Chicken Souvlaki

This is the first time I've tried the chicken souvlaki from Mitchell's. I cooked them on the BBQ for about 12 minutes over high heat and some of the larger pieces were a bit underdone.  I don't think there was any danger but if I cook them again I'll make sure the larger pieces are firmer. The rice was cooked with olive oil, salt, 2 tsp lemon juice and 1/2 tsp dried dill. I was looking for the liquorice flavour from the dill but it didn't come through. Try more or fresh next time.

The carrots were boiled and finished in butter and salt. A simple salad of iceberg, cucumber, celery and tomato.

Vinaigrette

2 tsp olive/canola oil

2 tsp raspberry vinegar - This batch isn't strong so it needs extra

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

1/2 tsp prepared horseradish

Whisk and toss. 

The chicken was good but I prefer the pork souvlaki. I'm still using a head of iceberg lettuce I tore up several days ago.  Fern is right, it doesn't go brown if you don't use a steel knife on it.

Pork Cutlet with Broccoli and Hollandaise

I'm still buying Save On Foods breaded pork cutlets. They taste great and it's really nice to just drop them in the frying pan, no coating mess. The mashed potatoes were boiled in salted water then drained and mashed with butter and milk.  I cut the broccoli up, steamed and drenched it. All I had to do was put it back in the pot with olive oil and some salt.

So I was standing there looking at everything cooking with nothing to do. It's taken me 760 meals to get to this point. I have time to make Hollandaise! I separated an egg yolk into a small pot. Melted a 5mm slice from a pound of butter, melted not hot. Slowly whisk the butter into the egg yolk. In a glass mix 1/4 cup water and a few squirts lemon juice. It should be nice and tart because the butter will temper the acid. Add enough water/lemon to thin the sauce but don't make it watery. Put it on the heat and bring it up to temperature. If it thickens too much, add more water/lemon. If it's too thin, you ruined your sauce. (if a sauce is ruined, throw it out and don't mention it)

The condiment is Fern's home made ketchup. 

The pork - condiment went really well with the broccoli - Hollandaise and the potatoes held up the middle. It was no trouble at all to whip up the Hollandaise. I'm starting to feel confident in the kitchen. It feels good.

Cajun Snapper Over Lemon Dill Sauce

We had a late lunch so we both wanted a lighter meal, that usually means fish. I guess it's the smaller portions and less fat that makes it seem lighter.  Anyway, I chose the fish by price. There was a perfect fillet for us to share so I picked it up.  I should have checked the date. I should have pressed the centre. Fish is not fresh if it's been on the shelf for three days. Fish is not fresh if you press the centre and it does not spring back. The snapper tasted fishy so I think it would have failed both tests. My bad. I think we need a fish monger in town.

Anyway, I salted and seasoned the fish with Save On Foods bulk Cajun seasoning. It was good, I'll use it more. I fried the fish in olive/canola oil. 

The broccoli was steamed till it started to soften, then drench cooled and reheated in olive oil. It's easy to put the broccoli on to reheat 5 minutes before everything else is ready. Don't forget to salt it. Black pepper goes well too.

The potatoes were boiled in salted water then mashed with butter and milk.

Lemon Dill Sauce

I put a teaspoon of olive oil and one of butter in a small sauce pan.  To that I added one teaspoon of flour. Cook off the flour taste, remove from heat.  In a cup mix 1/4 cup water and a couple squirts of lemon juice. Taste. It should be heavily lemony but not unpleasantly sour. Slowly whisk half this mixture into the cooked flour and oil. Add more until the sauce is thin but still has a little body.  It will thicken as soon as it's heated so keep the liquid nearby. When the sauce is made and the acid is balanced add 1/2 teaspoon of dried dill or a tablespoon of fresh chopped. Any herb with liquorice like flavour will work. Whisk it in.

Plate the sauce, put the fish on top, add potatoes, broccoli and serve.

