Week 26: A gift from Jamie

This week I am going to talk about a cooking class that Jamie gave me for being the best husband and father in the world! Actually since the gift was a cooking class she kind of gave the gift to herself;-) Jamie thought that i could use some inspiration since I am half way through the year and need to refocus my efforts for the next 6 months. She got me a cooking class at The Dirty Apron. There were so many options that i had a hard time choosing but in the end I settled on a seafood class. If you enjoy food and cooking I would highly recommend taking a class at The Dirty Apron. The Chef teaching us was excellent and very helpful and the rest of the staff were also great. The free flowing wine did not hurt either;-)

I am not going to go over the recipes here since I feel like that would be cheating or something like that. I will go over the menu and post the picture. We started the night by making Mussels Congolaise which are from Chambar (one of our fav restaurants in town). This dish has an excellent tomato coconut cream sauce that is perfect for dipping your bread.

For the second course we made maple seared scallops with a warm chorizo and kalamata olive ragout and a pea coulis. This dish surprised me because I do not like olives yet I ate all of the ragout. I am pretty sure it was because the chorizo was so delicious that it covered the yucky olives. I could have done with out the pea coulis it was too sweet and too pea-flavoured to be truly enjoyed. The maple seared scallops were amazing and so simple. Just let the scallops soak in a cm or so of maple syrup for 10 minutes and that is it. 

The final course we prepared was a pan roasted halibut on a bed of sauteed spinach and crushed fingerling potatoes with a charred tomato vinaigrette. There is really nothing more to say about this dish then it was superb!

The dessert course was prepared for us because we did not have the time to do it. It consisted of a cardamom, caramel poached pear with vanilla ice cream and a chocolate sauce. After they poached the pear they took out the core and seeds with a melon baller and piped the ice cream inside. In a word, divine.

Week 25: Garlic Scape Pesto

I have a quick confession to make about this week's post, I have tried to make garlic scape pesto before but have never had any success until now. Several years ago while Jamie and I were touring around the Okanagan we stopped by to see our friends Niki and Nick. While we were there they made some yummy garlic scape pesto. It was our first introduction to garlic scapes and since then we have bought them whenever they are at our local farmers market. The problem has been that every time I have tried to recreate the pesto it has flopped. The taste has usually been there but the texture is all wrong. So this past week I spent some time talking to the nice lady at the farmers market and she gave me some good advice on how to select the scapes, etc for pesto. 

Here is the recipe I used it is a garlic scape and almond pesto and it was delicious. 

10 garlic scapes, finely chopped

1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)

1/3 cup slivered almonds (I used whole almonds that I roughly chopped and toasted)

About 1/2 cup olive oil

Salt to taste

Prepare like any other pesto. Add everything to a processor and blend. 

Mark's thoughts: Finally! It tasted good and had the correct texture.

Jamie's thoughts: Delicious! Luca liked it too.

Before I go I want to give a quick shout out to Niki's farm Rootdown Organic they are in Pemberton and you can find them at the Farmers Market on Sundays in Kits.

Week 24: Tex-Mex potato salad

Last week the Vancouver Sun had several potato salad recipes that looked pretty good. Now for a lot of people potato salad is nothing new but I am personally NOT a fan of potato salad and I have never made one and have only eaten it on the odd occasion. The exception to this would be the super yummy octopus and potato salad we used to get in Italy which I hope to recreate this summer;-) 

So this week I made the Tex-Mex mixed mini potato salad. Here are the ingredients

1 1/2 pounds mixed mini potatoes
1/3 cup olive oil 
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce (I used Frank's Hot Sauce)
Salt to taste
3/4 cup fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup diced celery (I left this out, I am not a fan of celery in a salad)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 

Cut each potato lengthwise and quarter. Gently boil until just tender. Drain and cool to room temperature. 
Place the oil, cumin, garlic, chili powder, lime zest and juice, orange juice and hot sauce in a large bowl and whisk to combine. 
Add potatoes and the rest of the ingredients and toss to cover. 


Mark's thoughts: Not being a potato salad lover I was not sure about this but it turned out quite nice. Another good summer salad especially when my burlap sack potatoes are ready.


