Tag archive for dinner

It’s not everyday that I find a recipe that inspires me to make it immediately. Just like everyone else, I’ve got stacks and bookmarks and torn out magazine pages, waiting for their moment to shine. Unless that recipe is the salted Texas chocolate sheet cake from Bon Appetit, that demands immediate attention. (True story!) Anyway, there is often something keeping me from making them, some missing key ingredient or prep step that seems better suited to a weekend cooking foray. Maybe I am a collector or recipes, a hoarder even? That might be a topic for another day, but in this case, I had the perfect combination of enough of the right ingredients and some time, so I started cooking.

Without even knowing it, I started prepping for this recipe by heading out to my favorite fresh veggie place earlier in the day. Their late season corn is such a treat, and they had it sitting around by the bucket. By now, I have a pretty good idea of just how much corn I can fit in the produce drawer in my fridge, so I loaded up, knowing I would be eating fresh corn for the next few days. I don’t know how the corn and the recipe found me on the same day, but I’m not asking any questions!

I made this for a solo dinner by splitting the recipe, but whether you’re cooking for yourself or a few people, this stir-fry comes together pretty quickly and has great late summer flavors. And while I know the sambal oelek and fresh lime juice I squeezed on top of my plate might not have been exactly in keeping with the originally intended flavors of this recipe, I thought they were pretty darn good additions!

Stir-Fried Tofu with Green Beans and Corn

 Adapted from Martha Rose Shulman’s recipe on The New York Times

1 14 oz. package of firm tofu, drained
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoons sesame oil
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon ground pepper, preferable white pepper
¼ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
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1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
½ pound green beans, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
Kernels from 2 ears of corn
1 finely sliced scallion
1 cup roughly chopped cilantro

 Cut the tofu into ¼ inch slices, then cut slices into ¼ inch matchsticks. Place on a clean towel or paper towel and allow to drain while you prep the rest of the stirfry.

In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, and the sesame oil. Combine the salt, pepper and sugar in another small bowl. Keep these handy for when you begin cooking.

Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil and add the green beans, blanching for about one minute. Remove from heat, rinse in cold water, drain and set aside.

Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat until a drop of water evaporates immediately. Add a tablespoon of oil to the pan and tilt to distribute. Add the tofu and stir-fry for a minute or two, until it just begins to color. Drop in the ginger and jalapeno and stir-fry for a few seconds.

Pour in the remaining oil, then add the green beans, corn and scallions. Stir-fry for about one minute, then add the salt, pepper and sugar mixture and toss for good measure. Pour in the soy mixture, top with a lid and cook for about 30 seconds. Uncover, throw in the cilantro and stir-fry for another 30 seconds or so. The green beans should be crisp tender by now. Remove from heat and serve.

Try as I might, I am pretty sure there is no holding off autumn now. The changing sunrise and sunset times are a pretty strong indicator that a transition is underway. The produce that I picked up at the market last weekend had a totally different color palette than my last shopping trip a few weeks back – deep purple plums, rosy apples and golden pears. I often reach late August not quite ready to make the transition to September. It’s taken all summer to get to these long, lovely days and warm evenings lounging on the patio. I need some time to settle into the idea. Can’t we just stay in late August for a few more weeks?

By this point in the summer, it seems like my garden is just coming into its own. Everything is growing with gusto, there are armloads of tomatoes just waiting to be picked, a row of kale practically falling all over itself and green beans are gaining such momentum that I am pretty sure that is all we will be eating for the next two weeks. It’s true, I probably brought this situation on myself with I planted four rows of beans, but I was a little excited. I had big plans for beans and I didn’t really stop to see the potential for green bean overload at the time.

Back in spring, when I would sit out in the empty garden and dream about how things would look at this time of year, I decided to create an archway over the entrance to the garden. And since gardens are lessons in patience, I decided not to “build” an arch, but to grow one out of runner beans. I staked up 6-foot high sections of netting at the front of the two raised beds that make my garden. Then I wired bamboo stakes over the pathway, connecting the two panels. From there, I planted a selection of beans, based mainly on their descriptions, which all included some wording about an 8- to 10-foot plant.

