Dinner Lately…

I wrote earlier about planting my own herbs and I was able to harvest them very soon after I brought them home from the market. I have transplanted them into bigger pots so that they can get bigger for me. I was pondering about what to do with the variety of herbs that I have and I read about making herb infused oils and butter. So… that’s what I did! And what a great payoff it has been already. Today, I used the herbed butter and basil to make bruschetta for dinner. It was the best bruschetta I’ve ever had or made myself.

Here are the herbs that I have planted so far, including basil that is not in the picture:

I found that there was no great way to store these herbs for an extended period of time, which is why I’ve decided to chop them up and mix them with some butter. I suppose you could chop them up, mix it with some olive oil and freeze them in ice cube containers, but I like butter more than olive oil anyday, LOL!

All you need is to have sticks of butter at room temperature and some herbs. You could use a single type of herb per stick, two types, or like me, I used everything except for chocolate mint.

The ratio of herbs to butter is 1 tablespoon to 1 stick of butter (equivalent to 1/4 pound or 1/2 cup). A little more herbs won’t hurt I suppose.

The chocolate mint is mixed with the butter on its own because that’s a dessert type of herb. I think it will go over excellent on toasted waffles or pancakes, YUM!

Simply mix chopped herbs and soft butter in a bowl and then roll them up in strips of wax paper to store. Secure the wax paper by twisting the ends of the butter log. Place the butter log in the freezer to solidify prior to using if desired.

There are plenty of resources online on making herbed butter and oils, but don’t let the instructions scare you. Just let your imagination run with herbs!

Cooking is one thing that Andy and I  love to do together. Although he’s is constantly asking me for directions, we work amazingly well together in our small kitchen. He has gotten used to following my instructions and online recipes to prepare the necessary ingredients for our meals while waiting for me to get home. Today, I can’t help but to realize how blessed I am to have him in my life. Our wedding anniversary is in about 6 weeks and it has been a great year living together thus far. Here’s what we cooked up together this lovely Sunday evening.

I chanced upon this simple and healthy recipe while browsing on one of my favourite daily reads, ApartmentTherapy.com. Their sister site is called The Kitchn, and I love reading it for simple and inspiring ideas in and out of the kitchen.

Ingredients

• 1 pound broccoli
• 2 tablespoons water
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• 1/2 small onion or two shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup chopped flat parsley
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup feta cheese (low-fat if you want to be good) - divided
• 1/4 cup water

Method

1. Cut the broccoli into small florets and steam on the stove or in the microwave with the 2 tablespoons of water. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large sauté pan. Cook the onion and garlic until it just begins to soften then add the broccoli. Cook for several minutes or until the onion turns translucent. Add the parsley and cook until it’s well wilted. Pour in the lemon juice and simmer for about two minutes.
3. Transfer to a blender and add 1/4 cup of the feta cheese and the 1/4 cup water. Puree until smooth, adding a drizzle of olive oil and a little more water if it sticks and turns to a lump. Puree until as smooth or chunky as you prefer.w
4. Taste and add any necessary additional salt and pepper. Serve with a good ridged pasta. (I used wholewheat penne instead).
5. Garnish with extra crumbled feta and lemon zest.

Source

Dinner was really successful today. My co-worker Janet sent me this recipe on Thursday and I thought that it would be a great opportunity to use up my supply of Gouda cheese that we got from Wisconsin. This is a very simple knife-and-fork open face sandwich. I’m not sure where she got this recipe from, but I saw several copies of it online, include Martha Stewart’s.

Broiling helps to caramelize the vegetables, melt the gouda, and toast the bread.

We also paired this sandwich with Ontario Inniskillin’s 2006 Late Harvest Reisling wine, which is on the sweet side. It was excellent! It helped to bring out the sweetness of the broiled brocolli and peppers.

