soup-ernatural

Movie trucks, production assistants and traffic hold-ups are a regular sight in "Hollywood North". In our 'hood, production shoots are pretty much a monthly occurance as apparently, this small neighbourhood is a movie location scout's dream. Almost every week there is a movie or television show shooting right outside our apartment. A few weeks ago, we received a notice that the show "Supernatural" was going to be filmed outside our door...and this past week, it was the tv show "Men in Trees". For my New Year's Resolution, I gave up cable, so I couldn't even watch these shows if I wanted to. But when I met with friends for a bit of league bowling, I was told that on last week's episode of Supernatural (a hunky sausage-fest ghostbusting show), my neighbourhood, tiny grocer and street were featured prominently. Oh well, I never watched that show anyway, but it still would have been nice to see!

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming. Trust me, there is nothing spooky or supernatural about this creamy chicken and vegetable soup. It is brimming with flavour, warmth and history plus has the power to slay through any gray day this northwest weather has to offer. Even if your grandmother never made you soup like this before, you can feel tradition in every slurp. Creamy but not heavy since it's made with milk rather than cream, each spoonful carries a bright tang with the addition of lemon juice. It's like a chicken pot pie in soup form and there is nothing wrong with that. This soup is a perfect meal for this grey, damp month. When it comes to Februarys and soup, I agree with Molly, they go hand in hand.

creamy chicken & vegetable soup
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 c button mushrooms, sliced
1 c celery, chopped on the diagonal
1 c carrots, sliced into coins
1 t dried thyme
3 T flour
6 c chicken stock
1 cup short cut whole wheat pasta
1 1/2 c milk
1 c cooked chicken, diced
1/2 c frozen peas
salt & pepper to taste
juice and zest of 1 lemon

1. Melt butter in a large pot. Add in onion, garlic, mushrooms, celery, thyme and carrots and sautee until wilty. Add flour and mix well, cooking for about 3 minutes. Add in chicken stock and pasta and cover. Stir occassionally to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

2. When pasta is tender, add milk, chicken and peas. Stir gently and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper and mix in lemon juice. Serve.

soup-ernatural

Movie trucks, production assistants and traffic hold-ups are a regular sight in "Hollywood North". In our 'hood, production shoots are pretty much a monthly occurance as apparently, this small neighbourhood is a movie location scout's dream. Almost every week there is a movie or television show shooting right outside our apartment. A few weeks ago, we received a notice that the show "Supernatural" was going to be filmed outside our door...and this past week, it was the tv show "Men in Trees". For my New Year's Resolution, I gave up cable, so I couldn't even watch these shows if I wanted to. But when I met with friends for a bit of league bowling, I was told that on last week's episode of Supernatural (a hunky sausage-fest ghostbusting show), my neighbourhood, tiny grocer and street were featured prominently. Oh well, I never watched that show anyway, but it still would have been nice to see!

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming. Trust me, there is nothing spooky or supernatural about this creamy chicken and vegetable soup. It is brimming with flavour, warmth and history plus has the power to slay through any gray day this northwest weather has to offer. Even if your grandmother never made you soup like this before, you can feel tradition in every slurp. Creamy but not heavy since it's made with milk rather than cream, each spoonful carries a bright tang with the addition of lemon juice. It's like a chicken pot pie in soup form and there is nothing wrong with that. This soup is a perfect meal for this grey, damp month. When it comes to Februarys and soup, I agree with Molly, they go hand in hand.

creamy chicken & vegetable soup
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 c button mushrooms, sliced
1 c celery, chopped on the diagonal
1 c carrots, sliced into coins
1 t dried thyme
3 T flour
6 c chicken stock
1 cup short cut whole wheat pasta
1 1/2 c milk
1 c cooked chicken, diced
1/2 c frozen peas
salt & pepper to taste
juice and zest of 1 lemon

1. Melt butter in a large pot. Add in onion, garlic, mushrooms, celery, thyme and carrots and sautee until wilty. Add flour and mix well, cooking for about 3 minutes. Add in chicken stock and pasta and cover. Stir occassionally to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

2. When pasta is tender, add milk, chicken and peas. Stir gently and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper and mix in lemon juice. Serve.

a schmaltzy offering

What's the next step after roasting a chicken? Why make stock of course! It's really simple. Just remove as much meat as possible (reserving for another use), dump the bones, skin and debris in a large pot (a stock pot is ideal!), add in an unpeeled onion with the skin (the skin adds a lovely roasty hue to the broth), a whole wack of garlic cloves, a couple of carrots and a couple stalks of celery (leaves and all). Then comes the seasoning. Throw in a couple of bay leaves, salt, whole peppercorns, and some dried herbs of your choice (I love rosemary). Cover the whole shebang with water, add a lid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and within the hour, your kitchen will truly smell like home. I like to simmer my stock for about 2 hours or so, which really brings out the gelatin from the bones making your stock hearty and rich and sticky with flavour. Remove from heat and strain. Chill stock in the fridge.

