Apologies and Potatoes

It's been a little while, and for that I am sorry.  And while I'd like to lay all the blame on my cousin's wedding, that would be rather unfair of me.  Though to be truthful, the majority of my absence is the direct result of them getting married in Costa Rica, and me having to "sacrifice" my self by going.  The part of the blame that lies with me, is in that I had a recipe which I forgot to write down and post to publish while I was away.  

Since I have unpacking, cleaning, and well over 700 photos to sort through, I'm going to give you my everything has already been eaten minus a few staples recipe.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  And let me tell you, it's great for if you've been eating through your food, or just got home from vacation, or even just desperately need to do a grocery run!  

Enjoy the food, and soon enough I'll be posting about my trip and how I made out eating gluten free.  Bueno Dias!

Eggy Bake

2 Tbsp olive oil or butter

3-4 medium potatoes

3-4 medium-small onions

4 eggs

1/4 milk, or milk substitute

good sprinkle garlic powder and fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Dice potatoes into very small and thin pieces.  Slice onions into thin rings. 

Heat butter or oil in a large pan, add potatoes and onions and slowly until onions begin to caramelize.

Transfer potatoes and onions to a lightly greased casserole dish.  In a bowl beat eggs with milk, garlic powder and pepper.  This is the time to add any other spices or herbs you might be feeling like, or need to use up.  Pour egg mixture over potato mixture.

Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes, or until centre is cooked through.  If desired serve with grated or shredded cheese over top.

Leeks and Potatoes

After a long week, I am finally beating that cold that hit me Monday.  Why I tend to get sick at the Holiday's is a complete mystery, but with very few exceptions, every time I get really sick, it's Christmas.  Needless to say, I was not doing quite as much in the kitchen as I would have liked.  Thank goodness I wasn't hosting a Dinner!

Finally, yesterday afternoon, I finally felt well enough to make something, to stand in my tiny little kitchen and create something.  Nothing to crazy mind you.  

Just before the darn cold arrived, I had found several yummy looking items in the produce section of our local Planet Organic, and decided that it was time to put it to good use.  Originally I was crazy enough to pull out leeks, potatoes, cabbage, kale, carrots, onions, mushrooms, garlic and green peppers to throw together a simple meal with few flavors.  Yes, I quickly saw the problem with the few flavors versus my multitude of goodies.  Therefore I decided to pick on item, and then choose a few things to go with it.  The Leeks were calling my name, and from there the potatoes and garlic were a given.  I dug around in my fridge for a moment to locate my homemade chicken stock, and a little bit of heavy cream.  As I was putting everything else way, I was hit by a last minute need to keep out an onion.  From this my new favorite soup (yes, a soup that I actually adore!) was born.

Potato and Leek Soup

If you want more servings, just increase this recipe as need be.  I think it would double, triple, or even sextuple (X6) very well!

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 leek, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cup chicken stock, or other mild flavored stock

3 medium potatoes, diced small *I used Yukon Gold

1/2 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

In large sauce pot, heat butter and olive oil.  Saute onion, garlic and leeks until fragrant, and golden.  

Add chicken stock, and potatoes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Simmer until potatoes are soft.  Mash lightly, leaving most, and stir in cream.  Heat through, and serve.

Simple, yet amazingly delicious, and all that garlic actually isn't over powering!  Of course, if you don't like garlic, leave it out!

Chicken Noodle Soup

The world must be coming to an end, I'm putting up more than one post in a day.  Heck, that's more than I manage to put up most weeks!  What is the reason for this madness?  A good chunk of Nova Scotia is currently powerless, including my place of work.  Earliest ETA for power restoration, 11:30 tonight, and where I work is one of the lucky places.  Other area's are looking at an ETA of 11:30 TOMORROW night.  Yep, that's right, they're going powerless for two days.  This is what happens when Winter decides to rear her very ugly head, and blow in with hurricane strength winds, snow, and freezing rain.  Tree's have been downed, the landscape is white, and most of all, it's still way to windy out there for much to be happening at the airport.  I'm glad I'm not trying to travel today.  

