winter seafood dinner party

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Before I get into this dinner party menu, just wanted to show you my snazzy new facebook page - just adding another way for you to keep up. I also add some content on there that you don't get on the blog or via twitter. More snark and links and that kind of thing. So it's toooooooooooootally worth liking. :)

I'll apologize in advance for the cruddiness of these photos - my camera battery (all four camera batteries, actually....) was, of course, toast when I went to take prep pictures (so there are none of those). And that's when the light was actually good.

So unfortunately, these pics are a result of overhead kitchen light. But I swear the food is just as delicious as normal, so read on......

I was having some friends over for dinner, and I wasn't really sure what to make - the only restrictions I had were no peanuts, and that one of the diners was not a fan of big bloody masses of meat. Fine by me anyway, as I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be steering clear of steak tartare these days.

So I went with a seafood theme, and tried to stay a little bit seasonal (not that you can really eat *seasonal* food in Ottawa in January...).

For an appetizer, I opted to make some coconut shrimp - I was inspired from a recipe in the Kraft What's Cooking holiday magazine (I know...heinous, but I was inspired, what can I say?). So I took out the Shake and Bake, and the pre-made sauce, and made my own version with panko and a sour cream sauce. It was really delicious, but the shrimp are best right out of the oven, so they are nice and crispy.

I did find that the panko adhered well and really gave a nice crunch to the shrimp, which is unusual in a non-deep-fried appie. I served these with some venison pepperettes (courtesy of my bro), and some red and green pepper strips. I like to keep appetizers relatively light, and not too filling, because I just want to get people geared up for some gooooood eatin' later in the evening.

Coconut-Panko Shrimp
makes about two dozen

1 lb large shrimp (26/lb), peeled and deveined. Take off the tails, nobody eats them and they leave a mess
1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut, toasted (toast in a frying pan for 5-6 minutes on medium, stirring often and watching like a hawk)
1 cup panko
1 t curry powder

1 t garlic powder
dash cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten

1/2 c low-fat sour cream
2 T indian curry paste
1/4 c chopped cilantro

1. (If you are baking right after assembling, preheat your oven to 400F).

2. Combine coconut, panko and seasonings in a shallow bowl.

3. Dip shrimp in egg (I actually just tossed the whole batch of shrimp in with the egg because I'm lazy like that).

4. Coat shrimp in coconut-panko mixture until evenly coated. TIP: have one 'wet hand' and one 'dry hand' - use one hand to grab the slimy eggy shrimp and use the other to help toss/pretty the coating mixture. The coating will adhere better and you won't end up covered in eggy coconut goo.

5. Lay each shrimp on a baking sheet. Don't let them touch. I baked mine on a silpat.

6. Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes. Mine were perfect after 10 minutes (just pick one and cut through to make sure it's pink and opaque the whole way through).

7. While shrimp is baking, mix together sour cream, curry paste and cilantro.

Enjoy! It's awesome and pretty easy to put together.

I came across a really intriguing roasted cauliflower salad recipe on epicurious, and pretty much followed the recipe exactly (though I halved it because it was a huuuuuuuuuuuuge recipe).

Half of the recipe was just about perfect for 6 appetizer servings. I'm sharing my version below, but I've linked to the original. I figure most people are likely to need 4-6 servings of salad, rather than 12ish.

You can do all of the components in advance (i.e., the cauliflower, chopping the lettuce). I dressed each salad individually and this worked well.

Roasted Cauliflower and Radicchio Salad

stolen and slightly modified from epicurious


1 small head cauliflower cut into 1-inch-wide florets
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
9 large leaves of romaine, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 small head radicchio, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips
3/4 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/2 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

parmesan cheese for grating on top

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Toss cauliflower with 1/4 cup oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Spread in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) and roast, turning over with tongs halfway through roasting, until tender and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes total. Cool in pan on a rack, then transfer to large bowl.

3. Whisk together vinegar, shallot, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl, then add remaining 5 tablespoons oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. (FYI - this does not emulsify...just whisk before drizzling)

4. Add romaine, radicchio, parsley and dressing to cauliflower and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with nuts and parmesan.

I loved the richness of the nuts and cheese with the deep roasted flavour of the cauliflower. The acidity of the dressing really made it fabulous. Great salad. It's a bit labour-intensive, but I think it's wonderful for fall/winter and would make a great meal with a grilled chicken breast or something.

For soup, I went back to seafood.....I've made this mussel-fennel bisque before. I'm not going to re-post the recipe here, because I make it pretty much EXACTLY as written.

The only changes I recommend is just including all of the fennel in the soup itself, and skipping the browned fennel cubes (too much work). I think you could also reduce the cream by half. The seafood broth with rice is so rich on its own that I don't think 1 c of heavy cream is fully necessary. It's so yummy though. I love this soup. It's rich and delicious and really just the perfect seafoody-indulgence. With bread and salad, it would make a great meal.

For the main, I had some salmon hanging around in my freezer and so that's where I started. I ended up with another epicurious winner, this salmon fillet recipe with a creamy horseradish sauce. I just made a few small changes (I baked my salmon at 400F for 12 minutes, because I"m lazy and because my bbq is under about a metre of snow and ice. Baking is great for dinner parties, because you just pop the dish in the oven, and then go back to your guests - no fuss! I marinated the salmon for about two hours, which was great.

I can also attest that the leftovers are PHENOMENAL made into a salmon salad - I just combined my leftover salmon with the leftover sauce, added some minced onion/green pepper/celery and it was perfection in a sammich. YUM. I'd make this again - it's super easy and quick to come together and the sauce was delicious.

