Batch Cooking

I've never been organized enough to have a weekly menu planned out.  At most, we come up with four meals that we're going to make throughout the week, when we create our grocery list.  The rest of the meals are either leftovers, something from the freezer or something simple like breakfast for dinner or grilled cheese.  But, realistically, this plan doesn't always pan out well.  Often, I am okay with R's meal idea, in theory, and we buy groceries for it. But, when R wants to make it for tonight's supper, I don't actually want to have another random lentil dish.  

When a friend mentioned having a batch cooking day, I was eager to join in.  My freezer has been a bit barren lately.  I think it's because it has been so cold here and most of the foods that I freeze are cold weather foods.  So, they're getting eaten up pretty quickly.  

Three of us got together.  Since we all have kids around the same age, we knew we couldn't do a marathon session, so we kept it moderate and made triple recipes of four dishes (took about 3.5 hours): lasagne, taco soup, slow cooker ribs and butter chicken.  

The lasagna was made according to how my friend usually makes it.  I won't write out the recipe, but want to make note of the differences so that I can remember it down the line if we end up really liking this approach.  She uses a very thick meat sauce.  She also only puts cheeses on the top layer.  Then she  uses a full container of cottage cheese and adds two eggs to the cottage cheese for a creamier consistency. 

I also need to remember to cook the ribs at 400 for 15 minutes on each side before putting the slow cooker on low for 6 hours.  I can also put the ribs back in the oven after slow cooking if I want things to be more caramelized.



Here's some of the math. It total, we spent $174 on the food.  From that, we got:

9 - 8X8 lasagna (estimated three meals/tray since the tray isn't very deep) = 27 portions

6 - slow cooker ribs (estimated three meals -- one rack per bag) = 18 portions

various container of butter chicken (6 portions given to each person) = 18 portions

various containers of taco soup (6 portions per person) = 18 portions

Total = 81 portions (27 each)

Overall cost/person = $54

Overall Cost/portion = $2.15

I think that's a pretty decent cost considering that each portion has meat.  The taco soup was particularly cheap.  I got all of the ingredients for $25 (already had the spices) -- so about $1.40/portion.



Tomato Caprese Tarts with Chive Oil

My friend and I were having a bit of a debate, over Facebook, about whether keeping an orderly house  is something that people should prioritize, despite having little ones.  She wrote a long note about how she keeps her place clean and is ready for company at any time.

I quoted part of this poem to my friend:

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Truthfully, we do prioritize keeping the house (fairly) clean.  But, sometimes I wish I didn't care because the evenings and weekends can become one chore after the next.  Also, I was just a bit annoyed with my friend for writing a domestic manifesto about how easy it is to maintain such a lifestyle without acknowledging that she has never had to work for a living and has regular help from nannies.  

My friend also talked about making great meals for her family: "I don’t only buy groceries or make great suppers for company (as I used to) and then eat just okay the rest of the time. But I make a conscious effort to always cook great food for my family, as if company’s always coming over."  

Clearly, if I didn't value great food, I wouldn't be blogging about food for 6 years.  But - I don't always cook great food for my family.  For one, it's not only me that cooks (not to say that R cooks crap food - just that we don't have traditional gender roles in our house).  Sometimes, we just don't have the energy.  Or, sometimes, I just want a bowl of cereal for dinner.  Plus, I kind of like the idea that having guests over is a special occasion that should be marked by extra effort.  

Giz says that the cardinal rule when having guests for dinner is to make a recipe you know well, to be sure that you will be serving something that tastes good.  I pretty much break this rule every time.  

Last weekend, we had guests over and I really wanted to try a recipe from the Savory Pies cookbook of which I got a review copy. 

Tomato Caprese Tarts with Chive Oil

1/2 cup fresh chives, coarsely chopped

1 cup evoo

flour for rolling

2 (14 ounce) packages frozen all-butter puff pastry, thawed in the fridge

3 ounces well-chilled low-moisture mozzarella cheese, coarsely shredded

18 large cherry tomatoes or small Sweet 100s (on the vine, if possible)

Cooking spray

1 egg yolk lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water, for egg wash

kosher salt

fresh whole basil leaves, for garnish

aged balsamic vinegar

Bring to a boil a small saucepan half-filled with unsalted water.  Add the chives and blanch for about 10 seconds; they should be very bright green.  Drain in a colander and run cold water over them to stop the cooking.  Pat dry with paper towels.

Put the chives and half the evoo in a blender.  With the machine running, add the remaining olive oil in a slow stream until completely pureed. 

Let the chive oil stand 1 hour and then strain through a fine-mesh sieve lined with a double thickness of damp cheesecloth.  Discard the solids.  