Now you have the base of a really, really great soup. But the soup most suited to this rich broth is matzoh ball soup. I've made matzoh ball soup many times from a mix and it's easy, but the last time I went to the store, I found ground matzoh in a large container and decided that it would be just as easy to make my matzoh balls from scratch. And so yesterday, that's just what I did. And the results? Heavenly. The dumplings were light and fluffy and so flavourful! And the secret to this soup not only relies on the homemade broth but on the schmaltz, which is a lovely Jewish term for plain ol' chicken fat. Once you remove your sufficiently chilled stock from the fridge, you will notice a layer of white fat resting on top of your stock. This is the golden stuff of your matzoh dreams, so carefully remove the fat layer with a spooon and set aside in a small dish. This is the schmaltz that really makes your matzoh balls come alive. If you don't have any schmaltz, you can always use plain old vegetable oil in your dumplings, but trust me when I say that those matzoh balls won't elate your soup to heavenly levels.

heavenly matzoh ball soup
2 T melted schmaltz
2 eggs
1/2 t kosher salt
1 t baking powder
1/2 c ground matzoh meal
1 large pinch of dried dill weed
1 heaping t of dried parsley
1/2 t granulated garlic (or garlic powder)
a large pinch of black pepper

homemade chicken stock (see 1st paragraph)
1/2 c diced carrots
1 celery stalk, diced
1/4 onion, diced
1/2 c diced cooked chicken

1. In a measuring cup or small bowl, stir gently to combine the schmaltz and the eggs. Set aside.

2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the matzoh meal with the salt, baking powder, dill, parsley, granulated garlic and pepper. Stir until everything is blended.

3. Pour egg mixture into the dry mixture and gently blend with a fork. OVERMIXING IS THE DEVIL. Don't do it. Put it in the fridge for half an hour.

4. In a large pot, dump in the stock, carrots, celery and onion, cover, and bring to a boil. Add in diced chicken and turn down heat to a simmer.

5. After matzo mixture has set, gently remove teaspoon fulls of the batter and lightly roll into 1" balls and drop into the soup. Cover and cook without stirring or peeking for about half an hour. Remove matzoh balls with a slotted spoon and place into soup bowls. Ladle soup over top and serve.

a schmaltzy offering

What's the next step after roasting a chicken? Why make stock of course! It's really simple. Just remove as much meat as possible (reserving for another use), dump the bones, skin and debris in a large pot (a stock pot is ideal!), add in an unpeeled onion with the skin (the skin adds a lovely roasty hue to the broth), a whole wack of garlic cloves, a couple of carrots and a couple stalks of celery (leaves and all). Then comes the seasoning. Throw in a couple of bay leaves, salt, whole peppercorns, and some dried herbs of your choice (I love rosemary). Cover the whole shebang with water, add a lid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and within the hour, your kitchen will truly smell like home. I like to simmer my stock for about 2 hours or so, which really brings out the gelatin from the bones making your stock hearty and rich and sticky with flavour. Remove from heat and strain. Chill stock in the fridge.

Now you have the base of a really, really great soup. But the soup most suited to this rich broth is matzoh ball soup. I've made matzoh ball soup many times from a mix and it's easy, but the last time I went to the store, I found ground matzoh in a large container and decided that it would be just as easy to make my matzoh balls from scratch. And so yesterday, that's just what I did. And the results? Heavenly. The dumplings were light and fluffy and so flavourful! And the secret to this soup not only relies on the homemade broth but on the schmaltz, which is a lovely Jewish term for plain ol' chicken fat. Once you remove your sufficiently chilled stock from the fridge, you will notice a layer of white fat resting on top of your stock. This is the golden stuff of your matzoh dreams, so carefully remove the fat layer with a spooon and set aside in a small dish. This is the schmaltz that really makes your matzoh balls come alive. If you don't have any schmaltz, you can always use plain old vegetable oil in your dumplings, but trust me when I say that those matzoh balls won't elate your soup to heavenly levels.

heavenly matzoh ball soup
2 T melted schmaltz
2 eggs
1/2 t kosher salt
1 t baking powder
1/2 c ground matzoh meal
1 large pinch of dried dill weed
1 heaping t of dried parsley
1/2 t granulated garlic (or garlic powder)
a large pinch of black pepper

homemade chicken stock (see 1st paragraph)
1/2 c diced carrots
1 celery stalk, diced
1/4 onion, diced
1/2 c diced cooked chicken

1. In a measuring cup or small bowl, stir gently to combine the schmaltz and the eggs. Set aside.

2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the matzoh meal with the salt, baking powder, dill, parsley, granulated garlic and pepper. Stir until everything is blended.

3. Pour egg mixture into the dry mixture and gently blend with a fork. OVERMIXING IS THE DEVIL. Don't do it. Put it in the fridge for half an hour.

4. In a large pot, dump in the stock, carrots, celery and onion, cover, and bring to a boil. Add in diced chicken and turn down heat to a simmer.

