Miso-Maple Glazed Japanese Eggplant

Here is yet another fabulously easy go-to no-recipe recipe! 

PAPRIKA-GARLIC CHICKEN OVER SWEET KALE MIX

PAPRIKA-GARLIC CHICKEN BREAST ON A BED OF SWEET KALE SALAD MIX

SUMMER FOODIE HIGHLIGHTS:DEHYDRATED KALE (GF) AND PORTLAND

Forgive me for I have sinned:  I ate this voodoo doughnut.  But when in Portland, one must indulge.  I love it when the red jelly oozes out of the centre of the chocolate frosting covered long-john.  fab.

Oh yah. Summer.  It's been a while since I've posted what with life, teaching and mentoring.  I am taking this summer off and really trying to de-stress.  So what's new? I've purchased a new Fuji X100S camera.  It's retro cool.  All the pics here were taken with it.  I haven't figured out how to use it yet...but that'll come with time and practice.

Roasted Cauliflower and Onions with Parmesan (GF)

So there are no excuses explaining my long absence.

All I can say is come summer time (yippee!) I will definitely be blogging more and posting more delicious recipes.

PALEO BBQ (GF)

Hey peeps, I've been MIA since going Paleo this last month. I have a few pictures of the sort of thing I've been making and eating:

Grilled Vietnamese Pork Patties with Avocado on Organic Baby Kale Salad mix

Grilled Prawns, Vietnamese Pork Patties, Avocado on Organic Baby Kale Salad mix

Roasted Eggplant and Zucchini.

Since going GF, I thought I had it hard.  Then a few weeks ago when my GP said that I should avoid those simple carbs and suggested upping the cardio to 4 times a week because of my whacky hormone levels (due to Hashi's, cycling hyper and hypothyroidism)...to regulate my insulin levels, he cautioned me that my baking may have to be put on the back-burner for a while.  He told me to give it a go for a month.

Well, I've stuck to it.  I'm running (outside even!) and doing strength-training and I feel good.  Still GF primarily but the other day when the kids had roasted corn and were all telling me how sweet it was, I resisted!  It's certainly GF, but it isn't Paleo as it's a grain.  

The bbq is my friend...and so is olive oil and coconuts!  The Vietnamese Grilled Pork I made is an adaptation of my favourite meal:  Grilled meat and veggies on rice vermicelli (called "bun")...minus the vermicelli of course.  I just grabbed a bag of organic greens, chunked up an avocado and topped it with the grilled meats and seafood.  For the nuoc cham, I used freshly squeezed lime juice and fish sauce (diluted with water) and a touch of honey.  The veggies were grilled simply with olive oil.  The meal was very yummy and it'll be one I'll repeat again and again.  So this meal was delicious, GF and Paleo friendly! 

Working up my nerve to make a Paleo dessert with dried fruit, coconut and whatnot.  Still debating on what that would be like.  Thinking I need chocolate so maybe a brownie of some sort?  Will keep you posted!

MAKING THAT BBQ COMPLETE: STRAWBERRY MEYER'S LEMONADE, YOGURT CUCUMBER SALAD AND ROASTED PEPPERS (GF)

Strawberry Meyers Lemonade

Depending on your lemons, you should get about 1 cup from 5 juicy Meyer's Lemons.  The ones I had were huge and full of juice.   The lemons were also way sweeter than regular lemons, so I didn't need to add much sweetener.  The fresh strawberries also helped with sweetness and added a nice pink tinge to the lemonade.

THANKSGIVING DINNER

I promise I have a reasonable excuse for not having posted regularly in such a long time. Really I do.

First, since I’m an English teacher, you know that high school can be hectic in the first couple of months. It has been a tad more hectic this time--more than usual.

Also, last week, I just had two root canals redone. My ex-dentist didn’t really didn’t do a good job of it (about 10 years ago) and I think as a result I developed an infection recently. I went to a fantastic specialist—an endodontist this time and he was highly recommended by my current dentist. I am much more confident that this time it’ll work.

However, after 2 hours in the chair and listening to drilling and chiselling, I still currently have cheeks that only a chipmunk would love and I have slight bruising. This is all normal of course, and though I ate congee for the first few days, I was able to eat the gorgeous free range turkey I roasted today. I just cut everything in itty bitty pieces and chewed on my left side only. Hey, whatever works, right?

Since I discovered the joys of brining turkeys, I’ll never go back. One year, I delayed too much at purchasing a turkey and as a result I couldn’t find a fresh one anywhere in the supermarkets. I happened to go to Capers/Whole Foods and lo and behold, they had quite a few fresh turkeys left in their fridge. I grabbed one and made the tastiest turkey ever. Since then, I haven’t gone back to the regular supermarket turkeys. I buy free range or organic. It costs way more money but the taste is remarkable. This turkey was a little over 15 pounds. It was $95. Yup. That is indeed pricey. But it is so flavourful!

