Phomidable Vegetarian Phở for Phour

Hogtown has no shortage of Vietnamese restaurants; when I lived in Riverside my favourite of which was the adorably decorated Hanoi 3 Seasons (named after the city that invented this delicious noodle-centric soup). Their Cha Ca– grouper prepared in a dill and shrimp paste–is absolutely fantastic. But, seeing as it’s winter and we’re all hibernating (read: lazy) I thought I might share my take on an easy phở recipe that takes about twenty minutes from peeling onions to degustation. And best of all: It’s pretty healthy too! (Despite the Hoisin sauce, which packs a mean 100 cal/2 tbs.)

Necessary Foodstuffs for the Main Event

•     3 cloves of garlic
•     2 small onions
•     1 tbs licorice root (this is just what I had, it can be substituted for star anise or regular anise or tarragon)
•     3 sticks of cinnamon
•     1 tsp of grated ginger
•     6 cups of veggie broth
•     1/2 block medium-firm tofu
•     1/2 pack of vermicelli noodles (I used the red package of Banh Pho noodles from Thailand)
•     A medley of veggies (a.k.a. cleaning out the back of the produce drawer): 1/2 green pepper diced, one medium carrot julienned, 6 mushrooms sliced, 1 broccoli head chopped into florets

Garnish

•     Beansprouts
•     Red chili peppers
•     Lime
•     Basil (preferably Thai)
•     Mint
•     Green onions

Lezz Git Cookin’

1. Dry fry the licorice root, cinnamon.
2. Add diced onions, crushed garlic and ginger. Sauté until silken.
3. Add veggie broth.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Throw in ALL THE VEGETABLES! (And the tofu.)
6. Wait until the boil resumes.
7. Throw in the noodles.
8. Wait 6 minutes.
9. Dish ‘er up.
10. Serve with a plate of  garnishes and let everyone doctor up their dish.
11. Don’t forget the Hoisin and Sriracha (chili paste of the gods)!

    

    

    

    
    

    

    

    

    
    

A 30-Minute Home-Made Pizza that’ll Arrive Faster than Dominos and Taste Thrice as Delicious

Most Canadian pizza chains are the pits. Dominos went through this whole makeover in the US because their crust tasted like cardboard and their sauce was both too bland and too sickeningly sweet, but in Canada we’ve had no such luck. The pizza chain owned by the vehemently pro-life Tom Monaghan hasn’t changed a lick north of the border. (Although they do have a half-assed new app that makes ordering pizzas…fun?) I have the same criticisms for Pizza Pizza: awful crust, awful sauce, awful toppings. So, here at casa Marmaduke (what we’ve nicknamed our new digs) we’ve decided to boycott the big chains and make our own pizza. But seeing as we’re all busy people, we don’t always have time to make our own crust. (Although Yves does have a great recipe that substitutes beer for yeast, which I promise to share.)

What You’ll Need:

$2.00 pre-made dough from No Frills
1 onion (mere ¢ents!)
3 cloves of garlic ¢
1 handful of kalamata olives, half for the sauce and half to garnish the pizza
1 tbs of capers  ¢
1 can of crushed tomatoes ($1.00)
2 tbs oregano
1 tbs thyme
1 ball of mozzarella ($2.50)

What We Used to Garnish:

Eggplant, cut into slices, brushed with olive oil, salted and baked at 375· for 15 mins, flipping once ($1.00)
4 mushrooms ¢
1 banana pepper ($0.25)
1 tomato sliced ($0.35)

The Steps

1. In a deep pan sauté diced onions & crushed garlic until silken.
2. Throw in half of the olives, the capers, the crushed tomatoes, and 1 tbs of thyme, 1 tbs of oregano and let simmer for 15 minutes on low.
3. Decant sauce into a bowl, and with a hand blender, and blend away!
4. Oil your pizza tray (we used olive oil), then stretch out the dough, and sprinkle with 1 tbs of oregano.
5. Sauce up the pizza!
6. Grate the cheese and sprinkle!
7. Adorn with garnishes!
8. Baked our delicious disc of molten-cheesy goodness at 375· for 20 minutes, and then we broiled it for 5, but you should watch your pizza like a hawk while it broils.