Ingredients

• 1 small head broccoli, cut into small florets (minus the stalks - see note)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 portobello mushrooms (stems removed), sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), sliced 1/2 inch thick - see note)
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed through a press
• 4 thick slices country bread (see note)
• 4 ounces Gouda cheese, thinly sliced

Method

1. Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. On a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, toss broccoli with oil; season with salt and pepper. Broil, tossing once or twice, until broccoli begins to char, 4 to 6 minutes.
2. Add mushrooms and bell peppers to sheet; season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Broil, tossing once or twice, until vegetables are tender, 8 to 10 minutes more; set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Place bread on a work surface. Dividing evenly, spread with mayonnaise mixture, and top with vegetables, then cheese. Place on baking sheet, and broil until cheese is melted and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

Note: I removed the skins of the stalks, sliced them and keep them for stir fries later. I also used orange bell peppers instead since they were cheap at the market. Flavour wise, it’s about the same as red pepper anyway. I used Calabrese bread instead of country bread. It’s thin and chewy and yummy

Here’s another apology for a long hiatus. Work has completely consumed me lately and with spring around the corner, Andy and I had been out biking by the river quite a bit. So here’s a long post to make up for the absence :P 

I had enthusiastically waited for our group to meet again since we got together in February. After a long chain of e-mail to decide on a date, we met last Monday on March 31. Everyone made really good dishes and I enjoyed them thoroughly. As usual, the host gets to pick the theme, and Lisa told us to pick anything out of LCBO’s website/magazine. Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is a big (think - monopoly) liquor and wine store in Ontario, Canada and they have a food website and magazine that encourages people to pair wine/liquor with their food.

This time, I was assigned to make dessert. I found something on the Internet that I thought would definitely be a challenge for me but perhaps I should have tested the recipe beforehand. I picked Lemon Grass Panna Cotta with Orange Chilli Caramel because it was a “fusion” type of dessert, and it had called for gelatine. This meant that I had to look for gelatine substitute and I have a stash of konnyaku powder left that is used to make vegetarian jello. I have to say that I was very disappointed with my result because the konyakku powder solidified too fast and does not behave like gelatine, which was described in the recipe. Also, the recipe had called for making the cream mixture and melting the gelatine separately. I think it would have been better for me to cook the konnyaku right in the cream itself in my case. I will definitely try to make this again because apart from the tough texture, it actually tasted pretty good. I would probably use agar-agar powder instead. Also, the orange chilli caramel sauce did not turn out as described in the recipe. It did not thicken like caramel, and the chili did not turn out looking like the picture posted on the website. I had to cut slices of chili to garnish mine instead.

Danielle made lamb for everyone, but she was very thoughtful to have made Suzanne and I a vegetarian version of her dish using wild mushrooms. Jillian also used wild mushrooms in her dish and it was delish! It’s amazing to see that both dishes turned out so differently and yet so yummy using the same main ingredient. Jillian, who is a self-proclaimed health nut (I think the whole group is … oh, despite the fact that she doesn’t like vegetables –> CORRECTION: JILL LOVES HER VEGES! LOL), used fresh wholewheat lasagna sheets to wrap the cannellonis.

While Lisa played host (who also has to supply drinks), I helped her with her ricotta fritters. I had fun making them and the recipe actually worked. I used 2 metal spoons to shape the batter into egg-shaped balls and wet the fork to flatten them a tiny bit prior to frying. I really do think that I’m more of a savoury food type of cook than a dessert maker…

Another highlight of that night was Ted Whipp. He had graced us with his presence so that he could write about our cooking club. We’re really looking forward to the article in the local papers in the near future 

Here’s who made what:

• Jordana (appetizer) - Garlic Herbed Cheese Spread
• Lisa (salad) - Spinach Salad With Marinated Mushrooms and Ricotta Fritters
• Danielle (main dish) - Lamb Fillet with Candied Onions, Fennel and Whisky
• Jillian (main dish) - Wild Mushroom Cannelloni
• Suzanne (side dish) - Cheese and Chilli Muffins
• Christine (dessert) - Lemon Grass Panna Cotta with Orange Chili Caramel

A week ago on Feb 25, we had our first cooking club challenge. Danielle from Maple Syrup and Poutine was the host and her theme of choice was Canadian Food. I’ve got to say that it was quite a tough challenge to me, a newcomer to Canada, since my assignment was to prepare a main dish for the group (there were 6 of us).

