Cooking for three!

My little brother moved to Ottawa on Tuesday :)

In addition to being awesome in general, he likes food a lot! Yay!

It's kind of cool that he eats meat because Fred has been stuck living with a vegetarian (me) for most of the past seven (eight?) years. We had a barbeque last night and Will and Fred had bavette de boeuf. It's going to be nice for Fred to have a carnivore to cook with.

PLUS, I want to try to eat meat. Not chickens (I have friends who are birds) and not pork (pigs are so smart, plus I read somewhere that pork is the closest meat to human flesh and true or not I just can't get over it). I eat some seafood but not squid or octopus (cephalopods are too magical and smart to eat), and I eat some fish. I just stopped eating tuna because of this article.

That leaves me with meats like crab, oysters, lobster, and scallops, and... beef. For some reason, beef seems like the least offensive meat to eat, but I am having so much trouble bringing myself to eat it. I've tried a few bites of beef recently - bavette a couple of times and some filet mignon, but I can't get past the fact that it's meat. And I know that doesn't make sense - crab is just as meaty as beef.

My reasons for being vegetarian have changed a lot over the last 17 years, and it's something I'll blog about soon. But now I wish I could try life on the carnivore side - not necessarily forever, but just enough to know what it's like.

Cream salad - weird but good

I've been cooking a lot lately... Fennel and leek risotto on Friday, awesome cream salad yesterday... A semi-weird salmon tikka recipe from Jamie Oliver on Thursday...

I haven't been posting though, because I am lazy. Also because my camera sucks and doesn't inspire me to take food pictures.

Okay, so cream salad recipe with no photos:

Chop up some lettuce or dandelion greens or arugula or whatever you want. Chopped up raw beet greens would be good! I am crazy for iceberg lettuce right now - it doesn't get the respect it deserves AT ALL. It is wonderful.

Anyway, the dressing is white wine vinegar, olive oil, some cream (35% is really good, 15% works too), a bunch of black pepper, and a ton of herbs (fresh parsley, oregano, thyme, etc.)

Okay, the best part:

Tear naan bread into chunks and toss with olive oil, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Pan fry it or toast it in the oven until it is all golden and crispy.

Yum.

Throw some toasted walnuts on the salad and some Roquefort or other blue cheese. Or something else if you hate blue cheese.

Add the warm croutons on top. Drizzle the dressing over everything.

I'm going to make this again SOON, I am kind of obsessed with it.

Goat cheese failure

Made roasted eggplant with goat cheese last night.

Fred wasn't too excited, he kind of hates eggplant, but I convinced him to try it, told him that it's suuuuuch a yummy recipe...

I served dinner, we each took a bite, and... Horrible. We bought "honey" chevre instead of plain goat's milk cheese.

It was so bad.

Ended up going for a walk by the river and eating a Dairy Queen blizzard for dinner.

Caramelized onion lasagne

Easy and good, and you can speed things up by preparing the onions, eggplant, etc. ahead of time.

Steps:

• Caramelize your onions (cook slowly pver low heat until soft and sweet and golden).
• Roast, grill, or sauté slices of zucchini and  eggplant.
• Make your cheese mixture: 3 beaten eggs + ricotta + grated whatever other types of cheese you like + nutmeg.
• Layer your cooked noodles with grilled veggies + tomato sauce, cheese mixture, and some spoonfuls of goat's milk cheese.
• Finish with a layer of the caramelized onions (I use a lot, maybe a cup and a half of them) and  some grated mozzarella + parmesan.

Tips:

• Put a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of your baking dish before adding the first layer of noodles.
• Use fresh lasagne noodles or the dried ones that you have to boil in advance. The noodles that cook while baking are weird. They taste a tiny bit bizarre. I think. But I might be over-thinking things and just making extra work for myself.

Katie's semi-white-trash "cassoulet"

I started making this, um, thing when I was broke and living on my own in a crummy room I rented in Ottawa last year. It's kind of bad but good. No, it is good, but I replaced good sausages with veggie weiners, so, uh, yeah...
Almost White Trash Cassoulet

Caramelize some nice big chunks of onion - using big pieces mean you'll come across succulent onions in your cassoulet. Yum. You could also make a mirepoix with diced onions, carrots, and celery.

