Butter, a can of tomatoes, and half an onion = tomato soup

(And some water and salt)

That's all you need.

Well, and let's be honest... it's a lot easier if you also have an immersion blender. Which you probably should.

And to be fair, I also went ahead and fancied it up since I happened to have a couple sprigs of fresh basil and some white pepper. But those are really unnecessary. The bottom line is this is a super simple and delicious soup.

The basic recipe comes from Inspired Taste and they will tell you the full background story, so check it out: https://www.inspiredtaste.net/27956/easy-tomato-soup-recipe/

I will post my ever-so-slightly-more-complicated variant here:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (4 tbs) butter
• 1 800mL (28 oz) can of tomatoes - I'd go with low sodium and either whole or diced but it doesn't really matter
• 1/2 an onion, peeled and chopped into large chunks
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups water (I added about 1/2 tsp of "better than bullion" to mine)
• entirely optional: 1/8 tsp white pepper
• entirely optional: a small handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

 

 Method

1. Decide if you're making a single or double batch (you might want more)
2. Get out a suitably-sized pot and put it on medium-high heat
3. Melt the butter in the pot
4. Add the onion. You can cook it for a couple of minutes if you want or just continue immediately to the next step.
5. Add the can of tomatoes with all juice/pulp. 
6. Add the water or broth (don't forget to swish some of it around in the tomato juice can to get out all the yummy tomatoeyness)
7. Add the salt
8. Give it all a stir and bring to a boil - reduce heat to a simmer and set a timer for 40 minutes.
9. Give it a stir once in a while as you wait for the timer.
10. Toss in the extra seasonings if you're using them
11. Blend.
12. Serve, ideally with glorious homemade toasted sourdough bread that your awesome housemate baked.

Simple Tasty Stir Fry

Ingredients

• broccoli florets
• mushrooms, quartered or sliced
• other sliced veggies of your liking or that you happen to have (carrots, cauliflower, snow peas, onion, etc)
• splash of soy sauce (say 1-2 tbs or so)
• splash of sesame oil (say 1/2 tbs or so)
• splash of water (about 1/4 cup?)
•  oil (I just use olive oil)

Method

1. Heat oil in pan on high
2. Add the veggies and stir for a few minutes until they are coated with oil and starting to look a bit cooked/browned
3. Add the water and cover with a lid to steam the veggies. Leave to cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Check for desired level of done-ness - go with a little underdone instead of a little overdone!
5. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil, stir it all up, and remove from the heat

If you want to get all fancy, here are a few ideas to jazz it up...

• toast some slivered almonds and/or sesame seeds before you put the oil in the pan then set aside to sprinkle on top at the end
• add some minced garlic and/or ginger to the pan with the oil before anything else
• fry some meat (either plain or dipped in beaten egg then a flour/salt/pepper mixture) before cooking the veggies - I'd cook the meat first, remove it from the pan to do the veggies, then add it in at the end with the sauces
• grind some pepper on at the end?

Almond-crusted Fish Fillets

This was a tasty dinner, inspired by wanting to avoid heavy carbs and by taking a look at the fish counter in Thrifty's (they were selling almond-crusted sole fillets). I will write the recipe as I did it (as best I can remember) but there are many options for substitutions or scaling up/down...

Ingredients

• 4 good-sized fillets of snapper (or any white fish would be good)
• roughly 1 cup of nuts - I used mainly almonds and a few hazelnuts
• roughly 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• roughly 1/8 cup shaved/grated parmesan cheese (I probably would have done 1/4 cup if we had it)
• roughly 1/2 tsp garlic powder (I didn't feel like mincing garlic)
• about 1/3 cup chopped parsley leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 egg, beaten 
• olive oil

