Nan on the Bbq

I know - i am so obsessed with bbq pizza and nan - and this was probably my last weekend at the cottage (sob) so i really decided to give it a try. The first one was simple bruschetta style, but the second one i think i made something pretty exotic - and more importantly delicious. It was butter tofu (think butter chicken) nan pizza. So suffer through this simple one - which was super tasty anyway - so suck it up!

Here are the ingredients

bbqing

The finished product

Heirloom Tomatoes

As i mentioned i am now obsessed with Heirloom tomatoes - i had previously avoided them because, well they looked kinda gross. I never understood the obsession, but now i get it! The ones i got at the Montgomery Inn were amazing - i made a few things with them, including a great lunch.

Deconstructed LMT

(lettuce, mozzarella and tomato)

Heirloom tomato capreses salad

Egg sandwiches

Lately i have been really busy with school/work, so my cooking has taken a real hit. I also don't have a whole lot of money so simple, quick and cheap meals have been on the agenda - hence a whole lot of egg sandwiches. I like egg sandwiches so this isn't really a problem, and there are a variety of ways you can make them.



In this blt with scrambled eggs i got to use up the last three pieces of maple bacon from the cottage (to be featured in a future post) along with some great veggies (i love this time of year)

Assembly

Two blt with scrambled eggs on marble rye

I also think a good fried egg sandwich is always a treat - and so as i had eggs and bread, i thought a simple one might also do me a quick dinner. Since it was dinner i served this with a greek salad, but since i didn't have too many tomatoes i added some romaine lettuce. I really think that lettuce does not belong in greek salad, but this was pretty tasty and made it look like there was more on the plate.

Top:

Another fried egg sandwich, this one with cheddar and some left over salad

Blender Gazpacho

Cold soups can be a little strange - my mother makes a good cucumber one and i've also had melon soup before, personally though i like to make gazpacho. Its really easy - especially the way i make it and it gets better over a couple of days. I don't really know where i got this recipe, i probably had it written down at some point or might have seen it on tv - its probably no where near the original or traditional, but i like it, and that's what counts!

Ingredients

A couple tomatoes
Two cucumbers
Quarter of red onion
Jalapeno
Three slices of bread
Can of tomatoes (whole)
Balsamic vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper and Chili Flakes

I peeled and seeded the cucumbers and cut them into smaller pieces. I also chopped up the tomato, red onions and jalapenos. The bread i had was pretty moist so i toasted it for better texture.


In the blender i put in the cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and jalapeno, then added the can of tomatoes with the sauce, and simply blended it.


Once i had that blended i added the bread, olive oil, seasoning and most importantly the balsamic. The vinegar really adds to this dish so don't skip it.

An ode to the Westwood Grill

Cherry Blossoms in High Park and Pizza

High Park has a beautiful array of Cherry Blossoms - its a very popular week in the park when they are out. Eric had the day off, and i was in meetings downtown, so we decided to meet up take advantage of a lovely late afternoon and head down to the park, take pictures and enjoy the blossoms.

After the park, we headed back to my place where i thought i would try my hand at making pizzas. I was initially intended on doing an Indian version of the pizzas on Nan bread with a butter chicken sauce (without the chicken of course), but they didn't have any Nan at the grocery store. Its these moments, when you already have a particular recipe in mind that are tough - suddenly a main ingredient is MIA and now you have to try something else.

I wasn't in the mood to make dough from scratch - i picked this meal because it was easy! Eventually poking around the bread section (which isn't that great at my No Frills) i found these whole wheat pita/flat bread things and decided to give them a try. They were actually pretty good - not too thick, but held up and crisped up on the edges.

Unfortunately i also had to rethink all of my toppings - i thought i would do a really simple one with small really ripe tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil and roasted garlic, with a caesar salad on the side. Luckily the grocery store had all of these things, so i was able to complete this idea!

I began by roasting a whole head of garlic, and once it was done and cool enough to handle i removed the cloves and spread them on the bread. I then cut the tomatoes in half, and crushed them in my hand before laying them on the pizza. Since i wasn't using a tomato sauce, this will give the pizza some sauce like element. I then laid down the mozzarella and shredded basil.

I made two this way, and the third i decided to do something a little different and used the roasted garlic, mozzarella and pesto.

Pretty tasty little pizzas, and super easy too!

Above:

My dinner

Cooked pizzas

Toppings

Roasted Garlic

The table

Sort of Caprese Lunch Salad

This is going to be a lazy post - i have a very busy day, and just realized i hadn't used these pictures that i had of a really good lunch i made while up in Mono. This was a take to work lunch which i didn't end up eating the day i had intended and it sat for another day which i think made it even better.

I found some pearl bococcini in my mom's fridge - which are so addictive. They are quite firm, so letting them sit in the dressing for an extra day only made them better. I like cheese in salads sometimes - and as you've probably guessed i'm a big fan of the Caprese style salad - this on was my rip off.

I simply cut some tomatoes in half added the pearl bococcini and some shredded basil. I dressed it in a bit of olive oil and a generous amount of balsamic. I added some finely sliced red onions and served the salad over a mix of arugula and spinach.

Nice lunch!

Above:

Close up of the salad

Packed lunch

Ingredients

Country Sandwiches

I don't really eat all that many sandwiches, in part because i never really have good bread at home, and i'm definitely a bread snob. I mean i tend to keep those Ace Bakery baguettes frozen, and some semi-stale rye in the fridge, but a good sandwich deserves some good bread. When i arrived at my parents to look after the place, my mom pointed out that there were two fresh rosemary focatia buns in the fridge that needed to be used. Always one to take a food hint, i was totally preoccupied with what kind of sandwiches to make.

