Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Delicious Pie

The Dish: Nanny's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

A classic around our house growing up was always rhubarb pie.  Mom would make it with various combinations, but typically with fresh rhubarb from the garden.   The recipe is my grandmother's as she tended to make a lot of pies too.

Well my house in Calgary also happens to have a rhubarb patch.  Its not big enough to do too much, but in clearing out the crop before the first frost, I did get enough to make a pie.

Ingredients:
1 serving Tenderflake pie crust recipe, put together by Mom when she visits town and left in the freezer
1 3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 Eggs
2 cups fresh rhubarb
2 cups fresh strawberries (likely from California)

One day I might make my own crust and post it, but for now, I'll take advantage of mom's work.  So thaw the dough and roll out the crust to fit into the pie plate.  Fill with four cups of fruit (in this case half and half strawberry and rhubarb).

Crust and filling

In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar flour and eggs and then pour on top of the fruit, filling to near the top of the pie crust.

Bake for 20 minutes at 425 and then for 40 minutes at 375.  Rarely are things done faster in my oven, but I took it out before the full hour was up, so pay attention near the end so it doesn't burn.

I took the pie to a friend's place for dinner and it was well received, despite the fact we were all stuffed before getting to dessert!

Ice Cream: Blog Disaster Number 1

Drizzly Goodness

The Dish: Chocolate and Salted Caramel Swirl Ice Cream

I should clarify right off the bat; the Ice Cream itself wasn't a disaster, but the process of making it got messy.  People always ask if I edit out any errors or flops before posting on the blog, but that wouldn't be honest now would it?  But I'll get to the disaster later.

Once again, my recipe of choice came from Canadian Living Magazine. Until I got the magazine, the thought of making ice cream without any sort of ice cream maker had never crossed my mind.  But the process didn't seem too difficult and I had the food processor required for the blending part so I figured I would give it a try. The overall time commitment isn't too bad, however with all of the cooling and freezing steps, its ends up putting some restrictions on your day.  I think that's why people buy ice cream makers!


 Ingredients:
2 Cups Milk
4 tsp Corn Starch
1 1/2 Cups Whipping Cream
2 oz Dark Chocolate
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Vanilla



The first portion involves melting the chocolate in a half cup of the cream.  Use a little bit of the milk to mix together the corn starch.
The rest of the milk, cream, cocoa, sugar and vanilla get mixed together in a pot and then brought to a boil for 4 minutes on medium heat.  This is where the old adage "A watched pot never boils" comes into play.  I had this sucker on the stove for a while and nothing...  I turned my back for a few seconds to grab a drink and the pot erupted like a school child's paper-mache volcano experiment.  Boiling cream is a messy business.  It went everywhere on my stove top including on the element under the pot which instantly burned the creamy, sugary liquid into a black crusty pile of goo.
The disaster relief team jumped into play, Kevin Costner offered to send his extraction machine and the process was back online in a matter of minutes.  I had used a new burner since the full cleanup could not be completed until the first burner was cool.

I was mildly concerned about the proportions being off now that I burned away a portion of my cream mixture, but there was no reason to turn back now.   After the boiling, the chocolate mixture gets added and then refrigerated for an hour and a half or so to cool before being put in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours.  Firm, but not solid says the recipe.

Mine was slightly less than firm, but I proceeded anyway since time was an issue.  The food processor turned my mostly thickened cream into a smooth milkshake consistency.  This is where you were supposed to swirl in the salty Caramel, but this would have just mixed in. So it went back into the fridge for another 4 hours to harden.

After about an hour I finally "swirled" in my caramel.  This was still probably too early, but I was committed to my schedule and took the plunge anyway.

Salty Caramel Sauce Ingredients:
1/2 Sugar
1/4 Water
1/2 Whipping Cream
1/2 tsp Salt

This should be made once you put the cream mixture in the freezer the first time so that there is time for it to cool before mixing it in with the ice cream.


Once the ice cream was frozen, which took way more than the recommended 4 hours, I had a scoop and drizzled it with the remainder of my caramel sauce.  Every bit as delicious as it looks.  Perhaps even chocolatier than the recipe intended due to my reduced cream allotment.

For the effort involved, I probably won't make it again unless by request, but it was a worthwhile experience to know it can be done.

