Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Once again I am thoroughly blown away by the savoury recipes that Ina creates. I know I am constantly commenting on the amount of butter and fat that she adds to her recipes, but once I get over the shock and just lower the amount, I am time after time left with a bold melody of flavours that work perfectly against each other.

This recipe was no exception. Like the couscous we gladly ate two full servings, smiling the whole way though (even though Ian hates uncooked tomatoes).

One thing though, was it just me or were the measurements of the ingredients entirely off? I knew to double the amount of pasta but I had to cut down on the tomatoes, oil (no surprise there), basil, cheese, olives, and completely cut out the large chunks of sun dried tomatoes from the salad.

Either way, we were very happy. Thanks Ina and thanks to Cat of Delta Whiskey for choosing this week’s recipe.

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
adapted from Ina Garten
this is my version of Ina's dish

Pasta
1 pound fusilli pasta
1/2 pound ripe tomatoes, medium-diced
1/2 cup good black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and diced
200g fresh boccnchini, torn into pieces
1/2 cup basil leaves, julienned
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Dressing
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
1-1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 garlic clove, diced
1 teaspoon capers, drained
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water. Drain well and allow to cool till warm. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the dressing with the parmesan. Mix together well. Add the tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, and basil. Toss to mix everything around.
For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.

Asian Chicken Salad - Barefoot Bloggers

Sorry BB's, this is posted late. But I made it five days early.... does that count?
This was one of the best tasting chicken salads that I have ever had. Maybe it was the peanut butter in it. How can you go wrong with peanut butter? Oh yeah, that's right, you can't! What did you think?


Asian Chicken Salad
adapted from Barefoot Contessa
serves 5

1kg grocery store roast chicken
olive oil
salt and black pepper
1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed
1 zucchini, cut in coins
1 orange bell pepper, cored and seeded
2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

For the dressing:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp peeled, grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Remove the meat from the chicken, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces. Cook the asparagus and zucchini in a fry pan for 10 minutes until crisp-tender. Cut the peppers in thin strips. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, zucchini and peppers in a large bowl.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve over rice noodles.

Roast Pear, Walnut, and Cambezola Salad

Tonight we were invited to a dinner party at Ian’s best friend Steve and his wife Gabby's apartment. These two are super great people and so are all of Ian’s friends, so naturally I was excited.

We were told that Gabby was making an extravagant lasagna, and boy oh boy, she did not disappoint. This lasagna was packed with at least a couple of different cheeses, mushrooms, ground beef, and even a nice layer of spinach to round everything out. Thanks guys.

Ian and I wanted to make something nice and simple to bring over, so we brought my favourite salad made of roast pear, walnut and Cambezola. The Cambezola is actually a mix of Camembert and Gorgonzola, which makes it a very mild tasting, smooth and creamy cheese. Pears and walnuts are a natural pair, and the addition of the cheese and walnut oil brings everything together.

You want to know how good this salad is? When I made it for my dad a year ago he asked for seconds! Seconds! Of salad! It’s green, and as we all know he doesn't eat anything green! So give it a try, even the green haters out there will be happy with it.


Roast Pear, Walnut, and Cambezola Salad
Adapted from Licence to Grill, Foodnetwork.ca

3 x pears, cut into eighths, seeds and cores removed
1 cup of walnuts, toasted
3 tbsp of honey
ground pepper
4 cups of Spring Mix Salad
150g of Cambezola Cheese cut into 1/4 inch wedges

Dressing
3 tbsp of walnut oil
6 tbsp of sherry vinegar
2 tbsp of honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Roast Pear, Walnut, and Cambezola Salad
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss pears in honey and pepper mixed with 2 tbsp. water to create syrup. Roast in oven for 20-25 minutes, covered in foil. Place spring salad mix into a bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Toss. Add toasted walnuts, cheese and roasted pears.
Dressing
Combine the dressing ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Rosemary Roasted Plums, Roasted Celeriac, and Frisee Salad with Shallot and Toasted Walnuts - Valentine's Day Part 3

On to Valentine's Day Part 3.
So today I am going to recount the delicious side dishes that accompanied our main duck dish on Valentine's day.

Have you ever had celeriac? The first time I saw it I thought it was a joke; this weird grey tuber looks just like a brain and is pretty large. I have been meaning to buy some for a while but whenever I pick one up, something about its menacing look makes me second guess the veggie, and I opt for potatoes instead. Luckily for this modest plant, Valentine's Day was a chance to expand our culinary expertise, and it was really good! Celeriac is the root of a celery plant; so naturally, it tasted like a mix between celery and a potato. The heaps of butter and thyme it roasted in didn’t hurt it either.

