Bread Baking Buddies for Potato Bread with Chives

Thanks to all of you who joined us Babes in baking the Potato Bread with Chives this month, thus becoming Bread Baking Buddies.



Nicole at Bread Butter and Buns


Gosia at Majology


Donatella from Il Cucchiaio D'Oro




Elle from Bread Bakers Dog


Andreas from Delta Kitchen


Kelly from A Messy Kitchen


Andrea from Family and Food


I'd also like to send a huge THANK YOU out to Lien, our BBBabe who blogs at Notitie van Lien who very graciously makes both the BBB and Buddy badges every month. Thank you Lien!

FNCCC - Sandra Lee

I know, Sandra Lee! So many people dislike her. Myself, possibly because her shows do not air on the food channel in Canada, I am of really no opinion. I have cooked a few of her recipes successfully (her pumpkin pancakes from Semi Homemade Cooking are super), but I have also seen clips of her show online (shudder).

But she's the next in line over at Sarah's for Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge, so here we are.

I found a recipe on her website for Swedish Meatballs, which I quite like.

Surprisingly this recipe is pretty much a "real" Swedish Meatball recipe. The only premade ingredient she uses is frozen meatballs, and that was perfect for me as I had half a bag in the freezer I wanted to use up.



I served the meatballs over steamed potatos instead of noodles. This was good, quick and easy to make, and I would make it again.

Recipe: Speedy Swedish Meatballs.

Please go visit Sarah at I Thank My Mother to see what else was whipped up this week.

I am a completely embarrassed Babe - Potato Bread with Chives

It's my month to be Kitchen of the Month in Babeland! I chose a bread that says "Spring" to me - Potato Bread with Chives, from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson.

The bread is vegan and uses soy (or another non dairy milk of your choice) milk and maple syrup instead of sugar.


I've made this bread twice - once to make sure it was a good choice for my Babes, and then again for this post. It is delicious! I love it. The chives don't really do a ton for the bread (as some other Babes may mention in their own posts) but they don't detract from it. And the best part is, it's not an overly complicated recipe, easily completed in a morning or afternoon.

And guess what?

Both times I made it BOTH TIMES I forgot to take photos. Can you believe it?

(To distract you!)

Potato Bread with Chives
from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson

"The addition of mashed potatos gives this bread a moist, dense texture and delicate flavor that is accented by that of the chives. This bread is best eaten slightly warm from the oven on the day it is made. It is also good toasted."

2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar or pure maple syrup
2 Tb corn oil
2 tsp salt
1 cup cold mashed potatos
1 cup soy milk or other dairy free milk
5 cups unbleached all purpose flour, plus more for kneading
2 Tb minced fresh chives

In a large bowl, combine the yeast and 1/4 cup of the water. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, then stir in the remaining 3/4 cup of water, the corn oil and the salt. Mix in the potatos, then stir in the soy milk. Add about half the flour, stirring to combine, then work in the remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Transfer to a lightly floured board.

Lightly flour your hands and work surface. Knead the dough well until it is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes, using more flour as necessary so the dough does not stick. Place in a large lightly oiled bowl and turn over once to coat with oil. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.

Meanwhile, lightly oil a large baking sheet and set aside. Punch the dough down and knead lightly. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface, sprinkle with the chives, and knead until the dough is elastic and the chives are well distributed, 3 to 5 minutes. Shape the dough into one large or two small round loaves and place on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly and cover with a clean damp towel or lightly oiled plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place and let rise again until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400'F. Use a sharp knife to cut an X into the top of the loaf or loaves. Bake on the center oven rack until golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes, depending on size. Tap on the bottom of the loaf or loaves - if they sound hollow, the bread is done. Remove from the sheet and let cool slightly on a wire rack before slicing.

Please visit the other Babes (listed over on the right) to see how their breads turned out. I bet they might even have pictures! Can you imagine?

If you'd like to join us as a Bread Baking Buddy, please email me a link to your post by Friday April 30. I'll have a round up posted a few days after that. My email is iliketocook AT shaw DOT ca.

Cheers!

Wedge Salad

When I was young, my favorite salad was a slab of iceberg lettuce with salad dressing on it. (Who knew I was such a connoisseur in my early years?) I had no idea that a wedge of iceberg was a classic salad. I have in one of my notebooks for a Martha Stewart iceberg salad recipe - a wedge of lettuce drizzled with homemade buttermilk dressing. The photo looks so refreshing and inviting. Perfect for a warm spring or summer day.

