Spicy Coriander Cod with Turnip, Carrots and Potatoes

We just bought a hot coriander chutney at a craft fair and the lady suggested we try it with fish...So we did and it gave a kick to a very simple meal. This meal required a lot of cutting but very little work after it was in the oven and very little ingredients.

Ingredients
1/2 turnip, peeled
2 carrots, peeled
4 medium potatoes, washed
olive oil
black pepper
salt, optional
4 cod filets
1/4 cup (60mL) panko
1/4 cup (60mL) hot coriander chutney*

Method
1. Preheat oven at 350 F.
2. Cut the carrots and the turnip in equal-size sticks, about 2-3 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Set them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little bit of oil and season to taste.
3. For this step you can either cut the potatoes like the turnip and carrots or you can slice them like we did (about 1/4 inch thick). Set them on another baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and season to taste.
4. Put both baking sheets in the oven on different racks for 40 minutes. After 15 minutes, rotate and switch their spots. After 10 minutes rotate and switch them again.
5. When there is only 10 minutes left for the vegetables, mix the panko and the chutney together. Top all 4 filets with the mixture.
6. Take the vegetables out of the oven and put in the fish for about 7-10 minutes, depending on how you like your fish done.
7. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 2-4.

*If you can't find this type of chutney at your local grocery store, which you probably won't unfortunately, I suggest you try looking for a recipe and just mix all ingredients together in a blender. Ours contains fresh coriander, cashew and almond paste, cider vinegar, hot peppers, onions, basil, garlic, ginger, cane sugar, sea salt and spices. This one is the closest I found to my pre-made chutney but there are some varieties that contain either mint or coconut depending on your taste.

Spicy Shrimp Tomato Sauce on Pasta

This dish was fast and simple and I would gladly make it again on a busy week night. Most of the flavour from this dish comes from the spicy sausage and there is just enough tomato to coat everything. This can easily be done with any vegetables you have on hand, we had kale and mushrooms but I can imagine this recipe being delicious with spinach and grated carrots.

Ingredients

1 spicy Italian sausage without the casing

1 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

6-8 mushrooms, thinly sliced

16-20 shrimps, uncooked, deveined, shell off

1/2 tbsp (7mL) black pepper

1/4 tsp (2mL) cayenne pepper

1/2 tbsp (7mL) oregano

1/2 tbsp (7mL) parsley
4-6 kale leaves, coarsely chopped

1/2 can (400mL) crushed tomatoes, salt free

200g spaghettini (or any long pasta)

Method

1. Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add sausage meat, cook for 1-2 minutes breaking the meat. Add onions and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes.

2. Make a well with the meat/onion mixture and cook the mushrooms in the middle for about 5 minutes. Mix together.

3. During that time, bring a medium pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta until aldente (as per box).

4. Back to the skillet, make another well and cook the shrimps for about 2 minutes on each side. Season while they cook with black pepper, cayenne, oregano and parsley. Mix everything together.
5. Add the kale in the mixture and cook for about 3-5 minutes (depending on how big you cut the leaves).

6. Add the crushed tomato to the mixture and let simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes.

7. Your pasta should be ready, you can drain it and add it to the sauce. Enjoy!

Serves 3-4. 

'Quick' Cabbage Rolls

It's that time of the year again when I buy a large cabbage, make a coleslaw and don't know what to do with the rest. Last year, I made a soup but this year I figured I'd try myself at cabbage rolls. I started looking online for recipes and noticed that it takes two hours to cook! I therefore chose to alter the recipe so it would only take one hour total, counting prep and cooking. In a shorter amount of time, I was able to create the same result, I am pretty proud of myself for that!

Ingredients
6 cabbage leaves
1 (240mL) cup white rice
2 cups (480mL) vegetable broth (any type of broth can be used)
1lb ground beef, extra lean
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp (15mL) ground black pepper
1 tbsp (15mL) dried basil
1 tbsp (15mL) dried thyme
1 tbsp (15mL) dried oregano
1 1/2 cup (360mL) no added salt crushed tomato
1 tbsp (15mL) dried oregano
1 tbsp (15mL) ground black pepper
1 tsp (5mL) cayenne pepper, optional
Parmesan

Method
1. Cook rice as per package but instead of water use broth.
2. Bring a large pot to a boil.
3. Carefully remove six leaves from the cabbage and, one by one, let them soften in the boiling water. This takes about 5 minutes per leaf. The spine will still be hard but it will be removed before making the rolls.