5. After matzo mixture has set, gently remove teaspoon fulls of the batter and lightly roll into 1" balls and drop into the soup. Cover and cook without stirring or peeking for about half an hour. Remove matzoh balls with a slotted spoon and place into soup bowls. Ladle soup over top and serve.

sexy beast

I love making a whole roast chicken. Lemon and rosemary is always a favorite flavour combo, as is a really garlicy pesto and roasting a chicken stuffed with homemade preserved lemons is to die for. But you want to know the secret to a juicy, moist and flavourful chicken? Buy free-run organic. That's it. Ever since I saw the documentary, The Corporation, I decided that I could make some small life choices and buying organic free-run chicken would be one such ethical choice. I've been happy ever since! It may cost a few dollars more, but it's worth every penny.

So now that you've got your plump and juicy free-range chicken, you need to boost that goodness with some flavour. My local grocer had blood oranges dirt cheap, so I bought a whole bag full and decided to use some of that flavour to enhance my chicken. The results were stunning and the gravy I made from the pan juices were incredible.

blood orange & rosemary roast chicken with roast vegetables
1 free-run organic roast chicken
1 T kosher salt
1 T dried rosemary
pepper
1 blood orange, zested & quartered
4 cloves garlic
1 small onion, quartered
2 T olive oil
3 large carrots, cut into large 2 inch chunks
4 potatoes, cut into quarters
dried rosemary, salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and pat dry chicken. Rub chicken inside and out with the orange quarters. Set aside orange husks.

2. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and orange zest. Rub the salt mixture under the skin, inside the cavity, and over the skin. Stuff the chicken with the orange husks, garlic and onion.

3. Add half the olive oil to the bottom of a roasting pan or a rectangular baking dish. Swirl about the carrots and potatoes in the olive oil and sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and rosemary. Move the vegetables to the perimeter of the pan. Add the chicken breast side up in the middle and drizzle the leftover olive oil over top. Roast chicken in oven for 1 hr or until juices run clear. Serve.

sexy beast

I love making a whole roast chicken. Lemon and rosemary is always a favorite flavour combo, as is a really garlicy pesto and roasting a chicken stuffed with homemade preserved lemons is to die for. But you want to know the secret to a juicy, moist and flavourful chicken? Buy free-run organic. That's it. Ever since I saw the documentary, The Corporation, I decided that I could make some small life choices and buying organic free-run chicken would be one such ethical choice. I've been happy ever since! It may cost a few dollars more, but it's worth every penny.

So now that you've got your plump and juicy free-range chicken, you need to boost that goodness with some flavour. My local grocer had blood oranges dirt cheap, so I bought a whole bag full and decided to use some of that flavour to enhance my chicken. The results were stunning and the gravy I made from the pan juices were incredible.

blood orange & rosemary roast chicken with roast vegetables
1 free-run organic roast chicken
1 T kosher salt
1 T dried rosemary
pepper
1 blood orange, zested & quartered
4 cloves garlic
1 small onion, quartered
2 T olive oil
3 large carrots, cut into large 2 inch chunks
4 potatoes, cut into quarters
dried rosemary, salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and pat dry chicken. Rub chicken inside and out with the orange quarters. Set aside orange husks.

2. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and orange zest. Rub the salt mixture under the skin, inside the cavity, and over the skin. Stuff the chicken with the orange husks, garlic and onion.

3. Add half the olive oil to the bottom of a roasting pan or a rectangular baking dish. Swirl about the carrots and potatoes in the olive oil and sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and rosemary. Move the vegetables to the perimeter of the pan. Add the chicken breast side up in the middle and drizzle the leftover olive oil over top. Roast chicken in oven for 1 hr or until juices run clear. Serve.

sandwiches. surprised?

It's rainy, it's icy and there is slush galore outside. My shoes got quite a soaking from stepping into too many slushy puddles and I had to change into warm, dry clothes as soon as I got home. It certainly doesn't seem like a day for something like sandwiches...but regardless of the weather, I decided that sandwiches would make the perfect lunch. Using some leftover chicken and Portugese buns fresh from the market, I whipped up a totally delicious meal that had Cornelius and I clamouring for seconds. Lucky for us, there is plenty of leftover sandwich filling for tomorrow and lucky me, these sandwiches taste great with a nice hot cup of tea.

curried chicken sandwiches
2 c leftover cooked chicken, chopped
1 rib of celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 c dried cherries, chopped
2 T pecans, chopped
2 t curry paste
2 T mayo (plus additional, if needed)
salt & pepper
fresh spinach
buns

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Add in the curry paste and mix well so that everything gets combined. Add in the mayo (you may want to use more if you like a wetter consistency) and the salt and pepper to your taste. Combine well.

2. Split your Portugese buns and lightly toast. Spread a thin layer of mayo and add on a couple spoonfuls of the chicken salad mixture and spread over the bottom bun. Cover with fresh spinach leaves and add the top layer of bun.

sandwiches. surprised?