It didn’t taken them long to race up the netting and wind their way over the bamboo bridge to create my archway. It’s turned out really well, in fact. The unintended consequence has been the bumper crop of beans. I’ve been freezing a few batches of them when my harvest takes up too much room in the fridge. But mostly, we’ve been doing our best to keep up with the bounty and eating them at most every meal.

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Today I am sharing a couple of late summer ideas that are starting to warm me up to the idea of my dinner spending more that a few minutes on the stove. Think of this grilled bread as a blank canvas, just awaiting your creativity. We’ve been loving a recipe for slow simmered green beans that I shared here. I completed the toasty trifecta with a couple of slivers of speck and topped it off with a slice of fresh feta. But it would also be delicious with ratatouille or some sauteed greens and a poached egg. Don’t stop with the savory options, the grilled bread is also a delicious base for the late summer fruit that is in season. Sliced fresh or lightly grilled alongside the toast, peaches, plums and pears are all going to be delicious. No need to mention the addition of ice cream – you know I already went there!

GRILLED BREAD

Loaf of French bread, or other favorite loaf
Olive oil

Slice bread to a medium thickness. Brush both sides of the slice with olive oil. Place on a hot grill until char marks appear. Repeat on the other side. Remove from grill, top and eat immediately.

Choose your own adventure books were a favourite of mine as a child. Every time Ginger and I went to the library you could find me scouring the rows of books in search of a new one to take home. I would read the books over and over again, reading all the different stories and endings that I could create. That being said, it should come as no surprise that I love dinners that allow for a certain about of customization. Tacos are on the top of my, choose your own dinner, adventure list. All you need is a shell, from there the option are limitless.

As the weather warms, I prefer a fresh and spicy fish taco. They always start off with a soft corn shell and white fish coated in a spicy, sweet rub. Extra toppings depend greatly on what is in the kitchen but I usually like to get a few special additions. Some of my favourite toppings are pickled red onions, lime white sauce, guacamole and lime soaked shredded cabbage.

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But my most favourite topping of all is hot sauce. I often arrange a small army of hot sauce bottles in the middle of the table and experiment with different mixes, two dashes of Cholua and one lazy pour of Lizano. Frank’s and its vinegary tang is often the winner of the taste wars.

And that’s how I roll my summer time taco. Oh, but how could I forget about the margarita on the side?

*On a side note Ginger and I are so honoured to have been included on Instagrams suggested user page. Check us out @thealbrecht, we would love to have you follow along!

Not all picnics are created equal, and that’s a good thing. My personal philosophy around picnics is that anything not eaten around the primary table in my house classifies as a picnic. This means that winters are filled with couch picnics and the summer with patio picnics.

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I feel like have I spent the majority of the last five days eating bread. We certainly are a bread culture here in North America, with our toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and dinner rolls for, well of course dinner. In a normal week I don’t tend to eat that much wheat, so after my last five days of bread binging I decided it was time for a bit of a break. So, gone are the flours, the wheat, dairy, sugar and all processed foods. Well for a couple weeks at least.

Eating with a specific list of no this, that or the other thing can often be a bit of a challenge. One trip to the grocery store will confirm that most of us have become so accustomed to eating pre-packaged, processed food, that cutting it out totally is no small feat. A couple of days ago while I was at the store I noticed that the girl in line in front of me had only pre-packaged foods in her cart, saved the raw pork belly. Yes I know, coming up with recipes and dinner ideas on the fly can be difficult and sometimes it is just easier to buy something. To help make dinner time a little easier over the next few weeks, I am returning to another treasured North American food mentality. Protien, starch and a veggie. I found that for myself, thinking of a meal in this way has made coming up with a meal plan a lot more manageable.

