serves 4


4 - 5 cups cooked pasta (rotini or penne)
1 lb chicken, sliced (I used thighs for this one but a mixture would do fine)
4 cups chard, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 cups mushrooms, thickly sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
zest from 1 lg lemon
juice from said lemon
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp basil
400g tub of ricotta (smooth)
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup parmesan
dash of pepper or heat of some kind

In a large pot of boiling water add some salt and boil the pasta to al dente.
Drain (reserve some of the pasta water) and set aside.

In another pot heat some oil over medium heat and add in the onion, chard and mushrooms.  Stir, cooking for about 5 min.  Add in the diced or sliced chicken and the garlic.  Continue cooking for about 5 minutes.  Add in the lemon zest, juice, salt, sugar and basil.  Mix well.
Add in the ricotta, cream and parmesan.  Mix until creamy and saucy (!)  Check the taste and add some heat if you choose to go there.  Adjust as necessary.  Toss the cooked pasta and serve.

I am married to a Trinidadian.
I lived in Trinidad for well over a year - close to a year and a half (and 'No, I did not miss snow or the seasons.  Even at Christmas!).
I love Trini food.  I thought that I had died and gone to food heaven.  Everything tasted so good.  I mean everything.  Even at homes where we might just show up out of the blue made us fantastic food.  Pot Lucks - something that fills me with fear here in Canada (true confessions) - were fantastic.  Most people aren't afraid of cooking and don't rely on prepackaged food to get there.  The problem is that I don't cook  Trini food often enough.
The food looks straight forward, even on paper but when you try to make it you realize how difficult it is to get those flavours and textures just right.  I've watched D's Mom cook, I've watched D's Granny cook (she was famous for her cooking).  In fact, I've watched them cook this particular dish.  I've made this dish many times myself AND STILL I find it hard to get it 'right'.  I don't know what it is exactly but something comes out wrong.  When you do get this right though, it's one of the single most satisfying dishes in the world and any Trini will be happy to confirm it.


Rumour has it that a few years ago when Jay-Z was in Trinidad for Carnival, somebody's Mom got paid $700 US for a pot of pelau.  Restaurants don't stay open late in T&T (like really late I mean) and Jay-Z and entourage were hungry.  One of the contact people called his Mom, got her out of bed and she cooked up a pot for the lot.  I'm sure that Jay-Z and co. were happy to pay for it too - it's that good.
You can throw anything in this stuff... chicken, including feet (yeah, haven't actually seen that one yet), pork, carrot... you get the idea.
Don't let me put you off trying this though - it's well worth it.  The taste is great.  I'm officially resolving to cook more Trini food.


Beef Pelau (adapted from 'Naparima Girls School Cookbook' and my Mother-in-law)

1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef chuck

herb seasoning:
2 tsp each - thyme, chives, parsley
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
2 - 3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup

1/3 - 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tin coconut milk (about 2 cups)
2 cups water
1 packet of beef bouillion
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 slices bacon, sliced
1 tin pidgeon peas or kidney beans
2 cups of long grain rice, washed

In a bowl, season the meat with the herb seasoning.  Set aside.


Heat a large pot or Dutch oven.  Add in the brown sugar.  Let the brown sugar melt but not start to turn black (this will take a few minutes - be patient).  Add in the onion and the bacon.  The sugar will seize up a bit but be patient and keep stirring it.  Once the onion and bacon cooks down a bit and the sugar starts to liquify again, add in the seasoned meat.  Let all of that cook over med/high heat until the liquid cooks down.


Mix together the coconut milk, water and bouillion and set aside.
Once the liquid in the meat cooks down, add in the pidgeon peas or beans.  Again, cook down for just a few minutes.  Add in the rice and mix briefly.  Finally, add in the coconut milk, water and bouillion.  Mix well.  Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer until the rice is cooked and the liquid absorbed (about 30 min. or so).

So, we are quickly approaching the middle of December.  I should be doing the following:

1.  Sending out Christmas cards, possibly with a family portrait and newsletter but definitely with some kind of personal hand written gesture.
2.  Decorating my house with all things Christmas.
3.  Be at least halfway through my gift purchases.
4.  Baking my Christmas treats to serve at the lovely 'get-togethers' that I will be hosting.

Here's reality:
re #1.  Haven't even bought Christmas cards - won't be sending any and haven't sent any for the last 5 years!
re #2.  I stuck a red bow on my door and put up a Christmas tree - not bad, right?


Nothing else will be happening though, I can assure you.
re #3.  Haven't even made a proper Christmas gift list.
re #4.  Decided that I wasn't leaving the house today.  Didn't have butter - an essential for baking - and therefor made fried rice and this stuff...


