lemon and poppyseed....take 2

I had a craving tonight, I'll confess it.

I wanted fresh baking. At first I thought I wanted chocolate cake....but couldn't find a quick, easy recipe. Then I thought I wanted a coffee cake....but no go.

And then I found an awesome recipe for lemon poppyseed cake. I had no intentions whatsoever of blogging this, so no progress photos, unfortunately.....but it's SO GOOD. I ate a quarter of it, and the only thing that's stopping me from eating the rest will be hubs' scorn and derision when he gets home to find I've not only baked a cake, but also eaten it too....

If you like lemons and poppyseeds, you should make it. The batter is strange (very dry), but it bakes up very nicely, so don't worry.

Fast, Easy Lemon Poppyseed Cake

(for the record, if you can hold yourself back a little longer than I did, and NOT try to cut a warm cake on a cooling rack, your cake will probably hold together a lot better....OMG....so good.........)


1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used cake flour because I'm out of all purpose)
1 teaspoon baking powder
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 t vanilla

Preparation
1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt in a bowl.

3. Beat together butter and granulated sugar in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Beat in eggs until combined. Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and poppy seeds and mix until just combined (batter is thick and does not pour)

5. Transfer batter to cake pan, smoothing top, and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean and top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. (I baked mine 27 minutes)

Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then invert onto rack.Whisk together confectioners sugar, vanilla and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth. Pour glaze over warm cake, spreading it with a spatula to drizzle over edge. Put a plate under the rack unless you'd like to lick the glaze off your counter.

Let stand until glaze is set, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. It is freaking FANTASTIC warm. I really want to eat the rest of the cake.....

Thanks for reading!

a wizard has turned me into a whale...

...and I'm still trying to decide if it's awesome or not.



A little explanation is in order first, I think.....

To understand this little saying, you have to first understand a little bit more about hubs...and his penchant for obnoxious t-shirts. While most guys his age are busily straightening ties, and tying up their dress shoes....hubs is scouring the internet for the latest and most original obnoxious t-shirts. It so happens that a guy I went to high school with is also the mastermind behind the HILARIOUS dinosaur comics web page (if you have an offbeat and slightly cerebral sense of humour, totally check it out). Turns out, he's applied his wacky sense of humour to a rather unique brand of merchandise that totally appeals to my geek hubs - obnoxious t-shirts. Last year, hubs ordered a whole bunch of these shirts and they never fail to elicit comment.

But I am totally and completely stealing this one. First, the 80s computer game throwback is fabulously snicker-worthy. And second, I have officially been turned into a whale.

Orcinus orca is my alter ego.

Unequivocably HUGE (oh yeah, I actually had someone call me that).

And apparently I have another three months of growth left. Watch out world, or I will end up beaching myself somewhere...

I think hubs is going to need to order a couples of sizes up for me. You can buy your own wacky t-shirts HERE.

In the meantime, I'm trying to stem the onslaught of poundage by eating more homemade, healthy food. And I have decided that it is time for hubs to start picking up the slack in the kitchen....every night, it is now his job to go down to the freezer, and pick something out of it, and put it in the fridge. The next night, it is MY job, to take whatever it is he defrosted, and cook something out of it (for the record, hubs is AWESOME around the house, and probably does about 90% of everything...this is my facetious little way of giving up on meal planning because I am a lazy preggo).

So, on Sunday, hubs defrosted two things - a massive package of chicken breasts, and a mystery package of what looked like grilled salmon.

It was kinda funny, because I couldn't remember the last time we grilled salmon, and I certainly couldn't remember packaging up the leftovers thusly (the salmon was in a ziploc bag...I tend to put leftovers into containers, packaged up as meals). When the salmon finally defrosted on Monday night, I opened up the bag, and immediately smelled....smoke. Turns out it wasn't grilled salmon at all.....it was hot smoked salmon my mom had brought up from New Brunswick.

A whole different kettle of fish.

I normally purchase cold smoked salmon, simply because I FREAKING LOVE IT, but in trying to be a good preggo, I've been eating less of it (okay, I lie - I'm awful, I had cold cuts and alfalfa sprouts tonight). At any rate, I don't tend to eat a lot of hot smoked salmon, and it's something you have to use judiciously, because it's a very powerful flavour. A wonderful flavour, mind you, but definitely something that can easily overwhelm a delicate dish.

I did some poking around, and came across a great base recipe on epicurious, and modified it a bit to suit my taste and ingredients. I ate mine cold (as pasta salad should be eaten) and hubs heated his up (because he is grossed out by cold pasta). The result? We were both very happy with our respective meals, and it was a great way to enjoy all that lovely smoked salmon!

Lemon Poppyseed Penne with Smoked Salmon


Dressing:
1/3 c. mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 c. sour cream
1 t dried dill
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
pepper

Pasta:
3 cups penne pasta
1 pound asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces


1 cup frozen peas
4 ounces smoked salmon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1. Whisk the dressing ingredients in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.


2. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until almost tender but still firm to bite. Add asparagus and peas and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes longer.

3. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid (I remembered this step just as I poured the last of the cooking liquid through the sieve...d'oh! A little tap water never hurt anyone....)

4. Rinse with cold water until cold. Drain well.

5. Transfer pasta and asparagus to large bowl (or back into the cooking pot if you're not being fancy...why dirty a bowl???).

6. Add smoked salmon. Mix reserved cooking liquid into dressing. Add to salad; toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours. (I didn't chill it....I am waaaay too pregnant to wait an extra hour for dinner...it tasted the same today, so I conclude that the chilling step is unnecessary).



This is a fabulous pasta salad recipe - I wouldn't hesitate to bring it to a potluck (if I knew people liked smoked salmon - otherwise, shrimp, chicken, or feta would all be good substitutes), or serve it at a brunch. YUM. It's super quick, and doesn't have to be bad for ya if you use lighter dressing ingredients. I also have discovered the BEST high fibre pasta - Catelli Smart. Normally, I hate whole wheat pasta. I know some people swear by it, but it's so chunky and gross. Not at all what pasta is supposed to be....on a whim, I tried the new high fibre white pasta....and it is surprisingly great! Obviously not up to par with homemade, or really good italian imported stuff....but considering what it is, it's a more than acceptable inclusion into the dinner rotation.

