This was an interesting combo. It essentially incorporates the toast as a topping for the eggs rather than a substrate. It works pretty well. Although I think I preferred the kielbasa and arugula scrambled eggs overall. Still, it was a fun experiment.

Scrambled Eggs with Dill, Cream Cheese, and Croutons

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. butter or bacon grease, divided
• 3/4 c. cubed stale bread
• 8 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 125g cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill

Directions

1. Melt 1 Tbsp. of the fat over medium heat.
2. Add the bread and cook, stirring every minute or two, until nicely crisp. Transfer to plate and set aside.
3. Beat eggs with milk, salt, and pepper.
4. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. of fat to pan and reduce heat to medium-low.
5. Pour in eggs and cook until bottom beings to set (~3 minutes).
6. Add cream cheese and dill and stir it in.
7. Continue cooking until eggs are fully set.
8. Top with croutons and serve.

Another one of symbol's savoury cottage cheese bowls! This one used salmon that they got for me which I then forgot to eat. symbol attests that it was tasty, but not as good as the chicken and olive version.

Smoked Salmon Cottage Cheese Bowl

Ingredients

• ½ C cottage cheese
• ¼ C diced cucumber
• 3 Tbsp diced tomato
• 2 slices smoked salmon, chopped
• 1 Tbsp capers
• 1 Tbsp chopped chives or green onions
• 1 tsp chopped fresh dill (or ½ tsp dried)
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• ½ tsp dried garlic
• ½ tsp dried onion
• ½ tsp poppyseeds (optional)
• ½ tsp furikake (optional)
• ¼ tsp black pepper, ground

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients, in listed order, in a bowl.
2. Eat.

We don't have shrimp very often anymore since the Kidlet started having bad reactions to shellfish. But, I picked up some small shrimp on sale and decided to give this a go as a brunch thing for me and TF.

I really like this salad! It's a great combo of flavours, satisfying, and easy to make. I do think it would be nice with a few capers added, but it's really good as-is.

I didn't have any fresh dill, so I just used dry instead. It's not quite as aromatic and vibrant as fresh would have been, but it was still tasty and much more convenient this way. I also ended up using a mix of peas and corn since I was a bit short on peas. I think both work well in this salad. And, while I did use the sweet onion as prescribed by the recipe, I think that green onions would make a decent substitute if you don't happen to have any sweet onions on hand. Oh, and I also added an extra egg just because I thought the proportions looked better that way. I might even consider adding a sixth egg next time.

For a somewhat lighter option, I think that you could probably get away with swapping out up to half the mayo with plain Greek yogurt. Especially if you added a bit of extra salt and/or capers.

Shrimp, Potato, and Egg Salad

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 450g small potatoes
• 340g cooked and peeled tiny shrimp (150-200/lb. size)
• 1 c. frozen green peas
• 1/2 c. frozen corn (optional)
• 5-6 hard-boiled eggs¹
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise
• 2-4 Tbsp. minced sweet onion
• 2 Tbsp. minced fresh dill (or 1 Tbsp. dried)
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. capers (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt²
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• cherry tomatoes (optional)
• lettuce (optional)

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes until fork-tender (~20 minutes).
2. Place shrimp, peas, and corn (if using) in a colander in the sink and drain the potatoes into the colander. (The hot water will thaw the shrimp and veggies.)
3. Peel and dice the potatoes and the eggs.
4. Combine the potatoes, eggs, shrimp, peas, corn (if using), mayo, onion, dill, lemon juice, capers (if using), salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
5. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
6. Serve as is or on a bed of lettuce with cherry tomatoes.

---

¹ I actually just dropped the eggs into the pot with the potatoes to cook. I took them out after 12 minutes and let them sit in a bowl of cold water to cool down while the potatoes finished cooking. ^Back
2 Reduce or omit salt if using capers. ^Back

This is the last of the Wholefully pumpkin seed recipes! Tasty, but I think it needed more dill.

Dill Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Wholefully

Ingredients

• ½ C pumpkin seeds, cleaned
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp dry dill, or 1 tsp dill seeds, ground
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Toss all ingredients together.
2. Bake at 300°F for 30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy, stirring every 10.

