Autumn in Nova Scotia

I do love this time of year....leaves changing colors...cool enough weather to actually use the stove without the need of fans or air conditioners ....tons of fantastic local produce for making batches of preserves ... my "why I love Autumn" list is endless so I thought I'd share some of the beauty of Nova Scotia and how we've spent a recent weekend...along with recipes, of course.

Citrus & Herb Chicken From Kebabs to Pasta

I love it when one meal can turn magically into another two or three completely different options and I love it even more if I don't have to think to hard to prepare them. It's kind of like dressing up your favorite outfit with different accessories.

I didn't even bother to make a side dish of rice or even a salad to go with the original Citrus & Herb Chicken Kebabs.   In addition to the usual fresh herbs, whole cremini mushrooms,  wedges and slices of sweet red peppers and sweet onions, there are a couple of surprises...

Pasta Side for a Heavenly Chicken

 

My last entry to Presto Pasta Night was supposed to be spectacular.  I was planning on spending the day making my own pasta and dreaming up a new sauce. Instead, life got in the way, as usual, and then I made this insanely delicious Lemon, Rosemary, Balsamic ... and More Roasted Chicken which normally I'd serve with a pot of mashed potatoes to sop up the unbelievably delicious gravy.  But I couldn't let the last week of Presto Pasta go without an entry, so....

Best Roasted Chicken EVER

I know, I've said it before, but this time it's true!  With the help of my local market, Pinterest, my iPad and a great recipe from AllRecipes.Com as a starting point, I made the best roasted chicken EVER!   And I've made many that I love.  But...

The Changing Face of Dinner Udon Noodle Style

I had a plan.   Use udon noodles, beet greens and shrimp (What... you don't see any shrimp?) for a quick pasta dinner that fulfilled two purposes.... 1.  doesn't heat up the kitchen; 2.  is a contribution for Presto Pasta Night, this week hosted by Simona of Briciole.... for the seventh time, no less!  But things conspired against me.

Chicken & Kale Pasta - Inspired by Many

Where do I start?   So many places inspired this dish...

Spring Lunch Potato Mushroom Tart & Shaved Asparagus Mimosa Salad

It's back to being a rainy grey May day here... but yesterday was fabulous.  I love sunny Sundays... with nothing to do but spend a lazy morning in the kitchen leisurely preparing lunch to enjoy with family.  Somehow sharing a lunch on Sunday seems more restful and relaxed than any other meal of the week.  No racing off to work or doing errands, no coming home after a hard day and whipping something up to nourish the body without actually touching the soul.  No looking at watches to see where we have to be next and how much time we need to get there.

Quick & Easy Cooking for the Season

I realize that when we think of the holidays, we generally think of the feasting... memories of those we used to have at our family table growing up... thoughts of those we still prepare (or at the very least, attend)... or those restaurant events that also abound this time of year.

And all of those dinners are waist-expanding, just in the thinking of them, not to mention time-consuming to prepare.  So I thought I'd share a few of my time and stress savers for the OTHER meals we need to eat...

The easiest thing of all is to marinate some boneless chicken breasts and grill them.  I usually double or triple up the recipe so I have cooked chicken (the little black dress) for the base of everything from pasta, to stir fry (substitute chicken for shrimp) to frittatas (perfect from breakfast to supper) to ...well, you get the idea.   At the top is a standard around here...

Greek-Style Grilled Chicken

And my other favorite quick way to cook chicken is to high temperature roast it spatchcock style.

Wishing you all a stress free,  delicious, delightful and joyous holiday season.

Don't forget, I'm hosting the first Presto Pasta Night Roundup of 2012 on January 6th.  Please send me you entries anytime before January 5th.   email:  ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.

The Best Reason to Roast Hot Hot Hot

I knew it was going to be a crazy week... so crazy it's taken me almost another whole week to write about it.  Not the prettiest picture, I know, but it really does show off just how easy and hap hazard this is to make.   Prep takes less time than to preheat the oven, it's so easy.

A while back I watched a Jamie Oliver Meals in Minutes show and he was making a roasted chicken dinner in under 30 minutes.  Impossible you say... not when you cut out the spine, flatten it and blast it at 500°F/260°C...

Check it out... Roasted Herb & Garlic Spatchcock Chicken which has become my go-to chicken dish.  I've done it with different spice blends from around the world, and they're all lovely.  But this one is my little black dress version when I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing with it.

And that roasted butternut squash that usually takes an hour or more to caramelize and cook... just popped in at the same time and check after 10 minutes or so, turn and remove when done. It varies, sometimes the chicken is ready first, sometimes the squash, but all in all a quick and easy  combination to prepare while you're chilling out or rushing about doing other things (I prefer the former).

