Day 17 – Canapes and Cheap Wine

February 27, 2007: No Dinner for me…

I had to go to a client reception tonight.  Nice room, good band, not bad finger food…I have no idea what K and the kids ate.

Day 16 – Chili

Day 16 – February 26th, 2007: Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili

When I was slicing and dicing all the veg for yesterday’s cabbage dish, I also diced up onions, celery, sweet potatoes, broccoli stems, and carrots for Monday night’s dinner.

It’s a very simple dish – to the diced veg, add a tin of black beans, a tin of red beans and a tin of crushed tomatoes and you’re pretty much set.

Spice it up with a whole dried chili, 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tablespoon ground cumin and some smoked paprika and then add 1 cup of beer and 1 cup of beef stock to the slow cooker pot, wrap it in cling film and throw it in the fridge… 

Monday morning, fire up the slow cooker before work and you’ve got a Monday night dinner ready to roll…leftovers (if there are any) can be the base of the kids’ lunch or a dinner of burritos later this week…

Day 15 – Roast Pork with Cabbage

February 25th, 2007: Roast Pork with Cabbage and Warm Chocolate Pudding

Hit the butcher store on the way home from my parents and grabbed a rack of pork. This has to be the cheapest Sunday roast option out there…

Gave the roast a nice crust of salt and pepper and put it in a 375 oven for about an hour.

To go with the pork, we had a great savoy cabbage dish from the Silver Spoon cookbook. This is quickly becoming a staple in our house, it matches beautifully with pork or chicken. Here’s our modified version:

2 tbsp olive oil 
1/2 cup pancetta (or lardons; or bacon etc.)
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 cups shredded savoy cabbage
1/3 cup white wine
2/3 cup stock (chicken, veg, beef – the original calls for game stock…)
11 ounces mixed diced vegetables (carrots, fennel, onions, new potatoes)
2 tablespoons butter

1. In a large saute pan over medium low-heat, warm the olive oil, sweat the pancetta and garlic. When the garlic begins to brown, remove it from the pan and add the cabbage.
2. Let the garlic cook for five to 10 mintues, stirring occassionally. You don’t want the cabbage to be too limp, but you also don’t want it to be raw…
3. Turn up the heat, add the stock and the wine – let it begin to reduce and further cook the cabbage, about 3 to five minutes.
4. Add all of the diced veggies, reduce the heat, cover and let stand for 10 minutes
5. Add the butter, taste and adjust the seasoning (salt? pepper?) and then serve…

For dessert we had Nigel Slater’s Baked Chocolate Hazelnut Pudding from the ever dependable Kitchen Diaries. I’m a sucker for all things nutella, that’s how this recipe first caught my eye…delicious and easy to make.

200g dark chocolate, chopped
100 g sugar
3 eggs
60 g butter
2 tbsp nutella

1. In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate (oh, and preheat your oven to 390F)
2. Separate the eggs.
3. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form
4. Combine the sugar and the egg yolks and beat until well creamed (think thick yellow ribbons)
5. Once the chocolate has melted, add the butter. Once that’s melted, gently stir in the nutella
6. Fold the chocolate into the egg-yolk/sugar mixture
7. Add a bit of the egg white to the chocolate/egg-yolk mixture and gently fold it in. Then add the rest, mixing it up gently and just enough so that there aren’t clumps of egg white floating about
8. Pour the chocolate mix into buttered ramekins (the recipe said four, but we got six out of it)
9. Bake for 12 minutes…if they’re still too wobbly put them back in, but the whole object of this dessert (for me anyways) is to have that soft, warm, wobbly centre…

Day 13 and 14 – A visit with the folks

Day 13 – Roast Chicken with peas
Day 14 – Vegetarian Penne Arrabiata

Drove down to visit my parents this weekend.

I love my folks, but when people ask me why I learned to cook I often refer to my mother (it always comes back to the mother…)

My mum is a very loving, caring, nurturing, kind woman but a good cook she ain’t. She refuses to taste as she goes, she’s never drained anything in her life – from ground beef to tinned veggies it gets cooked and served in whatever liquids it came in or exudes – and she’s not that sharp on portion sizes either. Friday night there were six of us for dinner and she cooked 1 chicken. 

Saturday was Open that Bottle Night, and as my dad’s health isn’t the greatest, wedecided to take down a 1997 Brunello di Montalcino that K. and I schlepped back after our first trip to Italy.

I told my folks what we were bringing, so mum ordered a pre-made pasta dish that she could re-heat in the oven for the six adults and three kids at dinner. Her heart was in the right place, but she ordered penne arrabiata. As my sister’s a vegetarian, mum had the shop swap the sausage for veggies. She didn’t have them swap out the heat and we of course had a large aluminum roaster of pasta that was way too spicy for the kids.