Anyway, this whale is about to swim off to bed....thanks for reading! Also, I think mother nature needs a few thumbs up for the insanely awesome weather we've been having the past few days - 25C in April is both unheard of and mind-boggling. I am loving it.

pork in whiiiiiiiiiiiiiine sauce

For some reason, I never really cook pork. We just don't eat a lot of it, and as such, I never really have it in the house.

A couple of weeks ago, pork tenderloins were on sale, so hubs picked up a couple of packages to stow away in the freezer. On Sunday, I popped one into the fridge, thinking that I would cook it Monday night.

So I didn't cook it on Monday. Or Tuesday. Or Wednesday.....but when I finally got a round to it on Thursday night ( if you're a north American germaphobe, I know that you are totally gasping in horror at the cryosealed 3 days defrosted meat....get over it...), the meal was totally worth the wait. And I didn't get poisoned....

Pork tenderloin is a super versatile cut of meat - initially, I'd been thinking of trying a Thai-inspired stir-fry (coconut milk, thai curry paste, fresh basil, fish sauce, etc.), but I still wasn't really in the mood for that....so I ended up hunting around and found a fabulous and simple recipe on Cooking Light. I highly recommend this - it's company worthy, easy to make and very tasty. I like the simplicity of the ingredients, and it was a great complement to mixed roasted white and sweet potatoes (actually, it would have been just sweet potatoes, but when I asked hubs to pick them up, they were all teeny tiny....so I supplemented).

Mixed Roasted Potatoes
4 small (or 2 large) sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 small (or 2 large) white potatoes, cubed (no need to peel)
2-3 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t sea salt
black pepper
2 t crushed rosemary
1 t cumin

1. Toss the cubed potatoes with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary and cumin.

2. Put on the bottom rack of a 400F oven. Toss every 20 minutes - cook for 40-50 minutes. The longer, the better, IMHO.



Pork au Poivre
(shamelessly ripped off of Cooking Light)
Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins, trimmed
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
Cooking spray
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry red wine
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Butterfly each pork tenderloin, cutting to, but not through, the other side.

3. Open halves, laying pork flat. Sprinkle each side of pork with 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Heat oil a large ovenproof skillet coated with cooking spray.

4. Add pork; cook for 2 minutes on each side.



5. Place the pork in a 9x13 glass pan (spray with cooking spray first) and bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 160° (slightly pink). My pork was in for closer to 20 minutes....and it was a bit pink in the middle. If you like your pork not pink, I would suggest starting with 15 minutes, and checking every five minutes after that....my tenderloins were quite thick, even butterflied.



6. While the pork is in the oven, assemble your sauce ingredients and add the wine and shallots to the pan.



Bring to a boil. Add broth and remaining ingredients to pan; stir well with a whisk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook until reduced by about half.



7. With a sharp knife, cut the pork into medallions about 1.5 cm thick. Serve with sauce.



Cooking Light tells me that one pork tenderloin should serve four people. I tell Cooking Light that perhaps they should consider testing their recipes on people who have NOT undergone gastric bypass....generally, one regular sized tenderloin will serve 2 people. Three if you are dieting.

I served this with a green salad (with parmesan on top) and the roasted potatoes above. :) YUM. The pork was very moist, the sauce was super tasty and the cumin in the potatoes added just a wee touch of exoticism that really heightened the meal. Two thumbs up from me, and hubs sarcastically told me it was 'pork-tastic' after I bugged him for feedback.

dinner for the lazy

I don't know about you, but there are some days when I get home from work, I'm tired, I'm crusty from a long bus ride and I just don't feel like making dinner.

Given that I'm still childless for the next three months, and given that hubs is amenable to pretty much any culinary endeavour...sometimes I totally and completely cop out....

As much as I love ordering in at the drop of a hat, it's a bad habit to get into, it's expensive, and it packs on the pounds a lot more than they really need to be packed on (note to self: hide scale). Not to mention all the sodium, nitrates and other crap that ends up in all that food. No good.

This 'recipe' was from one such night....I can't remember why exactly I was tired (do I seriously even need a reason?), but I wanted something totally lazy, but also still more on the healthy side than not.

I also wanted ice cream (have you tried Haagen Daaz Dulce de Leche? SO FREAKING GOOD.....get each person their own pot, because you will eat it all).

I was staring into the freezer, hoping that some sort of inspiration would strike me....and then I spotted the FULL grocery bag of blackened, shriveled, frozen bananas. Bingo.

Hubs is always buying bananas when they are on sale for cheap (like 49 cents a pound). I hate bananas. I think all fruit should be at least somewhat crunchy, so their mushy wetness just grosses me out. So since hubs can never really finish an entire bunch of bananas, he always tosses the remainders in the freezer....in the sad, futile hope that I will someday successfully make banana bread out of them (I also hate banana bread).

But you know one thing I can tolerate bananas in? SMOOTHIES!

WOOT!

So here I had discovered this bag of extremely noxious looking black appendages....and right next to it was a nice big bag of tasty frozen berries (an excellent way to mask the banana flavour). Awesome. Turns out I also had yogourt and milk.

There are about a billion reasons why you should make a smoothie, but here are just a few:
- it's easy
- it's fast
- it's kinda like ice cream
- it is a good way to use up gross frozen bananas
- you get calcium
- you get potassium
- you get fibre and antioxidants from the berries.

I like my smoothies to be pretty thick, so if you prefer a thinner or less frozen texture, consider upping the milk, or using fresh (non-frozen) fruit). Some might argue that this is breakfast fare, but for someone who is all to happy to have french toast for dinner....this is fair game for the evening meal.

Banana Berry Smoothie


2 frozen bananas (I highly recommend peeling them before freezing them - MUCH easier to deal with....whatever you do, do NOT thaw then peel. Always peel than thaw. Defrosted banana peel is VILE)
2 cups frozen mixed berries (I like these ones:


400 mL milk (about 1.5 cups)
2 4-oz containers of yogourt (I like to use berry or vanilla)

1. If your hubby (like mine), has tossed the offending bananas into the freezer unpeeled, carefully cut the peel off. Cut each banana into four. Toss into the blender. I find that frozen bananas are surprisingly easy to cut - they have a solid ice-creamy texture. They are still gross though.


