Get 'Er "India"

Ok, so here's the deal. When I lived in Toronto many moons ago, and felt down and out, I would call upon a little Indian restaurant on Gerrard Street called "The BBQ Hut". I would order copious amounts of spicy Indian food and drown my sorrows in it. Many plates later, and some serious ring of fire, I would wander about my end of the city and think how lucky I was that I had all this at my fingertips. Obviously, there is something in Indian food that turns my pessimism into optimism. I wonder, is it the cumin seed or perhaps the tamarind? Nope, it is just the big plate of Palak Paneer!

In light of the horrible stretch of weather we were experiencing last week, I thought it was only appropriate to put together an Indian feast to lift our spirits. Here is my recipe for "optimism".

Palak Paneer A La Lavallée

• 1 onion; finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes; chopped
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 3 chilies
• 1" ginger; minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• salt & pepper
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 bunch fresh coriander; roughly chopped
• 1 can pureed spinach
• 1 block Paneer cheese; cut into chunks

In a skillet, add some oil (about 3 tsp) and heat. On medium heat, add onion and ginger. Cook until translucent and add all the spices. Cook for one minute until fragrant. Add tomatoes and peas. Cook for five minutes and add the spinach.  Cook for another 10 minutes and add the paneer and fresh coriander. Cook another 10 minutes and check for seasoning.

Serve with your other favourite Indian dishes, basmati rice, and papdums.

Many of the above ingredients can be found at the stores mentioned in this story: Saturday Food Round-Up

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Chef Boyardee's Got Nothing On Me!

I am a creature of habit; old habits die hard in my household.  Sunday night has always been that one night of the week that I find most peculiar; kinda sad, kinda boring.  The one thing that Sunday has also always been is pasta night!  Growing up, Sunday night meant spaghetti with homemade meat sauce, caesar salad, baguette and red wine (yes, even as a child I was permitted a juice glass of an Italian red!).  Now, as a wife and mother, I've kept up the Lavallee tradition of a bowl of pasta, red wine and bread, though the Lavallee meat sauce is a rare and coveted occurrence here.  I have an old standby these days, olive oil, garlic, tons of chilies, fresh tomatoes, peas and whatever herbs and cheese we have floating about.  This pasta takes only minutes to make; while your pasta cooks, you make the sauce, so you are guaranteed dinner in about ten minutes. Quicker than take out!  I hope you will take this recipe and make it your own by adding some of your favorite ingredients!  Buon appetito a tutti!

The Sunday Night Special

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves; sliced
• 1 heaping tbsp red chili flakes (or 2 if you're like me)
• 3 tomatoes; roughly chopped
• 8 asparagus (this is what I had on this particular night)
• 1 cup frozen peas (I add them to the cooking pasta before I strain it!)
• 1 handful fresh herbs; basil, flat leaf parsley, oregano, etc
• zest of 1 lemon
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup Taleggio (again, we had a piece in the fridge)
• 3 cups cooked pasta of your choice

While the pasta is cooking, I heat up a pan with the oil and add the garlic and chilies; cook for 30 seconds until you smell the garlic.  Next, I add the asparagus & tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add 1/2 the chopped herbs and the lemon zest.  Just before straining the cooked pasta, add your peas to the water to cook.  Add the strained pasta and peas to the saucepan and add the cheese and the remainder of the herbs.

This makes enough for two hungry people with enough for lunch the next day!

FYI....We have the new habit of using That Dutchman's "Old Growler" these days instead of the pricier Parmigiano-Reggiano.  I find it works just as well, if not better! Click here for my top ten favorite cheeses.

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Cool As A "Sea" Cucumber

A lovely lady named Jennifer Reynolds gave me a few bags of cleaned Sea Cucumber last Sunday when we were both finishing up at the Catch Seafood Festival.  Jennifer had spent some of the weekend cooking up this mysterious creature of the sea, and kindly offered me some to take home and experiment with.  My first thought was to treat it like conch and make a stew, but I opted to make a soup with the sea cucumber that incorporated some of my favorite pantry items; coriander, garlic, limes and chilies.

Doug and I sat down to our steaming bowls of sea cucumber soup and were pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture.  I hope that if anyone out there can get their grubby lil' paws on any of this plankton eating creature, that they do so and experiment with it as I did today!  It has a sweet flavor similar to a clam, but without the saltiness and has the texture of one of my favorite foods, tripe (specifically honeycomb tripe). The following is the recipe that I came up with that stars the sea cucumber in the leading role.

Sea Cucumber Soup

• 1 onion chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic; sliced
• 1 scotch bonnet chili; minced (optional for heat lovers)
• 2 red peppers; diced
• 2 plum tomatoes; diced
• 1 cup chopped coriander - stems included
• 2 potatoes; diced
• 3 cups broth (chicken/fish/vegetable)
• 3 limes; zest and juice
• 2 cups cleaned sea cucumber
• salt & pepper to taste

Sweat the onion, garlic, chili and peppers in olive oil until translucent.  Add the sea cucumber and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the remainder of the ingredients and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender.  Finish with a little more fresh coriander a squeeze of lime and some Matouk's hot sauce (if you can handle it!)

