Salmon and Soba and Soy Beans, oh my !

 

This is one of those recipes that I wanted to try as soon as I saw it !
I knew I would love it ... and I was right !!

This is so delicious.

My family

agrees.

I didn't dress the salad, as the dressing had wasabi in it and I thought it might be a bit spicy for the kids.  Jono (10) did try it though and said it wasn't too spicy.  But, he didn't dress his salad with it.  The kids just had straight soy sauce as their dressing.

I made a few changes to the original recipe too.  It said it served two and I was feeding four so I added a bed of spinach, cooked more noodles and did more salmon.  I reduced the amount of edamame, mostly because I got tired of shelling them, but also because one cup seemed like enough. Also, I used cooked edamame that had been frozen and thawed.  Oh, and I reduced the amount of wasabi in the dressing.  Here's how I did mine ...

1 nice piece of sashimi grade salmon, sliced

250g soba noodles

1 cup cooked edamame (soy beans), shelled

1 cup watercress, leaves trimmed and washed

2 cups baby spinach leaves, washed

6 radishes, thinly sliced

3 spring onions, chopped small

1 tablespoon wasabi paste

2 tablespoons peanut oil

sesame oil ... I just did a few drops 

2 tablespoons soy sauce

sesame seeds

Bring a pot of water to the boil over high heat.  Cook the soba noodles.  Drain, rinse under cool water and set aside.  

In a big salad bowl, mix spinach, edamame, watercress, radishes, spring onions and soba noodles.  

Whisk wasabi paste, peanut oil, sesame oil and soy sauce.  

To serve, put salad on plate, top with salmon slices, sprinkle with sesame seeds and then dress with wasabi dressing or plain soy sauce.  

So good !!!

Chicken and Beans on Rice

This was delicious.  Easy too.  I found the recipe here.  I did what she did with minor alterations like, one less chicken breast because I always find these sorts of chicken dishes have to much chicken. I also added rice and toppings.  Oh, and I mixed all the stuff together before adding to crock pot ...

Anyway, here's my way ...

3 raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (400g/15oz) can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (400g/15oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (400g/15oz) cans of diced tomatoes
frozen corn, I didn't measure ...
1 (340g/12oz) jar of salsa

to serve ...
avocado, chopped
grated cheese, i used a mexican blend
rice or tortillas or corn chips
sour cream or greek yoghurt (didn't have any in the house this time but will use next time)

Put chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker (crock pot).

In a separate bowl, mix other ingredients.  I just added the corn til it seemed a reasonable amount. Pour over chicken.  Cook on low for 5-7 hours.  I did the full 7 hours then turned it on 'keep warm' til we were ready to eat a few hours later.  When I stirred the mixture up when we were ready to eat, the chicken just broke into pieces! 

Serve on top of rice, or in a tortilla or with corn chips.  Top with avocado, grated cheese and sour cream ...

This was a BIG HIT with the whole family ! And it made lots.  Our family of four ate it for diner one night & everyone had seconds.  Two of us are having it for lunch today.  And there is still enough for lunch tomorrow!

Salpicon

This is a great dish to make with really cheap, tough cuts of meat. It's especially nice as a summer dish since it isn't hot and the citrus gives it a nice refreshing splash. I usually serve it with rice but I think it would be delicious on a bed of butter lettuce with a few wedges of tomato. Or wrapped in tortillas! Ok, I'm getting hungry...

Salpicon:

1lb beef in largish pieces
5g beef bouillon powder
1 small green pepper, minced
1 small onion, minced
2-3 limes, juiced
1T Worcestershire sauce

Boil the beef with the bouillon in water for 30 minutes, or until meat is cooked all the way through. Remove from liquid, let cool. With your fingers, separate the meat from the tough connective tissue. If the pieces of meat are too big, you can chop it roughly with a knife or food processor. Add remaining ingredients, adjust seasoning to taste. 

Serves 4

Tomatoey Spinach and Couscous Bake

Found this recipe on a new blog that I've recently discovered called The Naked Kitchen.  I was going to make it just the way the recipe called for but it had some specialty ingredients that I didn't have, a few steps I thought unnecessary and I thought it could use some mushrooms.  So ... here is my version.  

