Something to Nibble On...

Happy Thanksgiving Canada.

Sorry for not posting last week.... I had intended to post, but the recipe I had in mind didn't fare well under my camera. The photos weren't appetizing enough so the recipe sits on my computer until a drool-worthy photo can be captured.

For this week, I was trying to come up with a quick snack for NFL football this afternoon. I thought I might make something with pumpkin since it is Thanksgiving but, then I saw an unopened container of walnuts and thought, "Who doesn't like candied nuts?"

If you aren't familar with making your own candied nuts, you are in for a treat. They take no more than 15 minutes of active time and can easily be made ahead so they are the perfect make-ahead dish to buy you a little time when your guests arrive and you are still prepping dinner.

Personally, I like a mixture of toasty almonds and buttery walnuts but you probably have your favourites, too. This recipe creates a sweet and warm flavour that's perfect for the fall. The secret ingredient here is the inclusion of smoked paprika. While I have seen other candied nuts recipes that include cayenne (which is great but lends some heat), I prefer smoked paprika because of its mysterious dark but subtle flavour without the added heat.

While these nuts are highly suitable for football snacking, I like also like them topped over a spinach salad with dried cranberries, crushed and sprinkled on top of steamed broccoli or as a part of a cheese board with gorgonzola and dried apricots.


Candied Nuts

4 c walntus, almonds, hazelnuts, etc
2 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp dried ginger powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp allspice

1. Toast nuts for approximately ten minutes in a 350 degree oven until golden & fragrant.
2. Melt sugar, spices & salt in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat.
3. Working quickly, carefully add toasted nuts to sugar mixture and stir to coat.
4. On parchment paper or a Silpat, pour mixture onto a large cookie sheet.
5. Spread nuts out quickly to break up any large lumps and allow to cool completely.
6. Once cool, break apart nuts and store in a dry container.

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My Birthday Meal

Birthdays only roll around once a year and regardless of how you choose to celebrate it, I believe on the day of your birth you should have a special meal. It doesn't have to be at restaurant and it doesn't have to be fancy, but it should be something special.

For my birthday this year, I had a real longing for mac and cheese, not the instant, out of the box kind but the al dente pasta smothered in a sharp but creamy cheese sauce with a crusty, crisp exterior. I have been craving it for months but couldn't really justify the calories except on this day. Since it was a birthday meal, I decided to go all out by creating something rather splendid, full fat flavour to be enjoyed hungrily without a moment’s regret. A meal that I could recall throughout the rest of the year and think to myself, "Now, that was dinner!" It had to be a version of macaroni and cheese that was not just indulgent but also exquisite.

The "something" I added to this mac and cheese for my birthday meal was lobster. It isn't something I get to eat very often and its inclusion really brings something special to this humble dish. If you don't want to use lobster, I think this would work well with lump crab meat, or bay scallops. (Or no seafood at all! It's still delicious!)

There are two secrets to a good mac and cheese. The first key to success is using the right cheese for this dish… I pondered what might pair well with lobster, and I thought a nice sharp white cheddar might fare well, and perhaps some nuttiness from a Gruyere topped with some Reggiano Parmesan.

The second key is just the right amount of time in the oven to deliver a creamy, smooth interior with a crunchy, crisp exterior. To achieve this, sprinkle with panko flakes (beautiful Japanese breadcrumbs)on top and bake in a large shallow pan for maximum crust. A fifteen minute bake finished with a little broiler time yields this is perfect balance. But if you prefer a firmer mac and cheese, you could leave it in the oven for a little while longer.


Lobster Mac n' Cheese

200 grams small pasta - such as shells or macaroni

4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp all-purpose flour
4 c whole milk
2 c shredded 2 year old Cheddar
2 c shredded Gruyere
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
pinch paprika
1.5 tbsp finely chopped dill
salt & pepper

2 lbs lobster
1 tbsp butter

1/2 c panko
1/2 c grated Reggiano Parmesan

1. Heat water for pasta. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat water for lobster. Once boiling, add lobster. Cook for a minute until the shell turns bright red. Pull lobsters out and dunk in an ice water bath. Once cool enough to handle, remove meat. Chop roughly into bite size pieces and set aside. The lobster will still be uncooked - which is fine as it will continue to cook in the oven.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat. Sprinkle flour over melted butter and whisk. Allow flour to cook, turn down heat to avoid burning, if necessary. Add 1 c of milk and whisk well. When fully incorporated and thickened, add a second cup. Repeat with the remaining two cups.
4. Once milk is fully incorporated, add 1 c of cheese at a time. Continue to whisk until all the cheese is melted and fully incorporated. Add nutmeg & paprika (use freshly grated nutmeg if you can), and salt & pepper to taste.
5. Add pasta to water and stir. Cook until about 2 or 3 minutes away from being al dente. (It continues to cook in the oven so we want this nearly cooked not perfectly cooked.) Drain and return pasta to pot. In the same pot which is now off heat, stir in lobster chunks and dill. Pour sauce on top and stir to mix.
6. In a large buttered casserole dish, add the pasta and lobster mixture. Sprinkle panko and Parmesan on top.
7. Bake in oven for fifteen minutes. Move to the top rack and brown top.
8. Allow the casserole to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
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If You Can't Beat'em, Join'em...

