Gnocchi heaven!

Spent about 3 hours making gnocchi with Caro. It was quite the adventure.

Here is the recipe we used
http://www.ricardocuisine.com/recipes/4537-squash-gnocchi-with-a-creamy-herb-sauce-


So freakin good, you can't really taste the butternut squash, but it's still heavenly.
We timed this recipe by 4. Before boiling you can freeze the gnocchi individually on pans or plates (for 1-2hrs) and then transfer them into plastic freezer bags. I have 3 bags of them in my freezer, can't wait to dig in.

Update:
Ok so i just unfroze some gnocchis and didn't have all the ingredients from the other sauce so invented my own with what I had. I put in one cut onion, about 5 slices of bacon sliced up, some garlic, a bit of red wine, fresh rosemary and fresh thyme (from my indoor garden :)) 

Avocado and mango salsa

Inspired from a recipe in Bon Appétit :
 http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/mexican-seafood-saut-with-avocado-mango-salsa

-cubed mango (1)
-cubed avocado (1)
-diced tomatoes (to taste)
-cilantro (to taste)
-lime juice (to taste)
-red onions (to taste)
-salt 

Jamaican food

Some jamaican treats: plantain, patty, fries, festival! MIAM!!!

Quinoa chicken

http://www.cookwithcampbells.ca/en-ca/Mobile/RecipeDetails.aspx?RecipeID=392&q=chicken

Seafood salad

I've had this salad a couple of times at Milestones and have tried re-creating it a home also.  It'ts the grilled seafood salad:
http://www.milestonesrestaurants.com/dinner.php.
I simply cook some salmon in a pan with olive oil and salt and pepper, sometimes some paprika, boil the shrimp and then toss it with chow mein noodles, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, sometimes mushrooms and then drizzle with olive oil, chardonnay, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Tastes quite similar and is much cheaper then the restaurant one

Breakfast sandwich!

Breakfast sandwich

Combine

-english muffins

-avocado

-eggs (scrambled or over easy, we've tried both)

-ham or bacon

-iceberg lettuce

-tomatoes

Refreshing summer drink

Mix grenadine, soda water, orange juice and ice!

Vegetarian chili

Made this with Caro a while back and then made it again! It's almost more a ragout then a chili. We cut up to many sweet potatoes so we decided to make some sweet potato fries. Since Samir has a love for coconuts we decided to put some coconut oil, salt and then basil near the end. Delicious!

http://www.ricardocuisine.com/recettes/5666-chili-vege-aux-haricots-noirs

Taste of Thailand

This restaurant in Etobicoke was right across the  street from where I lived. They had a delicious spicy beef salad and also a curry pad thai that was amazing. Another regular dish was the panang chicken. The dishes often came with rice that they would serve in the shape of a heart :). I miss this place. 

http://www.tasteofthailandcuisine.com/

Tomato appetizer

Simple but delicious

-Slice some fresh tomatoes

-chop some garlic and sprinkle it on top

-add basil

-top with bocconcini cheese, or parmesan, or feta or mozzarella

-drizzle on some olive oil

Green Beans!

Simple but delicious, a staple at the Leeksma house.
Boil the green beans until a little tender and then run them under cold water to stop the cooking.
Put the beans back in the pan.
Chop up some dill and add it along with a dollop of butter and mix it together.
Enjoy!

Spaghetti and meatballs

Made an oversized amount of meatballs. But you can cook them and easily freeze them after. We tripled this recipe

Meatballs
Ingredients:
-1/2 pound pork + 1/2 pound minced veal
-1 tsp salt
-2 eggs
-1 tbsp parsley, finely diced
-1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
-1 cup fine bread crumbs
-1 tsp basil, finely chopped
-2 cups tomato sauce (we used leftover from another night)

- mix everything in a bowl and put in the oven at 350o
- turn them over after a while

Sauce
Ingredients
-3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
-1/2 large onion, diced
-2 garlic cloves, diced
-1 large can whole, peeled plum tomatoes, crushed by hand (we used costco cans: La San Marzano)
- 1 tbsp basil, chopped
-5 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
-1 bay leaf
-salt and pepper to taste

