Gnocchi with Roasted Cauliflower and Pancetta in Balsamic Cream Sauce

Dan    Mains, Recipes     awesome, delicious, gnocchi, italian, pasta, recipes, sauce

What you’ll need…

Roasted cauliflower mixture:

2 1/2 cups cauliflower florets (loosely chopped)

1/2 cup pancetta (thinly sliced)

1/2 red onion (chopped)

1 TSP lemon juice

2 TSP sugar

salt and pepper

olive oil

Pasta and sauce:

1 TBSP butter

1 TBSP flour

2 cups cream

1/2 cup parmesan cheese (freshly grated)

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes

2 TSP tomato paste

2 cups red swiss chard (chopped and blanched)

4 cups cooked gnocchi

2 TSP balsamic vinegar

So, I finally got a ‘real’ camera, a ‘big boy’ camera, if you will. Thank you for the golf claps (I imagined golf claps after the first sentence). It was an expensive purchase, slightly scary, but, I find, pricey times like these seem less real when you just close your eyes and hand someone your credit card. I approach the majority of life’s situations like this…Anyway, five days later, here I am with this ‘big’ camera and a couple different lenses that I don’t know how to deal with and all I’m thinking is: ‘Is this what puberty was like?’. Yes, yes it was. Except it didn’t cost me $1000.

End tangent.

I do realize that this recipe is going up on Valentine’s Day and, although, gnocchi doesn’t necessary lend itself to ‘romance’, I think eating this for dinner could be, at the very least, chalked up to a fun foodie fling.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place the first 5 ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and toss to combine. Put the cauliflower mixture into a prepared baking dish and let bake in oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven, give the dish a quick stir, turn heat to high broil, and let cook for another 10 minutes or until the cauliflower and pancetta really start to caramelize and crisp up. Remove from oven and set aside for now.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a large pan on medium-high heat. Add in the flour and whisk to form a rue. Pour in the cream. Once the liquid begins to simmer and thicken, stir in the grated cheese, sun dried tomatoes and tomato paste. Reduce to medium heat and let cook for 10 minutes.

Now you can add the cauliflower/pancetta mixture to the pan as well as the chard and cooked gnocchi. Toss a few times to coat everything in the sauce. Finally, add the balsamic vinegar and give the pan one last, solid toss.

Serve nice and hot to hungry dinner-mates!

Serves 4

Total cook time…40 min

Red Wine and Sriracha Marinated Steak with Coconut Lemongrass Risotto

Dan    Mains, Recipes     Alberta steak, Asian-inspired, coconut, dinner, recipes, risotto, steak

What you’ll need…

Steaks:

4 beef tenderloins

2 garlic cloves (chopped)

2 TSP freshly grated ginger

1 cup red wine

2 TBSP sirarcha

1 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

1 TSP sugar

salt and pepper

Risotto:

5 cups chicken stock

1 13.5oz can coconut milk

1 lemongrass stalk (segmented into 2″ pieces)

1TSP freshly grated ginger

1 TSP chili flakes

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 cup green onions (finely chopped)

2 cups arborio rice (uncooked)

4 pieces Laughing Cow cheese (random, I know…In lieu, a 1/4 cup of cream cheese will do!)

salt and pepper

olive oil

grape seed oil

I recently dined at Mercato here in Calgary for the first time ever. I know, I’m a terrible, terrible foodie. If you’ve eaten there, you know their red meat claim to fame is the ‘Bistecca’ a steak of epic proportions served with prosciutto-wrapped asparagus of equal delicious monstrosity. Perhaps I’ll share a picture of the dish at the bottom of the post (‘perhaps’ = ‘will’). Needless to say, steak has been the object of my affection ever since. Thus, this dinner recipe was born.

Before starting on the risotto, you’ll need to marinate the steaks for a few hours (at least two). Place all of the steak ingredients into a large ziploc bag, sprinkle with salt and pepper, seal and swish the bag around a few times to mix the marinade nicely. Pop the bag of steaks into the fridge for the next while. In the meantime, watch an episode of Dawson’s Creek.

When it’s getting closer to dinner time, you can start preparing the risotto. Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a medium-sized pot. Turn to medium-high heat and let cook until the liquid is just about to boil. Reduce to low heat to stay hot. Next, in a large pan on medium-high heat, cook down the onions and garlic in some olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the chopped green onions and rice to the pan, give everything a good stir and let cook for another 3-4 minutes.

At this point, start preheating your oven to 400 degrees (for finishing the steaks).

Now, start adding the hot liquid to the pan, ladle by ladle. Each time you add some liquid, stir occasionally until the rice has just about absorbed all of it, then add some more. Repeat until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is al dente, 20 minutes or so. Finally, add your Laughing Cow cheese (just because you had some in the fridge) and stir until it’s melted away into the risotto. Finish with some salt and pepper and reduce to low heat to stay warm while you cook the steaks.

Now to sear! Place a medium-sized pan (cast iron if you have one) on the stove with a bit of grape seed oil, and turn to high heat. Remove the steaks from their marinade and add to the hot pan. Let them cook for approximately 2-3 minutes on each side, then pop into the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes for a medium-rare cut. Remove and let sit for a few minutes on your cooking board before slicing.

When you’re ready to serve, portion out the risotto onto four plates followed by the (now) sliced steak. Everyone will definitely be full after this!

Serves 4

Total cook time…40 min (not including marinade time)

The Bistecca at Mercato. A thing of beauty!

Orange Chocolate Walnut Biscuits

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Something Sweet     baking, biscuits, chocolate, dessert, quick and easy, recipes

What you’ll need…

2 cups flour

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup walnuts (loosely chopped)

1 TBSP orange zest

2 TSP cinnamon

3 TSP baking powder

1 TSP salt

1/2 cup butter (chilled, 1/2″ cubed)

1 cup milk

2 TSP vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 egg (for egg wash, optional)

I’m not much of a baker. So, when I ‘bake’, I make biscuits. They’re simple and consistently delicious no matter what you decide to fold into them. Since I’m not much of a baker, I don’t often excel in the dessert category of awesomeness. These orange biscuits are just sweet enough and can pass as a delicious dessert if you slice them in half, add a dollop of whipped cream and some orange slices (from the orange you zested for the recipe, peel to pulp cooking, right?). One day I’ll learn to make a one-of-a-kind cake or something…I promise…Until then, enjoy this biscuit-y goodness I guess?

So, this recipe will be easier to make than your bed. Unless you have a really complicated linens system…Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees. Place the first 7 ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the chunks of butter and loosely mix in with your hands.

Next, mix the milk, vanilla and sugar together in a separate bowl, stir until sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix together with a spoon, or by hand, until a dough forms. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and form into a circle-esque shape, 2″ thick. Slice into 12 pieces and place onto a prepared baking sheet. Brush the top of each piece of dough with the egg wash and let bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the biscuits start to brown.

Let cool slightly before eating, however hard that may be…

As previously mentioned, slice in half, add a spoonful of whipped cream, some orange slices, and you have yourself a simple, ‘rustic’ if you will, dessert. Happy eating!

Yields 12 biscuits

Total cook time…20 min

Top Secret Smokey Tomato And Chorizo Soup

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     calgary, chorizo, comfort food, delicious, recipes, soup, winter

What you’ll need…

1/2 pound chorizo sausage

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 cups crushed tomatoes

3 cups chicken broth

1 russet potato (1/2″ cubed, approximately 1 1/2 cups)

1 TBSP lapsang souchong tea (ground or crushed with a mortor and pestle)

1 TSP chili powder

1 TSP paprika

1 TSP cayenne pepper

1 meyer lemon (zest and juice)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup harvarti cheese (grated)

2 cups fresh spinach

salt and pepper

olive oil

As I’m typing this, inside my house, away from the -30 degree (celsius for any Americans reading this!) weather, I’m fairly happy to be back home in Calgary. Shortly after Christmas, I departed from Canada for a three week adventure in the United Kingdom and Denmark. On this adventure I encountered delicious food, more pubs than you could shake a stick at and, of course, Hogwarts…but I digress, these are all stories for another day.

Today it is cold. Really, really damn cold. When it’s cold, all I want to do is wear my sweatpants, my TMNT bunnyhug and sip some soup. So, I did just that. I had some lapsang souchong tea kicking around the house and since I hadn’t used tea in a recipe since the summer, I thought its smokey flavour fit the bill perfectly for a tomato and chorizo style soup. I know it must sound weird reading through the ingredient listings…tea, lemon, cream, but, trust me, it all works! If you don’t trust me, then I dare you to make a liar out of me.

Time to cook! Place the sausage in a large pot, drizzle with some olive oil and cook on medium-high heat until it is completely cooked through, about 5 minutes. Spoon out the cooked meat and cooking oil, leaving just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Now, toss in the onions, minced garlic and let cook until the onions soften, another 5 minutes or so. Next, add the following seven ingredients to the pot as well as the juice of the meyer lemon. Once the mixture starts to bubble, reduce to low heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

On a side note, take a big whiff of your soup after stirring in those ingredients. Doesn’t the lapsang souchong tea make it smell amazing? Smokey deliciousness here we come!

(In the meantime…tidy up your living room! I know it’s messy…)

 After that time, the chunks of potato should be, at the very least, fork tender. If that’s the case, let the lemon zest, cream, shredded cheese and spinach join the soup party. You can now return the cooked sausage to the pot as well. Give the pot a good stir until the cheese melts away into nothingness and you’re left with a thick, rich-tasting soup. Let the soup cook for another 10 minutes. Finally, take a sip, season with salt and pepper to taste and you’re done! Bam!

