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)

Granny Cake

Here is ilan's Granny's "Long Cake" recipe

The original:

And the revamped:

Ingredients

200g (7/8 cup) butter
250g (1 1/8 cups) caster sugar (this is a finer version of regular white sugar)
6 eggs, separated
100g (just under 1 cup) white flour, sifted
100g (just over 3/4 cup) corn starch
bread crumbs for dusting the pan
icing sugar for dusting over top

Method

Note: This recipe is best done with a stand mixer.

1. Prepare a bundt cake pan by greasing very well then dusting with bread crumbs
2. Cream butter in the mixer
3. Add caster sugar, beat till light
4. Add yellow part of the eggs
5. Mix for approximately 20 mins in stand mixer at a low-medium speed (according to tradition - can it be done at higher speed in shorter time? We will have to try it...)
6. Set oven to 300F at some point in those 20ish minutes
7. Add flour and mix in
8. Add corn starch
9. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff
10. Fold beaten egg whites into the cake mixture gently
11. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Mighty Tasty Basic Pizza

Crust

(based on https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/46595/amazing-whole-wheat-pizza-crust/)

Ingredients

• 1 tsp sugar
• 1.5 cups wrist-temperature water
• 1 tbs active dry yeast
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Rinse a large bowl with warm water (I used our stand mixer). Add the measured warm water and stir in sugar to dissolve. 
2. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface to avoid big clumps and let stand until the yeast gets foamy.
3. Meanwhile, combine whole wheat flour and salt in a separate bowl with 1 cup of the all-purpose flour.
4. Stir water/yeast mixture then add the olive oil.
5. Add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture and mix on low speed mixer setting with the dough hook (or by hand). Mix (or knead) and slowly add the extra half cup of all purpose flour as needed to prevent sticking. Dough is ready when it is smooth and elastic (about 2 minutes on low speed mixer setting). You may need a little extra all purpose flour.
6. Lift the ball of dough and pour a little olive oil underneath it then roll the ball of dough around in the oil to coat all sides. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. (This would be a good time to prep sauce and toppings)
7. When you are ready to make the pizza, preheat oven to 425F.
8. Divide the dough as desired (1 managed 4 very thin crust round pizzas, but you could divide it less for a thicker crust) and shape into rounds. I just put some oil on the pizza pan and used my fingers as a kind of rolling pin to stretch the dough out over it, but I could have just pulled out the rolling pin. Make sure to put some oil or cornmeal or something on your pizza pan to prevent sticking.
9. PREBAKE THE CRUST! Before you add toppings, put the crust into the oven on its own and bake for 5 minutes.. this helps to ensure the crust bakes evenly and doesn't get too soggy with toppings!
10. Pull the crust out of the oven and spread pizza sauce over top then add desired toppings. Bake another 10 minutes (or more if your crust is thicker), until the cheese is browned.

Tomato Pizza Sauce

This recipe came with our Cuisinart Food Processor and it is super tasty, especially if made with fresh oregano! We had a bit of a pepper and salt incident and had to triple the batch so we froze several small containers full... it might be a good idea to make a lot of this in the summer with nice fresh ingredients and freeze it to have on hand later.

Ingredients

• 2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and quartered
• 1 cup passata (crushed tomatoes)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 3/4 tsp dried oregano or 1.5 tsp fresh oregano (best)
• 3/4 tsp dried basil or 1.5 tsp fresh
• 1 tsp sugar
• pinch of salt (they recommend kosher)
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste - not a teaspoon-full!)

Method

If using a food processor, proceed as follows. If not, adjust accordingly.

1. Add the fresh tomatoes to the food processor with the regular blade and pulse until coarsely chopped, about 6 times.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse 4 times to mix.

Topping Suggestions

Given that we are a pork-free household and we love pineapple, we generally stick with pineapple-mushroom-mozzarella as our favourite topping combo. The trick with mushrooms is to fry them up first with some butter, salt, pepper, and a splash of red wine so that they are extra-tasty and contain less moisture. It is great if you also fry up your pineapple to caramelize it a little bit.

