More Nigella

I wanted to write a bit more about Nigella Lawson's newest book Nigella Express. I have been watching the show for some time and really wanted to take a test run at the book before buying it (I am moving soon and the less to move the better).

So a few weeks ago I put in a hold request at the library and last week it finally came in!

The book is not as narrative as Feast is but it is still an enjoyable read, as well as being a wealth of great, quick recipes and lush photography. The only small annoyance is that everything is measured in grams and ounces instead of cups, and the conversion can sometimes prove tricky (I should spend a post recounting all the different conversion websites I went to).

While I obviously couldn't try out all the recipes in the book, the ones I did try solidified my urge to purchase.

Out of the ones I was able to cook up I have included 2 "winners" below in addition to the Roquemole I posted earlier. Not included is the Quesadilla recipe which I have actually made close to 7 times now. That will have to be a post for later in the summer.

Two not so great recipes from the book were the Ceviche (I was sort of weirded out by the way the fish was "cooked" as Nigella had warned) and the Pea and Pesto soup (which she has actually made on the TV show, it was kind of an odd texture and bland).

But on to the good stuff.

The first recipe I provide will become a standby for me when the money is tight. I have adapted from the recipe in the book. Really if you can't find the Unico brand, buy some canelli beans and add 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the mix. Really tasty and could be quite a nice appetizer when served with some country bread.

Tuna and Beans


1/2 red onion finely chopped
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 19 oz can of mixed bean salad (Unico Insalata Tuscana works well)
2 cans of tuna
salt and pepper to taste


1. Chop the onion in the food processor, add lemon juice and let it steep while you get on with the salad.


2. Drain the beans (but don't completely rinse) to get most of the goop off and then place in a bowl.


3. Drain the tuna and flake it into the beans.


4. Add the salt and pepper to the onion and lemon juice mixture, whisking into a dressing, then pour it over the tuna and beans and transfer to a serving dish.


5. Fork the tuna and bean salad through, use more seasoning if necessary.


Dinner for 2 or a Starter for 4 to 6.

Now these bars are pretty darn terrific and they last for a whole week (if not longer). They would make a hearty post work out treat, but could also suffice for breakfast on the run or a mid-day snack. Really they aren't even that bad for you if you use the light condensed milk and unsweetened coconut (my modification) and they are so chewy and just the right amount of sweet I have been eating one every day.

Breakfast Bars


1 13.0 oz can of light condensed milk
2 1/4 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut
2/3 cup of dried cranberries
1 cup of mixed seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower)
1 cup of natural unsalted peanuts


1. Preheat the oven to 130 degree Celsius, and oil a 23x33x4cm baking tin, or us a throw away foil on.


2. Warm the condensed milk in a large pan.


3. Meanwhile, mix together all the other ingredients and then add the warmed condensed milk, using a rubber or wooden spatula to fold and distribute.


4. Spread the mixture into the tin and press down with a spatula, to even the surface.


5. Bake for 1 hour, then remove from the oven and, after about 15 minutes, cut into four across and four down to make 16 chunky bars. Let cool completely.

Liar Liar Shrimp on Fire!

There really isn't anything quicker to make in the food world than shrimp. So odd and unappetizing when raw, it turns this beautiful shade of pink so quickly you forget the awful greyness of moments before.

I was looking for a recipe to make when Kinnon came over for dinner last week, I poured through several recipes and then I found it. An old favourite from the Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef. A shrimp recipe, which is essentially shrimp, garlic, ginger, lemon, parsley and small red chili's, with bread for dipping in the sauce. I highlight this because pepper selection is important when you are cooking a protein that essentially absorbs the flavour of what it is cooked in. They didn't have small red chili's at the grocery store I went to. They did however have habanero peppers. The hottest freakin peppers in the world.

Originally I had cut up two for the recipe, then I decided to taste a bit of pepper just to see how hot it was. My mouth swelled up momentarily and then the burn started. DEAR GOD. Needless to say I fished out nearly half of the chopped up pepper. My hands burned all night and next day.

Lesson learned.

This really is going somewhere recipe wise.

I had lots of left over frozen shrimp and had a craving for a shrimp sandwich. Since the Cajun Corner is sadly leaving my neighbourhood I decided to throw together something, taking Jamie's recipe as my inspiration.

Hilly's Non-habanero Shrimp Sandwich
Makes Enough for 2 Sandwich's (bring one to work the next day!)

16 Large Shrimp (uncooked)
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Asian Chili Sauce to Taste
Baguette (1 loaf),

1. Heat the Oliver oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and shrimp, cook approximately 3-4 minutes until shrimp are pink.

2. Add lemon juice and stir.

3. Add Chili sauce and stir.

4. Cut the baguette in half to make two big sandwich buns. Slice in half and pile on the shrimp equally on each sandwich*

Serve!

*If you are going to bring a sandwich to work the next day wrap the baguette in plastic wrap and pack the shrimp separately (so that it doesn't make the bread soggy).

Kiss Me I'm A Pizza, Sorta

It's too bad that St. Patrick's Day falls on a Monday this year.  For us working stiffs it severely hinders the fun drinking potential.

With that in mind (as well as just missing them) I invited my friends Amber and Allan over for dinner on Friday night.  I hadn't seen them in a few months and since they had just gotten back from a trip to Cuba there was plenty to catch up on.

Amber and Allan actually lived in the UK for a few years after university and they are real anglophiles.  They are both up for just about anything food wise (except for pine nuts, which cuts out the salad from a few posts ago).

