Beef Stroganoff

ground beef
egg noodles
mushrooms
red wine
beef broth
sour cream
peas
rosemary
worcester sauce
tbsp brown sugar
onion
garlic
salt and pepper
cayenne

Saute beef
Add garlic and chopped onion
Add red wine, beef broth and seasoning, mushrooms
simmer
Add cooked egg noodles
Fold in sour cream
Add peas (totally non traditional but gives a nice colour)

garnish with parsley and fresh dill

Chicken Fried Rice

What to do with left over brown rice from dinner? Make fried rice for lunch!

Chopped left over roast chicken, onion, green peppers, peas, soy sauce, grated ginger, 5 allspice, rice vinegar and rice!

Saute onion, peppers and fresh peas in olive oil, add spices/sauces, add chicken and rice.

Optional: scrambled egg, tofu, shrimp

Hoisin Salmon

So I loved the hoisin ginger sauce (hoisin chicken) so much that tonight I baked it with wild sockeye salmon and chopped eggplant.

It was super yummy :)

I sauteed the eggplant in olive oil and salt and then added it to the salmon and marinade and baked it for about 20 minutes (until just flaking) at 350-375.

Hoisin baked chicken thighs

This was REALLY good! Thanks Tab!!

Chicken thighs
Marinade: hoisin, honey, soy sauce, lemon or lime juice, grated ginger, cumin, paprika (i didn't have so I used a bit of cayenne)

bake 375 for 45 minutes
serve over rice or roasted potatoes

Would be good with green beans,eggplant or zucchini baked in the sauce

Bacon Spinach Quiche

Fill baked pie shell with chopped, thawed frozen spinach.
Add chopped bacon on top.
Pour egg/cheese mixture in to pie.
top with green onions, salt and pepper.

Egg mixture: 2-3 eggs, grated cheeses, splash of milk.

Bake 350 for 1/2 hour

Baked Potato Soup

12 slices bacon
2/3 cup margarine
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups milk
4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 green onions, chopped
1 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Bake potatoes, fry bacon.

Saute butter, add flour, stir in milk, add remaining ingredients. Simmer 15 minutes.

Add half of the potato skins chopped.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Cheddar apple muffins

Cheddar Apple Muffins
3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar (sharp is best)
2 large eggs
1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups finely chopped apple (a tart one like Granny Smith is best)

Combine four, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add cheese. Beat eggs with apple juice. Stir in butter and apple. Add all at once to flour mix. Stir until moistened. Bake for 25-30 mins @ 375F. 

Makes 12 large muffins.

Thai chicken-crock pot

Ingredients:

8 chicken thighs (about 2 lbs.) w/o skin
1/2 cup chick broth
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp lime juice
1 hot chili pepper or 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tsp minced fresh ginger root (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
1/4 cup peanuts

1. place chicken thighs in slow cooker. 
2. in bowl, combine everything but peanuts. Mix well and then pour over chicken
3. cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours
4. serve with chopped peanuts on top

Sour cream pancakes

Sour Cream Pancakes
Preparation time 15 min
Cooking time 4 min per batch
Makes 14 to 16 medium pancakes

2tbsp(30 mL) butter
2cups(500 mL) all-purpose flour
1/4cup(50 mL) granulated sugar
1tbsp(15 mL) baking powder
1/2tsp(2 mL) salt
2eggs
1 1/2cups(375 mL) milk
1cup(250 mL) regular or light sour cream
1tsp(5 mL) vanilla
Butter for cooking pancakes
Fresh blueberries & raspberries (optional)
1. Microwave 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter in a small bowl until melted. In a large bowl, using a fork, stir flour with sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in centre. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with milk, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and stir just until mixed.
2. Immediately melt about 1 tsp (5 mL) butter in a large frying pan set over medium heat. (Or save time by cooking on a large griddle or simultaneously in 2 pans.) Use a 1/4-cup (50-mL) measure to pour batter into hot pan. Depending on size of pan, add 1 to 3 more pancakes. Cook until surfaces are covered with bubbles and edges are lightly browned, from 2 to 3 min. Turn and continue to cook until pancakes are golden, from 2 to 3 min.

Udon soup

2 packages fresh udon noodles

1 box chicken stalk

1/4 soy sauce

Whatever meat and veggies you have on hand

Dried Shitake mushrooms (soak in cold water for 1/2 hour) 

Brown chicken

Add carrots, celery

Add chicken stalk and soy sauce and mushroom

simmer 15 minutes

Add broccoli and udon noodles till steamed/heated through

Brie and Apple Appetizer

French baguette

Apples

Brie

Butter 

Chopped walnuts

Brown sugar

Olive oil

Slice bread, brush with OO, crisp in oven for a few minutes at 350

Top with thin slice of apple, thick slice of Brie and walnut mixture

Bake 5 minutes, or until cheese melts

Walnut mixture: mix butter, brown sugar, and walnuts in sauce pan till hot

Jambalaya

5 hot italian sausages (peel the skin off)

1 large red pepper

2 celery stalks

4 scallion

1/2 chopped parsley

3 clove garlic

2 tbsp fresh thyme

1 1/2 pound chicken (breast or thigh)

