September 7th: oven-roasted tomatoes, rigatoni with pork ragù

Our vegetable garden is exploding with tomatoes, and I've spent three days trying to perfect an oven-roasted tomato recipe. This is a recipe that easily uses up 3-5 tomatoes, depending on their size, and when you do get it right, it's fabulous. My first batch, I completely forgot about in the oven and I was attempting to have a nap and couldn't figure out what the annoying beeping from the kitchen was: my oven timer telling me to get the tomatoes out. They were black, burnt and crispy. I ate half them anyway. My second batch I cooked at a lower temperature and had to take out before they were done because I had to leave the house. They were red, squishy and not quite done. I ate the whole pan in one sitting. My third batch was pretty close to perfection: cooked, crispy, deeelicious. I ate most of them, shared a few with my family, and packed two in a container for a snack at work.

From Farm-Fresh Recipes from the Missing Goat Farm:

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

3-5 ripe tomatoes, any size, thinly sliced
salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 225F.*

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and lay as many tomato slices as you can fit on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake in preheated oven for about 2 hours and 20 minutes. They should look dry and should be crispy when you pick them up. You can store these in the fridge to use over a week or so.

*Part of what took me so long to get this recipe right was figuring out the right temperature for my oven, which runs cold. I found 275F to be a good one for me.

I spent a good part of Labour Day labouring (I crack myself up) over a pork ragu sauce. It was worth the labour.

From Epicurious:

Rigatoni with Pork Ragù

1 medium onion, quartered
1 carrot, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
1 celery stalk, cut into 1" pieces
4 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves (I used 1 tsp dried)
1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley, divided
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 pound ground pork
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 pound mezzi rigatoni or penne rigate
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or Grana Padano plus more

Pulse onion, carrot, celery, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup parsley in a food processor until finely chopped; transfer to a small bowl and set aside. Purée tomatoes with juices in processor; set aside.


Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat; add sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned, about 4 minutes. Add ground pork, season with salt and pepper, and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until no longer pink. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate.


Increase heat to medium-high. Add reserved vegetable mixture to drippings in pot, season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until golden, 8-10 minutes.


Stir tomato paste and 1 cup water in a small bowl; add to pot. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 6-8 minutes.


Add reserved meat and tomato purée and 1 cup water.* Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, adding more water as needed to keep meat nearly submerged,** until meat is tender, about 4 hours. Season with salt.

DO AHEAD: Ragù can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool. Cover and chill, or freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat before continuing.


Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 cups pasta cooking liquid.


Add pasta and 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid to sauce; stir to coat. Stir in 3/4 cup Parmesan and remaining 1/4 cup parsley. Increase heat to medium and continue stirring, adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta. Divide among bowls; top with more Parmesan.

*I used up some leftover white wine in place of the water.
**I had to add quite a bit of water, probably two cups.

Supper, with Greek salad.

September 25th: fish, potatoes, tomatoes

Delicious meal from October 2012's Chatelaine: roasted fish and creamy dill sauce plus taters and tomaters (their title, not mine!). So good, I'm thinking of making it again next week. Recipes, with some modifications by me:


Fish

4 skinless fish fillets, such as tilapia, halibut or snapper, no thicker than 1/2 inch, about 450 g
1/2 tsp salt
12 thin slices of lemon
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Arrange fish on parchment and sprinkle with salt. Season with pepper. Top each fillet with lemon slices.

Roast in centre of oven until a knife tip inserted into the thickest part of fish and held for 10 sec comes out warm, 10 to 20 min.

Stir mayo with sour cream and dill in a small bowl. Serve with fish.

Serves 4.


Potatoes, Tomatoes

24 mini potatoes, quartered
3 cups cherry tomatoes, about 2 pints
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp salt
4+ garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Toss potatoes and tomatoes with oil and salt on prepared sheet. Season with pepper. Roast in centre of oven until potatoes are almost fork-tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Scatter garlic over mixture, then return to oven. Continue roasting until potatoes are dark golden around the edges, about 10 more minutes.

Serves 4.