2. Toss the berries into the blender.

2. Toss the bananas, berries, milk and yogourt into the blender. Blend away until smooth. Depending on your blender, you may need to stop and stir - despite its snazzy appearance, my blender has the irritating habit of whirring away so enthusiastically that it puts an air bubble in between the blades and the thing I'm trying to blend...arg).


This makes 2 huge smoothies, or four normal sized ones. I like to serve mine in a frosty beer glass.



Eat through a large bore straw or with a spoon - your choice. :) I paired this with an everything bagel and tzatziki. If you're not preggo, you may want to consider a different food combo.

because I couldn't sleep without sharing the chocolate joy

Again, I should REALLY be in bed. My preggo butt will be T-I-R-E-D tomorrow.

Especially considering I'm in a new job and should really be trying my utmost to impress all and sundry.

But I can't sleep without sharing this cake.

So here it is....from the Best of the Best of Bridge, this is what I craved. I was all set to make a much healthier dessert (a very good one!) from Self magazine. It's a lovely apple caramel strudel in phyllo, done with a creamy caramel sauce. As long as you eschew the cooking spray for butter, it's a GREAT dessert.

But then I saw this one. And it was like the helpless moth, fluttering blindly, yet oh so lovingly, toward the flame.

Must. Have. Chocolate.

This chocolate raspberry torte is really more of a cake than a torte...but it's a delicious cake. Relatively easy to make (as much as a four layer cake can be easy) and very easy to work with. Texture of the cake itself is nice and light and soft, and the chocolate sour cream ganache icing is WONDERFUL to work with. Can't go wrong with this. You can make the cake the day before, but as the filling and icing need to be refrigerated, you should probably either make sure you have lots of fridge space or do the assembly the day of.

Chocolate Raspberry Torte - from Best of Bridge


Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 500 mL (I used cake flour)
2 tsp. baking soda 10 mL
1/2 tsp. salt 2 mL
1/2 tsp. baking powder 2 mL
3 squares (1 oz. / 30 g size) unsweetened chocolate 75 g
1/2 cup butter 125 mL
2 cups light brown sugar,packed 500 mL (I only had dark brown and was out of vanilla, so I used 1.5 cups dark brown sugar and 1/2 c. vanilla bean sugar)
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream 175 mL
1/2 cup strong coffee 125 mL (used decaf)
1/2 cup coffee flavoured liqueur 125 mL (but, awful preggo that I am, I still used the booze!)

Filling:
1 cup whipping cream 250 mL
2 Tbsp. icing sugar 30 mL
1-12 oz. jar raspberry or strawberry jam 340 mL (thankfully had most of a jar of seedless raspberry jam in the fridge - woot!)

Chocolate Sour Cream Icing:
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips 375 mL (I splurged and bought slightly more expensive chocolate chips - it's worth making sure your chocolate chips are tasty enough to actually eat. I can attest to their tastiness, seeing as during the writing of this post, I finished off the bag....)
3/4 cup sour cream 175 mL
dash of salt
fresh raspberries or strawberries
***I used 2 cups of chocolate chips and about 1 1/4 cups of sour cream. I HATE not having enough icing. 2 cups of chocolate chips was actually too much....


1. Preheat oven to 350F. (180 degrees C).

2. Grease and flour two 9 inch (1.5 L) layer cake pans.

3. Sift dry ingredients. (Seriously, does anyone do that? I don't...)

4. Melt chocolate and let cool.

5. In a large bowl beat butter, brown sugar, and eggs at a high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.


6. Beat in melted chocolate and vanilla.


7. At low speed, beat in flour mixture (in fourths), alternating with sour cream (in thirds). Add coffee and liqueur, blending until smooth.

8. Pour batter into pans and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until surface springs back.


9. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool on wire racks.



Filling:
1. Beat cream with icing sugar until stiff. Refrigerate.

2. Slice cake layers in half horizontally to make four layers. (Hint: Cake layers slice more easily if frozen first, though I actually found they sliced really well after having sat overnight! Trust me, if this knife-incompetent fool can do it, you can too!)

3. Place one layer, cut side up, on cake plate.

4. Spread with 1/2 cup (125 mL) raspberry jam and 1/2 cup (125 mL) whipped cream mixture.


5. Repeat with remaining layers, ending with top layer, cut side down.


Icing:
1. Melt chocolate chips in top of double boiler (I used the microwave. I don't have a double boiler and was clean out of pots.)

2. Add sour cream and salt and beat until icing is creamy and smooth. Ice top and sides of cake before it sets. Liberally indulge in excess icing.

To decorate cake....yeah, I had this vision of having a beautifully frosted cake, replete with raspberries, drizzly white chocolate and lucious curls of chocolate.

I couldn't find any raspberries so I had to sub strawberries.

My "drizzly" white chocolate looked like....um, actually, I'm not going to repeat what it looked like. It was EXTREMELY unattractive, obscene and gross looking. Blobs of white goopy stuff strewn across the cake. *ew* I waited until it cooled and picked it off (yes, it was that bad......).

I was using cheap chocolate to make curls and it would only flake. No curl whatsoever.



But hey, at least the icing was good! The final product looked pretty nice though, I will say, even if it wasn't *quite* what I planned out. And I can't say enough about the value of an icing comb - it dresses up the look of your cake....and like pizza AND chocolate, even when it's bad....it still looks pretty good! :)



Thanks for reading. Oh....and the much asked for belly pic is here....be kind!

chicken. with a side of chocolate.

I am a baking and cooking machine lately. After several weeks (okay, maybe months) of neglect, my beautiful and revitalized kitchen is finally serving its true purpose...lots of counterspace for lots of dirty dishes...er...lots of cooking for lots of hungry people.

Yup, that's TOTALLY what I meant to say.

You'll have to forgive me if this is a little disjointed - it's already after midnight, I should *technically* be in bed and the babe is kicking up a storm and addling my brains. I must say, it makes the formulation of a complete sentence a bit of a challenge.

