Pork Chow Mein

An easy stir fry. I finely diced and caramelized half an onion together with the mushrooms and carrots. Then the remaining onion, diced large together with the green pepper and celery were added and sweated. A few drops of sesame oil, then the cubed pork left from the roast was added with the sugar snap peas. I sprinkled a teaspoon of beef stock powder over the pan and half a teaspoon of flour. I cooked the flour taste off for a minute, tossing the pan. Then added 1/4 cup water and toss to coat. A dash of soy sauce to season. 

Drop the chow mein noodles in a pot of boiling water and immediately turn it down as it will boil over. Boil the noodles for a couple of minutes till softened. They can be plated directly and topped with the main dish or they can be fried with soy sauce for more flavour. They can also be put directly into the pan with the rest and served as one dish.

I haven't done a stir fry for a while and I really enjoyed it.

Roast Pork with Turnip and Mushroom Gravy

A lovely pork loin from Mitchell's, brined in salt water and molasses for a hour or so then roasted at 325F.  Turnip simmered for an hour and finished with butter, salt and pepper. The potatoes were mashed and finished with salt, butter and milk. The peas were frozen and microwaved then finished with butter, salt and pepper.

When the roast was done I took it out of the pan and set it on the cutting board under aluminum foil for twenty minutes. If you don't let a roast rest out of the oven all the moisture in the meat will escape as steam when you carve it. The meat will be dry and flavourless. If you let it rest it will be moist and delicious.

In the roasting pan I seared the mushrooms and added a teaspoon of flour. I cooked the flour taste off then added a teaspoon of beef stock powder, a tablespoon of milk and half a cup of water. Cook it down into a nice consistency, incorporating the pan drippings. Add pepper and maybe a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce if you like. A few drops of Tabasco can perk it up too. Mostly it's the fat from the pork that makes the gravy taste good.

A really good cold weather meal.

Chicken Curry

This is the second half of Garden Gate Spices chicken curry package. This time I caramelized the onion and generally went a little beyond the basic instructions to get the most out of my ingredients. Also I used a whole can of coconut milk and reduced it rather than use half a can. The extra creaminess was a nice improvement. 

This makes a slightly better tasting curry than the Madras Curry I usually use. I'm not sure it's worth the extra money unless it's only an occasional meal. I'll use both again in future.

Breaded Pork Cutlet

Breaded pork cutlet from Mitchell's. I like them. Fern finds them a little dry, a gravy or condiment solves that problem. In this case I'm using Fern's home made tomato ketchup. It's like a tomato chutney and wonderful on less expensive cuts of pork. All you have to do is get an oiled frying pan hot and fry till nicely browned.

Mashed potatoes which are boiled, drained, mashed, buttered, salted, milked and whipped with a fork.

Brussel's Sprouts were steamed, cooled quickly in cold water and reheated in olive oil and salt.

A nice simple meal. Probably would be better in front of a fireplace.

Shake'n Bake Chicken with Instant Everything

I wanted to see if I could put together a decent meal with packaged foods. This is a skinless chicken breast coated with Shake'n Bake. Uncle Ben's traditional sage stuffing mix and Idahoan potatoes au gratin. The Greek Salad was all the regular fresh ingredients.

The chicken breast was a bit dry and tasteless. Shake'n Bake definitely relies on the fat in the skin to help with the flavour. The skinless breast didn't produce the usual flavour so it was a bit insipid. Don't use Shake'n Bake on skinless chicken. 

The stuffing mix is almost impossible to screw up. It tastes ok and is a nice change from or addition to potatoes or rice.

The Idahoan potatoes tasted like aerosol cheese and not a premium brand. I wouldn't buy Idahoan Scalloped or Potatoes au Gratin again, they just aren't good enough to bother eating.

Greek salad was tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, black olives, cow feta and parsley with olive oil and fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to dress. It was good. Next to the potatoes it was heavenly.

Spaghetti

We used to have spaghetti twice a week because it was one of the 5 meals I could make. Now it's when we feel like it. The sauce has ground beef, onion, carrot, celery, green pepper, mushrooms, green stuffed olives, a can of tomato sauce and a can of tomato paste. 2 cans of water for the paste and a couple of bay leaves.

