The most delicious grilled salmon or steelhead trout

This recipe comes from https://heygrillhey.com/grilled-steelhead-trout/#wprm-recipe-container-46137 and it is amazing! And super easy.

Ingredients 

• 1 14-16 oz steelhead trout fillet (skin on)
• Lime or lemon for garnish

For the rub:

• 2 tbs brown sugar
• Up to 2 tsp ground black pepper (or just grind a bunch)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika (smoked, if you have it)
• Zest of 1 lime (substitute lemon if need be)

Method

1. Combine all the rub ingredients in a small bowl
2. Preheat the grill to about 375 F
3. Lay out the salmon fillet(s), skin side down, on a large tray or cutting board
4. Sprinkle the rub over the fish, pressing it in gently (avoid actually Rubbing)
5. Place the fish, skin side down, directly onto the grill grates (I don’t find that I need any oil) - avoid putting the fish directly over the flame if you can manage it on your grill (I usually can’t really avoid this and it turns out fine as long as you lower the heat a little when you add the fish)
6. Grill undisturbed for 20-25 mins, or until the fish reaches an internal temperature of 135-145 F at the thickest part
7. Carefully lift fillet from the grill and onto a platter with a couple of spatulas. Serve promptly and enjoy!

The only chocolate cake I ever make now

This is the only chocolate cake I ever make now, because it is so delicious! 

I never used to be a fan of cake with ice cream (despite a strong fondness for both cake and ice cream)… but this one is fantastic served plain with some vanilla ice cream and some sprinkles for crunch! Frosting not required.

Based on https://cakebycourtney.com/best-ever-chocolate-bundt-cake-recipe/

Ingredients

• 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar (or less according to your preference. I used 300g this time and you could definitely drop it to 250)
• 3/4 cups (88.5 g) dark cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons (8 g)  baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon (5.6 g) salt
• 1 cup (240 g)  buttermilk, ideally at room temperature (I just add 1tbs white vinegar to a cup of milk… it would also work to use half milk, half yogourt whey. And I rarely bother to do the room temperature thing)
• 1 cup (236.6 g) hot water (I boil it before doing everything else and then it is about right when I’m ready for it. Even if it is too hot and it seems like you cooked your eggs and milk with it, the cake will likely turn out just fine.. this happened to me and I thought it was going to be a disaster but it was delish)
• 1/2 cup (109 g)  vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten, ideally at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips dusted in cocoa powder or flour (I have always gone with the cocoa option. Also, regular sized ones work too.. it doesn’t really matter if they all sink to the bottom)

The original recipe includes instructions for a chocolate ganache topping so check it out if you want that.. I haven’t ever tried it.

Method

1. Prepare your pan(s). Until today, I have always cooked this in a Bundt pan and the hardest part of the whole process is evenly coating the Bundt pan in butter with a dusting of cocoa powder on all sides. Today I am trying layer cake pans instead, which I imagine will be much easier to prepare.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 F
3. Dry ingredients: Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk it together then put it in the mixer with the paddle attachment. You can sift the ingredients as you add them, especially if your cocoa is lumpy, but you could also just chuck it all in and it will still taste great.
4. Wet ingredients: In another bowl (or large Pyrex measuring cup), combine the buttermilk, eggs, oil, vanilla, and hot water. I would recommend whisking together everything except the hot water first then pouring in the hot water slowly as you mix in order to avoid cooking your eggs. Don’t worry if it still seems a bit lumpy - it can look awful and still taste great at the end.
5. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Pour the batter into your prepared pan(s). Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes (might be a little shorter if making cupcakes), or until a toothpick inserted in the centre is mostly clean (though if you happen to hit those chocolate chips it can be hard to tell).
8. Let the cake cool for a while in the pan before flipping it onto a cooling rack or serving platter

As mentioned above, this is great sliced and served with a scoop of ice cream .. and some sprinkles if you are so inclined. But today I have assembled it into a layer cake with raspberry buttercream frosting. 

Birthday cake complete

Cake making in progress…

Emilie-inspired salad

This is my take on the type of salad that our housemate Emilie used to whip up in about 5 minutes (a simple version with lettuce/kale, cucumber, red onion, and cashews).

I have come to almost exclusively make salad this way.. adding the salt and vinegar first then olive oil at the end instead of mixing a dressing together separately.. both because this is easier, faster, and because I find it tastier. It does work best with a balsamic you really like — I think if I only had more questionable vinegar, I would make my dressing separately, but maybe this would work well in that case too???

