November 30, 2010

Best of November

Here we go, the roll call for the recipes I made this month that I think are worth your time. Enjoy!

November 3rd: Roasted-vegetable salad and Caramelized pumpkin seeds
November 4th: Hot and sour chicken soup
November 5th: Parmesan Bread Sticks
November 6th: Artisan bread, Crispy French Fries with Mustard Mayonnaise, Sticky Chicken Wings
November 7th: Thai Pork with Spicy Noodles
November 8th: Lemony Snow Peas
November 9th: Double Mushroom Risotto
November 11th: Risotto cakes, roasted cauliflower
November 14th: Artisan bread, Bean-free chili
November 17th: Mac & Cheese
November 19th: Garlic Knots
November 20th: Lemon, Sage & Garlic Roast Chicken, Classic Gingerbread Cookies
November 21st: Fish cakes
November 23rd: Sausage tomato sauce
November 24th: Freezer biscuits
November 26th: Honey-Dijon chicken
November 28th: Lasagna, Caesar Salad & Pfeffernüsse
November 29th: Fish & potato succotash

Can you believe it's December already?! EGAD. Who's ready for Christmas? Not me!

November 30th: Quinoa-broccoli salad

Verdict:
Toss: quinoa-broccoli salad

For all you who always ask me for a good quinoa recipe: this is a good one! I know, I just wrote "toss" up there, but you know how it goes, my criteria is a bit tighter than most. Most's? Whatever. It's late. Anyway, I made this riff on a broccoli salad tonight, which I have to say, is not as good as the broccoli-bacon-cheese drenched in mayo salad, but might leaving you feeling a bit better about yourself. Here it is (from the Ottawa Citizen):

Broccoli and Quinoa Salad

1/2 cup (125 mL) quinoa, rinsed
2 cups (500 mL) chopped broccoli florets
1/3 cup (75 mL) dried cranberries or raisins
1/4 cup (60 mL) unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup (60 mL) mayonnaise
1/4 cup (60 mL) plain yogurt
1 tsp (5 mL) grated lemon zest
1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tsp (5 mL) honey
pinch each, salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a saucepan, bring quinoa and 1 1/3 cups (325 mL) water to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until quinoa is tender and water is absorbed. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

Add broccoli,* cranberries and sunflower seeds to the quinoa.

In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon zest and juice, honey, salt and pepper. Pour over quinoa mixture and toss to coat.

Makes 6-8 servings.

*I recommended blanching your broccoli 1-2 minutes prior to adding it to the salad. It's my personal preference to have the broccoli a little more tender than raw.

Not the most appetizing looking, I know, but it's good!
Complete meal.

November 29, 2010

November 29th: Lima Beans & Fish!

Verdict:
Try Again: fish with potato succotash

Oh, come on. You know you wanna. After I tried lima beans in September, I knew I had to do them again. My bag of Green Giant "Valley Selections" Lima Beans (free advertising!) had a good-sounding recipe on the back, and I made it tonight for supper: Halibut with Potato Succotash. In our case, it was haddock. In any case, we loved it and left not a scrap behind. I'm telling you. You've got to try lima beans. Word to the wise: dice the potato small, like frozen hash brown size.

(Haddock hiding under the vegetables.)

November 28, 2010

November 28th: Make ahead meal: Vegetarian lasagna (+ Caesar salad & Pfeffernüsse)

Verdict:
Keeper: Pfeffernüsse
Try Again: lasagna & Caesar salad

Tonight we finished up the last of our cook-ahead foods from Cook's Illustrated. After the failed make-ahead manicotti, I wasn't holding out much hope on this one. Oven-ready noodles again, about which I am leery. This one had no ricotta though, but rather lots of mozza and Parm to hold it together, which was promising. It's vegetarian and upon reading the recipe I thought, if I can find a decent vegetarian lasagna to make, I'll be laughing. I have the meat lasagna down to a T, thanks to my parents and their amazing recipe, but haven't found a vegetarian one that can hold its own. So here was the test. I assembled the lasagna a couple weeks ago, froze it, and defrosted it in the refrigerator over two days. I was worried right off the bat when I took a look at it before putting it in the oven. The noodles were already soft. I figured they would end up squishy, just like the noodles in the manicotti did.