I had originally planned on trying out a celery salad recipe from "The Cookbook" this week, but I didn't quite get around to it and ended up giving this celery and herb salad a go instead. Sadly none of us really liked it. Now, to be fair, I did deviate from the recipe a bit. This was partly because I couldn't find all the ingredients and partially because I got mixed up about what we had on hand and a little bit because I was trying to make it a bit healthier and I know that I normally find most vinaigrettes too oily anyway. But perhaps if I'd been able to follow the recipe more closely it would have come out better.

I've chosen to relay the original reicpe below, not my franken-version. I've included notes detailing what changes I made so that you'll know what NOT to do. Good luck!

Celery and Herb Salad

From Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Vinaigrette

• 1 shallot¹, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard²
• juice of 1 lemon
• 4 olive-oil packed anchovy fillets³
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt⁴
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. olive oil⁵

Salad

• 1 head of celery⁶, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 bunch of radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh tarragon⁷
• 2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh dill⁸
• 4 large eggs, hard-boiled
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine the shallot, mustard, lemon juice, anchovies, salt, and pepper in a blender.
2. Blend until smooth and then, with the blender running, gradually add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Set aside.
3. Combine the celery, radishes, parsley, tarragon, and dill in a large bowl.
4. Add ~1/2 the dressing and toss to coat.
5. Peel and quarter the eggs and add them to the salad.
6. Drizzle with a little more dressing.
7. Serve, seasoning to taste with salt, pepper, and additional dressing.

---

¹ I used 1/2 of a small red onion instead. I usually find this to be an acceptable substitute for shallots, but it now occurrs to me that I probably should've tossed a clove of garlic in as well. ^1
2 I used home-made Roman mustard as I generally use to two interchangeably and don't bother keeping store-bought mustard on hand anymore. (Unless I want a bit of yellow mustard for hotdogs or something.) ^Back
3 I used 4 whole anchovies packed in olive oil and chile flakes. Again, I've never had any issues with making this substitution and I find that the whole anchovies generally break down much better than the anchovy fillets. (Plus they're much cheaper!) ^Back
4 I think I may have forgotten to add the salt. I don't think the salad tasted particularly under-seasoned, but perhaps a bit of extra saltiness would have helped the overall flavour, I don't know. ^Back
5 I only used 1/4 c. of oil to make my dressing. That said, TF and I both tasted it after mixing and thought that it tasted fine and didn't need the rest of the oil. I know that this will have resulted in a smaller overall amount of vinaigrette, but there still seemed to be plenty enough to dress the salad. So, if neither the flavour nor quantity of dressing was an issue, then I don't really think reducing the quantity of oil was a problem. ^Back
6 I think the celery is actually probably the most likely culprit for the less-than-optimal results. I used an heirloom "leafy" celery variety. It was lovely, but the flavour was definitely a lot stronger than your bog standard celery. I'm used to celery tasting more-or-less like crunchy water. It has a lot of texture, but not much flavour of its own. That was definitely not the case for this celery! It actually tasted distinctly celery-y (like celery seed, but in the actual vegetable). This is great for things like soups and stir-fries, but maybe the flavour was a bit too much to blend harmoniously with the other salad components in this recipe. If I try it again, I'll make sure to use a blander variety of celery. ^Back
7 Sadly, I wasn't able to get any tarragon this week, so I just had to leave it out. I'm sure that won't have helped the final results. ^Back
8 Our old dill plant isn't doing so hot right now and the new one is still too small to harvest much from, so I could only get ~1 Tbsp. of fresh dill. I tried adding a little bit of ground dill seed (a scant tsp.) to compensate, but this doesn't work as well in salads as it does in soups and stews. That and the missing tarragon probably didn't do any favours for the success of this salad. ^Back

This is another Hello Fresh recipe. I haven't been writing most of these up, but we all really liked this one and Alex, in particular, was highly enamored of it. And it's quite easy to make, too!

