sauce:
• 64mL olive oil
• 10 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 5mL red pepper flakes
• 2 (~800mL) tins of crushed tomatoes
• 30mL chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper

The Meatballs

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat to 450ºF. Set wire rack in aluminium-foil-lined baking sheet.
2. Combine bread and ricotta in a large bowl and let sit, mashing occasionally with a fork, until they form a smooth paste, ~10 minutes.
3. Add pork, parmesan, parsley, eggs, shallots, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon zest and mix with hands until combined.
4. Divide into ~24 portions of about 64mL each and place on platter. Roll each portion in your hands to form a meatball and place on wire rack.
5. Roast until browned, 30-35 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through roasting. Remove from oven, and reduce oven temperature to 300ºF.

The Sauce

1. While the meatballs are baking, combine oil and garlic in a dutch oven over low heat and cook until garli turns golden and softens, 12-14 minutes.
2. Add pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
3. Add tomatoes and 5mL salt. Cover mostly and and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce has thickened slightly, ~30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add meatballs to sauce, cover, and transfer pot to oven. Bake until meatballs and tender and sauce has thickened, ~30 minutes.
6. Transfer to serving dish and serve with basil and additional parmesan.

Linguine with Olives and Garlic

A quick and easy meal that came to the rescue while TF was away in the UK. Not exactly nutritionally complete, but as a one-off thing when you're crunched for time, it certainly makes for a tasty dinner, if not a healthy one.

Linguine with Olives and Garlic
Cook's Country October/November 2017
1 lb. linguine
salt and pepper
1/2 c. + 1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. panko bread crumbs
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 c. pitted green olives, halved
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1. Add 1 Tbsp. salt to 4L water and bring to a boil.
2. Cook pasta in salted water until al dente.
3. Reserve 1/4 c. cooking water and drain pasta.
4. While the pasta is cooking, combine 1 Tbsp. oil, panko, and 1/4 tsp. salt and toast over medium heat for ~3 minutes.
5. Transfer panko to a bowl and set aside.
6. Add remaining 1/2 c. oil to pan along with garlic, pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
7. Cook oil mixture over medium heat until garlic begins to brown.
8. Toss cooked pasta with olives, parsley, lemon juice, oil mixture, and reserved cooking water.
9. Sprinkle with toasted panko and serve.

Chocolate Ice Cream

The kidlet asked to make chocolate ice cream today, so we did! :)
Just used the basic recipe that came with the ice cream machine. Seems to have turned out pretty well. And very kid-friendly because you just stir everything together and dump it in; no cooking required!

Simple Chocolate Ice Cream
1/2 c. cocoa powder (preferably Dutched, but regular is also fine)
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. milk (any percentage should work fine, I used 1%)
1 1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp. heavy (35%) cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Combine cocoa powder and sugars.
2. Whisk in milk until blended and sugars dissolve. The recipe calls for using an electric mixer on low for 1 minute or so. I just whisked by hand until it looked smooth and homogeneous.
3. Mix in cream and vanilla.
4. Turn on ice cream machine and pour mixture in. (Yes, in that specific order.)
5. Churn for 30 minutes (+/- 5 minutes).
6. Serve immediately for a creamy, chocolate-y soft serve or scoop into a container and chill in the freezer for at least two hours for firmer ice cream.
7. If ice cream has been stored in the freezer, allow to soften at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Paav Bhajee

This delicious recipe from 660 Curries claims to be an appetizer, but we made it as a main dish and it works excellently in that role. We deviated somewhat from the recipe in how it's served; as written you're meant to grill the buns and then place them on top of the curry (maybe slice them up as you eat it?), whereas we spread the curry on top of the buns and at them as open-faced sandwiches. Prepared thus, one batch makes enough for eight hamburger buns or so; plan accordingly. (The recipe says 10 so we may have been going heavier on the curry:bun ratio than expected.)

It takes quite a while to make, but most of the actual prep work is in chopping things; the cooking process mostly involves waiting and stirring.

We still have the other half of the cauliflower in the fridge and it's destined to be used in a second batch of this.

