Pesto-Garlic Spice Blend Portobello Burgers

If there's one thing I love more than a tasty and multi-purpose ingredient, it's a free one. What can I say? I'm a poor student.

This summer, I was lucky enough to win a set of Made With Love Spice Blends from a giveaway hosted by one of my favourite bloggers, HoneyB over at Grumphy's Honeybunch, as well as one for a friend.

I received two bottles of Made With Love's Pesto-Garlic Spice Blend and two bottles of Crimson Love, a beet-rosemary-nori blend with the bright red colour to match. Although both spice blends are delicious, the pesto-garlic spice blend has been seeing the most use in my household. Maybe it's my love of Italian flavours. I've been using the spice blend in place of real pesto whenever possible - stirring it into tuna salad, sprinkling it on sandwiches. I love sandwiching a slice of fresh tomato between two slices of cheddar and two slices of bread, sprinkling Pesto-Garlic spice blend on top of the cheese, and grilling the sandwich until the tomato is warm and the cheese is melted. It's quick and easy and such a delicious snack or lunch. I love that the flavour of the blend is spot on, but it's missing the fat and calories of nutty, cheesy pesto.

One of my favourite uses of the pesto-garlic spice blend, though, is adding it to marinades. It's a simple step but adds a ton of flavour.

In this recipe, the pesto-garlic flavour infuses a balsamic vinegar marinade. Portobello mushrooms are soaked in the marinade for about half an hour before being tossed on the grill to be cooked through. After they're cooked and a slice of provolone cheese is melted on top, they're placed on a bun, topped with tomato and spinach, and slathered with pesto garlic-infused mayo. The combination of the hot, balsamic-pesto flavoured portobello, the melted provolone, the creamy pesto mayo, and the cool tomato and spinach is fantastic. A perfect vegetarian treat.


Pesto-Garlic Spice Blend Portobello Burgers
Makes 2 burgers
Note: I'm a balsamic vinegar lover, so I love how the balsamic soaks right into the portobellos in this recipe. If you'd like a more mellow balsamic flavour, you can balance out the vinegar with more olive oil.

2 portobello mushrooms, cleaned and stems cut off
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 tsp Made With Love Pesto-Garlic spice blend (or actual pesto)
2 burger buns
2 slices provolone cheese
2 slices tomato
A few leaves of baby spinach, romaine lettuce, or other salad greens

Pesto Mayo
1 tbsp mayonnaise
A dash of pesto-garlic spice blend


Combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, pesto spice, and salt and pepper in a casserole dish. Place portobello mushrooms in mixture. Marinate for 15 minutes, then flip over and marinate for another 15 minutes.

To make pesto mayo, combine 1 tbsp mayonnaise with pesto-garlic spice blend (or, again, actual pesto). Set aside.

Meanwhile, preheat barbecue to medium heat. When mushrooms are done marinating, place them right on the hot grill. Flip after 4-5 minutes. Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes, until tender but not shriveled. Then place one slice of cheese on each mushroom, closing the lid to help the cheese melt quickly. When the cheese has melted, remove the portobellos from the grill. You can also toast your burger buns on the barbecue.

Spread equal amounts of pesto-garlic mayo on both burger bun bottoms. Place one cheese-topped mushrooms on each bun, then top with tomato and spinach (or whatever greens you are using). Serve immediately.

Lemon Risotto with Salmon

I'm back from Stockholm, Sweden! I had a fun but hectic time, working as much as 17 hours a day. It's amazing how, when you're really busy, a double-shift can pass as quickly as half a shift. I got to see some gorgeous sights along the way and visit some of Stockholm's most beautiful buildings (City Hall, Grand Hotel, Concert Hall, and more). But I'm happy to be back home in Canada. And I've missed all of you and your comments and blog posts - I've got lots to catch up on!


Before I left for Sweden, I made this lemon risotto topped with salmon. The risotto is adapted from a Giada de Laurentiis appetizer recipe. It's made with rice that is simmered in chicken broth and white wine. The rice is constantly stirred while more broth is added. When the risotto is creamy and cooked al dente, lemon juice and zest, parmesan cheese, butter, and heavy cream (if using) are stirred into the mixture and a simply prepared salmon filet is sliced up and piled atop each plate of risotto.


Fish and lemon are a natural pairing, but when it's not just lemon but a creamy, rich lemon risotto, the combination is even better! Still, this risotto is fantastic with or without the salmon.




Lemon Risotto
Adapted from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 tablespoons butter
2 large shallots, diced (or half a medium onion, minced)
1.5 cups Arborio rice
3/4 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus 3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
3/4 a lemon, zested and juiced (the best way to do this is to juice and zest 1 whole lemon and use all but 1/4 of the juice and zest)
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan bring the broth and 1 cup water to a simmer. Cover the broth and keep hot over low heat.

In a medium, heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots or onion and saute until tender but not brown. Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add a ladleful of simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of the broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, at least 20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, 3 tablespoons of Parmesan, heavy cream if using, the lemon zest and juice, and the salt and pepper, plus more to taste if necessary.

Serve immediately with salmon and sprinkle with remaining parmesan.

To make salmon:
This salmon is cooked very simply so that it complements but doesn't take away from the flavour of the risotto.

