Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras

Whatever you call it, it's definitely the one day of the year when pancakes are on the menu.  I'll give you a great recipe for homemade buttermilk pancakes but if you just want to use a mix, I'm honour bound to suggest Quaker Oats brand being that I live in Peterborough. And make sure you serve real Canadian maple syrup with that!

Buttermilk Pancakes

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk
3 Tbsp melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Mix wet ingredients together in another bowl (or large measuring cup).  Then pour liquid into dry, whisk to a smooth batter. Let sit for 30 minutes to rest before frying.

Heat a little oil or shortening in a pan and fry until you see bubbles forming on top, then flip and fry the other side.  Serve with maple syrup and butter.  Enjoy!

Filet Steak with a Mushroom and Sherry Cream Sauce

Tonight's Menu was Filet Steak (cut from a whole beef tenderloin) with a Mushroom and Sherry Cream Sauce, served with creamed potatoes and crisply steamed green beans.  It was very tasty and took about 30 minutes so it's a perfect choice for a weekday dinner after work.

Start by putting your potatoes on to boil because the steaks only take 20 to 30 minutes.  Plan the cooking of your other vegetable choice accordingly - my beans only took about 20 minutes.  Fry a couple of beef filet steaks in a little olive and butter.  Season generously with freshly ground pepper and salt.

Slice up about 10 - 12 mushrooms and a couple of shallots.  If you don't have shallots, substitute a couple of cloves of garlic and a little onion.

Once you've browned one side of the steaks, turn them over and add the mushrooms and shallots.  I usually add some fresh thyme at this point but tonight I didn't have any so I added 2 pinches of dried.
Once the mushrooms have cooked down, add about 1/2 cup of sherry.

Cook the sherry until it is reduced by half and then add about 1/4 cup of cream.  Stir to combine and simmer til warm, then serve.  If you are trying to cut calories, skip the butter to begin with and instead of cream, add 4 Tbsp of no fat sour cream and a splash of milk.  Enjoy!

Apple Upside Down Cake

I made my sister Connie's Apple Upside Down Cake this afternoon.  Smelled so good that we decided to have our dessert before we had dinner, haha (guess we are having a late dinner tonight).

1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c melted butter
2 cups of fruit (sliced apples, blueberries, etc but I think apple is the best)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c butter
3/4 c white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 and 1/3 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 c milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a 9 inch square cake pan, mix melted butter and brown sugar and spread evenly over the bottom.

Cream butter in your Kitchenaid mixer (and if you don't have one, you absolutely need to buy one!) and add sugar.

Beat in an egg and vanilla.  (Looks kinda gross, doesn't it?)

Now the recipe says to mix all the dry ingredients together and add them to the butter mixture alternately with milk.  I'm sure there is a very good reason for doing this but I'm a very lazy baker.  This is why a Kitchenaid is so necessary - its magic seems to make everything turn out alright.  Even when I just dump all the dry ingredients in to the bowl at once...

...and then add all the milk at once.

Next I peel and slice two apples and toss them with the lemon juice so they don't brown and layer them over the bottom of the cake pan.

I pour the batter over the apples and spread evenly before baking for 45 minutes (or until done).

When it comes out and cools a little, I flipped it over on a plate and we just couldn't resist.........

It's the Weekend and the Living is Easy....Guacamole and Chips for Lunch

My own version of guacamole cause I don't like mushy avocado.  The ingredients are shown below (note there isn't any garlic shown but I usually add a minced clove).  Also you probably should use cilantro to be more authentic but I don't particularly like it so I use fresh parsley.

First I chop up everything but the avocado because it browns so quickly.

I then juice the lime into a bowl so I can toss the avocado in it as soon as I chop it.

Stir all the ingredients together - the avocado will soften a bit as you mix it but don't mush it! - salt and pepper to taste.  Serve in individual bowls with tortilla chips.  A yummy, refreshing lunch.

Panko Crusted Tilapia with New Orleans Red Rice and Asparagus

Delicious fish for dinner - one of my favs. I start by making the rice as it takes the most amount of time.

Start by melting a couple of tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Add one stalk of diced celery, half a small onion diced and 2 large cloves of garlic minced.  Cook in the butter for a few minutes until softened but not brown.

Then add 1 cup of long grain white rice and the veggies - 2 small diced tomatoes (you can substitute canned diced tomato) and 2 green onions sliced and 2 Tbsp of minced fresh parsley (or 2 tsp dry). Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.

Then add 2 cups of chicken stock, 1 tsp of salt, pepper to taste and 2 bay leaves.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Then turn down to simmer and put a lid on it.  Keep the proportion of broth to rice consistent and you can't go wrong.  In about 20 minutes, the rice will be tender and ready to serve.  I stir it a couple of times during those 20 minutes in case the liquid evaporates too quickly and it starts to stick.  Then I'd add a bit more liquid and turn the temp down more.  In the meantime, I start boiling water for the asparagus.  You can start the cheese sauce for the asparagus now.  In the microwave, melt 1 Tbsp of butter in a measuring cup. 

Then add a Tbsp of flour.  Stir to combine.

Then add about half a cup of warm milk and stir til it's combined well.  Zap it in the microwave again til it's thickened (check every 30 seconds or so).  Once it's a thickened sauce - add about half a cup of cheese and stir til it melts. Warm quickly in the microwave again right before serving.

