Tunisian Stew, how about you?

Chickas,

Cooking has been tough for me lately as I have been fighting a cold for what feels like an eternity and have been busy with work, band, etc!
But...tonight I promised Meagan I'd make her a post-study dinner with her fave ingredient, quinoa. My boss Jason suggested I make Tunisian vegetable stew from the all mighty Moosewood.

Online link:
http://www.ivu.org/recipes/african/tunisian-j.html

I served it on quinoa and crumbled feta on top. It was delicious. Perhaps because I haven't eaten anything but toast and cereal for the past week?

Book Club Lentil Salad w/ Red Pepper Mint and Feta

Last night was my first book club meeting (lots of fun). To bring I made this lentil salad which turned out really well and I thought was very YUMMY. OH and did i mention this one was SO fast and easy!

1 cup dried green lentils

6tbs of extra-virgin olive oil

5tbs of red wine vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground cumin

salt and pepper

1 small red onion, diced

1 bell pepper (next time i make it i will use two)

1/4 cup fresh mint chopped

6 oz feta ( i just kept pouring it on til i thought it looked good)

Rinse lentils and drain. place in saucepan and add water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered for 15-20min (it took 30 before mine were done) until lentils are tender. Drain immediately and set aside in large bowl.

In a small bowl, wisk together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, cumin, and salt and pepper. Ass to the warm lentils and toss. Add the onion and bell pepper.

Add the mind and toss well to mix, sprinkle (or heap) with feta and garnish with mint sprigs.

and Viola!

now just to figure out how to add the photo i took......

Marija's Healthy Potato Salad

I know this one isn't from my recipe book, but Marija taught me how to make it and its soooo tasty and really healthy, but tastes just as good as potato salad. June, if dill and onions are still available this time of year give this one a try.

ingredients
6-10 potatoes (if thick skin like Russet, peeled)
olive oil
juice of one lemon
1 bunch of fresh dill
1 bunch green onion
salt and pepper, to taste

directions
Scrub potatoes, and peel if necessary. Cut into small pieces and boil in a large pot of water until cooked, but not so soft that they are falling to pieces. Drain and mash coarsely, leaving some large chunks. Let potatoes cool. Slice green onions and dill, and mix in to cooled potatoes. Add the juice of 1 lemon, a generous amount of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in to potatoes. Add more salt and more olive oil to make creamier if desired.

Eat as a side with meat or on its own.

Portland inspired potato-dom

Hello darlings,

The thing is, I have actually been cooking more-than-usual but thus haven't had the time to write about it. I have been focussing a lot on potatoes. This is because the people I stayed with in Portland got me into them because they were super eco and were all into eating in season and shit. The thing about potatoes is, they are fucking delicious! They were literally the only food I didn't like when I was a kid (unless, of course, they were served in a fried form), but now I love them!

Why?

They are a winter food, they are cheap, they are filling, and they are hard to mess up (touch wood!!).

Here I shall post a few ideas, with links to web recipes from the ever fantastic epicurious.com as necessary.

1. Potato Latkes

Rhiann and I made these on New Years Eve and then I made them again for my friend Karina's [gluten free] b-day bash with some home-made apple sauce, which is, incidentally, super easy to make and involves cutting up apples and putting them in a sauce pan with spices and then letting it sit on the stove.

Anyway. Here is the link. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Potato-Latkes-104406

Use vegetable oil! It has a high smoking point and is tasteless (not in the trashy way. Actually kind of in the trashy way, but mostly in the subtle way). I fried them in sunflower oil at Kurt and Karina's because they are eco (Kurt is my boss at the coop) and it is the only local oil in Quebec and it fell short because it is real flavourful and thus a bit dstracting. People still liked them.

2. Portland-inspired vegetable and cabbage roast

This is motha frcking delicious and is a really good way to eat in season! We keep getting potatoes and cabbage in our "Good Food Box" from a local food coop and this is a d-fucking-licious way to use it! I watched Laurel, my P-land host make it, and it was very yummy, so it is probably not the way she made it but I like it anyway. You could probably substitute in many directions, but I will give it to you how I did it.

You need:
- Onion
- Garlic
- Cabbage
- Potatoes
- Cheese!!!!! You know me!!!
- Nutritional yeast
- Salt n peppa
- Parsley
- Olive oil
- Veg oil

How to:
Cut the potatoes into pretty small chunks, toss them in olive oil and a bit of salt and put them on a backing sheet and into the oven at 400 degrees

Cut the garlic and onion rather coarsely and throw it into a wok with some veg oil on medium heat or highish heat (honestly I don't know what it is because our elements are broken. I just put it on 'hottish warm')

Chop about half a head of cabbage fairly coarsely and throw it in the wok. Fry that shit with some salt and some nutritional yeast.