Jamie's thoughts: Nice change from regular potato.

I really enjoyed the colours in the salad and the freshly poured Black and Tan in the lower part of the image;-)

Week 23: Cioppino

The last few times I have been out to eat I have ordered soup. Now for most people this is a stupid statement but for me it is quite profound because I never order soup out. Actually I really do not eat a lot of soup so it is kind of surprising that I would order it. What I have found though is that I have been having some super yummy soups so I decided that I wanted to try recreating this cioppino I had in North Van. 

I found a nice recipe on the Food Network website and made a few changes along the way. 

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
3 large shallots, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups dry white wine (I did not have any wine so I left it out)
5 cups fish stock (I used veggie stock and it was fine)
1 bay leaf

Here is what they suggested for seafood
1 pound manila clams, scrubbed
1 pound mussels, scrubbed, debearded
1 pound uncooked large shrimp peeled and deveined
1 1/2 pounds assorted firm-fleshed fish fillets such as halibut or salmon, cut into 2-inch chunks

I used
1 dungeness crab
1 lobster
1 lb of fresh BC spot prawns
1/2 lb of new potatoes


The nice thing about this recipe is that it was simple enough to make any night of the week. Start by sauteing the the onion, fennel and shallots in a heavy sauce pan for about 10 mins. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and continue sauteing for approx 2 mins. Now add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, wine, stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until flavours blend about 30 mins. Now I added the crab and lobster and let them cook for about 8 min. Finally I added the spot prawns for the last 2 mins.

Mark's thoughts: A very nice, hearty soup. I overcooked the lobster tail a little but but the rest was just right. Next time I will throw the lobster tail in a little later.


Jamie's thoughts: Messy but tasty.

 

Week 22: Done with hiatus

I have not updated the blog in a month or so and in a lame attempt to not look lazy I will blame any of the following

1) Vacation
2 Stanley Cup Finals
3) Last month before returning to work
4) Nice weather

The last one is a joke since anyone living in Vancouver knows the weather has been crappy. 

We did go a little vacation to Maui and this post is about that trip. We had some nice meals while we were there but I want to write about "The Fish".

So Jayson and I went for a little fishing trip and within the first 20 minutes of setting the lines we had a fish on. Jayson took that fish and lucky for him because for the next 5 1/2 hours we did nothing but soak the gear. Jayson pulled in a nice short-billed spearfish which is a fairly rare catch off of Maui.

Jayson and the fish.

Now I know this blog is about cooking new things but since I had never had short-billed spearfish I decided to include it. To cook the fish I took the fresh filet and seasoned it with salt and pepper and a little olive oil then I dropped it right on the grill and it was amazing. The fish had a nice mild flavour and a wonderful texture (almost like chicken).

The filets waiting to be brought home.

Week 21: Cornbread Waffles

So I am a little embarrassed about this week's post, not because of what I made, but because I have to admit that I have actually watched a reality TV show :-( For the past couple of months I have been indulging in the guilty pleasure of watching "America's Next Great Restaurant". I have to admit I really enjoy food based shows and this one had the added bonus of people with essentially no restaurant experience trying to convince investors to buy into their restaurant concept. I really thought the grilled cheese guy would go all the way. Anyway, the guy who won got to open three "soul food" restaurants in LA, Minny and NYC which is pretty cool for him. 

Now to the point I was flipping through my mom's People magazine, I only read it for the articles, and there was a recipe for cornbread waffles from the winning restaurant, Soul Daddy. I figured I have to try it not only because I watched the show but also because Jamie and I love waffles and cornbread. 


It is a simple recipe and a nice variation for Sunday breakfast. 
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup oil

Whisk all of the dry ingredients and then add the wet and stir. Cook in a waffle iron and enjoy.


I did not have buttermilk so I used skim milk and added 1 Tsp lemon juice per cup. Also I made 1/2 the recipe but it was a little runny so I added about 1/4 cup of extra flour.


Mark's thoughts: Very yummy waffles a nice way to change up breakfast. Great with maple syrup or honey.


