organics...

Ok, so I think I've been slightly ambitious thinking that I'd be able to post more than once per week! However, it's the holidays and I promise I'm doing my darndest!

As any followers would know, I received a new delivery last week - this time with an organic twist!  For the first time, I received something other than what was listed on the content list I get with the box - but as promised, is was replaced with 'something of equal value'.  I got a couple bags of green beans instead of a head of broccoli.  Below is what I received, and again, on visual inspection all the produce looked terrific.  A couple of interesting items...a light green/grey teardtrop shaped squash, which I've determined to be a grey hubbard squash, and some live lettuces! neat! that little package of lettuce standing up on the left side of the photo was shipped along with it's soil!  It's a varitey of 4 young lettuces (pleural of course being - letti ) that stayed fresh and crispy in the fridge - in the soil - (in a hole in the bottom of the sea... there's a HOLE, there's a hole... there's a hole in the bottom of the sea! 'member that one?)..anywho it stayed fresh and crispy for a whole week!

Uninterestingly - I got another bloody bag of potatoes.

 This past week has had me wrapped up in a flurry of social functions with no time to cook, but I've managed to used a few items along the way...sadly, I ended up having to toss the avocado - waited too long to use it...to think, I could've brought burrito night to the next level of deliciousness.

Dish numero uno (speaking of spanish numbers, who's heard about that football player - Cincinatti Bengals I think - who officially changed his last name to "ochocinco" because his number is 85...his jersey says ochocinco with 85 underneath!...yikes man.)

ok ok...sorry, I'm making a lot of weird side notes - on to the good stuff!

I call these...

I-kinda-feel-Italian-making-these Mussels

Mussels are truly one of the easiest proteins to make - and for some reason, they impress people.  Also, they are cheap as chips (as R.Goodall would say).  Regular price is $5 fo 2 lbs at my loblaws - normally, when ordering at a resto, you'd get a pound.

Ingredients

• 
  
  2 lbs mussels
  
  
  
• 
  
  1/2 box spaghetti - I use my fave PC omega 3 spaghetti - it's a whole wheat/lentil mix dough. yum!
  
  
  
• 
  
  1/2 a large can of diced tomatoes (I use PC no added salt), you can use the whole can too - I only had 1/2 left.
  
  
  
• 
  
  1 onion (organic GFB) chopped
  
  
  
• 
  
  2 cloves garlice (GFB) chopped
  
  
  
• 
  
  1 bunch spinach (organic GFB)
  
  
  
• 
  
  EVOO
  
  
  
• 
  
  s&p
  
  
  

Instructions:

1. To prep your mussels, you'll need to wash them, and de-beard them.  First thing to look for when you transfer your mussels into a colander for rincing is any mussels that are open.  If you find an open one, lightly tap the shell on a hard surface...if the mussel is alive (and it should be), the shell will slowly close.  If the mussel remains open, it's dead - toss 'er.  You'll notice when you're rincing the mussels there are some hair-like fibres protruding from the side of the shell.  These are the beards (they attach the mussels to one another in a colony) - tear these off - you may have to grab them with a dish towel, cause they can get a little slick.  Here's a good link to prepping mussels (http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Cleaning-Mussels/Detail.aspx).  I don't soak my mussels and never find them sandy, I think mine are cultured - maybe they're sand free?  I do give mine a good scrub with the bristly side of my sponge though.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water (use a couple tsp of table salt) to a boil and cook your pasta as directed.  When it's al dente, strain, but reserve a 1/4 cup of the starchy pasta water.
3. meanwhile, heat EVOO over med heat in a large pot - sautee onions and garlic until translucent
4. add tomatoes until heated through
5. Add the mussels, cover the pot, and let steam for 3 minutes.  The mussels are ready when they open up!
6. Combine the mussel mixture, the pasta, and the raw spinach into one of the warm pots, add the pasta water, toss everything together, and replace the lid for another minute or two to allow the spinach to wilt.  (if you come across any mussels that haven't opened - toss em! it means they were dead before you cooked them) 

This was deliciously salty, simple and healthy.  Rory loved this dish too.  The whole meal takes about 25 minutes from very start to finish too.  I do make mussels now and again, and it's a great ingredient to be creative with - I've made mine steamed in wine, in coconut milk, in chicken stock, with a variety of veggies...serving them with a rich and spicy tomato sauce is really yummy, with a nice rustic loaf of bread to soak up all the amazing juices.  Give them a try if you haven't before! you'll be so surprised how easy they are!

My next dish is a take on a side that I made for Thansgiving....

