Fondue Tonight

So I'm headed over to Scarlett and Shaun's for a fondue tonight. Should be 20 people or so there. Really looking forward to it as they have a friend named Nathan who's an absolute riot and pretty easy to look at too. He's super funny.

Oh, and Scarlett and Shaun are fun too. lol.

I'm bringing cheese fondue. Which I purchased. The Swiss Knight ones are so good (just buy them in a giant foil packet) and heat and eat. It tastes EXACTLY like Mom's, so quite honestly I think she's been lying all these years saying she made them. Ummmm riiiiiiiight.

Avocadoes, Avocadoes, Avocadoes

I think I've eaten 6 avocadoes in the last week. I'm on a kick. But i always tend to either eat them as guacamole (and mine RULES - mashed avocado, cilantro, lots of fresh squeezed lemon, chopped scallion and salt/pepper).... or I make it smashed with onions and tomatoes and salt/pepper and smear it on toast like Mom used to make me about 84 years ago.

Anyone have suggestions? Leave a comment. I have 2 more ripe ones in my fridge and I'm eating some chips and guac right now. I need to use the other two.

Chicken and Prawn Fried Rice

I had so much random odds and sods in my fridge that I needed to do something to get rid of them. I love making fried rice. Whenever I make rice for something, I almost always make extra so I can shove it in a ziploc overnight in the fridge. This rice was actually there for a week, but it was still perfect. The nose knows!

I make mine with ALWAYS the same base. Rice, Garlic, Ginger, Scallion, diced omelette, and Soy Sauce.

I also threw in some diced room temperature chicken (Shirley and my term for rotisserie chicken), some chopped cooked prawns, some fried mushrooms, and that might be it. Oh and a diced red chile.

Had this with a few vegetable pakoras I found in the crisper!

Deeeelish.

8/10

Beef Dips MY Stylie

Kay so Shelby and I did try the ULTIMATE beef dip. Picture it.

Slice an onion thin and carmelize in a pan. Season lightly. Set aside.

Season and sear/roast 2 beef tenderloin steaks. Let rest while you prepare everything else.

Make an aioli or VERY generously add grated or bottled horseradish to some prepared light mayo. Add a bit of lemon juice, season it, and set aside.

Fly to Edmonton and go to the Italian Centre and buy a couple of their SUPERB baguettes.

Slice open the baguettes, and very lightly spread with some garlic/herb butter. (oh, i know). Broil until browned.

Slice the beef quite thin, bistro style. Smear some horseradish aioli on the baguette, add the beef, top with carmelized onions, add some watercress, and press down with the other side of baguette.

Slice in half and dip in au jus. (I actually used store bought and other than it containing 4 days worth of sodium per serving - it's actually REALLY good).

This may have been my favorite sarny I've ever had. It was spectacular spectacular. Shelby could NOT STOP raving about it. I earned some serious points with this dinner.

11/10 simply because of the extra points earned. These were AMAZING.

Rotisserie Chicken and a Baked Potato

Yep. Bought a chicken, making a baked potato. Delish!

Green Salad and Avocado on Toast

Last night Scarlett came over. We had some wine and I made a really tasty simple vegetarian dinner. Actually I think I ate completely vegetarian yesterday. Oh wait, no there was a couple pieces of proscuitto on a piece of pizza I had. Oh well.

I made a GREAT green salad with baby romaine, mixed herb and baby greens, watercress, some sliced purple onion, cucumber, grape tomatoes, my go-to vinaigrette, and some crispy fried onions.

I also took a couple avocados, mashed 'em up, added lots of lemon juice, some chopped scallion, and some more of the grape tomatoes and salt/pepper and spread it thick on some toasted whole wheat/whole grain/birdseed baguette.

Delish! Especially delicious with Sauvignon Blanc.

Pork Tenderloin Tomato Pasta

Shirley's going away to Edson for a week, so I thought I'd send her off with at least a meal that was made by someone with a full set of teeth.

I had some pork tenderloin in the freezer, so i thawed one, sliced it in half lengthwise, then in small crescent moons. I then sauteed those off in a pan with some grapeseed oil, cracked black pepper and fleur de sel. Then I set them aside.

I sauteed half an onion, sliced fine, until somewhat carmelized then added two cloves of finely chopped garlic. Then a bottle of passata, and some finely chopped parsley, oregano, basil, and some dried chile flakes and some cracked pepper and fleur de sel.

I let that simmer for a while and added the pork. Then I put in a slash of red wine. I served this with some whole wheat spaghetti and some parmesan. Plus a couple wedges of whole wheat baguette broiled with some fresh herb and garlic butter.

Delish!

Last Night: Potato Skins

I know. How sad is that. The saddest part actually was I didn't even make them myself. I was in M&M meat shop with Shirley and I wanted to buy some of their chicken/spinach stuffed shells. Sorry, but they're fucking delicious. Sue me.