It hit me the other night that now is the perfect time to try this, as I bought too much lettuce on my last shopping trip. I cut a nice slab of lettuce (and washed and dried it), placed it on a plate, then sprinkled it with diced tomato and snipped chives. Then I pulled out the blue cheese dressing and voila:


Delicious, and open to endless possibilities!

I'm thinking avocado, tomato and bacon with blue cheese or ranch dressing
or
diced bell pepper, cheddar cheese and salsa
or maybe a take on one of my favorite salads -
slivered almonds, shredded jack cheese, dill dressing

Mmmm mmm mmmmmmm!

Link

Megan at Not Martha is giving away 5 of the iphone How to Cook Everything apps. I am a fan of Mark Bittmans, but I never win things, so I took her advice and headed over to the app store where HTCE is currently available for the ridiculously low price of $1.99.

I love LOVE it. This is the first food app I've downloaded that I've actually used. (Well, I haven't cooked from it yet, but I've favorited a jillion recipes).

Visit Not Martha at this post for details on how to enter to win.

Contest ends at noon PST Wednesday April 21.

vietnamese food

I made this a couple of months ago, and it was the BEST Vietnamese food I've ever made. Not that I've made that much yet. But it was damn good.


Unfortunately, I have NO IDEA how I made this. My notes are gone.

Dammit.

If I Were...

If I were a month I’d be August

If I were a day I’d be Sunday

If I were a time of day I’d be 6 pm

If I were a font I’d be Georgia

If I were a sea animal I’d be a turtle

If I were a direction I’d be West

If I were a piece of furniture I’d be a lounger

If I were a liquid I’d be water

If I were a gemstone I’d be a ruby

If I were a tree I’d be a banyan tree

If I were a tool I’d be an awl

If I were a flower I’d be a gerbera daisy

If I were an element of weather I’d be rain

If I were a musical instrument I’d be a drum

If I were a color I’d be yellow

If I were an emotion I’d be joy

If I were a fruit I’d be a strawberry

If I were a sound I’d be loud

If I were an element I’d be helium

If I were a car I’d be reliable

If I were a food I’d be a sopapilla

If I were a place I’d be Kihei, Hawaii

If I were a material I’d be rock

If I were a taste I’d be lemon

If I were a scent I’d be freshly cut grass

If I were a body part I’d be a hand

If I were a song I’d be an instrumental by Stevie Ray Vaughn

If I were a bird I’d be a chickadee

If I were a gift I’d be blue

If I were a city I’d be near water

If I were a door I’d be open

If I were a pair of shoes I’d be invisible (I hate shoes)

If I were a poem I’d be i carry your heart with me by E. E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

What would you be?

(found at Sizzle Says

Grocery Shop, April 15

I am a little annoyed with myself. I bought too much lettuce today. A head of iceberg (it was on sale) and a container of organic Italian mix (also on sale). AND I didn't even notice until I looked at the photo just now.

I also bought some chicken, chives (for a certain project), the new food network magazine as a treat, hoisin sauce, buns, tomatos, apples, bananas, yogurt, celery (one of my least favorite vegetables, but I have an idea), salad dressing, milk, clamato and pop.

I've got some bell peppers that my mom gave me, and some additional chicken, beef and frozen veggies that will get us to next week.

Total spent $39.39

Mighty Life List - Dandelion Greens

As I mentioned in my last post, number 108 on my Mighty Life List is to try 10 foods I've never had before.

I picked up the first one on Sunday, Dandelion Greens. Organic Dandelion Greens.


These have never really appealed to me to be honest because I have heard they are quite bitter. But I saw them and figured why not?

Dandelion greens are really quite good for you. They are high in Vitamins A, C and K and are a source of Calcium and Iron. Suggested uses are as a leaf in salads, or boiled, sauteed or steamed.

Vicki from A Work in Progress kindly shared her recipe for them, and it goes like this:

Boil the greens in salted boiling water for 1-2 minutes (I got interrupted and mine boiled more like 7 minutes). Drain and rinse with cold water. Squeeze with your hands to remove water.


