Today’s menu: Garlic pork roast, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, peas and homemade bread.
It’s a theme dinner today with a focus on garlic. What a wonderful little vegetable AND herb it is! Tasty no matter how you cook it-roasted, sautéed, fried, and raw, it’s definitely a nice way to add a kick of flavour to any dish. Along with it being tasty, it also boasts many health benefits as well. It’s known to help prevent heart disease, lower cholesterol, and regulate blood sugar levels.
This roast recipe, like my chili recipe, has very little in the way of measuring out ingredients. Once again, I am employing the pinch/dash method of measuring. When in doubt, always go a little light on the seasonings if you’re not too sure-you can always add some more pepper and salt later if need be. This is a pretty straightforward recipe, and it’s not too much work. Here’s how it’s done:
• 3lb pork roast-bone in or out, your preference
• 1 bulb plus 4 cloves of garlic (the bulb is roasted for the mashed potatoes)
• Seasoning salt
• Pepper
• ¾ cup water
• 2lbs potatoes
• ¼ to ½ cup milk, warmed
• Butter, to taste (for potatoes)
• Salt and pepper, to taste (for potatoes)
• 2 cups peas or vegetable of your choice for the side dish
With a pointed knife, pierce your pork roast and make small pockets for your garlic. Place thick slices of peeled garlic into the pockets of the pork roast all over. Season the roast with some seasoning salt, and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Place into roasting pan with ½ cup of water, and cook in a 325 degree oven until meat thermometer inserted in center of roast reaches 160F. Transfer to a cutting board and tent with foil to rest, approximately 10 minutes.
For your roasted garlic potatoes: cut the top off of a bulb of garlic and drizzle with oil. Wrap garlic in tinfoil and roast in a 375F oven for 35 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven and let cool. Boil potatoes until tender; drain. Squeeze cloves of garlic into potatoes, add butter, milk, salt and pepper and mash until smooth. Add more salt and pepper, if necessary.
Happy Eating!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Shepherd's Pie or Cottage Pie-Whatever You Call It, I Call It Tasty!
Today’s Menu: Shepherd’s Pie and homemade Newfoundland style bread.
First off, I would like to apologize for the delay in my update. Sunday dinner ended up being hot dogs and lemonade-not quite a comfort food, but I suppose in a roundabout way, a summer comfort food.
Tonight, we are having shepherd’s pie, definitely one of my favourite and tasty economical meals that can be stretched out over several days. Now, traditionally speaking, shepherd’s pie is made with ground lamb, gravy and corn, but many people use the more economical ground beef in their pie. Technically speaking, making it with ground beef, it’s called a cottage pie. I’ve had both, and if made right, both are quite tasty, but tonight, I’m going with regular ground beef instead.
Straying from my traditional shepherd’s pie (or cottage pie), I’m trying something different. I picked up a package of Club House shepherd’s pie seasoning mix with groceries a few weeks ago, so I thought this might be a good time to try a different route (that, and I’m out of mushroom soup, my traditional sauce of choice). Making a few careful substitutions, I’ve added more vegetables than traditionally found in a shepherd’s pie-besides, more vegetables is always a good thing. Frozen peas are my vegetable of choice for today, and I’m kicking it up a notch and using roasted garlic mashed potatoes, skin and all. Here’s the basic recipe for the pie:
• 1 lb ground beef (your choice of lean, medium or regular)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups vegetables (your choice)
• Seasoning packet
• 2lbs mashed potatoes
Brown up your ground beef in a large frying pan, along with your chopped onion; drain off fat and add in vegetables. Add your seasoning mix, water, and stir to combine. Bring everything to a boil, and let simmer for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Transfer everything to a casserole dish (I just used my lasagna pan, does the trick just fine), and top with your mashed potatoes. Bake the pie at 400F for 25 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.
I like to add a bit of cheddar cheese to my potatoes for a bit of extra kick, but that’s purely optional. Serve with warm bread and a side salad (optional) for a hearty and tasty dinner.
Happy Eating!
First off, I would like to apologize for the delay in my update. Sunday dinner ended up being hot dogs and lemonade-not quite a comfort food, but I suppose in a roundabout way, a summer comfort food.
Tonight, we are having shepherd’s pie, definitely one of my favourite and tasty economical meals that can be stretched out over several days. Now, traditionally speaking, shepherd’s pie is made with ground lamb, gravy and corn, but many people use the more economical ground beef in their pie. Technically speaking, making it with ground beef, it’s called a cottage pie. I’ve had both, and if made right, both are quite tasty, but tonight, I’m going with regular ground beef instead.