Jamie's thoughts: Liked the texture could have been fluffier.


Luca's thoughts: Since Luca is only 10 months old he could not really tell us what he thought but he did eat all the waffle bits we gave him so will say he liked them. Then again he eats everything we give him so????

Cornbread waffles and maple syrup. South meets north I guess...

Week 20: Red beans and rice???

So this week I had several things on the schedule one of them being red beans and rice. Now I thought that this would be a great meal for us it has everything a person could want but in the end it was not really our cup of tea. I found a veggie version of this Creole classic on The Bicycle Chef. Since none of us (even Luca) liked this dish I will leave it to you to follow the link and make it if you want. I should note that this is not a case of the dish tasting bad it was just a flavour profile that we did not like. Do you like how  dropped the "flavour profile" like I was some host on The Food Network;-)

This week was also my mother's birthday and since they were going to be in town for a visit I decided to make her a nice meal. I made a lovely rack of lamb on the BBQ with a herb rub and a balsamic reduction. Since this was not technically a "new" recipe I won't go into the details. What I will talk about is the dessert I made. Now anyone who knows my mother knows she loves chocolate almost as much as she loves her 2nd son. So I wanted to make her something super yummy and super chocolate-y. I found a recipe for chocolate raspberry cake and it did not disappoint.

Here is what you will need

Chocolate Cake

12 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa (80 ml)

Raspberry Filling

1 cup raspberry jam
4 cups fresh raspberries

Chocolate Mousse

2 cups 35% cream
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup soft butter
5 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

This recipe was a little intimidating when I first looked at it but once I got going it was not so bad. To make the cake start by preheating the oven to 350'C and butter two 9 inch pans. I did not have 9 inch pans so I used a large pyrex pan. It also recommended lining the bottom of the pan with parchment. 
Beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, then sift and fold in the cocoa with a spatula. 
Beat egg whites until firm peaks form and then slowly add it to the chocolate mixture in 3-4 batches.
Add the batter to the cake pan and bake in the middle of the oven for ~20 mins or until it springs back when touched. 

The raspberry filling was super easy, just melt the jam and then gently stir in the raspberries. Since it is not raspberry season I used frozen berries and then worked very well.

Finally the mousse, boil the cream in a saucepan then remove from heat. Add the chocolate and let stand for a couple minutes. Whisk the ganache until smooth then add butter and let cool to room temperature. 
Beat egg whites to soft peak. Add sugar and continue to firm peak stage. Slowly add this to the ganache and mix gently. Keep in the fridge for an hour. 

Assemble the cake by putting a layer of mousse on the first layer of cake. Top this with some raspberry sauce and then add the other layer of cake. Repeat and you are done. 

Here are a couple of notes, first these ingredients make a boat load of mousse so either cut it in half or use half of it and save half for a snack the next day;-). Second, my mousse was a little runny so I would leave it in the fridge a little longer. Finally, the cake was a little underdone in the middle (might have been the big pan) so I cooked it for another 10-12 mins after it was done. 

Mark's thoughts: In the end it did not look at good but it tasted yummy.

Jamie's thoughts: I think she thought it was yummy but that the mousse was not that great.

Looks can be deceiving, it was much tastier then you think...

 

Week 19: Nutella brownies and Mothers Day

I have a couple of recipes to talk about this week but I forgot to take some pics but I am sure you have seen brownies and frittata before. I will start with yummy Nutella Brownies I made. I found this recipe on www.BigOven.com which has a handy app for my iPhone. 

Here is what you will need. 
1/2 cup flour
1/4tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup of Nutella (how could you go wrong with a cup of Nutella)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of melted butter, cooled slightly


As you can see from the ingredients these are low fat brownies;-)

Preheat the oven to 325'C and either line a baking pan with parchment of coat with butter. 
Combine the salt and flour in a bowl. 
In another bowl beat the eggs, Nutella, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Alternatively add flour mix and butter and continue to mix.
Scrape into pan and bake for approx 30-35 mins. A toothpick should come out with some crumbs.


We had our brownies with vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream. To help us enjoy the brownies we had our friends from the Son, Sea and Stars blog over for dinner. Here is what everyone thought.


