Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion

I am not the first person to have fallen in love with this recipe and I won't be the last. In fact I am back in a Marcella Hazan phase all because of it. I actually do not have the book this one came from, I have 3 of her books but this recipe comes from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Someone on the Chowhound forums brought it up and it struck my curiosity. Then I noticed several other bloggers had fallen for it too: The Amateur Gourmet, masak-masak, and I Like to Cook. I highly suggest you try this recipe, it is dead easy and cheap too. I splurged and bought nice san marzano tomatoes but even with those the dish cost less then $5 for two people.

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion: (serves 4)
1 large can Italian plum tomatoes
5 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, peeled and cut in half
1T salt

pasta
Parmagianno-Reggiano cheese, grated

1. Put the tomatoes in a saucepan and with very clean kitchen scissors cut them up. Add the butter, onion and salt and bring to a light simmer.
2. Cook uncovered for 45 minutes or until the fat floats from the tomato. Stir occasionally, using a wooden spoon to mash any large piece of tomato. Taste and correct for salt. Discard onion and toss sauce with pasta. Serve with grated cheese.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Pasta, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Italian Food

Chicken Salad with Apples and Chives

I almost used this for my entry to Leftover Tuesday's but decided instead to save it for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging. This week the creator of Weekend Herb Blogging, the queen of all things South Beach, Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen is hosting - don't forget to check out the round up.

I actually needed to find some use for the chives on my front porch which are really thriving from all the rain we have had. I love chives, but I find that sometimes they are too subtle for the things that I cook. They were quite nice in this salad, they were not a stand out but rather a nice compliment to the other flavors. An exciting thing about our new cabin is the ample space I will have to grow a real garden. However, it is north facing with a hill behind it and lots of huge cedars so sunlight will be at a minimum. I am currently making a mental list of all things growable in this environment and chives are one of them! They love a dark wet climate as long as there is good drainage, it is no wonder that they are doing so well on my porch now. The other very exciting thing? Apparently deer don't like chives or almost any herb!

I served this salad on some toasted homemade light rye bread which is so dense you can really only eat a half sandwich. I think it would also be really good on a light focaccia that you could grill.

Chicken Salad with Apple and Chives: (makes enough for 1 large or 2 small sandwiches)
1 chicken breast, cooked cooled and shredded
1/4 celery stalk, cut in half lengthwise and finely sliced
1/4 apple, cut into 2cm long pieces and finely sliced.
-2T mayo
-1t Dijon mustard
-small lemon wedge
-lots of pepper and some salt to taste

1. Squeeze the lemon on the apples and toss to prevent apples from browning, discard lemon. Combine all ingredients and fill sandwiches.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Sandwich, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Cheap Food

Roasted Vegetable Soup with Feta

Along with my pledge to save money comes my need to make the most of leftovers. I find it really difficult to get inspiration, and we throw out leftovers more often then I would like to admit. However, I actually took that into account when I made last nights dinner with the hopes of turning out a soup. So today while I was walking home and thinking it needed a little something extra when I decided that feta would be perfect! The vegetables are so naturally sweet that they need some saltiness for balance. I served it with a chicken salad sandwich and it was more then enough food for dinner.

Even better then saving a few dollars this gives me the chance to participate in a food blogging event that I haven't ever done before! The event is called Leftover Tuesdays and was the brainchild of David at Cooking Chat. This week's event is being hosted by a fellow Canadian at What's Cooking? Because of my new Cheap Eats kick I am really looking forward to the roundup! This recipe isn't creative enough to make much of a splash at the event especially since it is Ina Garten's idea but it's the thought that counts. Next time I am thinking it would be a great base for a risotto...

Roasted Vegetable Soup with Feta
(serves 4)

3C leftover roasted veggies
4C chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
pepper
50g feta cheese, crumbled
fresh parsley for garnish, finely chopped

1. In a blender combine half the veggies and half the chicken stock. Blend and add to a soup pot. Do the same with the remainder.
2. Add the bay leaf and bring to a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Remove bay leaf and season to taste (don't add too much salt as the feta is salty). Ladle into bowls and crumble feta on top.


