I've been running a curry train more-or-less continuously since my mom left. Reiver was about ready for a break from non-stop curries though and we'd hit a point where we were getting slightly low on leftovers anyway, so I decided to change it up for a bit. And, given that we're trying to be a bit more budget-conscious right now, I figured it might be a good time to revisit the Budget Byte$ blog. We had everything but the sausages on hand for this Dublin coddle already and it sounded tasty, so it seemed as good a place to start as any.

It was a great success! Everyone loved it. Everything was nicely cooked and the flavour was excellent.

And relatively affordable as well. Not as cheap as a dal, but not terrible either. I wanted to check since the Budget Byte$ recipes aren't always quite as affordable as one might like. At least not here in NZ. I was shocked to see pound cake come up on the blog and intrigued to see how they'd made it more budget-friendly. The answer? They hadn't. Apparently pound cake is still an affordable dessert in the US. They'd figured the 4 eggs you'd need for it would only cost $0.68. That's $0.68 total, not each! And the 240g of butter was supposedly only another $0.98. I think they figured the whole cake would have cost just over $5 to make. Meanwhile, here, the butter alone would run nearly $5! So, when they said that the coddle should cost a bit over $11 to make, I was skeptical... But it's not too bad! I think you'd struggle to do it for under $15 here, but that's still not terrible when you get anywhere between 3-6 servings out of it (depending on how big your portions are).

Running the numbers based on grocery prices here, I figured it should probably cost somewhere between $15 and $20 to make this coddle, depending on how you buy your groceries. If you're willing to get a 10kg bag of potatoes, use 1kg for this, and find another use for the other 9kg, then that helps bring the price down through economy of scale. Same deal with the onions. If you just buy the 2 onions you need for the stew, it'll cost you a bit more per onion than if you're willing to buy a 2kg bag of onions and use the others somewhere else. I think this would also be a good place to use bacon pieces rather than the streaky bacon called for in the recipe as you're just chopping it up anyway and you can get bacon pieces for ~$10/kg, while it can be tricky to find streaky bacon for much under $20/kg. So, if you're willing to buy in bulk, you can probably make this for $15. If you're just buying exactly as much of each ingredient as you need for this particular recipe, then it'd probably come out closer to $20 for the pot. So, definitely not the cheapest meal ever, butnot completely ridiculous as a bit of an indulgent treat either.

Dublin Coddle

Slightly adapted from Budget Byte$"

Ingredients

• 250g bacon pieces (or chopped streaky bacon)
• 450g sausages (I like beef, but any will work)
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 4 tsp. minced/crushed garlic
• 1 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 1kg potatoes, cut into 3-4cm pieces
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).
2. Cook of the bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
3. Add the sausages and sear on all sides.
4. Remove sausages and bacon from the pan (leaving any grease behind).
5. Bacon pieces are less fatty than streaky bacon, so you might need to add an extra splash of oil at this point depending on what you used.
6. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened and beginning to colour.
7. Add pepper, potatoes, chicken stock, parsley, and thyme and stir to combine.
8. Place sausages and bacon on top.
9. Cover and bake at 150°C (300°F) for 90 minutes.
10. Remove lid and continue baking for another 30 minutes.

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Variants

InstantPot Version

I think this recipe would lend itself particularly well to an InstantPot/multi-cooker, I just need to figure out how to adjust the seasonings and liquid for it.

Tamatar Paneer (Tomato Paneer)

I was going to make a lamb curry next, but I found some paneer on sale at the Indian grocery store and decided to cook that as our protein tonight instead.

I love this curry. The paneer makes it satisfying and high-protein. And while it takes a bit of time to cook the onions down, it's not particularly difficult and doesn't require many spices or other ingredients. And while the cream is moderately expensive most of the other ingredients are quite affordable. Especially if you can get a good deal on the paneer! The cream also makes it deliciously rich and luxurious. Oh, and it also doesn't require marinating or pre-frying the paneer. So, pretty great all round!

Tamatar Paneer

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. water
• 250g paneer, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Melt ghee over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cardamom, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is nicely browned (~20 minutes).
4. Add the tomato paste, coriander, cayenne, and turmeric and cook until darkened (3-5 minutes).
5. Add water, paneer, and salt and cook, covered, until sauce thickens (~15 minutes).
6. Add the milk and cream and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Stir in cilantro and serve.

Sauerbraten (German Sweet and Sour Beef)

When I was in NZ last year, I found an excellent deal on beef brisket and came home with a nice piece. It went in the freezer to be cooked later... But then I never quite got to it before I left. So it was still waiting for me in the freezer when I returned this year.

Another time I might've tried to smoke and/or barbecue it. But we're kind of out of grilling season in this hemisphere now and, after a year in the freezer, it was a bit freezer-burnt, so I decided to go for a slow cooker option instead.