I served the salmon with this butternut squash dish - it's simple squash wedges, roasted in olive oil, salt and pepper, and drizzled with balsamic vinegar, sprinkled with pepitas and mint. It was a simple dish, but I really liked it as well. I think the serving estimate is a bit low (4 people ate most of the squash), but I also baked my squash over an hour to get it nice and soft and caramelized.

That said, I have a squash PSA. WEAR GLOVES WHEN CHOPPING BUTTERNUT SQUASH. The internets have not come to a consensus on why this is, but with some squash and some people, skin will react. After I chopped the squash, the fingers on my right hand started feeling numb. Then they started feeling tight. And swollen. It really kinda freaked me out. And then the skin that was feeling tight cracked in about a million places (sorry, I know that's gross). It seems it's like some sort of chemical coming from the squash that did it to me. Anyway, the moral of the story is....wear your damn gloves when you chop that squash. And then you can avoid freaking out about your bizarre reaction. #learnfrommyfail

Last, I wanted to finish with something pretty simple, and on the lighter side of desserts. I've made passionfruit pavlova before, so I just made a variation of it this time and it was sooooooooo fabulous.

I followed a different meringue recipe this time, and I think the oven temperature was too high....my meringues really did brown quite a bit. But they were still yummy, so I don't think it was a big deal. Also, rather than filling with whipped cream, I opted to fill with the most decadently delicious coconut yogurt in the world. Even at nearly 10% fat, I figured it was a lighter choice than the 35% whipping cream. And man, it's sooooooooooo good. Instead of a simple passionfruit drizzle, I added some pureed mango (just 3/4 of a large mango, a bit of superfine sugar, and a splash of water, pureed together) to amp up the volume. Passionfruits are $3/each and don't really give a whole lotta pulp each. It was a great balance and the tropical flavour of the passionfruit really came through nicely. I would make this again and again. Perfect easy dessert.

So that's my menu....I wanted to keep it on the simpler side, and not ultra-indulgent. I thought it balanced really well and the flavours were really good. YUM. Any of these recipes would be great as part of another menu as well.

Thanks for reading - and don't forget to check out DNM on facebook!

'tis the season to resolve to not break resolutions

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It's day two of 2011 and so far I'm doing pretty well.

Not that my resolutions are anything special or different, or, really, even distinguishable from years past (eat less, exercise more, be less lazy, etc.).

But I'm going to try. And most importantly to you (or at least, I'm guessing this is likely to be the resolution with the most significant impact on YOUR life...given that you're reading this...) is that I'm going to make a concerted effort to blog more.

You wouldn't believe the pile of photos I have in archives, or the number of times I've set out to write something, only to be distracted and not finish it.

So here it is, 11:53 pm on January 2nd, and I'm going to post something this year, dammit. ;)

It will be no shock to any of you that the January recipes I post are likely to be healthy and full of veggies and all those good things. I'm going to start tonight with a couple of recipes I've made in the last few days. Sorry, no photos this time, but if you can hold on until next time....there will be photos. I swear. I'm working on a work/life balance issue that I hope to have rectified in the next few weeks, and at that point, I expect that two things will happen..... 1) I will spend 67% less time in transit (or, two fewer hours per day) and 2) I will spend significantly MORE time with my family, cooking, blogging...and maybe even housework...

Okay, maybe not that last one.

But whatever. You're here for the food, so here it is.

Steamed Mussels in White Wine Lemon Sauce

This is a great recipe. Mussels are pretty much just awesome. I love them. Not only are they absolutely yummy, but they are good for you, and compared to most seafood, they are pretty affordable (less than $3/lb here).

A few tips for preparing mussels, if you've never done it before (they are totally foolproof!!!): First, when you bring them home, they are alive. They NEED to be alive. When you rinse them off (not necessary, but a good opportunity for picking through), take out all of the mussels with broken shells, or the mussels that don't close when you run them under cold water (QUICK TIP: If the mussel doesn't close immediately after running it under water, set it on the counter for a minute or two while you continue to check the other mussels....if it STILL doesn't close, toss it). When in doubt, throw it out. Second, if you have purchased wild mussels (unlikely), they will have what's known as a "beard" - it is a mass of gross looking brown fibres. The mussels uses these to cling and attach itself to rocks. Pull it out - just give it a good yank, or clench it with a tea towel and pull if you are squeamish.

I think that of my 5 lb of mussels, maybe 3 individuals sported beards.

Last, after you have cooked the mussels, DO NOT eat any that have not opened. Again, when in doubt throw it out. They are cheap.

WIth all that aside, the prep of mussels is as easy as can be....

5 lb mussels

1 T olive oil

3 chopped shallots

2 cloves garlic, minced/pressed

1.5 cups white wine (give or take)

juice of 1 lemon (about 2-3T)

black pepper

chopped fresh parsley

1. In a 6 L pot (basically, a pasta pot) set on medium heat, heat the olive oil, and saute the shallots and garlic together until translucent.

2. Add the wine and lemon juice and bring it to a boil.

3. Toss in the mussels. Throw on a lid. Wait 5-6 minutes and open. If the mussels are all open, then you're done. If they're not, pop the lid back on and wait another couple of minutes.

4. Dump the mussels in a pretty serving bowl, sprinkle with parsley and make sure you put another big bowl on the table for shells. Enjoy!

YIELD: a bit difficult to quantify. I served this to 8 people as part of a meal. I would say this would serve 4 as a main or as a large appetizer. You can eat a LOT of mussels. This recipe is very very easily scaled up or down. The cooking time for the mussels will be about the same, just add less wine, lemon, garlic and shallot. Or don't... ;)

I served this with seared scallops (added a vanilla pod to my white wine pan sauce to keep things interesting) and a big tray of fresh dipping veggies.