Canada is a melting pot of cultures, like Malaysia and the U.S. and being a vegetarian, seafood was sort of out of the question for me. I don’t know much about the Native people’s cuisine, and a quick search on the WWW wasn’t as fruitful as I’d thought it would be because seafood seems to be the apparent main dish choice for many Canadians. Then I thought, I could make something with my vegetarian fish, since not many non-veges know about the options that vegetarians have. The “fish” is made in Taiwan (Taiwan makes really good and yummy meat substitutes, but pricey) but unfortunately, I was only able to find them in Toronto. So, I went to Toronto to get them when I went to see my in-laws in Toronto for Chinese New Year earlier in February. I had found a yummy recipe for potato-crusted Halibut steak, whereby I could just use P.E.I. potatoes to comply with the Canadian food theme. LOL! Anyway, here’s what we had that night. Everyone went home extremely satisfied that night, and quite honestly, it was one of the best Monday nights I’ve had in a while

Drinks by Danielle: Caesar and MonarchVidal from Pelee Island Winery (local to Windsor).
Apparently, Caesar is a Canadian drink… we all learned something new that night.

Brie, Apple and Walnut Phyllo Triangles by Lisa.

Pistachio Crusted Fish by Suzanne (see recipe below).
Suzanne was so nice to use zuchinni as my “fish” since I was not able to have the special Atlantic salmon that she bought for everyone.

Pork Tenderloin with Scallops and Blueberry Beer Sauce by Jillian (see recipe below).
Although I wasn’t able to taste the pork and scallops, the blueberry sauce was amazing on the pistachio crust.

Wild Rice Pilaf with Butternut Squash & Dried Cranberries by Danielle.
I will be making this soon since I have a butternut squash and dried cranberries sitting at home now…

Modified Potato-Crusted Halibut Steaks by Christine (me). See recipe changes below.

Homestyle Tarte Tatin by Jordana (see recipe below).

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Pistachio Crusted Atlantic Salmon

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard
2 tsp hot horseradish
3/4 cup fresh whole-grain bread crumbs (to make: break 1 large piece of multigrain bread into chunks and place in a food processor or mini chopper. pulse on and off until soft crumbs are formed).
1/3 cup shelled pistachios
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 fresh, skinless salmon fillets, about 6 oz (170 g) each and 1-inch thick
2 tsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a shallow baking pan with cooking spray and set aside (or just line a pan with tin foil, if you are cooking fish with skin on).
2. In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, mustard and horseradish. Set aside. Using a food processor or mini chopper, grind pistachios until finely ground but not powdery. Transfer to a medium bowl and add fresh bread crumbs, parmesan, parsley, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Stir gently using a fork. Add olive oil mixture and stir again, just until crumb mixture is moistened (like you’re making a crust for a cheesecake).
3. Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle fish lightly with salt and pepper. Place in baking pan. Press 1/4 crumb mixture on top of each fish fillet. Drizzle tops with melted butter.
4. Bake on middle oven rack for about 15 mins, depending on thickness of fish. Be careful not to overcook the fish. Turn on the broiler and broil for 1 minute. Crumbs should be golden brown and fish should flake easily with a fork. Serve immediately.

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Medallions of Pork with Nova Scotia Scallops and Blueberries
(from The Taste of Nova Scotia Cookbook, C. Lief and H. MacKenzie)

1. Saute shallots in butter, add mashed blueberries and sugar and bring to a boil. Stir in beer, cook for 2-3 minutes. Add stock and cook for several more minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and gradually blend in cream.
2. Cut pork into medallions around 1 inch thick. Pound between sheets of wax paper until 1/2 thin. Saute pork medallions in butter for 5 minutes; add scallops and continue to saute an additional 5 minutes. Pour blueberry sauce, then top with scallops and pork.