And the verdict? Surprisingly good. The noodles didn't seem too squishy, the lasagna had rich taste, and was filling, as only lasagna can be. When I asked G how he felt about the lack of meat, he said he didn't miss it at all. A ringing endorsement, I would say!


Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

5 tbsps olive oil
1 (10 oz) bag spinach, washed, stemmed and chopped
salt and pepper
1 medium onion, minced
1 lb cremini or white button mushrooms, sliced thin
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 tbsps chopped fresh basil leaves
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
1 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 4 cups)
3 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add spinach in handfuls and cook, stirring, until spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste; transfer spinach to colander. Let cool, then gently squeeze any excess liquid from spinach and transfer to medium bowl.

Wipe pot clean and add 2 more tbsps oil; return pot to medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add mushrooms and cook until golden. Season with salt and pepper to taste; transfer to medium bowl with spinach and set aside.

Add remaining 2 tbsps oil and garlic; return pot to medium heat and cook until garlic is fragrant but not brown, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes; bring to simmer and cook until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce into large measuring cup and add enough water to make 3 1/2 cups.

Spread 1/2 cup sauce evenly over bottom of 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Lay 3 noodles over sauce, making sure they do not touch each other or sides of the dish. Spread 1 cup prepared vegetables evenly over noodles, 2/3 cup sauce evenly over vegetables, and 1 cup mozzarella and 1/3 cup Parmesan evenly over sauce. Repeat layering of noodles, vegetables, sauce and cheeses twice more. For fourth and final layer, lay last 3 noodles over previous layer and top with remaining 1 cup tomato sauce, 1 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan.

TO STORE: Wrap dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 day or freeze, tightly wrapped with additional layer of foil, for up to 1 month. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before baking.

TO SERVE: Before baking, allow lasagna to sit at room temperature for about 1 hour. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375°F. Remove plastic wrap and wrap dish tightly with foil. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove foil. Return lasagna to oven and continue to bake until cheese is spotty brown and sauce is bubbling, about 15 minutes longer. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

To serve right away, bake as described above, reducing covered baking time to 15 minutes.

Serves 6-8.

To accompany the lasagna, I made a Caesar salad, also from Cook's Illustrated. I intended to put in the required two anchovy fillets, but alas, when I pulled mine out of the depths of the fridge, I discovered the best before date on them was sometime in 2009. It probably suited the vegetarian at the table just fine that I made the Caesar sans fish. I was happy with this recipe. The anchovies likely would have improved the flavour of the dressing, but even without them it was tangy and yummy. The croutons were great; why do we buy them packaged when you can make them easily and they taste so much better?


Caesar Salad

1/2 cup olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, pressed
1 6-inch piece baguette, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
salt and pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 oz Parmesan, finely grated
2 anchovy fillets, rinsed and patted dry
1 tbsp each lemon juice, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard
3 romaine hearts, torn into bite-size pieces, or two 10-oz bags chopped romaine lettuce
2 oz Parmesan, shredded

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F. Whisk oil and garlic; reserve half of mixture. Toss bread cubes with remaining oil mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake croutons on rimmed baking sheet until golden, 15-20 minutes. Cool.

Process mayonnaise, grated Parmesan, anchovies, lemon juice, vinegar, Worcestershire, mustard, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste in blender until smooth. With blender running, slowly add reserved oil mixture until incorporated.

Toss romaine, shredded Parmesan, and dressing in large bowl. Toss in croutons and serve.

Serves 6-8.

The winner for today was the pfeffernüsse. I am doing a cookie exchange with some friends, and these hard little spicy cookies are one of my contributions. The recipe appeared in November 2006's Chatelaine, and I made it once years ago and have meant to again ever since. They're flavourful little bites that make a good accompaniment to a warm beverage.