-heat the onion and garlic, add the rest and let sit on low to thicken up

sometimes we add the rind of the parmesan cheese

-serve with ceasar salad (lettuce, croutons, parmesan, renées salad dressing) and texas garlic toast (costco)

GIANT Reese's peanut butter cups

Dark chocolate giant Reese's peanut butter cups, yum!! Amelia is sporting her Nick Miller turtle face:
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/turtle%20face?before=36

Avocado macaroni grilled three cheese sandwich

I asked Aric what we should make for lunch, my suggestions were KD, grilled cheese, hot dogs and side kicks, he then wondered if we could combine some of those. Here's what we came up with
-heat oven to 350
-spread olive oil on the bread
-place mozarella on one side and gruyère with avocado on the other
-grill each side seperatly in a pan on low heat
-place macaroni into the sandwich, put both sides together and place in oven

I think to make it even more gooey I'd add real cheese to the KD next time

Slave Cake!

 The best damn cake ever made by my mom. I do not know the recipe but it involved chocolate mousse, a sort of home made raspberry jam and lots of time. It's also known as raspberry babinka!

Sausage Kebabs with pasta salad

 We added a few more things to the kebabs from this recipe. We added onions, and I also think that pineapple could be a nice addition. This salad was so good and refreshing!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/grilled-sausage-kebabs-with-pasta-salad-recipe/index.html

The veggies we made were: Asparagus on the BBQ and kale on the BBQ (http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=4476)

Niji Sushi

Best sushi ever! We always order the same thing and often get free soup and house salad and green tea ice cream. This is our order for 2:

-sometimes spicy wakame salad

-salmon sushi pizza

-spicy salmon roll

-spicy tuna roll

-dragon roll (eel on the inside, avocado on the outside)

and Samir always gets his extra salmon skin hand roll! sooooooooooo good everytime!

https://www.facebook.com/ilovenijisushi

Alexandras birthday dinner

Menu:
-BBQ asparagus
-Lamb chops
-Risotto
-carrot cake

 Spinach and raisin risotto

Ingredients:

-1 lb spinach

- 3 cups chicken stock

- 1/4 cup butter

-1 medium onion finely chopped

-2 cups arborio rice

-1 tsp nutmeg

-1/2 cup raisins, i would also try craisins

-1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

-salt and freshly ground pepper

1. wash the spinach and place in large pan while wet, cook until wilted, pour through the a sieve, but make sure to recover the liquid in a bowl, shop the spinach

2. fry the pine nuts in a pan, stir often

3. pour stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil then let simmer
4. Mellt the butter in a larger nonstick saucepan, fry the onion until it is softened (2-3 min)
5. Stir in the rice and cook (2 min), until the rice is coated in onion mixture

6. Stir in spinach water until its absorbed by the rice

7. Add a ladle of stock at a time and mix until the liquid is absorbed by the rice

8. Mix in nutmeg, cooked spinach, raisins and pine nuts

Lamb chops
-combine rosemary, olive oil, garlic and pepper in a bowl
-pour and rub into the lamb chops
-let sit
-cook on BBQ

Indian Night

(Leeksmas) Butter chicken

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1kg/2lb chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

3 tablespoons tandoori paste

½ cup natural (plain) yoghurt

12 oz can chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon garam masala

½ teaspoon paprika

1 cup single (light) cream

2 tablespoons brown sugar

50g/1 ¾ oz butter

½ teaspoon salt

Put the chicken into glass tray, add tandoori paste and yoghurt and mix well to coat the chicken. Arrange in dish and cook under broiler set on a high heat until tender. Remove the chicken and set it aside.

Pour the juices from the chicken into a pan, add tomatoes, garam masala, paprika, cream and sugar.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook it over high heat for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thick and creamy. Add the chicken, butter, salt and simmer for 3 minutes, or until the butter melts and the chicken is heated through. 