After giving it a bit of thought and tossing around a few different ideas, I settled on taking a crack at turning it into sauerbraten. I have fond memories of the sauerbraten that my dad made. And, while I don't have his recipe, I figured I could at least ask the internet and try to come up with something similar. And it seemed like the ideal thing to do with a big chunk of slightly freezer-burnt beef.

The recipe that I used recommends using a bottom round or rump roast for this, but I figured the brisket would also work quite well. And it did! I really enjoyed how it came out. That said, I'm sure it would be good with other cuts too.

Sauerbraten

Slightly adapted from Daring Gourmet

Ingredients

• 2 onions, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, cut into large chunks
• 1 leek, white parts only, thoroughly rinsed and chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 juniper berries
• 6 whole cloves
• 10-12 black peppercorns
• 2 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 1/2 c. red wine
• 1 c. red wine vinegar¹
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1.5-2kg beef roast (brisket, bottom round, rump, etc.)
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil or lard
• 4 slices bacon, chopped (optional)
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/4 c. raisins
• 75-85g gingersnaps/gingernuts (6-7 gingernuts), crushed
• 1 Tbsp. honey

Directions

1. Combine the onion, carrot, leek, garlic, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, juniper berries, cloves, peppercorns, salt, sugar, wine, vinegar, and water and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
4. Nestle the roast into the marinade, cover, and refrigerate for 4-7 days, turning each day if the marinade does not completely cover the meat.
5. When ready to cook, remove the meat from the marinade and set aside.
6. Strain the marinade and reserve both the solids and the liquids.
7. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
8. Add the beef and sear on all sides. Set aside.
9. Add the bacon (if using) to the now-empty pot and cook.
10. Add the vegetables and sauté for ~5 minutes.
11. Add the flour and cook until no longer raw (3-4 minutes).
12. Pour in the reserved marinade, raisins, gingersnaps/gingernuts, and honey and bring to a boil.
13. Add beef, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2-4 hours if cooking on the stovetop. Otherwise, transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on "high" for ~6 hours. (Or use an InstantPot-style multi-cooker to do the whole thing in place.)
14. Once beef is cooked through and tender, remove from the pot and set aside.
15. If desired, remove the bay leaves, juniper berries, and cloves from the liquid and purée the veggies into it to make a thick gravy. Otherwise, adjust consistency by mixing in a cornstarch or flour slurry and boiling until gravy thickens to desired consistency.
16. Adjust seasoning to taste.
17. Slice beef and serve with the gravy (and veggies if you chose not to purée them).
18. Serve with a starch (potatoes, bread, etc.) and rotkohl (sweet-and-sour red cabbage) or another vegetable dish of your choice.

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¹ I couldn't find any red wine vinegar, so I just used white wine vinegar. Either is fine. I think that cider vinegar would also be good in a pinch. ^Back

Polish-Style Braised Pork Shoulder Chops/Steaks

I haven't been feeling up to much cooking lately. Funny how being nauseous and exhausted 24/7 will do that! I did manage to make one dinner this week though. Reiver had found some pork shoulder chops for a good price, so I cast about for something tasty to do with them and hit upon this recipe. Served it with some roast potatoes and a beet salad and it was excellent!

The original recipe just calls for pork and onions, with optional mushrooms as an additional extra. I added the mushrooms and also threw in some carrots and peas toward the end of cooking, both to bulk it up a bit and to boost our veggie intake. So, in the end, it came out as what basically amounted to a pork stew.

We both really liked this one. Although I think I would add a bit more flour next time since, with only 1 Tbsp. of flour, the sauce didn't thicken up very much at all. Other than that, though, it was lovely!

Polish-Style Braised Pork Shoulder Chops

Slightly adapted from Everyday Healthy Recipes

Ingredients

• 700g-1kg pork shoulder chops/steaks
• 1 Tbsp. oil (optional, see below)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 Tbsp. paprika (sweet or hot according to preference)
• 1/2 Tbsp. mixed dried herbs¹
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 allspice berries
• 3 onions, halved and sliced thick
• 3 cloves garlic, halved or chopped
• ~100g white or cremini mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• 1 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock, divided
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon or Roman mustard
• 1 tsp. light soy sauce or Maggi sauce
• 1/2 tsp. honey (optional)
• 1-2 Tbsp. flour
• 2-3 carrots, cut into coins (optional)
• 1 c. frozen peas (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
2. If the pork has a fat cap, trim it off.
3. If you have trimmed fat, render out some of the lard to cook with. Otherwise, heat up 1 Tbsp. of oil in a Dutch oven.
4. Combine the salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and herbs and use this mix to season the pork on both sides.
5. Sear the pork over medium heat for ~2 minutes on each side.
6. Add the bay leaf, allspice berries, onions, and garlic.
7. Add the mushrooms (if using).
8. Pour in ~1 c. of the stock.
9. Cover and transfer to oven for 1 hour.
10. Combine the mustard, soy sauce, honey (if using), flour, and a small amount of the remaining stock and stir to combine.
11. Add the remaining stock to the mixture to form a sauce.
12. Pour the sauce into the Dutch oven along with the meat and onions and do your best to stir it in.
13. Add the carrots and peas (if using).
14. Cover and return to oven for an additional 40 minutes.
15. Serve with potatoes or rice and/or a vegetable side of your choice.