I was drawn in by these potato skins. They were already cooked and cryovac'd with melted cheese and bacon and the whole business just ready to heat up in the oven. Good times I thought, but I was wrong. They were disgusting. I don't even want to get into it. No, I'm serious.

I've Gotta Stop Eating Rice Bowls

But how can I? Once your fridge is full of basil, mint, cucumber, and a jar of that wicked Vietnamese dressing - there's no stopping.

Tonight I made it pretty much the same, but I used soy nuts instead of peanuts, and I used the leftover grilled steak from yesterday. I won't use the soy nuts in it again. I thought it was simply the crunch that I liked in the rice bowl, but it's the flavour of the peanuts too I've discovered.

I was full and didn't eat the whole bowl actually. However, this is the bowl I made it in.

Off to the Empress Ale House

Tonight it's pints and laughs at the Empress. Super chill place on Whyte Ave. Heading out with a bunch of other people, should be a laugh.

I wanted to eat something with some good starch in it to get ready and go have some beer. I went to the Italian Market this afternoon and got some baguettes. Tonight I was super lazy and took some leftover pork tenderloin from Shelby night, and just sliced it very thin and put in the baguette that had some butter, watercress, horseradish, and a few of those crispy onions that I'm absolutely OBSESSED over lately. This sandwich was SPECTACULAR. mmmm mmmm!

Tomorrow I'm doing the "sandwich as dinner" bit as well, but I have some steak to grill, some onions to carmelize, a horseradish aioli to make, and some au jus. Also some watercress stuffed in there too. Very much looking forward to trying THAT. That could be a keeper. Shelby would love that too.

New Rice Bowls

Shelby's coming over tonight so we're doing Rice Bowls again. This time I'm going to stir fry some thin sliced pork tenderloin and thin sliced onion with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and some soy and use that for the meat portion. I'm using regular jasmine rice, that great dipping sauce/dressing, and the usual cucumber/mint/thai basil with the topping of peanuts/crispy onions/bean sprouts etc.... I'm also going to throw a couple pan fried gyoza on the top. He eats like a horse. Hahaha.

We'll also be playing guitar hero and drinking gin and tonics. mmmmmmmm. Gin.

Salad and Cheese Toast

Went grocery shopping in this disgusting weather we're having. Shirley tagged along and we went to Lucky97. Was going to go to the Big Fresh but it's shut down since Christmas. I got tons of great ingredients but too lazy to make anything of substance tonight.

Tonight is some mixed greens and some romaine with peppers and tomatoes and my go-to vinaigrette of late, which is essentially a very lazy caesar.

Juice of a lemon, some garlic, sometimes shallot, worcestershire, grainy mustard of some kind, capers, grapeseed oil, some interesting vinegar if i have it, and shake it up in a bottle and into the fridge. Oh, don't forget the salt and ground pepper.

I also picked up some baguette, so I'll find some cheese of some sort in the crisper and make some cheese toast.

I picked up some pork tenderloins, some sirloin, and still have frozen basa and perch so I'll be making some good stuff this week. I know I want to do pork tenderloin and scallions in a black pepper sauce. I also want to re-visit the steaming of seafood in banana leaves, but just go by instinct this time and see what happens.

The Pizza Fallout

Tony's Pizza was good. Just like Pizza Boys. Exactly the same, actually.

Stefan brought it over and I stuck it in the oven while we were having some, and predictably, it got a little hot in there for the box. It didn't light on fire, just started to smoke a little bit.

So i took them out, and turned off the auto-heat in my place and turned on the circulating fans. I forgot to turn that off, however, and woke up to a balmy 6 degrees C in my place this morning. I could see my breath. Soooo cold. Once i figured out what happened, I went back to bed and hid under the covers for half an hour until the temp was livable. It took about an hour to come back up to normal.

Dumb dumb dumb!

Off grocery shopping this afternoon. Will plan out some meals later.

Tonight is Tony's Pizza

Stefan is coming over and he's bringing what he calls the "absolute best" pizza in town. I've heard of this joint before. It's apparently great. So tonight will be pizza and likely a couple cocktails.

No cooking required today. For lunch I was in a total rush and had an embarassing can of chefboyardee ravioli. Breakfast was a MetRx protein shake.

Tomorrow I've gotta go grocery shopping again. I've been on a huge tuna kick lately again. Not sure why. After 3 years of eating it nonstop every day with Terry, i was off tuna big time for ages. Now I can't get enough of it again.

I'm also back on eggs after a hiatus for a while after an unfortunate episode at Humpty's. Then again, isn't EVERY encounter with Humpty's unfortunate?

More to report tomorrow when I actually cook something.

It's Rice Bowl Night Again

So Scarlett and Shawn are coming over to hang out for dinner and have some wine. I have leftover coconut rice from the Jamie Oliver fiasco, so I'm going to make rice bowls again. Scarlett really likes these kinds of bowls when we go out for Vietnamese, so I think she'll like it. And Shawn like trying new stuff.

I'm making another bottle of that SUPERB dipping sauce/dressing.