The good thing here is, I have the day to myself.  The last time this happened, feels like a lifetime ago.  Really, it was just over a week ago, but today it's literally just me and my cats.  My roommate is at his parents, or fiance's, or somewhere.  Not too sure where, and me, I'm all alone in my apartment :)  It's a nice change.  The downside, apparently my body chose today to come down with a bit of a cold.  Here's to hoping that having a restful day will mean that when I get up to head in for an absolutely crazy day at work tomorrow, I'm all better.  Wishful thinking?  Perhaps, but it won't stop me.

So while I wish I was baking and concocting some elaborate meal, I've been vegetating on the couch watching Martha Stewart and snuggling with my kitties.  Though I did stand in the kitchen long enough to whip up a delicious and simple chicken noodle soup.  Within half an hour I had a big bowl of steaming, nutrient stuffed soup sitting in front of me, making my nose run from the warmth.  Now if that doesn't conjure images of sexiness, I don't know what does!  As long as you have stock, pasta and greens (which you could leave out very easily if you either don't have or really don't like), and enough energy to stand for 30 minutes, you too can enjoy some soup.  And on a day like today, even if I wasn't sick, I think I'd have been enjoying a big bowl anyway.

Express Chicken Noodle Soup

3/4 cup rice macaroni, uncooked

2 cups chicken stock, homemade or store-bought

2-3 cups sliced greens of your choice

Cook macaroni in salted-like-the-sea water until nearly al dente.  Drain.

Return to pot with stock and greens.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until pasta are cooked to desired tenderness.

Spoon into a big bowl, and and enjoy the healing properties that can only come from chicken noodle soup.

Creamy Cashew Rice with Vegetables

I have no story to go with this dish.  You see, there was no inspiration, in reality this was a dish of desperation.  I failed to do a proper grocery run this past weekend, and therefore the pickings are going to get very slim before Sunday rolls around.  Frankly I have images of me eating nothing but plain rice for a day or two...and I have to say, I really hope that does not come to pass.

In my cupboard, when I went looking today, I found rice and cashews, in the fridge onions, carrots and a pint of grape tomatoes, and finally in the freezer I found the ends of a bag of frozen peas.  This is pretty much what I have to work with for the remainder of the week - do not expect any great recipes after today until I've been shopping!  But for something that was hobbled together, I have to say, it might just be a new favorite budget friendly meal. To make it even better, it took me no more than 30 minutes to prepare, cook, and serve.  Who can complain about that?

Creamy Cashew Rice with Vegetables

1 cup arborio rice

3 cups stock

1/2 cup plain cashews

1 carrot

1 onion

3/4 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut in quarters

coconut oil, or oil of your choice

sprinkle of cheese, optional

In a medium sauce pan bring the stock to a boil.  Add rice and cashews, reduce heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, slice onion and carrot.  Heat some oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  When hot add onion and carrot and cook until starting to soften.  Add the peas, and cook stirring until everything is cooked through.  Finally add the tomatoes, reduce heat to low, and leave until rice is ready - giving the occasional stir.

When rice has absorbed the stock, remove from heat and give it a good stir to make sure the cashews are well mixed in.

Serve rice with vegetables over top.  Make 3-4 servings, depending on size.

Veggie Quinoa

One of my favorite discoveries from just before going gluten free is quinoa - as an example of it's versatility, don't forget about my Quinoa Muffins. Let me tell you, I'm thrilled that it's one of those foods I didn't have to say good bye to. A little nutty, and with a wonderful bite, it makes a brilliant rice alternative. High in protein and fibre, I just feel healthy and well cared for when I eat it.

When I have a long day, I know I'm going to want something filling, hearty and healthy to eat. And if I'm needing to bring both lunch and supper with me, I really don't want to spend too much extra time preparing it all. Quinoa is the perfect food for this reason. And really, through in some great flavors, a few veggies, and you've got a great meal with very little effort.

