I wanted to do something with Brussels sprouts for Christmas this year. There are, of course, lots of great options to choose from, but I liked the look of this one from the Dish of the Day cookbook. It was fairly simple and easy to put together and the chestnuts made it feel extra festive.

Although I liked the idea of combining sprouts and chestnuts, I was only lukewarm on some of the other details of the recipe, so I made a few changes based on what appealed to me and what I had on hand. Instead of using three different types of fat (olive oil, butter, and walnut oil) -- all added at different points during cooking -- I just used a single Tbsp. of bacon grease. And since I was a little low on red wine vinegar, I used a touch of balsamic vinegar as well. Other than that, I stuck to the recipe though. And everyone seemed to like the results!

Vinegar-Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. bacon grease
• 450g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 90g chesnuts, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Heat bacon grease over medium heat.
2. Add sprouts, sprinkle with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until sprouts have browned a bit (~4 minutes).
3. Add chicken stock and chestnuts, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, partially covered, until sprouts are tender (~20 minutes).
4. Add sugar and vinegar along with a little water if the pan seems dry and cook until the liquid has reduced and sprouts are well-coated (2-3 minutes).
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

I thought this looked like a nice veggie curry. I like that the inclusion of tofu gives it a bit of protein, although I think it would've been nice with a few more different kinds of vegetables in. I added an onion, but I think carrot and/or bell pepper would have been nice too.

Vietnamese-Style Eggplant-Tofu Curry

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola or peanut oil
• 680g Asian eggplant, cubed
• 1 onion, sliced lengthwise
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. red curry paste
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 (420mL) can coconut milk
• 1 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tsp. lime zest
• 375g extra-firm tofu, cubed
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Thai basil (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add eggplant and stir-fry until slightly browned (~4 minutes).
3. Add the onion and garlic and stir-fry for another minute or so.
4. Add the curry paste, fish sauce, coconut milk, chicken stock, and tofu and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Add green onions, cilantro, basil (if using), and lime juice.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with rice.

These squares didn't quite turn out. They were still quite tasty, but they were too crumbly to cut into squares. I think I probably should have used quick oats rather than old-fashioned rolled oats. I also missed the line in the ingredients that specified the almonds were to be chopped, rather than left whole. Whoops! I think with the finer oats and chopped nuts, the bars might have been a little more cohesive. Possibly something to try for next time.

Maple-Almond Squares

From Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. maple syrup
• 2 c. quick oats
• 1 c. whole almonds, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 23x33cm (9x13") baking pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper.
2. Melt the butter and mix in the brown sugar and maple syrup.
3. Stir in the oats and chopped almonds and mix well.
4. Dump the mixture into the prepared pan and pat it into an even layer.
5. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~30 minutes.
6. Let cool in pan on wire rack, then lift the bars out using the parchment paper.
7. Cut into squares and serve.

So, I was going to make some baked eggs in a vegetable stew for breakfast this morning, but it turned out that I only had half as many tomatoes as the recipe called for. I considered running out to the store to resupply, but, in the end, I asked TF to fridge the partially assembled stew and switched gears to make some more waffles for breakfast this morning. I figured the Kidlet would be delighted to have even more waffles this morning and it gave me a chance to try another recipe from the waffle cookbook. Plus, it gave me another day to procure the necessary ingredients.

I enjoyed these waffles, but I didn't find them significantly better than the previous basic waffles. And I found them a little more finnicky to make since they require beaten egg whites. That said, the Kidlet did say that she preferred these ones to the previous batch. However, she liked them both well enough that I don't think I'd generally pick this recipe over the basic one. Still, these waffles could be nice for a special occasion or if you have some extra buttermilk that you need to use up.

Buttermilk Waffles

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 250g all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 2 c. buttermilk
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Combine flour, sugar, and salt.
3. Sift in baking powder and baking soda.
4. Beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl or large measuring cup.
5. Beat the buttermilk into the egg yolks.
6. Gradually beat the butter into the buttermilk mixture.
7. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just combined.
8. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.¹
9. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
10. Pour an appropriate portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer directions, but leave the waffle in for an extra 20-30 seconds.
11. Serve immediately with whipped cream, maple syrup, fresh fruit, jam, and/or fruit compotes.

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¹ I overbeat my whites slightly, but the waffles still seemed to turn out okay. Although I think that it probably would've been a bit easier to mix if the whites hadn't been so stiff. ^Back

I decided at the last minute that I wanted to make an extra dish to share on Boxing Day. I debated between a few different possibilities, but ultimately settled on these very simple galettes. They were easy to make and used up the last few potatoes from the pantry. Plus, I already had a small package of smoked salmon in the fridge that I'd picked up on sale a few days ago. And it really doesn't need much beyond salmon and potatoes.

Potato Galettes with Smoked Salmon

From Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 russet potatoes (~350g)
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil, divided
• 90g smoked salmon, thinly sliced and cut into ~5cm squares
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives¹
• 2 Tbsp. sour cream (optional)

Directions

1. Peel and grate the potato.
2. Squeeze the potato, one handful at a time, in paper towels to remove as much of the moisture as possible.
3. Heat 1-2 tsp. of oil over medium-high heat.
4. Drop ~1 Tbsp. of grated potato into the pan and press it flat.
5. Make several more galettes, leaving enough space between them that they do not touch while cooking.
6. Cook until top is transluscent and underside is golden (3-4 minutes).
7. Flip and cook until the other side is well-browned (~3 minutes longer).
8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
9. Transfer to a plate and top each galette with a piece of salmon.
10. Garnish with chives.
11. Top each galette with a little sour cream (if desired).

¹ I didn't have any fresh chives handy, so I just used a few freeze-dried chives. Fresh definitely would have been preferred though. ^Back

This is a popular Chinese-American dish. It's tasty, but also kind of greasy because of the deep-frying; I find it benefits from pairing with some sort of starch, like toast, rice, or waffles.

Egg Fu Yung

The Good Egg by Marie Simmons (p. 55)

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 60mL cold water
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp toasted sesame oil
• a pinch of salt
• 240mL thinly sliced bok choi
• 60mL grated carrot
• 60mL thinly sliced scallions
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp grated ginger or ginger paste
• oil for frying

Directions

1. Whisk together eggs, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt.
2. Stir in bok choi, carrot, scallions, garlic, and ginger and mix well.
3. Heat 2cm of oil in a wok over medium heat. Test with a bread crust; when it browns, the oil is hot enough.
4. Add the egg mixture, 80mL (⅓ C) at a time, flattening each scoop out into a flat pancake.
5. When set, about 2 minutes, flip until lightly browned on the other side.
6. Remove to draining rack or paper towels and serve hot.