Ingredients:

1&1/4 cups dry whole wheat couscous

2 cups water

Panko Breadcrumbs (I didn't measure but I'd say it was less than 1/4 of a cup)

5 cups raw baby spinach leaves, (I roughly chopped mine but that's personal preference)

2 cans (400g each) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

olive oil, for sauteing 

fresh oregano, basil and parsley ... a handful or so of each, washed and chopped

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

salt, a couple of pinches

3 sliced mushrooms ... unless your kids love 'em and then you can use more.  (mushrooms are the one thing that both of our kids despise and I often, but not always, take pity on them and do half with, half without ... tonight was one of the times I decided to go half and half.)

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350F/180C 

Saute onions and garlic in a blub of olive oil til onions are soft and beginning to be see through. Add cans of tomatoes, juice and all.  Add herbs.  Cook maybe 8 - 10 minutes, til sauce has reduced and thickened just a little bit.  Add spinach and stir through sauce ... remove from heat.  This is just to get the spinach to wilt a little bit. 

While the onions and garlic are sauteing, put the water in a separate pot over high heat and bring to the boil.  Add couscous and a pinch of salt, give the pot a little shake to stir it, cover and remove from heat.  Let sit a few minutes, fluff with a fork and set aside.  

Mix couscous and tomato mixture together in a baking dish.  Lay mushroom slices flat (if using).  Top with cheese and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake uncovered 25 minutes (or til cheese is melted and starting to brown).  Serve hot.

Roasted Garlic & Eggplant Dip with Almond Crackers

I picked an eggplant out of my garden this morning and went looking for a recipe to make a garlic eggplant dip. I found this recipe on pinterest ... I watched the video, took a couple notes and had it in the oven 10 minutes later !

While the eggplant was roasting, I went back to pinterest (my starting point for any recipe search these days!) and found an interesting looking recipe for crackers made out of almond meal. They looked easy to make. They were. 

I'll just write down the steps for the eggplant and then I'll tell you how to do the crackers.  Watch the video for the dip ... it's quite good and it's easier to understand than the written instructions will be.  And it cracks me up at the end when they just stand there munching on the crunchy crackers !

For the dip ... no real measurements as you'll see in the video.
Eggplant
Garlic cloves
Green chilli, I took the seeds out of mine and sliced them long
Olive oil
Salt
Lemon, for squeezing
Red Onion, finely diced
Fresh Coriander (Cilantro), chopped

Preheat oven to 230C/450F.

Make four long slits down the length of the eggplant.  Don't cut all the way through but go down far enough that you can stick stuff inside it.  I had to slice my garlic to fit inside the slits but in the video they leave them whole.  Put garlic and green chilli into the slits.  Put eggplant on a piece of foil and then drizzle eggplant with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Wrap up foil tightly.  Place in a small casserole dish and bake for 1 hour.  

When done baking, immediately remove eggplant from foil and put into the casserole dish.  Score skin on underside and then mash everything with a potato masher ... yep, skin and all !  Set aside to cool.

When cool, add red onion and coriander.  Season with salt and lemon juice til it's to your liking.

For the crackers ... 
I found this recipe on Home Cooking In Montana and she found it on Caveman Food.

1 cup almond meal
1 egg white
salt

Preheat oven to 350F/180C (although, I think I might go a bit cooler next time ... maybe 160/170)

Mix almond meal, egg white and pinch of salt.  Mix with a fork.  Roll into a ball.  If it's too sticky, add a bit more almond meal.  Put ball between two pieces of baking paper and roll out thin.  Cut (I used a pizza cutter) into squares and then lay on a baking tray.  I used the baking tray upside down because the crackers hung over the edge a bit ...

Bake 5-8 minutes or til crackers are golden.  Watch them towards the end because they brown up real quick !

Macaroons {Cherry Vanilla & Chocolate Raspberry}

My friend Jaylen, the same Jaylen who taught me to make gnocchi (!!) taught me how to make macaroons yesterday.  We made two flavors and they were both AMAZINGLY delicious !! 

None of us could decide which ones we liked better ... Now, THAT is a good thing !


**
We based our macaroons on this recipe.  I'll post both recipes with our modifications ...

**

Cherry Vanilla
175g icing sugar
125g almond meal

3 large egg whites

75g caster sugar

maraschino cherry juice

150g butter, softened

75g icing sugar (yeah, more ... )

pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F  or fan forced140°C/284°F

Process the (175g only) icing sugar and almond meal in a food processor to a very fine mixture, then sift into a bowl.  (I forgot to sift for the Cherry Vanilla ones and it made no difference.)