It was pretty good. Fresh dill would have been better but dried certainly worked. The sauce moderated the fishy taste so it was still pleasant to eat, but it was clearly fish. The ready made Cajun seasoning is good so it will be easier to use in pinch. 

Black Tiger Prawns with Penne Pasta and Celery Tomato Sauce

I found some frozen black tiger prawns at Mitchell's that were almost as cheap as the big bag of prawns from the Butcher's Block. They were frozen in a small block of ice but the package claimed 250gm of prawns which should be enough for two. (100gm meat/person) I set them in the sink to thaw but after a couple of hours they were no closer to free from their frozen prison. Held under cold running water the ice quickly melted away, releasing the prawns.  They had shells so I peeled them back held the top of a knife blade across the prawn just above the tail. Pull the two apart and the digestive tract comes out with the tail, no need to clean them further.

I diced an onion, 3 cloves of garlic and a stick of celery. I sweated the onion, then the garlic and celery.  Add the prawns and turn them over as soon as they have colour. Once the prawns have pink both sides, add a 16oz can of tomato sauce. It will probably be too thin so let it simmer and reduce a bit. 

When the pasta was done I added it to the sauce and tossed to coat.  Then plated and served with fresh grated parmesan. Fern loves celery so this celery tomato sauce was a big hit with him. I liked it too. 

Vinaigrette

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp canola oil

2 tsp raspberry vinegar

Salt

Black Pepper

Whisk, toss a handful of salad in and serve. The salad is in the background. 

Sole with Slivered Almond White Wine Sauce

I was in the mood for fish but not anything fishy.  Fresh sole achieves that. I peeled potatoes and put in salted water on high heat. It takes about twenty minutes for potatoes to cook.  Sliced up a fresh carrot and put in ceramic bowl with frozen peas, put in microwave ready to cook. I broke up the head of lettuce, washed and spun it dry then put it all in big plastic bin.  An english cucumber sliced up was mixed into the lettuce. To make a salad all I have to do is whisk up a vinaigrette, add a handful of salad mix and toss.

I put two teaspoons of butter in my sauce pot and added a tablespoon of slivered almonds. Sprinkle a teaspoon of flour over all and whisk till it bubbles and cooks off the flour taste.  Remove from heat. Whisk in 1/4 cup milk and half as much white wine and a splash of beef stock. Return to heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer for a few minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce if necessary. Since it is a small amount of sauce it can be made first then reheated just before serving.

Start the peas and carrots first then I salted the fish well on one side, it's thin so one side should be enough. Then dredged it in flour. I set it in a large frying pan in hot olive oil.  It should brown quickly at the edges, then turn it over. Remove from pan as soon as it's done, it overcooks in a heartbeat. Drain, mash and add salt, butter and milk to the potatoes. Add butter, salt and black pepper to the peas and carrots.  Put sauce over or under the fish, depending how good the fish looks.

Vinaigrette

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp canola oil

1-2 tsp raspberry vinegar

salt

pepper

Whisk, add salad mix. I also had mixed sweet peppers diced in the fridge so I threw them in the salad. I chopped up some fresh parsley and added that.  Toss everything and serve.

It seems to be important to serve the salad with the main course. If it's served after, it isn't eaten. I can't eat salad first because it will charge unobstructed through my digestive tract. So serving main course with salad seems to encourage consuming the whole meal. 

Pork Tenderloin with Honey Mustard Sauce

I wanted a small pork loin roast but tenderloin was all they had, poor me.  At least it was On Sale, I bought a pack of two. I marinated the tenderloins in a brine of salt, sugar and molasses. Use more salt for shorter brining time. This time I used one tablespoon in a litre/4 cups of water. (Hint: microwave 1/2 cup water to dissolve salt then pour into 3 1/2 cups cold water.) The sugar counteracts the bitter taste in the molasses so not much is required. It brined for a few hours.

