Easy Egg Custard with Fresh Peaches

Easy Egg Custard with Fresh Peaches - July 8th, 2012

I had so wanted to make this last week but I didn't have any ramekins. I debated whether to just make one large custard in a bigger dish, but decided to wait until I had individual ones. Glad I waited.

Easy Egg Custard with Fresh Peaches - page 212

"Egg custard is a classic dessert, but traditional recipes call for excessive amounts of butter, sugar, flour, whole milk, and egg yolks. Skipping the high-calorie/high-fat ingredients and sticking to just two egg yolks doesn't mean less flavor. Honey, vanilla, and nutmeg keep things interesting, while peaches add a topping that's soft and sweet."

This was a very easy dessert to make. Only 7 ingredients. The recipe says that it serves 6, since I was only making this for myself and Niall, I halved it. Guess the ramekins I bought today from the Superstore are much larger than normal ramekins (or at least the ones they used). With the recipe halved I only had enough to fill our two ramekins half way.

They took 30 minutes to bake. Once they had a chance to cool for a little bit, I added two peach slices on top and we dug in.

Mmmmm. Nice creamy texture with a hint of the Nutmeg.

A perfect light dessert. Wish there was more.

18 Down, 183 to go...

Veal Scaloppine & Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches

Veal Scaloppine & Roasted Vegetable Sandwich - July 8th, 2012

Now here is a sandwich that eats like a meal! Was soooo full afterwards.

Also, as a cautionary warning...this one is messy! Afterwards, you will most likely require a fork to get everything that fell out of the sandwich while eating.

Veal Scaloppine & Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches - page 19

"Scaloppine-style cooking is an extremely flavorful Italian method of preparing meat, which requires very little fat for the initial sear and incorporates plenty of flavor and moisture from the accompanying sauce."

Now this is a fully-loaded sandwich! All of the components work beautifully together and create a masterpiece. You have your veal piled high with roasted veggies and then smothered in a homemade tomato sauce. Adding a light sprinkle of mozzarella is the cherry on top.

I wasn't able to find Ciabatta Rolls at the Superstore together so we went with Focaccia Triangles instead. Not sure if the Ciabatta would have held everything in better or not. I love Focaccia bread anyways, I so didn't mind the swap one bit.

The roasted veggies were a nice change. Green peppers, Eggplant, Portobello Mushrooms, and Red Onions. Probably made our place a few degrees warmer with the oven going but these were so worth it.

The sauce was also extremely easy to prepare. Tomatoes (used diced and then just broke them up in smaller pieces within the pan), garlic, and fresh herbs. Easy is good.

You definitely won't be walking away from this sandwich still hungry. I was originally going to put a dill pickle on the side but after seeing the size of this monster I decided not to. Wouldn't have had room for it anyways.

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Week Five

This week I have 6 recipes to make. Three are new, and the other three are recipes that got skipped over in previous weeks:

• Veal Scaloppine & Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches - page 19
• Chicken, Spinach & Ricotta Quesadillas - page 23
• Sauteed Halibut with Artichoke Hearts, Cherry Tomatoes & Cannellini Beans - page 57
• Sweet Potato Spread - page 154
• Easy Egg Custard with Fresh Peaches - page 212
• Simple Yet Elegant Sole & Asparagus Baked in Parchment - page 179

Now that I have my food processor I can make the Sweet Potato Spread, and I also bought some ramekins today for the Custard dessert. I'm in business now. :)

Would love to hear from anyone that has made any of the recipes so far.

Quick White Bean & Spinach Ravioli

Quick White Bean & Spinach Ravioli - July 6th, 2012

First things first...this recipe kind of blew my mind a little.

Super easy and very, very delicious!

Quick White Bean & Spinach Ravioli - page 57

"The canned ravioli and pastas your kids may love are, unfortunately, loaded with sodium, unhealthy fats and a long list of unpronounceable ingredients. You can do much better with homemade ravioli. Wonton wrappers, which are usually found in the produce section at grocery stores, are essentially fresh pasta squares. Just fill and seal them, cook and toss with your kids' favorite pasta sauce."

Such a simple concept, yet I never would have thought of using the Wonton Wrappers to make a simple ravioli. Genius! Now that I know this technique, I am just imagining all the ingredient combinations to make the filling mixture. Will definitely be using this again and again.

I had originally delayed the making of this recipe because I didn't have a food processor. On Friday night when I made this, I decided to go ahead and try to do so without one. Basically the only ingredient the really needed it was the white kidney beans. To fix this, I chopped them up and then 'smooshed' them with the side of the knife blade to form a 'bean paste'. Problem solved.

The rest of the filling mixture was a combination of spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, and seasoning. Trust me, final product was yummy!

To make the raviolis was so amazingly simple.  Each one used two wonton wrappers. To adhere them together all you had to do is just dip your finger in a little bowl of water and 'paint' along the edges of the wrapper. Spoon a dollop of your mixture on the first wrapper and secure the second wrapper over top. Firmly pressing along the edges to complete seal everything in.

These only require a 2 minute bath in a boiling pot of water. Voila! You have yourself homemade ravioli. How simple is that?