Anyway, when I was planning this particular dinner, I was thinking of a dinner that Ginger and I made together a very long time ago when I had gone to visit her for a few weeks one summer. We had made some sort of a red dipping sauce and chicken skewers. That is about all I can currently remember, but for some reason romesco sauce kept jumping into my mind. Now aside from the one time that Ginger and I may or may not have made romesco sauce, I don’t have any experience with making the sauce, or even what is traditionally included in the recipe. Some recipes seem to consist of just roasted tomatoes, others of tomatoes and roasted peppers and the variations went on. This version might be more closely related to mild muhummara than romesco but the result is a yummy, flavourful dish that will insure that you aren’t dissappointed to have left your bread and processed food behind. You can pair this sauce with a simple chicken skewer like I did here or use it as a dip for your veggies and crackers, or in my case rice cakes.

Red Pepper Dip

3 red peppers
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3/4 cup almonds
1 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
Juice of half a lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place peppers on a greased baking tray, turning them every 3 or 4 minutes minutes until the skins of the peppers are charred and blackened (about 15 minutes). Transfer peppers into a bowl and cover with cling wrap and allow peppers to rest for about 10-15 minutes, this will help the skin peel off. Peel off the skins and remove the seeds and stem.

In a small pan heat a splash of olive oil. Add onions to hot pan and sauté onions for 3-5 minutes. Place all ingredients to the blender or food processer and process until desirered consistancy is reached.

The sun came out in full force this weekend and I attacked the patio and a few other areas of the house will equal force. Sweeping, trashing old plants that didn’t make it through the winter, giving a little TLC to the ones that did make it and finally I dusted off the BBQ. Around here, one of the indicators that spring is really here to stay, coincides with the first usage of the BBQ. It is official, spring is here.

It may be clear to those of you who often visit the blog, that I am not the hugest meat-eater in town. I don’t really know how to cook much meat therefore I often stick with recipes that call for bits of meat here and there, as opposed to a huge rack of ribs of some such thing. What that also means is that a lot of the traditional BBQ items never really make it onto our grill. And I am often left pondering what other foods could be prepared on the BBQ.

One of my favourite things to throw on the BBQ is homemade thin crust pizza. This no-raise recipe is fast and easy and works well as a base for pizza, flatbread or I bet you could even use it as a rustic wrap! Once I have whipped up the pizza dough I like to make a couple of variations, one tradition and a second experimental version. This usually leaves something for everyone, even the more adventurous members of the family. This time round my experimental version was topped with mozzarella cheese, potato, caramelized onion, a bit of crumbled bacon and finished with pea shoots after grilling. I have big plans for my next creation, I am thinking of an adaptation of  Kelsey from Happy Yolks Grilled Carrot + Carrot Green Pesto + Asiago Grilled Cheese  recipe. I’m pretty sure that it is going to be magic once new carrots start showing up at the market! Experiment or make something tried and true, it is up to you. I’m know both will be delicious.

Grilled Thin Crust Pizza
Makes two 10-inch pizzas | adapted from The Kitchn

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3/4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons salt

Preparing the dough
Fill a measuring cup with lukewarm water, add the yeast to the water and stir to dissolve. Add the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and pour in the water and yeast mixture. Using a wooden spoon mix the dough until incorporated. The dough will be loose and sticky. Turn the dough out onto a clean working surface and knead until smooth and elastic. About 5 – 10 minutes. Add additional flour a tablespoon at a time if the dough is overly sticky. Divide into two equal portions, cover will a towel and allow to rest while preparing the toppings of your choice.

Grilling the pizza
Pre-heat grill to about 600F. Roll out the dough, roll until it is about 1/2″ thick, the dough will stretch out more as you transfer it to the grill. Transfer dough from the working surface to a cookie sheet or cutting board. Brush one side of the pizza with olive oil. Place the pizza oiled side down on the grill. Leave the BBQ’s lid open and cook for 3 minutes. While the first side of the pizza is cooking bring pizza topping out to the grilling area. You will need to top the pizza quickly so, being organized is helpful. Depending on your grill you may want to check the pizza half way thru the cooking time and rotate it if needed. Once the 3 minutes is up lightly oil the top side of the pizza and flip it, freshly oiled side down onto the grill.

