Sausage and Rice

We were inspired by Chef Simon's 5 in 5 cookbook, but changed the recipe and forgot some ingredients. Here's how we did it.

Ingredients:

-500g Johnsonville pork brats (5), sliced 1/4 inch on the bias

-1 red onion, diced

-half bunch of parsley, loosely chopped

-3 small carrots, halved then sliced

-1 bottle of beer

-1 tbsp caraway seeds

-salt and pepper

1) preheat BBQ to 375 degrees

2) lay out five sheets of aluminum foil

3) divide onion, carrots and parsley evenly

4) place each sausage in a pouch

5) sprinkle caraway seeds

6) sprinkle salt and pepper

7) gather corners of foil and divide beer evenly on each pouch

8) ensure pouches are sealed

9) BBQ for 10 minutes

10) serve with rice

Thai Glass Noodles

This is our second Asian meal of the week. It was taken from About.com, Thai Food. I chose this because we had stocked up on glass noodles and I didn't know what to do with it.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. glass noodles
• 1 package firm tofu
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1+1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 bunches bok choy
• generous handful fresh coriander/cilantro
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Stir-Fry Sauce

• 1/3 cup stock
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1+1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• chili flakes to taste

Method:

1. Slice tofu into bite-size pieces and set in a bowl.

2. Combine STIR-FRY SAUCE ingredients in a cup and drizzle 2 Tbsp. over or tofu. Stir and set in refrigerator to marinate until ready to stir-fry.

3. Bring a large pot of water to boil and dunk in the noodles. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until glass noodles are transparent and soft enough to eat.

4. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. Drizzle 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil over noodles and toss to keep from sticking.

5. Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat.

6. Drizzle in vegetable oil and swirl around

7. Add garlic and shallots. Stir-fry 1 minute

8. Add the tofu. Stir-fry until tofu is braised, about 2 minutes. If pan dries out, add 1-2 Tbsp. stir-fry sauce.

9. Add mushrooms, bok choy and bell pepper and 2-3 Tbsp. stir-fry sauce. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes.

10. Add noodles and 3/4 of the stir-fry sauce.

11. Use two utensils to lift and toss the noodles with other ingredients.

Tip:To make this easier, use a pair of clean kitchen scissors to cut glass noodles in a couple of places, as they get very long and hard to turn.

12. Serve immediately with fresh coriander sprinkled over.

Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken Recipe

This meal is the second of our Asian week. The recipe was from Rasa Malaysia. We didn't change much because we were able to find most of the ingredients from the stores we frequent. We did, however, end up baking it because we didn't want to cut up our chicken thighs.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 fresh lemongrass stalks, tender inner white bulbs only, minced
• 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
• 3 chilies, seeded and minced

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F

2. Combine the fish sauce, garlic, curry powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the sugar in a bowl.

3. Add the chicken meat to coat.

4. Bake skin side down in oven and set timer for 30 minutes.

5. After 30 minutes, flip chicken and rotate pan. Bake another 10 minutes.

6. While chicken is baking. Heat a wok over high heat. Add the oil and heat until shimmering.

7. Add the lemongrass, shallot, and chilies and stir-fry until fragrant.

8. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1 tablespoon of the water and cook over high heat in a small skillet, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

9. Cook without stirring until a deep amber caramel forms.

10. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of water.

11. Transfer to a bowl.

12. Add the stir-fry and caramel on top of the chicken.

13. Bake for 4 minutes, switch to broil and broil for 1 minute.

14. Serve with steamed rice.

Paneer Butter Masala

I was craving paneer, so we made some inspired by Simple Indian Recipes. The dish smelled and tasted great, but it needed more heat. I think next time we will thrown some homemade ground chili in instead of using store bought chili powder.

Ingredients:

- Paneer - 1/2 lb (250 gms)

- Onion - 1 big/2 small (chopped)

- Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

- Tomato - 3 small/ 2 big (blanched and pureed)

- Cashew Paste - 2 tbsp

- Chili Powder - 2 tsp (or to taste)

- Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

- Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp

- Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

- Kasoori Methi (a.k.a. Dried fenugreek leaves) - 1 tsp

- Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

- Butter - 2-3 tblsp

- Oil - 1 tsp

- Salt - to taste

- Whipping cream - 1/4 cup 

- Cilantro - for garnish

Method:

Tomato purée:

1) boil water

2) wash and make a cross slit on the bottom of the tomatoes

3) boil tomatoes for 5-10 minutes

4) drain and pour cold water in the pot

5) once cool, quarter tomatoes and purée in food processor

Ginger Garlic paste

1) mash three cloves of garlic

2) grind three cm of ginger

3) mix with a dash of oil

Cashew paste

1) soak cashew nuts in warm water for 15 minutes

2) grind in food processor

Masala Sauce:

1) Heat a little oil in a pan, and saute the onions till it sweats and cooks nicely. You need not brown it.