If you actually follow that part about adding the garlic just before the end, you might end up not with burnt garlic. I didn't listen and did get burnt garlic.

July 18th: Family Steak and Vegetable Platter

From Foodland Ontario calendar, recipe for month of July. SADIE ATE EVERY SCRAP OF FOOD ON HER PLATE. Including potatoes. And tomatoes. I will make this recipe every single day from now on...

Family Steak and Vegetable Platter

1 lb (500 g) boneless Ontario Beef Top Sirloin or other grilling steak, 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick
1 lb (500 g) small Ontario Potatoes, scrubbed
8 oz (250 g) Ontario Green Beans, trimmed
2 Ontario Tomatoes, any colour, cut into wedges
2 Ontario Green Onions, thinly sliced
4 cups (1 L) torn mixed Ontario Salad greens

Dressing:
1/4 cup (50 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp (25 mL) balsamic vinegar
2 cloves Ontario Garlic, pressed
1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh Ontario Thyme
2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
1 tsp (5 mL) Ontario liquid Honey
1/4 tsp (1 mL) each coarse salt and ground pepper

Dressing: In small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, 2 tsp (10 mL) of the thyme, mustard, honey, salt and pepper. Remove 2 tsp (10 mL) and brush one side of the steak with half. Place steak, dressing side down on greased grill over medium-high heat. Brush with remaining half of removed dressing; close lid and grill, turning once, until medium-rare, about 8 minutes, or until desired doneness. Transfer to cutting board and let stand for 10 minutes before thinly slicing across the grain.

Meanwhile, in large pot of lightly salted water, bring potatoes to boil; cook until just tender, about 10 minutes. Add green beans; cook for 5 minutes or until beans are tender. Drain vegetables and run under cold water; drain well.

Cut potatoes into quarters or halves (depending on size); arrange in section on large platter. Fill rest of platter with sections of beef, beans, tomatoes, onions and lettuce. Sprinkle with remaining dressing and with thyme; toss gently to coat.


Serves 4.

I skipped the platter presentation and did individual plates. I added watercress and radish to our plates, and for our dressing, I used Liquid Gold's Honey Ginger White Balsamic Vinegar. Delicious!

February 12th: Sweet & Spicy Faux-Fried Chicken, Sesame Carrot Coins, Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

I was really looking forward to this recipe, and it lived up to my expectations! From February 2014's Chatelaine: Sweet & Spicy Faux-Fried Chicken. In the magazine, they pair the recipe with waffles, but we don't have a waffle maker, and I forgot to buy vegetables for the side, so I worked with what I had in the house, and re-made last week's Sesame Carrot Coins as well as one of my go-to recipes from Canadian Living, Oven-Roasted Grape Tomatoes. I usually make the tomatoes to accompany steak, but they went well with this chicken. The whole meal had some spice to it, and Sadie ate it up. I think I have finally figured out the trick with this kid: she likes spicy food! Whoever would have guessed? Too bad Olivia doesn't, or we would be set. Ah well. Kids must keep me on my toes. To the recipes!

Sweet & Spicy Faux-Fried Chicken

2 cups cornflakes
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 egg yolk
3 tbsp honey, divided
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 500 g)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp water
1/8 tsp cayenne


Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Crush cornflakes with your hands in a medium bowl until finely crumbled. Stir in Italian seasoning. Whisk egg yolk with 1 tbsp honey and Dijon in another medium bowl.

Cut each chicken breast in half crosswise and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Coat each piece with egg mixture, then press into cornflake mixture to completely cover. Lay chicken on prepared sheet.

Bake in centre of oven until golden-brown, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine water with cayenne in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 2 tbsp honey. Drizzle cooked chicken with cayenne honey.

Makes 4 servings.

Sesame Carrot Coins

Stir 1 tbsp each rice vinegar and tamari (or soy sauce) with 1 tsp each brown sugar and sriracha sauce in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Heat a medium non-stick frying pan over medium. Add 1 tbsp canola oil, then 6 thinly sliced carrots along with sauce mixture. Cook carrots until tender-crisp, about 5 min. Drizzle with 2 tsp dark sesame oil and stir in 4 sliced green onions.