I decided to give a nod to St. Patrick's day while at the same time making something quick and easy.  With that I give you my version of the Reuben Pizza.  Another recipe stolen from Rachael Ray.  

I first made this about a week ago, and go so mad in trying to roll out the pizza dough in my tiny kitchen Tristan thought I had developed a minor case of tourrette's.  Then I had an idea. Instead of trying to divide the pizza dough and roll it out, I would just buy 2 Pillsbury pizza tubes and use one for the bottom and one for the top. It worked a treat!  

The picture above is from the initial try at the pizza when I was essentially trying to turn a rectangle into a circle.  The one from Friday basically looked like a rectangular version of what you see.  

Reuben Pizza Hilly's Short Cut Version

2 tubes of Pillsbury Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cups of shredded light Swiss cheese

1 pound deli sliced corned beef

1 cup sauerkraut rinsed.

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup light mayonnaise (or whipped dressing)

2 1/2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons relish

1.  Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

2.  Pop open one of the Pillsbury Pizza Dough tubes, unroll it and lay it on the parchment paper.  This may require some repair to the dough on your part, it can be finicky.

3.  Sprinkle half the cheese on top, leaving a 1 inch border all around.  Arrange the corned beef and then the sauerkraut evenly on top. Top with the remaining cheese.

4.  Pop open the second Pillsbury Pizza Dough tube, unroll it and lay it carefully on top of the filling.  Tightly crimp the edges together to seal.  Brush the top with the olive oil and cut 3 vents in the center.

5.  Bake the pizza until browned and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.  Let cool briefly.

6.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, ketchup and relish.  Cut the Pizza into 4 pieces and serve with the sauce.

Needless to say the portions were HUGE when the pizza was in rectangle form.  Which was good because Amber and Allan brought two bottles of wine with them, in addition to the two bottles of wine I already had at my house.

Mayhem ensued.

A Collard in the Sun

In 2003 I encountered something I never thought I would.

The possibility of a male roommate.

After university my three best girl friends and I moved in together. We found the perfect four bedroom house close to downtown. It was a regular slumber party. But that was relatively short lived. Dear Kinnon had to take a contract out of town starting in early 2004, and so we had to find another roommate.

Not wanting to live anyone really new, we were open to suggestion. So one night while Kinnon was at the pub she was introduced by a mutual friend to an actor looking to move from Winnipeg to Toronto sooner rather than later. After a GlenGarry Glen Ross style interview we agreed that Kristopher could be our roommate. And he has lived in that house ever since (pretty much).

He brought with him a penchant for flannel and healthy eating, especially organic eating. He was ahead of his time. This past Saturday I went with Tristan to the house where now Kristopher, Jenny and Kinnon live on the main floor and Avery and Ian live in the apartment above. The snow as pretty crazy, but we made it and because of the weather I brought a fairly simple appetizer, chips and homemade dip.

The idea was that everyone was to contribute something to the meal. And what a great meal it was. Ian and Avery provided beef tips, mashed potatoes and roasted veg, while the main floor crowd provided a dessert and the following recipe for collard greens. It is Kristopher's recipe and it was pretty damn good. Being a man of few word's I will simply put what he wrote to me when I asked him for the recipe:

"It was really simple. All I did was wash the greens, then tightly roll them up together and thinly slice them. Chopped up one small onion, and saute in about 2 T olive oil. When onion starts to brown add the greens and saute until limp. Then add salt. (I use Celtic Sea Salt) Presto you have Collard Greens Brazilian style."

Because of the amount of wine consumed I didn't really get a proper picture of the greens, but I am sure your imagination will take you there.

Lasagne The Easy Way

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that in winter's cold we crave comfort food.

Lasagne is one of the world's ultimate comfort foods. It's got meat, cheese and delicious delicious carbs. Again I have turned to Kraft for the recipe but I decided to take to make it a bit healthier (are you noticing a theme)using some lighter ingredients and whole wheat noodles.

This recipe has noodles cooked right in the sauce, and after doing it this way it would take a very convincing person to convince me to go back to cooking the noodles separately. So much easier. If you want to make it even easier go buy yourself one of those disposable 8x12 roaster/lasagne pans.

Tuck in!

Lasagne

Prep: 20 min
Total: 1 hour 50 min
Servings: 12 (1 slice each)

1 lb (450 g)extra lean ground beef
2 1/2 cups part skim mozzarella shredded cheese (divided)
2 cups light ricotta cheese
1/2 cup light Parmesan grated cheese (divided)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I used half the amount but dried)
1 Omega Three egg, lightly beaten
1 jar (700ml) calorie reduced pasta sauce
1 1/2 cups water
12 whole wheat lasagne noodles, uncooked

Preheat oven to 350F. Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix 1 1/4 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.

Drain meat; return to skillet. Stir in pasta sauce. Pour water into empty sauce jar; cover and shake well. Add to skillet; stir until well blended.

Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce onto the bottom of baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagne noodles, one-third of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup of the meat sauce. Repeat layers two more times. Top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/4 cups of mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with greased foil.

Bake 1 hour. Remove foil; continue baking 15 min. or until heated through. Let stand 15 min. before cutting to serve.

The first post, so important. So crucial.

This blog will talk about all things food, restaurants, recipes, cookbooks, you name it.

It was mainly (though not entirely) started after I had a falling out with blogTO about my photos for the restaurant reviews I was posting.

That and I had some issue with the content they were producing. But I digress, if you want the whole story just let me know in the mean time...on with the show!