tonight's dinner - poutine

at one point in my life i spent some time off and on in Canada, most specifically in Quebec. those who know me know i retain few good memories of that time, but one thing i do remember fondly is poutine, that wonderful mix of french fries, deep bold beef gravy and farmer's cheese.

this is my 'slightly' healthier take on it

the french fries were baked, not fried in oil
(i used some colorful french purple potatoes from the east end co-op, cut into thin wedges, paper toweled dry and then tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper and baked at 450degF for 30 minutes)

and topped with a hearty beef stew using grass fed beef, a mirepoix vegetable base (onions, carrots, celery along with garlic and mushrooms to bring out some extra umami) and a good organic beef stock just to cover, which was simmered for an hour

and topped with our local version of the quintessential 'squeaky' cheese, namely that from Arsenal Cheese, our newest local cheese producer.

will i make it again? most definitely

tonight's dinner - potato leek and shrimp soup

i had a box of potato leek soup (one of those foil kind like vegetable broth comes in) so i adulterated it by first dicing into 1" cubes some young yukon gold potatoes and frying them until they were browned and crispy in olive oil and some herbed sea salt i had made last year, added in the potato leek soup, an equal amount of vegetable broth, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, left it to boil, turned off the heat and added a cup or so of shrimp. garnished with fresh cilantro and oregano.

tonight's dinner - yakisoba

inspired by a recent mark bittman video post.

mine had ginger, garlic, chicken, parsnips, carrots, shitake mushroom, red pepper, scallion, some fine japanese noodles and my sauce was made from ketchup, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and a little vinegar

tonight's dinner - libyan lamb soup

allie posted this the other day and it looked very much like something i wanted to try since i really like lamb. you can find the recipe here. i made only 2 small changes, i used israeli coucous (what looks like chickpeas but isnt above and made with wheat rather than semolina flour) rather than pasta, and i added in extra crushed tomatoes because i needed to do something with some i already had. serves 4-8 depending

tonight's dinner - potato leek soup

tried my first 'cream of' soup the other night, turned out very well, i used a potato masher so it was chunky rather than smooth

potato leek soup

6 potatoes (i used yukon gold and did not peel them) cut coarsely

2 leeks chopped

2.5 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

salt and pepper

1 cup heavy cream

combine potatoes, leeks, stock and water in a heavy pot and simmer 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. remove from heat, mash or blend soup and add cream, salt and pepper.

tonight's dinner - spanish rice with chorizo and shrimp

and now for a little tilt/shift photo fun



tonight's dinner comes by way of my new cookbook "rice and risotto" which i bought at the used book store on saturday. tastes great and is very easy to do

spanish rice with chorizo and shrimp


1 large onion, chopped
1 red and green or red and yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 large garlic cloves crushed
1 large tomato
salt and pepper
1 cup spanish rice from box mix + spice package
7 oz of chorizo sausage, sliced
2 cups chicken stock
1 pound shrimp peeled


heat oil in large lidded skillet and add onions and peppers and cook 2 minutes on medium-high heat. add garlic and continue cooking 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

add tomato, rice, salt and pepper to taste and cook 2 minutes

stir in chorizo, then stock and bring to a boil. reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer 15 minutes until rice is tender

stir in shrimp and cover and cook 5 more minutes. uncover, stir and cook a few minutes more to steam off some remaining liquid

and for dessert. good berries + dried pears, nice bowl, fancy spoon

tonight's dinner - moghrabieh

 

i made this soup tonight for my book constructing volunteers who came and glued postcards and bands on 110 books for me. everyone thought it a very good soup. i used basmati rice cooked separately in chicken stock and added at the end instead of the lebanese couscous (i.e. the moghrabieh) due to some food allergies but next time i'll hunt down the couscous.

moghrabieh - Recipe from Taking Tea in the Medina by Julie Le Clerc. Serves 2-3

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1½ cups moghrabieh
4 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)
15g butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt & pepper to taste
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup finely chopped fresh coriander
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté onions and garlic until soft but not browned.
2. Boil water in a large saucepan. Cook moghrabieh for 5 minutes then drain.
3. Add moghrabieh to onion mixture, add stock and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. The moghrabieh should become tender and most of the liquid should be absorbed.
5. Stir through butter, herbs, lemon zest and juice. Serve.

tonight's dinner - french onion soup

i made french onion soup for the first time tonight. surprised it takes several hours to make, but the results were pretty good and definitely hearty. plenty left over to reheat on another cold day as well.