Makes 4 servings.

Oven-Roasted Grape Tomatoes

4 cups (1 L) grape tomatoes (or halved cherry tomatoes)
2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried oregano
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1 pinch hot pepper flakes (optional)

In 13- x 9-inch (3 L) glass baking dish, toss together tomatoes, oil, garlic, oregano, salt, and hot pepper flakes (if using).

Roast in 400°F (200°C) oven, stirring occasionally, until shrivelled, about 25 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

January 12th: Garlicky Pan-Fried Steaks, Roasted Cauliflower Salad, Cherry Tomato Salad

This is our third time eating this meal, and it is a fan favourite in our household. These days, finding a meal that all four of us will enjoy is particularly challenging, but this one succeeds and so it has become a keeper. From November 2013's Chatelaine: Garlicky Pan-Fried Steaks, Roasted Cauliflower Salad, and Cherry Tomato Salad. For tonight's meal, I added sautéed baby spinach, since we had some wilting in the fridge. The head of cauliflower I had picked up was on the small side, and we all wished I had bought two. Seriously, all four of us mourned the end of the cauliflower. How amazing is that? Roasted cauliflower is awesome all the time, and this mayonnaise-based dressing takes it to the next level. So good. The Cherry Tomato Salad says it serves 4, but I double it to feed my 4, so I've doubled it below. To the recipes! I've listed them in the order you'll want to attack them, from longest to shortest prep and cooking times.

Roasted Cauliflower Salad

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss a medium cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces, with 3 tbsp olive oil and 1/8 tsp salt on a large baking sheet. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Spread cauliflower in a single layer (it's okay if the pieces touch).

Bake in centre of oven until edges are golden, flipping halfway through, about 30 minutes.

Stir 2 tbsp mayonnaise with 1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp grainy mustard and 1/2 tsp honey in a small bowl. Drizzle over roasted cauliflower, then sprinkle with 2 tbsp chopped parsley.

Serves 5. (NOT TRUE! Double the recipe to please 5 people.)

Garlicky Pan-Fried Steaks

Stir 6 minced garlic cloves with 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp cayenne and 1/2 tsp salt. Rub on both sides of 3 strip loin steaks, about 1/2 inch thick.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high. Add 2 tsp canola oil, then steaks. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to plates and let rest, covered, 5 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch slices. Drizzle any pan juices over steaks.

Serves 5.

(For us, I use half the rub on 1 strip loin, which we split 4ish ways. I recommend getting the pan juices out of the pan ASAP or else they stick and you can't do the drizzling.)

Cherry Tomato Salad

Whisk 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil with 4 tsp white wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp red hot chili flakes in a medium bowl. Toss with 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes.

Serves 4.

(I gave my girls plain halved tomatoes, in case they found the salad spicy. Sadie kicked up a massive fuss over the tomatoes, didn't want to go near them, eventually had one forced in her mouth, came around to the flavour and ate them all, then demanded more. We gave her some from the salad and she didn't complain about the heat, so.)

March 23rd: Baked 3-cheese tomato strata

From October 2012's Chatelaine (but I feel like I made this once ages ago?): Baked 3-cheese tomato strata, or, as I call it: egg-filled bread. Basically a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with eggs and baked until they are done. Wait until the eggs puff up, or else they will be runny inside! Lesson learned the hard way. Topped with roasted tomatoes, pretty much the only way I like tomatoes, and so yummy.

Eggs NOT puffed up enough. Runny when cut open.
Back into the oven with ye.

Individual serving with oh-so-delicious roasted tomatoes.

May 20th: Slumgullion, AKA Spaghetti Lasagna

From "Lost Recipes": Slumgullion, which is essentially a simple lasagna made with spaghetti and Cheddar cheese. I made this one for Greg and Olivia, and Greg's parents were here to enjoy it too. I did not. Way too much salt. The recipe has a pound of Cheddar cheese, and Cheddar is so salty on its own, if I make this again, I'll omit all the salt in the recipe and see if it makes a difference. I'm including the recipe because everyone else raved about it:


Slumgullion:


1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra as needed
1 onion, chopped fine
1 sweet pepper, chopped
1 lb ground beef
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
(salt)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb spaghetti
1 lb extra old Cheddar cheese, shredded (4 cups)
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs
2 tbsps unsalted butter, melted


Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13 by 9-inch baking dish.


Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and pepper and cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in ground beef and cook, breaking up any large pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.


Stir in garlic and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, broth, (1 tsp salt), and pepper, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook until mixture is thickened but still saucy, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.


Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven. Add pasta and (1 tbsp salt) and cook, stirring often, until al dente; drain pasta. (If drained pasta sits for longer than 5 minutes, toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil.)


Spread 1 cup sauce into prepared baking dish. Spread half of cooked pasta into baking dish, then spoon 2 cups sauce over top and sprinkle with half Cheddar and half Parmesan. Repeat layering with remaining pasta, sauce, Cheddar and Parmesan. Combine bread crumbs and melted butter and sprinkle over top. Bake until filling is bubbling and topping begins to brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let casserole cool for 10 minutes before serving.


Serves 6-8.

October 1st: chili

I planned this recipe without planning for it to be a cold, indoorsy sort of day. It just happened to work out perfectly. This chili recipe is one I've been making for years; it is simple to prepare and takes awhile to cook, so you can get the pot going then clean the kitchen (as I did) or relax (as I would have liked to do). It's also mildly spiced, so if you like your food hotter, I recommend adding some red pepper flakes or Tabasco, or spice up your own bowl. It's got loads of flavour though. The original comes from All Recipes, but I've tweaked it over the years to perfection:


Chili

1 pound (454 g) ground beef 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 798 mL can diced tomatoes 1 213 mL can tomato sauce 1 398 mL can kidney beans with liquid

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Combine ground beef, onion and garlic in large stockpot. Cook and stir over medium heat until beef is brown.
2.	Stir in chili powder, salt, oregano, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to simmer, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.
3.	Stir in beans. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes; stir occasionally.

Makes 4 servings.


In tonight's version, I added veggies from our farm box: 1 diced green pepper, added in step 1, and the last of the summer tomatoes, chopped and added in step 2. Delicious additions.


Topped with Cheddar cheese, diced green onion and sour cream, and served with a baguette on the side. Perfect first day of October meal.

Camera batteries died. iphone takes terrible indoor photos. Sigh.

September 9th: salmon niçoise platter

We had friends over for dinner. One is a chef. A little intimidating, since I claim to be all good on the food-making front, but have no credentials to back me up. I decided to go simple food, simple to prepare, and hope for the best. Worked out perfectly. From August 2009's Chatelaine: Salmon Niçoise Platter. I make a few adjustments: cook 1 egg per person and reduce the capers by half. Of interest to me is the fact that the picture on Chatelaine's website is nothing like the one in the magazine, on which I modelled my presentation, although I don't have a platter big enough to hold all the food. I made the full recipe (6 servings) for 4 adults and 1 child and there was not much leftover. That, and we had two small baguettes on the side. And room for dessert afterwards. I take the "6 servings" suggestion with a grain of salt.

Top: roasted salmon.
Bottom, L-R: potatoes, green beans, eggs, marinated artichoke hearts, smoked salmon.
Not pictured, but also served: tomatoes, olives, baguettes.

July 19th: Grilled vegetable salad and lemon chicken

This recipe has been one of my favourite salad meals for six years, and for some inexplicable reason, Greg is never home when I cook it. It is never planned; it just happens that every year, I make it once, and on the day that I make it, he'll be out - working, socializing, sporting, whatever. It's possible he had it once, maybe last year, but once is definitely it. This year was par for the course: I made this delicious salad, and Olivia and I enjoyed it together, then I had leftovers for lunch the next day. From September 2005's Chatelaine: Grilled Vegetable Salad with Lemon Chicken. Usually I make it with chicken breasts; this year I did thighs.

You can serve the chicken on the side...

...or chop it up and toss it into the salad.
Mmm, warm chicken, tomatoes and onion, plus goat's cheese.
Heaven in a salad.

