Scoobi Doo Can Do Do but Jimmy Carter is Smarter

I have in fact, fully recovered. And boy did I have plenty to recover from. Aside from my little (ha!) illness it was play reading week last week at work. I lasted 5 readings, the good, the bad and the just plain ugly (and everything in between).

I called it a kind of survivor, I had to work until 5 or 6 then try to rush home for a very quick dinner and then rush back for an 8pm curtain. I did this through some pretty lovely snow storms somehow managing to eat out for only one meal that week (including lunches). But how?

MEAT SAUCE. It warrants capitals, it is a saviour. It is better than Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Hat. It is so much more than that. You need a Sunday to do it, but it is so worth it.

The recipe makes a lot and in truth I froze some for this week when I made the enchiladas you see in the very last picture. Rachael Ray offers 4 prepared recipes and a multitude of suggestions for this sauce, and I tried 3 of them. The Inside-Out Pizza (with homemade dough thank you very much!) fed Homer, me and our friends Michael and Ryan on the Sunday the sauce was made with leftovers for lunch the next day (no photo, the pizza roll though very tasty was not pretty). The pasta recipe I offer below fed Homer and I for 3 lunches and some dinner during last week. And then tonight we ate enchiladas (which fed us for dinner and then some lunches).

Recession I laugh in yo' face. Like Bruce Springsteen laughed in America's face this Sunday.

Meat Sauce

Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray February 2009

Makes 7 Cups

(You need about 3 hours total for this sauce)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chopped pancetta**

1 onion, finely chopped***

1 carrot, finely chopped***

2 ribs celery, finely chopped***

1 clove garlic, finely chopped****

2 pounds EXTRA LEAN ground beef

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 x 28 ounce can tomato puree

Salt and Pepper

** I used turkey bacon because our lackluster Loblaw's does not sell pancetta (I am sure the flavour would be better with pancetta but this was "healthier")

***Put all in a food processor and chop within an inch of its life.

****Tip, grate it on the smallest setting on a box grater to avoid being at the counter for the rest of your life mincing.

1. In a large, heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the pancetta and cook until the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes (especially if you used the food processor). Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beef and cook, breaking it up, until no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook until the liquid is cooked off, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomato puree and 1 cup of water; season with salt and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for the last 30 minutes, until thickened, about 2 hours. Season with Salt and Pepper.

And here my loves is where the title comes from grab some Scoobi Doo Pasta and make this with your meat sauce. If you want healthier just use light feta and skim milk.

In Sickness and in Health

Sigh, see how happy I look there.  Little did I know what was to come.

After a nice Christmas and a Happy New Year I was finally getting back to the normal routine. The gals and I went for brunch at the Citizen a week ago Sunday.  The brunch there is fantastic, even heavenly and it's the kind of place where the owner/chef is sitting in the restaurant whooping it up with his friends on a slow Sunday.  It is also the kind of place that, when we mention to the server that it is my cat Leonard Cohen's birthday, will then play Leonard Cohen as a tribute.  

I could wax poetic about the food but just trust me that it is simple yet complex and reasonably priced.  You should go for no reason that it has survived the dreaded "Restaurant Makeover Curse" which speaks volumes.  So get thyself there.

While what happened next did not eclipse the lovely brunch it has certainly put a damper on my ability to write a food blog the last week or so.  What happened was norovirus, and while in person I am more than happy to relate its ugly tale, I feel it might be a little tactless to write about it in published form.

So last week was spent not really eating.  But when I did eat this is what I was treated to courtesy of Mr. Tristan Homer:

  

While there is no recipe, I figure it is the ingredients that count.

Coming up next: recipes reviewed from the book Eat, Shrink and Be Merry, my latest acquisition.

Whole Lotta Pizza

As promised this is the post about a great whole wheat pizza crust that is totally GI friendly.  There is a full pizza recipe in the original book The GI Diet by Rick Gallop, but I say put what you want on it, last night I hope it with caramelized onions, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Delish.  Have a great holiday season.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (not instant)

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat bran

pinch of salt

1.  Pour the water into a large bowl and sprinkle with the yeast.  Let stand for about 1o minutes

until frothy.  Stir in 1 1/4 cups of the flour, the wheat bran and salt until a ragged dough forms.  Let stand, covered for 30 minutes.  Place the dough onto a floured surface and knead it, adding more of the flour as necessary, just until it forms a soft, slightly sticky, dough.  Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rest until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

2.  During the last 1/2 hour of rest get your toppings together.  And pre-heat the over to 425F.

3.  Once the dough has doubled punch it down and roll it out on a floured surface to fit at 12 to 14 inch round pizza pan.  Place the dough on the pan, stretching it as necessary to fit.

4.  Put on the toppings and back for about 20 minutes or until golden and crisp.

Gilead Cafe

It has been a while since I reviewed any restaurants. Mainly because waiters at fancy joints tend to frown on the whipping out of a camera during the meal. It elicits eye-rolls and huffs and frankly my palette isn't good enough to make the judgement worthwhile.

But this morning I had something so tasty I had to talk about it. On Fridays I treat myself to breakfast or lunch out and having had the pastries at the Gilead Cafe a try I thought I should try some of their other fare as well.