During the week there was naturally, the roasted chicken, squash & sauteed greens, as well as some tasty chicken and pickled ginger sandwiches and, my favorite dish....

Roasted Chicken & Butternut Squash Fusilli

I'm sharing it with Presto Pasta Night, which is being hosted this week by Simona of Briciole also for the THIRD time! Send your entries to simosite (at) mac (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by Thursday 

And for my Canadian readers... don't forget the fantastic KitchenAid Food Processor giveaway.  Check here for details.   Deadline is Saturday and all you have to do is leave a comment as to why the winner should be you!

Change of Plans & Dining Alone

What do you do when your evening plans change at the last minute? My Honey just got back from Israel last night. It's six hours ahead of us, so I wasn't quite sure how awake he'd be by supper. Plan A was to spend supper and bath time with little ones... and their parents. After all, Poppa's been away for a week and it's always fun to get together.
And since I spent another great afternoon at doing Kidz Magic Cupboard with some fantastic 7-10 year olds and some amazing volunteers, I knew I'd be too tired to cook. I promise to tell you all about the program one day soon. But back to tonight's dinner plans. Since supper time in Nova Scotia is around midnight in Israel, guess who was asleep when I got home? Good thing I had Plan B in mind yesterday.

Another Roasted Spatchcock Chicken (done in the morning before it got hot). It only needs to roast at 500 degrees F/260 degrees C for 35 minutes or so. This time I made a paste of olive oil, garlic and Tlalelolco Rub from Epices de Cru to rub under and over the skin. It was the centerpiece of an awesome salad of romaine hearts, sweet red peppers, avocado, oil cured black olives, red onions and grated Manchego cheese with a white wine vinegar and avocado oil vinaigrette.

I ate it mindlessly in front of the TV flipping channels, stumbled upon ET Canada and discovered that one of my favorite TV chefs .... Chuck Hughes of Chuck's Day Off beat Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America... Another show I never watch. Congratulations, Chuck!

Just curious.... what do you do for dinner when you end up eating alone?

Great Ingredients Make for Easy Cooking

I'm in training for summer cooking... those over-the-top muggy hot days when I know I won't want to actually cook anything. We finally had a day or two of nice weather... warm and sunny and so with a lot of help from my favorite guys at the market... easy suppers with no recipe .. or much work.. required. somehow, it's even hard to find the energy to read when it's hot! Ridiculous, I know, but hey... thank goodness for Getaway Farm's grass fed, super tasty steaks (this one is a skirt steak) that needs nothing more than a spice rub. This past weekend I bought a "grilling kit" from the Spice Man, with six incredible spice blends from Epices de Cru and I used the Tlalelolco Rub - "a blend of heat and smoky aromas ... made with native Mexican spices"... in a word...AWESOME! and it only took me a minute to coat the steaks before my Honey cooked them on the grill.

While the steak was grilling I whipped up a simple salad of mixed greens from Noggin Corner Farm Market and my standard vinaigrette that I could do blindfolded. Ahhh, the joys of summer cooking!

The Grilling Kit had another blend I couldn't resist - the Classic BBQ Blend that really did smell like a bag of BBQ chips, but this blend has no sugar, no salt and no chemicals that you can't pronounce. Just lots of chile, smoked paprika, mustard seeds,.. and so much more.

Everyone has their own vision of "BBQ Chicken" - my mother made hers in the oven with a wonderful tomatoey BBQ sauce, which I also love slathered on ribs; or I think of rotisserie chicken - my favorite being Portuguese Churrasqueira chicken grilled over a charcoal fire. But lately, I'm in love with Roasted Spatchcock Chicken made in a super hot oven - a whole chicken in 45 minutes - perfect! If you make it in the morning (turning the oven up to 500F/260C would be a disaster at the end of the day) you won't even break a sweat.. not to mention how amazing your house will smell.. but I digress... This time I rubbed the BBQ blend under and over the skin. This time the word...FANTASTIC! Now I have chicken for salads, sandwiches and pasta - what could be easier!

And last but not least, Exotic Roasted Lamb Neck & Bean Stew (because, even in the summer there are some damp and dreary days that need some slow cooking) . I mentioned before that Bill Wood of Wood 'n Hart farm gave me some lamb neck bones saying "I figured you'd know what to do with them". This time the other magic ingredient from The Spiceman... my Aleppo Seven Spice Blend (still one of my favorites). Probably one of my best stew creations yet... if I do say so myself. I'm glad I only used half the bones and saved the rest in my freezer, because I know I'll be wanting some of this once Fall rolls around.

