Once Upon A Feast - Every Kitchen Tells Its Stories: meat

Showing posts with label meat. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

A Deja Vu Day

How weird was yesterday....let me tell you....

I went to the supermarket at 7am ...it's a 24 hour grocery and I often do my shopping for staples after dropping my Honey of at work. Yesterday, my intention was to get some salmon or some eggplant and cremini mushrooms to make a few dishes from some of my new cookbooks.

The fish section doesn't open until 8am...I forgot and the only fish, in packages, didn't look so fresh. Apparently the eggplants and cremini didn't make the delivery either, so what's a girl to do?

Suddenly, as I passed the ground beef, I had a craving...shepherd's pie, but not the standard variety I normally do. This time I wanted some Moroccan twist to it with, perhaps a good dash of Ras el Hanout (a wonderful Moroccan spice mix) and some chopped dried apricots.

So how "Twilight Zone" is this... November, 2006...Moroccan Style Shepherd's Pie...exactly how I wanted to make it. And I didn't even remember that I had created such a dish before!

Has your mind played tricks on you like that? And now I remember one very excellent reason for writing this blog!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Amazing Braised Short Ribs in Sherry

I had every intention of serving these awesome braised short ribs over some penne or fusili to soak up all that gorgeous gravy. But it's either early onset senility or the cold that's coming on gangbusters. Whatever the reason, the sweet potatoes were cooking before I realized that I had wanted to do some simple pasta with olive oil & garlic under this mound of goodness. And in case you're straining your eyes looking for long, meaty short ribs...forget it. I could only find enough for half the recipe, so I added chuck/blade roast, cut into 2" cubes. Very tasty, over the thyme seasoned mashed sweet potatoes.

Oh well, that means I still have to come up with a dish for this week's Presto Pasta Night. Ben of What's Cooking is host and I want to do something special. My intention...a mouth-watering dish of Roasted Garlic & Cremini Mushrooms Pappardelle with Roasted Chicken from a new cookbook Fresh & Local by Chef Craig Flinn of Chives Canadian Bistro right here in Halifax - another great reason to come visit. I'll be writing about the book and trying out a few other recipes as well.

The chicken is roasted, so keep you fingers crossed. And don't forget to send Ben your entries. The guidelines are here. And Ben's email ben(dot)herrera (at)whatscooking (dot)us . Please cc me: ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot)com as well.

If you're interested in hosting...it is so much fun....check out the guidelines here and send me an email.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Rainy Saturday & Veal Stew

The plan for Saturday was a trip to Mahone Bay & Indian Point for the second annual Mussel Festival. I've been looking forward to it ever since Peter Darnell of Indian Point Marine Farms told me about it back in December. It was marked in my calendar and I was even going to write about it for Foodtv's blog...story telling, touch tank (perfect for my grandson), mussel & wine tastings (perfect for the rest of us).

But Saturday came, along with lots of rain...buckets full in fact, and being fair weather friends, my Honey and I thought we'd put off the festival until Sunday (sunny weather was expected) and, instead we went to Coastal Coffee , a great little place just a few blocks from us, for a delicious breakfast of Eggs Ooh La La (scrambled with bacon, sauteed mushrooms & brie...I'm still drooling) and a giant Cappuccino. That was followed by the usual errands and when we got home, my daughter called and asked if we wanted to hang out with them...never able to say no to spending time with the cutest boy...

Somehow running around in the rain to do my own errands is a chore...but running around doing my daughter's with her was fun (my Honey ended up babysitting Boaz in the car...he fell asleep on the way-Boaz did, not my Honey). Back at her place we made some cookies, played some silly games and, because I bought some veal stewing meat earlier in the week...such a steal...$5.00 for 3 lb/ 1.3kg!!!! - Normally I can't even find any except at the fancy shops and then only at outrageous prices, but I digress... we made a delicious, hearty ....

Veal & Mushroom Stew over Garlicky Pasta

...which means I can count this as my entry for Presto Pasta Nights this week.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Maple, Maple Everywhere

Last weekend I wrote briefly about my trip to Sugar Moon Farm for my pilgrimage to the greatest elixir of all time....maple syrup.

I bought a copy of The Maple Syrup Cookbook and promised to share a recipe or two. These Crispy Maple Spareribs were uncannily reminiscent of the sweet sugary ribs I grew up on at the Bar B Barn in Montreal. I still try to stop in there when we visit Montreal. Whip up a batch of these finger-licking ribs and you'll find the sweetest things on earth. Although, I must admit these days I like my ribs a bit spicier so next time I'll be using Asian chili sauce instead of the North American sweeter version to heat things up and cut a bit of the sweet...a perfect balance, if you ask me.

Foodtv's Bazaar Blog is running my more indepth article...check it out.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Best Lentil Stew Yet!

I was planning on only doing pasta recipes all week. Afterall...Presto Pasta Night Roundups only have ONE first birthday party. And I do plan on making a doozie of a pasta tonight. Hopefully I'll get it written up in time for the Big Birthday Bash tomorrow. But....well, let's start the story at the beginning.

I love Wednesday's NY Times. There's always some great food related articles and often fantastic recipes that I usually squirrel away and sometimes ... even get to try out. Last week I came across a wonderful sounding lentil & merguez stew and then on Tuesday I happened to be at Pete's Frootique and bought some lamb and merguez sausages that looked so good.

This is a short post, because really...there are no words good enough to describe this excellent stew. I could go on about the richness, the depth of flavor, the sweetness that balances so perfectly with the spice of the merguez. I could...but I won't. I'll just say this once.....

YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT!!!! It's that good. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Lentils with Lamb & Merguez Sausage Stew

Saturday, February 23, 2008

More Nigella, This Time with an Asian Flair

Earlier this week I shared my Nigella recipes for Weekend Cookbook Challenge. And they are delicious...naturally. But, in flipping through Forever Summer, I found one I hadn't tried before that had my heart beating faster, my mouth watering and I knew I had to make some awesome, finger-licking-good ribs...(I'm always attracted to ribs - the act of using my hands to eat, that extra smile of rib sauce sticking to my face, gnawing on bones a la Henry the VIIIth...pure heaven).

I was tempted to just make the ribs and forget about a balanced meal...and these would be great served the same way you'd serve chicken wings ...watching a game, casual finger food party...or just standing in front of the fridge, stealing a cold one (or more).

In the end I decided to actually make an Asian dinner...very tasty indeed.

Sticky Asian Ribs