4. On medium-high heat, cook the onions and garlic in a little bit of oil for about 3 minutes. Add in the ground beef, black pepper, basil, thyme, and oregano. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until you no longer see pink. Make sure that as it's cooking, you break the meat apart.
5. Preheat oven at 400 F.
6. Mix the cayenne pepper as well as the extra oregano and black pepper in the crushed tomatoes. You can skip this step if you use a pre-made tomato sauce, either homemade or canned.
6. The rice should be ready by now. Mix 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of spiced crushed tomatoes with the beef mixture.
7. Place a cabbage leaf on a plate, remove the spine with a knife. Scoop about 1/6th of the beef-rice-tomato mixture on the cabbage leaf. Fold one end of the cabbage leaf over the mixture, roll and tuck the sides in to prevent the filling from falling out. Repeat until you have used all the mixture and cabbage leaves. 

8. Place rolls in a 9x9 pan with seem at the bottom. Cover rolls with the rest of the crushed tomato and grate parmesan over each roll.

9. Cook for 25-30 minutes on the middle rack.

I served mine on a bed of rice because I had leftovers. Serves 6.

Apple Muffins

I went apple picking a couple of weeks ago and decided that buying 14lbs of apple was a good idea. I guess it was because apple picking is so much fun, but then I had to figure out a couple of recipes to incorporate apples into. One of them was apple muffins. I took my mom's muffin recipe and tweeked it to add in my home made applesauce. My applesauce is simply made with apples and cinnamon, so no added sugar, and I kept the peels to give it a nice pink colour.

Ingredients
Dry 
1/2 cup (120mL) white flour
1 cup (240mL) whole wheat flour
1 cup (240mL) old fashion oats
1 tbsp (15mL) wheat germ
1 tsp (5mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5mL) baking soda
1/2 tbsp (7.5mL) cinnamon

Wet
2 eggs
1 cup (240mL) vanilla or plain yogurt
1/2 cup (120mL) brown sugar
1/2 cup (120mL) unsalted butter or margarine, melted
1 cup (240mL) apple sauce

Method
1. Preheat oven at 400 F
2. In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients together, set a aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix wet ingredients together.
4. Incorporate half of dry ingredients in wet mix. Repeat with other half. Do not over mix. Let sit for 5 minutes, the mixture will fluff up.
5. During that time, butter a 9"x 9" pan.
6. Put mixture in pan.
7. Bake for 20-23 minutes on middle rack. Test it with a clean knife or a toothpick by inserting it in the middle, if it comes out clean, it's ready!
8. Remove from pan and cool on a rack. Wait for the loaf to cool at room temperature before cutting it.

This recipe can easily be turned into muffins, bake them for 16-18 minutes. Makes 12-18 muffins.

Pork, Quinoa and Brussel Sprouts

This dish is delicious and simple! I just picked up pork that was on sale and mixed in a vegetable and a carb that I had at home. All three main ingredients can easily be interchanged. I just so happened to have Brussel sprouts and quinoa but this can also be done with broccoli, wild rice, chicken and your favourite spices. This recipe is also nice because you can prepare the meat and relax while it marinates for an hour. May I also suggest that you don't add salt to this dish because the marinade has plenty!

