The Cooking Chronicles: Saturday Eats

We had a recent Saturday pass that didn’t involve any errands besides our weekly trip to the City Market to complete, or any events to attend that would have had us running out the door. It was refreshing, actually – being able to cook several meals at home in a single day, and taking my sweet time to do so.

Portobello Mushroom and Ham Eggs Benedict

While perusing the menu at Wake Bistro in Calgary, we came upon their gluten-free version of eggs benedict, which featured a portobello mushroom base instead of the traditional English muffin. Though neither of us ordered it, it was hard not to think it was a great idea; it is a seamless way of adding a meaty punch.

That Saturday, having picked up some beautiful mushrooms from MoNa earlier in the day, I wanted to put together a similar eggs benedict for lunch. While the portobellos were roasting in the oven, I whipped up some yogurt hollandaise and poached two eggs from Sunworks Farm. We had some ham in the fridge, so I layered it on for even more flavour.

Portobello mushroom and ham eggs benedict

Though Mack would have preferred some sort of bread in addition to the mushroom, I really liked it (isn’t a runny egg yolk one of life’s simple pleasures?). Some spinach would have been great as well, for colour and texture.

I heart soft poached eggs

Sort-of Classic Meatloaf

Though I’ve been meaning to try one of Valerie’s recipes for some time, I just haven’t gotten around to it. We finally did, though to be fair, we modified her Mom’s classic meatloaf to the point where we probably didn’t do it justice.

The adaptations were made mostly because we didn’t have the right ingredients on hand – we only had Four Whistle Farm ground beef and Irvings ground pork on hand (no veal), and instead of side bacon, only Irvings bacon ends. We also substituted panko bread crumbs for ground crackers.

Other than that, we stayed true to the instructions, compensating quantities for the fact that we were only using 2 pounds of meat. We were able to make two medium loaves.

Sort-of classic meatloaf, served with a cucumber-carrot salad and garlic toast (note to self: use a serrated knife next time)

We loved the salty surprise of bacon in every other bite, and the texture of the meatloaf itself – it had stayed very moist, in spite of the fact that it had stayed in the oven for close to an hour.

Thanks, Valerie, for a winning recipe. We will be making it again and hopefully to the letter of your directions next time!

The Cooking Chronicles: Weeknight Suppers

It is so often said that it is almost a cliché: after a long day’s work, favoured recipes are those that are fast but flavourful. But I suppose that’s why it is a cliché – because it is true! Below are two weeknight suppers we made recently; one that worked out well, and one that didn’t.

Pan-fried Crumbed Fish and Fries

I had photocopied a recipe for pan-fried crumbed fish and fries from Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food quite some time ago, but for whatever reason, didn’t pull it out again until last week. We had two haddock fillets from Ocean Odyssey and some potatoes from Eat Local First ready to use.

The fish turned out really nice, and seared on the hot pan, the panko-breading turned into a satisfyingly crispy crust. I definitely preferred this to Mark Bittman’s cornmeal crusted fish.

Pan-fried fish and “fries”, served with Greens, Eggs and Ham mixed heritage greens

The potatoes, on the other hand, taught us two lessons:

1) to make good fries, one must have patience. The second batch we left in the oven for nearly double the time specified on the recipe actually resembled fries instead of just starchy white, parboiled potatoes.

2) don’t use old potatoes. Or at least, know when a potato is past its prime and should be thrown out. I had let the potatoes sit in my pantry for too long before moving them to the fridge, and the taste was definitely off. You learn from experience, right?

Curried Tomato Soup with Eggs

Most of Mark Bittman’s recipes have been written for those looking for a quick fix. As a result, it’s easy to flip through The Food Matters Cookbook to find a dinner idea almost instantly, and last week the curried tomato soup with eggs (his play on makhani, a spicy Indian tomato sauce that’s used for braising hard-boiled eggs) caught my eye.

With the use of some punchy Malaysian curry powder, balanced with the creamy sweetness of coconut milk, the soup was flavourful and packed with vegetables. I particularly liked the inclusion of a boiled egg garnish (we used Greens, Eggs and Ham duck eggs), for an added richness and texture.

