wordless wednesday: breakfast for dinner
foodmamma
thai boat
It’s always bittersweet when friends you love move away. You’re happy for them for their great opportunity but know it will be sad to not have them around all the time. We went out for dinner with D, who was moving to The Emerald Isle. Our outings with D are usually for sushi or thai and this time, it was one of our faves, Thai Boat.
Since Q had skipped his nap, we wanted to keep him happy for the short time before his bedtime. We ordered his favourites, vegetarian spring rolls and calamari. The spring rolls were great, full of veggies, and he finished off the plate.
The calamari was not your traditional calamari, but boy was it good! The squid was coated in a thick batter, almost onion ring-like. The best part was the sweet and tangy sauce that it was served with.
My favourite dish of the night was the Panang Curry. We ordered it with chicken and shrimp and it was so tasty! The curry was fragrant and so satisfying. I could have eaten this dish by myself.
Our second curry was the Beef in Red Curry. This was a mild curry, so perfect for me, and full of flavour. We have had this dish before with chicken and we all agreed that the red curry tasted better with it rather than the beef. We ordered coconut rice to absorb the curry which added even more flavour.
We rounded up the meal with our usual, Pad Thai with chicken. It was a good noodle dish, and would satisfy any craving. We did have Pad Thai a few days earlier elsewhere though, and unfortunately, it didn’t compare.
It was a good meal with an awesome friend. Good luck in Ireland D! You will be missed!
potato and green bean salad
We had a barbecue awhile back and it included a lot of meat! We really needed to balance out the meal with some carbs and veggies and this was the perfect dish for it – Potato and Green Bean Salad. It didn’t take long to make and the crisp beans with the cooked potatoes provided great texture. I served this warm but it can easily be served cold, perfect for taking along to a potluck.
Potato and Green Bean Salad
2 large potatoes
1 pound green beans
2 green onions
1/2 cup mayonaise
2 TB grainy mustard
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Blanch the green beans for one minute and immediately place in some ice water. Combine the mayo, mustard and vinegar and season well. Add the potatoes, green beans and onions until well coated with the dressing.
stampede food
It was a fun ten days in Calgary celebrating 100 years of the Stampede. Everyone knows that when you go to the grounds, you have to try some of the delicious fatty foods that are everywhere you look! Here are some snapshots of what my friends and I sampled. I was so excited to find a place that did corn dogs made without pork. Yahoo!!
wordless wednesday: enjoying passion fruit
towa sushi
It was another crazy weekend but hubby and I managed to squeeze in some time to do some shopping for some work boots for me, for my day job (one of them anyway). These were the girliest ones I could find without actually buying pink! I never guessed I would ever need these!
We were both hungry and decided to go for a quick bite. I was wanting some really good salmon and hubby knew just the place – Towa Sushi.
I had been to Towa a couple of times but not for years. After our experience, I am kicking myself for not going back sooner. It was so good!
We arrived around 6pm on a Sunday night and it was packed!
We waited a few minutes before we got seated and ended up at a counter at the window.
Because all I really wanted was salmon, we ordered 3 rolls packed with it. The first was the Tempura Spicy Salmon Roll. I loved this roll, in fact, I think it was my favourite of the night. The salmon was so fresh and there was lots stuffed into the roll. I liked that the outside had the tempura coating, providing that perfect crunchy texture in contrast to that of the salmon. So good!
We also had just the plain old Spicy Salmon roll and that was delicious as well. Although the prices for the sushi were on the higher end, you could taste why with every bite.
Our last roll was the Towa Special Roll. This consisted of salmon, red tuna and white tuna. This was also stuffed generously with the fish. The quality of the salmon and tuna was exceptional.
I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Towa, so satisfying. I will definitely be back for more.
spicy ranch shrimp kebabs
This is another recipe that I will be submitting for the Hidden Valley Ranch Recipe Challenge. With it being bbq season, I had to do something that I could just throw on the grill. My first attempt with these were with regular Ranch dressing but hubby thought the spice of the Spicy Ranch would be the perfect kick. He was right! The heat was just enough, not overpowering at all, and even Q was able to eat it. Out of all the recipes that I had come up with, this was unanimously the favourite amongst my family and friends. Hope it’s a winner!
