Potato Kedgeree

On the weekend I made potato kedgeree for brunch. Normally kedgeree is made with fish and rice. The fresh lemon zest and juice gave it a lot of punch, a very summery zing which was good. The curry flavour was mild. I omitted the fresh sprigs of mint. And I really wish I had fresh watercress to add that finishing touch to the dish instead. To save time I boiled the potatoes and eggs the night before. The recipe came from a cookbook that I will be reviewing tomorrow. I will share the recipe with you all now. 
It goes as follows: 

Potatoes - 5 medium, boiled in their skins
Butter - 2 tablespoons (25 ml) 
Onion - 1, peeled and finely chopped
Mild curry powder - 2 teaspoons (10 ml)
Zucchini - 1, sliced
Eggs - 4, hard-boiled
Peas - 1 cup (250 ml), cooked  ... I used frozen 
Plain yoghurt - 1 cup (250 ml)
Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon (5 ml) 
Grated lemon peel - 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml)
Salt - 1 teaspoon (5 ml)
Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) 
Sprigs of mint

1. Peel the cooked potatoes and chop coarsely.

2. Melt the butter in a large frying pan. When the foam subsides, add the chopped onions and curry powder and fry gently for about 5 minutes

3. Add the chopped potatoes and fry for another 5 minutes, stirring to combine. Stir in the sliced zucchini and continue cooking for 5 minutes

4. Peel the eggs and cut into halves. Add the eggs, peas, yoghurt, lemon juice, grated lemon peel, salt and pepper to the pan. Combine carefully so that the ingredients are not mashed together. Heat through but do not overcook.

5. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with sprigs of mint.  

This is how is how I served the kedgeree, with two slices of bacon and tomato. Sausages, whether veggie or not, would do nicely too. - JW

Stroganoff Sauce

I made this Stroganoff sauce the other night to serve over spaetzle. It was easy and quick. This sauce can be whipped up in no time and served over rice, egg noodles and potatoes. Here is the recipe. 

2 cups sliced mushrooms 

1 chopped onion

2-3 tablespoons of butter

1 1/4 cups low sodium organic chicken/veggie stalk

I cup of light sour cream ( or about half of a 500ml container)

a pinch of salt and pepper

mild smoked paprika 

Over medium high heat melt the butter in a pan. Then add the mushrooms and onion. Stirring so that they don't burn. Sauté the mushrooms and onion in the butter. When onions and mushrooms have soften and shrunk in size add some salt and pepper. Then add the chicken or veggie stalk. Let simmer and stir occasionally. Then add the sour cream. Stir until smooth and let heat. Then add the paprika. Stir. Give it a few more seconds to heat. Then serve. 

I don't have an amount of how much paprika you should use. Depending on how much you like paprika... and I like it a lot. I kept adding the paprika until I felt it was the right amount. Until the sauce became a deep golden orange. 

The cold weather has come bringing a few flurries. Stay warm and enjoy your weekend!  
-JW 

Dining with Sherlock Holmes

It has been a while since I posted a book and I have been itching to review this cookbook. Dining with Sherlock Holmes: A Baker Street Cookbook by Julia Carlson Rosenblatt and Frederic H. Sonnenschmidt; pp.239; first printing, 1976 is concentrating on British food with a Sherlock twist. Trying to recreate the Victorian appetite spins a culinary yarn of breakfast, morning tea, luncheon, afternoon tea, high tea and dinner. Factor in Sherlock Holmes and well all the rest becomes quite elementary! 

The idea for the book came about when more than a hundred Holmes enthusiasts participated in "a grande Sherlockian repast". There was a casual remark made about a cookbook. And the two author's took it from there. Gathering from the research, Holmes and Watson probably ate more than three meals a day. Except if Sherlock was deeply involved with a case. When dining there was not to be any talk regarding evidence. Leaving Sherlock Holmes to openly digest. Nothing was to interrupt digestion.    

Apart from the Acknowledgements, "The Gastronomic Holmes and the Cuisine of His England" is a very well researched chapter. Other chapters are as follows: "Elementary, My Dear Watson", "Breakfast at Baker Street", A Singular Set of Recipes, Watson", "The Sideboard", "On the Chase" and "Horrors of a Country Inn" provide some delicacies to satisfy the your inner super sleuth. Each chapter has an introduction and references the stories of Sherlock Holmes. With 6-16 subtitles within each chapter that offer a set 3-5 course meal. Which makes piecing together a satisfying feast from start to finish, chronologically logical. With dinner titles such as Baskerville Breakfast, The Cornish Horror, A Cold Supper for Burglars and The Game Is Afoot one can certainly relish the morsels set about them.   

This cookbook is one I admire. -JW  

Aromatic Chai Tea Cake

Yesterday I made this cake in the afternoon. On a cold day with the oven working and the smell of warm comforting spices this hit the spot. I found the recipe to be fairly easy. The texture was spongy but light tasting. This would be a nice change to pumpkin pie. If you are looking for a dessert to serve this Thanksgiving or Christmas this is one. To make this you will need the following: 

1 1/2 cups of milk
10 Chai Tea bags

3 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
5 eggs 
2 teaspoons Pure vanilla extract

First preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 8 inch round pans. Believe it or not I don't have two round pans instead I used one bundt/tube pan. Place that aside.

