We had a few lovely house guests this past warm winter weekend. Between walks to the market and not skating on the canal (so warm!), we managed to pull together a pretty tasty vegan feast. For my contribution to the meal, I tried out this recipe from Food52 for lentil meatballs with Indian Fenugreek sauce. The lentils balls were too soft and not really worth the effort, but the sauce was delicious. I would make this sauce again in a heart beat, so good, and we had all the ingredients on hand. You could serve this on steamed cauliflower, haddock, grilled chicken, tofu, chickpeas. I would also consider serving it as a soup, thinned out with some broth and add some extra veggies maybe.
I got the fenugreek leaves at a mideast store a while ago- but if you read the comments, it says you can replace with bay leaves. I also threw in a few dried curry leaves and topped the sauce with cilantro. I think thai basil would also taste great. Coconut Fenugreek Sauce (by feastingathome) 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon ginger, minced <I smashed the garlic and ginger together with a mortar and pestle> 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil 1 large tomato, diced <I used canned plum tomatoes> 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk (not light) 1 tablespoon lime juice <I used a fresh lime> 1 teaspoon brown sugar <I used white sugar, for no particular reason> 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, cracked pepper. Make the sauce: In a skillet or medium pot, sauté the garlic and ginger in olive oil over medium heat until just golden, stirring often to prevent burning. Add turmeric (fresh or dried) and sauté 1 more minute. Add diced <canned> tomato and sauté until most of the juices evaporate, about 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, fenugreek leaves, <curry leaves>, lime juice, brown sugar, salt, cayenne, and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. Bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat until ready to serve. <I simmered the sauce for around 20 minutes, as it was pretty soupy. >
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This is a delicious light supper / appetizer for the summer. Abe has made the Shrimp Cakes with Dill Remoulade and Fennel Slaw a few times now - it is delicious! The recipe is from the LCBO Food&Drink Early Spring 2016. I am partly posted this recipe to share and also so we don't lose the recipe. #recyclerisk Here is the link to the original and full credit to Eric Vellend Abe makes this as it says, no changes. No arguments here, as the final product is so tasty. Shrimp cakes with Dill Remoulade and Fennel Slaw DILL REMOULADE ½ cup (125 mL) mayonnaise (reduced fat is fine) 1 small clove garlic, minced 2 tbsp (30 mL) thinly sliced green onion 1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped dill 2 tsp (10 mL) capers, rinsed, chopped 1½ tsp (7 mL) Dijon mustard 1½ tsp (7 mL) grainy mustard 1 tsp (5 mL) fresh lemon juice ½ tsp (2 mL) hot sauce Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste FENNEL SLAW ½ fennel bulb, trimmed 1 tbsp (15 mL) extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh lemon juice Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste SHRIMP CAKES 1 lb (500 g) shrimp, peeled, deveined 1 large egg, lightly beaten 1 green onion, thinly sliced ½ tsp (2 mL) smoked paprika 6 tbsp (90 mL) panko bread crumbs Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste ⅓ cup (80 mL) cornmeal ¼ cup (60 mL) vegetable oil, divided Dill leaves to garnish 1 For the dill remoulade, combine mayonnaise, garlic, green onion, dill, capers, mustards, lemon juice and hot sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Season with salt, if necessary, and pepper. (Remoulade will keep, covered and refrigerated, for 5 days.) 2 For the fennel slaw, cut fennel in half lengthwise through core. Slice thinly crosswise on a mandolin, discarding cores. Add olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Mix. Cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours. Drain before using. 3 For the shrimp cakes, rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towel. Using a sharp knife, chop into pieces between ¼ and ½ inch (0.5 to 1 cm). Place in a mixing bowl with egg, onion, smoked paprika and panko. Season with salt, if necessary (most frozen shrimp are salty), and pepper. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. 4 Place cornmeal on a plate. Form heaping 2-tbsp (30-mL-plus) portions of shrimp mixture into 2½-inch-diameter (6-cm) patties. Coat patties in cornmeal. 5 Working in 2 batches, heat half of vegetable oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Pan-fry half of shrimp cakes until cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towel. Repeat for remaining shrimp cakes. 6 Arrange shrimp cakes on a serving platter. Top each with a dollop of remoulade and some drained fennel slaw. Garnish with dill leaves. Makes 12 cakes We had a lovely weekend up in Sunderland visiting the Greenspoon family for Passover. For the part of the meal, I made Cria's recipe for tahini salad dressing. We had it on a simple salad of greens - great vegan course.
