New Year's Eve Surf'n'Turf

A special occasion calls for a special dinner, so we cooked up surf and turf with tomahawk ribeye and lobster tails, with roasted brussels sprouts, zucchini, and Hasselback potatoes!





The lobster was boiled (unsophisticated, but at least they didn't catch fire being broiled...) and served with melted butter, and we did the reverse sear technique on the steak. Roasted in the 220F oven to 125F internal temperature, then we seared it in an anodized Calphalon pan. Maybe we should have only cooked the steak to 120F, to get a little more rare on the inside... But still, incredibly juicy and tender!

Christmas Eve Roast Duck

I thought I would give my mom a treat for dinner on Christmas Eve. I grabbed a frozen duck, a couple oranges and lemons for the sauce, wild rice, and Brussels sprouts...

The duck took longer than I thought to defrost but other than that it was a tasty and low-drama dinner. We washed it down with a glass or two of moscato.

The duck was stuffed with garlics, orange slices, rosemary, and thyme. The orange sauce was orange zest, orange juice, lemon juice, and brown sugar. It thickened nicely with a bit of cornstarch slurry.

Christmas Eve Roast Duck

I thought I would give my mom a treat for dinner on Christmas Eve. I grabbed a frozen duck, a couple oranges and lemons for the sauce, wild rice, and Brussels sprouts...

The duck took longer than I thought to defrost but other than that it was a tasty and low-drama dinner. We washed it down with a glass or two of moscato.

The duck was stuffed with garlics, orange slices, rosemary, and thyme. The orange sauce was orange zest, orange juice, lemon juice, and brown sugar. It thickened nicely with a bit of cornstarch slurry.

Thursday Steak Dinner

As much as I love pizza as a Thursday dinner, i had a craving for MMMEAT. Luckily I had a steak in the freezer (thanks, Mom!) that I could defrost and turn into a proper almost-end-of-week dinner!

After defrosting, I oiled it and seasoned with my fave steak rub Hot Rocks from Pelican Bay in Florida (https://www.pelicanbayltd.com), and left it sit in the fridge overnight. Slapped it in the IKEA grill pan along with a handful of grape tomatoes that were nearing the end of usefulness, and left it sizzle away. Put some Brussels sprouts on the boil in another pan, and a nice supper in a half-hour!

Thursday Night Supper - Bulgogi... Pork Chops?

Bulgogi is Korean BBQ beef, marinated with a concoction with garlic, ginger, soy, and Asian pear... It is extra delicious when grilled as the marinade caramelizes on the meat...

I had a couple pork chops in the freezer, so I thawed and marinated them in bulgogi marinade, prepped some corn and broccoli, and threw them all on the grill...

I drizzled the leftover marinade over the corn (I intended to cook it well-done, to avoid pathogen issues), and it all cooked very nicely...

The chops were a good match for the store-bought marinade (CJ brand from the local Korean market), when the marinade caramelizes it is almost like candy-coated pork chops, but with a serious savoury soy undertone... Really helped out the two past-their-prime ears of corn too...

Saturday Supper - Turkish Tepsi Kebab

I first saw Tepsi Kebab on Facebook or YouTubes cooking videos, a very traditional dish from Hatay in southeast Turkey. "Tepsi" means "tray" in Turkish, and this is traditionally made in a circular tray and baked in a hot wood-fired oven.

Made from hand-minced meat, peppers, garlics, Turkish seasoning, and onions, the ingredients are combined by hand, spread into a tray, topped with vegetables and annointed with a dilute tomato and olive oil sauce before baking:



I used a rectangular pan since that was all I had available, but I took a tip from videos on the web by CZN Burak Özdemir, and did a pair of turkey and beef layers separated by a layer of mozzarella cheese. In with the meats are small-mince red and green peppers, garlics, and onions. The stack is topped by quartered tomatoes and onions and pepper chunks, then baked.

The result is somewhat of a Turkish meatloaf:





Really tasty! I am happy that I hand-chopped the peppers, onions, and garlics, even though it took some time. It was a good feeling to have control over the mince, where a food processor would have done it in a couple seconds, it would not have been as evenly-chopped and possibly somewhat mashed.

Highly recommended!

Thursday Change-up - Pork Chops!

It had been a long while since I had pork chops, either at home or in a restaurant... So I picked up a couple at the Jewels, rubbed them with Hot Rocks seasoning, and let them sit in the fridge overnight...

Prepped some veg and fruit when I got home from work, simple split broccoli and cauli, spritzed with oil to help browning and prevent sticking. Also split and cored two pears, similarly spritzed...

After I flipped the pears I put some smoked blue cheese and rosemary in the cavity...



Yum! Awesome Thursday night supper! Nice juicy chops, with smoky grilled veg... The pears were a pleasant surprise - the smoked cheese and rosemary helped to moderate the intensity of the pears' sweetness!

Steak Supper Thursday

I decided to take a personal day tomorrow, a sort of mental health day... So I treated myself to a steak supper, with roasted corn and broccoli.



The steak had been marinating in bukgogi marinade for two days in the fridge... I split the broccoli and spritzed with a little oil spray to help it roast... Yum!

Pizza pizza Thursday - Manzano pepper pizza

I found some manzano/rocoto peppers last weekend. I enjoy them, they are meaty and juicy and with similar flavour and aroma of a habanero chile, but with maybe half the heat. They are from a totally different chile family - pubescens - and they have black seeds rather than the more-common white seeds. I grabbed a handful since their season is short and easily missed.

I gave a couple to a good friend at work, who shares my love of habanero.

Then I made a manzano pizza tonight, with garlics, rosemary, and grape tomatoes. I used ONE manzano chile.



O M G



One bite of the first slice told me that I was in trouble. I immediately texted my friend to alert her that these were not normal manzano peppers, and to be careful...

