Must try

This is a repeat post of a mustard-soy glazed salmon that I love to make. I already posted the link to this recipe for my blog, but the picture I had to go along with it was pre-Lowel EGO lights and very amateur photography skills. It looks awful.

See?

Considering this recipe is still a staple for me despite my ever-growing cook book collection it deserves a second mention. Try it out.

Mustard-Soy Glazed Salmon with Brown Sugar and Ginger (from Not Your Mother’s Weeknight Cooking
)

4 3/4 to 1-inch thick center-cut salmon fillets (6 ounces each), skin on
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3 to 4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Cover a shallow rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place fish skin side down and spread a thin layer of mustard on it.
3. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Drizzle over the fillets. Sprinkle each fillet with a teaspoon of brown sugar and dot with little bits of butter. Bake in the center of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes until firm and opaque. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

I’m working on my spice tolerance and this is one of those dishes that helps me with it. If I make it too spicy, I’ll chug a beer down with it, but that won’t stop me from continuing to eat it. It’s that good.

This recipe comes from Cook’s Illustrated. They say that they’ve kept this version relatively mild, but I find it too spicy to use all the chiles. I should also mention that I find some types of gum too spicy to handle so take that into consideration when making this dish.

Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled
6 green or red Thai chiles , stemmed
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast , cut into 2-inch pieces
3 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

1. Process 1 cup basil leaves, garlic, and chiles in food processor until finely chopped, 6 to 10 one-second pulses, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula once during processing. Transfer 1 tablespoon basil mixture to small bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon fish sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, and sugar; set aside. Transfer remaining basil mixture to 12-inch heavy-bottomed nonstick skillet. Do not wash food processor bowl.

2. Pulse chicken and 1 tablespoon fish sauce in food processor until meat is chopped into -approximate 1/4-inch pieces, six to eight 1-second pulses. Transfer to medium bowl and refrigerate 15 minutes.

3. Stir shallots and oil into basil mixture in skillet. Heat over medium-low heat (mixture should start to sizzle after about 11/2 minutes; if it doesn’t, adjust heat accordingly), stirring constantly, until garlic and shallots are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.

4. Add chicken, increase heat to medium, and cook, stirring and breaking up chicken with potato masher or rubber spatula, until only traces of pink remain, 2 to 4 minutes. Add reserved basil-fish sauce mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly until chicken is no longer pink, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining cup basil leaves and cook, stirring constantly, until basil is wilted, 30 to 60 seconds.

Apparently it’s National Curried Chicken Day so here is an oldie but a goodie for me, this dish is simple and easy — perfect for a beginner.

This is from Clueless in the Kitchen, something I picked up almost 10 years ago and I’m pretty sure I only bought it because of the title. There aren’t any pictures, just a few diagrams, but the text is straightforward. This honey glazed curry chicken isn’t too spicy for the intrepid, it’s subtle and sweet. Considering how many meals I’ve only made once and never went back to, I do like making this on occasion.

Curry Glazed Chicken adapted from Clueless in the Kitchen
Serves 2

1 Tablespoon butter
1/4 Cup honey
3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 Teaspoons curry powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 pound chicken*

*for me, this varies. I’ve used boneless skinless thighs and breasts. Sometimes whole, sometimes cut up into pieces so they get more sauce on it. The original calls for a 3 pound chicken cut up into pieces, but I like having extra sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Put butter into a 8 x 8 baking dish (9×13 if using the original 3 pound chicken) and pop it in the oven to melt. Once melted, stir in the honey, mustard, curry, and salt. Add the chicken and make sure they are well coated.

Bake for 45 minutes (this can vary depending on the chicken you’ve chosen, boneless chicken breasts that are cut up will cook up quicker, so check in on it a little earlier).

While my cookbook collection isn’t as big as others, it is pretty darn big. What started out as 2 very basic (how to make a grilled cheese sandwich anyone?) cookbooks to help me not eat frozen dinners twice a day has grown to about 50 cookbooks. With that many cookbooks I could review one a week for almost the whole year. It’d also force me to try out more recipes and review ones that I made a long time ago.

First book is Jaden Hair’s The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. I first came across her site looking for a fish recipe. Since then I’ve made her German oven pancakes and her baby back ribs with orange glaze and have many more recipes bookmarked. So when her cookbook came out I was very excited to get it.

