February 23rd - Mardi Gras Cook - Crusty a la Toffer!

Regrettably, I missed another dinner!  The THBS (Bowling League) decided to have their annual General Membership Meeting on Tuesday, the 23rd and since I'm part of the executive, my presence was required at this meeting.  Toffer was nice enough to send me some details of his menu selection.

Homemade Soup
Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Veal (Veal Papiette)
Oven Roasted Veggies
Basmatie Rice with Sauteed Veggies and a Balsamic Sprinkle
Veggies and Dip
Fruits & Yogurt / Cream Cheese Dip

From what I can decipher simply from the above, sounds like you all ate like rabbits with all those darn vegetables! 

Soup Toffer Style

Chicken Stock
1 Leek Stem
3 large carrots
3 ribs of celery
1 large sweet potatoe
2 peeled and cubed Fuji apples
1 Butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons curry

I wasn't left with directions but I would assume you will need to chop or slice everything into bite size pieces, throw everything into a pot, boil it until all vegetables are cooked and then puree it in a blender as this is how a Soup Toffer Style is traditionally served.

Veal Papiettes

Cheater!  Cheater!  These were store bought veal meatloafs wrapped with a slice of pork and slathered in a BBQ Sauce with onion, celery and breadcrumbs!  Heat in oven at 420 degrees for 25 minutes.

Oven Roasted Taters

Cut potatoes into chunks, drizzle with olive oil, season with cajun seasoning, jerk seasoning, garlic salt, paprika, basil, oregano, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until tender & serve.

Roasted Veggies

Cooked with chicken (used to make the broth).  Cut celery, carrots, garlic and onions into chunks, add 1 can of beer.  Season with assorted herbs and roast in oven for over an hour.

Basmati Rice & Veggies:

Sautee zucchini, onions, red pepper and celery.  Mix into cooked rice & serve.

Fruit with Yogurt Creme Cheese Dip

When nobody is looking, steal the leftover fruit platter from the office party and serve to dinner guest.

With the Olympics being on TV, it would be safe to assume that the Biggest Loser was not on and that all the dinner guests promptly left after their tummies had been filled.

Check out the old pic below.  Jude's such a lady with her little pinky up in the air!

A Recipe from the Vaults.... Chicken a la Julie!

Toffer must be really bored at work today.  He's found one of Julie's famous recipes.  I may have mentioned it before in a previous entry along with the Blue Cheese Macaroni.  Well, by popular demand, below you will find the recipe for Chicken a la Julie! 

1 hazardous cab driver

2 burnt fingers

3 Bayden hairs - Bayden is my dog!

10 chicken breasts

cinnamon, allspice, garlic, salt and pepper

roasted almonds or pine nuts

saltana raisins to taste

top with plain yogourt

On a wide street, flag a cab after purchasing ingredients. Get in cab and make sure the driver is crazy. Rear-end unsuspecting Volvo and wait for argument to ensue. Walk away with groceries as you flip the bird and get hurled insults and contempt.

Arrive at destination in new cab, wash and spice chicken, turn burners on HIGH, put chicken in oven and put rice on to cook. Roast almonds or pine nuts, have one jump from hot pan into the well of the neighbouring element (ensure that said element was on HIGH only moments ago) Stick thumb directly on element to attempt to lift and retrieve said nut (pine or almond, not me). Swear in foreign language and continue to cook almonds. When chicken is ready, remove from sizzling heat, put on rubber gloves to remove chicken from bone. Ensure glove is thin at index finger tip. Dig thin fingered glove deep into the poitrine of a chicken until rubber sears and melts to finger. Swear in a foreign language and remove glove. Allow friend to finish the rest of the chicken.
Now, take platter of chicken to table, all ready to feast, with two burnt fingers and an unstable foil platter, and allow platter to collapse under the weight of the chicken just before reaching the table. All chicken
must land on floor or chair, or you must begin this step again.
Scoop chicken off floor, into strainer and rinse carefully and thoroughly under hot water. Add a few more of the original spices and serve to loving friends.

ENJOY

All in all, I remember this evening to be a very fun night, with all the mishaps, dinner was edible.  Only one person did not have chicken, and that was our germaphobe, Kevin.  Funny, he'll let his little dog, Sophie lick him all over his face even though she uses her tongue as toilet paper!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010Mardi Gras Cook - Patrick

Tonight's dinner was my turn again.  I had to bud ahead of Jen as I'll be on Vacation next week in Costa Rica... yeah, I'm rubbing it in.

