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

Butternut Squash Breakfast Hash with Poached Eggs

Dan    Mains, Recipes     bacon, breakfast, butternut squash, curry, recipes

What you’ll need…

6 strips bacon

1 small red onion (diced)

1 TBSP butter

1 TBSP brown sugar

2 cups butternut squash (peeled, 1/2″ cubed)

1 cup celery root (peeled, 1/2″ cubed)

1 TSP chili powder

1 TSP yellow curry powder

1 TSP cumin

1/2 TSP cayenne pepper

1/4 cup maple syrup

8 eggs (soft poached and waiting to be eaten)

salt and pepper

Not exactly the healthiest thing you could eat for breakfast, but everyone loves some bacon grease on the weekends, right? It looks kind of sexy too…just saying. Continuing on my quest of not just using squash for soups, I decided to try and cook it up in a breakfast hash. Maple and squash is a pretty traditional flavour pairing, so I tried to spice it up a bit with, well, some other spices. Definitely hits the spot on a weekend morning when you’re feeling a tad tired from last night’s escapades.

Start by cooking the strips of bacon in a large pan on medium-high heat until they’re nice and crispy. Remove from pan and place on some paper towel to absorb any excess grease. Once the bacon has cooled slightly, chop into small pieces and set aside. Next, add the red onion, butter and brown sugar to the pan and let cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, place the next six ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and toss to combine. Add the squash mixture to the onions, stir to combine and let it continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Finally, return the chopped bacon to the pan and stir in the maple syrup. a healthy dose of black ground pepper, some salt, then you’re good to go!

For serving, place a generous scoop of hash on a plate, top with a couple poached eggs and a final drizzle of maple syrup.

As for poaching the eggs, don’t be afraid. It’s easier than it seems. There are approximately 12000 YouTube videos on how to do it successfully. You can do it, I believe in you. If you want to skip the poaching, fried eggs on top are just as tasty, but make sure to keep that yolk runny!

Serves 4

Total cook time…25 min

Savoury Spinach And Leek Pancakes

Dan    Mains, Recipes     curry, delicious, pancakes, quick and easy, recipes, spinach, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

1 TBSP butter

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

1 leek (halved, thinly sliced)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

1 zucchini (diced or grated)

4 cups fresh spinach (chopped)

1 TBSP yellow curry powder

1 TSP dried oregano

salt and pepper

2 cups flour

3 TSP baking powder

1 TSP salt

1 egg (beaten)

1 cup water

canola oil

 I feel like these are a distant cousin of a green onion cake, or a latke…or something? At any rate, I experimented and made a vegan version of these at one of the Global Vegetarian Dinners I cook here in Calgary. They were so delicious that I decided to un-vegan them. Since we’re in the summer/autumn transition period right now, these would be good with a cool grain salad if the temperature is high, or a good bowl of soup if things are getting a bit chilly. I sometimes just eat them with ketchup, but don’t tell anyone I said that…it’s not very sophisticated…

Start by melting the butter on medium-high heat in a large pan. Add the chopped onion and garlic and let cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Next, throw in the diced (or grated) zucchini into the pan and let cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, add in the spinach, as well as the curry and oregano. Season with salt and pepper, then stir regularly until the spinach has wilted down and the spices have mixed in well with the vegetables. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 5-8 minutes, or until it’s able to be handled.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well, then pour in the egg, water and cooked vegetable mixture. Slowly mix with the dry ingredients until a chunky dough develops. Take the dough out of the bowl and place on a floured surface. Flatten to a thickness of approximately 1″ and cut into 12 equal pieces. Using your hands, roll them into small balls, then press down gently so that they’re circle-esque (is that a word?) in shape.

When you’re ready to fry up the pancakes, place some canola oil in a medium-sized pan on high heat. Once the oil is hot enough, place the pancakes into the pan, about 3 or 4 at a time. Cooking for about 2 minutes on each side. Place onto some paper towel to remove any excess oil.

Serve warm with garlic butter and a side of roasted vegetables (or the aforementioned options of salad/soup!) and enjoy!