If you love mussels and are interested in something a little more refined, try out this fennel mussel bisque from epicurious. I made it last month and for the seafood lover, it is AMAZING.

A couple of other recipes you need to try (I'm not going to repost them as I have no photos to add):

1) Garlicky Doused Shrimp - this is like a shrimp salad recipe, served as an appetizer. The shrimp is amazingly flavourful. This ended up being the highlight of my packed New Year's Eve buffet. Just make sure you don't overcook them before you make the salad. To make a meal, you could probably just put the shrimp salad over some nice greens, as the marinade would make a delicious vinaigrette.

2) Braised pork with fennel and orange - divine recipe that I made in the crockpot. Very unusual flavours, but they work amazingly with each other. YUM. You should make it.

Dinner tomorrow night is going to be relatively simple - Mark Bittman's homemade marinara sauce (with added tomato paste and white wine) served over olivieri nutri-wise tortelloni. I don't think that's really blog-worthy (although everyone should try throwing together a simple marinara sauce)...so no post tomorrow.

BUT, on Tuesday, I plan to make a roasted cauliflower and garlic soup, and if that turns out, I should be back here to share it.....

Thanks for reading - best wishes for 2011!!!!!!

when precooked frozen lobster is $3, buy some...

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...and ask questions later...

And this is what I did. I saw the lobster, I grabbed it....and then I got home, and didn't really know what to do with it. They were kinda weeny (obvy, at $3, they would be)...and frankly, the bag smelled a weeeeeeeeeee bit fishy. I tossed them in the freezer and decided to, in the manner of dear Scarlett, think about it another day.

A month passed, and the lobsters still weighed on my mind, having been joined by a rather large package of jumbo scallops.

And then my dad was coming to visit. Now, my dad lives in Thailand half the year, and is married to a lovely woman from Thailand...so whenever he comes to visit, I try to make something that is really NOT thai (because a) I have an inferiority complex and can't compete with his wife's spicy creations and b) I figure I will feed him something a little different from what he normally eats). Plus, my dad is generally a willing subject for culinary experimentation.

So I decided that I would turn these sub-par lobsters and giant scallops into risotto.

And that I would make lobster stock.

On a weeknight.

Right after returning to work after my year of mat leave.

Ill conceived? Perhaps. But it worked out just fine. That said, I think as far as risotto goes, I do prefer a good old mushroom risotto with rosemary. It's cheaper, fast, less of a paaaaaaaain in the ass with the whole making-your-own-stock idea, and I think I like it better. But the seafood risotto is good. And if you find yourself struggling with a destination for your frozen-pre-cooked only-vaguely-sketchy lobster...go for it. This recipe works.

Lobster Broth

2 lobsters

1 onion, couple of carrots, celery

bay leaf

parsley

salt, pepper

1. Crack and dismantle the unfortunate arthropods. I can't do this. I make hubs do it. The second my food stares at me, I become an avowed vegetarian for the next 15 minutes.

2. Put the shells in a pot, cover with water, add a quartered onion, couple of carrots, some celery, maybe some garlic, a bayleaf or two and some fresh parsley. There's no real science or recipe to it. If you have time to burn, consider roasting the shells in the oven for more flavour. (As above, it was a weeknight...therefore, quicker = better). Let it all bubble away for an hour or so. Add some salt and pepper. I found the broth a little week, so I also added a rounded spoonful of chicken bouillon (yes yes...sacrilege....deal with it).

3. Strain the chunky bits out and keep the broth at a simmer (risotto works best with simmering stock).

Risotto:

5-6 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped

2-3 cups chopped veggies (I used summer squash and zucchini because I had a surfeit of both)

2 cups rice
1/2 cup white wine
6ish cups stock
1 teaspoon salt
Grated Parmesan cheese

1. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a heavy pan. When it is bubbling, add the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes; do not allow the onion to brown.

2. Add the rice and the veggies and stir it well with a spatula; do not allow it to color. Be certain that the onion and rice are well coated with the butter.

3. Add the wine and let it almost cook away.

4. Start to add stock, a half cup at a time. Let each half cup of stock cook away before adding more. As the rice becomes tender, stir it keep it from sticking to the pan. You're going to be stirring for a solid half hour. I'm just warning you. It takes foooooorever.

5. Add salt. When the rice is done, stir in the remaining 2-3 tablespoons of butter and a little grated Parmesan cheese. Serve at once. Top with lobster and scallops

Definitely not the most photogenic dish I've ever made....

Seared Scallops

1 pound sea scallops

salt

pepper

2 T each, olive oil and butter

1. Pat the scallops dry (the wetter they are, the less they will sear. Of course, if you have my $#&*#@@# stove, they won't really sear at all).

2. Heat the olive oil and butter over high heat. Season both sides of the scallops with sea salt and pepper.

3. Sear the scallops on both sides until they are nice and brown. Contrary to popular belief, it isn't necessary to completely utterly cook them into oblivion. A little translucency in the middle just makes them taste better. As with any food though, there is a certain level of risk with them being underdone. Doesn't stop me from eating sushi, or eating medium-rare meat....but it's important to assess your comfort level (Z certainly didn't have any of this dish!).

4. Remove the scallops from the pan. Add some white wine and scrape up the brown bits. Add a bit more butter. Turn off the heat. Return the scallops to the pan and add the lobster, heating through. Serve over the risotto.

This definitely garnered rave reviews from all involved. I liked it....but like I said, I like my mushroom risotto better. Hubs opinion? Good.

thai goodness

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Hubs and I are playing a game.