Working quickly, add your toppings to the grilled side of the pizza dough. Keeping the toppings light seems to work best with this type of thin crust pizza. Once you have placed all your topping on the pizza, close the BBQ lid and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Using tongs or a flipper remove the pizza from the grill, cut into pieces and serve!

After 45 min of sitting in front of the computer, editing photos for a totally unrelated project, it became clear that I was just procrastinating and I had no clue how to make a lasagna. This realization came as a bit of a shock to me. I have most certainly been involved in the making of these baked delights before, it seemed like a no brainer. But the truth of the matter is that I have never made a lasagne on my own.

While in the produce department of the grocery over the weekend, I found myself staring at the brussels sprouts and thinking of the lady down the aisle dishing up tiny samples of lasagna. In that moment I knew that I was going to have to make a brussles sprout lasagna. After all, I had made a pact with myself to use more brussels sprouts this season.

I wanted this dish to pull inspiration from some of the lovely winter dishes that have made me fall in love with brussels sprouts. I have sliced the sprouts thinly, mixed a little meyer lemon into the ricotta and topped the whole dish with a creamy béchamel sauce.

With spring just around the corner, and the evening becoming longer and brighter, make sure to enjoy this cozy meal sooner rather than later.

Brussels sprout + fennel lasagna

Ingredients
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 onion chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried italian herb mix
9 ounces extra-lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups brussels sprouts thinly sliced
1/2 cup fennel bulb thinly sliced
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1/2 teaspoon meyer lemon zest
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley chopped
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon (scant) ground nutmeg
1/2 cup grates mozzarella cheese

Directions
Pre-heat over to 375°.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add noodles and follow cooking directions on the package. Drain cooked noodles and spread flat on a clean tea towel.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, herbs and beef to the pan, cook for about 14 minutes or until the beef has browned. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a sauce pan heated to medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour and mix until smooth, slowly stir in the milk and add the bay leaf, salt and nutmeg. Turn pan to medium-low heat stirring occasionally until sauce thickens.

In a bowl mix together ricotta, lemon zest and parsley. Season with fresh ground pepper to taste.

Scoop enough béchamel sauce into a 8×8 baking dish to cover the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of noodles. Spread half of the ricotta mixture onto the noodles and top with half of the brussels sprouts and fennel. Add a second layer of noodles and more béchamel sauce. Next layer on all of the meat mixture and top with another layer of noodles pouring on additional béchamel sauce. Spread on the remaining ricotta, fennel and brussels sprouts and add the final layer of noodles. Pour on the remaining béchamel sauce and place in the oven.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella; bake for an additional 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes before serving.

For Christmas this year I received a new rolling-pin. It is no ordinary rolling-pin, it is a balyunONE rolling-pin designed by Canadian designer Tahir Mahmood. I had been coveting this handmade, european style rolling-pin for some time, so naturally I was beyond delighted when I found it under the tree on Christmas morning! I have since been trying to devise the perfect way to christen my rolling-pin. But inspiration eluded me, all I could come up with was cookies or pie. Delicious as they may, be neither was what I was looking for. I was bemoaning this fact to Ginger the other night and she struck gold when she suggested that I should make noodles. Noodles, what a spectacular idea! I had never made my own pasta before and it was a challenge that I was up for.

I turned to google, my trusty source for all things I don’t know and began reading about fresh pasta. This is where I ran into a little conflicting information. Who would have thought that I would find conflicting information on the internet! Some said “no” to hand rolled pasta, some said “yes, but it is a little tricky”. And finally I found a recipe from Jamie Oliver and he seemed to give hand rolled pasta a whole-hearted “yes”. I was in, if Jamie says it is ok, then I should be fine right?

