Cauliflower Butter Curry

Serves 4

Cooking time including preparation is about 1 hour

Lately with the weather being very drippy it seems like the best way to spend an afternoon tucked indoors is to have a hot bowl of curry in hand. Cauliflower and curry combinations are quite popular in Western Indian cuisine, but not having tried making one myself yet, I decided to whip up a version similar to a recipe I learned for Butter Chicken. Tomatoes round out this dish so beautifully that my eyes popped with delight as I tasted the result.  It's seven basic ingredients and quick to prepare so I suggest giving this one a try if you're in the mood for a smooth silky veggie curry. It can also be served as a bold side dish without rice or it can accompany other curry dishes.

I decided to use salted butter instead of ghee for this one because I wanted creaminess in the sauce to take a little acid off of the tomatoes and make it quicker to prepare. You may want to use low-sodium chicken broth since broths and canned tomatoes vary quite a bit these days in sodium levels. Taste the sauce halfway through cooking and add salt if necessary but be careful not to over-season it. When I made this I added a sliced fresh Thai chili when cooking the onion to really make it zing, so toss one in if you don't want to walk on the mild side.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into 3" florets
• 6-8 nugget potatoes, scrubbed and halved
• 1 tablespoon madras curry powder
• 1 398mL can diced tomatoes
• 2-3 cups chicken stock
• Fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

1)Melt the butter in a medium sized pot over medium heat.
2) Add the chopped onion and stir until softened, about 2-3 minutes.
3) Sprinkle the curry powder over the onion. If you prefer a milder version, use less than a tablespoon.
4) Stir the curry and onions together to roast the spices. Cook for at least a minute until very fragrant.
5) Add the potatoes to the pot and stir to get them cooking. After about 2 minutes, add the cauliflower, stir and cook an additional minute or so. Make sure not to burn the curry!
6)Stir in the can of tomatoes and pour in the chicken stock until the vegetables are covered in liquid. Mix well and allow to boil.
7) When the curry begins to boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are finished.
8) Serve piping hot over rice and/or with naan. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Tastes even better after a night in the fridge!

Pad Thai

Serves 4

Thailand has the rest of Asia beat for food, as far as I'm concerned. Spicy, sweet, and full of fresh flavours, the cuisine of Southeast Asia is simpler to make than you might think. This popular dish has all the hallmarks of Thai cooking: oyster sauce for sweetness, fish sauce for saltiness, and lime for sour. The peanuts and bean sprouts add a bit of crunch and the chilies kick it into drive so if you dare, dress it with more. Traditionally Thai kitchens will serve sliced chilies in a small amount of fish sauce for the garnish which is my favourite way to top off the dish, but it's a hot tongue that can handle that much heat.

The best way to make Pad Thai is with fresh  prawns, but since not all of us are blessed with fresh ocean treasures nearby, you can substitute with good-quality frozen prawns in the shell. When making this dish on the prairies, I thaw the frozen prawns in cold water and remove the shells. I then boil the shells in a small amount of salt water for 20 minutes and save it as stock for say, Tom Yum soup or even a Vietnamese Pho. Your belly will be as happy as a Buddha's once you enter the exotic world of SE Asian cooking.

• 2 tablespoons oil (sesame is best but canola also works, must be a high-smoke point oil)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red Thai chili, sliced
• 1 lb chicken, sliced or whole prawns.
• 1/2 block of packaged medium firmness tofu, cut into small cubes
• 2 eggs
• 1 package wide rice noodles
• 5 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 generous handfuls of washed bean sprouts

 Garnish with:

• Chopped peanuts
• Sliced green onion
• Lime wedges
• Fresh sliced chilies and fish sauce

1) Prepare the rice noodles by boiling for 2-3 minutes until mostly cooked. Alternatively, soak the dry noodles in cold water for 20-30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2) Heat the oil in a large wok  on medium-high heat.
3) Add a pinch of garlic to the oil. The oil is at the right temperature when the garlic bubbles but doesn't burn.
4) Add the garlic and chili, stirring quickly. Cook for 1 minute.
5) Add the chicken or prawns and cook nearly through.  If using fresh prawns be careful not to overcook.
6) Stir in the tofu and cook for 1-2 minutes.
7) Throw in the rice noodles and stir quickly. Add the oyster sauce and fish sauce, tossing the ingredients well.
8) Spread the ingredients to the outer edges of the pan to make room in the centre.
9) Crack the eggs into the centre and scramble until cooked.
10) Stir everything together and toss in the bean sprouts.
11) Cook an additional few minutes so that the bean sprouts are heated but not wilted.
12)Place the peanuts, limes, chilies and fish sauce in separate bowls  so that each person can garnish to their liking. Serve and enjoy!