We had some friends over for dinner this weekend, and, as per usual, I had lots of fun putting together the menu. Making it didn't go so smoothly, but at least picking out the recipes was fun. :)

I didn't photograph every course, as some of the recipes are either repeats or are SUPER simple, but don't worry, I'll still share all the deets for ya.

Soup - this indian spiced carrot soup from epicurious - this soup was great except for me being an idiot. When I made up my grocery list, I didn't bother to read the instructions - only the ingredients. So it said I needed coriander seed. So I bought some. Had to go to like 3 grocery stores to find whole coriander seed (thank goodness for the ever-accommodating hubs). Of course, when I get home, I find out that the FIRST bloody thing I'm supposed to do is pulverize the coriander in a spice mill.

I don't have a spice mill.

But i have a heck of a lot of coriander seed....any takers? I did my best to bash it up by taking out my frustrations with a rolling pin....but either the babe has sapped my strength, or my self-perceived vitriolic frustrations are a lot more insipid than I suspected. The result? Icky bits of coriander shell left in the soup....with the odd unpleasant mouth feel of fingernail clippings.

Hmmm..on second thought..that sounds REALLY gross....a) I don't eat my fingernails....or even chew them...and b) I'm REALLY seriously hoping no one else thought that. The soup was excellent. Save yourself some work and buy preground mustard and coriander seed. ;)

Salad was very simple - baby spinach and strawberries with a creamy poppyseed dressing (dressing was easy - 1/3 c. sugar, 1/4 c. white vinegar, 1/2 c. canola oil, 2 T sesame seeds, 2 T poppy seeds, 1/2 t worcestershire, 1 T dijon and about 3 T of whipping cream). Tasty, easy and very pretty. Can't go wrong with strawberries and spinach!

I have to say, I was actually pretty pleased with how the main course turned out. I took a bit of a risk in making the chicken (combining two recipes and a little bit of ingenuity), and while cooking time was a little longer than anticipated....the result was great!

Stuffed Chicken en Papillote with Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce

For all my constant parchment paper pushing, I'd never actually cooked something IN the stuff. I'd cooked tons of stuff ON it, but never once taken the drastic plunge of thoroughly investing my culinary success within its pulpy, shiny depths.

I'm not sure why. It's awesome! This stuff was a little slow to cook (likely due to being rolled), but when the initial recipe called for double wrapping and boiling in saran wrap....the bisphenol A-averse little voice in me said...WTF...boiling food in soft plastic? Are they insane? So I sought out an alternative. This recipe is a culmination of a chicken recipe from cooking light, a sauce recipe from epicurious, and plain old luck in the cooking method department.

Ricotta, Sundried Tomato and Spinach Stuffed-Chicken breasts

2 cups boiling water
10 sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
1 1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano (consider using fresh basil - I think it would be better!)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (quick story about my chicken breasts....they were huge! Seriously, if these chickens had been people, they would be DDs. I ended up cutting mine in half because they were simply too big to do anything with....if you have smaller chicken breasts, you may be better off just pounding them thin, without cutting them first)

1. Combine boiling water and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl; let stand 30 minutes or until soft. Drain and chop.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, oregano, and garlic; cook 3 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Add spinach; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Place spinach mixture in a bowl; cool 5 minutes. Stir in cheeses, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

3. Depending on how big your chicken breasts are, slice each breast half lengthwise through to the other side. Open halves, laying breast flat. Place each breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet.


4. Spread chicken with a thin layer of filling mixture.


5. Roll up, jelly roll style. Set aside and repeat with remaining chicken.


6. To make the 'en papillote' part - basically, take a square of parchment paper, put 1-2 chicken breast rolls on it, and wrap it up nicely like a present. After much hunting for a handy dandy stapler (no luck unless I wanted to hand fold the staples from the staple gun with pliers....), I opted to just fold mine and tuck them under. There was a small loss of liquid, but really, not that much.


7. Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes to an hour. Make sure you make at least one extra so you can cut into it and check for doneness!
This is me, checking to make sure I'm not poisoning anyone...


8. To serve, you can put the packages right on the plate (more effective if you do a full meal en papillote), or de-package. I opted to open them myself.

The result was really nice - moist, flavourful chicken breast. I would definitely revisit this cooking technique. I served with a nice sundried tomato cream sauce....

Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce
double this for 8 chicken breasts

2 T butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup drained sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil; 1/2 oz), patted dry and coarsely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the garlic, tomatoes and hot pepper flakes and cook for 3-4 minutes.

2. Add the wine and cook until almost evaporated.

3. Add chicken broth and bring to a full rolling boil.

4. Add the cream (feel free to add a little extra) and boil until somewhat thickened (about 10 minutes).

5. Attack with the immersion blender (or blend with a regular blender for smoother texture).

7. Add in the chopped basil.

This sauce has a nice amount of zip - it's great on chicken, but would also be good on pasta or fish. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMm.....

I served the chicken with roasted rosemary potatoes and pan seared fresh peppers and onions:


And come to think of it, the cake is so pretty, it really deserves its very own post...

back to the future...cooking edition

Time to saddle up your culinary delorean, undo the evils of missed dinners past and learn how to cook, plan and eat for the future.



It's hard to imagine, but sometimes, just *sometimes*, the craziness of modern life can get in the way of cooking. There are some weeks where I (or anyone else, for that matter) may set out with the most true of intentions to cook beautiful homemade meals every night....but then stuff just happens (like you have to run out and buy a house, or you're getting mildly concerned because your baby is almost viable outside the womb and you have NOTHING whatsoever prepared), and it means that you don't get around to it.

And the irritating, wasteful and sad consequence is that you have all these lovely groceries that end up going bad AND you end up spending MORE money on take-out, delivery, eating out...or just generally eating unhealthily. 'Tis not so good.

Hubs and I are a little bad for this - on most Sundays, I'll plan out the meals for the week, write down the groceries needed, and then we'll shop for the week. I usually plan to make 4-5 meals, because I know that some nights we'll end up munching, some nights we'll end up having something strange going on, and of course, I still have night classes one night a week and hubs isn't always known for kitchen initiative....