Curried tomato soup with eggs

Best of all, the pot yielded several servings of leftovers…perhaps the best reward to be reaped from home cooking!

The Cooking Chronicles: Breakfast Meetings

For the past few months, Mack and I have been hosting the Eat Alberta planning meetings at our place. It just made sense, location and finance wise.

Since we didn’t have to travel at all for the meetings, I’ve been making an effort to prepare and serve the group baked goods (and some weeks, have had great help from Su and Valerie). After all, no fruitful discussions can come on an empty stomach!

Cream Drop Scones

A Dinner with Julie recipe for cream drop scones was great in a pinch. Five minutes of prep, fifteen minutes in the oven, I pulled them out just as the group was arriving.

We served it with some Johnson Family Farm butter and August Organics jam, and in spite of the sugar sprinkle, I found the added sweetness from the jam necessary to bump up the flavour. Valerie commented that the biscuits would work well in a strawberry shortcake.

Cream drop scones

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

More recently, I made a batch of blueberry yogurt muffins, using yogurt from Smoky Valley Goat Cheese (really, one of the most inexpensive products you can buy at the City Market alongside MoNa’s cremini mushrooms – $3 for a 480 mL container of farm fresh yogurt).

I probably could have included more orange zest for further citrus zing, but in terms of texture, the muffins had nice crackly tops that gave way to moist, fluffy interiors. A definite winner!

Blueberry yogurt muffins

Like the breakfast banana muffins, I’m truly learning that baking doesn’t have to be an activity relegated to a Sunday afternoon. If you have ten minutes, you can bake too!

The Cooking Chronicles: Creature of Comfort

Like Brooke, I know this warming trend should really trigger some sort of change in the kinds of dishes I should be craving, but the reality is – I love cold weather comfort foods. So though at some point a transition to lighter, more seasonal fare will take place, I’m going to take my sweet time.

Potato-Crusted Quiche

A few weeks ago, one of my coworkers talked about her favourite quiche recipe – instead of the usual pastry crust, she liked to use shredded potatoes as the base, pressed into a pie plate. I’d really never considered potatoes as a base before, but it seemed like an idea too good not to try.

I found a recipe for a potato-crusted quiche that involved slices of potatoes, a great way to use up the bag of baby potatoes I’d picked up from Kuhlmann’s. As directed, we tossed slices of potato with melted butter, parmesan and seasonings, then did our best to artfully arrange the slices in two pie plates.

Crust, pre-baking

After baking them for half an hour, we filled them with a mixture of cream and Greens, Eggs and Ham duck eggs and threw ham, mushrooms and cheddar in one, and sautéed onions and spinach bacon and parmesan in the other. We served the quiche with a side of mixed heritage greens, also from Greens, Eggs and Ham.

Potato-crusted quiche

Quiche with a side of greens

Amanda stopped by for dinner that night, and loved the quiche – as scalloped potatoes are a favourite of hers, she especially appreciated the potato base. Mack and I both really enjoyed the quiche as well – no doubt, this will be a recipe we will be coming back to again.

Vij’s Stewed Cinnamon-Scented Lamb Curry

The last lamb stew I made was a bit of a bomb – too sweet, and more than anything, highlighted the gamey taste of the meat, something Mack was not a fan of. With one more package of lamb stew from Eat Local First left to use, I wanted to find a recipe that he would actually like. Vij’s stewed cinnamon-scented lamb curry seemed like a good fit, given the strong flavours and Mack’s affinity towards curried dishes.

I had to do a few substitutions – canola oil instead of ghee, sour cream instead of yogurt, and just 1lb of meat instead of 2, but other than that, I followed the recipe as printed. I wasn’t sure the sauce would ever thicken, but it did, to a luxurious consistency. The curry was most pointedly infused with cloves (with the cinnamon barely detectable), but the flavours were very similar to the shortcut butter chicken dish that is a staple in our kitchen. The lamb was super tender after two hours on the stove, and, hurrah! wasn’t gamey at all. Mack gave it the thumbs up.