I got the potatoes on first, then turned on the BBQ and set the steamer on the burner. I find if I do all the prep work before starting cooking then I maintain control and take less time over all. The pork went on the BBQ straight from the brine. I forgot to oil it but the tenderloin was whole so it didn't stick much anyway. The potatoes were simply boiled in salt water and mashed with butter, salt and a little milk.  The carrots and broccoli were steamed then cooled quickly and reheated in olive oil. 

Honey Mustard Sauce

1/2 tsp flour

1 tsp butter

1/4 cup milk

1/2 oz white wine

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp honey

1 pinch salt

mixed pepper

Melt the butter with the flour and cook the flour taste off, remove from heat. Whisking in a little at a time add the milk, then the white wine. Back on the burner and heat to bubbling. Add the mustard, honey, salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thin, increase heat and boil off the excess liquid. If it's about right, just keep the sauce warm, maybe with a lid.

I plated the sauce over the meat but placing the meat in the sauce might look better, I'll try it next time. When I made up the sauce it only took a minute or two, so I was quite surprised when I listed so many ingredients. Still, it is an easy sauce to make and it made the pork stand up and be counted!

Chicken with Coconut Celery Sauce

I put far too much Italian sausage meat in the spaghetti sauce so tonight's dinner had to be chicken, again.  I put a teaspoon of flour in a plastic bag and reached for my trusty jar of onion powder. It's empty! I used it all last time! So I quickly grabbed the poultry seasoning and added half a teaspoon of that to the bag.  I salted the chicken first then shook it in the bag.  I brushed olive oil over all before putting smooth side down over high heat on the BBQ. I grilled them for two minutes then turned them over off the heat to roast for 25 minute total cooking time.

The potatoes were boiled and mashed with salt, butter and milk.  The broccoli was steamed, cooled and finished in olive oil. I have noticed lately that I have everything going and I'm standing with nothing to do. So I decided to try to use up the coconut milk in a sauce. Fern likes celery so it was my challenge to make a coconut celery sauce. It sure sounds weird.

I sweated two chopped garlic cloves and a stick of celery.  Then I added the coconut milk, 2 drops of fish sauce and started reducing it. It reduced to almost nothing so I added a little milk to fill it out.  I cut up a small green pepper from the garden and added that too. I probably should have used a little flour in the sauce to give it body and hold some liquid. The chicken was done so I plated it all.  

I put too much poultry seasoning in the flour mixture so when the flour cooked into a reddish brown, the green seasoning produced an unpalatable muddy colour. The too thin sauce didn't help the appearance much. Surprisingly the sauce was good, it was better before I added the green pepper, but it was still good.

Curry Coconut Cashew Chicken

A third and final meal from that chicken I broke down the other day. It made hearty soup for dinner, then lunch next day. This was the legs and wings plus a piece of chicken breast that was in the fridge. I sweated a diced onion, carrot, celery stick and 3 different peppers. Next I sprinkled a tablespoon of curry powder over the vegetables and tossed them.  I added a few drops of Thai Fish Sauce which gave a distinct odour of dirty socks. That's a little scary, but not all ingredients are in and flavour can change as it cooks.  So I continued with a splash of white wine, half a can of coconut milk and a handful of cashews.  The milk was too watery so the sauce needed to be reduced. 

Once the curry had boiled down enough I plated it over basmati rice cooked with salt, olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice. Fern loved it, I practically inhaled mine. Storm wouldn't try mine but Fern got him to eat a piece of curry chicken. He didn't like the smell but he loved the taste. He licked our plates clean and stared at me, licking his lips for more!

Quick Leftover Lunch

I had enough alfredo sauce for one portion of pasta, not quite enough for Fern and I. I suggested filling it out with tomato sauce to make rosé sauce.  Fern said add ham and cheese too! I got the pasta going and looked at the ham. It was from last week but should still be good. It had white spots on it that didn't look like congealed fat. So I threw it out and substituted bacon. I cut the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and fried them up.  I grated half a cup of cheddar cheese. I added the bacon and cheese to the hot sauce and stirred. It took a minute for the cheese to melt, then I added some chopped parsley, stirred in the pasta and served it.

