Easy to Do, Delicious to Eat - Some Stress-Free Recipes

Like everyone I know, I'm trying to find some balance between work and family,while trying to eat well, and somehow reduce the stress of juggling so many balls at the same time.   So I thought I'd share some recipes I've made of late that make things a little easier and use local ingredients from my friends at the farmers markets

Love Fall and My Local Farmers

I love the change of seasons!   I especially love Fall with the leaves turning vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow.  I love it that the weather requires a sweater at the very least and local farmers markets are full of pumpkins, lots of root vegetables and hearty greens like Swiss chard and kale.  Perfect soup and stew weather.

Meat, Meat & More Meat

It's been weeks since I've been to the farmers' market on a Saturday morning.  I feel I've probably missed some of my favorite firsts - ramp, baby leeks, fiddleheads, Spring salad greens...But sometimes we can't control life.

Lucky for me, several producers are there throughout the week.   And we are in desperate need... carnivores that we are... to stock up the freezer with some Getaway Farm Beef.   That's Ben the Butcher doing his magic...

A Comforting Way to Start 2011

The holiday season is over and winter is definitely here, so what better way to usher in 2011 than with healthy, hearty, comforting soups. My father's favorite was my mother's bean & barley soup. He said it "put hair on your chest", which, frankly freaked me and my sister out.
Soup and especially meaty soup has been on my mind since my visit to Toronto and, more particularly Nortown Butchers and my very favorite soup meat - flanken or short ribs, staring back at me from the the case. The ones above are really for marinating and grilling, but cut about 1" thick, they are perfect for soups & stews.
On returning back to Halifax, I momentarily forgot my obsession with flanken. I went to the Seaport Farmers Market looking for scallops, baguettes and winter greens. It was the Wednesday before New Year's Eve... and it was quite quiet. Not much fresh fish... I was hoping for scallops but the bad weather meant the boats wouldn't be out until January. The bread folks Julien's Bakery were taking the day off, too... but Chris & Leonie de Waal of Getaway Farm were manning the fort and, although I was too late for beautiful roasts and steaks, these two beauties - beef shanks, caught my eye and brought me back to dreams of hearty soups. Even without the short ribs I found at the bottom of my freezer, they would have made a perfect base.

And flipping through a great cookbook I've written about before - Kitchen Sense I came across a soup I had to make my own... Mushroom, Beef, Barley & Lentil Soup. Just the smell of it cooking, took me to a Zen place.

So my New Year's wish for everyone... may your "Zen" place be always at hand. And if you need a little help, try the soup! I'm sharing it with Hearth & Soul


You can find out how to share your hearth & soul stories & recipes from the wonderful moderators - GirliChef, Hunger & Thirst, Frugality & Crunchiness,

Another Great fine Cooking Recipe - Braised Short Ribs

I've mentioned before how much I love fine Cooking Magazine. One of the best ever birthday presents from my daughters was a Fine Cooking subscription and I eagerly await my monthly present.

This month's issue was particularly awesome from the Mac 'n Cheese recipes I shared to another of my favorite things - braised short ribs. The four double page spread of glorious photos and brilliant tutorial had me drooling for them.
But British style beef short ribs are hard to find here in Halifax. They are actually about 3 inches long and cut individually rather than the short ribs I'm used to, which are about 1 inch thick and cut across several ribs. I love them in soups, especially Lentil Soup and Split Pea Soup. They take me back to my childhood every time I make them, but I digress.

With visions of braised short ribs dancing in my head, I headed down to the Halifax Farmer's Market and much to my delight Getaway Farm, who raise organic, grass fed Galloway cattle, had some gorgeous looking short ribs...plus a huge line waiting for steaks, and other wonderful meat choices.

By the time I got to the counter, all the thick, beautifully marbled beef ribs were in other people's bags. So sad, but I was determined and headed off to the market even earlier the following week to catch my elusive prize before anyone else did...early bird catches the worm, as the say, or in my case...the short ribs.

The woman just ahead of me was asking Chris (owner of Getaway Farm) what one does with them. I naturally had to pipe in about the fine Cooking article, and Chris pointed out the wall behind him. I had been too busy drooling over all his beef products to see that he had actually cut out the pages and taped them to the wall! He thought it a great article too.