Veggie Quinoa

In your rice cooker place 1 scoop of quinoa, and add recommend amount of water. If you don't have a rice cooker, use approx 3/4 cup to a cup of quinoa with an equivalent volume of water.

To quinoa add:

1 diced carrot

1 scoop frozen peas

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 sun dried tomatoes, chopped

basil to taste

pinch of salt and pepper

Turn on rice cooker and let it work it's magic. Alternatively, bring to boil on stove, reduce to a simmer and cook until water is absorbed and quinoa is cooked.

If desired, drizzle a little olive oil when done, and serve or package for lunch.

Curried Butternut Soup

Have you ever bought something, and then forgotten you had it?  Well, it happens to me all the time, with the most recent items being sour cream and a butternut squash.  Sadly the sour cream didn't survive my bought of forgetfulness, but the squash did!  Thank goodness they last forever.  I don't even know what made me think of that squash, but for some reason I suddenly remembered it while at work today.  Actually, I also remembered the sour cream, and was going to use both, but it was kind of moldy.  Oops!

What to do with that squash though?  I really didn't want to roast it.  But then I thought that I could make a soup...heck, I could even use some of my most recently made stock (recipe still to come).  Looking around, I realized that I had several tins of coconut milk and some lovely red curry paste in my pantry.  A Thai inspired soup suddenly sprang to mind and off to work I went.  The heat from the curry adds such a lovely depth and warmth to the soup, and the coconut milk cools that heat down, and helps give the soup a luscious creamy texture.  

Give it a try, it's a great pick me up for a cold Fall or Winter day - we're back to Fall here, though I'm sure Winter will make another appearance soon enough.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

15 mL olive oil

100 g onions, diced

500 g butternut squash, peeled and cubed

15 mL red curry paste 

250 mL veggie stock

1/2 tin coconut milk

In a large pot heat olive oil over med-high heat.  Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened and translucent.  Add curry paste and stir to coat onions.

Add cubed squash and veggie stock, bring to boil.  Once at a boil, reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender enough to be mashed with a fork.  Using a potato masher or hand blender, mash/puree squash.  Once uniform, stir in coconut milk and serve.

Makes enough for three.

Wicked Winter

As of this morning, there is no denying Winter has arrived in Nova Scotia.  Thirty centimeters (about 1 ft) of snow had fallen during the night.  Effectively covering the ground with a white blanket, and causing things to grind to a near halt.  We're Canadians, 30 cm slows us down, it doesn't stop us.  However, like most Haligonian's, I was snow bound for the morning, and spent part of my afternoon digging the car out from under all that snow.  

All this cold white stuff, that I'm anything but fond of, left me wanting something warm and satisfying for supper.  Really, when Winter hits there are only a few foods that will take off that chill.  One of the easiest and most satisfying is a great big bowl of Chili.  However, it is this specific desire for Chili is what lead me out into the snow to fight my way into a grocery store, and though the pathetically, poorly plowed roads.  Why couldn't I have wanted something that I had everything for already, as opposed to wanting Chili, when all I had for it was onions and garlic?  Thank goodness Sobey's is just around the corner.  

Lean ground beef was on sale this week, but due to the weather, there was no one around to put any out.  So I started looking at the alternatives, maybe some lower fat turkey, or mild pork.  I even looked over at the ground sausage.  Luckily, out of the corner of my eye I noticed some lovely local lamb for the same price.  Well, if I can have the extravagant purchase for the same cost, I'm going for it!  If you don't like lamb, use one of the other ground meats, any one of them will do.  After all, everything is about what will taste good to YOU (cheesy yes, but true).

After stocking up on the remaining necessary items, plus a few regular grocery items, I fought my way back home, and have determined that I truly need to move out of this frozen country.  Winter is not my friend.  Now, a little about my Chili before you go ahead and make it.  I like, no make that love, beans, therefore my Chili is a little heavier on the beans than most I've tried.  If you have a preferred type of bean, now is the time to use it.  I never use just plain old Kidney beans, so this time I used Chickpeas and Black Beans.  