Ingredients 

• Lettuce, ideally romaine or medium-finely chopped kale but any lettuce or combination of lettuces will do (if you use only kale, you may want to salt and massage it lightly to soften it a little)
• A small amount of finely sliced red onion, to your liking (but at least a small amount is strongly recommended)

All remaining ingredients are optional, but avocado makes a huge difference if you have it, and a protein source like feta or roasted cashews or beans will make it a lot heartier). Include some combination of the following, depending on what you have on hand and what you like:

• Sliced cucumber (I half it lengthwise and slice so they don’t roll around)
• Diced apple or tomato or orange (probably not all together)
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Broken up or roughly chopped roasted nuts (eg cashews or pecans or…?)
• Sliced red pepper 
• Finely sliced fresh basil can be a nice addition
• Optionally some black beans or chickpeas?
• Some homemade croutons if you’re feeling really fancy 
• Etc

For the dressing you will need..

• Kosher salt
• Black pepper (optional)
• Good quality balsamic vinegar (I really like the Costco one and I like that it is a bit sweet - if yours is more sour, you may want to add a good pinch of white sugar at the same time as the salt. To me, this makes a big difference)
• Olive oil 

Method

1. Put all the main salad ingredients you are using (aside from the dressing) in a large bowl
2. Sprinkle with a couple of good pinches of kosher salt (and optionally sugar - see note in the dressing ingredients list) and toss lightly. Add some pepper at this stage too, if you like.
3. Pour over some balsamic vinegar (maybe start with around a tablespoon, possibly more? I just eyeball it)
4. Toss well, taste, and if needed, add more vinegar/salt/sugar to your taste (but err on the side of too little rather than too much)
5. Finally, add olive oil at the end (about as much as you did vinegar or a little less) and toss well to bring it all together (again, err on the side of too little not too much).

The key here is to coat everything with the salt and vinegar before you add the oil so they can penetrate really well. The oil is an important touch at the end but you don’t need much when you do it this way.

Childhood favourite cabbage noodle salad

This was a favourite in my house when I was a kid, and now that I have kids it has made a major comeback. Adults love it too!

Part of the point of this recipe is to throw in what you have, so feel free to add other stuff that you think might belong… (peas, cooked broccoli, ..)

Ingredients

Main salad

• 2 tbs toasted sesame seeds (or just a random amount)
• 2 tbs toasted chopped nuts (I typically do sliced almonds, if I have them)
• 1/2 head finely chopped cabbage (I just got my first mandoline, which makes really fine much easier - it doesn’t have to be that fine though, but quite fine is good. If your cabbage is small, do the whole thing!)
• 3-4 packages of ramen noodles (I have been using 4 if they are Mr. Noodles and 3 if they are Sapporo Ichiban .. usually I use chicken flavour but it doesn’t really matter)
• Cut up leftover chicken (or you have use fresh rotisserie chicken)… about 1/2 a chicken’s worth
• Chopped cilantro if you are a cilantro family

Dressing

These quantities are for 3 packs of noodles. If you use 4 packs you may want to bump everything up a little bit.

• 3 tbs white sugar
• 4 tbs vinegar (rice wine or apple cider)
• 3 tbs oil
• Pepper
• Flavour packets from the noodles

Directions

1. Toast the almonds and sesame seeds in a dry frying pan. Set aside in a small bowl.
2. Quarter the cabbage and cut out the core. Slice the quarters with a knife or mandoline into long thin strips, no more than about 2-3mm wide if possible, ideally closer to 1mm (you want them to kind of blend in with the noodles). Put the cabbage in the largest bowl you have. It will seem like A LOT of cabbage.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (no salt needed). When it is at a rolling boil, add all the noodles (don’t forget to remove the flavour packets first). Set the timer for 1 minute and prepare a strainer at the sink. When the timer goes off, strain the water off and give the noodles a shake to get out excess water. Dump the steaming hot noodles on top of the cabbage so they soften the cabbage a little.
4. Add the diced chicken on top of the noodles.
5. Put all the dressing ingredients in a microwaveable container (such as a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup) and microwave for a minute or 2 then give it a good stir to dissolve the sugar.
6. Pour the dressing over the salad.
7. Sprinkle the toasted nuts and sesame seeds and the cilantro over top. (I add these at the end so they stay a little more crunchy).
8. Now for the hardest part - toss everything together, trying not to fling too many noodles and too much cabbage out of the bowl. Consider using a bigger bowl next time. When everything is well mixed, it is ready to serve. 

Serve kids a healthy portion with plenty of cabbage and chicken for their first bowl so that when they ask for seconds and try to get only noodles, they have already had some good balance :)

Easy, tasty salsa at home

 I was trying to find a recipe for something similar to Gina’s salsa (a well-known restaurant in Nanaimo). This isn’t quite it, but it’s not far off.

You will need to find some cans of Ro-Tel. I usually get it from Country Grocer, though I know I saw them somewhere else too. Look in the Mexican foods section. If you use mild Ro-Tel, you’ll end up with a pleasantly mildly spicy salsa. Go for original Ro-Tel or half and half if you’re into want to kick it up a notch.