Spicy Ranch Shrimp Kebabs
1 pound shrimp, chopped
1/4 cup spicy ranch dressing
1 TB garlic
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced OR 2 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups panko
Mix together shrimp with all the ingredients. Shape into kebabs using the end of a wooden spoon. Place on a grill until the shrimp are cooked.
cherry tomato ranch meatballs
Here is one of the recipes that I will be submitting for the Hidden Valley Ranch Recipe Challenge. I had loads of cherry tomatoes in the fridge and wanted to incorporate them somehow with ground turkey. I love the idea of stuffed anything, it’s just such a great surprise for the person enjoying the food. I added the regular ranch dressing to the meatballs and it added a creaminess to the meat that you can’t get with soaked bread or milk. This was a favourite amongst most of my taste testers. I would love to know what you think!
Cherry Tomato Ranch Meatballs
1 pound ground turkey
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 cup ranch dressing
bunch cilantro, chopped
salt
pepper
12 cherry tomatoes
Mix together the turkey and spices until well combined. Divide the meat into 12 balls and shape them around the tomatoes. Place on a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
cheesy ranch fried pickles
Earlier this month, I was contacted to participate in the Hidden Valley Ranch Recipe Challenge. This involves creating a recipe using the signature ranch dressing or the two new flavours, cheesy and spicy. This contest is against 15 Canadian food bloggers and besides a prize of a Kitchen Aid mixer or gift certificates to Williams Sonoma, the winning recipe will be demoed live by Chef Ned Bell at the Calgary Stampede. The Stampede is one of my favourite events so to win would be pretty awesome.
Over the next few days, I will be blogging about a few of my creations. I would love to know what you think!
The first is fried pickles, completely inspired by my visit to Calgary’s second Smashburger location. I loved them the first time I went there, and when I took Q to the newest location, he loved them more than I did.
Instead of dipping the pickles in eggs, I used the Cheesy Ranch dressing as the binder for the panko breading. This added a great flavour and the dressing doubled as a dip for the crispy bites.
Cheesy Ranch Fried Pickles
4 large pickles, sliced
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch, cheddar flavour
1 cup panko
Place the sliced pickles between two pieces of paper towel and pat them dry. Place the flour, dressing and panko in three separate bowls. Dredge the pickles in flour, then the dressing and then panko. Fry until golden brown.
sole meuniere for jc100
Culinary icon Julia Child would have turned 100 years old this year in August. To honour her, a national campaign, JC100 was launched with bloggers, chefs and many others participating as part of a community and paying tribute to Julia.
Every week, a new recipe from Julia’s collection is released and redone by the JC100 community. I have been meaning to participate but haven’t been able to until this week, with Sole Meuniere.
Sole Meuniere was Julia’s first meal in Paris and inspired her love affair with food. This is the perfect recipe outlining the French cooking philosophy of simplicity. This dish was a hit in our house, especially with hubby. It didn’t take long to make, was easy and tasted delicious!
Fillets of Sole Meuniere
(Fillets of sole sauteed in butter)
Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
For 6 servings
6 skinless and boneless sole, 4 to 6 ounces each and 3/8″ thick
salt and pepper
1/2 cup or so flour in a plate
4 TB clarified butter
2 TB minced fresh parsley
4 to 6 TB unsalted butter
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Dust the fillets lightly on each side with salt and pepper. The moment before sauteeing, rapidly drop each into the flour to coat both sides, and shake off the excess. Set the frying pan over high heat and film with 1/16 inch of clarified butter. When the butter is very hot but not browning, rapidly lay in as many fillets as will fit easitly, leaving a little space between each. Saute a minute or two on each side. The fish is done when just springy rather than squashy to the touch of your finger. Immediately remove from the pan to warm plates or a platter.
Sprinkle each fillet with parsley. Wipe the frying pan clean, set over high heath, and add the fresh butter; heat until bubbling and pour over the fillets – the parsley will bubble up nicely. Decorate with lemon wedges, and serve at once.