Last week was a bit atrocious - only two of the five planned meals actually made it onto our table. At least this week, because we had a party on Friday, and company all weekend, I didn't end up really wasting anything....but it's still a little frustrating.

I have a solution for those weeks though. Alternatively, it can even be a solution for those random days off where you find yourself lounging about...nothing to do....you kinda want to cook, but there isn't really any need to....

The solution is cooking for the future. Cooking for the freezer, to be exact. Coming up with a meal (or two or three) that will serve you well in those weeks where you just don't have the time to put something on the table. Two to three hours in one afternoon can give you 3-6 meals worth of food that you can have on hand. It can save you TONS of money (cost is more like $7-8/meal vs. the $10+ per serving you'd spend on take-out), and it's also SO much healthier. At least you'll be able to pronounce all the ingredients.

Clearly, this isn't a remotely original idea....there are a number of companies out there (like Supperworks or Dashing Dishes) that have labour-free, really time-saving ways of doing this. BUT, if you're like me and prefer to DIY, or you are cheap (also like me!), or you live off the beaten path and this isn't even an option.....I have some ideas for ya!

Before I share some recipes though, because clearly this isn't the be-all and end-all of what you can cook and freeze, I want to share a few guiding principles to making this work for ya:

1) Make each item a complete meal. Make sure it has protein, starch and veggies. You might think you'll 'add a salad' or 'throw together some veggies' or whatever....but the reality is that on those nights where you want to rely on these meals, you will not have the time or energy to do that. So save yourself future heartache (and scurvy) and make the meal complete from the get-go.

2) Think about serving size when you freeze. What will work for you - single servings? Double servings? Family size? Choose a container that will fit your needs. If you're more likely to steal these for lunches, then use 2-2.5 cup containers. If it's a meal for two, choose a 4-5 cup container. And if it's for the whole fam damily, then get a big one!

3) Think about reheating method when you freeze. If it's something like a stirfry, that you're likely to heat in the microwave, for goodness' sake, don't stick it in a foil container. Alternatively, if it's pasta (like lasagna and canelloni) and still needs its finishing touch in the oven, don't put it in melty plastic.

4) ALWAYS label and date. You seriously have no idea how many random containers of frozen mystery food I have in my freezer. And I won't eat them, because I am pregnant and picky, and have no idea what they are. So PLEASE, take some masking tape and a sharpie (or other writing implement that won't run...ballpoint pen is good), and write down what it is that you've created, and when you've created it. You should make sure you consume the stuff within six months.

5) Some things just aren't meant to freeze. Pasta freezes well. Rice/stir fries/noodles freeze well. Potatoes don't freeze so well. Curries freeze well. Steak does not freeze well (unless you like reheated boot leather). Cream based sauces don't fare super well, but are still edible.

6) Don't leave too much extra room in the container. Unless you are lucky enough to have a snazzy vacuum sealer, you WILL have some air in the container. The more air you have, the more room you have for icky little ice crystals to grow and impart with your food with that oh-so-lovely freezer-burnt taste. So don't leave too much room.

7) Microwaving from frozen sucks the big one. It can be a little hard to plan ahead for this, but it really truly sucks to microwave a whole meal from frozen. The outside is practically incinerating, while you still have a frozen block in the middle. I VERY highly recommend three things:
a) Stick it in the fridge the day before you think you'll need it. It should be mostly defrosted by the next night.
b) Don't defrost in the original container. It's not all that great for you to microwave plastic, and if you're using a larger container, it will simply take FOREVER for the whole thing to get hot.
c) Don't forget that there was life before the microwave. It may seem old school, but heating things up on the stove is a LOT more even and sometimes it can even be quicker.

And without further ado, I'll share a few recipes I made today that work super well in the freezer:

Reduced-Fat Butter Chicken
(stolen and modified from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry)
This curry is easy on the palate, relatively mild and SUPER easy to make. You can use a rotisserie chicken, but if bony carcasses skeeve you, you can always cook up some chicken breasts to use in this. I'm a big fan of precooking the chicken on my indoor grill.



2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
1 cup (250 mL) chopped onions
2 tsp (10 mL) minced garlic
1 tbsp (15 mL) minced ginger root
1 tsp (5 mL) chili powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) turmeric
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
1.5 tsp curry powder
1 T curry paste (whichever kind you like...as always, I love Patak's)
19-oz (540-mL) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tbsp (30 mL) tomato paste
1 tbsp (15 mL) brown sugar
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper
4 chopped cooked chicken breasts (or use a rotisserie chicken)
1 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup (80 mL) light (5 per cent) cream
1/2 cup (60 mL) plain balkan-style yogurt
3 tbsp (15 mL) minced fresh cilantro
Hot cooked basmati rice

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook slowly, stirring often, until onions are tender, about 5 minutes.

2. Add ginger root, chili powder, turmeric, curry powder and paste and cinnamon. Cook 1 minute more.



3. Add undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low.

4. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cut-up chicken, peas cream and sour cream. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

5. Serve over hot rice.

Special freezing instructions: I use basmati rice for this (3 scoops in my rice cooker) and freeze with the rice on the bottom. You can also keep the rice and curry separate, if you prefer, but I find having them layered makes serving easier, even though it does increase the propensity for the rice to soak up a lot of the sauce.

"Wowie Maui Chicken"
(stolen and modified from Looneyspoons)
This is a sweet and sour chicken type dish. It comes together really quickly, especially when you have your kitchen wench (aka hubs today...he's VERY indulgent of his preggo wife) chopping everything to your specifications!



4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cubed
3/4 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup each: chopped red and green bell pepper

1 cup sodium-reduced, fat-reduced chicken broth

1 can of pineapple tidbits in juice, undrained

1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons each: brown sugar, reduced-sodium soy sauce and white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup chopped green onions
2 T water, 1.5 T cornstarch

1. Spray a large saucepan with nonstick spray. Add chicken. Cook over medium-high heat until no longer pink, about five minutes.

2. Add carrots, then 2-3 minutes later, add peppers.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients except onions, water and cornstarch. Stir well. Bring to a boil.

