The day after Turkey Dinner

Happy Christmas!

Holiday is the joyous season in the house. A fresh oven baked treats, the fragrant vanilla is perfuming the house. The best part is when the family come together to say grace and be thankful for the juicy turkey and provisions for the year. I am keen on those memories. Over the years I have always been the “guest”-in charge. Besides the pressure to forget the caloric count, nothing much I have to prepare to enjoy the night really. I have been blessed to be in a family of self taught cooks. However, this year is rather special; we finally have a family of our own and a new tradition to follow. I think I understand the glimpse of stress for putting together a decent Christmas dinner. But if you are open to new ideas, Christmas dinner might just be a little easier.

Last week I made my second turkey ever for some who never have any. Lemon pepper seasonings and garlic pampered the turkey with burst of flavour. For sure worth the wait. Also, a crowd pleaser falls to the Spinach Pom Man salad with simple honey balsamic reduction. I am featuring these two on my next blog since my friend has the pictures.

But the real deal is what’s next after the big night? Cinderella is back riding on her pumpkin? I find the meal after such a celebration could be quite tricky. What about left overs?

I specially love the lemon seasonings on my turkey since it is simple and fresh, allowing me to layer more flavour for left over. I sprinkled the meat with some Italian seasoning and  panko  crumbs .Since its already cooked, drizzled with olive oil  I  baked it for 10 minutes under low broil just to give a little texture. In a boiling pan I cooked some “acini di pepe pasta”  any type of pasta meanwhile sautéing some onions, garlic, bacon, sundried tomatoes and broccoli. Once the pasta is half cooked, I incorporate them into my bacon mixture.  Top with just enough chicken broth, salt and pepper, we have a complete stress free yummy dinner!

Make 4 servings

Ingredients

200 -300 grams of turkey meat left overs

½ cup of panko crumbs mixed with 1 tbsp of Italian seasoning

Olive oil, 1tbsp of chopped onion, ½ tbsp of garlic

½ cup of Chicken broth

2 tbsp of chopped sundried tomatoes

1 cup of broccoli

300 grams of pepe pasta (follow cooking instruction)

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

Sweet Grilled Beef Back Ribs

I am guilty as charged for not updating this blog for more than a week!  I had prepared everything before hand and thought about possible things to write a week in advance, and still with Christmas arriving already for a retailer, I had to be at the front line of my duty for 15 hour sometime in a day putting decorations and making the store as merry as it can be. You know it Christmas is here when Starbucks have their holiday cup! Some of the holiday famous purchase of the week: dried fruits, sultana raisins and more glazed cherries!  Over the chit chat two customers suggested me to soak raisins in gin for a week to battle with any kind of pain.  She said: shoulder pain, internal pains, joint stiffness etc. I hope watching me work was not that painful; I wonder where the suggestions come from. But I had an aha moments seriously thinking, how did this people know what I am dealing with everyday. Ha!

So, this week has been more a survival for the fittest period for me, not to forget the flu season got me too! I am so glad the holiday season prop has been set up well and now is time for me to get back to my real hobby; to write and picture it in 7x11 inch sets of image. But maybe if you are lucky  we will get to a bowl of raisins soak in gin or rum prefferably, oh but it only work with gin if you want to heal any kind of pain ( quoting a customer).

This week food is very far from any merry alcoholic infused dishes. It is just a simple beef ribs marinated in soya sauce and other earthy spices. I served it with tomatillos hot sauce over a bed of rice.

Here are the ingredients:

1 kg of beef back ribs

In a zip lock bag mixed the marinating ingredients:

1tbsp of brown sugar

1 ½ tbsp of minced garlic

2 tsp of coriander powder

1tsp of minced ginger

1/2tsp of cinnamon

1 star anise

½ tsp of black pepper

½ tsp of salt

Lemon juice from 1 lemon

5 tbsp of Indonesian sweet soya sauce

Marinate the beef ribs for at least a day to make sure a flavourful meat.

Preheat the oven for 350 F  cook for  45 minutes ( with the aluminum cover),  open the aluminum cover ,drain the juice and change it to broil  for 15-20 minutes to give a smoky texture . Brush the ribs with the juice once in a while to keep it moist and a layered flavours!

 Hopefully the picture is enough to keep your eyes busy for now.

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

My Grandfather's Macaroni Schotel

 

The best food is a food born out of love. Eating this special dish recalls precious memories and spread the warmth snugly feeling inside your soul, or nothing too instantly. You feel unpretentious and comfortable on your skin because of the simple message it conveys (love) or you may feel nothing at first. It will grow in you and take a little space of your heart and it will stay under a reserved area that is always special.