Creamy Beef Noodles

The Meal: Creamy Beef Noodles
The Soundtrack: Retro Dance Party Playlist
The Drink: Rum and Diet Coke

Creamy, Beefy, Noodly Goodness

After a day out biking in the mountains, there was very little left of my legs so I decided on something out of Canadian Living magazine that was in their "Quick and Easy" section.  As was their intended point, pretty much everything you need for the recipe is on hand in a stocked pantry.  I didn't have any evaporated milk and my cheddar cheese supply had long been depleted, so I had to make a quick stop on the way home, but no big deal.


Again with the quick and easy theme, I tossed on an existing play list to rock out to while making dinner as quickly as possible so I could get to the couch.  My Retro Dance Party playlist is a collection of 80's pop hits that you know all the words to and gives you fond memories of one of the very few good things to emerge from that decade: Black MJ, Duran Duran and even Tommy Tutone.

The recipe is direct from Canadian Living.

Ingredients:
Butter
2 Cloves Garlic
3/4lb Ground Beef
1/3 Cup Flour
1 Cup Beef Broth
1 Can Evaporated Milk
1 Cup Frozen Peas
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/3 Cup Fresh Parsley
4 Tsp Dijon
Salt and Pepper
1 3/4 Cups Macaroni

Using a large pan, cook the onion in the butter and then add the garlic. Add the beef to the onion/garlic and brown.  Add the evaporated milk, peas, cheese, parsley, Dijon, salt and pepper.  At the same time, boil a pot of water to cook the pasta.  Once cooked, drain and add to the creamy beef mixture.  Mix it all up and it's ready to go.

All in all, its not the best recipe I've made from the magazine, but it was still tasty and super easy to make.

The Monster RAP

The Meal: Ham and bacon Shawarma twisted 'Monster' Rap

The Soundtrack: Matty's rap iPod Playlist

Since variety is the spice of life, we're switching up the theme and adding a guest chef on location for this epic meal.  While visiting Ottawa, we have plans to hit the climbing wall, but as any good climber knows, you need a ridiculously large wrap to kickstart your afternoon to elevate you up the walls.

This is a Matty creation (with some Dave influence) that we had the privilege of eating and I have the privilege of sharing with you, if only in photographic format.  We put this all together at his penthouse suite overlooking the city skyline.

To make the (w)rap pun work, we tossed on his rap playlist which is loaded with Biggie, 2Pac, Common, Jay-Z and even Massari. Which one doesn't belong he quizzed me?

Special Sauce (its Garlic)

The Ingredients:

Ham

Bacon

Lettuce

Tomato

Cucumber

Sprouts

Pickled Turnips

Garlic Sauce (procured from Shawarma Station)

Dijon

Whole wheat wraps

The motivation came from a Shwarma style base, but with the idea of adding more and more until it became a monster. This was one behemoth of a wrap and we should be pretty full for the rest of the day.

Inside the wrap

The size, fusion sytlez and ultimately awesome taste lead Matt to proclaim that he's the greatest wrapper of all time! Take that Kanye!

Gateau au Chocolat Fondant

The Celebration: Molly's Birthday
The Challenge: Gateau au Chocolat Fondant de Nathalie
The Tunes: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

T'was a friend's birthday this weekend and this particular friend is especially fond of celebrating birthdays.  Perhaps when she gets a few more under her belt, she might change her tune.  But for now, she's young so who can fault her for celebrating?
Her request: a birthday cake for the office.  Cakes are typically not my thing.  In fact, I don't think I've ever made a cake that didn't come out of a box and even that was probably only once or twice.  Never really been much of a dessert guy.  Challenge accepted!

The birthday girl was telling me about a Fleetwood Mac tribute album and how good it was earlier in the day.  I don't happen to have this album, however, I do have Rumours, one of the top selling albums of all time. So I thought I would toss that on the ol' turntable.  Start to finish its a great album with virtually the entire line-up making regular appearances on Classic Rock radio stations.  Always a good listen.

As for the cake, I turned to my dessert consultant en Paris and she recommended Gateau au Chocolat Fondant de Nathalie, which is a recipe from Trish Deseine's Je Veux du Chocolat! as mentioned in this blog.

Mountain of Chocolate and Butter

Only a few ingredients so it can't be that hard, can it?

Ingredients:
1 Cup Butter
200g Dark chocolate
1 Cup Sugar
4 Eggs
1 Tbls Flour

Using a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and butter.  Once everything is melted and properly mixed, remove from the heat, add the sugar and let it cool for a while.  Add the eggs one by one making sure that they are properly incorporated into the mixture.  Finally mix in the flour.

