Veal Cutlets w/ White Wine Sauce

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH, 2010

3.5 stars (out of 5 - just needs less salt!)

I found this super simple recipe recently, and decided to test whether it really was as easy as it seemed! It was a pretty good, super-quick recipe, but needed a bit of adjustment (see notes below).

Ingredients (makes just over 1 cup wine sauce; adjust accordingly):

Veal cutlets (1-2 per person)
Flour
3 tbsp margarine*
2 tbsp flour
Salt, to taste**
Pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tsp bouillon (veggie or beef)
1 cup milk
2 tbsp white wine

{*Note. The recipe suggests using margarine, as butter will brown too quickly.}

{**Note. The original recipe called for salt, but I found it was too salty, so add with caution. I would suggest excluding the salt until the sauce is almost fully prepared, and then adding it to your taste near the end.}

1. First, I dredged the meat in flour. This gives it a crispier coating,when it cooks, which I like; however, this step is optional.

2. I then melted 1 tbsp of margarine in frying pan over medium heat. When it was hot, I added the meat, cooking to your preference of readiness. This was my chick'n version.

3. I set the meat aside on a heated plate, and kept warm. Using the same pan, I melted the remaining 2 tbsp of margarine over medium heat.

4. I then mixed the bouillon, flour, and pepper in a bowl...

5. ...and added it to the margarine, stirring it until it was smooth. This was a bit difficult, but I tried.

6. Finally, I gradually added the milk and wine, stirring constantly until it is bubbly and thickened. Even though I used skim milk, the mixture was very thick. However, I found it incredibly difficult to get all of the lumps out. In the end, it wasn't lumpy (enough to notice), but next time I think I will use my mini blender to make it easier on my arms.

7. I then drizzled some sauce on a warmed plate, placed the meat on top of it, and drizzled more sauce over top. We served with mashed potatoes. Sorry, no final pic!

Overall, this truly was a super simple recipe. The only difficulty was with the lumpy sauce, which we eventually worked out. The version of the sauce in the book was very salty, so I will try this again without the salt. I liked the ease at which the sauce thickened (sometimes I have a problem with this). As for the flavour, it was good, but not incredible. I actually think that a bit more white wine might kick it up a notch, so perhaps I will try that as well next time (at the risk of the sauce thickness). But there will definitely be a next time!

Mushroom-Thyme Appy

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH, 2010

3 stars (out of 5 - pretty tasty, but not absolutely amazing)

I decided to make another vegetarian slow-cooker recipe, and thought that this appetizer looked good (also, I'm trying to acquire a taste for mushrooms). It was quite good and pretty tasty - I particularly liked the tangy-ness that the wine added; however, it wasn't absolutely amazing. I think I would like to try this again with another herb... perhaps rosemary?

Ingredients*:

3 green onions, chopped
2 packages of mushrooms (2x 227g), roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil (a little bit less)
1 tsp dry thyme
1/4 tsp salt
Pepper, to taste
1/3 cup plain cream cheese
1/4 cup dry white wine
Baguette

{*Note. This is enough for quite a few people (see pics below), so if you are making it just for two people I would make only half of this.}

1. First, I chopped the green onions and added them to the slow cooker along with the olive oil, turning the slow cooker on "High".

2. While the green onions were being cooked, I chopped up the mushrooms. I used a food processor, so they were chopped up very finely; however, with the length of time that they cook in the slow cooker, you could probably chop them up fairly coarsely.

3. I then added the mushrooms, thyme, and salt to the slow cooker, and stirred the mixture well. I switched the slow cooker onto "Low" and let the mixture cook for 6 hours.

4. After the mushrooms were very soft, I again stirred the mixture thoroughly. If there is any excess liquid, it should be drained.

5. ... and added the mushroom mixture, cream cheese, pepper, and white wine to my food processor, and mixed until smooth.

