Greek Pork Chops

I was looking for something to do with pork chops, and since Bruce had made Hummus as an appetizer, I wanted something Greek. I found a recipe (I can't remember the site), and modified it a bit.  I also made lemon potatoes, recipe another time (once I figure out how to get the lemon flavour without quite so much tartness).

4 medium thick pork chops (I used boneless)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 roasted red pepper
1 tbsp parsley
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
dash of cayenne pepper
1 cup crumbled feta

Chop roasted pepper (you can use a jar, I roasted mine (and used a yellow one)), mix with lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, oregano, and parsley. Mix flour with pepper and cayenne. Dredge pork chops in flour, brown in oven-proof skillet, 2 minutes per side. Pour red pepper mixture over chops, bake at 400F for 5 minutes, covered. Add feta and bake 4-5 minutes longer, until cheese is melted.

Thai Quinoa Salad

Bruce's cousin posted this recipe a couple of weeks ago on facebook. I've modified it slightly; its a Thai-inspired quinoa with lots of veggies and a peanut sauce.

Ingredients:

 ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup shredded red cabbage
1 red bell pepper, diced
½ red onion, diced
1 cup shredded carrots
½ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup diced green onions
½ cup cashew halves or peanuts

 For the dressing:
¼ cup all natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
3 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon olive oil
Water to thin, if necessary
Fresh lime, for a bit of tang

Instructions:

 To cook quinoa: Rinse with cold water in mesh strainer. In a saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.

Fold red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Garnish with cashews and green onions.

To make dressing: Add peanut butter and honey or agave to a medium microwave safe bowl; heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Add in ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and both sesame and olive oil and stir until mixture is smooth and creamy. If you want a thinner dressing, simply stir in a teaspoon or two of water or olive oil. Add to quinoa.

Serve at room temperature with lime wedges if desired.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Last weekend, my son made me this delicious soup. He got the recipe from his school Foods class.

2 tbsp butter

1/4 onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp flour

2 1/2 cups milk

6-8 mushrooms, chopped

1 tsp parsley, oregano and basil

Dash salt and pepper

1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese (or cheddar)

1 tbsp (or cube) stock

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add onion and saute until onion is soft, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour to form a roux. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Using a whisk, slowly stir in milk, ensuring a smooth consistency. Continue stirring occasionally until mixture has thickened (boil gently). Meanwhile, steam the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. Then add to soup with herbs and stock. Cook at a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding vegetable steaming water if necessary. Add grated cheese, stir until melted, serve immediately

Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps

I found this recipe via Canadian Living, modified it a bit.  It was very tasty and something different to do with ground beef.

1 medium cucumber
1 red pepper
1 carrot
3 green onions
1 head of Boston lettuce (or leaf lettuce)
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 lb lean ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp minced gingerroot
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (or barbeque sauce)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Asian chili sauce (Siracha, aka Red Rooster sauce)

Prepare the veggies: Slice the cucumber green onions, and red pepper thinly and grate the carrot.  Arrange on a platter with the lettuce (washed and separated into leaves) and lime.

In large pan, fry beef until no longer pink.  Drain off fat, then add garlic, ginger and five-spice powder.  Cook about 2 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients and cook until hot, about 4-5 minutes.  Transfer to bowl.

To eat, each person takes a lettuce leaf, and adds a spoonful of meat and tops it with the rest of the veggies and squeeze some lime juice over it all. Then you try to wrap the lettuce around the filling and eat it with out spilling.  If you wanted to be neater, you could just make a salad and eat it with a fork, but that's not as much fun!

Risotto

I've discovered that I love risotto.  If it's on a menu, I will probably be ordering it (unless it has seafood).  It's not too difficult to make, just a bit time consuming.  Prepare everything before hand, so that you can stay at the stove stirring.  (And you can stop stirring for a minute every now and then, it won't hurt the dish.)  I've tried a few recipes, but the basics remain the same.  Feel free to substitute the veggies; mushrooms are good as well as asparagus or broccoli.  You want to think about the timing, and add them part way through the adding-the-broth part or they could get mushy.  Or cook separately and add at the end.