Garlic Chicken Salad

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 600g chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1 tbsp oil
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• a bunch of fresh dill, chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1.5 tsp garlic salt
• 250g baby spinach
• 250g mini cucumber (or whole cucumber halved lengthwise), cut into 5mm rounds
• 2 gala or fuji apples, cored and cut into 5mm slices

Directions

1. Season chicken all over with garlic salt and black pepper.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add chicken and cook until cooked through and golden brown.
4. Whisk together mayo, vinegar, dill, and sugar in a large bowl. Season with pepper to taste.
5. Toss spinach, cucumber, and apples with dressing.
6. Serve topped with chicken.

Ideally this omelette would be made with fresh spinach and tomatoes, but I had an open can of diced tomatoes that needed to be used up, so I went with that plus some frozen spinach. I probably went a bit heavy on the spinach -- there was too much filling for the omelette to properly roll up around it -- but it was delicious. And having a bit of extra spinach is probably better nutritionally anyway!

Feta, Spinach, and Tomato Omelette

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 c. diced tomato
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 3/4 c. lightly packed torn fresh spinach leaves (or 1/4-1/2 c. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed/drained)
• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh dill
• 2-3 Tbsp. crumbled feta
• 3 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. water
• black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat half of the olive oil over medium-low heat.
2. Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and half of the salt and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the spinach and cook until heated through (2-3 minutes).
5. Remove from pan and set aside.
6. Add remaining oil to pan and warm over medium heat.
7. While the oil is heating up, beat the eggs with the water, remaining salt, and pepper to taste.
8. Once the pan is hot, pour in the egg mixture and reduce heat to medium-low.
9. Cook until the edges are just set (~30 seconds) and then pull the cooked edges into the centre and let the raw egg flow out to the sides.
10. Cook, covered, until eggs are almost completely set and just slightly wet on top.
11. Add filling to the omelette, covering the third closest to the handle.
12. Sprinkle with feta and dill.
13. Now fold the third nearest the handle (where the filling is) over the middle third.
14. Tilt the pan and roll the omelette out onto a plate.

This is a convenient way to prepare asparagus, especially if the stovetop is occupied by other cooking. We usually cook a half batch, which is what I've written up here.

Foil-Baked Asparagus

Cook's Country April/May 2020, p.12, by Morgan Bolling

Ingredients

• 500g fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 2 tbsp butter, diced
• 1 shallot (or a small onion), minced
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ½ tbsp capers
• ½ tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• ½ tsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Arrange the asparagus in the center of a sheet of tinfoil.
2. Top with butter, shallot, garlic, salt, and pepper.
3. Fold foil over and crimp shut. (Depending on the breadth of your tinfoil, you may need to use a separate piece for this.)
4. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 18 minutes.
5. Remove sheet from oven and let stand 5 minutes to continue baking.
6. Cut open top of packet to release steam. Extract asparagus and gently toss with capers, dill, and lemon.

This is another one of Iyer's fusion recipes. The tortellini get stired into a mushroom-y sauce of sour cream that's been seasoned with chilies, garlic, garam masala, and dill. I was a bit short on sour cream, so I also mixed in a bit of plain Greek yogurt to stretch the sauce a bit. I don't think I'd want to do it as an all-yogurt sauce, but the mix worked well.

Tortellini with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 450g cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-4 dried red Thai, arbol, or cayenne chilies, gently pounded
• 400g light (3-5%) sour cream
• 1/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. Kashmiri garam masala
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh dill
• 425g cheese tortellini

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and chilies and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms release their liquid and start to brown (12-15 minutes).
3. Add the sour cream and yogurt and reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Add the salt and garam masala, cover pan, and cook, stirring occasionally for another 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the tortellini according to package directions.
6. When the sauce is done simmering, stir in the dill and remove from heat.
7. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.

I haven't made very many curries out of the "contemporary" chapter of 660 Curries. Usually I find something I like in one of the earlier chapters and never make it that far. But I decided to start leafing through from the back the other day and spotted this pasta. The mention of dill in the title caught my eye since we still have a bunch to use up.

I actually doubled the dill and halved the oil called for and I think that worked out quite well! And the fact that I'd just happened to pick up a package of dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes a couple of days ago was extra-serindipitous.

