Mushroom Walnut Pâté and Resolutions

As someone who keeps “to do” lists all year, it should be no surprise that I love making New Year’s resolutions. I find starting a new year quite therapeutic; a chance to reflect on the year that has passed, whilst looking at ways to improve myself as time marches on. Some of my food goals for the year are:

• To cook more by attempting to make five new recipes a month.
• Eat less sugar, wheat, and meat.
• Eat more legumes, such as lentils and beans.

I feel confident that these are achievable, but I think the two goals that I will find the most difficult will be the limiting of wheat and sugar in my diet. If you read my blog regularly than you will have noticed that I love pizza and pastries, and I have a sweet tooth. Yikes! I figure that all I can do is give it my best shot!

With my goals in mind (eat more legumes and attempt a new recipe), I made Mushroom Walnut Pâté for the very first time. I was inspired to make pâté after eating an incredible version of Walnut and Portobello Pâté from The Acorn. I found a similar recipe through a blog called Urban Chickpea. Although the recipe is a little time-consuming, there is nothing difficult about it and the end result was pretty damn amazing, even if I do say so myself!

Advice that I can give is to really watch the amount of salt in your stock when you cook the lentils as it would be quite easy to over-season this recipe. Secondly, it really does taste better when you let it rest overnight. The sample that I tried that had only been sitting for a few hours was quite salty, but the batch that was allowed to sit overnight was a lot less salty. You can serve it with crackers, or with toasted bread or crisps. Overall, I will absolutely be making this again and serving it with a wheat-free bread. Happy New Year!

Mushroom Walnut Pate – Makes about 3 cups

1 cup Lentils de Puy (French green lentils)
3 cups vegetable stock, preferably unsalted
1 teaspoon dried Herbes de Provence
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 8-10 ounce package of cremini mushrooms (about 3 cups), thinly sliced
1/4 cup dry sherry (or 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar)
2 teaspoons of salt

Method:
Rinse the lentils until the water runs clear. Add them to a large pot with the vegetable stock and the Herbes de Provence and bay leaf. The stock should be about 2 inches above the lentils; add water if it’s not at that level. Bring up to a boil and then simmer until the lentils are fully cooked, about 45 minutes, adding water as necessary. The lentils will retain their shape, but will no longer be hard or gritty on the inside.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. On a sheet tray, spread out the walnuts and toast them in the oven for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally. They will be slightly golden and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

Heat up a large saute pan and add the oil. Saute the onion over medium-high heat with a pinch of salt until it is soft and golden brown. Then add the minced garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the sliced mushrooms with another pinch of salt and saute until they are brown and much of the liquid has evaporated. The whole mixture should be soft and look caramelized. Then add the dry sherry, using it to scrape off any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until most of the sherry has evaporated. Then remove from heat.

In the food processor, pulse the walnuts until finely ground. Then add the cooked lentils (drained from their water and with the bay leaf removed), the mushroom mixture and the 2 teaspoons of salt. Puree until smooth. Taste the mixture and add salt until it tastes perfect. Then add two extra pinches of salt. It will taste too salty warm, but once it cools, it will taste perfect again. The palate perceives salt differently in hot and cold food.

Spoon mixture into a loaf pan, mold or tupperware and cover with plastic wrap. Then place a similarly-sized container on top and weigh it down to press the pate.  Chill in the refrigerator for several hours.  Invert on a plate to serve as an hors d’oeuvre or spread on bread for your sandwich.

The original recipe can be found at Urban Chickpea. She has some great advice on using it on veggie sandwiches.

Vij’s Green Onion and Coconut Chickpea Curry

One of my goals for 2013 is to eat more beans. Yes, it’s a lame goal. It’s not as exciting, as say travelling to Italy for an incredible food and wine adventure, or kayaking with whales (both things I aspire to do) but it is something that is easily accomplished and good for me, so I’ll stick with it.