4. Add the onions, and stir in the combined water/cornstarch (to thicken the sauce). Make sure it boils or your sauce will be pasty and gross. Taste the sauce. If you want it zippier, feel free to add a little more ketchup/soy sauce.

5. When peppers reach desired doneness, serve over rice. I like to use jasmine rice for this dish (again, 3 scoops in the rice cooker, which amounts to about 1.5 cups of uncooked rice).

Freezing is the same for this as for the butter chicken - layer the rice and then add the chicken dish on top.

Singapore Noodles with Grilled Pork
This is my own recipe. It's quick, easy, tasty, gets lots of veggies into you and best of all, freezes really well.



1 pork tenderloin
pork tenderloin marinade (I used hoisin sauce because I had it. You need about 1/2 cup). Let the tenderloin marinate for about 1 hour at room temperature. This is a good thing to do at the beginning of a cooking marathon, because by the time you make your other food, the pork is nice and sweet and tasty)

2 T sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T minced ginger
1 carrot, thinly sliced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1.5 cups broccoli florets
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
(optional, because I forgot I had them - snow peas, bean sprouts!)
1/2 cup chopped green onion

200-250 g chow mein noodles (raw)

1/4 c. reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 c. kikkoman stir fry sauce (you could substitute any combination of hoisin sauce, kecap manis, black bean sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc.)
1 T curry powder

1. Cook your pork tenderloin. I use the indoor grill. You could roast it, fry it, whatever. Just get it cooked. Once it rests for 10 minutes, slice it thinly.



2. In a large pot, boil enough water for your noodles. They will likely take 3-5 minutes to cook. Once they're done, drain them, rinse with cold water, and toss with about 1 T of sesame oil.

3. In a large pan/wok, heat the remaining 1 T of sesame oil over medium high heat. Add the carrots, mushrooms, garlic, ginger and celery (essentially, the veggies that will take the longest to cook).

4. Once the mushrooms start to release their water (rather than looking dry, they will start to shrink and you'll notice some water in our pan), add the remaining veggies. Toss for 3-4 minutes, until they start to soften.

5. Add the pork tenderloin, and in a small measuring cup, combine the soy sauce, stir fry sauce and curry powder. Pour the sauces over the veggie/pork mix and toss to mix. If you have some thick sauce remaining in the bottom fo your cup, add about 1/4 cup of water to it, then toss that in the pan as well.



6. When everything is piping hot, add the green onions and the noodles. To save yourself some headache (I always make a HUGE mess when stirring this because it's too big for my pan!), add the noodles a clump at a time, rather than dumping the whole mess in. It's a lot easier to mix them if they are already separated a bit.

7. Toss until noodles are not. If you find you're a bit lacking in sauce, add a bit more! :)

Freezing instructions - nothing special. Stick it in a container and freeze.

I hope you'll find this handy - it's something you can do for yourself if you know you've got a busy time ahead of ya (like tax season for accountants, or a new baby on the way). It's something you can do for other people (if they've got a new baby, or if a family is going through a difficult time). It's a great way to efficiently use your groceries, to spend a Sunday afternoon with your hubby and to save yourself some time in the future! All in all, hubs and I spent about 2.5 hours (MAX) preparing this food, and that was with a lot of breaks and goofing off.

Thanks for reading! I WILL post a belly pic soon, I swear! :)

back in time for easter!!!!!!!!

I know, I know.

WORST. BLOGGER. EVER.

But you have to understand, since my last post, I've been slowly going a bit insane. I finished renovating my house. I sold my house. I went to Cuba. I bought another house. I got a new job. and I'm having a GIRL!

So yeah, it's been a little busy!

But, things are starting to calm back down, the brand new kitchen we renovated is starting to get a little use, FINALLY.

My mother in law was kind enough to host Easter dinner, so I thought that the least I could do would be to offer to bring my dessert (especially given that I got out of making turkey and all the trimmings - a good thing considering I'm not supposed to lift anything!).

Anyway, since there were to be 11 people for dinner, many of whom had given up dessert for Lent, I thought I'd give people a bit of an option....something that seemed "light" (but TOTALLY wasn't) and something intensely decadent (you know my style, hehe).

So this is what I ended up making....

Raspberry Lemon Layer Cake



Cake: 3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (zest of 1 lemon)
5 large eggs, room temperature

Icing and Filling:
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch fine salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup seedless red raspberry jam
1/2 cup lemon curd (or purchased lemon spread....for the lazy!)

For the cakes:
1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

2. Lightly brush 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with shortening or butter. Line bottoms with buttered parchment paper and dust with flour. BTW, has anyone figured out WHY you can't buy rounds of parchment paper? I drive myself mental everytime, trying to trace the slippery stuff, and then trying to make sure I've cut off all the pen!

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt into a medium bowl; whisk to combine evenly. Sift - HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH! I don't sift. This could be my problem, but I just don't do it.

4. Stir the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup, and set aside.

5. Beat the butter in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on high until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop and scrape butter off the sides of the bowl. Continue beating while gradually adding the sugar-- it should take a couple minutes to add all the sugar. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes more.

6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the lemon zest.

7. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

8. At low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the sour cream in 2 parts, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

9. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the top with a knife. (Lightly tap the pan on the counter so the batter settles evenly.)

10. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes; then turn cakes out onto the rack to cool completely. I baked my cakes for about 30 minutes, and they ended up a touch overdone. I don't know if I need new pans, a new oven or both.....

For the Icing:
1. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a mixer's bowl above the water.

2. Whisk the sugar, the egg whites, lemon juice, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl by hand.

3. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves, about 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Transfer the bowl to a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the whites at medium-high speed until they almost holds a stiff peak and are cool, about 10 minutes.

5. Beat in the butter, a little at a time, until the icing is smooth and spreadable. (If the icing separates, just keep beating and it will come back together.)

**Note - I was lukewarm about this icing. First, the recipe didn't really make enough to nicely ice the cake. It made enough to cover the cake, but (as you'll see in the final photo), there wasn't enough for it to be really smoothable on the sides. The taste was okay....I used vanilla sugar, but I think I just don't really like buttery icing. I think it should have been a lot fluffier....it was quite dense. BUT, I was thanking my lucky stars for the kitchenaid....if I'd had to stand with a stupid hand mixer for 15 minutes, the icing would have been tossed!