Add veggie weiners (I prefer Yves "Tofu Dogs" over their "Veggie Dogs") sliced on a diagonal and sauté until brown. Add some peeled, diced tomatoes, or canned tomatoes, some white navy beans, and a bunch of fresh thyme and oregano. I throw in a couple of bay leaves as well.

Simmer until it seems ready, and don't be scared of using tons of oilve oil in this recipe.

And if you eat meat, I'd use some nice sausages instead of the tofu dogs :)

Lentil salad that is actually good. I mean it.

This is yummy and it's filling enough to be a meal. I like to throw in sprouted wheat berries and sunflower seeds, or serve it with some sunflower sprouts on the side.

Cook lentils (I like to use lentilles de Puy), stir in some diced tomatoes and red onion, chopped mint and parsley, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Top with sliced roasted beets (roast whole at 400 degrees until tender, then cool, peel, and slice) and yoghurt cheese (I like to use goat's milk yoghurt for this salad). Drizzle some more olive oil on top.

Yogourt cheese is really easy to make - here's my recipe.

And I know it looks like there's a poached egg on top of my salad, but it's olive oil and yogourt cheese. 

Yogourt cheese

Really easy and shockingly good.  It's thick and creamy and tangy and you can make it with regular yogourt or with goat's milk yogourt. I really like to use Liberté yogourt, it's a company from Québec that makes really good dairy products (their cream cheese is awesome too). 

Put yogourt in a dishcloth, twist, and leave in a colander to drain for a few hours or overnight (refrigerated). Give it a squeeze every now and then. The longer you leave it the thicker it will get.

 It's a good base for dips and spreads and it's yummy spread onto bagels (or onto toast with strawberry jam). Mix in chopped roasted eggplant and lemon juice and serve with toasted pita for an easy snack or lunch.

What the fuck should I make for dinner?

Don't feel like eggplant and tomato sauce or mediocre cookies tonight? Get some ideas here: What the fuck should I make for dinner?

Roasted eggplant delicious amazingness

Really good eggplant and chèvre with tomato sauce. I made this for my lunch last Saturday to celebrate the end of the semester - I had my house to myself and spent the afternoon cooking and reading and drinking wine. It was nice :)

Slice eggplant into thick rounds (I peeled it, you don't have to). At this point, sprinkle salt on both sides, let rest for 15 minutes, then press the rounds between dish cloths to remove some of the bitterness and extra water.

Roast the eggplant rounds at 400°F, flipping over once, until they are browned and soft. It's really important to spread olive oil on your cookie sheet - eggplant will stick! like crazy!

While the eggplant is roasting, make a quick tomato sauce. Chop up the leftover eggplant - the bits from the ends -  and sautée it in olive oil. I added a glob of honey once the eggplant was golden and sautéed a bit more.  Then add a can of tomatoes and let simmer. In the summer you can use blanched fresh tomatoes and some basil if you have it.

Okay. When the eggplant is soft and golden, spread chèvre (soft goat milk cheese) on each round and cover with tomato sauce and some good parmesan cheese. 

Mediocre cookie night

I made some cookies tonight and they were okay. They weren't bad, but they definitely weren't delicious. And it sucks because the recipe sounded SO GOOD:

Coconut, dark chocolate chips, toasted pecans, vanilla, almond extract. Sounds kind of like the perfect cookie to me. And they smelled good. So good. And then... meh.

Fré likes them a lot -  does that mean that the cookies are actually good, or that he just likes all cookies?

Coconut and rice soup

This soup is super yummy and the the spices will make your kitchen smell good.

Heat some oil (I used peanut oil) and throw in a small handful of mustard seeds and a lesser quantity of cumin seeds. Put in more mustard seeds than you think you need - they are mild and good. After a couple of minutes add a bunch of garam masala, turmeric, and a couple of fresh or dried chili peppers.

Spices (from top left): cumin seeds, garam masala, turmeric, mustard seeds, dried chili peppers. 

Add a decent handful of minced or grated ginger, some finely chopped shallots or onions, minced hot peppers, and some diced bell peppers. I also added some dried curry leaves.

