January Round-Up

Featuring those recipes I tried out in January that are worth the time and effort:

January 1st: Roasted Potatoes with Bacon and Chives
January 2nd: Roast Beef Dinner
January 3rd: Crispy Pork Chops with Sautéed Apples
January 11th: Oven-Roasted Grape Tomatoes; Onion Gravy
January 12th: Mushroom and Cheese App
January 13th: Sesame Pork Bites
January 15th: Kid-Friendly Party Food
January 16th: Yemista
January 18th: Spicy Peanut, Tofu and Spinach Stirfry
January 19th: Lemon Chicken and Feta
January 20th: Chili-Coconut Shrimp
January 22nd: Baked Chicken with Lemon, Garlic and Ginger
January 23rd: Apple Pie in a Glass
January 26th: Fearless "Fried" Chicken
January 29th: Applesauce Cake, Pork Tenderloin en Croûte
January 30th: Mushroom Fried Rice
January 31st: Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Now, to February, which I've only just started planning; we shall see what the short month holds for us!

January 31st: roasted cauliflower soup, parchment-baked gremolata fish

Two recipes tried out tonight, one winner, one loser. The winner: from Cooking With My Kid: Roasted Cauliflower Soup. This was surprisingly creamy and delicious, considering there are only a couple of ingredients. Roast some cauliflower and garlic, fry some onions, mix them all together and boil them in some broth (I used chicken), purée and voilà: delicious filling soup. I rarely like a soup recipe, so this was a pleasant surprise. I had to add more liquid than the recipe called for to get the right consistency; this may be because I boiled the veggies down in an opened pot rather than covered. Next time I'll try covering. Of course, my cauliflower might just have been too big, who knows.

The loser: From February (I jumped the gun!) 2011's Chatelaine: Parchment-Baked Gremolata Fish (I made cod). I left out the capers, but found it a little dull, even with the lemon, dill and shallots. It's sad, but we really like our fish breaded and served with tartar sauce. I hang my head.

Served with quinoa

January 30th: Ginger-lemon beef and broccoli

I have, for almost seven years, planned all my meals from one week to one month in advance. I usually have a rough sketch of the month done up, with vacancies that get filled in as we go along. Of course, recipes get shifted and occasionally dropped as we move through the month. My fancy planning tool is my milk calendar, of which I get two every year: one with the paper, and one with Chatelaine. On occasion, I try one of the recipes in the milk calendar, almost without fail resulting in disappointment. I don't know what it is, but those recipes tend to suck. Tonight, I got sucked in again; I thought the February 2011 recipe, Ginger-lemon beef and broccoli, looked tasty, so I made it. The result was less disappointing than some in the past, but not good enough to try again.


I made some mushroom fried rice to accompany. I know some of my readers aren't into mushrooms, but they are something we love love love and love (for all you BODYFLOW-ers). For the mushroom fried rice, I made some of my Knorr chicken broth-enhanced rice to begin with (half white rice, half brown--my concession to eating brown anything is to go halfsies). Then I fried up sliced mushrooms and diced onion in safflower oil and stirred in the hot, cooked, rice for a couple of minutes. On the side, I beat an egg, tempered it with some hot mushroom-rice mixture, then stirred it into the rice. Finally, I topped off the whole ensemble with a splash of sesame oil. The result was pretty tasty.

January 29th: applesauce cake, pork tenderloin en croûte

Winners all around today. All my Saturday plans were cancelled, which meant I had a lazy day to spend at home. It's been awhile and I've been wanting one. Lazy means doing load after load of laundry, of course. O and I spent our Saturday morning making applesauce cake, a recipe I pulled out of the Ottawa Citizen in November 2009. I had originally planned to make it for O's birthday in 2010, but didn't, and then this year, when I asked her whether she wanted apple, carrot or chocolate cake for her birthday, surprise, surprise, she chose chocolate. Of course, on the day of, after her cake was made, she told me she wanted strawberry cake. Too little, too late, my dear.


So, applesauce cake. This recipe makes two loaf pan cakes, and I though it might be more like an applesauce loaf, but oh no, this is cake all the way, and it is delicious. Between the three of us (mostly me and O), we ate almost one whole cake over the course of the day. Really, really good. We'll definitely try this one again.

