Getting Squashed

We had a butternut squash kickin' around so I figured we should get it gone. Since it went so well with pasta last time I wanted to have it with some whole wheat spaghetti. I found a recipe on allrecipes last week called Pasta e Olio which sounded nice and simple so I based tonight's dinner off of that.

I started by quartering the butternut (I kept the skin on for more fibre) and placing it in a casserol dish along with some smashed garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Oh ya, I also decided to keep the seeds and toast them in the dish too. Seeds are usually very tasty so I try not to throw them out when I cook. The squash took about an hour at 375 degrees.

Next I put a few tbs olive oil in a frying pan and sauteed a lot of garlic and one onion on low heat for about 15 minutes (until the garlic is golden). I threw in some basil that I had dried a few weeks ago, salt, and pepper.

While that was all cooking I sliced some fresh spinach leaves and diced a tomato. I wanted to add some freshness to this dish so after I mixed the onions, garlic, and oil onto the pasta, I threw in the spinach and tomato and let them sit for a few minutes - just until wilted a bit.

This was a filling (I'm still full 2 hours later), healthy, vegetarian meal. I'm trying to cut back on my meat intake - so is Andrew...unknowingly! 

My Turkish soup and Olive Biscotti

Also, I told Jana I would post my Turkish lentil soup. I got the recipe from Gurur - my Turkish friend who works with me at the cafe. This is what she wrote down and told me to do...or my interpretation of it:

• 1 C red lentils
• 1 potato
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• some oil
• some chicken stock
• some water
• 1 spoon of tomato paste

Ok now she said to cook the lentils separate from the carrot, onion, and potato (softened in some water and oil). Next blend until smooth-ish texture with a hand blender or else let cool and throw in the stand-up blender (I did neither). Lastly combine everything into one pot and simmer until everything is fully cooked in chicken stock (I used about 4 cups of chicken stock but added more water still).

Note: Turkish Red Lentil Soup is meant to be thicker consistency. It's easiest to keep it fairly thick and add a bit of water before you eat it. When you eat it be sure to add a nice amount of good olive oil, parsley, and paprika (Hungarian is the best). Without the garnish the soup is very plain - this is the Turkish way; subtle flavours and a punchline of garnish! ENJOY!!

Creole For Y'all!

Tonight we were transported to New Orleans thanks to a visit to Big Daddy's on King St. We just stumbled upon the 'Clam-shack and Oyster Bar' and were instantly sucked into the beautiful menu promising fresh PEI mussels, oysters, shrimp gumbo galore, and of course, jambalaya!

We both ordered the Prix Fixe menus. Our starters were PEI mussels in garlic and chardonnay, and a Louisiana-style gumbo! I've never had gumbo (as I don't think it's all too common in Canada) but very recently I have seen two cooking shows praising its flavours, so I had to try. It was everything I wanted it to be: full of mussles, pulled chicken, shrimp, rice and that thick broth that is actually more of a roux. I ate it all, forgetting it was only my appy! Andrews mussels were so fresh and juicy. Oh and they came to him in the form of a large mountain!

                                                            

Next up was our entrees. Andrew order the chicken etoufee (stewed chicken and rice 'smothered' in a gravy broth). It was really nice - peppery and full of flavour but not spicy or salty. I had a classic rice jambalaya as recommended by our waiter. It was great; however, I'm not sure how authentic it was considering the heat factor. I thought jambalaya's were meant to be very spicy. This dish was flavourful but not spicy. Were my expectations off?

 

Andrew's etoufee

Jambalaya!!!!!

Oh my god we got dessert too. Neither of us could finish our entrees but since our desserts came with ice cream we decided we had to eat that before it melted. I had a molten brownie (now being held captive in the fridge until tomorrow) and Andy got a far to sugary apple cobbler. My dessert was promised a bourbon sauce which it was not served with, but aside from that I can tell I'm going to like this super dark chocolate treat!

All in all, we are now big fans of creole cookin'!

I Feel Like Chicken Tonight!

Saturday was the 5th anniversary at The Healthy Butcher in Toronto, so we helped them celebrate by purchasing a lot of meat at some great sale prices! Andrew really wanted to try cooking a whole bird and they had some great little local-organic ones on sale. He made a spice rub, stuffed it with onion and garlic and let rest in the fridge over night. The next afternoon I put her in the oven at 250 degrees for 3.5 hours. We read that cooking it this slowly at such low temp would result in a rotisserie style bird...I was skeptical...

 

but she turned out beautifully! Crispy skin, great flavour, and all of the spices made for an incredibly easy gravy! I had put her on a bed of halved baby potatoes and a few sprigs of thyme. The potatoes were so delicious - we ended up fighting over the last few, haha!

For dessert I made an apple banana layer cake with brown sugar and creme cheese icing. It's so tasty, oil free, and very easy (I'll post the recipe below later).

Not very photogenic but it tastes better than it looks!

My Healthy Apple Banana Layer Cake:

• 1 cup of flour and flax meal (i.e. 2/3 flour, 1/3 flax)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup apple sauce (unsweetened is best)
• 2 tbs runny honey
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or accidentally spill a lot more in like I did...)
• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• 1 ripe banana - mashed
• 1 apple - cored and slice (leave the peel on for some fibre!)

Brown Sugar and Creme Cheese Icing

• 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter ( I think next time I will add some whipping cream instead of butter)
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 teaspoons runny honey

I made this the usual way - mixed dry ingredients, made a well and mixed in the moist ingredients.

I baked the batter in two loaf pans at 375 for about 25 minutes. After baking I let them cool completely as I whipped up the icing.

This icing is way to easy to be this delicious - literally just beat everything together to get a homogenous mixture. Also pay attention when adding the honey, I added a bit too much and it really affects the consistency of the frosting. Mine would have been better a bit more viscous but it still tasted amazing.

I put a good amount of icing in between the cakes and since I had leftover icing I also iced the sides. This kept the cake moist until the last peice! Mmmmmmm we are already craving another one.

Time Flies Faster Than a Humble Bee

Let's get up to date; the past few weeks I have apparently been too busy to blog...which should mean that I have some great tales and stories for you about all of my adventures. Right? Riiiighttt....well I have nothing extraordinary to report, and besides having started my new job, not a lot is new!

Although there is nothing I would rather do on this rainy, blustery, sleepy day than rehash the past weeks, I feel this would require more energy than I am capable or more likely, willing, to exert; therefore, I have come up with a happy medium - I will post the photographs of the missing weeks in chronological order and the story telling onus will be yours!

Ok that's not fun for you...I will write where necessary. Fine? Fine.

...I'm talking to myself.

 Enjoy the snapshots!!

Awwwwwwwe!

 

We found the best hot pot restaurant!

Out for Malaysian dinner

 

Andrew's bruschetta tilapia!

 

Taking the boys to St. Lawrence Market

  Our afternoon of touring TO - Casa Loma

Oatmeal pancakes with homemade apple stew!

After the gold medal game - Dundas Square was insane!

Quebec white cheddar from Leslieville Cheese Market aka. my new home.

Making cabbage rolls and perogi's

Cabbage soup, cabbage rolls, cheddar potato perogi's

Handmade truffles from my work

At the beach in our parka's haha

"The big kahuna"

He said next time he's ordering the "Cardiac Arrest"

This was their smallest burger. Wow, we love Dangerous Dan's!

Carmelized carrots and pears, lentils and wild rice, and dijon chicken. 

Dancing with friends!

 

Spaghetti with butternut squash and watercress. This was so good!

Organic top sirloin with red wine reduction, grilled asparagus and enoki, spaghetti and cheddar.