The noodle dish that I wanted to make is a dish inspired by a udon noodle dish featured on the menu of one of my favourite neighbourhood Japanese restaurants. The original is a luxurious combination of noodles and wild mushrooms, dredged in a sauce of miso and butter. For my version, I decided to give the recipe a little italian flare, replacing the udon noodles with fresh pasta. Let’s get back to the making of the pasta, as it is a bit of a tragic tale that needs to be shared so that no one else makes the same mistakes as I. So pasta dough, simple right? A little flour, some salt and a few eggs. It was easy, it mixed up nicely and after a little kneading, turning into a lovely smooth dough. I slipped it into the fridge and prepped up my sauce ingredients. Here is the tricky part, some people think a machine is a necessity if you want to get the pasta to a nice thinness, others like Jamie say that all the old Italian grandmas never use pasta machines, so with a little extra elbow grease, it can be done. I forged on, rolling my pasta to what I thought was a lovely thinness, cutting into wide noodles, sprinkling with semolina and repeating. Easy peasy. Perhaps I should have realized that it was just a little too easy.

I started my pasta water to boil, sautéed my garlic and mushrooms, things were going along just tickety boo. Calamity struck when I dropped the noodles into boiling salted water and virtually immediately the noodles doubled in width and thickness! Seriously what the heck  is up with that. No one mentioned anything about the noodles “rising”! Be warned, the noodles rise. When all is said and done, I think that with a little more practice and finesse, hand rolled noodles aren’t that big of a stretch, they just take a little patience.

Handmade noodles with wild mushrooms & miso butter sauce
Serves 4

For the noodles:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup semolina flour
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt

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2 cloves garlic
8-12 oz wild mushrooms sliced (I used a blend of Chanterelle, Brown hon shimeji, white hon shimeji, baby blue oyster, hen of the woods, king erengi and nameko mushrooms)
3 tablespoons butter
3 green onions, sliced, whites and greens separated
3 tablespoons miso paste
1 1/2 tablespoons sake
1 1/2 tablespoons soya sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon toasted black sesame seeds for garnish

Preparing the pasta:
On a clean workspace, mix together the two flours and salt forming into a mound. Make a well in the centre of the mound and crack the three eggs into the well. Whisk the eggs lightly with a fork and then begin mixing the mixture together with your hands. Once the dough comes together, knead for 10 to 15 minutes until you have a nice smooth dough. Shape the kneaded dough into a dish, cover completely with plastic wrap and allow dough to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. *Most recipes don’t recommend letting it rest overnight as it can turn a grey colour.

Cut the disk of dough into 4 pieces, as it is easier to work with in smaller amounts. Lightly dust a work surface with semolina flour and begin to roll out the dough. Roll the dough out as thinly as possible, mine was about 3 mm thick and it would have been better if it had been about  1-2 mm thick. Use a knife to cut the pasta into your desired noodle shape. Set finished noodles aside and sprinkle with more semolina to avoid sticking. Continue rolling and cutting pasta. Cover the finished pasta with a damp towel to avoid drying.

Preparing the sauce:
Cook the noodles in boiling salted water until al dente. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of your noodles, so check for doneness often.

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat, once the pan is hot melt the butter. Add the garlic and the whites from the green onions to the pan and sauté for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft and just starting to turn golden on the edges. Add in the miso, soy sauce, sake and oyster sauce and stir until well mixed. Combined the noodles with the mushrooms and toss together until the noodles covered with sauce.

Garnish with the remaining green onions and black sesame seeds and serve!

Would You Rather, have you played the game before? It is a game of comparison that we often play on road trips or a warm summers eve surrounding a campfire. Food is not the usual topic for Would Your Rather, but if it were, this is how it would go. Would you rather: a light, leafy, green salad or something stewed, steaming hot and smothered in sauce?

Here in Vancouver we are just coming out the other side of about 5 straight days of fog. No joke. Before that we had about 2 months of rain! Couple that with the fact that we are smack dabb in the middle of winter and the only thing that I want in my mouth is either braised, stewed, roasted, piping hot… you get my drift. Leafy greens aren’t going to cut it right now and let’s face it, they aren’t at their prime right now. I am not a salad hater, I just don’t want one that was cooked up in some hothouse and picked 4 weeks before it was ripe. Needless to say, a salad has to be some kinda wonderful to catch my eye.

