Spicy Mustard Cream Sauce

Recently on a friday night i had my friend Adam over for dinner in exchange for him helping me retrieve photos and files from my old laptop that had died. Since i think i've only cooked once or twice for him i was able to use some of my old favorites - caesar salad and bruschetta. I was going to be adventuresome, but i ended up making pasta, which is kinda comforting on a friday night.





I picked up a great baquette from The Junction Fromagarie - they stock Thuet bread and its right downstairs so its a great option when i want something fresh and amazing. I used the bread not only for the bruschetta, but also for the croutons- there is something about warm croutons in a caesar salad that i love!




For the veggies this was a little bit of a whatever was in the fridge kinda pasta dish - which i think is fine. This one had asparagus, cremini mushrooms, carrots, shallots and garlic.

I was talking to a friend from school who is from Guyana, and mentioning that i like hot peppers, so she brought me these ones to try. I thought that the pasta might be a great place - spicy cream sauces have a spot in my heart. Adam isn't the biggest fan of spice, so i had to add this as a subtle heat. Not sure what these little numbers are called, but they have some heat!

I did a mustard cream sauce - using some of the fancy Whiskey mustard that my parents brought back from England. It was grainy and had an excellent flavour. I also added some arugula and Parmesan that i had in the fridge, the arugula to add a little colour, and well Parmesan... it was a cream sauce!

Dancehall Revenge and Sunday Brunch

On saturday night (technically sunday) my neighbours decided that they were going to have an impromptu afterhours party, complete with a Pogues sing along and a thrash metal dance party. This all began at 3 am. When i finally got up on Sunday i wrote my neighbours a small note, and then realizing how hungover they must be - made myself a nice brunch, and had a little party of my own - featuring some dancehall....

I actually didn't really have the appropriate ingredients, but i managed to pull this off. I used the new PC bagel thins, which are great, but not really to support a sunday brunch. I also didn't have any spinach for eggs Florentine, so i used rapini!

Without a great deal of sleep, i wasn't really in the mood to make hollandaise, and for one it seems a little much - even when one is musically inducing a hangover. Instead i made this sauce which is a mix of sour cream, dijon and horseradish. This was actually a good choice considering the bitterness of the rapini.

Didn't really make up for the aborted sleep or the cans of PBR i found all over the hallway, but it did cheer me up a little - and the soundtrack didn't hurt either!

Pasta for Joanna

I was recently talking to my friend Jo about the recipes that i make on my blog, and she mentioned that i never make pasta, and i guess this is true in many ways. I make noodles, which are very similar, but i don't make pasta all that much - at least since i've started blogging. I guess part of it was being a vegetarian for so long, often pasta is your only option at a restaurant and when you're a student its quick and cheap. I used to make pasta for eric all the time, but she's right i've been off pasta.

This saturday was so glorious in the city. I had a great run down to High Park, and once there i sat in the sun on a bench with my eyes closed, face turned to the sun. Not only did i have a great run, i also set off to do a bunch of home jobs that i really wanted to get at. By seven o'clock i had accomplished a lot, but my place looked like a bomb hit it and i hadn't eaten since one. I thought what better a night to have a nice rich and carby dinner - so here it is: My Pasta for Joanana.

Part of the reason i don't make pasta at home is because i LOVE rich pasta. The kind of things i want to put into pasta are not good for you, but since i had some cream left over from a soup recipe, Parmesan, mushrooms and petso i thought it was a sign. Of course i used whole wheat pasta to balance things out. Right at the end i added a little whole grain dijon - it sort of came to me at the last minute, since Jo and i had been talking about a recipe with mushrooms and a dijon cream.

Along with making the pasta, i took the opportunity to try these frozen whole wheat Ace Bakery demi-baguettes i had purchased a while ago. Baquettes are funny in that they really are only goo the day you buy them, and you have to be pretty organized if they are not on your regular shopping list. I thought this was a brilliant idea. They were actually really good. I liked the size - i ate half a demi-baguette and will use the other half for a sandwich. Recommended.


Above:

Carby delight (excuse my dirty fingernail - i had been renovating)
ACE Bakery frozen demi-baguettes
Ingredients
The Sauce (see why i can't eat this a lot)
Dinner is served!

Mustardy Mushroom Stroganoff

I got this great cookbook i've mentioned before in the tuna cakes entry called "easy everyday" there are lots of simple recipes and they are generally for one or two so i really like making them on weekdays. The ingredients are simple and convenient, but pretty healthy. One of my favorites is this mushroom recipe

Ingredients

1/2 small onion, sliced
2/3 cup of vegetable stock (i use organic low-sodium)
5 oz mixed mushrooms, chopped if large
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp of whole grain mustard (Kozlik's is my fav, and i use more)
1/2 tsp of tomato paste
1 tbsp of sour cream (5%)
salt and pepper

Instructions

Cook the onion in a covered saucepan with 3 tbsp of the stock until evaporated (5 mins).

Stir in mushrooms, garlic, s&p, then add the rest of the stock, mustard and tomato paste

Cook covered for 2 mins, remove the lid and cook rapidly to reduce the liquid to a syrup.

Stir in sour cream, then serve.

I usually serve this with couscous and a salad. The whole meal, including the couscous takes about 15 minutes. This portion is supposed to serve one, but i usually have leftovers and it makes a good lunch.

Above

Ingredients (minus tomato paste)
Weekday dinner
Close up
easy everyday book

Tredwell - The Foreign Affair Winery Tour

Way back in July my family and i were invited by the Armstrong's on a winery tour in Niagara along with a wine-food pairing done by Treadwell. As i love both food and wine, this was an amazing trip. The started off by taking us to the fields to see where the grapes were, there were a few nice whites for tasting along with cheese and fruit. After a visit to the town, we went to the Foreign Affair Winery for dinner.

As we mingled around the table there was a Riesling served along with a few appetizers. there was a pea foam which i did not enjoy, an amazing roasted beet salad served on individual spoons, and prosciutto fresh shaved served on bread sticks. The first course was a pea and fava bean risotto with butter seared sea scallops and preserved lemon. This was served with their 2007 Chardonnay


The Second course was beef, i'm still new to beef, but i decided to try it and i'm glad i did. It was a Slow cooked "Cumbrea Farms" beef short rib with cauliflower puree, and "Koslick's" Mustard. I had never heard of Kolicks and its now my favorite mustard. This was served with two wines!! A 2007 Merlot and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.


The fruit dish was Whitty farms summer berries with chiffon cake, spiced basil sabayon and black olive caramel. I'm not really a desert person, and i enjoyed the berries and sauce, but the cake was made of Cabernet flour and i found it pretty dry. It was served with a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine. I had never had red icewine, and i don't really enjoy the white, but this was really good - almost a raspberry flavour to it.


Surprise, surprise, the cheese course was my favorite. This was 5th town Operetta with wild honey comb. Such a unique combo. The most interesting part about this course was that it was served with a barrel tasting of their 2007 Cabernet Franc which was exceptional.