Meals

Tags

Atlantic, Canada., Cheese, cream, cuisine, Food, parmesan, pasta, PEI, penne, Recipe, shrimp

Recently a fellow blogger commented that we eat like Royalty. I don’t think we do but every morning as I rise early at the crack of Noon, my first question to Monsieur W is what will we have for dinner and his answer is always, what do we have in the garde manger? We always try to plan meals ahead so that it is all organized before meal time. These days with all the restrictions it is unlikely we will get a dinner invitation or go to a restaurant, they are ALL closed!

I also watch Sheryl on What’s for tea on YouTube and she plans her meals for the week, now I would not do that, but she does because she lives South of Glasgow Scotland and goes to Tesco to shop for specials. She is also very chatty on her channel. I do watch two other cuisine channels who will have some interesting recipes. Bonita in Newfoundland of Bonita’s Kitchen on YouTube specializes in NFLD cooking and specialty and I did find a couple of recipe she presented. One of them is the following recipe for a Cheddar Shrimp and Penne bake. Simple and easy to make, no fuss. She also presented the other day a Lobster Salad and again easy to make and so good looking. I am going to try that in the coming weeks when I can get some Lobster claws, I need 3 cup full. It’s the sort of thing you can prepare for a luncheon and everyone will think it was so fab!

So here is a sample of what was on the menu this past few days at Maison B&H.

Roast chicken with sage and roasted vegetables in a rich white wine sauce. We have been roasting radishes and they are quite good with other root vegetables.

Filet of steak with a baked potato

Osso Buco (veal) with a white rice and vegetables celery, carrots and onions in white wine sauce.

Wild Pacific Salmon and home made scallop potatoes in a cream sauce.

Tonight is the following recipe which only take 20 minute to prepare and 35 to cook.

Cheddar Shrimp and Penne

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked penne pasta
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 1-1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided.
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan
• 1 pound peeled and deveined cooked medium shrimp

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook the garlic in butter over medium heat for 1 minute. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in 1 cup of cheese until melted. Remove from the heat.
• Drain pasta; add the pasta, shrimp to cheese sauce, mix well. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish.
• Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheddar cheese remaining and add Parmesan. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly.

 

NOT Spam!

Tags

Canada., Canadian food, Corned Beef, cuisine, Food, Newfoundland

I was prompted by a recent blog entry about SPAM to write about this, hey we are lock into our homes for a month now! I know it is one of those things people look down upon, snooty like. So I remembered that just last week I was looking at Chef Bonita who lives in Newfoundland, known as The Rock in Canada. Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada in 1949, previously it was a poor and much forgotten colony of Britain.

Newfoundland is known for its very distinct cuisine, much to do with delicious Cod dishes and other recipes. I remember a Cod au Gratin dish served at a dinner decades ago as if it was last night, it was that good.

So here Chef Bonita who makes her video in her home kitchen has a recipe for Corned Beef Cakes. Corned Beef is nothing like gelatinous SPAM. It’s just cured beef. Carribean people usually cook it in a skillet with some onions, bell peppers, garlic, tomato paste/ketchup, and seasoning. On the other hand SPAM stands for ‘specially processed American meat’ SPAM was invented in 1937 by Jay Hormel, who was looking for a way to sell the underused shoulder portions of hogs. So mystery meat in other words.

CORNED BEEF is a totally different kettle of fish so to speak. It can also be eaten cold with a nice mustard, I have once in a while this epicurean penchant for Corned Beef. Please enjoy this video about Corned Beef cakes by Chef Bonita.

 

More cooking

Tags

Bread, cuisine, Easter, Food, Germany, Sweet, Traditional

More Sunshine and more Cooking for Easter this time. Now that we are in Easter Week we have to get ready and so I found this traditional Sweet German Braided Easter Bread recipe. It is a sweet bread with raisins, almonds, apricot jam topping. Every Easter we do a special sweet, in Italy there was this very traditional Patiera Napoletana. In Ottawa an Italian deli and pastry shop made those on special orders. It was soooooo Good! Pastiera napoletana is a type of Neapolitan tart made with cooked wheat, eggs, ricotta cheese, and flavoured with orange flower water. You can make it at home if you want, but it is a lot of work.

So while making this sweet German braided bread I thought of the word Gemütlich 

Gemütlichkeit means a situation that induces a cheerful mood, peace of mind, with connotation of belonging and social acceptance, coziness and unhurry. This is what our Easter will be. Frankly looking at the results of our work (Willy and I) today I am in a very good mood.

The sweet German bread is far bigger than what I expected I would say double size of a normal loaf. It looks great, smells wonderful as it cooks. It also took me 3 hours to make because of the steps to let the dough rise. It’s all fun. It is something we would usually buy in a bakery but with the current crisis that is not possible so making it at home is so much more pleasant and guarantees good taste and no funny cut corners. Mr Willy helped me along, I had never made this recipe before and he is our bread maker in the family.

