So, on to the food!! OMNOMNOM~!
1. Steak, Potatoes and Pickles Dinner
This is a steak dinner I cooked for my father on his birthday; normally we take him out for dinner, but he prefers breakfast, so we did that instead. But I also know of a few other things he loves, in particular is the way I cook his steaks. They come from the butcher, who ages them for him and makes sure his best cuts go to Dad; the benefit of knowing the owner for over twenty years I suppose. Still, the only thing requiring a recipe are those potatoes.
Recipe for Fried Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Fried Mushrooms
- 2lbs Red-Skinned Potatoes, cut into eighths
- 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
- 1 tbsp Black Strap Molasses
- 8 leaves of Fresh Basil, chiffonaded
- 2 medium Cooking Onions, diced
- 4 large White Mushrooms, sliced fine
- 2 large Cremini Mushrooms, sliced fine
- 1 tbsp Garlic, fresh minced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Cut up your potatoes and get a pot of water boiling; you're going to want to boil them until they're soft enough to eat, then drain them and let them sit in the strainer for awhile. Meanwhile, get your onions in the pan on medium-low heat, along with the butter and molasses, pop on a lid and let them sit around for a good five to eight minutes, or until the onions have gone a translucent brownish colour. Add in the mushrooms and allow to cook for another eight minutes or so, or until the mushrooms are nice and soft. Then you'll want to add the garlic, salt and pepper, along with the potatoes, and cook on a slightly higher heat for about five minutes, with the lid off, to get rid of some of the liquid. Then, with a plastic potato masher (assuming you're using a non-stick pan), mash the potatoes, skins and all, right in the pan, being sure to get the onions and mushrooms nicely mixed in. Leave them in the pan with the lid off on minimum heat until the meal is ready to serve, then mound them on a part of the plate, sprinkle with the basil chiffonade and serve!
I lost the pictures for the following when I switched to an iPhone 4, unfortunately. But, well, here's the recipe writeup I did for them. Shame for that to go to waste.
i. Pasta Salad
I made potato salad and macaroni salad the other week, and for some reason pasta salad stuck in my head. So I decided on a sour and savoury flavour for it, with crunchy vegetables to go well with the soft chewy pasta. I was talking to Catherine about it, and she suggested that I chiffonade the fresh basil. That means to roll the leaves up into a tight bundle, like a cigar, and then slice them thin so you wind up with nice strips of basil! Live and learn!! All the cooking I do, and there's always something for me to learn! Another note, when you use basil in something like this, wait for it to be cool. Heat seems to turn it an ugly blackish colour, and no-one likes food that looks -too- ugly. ;)
Recipe for Pasta Salad
- 450g of Small Pasta Shells
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
- 8 leaves of Fresh Basil, chiffonaded (Can chiffonade be used like that? Or did I mess it up completely there?)
- 2 Red Peppers, chopped finely
- 6 Plum Tomatoes, chopped finely after drying
- 1 Bunch of Spring Onions, sliced fine
- 8 Stalks of Celery, cut in half lengthwise and sliced thinly
- 6 Small Dill Pickles, coarsely chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Set some salted water up to boil, and add the pasta when it's come to a rolling boil. Stir the noodles up, then set the wooden spoon over the pot (in my experience, the pasta won't boil over with the spoon there. I'm not sure why.), and reduce the heat to medium; it should take eight to ten minutes for that to be done. Prepare your herbs and vegetables, placing them in a large mixing bowl, and toss with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper until mixed. Drain the pasta when it's ready, and add it to your vegetable mixture, stir until the liquid/oil is coating the pasta. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid, and put in the fridge for about an hour, or until chilled. Serve cool!
ii. Chocolate and Strawberry Pie
This is pretty much the same recipe as the peach pie I made the other day, with Catherine's original recipe as the base. After the peach pie, I wanted to make something more decadent, but still light and refreshing.. Enter CHOCOLATE! I was looking for a good fruit to pair it with, and originally I was going to go with orange.. But I found a frozen virgin strawberry daiquiri mix, and holy -crap- did it ever bring the berry!!
Recipe for Chocolate and Strawberry Pie
- 2 Keebler Pie Crusts (Same kind as last time. I used a chocolate one, and a shortbread one this time.)
- 1 Tub of Cool Whip
- 1/2 cup Chocolate Syrup (Don't use the cheap stuff. It's not chocolatey enough for this!)
- 1 can of Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri Concentrate
- 1 can of Evaporated 2% Milk (I should try it with condensed.. maybe it'll be smoother?)
Start by setting out your pie crusts; take off the lids and set those aside, you'll need 'em to keep the pie from going gross in the freezer and picking up freezer-flavour. Anyway, let the juice and cool whip thaw completely (takes about an hour from frozen, if you're unprepared). Pour the chocolate sauce onto the cool whip, in the tub, and stir it through with a chopstick until the cool whip takes on a light brown colour. Toss the juice into a mixing bowl and then, with a whisk, vigorously whisk the condensed milk with small motions while pouring it into the juice. That done, plop the chocolate cool whip into the mix, and gently fold it in until completely incorporated.. You can get lazy and just stir it after awhile, seeing as it's going into the freezer, but it's cooler to say you folded it in. THEN pour the mix into each pie crust, being careful not to overfill. Drizzle chocolate sauce over the pies in a pleasing pattern, then pop the lids on, and freeze for about an hour or two, or until firm enough to cut, then cut them into sections and serve. Be sure to cut all sections out, so when it's frozen again it'll be easier to serve.
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