Food Mamma

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happy valentine’s day!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!  Hope you all have a fabulous day celebrating with sweets and chocolate.

This year, Q wanted to make some cookies for his friends.  I thought it would be a great time for us to try a new roll out shortbread recipe.  I found one that had gotten some great reviews but for some reason it didn’t work for us!  I ended up with a really dry and crumbly dough that just wouldn’t come together.  I played around, added butter, then more butter…. Finally a splash of cream turned it into a pliable dough.  Despite the additions to the recipe, the cookies tasted great – butter and cream makes everything good!

Q had fun rolling out the dough and cutting out the hearts.  It was a great Valentine’s activity.

I wanted to decorate the hearts but needed something fast and without sprinkles.  This glaze worked perfectly.  One dip of the heart in the glaze and they were fully decorated.  Half the recipe coated 35 hearts.

Sugar Glaze for Cookies

2 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup milk
food coloring

Mix the ingredients together and it’s ready to use.

white elephant thai cuisine

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Sometimes the best food can be found in the most obscure places. This place is definitely not a secret though. I had heard so much about how great the White Elephant Thai Restaurant is and it definitely lived up to its reputation.

Located in the Pointe Inn, you would never know that this hotel held such a gem. We were advised to make reservations and we were glad we did.  The place was quite busy, even for a Tuesday.

We started with the Tom Yum Goong soup with coconut milk. Full of veggies and shrimp, it was spicy and flavourful.

We got a few things that we thought Q would like.  The thai-spiced wings weren’t spicy but had loads of flavour. They were deep fried and had a great crunch.

Q is also a sucker for spring rolls so we ordered some of their veggie ones. He found them a bit spicy, meaning more for mamma.  They were so tasty, I wasn’t complaining.

S’s cousin was with us and, being a frequent traveller to Thailand, suggested the Som-Tum – green papaya salad. Although spicy, it was a very fresh tasting salad and one we would definitely order again.

One of my favourite curries is Panang so we ordered one with chicken. It was sweet and spicy, and bursting with flavour.

We also had the red curry with beef and pineapple.  The chunks of fresh pineapple added the perfect sweetness to cut the spicy curry.  It also contained large chunks of lemongrass that flavoured the coconut milk.

The coconut rice was pure perfection. Full of coconut goodness, it soaked up the flavourful curries.

The quantities of all the food was plentiful, more than other restaurants.  We had lots of leftovers and were able to enjoy the delicious food the next day.  It was a great meal and we ended on a high note with the coconut ice cream.

What everyone said was true, it was an amazing restaurant.  I just can’t wait until my next visit.

 White Elephant Thai Cuisine on Urbanspoon

market restaurant

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Hubby and I had a great time last night at the media opening of Market Restaurant.  Located on 17th Avenue,  the new restaurant offers bread and cheese made in-house, and grow their own greens and herbs in their Urban Cultivator.  I really need one of these! I don’t know which I loved more, the cultivator or the plants hanging over the bar.

The food we sampled was amazing, from the scotch quail eggs, oysters and fois gras macarons.  Our favourites were the duck confit with shallot jam and the coddled egg topped with a chantilly cream.  I am really looking forward to going there again for dinner.  Here are some pictures from last night.

 


MARKET on Urbanspoon

cheese stuffed turkey meatballs

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In our house, we are cheese fanatics. Usually, any dish loaded with cheese is a hit. These cheese stuffed meatballs were no exception.

The turkey was packed with flavour with the addition of pesto and the ooey gooey bocconcini centre was a very pleasant surprise.  I used the Trestelle Bocconcini* which were the perfect size to wrap the flavourful meat around. (Please excuse Q’s fuzzy picture.)

The meatballs were cooked and tossed into our favourite marinara sauce. The boys ate theirs with pasta while I chose to eat my meatballs with a runny egg. So tasty!

Cheese Stuffed Turkey Meatballs

1 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 TB minced garlic
1 TB pesto
1 egg
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
salt
pepper
12 bocconcini
marinara sauce

Combine the turkey with the cheese, crumbs, garlic, pesto egg and onions.  Divide the meat into 12 balls.  Form the meat around the bocconcini.  Pan fry until cooked.  Add some marinara sauce and enjoy with pasta (or an egg!).

*I did receive vouchers from Trestelle to try out their cheese.  Opinions are my own.

playing with spices: garam masala

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I’m excited to begin a new monthly series on my blog, Playing with Spices. There are so many spices out there that I have yet to discover, so once a month, I hope to feature a new one.

This month, the focus is garam masala. Garam masala is actually a blend of spices used in indian cooking. The
spices used in making garam masala vary from region to region and is
really dependent on personal taste.  It is readily available in most supermarkets but is super easy to make at home. I like having control of what is in it, using
more of the spices that I like, like coriander seeds and cinnamon, and
less of the ones I don’t, like cloves.

The spices used in my mix include cardamom seeds, whole pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, dried curry leaves, cloves and cinnamon sticks.  The spices are toasted before grinding them, intensifying the flavour of each spice.

The garam masala can be used in many curries or even as a seasoning for popcorn or spiced nuts (see recipe below).

Garam Masala
1/4 cup cumin seeds

1/2 cup coriander seeds
1 TB mustard seeds
1 TB whole black pepper
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
2 tsp cardamom seeds
1/4 cup dried curry leaves

Place the spices in a frying pan over medium heat. Toast, stirring, until fragrant.  Grind using a mortar and pestle or in a spice grinder.
Garam Masala Spiced Pecans
1 cup pecans
1 TB melted butter
3 tsp garam masala
2 tsp agave syrup
Toss the pecans with the rest of the ingredients and place on a baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Cool and enjoy.

salmon burgers

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Hubby had a great time in Fernie over the weekend, snowboarding and hanging out with the boys. This has been an annual trip of theirs, which usually involves a lot of red meat (i.e. ribs, ribs and more ribs!).  Needless to say, this week needs to be filled with lots of fish and veggies.

I had wanted to make salmon burgers for a while and this was the perfect opportunity.  I didn’t really measure, just threw in some flavours that I thought would work well.  I took one pound of salmon which I cut into chunks and then pulsed it in the food processor.  I added some chopped onion, an egg, some soya sauce, sesame oil, ginger, salt, pepper and then binded it all together with some bread crumbs.  When I play with flavours like this, I always like to cook off a little bit and make sure that it tastes good before making patties and cooking off the rest.

I let the formed burgers rest in the fridge for a bit and then pan fried them with just a touch of olive oil.  Served on a toasted whole wheat bun with some mayo and topped with slices of creamy avocado, it was full of flavour and totally hit the spot.

blueberry muffins

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You know those nights you just can’t sleep. That was me a couple of weeks ago. I decided to put my time to good use and instead of lying in bed, I got up at 5 am, determined to bake. Q needed a preschool snack anyways and with a pint of blueberries in the fridge, I knew it had to be fruity.

I was happy to have found this recipe from Paula Deen which allowed me to make up a batch of mini muffins without turning on my mixer and waking everyone up. I took a bit of batter out for Q’s muffins for school and added some almonds in the rest.  I also skipped the extra sugar on top.

These were perfect for breakfast and my little guy was happy to have them for school. The little size were perfect for his little hands.

Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Paula Deen, Food Network

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 small egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a mini muffin tin.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and with a spatula, stir until just combined. Do not beat or over mix; it’s okay if there are lumps in the batter. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tray, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before turning the muffins out. Makes 24.