Red Lentil Dip

This recipe comes to you from my sister Sylvia and Alive magazine. Looks yummy. Great to serve with fresh veggies and toasted pitas. I believe Sylvia added a bit of dill to her dip. Whatever works.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried red lentils
• 3 large garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp tahini
• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tsp blonde miso
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• chili oil and fresh cilantro or parsley for garnish (optional)

Methods:

Rinse the lentils to remove any fine debris. In a large saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil, then add the lentils and garlic and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes until the lentils are soft. Drain the liquid, reserving a bit for later. Slightly cool the lentils and garlic before whizzing them with the lemons juice, tahini, sesame oil, miso and seasonings. If the mixture is too thick, add a bit of the lentil cooking water. Transfer the dip to a bowl and refrigerate. Drizzle with chili oil and garnish, if you like, with cilantro or parsley. 

Red Cabbage Salad

This recipe comes from Edna Staebler's Mennonite cookbook entitled Food that Really Schmecks. It is a colourful, crisp, tart salad that goes well with chicken, turkey or pork, so it's a great holiday side dish. If you like purple food, you’ll like this salad. Unfortunately, my photo of the salad was quite out of focus, so I ditched it. 

The boiled salad dressing has a very old-worldy feel to it.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of finely shredded red cabbage
• 1 cup of cranberries (I used dried cranberries but you could use cooked cranberries)
• 1 cup of sliced celery
• sour cream mixed with 2 tbsp. 'Mother’s Salad Dressing' 

Mother’s Salad Dressing Concentrate (not sure whose mother)

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon flour
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup of water
• 1 egg, well beaten
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup vinegar
• sprinkle of cayenne pepper
• whipped or sour cream

Methods:

Mix the flour, mustard and salt with the water and add to the beaten egg and brown sugar. Slowly stir in the vinegar and add the cayenne. Thicken the mixture in a heavy-bottomed pot or double boiler on the stove stirring continuously. Chill this concentrate and keep it in the refrigerator tightly covered. (It keeps well). Blend a couple of tablespoons of the concentrate with enough whipped cream or sour cream to dress the cabbage salad.

Marinated Tempeh and Broccoli by Sylvia

My sister Sylvia is an inventive cook. She devised this colourful Meatless Monday vegetarian dish on a recent Sunday. 

Tempeh is made from soybeans, although various beans, whole grains, and flavorings are often added. The soybeans are cooked and fermented, then packed into a brick-like cake. 

Ingredients:

• cooked quinoa or rice, whichever you prefer as a base
• 1 pkg red pepper tempeh  (or any tempeh) cut in strips. 
• 2 - 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp ginger/garlic/chili paste
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups parboiled broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup toasted whole almonds, about 15  per serving, or more to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp Ginger Mango chutney, optional 

Methods:

Place the tempeh in a ceramic or glass baking dish. Marinate it at room temperature for 1/2 hour in a mixture of the soy sauce, spicy (ginger/garlic/chili) paste of your choice, honey, and sesame oil.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Quickly parboil the broccoli in a pot of water. A minute should do it. Drain the florets then combine the onions and broccoli with a tablespoon of olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Place the veggies on a sheet pan and bake them alongside the marinated tempeh in the oven for 15- 20 minutes.

Toast about 1/2 cup of whole almonds in a unoiled frying pan on top of the stove. 

Top your cooked quinoa or rice with the vegetables and tempeh. Sprinkle with almonds. Drizzle with chutney. This recipe serves 2.

Sweet Corn and Ricotta Sformato by Clare de Boer of NYT Cooking

What is a sformato you might ask? Well, it's not exactly clear to me. Appears that it might be a cross between a soufflé and a flan, that ends up, in this case, like a corn casserole. Just don't ask me for the pronunciation. At any rate, I made this recipe for a Thanksgiving (Canadian) weekend meal. It had a good flavour but I suspect the texture would have been different had it not been frozen prior to baking. Note to self: Do not freeze sformato.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing
• about 5 cups of fresh off the cob corn kernels (6 cobs approx.)
• 2 tablespoons flaky sea salt
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups ricotta
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1& 1/2 cups grated Parmesan
• 4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
• coarsely ground black pepper
• about 20 fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 lemon juiced

Methods:

In a large skillet, soften the corn over medium heat in 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of flaky sea salt (not table salt). Transfer half of the corn to a food processor and puree with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Combine the remaining kernels with the puree and let cool.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. When the corn is cool, add the ricotta, heavy cream, sour cream, 1 cup Parm and remaining 1 tablespoon of flaky sea salt.

Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks on a high speed. Stir the yolks into the ricotta mixture and then gently fold in the whites.

Rub the sides of a 6 by 10 or 8 by 8 baking dish with butter. Add 3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan and knock it around to coat the bottom and sides of the baking dish, then follow with a few grinds of pepper. Pour the ricotta batter into the dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the sformata has set in the centre.

Grind the basil and lemon juice together with a mortar and pestle if you happen to have one. Add a pinch of salt and 1/4 cup oil.

Just before serving, top the sformata with some Parmesan and drizzle with the basil oil.

Summer Harvest Vegetable Stew

My sister Sylvia generates great recipes. Here is her take on vegetable stew. 

"Use whatever you have that is in season. Peas, zucchini, corn, peppers. This was just what I had at the cottage and I really craved a vegetable-based meal. All of the vegetables are from our local farm market, Juicy Fruit, at the lake."

Ingredients:

• 1 large Onion
• 2 stalks Celery 
• 1 large Carrot
• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 cup Green beans 
• 2 small Beets
• I cup yellow grape tomatoes 
• 2 cups broth
• 2 cups cooked Romano beans
• 1 Tbsp hot chili sauce
• 1 Tsp Worcestershire 
• salt and pepper to taste
• Nub of Parmesan rind (remove before serving)

Methods:

Chop these vegetables into bite-sized pieces.Saute the onion in a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.

Simmer all of the vegetables in the broth in a large covered pot, 30-40 minutes

Let the stew sit a few minutes to thicken before serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs if you have some. Serve with crusty bread.

 

Ensalada de Pimientos Asados aka Roasted Red Pepper Salad

For a tapas party, or a summer barbecue, along with the ubiquitous green olives. This was colourful and very fresh-tasting, unlike jarred pimentos.

Ingredients:

• 3 thick-fleshed red bell peppers

• ½ onion, peeled 

• extra virgin olive oil, wine vinegar, and salt 

Methods: 
Roast the red peppers: wash and dry well, and poke once with a fork. Place in an oiled shallow baking dish and bake, uncovered, at medium high for an hour or so, until the peppers are very tender when pierced with a fork. This is best done early in the day or the day before.

When the peppers are cooked, seed and slice them. Then grate the onion and add it to the peppers. Dress them with a sprinkling of salt, olive oil, and vinegar (use approximately equal parts of oil and vinegar). Let the flavours develop for at least a few hours in the refrigerator.

From Woman's World Magazine - Mango and Chili Salad

I made this colourful salad to accompany a rather rusty-coloured Indian meal of butter chicken and curried chickpeas and potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium mango, peeled and diced
• 1 large or 2 small avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
• 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tsp grated lime zest
• pinch of chili flakes
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
• pinch of flaky sea salt

Methods: 
Mix the ingredients together and serve.

Sauteed Red Peppers and Steamed Green Beans on Savoury Couscous

This is less a recipe than it is a way to present vegetables that may be languishing in your fridge. In this case, I sautéed in olive oil, salt and pepper, a red pepper that was on its way out. Briefly steamed some beans that were similarly close to ending their stay in my fridge. And placed them on some couscous which I attempted to flavour with sautéed diced onions, some olive oil and salt and pepper. I may have put some butter on the green beans after steaming them.

Shaved Fennel Salad from Bon Appetit Magazine

Boring salad begone. This is perfect for those with a fennel fetish.

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups coarsely torn sourdough bread
• 1/2 cup walnuts , toasted
• 6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• salt
• 3 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or red or white wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 fennel bulbs with fronds
• 3/4 cup torn mint leaves
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 oz of shaved parmesan

Methods:

Toast the walnuts in a skillet on top of the stove. Toss the bread in 3 Tbsp. oil and season with salt. Toast in a 400 degree F. oven for 12-15 minutes until crisp.  

