Arugula with Grilled Portabella and Blue Cheese

The title is the recipe.

Arugula (or rocket/roquette) is by far my favorite salad green. Sturdy, bitter, nutty. Yummy.

Portabellas (or portobellos) are one of my favorite mushrooms. Meaty, substantial, flavorful.

Blue cheese. Tangy, salty, creamy. Love. Any cheese for that matter.

Balsamic reduction brings all these together. Sweet, sour, smoky.

This is what makes a great salad...different flavors, different textures, all combining into one perfect mouthful.

Cider-brined pork chops

For our Christmas grab game at work this year, I snagged a Williams-Sonoma cookbook, which I put to use straight away. The original recipe called for grilling the chops, but since it was below freezing outside, grilling was a definite no-go. So I followed the recipe (almost followed the recipe, that is) and the result was definitely a make-again dish for the boys. I think the most crucial part is using a good cut of meat. I bought these pork chops from Cumbrae's, a local butcher known to supply fine restaurants around Toronto. These particular chops were from a Yorkshire-Duroc pig, a cross of two heritage breeds.

When I first started cooking, I didn't think that using heritage pork breeds, or free-run eggs, or dry-aged beef, or wild (non-farmed) salmon made a difference. But when that particular ingredient was the star of a dish, like here, I soon realized that the extra $$ was very well worth it.

Anyways, on to the recipe.

4 pork chops, each at least an inch thick.

Brine:
3 cups apple cider
1/3 cup salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
10 peppercorns
3 bay leaves
3 star anise

1. Combine the ingredients for the brine.
2. Place the pork chops, making sure all the pieces are submerged in the brining liquid.
3. Brine in fridge for at least 8 hours (up to 24).
4. Remove chops from brine, rinse, and pat dry.
5. Heat a heavy oven proof pan on the stove (I used cast iron).
6. Place a bit of oil and when the oil is very hot, sear all sides of the chop, making sure to sear the top where the fat is (yum!!! crispy pork fat!).
7. Place chops in a 400 degree oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the pork is no longer pink but NOT overdone.

I used a thermometer to make sure I took the pork chops out just before they were done. Even though pork chops have a cap of fat, the rest of the chop can become dry and tough when overcooked.

I served this with a cranberry sauce, pan-roasted asparagus and broccolini and roasted rosemary potatoes.

Dates, Goat Cheese and Bacon

This picture may not look like much, but trust me on this one.

Grab some pitted dried dates, stuff with good aged goat cheese (I imagine some sort of blue cheese would be lovely too), wrap with half a bacon strip and bake in a 350 oven for 10-15 minutes until the bacon is slightly crisp. I actually did this in my toaster oven!

This goes so well with a glass of bubbly :-)

Sausage, mushroom and apple stuffing

This was our Thanksgiving table this year :-)

I made this stuffing (in the boat-shaped container on the left), which I baked outside the turkey. I find that that gives me better control of how cooked I want the stuffing and the bird to be. Plus I like my stuffing with some crisp parts, which you can't get if you cook it inside the bird. Don't forget the gravy and cranberry sauce!

500g package mild Italian sausage, casing removed
2 apples, chopped into half inch cubes
2 cups chopped mushrooms (I used cremini)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, mined
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
3 eggs, beaten
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp. dried fennel
1 whole baguette, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 7-8 cups of bread cubes)

1. Saute the sausage and break up the meat as it cooks.
2. When the sausage is no longer pink, add the onion and garlic.
3. When the onionis soft, add the celery. Saute for a few minutes until the celery softens.
4. Add the apples and mushrooms, season with salt, pepper, thyme and fennel.
5. Saute until everything is cooked and the flavors meld together.
6. In a large bowl, put the bread and pour in the sausage mixture.
7. Pour in the milk, broth and eggs.
8. Mix everything well until the bread has soaked up all the liquid.
9. Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Pecan Tarts

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

Yesterday, I made this...a yummy, gooey, nutty version of pecan tarts. I like my pecan tarts with LOTS of pecans and not too sweet. This tart fit that bill perfectly :-) And yes, I cheated. I used premade tart crusts. But one has got to prioritize when making a full on Thanksgiving dinner, right?

24 tart crusts
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup melted butter
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1. Mix sugars, corn syrup, vanilla, butter, eggs and salt.
2. Fill tarts with chopped pecans (about halfway full)
3. Slowly fill the tarts with the gooey mixture.
4. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
5. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream or nothing!

So good!!!

Banana Oat Bread

The hubby doesn't like it when banana bread is too banana-y (they should add that word to the Mirriam and Webster dictionary). I tried this recipe and he liked it much more than this one. Plus this one kept for much longer and stayed moist for days.

I've been leaning toward quick breads that use oil as the fat rather than those with butter. I find that they stay fresh much longer and don't get tough when refrigerated. Don't get me wrong, butter is irreplaceable in some cakes, cookies, scones, short breads and whole host of baked goodies, but quick breads have so many other flavors that you don't really miss the richness that butter gives.

Anyhow...here's the recipe.

3 cups flour (I used half all purpose and half whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1 cup whole rolled oats
1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.
3. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
4. Mix in bananas and buttermilk.
5. Divide batter between two 9x5 loaf pans.
6. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Zucchini muffins

I have to confess, I don't really care much for zucchinis. So when my weekly vegetable delivery service dropped off 4 zucchinis, I knew I had to get creative or to the compost bin they would go. These resulting muffins were moist, tender and kept very well for several days. The boys really liked them and were surprised that those lovely green bits were actually bits of zucchini!

1 3/4 cups flour (I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini (don't drain!)

1. Whisk the first 5 ingredients together.
2. In another bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.
3. Add the zucchini.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients. Mix just until incorporated. You don't want to develop the gluten in the flour otherwise, your muffin will become tough.
5. Fill muffin cups.
6. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

This recipe made 12 regular-sized muffins.