After some investigating, I realized that I don’t really have a lot of recipes in my knowledge bank that use beans. In an effort to expand my bean meal options, I’ve been looking at different recipes and came across this curry recipe from none other than Vikram Vij (I found it through a website, Dearlove.ca, that a friend of mine blogged about recently). I highly recommend checking out the link to Dearlove.ca as he has some helpful tips regarding less salt, more tomatoes – that kinda thing. The recipe below is the original.

The curry was really tasty and a little lighter on the traditional Indian flavours than other curry dishes that I’ve had, but with quite a bit of heat. I liked that it all came together fairly quickly and the ingredients were cheap. It ended up making a lot so I will be definitely making this curry again so that I can have the left-overs for lunches too.

By the way, another goal of mine is to make five new recipes a month so I’m cheating and getting a head-start on January. Shhhhh…

Vij’s Green Onion and Coconut Chickpea Curry – Serves 6 (estimate)

½ cup canola oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1½ tsp salt
5 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
4 tbsp finely chopped jalapeno chilies
3 cans (19 oz/540mL) chickpeas, drained
1 cup coconut milk
8 green onions, green parts only, sliced

Method:
Heat oil in a medium saucepan for 1 minute. Add cumin seeds and let sizzle about 30 seconds.

Add onion and saute 8 to 10 minutes until browned. Stir in tomatoes, salt, ginger and jalapenos. Saute 5 to 8 minutes or until oil glistens on top.

Add chickpeas and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes. Add green onions and cook 1 minute longer.

Jamie Oliver’s Humble Home-Cooked Beans

I enjoy attempting to make new recipes but I can also admit that I am quite lazy. Often I will tag a recipe and then not get around to making it for a long time. Sometimes it is months, other times it could be up to a year. The Christmas Mint Cupcakes that I baked this week were a recipe that I had planned on making for about a year, as was this recipe by Jamie Oliver for Home-Cooked Beans. I am currently on a nice little break from work and I have found myself in the kitchen every day, trying new recipes, or re-creating old favourites, so it seemed like as good a time as any to finally get around to making some beans!

This recipe needs to be started in advance (as in overnight) as you will need to soak your dried beans in cool water for at least 12 hours. I admit that this was a big reason why it took me so long to commit to making this recipe (I don’t usually plan breakfast that far in advance!).

Once made, I served a large spoonful of glossy beans over a base of toasted barley bread for breakfast, but unfortunately, they were not well-received by B (my guinea-pig). He deemed them as bland and, whilst I agree, I wonder whether beans are really ever that exciting? Unless they are masked by a curry or a chilli, they always tend to be quite bland in my opinion. I didn’t think they were that bad, however, whilst the dish was very filling and quite healthy, I doubt that I would make this dish again as it was a lot of work for little result (taste-wise).

Jamie Oliver’s Humble Home-Cooked Beans – Serves 4

11 ounces dried cannellini beans, soaked in cold water for at least 12 hours
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
A few sprigs fresh thyme
A sprig fresh rosemary
3 bay leaves
1 stick celery, trimmed
1 small potato, peeled and halved
2 cherry tomatoes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
A few sprigs fresh at-leaf parsley, chopped
4 slices sourdough bread (or bread of your choice)

Method:
Drain the soaked beans, then give them a good wash. Place them in a deep pot and cover them with cold water.

Throw in the garlic, herb sprigs, bay leaves, celery stick, potato and tomatoes. Place the beans on the heat and slowly bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer very gently for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on whether you’re using fresh or dried, until soft and cooked nicely. Skim if necessary, topping up with boiling water from the kettle if you need to.

When the beans are cooked, drain them in a colander, reserving enough of the cooking water to cover them halfway up when put back in the pot. Remove the garlic, herbs, celery, potato, and tomatoes from the beans.

Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and pinch the skin off the tomatoes. Put the garlic, tomatoes and potato onto a plate, mash them with a fork and stir back into the beans. Season well with salt and pepper, and pour in 3 generous glugs of extra-virgin olive oil and a few splashes of vinegar. Stir in the parsley and serve on some toasted sourdough bread.

Christmas Mint Cupcakes

One sure-fire way to get myself into the Christmas spirit is to retreat to the kitchen, put on some Christmas carols, and bake something festive. This year I tried a new recipe that I had been meaning to attempt for more than a year (seriously). I decided to finally unveil it for Christmas as I felt that the mint flavour of the cupcakes would pair well with a sprinkling of festive candy cane.

The recipe created a lot of batter so I divided it up to make some mini-cupcakes (perfect to take to parties, or for kids) and some bigger sized cupcakes to snack on over the next few days before I have to return to work. I will absolutely be making these again next Christmas (or whenever the need arises for mint chocolate cupcakes). I was impressed with the cake, which was very moist, the butter-cream was dangerously good, and the candy cane pieces add a nice bit of texture. Happy Holidays!

Christmas Mint Cupcakes – Makes about 36 large cupcakes

1 ½  cups all-purpose flour
¾  cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 ½  cups sugar
1 ½  teaspoons baking soda
¾  teaspoon baking powder
¾  teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
¾  cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
¾  cup warm water
1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, water, and peppermint extract, and beat with a mixer on low speed until smooth.

Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes (For mini cupcakes 10-14 minutes). Let cupcakes cool in tins on wire racks for 10 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to racks, and let cool. Undecorated cupcakes will keep, covered, for 1 day, or frozen for up to 2 months.

Spoon butter-cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large, plain tip. Pipe small mounds on tops of cupcakes. Flatten mounds with an offset spatula, then top with chocolate-mint leaves.

Butter-cream Icing:

1 cup butter, softened
5 cups sifted icing sugar
½ cup whipping cream
½ tsp vanilla

Method:
In a large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Alternately beat in sugar and cream, making 2 additions of sugar. Beat in vanilla and frost cupcakes once they have cooled.

* I did not create this recipe. It was given to me by a friend (after I devoured a few of her cupcakes) so I do not have an author to credit this recipe to. Whoever they are, they sure are awesome.*

Health Loaf

After being away from my kitchen for almost two weeks, I was desperate to get back in there for some serious chill time. The kitchen is my happy place. A place where I can gather and sieve through my thoughts, whilst also creating delicious treats from scratch.

Today I baked this “Health Loaf” from a recipe that my Mum shared with me. I grew up eating this loaf and, whilst I can now see that claiming it to be a “health” loaf is probably a bit of a stretch, I still find it a healthier option to most of the other baked treats that I make. And by healthier I mean that there is a lot of fibre in this loaf. Enough said.

Slices are best enjoyed when the loaf is slightly warm and with a thin spread of butter. I made a slight amendment and halved the amount of sugar in the recipe (taking it down to just 1/4 cup) so that it wouldn’t be overly sweet, as the apricots and sultanas (raisins) add a sweetness of their own. This recipe was handed down to me by my Mum so I have no-one to credit the recipe to but her, although she doesn’t claim to have created the recipe.

Health Loaf
1 cup of bran buds (I used Nature’s Path “Smart Bran”)
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sugar (can decrease amount to 1/4 cup for less sweetness)
1/2 cup dried apricots, diced
1/2 cup sultanas/raisins
1 cup milk
1 cup self-raising flour

Method

In a bowl, soak all of the ingredients, except for the self-raising flour, for 1 hour. After the hour, add the 1 cup of self-raising flour and mix in to the wet mixture. Bake in a well-greased and floured loaf tin for one hour at 350 F (or 180 C). Allow to cool on a baking rack.

My Mum’s Take On Chow Mein

Even though my Mum really doesn’t like to cook, I still have very fond memories of my childhood mealtimes. Some smells and tastes trigger a flood of memories, and the dish that I made for dinner tonight, is certainly one of those: a memory trigger.