Ingredients 

• 1 28oz can tomatoes (diced or whole)
• 2 10oz (284ml) cans Ro-Tel (mild or original or 1 of each)
• 1/4c chopped onion 
• 1 jalapeño, quartered, seeded, and sliced thin
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4tsp salt
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/4 to 1tsp sugar (more sugar = less spicy)
• 1/4tsp cumin
• 1/2c cilantro (or more!)

Method

1. Make sure you do your mincing, etc before adding onion, jalapeño, and garlic to the tomatoes
2. Throw all of the above into a food processor 
3. Pulse until it is the consistency you want (10-15X)
4. Put it in jars
5. Refrigerate at least an hour for best flavour 

This makes A LOT so you may need to give some to friends or neighbours. You can make a half batch instead. You Can freeze this, but it will get more watery, so I don’t recommend it.

Overnight bread without any kneading

 I can’t believe I never tried making no knead bread before… this is SOOO good!

See the original recipe for far more detailed instructions and variations. 

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/no-knead-bread/

Here is what I do…

Ingredients

• About 100g whole wheat flour
• About 325g all purpose flour (vary the proportions of the flours as you like.. this is the mix I’ve tried so far. Total of 425g flour)
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp traditional yeast
• 1.5 cups warm water

Method

Sometime between noon and 8pm…

1.  Measure the flours, salt, and yeast into a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until well combined.
2. Make a hole in the dry ingredients and pour in the warm water.
3. Mix with a wooden spoon until combined into a shaggy ball of dough with most of the flour incorporated (this should be pretty quick and easy)
4. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter

Carry on with your day, have a good sleep. The next morning (ideally 12-18 hours later, but 10 is enough)…

1. Generously sprinkle flour on the counter
2. Use a spatula to carefully nudge the dough out of the bowl and onto the floured counter, smoother side down
3. Go around the ball and fold the edges in to the middle until you’ve made a nicely shaped ball of dough
4. Flip the dough ball onto a piece of parchment paper, dust lightly with flour, and lay the dry side of your plastic wrap over it loosely
5. Set a timer for 20-30 minutes… meanwhile… Put a large cast iron Dutch oven with a lid into the oven and heat to 450F
6. When the timer goes off… remove the plastic wrap from the dough ball, take the Dutch oven out of the oven, close the door, and use oven mitts to grab the edges of the parchment paper with the dough ball on it to gently place it inside the Dutch oven. If my parchment paper seems too big, at this point I will cut the corners off with kitchen shears. Put the lid on and pop the Dutch oven back into the hot oven.
7. Bake 30 mins with the lid on then remove the lid and bake another 10 minutes for a not-overly-crispy crust
8. Let cool on a wire rack at least 30 minutes before slicing and eating.

Try not to devour the whole loaf!

This is easier than the bread maker and so delish!

Strep throat survival soup, AKA Cream of Broccoli

 I have been plagued by a recurring bout of strep throat ever since mid August. I’m on my 3rd round of antibiotics now! Thankfully, the subsequent bouts have not been as bad as the first one, when this soup really was one of the few things I could eat that also filled me up and satisfied cravings for green food and protein. I have turned to it again this time around, knowing that if things get worse, this is one meal I will still be able to enjoy.

I had never made cream of broccoli soup before strep throat and I don’t know if it would taste so good if I wasn’t sick, but if you ever find yourself unable to eat solid or acidic foods and want something filling and hearty, I recommend it!

Here’s the original: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13313/best-cream-of-broccoli-soup/. I haven’t really made any changes to speak of.

Ingredients

• 2 + 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, diced finely
• 1 stalk celery, diced finely diced
• 3 cups homemade chicken broth
• 8 cups broccoli, cut into small florets
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• Pepper to taste (if your throat can handle it)
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Melt 2 tbs butter in a med-large soup pot. Sauté onion and celery until tender.
2. Add the broth and the broccoli, cover with a lid, and simmer 10 minutes
3. Purée with an immersion blender until smooth
4. In a small pot, melt the remaining 3 tbs butter. Add the flour and whisk together. Add the milk and stir regularly while you heat this mixture until it starts thickening and gets a little frothy/bubbly. I use a small whisk for this.
5. Add the milk mixture to the broccoli part and stir well.
6. Optionally add some pepper and/or salt to the pot, or just do this when it’s in your bowl.

Feel better soon!

Gado-Gado, Ottolenghi-Style

Here is my variant on Gado-Gado, adapted from the version in Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

To make it as written I would budget about an hour and a half, maybe more. But you can take some shortcuts if you want (it just might not be quite as yummy!)

Note: I haven't actually made the OTHER Gado-Gado on this blog since I posted it.. it was probably easier but I would say this is definitely yummier. The other one has some interesting topping ideas too though, and could be a good option if you're lacking in fancy ingredients like galangal and tamarind.