Straying from my traditional shepherd’s pie (or cottage pie), I’m trying something different. I picked up a package of Club House shepherd’s pie seasoning mix with groceries a few weeks ago, so I thought this might be a good time to try a different route (that, and I’m out of mushroom soup, my traditional sauce of choice). Making a few careful substitutions, I’ve added more vegetables than traditionally found in a shepherd’s pie-besides, more vegetables is always a good thing. Frozen peas are my vegetable of choice for today, and I’m kicking it up a notch and using roasted garlic mashed potatoes, skin and all. Here’s the basic recipe for the pie:
• 1 lb ground beef (your choice of lean, medium or regular)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups vegetables (your choice)
• Seasoning packet
• 2lbs mashed potatoes
Brown up your ground beef in a large frying pan, along with your chopped onion; drain off fat and add in vegetables. Add your seasoning mix, water, and stir to combine. Bring everything to a boil, and let simmer for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Transfer everything to a casserole dish (I just used my lasagna pan, does the trick just fine), and top with your mashed potatoes. Bake the pie at 400F for 25 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.
I like to add a bit of cheddar cheese to my potatoes for a bit of extra kick, but that’s purely optional. Serve with warm bread and a side salad (optional) for a hearty and tasty dinner.
Happy Eating!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Chili and carbs: possibly the best food combination EVER!
Today’s Menu: Slow cooker chili a la Joan and Newfoundland style buns.
Like a kid on Christmas morning, I get excited about getting a new toy. For me, it’s my Hamilton Beach 3-in-One Slow Cooker that we purchased just a few days ago. Coming with 3 different sized bowls (2, 4 and 6 quart respectively), I thought that it would be a great excuse to make some chili. One of the huge bonuses about having a slow cooker is that you can prepare a nice warm meal without slaving over the stove for hours on end. With a little preparation, you can put everything in your slow cooker and set it and forget it. Now, just a warning for all chili enthusiasts: this is not a traditional chili. Traditional chili is pretty much beef and sauce. My chili (well, mom’s chili recipe with a few tweaks), is like a thick soup, but I make it like this so I can add crackers to bulk it up a bit. Admittedly, not much in the way of measuring is done with this recipe, utilizing the pinch or dash method of measuring out spices and the like. Here’s the basic recipe for the chili:
• 2lbs ground beef
• ½ lb bacon, cut up into small pieces (I used low sodium bacon in this
recipe)
• 3 medium sized cans dark kidney beans, including liquid
• 2 cans Campbell’s Tomato soup (no water added)
• 1 medium can stewed tomatoes (seasoned or unseasoned, your choice)
• 1 medium sized onion, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 medium sized green pepper
• 1/2lb mushrooms, sliced
• Chili powder, salt, and pepper, all to taste
In a medium sized frying pan, brown up your ground beef and season it with a pinch of salt, and four grinds of ground pepper. Once the ground beef has browned, drain off the grease and put into slow cooker, along with your stewed tomatoes, kidney beans, and tomato soup; brown up bacon until medium crispy; drain. Add bacon to the slow cooker. Using your tomato soup can, measure out ½ can of water and add to the slow cooker. Using a grater, shred up your peeled onion, and two cloves of garlic (this is great for people who think they hate onion or garlic-hide the evidence!). Wash and pat dry green pepper. Remove ribs and seeds from pepper and cut up into medium sized pieces. Add in chili powder until desired chili taste is reached. Set slow cooker on low, and let simmer for 4-6 hours. After about 3 hours, add in sliced mushrooms. Serve with some crackers and a freshly baked roll. Chili will taste better the next day. Be sure to refrigerate any unused portions.
Newfoundland Style Buns-after hunting down a recipe for these buns for what seemed like a year, I finally found it. Posted on a Facebook fan page showcasing the wonderful food of Newfoundland, I quickly jotted it down, and then tested it out. I was impressed! The bread that came from my oven brought me back to my childhood, where I would watch my aunt Verna and my cousin Patsy bake dozens upon dozens of loaves for their family. So tasty, and at their best when they are fresh out of the oven with a bit of butter slathered on, it’s a little slice of Newfoundland right here in Ontario. So far, from what I can tell with this recipe, there are two differences. One, the recipe that I found doesn’t require you to “proof” the yeast with sugar and warm water, you just add it into the initial flour mixture, and two, this recipe has a triple rise method: One initial rise of one hour, then a 15 minute rest and rise, followed by another one hour rest period in the loaf pan/bun tray. If you would like this recipe, send me a message with your email, and I’ll be more than happy to send it off to you. For now, take a look at the tasty goodness.