We are playing the Biggest Loser...of sorts.

My post-baby physique is decidedly, um....rounder than it was before. Can't say I'm a big fan of it.

So the game is on, and the healthy food is in. I've got a great healthy meal plan for the week (hopefully a more successful one than the last one I posted) and I am going to kick his butt, and hopefully also get rid of the nasty case of muffin top I've developed.

Tonight's dinner was pad thai with shrimp and tofu. Unfortunately, my picture shows NEITHER the shrimp nor the tofu...oops. I stole this recipe from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry, and just modified a few things due to packaging size (I'm not going to use 1 cup of tofu when I had to open a 1lb package) and ingredient availability (ran out of fish sauce after 1.5 T and was short on lime juice!).

This was yummy. I made mine a bit spicy, as capsaicin is supposed to be good for the metabolism, and I just, frankly, like it that way.

I think you'll like it too, even if my picture fails utterly.

Pad Thai



Sauce:
2 T lime juice
2 T fish sauce
2 T oyster sauce
3 T ketchup
3 T soy sauce
2 T brown sugar
1 T sri racha (spicy chili garlic paste)
1 T grated ginger
1 t sesame oil
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
4 crushed garlic cloves

8 oz rice stick noodles (about 1/4 inch wide)

2 t canola oil
1/2 c. thinly sliced red onions
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lb extra-firm tofu, diced (I actually briefly marinated my tofu in some soy sauce, and hoisin sauce to give a little more flavour)
2-3 cups bean sprouts
1/2 c chopped green onions
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 c chopped peanuts

1. First, prep ALL of your ingredients (chop the red pepper, peel the shrimp, chop tofu, peel garlic, peel ginger, etc.). This dish cooks SUPER fast and you don't have much time to chop once you start.

2. To prepare sauce, combine lime juice, fish sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, sri racha, hot pepper flakes and garlic in a medium bowl. Set aside. DON'T SNIFF IT. Fish sauce stinks. It tastes good but smells like rotting fish. It WILL taste good.

3. Place rice noodles in a large bowl and pour boiling water over top. Let soak 7 minutes. Drain and rinse well in cold water (while the rest of your stuff cooks, periodically, just toss the noodles around a bit with your hands...it will keep them from becoming a gluey ricey noodley mess).

4. While the noodles are soaking, heat canola oil in your biggest non-stick wok/skillet over high heat. Add onions and red pepper, cook about 3-4 minutes. Add shrimp and tofu and stir-fry until shrimp are just done (3ish minutes).

5. Add rice noodles (I like to drop them in small clumps over the dish), then add the sauce, bean sprouts, green onion and cilantro. Toss and cook until hot (1 minute or so). Add peanuts and toss again. Stir immediately.

I really like this version - it was not as sweet as most (I find a lot of pad thai recipes to be almost cloyingly sweet....the lime really cuts through here) and I loved the spice level. Hubs approved heartily, so hopefully the fact that he ate seconds means I will win.... :)

Plan for the rest of the week:
Tuesday - caprese salad with chickpeas
Wednesday - italian sausage lasagna with spinach and ricotta
Thursday - smoked ham and split pea soup (homemade)
Friday - mushroom quinoa risotto with seared giant sea scallops

Thanks again for reading!!!

a wee cuppa chowda

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Unfortunately, this is going to have to be a bit of a speedy gonzales entry....I have a cute little munchkin who has kept me hopping (or literally bouncing) all day...so not a lot of time at the computer to type anything...

Anyway, night one of meal planning had me in the mood for clam chowder. It was quite tasty - two thumbs up from hubs. Me too. This isn't the same as a true maritime chowder, but I'd like to think it strikes a balance between Chunky Soup and the Real Deal. If you like chowder, don't have a lot of time and aren't scared of taking a few shortcuts, this dish is for you.

Quick Clam Chowder


1 lb potatoes
5 slices of bacon
1 onion
2 ribs celery
1 clove garlic
3 cans clams (6oz)
3 bottles of clam juice (6 oz)
1 t thyme
4 bay leaves
1.5 cups half and half

1. Run the hot tap water and fill a medium pot and set it on the stove to boil. Now, cut your potatoes into small pieces and put in the water. Once it boils, let the potatoes cook until tender (about 10 minutes). You'll note that I underestimated the number of real potatoes I had in my pantry...so I used a spare sweet potato that was hanging around. I peeled it, but didn't peel the regular potatoes. It was a little weird in the chowder, but still good.



2. Over a large skillet, use kitchen scissors to cut the bacon right into the skillet. Turn the temperature to medium high. Use a wooden spoon to break it all up.

3. Now, cut both ends off the onion. Cut it in half length-wise. Chop. Wash your celery ribs, and cut them the long way. Now, line all four celery pieces up and chop (the initial instructions said to use a food processor, but for this small amount, it doesn't make a lot of sense to dirty a big appliance like that...it takes me about 10 seconds to chop an onion!).

4. Add the onion and celery to the bacon. Keep an eye on your potatoes.



5. Open up the cans of clams and bottles of clam juice. Once the onion/celery mixture has softened, add the clams and juice to the skillet. Check your potatoes again (they are probably done now). Add the thyme and bay leaves to the skillet. Bring to a boil.

6. When the potatoes are done, drain them. Now, take your cream (I debated using light cream, but calculated the caloric difference would be minute) in a glass measuring cup and microwave it for 2 minutes to preheat it. Add the potatoes to the skillet. Reduce the heat.

7. Add the cream to the chowder and let heat through (try not to let it boil). Fish out the bay leaves and voila! It's done.