The wine was wonderful, the company was great and the kids didn’t exactly go hungry…mum also more than made up for it by serving her tremendous butter tarts for dessert. Clearly the best dish in her repertoire.

Day 12 – BBQ Steak

February 22, 2007: BBQ Steak!

My brother in-law showed up for dinner with a big platter of steak, which he then grilled outside on the deck while the snow billowed around him.

A quick green salad, a fresh baguette, and some steamed veggies quickly made their way to a happy table.

Nanaimo Bars, Buttertarts and a mini-molten chocolate cake from Sweet Tooth brought up the rear.

Gotta love it when family unexpectedly drop by and bring dinner with them…

Day 11 – Sushi, Soft Pretzels and Beer

February 21, 2007: Raptor’s v. Cleveland Cavaliers

The Raptors lost to Cleveland and my wallet lost to the ACC ($11.25 for a 5 ounce glass of wine; $6.50 for a bag of popcorn; $10 for a beer).

No matter the sporting event, I’m a sucker for the big, salty, soft pretzel with some mustard and a beer. So that was pretty much my dinner on a warm February night. K. had the sushi…the kids and the sitter, once again, had pizza.

Day 10 – Pancake Tuesday

February 20, 2007: Pancakes

I had a client dinner (pasta tasting menu app; lamb loin; pear tart; espresso) but the kids and K. had pancakes since it’s Shrove Tuesday.

My daughter was horrified when I told her tomorrow was Ash Wednesday so we’d be having ashes for dinner…the worst of the cold snap seems to be over, so I think it’s more likely we’ll just have burgers.

Day 9 – Roast Chicken

February 19, 2007  – Thomas Keller’s roast chicken with a side of roasted root veg.

This dish is so preposterously easy to make and so unbelievably good that we probably eat it about once every seven to ten days (I’d never done the math on this before, that’s like 40+ roasted chickens a year…)

There are maybe three steps to this:
1. Make sure the bird is dry
2. Shower the bird with one tablespoon of kosher salt (inside and out)
3. Truss the bird and pop it in a 450F oven

If you’re really lazy (and you’d have to be incredibly lazy) you could likely get away with just salting and roasting the bird.

That’s it.

At about the 35 minute mark, throw some peeled and roughly chopped carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and whole unpeeled garlic cloves into a shallow oven safe roaster with a bit of chicken stock on the bottom. Drizzle on a touch of olive oil, some kosher salt and keep the lid on.

In an hour there’s one succulent bird with crispy salty skin ready to go. 

The bird has to rest for 10 to 15 minutes, at that point pull the lid off the veggies, take the oven temp down to 375 and let veg finish roasting.

The Wine
2004 Henri &Gilles Buisson Margauttiere Pinot Noir: a pretty but simple wine, it has a bright lively acidity that matches perfectly with the salty moist chicken.

The Verdict
Our daughter loves the drumsticks (food she doesn’t have to battle with a knife and fork) and the boy will easily eat both thighs and some of the breast.

This dish used to be good for leftovers, but now the four of us consume the whole thing. I can see a day in the not too distant future when we’ll have to roast two birds…

Day 8 – Squash Soup; Braised Lamb Shanks

February 18, 2007: Squash Soup and Braised Lamb Shanks

The soup is based on Thomas Keller’s Butternut Squash Soup recipe from his cookbook Bouchon. The lamb shanks are based on  a recipe in Nigel Slater’s The Kitchen Diaries (the book that inspired this blog).

Another freezing cold day, -19C with wind chill. The weatherman promised it would be +7C on Monday. Same folks are now calling for it to be -14C.  A 21 degree swing this time of year is just plain cruel.

If it was a weekday, it would be time to crack out the slowcooker, but as it’s a lazy Sunday it’s time for a nice soup and a good in-the-oven braise.

The Soup Prep
A large butternut squash is split in half, the cavity cleared of seeds and the neck removed.

The cavity gets a splash of olive oil, some salt and pepper and a collection of fresh herbs. The split squash goes cut side down on a foil lined sheet into a 350F oven for an hour.

While it roasts, I slice and dice: 1 cup of leeks, 1/2 cup of carrots, 1/2 cup of shallots, 1/2 cup of onions. The neck of the squash is peeled and cut into a 1/2 inch dice.

Stage II
Once the squash is out of the oven and cool enough to handle, a neutral oil is warmed in a large pan and in go the leeks, onions, carrots, and shallots. After five or so minutes, the raw diced squash, six cloves of peeled garlic, salt and pepper go into the pan.

Here’s the secret to this dish – two minutes after the squash and garlic go into the pan, add 2 tablespoons of honey. This is a twist I never would have thought of and it gives this soup a really deep, complex flavour.