1 salmon fillet per person
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Season salmon fillets on each side with salt and pepper. Add to frying pan and cook for a few minutes on each side until cooked through (light pink in colour and flaky).

Quattro Formaggi Pasta

For years now, my favourite restaurant dish has been Quattro Formaggi Rigatoni at Spago in Windsor, Ontario. It's rigatoni, cooked al dente, covered in the richest sauce you've ever tasted. When I'm visiting my hometown, every few months I make sure to stop in at Spago. While I'd like to try something else on the menu, this dish is so packed with flavour that I just can't.

The first bite of this pasta always tastes so good that I can practically feel the endorphins being released in my brain. It's one of those dishes that is so delicious that you have an involuntary verbal reaction. Does that ever happen to you? Where something tastes so amazing that you can't help but moan, "Mmmm, this is so good!"

So my mission lately has been to find a recipe that would compare to Spago's quattro formaggi pasta. I found a recipe that seemed to have the right foundation, and then adapted it to make its flavour match as closely as possible to the original inspiration. I was so thrilled with the results that I actually ate it for dinner twice last week, much to the chagrin of my waistline, I'm sure. This recipe is definitely not for dieters, but the best food often isn't.


The four cheeses in question, in the original, were fontina, gorgonzola, Parmiggiano Reggiano, and Pecorino Romano. In place of the fontina, I used a half-and-half mixture of asiago and mozzarella - technically bringing this recipe's total to five cheeses, but the flavour is that of the quintessential four cheese pasta, so the title stays. The cheese is melted into a bit of heavy cream and, within minutes, you have a cheesy, velvety-smooth sauce.



Quattro Formaggi Pasta
Serves 2 people - multiply accordingly
1/2 a 454 gram (1 pound) box of rigatoni
1 ounce asiago cheese, shredded
1 ounce mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (if you're using regular blue cheese, use less - about 1 oz.)
2/3 ounce Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
2/3 ounce Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
1/3 cup heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper
Milk (optional)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta to boiling water. Cook according to package directions.

About halfway through pasta's cook time, pour heavy cream into a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cheeses and simmer until they are melted. Add milk to thin if necessary. Set aside.

Drain pasta. Immediately add hot pasta to skillet and mix well.

Transfer to a serving platter or bowl. Add black pepper to taste and serve.

Baked Salmon with Sweet and Spicy Honey-Dijon Sauce

Salmon is easily my favourite fish to cook with. It's very versatile and pairs well with so many flavours. It also lends itself very well to different ethnic genres of cooking. Soy sauce, mirin, and brown sugar make for a delicious Asian marinade. Or you could use yogurt and spices to create an Indian Tandoori-style salmon. Or just brush on a maple glaze and grill the salmon on cedar planks for a very Canadian meal. A few days ago, I made salmon with a very classic flavour combination - honey and mustard.


Equal parts honey and dijon mustard are combined with a bit of fresh lemon, some garlic and dill, and a healthy dose of spicy cayenne pepper. Some of the sauce is reserved (for serving later) while the rest is poured over the salmon, which is baked until it's light pink and flaky. The resulting flavour is sweet, tangy, and spicy enough to keep things interesting.

Baked Salmon with Sweet and Spicy Honey-Dijon Sauce
Adapted from a recipe by Robin Miller

4 salmon fillets (typically 6-8 oz.)
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 minced clove garlic (or 1 tsp. garlic powder)
2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill (or 1 tbsp. dried dill)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Place aluminum foil in a baking pan or shallow baking dish. Spray with cooking spray or grease very lightly with oil. Place salmon in prepared pan or dish.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, honey, water, lemon juice, cayenne, and garlic. Remove 1/2 cup of the sauce and set aside. Pour the remaining sauce over the salmon fillets in the pan. Roast the salmon until fork-tender, about 15 minutes (check after 10 if your salmon is thin).

Stir the dill into the reserved mustard sauce. Taste and season as necessary, adding more cayenne pepper if necessary. Serve the salmon hot with the reserved mustard sauce on top.

Spicy Black Bean and Corn Soup

In Ontario (my province), hard alcohol is sold via a government-owned corporation, the LCBO or Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Because liquor is sold under a monopoly, this means that liquor prices in my province are known to be quite high. The trade-off, however, is that we also get a free magazine called Food and Drink with our purchases. Food and Drink is packed with tempting recipes and alcohol pairings, and whenever a new issue comes out, I always make sure I grab an extra one for my mom. Perhaps it's just my family, but my mom, my two brothers, and I are always excited to see a new issue of Food and Drink available. I'm sure it's not helping prices at the LCBO go down, but it is a fantastic magazine, so I don't mind.


This recipe, Spicy Black Bean and Corn Soup, is from a recent edition of Food and Drink. And it's wonderful. It relies on a few cupboard staples (black beans, canned tomatoes, frozen or canned corn, tomato paste) mixed with spices and a bit of fresh produce but tastes fresh and filling. It's a healthy and flavourful Tex-Mex style soup.


This soup is fantastic served with cheese quesadillas. Spread a couple spoonfuls of salsa over a six-inch tortilla. Sprinkle on shredded cheese, chopped green onions, and top with another tortilla. Then cook the quesadilla in a bit of melted margarine in a frying pan over medium heat until it's nicely browned and the cheese is melting. Together, the soup and quesadillas make for a perfect combination.