Enjoy!

Lady Lazarus and Cooking with Wine

Happy New Year everyone!

Today’s recipes are a triple wine threat of deliciousness. We threw a New Year’s bash chez nous and found a number of half-full wine bottles in the morning. This is how we wasted not and wanted not. What we’ve got for you today: red wine-stewed apricots for a special punchy manhattan, mussels apocalypse with subtle anise undertones & we-cleaned-the-fridge risotto, to, of course, accompany the mussels.

Let’s start off the feast with a Mad-Men approved aperitif, inspired the lovely folks at The Ace on Roncesvalles.

• 1 Package of dried apricots $5.00
• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 3 star anise stars

Enough red wine to drown your deliciousness.

1. Put everything listed above in a pot. Put ‘er on the stove and boil down.
2. Now that your apricots are plump with wine and spices, throw one in a lowball glass.
3. In a shaker make your typical manhattan (we do 2 shots of Bullet, 1/2 shot of red vermouth, 3 dashes of bitters, and a table spoon of that reduced wine mixture, shaken over ice).
4. Yum! And, if you’re feeling sassy, adorn with a cinnamon stick.

(Recipe thanks to our household mixologist, Darcy Streitenfeld.)

Mussels Apocalypse

• 2 lbs of fresh mussels at $2.50/lb
• 1 head of fennel at $1.50
• 2 onions at mere cents!
• 4 cloves of garlic, for price see above
• a half can of stewed tomatoes $1
• a fist of of curly parsley $1.50
• a half bottle of white zinfandel

1. Heat some olive oil in a tall broad frying pan (make sure you have a lid lying around somewhere), throw in the onions and garlic and saute until silken.
2. Cut Fennel tops off and reserve. Cut off the knotty bottom and toss. Cut width wise, and then lengthwise. Then cut into thin (0.5 cm) strips.
3. Throw fennel, tomatoes & wine in and let simmer, lid on to ensure minimal liquid loss.
4. After 25 minutes of simmering throw in the mussels, throw that lid back on and shake the pot while on the burner to ensure every last mussel gets a blast of heat and decides to yawn nice and wide for easy mange-ing later.
5. Try to time it all so that the mussels are the last dish you prepare, they get a little leathery if forced to sit out.

We-cleaned-the-fridge Risotto
(No prices included because this dish was the result of a fridge and pantry clean.)

• 2 onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• a half of a buttercup squash
• a half of a fennel bulb
• 2.5 cups of arborio rise
• 3 cups of veggie stalk
• 1 cup of white whine
• butter, olive oil (to coat pan)
• 1 tbs of sage
• 1 tsp of saffron

1. Onions, garlic butter, olive oil and action!
2. Add buttercup squash, peeled and diced.
3. Add diced fennel bulb. (And the spices.)
4. Saute for 10 mins.
5. Add arborio rice.
6. Add the wine and stir.
   
7. Once the wine has been absorbed start adding (one ladle at a time) the stalk, stirring until the liquid is absorbed and then adding more liquid. Keep the dish on a medium-low heat. After 20 minutes start tasting the risotto as you go; it’s done when the rice is soft and delish.

For platting:
In a broad bowl put down a bed of risotto, then a handful of mussels with some sauce and fennel. Finally, garnish with the fennel fronds & a sprinkle of parmesan & a crack of pepper.

We added shrimp because we had to stretch the dish to accomodate some unexpected dinner guests.

Guilty Pleasures

I am not a big box type of gal, nor am I a chain type. I tend to gravitate towards mom & pop shops and independent cafes. If in desperate need of caffeination I’ll grab a guilty Starbucks coffee, but frankly I don’t really like their coffee or the overall Starbucks experience.