It's rainy, it's icy and there is slush galore outside. My shoes got quite a soaking from stepping into too many slushy puddles and I had to change into warm, dry clothes as soon as I got home. It certainly doesn't seem like a day for something like sandwiches...but regardless of the weather, I decided that sandwiches would make the perfect lunch. Using some leftover chicken and Portugese buns fresh from the market, I whipped up a totally delicious meal that had Cornelius and I clamouring for seconds. Lucky for us, there is plenty of leftover sandwich filling for tomorrow and lucky me, these sandwiches taste great with a nice hot cup of tea.

curried chicken sandwiches
2 c leftover cooked chicken, chopped
1 rib of celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 c dried cherries, chopped
2 T pecans, chopped
2 t curry paste
2 T mayo (plus additional, if needed)
salt & pepper
fresh spinach
buns

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Add in the curry paste and mix well so that everything gets combined. Add in the mayo (you may want to use more if you like a wetter consistency) and the salt and pepper to your taste. Combine well.

2. Split your Portugese buns and lightly toast. Spread a thin layer of mayo and add on a couple spoonfuls of the chicken salad mixture and spread over the bottom bun. Cover with fresh spinach leaves and add the top layer of bun.

kicking it old skool

While I love fusion flavours, Thai food and sushi, sometimes there's nothing better than a meal that harkens back to those rose-coloured 1950's that never really existed except in advertisements for eggshell blue refrigerators. I'm talking about meatloaf. It's a pretty contested meal with vocal camps on either end of the meatloaf debate. You either love it because it reminds you of your mother's cooking or you venemously hate it for the exact same reason. Me, I'm a meatloaf lover and I guess that's because my mom never turned out a bad meatloaf recipe.

So when I found myself with almost a pound of ground chicken, a meatloaf sounded like a pretty reasonable dinner. But I should warn you, ground chicken is quite different from the traditional ground beef. Let's face it, the raw texture is pretty icky stuff. It's mushy and sticky and did I mention mushy and sticky? It's bad enough raw (which is why I use a spoon to mix all the super-sticky ingredients rather than my bare hands) and even when cooked, the texture is much softer than beef, which for some can be a bit off-putting. A chicken loaf also has to be strongly flavoured because a bland meatloaf is a bad meatloaf that will leave you stranded along with all the other meatloaf-haters. But warnings aside, this meatloaf is wonderful. It's nicely flavoured with lots of fresh garlic and the grated zucchini and oats work as a binder to really improve things texture-wise.

This meatloaf is pretty darn yummy. Next time I make this recipe, I'm totally doubling the sauce used for the topping. The amount listed is perfect for topping the meat while it cooks, but I ran out of ketchup and would have loved more sauce heated up and served alongside for dipping purposes.


Serving this kicked-up retro feast totally put me in the mood for afternoon heels and a pretty apron. Now if only I could weasel myself matching teal kitchen appliances....

garlic & zucchini chicken meatloaf
1 lb ground chicken
1/2 grated zucchini
1 egg
1/2 c quick oats
salt & pepper
8 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T worchestershire sauce
1 T ketchup

topping:
2 T ketchup
2 T mango chutney

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all everything but the topping ingredients into a large bowl and mix everything well with a rubber spatula. Pat into a loaf pan and bake for about 10 minutes.

2. Stir up the topping ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup. Remove meatlof from the oven and spread the chutney mixture overtop. Put back in the oven to bake for another 45 minutes or so until meat is done. Slice and serve.

kicking it old skool

While I love fusion flavours, Thai food and sushi, sometimes there's nothing better than a meal that harkens back to those rose-coloured 1950's that never really existed except in advertisements for eggshell blue refrigerators. I'm talking about meatloaf. It's a pretty contested meal with vocal camps on either end of the meatloaf debate. You either love it because it reminds you of your mother's cooking or you venemously hate it for the exact same reason. Me, I'm a meatloaf lover and I guess that's because my mom never turned out a bad meatloaf recipe.

So when I found myself with almost a pound of ground chicken, a meatloaf sounded like a pretty reasonable dinner. But I should warn you, ground chicken is quite different from the traditional ground beef. Let's face it, the raw texture is pretty icky stuff. It's mushy and sticky and did I mention mushy and sticky? It's bad enough raw (which is why I use a spoon to mix all the super-sticky ingredients rather than my bare hands) and even when cooked, the texture is much softer than beef, which for some can be a bit off-putting. A chicken loaf also has to be strongly flavoured because a bland meatloaf is a bad meatloaf that will leave you stranded along with all the other meatloaf-haters. But warnings aside, this meatloaf is wonderful. It's nicely flavoured with lots of fresh garlic and the grated zucchini and oats work as a binder to really improve things texture-wise.

This meatloaf is pretty darn yummy. Next time I make this recipe, I'm totally doubling the sauce used for the topping. The amount listed is perfect for topping the meat while it cooks, but I ran out of ketchup and would have loved more sauce heated up and served alongside for dipping purposes.


