New Recipes Are Back!

Five years ago I started a tradition called Wednesday Recipes, where Steve and I would try a new recipe every Wednesday. It lasted for about a year, but then Jessica was born and life got too busy to pick/try new things every week.

Now with two school-aged children and a sudden desire for new meals (the seven-year-itch affected our food, not our marriage!), our tradition is back. Since August we have been trying a new recipe every Friday. Our hope is always to find a new recipe we love enough to add to our regular meal rotation.

Every once in a while I'll blog about our new recipes as a way to keep track of our meals and to share them with interested readers. I'll also add a rating (out of 5) for each recipe, to give a sense of how we felt:

1/5 - Terrible. Couldn't finish.
2/5 - Not good.
3/5 - Ok. Would not recommend.
4/5 - Good! Would recommend.
5/5 - Amazing! Love it. Add it to the list.

Here are the recipes we've tried so far:

New Recipe #1
Trinidad Chicken Roti - 4/5

This recipe was recommended to me by my brother-in-law. I loved the smell as it cooked and really enjoyed the dish (more so than Steve). While it won't get added to our regular meals, I'm sure we'll make it again when we're in the mood for a comforting curry meal full of flavour.

New Recipe #2
Indonesian Style Pork Kebabs - 4/5

The marinade for this dish smelled really good! We liked the simple flavour; we just overcooked the pork a little so it left us wanting a dipping sauce to go with it. We'll probably try this recipe again and see if we can perfect it before adding it to our list.

New Recipe #3
Pappardelle with Duck Ragu - 4/5

I loved the flavour of this ragu -- very similar to a comforting chicken soup. The main problems are that duck is expensive and it was a lot of work to prepare (chop vegetables, brown the duck, cook the stew, remove meat from bones, toss, garnish). So this is not something we could add to a regular rotation; it is better suited to special occasions.

New Recipe #4
Honey-Butter-Grilled Chicken Thighs with Parsley Sauce - 2/5

This recipe was too much work for not enough flavour (plus what little flavour was there was not very good). The one thing we learned from this meal is that we like skin-on chicken thighs, especially for grilling (we'd always had skinless before).

New Recipe #5
Ham Steak with Sautéed Apple and Onions - 3/5

This dish was ok and easy to make, but Steve and I got sick of the flavour by the end. We don't use alcohol in our cooking, so perhaps those 2 tablespoons of brandy would have made all the difference!

New Recipe #6
Vietnamese Grilled Pork & Rice Noodles - 5/5

This was the only meal that made the cut! We actually tried this recipe earlier in the summer, before we officially started Friday Recipes, but it deserves to be mentioned. If you like Vietnamese Noodle Bowls at restaurants, then this is a great version to make at home. My favourite part is that you get to fill your bowl exactly as you like it (so fewer noodles, more pork, or different vegetables than you might get in a restaurant). And don't forget the all-important Vietnamese fish sauce to go with it. Delicious!

Happy cooking!

Recipes That Didn't Make the Cut

It's been a while since I've posted a Wednesday Recipe, but it's not for lack of trying. We're always on the lookout for new recipes to add to our regular meals. This Christmas I got a fun new casserole cookbook which I'm very excited to dig into.

What's funny is that I'll often take pictures of a new recipe, before we taste it, just in case it becomes a keeper (and probably because it looks good!). But then I end up with a bunch of delicious-looking photos (of not-so-delicious food) just sitting in my Pictures folder. Instead of letting them go to waste, here are some pictures of meals that didn't make the cut. (Because you love looking at pictures of food as much as I do, right?).

Zucchini Chickpea Balls

(I baked them instead of frying, so although they tasted ok, they looked gross)

Tomato Relish Meatloaf
(Relish was good but a lot of work; meatloaf was dry from overcooking) 

Beef Tacos
(Too salty)

Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
(Had a funny aftertaste) 

Paprika Chicken
(I liked it; Steve thought it was a little bland) 

Apple Ginger Pork Chop

(Tasty but dry; probably try again with different cooking time)

Here are the links to our keepers so far, in case you're looking for a new recipe to try:

Orange Ginger Beef
Grilled Chicken Thighs
Olé Burger and Maple Carrot Cake
Pork Bulgogi (quite strong on its own, but yummy as the filling for lettuce wraps!)
Applesauce Spice Cake
Strawberry Crisp and Chocolate Cake
Mixed Berry Muffins (haven't actually made these again, so probably not a "keeper")
Pasta Shells with Broccoli and Sausage (we make this one all the time!)
Sweet and Garlicky Pork Chops (this one too!)
Dark and Dangerous Triple Chocolate Cookies (one of the three cookie recipes that Emily regularly makes)
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Tomato Chickpea Curry

Wednesday Recipes: Orange Ginger Beef

Here's a delicious new recipe that has made it into the rotation: Chef Michael Smith's Orange Ginger Beef. I have a copy of his cookbook Chef At Home, which is where I found the recipe, but he also posted the recipe on his website (linked above).