Next, I've never been a big fan of tomato sauce, so while my Chili is tomato based, it is not as thick as your average Chili.  I find that the one I make, and love, is a more chunky style Chili.  Try, you'll like it.  Heck, my ex determined it was the best Chili she'd ever eaten, and I have yet to have a negative review on it - minus my friend who can not tolerate any beans what so ever in her Chili.

Chili

1 pound ground meat, use a lean meat, but not extra lean - you want some fat, it adds flavour

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

1 large green pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans beans, drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes

2 bay leaves

chili powder

In a large pot cook ground beef until no longer pink.  Do not drain out those lovely fat molecules!  To the cooked meat add all the veggies and cook, stirring constantly, one to two minutes.  Add chili powder - 2 Tbsp is a good starting point as it makes a very mild chili, if you like more heat, go from there.  I'm partial to the addition of about 4 Tbsp, but I like a fair amount of heat.

When chili powder has been mixed around and everything is coated with it, add the beans.  Give everything a nice stir before adding the diced tomatoes and bay leaves.  The Chili is going to look like there isn't enough moisture in it at this time, but don't worry, after it has cooked for a while, the veggies will let out some more water and you'll have plenty of liquid.  Bring to a simmer and leave on medium-low.  

After the pot has simmered away for about an hour, you can take it off and serve.  Corn bread would be a nice side, but the best is a slice of garlicky toast to soak of up the little bit of liquid that stays behind in your bowl.  

This makes a very large pot of Chili, enough for 6-8 servings.  

It's a curry kind of day.

Today was one of those horrible days.  You know the ones where it's not quite winter, not still fall, and has an air of the never ending spring rain?  Really, a fairly common kind of day out here in Nova Scotia, but I was raised an Ontario girl, and I just can't seem to adapt to this weather.  Seven years and I still cringe when it arrives.  It makes me wish I could hop on a plane and head somewhere warm, really, somewhere HOT would be even better.  Matters only become worse, when I realize that it was one year ago today that I came back from a lovely trip to Australia.  Why did I come back?

With the weather the way it is - slushy snow coming down horizontally - all I wanted was something warm and comforting for supper.  What I really wanted was a fantastic Thai Chicken and Noodle soup I ate a few years ago.  Sadly, I have no chicken, no noodles, and no stock in the house right now.  Heck, if I know that  The Italian Gourmet would have some available, and it was by some amazing chance gluten-free, I would have braved the crazy drivers and headed downtown to get some.  Alas, people can't drive, and I know it is not GF, so I headed straight home after work.

After I spent a few minutes staring blankly into my cupboards, I finally clued in that I had coconut milk and curry paste.  So, I satisfied my craving with a hearty bowl of "Thai" green curry.  It's most likely not actually authentic, but it's pretty darn good.  I don't yet make my own paste, I have a few recipes to try, I just haven't made it that far.  Feel free to make it if you can, or pick up a pre-made paste from the grocer.  You don't have to use Green Curry paste, you could use Red, or Yellow.  I like all of them, so I keep them in the freezer in a mini ice cube tray so I can use what I want, when I want. 

"Thai" Curry

1 can coconut milk

1 Tbsp curry paste, more or less according to taste 

1 tsp coconut oil

1/2 green pepper, sliced

1 small onion, sliced

6 large mushrooms, sliced

1 large carrot, sliced

1/2 bunch of kale, sliced

2 large handfuls of unsalted cashews

In a large sauce pan or wok, heat the oil over med-high heat.  When beginning to pop add the curry.  Stir until fragrant.  Add in all veggies except the kale.  Stir for a minute or two, to coat with paste. 

When veggies are evenly coated in the paste, add 1/2 the coconut milk.  Stir and bring to boil.  Leave to simmer a few minutes.  