The book is in-depth going into tools, ingredient, and basic recipes for sauces, stock, and salts. If you’re a visual learner, there are pictures for almost every single recipe in the book. It’s always nice to know if the dish you made looks similar to the one in the book. For some of the recipes how to photos are provided in case you don’t know how to make rolls or wrap wontons. And the photos? Jaden has done a fabulous job of food styling and photographing the dishes. Stunning!

Recipes are simple and quick to make. I’ve started to make my way through the book and have made the Pad Thai, Garlic Butter Noodles, and Quick Omelette with Shrimp and Peas all with excellent results. There’s many more I’d like to try.

One of my favourites in the book (so far) is the Baked Crispy Chicken with Citrus Teriyaki Sauce. It is crazy delicious and so simple to make. The temperature of the oven needs to be at 475F. My oven runs a lot cooler on higher temperatures so my oven thermometer was a big help. The timing was perfect and the chicken came out incredibly moist.

You must try this recipe.

Baked Crispy Chicken with Citrus Teriyaki Sauce (reprinted with permission from Jaden Hair)
Serves 4 as part of a multicourse meal

1/2 cup (50 g) all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup (120 g) panko breadcrumbs
1 lb (500 g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Nonstick cooking spray

Citrus Teriyaki Dipping Sauce
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons orange juice
3 tablespoons sake
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons mirin

1. In a saucepot, bring all ingredients for the Citrus Teriyaki Dipping Sauce to a boil. Turn the heat to low and let simmer for 6 minutes until slightly thickened.
2. Preheat the oven to 475F(245C).
3. Line up 3 shallow bowls. Put the flour in the first bowl, the eggs in the second (and beat with fork), and the panko in the third bowl. Also have nearby a sheet pan with a baking rack placed in it (Note: I used a broiler pan that worked fine)
4. Pound each chicken breast to 1/4 to 1/2 inch (6mm-12mm) thickness. Season each piece of chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
5. You’ll work with one piece of chicken at a time. Lightly dredge a piece in the flour on both sides. Then dip in the beaten eggs, making sure that you coat the entire piece. Then, pat in the panko, pressing gently to adhere the crumbs. While the chicken is still in the shallow bowl with the panko, spray the topside with cooking spray. Place the chicken piece onto the baking rack with the side you’ve just sprayed facing down. Then spray the other side with cooking spray. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then cut into several pieces. To serve, lay a bed of shredded lettuce on a plate, top with the sliced chicken pieces and serve with the Citrus Teriyaki Dipping Sauce.

When I bought my dutch oven, I really wanted it for no knead bread. In the end I used it for many things except for making no knead bread. I made the bread once. Confession: I wasn’t sold on the no knead bread craze. It ended up being way too chewy for me and staled so quickly I gave some to my dog and made the rest into breadcrumbs. My dog wasn’t too fond of it either — after he had a piece he drank his entire bowl of water.

So when I saw the Cook’s Illustrated almost no knead bread version I made it. And then made it again. And will make it again really soon, maybe tomorrow. This is all within a week by the way. I’ve consumed more carbs than normal and it’s all this bread’s fault.

What makes this bread so spectacular? 3 things: vinegar, beer, and a teeny tiny bit of kneading (10-15 times). The bread is good for 2 days, but is still excellent toasted after that. Really, the bread doesn’t last much longer than 2 days. I also appreciate this recipe’s ease of getting the dough into the dutch oven. Previously, you had a very wet dough and had to flour the crap out of tea towels to prevent the dough from sticking. Then, you flipped it into the hot dutch oven. It was a terrible mess. This version you let it rise in a skillet with parchment and then you lift the parchment with the dough on it and place it into the dutch oven. Less mess.

I’ve tried this with Canadian unbleached and bleached flour. I found that unbleached provides a much chewier bread than with bleached and I preferred the latter. Try both and see what works for you. Cook’s Illustrated also offers a few variations on it such as olive, rosemary, and parmesan, a rye bread and a whole wheat version. I can see myself doing a roasted garlic no knead bread — yum.

How does it compare to other breads I’ve made? I’m not about to abandon my bread making process, not kneading isn’t a top priority for me as I have a stand mixer, but it’s nice to have a simple recipe that you can get creative with and throw together in a minute. If you didn’t like the original no knead bread, you really should try this one.

You can find the recipe here.

When I made my first turnovers from The Pie and Pastry Bible, they were good but being a puff pastry fan, they didn’t satisfy me as much as I would have liked. With leftover apples that needed to be used up as well as some sour cream, I turned to Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours cookbook.