I find the coffee often tastes burned and the service often so overeager that it’s off putting. Maybe I would feel less encumbered by the whole experience if I spoke “Starbucks,” but the contrarian in me just won’t sit down and learn the idiosyncratic Stabucks jive. I think I like being frustrated with SB. Frustration ensures a safe buffer zone between my palate and the coffee giant.

So, you’ll understand that it’s surprising to me that Starbucks has managed to bait me into coming in. Their salted caramel hot chocolate is out of control. Especially with a touch of whipped cream. It’s a very rich drink, so a small, or in SB jargon, a tall, is more than enough to sate your sweet tooth.

Here’s an easy copy cat recipe devised from the folks at Blisstree:

 

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (the best you can afford)
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar crystals
• 1/4 cup whipped cream
• 2 tablespoons caramel syrup divided

1. Bring the milk, sugar, and cream to a simmer.  Keep it just under a boil and stir in the chocolate until melted completely.
2. Add one tablespoon of the caramel syrup to a warm mug and swish it to coat the inside of the mug.
3. Carefully pour in the chocolate.
4. Top with whipped cream, add a drizzle of caramel, a sprinkle of the salt and a dusting of the turbinado crystals.

7$ soup to feed 7: Peas Please

Peas are a great legume, but outside of England they seem to be a little neglected. This recipe actually combines two neglected delectables: peas and tarragon. The woody anise flavour of the tarragon is a nice accent to the naturally sweet peas.

This is a delicate, but filling soup, with a great colour.  It’s easy to make, but your guests’ll think you slaved away. It’s best with fresh English peas, but a bag of frozen peas will work just as well. Feel like experimenting? Try mint instead of tarragon, or blend the two.

What you’ll need…

1 tbs butter

1 medium white onion (0.50)

1 bag of peas  750 g  (2.00)

¾ cup Sweet potatoes  (0.75)

5 cups vegetable or chicken stalk (1.50)

¼ cup heavy cream (1.00)

1 splash dry white wine (0.25?)

1 bunch tarragon (1.25)

Optional garnish: bacon or goat cheese

Preparation

• Peel and chop onion coarsely
• Peel and cube the sweet potatoes
• Wash the tarragon, strip leaves from steam and chop Reserve seven 4cm top tufts for garnish

Turn Up The Heat

1. In a large pot melt 1 tbs of butter, add onions and cook on medium until translucent.
2. Add sweet potatoes, peas, and stock. Let simmer for 25 minutes on medium low.
3. Test to ensure that potatoes are cooked through by piercing a larger potato morsel with a fork. The potato should give no resistance, for soup you don’t want to keep the potato’s integrity in tact. If the potato breaks apart, then you know you’re in business.
4. Remove soup from the burner and let cool down for five minutes.
5. Blend with a hand blender, adding cream, tarragon, and wine while blending.
6. Salt to taste. Taste before salting, store bought stock is pretty sodium rich.
7. Serve garnished with a sprig of tarragon, a crumble of goat cheese or a drizzle of cream, and if you’d like, a dusting of bacon bits.

Bon Appetite!

6$ soup to feed six

The skies are darkening, the trees are shedding, and Torontonians have elected Rob Ford as mayor of Toronto. Now, I don’t want to alarm you by screaming that the sky is falling, but it may just be the apocalypse. It’s time to withdraw all your money from the bank, hoard it under your mattress, and start fortifying your apartment against the inevitable onslaught of zombies. Or, you could just curl up with a big homemade bowl of tomato soup, a grilled cheese sandwich, and accept that winter’s on its way.