Merry Christmas!

Since we already had a lovely pancake brunch over at TM's house yesterday, I decided that waffles would make a nice treat for our Christmas morning breakfast. I have lots of waffle recipes already. And I'm sure I could have used one of those. But I've been enjoying churning through the recipes in the various cookbooks we have kicking around, so I decided to peruse those to look for a recipe that I hadn't tried yet.

It turns out that I have a whole waffle cookbook tucked away in the digital collection. Perfect!

I thought about trying to do one of the fancy, flavoured waffles for this. That would have been nice. But I also didn't want to get into doing something too involved, or using up all my time reading recipes and realizing that the morning was half gone before I'd even gotten started. Besides... the Kidlet is a purist; she loves a good, basic, plain waffle. So I figured I'd keep things simple and just cook the very first recipe in the book: just a basic, plain jane, standard reference waffle.

I'm actually quite pleased with how these turned out! I have, historically, not been a huge fan of the results of basic "quick" waffles: made from plain, chemically leavened batters. I find the outsides don't tend to crisp up well -- even in a good waffle iron set to the correct temperature -- and the insides don't tend to have as nice a texture. Yeast-leavened, overnight batters generally give better results in my experience. At least when it comes to plain, unflavoured waffles. Given that, I was not expecting great things from these waffles, but they actually did quite well! The interior was light and fluffy and the exterior was reasonably crisp. I would definitely make these again if I needed a quick waffle fix!

Basic Waffles

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 280g all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 2 c. milk
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt and sift in the baking powder. Mix well.
3. Beat the eggs with the milk, then beat in the melted butter.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.
5. Scoop one portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer's directions. Repeat until all batter has been used.
6. Serve each waffle as it comes out of the waffle iron. If not serving immediately, then place on a wire rack. Waffles may be kept warm in an oven preheated to 110°C (225°F).
7. Serve with your choice of butter, whipped cream, clotted cream, jam, fresh fruit, chocolate, maple syrup, and/or fruit compote(s).

I really like how this pudding came out! And it's fairly simple to put together as well. I appreciated that when I was trying to assemble it first thing this morning.

The original recipe called for Swiss chard (aka silverbeet), but suggested that kale and/or spinach are also perfectly acceptable alternatives. Since TF doesn't really care for chard, I opted to use black (Tuscan/Lacinato) kale instead. I also upped the quantity of sun-dried tomatoes slightly. And, since I couldn't find any fontina at the grocery store, I picked up some lactose-free mild gouda to use in its place.

Sun-Dried Tomato, Basil, and Kale Bread Pudding

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 8 thick slices of bread¹
• 2 c. milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. bacon grease or butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch kale, chopped
• 1/4 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 c. firmly packed fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• ~100g mild gouda, grated

Directions

1. Break/cut the bread into large-ish chunks (maybe 2-3cm to a side).
2. Beat the eggs into the milk and mix in the salt and pepper.
3. Pour the custard over the bread chunks and stir to thoroughly combine. Set aside to soak for at least 15 minutes, mixing and pressing bread down occasionally.
4. Grease a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish and preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
5. Melt grease/butter over medium heat.
6. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened (4-5 minutes).
7. Add the kale and cook until slightly wilted (~2 minutes).
8. Add the chicken stock and cook until liquid has been mostly absorbed (3-4 minutes).
9. Add kale mixture to bread mixture and stir to combine.
10. Mix in basil and sun-dried tomatoes.
11. Dump mixture into prepared baking dish and spread to make an even layer.
12. Sprinkle with cheese.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35-40 minutes.
14. Serve warm.

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¹ I used an assortment of stale bread chunks, heels, and crusts that had been saved in the freezer and just aimed for an amount that looked like it was approximately equivalent to 8 slices. In retrospect, I should have weighed it to make the results easier to reproduce, but I didn't think of that in time. ^Back

I ended up taking a few liberties with this recipe. The original was written for a 650g boneless leg of lamb roast and was meant to be cooked entirely under the broiler. I ended up adapting it for a 2kg bone-in leg of lamb cooked on the "convection roast" setting in my oven. I feel it worked quite well overall and I would absolutely do it this way again.

I'm usually not a huge fan of fennel¹, but between the seasonings, the roasting, and the pan sauce/gravy... this fennel was actually pretty good!

Since I didn't figure the lamb and roasted fennel and onions would be sufficient to be a dinner on their own, I opted to serve them alongside some polenta with sautéed mushrooms and greens. I feel like this rounded out the meal nicely. (Although I think an additional vegetable side wouldn't have gone amiss either.) It made for a nice meal and TF and I both really liked the combination.

Leg of Lamb with Roasted Fennel & Onions

Adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. orange zest
• 1/4 c. minced fresh thyme (or 2 Tbsp. dried thyme)
• 1/4 c. minced shallot
• 4 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
• 3 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground, divided
• 2 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground, divided
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 bone-in leg of lamb (~2kg)
• 1 large fennel bulb, cut into thin wedges
• 2 red onions, cut into thin wedges
• 1/3 c. dry vermouth
• 1/3 c. chicken stock
• 1-2 tsp. flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Use "convection roast" setting if available.
2. Combine orange zest, thyme, shallot, and fennel seeds and mix well. Separate ~1/4 of the shallot mixture and set aside.
3. To the remaining (larger portion) of shallot mixture, add 1 Tbsp. of the salt, 2 tsp. of the pepper, and 2 Tbsp. of the olive oil and mix well.
4. Coat the lamb with the oily shallot mixture.
5. Roast at 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes.
6. Reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and continue roasting for another 70-90 minutes (or until desired doneness is reached).
7. Meanwhile, toss the fennel and onion with the remaining 1 Tbsp. of olive oil.
8. Separate 1 Tbsp. of shallot mixture from the reserved portion and set aside.
9. Add the remaining shallot mixutre to the fennel and onions along with the remaining 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper and mix well.
10. Spread the veggies out on a parchment- or silicone-lined baking sheet.
11. When the lamb has ~20 minutes left, place the baking sheet with the veggies in the oven and roast until tender and beginning to brown. If the veggies are not quite browned enough by the time the lamb is ready to come out, move them to the uppermost position and turn on the broiler for 2-3 minutes.
12. Once the lamb is done, transfer it to a serving platter.
13. Pour any juices from the roasting dish into a small pot and skim off as much fat as possible.
14. Pour the vermouth into the empty roasting dish and scrape the bottom to deglaze. Add this mixture to the pot.
15. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until reduced slightly.
16. Add the reserved 1 Tbsp. of shallot mixture and stir to combine.
17. Whisk the flour into the chicken stock, pour into the pot, and continue cooking until slightly thickened.
18. Pass the pan sauce at the table to be drizzled over both the lamb and the roasted veggies.
19. Serve with roasted potatoes and/or polenta and additional vegetable sides if desired.