I loathe dry breast meat and so I don’t waste my hard-earned money on a pricey bird by treating it poorly. I always brine my fresh turkeys the day before. I start in the morning and put the turkey in a large plastic bin. Then I mix hot water and kosher salt with a bit of sugar and stir to dissolve. I then toss in a tea bag filled with some cloves, black peppercorns, and juniper berries. I add plenty of cold water and then submerge the turkey in the brine and stick it all in the fridge until the evening. I drain and dry the turkey and place it uncovered on a rack atop a sheet pan and allow it to dry in the refrigerator overnight. This helps with a crackly skin.

I start the bird out on a rack in the roasting pan lined with carrots, onions, celery, thyme sprigs from my backyard and some water to catch those yummy drippings. The turkey starts its journey to yummyville with its back up, at a high temperature – 400 degrees F. After an hour, I flip it over and have it breast up for most of the time at 250 degrees F. Then I blast it on high heat again for the final hour for a crisp and crackly skin. Because I have a Wolf oven, I have the luxury of the built-in meat probe and also a convection feature if I’m in a hurry. I never have problems with over or under-cooked meat.

The best part is the stuffing, and though I’ve tried other types of stuffing, I like a traditional moist bread stuffing: cubed white bread, onions, celery, parsley, poultry seasoning and some eggs and chicken broth. It never disappoints.

Sure, I’ve even heard of sticky rice stuffing and thought of making it, but since I only make turkey twice a year, I don’t want to take a chance on anything we may not like as much. I’ve tried sausage, bacon, fennel, pine nuts and all the fancy other additions to stuffing, but I like the star attraction to be the turkey. The plain bread stuffing is a wonderful accompaniment.

One of my daughter’s favourite side dishes is creamed spinach. This time I added chopped white mushrooms. I sauteed them until dry and added them to the creamed spinach mixture and topped everything with parmesan cheese. After baking, it was bubbly, creamy and delicious!

For dessert, I had planned to make a pumpkin créme brulée. Unfortunately, when I got to Superstore, the entire section of canned pumpkin was sold out. I looked high and low and thought it better to just forget the idea. So I made créme caramel. It was a perfect ending to a satisfying meal.

Now, I’ll be saying bye for now because I have a stack of things to mark and my seratonin levels are sky-high from all that turkey. I’ll be putting my feet up shortly.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

COMFORT FOODS: COOL THINGS WITH CHEESE!

broccoli & cheese casserole

When fall is in full swing in Vancouver and it's drippy wet outside I find myself wanting comfort foods. For some reason I associate cheese with comfort foods...especially ooey gooey melted cheese. I personally love an authentic fondue but only Bebe loves cheese. But I digress...I tried out a quick recipe I found in a magazine advertising Campbell's Condensed Mushroom Soup.

BROCCOLI & CHEESE CASSEROLE
1 16 oz bag broccoli florets
1 can Campbell's Condensed Mushroom Soup
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 T butter, melted

Dump the whole bag of broccoli in a baking dish, add the mushroom soup, milk and cheese and stir the whole mixture. Mix the breadcrumbs and melted butter together and sprinkle that on top of the whole thing and bake it in a moderate oven (350F) for 30-35 minutes or until hot and bubbling.

It was a cheesy & yummy way to eat broccoli!

Now, on another cheesy note...

macaroni & cheese with caramelized onions

I made this mac & cheese with a cheese sauce from scratch. I must admit I didn't follow any recipe but just kind of made a bechamel and then tossed in however much cheese looked good to me. I caramelized onions and garlic and mixed that in with the cheese sauce and finally topped the whole casserole with fried onions. I covered it with foil and baked it until it was bubbling hot, about 20-30 minutes.

Here's a rough approximation of the recipe as I recall it:

Cakebrain's Macaroni & Cheese with Caramelized Onions
1 box macaroni, cooked al dente
3 T flour
3 T butter
salt & pepper to taste
3 cups milk
2 cups grated old cheddar cheese
1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
4 T fried onions

• Make a bechamel sauce: in a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour, creating a roux. Cook the roux until golden brown and fragrant. Add salt & pepper. Add nutmeg if you like it. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly to prevent lumps and burning. When the sauce is thickened, add the cheddar cheese and mix thoroughly. Allow the sauce to rest, covered and off the burner.
• In a saute pan, heat the olive oil on med.-high heat and then add the onion. Saute the onions until they are translucent. Then add the garlic and continue cooking until the onions are caramelized. If you like some zing in your macaroni, you can add a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar or hot sauce here. Season with salt & pepper.
• Mix the onion mixture with the cheese sauce.
• In a large casserole dish combine the cooked macaroni and the cheese sauce. Mix thoroughly. The cheese sauce should look slightly runny because as it bakes it will be absorbed in the pasta. If you like your macaroni really moist, you can add more milk to the casserole if it looks too dry for your liking.
• Sprinkle the fried onions over the whole casserole; cover with foil and bake in a moderate oven for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly

those aren't breadcrumbs, they're fried onions! yum!