What's For Dinner?

In light of my husband's recent development of food sensitivities (tomatoes, bell peppers, spinach), he has come up with a theory: our bodies are designed to digest food that our ancestors ate, and are less likely to be able to digest foods that weren't available before globalization carried food around the world. His ancestors hail mostly from the United Kingdom and therefore he has challenged me to cook foods that would be classified as "British" to see if his body feels better eating those foods rather than things like spinach and bell peppers.
Here's what I've come up with:

First off, a ham roast (just the pre-cooked kind, not one that you have to cook all day) with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed baby carrots. Good old fashioned comfort food.

Next is Chicken Club Wraps. This is basically a chicken club sandwich in wrap form (cooked diced chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, cheddar cheese wrapped in a whole whet tortilla) . I've taken out the tomato part and added chopped green onion (I add green pepper for me too because I love it) and Caesar dressing.  

We're going to have hamburgers with corn on the cob one night as we try to hold on to the last days of summer.

The ultimate comfort food this week is potato chowder, hearty and savoury. You peel and cube the potatoes and cook them in a little veg oil in a deep pot with the onions and carrots. Then you boil that mix in chicken (or veggie) stock with some earthy herbs (oregano, thyme, sage, etc). when the potatoes are super tender,  take out about a cup of potatoes and a cup of broth. Puree that until it's smooth and add it back to the soup. This thickens it and gives it a velvety texture. Then add milk, corn, bacon bits and green onions. Top with cheese.

Next, we're going to try a prosciutto and parmesan filled pasta (found this fresh pasta at the grocery store - excited to try it out) with a creamy chicken sauce plus cooked zucchini with garlic.

Then we're going to have beef stroganoff on whole wheat egg noodles plus steamed broccoli. Stroganoff is one of my husband's favourites and I never had it as a kid, so I've had to watch his mom make it and pick up some of her tricks. The trick is instead of using all sour cream, use half sour cream and half onion dip (that way, you don't have to chop up an onion) - if you use a cream cheese based one rather than a sour cream based one, it gives great flavour. I also add paprika for some depth and half a beef bouillon cube.

Lastly, chicken enchiladas. This is one of my favourites and is the only thing on the menu that has peppers. It was my very first "featured recipe" and it just gets better every time. Adding a poblano pepper gives it nice smokiness and serving it with salsa verde (a green sauce made with tomatillos,  serrano or jalapeno peppers and  cilantro) is key. Latin import stores often carry authentic versions.   

I hope this has inspired you.

Bon Apetit!

Kitchen Tips - Part 1

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone has their favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe; whether it's the cookies your mom used to make as an after school snack, a secret family recipe passed down through the generations, a recipe you discovered at the back of a magazine, or simply the recipe from the back of the chocolate chips package.
I don't claim to have the best recipe - in fact, I have a sister-in-law and a friend who both make better chocolate chips cookies than I do and, to me, my Grammie was the reigning queen of baked treats (her double chocolate snaps, nutmeg logs with pink icing and coloured sprinkles, boiled raisin cookies and butterhorns were the best things around), but I found a good recipe (on the back of the chocolate chips package) that suits me just fine.
There are, however, a few tips for making GREAT chocolate chips cookies, no matter the recipe.

1. The fat you use - I always use butter and have found that it creates the best flavour. I have tried shortening (when I really wanted cookies but had no butter) and they were okay, but butter works best. Hard margarine works to, but I avoid margarine at all costs as it contains a huge number of ingredients I can't pronounce and is about 2 ingredients away from being plastic. Truthfully, you can use any kind of fat that is solid at room temperature (butter, hard margarine, shortening, lard) but no oils (your cookies will be a funky texture if you use oil). Also, do not melt the fat (same funky texture as using oil). Changing the fat will change the taste.
2. The sugar you use - Many chocolate chip cookie recipes will call for a combination of white sugar and brown sugar. They key here is that a higher ratio of brown sugar will make the cookies chewier; more white sugar will make them crispy. I personally like a soft cookie, so my recipe has twice as much brown sugar as white. (Brown sugar  has molasses added to give it its distinct colour and flavour. It varies in darkness depending on the molasses content. I generally use "golden" or light brown sugar because I think it gives the best flavour). Measuring brown sugar is different than measuring white sugar. Brown sugar needs to be "packed" (scoop it into your measuring cup and then press down with the heel of your hand so it compresses ("packs") some. Then add more sugar and press down until you have the full measurement. Perfectly packed brown sugar will keep its shape when you tip it out of the measuring cup.
3.  The crucial first step - most cookie recipes start the same: "Cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla." Creaming the butter and sugars together is sooo important in getting the texture right. The butter must be room temperature soft (be careful if you microwave the butter to soften it - a few seconds too long and it's melted and that is not good for your cookies). You need to beat the sugars into the butter for several minutes (please, please, please, use a wooden spoon, not an electric mixer! Using an electric mixer makes the texture too fine and besides, cookies taste better when mixed with a wooden spoon) - you will notice that the mixture gets very creamy and the colour will get lighter than when you started mixing. Only then are you ready to add the eggs. Add them one at a a time and fully mix it in before you add the next one. 
4. The flour - This step is more important when making cakes and pastries, but it's not a bad habit to get into for cookies. When measuring the flour, use a smaller scoop/cup to spoon the flour into the measuring cup, then level the top with a flat edge like a butter knife. Spooning the flour into the cup gives you a more accurate measurement. If you just scoop it up with the measuring cup you're using  and then level it off, it packs the flour into the cup and you will actually get more than you really need. 
5. Baking - once you've added all the other ingredients, you're ready to bake. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet and bake for the shortest time as suggested by the recipe, then check them. For a softer cookie, they should just be golden around the edges; for a crispier cookie, they should have a light golden colour on the top and darker edges. To keep soft cookies soft, put them into an airtight container when still slightly warm. 
6. Be sure to eat one or two when they are still warm from the oven with a big class of cold milk!