Totally worth the time to make the super satay sauce from scratch. I will write it out as I made it, which includes a small substitution as I couldn't get a hold of fresh galangal. If you can find it, the original calls for using fresh galangal in the place of the fresh ginger and dried galangal.

Ideally you will read through this whole recipe and think through your timing, as you may want to overlap preparing the salad with making the sauce in ways that make sense for the ingredients you choose.

Satay Sauce

This is the slow part and it could definitely be done ahead of time if you're organized. If you're rushed for time or want to use ingredients you're more likely to have on hand, you could always skip this part and make awesome no-cook peanut sauce instead.

Ingredients

• 4 peeled garlic cloves
• 1 roughly chopped lemongrass stalk
• 2.5 tbsp sambal oelek (makes for a sauce with some heat, but not really spicy... if I were making this for kids I would probably reduce the quantity or maybe just make them some kid-friendly peanut sauce and keep this deluxe sauce for those brave enough to eat it!)
• roughly the equivalent of a 5" long piece of fresh ginger (about 1-1.5" in diameter), peeled
• 2 slices of dried galangal, rehydrated in a small bowl of boiling water for a few minutes, cut into small bits (if you don't have dried galangal, just do a little more ginger instead)
• 4 medium shallots, peeled (this is probably the most annoying part of the recipe)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 tbsp salt
• 7 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp thick tamarind water (rehydrate about 1/4 cup tamarind in about 1/2-3/4 cup of boiling water, let sit at least 10 minutes or so, stir it together and mash the tamarind with a fork, then press out the liquid through a sieve)
• 1 1/2 cups roasted unsalted peanuts
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 cup coconut milk

Method

1. Use a small food processor or hand blender to crush the garlic, lemongrass, sambal oelek, ginger, galangal pieces, and shallots into a homogeneous paste.
2. Heat up the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the paste from step 1 and cook over medium-low heat for 40-50 minutes (until the oil starts to separate). Stir regularly. 
• While the paste is cooking...
• Prepare the tamarind water
• Combine the salt, sugar, and paprika in a small bowl
• Crush peanuts roughly in a food processor - leave them a bit chunky. Put the peanuts and water into a small saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until the mixture thickens and most of the water has evaporated
3. Add the salt, sugar and paprika mixture to the pot with the paste. Also add the tamarind water. Stir and cook for 10 minutes more.
4. Add the cooked peanut mixture to the cooked spice paste then stir in the coconut milk

Spice paste is done.. keep it somewhere warm.

The Salad Part

This part is relatively quick - the time-consuming pieces are preparing tofu, roasting yams, and cooking rice... the rest is pretty speedy.

Ingredients (and some Method)

Note: you could do this part with basically whatever ingredients you want... the sauce is the key! But I will outline what I did today here. Note that in the original recipe there are potatoes instead of the rice and yams, and various other differences. 

These ingredients should be prepared first (like before or while you make the sauce) as they will take some time:

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups short grain brown rice. Cook this according to package directions or using your preferred method.
• 4 small yams, cleaned and sliced into 1/2" to 3/4" rounds (no need to peel) - toss these with some olive oil and kosher salt then roast in the oven at the same time as you roast your tofu (about 30-40 minutes, flip them over about half way through)...
• 1 block of extra firm tofu, prepared according to instructions in my post "The best way to prepare tofu" (you can roast the tofu and the yams at the same time)

These ingredients will cook quickly and the process is described below:

• 1 very small or half of a medium-large cabbage, cut into chunks (I cut a very small cabbage in half and then each half into 4 wedges, then halved the wedges to make 8 chunks per half cabbage)
• 1-2 cups bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
• 1-2 cups green beans, washed and trimmed
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
• Something crunchy to sprinkle on top. I used these yam chips from Hardbite. The original recipe calls for crisp-fried shallots and cassava chips

Method (the rest of it)

1. If you haven't already, get the rice, tofu, and yams started cooking (see notes above). You should also hard boil your eggs if you haven't done that yet. See below for tips if you need them.
2. Once your sauce, rice, tofu, yams, and eggs are done ready... 
• Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil
• While the water is heating up, spread the cooked rice out in the bottom of a large casserole dish or serving platter
• When the water comes to a boil, add the cabbage and blanch it for 1 minute, then remove and drain it (I used a large slotted spoon to fish out as much as I could). Spread the cabbage out in a layer over the cooked rice
• Add the bean sprouts to the boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds, then remove and drain them. Layer these over the cabbage and rice
• Add the green beans to the boiling water and blanch for 4 minutes then drain. Layer green beans over the cabbage, rice, and bean sprouts.
• You're done the cooking part - go ahead and turn off the water pot.
3. If you need some time to finish getting other things ready, put the casserole/serving platter somewhere warm.
4. Before serving, layer the roasted tofu chunks and yam slices on top everything already added to the casserole/platter.
5. Serve the salad with the satay sauce, chopped cilantro, quartered eggs, and crispy chips on the side so everyone can add these in whatever quantity they like.