Serving this kicked-up retro feast totally put me in the mood for afternoon heels and a pretty apron. Now if only I could weasel myself matching teal kitchen appliances....

garlic & zucchini chicken meatloaf
1 lb ground chicken
1/2 grated zucchini
1 egg
1/2 c quick oats
salt & pepper
8 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T worchestershire sauce
1 T ketchup

topping:
2 T ketchup
2 T mango chutney

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all everything but the topping ingredients into a large bowl and mix everything well with a rubber spatula. Pat into a loaf pan and bake for about 10 minutes.

2. Stir up the topping ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup. Remove meatlof from the oven and spread the chutney mixture overtop. Put back in the oven to bake for another 45 minutes or so until meat is done. Slice and serve.

leave your fancy pants in the closet

One of my best friends is taking 6 months out of her Vancouver life to ride her bike to Mexico with her boyfriend. They are still enroute, but after weeks of cycling in the rain and wind and cold, they certainly appreciate a home-cooked meal and basic shelter. Central heating wouldn't be amiss, either. You can read about their journey here and if you like, take a peek at Kristen's etsy shop. What's all this got to do with food? This may not be a vegan post (Kristen & her boyfriend are vegans), but it is a post that features some truely comforting food. And I'm sure something hot and home-cooked would go down nicely while riding down a cold, wet highway.

Comfort food ain't pretty, but pleasing the belly is sometimes more important than pleasing the eye and this stew fits the bill perfectly. It's nothing fancy. The flavours are simple, the directions are straight forward and once you add the ingredients, the dish pretty much takes care of itself. Nice. This recipe is also pretty flexible. You can add different vegetables (some rutabaga would be great) and you can control the amount of gravy by the amount of liquid and flour you use. And if you want to pull out all the comfort stops, certainly some dumplings cooked in the pot during the last few minutes wouldn't hurt a thing.

paprika chicken & vegetable stew
6 chicken thighs, skinned
2 T smoked hot paprika
1 T olive oil
4 medium potatoes, quartered
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 c mushrooms
2 T flour
2 c chicken broth (+ more water or broth, if needed, to generously cover vegetables)
1 T dijon mustard
1 t dried sage
1/2 bottle of beer
1/2 c frozen peas

1. Sprinkle chicken on all sides with paprika, salt, and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large pot and add chicken. Saute until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate. Add vegetables (except the peas....those come in later) and saute for a few minutes. Sprinkle vegetables with flour and stir to coat. Stir in broth and beer.

2. Return chicken and any juices to the pot. Add dijon mustard and sage. Stir to combine and reduce heat. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Add frozen peas during the last 10 minutes of cooking time. Serve with rice or crusty bread.

leave your fancy pants in the closet

One of my best friends is taking 6 months out of her Vancouver life to ride her bike to Mexico with her boyfriend. They are still enroute, but after weeks of cycling in the rain and wind and cold, they certainly appreciate a home-cooked meal and basic shelter. Central heating wouldn't be amiss, either. You can read about their journey here and if you like, take a peek at Kristen's etsy shop. What's all this got to do with food? This may not be a vegan post (Kristen & her boyfriend are vegans), but it is a post that features some truely comforting food. And I'm sure something hot and home-cooked would go down nicely while riding down a cold, wet highway.

Comfort food ain't pretty, but pleasing the belly is sometimes more important than pleasing the eye and this stew fits the bill perfectly. It's nothing fancy. The flavours are simple, the directions are straight forward and once you add the ingredients, the dish pretty much takes care of itself. Nice. This recipe is also pretty flexible. You can add different vegetables (some rutabaga would be great) and you can control the amount of gravy by the amount of liquid and flour you use. And if you want to pull out all the comfort stops, certainly some dumplings cooked in the pot during the last few minutes wouldn't hurt a thing.

paprika chicken & vegetable stew
6 chicken thighs, skinned
2 T smoked hot paprika
1 T olive oil
4 medium potatoes, quartered
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 c mushrooms
2 T flour
2 c chicken broth (+ more water or broth, if needed, to generously cover vegetables)
1 T dijon mustard
1 t dried sage
1/2 bottle of beer
1/2 c frozen peas

1. Sprinkle chicken on all sides with paprika, salt, and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large pot and add chicken. Saute until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate. Add vegetables (except the peas....those come in later) and saute for a few minutes. Sprinkle vegetables with flour and stir to coat. Stir in broth and beer.

2. Return chicken and any juices to the pot. Add dijon mustard and sage. Stir to combine and reduce heat. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Add frozen peas during the last 10 minutes of cooking time. Serve with rice or crusty bread.

oh, summertime

Stir-fries are probably the most common go-to dinner in this lil' apartment. Quick to cook, stir-fries are more than ideal for hot summertime kitchens, plus it's a healthy option and you can mix up the flavours and ingredients and always come up with something special. I know that some people find chopping up so many vegetables tedious, but I find it relaxing. Chopping brightly coloured orange and yellow peppers, cutting the ends of vibrant green beans and pulling out the florets of bright white cauliflower is an almost artistic endeavor for me. I love looking at my handiwork staring back at me in neat little colour-coordinated rows. My summertime kitchen is extra special because the glory of golden hour brings the evening sun into our orange kitchen which bounces off our disco ball hanging by the window. With all the light dancing around the room along with my loud* music**, it's almost too easy to imagine I'm somewhere exciting and other-worldly. But truth is, I'm quite content in my tiny little orange kitchen and I certainly wouldn't give up chopping vegetables for the most beautiful food processor in the world.