Pasta with Cashew-Dill Cream Sauce

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 225g short pasta (penne, rotini, cavitapi, etc.)
• 1/2 c. dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 c. raw cashews
• 3-5 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 c. half-and-half (or whole milk for the calorie-conscious)
• 6-7 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 c. firmly packed fresh spinach
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh dill

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the pasta.
2. Boil pasta until al dente, reserve 1 c. of the cooking water, and drain the rest.
3. Rinse the pasta with cold water and set aside.
4. Pour the reserved pasta cooking water over the tomatoes and set aside for 15 minutes.
5. Once the tomatoes have softened, slice them thin and set aside.
6. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
7. Add the cashews and chilies and stir-fry until nuts are nicely browned and chilies have blackened.
8. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to blender.
9. Pour 1/2 c. of the half-and-half (or milk) into the blender and purée until smooth.
10. Return oil to heat, add the garlic, and cook until lightly browned.
11. Add a handful of spinach and cook until wilted. Continue adding spinach a handful at a time until all spinach has been added.
12. Add the contents of the blender to the pan.
13. Pour the remaining 1/2 c. of half-and-half¹ into the blender and swish it around to clean it out. Pour this into the pan as well.
14. Add the pasta, sundried tomatoes, salt, and dill and cook until warmed through (3-5 minutes).

---

Variations

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 225g short pasta (penne, rotini, cavitapi, etc.)
• 1/2 c. dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 c. raw cashews
• 3-5 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 6-7 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 c. firmly packed fresh spinach
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh dill

---

¹ I think it might be interesting to try replacing the second 1/2 c. of cream with 1/2 c. of the reserved pasta water instead. (The same water that was used for soaking the tomatoes in.) It should have some good thickening power, will be nicely flavoured from the tomatoes, and will be lower fat than the cream. ^Back

Palak Suva (Spinach with Dill)

I've never seen dill used as a vegetable before. I'm used to it being treated as an herb. You add a teaspoon or two to your dish -- maybe a tablespoon if you really want to make sure its presence is felt -- and it adds some nice flavour to the dish. Perfect. Great. I love dill.

But this recipe takes it to a whole new level! I whole cup of fresh dill goes into this incredible curry! There's honestly not much else in it: lots of spinach, lots of dill, hardly anything else. And yet it's so good! I would definitely make this one again.

Palak Suva

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• ~1100g fresh spinach (or ~700g frozen)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground Deggi chilies¹
• 1/2 tsp. Kashmiri garam masala
• 1 c. chopped fresh dill

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add cumin and sizzle for ~10 seconds.
3. Add the spinach a handfull at a time until it's all been added to the pan and wilted.
4. Add salt, chilies, and garam masala.
5. Continue cooking until the spinach leaves being to bread down (~10 minutes).
6. Stir in dill and serve.

---

¹ Or 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne + 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika. ^Back

Five Breakfast Scrambles

This is one of the Cook's Country multiple-variations-on-the-same-recipe deal. We only cooked one variant, the spinach and feta scramble, but it was quite tasty.

Spinach and Feta Scramble

Cook's Country October/November 2015, by Cecelia Jenkins (p.29)

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs
• ⅛ tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 C chopped baby spinach
• ¼ C crumbled feta

Directions

1. Whisk together eggs, salt, and pepper until uniformly yellow.
2. Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add spinach and cook until wilted (or thawed, if using frozen spinach).
4. Add eggs and cook, constantly scraping and turning with spatula until eggs begin to clump.
5. Reduce heat to low and gently fold eggs until clumped and slightly wet, 30-60 seconds.

---

Variations

Cheddar and Jalapeño Scramble

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• ¼ C grated cheddar
• 1 green onion, minced
• 1 tbsp pickled jalapeños, minced

Ham and Gruyère Scramble

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• ½ C chopped ham
• ¼ C grated gruyère

Havarti and Dill Scramble

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• ½ C grated havarti
• ½ tbsp minced dill

Smoked Trout and Chive Scramble

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• ½ C flaked smoked trout
• 1 tbsp minced chives

Sweet Potato Fritters

The stated goal here was to create "a delicious mash-up of mashed sweet potatoes and sweet potato fries" and I think they did a really nice job of that. The outside was crispy, the inside was creamy and cheesey. Very nice overall. Not super healthy, but nice as an occasional treat.