Heat some olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add garlic (I used 5 cloves) and a pinch of hot pepper flakes. Cook until the garlic is fragrant. Add the greens, stir and cook until the greens are heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

Vicki suggests topping with some parmesan cheese which I forgot to do. I wish I had. I will next time.

These were pretty good! There was a slight bitterness to them, but I really liked the garlic and peppers. I ate these with some leftover mishmash foods, but I could see this going really well with some pasta (again as suggested by Vicki) or a steak or pork chop.

FNCCC - Rachael Ray

It's Rachael Ray's week at Sarah's Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge.

Love her or hate her, you've got to admit that the woman has amassed an incredible amount of recipes. I have made a lot of her recipes the past few years. A good number of them have been pretty tasty too.

But I think that this one might be the best Rachael Ray recipe I've made -


It's a beautifully seasoned turkey patty with a olive, tomato and cucumber salad. There was supposed to be spinach in the salad as well, but I forgot to add it. The problem is, I made this a few weeks ago and I can't find the recipe. I can't remember where I found it, or its name. I do remember that it wasn't made with turkey in the original recipe; I subbed that in because I found some ground turkey in the freezer. Argh.

So I bit the bullet and found another recipe to make for FNCCC. And this time I made sure to mark the magazine page so I could share it with you!


Behold the deliciously wonderful Beef and Bean Burrito Burger. This was so good! Ground beef mixed with black beans, brown rice, cumin, coriander, and served with guacamole. I skipped the bun (cough DIET! cough ha, nice try Sara, who am I kidding) and served it with chopped tomato. and salsa.

I really enjoyed this and it does taste like a burrito. I made 6 patties, not 4 as the recipe calls for. 4 would have been insanely huge. We will have these again for sure.

Recipe: Beef 'n Bean Burrito Burgers


ps - if anyone knows the recipe for that first burger, let me know!

Grocery Shop, April 4

I stopped at the grocery store this morning because I thought I was running low on milk. I picked up some random stuff, no meals planned at all with this bunch of groceries. I got:

whole wheat pita, kale, pineapple, pomegranate apple juice, milk, noodles, hummus, frozen dumplings, sushi, one kosher dill pickle, baby oragel (my baby! is 4 months old! wearing 9-12 month clothes! and may be teething!), and dandelion greens.

The dandelion greens are part of my mighty life list (108 Try 1 new food a week for 10 weeks), and I have no idea what I will do with them. Any suggestions? Email or Twitter me!

The dumplings and sushi are to satisfy my craving for sushi and chinese food I've had for weeks. I can't wait to crack into the sushi for lunch and dinner tomorrow. The rest, I'll just have to make it all fall into place.

Total $44.10

FNCCC - Paula Deen

Paula Deen is the chosen Food Network host for this weeks Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge. Oh Paula. You crazy crazy woman you.

I went over to her own website pauladeen.com for inspiration and found a recipe for sweet and sour meatballs. I LOVE sweet and sour meatballs and as luck would have it, I had a bag of frozen meatballs in the freezer and all the sauce ingredients in the pantry, so I made it for dinner that very night.

I am a fairly frugal person in the kitchen. I don't like to waste food. I hate having to buy a big bunch of cilantro when I only need a teaspoon. Cause you know it's going to go bad before it all gets used up. I don't like recipes where you cook noodles in broth and then toss out the broth. I don't do it. I just cook them in water. So imagine my shock when I'm reading the recipe I've chosen, and it calls for 4 cups of ketchup. For one pound of meatballs. FOUR CUPS OF KETCHUP! Does that not sound just a wee bit excessive? Four cups of ketchup plus 2 cans of pineapple, and a truckload of other ingredients, for a measly one pound of meatballs? Four cups of anything is a lot and I just couldn't bring myself to use four cups (4!) of ketchup. So I halved all of the sauce ingredients, and also didn't pre-cook the sweet and sour sauce since everything was going to be in the oven for an hour.

And it looked pretty good when it was done cooking:

Aside from the day glow color of the photo, you'll see that there is p-l-e-n-t-y of sauce to go around for all those meatballs. I honestly can't imagine needing any more sauce. It was good, very good. I might make it again, but I am always on the lookout for new sweet and sour meatballs recipes.

Please visit Sarah at I Thank My Mother to see who else took part and what they made.