Method

1.  Chop the nuts finely using a food processor or knife (exact size doesn't matter)
2. Lightly roast the nuts in a dry frying pan then set aside - don't burn them!!
3. Mix together the nuts, breadcrumbs, cheese, garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper and spread some of out on a large plate, saving some for spooning over the fish and replenishing the dipping plate
4. Dip fish fillets, one at a time, first in the beaten egg and then in the nut mixture.. spoon more nut mixture over top and press it down to make as much of it stick to the fish fillet as you can. As each fillet is prepared, place it on a second plate (in other words, do all the dipping first before you start doing any cooking instead of dipping and putting straight in the frying pan - it'll save stress on timing the cooking).
5. Heat oven to about 250F
6. Heat oil in a large frying pan (or in my case 2). Add the fish fillets in a single layer and top each with a little extra nut mixture so as not to waste it.
7. Frying time is going to vary a lot based on the depth of your fillets and your personal preference, but if you do like I did and stick them in a warm-hot oven for a little while at the end then it may help you to avoid over/undercooking... I fried each fillet probably 2-3 minutes on each side then transferred the pans to the oven where they stayed until I finished the rest of dinner about 10-15 minutes later. I turned down the heat on the oven to 170F shortly after putting the fish in.

Suggested Accompaniements

Our meal was fish fillets, green salad (incorporating some roasted nuts), and a simple stir fry of broccoli and mushrooms tossed with soy sauce and sesame oil. Very tasty!

Instant Pot Butter Chicken

We have borrowed Ziggy's and now we are getting our own Instant Pot, so some Instant Pot recipes may start to find their way here...

 Here's one for some very tasty homemade butter chicken, adapted from https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/instant-pot-butter-chicken/ 

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp butter
• 8 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp fresh ginger minced
• 1 cup tomato puree or passata
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp coriander ground
• 1 tsp cumin ground
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 lbs chicken thighs/breasts boneless and skinless, cut into pieces
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 tbsp parsley chopped

Instructions

1. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting.
2. Add the butter and cook until the butter has melted. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for another minute or until the garlic becomes aromatic. Do not cook too long because you don't want to burn it.
3. Add the tomato puree and tomato paste to the Instant Pot and stir. Add the garam masala, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and salt to the Instant Pot, stir and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. 
4. Add the chicken thighs, water and stir everything together. There should be enough liquid in the pot to cover the chicken, so add more water if needed.
5. Close the lid (follow the manufacturer's guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to Manual, high pressure, 5 minutes.
6. Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 15 minutes. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
7. Switch the Instant Pot to the saute setting (do not put the lid on). Add the whipping cream and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken and reduce a bit. You don't want it to reduce too much. 
8. Turn off the Instant Pot and garnish with fresh parsley.

Chinese-style Beef and Veggie Stir Fry

The beef was slightly freezer-burned and the veggie assortment was slightly random, but it turned out to be delicious!

I basically followed this recipe, but I did things a touch differently: http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/the-best-easy-beef-and-broccoli-stir-fry-99476

Ingredients

• a beef steak, cut into strips
• half of a large head of broccoli, cut into medium-small pieces
• a quarter of a large head of cauliflower, cut into similar-sized pieces
• half an onion, sliced
• half a zucchini, chopped
• a handful of pathetic-looking mushrooms (the pathetic part is optional)
• 1/3 cup soya sauce, divided (about a tablespoon and the rest)
• about a tablespoon of black bean sauce
• 3 tbs cornstarch, divided (2tbs and 1 tbs)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbs water, divided (2tbs and 1/2 cup)
• ground black pepper
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbs oil

Method

1. Mix 1 tbs soya sauce, 1 tbs black bean sauce, the garlic powder, 2 tbs cornstarch, and 2 tbs water in a bowl. Toss in the beef strips and coat with the sauce, as well as some ground black pepper. Set aside.
2. Prep the veggies.
3. Prepare sauce by mixing 1 tbs cornstarch, the rest of the soya sauce, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 cup water, and the brown sugar in a small bowl.
4. Heat the oil in a large pan or wok, add the beef and stir fry until just browned. Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Put the veggies in the pan with a little more oil and stir fry about 4-5 minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if need be to help deglaze the pan and prevent starchy bits from burning.
6. Add the beef back to the pan.
7. Add the prepared sauce (step 3) and stir fry for about 2 minutes.

Serve over rice.