I used my electric mixer to whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar until thick and glossy.  I used maraschino cherry juice to flavor.  I stirred this in here.  Probably used 3 teaspoons in the end but we just kept adding a little bit and tasting.

Fold half the almond and icing sugar mixture into the meringue and mix well. Add the remaining half, making sure you use a spatula to cut and fold the mixture until it is shiny and has a thick, ribbon-like consistency as it falls from the spatula. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle.

Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Pipe small rounds of the macaroon mixture, about 3cm across, onto the baking sheets. Give the baking sheets a couple of sharp taps on the work surface to ensure a good ‘foot’. Leave to stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to form a slight skin. This is important – you should be able to touch them lightly without any mixture sticking to your finger. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. (you need to leave them for quite a while or they will break when you try to take them off the baking paper.)

Meanwhile, make the filling. I used my electric mixer to beat the butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the icing sugar.  Add vanilla extract.  Again, we just tasted ... but I think we started with 1/2 a teaspoon and went from there.

Once the cookie part is cooled, ice it and put another one on top ... !!

Chocolate Raspberry

175g icing sugar
125g almond meal

3 large egg whites

75g caster sugar

cocoa powder, we used a raw one

150g butter, softened

75g icing sugar (yeah, more ... )

raspberry essence

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F  or fan forced140°C/284°F

Process the (175g only) icing sugar almond meal, and cocoa powder in a food processor to a very fine mixture, then sift into a bowl. I don't know how much cocoa powder we added.  We did it til it looked 'chocolaty' and then later, when we tasted it, we added more cocoa powder til it tasted right.

I used my electric mixer to whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar until thick and glossy. 

Fold half the almond, icing sugar and cocoa mixture into the meringue and mix well. Add the remaining half, making sure you use a spatula to cut and fold the mixture until it is shiny and has a thick, ribbon-like consistency as it falls from the spatula. This is where we tasted and added more cocoa.  Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle.

Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Pipe small rounds of the macaroon mixture, about 3cm across, onto the baking sheets. Give the baking sheets a couple of sharp taps on the work surface to ensure a good ‘foot’. Leave to stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to form a slight skin. This is important – you should be able to touch them lightly without any mixture sticking to your finger. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. (you need to leave them for quite a while or they will break when you try to take them off the baking paper.)

Meanwhile, make the filling. I used my electric mixer to beat the butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the icing sugar.  Add raspberry essence.  Again, we just tasted ... but I think we started with 1/2 a teaspoon and went from there.

Once the cookie part is cooled, ice it and put another one on top ... !!

**

So, there you have it !  Macaroons !  Yum.  Can't wait to experiment with more flavors !! 

 I have Cherry Brandy one in mind ... and a bottle of Midori that would like to come to the party !!

Pickled Beets

I have always loved pickled beets. It is a love that I have passed to my children. My boys will eat pickled beets either until I put the jar away or they are all gone! So, I was delighted when I found, by taste-test, that my mother in law pickles the best beets. And as always, was willing to share her recipe. Here you go.

2 c. beets (ends cut and chopped)
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp whole cloves

Chop the ends off the beets. I like little beets that you can boil and pickle whole, but if they're big, then feel free to cut them in half, or even quarters, basically a big bite sized piece. Put them into a pan of cold water and bring to a boil, and boil until tender.











Place all the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Put the beets into a quart jar, then pour the liquid on top. Then put a lid on. Keep in the fridge and try to control yourself as long as you can. When you finally crack that jar and eat them, you're going to be glad you waited.

Tapioca Pudding

I LOVE tapioca pudding !!  My Mom used to make it when I was a kid.  She used the tapioca pudding packs you can get in the States but I can't get them here.  I wanted to try my hand at making it.  It was easy and most of all, delicious, just like I remembered it !

Here's how I made it.

3 cups milk

1/3 cup small pearl tapioca

2 egg yolks

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Put 1 cup of milk and the tapioca into the pan you are going to cook it in.  Let sit for one hour (no heat, you're just soaking the tapioca)  

Whisk in egg yolks, salt sugar and the other 2 cups of milk.  

