Truffle Mutt

Dill-icious

I've got a nasty cold that has me confined to the couch (yuck) and exposed to endless hours of Food TV (yeah).  Oh look!  Chef Michael Smith making smoked salmon bagel sandwiches.

What a good idea.  That is once I slip out of the cold med haze and walk to the kitchen.  Now into the mini food chopper, goes one big dollop of creme fraiche, a tbsp or so of capers, zest of 1/2 a lemon, a pinch of smoked sea salt, 1/2 a chopped shallot and 5 or so small sprigs of dill.  Buzz away until everything is nicely blended.  Taste.  And?  Nope, it needs a bit more dill and a pinch of sugar to round it out.  Perfect.  Now for one can of salmon, a piece of toast and extra capers.

Now, back to the couch...

Couscous Salad

This salad was actually a side to a citrus marinated pork tenderloin with salsa and spicy sauteed kale.  And yes, I wasn't kidding when I said addicted -we've been grazing on a lot of foliage lately.

So when it came to salad I had to pick something un-green for the position - enter couscous.  I've made variations of this salad a number of times.  It's easy to put together with a light dressing and any number of ingredients.  Tomatoes and basil, or roasted peppers and parsley tossed with olive oil and lemon dressing.  And you can make it to go with almost anything.

I put a Mexican twist on this one to go with the salsa and cumin spiced pork.  And doesn't it look great in the blue bowl I just painted at ceramics!?  Yes it does, if I do says so myself.

Couscous Salad:
2 cups cooked couscous, drained and cooled
6 green onions chopped
1 chopped avacodo
2 tbsp chopped parsley
6-10 chopped Peppadew peppers, or other sweet marinated peppers
Add the following to taste
salt
olive oil
lemon juice

Got Goat Cheese?

I was cleaning out my fridge a couple of weekends ago and as I plunged my hand into a slimy mass of over aged cucumbers I made a decision.  I need to menu plan!  I can no longer head to the market and buy whatever produce catches my eye.  It's going to be shopping boot camp from now on, focus, focus, focus.  My spontaneous shopping days are over and with some will power hopefully so are my refrigerator composting experiments. 

And I'm happy to report that although this recipe was not on the PLAN, it did use up ingredients in the fridge.  But of course, I didn't have the orzo, there was no goat cheese hanging around, cream was a scarce commodity and there were no Shitakes anywhere either!  In any case this dinner was welcome at my table even with all the switcher-oos.  

Boil a generous portion of Anchellini pasta to not-quite-limpness, otherwise known as al-dente and reserve a small portion (1/4 cup) of the cooking water.

Take 1 chicken breast - flatten it like a pancake with a rubber mallet from Home Depot, or Rona if you'd prefer.  Remember to cover the chicken between sheets of wax paper - or you'll be scrapping chicken flesh off of - well pretty much everything.  Season the chicken with salt, pepper and thyme and then dust with flour and fry in a sizzling hot pan with olive oil.  When the chicken is done put it on a plate, add another splash of olive oil to the pan and in goes 1 chopped red pepper and a heaping cup of sliced button mushrooms.  Saute until lightly browned and then add 2 cloves of chopped garlic. 

Add a splash of chicken stock and then turn the heat to low.  Mix in 1/4 cup of creme fraiche and a 1/4 cup of grated sharp cheese.  Season with salt and pepper, a sprinkle of thyme and fresh chopped parsley.  Add the pasta, chopped chicken and reserved cooking water to the mix and stir until mixed and heated through.

And there you have it.  One red pepper and a bag of mushrooms on the road to greatness and not sliminess.  Liz 1 - Fridge 0.

Chicken + Almonds + Garlic

= YUCK!

It's apparently a Spanish dish, but I just couldn't do it!  I'll spare you the recipe and leave you with a waning instead -  if you see something masquerading as a recipe and it calls for garlic, almonds, parsley, chicken and a few other things pass on in it and save your almonds for granola, chicken for grilling and garlic & parsley for bread. 