All told, I thought this was pretty good. Next time, I might be tempted to thicken it a little bit with some cornstarch (i.e., mix some water and 1-2 T cornstarch together and add before adding the potatoes/cream), just because I like a bit of a thicker chowder. Flavours are awesome though. It's not the cheapest dish to make (about $3/serving), but it makes a lot (as you can see by all my leftovers) and it's yummy!



Thanks for reading!!! And keep those comments comin' :) I wouldn't have a blog if I weren't a bit of an attention whore...hehe

fruit of the land and fruit of the sea

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I love mangoes.

Hubs is on the fence...and really is not a big fan of my habit of sticking them in various savoury delicacies (like curries and pastas). He kinda liked this one. I didn't intend to blog this, as I'd planned it for this past week and just didn't get my butt in gear enough to get it made until Saturday. Hubs insisted it was blog-worthy though, due to presentation. It really wasn't that fancy - I just put everything on a black platter and layered it. Simple as that.

The key with this dish is having everything ready beforehand. It's SUPER quick to put together - the time investment is really in all the chopping.

This dish was pretty quick to put together and received rave reviews from all who imbibed.

Shrimp and Mango Salad on Brown Rice Vermicelli
1 T canola oil
1 lb shrimp, peeled
5 cloves garlic
2 T grated ginger

12 ounces of brown rice vermicelli

2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
1/2 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
2 mangoes, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup chopped basil leaves
1/3 cup chopped mind leaves

Dressing:
juice of 2 limes
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 t thai hot chili paste
1 T fish sauce
2 T soy sauce
2 T mint leaves
2 T basil leaves
1 T brown sugar

1. Take a large pot and fill with water. Set it on the stove to boil. When it comes to a boil, cook the vermicelli for about 2 minutes (or until it's done to your liking). Drain and rinse with cold water. Arrange it on a large platter.

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Add the ginger and garlic. Just when they start to brown, add the shrimp. Cook them until they are opaque and pink. Turn off the heat and remove from heat.

3. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth (I use the little cup that came with my immersion blender).

4. Arrange the chopped veggies, mangoes and herbs on top of the rice noodles. Add the shrimp and then drizzle the dressing over top.

Hubs heated his up. I ate mine cold. We both loved it, and it's also pretty good with a little extra soy sauce.

Thank you for reading...look for my meal planning results throughout the week. :)

three for one

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I'm beginning to think that I'm in serious need of a vacation. Lately, I just feel burnt out and useless and like I need to just spend a few days loafing around with no nagging concerns.

Work is busy, home seems busy, and I just want a break.

But I'm not getting one, so here is a quick post, with three tasty meals that I ate in the past week. It's a little too late for me to witticize, but I do have something yummy (hopefully) coming for you all on Thursday. Stay tuned.

The first dish is that last part of my 'eating for free' week. Good things hide in the back of my pantry and in the bowels of my freezer. An army could probably live for a month on the sheer amount of random starchy bits I have stocked up (including a container of some grain....I don't know what it is, and hence have no idea how to cook it).

At any rate, I came up with this when my dad was visiting...somehow, he read of 'eating for free' week, and ended up bringing some of his own food (totally NOT allowed, hehe), as he was fearing for his tummy.

But he needn't have feared. I put a number of italian antipasto staples to work and dinner was tasty, flavourful and very filling. No empty bellies here.

Scooby Doo Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce
(I know, I know...another seafood pasta....what can I say, it's a household fave)

1/2 lb frozen calamari
1/2 lb frozen scallops
1 lb imitation crab

1 onion
1 jar marinated artichokes
1 jar roasted red pepper
1/2 jar oil-packed sundried tomatoes
1 small jar of pesto
1 tomato
lots of garlic
1 can of evaporated milk (I use skim)
parmesan cheese
pepperoncini peppers (optional)
1 pound pasta (I used scooby doos, also known as tortoglioni...I think...)

1. Put a large pot on the stove to boil.

2. Gather your ingredients in all their prefabricated goodness. Admire.


3. Heat a touch of olive oil in a large skillet, add seafood, onion and garlic.


4. Cook gently (medium-low heat) until almost done. Meanwhile, chop the roasted red pepper, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, and the fresh tomato.


5. Add all this stuff to the pan. Incorporate pesto and evaporated milk (a good substitute for cream - and it won't curdle).

6. Grate parmesan cheese over the pan (makes it extra yummy).


7. When water boils, add pasta and cook to desired tenderness.

8. Serve sauce over pasta, top with parmesan and a pepperoncini if desired (after the photo, I passed mine along to hubs, who was all too pleased to indulge).



YUM. Fast, easy, not the worst thing in the world for you to eat, and a great way to work on cleaning out that pantry!

I was tempted to place this recipe in its own post and title it "eating for poo", but hubs vetoed the idea. So I'm burying the moniker deep in this post, in hopes that he won't read. hehe.

I will explain (and it isn't quite as gross as it sounds). The backstory is that a year or two ago, our dryer was smoking incessantly (like more than your average chain-smoker). We called an appliance repairman to come take a look, and it turned out to be this very cool sicilian guy. Our dryer is located in our basement, and happens to be right next to our rabbit cage (housing our two fat rabbits). This guy was quite excited by the sheer amount of poop these guys generate (must be seen to be believed) and we quickly struck a deal. We give him poo. He gives us fresh home grown veggies (that have, of course, been fertilized by said poo). Hubs is a bit grossed out by this, but I'm happy to play around a bit with backyard bounty I was not given the chance to kill.

Anyway, this time, he came buy with the strangest looking zucchini I've ever seen...apparently, it's some sort of sicilian zucchini.