The second side dish was my favourite, and possibly the best food I have eaten all year. Roasted plums with rosemary and a port reduction. Uhhhh, just writing the words is making me salivate. They were so good paired with the duck, which naturally does well with fruits, but I really wasn’t expecting them to pack such a punch, and nearly left them out of the dish altogether. Thank gosh I didn’t. Also, don’t go thinking that you have to wait till plums are in season, I bought three semi ripe plums in the dead of winter, imported from who knows what country half way around the world, and they were still incredible.

Finally the last side was a simple frisee salad with shallots and toasted walnuts. Oddly enough, with all this extravagant food Ian found this side to be his favourite. But then again he likes anything with a lot of acidity.

So I hope you had fun reading about our wonderful day, we had a blast cooking and eating.


Rosemary Roasted Plums, Roasted Celeriac, and Frisee Salad with Shallot and Toasted Walnuts
adapted from Anthony Sedlak's book "The Main" 2008

Roasted Plums
3 plums, halved and pits removed
2 tbsp sugar
2 sprigs rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
1/2 cup port

Roasted Celeriac
2 large bulbs celeriac
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 sprigs thyme
salt and pepper

Frisee Salad
1 head frisee
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 small shallot, finely minced
1-1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil

Roasted Plums
Preheat oven to 400. In a bowl, toss to combine plums, sugar, salt, rosemary and olive oil. Arrange plums in pan and roast until plums are soft, 30 mins. Transfer plums to serving dish. Deglaze plum roasting pan with port and bring to simmer, reducing volume by half. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over plums.

Roasted Celeriac
Peel and cube celeriac into large bite sized pieces. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Sear celeriac until light golden on all sides; add butter and thyme sprigs. Transfer to baking dish. Season to taste with salt and pepper and roast in 400 oven until outside is golden and insides are tender, about 30 minutes.

Frisee Salad
Combine shallot, red wine vinegar and olive oil in a medium mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add frisee and top with toasted walnuts. Toss well.

Beet and Celery Soup with Carrot Salad - In the Bag

Pretty eh! Today Ian and I decided to join in on a food challenge called In the Bag. The idea is to create a dish using the ingredients "in the bag". It just sounded like so much fun that we couldn’t miss out. The three ingredients this time around were inspired by a detox from Christmas junk food : carrots, beets, and celery.

It was so fun. We made two types of soup, the beet which was sweet, and the celery that was more savory and a little tart. When the two were eaten together they balanced each other out by adding a great depth of flavour. And yes, it was neat eating two toned soup. I felt special.

The carrot salad was simple, with bursts of sweetness from the raisins and a slight taste of cumin. We love this little side salad and used to buy it for something like 2 dollars per 100g, but now I know the recipe. Ha ha, overpriced suckers.

So thanks to Julia for hosting this challenge. Enjoy!

Beet and Celery Soup with Carrot Salad
soup adapted from Ricardo TV series

Beet Side
4 beets, cut in halves
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper

Celery Side
2 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups potatoes peeled, cut in cubes
1/2 tsp Herb de Provence
1/4 cup 10% cream
Salt and Pepper

Carrot Salad
2 cups carrots
1 tbsp white-wine vinegar
pinch of ground cumin
1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper


Beet Side
Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Put the beets in an aluminum foil and close.
Cook in the oven for about 1 hour and 30 minutes or until tender. Let cool.
In a saucepan, sauté the onion and garlic in oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Deglaze with the vinegar. Add the broth and the beets. Bring to a boil and continue to cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper.
Use a mixer to reduce all the ingredients to a smooth and homogenous purée. Put through strainer. Adjust the seasoning. Reserve in a hot area.

Celery Side
In a sauce pan, sauté the celery and garlic in oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Deglaze with the wine. Add the broth, potatoes and herbs. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat covered until all the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Use a mixer to reduce the soup to a smooth texture. Put through a strainer. Add the cream and adjust the seasoning.

Pour the two soups into bowls at the same time. Serve hot. To facilitate the task of pouring both into bowls at the same time, transfer to measuring cups.

Carrot Salad
Grate or julienne the carrots. In a large skillet over high heat, bring water, wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and cumin to a boil.
Add carrots and raisins. Reduce heat to medium; cook until liquid is gone, 8 to 10 minutes. Mix in the olive oil. Chill then serve.