Perogy Party

After New Year's Day, January feels slow and dull. The excesses and excitements are over so the entire month starts to feel like the reluctant cleaning-up chore the day after a boisterous house party. However, there's still another Christmas to celebrate before the fun funnels away. Ukranian Christmas is the perfect time to keep the party going with friends and festivities, and of course, food.

My Ukranian friend and I have been talking about making perogies for months, so it seemed the right time to make a pile of those delicious pillowy treats. She would provide the know-how, myself and a few other friends would be the students (and provide support as "pinchers"). We assembled on a Saturday afternoon to make plans for perogies, and poured the wine. Let the party begin.

We decided to make three batches, so at 50-75 perogies per batch, we were going to be making a lot to divide between our respective freezers (minus a whack to enjoy for dinner that evening).  The recipe is simple but the possibilities for fillings are limitless; the standard is potato and cheese, but all kinds of combinations can tuck inside. Herbs, sour cream, onion, bacon, chive and much mores can be paired with the potato, but it doesn't stop there. Potato can be substituted with yam or sweet potatoes and perhaps a little brown sugar to make a sweeter treat. Too, a breakfast version where the perogies are filled with fruit or jam is a delicious option as well. For us, we wanted to make something on the traditional savoury side and opted for potato and cheese and some with plain sauerkraut. My friend was sharing this expertise of traditional perogy production with us, and we eager to participate (and even more eager to eat them).

We enjoyed the fruits of our efforts that night and took home more to enjoy again later. All in all it was a great day to kick the January doldrums aside. Appetizer alone or served with bacon and fried onions, perogies are delicious any way they appear. Allow about 8-10 perogies per person for a meal.

For the filling (one batch):

We made cheddar cheese and potato, and also plain with drained sauerkraut, but those are merely jumping-off points. The filling shouldn't be too wet, and the perogies shouldn't be overstuffed as they won't cook evenly and risk bursting when boiled.

• 2 lbs yellow flesh or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup orange cheddar cheese (for colour)
• 1 and 1/2 cups aged white cheddar
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 whole cloves garlic (with husks on)
• Salt and pepper to taste

1)In a medium pot, add the potatoes and cover with cold water. Salt the water well and heat on high heat.
2)When boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid. Continue to cook for about 20 minutes or until soft.
2) In the meantime, heat the oven to 400 degrees F, and coat the garlic cloves with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake, wrapped in a tinfoil,  for 20-30 minutes until soft.
3) Drain the potatoes and add the cheese, butter, cream, and and  roasted garlic. Mash well until smooth. Use a a stand mixer to whip them for an even smoother finish, and adjust the flavour as you desire, adding  herbs or more cheese if necessary. For us, tasting and sampling the mash mix was one of the best parts. It seems the whole process could stop right here!
4) Cover and set aside to cool.

For the dough:

• 500g full fat sour cream
• 4 cups unbleached flour

1) In a large bowl, combine the sour cream and most of the flour, mixing with a spoon until it sticks together.
2) Use your hands to further mix the dough, if it becomes too sticky, add more flour in small amounts.
3) When the dough is smooth enough without sticking, roll out on a floured, flat surface using a rolling pin.
4) Roll out the dough until it is about 5mm thick. Add more flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
5) Using a sharp paring knife cut the dough into rectangular strips, about 8cm by 6cm.
6) Pick up a piece of cut dough and place it in the palm of your hand. Using a small spoon, scoop about 1 tablespoon of filling  into the centre.
7)Take one long-ended corner of the dough and press it to the opposite long-ended quarter of the dough to create a triangle. Pinch the dough corners together.
8)Pinch the remaining edges of the dough together firmly around the filling, making sure it is sealed well. The shape should resemble a boomerang or a half-moon.
9) Repeat until all pieces of dough  are filled and pinched . Continue to roll out the remaining dough edges into new pieces until no more can be made.
10) Place the fresh perogies on a floured baking pan and cover with a tea towel so they do not dry out. If freezing the perogies, keep them covered for a day before freezing.
11) To prepare, fill a large pot with cold water and add salt. Bring to a boil.
12)Gently add the perogies one at a time  to the boiling water.
13) When the perogies float on the surface of the water for about a minute, they are ready.
14) Rinse with cool water to prevent sticking and serve with fried onion, bacon bits, sour cream and sauerkraut (see my homemade sauerkraut recipe in the Schnitzel section of this blog).
15) Alternatively, perogies can be fried in butter (or bacon fat) from frozen or after being boiled for a golden brown, crispy texture.