When the potatoes are pretty much done, put the the cabbage mixture on the baking sheet too, and mix it. Cover with a layer of chopped parsley and grated cheese.

Let the cheese melt, yum!!

3. Tortilla Espanola

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tortilla-Espanola-102944

I made this for Meagan on Friday as part of a romantic dinner pre-dance party. I have made it once before to rave reviews and so I don't know if it is cheating for this blog. If it is I guess the latkes were too. Whatever. It is really fucking good, and you will thank me if you make it.

Deets: I think 8 eggs are enough rather than 10 and i slice the potatoes rather than cubing them or whatever the recipe says.

Last thing to mention: it is a very versatile dish, as it is delicious not only as a warm meal but also cold at brunch (takes the edge off the hunger while you are cooking other stuff) and as something to eat when raiding the fridge post-night out (not sure if you girls do that, but i sure do from time to time, and I honestly felt like a million bucks Saturday morning and I thank the tortilla!!)

I hope this counts! My next recipes will be new recipes, I promise. I think I might work my way through the Rebar cook book. Hard to say.

Must go shower, it has been days.

Love you ladies! xo

Yum!

I made two more recipes tonight, both to take to work tomorrow. I started by making these Banana Bran Muffins. The bananas have passed their green/barely yellow stage, and with Marija in Abu Dhabi, there is no one to eat the speckled ones. Although the recipe doesn't sound that interesting, it is surprisingly good. The muffins are very moist, and taste nothing like bran muffins. I think I actually used oat bran instead of wheat bran (by mistake) and they still turned out amazingly ... that's what you get when you buy something out of the bulk bin when you are really tired. I will confess that I also had about 20 cents worth of wine gums while shopping the bulk bins. Shh!

Next I made Lemony Lentil Salad with Feta. I haven't tried it yet, but I will let you know how it tastes after I eat it at lunch tomorrow. Right now it is deconstructed: dressing in one bowl, veggies and lentils in another. I plan on mixing in the dressing, putting it inside a pita, and voila - instant lunch! The dressing tastes good, that much I know. I have a feeling this one will be a keeper, but will confirm this later.

No pictures this time...last time I crashed my computer shortly after uploading and now I'm scared!

Rhiann's first Recipe

Ok, ok, I finally made something. I got all my ingredients today while shopping in Kensington Market. This recipe was pretty good. Comforting like chicken soup, but in an Asian way. Very very easy to make. I made less because it was just me and the recipe makes 5 servings. I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow too.

Vegetarian Hot Pot

• 5 1/4 cup veg broth


• 4 1/4 inch thick slices ginger, peeled


• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled


• 2 tsp canola oil


• 1 3/4 cups shiitake mushrooms


• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper


• 1 small bok choi cut into 1/2 inch pieces; stems and greens separated


• 3 1/2 oz rice sticks (noodles)


• 1 14oz package firm tofu cut into 1/2 inch cubes


• 1 cup grated carrots


• 4-6 tsp rice vinegar


• 2 tsp reduced-sodium soy sauce


• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil


• 1/4 cup chopped green onions for garnish

1. Combine broth, ginger and garlilc in a pot; bring to simmer. Simmer, partially covered, over med-low heat for 15 min. Discard the ginger and garlic.


2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add mushrooms and crushed red pepper; cook stirring often, until tender, 3 to 5 min. Add bok choi stems; cook stirring often, until tender, 3 to 4 min.


3. Add the mushroom mixture to the broth. Add noodles, reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 3 min. Add bok choi greens and tofu; simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in carrots, vinegar to taste, soy sauce and sesame oil. Serve garnished with green onions.

I would make this again. There are lots of veggies, and its even a little spicy from the crushed red peppers. As you can see i didnt grate the carrot. It was one of those really yummy fresh carrots with the greens on the top and I thought it was too good to shred. Also, I think if I made it again I would mince the garlic and leave it in the soup. I also forgot the sesame oil, which I think would have been nice.

I've started now...be expecting more from me soon.

Score: Astrid 8, June & Rhiann 0

WOW, I am really kick'n ass with this cooking thing.

4 more recipes down last night. My mom invited some friends over for dinner and asked me to help out and make some food. Together we made Stuffed Mushroom Caps, Eggplant dip, Swiss Chard with Feta and Pine Nuts and yummy potatoes.

The Swiss chard was the best by far! SO good. The mushroom caps were pretty good but i had ones with crab in them a week ago that i liked a lot more than the veggie ones. Eggplant dip sucked, it was really really bland. The potatoes were very good however my mom didn't quite follow the recipe, she boiled the for a bit and then fried them with the seasoning recommended.

What is more, Brent and i are having a bunch of friends over tonight for games and potluck so we will probably make some more stuff.