I make many stir-fry variations depending what I've got in the kitchen. I usually add tofu or chicken for protein, or I make it a simple vegetables-only affair. And of course, use what veggies you've got in the crisper. I usually add some orange or pineapple juice to the sauce but this evening I decided to use a grapefruit that had found hidden away in the vegetable crisper. The stir-fry didn't have a strong grapefruit flavour, but I like adding fruit juice instead of adding vegetable broth because I think it adds an extra depth to the fresh flavour to the meal. What can I say, I like things with a touch of sweetness!

chicken & vegetable stir-fry
2 chicken thighs, cut up into strips
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 red onion, large dice
1 orange pepper, large dice
1 yellow pepper, large dice
1 large handful of green beans, cut in half
1/2 head of cauliflower, broken into florets
1 T oil
1 T soy sauce

Sauce:
1 T brown sugar
1 grapefruit, juiced
1 T sesame oil
1/2 t chili flakes
1 T soy sauce
1 T cornstarch

1. Mix together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

2. In a wok or large pan, heat up oil and add garlic and onions and heat until translucent. Add chicken and use tongs to stir it all about for about 8 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

3. Add the cauliflower and 1 T of soy sauce into the pan. After a few minutes, add the green beans and then the peppers, stirring everything about. When the vegetables look bright and tender-crisp, give the sauce one last stir and add it to the wok. Again, toss everything about so that everything is well coated and the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat and serve over rice or Chinese noodles.

---

Today's musical selection provided by local Vancouver band, The Pink Mountaintops. There are a few mp3's online at their label site, but really, do yourself the favour & buy both cds.
* "Can you do that dance?", from their S/T release
** "New Drug Queens", from Axis of Evol

an angel peed on my tongue

I don't quite understand the Dutch. Cornelius is part Dutch and take it from me, they're a bit wacky. They wear wooden shoes, their national food is the Indonesian rice dish Nasi Goering and then they exclaim a Dutch phrase that when translated means "an angel peed on my tongue". This Dutch phrase is uttered after eating something so wonderful that it verges on heavenly. This is what Cornelius said to me after last nights dinner. No doubt, we both laughed hard.

This recipe for jerk chicken isn't exactly traditional as I didn't have any scotch bonnet peppers laying around, but it did pack quite a punch in the spice department. It was so tasty and pretty and colourful that I'm sure all the angels everywhere let out a communal sigh of relief.

We used boneless skinless chicken thighs, but breasts would work too. We also grilled these using our cast iron grill pan, but on an outdoor grill these would be amazing. We served these over rice and a side of asparagus. Yum!

jerk chicken pineapple skewers
marinade:
1 t cayenne powder
1 T fresh ginger, crushed
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t thyme
1 t sage
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 c soy sauce
1 T oil
1/4 c orange juice
1 lemon, juiced
1 T brown sugar

6 skinless chicken thighs, cut into managable peices
1 red pepper, large dice
1 green pepper, large dice
1 yellow pepper, large dice
1/2 red onion, quartered
1 pineapple, large dice

1. Mix together the marinade ingredients and pour most of it over the chicken. Put the chicken in the fridge for at least an hour to marinate. Pour the remaining mixture over the chopped vegetables and toss.

2. Skewer the chicken and vegetables using bamboo skewers making a pretty colour-coordinated mixture of vegetables, pineapple and chicken. If using an outdoor grill, soak skewers in water for at least 1 hr. Add skewers to lightly oiled grill and cook for about 4-6 minutes per side.

3. Boil up the left over marinade until it has reduced by half. Plate the skewers over rice and pour the jerk sauce over the skewers. Let the angels do their thing.

my lazy sunday

The weekends are typically times to relax, get stuff done and enjoy life a little more. This weekend was no exception. Every year around this time, there is a huge 30 block garage sale that I go to every year and this time I managed to find some pretty sweet scores. I bought a pretty 1950's teal n' green floral tablecloth for $3, a great pack for 3 day hikes in the woods for $5 and a complete speedball screenprinting kit for $3! But somehow in the kafuffle of thrifting and biking around for groceries, I managed to break the screen on my camera, so this will be a no-picture post.

On Saturday night, I met up with the EMB (Electric Moon Banana) crew at a nearby park at 11pm sharp for a full moon bike ride around the city and although I cut home early in the ride, I still didn't make it to bed until 3am. Sunday was rough and tiring, so I needed something bright and simple to make the day move along a little faster. A brown rice curry salad and some grilled chicken fit the bill. This would make a great picnic meal.