Pour the mixture into a non-stick 9" pan (or grease up a pan) and cook in the oven at 350°F for approximately 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes the cake should be set.  Turn the oven off and let it sit in the oven for an additional 10 minutes.  Let it cool on the counter and then refrigerate.
As recommended, the cake is best made the day before and refrigerated.

To offset the heavy chocolate (and to add some nice colours), I topped with strawberries.

I believe it was well received at the office.  At least everyone was polite enough to finish it.
Hope you had a great birthday Molly!

Eggs Benny

The Meal: Eggs Benedict

My typical breakfast consists of cereal and milk.  Even on weekends I don't stray too far from the basics unless I go out to eat.  But when I do go out, Eggs Benedict is always one of my top options.  I had some time Saturday morning so I thought I would whip it up at home.

Eggs Benedict consists of poached eggs, ham slices, and hollandaise sauce on top of an English Muffin.
The interesting part is making the sauce. Since I was eating alone, I made the recipe using only a single egg so I didn't have a ton of leftovers.

Hollandaise:
1 Egg yolk
1 Tsp Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Butter

Start by whisking the egg yolk and the lemon juice together.  Using a double boiler so that you don't end up cooking the egg, slowly whisk in the melted butter until the sauce is smooth. Easy as pie.

Toast the English muffins, poach the eggs, fry up the meat, in this case a round sausage patty and fry up some hash browns and then assemble.

Load the sausage and egg on top of an English muffin half and then drizzle with the Hollandaise sauce.  Garnish with a little cayenne pepper and parsley and its breakfast time!

Sausage Breakfast Sandwich

The Meal: Sausage Breakfast Sandwich
The Drink: Orange Juice

Breakfast at McDonalds has always been their best offering and the Sausage and Egg McMuffin has been a favourite of mine since forever.  I've been making a similar creation at home for a long time and it provides a welcome change to my typical bowl of cereal.

Breakfast Sandwich and Juice

Ingredients:
Sausage Patty
English Muffin
Egg
Cheese

There's not much more to it than frying the egg and sausage, toasting the English muffin, then piling it all together with the cheese and then topping with ketchup.
Served with a delicious glass of not-from-concentrate orange juice, it's tough to beat in the morning.

Slammin' some Beef Sandwiches with Dead Rappers

The Meal: Shredded Beefwhich with Gangsta Slaw
The Soundtrack: Dead Rappers Playlist
The Drink: Sailor Jerry's

Last weekend while I was out camping, the topic came up about dead rappers.  There are a lot of good rappers with punched tickets.  Apparently it's a tough business.  At least it was, back when to be a rapper with any cred, you truly were a gangsta and lived the life.  Bullet holes, heart attacks, HIV, even if you managed to live through the 90's it appears that the high living seems to have caught up with a bunch of them.
So I put together a play list with some of the best starting with my personal favourite: Big Pun.  At over 500lbs, his heart just couldn't support his 'crushing' lifestyle, even though he wasn't a playa.  Biggie, Pac, Eazy-E, Nate Dogg, Jam Master Jay and new addition MCA are some of the highlights.
Last week, the playlist wasn't a big hit at 2am when the crowd desperately wanted more pop dance tunes, but tonight it was fully appreciated by all!

Sweet Sailor Jerrys

Another fine note for the evening, Sailor Jerry's Spiced rum was on sale at Coop today.  Couldn't turn that down and what a delicious drink that makes!

I did eventually eat tonight too, although as you can tell from the post, it was quite late.

Spice Rub

Shredded Beef Ingredients:
4.5lb Roast
3 Cloves garlic, crushed

Chopped Veggies

2 Tsp Paprika
2 Tsp Garlic powder
Dried parsley
1 Tsp Ground black pepper
2 Tsp Chili powder
2 Tsp Cayenne pepper
Salt
1/2 Tsp Mustard powder
1/2 Dried tarragon
1 Bottle Beer
Worcestershire sauce
1 Onion
1 Red pepper
2 Jalapenos

Beef roast with Rub

 So the recipe I got from this website with a few of my own modifications. All of the spices get blended together in a bowl and then rubbed onto the roast.  The onion, red pepper, and jalapenos get chopped.  The beef goes into the slow cooker with the spices, the diced go veggies on top and then the pot gets filled up with beer.  The beer didn't quite cover the roast so I added some cola to make sure the whole thing cooked for the 10 hours I left it on low.

Once the meat was cooked, I took out the roast and shredded it with 2 forks.  If its properly cooked, it should just fall apart with ease.  The liquid seemed far too runny, so I boiled it down on the stove and then added it to the beef.