Cria's Tahini Salad Dressing 1/2 cup tahini 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup soya sauce 2 T balsamic/red wine vinegar 2 T lemon juice 2 t grated ginger root 2 cloves garlic, minced salt and pepper I thought it was really good dressing and it made substantial amount, enough for a few days of salads. The only adjustment I would make is to add a small pinch of chilis to give it some heat. The farm is on a beautiful piece of land so spent a fair amount of time walking around outside. During the trip, I got a few very fun future projects to work on from Lloyd - stay tuned. Very exciting! Lloyd is the king of projects whose proliferation of works I can only aspire to. I have included pictures of his current work, transforming a chicken coop into a greenhouse Looking for some vegetarian supper ideas, I came across this recipe on food52 for Squash and Roasted Garlic Galette. Lots of steps involved but a relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
I made some tweaks... For the pastry, I used 1/2 cup corn flour, 1/4 cup corn meal and 1/4 cup oat flour. I also added an onion to the roasting plan of squash. Oh, and i doubled the ricotta, added dill, and topped it with the rest of the parmesan cheese (didn't have fontana cheese on hand). So, the galette was pretty good. I think it is a good base recipe, easy to think of lots of ways to adjust to seasonal vegetables etc. Lesson's Learned 1. The crust with my changes tasted a bit 'healthy', if you know what mean, and was pretty crumbly. The original recipe is probably better. 2. I loved the onions and extra ricotta cheese. I thought the dill was great. 3. The parmesan browned weirdly, though i think i had weird cheese. I think it would be better with sharp cheddar or mozzarella cheese as a topping instead. 4. I didn't wrap the garlic in foil - and a bunch of it burnt. Our weekend vacation continues. Sun is out today, heading out soon to Tremblant.
Last night we had a chance to sample the Memphis rub "millennial style" (served as tacos). Like many things, it was fine but not fabulous. I think a bit more sugar and salt would be good. I added chunks of red onion for the last hour of cooking with the pork - the onion with the rub was delicious. Memphis Rub 1/4 c sweet paprika 1 T sugar, 1 T br sugar 2 t salt 1t celery salt, black pepper, chill powder, dry mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano Combine the ingredients. You are done! I tested the rub on a small pork shoulder, applied 24 hours before slow cooking for a few hours. Big chunks of onion in the final hour. Lessons Learned 1. I bought the spices at the MidEast Centre, saved a lot of money. Apparently bulk barn also has cheap spices. 2. Some of the recipes i reviewed included vinegar, which i did not add. I might in the future, might help pull the flavour into the meat more. 3. Main change to the recipe I would make is to include more salt. It was a golf clap kind of weekend, as far as projects are concerned.
Firstly I wanted to install the dimmer switch in the kitchen. Done it before, should have taken less than 30 minutes. Took all necessary safety precautions but the wiring was a bit different. When I switched back on the power, the outlet was making a loud buzzing sound (loose connection) and the dimmer switch made the lights flicker. Fail. Damn. I could not fix the buzzing. I turned off the power and reversed efforts, putting the old switch back. No buzzing. Safe electrical outweigh desire for slightly less bright lighting. Secondly, we were a group of six on Saturday for some boardgames, so figured I'd make some snacks. I had read this recipe on Food52 and remembered it, mostly as the reviews were so plentiful and positive. Roasted Fennel and white bean dip. It was a beautiful day for a walk so no issue with the special stroll to the Glebe for fennel bulbs and I enjoy our pit stop pint along the way. I didn't mind working away through the recipe steps (roast fennel, roast garlic, flavour olive oil for white beans, blend, bake ), thinking the dip would be fabulous. For all the steps and details, it was pretty bland. We ate it, but the dip inspired talked about all the ways it could be better - fewer beans, more lemon, more garlic, more cheese. I might try it one more time with adjustments, but probably not. My first and perhaps last foray into the culinary wonder of hot dip. Until next time! |
Author: Leah BartlettLover of projects, big and small! I try to not be intimidated by lack of experience/skill/know-how. Archives
September 2018
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