For the roast veggies, all cut into 1.5" pieces:
1/3lb carrots
3 parsnips
1 sweet potato
1 small fennel bulb
1 small butternut squash
2T olive oil

1. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes at 425 turning occasionally.

Cheap Eats Damage:
-vegetables ~$5
-chicken stock $1 (I buy gourmet concentrated stock a $10 container lasts me almost a year and it is msg free)
-feta ~$1

Total Cost: $1.50 per serving

Technorati Tags: Cook, Soup, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Vegetarian, Cheap Food

Chicken Gravy

Still on my cheap eats kick, I thought I would try and make one dinner and turn it into several. Since it is Sunday night anyways, what could be more appropriate then a roast chicken? I am currently on a bit of an Ina Garten kick so I used some of her ideas as my inspiration. In fact I even used her Perfect Roast Chicken recipe. The idea that I really liked though was to roast twice as many veggies as you can possibly eat and then turn the remainder into a soup the next day. Super fabulous - although I since I haven't actually made it yet I guess my enthusiasm is a little premature. I also intend to use the roast chicken as sandwich filler for lunches and in something for dinner tomorrow as well. If you add the $9 for the chicken and $8 of veggies that is still a darn good deal, considering that I think it will be at least 6 servings, 2 dinners for two and 1 or 2 lunches.

The other success of the evening was my gravy which I think is the best it has ever been! My gravy abilities are not stellar though... so I am sure anyone out there with good gravy skills could give me some pointers. However we ate it so fast there were no pictures, surely a good sign. I can't use any of the gravy cheaters though - as they have too much MSG for my body to handle.

Chicken Gravy:
-2T butter
-1 shallot, sliced
-1T flour
-1C-2C chicken stock
-1 chicken pan

1. Remove your chicken and veggies from the roasting tin and pour off all the fat. Turn the heat on to medium and let the pan get hot.
2. Meanwhile in a small saucepan sauté the shallots in butter over medium low heat. Continue stirring the shallots until they start to brown.
3. When the roasting pan is hot add 1C of chicken stock. Using a wooden spoon scrape the brown bits of the pan until they become part of the chicken stock. When you have gotten all the flavour off it, turn the heat off under the pan and set aside.
4. Add the flour to the shallots and whisk. Cook for 2 minutes, whisking regularly. Add the chicken stock/pan drippings (holding back a bit of the other chicken stock) while whisking. Turn up the temperature to medium and allow to simmer whisking occasionally until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If it gets too thick add more chicken stock.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper, strain through a fine mesh sieve and serve immediately.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Cooking, Food, Recipe

Spinach and French Lentil Soup

Even though it is technically spring today it is really cold here and I just biked home in the rain so I am going to post this warming soup I made last week. It was partially an attempt to get a little healthier and partly and attempt to warm my spirits up too.

I have been a little distracted the last two weeks because we just put an offer in on a little cabin outside of Vancouver and it is super exciting. We came to the realization that we really couldn't afford a house here that would satisfy both of us - safe neighbourhood, close to downtown, big yard, not more then 50 years old. It is crazy expensive to live in Vancouver these days. I honestly don't know how anyone can afford it. Since J and I have no dependents and both make decent money, how do people with kids do it? At any rate, we gave up and started looking at a weekend home and were very lucky because we found one. I may finally be able to have a BBQ, yeay! So look forward to my adventures with my first BBQ.

The other side effect of this is that I am going to be poor. No more shopping in the fancy cheese section for me. Because of this I am going to try and make more of an effort to post affordable meals - a section I am calling Cheap Eats. So this is my first Cheap Eat post. This soup is largely inspired from Ina Garten's fabulous and original The Barefoot Contessa.


Spinach and French Lentil Soup:
(serves 4-6)
1 cup french lentils
2 cups onion, chopped (1 onion)
2 cups leeks, chopped, white part only
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
¾ teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 cup celery, chopped (3 stalks)
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 quarts chicken stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups fresh spinach , loosely packed)

1. In a large bowl pour boiling water over the lentils and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large soup pot over medium low heat heat oil and sweat the onions, leeks, garlic with the salt, pepper, cumin and thyme for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrot and celery and cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Add the stock, tomato paste and lentils. Bring to a boil, covered and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.
4. Stir in the spinach and cook for another 5 minutes.