This cookbook was on my wishlist for years before I got it as a Christmas present. Then it sat on the shelf for months. I’ve made a handful of these recipes and I’m not too sure why it gets neglected so much, most of the recipes I have made are “repeat worthy”.

If you’re interested in the cookbook, the Tuesdays with Dorie blog has a long list of recipes that you can find in the book. It’s a quick (maybe not so quick with all the delicious photos?) way of seeing if the book is for you.

These Flaky Apple Turnovers caught my eye because it didn’t require me making puff pastry (a somewhat lengthy process) but still claimed to be like puff pastry. The turnovers turned out so well that this recipe will be my “go to”. I even managed to save a few to be baked later. Even though there’s only 2 of us in this household, these turnovers disappeared very quickly.

Tip: Make sure you don’t get any filling on the edges. You won’t be able to pinch the dough closed properly and they will open up in the oven and you will be very sad.

Recipe here.

R doesn’t eat anything with what he calls “expressive eyes”. To be more specific, he doesn’t eat mammals. So it’s rare for me to indulge in anything other than chicken for meals. Summer is an exception and he’ll even make me burgers. Usually when he’s gone I’ll plan on having a steak or something equally delicious. What usually happens is I have a bowl of cereal instead for dinner or a sandwich.

This time I decided to go big. Beef tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto topped with really good blue cheese. This dish takes minutes to prepare and is so unbelievably amazing. It’s also on the pricey side. While my dinner would cost much more at a restaurant, it’s worth the occasional splurge for an at home dinner. I almost always get my beef from The Healthy Butcher and it’s well worth the price.

Prosciutto-wrapped steaks with blue cheese (from Donna Hay’s No Time to Cook)
2 x 200g beef tenderloin (or really any good quality grilling steak)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon mustard (I used dijon)
4 slices of prosciutto
70g soft blue cheese
Pepper

Mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar together and brush all over the steaks on both sides. Then put freshly cracked black pepper on it. Be generous. Brush mustard on and wrap with prosciutto. Prosciutto is very thin so don’t worry about any tearing. Throw on the grill (I used my panini press on high) and cook until the way you like it. For me, I’d rather have it slightly underdone than slightly overdone. Put small wedge of cheese on top and let it get all melty.

I first tried these wings at a friend’s bbq. I was worried they would be too spicy for me because they had Sriracha in it, but it wasn’t. They were AMAZING. I wanted more and found out there was nothing left. Then I cried.

So I decided to make the recipe for my sister and brother-in-law for dinner. I bought the Costco sized package of wings. It didn’t look like the marinade was covering most of the chicken so I doubled the recipe. Including the Sriracha. After I was done mixing it all together I decided to try a very tiny amount of the hot sauce. Searing hot! After downing some milk my tastebuds are still numb. I don’t think the wings I had at the bbq had the recipe doubled and those were 30 huge meaty wings. Would I even be able to eat this meal I made?

The answer…yes. The wings did have a bit of a kick, but it wasn’t so spicy that it was inedible for me. Which is great because the wings were still good. We couldn’t fit both baking sheets in the oven so one had to be on the bbq grill. We should have grilled them directly on the bbq, but a certain person wanted to have the wings in their juices so we put the baking sheet on the grill. The wings ended up charred on one side and the aluminum foil practically fused to the pan. The pan needs to be thrown away. I’m just happy I didn’t listen to R when he suggested I use my good expensive baking pan. I would have been very upset if I had to throw it out. Next time we decide to make these wings on the bbq, they’ll be put directly on the grates to avoid untimely deaths of baking pans.

Recipe here. Ketjap Manis, a sticky sweet Indonesian condiment can be found at your local Asian grocer. There’s also a recipe here on how to make it yourself if you have trouble finding it.

“Was I a good cook when you first met me?” I ask R.
“I wouldn’t say you were really a cook then baby, you ate chicken.”
“I make chicken now.”
“I mean just chicken.”
“I made a pork chop.” (Note singular. I had 2, but in the flipping process the other one fell to the floor.)

I’ve come a long way since then. After venturing out on my own and buying beginner cookbooks (something I still love doing now), I didn’t really get into cooking. I cooked to survive. Most of my staples back then involved a lot of canned soup and frozen foods.

I was really clueless in the kitchen. At one point I asked my friend how to cook canned soup.