TOE-MAY-TOE/TOE-MAH-TOW SOUP

INGRIDIENTS

• 1 large yellow onion (30¢)
• 1 garlic clove (20¢)
• 10 medium sized tomatoes (Just grab a one dollar bag from the discount vegetable section of your supermarket. It doesn’t matter if they are wrinkly or dappled, they’ll taste fine, I promise.) (1.75$)
• 3 cubes of bouillon (vegetable or chicken, to your taste) (75¢)
• 5 cups of water
• 1 bunch of fresh basil (Herbs are one place where splurging is totally kosher.) (1.50$)
• parmesan cheese for garnish (1.50$)
  

STEP 1 : peeling tomatoes

• Bring a pot, large enough to totally submerge all your tomatoes, of water to boil. Submerge all your tomatoes in the water. Let stand for 3 minutes.
• While your tomatoes are boiling prepare a cold-water bath for your tomatoes. Place the cold-water bath in the sink, under the tap.
• With a slotted spoon gather your tomatoes and submerge them in the cold water bath. To ensure the water stays cold leave the tap open on low.
• The tomato skin should now be easy to peel.
• Time to peel and core your tomatoes!
• Reserve on the side

STEP 2: Don’t cry!

• Coarsely chop your onion.
• Press your garlic.

STEP 3: Playing with fire

• In your biggest pot bring 2 tbs of olive oil to frying temperature.
• Add your onion and garlic and sauté until translucent.
• Add tomatoes, water, & bouillon.
• Turn stove top down to a simmer, and let simmer for thirty minutes.

STEP 4: Get your soup on!

• Get out your hand blender and puree to texture that pleases you. I like mine very homogenous.
• Add the basil, finely chopped.
• If you are inclined, feel free to add some milk or cream to taste, but this is not necessary.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Serve into bowls and garnish with parmesan.

Saag that doesn’t sag

Sauté onions, chillies, garlic, and ginger until translucent.

A quick and dirty meal that strays from the traditional saag, but doesn’t leave your taste buds wanting. This saag recipe can be made to suit the palate of meat eaters, or the chicken can easily be substituted with either paneer or Yves’ Veggie Tenders.

 

Ingredients
– Enough oil to coat the bottom of two pans (2 tbs approx)
– 1 large yellow onion
– 4 cloves of garlic
– 2 green chilies
– 1 tbs turmeric
– 4 tbs curry powder
–

cardamon adds a wonderfully sweet aroma to the dish, but make sure to remove the pods before serving. The pods themselves are bitter when bitten into.

10 cardamom pods
– 1 tsp cloves
– 2 tbs ground coriander
– 1 tbs red chilly powder
– 1 inch piece of ginger
– salt (to taste)
– 1 can crushed tomatoes
– 3 bunches of spinach (washed and chopped)
– 2 ½ pounds of chicken breast OR 2 packages of Yves’ Veggie Tenders
– 3 cups of plain yoghurt

 

Let’s git cookin’

1. Cut the chicken into bite sized strips or leave the breasts whole for a sexier looking dish. Fry the chicken, real or

Yves' veggie chicken tenders make a great chicken substitute.

Yves’, in the oil until for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown and set aside.
2. In a deep pot heat enough oil to coat the bottom and add the ginger, garlic, onions, and chilies.
3. When onions are translucent add turmeric, curry powder, cardamom pods, cloves, and ground coriander. Fry for another minute—do not allow to burn. If necessary add a little extra oil.
4. Add spinach.
5. Add can of tomatoes & salt.
6. Let simmer for 30 minutes until spinach becomes soft enough to be broken easily by the back of the spoon.
7. Remove from stove and let cool.
8. Pick out the cardamom pods.
9. With a handheld blender blend the mixture; keep it a little chunky, you don’t want it too soupy!
10. Stir in 2 cups of yogurt.

Cut down on costs and preparation time by using frozen spinach.

11. Add chicken. If you have decided on the sexier full breasts you will need to let them simmer on low until cooked through. Time depends on thickness of the breast.
12. Stir and place back on stovetop on low heat. Let cook on low for 20 minutes.
13. Serve on top of basmati rice, or accompanied by naan, or roti, with a dollop of yoghurt on top and sprinkled with chilly powder. & remember to salt to taste!