My Grandfather's Macaroni Schotel

 

For me, the name is Macaroni Schotel, the irreplaceable taste of my very dear late grandfather’s Mac & Cheese. My mother siblings love it, and all the grandchildren grow up with it within a walk away. Yes, he loved walking. Whether it is a 1 km or 5km, my grandfather is the man who would get up early in the dawn to sip his coffee and cook his grandchildren favourite’s foods and visit us with a warm yummy foods wrapped in a kitchen cloths as soon as it is ready to eat. I don’t know which one comes first, our favourite foods or his foods, because ultimately what he cooked for us is our favourites. I remember all the moments with him very vividly. He was the best cook I know who showed passion and love in every food he made, it was so sad that He passed away before any of us could digest how much our love of food is his legacy.

Nobody can make the meanest Macaroni Schotel like my grandpa. Not my mum, not my aunties, not even my uncle or my grandma, even when all of them know the exact ingredients. You see, my grandpa was a bold person, and it showed in his cooking. He put the best and fattiest milk and the best Edam cheese and smoked ham. The rest of the family is way too scared of the high cholesterol profiles ingredients and stayed away from it. We, the children were exempted, we were growing and young we need the “good fat”. I am glad for the spoonful of love that we tasted

.

Today I want to share with you this warm feeling through a recreation of my grandfather Macaroni Schotel; obviously with some ingredients substituted mainly because Iam not as bold as he was.

This is what I used:

6 cups of water to boil 2 ½ cups of fussily pasta for 8 minutes

100 grams of fermier ham ( the best from quebec)

100 grams of cremini mushrooms

1 tsp of minced garlic

½ tsp of chicken bouillon powder

¼  of sweet onions minced

1 ½ cups of milk

3 tbsp of flour

80 grams of smoked gouda cheeses

50 grams of silani mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp of butter of substitute with olive oil

Pinch of nutmeg

Panko crumbs

Salt and black pepper to taste

Once you prepared the ingredients, boil the fusilli or macaroni pasta al dente, then you sauté the onion and garlic with butter/olive oil. Once its browned, throw in the mushroom and the cut up hams until the mushroom wilts. Put in the flour to make a roux and then pour in the milk, and the pasta. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. If you are so tempted like me I normally stop at this stage and put in the cheeses and eat it right away. But, if you are patient enough, you could put in the pasta into a baking pan and top it with the cheese and panko crumbs on top.

Baked it for 10 minutes on broil to make the top crispy or bake for 20 minutes on 350 F for crusty, schotel version of the Macaroni. Whatever works for you should be good.

I treasured the memories with my grandfather very much and I miss him a lot. Macaroni Schotel is just one thing that always brings me a little warm fuzzy feeling. What is your best treasured memories of food?

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

Peaches and Pork Roast

 

(Lisa) "I'm going to become a vegetarian" (Homer) "Does that mean you're not going to eat any pork?" "Yes" "Bacon?" "Yes Dad" Ham?" "Dad all those meats come from the same animal" "Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal!"

You might be scrunching your face over Homer’s   moments with the magical pork.

Let ‘s face it pork is not for everyone. You know why or maybe no reason why.  I am not a devout pork eater, I tend to avoid cooking one simply because it has to be seasoned and cooked right. Nevertheless I have to agree though "Pork - no animal is more used for nourishment and none more indispensable in the kitchen; employed either fresh or salt, all is useful, even to its bristles and its blood; it is the superfluous riches of the farmer, and helps to pay the rent of the cottager."Alexis Soyer 19th century French chef('The Modern Housewife'1851) 

However with suggestions on diet to consume less red meat, pork become one of the choices left. Although the rest of pork meat is fatty, Pork loin is low in fat (5gram of fat) and content as high as 29 gram of protein for a 4oz loin. So I thought why not. Today I challenged my seasoning and cooking skill with a slab of pork loin sitting in front of my face. Coriander is the first spice that is ringing in my brain, since we used it a lot to marinate pork satay back home. Since traditionally fruit is a good accompaniment to pork, I picked a few ripe peaches to give an extra freshness to the pork.

So here are the ingredients and how to:

 1lbs of Pork Loin

Seasoned with:

3 tsp of garlic powder

2 tsp of coriander powder

1tsp of sea salt

½ tsp of cinnamon

1tbsp of mustard seed

2 tbsp of brown sugar

Baked for 400 F  for an 45 minutes

 In the oven also throw in a pan of:

2 large peaches ( wedged)that has been drizzle with 1 tbsp of brown sugar and  1tsp cinnamon

After 45 minutes remove the pork loin juice, and throw in the baked peaches to the pork loin,

Broil them for 10 minutes. Let it cool and serve.