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¹ As a vegetable, I mean. I like fennel seeds as a seasoning. I'm just not crazy about fennel bulbs most of the time. ^Back

I was looking for a good side dish to go with our fennel-roasted leg of lamb the other day and decided that this polenta looked like a good fit. Ideally it would have been made with a mix of fresh mushrooms, but I didn't have any on hand and didn't want go out just for mushrooms, so I opted to use some mixed jarred mushrooms that I picked up a few weeks ago. I feel that this worked quite well, although I think I'd omit all the oil from the recipe next time (rather than just reducing it) since the preserved mushrooms clearly soaked up a lot of the oil they were packed in. Still... I'm happy with this approach overall and shelf stable mushrooms certainly make recipes like this more convenient to toss together on a whim!

This is another recipe that calls for Swiss chard as the preferred green. I had intended to use kale as an alternative, but, when it came time to actually make the polenta, we still have a few servings of spinach and beans left... So I opted to supplement those leftovers with some baby spinach and arugula that we had in the fridge and use that as the greens component of the recipe. I think this worked out pretty well! That said, I've chosen to write up the recipe closer to how it's presented in the book since I don't want the spinach and beans dish to be a requirement for making this. It just happened to be a convenience in this particular case.

Polenta with Wild Mushrooms, Spinach, and Cheddar

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 8 c. water
• 1/2 Tbsp. Better Than Bouillon (or equivalent)
• 1 1/2 c. cornmeal (polenta)
• 2 bunches Swiss chard (silverbeet) or kale, tough stems removed
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary¹
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2-4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 shallot, minced
• 450-500g wild mushrooms (chanterelles, morels, porcini, etc.), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 c. grated Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Combine water, Better Than Bouillon, and cornmeal in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until very thick (40-50 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, blanch the greens with the rosemary until the stems are tender (4-8 minutes depending on maturity of greens). Drain, chop, and set aside. If using baby or frozen greens, skip this step.
4. Heat the oil and 1 Tbsp. of the butter over medium heat.
5. Add the shallot and mushrooms and cook until softened (8-10 minutes). If using oil-packed mushrooms rather than fresh, omit the oil and butter and just drain the mushrooms and cook them and the shallots in any residual oil that clings to them.
6. Add the greens to the pan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until heated through.
7. Once the polenta has reached the desired consistency, stir in the salt and pepper, 1/4 c. of the cheese, and 1-3 Tbsp. of butter (depending on how rich you want it to be).
8. Transfer the polenta to a serving dish and spoon the mushrooms and greens onto it.
9. Top with the remaining 3/4 c. of cheese and serve.

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¹ Since I wasn't following the recipe for the greens portion of this dish, I just stirred a bit of dried rosemary into both the greens and the polenta. ^Back

I love jerk chicken. And I appreciate that this recipe has you making the marinade from scratch rather than going for a commercial mix out of a jar.

In theory this is meant to be made with whole chicken legs (ie. attached drumstick and thigh), but I found a package of thighs on sale for 40% off, so I just rolled with that instead. I don't really like drumsticks anyway, so an all-thigh approach suited me just fine!

The salsa was also meant to have some avocado in it, but I forgot to get one, so we just made our version with extra pineapple instead. I actually quite liked it that way, so I've listed the avocado as optional rather than required.

Other than that, I made the recipe basically to spec. The chicken took slightly longer than expected to cook, but that was probably because I was doing this on a small charcoal grill in -2°C weather. I still got excellent colour and flavour from the grill, but I think the temperature over the indirect heat area was just a bit lower than one might expect in warmer weather. It still produced delicious results though, so no complaints from me!

Jerk Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Chicken

• 4 green onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-3 habañero peppers¹, seeded
• 1/4 c. lime juice
• 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme (or 1/2 Tbsp. dried thyme)
• 2 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 12 chicken thighs

Salsa

• 1 pineapple
• 1 red onion, sliced thick
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 jalapeño
• 1/2 avocado, peeled and diced (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
• juice of 1 lime
• salt, to taste

Directions

1. Combine the green onions, garlic, habañero(s), lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, thyme, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a blender and purée.
2. Slather the mixture over the chicken, cover, and chill until ready to cook. This can be done up to a day in advance and, for preference, should allow at least 6-8 hours for the chicken to marinate.
3. Prepare your grill for direct, high heat cooking².
4. Toss the pineapple and onion and the oil, brush a little extra oil on the grill, and place the pineapple, oinon, and jalapeño over direct heat.
5. Cook, turning as needed, until the pineapple and onion are softened and have nice grill marks on both sides. Cook the jalapeño until it is blackened on all sides and softened all the way through. Remove from grill and set aside.
6. Place the chicken, skin-side-down, over direct heat.
7. Cook until outside is well seared (2-4 minutes per side).
8. Move chicken to indirect heat and continue grilling, turning occasionally, until chicken is cooked through (30-40 minutes).
9. Meanwhile, chop the pinapple and onion.
10. Once the jalapeño has cooled enough to handle, remove and discard the blackened skin. For a milder salsa, cut the chile open and remove and discard the seeds, then chop the flesh and add it to the bowl with the pineapple. For spicier salsa, leave the seeds in place and chop the whole chile and add it to the bowl.
11. Mix in the avocado (if using), mint, and lime juice.
12. Season with salt to taste. Set aside until chicken is done.
13. Once chicken is ready, remove from grill and serve with the pineapple salsa and a vegetable side of your choice.

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¹ I just used one habañero this time around as I was worried about making it too spicy, but I might use two next time. The marinade had a fair bit of kick when I tasted it, so I didn't add any more after the first, but it tasted significantly more mellow once combined with the chicken and cooked. I think this is something that you definitely have to feel out as you go though, since habañeros can vary a fair bit in how spicy they are from one pepper to the next. Just know that the heat won't be as intense in the final dish as it is when you're tasting the marinade straight, so adjust accordingly. ^Back
2 I lit two baskets of charcoal placed on opposite sides of the grill to create two direct, high heat areas at the sides with a lower temperature, indirect area in the middle. ^Back

I ordered some sweet potatoes in my produce basket a little while back and then didn't end up getting around to making whatever it was that I'd wanted them for. So, now I have a bunch of root vegetables sadly staring at me every time I go into the kitchen.