Whisk together the vinegar, garlic, pepper flakes and another 3 Tbsp. oil in a small bowl. Set aside.

Remove the stalks and fronds from the fennel bulb. Coarsely chop the fronds and slice the stalks thinly. Using a mandoline or very sharp knife, thinly slice the fennel bulbs. 

At some point you have to mix the ingredients together. I mixed the walnuts, croutons, dressing, shaved fennel bulb and torn mint  together in a plastic freezer bag, then plated those ingredients. On top, I placed the sliced stalks, fronds and shaved cheese. I then drizzled the salad with lemon juice, more olive oil and sprinkled on some Maldon salt. But use whatever method you like for putting the salad together.

Cacio e Pepe from the NYT's Cooking Column

This simple pasta recipe comes to you from Mark Bittman of the New York Times. Google tells me that the name translates to 'cheese and pepper' in English. I'm afraid my childish mind had gone elsewhere with a translation. I'm not sure whether the quality of the cheese I used was inadequate, but I wasn't wowed by this recipe. I can say that it was an absolute breeze to make. 


Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups of finely grated pecorino Romano
• 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 pound long pasta (I used capellini, which is so thin you could thread a needle with it)
• good olive oil

Methods: 
Put a pot of salted water on to boil. Add the pasta when the water boils.

In a large bowl, combine the cheeses and black pepper, then mash them together with enough water to form a paste. Spread the paste evenly in the bowl. When the pasta is done, transfer it to the bowl with the cheeses. Reserve a cup of the pasta water. Stir the pasta  to coat it, adding a teaspoon or two of olive oil and pasta cooking water to thin the sauce as necessary. Serve with additional pecorino and pepper.

Classic Green Bean Casserole

A woman by the name of Dorcas O'Reilly invented this recipe in 1955 when she worked as a manager in Campbell's test kitchen. I'm sure a number of Canadian housewives have tried this dish since its origination but I'm not sure that it took off in Canada the way it did in the United States, where apparently, it is a classic at the Thanksgiving meal. Along with marshmallows on sweet potatoes.

So, I ended up making this dish on the Thursday that was Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., in an attempt to better understand American 'appetites'. Didn't love it, but I probably should have used tinned beans rather than frozen, and Campbell's mushroom soup as opposed to a generic brand. 

Below you will find the link to the original recipe as well as a link to Ms. O'Reilly's obituary. She died in 2018 at the age of 92.

https://www.campbells.com/kitchen/recipes/classic-green-bean-casserole/

http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/10/dorcas-reilly-inventor-of-green-bean-casserole-dies-at-92.html

Fennel and Apple Slaw

If you like the distinctive flavour of fennel, you'll like this fresh-tasting salad. This slightly altered recipe is based on one found in the Autumn 2018 edition of Food and Drink magazine. I didn't have several of the ingredients that the authors suggested, so had to wing it. Where does one find juniper berries anyway?

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• a teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• one large fennel bulb
• 1 - 2 apples sliced (depending on their size)
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Methods:

In a small bowl, whisk the mustard, lemon juice and olive oil together. Wash the fennel bulb, cut it in half and remove the core and fronds. Thinly slice the fennel with a mandoline or sharp knife. Place it in a large bowl along with the thinly sliced onion, and parsley. Cut the apples in half and remove the cores. Thinly slice the apples, then add them to the bowl. Add the dressing and mix the ingredients well. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Mushroom Soup

This recipe is a slight variation of a mushroom soup recipe from the Autumn 2018 edition of the LCBO Food and Drink Magazine. For those of you who may be logging on to this blog from outside of Ontario, I should explain that the acronym LCBO stands for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, one of the world's largest purchasers of alcoholic beverages. This organization has been publishing a free glossy magazine of seasonal dishes for decades now. I can't tell you how many of these recipes I've made over the years. Lots.

The flavour of this mushroom soup recipe has been described as woodsy. It strikes me that woodsy soups are particularly autumnal. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• one largish onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 pounds of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 liter or more of chicken or vegetable stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• about a 1/4 cup of sherry (or cognac)
• about 1/2 cup of heavy cream

Methods: 

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the stock and salt and pepper. When boiling, reduce the heat and maintain the soup at a simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender working in batches, or use a handheld whizzer. 