Slightly-Healthier-Than-Hers Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is adapted from someone on "Modern Honey".. and she seems to have a lot to say about chocolate chip cookies! The pictures sure do look delicious.

Here's the original: https://www.modernhoney.com/thin-and-crispy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Here's my mildly healthier (less sugar and heartier flour) adaptation.

Mine did not turn out to be thin, possibly because of the addition of some whole wheat flour, but they still turned out to be incredibly delicious.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup Butter, melted in saucepan
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup White Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup Whole Wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¾ teaspoon Salt
• ¾ cup Chocolate Chips
• ¼ cup Dark Chocolate Chunks, cut from chocolate bar

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer until "butter starts to turn a warm amber color and gives off a nutty aroma". As for me, I was afraid to simmer it for long so I stopped this part shortly after the simmering started. Don't get it brown too long as the liquids will start to evaporate. Pour the butter into a mixing bowl, cover, and let cool 10 minutes somewhere cool and another 10 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. Once it is cooled, add brown sugar and sugar and cream (high speed mixer setting) for 4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add eggs one at a time, mixing gently after each addition until just incorporated. Add vanilla and mix gently.
3. Stir in flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined.
4. Add chocolate chips and chocolate chunks and mix.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 - 30 minutes. 24 -48 hours is ideal. A couple of recipes I've read really stress the importance of this chilling step so if at all possible don't rush to put the cookies straight into the oven! Apparently it helps them to not ooze everywhere so they will turn out chewier and yummier.
6. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
7. Scoop the cookie dough onto prepared baking pans. Bake until lightly golden on the edges, 9 -11 minutes for medium-sized cookies or 11-13 minutes for larger cookies.

Gateau Jeté - Happy Birthday Matt!

So if your springform cheesecake pan is getting deformed and starting to show signs that it might fall apart on you unexpectedly, well I'd suggest that you heed those signs and consider getting a new one. That is not what I did. Instead I just bent it a bit so that the spaces at the bottom where the outer ring was no longer perfectly circular more-or-less matched up the with circular base and proceeded...

All was fine for the initial baking of the crust, but a cheesecake crust is not particularly heavy.

When I then added the filling and proceeded to transfer my creation to the oven, well...

Cheesecake mess all over the oven

...and where I placed the broken pan on the stovetop

The Recovered Cheesecake - now in a smaller sturdier pan

No longer is there a well-defined crust under the base and around the edges of the cheesecake. I think it is partly on the bottom but also distributed as crumbs throughout the middle. We shall see what happens when we slice into it. Here's what it looks like after baking and settling a bit (it was pretty lopsided when it first came out, but that went away):

The Cooked version

It still smells a lot like cheesecake. I still have hopes it will be delicious. And I have attempted chocolate curls (more like little chocolate slabs and flakes in my case) and some raspberry sauce to go with it so we can always just eat the toppings with ice cream if the cake itself is inedible.

I will post the recipe now and you can scroll down to the bottom to see what it looks like when we slice into it later this evening at Matt's birthday dinner.

This recipe is based on the following but with a few modifications: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/deep-dark-chocolate-cheesecake-236209

Ingredients

Crust

• roughly 1.5 - 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
• roughly 0.5-1 cup of ground nuts (in this case a few almonds and some hazelnuts)
• a little less than 1/2 cup melted butter

Filling

• ~9oz good dark chocolate (I used Callebaut)
• 1kg spreadable cream cheese
• 4 large eggs
• A generous 1/3 cup sugar (since my chocolate was already sweetened)
• 1/4c cocoa powder, sifted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Prepare crust - mix the ingredients together and press into a springform pan lined with parchment paper and greased
3. Bake crust about 8-10 minutes then remove from oven to cool
4. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and set aside to cool (to lukewarm but still spreadable consistency)
5. Beat cream cheese with the cocoa and sugar until well whipped and smooth
6. Add eggs one at a time, beating each one in gently at low speed until just blended
7. Mix in the lukewarm chocolate 
8. Pour the filling in the pan and transfer to oven
9. OPTIONAL: dump a portion of the pan contents into the oven, scrape it up again, and reassemble the cake in another pan. Let oven cool while you clean interior and underneath, finding some of your 19-month-old's toys in the process. Once oven is clean, reheat to 350 and put the reconstructed cake in to bake
10. Bake for about an hour or until centre looks at least close to set (but don't overbake)
11. Remove cheesecake from oven and cool about 5 minutes before using a knife to separate the cheesecake from the edge of the pan (but leave the springform assembled)
12. Let cool slowly to room temperature then refrigerate for a good while before serving (I think slow cooling helps improve the texture and reduce cracks, not that cracks are the largest of my problems here)