Then, my daughter, Joanna was over with the little ones and I was telling her about what a fantastic issue, this month's fine Cooking Magazine was. She flipped through it and flipped out asking me to photocopy the article. I thought I'd check out fineCooking's website for it, that way she'd get the full color version. Naturally, Boaz, the three year old wanted to play on the computer when he saw me at it and so we found the Braised Beef Short Rib tutorial, and he created his own recipe. If a three year old can come up with a delicious fool-proof recipe, so can you.

I went with the Hunter's Style this time, but I think I'll have to invite Boaz back to choose the next version.

The Last Weekend Cookbook Challenge - With Love

I admit that I haven't contributed to EVERY Weekend Cookbook Challenge, that wonderful monthly event conceived of by Sara of I Like to Cook way back in 2005 - Holy Cow!!! And now I'm really sad that this roundup will be the last. Nothing is forever, but...I will truly miss these.

The very first WCC challenge was to choose a recipe from your oldest cookbook. I made an Italian Braciuolini served over pasta (surprise, surprise!). It was from the original Doubleday Cookbook and so I thought I'd marry the Love theme of this month with the Oldest theme of the first and share my most romantic dinner for two dish from the also no longer in print - except in second hand stores or on eBay if you're lucky (whew that was a mouthful) Time Life Series - Foods of the World Series - Cooking of Spain & Portugal

Bife à Poruguêsa

You know the expression "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach"? Well this is the dish they were talking about. And it takes so little time to prepare that you'll even have time to dress up and set a romantic table.

I think this is a fitting tribute to WCC's last meal. So with love, thanks Sara (and all the guest hosts over time) for the love fest. What will I swoon over now?

Presto Pasta as a Side

Actually, I confess...I really wanted to make Shannon of Simply Cooking's spaghetti with spinach & garlic as a side for my main dish tonight....but it's her entry for Presto Pasta Night, hosted this week by the awesome and tireless..(read her post to see what I mean) Inge of Vanielje Kitchen.

We're having Short Ribs in Red Wine (& Port). The "port" is in brackets, because I forgot to buy some and just used extra wine. It's from the new Bonnie Stern Friday Night Dinners cookbook which I wrote all about and some roasted cauliflower (400F/200C for 20 minutes) drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Aleppo pepper (it's Middle Eastern, a gorgeous red and my new favorite condiment). The simple egg noodles with garlic and spinach would be perfect, but....

I needed a different pasta option and decided to go with part of another one of Bonnie's recipes. The Moroccan Tomato Sauce used in the Chicken Fattah (which was superb, I might add) may look like ordinary tomato sauce, but the cumin, honey, lemon juice and Aleppo pepper, make it anything but. Fortunately, I had some left over and it's perfect with the red wine braised short ribs that just melt in your mouth.

So what are you doing with your pasta this week...side or main?...and don't forget to send your entry to Inge at africanvanielje AT vanielje DOT com See you at the roundup on Friday!

Grass Fed Beef and a New Cookbook

Most books that have "cookbook" in the title usually are primarily books with recipes. This book is unique. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of recipes in The Prairie Table Cookbook. In fact there are recipes that span many generations, some dating back to early Native Americans like Pxashikana (dried meat) and others prepared by celebrity chefs today.

Bill Kurtis, is perhaps better known by many of us for his award winning TV journalism on CBS as well as A&E. But his heart belongs to the Tallgrass Beef Company and his ranch in Kansas. And this book shares his passions and educates us along the way. It gives us glimpses in to the ways of life of early Native Americans, Prairie settlers, cowboys and soldiers and leads to the new food revolution...which is actually a return to the pure way of raising livestock.

I don't know how many times I've said that growing up in the '50s I never heard terms like "free range" or "organic". I know that my mother bought her chickens from Mr Zinman, who would call up and say "It's the chicken man? Is your mother there?" and he would deliver fresh eggs and chickens from farms that looked nothing like the factory farms of today. And a meal of breaded veal chops (my favorite) meant a portion of three chops. I don't know about you, but when I find veal chops today, they are the size of a huge steak! Only a Sumo wrestler could manage to eat three of them!