1 28 ounce diced tomatoes

3 bay leaves

s & p

cayenne

1 lb frozen shrimp

1 tbsp fresh lemon

Chop and brown sausage, set aside

Saute veggies and herbs (except parsley)

Add chopped raw chicken, mix well (I hate cutting raw chicken so I added chicken cutlets)

Add tomatoes, simmer 20 minutes, add sausage

Add shrimp, parsley and lemon, simmer 5 minutes

Serve over rice

Tangy Chicken

A favourite--

Package of boneless chicken thighs or breasts

brown chicken in olive oil

add 1/2 cup water,  1/3 vinegar, 1/4 soy sauce

(optional and tasty, add 1 diced sweet potato)

cover with lid, simmer for 1/2 hour

the sauce is like a yummy gravy, add flour or cornstarch and simmer for a few minutes after you take the chicken out to thicken sauce

serve over brown rice

Variation: add cream and mushrooms (no potatoes for this though)

Easy Apple Pie

We have an organic apple tree in the yard. It is organic because since we moved in 3++ years ago, we have never done a thing with it and every fall there are hundreds of red apples ready to be picked. To go with our Roast dinner, I baked a pie using frozen pie crust. Boy, if I thought the roast was easy, the apple pie was a piece of cake!

Thaw 2 frozen pie crusts.

Peel and chop 12 small apples. (squeeze some lemon juice onto the apples so that they do not brown)

Mix 3/4 sugar, 2 tbsp corn starch, lots of cinnamon. Toss apples and dry mix together.

Pour into shell, put in 8 small dollops of butter onto the apple batter.

Moisten edges of pie and put the other pie crust on top, pinch the sides together.

Cut a few slices into the pie, brush with egg, sprinkle with a liberal amount of coarse sugar.

Bake 350 about 4o minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Yumm!!

Roast beef and vegetables

And so I learn that being the mom is not as mystical and magical as I always thought it would be. Tonight I cooked a roast. It was so super easy, not as expensive as steaks, and made the house smell amazing. As a child, this was the fancy winter time Sunday night meals that everyone would awe over. Now I can do it too!

Pot Roast-sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, and chopped fresh rosemary

bake fat side up-375 for a coupe of hours

Toss potatoes, carrots, onion, sweet potato, rosemary, lemon juice, put in oven for the last hour or so that meat is cooking

Gravy-take the leftover roasting juice, add red wine, pickle juice, s+p, cornstarch mixed with water, simmer over low heat till thick

We had friends over for dinner and watched the Red Sox beat Tampa Bay while everything was in the oven! Served with Tinhorn Creek Pinot Noir

Basic Lasagna

So we all have our favourite ways to make lasagna, but I was quite please how this one turned out, so I think I will do it the same way again. It's all in the layering...

Layer 1- a thin layer of sauce 

Layer 2- whole wheat noodles

Layer 3 -sauteed vegis

layer 4- cottage cheese/ricotta/egg mix

layer 5- grated mozzarella

layer 6-whole wheat noodles

layer 7-beef and tomato sauce mix

layer 8 -the other half of cheese mix

layer 9-grated mozzarella

layer 10-whole wheat noodles

layer 11-sauce and lottsa mozza

bake 350-45 minutes

Butternut squash mac and cheese

So this is a Rachel Ray recipe, instead of frozen butternut squash, I just roasted fresh and pureed in the bullet for a minute.

• 1 pound macaroni with lines, such as tubatini or mini penne rigate
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, plus a few sprigs for garnish
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 box frozen cooked butter nut squash (10 ounces), defrosted
• 1 cup cream or half-and-half
• 2 cups sharp cheddar (8 ounces), grated
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, eyeball it
• Black pepper

Preparation

Heat a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Salt the water then add the pasta and cook to al dente or, with a bite to it.

While pasta cooks, heat a medium heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the EVOO and butter. When the butter melts into the oil, add the thyme and grate the onion directly into the pot with a hand held grater or Microplane. Cook the grated onion in butter and oil 1-2 minutes, then add flour and cook together 1-2 more minutes. Whisk in stock, then combine with butternut squash until warmed through and smooth. Stir in cream or half-and-half and bring sauce to a bubble. Stir in cheeses in a figure 8 motion and season the completed sauce with salt, nutmeg and pepper. Taste to adjust seasonings.

Turkey Pie

Ingredients:

frozen pie shell crust

2 eggs

1 cup grated asiago

1 cup ricotta cheese

 feta cheese

1 package of italian sausage

2 green apples (peeled and cubed)

1/2 onion

clove of garlic

bake pie shell according to package (or make your own!)

take the skin of the sausage, chop, and saute till almost cooked, put in bottom of pie

saute onion, garlic and apple in butter and sprinkle of sugar, pour over sausage in pie

mix eggs, cheeses, pour into pie

Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes

kind of like a quiche but way better-----yummm...

Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients:

olive oil

onion

celery

garlic

green pepper

mushrooms

broccoli

tomato

small can diced tomato

can of kidney beans

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tbsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

avocado, high fat yogurt, shredded cheddar

saute: garlic, onion, celery, green pepper in olive oil.

add: mushrooms, broccoli, tomato, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, spices

simmer 1/2 hour

serve over whole wheat spiral pasta, top with avocado, yogurt, and cheese

yummm.....

feeling meaty? add a pack of lean ground beef and a can of tomato paste