Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Rustic Tomato Basil Bruschetta on Pumpernickel

  • 1 large tomato, seeded and finely diced
  • hand full of basil leaves (I took about 20 since basil is in abundance in the garden)
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • pinch sea salt
  • Pumpernickel loaf sliced 1/2" thick
  • olive oil
  1. preheat oven to 450-degrees
  2. combine tomato, basil, garlic, 1 tsp olive oil, vinegar and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
  3. brush one side of each slice of bread and toast in oven, oil-side down, for five minutes.
  4. Remove bread from oven, turn over and top with tomato-basil mixture.
  5. Return to oven for an additional two minutes.

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Monday, September 27, 2010

About my Channa Masala

Chickpea, oh you wonderful legume. I've been eating it all my life, ever since my grandmother served it with couscous, cinnamon and sugar.

Read more: Channa Masala (chickpea curry)

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H‘nSgirlichef

Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart

pretzel and marshmallow brownies 

I love her so much I'll bake for her.

She loves me so much she'll eat what I bake.

Thank you instant cake-in-a-box and inspiration from Squirrel Bakes.

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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Leftover pumpernickel and stuff from the garden

After a small carton of tomatoes from various friends and family landed on our doorstep and my mother-in-law brought some planters full of basil, I was left pondering how to eat it all.

When I looked in the fridge and saw a beautiful half-eaten pumpernickel languishing, I fired up Google for some ideas.

Bruschetta.

Now making a good bruschetta is actually far more complicated than it looks, and I wasn't prepared for that. A wise chef once told me, "if it's not going to look pretty, or you're going to cust some corners (like not peeling the tomatoes), just call it "rustic" and it'll be fine.

So I did.

Recipe: Rustic Tomato Basil Bruschetta on Pumpernickel

This post is also part of Grow Your Own #45 hosted by Girlichef.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Eggplant Lasagna with Tortilla


In August, my mother-in-law brought me a huge eggplant from the market, leaving me wondering what to do with it. Meredith is still off garlic, so a giant tub of baba ghannouj wasn't going to happen.

I also had a container of ricotta cheese I had bought on sale without any particular plans, so I started looking for eggplant lasagna recipes. The one that caught my eye used tortilla as well (to capture some of the moisture, I assume) and it looked like an appetizing base. In the original recipe, it was presented far nicer than anything I could do: baked in individual mini-lasagna pans with dainty layers of flavour presented quite nicely.

That's not my style (I'm lazy), so I opted for the casserole dish instead. It also helped use as much of that giant eggplant as I could. The pile of sliced eggplant was huge.

Eggplant Lasagna with Tortilla


1 container (400g) ricotta
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tbsp dried parsley
3 tbsp fresh basil, minced
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt, pinch or to taste
1 medium eggplant, thinly sliced (optional: peel first)
3 tortillas sliced into 3” strips
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups tomato sauce
additional Parmesan cheese
  1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
  2. In a, bowl mix the ricotta and Parmesan and fold in the egg, parsley, basil, nutmeg, and salt. Cover and refrigerate.
  3. Assemble the lasagna as follows:
    1. tortilla
    2. cheese mixture
    3. shredded cheese
    4. sauce
    5. eggplant (gently press down on the eggplant)
    6. cheese mixture
    7. shredded cheese
    8. sauce
  4. Complete the cycle two more times for a total of 24 layers, ending with sauce.
  5. Sprinkle Parmesan on the final layer.
  6. Bake for 50 minutes and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

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Monday, September 20, 2010

Hearth 'n Soul: Chicken with Olives and Peppers

Today's posting is for the Hearth n' soul blog hop hosted by Girlichef where we revisit previously posted recipes at the Haggis and the Herring.

Read more: Chicken with Olives and Peppers

H‘nSgirlichef

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

African Chicken in Peanut Sauce

Served on a combination of white and black rice. It was
news to me that black rice turns the white rice purple
if you cook them together. 
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 tsp chopped garlic
  • 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 3/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper (or to taste)
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 kilos chicken pieces (with or without skin)
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 1 red pepper seeded and finely diced
  • 1 green pepper, seeded and finely diced
  • 1 carrot, finely diced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
  • 4 cups chicken broth or stock
  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 small tomato, seeded and diced
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tsp minced fresh ginger
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  1. Combine salt, pepper, 2 tsp minced garlic, onion powder, cayenne and oil, rub onto chicken and let marinate for 2-3 hours in fridge or overnight.
  2. In a dutch oven, heat 2 tbsp oil, brown chicken in batches and set aside.
  3. Add onions, bell peppers, carrot, garlic, and jalapeno and fry for five minutes, gently scraping the bottom of the ban with a wooden spatula.
  4. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.
  5. Reduce to medium and let simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered.
  6. Add peanut butter, tomato paste, tomato, thyme, ginger, coconut milk and pepper and stir for two minutes.
  7. Add back chicken and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep sauce from sticking and turning chicken after 15 minutes.
  8. Stir in cilantro and serve with rice.
Based on African Chicken in Peanut Sauce by John Spottiswood

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Monday, September 13, 2010

Hearth 'n Soul: Sweet and Hot Moroccan Soup

Today's posting is for the Hearth n' soul blog hop hosted by Girlichef where we revisit previously posted recipes at the Haggis and the Herring.