I wanted to be able to make a dish. Something that didn’t involve cooking chicken on my George Foreman grill. My friend took pity on me and taught me how to make chicken parmesan, her family’s recipe. I was able to make this recipe without her help many times and it’s never turned out bad for me. I haven’t made it in years, but I had a craving for it so I decided to make it for dinner when the in-laws were over. I looked at the recipe and didn’t realize how vague the instructions were. Considering how measurement crazy I am now I’m surprised I always had tasty results when I made it back then. I’m certain you cannot go wrong no matter what you do with this recipe.

So here is my version of it (with measurements in case you’re nervous about winging it).

No Fail Chicken Parmesan (serves 4)

Ingredients:
Soaking solution
- 1 cup milk
- 3 eggs
- 4 chicken breasts
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder

Breadcrumb mix
- 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder

Sauce
- 1 can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 can of tomato paste
- water
- salt
- pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 3 cloves of garlic finely minced or with a garlic presser
- 1 yellow onion

Other ingredients:
- mozarella, grated (2 cups or so)
- parmesan

Directions
1. Combine ingredients for soaking mixture (except chicken) and mix together. Put chicken in mixture and let soak 4-6 hours in the refrigerator. Make sure mixture covers the chicken. (Note: I was once told that this may be a safety risk, but I haven’t died yet and can’t seem to find out if this is true through Googling. If it makes you feel uneasy, omit the eggs or just don’t soak it and immediately bread it and fry it.)

2. Make Sauce. On medium heat, put enough oil to just cover the bottom of the saucepan. Dice the onion and add to saucepan. Cook until onion is translucent. Add garlic and stir it around for about a minute before adding the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Add 1/2 can of water from the crushed tomatoes. Stir. Add onion and garlic powder and sugar. Stir and reduce heat. You want a nice thick sauce. Taste sauce and adjust seasonings to taste.

3. Preheat oven to 325F.

4. Bread chicken. Combine breadcrumb mixture and make sure chicken is well coated on both sides. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, add oil and fry chicken on both sides. You want a nice golden brown colour. The chicken doesn’t have to be completely cooked as it’ll be going in the oven.

5. In a baking pan or casserole dish (I used a 9×13 Pyrex), pour enough sauce to cover the bottom. Add the chicken pieces making sure they don’t overlap. Pour the rest of the sauce all over the chicken and grate parmesan all over the pieces.

6. Bake for 20-35 minutes. Sprinkle the grated mozarella on the chicken and bake for 10 minutes more.

Note:
- These seasonings can be played around with. I usually just put how much I think should go in.
- I didn’t have garlic or onion powder on hand so I used garlic granules and onion flakes. When I used to make this I used to give a few shakes of garlic powder and onion powder.
- Pre-foodie days I used to use the grated parmesan that came in a can. You can use that too, I won’t judge.

Out of all the cakes I have made so far, fancy or simple, this cake is THE best cake I have ever made. Maybe because it involves 3 of my favourite things: chocolate, peanuts, and caramel. This cake is so good I need to erase it from my memory so I will be able to fit into my wedding dress. I have never made a cake without a special occasion or reason like a test run, but flipping through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home To Yours the picture caught my attention and never let go. I spent weeks thinking about making the cake before actually making it. Movie Man was also bugging me to make some brownies so I figured a brownie cake was a good compromise (he still wants brownies after this, the nerve!).

The cake was simple to put together, but making caramel sauce always makes me nervous because it usually takes me two or three times to get it right and not burn the sucker. It didn’t get the dark amber it was supposed to because I was impatient and Movie Man didn’t want me to burn it. It was a light caramel and it was still really good. In the directions, Dorie says not to worry if the cake sinks or has a small crater in the cake. My cake definitely had a crater:

When it came to the filling, there was definitely more caramel in the middle, but it was all good. The cake was definitely like a brownie, dense, moist and not too sweet (I used 70% bittersweet chocolate which I recommend). The batter is very thick, jiggling it will not help smooth it out, you’ll need to use a spatula. The next day the caramel crystallized. I’m not too sure if it was from being impatient or just technique (I didn’t wet down the sides, but I never do and don’t run into problems).

You must, must make this recipe. If you really want to take this recipe a step further, throw in some fleur de sel in the caramel for some salted caramel goodness. But please don’t hate me if you can’t stop thinking about this cake — I warned you it was good.

Recipe here