Savour the soft and hearty treats with a lager or chardonnay. Delicious.

Smokey Chicken Paprikash

Serves: 4
Time:1.5 hours

What better way to ring in the new year than to put some miles on my newest piece of crockery. A big shiny red dutch oven needs to be filled with something hearty, so to start 2015 I made Chicken Paprikash.

This is another dish reminiscent of one of my former favourite restaurants. Chicken Paprikash is a thin Hungarian stew made with chicken and sweet paprika. A lot of it. Whole chicken parts are doused in Hungarian paprika before being baked in the oven with onions, peppers, and often potatoes. When the timer beeps you find very juicy chicken nestled in mildly sweet paprika gravy. Often sour cream is added to complete the sauce, but it can be left out if you like or substituted with tomato sauce. Ladle it out and lap it up.

To give this dish a smokier flavour I added chipotle chili powder to compliment the sweetness without overpowering the paprika. I think this dish would be even better if the chicken sat in the paprika mix overnight before cooking, but for those of us who have difficulty planning ahead, 30 minutes is fine.

⦁    1 whole frying chicken, cut into pieces
⦁    5 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
⦁    1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
⦁    1 tablespoon ground chipotle chili powder
⦁    2 tsp salt
⦁    2 tablespoons olive oil
⦁    2 whole cloves garlic, crushed
⦁    2 cups chicken stock
⦁    1 medium onion, chopped
⦁    1 green pepper, chopped
⦁    1 red pepper, chopped
⦁    2 bay leaves
⦁    1/4 cup sour cream

1. Pat the chicken dry. Season well on all sides with paprika, parsley, salt and chili powder. Let sit for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
3. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven on medium high heat.
4. Brown the chicken pieces in batches,  about 1 minute per side and set on a plate.
5. De-glaze the pan with 1/4 cup of chicken stock.
6. Add the garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute, stirring well.
7. Add the onion, green pepper and red pepper. Season with salt and pepper if desired .Cook until the vegetables are  softened.
8. Stir in the remaining chicken stock and bay leaves. Pile the browned chicken in the pan and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper.
9.When the stock begins to boil, place the cover on the dutch oven and transfer to the oven.
10. Bake for 35-40 minutes then remove from the oven and transfer to the stove top. Remove the chicken pieces and cover them with foil. Set aside.
11. To make the sauce, heat the stock and cooked vegetables in the dutch oven again on medium heat. Whisk in the sour cream and stir until bubbling. Add salt and pepper as needed.
12. Serve the chicken with sauce on a bed of mashed potatoes. Curl up and enjoy!

Beef Luc Lac

Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2

This dish has a special place in my repertoire of SE Asian cuisine. I had just lurched off a very long and crowded bus ride from Kratie to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and I had lost my sweater. This particular 11 hour ride had featured a few of the treats one encounters when taking a local bus: cheap bus fare, loud karaoke, plastic seats in the aisles, and a loose chicken. I was dusty and dog-tired but needed to sink my teeth into something good so I stopped into a restaurant beside my hotel and ordered what was called a Khmer specialty: Beef Luc Lac. It was an absolute pleasure to order it in various parts of the country and receive the same salty sweet and sour flavoured beef on a bed of fresh tomato and onion with a beautifully cooked fried egg as the crown. To top it off: a simple sauce of lime juice and famous ground Kampot pepper with salt.

When returning to Canada I used to make this dish for family and friends and whenever I make it the smiles are as big as a buddha's. It's just a very good wealth of SE Asian flavours and textures that deserves to be made on a special occasion, but go ahead and eat it for breakfast if you fancy, like I used to do on the other side of the ocean.

A couple of ancient secrets here: when selecting limes, never buy the pretty dark green ones that you see in Corona commercials. The best, juiciest limes are those that look old, with the green faded and the skin thinning. So pick those ugly ones and see how much easier it is to squeeze them and how much more juice dribbles out.