Spicy Black Bean and Corn Soup
Via Food and Drink Magazine

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups onion, finely diced
2 cups red bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 tsp. jalapeno pepper finely diced, seeds removed
1 tbsp. garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
3 tbsp. tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn, thawed and rinsed
6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onion, red pepper, and jalapeno for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic, oregano, cumin, and chili powder and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add tomato paste, cook for 3 minutes while breaking up with a spoon. Add diced tomatoes, and cook for 5 minutes more.

Add beans, corn and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, lower heat and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes until all the vegetables are tender. Just before serving, stir in cilantro if using.

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Baked Semolina Gnocchi

This weekend, we're heading to our hometown to attend an annual seafood dinner at a local Italian club. It's a tradition his family has followed for over five years, and something that I've been able to enjoy for what will now be three years in a row.

If you're a fan of seafood, this dinner is like heaven. Seafood soup, which is always a highlight, fritto misto (deep fried assorted seafood like shrimp and calamari), a fish and chicken course, and a pasta course, followed by dessert and coffee or tea. We're always completely stuffed by the end, although not quite so uncomfortable that we can't dance.

In preparation for going home for the weekend, I forgot to upload photos and recipes for some of the tasty meals that I've been cooking up lately. So I'm digging deep in my draft archives to bring you this recipe, homemade Baked Semolina Gnocchi. Since I made and photographed this dish quite awhile ago, I do have to apologize for the picture. Don't let its poor quality distract you from how wonderful this recipe really is.

The gnocchi (pronounced en-yawk-ee, not no-kee) you'll typically find in the fresh pasta section of the supermarket is made with potatoes, while these gnocchi are made with the semolina flour that's typically used to make other pastas. These gnocchi also aren't made into little dumplings; instead, they're cut into small discs with a cookie cutter.

Because semolina gnocchi, unlike potato gnocchi, doesn't require baking potatoes first, the dough comes together relatively quickly. After the dough has been cut into discs and chilled for almost half an hour -- which, incidentally, gives you plenty of time to make a salad and alleviate some of your guilt about the rich ingredients in the dish -- the gnocchi are arranged side by side, splashed with a bit of heavy cream, sprinkled with parmesan, and dotted with butter before being baked in the oven until cooked through and nicely browned.

Baked Semolina Gnocchi
Slightly adapted from a recipe by Emeril Lagasse

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 quart whole milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black better pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
1 1/2 to 2 cups (00-grade) semolina flour
3 large eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Heavy cream (about 1/3 of a cup)


Preheat the oven to 425F.

Grease a small baking sheet with 1 teaspoon of the butter and set aside. Butter a piece of parchment paper the same size as the baking sheet with 1/2 teaspoon of the butter and set aside, buttered side-up. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan with 1 teaspoon of butter and set aside.

Combine the milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a medium, heavy pot. Bring to a boil. Add 1/4 cup of the semolina, and whisk constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Lower the heat to medium-low. Continue to cook, stirring constantly with a heavy, wooden spoon, adding the remaining semolina flour 1/4 cup at a time, about 12 minutes. The mixture should be very stiff and thick. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the semolina mixture to the eggs and whisk well to incorporate. Add the eggs to the remaining semolina mixture and stir as hard as possible to blend. Add 1/4 cup of the cheese and stir well to blend. Turn out the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and using an off-set cake spreader or rubber spatula, spread across the bottom. Place the buttered parchment paper directly on the batter. Spread the batter evenly across the pan and smooth the top. Refrigerate until cooled, 20 to 25 minutes.

Using a 1" round cookie cutter or, in a pinch, the mouth of a small glass, cut the dough into circles. Dip the cookie cutter or glass in hot water as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking. Lay the pieces in rows in the prepared 9-inch pan, shingling them to fit. Pour a bit of heavy (whipping) cream over the gnocchi. You can eyeball this part, adding cream to your own tastes, although 1/3 of a cup is a good guideline. Dot the top with the remaining butter and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake until the top begins to brown and the gnocchi are puffed, about 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato Cannelloni with Butternut Squash Cream Sauce

I admit: I'm a butternut squash fiend. Soup, pasta, you name it, I'll probably love it. It seems to go well with almost anything. A few months ago, I was at a local restaurant that served sun-dried tomato and goat cheese ravioli in a butternut squash velouté. I thought I could duplicate the dish at home - maybe even make it better - and last weekend, I set out to prove myself right.


In short? I was oh-so-deliciously right. Instead of goat cheese and ravioli, I used oven-ready cannelloni shells filled with ricotta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and freshly wilted spinach. Then I covered it with an adaptation of Rachael Ray's Pumpkin Cream Sauce and baked it until the pasta was tender and the sauce was a-bubblin'.


Squash, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach might sound like a busy combination, but the flavours pair so well together. Squash lovers: you will love this.


Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato Cannelloni with Butternut Squash Cream Sauce
Serves 5-6 (3-4 cannelloni each)

Butternut Squash Cream Sauce
Adapted from Rachael Ray's Pumpkin Cream Sauce via Tart Reform

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion or 4 shallots, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
Cooked, pureed flesh from a 2 lb. butternut squash (or a box of frozen butternut squash puree)
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup water or chicken stock
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.
2. In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring, until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and heavy cream and bring to a boil. Return the pasta to the pot along with the reserved pasta cooking water and toss. Stir in the parmesan; season with salt and pepper.
3. Top the pasta with the parsley and more parmesan.

Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato Cannelloni
Approximately 20 cannelloni tubes, oven-ready
1 tub ricotta (454g)
4 oz. fresh spinach, wilted and chopped (or frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained)
2 large sun-dried tomatoes, oil-packed, finely chopped
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350F.

With a fork, mix ricotta, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add egg and mix until ingredients are well-blended.

Using a pastry bag (or your well-washed hands), fill the oven-ready cannelloni tubes with the filling.

If you have already made the butternut squash sauce, spread 1/2 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish. If not, leave the filled cannelloni on a plate and continue making the pasta sauce, spreading the 1/2 cup of sauce over the baking dish when it is ready.

Next, place the cannelloni in the baking dish, over top of the sauce. Cover completely with the remaining butternut squash sauce.

Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.

Philly Cheesesteaks - Jim's Steaks, South Street, Philadelphia

It's been awhile since I last posted, and I have a very good reason for that - I took a 5 day vacation to Scranton (Pennsylvania), Philadelphia, and New York City. If you're wondering why we went to Scranton - we're huge fans of The Office, and that show is set in Scranton.

Since Scranton is just a 2 hour drive away from Philadelphia, it seemed like a no-brainer to go to Philly and try some genuine Philly Cheesesteaks.

Prior to our trip, I had never actually seen a cheesesteak. I pictured something very literal - a slab of steak with a slice of cheese on top, packed onto a bun. I didn't like that visual very much (I like my sandwiches tender and easy to eat, thank you very much), but I also figured that Philly Cheesesteaks wouldn't be so famous if they weren't delicious. Wise choice.

After deciding that we had to try cheesesteaks, the next decision was where to buy them. From my research, I learned that in Philly there is a bit of a rivalry between Geno's and Pat's, two cheesesteak restaurants. If you like Pat's cheesesteaks you can't like Geno's (and vice versa). After reading reviews, both sounded tempting, but another restaurant, Jim's, sounded even better.

Apparently, the meat in Geno's and Pat's sandwiches contain a lot of gristle in it. That might be authentic, and it certainly wouldn't be a problem for my Pho-loving boyfriend, but since I'm not a big red-meat lover in the first place, it didn't sound right for me. Meanwhile, Jim's is known to have all the meat without the gristle - right up my alley.

As we ambled down South Street (Philly's main tourist/shopping district), we noticed that Jim's consistently had a line so long that it continued outside of the restaurant and around the corner. Eventually, when we got hungry enough, we braved the line ourselves. It took about an hour to get the cheesesteaks in our hands.

When you get up to the counter, it helps to know how to order. The cooks behind the counter work fast to try to get the line to move as quickly as possible - you don't want to slow them down. So unless you want a special mushroom, pizza, pepper, or hoagie cheesesteak, the most important thing to explain is whether you want onions and what type of cheese you want. After hearing a few people in front of us order, it was easy - "two cheesesteaks with no onions, 1 whiz [Cheese Whiz], 1 provolone."

The finished product is hard to photograph well - just a ton of browned meat with a hint of Cheez Whiz. But the taste is phenomenal. The meat is lean but flavourful, perfectly thinly sliced, and tender. The creamy cheddar flavour of the Cheez Whiz adds a nice contrast to the meat. And the flavourful juices from the meat soak into the bun and drip over everything, making this a messy meal - but one you'll be happy to lick off your fingers, if necessary.

It's been almost a week since I tasted it and I'm craving it. I hope I go to Philadelphia again some day, even if just to have another cheesesteak.

Jim's Steaks
400 South Street
Philadelphia, PA

Update: if you'd like to try making your own Philly Cheesesteaks, here are a few recipes worth checking out:

• Pat's King of Steaks Philadelphia Cheese Steak recipe


• Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich - Emeril Lagasse recipe
  


• About.com: How to Make a Philly Cheesesteak

Authentic Butter Chicken

When it comes to Indian food, nothing is better than Butter Chicken. At least, that's how I feel. I made a low-calorie version before and enjoyed it very much. Then I tasted the real deal, served with chewy naan bread, and I knew I had to make it, too, calories be damned.


I was flipping through the holiday issue of Food & Drink magazine (a free magazine distributed at Ontario's government-controlled liquor stores) and found this authentic recipe, written by an Indian restaurant's owner. The chicken is prepared Tandoori-style, with a spicy yogurt marinade, while tomatoes are combined with spices, garlic and ginger, butter (of course) and some whipping cream to form an incredibly flavourful and oh-so spicy sauce - just don't over-do it on the cayenne!


Butter Chicken
Adapted from Food & Drink magazine
Serves 3

Chicken
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 tsp. minced or pureed garlic
Salt to taste 1.5 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 tsp Garam Masala

Sauce
4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or 2 cups canned tomatoes, without juice
2 tsp. grated ginger
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 green cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
1 tsp. grated ginger
1/3 cup whipping cream

To finish
1/2 tsp. Garam Masala
2 tsp. sugar

Chicken
Combine ginger, garlic, salt, cayenne and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat. Let chicken marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature. Add yogurt and Garam Masala and let marinate for 20 minutes longer.

