If you love food as much as I do you are constantly on the lookout for new ideas or inspirations. For me, this means a lot of time shmoozing with people who know their stuff.
The vegetable lady at the St Lawrence Market who lets you know when produce is delivered; the sandwich guy who makes my wraps for lunch and boldly writes on the side of his shop that he has the World’s Greatest Apple Cake; the perogie guy who will talk recipes until your ear falls off; the guy who’s made my pizza since I was 10; the donut lady who’ll make you custom unfrosted blueberry donuts; and most importantly… the butcher!
So when my good friends Jeff and Ilan, who know a thing or two about the bovine science, asked me to try out their new Country Apple sausage, I was all “heck ya!”. As the sausages disappeared faster than I could plate them – I’d say it’s all good.
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Country Apple Sausage with Onions and Mustard Sauce
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds Country Apple sausage*
1 medium sweet onion, sliced
4 tablespoons grainy mustard
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
Preparation:
- Put sliced onion in the bottom of a crock pot. Score sausages and place on top of onions.
- Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the sausages. Cover and cook on Low for 5 to 7 hours. Serve in buns with your favourite sides.
* for those of you in Toronto you can find Country Apple sausage at Hartman’s Fine Foods (5988 Bathurst Street)
Filed under: Recipe on January 6th, 2010 | 6 Comments »
I feel like this one is a bit of a cheat since it uses peanut butter rather than more authentic ingredients like peanut oil or the like. Then again, since some of my favourite Thai restaurants clearly use ketchup in their “authentic” Pad Thai, I suppose I’m in good company.
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Asian Chicken and Noodles with Peanut Sauce
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
Juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon cooking oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
3/4 pound spaghetti
3 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
Preparation:
- In a glass bowl combine the 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 tablespoon of oil, and the garlic. Add the chicken, turn to coat, and allow to marinate in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- In a medium saucepan combine the remaining 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoons lime juice, the peanut butter, broth, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes. Pour the marinade from the chicken into the saucepan and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Whisking until smooth.
- Heat a grill on Medium-High heat. Grill the chicken until browned and done, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cut the chicken into slices.
- In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the spaghetti until just done, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the peanut sauce, chicken and scallions. Top with chopped peanuts and serve.
Filed under: Recipe on January 4th, 2010 | Comments Off on Asian Chicken and Noodles with Peanut Sauce
My sister-in-law Rachel and I have an ongoing dialogue about whether corn belongs in cornbread. Being in the South for the year has given me some added inspiration to test this out. Here’s round #1 sans corn. And between you and me, Rachel’s got some catching up to do.
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Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups milk
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
8 ounces cheddar, grated
2 scallions, chopped
2 1/2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
Cooking spray
Preparation:
- Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl combine the milk, eggs, and butter.
- With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the clumps are dissolved. Don’t over mix!
- Mix in 2 cups of the cheese, the scallions, and jalapenos and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray.
- Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cheddar.
- Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes.
- Serve warm with butter.
Filed under: Recipe on December 31st, 2009 | Comments Off on Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
