mmmmmmmmmmuffins

I think that's a restaurant that (used to) exist, right?  The way I see it, muffins generally come in 2 varieties:  Dessert style (cakey and sweet) and snack style (more nutritious and hearty)



For example:

Oat bran carrot: Snack style

Chocolate chip: Dessert style



Snacky hearty oatmeal goodness!

I have a great cookbook my sister Andrea gave to me a few years ago and it's an excellent go to.  I refer to this book for inspiration regularly.  I've learned alot about food and have taken from it several solid recipes.

This one for muffins which I made on my day off yesterday (the original is here: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/sweet-rolls/muffins/)  is just about as basic as it gets.  I've used some proportions from this recipe to make my own snack style with reduced fat and nice moistness.  They come together in a snap.



Quick note:  the yield is not 12 muffins, you get about 10 or 11 normal sized ones.

She wore Bluuuuuuuuuuuuuue Cactuuuus

Wait, that's not how the song goes!  Somehow on Sunday after looking after my nephew in the AM Adam and I ended up at Blue Cactus.  This wasn't our first choice, we careened through the market on the FREEZING Sunday looking for somewhere that wasn't insane busy that was not serving brunch.  I get brunch, but we do not need to have it at 99.9% of all eating establishments in the city, but I digress...


Tasty steak and cheese!



We ended up here and I will say this:  This place is tired.  It felt like a hangover.  Maybe because I've been living in Ottawa for 10 years now (holy s**t!) and this place has not even changed an accessory since then.  The furniture is getting worn, it just doesn't jive with the light of day, although I think they can get away with it in the evening.



We sat near a window, the place wasn't too busy (yet, but it was Sunday and cold).  The water glasses were scratched and old and the one at my place was dirty but PROPS to the server for recognizing this right away and getting me a fresh one.

Soup, asparagus. Perfect for earth hour!

Saturday felt a bit off for me.   It was a fine day, great actually.  I got my hair done and Adam (who I used to refer to as 'A' but let's face it, most of who read this know me and those who don't would figure out pretty quickly who 'A' was) made wicked progress in the bathroom.


I had no direction on dinner.  I knew soup needed to be in the equation.  I remembered I had some parsnips sitting there.  Then it came to me - brilliant.   Out comes the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution and into my stomach goes...




Before the puree stage, all the veg and broth



PARSNIP GINGER SOUP - adapted from Jamie Oliver's food revolution.  The original recipe is exactly double (except the asterisks*)

1 large carrot
1 large celery stock
1 lb parsnips
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves *
1 pinky sized peice fresh root ginger
900 ML chicken broth
A few sprigs fresh parsley
Sea salt and fresh grd pepper
A squeeze (tablespoon or less) of honey

Slow cookin' Sunday

It's Monday now, but I thought I should throw out winter with a BANG by slow cooking on Sunday (oddly, Sunday was a gorgeous day and today it's snowing)

There are a few reasons for this:

1) My friend Susan recently posted a link to a slow cooking blog (this one:  http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/)  on my facebook and that had me thinking
2) I had planned on painting the bathroom and didn't want to fuss with dinner
3) What else was I going to do with those chicken thighs?



I am overall a fan of the crockpot and was first inspired to use it on a more regular basis several years ago when my sister Jen bought me a book called "Not your Mothers Slow Cooker Recipes for 2".  Less conventional takes on favourites, and it forced me to try new things.  Thanks Jen, you've always bought me great cookbooks.

Crockpot goodness, beautiful colour
and aromas!

MOROCCAN CHICKEN STEW

The recipe that inspired my recipe was found online, and I'd make a few (more) small changes.  The original recipe is here:  http://www.homehardware.ca/en/index/home-experts/anna-olson/all-recipes/fall-recipes/slow-cooker-moroccan-chicken-stew.htm

An odd website - but a great chef! :)  My recipe follows......

I like to oat oat oat oat

...opples and bonono's (anyone know that song?)

I LOVE OATS.  If I had a top 5 list of favourite foods I know for sure oats would be in there.  If there was one grain I had to eat for the rest of my life and omit all others, I would choose the mighty oat.

YUMMY!  Oats at their finest.

So many applications!  So much versatility!  SO TASTY!

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I like to call these the cookies that made me famous the second time (the first time in my youth it was grandma's peanut butter cookies, just the best!) but these are the cookie.  I'd almost say my signature cookie.  No, they aren't the greatest cookie in the world (as they are not caramel skor sensations!) but they are the most honest and versatile cookies I make.  They are damn good too.  

I came across the original recipe at least a few (more like 5?) years ago on the internet.  I've modified it but I still go mostly by the original version (http://www.everydaycook.com/recipebox/cookies/chocolatechipoatmeal.htm).