During my childhood, my Mum was all about speed. Get the meal on the plate – fast – with the least amount of effort possible. It had to be fast as she had to wrangle three girls, run her own business, and keep her household in order (she’s the best!). Typically, this meant dinners of meat and three veg. Not a bad way to grow up (so long as that meat wasn’t fish fingers I was usually pretty happy with this arrangement), but occasionally she’d make something different, such as her “chow mein”.

Oddly enough, there aren’t really any noodles (besides the chicken noodle soup) in my Mum’s take on this well-known Chinese noodle dish but that’s what I love about this dish. It’s not traditional and it doesn’t try to be. It is what it is – a yummy way to fill up on a night when you don’t want to spend a long time in the kitchen. From start to finish (including prep time), I’d say this dish will take you about 40 minutes to cook. It has meat, vegetables, and rice so it is quite balanced, but add a side of salad or veggies if you are looking for more greens.

I want to note that my Mum doesn’t claim to have created this recipe but she has no known author to credit as it has been in her cooking repertoire for years.

Cheater’s Chow Mein – Makes enough for 4 to 6 people

500 grams minced beef
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, grated
2 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 packet of chicken noodle soup
1/4 cabbage, shredded
Salt and Pepper
Rice, to serve

Method:
Put the rice on to cook and, once boiled, set aside.

Over a medium heat, cook chopped onion, mince, and carrot until the mince is browned. Stir in the curry powder, soy sauce, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Meanwhile, dissolve the chicken noodle soup in 1 cup of boiling water and add to the mince mixture. Stir.

Shred cabbage and pile on top of mince, place a lid on the pan and cook covered for 20 minutes. Give the mixture a final stir through and serve on a bed of a rice.

Vietnamese Salad

Although I’ve not travelled to Vietnam (yet), I am strangely attracted to this mysterious land and its cuisine. Whenever I think of Vietnamese food the word that springs to mind is always “fresh”. Vietnamese dishes are generally punctuated with fresh ingredients and flavours, such as mint, cilantro, chili, lemongrass, and ginger.

Last night my girlfriends and I got together to embrace Vietnamese cuisine with our Gourmet Night. We feasted on pho (of course!), salad rolls, Vietnamese coffee, tropical cocktails, and Vietnamese chicken salad, which was the dish that I made. The salad was really quite easy to make and tasted…well…fresh! I used a recipe from a cookbook that I have at home, “The Essential Asian Cookbook“, which is a really handy guide to a lot of popular dishes from all over Asia.

After making the dish for Gourmet Night, I realized that it needed some tweaking and as I had all the ingredients in my fridge, I made it again tonight but with some small changes. Firstly, I made it without the chicken as I didn’t think that it was necessary to complete the dish. I also found that the original dressing recipe was far too sweet, which is not surprising considering the recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of caster sugar. Therefore, I made sure to cut the amount of sugar in half. Next, I added some fresh lemongrass to the dressing, and I also added in some different salad vegetables to what the original recipe called for. And finally, I didn’t bother making the topping as the recipe instructed, I just crumbled some crushed peanuts over the top of the salad for a little added crunch, and finished with a squeeze of lime.

I am definitely biased but I felt that the salad tasted better tonight with those changes. It was less sweet and more tangy, which seemed better balanced. I’ve detailed the original dressing recipe from the “The Essential Asian Cookbook” but have shown the changes that I made.

Vietnamese Salad – Serves 4

2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
2 small cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 cup of finely shredded cabbage
3 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
3 tablespoons fresh mint, finely shredded
A large handful of bean sprouts
4 green onions, thinly sliced
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Handful of peanuts, crushed

Dressing

3 tablespoons of caster sugar (I changed to 1.5 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 teaspoon of crushed garlic
2 tablespoons of white vinegar
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
White flesh of lemongrass, thinly sliced (optional)

Method
Combine carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, coriander leaves, mint, bean sprouts, and green onions in a bowl. Drizzle vegetables with the juice of 1/2 a lime and toss gently.