Also, pick your beef on the cheaper side. Luc Lac isn't typically made with a classy cut of beef and you'll get a better flavour with a tougher cut. I used a marinating steak for this round and sliced it in small pieces, which I would recommend doing unless using a nice top sirloin or other tender steak. Thinly sliced flank would work well too but feel free to use what you like.

Start the rice:

1 cup rice ( I use brown but jasmine works wonderfully)
1 and 3/4 cup water depending on the type of rice

1) In a small pot, add the rice and water and heat over medium-high heat until boiling.
2) When boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until tender, about 35- 45 minutes according to the type of rice.

While the rice cooks prepare the beef:

1lb of marinating beef steak, sliced thinly or in small pieces
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
juice of two limes
3 tsp ground fresh pepper

1) Mix the oyster sauce, fish sauce and lime juice with the pepper. Add the beef and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the lime pepper sauce:

2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp salt or to taste
juice of 1/2 -1 lime

1) Mix all together and set aside.

Arrange the vegetable bed:

2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, sliced (optional)

Prepare the Luc Lac:

1 lb marinated beef
1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil ( or preferred high smoke point oil)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 red Thai chili, sliced
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
juice of two limes
2 eggs

1) In a medium frying pan or wok heat the oil to medium high to high heat.
2) Add a small amount of garlic to test the heat of the oil: if it bubbles and sizzles without burning it's ready. Add the remaining garlic and stir.
3) Add the chili to the garlic and oil, stirring constantly. Let the chili and garlic cook for no longer than 1 minute.
4) Drain the marinade from the beef and then throw the beef into the pan. Add the oyster sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and pepper. Stirring often, cook for about 2-3 minutes. The beef should be almost cooked through.
5) Spread the beef to the outermost regions of the pan. Crack the eggs into the center without touching the beef. Let cook until the white has set but the yolk is runny, about 2-3 minutes.
6) Spoon the beef onto the bed of sliced vegetables. Top with the fried egg, being careful not to break the yolks.
7) Serve with rice and the lime-pepper sauce. Chnang na (very tasty)!

SeaFarer's Stew

Cooking time (with homemade stock): 3.5-4 h (using prepared stock about 30 minutes)
Serves: 4-6

As a child I hated fish. The smell, the texture, and the taste were all too "fishy" for my beef-inclined palate...although fish sticks I could handle. Luckily with age and a move toward where tasty fish actually live, ie the ocean, I fell in love with all things fishy. Albacore, oysters, and everything in between became regular vocabulary in my food dialogue, where the resounding refrain is "fresh fish makes the dish". Not everyone is a fan of the treasures of the sea, but if you are, I think you'll find this recipe as good as gold.

I came up with this chowder when I was in the grocery store preparing to make a Portuguese stew and stopped short in the fresh fish section: fish heads. Yes, big, beautiful, sockeye salmon fish heads, peering up at me with their glassy wide eyes. I gave them a wink and grabbed one: homemade stock here I come. I decided a nice soupy savoury fish chowder is just what this damp cool weather calls for.

Usually I've make fish stock from an assortment of mussel and clam shells, or fish bones. Today was my first head, and staring it down I remembered this past summer cooking a bounty of fresh sockeye: stuffed with thyme and barbequed on a wood fire, fried fillets with butter, and salmon burgers. All were delicious, so why not grab those fabulous fish flavours in a no-fuss stock? Of course you can substitute with store-bought stock, but next time try using a head. Also, you can make the stock a day ahead if it's more convenient. Finally, I tried the stew without cream and it wasn't quite a success, so be sure to add the cream to your preference.

Since this recipe covers all of the food groups perfectly, it makes a great lunch or dinner so come sail away....

For the stock:

1 large fish head (or two small)
10-20 sprigs fresh thyme
1 medium onion, quartered
3-5 tsp salt

1) Place all ingredients in a medium pot.
2) Cover with water and bring to a boil
3) Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2-3h until the taste is no longer watery; remove the cover if necessary. Enjoy the steamy aroma and drain through a sieve.