I managed to use up some in the chicken curry the other day. (Which also conveniently used up the chicken breasts I had stashed in the freezer.) But that still left.. four? I think. So, when I needed a vegetable side to go with tonight's dinner, I figured I should aim for something that would use up a few more sweet potatoes -- or... at least one more anyway.

I really liked this salad. The combination of greens, cheese, and nuts was excellent! The honey-glazed sweet potatoes were also nice, but the nuts and cheese were really the main attractions for me. And that was even with my decision to swap out the goat cheese for pressed cottage cheese!¹

Honey-Glazed Sweet Potato & Curried Pecan Salad

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Dressing

• 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2-3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. honey
• 1/4 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• 1/4 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt

Pecans

• 1 tsp. curry powder²
• 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 c. pecan halves

Sweet Potato

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into large dice
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. honey

Salad

• 80-90g baby spinach
• 80-90g arugula
• 185g pressed cottage cheese (or fresh goat cheese)

Directions

1. Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until mixture looks homogeneous. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking sheet with parchement paper.
3. Combine curry powder, brown sugar, and salt in a small bowl.
4. Pour melted butter over pecans and toss to coat.
5. Sprinkle curry powder mixture over pecans and toss to coat.
6. Place in a single layer on the prepared pan and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 minutes, flipping halfway through.
7. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
8. Toss the sweet potato with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.
9. Place the sweet potato in an ovenproof skillet/pan and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 15-20 minutes.
10. Once the potatoes are fork-tender, carefully remove the pan from the oven and transfer it to the stovetop.
11. Drizzle honey over sweet potatoes and cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
12. Toss spinach and arugula with dressing and top with pecans, sweet potato, and cheese.

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¹ Just trying to be a little more diet/WW-friendly. ^Back
2 The original recipe just called for "curry powder", so I did what I normally do when a recipe calls for commercial curry powder and just tossed in some Madras-style curry powder. This worked fine, but I think that a different spice blend would have been even better. I think balti masala would be my top pick, but sambhar masala and botle masala are also strong contenders. I think a basic bin bhuna hua garam masala would also be really nice. ^Back

We have a lot of eggs right now, so I've been continuing to work my way through various omelette recipes for breakfast. I liked the simplicity of this one. I think I just need to get better sour cream next time. I know it should really be made with "proper", 14% fat sour cream, but I've been trying to steer clear of that since I've started watching my weight. Hence, the last time I needed something with sour cream, I grabbed a tub of the (not quite) fat free (ie. 1%) stuff. It was... not great. So I've been working my way up the fat percentages. This time I managed to find some 3% fat sour cream. Unfortunately, having tried it, I don't think it's really worth getting. It's runny and disappointing. Next time I'll give the 5% a go and see if that's any better. And, in the meantime, I guess I get to try to figure out what to do with most of a tub of disappointment cream. Sigh...

On the bright side: I really liked the chutney with the eggs. And you could get a lot of variety in the results just by using different chutnies. I went with a relatively sweet South African chutney for this iteration and that worked very well.

Sour Cream and Chutney Omelette

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 2-3 eggs
• 1-2 Tbsp. milk
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp. bacon grease or butter
• 1/8 tsp. Italian seasoning (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. chutney
• 2 Tbsp. sour cream

Directions

1. Beat the eggs with the milk, salt, and pepper.
2. Melt the grease/butter over medium heat.
3. Pour in the eggs and reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Cook, covered, for ~4 minutes.
5. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning (if using).
6. Once eggs are mostly cooked, add chutney and sour cream. (If you want to be very sure of cooking the eggs all the way through, you can carefully flip the whole omelette over and cook for a minute or two, then flip it back again before adding the filling.)
7. Fold the omelette over and cook until heated through.
8. Transfer to a plate and serve.

I wanted an easy dessert to take over to TM's house the other day and decided to give this galette a try. It would ideally be made with fresh berries, but I decided to go for frozen mixed berries instead. I think this was fine, except that frozen berries tend to be very juicy and wet when they thaw out. And since I thawed them first and then assembled the pastry, the juice ran out all over the baking sheet. Next time I might try cooking them directly from frozen. Either that, or I'd attempt to drain off the juice before assembling. But I think just cooking them from frozen might be the way to go.

The original recipe calls for a combination of blueberries and blackberries. My frozen fruit medly was a combination of blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries, so I just rolled with that. I quite liked the strawberries in it!

I also swapped out the pastry recipe given in the book for a sourdough pastry that I'd made before. I felt like the bit of whole wheat and hint of sourdough tang would complement the berries nicely. And I am quite happy with how that swap worked out overall.

Instead of Turbinado sugar, I sprinkled the assembled galette with a bit of vanilla sugar. I think the slightly chunkier Turbinado would have been great, but it wasn't worth going out and buying a whole bag just for the tablespoon or so that I would've used here, so vanilla sugar did the job just fine.

The finished dessert looked a bit of a mess, but everyone seemed to like it and the Kidlet named it a "favourite", so I'll call it a success!

Photo goes here.

Mixed Berry Galette

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 recipe sourdough pastry
• 4 c. mixed berries
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp. flour
• 1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. water
• 2-3 tsp. Turbinado or vanilla sugar

Directions

1. Make pastry as directly, wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Roll pastry out to a thickness of ~3mm, trim edges so that it is roughly circular, and transfer to prepared baking sheet.
4. Combine berries, sugar, flour, and lemon juice and place in centre of pastry.
5. Fold edges over into loose pleats, leaving centre open.
6. Beat egg with water and brush the crust with egg mixture.
7. Sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.
8. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 20-25 minutes.
9. Serve with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.

Ideally this omelette would be made with Stilton, but Danish blue was on sale this week, so I just got myself a wedge of that instead. This was good, but I do feel like the cheese overpowered everything else. I would be curious to try it with a fruity white Stilton sometime. I think that would give it a very different character.

