Featured Ingredients

I have learned that not everyone is a "foodie" like me and may not know what all the ingredients I refer to are. So, here is another installment of "get to know new ingredients:

Quinoa
Quinoa is a lovely grain (technically it is a seed more than a grain and it is not a part of the grass family) that cooks up quick like couscous (10-15 minutes) and, to top it off, it is packed with protein (unlike rice or beans, it is a complete protein; you would need to eat rice and beans together to get a complete protein). Quinoa originated in the Andes of South America and was cultivated by the Incas who referred to it as the "mother of all grains." It has a somewhat nutty flavour and can be used in place of couscous or rice and is great in salads, soup and other side dishes. It has also been made into flour and pasta as a gluten-free option (these products can usually be found at health food stores). It must be cooked before you eat it.

Uncooked Quinoa seeds

Cooked quinoa

Proscuitto
Prosciutto is an Italian dry-cured ham that is usually very thinly shaved. It is nicely salty and tastes a bit like bacon but is much leaner. A classic Italian dish is melon (often cantaloupe) wrapped in prosciutto. I like to wrap chicken breast with it, put it on pizza or fry it until crispy to put in salads.

Cumin
Cumin is an ancient spice originally cultivated in the Mediterranean, Middle East and parts of North Africa (Egypt and Morocco). It can be purchased in both its original seed form, or ground into a powder (I have never used the seeds, only the powder). It has an intense smoky, earthy flavour (but no heat) and is very good in chili, Mexican/Latin style dishes and Indian curry. A little goes a long way

Cumin Seeds

Ground cumin

Monterey Jack Cheese
This is probably my favourite type of cheese. It is a semi-hard (like Cheddar), white, cow's milk cheese with a kind of mildly tangy flavour (as opposed to a "sharp" flavour like cheddar). It melts really well and I love it on pizza (though not as stretchy/stringy as mozzarella). We also like a variety called Jalapeno (or pepper) Jack cheese that has bits of jalapeno peppers mixed in. Gives a nice bit of heat.

Montery Jack cheese

Jalapeno Jack

Featured Recipe

Two featured recipes in one day! I must be hungry or something. This recipe was inspired by a recipe I found in an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook for Chicken Margherita (chicken breasts stuffed with bocconcini cheese (soft mozzarella), spinach, tomatoes and pesto and then wrapped in proscuitto and baked) which is really, really good, but we've recently discovered that my husband gets sick when he eats tomatoes and spinach. Unfortunate, but I can change. I wanted the taste of this chicken, but without using spinach or tomatoes. My version uses Monterrey Jack cheese, dried oregano and minced onion. Turned out awesome (and sooo cheesy)! It sounds a bit complicated, but it isn't really. Served it with Warm Vegetable Quinoa Salad (which I'm also including the recipe for).

Cheesy Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fillets attached)
8 slices prosciutto
8 slices Monterrey Jack cheese (about 5mm thick)
dried minced onion (about 2 tsp total)
dried oregano (about 2 tsp total)

Method:

1. Pound chicken with a mallet (the bottom of a heavy frying pan works too) until the chicken is an even thickness of about 1.5 cm
2. On the side of the breast opposite the fillet, make a horizontal cut down length of the breast with a sharp knife so that you have a pocket large enough to put a piece of cheese in. Be careful not to cut all the way through the chicken. Place a piece of cheese in the pocket you created and sprinkle with a bit of the onion and oregano. Fold the chicken over the cheese to enclose it in the pocket
3. Flip the breast over and place a second piece of cheese in the natural pocket between the breast and the fillet (you may need to use your knife to make the pocket big enough for the cheese). Sprinkle with the oregano and onion
4. Wrap 2 slices of prosciutto around the chicken breast enclosing the cheese. Place in a glass baking pan (brush with olive oil)
5. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 with the remaining chicken
6. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through (should reach 165 degrees on a meat thermometer). The cheese will ooze out somewhat during cooking but that's ok, just scoop it out of the pan and spread in on top while it's still melty.

Warm Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 each green and red peppers, diced
2 green onions, diced
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp each pepper and salt
1 tsp Johnny's Garlic Seasoning

Method:
1. Cook quinoa according to the package directions, but substitute the water for chicken broth
2. While the quinoa is cooking, sautee the peppers in the olive oil. sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until the peppers are warm through but still crunchy. Add green onion and cook for 1 minute more
3. Mix veggies with quinoa and sprinkle on garlic seasoning. Stir and serve warm

Featured Recipe

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I've had this recipe in my file for quite some time but only tried it for the first time yesterday. You should try it too because it is delicious. The recipe comes from Cooking Light Magazine and the link can be found here. I made a few changes to the recipe and it turned out really well (see the recipe below - the notes in blue are my changes). This bread is not super sweet, but the glaze is and makes it more like a cake than a loaf. It's really nice served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream 

Ingredients

• Bread:
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
• 1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt (I used vanilla yogurt)
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed (I don't like the texture of flax seed in things so I added an extra loose handful of flour)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (This is a very strong spice - I used it but I would leave it out next time as I think it is a wee bit overpowering)
• 2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts (I omitted these and added 2 handfuls of chocolate chips instead) 
• Cooking spray
• Glaze:
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon 1% low-fat milk (I substituted for chocolate milk)
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter 
• 1/4 tsp cocoa powder

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.
4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread.

Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light
OCTOBER 2010

 

Featured Recipe

Broiled Pork Chops

I made these for dinner tonight and my husband said "these are sooo good, you should post the recipe on your blog." So, here it is. I made 2 pork chops, but the marinade would probably do 3. The measurements could easily be adapted for more meat. I used bone-in loin chops that were about 1 inch thick. You don't want to use the thinner fast fry ones as they would get too dry when you broil them.