Easter week!: baked oatmeal, mushroom gratin, hazelnut cheesecake & Easter dinner

Wow, I appear to have dropped off the face of the planet. What actually happened is I have been blissfully on vacation: simply at home for 10 days with next to nothing going on. I did some cooking, but a lot of easy meals or meals I've already blogged about. Oh, and of course, Zach was here for 4 days. Let's get to the yummy food we've had this week:

April 26th: baked oatmeal, mixed mushroom gratin, hazelnut cheesecake

The Baked Oatmeal was a breakfast recipe from Heidi Swanson's super natural every day, via Martha Stewart Living: a banana, blueberry, almond, baked oatmeal. It takes a bit of time, so for breakfast it's not so great, but for brunch, fantastic. I thought it was great-tasting; the rest of my household was a little indifferent. If you eat it right away, it's loose and oatmeal-textured. If you let it sit, you can slice it into slightly stiffer squares. Top with maple syrup for decadence!

Bananas on the bottom
(For the non-banana fans, I'm thinking apples?)

Then blueberries (or other berries)

Oat mixture
Then pour over milk mixture and top with more berries and nuts (not pictured)

Post-baking

Slice and serve

I made the mixed mushroom gratin, which was featured in the Ottawa Citizen, for supper and served it with no-knead bread (this time I used a recipe from Steamy Kitchen). The baked mushroom-cream-Parmesan-panko crumb recipe said it served 4, but I had my doubts and doubled it. Good thing; I could have quadrupled it easily for the 4 of us! This was so delicious; we will definitely be making it again. The recipe comes from 3 Chefs: The Kitchen Men.

Mixed Mushroom Gratin

1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
1/2 cup (125 mL) thinly sliced shallots
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups (1 L) sliced mixed mushrooms
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup (50 mL) 35% cream
1/4 cup (50 mL) grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup (50 mL) panko breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp (2 mL) chopped thyme leaves

Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté shallots and garlic until light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and increase heat to medium-high. Sauté quickly, seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour in cream and reduce by half.

Transfer mushrooms to an ovenproof serving dish. Combine Parmesan cheese, panko crumbs and thyme; sprinkle over mushrooms.

Place under preheated broiler until crust becomes light golden brown. Serve immediately.

Serves 2-4.

Mushrooms and shallots cooked and ready to go

Topped with panko crumbs, Parmesan & thyme

Broiled and ready for eating

As mentioned, Zach was here, and offered in advance of his visit to make cheesecake, an offer I gladly accepted. And so he arrived, frangelico in hand, to whip up a chocolate hazelnut cheesecake. In turn, I offered him the opportunity to guest blog, and so ... here goes:




Verdict:

Hazelnut-chocolate cheesecake - a keeper

Easter dinner - Fo Sho's the same [see more below]

I was just hanging around in Upper Canada this week, and happened to stop in to Ottawa - Kirsten was all like, "Write me a guest blog?" and here we are. It's been a good time - O remains an excellent kid (although with a tempestuous demeanour occasionally [she still needs her naps {as does her mother, geez! DETAILS CENSORED BY KIRSTEN}]). It was a relaxing trip, spent mostly in the house, doing nothing - a perfect vacation. O and I got to stand next to a window one night, and listen/watch a thunder, lightning and rainstorm. Memorable quotes:

"Will there be more flunder and lighting?"

"Why it raining in the house?"

"Aye aye, ma'am!"

I was giving her naval substitutes for words; this last was "yes mommy". She had more trouble with bulkhead and porthole; she remained convinced they were walls and windows. Stubborn girl. Like her mother. And her grandfather. And her aunt. All on the Sellers side.

Both of the meals/foods I helped prepare were old(ish) favourites. The first was brought to the table, if you will, by myself; the second by Kirsten.

My Heavenly Chipped Chocolate and Hazelnut Cheesecake recipe was from allrecipes.com. If you want to try it for yourself, I recommend also following their general tips for cheesecake baking. I don't know if I followed all of those steps exactly, but the water bath is important.