I served it over steamed couscous seasoned with nothing more than some fresh mint and green onions. Which makes this last dish perfect for Presto Pasta Nights. This week Simona of Briciole will be hosting for the first time. To join in the fun, just write about your pasta, mention Briciole and Presto Pasta Nights with links, and send your entries to simosite (at) mac (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by tomorrow night (Thursday, June 23) and come back for the roundup on Friday.

Spatchcock Chicken

Not the prettiest picture, I admit... And I'm embarrassed to say that with all my cooking, and my love of chicken, I only recently discovered Spatchcock chicken. I always thought it was ... don't laugh... some kind of fowl... like quail or squab. I didn't realize that it was a quicker method of cooking a whole bird! Instead of a usual roasting time of 20-30 minutes per pound, the whole process of roasting or grilling takes a little over 30 minutes! Cooks Illustrated Summer Grilling had a few wonderful stories and recipes. But the bottom line is... cut out the spine and flatten the chicken. How easy is that!

The article and recipe can be found at America's Test Kitchen. It's an Italian version made on the bbq using hot brick and indirect heat.
Unfortunately, my cute Weber Q is small - great for throwing in the trunk and grilling your own picnic lunch or camping dinner... but only one burner, which I suppose I could lower the heat, but decided to go another way... roasting at 500°F/260°C - no brick and my own Basil Pesto rubbed under the skin instead. It took about as long to prep the chicken as it did for the oven to heat up! The super simplest way to cook chicken ever!

Roasted Spatchcock Pesto Chicken

My latest book purchase... Canadian Living: The Barbecue Collection: The Best Barbecue Recipes from Our Kitchen to Your Backyard has a couple of options I'm dying to try too. And did I mention, that whatever your favorite way to roast a chicken... with herbs or spiced, do it spatchcock style and you can have a whole roasted chicken for dinner in a little more than 30 minutes!

Tonight's dinner will be some sort of pasta with roasted chicken, perhaps fiddleheads or asparagus - both awesome finds at Saturday's market. I'll be sharing with this week's host for Presto Pasta Night... Trish of My Slap Happy Kitchen. You can join in the fun too. Just email your post with link & mention to Slap Happy Kitchen and Presto Pasta Nights to trish (at) slaphappykitchen (dot)com with a cc to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.

The Chicken Mole Test

We've all probably have had this experience... eaten some amazing dish somewhere, fallen in love with it... only to be unable to recreate it at home or find it at some other restaurant.

My saga began in Cancun twenty years ago, on our Honeymoon. I can't exactly recall the name of the restaurant... something Rosa?...Rosa something?. It was in the guide books of the day. The "day" being the very beginning of the building of Cancun as a resort town. The restaurant was a local haunt in the heart of the old city. The ambiance was festive, including the duo with guitars and huge sombreros who serenaded us. I've tried to do a search to see if it was still around today, but no luck.

The star of the meal for me was my very first Chicken in Chocolate Mole and I licked the plate clean. It was so good that I kept ordering it at every other restaurant we went to during our visit... some were almost as good, others, not quite. Since then, whenever we go to a Latin restaurant with Mole on the menu, I am compelled to order some. And every time I order it, I am disappointed. I've even tried to recreate it at home from some of my cookbooks... still a disappointment.

Until now, that is! I recently received a copy of The Sweet Life In Paris by David Lebovitz. (You can check out my review here). It's a great book, filled with funny stories and many delicious recipes, but my favorite will always be ...

Chicken in Chocolate Mole

...David's recipe which is as good or even better than my memories of it. I suppose, since David is the chocolate king, that I shouldn't be surprised.

For the uninitiated, chocolate mole is a sauce made with lots of spices, mild dried chilies, reconstituted and unsweetened chocolate. It is a wonderful, rich & mellow blend and good enough to lick off the spoon or drizzled over some wrap. I'm drooling again. I guess it's time to whip up another batch.

So my question to you... what was that one dish you wish you could recreate? Leave me a comment.

Perfect Pasta = Chicken, Mushrooms & Creamy Sherry Sauce

Last week was the big Presto Pasta Night 4th birthday bash and some lucky people won great gifts. In fact, one of the gifts was a copy of Pasta - 40 Recipes for Fine Dining at Home. It's a small but very tasty book, filled with awesome pasta dishes from Chefs across the Maritimes. Lots of my favorite restaurants and inns are mentioned. And since, the publisher sent the copy to me to forward on to lucky Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe in Melbourne, Australia...how could I not take a quick peek!

Don't worry Johanna, no cookbooks were stained in the making of this positively, sinfully delicious dish. I took a photo with my trusty iphone...