In a sauce pan, heat milk over medium heat, add the tea bags, remove from heat and let steep for about 15 minutes. I used a loose Spicy Chai tea, bought at a local tea shop, Cally's Teas. Placing about 20-30 grams worth into two Blackthorn Garden D.I.Y. tea bags, I brought back from England. Remove the tea bags and set milk aside and let it cool completely. 

In a bowl, blend together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Using a standing electric mixer or a hand held electric mixer blend brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Approximately 3 minutes. Reducing the speed to low and alternating the cooled milk and flour mixture, blending until smooth. Having one of those standing mixers makes things go so much more easier. Divide the batter evenly among the pans or in my case spread the batter evenly in the tube the pan. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 30 minutes for two 8 inch pans or 45 minutes for one bundt/tube pan until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans or pan for 10 minutes then remove the cake from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely. 

This is how I served it. Homemade caramel sauce and pears. You can try custard, whipping cream, creme fraiche and or an apple pear compote. If you make the two 8 inch cakes you can layer with a cream cheese icing for more of a traditional look.  

Grilled Tomato and Blue Cheese Sandwich

Ever feel like the old tried and true sandwiches need a bit of a pick me up? This is what I had for lunch today. It is quickly becoming my favourite sandwich. Make a grilled cheese sandwich as you normal do however replace the cheddar cheese with crumbled blue cheese. 

Placed the crumbled blue cheese on one side of the bread, buttered side down. Then place the tomatoes, 2-3 slices, on top of the blue cheese then place a bit more blue cheese on top of the tomatoes. Then place another slice of bread on top, buttered side up. Flipping the sandwich to make sure both sides get golden brown and cheese is melted. Adding a touch of mustard would give this sandwich some more punch. - JW  

Leftovers #1 - Veggie Egg Fried Rice

Yesterday for lunch I made some egg fried rice. Trying to shake this cold you would think I would want a simple bowl of soup. Knowing that I had some left overs just fueled me even more to clear out the refrigerator and make something hot and tasty in about 15 to 20 minutes. It's important for this dish to use left over rice or day old rice... the older the better. Freshly cooked rice will become mushy. I made that mistake many years ago at my first attempts making this dish. Anytime I am cooking rice for a meal I always cook more for with the intention that I will be making fried rice further on in the week. For this dish you will need the following: 

Fresh Chopped Veggies - carrots, celery, broccoli, green onions, onions, bok choy, mushrooms, water chestnuts, peas, corn... essentially whatever you have on hand or whatever you prefer. *Reserve some of the green onions in a small bowl for later. 

Left over pre-cooked rice - about 2 cups (more depending on how many you are serving)

2 eggs

Sesame oil

Canola oil

Low sodium soy sauce

Dry sherry - Harveys Bristol Cream will do nicely!    

Step 1: Heat your pan or wok  over medium high heat and add about 2 tablespoons of canola oil. When the oil is heated add the veggies. This time I used 2 carrots peeled and chopped, 3 cups chopped bok choy, 2 chopped mushrooms, 1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli and a handful of green onions. Sautée until veggies are cooked. When the veggies change colour slightly. They have gone darker, brighter or slightly transparent. You don't want to over cook your veggies for this dish. It's important to have some crunch. 

Step 2: Once the veggies are done, make a well in the centre of the pan with the  veggies all around the sides. Now this is when you are going to have to move fast... Crack open two eggs and scrabble the eggs mixing in the veggies. Making sure not to let the eggs stick to the bottom of the pan. You should get a sort of scrabbled egg veggie mixture. It should look like what is pictured here, above.    

Step 3: Add the pre-cooked day old rice. Drizzle some sesame oil and stir to coat the rice with the veggies and oil. Stir frequently. Letting everything heat through and making sure that it is not sticking too much to the bottom of the pan. Also at this point you may add whatever pre-cooked meat you may have on hand, like chicken or ham. Adding the meat at this point is good because you want the meat to be separate from the eggy veggie mixture. You don't want the eggs to stick to your meat.  

**The sauce. Now in a separate small bowl add about 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of dry sherry and 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce and gently whisk everything together. You will have to adjust these amounts depending on how much fried rice you are making. You want ample flavour regardless.     

Step 4: Take the oil, sherry and soy sauce mixture (see Step 3) and pour it over the rice mixture in the pan. Making sure that the rice and eggy veggies are coated well with the sauce. Stir again to make sure nothing is sticking too much. Let everything heat for a few seconds longer, then remove from heat. 

Step 5: Once removed from heat add some freshly chopped green onions and serve. Or transfer into a serving dish and add the fresh green onions on top. Yum! 

This is a very quick and easy dish. The main thing is that the rice is pre-cooked. How many days in advance is up to you. The older the better. Chopping the veggies should not take long... you can even chopped them ahead of time. Which means cutting down on your prep time. Which makes this dish even quicker. About 10-15 minutes from star to finish. This by far is one of my go to dishes. Everything you ever want is in this dish and every time I make it, it changes slightly. - JW 

Saturday Night Pizza

Lately I have been making pizza dough. On Saturday night I made two pizzas the one picture here is my "everything" pizza. It is essentially load with homemade pasta sauce with ground chicken, bacon, pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms and pineapple. Very delicious and my best pizza so far. The crust recipe I got from Jamie Oliver's website, click *here*. The recipe is fairly simple and can make about 8 individual pizzas. However I divided the dough to make 4 medium/large pizzas. Freezing the unused portions of dough in the freezer, which is always handy. The other pizza was half cheese and half pepperoni. A little less generous with the toppings I know. That's how the kidlets like it! What are your favourite pizza toppings? - JW