I used just a can of no-salt-added tomato sauce and added some dried basil. A small ladle of sauce over top of the ravioli and a sprinkle of mozzarella. Ready to eat. Enjoyed this meal very much. Niall took his for supper at work. Although I tried to do so, I guess I didn't quite get the sauce completely between all of the pasta in Niall's container because when it was time to eat his raviolis were all stuck together...oops.

I am happy to report that I did purchase a food processor today. YEAH!!! Found one at the Superstore. It's a PC Brand, holds 3 cups. Exactly what I need it for, and what made it even better was that it was under $30. Score!

16 Down,  185 to go...

Garlic Bruschetta

Garlic Bruschetta & Cornmeal-Crusted Salmon - July 3rd, 2012

Where has the week gone??
Between the heat, a busy schedule, and once again lacking proper equipment  (stupid food processor...) I unfortunately did not get through as many of the recipes this week as hoped.

On Tuesday I had planned to make both the Quick Bean & Spinach Ravioli and the Garlic Bruschetta. As we all know, I DO NOT OWN A FOOD PROCESSOR...so I apparently keep picking the recipes that need one. As I was not up for manually pulverizing the ingredients, I skipped on the ravioli for that night and just focused on the bruschetta.

Garlic Bruschetta - page 155

"The mild, almost-chestnut-like taste of roasted garlic will turn your regular old bruschetta into something supreme. It will also improve your cardiovascular health - a win-win situation!"

This recipe does call for roasted garlic, but as the temperature was quite hot in here I didn't want to add the extra 400 degrees for 30 minutes. The broiler would be enough for the night. I just minced raw garlic instead. It still gave everything a great garlicky enhancement, but it would have been nice to try the roasted variety.So while my bruschetta mix was lacking colours of the rainbow, it was not low on flavour.

Mmmm...taking that first bite, second bite, seventh bite...so good. Messy to eat as I mounded a generous spoonful of mixture on to each of the bruschetta slices. I kinda wish I had made more.

As the main course I made Cornmeal Crusted Salmon. As idea I originally got from a Chef Michael Smith recipe. Just lightly season the cornmeal and coat the salmon portion before pan-frying. The salmon stays so moist inside. Love it!

Tomorrow I have high hopes to find me a food processor...

15 down, 186 to go...

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Polenta

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Polenta - July 2nd, 2012

Even though the temperature inside was warm today, I braved it and used the oven. At least the oven was only on for about 30 min.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Polenta - page 15

"Doctoring store-bought tomato sauce by adding roasted vegetables such as mushrooms increases the sauce's nutritional offering."

The added heat in the condo was worth it! This was really tasty!

I think I actually made this in less than the 'Total Time: 45 Minutes' that the recipe said. Maybe that includes the time needed to preheat the oven... At 450 degrees the pork cooked up in exactly 27 minutes. Still juicy.

I used mini bella mushrooms for the sauce instead of regular white button mushrooms. They have so much more flavour. These added to the Tomato & Herb Pasta Sauce was spot on!

I've bought polenta in the past, but had never used the instant variety. Had some difficulty finding polenta (any type) for this recipe. The Sobeys on Windsor no longer carries it, and the grocery guy at the Young Street Superstore didn't even know what Polenta was...so no, they don't carry it either. My last hope was the Italian Market on Young. Lucked out. They weren't even open but the owner was there and let me in. THANK YOU!! They have a wide variety of Polenta to choose from.

While polenta doesn't scream flavour, when lightly seasoned it works perfectly with this meal. With every bite you get pork, sauce and polenta. Very nice!

Niall liked this meal as well. He will be taking the leftovers to work for lunch tomorrow.

14 down, 187 to go...

Week Four Menu & Crab Salad Sandwich

Sad that the long weekend is almost to an end. The last couple days went by so quickly. Sorry I am just getting to my posts now. The temperature has been so humid that I don't think my brain could have even processed the thoughts requires to create a post. lol.

I did have to post-pone making the Sweet Potato Spread from last week's menu. It really does require a food processor so I can't get around that. I will hopefully be getting one in the next couple weeks.

Here's what to expect in this 4th week:

• Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Polenta - page 15
• Garlic Bruschetta - page 155
• Quick White Bean & Spinach Ravioli - page 57
• Simple Yet Elegant Sole & Asparagus Baked in Parchment - page 179
• Easy Egg Custard with Fresh Peaches - page 212
  

Due to the heat over this Canada Day long weekend, there was not a whole lot of cooking going on in my kitchen. We spent a good deal of time down on the Waterfront and meals to go.

I did make our lunches yesterday after we went grocery shopping. I created some Crab Salad Sandwiches.

Crab Salad Sandwich  - July 1st, 2012

Imitation crab meat was on sale so we bought a package and some fresh crusty rolls.

I made the salad from several ingredients that I thought would go well together:

• Red Onion
• Mango
• Avocado
• Capers
• Miracle Whip
• Pineapple Curry Dressing
• Lime Zest

This was a very nice and light lunch. You got a little bit of curry flavour in every bite. In fact, if I made this again, I would use more of the curry dressing.

There is actually some still left over and it will be my lunch tomorrow. :)

Tonight I did make another recipe from the book. Post to follow.