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce (I happened to have gluten free but regular or low sodium is fine too)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried minced onion

Method:
1. Mix all the marined ingredients together in a small bowl. Place pork in a shallow dish big enough so that all of the pork chops can lay flat. Pour marinade over meat. Refrigerate for 1 hour, turning meat over every 15 minutes
2. Set the broiler on your oven to low. Place marinated meat on a rack in a broiler pan. Broil for about 16-18 minutes, flipping over halfway through the cooking time. The meat is done when it is no longer pink in the middle (if you have a meat thermometer, it needs to read at least 160 degrees) and it should be golden around the edges.

Serve with pan roasted potatoes and a green salad.

Beer

Hey everyone! My brother has just started a blog about beer! If you are a beer person and are interested in reading about new beers, you should check it out. You may find a new favourite

Joel's Beer Blog

Featured Recipe

Featured Recipe - Fan Potatoes

I found this recipe in an old Canadian Living magazine at work and knew I had to try them. They are crispy on the outside and buttery and melt-in-your mouth on the inside. I served them with roast beef and broccoli, but they would be really nice as a brunch item too. The recipe calls for fresh thyme to be sprinkled on top which I did not do and I didn't miss it. They do take quite a while to cook (1 hour 15 minutes) so not the best choice for a rushed weeknight. They are very, very yummy.

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/fan_potatoes.php

What's For Dinner?

It is so easy to get into a food rut. You run out of ideas of new things to make and you end up making the same things over and over. I have been in a food rut lately and it makes it hard to want to cook. But, there is hope on the horizon! I've had some inspiration and delicious things are coming this week on the menu. Hope they help to inspire you too.

First up, roast beef with fan potatoes and steamed broccoli. I bought a hormone/antibiotic free sirloin roast, coated it with a mix of salt, pepper and Johnny's Garlic Seasoning the roasted it low-and-slow until it was tender and juicy and still a bit pink on the inside. Let me tell you, some of the best roast beef I've ever had. The fan potatoes recipe can be found as this week's Featured Recipe: they are crispy and buttery and melt in your mouth all at the same time. A must try for potato lovers.

Secondly, Spicy Roasted Sweet Potato Soup. Now, let me be the first to say that I am not the hugest sweet potato person. They are okay as fries, but the sweetness of them really throws me off. I know they are good for me so I'm trying to find ways to eat them. I came up with this recipe about 5 years ago when I was working at a cafe that had its soups delivered by a local soup company. I had a bowl of the sweet potato soup for lunch and it had a nice spicy kick to it that was highly enjoyable. I decided to see if I could come up with something similar. Mine is a puree of roasted sweet potatoes, red peppers and carrots seasoned with a blend of ginger and cinnamon (and a few other secret spices). Then it's mixed with chicken broth and cayenne pepper. Lastly, after it's pureed, add sauteed chicken, green peppers and onions. Top it with a little Parmesan cheese. Divine! This is also good as a pasta sauce or as lasagne filling. This is kind of my "signature" recipe, so you may have to wait until my cookbook comes out for the recipe.

Next up, chicken strips and Caesar salad. Ok, so this is a "stand-by" recipe, but seriously, so delicious!

Fourth, Shepherd's Pie with garlic mashed potatoes. This is one of my favourite foods. I adapted my version from a Best of Bridge cookbook from my mom. I guess this one is not "technically" shepherd's pie (according to traditionalists) as it is made with ground beef instead of traditional lamb and has cheese on top. But, I don't really like lamb and cheese makes everything better. Also, the secret to great garlic mashed potatoes is to smash about 6-8 cloves of garlic and drop them in the pot (remove the skins first, of course) when you're boiling the potatoes. Then, when you mash the potatoes, you just mash the garlic right along with it. Monterrey jack is a nice cheese for the top, but cheddar is good too.

Next, chicken quesadillas. Chicken, green and red peppers, green onion and cheese grilled inside a tortilla until crispy...my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I'm going to season the chicken with some tex-mex seasoning to give it some depth and then serve with salsa or hot sauce. Plus, the recipe is a balanced meal, especially if you use whole wheat tortillas: it has grains, poultry, veggies, diary and good fat (as long as you cook them in olive oil). I haven't had these in ages - they're going to be so good!

Next up, perogies! I haven't had perogies in a long time (I think since Christmas when I helped two of my sisters-in-law make them from scratch. It's kind of weird, but my husband and both his brothers married women with Ukrainian heritage) so I'm pretty excited. These, of course are not going to be home-made but store bought ones can be pretty good. The trick is to boil them first, then fry them in butter until they're crispy and then top them with bacon and cooked onions.

Finally, rice noodles with chicken, red peppers, carrots and peanut sauce. I came up with this one the first year I was married but haven't dug it out of the "vault" in several years. It's wide rice noodles (Pad Thai style) with julienne red peppers and carrots (julienne is just a fancy French work for really thin strips), sliced green onion and diced chicken. You soak the noodles in hot water until they're al-dente (soft but still firm - the time will vary depending on what brand you buy. My favourite is Rose brand because they hold together really well and they only cost about $1.50 for a big package, but they have no cooking instructions on them. I soaked them for about 15 minutes or so). Then you saute the chicken and veggies in a large pan or wok (you're going to need a big, deep pan for this one). Then, add the noodles once they're cooked and stir in store bought spicy peanut sauce (I really like PC Memories of Szechwan  spicy peanut satay sauce). Yum.

Bon Apetit!