It was better than the alfredo sauce alone! The bacon worked really well, it was a delicious lunch.

Chicken on Curry Cous Cous with Mushroom White Wine Cream Sauce

I was feeling particularly creative today and wanted to try something completely different. I bought chicken earlier in the day so it was only a matter deciding how to put it on the plate. I found cous cous in the cupboard and looked up hot cous cous recipes. Curry stood out and that's what I went with. I shook about 1/4-1/2 tsp curry powder into 1/2 cup chicken stock/water. Curry likes a sweet something to take the bitter edge off, raisins work but I wanted more savoury, so I used frozen corn. Added it to the water with a splash of olive oil and some salt. I brought that to a boil for a minute to cook the corn then threw in the cous cous and set it aside for 5 minutes. That was easy.

The chicken I salted and rolled in a 50/50 mixture of flour and onion powder. Then brush oil over it on both sides and put it on the BBQ over the heat for 2 minutes. Then move it off the heat so it roasts for 30 minutes total cooking time. That gets grill marks on both sides, which looks nice.

The vegetables were just snow peas, celery and spring onions fried up in olive oil. Simple, but Fern loves celery so he loved it. It was surprisingly good.

Six mushrooms sliced up frying in butter, when they had a nice sear I sprinkled instant blending flour over all. Pinch of Salt. About 1/2 to 1 tsp flour to go with the 1 cup total liquid I planned to use. I cooked off the flour taste then slowly added milk and a splash of chicken stock. A tablespoon of cream for body. A tablespoon or two of white wine. I cut up 3 slices of dried tomatoes from the gardens and added them to the sauce. Then I turned up the heat and reduced the milk to a nice saucy consistency. 

I plated the chicken on the cous cous and put the sauce over both because they were meant to eat together. The curry, onion on chicken and white wine creamy mushrooms were phenomenal together.

Fern loved the vegetables too so it was a gold star dinner.

Venison Liver

Kevin, our intrepid gardener, shot a deer on his hunting trip. He offered us the liver and we gladly accepted.  I let Fern cook it because he says I overcook liver. He caramelized 3 onions in the fat of some bacon.  The he floured and salted the liver and set it in the hot oil. It was just pink in the middle.  He made mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli to fill the plate. 

Venison liver is sweet and tender with no gamy taste at all. I love ketchup with my liver and I dove into this plate as soon as I put the camera down. It was absolutely phenomenal. 

Thank You Kevin!

Pork Cutlet

Haven't blogged for a few days. We've eaten out, ordered in, had spaghetti and generally been too busy or had nothing to write about. Back on track, I felt like pork tonight.  That is a cutlet from Save On Foods.  I fried it in olive and canola oil. The condiment is Fern's ketchup.  The potatoes were mashed, buttered, salted and a splash of milk. The broccoli was steamed, cooled under running water and reheated in olive oil.

The salad was olive/canola oil, raspberry vinegar, salt and mixed pepper. It was a bag of Fresh Express iceberg mix.  I should go back to making a bin of salad so it's always available and hasn't been on the store shelf for a week. It's cheaper too.

Despite looking like an ordinary plate this food was exceptionally good.

Chicken with Celery, Cheddar and White Wine Sauce

Fern is home from Vancouver and it is time for chicken! I wanted to keep it simple, tasty and high fibre if possible. I settled for the first two. I put rice on to cook with salt, olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice. The broccoli went in the steamer and the BBQ was warmed up.  I first salted then coated the chicken with a mixture of:

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp flour

1/4 tsp poultry seasoning

1/4 tsp paprika

Brush the breasts with olive oil and put over the flame on BBQ for two minutes.  Then turn the breasts over and place off the heat so they cook gently. Roast for 25-30 minutes total cooking time. Bone in will take 45 minutes. The broccoli was steamed, cooled in running water and finished in olive oil.  