While it may be hard to say goodbye to summer, I like autumn for a couple of reasons: the fiery, vibrant colours of the fall leaves, apple-picking, and now, NFL football.

My husband is a big fan of the sport but I always thought of football as something that delayed the start of Sunday evening television. It wasn't interesting to me - a two groups of really big men pushing toward each other while a guy in the back tried to throw a ball before being crushed. But, several years ago I stepped into the light and embraced football as my own. Now I love it. And yes, our Sundays are planned around the games we are going to watch....

For Sunday lunch then, we needed something delicious but relatively easy to put together for our 1pm Patriots v. Jets game. So how about a hearty fall soup accompanied with slices of crisp chewy baguette for dipping? With flecks of brown, green and orange, the soup reminded me of fall colours. The addition of bacon (leave out if you don't like it) adds a nice salty and smokey flavour that makes it such a great hearty soup.

The soup takes about 45 minutes to put together from start to finish but could be even faster if you used canned lentils. It reheats well so it is perfect for lunch the next day and for freezing if you wanted to make a large batch for later.


Lentil & Smokey Bacon Soup

2 c dried mixed split lentils, rinsed well
1 small onion diced
2 large carrot, peeled & sliced into rounds
2 bay leaves
1 liter chicken broth
1 liter water
6 slices of streaky bacon

1. Cook lentils with onions, and carrot with bay leaves, chicken broth, and water. Cook for approximately 20-25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile cook bacon until slightly crisp.
3. Drain bacon. Finely chop and add to soup. Cook another 5 minutes.
4. Using an immersion blender, blend soup until desired consistency.
5. Serve. If reheating, you may have to thin the soup out with a little broth or water.

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Stir Fry Beef with Coconut Rice

When you feel under the weather, comfort foods soothe the belly and the soul. I have had a cold now for four weeks (!). Due to allergies, I can't take any medication so I have to wait it out. So I took a couple of days off work, watched Season 2 of Bones and tried to get some rest.

When I don't feel great, I reach for the foods I grew up eating: those comforting meals my mother made that made me feel better when I was feverish, tired & curled up in bed. (It's amazing no matter how old you get, you are always your mother's child.)

One of the foods I long for when I am under the weather is the soul-satisfying stir fry beef. A venerated a Chinese restaurant staple, this dish is so simple & deliciously easy to make it at home. It's very flavourful, so comforting and quick, you'll be diving into a steaming bowl within minutes.

This is not exactly my mother's recipe as the marinade for the beef is enhanced by a touch of malt vinegar. This addition came from one of my favourite cookbooks, Simple Chinese Food, by Kylie Kwong. Her cooking is simple, accessible and wildly delicious. In her fabulous cookbook, she has a recipe for stir-fried beef where she adds a dash of malt vinegar. When I tried adding malt vinegar to my regular stir fry beef, I knew I could never go without it again. The malt vinegar adds a zippy, perky flavour that enhances the umami of this dish.

Coconut rice isn't exactly something I grew up with, but for some reason, I had a craving for it. The rice has is lightly fragranced with a faint hint of coconut flavour. It is a nice match for the stir fry.


Stir Fry Beef with Coconut Rice

1lb beef - sliced thinly (sirloin or flank work well)
1/4c + 1 tbsp light soy sauce, separated
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp malt vinegar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2-3 tbsp water
3 green onions - sliced thinly
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled & finely sliced into matchsticks*
1 large red pepper, cut into bite sized pieces