And it's also huge (almost rabbit-sized....). So this is what I started making with it. Also, ignore the lentil salad in the background. It was not very yummy and I'm not sharing the recipe, because I could barely choke it down. I think I like the idea of a nice lentil salad a lot better than the reality. Pu-ah.

Black Bean and Zucchini Cakes


15 ounces canned black beans, drained and rinsed
2 egg whites
1tsp chopped roasted garlic (I used regular garlic)
1 T ground cumin
1 T chili powder
1 1/3 cup shredded zucchini
1/3 plain whole wheat/grain bread crumbs


1. Mash the beans a bit with the fork, (so there is some whole, and some mushed), mix in the rest of the ingredients.


2. Spray a non stick pan with oil, heat over medium heat. Make mounds in the pan and flatten a bit with the back of spoon. Cook for about 4-8 minutes.

Serve with Salsa and sour cream

Easy and quite tasty.

And then I have yet another risotto. It's starting to be come a favourite. It's yummy, requires few ingredients, and you can vary it with tons of success. Here's a hint - pretty much all risotto is the same - 1.5 cups of rice and about 5 cups of broth. It's just the seasonings that change.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

1 pound mixed wild mushrooms (I used shitake and oyster)
1/4 c. minced shallot
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1/4 c. white wine (or whatever you have...I used vermouth and it was not bad at all!)
1.5 cups arborio rice
5-6 cups chicken broth
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 T butter
2 T fresh herbs (HIGHLY recommend rosemary here, but alas, the store was out...so I used basil...not fragrant enough with the woodsy mushrooms)

1. Chop your mushrooms and shallot. Meanwhile, melt butter with olive oil in a large pot.


2. Add mushrooms and shallot and sauté until shallot is translucent. Add rice and give a good stir (about 30 seconds).


Add your booze of choice. Stir more.


3. Add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, and stir pretty much incessantly for the next 30-35 minutes. When you start to run out of broth, add more. Keep on truckin'


4. When rice is done to your liking (start tasting after about 20 minutes), stop adding broth. Stir in parmesan cheese, butter and fresh herbs.


Taste and see if it needs anything more. Serve immediately (does not keep well).

We were going to have it plain, but hubs was insisting on shrimp. So he sautéed it with about 8 cloves of garlic, a lot of butter and a bit of lemon juice. It was good.



Thanks for visiting, thanks for commenting, and I swear, it won't be two weeks before my next picture post. Your patience with my procrastination is most appreciated.

vegetable-free zone

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No green veggies anyway. Perhaps chlorophyll-free zone would be an apter title. Or so hubs told me.

Whatevs.

I was all set to make a nice wholesome black bean soup tonight (so maybe now I'll make it tomorrow), but hubs was having none of it. I think his soupy wisdom tooth extraction recovery has turned the poor man off all soups. He wanted fish and chips.

So of course, once he mentioned the idea, *I* also wanted fish and chips.

But I don't deep fry.

EVER.

So I had to get a little creative, and being that it is still 'eating for free' this week, I wanted to venture a little deeper into the cupboards to investigate what could be had.

The result was actually amazing. This was better than going out for pub grub. This was a little exotic, a touch of fusion and all over an extremely tasty meal.

I definitely should have had veggies, but my fridge is emptying out and I didn't really have too many veggies, so I just didn't make any. I guess one of the advantages of being a pseudo-grown-up is that if I don't want to make any veggies, I just don't have to. (Granted, I would have liked veggies, but must confess to getting a bit of a thrill out of forgoing them). Maybe thrill isn't exactly the right word.

At any rate, this was a little bit of experimentation, but both dishes are wonderful. It's a fun combo together, but either would be fabulous paired with other sides.

Fish&Chips - Fusion Style


Chips...aka Cumin-Spiced Potatoes with Curry Dip
1 large sweet potato
5 large regular potatoes
1/4 c. vegetable/olive oil
1 T cumin
1 t ancho chile powder
1 t thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T mrs. dash extra-spicy
salt
pepper

1. In a ginormous bowl, combine oil and spices. Add some salt and pepper.

2. Peel the sweet potato and cut into desired fry size. For the regular potatoes, don't peel them (peel has fibre and vitamins and would be a shame to toss it). Just cut 'em up.

3. Toss potatoes in oil/spice mixture. I like to cook my fries on a silpat because it browns them REALLY nicely without making them stick. Otherwise, you could use parchment paper (works well, doesn't brown quite so much) or well-greased foil (but be careful, because the fries ALWAYS stick to the foil and you lose the nice browned bits!!!!!).


4. Bake in a 400F oven for 45-50 minutes, stirring/flipping every 15-20 minutes. The longer you bake them, the crispier they will be. The silpat is great for this.

5. Serve with a curry dipping sauce - I like to mix a bit of hot pepper jelly and curry powder into either low-fat sour cream or fat-free plain yogourt. This time, I used sour cream because that's what I had.


Fish...aka Wasabi-Crusted Tilapia with Honey Garlic Wine Sauce

4 large tilapia fillets
1 egg
1/3 c. milk
1-2 T light soy sauce

1 c. dried plain breadcrumbs
1-2 T wasabi powder
1 T steak spice
1 T mrs. dash extra-spicy

canola oil

1/3 c. madeira or other sweet wine (could use marsala, sherry or even sake....substitute broth and a bit of honey otherwise)
1/3 c. honey garlic sauce (I used v-h brand....you could alternatively use teriyaki sauce)
1/4 c. minced coriander (could use green onions, mint or basil)

1. Cut fish into serving-sized portions (my tilapia comes in almost double-fillets, so I like to cut them down the middle).

