Saturday, April 25, 2015

EDAMAME AND CORN SALAD

Buying fresh corn on the cob lends itself to a number of ways to cook it or add to recipes.  I do like eating cooked corn just on the cob with some butter, salt and pepper but I also like adding corn to salads.  Edamame beans and corn are good combination.  I buy a box of frozen edamame beans in their shell and use them in a variety of ways.  This recipe calls for balsamic vinegar and I used lemon flavoured balsamic vinegar.  If you like the taste of lemon, you can add some lemon juice to the recipe.  Both the DH and I enjoyed this salad.  


INGREDIENTS:

1 cup edamame beans
2 cups cooked fresh or frozen corn
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 shallot, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS:

Mix ingredients in a medium size bowl.  Serves 2 to 4 depending on whether this is a side dish or more of a main dish.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

GREEK STYLE BAKED RIBS

Ribs are a popular item to make and for some of my friends, it is their favourite meal to have.  I decided to make a variation of a recipe I already make for greek ribs.  This recipe consists of two parts.  First is marinating them in lemon juice for a few hours, followed by the addition of oil, garlic and herbs and  baking them in the oven at a low heat.  Since the package of meat that I bought at Costco was large, I decided to split the package into two large zip lock bags and prep the second package but freeze it instead of baking all of the meat.  By prepping the ribs in advance and freezing them, the ribs will just require thawing and then baking for a future supper.


INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 to 3 lbs lean pork ribs
1/3 cup lemon juice
olive oil
garlic powder
dried oregano flakes
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the strip of ribs into small pieces; 2 to 3 ribs per piece.  Place in a zip lock bag.   Add the lemon juice to the bag.  Roll the juice around the ribs and flip the bag a few times.  Place the bag in the fridge and flip the bag over every 30 minutes.  The ribs should marinate in the bag with the lemon juice for at least two hours.

Remove the ribs from the zip lock bag.  Place the ribs meat side up on a baking rack that fits into a roasting pan.  Brush each piece with olive oil.  Generously sprinkle garlic powder and oregano over each piece of rib.  Add salt and pepper according to your taste buds.  Cover the pan tightly with a lid or tin foil and bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to 300 degrees F for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  If you only have 2 1/2 hours to cook the ribs, after 2 hours at 300 degrees F, increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F for the last 25 or 30 minutes.  Serves 3 to 4.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

LEMON CHICKEN

I love the combination of lemon and capers in different recipes.  Lemon chicken or chicken piccata does not require many ingredients.  It is a great dish to serve when entertaining as it is not spicy, can be served with rice, potatoes, couscous or quinoa.  I made this dish to serve four and it could have fed six people.

I used frozen chicken breasts for this recipe.  I let them thaw and before they were totally thawed I sliced each one horizontally into four pieces.  I wanted to have the meat less thick.  Cutting the meat up this way creates more pieces to cook so I used two large frying pans.  You can use one pan and cook half the meat and then cook the remaining half.  I didn't want to take more time to cook the chicken so I used two pans to brown and cook the chicken.  After the meat is cooked, you make the sauce in one pan and then add the chicken back to cook for five more minutes.

The lemon chicken tasted great and I served it with brown basmati rice, salad and roasted brussel sprouts.  Everyone enjoyed the meal and there was enough leftovers for another supper for two.

Too much chicken in one pan so I got a second frying pan going. 

Ready to eat.

INGREDIENTS:

4 skinless, boneless medium size chicken breasts
1/3 to 1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
3 to 5 tbsp of olive oil for sautéing the chicken
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup capers
small handful of parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Cut each chicken breast into four long strips.  If you can only cut three strips per breast, that is okay.  Pat the chicken with a paper towel in case it is not dry enough for dredging with flour.  Put the flour into a plastic bag in order to coat the chicken with flour.  Add a little bit of salt and pepper.  Add the chicken to the bag, close the bag and shake the chicken in the bag.

Heat a large frying pan with the olive oil and when it is hot, place the chicken in the pan.  If the chicken is too crammed in the pan it will be harder to cook.  If required, heat a second frying pan with oil to cook the balance of the chicken.  Reduce heat to medium and cook the chicken on both sides until it is nicely brown and well cooked.  This should take about 12 to 15 minutes depending on your stove.  Remove the chicken and place it on a plate.  Add the lemon juice, capers and stock to the pan.  Scrape the pan to get the material that stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Bring the sauce to a boil.  Add the chicken back to the pan and the parsley and cook for five minutes on medium to low heat.  Remove the chicken and place on a serving platter and pour the sauce over the chicken.  Serves 4 to 6.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

SOUR CREAM CHERRY PIE

Sour Cream Cherry Pie
I recently was reading a magazine that profiled a pastry and bake shop in Edmonton Alberta called the Duchess Bake Shop.  A number of recipes were profiled and one caught my eye, sour cream cherry pie.  I have posted recipes in the past using sour cherries and regular cherries  but I have never added sour cream to pie cherry batter.  There was not any hesitation from the DH when I asked if he wanted a cherry pie with the added ingredient of sour cream.   

I used the same ingredients that I have used for making cherry or other fruit pies and added 1/2 cup of sour cream to the cherry batter.  Since I didn't have any frozen sour cherries I used regular frozen pitted cherries.  After pouring the cherry batter into the pie shell there was some batter left in the bowl which I had to sample.  It was decadent.

Cherries mixed with flour, sugar, almond extract and sour cream.
Lattice style of crust for the topping.

INGREDIENTS:

Pie dough for a double crust pie.  I like this recipe for pie crust and have posted it in previous postings.  It makes a double crust. 

Cherry batter:

4 cups fresh or frozen cherries, regular or sour
1 cup sugar if using sour cherries OR 1/4 cup sugar if using regular cherries
1 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

Mix the cherry batter together in a large mixing bowl.  Roll out half the pie dough and shape it to fit a deep pie plate.  Fill the pie plate with the cherry batter.  For the top crust, create a lattice instead of the standard full crust.  If you have never created a lattice before, it is strips of rolled out pie dough placed on top of each other to create a lattice.  You can get creative with a lattice if you are gifted manipulating pie dough.

Place the pie into a preheated oven at 425 degrees F.  Bake for 10 minutes at this temperature and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the batter is bubbling.  Using a convention oven I baked the pie for 30 minutes at 350 F.   Let cool before serving.