we made our own double down

This post was timely.....4 or 5 months ago. You may remember the big fuss the KFC Double Down caused - the "sandwich" made with chicken in place of the bun?

I wanted to go and try one, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So instead we made our own.

I cut the chicken breasts in half through the middle, then dipped them in beaten egg while, then panko bread crumbs.  And then I baked 'em.

Meanwhile, I crisped some pancetta, and made a honey mustard sauce with honey, mustard and yogurt.  When the chicken was cooked we topped one piece with sauce, cheese (I think it was Swiss) and pancetta.  Then laid the second piece of chicken on top.

And here is the finished product.

/

The end result was good - the chicken was flavorful and crunchy. Pancetta is always tasty and the sauce was quite nice. It was fun to try but not something I'd make on a regular basis. How it would compare to an actual double down though, I guess I might never know.

Cooking Book 5

Thai Chicken Wings, The Young Thailand Cookbook

Man I wish I owned this book.

Mango Chicken Salad, Martha Stewart

Delicious! I skipped the mango chutney in the salad and used lettuce instead of spinach. I would make this again. Recipe here.

Ham and Apple Wraps with Dip, you guessed it, Martha Stewart.

These were fine, nothing thrilling.  A little different.  I didn't love the dip though.  Recipe here.

Jicama Citrus Salad, Martha Stewart

I really liked this salad. Crunchy and...citrusy. I left out the cucumber. Recipe here.

I don't know what this is.

Or this.

Or this.

Bubble and Squeak, no recipe.

So easy. Mix leftover mashed potatos with leftover cooked carrots and brussel sprouts. Heat some olive oil and butter over medium high heat, spread the veggies in and cook until brown on both sides.

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I do love to change my mind, abandon project etc, and I'm doing it again.  This will be it for now at least on Book 5.  It's too difficult to fit some of the recipes into our world full of kid, work, school etc.  There are still some I want to make, so the book will be back but now let's move on to a new one....Book 3!

Bread Baking Babes 3 Year Babe-eversary!

3 years!

What lasts 3 years anymore? Not much.

What started for me 3 years ago with this baking group became something important and inspiring in my life. A group of ladies from different countries, different lives, different ages, different experience levels became Babes and friends and made a forum where we can talk and share both our triumphs and tragedies in bread and in life.

To celebrate our Third Anniversary of our group we decided to take a walk down memory lane. Bake a bread from our archives.

When we first made the decision, I thought I might made 3 breads, one from each year of Babe-hood, but man. I hate to say I don't have the time or energy right now. So I picked one I was most proud of the first time around.

I chose to make Gorel's Brunkans Langa bread again.

What I love about this bread is the color, the rustic shape of the loaf, the hearty and just slightly sour taste. I also love that although this is a bread that takes time (5 days), it is not a difficult bread. It's an easy bread when you want to bake but don't have a day or large chunk of a day to devote.

My beautiful Babes, past and present! I raise my glass to you. Thank you for the last 3 years. Thank you for your kindness and friendship and support and inspiration. I can't wait to see what we'll do next.

Cheers!

Waiter, there's goat cheese in my burrito!

The first time I saw this recipe it didn't appeal to me at all. Goat cheese and burritos don't seem like they could go together. But the idea grew on me and we gave it a try. Loved it. The tangy cheese is brilliant with the beans and tomatos.

This is a very fast and low maintenance recipe. Other than cooking some rice there's only a bit of chopping and less than 10 minutes of cooking.

I altered the original recipe slightly - I'd say you could get 4-6 nice sized burritos out of this.

Goat Cheese Burritos

adapted from Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons

1 tb oil

1 bunch of green onions, washed well and finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 tsp ground cumin

3 tomatos, chopped

2 cups cooked rice

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

soft goats cheese (2 or more tb per burrito)

flour tortillas

sour cream

salsa

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the green onions, garlic and cumin to the pan and cook, stirring often for 5 minutes. Meanwhile in another medium pan, heat the black beans and a couple of tablespoons of water over medium heat until hot. Drain off the water. Add the tomatos to the onion mixture and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the rice.

Spread the goats cheese on the tortillas. Spoon the rice mixture on top of the cheese and top with beans. Add salsa and sour cream if desired. Roll up and dig in.

Under-the-highchair-mat

Shortly after I wrote about gift ideas for parents of babies just starting to eat, I discovered a long forgotten piece of oil cloth in our storage closet. It definitely helps to keep the floor a bit cleaner during feeding time.

SuperFoods for Babies and Children

If you have a kid, you gotta feed them. It can be stressful when you begin introducing solid food into your babies diet, worrying that you're choosing the right foods at the right time.

A great resource for starting out, or adding more variety to your child's diet is SuperFoods for Babies and Children, by Annabel Karmel.