On a lightly floured work surface, use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll 1 package of puff pastry to a 10 x 15-inch rectangle, a scant 1/4 inch thick.  Use a 4-inch cutter to make 6 pastry rounds.  Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.  On a freshly floured work surface, use a freshly floured rolling pin to roll the second package of puff pastry to a 10 X 15-inch rectangle, a scant 1/4 inch thick.  Use a cutter to cut 6 more 4-inch rounds.  Then use a 3-inch cutter to cut out the centers of these rounds, creating rings.  Save the trimmings for another use.

Brush the outside edges of the rounds with egg wash.  Carefully lay the rings on top, aligning the edges.  Use a fork to prick the pastry at half-inch intervals inside the raised border.  Refrigerate until chilled, about 20 minutes.  

Set an over rack in the center position.  Preheat the oven to 425F. 

Divide the mozzarella among the pastry rounds, about 2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) each, keeping it inside the boarders.  Lay 3 tomatoes on top of the mozzarella; it's okay if they touch or overhand a little.  Leave the vine attached or remove it, as you see fit.  Give the tomatoes a spritz of cooking spray (preferably olive oil).  Brush the tart edges with egg wash and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  

Bake until the pastry is golden and the tomatoes are just beginning to crack and blister, 15-20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with lots of fresh basil leaves.  Serve chive oil and balsamic vinegar on the side as a dressing.  

Verdict -- these tarts were really good!  I can see myself serving them over and over again, kind of like this puff pastry recipe.  They're pretty easy to pull together.  My critiques would be that I didn't think that the chive oil added much to the recipe.  I'll probably try pesto on the side next time instead.  Also, I didn't like how the recipe basically suggested setting a bunch of puff pastry aside for another use.  I knew that if I set it aside, it would go to waste.  So I just re-rolled the pastry and made 10 tarts instead of 6.  

On a side note -- I also tried the pizza dough recipe from the book and loved it!  Great flavour and texture.  It's our new "go to" pizza dough recipe.

Vegan Eggplant Lasagna

The other day, I talked about eating more vegetarian meals.  Although there are some meat dishes I really enjoy, for the most part, eating less meat hasn't required too much effort or restraint.   In contrast, becoming vegan would be a completely different story for me.  

The vegan salad I made tasted great -- but I don't think I would survive never having feta cheese in my salad again.  This eggplant lasagna was already really flavourful!  But, I missed having real cheese on top.  Daiya is a great substitute.  But it doesn't melt the way real cheese does.  

Okay -- enough knocking vegan food.  In fact, this dish was actually really good.  I made a vegan eggplant lasagna (no noodles).  Here's what I did:

First I peeled and sliced eggplant into rounds. Then I sprinkled salt on both sides of the eggplant to remove the bitterness.

After letting the eggplant sit for about an hour (maybe longer), I rinsed off the eggplant to remove the salt.

I looked all over the place for a soy-based ricotta or cottage cheese.  I should have started with Google because it turns out that it's really easy to just make a ricotta-like substitute by blending a firm tofu and adding some spices (e.g., oregano, basil, garlic powder).

For the first layer, I spread out a fair amount of crushed tomatoes

Then eggplant

Then more crushed tomatoes

Then I put a layer of cheese

Then, the tofu ricotta and a layer of spinach

sliced mushrooms

and canned San Marzano tomatoes

Next comes the last layer of eggplant

I put the last of my crushed tomatoes on top of the eggplant and finished it off with more Daiya cheese.

I let the lasagne cook at 350 for about an hour (partly to make sure that the eggplant was cooked through, partly because the cheese was slow to brown and partly because we were eating the salad and visiting with friends)

Like I said, the dish tasted good.  It was a bit messy plating it.

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Hopefully you're not pictured out because I also wanted to quickly share the appetizer.  At the end of the garden season last year, we had a bunch of cherry tomatoes to use up.  So, although I could probably just eat them standing over the counter, we decided to preserve them by oven roasting them with garlic and freezing them in ice cube trays.

I took a bunch of the cubes from the freezer and warmed them up,

The entire appetizer was motivated by wanting to try the Apple Cider Vinegar Pearls we recently got.  Gingras makes these caviar-like pearls that are little bursts of apple cider vinegar.



Overall, the appetizer was just okay.  I really like the crackers (I just randomly chose them while shopping).  I think the vinegar pearls didn't add much to the flavour of the tomato, which already have their own acidity.  I suspect they would be better with a cheese or meat topping.  They also didn't visibly stand out very much against the tomatoes. Thankfully, I still have 2 out of the 4 sachets of pearls left.  So, I'll keep experimenting with them.

Mushroom Risotto with Peas

Ever have days where you have a craving but can't put your finger on what you're craving?  Power up  the computer and start browsing.

It didn't take long to find a Giada de Laurentiis recipe for Mushroom Risotto with Peas.  Ingredients started appearing, a bottle of chardonnay opened (some for the dish and lots for me) and I was on my way to nirvana.