6. I placed it in a bowl, and served with baguette (you can toast these if you choose).

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good appy. It was easy enough to make, although I wasn't really sure why the slow-cooker was necessary. I felt that you could cook the mushrooms on the stove just as easily, and they would be ready in 10 minutes. I actually quite liked the flavour, even though it has a very strong mushroom taste. I just think that there might be a better herb to add to make it better. I would definitely recommend it, though!

Fettucine w/ Fresh Tomato-Pesto

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH, 2010

4 stars (out of 5 - a great garlicky pesto sauce)

My mom was visiting and we decided to make her some home-made pasta, while she found this recipe for home-made pesto with tomatoes. I really really enjoyed it, although I have to warn you that it is garlicky! I decided to make it again for LX when she visited, and to see if I could replicate mom's cooking.

Ingredients:

500g fettuccine (or fresh pasta!*)
3 cloves of garlic (the original recipe called for 8!! Yikes)
1/2 cup loosely packed, coarsely chopped fresh basil
120g baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped**
2/3 cup (160 mL) olive oil
1/2 cup (40g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 jalapeno, thinly sliced***
1/3 cup (50g) pine nuts, toasted

{*Note. We used fresh pasta, as seen here: http://etryingtocook.blogspot.com/2009/12/fresh-home-made-pasta-fettucine.html. It was the perfect amount for three people, although it could do for four if you serve an appy).}

{**Note. The recipe suggested that we use baby spinach for a milder flavoured pesto. If you prefer, the original recipe called for 120g rocket. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure it's good.}

{***Note. The original recipe called for 2 red thai chillies, sliced thinly. I couldn't find these at the grocery store, so I just bought 1 jalapeno. In addition, since SB has a low tolerance for spices, I only added about 1/2 of the pepper.}

1. I first prepared the pesto, and just set it aside until we decided to cook to the pasta. This is one great thing about this recipe- there is no stress with the timing. To make the pesto, I first measured and chopped up my basil, garlic (only use 3!!), and spinach (I left it whole because I'm lazy).

2. I then crammed all these ingredients into my food processor. I had to process these ingredients in batches, adding more and more spinach because my processor is so small. I added the oil in batches as well, blending until smooth (look at how green it is!). {As I am uploading my pics, I am in the process of cooking and tasting this mixture - and I am worried. It's kinda bitter and just, well, garlicky. Fingers crossed!}

3. I then prepared the Parmesan cheese, tomato, lemon juice, and jalapeno, and toasted the pine nuts. Now I'm just waiting for the pasta. (BTW, is it me, or do pine nuts stink when you cook them? eww).

4. When everything was ready, we made the pasta, drained it, and threw in all the ingredients into the sauce pan. I didn't end up using all of the pesto mixture... just taste as you go.

5. The final product:

Overall, this was very simple to make and pretty delicious (fears unfounded). I only wish I had a bigger food processor. I would also recommend adding a bit of salt, and trying it with rocket, which I might do in the future. I think I enjoyed this because it is so different from our usual pasta sauces (and because of the garlic!). I also found that the tomato was a nice addition to add a bit of "freshness" to the dish. One note, if you make the main part of the pesto and then taste it, don't freak out like I did. The addition of the lemon and the Parmesan cheese really brings the flavours together and into a nice sauce.

ID's Baked Tomato Risotto

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH, 2010

4.5 stars (out of 5 - a yummy, easy to make risotto)

This is a dish that the Irish Dancer (we`ll call him ID) cooked for me when I visited him a few weeks ago, and that I really really liked. I thought I'd try it out myself, and see if SB liked it as much as I did. I like this particular recipe because it's such an easy way to make risotto (without the constant stirring).

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup arborio rice
19 oz (540 mL) can of stewed tomatoes
2 cups veggie broth
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp granulated sugar
140g goat cheese log
150g pkg baby spinach (approx.)