To assemble the cake:
1. Slice each cake in half horizontally with a serrated knife, to make 4 even layers, taking care that they are as flat and straight as possible. Believe it or not, the cake actually sliced really well. I was nervous, but the cake was easy to cut and stayed together pretty nicely. No complaints there.

2. Set a large flat plate on a large inverted bowl or bottom of a salad spinner (of course, if you have a cake stand, use that), dabbing a little frosting on the bottom of the plate to secure it. Seriously, I can't imagine trying to balance a plate on top of a wee little bowl.....I have a glass cake stand...it doesn't rotate or anything, but it works pretty well for this.

3. Place a cake layer top side up on the plate. Using an offset spatula, spread about half of the raspberry jam in a thin layer over the first cake layer, leaving about 1/4-inch border along the outside. On the top cake layer, spread a thin layer of the lemon spread/lemon curd. I bought the E.D. Smith stuff. It's tasty!

4. Lay the second cake layer on top, stacking it as straight as possible. Using an offset spatula spread about 1 cup of the icing on the top layer.

5. Place a third cake layer on top. Spread remaining red raspberry jam over the cake layer, then spread the lemon curd over the fourth layer. Place the final layer on top, pressing down lightly to secure all 4 layers together. Spread about 3/4 of the remaining icing around the sides with a knife or offset spatula, then ice the top of the cake.

6. Use an offset spatula to smooth icing as much as possible. I have a nifty icing smoother thingamabob that I got to use for the first time. Of course, this is AFTER hubs stole it to use for tile adhesive....who knew kitchen implements could be so versatile???? He swears he washed it well. I washed it again, just to be safe. I kinda bungled up the icing a bit (there wasn't quite enough, and I just kinda suck at it anyway). I happened to have some pink buttercream in the freezer (froze it on a whim just to see if it would freeze). I defrosted it and used it to make the cake look snazzier. I think I need an icing course, but it still turned out cute! Canadian ladies, bulk barn is your friend for cake decoration stuff - it's cheap, you can buy only as much as you need and they have fun colours!

The final result: Looks - despite my mediocre icing job, it turned out really cute! Taste - BUT, I found the cake texture to be too hard and too dense. I think I am still in search of a nice moist, soft cake recipe. Preferably one that doesn't come out of a box. Let me know if you find one!

So yeah, that cake was a bit of a labour of love. It served REALLY well though - four layers always makes you look like a ktichen genius. Definitely WAY more work than the second cake. This second cake is chocolatey indulgence at its best. If you are someone who loves a rich, dark chocolate cheesecake.....this is for you. It is rich, silky and just incredible. Hubs is not a fan, but that makes my preggo butt happy, because there is all the more for me. :)

The technique might seem a bit weird at first, but it works really well, and it's my first cheesecake without a fissure the size of the grand canyon!!!!!!

Double Chocolate Cheesecake
(stolen and lightly adapted from www.epicurious.com)



For crust:
1 9-ounce box chocolate wafer cookies
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For filling:
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 rounded teaspoon instant coffee powder
12 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used a bar of 70%, a bar of 85% and one of 60%)

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup sour cream
2 T kahlua
3 large eggs

Make crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Wrap outside of 9.5-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with double thickness of foil (this recipe would be fine with a 10 inch pan too - the cake was quite high)

3. Spray bottom of pan with vegetable oil spray. Finely grind cookies in food processor. Add butter and process until blended. Press mixture onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling. I liked that, FOR ONCE, there was actually enough crust to easily cover the bottom of the pan. I like to use a flat bottomed potato masher to squish it all down evenly....I always bugger it up with my fingers.

Make filling:
1. Combine cream and coffee powder in medium saucepan.Stir over medium heat until coffee powder dissolves. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate; whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Cool 10 minutes.

2. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until well blended.Beat in cornstarch.

3. Add sour cream and kahlua; beat well.

4. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

5. Whisk 1 cup cheese mixture into chocolate mixture. ***IF you want to make a pretty, swirly top, take about 1/3 cup of the white cheese mixture in a measuring cup and just set it aside. Swirls are pretty and make you look like a superstar and they take ZERO talent to actually do. :) Totally my style.

6. Return chocolate mixture to remaining cheese mixture; whisk until smooth.

7. Pour batter into crust. ***If you're making swirls, take a small spoon and drip/dollop the white cheese mixture over the chocolate mixture. Use a butter knife and swirl it all around. Don't try to be too orderly - this stuff swirls really nicely by just using a random pattern!

8. Place springform pan in large baking pan. (I had to use my turkey roaster)
Add enough hot water to baking pan to cone halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake cheesecake until softly set and slightly puffed around edges, about 1 hour.

9. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 45 minutes. Transfer springform pan t0 rack and cool. Cover; chill cake overnight.

***IF I am somehow a cheesecake goddess and if for some reason your cake cracks, there are a few tried and true tactics - 1. Cover your cake with whipped cream, then melt some chocolate and drizzle artistically. 2. Melt an equal amount of whipping cream and chocolate (1/2 cup cream, 4 oz chocolate) to make a ganache. Pour it over and let it set for 1-2 hours.

Using a knife, cut around sides of pan to loosen cake.Remove pan sides. Cut into wedges and serve.

This cake totally rocks. It looks nice, but tastes absolutely AMAZING. YUMMY.

Thanks so much for reading! Who knows, if I get a few comments, you may even convince me to post a preggo pic.... :) I'm nearly 22 weeks now!

WIshing you a happy 2008 through rustic italian pasta

So folks, it's been a while. A long while. Come to think of it, it's kinda been three months since my last real post.

Isn't that something, eh?

Funny how time flies.

Well, the good news is that I don't have to diet this year. In fact, I've got carte blanche to gain about 25-35 pounds over the next six and a bit months. Neat, eh?