4 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp olive oil
half an onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups risotto rice (arborio)
1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper
1/4 red pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Heat the stock to simmering.  In a separate pan, melt 1/2 the butter.  Fry the onion, celery and garlic until the onion is soft but not browned. Add oil, then rice and stir until it is slightly translucent.  Add wine and keep stirring.  Add a ladleful of hot stock and stir at a simmer. you want to "massage" the broth into the rice, so push the back of the spoon (wooden is best) through.  Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring constantly until it is absorbed in to the rice before adding the next.  It will take at least 20 minutes, probably more like 30 to add all the stock.  The rice should be soft but still have a slight bite.  Remove form heat and stir in cheese, red pepper and seasonings.  Serve right away for the best taste, but it can be kept warm in a warm oven (covered) for a while and still be tasty.

We get our arborio rice from an Italian deli/store, but it is available in some of the bigger grocery stores.  I've never tried it with ordinary rice, but Italian cookbooks can give you more guidance on types of rice and their results.  You can get whole grain arborio, it will take longer to cook (and a bit more broth, maybe 5 cups)

Pad Thai

My daughter found this recipe and modified it.  It's pretty quick to make and very tasty.  It needs "instant stir fry noodles", which I found under the brand name Six Fortune.  They are the kind of noodle you get in Ichiban or Mr Noodles, you could use two packages of that.


1-2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped red, green and/or orange peppers
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 can coconut milk
1/4 cup cashews (or peanuts)
1 lime, juiced
4 tbsp fish sauce
5 tbsp brown sugar
red rooster hot sauce
3-4 cups water or chicken broth
1/2 package instant stir fry noodles

Marinate chicken in soy sauce and cornstarch while chopping veggies.  Mix coconut milk, lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and hot sauce in small bowl or cup.  Boil water or broth and cook noodles 2-3 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid.  Heat oil in wok or large frying pan.  Stir fry chicken, remove from wok, then fry veggies.  Add sauce, noodles and chicken.  You might want to add some of the noodle-cooking liquid, depending on how soupy you like it, and sprinkle with cashews.

I forgot to take the photo until we had eaten most of it, but it will make enough to feed 3-5 people, depending on if they are growing teenagers or not!

Vanilla cupcakes

This is a nice, simple cupcake recipe. I love making mini cupcakes, this recipe makes 12 regular or 24 mini.

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry. Fill muffin cups (lined) 3/4 full and bake at 350F for 22-24 minutes for full size, 12-15 for mini.

You can make these chocolate by replacing 1/2 cup flour with cocoa powder. They aren't as rich as my chocolate cupcake recipe, but are still very tasty.

You can ice these with ganache, or a simple buttercream icing. I sometimes get all fancy and flavour and colour small amounts of icing to have a variety (like a fancy cupcake shop)

Jambalaya

I have this recipe for jambalaya from a Frugal Gourmet cookbook Bruce's uncle gave us years ago. It is very involved and takes pretty much all afternoon to make, as it guides you through making stock and everything. I've modified it through the years, it still takes a bit of time, but is more of a weekend meal when you have time to let things simmer.

Jambalaya

2 tbsp cooking oil
1 onion
2 pieces of celery
½ green pepper
½ red pepper
2 cloves garlic
5 green onions
3 large tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 tbsp dried parsley (or 1/4 cup fresh)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
3 cups chicken stock
1 lb sausage
2 cups cooked chicken
1 cup ham
1 cup uncooked rice

Chop vegetables into 2cm pieces. Heat oil; add onion, peppers, celery and garlic and sauté until tender. Add green onions and tomatoes and cook until soft. Add tomato paste and spices, heat through, then add 2 cups stock and simmer this gravy for 15 minutes to an hour. Meanwhile, cut sausage into bite size pieces and brown in a frying pan. Discard grease, place sausage into gravy. Deglaze the frying pan with the remaining stock and pour into gravy. Add rice, chicken and ham and simmer 20-25 minutes until the rice is cooked. Stir occasionally and you may have to add a little more stock or water to finish the rice.


This is a great winter meal, very hardy. If you had leftover sausages, it would save you that step.

Ganache

I was reviewing older posts and saw that I said I would post a recipe for a ganache icing. Ganache, for those of you who haven't discovered its silky marvelousness, is simply cream and chocolate. The proportions vary, depending on what you want to do with it. And if you add butter, you have truffles.

You need to start with the best dark chocolate you can get your hands on, and use heavy (whipping) cream.

