January 2nd, 2010

Russian Potato Salad

russian_potato_salad_21

An essential dish for any Russian celebration.

Ingredients

6 potatoes

2 carrots

6 eggs

4 dill pickles

1 can of small green peas

1 lb of meat (chicken, pork, or beef)

mayo

Instructions

  1. Prepare the ingredients (order is not important):
    1. Boil meat, and cut into small pieces when cool.
    2. Boil potatoes and carrots until soft.  After cool, chop into small pieces (1/2 inch cubes).
    3. Hard boil the eggs, and dice.
    4. Dice dill pickles.
  2. Combine above ingredients with peas.
  3. To mixture, add about 1/2 to 1 cup of mayo and mix well.  Serve (chill if desired).

Makes 10 servings.

November 30th, 2009

Potato Fish Cakes

A fun way to eat your favourite fish.dsc_4755

Ingredients

olive oil

1 green onion, finely chopped

1 large Russet Potato, boiled and mashed

1 slice of toast, in bread crumbs

parsley flakes

1 fish fillet (pollock, salmon, sole, cod)

black pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

Instructions

  1. Boil potatoes until soft, then mash.
  2. Meanwhile, bake fish until fillet flakes easily with fork.
  3. Add baked fish to mashed potatoes and mix well.
  4. Add green onion, egg, parsley flakes, and black pepper to mixture.
  5. Add bread crumbs until thick enough to mold.
  6. Mold mixture into 4 patties.
  7. Heat oil in skillet and fry fish cakes until golden brown on each side (about 2-3 min.)  Serve.

Makes 4 servings.

November 25th, 2009

Stir-Fried BBQ Pork with Mushrooms and Broccoli

A healthy twist on a delicious Chinese classic.stir-fried_bbq_pork_with_mushroom_and_broccoli

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

2 carrots, cut into small thin slices

2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1 cup BBQ pork, sliced

1 cup buckwheat noodles, cooked

2 tsp teriyaki sauce

2 tsp corn starch

1 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in skillet at medium-high heat, then add carrots and onions and stir for 2 minutes.
  2. Add broccoli and let steam for 2 minutes, then add mushrooms and cover.  Heat for 5 minutes, or until mushrooms have softened.  Stir occasionally.  Meanwhile create sauce by combining cornstarch, teriyaki sauce, and sesame oil in 3 tsp of water.
  3. Add cooked noodles and BBQ pork to stirfry and mix well for 1 minute.
  4. Add sauce mixture to stirfry and mix well until sauce thickens.  Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings.

November 24th, 2009

Ratatouille with Poached Eggs

A delicious, healthy and easy dish that will warm your soul on a cold winter’s day.  Full of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.

ratatouille_poached_egg_v21

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1 spanish onion, sliced

1 bell pepper, any colour, thinly sliced

1 small zucchini, sliced in thin rounds

1 small eggplant, halved and thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

200g canned, crushed tomatoes with herbs

2 tsp smoked paprika

4 large eggs

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, then add onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 min or until beginning to soften.
  2. Add zucchini, eggplant, and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, most of the paprika, and a little salt and pepper to taste.  Stir and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and let simmer gently for 15 minutes.  Add extra water if necessary.
  3. Make 4 wells in the ratatouille and break an egg in each.  Re-cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until egg whites are cooked but yolks still runny.
  4. Serve immediately, garnished with paprika.

Makes 2 servings.

November 23rd, 2009

Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta

This pasta dish is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, and E, selenium, and magnesium.

creamy_salmon_pasta_3_v24

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups of whole wheat rotini pasta, cooked

2 cups of broccoli florets

2 cups of smoked salmon pieces

1/2 cup of plain yogurt

2 tbsp of lowfat milk

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

black pepper, to taste

parsley flakes, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta.
  2. Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium-high heat, then add broccoli florets and saute for 5 minutes or until desired tenderness.
  3. Turn heat down to medium, then add cooked pasta, salmon and mix for 1 minute.
  4. Add mixture of dijon mustard, yogurt, milk, and pepper to saucepan and stir thoroughly.
  5. Serve immediately, garnished with the parsley.

Makes 2 servings.