Today's rice bowls are going to have -

Chopped cucumber, tons 'o' fresh mint, the coconut rice, some quick seared thin sliced beef sirloin with some sesame oil and soy, bean sprouts, smashed peanuts, and scallion and crispy fried onion. And don't forget that awesome sauce. Mmmmmm.

I love this so much. I'm not kidding when I say I could eat this almost every day. I'd have no problem with that at all. By playing with the accoutrements and the type of protein in it - I'll never get sick of this.

Definitely in heavy rotation for the time being. Especially since I have a ton of Asian ingredients hanging around.

Thai-ish Beef Salad

Okay, this was fantastic. Sort of inspired by an episode I saw of Oliver's Twist. I improvised to my own taste, based on the rice bowl success, and this is how it turned out.

Take a decent piece of tenderloin beef, say a pound or so. Season it with salt and fairly aggressive pepper, and sear/then roast at 400 or 450 or so until it's medium/rare or medium. Remove and let stand for 15 mins or so.

Take some of the same thai/vietnamese dressing from the Vietnamese rice bowls and crack some whole coriander seeds into it... add a bit more lime juice and stir it around...

In a bowl, peel some cucumber into thin ribbons and place in a mound... add a small handful of chopped peanuts, a sprinkling of sesame seeds, and some chopped scallion... toss this a bit with your hands...

Top with some slices of the fresh sliced warm tenderloin, then top that with a handful of bean sprouts, a drizzle of sesame seed oil, and some fresh chopped mint and thai basil.

Top this with a drizzle of the coriander seed infused Thai dressing...

DELISH. I could eat this every day. No, I'm serious.

9/10. Would get 10/10 but you're hungry an hour after eating it.

Jamie Oliver Inspired Steamed Seafood Packets

This is a classic example of a recipe that looks fantastic, but that turns out to be seriously lackluster. I was flipping through one of my Jamie Oliver books and saw this great recipe for seafood steamed with Thai flavours in a banana leaf, which he suggested was served with steamed rice.

This is what I did. Pretty close to his recipe, but i even increased the flavours a bit.

On a big piece of banana leaf, do the following:

Oil it slightly with some peanut or corn oil
Place a tsp or so of finely chopped garlic
Place a tsp or so of finely chopped fresh lemongrass
Place about 2 tsp of finely julienned fresh ginger
Place about 1/2 a finely diced shallot
Place about 1/2 a finely diced small red chile
Place about a small handful of ripped fresh cilantro
Place about a 1/4 of a red pepper, finely sliced
Drizzle about 1/2 a tsp of sesame seed oil
Drizzle the juice of 1/2 a lime

Now put down your seafood... I used

4 oz of basa
4 oz of perch
about 12 clams

spoon over about 3 tbsp of coconut milk

Fold over into a packet and bake at 20 mins at 400 .

I should have known when the recipe didn't ask for any kind of salt... no soy, no fish sauce, no salt. It was going to be a bit bland. I trusted it thought because it was a Jamie Oliver recipe.

Big mistake. This was bland bland bland. Not even all those aromatics and cilantro and ginger and garlic could save it. This was bleah. The dude said it was good but he's very polite. I don't think he cared for it much either.

I wouldn't make this again. But I am going to experiment this week with more steaming in banana leaves. I'm all over the concept, but this recipe was so boring. I'm going to take this concept and make a pesto sort of thing out of it. Stand by.

3/10

Vietnamese Rice Bowls

Okay, I pretty much perfected the Vietnamese Rice Bowl.

Usually, it's a vermicelli bowl, but getting vermicelli cooked perfectly moist but dry and warm enough to work is a pain in the ass. Better to use a rice cooker, and then lay the cooked rice out on a sheet of foil to cool a bit so that it's not boiling hot when you put it down over the cucumber and herbs.

In a bowl, you're gonna layer the following.

Sliced or rough chopped cucumber

Top with chopped thai basil and mint

Top with room temp rice

Top that with slices of roasted pork tenderloin. I just rubbed it with black pepper and a bit of dark soy for colour. Seared and roasted at 400 until done. Rested for 15 minutes.

Top the pork with finely chopped green onion, smashed peanuts, a small handful of bean sprouts, a small handful of shredded green papaya/carrot (from the market) and some of those crispy onions that are sold in supermarkets for salad toppings.

Onto this amazing bowl, add a few tablespoons of this sauce.

5 tablespoons sugar
½ cup warm water

Juice of a big lime or 2
1/3 cup fish sauce

1 minced clove fresh garlic

1 minced tiger’s eye chile

1 finely minced shallot

(make in a bottle and shake to dissolve the sugar. Lasts 2 weeks in the fridge)

I can't tell you how good these were. They were RIDICULOUS.

That Thai Dressing is my go to Asian dressing and dipping sauce. I'm going to use it for EVERYTHING. I HIGHLY recommend trying this out and playing with the ingredients. So healthy and SO delicious. The Dude LOVED this.

10/10