This is a great way to prepare chicken and you can use the meat to add to salads, natchos, burritos, etc. and this chicken is even tasty cold.

lemon & garlic grilled chicken
4 chicken bone-in parts (I used thighs)
1 lemon, juiced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T ground cumin
2 T chili powder
salt & pepper

1. Wash chicken peices in cold water and remove skin and visible fat. Place chicken in ziplock bag with lemon juice and spices. Refrigerate for 2 - 4 hours.

2. Spray cast iron grill pan with a light coating of oil and heat on high. Add chicken, presenation side down. Turn when chicken is slightly blackened, about 15 minutes or so. Repeat on the other side for another 15 minutes.

3. Cover the pan with foil and place in a 400 degree oven. Cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

+++

This salad tastes great the day it's made....but it's almost better the next day as the flavours get real tight! If you've got some chopped almonds, I think they'd be a lovely addition to this flavourful salad.

brown rice curry salad
2 c brown rice, uncooked
4 T curry paste (I use Patak's "korma" paste)
1 T ground cumin
1 t sesame oil
1/3 c vegetable oil
1/3 c major grey or mango chutney
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 red pepper, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1/2 c raisins
1 granny smith apple, diced
1 bunch of parsley, chopped fine

1. Cook rice according to package directions. When all the water is absorbed, pour rice into a large bowl.

2. In a small saucepan, heat vegetable oil with the curry paste until well mixed and add the onion. Cook until translucent. Add the cumin and sesame oil and mix well. Turn off heat and add the chutney, stirring until everything is combined. Add mixture to rice, mixing well. If you want more curry taste, cook up some more oil and curry and add it to the mix.

3. Add in all the finely chopped vegetables and the raisins and blend everything well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.

4. Stir in chopped apple and parsley and stir the salad once again to combine. Serve.

off the cuff.

Today I took work off my plate and decided to concentrate on Christmas crafting. Inspired by last night's button-making party/ANTM watching at my friend Carley's house (I brought those mint chocolate cookies!), I decided to sew rickrack on my screenprinted tea towels and tie up everything in ribbon. I also had plans on making felt ornaments, but didn't get as far along as I had hoped. Before too long, it was time for dinner and I had 4 chicken thighs defrosted just waiting to be used. I wanted to make an African-style meal that had a bit of spice, a bit of sweetness and a bit of sour. I looked through my cookbooks and I spent a few runs through Google typing in various ingredients, but my search was fruitless. So I decided to tackle dinner on my own. The end results were fantastic and it was a perfect meal for a chilly evening.

I used a homemade spiced pear jam in the recipe, but you really could use anything you had handy; peach jam, mango chutney, honey, molasses would all do a fine job I'm sure! I also didn't have any onions. If I had one, I would have added one. Have fun & play!

my african-inspired chicken stew
½ c flour
salt & pepper
4 skinless chicken thighs
1 T olive oil
1 large can of tomatoes
water
1 T spicy onion soup base
½ head of garlic, chopped
1 large knob of ginger, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 carrot, sliced into rounds
1 c broccoli, chopped
1 t red chili flakes
3 T raisins
2 T spiced pear jam
1 ½ t ground cinnamon
salt & pepper
juice of ½ lemon

1. Mix salt, pepper and flour together in a plate. Dredge chicken thighs in the flour.

2. Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot. Add the chicken and brown on both sides.

3. Add the can of tomatoes into the pot and fill half the can with water and add that too. Add ginger, garlic, chili flakes salt, pepper, and onion soup base to the simmering pot and mix to combine. Simmer over medium heat.

4. Add celery, carrots, broccoli, mix to combine and cover for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Add the jam, raisins, cinnamon and lemon juice and mix well. Cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice into pot and mix well before serving.

6. Serve over rice or couscous.

warm up a little

It's dark and gloomy and the weather is always threatening rain, but this simple meal really hits the spot. This recipe originally comes from Martha Stewart's little magazine, Everday Food. I've made it several times and have played with the ingredient list so many times, that I think I've truely made it mine. You can increase the heat all you want (I usually do) and it's best served with a really good hunk of crusty buttered bread. A nice pumpkin ale (or ipa) would also be totally delicious and very seasonal.

chicken & bean chili

1 T olive oil
3 lbs ground chicken
2 onions, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
1/2 head of garlic, minced or chopped
2 medium fresh jalapeño chiles, minced
3 T chili powder
4 T unsweetened cocoa powder
4 t ground cumin
1 t ground chipotle powder
2 cans (28 ounces each) whole tomatoes, broken with a spoon
3 T unsulfured molasses
salt & pepper to taste
hot sauce to taste
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Heat olive oil in a heavy 5-quart pot over medium heat. Add ground chicken, stirring and breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes. Add onion, red and green peppers, garlic, and jalapeños; cook until soft, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder, cocoa powder, and cumin; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes. Add molasses, salt, pepper and hot sauce if using; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer; cook, partially covered, 30 minutes. Add beans; continue cooking, uncovered, until meat and beans are very tender, and chili is thick, about 30 minutes more.

ginger pineapple chicken -- the speedy way

Last night I told Cornelius I would have dinner ready by the time he returned from doing laundry. Time wise, I didn't hold up my end of the bargin, but it wasn't for lack of trying. He left with 2 loads to take over to our friendly (but slightly scary) neighbourhood laundromat and I searched the cupboard and fridge for ideas.