Now is it your cup of tea? I enjoyed it for a change.



Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

Reminiscence of Soba

A cold and rainy days always calls for a good soup.  I remember during my student days, I embraced the windy fall days at home, curling underneath our blankets with our dog Levi watching on the edge of the door: we know it , we have a justification to just be on our PJ’s all day long. Often the programme of the day goes like this:  Watching episodes of sappy Korean or J drama until late afternoon, and then we would realize we were too lazy to go outside for food or even to cook.  The next mission is to feed the hungry stomach with a very little effort. With no grocery left toward the end of the week, we would open the cupboard and found instant noodle staring at us. Smiling for victory, minutes later the movie is complete with extra spicy noodle caressing our empty stomach.

simple ingredients but full of flavors!

Those days are over a while ago. But last Saturday was a little bit of a reminiscence of movie moments and lazy PJ’s days. My husband and I went to St. Lawrence Market every Saturday morning to pick up Ontario fresh produce from our local farmers market. Despite of ambitious plan for crazy food adventure that day, we agreed that the cold weather was wearing us out. So right after doing the grocery, we picked up some movies and decide to just stay home. Although I did not find any instant noodles at our pantry, I found a box of soba noodle there. Brilliant ideas came right away. I want my brothy soupy noodle for movie lunch.

So here it is a tweak to the memories of the old days.

Perfect Saturday with a little sunburst tomatoes!

  

Making this soba noodle soup is so much easier than one can think. Well you can go as easy or as complicated as you want it.

For  two bowls of soba noodle soup:

2 fillets of basa fish fillet
150g of soba noodle

½ avocado ( sliced)

3 tsp of fish sauce

1 tbsp of garlic powder

1 tsp of sesame oil

1tbsp lemon juice

1tsp of crushed blackpepper

1 tsp of grated ginger

1 tsp of black sesame seeds

nori sea weed

Water to boil noodles

So in a pan, boil enough water to cook the soba noodle based on the instruction.

On another pan, simmer 2 cup of water and put in the fish and all other ingredients ( except avocado, tomatoes, nori,and sesame seeds). Simmer for 5-8 minutes until the fish is cooked.

Once the soba noodle is cooked, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

Pour the broth and the fish over the soba noodle. Garnish with fresh yellow tomatoes, sliced avocado,nori and sesame seed. Enjoy the earthiness of the soba noodle complimented by  a bursting sensation of yellow tomatoes!

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

The Feast of Fall: Whole Roasted Chicken with Garlic Cinnamon!

       I work at the wonderland of foods, and every morning I am awakened not by the smell of coffee, but fresh roasted chicken! The aroma is so tempting, sometimes I feel like eating the chicken right away. Too bad my dress shirt and the name badge preventing me from doing so. So tonight when I went home I made a revenge and put the chicken on the table for our dinner! Only this time its Home made.

      I was having a difficult time to decide what to put on my chicken. I feel like putting toppings for pizza, sometimes I get too carried away and ended up with something more elaborate than I thought. This time I promised myself to keep it simple and nice.

The ultimate Fall Feast

 So it came down to 4basic ingredients and 1 special superstar: garlic, pepper, salt, olive oil, lemon juice and cinnamon! I decided the later ingredients because I have been infatuated by its warmth.

I also had a chance to cut up some nice vegetables from the farmers market. My  best favourite is the yellow carrots! They are sweet and crunchy. I also paired them with honeyed peppered pumpkin as accompaniment for the chicken.

Roasted Potatoes and Yellow Carrots with Salami and Romano cheese

Honey Pepper Roasted Pumpkin

So it came down to 4basic ingredients and 1 special superstar: garlic, pepper, salt, olive oil, lemon juice and cinnamon! I decided the later ingredients because I have been infatuated by its warmth.

I also had a chance to cut up some nice vegetables from the farmers market. My  best favourite is the yellow carrots! They are sweet and crunchy. I also paired them with honeyed peppered pumpkin as accompaniment for the chicken.