Bacon, Apple, and Blue Cheese Omelette

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. bacon grease or butter
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 4-6 eggs
• 2-4 Tbsp. milk
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/8 tsp. Italian seasoning (optional)
• 4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1/4 c. crumbled blue cheese

Directions

1. Melt bacon grease over medium heat.
2. Add apple and sugar and cook until tender (~3 minutes).
3. Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Beat eggs with milk, salt, and pepper and pour into pan.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 2-4 minutes.
6. Lift edges of egg and allow the raw egg to flow under. Continue cooking, covered, until eggs are mostly set.
7. Sprinkle Italian seaoning over eggs (if using).
8. Add bacon, apple, and blue cheese and fold omelette over filling. Continue cooking until egg is fully set and cheese is warmed through.
9. Cut in half and serve.

This curry is an interesting combination of Anglo-Indian and Thai flavours. I associate the mix of lemongrass, coconut milk, and fish sauce with Thai cuisine and would have expected them to be combined with a Thai curry paste. This recipe takes a different route by adding a large amount of Madras-style curry powder -- an Indian-inspired British spice blend -- instead. It made for a nice, if unusual, result.

I mostly followed the recipe here. My only slight deviation was to swap out the skinless, bone-in chicken thighs for skinless, boneless chicken breasts. I also sliced the breasts in half lengthwise in order to speed up cooking time. I'm pretty happy with the results this produced. The final curry was a bit soupy, but very nice when served over a bit of brown rice.

Chicken and Coconut Milk Curry

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1.25kg skinless boneless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 shallots, chopped
• 3 Tbsp. Madras-style curry powder
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 stalks lemongrass, cut into 2cm chunks (white part only)
• 3cm piece of fresh ginger, sliced
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1 (400mL) can coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into large dice
• 1 (~350g) sweet potato, peeled and cut into large dice
• 3 Tbsp. Thai basil, chiffonade

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add chicken and cook for ~4 minutes per side. (You may have to work in batches.)
3. Remove chicken and set aside, then add garlic and shallots and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add curry powder, sugar, pepper, lemongrass, and ginger and cook for 30-60 seconds.
5. Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, and fish sauce and bring to a boil.
6. Add carrots, sweet potato, and chicken and reduce heat to medium-low.
7. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until veggies are fork tender and chicken is cooked through.
8. Stir in basil and serve over rice.

We made a half batch of this on account of not having enough mushrooms, but it was delicious and I would be in favour of making it again with the normal amount (which I've written here) or even more, maybe with some of the nice mushrooms from the local mushroom farm.

Mushrooms with Garlic Butter and Pine Nuts

Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 500g assorted delicious mushrooms, stems trimmed
• 4 tbsp butter, softened
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp white wine
• ⅓ C pine nuts
• 2 tbsp chopped chives (fresh preferred, freeze-dried acceptable)

Directions

1. Cut the larger mushrooms into quarters so that all the mushrooms are roughly the same size.
2. Arrange mushrooms in a single layer on a baking sheet.
3. In a bowl, mix together the butter and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Pour or dollop the butter mixture over the mushrooms.
5. Bake at 450°F until they sizzle and brown, about 15 minutes.
6. Turn, sprinkle with pine nuts, and bake for another 8-10 minutes, until pine nuts are browned.
7. Remove from the oven, stir in chives, and serve.

I miscalculated and didn't end up getting quite enough zucchini for this recipe. Luckily we had a bottle gourd squash in the fridge, so we were able to chop that up and use it in combination with the zucchini to make the stew.

I was slightly dubious about adding eggs and cheese to this chunky vegetable and sausage stew, but it was delicious! The cheese really made it. Especially when served with some tostadas on the side. Although I think a nice, crusty bread would also work nicely.

I also went a little heavy on the sausage. The recipe only called for 225-340g, but I didn't want to be left trying to figure out what to do with the remaining sausages, so I just used the whole 450g package. And I would definitely do it that way again in the future. Very tasty!

I used hot Italian Beyond Meat sausages for the "meat" component of this dish. Thus, keeping it vegetarian and adding a little extra heat. (Not much, to be fair, but it was something.) I'd definitely recommend using spicy sausages if you can. If not, it might be worth adding an extra chile or two to make up the difference.

The author notes that you can use green or yellow zucchini for this stew or even a mixture of both. And I can now confirm that bottle gourd squash works well too. It might even be interesting to go the ratatouille route with it and use a mix of zucchini and eggplant.¹
That said, it's excellent as is. I don't think it needs a different mix of veggies. But it is nice to have the option to mix and match depending on what's available.

Baked Eggs in Ciambotta

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 450g hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 sweet onion, halved and sliced
• 1-2 serrano or jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (~800mL) can diced tomatoes
• 900g zucchini², quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1cm pieces
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 c. fresh basil, chopped
• 2-4 Tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (optional)
• 4-8 large eggs
• 1-2 c. grated fontina, mozzarella, or mild gouda
• crusty bread and/or tostadas, to serve

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-low heat.
2. Add the sausage, break up into smaller pieces, and cook, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink (~5 minutes).
3. Add the onion and cook until it softens (~5 minutes).
4. Add the pepper(s) and garlic and cook for another minute or two.
5. Add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil.³
6. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Add the zucchini, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender (~15 minutes).
8. Add the basil and parsley (if using).
9. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.
10. If the stew seems too thin, bring to a boil, and cook for another 5 minutes.
11. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
12. Make 4 divots in the mixture and crack an egg into each one.
13. Sprinkle with cheese.
14. Bake at 200°C (400°F) until the cheese is melted and the eggs are set (~15 minutes).
15. Scoop each egg into a bowl along with a bunch of the surrounding stew.
16. Serve with bread and/or tostadas.
17. Any leftover stew can be saved and reheated. Add more eggs and cheese as needed.

---

¹ As I started typing that eggplant suggestion, I got a bit curious and decided to look up some more info on ciambotta. Based on the quick search I did, it looks like ciambotta is closely related to ratatouille with some sites referring to it as "Italian ratatouille". There are lots of regional variations, but it looks like eggplant is a common inclusion. (As is potato in some places.) ^Back
2 Or a mix of zucchini, bottle gourd squash, potatoes, and/or eggplant. ^Back
3 I haven't tested this recipe with potatoes, but I think it would be best to add them at this point if you're going to use them. The acidity of the tomaotes will slow down the cooking, so I think they'd benefit from the extra 20 minutes of simmering. ^Back

I needed to make myself a bag lunch for the first time in a while last weekend. Normally I would have just taken some dinner leftovers, but we were fresh out, so I had to cobble something else together. We had lots of sliced luncheon meats, so I figured some sort of sandwich was the way to go. In the end, I took some inspiration from the Breakfast Bible and made myself a Cubano-esque sandwich for lunch.

