2012-02-07: Roast Turkey Stuffed with Dried Autumn Fruits

Sep 1997 Gusto!

Roast Turkey Stuffed with Dried Autumn Fruits.
Single Turkey Breast instead of whole bird.
The picture looks a little scary.  I guess roasting skinless turkey doesn't look as good as traditional turkey.

And from last night's creamed oysters on toast, this came forth once the toast was consumed:

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." ~ Matthew 6:24

2012-02-05: Two-In-One

Today's post is called Two-In-One, as I cooked two separate recipes to put onto one plate.  Or, one could say that it was two day's work in one.  My brother also partook of this meal, which was a great help.  Part one was the Cajun Pot Roast (I did not see any copyright info on this recipe card, and it was provided by The Little Potato Company).  The recipe is listed here, with a few modifications.  Part two was the Lemon Rosemary Green Beans (from Gusto, September 1997), which is copyright.  The funny thing about the green bean recipe was that ... I had plenty of asparagus and beet greens and no green beans.  So I used that instead, and it wasn't bad.  Interestingly, it had a ginger flavour.  For dessert, my brother and I had the Tri-Melon Salad and a cup of coffee (boiled on the stovetop, with about 1 ounce of Fragoli).

Cajun Pot Roast

3-4lbs Blade or Cross Rib Pot Roast
1 cup beef stock  (I used chicken stock, since that's what I had on hand)
1 can Italian stewed tomatoes
1/4 tsp cayenne (I used Thai Bird Chili, since that's what I had on hand)
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup each chopped onions and celery
1 each red and green pepper, chopped (I omitted the red pepper and used mushrooms instead)
6 carrots, cut into chunks
1 bag potatoes (the recipe called for Little Potato Company Bintje variety ... but I used what I could find at the local grocery store)
1 cup each frozen corn and okra (optional - I did not use either of these, as my pot was overflowing with vegetables by this point)

Brown the roast in a large pot, reduce heat and add the remaining ingredients except the corn and okra. Simmer covered on the stove or in 325 degree farenheit oven for 2 1/2 hours. Season with salt to taste (I omitted the salt as there's plenty in the canned tomatoes).  Add corn and okra and cook covered for another 15 minutes.  Remove roast and vegetables; discard bay leaf.  Thicken juice left in the pot with a paste made from 2 tbsp each of flour and water.  Slice roast and serve with vegetables and sauce.  Makes 12-15 servings.

So now, I'm left with a slight conundrum.  The cajun pot roast was today's recipe, and the Lemon Rosemary Green Beans were for Tues 07 Feb.  Does this mean I get a day off my Recipe Resolution on Tuesday?  Or should I replace it with another recipe?  Hmmm ... I shall have to see.

NS Resolution: Neck stretches - done.

2012-02-01: Pan Roasted Ontario Chicken with Mango Salsa and Lobster

Yikes. This recipe had multiple parts.  I could not find canned lobster at any of the grocery stores I visited, so I substituted it with canned crabmeat.  The entire plate was a lot of food, and likely did not need the addition of the seafood.  And since I had parsley instead of coriander, I used that too.  I'm going to have to learn how to dry parsley, as I've got so much and don't want it to go to waste.  Also, I'll need to do the same for the dill, and where I can let it dry safely away from the fond predations of my cat.

The Mango Coulis was tasty, but the flavour of the white vinegar was verging on overwhelming.  And for the Mango Salsa, I omitted the green beans, used cashews instead of hazelnuts (which I could not find), used black currants instead of red (plenty of which I still have) and omitted the poppy seeds.

Additionally, I discovered while I was pan-searing the chicken that I forgot to purchase phyllo pastry.  So ... instead of making phyllo nests, I placed a Quaker Oats Shredded Wheat Muffet on the plate (ahem). Ha ha.

And it's the start of a new month!!  So I will add another Floppy Resolution to the Recipe Resolution.
This will be a once daily neck and shoulder workout/stretch routine (NS Resolution).  So for the neck - look both ways, up and down, the "chin-push", the side stretch and the 'diagonal stretch'.  These were taught to me by my physio, and I kept up with these until I felt I didn't need to do them anymore.  But it's probably a good idea to start up with these again.  And for the shoulders, I'll start out with 10 of each exercise ... which I need to pull from reference materials I've got somewhere around here.

2012-01-31: Chicken Andre's

This was another offering from the Ontario Chicken Producers' Marketing Board.  Instead of spinach, I used the leaves from the golden beets used for the Chicken Pot au Feu recipe.  And instead of Sunflower Oil, I used Olive Oil.  And instead of a white onion, I used a yellow onion.  And instead of canned Mandarin Oranges, I used a fresh Naval Orange.  All of this, so that I could use the ingredients I had at hand, instead of buying more from the grocery store.  I'm more accustomed to this method, creatively finding ways to put random ingredients in the kitchen together.  Most of the time it works.  Sometimes, it doesn't.  But it gives a great deal more freedom than sticking slavishly to a recipe.

So today I compromised a little bit with the recipe.  I used it as the foundation and used alternate ingredients that were as close to the list as possible.  It tasted delicious with some rice on the side.

