I had the fortune of finding a book H had been lusting after (her words) for her birthday- and as it’s a cookbook of Giada’s, we naturally had to break it in by making something out of the book. H suggested we try her pasta ponza. I was afraid of the capers, but decided to try being brave for her, and so we set out on it. We followed the recipe rather closely- minus using all red cherry tomatoes (no yellow), using whole wheat shell pasta in lieu of ziti, and a mix of grated Reggianito and parmesan in stead of Pecorino Romano. The capers were a bit much for me, but I love the tomatoes, the breadcrumbs, and the idea in general- I plan to bake crusted tomatoes in the future, because that was delicious! As for the capers… I’ve gotten better about being open to foods, but it looks like this is one I’ll continue to have difficult with (which is ironic and sad, as I love balsamic vinegar).

Pasta Ponza

Following Giada de Laurentiis’ Pasta Ponza

I’m not going to bother with reposting the recipe because: a) I’m feeling lethargic and it is rather late; b) we didn’t change very much, so the recipe structure is the same; c) I’m now thinking about balsamic vinegar and my mind has drifted. My writing out this recipe now may result in something off-topic and involving dreaming of Modena, so I think I’ll refrain :). That said, this pasta was a simple one with tons of flavour, and would make a terrific week-time dish to make in a large batch with leftovers for lunch at work!

I know, I know, but trust me when I say this is the last panino recipe for some time! It was a beautiful sunny day, the boyfriend and I had no set plans other than cleaning, and suddenly it came to me: what a wonderful day for a picnic! I called to get his thoughts on the subject, and as it involved eating food, he naturally wasn’t opposed, and thus I set about making picnic food: panino and potato salad, put together a canteen of orange juice, package up a few cookies and berries, and we’re set! Ah, right, back to the panino…

This one has turkey in it, but the real ‘meat’ of this sandwich is the roasted red bell pepper. You can roast it yourself or get it in a can at the market- just make sure they’re large and whole so that you can get the full effect, rather than small pieces! Spinach and fresh mozz round out this sandwich to make it flavourful and delicious. And what’s that particular zesty taste? It’s a mix of my house-made shallot pesto + some oregano-basil tomato sauce! These all melded together to make an incredibly delicious picnic food.

Zesty Turkey Bell Pepper Panino

Ingredients (makes 1 panino):

Process:

The tomato sauce + pesto + roasted bell pepper makes this one a powerful punch of flavour, so be prepared for a bit of a kick! For an added burst,  add in 2 tsp (1 per side) of caramelized onions or shallots. Yum!

So I recently purchased a fantastic cookbook at Half-Price Books entitled The Complete Ste-by-Step Family Cookbook, by Gina Steer. H and I were looking through it together recently, and as we did so, she mentioned that she had purchased some beautiful wild salmon at Whole Foods. Unfortunately, when she froze it, she didn’t realize it had been previously frozen, and thus was seeking a use for it that didn’t depend on nice texture. We happened upon this salmon fish cake recipe in the book and thought, aha, we have all the ingredients for this between the two of us! Not shopping for specific recipes = exciting, so it was on :)

Salmon Fish Cakes

Following the recipe from the Complete Step-by-Step Family Cookbook

Ingredients (makes 7 3-inch-wide cakes):

• 1/2lb or about 225g Wild Sockeye salmon fillet, skinned and de-thawed
• 2 medium-sized Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 tablespoon soy butter
• 1 tablespoon organic fat-free milk
• 1 medium-sized tomato, carved out and chopped into a fine dice
• 2 tablespoons finely-chopped fresh parsley
• approx. 3/4 cup wholemeal bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg (organic, cage-free!), beaten
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• seal salt & freshly-cracked black pepper
• for garnish: fan-cut cherry tomatoes, uncut parsley sprigs, and large dollops of low-fat sour cream

Process:

1. Lightly season the salmon fillet with salt and pepper, then poach in water for about 10 minutes, until cooked through. Drain thoroughly, place onto a cutting board, and flake (use a flat wok spatula or similar item to flake the salmon out).
2. Rinse the potatoes, then poke a few holes on either side with a fork, place on a paper towel, and put in mocrowave for 3 minutes. Then flip the potatoes and cook for another 3 minutes. Continue repeating this 3-minutes-and-flip process until the potatoes are cooked through entirely (if you press down upon one and it caves inward, then it’s done!)
3. Peel the potatoes, and place in a bowl. Add the butter, milk, a dash of salt and a dash of pepper (optional: pinch of nutmeg) and mash. Add in the flaked fish, diced tomatoes, and half the parsley and mix.  Place in freezer for 25-30 minutes to firm.
4. While the mixture is firming and cooling, prepare the three dipping bowls. Place the flour in the first, and beaten egg in the second. For the third, mix together the breadcrumbs and grated cheese with the remaining parsley.
5. Form the now-cooled mixture into 7 cakes, about .5-inch thick and 3 inches across and place in the flour (thin coat), then egg, then the breadcrumb mixture (pat it on thoroughly). Place aside onto a plate until all the cakes are dipped and ready to cook.
6. Heat some of the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the cakes for about 3 minutes per side (until a nice seared, golden-brown colour appears) and well-crisp. For garnish, serve with a fan-cut cherry tomato, fresh parsley sprigs, and large dollops of cold and creamy low-fat sour cream. (the book suggests raita with mint but I that seems overpowering to me).