Maple roasted sweet pototoes and caramelized onions with a parmesan crust

Ingredients:

• 
  
  a number of sweet potatoes - I'd say 4-5 medium sized ones.  (3 GFB, 1 super huge organic GFB)
  
  
  
• 4 cups of slices onions (organic GFB)
• 4 Tbsp oil - divided (I used canola)
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 c grated parmesan cheese (only the real deal please!)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (or veg)
• 1/4 cup light cream (I used 5%, but richer would obviously be deelish too)
• S&P
  

Instructions:

1. preheat oven to 400F
2. peel and roughly chop sweet potatoes
3. drizzle 2 Tbsp oil and maple syrup over potatoes in oven proof dish, sprinkle with s&p - throw 'em in the oven and roast for 40 mins or until easily peirced with a fork.
4. meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp of oil over low heat - add onions, cooking slowly for 20 - 30 minutes, until onions are a deep sweet brown.
5. Combine the potatoes and onions in a dish/pot where they can be blended with a hand blender, or put them in a regular blender. 
6. Add cream and stock slowly, blending in between additions - blend until you reach a consistency that suits you - mine were very smooth and moist. (you may need more or less stock/cream)
7. Transfer mixture into an oven safe dish, sprinkle with parmesan - bake until the top starts to brown into a lovely crisp looking crust.

I brought these potatoes to a pot-luck at work, and they were a hit - when I went to get my dish back, it had practically been licked clean!  I did get a chance to try them, and damn they were good!  Please try these!

 On to the afformentioned burrito night (FYI - afformention is one of Rory's favorite words).

My intention was to use the avocado for burrito night, but when I found out it was past it's prime, I decided to go on with the show!   I'm not going to give these burritos a name, because it's not really a recipe...just a bunch of yummy things in a soft warm (whole wheat!) shell. 

 My burrito contents:

• brown basmati rice - cooked stovetop with salt and a little oil
• my homemade refried bean mash - mince a 1/2 jalepeno, a clove or two of garlic, and sautee them with a can of rinsed black beans for a few minutes.  Then mash em up, add a tbsp of sour cream, the juice of 1/2 a lime and spread  over burritos and other mexican style foodstuffs to your heart's content!
• chicken thighs, sauteed with a 1/2 a chopped tomato, some chili power (1 tsp), lime juice (1/2 lime), and s&p
• chopped tomato
• recently dead live leaf lettuce (GFB organic)
• sour cream
  

yum yum! This was really good and healthy!  Other things that would be yummy in this - peppers, onions, cheese, mashed sweet potato (Kensington market Yam Burritos - to die for!), guacamole of course...the list could really go on...another opportunity for creative cooking :)

I have a couple more things planned for the next couple of days involving beans, zucchini and carrots, so keep following!

I'm leaving you with this beautiful photo of Choereg, an Armenian holiday bread - this photo was taken before I dove in for a piece - it's a slightly sweet, dense, doughy textured bread, that really reminds of a cinnamon bun ...I sliced a piece and ate it warm with a little margarine...and it was devine!  Thanks so much to Christine for this thoughtful and delectable gift :)

Resto review - Amaya Bread Bar

Although this isn't GFB related, I thought the foodies in the crowd would enjoy a restaurent review!

I've been really riled up to talk about my dinner out last week at Amaya Bread Bar - www.amayasbreadbar.com

There have been lot's of wonderful reviews about this place, and I love indian food! On top of that I was going with a couple of fellow foodies...a night of good food while talking about food is pretty much heaven in my books!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, and missed out on the photo op, but I will give a brief review!

Service - pretty much terrible.  Had to ask for water refills three times, and spent almost 2 and a half hours at the table - I would say well over half of that time was waiting.  We watched people come and go around us.

The food - I didn't write everything down unfortunately, but I think I remember most of it.  The three of us opted for the $45 tasting menu, which would allow us to share 3 apps and 3 mains, and we thought, 3 desserts.  Being the brave foodie souls that we were, we decided to go with 'chef's choice' - even though we had the option of choosing which menu items we wanted, we thought it would be best if the chef presented us with what he thought was the best of the best....don't do this.

First, we received an amuse bouche - a round slice of eggplant, stuff with cream cheese, and deep fried, served with a mint sauce, and a tomato chutney.  this was pretty good - i mean, deep fried cream cheese, common..of course it was good.

Apps

lamb kabobs - pretty good flavour, not too lamb-y (i'm not a fan of that musky lamb flavour), but dry, needed some sort of indian ketchup equivalent!  The mint sauce did appear again on this plate - very underwhelming.

samosas - one stuffed with potato and peas, one stuff with chicken tikka...good flavours - again with the deep fried, which gets automatic bonus points

Chicken tikka - chunks of moist, extra salty (too salty for both my campanions) tandoori chicken with a really light sauce.  really nothing spectacular, and we just had the same thing in our samosas...with so many options, you'd think the chef would send out something different

We received a small bowl of extra tart lemon sorbet between apps and mains - this was yummy...and palate cleansing of course.