Preheat oven to 425. Place chicken on a rack over a roasting pan (or baking pan) and roast for 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Reserve.

Sauce
Combine tomatoes, ginger, garlic, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and chicken stock in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to boil. Turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 25 minutes or until tomatoes have completely broken down. Puree in a blender (or use an immersion blender).

Bring sauce to a boil. Add cayenne and simmer until sauce begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in butter. Add the chicken and any juice and simmer for 5 minutes. Add (1 tsp.) ginger and cream and simmer another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust spiciness by adding up to 3/4 tsp. more cayenne. Stir in Garam Masala and sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice or naan bread.

Barefoot Contessa's Sole Meuniere

I must confess: I'm not the world's biggest fan of sole. At least, I didn't think I was. I had one too many bland, stuffed sole fillets and didn't touch the stuff for years.

When I was flipping through my new copy of Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics, though, I saw this gorgeous photo of two fried sole fillets resting in a lemony, buttery sauce.

I decided to make the recipe during a weekend visit with my boyfriend, who is also a seafood fiend, and we both loved it. It was rich, to be sure, and definitely not diet food, but it was amazing! The lemon and butter form a velvety smooth sauce that, because of the lemon, doesn't taste heavy. If you follow the directions, the fish cooks perfectly - it's so tender it feels like it melts in your mouth.


It's also extremely easy to make, even though it's elegant enough to be perfect for entertaining.



Easy Sole Meuniere
Serves 4
Slightly adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics
Note: Ina Garten says this serves 2 - but that's definitely only if you're not planning on eating anything else. 2 fillets each is a huge portion and you won't have room for side dishes.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 fresh sole fillets, 3-4 oz. each
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
6 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice - 2 or 3 lemons
1 tbsp. minced fresh parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Have 1 heat proof dinner plate ready. Combine the flour, 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper in a large plate. Pat the sole fillets dry with paper towels and season on one side with salt.

Heat 3 tbsp butter in a large frying over medium heat until it starts to brown. Coat 2 sole fillets in the seasoned flour on both sides and place them in the hot butter. Lower heat to medium-low and cook for 2 minutes. Turn carefully with a metal spatula and cook for 2 mnutes on other side. While the second side cooks, add 1/2 tsp lemon zest and 3 tbsp. of the lemon juice to the pan. carefully put fish fillets on an oven proof plate and pour the sauce over them.

Quickly clean the pan- otherwise any sauce left in the pan will turn black a when you cook the next batch of fish - not very appetizing. Keep cooked fillets warm in the oven while you repeat the process with the remaining 2 fillets. When they're done, distribute the cooked fish among 4 dinner plates (or 2 if you're serving 2 people). Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and parsley if using, and serve immediately

Garlic-Lime Shrimp with Barefoot Contessa's Creamy Cheddar Grits

As a Canadian, my knowledge of Southern food is pretty much non-existent. Pimiento - what? Grits - huh? But when I saw Bobby Flay and his wife make jalapeno cheddar grits on Boy Meets Grill, I knew I had to try the tasty-looking side dish (or, apparently, breakfast) with a slightly less appetizing name.

As far as I've seen, grits aren't sold in Canada. So on my last cross-border trip, I went to Meijer and bought myself a canister. And now, I'm so happy that I did.

Grits are kind of like the Southern version of polenta. They're made from hominy, which is made of dried corn kernels (minus the germ and and hull). You make grits on the stovetop, usually with the addition of water and the help of a bit of stirring - much less stirring than is required for polenta, in fact.

Ina Garten's Creamy Cheddar Grits from Back to Basics inspired me to finally cook some of the grits that had been sitting in my cupboard. The grits are cooked with some water, cream, and butter, and cheddar and green onions are added after the grits are finished cooking. The green onions are essential - they add so much flavour to this dish.


I knew as soon as I saw the recipe that I wanted to serve it with shrimp, so my boyfriend and I came up with this recipe for garlic-lime shrimp. It was the perfect combination. The shrimp cooks up quickly, in the last 10 minutes of the grits' cook time, which means it's easy to time things properly and you can serve both elements of the meal piping hot.

Keep reading for the recipe for both.

Garlic-Lime Shrimp
Serves 2 (multiply accordingly)
2o small raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails on or off, depending on your preferences)
Lime juice
Olive Oil
1 tbsp. garlic
Salt
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper

Marinate shrimp with 2 tsp. lime juice, a sprinkle of salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper (add cayenne according to how spicy you like your food) for 30 mins. If making shrimp with the grits, you can begin to marinate it after the grits have already started cooking.

Heat a splash of olive oil over medium heat in a medium frying pan. Add 1 tbsp. minced garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, just until softened. Add shrimp to frying pan, followed by another splash of lime juice. Cook until shrimp turns pink. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Creamy Cheddar Grits
Serves 6 as a side dish
Slighty adapted from Back to Basics

2 tsp. salt
1 cup quick-cooking grits (not instant)
1 1/4 cups half and half
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1.5 cups old Cheddar cheese, grated
4 stalks of green onion, chopped (we left the white parts out although Ina Garten says to use them)
Black pepper to taste

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the salt, then slowly add the grits in a thin steady stream. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until grits thicken, 5-7 minutes.