Add kale, cashews and remaining coconut milk.  Bring back to a boil, and simmer until kale is wilted.  

Serve over a bed of rice to soak up some of the rich sauce.  

Makes enough for two main courses.

Happy Turkey Day - Canadian that is

This weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving.  The day we all come to a dead stop and fill ourselves with as much food as possible.  Every day of this long weekend, I've been able to smell Turkey's roasting.  They smell so damn good, and I'm not even a fan of Turkey.  While every other family was putting a giant Turkey on the family table, my family was putting a, tiny in comparison, roast chicken on ours.  Instead of mashed potatoes, we ate potato dumplings.  Sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, turnips, all those traditional veggies we replaced with pickled red cabbage and canned peas.   To me, that is a proper Thanksgiving dinner.

Well, to be honest, I never liked the red cabbage.  And I prefer frozen peas to canned peas.  I do love  sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans.  But Turkey?  No, I'm with my family on that one.  And potato dumplings.  That is the most important part of the meal.  So important, that when my Mother informed me that they were having mashed potatoes in stead, I was in shock.  For my supper, I had potato dumplings.  But, this post isn't really about Thanksgiving dinner.  Mine looked ugly, Roast Chicken, while delicious is nothing special to make.  Potato dumplings have ALWAYS come from a box - and amazingly enough, to my profound excitement, a box that didn't contain gluten.  The stuffing I tried making was just gross, and the veggies, were just cauliflower and asparagus.  No, this post is about the left overs.

I made a full dinner...for just me.  Now, I'm a big eater, and did eat almost the whole box of potato dumplings, but even I can't eat EVERYTHING.  So, what is a girl to do with all those leftovers?  After a quick glance in my pantry I decided to make, Saucy Chicken and Pea Rice.  Kind of weird name, fantastic taste :)

Saucy Chicken and Pea Rice

Left over chicken and gravy from one roast chicken

One bowl of frozen peas, defrosted

1 unit of rice cooked in rice cooker *I used arborio rice

Combine all components, and leave on in rice cooker, on warm setting until chicken is warmed through.  Serve, and enjoy.  

Chunky Veggie's and Polenta

All day I was craving Fettuccine Alfredo.  I had no real desire to eat, in spite of the fact that I was starving out of my mind, but I really, desperately wanted Fettuccine Alfredo.  I don't have any pasta in the house.  If only my pants would stop "shrinking" then maybe I could keep it around me.    So, on my way home, I stopped by Planet Organic for some pasta, and while I wandered the isles I found that they had polenta on sale...and suddenly I wanted polenta.  

Wow, my cravings are insane, you'd think I was pregnant...um, next immaculate conception much?

A quick trip into the produce section yielded a lovely yellow zucchini, and supper was born!

Chunky Veggie's and Polenta

1 roll prepared polenta, any flavor (I used Basil-Garlic)

1/2 green pepper

6-7 mushrooms

2 medium carrots

1/2 white onion

1/2 small yellow zucchini

6-7 roma tomato's

2 tbsp roasted garlic

2 tbsp basil

1-2 tsp coconut oil

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Chop veggies into small chunks (approx 1 cm pieces), and slice polenta into 12 slices.  In wok or sauce pan, heat coconut oil over medium heat until liquid.  Add all veggies except tomato's and cook until tender crisp.  Reduce heat.  Add tomato's and continue to cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.  

Just after adding the tomatoes, pour olive oil into a large pan and heat over medium-high.  When oil is hot, add polenta rounds and fry 5 minutes before flipping.  Fry for an additional 5 minutes.

When finished cooking, divide among 4 plates, and enjoy!

Pancakes

One would think I love breakfast food, it seems that every other post is something relating to that early morning feast.  Strangely enough, I'm not much of a breakfast eater.  Maybe that's why I keep making things.  After all, just like my waffles and quinoa muffins, pancakes are great for making in advance and keeping in the freezer.  What does that mean?  It means that even if you, like me, stay in bed til the last possible minute can still have something homemade to eat on the go.  