For the Stew:

1 lb salmon or snapper filets, cubed
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
pinch of red chili flaskes
1 fennel bulb (cutting directions below)
0.5 lb green kale, stalks removed, leaves thinly chopped
1 lb nugget potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons butter
~1/2 cup heavy cream
8 cups stock (best is at least 4 cups fish stock, and the remaining amount in vegetable stock)
salt  and pepper to taste

Fun with Fennel:

At the market or grocery store, fennel looks a bit like an alien vegetable, not quite an onion and not quite celery....plus dill appears to be growing from the celery portions. On top of that it smells like old man licorice. What do you do with fennel? So far, I'm not sure besides making soup. But here's how to cut it:

1) Cut the green stalks off of the white bulb.
2) Remove the slightly discoloured outer layer of the bulb.
3) Slice off a piece of the bottom , removing the dry and hard end of the bulb.  Cut in half and slice out the tough core at the base.
4) Chop the remaining fennel as you would chop an onion and set aside.

For the Soup:

1) Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat.
2) Add the onion, potatoes, fennel, chili flakes, parsley and thyme as soon as the butter has melted. Season with salt and pepper as you like. Cook until the onions and fennel are soft.
3) Add the fish and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil before reducing the heat to medium-low.
4) When the potatoes are almost cooked, add the kale and stir until the greens are soft. Increase the heat if needed.
5) Stir in enough heavy cream to reach the desired consistency (will vary depending on the cream).
5) Add the fish and stir, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
6) When the fish is cooked through (about 5 minutes), ring your dinner bell and dive in.

Saucy Rice and Beans

Serves: 4-6

Cooking Time: 2h if using dried beans, 45 minutes if using canned

Rice and beans have been keeping me warm regularly since the air has become crisper and cooler. It's similar to Spanish rice or the Mexican rice that you get as a side dish in restaurants, however this version is more saucy and flavourful (according to me). It's full of fibre and protein so it's satisfying, plus it makes great leftovers because its taste improves after being in the fridge overnight. Sometimes I eat it as a side dish or wrap it in tortillas for a veggie burrito, but usually I just eat it as my main course.  It's not likely it'll cost you more than a few bucks to make, so really, you can't afford not to make it.

Usually I would simply buy beans in a can and add them in later in the recipe but lately I've been buying dried legumes. For years I thought dried beans and lentils were a lot of work to prepare;  I was indoctrinated with the belief that beans needed to be soaked in water overnight. I'm not sure if this is the canned beans companies' doing, or if most  people out there are just lacking in legume education but it's simply not true. This method takes about an hour for the beans to be softened enough, which is still not as convenient as canned beans but I urge you to give it a whirl sometime since it makes a considerable difference in texture and flavour, especially in a dish like this where the black beans have one of the starring roles.

Feel free to jack up the amount of spice by leaving your jalapenos as they are and not removing the seeds. This all depends on the heat of your peppers and the tenderness of your tongue... for me I used 1.5 unseeded jalapenos which was just right, but for something milder try seeding them first.

Start the beans:
1 cup dry black beans
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 tsp salt

1) Rinse the beans in cold water and pick out any stones.
2) Place beans in a small pot and cover with water until there is about and inch of water over them. Add the garlic.
3) Bring to a boil, uncovered. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and let cook fro 45 minutes, adding water if needed to keep the beans covered.
4) Taste the beans for softness and add the salt (if you add the salt at the beginning the bean skins will break down too quickly). Cook until beans reach the desired softness, 15-30 minutes.
5) Drain and set aside.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 tsp cumin seeds
1.5 tsp oregano
1 onion, diced
1 large green pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 tsp chili powder (I used chipotle chili powder)
1 tsp paprika
1.5 cups brown  rice
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup vegetable stock
fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

Garnish with:
sour cream
cilantro, chopped
green onion, chopped

1) Heat the oil on medium to medium-high heat in large pot or dutch oven .
2) Cook the cumin seeds, oregano and fresh ground pepper until aromatic.
3) Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute before adding the onion, green pepper, and jalapeno. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
4) Add the rice and roast for about 2 minutes, which will give the rice a nice texture that is not too soft after it's cooked.
5) Pour in the tomato sauce and stock and stir well. Add the paprika and chili powder, stir, then salt to taste.
6)When the rice and sauce come to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover, cooking until rice is tender, about 35-45 minutes. Add stock or water if it becomes too dry, but try not to uncover it too often...as tempting as it is!
7) Add the beans and stir gently until heated through. If using canned beans, you would add them now.
8) Garnish with sour cream, cilantro, and green onion to serve as a main course.

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