Indian Dinner

I clearly love cooking. I come home tired from standing all day cooking at work, and I still want to cook and try new recipes for dinner. Things are a bit different now that I'm working so much, like I'm making slightly simpler things, and making bigger batches of it so that it lasts longer. But I'm definitely still having fun.

Last night, we had an Indian meal of lamb buttermilk curry and rice pudding. Both were laborious in that I had to stand by the stove to regularly stir the pots, but otherwise, very easy dishes. The lamb was good, but nothing particularly memorable for me. The rice pudding, on the other hand, was outstanding. The texture was really smooth, and I love the taste of cardamom, so I thought the flavour was perfect.

Lamb in Coriander, Black Cardamom, and Buttermilk Curry
Adapted from Vij's Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine
Yield: 6 servings
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2 lbs lamb leg, cut into 2-inch cubes
3 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
10 cloves
seeds from 8 black cardamom pods
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup water
1 medium potato, cubed

1. Pour buttermilk into a large mixing bowl. Add lamb and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.


2. In a mortar, lightly pound coriander seeds to crack the seeds in half.


3. In a pot, heat oil over medium heat.


4. Add cumin seeds. Allow seeds to sizzle for about 15 seconds.


5. Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.


6. Add coriander, chili powder, cloves, black cardamom, and salt. Stir well and cook for 3 minutes.


7. Add marinated meat with all the buttermilk. Add water. Stir continuously and bring to a boil.


8. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook, stirring regularly, for about an hour.


9. Add potatoes. Cover and cook for another hour, or until meat is tender. Make sure meat is covered in liquid, so add more water if necessary.


10. Remove cloves before serving, or remember to expect them in your meal.


11. Serve with plain basmati rice.

Rice Pudding
Adapted from Vij's Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine
Yield: 3 servings
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4 green cardamom pods
1/4 cup basmati rice
4 cups homogenized milk
1/3 cup sugar
chopped raw unsalted almonds, for garnish

1. Lightly pound green cardamoms and peel off the pods.


2. Place seeds into a medium pot.


3. Add rice and milk. Bring to a boil over medium low heat.


4. Simmer for about 70 minutes. Stir gently and regularly (this is very important). As the rice and milk cook, the consistency will become more and more like pudding. If the milk begins to stick to the bottom of the pot, stir more often or turn down the heat slightly. Do not scrape the bottom of the pot if it has scorched otherwise the pudding will have a burnt taste.


5. Remove from heat and add sugar. Stir well.


6. Sprinkle almonds over the pudding just before serving.


7. Can be served hot, warm, or cold.

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

No real story behind these muffins. I just wanted something that I could eat for dessert and for breakfast tomorrow morning on my way to work. These fit the bill, and I used up the buttermilk in the fridge.


Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Yield: 12 muffins (I cut recipe in half and made 12 mini muffins)
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2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk, milk, or yogurt
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
1 1/2 cup blueberries (I used frozen)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400F.


2. Grease muffin pan or line with paper cups.


3. In one bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.


4. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, sugar, butter, vanilla, and lemon zest.


5. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Mix together with a few light strokes until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix.


6. Fold blueberries into batter.


7. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups.


8. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar before baking.


9. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Less Healthy Dinner

Since we've been eating at home so much, I haven't gotten my usual fix of unhealthy deep fried food, especially french fries, my favourite. So I decided to just make it myself - dinner last night was chicken fingers and fries.


I wasn't a huge fan of the fries. They just weren't crispy enough. But the chicken fingers were amazing. The crust was tasty and it stuck right to the meat, unlike some other breading I've done. And the chicken was cooked perfectly. Definitely a keeper.

Chicken Fingers
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Yield: 4 servings
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1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp water
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used panko)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne (optional)
1 pound chicken tenders

1. In one bowl, whisk together egg, milk, oil, and water.


2. In another bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and cayenne.


3. One at a time, coat the chicken tenders in the milk mixture and then roll in the flour mixture.


4. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. (At this point, chicken can be refrigerated for several hours before cooking.)


5. Preheat oven to 450F.


6. Heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a large, deep, heavy pot to 375F.


7. Bake chicken for 15 minutes.


8. A few at a time, place chicken in the oil until golden brown, about 2 minutes.


9. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Whole Wheat Pizza

We bought some whole wheat flour on the weekend and I'm still trying to improve my pizza dough recipe, so making whole wheat pizza seemed like the perfect meal. I was pretty happy with the texture of the dough, but it was just a tad too whole wheat-y for me. I adjusted the recipe below to use a little less whole wheat flour than I did.

We made two different pizzas. One was crushed grape tomatoes, chili flakes, and shallots, topped with arugula tossed with balsamic and olive oil and pecorino-romano cheese.


The second was sliced vine tomatoes, asparagus and green onion dressed with a lemon vinaigrette, goat cheese, and salmon (to use up some of the leftovers from the healthy dinner). Both were very tasty.


Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Yield: 2 10-inch crusts
Print recipe

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
8/9 cup warm water (105-115F)
1 1/4 cup bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 tsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar (optional)

1. Pour the water into a large mixing bowl.


2. Sprinkle the yeast into the water. Let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes.


3. Add the flours, olive oil, salt, and sugar. Mix to combine all the ingredients.


4. Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.


5. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and turn it over once to coat with oil.


6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.


7. Place pizza stone in the oven and preheat oven to 475F.


8. Punch the dough down and divide it in half.


9. Shape each piece into a ball and let it rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 10 minutes.


10. Flatten each ball of dough on a lightly floured work surface into a 10-inch round, rolling and stretching the dough.


11. Dust a pizza paddle with cornmeal before placing dough on paddle.


12. Use your fingers to push dents in the surface of the dough, to prevent bubbling. Let rest for 10 minutes.


13. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil to prevent toppings from making the crust soggy.