To make dressing: place all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar is dissolved and ingredients are well combined.

Pour the dressing over the salad mixture and toss to combine. Plate and sprinkle with crushed peanuts.

Tuna and Bean Salad

I tend to avoid eating red meat during the week, unless I’m eating dinner out. It’s not something I consciously do but I often find myself preferring to eat fish, chicken, or vegetarian options, during the week. I often wonder (more so when I’m eating vegetarian) if I am getting enough protein. When that concern rears its head, I make this dish, which is simple, fairly cheap, and I’m sure has plenty of protein. The longer you let this sit (overnight is preferrable), the better the flavour. It gives the chili and onions time to work their magic on the tuna and the beans.

Tuna and Bean Salad – Serves 4

250g of tinned chunk tuna, in brine, mostly drained.
½ can of drained white beans, such as cannellini or butter beans.
½ to 1 small birdseye red chili, with seeds removed, diced into small pieces.
¼ of a white onion, diced.
¼ of red capscium (pepper), diced.
2 stalks of green onions, sliced.

Method:
Gently mix all ingredients together in a bowl, cover, and allow to sit overnight for the flavours to develop. Serve cold.

Although I didn’t create this recipe, I have no-one to credit as this is a recipe I’ve had in my repertoire for years.

Saskatoon Berry and Rhubarb Crumble

Whilst visiting my in-laws in the Okanagan a few weekends ago, I had the pleasure of poking around in their garden. You may remember that I’m not much of a green thumb yet I absolutely love gardens; flower gardens, vegetable patches, and orchards. To me, gardens are serene and fascinating. How can it not be fascinating to watch seeds or small plants grow into a colourful, edible bounty? Sit in a garden for long enough and it feels as though you can almost see it growing in front of you!

Gardens…good for the soul

We ended up leaving my in-laws place with two bags of just-off-the-shrub saskatoon berries, bundles of freshly pulled rhubarb, and a recipe for Saskatoon Berry and Rhubarb Crumble. Whilst we were visiting, my mother-in-law had made a delicious crumble, bursting with berries and rhubarb. Feeling a little inadequate (it was really good!), I attempted to re-create it at home but as I was feeling lazy I tried to make it with a much easier recipe (based on the Jamie Oliver Apple Crumble recipe).

Quite simply, I stewed the rhubarb and berries together with about half a cup of sugar and then made the oat crumble mix to sprinkle over the top. Unfortunately, the end result wasn’t that tasty and I will follow my mother-in-law’s recipe next time. It sure did look pretty – the reds and the purples created such a rich colour, but the flavour just wasn’t great. Lesson learnt: stick to the recipe!!

Three Bean Salad

This bean salad recipe is probably going to be one of the easiest things that you will come across today. And likely one of the healthiest too. This recipe really is so quick and simple that you can probably whip this up in about 3 minutes. Besides the beans, there are few ingredients, in fact all you need is:

See, I told ya! It requires hardly any ingredients at all and you get this:

Three Bean Salad
1 can cannellini beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can garbanzo (chickpeas) beans
2 to 3 sprigs of green onions (scallions)
A generous pour of apple cider vinegar
A generous pour of olive oil
A pinch of cumin
A good sprinkling of herbes de provence
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
Open and drain the cans of beans. If you want to substitute any of the beans for another variety, by all means do so. I changed it up and threw in some kidney beans. Pour the drained beans into a large bowl. Add all of the other ingredients and mix gently but thoroughly. That’s it! Serve on its own, or over salad. Delish!

I found that at first I wasn’t generous enough with the dressing and the salt – you really need to be heavy-handed in order to give the beans some flavour or they will just end up bland. The oil and vinegar should generously coat the beans, but not be drowning them.

Recipe credit goes to my friend, Rommy, who gave me this recipe.