I order the yogurt with granola, hazelnut, honey and preserves and when I saw the serving size I bought a pain au chocolate as well (hey its a treat!). I got the office and dug into the yogurt and immediately realized there was no way I was going to be able to finish it in one sitting.

The yogurt was lovely and thick and the granola nut mixture added just enough crunch to make it satisfying. I believe the yogurt is actually made with coconut milk which would account for the texture. It was divine and is currently sitting half-finished in the fridge, waiting for my afternoon snack. At $4 its not a bad deal considering everything is made in house.

The recommendation to go the Gilead isn't actually a shocker, since it was the hip cafe when it opened and it still is but sometimes you need to hear it from a friend (like me, am I your friend?) before you try it yourself.

Coming soon - whole wheat pizza crust, better than any delivery.

Recession Gifting

Hey guess what?  We are in a recession! Just in time for Christmas! 

I don't really think I had to tell anyone that, but it is what inspired this post.  Well, that and Oprah, who is apparently not immune to the hardened financial times we are in.

I felt like I should get something for my co-workers this year and since I don't work in a place where some sort of "secret Santa" (do you capitalize Santa?) is organized and we are a small operation I figure I should get something for everyone.

In order to be economical about it, I thought a homemade gift would be the way to go.  As luck would have it, the December 2008 Oprah magazine had some solutions.

So here I bring you the easiest gift you will probably ever make.  I made it in under 10 minutes and now all they require is a bow and a label (which coincidentally I am pilfering from work).  

Hot Chocolate Mocha Mix

Adapted from O Magazine, December 2008

3/4 cup premium un-sweetened cacao

3 tbsp instant espresso 

1/2 cup Splenda

Combine dry ingredients and spoon into a small decorative tin or a glass mason jar (as I have done).  Attach a tag that says "Mix 3 tbsp hot chocolate mocha mix with 1 cup steamed or simmered milk.   Top with marshmallows."  

Done and Done.

The Brother

Go Dylan Go! The Girl

People Like Me

In beginning this post I was a little torn in which way to take it.  What I started wanting to write about is this great roasted vegetable pizza that I have been making lately.  However, after this Sunday I also kind of wanted to write about how to throw a fairly stress free party.  

The two items are not mutually exclusive, seeing as I made said pizza for a party I threw on Sunday.  My birthday party in fact.  It was such a great day, that I wanted to share it.

I am one of those creatures who finds the prospect of cooking for 15 or so people relaxing instead of stressful.  The planning, the preparation, the execution, even now if I could do it again I would.  Not that I didn't have help from my friends and boy I am ever grateful for it.

I kept the food simple fare that I could pretty much make in advance and then just keep warm throughout the party, making "stations" so people could serve themselves.

The first was a chili station with the veggie chili I blogged about a few posts ago kept warm in my slow cooker.  The second was the roasted veggie pizza I am talking about today.  

That is right, I made all vegetarian food.  No meat in sight.  Why would someone who loves cured meat as much as I do such a thing?   Well, number one, I had a few vegetarians coming and I wanted them to be able to eat and two, meat is hard to keep at a consistent texture for 8 hours unless you are a trained chef with catering equipment (and even then it is dicey).

My friends helped by bringing snacks and booze of their choosing, and while there was some overlap for the most part it all got eaten and kept everyone with a relatively full belly.

I used disposables so clean up was easy. However, if I really did have to do it all over again, I would have pre-ordered biodegradable disposables from Green Shift instead of the evil evil Styrofoam I used instead.

But let's not dwell on the negative and instead get to the recipe.

I'll give you 2 guesses as to who I adapted this recipe from?

....

Rachael Ray!

Roasted Veggie Pizza

Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray November 2007

*This version is the meat and brussels sprout one I usually make, however, for the party I substituted the brussels sprouts with 8 oz sliced mushrooms (because the brussels sprouts were HUGE and would never have cooked) and omitted the meat.  That being said Don't Fear the Sprout! I hate hate hate brussels sprouts and I Love this Recipe.

4 slices Canadian bacon sliced thinly

1 Pillsbury Pizza Crust Tube

Canola Oil Spray

1 1/2 cups fontina cheese (I have tried others but fontina really works the best)

1 cup of brussels sprouts halved or quartered depending on size

3/4 head cauliflower, broken into small pieces (about 3 cups)

1/3 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil and drained

3 cloves of garlic minced

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pepper

1.  Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 500.  In a skillet cook the bacon, as per package directions.

2.  Grease a baking sheet with canola oil spray, place the pizza dough on top and press and stretch the dough as close to the pan edges as possible.  Sprinkle half the cheese over the dough and bake for 5 minutes.

3.  In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the brussels sprouts and cauliflower for 1 minute.  Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water until cool.  Transfer to a large bowl and add the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt and a TON of pepper;  toss well.  Spoon the veggie mixture evenly over the dough, top with bacon and remaining cheese.

4.  Bake the pizza until the crust is golden-brown and the cheese is bubbly, 10 to 12 minutes.  Let cool slightly before serving.

If you use the mushrooms instead of the sprouts, there is no need to boil them (obviously, but in the interest of full disclosure) just place on top of the cauliflower and bacon etc.

I pilfered photos from my friend Avery, with the exception of the pizza.  Love!