In fact, today, with everyone trying to be more health conscious, we read labels and look for what we believe is the better way...choosing products labeled "free range" or "organic", which don't necessarily mean exactly what we THINK they mean. In fact "organic" cattle can be confined to feedlots and fed corn as long as the corn was labeled organic and "natural" could mean that they are not given antibiotics, but still could be housed in a feedlot. Even free range could mean that the cattle (or chickens, etc.) were out of the feedlot for only a short time.

Probably this one quote from the book best expresses why Kurtis started his ranch and wrote the book ....

"....grass-fed and grass-finished beef. It's pretty hard to interpret that as anything but pure. It means beef cattle are raised only in pasture, receive no growth hormones, no antibiotics, and no grain as feed. They eat only grass and natural supplements, such as minerals."

I don't know which I enjoyed more...the stories or the recipes. The stories, photos and journal entries had me living the life of a soldier marching through Kansas in 1862 or the early settlers & cowboys braving the climate with no corner store or fancy food purveyor to help figure out the menu for the day, or week or entire winter season.

I admit it. I'm a social anthropology groupie. I love finding out how other cultures at other times in history lived. And naturally, being a foodie, I love imagining what they ate. So this book with recipes for Hardtack (crackers made in the field by army cooks back in the 1800's), baked salt beef and Indian baked raccoon (which I will not be trying) gave me a wonderful glimpse into the past.

Living in Halifax, I wasn't sure that I'd be able to find grass-fed beef...and in truth, the local grocery chains don't carry it, but Pete's Frootique does, although only frozen. Apparently there's not enough demand for it yet. So I bought two t-bone steaks (not my favorite cut, but the only ones they had) and some ground beef. In fact, there are quite a few grass fed operations here in Nova Scotia and I'll be visiting them as soon as this very long winter is over.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a couple of recipes that were very tasty indeed...

Marinated Grass-fed Steak

Barbecue Style Meatloaf

Next time, I might just try Gene Autry's meatloaf, Dale Evans' Quick Chili-Tex or one of the amazing dishes from some famous chefs who've contributed to the book.

Weekend Cookbook Challenge & Nigella Lawson

I love Weekend Cookbook Challenge, created by Sara (one of my favorite Canadian bloggers) of I Like to Cook. I only wish I could participate more often than I do. This time around Ani, FoodieChickie personified is hosting and the theme is Nigella Lawson, one of my very favorite celeb chefs. Nigella Expressis still on my wish list, but Forever Summerand Feastare used often.

This time around, I decided to go with Forever Summer...given the weather here, I thought some summer, even if only on the table, was the way to go. And, given that I had some goat milk yoghurt leftover from my trip to the market, this dish sounded like the perfect thing to whip up and munch with homemade pita chips while I drooled over all her other recipes....

Cacik (pronounced Jajek)- Turkish Tzatziki - great as a dip and lovely as a salad dressing

After much flipping, I decided on her Black & Blue Steak for dinner...no BBQ unfortunately, but the pan grill did its job and the steak was tender and delicious. I served it with another old favorite of mine...she calls them Hasselback Potatoes...I just call them Roasted New Potates with Rosemary and eat them even though I shouldn't ...South Beach Diet doesn't like potatoes. I used to make these several times a week...even before I got a the book (I saw her make them on a Foodtv episode....same with the dessert...)

What I didn't serve was another favorite... Anyone who's ever eaten it will know what I mean. Chocohotopots... the best dessert on earth, but not for those looking to diet.

And I couldn't resist sharing another favorite from Feast...St Tropez Chicken...I drool just thinking about it. In fact, I'm marinating it as I write and it will be served tomorrow night for dinner. Who knows, maybe I'll be really bad and make those potatoes again. They're great, by the way, cold with a little vinaigrette.

I wonder what everyone else is going make.

Meat - Beef, Lamb, Veal & Pork

Jerked Honey Rum Glaze - perfect for grilling or roasting beef and pork

Maple Balsamic Dressing - a great marinade for any meat, chicken or fish

Fermented Black Bean & Garlic Sauce - great for marinade and stir fry

Beef
1000 Year old Steak (at least the recipe is)

BBQ Brisket

Brisket with Mushroom Rub & Gravy

Asian Style Rib Roast - awesome as alternative to the traditional

Roast Beef with Garlic Mustard Rub

Grandma Hazel's Garlic & Mushroom Crusted Roast Beef

Beef Kebabs

Easy Oven Stew

Regina's Roast

Hearty Beef Stew with Roasted Vegetables, Preserved Lemons & Olives

Beer Beef Stew

Asian Style Braised Beef Shanks

Beer Braised Short Rib Stew

Black Bean Beef Short Ribs

Braised Beef Short Ribs - Hunter's Style

Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine (& Port)

Braised Short Ribs in Sherry

The Original Susan's BBQ Korean Ribs - first posted 2005 and still my favorite in 2013!