Kat's delicious dumpling dipping sauce

One of our go-to lunches is the Sum-m! Sesame Ginger Dumplings from Costco (which we keep in the freezer) with dipping sauce and salad. The dumplings come with sauce but in my opinion this one is far superior! 

When we're feeling splurgy, we get the dumplings from Dumpling Drop instead. If we were really on the ball, we would make our own dumplings... it's really not that difficult! And I know, from witnessing it firsthand, that they can even be assembled by headlamp in the bow of a canoe for a truly gourmet camping meal (first night only to make sure the filling is fresh).

Ingredients:

Roughly equal parts of the following (I normally use about 1.5-2tbs I think?):

• Soya sauce
• Rice vinegar

 Slightly less but almost the same amount of:

• Sweet chili sauce 

A few drops of:

• Sesame oil

(Optional) Either a little or quite a lot of:

• Minced cilantro 

Directions:

Put all of the above into a small bowl and mix well. 

Substitutions/alternatives:

• If all you have is soya sauce and rice vinegar, then roughly equal parts of each makes a perfectly fine sauce. 
• If you don't have rice vinegar, try to use something else reasonably mild but reduce the quantity by a little bit (eg. white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar can work but don't use too much)
• If you prefer a spicier sauce that is less sweet, consider using Sambal Olek instead of the sweet chili sauce (you may want to use slightly less). Or if you want spicy and sweet, just add some in!
• The cilantro is certainly not necessary, but if you have it, it is a very nice addition!
• If you don't have the sesame oil, just omit it.
  

Sweet and Sticky Tofu bowls

 based on https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/asian-garlic-tofu/

Ingredients:

• 1 block of extra firm tofu
• 1-2 heads of broccoli cut into small florets
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste
  
• rice
  

Sauce:

• 1/4 c hoisin sauce
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  

 Garnish:

• Toasted sesame seeds
• diced spring onion or cilantro or...

Method:

1. Put the rice on to cook (and set a timer to cook for an appropriate amount of time.. no hand-holding on this part!)
   
2. Prepare tofu by slicing into 3 slabs horizontally, placing them on a clean folded tea towel on a large plate, place another clean tea towel on top followed by another plate, then put something heavy on top of that to press the excess water out. Leave for 10 - 30 minutes or more.
3. Meanwhile... mix together the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl.
   
4. Cut the tofu into small bite-sized cubes and toss in the sauce. Leave to marinate about 30 minutes
   
5. Meanwhile, prepare the broccoli for roasting by tossing in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt to your taste. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and heat the oven to about 375F. 
   
6. Put broccoli in oven and roast for about 15-20 minutes then flip and roast a further 15-20 minutes on the other side (until crispy and tasty)
7. (This would be a good time to toast your sesame seeds in a dry frying pan if they're not ready yet)
   
8. Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan (cast iron or otherwise). When oil is hot, add in the tofu without too much of the sauce (but don't worry if a bunch goes in). Spread it out in a single layer and fry/sear (mine didn't get crispy since I put all the sauce in but it was still delish). Ideally, cook till crispy then flip to the other side and fry till seared.
9. At this point I would add the rest of the sauce to the pan and cook it a bit longer, stirring frequently.
10. Toss the sesame oil and diced spring onion/cilantro with the cooked tofu (either in the pan or a large bowl)
    
11. Assemble in bowls with rice, roasted broccoli, tofu, and sesame seeds sprinkled over top.
    

Yummy speedy vegetarian pasta sauce

This is a shortcut pasta sauce very loosely based on a recipe I haven't tried but that sounds delish if you have time to go for it: https://www.happyveggiekitchen.com/spaghetti-sauce/

I will write down approximately what I did, though there's certainly room for some variation and these measurements are not precise.

Ingredients

• 1 can tomatoes (I used diced ones but doesn't really matter)
• roughly 1.5-2tbs tomato paste
• 1/2 can sliced mushrooms
•  a good swig of worcestershire sauce (maybe 1/2 tsp?) 
• 3 cloves minced/sliced garlic
• 1/2 onion, diced small
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup red wine
• glug of olive oil
• roughly 1 tsp mixed italian herbs (oregano, basil, etc)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbs brown sugar
  

Method

Again, I will write what I did (as best I remember it), which probably sped things up a bit, but you could just doing everything in one pot and add the tomatoes and tomato paste after frying everything up, if you want to save on some dishes.

1. Empty the can of tomatoes into a medium-large pot and heat to simmering
2. Meanwhile, heat a cast iron frying pan on another burner then add olive oil. The next bunch of steps happen in the frying pan (until you combine everything again in step 10).
   