Add the half and half and butter to the grits and stir. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes, until very smooth and creamy. Off the heat, stir in the cheddar cheese, green onions, and pepper. Season to taste and serve hot.

Slow Cooker Roast Beef with Red Wine and Garlic

Over the holidays, my boyfriend and I made a roast for his family and some family friends. While the word "holidays" might imply that we had ample time to sit around and leisurely cook, with all of the family gatherings and catch-ups with friends (we had seven Christmas gatherings alone including Christmas Eve and Boxing Day) there really wasn't that much time. I have a feeling we're not alone in that - holidays are lovely but they can definitely be hectic and even stressful.

We were gone all day before dinner, so the only logical solution seemed to be taking care of the prep in the morning and letting the slow cooker take care of the rest. Wise choice.

This roast contains a few simple ingredients, but the end result is so flavourful. The star of the show is really the red wine, which infuses so much flavour into the meat. The juices and red wine are also the perfect base for a tasty gravy - my boyfriend's mom took care of the gravy, so I don't have the recipe, but your typical gravy method will do just fine. Just substitute the plentiful red wine and roast juices for pan drippings and thicken as required. Meanwhile, the slow cooker ensures that the meat stays perfectly tender.

All in all, this is our new go-to recipe, and it's composed of ingredients you'll likely have on hand anyway. Read on for the recipe.



Slow Cooker Roast Beef with Red Wine and Garlic
Serves 8 with plentiful leftovers

One 5 lb. beef roast (for smaller roast, adjust other ingredients' quantities accordingly)
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-size portions
3 potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-size portions
2/3 of a 750mL bottle of dry red wine
1 cup beef broth (we used bouillon)
1 tbsp. garlic
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Medium or large slow cooker (size and shape dependent on the size of your roast - we used a large oval)

Arrange the chopped carrots and potatoes in the bottom of your slow cooker's crock.

Next, heat a splash of olive oil over medium-high heat in a frying pan large enough to accommodate your roast. Meanwhile, after removing any excess fat from the roast, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the roast pressing it in so that it sticks to the meat. Once the oil is hot enough, place your roast in the pan and cook just until the surface is browned, rotating the roast as necessary.

Place roast in slow cooker (on top of potatoes and carrots). Pour red wine and beef stock into the crock, then add garlic. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper in next (you can adjust the seasoning at the end, so don't go overboard). Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Alternatively, cook it on high for the first hour and then adjust heat to low - it will cook for approximately 6-8 hours total if so, depending on your desired doneness. The roast in the above picture was cooked using this "high-low" method and took 6 hours total.

When sufficiently cooked, remove roast to a cutting board or serving platter and slice. Remove the cooked potatoes and carrots from the bottom of the crock and place in a serving bowl (side note: these taste awesome!).

Thicken the juices leftover in the crock using your typical gravy method. My boyfriend's mother used Bisto (a gravy thickener); alternatively you could create a roux with equal parts of flour and butter and whisk in the juices, stirring until thickened. Ideally, serve the roast with mashed potatoes, as well as the cooked carrots and potatoes. A glass of red wine tastes great with this meal, for obvious reasons.

Four Foods on Friday #55

I'm back to Four Foods on Friday after a brief hiatus. This time is a bit like the American Thanksgiving edition. Thanks again for hosting, Val!

#1. Stuffing. Boxed or from scratch?
I've never made stuffing before, but my mom has always made it from scratch.

#2. If you were served the perfect Thanksgiving dinner what would it be?
Turkey, ham, lots of mashed potatoes and lots of gravy. And the new must-have is the butternut squash lasagna I made for Thanksgiving last month.

#3. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving leftover?
Hot turkey sandwiches, but only with plain white sandwich bread - it soaks up the gravy like a sponge. I hope that doesn't sound disgusting; I just really love gravy!

#4. Share a recipe using turkey.
This is one I'm saving for Christmas turkey leftovers, since there were none to speak of from (Canadian) Thanksgiving. It's very festive!

It's from Robin Miller's Quick Fix Meals. Keep reading for it.

Turkey Quesadillas with Cranberry Sauce and Swiss
Serves 4

8 8-inch flour tortillas
1 pound turkey
1 cup cranberry sauce
1 4-ounce can diced green chiles
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup shredded reduced fat swiss cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat.

Arrange four of the tortillas on a flat surface. Top each with an equal amount of turkey and spread out to within ½ inch of the edge.

In a small bowl combine cranberry sauce, chiles and cumin until well-blended, then spoon the mixture over the turkey. Top with equal amounts of Swiss.

Place a second tortilla over top of each and place quesadillas on the hot skillet.

Cook until golden brown and cheese melts — about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Cut into four wedges and sprinkle with cilantro.

Shrimp, Garlic, and Tomato Bake

I love recipes that are easy to throw together but still taste decadent. To me, seafood, especially mussels and shrimp, always seems to have the potential to yield that result. For example, the following recipe is so easy to prepare, the first time I was ever served it, it was cooked over a campfire -- and it still tasted like a restaurant-quality appetizer. Immediately afterwards, I asked my mom for the recipe.