Ingredients
3 pork chops, remove fat and slice
2 tbsp (30mL) ponzu sauce
1/2 tbsp (7mL) fish sauce
2 tbsp (30mL) sesame oil
2 tbsp (30mL) rice vinegar
1 1/2 cup (360mL) quinoa
1 1/2 cup (360mL) no added salt vegetable broth
1 1/2 cup (360mL) water
black pepper
1 bay leaf
3 cups (720mL) frozen Brussel sprouts, thawed and sliced in half
black pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne
1 tbsp margarine, optional

Method
1. In a medium bowl, mix the pork, ponzu, fish sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar. Let marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
2. Just before the pork is done marinating, measure your quinoa, vegetable broth and water in a medium pot. Add the black pepper and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and bring down to low heat. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the liquid is all gone.
3. In a large pan or wok, cook the pork with the marinating juice on medium high heat for about 10-12 minutes or until pork is cooked. Reserve in a bowl, covered to keep warm.
4. In the same pan or wok, cook the Brussel sprouts with black pepper and a pinch of cayenne on medium heat for about 7-8 minutes.
5. The quinoa should be ready by now. Remove the bay leaf and mix in the margarine for extra fluffiness.
6. Mix everything together in the pan or wok. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 3.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Although the weather outside is reverting to summer temperature, I'm already in fall season cooking mode.  Stews always warm me up and smell so good while they cook.  You can pretty much put any vegetables to your liking in with the beef and it will taste great no matter what! This is our slow cooker version (a mix of my mom's and this recipe) because it's always easier to set it and forget it. Also, since we chose a leaner piece of meat than the usual stew meat, we were able to skip the browning step at the beginning; the beef was still extremely tender and flavourful at the end.

Ingredients
1/4 cup (60mL) all-purpose flour
pinch salt
1 tsp (5mL) black pepper
1/2 tsp (2.5mL) dried thyme
1 1/2-2lbs sirloin tip roast, cubed
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp (5mL) paprika
1 tsp (5mL) Worcestershire sauce
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
4 medium potatoes, washed and cubed
4 carrots, largely sliced
3 celery stalks, largely sliced
2 cups (480mL) mushroom, washed and whole
3 1/2 cups (900mL) no salt beef broth
2 bay leaves

Method
1. In a small bowl mix the flour, salt and black pepper. In a 6-quart slow cooker, coat the beef with the flour mixture.
2. Add the garlic, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery and mushrooms in the slow cooker. Mix well.
3. Add the broth and the bay leaves.
4. Cook for 10-12 hours on low or 4 to 6 hours on high.

Serves 6.

Beet Soup with Homemade Garlic Croutons

I had leftover cooked beets that were about to go bad and since I have no idea what else to do with beets other than pickle them or make a soup, I made a soup (inspired by this recipe). It's less time consuming and I figured it would go great with my croutons! They add nice flavour and texture to the soup.

How I cook my beets
I remove the greens and the root so the beets become round-ish, and I wrap them up in foil. I cook them directly on the rack at 350 F for 30-75 minutes, depending on the size, or until a fork easily goes through it. A medium beet will take about one hour. I them let them cool for 10 minutes and unwrap them. Now you have two choices to keep your hands clean, you either use a sharp knife and a fork or a pair of medical gloves to remove the skin, it will peel off quite easily. You can keep the beets in the refrigerator for up to a week, incorporating them in salads, soups or eating them on their own as the vegetable in your meal.

My homemade croutons
Preheat your oven at 350 F. Take whatever is left of your stale bread; the better the bread, the better the croutons. Slice and apply margarine or butter to one side of the slice. Now, cut the slices into equally sized cubes. Place the cubes on a cooking sheet with the butter side up, and sprinkle whatever spice you prefer on it. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until golden-brown and crispy.

Ingredients for the soup
7-8 medium beets, cooked
2 potatoes, washed
olive oil
1 medium to large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp yellow curry powder
3 1/2 cups (900mL) no salt beef broth
1 tbsp honey
1 pinch of salt, optional
1 cup milk
chopped chives and croutons as garnish

Method
1. Cube the beets and the potatoes the same size.
2. In a large pot (holding a minimum of 6 liters), heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and curry powder, cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the beets and the potatoes, cook for another 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the broth, the honey and the optional pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat so the soup simmers for about 30-45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stir occasionally.
4. When ready, remove the pot from the heat and put it on a heat resistant flat surface. Use a hand blender to puree the soup*. Once smooth, add the milk to thin it out to the desired consistency. 

5. Serve the soup with the croutons and chives as garnish. Enjoy!

Serves 5-6.

*This can also be done in batches in a blender, but the soup has to be cooled first and reheated afterwards.