 

It's fast, it's healthy, it's delicious: it's saag that doesn't sag!

 

Last Leg Blueberry Pie

As summer rolls to a close, it becomes very hard to say no to behemoth boxes of blueberries. Maybe it’s that old hibernation drive that makes moderation become such a foreign concept, but they’re so very economical and so very delicious! Who could say no? Now, I can manage to inhale my fair share of the blue delectables, but eventually the box gets pushed to the back of the fridge. A few days later, when my interest is re-piqued, the berries, thanks to the heat, have become a minefield of rotten berries mixed with still perfectly firm and succulent sister berries. Most people see the mould and immediately go for the garbage, but while these berries might no longer be picture perfect, I promise you they’ll still make a killer pie.

Blueberry cheese crumble

You will need… for the dough
– 1 cup of butter
– 2 cups white all purpose flour
– ½ cup of sugar
– 1 pinch of salt
– Rind of one lemon
– 1/8 cup cool water (if needed)

You will need… for the crumble
¾ cup flour
– ½ cup rolled oats
– 1 egg yoke (whisked)
– 1/3rd of the end dough

You will need…. for the filling
– 4 cups blueberries (roughly)
– ½ cup pressed cottage cheese
–  I use Harmony Organic . Great product & great people.
– 2 tbs corn starch
– 1 tbs flour
– 1 tsp lemon juice
– ¼ cup brown sugar
– ¼ cup white sugar

You will need… from your kitchen
– 10 inch pie plate, 2 inches deep
– Tin foil
– A handful of rice
– Mixing bowls & implements
– Cling wrap
– Rolling pin

Let’s begin with the crust, since that will need to chill for a while after preparation.
THE DOUGH
1. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar) into a homogenous white mass.
2. Add lemon rind to dry mixture. Mix well!
3. Cut butter up into about twelve small cubes and add to dry mix. Get your hands right in there and combine the butter with the dry mix until it manifests into dough. If you find the mixture is a bit too desiccate, i.e. you can’t get one the dough to combine together into a single mass, add a bit of water.
4. Separate the mass of dough into two balls. One ball of dough should be roughly 3/4 of the dough, the other 1/4. Roll both masses of dough into two seamless balls and place in cling wrap. Reserve in fridge for later. They should remain in the fridge at least 15 minutes.

THE FILLING
1. Go through the berries and pick-out all the moldy soldiers. Wash and repeat.
2. In a mixing bowl combine berries, cottage cheese, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, & flour. Gently mix with hands insuring everything is evenly distributed.

THE BOTTOM CRUST
1. Spread the cling wrap on the counter to cover an area equivalent to approximately one metre by a half metre. Sprinkle with flour.
2. Get out your chilled ball of dough (the larger one, the smaller can remain in the fridge) and place it in the centre of the cling wrap.
3. Roll out the dough into a circle with a diameter of approximately 13 inches.
4. Place the dough in the pie plate—the cling wrap should ease the transfer.
5. Fold the dough so that it is anchored over the lip of the pie plate.
6. Perforate the pie bottom with a fork.
7. Cover the pie with tin foil and weight down the fin foil with the rice. This is to reduce the likelihood of air bubbles.
8. Bake crust for 15 minutes at 357 F.

THE TOP CRUMBLE
1. In a mixing bowl combine the rolled oats, the remaining dough, and flour.
2. Crumble the dough into small pieces. Gently mix the ingredients into a mealy texture.

THE GREAT COMBINE
1. Place filling in pie crust
2. Cover the top of the pie with the crumble. Pat down LIGHTLY.
3. Paint the top with the egg for a future golden hue.
4. Place in oven at 375 F for 40 minutes. As always, every oven is a little different so use your judgment before digging in. When the blue berries are bubbling and oozing a dark purple jelly—that’s a good sign.
5. Let cool.
6. DIG ON IN.