My Cinco De Mayo Table

We didn't have a party, or even special activities, we just ate a lot (an ample amount for a small family of four) of Mexican inspired foods. This was a mostly vegetarian spread except for the token meat- a mild chorizo, and gyulai sausage. We had cheese and bean Quesadilla's, fresh avocado, stuffed peppers, and a red cabbage Pico De Gallo that was recommended to me by my friend Tehlia over at Raw Adventures of an Army Wife.  Make sure you visit her blog to get the recipe! I served mine in warm corn tortillas, with sliced avocado, crumbled mexican style cheese and lime juice (Sorry T, I did the raw thing half way). 


Everything else I just kinda winged.

When my tots were just beginning to eat real foods I discovered that simple easy quesadillas were great. They were convenient tiny packets that could be hand held that I could pack with a variety of left over foods. I could even make then ahead and slowly bake them while I did other things!  For these I took two flour tortillas, lightly oil the outsides of each put one side down on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, Sprinkled  Monterey Jack cheese and a few cooked black beans and covered with the other one. Put it into the oven and baked at 375f until melted and turned once so that it got crispy on both sides.

Then for the stuff peppers, I hollowed out four peppers, two bells (for the tots) and two poblano peppers (husband and myself).  The tots version was simple, I filled them with a mexican style rice, a recipe courtesy of Mark Bittman, frozen corn and baked at 450f. Ours was a little more involved. And oh, so yummy!

Poblano Stuff Peppers and Mexican Rice

(Rice adapted from A Mark Bittman Recipe in his book The Best recipes in the World)

• 1 large tomato, cored seeded, and cut in two
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly mashed
• half an medium onion peeled and cut in two
• 1 cup of long grain rice, rinsed and dried.
• salt and pepper
• 1/2cup water or stock
• neutral oil

To make rice, take tomato, garlic and onion and place in a food processor or blender and puree. Heat oil on a medium high heat and saute rice for a couple minutes to coat with the oil.  Add in tomato mixture, salt and half a cup of liquid. Turn down to lowest setting, cover with a lid and steam for 15 mins. Meanwhile prepare other ingredients for the peppers.

• Cilantro leaves, small bunch, lightly chopped
• 2 tbsp chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped
• 1/4 cup loosely packed mexican style crumbled cheese
• 1/3 cup black beans with out liquid
• 2-4 poblano peppers, tops, ribs and seeds removed

When rice is done cooking combine cilantro, chipotles, cheese and beans with rice in a bowl, stir to mix. Stuff peppers, and bake at 450f. For a cooking time sake we'll say for 30 mins but, really it is to heat the rice through, melt the cheese and turn the poblano peppers soft and black at the edges.

My husband confessed (probably due to the meyer lemon margarita) to me half way through the meal he had a dirty little secret... We have had other conversations that had started this way but I must admit this one did take me by surprise "I don't like poblanos". With that he took my hard worked, disassembled it,  put  the rice between a corn tortilla and threw out the pepper. WTF, husband? The tots on the other hand gleefully ate their novelty rice from the fun bowl!

photos by me.

A little late...Pass it On Week 6

OK OK, I know... I am late, don't yell at me! I know this post is several days overdue and we are nearly onto next week's pass it on, but I have been busy. I opened my etsy store.  I won't bore you with all the details. We'll just say that the children have started staring longingly out the window, hoping someone will throw them scraps.

This weeks pass it on recipe comes from the chapter Easy Curries, be forewarned "easy" does not mean quick.

Vegetable Jalfrezi
I am passing this recipe on  from Jamie's [Oliver] Food Revolution

• 1 medium onion, halved peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 fresh red chile, finely sliced
• thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• small bunch of fresh cilantro, leaves picked off, and finely slice the stalks
• 2 red peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 cauliflower, remove green leaves, divide into florets, and roughly chop the stalk
• 3 ripe tomatoes, cored, and 
• 1 small butternut squash, seeded, thick skin removed, and diced
• 1 x 15 oz can of garbanzo beans, drained
• 3-4 peanut/vegetable oil
• pat of butter
• 1/2 cup of jalfrezi or other medium curry paste
• 1 x 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper
• 2 lemons, 
• 1 cup natural yoghurt

Have all of your ingredients on hand. To save time prepare the whole vegetables except for the cauliflower. 

In a large dish, such as a dutch oven or heavy bottomed sauce pan on medium high heat add the peanut or vegetable oil, the onion, chile, ginger, cilantro. Cook for 10 minutes or until soft and nicely coloured. 

Prepare the cauliflower while the first ingredients are cooking. Open your canned ingredients and drain the beans.

Next add peppers, squash, garbanzo beans, and curry paste. Stir  and coat well. Then add cauliflower, fresh and canned tomatoes (no need to drain), vinegar and one can of water from the empty garbanzo beans. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer for 45 minutes. Check at 30 minutes to see if it is too liquid, leave the lid off for the remainder of the cooking time if it is. When the vegetables are tender taste and add just enough salt & pepper, being careful of over seasoning.