Partied a little too much on Friday... Really did not feel like grocery shopping on Saturday. Drank some more on Saturday evening and got to bed late.  Had to go bowling on Sunday and truly did not feel like grocery shopping after that.  So yes, I did procrastinate but I finally completed my grocery shopping on Monday.  I hate the No Frills by our Loft.  It truly has a poor meat selection.  When I went shopping on Dec 5th for a Turkey, they did not have any in stock. Yesterday, lo and behold, I needed lamb racks and not a single rack of lamb could be found.  I had to drag my butt down to the Metro at College Park, and yes, they had Lamb Racks and lots of 'em and Saffron, another key ingredient I required for my meal.  My menu was thoughtfully planned out last week and I had prepared my shopping list accordingly.  All recipes were from the cookbook Toffer purchased for me for Christmas. It's called Zest by Michele Cranston. Fantastic book and let me tell you, these recipes were simple but very flavourful.  I made some slight variations either based on ingredient availability, my preferences or to serve more people.

The Menu:

Goat's Cheese Salad with Pears, Celery and Parsley

Chili Mint Lamb with Saffron Vegetables

Frozen Raspberry Whip with Strawberries

Goat's Cheese Salad with Pears, Celery and Parsley - Serves 8

2 Tablespoons White wine vinegar

6 Tablespoons Olive Oil

6 Celery Stalks finely sliced

6 Ya Pears cored and finely sliced

2 handfuls Italian Parsley leaves

150 grams Toasted sliced almonds

300 grams Goat Cheese

In a large bowl, add vinegar, olive oil, freshly ground sea salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Add celery, pears, parsley and almonds.  Toss.  Crumble Goat cheese and sprinkle over top. Serve immediately.

Chili mint lamb with saffron vegetables - Serves 4 

(I doubled the vegetable portion but this was not required as I had way too many leftovers)

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 table spoons harissa (I used Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce)

1 bunch of Mint - finely chopped

1/2 cup coriander (I used Parsley as Dan hates coriander) - finely chopped

4 French trimmed lamb racks (I used larger racks that contained 8 bones per rack)

3 onions, peeled and quartered (I used a large Spanish onion)

3 parsnips, peeled and cut into cubes

4 Waxy potatoes (I used small pre-washed golden potatoes)

600 grams pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks (I used Butternut Squash)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds

20 black olives, pitted

1 teaspoon ground cumin

10 saffron threads

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425F. Mix 2 tablespoons olive oil, harissa and herbs in a bowl then rub into the lamb racks.  Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Place the vegetables in a baking dish and toss with the remaining olive oil, sugar, fennel seeds, olives, cumin, saffron and lemon juice.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Then turn the vegetables and return to the oven uncovered.  Sear the lamb in a frying pan over high heat then put on top of the vegetables. Bake for a further 20 minutes.  Rest the lamb for 2-3 minutes, slice and serve over the vegetables.

Frozen Raspberry whip with strawberries - serves 4 -6

150 grams raspberries

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 egg white

500 grams strawberries

1 tablespoon icing sugar

Whip the raspberries, lemon juice, sugar and egg white with electric beaters for 10 minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy and has tripled in size. Spoon into a container and put in the freezer for several hours or overnight until it is frozen.  Just prior to serving, hull the strawberries, reserving some whole ones for serving.  Sprinkle the strawberries with icing sugar and lightly toss until they are well coated. Set aside for 5 minutes before serving with a scoop of the frozen raspberry whip. 

It seems to happen to me on occasion with new recipes, I thought I had everything timed right to have dinner served at 7:00pm.  All those darn vegetables doubled the cooking time!  Silly me! It was worth the wait though.  We started off with the salad as we patiently waited for the remainder of the meal to finish cooking.  It was a rather large bowl and we devoured it in its entirety, leaving a small sampling for Kitty, whom invited himself over on Saturday evening when he heard my menu selection.  We enjoy having guests on occasion.  Gives us someone new to pick on.... and we'll eventually convince them to cook for the remainder of us.  We always break them down eventually!

I rested the lamb much longer than the three minutes as I needed to finish cooking the vegetables, so I tented it with foil and eventually re-covered the roasting pan with foil and increased the temperature to expedite the cooking.  I think the vegetables were done by 8:00pm... I could be wrong, but I'll say that anyways.

Sliced the lamb and put the vegetables in a serving tray and off we went for round two.  The majority of the group all loved the lamb and indicated it was cooked to perfection.  Sure - I'm blushing just a little!  I was rather impressed myself.  

Dessert was very easy.  You can't go wrong with something pink, whipped and with strawberries in this group.  I highly recommend you try this recipe out and impress your friends with it.  Heck - I recommend you buy the book.  I've been perusing the recipes and there are tons of them I'm itching to try as they all look so mouthwatering.

