Thai Coconut Curry soup

Saute 2 chopped stalks of Lemongrass, 2 cloves Garlic, about an inch of Ginger and a large onion…

once the onions are translucent add a few tbsp of Curry paste and Miso and a bit Chile sauce…

Add whatever veggie (I have carrot and Cauliflower in this one) and some cut up tofu… saute for a few more minutes…

Add about 6 cups of veggie stock, 2 cans of coconut milk and a bit of sugar to even the taste out and let simmer….  then add the juice of 1 1/2 limes… simmer again and add rice noodles…

Pita Bread…

2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 cup lukewarm water

Activate yeast by mixing with 1/2 cup warm water and tsp of sugar

Mix flour and salt

Add yeasty water to the flour

Add the cup of warm water… start with 1/2 cup and slowly add more until it comes together…

Put on lightly floured counter and start to knead

Knead…
push

turn

fold

Place in bowl lightly covered in olive oil

Cover and let rise

Double

separate into small balls and let rise again about 10 min (preheat oven to 450)
I made 14….

roll out the dough

let rest another 10 min…

put in oven and watch them puff up…

Enjoy!!!

Salt Cured Salmon…

I was buying some Cured Salmon from the fish store once in a while because I love it… but it is expensive!

A few weeks though I saw recipe and I found out that it is really easy to make… pretty much just pack the salmon in Salt and whatever else you want… So I tried it… and I can’t stop making it since then…

What I have been doing is taking the filet, brushing a bit of liquid smoke on it  (to give it a bit of a smoked Salmon taste) putting a few tbsp of salt over it plus pepper, dill, sugar and granulated onion… then I weight it down with some cans of tomatoes and stick it in the fridge…

After about 12 hours I drain it a bit and add a bit of everything if needed… and then put it back in the fridge… another 12 hours later I drain it again and put a few paper towels under it to saok up the rest of the moistur and stick it back in the fridge… A few hours later it should have a slight rubbery feel to it… then it is time to slice…

Slice at an angle as thin as you can get it…

then you can store it in the fridge… I am not sure how long it lasts, but it is cured so it should last a while…

but it also gets eaten very fast…

(on a whole wheat english muffin with a bit of butter and cream cheese)

Miso Paté

2 cups broken pieces whole wheat bread
1/2 cup water or broth
1/4 cup tahini
2 tbsp miso
1 small onion (minced)
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp of poultry seasoning (mix of sage, thyme, rosemary etc)

break the bread into peices and add the broth or water and mix until moist with your hands…
add the rest and mix well…
put in the fridge and let it sit for a least a few hours… but better the next day….

So good!!

Salmon… stuffed and smothered…

This is a recipe that even the fish hater in my family likes…

Like most of my recipes… amounts are approx…

butterfly a Salmon filet and stuff with crumbled goat cheese, tarragon, salt and pepper…. and place in a baking dish…

In a bowl Mix together about 1/4c of sour cream and 3 tbsp of Mayonnaise, add to that add about 3 tsp of mustard, chopped green onion (I use 2), about 3 tbsp of parmesan, and about 1 tbsp each of tarragon and dill, a bit of pepper and a bit of salt to taste… (might not need it depending on the parmesan)

spread over the stuffed salmon fillets… (you can reserve some of the sauce for dipping)

bake at 450 for about 10 min per inch of thickness…

stuffed…

out of the oven…

ready to eat…

The best Chocolate cake I have ever made…

It was Simon’s birthday 2 weeks ago and I wanted to make him happy with chocolate… which is something that he loves…

So I searched for the best chocolate cake recipe and fell on one on this blog…

I did adapt it a bit to make it more  dark and gooey…. but omg… it was good!

CAKE
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
3/4 c vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz unsweetened chocolate squares, melted and slightly cooled

FROSTING
1  cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup whipping (35%) cream
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate squares
2 tsp vanilla
1 package (8 oz) light cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened

CAKE
1. Lightly grease bottom and sides of three 9-inch round or square cake pans. Cut circles/squares of parchment paper to fit bottom of pans and place in pans. Lightly grease paper and set pans aside.

2. Combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl, beat eggs for about 3 minutes, until they have thickened slightly and are lemon-coloured. Add buttermilk, coffee, oil, vanilla and melted chocolate. Mix  until well blended.

4. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until batter is smooth. Divide batter equally among pans.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F, until a toothpick inserted in centre of cakes comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pans, peel off paper and cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING
1. Whisk together sugar, cocoa, and whipping cream in a medium saucepan. Cook slowly over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Stir in vanilla. Let cool to room temperature.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter on high speed of an electric mixer until smooth. Add cooled chocolate mixture and beat on medium speed until well blended. Refrigerate frosting until desired spreading consistency is reached, about 1 hour. But don’t let it get too firm – you won’t be able to spread it!

3. To frost cake, place one cake layer on a plate. Spread 1 cup frosting over top. Repeat with second layer. Place final layer on top. Ice top and sides with remaining frosting.

Cover and refrigerate, but let cake stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Some yummy bread…

I got this recipe from one of my best friends… and it is a keeper!!!

It is a simple bread made with oatmeal, millet and flax seeds (though I ran out of flax so I used sunflower seeds) and it is sweetened with Molasses…

Rising…

Here are the 5… um… 4 1/2 loaves I made… (It was so good that one just didn’t make it into the pic)

Pizza night…

We had a pizza night on sunday… in our house that means that we make pizza.. I love when we do this… Xavier helps grate the cheese, put the sauce on, the pepperoni…

Here is theirs…

and mine…  with onions, mushrooms, broccoli, zuchini, and peppers…

and then for a treat…

I made this for dessert …

I took a bit of extra pizza dough… spread some butter on it, sprinkled a bit of sugar and cinnamon… sliced some apple pieces quite thinly and spread them out and then made a crumble with oats, sugar and butter and put that on top and baked for about 15 min…

this is before it went in the oven…

and my slice….

Homemade Sushi…

I make this about once a week…

I am addicted…

Hunan Dumplings

To make Dumplings

1/2 lb ground raw pork
2 tbsp finely chopped water chestnuts
1 tbsp tamari
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sesame seed oil
about 36 wonton wrappers

Chicken or veggie stock

Green onions (chopped)

mix all ingredients together and fill wonton wrappers. Bring a large pot with veggie or chicken stock and chopped green onions to a boil and add dumplings in batches of a dozen for a few minutes (they will float when done)… the pork will cook while boiling… (this makes a good soup in itself with the broth and wontons)

When done, drain and add Peanut sauce

Peanut Sauce

1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup hot water
4 tsp tamari
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sambal Olek or other garlic chile sauce
2 tsp of chopped green onions

heat all the ingredients on low heat in a sauce pan and add to dumplings… (great sauce for fresh spring rolls also)

serve with rice and garnish with green onions..