3. Fry garlic till fragrant
4. Add onions and fry a bit
5. Add mushrooms and fry some more, stirring periodically
6. Season generously with salt and pepper
   
7. Once you've cooked off some steam/liquid, add in the worcestershire sauce and stir well
   
8.  Add balsamic vinegar and fry briefly, stirring constantly
9. Add red wine and cook until liquid evaporates, stirring constantly
10. Add herbs, stir, then empty the contents of the frying pan into the simmering tomatoes
11. Stir in tomato paste and brown sugar (add extra tomato paste if it seems too runny and you don't have time to cook it down)
    
12. Continue to simmer the sauce while you prepare your pasta and the rest of your meal
13. Either leave it chunky or give it a whiz with an immersion blender

Enjoy!

 

Pesach Cake

The ever-elusive Pesach Cake recipe
This is a no-flour, no leavening cake that is traditional for Pesach/Passover.

Had no slivered almonds, so I used all sliced

Ingredients

• 6 (large) eggs, separated
• 250g caster sugar (or use berry sugar OR take regular white sugar and process in food processor until it is very fine)
• 1 pinch salt
• rind of 1/2 lemon
• 250g finely ground mixed nuts (eg. almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts) 

Topping

• 100g semi-sweet dark chocolate
• smooth apricot jam
• slivered and sliced almonds to decorate

Method

Making the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Line a springform pan with parchment paper on the bottom and grease well up sides and on the parchment
3. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks in one bowl and set aside
4. In another bowl, beat egg yolks until creamy. Beat in sugar, salt, and lemon rind.
5. To the yolk mixture, add the ground nuts and mix gently by hand
6. Gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture, taking your time to reach an even consistency
7. Pour the cake batter into the pan. Bake 35-40 mins.
8. Allow the cake to cool slightly before opening the springform pan and flipping the cake onto a cooling rack. You may want to grease the cooling rack first, as the cake always sticks to it otherwise! Remove the pan bottom and parchment

Decorating

1. Once the cake has cooled, flip onto a serving platter (or first flip on an intermediate plate then flip upside-down again as the bottom surface may be smoother)
2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double-boiler (if using a microwave, stir frequently and melt in short bursts to avoid lumps). 
3. Depending on your chocolate, you may want to carefully stir in 2-4tbs boiling hot water to make it a little runnier and easier to spread (we didn't have to do this).
4. Using a rubber spatula, spread a thin layer of apricot jam all over the top and sides of the cake.
5. Spread a thin layer of the melted chocolate over top of the jam on the top and sides of the cake
6. Use the slivered and sliced almonds to decorate (traditional for Pesach is a Magen David on top and some sliced almonds pressed into the sides)

The best way to prepare tofu

Simple, sure-fire, quick way to prepare tofu for snacking or using in any other recipe. If you do this, it will taste way better than if you just use the tofu straight from the fridge.
Recipe comes from Cookie and Kate - check out her site for way more info and fantastic recipe ideas:
https://cookieandkate.com/how-to-make-crispy-baked-tofu/#tasty-recipes-24123

Ingredients

• 1 block extra-firm tofu
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs soya sauce
• 1 tbs corn starch

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Rinse the tofu
3. Squish as much water out of the tofu as you can: 

• slice it into 3(ish) big slabs
• lay them out on a plate or board with a clean tea towel folded underneath
• cover with another folded tea towel 
• put another plat or board on top with something heavy on that (eg. a big stack of plates or a cast iron pan)
• leave as long as you can, within reason (up to 30 min or so, but even just 5-10 helps

4.  Cut the slabs of tofu into bite-sized chunks or fingers of your preferred dimensions
5. Put tofu in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil
6. Add the soya sauce and toss to coat again
7. Add the cornstarch and toss once more. Don't worry if the coverage isn't perfect.
8. Spread out in one layer over a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
9. Bake 25-30 minutes, flipping tofu about halfway through

Tofu should be crispy and tasty! Dip it in peanut sauce as a tasty snack or add to a stir fry or thai curry or whatever else you feel like making with tofu.

Awesome no-cook peanut sauce

It's from Cookie and Kate. https://cookieandkate.com/peanut-dipping-sauce/
This version is simplified a little teeny bit, so check out the original for more ideas.
It's so good. The kids love it on everything!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups peanut butter
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar (I have replaced with apple cider but it was a bit strong - I'd reduce the quantity)
• 1/3 cup soya sauce
• 3 tbs honey
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger (or use 1.5 tsp fresh)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2-4 tbs water

Method

1. Mix everything together except the water
2. Add water as needed to get to the desired consistency. It will be a bit runny.

That's it!

Dip stuff in or add to a bland stir fry.

Make rice bowls and pour over top.

Do as you wish. Maybe don't put it on ice cream though..