¹ The original recipe calls for herbes de Province. I didn't have any, so I used a mix of Italian seasoning and dried tarragon. If you're making your own blend from scratch, you could consider including basil, fennel seeds, lavender (very sparingly!), marjoram, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savoury, and/or thyme. ^Back

Thenga Paal Kozhi (Chicken with Red Chiles and Coconut Milk)

We were tragically out of cilantro when making this and had to do our best with parsley, which isn't really similar at all, but it was still delicious. It requires some lead time because of the marinade and long simmering time, but is pretty low-effort to actually make.

Thenga Paal Kozhi

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer (p. 139)

Ingredients

• ¼ C white vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 6 medium-sized cloves garlic
• 3 dried red Thai or cayenne chiles
• 1 whole chicken, skin removed, cut into eighths; or ~1.5kg bone-in chicken breasts and/or thighs
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• ¾ C coconut milk
• 1 ~400mL tin diced tomato
• ¼ C finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Puree vinegar, salt, turmeric, onion, garlic, and chiles in a blender.
2. Coat the chicken pieces in the marinade and refrigerate, covered, for 30-120 minutes. Do not marinate overnight.
3. Once marinated, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add the chicken and marinade, meat side down. Cook until some of the marinade boils off and the meat is browned, 5-7 minutes.
5. Flip the chicken and brown the other side.
6. Pour in the coconut milk and tomatoes. Lift the chicken slightly to let it coat the underside and stir together.
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, basting the chicken every 3-4 minutes, until cooked through.
8. Remove and buffer the chicken. Stir cilantro into the sauce and boil uncovered until it thickens to the desired consistency.
9. Serve the chicken bone-in or disassembled, as you prefer, covered or tossed with the sauce.

Kaddu Dhansaak (Pumpkin Dhansaak)

Dhansaaks are often made with meat, but this one uses pumpkin (and a variety of root vegetables) for a satisfying legume-and-vegetable stew.

Red pumpkin is the recommended squash for this. But Iyer suggests that other pumpkins -- or even sweet potatoes -- can be used as well. I initially considered using the pie pumpkin I'd picked up here. But then I remembered that we had some sweet potatoes that had been languishing on the counter for weeks. And this seemed like as good a use of them as any. I also decided to toss in a parsnip, just for fun.

I can't say that this was my favourite curry. But it was pretty good. And I definitely liked it better than the chicken dhansaak that I tried a few years ago!

Kaddu Dhansaak

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. skinned split pigeon peas (toovar dal)
• 1/4 c. yellow split peas (chana dal)
• 1/4 c. skinned split mung beans (yellow lentils/moong dal)
• 3 c. water
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies (or 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne + 3/4 tsp. sweet paprika)
• 2 onions, one coarsely chopped, one halved and sliced
• 2 c. cubed pumpkin or sweet potato (2cm dice)
• 1 large potato, cut into 1cm dice
• 1-2 carrots, cut into 1cm thick coins
• 1 parsnip, cut into 1cm pieces (optional)
• 1/4 c. ghee, divided
• 4-6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. Madras curry powder
• 1 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1 tsp. Maharashtrian garam masala
• 200g spinach or kale, chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine the pigeon peas, split peas, and mung beans and rinse and drain thoroughly.
2. In a pressure cooker, add the water, turmeric, ground chilies, chopped onion, pumpkin/sweet potato, potato, carrots, and parsnip (if using).
3. Pressure cook on "high" for 15 minutes with a 15-minute natural release.
4. Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp. of the ghee over medium heat.
5. Add the sliced onion and garlic and cook until browned (10-15 minutes).
6. Add the tomatoes, salt, curry powder, sambhar masala, and garam masala and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
7. Once the legumes and vegetables are done, release the remaining pressure and add the tomato mixture to the pot. Stir to combine.
8. Stir in the spinach.
9. Cook until the spinach wilts and flavours meld (10-15 minutes).
10. Drizzle with remaining 2 Tbsp. of ghee.
11. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

I picked up a copy of Pleyn Delit a couple of years ago. It's a great book full of medieval recipes. I've been wanting to try some out for ages, but I kept just not quite getting around to it. But, with our annual Labour Day get together this year, I finally found the motivation to give it a go!