Breakfast Cubano

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 slices bread
• 4 tsp. mustard
• 2 slices Swiss cheese
• ~40g sliced ham¹
• 1 Tbsp. butter²
• 1 large egg
• 2-3 slices dill pickle

Directions

1. Spread each slice of bread with ~2 tsp. of mustard.
2. Top each with a slice of cheese.
3. Put the meat on top of one of the slices.
4. Melt 1 tsp. of the butter over medium heat.
5. Crack the egg into the pan and fry to desired done-ness. Over easy is good if the sandwich will be eaten right away, but over hard is probably better for a packed lunch.
6. Place the egg on top of the ham/meat and top with the pickles.
7. Place the other slice of bread (cheese-side-down) on top of the pickles.
8. Spread the remaining butter on the outsides of the sandwich.
9. Transfer the sandwich to the pan and cook on medium-low heat until bread is brown and crisp on both sides and cheese is melted (~5 minutes per side).
10. Transfer to cutting board, cut in half, and serve.

---

¹ I swapped out the ham for chicken, but added a slice of salami just to get a nice variety of flavours. ^Back
2 I swapped out the butter for bacon grease, but either will work fine. ^Back

I decided to get out the wok and do something a little bit different for breakfast this morning. Simmons suggests making this with dried black fungus, dried enoki, and fresh spinach. I didn't have any dried enoki (golden needle mushrooms) or fresh spinach, so I did my version with dried shiitakes and frozen spinach. I also swapped out the pork tenderloin for some leftover cumin-roasted pork hock that we had in the fridge. We opted to serve our egg-y concoction on pitas with a bit of Laoganma (老干妈) and it was excellent!

Mu Shu Pork-Style Scrambled Eggs

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. dried black fungus
• 4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms (Chinese black mushrooms)
• 2 Tbsp. chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. + 1/2 tsp. light soy sauce, divided
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil, divided
• 1 Tbsp. minced ginger
• ~1/2 c. chopped cooked pork
• 300g frozen spinach, thawed
• Chinese pancakes, crêpes, or other flatbreads, to serve
• Laoganma (老干妈), to serve

Directions

1. Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover. Set aside to soak for at least 30 minutes.
2. Drain, trim, and slice mushrooms.
3. Combine chicken stock, 1 Tbsp. soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl and mix well.
4. Beat eggs with remaining 1/2 tsp. of soy sauce.
5. Heat wok over medium-high heat.
6. Drizzle in 1/2 Tbsp. of sesame oil and swirl to coat wok.
7. Pour in eggs and reduce heat to medium.
8. Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are just cooked. Transfer eggs to bowl and set aside.
9. Heat another 1/2 Tbsp. of oil over medium heat and add the ginger. Stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
10. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for a minute or two. Transfer to bowl with eggs.
11. Add remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of oil to the wok.
12. Add the pork and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
13. Pour in the stock mixture and toss to coat pork.
14. Add spinach and cook until excess moisture has evaporated (1-2 minutes).
15. Return the eggs and mushrooms to the wok and stir-fry for another minute or two.
16. Remove from heat.
17. Serve on flatbread of choice and top with Laoganma.

I saw the massive quantity of ginger called for in this recipe and knew I had to give it a try.

The results weren't super aesthetic, but it was pretty tasty. I think it might be a bit too gingery for my taste, but I think TF and the Kidlet will like it.

As for the aesthetics. I think the way it sank in the middle probably means that it had a bit too much leavener in it. I've amended the recipe to use 1/2 tsp. each of baking soda and baking powder rather than a full teaspoon of bicarb. I think I'd also recommend baking it in 20cm x 10cm (8x4") pans next time rather than the 9x5" (23cm x 13cm) ones called for in the original recipe. And, finally, I think I'd be a bit more aggressive with the mixing. I did my usual thing of only mixing it until just combined because I'm always a bit wary of overmixing. Especially in a recipe like this where it's only leavened with baking soda. I know that soda's going to start reacting with the buttermilk the second I combine the wet and dry ingredients and the more I mix it, the more bubbles I'll knock out. That said, I think the batter was probably slightly undermixed and that may have contributed to the way the cakes broke a bit when being turned out of the tins. So, hopefully just a touch more mixing next time will rectify that.

Photo goes here.

Dark Gingerbread

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 470g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. grated fresh ginger
• 1 large egg
• 1 c. molasses
• 1 c. buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour two 20cm x 10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
2. Sift baking soda and baking powder into flour.
3. Add salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, and allspice and mix to combine.
4. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy (~3 minutes).
5. Mix in the fresh ginger followed by the egg.
6. Add the molasses and mix for another minute or two.
7. Mix in ~1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by half the buttermilk.
8. Mix in half of the remaining dry ingredients followed by the remaining buttermilk.
9. Add the remaining dry ingredeints and mix until well-combined.
10. Divide the batter between the prepared tins.
11. Smooth the top and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45-55 minutes.
12. Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Pavlova has become my go-to for using up excess egg whites. So when I ran across this recipe in the Dessert of the Day cookbook, it was an easy choice.

I opted to make one large pavolva rather than several smaller ones and I added a little plain Greek yogurt to balance out the sweetness of the meringue and cherries. But other than that, I followed the recipe as written.

It was nice as is, but I think I would have actually preferred it with the cardamom and lime mixed into the meringue rather than combined with the cherries. I honestly might leave the syrup out altogether next time and just top the pav with some thawed frozen cherries and maybe a little icing sugar. Honestly, thinking about it more, I think it would be interesting to try topping it with different fruit as well. Don't get me wrong, I love cherries, but I'm not sure they're the best complement to the cardamom. I'd be tempted to try it with some canned mandarins instead. So, uh... here's the recipe for the cardamom-cherry pavlova and then I guess I'll write up my ideas for a cardamom-mandarin pavlova below that.

Cardamom-Cherry Pavlova

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Meringue

• 4 large egg whites
• 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)

Toppings

• 20 green cardamom pods, lightly smashed
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. water
• 450g cherries, pitted and halved
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. icing sugar
• 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy.
3. Beat in the sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time.
4. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
5. Sift the cornstarch over the meringue and mix it in.
6. Scoop the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet and form into a wide disc with a depression in the middle.
7. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 5 minutes.
8. Reduce temperature to 120°C (250°F) and bake for another hour.
9. Turn off oven and allow meringue to stand in oven overnight.
10. Meanwhile, combine the cardamom pods, sugar, and water and bring to a boil.
11. Reduce heat and simmer for ~5 minutes.
12. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
13. Combine syrup, cherries, lime juice, and lime zest. Set aside.
14. Beat whipping cream with vanilla extract and icing sugar until stiffened.
15. Top meringue with yogurt followed by whipped cream and cherries.
16. Serve immediately!