This is one of those recipes where the first couple of bites were just ok, but as we got more and more used to the flavours, we fell in love with it and wanted more. We've made it a second time since then and loved every bite.

We don't use bean sprouts or cilantro in our version (purely preference). The final product is flavourful and delicious, especially topped on a bed of spinach and brown rice.

 Bon Appétit!

Wednesday Recipes: Grilled Chicken Thighs

This recipe for grilled chicken thighs was an unexpected keeper. The marinade has four simple ingredients -- soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger -- and the thighs turn out so tasty! The original recipe (found here) is for 12 chicken thighs, but we usually only make 6. So here's the adapted recipe:

Ingredients
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp (packed) brown sugar
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp chopped peeled fresh ginger
6 skinless boneless chicken thighs
chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Instructions
Whisk soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger in a large bowl. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Preheat barbecue to medium-high heat. Add chicken to marinade; toss to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes. Brush grill with oil. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

I find that a bit of fresh parsley really brightens up the flavour. Enjoy!

Wednesday Recipes are Back! Sort Of.

Since Jessica was born we've taken a break from trying a new recipe every Wednesday. It's still too much to handle as a weekly tradition for now, but we are trying new things here and there. Last week we celebrated my mom's birthday so Steve and I cooked up a nice dinner with two recipes that have become keepers.

The Olé Burger

Maple Carrot Cake

Both recipes are from Food & Drink (LCBO's free magazine). The Olé Burger uses a combination of chorizo sausage and ground pork (we used ground turkey). The first time we made it it was phenomenal! This time we couldn't find any uncooked chorizo sausage (it's typically only available in the summer), so we had to  make our own. The result was nowhere near as good as the first time, so I would only recommend trying this if you can find the real thing.

The trick to a perfect homemade burger:

a large cookie cutter!

The Olé Burger:

Food & Drink, Summer 2011

Us Canadians love maple syrup! This carrot cake is so delicious and moist. Steve opted to make plain vanilla icing instead of the Maple Butter Icing from the recipe because we found it too buttery the first time we tried it. Yum! 

Yummy batter

I love little cakes in ramekins!

Maple Carrot Cake:

Food & Drink, Spring 2011

Happy birthday Grand-Maman!

Pork Bulgogi

Here's a Wednesday Recipe pick that has made it into our regular meals. Steve grew up eating beef bulgogi so we've been making that for years, but we decided to try something a little different (a pork recipe). We found this recipe and made a few adjustments (most notably we added green onions and sesame seeds), so below is the recipe we use. If you're a fan of spicy Asian (Korean) food, you should try it!

Ingredients:
1 lb. thinly-sliced pork tenderloin
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tbsp. crushed ginger root
2 tbsp. crushed garlic
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. gochujang (red chili pepper paste)
2 tbsp. apple juice (the recipe calls for rice wine (sake), which we never have on hand)
2 tbsp. sesame oil
2 green onions, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp. sesame seeds
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Instructions: 
Combine all the ingredients except for the pork to make the marinating sauce. Stir in a large mixing bowl.

Add the pork and marinate for 30-60 minutes. Grill or pan-fry and serve with steamed rice.

Yet Another Dessert Recipe

Steve's Wednesday Recipe picks are almost always desserts, so we've been trying quite a few lately. I couldn't resist posting the recipe for this delicious applesauce spice cake. Imagine a gingerbread cookie mixed with pumpkin pie -- in cake form. Top it with some smooth fudge icing... Incredible! We plan to make this one again for Easter.

Here's the recipe, from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book.

Wednesday Recipes: Strawberry Crisp & Chocolate Cake

We've been a little lazy with our Wednesday recipes. Lately they've become more unofficial -- "let's make that [insert random new thing we tried that week] our Wednesday recipe". But mostly I've been lazy with posting the recipes we actually enjoyed! There are a few that we've made more than once, but I either didn't get a good picture of them or didn't think it was worth sharing. Anyways, I'll try to be a little more diligent. Well, at least until Jessica arrives!

Strawberry Crisp

Strawberries were on sale this week so we bought a bunch and decided to try making a strawberry crisp. We have a delicious apple crisp recipe so we just used an altered version of it with strawberries. It came out a little on the sweet side, but add a bit of cream/milk to your bowl and it is heavenly! We'll definitely try this one again, especially during strawberry picking season.