I picked out a salad, a very interesting steamed chicken dish, and a poached pear recipe. And they were all excellent! This salad was so interesting. It's basically all greens. Lots and lots of herbs in addition to what I tend to think of as salad greens.

The original recipe called for parsely, sage, "green garlic", "chibolles" (which I would have assumed were chives, but the authors of Pleyn Delit indicate were actually green onions), onions, leeks, borage, mint, "porrettes" (small leeks), fennel, watercress, rue, rosemary, and purslane. These are washed, torn, and dressed with a simple combination of oil, vinegar, and salt.

The modern interpretation recommends making it with a combination of leaf lettuce, spinach, borage or radish leaves, watercress, parsley, sage, chives, fennel, mint, green onions, sweet onions and/or leeks, and savoury and/or tarragon. This made for a lovely mix! I loved all the herbs! It was very different, but absolutely delicious!

Original Recipe

Take persel, sawge, grene garlec, chibolles, oynouns, leek, borage, myntes, porrettes, fenel, and toun cressis, rew, rosemarye, purslrye; lave and waische hem clene. Pike hem. Pluk hem small wiþ þyn honde, and myng hem wel with rawe oile; lay on vyneger and salt, and serve it forth.

Photo goes here.

Salat

Slightly adapted from Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks by Constance B. Hieatt, Brenda Hosington, and Sharon Butler

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls of leaf lettuce
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 1 handful borage or radish leaves
• 1 handful of watercress¹
• 1 small bulb of fennel, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fennel fronds or dill
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives or garlic chives
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
• 1 tsp. fresh tarragon
• 1 tsp. fresh savoury (optional)
• 3-6 green onions, sliced
• 1 small Vidalia or red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 small leeks, very well washed and thinly sliced (optional)
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• ~1/4 c. vinegar (preferably red wine vinegar)
• ~1/2 Tbsp. salt
• freshly ground pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the lettuce, spinach, borage/radish leaves, watercress, fennel, parsley, fennel fronds/dill, chives/garlic chives, sage, mint, tarragon, savoury (if using), green onions, sweet onion, and leeks (if using).
2. Add the olive oil and toss to combine.
3. Have guests drizzle their portion of salad with a little of the vinegar and some of the salt and pepper (if using) at the table.
   

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¹ I will admit that I omitted both the borage and the watercress for my rendition. It was still delicious. But I'd love to try it with an even wider variety of greens sometime. ^Back

Aaron & Claire describe this as "easy" and "so simple", and as a "15-minute" recipe. I submit that this is only the case if you don't count any of the time needed to prep the sauces and the ingredients; once the mise-en-place is done, yes, it comes together very quickly and easily, but the mise-en-place is a lot! I can't argue with the results, though; it's delicious.

Compared to the original recipe, this uses more carrot, and consistently chooses shaoxing wine over mirin where the choice is given, but is otherwise unaltered.

Beef & Onion Stir-Fry

Aaron and Claire

Ingredients

• Marinade
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp white pepper, ground
• Sauce
• 5 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp chicken stock powder
• ½ tsp dark soy sauce
• Stir-Fry
• 500g chuck flap tail, steak, or similar beef, cut into thin strips
• 1+1 tbsp neutral oil, divided
• 2 large yellow onions, sliced
• 4 green onions, sliced, whites and greens divided
• 3 tbsp garlic paste
• 2 tsp ginger paste
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Directions

1. Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Add the beef and toss thoroughly to coat. Marinate in the fridge for at least ten minutes.
3. Whisk together all sauce ingredients and set aside.
4. Do all mise-en-place before proceeding.
5. Heat the wok and add 1 tbsp of oil.
6. Add the beef in its marinade and stir-fry until comfortably seared all over. Remove and buffer.
7. Add the other tbsp of oil.
8. Add the onions and let them sit for 1-2 minutes until they start to char and soften.
9. Add garlic, ginger, and green onion whites. Stir-fry until fragrant, <1 minute.
10. Add beef, carrots, and sauce. Stir-fry until slightly thickened and heated through, 1-2 minutes.
11. Remove from heat and toss with sesame oil and green onion greens.
12. Serve over rice.

I've been continuing to try to work my way through the ridiculous quantity of feijoas that we've suddenly come into. So far I've made two apple-feijoa crumbles, a batch of chocolate-feijoa friands, and a feijoa custard tart. I have a bunch of other feijao recipes queued up as well. But, for today, I decided to give this chutney a try.

It was certainly... interesting.