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Now here's the Catch...

This past weekend I had the extreme pleasure to be involved in the first ever Catch Nova Scotia Seafood Festival.  I spent two full days shucking, slurping, wining and entertaining.  I am going to venture a guess and say that my co-shuckers from Little Fish Oyster Bar and I must have shucked over 1500 Black Point, Eel Lake and Bay Enterprise oysters, as well as some sweet ass little-neck clams.  At the end of our shifts, we all raised our palms, tattooed with big, circular bruises (ouch..quite painful!) and hailed each other to a job well done!

I was also involved with Taste Of Nova Scotia, and spent Saturday and Sunday doing on stage demonstrations.  For both of my demonstrations I decided to make a simple salad with golden and candy cane beets, celery root, radishes, walnut oil and smoked mackerel from Willy Krauch. I felt that this recipe was a success. Not only was is super simple, but it was very crunchy and fresh!  I was lucky enough to have great interactive crowds on both days that were kind enough to chuckle at my horrendous jokes.

Beet and Smoked Mackerel Salad Recipe

So, a shout out to all those suppliers, organizers and volunteers that made Catch a great place to be..Merci!

I'll "Beet" It Outta Ya!

I recently did some demonstrations at the Catch Seafood Festival on the Taste Of Nova Scotia Culinary Stage.  Here is an adaptation of that recipe witch includes golden, candy cane and bull's blood beets.  Hope you "beet" it up!

Beet and Smoked Mackerel Salad

• 1 candy cane beet; peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 golden beet; peeled and julienned
• 1 bull's blood beet; peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1/4 of a celery root; peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 Jonagold apple; julienned
• 6 radishes; thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup basil; roughly chopped
• 2 lemons; zest & juice
• 1/4 cup walnut oil
• Salt & pepper
• 1 cup micro-greens
• 3 fillets of smoked mackerel; flaked

Thinly slice your beets and radishes on a mandolin if possible; I use a "Benriner" which is a Japanese mandolin.  Mix all your ingredients together in a bowl and serve.

Chimichurri; A Gaucho's Best Friend

I am by no means an Argentinian Gaucho, but I do enjoy my chimichurri!  This classic sauce has been bastardized by many, but I prefer to keep mine simple and close to its original roots.  I recently purchased a beef roast from Getaway Farm (at the Halifax Farmers' Market), marinated it for a few hours with garlic, lemon, bay leaves and chilies and then grilled it over a hot charcoal fire.  After I took the roast off of the bbq I let it "rest" for a few hours, thinly sliced it and served it with a big bowl of vibrant green chimichurri.  Here is my recipe that I often tweak with different herbs.

Chimichurri 

• 1 cup flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup basil
• 1/2 cup oregano
• 4 anchovies
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp chili flakes
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

The preparation for this sauce could not be any easier. Simply buzz up all of the ingredients in a food processor or a blender. Spoon the sauce over barbecued meats and veggies. Yum...

Barberry For You, Zereshk For Me

I have the habit when I go food shopping, to come across ingredients that I've never seen or used before.  This happened to me a few years back when I was picking up my usual haul from Mid-East Food Centre.  I looked into the refrigerator case and saw a bag of jewel-like red berries.  I asked the owner what they were, and how did he use them?  He graciously opened a bag and let me try a few while he explained to me what they could be used for.   He told me that they were called "zereshk", and that they were typically used in Persian rice and in chicken dishes. Barberries have a sour taste, yet there is a hint of sweetness in the end.  These little red berries are one of the largest exports of Iran, a fact that I did not know.  So, I purchased a few bags, and left for work in anticipation of creating something with theses red jewels.

In the kitchen at work on a busy Saturday night, I decided to make a vinaigrette with the barberries to pair with grilled Digby scallops and charred baby leeks.  The outcome of this vinaigrette stunned us all, and soon became a favorite in the kitchen, and eventually made it's way onto one of my menus.  I have paired this vinaigrette not only with seafood and chicken, but works beautifully with lamb and is great for stuffing's.

Here is a super easy recipe for the vinaigrette that I use on everything these days.  If you cannot find barberries, feel free to substitute with dried cranberries or cherries.  Cheers!

Barberry And Mint Vinaigrette

• 1 cup roughly chopped Barberries
• 1/2 cup chiffonade of mint
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sumac (optional)
• 2 lemons zest and juice
• salt & pepper to taste.

Mix all the ingredients and taste.  Adjust seasoning if needed.  This keeps refrigerated for up to 3 weeks.