Swee Potato Fritters with Cheddar and Chipotle

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country February/March 2021

Ingredients

• 680g sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 5-6mm thick
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3/4 c. grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 4 green onions, minced
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbsp. minced chipotles in adobo
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. oil, for frying
• sour cream, to serve
• lime wedges, to serve

Directions

1. Combine potatoes, water, and salt.
2. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until tender (~20 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and mash. Set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes or hold in fridge for up to 2 days.
4. Stir in cheese, flour, eggs, green onions, cilantro, chipotle, cumin, and pepper.
5. Heat oil over medium heat (aim for 180°C/350°F).
6. Scoop ~1/4 c. portions of potato mixture into the pan and press into flat patties with the back of a spoon.
7. Cook fritters 2-3 minutes per side. Be very careful when flipping; they are delicate!
8. Transfer to a wire rack to drain.
9. Repeat with remaining potato mixture.
10. Serve with sour cream and lime wedges.

---

Variations

Sweet Potato Fritters with Feta and Dill

Ingredients

• 680g sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 5-6mm thick
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 4 green onions, minced
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh dill
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. oil, for frying
• sour cream, to serve
• lemon wedges, to serve

I picked up some smoked salmon on sale a little while back, tossed it in the freezer, and kind of forgot about it. I recently remembered it existed and figured I'd give this salmon tart a go. I was dubious about using cucumbers in a cooked pie, but it actually worked really well! I love the cream cheese in the custard.

Scottish Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Cream Cheese Tart

Slightly adapted from the Book of Old Tarts by Elizabeth Hoder

Ingredients

• 175g shortcrust pastry
• 1 English cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 250g smoked salmon, broken into large pieces
• 250g cream cheese, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 150mL heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill¹
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 tsp. peppercorns, ground

Directions

1. Line a shallow 25cm (10") tart tin² with the pastry and blind bake it³.
2. Toss cucumber with salt, place in colander, and place a plate and a heavy object on top. Set aside to drain for 30 minutes.
3. Pat cucumber dry and toss with salmon.
4. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
5. Blend cream cheese, eggs, egg yolk, cream, chives, dill, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pepper.
6. Place cucumber-salmon mixture in pie crust.
7. Pour the cheese mixutre over the filling.
8. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 30 minutes.
9. Serve warm or cold with vegetable side of your choice.

---

¹ I didn't have any fresh dill, so I ended up using an extra 2 Tbsp. of chives + 1/2 tsp. of ground dill seeds. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for a 9" tart tin, but I've had issues with having too much filling for pies in this book before, so I decided to go up one tin size. ^Back
3 Line with parchment paper and fill with pie beans and bake at 400°F for 15 minutes, then remove paper and beans, prick with a fork, and brush with egg white, then return to oven and bake for another 5 minutes. ^Back

Iç Pilavi ("Stuffed" Rice)

TF and I both like liver but, for me in particular, I get burnt out quickly. Liver and onions is great, but I only really want to eat it about once a year... if that. We have a few other liver dishes that we make occasionally: liver fried rice, Burmese curried liver, etc., but I'm always on the lookout for something new and tasty. This Turkish liver pilaf definitely fit the bill.

Apparently it's normally made with either chicken livers or lamb liver, but I figured that calf liver would also work pretty well. My version also has a lot more liver than it's technically meant to have. I put about double the normal quantity in. Mostly because I had it on hand in the freezer and have been looking for a good opportunity to use it up!

Personally, I quite enjoyed this dish, but I did find it a bit on the greasy side. I think next time I'd cut back on the ghee slightly. I'd also be inclined to add a few more currants. There were lots of nuts and liver, but the currants kind of got lost in the mix. I've updated the recipe to reflect these changes.

Aside from that, I think the only thing I'd change is serving it garnished with a few pomegranate arils. It's meant to be served with lemon wedges so that you can add a hit of tart lemon juice just before digging in. I liked the idea of adding something tart (especially since it helps cut through the grease a bit), but I felt like the pomegranate seeds made for an even better accent than the lemon juice. I think a small drizzle of pomegranate molasses might also work in a pinch, but fresh (or thawed frozen) arils seem best here.