Recipe as written called for a truly terrifying amount of both vinegar and sugar. I tried it with half the amount of vinegar and no sugar at first. But it tasted a little flat, so I decided to add some of the sugar called for in the recipe and adjust from there.

I actually started with only 1/3 the quantity of sugar called for. I felt like that was being quite conservative. But, having tasted it, I think it probably could have done with even less. I'd probably cut the sugar back to just 50g (1/6 the amount called for in the original recipe) next time.

I also added a few more seasonings after tasting it several times. I think the seasonings helped. A lot. But, I have to admit, this is still not an amazing recipe. It's fine. It's not bad. It's just not great either. All-in-all, I think I'd rather do other things with my feijoas.

Update: I have since found another, very similar, feijoa chutney recipe. Similar enough that I strongly suspect it to be the basis of this recipe. (I suspect the RNZ version to be the newer variation because the author notes that she has tweaked and adjusted it to her tastes over the years and also because the cookbook that I found the other recipe in appears to be an older, hand-typed affair.)

The two recipes call for most of the same ingredients in roughly the same proportions. The main differences appear to be that the cookbook version calls for twice as many onions as the RNZ one and 1/3 again as much sugar (although, I only ended up using ~1/6 the amount of sugar called for in the RNZ version to begin with)! It also quadruples the cayenne, adds ground cloves as an additional seasoning, and calls for 48x the salt! And while I did feel that the RNZ version was somewhat lacking in savouriness (hence my doubling of the salt plus the addition of several salty umami-boosters), I'm not sure I'd go so far as to increase the salt nearly 50-fold. That seems somewhat excessive.

Anyway, I don't intend on actually making the cookbook version of this chutney. I found the RNZ one disappointing enough. And I don't feel that extra sugar, onion, salt, and spices are going to magically make it better. I'll save my ingredients and do something else with my remaining feijoas. That said, I did think it was interesting and wanted to make note of the similar (possibly source) recipe.

Feijoa Chutney

Adapted from RNZ

Ingredients

• 1kg feijoa pulp
• 500g onions
• 300g dates
• 200g raisins
• 400-500mL malt vinegar¹
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 50g brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. curry powder
• 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 tsp. Maggi liquid seasoning
• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne

Directions

1. Purée the feijoas with the onions, dates, raisins, and vinegar (or blitz in a food processor).
2. Stir in the tomato paste, sugar, curry powder, ginger, garlic, Maggi seasoning, soy sauce, salt, and cayenne and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer, stirring often, until mixutre is heated through and desired conistency is achieved.
4. Adjust seasoning to taste.

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¹ The original recipe called for a whopping 1L of vinegar. I cut this back to 500mL in my rendition. That said, I think it probably could have stood to have been cut back even further. I might try it with just 400mL next time. This would make the vinegar a little less overpowering and hopefully make the chutney a little thicker as well. ^Back

Skirlie is a simple dish of suet-fried onions and oats. It's somewhat similar to white pudding (without the casing), but has proportionally more oats and less suet. I'm also used to white/mealie pudding being quite heavily spiced. And, while skirlie can be spiced, it isn't necessarily prepared that way. For this version, I kept it very simple and only added salt and pepper.

Skirlie

Slightly adapted from Scottish Scran

Ingredients

• 120g suet, grated/shredded or 60g suet + 60g butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 340g steel-cut (pinhead) oats
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat the suet (or suet and butter) over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until onions are soft and beginning to brown (~10 minutes).
3. Add the oats, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently until oats have darkened and softened slightly (~20 minutes).
4. Serve with whiskey sauce and/or mashed potatoes.

I had originally been planning on doing some braised potatoes to go with dinner, but I'd forgotten that the recipe I'd used for it before had a bunch of gochujang in it. And since I was cooking for folks who weren't really keen on spicy foods, I figured I'd better pick something else. And while getting the mixutre prepped for these pancakes is a bit annoying, they're not actually that difficult or complicated to make. And if you leave the chilies out (which are mostly there for aesthetics anyway) then they're a nice, mild, non-spicy option.

Everyone seemed to like them, especially the Kidlet. Honestly, I think the only change I'd make next time is to make a double batch! They went pretty fast and it would've been nice to have some leftovers.