Coleslaw Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Miracle Whip
1/3 Cup Sugar
3 Tbls Oil
1 Tbls Vinegar
1/2 Tsp Poppy Seeds
Salt

Mix it all together and then add to a selection of cabbage and carrots.  Chill before serving.There's really nothing gangsta about it, but it made for a more eye catching title.

The Beefwich is exactly as it looks.  Bun, beef, slaw, bun. Delicious!!

Tandoori Chicken and a new iPod Playlist

Chicken Tandoori and Basmati Rice

The Dinner: Tandoori Chicken
The Soundtrack: Party Playlist on new iPod
The Drink: Rum and Coke

Well, it appears that my old, broken screen iPod is officially gone.  Fortunately, I was able to make a deal with a retail outlet to give me a new replacement iPod in exchange for money.  So now I have a brand new iPod that is pretty much exactly the same as the old one, except with a clean, unbroken screen.
To celebrate, its party mix time!

New iPod just like this one

Ingredients:
Chicken
Plain yogurt
Tandoori spice
Olive Oil

The Tandoori chicken needs to marinate so I started the process last night.  Rather than put together my own spices, I had already procured a tandoori spice mix from an Indian grocery store from the NE. Makes the process pretty easy.  Mix the yogurt, spice and a little oil in a marinade bag.  Skin the chicken and poke a few holes to help the sauce infuse into the meet and then put it into the bag and let it marinate for 8+ hours (I did it the night before so it was close to 24 hours).

Tandoori Chicken on the BBQ

When its dinner time, toss the chicken on the BBQ and cook it until all the pink is gone on the inside and its nice and red and crispy on the outside. Top with cilantro and serve with basmati rice and whatever else you fancy.

Greek Night

The Meal: Greek Night - Lamb Kabob Pita Wraps and Greek Salad

The Soundtrack: The Tragically Hip - Up to Here

Coming down with a bit of a cold, I decided that I wasn't going very far from the house today so why not put together a mildly time intensive multi-part meal?  Besides being less than 100% healthwise, the evening started off well.  I cut up the lamb roast and put together the marinade while talking to my parents and put together the Tzatziki Sauce and the Pita recipe while chatting on the phone with my buddy.  Then when it came time to put on the music, I realized that I had left my iPod downtown after a rafting excursion and walked off.  In the middle of my Pita cooking, I had to turn off the oven, drive off to the water front and search.  As to be expected; gone.  So I guess its back to CDs and Vinyl for now...

For the final cooking and assembly, I tossed on Up to Here, the first full length album from the Tragically Hip.  Its a classic Canadian album that I can listen to again and again.

The Lamb: I started with the lamb since it needed the most time to marinate. The lamb selection at the local store is somewhat limited so I bought a leg roast and cut it up into cubes and placed them in a ziplock baggie along with the marinade for several hours in the fridge.  After the marinading, I soaked some wooden skewers in water and then put the kabobs on the grill.

Ingredients:

1 Lamb Leg Roast

Lemon Juice

Olive Oil

Fresh Oregano (Chopped)

Garlic Cloves (Minced)

The Pitas: After the marinade, I put together the Pita dough, since it needs to rise for about 2 hours.  Having never made it before, I got the recipe from here.  I pretty much followed that recipe.  It was fairly easy to put together other than rolling out the dough which was still pretty sticky.  It also took a while to run all the pitas through my oven since I had to take a break right in the middle (see iPod note above). But they sat on the counter like champs and still tasted great after I fried them up in the pan.

Ingredients:

4 Cups Flour

1 Tlbs Dry Active Yeast

1 Tlbs Sugar

1 1/2 Cup Warm Water

1 Tlbs Olive Oil

Salt

The Tzatziki Sauce: I got the recipe from another website.  I had never made tzatziki before and I followed this recipe.  It turned out very liquidy which appears to be a common issue according to the comments.  In the future, I'll try this again and see if I can make it less liquidy.  The sauce tasted great on the pita so it was still worth the effort.

The Salad: To go with the Kabob Pita Wrap, I whipped up a Greek salad.  The dressing consisted of the following: Lemon Juice, Olive Oil, Oregano, Salt and Pepper. Quantities can be varied to taste.

I put that dressing on top of my salad which consisted of Cucumbers, Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, Red Onion, Kalamata Olives.

Lamb Kabob Pita Wraps: After frying up the pita, I put on the lettuce, tomato, olives, red onions and then the lamb kabob, minus the skewer of course and topped with the Tzatziki sauce. Then I slapped it on the plate with the salad and it was finally chow time.