Slowly bring the mixture to to a boil over medium heat.  Stir constantly.  As soon as it starts boiling (not a rolling boil, just the start of a boil!) reduce the heat and simmer til tapioca is fully cooked, maybe 20 minutes or so.  The tapioca beads will become bigger and see through and the 'custard' will become quick thick.  Taste as you go and stop when it's to your liking.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Cool slightly and serve.

How to pop {POPCORN} in a pan

Ok ... this is a little bit embarrassing but I guess videos of yourself talking to a camera always are ! I made this AGES AGO when I had just learned this method of pop corn popping. I made it so that my friend Shay could see how easy it is !  You'll hear that I am talking to her in the video.  I thought it might be fun to post here ... this makes the best popcorn ! 

A couple of things I have tweaked since this video ... 

1.  I don't use olive oil anymore.  I use canola.  It's much lighter.  I top my daughters bowl with butter, my sons with hot sauce,  and mine I just sprinkle with salt. 

2.  I turn the heat down to medium ... I never ever have it burn anymore.  EVER.  Perfect popcorn, every time.

Heaven in a Cookie Sandwich

I first tried this cookie a year or two ago.  I didn't realize I hadn't posted the recipe here until I went to make them recently and they weren't here !!!  Time to remedy that !  I found this recipe on Every Last Cookie ... it's the blog of a girl who is baking her way through the Martha Stewart's Cookies book.  Grand idea, I say !

They are not difficult to make.  Really, the only thing different to making any other cookie is the extra step of putting the cream cheese icing between two cookies.  It is WELL WORTH the little bit of extra effort !  

She reckons this makes about 25 cookie sandwiches ... I don't think I've ever gotten 25, maybe I make them a bit bigger than her.

Here's how I did mine ...

For the cookies ...
1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar (this is just regular white sugar)

225g (1/2 lb) butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 and 1/2 cups finely grated carrots (if you have a food processor, use it !)

1 cup raisins

For the cream cheese icing ...

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup icing (confectioners) sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

I used my electric mixer to combine sugars and butter 'til they were light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well combined. 

In a separate bowl - sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger together.  Stir.  Gradually add this mixture to the butter mixture.  Mix on a low speed until just blended.  Mix in oats, carrots and raisins.  Chill in fridge til firm, at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and line baking sheets with whatever you use to keep the cookies from sticking.  I like baking paper ...

Using a 1/2 ounce ice cream scoop, or a spoon, but the ice cream scoop makes it super easy, scoop dough onto baking sheets.  Bake between 12 and 15 minutes till lightly browned.  Transfer to wire rack to cool. 

While the cookies are cooling, make your icing.  Mix all ingredients until smooth and well blended.

Once cooled, spread one cookie with icing and then top with another cookie.  And that's it ! 

Sopa de Queso

Ok, this is going to be the worst recipe ever for a really good soup. For one thing, if you don't live in Nicaragua, you're going to have to do some serious substituting. For another, I took measurements of no things while I was learning how to make this or making it myself. So everything in here is my best guestimate. I'm hoping someone (Bonnie) will make this and tell me how they tweaked it!

For the Arepas:

2 cups maseca (instant corn flour)
Water
1 cup shredded cheese*
Salt
1/2 tomato, minced finely
1/2 chiltoma (small green pepper can be substituted), minced finely
1/4 med onion, minced finely

Mix flour and water to make a soft dough. Kneed until smooth. Incorporate the cheese and veg. Adjust seasoning until it tastes good. You can use chicken flavored bouillon instead of, or in addition to, the salt. Divide and make into 2.5" diameter coasters. Fry in hot oil until nicely golden. It took longer than I thought to fry them because you have to let the corn cook all the way through.


*Notes on cheese. Nicaraguan cheese is semi-hard and very salty. I asked what it was called so I could look for it in an international store in the States. It's called cheese, they said to me. Oh, thanks guys. In any case, the closest substitution I can think of is to maybe mix cheddar and parmesan. Or really just use whatever cheese you fancy. 