Korean Potato Pancakes

From Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Pancakes

• 4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
• 1/4 large yellow onion
• 1 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt (or chicken bouillon powder)
• 4 Tbsp. neutral-tasting oil, divided
• 1-2 sliced green and red chilies (optional)

Dipping Sauce

• 1 green chili
• 1 mild red chili
• 1/2 green onion
• 1/4 yellow onion
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2.5 tbsp white vinegar
• Small pinch of sugar

Directions

1. Cut the potatoes and onion into bite-sized pieces. Add them to a blender with 1 cup of water. Blend until smooth.
2. Pour the potato mixture into a strainer and let it sit for 10 minutes until most of the water has drained.
3. Meanwhile, thinly slice the chili peppers and half of the green onion for the dipping sauce.
4. Cut the onion into bite-sized pieces.
5. Combine the chilies, onion, green onion, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar, mix well, and set aside.
6. Once the potato starch has settled at the bottom of the strainer, gently pour out the excess water, leaving the wet starch behind. Add this back into the potato mixture. If needed, substitute with 1 tbsp of store-bought potato starch.
7. Add 1/4 tsp salt.
8. Heat 1-2 Tbsp. oil in a large pan over medium heat.
9. Once hot, scoop out some batter and add to the pan. Cook for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Optionally, place sliced chilies on top for decoration.
10. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining batter.
11. Arrange the pancakes on a plate. Serve with the dipping sauce, ensuring there are enough veggies in the sauce to enjoy as a garnish.

This was okay once it finally cooked, but it took forever for the zucchini to cook through. More than twice what the recipe specified! Also, I had one less zucchini than called for an one onion was still nowhere near enough! I've doubled the onion and tripled the vinegar relative the what was called for in the original recipe. I think that makes for much better proportions. And I have no idea what to suggest for the bake time. I'm going to recommend starting out with twice the time called for in the recipe and then going from there.

Baked Zucchini with Red Onion and Mint

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 red onions, halved and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 680g zucchini, trimmed and halved lengthwise
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 c. fresh mint, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Put onion in a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat and then spread out into an even layer.
3. Bake at 200°C (400°F) until softened (~10 minutes).
4. Push the onion to the side and place the zucchini pieces cut-side-down in the baking dish.
5. Spoon the onion over the zucchini and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
6. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for ~20 minutes.
7. Flip the zucchini over and bake until tender (10-15 minutes).
8. Transfer zucchini to a serving dish.
9. Add the mint and vinegar to the onion and toss to combine.
10. Spoon the onion mixture over the zucchini and serve.

This was meant to be white beans with red chard, but TF and I don't acutally like chard (silverbeet), so we made it with kale instead. I think black kale would have been best for this, but we received a bunch of green kale in our most recent produce basket, so I justed used that. I don't like the texture quite as well, but it was fine.

This is not an amazing soup overall. But it's not bad. And it gave us some protein and extra fibre and veggies with our meal, which is what I was after. So, it got the job done, just not with a lot of flair.

White Bean Soup with Kale

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• ~400g kale
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 large sweet onions, chopped
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 6 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 (470g) cans cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese (or a mix of Parmesan and romano)

Directions

1. Cut the ribs and stems from the kale leaves. Chop both the leaves and the stems separately. Set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium heat.
3. Add onion, kale stems, salt, and pepper.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until softened (10-15 minutes).
5. Add garlic and thyme and cook for another minute or two.
6. Add stock and beans and bring to a boil.
7. Add kale leaves and cook until kale is tender (5-7 minutes).
8. Serve topped with cheese.

We got a surprise cucumber in our produce basket last week. Normally I wouldn't worry about it because cucumbers and bell peppers were the Kidlets main school snacks for several years. But she seems to have gone off them lately. So the cucumber was going begging and I needed to find a use for it.

Enter this delightlfully low-effort cucumber salad. Just toss everything in a bowl and let it sit for half an hour. Boom! Done.

Thai Cucumber Salad

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/3 c. rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 small red onion (or 1/4 large), thinly sliced
• 1 English cucumber, sliced into 1cm thick discs
• 1 fresh chile¹, thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 c. roasted unsalted peanuts², chopped

Directions

1. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper in a small pot and bring to a boil.
2. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Add onion to vinegar mixture and allow to cool.
4. Pour vinegar mixture over cucumber slices.
5. Add chile and toss to combine.
6. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.
7. Stir in cilantro and peanuts and serve.

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¹ The recipe calls for a jalapeño, but I thought that a Thai or finger chile would go better and I already had a bunch of those on hand, so that's what I went with. I think either a red or green Thai, cayenne, serrano, or finger chile would work here. (Or a jalapeño in a pinch, I guess.) Use whatever you've got. ^Back
2 The recipe only calls for 2 Tbsp. of peanuts and that's what we used when we made this. That said, I feel that it would have benefitted from more peanuts, so I've upped the quantity here. ^Back

I love kabocha squash. So I was excited to try this savoury squash tart recipe. Sadly, I wasn't able to find any kabocha at the grocery store, so I had to settle for buttercup instead. Even with that substitution, it was very good. But I'd still love to try it with an actual kabocha sometime.

I think the only other change I'd make is to double the onion. The long-cooked caramelized onion layer on the bottom of the tart was delicious. There just wasn't enough of it! Otherwise though, I really have no complaints. This was great.