14. Top with desired toppings.


15. Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until crust is golden.

Glass City

Today was my first shift at my new job - I now work part-time as a cook at the Glass City Cafe.


Applying to jobs was somewhat frustrating because I have a pretty weak resume and I don't have many connections in the industry yet. I applied to a few jobs at restaurants that I like to eat at and got no response. The posting for Glass City was perfect for me because they wanted applicants to apply in person at the restaurant. When I dropped my resume off, I was able to explain my situation, and the person I met seemed to like me immediately, which I think really helped me get the job.

The main requirement I was looking for in a job was something busy because I hate being bored at work. So I was a little nervous applying because I've walked by the restaurant a number of times and have never really noticed it busy. At my first interview, I wasn't entirely convinced about the job because it sounded like I was only going to be making salads and sandwiches, but the second interview with the regional chef was a lot better. He thought it would be a perfect job for me while I'm in school because it isn't super demanding, but I would get to cook with fresh ingredients, which is definitely better than working at a pub just throwing things into the deep fryer.

I showed up to work this morning at 6:30. It was extremely difficult waking up that early considering I've been sleeping in for the last three months. It was a training day, so basically I shadowed someone who does the same thing I'll be doing.

There are two stations - sandwiches and salads. I was on sandwich station, which also does breakfast, soup, and a couple of other random dishes. The first task in the morning is to go through the prep list and see what food is low and needs to be replenished. We prepared a whole bunch of sandwiches until about 9 when people came in and started ordering breakfast. It was so much fun getting the orders and learning how to cook and plate all the dishes. I made omelettes, scrambled eggs, eggs over easy, and for lunch, paninis, quesadillas, and pizzas. There's also lots of cooking prep to do in between rushes.

So far, I think the chef might be right in that the job should fit in perfectly with school. I'll be working two nights a week and one weekend morning, which is my ideal schedule. And work is busy enough to keep me occupied, but not so busy that I'll be exhausted doing both work and school. I also really like how small the restaurant is, so once I'm comfortable with my station, hopefully I'll be able to learn all the other aspects of a restaurant. So I'm definitely happy with how things worked out.

Healthy Dinner

My cousin came over for dinner and the hockey game last night. By request, I made a healthy dinner in the form of salmon en papillote with rice and asparagus, salad, whole wheat bread, and peach frozen yogurt. It was delicious. But the best part was that I made the salmon and frozen yogurt early in the day, leaving very little to do at the last minute.

Salmon en Papillote
Inspired by recipe on foodnetwork.com
Yield: 3 servings
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3 servings of salmon fillet
1 red pepper, sliced
1 yellow pepper, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
3 sprigs of thyme
3 sprigs of oregano
3 tbsp butter
6 slices of lemon
3 tbsp white wine
salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375F (parcels can be made up to 6 hours in advance and chilled).


2. Cut 3 squares of parchment paper. Fold the squares in half to make a crease, then open up.


3. On one half, near the crease, arrange pepper slices.


4. Place salmon on top of pepper slices.


5. Top with shallots, herbs, butter, lemon slices, and wine. Season with salt and pepper.


6. To create the parcel, fold empty half of parchment over the food. Starting at a folded end, make a small fold in the paper, folding on an angle.


7. Make the next fold so that the crease overlaps with the first fold to create a seal.


8. Continue with these small folds, working around the seafood, until you get to the end.


9. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until parcels inflate.


10. Cut open parcels and serve immediately.

Peach Frozen Yogurt
Yield: 6-8 servings
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2 cups sliced peaches
2 cups plain or vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup sugar

1. Place peaches in blender and puree until smooth.


2. Add yogurt and sugar. Blend until combined.


3. Turn ice cream machine on and pour liquid into freezer bowl.


4. Let mix until thickened, about 25 minutes.


5. Serve immediately or place in air tight container and freeze until firm, about 2 hours.

Cocoa Wafer Sandwiches

A went golfing last weekend, and I made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies for the guys to eat as a snack during the game. I guess they liked them because the box was empty when he came home.

We often make ice cream sandwiches at work, so I was inspired to try these sandwich cookies (kind of like homemade oreos) for A to bring to this weekend's golf game.



Cocoa Wafer Sandwiches
Adapted from Sugar by Anna Olson
Yield: 2 dozen sandwiches
Print recipe

Icing Filling
1 egg white
2 cups icing sugar
2-3 drops vanilla extract or peppermint extract

1. Put egg white in a bowl.


2. Beat in icing sugar, a few tablespoonsful at a time, until a soft dough forms.


3. Continue to add remaining icing sugar until dough is no longer sticky.


4. Mix in extract.

Cocoa Wafer Cookies
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
6 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
1 1/2 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking powder

1. Beat butter until smooth and fluffy.


2. Stir in icing sugar and cocoa powder.


3. Stir in vanilla, egg yolk, and milk.


4. Add flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend until incorporated.


5. Shape the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator for 20 minutes.


6. Preheat oven to 325F.


7. Lightly dust the work surface with icing sugar.


8. Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut dough into desired shapes.


9. Place cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet.


10. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until the cookies can be lifted easily away from the parchment.


11. Using an offset spatula, immediately transfer the cookies to rack to cool.


12. To fill cookies, roll a teaspoon of icing filling into a ball and flatten a little.


13. Sandwich between 2 cookies and press together to push icing to edges.