2) Let it cool nicely and then puree the mixture.

3) In a different pan, melt the butter and splutter some cumin seeds.

4) Add the onion puree to this and fry for few minutes.

5) Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute.

6) Add the turmeric powder, tomato puree, cashew paste, kasoori methi, chilly powder and corriander powder.

7) Reduce the heat and let the mixture cook for 5 minutes.

8) Add about a cup of water and required salt and let the gravy come to a boil.

9) Add the garam masala powder, paneer cubes, vegetables and the heavy cream/evaporated milk and let the whole gravy cook for another 5 minutes till all the flavours blend together. You may fry the paneer and vegetables in another pan first.

10) Serve in ride and garnish with cilantro.

Gramercy Grill

Went to Gramercy Grill for brunch on Sunday. Great choice.

We were given banana bread as a starter. Extra would be $0.50 each. They were so delicious and I was so hungry, it was gone before I could take a picture of it.

I had the Chef's Blend Mushroom Benedict. It was flavourful and rich. The sauce was a little tarty, it was good.

B had the ham, cheddar and banana pepper omelette. It tasted alright but the stuffing wasn't evenly distributed.

The potatoes were too soft. They could've been fried a little longer.

Solid price for great service and good food.

Rosemary Pork and Acorn Squash

This was a really simple dinner to make.

Ingredients:

- 6 small potatoes

- 2 acorn squash

- pork loin roast

- Rosemary

- olive oil

Method:

1) preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2) cut the squash in half, scoop out the pits, and coat the acorn squash with 1/4 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp olive oil, and some pepper and salt

3) coat the roast with 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp rosemary, and some pepper and salt

4) bake 1 hr with lid on, then remove lid and bake another 20-30 minutes (knife should slide right through and juice should run clear)

5) start boiling water 30 minutes into baking pork roast

6) when water boils, boil for 15 minutes or until fork slides into potatoes easily

7) turn off heat for potatoes, drain, add about 1 tbsp butter and mash

8) add enough milk until you reach desired consistency

Evelyn's Cafe and Grill

Today we were going to go somewhere else for brunch but we passed by Evelyn's, saw their menu and thought, "why not?"

Their food is CHEAP. For a waffle, omelette, two coffees and 15% tip, it still came out to under $20.

The food was solid. It's not what you would expect from such a cheap menu. I almost wanted to pay more. The owner was also very polite and the food was served quickly. Coffee and water were self serve, but that doesn't bother me.

The waffles came with strawberries and blueberries. It was sweet but not overly sweet, and fluffy. Sometimes cheap waffles made out of prepackaged mix can be very cardboard like. That's why we think Evelyn's make their own batter.

The bacon and cheese omelette was okay. It wasn't as fluffy as I normally have my omelettes, but at least it tastes alright. The potatoes on the side were not cooked in enough oil, it could've been a little crispier. Maybe it's home style cooking, so they don't use as much oil, because the plate was not greasy at all when we finished the omelette.

Overall, solid experience for the price. We will return.

Koerner's Pub

We didn't have enough leftovers to bring for lunch yesterday so we went to Koerner's. It was surprisingly clean and welcoming.

I ordered a cana (6 oz) beer to go with my meal. I had no idea how small it is. Here are two pictures for comparison,

I ordered the pulled pork tacos, which were surprisingly good. It was flavourful and reminded me of the tacos I got on the streets of Tijuana. Guacamole was an extra $2.00.

My dining buddy had the pork belly sliders which were served in a steamed bun. He thought that was pretty unique. I guess it is for a pub, but I've seen it before at some modern Chinese restaurant, Hakasan. Nonetheless, the pork was sweet, flavourful and tender. So tender.

The sliders came with a side noodle salad, which was surprisingly good. It had dried noodles, peas, orange slices, avocado slices, and cherry tomatoes. It was fresh and crunchy.