Mains

Butter chicken - definitely not the best butter chicken I've ever had - it was so sweet - I feel like someone back in the kitchen dumped some sugar in the pot by accident.  2.5 out of 5 stars

Lamb Roganjosh - a spicy lamb curry - this lamb had a musky flavour, but it was very tender...the sauce was nice, but carried that lamb flavour a little too much...if you're a lamb lover, you'd like this.

Channa Masala - chick pea curry - VERY good.  The best main in my opinion

Shrimp/Coconut curry - I forget the name of this, but another sweet and savoury sauce - the shrimp were huge, and well cooked, the sauce was seasoned well but there was an herb or a spice in it that I didn't quite love.  It was a fave of the other gals.

Now, the piece de resistance, and I really think this was their saving grace:  the naan.  It was delicious. We received a variety, rosemary, plain, and garlic...tender, chewy warm and perfect...and lots of it, perfect for sopping up the extra curry sauces!

Dessert - a very disgusting looking bowl of white-ness.  it was a round molded chunk of cottage cheese, swimming in a pool of extra sweet milk - infused with an indian spice (don't know what).  It was cold (as intended), way too sweet, and the texture of the cheese was not appetizing.  I gave it my best shot, and the spice infusion was quite nice, but overall, this dessert was a failure...none of us liked it.  And it was our only option...unlike the apps and main, we received only one dessert.  In the end, I think we'd had enough, and wanted to leave anyway - it had been 2.5 hours!

So overall - don't think I would be back - although, I wouldn't complain if someone wanted to give it a go.  I would just order off the menu - after all, the reviews can't all be wrong right? maybe it was just a bad night!

potatoless!

It's been a week, so lot's to share!

First, I had to come up with a game plan to get rid of the potatoes!  SUCCESS! I cooked a couple big ol' batches of shepherd's pie and beef stew.

The stew was a Michael Smith recipe, from the Best of Chef at Home cookbook.  The shepherd's pie was my own recipe.

My mise en place for the stew

Michael Smith's Beef stew

Ingredients (this is a slight variation from Michael's recipe):

• 2 lb stewing beef
• 1 can whole tomatoes (don't bother chopping - they'll breakdown in the cooking process)
• 1 900 ml tetrapak of Beef Stock (I used PC organic)
• 1/2 bottle of red wine (I used Jackson Trigg's Cabernet-Franc)
• 2-3 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 2-3 medium sized potatoes
• 1-2 parsnips
• 1/2 turnip slash rutabaga 
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary  
• a couple dried bay leaves
• 2-3 Tsbp of canola oil
• S&P

Instructions

1. Heat canola oil in a nice big pot over med-high heat (it cannot be non-stick)
2. In batches, sear the stewing beef until nice and brown.  Make sure you only have one layer of beef in the pot at a time - the beef will steam rather than brown if the pot is too crowded.
3. When the beef is done, get rid of most of the oil, leaving a tsp or two in the pot.  Do NOT wash that pot!  All those delectable little brown bits stuck to the pot are exactly what you want to keep for a richly flavoured stew.
4. Turn down heat to med-low, add onions and garlic and sautee until translucent.
5. Add the red wine to deglaze - meaning the wine will lift all of those yummy brown bits off the bottom of the pot - scrape 'em all off to incorporate them in the stew.
6. Add EVERYTHING else.
7. Simmer over low heat for as long as it takes to make that beef tender.  It took me 3-4 hours...i wasn't really paying attention to the time.  
8. Remove the rosemary twig and bay leaves, add any salt and pepper as needed.

This would make a great slow cooker recipe.  You could do steps 1-6, and then add it all to a slow cooker for the day.

The stew was a big hit.  Rich and full of great flavour.  I would probably add something green at the end next time - some peas or spinach I think, I just didn't have any at the time.  Michael's recipe actually called for double the amount of veggies that I used.  He suggested adding half at the beginning of the cooking and half near the end of cooking - to keep them more firm.  I thought there were already a prefect amount of veggies in the stew after it was done cooking, and they weren't mushy at all, just soft, like you'd expect in a stew.  I froze the rest of my prepped veggies for another stew or soup this winter.