Serves 3-4

Total cook time…25 min

Coconut Cream Poached Snapper With Daikon & Snap Pea Salsa

Dan    Mains, Recipes     curry, fish, recipes, summer

What you’ll need…

Poached snapper:

2 13.5oz cans coconut milk

1 cup half and half cream

1 stalk lemon grass (trimmed and cut into ‘fish out of the pot easily’ size pieces)

1/2 yellow onion (quartered)

4 cloves garlic

2 TSP yellow curry powder

1 TSP chili powder

4 red snapper fillets

 Salsa:

1 1/2 cups daikon (peeled and 1/2″ cubed)

1 cup fresh snap peas (pods removed, peas only)

1/4 cup red onion (finely chopped)

1 kiwi (1/2″ cubed, you can leave the skin on, it won’t kill you…)

1 TSP sugar

1 lemon (zest and juice)

salt and pepper

1 tomato (sliced, optional, I just wanted some colour variation on the plate!)

So here’s a story for you. I originally wanted to try poaching this fish in some red wine and spices, but while I was sitting at home contemplating about whether or not to use the wine to poach I accidently drank it all…and that’s my story. Well, not actually, but it definitely is something that could happen to me. I do like my wine. Anyway, life is always a little bit better when there’s some coconut curry involved, and this light dish is definitely perfect for a summer dinner date. My dinner guests seem to really like it when I poach things. Except pandas, they don’t like that.

Start off by combining the coconut milk and cream in a large pot. Whisk briefly to get rid of any lumps from the coconut milk. Add-in the remaining ingredients, aside from the snapper, and give a good stir. Let the mixture come to a bubble on medium-high heat, then reduce to low heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. While it’s simmering, give it a taste, and add some salt and pepper to your liking.

 For the salsa, simply place all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and toss to combine. Season with some salt and pepper, then set aside until you’re ready for it. Feel free to give it a taste on its own. It’s oddly delicious.

When the poaching liquid has simmered for long enough, remove the pieces of lemon grass, turn up to medium heat and pop in the pieces of snapper. Let the fish cook for about 6 minutes, or until it is fully cooked through. Remove the fish from the pot and scoop some of the liquid onto each plate,  followed by a couple tomato slices, then a piece of snapper, and, finally, the daikon salsa! You should probably eat this on your patio…just saying…

Serves 4

Total cook time…30 min

Simple Lamb Chops With Roasted Peach and Shaved Fennel Salad

Dan    Mains, Recipes     awesome, delicious, fennel, fresh, lamb, meat, recipes, salad, summer

What you’ll need…

Fennel Salad:

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1/3 cup water

1 TBSP sugar

2 TSP salt

1 bulb fennel (very thinly sliced)

2 peaches (halved and stoned)

1/4 red onion (thinly sliced)

1/2 cup feta (loosely crumbled)

zest of one lemon (and juice of one half)

1/2 cup fresh mint (coarsely chopped)

olive oil

salt and pepper

Lamb chops:

4 lamb chops

1/2 yellow onion (sliced)

1 cup shiraz

salt and pepper

Before we talk about anything else, I just realized that this recipe has no garlic in it. That breaks my heart a bit. Oh well, it happens…I’ve been in love with shaved fennel salads for awhile now, most specifically because of one that I frequently order here in Calgary at Charcut Roast House. Consider this an ode to them.  Since I’m not a huge fan of mint jelly with my lamb, I opted for some fresh mint in the salad, and as for the roasted peaches, well, it is summer after all. I made this dinner inside, but it might be a little extra summery if you grilled both the lamb and the peaches. Just saying…

Start things off by preheating your oven to 425 degrees. In a small pot combine the water, two types of vinegar, sugar, salt and let it come to a boil, about 4-5 minutes. Place the fennel (I used my highly under-used mandolin for this, so in-lieu, just slice as thin as possible) in a medium-sized bowl and pour the boiling liquid over top of it. Using a spoon, toss the mixture a few times, and then let sit for 5 minutes. This is a simple ‘technique’ I have come to call ‘quick half pickling’. I like doing it to the fennel, because I find it softens it a bit, but not too much, and gives it a bit of a tangy bite. After 5 minutes, discard the liquid from the bowl and set the fennel aside.