1. First, I melted the butter in a sauce pan. The recipe says to use an oven-safe sauce pan (medium sized); I wasn't sure if my stainless steel Ikea pot qualified, so I cooked it in this metal pot and transferred it to a (warmed) casserole dish for the baking portion of the recipe. On this note, here is where you would normally preheat your oven to 400F.

2. I added the onion to the melted butter and stirred. You want them softened (about 5 minutes cooking over medium heat).

3. As the onions cooked, I prepared the rice...

4. ... spices (I like to mix them together in a shot glass)...

5. ... and broth.

6. Once the onions were softened, I added the rice to the sauce pan and stirred until the rice was coated.

7. I then added the stewed tomatoes (including the liquid), and cooked (stirring frequently) over medium heat for about 5 minutes. You want to cook until most of the liquid is absorbed (second picture).

8. I added the broth and the spices to the pot, and turned the element on high, cooking until the mixture came to a boil.

9. Once the mixture came to a boil, it was time to stick it in the oven. If you have an oven-proof pot, you just stick the lid on and in it goes. Because I wasn't sure about the "oven-proofness" of my pot, I transferred the mixture to a casserole dish, covered it, and stuck it in the oven.

10. I cooked the mixture for 30-40 minutes (until liquid is absorbed), but you need to keep an eye on it. Mine looked like it wasn't absorbing the liquid, but then once I took it out (after 30 minutes) and stirred it well, it was much better and only needed 10 minutes more.

11. Once it was cooked, I added the log of goat cheese and the spinach, stirring well.

12. Served with a salad!

Overall, this has such a great flavour with the goat cheese-tomato combo, and it is fairly easy to make. I never make risotto because, well, I'm too lazy, but this is a really simplified way to do it. As you can see from my pic, it was a bit runny, but I think it would have been good with 5 more minutes (SB was too hungry!).

Zucchini Stuffed w/ White Bean Pesto (Slow Cooked)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14th, 2010

4 stars (out of 5 - simple, delicious, no-stress side dish!)

I decided to try a recipe out of my new Vegetarian Slow-Cooker book (thanks, PTL!) to make part of our Valentine's Day dinner (SB making the other part). This recipe appealed to me because it seemed very simple (I am not up for anything complex on my weekends!) and I could make it a few hours ahead of time, and then relax. This is a delicious side dish, that I would definitely recommend.

Ingredients:

4 small-medium zucchinis*
2 tbsp olive oil
2 green onions, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped coarsely
1-1.5 large garlic clove, pressed
1/4 - 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 (small) can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed well
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

{Note. The number of zucchinis depends on how many you can fit in your slow-cooker!}

1. First, I prepared the zucchinis by hollowing them out with a small spoon. Keep the pulp and chop it up.

2. I then added 1 tbsp of the olive oil to a sauce pan, and heated it over medium heat. When it was warm, I added the zucchini pulp, garlic, and green onions. I also added some salt and pepper. I covered and cooked for about 10 minutes, just softening everything up.

3. As the veggies were cooking, I toasted the pine nuts over medium heat for about 4 minutes (watch them, they burn fast!).

4. I also prepared the parsley, basil, tomato, and rinsed the beans. So little stress!

5. After the zucchini/green onion/garlic combo had cooked for 10 minutes, I added the beans, pine nuts, tomatoe, and fresh herbs...

6. ... and stirred everything very well.

7. I then scooped the veggie-bean mixture into the zucchinis. There was enough to fill 4 halves, but my slow-cooker could only fit three :(

8. I placed the zucchini in a lightly oiled slow cooker, drizzled a bit of olive oil over them, and switch it on "Low" for about 3 hours. I put them on for a bit more than 3 hours and they were slightly overcooked. I would even bet that 2 hours would be good enough.

Overall, these were pretty delicious, and very low stress. I actually really liked the veggie filling on its own. I think the slow-cooker was ideal for this recipe, as it cooked the zucchini without drying everything out. I would definitely make this again, but cook them for a bit less time. I would also prefer if I could fit one more in my slow-cooker in case we have a couple of people over for dinner.