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Homestyle Tarte Tatin
From Bonnie Stern’s Essentials of Homecooking (page 183)
Recipe adapted by Jordana who is not a baker…

¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup butter
10 apples peeled, cored and sliced (I used Granny Smith)
375 grams of puff pastry (about ¾ of a package of Tenderflake defrosted)
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp granulated sugar

1. Sprinkle ¾ cup sugar over bottom of a 10 or 12 inch nonstick ovenproof skillet. Cook on medium-high until sugar melts and turns golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not stir once sugar has dissolved. Add butter and melt.
2. Add apples and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 to 15 minuets, or until apples are tender and almost all liquid has evaporated. Do not stir very much or apples may break. Liquid in pan should be very syrupy. Cook to room temperature.
3. Roll pastry into an 11 or 13 inch circle. Place over apples. Cut out a few team slits and tuck edges of pastry inside pan.
4. Brush with egg and sprinkle with 2 tbsp sugar. Bake in a preheated 400 F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until browned.
5. While pie is hot, run a knife inside edge of pastry and invert onto a large serving plate.

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Vegetarian Potato-Crusted Soy Fish

For sauce
1 cup dry white wine
1 large shallot, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce — I used sushi wine instead because Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies
1/2 cup chopped flat-leafed parsley leaves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For mayonaise mixture
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped drained capers
4 flat anchovies, rinsed, patted dry, and chopped fine — substituted with miso paste
six 1-inch-thick boneless halibut steaks (each about 7 ounces) — substituted with soy fish steaks
3/4 pound russet (baking) potatoes (about 1 1/2) — substituted with P.E.I. potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil plus additional if necessary

Preheat oven to 400°F. and lightly oil a shallow baking pan.

1. Make sauce: In a heavy saucepan boil wine with shallot until reduced to about 1/2 cup. Remove pan from heat and whisk in lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and parsley. Add oil in a stream, whisking until combined well, and season with salt and pepper. Keep sauce warm.
2. Mayonaise mixture: In a small bowl stir together mayonnaise, capers, anchovies, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Pat fish steaks dry and season with salt and pepper. Spread mayonnaise mixture evenly on top of steaks.
4. Peel potatoes and quarter lengthwise. Grate potatoes coarse, preferably using a food processor. Pat a heaping 1/4 cup potato evenly on mayonnaise mixture on each steak.
5. In a 12-inch non-stick skillet heat 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Carefully arrange 2 steaks, potato sides down, in oil and cook, pressing down occasionally with a slotted spatula, about 5 minutes, or until potato is golden brown and cooked through. Carefully invert steaks as browned into oiled pan (potato sides should be up) and season with salt and pepper. Repeat procedure with remaining steaks, adding more oil to skillet if necessary.
6. Bake steaks in pan in middle of oven 10 to 15 minutes, or until just cooked through.
7. Serve steaks with sauce and garnish with parsley.

This is utterly stupid, but the I was going to make Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Black Bean Soup but I had accidentally bought a can of organic BAKED BEANS instead of black beans, but it was too late to stop cooking so I went ahead to make my soup anyway. Beans are beans, whatever. Plus, I’ve been bitten by the cold bug, so I’m craving for something soupy and sour.  I’ll post Trader Joe’s original recipe first, and then I’ll share my modified recipe.

• 2 cups of diced onions
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 (15oz) can black beans, undrained
• 1 cup chunky salsa
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• Plain yogurt

OK, here’s how mine was put together, and I gotta tell you, this is the AWESOMEST soup I’ve made in a long time. I might just keep this recipe for our office’s annual chili cookoff… hehe…

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 chopped large sweet onion (2 cups of chopped celery if prefer to not use onion)
• 1 (15oz) can baked beans with sauce
• 2 tsp English curry powder (because I didn’t have cumin)
• 2 cups chopped tomatoes (because I prefer using fresh ingredients whenever I can, so no pre-made salsa for me)
• 3 chopped jalapenos
• 1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder 
• 1 juiced fresh lime (more if you like it sour)
• Salt to season
• Chopped cilantro for garnish (more to cook in soup if preferred)
•  Plain yogurt

Method

1. Saute onions in olive oil until semi-soft.
2. Add curry powder or cumin, Mexican oregano and jalapenos and cook until soft.
3. Pour in baked beans and its sauce, tomatoes and vegetable broth.
4. Stir to combine and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and add in lime juice.
6. Season with salt and garlic powder.
7. Garnish with a dollop of yogurt and cilantro.