Sauté for a few minutes then throw in a couple of handfuls of basmati rice. Stir until translucent and add some broth or water (enough to cover you rice + a bit more). Add two cans of coconut milk and simmer until the rice is tender.

Eggs to make for someone you love

Baked eggs are so easy and so good. All you need to do is crack an egg into a buttered ramekin and bake at 350° until the whites are set. Don't over bake them - you want the yolks to be nice and runny. Eat them with good buttered toast.
  
Some of my favourite ways to bake eggs:

• Add a bit of cream to each ramekin and a slice of tomato. Crack your egg over top and add salt, pepper, and some aged cheddar. Bake.

• Crack your egg over a nest of beet greens (blanche them or quickly sauté them with a bit of garlic. Or wild ramps (garlic) if they're in season). Cover your egg with caramelized shallots and fresh parmesan. Bake. 

• Crack your egg over some heavy cream mixed with chipotle peppers (I used canned chipotles packed in adobo sauce). Bake. Smoky and delicious.

•  Add a tablespoon or two of home made tomatoes sauce to each ramekin and crack eggs over top. Add some of your favourite cheese and bake.

• Cream, egg, pesto, bake. 

The best eggs in the world come from these gals:

Amazing grilled cheese + a bonus

Grilled cheese sandwiches with olive oil marinated tomatoes. 

You can either marinate your tomatoes for a few hours or overnight (or a bit longer) or just mix them up quickly and make the sandwiches. They'll be good either way. Plus, they're kind of a two-in-one meal. You'll see what I mean.

You'll need:

• Good bread
• Cheese (I like good aged cheddar or Gruyère for melty sandwiches, and chèvre is awesome, experiment and find out what you like!)
• Tomatoes
• Olive oil

And a combination of the herbs/seasoning you want to marinate your tomatoes in:

•  Garlic (don't use a lot to start with - raw garlic, especially when it marinates for a while, is strong. You can always add more later)
• Dried chili peppers (whole or crushed). Use chipotles if you want to add a smoky flavour.
• Black pepper
• Sea salt
• Fresh basil (so good with tomatoes), oregano, thyme, rosemary - any herb you like.

Slice the tomatoes layer them with the fresh herbs and other seasonings you're using. Cover them with olive oil and let them marinate for a while if you have time.

Butter the outside of your first slice of bread. Put it in a pan or on a grill over medium heat. Add a layer of the tomatoes and put your cheese on top. Add another slice of bread on top, butter side out. Flip when your desired goldenness is reached. Cut in half and enjoy your extravagant, calorie rich grilled cheese. If you're feeling nostalgic, you may want to omit the tomatoes and use slices of processed cheese for a trip back to the late 80's/early 90's.

Okay, here's the BONUS meal! It's a quick and dirty pasta dish, and it's good.

Make some extra tomatoes. I usually marinate them in a glass mason jar and put the leftovers in the fridge. Tomorrow or the next day (or later if you throw them in the freezer), heat up a skillet and throw in your tomatoes. While they bubble away and turn into a pesto-esque olive oil-tomato sauce, cook some pasta. Amazing with some good parmesan cheese on top.

Better containers

I hate plastic containers. Those clear-ish ziploc containers with the blue lids are fucking ugly. They never look 100% clean, the plastic is cloudy and horrible, and they hold on to odours. Never put curry or garlic into one of those babies.

I bought some awesome glass "tupperware" and I love it. Great for brining lunches to work and storing stuff in the fridge. I posted a while ago about mini Nutella jars and how they make awesome containers (and milk glasses - perfect for drinking milk with your nutella toast!)

I really love glass mason jars: cheap, reuseable, sterilizeable, and pretty. Great for keeping rice and dried beans and shiitakes in - everything stays fresh and super dry. They are also handy in for leftovers - soup, salsa, pasta sauce...

The best thing about mason jars? They won't crack if you add boiling water to them, making mason jars the perfect container for iced tea and bubble tea! Brew your tea in the jar, cool it down, and throw it in your backpack. Mason jars are totally leak-proof, so you don't need to worry about it spilling before you get to work or school or your sunny-day picnic in Gatineau Park.

Go get some mason jars and fall in love!

(Leftover canned tomatoes. And my budgie tin snuck into the picture! I am going to have to write a post about that tin...)