12 ounces dark chocolate
1 1/4 cups cream

chop the chocolate into small pieces (less than 1 inch). Melt in the microwave at 30-50% power, checking every minute or so (don't scorch it!),it doesn't have to be completely melted. Heat the cream in a saucepan just until it simmers. Pour the cream over the chocolate, let sit for 2-3 minutes, then stir gently. It will take some time for it to come together, just keep stirring. If there are still chunks of unmelted chocolate after 10 minutes, zap it for a minute (med low power). You can pour it over your cake at this time, or let it cool until it thickens and is of a spreadable consistency. You can do this over ice water, stirring constantly, or in the fridge, stirring occasionlly.

You can also make a whipped ganache that is a bit lighter by using:
8 ounces of chocolate
2 cups of cream.

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, then whip until it starts to thicken. Once it starts to thicken, it sets up quickly, so have your cake ready to ice.

Both of these make enough to ice a 8 or 9 inch layer cake. You can use the first one for a chocolate fondue.

Southwest Quinoa Salad

I am horrible at posting, obviously, but I finally have some inspiration. I just finished experimenting with a couple of recipes for a Southwest inspired quinoa salad. Quinoa is a grain that is being touted as the next great thing and is pronounced "keen-wa". It is an ancient grain and has protein in it, so it's great for vegetarians/vegans. My recipe does have some sour cream, but it could be omitted if you don't do dairy. It also should be gluten free, but I'm no expert on that. I plan to serve it tonight with some leftover chicken.

Southwest Quinoa Salad


- 1 cup of quinoa, soaked and rinsed
- 1/3 cup frozen corn (or fresh off the cob)
- 1/3 cup canned black beans -rinsed
- 2 chopped tomatoes
- 3 chopped green onions
- 3/4 cup chopped red, yellow and/or green peppers
- Sour cream-lime dressing
- one ripe avocado, chopped

Boil the quinoa with 2 cups of water for about 15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Let sit in the pot for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. In a frying pan on high heat, heat the corn for 2-3 minutes to get it sort of "roasted", then lower the heat and add the black beans. When quinoa is ready, pour it into a bowl with the corn and beans, add the vegetables, dressing, and serve with chopped avocado (if you don’t mix it into the whole salad, the salad keeps better)

Sour cream-Lime Dressing

- juice of one lime
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1-2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely minced
- 2 tablespoonfuls of sour cream
- dash of ground chipotle pepper (or other hot pepper) –to taste

Whisk all ingredients together and mix with salad.

Turkey Crepes

I was looking for ideas to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and remembered my son mentioning he wanted to try crepes. So I combined a couple of recipes and came up with this turkey crepes.

Crepe batter:
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Gradually add dry ingredients alternately with milk and oil. Beat until smooth.

Heat a medium frying pan (I use a Teflon pan so I don't have to grease it) over medium heat. Add about 1/4 cup batter to hot pan, swirling to spread a thin layer over entire pan. Allow to cook until lightly browned (will be cooked through), then flip to brown other side for a few seconds. Layer with wax paper so they don't stick together while you are making the filling.

Turkey filling

1/4 cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
bit of red pepper, finely chopped
1 clove garlic
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups leftover turkey (or chicken)
parsley, oregano and/or basil to taste
ground black pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
spinach leaves

Fry onion, celery, red pepper and garlic in oil until tender. Stir flour into sour cream and add to vegetables. Stir in broth and cook until thickened and bubbly. Add turkey, cheese and seasonings.

Build the crepes: lay a crepe on a plate with the browned side down. Lay some spinach leaves in the middle in a line, then spoon some of the turkey/sauce mixture on top. Fold one side over, tuck in and roll so the seam is down. Repeat with remaining crepes and filling.

You could use this filling with tortillas and save the effort of making crepes. And you can add other veggies (I used corn tonight as well), or omit or change the cheese for a different taste.

My kids took some of the leftover crepes and spread them with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, then fried an apple with some cinnamon and made dessert crepes.

Sugar Cookies

This is a recipe from a package of cookie cutters I bought a few years ago. It is from a famous woman who had a TV show, magazine, books and many other lines of business (she spent some time in jail for insider trading).

1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and baking soda and mix until combined. It will be quite stiff, use your hands if you have to. Roll on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, then bake at 325F for 10-12 minutes.

The refrigeration step is very important. If you don't do it, the cookies will spread and not look at all like the shapes you cut. You can decorate these cookies with icing, or just serve them naked. I have a modest collection of cutters, so I can make cookies for various holidays.

Guacomole

I love this simple recipe for Guacamole. We serve it with tortilla chips as an appetizer, but will use it with the main course, if there is any left over. It's tasty on a burger or with pork.