Applesauce Cake

3/4 cup (175 mL) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) sugar
3 eggs
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour, sifted
3/4 cup (175 mL) whole wheat flour*
1 1/2 tsps (7 mL) salt
1 1/2 tsps (7 mL) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) nutmeg
1/2 tsp (2 mL) cinnamon
114-oz (398 mL) unsweetened applesauce**
3/4 cup (175 mL) chopped walnuts, optional***

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs.

In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture, alternating with applesauce, beating after each addition. If you like, stir in walnuts. Divide batter between 2 greased loaf pans.

Bake for one hour or until done (start checking at the 50 minute mark). Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans and putting on rack to cool completely.

Makes 8 servings.

Sugar glaze:

Combine 1/2 cup (125 mL) icing sugar, sifted, with 1 tbsp (15 mL) water. Pour over cakes.

*Whole wheat flour is my addition; the original recipe called for 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour.
**The original recipe called for sweetened applesauce; I don't think the cake needs the added sugar.
***I didn't see this option until I was making the cake, and I didn't have walnuts on hand, so can't vouch for the flavour with their addition.

Olivia sifts.

Blending together wet and dry ingredients.

Finished product!

For supper, I made a Beef Wellington look alike: from January 2004's Chatelaine: Pork tenderloin en croûte. This is pork tenderloin, wrapped in prosciutto, wrapped in puff pastry. Yum yum. The flavouring is Dijon mustard, rosemary, salt and pepper. Simple stuff. I skip all the fussy steps requiring you to make fancy cut-outs to put on top of the pastry, and I used pre-rolled pastry, just because that's what I had. This was a second go-around for us, and definitely a keeper. Delish. We would have eaten the whole tenderloin if I hadn't foreseen that and overloaded our salad bowls and roasted multi-coloured baby potatoes and garlic for the side.

We've been eating with a Doozy candle on the table recently, which Olivia thinks means we're having a fancy supper. This meal was a bit of a fancy supper (but simple, really). Oh, Saturday night, if only you could last forever...

Prior to rolling.

Ready to go in the oven.

Finished product!

Complete meal/fuzzy pic.

Cutest kid in the world/biased mother.

January 26th: Fearless "Fried" Chicken

Here we go with words in quotation marks again. Obviously, the chicken is not fried. I believe the "fearless" refers to you not being afraid of this chicken, as it is not fried. This implies you should be afraid of fried chicken, which, of course, you should. Be very, very afraid.

For us, this is a retry from last year: from January 2010's Today's Parent: Fearless "Fried" Chicken (i.e., breaded and baked chicken). It was a hit and is now a member of our revered keeper book, for which so many recipes strive and yet so few succeed. I served this with coleslaw and sweet potato fries.

Unless you have complete spice-phobes in your household, I recommend using the full 1 tsp of cayenne. It does add some kick, but a good amount, and the flavour is improved by turning up the heat just a touch.

Happy "frying."

January 25th: Black Bean Burgers and Rutabaga Fries with Ricotta Aioli

After our great experience with Red Bean Veggie Burgers in October, I was curious to try these Black Bean Burgers from January 2011's Chatelaine. The ingredients were completely different so I didn't know what to expect. Part of the filler is puréed cooked pasta, which I thought was interesting. I altered the recipe slightly by using dried beans, soaked for a day and boiled the night before. Because of that change, I wasn't sure how much to include, so I estimated but may not have used enough. To accompany our vegetarian main, I made, also from January 2011's Chatelaine, Rutabaga Fries with Ricotta Aioli. Rutabaga, which I never cook, always makes me think of my nephew Benjamin, who had two pet fish when he was little, named Rutabaga and Dudabaga. Hilarious.

All in all, we won't be keeping these recipes. Greg liked both quite a bit. O loved the fries. She refused to eat the burger once she discovered onions in it, even though we tried to convince her they were cooked (she didn't fall for it). I thought both were okay. Not loved by all = tossed. However, it was a healthy and filling supper and not terrible.

January 24th: Fish in a Flash

Retry from last year: from January 2010's Today's Parent: Fish in a Flash (i.e., haddock with tomatoes and green onions). Served up with some coleslaw and home fries, this fish was just okay, so the recipe is getting a toss. I upped the grape tomatoes to 12 per serving rather than 12 in total, and the recipe's not bad if you're looking for a no-fuss healthy baked fish. Just not exciting enough for us.

January 23rd: Beef Stroganoff, Apple Pie in a Glass

This is not the same Beef Stroganoff I wrote about in October. That one came from Philadelphia Cream Cheese; this one comes from January 1995's Chatelaine. This one was a retry for us, but we're tossing the recipe this time around. The sauce is just okay.