Read more: Sweet and Hot Moroccan Soup

H‘nSgirlichef

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Sunday, September 12, 2010

Those must-try recipes

Since I joined several cooking/recipe networks like CookEatShare and Food.com, I've been introduced to some excellent chefs and several high-quality blogs. I draw from many of those blogs and recipes for some of my other non-blog content throughout the week and use those ideas for inspiration for future recipes to test at home.

When I first joined CookEatShare, one of its founding members, John Spottiswood, introduced me to an African Chicken recipe that used a peanut sauce and it looked great. That was about the same time that the house-hunting and moving madness started, so my recipes to try file started to pile up quickly.

Well, I finally had a chance to try it (and make a few changes) and it turned out great! I think what did the trick was boiling down the broth before adding the remaining ingredients. It gave the broth a rich taste and when the rest of the chicken and other ingredients were added, it was flavourful without being overly-seasoned.

Recipe: African Chicken in Peanut Sauce

Recipes by the Haggis and the Herring: tasty world recipes tested in our kitchen

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Shana Tovah! Sweet Sadie's honey cake

A bonus post for the holidays.

I'm a very lucky guy. When I left for work this morning, Meredith snuck into the kitchen and made a honey cake, but not just any honey cake. She made Sweet Sadie's honey cake: the best honey cake ever.


Meredith and I helped Penny make the marzipan bees she used on hers. Meredith clearly didn't have time for that this morning, considering she was busy at work while the cake was baking. I can't wait to bite into it.

Have a sweet and happy new year from the Haggis and the Herring.

Recipe: Sweet Sadie's honey cake

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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Bangers and Mash (Sausages and Mashed Potatoes)


Bangers
  • 5 sausages
Mash
  • 4-6 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • dash sea salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp margarine
  • dash nutmeg
Gravy for bangers
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • dash Worcestershire sauce
  • salt
  • pepper
Bangers
  1. Grill or cook sausages according to directions or bake in oven at 350-degrees for 30 minutes, turning halfway.
For mash
  1. Boil potatoes until soft.
  2. Drain water and add salt, milk, margarine and nutmeg and mash with a fork or potato masher until smooth.
Note: do not use a food processor to mash the potatoes, it turns the potatoes into an inedible paste.

For gravy for bangers
  1. In a deep pan, heat oil on medium and add onions.
  2. Continue to fry onions until they begin to brown.
  3. Sprinkle flour on onions, stir, then add mustard, red wine, chicken, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
  4. Continue stirring until sauce thickens. 

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Monday, September 6, 2010

Two for Tuesdays: Lemon Chicken Tajine with Olives

Today's posting is for Two for Tuesdays: a Real Food blog carnival hosted by Girlichef where we revisit previously posted recipes at the Haggis and the Herring.

So far, Two for Tuesdays has been very middle-Eastern in flavour, and I guess it's that way again!

Read more: Lemon Chicken Tajine with Olives

T4ToriginalGirlichef

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Sunday, September 5, 2010

When there isn't a pub for miles

Note: sorry for the late post. I accidentally scheduled in 6:30 p.m. instead of a.m. --Dan

One of the disadvantages of our new location is that there isn't an honest pub anywhere near us. That's fine with me, since it leaves less to temptation (and saves us money). It's less appealing to quickly grab some fish and chips if you need to jump in the car and drive to get there.

When I saw sausages on sale at the grocery store, I knew it was time to make some bangers and mash. There are a million ways to prepare it, but I chose a recipe with an onion gravy and savoury mashed potatoes (I had read about adding nutmeg and it worked).

We also added some baked beans which is a quick-win for me. All I did was open a can of beans in tomato sauce, add a couple teaspoons of molasses and heated the works up in the microwave.

Recipe: Bangers and Mash (Sausages and Mashed Potatoes)

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Friday, September 3, 2010

Product Review: Palm Leaf Plates from Marx Foods

With help from the Foodie Blogroll, I got my hands on some palm leaf plates from Marx Foods. Marketed as disposable, biodegradable, compostable and sturdy they look like an eco-friendly option to paper or plastic plates.

We decided to use a few of them as serving plates for a dinner party and they went over well with our guests. The square and rectangular plates certainly looked nicer than plastic plates and that was three less plates to wash that evening. I should mention now that Marx Foods offers these plates in a variety of shapes.


By the end of the evening, the plate with the red bean hummus (back-left in the above photo) was starting to look worse for the wear and had absorbed some moisture from the dip -- but it didn't break or leak. I should mention that Marx Foods also offers a soup bowl made of the same material.

Since we wanted to finish this review before the leaves started falling off the trees, we didn't toss any of the plates in our compost heap for a time-study to see how long it takes for the plates to compost. instead, we opted to chuck them in the green bin.

Overall, these plates are a great alternative for larger casual dinner parties or barbecues where you'd rather not use washable plates, and for casual outdoor corporate functions where you're looking to make an impression. They're not as inexpensive as cheap looking plastic or foam plates, but you get what you pay for. A package of 100 plates will run you under $80USD including shipping.

A big thank you from the Haggis and the Herring to Marx Foods for sending us the samples!

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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Zucchini and Onions


  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 1 large or 2 medium onions, diced
  • 4-5 zucchini, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4 cm rounds
  • salt
  • pepper
  1. In a deep pan, heat oil on medium and fry onions until translucent.
  2. Add salt, pepper and zucchini.
  3. Cover and let simmer, stirring every couple of minutes until zucchini is soft.
Note: if mixture get too dry, add water.

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