To serve, bring the soup to a simmer, add the sherry and cream and stir until the soup is steaming. Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. 

It all started like this.

Corn on the Cob

...it's very dark inside the corn pot.

Some people cover these cobs in water and boil the heck out of them. In my experience, very little water and very little time (as in, a few minutes) is required to cook fresh corn on the cob. You do need a large pot with a tightly-fitting lid so that the steam from the boiling water in the bottom of the pot reaches every single kernel. To test for doneness, use the end of a sharp knife to pierce a kernel. It should be easily piercable.

Add butter and salt.

Smashed Cucumber Salad from Bon Appetit Magazine

I'm not sure why smashed cucumbers are in vogue right now, but I tried this recipe from Bon Appetit and it was A-OK. The final product kinda looks like you've had a meltdown in the kitchen. However, it tastes good, and you get to release all of your frustrations by bashing a vegetable. Here's the link to the recipe.

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/smashed-cucumber-salad-with-lemon-and-celery-salt

Sweet Potato and Corn Soup

This fresh-tasting soup was inspired by a chowder described by Lucy Waverman in her column in the Globe & Mail on August 22, 2015. The above photo shows an unadorned vegetarian version of the soup, which could be made much more impressive, and less vegetarian, with a healthy sprinkling of fried bits of bacon. Of note, this soup was actually better on Day 2, after the paprika had released all its smoky flavour.


Ingredients:

• 3 cobs of fresh corn, kernels removed with a sharp knife

• 1 onion diced

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/4 cup butter

• 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

• 4 cups water

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 

• additional salt and pepper to taste

• 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

Methods:

In a fairly large and heavy-bottomed pot, lightly sauté the diced onion in the butter and salt. Add the sweet potatoes and sauté lightly for several minutes before the addition of water to the pot along with the 3 cobs of corn from which you have removed the kernels. Simmer the vegetables until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a sharp knife. Remove the cobs from the pot and discard, then add the corn kernels and paprika. Simmer for several minutes longer in order to cook the corn, then remove the soup from the heat and use an immersible whizzer to blend it thoroughly. Add 1/4 cup heavy cream (or not), and place the soup back on the heat to re-warm. Add salt and pepper to taste.



Hold the cob upright in a bowl, and use a sharp knife to slice off the kernels. No fuss, no muss.




This looks odd, but simmering the 'nude' corn cobs along with the sweet potato adds flavour, and your friends will be impressed with your obviously very-sophisticated cooking technique.

Ratatouille

I had some baby zucchini in my fridge along with lots of sweet peppers, so decided to make the stewed vegetable dish that was made famous by a rodent in a movie by the same name…Ratatouille. Wikipedia provides the correct pronunciation of this colourful dish:

Ratatouille ( rat-ə-TOO-ee) is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish, originating in Nice. The full name of the dish is ratatouille niçoise.

Ratatouille is usually served as a side dish, but also may be served as a meal on its own accompanied by pasta, rice or bread. Tomatoes are a key ingredient, with garlic, onions, courgette (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant), bell peppers, marjoram and basil, or bay leaf and thyme, or a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence. Ratatouille is a dish extremely popular with dieters since not only is it low in fat and calories, but it's high in nutrients. Eat with impunity.

Ingredients:

• 5 baby (4-5 inch long or about 10 cm) zucchini, sliced cross-wise into bite-sized pieces
• 1 large cooking onion, peeled, halved and sliced
• 2 sweet red peppers, gutted and sliced
• 1 large clove of garlic, smashed and finely chopped ( or more, to taste)
• 1 small tin of cherry tomatoes ( or about a cup and a half of fresh tomatoes, chopped)
• herbs and salt and pepper to taste ( I used some sprigs of fresh thyme and marjoram)
• tablespoon of olive oil for sauteing

Methods: 
Place all ingredients in a saute pan and cook over moderate heat until all of the vegetables are softly stewed. You can use this as an omelet or crepe filling, or as I did, a vegetable side dish. You’ll notice that I omitted the aubergine; despite its lovely sounding name, it ends up rather greyish when cooked. Ratatouille isn’t exactly a glamourous dish and needs all the help it can get when it comes to looks.