Caramelize the onion. Sear the mushrooms. Brown the meat. Sweat the vegetables. Add the tomato sauce, paste and water. Simmer for an hour.

Fresh grated Italian parmesan on top, it makes a difference. Don't use domestic parmesan, you're cheating yourself if you do.

Chicken Provencal

This is the second half of the Garden Gate Chicken Provencal spice mix I used the other day. There is a coating mix to shake the chicken in then fry it. Once the outside is crispy, add a 28oz can of tomatoes, cut up, and the second herb packet contents. Simmer for 30 minutes and serve with rice. I also steamed broccoli, cooled and reheated it in olive oil with some salt. For such a delicious meal it takes almost no effort.

Deer Liver with Bacon and Onion

Kevin shot a deer on his latest hunting trip and he brought us the liver. Fresh liver from a young deer is sweet and tender without a hint of gaminess. I tried to cut the veins out first without much success. Slicing it up and then cutting out the veins was more successful. Then I soaked the slices in salted milk for 30 minutes or so while I was getting everything else ready. I cooked up some bacon ends and caramelized an onion then removed them from the pan. I let the liver drain for a few seconds before dropping in the flour. Coated it and laid it on the counter. When the pan was hot I laid it all in the pans at once. It took two pans. 

The potatoes were boiled in salted water, drained and buttered. The peas were frozen, cooked in the microwave and finished with salt and pepper. Ordinary tomato ketchup is the condiment. 

It was really good. If you get a chance to try a fresh deer liver, take it.

Roast Pork Loin with Roasted Potatoes

A nice roast pork. It's day 2 after the operation on my hand so I couldn't do a lot. No brining. I just salted it and slow cooked it at 300F for 2 hours. I had to up to the temperature to 325F for the last 20 minutes to get it to finish on time. It worked, it was cooked through and juicy as can be. The potatoes and carrots browned nicely too. I all I did was toss the potatoes in olive oil and salt first then add the salted roast to the pan and put it in the oven. The corn was frozen and done in the microwave. The condiment is Fern's home made ketchup. It's sort of a tomato chutney but really good.

If I had suckered Fern into peeling the potatoes it would have been no work at all! It was as delicious as it looks.

Fruit Curry - Garden Gate Spices

Garden Gate Fruit Curry

A nice curry, easy to make. 

Pork Cutlet

Breaded pork cutlet from Mitchell's.  Apple sauce is my own home made. Mashed potatoes had salt, butter, sour cream and milk. Frozen peas with butter and black pepper. Simple but really good.

Pecan and Cashew Crusted Dijon Halibut

Kevin brought the halibut. I had to take the skin off, fortunately it was easy. Mashed potatoes with butter, salt and whipping cream. Broccoli steamed, cooled and reheated in olive oil. Under the fish is a simple sauce of 1/2 dijon mustard to 1 whipping cream with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and thicken. The fish is first dredged in flour, salt and pepper. An egg and a teaspoon of dijon mustard whipped up. Dip the floured fish in it and toss it in the coating

1/2 pecan

1/2 cashews

1 bread crumbs

Place in hot frying pan for 2 minutes each side then put in a 350F oven for 10 minutes.

I also made quick pickle carrots for Martin.

2 parts water

1 part vinegar

brown sugar

salt

Dissolve the salt and sugar. Soak carrot sticks in pickling liquid. He liked them.

I also made fresh egg custard ice cream and meringues for dessert but didn't photo it. Everyone loves meringues it seems. Here are the first four plates on our new dining room table. 

Garden Gate Spices Chicken Provencal

A video report this time. Made with my cell phone so several mistakes but it's fun!

The spice kit is easy to make and delicious.

Cajun Chicken on Guacamole

I wanted the simplest meal I could come up with so rice in the microwave works great. Steamed broccoli is pretty easy. Steam for 4 minutes, quickly cool in cold water then just before plating reheat in olive oil. It gives broccoli with just a bit of crunch and great flavour.