Since my parents have a bbq i had been planning on doing a really nice grilled vegetable sandwich with maybe a pesto goat cheese, but when i was feeding the cat his tuna (yes the cat gets tuna - he's old and its the only thing he'll eat) I decided that i too wanted tuna. I then thought that i would make a tuna wasabi sandwich - but was disappointed to find out that i did not have any wasabi! I had to make something a little more usual. I did my regular tuna salad, onions and carrots with a dijonaise - and added tomatoes, cucumbers and an avocado spread. Pretty sweet actually.

It was my second sandwich that i really made something amazing. Quite a few times i had seen these specialty brown tomatoes - specialty tomatoes can be really tasty, but sometimes they are disappointing. These ones were on sale at Zehrs so i thought i would try them. I did them with avocado spread, extra-old white cheddar, basil and some arugula lightly dressed in a vinaigrette. This was possibly the best sandwich i'd ever had!

Above:

Fancy tomatoes
Ingredients
Tuna sandwich
Tuna ingredients
Best sandwich!

Good Friday Dinner Part 3 - the sides

As i've already told you - Jarred and I really cheffed it up on Good Friday, and along with the burgers, fries, grilled veggies and Apricot tart i also made a caesar salad and a selection of dips (or for some burger toppings). I used to, many moons ago, work for a great caterer who always did an amazing bread and dip station that was so lovely and a total crowd pleaser. This was my inspiration for the dips. I made a guacamole, a bruschetta-esq topping, sauteed some finely diced mushrooms, onions and garlic and there was some hummus in the fridge

I had also gotten it into my head to make a caesar salad - of course it turned out that we didn't have a number of the usual ingredients - red wine vinegar, worschester sauce or anchovies - or a blender, so i had to do some improvising. I had always seen on cooking shows people making their salad dressings in mason jars and shaking them vigorously - i used to be a bartender so i used my skills from making martinis to blend the dressing. I also mixed white vinegar and balsamic to replae the red wine. I am the Macgiver of cooking!

I used the baguette that i purchased at Ma Maison, which was phenominal by the way, to make the crostini for the dips. The baguette was quite slender, so sliced them on the bias into small thin pieces. Unfortuantly, as i mentioned, the knives left something to be desired, so this was something of a challenge. Once cut, i lightly seasoned them and brushed them with olive oil and put them into the oven. They came out really well, and i will definitely be going back there to get more Baguettes.

And there is the final installment of the Good Friday Meal - told you it was epic!

Sometimes it only takes a Sandwich

In general i'm not the biggest bread lover, but that said a good sandwich can really be a enjoyable easy meal. One of the problems i have with sandwiches is that i eat so little bread that buying a loaf really doesn't make a lot of sense for me. I know a lot of people freeze their bread, but i can always tell if bread has been frozen, it just doesn't taste right. I usually buy the Future Bakery's half marble rye loaf as its a smaller amount, and for some reason it never seems to go stale or moldy.

The toasted tomato is a family classic - and in the summer a nice ripe tomato with just real mayo and pepper - DAMN! I will still make these in the winter occasionally - i usually let the tomato ripen in the front window - just like the avocados i feel like this is more natural somehow.

I also just sandwiches to use up leftovers. When i make frittata i usually heat up one of the leftover slices and throw it between a couple pieces of bread - good stuff! Fish sandwiches are also good, but i don't usually have much leftover when i make fish - though i guess you could adapt the talapia double meal for this.

When eric cooked the carponara for me, i made the caprese salad - there were a few slices left over, and i the next day they were the perfect fodder for a sandwich - and luckily i still had some leftover Ace Bakery baguette - a very base. The balsamic and oil had really permiated the tomato and buffalo motzerella. I also think basil is nice in a sandwich.



Above:

Fried egg - truck stop classic
Toasted Tomato - a classic
Caprese salad as a sandwich
Leftover fritata sandwich
Simple tomato, avocado and cheddar cheese

Dips for Football munching

In honour of the SuperBowl i thought i would write about a few of the things i make for snacking during the game or a party. They are both pretty easy to make and i always notice they get devoured. I try and make things a little on the healthy side, but what really determines that is not the dips themselves, but what you use to scoop them up. Baked chips and vegetables are a good way of making things a little healthier, but lets be honest, sometimes you just gotta dig in!

Once of my favorite things to make is guacamole, i make mine fresh, a little spicy and full of different ingredients. Generally i use a lot of lime juice, one per avocado depending on how juicy they are. This may seem like a lot, but since i add quite a few tomatoes i think it balances out. One of the things i do when adding tomatoes is using grape, or smaller ones as you don't want them too watery. I also put in red onions, jalapeno, chopped cilantro and lots of fresh pepper. Depending on the crowd i might add a few dashes of hot sauce.

Another tasty and healthy dip i like to make is a Tomato, Corn and Feta Salsa that really you could almost eat as a salad if you were inclined. This one i first had in Vancouver a number of years ago and have been making it ever since. The ingredients don't sound that good together, but this dip is addictive and simple, and as long as you eat it with something healthy, its probably not bad for you.

I use a can of corn (the low sodium kind), diced plum tomatoes (usually 3) - in this case you want them to be juicy as it makes even better. I then add red onions and jalapenos to taste - obviously if you don't like bite use these ingredients more sparingly, but i don't suggest to omit them all together, the contrast is good. The final, and surprise ingredient is feta cheese! I know this sounds a little weird, but use approximately 1/3 to 1/2 a cup of light feta - crumble and stir it in. This dip is actually better the second day. Serve with scoops, as they are better for getting all the goodness on the chip.

Above:

Dips with scoops
Guacamole ingredients chopped and ready
Tomato, corn feta ingredients
Tomato corn in scoops
Guac ingredients