Green thoren
feeds: 4-6
Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 dried red chilies, or chilli flakes
• 2 tsps curry powder
• 500 green beans
• 1/2 tso salt
• 2 tsp brown sugar

Heat oil in pan and add mustard seeds until they start to pop, this can be messy so it's best to cover with a splatter screen (cheap at ikea: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10112530/). Add chillies or chilli flakes, add curry powder, beans, salt and 2 tbsp water and simmer uncovered for (5-10 min) or until beans are soft. Add the sugar and cook until heated through (about 5 min)

Green goddess grilled cheese sandwich and butternut squash soup

This sandwich is so good!!!!! It includes, cheese, spinach, pesto, avocado, goat cheese and bread. MIAM

sandwich:  http://www.tastespotting.com/features/green-goddess-grilled-cheese-sandwich-recipe

It goes great with the thai curry and coconut butternut squash soup!
soup: http://www.eclecticcook.com/thai-curry-and-coconut-butternut-squash-soup/

Hats on hats on hats! Made in Mexico - Newmarket

http://madeinmexicorestaurant.com/`

This restaurant what featured on you gotta eat here on the food network. The portions where massive, the food was good and the price was cheap! I could of enjoyed a little more spice though. I had a chimichanga with the pulled pork, rice and house salad. We also had the guacamole trio and a small Margarita (which was massive). If it weren't for the drive I think I would of gone back already and also spent some time on the main street in Newmarket before dinner. On the food network they have a recipe for the mexicana quesadilla carne, which I should try soon.
http://www.foodnetwork.ca/ontv/shows/you-gotta-eat-here/recipe.html?dishid=13557&titleid=265117

Sushi making extravaganza

This took us all day and we got told a couple times that we would never be able to make money at the rate we were going, but it can be fun if you're a team to make it.

We purchased most of what we needed at Galleria market (http://www.galleriasm.com:8888/) place at 865 York Mills Rd, Toronto. 

Our grocery list included: salmon sashimi, white tuna sashimi, avocado, roe, crab, shrimp tempura, rice wine vinegar, sushi rice, ginger, cucumber, cream cheese and then other veggies you want to add.

What worked well was putting Saran wrap on the bamboo mats, we also only had one mat so sometimes we covered a magazine in saran wrap. It was an adventure.

  

This is the video I used to make the caterpillar roll:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8klrdZVTfEk

Museum Tavern

I had a CAP today with the CAO(conseils des arts de l'Ontario) on Bloor st and they  treated us for lunch. We went to the museum tavern where I enjoyed one of their Torpedo sandwiches. I had the Lamb Sloppy Joe, which had rosemary goat cheese and pickled celeriac. It was very good and very spicy, which was great for me but not for everyone else. Some people also had the Chicken thigh paillard salad, but i'm not sure it looked like it was worth the 16$, basically a chicken thigh with a greek salad on top.

http://www.museumtavern.ca/Menu

Summer rolls

 Ingredients:
-chicken (done in the oven with olive oil or Costco roasted chicken)
-shrimp
-peppers of your choice
-cucumber
-mint
-coriander or cilantro
-vermicelli noodles





-combine everything into the wrap and roll, I usually separate the chicken and shrimp.

Served best when dipped in Presidents choice peanut sauce:
http://reviews.presidentschoice.ca/6584/F9380/reviews.htm.  So good!
Another variation is to use lettuce leaves instead
of rice paper.

Kensington market latte

Moonbeam coffee latte, so good everytime!

http://www.moonbeancoffee.com/

Roasted Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
-quinoa
-red pepper
-yellow peppers
-feta
-spinach
-vinagrette of your choise
-any other veggies you'd like to add






-the roasted quinoa gives a nuttier flavor
-rinse it in a sieve, then dry roast it in a pan for about 5 minutes, make sure to stir
-cook the quinoa using the recipe on the package

-combine everything together with a vinagrette of your choice (olive oil and balsamic vinegar is always good)

California sandwiches

Always tasty and always filling!
We often get the meat ball sanwich or the veal one.

http://www.californiasandwiches.com/

Panini

We've made many varities of paninis this year. The best usualy include
-pesto
-sauted onions (leave them on low for a while till they become sweet)
-cheese
-leftover meats (pork tenderoin, steak)
-spinach
-advocado
-olive oil

We use a Cuisinart Griddler Grill, Griddle & Panini Press

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cuisinart-griddler-grill-griddle-panini-press/