Ingredients:
Topping:
3/4 cup each of brown sugar, flour, and oats (quick cooking)
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

Fruit:
4 cups quartered strawberries (halved if they're small)
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine the first three ingredients, then mix in the butter pieces one at a time (Steve does this with a stand mixer). In a bowl, combine the strawberries with the sugar and cornstarch. Place the strawberry mixture into a greased pan (we use a 2L round glass one), add the topping, and bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Enjoy warmed or cooled, with cream/milk or whipped cream.

Note: If you want to try our apple crisp, use the same topping, but for the fruit: peel & slice 6-8 granny smith apples and mix with 2 tbsp flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 F. The apple crisp recipe comes from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book.

Chocolate Banana Cake

The second recipe I'm going to post is a chocolate banana cake we tried a few weeks ago and made it again for my birthday (it was that good!). The cake came out so moist and rich. Plus, you feel like you're eating something somewhat healthy because it has bananas in it ;). The recipe is from here (Joy of Baking.com), but below I'll write it with the few alterations that we made (we added an extra banana and reduced the amount of sugar).

Ingredients:
Cake:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache Frosting:
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (we used homo milk -- it was good)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x13 in. pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The recipe says 35-40 minutes, but Steve is notorious for baking things until just done, so it only took 25 minutes ;).

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cooled, frost with the Ganache.

For the Ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl, set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. When Ganache has completely cooled, beat until soft and fluffy.

We didn't whip the ganache, we just poured it on top of the cake, unwhipped. The texture was great, but I would be tempted to try whipping it the next time. Bon Appétit!

Mixed Berry Muffins

Today's Wednesday Recipe was my pick: Mixed Berry Muffins. I love berries and berry-filled muffins so I decided to try this recipe from the Marie Claire Seasonal Kitchen cookbook. Although the muffins weren't spectacular, they were fun to make and I think that with a bit of tweaking they can taste as yummy as they look!

Topping the muffins with extra berries

Delicious-looking batter

Emily playing in the messy living room while Mommy bakes

Finished product

Here's the recipe:

Pasta Shells with Broccoli and Sausage

Here is the final Wednesday Recipe that made it into our regular meals this summer. It's an altered version of the fancier-sounding "Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe & Sausage" from the Williams-Sonoma Pasta cookbook. Making the orecchiette was far too much work for what it's worth, and we're not fans of the bitter broccoli rabe. So we tried it again but substituted those items with regular pasta and broccoli. We also simplified the cooking steps a little and changed some ingredient amounts to suit our tastes.

The end result is a very tasty and simple dish to prepare!

Ingredients
1 large head of broccoli, chopped into bite-sized chunks
1 lb Italian sweet pork sausage, casings removed
4 tbsp olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb large pasta shells (or any other shape)
grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions
Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the sausage over medium-high heat. Once cooked, remove the meat from the pan and set aside. Return the pan to medium heat and add remaining 3 tbsp olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is lightly golden, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, add pasta to a large pot of boiling, salted water. Once 2 minutes remain on the pasta cooking time, add the broccoli to the pasta water. Drain when done. Add the pasta, broccoli, and sausage to the pan with the oil and garlic, toss to coat.

Top with Parmesan cheese, if desired. Enjoy!

Emily, double-fisting her dinner

Sweet & Garlicky Pork Chops

Here is another Wednesday Recipe keeper. Amazing pork chops! Although the marinade has a lot of ingredients (and might make your house smell strongly of garlic, ginger and sesame oil), the end result is so delicious!! I'm not usually a big fan of pork chops (dry, chewy, and flavourless were my past experiences), but these chops end up juicy and oh-so flavourful -- definitely the best we've made so far.

Sweet & Garlicky Marinated Pork Chops (Source)

Marinade:
1 head garlic, broken into cloves and peeled
3 tbsp. sugar
1/3 c. Asian fish sauce or soy sauce
3 tbsp. honey
3 tbsp. rice wine
2 tbsp. Asian sesame oil
1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 lbs pork chops (about 4 small chops)

Combine the garlic and sugar in a mini chopper and process to a paste. Work in the fish sauce, honey, rice wine, sesame oil, ginger, salt, and pepper. Marinate pork chops for a few hours, then grill on high heat for approximately 4 minutes per side, or until desired doneness (we use thin chops and like them well done). Let the chops rest under foil for a few minutes before serving.

Check out those juices!

Like with most recipes, we made a few changes through trial and error. We prefer fish sauce (over soy sauce), we use apple juice instead of rice wine (we just don't have rice wine on hand), and we reduce the salt to 1 tsp.