Ingredients

 8 cups canned low-salt chicken broth or vegetable broth
 1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onions
10 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or short-grain white rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional


Directions

Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan.
Add the porcini mushrooms. Set aside until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes.
Keep the broth warm over very low heat.
Melt the butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil.
Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the white mushrooms and garlic.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the porcini mushrooms to a cutting board. Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the saucepan. Saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the rice and let it toast for a few minutes.
Add the wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes.
Add 1 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by cupfuls and stirring often, about 28 minutes (the rice will absorb 6 to 8 cups of broth).
Stir in the peas. Mix in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

So so satisfying either as a main or a side with enough left over for aranchini, but that's a whole other post for another day.

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

First - let me start by announcing the winner of Lidia's Favourite Recipes!   

suburban prep

Congratulations!  I'll be contacting you right away.

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Today's post is also about an Italian recipe: minestrone soup.  All it took was seeing minestrone soup a couple of times on various blogs and some cold weather and I found myself with a serious craving.  I decided to make it when my parents came for a visit, last week.  

Thinking about this soup and having to make several meals for 6+ people (Actor Boy and his friend were in town too) inspired me to menu plan for the whole week.  I knew organization would be critical since making quick trips to the grocery store can be a big production with a baby in the winter (or any time of year).  I was so proud of myself, I even e-mailed this photo to Giz with the caption: Guess who is finished grocery shopping at 9am on a Saturday!

Okay -- maybe it's not that miraculous.  But we're usually Sunday night shoppers, just before the store closes, when the shelves are getting sparse.   Plus, I get excited about being able to do chores since most of my time goes to Ms. E.  Yup -- you know you're the life of the party when you get excited about being able to do household chores.

Anyway -- all that to say.  This recipe was a hit!  I'm already planning to make it again.

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
3 cups water (I used 1L of vegetable broth)
2 cups diced zucchini (I used 3 medium)
1 cup diced carrot, peeled
1 cup canned cannellini beans or 1 cup you may use other white beans
3/4 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
28 fluid ounces canned plum tomatoes, dice and include liquid
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup uncooked ditalini or 1/4 cup elbow macaroni (used 1/2 of ditalini and may use more in the future)

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add chopped onion, carrots and celery and sauté for 4 minutes or until just lightly browned.  

Add water/broth, zucchini, canellini beans, celery, basil, oregano salt, pepper, tomatoes and garlic. Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add macaroni, cover and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Adjust spices to suit your taste.

I also served with parmesan cheese, for people to add as desired.

Holiday Favourites with the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club

 

One of my fondest Christmas memories takes me back to a Christmas Eve dinner I was invited to share with Italian friends.  I never refuse an invitation that gives me an opportunity to share cultural traditions that are foreign to me.  I was invited to a Feast of the Seven Fishes, the typical meatless meal served by many Christian cultures.  I was fascinated - by the symbolism of the seven sacraments and also the care with which this fish and seafood dinner is prepared and presented.

Cioppino is a wonderful seafood dish often associated with San Francisco and has as many variations as it does cooks who prepare it. Dead simple to make, cioppino is both impressive and delicious and needs only a slice of good sourdough bread to help sop up the sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup prechopped onion
• 1 1/2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded

• 8 ounces sea scallops
• 8 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp
• 1/2 cup clam juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper to pan; sauté for 2 minutes. Add mussels, scallops, and shrimp to pan; sauté for 1 minute. Stir in 1/2 cup clam juice, parsley, and diced tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until mussels open, and discard any unopened shells.

Chicken Breast with Eggplant and Fontina Cheese & Giveaway

R and I bit the bullet and made the drive to Toronto. A five hour drive (longer with a baby) can be pretty daunting with a baby that has a bit of a sleep/hate relationship with her car seat.  But, I really wanted to introduce Ms. E to my Baba (now known as: Super Baba) and get some pictures of the two of them together.  

On our last night in Toronto, we had the family over for dinner.  Giz already told you about some of the dishes we made here.  In addition to those vegetarian recipes, we wanted to have one dish for the meat eaters.  Right away, I knew I wanted to made a dish from my most recently acquired cookbook:  Lidia's Favorite Recipes: 100 Foolproof Italian Dishes, from Basic Sauces to Irresistible Entrees 

As the title suggests, this cookbook contains a collection of Lidia's favorite and most accessible recipes. Also check out Lidia's website, which has lots of recipes. videos, and other content, here.

Would you like a copy of this cookbook?  

One of our readers will receive a free copy of this cookbook.  All you have to do is comment on this post before Sunday, November 25th 11:59pm (EST).

Share this on Twitter, if you want a second entry:  Enter to win a copy of Lidia Bastianich's newest cookbook: Lidia's Favorite Recipes @equaloppkitchen http://bit.ly/U7jsqo

This giveaway is open to readers in Canada and the United States only. 