Yup, Banana bread.  I searched for it on epicurious.com because I was even too lazy to get out of my chair and look up crap in my cookbooks.  I don't know when exactly you'll be reading posts of my Christmas cookies - turning out beautifully, intricately decorated and so plentiful that they're overflowing my cookie tins.  Maybe next week (I have a cookie exchange party which will pretty much make the decision for me).   Until then, I'm working, life is as usual, time is as usual and we need to eat... stuff with no butter in it 'cause I don't have any.  Banana Bread it is.


I kitchen-sinked it a bit - throwing in nuts and chocolate chips.  Skip both if you are feeling purist (my own personal default).  I was so lazy today that I even read the recipe wrong.  I thought that I was supposed to bake it for 20 min.  Duh!!! Of course it wasn't ready.  I baked it for another 10 min.... wasn't ready... another 10 min... then I lost count and just baked it until it looked ready and the tester came out clean.  So, we won't be eating 'sugar plums' or ginger breads at our house this week but we've got some kick ass banana bread and we can eat that in front of the Christmas tree and sing a carol in the meantime...




Banana Bread (adapted just a little from epicurious.com)
1 loaf

2 1/2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup milk (could use buttermilk here and then omit the lemon juice)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (or vinegar)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used 1/2 cup of safflower oil instead)
2/3 cup sugar
2 lg eggs, lightly beaten
3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease and flour a loaf pan (9x5)
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
Combine the milk and lemon juice or vinegar and set aside - allow it to thicken and curdle a bit.
Combine the eggs, sugar and butter (or oil).  Add in the milk and mix well.  Add in the banana and combine until well mixed.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Mix until combined.
Add in the chopped nuts and the chocolate chips.  Combine and pour the batter into the loaf pan.  Sprinkle a little coarse sugar over the top just before you put it in the oven.
Bake for about an hour or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool for about 20 min before slicing.


This stuff will probably taste better the next day.

This is the time of year, my friends, when I start to crave different kinds of food.  The wonderful, starchy, gooey cheesey stuff that is this kind of casserole. 
Really, honestly, it's just glorified scalloped potato... no jokes.  Just throw some sauteed veggies in the bottom of the baking dish and bake away.  What I wanted though was a kind of potato topped pie.  Kind of like a Shepherd's Pie but with veggies and cheesey bechamel sauce.  Well, what I got was kinda different than that and, truth be told, it looks like crap in the photo's.  You gotta trust me on this one though.  It was good. 
First thing that I could've done to take a better picture was not be in a hurry. 
Second, wait until there was better light - like maybe in April.
Thirdly, waited for about 15 minutes until the casserole had cooled a bit and wasn't so runny (this kind of lines up with No. 1 I realize)
So, Yeah, Whatever.


I had this awesome broccoli and zucchini that had just arrived in the food box.  I had these gorgeous potatoes waiting for good use (p.s. kid #2 eats potato!).  So my grand ideas for vegetable pot pie with potato topping turned into scalloped potatoes with broccoli and zucchini on the bottom.  Not nearly as sexy sounding with crap on the bottom. 


So, even though the pictures aren't that great and even though it sounds like crap when I describe it, it really was good after all. 
Moral of this story:
Not everything that looks good tastes good.
Not everything that looks bad tastes bad.
Not everything that sounds like crap tastes like crap.


Potato and Broccoli Casserole (mine... my own... my precious)
serves 6 as a side

5 med potato, sliced med. thick
1 med/lg head of broccoli, cut into florets
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 med zucchini, sliced thick
1 1/2 cup button mushrooms, halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a lg pot of salted water, boil the sliced potatoes for about 7 min.  Remove from heat and drain.
In a lg pan (or the baking dish you will use if it's also stove top capable ;-) saute the onion,broccoli, zucchini and mushrooms until the broccoli is bright green and the zucchini is looking a little wilted.  Set aside

Bechamel:

6 tbsp butter (1/3 c)
6 tbsp flour
3 3/4 c milk, warmed
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp salt
2 cups cheddar (the sharper/older the better)

In a med pan, melt the butter.  Once melted add in the flour.  Mix together until it's well incorporated and might be a little pasty.
Slowly, add in the warmed milk.  Whisk continuously.
Once the milk is all in.  Keep it on med/low heat and whisk until it begins to thicken up - this should take about 5 minutes or so.
Add in the mustard powder, nutmeg and salt.  Mix well
Add in the cheese and allow it to melt fully.

Casserole:

In a lg baking dish, place the sauteed veggies on the bottom.  Top with half of the bechamel sauce.  Top with the sliced potato.  On top of that pour the rest of the bechamel.  On the very top add some sliced mozzarella or grated parmesan cheese.