Garnish your curry with the cilantro leaves, serve with rice,  a salad, some fresh naan bread, lemon wedges and the yoghurt.

It serves 8, and yes for once Jamie's portions are pretty accurate. I had tonnes left over and my children will no longer starve as I sew myself into oblivion!

Because it had such a long simmer I took that time to make a cucumber salad from the chapter Lovin Salads- These salads are so quick and delicious they really don't need a whole week to themselves. I will just had them in here and there.

Evolution Cucumber Salad.

My tots love cucumber, yoghurt and anything salty.

• 1 cucumber, peeled and or seeded (I partly peel- and leave the seeds in as we use the long English variety)
• natural yoghurt
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• salt & pepper
• mint,chopped

Chop the cukes into bite sized pieces, add a dollap of yoghurt, a generous lug of oil, squeeze of fresh lemon juice, sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Mix all things together.

The salad could be done there but because this is an evolving salad you can add some chopped mint (we did) some chopped black olives, and fresh red chile.

food photos by me except for the obvious one of me in an apron, that was done patiently by my husband.

The Almost Gumbo.

Several people have been blogging about gumbo of late- something to do with a football game? Mardi Gras, maybe? So stuck for dinner last night I relied on my blogging buddies and one famous New York Times Columnist- Mark Bittman to inspire me. 


I was mostly disappointed that I didn't have all of the ingredients to make a traditional gumbo, but not really, I did have enough goodies in my pantry to make a gumbo inspired stew. I started off with the roux base that I love. It makes me feel like I have mastered some great secret of cooking- the mother of all mother sauces and proceded from there in gumbo like fashion.

Based on a recipe from Mark Bittman's 

Column The Minimalist 

The Almost Gumbo

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp white unbleached flour
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 tsp minced garlic or to taste
• 2 stalks celery cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 2 medium carrots cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with juices
• 1/8 tsp cayenne or more to taste* I this is the amount I can get away with for tots. 
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• approximately 4 cups of stock, veggie, chicken or water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb of peeled shrimp * I used what I had in the freezer, once shelled it was about 1/2 lb and that was plenty.
• flat leaf italian parsley for garnish
• rice

Combine butter and olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan (big enough to cook everything!), cook on no more than a medium heat. Once it starts to froth. Continually stir until mixture starts to turn brown (Mark Bittman has a nice video that demos this in his column). When it is a nice golden colour add in onion and garlic, increase heat to slightly and keep stirring. Stir until onion is translucent and garlic soft. Add in other vegetables and combine everything. May have to add in a couple tbsp of liquid at this point. Saute for a a few minutes longer.

Pour in tomatoes and their liquid, add in salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and cayenne. Start adding in your choice of stock, 2 cups and then more depending on how thick you want it. Add in bay leaf bring to a boil and  turn down to a simmer for about 10 mins. 

*At this point make rice. We added in frozen corn when almost done and mixed through, for an extra boost of veg for the tots.

After the 10 mins add in the prawns, stir through. Turn off the heat and put a lid on. The prawns will cook as the rice is finishing.

Pour stew over a bed of rice and garnish with parsley.

Thank you Chow and Chatter for the inspiration.

photos by me.

My name rhymes with Vegan.

I was talking to my husband's cousin today; I guess by extension my cousin, and was telling her I eat a mostly vegetarian diet. She is a vegan, so she asked me if I had ever thought I should go vegan? I gave her two answers.

 "The short answer to have I ever thought about it?: A lot of the meals I make for me lean towards vegan, but because of my name I could never have become one. The long: For me personally I try to eat a balanced healthy diet. Sometimes that includes dairy and eggs and bottom feeders (seafood). It was the diet that I developed for myself when I was 16 and it just kinda works for me. I know most of the arguments pro and cons and I have never been truly convinced that veganism is for me. I am a strong believer in the environment (as Jeff and I learn more we have even gotten a bit hippyish), animal rights, nutrition and local food. Even though Jeff and the babies eat meat, I make sure it is hormone and antibiotic free, as well as knowing the source and farm. I drive restaurants crazy because in this day and age I expect them to know where IT comes from. If they don't I don't order it. So that is part of the long answer. I know by definition this does not make me a vegetarian, that is usually why I say a mostly veg diet"

Here is a vegan recipe for my cousin.

Mark Bittman's Simplest Dal, with Celery Root

 from "How to Everything Vegetarian" 

• 1 cup dried red lentils, washed and picked through
• 2 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 4 cardamon pods (yes they made a huge difference)
• 2 cloves (also made a difference)
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds (I used dark)
• 1 tsp coarsely ground pepper
• roughly 1 1/2 cups peeled and 1/2" cubed celery root
• salt
• 2 tbsp peanut oil (optional)
• chopped fresh cilantro for garnish.
• lime wedge

Put all the ingredients up until salt (salt goes in when done),  in a sauce pan large enough to hold everything plus water to cover by an inch and a half. Simmer until Dal is soft about 30 minutes. Add salt and oil when done and check seasoning.