Farfalle with Chicken Pollo & Mushrooms in Sherry Cream Sauce

I didn't have the Port the recipe called for, but sherry was a great second choice... very mellow and ... what can I say... we had seconds!

I'm sharing this with Sarah of Maison Cupcakes for this week's Presto Pasta Night. If you have an interesting pasta, send it to her at sarah (at) maisoncupcake (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by Thursday, March 10 .

I'm also sending this to Hearth & Soul Recipe Hop.

New Kid on the Recipe Finding Block

I've mentioned before that I have a new iPad and, naturally have been finding new and cool foodie apps. I still promise to share my take on them but the reason for this post is to share a great new find of mine that looks like an app, works like an app but in fact, is not an app at all.

Foodily.com is a web site that acts like an app and I definitely like to play with it when I'm out or sitting on my couch away from my laptop (that usually sits plugged into a large monitor and external mouse & keyboard set up). It's a recipe search tool on steroids! The magic of it... it searches for recipes on websites and foodblogs so the sky's the limit. Like my epi and How to Cook Everything and Jamie Oliver's (just for iPhones), and Wholefoods... you can find recipes by doing a simple search. The coolest part is that you don't need fancy phones or iPads to get awesome results. Once you've chosen a recipe you can "like it" or "save it". You really should check it out.

Here's last night's story... I bought a bunch of dark magenta kale at the farmers market from Ted Hutten a couple of weeks ago and still hadn't gotten around to using it... good thing it's such a hardy plant. I always find kale tough and rubbery, but I do appreciate how good it is for me.
I typed the word "kale" in the main search...
...and got 1007 choices from the likes of Epicurious, NY Times, Simply Recipes, Elana's Pantry , Cook Sister (one of my favorite blogs that I forget to check out specific recipes when I'm hunting) and a thousand more including the one I went with - Whole Foods' Oven Roasted Kale .
Foodily gives a quick look at the ingredients and first steps with a link to the actual recipe on the actual site it originates from, so you can decide whether or not it's what you're looking for.
I served the crispy, melt in your mouth kale (it really was heavenly) with an adaptation of an adaptation...

Pear Chutney Chicken Breasts

I took a perfectly lovely recipe from Norene's Healthy Kitchen and used my homemade Pear Chutney. This time around, there wasn't enough chutney so I added some homemade Pear & Blackberry Jam (basically my Blueberry Jam recipe replacing the same volume of blueberries for pears & blackberries). As for the curry powder, I used Epices de Cru Aleppo Seven Spice Blend.

As for tonight's dinner... the mascarpone cheese (before it expires) and pasta (111 options and I'm going with a variation of Jamie Oliver's Tagliatelle with Spinach ) for Presto Pasta Night #200! Don't forget that Helen of Fuss Free Flavours is hosting the big event. Send your entries to helen (at) best-shaw (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

Mr Zinman "Chickie" Man

There have been many times when I've mentioned growing up in suburban Montreal and never hearing terms like "free range" or "organic". It was a simpler time... to say the least. My mom was a stay-at-home mom, like all of her sisters and all of our neighbours and no one ever even asked what they "did". And although we lived quite a hike to even a paved road - we were one of the first families in the new suburb called Ville St Laurent - so new in fact, we left billy boots at my parents' friends house over half mile away for our trek home.

Imagine.... my mother didn't have a car and yet, we ate extremely well. I'm obviously dating myself, but the milkman came to the door - and nooooo...not in a horse driven cart - I'm not THAT old. Milk, however, was sold in glass bottles - a new resurgence at some of today's farmers markets. Grocery stores delivered FREE OF CHARGE - our fruits and vegetables came from Mr Young's Fruit Market. My mother would call in her order and a couple of hours later it would arrive - everything fresh and delicious. She'd arrange for her meat purchases the same way from butchers who had close connections with the source. My mouth waters for her veal chops. Unlike today, veal came from small animals. A typical dinner portion was three breaded veal chops (we didn't eat much pork at home), a side of mashed potatoes and some vegetable - usually green. Today... if you can find veal chops near you... they are huge - think rib steak... and expensive. SIGH....

But my favorite memory is the weekly phone calls from Mr Zinman. When any of us kids would answer, he'd say "It's Mr Zinman - the chicky man. Is your mummy there?" I knew wonderful things were in store. Fried chicken, "BBQ" chicken (mom's sauce is also awesome on spareribs), ginger capon for special events like Rosh Hashana... I'm drooling.
You can find them all in my eCookbook Every Kitchen Tells Its Stories , if you're interested. But I digress a bit.