After tagging all of the recipes that I was interested in trying (a process the becomes futile when almost every page is tagged), I decided I wanted to make the Chicken Breast with Eggplant and Fontina Cheese.  

Chicken Breast with Eggplant and Fontina Cheese

1 medium eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds)

Salt

6 tbsp of EVOO

Six 6-ounce boneless skinless chicken breasts

Fresh ground black pepper

6 slices of prosciutto cut in half (I didn't really half them)

5 tbsp unsalted butter

All-purpose flour for dredging

6 cloves of garlic, peeled (I minced them as well)

1/2 cup drive white wine

About 1 cup of hot chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano) seeded and chopped

12 fresh basil leaves, plus more (optional for decorating the plates)

6 ounces of Italian Fontina cheese, cut into thin slices

2 tbsp Tomato Sauce or liquid from the canned tomatoes

Trim the stem from the eggplant.  Remove the strips of peel about 1 inch wide, leaving about half the peel intact, and cut the eggplant into 1-inch crosswise slices.  Sprinkle a baking sheet with salt, arrange the slices over the salt and sprinkle with more salt.  Let them stand until both sides are wet, about 30 minutes.  Rinse the eggplant under cool running water, drain thoroughly, and pat dry.  Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.  Wipe the baking sheet clean, and oil it generously, using about half the oil.  Arrange the eggplant on the baking sheet, and turn to coat the slices with oil.  

Roast until tender and well-brouned, turning them and rotating them in the pan as necessary, about 20 minutes.  Remove and cool.  Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F.  

Cut each chicken breast in half on a bias, and lightly pound it.  Season the chicken very lightly with salt (We omitted) and pepper (the prosciutto will give the dish plenty of salt as is), and layer each piece of chicken with half a slice of the prosciutto tapping the prosciutto with the back of the knife so it adheres to the meat.  

Heat 2 tbsp of the remaining olive oil and 2 tbsp of the butter in a heavy, wide skilled over medium heat.  Dredge the chicken in flour to coat both sides lightly, tapping off excess flour, and add as many to the skillet, prosciutto side down, as will fit without overlapping.  Cook just until the prosciutto is light golden, about 2 minutes.  Turn and cook until the second side is browned, about 2 minutes.  Remove, and drain on paper towels.  Repeat with the remaining chicken, adding more oil if necessary. 

After removing the last piece of chicken from the skillet, pour in the remaining oil, and scatter the garlic in the skillet.  Cook, turning, until golden brown, about 3 minutes (Lower the heat, if necessary, so the bits of flour that stick to the pan don't burn while the garlic is browning).  Pour the wine into the skillet, bring to a boil, and boil until it's almost completely evaporated.  Pour in the stock, and drop in the remaining 3 tbsps of butter.  Bring to a boil, stir in the chopped tomatoes, and boil until the sauce is lightly reduces and glossy about 4 minutes.  

Meanwhile, arrange the scaloppine side by side in a baking dish.  Cover them with the eggplant, coating or tearing the slices as necessary to cover all the scaloppine more or less evenly, and top each with a leaf of basil.  

Dividing the Fontina slices evenly over the eggplant, doting the Fontina slices with a dab of tomato sauce.  Pour the pan sauce around the chicken and bake until the cheese is melted and lightly browned in place and the sauce is lightly thickened, about 10 minutes.  

Transfer the bubbly chicken to serving plates, placing two on each (we didn't serve the chicken this way).  Spoon the sauce -- through a strained if you like -- around the plates.  Decorate the plates with additional basil leaves if desired.

Verdict: Let me start by saying that this dish was so tasty!  I think it was both Giz's and my favourite dish of the night!  But I learned a lesson with this dish.  I need to spend more time reading and visualizing the steps of an recipe before I start it.  I tend to start things and believe that I'll just figure it out as I go.  This approach can work, but when you've got a recipe with several components and steps, along with several other dishes on the go, it can be a bit chaotic.  Having already made the recipe once, it'll be easier to make it again in the future.  But, I found myself re-reading the recipe as I had my hands covered in ingredients and things burning on the stove.  I also now know that you can pretty much complete the recipe to the point just before putting it in the oven (i.e., the part where you "bake until the cheese is melted and lightly browned in place and the sauce is lightly thickened, about 10 minutes").  You just want to be mindful of the chicken, which won't be fully cooked through yet if you've only cooked each side for two minutes.

Some of the other recipes I'm looking forward to making include: Arancini di Riso (rice balls...but it sounds so much better in Italian), Minestrone Soup, Tagliatelle with Wild Mushroom Sauce, Ziti with Roasted Eggplant and Ricotta Cheese, and Marinated Winter Squash.

Disclaimer: A free review copy of this cookbook was sent to me.