The chicken I salted, seasoned with Cajun spice and brushed with olive oil. Then I roasted it for 25 minutes at 325F. While I was waiting for that to come together I decided I should use up that avocado in the fridge. I mashed it, added a pinch of salt, a few drops of lemon juice and a tablespoon of sour cream. Then to get creative I added far too many drops of Tabasco Sauce to spice it up. It was far too hot by itself but I  plated the chicken on top of it and it turned out great. The chicken tempered the spice in the guacamole and they tasted great together. Fern said I could have put the guacamole in the rice too. That's odd because he usually likes plain white rice. Definitely a recipe to make again.

Pork Souvlaki with Yellow Tomato Ketchup and Greek Salad

This meal took less than 30 minutes to prepare. First, put the rice on with salt and olive oil. Just before plating I stirred chopped parsley into the cooked rice. Pork souvlaki from Mitchell's just needs to be brushed with oil and BBQ'd for 3x3x3x3 minutes and medium high heat. 

Greek salad was tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, black olives, cow feta, parsley, salt, black pepper, olive oil and lemon juice.

When I was plating I realized I forgot to buy sour cream for the souvlaki so decided to try Fern's spicy homemade ketchup. The sweetness was a bit odd at first but the heat helped and it tasted really good together with the souvlaki.

Salisbury Steak with Fries

Salisbury steak in a mushroom gravy. I seasoned the ground beef with garlic, salt and black pepper, brushed the patties with olive oil and BBQ'd them. The gravy was a diced onion caramelized with crimini mushrooms in a frying pan. A teaspoon of flour and teaspoon of beef stock powder and cook the raw flour taste off, add some butter to cook the flour if needed. Then add a cup of water and bring up to a simmer. The wide pan lets it reduce and thicken quickly. Just before plating turn off heat and add a pad of butter to the gravy and stir in while it melts.

The fries were fresh cut russet potatoes deep fried to golden crispiness. The beans were boiled and finished with butter, salt and black pepper. 

This was really good.

Lamb Chops with Brussels Sprouts

Lamb chops salted and brushed with oil then BBQ'd on high for 2x2x2x2 minutes to get crossed grill marks. I think I got the marks unidirectional by mistake but they tasted the same. 

Mashed potatoes: peel, boil, mash, salt, butter, milk whip with a fork. If you over process potatoes you turn them into a thick gluey unpalatable paste.

Brussels sprouts were steamed, cooled and reheated in olive oil. I would have added a little lemon juice but I mixed some fresh mint, salt, sugar, water and vinegar for the lamb and let the acid in that perk up the sprouts.

Really easy, really good meal. And the dog loves the bones!

Pork Cutlet with Cabbage and Homemade Ketchup

Mitchell's pork cutlets again. They're good, inexpensive and easy. All I have to do is get a frying pan oily and hot and fry them till crispy. The cabbage was steamed then fried in olive oil and a little white wine vinegar, a few leaves of spinach thrown in the clean the fridge.

Mashed potatoes were peeled, salted, boiled, drained, mashed, buttered, milked and whipped with a fork.

Fern's ketchup was wonderful with the pork and the cabbage. 

Breaded Chicken with Scalloped Potatoes

Chicken thighs are surprisingly inexpensive and really quite tasty. I left the coating a bit too thick in spots so they're a bit blotchy but they tasted great! To coat  them I mixed up a tablespoon of flour, teaspoon of salt, two teaspoons paprika, fresh ground pepper and one teaspoon of poultry seasoning. I shook the thighs in a bag of that, dipped them in milk and rolled them in bread crumbs. Roasted them at 400F for 40 minutes. They could have used a bit more salt. 

Scalloped potatoes were thinly sliced and layered with flour, ground garlic, onion flakes and chicken stock powder. I filled the dish with milk just to the top of the potatoes and put it in a 400F oven for over an hour. It was just enough.

Frozen peas cooked in the microwave and served with salt, butter and black pepper.

We both really enjoyed this.

Pork Chow Mein

Leftover pork roast from the other night. Onion, celery, mushrooms, bean sprouts and red peppers sweated with a bit of flour and beef stock. An ounce of water to wet the pan and make it a little saucy. I boiled some chow mein noodles for a couple of minutes, drained and added them with soy sauce and oil. Toss and serve. 

Delicious!