Here are the Recipes (for the ones i liked):

Stir-fried Swiss Chard with Feta Cheese

2 tbs pine nuts

2tbs vegie oil

2 shallots, finely chopped

2 bunches of swiss chard, washed with stalks removed and torn in to pieces

1/4 cup feta cheese

In a frying pan or wok toast the pine nuts, stirring constantly, 1-2min. then set aside.

In a pan add oil to coat then add shallots. Stir and toss every 10-15 seconds until they begin to brown. 1-2 min.

Add the Chard, toss well to coat with oil. Cover and cook til wilted, 2 min. uncover and raise heat to boil away excess liquid.

When liquid has boiled away add feta, cover and cook until cheese begins to melt, 30 seconds.

Transfer to serving bowl, add pine nuts and eat!

So easy and So GOOD, i will be making this again. and again.

New Potatoes with Lemon Butter and Fresh Herbs

16 small new potatoes (red ones)

2tbs unsalted butter

3tbs olive oil

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tbs chopped fresh chives

1 tbs chopped fresh basil

1tbs Italian Parsley

Arrange potatoes in large frying pan. Add water to cover and place over high heat.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until tender but still firm, 10-12 min, drain well.

In a frying pan over low heat, melt the butter with the olive oil. add the lemon zest, chives, basil, parsley, potatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Heat gently stiffing to coast the potatoes on all sides with the butter mix. Add the lemon juice, stir well and serve.

If you guys want i will add the stuffed mushroom recipe, other wise I'm not going to bother because it is kind of long.

Still waiting on one of you to cook something.....

Book has been chosen...let cooking begin!

Alright girls, I have finaly found a cookbook. And, wow, it wasn't easy! Imagine me on a cold-15 degree evening rushing out in my snowboots, mittens (yes the ones Astridy made), and scarf to make it to the library before it closed. Mission: find an appropriate cookbook. Well lets just say after 1/2 an hour, and a chilly walk home with books in tow, I had 6 possibilities. Critera: lots of vegetarian recipes, lots of pictures, and a wide variety of food genres. Winner: The Essential Eating Well Cookbook . It has sections for breakfast, lunch, mains, appies, and desserts, and has a wide variety of vegetarian recipes.

My first recipe will be this weekend. I will keep you posted!

On a side note I would like to mention that I unwrapped, touched, cut and cooked a chicken breast for the first time EVER this week. You know what, it wasnt quite as bad as I thought, and it tasted pretty good too!

Cook-a-thon #2 (aka where are you guys on this?)

So I made my second two recipes today. And I am proud to say they were a much greater success than the previous two.

I made:

Asparagus with Vinaigrette Sauce

1 lb Asparagus

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbs chopped Shallots

3 tbs red wine vinegar

1 1/2 Dijon Mustard

2 tbs chopped Italian Parsley

2 hard-boiled egg yolks

salt and pepper

um i have to say, writing out the whole recipe is rather daunting... sigh but here it is anyway.

1) cut or snap off any tough Woody ends from the asparagus and discard. Using a vegetable peeler and starting about 2 inches below each tip peel of the skin of each spear (i skipped that step, it seemed pointless)

2) select a large frying pan large enough to hold the spears flat in a single layer and fill halfway with water.

Bring to a boil , then reduce the heat so the water simmers gently with just a few bubbles breaking on the surface. Lay the asparagus spears flat in the pan so they are covered with an inch of water. cook until tender crisp, 4-8 min. remove from heat and drain well.

3) in a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, shallots, vinegar and mustard. season to taste with salt and pepper and add the parsley.

4) Arrange spears on warmed serving platter. Spoon the dressing over the war asparagus. To garnish using a wooden spoon, force the egg yolks though a fine mesh sieve held over the asparagus (skipped that step too).

the only thing that didn't quite work out was the sauce, i ran out of olive oil so had to guess the rest of the measurements. I still thought it tasted great but Brent thought it was a bit too vinegary.

The second recipe, and the star of the night was the Mozzarella and sun-dried tomato Risotto.

Yum. It did however make A LOT of risotto.

5 1/2 cups Veggie stock

1/3 cup oil packed sun dried tomatoes

1 yellow onion, Chopped

2 cups Aborio rice ( i just used what ever was in the cupboard)

1 cup shredded fresh mozzarella

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 fresh basil, plus whole leaves for garnish

salt and pepper (skipped it)

1)In sauce pan over medium high heat bring the stock to a simmer. adjust the heat to keep the liquid hot.

2)drain the sun dried tomatoes and reserve the oil. add Olive oil if needed to equal 4 tbs, chop and set sun dried tomatoes aside.