I can't find the recipe online. Here you go:

Pfeffernüsse

1/2 cup (125 mL) candied lemon or orange peel
1 tbsp (15 mL) all-purpose flour
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 mL) ground almonds
1 tsp (5 mL) each ground cardamom and cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each baking soda, nutmeg, allspice and cloves
1/4 tsp (1 mL) each salt and pepper
2 eggs
3/4 cup (175 mL) each granulated sugar and packed brown sugar
1/2 cup icing sugar

In a food processor, whirl 1 tbsp (15 mL) flour with peel until ground. Set aside. In a medium bowl, stir 2 cups (500 mL) flour with almonds, cardamom, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper. (Really, put in a whole 1/4 tsp (1 mL) of pepper!) In a large bowl, beat eggs with granulated and brown sugars, 3 minutes. Gradually beat in flour mixture, then candied peel mixture. Continue beating until mixture begins to form a ball. Remove and press into a ball, then wrap dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight to allow flavours to develop.

To bake, arrange oven racks in top and bottom thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pinch off about 1 tbsp (15 mL) dough and roll into a bowl. Place on baking sheet. Continue with remaining dough, spacing balls about 2 inches apart. Bake on 2 racks, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden, 12 to 14 minutes. (Watch them closely!) Remove to a cooling rack.

Meanwhile, place icing sugar in a small bowl. Once cookies are baked and still slightly warm, gently toss in sugar until evenly coated. Place back on cooling rack and cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days or freeze up to 1 month.

Makes 40-50 cookies.

November 27th: steak salad

From the keeper book: Teriyaki Beef Salad. This one is so good, Chatelaine published it twice: in July 2004 and again in April 2009. They occasionally repeat recipes in the magazine, which I tend to notice, since I've been obsessively making most of their recipes for over six years now. This one deserves repeating though; it's one of our long-time faves. I should note, we usually make this one in the summer. Tonight when I went out to turn on the BBQ, I found the knobs frozen in place, so, oh well, I fried up the steak instead. Turned out just fine. I did have some pangs of conscience over buying Mexican asparagus in November; I'm making a bad habit of that this fall. The asparagus was on the bitter side though, which is what happens when you buy it six months out of season.

November 27, 2010

November 26th: honey dijon chicken

From the keeper book: Honey-Dijon chicken. This originally came from December 2005's Chatelaine, but I changed it. Here's my version:


Honey-Dijon chicken

2 tsp (10 mL) butter

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup (75 mL) apple juice

2 tbsp (30 mL) each Dijon and liquid honey

1/8 tsp (1 mL) cayenne

1/4 cup (50 mL) sour cream



Melt butter in a large frying pan set over medium heat. When hot, add chicken and cook until golden, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, stir together juice, Dijon, honey and cayenne. When chicken is golden, add juice mixture. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, turning occasionally, until chicken feels springy when pressed, 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove chicken to plates. Stir sour cream into sauce and pour sauce into bowls. Serve alongside chicken.

Serves 2.

Halfway through the meal, Olivia turned to me and said, "I love this chicken, Mommy." Enough said.


More bok choy!

November 25th: easy shrimp stir-fry

Verdict:
Toss: Shrimp stir-fry

A quick reference to this recipe, which I didn't love, but was dead easy and pretty good. I'm doing another shrimp stir-fry next week too; keep your eyes out for that one!

From Clean Eating Mag: Cajun Shrimp Stir-Fry. (Can't find this recipe on the clean eating mag website, but found it elsewhere. Thank you, Google.) I added some baby bok choy* to the pan, and would recommend reducing the time on cooking the shrimp from 3 min to 1.


*Baby bok choy back story:

Wednesday night. I planned to make a dead easy soup, a repeat from November 2009's Chatelaine: Japanese dumpling soup. After the meal, we decided to toss the recipe and I figured it wasn't worth blogging about. However. When I bought groceries on the weekend, I couldn't find the one baby bok choy I needed for the soup, so I sent Greg to Farm Boy to get one. Due to the fact we got into an argument prior to the shopping trip, the message about what I wanted wasn't entirely clear, and he bought a BIG bag of itty-bitty bok choys. We have been eating bok choy every day since, and there is not much of a dent in the bag. Thus, bok choy in the shrimp stir-fry.