Bastardized Red Beans & Rice

Ian having grown up in the South always wants Red Beans & Rice and the problem is I have no clue on what they are supposed to taste like since I'm of Northern stock. I googled about a dozen recipes and I finally settled on combining about 3 different recipes into 1. I know this is by no means authentic but here's my bastardized version of Red Beans & Rice. It was damn tasty and I will definitely make it again.

6 strips double smoked thick cut bacon, rough chopped
1 double smoked link of farmer sausage, quartered & chopped
2 cans red kidney beans
1 white onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
3 pods of garlic, minced
1 sweet red pepper, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp cumin (less if you don't want to feel the burn)
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (less if you don't want to feel the burn)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 l low sodium organic chicken stock

In a dutch oven or large heavy bottom pot with a bit of olive oil render off the bacon on medium heat. Let the bacon just begin to brown up not crisp and then set aside. Keep about 1/4 of the bacon fat in the bottom of the pan. Add in farmer sausage and let it begin to brown. Add in onion, celery & pepper, reduce the heat so that the veggies soften but do not brown. Add garlic once onions are soft. Toss in cumin, cayenne & red pepper flakes and stir gently, I like to toast the spices a little to get more flavour out of them. Drain & rinse the beans well before adding them to the pot. Toss in the bay leaf and gently pour in the stock. With a wooden spoon scrap the bottom of the pan to deglaze it and get all the yummy caramelized bits off and into the sauce. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat so the beans can simmer for about an hour. I'm told the consistency is thinner than chili but not soupy so use your judgment, if it gets too thick add more stock. Stir occasionally so it doesn't burn on the bottom.

Serve over rice. And I know this isn't authentic but I like it with a dollop of plain yogurt.

Celeriac 2 ways, Apple Chop Salad and Fried Pork Chop Dinner

I'm a big fan of sit down Sunday night dinners and I like to make them special. Ian and I usually eat all of our dinners together but during the week I usually make 1 pot 30 minute meals so for the weekends I try to put in a little extra effort.


It all started with this giant celeriac that I bought that was clearly more than what could be consumed by 2 people. So I decided on Celeriac Gratin, which I've already posted the recipe. And I had just read another one of my favourite food bloggers David Lebovitz post for Celeriac Remoulade which I love and used to have to make in vast quantities when I worked at La Baguette and L'Eschalote on Granville Island.

Since both of those dishes are fairly rich with mayo or cheese I had to figure out what would pair well. It just so happened that I these amazing pork chops in the fridge from a recent trip to Organic World in Maple Ridge which is now only place I want to buy meat from. Nicole told me about the place when I was searching for a new raw meat supplier for Boomer as his diet was costing us a fortune in the city. Not only are they inexpensive, they are organic, free range and humane, plus they stock every type of meat you can think of, make their own sausages and sell raw organic dog food for $1.50 per lb. I now have a freezer full of elk, bison, pork, lamb & chicken and Boomer has discovered that he's quite fond of deer liver.

Anyway so I had these gorgeous bone in pork loin chops. What to do, what to do. I started surfing my usual sites and flipping through the Fanny Farmer and I found a couple different recipes for pan fried chops and here's what I did

1/2 cup flour
1⁄4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup canola oil
2 1"-thick pork loin chops (fry with the bone in)
1 tbsp granulated garlic
freshly ground black pepper
kosher salt

Salt & Pepper chops

Mix flour, cornstarch and garlic with a pinch more pepper and salt into a wide shallow dish.

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge chops in flour mixture, shake off any excess, and fry, turning once, until well browned and cooked through, 5–6 minutes per side. Transfer pork chops to a rack to drain off excess oil, this will keep the coating crisp, don't just drain them directly on paper towel unless would want soggy chops.

Transfer pork chops to a cutting board and cut meat away from bones before plating.

Lastly pork and apple just have to live together, so I made a quick little apple chop salad. I just made this up and it is now a new fave.

1 granny smith apple (buy organic, read about the dirty dozen and you'll know why)
1/2 a lemon juiced
handful fresh chives (I grow my own, they grow like weeds)
1 tbsp Hazelnut oil
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

dice up the apple, leave the peel on
squeeze lemon over apples
roughly chop chives
toss in oil
salt & pepper lightly

Serve with a healthy dose of Glee or the Fringe and if I wasn't pregnant right now I would recommend a nice cool glass of Riesling.

