Truffle Mutt

Weekend Dinner

I don't know about you, but the weekend is my time to cook.  During the week I rarely take the time to cook a big dinner - who am I kidding, I rarely take the time to cook a small dinner.  It seems like we walk in the door Jason makes something quick and then it's off to the dog to the park.  There's just not much time for food and that means cheese smokies, hamburgers and a lot of ketchup.  And even though it's super yummy Stonewall Kitchen - Country Ketchup, when it starts becoming it's own food group there's just too much ketchup.

And it was on Saturday night, with another hamburger dinner looming on the horizon, that I snapped out of my gastronomic drought.  Luckily the fridge was well stocked, so I was able to jump into action without having to leave the house.  The first course for the night was a mixed green salad with blood orange vinaigrette and fried Kofalotiri cheese.  The sweet & sour dressing and bitter greens were the perfect accompaniment for the salty Greek cheese.

Toss the salad with the dressing before starting the cheese, then the salad can be quickly assembled and served while the cheese is still hot.  Cut the cheese into the size you want to serve, but make it about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.  Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat and add the cheese to the hot pan.  The cheese will start to melt immediately, but don't worry it will hold it's shape.  Let the cheese melt for several seconds and brown before flipping it and browning on the other side.  The cheese will still be quite firm.  Arrange it on the plate and then add the dressed greens.  Serve immediately.

Musseling Up

Lately, when I log on to my blog the first thing I notice is how long it's been since I last posted.  It never seems like that long - but the dates confirm it!  Time flies - fun or not.

My lack of posts isn't reflective of my time in the kitchen however, I've been cooking a lot since Christmas.  No pictures though, so that makes posting difficult (I'm all about the pictures).  And why are there no pictures, because unlike all you other brave bloggers out there, I haven't come out about my blogging yet.  Most people don't know that I blog and bringing out my camera at the table might tip them off (or cause some interesting rumors).  So why the secrecy?  I'm not sure - I guess I like the anonymity.  I can't well blog about Jade stealing a filet mignon off the counter (which I then served) if our dinner guests can read about it here!  Talk about dumb...

There's no dirt on the story of these mussels though.  Just garlic, garlic and more garlic.  I adapted the recipe from this one at epicurious and the sauce was a winner, so much so that I let Jason eat most of the muscles and I sopped up the sauce.  I used 9 cloves of garlic, left the olives and pasta out all together, added a leek and switched the red wine to white.  My only suggestion - make sure you have lots of bread on hand.

Gnocchi (really nyoki)

So, did anyone else out there foolishly pronounce this word as 'gu-naw-chee' before finding out the correct pronunciation?  Well, neither did I.  Especially not to an Italian while we were on safari in Africa - because whoa it would have been embarrassing if I'd done that. 

Alright, I admit it.  It was me.  But come on, could someone not have corrected me before it got to that!?   What are friends supposed to be for?  And who spelled gnocchi in the first place?  How are kids supposed to sound THAT out? 

Lucky for me though, making gnocchi was a much less humiliating experience.  I used the gnocchi recipe posted on Hungry in Hogtown and made the sauce from the bron marshall blog.  I loved the sauce but the gnocchi was so fluffy that it was almost mushy in texture.  Next time I'll try a recipe that calls for boiling the potatoes to see if the end result has more substance.   

These little dumplings are fun to make.  Just remember to make lots, because once you start you're overcome by the need to prefect the fork roll and that takes a lot of practice and hundreds of tries.

Veggie Stock Finale

Oh my!  I almost forgot to post about using the last of my veggie stock!  Now I have to try and remember what happened. 

I remember it tasted great.  I took all the leftovers to work for lunches.  I also remember that choosing the second dish for my stock wasn't too difficult.  I had a wee bit of stock left and as I flipped through recipes not many doors were opening for me.  But, I love coconut milk and cashews, especially together, so this was my choice.

If I make it again though I'll add a few chili peppers, heat would be better.

More From the Photo Gallery

This was another photo that I had gathering dust in my photo gallery. 

These fancy bites are my twist on sticky rice.   Last year I was cooking for a Chinese themed dinner party and I devised these so I could serve sticky rice with all the flavor and half the mess.  They aren't wrapped in lotus leaves, so I added the leaves to the water in the bottom of the steamer before steaming the rice.  It worked perfectly the rice was infused with the earthy aroma of lotus leaves.

In the bottom of a jelly roll pan lined with parchment I pressed a thin layer of sticky rice, then a layer of sweet pork filling and then another thin layer of sticky rice.  I tossed white and black sesame seeds over the rice and then pressed lightly to adhere them to the rice.  I cooled these slightly and then cut them using a biscuit cutter.  To rewarm cover with a moist towel and place in a warm oven, for several minutes.

Messy Shrimp

This super easy dish accompanied a salad and grilled bison tenderloin for dinner a few weeks ago.  I had a giant bag of shrimp in the fridge that I couldn't put off using and 1/2 a jar of Classico Sundried Tomato Pesto that I also needed to use up.

Browsing the epicurious website I found this recipe and adapted it to the ingredients I had on hand.  I used the wine, butter and basil from the recipe and added a few big spoonfuls of the pesto.  It  turned out to be a big hit and I would certainly make it again.  Next time though I will make a lot more sauce and serve it with fresh French bread for dipping.  Serve with napkins!

Home Alone

A few weekends ago I was home alone and the freedom was exhilarating.   