Iç Pilavi

Slightly adapted from The Turkish Kitchen by Ghillie Başan

Ingredients

Pilaf

• 1/4 c. dried currants
• 2 Tbsp. ghee, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsp. pine nuts
• 3 Tbsp. slivered almonds
• 1 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 c. long-grain brown rice
• 1 3/4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 250-500g chicken, lamb, or calf liver, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 small bunch fresh dill, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

Garnish

• 1 Tbsp. pine nuts
• extra dill
• fresh pomegranate arils and/or lemon wedges

Directions

1. Soak currants in hot water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt 1 Tbsp. of ghee over medium heat. (Sauté medium if using InstantPot.)
3. Add onion and cook until softened.
4. Add pine nuts and almonds and cook until nuts begin to turn golden-brown.
5. Add drained currants, allspice, cinnamon, and rice and stir to combine.
6. Add stock and season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. If using InstantPot, seal and pressure cook on "high" for 20 minutes. If you are not doing this in an InstantPot, your cooking time (and the amount of liquid required) will be different.
8. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 Tbsp. of ghee over medium heat.
9. Add the liver and cook until browned, stirring/tossing occasionally.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
11. Once the cook cycle on the InstantPot has finished, allow for a 10-minute natural pressure release, then release the rest of the pressure manually.
12. Fluff the rice and add the liver pieces to it.
13. For the garnish: toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until golden-brown.
14. Garnish pilaf with toasted pine nuts, extra dill, and fresh pomegranate arils and/or lemon wedges.
15. Serve with a vegetable side, salad, and/or additional dishes of your choice.

One more Hello Fresh. This was, unsurprisingly, a hit with the Kidlet, who likes absolutely everything in it.

Cornmeal-crusted Salmon with Green Beans & Potatoes

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 720g potatoes, sliced into 5mm rounds
• 120mL cornmeal
• 30+90mL mayonnaise, divided
  
• ~500g salmon filets, boneless
• 340 green beans, trimmed
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 180mL sour cream
• 30mL white wine vinegar
• 15g dill, finely chopped
  
• 15g parsley, finely chopped
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Toss potatoes with 30mL oil. Season with salt and pepper, and bake until golden-brown, 25-30 minutes.
3. Combine cornmeal with 2.5mL salt and 5mL pepper in a shallow dish.
4. Brush salmon with mayo 30mL and then dredge in cornmeal.
5. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Add 30mL oil, 60mL water, green beans, garlic, and shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender-crisp, 6-7 minutes. Remove and buffer.
7. Reduce heat to medium, add another 30mL of oil, and cook salmon until golden-brown and cooked through, ~4-5 minutes/side.
8. Whisk together sour cream, vinegar, parsley, dill, and remaining mayo in a small bowl.
9. Serve with mayo on the side as dipping sauce, or drizzled over fish and potatoes.
   

The hot humid weather has arrived. It's 28°C right now. Yesterday it was 30! I still have a bunch of baking that I'd like to do. But I don't want to heat up the house by keeping turning the oven on. So I decided to look into the possibility of doing my baking on the barbecue. It's a little harder to precisely control the temperature, sure. No thermostat or anything, so you've gotta keep an eye on the thermometer and adjust the flame manually, but it seemed like it should be possible.

I did a bit of rummaging around online and it looks like the general consensus is to use indirect heat and open the lid as little as possible. I found one source that recommended trying to get the grill ~25°F hotter than you'd normally bake it in the oven since you'd be losing a lot of heat from opening the lid and it wouldn't be as easy to recoup the losses on the barbecue. I found another source that recommended dramatically reducing the baking time since the barbecue creates more bottom heat and more convection than a standard oven. I think a lot of it is going to have to do with your specific barbecue, your technique/accuracy, and the recipe you're trying to make. My quick bread took ~10 minutes longer than specified for the oven recipe, but I've never actually tried cooking it in the oven to see how closely the bake time aligns with the recipe. In addition, I didn't exactly have a stable temperature for this bake. I think it probably averaged out to about the right spot -- assuming my grill thermometer is at all accurate, which it might not be -- but it started out quite hot and then dropped a bit too cool toward the middle of the bake before inching back up to somewhere in and around 350°F for the rest of the bake. The bread came out alright though, so I'm not complaining!