Spinach-orange-almond Salad

Another Simple Salad that's mighty tasty! Quantities for the dressing ingredients are entirely made up here and may be off. Basically, it's a little more olive oil than balsamic vinegar and the rest can be adjusted to taste.

Ingredients

Salad

• spinach (1/2 - 1 bunch)
• orange (1 large navel or a few clementines)
• toasted almonds (I would use slivered if I had, but whole ones cut into chunks work too). 

Dressing

• ~ 1-2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• ~ 2-3 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 tsp of sesame oil (a few drops for flavouring)
• 1/4 tsp maple syrup or sugar (just a little sweetening is nice)
• salt
• pepper

Method

1. chop and toast the almonds in a dry frying pan - don't burn! set aside to cool.
2. wash the spinach and cut or tear into desired-size pieces - place in a large bowl
3. peel and divide the orange(s) into skafies and cut into bite-sized pieces (or if you prefer, cut off peels and slice into pieces instead). add to the spinach.
4. mix dressing ingredients together and shake well
5. toss the spinach and orange with the dressing then top with the toasted nuts

My Favourite Super-Simple Salad

I often like to put lots of things in salads, but whenever I'm low on supplies or just decide to make this, I love it!

PRO TIP: If you make it with just arugula, this is awesome served on top of a hot pizza

Ingredients:

• lettuce (green or red leaf is fine - it's great with some arugula added in too)
• parmesan or asiago cheese, grated
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

1. Wash and spin the lettuce
2. Sprinkle with parmesan
3. Mix equal parts olive oil and lemon juice in a small jar or mug with a little salt and pepper to make a dressing
4. Toss

I Ain't Got No Bubby... Challah Recipe

I don't have a Jewish grandmother because well I'm not Jewish. So instead I scoured the Internet for a challah recipe and have made my own tweaks to it over time. Here's how I make it!

Ingredients

• 2 c whole wheat flour
• 1.5 c all purpose flour, plus...
• additional flour: 2 - 3.5 c all purpose flour (usually about 2.5 cups is right)
• 1.5 tbs active dry yeast (traditional)
• 1 tbs salt
• 1/3 c sugar, divided
• 2 c warm water (wrist temperature)
• 1 egg, beaten (plus another for glaze)
• 1/4 c vegetable oil
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 1 c golden raisins (optional)
• sesame or poppy seeds for topping (optional)

Method

1. Rinse bowl of stand mixer with warm water to heat it up a bit
2. Combine 1 tbs of the sugar with the warm water in the mixer bowl then sprinkle the yeast on top
3. Let yeast dissolve for about 10 minutes, until foamy. 
4. Meanwhile, mix together the first 3.5 cups of flour, the rest of the sugar and the salt
5. Stir to dissolve the yeast mixture then add the flour mixture to it
6. Combine the oil, melted butter, and beaten egg - add to the mixer bowl.
7. Using the dough hook and a low speed setting, start mixing/kneading the dough as you slowly add in the additional flour (add only as much as needed - start with 2 cups and add more if it starts getting sticky before you hit the smooth and elastic stage). This should take about 2-3 minutes, maybe 4. Add the raisins in somewhere near the end (if using). [ALTERNATIVELY - knead by hand about 10 minutes as you add in the additional flour]
8. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, lift it from the bowl and pour in about 1 tbs of olive oil. Place the ball of dough on top of the oil then spin it in all directions to coat the dough with the oil (to keep it from sticking to the bowl as it rises).
9. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean damp tea towel and let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours (or longer in a cool place)... aim to gently release some gas every 20 minutes or so after the first hour but if you don't do this it's no biggie.
10. Gently press down on the dough to release excess gas. Divide the dough into 2 (or more) pieces and then divide each of these for braiding. This recipe makes 2 large challahs or more smaller ones.
11. Braid using your preferred method. I like a 4-strand braid with the dough snakes wider in the middle and not too long and skinny, but you can find various challah-braiding instructions online.
12. Let rise 1/2 hour, covered with a damp tea towel. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F.
13. Glaze with the extra beaten egg (mix it with a little water if you like but I don't usually bother). Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds if you like.
14. Bake 25-30 minutes. Don't forget to transfer off the baking sheet after 5-10 minutes so it doesn't get moist underneath the loaves.