One thing I did make today that is worth blogging about was apple cider, mulled with a cinnamon stick and served hot with a scoop of ice cream. This tasted like apple pie à la mode in a glass. Really good.

January 22nd: artisan bread with add-ins & garlic-lemon-ginger chicken

I finally tried some additions to the artisan bread tonight: seven cloves of garlic, roughly chopped, one jalapeno pepper, roughly chopped, and 4 g old Cheddar cheese, diced. I added the garlic and jalapeno to the dough when I made it the night before, then added the cheese when I gave the dough a quick knead the afternoon of baking. Yum yum. This bread was a hit with the fam. The garlic and jalapeno were both mild after baking for an hour, and the cheese was a tasty addition.

We had this with a salad and Farm Boy's Baked Chicken with Lemon, Garlic and Ginger. I should have chopped up the cooked chicken to go on the salad, but didn't think of that until the end of the meal. This is delicious chicken; it soaks up the lemon and garlic goodness as it sits. I recommend marinating for a maximum for 2 hours, rather than a minimum. Too much marinating in lemon juice leads to acid-cooked chicken, in my experience.

N.B.: I realize the majority of my readers live outside Farm Boy country. I think you could substitute equal parts lemon juice and olive oil with a shake of salt and pepper for the dressing in the recipe. That is, in fact, what I plan to do in future.

January 20th: BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA: shrimp, ribs, pasta, bread, salad

It has happened: my baby has turned 3. And she is so 3: smart, funny, perceptive and a genuinely pleasant person to spend time with. Smartest thing I ever did was having this kid. We had a kick-ass birthday, if I do say so myself: breakfast at Cora's, Cosmic Adventures, Tangled 3D, big nap in the car, then a party with the family. This party had no kid-friendly limitations: Chili-coconut shrimp, Beer & 5-cheese penne, artisan bread, Oven-baked ribs with maple barbecue sauce and a honkin' big salad with lemon and oil dressing. Delicious. Would do them all again in a heartbeat. The only recipe being tossed is the rib recipe, as I already have better. I enjoyed the roasting as a cooking method, though; it was quite simple.

Cora's for breakfast

Cosmic Adventures

Oops! Forgot to take a picture of the shrimp before they were eaten!

Ridiculously cheesy penne

Bread with garlic and a hint of whole wheat

Finger-licking required ribs

Honkin' big salad

Birthday girl

January 19th: Lemon chicken and feta

I was starving tonight, which does not make for the most objective opinion. This meal was so good, I kept eating past the point of being full because I wanted to keep eating it FOREVER. A retry from last year, now a keeper: from January 2010's Chatelaine: Lemon chicken and feta (and broccoli and almonds). I made rice on the side. Here's my insider secret to the best rice in the world: Knorr chicken broth powder. Yes, it has MSG. That's probably why it makes the rice taste so damn good. Sprinkle it liberally in the water while waiting for the pot to come to a boil. Also, I squeezed a tonne of lemon juice over my entire plate tonight. You may have noticed my obsession with lemon. A lemony meal makes Kirsten happy. One last note: I recommend doubling or tripling the amount of almonds called for. Then enjoy this awesome supper.

Hard to see the chicken and cheese in the sea of broccoli and almonds!

January 18th: 100!

This is post #100.

This is also the vegetarian meal of the week; from January 2010's Chatelaine: Spicy peanut, tofu and spinach stir-fry. Funny, this must be a re-try from last year, but I do not remember it at all. It was...

...delicious! I bought all-natural peanut butter, as per the instructions, and who knew? It's really good. And it has just one ingredient: peanuts! Amazing. I replaced the extra-firm tofu with PC brand teriyaki-flavoured firm tofu, which is one I enjoy on the barbecue in the summer. I debated whether or not to use the whole 2 tbsps of chili-garlic sauce, and in the end I did, but next time I might use  just 1 1/2 tbsps. It was on the cusp of being too spicy for us, but had a really yummy, peanutty flavour.

Yum, yum, yum. Served with quinoa.

January 16th: Yemista

Yemista: Vegetables Stuffed with Onions, Beef and Rice. This meal is much like cabbage rolls, replacing the cabbage with peppers and tomatoes. The recipe was featured in the Ottawa Citizen in September 2010, and comes from a cookbook called Three Sisters Around the Greek Table. Delicious. A bit of work in the prep and long cooking time, but yummy, filling results.