They’re delicious, very convenient as a keep-in-fridge thing to heat up later on and they go so well with the sour cream! This was also my first successful fan tomato, so I was quite happy with that :)

Ah, this one definitely is to be filed in the ‘accident’ category. H and I were set to make to panini, and the second was to be an Italian one, featuring pesto… and rather than use the perfectly fine store-bought one in the fridge, I just had to go off and try making my own. With no direction, no recipe, no studying, just randomly throwing things into the blender and hoping for the best. The saddest part is that it probably would have worked, too, if it weren’t for that meddling shallot! I had picked up some very pretty looking shallots at the store earlier that day and thought it a brilliant idea to chop one up and put the whole thing right on into the pesto. Raw. Clearly I sometimes just am not thinking things through :) That said, in case any of you are mad enough to want to try it, herein lies the recipe to my failure:

House-Made Shallot Pesto

Ingredients (makes about 6 oz):

• 1/4 cup organic canola oil
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• the juice of 1 lemon
• 1/16 tsp lemon xest (just grate it for 5 seconds or so)
• 1/4 cup whole sunflower seeds
• heaping 1/4 cup almost-burnt toasted walnuts
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups chopped parsley (curly-leaf)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, paprika, coriander, cumin, sea salt, black pepper
• …1 medium shallot, minced (DON’T DO IT!)

Process:

1. Place all liquid ingredients (canola oil, olive oil) in bottom of blender or food processor
2. Then place parmesan and nuts
3. Then add in all other ingredients
4. Omit the shallot, it’s not worth your crying over
5. Blend/process on medium setting until the pesto becomes rather thick (though not quite tapenade-thickness)

Et voila, you’re done! When shallot-less, I bet this would have been a rather tasty pesto, although I would suggest upping the parlsey to perhaps 3 cups and adding some more sunflower seeds, they give a really nice texture. That said, the mere thought of this- honestly- makes me cry as my eyes were watering for a good hour after chopping that silly shallot, so do your eyes a favour and omit it so that you can have a happy pesto!

EDIT: After having used this pesto for a few weeks for a varity of panini, I have to say I’ve really come to like it. The sunflower seeds have absorbed most of the oil, so it has more of a tapenade consistency, but the shallot taste is by no means overpowering and adds a very nice flavour to the sandwiches. It’s also ideal as a panino-bread coating because it will seep through just enough to create nice grill marks but won’t splatter about.

Pasta primavera… a favourite dish for spring. Amusedly enough, when I was cooking this, there was torrential downpour outside, the windows both whitened with the sheets of rain and blackened with the brooding clouds looming overhead. But I was thinking of bright colours, crisp vegetables, and aromatic herbs, and so came about this take on primavera: hot, steaming, colourful, and with a touch of sweetness. It’s not your traditional recipe for it, but it’s certainly very delicious :)

Cream Sherry Chicken Pasta Primavera

Ingredients:

• 1/2 box dry whole wheat fusilli or other short pasta (penne, farfalle, etc)
• Approx 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2-3 large heads of broccoli
• Approx. 10-12 fresh campari or small roma tomatoes
• 1 cup cream sherry (dessert, dry)
• 1/2 cup minced spinach leaves
• 1/3 cup minced fresh curly-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon soy butter
• 2 medium-sized chicken breasts, cleaned
• Approx 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Process:

1. Set water on to boil for pasta- add water amount as directed on box, adding in large-grain sea salt (pinch) and a drew drops of olive oil so pasta won’t stick
2. Cut broccoli crowns into small florets and pile onto a microwaveable plate
3. Dampen a large paper towel with hot water, squeeze out excess, and place over broccoli plate so that the edges wrap around the bottom and all sides are well-covered.
4. Microwave for approx. 4 minutes; lift paper towel to check cookedness. If steam is rising and the broccoli is a very bright green, then simply leave in microwave to continue lightly steaming- if not, microwave for another 30 seconds to 1 minute until optimally green.
5. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the parsley, spinach, a large pinch of salt and pepper into a mixing bowl; stir together
6. Halve or quarter (depending on your preference and tomato size) tomatoes and toss into mixing bowl.
7. Add in the broccoli; toss all in the oil and herb mixture
8. Drain the pasta and add to the mixing bowl
9. BEFORE tossing pasta, sprinkle on half of the parmesan cheese; let sit 1 minute, then toss (this way the pasta will absorb more of the cheese)
10. Heat the soy butter and a small drizzle of cream sherry in a sautee pan
11. Once bubbling, add in the chicken breasts and brown thoroughly on both sides
12. Once well-browned, add in a bit over half of the remaining sherry and cook on medium until the chicken is no longer squishy (press with tongs or a spoon to test, or simply cut open and then put cut-side down back into the pan)
13. Remove chicken from heat and palce onto a cutting board; spoon on the caramelized sauce it was cooking in. Cut into small chunks and add to the pasta.
14. Toss pasta; then drizzle in the remaining cream sherry, remaining olive oil, remaining cheese, and toss once more.

That’s a lot of tossing, I know :) but I like to have the sauce very evenly distributed. The real key to the flavours here is the cream sherry- it adds a bit of sweetness that’s cut by the nuttiness of the parmesan, making an excellent combination. This one is enjoyable hot as an entree or cold as a pasta salad.