This was the third time I'd made this cheesecake - unfortunately, it was also the worst of the three; things just didn't go well. I decided to try, at Natascia's suggestion (from the second time I'd made it) not to put the chocolate chips into the actual cheesecake batter. It was fine. I prefer with the chocolate chips, but both are acceptable. What went wrong was a leaky water bath. The whole bottom half of the cake appeared to get soaked. It wasn't really noticeable after it had drip-dried, cooled, been garnished and then eaten. However, the knowledge that it had happened kind of put me off the whole thing. Be warned: make sure that tinfoil is waterproof.

Zach/cheesecake

April 27th: Easter dinner

And so we come to the main event of the week: Easter dinner! Usually I make Easter dinner for my family of three (and previously, two) on Easter weekend, but what with taking the week off work and having Zach arriving on Easter Monday, I decided to postpone my fancy dinner till Zach's last night here, that being Wednesday. And since I also offered to sub a class on Wednesday afternoon, I had to request my unwitting guest take over the cooking in my absence. And so we prepared:

Lemon and pepper roast pork
Herbed goat cheese soufflés
Tangy tomato salsa
Collard greens
Whipping cream-smashed potatoes

For the roast pork, I highly recommend making the lemon pepper rub from scratch. I've made the roast with both homemade and store-bought rub, and homemade is infinitely better. Whichever way you make it, I recommend omitting or reducing the salt in the main recipe. Minus the collard greens, which were a stand-in for my usual steamed yellow and green beans, this is the same Easter dinner menu, from April 2004's Chatelaine, that I've been making yearly since 2004. Every year we declare it delicious and agree to repeat the following year. This year we added a new voice to our accord.

More from Zach:

The second meal was truly Agent K's - I just helped her out with a few parts of it. It was delicious. Everything about it was tasty. The soufflés didn't come out of their dishes very well, and appeared a bit raw, but still tasted good. K-dot suggested the pork was slightly overcooked - I think that's just a fascination of Sellerian women: always they find a way to complain about the cooking of a fancy meal's meat dish. Always. It's like a fun pass time or something. I've always found them all delicious, and this was no exception. However, if anyone's looking for advice? I recommend more lamb. 

In the end, I rubbed down and cooked the pork, made the salsa, and dealt with the final stages of the soufflé. It all went off without a hitch, and Kirsten found herself more able to enjoy the meal, with the reduction in cooking stress. I really enjoyed the salsa, especially after having just made it, before it sat and the flavours melded. Definitely a recipe I'll take up.

Here are some Pictures! Yay food!

Homemade lemon pepper rub

Roast pork

The complete dinner, along with candle ("fancy supper" for Olivia)
and a daffodil Olivia kindly picked from the garden

April 7th: spaghettini al pomodore e basilico

I didn't work on Tuesday, so Monday night I had time to watch Eat, Pray, Love when Greg and I came across it just as it was starting. I saw it earlier this year on a plane, but watching a movie on a plane is not ideal, so I was happy to see it again, but not disappointed when I fell asleep during the movie. I had already been thinking pasta for tonight, but the movie, with its scenes of Italian pizzas, pastas, coffee and napoleans, encouraged me to follow through.

I picked up a cookbook I have that I haven't tried out: Antonio Carluccio's Simple Cooking and made spaghettini al pomodore e basilico (spaghettini with tomatoes and basil). I made this while talking on the phone with Mom and Dad, so of course I made a mistake: I didn't realize the tomatoes were supposed to be chopped until the time I was ready to put them in the pan, so I quickly sliced them all in half. I think if I had chopped them up they may have broken down a bit more and formed more of a sauce, which would have been a good thing, but it was a good dish either way.

spaghettini al pomodore e basilico

100 g spaghettini

1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

100 g cherry tomatoes, chopped

5 basil leaves, shredded

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water in a large saucepan until al dente, about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry the garlic in the oil over medium-low heat until soft but not brown, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and basil and cook for a few more minutes. Season if desired.

Drain the pasta, add to the sauce, mix well and serve, drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Serves 1 (multiply as needed)

Best line from Eat, Pray, Love: "Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face. You really need to be certain it's what you want before you commit."