Once again, we had a blast watching the Biggest Loser.  Mental note to self - Keep Jen and Julie separated to ensure nobody gets boiled with hot tea while they are both in a fit of laughter.  Don't talk about excessive man sweat in unhygienic areas as it makes Jen puke in her mouth just a little. 

Next week is Jen's turn!  She did bring Dan and me a little sampling of her dessert which I will try this evening. I do believe she has opted to make a Boeuf Bourguignon.  I'm sure it will be delicious.  Jen will also provide me with the notes for the blog on her dinner which I will update once I get back from Vacation!

Tuesday, February 2nd - Mardi Gras Cook: Julie

Happy Groundhog Day!  Those darn rodents decided to forecast another 6 weeks of Winter!  Time to start a new tradition and shoot Wiarton Willie prior to his exit from his hole in the ground.  If he doesn't see his shadow due to his imminent death, we'll always have an early spring!  Well enough about our lovely Canadian Winters and on to much more exciting things!  Julie's menu!   We are always in for a surprise when it's Julie's turn to cook as she never discloses what she plans on cooking until she arrives at my door step, food in hand, mostly prepped and ready to be finalized and served.

The Menu:

• French Loaf
• Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin stuffed with figs, spinach and roasted hazelnuts with an Apple Juice Reduction
• Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
• Beets in Orange Juice
• Bok Choy with Pickled Artichoke Hearts
• Caramilk Ice Cream

French Loaf:

Frantically call Toffer prior to his arrival and ask him to pick up some bread.  Slice and serve.

Fluffy Mashed Potatoes.

Use your favorite mashed potatoe recipe and simply add the word "Fluffy" in front of it. For all you cat lovers, no kitties were used in the making of this recipe! I find the best way to mash potatoes is to use a Potatoe Ricer available at any quality kitchen supply store.  I've yet to be disappointed with mashed potatoes prepped in this manner.

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin stuffed with figs, spinach & roasted Hazelnuts served with an apple juice reduction.

Recipe pending

This is an original recipe a la Julie tradition!  One that was absolutely amazing.

Note: I recommend not to ask her for her Blue Cheese and Mac recipe.  This one is better left in the Julie vault of recipes not to repeat again!

Beets in Orange Juice

Recipe pending

Bok Choy with Pickled Artichoke Hearts

Recipe pending

Caramilk Ice Cream

While grocery shopping stop buy the freezer section and grab a 1 ltr tub of Caramilk Ice Cream.  After dinner, just prior to the beginning of the Biggest Loser, equally distribute the entire litre into 6 portions and serve.

OMG!  OMG!  Dinner was truly amazing.  I think I can declare that this was Julie's best menu to date.  The only left overs were the mashed potatoes as we all feasted on the pork tenderloin.  It had a fantastic blend of flavours and textures and cooked to perfection.  Quoting the famous Jen "Julie, this is better than my tenderloin" and we all know Jen can cook the heck out of Kraft Dinner!  

Topics of discussion for the evening:

• Jen's Budget Barbie article featuring Adam and Eve, a local chocolatier in the gay village.
• The Toyota Recall
• American Idol - Go Bikini Boy!  Go!
• The Biggest Loser!  Miggy (I cut you) - You go girl, even after surgery and being told she had approximately 8 pounds of saline in her abdomen; she still did not fall below the yellow line.  A big disappointment with Brown Team.  Really, you are over 420 lbs and only dropped 6 lbs in a week working out with Jillian and Bob.  Something does not add up!  Red Team - You are not fooling us with your game play!  Red Wife starts dropping magical numbers and husband is now losing minimal ones!  Uh Huh!  This was complete game play as you both knew Pink (sounds like Pig everytime Allison says it) Team had a 2 lb disadvantage at the weigh in.  You are lucky as it almost bit you in the cellulite butt!
• Jude's text message.  Some complete stranger named Nebullah (or something like that) inadvertently texted her with his/her new contact information and she somehow thought it was due to the fact that she has my contacts in her address book.  Ummm... No... If it was one of my contacts, he/she would have texted my phone number, not hers!

As Dan and I will be on vacation for my next scheduled turn, Jen has agreed to swap cooking weeks with me as I will be in Costa Rica.  I've been looking forward to Jen's first kick at the Table with the group and will have to wait until almost the end of March to be delighted with her prowess in the Kitchen. 

I've already planned my menu!  All new dishes from Zest - A cookbook Toffer bought me for Christmas.  As I like the element of surprise and told everyone last night that I was going to make a Goat Cheese, Celery and Pear salad for a starter from the Savour section, the remainder of the menu will be from various sections of the book such as Piquant (That's French for "Spicy" Toffer), Ambrosia and Fragrant!  I'm salivating already!