Bocconcini and sundried tomato pasta

So good.

Cook penne (or another pasta you like) until al dente. Add sun dried tomato pesto, bocconcini pearls (the tiny little bocconcini balls), and fresh basil or chopped parsley. Mix together gently, drizzle some lemon juice on top and serve.

Sun dried Tomato Pesto

Using a blender or food processor, blend a jar of sun dried tomatoes and the oil they were packed in until fairly smooth. Add toasted hazlenuts or pinenuts if you want. If you don't have a blender, you can chop the tomatoes with a knife.

T&T Supermarket!

T&T Supermarket is awesome! Fred and I went this morning and I need to go back soon - it was packed today!

Good Asian food is hard to find in Ottawa - I go to Kowloon market a lot, but I definitely don't love the place. T&T has a lot - a lot - of Asian products, from the nicest crabs and lobsters I've seen in Ottawa to cute Japanese sanitary napkins. They really have a huge selection.

The seafood department is great, a lot of gorgeous live creatures (the dungeness and king crabs were beautiful), and tons of frozen seafood too (fish, prawns, shellfish, sea cucumber, shark fins ($47 for about half a pound). Tons of fresh baked goods, gorgeous produce, fresh and dried noodles, Asian drinks... You get the picture. It rocks :)

For $25.72 we picked up:

• 3 cans of coconut cream
• a nice big succulent piece of sugar cane (YUM)
  
• a gift box of Japanese rice crackers
• tons of beautiful fresh ginger
• fresh coconut buns from the bakery
• prawn crackers
• mango and litchee pudding
• grass jelly
• two cans of coconut water
• three tiny moon cakes
• dong gua (winter melon)

I'm making prawn crackers tonight and winter melon soup tomorrow night!

La Super Tartine

I made one of Jamie Oliver's recipes, La Super Tartine aux Crevettes, Basilic, Mayonnaise, et Cresson, for lunch this week. I got his cookbook for Christmas, en français.

Take some small shrimp (I'm using shrimp from Matane, Québec) and gently mix with mayonnaise, lemon juice, fresh basil, salt, and pepper. Serve on nice bread with butter and watercress. I toasted my bread for extra deliciousness. Also yummy without bread, as a salad.

Tip: I'm putting the shrimp in a little nutella jar (if you buy your nutella in the small glass jar, you can re-use the container as a juice or wine glass, or as an environmentally-friendly tupperware).

A jar like this.

So much more appetizing than eating out of something plastic, no?

Leek, gorgonzola, and port risotto

This is just so good. And you can drink some of the port while you're cooking :)

You will need:

• Arborio rice (a cup or two)
• Leeks and shallots
• Gorgonzola or another sharp cheese that you love
• Parmigiana reggiano (you could replace with romano if you like)
• White wine and port
• Some garlic

In a heavy pot, heat up some olive oil and butter. Add some minced shallots and your leeks, cut into half-moons. Cook over low heat until caramelized and brown. Add a bit of garlic.

Making sure there is still some oil (add more if you need to), add the rice, and cook for a few minutes until rice is translucent. I usually turn up the heat a bit for this part. Then add some, maybe half a cup or something, vermouth or white wine and stir until evaporated. Turn it down again.

Now start adding your stock, a cup at a time. My stock instructions are here. After each cup is added, stir slowly until all the liquid has been absorbed. Keep doing this until the rice is tender but al dente.

Remove from the heat and stir in a couple of knobs of butter and some nutmeg and black pepper. Remember what the two fat ladies would say... "Buttah makes it bettah!" Crumble in your gorgonzola and some grated parmigiana reggiano. You can stir in some lemon zest to cut the heaviness if you want.

Make a port glaze by cooking port on high heat until it thickens. You could also do this with balsamic, I bet white balsamic would be good with the leeks.

Drizzle your reduction over each serving of risotto and wait for your friends to tell you how beautiful dinner is, and how happy they are to have a friend that is just such a good cook :)

Good stock is important!

Really, really good stock is so easy to make, and it adds so much flavour to whatever you're cooking.