Susan's BBQ Korean Ribs - a variation

Choc Chip Chili

Blue & Black Steak

Chili Dry-Rubbed Grilled Steak South Beach Diet

East Coast Cowboy Steak 

Espresso & Spice Rubbed Steak

Frederique's Fabulous Garlic Steak

Awesome Grilled Mushroom Steak

Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Brandy Butter Sauce

Chef Jason Lynch's Grilled Flank Steak

Grilled Argentinian Spice Rubbed Flank Steak

Grilled Mexican Spiced Flank Steak

Grilled Around the World Spiced Flank Steak

Grilled Flank Steak with Honey Soy Marinade

Grilled Flank Steak with Jeanne's Secret Marinade

Grilled Ginger Lime Steak

Grilled Asian Marinated Skirt Steak

Grilled Greece & Portugal inspired Skirt Steak

Grilled Maple Asian Skirt Steak

Grilled Rosemary & Garlic Marinated Skirt Steak 

Grilled Worcestershire Skirt Steak a la Jamie

Grilled Marinated Skirt Steak - great for camping

Grilled Steak with Mixed Mushroom Sauce

Grilled Steak with Robust Marinade

Grilled Strip Loin (or whatever your favorite cut is) with Spice Hunter Rub

Herb Crusted Grilled Steak

Julia Child's Tournedos Sautee Chasseur

Greece & Portugal Inspired Skirt Steak

Hoisin Plus Grilled Skirt Steak

Lemongrass & Ginger Marinated Skirt Steak

Marinated Hanger Steak with Dragon's Breath Blue Cheese

Marinated Grass-fed Beef Steaks

Marinated Strip Loin Steak

Michael Smith's Tuscan Steak Salad

Slow Cooker Boeuf Bourguignon

Surf 'n Turf

Steak & Shrimp Kebobs

Steak au Poivre

Tony Mantuano's Steak Tagliata & Arugula

Portuguese Steak

Mustard Garlic Flank Steak

Six Spice Flank Steak

Friday Flank Steak (another vinaigrette marinade - awesome)

Asian-style Flank Steak

Hoisin Garlic Flank Steak

Anna's Asian Grilled Flank Steak

Charmoula Flank Steak

Flank Steak in Vinaigrette Marinade

Honey & Red Wine Vinegar Marinated Flank Steak

MidEast Spiced Flank Steak

Spicy Lime Marinated Flank Steak

South of the Border Flank Steak

Another Mediterranean Grilled Flank Steak (this one with Dionysios Herb Blend from Epices de Cru

Vietnamese Marinated Steak

Ginger Garlic Beef with Crispy Noodles

Teriyaki Flank Steak

Latin Flank Steak

Lime Curry Marinated Hanger Steak

Chef Dennis Johnston of fid Resto hanger steak tutorial

Red Wine & Coffee Marinated Hanger Steak

Balsamic Vinegar Marinated Skirt Steak

Lime, Garlic & Chili Marinated Skirt Steak

Spice Rubbed Skirt Steak

Braciuolini -stuffed beef rolls

Beef Curry - Rogan Josh

West Indian Spicy Beef Curry - spicy but not "hot"

Crockpot Roast with Mushrooms

Slow Cooker Sunday Pot Roast

Anthony Sedlak's "World Famous" Burgers

Bobby Flay's Argentinean Burgers with Chimichurri Sauce

Bobby Flay's Wild Mushroom- Cheddar Burger with Chipotle Ketchup

Dana's Mushroom Swiss Burgers

Simon & Garkunkel Burgers

Spicy Indian-style Burgers (makes a great meatloaf, too)

