About Food

Greeky Eggs

Greeky Eggs

I’m not a breakfast-making chick. When I wake up, I usually grab one of two things: a breakfast pita topped with almond or peanut butter; or a bowl of yogurt and granola. J does a little better on weekends, often making us some delicious waffles.

I wanted to make something special for once, so I pulled out an old copy of LCBO Food & Drink magazine, and made Baked Eggs with Feta and Dill.

Greeky Eggs - closer

This was a simple – but fun – dish to make. I got to use my cute little white ramekins, which rarely see the light of day. It looks and tastes more sophisticated than it actually was to make.

While this would be great at any time of year, I think this is one of those dishes that are best appreciated in the Spring and Summer. The light and fresh vegetable flavours are a perfect way to start the day. This would also be great as a part of a larger brunch spread, with some chilled white wine or mimosas (Darn! I knew I forgot something!).

The recipe can be found on the LCBO website: Baked Eggs with Feta and Dill. I always look forward to the seasonal Food & Drink magazines, both for the recipes and the fantastic photos. It’s like a food blog in paper form… what will they think of next!? (hahaha)

Challenges, Recipes

Daring Nut Butt

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Rice Noodle Salad with Thai-style Cashew sauce and Shrimp

This month, we dare to make our own nut butters, and use them in a savoury dish. I’ve done the peanut sauce thing before, and have used ground almonds to thicken curries (almost counts as a nut butter… almost more of a nut flour, but close enough!). I’m totally open to having a nutty dinner.

Being busy as I have been lately, I took the path of least resistance and used cashew butter in a Thai-inspired noodle salad (one of the recommended recipes). I know I should have picked something a little more challenging for myself, but how could I resist a simple meal that was destined to be amazing?

Amazing it was. I am a sucker for this kind of thing.

Daring Cashew Butter and Roasted Cashews

Daring Cashew Butter and Roasted Cashews

First, I had to make the cashew butter. I figured it would taste that much better if I roasted the cashews first, so I quickly pan roasted them. Some of the oils escaped in the roasting, so I had to add some vegetable oil when I made the butter. My trusty food processor was great at grinding up the cashews, but they needed the extra oil to come together properly and form a paste. I probably would have thinned it out a little more but I knew I was making a sauce next, so I didn’t worry about it too much.

I decided to follow the sauce recipe as closely as possible. I was tempted to add some of the things I add to my own sauce, like keffir lime leaf, but I stayed pretty true to the recipe. What’s the point in remaking my own sauce recipes over again? I wanted to try something new. I chickened out about the amount of garlic, though. As much as I love garlic, 8 cloves sounded a little bit steep. I used 4, and it was plenty garlicky enough.

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

Recipe after the jump!

Continue reading Daring Nut Butt →

About Food

Twice as Nice! BBQ Corn to Summer Corn & Rice Salad

BBQ Corn and Mahi Mahi

When the summer hits, you really want to cook as infrequently as possible. On a hot week like this, I’m grateful for leftovers that I can use in another dish. This post revolves around sweet and juicy grilled corn on the cob, and how to transform the leftover kernels into a fantastic summer salad!

Last night’s dinner was pretty simple and yummy – some corn on the cob and mahi mahi (marinated in piri piri sauce) done up on our wee BBQ. Soo tasty and filling!

After dinner, we had two ears of corn left so I carefully cut the kernels off of the cob and cooked up the rice for my salad. This salad is a mix of sweet, fresh, salty and savoury. You can substitute any of your favourite fresh or grilled veggies, as well as any dressing you like. Keep in mind that the rice will absorb most of the dressing.

Corn & Rice Salad

Try not to overcompensate by drowning the salad in dressing – that will leave your rice gummy and possibly with too strong a taste. The dressing I used is a mild blend of orange juice, very green tasting hemp oil, a wee bit of apple cider vinegar and fresh herbs. It gives a light coating and flavour without covering the smokiness of the grilled corn, the light anise flavour of the fennel,  and the freshness of crisp vegetables.

BBQ Corn & Rice Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup mixed rice, cooked (I use a fun blend of brown, red and wild rices)
  • 1-2 cups grilled corn kernels
  • 2-3 tbsp fresh green onion (green part sliced, white part finely minced)
  • 1-2 tbsp fresh basil, chiffonade
  • 1 tsp fresh mint, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 – 1 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb
  • 1-2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cucumber, chopped

Dressing:

  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp hemp oil
  • 2 Tbsp Piri Piri sauce
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • salt & pepper, to taste

Preparation:

  1. Combine the rice with the corn, onion, basil, mint and fennel. Toss with olive oil.
  2. Mix together the ingredients for the dressing. Be sure to mix well enough that the garlic powder dissolves completely.
  3. Toss the salad mix with the dressing. This can sit overnight if required.
  4. Slice and mix in the rest of the veggies just before eating.
About Food

Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse!

Betelgeuse beer

Betelgeuse may be a star, or a movie dead guy, but now it’s also a great new beer from Mill St!

Mill St. Brewery is a craft brewery that has been around for over 100 years, giving Toronto a great assortment of fun beers. This summer, they’ve released three special brews:

  • Lemon Tea – a refreshing beer with a mix of lemon, Earl Grey and Orange Pekoe flavours.
  • Schleimhammer Roggenbier – not sure how to describe this one… heh… a little sweet, but not super thick… red?
  • Betelgeuse – a Belgian style Trippel, strong and sweet

Beetlejuice

A still from the movie Beetlejuice.

My favourite of the three has to be the Betelgeuse. I’ll start by saying that I’m no beer expert – I’m slowly going through different kinds of beer to see what I like and what I don’t like. So far, my favourite styles seem to be German & Belgian Wheat Beers (Wits, Heffeweizens, etc.) and Belgian Trappist beers.

The Mill St. Betelgeuse was a great addition to their roster, even if it is but a limited release. It’s a little sweeter than most people like in a beer, but it has such a nice round flavour that makes it a great beer to sip after dinner. This kind of beer is especially great on a cool evening… not exactly refreshing for summer.

If you’re looking for something more refreshing, you might want to try the Lemon Tea beer. If you like wheat beers, this one will fit alongside many of them. It offers a nice combination of citrusy flavours, along with a subtle tea aftertaste.

All three of the Mill St. seasonal brews can be found at various LCBO locations in Toronto. I’m not sure if they’re available outside of Toronto – let me know if you find it!!