Yemista

6 tomatoes
4 peppers
1 lb ground beef
2 yellow onions, minced
1 1/2 tsps salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 potatoes, peeled, cut lengthwise into 1 in pieces
1/2 tsp salt

Slice off the tops of the tomatoes to make lids. If possible, try not to cut the lids off completely. Remove the tough inner cores of the tomatoes. Scoop the soft flesh of the tomatoes and set flesh and juice aside in a bowl.

Make lids for the peppers and seed them. Place the hollowed vegetables in a large roasting pan with a fitted lid. The pan should be large enough to hold the vegetables securely with enough room for the potatoes.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Sauté the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain the fat if needed.

Add the onions, salt and oregano. Cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the reserved tomato flesh and juice and tomato sauce and heat through.

Add the rice and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. Stir in the mint, half of the olive oil and some fresh cracked pepper.

Fill the tomatoes and peppers with the beef and rice mixture and place the lids on the vegetables.

Lightly salt the potatoes and place in the roasting pan around the stuffed vegetables.

Drizzle the remaining olive oil over top and place in the middle of the preheated oven, covered, for 50 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for 10 minutes further.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let is stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with feta cheese and sour cream.

Serves 6.

Putting lids on veggies.

Adding potatoes.

Finished product!

January 15th: Kid-friendly party food

Olivia has a birthday fast approaching. Saturday we threw a little party for her in advance of the big day. I made a few kid-friendly party foods that I saw on an episode of Ricardo and Friends when I was in Winnipeg. It was like it was meant to be: I was trying to figure out what to make for O's party, and R had an episode in which he hosts a kids' party. Magic! I tried out three of his recipes: Sweet & Salty Party Mix, Strawberry Slush and Mexican Layered Nacho Dip. For the most part, my kid will eat anything, so I don't normally worry about having "kid friendly" food in the house for her. However, this is not the case for all children, so I was trying to be mindful of this when choosing food. I think I did okay with the cheesies, fruit and veggies. I couldn't fully commit though: my egg salad and tuna salad sandwiches had "green stuff" in them: celery and green onions. I chopped them fine though!

I liked all three of these recipes and will make them again. My kid liked the slush made with Perrier; the others preferred still water. The nacho dip may not have been ideal for kiddies (I used medium salsa and old Cheddar; I couldn't help myself!) but the party mix was favourably received.

Super happy (almost) birthday girl!

January 13th: Sesame Pork Bites

Whilst planning the Christmas Eve eve party, I had a stack of recipes yea high under consideration. Whittling it down, tonight's supper was one of many recipes I passed on then with the intention of making again later. From December 2010's Canadian Living: Sesame Pork Bites.


These were ridiculously simple. A bit of work in the prep, and needing a few minutes to marinate (I didn't bother with the full 20 minutes), they cooked up in 5 minutes flat. They can also be prepped a day in advance and then cooked. Wonderful. The recipe called for pork tenderloin, but I used bone-in pork chops. Whatevs. These were a definite try again in our books.

Home fries on the side.

January 12th: Glass Noodle Vegetable Salad + Cheese & Mushrooms on toast

Whilst home in Nova Scotia for Christmas, I was given an assignment: my sister's friend Lindsay gave my sister Shannon a cookbook for Christmas and requested I make some recipes out of the cookbook and report back on them. Lindsay also has a copy of the cookbook. The only thing missing from this puzzle is that I do not have the cookbook, which I see as an oversight. Let's double this with the fact that Lindsay didn't look me up when she last visited Ottawa, and I think perhaps she is owing me. However, being January and not wanting to start the new year off by holding grudges, I have gladly taken on the assignment. My husband, being a tech junkie, willingly took pictures with his iphone of a number of the cookbook's tasty-looking recipes for me to work from at home on the ipad. In order for this plan to work, I need the ipad to be home with me and not at work with him, when it comes time to cook. Sigh...

Thus, this evening I cooked our vegetarian meal of the week, from Company's Coming Inviting Asian Flavours: Glass Noodle Salad. This is a basic Thai rice noodle salad with tonnes of veggies and a fish sauce/lime juice dressing (does the fish sauce make it non-vegetarian? Doh!).