Recipe: Shane’s Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Grocery shop, March 28

I've been trying to use what's already in the freezer and pantry more often, especially since Scott cleaned up the deep freeze and unearthed a bunch of stuff I'd forgotten I'd even bought. They don't lie when they say you lose your brain after childbirth.

I planned lunches and dinners for today to Thursday, and all I needed to buy was the following


It cost me $19.95, with the bell peppers being the most expensive item at $3.91. I'll be using some ground beef, noodles and canned beans that I've already got here, and I won't have to go back to the store until Thursday to shop for the weekend.

Udon Lunch

Udon lunch at the Japanese Cultural Centre, 160 Vernon Ave. Next lunch April 23. Reservations 250-376-9629 to reserve or for information.

FNCCC - The Neeleys

Patrick and Gina Neeley's shows aren't shown on food tv here in Canada. They've shown a couple of specials in the past year or two but that's it. I went searching on the Food Network website for a recipe, and found one I knew Scott would like, a Memphis Monte Cristo.

This Monte Cristo has ham, turkey, gouda cheese, and bbq sauce.


These sandwiches are easy and fast to make. Scott did love them. I thought they were only ok. The bbq sauce, which usually I love, pushed it over the top. I think there was just too much going on in this sandwich for me. But I would definitely make these again and just leave the sauce off mine.

You can see the recipe here.

And please go visit Sarah, the creator of the FNCCC, to see what other delicious meals were made this week!

Bread Baking Babes - Gluten Free No Knead Hearty Seeded Sandwich Bread

This month the Bread Baking Babes venture into new, uncharted territory - Gluten Free Bread.

Our Kitchen of the Month this month is Mary, and she chose for us to bake
Gluten Free No Knead Hearty Seeded Sandwich Bread
from Nancy Baggett's Kneadlessly Simple.

I've never made gluten free bread before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We used a variety of flours, including white rice flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and ground flax seed.


This is a 2 day bread, with a rather soupy dough spending some time in the fridge and on the counter before having the last few ingredients added in. I admit I had some trouble, as I often do, gauging if I had added enough flour or not. At the time I thought I had, but after baking I'm not so sure.

The bread did not rise above the edge of the loaf pan, and the top was sort of lumpy and cracked. It smelled absolutely amazing, and had a nice earthy flavor. The texture was a little more crumbly that I expected, but then again this is my first gluten free loaf, so I really don't know what I should have expected.


Sort of a funny looking bread.

Please head over to Mary's for the recipe. If you are interested in being a Bread Baking Buddy, you've got until March 31 to get your posts to Mary.

And as always, please head over to the sites of the other Babes, listed over on the right, to see their breads.

Cheers!

Roast beef success! and 2 with no photos

We've started buying the majority of our meat from the butcher shop. We're doing this for 3 reasons. First, there is a butcher and a small grocery store about a 5 minute drive from our house. I can go there unshowered, with my hairy legs and spit-up covered yoga pants and no one notices. And the chance I will run into anyone I know is very slim, unlike the other day when I was dancing and singing to Paxton while pushing his stroller in Costco and looked up and saw someone I knew staring at me. Second, price. If I need only one chicken breast, I don't have to buy a pack of four. If I need only a pound of ground beef, I don't have to buy 2 packages of 3/4's of a pound each. And third is quality. This stuff is gooooood, much better quality than the grocery stores.

I was there a couple of days ago and they had some little tenderloin roasts on sale. I picked one up and regretted it right away, as I am crappy at cooking roasts. But why be negative, so I gave it a go.

First I took the roast out 30 minutes before cooking and unwrapped it and let it sit at room temperature.

I made a rub of
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper

and rubbed it on the roast. I heated 2 tb of vegetable oil over medium heat in a pan and browned the roast on all sides.


Then I put it in the oven at 400' for 30 minutes.


It came out around medium-ish. A little more done that I would like, but about what Scott prefers.

It was delicious; the roast was tender and the rub added nice flavor. I was pretty proud of myself and will feel more confident with roasts in the future.

I cooked a recipe from one of my notebooks. This is from Bon Appetit, Grilled Chicken Thighs. I marinated the chicken for a couple of hours before I broiled them. I love anything teriyaki, and these went over very well.
Recipe: Grilled Chicken Thighs.