So what does this mythical salad look like? It has to have a little staying power, nothing too light and fluffy. Bold, full of flavour, crisp and finally it needs to feel like comfort food. I like to think of this salad as all the fix’ns from Christmas dinner brought together into a salad. A vivid, crunchy, salty and sweet winter panzanella salad hits all the right notes and leaves you feeling like you have just eaten a meal.

This is a very flexible salad. Every time I have made it I have tried different variation and loved them all the same. The original recipe calls for panettone or raisin challah, however, if you can’t find any, switch it out for a nice french bread and 1/4 cup of  dried fruit, such as dried cranberries or raisins. If you don’t happen to have a pomegranate on hand, try adding some additional dried cranberries. I would recommend putting in the extra effort to get your hands on one, as the little seeds bursting with juice are a real treat. My final motification was to the brussels sprouts preperation, I have a preference for roasted brussels sprouts but if you are interested in speeding things up a little you can dunk them into a pot of salted boiling water for about 7 minutes. However, speaking from experience don’t skip soaking the radicchio in ice water. It helps to remove a little of the natural bitterness and leaves the radicchio crisp and plump. On a side note the recipe does half well. I like to prepare a full recipe of the apple vinaigrette and save half for a later dinner.

Winter Panzanella with Pancetta & Brussels Sprouts
Adapted from Bon Appetit (serves 8 as a side or 4–6 as a main)

Ingredients

Apple Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 Granny Smith apple cut into slices
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
8 tablespoons (about) apple juice
Course sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Croutons:
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1/4 cup butter
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
6 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
Coarse sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Salad:
1 head of radicchio, halved, cored, thinly sliced
12 ounces 1/8-inch-thick slices pancetta, cut into 2×1/8-inch strips
1 pound small brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved lengthwise
Seeds from one fresh pomegranate (optional)
Dried cranberries (optional)
Coarse sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper

For the vinaigrette:
Heat a sauce pan over medium heat. Add butter and allow to melt, then add the apples. Sauté the apple over medium heat, stirring occasionally until they are golden brown and have softened throughout. Scrap the apples and all of the remaining pan juices into a blender and allow them to cool.

Once the apples have cooled add olive oil, apple cider vinegar and shallots and purée until smooth. Slowly add the apple cider a tablespoon at a time until vinaigrette reaches a desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

For the croutons:
Preheat oven to 400F. Warm a small sauce pan, add butter and allow it to melt. Once the butter has melted add the garlic, sage and thyme and allow to cook for about a minute or until the herbs become fragrant but do not brown. Place bread into a large boil, evenly pour the butter mixture over the bread, tossing until all the cubes are evenly covered. Spread the cubes out onto a baking sheet, top with grated parmesan, salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 6 minutes stirring occasionaly until the croutons are golden brown. Set aside and allow to cool.

For the salad
Place the halved brussels sprouts onto a baking sheet, lightly toss with salt and pepper and a little olive oil if you like. Place in the oven which is still heated to 400F and roast for 15-20 minutes turning about half way through the roasting time. Remove from oven and allow to cool. In the meantime saute the pancetta in a large pan until crispy and lightly browned. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on a paper towel.

In a large salad bowl combine croutons, brussels sprouts and pancetta. Remove radicchio from its ice bath, drain thoroughly and add to salad bowl. Add vinaigrette to salad, mixing well. Top with pomegranate seed and dried cranberries if desired.

You’ve seen those kits for homemade cheese, right? You buy the little box and make yourself some cheese? They have a few variations on these, I’m pretty sure I saw a mushroom kit as well as a few other fun options. Well, if you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge, I’ve got the perfect starter recipe for you today. Let me introduce you to paneer cheese, a mild Indian fresh cheese that you can make and eat in a couple of hours. It might be a gateway drug, I don’t know, but I’ve always had a taste for it that leaves me skimming the menus at Indian restaurants looking for the paneer.