Vij’s lamb curry

The Cooking Chronicles: More Comfort Food

I always have great timing: just as the weather starts to get warm, I am still writing about comfort food! Here are a few recipes we tried over the past few weeks:

Lamb Stew with Sundried Tomatoes

We pulled out the slow cooker for a Company’s Coming lamb stew recipe. Intrigued by the inclusion of sundried tomatoes and honey, we thought it’d be a great way to use some of the Four Whistle Farm lamb obtained through the Good Food Box.

In addition to the tomatoes were the usual suspects (onions, carrots, potatoes, beef stock), but unfortunately, they couldn’t save the dish. The honey and tomatoes made the dish much too sweet, and worse, the time in the slow cooker stripped the latter of flavour, leaving behind unpleasant wisps of rehydrated tomatoes.

Lamb stew with sundried tomatoes

We still have another pound of lamb stew in the freezer, and funnily enough, the Good Food Box delivery actually came with a free lamb cookbook. We’ll likely turn to it the next time around.

Chicken and Leek Pot Pie

This recipe for chicken and leek pot pie looked too good to pass up. We cheated by starting with a store-bought rotisserie chicken instead of cooking our own, and didn’t bother straining out the gravy, but the results were fantastic! The biscuit topping was particularly delectable, and is worth the minor effort (we’re used to slapping on a puff pastry crust, but this was so much better).

Instead of cooking for one, we quadrupled the recipe, and ended up with two 8-inch pies. And though Mack usually gets bored with eating the same dishes for lunch and dinner, but it wasn’t so with this pie – he happily cleaned out all of the leftovers!

Chicken and leek pot pie

Hearty Tomato, Sausage and Bean Stew

While in line at the grocery store, the February 2011 Canadian Living magazine cover caught my eye with a picture of a hearty tomato, sausage and bean stew. We had some Italian sausages in the freezer and the rest of the necessary ingredients in the pantry, so it was a great go-to meal.

Hearty tomato, sausage and bean stew

Flavour-wise though, the pasta e fagioli we made earlier in the year was much more memorable (likely because it included bacon instead of sausage), so I’m not sure this stew will get a regular rotation.

Though I’ve enjoyed the soups and stews of winter, I am looking forward to the transition towards some seasonal dishes of spring soon!

The Cooking Chronicles: Sweet Treats

I don’t bake sweet treats as often as I want to – most of the products out of the oven are more utilitarian in nature – muffins or scones to be taken for breakfast and the like. So it’s nice to have a reason to do so, and visits and occasions are some of the best excuses!

Muffins that Taste Like Doughnuts

Out of Muffin Mania (the same book that gave us Best Ever Banana Muffins), came a recipe for muffins that taste like doughnuts (the name reminds me of Conan’s “puppies dressed as cats” segment, heh).

I decided to make them just before we were to drop by Grandma Male’s house one afternoon. They were easy to make, and produced six large muffins – just enough for us to taste together, with some leftovers for Grandma Male.

Muffins that taste like doughnuts

The texture reminded us of store-bought cake doughnuts, and with a topping of cinnamon sugar, they did taste a little like doughnuts. Next time, I’d be apt to coat the entire muffin in melted butter before a quick shake in a plastic bag filled with cinnamon sugar (instead of just sprinkling the tops with the topping mixture).

Oatmeal Cookies

Mack loves oatmeal raisin cookies, so it was about time I made some for him. I tried Mark Bittman’s recipe, particularly great because it lists alternative ingredients to easily adapt it to vegetarian and vegan standards.

In place of butter, I used canola oil, and instead of nuts, I added chocolate, but other than that, I stuck pretty close to the traditional cookie recipe.

The results were okay – though chock full of oats, raisins and chocolate chips, the dough itself seemed more crumbly than usual, perhaps a result of the oil vs. butter substitution. There also wasn’t enough hints of spice, so in all, the cookies were a bit bland. I’d definitely play up the cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice next time.

Oatmeal cookies

Mack liked the cookies though, and the recipe made a large enough batch that we were even able to freeze some for a rainy day (as Bittman directs). Once the bag is done, I’ll be able to make an even tastier batch!

The Cooking Chronicles: Made with Love

For Valentine’s Day, Mack made me dinner. And not just any dinner – a heart-shaped calzone (take that, Boston Pizza and Papa Murphy’s).