If you want to make this simple chicken here is how:

You need:

1 whole chicken ( medium size)

2 tbsp of lemon juice

1 tsp of freshly cracked pepper

1 ½ tsp of coarse sea salt

1 tbsp of garlic powder ( easy way of adding flavour)

1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder

Olive oil

Garlic Cinnamon Roasted Chicken with Fall Vegetables

How:

Pour the lemon juice evenly on the skin and breast cavity. Mix all the dry ingredients and sprinkle it over the chicken skin evenly, and  on the inside cavity

Preheat the oven for 375F, and cook for an hour covered, and then uncovered and turn to broil for 10-12 minutes until its nicely browned and crispy. Serve it with your favourite vegetable and a type of carbohydrate.

Bon Apettite! 

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

Tofu Noodle Pancake: Amazing protein source

tofu noodles and shrimp pancake

I was watching CTV news and the KFC’s double down is making the headlines! With a whopping 540 calories with 50 grams of protein, the double down is the ultimate protein charger for a muscle builder: especially post weight training workout.  The problem: chewing this monster down already take up  more than sodium intake in a day, not to mention the 30grams of fat love in there. Nevertheless, our curiosity made the impulsive decision to try the controversial sandwich when we were shopping at a local mall on the weekend. Good thing we shared the bite:  so we felt less guilty. Our verdict concluded Double Down as an amazing flavourful super meaty sandwich but note to you: may only be consumed with careful discretion. Now I  will be crazy to eat double down everyday, but there are those days when I crave for protein. Better figure out how to include variety of protein food source to balance out the diet.

 My husband just started doing his weight again this week, and he has been craving for protein too. So today, I made Tofu  noodle egg pancake, or similar to egg foo yong. I love the tofu noodles since it gives you good protein and deceiving you into thinking you are eating delicious noodles which is  not loaded with carbs.The recipe is fairly easy.

All you need:

4 eggs, cracked and beaten

3 spoon of all purpose flour

75 grams of shitake / enoki mushroom

Tofu noodles ( buy in Chinese grocery)

A small pack of peeled shrimp ( 340gr)

Salt, pepper ,oyster sauce

½ tbsp of garlic

2tbsp of olive oil

¼ cup of water

You can add chillies, sesame and scallions to add an extra oomph

How to:

In a pan, heat the oil and sautee the garlic, mushroom, shrimp and tofu noodles until the mixture gives out good aroma

In a bowl, put the flour, and mixed in the egg until the mixture is smooth, add a little water if mixture is too thick.

Pour in the egg flour mixture into the pan, and let it cook until the egg is set.

served with nori  and chilli on a bed of rice

Are you going to try A double down this week? Or maybe stay healthy with Tofu Noodle pancake instead!

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

Orange and Coffee Egg White Pound Cake

Happy thanksgiving everyone! I am sure most of you enjoyed the family gathering and the turkey! Our family is less traditional and believe it or not we skipped turkey tonight, and ate  a very soft roast beef instead that took as long as turkey to cook too haha. Thanks for having us for thanksgiving dinner: we went home with a happy stomach and a warm feeling.

I must apologize to you all that the cranberry chicken wings post is delayed. It’s coming...soon..after all the goodies buzz that I am about to tell you.

Orange Coffee Egg White Cake

Thanksgiving dinner could be very tricky when it comes to “what to bring”, especially when you know everybody cooks and chance are main foods will be so filling you can even move on to dessert. As predicted, that happened today: food was so good that we could easily hibernate after lunch. This year, we are a little smarter though; we decided to walk it off before we continue to indulge our sweet frienemies! We went for a stroll in the neighbourhood and a close by Erin mills parkway, where the changing colour is just gorgeous! Oddly enough we ended our little exercise at a serene St. Peter Cemetery, in an uphill church, where we accidently found the late Oscar Peterson memorial stone. That was the first time I ever wondered in a cemetery for recreational purposes. Should I feel weird?

Anyhow, yesterday when I was browsing for egg white cake recipe, I stumbled upon Lily’s blog and thought her recipe is brilliant for a light tasting cake. So working with the basic proportion of her recipe, with a little modification ( I made orange and coffee cake instead of the lemon poppyseed, and cut down the proportion of the flour to make the cake fluffier), the cake turned really amazing! You must try it its so easy to do!

Firm beaten egg whites

How to:

Heat 150 grams of butter in a pan until its melting and let it cool

In a mix bowl, whisk 8  room temperature large egg whites on high speed (depending on your mixer my kitchen aid takes about 5-6 minutes on number 9 to create a foamy and thick egg whites. Add 3 Tbsp of sugar and continue to whisk until its pale, foamy and stay still.

Mean while mix in a bowl, 200mL of sugar with 8tbsp of cornstarch,1 cup of all purpose flour,  2 tsp of baking soda, 2tbsp of instant coffee,  and 2 tbsp of milk powder,1 tbsp of orange rinds, ½ tsp of salt.