1 ripe avocado
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1/4 lime's juice
about 1/3 cup finely chopped red pepper, tomato and onion
about 2 tbsp sour cream

mash the avocado and mix with everything else.

To tell if the avocado is ripe, it should be dark green and yield just slightly when gently squeezed. If it is black or really soft, it probably is over ripe. When you cut it, the flesh should be green. The easiest way to cut it (I find), is to slice it to the pit vertically all the way around, then give it a twist and it separates. Then I get the pit out by pushing the edge of a sharp knife right into the pit (just a bit in), then twisting it. You have to be careful getting the pit off the knife. I use a spoon to scoop the flesh out of the skins, it usually comes out in one piece if it is ripe.

Blueberry Muffins

I love summer, when the fruit and berries are a reasonable price. I got a big container of blueberries the other day, but realized today I can't eat them fast enough, so I'm making muffins. This recipe is not overly sweet, nor cake-like as many bought muffins are. It makes a dozen regular size, or 2 dozen mini muffins.

1 3/4 cups flour (I use half whole wheat and half white)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil (canola or corn)
1 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix wet ingredients separately, then add all at once to dry. Mix just until combined (never over-mix quick bread batters, they get tough). Stir in blueberries. Fill muffin cups (greased or lined with paper baking cups) 2/3 full. Bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes for full size or 10-12 for mini.

This is easily doubled, which I did today, and they freeze well.

Veggie roll-ups

My mom made these for a get-together recently while I was visiting, and they disappeared pretty quickly. Fairly simple to make, they do take a bit of planning and chopping.

1 package of cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp mayonnaise
3 cups finely chopped vegetables (she used red, green and yellow peppers, broccoli, green onions, olives and mushrooms, but you could use anything, really)
15 large tortillas

Mix cream cheese with mayonnaise. Cut sides off tortillas to make them more square, then spread with a medium-thin layer of cheese mixture. Spread a layer of vegetables on top, then roll up tightly. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Unwrap saran and slice into 3/4 inch pieces. Mom used whole wheat tortillas and tomato ones, and arranged them alternately on a plate. Make sure the veggies aren't too big, and I wouldn't use anything too juicy (like tomatoes).

Pancakes

This is almost as easy as buying pancake mix. It makes about 15 pancakes of about a 3 inch diameter.

1 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 1/4 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, add milk and oil. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix just until combined. Cook in frying pan on medium high heat by dropping large tablespoonfuls, flipping when edges appear dry and there are bubbles on top.

Waffles

In honour of Father's Day, I made waffles for brunch today. This fairly simple recipe makes 5 Belgian waffles (the big round ones). Terrific with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and fruit.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cup milk

Stir dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, add oil, sour cream and milk and mix well. Pour into dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. I use about 3/4 cup batter in my waffle iron, but it depends on the size and type.

Hot German Potato Salad

I'm not a big fan of potato salad with mayonnaise, so was very excited to find this variation made with vinegar.

4 cups hot, cooked diced potatoes
6 slices bacon
1 small onion
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tsp dry mustard
pepper to taste

Fry bacon til crispy, then crumble.Fry onion in bacon fat. Stir in flour, then add vinegar and water. Stir until thickened. Add seasonings and pour over hot potatoes. Serve warm.

I like this when its cooled down, too, but not refrigerated. You can substitute red wine vinegar for the balsamic for a milder taste.

Marinated Flank Steak

This is a recipe that I got from my mother. It is wonderful with a flank steak. I used to request this for my birthday supper when I was in my late teens/early twenties.

½ cup red wine
½ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup liquid honey
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp rosemary
½ tsp dry mustard

Mix all ingredients together and marinate flank steak for 12-24 hours. Grill until medium rare, slice thinly across the grain and serve.

Leftover steak slices (if you have any!) are great with a salad for lunch, or in a sandwich.

Taco Soup

Ever have leftover taco meat? Here is a recipe that uses it up, and can also be thrown in the slow cooker.

1/2 lb ground beef
1 onion
taco seasoning
(or use leftover taco meat)
1 can (14 ounce/398 ml) tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 can black beans (rinsed really well)
1 cup frozen corn
3 cups of water
1/2 cup-1 cup salsa

Fry up the ground beef and onion, if necessary. Add all ingredients to large pot or slow cooker, adjusting water til it is of soup consistency. Simmer 1 1/2 hours on the stove top or 4-6 hours in slow cooker. Grate cheese over each bowl, add a dollop of sour cream and serve with tortilla chips.