SuperFoods covers nutrition from 6 months to 3+ years. And what is great about this book, among other things, is it holds the belief (as I do) that children shouldn't be fed separate meals from their parents, that everyone can and should eat the same things. Things like more fruits and vegetables and less foods that come out of cans. Annabel discusses Superfoods, foods by color categories (Red, Green, White, etc), and the ingredients of a proper diet. But this book isn't boring or preachy. The information is well laid out and informative.

So far we've made 4 dishes from the book, out of the 1-2 Years chapter:

Easy Salmon Croquettes (pg 106)

This one was for Scott and Paxton as I don't like salmon. It uses a can of salmon and was incredibly easy to make (4 ingredients) and they both loved it. Scott said it would really only be as good as your salmon is, so use as good a quality as you can afford.

Oven Fried Root Vegetables (pg 107)

My favorite of the 4. Roasted potatos, yams and carrots with a dip of cream cheese and ketchup and green onions. I must admit I didn't think the dip would be very good but it was. A good way to sneak in some extra calcium.

Meatballs with Sweet and Sour Sauce (pg 102)

Meatballs made with ground beef, onion and apple in a sauce with tomatos, bell peppers and a bit of sugar. A little finicky to make, but delicious.

Cheese and Zucchini Sausages (pg 100)

Meatless sausages made with cheese and zucchini and bread. You definitely want to make these ahead and chill them in the fridge so they hold together during cooking. Paxton really liked these alot, all 3 of us did.

My one quibble with this book has to do with the last 2 recipes above; both used bread or bread crumbs, and both recipes called for white bread or bread crumbs. I found this a little surprising in a book about eating well and teaching children good nutritional habits. I used whole wheat bread and crumbs in both recipes. I don't know. Why wouldn't you?

I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone with a small child. We all gotta eat and it might as well be good, fun healthy food, right?

Thanks, Simon and Schuster!

Momofuku's Ginger Scallion Noodles

Momofuku - pretty excellent book. Pretty excellent noodles.

Ginger Scallion Noodles.

Recipe here.

Make the pickles and cauliflower too. Fo sho.

Wine and Dine 2011 is almost over

Every year during Wine and Dine I vow to tell you about it and I never do. At the beginning of every year restaurants in the area create special menus at special prices ($15, 25, 35) for a couple of weeks. The first year we were out here we went to 3 or 4 restaurants; last year and this year we've gotten to one, which is better than none.

Last night we went to Storms Restaurant for dinner. I chose the $15 menu and for $15 I had:

Appetizer - a bowl of the most incredible cream based soup with turkey, spinach and red bell pepper.

Entree - delicious pork schnitzel with a mushroom sauce, mashed potatos, and fabulous mixed veggies.

Dessert - a nice lemon tart.

For $15! A helluva good deal.

If you're in the area and have no plans tonight or tomorrow night, visit the Wine and Dine website and find a restaurant to visit.

Spam Fried Rice

Scott is a fan of canned meat, so when I mentioned I saw a recipe for Spam Fried Rice he was super excited and made sure it found its way onto this week's menu list.

Spam Fried Rice from The Cookbook Junkie.

I am not so much a fan of canned meat, but I have to admit this was really good. I may have even had seconds.

Next time I make it I'm going to add peas. And Scott will think he's died and gone to heaven.

Bread Baking Babes 3 year Babe-eversary....coming soon

Us Babes are celebrating 3 years together.  3 years of bread, 3 years of friendship, 3 years of rude talk, scotch talk, helpful advice, shoulders to cry on. 

To celebrate, we are looking back at what we've accomplished together:

2008 (from left to right)  February: Karen Royal  Crown Tortano (in Dutch) and in English:

March: Lien Coccodrillo 

April: Tanna Sullivan  Street Pizza

May:  Sher  - Poilane-Style  Miche

June: Mary Breadchick's  Dark Onion Rye

July: - in memory of Sher who  passed away July 20 2008;  this month we made something from her blog,  something that reminded us of the warm and witty personality Sher was. The news  of her passing shocked us. She is our Angel Babe.

August: Ilva Whole  Wheat Pita

September : Monique Sûkerbôlle

October : Sara Challah

November: Görel The  Rosendal Crisp Bread

December: Lynn Yule  Wreath

In our second year, the loaves of 2009;

2009 (from left to right):  January Katie Croissants

February Tanna Pane  ai Cinque Cereali con Nod (Five-Grain Bread with Walnuts)

March Sara Pane  Francese

April Mary Ethiopian  Injera

May Ilva Pane  di Pasta Tenera Condita (Italian Knot Bread)

June Lien  Asparagus  Bread (in English and Dutch)

July Natashya Sukkar  bi Tahin (Beirut Tahini Swirls)

August Görel Russian  Black Bread

September Karen Chinese  Flower Steam Buns

October Gretchen Tanta  Wawa (Peruvian Bread Babies)

November Monique Brioche  Mousseline

December Katie Viennese  Striesel

And our third year 2010;

2010 (from left to right)  January Lynn Curried  Naan

February Karen Ensaimada

March Mary Gluten  Free No Knead Hearty Seeded Sandwich Bread

April Sara Potato  Bread with Chives

May Natashya Tunisian  Spicy Breads

June Lien Korni  (in English and Dutch)

July Lynn Yeasted  Sprouted Wheat Bread 

August Tanna Sweet  Portuguese Bread

September Görel Brunkans  Långa

October Elizabeth Broa: Portuguese Corn Bread

November Susan Cornucopia

December Ilva Taralli  Pugliesi

How gorgeous is that?