And from my del.icio.us recipe list I made Mongolian Beef and I agree that this is quite a wonderful dish. I sauteed a sliced up orange bell pepper and a sliced zucchini to the pan for the final simmering. It was fabulous and quick and full of yum.

FNCCC - Nigella Lawson

This weeks Food Network host for the FNCCC is Nigella Lawson, a favorite of mine. I've cooked a ton of her recipes and loved almost all of them.

I was looking for something easy to cook for Sunday lunch and remembered that Nigella's book Forever Summer has a lot of simple recipes that I haven't tried yet. I chose her Rigatoni Al Pomodoro E Prezzemolo - tomato and garlic sauce.

Delicious and easy!

Visit Sarah at I Thank My Mother to see what other Nigella recipes were made.

Rigatoni Al Pomodoro E Prezzemolo
Nigella Lawson

6 Tb extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers
1 3/4 cups (14 oz) canned chopped tomatos
1/2 cup vegetable stock
bunch fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
1 pound rigatoni

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta.
Heat the oil and gently fry the garlic over low to medium heat. When it begins to take on a golden color add the tomatos and turn up the heat. Stir in the stock and let it bubble away, reducing the sauce until it becomes quite lumpy and oily; this should take no more than about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and (just before serving) add the parsley. Taste for seasoning.
Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni following the instructions on the package then then toss the pasta into the sauce in the pan. Combine everything well and serve straightaway.

A soup kind of day

We have had an incredibly mild winter this year - very few cold days, hardly any snow.....quite frankly it's been a dream season for us and the baby. No worrying about having to take him out in freezing cold temperatures. No driving on snow and ice covered roads. No major snowstorms to shovel out of while pregnant or recovering from surgery. I'm sure we're in for a bad summer with such low snow levels and that sucks but still. It was good for us.
Which was why yesterday morning was such a shock when we got a 2 inch snow dump in just a few short hours. It was cold (well, below zero) and by the time I was done shoveling I was exhausted and my back was screaming in pain. Out of practice, I guess.

Early last year, or maybe even in 2008 we saw an episode of a Jamie Oliver show where he cooked a leek and chickpea soup. I made a note in one of my notebooks about it -

leek chickpea soup
jamie oliver

leek
dry cpeas
potato
broth
puree
parm

I'd recently stocked up on canned beans at a grocery store sale so I picked up a couple of fat leeks late last week. Yesterday was definitely a soup kind of day.

I didn't follow his recipe exactly; here's what I did:

Leek and Chickpea Soup

2 tb oil
2 large leeks
4 cloves garlic
1 medium or large potato
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups water
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup or more grated parmesan cheese

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Cut the roots and the dark green ends off the leeks, and cut them down the middle lengthwise. Rinse very very well under running water to get rid of all the dirt. Shake off excess water and roughly chop. Add to the pot, season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes, until the leeks are soft and just start to color. Chop the garlic and add to the pot and cook for 3-4 minutes. Dice the potato and add to the pot along with the chickpeas, water and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or so, until the potatos are tender. Puree the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Stir in the cheese and let melt, then taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and more cheese if desired.

Ma Po Tofu

This is by far my favorite recipe I've tried so far out of my new Mark Bittman cookbook. I've made it 3 times since getting the book last month. Dishes like these keep me happy enough to almost forget that I've had Vietnamese food only once in the past 2+ years. Almost.

I love this because it's simple, fast and delicious. You don't really need to measure the ingredients, just eyeball and add to taste. The recipe in the book calls for 1/4 lb of ground pork (the recipe in the link below calls for 1/4-1/2) and I've never made it with that little amount - Scott could eat 1/4 lb of meat by himself easily. I made it again 2 nights ago with a full pound of meat and have been enjoying leftovers for lunch ever since.

I've been trying to work on my time management skills, meaning that when the baby naps instead of collapsing into a heap in front of the tv or computer, I try to get cleaning or laundry or cooking done. I started this in the afternoon while the baby was sleeping but only got to adding the green onions and water before he woke up, but it was actually a perfect place to make ahead to. That night when the rice was almost done, all I had to do was bring the pork back to a simmer and add the tofu and soy sauce. I also like to add a little bit of hoisin to my bowl, but I am addicted to that stuff.


Recipe: Mark Bittman's Ma Po Tofu