Mark's thoughts: With a cup of Nutella and 1/2 cup of butter there is no possible way this recipe would fail.


Jamie's thoughts: She enjoyed them but did not like to hear about the cup of Nutella and 1/2 cup of butter.


Son's thoughts: Really tasty.


Sea's thoughts: 85 thumbs up.


Star's thoughts: Well Star is not even 2 yet so it is hard for her to tell us what she thought but since she was climbing all over her mom to get at the bowl of brownie and ice cream I will take that as a good thing.


Yarmay's thoughts: 2 tongues up.


AJB's thoughts: Down home good.




This past week was also Jamie's first mothers day so I wanted to make something new for breakfast. I found a yummy looking mushroom and poblano pepper frittata on Epicurious and thought we would try it out. Here is what it called for

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces assorted mushrooms (I used crimini shiitake), thinly sliced
1 large fresh poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, thinly sliced into strips
1 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup chopped chives
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup crumbled low-fat or fat-free feta

This was a pretty standard frittata, I pan fried the mushrooms, pepper and scallions and then added the egg mixture. The egg mixture included the eggs, cilantro and cumin. Once this was cooked on the one side I put it under the broiler to finish it off. I added the feta about half way through the cooking under the broiler to slightly melt it.


Mark's thoughts: I felt that 1/2 a tsp might have been too much cumin for a mild flavoured frittata otherwise it was a very nice dish.


Jamie's thoughts: She seemed to enjoy it although I did not ask for her thoughts directly so???

Week 18: Thai Dragon Bowl

This week I dug back into the Rebar cookbook (because we just had lunch there) and took a stab at a Dragon Bowl. I have had "Dragon Bowls" at a couple of restaurants and really enjoyed them so I was looking forward to trying it out at home. Here are the ingredients

8 cups veggie stock
3 lemongrass stalks
3 Tbsp minced ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp red curry paste (I used 1 Tbsp but it is up to you)
1 oz palm sugar (I used 1 Tbsp of brown sugar)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 cup coconut milk
1 lime, juiced
1/3 lb rice noodles medium width (I used skinny noodles)
1/2 block firm tofu (I forgot to get tofu so left it out)
4 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
6 oz snow peas (these are not in season so I left them out)
1 bunch scallions, minced
4 tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1/2 cup Thai basil leaves, torn 
sambal oelek, on the side


Heat the stock and add the lemongrass, ginger and garlic. Let this mixture simmer for 15 mins or so then strain to remove the chunks and add the stock back to the pot. 


Stir curry paste, sugar, soy and fish sauces into the stock and simmer for 5 mins. Add coconut milk and lime juice and continue to simmer. 


Add rice noodles, tofu and lime leaves. Cook until the noodles are tender. At this point you are supposed to add the snow peas and the rest of the ingredients. Serve in large bowls with whatever sides you would like.

In the cookbook they offer numerous suggestions for variations, etc for the dragon bowl. I decided to roast a sweet potato and pan fry some shitake mushrooms. For the sweet potato I made a simple sauce with the following
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp ginger
1 garlic clove, minced


I cubed the sweet potato and tossed them in with all the ingredients. I roasted this in the oven until the sweet potatoes were cooked. 

For the mushrooms I sliced them and throw them into a frying pan with some olive oil. Once they were just abut cooked I added 1-2 Tbsp of soy sauce and that was it.

Mark's thoughts: I very nice meal which was quite easy to whip off. I think it will become a regular meal for us I will just change the toppings for time to time.

Jamie's thoughts: Excellent!

Week 17: Lunch at Rebar

This week was short for us with Easter and a trip to the island so I did not get a chance to cook something new but we did go to Rebar in Victoria and so I ordered something new. I ordered this very nice spicy, peanut soup with sweet potatoes. I almost never order soup at a restaurant for a couple reasons, first who wants to eat soup at a restaurant? and second they usually have yucky flavours like cauliflower and vomit and things like that. Anyway, the soup was great and the little cornbread muffin that came with it was a very nice addition. 

Lame post I know but what is a guy to do?