Come back and visit us on the 16th to see our celebration!  

Weekend Herb Blogging - Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad

Scott made this fabulous salad for dinner on Monday night; a quick meal before I left for school. It was very fast to put together and was so flavorful. If we loved it this much in the winter I can only imagine how great it will be on a hot summers night.

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad

Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons

4 to 6 garlic cloves

1 cup chopped and loosely packed cilantro

1/2 jalapeno or other fresh hot pepper, chopped (optional)

3 TB sugar

1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes)

3 TB Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce, OR 1 tsp salt

12 oz dried rice vermicelli

2 carrots peeled and cut into a thin julienne or grated

1 english cucumber halved, seeded and cut into thin slices

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

4 (we used much more) Napa cabbage leaves (optional)

1/4 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped

mint for garnish

Place the garlic, cilantro and hot pepper in a food processor, process until coarsely chopped. Add the sugar, lime juice, and fish sauce or salt and blend again. Let sit while you chop the vegetables and cook the noodles.

Cook the rice noodles until just tender in boiling water. Drain and rinse with cold water until the noodles are cool. Place in a large bowl.

Toss the noodles with the vegetables and dressing. Garnish each serving with peanuts and additional mint.

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My fellow Babe and just all-around lovely person Astrid of Paulchens Food Blog is hosting this week's Weekend Herb Blogging, so I must send this salad full of cilantro and mint for her to include in the round up! See more details here.

Cooking Book 5

I was planning on giving you an exhaustive list of all the recipes in my Book 5 - what I'm going to cook, what I've already cooked, what I'm skipping.

Meh. Do any of us care that much? No, I didn't think so.

I've still got quite a list of recipes to try. So far this has been fun and I'm glad I'm doing it.

Here we go:

Zucchini Tart with Bacon, adapted from The Best Recipes In The World

I don't know how much this differs from the original but hot damn this was good. This was GOOD.

Pizza dough (I use my new favorite from Canadian Living's Vegetarian Cookbook)

3-4 small zucchini, shredded

3-4 slices bacon, chopped

3 cloves garlic

brie cheese (or other as desired)

Fry the bacon in a pan over medium heat until cooked but not too well done. Saute the zucchini and garlic in the bacon fat until golden.

Prebake the pizza dough until firm but not done. Top with the zucchini and bacon and sprinkle lightly with cheese. Bake until the crust is brown and cheese is melted.

Red Beans with Cheese, Martha Stewart

This was a fast, tasty dinner. Versatile too; I spooned the beans over half a baked potato. Scott rolled his in a tortilla with lettuce and tomato. The baby smeared his into his hair. Recipe here.

Black Bean and Corn Tacos, Vegetarian Times

Another keeper. Recipe here.

This was a not very good sweet and sour chicken recipe.  Enough said.

Vegetable Linguine, Vegetarian Times

This was pretty gross.  Asparagus and zucchini sliced with a vegetable peeler and cut into "noodles".  Which is good!  The problem is the recipe tells you to cook them in boiling water for 2 minutes, which is at least 1 minute too long.  These were mushy and unappetizing.  We fed them to the baby.

Spiced Shredded Pork, Martha Stewart

I think one of the best things about this project is rediscovering Martha. I've made some pretty kick ass MS recipes from this book. This one was super good. Recipe here. This is a good make ahead one too, I cooked and shredded the pork, then refrigerated it with the butter and oil and salt and pepper mixed in. The next night all I had to do was broil the pork while I cut the veggies. So fast.

Udon Lunch

Udon lunch at the Japanese Cultural Centre, 160 Vernon Ave. Next lunch February 25. Reservations 250-376-9629 to reserve or for information.

spaghetti squash with sauce

This is a simple to make dish perfect for winter. Cook a spaghetti squash (in the microwave ((PIERCE IT FIRST!)) or oven or steamer) and scrape the flesh from the skin. Rub an oven safe dish with butter and garlic and spoon a little pasta sauce on the bottom of the dish to cover. Season your squash lightly with salt and pepper and add to the dish. Then cover with more sauce, top with some grated cheese (mozza is our favorite) and bake until hot and bubbly.

Serve with salad and bread to mop up the leftover sauce.