Now remember to keep your eye on the rice.  Once it is ready, you can turn the heat off, leave the lid on it and it will stay warm while you cook the fish.  Prepare the breading for the fish.  In a bowl, add one beaten egg and 2 Tbsp of water.  You will dip the fish in this before breading in Panko crumbs.

Now is the time to put the asparagus in the boiling water to cook while you are frying the fish.  In a fry pan, add a light tasting cooking oil (like sunflower) and heat it up.  Add the fish and fry on both sides til browned and flaky.  Plate up and enjoy!

Steak and Guinness Pie (Stew)

This is a recipe borrowed from Jamie Oliver - one of the best chefs ever!  Sometimes I make it as a stew but mostly I make it as a pie with a puff pastry topper.  For my girls' dinner last night, I made the stew with puff pastry cutouts in deference to Weight Watchers...here's the drill.



Slice meat into bite-sized chunks and dredge in flour and salt and pepper.  Heat some olive oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven and brown meat in batches.  Don't crowd the pan. I use sirloin grilling steak for this recipe so the meat is always tender without a lot of cooking.

Once all the meat is browned, add one chopped cooking onion (or whatever kind of onion you have on hand) and 4 minced garlic cloves to the pan and brown.

Once the onion is softened, you are going to add some liquids to deglaze the pan.  The best kind there is for a rich brown gravy in the stew - Guinness!

Start by adding the Guinness to the pot and stirring to loosen all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. 

Once you've done that, add the entire can of tomatoes to the pot and stir. 

Next you are going to add the veggies to the stew - one stalk of celery.

2 or 3 carrots...

and 2 or 3 parsnips.  Yes I know you hate parsnips.  We all hate parsnips but trust me, you'll never know they are in there.  They just add another layer of flavour.  Just try it - you can always fish them out later if you really don't like them.  When I've served this, people haven't known they were eating parsnips unless I told them.

Last but not least is potatoes - definitely not least if you are Irish like me and we are all Irish when we are drinking Guinness!

Add it all to the pot and stir to combine.

Add enough beef broth to raise the liquid about one inch above the stew.  Then stir to combine and let simmer about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

I like to add fresh rosemary to the stew for flavour but any herb you like would taste great.  I also like to add fresh parsley near the end of the cooking time.  If you don't have fresh, don't hesitate to use dry - it's all good.  While you are simmering the stew, stir regularly so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.  Because you've used such nice tender beef, you are only worrying about cooking the vegetables and thickening the gravy.  Once that is done, you are ready to eat.  If you are just having stew, then you are done.  But if you are making Steak and Guinness Pie, there is one  more step.  Heat your oven to 400 degrees, and cool your stew.  Put it into a couple of casserole dishes or small individual dishes.  Cover with puff pastry - I use President's Choice puff pastry which I think is the best.  You have to thaw it a bit so you can unroll it and cut it out.  Beat an egg with a little water and use a pastry brush to brush the edges of the dishes to help seal the pastry to the casseroles. Cut vents in the top of the pastry and brush with egg mixture.  Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes until the pastry is puffed and browned and yummy!  This freezes well so if you decide to put some in the freezer, don't bake it - just add the puff pastry and freeze. Then take it out in the morning and thaw in the fridge all day.  When you get home from work, bake at 400 but for about 45 minutes or until it is heated through and pastry is browned.

Garlic Shrimp and Pear Salad

Tonight's dinner is Garlic Shrimp with a Salad featuring Pear and Pecans.  It was very delicious and just the right thing when you are feeling a little tired but want to have something to eat before the Oscars start!

The shrimp is incredibly quick to cook so make sure you have everything ready to go before you start and your salad is made.   Peel and devein your shrimp first.  I do about a dozen each.  It took me about 45 minutes to make this dinner but I'm a little obsessive compulsive about cleaning shrimp so it might not take you as long. You also need butter (and there's nothing wrong with that!), wine, garlic, parsley, paprika and salt and pepper.  I chop up 4 cloves of  garlic and about 4 Tbsp of parsley.

But before anything else, make your salad!  Start with lettuce, pear, sliced red onion, olive oil, lemon, honey, garlic and mustard.

Toast some pecans and while you are keeping an eye on them, you can get your lettuce ready.

You start by squeezing the juice of one lemon into your serving bowl.  This how I always make my salads that include pear or apple as they brown so easily after being sliced.  Into the juice, I add my sliced pear and toss to coat.  I then add the rest of my dressing ingredients - a large spoon each of honey and grainy mustard and one small garlic clove minced...

I stir it all together with my tiny whisk.  This one is made by Nigella Lawson and is one of my fav kitchen tools.  I then add the onions and nuts and give it a stir.  I put the lettuce on top but didn't toss until I was serving.  I used Boston lettuce and it is so tender that it will wilt if you mix it too early.

Now the shrimp (using the same pan I toasted the nuts in), I add a couple of Tbsp of butter and then add the shrimp with salt and pepper.

 Once it is pink on one side, turn them over and add the garlic and parsley.  Cook for a minute or two until the garlic starts to lightly brown, stirring gently.

Then add a heaping Tbsp of paprika to the pan and stir quickly to mix.  Add about a half a cup of white wine and stir quickly to make a sauce.

PLATE - SERVE - ENJOY!