Estimated cost:
$10 total, less then $3 per person.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Soup, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Vegetarian, Cheap Food

Oatmeal Apple Crisp

Our household can't seem to consume enough apples so I had to find something to do with the 8 apples in our fruit bowl and another pending fruit delivery. So once again I made a crisp, however this time I remembered to use oatmeal. I liked this one better then the last but it wasn't entirely perfect. Certainly good, but not quite as good as the one my old roomate used to make. It also tasted better the next day when the apples were all soft. I used Elise's recipe from Simply Recipes. However I would recommend increasing the cooking time by ten minutes. I have repeated it below with the adjusted time increase.

Apple Crisp:
(serves 2-4)

7 tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a mixing bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, and vanilla. Toss to combine.

Layer sliced apples in a 9 x 12 inch baking pan. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal in the bowl. Cut in butter. Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples. Bake 55-60 minutes or until topping looks crunchy and apples are tender.

Lamb Shanks with White Wine and Tomatoes

Another rainy day in Vancouver deserves another stewy meal. Lamb shanks are always a treat so when I saw these beautiful shanks at my grocery store I snatched them up eagerly. I was also proud that besides the lamb I had everything needed to make this meal already - including the mashed potatoes on which they sit. Usually I serve this dish on risotto, since any chance to make risotto is something to take advantage of, and I think I prefer that really. This recipe is adapted from Jamie Oliver's career making The Naked Chef. It is one of his recipes that I continue to make over and over and has never failed to work.

This is also the second week in a row I am using a combination of Lamb and Rosemary as my entry into Weekend Herb Blogging. But I feel as though it is such a classic that it is justified. This week our host is Anna from Morsels and Musings. I am a little jealous of her recent shopping trip, I have similar troubles resisting fun and interesting ingredients.

Lamb Shanks with White Wine and Tomatoes
(serves 4)

4 lamb shanks, trimmed into 1' pieces
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon coriander seed
3 dried thai chiles
2 tablespoons dried rosemary, or fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon flour
2-4 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 large carrot, quartered, and finely sliced
2 celery stalks, finely sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 cup dry white wine
6 anchovies, or 1T anchovy paste
2 14 oz cans plum tomatoes, with juice
handful fresh basil or parsley, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a mortar and pestle crush the chiles and coriander, if you are using dried rosemary crush it too. Chop the rosemary if you are using fresh rosemary. On a plate spread the spice mixture. Add to it the flour and add a really healthy amount of salt and pepper. Stir it around and mix everything together. Dust the lamb shanks in the mixture and rub and pat it right in.
2. In a large dutch oven over medium heat heat 2T of the oil. Brown the shanks on each side and remove and set aside. If more oil is needed add the remaining 2T and heat. Add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring until soft about 8 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for 3 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer for 2 more minutes. Add the anchovies (or anchovy paste) and stir to combine. Then add the tomatoes and tomato juice. Add the lamb and bring up to a boil.
3. Transfer to the oven and simmer, covered for an hour and a half. Remove lid and cook for another half hour.
4. If you have too much liquid, remove the shanks and cover to keep warm, meanwhile boil down the sauce until a little thicker. Season to taste, you will likely want about 1/2t of salt.

Serve over risotto or mashed potatoes. Garnish with parsley or basil.

Spicy Coconut Fish Curry

Wow, it feels good to be sitting here and writing on my iMac again! How I have missed her sleek white exterior and huge bright screen. It turned out that after they fixed the motherboard one of the fans had gone on her too, so she had some serious surgery and I had to wait even longer. Thankfully all my stuff was right where it was what I booted her up - including the picture and the recipe for this (in Macgourmet of course).

First I should speak to just how great the book this recipe comes from is. It's fabulous. I was really craving some southeast Asian food and in googling for cookbook suggestions I discovered not only this book but the Chowhound forums in general. It was actually their cookbook of the month for February on the Home Cooking board. I was lucky enough to find it at the library but I think I may also buy this one - I want to try almost every recipe. My only not-so-successful dish so far has been the Pad Thai - but I think that is mostly my own fault rather then the book.