After the egg white foam is ready, fold in a third of the flour mixture each time

Once it is mixed well, pour in the cooled butter slowly into the mixture.

Cool slightly and dress the cake with orange marmalade jam, or simply dust some icing coffee, icing sugar, and orange rinds!


Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

Simply Spaghettini with meatballs

The end of the week is approaching in a blink of an eye.That would means  three days of feasts for some of you, and piles of dirty dishes and extra love!But for those who are far away from mom's home made turkey, or celebrating their first thanksgiving in Canada, the festive mood should still be reflected as a grateful gesture of what God gives us through this land, and this nation.I am looking forward for a deep conversation and long hours of sitting around doing nothing but having a good family time.

I am fortunate to have  an extended family who cooked and fed me with graceful foods. This year since we have got married thanksgiving feels a little different and sweet. So we thought of showing up for a thanksgiving feast with more than our normal wine selection , something a little more outside your normal thanksgiving meal( My husband works at a wine agency). For some reason the idea of having chicken wings in  thai -ish cranberry sauce is divine! Well... we will know by Saturday,and I will post it then.

Simply Spaghettini with meatballs

Today, we agreed to eat a lighter meal to prepare for the attack on the weekend. Surely,  we ended up grazing through  a full plate of this yummy spagettini.It has fresh roma tomatoes, romano cheese, and meatballs: a dish that I owe to a friend. I know I said I will make you some good spagetti, and this is a good tester for it. What really keeps us from stop eating was the fresh and clean after taste of the tomatoes.Too bad I will not be able to provide more food porn since my cheap light was broken in the middle of the photo session. Boo! Anyhow this is a recipe that I want to share with you.

Meatballs:
Mix well:
1 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef
2tsp of minced garlic
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
2 tsp of  sea salt
1/2 tsp of  pepper
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
2tbsp of onion powder
1 egg
2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
after they are mixed very well, shape and form into a ball ( approximately 5 cm diameter)
Roll them in the mixture of flour that has been seasoned by salt and pepper to seal the juice
Take your baking pan and line it with aluminium foil.
Spray some olive oil to keep the meatballs from sticking.
Pre heat oven to 350 F and bake for 20 minutes
By now the meatball should be decrease in size and release a lot of oil
Remove the oil and continue cooking for 15 minutes.
You could serve it right away or fridge them overnight.

Cook 200 grams of spagetti/ spagettini according to the cooking instruction.

Spaghetti/ Spaghettini sauce:

4 Roma tomatoes diced up
1/2 of red onions finely chopped
1tsp of beef bouillon or 1 block of beef bouillon
1 tbsp of olive oil


100-150 ml of cooking wine ( I used my leftover Rose)
salt, pepper and cayenne pepper according to preference

Start by sauteeing the onions, and tomatoes untill they release the liquid.
Put in the bouillon  and wine. Let it simmer to thicken.
Season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper accordingly,
Once the spagetti is done, mix them into the sauce while the heat is still on.
Serve in the plate and finish with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and Romano Cheese bits.

As Christopher Morley said it: No man is lonely when eating spaghetti, since it requires so much attention.




Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.

Three kinds of Orange Soups

If you haven’t noticed, honey and garlic have been my latest obsession. Just recently begin to get serious with honey, I almost try to include honey in everything. Sometimes in the morning, when I have no chance to catch a breakfast, a spoonful of honey is nutritious and enough to get me through till lunch. Now, what amazes me, the more I read about honey, more reasons are revealed why it is such an essential ingredients to keep on your pantry. Online articles have mentioned that consuming a tablespoon of honey everyday can help the absorption of calcium which helps to prevent osteoporosis. Dated as far as the era of Ming Dynasty, it has been known that honey help to clear away toxin, dispel pathogenic heat, relieve pain and combat dehydration(see full article)

The weather today was clearly making the statement that fall is at last here. The rain, and sudden drop to zero really taking a toll on me. Suddenly I have this impulsive need of sipping my way through a bowl of warm soup. I don’t have anything in mind other than I want some color veggies to brighten up my rather mundane day.

So I threw in some sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, red onions and heartwarming spices to boiling water. I let it simmer until all of the veggies were tender, drizzled some honey, roasted garlic and ended up making a puree out of it. A little touch of coarse sea salt, and black pepper later, I was on my way out to being under the weather.

Ps: Was going to serve this with a cranberry focaccia that I bought from the farmers market. Surprise surprise,my husband already land it to his stomach! Well maybe next time!

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.