---

Variations

Spiced Orange Pavlova

Ingredients

Meringue

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 tsp. lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. lime zest
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods), ground
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)

Toppings

• 1 (540mL) can mandarin oranges
• 1 whole clove
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. icing sugar
• 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Beat egg whites with lime juice until foamy.
3. Mix in lime zest, cardamom, and vanilla.
4. Beat in sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time.
5. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
6. Sift cornstarch over the meringue and mix in.
7. Scoop onto prepared baking sheet and form into a disc with a depression in the middle.
8. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 5 minutes.
9. Reduce heat to 120°C (250°F) and bake for another hour.
10. Turn off oven and allow to cool in the oven overnight.
11. Meanwhile, simmer the oranges with the clove for a few minutes. Add a little extra sugar if you feel they need it.
12. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
13. Beat the cream with the vanilla and icing sugar until stiff.
14. Top the meringue with the yogurt, followed by the whipped cream and oranges.
15. Serve immediately.

Muttaikose Pattani

I made this as a side dish the other day, a role in which it excels. It's not hard to make, very tasty, and good way to use up that extra quarter cabbage in the cold room.

I know we'd made this recipe before, but it wasn't checked off and I couldn't find the writeup on the blog, so here we are!

Muttaikose Pattani (Cabbage and Peas with Roasted Mustard Seeds and Lentils

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer (pp. 471-472)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 500-750g cabbage, cut into 1cm cubes
• ¼ C chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp Sambhar masala
• 2 tsp salt
• 10-12 large curry leaves
• 2 C frozen green peas

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until popped, ~30 seconds.
3. Add the lentils and stir-fry until golden brown, ~15 seconds.
4. Add the cabbage, cilantro, masala, salt, and curry leaves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is well-covered with the spices, 2-4 minutes.
5. Cover the pan and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10-15 minutes.
6. Stir in the peas and continue cooking, covered, until they are warmed through and tender, 5-10 minutes. Serve.

This Hello Fresh dish was a big hit with everyone, especially with Alex, who actually ate all of the rice as well as the rest of the dish -- almost unheard of.

Turkey Bulgogi Bowls with Buttery Rice

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 1½ C basmati rice
• 2 tbsp gochuang
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 500g turkey
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced, whites and greens separate
• 125g carrot, julienned
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• ⅔ C water
• 250g corn kernels
• 60g baby spinach
• 2 tbsp butter

Directions

1. Cook rice in instant pot using standard procedures.
2. Whisk together gochujang and mayo in a small bowl.
3. Heat sesame oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
4. Add turkey and cook, breaking up, until fully cooked, 4-5 minutes.
5. Add onion whites, carrots, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots begin to soften, 2-3 minutes.
6. Add soy sauce, sugar, water, and spinach. Continue cooking until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
7. Season with black pepper to taste.
8. Once the rice is finished, stir in the onion greens, corn, and butter. Stir over keep-warm until the rice is well buttered and the corn is heated through.
9. Serve rice topped with turkey mixture and gochujang mayo.

I was a little disappointed in this cake. It wasn't bad, it was just a little dry and lacking in flavour. On the bright side, it rose beautifully! And it used up the last little bit of lemon juice I had saved in the fridge. So that was helpful.

I'm too tired to figure out how to convert all the thoughts in my head into a nicely written blog post, so I'm just going to drop some note in here as a reminder to future me and not worry too much about making it super articulate.

• Batter seemed too stiff/dry, so added extra egg
• Added extra 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice (just to use it up)
• Baked in 8x4" loaf tin; maybe needed larger tin due to extra egg?
• Baked in upper oven, but forgot to move rack down; rose into broiler element
• Still underbaked at 40 minutes; needed 60 to test done, but then dry (and crust too thick)

Next time try baking in 8.5x4.5" tin and make sure to move rack down before preheating oven. Try using even more lemon juice and zest to boost flavour a bit more?

Madeira Cake

Slightly adapted from Edmond's Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 4 large eggs
• 2 c. soft (plain/stardard/cake) four
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. caster sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 22cm x 11cm (8.5x4.5") loaf tin.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy (~3 minutes).
3. Add the lemon zest and salt.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Sift in the flour and the baking powder and mix until combined.
6. Mix in the lemon juice.
7. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
8. Sprinkle with caster sugar.
9. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40 minutes.
10. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

This is a very simple dish. Basically just fried eggs on toast. But the extra little finishing touches -- a dash of chile flakes and a drizzle of red wine vinegar -- really elevate it. Oh, and liberal use of garlic doesn't hurt either!

I will note, that the cooking process didn't seem to work out quite the way the recipe seemed to expect for me. The instructions say to add all of the olive oil to the pan, fry the bread in it, then remove the bread and fry the eggs in it (spooning the oil over the yolks to help cook them), then removing the eggs and frying the garlic in it. And I was looking at the recipe and thinking, "The bread is just going to soak up all the olive oil as soon as I add it to the pan and there's not going to be any left to cook the rest of the stuff in!" I decided to give it a go anyway, but the bread did, in fact, soak up most of the olive oil immediately, just as I suspected it would. I was careful in flipping the bread over, to avoid the small remaining puddle of olive oil, so I did end up having a tiny bit left in which to cook the eggs. But the pan was completely dry by the time the eggs came out! I managed to srape a few drops out of the measuring spoon that I'd used to quantify the oil in the first place and added that to the pan along with the garlic just so it would have something to cook in. But there definitely wasn't any "garlic oil" to drizzle over the eggs at the end. So, I guess I need either more oil or less absorbent bread? Absent either of those conditions, I might try dividing the oil next time and holding some in reserve for cooking the garlic and eggs. Maybe 1 Tbsp. in at the beginning, 1 tsp. when the bread is flipped, 1 tsp. when the eggs are added, and 1 tsp. with the garlic? I might be something to try anyway, just to see how it works.