After that, the roasted, skinned squashed, 6 cups of vegetable stock go into the pot -the whole thing is brought to the boil – and then simmered for at least 30 minutes.

Working in batches,  the soup is run through the blender and passed through a sieve back into a waiting saucepan. Taste the soup, adjust the seasonings; if it’s too thick add a bit more vegetable stock. Then it’s ready to just re-heat and serve. To finish it, Keller calls for nutmeg infused creme fraiche and fried sage, but that will have to wait for another day…

The Shanks
Last night I trimmed up a couple of lamb shanks, removing the excess fat and cutting back some of the silver skin. They trimmed shanks went into a Tupperware with a cup of red wine, a bay leaf, a touch of salt and a garlic clove that had been passed through a rasp.

This afternoon, the shanks get browned in hot oil and then a mirepoix hits the pan. Once the mirepoix has cooked off, the shanks, three smashed cloves of garlic, an onion cut into wedges, a cup of red wine and a cup of beef stock are added to the pan. The whole thing goes into a 300F oven for an hour.

After an hour, a tablespoon of grainy pommery mustard gets stirred into the mix, the shanks are turned over (wet side up, dry side into the mix) and it all heads back into the oven for another hour. 

Some garlic mashed potatoes go into the bowl and the shanks go on top…(with way too much steam for the camera to handle)

Dessert
K. made chocolate pots de creme from the December issue of Cooks Illustrated. She said they were very easy to make and they were delicious; however, they were really heavy. Way heavier than any pots de creme I’ve ever had, bordering on being solid chocolate…perhaps she overcooked the creme anglais. Still, a bowl of dark chocolate with whipped cream is never a bad thing.

The Wine
2004 Saintsbury Chardonnay with the soup (thank goodness for half-bottles) and Plan Pegau Lot 2004 with the lamb.

The Verdict
Both kids liked the lamb, though they weren’t so sure about the soup or the mashed potatoes. As could be expected, the chocolate was a the most popular dish of the night.

Day 7 – Snapper in Soy and Ginger, Cold Noodle Salad

February 17, 2007: Red Snapper

Woke up wanting something zesty for dinner. Something acidic and angular with plenty of zip.

Went for a stroll in the snow and came home with two smallish red snappers, a pound of shrimp, some fresh limes and a package of rice vermicelli.

The shrimp will go into a cold noodle salad that we’ll have as a starter. The snapper will get a 30 minute marinade in ginger, soy, scallions, sesame oil before going into a hot oven (a very easy and quick recipe from The New Basics).

Prep
Cut slits in the side of the fish about an inch and a half long, not too deep (you don’t want to hit the bone). Tuck thinly sliced scallions and a chiffonade of coriander into the slits.

An inch of fresh ginger is run through the rasp followed by two cloves of garlic. This goes into a bowl with 1/4 cup of soy and a tablespoon of sesame oil. The fish goes in an ovenproof dish and they soy-sesame-ginger marinade is drizzled on.

The Appetizer:
This is a bit of a production, but it’s tasty:

1. Cook two smashed cloves of garlic in about 1/4 cup of neutral oil (I use grape seed, but the original recipe calls for peanut oil). Before the garlic browns, carefully pour the hot oil through a seive into a bowl. Discard the garlic and allow the oil to cool

2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and toss in about an inch of fresh, crushed/minced ginger. Add the shrimp and boil until just cooked through – about 90 seconds.

3. Drain the shrimp into a colander, discard the ginger and shell the shrimp.

4. Julienne some carrots, cucumbers, cabbage or bok choy and some red pepper

5. Give the rice vermicelli a three minute soak in boiling water and then a nice cold rinse.

6. Combine the garlic oil with the juice of a lime, a tablespoon each of fish sauce and soy sauce, mix in a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of sesame oil – add some hot sauce if that’s your thing. Taste and adjust seasonings - I added a drop or two of rice vinegar to give it some oomph.

7. Combine the noodles, veg and shrimp toss in the vinaigrette and top with plenty o’ fresh coriander.

The Main:
The oven goes to 375 and, once there, the fish goes in for 30 minutes. Steamed rice and some stir fried veggies rounds this out.

Dessert:
K whipped up some chocolate chip cookies, nice and gooey (not a fan of the crisp ones).

The Wine:
Thirty Bench Small Lot Steel Post Riesling – a perfect match with the cold noodles (lots of grapefruit, lime and minerals) and a pretty good pairing with the snapper. 

 The Verdict:
A bit of a conundrum on  this one. The kids love the shrimp but only without any dressing  or seasoning; however, they want their noodles and veg all dressed. The fish was picked at, but not avidly consumed by either one of the kids.

K. informs me that rice noodles are her favourite. Who knew?

The fish was delish, but clean-up will not be fun. Nothing like baked on soy sauce. There must be an easier way to deal with the aftermath of this marinade…