David Rocco's Favorite Meatballs

Moroccan Style Meatballs

Holishkes - Meat Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

Argentinian style Meatloaf with Chimichurri Sauce

Barbecue Style Meatloaf

Chili Chipotle Glazed Meatloaf

Chimichurri Meatloaf

Chorizo & Butternut Squash Shepherd's Pie

Curried Meatloaf

Easiest Meatloaf Ever

Mushroom Meatloaf with Honey Chipotle Glaze (and other options from fineCooking)

Mushroom Surprise Meatloaf

Another Mushroom Spinach Surprise Meatloaf

Persian-style Meatloaf

Mediterranean Style Meatloaf

Moroccan style Shepherd's Pie

Sicilian Meatloaf

Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Easy Oven Stew

Roast Tongue in BBQ Sauce

Norene's Tangy Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Sonia's Swedish Meatballs

Lamb

Allison's Moroccan-inspired Lamb Stew

Mellow Lamb Curry

Coconut Lamb Curry (another mellow choice)

Couscous, Herb & Lamb Loaf

Curried Lamb & Pumpkin Patties

Greek-style Lamb Burgers

Grilled Lamb Chops with North African Chermoula

Coriander Two Ways Grilled Lamb Chops

Grilled Butterflied Lamb with Anchovies, Rosemary & Garlic

Marinated & Grilled Lamb Chops with Herbs & Honey

Kofta B'siniyah (Israeli style meatballs in tahini sauce)

Lamb & Eggplant Shepherd's Pie

Lamb, Feta & Eggplant Burgers

Lamb & Mint Burgers

Lamb with Dried Fruit & Almonds

Lamb with Ras el Hanout & Honey - a delicious slow cooking stew

Dal Gosht (lamb with lentils & spices)

Indian Minced Lamb Kabobs

Lebanese-style Kebbe Lamb Burgers

Leek & Lamb Loaf

Lentil, Spinach & Lamb Loaf

Mideast Inspired Lamb Meatloaf

Mongolian Lamb Patties

Moroccan style Lamb Meatballs - Kofte Tagine

Grilled Lamb Chops

Cilantro, Honey & Spiced Lamb Kebabs with Cilantro Cream

Spiced Grilled Lamb Chops from Curtis Stone

Steamer William A Irvin Grilled Lamb Chops

Rosemary & Garlic Studded Roast Leg of Lamb

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Oregano, Citrus & Rosemary Rub

Grilled Rack of Lamb

Rack of Lamb with Honey Balsamic Sauce

Lamb Biryani

Lamb & Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Lamb Burgers

Lamb Chops, Beans & Strawberry Salad

Herb & Olive Lamb Chops

Lamb Merguez Pasta

Pakistani Lamb & Tomato Curry - Tamatar Gosht (mild but very flavorful)

Shrimp & Lamb Sausage Pot Pie

Spicy Lamb Burgers with Minty Tzatziki

Veal
Grilled Pesto Veal Chops

Roasted Veal Chops with Lemon Anchovy Aioli

Stuffed Veal Brisket with Ginger Apricot Glaze

Osso Buco

Veal & Mushroom Stew

Sausages
Chorizo & Romano Bean Soup

Chorizo & Shrimps

Chorizo & Bean Chili

Green Lentils & Garlicky Sausaages

Italian Sausages, Potato & Mushroom Roast

Pasta with Italian Sausages

Hot Dogs & Baked Beans

Ribs

Black Bean Beef Short Ribs

Cambodian-style Ginger & Honey Ribs

McCormick's Chipotle Cinnamon Ribs

Finger Lickin' Good Ribs

Bubbie's "Chinese" Honey Garlic Spareribs - made with veal

Sticky BBQ Ribs a la Donna Hay

Asian Sticky Ribs

Crispy Maple Ribs

Grandma Dolly's BBQ Ribs (great with chicken too)

Spicy Smoky Li-Smackin' Ribs

Hawaiian-style Kalbi

Hoisin Ribs

Spicy Herb Rubbed, Honey Lemon Glazed Ribs

Tamarind Glazed Ribs

Korean Style Short Ribs

Crockpot Easy Beef Short Ribs

Tuscan-Style Ribs with Balsamic Glaze

Marinades & Sauces Chimichurri - great spicy sauces for grilled meat, chicken, fish & seafood

Marinades

Simple Marinades

Pork
Cherry Ham

Crisp Cutlets with Caraway Sour Cream Sauce (great with chicken too)