Happy eating!
Like a kid on Christmas morning, I get excited about getting a new toy. For me, it’s my Hamilton Beach 3-in-One Slow Cooker that we purchased just a few days ago. Coming with 3 different sized bowls (2, 4 and 6 quart respectively), I thought that it would be a great excuse to make some chili. One of the huge bonuses about having a slow cooker is that you can prepare a nice warm meal without slaving over the stove for hours on end. With a little preparation, you can put everything in your slow cooker and set it and forget it. Now, just a warning for all chili enthusiasts: this is not a traditional chili. Traditional chili is pretty much beef and sauce. My chili (well, mom’s chili recipe with a few tweaks), is like a thick soup, but I make it like this so I can add crackers to bulk it up a bit. Admittedly, not much in the way of measuring is done with this recipe, utilizing the pinch or dash method of measuring out spices and the like. Here’s the basic recipe for the chili:
• 2lbs ground beef
• ½ lb bacon, cut up into small pieces (I used low sodium bacon in this
recipe)
• 3 medium sized cans dark kidney beans, including liquid
• 2 cans Campbell’s Tomato soup (no water added)
• 1 medium can stewed tomatoes (seasoned or unseasoned, your choice)
• 1 medium sized onion, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 medium sized green pepper
• 1/2lb mushrooms, sliced
• Chili powder, salt, and pepper, all to taste
In a medium sized frying pan, brown up your ground beef and season it with a pinch of salt, and four grinds of ground pepper. Once the ground beef has browned, drain off the grease and put into slow cooker, along with your stewed tomatoes, kidney beans, and tomato soup; brown up bacon until medium crispy; drain. Add bacon to the slow cooker. Using your tomato soup can, measure out ½ can of water and add to the slow cooker. Using a grater, shred up your peeled onion, and two cloves of garlic (this is great for people who think they hate onion or garlic-hide the evidence!). Wash and pat dry green pepper. Remove ribs and seeds from pepper and cut up into medium sized pieces. Add in chili powder until desired chili taste is reached. Set slow cooker on low, and let simmer for 4-6 hours. After about 3 hours, add in sliced mushrooms. Serve with some crackers and a freshly baked roll. Chili will taste better the next day. Be sure to refrigerate any unused portions.
Newfoundland Style Buns-after hunting down a recipe for these buns for what seemed like a year, I finally found it. Posted on a Facebook fan page showcasing the wonderful food of Newfoundland, I quickly jotted it down, and then tested it out. I was impressed! The bread that came from my oven brought me back to my childhood, where I would watch my aunt Verna and my cousin Patsy bake dozens upon dozens of loaves for their family. So tasty, and at their best when they are fresh out of the oven with a bit of butter slathered on, it’s a little slice of Newfoundland right here in Ontario. So far, from what I can tell with this recipe, there are two differences. One, the recipe that I found doesn’t require you to “proof” the yeast with sugar and warm water, you just add it into the initial flour mixture, and two, this recipe has a triple rise method: One initial rise of one hour, then a 15 minute rest and rise, followed by another one hour rest period in the loaf pan/bun tray. If you would like this recipe, send me a message with your email, and I’ll be more than happy to send it off to you. For now, take a look at the tasty goodness.
Happy eating!
An Introduction
I love to cook. Anything from simple eggs and bacon to more extravagant dishes like Turducken (A turkey stuffed with a duck which has been stuffed with a chicken. Check out www.chefpaul.com for the recipe). Being fortunate to have grown up with two parents who cooked, I’ve been cooking since the age of 8, and helping in the kitchen since the age of 4. The food that I grew up with was simple, good comfort food. Foods ranging from from Shepherd’s pie to lasagna, to beef stew with dumplings, garlic pork roast, mom’s chilli, and dad’s favourite Newfie dinner with roast beef, gravy and all the trimmings. Armed with my culinary arts degree and some really fancy knives, and a new and spiffy Crockpot, I’m embarking on a comfort food cooking journey. I will be posting pictures, recipes and links to some of my favourite foodie websites. I hope you will join me! Any comments, suggestions, and constructive feedback is always welcome!
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