Kabocha Squash and Pecorino Tart

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 (~1kg) kabocha squash
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1/2 recipe sourdough pastry
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. half-and-half (10% MF)
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. grated pecorino romano
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds and guts.
3. Brush squash, inside and out, with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil and place cut-side-down on a baking sheet.
4. Roast at 220°C (425°F) until very tender (~40 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, make your pastry, wrap it, and put it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. While the pastry is chilling and the squash is roasting, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. oil over medium heat.
7. Add the onions and cook until softened (4-5 minutes).
8. Reduce heat to medium-low, sprinkle in thyme, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for ~30 minutes.
9. When squash is done, scoop out the flesh and discard the skins.
10. Mash the squash and blend with the eggs, half-and-half, salt, and pepper.
11. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and use it to line a 23cm (9") deep dish pie plate.
12. Crimp the edges and spoon the onion mixture into the bottom of the pie shell. Spread into an even layer.
13. Srpinkle the cheeses on top.
14. Pour the squash mixture over the cheese and smooth the top.
15. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 10 minutes.
16. Reduce heat and bake for another 20 minutes.
17. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.
18. Cut into slices and serve.

I had intended to make a lamb tagine for dinner tonight. But I didn't end up making it out to get the requisite lamb, so I had to push that and shuffle my meal plan around a bit.

Luckily, we did have all the bits needed for this simple steak dish. Or at least very close to all the bits. As written, the recipe calls for a flank steak. We didn't have any of that, but we did have a nice porterhouse. I know there are probably much better uses for a good porterhouse steak. But we don't tend to cook a lot of steak dishes and I figured it was better to use it for this than to let it keep languishing in the freezer for another year. And everyone did seem to quite enjoy it. So, all-in-all, I feel it was a good use of the ingredients I had on hand.

Steak Pipérade

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 700-800g steak¹
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 3 red or yellow bell peppers, sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes

Directions

1. Season the steak with salt and pepper.
2. Melt 1 Tbsp. of the butter over medium heat with the oil.
3. Add the steak and cook to desired doneness².
4. Transfer steak to plate and let stand while the veggies cook.
5. Melt the remaining 1 Tbsp. of butter in the now-empty pan.
6. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and thyme, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and cook until just softened (3-5 minutes).
7. Add the wine and cook for another minute or so.
8. Add the tomatoes and simmer for ~5 minutes.
9. Slice the steak into thin strips and serve with the pipérade.

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¹ The original recipe called for 680g of skirt or flank steak. I ended up using a 900g porterhouse steak. Personally, I think you could get away with a lot of different cuts. Just adjust the seasoning and cooking time appropriately for the weight, type, and thickness of the steak. ^Back
2 Cooking time will vary a lot depending on how thick your steak is and how well-done you like it. It could be anywhere from 3 minutes to 12 minutes per side. I ended up cooking my porterhouse for ~10 minutes per side for medium. (After 8 minutes per side, it was nicely rare, but TF and the Kidlet both like their steaks cooked more than that, so I tossed it back in the pan for a few minutes.) ^Back

I wanted a dish with some nutritional value to go with tonight's not-very-virtuous gnocchi. This recipe allowed me to use up some of the pumpkin we had on hand as well as a bunch of the thyme that we got from my mom. And, since it's mostly composed of vegetables and legumes, it's not even ruinously unhealthy!
That said, I'm not sure I'd be willing to make this recipe again. Not because it wasn't good. Unforunately it's just way too aggravating to make.

Normally, when I cook pumpkin, I cut it in half, roast it, and then scoop the cooked flesh out of the skin. This makes it very easy to handle and use. This recipe, however, takes a different approach. I requires peeling and chopping the pumpkin before cooking. Which is just downright annoying and tedious. But, at least it got us some veg and protein.

Pumpkin with Cannellini Beans, Caramelized Onions, and Roasted Garlic

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 heads (bulbs) garlic, halved crosswise
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 2 cans (~470g each) cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 Sugar Pie pumpkin (~500g), peeled and cubed
• 1 c. vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. breadcrumbs (preferably fresh)
• 2-3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Wrap garlic in foil and roast at 190°C (375°F) until soft (50-60 minutes).
3. Squeeze garlic from skin and set aside (discarding skins).
4. Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
5. Add the onion and cook until softened.
6. Reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking until dark and very soft (20-30 minutes).
7. Add beans, pumpkin, broth, thyme, salt, and pepper and stir to combine.
8. Cover and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 1 hour.
9. Meanwhile, toss breadcrumbs with Parmesan and remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
10. Once pumpkin is tender, remove lid and sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture.
11. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, until lightly browned on top (10-15 minutes).