Serves 4-5

Total cook time…40 min

Rustic Meatballs With Mandarin Orange And Fennel Sauce

Dan    Mains, Recipes     beef, Christmas, cranberries, mandarin orange, meatballs, pork, recipes

What you’ll need…

Meatballs:

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

1 pound lean ground beef

1 pound ground pork

2 eggs

1/2 bulb roasted garlic (minced)

1 cup bread crumbs

1 cup fresh parsley (finely chopped)

2 TBSP ketchup

1 TSP chili powder

salt and pepper

olive oil

Sauce:

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 bulb fennel (thinly sliced, approximately 1 cup)

2 mandarin oranges (zest and juice)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup water

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup orange juice

1 TBSP red wine vinegar

2 TBSP brown sugar

1/4 TSP ground cloves

2 TSP flour

salt and pepper

olive oil

100% Santa approved meatballs for the holidays! I generally don’t use mandarin oranges for anything other than simply peeling and eating, but thought that adding them to a sweet and sour sauce for these meatballs would make things a bit more merry. Also, as I tell my Start From Scratch classes, I like to use the word ‘rustic’ to make things sound better. For example, putting the word ‘rustic’ before my misshapen, hand-formed meatballs in the recipe title makes them sound so much more beautiful, doesn’t it? It’s all smoke and mirrors folks. All smoke and mirrors…On a side note, if you’re feeding these to kids, feel free to tell them these are made of Reindeer. The look on their faces will be priceless.

Starting off with the meatballs…Place the onions in a medium-sized pan, drizzle with some olive oil and cook on medium-high heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and let cool for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and combine with a spoon or by hand (I say by hand! Come on, it’s comfort food!). Form into 20 2″ diameter balls and set aside for now. These can be made a day in advance, just leave covered in refrigerator.

Now, moving along to the sauce. First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the onion and garlic in a medium-sized pot, drizzle with some olive oil and let cook until the onion begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Next, aside from the flour, add all remaining ingredients into the pot. Once mixture comes to a bubble, reduce to low heat and let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is simmering, you can brown the meatballs. Drizzle some olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the meatballs (in two separate batches) and brown on all sides, cooking them for about 6-8 minutes per batch. Remove and place into a prepared baking dish.

As a final step for the sauce, sprinkle in the flour to help it thicken a bit, then salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce over the meatball-filled baking dish and bake in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Serve on some white rice with some fresh bread or crostini to soak up the sauce! Happy holidays!

Serves 5-6

Total cook time…1 hour

Rosemary Mushroom Pate with Homemade Cranberry Crackers

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes, Vegan     appetizers, crackers, delicious, mushrooms, pate, recipes, vegan, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

Pate:

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

3 garlic cloves

1 cup crimini mushrooms (quartered)

1 cup white mushrooms (quartered)

2 portabella mushrooms (loosely chopped)

1 TBSP red wine vinegar

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes

2 TBSP fresh rosemary (chopped)

1 cup vegetable stock

1 cup bread crumbs

salt and pepper

Crackers:

3 cups flour

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 TBSP fresh rosemary

2 TSP sea salt

1 cup warm water

1/3 cup olive oil

Poor little vegans…They’re always overlooked in a holiday season full of buttery baking, roasts, turkeys and bacon-wrapped appetizers. Never fear, for I have got your back! This is an ideal dish for a holiday party whether or not your friends are vegan/vegetarian. Whenever I’m at a Christmas party, I tend to overindulge in any spreadable mixture that happens to be available on the table. And, besides, you’ve never really lived until you’ve tasted a delicious mushroom pate!

Start off by placing the chopped onion in a large pan. Drizzle with some olive oil and cook on medium-high heat until they start to caramelize, about 10-12 minutes. Next, add the garlic, three kinds of mushrooms and vinegar to the pan. Give the pan a good sprinkling of salt and pepper and let the mixture cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the time’s up, remove from heat to cool slightly.

Pour the mushroom mixture into a blender or food processor and add all remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste, then place in a covered container in the fridge to chill. (this can be made several days in advance)

Moving swiftly along to the crackers…Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl. Pour in the water and olive oil and mix with a spoon until a soft dough forms (Note: an electric mixer, i.e. KitchenAid, makes short work of this task!). Take the dough out of the bowl and place onto a floured surface, then knead it a few times. Cut into ten even sections and roll each out until they’re nice and thin.

Place on some prepared baking trays, brush with olive oil and let them bake for 15 minutes, or until the crackers are crisp, starting to brown on the edges. Feel free to make whichever size of cracker you please. I tend to err on the side of larger, as it looks more rustic to my guests, but less work for me! Now that’s a win/win!

Once the pate is nice and chilled, scoop some into a bowl and serve with your beautifully rustic crackers. Done and done!

Yields 4 cups of pate

Total cook time…45 min (not including chill time)