I serve it over cumin flavoured basmati rice, a hefty squeezed of lime juice and garnished with chopped cilantro leaves.

photos by me with help from my assistants, Billie & Elijah.

The Jamie App

I didn't really think about dinner last night until moments before I went to the grocery store. My new sous chef had something to say about that and with the touch of a button I had a recipe, a game plan and a grocery list. For last night's dinner inspiration I used the Jamie Oliver 20 minute meals application on my ipod touch to execute a paneer, potato and pea curry. 


I followed his suggestions, bought  his recommended ingredients and didn't deviate too much from the plan, however the grocery store I went to did not have paneer. No worries I made my own- taking the recipe from 20 minutes to two hours +  while the whey drained and the cheese firmed up. Several hours before dinner I made my paneer and then pre-made most of the curry minus the paneer. Browning and adding the paneer as the rice cooked at dinner time.


This recipe was so simple and the flavour good, it got me thinking how can I make it better? The nice thing about many of Jamie Oliver's recipes is that he tries to teach you how to cook and his app is no different. With that in mind I set out to tailor it to my taste. He suggests using a mild korma* curry paste, that has nice simple flavour but for me lacked that distinct punch and complexity that I have come to expect from curries.

Without further explanation here is my Paneer, Potato and Pea Korma Curry for 2

• 1 litre of whole milk
• a generous pinch of sugar
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• one perforated container big enough to hold your cheese about 250 ml.
• another larger container filled with water to weigh the cheese down.
• or your own devised drainage method, plates and cheese cloth work too.

At least an hour before you are to use the paneer (more time is better), in a heavy bottomed sauce pan pour in a small amount of water and pour in milk and add sugar. Heat on a medium high heat. Stir constantly to prevent scalding to the bottom. When the milk begins to froth and starts to move up the sauce pan pour in vinegar and remove from the heat. Put a lid on and rest for 10 minutes. Set up your draining containers. 

Ladle the raft of cheese leaving the whey behind into the perforated container, position second container with water on top of the cheese making sure it has a clean bottom and let drain for an an hour or more. I set mine up off of a bowl.

• half of a red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• small bunch of cilantro, chopped leaves  for garnish and save stems
• 2 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
• thumb size peeled ginger
• neutral oil or ghee
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 tsp korma curry paste
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 medium potato peeled and cut into bite size cubes
• 1/4 cup of frozen peas

• 1 cup basmati rice, rinse and well drained
• 1/4 diced white onion
• pinch of cumin seeds
• pinch of salt

• 4 cups of hot water on hand (doesn't have to be boiling)
• plain yoghurt to garnish
• lemon wedges to garnish

Prepare all ingredients before making rice.

For rice use a medium sized sauce pan, add 1 1/2 tbsp of oil and heat to medium, add white onion, and pinch of cumin seeds. Stir and cook for about a minute just until you can smell the cumin seeds.  Add rice (make sure it is fairly dry or it will stick to the bottom of your pot), cook about another 30 seconds/ 1 minute more until the rice it slightly oiled. Add 1 1/2 cups of hot water, pinch of salt. Turn up heat to high bring and to a boil. Once at the boil reduce heat to lowest setting on the element. Cover with a lid, leaving a small sliver for steam to escape for nearly 30 seconds and then completely cover. Set timer for 18 minutes.

The fun part, the curry. Put prepared onion, garlic, ginger, and cilantro stems in a blender pulse, and then slowly add a small amount of water to form a thick paste. Using a heavy skillet, heat another 2 tbsp of oil or ghee on a medium heat and add paste. Cook until it bubbles and some of the water is evaporated out. Stirring and working so that nothing sticks to the pan. Add all of your remaining seasonings and curry paste and combine well. Add potato and 2 cups of water. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes to cook potatoes. 

While potato is cooking, prepare paneer either in cubes or as a one inch slab. In a non-stick fry pan with a little bit of oil or ghee to lightly coat, fry paneer to get some colour and warm through.

Just before serving add peas to the curry. Put some rice in two shallow bowls, cover with half of the curry each, add paneer, garnish with cilantro leaves place a spoonful of yoghurt and a lemon wedge on the side and enjoy! Recipe is easily doubled. 

This version is more intensely spiced and has a heat not suitable for most three year olds. Mine still love the rice, flavoured with cumin and onion and have a side of peas, paneer and plain yoghurt.

photos by me.

*According to Julie Sahni in 'Classic Indian Cooking' Korma is a Moghul method of braising mostly choice cuts of meats and some vegetables using a subtle spice mixture and cream.