Bake for 25 min.  Once out of the oven wait for about 10 - 15 min before serving, otherwise your pics will look like mine - sauce going in all directions!!

Ok.
So earlier in the week I decided that I was going to make bread on the weekend.  Furthermore, I decided that I was going to make Raisin Bread.  I'm capitalizing 'Raisin Bread' because it's a big deal in our house.  We hardly ever buy it.  In fact, it's only during holiday times when we are feeling especially loose with our budget that we buy things like Raisin Bread.  So, on Sunday afternoon (yes, during my Bollywood movie time - which was off the chain on Sunday people - Bollywood horror flick... I mean!) I made Raisin Bread.


What I discovered though was that I had trouble finding a definitive recipe for the stuff.  I thought that I had a pretty good collection of recipe books.  I thought that online I could find something that hit me.  I checked them all (my books that is), I checked online (although it wasn't an extensive search by any means, 'cause I got frustrated).  Nothing was hitting me as my Raisin Bread recipe.  I knew what I wanted:
White Bread
Raisins in the bread
Some kind of cinnamon swirl

Weird that I couldn't find anything that was exactly what I was looking for.  So, I just made a recipe out of a bunch of recipes.  I don't know really what that makes this bread.  Did it turn out exactly the way I wanted it to???
No.
What would I change?  More raisins, more swirl and more rolling.  Bread.  That was good.  I've altered the recipe below to reflect those changes because, believe me, I'll be making this again.
For those of you who've been around for a while - reading my blog that is.  You may remember that I resolved earlier this year to work on my phobia of all things yeast.  So, right now.  In November.  I'm kinda proud of myself.  So far, I've made:
Cinnamon Buns (need to work on that one)
Pizza Dough
Hot Cross Buns (those were good)
Raisin Bread (here and now)
That officially raises my yeast cooking this year by about 400% give or take.  This is good.  Who says that New Years Resolutions never stick?



Raisin Bread with Cinnamon Swirl (adapted from a bunch of recipes but mostly an old Five Roses clipping that I had laying around ;-S)
makes 2 loaves

5 cups unbleached all purpose flour (1 cup set aside)
1 tsp salt

2 pkgs/2 tbsp yeast (I did not use quick rise - just regular)
1/2 c warm water (not hot)
2 tsp sugar

1 cup milk
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs

1 1/2 cup raisins

Filling:
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt, nutmeg and cloves

Mix together the flour (except the extra cup) and salt.  Set aside.
Add the sugar and yeast to the warm water.  Let it stand for 10 min.  It should have expanded and be foamy.
Melt together the milk, butter and sugar over low heat.  Do not let it get too hot.
Add the warmed milk mixture, yeast mixture and the eggs to the flour.  Mix until well incorporated.  Add the additional flour until the dough is a sticky consistency (I used the whole extra cup myself).  Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 min.  Seriously, didn't take long for me at all.
Grease a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl.  Put a little grease over the top of the dough as well (I just buttered it a little bit).  Cover with a clean cloth and put it in a draft free/warm place to rise for an hour.  It should have doubled.


Meanwhile melt the filling ingredients together over low heat and then set aside.

Punch down the dough and add in the raisins.  Knead in gently just until incorporated.  Divide the dough and roll each half into a rectangle.  Divide and spread the filling evenly over each rectangle.


Roll up the dough like a jelly roll so that it will fit into your pan.  Place each into a greased loaf pan.  Cover and let it rise again for another hour.  Again, it should be doubled.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


Brush the top of each loaf with egg white.  Bake for about 40 min.
Note!
Do not slice until the loaf has cooled for about 20 min... otherwise... well, just don't do it!

Ok... so I'm in this weird place where I'm just wanting to make stuff I've made a gazillion times.  Nothing new here folks... just brownies.  Kinda like the chocolate chip cookies recently.  I know it's weird and I've been trying to figure out why I might be craving un-fancy food.
While 'brain-searching' I came to some interesting conclusions (about myself ;-)
A.  I don't need to have fancy food very often.  I like going to the pub (as long as it's tasty, well done and the stuff on tap is good though... come on!) on a regular basis.  'Chef' food is great for my birthday or some other special occasion but I LOVE a good burger (I'm picky about those!), schwarma or roti.
B.  The reason that you keep going back to recipes like brownies, chocolate chip cookies, spaghetti sauce and roast chicken is because they work.  They're good - damn good - and everybody likes them.  They are versatile and virtually never disappoint.