When Sharron and I were leaving the Jean Talon Market, I couldn't believe my eyes...
and in trying to find their website - they don't have one, but I did discover this great review...

"I can't believe no one mentioned Zinman Chicken Market. the place is huge, supplies most of the mentioned butcher shops, and has great service! the meat never disappoints, and they will prepare anything you want. the store is on the corner of st-dominique and mozart. the butchers are extremely knowledgeable. you can ask them pretty much any thing. give it a try you won't be disappointed!"

from Chowhound forum on great butcher shops in Montreal

It's always wonderful to see that an old favorite is still everyone's favorite all these years later. Do you have a long standing favorite?

A Thai Cooking Class Party

I just did a post about reducing stress around the holidays...especially if you're the host!

I forgot one other way to give a great party for a small group - host Cooking Class Party in your own home - I now facilitate them in the Halifax area, but you probably can find them in your neck of the woods. Everyone gets in the act and you never have to worry about doing anything other than inviting the guests and providing the beverages.

Elizabeth & Chris invited some of their friends over on Saturday for a Thai Themed dinner and I had to share the photos (collage above) and menu.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls & Thai Salsa
(perhaps not exactly authentic, but huge thumbs up from the cooks - the photo is an old one with shrimp - theirs was vegetarian)

Grilled Thai Beef Salad

Fancy Thai Chicken Fried Rice
(your eyes are not playing tricks, this was my practice dish at home with shrimp)

Thai Cashew Chicken

Thai Green Curry with Vegetables & Tofu
(no photo or recipe - sorry)

Everyone arrived around 6 and we ate and cooked, ate and cooked and finally just ate. They all had a great time and everyone got in the act....and I didn't see a stressed--out look in the place!

As luck would have it, I had just received a copy of Basic Thai Cooking, by Jody Vallasso...plus Basic Japanese Cooking, which I'm sure will be equally fantastic.. Naturally I started flipping through the Thai cookbook for ideas for the party and all the recipes above except for the Summer Rolls came from it. You can read my review of the Thai cookbook, but the bottom line - all plates licked clean.

Rosh Hashonah Festivities

This was the only photo I actually got of my dining room table before Saturday night's Rosh Hashonah dinner. The rest of the evening was even more blurry than this photo of the home made challah. And don't even ask me about the few days that followed. How could it be Tuesday already!!!

Dinner was lovely (if I do say so myself) and went off with only one hitch...my Honey developed a whopper migraine-style headache...too much light (it's all or nothing here) and loud voices (all having a great time, but echoing off the walls). He ended up missing dessert entirely and going to hide in the dark bedroom. But let's start at the beginning...
Even though every cell in my body was throbbing by the time I went to bed at 12:30, it was a wonderful day...which started at sunrise at the farmers market (6:45am). Many people questioned my decision to go, given I wanted to be at services by 9:30 and still had tons of preparation left to do before our guests showed up at 6:30 pm.

That said, once the dishes started showing up at the table, my decision to go to the market didn't seem quite so ridiculous. I've become quite the farmers market junkie and am usually disappointed when I can't get there. Wouldn't it be lovely if we could have one every day of the week?
The local heirloom carrots, new beets and young potatoes roasted with cremini mushroom (also local)
and the most glorious organic garlic ever and fresh rosemary,
turned into a wonderful roasted root vegetable dish to accompany one of my favorite New Year chicken dishes...
St Tropez Chicken, made with local free range chickens.

But wait,...I forgot to mention the soup course. Since I usually end up with the second night, I don't like to repeat the traditional chicken soup with matzo balls.

And this year I tried a wonderful Velvety Squash & Carrot Soup with Curried Mazto Balls that everyone enjoyed including Boaz and his brother Dov. The matzo balls were made with whole grain matzo meal and everyone thought they were meatballs, they were so dense and flavorful.
The special organic blend of "spicy greens" and baby romaine made the salad course quite the hit, especially with the Preserved Lemon Dressing which brought out just the right balance to the mix. Another stellar reason to visit the market! The salad was a perfect taste complement to the Tilapia in Tomato Saffron Sauce. The photo was of my practice meal the week before and the yellow beans were so tasty I had to buy more at the market. A simple "steam" in the microwave with a sprig of basil and then a spritz of lemon juice, grinding of pepper and pinch of salt...and who said, no one likes veggies. I served them with the main course this time.
All that's left to mention is the dessert...while I did plan on at least three, we ended up with just one...my favorite Normandy Apple Tart with apples we picked ourselves last week in the Annapolis Valley.

So was the worth getting up early to find local produce and chicken? You bet your life it was!
As for leftovers...not too many, but the challah made for some wonderful French Toast, whipped up by my Honey.