My favorite thing about these pancakes, is the fact that they are fairly thin.  I grew up eating a pancake that truly was a cross between a typical fluffy North American pancake, and a crepe-like German pancake.  Story of my life!  I'm only too glad to be eating a thinner pancake again.  And while the ones my ex taught me to make - first time cooking pancakes from scratch! - were very good, these ones are far better, and of course, gluten-free.  

A the flavor and texture of these pancakes is rich.  You can taste the egg, you can taste the different flours, the sugar is a sweet after tone that you can almost miss, but it's there.  Everything about these pancakes is a pleasure.  I love watching everything combine as I whisk it, from a lumpy mess, to a silky smooth batter.  The sound, if you listen really closely, of all the lovely little air pockets forming and popping, and best of all, the smell.  They just smell like home.  Heck, they are so wonderful, that I caught one of my cats on the counter eating them!  

This is my ideal pancake mix.  But play with it.  You might prefer a fluffier pancake.  If that's the case, I might try decreasing the amount of egg.  You might like a more crepe-like pancake, in that case, try leaving out some flour, and changing the amount of baking powder.  Try adding some spices, taking out or adding more sugar.  Make it yours.  And please let me know what you come up with!  The more idea's, the better the possible outcomes.

Quick and Easy Pancakes

1 1/4 cup GF flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk (replace with non-dairy milk if desired/necessary)

4 eggs

2 Tbsp oil

Whisk together dry ingredients until uniform.  Add all remaining ingredients and whisk until you have a silky smooth batter (will be runny, and some lumps will remain).

Heat a small (I think I used a 6") pan over medium high heat.  For the first pancake I like to spray a little bit of canola oil on the pan.  Once pan has come to temperature, add 1/4 batter to the pan.  Cook until covered with little bubbles and the bubbles have begun to pop.  Flip pancake and cook until golden on second side - this usually takes less than 30 seconds for me.  Continue cooking until all batter is used up. 

Serve to family and/or friends, or eat a couple and freeze the rest once cool between layers of wax paper for a quick breakfast on the go.

Makes 12 pancakes.

Waffles

I hate spending money, but I keep wanting to try all the GF goodies on the market.  After all, so far I can only make so many things on my own, and really, I can only eat so much cornbread.  Well, on Friday I lucked out.  My good friend John had a present for me when I got to his place to help him out.  He told me to look in the freezer, and what did I find?  Van's Waffles!  

I'd heard of these, I'd seen these, but I'd never tried them.  I could hardly wait until Saturday morning to try them out.  And damn, they were good.  They're way better than I remember Eggo's to be.  Not that I think that is the most amazing recommendation, but hey, for a frozen waffle, Eggo's weren't bad.  My only problem, the cost.  The box holds 6 waffles, and I think they're around $5 a box!  Those are some pricey waffles.

Enter my slowly developing GF cooking skills.  I hunted down my favorite pre-GF waffle recipe, and went to work.  Okay, so I didn't do much, I used the flour recipe I found somewhere on-line - if you recognize, please let me know where it is from so I can give due credit - and that was about it.  I also made them non-dairy, but I'm pretty sure any milk/milk substitute would work.  But hey, they turned out great, I made 15 waffles, and I swear it cost me way less then $5.  

Gluten-Free Waffles

3 large eggs

1 cup rice milk

1/2 cup oil (originally called for melted butter, but I'm too lazy)

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups GF-flour**

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

Beat eggs with electric mixer until thick, approx. 5 minutes.  Beat in milk, oil and vanilla.  Sift dry ingredients together and slowly add to liquid mixture.  Cook in waffle iron.  Serve warm, or freeze for later use.

**GF-Flour

Combine:

3 cups rice flour

3 cups corn starch

2 cups soy flour

1 cup corn flour

Transfer to an airtight container and use as needed.  Recipe can easily be increased or decreased in quantities.