Quick Cabbage Roll Stew

waaayyy easier than making cabbage rolls, and also way tastier!
Based on: https://www.averiecooks.com/30-minute-one-pot-cabbage-rolls/ 

The recipe calls for pre-cooked rice, so if you don't happen to have some in the fridge, go get some started right now!

Ingredients

• 2-4 cups of cooked rice (just put in whatever you happen to have leftover - it could even be less or probably omitted altogether)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large can diced tomatoes (240mL, I think)
• a good squirt of ketchup, to your taste (or tomato paste. might want to add a touch of sugar to balance acidity if you choose not to use ketchup)
• 1 tbs worcestershire sauce (or put a little soya sauce if you don't have this)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 medium - large onion, diced small
• 3-4 garlic clovers, minced
• 1 small-medium head of green cabbage, sliced and diced into bite-sized pieces
• 2-3 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• pinch of cayenne
• chopped fresh parsley (makes a big difference if you have it!)

Method

1. Heat a large dutch oven or pot on the stove over medium-high heat
2. Add olive oil, ground beef, and onions. Break up the ground beef with a spatula as it cooks. Stir frequently. Cook about 5-7 minutes or until beef is cooked and onions are soft.
3. Add garlic and cook about a minute, stirring often
4. Add cabbage, rice, tomatoes (including juice), 2 tsp salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir to combine. Cook about 2-3 minutes until it comes to a simmer
5. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook covered for about 10 minutes (until the cabbage is tender)
6. Taste - add ketchup, worcestershire sauce, additional salt if you like, and the cayenne. Stir to combine.
7. Garnish or stir in the parsley.

Enjoy!

Another Easy Tasty Way to Bake Cod

Almost identical to https://thestayathomechef.com/baked-cod-fish/

Ingredients

• about 800g of cod pieces
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup most-of-the-way melted butter
• 2 tbs grated parmesan
• 1 tbs flour
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• smidge of dijon mustard (up to 1tsp if you actually like mustard)
• juice of 1 lemon or lime
• lemon slices to tuck around the fish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Grease a 9x13 baking dish
3. Place cod fillets in the baking dish. Season with a moderately generous amount of salt and pepper
4. Combine remaining ingredients (except lemon slices) in a small bowl
5. Spread the butter mixture over the fish
6. Arrange some lemon slices around the fish
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish

Thai-style Fried Rice

I figure I should actually post this here since it is one of my gotos when the fridge is mostly bare but I have leftover rice and various bits and pieces. It is open to major modifications.

Ingredients

• 500g chicken breast, pork fillet, prawn, beef, or tofu cut into thin strips
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 bunch chinese broccoli or gailan, carrot, snowpea, or baby corns (at most 2
• veggies to prevent too much moisture)
• 1.5 cups cooked rice per person
• 1/2 small onion, cut into strips
• 2 green onions cut into 3/4 inch long pieces
• 2 eggs (1 per person)
• 1 firm tomato cut into 8 wedges
• few cloves garlic, diced

Sauce:

1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
pinch of black pepper
1 tbsp thick sweet soy (ketjap manis)
1 tsp (maggi) seasoning sauce
(can substitute depending on what you have. For example, 2 tbs soya sauce, 1.5 tbs fish sauce, pepper, and a little sugar works perfectly well)

Seasonings:

1/4-1/2 lemon (for juice)
fresh coriander
sliced cucumber on the side as an accompaniment

Method

1. Heat oil in the wok
2. Add garlic
3. Fry meat until medium-cooked
4. Push meat to the side and add egg. Flip the meat on top of the egg so the egg coats it - let cook on one side a bit, then flip to cook other side.
5. Add onion and cook a little
6. (remove from heat if needed) Add: veggies, rice, and seasonings
7. Return to heat and mix well (can smush together with spatula)
8. Add tomato and mix in
9. Cook until the mixture is not too moist
10. Turn off heat and add a bit of lemon juice + coriander

Variations

Today I made this with sliced mushrooms in place of the meat. I fried up the mushrooms in oil with a little sprinkle of salt to draw out some moisture, added diced quartered carrots and cooked the carrots and mushrooms until they started to brown, then continued from step 4 with the eggs (so I used mushrooms + carrots in the place of the meat, since that's all I had). I skipped the coriander, garlic, and tomatoes since I had none (would have thrown in canned pineapple tidbits in the place of tomato but didn't have any of that either). I also often just use deli sandwich meat in this recipe - it's a good way to use it up if you have too much.

Grilled Salmon

I think I've been making grilling fish harder on myself than I really should... this was the easiest grilled fish I've ever made and among the tastiest (though I don't know if anything is likely to top the super fresh halibut fillets we had earlier this year).