Little Stuffed Pumpkins

Close to the end of market season here one of the vendors was selling the most adorable wee pumpkins. I thought they were decoration only, but the seller told me that they were perfect for baking so I bought a few to play with.

You can see how teeny they were in comparison to the ruler.

I hollowed them out and made a stuffing of white and wild rice, mushroom, garlic, and the little bit of pumpkin I carved out. I seasoned it with s&p and parsley.

I sprinkled on a little parmesan and baked them until they were soft and the cheese was brown.  I popped the lids on before I took the photo.

Spicy Pork and Tofu Soup

We were in Vancouver in the Spring and ate at a little noodle shop, the name of which I forgot to write down, unfortunately. I had spicy tofu and noodle soup, which had pork and corn and green onions in it and it was so wonderful. I think about it fondly.

I had to come up with my own version because who knows if or when I'll ever get back to that little shop again. This version, my first version, I left out the corn and replaced the noodles with rice. It was really delicious and satisfied my craving perfectly, although I think I'll still try to make one or two more variations.

2 tb vegetable oil

1 tb finely chopped fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic finely chopped

250 grams ground pork

1 tb (or more or less to taste) chili garlic paste

4 cups chicken stock

2 tb soy sauce

3 green onions, finely sliced plus more for garnish

1 pkg soft tofu, chopped or squished into small bits with your fingers

cooked rice

Heat the oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant and softening. Add the pork and cook until no longer pink. Stir in the chili garlic sauce and cook for 1 minute.

Add the stock and soy sauce, turn heat to high and bring to the boil. Add the green onions and the tofu. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup into bowls and spoon some rice into each bowl. Sprinkle with more green onion.

Hawaiian Christmas Dinner - Pineapple Coleslaw

This was one of my favorite things I ate in Hawaii when we were there in 2007, apart from anything from Maui Taco.

I vowed when we returned from our trip I would find a wonderful pineapple coleslaw recipe....but I guess I sort of forgot about it.  Until we were planning this meal and I knew it had to be added.  Luckily Paula at The Cookbook Junkie had the perfect recipe for Pineapple Coleslaw, from one of the Diners Drive Ins and Dives cookbooks.

My Mom made this and apparently we didn't take any photos, but it looks like...coleslaw, so I guess we'll all be ok. Anyhoo, my Mom said she increased the amount of carrot and decreased the sugar a bit. It was the best slaw I've ever ever had. Fo sho.

Hawaiian Christmas Dinner - Bacon Wrapped Pineapple

I have wanted to try bacon wrapped pineapple for years but it never happened.  In November when I was shopping for food for Pax's birthday dinner I decided to add an appetizer for the adults but couldn't think of anything.  Then I saw a pineapple and thought why not?  We had some at home, all I needed to buy was bacon.

They were delicious and so we added them as an appetizer to Christmas dinner.

Cut your pineapple into cubes, I was aiming for one good size mouthful. Cut your bacon strips in half lengthwise.

Preheat your oven to 400' and line a baking sheet with foil.

Wrap the pineapple in the bacon:

Place on the baking sheet and if you like, sprinkle with a little bit of brown sugar.

Bake until the bacon is crisp, 15-20 minutes. Start keeping an eye on them around 10, so they don't get too crispy.

These are so easy to make and so tasty!

Christmas Dinner 2010

Hawaiian Christmas Dinner - Kalua Pig

We had to have Kalua Pig as part of our Hawaiian Christmas dinner.  Fortunately I found a recipe that didn't require us to dig a pit in the backyard to cook it.

The recipe came from Ono Kine Grindz. Basically you take a pork butt (also known as shoulder), rub it with salt and liquid smoke, wrap it in banana or ti leaves and cook it in the oven or crock pot.

The dish turned out perfectly. The pork was so tender it fell apart when we looked at it. The only thing I would do differently is season it more aggressively with salt. The recipe calls for salt to taste and I went too light.

If/when I find a pork butt on sale I'm going to cook it the same way but without the leaves (which sadly I am out of now), and serve it with some good homemade bbq sauce, coleslaw, buns and beans.

Hawaiian Christmas Dinner 2010

Menu plan

Happy New Year! I hope 2011 is off to a good start for you. My poor baby has been sort of sick so there's not much sleep happening over here for anyone.

Here's what we're going to be eating the next few days -

Monday (today!) ham leftovers from our New Years Day dinner.

Tuesday Ranch chicken

Wednesday Fish tacos

Thursday Mango Chicken salad

Friday Pasta with peas and ham

Saturday Mexican turkey

Sunday Jamaican beef patties

Monday Thai chicken wings

And the best part of all of this.....my shopping list for the week has 4 items* on it! I've got all the stuff I need in the freezer, pantry and fridge.

Go me!

*Note - this doesn't mean I will leave the grocery store with only 4 items.