Eggs and Sourdough Bread Fried in Olive Oil

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 2 slices sourdough bread
• 1 clove garlic, cut in half
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• ~1/16 tsp. chile flakes
• 1/4 tsp. red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Rub both sides of both slices of bread with the cut sides of the garlic.
2. Mince the garlic and set aside.
3. Heat the oil over medium heat.
4. Add the bread and fry until crisp (2-3 minutes per side).
5. Transfer to plate and set aside.
6. Crack eggs into pan, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, for 3-4 minutes.
7. Top each fried bread slice with an egg.
8. Add the garlic to the pan (along with a tiny bit more oil if it is dry) and fry for 30-60 seconds.
9. Top the eggs with the fried garlic, chile flakes, and vinegar and serve.

Badam Zarda Gosht (Lamb in Almond Sauce)

Local lamb was on sale last week, so I picked up a small package of stewing lamb. There were a lot of tempting options for what to do with it, but, in the end, I settled on this simple curry that simmers the lamb in an almond-saffron sauce. I appreciate that it requires no marinade and is easy to put together with pantry staples once you have the lamb.

Badam Zarda Gosht

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 3 cinnamon sticks (each ~7cm long)
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 black cardamom pods
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 680g stewing lamb¹ (or similar)
• 1 c. slivered almonds
• 1 1/2 c. water, divided
• 1/4 tsp. lightly crushed saffron threads
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Melt the ghee over medium-high heat.
2. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and cardamom pods and cook until they sizzle and the cardamom and cinnamon swell a bit (~1 minute).
3. Add the onion, reduce heat to medium, and stir-fry until onion is well-browned (~10 minutes).
4. Add the lamb and cook, stirring occasionally, until it browns (15-20 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, add 1/2 c. of water to a blender jar along with the almonds and purée.
6. Once the lamb is nicely browned, add the almond paste to the pan.
7. Add the remaining water to the blender, swish it out, and add this to the pan as well.
8. Stir in the saffron and the salt.
9. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lamb is tender (25-30 minutes).
10. Stir in the cilantro and serve with rice and/or your favourite flatbread.

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¹ Whoops! I only just realized that I completely misread this line of the recipe when cooking it and made it with only 450g of lamb. No wonder there was so much sauce! Oh well... too late now. It was still delicious. Just not quite as substantial as it should've been. ^Back

I didn't find that this pepper-ful scramble looked very appetizing, but it was actually quite tasty.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe. Nothing drastic, just small things to make it a bit more convenient and/or healthy. I halved the fat, using just 2 Tbsp. instead of 4. I also used a mix of red, orange, and yellow peppers rather than the two green and one red that the recipe called for. I swapped out the ham for smoked tofu. And I ended up using ~800mL of canned diced tomatoes rather than the 700-ish mL of fresh tomatoes called for in the original. I'm sure that all these changes weren't ideal, but, as I said, I was trying to work with what I had on hand.

Scrambled Eggs Piperade

Adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. bacon fat
• 4 onions, halved and sliced
• 3 bell peppers, cored and sliced
• 1 large (~800mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c. diced smoked tofu (or ham)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 8 large eggs
• toast, roasted potatoes, and/or hash browns

Directions

1. Melt the bacon fat over medium-low heat.
2. Add the onions and bell peppers and cook until very tender (~10 minutes).
3. Add the tomatoes and garlic, increase heat to medium, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated (10-15 minutes).
4. Add the tofu (or ham), salt, and pepper.
5. Beat the eggs and pour them into the pan with the veggies.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring gently, until eggs are set (~5 minutes).
7. Serve with toast and/or potatoes.

This is a very simple recipe, but the use of Parmesan cubes rather than grated Parmesan makes a big difference.

Scrambled Eggs with Parmesan and Rosemary

From The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. unsalted butter
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 c. cubed Parmesan (~5mm cubes)
• 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary¹
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• buttered toast, to serve

Directions

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Beat the eggs with the cheese and pour into hot pan.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring gently, until eggs are just set.
4. Mix in rosemary and pepper and serve with buttered toast.

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¹ I didn't have any fresh rosemary, so I used 1/4 tsp. of dried. But fresh would have been much better. ^Back

Mutter, Methi, aur Palak ki Subzi (Green Pea, Fenugreek, and Spinach Curry)

I enjoyed the green on green on green on green aspect of this curry. I think, flavour-wise, there are other spinach curries that I like better (like the recent cabbage and green pea curry that TF made, for example), but all-in-all, this one was pretty good. And it let me try something new.

Mutter, Methi, aur Palak ki Subzi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 slices ginger (~4cm x 2.5cm x 3mm), minced
• 450g fresh or frozen spinach, chopped
• 1 c. chopped fresh or frozen fenugreek leaves
• 4-6 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chiles, chopped
• 2 c. water
• 2 c. frozen green peas
• 1 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. half-and-half¹

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the cumin and sizzle for ~15 seconds.
3. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry until they've browned slightly (2-3 minutes).
4. Add the spinach, fenugreek, and chilies.
5. Cover the pan and cook until the greens have wilted (~5 minutes).
6. Add the water and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened (12-15 minutes).
8. Add the peas, cilantro, and salt, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until peas are thawed and heated through (~5 minutes).
9. Stir in the cream and simmer, uncovered, until warmed through (~5 minutes).
10. Serve with rice and/or flatbread along with at least one or two other curries.

¹ Iyer calls for heavy (35%) cream here, but also notes that you can omit it entirely and simply purée some of the greens instead². I decided to split the difference and use a 50:50 mix of milk and heavy cream. I find half-and-half (either commercially produced or made on the spot by mixing milk and cream) is usually an acceptable substitute for cream in most curries, so I make this swap whenever I can. ^Back
2 Use this method if you'd like to make the dish vegan. Alternatively, I think a little oat or coconut milk would work well too. ^Back

I liked this as a quick and simple dessert idea. Unadulterated canteloupe already makes a great dessert (as long as it's perfectly ripe), but sometimes it's nice to try a variation on the theme. This doesn't take too much extra time or effort and still lets the canteloupe shine through. It can also help give your melon a little boost if it happens to be slightly under-ripe.

I definitely wouldn't bother with this all the time. But it makes for a nice, shake-it-up, once-in-a-while thing. And it also makes a nice way to make a simple fresh fruit offering seem a little more special when serving guests.

Cantaloupe in Spiced Syrup

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. water
• 3cm fresh ginger, sliced
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 cantaloupe

Directions

1. Combine the sugar, water, ginger, star anise, and lemon zest and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in lemon juice and cook for another minute or so.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
5. Meanwhile, peel, seed, and cube the cantaloupe.
6. Toss the melon pieces with the syrup and serve.