Two recipes to share

I can't take credit for either of these recipes but I have to share them because they are simply so darn good.

The first one came to me from my friend Nicole who posted it. I tried it and Ian went nuts, literally for them. Now usually I shy away from things that try to be glutton free because I often find the substitute ingredient more offensive than just using flour, but in this case it totally works and makes for an enjoyable cookie experience.

http://eatthecookie.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/almond-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from clean eating magazine)

1 cup almond butter (go to Costco and you can get a giant jar for a very reasonable price)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

method:

preheat oven to 350f. line baking sheets with either parchment paper or silpat. racks should be in center of oven.

in medium bowl, stir together the first 5 ingredients until blended. stir in chocolate and almonds.

drop dough by rounded tablespoons, a few inches apart. do not squish these down. they will spread slightly.

bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.

let them cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet to set up, then transfer to cooling racks.

Now this second recipe is also crazy good, like I mean crazy. I couldn't stop eating it and just thinking about it makes me want to go make more. This is from a blog that I read by Molly Wizenberg who is a Seattle food blogger who just published her first book A Homemade Life and she is co-owner of Delancey which I haven't been to yet but I've heard makes incredible pizza. She has great recipe ideas and I highly recommend reading her blog.

http://orangette.blogspot.com

Roasted Rhubarb
Inspired by Canal House Cooking, Volume 3

2 lb. rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 3-inch lengths
½ cup sugar
½ cup crisp white wine
1 vanilla bean, split

Set a rack in the lower third of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put the rhubarb in a Dutch oven or other deep oven-safe pot. Add the sugar, wine, and vanilla bean, and stir to mix. Bake (uncovered) for about 30 minutes, or until very tender, giving the pot a gentle stir about midway through to ensure that the rhubarb cooks evenly.

Note: I like to eat this cold, though I imagine you could also serve it warm.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings, depending on how greedy you are.

I used Red Rooster 2009 Voigner because that's what we had open in the fridge at the time but it worked beautifully. I also didn't have a vanilla bean so I used some vanilla sugar that I had made from another left over vanilla bean and a splash of Watkins Double Strength Vanilla. I also varied the size of the pieces of rhubarb so some of them dissolved into the sauce and others stayed firmer. I started eating it straight out of the pot when it came out of the oven but we had it for dessert with ice cream and ginger snaps that night. I also had it on plain yogurt the next morning with granola. I'm contemplating make more and taking the juice and reducing it down into a syrup. Right now rhubarb is in season and you can likely get a bunch at your local farmers market.

Sorry I didn't take any photos, it was all eaten so quickly :)

Extra Chewy Ginger Cookies

These are super chewy and have a nice ginger bite to them. I would even recommend using them for ice cream sandwiches or even just spreading a nice butter cream in between to cookies for an extra decadent treat.

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp fresh finely grated ginger
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 soften butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup fancy molasses
1 egg
1 cup white sugar, for rolling

In a bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a seperate bowl either using a kitchenaid or a hand mixer beat butter & brown sugar together until light and fluffy, then mix in ginger, molasses and the egg. Gently fold in dry ingredients, careful not to over mix. Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour but up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 F

Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in white sugar, place 2 inches a part on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes until edges just start to brown. Don't overbake or you'll get crunchy cookies instead of chewy. Let cool for 1 minute on sheet before moving to a cooling rack. In between batches keep your dough in the fridge so it stays firms. This makes about 24 cookies.

Shiitake Mushroom, Acorn Squash and Leek Risotto

I stole most this recipe from Saveur although they called for clams and since I don't do seafood I substituted shiitake mushrooms. I thought they would have the same chewy consistency of clams but a much more appealing flavour to me. Also use whatever kind of squash you have, I didn't have a butternut but I had acorn and a couple other unidentifiable types that I bought for my Halloween centre piece. Use whatever it doesn't make that much difference, some squashes are sweeter, some are more bitter, either way you can balance out the flavour with the stock. the wine or the cheese.