Toppings

• you could top with chocolate ganache and chocolate curls as the original recipe calls for...
• or you could do like me and attempt to make some chocolate curls but keep them on the side so that if your cheesecake is a disaster then you can at least eat ice cream with chocolate bits
• in my case I thought it would also be a good idea to have some raspberry sauce at the ready again either to go with the cake or to eat with the ice cream if the cake proves inedible 

The Final Result

Sorry, it was too tasty. No pictures but it was delish. It actually looked more-or-less like a regular cheesecake, but the crust wasn't quite as crusty.

Sweet Farro Sidedish

Just made a trip to Oregon and loaded up on some 10-Minute Farro at Trader Joe's (love that stuff! Shoulda bought more)

Tonight I was making a flat-roasted chicken topped with herbs and garlic and lemon and I needed something to go alongside it. No potatoes in the house and just had rice at lunchtime so thankfully my thoughts turned to farro.

Mushrooms and onions for the farro

Some parsley for a little touch of freshness

10-min farro

This is what I mean by flat-roasted chicken. The recipe comes from a cookbook Matt gave me called "Heart of the Artichoke".

I decided to just wing it and throw some stuff in with the farro, and here's what I came up with. It was super yum. Sorry I don't have a picture of the finished product but trust me when I say it was good.

You can thank Arby for the addition of the raisins.. they are his favourite treat these days (probably since they're the sweetest, treatiest thing we ever feed him) so he is constantly asking for them.

Ingredients

• olive oil
• ~1 tbs butter
• 1 onion (I happened to have a "sweet onion" - don't know if that made any difference)
• some mushrooms (I had 3 big ones - would have added some more if I had them)
• about a handful of golden raisins
• fresh parsley
• 1 package of Trader Joe's 10 minute farro
• veggie bullion/broth for cooking the farro in (optional)
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Dice onions and slice onions thinly
2.  Heat oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium-low heat
3. Add onions to start them cooking slowly
4. Meanwhile, bring a largish quantity of water/broth to a boil in a medium-large pot for the farro
5. When onions are translucent, slide them over and add the mushrooms to one side of the frying pan
6. Back in the other pot, add the farro once the water or broth comes to a boil. Cook according to package directions (10-12 minutes) then drain off the liquid (save for soup another time if you like)
7. Give the onions and mushrooms plenty of time to cook slowly and get all caramelized and delicious 
8. While all this is going on, chop up the parsley
9. Add the raisins to the onions and mushrooms once things are starting to get browned and yummy looking. Stir and cook a few more minutes.
10. Mix the cooked and drained farro in with the onion/mushroom/raisin mixture. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Stir and continue cooking for a minute or two.
11. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley

Make it a Meal

This was a terrific side dish to our lemony-roasted chicken. The sweetness of the onions and raisins are nicely balanced by the sour lemon.

If you wanted something simpler or vegetarian, I bet this would be really tasty topped with a simple salad of greens (ideally some arugula), toasted almonds, a simple lemon-vinaigrette, and possibly some parmesan cheese.

Leftover Chicken and Spinach Curry

So good and so easy... thanks to having a bit of roasted chicken in the fridge, I was able to whip this up in about half an hour!