At this time of year, I always seem to find myself with a myriad of ambitious ideas, “I’m going to do this, try this and cook this…” etc., etc. But this is one of those great ideas that you can tackle pretty easily. See, this cheese is simple. Chances are, you already have everything you need to make this cheese. All you need is about an hour or less of working time and the magic of cheese making could be all yours.

I often find myself thinking about Indian dishes in the winter. Something about the warm and spicy flavors always feels most satisfying to me during cooler weather. It’s also a pretty convenient time to try your hand at cheese making. I know you really don’t want to be outside right now, especially if you live in my part of the world. So a warm bowl of spicy vegetables with fresh cheese might be just what you need.

I count myself lucky to have spent time around several great home cooks who had a passion for Indian food and sharing the experience. It’s given me more than a passing interest in Indian food. But one of the most mouth-watering experiences I’ve ever had was at Rangoli in Vancouver. It is a casual Indian restaurant and they have this delicious mushroom and cream dish that I still dream about. Their plates have great combinations of flavors and textures and their starters are too good to be true—yes, I’m looking at you, cassava fries. So, when my sister, Tina, bought me Vikram Vij’s cookbook from his restaurants, I was understandably delighted. But she even outdid herself by buying me a spice box, full of all of the specialty ingredients listed in the book. Genius, I’m telling you!

Notes: I love the flavors of this dish with some plain white basmati rice. The vegetables have plenty of salt, so keep that in mind as you taste this dish. Once cooked, the salt balances out nicely with the mild cheese and some unsalted rice. Most of the spices in this dish are likely already in your pantry, and if you find yourself missing the asafoetida called for in this recipe, you can leave it out. It is also readily available online and is a good addition to your spice rack if you cook many Indian dishes. And while I’m suggesting that you make your own paneer, it can also be found in plenty of well-stocked grocery stores. 

Brussels Sprouts with Red Pepper and Paneer

Adapted from Vikram Vij’s cookbook

2/3 cup raw unsalted cashews
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
3/4 teaspoon asafoetida
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
12 oz Brussels sprouts, trimmed
1 large tomato, finely chopped, about 1 cup
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 pieces
3/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
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Preheat the oven to 375º. Place the cashews on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 3 minutes. Stir the cashews thoroughly so they do not scorch and bake for about another 3 minutes until golden. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Wash and trim the Brussels sprouts, cutting them into quarters length-wise. Prepare the tomato and bell pepper, chopping and setting aside.

In a large, shallow pan, heat the oil over a medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Add the brown mustard seeds and cook until you hear the first seeds popping, about one minute. Quickly sprinkle the asafoetida and cumin seeds in the pan and continue cooking about 30 seconds more. Turn heat down to medium, add turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper, stirring well and cooking about another minute. Be careful not to burn the seeds.

Add in the tomatoes and Brussels sprouts and stir well to coat. Cover with a lid and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the red peppers about cook for another two to three minutes, until the vegetables are just beginning to get tender. Remove from heat.

Just before serving, stir in the cilantro and paneer and top with the cashews.

Paneer

Also adapted from Vikram Vij’s cookbook

Makes about 1 1/2 pounds

1/4 cup water
1 gallon whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
Cheese cloth

Pour water into a large, heavy bottom pan. Slowly add in milk and sugar. Turn heat to medium-high and heat milk to a boil, stirring frequently. Since the milk can scorch quickly during this process, don’t leave it for long without stirring. Depending on your heat, this can take between 15 to 30 minutes. Once the milk is about to boil, quickly remove from heat and add vinegar. Allow milk to sit for about 5 minutes while the solids separate from the liquid.

Line a large colander or strainer with three layers of cheese cloth. Place the strainer in the sink and carefully spoon in the milk solids. Leave the paneer to sit in the sieve for about 5 to 10 minutes so it drains completely. Carefully gather up the edges of the cheese cloth and tie them together nice and snug to seal the cheese inside.

Place the paneer on a large clean plate. Fill a large heavy pot with water (I like to use the one I cooked with as it soaks) and place on top of the paneer to flatten it. Allow it to sit like this for about one hour.

The paneer can be used right away or will keep in the fridge for about four days.