If you wish to try this recipe, here it is:

Cuisine: German

Author: Angela Schofield

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. yeast
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sour cream room temperature
• 2/3 cup luke warm milk
• 1 tsp. lemon extract
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 1 cup hot water

Topping:

• 4 tbsp. milk plus 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/3 cup apricot jam
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Instructions

• Add the raisins into a small bowl and cover with hot water.
• Measure the sour cream and set out to reach room temperature.
• Add flour to a large bowl and form a well in the middle.
• Add yeast and about 2 tsp. sugar to the well.
• Warm the milk to luke warm and pour it into the well.
• Stir gently while incorporating some flour.
• Cover and let rise in warm place for 30 minutes.
• Add the oil, the rest of the sugar, the sour cream, and the lemon extract to the bowl and knead for about 5 min.
• Strain the raisins.
• Then add the salt and the raisins and knead for another 5 min.
• Cover and let rise in warm place for 60 minutes.
• Add the dough to a floured working space and form to an oblong loaf. Cut lengthwise into 3 pieces and braid.
• Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 30 minutes.
• Mix the milk with the sugar and brush onto the loaf.
• Preheat oven to 350ºF and bake for about 20-25 minutes
• In the meantime, warm up the jam and spread onto the warm loaf.
• Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

The video can be found on YouTube, https://alltastesgerman.com/german-recipes/pastry/easter-bread/?unapproved=21359&moderation-hash=692351f19b7fe66495c6739b3d59561b#comment-21359

Not to be outdone, Will made these Scottish Pasties filled with beef, carrots, onions and peas. Delicious!!!

Tomorrow I may make my upside down common pear cake, a recipe I got from Ms Lori in Imoden, Arkansas.  I also want to go shopping before the crowds for our Easter Lunch. I got most everything but I simply do not want to go to the grocery crowds. We will also have to train both Nicky and Nora not to kill the Easter Bunny, hey they are Dachshunds and Nora is a tracking hunting dog with a long family pedigree in Italy. They cannot help themselves. Poor bunny would not stand a chance with their jaws of death. LOL!!!

Such a sweetie our Nora. 

A smile with food

Tags

ATHENS, chicken, cuisine, Food, Greece, lemons, Potatoes

I just saw this and I like Chef John and his recipes. I thought this is a great recipe and it reminded me a lot of my years in Greece.  This is a real Greek recipe and tasted it, I am sure you will enjoy it. We need good news, we need that sunshine now. So why not think happy thoughts and for those of you who have been to Greece this will for sure bring memories.

Greek Lemon Chicken and potatoes:

Ingredients for 4 Portions Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes:

1 whole chicken, about 4 pound, cut in sections,

OR 4 pounds chicken thighs bone-in, skin-on

3 russet potatoes, cut in quarters

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 rounded tablespoon dried oregano

pinch of cayenne

6 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

2/3 cup chicken broth for the pan, plus a splash to deglaze after roasting

fresh chopped oregano to garnish

Roast at 425 for about 45 minutes, or until the chicken is well browned and cooked through.

The video will show you how to do it all:

Cake, Gâteau

Tags

almonds, Arkansas, Brown, cake, Imboden, pear, upside down

Today is a miserable day weather wise, sleet, snow, freezing rain, poor visibility and low clouds, everything is closed for the day. I would not venture out not worth it.

Will was watching a video cook show with Lori Brown who cooks in her home kitchen, she owns a farm 20 acres in Imboden, Arkansas. It is folksy and she has a heavy Southern Accent, I have to pay attention because I do not always understand her. She speaks slowly and all the recipes are easy to understand. She calls her husband Mr Brown. Imboden is a small community, pop 630, the biggest town is Jonesboro pop 77K. a 45 min drive.

So I decided to try to make her upside down pear cake with almonds or pecans. It was super easy to make and very good.  She called for common pears which I took to mean Bartlett’s. You can watch her video on YouTube at Whippoorwill Holler. You can find this recipe on her site.

Here is the result.

Upside down pear with almond cake,  Gâteau renversé aux poires et aux amandes  

Roast Beef recipe

Tags

cuisine, Food, PEI, Recipe, Roast Beef

We buy our meat directly from a Farm outside Charlottetown about 20 minutes from us. The quality is very high and the butcher Drake knows his stuff. It is far better than what we use to buy at the grocery store. This month we got a roast beef about 3.5 lbs and last month we also got a roast beef same size. I also got a Veal roast which is my favorite but here in PEI it is very difficult to get, simply not on offer, I am told.

So I am trying this recipe below on the link and it all seems to be going very well, we invited guests for dinner. This being a long weekend, Remembrance Day 11 November, tomorrow will be super quiet and the only ceremony is at the Cenotaph at 11 am.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roast_beef

The Weather has turned cold around 5 C. which is 40 F. and very windy, a cold Atlantic wind around 40Km per hour, though bright sun shine.

 

Fondant Potatoes

Tags

Food, Potatoes, Recipe

This is a recipe I love and want to share with you, so elegant, your guests will be impressed. Very old School of cooking but so worth it using only Russet potatoes.

Just follow the recipe here and enjoy: