Fried Haddock Filet on a Bed of Spring Greens with Mandarins

On Saturday,after running errands and going to the gym, Kev and I went to Loblaws to buy the ingredients I needed to make this new recipe my co-worker recommended, Ratatouille. But today's entry is not about the Ratatouille, that will come later ( also because I haven't made it yet). We didn't really know what to make for supper Saturday night and I knew we had most of the ingredients to make Fajitas. But we couldn't agree on steak fajitas or chicken fajitas. lol On the weekends, Loblaws often have a tasting kiosk where a chef makes a dish that always looks like too much trouble to make. They always give handouts of the recipe and we never end up making them. We liked what we sampled. The chef told us "The haddock is on sale." SOLD!
This is, by far, my favorite fish dish.

• 600g Haddock Filet
• 150g Ground Hazelnuts
• 300g Breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp Cajun Spices
• 2 eaggs beaten
• 2 Tbsp Milk 2%
• Salt and pepper to taste
• spring greens

Make your own cajun spice:

• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
  

Dressing

• 1 can of Mandarin segments
• 4 Tbsp chopped coriander
• 125ml Olive Oil
• 40ml Seasoned rice Vinegar
• 30ml Orange Juice

1. Mix Hazelnut with breadcrumbs, spices and season to taste. Set aside.


2. In a large bowl, mix beaten eggs and milk. Dip fish in the mixture , then coat with seasoned breadcrumbs.


3. Mix coriander, olive oil, vinegar in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Blend in Orange juice and set aside.


4. Drain Mandarins and set aside.


5. Heat oil in a wok and cook fish fillets for 3-4 minutes (or until cooked). Place on paper towel to absorb excess oil then serve on a bed of spring greens. Drizzle the dressing from step 3 and garnish with mandarin segments

Due to a stomachache, we had to gather all the ingredients for the ratatouille and for the haddock dish as fast as possible. It almost felt like an Amazing Race episode. lol We decided to skip the hazelnut, because we thought it was too much trouble buying a whole container of hazelnut and then have to grind them at home. We also forgot to buy the canned mandarins... Kev thought I didn't like them and that I purposely omitted them. We also didn't bother buying Cajun spices, because we had all the ingredients to make our own. Except, I used garlic salt and onion powder instead.

When we got home, it was only 4pm...too early for supper. So we went to take a nap...a 3 hour nap. Since it was the first time making this, i wasn't sure how long it would take. Well...it passed one of Kev's crucial rules...it was on the table in 30 minutes.

The fish was delicious and not dry. The Cajun breadcrumbs was nice, but what i really liked was the dressing. It was just delicious. I used to hate coriander, but now i like it. Kev didn't like the coriander, so I ended up with more. Yay. :) I would definitely make this again.

Make-your-own Pizza night

Over the weekend, I felt a little lazy thinking up what to cook. My co-worker had previously told me about his homemade pizza nights he has with his wife. They would buy pre-made pizza pie crusts, buy the ingredients they want and then make their own. So I suggested it to Kev, and he said ok. Preparing the ingredients took the longest...grating cheese, cutting veggies...

We bought a pack of thin-crust pizza by Ziggy. It came with two packets of tomato sauce. But I'd suggest getting canned or jarred pizza sauce. Ziggy missed the boat on pizza sauce. Kevin didn't quite mind it, his complaint was that he used too much. He used both packets, since I wanted Pesto as my pizza sauce.

Kevin's pizza consisted of sliced pepporoni, sliced onions, sliced green peppers, and cheddar cheese. We had a block of cheddar cheese left over from making scalloped potatoes a few days ago. I had asked him if he wanted to buy mozzarella, but since we don't finish cheese very quickly, we didn't want to have too many leftover in the fridge and go moldy. (This is odd to me, because cheese in the fridge at my old place with rachelle would be eaten within a week...we love cheese). Kev also wanted sausage or beef on his pizza, but thought it was too much trouble to prepare.

My pizza has a slightly nicer presentation I guess. Since I don't eat veggies enough, I was craving a veggy pizza. With the pesto base sauce, I added sliced onions, sun-dried tomatoes, sliced tomatoes, chopped green peppers, and goat cheese. Goat cheese is my new cheese obsession. My last one was swiss cheese. I find it funny that I like goat cheese, because i don't eat goat meat or lamb. I also bought frozen chopped spinach, but then forgot to add it onto my pizza. Kevin tasted my pizza and admitted it was yummier than his own. Victory! lol

I'd definitely have another make-your-own pizza night, but i think I will make Kevin's pizza for him.

Chocolate Cheesecake

For my ex-roommate/friend/co-workers birthday, I decided to bake her a cheesecake. Since she's a chocolate fiend, I decided to make a chocolate cheesecake. The only cheesecake I have ever made was back when I used to live with her, before we owned a hand-mixer. I don't recommend mixing cream cheese by hand...it's a good workout, but you don't want to end up with Popeye arms, would you? The cheesecake we made before was actually mini-cheesecakes. So the cooking time was all different. And of course, when you use a mixer, the texture is much smoother and creamier.

When baking this, I was concerned about the middle not being cooked enough. This is not the kind of dessert you can check with a toothpick since a cheesecake is almost like a custard. I looked for advice online and said that the best time to take out a cheesecake is when the sides look set but the middle part still jiggles a little bit. Cheesecakes will continue cooking itself even after you take it out. My friend, judyfoodie, told me that since it's not meat, even if it's undercook, nobody would really notice since it's a rich and creamy textured dessert. One of the tell-tale signs that my cheesecake was cooked was when the top started cracking...apparently something that happens a lot with cheesecake.

The verdict for this was great! Everyone loved it. You know when people really like it when they start swearing. I received phonecalls and emails complimenting on my chocolate cheesecake. In my own opinion, I thought it was a little rich for my taste. I'm more of a fluffy dessert person...like strawberry shortcake, which is still on my learn-to-bake list. Since it's not my own recipe (I found it online), I'd be happy to share:

• 1-1/2 cups OREO Baking Crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 pkg. (250g each) PHILADELPHIA Brick Cream Cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 pkg. (8 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted, cooled
• 1/4 cup hazelnut-flavored liqueur (optional)
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. icing sugar (optional)

1. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix crumbs and butter; press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
2. BEAT cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add chocolate and liqueur; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
3. BAKE 45 to 50 min. or until centre is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Top with icing sugar and mixed berries just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.
   

For mine, I used 6 squares of semi-sweet chocolates (no name brand). I thought 8 squares was a lot. I'll eventually want to try it with other types of chocolate...I also got lazy and used a pre-made chocolate graham crust. I can't be bothered with crushing oreo cookies. Once done, I melted one square of semi-sweet chocolate and drizzled it on top to hide the crack on the top of the cheesecake, and then sprinkled some icing sugar. I need to get an icing sugar sieve...things dollorama needs to produce. I get annoyed when my decorative icing sugar is clumpy. I didn't have any berries on hand so I skipped that...I also only guessed my amount of cream cheese. I have two containers of 400g...i probably used a bit less than what was required, but ended up tasting fine. I guess some desserts don't require exact measures.

Eat with a tall glass of milk! Cheers!

Pineapple Chicken bites

Last weekend, Rachelle had a house party at the old apartment we used to share. I promised i'd help make some food for the party. The party was a tropical theme and she really wanted to have food that reflected the theme. So I looked up recipes online and chose to make Pineapple chicken. I also made Lemon bars (my second try, but this time with homemade crust), and coconut jello. The Lemon Bars were quite popular. I already received an email for the recipe. But this blog is about the chicken.

When I first made it, I tried to get Kevin's opinion on it. But he wouldn't eat it. He's afraid to try new things...either that or he's just afraid of my cooking. When he finally had it at the party, he said they were yummy and would ask me to make them again.

The original recipe is to make chicken skewers and cook them on the grill. But I just cooked them on the skillet.

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup light soy sauce
• 2 pounds chicken cut in cubes or strips

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix pineapple juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Remove from heat just before the mixture comes to a boil. Let it cool.
2. Place chicken tenders in a medium bowl. Cover with the pineapple marinade, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
3. On the stovetop: remove chicken from the marinade and cook in the skillet. The sauce will thicken and caramelize on the chicken. If you wish, you maybe boil the sauce to serve on the side. I boiled it until it reduced to a thick sauce. On the Grill: Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread chicken lengthwise onto wooden skewers. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill chicken tenders 5 minutes per side, or until juices run clear. They cook quickly, so watch them closely.

I decided I didn't have enough chicken, so I cut some more and did not marinade the second batch. The sauce coated it nicely, but the chicken wasn't as tender and tasty as the ones I marinaded overnight. I used the juice from a can of pineapple chunks. I will most likely try this recipe again and serve it on rice.

Shish Tandoori

Last Friday was our 21^st month anniversary. We normally don’t go out and celebrate every month, but we try to be together on the 12^th of every month. I’m starting to lose track of how many months. Last month (August 12), I woke and kissed Kevin good morning, as I usually do, and exclaimed “Happy 21^st month!” and he looked at me with his eyebrows all scrunched up and said “21?” I had to count on my fingers to realize that it was actually 20 months. Lol Maybe it’s like kids…after 18 months, you start saying a year and half, two years, two years and a half…

Since it was Friday and a special day, we decided to eat out. Our choice was Hymies on the Grill in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. When we pulled into the parking lot, it was nearly empty. The restaurant looked dark. It was closed…we don’t know why? I looked around the entire front door and there was no sign or anything like that. So we had to pick another place to eat. We finally ended up going to Shish Tandoori. It’s an Indian restaurant in D.D.O. We’ve had lunch there once before and it was mediocre. But it was close to Hymies and we didn’t want to drive around looking for something else.

When we entered, there was only a table with 2 people. We stood at the entrance waiting to be seated for a few minutes, before we finally decided to seat ourselves. After we seated ourselves, it took another couple of minutes for our waiter to realize we were there. Despite the wait, the waiter was nice and friendly. We both chose their special. The food took a while to arrive. For $16.95, we each had a piece of Onion Bhaji and a type of Pakora to start with Tamarind sauce (love that stuff). For the main course, we had vegetable curry, a choice of Lamb Curry or Butter Chicken, Tandoori chicken, basmati rice, and Naan bread. Kevin chose the lamb curry; I’m not a big fan of lamb, so I picked butter chicken (yummy!). When all the food was brought to our table, the veggie curry, lamb, and butter chicken were in their own little bowls. It didn’t look like much. But it’s a lot of food! We didn’t even touch the tandoori chicken. We were so full. Everything was simply delicious. Kevin usually doesn’t eat enough veggies, he nearly ate all the veggies by himself. The butter chicken was absolutely heavenly. For dessert, we had a choice of coffee or masala tea.

The ambiance is quite unusual. They play Indian pop music. And their décor is odd. The walls are metal. It has a jungle feel to it. They have a car in the wall. Christmas lights…it was just a jumble of different themes.

Despite the bad service at the beginning, we were very well served throughout the meal. They made sure everything was good several times during the meal. In general, I think the meal was well priced and delicious. I would definitely go back for their dinner special.

Shish Tandoori

4886A boul. Des Sources, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, 514.472.0144

Hold my Purse

http://www.nathaliedee.com/

I work in downtown. Sometimes when I have time, I'll go for a walk in the underground mall. During the summer, i see a lot of students shopping and just hanging out in the mall. A few weeks ago, I saw this Asian guy walking with his girlfriend. They were holding hands, so i assumed it was his girlfriend. On the other side of him was a LV bag slung onto his shoulder. The girl had both arms free...In my relationship with Kev, I don't think I have ever asked him to hold my purse. I might have asked him to watch my purse when we're out for dinner and I needed to make a trip to the ladies room. But never asked him to carry my purse. I figured that if I liked my purse enough to buy it with my hard earned money, I should like it enough to carry it (use it). Afterall, it contains some of the most important things in my life; my ID, my keys, my cellphone, my credit card...Why should he carry my life around when i should be protecting it?

I did a little research on google about the sociological theories about a man holding a woman's purse. The most obvious argument was about the man's masculinity. A "real" man buys tampons and carries the purse without complaint. It shows he is comfortable with himself and his manhood. However, to contradict this, a man who carries his woman's purse get dealt the "gay card". But this is kind of dumb, because if he's holding his girl's purse, he's clearly not into men. It also deals with the question of who wears the pants in the relationship. If a man carries his girl's purse, he is whipped (not manly). So if he carries the purse, he's a "real" man, but at the same time he's a wuss for being whipped?

Now what if he refuses to carry the purse? He refuses to protect his manhood, to prove he wears the pants and that he is the MAN. But then, by refusing it, he's depicted as insecure about his manhood, which makes him perceived as less of a man...He's manly for refusing it, but perceived as not being manly enough for refusing it, so which one is it? There is no winning. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I stumbled upon a discussion board about this and here are some interesting things to ponder:

• Some people say it's ok to hold a woman's purse if it's only for a few seconds. For example, when she's tying up her hair or shoe lace...but not okay if it's for longer than a minute. However, it's okay to hold it for more than a minute if you're standing near a bathroom or dressing room because then people assume his girlfriend is in the bathroom or trying on clothes. Side note: why is it that when a man holds a purse, he's automatically labelled as taken? Why can platonic friends be helpful? Why can't a male friend hold a female friend's purse with no naughty intentions? Hey...it could happen.
• Some people said "Hold it, don't wear it". By holding it, peeps mean to scrunch it up like he's holding a bag of garbage and trying to not let the stinky air out. So manly!
• There was also a discussion about what kind of purse. The girlier the purse the better, because then people will not assume he's just holding a murse (man purse). i.e. Toki doki purse versus a regular black leather bag.
• When holding a purse for his woman, make faces. i.e. the "it's not mine" eyebrow raise and shrug.

Philly Steak Sandwich

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach…especially if meat is involved. To be quite honest, I’m more of a poultry kind of gal. Chicken, turkey, duck, quail…yummy. But ever since judyfoodie told me how to tenderize my meat with baking soda, I like cooking and eating beef a little more. One of the recipes Kev likes is the Philly Steak sandwich. I’ve never had an authentic Philly steak sandwich, so I’m not quite sure if this recipe I got online is anything close to the real thing. But it sure makes my man happy. The original recipe is here.

• 1 pound beef sirloin, cut into thin 2 inch strips
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 bell pepper, julienned, whatever color you have
• Swiss cheese, sliced
• 4 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise or any type of bread
  

1. Place the beef in a large bowl. Mix baking soda in the meat to tenderize. Rinse meat with cold water after 20 minutes.


2. Mix meat with salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and basil. Let it marinate overnight if you have time.


3. In a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Saute beef to desired doneness, and remove from pan. Saute the onion and green pepper.


4. Preheat oven on broiler setting.


5. Divide the meat between the bottoms of 4 rolls, layer with onion and green pepper, then top with sliced cheese. Place on cookie sheet, and broil until cheese is melted. Cover with tops of rolls, and serve.

I omitted dried thyme and dried marjoram from the original recipe just because I didn’t have any on hand. I know, we need a spice rack. I also omitted the oil. Since we use a non-stick skillet, I didn’t think oil was needed. This time I got a bit lazy and my beef strips were a bit too big. But other than that, it was yummy. The more cheese the better!

I promise i'll eventually start writing blogs that are not food related soon. I just haven't been quite inspired lately.