Food obsessions

The latest foods that I have been obsessed with making have been candied almonds and kale in all forms - sautéed with garlic, mingled with lemony pasta and of course in salads.  Thought I'd share a couple simple recipes that involve very little difficultly and a lot of winging it.  The measurements listed are definitely approximate!

Candied Almonds

2 cups almonds

1/4 cup white sugar

Dash or two of cinnamon

1 Tbsp cold water

Pinch of fleur de sel

Give the almonds a quick rinse in cold water to moisten the nuts.  In a pan or pot, stir cinnamon into sugar.  Add 1 Tbsp water.  Heat on medium low heat in a small saucepan until mostly liquified.  I like to keep some of the graininess of the sugar.  Add nuts and stir until coated.  Remove from stove top and pour onto baking sheet - see photo above.  Sprinkle with fleur de sel and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes.  Check to make sure nuts are not burning and stir occasionally.  When moisture is gone, you are done!  Allow to cool and nibble away!  

Kale Salad with Toasted Almonds, Dried Cranberries and Parmigiano Reggiano

Bunch of kale (maybe 8-10 leaves to serve 4)

Extra virgin olive oil

Juice of about half a lemon

Pinch of sea salt

1 tsp honey

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup almonds, toasted and crushed

Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved

Dried cranberries (missing from photo)

Remove stalks from kale and cut leaves into bite size pieces.  In a large bowl, drizzle kale with olive oil and half of the lemon juice.  Add some salt.  Stir/toss/massage until greens are coated.  Let kale sit for a few minutes, tossing occasionally.  In the meantime, whisk together the remaining lemon juice with the honey, pepper and more olive oil.  Adjust proportions to taste.  Add this dressing to kale and toss.  Sprinkle some toasted almonds, some dried cranberries and some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.  And chomp chomp chomp!  Instant healthy boost!  Though maybe not so much when I pair it with fried chicken...

Tomato Chickpea Soup

I had a lovely Tomato Chickpea Soup a while back and was bent on re-creating something just as deelish! I Googled a bunch of recipes that did not sound quite right, so I tried a couple experiments and came up with this. Kind of a lot of spices that someone that really knows what they are doing may not use together, but the end result is super fresh tasting and flavourful! Here is my non-scientifically measured recipe. There is definitely some eye-balling involved when I cook, but I made my best guesses on measurements:

Tomato Chickpea Soup

Ingredients (Serves 6):

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large cooking onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic

6 leaves fresh basil, chopped

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

pinch of oregano

pinch of chili powder

pinch of chili flakes

1 tsp brown sugar

1 can vegetable or chicken stock

2 cans water

1 can tomato paste

12 Roma tomatoes, peeled

1 can chickpeas

Instructions:

1. Add olive oil to stock pot on low/medium heat. Add 6 cloves garlic and allow to infuse oil for about 10 minutes.

2. Add chopped onion and sweat for 3-5 minutes until onions are clear.

3. Stir in all spices.

4. Add peeled tomatoes, tomato paste, vegetable (or chicken) stock, water, brown sugar

5. Bring to boil then simmer for minimum of 20 minutes.

6. Allow to cool, then purée. (Add some cold water if too thick.)

7. Add drained chickpeas.

8. Return to boil

9. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve!

Easy peasy! I made this as part of our Sunday dinner tonight as it has become one of the faves of my Sis and Aunt L. So good!

Perogies!

C. and I did a photo shoot yesterday afternoon then we made perogies from scratch. Yum!


Here's the recipe in case you have a hankering...

~Perogies~

Dough ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 egg

1/2 cup (approximately) of cold water

1 Tbsp canola oil

pinch of salt

Mix the the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients together in a measuring cup then add to dry ingredients. Mix and then knead until consistent and separate into two balls and cover in bowls for ten minutes.

For the filling, we boiled one very large potato and mashed it up with caramelized onion, grated cheddar and asiago cheeses and a dash of Frank's Red Hot Sauce. Add salt and pepper and herbs as needed. Last time we did potato with sage, basil and cheddar version. A myriad of variations are possible!

Roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter or drinking glass and cut out circles, add a scoop of filling to each and pinch the edges closed. Use a fork if it helps. Keep the finished perogies covered in a tea towel.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add perogies and cook until they float, which should be a few minutes.

This time we added them to a pan and fried them with some minced garlic. Last time we added them to caramelized onions. It's all good!

Serve with veggies and enjoy! I'm going off the top of my head, but I think that covers it!

Random adventures in the city

On Saturday morning I met up with Aunt L., S. and A. and roamed around looking for treasures at the annual Trinity Bellwoods Park Yard Sale.

Aunt L. got a great deal on a Bakelite bangle that seemed to match her outfit perfectly. The others found some goodies and I went home with a couple vintage fabric scraps courtesy of Aunt. L.
Following the yard sale, A., S. and I hit the UFO on Niagara St. for some greasy cheap lunch. Yes, I did indeed take a photo of our meals. Just what we all needed. S. and I noted that we have walked by the place a million times and never knew there was a good ol' dive restaurant inside the convenience store. Everyone needs a little dose of dive, once in a while! Thanks for the intro, A.