Ingredients

• 500g russet or yukon gold potatoes, diced
• 250g cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 large green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and coarsely chopped
• 128mL frozen green peas
• 1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or serrano chilis, stems removed
• 128mL salted butter for cooking, plus more for grilling the buns
• 1 (~450mL) tin of tomato sauce
• 15mL ginger paste
• 15mL garlic paste
• 15mL paav bhajee masala
• 5mL coarse salt
• 64mL tomato paste
• 128mL finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 8-10 white hamburger buns

Procedure

1. Combine the potatoes, cauliflower, bell pepper, peas, and 1L water in a medium-size saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Stew, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, ~20 minutes.
3. While the vegetables are cooking, combine the onion and chiles in a blender or food processor. Keep away from eyes.
4. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 30mL of the butter and the onion-chili blend and cook, stirring, until the mixture browns, 5-8 minutes.
5. Add the tomato sauce, ginger, garlic, masala, and salt. Lower heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until a thin film of oil forms on the surface, 8-10 minutes. Don't let it stick.
6. Meanwhile, reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and drain the vegetables in a colander. Transfer them to a medium-sized bowl, add the tomato sauce, and coarsely mash them.
7. Add the mashed vegetables, half the cilantro, and the reserved water to the sauce. The curry will bubble geyser-like as it heats. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, stirring frequently, for 15 minutes.
8. Add 30mL of butter and stir it in. Cook, uncovered, for five minutes. Repeat twice more, using up the rest of the butter in the process.
9. Top with the rest of the cilantro.
10. Slice the hamburger buns, butter the inside faces, and grill, face down, in a skillet until they are browned and crispy and delicious.
11. Spread the buns with curry and eat open-faced.

Paav bhajee masala

A "vegetable spice mix" used for, well, paav bhajee. Like most of our curry-related things, this is from 660 Curries.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp whole coriander
• 1 tsp whole cumin
• ½ tsp each whole peppercorns, fenugreek, and anise
• ¼ tsp decorticated cardamom
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 tbsp cayenne
• 1 tbsp amchor
• 2 tsp coarse salt
• 1 tsp ground black salt
• ¼ ground nutmeg

Procedure

1. Combine the coriander, cumin, peppercorns, fenugreek, anise, cardamom, and cloves in a spice grinder; grind fine.
2. Add the cayenne, amchor, both salts, and the nutmeg. Mix.

Lemon Chicken & Orzo Soup

Ingredients

• 30mL unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2L chicken broth
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• salt and pepper
• 250mL orzo or similar tiny pasta
• 6 large egg yolks
• 90mL lemon juice (~2 lemons)
• 500mL shredded rotisserie chicken (or leftover grilled chicken)
• 30mL chopped fresh chives

Procedure

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook until softened, ~4 minutes.
3. Increase heat to medium-high; add broth, thyme sprigs, 5mL salt, and 2.5mL pepper.
4. Bring to a boil. Add orzo and cook until tender, ~12 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and discard thyme sprigs.
6. Whisk together egg yolks and lemon juice in a bowl. Whisking constantly. slowly pour into hot soup.
7. Stir in chicken, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes, until soup is thickened and chicken is warmed through.

Pecan-Crusted Trout with Lemon Garlic Sauce

Ingredients

• 128mL mayonnaise
• 15mL minced parsley
• 7.5mL grated lemon zest
• 10mL lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 256mL pecans
• 64mL panko breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper
• 1mL cayenne pepper
• 1 large egg
• 5mL dijon mustard
• 3 (~250g) headless, boneless, butterflied whole trout
• 64mL vegetable oil

Procedure

1. Whisk together mayo, parsley, 2.5mL lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic in a bowl. Chill until ready to serve.
2. Grind pecans and panko in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to shallow dish.
3. Stir in 2.5mL each salt and pepper, cayenne, and remaining lemon zest.
4. In a second dish, whisk together egg, mustard, and 1mL each salt and pepper.
5. Preheat oven to 200°F.
6. Bisect each trout to yield 2 filets per trout. Pat dry and season with salt and pepper.
7. Dredge flesh side of each filet in egg mix, allow excess to drip off, then dredge in pecan mixture and press gently to adhere. Buffer pecan side up.
8. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet. Cook filets pecan side down until browned and fragrant, 3-4 minutes. Carefully flip filets and continue cooking until skin is browned and flesh flakes easily, 2-3 minutes. (You may need to cook in multiple batches).
9. Serve with lemon-garlic sauce.

Switchel

A gingery cold drink.

Ingredients

• 6 C water
• 3/4 C cider vinegar
• 1/2 C maple syrup
• 1/4 C old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp salt

Bring all ingredients to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Immediately remove from heat and let cool. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and refrigerate. Serve over ice.