3)in a large heavy sauce pan over medium heat warm 2 tbs of the reserved oil. add the onion and saute until translucent, about 8 min. add the rice and stir until white spots appear in the center of the grains, about 1 min. add a ladle full of stock , adjust the temp to maintain a simmer and cook stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed, about 2 min . continue adding the liquid a ladle full at a time and stirring constantly until the rice is just tender but slightly firm in the center and mixture is creamy. (20-25min)

4)add the mozzarella, Parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped basil and the remaining 2 tbs of oil (forgot the last bit, tho didn't seem to matter). stir to mix well.

Brent and I both really like this one. The only thing I would change would be to add more Basil. I love basil and there definitely could have been more.

I had initially planned to make a salad with goat cheese as well but was totally overwhelmed with the preparation of two dishes and trying to time them right, that there was no way i could fit anything else in. Up to this point my biggest challenge is the doing more than one thing at once. I think the key hear it to prepare, chop, wash etc. all of the things for ALL of the recipes before hand and have it laid out and organized. Also probably not to be in a rush. Someone, decided he wanted to make chili and i was told mid - preparation that i needed to not take up the whole stove. this caused a bit of a disturbance.

Now i think this is when i need to say I'm a little disappointed that i am the only one who has done anything yet? where are you guys? any ideas - June, this was your idea!!! i expected more. get on it you too!

p.s. Rhiann i found the last of the "Irish potatoes" at the back of my mom's fridge last night, they are now all gone. they were still good :P send me more please.

*side note: Rita sent me home with a whole batch of her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies last weekend!!!! oh they are sssOOOOO good. If you guys were here i would share... but too bad for you!!!

Hurry up and post something.

First Cook Off

Ok Crisis averted, I figured out how to add posts.

So I (or we) made my first cook book meal on Sunday. It was ok, i would give it a 5/10 for success. The Menu was: Cajun fries (William & Sanoma veg.), quesadillas, (W&S) and Caesar salad (recipe from my aunt). Will add full recipes later.

Cajun Fries (2/10)

Recipe had WAY way too much oil and not enough spices. The fries came out really soggy and gross and rather flavorless. I don't know what W&S though was cajun about these. I would not recommend this recipe.

Quesadillas (5/10)

These were pretty good, we made guacamole to go with them which was yummy. I think next time i would put more vegies in them, but other than that they were pretty ok.

Caesar Salad (6/10)

1 head of Romaine Lettuce

2 tsp of salt

3 heads of garlic, finely chopped

? Worcester Sauce

3 Anchovies, finely ground

maybe some other things... i'll have to check.

So when my aunt makes it, i would give it a 10/10. however. i totally botched the salad dressing. I was doing it from memory but I only remembered 3 of the 5 or so ingredients.... it turned out really really salty and garlic-y.... but not inedible. Will check with aunt and get more finite recipe.

So although my first attempt was not golden I do feel a small sense of accomplishment at making part of one meal. Goal for next time: make 2/3 rather than 1/3. Silver Lining: since brent made both the potatoes and the quesadillas, i don't feel like it is my fault they weren't good and can blame the recipe with out any hesitation.

p.s. i know this isn't a competition but i would like to state for the record that i was the first to make a dish! :P

Seize tha day muthafucka!

At the dawn of this new decade, I am thrilled to be a part of this blog for several reasons. First, I feel that this endeavour is incredibly techy, perhaps the most techy thing I have ever done. Who knows, at some point we may even add photos to our blog, emoticons, music?! Technology is a changin', girls, and we are changing with it. One can perhaps even foresee a "Blog" section on our future CVs, sure to usher in the employment opportunities we have long awaited.

But second, and perhaps more importantly, this blog presents us with the opportunity to stay in touch while garnering an ever-important housewife/human skill, that of the grande cuisine! No longer will we come home tired from work to wail "Not another tofu sandwhich/cheese melt/lettuce salade with oil and vinegar!". Or how about those days when breakfast, lunch and dinner all revolve around the same "on the go" wing-it-ness? I.e. "Oh great, yoghurt and meusli for breakfast, lunch and dinner!" Or the classic working girls "Oh my god I slept in late and ate every meal out today and I feel as though my insides are turning into a great pile of croissant/falafel/cheese pizza mush!" Or the days when all you can get together is one meal, with a lot of picking, the gargantuan bre-lun-inner! For those days, let as a least hope that that meal is delicious!!!

Ah, yes, this blog, this project, will surely inspire us to push beyond our culinary boundaries, striding past the provincial soup and salad hills to a new, zestier territory.

This rant having been delivered, I wish to joyfully accept the position of "Blog Contributer"! With yet further zeal, I wish to present you with my goals for this blog.

1. Make one new meal a week.

2. Blog about it

3. Do this for one year

I still have yet to decide whether I want to use only one cook book. I think I do, after having seen Julie and Julia. But i have to look at my cookbooks at home.

Goddess-speed, dear crowe roaders and fellow culinary neophytes! May we meet this journey with courage and dedication, and prevail through those moments when the going gets tough or even rough.
XO