Once I had everything going I was standing with nothing to do so I thought, a celery sauce for that chicken would be nice.  Fern loves celery.  I put a teaspoon of flour in a pot and added two teaspoon of butter. I cooked that for a minute then added the chopped half stick of celery to sweat.  Next I added 1/2 cup milk and 2 teaspoon whipping cream and a pinch of salt. I tasted it. Pasty, fatty, not a good mouth feel and the taste was ugh! How about some cheddar cheese? I added the rest of the grated cheddar left over in the fridge. Half a cup at most. Now I had a pasty, cheesy ugh sauce. Maybe a little acid will fix it. Lemon juice would curdle the milk, as would wine vinegar, but I have white wine open in the fridge.  Two teaspoons of white wine and the flavour popped out of the sauce and it tasted wonderful. Oh the power of the humble grape.

If you like cheese sauce and celery you'll love this, so try it! Less than an hour to prepare.

Angus Strip Loin Steak

This time I decided to splurge on Angus beef. The strip loin was on sale and was much less fatty than the rib steak.  I bought mushrooms to go with the steak.  I nuked the potato, steamed and finished in olive oil the broccoli. The mushrooms were fried in olive oil and the steak was done on the BBQ in 2x2x2x2 minutes to get crossed grill marks on both sides. Sour cream on the potato. It was all really good.

Home Alone Rib Steak

Fern had to go to Vancouver for a few days so I was left to fend for myself.  The first night I bought a Save On Foods rib steak, acorn squash, baked potato, sour cream and broccoli. The squash I buttered, salted and put in the oven for 1 hour at 325F.  I nuked the baked potato and steamed the broccoli. The steak was cooked on the BBQ for 2x2x2x2 minutes to get crossed grill marks on both sides. I didn't want to go out in the biblical deluge to get fresh chives from the garden so I used a green onion instead. The broccoli was finished in olive oil and sour cream graces the potato. Salt and black pepper season the steak.

It tasted every bit as good as it looks. I ate it all too!

Turkey a la King with fresh bread

I had to use up the turkey or lose it so I made a la King on egg noodles.  To go with the meal I also made a baguette. It was all awfully simple. I started with the bread.  1 cup flour, 1 tbsp wheat gluten, 1/2 tsp yeast, pinch of salt, 1/4 cup water.

Sift the dry ingredients then slowly add some water and mix with a fork. Only add enough water for the dough to start clinging together with a little flour loose in the bowl. It will look like it needs more water but it doesn't.  Start kneading the dough. Push, stretch, fold, turn, repeat. Work the dough until it softens. If the dough is tough the bread will be tough. I let the dough rise for an hour or so and put it in a 450F oven turned down to 400F for 30 minutes. 

I sliced up several mushrooms and gave them a sear. Then I added a diced onion, celery, 2 small green peppers from the garden and a red pepper I bought. I sliced and microwaved a carrot and added that in. Once the vegetables were softened I added the turkey cubed up. A dash of chicken stock and white wine, a teaspoon or two of salt, 1/4 tsp poultry seasoning, pinch of nutmeg, mixed pepper corns freshly ground. Milk to cover the bottom and some cream to give it richness. The amounts depend on how much food is in the pot. Don't cover the food with milk and cream because it will never cook down and thicken. I probably used a cup of milk and half a cup of cream to give an idea.

I sprinkled a little Instant Blending Flour over the pot and stirred it in. I cooked down and added more flour till I had a nice thick sauce. The flour had to be cooked for about 10 minutes, so don't add it just before serving. Raw flour is really awful. There is no liquid pooling on the plate so the sauce is quite thick. Plate over egg noodles with a piece of bread.  

Fern loved this and he doesn't like cream sauces.