Now, the shepherd's pie

Mirepoix 

Da Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 lb extra lean ground beef
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 carrot diced
• 1 celery stalk diced
• 1 onion diced
• 1/2 can tomato paste
• 1 cup beef stock
• 3-4 medium potatoes - peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 cup(ish) frozen corn kernels
• milk
• 2ish Tbsp margarine or butter
• S&P

Instructions:

1. Over medium heat, brown ground beef in a large skillet - once browned, drain the fat and set aside
2. In the same pot, add canola oil - once heated , add carrots, celery, and onion and sautee until they start to soften
3. Add beef, tomato paste, beef stock, cover, and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.  Remove lid, and simmer for another 10 minutes until mixture has thickened.
4. In the meantime, boil or steam potatoes until soft.
5. Mash with margarine or butter, and milk (add a Tbsp or two at a time), until smooth and fluffy.
6. Add S&P to taste to meet mixture, and potato mixture.
7. In an oven proof dish, layer ground beef - corn - and mashed potato mixture.
8. If you baked it immediately, it should take about 20 minutes at 350 F.  If you refrigerate before cooking, I did 45 mins at 350F.

This was pretty good - I didn't season it quite enough and had to add S&P at the table.  Also, I think I would make the ground beef a little saucier, needed a touch more moisture...extra beef stock and tomato paste would've done it!  Good flavours though!

I served this shepherd's pie when my sister Shannon came to visit this week. Alongside, we had....

Dilled Potato Beet Soup

and...

Sauteed Savoy Cabbage with bacon

Both of these sides were deelish!

The dilled potato beet soup was the recipe from the GFB included in my last delivery.  The savoy cabbage was on-the-fly.

Dilled Potato Beet Soup (I varied the recipe slightly - the original called for double the stock...I knew it would be WAY too much and the soup would be too thin)

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium sized beets, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3-4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped.
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 900 ml tetrapak of veggie stock.
• 1/4 c chopped fresh dill
• S&P to taste
• sour cream and additional chopped dill for garnish

Instructions:

• Over med heat, melt butter, and sautee onions and dill for 2-3 minutes
• Add potatoes, beets and stock
• Simmer over med-low heat for 30-40 minutes (until beets are soft enough to puree)
• Puree with a hand blender right in the pot (or in batches, use a regular blender).
• Add S&P to taste, and garnish as you see fit!

This was so simple, and had such an interesting flavour...and good gracious, beets make food beautiful don't they?  It was rich and earthy, with a fresh dill flair!  Instead of sour cream, adding whipping cream to the soup itself would also be delicious.  I would make this again for sure!

Sauteed brussel sprouts with bacon

Ingredients:

• 1/2-3/4 head savoy cabbage
• 4-5 slices of bacon sliced
• 1 Tsbp EVOO
• S&P to taste

Instructions:

1. Slice cabbage into manageable sized strips
2. Use a steamer basket or a couple inches of water in the bottom of a large pot, and steam cabbage for 3-4 minutes.
3. In the meantime, sautee bacon until crisp and remove with a slotted spoon (do not use a non stick pan).  Discard all but 1 tsp of of the bacon fat.
4. Over med-low heat, add evoo and steamed cabbage to the bacon pan, stirring to remove all the brown bacon bit from the pan, sautee for 2-3 minutes until heated through
5. add S&P to taste, transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with bacon.

The savoy cabbage was surprisingly tender, and so sweet, especially the inner yellow leaves.  There was only a very mild bitter flavour on the darkest green leaves, which really added to the overall flavour of the dish.  Buy savoy cabbage!! it's SO good! I will definitely buy it again...and use it in a stir fry or something, a really great option for adding different greens to your diet.

Of course the bacon made this dish sing, but I would even do sauteed savoy with garlic in the future for a healthier option!

This was the end of GFB #2...overall I feel I made great use of what I got.  I was left with one head of garlic and 4 grapefruit, which are still looking good - I will try to use this week!  In terms of waste, there was really none - only about 1/4 of the savoy cabbage head got tossed.

Moving on! I'm really looking forward to using my new organic GFB!  I wonder what the feature of the week will be?!

Happy Eating!

a little somthin'

I've been a little negligent in my cooking this week! Since my last post, there's not too much to add...somehow, I have managed to use a lot of my GFB though!

 

Those pesky potatoes are causing me a little stress (to a girl that likes variety, using 10 lbs of potatoes in a month can be tricky business!) I'm not sure what to do with them! Of course spuds are perfect cooked simply, but I'm looking for something fun and creative to work on. My friend Joanne and I were talking about making perogies from scratch, so maybe I'll aim for that...Jo, can we make a date?