It was simple – he used a familiar dough recipe, and filled the calzone with some of our favourite pizza toppings – sautéed onions and mushrooms, pepperoni, mozzarella. Out of the oven, it was golden brown and perfect.

We did end up watching Jeopardy, though not intentionally (Watson is darn amazing, and after day 2, is really showing up the humans).

But as everyone knows – it’s not how you spend Valentine’s Day, but who you spend it with. Thanks, Mack, for a lovely evening.

The Cooking Chronicles: “Apples to Oysters”

I just finished Margaret Webb’s Apples to Oysters: A Food Lover’s Tour of Canadian Farms. The book chronicles Webb’s journey across Canada as she visited farms as diverse as oyster beds in Prince Edward Island, a cheesemaker in Quebec, a hog farm in Manitoba, and an apple orchard in British Colombia. She explores many of the issues that will be familiar to those who have read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, but there’s something about the Canadian examples she provides that makes it a worthwhile read.

Like many food memoirs, Apples to Oysters features recipes at the end of each chapter. Particularly fitting, a majority of the recipes are from the farmers themselves, which helps readers connect with their stories even further.

Zest’s Mushroom Soup

A recipe for Zest’s mushroom soup enhanced with ground flax seed was a good excuse to pick up a container of Prairie Gold Flax Seed from the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market – I had wanted to introduce flax to our diet at some point anyway.

Instead of a roux to thicken the soup, ground flax is whisked into the stock, which is then combined with sauteed onions, MoNa cremini mushrooms and port. The flax mixture lent the soup a sort of gelatinous quality almost immediately. I was hoping it would dissipate with further heating, but it remained, and wasn’t the most appealing quality to have in a soup.

Mushroom soup with parmesan toasts

We didn’t find the flax had a distinct taste we could point to, but I’m not sure we will continue with many more experiments – or at least not to the same degree: we discovered that Mack is allergic to flax!

Bev and Keith’s Witches’ Brew (Chili Con Carne)

We were more successful with a recipe for Bev and Keith’s Witches’ Brew, a version of chili con carne. It was very similar to the beef chili we usually make, except that it included bacon and brown rice. We did change one thing – draining the beans before adding them, and throwing in some beef stock.

Given no herbs or seasonings were called for besides salt, pepper and cayenne, we weren’t expecting it to be as tasty as it was – it was a great one bowl meal. But then again, Irvings Farm Fresh bacon is as good of a flavour base as any. Best of all, we ended up with a ton of leftovers, perfect for a week where time to cook was limited.

Chili con carne

Bev and Keith’s Witches Brew

1.5lb organic ground beef
1TBS salt and pepper each
1TBS cayenne pepper
.25lb organic bacon, cut into 1/4inch dice
2 large Spanish onions, cut into 1/4inch dice
2 large red/green bell peppers, cut into 1/4inch dice
1/2lb button mushrooms, sliced
3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped or 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
2 cans (each 19oz) red kidney beans
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 can (5 1/2oz) tomato paste

Preheat oven to 350F.

Fry the ground beef in a large, heavy oven-proof pan over medium heat. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. When the beef is cooked through, remove from heat and rain off the fat.

Fry the bacon over medium-high heat. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel; drain off any fat remaining in the pan. Add the onions, bell peppers and mushrooms to the pan; sauté until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, beans with their liquid, rice and tomato paste. Stir in the ground beef and bacon. Adjust seasoning.

Bake, covered, for about 30 minutes or until heated through and bubbling. Makes 6 – 8 servings.

From: Bev Everts, Pincher Creek, AB, as printed in From Apples to Oysters by Margaret Webb.

The Cooking Chronicles: Slow Cooker Magic

Since my sister gave me a slow cooker (on my request) two Christmases ago, I think I’ve only used it twice. So like Steph, I made a goal to use the appliance more this year. I mean, what incentive should I need more than the guarantee of a dinner prepared, without much effort?

Pasta e Fagioli

We started our slow cooker reacquaintance with one of Grandma Male’s favourite recipes – pasta e fagioli, from Company’s Coming (their recipes are almost impossible to find on the internet).