Most cookies (and alot of other baked goods) have a wet side and a dry side.  You basically mix all of the wet stuff and then add the dry stuff.

When I made these today, I tell you the crisp buttery edge is just perfect, it's only like that for a few hours or until you pack them up, but a fresh baked one of these cookies is truly special.  (Recipe follows)

A few ways with the chicken!!

Chicken was on sale!  I went to FreshCo on Saturday (first time there, believe me it's worth the trip to Vanier, great prices, great fresh produce, good stock levels - thanks for the tip Renee).   The chickens were small but that's good because I only have 2 people to feed on a regular basis.   I decided to roast the chicken in a typical fashion of course, I've come to enjoy roasted chicken and making it - it's not that hard.  The recipe below is inspired by a few, but mostly by my good friend (ha, I wish) Jamie Oliver  (for herb inspiration and cook times), the original recipe is on his website.  This is a semi personal rendition and the most exciting part - it was the first time I did a semi-decent job carving the bird and made a semi decent homemade gravy! LOL.

Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken with Lemon wine gravy

1 3 lb (give or take) chicken

Carved bird (forgot to take a photo BEFORE
I cut into it!) :)

a bunch of fresh thyme (other herbs are good too!)

a few garlic cloves

1 large lemon

juice of a half lemon

salt and pepper

1T butter

3/4 chicken stock (also, juices from the carving board work too!)

1/2C white wine

1 scant T cornstarch

Hunger (always the best ingredient)

Butchers twine

Holy HUGE salad roll



This isn't really a review or anything, I just needed to post this as a "unique" eating experience!



I put my pen beside - for perspective!

Today for lunch whilst being on training at holland cross (Holland at Scott) I was hungry, didn't bring lunch so I wanted something light and tasty.

I went to GOLDEN THAI, a fast food thai joint (more like fast food not too greasy asain style food joint) for a won ton soup and salad roll.  I just have to say, I've never EVER had a salad roll this big before.  I wasn't expecting something the size of a KEILBASA.  But that's what I got.
The food was alright, the noodles and veg in the roll could have been seasoned more (but the cilantro was a nice touch).  The peanut sauce for dipping was runny but overall OK. 

Potatoes and cheese, with some Ham please!

I had a great weekend in food! and some great leftovers I've been enjoying.  I'm going to share 2 recipes and the first one is the feature of this post!

I also ate out a couple of times, but it was at chain restaurants, so I've decided to write more about smaller, local or just plain unique eating experiences (although I'll never EVER have anything to say negative about the RIBS at BATON ROUGE - oh baby!)

Recipe 1 - Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Asparagus

I made this recipe based on cheesy sauce and from googling Aparagus potatoes gratin (which I found here,    http://bellavita-bellasblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/italian-asparagus-and-potato-gratin-in.html  you will see my recipe is almost nothing like that one)  I just like looking to see if, you know, my idea exists??  It did :)  But I did it differently.  This recipe is inspired by any cheesy casserole or scalloped potatoes I have ever done (any rip offs, not intended).  Read the recipe for the ingredients before you start - I made this kind of on the fly so I'm writing it like I made it.

Just delicious, can you go wrong with cheese?



Preheat your oven to 400F

Combine in a large bowl:

1.5 lbs peeled yukon gold or other all purpose potato sliced thinly (use a mandolin if you have it)



.5 lb of asparagus tips, chopped into 2 inch pieces (if the asparagus is thick stemmed, cut it in half or quarters so they are nice and small)

Season with about 1/4 t salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper

Jumble of Jambalaya



soupy goodness
refined recipe will arrive here one day!

Leftovers are truly a blessing.  I've been enjoying them thoroughly this week.  I made a great curried soup on Sunday which contained Lentils, Quinoa, Sweet Potato, and Swiss Chard.   It was actually very good but the recipe needs some refinement before I share it (but see the picture included in this post).  Let's call it a work in progress.   I had the last of it for lunch today - delish.

  The recipe I do want to share is a great weeknight recipe.  See, sometimes I love to cook and go all out with the best and greatest ever, you know - do something special.  Sometimes though special is something easy, simple, good tasting and RELIABLE.



Messy and delicious JAMBALAYA

Since I already cook like I have  family of four, I've become a watcher of things that family mom's look at, such as Kraftcanada.com and Canadianliving.com  This recipe is adapted from Canadian Living.

JAMBALAYA

You can spice it up, keep it low on spice, use real sausage, use smoked sausage, omit the shrimp, use ham instead! Whatever, I think the whole point of jambalaya is that you can do whatever you want and it's tasty.  period.