2. In a pie plate, combine egg, milk and soy sauce.


3. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, wasabi powder and spices.


4. In a large skillet, heat a generous amount of oil. The more oil you use, the better it will taste ;). You don't have to cover the bottom of the pan at all, but 2-3 T is a good start. Heat over medium-high heat.

5. Pat the fish dry with paper towel. Dip in egg mixture, then cover with bread crumbs. Place in pan and brown about 3 minutes on each side. (You can do about 4 pieces at a time). If you have to do it in batches, place the cooked fish in a pan lined with parchment paper (put it over the warming vent on your stove, if you have one). Repeat with remaining fish as necessary, adding more oil for the second batch.


6. Once the fish is all cooked, place pan in oven and reduce temperature to 250F (don't want it to overcook and dry out while you make the sauce). In the still hot (and not cleaned) pan, add in wine, sauce and coriander. Bring to a boil and reduce a bit. Pour hot sauce into a small bowl for serving.



7. Serve fish with the honey garlic wine sauce, and fries with the curry dip.

YUMMMMY. I want more. Is that bad?

lazy does it....eating for free

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Another day, another dinner.

Hubs and I have been mulling over reno costs, vacation costs and all those fun things and we've come to the conclusion that we probably spend too much moolah. And one of the prime things we spend too much moolah on is food. We actually have ridiculous grocery bills, considering there are just two of us.

*In theory* we should be able to eat well on $400/month. And I suppose that, in theory, we could. But in reality, we end up spending a LOT more than that.....so that prompted a flurry of discussion and a decision (my doing) that this week, we would eat for free.

As in, I would not visit the grocery store once this week. I'm starting off reasonably well, having just stocked up on a few things for hubby's wisdom tooth extraction (he's healing very well, by the way, and is most appreciative of your well wishes), so I'm improvising and making do with what I have.

So far this week, we've eaten the following....

1) Sunday I made up a crab pasta casserole of sorts.....basically, I took about a pound of macaroni and cooked it. At the same time, I mixed up some pre-packaged rosé sauce, and a can of half-fat cream of mushroom soup, and mixed it in with the macaroni, along with 1 box of frozen spinach, some onions, garlic and fresh basil, and 1 pound of imitation crab meat. Topped it with most of a can of spaghetti sauce, and then mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. This made an absolutely inordinate amount of food (8 servings) and used up a nice bit of stuff from my pantry. Two thumbs up from hubs, who was grateful for his first solid food in days.

2) Monday, I realized I would need to use up the tail end of my eggplant and tomato (from the stacks I made for the dinner party last week), so I decided to do two different indian dishes. I made up a 'butter eggplant' dish of sorts - about the equivalent of 1 large eggplant, 1 onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 T chopped ginger, 1 large chopped tomato, 2 T butter, 1 small can of salt-free tomato sauce, 1/4 c. vindaloo curry paste, and at the end, about 1/3 cup of low-fat sour cream. Very yummy. Paired it with a super easy chickpea curry - 1 onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 T curry powder, 1 t mustard seeds, 1 t cumin seeds, 1 t ground cumin, 1/4 t cinnamon, then add a can of drained chickpeas and a cup of broth. Voila. Stirred some fresh coriander into both dishes and was good to go. Served over basmati rice. Easy-peasy and very satisfying.

So that brings me to tonight, where I broke my lazy streak with the camera and actually took pictures. This time, the impetus was two mangoes that I HAD to have (they were on three for a dollar a couple of weeks ago - how can you resist this???), but that I had, thus far, been to lazy to prep. Peeling mangoes is a bit time-consuming, and since I normally bring fruit in my lunch, I just hadn't had time in the morning to get these guys ready to bring.

I also had a huge bag of shrimp in the freezer (Costco....). So I thought...hmmm...mango and shrimp. I sense another curry coming on. A more thai-type curry. Luckily, I also had coconut milk, fish sauce, some freezer-burnt peas and some thai green curry paste. This would be great if you had fresh basil, but even with dried, it was pretty darn tasty. I used Jasmine rice for this. I have to say, I didn't get home until 6:30....I loafed around until almost seven, and I was actually done dinner and cleaning up dishes by 7:45. Aside from the mango, there is very little work in this recipe. You could add onion or garlic, or snow peas (would have added onion, but I only have one left.....).

I'm kinda having fun with my food improv this week. But this is quick and was deliciously satisfying. You could substitute light coconut milk, but if you just restrict your portion a bit, the good stuff won't hurt ya. :)

Lazy Mango Shrimp Green Curry


1.5 pounds of raw shrimp, unshelled (this will give you about a pound of shelled shrimp)
2 mangoes
1.5 cups frozen peas
1 can coconut milk
green curry paste (2-3 T)
2 t dried basil (or 1/4 c. fresh!)
1.5 T fish sauce
1 T sugar (optional)
cooked jasmine rice

1. Start the rice.

2. Shell shrimp and peel and chop mango.


3. In a large skillet or pot, add the coconut milk, and stir in the curry paste. Thai curry paste is hot, so if you're not sure how much to use, err on the side of stinginess. I used all I had left. And yes, if you look carefully at the photo, you'll notice I forgot to add my curry paste at the beginning and am, in fact, adding it post shrimp.


4. Add shrimp, mango, fish sauce, basil and peas and bring to a boil.


5. Cook until shrimp is opaque (about 5 minutes). Taste and decide if you want to add sugar (I like my curries sweet).

6. Serve over hot cooked rice. As mentioned, I like jasmine rice with thai food, but any rice is good. And if you can bring yourself to eat brown rice, power to ya. I just can't do it.