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/chicken-spinach-curry/a32482de-e463-462b-bd93-a78bce0002c6

My version (based on what I had on hand):

Ingredients

• handful of almonds, chopped (since I didn't have any flaked)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2/3 of a red onion, coarsely chopped (what I happened to have in the fridge)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 heaping tablespoon mild curry paste
• 1/2 cup plain yogourt mixed with a little water (to make just under 3/4 cup)
• leftovers from a roasted chicken (about a large breast's worth), chopped into rough cubes
• most of a bunch spinach, leaves roughly chopped
• cooked rice, to serve

Method

1. Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. Add almonds. Cook, shaking pan gently, for 3 to 5 minutes or until toasted. Remove to a bowl. 
2. Add oil to the pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until soft. Add curry paste and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until aromatic. Add yoghurt and water mixture. Stir until well combined.
3. Add chicken. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes or until chicken is heated through. Add spinach. Cover and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until spinach has wilted.
    
   Spoon curry over rice. Top with toasted almonds. Serve.

Good Morning Blueberry Muffins

I have been making a few small adjustments to my standard muffin recipe lately and this morning's were super tasty especially when hot out of the oven!

If you want fresh hot muffins with minimal morning effort, do like I did and mix your dry ingredients the night before so they are ready and waiting for you.

Ingredients

Dry

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 7/8 cup white flour (AKA a little less than a cup)
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar (or more or less, to your taste) 
• dash of nutmeg
• dash of cinnamon
• a good handful of quick-cooking oats

Wet 

• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Other

• A goodly quantity of fruit - blueberries if you want you the muffins to be blueberry, but you could also use diced apples or other berries or even raisins if you were really stuck

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Grease/prepare your muffin tins
3. Mix dry ingredients in a largish bowl
4. Prepare the fruit (in the case of frozen blueberries there's not much to this!)
5. Prepare and mix wet ingredients in a separate vessel (eg. pyrex measuring cup)
6. Particularly if you're using blueberries, toss the fruit in the dry ingredients to coat so they don't turn the batter purple
7. Add wet ingredients to dry and fold in carefully, mixing just enough that the flour is incorporated but don't over stir!
8. Bake about 15-17 minutes
9. Enjoy!

Teriyaki Fish (Salmon) Fillets with Asian Salsa on Brown Rice

Ok this was a good dinner I happened to come up with tonight. And super quick/easy to make! Worthy of writing down and sharing. I served myself a second mini-helping just so I could take a picture (and well also because it was good!)

The first serving was much bigger!

A great opportunity to use the multi-slicing tool our neighbours brought back from Vietnam

Ingredients

Fish

• fish fillets (in our case, sockeye salmon)
• soya sauce
• rice wine vinegar
• maple syrup
• sliced lemon (optional)
• black pepper

Asian Salsa

• finely sliced carrot sticks
• 1 tomato, diced
• a few inches' worth of cucumber, diced 
• chopped cilantro
• finely chopped roasted peanuts (optional)

Dressing

• ~2 tbs rice wine vinegar
• ~1 tbs fish sauce
• ~1/2 tbs white sugar
• ~1 tsp chili sauce (sambal olek)
• ~1 tbs olive oil
• drizzle of sesame oil

Directions 

I. Rice

1. Start cooking some brown rice so that it will be ready in time
2. For extra rich and tastiness, stir 1 tbs of butter into the cooked rice prior to serving

II. Asian Salsa

1. Mix dressing ingredients together in a small dish
2. If you happen to have a fancy slicing and dicing tool from Vietnam then you can use it to make fun shapes with your veggies like nice fine carrot strips and squiggly cucumber chunks!
3. Put the chopped carrots, cucumber, tomato, and cilantro in a bowl 
4. Toss the veggies with the dressing
5. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over top

III. Fish Fillets

1. Preheat oven to 400C
2. Drizzle a little olive oil in a pyrex baking dish. Place fish fillets skin side down in the oiled pan
3. Drizzle roughly equal parts soya sauce, olive oil, and rice wine vinegar over each fillet (I didn't use too much)
4. Drizzle the fillets with maple syrup to your taste (I used less of the maple syrup than the other drizzles)
5. Place a slice of fresh lemon on each fillet and grind some pepper over top
6. Put the dish in the oven and bake for roughly 8-10 minutes for 1 inch thick fillets (adjust time based on thickness)

Serve either on plates or as rice bowls.