This marks the first month in the first of my floppy resolutions: to cook all of the recipes clipped and collected by my Mom for the past 20+ years.  I have grown to really appreciate this treasure which my Mom gave to me.  I have also grown to really appreciate the decades of dinners prepared by my Mom and Dad.  They made dinner every night, even when they were exhausted by a long and hard day at work.  I was sometimes a picky eater, and sometimes complained about the food.  And they still fed me, all the while telling me the story of how the rice farmers toiled in the rice paddies gathering all of the rice by hand.

So thanks, Mom and Dad, for all the food!

2012-01-30: Chicken Medallions with Mushrooms and Merlot Sauce

Sounds fancy, but it's really just chicken rolled up around some sauteed mushrooms with boiled wine on the side.  I didn't have Merlot, so just used regular red wine. It tasted *really* good.

2012-01-29: Chicken Pot au Feu

Today's Chicken Pot au Feu is also from The Ontario Chicken Producers' Marketing Board, "Chicken: Always in Flavour".  There are three recipes left in this flyer before I can move on.  The chicken pot au feu has a very nice, delicate flavour.  I could not find dried morel mushrooms, and substituted dried chanterelles instead. There have been a few ingredients in the past few recipes which were difficult to find; hunting for them is part of the adventure!

2012-01-28: Studio Cafe's Chicken Stir Fry

For some reason, my stir fry turned out soupier-looking than expected.
Whew! This post made it just under the wire at 11:50pm.
And my cat is still somehow ok, having survived the ingestion of some chicken bones (Someone is really watching over that cat, and he's really blessed).

2012-01-27: Fresh Herb Roasted Chicken

Today's Fresh Herb Roasted Chicken came from The Ontario Chicken Producers' Marketing Board, Chicken: Always in Flavour. It turned out really, really well, even though I couldn't find juniper berries.

While typing this out, I could hear one of my cats making a funny meowing that almost sounded like "ma ma", which was really cute, until I discovered that he had done something very naughty.  He fished some of the chicken bones out of the garbage and I am not happy with him at all!!  So here's a photo of the lovely tasting chicken with a blackcurrant sauce on the side and blackcurrants for garnish.  Now I have to figure out what to do with my cat.

2012-01-25: Warm Lentil Salad with Sausage

Warm Lentil Salad with Sausage 
tastes better than it looks.  I used Piller's Kolbasa Sausage and fresh thyme instead of dried.

I also found out a little bit about Kosher Salt.  After yesterday's disaster with the overly-salted Spicy Long Beans, I discovered that Kosher Salt grains are usually larger than Table Salt grains.  So 2 teaspoons of Table Salt is approximately equal to 4 teaspoons of Kosher Salt. Which means that I put twice the amount of salt called for in the recipe.  Lesson learned!

2012-01-23: Garam Masala-Crusted Chicken with Fig Jus

Today's recipe called for tamarind paste, which I was unable to find. I used a tamarind chutney instead, which was the closest that I could find.  I also used a cute little Kosher Chicken. Mmmm.

2012-01-22: Pork Chops Braised with Spiced Honey and Grapes

Today's recipe was courtesy of The Toronto Star from Wednesday, January 11, 2006, from the California Table Grape Commission.  I've noticed a small little something - braising the pork chops at 325 degrees Celsius turns them into juicy little morsels of loveliness. I was only able to taste a little bit of tonight's recipe, as I'm still working through the Turkey Chili with Beer and Lime paired with the Sourdough Silver Dollar Pancakes (strangely, it works well together).  It's too bad my photographs of the food don't do it justice, but I've not learned how to plate like a chef.  So it's simple home cooking with simple home-style presentation. On a side note ... I was unable to bring myself to finish the Papa Al Pomodoro and it has become a donation to the raccoons (do they eat tomatoes?).

2012-01-19: Turkey Chili with Beer and Lime

Today's recipe called for ground turkey, but I was unable to locate any at my local grocery store, so I substituted it with ground chicken.

2012-01-15: Ham and Cheese Toasts with Jalapeno Cream

This recipe called for some yesterday's sourdough bread, and it's pretty rich and salty. The jalapeno cream does not need any added salt, due to the saltiness of the prosciutto.

2012-01-06: Linguine with Broccoli Rabe and Lemon

Today's meal was another recipe from the December 1992 issue of Gourmet Magazine under the Column, "In Short Order".  It was very, very filling, and I learned something new.  Broccoli Rabe is also called Rapini, and this is my first time cooking this vegetable.

I used whole wheat linguine instead of the regular white pasta, and so this may have altered the flavour.  It could have used a little bit more bacon and lemon zest and lemon juice.

2012-01-04: Braised Pork Chops with Allspice

Tonight's dinner recipe was Braised Pork Chops with Allspice, published in the Gourmet Magazine in December 1992, written by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz.  Alas, I do not have permission to post the recipe here.  However, my brother told me that it was very good, and I don't have any leftovers to worry about.  Thankfully, he supplied the red wine that went into the recipe, and thankfully I was able to find dried cherries at the Bulk Barn.  The picture below does not really do it justice.