For the Soup:

3-4 cups water
2 packets sopa Maggi (instant soup mix, chicken flavored)
1/2 tomato, minced finely
1/2 chiltoma, minced finely
1/4 med onion, minced finely (so cut up one whole tomato, etc. and use half for the cheesy things and half for the soup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch cilanto or mint, minced
2 chayote, peeled, seed removed, and diced (Google tells me this is a kind of squash. If you do find it, rub a little oil on your hands before you peel it or they will be brown all day)
1 ripe plantain, wash, remove the ends and cut into chunks but not peeled
1/3 cup maseca
Ayote (this is a red colorant), Optional
1/2 cup cream or milk

Put the water on to boil in a stock pot. Add the soup mix and minced veg mixture. Chuck in the chayote and plantains (the original soup doesn't have veggies but I prefer to add them, so you can feel free to substitute or omit altogether). When veggies are nearly done, mix the corn flour with a little water and ayote until smooth and add to the soup along with the cilantro. Adjust seasoning to taste. Before serving, stir in the cream.

To serve:

Put one or two fried cheesy things in a bowl, top with soup. Bask in the glow of compliments as your family scarfs down this deliciousness.

Super Easy Salsa

 

I've been trying to cook out of the pantry this week and I needed some salsa to go with our burrito bowls the other night.  I did a bit of research on line and then threw this together ...

2 x 400g (14oz) cans of tomatoes

1 small can of green chillies

1 small red onion, cut into 8chunks

whole garlic cloves, to taste

1 cup fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

1/2 tsp cumin, more or less to taste

juice of one lime

1/4 tsp sugar

Put everything but the tomatoes and chillies into a food processor or blender.  Pulse it til it's chopped up.  Add the tomatoes and chillies and pulse til it's as smooth or chunky as you like.  That's it.  So easy.  So yummy. 

Used the leftovers in chicken chimichangas last night !

Add Some Proscuitto to That !

Remember the Silverbeet, Pink Lady and Gruyere Toasted Sandwich recipe I posted a a couple of months ago ?  Have you tried it yet ?  Well, if not ... you should try this one instead !! 

It's basically the same as the other one with some additions ... (prosciutto, shredded carrot, mushrooms and provolone cheese)

Here's what I did ...

Silverbeet, a whole big bunch (any green would be suitable!)
Shallots, finely diced
Shredded Carrot (I probably won't do this again, but it needed to be used up so I threw it in)
Mushrooms, sliced
3 or 4 slices of Prosciutto, chopped
Fuji apple, thinly sliced
Wholegrain mustard
Gruyere cheese, grated
Provolone cheese, grated
Wholewheat, grain bread

I used a whole big bunch of silverbeet.  This will seem like heaps !  It's ok.  It wilts so much !

Heat up your sandwich press.

Cut out the stems of the silverbeet and chop it up.  Sautee shallots and silverbeet (and carrots if using) in a bit of olive oil. Add prosciutto, cook to your desired crispness. 

To assemble the sandwich ... Bread, mustard, cheese, apple, mushrooms silverbeet, cheese, mustard and bread.  (The last recipe had a drizzle of olive oil and salt on the outside of the bread. I didn't bother with that last time and there was no difference in taste !)

Put in sandwich press and cook until desired toasty-ness of bread and melty-ness of cheese has been achieved.

Indio Viejo

This recipe is well over 600 years old, which makes my inner history nerd extremely happy. Also, it's delicious, so my mouth is pretty jazzed as well. It's basically a thick meat stew that can be made with any or all of beef, chicken, and pork. Normally this is served with rice and tortillas or boiled green bananas, 'cause there is no such thing as too much starch.

1 whole chicken breast, cut into chunks
1/2 lb soft beef, like flank steak or skirt steak
1 packet chicken consume (10g or possibly one cube of bouillon)
1 small onion chopped fine
Bunch mint chopped fine (you can substitute cilantro if you hate mint)
3T butter (or margarine if you're poor and/or lame - I am both, for the record)
1c maseca (instant corn flour, do not use corn meal)
2-3 limes

Boil chicken and beef with the consume in 3 to 4 cups of water. While cooking, skim off oogies. When meats are soft, cut up into bite sized pieces, discard bones (this is my cat's favorite part), set aside. Set cooking liquid aside to cool for later.

Melt butter in large pan, add onion and herbs, fry until onions are soft. Add meat to herb mixture, fry for a couple minutes. Meanwhile add some of the cooled meat juice to maseca, whisk until smooth.  Add maseca mixture and the rest of the juice to pan, add lime juice, adjust seasoning. Cook until maseca is smooth and no longer mealy. You may need to add more water to cook the corn without sauce becoming too thick. 

Serves 6.