I spent my Saturday morning battling the crowds at the Calgary Farmers' Market and Planet Organic gathering my bounty.  I bought eggplants, tomatoes, summer squash, baby zucchini and cucumbers along with many other forms of organic matter that Jason would never eat, in preparation for my vegetable voyage. 

My plans for the weekend revolved around making stock, which I have been meaning to make for ages and ages.  I made two batches of veal stock and one batch of veggie stock.  And after spilling precious stock on my foot, the floor and the counter, I know that I will not attempt making stock again without a vastly larger stock pot and sieve.  In addition, if you're going to go through the time and effort to make stock you really should end up with more than 4 cups.  Come on!  4 cups.  I see a HUGE pot in my future.  Call me psychic.

After careful stock rationing, I decided to use the vegetable stock to make this white bean soup from my copy of 30 Minute Vegetarian.  I made a few changes to the soup and it turned out to be quite good.  Next time I may try dried beans instead of canned, because the canned ones are a little too mushy. 

A Big Pot of Jambalaya

I don't have a lot to say about Jambalaya.  I don't like making, smelling or eating it.  Are you wondering why I make it?  If you must know, I make it to be a good wife.  I cook dinner straight after tidying up and then I rush to refresh myself.  Ha-ha!  Apparently the cleaning up part will even lift my spirits!  Perfect.  :)  I can't tell you the last time dusting or vacuuming has lifted my spirits - maybe I'm not doing it right.   

I actually do make jambalaya because Jason likes it and because it's one of the few ways he eats his veggies.  So while it's not on my list of favorites, I soldier on.  I make it sound bad, but I'd have to score it an 8 or 9 in comparison to others I've tried.  Deconstructed it doesn't seem bad at all - peppers, tomatoes, shrimp, sausage and chicken.  What's not to like?  Maybe I just can't hack so many protein sources in one dish.  Like shrimp on pepperoni pizza - gross.

Lost Photos

Ah yes. 

It's miscellaneous picture time.  Rummaging through old photo files on my computer I see lot's of "almost posts" hanging out.

I made these shrimp rolls last winter and they were my first attempt at using rice paper. 

Let me relate to you a little something about rice paper.  It is a lesson in patience.  No, it's much more than that.  It is the supreme teacher of self control.

Rice paper is deceptive.  Observing it in the package and while softening it appears quite tame.  But don't be fooled - it can beat you.  Once the sheets have been softened in water with a splash of vinegar you have to apply a gentle force to each sheet, carefully persuading it to leave the others behind.  Then once it's out of the water and starts to dry it will turn almost instantly onto a combination of slimy, sticky, strong and fragile.  At this point the sheets do not respond well to being roughly handled, thrown onto work surfaces or being yelled at.  Well, yelling at it is probably okay.  Unless, of course, your house guests have already arrived, and then have to tone that down too.  Judging from the picture above I made this batch near the end of my training session - sometime after a package of 50 wrappers ended up in the garbage.

I do love these rolls, but I'll be honest, patience is not my thing.  I'll be buying these from now on - as long as there's no line up.   

Everything but the Cabin Sink

A couple of weeks ago I was lounging on the shores of Mara lake and actually enjoying the heat of the baking sun.  There's just something about being beside the water that makes the heat much more tolerable.

Our cabin is perched on a rock next to the water in a secluded cove that's the perfect place for a quite holiday.  It is however, only accessible by boat making it imperative that all types of food be stocked in case hunger strikes.  For me organizing this trip usually requires several hours of meal planning followed by a major shopping trip.  But I wasn't feeling great before we left I neglected planning knowing the grocery store out there to be well stocked.

When we arrived in town my cousin was just packing up to leave.  He had been out the week before skiing and drinking with his buddies and he told us not to worry about shopping because they were leaving us with tons of leftover food.  Yeah, the warning bells (more like sirens) were going off in my head, but being eager to get to the cabin, I pushed the idea of the grocery store out of my head. 

When we arrived at the cabin my fears were confirmed when we opened the fridge to 4lbs hot dogs, 5 lbs hamburger, 1/4 cow's worth of steak, 3 packages of buns and BBQ sauce.  The girls on the trip had nicely contributed a few bags of baby carrots, yogurt and 2 liters of milk.  So, technically it was true that we had lots of groceries.  But they were boy groceries!  And then it happened, the boat died.  Not all was lost at least we had lots of alcohol. 

Daily meals included yogurt and a grapefruit cooler for breakfast, hot dogs and tangerine coolers for lunch and steak and veggies with pineapple coolers for dinner.  And dessert?  A box of several-seasons-old brownies and a french vanilla vodka cooler.  It wasn't gourmet, but at least it wasn't survivor. 

In the end the boat was resurrected and we were able to buy some real food for the last part of our trip.  We also had to buy lots more alcohol, we'd become frighteningly accustomed to our meal-time imbibing.

The omelet above was an attempt to clean out the fridge before we left.  It's a 13 egg monster with 1/2 package of breakfast sausage, 3 portabello mushrooms, 3 baby potatoes, 1 onion, 1 yellow pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 package of cheese, 1 bunch of asparagus and 1 tomato.  We still had some leftovers, but I drew the line at adding pickles...  And to go along with breakfast, my new favorite drink.  Milk - it was breakfast after all - mixed with Kahlua and Capitan Morgan's Parrot Bay Coconut Rum.  Mmm.