Click here to see the original recipe

1/2 lb. acorn squash, peeled, seeds and strings removed,
and squash cut into dice no larger than 1/2"
1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated, drained & finely chopped
2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large or 2 medium leeks, trimmed, washed, halved lengthwise,
then cut crosswise into very thin slices
2 tbsp. scallions, white part only, cut into very thin rounds

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 cup chicken stock

Fine sea salt
1 tbsp. chopped fresh marjoram, or 1/2 tbsp. dried marjoram
1 cup Italian risotto rice, such as carnaroli, vialone, nano,
baldo, or arborio
1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese

Turn oven on to 350°. Lay the diced squash in a baking dish that can contain it all without overlapping. Salt liberally. Pour in 1/2 cup water and put dish in the oven. Cook for 20 minutes. When cool, drain, then set aside.

Pour 6 cups of water into a saucepan and bring it to a steady simmer.

Pour oil into a heavy 4–6-quart saucepan, add leeks and scallions, and turn on heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring from time to time, until leeks and scallions are very pale gold. Add garlic & stir. Add in chopped shiitake mushrooms and stir. Add half the squash together with some salt and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, turning it from time to time. Add marjoram and stir all the ingredients together. Add rice, turning it to coat well.

Add half the wine, steadily stir the rice, and when all the wine has bubbled away, add the remaining half. Continue stirring to keep rice moving away from bottom and sides of pan.

Add the chicken stock to the risotto. Continue to stir until all the liquid has evaporated, then add a ladleful or two of the simmering water. Stir constantly, adding simmering water by the ladleful whenever the rice begins to dry out, threatening to stick to the pan. In about 15 minutes, when the rice is still hard and chalky to the bite, stir in the remaining squash. Continue to cook, stirring steadily and replenishing the water when necessary, until rice has lost its chalky consistency and is tender, but still firm, to the bite. Do not let rice dry out completely when you are near the end, keeping its final consistency loose and flowing.

Add grated pecorino. Remove pan from heat and stir vigorously. Taste and correct for seasoning. Serve at once.

This makes a hefty serving for about 4 people, although I make this for just Ian and I and then then next day I'll make risotto balls. Hang tight for that recipe!

Cornbread Jalapeno & Cheddar Waffles

We love waffles, we especially love waffles on a rainy Saturday morning. I make also sorts but today felt like a savoury day so I broke out my self raising cornmeal mix that I picked up on our last trip to Missouri because you will have a hard time finding in on the West Coast of Canada. I picked some jalapenos from my garden since they are growing like weeds and I rooted around in the fridge until I found the extra sharp 3 year old aged white cheddar. Mix this together and you have some darn good waffles.


1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup Self Rising White Corn Meal Mix (Aunt Jemima is good)
1 tbsp white sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup sharp cheddar grated
1 jalapeno finely diced
1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs
6 tbsp vegetable oil
5 dashes Tabasco sauce



Mix dry ingredients plus the cheddar and jalapeno together. In a separate bowl combine & whisk wet ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry ingredient bowl, stir until combine but don't over mix. Preheat waffle iron to medium heat (3 setting on my iron). Keep warm in a 200 degree oven, makes about 10 waffles. Serve with warm maple syrup.

Rob Feenie's Mac & Cheese

So I totally can't take any credit for this recipe, it is a totally rip off of Rob Feenie's famous Mac & Cheese. I also must admit that my friend Trish makes it way better than I do, I don't know what I do differently but her version kicks my Mac & Cheese's ass.

You should make it and see for yourself, I'm too lazy to type it all out so here's the recipe on the web. Note that I omit the lobster being that a) I hate seafood, b) I'm not that fancy.

http://www.cactusclubcafe.com/menus/recipes/mac-n-cheese

I did however take some pics of my process when I made it. Enjoy.


Multitasking, scalding milk & crisping bacon



Buy this pasta, this brand was called Serpentini, Feenie calls it Succhietto. Basically look for this shape, it is perfect and don't over cook it!



You will know your rue is ready when you smell popcorn, I just learned this tip and it is a life saver.






You can make it in individual ramekins, but again I'm lazy and not that fancy.

It's not done until the top looks like this, you want yummy crunchy golden cheese

You will eat way more than you probably should, it is that good and even better warmed up the next day.