So - what is it? It's called Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia and it is written by an American\Canadian couple who have merged their love for cooking with their love for traveling and started writing cookbooks. They have several out but this is the only one I have tried (the rest I have on request at the library). All their recipes are part of sections that include beautiful descriptions about the regions the recipes are from. It really puts you in the mood.

This recipe was so good it had my boyfriend asking for more fish - and he usually isn't a huge fan unless it is raw - so thats a good sign. It was also a great way to use up fish from the freezer, I used Tilipia that I had bought at Coscto and vacuum packed. I actually made this again last night and threw in some steamed broccoli at the end, which added some veggies and of course removed some of the authenticity, but never mind. I did modify this recipe from the original a bit to use dried rather then fresh lime leaves but by all means if you can find them - use them. Serve with jasmine rice.


Spicy Coconut Fish Curry (Pas Sousi Haeng)
(serves 2)

2 white fish fillets, or any other freshwater fish
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 dried thai chiles, soaked in 2T of water
2 scallions
2 small shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon veg or peanut oil
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons fish sauce
8 dried kaffir lime leaves
¼ cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

1. Cut fish fillets into at most 1/2" thick pieces that will be an easy to stir fry size. Toss with 1/2t of salt and 1/2t pepper, cover and set aside.
2. Prepare the spice paste. Cut the green onions in half where the white part turns to green, chop and set aside the green part. Cut off the roots and finely mince the rest. Remove the peppers from the soaking water and save the water. Chop them and add to the scallions and chopped shallot. Place in either a mini food processor or mortar and pestle and process into a paste.
3. Prepare all ingredients so they are handy (i.e. chop cilantro).
4. Heat a wok to medium-high heat and add oil. Swirl to coat the pan. Stir Fry the fish just enough to seal but enough to fall apart. (If you are skilled enough brown both sides). You don't want it completely cooked at this point. Remove fish and set aside.
5. Clean wok if necessary and bring back to medium high heat. Open the can of coconut milk without shaking and add the thickest part to the wok. Cook until the oil separates - about 5 minutes. Add spice paste and cook, stirring for about 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add remaining coconut milk and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer. Add fish and lime leaves in and cook until fish is cooked, flake until it is in easy serving pieces. Add most of the scallions and cook for another 30 seconds.
6. Remove from heat and garnish with cilantro and remaining scallions.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Curry, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Fish, Thai Food

Distractions and a few Failures

I haven't posted in a few days because I have been a little distracted and I keep making things that aren't that great. For one thing I am attempting to perfect my Pad Thai recipe and keep failing at it. I am using as a basis the recipe from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet, a book which I have been really impressed with overall. But I keep screwing it up. The first time I made too many noodles for too little sauce and screwed up the dried shrimp. Apparently you have to soak them for at least 4 hours - however the cookbook doesn't mention that, so my first batch included these weird rubbery things. The second time the flavour was a little off as I changed the recipe too much - it wasn't sweet enough, plus I burned the garlic as my wok was too hot. However, I am getting closer and closer and I am committed to having it work as it really isn't all that hard when you get all your ingredients prepped. Maybe 20 minutes prep plus 10 minutes cooking time. At any rate - it looks good doesn't it? A recipe is coming.. I swear!

Also, I made Chicken Marbella from Leite's Culinaria. I had people over on Wednesday for the premiere of Top Model and I thought it would be great because it would be so easy. But I didn't like it that much - clearly evidenced by the fact that there are still leftovers three days later. (This is a recipe from the site but not created by the site. ) This site is chowhound's cookbook of the month by the way - so if you make anything go over and post your results so other people have a chance to see what is good and what isn't so great!

The other distraction has been the combination of being sick (this winter has been the worst) and getting a Wii for my boyfriend for his birthday. I don't usually play video games because I find them difficult to learn but this is quite different. We were playing the golf games last night and you literally swing as though have a club in your hand. Very impressive. In fact it is so amazing I am seriously thinking of investing in Nintendo stock as the technology is so powerful.