Brie & Olive Pizza

This is what I had for dinner today:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Quick-Brie-and-Olive-Pizza-106398

Made my own dough, though:

Curried Black-Eyed Pea Soup

Soup is the best dinner on cold days. This one was simple and got rid of one more item that's been lurking in the back of my pantry:

Curried Black-Eyed Pea Soup

My only real comment is that I needed to pump up the flavour but that could be because I didn't use bacon and substituted veggie stock for the chicken stock. Ian liked it... but he eats anything that I claim to be good for him, so I'm not sure that he's a great judge. ;)

Cheater's Dinner

Still haven't gone grocery shopping and didn't have much time between work and rehearsal tonight so it was a non-dinner dinner night. I don't mean to suggest that I didn't HAVE dinner, but it consisted of tostadas, tinned crab and taco salsa. In a weird way it reminded me of the amazing lunch that of ceviche and tostadas that Ian and I had on a beach near La Paz, BCS last April. SIGH!

Ooohh Ahhh Stir Fried Chinese Greens

Tonight's dinner was trout baked in a shroud of grainy mustard and gomasio, leftover Israeli couscous, and some incredible stir fried baby bok choy. It might sound a bit ridiculous, but Jamie Oliver's recipe for stir fried greens is one of the best recipes in my repertoire. It's the kind of thing that makes me do a happy dance (and I actually exclaimed out loud, "wow! I made this!" at the dinner table tonight). And it's SO easy! I suspect that the par boiling and maybe even the walnut oil are key. The lime juice gives it a lovely brightness that is a bit different than you'd probably get in a real Chinese restaurant.


Stir Fried Chinese Greens with Ginger, Oyster and Soy Sauce
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Source: The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver
Serving Size: 4 (or 2 Christine-sized)

Ingredients:

11-14 ounces chinese greens, bok choy, gai lam, baby spinach (whatever you like)
3 tablespoons walnut oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon ginger, thinly sliced
4 green onions, finely shredded
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 pinches sugar
1 lime, juiced
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Remove any blemished outside stalks from the greens. Put the spinach (or the green ends of the bok choy) to one side so that you can add it to the wok or pan at the last minute, as it cooks very quickly. Prepare the rest of the greens; I normally cut the gailam into strips and the bok choy into quarters. Plunge the greens into boiling water for about 1 1/2 minutes until just tender and drain well.

Put the oil and the ginger into a very large, hot wok or other suitable pan and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the green onions and the rest of the ingredients aside from the s&p. Stir, then add the spinach/leafy greens and toss so that everything is coated in sauce. The vegetables will sizzle and stir-fry. The oyster and soy sauce will reduce, just coating the greens. At this point season to taste. Stir-fry for a further minute and serve immediately.

Salmon Cakes and Other Things from the Cupboard

It's been quite cold this weekend and the snow started flying when I woke up this morning. So, another day inside hybernating was fine by me.

I'm still working my way through the cupboards and it semed like a good day to make a soup and/or bring out the rice cooker.

I made a pot of pigeon pea soup and used the rice cooker to whip up some Israeli couscous for Ian's lunch. This is only the second time I've made Israeli couscous and I have to say, the rice cooker method was the superior (and easier) one.

Dinner was salmon cakes fashioned from leftovers from New Years Day dinner at mum's. Potato wedges tossed with rosemary and garlic and olive oil and roasted in a hot oven completed the modern version of fish and chips. My only regret is that I didn't get out to buy any greens so I've had a bit of a veggie poor day.

The fish cakes were a bit of this and a bit of that but they turned out really well so I'll try to recapture the ingredient list:

about 170g cooked salmon, flaked
6-8 large butter crackers, crushed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 green onions, finely chopped
1.5 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Keene's mustard (powdered)
salt (to taste)

Mix well and form into patties (4 small/2 large). Cover with plastic wrap and cool in the refrigerator for about 1/2 hour until set somewhat. Once set, fry in olive oil on medium high heat until golden on both sides.

Maple Banana Flaxseed Bread

I'm trying to use up all of the stuff in my refrigerator, freezer and the fruit that is turning on my counter. Dinner tonight is pasta with edamame and scallops (sauteed with garlic in olive oil). Pretty simple.

While cleaning this afternoon, I also made Maple Banana Flaxseed Bread with the bananas that were rotting on my counter. God bless my bread machine. This one smelled divine while it was baking and would make some pretty wonderful french toast, I'm sure, as it's not overly sweet. Somehow the walnuts stood up to the kneading process intact. Note that it makes a short loaf, likely as a result of the whole wheat content.

Maple Banana Flaxseed Bread

1/3 cup water
1 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup skim milk powder
1.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp shortening or vegetable oil
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (I used Red Fife)
1.5 cups all purpose flour or bread flour
1/4 cup flaxseed, cracked
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp bread machine yeast

1. Measure ingredients into the baking pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Insert pan into the oven chamber.

2. Select Whole Wheat Cycle.

Source: 250 Best Canadian Bread Machine Baking Recipes by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt

Starting as I Mean to Go On - Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

Shh! Don't tell anyone, but I'm at the point where I'm sick of eating. Once my birthday is over and done with next week, I'm taking a month and not ingesting anything white (flour, sugar, rice, etc) and probably cutting out caffeine. You may as well do it all at once! So, this morning I made pancakes that weren't "white" and, much to the delight of the food police in my life, they actually turned out pretty darned delicious!

I think you'll enjoy Whole-Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes, too.