To accompany, I repeated a recipe Shannon made on the weekend when she was visiting us (courtesy her friend Shannon): fry mushrooms, flavour with a bit of honey, layer on top of warmed-up Oka and serve with crackers, or, in our case, toasted Belgian bread.

The two recipes did not necessarily complement one another, but they were both good in their own right.

L&S: verdict on the recipe: toss.  I often find Asian dishes require so much prep that I'd rather go out and buy them (usually for pretty cheap) than put in the effort myself. However, if you don't have Thai restaurants at your easy disposal, this is a good recipe to try at home. Definitely needs a side--maybe spring rolls would be more fitting!--or else you will be hungry again in short order.

If, unlike L&S, you don't have this cookbook, and are dying for the recipe, let me know and I'll send it to you. :)

January 11th: Toad in the Hole & Oven-Roasted Grape Tomatoes

You know Nigella Lawson, right? Beautiful, sensual, food-loving goddess? How could I not cook this recipe of hers that was in the Ottawa Citizen back in November? The name is everything Nigella is not: Toad in the Hole.* How disgusting does that sound? As it turns out, it is simply sausage patties with a popover crust, baked in the oven. A simple variation on a meat pie. Apparently this is not a traditional Toad in the Hole, but I've never had any version with which I can compare it. It comes from Nigella's latest cookbook (not that I have any), Nigella Kitchen. To accompany, I made Onion gravy, for which I have included the recipe below, mashed potatoes** and roasted tomatoes. For the latter, I followed this recipe from December 2010's Canadian Living: Oven-Roasted Grape Tomatoes, which were recommended as a side to sausage patties. Seemed like a good fit.


*N.B.: temperature and weight conversions included at bottom of recipe on N's website (N, because we're practically best friends)
**I am on some crazy mashed potato kick recently. I have not enjoyed mashed potatoes for the past 15 years or so, yet recently I am making them all the time. What is up with that?

The verdict? Good, not great. The popover tasted much like the dumplings my mom used to put in stew when I was a kid and sorry, Mom, I love almost all your food, but I've never liked dumplings. G&O liked that part best. I thought the gravy was good, and O ate up her onions (yay!) but G found the gravy too onion-y and the onions too sweet (my bad; I forgot to buy onions so used a Spanish onion that was kicking around, and I shouldn't have added the sugar but wasn't thinking about the higher sugar content of the onion itself). The tomatoes were a definite hit. So, sorry N, but I'm tossing your recipe. Here's the gravy recipe, included in the newspaper but not on the website, hmm:

Onion gravy
Warm 2 tbsps oil in a skillet; cook 2 onions, peeled, halved and very finely sliced, until soft (about 10 minutes). Add 2 tsps sugar, and let the onions cook, caramelizing a little, 3 minutes. Stir in 4 tsps flour, then 2 cups chicken broth. Leave to warm and thicken, stirring occasionally.

January 10th: Roasted Rainbow Trout with Prune-Mushroom Sauce & Roasted Cauliflower "Rice"

Wow, it has been a whole week since my last post. Time flies when you are not cooking at home.

I am thrilled to be back in the kitchen, and revamping my January detox diet (tomorrow night's Nigella Lawson meal not included!). Luckily for me, detox is the name of the game in most January publications, so I have a world of healthy meals at my fingertips. First up is trying to get back on my "fish once a week, vegetarian once a week" mantra for healthy cooking. I love fish but don't have a heap of recipes in my keeper book, and seeing as I have a mental block against repeating meals too close to one another, I must seek out new fishy items.

Therefore, in spite of my doubts, I forged ahead with a "superfood" supper from January 2011's Chatelaine: Roasted Rainbow Trout with Prune-Mushroom Sauce & Roasted Cauliflower "Rice."

I have my doubts about food described within quotation marks. Why say "rice" when it is not rice? (That's a rhetorical question. I know the answer. I have just explained to you what rhetorical means. I must stop typing.)

The trout recipe calls for prune juice, which, as far as I can tell, comes in 2L jugs only. Not willing to buy so much juice and then have to throw it out (and not harbouring any notions about actually drinking it), I upped the amount of prunes in the recipe, and used water to compensate. This took me back to O's baby days, when I used to boil up dried prunes to feed her, to help her system along. Man, she loved those prunes.

These prunes were no exception. Although Greg and I finished the meal with a mutual, "Meh," Olivia ate all of hers plus some of ours, plus some more fish as I was packing up leftovers. She loved the prune sauce. In fact, the prune sauce was delicious, but a fair amount of work, which is to its own detriment, as the recipe now resides in my recycling bin. However, G and I agreed it was worth trying out, as it was a healthy meal. Trout is a yummy fish; we should have that more often.