So that was my ultra lazy (and free, hehe) dinner tonight. Now I'll have to figure out what I can come up with for tomorrow. I'm thinking some spicy black bean soup with garlic toast. Ya? Thoughts? It has to be easy and involve a minimum of fresh produce. I have a few carrots left (unless I give them to my resident furry friends), some limp celery and also some dill, parsley, coriander and frozen corn. Oh, and potatoes. I have those too).

Thanks for reading! Hubs and I are debating having an 'eat for free' week every month or so to see if it works to help us cut back on grocs.

there's something fishy around here

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As mentioned, the main attraction of the dinner party was a lovely planked salmon dish...this is such a nice thing to have in the summer and it just so happened that I had picked up a number of cedar planks the last time I visited costco (they are expressly marketed for the purpose - I'm sure I paid a premium, but at least I can be reassured that they are not coated in all sorts of ucky chemicals....or I can tell myself that, anyway).

I was peeved with my salmon though (also from Costco). I'd been doing some reading about farmed salmon, so I've also been avoiding that lately in favour of the wild stuff (which is, of course, infinitely more expensive). I picked up some nice fillets of wild salmon, and when I got them home, I turned them over and found out THEY STILL HAD SKIN ON THEM. YUCK. I don't know anyone who eats salmon skin, so I really don't know why they bother leaving it on. How can you have a nice dinner plate, only to end up with wrinkly, rejected, nasty scaly skin left on it. So I had to skin the salmon (really NOT my favourite thing to do), and it looked more than a little butchered afterward. Gross. The final result was delicious though! Highly recommend for seafood lovers!

Planked Salmon Fillets
Paste
2 shallots
2 cloves garlic
2 T maple syrup
2 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
2-3 T dijon mustard
sea salt
minced parsley/rosemary
hot sauce

salmon fillets

1. Combine all paste ingredients in the food processor. Process until well blended. Taste the mixture - perhaps you like it a bit more acidic, or a bit sweeter, saltier or whatever. Season to your liking. I like mine on the sweet side, particularly because I was pairing it with two side dishes that were not sweetened.

2. Soak your cedar planks for 4-6 hours beforehand (the longer you soak, the longer they resist burning).

3. Arrange salmon on planks and douse with paste mixture. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, keeping a spray bottle handy to extinguish flames. Alternatively, you can cook over indirect heat, but you won't have as much cedary steam going up through your salmon. It's safer, but not as flavourful. Yum.



I paired the salmon with a nice lemon risotto. I used the 'make-ahead' method for the risotto, as I wasn't terribly keen on stirring for forty minutes while I had guests entertaining themselves (and hubs bbq'ing). Basically, it's the same process, except when you've added 3 1/4 c. of the broth, you stop. You spread the semi-cooked risotto out on a baking sheet (use some parchment paper to save washing!) and cover and cool it. You can resume as normal when you want to eat, adding the rest of the broth and the add-ins. This method can be used with any risotto. I stole this recipe from epicurious as well.

Lemon Risotto

5 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large shallots, chopped
1.5 cups arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons grated lemon peel (zest of about 1 lemon)

1. Bring broth to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; cover to keep warm.

2. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes.

3. Add rice; stir 1 minute. Add wine and stir until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups hot broth; simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently. Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is creamy and tender, about 35 minutes. (As mentioned above, if you want to make in advance, only add 3 1/4 c. of broth and then stop the process).



4. Stir in cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in parsley, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Season risotto with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl and serve.

Makes 6 first-course or 4 main-course servings. This is a lovely side dish with fish.

The last thing I had on the plate were these beautiful little stacks of eggplant and tomato. I saw the initial picture and was totally sold. The bonus is that these used the same type of basil oil as I needed for the canteloupe salad, so I only had to make it once. Of course, my tomatoes ended up being too big but whatever. It still looked pretty. Woot woot for that.


Grilled Eggplant Stacks with Tomato and Feta

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium eggplants (1 3/4 to 2 lb total)
1 large tomato (about 4 inches in diameter) and 2 medium tomatoes (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter)
3 oz feta, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
Garnish: finely shredded fresh basil leaves

1. Blend basil with oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt in blender until finely chopped. Pour into a paper-towel- or coffee-filter-lined sieve set over a bowl and let drain 20 minutes.

2. Gather together sides of towel or filter and press gently on it to extract more oil. (You will have a generous 1/3 cup oil.) Scrape basil solids into a small bowl and reserve.

3. Preheat BBQ to medium heat. While grill heats, cut off bottoms of eggplants, then cut 6 (1/2-inch-thick) crosswise rounds from each, starting from cut end. Reserve remaining eggplant for another use. Cut 4 (1/3-inch-thick) rounds from large tomato and 2 center slices (1/3 inch thick) from each medium tomato, reserving remaining tomato for another use.

4. Lightly brush eggplant rounds on both sides with basil oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Grill on a lightly oiled grill rack, covered only if using a gas grill, turning over occasionally, lightly brushing eggplant with more basil oil occasionally if it looks dry, until eggplant is very tender, 6 to 10 minutes.



Make stacks:
1. On baking pan, arrange 4 largest eggplant rounds side by side and spread each with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of reserved basil solids, then top each with 1 of 4 largest tomato rounds.

2. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper and top each with about 1 tablespoon feta.

3. Make another layer with medium-size eggplant rounds, basil solids, medium tomato rounds, salt, pepper, and feta, then top with remaining eggplant and feta.



You can make the stacks up in advance and just heat them in the oven (about 350F) for 10 minutes or so. YUM.