I had frozen chicken thighs, a can of pineapple, an onion, some celery, a large knob of fresh ginger and a few assorted items to make a nice sauce. Ah, some kind of sweet/sour sauced chicken, I thought! So that is what I set out to do.

I nuked the frozen chicken for a few minutes on a low setting. Still half frozen, I stirfried them with some garlic and ginger. I'm sure I was breaking some kind of rule by using still frozen chicken, but I was running out of time and I had a growling stomach to prove it. I dumped in a bit of vegetable broth once everything was nice and golden brown, threw in some red chilis, and put on a lid hoping that all the simmering would do the trick in fully cooking the chicken.

While things were gently bubbling away on the stove, I added some brown sugar, juice from the can of pineapple tidbits, soy sauce, white vinegar, more ginger & garlic and some sesame oil to the the remaining vegetable broth that I had left in a measuring cup. In another bowl, I made a slurry with a few tablespoons of the above mixture and some cornstarch.

It was around this part of the story when Cornelius did return with the loads of clean laundry and I didn't have things ready. No worries, as he quickly opened the cookie tin and started snacking on a couple of peanut butter cookies.

When I poked around the simmering chicken and noticed that things were indeed going as planned, i added some chopped celery and onions and the pineapple tidbits to the mix and then dumped in the sauce and some of the slurry to thicken everything up. I let the mixture bubble away for about another 10 minutes or so and then I served our meal up over some sticky rice.

Dinner went surprisingly well. We had clean clothes and our bellies were full. Not bad for a Sunday evening.

a salad fit for a domestic goddess

Summer's can be hot in the Northwest (no, really) and Friday night was no exception. I had a fridge full of fresh vegetables and figured making a salad would be the best option for dinner. I decided making Nigella's Vietnamese Chicken and Mint Salad since I had all the ingredients needed and more.

I had 3 free range chicken thighs in the fridge that needed tending to, so I put the chicken in water along with a few dried chili peppers, kafir lime leaves and a few dashes of fish sauce and set the whole lot to simmer. Once the chicken was cooked, i left them to cool in the fridge and I put the cooking liquid away in the freezer for another day.

I started by chopping up ½ a small green cabbage and ½ of a small purple cabbage into fine shreds and threw it into a large bowl. Next, I grated 2 large carrots and threw that on top of the cabbage. The green onions, ½ of a red and ½ of a green pepper were next and I chopped those up too. I rolled up a large handful of mint leaves into a cigar shape and cut that into a lovely chiffonade (!!) and tore off some Italian parsley off of their stems and threw them in too. The final step was shredding up my chicken thighs and then with my clean hands, I mixed everything all up and started on the dressing.

I followed the dressing pretty faithfully to Nigella's recipe, but I subsitituted the rice vinegar for some red wine vinegar since it was all that I had.

1 fat garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp rice vinegar
1 ½ tbsp lime juice
1 ½ tbsp Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce (nuoc nam or nam pla)
1 ½ tbsp vegetable oil

Once it was shaken up, I added it to the salad and me and Cornelius dug in. The next day I ate the some leftovers with some crushed peanuts on top for added crunch. Tasty!

i love you, boylan's creamy red!

Yesterday -- if I may boast -- I made a pretty great dinner. Cornelius loved it and I licked the plate clean. What can I say, I may not have the best manners, but I sure do appreciate a good meal. Here's what I call it and this is what I did:

easy (& kinda healthy) fajita wrap
1 skinless chicken thigh, deboned
½ lime, juiced
1 dried red pepper, crumbled
1 t oil
whole wheat tortillas (4)
½ red pepper, cut into strips
½ green pepper, cut into strips
1 small onion, cut into strips
¼ fresh salsa
3 T of fat free sour cream
½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of sprouted beans

Debone the chicken thigh and cut into strips or bite sized pieces. Marinate in the lime juice and chili pepper. Chop the vegetables while chicken marinates. In a grill pan or heavy cast iron pan, heat the oil and add the chicken and the marinating liquid. Turn over when golden coloured. When chicken is almost done, throw in the onions and peppers and saute until the pepper and onions char and soften slightly.

Over the flame of your gas stove, heat tortillas for about 5-10 seconds until warm and soft (I like mine a bit charred). Put some of the fajita mixture on top of the heated tortilla and top with a bit of cheese, salsa, sprouted beans and salsa. Add hot sauce, if you like.

We washed dinner down with a bit of my favorite pop: Boylan's Creamy Red Birch Beer. So good!!