The "rice" (cough ground-up cauliflower cough) was fine, but we none of us liked the capers. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian describes capers as the anchovies of the vegetarian world. When I told Greg this, he responded, "If, by anchovies, you mean salty and nasty, yes, I can see that." I don't know why I don't just give up on capers. We never like them. I would rather have had the roasted cauliflower on its own, not ground up, with a touch of s&p. Alas.

January 3rd: Crispy Pork Chops with Sautéed Apples

Tonight's meal came from January 2011's Chatelaine: Crispy Pork Chops with Sautéed Apples. I meant to serve this with a salad on the side, but got mixed up and made mashed potatoes instead. I knew something was off while I was prepping, but couldn't figure it out. It was all delicious in the end. We will definitely try this one again, although I will double the apples called for, as O couldn't get enough, even after eating a raw apple and applesauce earlier in the day.



 No further blogs till the weekend, as I'm off to chilly Winnipeg for the rest of the week!

January 2nd: Roast beef dinner

Fear not! The vegetarian recipes for 2011 are coming. This week, though, I am heading out of town and need to leave my little family some leftovers to eat. We got in the habit of eating too much processed meat towards the end of 2010 and I'm scaling that way back now. Thus, cooking a roast to provide sandwich meat for the week. On the menu: Sirloin Roast, Caramelized Onion with Tender-Crisp Green Beans, and Parsley, Currant and Pine Nut Pilaf. This is a shortened version of the Classic Holiday Menu found in December 2010's Canadian Living. I made a few minor changes: sirloin roast in place of standing rib roast, and raisins in place of currants. My green beans were not the best, but that's what you get for buying so-called fresh green beans in January. One change to the recipe that I would make: no need to add salt to the beef gravy; I did and found it too salty. Olivia must have liked it though; she ate all the meat off her plate before touching the rest of the food; this NEVER happens. Greg swore this was the best meal he'd had in ages, and I loved it too. The rice was surprisingly delicious. All will be tried again!

January 1st: Winter herbed roasted salmon & Roasted potatoes with bacon and chives

I was torn between starting the new year off with a full-on detox, or easing into it. I opted for the latter. G & O are on a Christmas candy/chocolate/sweets & treats strike until O's birthday in 20 days. I'm not quite so die-hard, but I cut my sugar way back today. For supper I opted for salmon (heart healthy!) with potatoes and bacon (not so much). This is a pair of recipes I pulled out of the Citizen a year or more ago, so this was at least our second time trying them out. We decided on tossing the salmon recipe and keeping the potato, although both have their pluses and minuses. Here they are:


Winter herbed roasted salmon
2 garlic cloves (or more if you really dig garlic, as we do)
4 sprigs fresh sage (my sprigs were huge; I only used one)
4 sprigs fresh thyme (my sprigs were tiny; I used six)
4 tbsps olive oil (may be overkill)
2 boneless salmon fillets
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Preheat oven to 350°F.


Finely chop garlic, sage and thyme, then mix with olive oil.


Place salmon fillets on baking sheet and rub the oil mixture on top. Season with salt and pepper. Bake 10-15 minutes.


Serves 2 (or 2 and a little one!).


This recipe was good, just not knock-your-socks-off good.


Roasted potatoes with bacon and chives
3 potatoes (baking or otherwise)
4 slices bacon, diced
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
5 sprigs fresh chives chopped (I subbed in one green onion)


Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut potatoes into 1-inch cubes and place in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook 2 minutes, then drain.


Meanwhile, lightly fry bacon over medium just until the fat starts to render and the bacon starts to darken. Transfer the bacon and fat to a large mixing bowl.


Once the potatoes are drained but still hot, add them to the bowl with the bacon. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat the potatoes in fat. If there are not enough bacon drippings to coat, add some olive oil.


Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 45 minutes. When done and outside is crispy, place potatoes in serving dish and stir in the chopped chives.


Serves 2 generously.


The bacon gets super crispy (AKA overdone). I skipped eating it. It does keep the potatoes nicely oiled. I'm wondering about skipping the frying step, and maybe just laying whole slices of bacon over the potatoes on the baking sheet; it might serve the same purpose. Perhaps the next time around...

Not seen in photo: side dish: salad!