The Edamame thankfully were an A+.

Eat Your Veggies

Dark leafy greens, specifically Swiss chard are popping up on plates all around Calgary.  Served with crispy duck, roasted chicken or grilled venison.  I don't remember seeing so much of this greenery in the past, but I'm grateful this dish is catching on.

Swiss chard, kale, collard greens, you name it, I'm addicted.  These hardy greens are easy to prepare and crazy good for you too - much unlike the other easy options that I have hanging out in my fridge and pantry.  What I like most though is that even when sauteed they keep a crunchier texture than say spinach would.  My favorite dinner of late is sauteed greens with grilled Sunworks sausage (chicken rosemary, Italian or chorizo) and a dab of sweet-spicy mustard.

Prune Plums

For as far back as I can remember I've been excited by food.  I have vivid memories of the coffee ice cream on summer vacations, the escargot and onion soup when we eat on our Easter break fishing trips, the rouladen, sauerkraut and smoked pork hocks from family dinners and the endless links of pork on sausage making day.

And it was one such memory that inspired me to bring home a bounty of prune plums from the market.  My Grandma used to make a dense, lightly sweet cake that was layered with juicy plums and sprinkled with sugar.  I haven't had her cake for years, but my taste buds, which can't tell time, remember it like it was yesterday.

This version was closer to a pastry than cake, but after one bite the juicy slightly sour plums and carmalized sugar took me right back.  

Simply Delicious

Such a handsome little artichoke don't you think?  Or maybe it's more pretty than handsome.  Either way, I can assure you that it was yu-ummy.

This little veg puts a lot into looking tough with it's prehistoric exterior and prickly choke, but it's really painless to make.  Not everyone at the table was brave enough to get over the appearance though.  Jason, after watching me peel away layer after layer just to arrive at the prickly choke- gave up and passed his to me.  No argument here - the more for me the merrier.

The recipe was a simple mixture of herbs, garlic and lemon rubbed generously over the trimmed artichoke globes.  It was so simple I almost decided to skip it and find something more exciting.  I'm glad I didn't.   

Ravi-nous

I think it's evident from this picture that I should stick with my day job and abandon any dreams of food presentation and photography.  Look, I took a picture of ravioli treading water.  Do you like it?

Sometimes it's too bad that pictures are worth 1,000 words, wouldn't it be better if they were worth 999 words and just 1 little taste?  That one taste would have revealed the delicate ricotta and Parmesan filling and the wonderful experience of the fresh pasta. 

I also got to use my new ravioli form and roller.  What fun! 

It's Fall

It's fall and the local fennel is hitting the market shelves.  Inspired by a recipe I saw in La Cucina Italiana I slowly roasted my fennel in butter.  The slow roasting transformed the sharp licorice taste into a mellow flavor that blended with the nutty burnt butter.  To finish I tossed a variety fresh herbs from my patio with the remaining butter, drizzled that over the fennel and then sprinkled with grated fresh romano cheese.

Happy Shrimp

It's nearly impossible to find US or Canadian cultivated shrimp here in Calgary.  That's not entirely true, I've spotted live BC shrimp at a couple of Asian markets, but the look of those wiggly spider-like legs freak me out.  In most cases the shrimp you find here are farmed in Thailand or Vietnam, that is until I discovered Gulf shrimp from North Sea Fish Market at the Calgary Farmers' Market.

Originally my interest in seeking out these relatively local shrimp was to support more sustainable fishing methods, but that was before I tasted them.  They have a more prominent taste that's subtlety sweet and reminiscent of lobster.  I can't believe the difference having happy shrimp makes.  :)

In the picture above I used sole and Gulf shrimp from the North Sea Fish Market, to create a rich dish that I adapted from this one posted on epicurious.  The secret ingredient in the sauce is shrimp butter and it's worth every bit of the effort it takes to make.  For a simpler dish the sauce would be perfect served over pasta with wilted spinach.