Raw tomato, garlic, and shrimp cook down and releases their flavours. A dollop of butter and a healthy sprinkling of salt and pepper enrich the flavour, while crusty bread served alongside completes the dish.

There really wasn't much of a recipe, just "a little this, a little that," so this is one you're going to have to eyeball. I've enhanced it a little bit to include extra broth for you to soak up with some crusty bread.




Shrimp, Garlic, and Tomato bake
Serves 1 - Main Course (2 as an appetizer)
Multiply the recipe accordingly -- it's pretty vague as is!
Raw shrimp, thawed, peeled, and deveined
Butter
Fish broth (optional)
1 medium tomato
Lots of garlic
Salt and pepper
A baguette or other crusty bread

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the baguette; set slices aside. Dice some tomato (about 1/4 of a medium tomato per 1 main course serving) set aside. Sprinkle shrimp into a buttered casserole dish -- 8x8" for 1-2 main course servings (2-4 appetizer servings) or 9x13" for more. Just eyeball it based on how many people you are serving or your own hunger level. As a guide, for a dinner portion, I had approximately 15 shrimp. Sprinkle the diced tomato over the shrimp.

2. If you'd like a lot of juices (to sop up with bread later), pour fish broth into the casserole until it comes no more than halfway up the sides of the shrimp. Add minced garlic to the shrimp mixture to taste. I like a lot of garlic, so I used 1.5 tbsp for one main course serving. Spoon butter -- 1 tbsp. per main course sized portion -- over the shrimp mixture.

3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bake casserole in the preheated oven until the shrimp is completely pink (cooked). Serve with bread.

Four Foods On Friday #48

Another Four Foods on Friday! This time, I share a recipe for chicken pot pie that I made recently.

Photo Credit: Kraft Canada

#1. Melon. What’s your favorite kind?
It's a tie between watermelons and cantaloupes.

#2. Orange citrus. What’s your favorite - oranges, nectarines, navel oranges, tangerines, etc.
I actually hate oranges. And orange juice. Can't stomach them. It's weird, too, because I used to love them as a child.

#3. Oreos. What kind is your favorite?
Double Stuf -- the icing is my favourite part, although I guess it's everyone's. Twice the icing = twice the yumminess.

#4. Pot pie. Share a recipe.
I don't have my own regular pot pie recipe, but coincidentally, I just made cheesy chicken pot pie last week, a recipe from Kraft's What's Cooking magazine. I wish I had photos of my own, but it was for guests who arrived earlier than expected, so there was no time! Kraft's photo is on top of the post, though.

Click here to see the recipe.

Eat, Shrink and Be Merry's Better Butter Chicken

Food Network Canada's Eat, Shrink and Be Merry is based on an interesting concept. The Podleski sisters, Janet and Greta, who wrote the bestselling low-calorie cookbook Looneyspoons, visit restaurants and compete against their chefs to make tastier but healthier versions of high-calorie foods: macaroni and cheese, butter chicken, quiche, etc.

Yes, the concept is a good one, but there's a caveat: it is one of the cheesiest shows I have ever seen. The jokes are corny, so much of the show seems obviously scripted (a very bad trait when it comes to cooking shows), and there are juvenile cartoons in between segments.

But you know what? The Podleski sisters really know what they're talking about. Their ideas for cutting calories are smart. Their food tastes great and is good for you. So although I may not be a huge fan of their show, I really like their cookbooks.

Their recipe for Butter Chicken is one I keep coming back to. I find that 6-7 chicken thighs is plenty of meat for this dish when served over some cooked rice, and I puree the diced tomatoes a little before adding them to the pan because my boyfriend simply hates tomatoes (but not tomato sauce). It makes a great leftovers lunch the next day, too.

Click here for the recipe!

The Trials and Tribulations of Thai Red Curry

If there's one dish that I never seem to get sick of, it's got to be Thai red curry. I love the complex, spicy flavour and how well it pairs with almost any type of meat or vegetable. I love the way it makes even the most boring batch of white rice seem mouthwatering. And I love that I never seem to get sick of it. Is that too redundant?


It took my boyfriend and I awhile to find the perfect ingredients. We bought Thai Kitchen's red curry paste, but found that we tasted more heat than flavour. After our scorched taste buds recovered, we tracked down Maesri brand red curry paste from the local Thai grocer for a quarter of the price and a lot more flavour. $1 a can vs. $4 for a tiny jar, to be precise.

We also learned to check the ingredient list when buying coconut milk. There is a wide variety of brands out there, and a ton of them are composed of nothing but water and coconut extract! The best canned coconut milk contains nothing but coconut milk, but it may cost you up to $4 a can if you're buying it from a non-Asian grocer. It's worth the trip to an Asian grocer to save the money -- we typically spend $1 a can or less for pure coconut milk.

A bag of kaffir lime leaves rounds out the ingredient list. We bought a huge bag of dried leaves for about $3. Our local grocer does sell fresh leaves, but it's not always practical to make the trip for fresh lime leaves, and the dried leaves work just fine for us.

We've tried out a variety of recipes, too. We used Michael Smith's recipe for awhile, which called for chicken stock to be boiled down. It made a ton of sauce, but it didn't quite have the potency of restaurant-quality curry.