November 20th, 2009

Polynesian Pork Tenderloin

Savoury and sweet and flavours blend together to make a fabulous dinner dish.

polynesian_pork_tenderloin_v21

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1lb pork tenderloin cut into 1cm thick strips

1.5 cups mixed orange and green bell pepper cut into thin strips

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can of cream of mushroom soup (284 mL)

1 can of pineapple tidbits packed in juice (398 mL)

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp honey

black pepper, to taste

1 cup cooked rice

Instructions

  1. Brown pork well in heated oil at medium-high heat in large skillet. Remove pork; set aside.
  2. Reduce heat to medium. Add pepper strips, onion and garlic. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
  3. Stir in soup, pineapple with juice, soy sauce and honey.
  4. Return pork to skillet. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until pork is cooked through – about 5 minutes – stirring occasionally.
  5. Stir in rice and black pepper. Turn off heat and cover skillet. Let stand 10 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir gently before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

March 15th, 2009

Chicken à la King

A low-budget healthy and hearty meal that fills you up.

Ingredientsa_la_king

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup red or green pepper, diced

1/2 cup carrots, diced

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/3 cup of 2% milk

2 1/2 cups of cooked chicken, cubed

1 can of peas

black pepper, to taste

4 cups pasta

Instructions

  1. On medium high heat, stirfry pepper, carrots in oil until tender crisp.  Reduct heat to medium.
  2. Stir in soup and milk.
  3. Add chicken, peas, and black pepper.  Heat through, stirring occasionally.
  4. Serve over pasta.

Makes 4 servings.

March 10th, 2009

Ground beef crepe filling

Folded crape - the inside contents include ground beef

Folded crape - the inside contents include ground beef

This is a simple, quick, and delicious filling for Russian crepes.


Ingredients

1 lb extra lean ground beef (“washed”)

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp sweet & spicy sauce

1 tbsp corn starch

black pepper

Instructions

  1. Sauté onions in vegetable oil (2 min).
  2. Add beef and black pepper; stir on high heat until most of the water has evaporated.
  3. Add mixture of sauce and corn starch to thicken.
  4. Serve in crepes.
March 10th, 2009

Fish, potato, and leek soup

This recipe was made from a combination of various leek and potato recipes that we came across.  Since we wanted a meat component, we added the basa fillets, which turns out to be a great addition to the soup.  The longer you cook the soup, the better.   This is definitely a must-have on a cold winter’s day.

Ingredients

The entire meal, stack of crapes, ground beef and leak soup.


2 basa fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 leeks, chopped

6 small potatoes, diced

1 tsp minced garlic

300 mL 2% milk

500 mL low sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

pinch of black pepper

Instructions

  1. In chicken broth, boil potatoes till tender (~ 30 min).  Then add milk.
  2. Sauté onion and garlic in butter (~ 3 min).
  3. Add leeks; simmer (~3 min).
  4. Add fish and pepper; simmer (~10 min).
  5. Once potatoes are mashed, combine mixture; stir well until desired consistency.  Serve.

Makes 6 servings.

March 9th, 2009

Russian Crepes [Блины]

Preparation of the dough

Quantity: approximately 25-30 crapes

A stack of crapes

Ingredients:

4 cups of white flower

4/5 cups of milk

1 table spoon of sugar (without a top)

1 tea spoon of salt

2 table spoons of butter

2 eggs

10-12g of yeast

Procedure: preparing the mixture

  1. Get a bowl for approximately 4 liters of water [the dough will rise so you want the extra space].
  2. Put the flower in to the bowl preferably through a thinner [this will allow the flower to get more oxygen].
  3. In the same bowl put sugar, salt and the yeast.
  4. In a second bowl pour milk and button.  The milk must be warm but not boiling enough for the butter to melt.
  5. Pour the milk with butter in to the bowl with the flower + break both eggs in to the mix.
  6. Mix the contents well eliminating any pockets of dry flower.
  7. Cover the bowl with a towel [not a iron pan or a plate – the mix needs to absorb oxygen] and put in a warm area for approximately 1.5 – 2 hours.
  8. The mix should increase in size by approximately 2/3.
  9. Add additional 1/2 a cup of milk to the mix [heated to approximately 50 degrees in Celsius].  Pour the milk using a thin flow while slurring the mixture.
  10. If the mix is ready begin cooking.
  11. If you want to have thinner crapes add more milk to the mix.

Procedure: making the crapes

  1. Melt a block of butter in a separate cup/bowl.
  2. Get a pan or two [two would make the cooking much quicker].
  3. Heat both pans to a sizzling state.
  4. Using a potato/onion slice a half and put it on a fork [this will be used as a brush to apply butter on to the pan].
  5. Pour the mix on to the pan and start baking.
  6. When the crape is done and stacked in the main plate quickly smear a touch of butter on top so that the following crapes don’t get stuck together.
  7. Cover your results to keep the warmth.

And that’s it.

Enjoy!