It’s an easy soup to throw together – I cooked the bacon and softened the vegetables the night before, put them in a bowl in the fridge, then combined everything in the machine in the morning. All I needed to do when I returned home from work was cook some pasta to add into the soup.

The bacon really makes a difference (especially when you start with the good stuff – Irvings Farm Fresh dry cured side bacon), but other than that, it’s a pretty light soup, chock full of vegetables and beans. With some crusty bread, it’s a hearty soup to come home to – literally.

Pasta e fagioli

Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Chili With Sweet Potatoes

Oh, this one could have been great.

A Real Simple recipe, it was easy to prepare the ingredients for the slow-cooker vegetarian chili with sweet potatoes the night before – I was intrigued by the inclusion of cocoa powder and cinnamon. When I got home (about 8 hours after the slow cooker had been set to low), I turned the machine to “keep warm” so Mack and I could have dinner together – at that point, everything in the pot looked great; the sweet potatoes looked tender, but still held their shape. Nearly two hours later, when I opened the lid again, it was a textural mess – it was little more than baby food at that point. I guess our the “warm” setting on our slow cooker is quite warm, so continued to cook down the vegetables.

Mack wasn’t as averse to the chili as much as I was, and what flavours we could discern were interesting, but not outstanding (we chalked it up to the cocoa). But more than anything, it was hard to get over the texture.

Vegetarian chili with sweet potatoes

Lesson learned: always watch the cooking time, even with a slow cooker! Next up: a meat stew of some sort.

The Cooking Chronicles: O Sol’ Meatos Hot Dogs

Otto Van Bismarck is credited with the famous quote, “Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” With the trend towards preservative- and filler-free sausages made using natural ingredients and transparent methods, however, some processed meats don’t necessarily have that same negative connotation any longer.

With the number of small producers that are thriving because of the demand for tasty, artisan sausages (Irvings Farm Fresh comes to mind), it was only a matter of time before hot dogs – the other near blasphemous processed meat, were treated with the same respect.

Spring Creek Ranch does make artisan ‘dogs with natural casings, though at this point, they are only sold at the Monster Burger outlet at the Northlands Expo Centre (Kirstin Kotelko said that a wider commercial release may be in the cards). O Sol’ Meatos, a small producer out of Kitscoty, Alberta, on the other hand, does offer artisan hot dogs for at-home consumption. We bought a package of four through the Good Food Box recently to give them a try.

O Sol’ Meatos hot dogs

There weren’t any cooking instructions on the package, and being without a barbecue (which would have been our preferred preparation method), we decided steaming them in a sauté pan with some water would be our best bet.

Even during cooking, we could tell these weren’t regular hot dogs. They were pungent in the best way possible – we couldn’t think of a better word to describe it than “beefy”. We steamed them for just over five minutes, but in hindsight, should have inserted a meat thermometer to keep a close eye on the temperature, as they didn’t need to be cooked that long. Talking to Brian and Rhonda at the Culina Muttart launch, they said our suggestion of including instructions was a reasonable one – given the lean meat encased in the hot dog, overcooking them would be an easy mistake to make.

We ate the hot dogs in German buns from Bee Bell Bakery (they worked well enough, but if anyone has any suggestions of good hot dog buns, please do share!). The casings were crisp, like those normally associated with breakfast sausage, and the meat directly around the casing was pink, as one would normally expect. The centre, however, was brown, and had the consistency of sausage meat, dense and unyielding, with a deep, smoky flavour.

Brian and Rhonda explained that nitrates (added as a preservative) lend the pink hue to commercial hot dogs. Their product is nitrate-free, except for the naturally occurring nitrates in smoke, which clarified why only the circumference of the hot dog was pink.

Hot dog!

On the side we served a very simple red cabbage salad with lemon and black pepper, a Molly Wizenberg recipe. We loved the crunch, and it was a great seasonal replacement for the more common green salad (the small cabbage we bought from August Organics made six generous servings of this salad).

Red cabbage slaw

We just bought another package of the O Sol’ Meatos hot dogs this week. I’m sure when cooked right, they will be even better!

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