Coconut Rice
2 c white rice
1 c coconut milk
1 c water
1 tsp salt

optional: 1 tsp sesame seed

1. Marinate beef with soy sauce, sesame oil and cornstarch. Set aside (in your refrigerator) for at least 30 minutes, but ideally 2 hours. Overnight is fine as well.
2. Meanwhile prepare rice by rinsing rice until water is clear. Put rice, coconut milk, water & salt into a rice cooker. Set on. (If you don't have a rice cooker, use a medium sized sauce pan with a well fitted lid. Bring ingredients to a boil without lid on, then cover & reduce to medium-low and simmer for at least 5 minutes. Reduce to low and cook until all the liquid is absorbed about another 5 minutes.)
3. Drain meat from marinade. Reserve marinade liquid.
4. Heat a wok or a large fry pan, add vegetable oil and watch for vegetable oil to shimmer but not smoking. Carefully add meat in batches and allow meat to sizzle and brown - about a minute or two. (Depending on the thickness of your beef.) When you have cooked all of the meat, remove and set aside. Turn down heat to medium-low and add ginger and red pepper to the pan (add a tsp more vegetable oil if the pan is dry.) Stir after about a minute. Toss in green onions. Return the beef to the pan alongside any liquid that may have accumulated. With reserved marinade, add 3 tbsp water, 1 tbsp soy sauce & stir re-incorporate the marinade and add to pan. Turn up the heat slightly.
5. Remove from wok/fry pan when the liquid transforms into a clinging sauce. Serve over coconut rice. Add sesame seeds if using.

*if you find ginger too spicy - try using half of the amount or try ginger powder which is far less "warm"
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Pear & Celery Soup

It's been a tough week....

I had intended to post yesterday afternoon after basking in the simple pleasure of a luxurious, lazy long weekend sleep-in followed by a sweet, luscious breakfast to start the day. Unfortunately, the wildly delicious pear and ginger clafouti I had planned to share with my husband (and with you) was an utter flop. Disaster. Ugly, soggy, and barely edible (In the end, we did eat it. My husband managed a half-hearted, "It's good" as he choked down bites.)

But it started out as a simple wish: A sweet & simple breakfast for my husband on our last long weekend of the summer. Pears are in abundance right now and boy, are they good this year. I had peeled and sliced beautiful Bartlett pears the night before as a time saving measure, hoping I could quickly run down stairs, throw the eggs, milk & flour together, add the pears and bake it while my husband slept. The goal was to gently wake him with the fragrant smells of summer-time pears baking in the oven to convince him to start the day. But alas, that would not be the case. The batter was far too runny and thin & when I pulled the pears out of the fridge, they had wept quite abit in the bowl overnight. The result was a runny, unset clafouti even after ninety minutes of baking.

Occasionally, accidents do happen. Next steps, what to do with all those gorgeous pears that are in-season now?

For dinner tonight, we decided we would start with a pear and celery soup. We needed to use up those lovely pears sitting on our kitchen counter and I needed to get back on the horse again. This recipe was decidedly more successful than yesterday's. It's creamy, flavourful with just a hint of sweetness without the calories. Delicious. Unfortunately, the photo was not meant to be. I hope you can use your imagination and still try out this soup! Bon Appetit.

Pear & Celery Soup
2 tbsp vegetable oil (or butter)
3 c peeled & diced Bartlett pears
1 small onion, peeled & diced
4 c peeled & diced celery*
1 liter vegetable stock
1 tsp ginger powder (or 1 finely chopped candied ginger)

optional garnish: Stilton blue cheese (non-vegan) or toasted walnuts (vegan)

In a medium saucepan, heat vegetable oil & sauté pears and onions until onions have become translucent. Add celery and continue to sauté until celery is softened. Add vegetable stock to pan, & simmer until celery is very tender. With an immersion blender, carefully puree soup until smooth. If using, stir in cream at the end. Do not boil again. Serve immediately with a garnish of crumbled Stilton or toasted walnuts, if you like.

*You must peel the celery, otherwise you have stringy bits in your soup - it's worth the extra effort.

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Avocado, Crab & Tomato Salad

My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary this past week. It was a great first year and we couldn't believe how quickly time passed. To celebrate the occasion, we decided to do something different. Instead of going out for a great and extravagant dinner, we decided to have a great and extravagant dinner at home by creating our own tasting menu, based on our favourite foods. It was unexpectedly exhausting but our three hour extravaganza allowed us to put the rest of the world and all the distractions of our everyday life on pause while we took a bit of time to slow down and enjoy time with each other. As we recalled our memories of our shared life together, in the years before our wedding day and the year since, we found ourselves laughing until our sides ached.

For this very special evening, I started the evening out with crab, one of my favourite foods. This appetizer is super easy, fresh and flavourful. The avocado is velvety and smooth, the tomato fresh and clean, and the crab is luxurious and dressed so simply that its true flavours come through.

Avocado, Crab and Tomato Salad



Serves 2

You don't need a fussy plating for this, you can toss all the ingredients together instead of placing them in layers.

1/2 ripe avocado - diced (click here for tips on how to prep)
8 cherry tomatoes - diced
1/4 lb lump crab meat - dark & white meat
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 lemon (zest & juice)
pepper to taste

1. Divide the cubed avocado into 2 and place in the center of each plate.
2. Repeat with the tomatoes.
3. Gently mix crab with mayonnaise, celery salt, lemon zest & juice. Add pepper to taste.
4. Pile crab onto tomatoes and serve immediately.
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