I think, with a little more practice, I could probably get the flame settings dialed in to get a more steady temperature and a consistent bake. And I'm certainly happy with this as a first attempt! It's baked through and tasty. Not burnt on the outside, not raw on the inside. To look at it, you wouldn't know it wasn't baked in a standard oven. I think this barbecue baking thing has promise!

Ranch Quick Bread

Slightly adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients

• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh chives
• 1 c. cottage cheese

Directions

1. Grease and flour a 23x13cm (9x5") loaf pan.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
3. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, butter, dill, and chives.
4. Stir cottage cheese into egg mixture.
5. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir to combine.
6. Dump batter (which will be quite stiff) into prepared pan. Press into corners and smooth the top.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40-60 minutes. For barbecue baking, set up your grill for indirect heat and adjust the flames/coals to achieve the desired temperature. Setting the left and right flames to "low" and turning the middle off worked well for me.
8. Let cool in pan for ~15 minutes.
9. Run a knife or spatula around the edge of the pan and turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool.

This recipe is effectively unmodified apart from the addition of soy sauce and sesame seeds while cooking the tofu. It comes together very quickly, and while it's not particularly substantial -- it definitely needs to be paired with something else -- it is tasty.

Easy Lemon Dill Tofu

Adapted from Oh She Glows

Ingredients

• Tofu
• 1 ~350g package extra firm tofu
• 1 tbsp oil
• light soy
• dark soy
• sesame seeds
• Sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 1 tbsp dill pickle juice
• ½ tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ¾ C freshly chopped dill
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Freeze, thaw, and drain the tofu.
2. Slice it into thin slices and pan-fry with oil, adding light and dark soy and sesame seeds to taste.
3. Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
4. Toss the tofu with the sauce and serve.

The original recipe describes this as "spanakopita in a bowl" and it's not far off, although to really get that spanakopita taste you need to add feta cheese, which we've done here.

The original recipe also has you cooking the spinach, removing and draining it while you cook the sauce, then recombining it. It's been modified slightly to make it a one-pot meal, simmering the sauce slightly longer to cook off the extra moisture.

Creamy Spinach & Dill

Adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 lb coarsely chopped spinach
• ⅓ C heavy cream
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• ½ C coarsely chopped fresh dill
• ½ C diced feta

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened and translucent, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted, or, if frozen, until just thawed.
4. Add the cream, garlic, and nutmeg. Simmer until it thickens and reduces slightly, ~5 minutes. Add the salt and pepper.
5. Stir in the spinach and feta, and serve.

We were getting pretty low on bread and the weather is still too cold to really be pleasant outside, so I figured it'd be a good day to do some baking. Flipping through the cookbook, I found this potato bread recipe. Not only did it sound like a lovely, herby loaf, but it would also perfectly use up that last half cup of cottage cheese that's been sitting in the fridge for weeks now. And, I just happen to have fresh dill on hand at the moment. Perfect!

This is an absolutely wonderful bread. Very tender and moist with a mild, herby flavour. Even after being cut for a couple days, it's still just as soft and fresh as the first day. Very impressive!

Herbed Dinner Loaf

From the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/2 c. warm potato cooking water
• 2/3 c. mashed potatoes
• 1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1/2 c. hot potato cooking water
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. minced fresh dill
• 2 tsp. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp. minced celery leaves
• 1/8 tsp. dried thyme
• 450g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour

Directions

1. Sprinkle yeast into warm water and set aside for ~10 minutes.
2. Combine mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, hot water, oil, salt, dill, parsley, celery leaves, and thyme and mix well.
3. Measure out flour into large bowl and make a well in the centre.
4. Pour potato mixture into well.
5. Add yeast mixture.
6. Mix, working from the centre outward.
7. Once most of the flour in incorporated, turn out onto the counter and begin kneading.
8. Knead for 10-20 minutes adjusting with more flour or water as necessary. Dough should be quite soft.
9. Set in a covered bowl to rise for ~1 hour.
10. Knock back and set to rise for another 30-45 minutes.
11. Knock back again and shape as desired. I made a pan loaf, but it could also be baked as a "cottage loaf" in a casserole dish or pie plate. Allow ~30 minutes for proofing.
12. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40-45 minutes.
13. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out to finish cooling on wire rack.