Next, drizzle some olive oil on the peach halves and pop them in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until they have started to caramelize on top. In the meantime, you can add the remaining salad ingredients to the bowl of fennel, drizzle with olive oil, and toss until evenly combined. Add some ground black pepper, have a taste, and add salt if needed. Once the peaches are appropriately roasted, let them sit to cool down a bit before adding them to the salad. Feel free to slice them up or keep the halves intact. (leave oven on for the lamb chops!)

The lamb chops will be pretty straight-forward. Season each side of the meat with some salt and pepper. Then, in a medium-sized pan, sear each side of the meat on high heat, approximately 1 minute per side. Transfer to prepared baking dish, and place in your (still) preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until desired ‘done-ness’ has been achieved. While the chops are in the oven, add the onion to the pan and deglaze with the wine. Stirring occasionally, let the mixture reduce by two thirds, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat.

Once everything is ready to plate, top each lamb chop with some of the red wine reduction, along with a helping of the fennel salad on the side. Enjoy folks!

Serves 4

Total cook time…35-40 min

If you’re wondering why there is not a picture of the lamb chop in the recipe photo…

It’s always a sad day when a food blogger forgets his/her camera elsewhere, which was the case on the summer evening that I chose to cook this pretty little number up. I did take a picture via iPhone’s application Instagram, but felt like it just didn’t cut it…Well, it’s not bad…for an iPhone 3G. Anyway, here is that photo! Happy eating!

Chai-Spiced Salmon Steaks with Lemon Dill Potatoes

Dan    Mains, Recipes     awesome, chai, delicious, dinner, fresh, potatoes, salmon, summer, tea

What you’ll need…

Lemon Potatoes:

4 cups baby potatoes (halved)

1/2 cup fresh dill (chopped)

1 lemon (juice and zest)

1/4 cup butter (melted)

salt and pepper

Salmon Steaks:

1 TBSP Indian spiced chai tea

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup yellow onion

1 lemon (zest, juice of 1/2)

1/2 chili powder

2 TSP cane sugar

1 TSP salt

1 TSP black pepper

olive oil

4 salmon steaks

If you asked this salmon what food trend is ‘so last year’, it would probably say cedar planking! Now, these fish are all about getting a chai tea-based paste rubbed all over them. Trust me, I did a poll. The taste of these salmon steaks had me proclaim: ‘This salmon must have swam upstream in awesome before being caught!’. Yes, it was that good. I know a cook with tea a fair bit (examples A & B), and it may seem a bit odd to some of you, but I guarantee it is most often rewarding. Unless you do something really weird and add Earl Grey to a cream-based soup. That would be a disaster….or would it? I’ll try it and let you know.

First things first, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the potatoes, dill, lemon (even the lemon halves, post squeezing!), and butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Toss to combine. Season liberally the salt and pepper, place into a medium-sized prepared baking tray, cover, and let roast for 40 minutes. Take out once or twice to turn the potato halves.

While your potatoes are roasting away, it’s time to make your paste. You can quite easily take all of the salmon steak ingredients, aside from the salmon itself obviously, and use your food processor to combine. However, I much prefer using a mortar and pestle. It’s a good workout, and also works well if you need to get some anger out. Mash, bash, mash! Once you get the paste to a, well, paste-y consistency, rub it lovingly on each of your salmon steaks. Place into a prepared baking dish, top each steak with a slice of two of lemon as well. Cover, and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

(just in case it’s not clear, you can pop the salmon in while the the potatoes are still cooking, so both can finish up at around the same time.)

If you want to be a little bit fancier with the steaks, I like to sometimes uncover them a few minutes early, sprinkle some sugar on top of each and place under high broil to caramelize them on top. Feel free to try it out! As well, the rice-like item in the photo is kamut. It’s a cool grain! I’ve never used it before, but my mom decided to send me a bag of it? Anyway, place the salmon and potatoes on whatever type of grain/rice you please!

Dish out some salmon and potatoes to each plate, and enjoy!

Serves 4

Total cook time…50 min