But we hit jackpot with Gordon Ramsay's red curry. It follows similar techniques to other recipes, but Ramsay found the right combination. We make our curry by combining Ramsay's technique with Michael Smith's easygoing, "some of this, some of that" style. The photos are from a previous batch, one with broccoli and mushrooms. Find the recipe for how we made it last night after the jump.

Red Thai Curry With Chicken and Bell Pepper
Serves 4 (or 2 with some left for a great lunch!)

2 tbsp. canola oil
3 tbsp. red curry paste
1 can coconut milk
4 chicken thighs, skins removed
1 bell pepper (any colour), chopped into bite size chunks
1 to 3 tbsp. fish sauce
Approx 1. tbsp grated ginger
Lime juice
A handful of kaffir lime leaves
Rice for 4, about 4 cups cooked (we always cheat and use Minute Rice to speed up the process--bad foodies, bad!)

Heat canola oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Fry chicken thighs until browned. Remove to a cutting board to cool.

Fry curry paste in leftover oil until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add ginger to paste and cook about 1 minute more.

Remove cooled thigh meat from bones and and add to curry mixture. Add coconut milk, pepper, fish sauce to taste, and lime leaves and stir well to combine. Cook 3-5 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Keep in mind that the longer the sauce cooks, the spicier it will become as the flavour will become more concentrated. Add a splash of lime juice to taste and serve the sauce over cooked rice.

Please note that this sauce is quite spicy -- I would rate it about a 7 on a scale of 1-10. If you don't like spicy food, you probably won't enjoy it. But if you do -- you'll love it.

Pub Food at Home: Cheese, Ranch and Bacon Oven Fries

Perhaps to compensate for my love of baking, I try to eat healthily most of the time. But every so often I get a craving for something greasy and really bad for me. If I can make it at home, it's even better. Last week I crisped some bacon, made some oven fries out of new potatoes, and threw them together with some cheddar cheese and ranch dressing. The result was spectacular, and the fact that the potatoes were baked in my oven made me feel a little less guilty about the fact that this dish is almost devoid of nutritional value.


I meant to pair the fries with a salad, but I didn't. And I didn't feel that guilty, either. Approximate recipe after the jump!

The dish was a hodgepodge of a couple of recipes.

I modeled the fries loosely on this Food Network Recipe, forgoing the herbs and sprinkling the fries with salt and pepper before baking.

The ranch dressing is a Top Secret Recipe version of the Outback Steakhouse's ranch dressing. It elevated the dish into restaurant-quality territory.

I sprinkled cheddar cheese over the cooked fries and popped them in the microwave until the cheese was melted. Then I drizzled the ranch on top and topped it with the crispy bacon -- about half a strip for me.

Then it was ready to serve!

Barefoot Contessa's Parmesan Chicken

When I got home from work yesterday, I just wasn't in the mood to cook. I sat there doing a whole lot of nothing for a couple of hours, and then suddenly realized it was 7 o'clock, and I was hungry. I considered whipping together a box of macaroni and cheese, but luckily I had a boneless skinless chicken breast thawed in the fridge. It saved me from a processed, albeit tasty, boxed dinner.




Instead of KD, I made something almost as easy to put together: Barefoot Contessa's Parmesan Chicken. The entire meal came together in less than 15 minutes, and when you consider how elegant it is, and how perfect it would be for entertaining, it makes KD almost not worth considering. Almost. The crust was flavourful and crunchy and the chicken cooked up in less than 10 minutes. I wasn't a huge fan of the lemon vinaigrette, but there's plenty of room to experiment with that.

Click here for the recipe.

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp Pasta

Lately, I've been modifying recipes to suit my mood. I know that seems so obvious, but it wasn't very long ago that I was completely unwilling to make a recipe without a measuring cup and measuring spoons at the ready. The only time my new found flexibility becomes a problem now is when I'm intending to blog about a recipe later.

On the other hand, when you're making pasta, concrete measurements don't seem to be that important, at least not to me. "A splash" of something is specific enough for me. I'm hoping you feel the same way, because I adapted G. Garvin's Super Simple Garlic Shrimp into Lemon-Garlic Shrimp Pasta, and you know what? I didn't measure a thing. Luckily, G. Garvin did, so I can still provide precise measurements for what he did. My contributions? Not so much (other than the pasta).




Lemon-Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Adapted from Make It Super Simple with G. Garvin
Serves 4

1.5 lbs. fresh (raw) shrimp
Salt and pepper
1/4 c olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
Crushed red pepper
3/4 c white wine
2 tsp lemon juice
1 lb. spaghetti or other "stringy" noodle
Chopped fresh parsley
Heavy cream (35% m.f.)
Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1. Clean shrimp, peel and devein. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. When done, drain and set aside.

3. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper to hot oil. Saute just until garlic is beginning to brown. Add shrimp. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3-5 minutes or until shrimp is done (orange in colour).

4. Reduce heat to low. Stir in wine and lemon juice. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Add a splash of heavy cream to taste--about 1/4 cup, in my case. Add cooked, drained pasta and stir to combine. Continue to heat on low until heated through. Sprinkle grated Parmigiano Reggiano over pasta to taste. Add extra salt and pepper to taste if desired.

5. Serve immediately, with extra Parmigiano Reggiano on top to taste.