Food & Recipes: August 2011 Archives

Tuesday August 30, 2011

Delicious dates

The Eyeopener's food and nutrition columnist Julie Van Rosendaal joins us to talk about dates, a food traditionally eaten during Ramadan.

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Categories: Columnists, Food & Recipes

Tuesday August 23, 2011

Too hot to cook

What do you do when it's too hot to cook? Julie Van Rosendaal drops by with some ideas for pulling dinner together with a combination of takeout and whatever's in the fridge.

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Thousand Island Slaw with Chicken

adapted from Gourmet, July 2007

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Walla Walla)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. rice or cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. sweet relish
1 tsp. caraway seeds (optional)
1 bag coleslaw mix
2 cups shredded roast chicken (from a rotisserie chicken)

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, onion, ketchup, vinegar, relish, caraway seeds (if using). In a large bowl, toss together the coleslaw and chicken; drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper if it needs it. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

Pad Thai

1/2 - 1 lb. (250-500 g) package rice noodles, thin or thick
Sesame, peanut or canola oil, for cooking
1/4 cup tomato sauce or ketchup
1/4 cup fish sauce (nam pla)
1/4 cup lime juice or 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2-4 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. chili sauce or sambal oelek (optional)
1 tsp. tamarind concentrate (optional)
1 cup chopped cooked chicken (optional)
1/2 lb. cooked or uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined (optional)
1 pkg. firm tofu, drained and diced (optional)
1-3 small red chilies (optional)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cloves garlic, crushed (optional)
3 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups bean sprouts
1/4 cup chopped peanuts or cashews, salted or unsalted
Lime wedges (optional)

Soak the rice noodles according to the package directions. Rinse them with cold water and drain well. Drizzle the noodles with a little oil to keep them from sticking, and toss to coat.

In a small bowl, stir together the tomato sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, chili sauce, and tamarind concentrate (if using).

Heat a good drizzle of oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the meat or shrimp if they're uncooked (if your meat is cooked, set it aside for now), along with the tofu and the chilies if you're using them. Cook for a few minutes, until the meat is cooked through or the tofu is golden. Push the mixture aside or remove it from the pan. If you are using shrimp, remove them from the pan so that they don't overcook and become tough. Add the eggs and cook them as if you were making scrambled eggs, breaking them up with a spatula. Push them aside.

Add a little more oil if you need it and stir fry the garlic and green onions for about a minute. Add the noodles and cook, tossing them with tongs, for another minute. Return any reserved cooked meat to the pan, pour as much of the sauce as you want over it all, and cook for 2-3 minutes, tossing the mixture with tongs or a spatula to coat everything with sauce and heat it through. Add the bean sprouts at the very end as you toss everything together.

Serve immediately in large shallow bowls. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and serve with lime wedges to squeeze over top. Serves 4.

Categories: Columnists, Food & Recipes

Tuesday August 16, 2011

Foraging

Julie is back and she's eager to take us on a culinary tour of the ditches and culverts of Calgary.

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Nanking Cherry and Maple Whiskey BBQ Sauce

8 cups Nanking cherries, washed and stemmed

? cup sugar

? tsp ground ginger

1 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp mustard powder (or 1 Tbsp grainy mustard)

1 tsp kosher salt

? tsp black pepper

1 cup brown sugar

1 ? cups maple whiskey (from Highwood Distillers in Alberta)

In a large saucepan combine cherries and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until cherries have given up their juice. Remove from heat and push through a sieve to remove skins and pits. Return cherry juice to saucepan over medium heat, add all the dry ingredients, stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add 1 cup maple whiskey. Continue to simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the final 1/2 cup whiskey. Cool and refrigerate in a sealed container.

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups fresh or frozen (don't thaw them) blueberries

Topping:

3 Tbsp. butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 375F and line muffin pan with paper liners.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Keep cooking until it melts, foams, then starts turning a nutty brown. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and set aside to cool. Whisk in the milk, eggs and vanilla.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the liquid and fold gently until almost combined; add the berries and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups. To make the crumble topping, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a fork or rub together with your fingers until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the unbaked muffins.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and springy to the touch. Makes 10 muffins.

Nanking Cherry Jelly

1500 ml (6 cups) Nanking cherries
250 ml (1 cup) water
1 package powdered pectin
1200 ml (4.5 cups) sugar

Stem and wash Nanking cherries and place in saucepan with water. Bring water to a boil and simmer 15-20 minutes until fruit is soft. Mash fruit to press out juice and strain. Return juice (3.5 cups) to saucepan and stir in pectin crystals. Place over high heat and stir until boiling. Stir in sugar and bring to a vigorous boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Pour into sterilized jars and seal according to the manufacturer's directions.