I'm a home cook.  There it is.  Nothing fancy.  Food my kids will eat.  Food that doesn't take forever or have a whole butt load of steps.  I'm not sticking my food into a light box to get good shots.  I take the shots on my kitchen table... where we eat the food.  I would be lying to ya if I tried to be anything else and I would be lyin' if I told you that I didn't (absolutely) enjoy trying a stupid amount of recipes for the same thing.  Don't you think though that we almost never make a recipe the same way twice?  Just sayin'
So, although this recipe doesn't look revolutionary, they are really good.  This is the first brownie recipe that I've tried that truly and honestly cracked on the top AND not because they were falling apart.  The addition of the chocolate is brilliant.  It bakes right into the brownie so I got these moist, gooey spots - exactly the way I like 'em.  Yup.  I like 'em gooey, chocolatey and A LOT!


Brownies (from delicious Mag UK)
makes one square pan

2 1/4 c sugar (350 g)
2/3 c cocoa powder (80 g)
1/2 c all purpose flour (60g)
1 tsp baking powder
4 lg eggs, lightly beaten
200g unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla
200 g dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Line a square (22 cm) baking tin with parchment or butter and flour it.


Mix together the sugar, cocoa, flour and baking powder in a bowl.

The butter tower that I made

In another bowl mix together the eggs, butter and vanilla until combined.  Add to the flour mixture and mix until combined.  Add in the chocolate and mix well.

Pour into pan.  Bake for about 35 min (the recipe says 40 - 45 but mine was more than ready at about 35 min).  Remove from oven and leave in pan for about 10 min. to settle.  Cut into squares and serve.

Ok.
I've had a good day - sort of.
I had no kids waking me up at 6:30 - that was awesome.  They're back now though and that's awesome too.
I did some yoga and martial arts movement - that was awesome.
I tried to watch my Bollywood Freetime movie but we couldn't get the channel in evenly enough - that sucked 'cause it looked like a funny one.  (We have an antenna BTW and no satellite or cable fees - that's awesome)
Instead, I watched a cool doc about marijuana (use, history, medical research, political and legal aspects) called 'The Union' - that was awesome.
I joined this awesome looking website that aggregates (sounds cool!) for Can. food blogs and bloggers.  Dope!  It's called 'Beer and Butter Tarts'.  To be honest, the name was what drew me in before I even knew what it was all about.  Lush that I am!  Beer!  And Butter Tarts?!  Gotta check that out.  Found it on 'Brenda's Canadian Kitchen' (many thanks Brenda, if you're reading... which you probably aren't, because no one knows that I'm doing this which is exactly why I'm so stoked about having a website aggregate for me).  Beer and Butter Tarts looks cool and I'm going to keep you all filled in on what's happening on that front - as I learn more about it.
And... I made this stuff...


Until recently I didn't even know what to call this.  It isn't proper 'Bolognese' at all.  Then I found this term in one of the UK mag's that I picked up.  BOG. Didn't know what it was they were talking about and then I read an article and recipe.  It sounded and looked a hell of a lot like the stuff that I made.  Incidentally, it's also slang for a toilet.
I make this sauce about once a month easy and sometimes more.  I throw in a lot of veggies.  The first time I saw someone making this stuff, I was babysitting in Montreal during my University years.  It was an italian family and they had this huge pot on the stove simmering away.  It had been simmering for a few hours and it smelled unbelievably good.  There were crazy veggies in it.  There was some kind of meat mince - don't know what it was exactly but it was good.  I know that 'cause I put it in a bowl without any pasta and ate it like it was stew.  It was delish.


I've made this they way I like it and I won't apologize that it has some sugar in it because it makes a huge difference.  You can adapt and change and throw around things and this sauce will still come out well.  It's just that kind of food.  Am I saying that you can't wreck it?  No - 'cause I've done that too.  BUT, it's always been salvageable.
So, without further ado.... BOG.



My Bog
serves 6

1 lb minced beef, chicken or pork
1 med/sm onion, diced
1 med/sm zucchini, sliced
2 sm carrots, sliced
1 med red or green pepper, diced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
3 lg cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 beef bouillion cubes
2 tbsp mustard powder or dijon
1 - 2 tbsp each basil, oregano, marjoram
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 lg can crushed tomatoes or passata (no salt preferably)
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp salt
pepper sauce to taste


In a lg pan.  Heat some oil and add in all the veggies except the garlic.  Cook for a few minutes.
Add in the garlic and the minced meat.  Cook that around for a few minutes.
Add in the Worcestershire and the bouillion cube.   Stir until everything is mixed in.
Add the mustard, herbs and sugar.  Mix well.
Add in the tomato and the tomato paste. Mix well.
Add in the salt and check the taste.  Add the pepper sauce.  Adjust the tastes as necessary and let the sauce simmer at low heat for about 45 min.
Serve over spaghetti, rotini, penne or whatever.  Trust me, they'll eat it.  Throw some parmesan cheese on the top and they'll love you forever.