All full of greasy goodness, I went off to run errands. Dropped by a wee craft show at Rolly's Garage (car repair shop turned art and culture venue) on Ossington to meet someone. It is now confirmed that MoonRox will be doing a wholesale show in August. Time to start cracking on some new designs to introduce for the Fall/Winter season.

It was far too nice a day to remain indoors for too long. We gathered a group of about 8 of us and formed a "bike gang" and went to Harbourfront to check out the Luminato events happening down there, including some Cirque de Soleil performances. There were a ton of people swarming around.

Here is the gang chaining all our precious wheels together in a huge tangle of bikes near the temporary Bud Light Lime bar at H.T.O. Park. This is a park that is only a couple years old. It provides the city with a little bit of beach. It is basically a giant sandbox with perma-yellow metal umbrellas. It's actually a great design that looks much better without the gates and bleachers and what-not all around. It's right by the water but you cannot actually jump in and swim... (nor would that be advisable unless you want some pollution plus E. Coli... ) and you have a great view of the island as well as the city.
Here's most of the gang stopping for a Bud Light Lime. We fell for the marketing. They are quite tasty and refreshing, I must say.

If anyone in these photos does not wish to have their picture shown, please let me know and I'll remove it!

All along Queen's Quay, there were stations dishing out delicacies from around the world. The umbrella-covered stations seemed to go as far as one could see. It was Luminato's 1000 Tastes of Toronto sponsored by PC. Don't know if there actually were 1000, but there were a good many! Check out the crowds! Insanity!
I was so happy to initiate my new picnic bag from S. It's a cooler in the bottom and a meshy storage bag in the top! It's perfect for these day outings and it fits in the basket of my bike! Thanks S.!

I ended Saturday by meeting up with a different gang and heading over to T.'s housewarming party at her new condo, which is lovely. I was good and exhausted from being out and about all day, but it was great to see everyone!

Today I wandered around a fair bit again, but generally, it was a much more mellow day. I witnessed what appeared to be a turf war between Batman and a Bronze Cowboy in front of the H&M store at Yonge and Dundas.

July2/09 -- Batman has written to tell me that they are actually all friends.

Then C. and I decided to go down to the water front again. We walked past the CN Tower and the SkyDome. I'm not into calling it the Rogers Centre...
It was even busier than yesterday. The RedBall was at Harbourfront today. This is my 3rd RedBall sighting but today marks the last appearance in our fair city. This time it was wedged under the bridge that connects the piers.
Here's photo of a fellow that was charging at the ball and hurling himself at it repeatedly. I assume he was hoping for the prefect photograph. Pretty hilarious!

We spotted some wandering Cirque de Soleil performers. We did manage to see a tiny bit of a show but I didn't get any good photos. We were too far back. We opted to go into the Power Plant to check out the current exhibition of contemporary art.

Then I headed home for Sunday dinner. My sis requested my spaghetti al limone, so we made dinner at my place as opposed to dining out. She brought some nice cheeses, prosciutto and olives and we made a nice spread with some pecans and honey too. All this was just fab with the pasta. Served it all up with a big pitcher of fresh iced tea.
Hmm, this is the second photo of a meal in this post! I couldn't help myself! My camera is always in reach! Anyhow, I have been on an al limone binge for a year or so. I always favour all things citrusy and can never go without noodles in any form. So in case anyone wants to know, here is the recipe. It's an easy one and very tasty!

Spaghetti al Limone (2-3 portions)

3 portions spaghetti (I'm not sure of the exact amount -- I go by the feel in my hand but perhaps it is 300g?)

6-10 cloves garlic

2 slices of a large red onion

1 Tbsp capers

3-4 Tbsp E.V.O.O

1 lemon

Parmigiano-Reggianno

Asiago

3 Cups or handfuls of baby arugula

3 Cups or handfuls of baby spinach

1-2 previously prepared boneless skinless chicken breasts (optional)

salt

pepper

Instructions:

1. Smash garlic cloves and heat in a large saucepan in 1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil for 10 minutes or even longer on low heat.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil.

3. While garlic is infusing the oil and water is coming to a boil, prepare the lemon. Zest the whole lemon and add zest to 2-3 Tbsp. of olive oil in a measuring cup. If you like, reserve some zest to garnish.

4. Roll the lemon to bring out the juices of the fruit. Add the juice of the whole lemon to the zest and olive oil.

5. Add 1/2 Cup of a combination of grated Parmigianno-Reggiano and Asiago cheeses to the mixture. Mix/whisk together and set aside.

6. By this time the garlic should be slightly browned and very fragrant. Turn up heat of saucepan to medium-low and add 2 slices or approximately 1/2 Cup of diced red onion to the pan. Heat until onion is cooked.

7. If using chicken in the recipe, add chunks of cooked boneless skinless chicken breast to the pan. Otherwise, skip this step.

8. When pasta is ready strain and add to the pan.

9. Add baby arugula, baby spinach to the pan.

10. Add 1 Tbsp capers with caper juice to the pan.

11. Add lemon/oil/cheese mixture to the pan.

12. Add a large pinch each of salt and pepper.

13. Toss all ingredients until the pasta has absorbed the liquids and add additional salt and pepper to taste.

14. Serve!

See? Easy! That's it for now. I'm going to retire for the eve now! Tomorrow should be a busy day at the MoonRox studio. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!