The recipe comes from The Spruce Eats: How to Grill Salmon in 3 Easy Steps

I added a miso glaze when I put the fish on the grill, and I used a side of coho, cut in half. I also failed to maintain the temperature of the grill, so I added about 50% to the cooking time (according to the temp gauge on our bbq, I put the fish on at about 425F and the temperature dropped to just over 300F for a big chunk of the cooking time, so I left it on longer than they suggest).

Here is roughly what I did - this made almost exactly the right amount to feed 6 adults and 4 kids:

Ingredients

• in my case, a little more than 1kg worth of skin-on salmon fillets (1 side + 1 large fillet)-- any size/amount of fillets will do. See original recipe for tips on dealing with other cuts (basically put tin foil under it)
• 1/2 lemon (optional)

Glaze

(this made way more than I needed - you could definitely half the recipe):

• 2 tbs white miso
• 1 tbs rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbs mirin
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Mix together the glaze ingredients in a small dish and set aside
2. Heat the grill to med-high heat and clean it
3. If you're not lazy, rinse and dry the fish and pull out pin bones (see original recipe) - otherwise skip this step
4.  Rub both sides of the fish fillets with olive oil and put skin-side down on a dish or tray
5. Just before putting it on the grill (I did it after, which is probably why I lost so much heat), brush the top (non-skin) side of the fillets with the glaze. Don't overdo it as excess glaze could lead to flare-ups
6. Transfer fillets, skin-side down, onto the grill (I used 2 spatulas)
7. Cover and monitor the temperature if that's easy for you to do... one recipe I read suggested using the outer 2 burners on a 3-burner grill - I just turned the middle one down low
8. Don't touch it - just cook for 10-15 mins for a 1-inch fillet + 10 minutes per additional inch. Watch for the white fat to show on the top.
9. Remove to a serving platter. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over top if you have some.

Grilled Cajun-Style Halibut

Based on https://kalynskitchen.com/recipe-for-grilled-halibut-with/, but with a few of my own tweaks.

Ingredients

•  Halibut (I use thick fillets) - this recipe is good for about 4 peoples' worth... adjust quantities as necessary
• Olive oil
• The spice rub:
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp sumac (or substitute with lemon zest)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• pinch of cayenne (optional)
• Optional: Mango Salsa for serving

Method

1. Heat the grill to very high temperature
2. Dry the fish fillets, but only if you're less lazy than I am
3. Drizzle some olive oil over the fillets and rub to coat them
4. Sprinkle "a generous quantity" of the rub on each piece of fish and rub to coat more-or-less evenly on both sides
5. Put the fillets non-skin side down diagonally on the grill and immediately lower flame to medium-low setting. Close the lid to keep in the heat.
6. Cook about 3 mins (2 for thinner fillets) then rotate the pieces 90 degrees for fancy criss cross grill marks. Cook another 2-3 minutes with the lid down.
7. Carefully flip the fillets (I use 2 spatulas) so that the skin side is down. Cook another 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of your fillets. (Lid down - make sure the temperature doesn't drop too low). Total cooking time should typically be 8-10 minutes, depending on thickness. Don't overcook - remember it will keep cooking a little when removed from grill.
8. Carefully lift the fillets from the grill - now that the skin side is down, you don't have to worry so much about losing fish if it is sticking.
9. Very nice served with a fruity cilantro-y fresh salsa (mango is best)

Fresh Cilantro-filled Salsa

I usually make my salsa from scratch unless I'm feeling lazy. I have always just followed a general pattern and substituted as necessary - as long as you have some kind of fruit base (tomatoes and mango are my usual ones, but I've also done this with cucumber or strawberries), plenty of lime or lemon juice, fresh herbs (cilantro is my fave, but I've used parsley/chives in a pinch), and salt and pepper then it will probably be yummy.

Ingredients 

(open to interpretations, listed in order of most to least important)

• maybe about 1-2 cups of finely diced tomatoes (or mango, or...) ... I'm not sure about the quantity
• juice of 1/2 to 1 whole lime or lemon (I prefer lime)
• generous quantity of salt and black pepper
• 1/4-1/2 bunch cilantro (or parsley/chives if need be)
• about 1-2 tbs very finely diced shallot, red onion, or regular onion 
• 1/2 - 1 clove garlic, minced (this adds a little spiciness)
• some amount of jalapeno or hotter pepper, diced very finely with or without seeds (adjust to your spice tolerance from none to a lot - I usually do none or about 1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed)
• optional additions I don't normally make, but you could:
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• pinch of chili powder
• diced peppers
• chopped avocado (I prefer to just make some guacamole separately most of the time)
• tabasco sauce

Method

1. Mix the above ingredients together in a smallish bowl
2. Taste and adjust seasonings.. if it's missing something, consider adding more salt

REMEMBER: If you have a bottle of hot sauce on hand, you can make the salsa on the milder side and let those who want more heat add the hot sauce to their serving (more kid-/crowd-friendly this way)