When I buy fresh produce, I freeze some for making stock. Chopped onions, carrots, celery, tart apples, and leeks are all good to keep. The secret to amazing stock is parmesan rinds - whenever I finish a chunk of parmesan cheese I freeze the rind, it adds the best flavour to stock.

You can include any of the following:

• Onions, shallots, leeks (I leave some skin because it adds colour and flavour)
• Carrots
• Celery (stock is a good way to use up the ends and leaves you trim off)
  
• Apples (I prefer to use granny smith apples)
• Whole peppercorns
• Parmigiana reggiano rind (this is the secret to the best best stock!)
• A few bay leaves
• Parsley stems or fresh herbs if you have them on hand

Okay. Caramelize your coarsely-chopped onions and shallots in olive oil. You can add a bit of brown sugar if you want to get a bit of extra caramelization. Deglaze your pot with wine or whisky. You can use vermouth if you want, ummm, sherry, port, whatever you feel like.

Now throw in your other veggies and apple, coarsely chopped, and a bunch of cold water, your bay leaves, more peppercorns than you think you need (I used a small handful), and the parmesan rinds.

I like to use organic apples because they don't have that gross wax on them, which I think could be pretty horrible all melted into the stock.

Okay, now simmer for a while, like an hour-ish, over low-ish heat.
Strain it to remove vegetables, etc. You can freeze extra stock for next time!

Sometimes I add a TINY bit of Vietnamese fish sauce or a few smoked tea leaves for a bit of umami flavour. If you eat meat, you could obviously include some in your stock. I dunno what you guys use - chicken? Meat bones? Anyway, whatever you like a lot I guess.

Oranges, the best way

Cut the peel off your orange like this using a small, sharp, serrated knife.

Now cut between the pith (the white part) that separates the segments to get beautiful, perfect, pith-less orange slices.

Squeeze the juice out of the leftovers over your segments. Yum.

Blood oranges and navels are in season right now, as are grapefruits. Go nuts with your favourites. It's worth the trouble to open up your lunch and find these tender little citrus jewels.

Tip: You can use the leftover citrus peels to make environmentally friendly citrus cleaner! Just submerge them in white vinegar for a few days or a week, strain, and use the vinegar to clean counter tops, wood, glass, and cutting boards. The smell of vinegar disappears as it dries.

Mushroom Soup

I had a craving for a childhood favourite of mine, Campbell's Cream of Mushroom, and I made this to satisfy the craving:

Cream of Mushroom

Soak dried shiitakes in boiling water. These are really important, dried shiitakes give the ultimate umami flavour - they have a deeper flavour than fresh shiitakes. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid, discard stems (tough), and chop. Set aside.

Make a mushroom stock using the liquid you soaked your dried shiitakes in, the woody stems of the fresh mushrooms used later in the soup, celery, parsley stems, rosemary, bay leaves, onion, black peppercorns, and a tart apple. Add a bit of cold water, simmer at a low heat for a while.

Sauté diced shallots in a generous amount of butter. Add diced fresh mushrooms (use whatever you like - forest mushrooms if in season, button or portobello, whatever you enjoy and can find/afford). When the mushrooms have released their liquid, add some of your stock and simmer for a while (30 minutes-ish). Strain.

At the same time, separately simmer your chopped shiitakes in some broth to get them nice and tender.

When the mushrooms are done simmering, put the shiitakes in the blender. You can add all or some of your other mushrooms - if you want a totally smooth soup add them all. I only added about a third, I wanted my soup to be chunky.

Add the shiitake purée to the remaining mushrooms in the pot. Stir over low heat, add some cream, salt, pepper. I always use 35% cream - yeah, it's high in fat, but it is good!

I served the soup with a lot of chopped parsley, a drizzle of lemon juice, some lemon zest, and a drizzle of truffle oil. Good, plain olive oil would be good too, maybe with a bit of rosemary.

It was deelish. Very woodsy tasting. The lemon and parsley cut the richness and added a fresh note to the soup.

Squash and hazelnuts

My boyfriend made a really yummy spaghetti squash recipe for dinner tonight.

Roast a halved spaghetti squash (cut side down) until tender.

Remove the "spaghetties" (use a fork) and mix in a bowl with:

• olive oil
• a lot of chopped flat-leaf parsley and cilantro
• parmigiano regianno (a lot)
• chopped, toasted hazelnuts (again, a lot)

Fucking yum.