TF made some shrimp and mushroom pasta for dinner last night. It was excellent. This is the vegetable side that I made to go with it. (Because I'm trying to get a bit better about making sure we have some sort of vegetables with our pasta-based dinners.)

This is pretty basic and simple, but it was very tasty. And it let me use some of the fresh rosemary from my mom's herb garden, so that was nice.

Roasted Peppers with Olives and Rosemary

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 4 large red and/or yellow bell peppers, sliced
• 1 sweet onion, cut into wedges
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary, chopped
• 12 kalamata olives

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone baking mat.
2. Toss the bell peppers and onion with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread out on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Roast at 200°C (400°F) for 45 minutes, turning/stirring every 15.
4. If using dried rosemary, add it after the first 30 minutes of roasting.
5. After 45 minutes of roasting, add the olives and fresh rosemary (if using) and roast for another 5 minutes.

Fettucini ai Gamberi, Pomodoro e Capperi

The Kidlet is cleared to eat shrimp now, so we are taking advantage of that. This was a convenient recipe that we had all the ingredients for ready to go, and it went over well.

As usual, I find Hazan's sauces to be delicious, but too scant for the amount of pasta. Consequently, this is scaled up significantly from the original.

Fettucini ai Gamberi, Pomodoro e Capperi (Fettucini with Shrimp, Tomatoes, and Capers

From The Classic Pasta Cookbook by Guiliano Hazan (p. 73)

Ingredients

• 500-600g shrimp, deveined
• ⅓ C olive oil
• 3 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced (about 750mL)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large tin (~750mL) diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp chopped fresh oregano (or ½ tsp dried)
• 3 tbsp capers
• ½ C chopped fresh parsley
• 450g dried, store-bought fettucini or similar pasta

Directions

1. Bring a generous quantity of water to boil in a large pot.
2. Add a small amount of salt and the shrimp. Gently braise until cooked, 2-3 minutes if fresh, 7-10 if frozen.
3. Remove shrimp (with a spider; retain the water!) to a colander until cool enough to handle.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat until shimmering.
5. Add the onions and cook until soft and starting to brown.
6. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
7. Add the tomato sauce, increase the heat to medium high, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
8. Meanwhile, peel shrimp, and return water to a boil.
9. Add oregano, capers, and shrimp to sauce. Cook until heated through and set aside on low heat.
10. Add pasta to shrimp-water and cook until al dente. Add two ladlefuls of pasta water to the sauce, then drain pasta.
11. Return sauce to medium heat and cook, stirring, until thickened.
12. Add pasta and parsely. Toss until well mixed.
13. Serve with freshly grated parmesan.

Trottole ai Gamberi e Funghi

This recipe is specced for long pasta like tonnarelli or fusilli lunghi, but we had a bag of never-before-seen trottole and decided to use that instead. As usual, we ramped up the quantity of sauce significantly compared to what the recipe calls for. The result was delicious, although the sauce took longer to make than planned due to taking longer to cook down the liquid.

The recipe also calls for heavy cream (35% MF) and raw, shelled shrimp. We have a surplus of half-and-half (10% MF) right now, so I used that and increased the quantity. For the shrimp, we had frozen cooked shelled shrimp, which I tossed into the sauce a bit earlier than called for to let them thaw; I might experiment with alternate approaches in the future, since they released a lot of moisture when doing so.

Trottole ai Gamberi e Funghi (Trottole with Shrimp and Mushrooms)

The Classic Pasta Cookbook by Guiliano Hazan (pp.104-105)

Ingredients

• 450-500g dried pasta
• 45g dried porcini mushrooms
• ½ C olive oil
• 1½-2 C yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 650g fresh cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 450mL diced tomatoes (or whole plum tomatoes, smashed)
• ¾ C heavy cream, or 1½ C half-and-half
• 500-600g cooked peeled frozen shrimp
• freshly grated parmesan for serving

Directions

1. Place dried porcini in a bowl and pour over 1½ C warm water. Let stand 20 minutes.
2. Drain, reserving mushroom water. Rinse mushrooms and coarsely chop.
3. Pour mushroom water through a coffee filter and buffer.
4. Heat oil and onion in a large, deep-sided skillet over medium heat. Cook until the onion softens and turns golden.
5. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30-60 seconds.
6. Increase heat to medium-high and add the porcini and their filtered water. Cook, stirring often, until the water has evaporated.
7. Add the cremini slices, season with salt and pepper, and cook until they are tender and the water they release has evaporated.
8. Add the tomatoes and cook until about half the liquid has cooked off.
9. Meanwhile, start the pasta cooking.
10. Reduce heat to medium, add the cream, and cook until reduced by half.
11. Add the shrimp and simmer until thawed and heated through.
12. Toss with the cooked pasta and serve.