Lemon Roasted Potatoes

This recipe comes from Craig Lee of the New York Times. The potatoes have a nice lemon flavour but there was too much paprika for my taste.

Ingredients:

•         2 lemons
•         2 pounds large Yukon Gold potatoes (about 3), scrubbed and cut lengthwise into eighths
•          ¼ cup olive oil
•         1 teaspoon smoked paprika
•          Kosher salt
•          Freshly ground pepper
•          4 sprigs rosemary or thyme

Methods:

Heat your oven to 425 degrees F. Slice 1 lemon into 1/4-inch slices and remove all seeds. Place the sliced lemon on a rimmed sheet tray along with the potatoes, olive oil and paprika, and combine. Arrange the ingredients in a single layer and season them with salt and pepper. Scatter the rosemary in and around the potatoes. Roast until the potatoes are golden brown, crisped and completely tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Possibly flip them over half way through the roasting to enhance browning. Serve on a large platter with lemon quarters from the second lemon, in case anyone wants additional lemon flavour.

New York Times Polenta with Mushrooms

So I'm on a listserve for the New York Times Cooking column which means I routinely receive great photos for yummy looking food in my inbox. Like polenta with mushrooms. This recipe, although tasty enough, served to confirm the fact that polenta is not for me. It's corn mush in my books, basically because it's made of corn and it's mushy. Give me some sauteed mushrooms on toast any day.

Ingredients:

•          1 ¾ cups polenta or cornmeal
•          4 tablespoons unsalted butter, or to taste
•          1 tablespoon grated Parmesan, or to taste
•          ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
•          5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pats, divided
•          1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
•          8 ounces fresh mushrooms, wild or cultivated, sliced thin
•          1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
•          1 tablespoon soy sauce
•          1 tablespoon heavy cream
•          1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
•          Freshly ground black pepper

·     Methods: 

       Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover them with about 1/2 cup boiling water. Allow to steep for 20 minutes. Remove the rehydrated mushrooms, pat dry, then chop roughly. Reserve the mushroom stock.

       Make the polenta as per the directions on the package of cornmeal you have purchased. The NYTimes instructions were overly complex in my view. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter and the parmesan. Taste for seasoning. 

       Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a sauté pan set over high heat until it has melted. Add the garlic and cook until it starts to sizzle without letting it brown. Add the fresh and reconstituted mushrooms and thyme to the pan, and sauté 3 to 4 minutes, turning until browned. Add about 1/4 cup of the mushroom stock to deglaze the surface, using a wooden spoon to scrape at the browned bits. Allow the stock to reduce by half, then turn the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, along with the soy sauce, cream and olive oil. Allow the  mixture to cook until it thickens a little. Taste for seasoning, adding black pepper, if desired. Put the polenta in a warmed bowl, then top with mushrooms and the sauce. Serve immediately

Roasted Baby Root Vegetables

This 'salad' is a slight variation of a recipe in Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen cookbook. Basically, I left out the quinoa that she put in. By the way, it was the first time I had tried roasting radishes....and hey, they're not just for raw veggie trays anymore.



I served this dish at room temperature but suspect it is equally good if served warm or cold.



Ingredients:

• 3 small shallots
• olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 pounds of mixed root vegetables ( I use baby turnips, radishes, potatoes and carrots)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar plus more for finishing
• 2 big pinches of coarse salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• pepper

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the shallots and separate the cloves. Place the shallots in a square of aluminum foil, coat with olive oil, then wrap the foil around the cloves to create a packet and place it in the oven.

Arrange the rest of the vegetables in one layer on a baking sheet and coat them with olive oil. Squeeze lemon juice over the vegetables and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place the vegetables into the oven with the packet of shallots and roast until tender and slightly caramelized. (Perhaps 30 minutes). 

Remove the vegetables from the oven and set aside. Toss the cooked shallots into a blender along with the sherry and balsamic vinegars, and salt and pepper. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend thoroughly. Adjust the seasonings to taste, then spoon the vinaigrette over the vegetables. I finished the dish before serving with some drops of reduced balsamic vinegar.