Of course I can't drink any vino, and I'm supposed to avoid sushi and most other yummy indulgent things....but hey - there's a MINI FOODIE on the way! :) Coming late July/early August 2008. Let's all hope my picky kid posts don't come back to bite me in the arse or you al l will have great old belly laugh at my expense. :)

Anyway, I haven't posted much lately because, to be honest, I've barely been able to eat. I've felt kinda icky and not at all hungry....but the good news is that as the first tri is coming to an end, I'm actually back to looking at recipes and other food sites without turning green. So I can post again! And lucky for hubs, he actually gets to eat homemade food again.

First though, I have some confessions to make.....

In the last few weeks, I have:
- eaten boxed mac and cheese no fewer than three times
- sent my husband out at 1 am for Chicken McNuggets with bbq sauce because I HAD to have them
- insisted on eating a big mac (um.....EWWWWWWWWWWWWW)
- subsisted nearly entirely on simple carbohydrates
- generally grumped, whined and moaned my way through the first trimester.

On the up side Christmas brought a new attachment for the kitchen aid (a meat grinder - prepare for LOTS of new uses for ground meat).

Anyway, you don't come here for my random rambles, you come here for the food. So let's get to dinner. I wanted to come up with a kind of rustic italian stew - the kind a nice old italian nonna would have made for her hungry family (or at least something similar....y'all know that authenticity and I are rarely intimate bedfellows). But in the interest of not becomind a whale in the next bit, I wanted a way for it to be hearty, rustic but not to butt-enrounding.

This is what I came up with - I loved it. It had just the right amount of bite, acidity, texture, and is a good way to incorporate marginally sketchy fridge veggies that may be slightly past their prime (hey, is it really my fault that anything green or crunchy was out?????).

Rigatoni with Rustic Sausage Stew
1 lb rigatoni (or other chunky pasta)

2 T olive oil
(most people would put garlic here, but I still can't eat it....neither can hubs...because I can SMELL IT FOR DAYS....poor guy - use 2-3 cloves if you can stand it. Just don't talk to me after)
1 onion, diced (not too fine)
1 green pepper, diced (again, not too fine - we want chunky!)
1 head broccoli, coarsely chopped (you could use any veggie here - zucchini, mushrooms, etc.)
1 cup red wine (it's the only way I get to have any! and it really enhances the flavour)
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 t oregano
1 t italian seasoning
1 T balsamic vinegar
1-1.5 cups low fat cottage cheese (sneaky way to up calcium)

6 lean italian turkey sausages (best way to lower the fat and uck content of this recipe)

parmesan cheese for grating

1. Set a big pot of salted water to boil.

2. Cook your sausages - I prefer doing them on my indoor grill. It's quick, easy, and if you slice the little suckers diagonally, it lets all the extra fat drain out.



3. In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the (garlic if you MUST...but again, do NOT come near me) onion and green pepper. Sauté until the veggies brown just a little bit (like nonna went outside to yell at the family to come in and got distracted a moment).



4. Add the wine. Let it boil until it's about half evaporated.



5. Add the can of tomatoes, the oregano and the italian seasoning. Add the broccoli at this point too.

6. Meanwhile, your sausages should be just about done. Using a sharp knife, slice them up and toss them in with the sauce. Add the cottage cheese.



7. Now your water should be boiling. Cook the pasta about 12 minutes, until done to your liking. This will give your stew time to blend and develop a little more flavour. If it's losing too much liquid, turn the heat down.

8. Drain the pasta, return to the pot and dump your stew in on top. Serve topped with parmesan cheese. It would be fabulous with a nice italian red...but you'll have to raise a glass for me, as I am reduced to toasting with grape juice. :)



Thanks for reading! Now that I seem to be able to eat again, I will be back!

SHF 37: The Beta Carotene Harvest - Part 2!

Welcome all to part two and thanks for your patience!

Marija from Palachinka came up with a Serbian Pumpkin Pie that looks divine!


Julie from A Mingling of Tastes shares a super-moist pumpkin batter that's the base for a holiday bundt cake. Check out her All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake!


Nicole from Audaciousness presents her carrot custard with graham cracker topping and lime-cilantro syrup. Fun!


Kayla from Mama Yogini (fun name, btw!) submits her Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce and Whipped Cream. Great use of a slow cooker, if you ask me!


Sara from Cupcake Muffin made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a friend's birthday party. Happy b-day!


Chris from Mele Cotte created a wonderful fall 'brunch' cake. Check out his Spiced Pumpkin Cake!


Monica, the Pastry Princess sends us her Sweet Potato Hazelnut Tart and Pumpkin Financiers. Sounds awesome!

Carolyn from French Peach created Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting....I'm loving the frosting.


Susan from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy shares a rich and creamy dessert made witha gingerbread cake base and a pumpkin cream filling.....check out her Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle!


Melody from Fruittart combined tropical with temperate with her carrot pineapple cupcakes.


Julie from The Persnickety Palate shares a Paradise pumpkin pie that she made for thanksgiving (with fresh pumpkin) along with some toasted pumpkinseeds.


Cenk from Cafe Fernando has created a carrot cake with both chopped walnuts and dried blueberries. Love it!


David from Sketchy's Kitchen satisfies our sweet tooth with his Pumpkin Cheesecake with Navan Cream.


Gretchen from Canela & Comino shares her Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Icing, made with her first ever roasted pumpkins. Looks great!


Linda from Make Life Sweeter! just squeaked in with her Carrot Ganache Covered and Clementine Curd Filled Petit Four (can I just say that looks fabulous?).


A HUGE thank you to all those who participated. Such a great variation of tasty, nutrient-filled treats! I REALLY hope I haven't missed anyone - I have a sneaking suspicion that my spam filter may have caught some of your entries, and I wasn't able to check this account while I was in Thailand. SO...if I've missed you, PLEASE let me know and I would be most happy to add you in.

You can find next month's SHF 38, "The Proof is in the Pudding" at Kochtopf. Looks like a great theme! I'm looking forward to a December that is hopefully (perhaps naively?) a little less crazy than November and October have been. I'm anxious to post a whole whack of stuff and anxious to have y'all read about it.

Thanks for reading, and again, a HUGE thanks to Jennifer from the Domestic Goddess who created the whole SHF shebang. :)