 

I will be getting my final GFB delivery next week - I've contacted my pick-up location and have requested a change in my order. I'm going for the large organic box for my last delivery. This box costs $34 (as oppposed to the $17 for the one I'm receiving now). Does anyone want to wager on whether I think organic will be worth it or not?

 

O.k. back to business...the produce report.
 
The fruit... 
4 grapefruit - still kicking around. I have a few ideas for them - 1) sprinkled with sugar for breakfast 2) in a salad 3) in grapefruit champagne sorbet (this month's Style at Home magazine has a great looking recipe by Donna Hay - and I have been looking for an excuse to use my Kitchen Aid ice cream maker!)

 

The bananas, plums, and pears (local) from this delivery have been great. I was worried about the plums which were exceptionally firm. I braced myself for a sour bite, but was pleasantly surprised by their sweetness...and they tasted very, hmm... plummy? they were good, and now gone!

 

The Bosc pears are excellent examples of Bosc pears! Crisp and sweet, with that fuzzy little feeling you get on your tongue that is undeniably Bosc :)

 

I used the avocados (yes, a fruit) over the weekend in a simple guacamole (sorry no photo!!! picture this...green mushy stuff...appetizing green mushy stuff :) )

Included in my guacamole:
2 small Hass avocados (very ripe)
1/4 small onion, minced
1/2 clove garlic, minced
Juice from a lime
1 roma tomato seeded and finely chopped
S&P to taste

(normally I would add a 1/2 jalepeno, but we were serving a spice sensitive crowd)

 

I didn't the think the avocados were the typical grocery store Hass variety, so I searched 'avocado varieties' and came up with this http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/avocado-viewer/index.htmWho knew??? It turns out that the GFB avocados were likely Hass, but they were really good hass! Much paler than I've seen before, and VERY smooth and creamy, like butter (man's greatest invention)

 

I used a good chunk of my veggies in a really great curry recipe a couple of nights ago. It wasn't indian, it wasn't thai - a fusion of sorts. I made this one up, but it's inspired by a soup recipe from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry (authors of Looneyspoons).

 

We'll call it...

 

Wicked-good Fusion Veggie Curry

(this receipe is vegan, and gluten free btw!)

 

 

 

Ingredients (seems like a lots, but there really isn't much prep work, trust me!)

• 2 tsp canola oil
• 2 tsp GFB garlic (2 small cloves)
• 1 Tbsp grated ginger (I always have a chunk of frozen ginger ready for grating - freezing makes the job a cinch)
• 3/4 tsp of curry powder (I used Club House), cumin, and garam masala (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garam_masala. Got mine from the Spice House in Kensington Market - coriander will work here to, or nothing if you have neither)
• 1/2 - 1 tsp salt (please taste before adding more)
• 1 small GFB onion (local), chopped
• 2 small GFB sweet potatoes (local), chopped in 1"ish pieces
• 1/2 large can of diced tomatoes, about 400ml (I buy no-added salt, so I can salt myself...such a good dietitian)
• 4 small GFB zucchini (2 large, 3 medium...really whatever!) chopped to the same size as your sweet potatoes
• 1 can of chick peas (or lentils would be yummy) - rinsed.
• 1 can of coconut milk (go light for a lower fat version)
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter (Kraft-smooth)
• 1 Tsbp brown sugar
• Juice from 1/2 lime (a Tbsp or so)
• 1 tsp Sriracha (hot asian chili sauce - optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat canola oil over medium heat
2.  Add onions and sautee for 2-3 minutes
3.  Add garlic and ginger and sautee for about a minute
4. Add curry powder, cumin, and garam masala, sautee for another 30 seconds
5. Add coconut milk, sugar, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes - turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until potatoes are almost soft enough to eat.
6. Add zucchini and chickpeas, and simmer for another 5-8 minutes, until zucchini are cooked through
7. Add peanut butter, lime juice, sugar, and sriracha and simmer until heated through (p.b. is melted)

 Serve over basmati rice.

 

This made enough for Rory and I for dinner, lunch the next day for both of us, and one more lunch, so 5 servings-ish depending on personal gluttony :)

 

This recipe is a keeper for sure, I brought a couple of samples in to some foodies at work, and they also agreed. A great vegetarian dinner option (I try to do at least a couple per week), or a great dinner party option for your vegan, celiac, kosher friends! ENJOY!

 

Still left on the agenda to tackle is the giant head of Savoy cabbage - not sure what I'll do with this, and recipe searches have been pretty fruitless. Sauteeing with bacon comes to mind...stay tuned!

 

Also remaining are: 3/4 bag of beets, a FULL 5 lb bag of potatoes, a few onions, a couple of sweet potatoes, and some garlic. Suggestions always welcome :)

 

Happy Eating!