Penuche: icing/fudge/yumminess on a spoon

Tonight I made penuche ("puh-NU-chee"). The recipe is my favourite, it's from Edna Staeblers's "Cooking with Schmecks Appeal" cookbook. Tons of old fashioned Mennonite recipes, it's freaking amazing.

Anyway. The penuche.

It is a bitch to make if you don't have electric beaters. I don't have them, so I beat the shit out of it by hand. Both of my arms hurt.

Okay, back to the recipe. It is an icing and can also be poured into a baking dish and cut up and served as fudge.

Melt 2/3 cup of butter. Add 2 and 2/3 cup brown sugar, 2/3 cup milk, and some salt (like a teaspoon). Heat gently while stirring for a couple of minutes, then bring to a full boil for exactly one minute. Stir like crazy - don't let the sugar burn! Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Don't burn yourself, okay? Boiling sugar is fucking hot.

Now comes the terrible part, for those of us without electric mixers. Beat until thick, slightly opaque, and no longer glossy. Ice your cake (banana, spice, chocolate, whatever you feel like) OR pour into a glass dish to make fudge. For fudge, let it set and then slice it and gobble it up. or eat it with a spoon.

I keep thinking about getting a KitchenAid mixer. Then I tell myself that it is a waste, I'll never use it, and that I only want one because the colours are so frickin' pretty. Then I make something like penuche and curse myself for having two whisks and no electric mixer.

Anyway, try the recipe, it's deelish.

The best smoked salmon pasta

I like this with fettuccine.

Make a nice tomato sauce. I usually heat a couple of glugs of olive oil over medium heat and add some minced shallots and garlic.

(If you love onions and want them to be a bit more prominent, you can quarter your shallots and caramelize them slowly in butter, then add your olive oil and continue.)

If you have some wine on hand, use it to deglaze you pan before adding the tomatoes.


Now add a can of tomatoes - canned tomatoes are one of my favourite things to cook with. Home canned, garden-fresh tomatoes are the yummiest, but canned diced tomatoes from the store are great too. The flavour is richer than fresh tomatoes, especially in the winter. Winter tomatoes at the supermarket make me want to cry.

If you're using fresh tomatoes, blanch them quickly in boiling water, then plunge into cold water to remove the skins.

When the sauce seems lovely and thick, add a bunch of 35% cream and simmer a bit more. I usually add a whole bunch of pepper here and a bunch of salt. Add some capers if you like them (if you haven't tried capers before, this is a good time. They are tiny, pretty, and yummy, and remind me of the taste of nasturtiums.)


Right before serving, throw in some good smoked salmon. I don't cook the salmon, I just toss it in at the very end which keeps it nice and tender.


Serve over pasta.

Lazy pasta

Tonight I made a lazy, easy supper.

Linguine with fresh basil pesto, parmigiano regianno, black pepper, and toasted hazelnuts.

A drizzle of oil of and a squeeze of lemon juice.

I have got a thing for hazelnuts right now... I just toasted a bunch of them and my whole house smells so fucking good. They make the pasta extra deelish.

Pasties

We made pasties tonight and they were really good!

Sautée some veggies briefly in olive oil (shallots, celery, carrots, green beans, peas, corn, and potato) then throw in some stock (just a little) and simmer for a little bit to let the veggies release their juice.

Don't overcook! Keep them a bit crisp! (I chopped my veggies into medium sized cubes.)

Stir in a bit of roux to thicken the liquid into a sauce. Salt and pepper. Oregano is nice too, fresh if you have it.

Put some (cooled!) veggies into the centre of a circle of pastry. I added cubed cheddar to some, Roche Noir (a blue cheese), and parmesan to others, and chopped hard boiled egg. More black pepper and salt.

Fold your pastry circles into half-moons and seal the edges. Make some slits or holes to let out the steam.

Bake at 400 degrees until golden and perfect. Enjoy how good your house smells. Makes some extras to take to work for lunch :)

You can put whatever you like in these. A lot of cheese. More than you think you need. I really like them with caerphilly, I ate a ton of cheese pasties when I was in Wales! I also had some good curried pasties in the UK.