I spent a lot of time picking the peppers off the pizza. I can handle habanero, but this was well in excess of that heat level.

Maybe they somehow hybridized with ghost peppers?

Wow. Simply wow. I have one left, not sure if I should pop it into a bottle of vodka/everclear (so I can use it by the teaspoon, or drop...). I will save the seeds...

Jerk Chicken Quesadilla Lunch from Jerk on the Go Food Truck

Yummy quesadilla lunch, very generous with the chicken and cheese!



I am looking forward to trying more items from their menu:



Great quality food sometimes takes more time, and that seemed the case with Jerk on the Go. Maybe they are still getting into the swing of a busy lunch service, or maybe they need another pair of hands helping prepare the food. Even so, I am eagerly awaiting their return so I can try something else!

Look for them and give them a try - the food is great!

Pizza Pizza Thursday - When Life Gives You Habaneros

... make pizza!



Nothing like a habanero pizza, with home-grown habaneros! First of the season!

Grilled Watermelon Salad

I did not have the grilled watermelon for dessert last night, but I read about using watermelon as a salad ingredient. I had leftover salad fixins, so I cut up the grilled watermelon, mixed in sugar snap peas, carrots, black-eyed peas, and grape tomatoes and had a delicious, different lunch salad. The only thing I wished that I had was feta or blue cheese to add - next time! The salty cheese would help offset the intense sweetness of the grilled watermelon...

Bulgogi Steak Supper

It wasn't such a bad day at work, I had a brief conversation with my co-worker Michelle who retired three weeks ago, and I actually made some sort of progress...

The steak was frozen, so there was the time to defrost then marinate in bulgogi marinade, so it wasn't an impromptu celebration for an increasingly rare "good day at work". I just chose to make it a little more special...

I grilled the steak with sweet corn and garden-fresh shishito peppers (one in ten is spicy, rather than sweet). I also tried grilling watermelon for the first time. I may have another post pertinent to that later...

Yummy bulgogi steak, caramelized on the grill... And the corn was likewise anointed with the same marinade...

Pizza Pizza Thursday!

The garden is growing nicely, so I have a nice assortment of herbs to cook with! Starting with an extra layer of cheese, turkey pepperoni, garlic, and crushed red pepper, and layering on grape tomatoes and garden-fresh rosemary, thyme, and big juicy basil leaves!





Just the ticket to help forget a frustrating day of work...

BLT & House Fries from The Fat Shallot Food Truck

It has been a long while, but it is back for a limited time - Fat Shallot's fab BLT (minus the creamy shit) and house rosemary fries makes a great lunch. The sammich includes arugula and avocado along with what seems to be a half-pound of thick-cut bacon...

Weekend Pot Roast Supper

It was a toss-up between pot roast and sloppy joes... It is a little cool this weekend so pot roast won out...

Seared in a hot pan, then cooked 15 hours in a slow cooker, with onion, garlic, bay leaf, Shiraz red wine, and bulgogi marinade. Served with spaghetti squash, roasted broccoli and roasted radishes.

Yummy comfort food! The gravy was incredible, with garden-fresh thyme and rosemary...

A Korean BBQ Lunch on a Busy Day

Thank heavens for food trucks to bring a ray of sunshine to a busy day! Today was the Bulgogi Bibimbap from Bop Bar Truck, with some tasty fried dumplings! They have freshened their menu and packaging but the food is still so tasty and satisfying!

Rainy Saturday Supper

A chilly and rainy Saturday is a good excuse to turn on the oven and cook a satisfying supper. A pair of frozen chicken breasts separated into two "tenders" portions upon defrost, so they were split vertically, stuffed with pineapple, and wrapped with bacon. Asparagus and spaghetti squash rounded out the plates, and I washed it down with a Ciroc martini garnished with pickled Brussels sprouts.

A Nice Steak Supper

Thursdays used to be my Fridays, at least for six years while I was at one particular job. To celebrate the arrival of the weekend, I would cook something a little more elaborate - pizza or steak or something else that might take more time and effort.

Fast-forward twelve years, it is a continuing tradition. Today I had a nice medium sized steak rubbed with my fave seasoning (Hot Rocks, from Pelican Bay in FL) and marinating in the fridge for three days, and Brussels sprouts and asparagus also on the grill. I love the spices in Hot Rocks, enough to bring out the flavour of the meat but not overpowering.

Pictured on vintage 70's stoneware that my mom didn't want anymore... ;-)

Saturday Chicken Dinner

On the table in just over an hour, chicken leg quarters spiced with Turkish seasoning from Penzey's Spices, asparagus with olive oil and garlic, and spaghetti squash, made for a low-sodium and reasonably-healthy meal.

Hot Brown Sandwiches, Take 2

We encountered the famous Hot Brown Sandwich while passing through Lexington, Kentucky, on vacation, at Thoroughbred Restaurant. We became enamored of what is a broiled open-faced turkey (or turkey and ham) sandwich with tomato, bacon, and cheesy Mornay sauce.

We tried making them a couple months ago, and while really good, they were missing something...

So, this time we increased the turkey slice thickness, different type of tomato, and lots more cheese and sauce. Oh yes, really hits the spot on a chilly rainy day!

Assembly in progress:


Finished sandwiches :

When life gives you leftovers...

... Make pizza!



I made something out-of-the-ordinary from my mom's Sweet and Sour Chocken leftovers, and it was really very good! Next time I will have to add more veggies like onion, tomato, and bell pepper...

Roast Chicken, Brussels Sprouts, Parsnips, Potatoes

Tasty dinner tonight, roasted chicken thighs flavoured with seven-spice blend (a popular Turkish and middle eastern blend) and served with roasted veggies!

Thank you, Tim and Chris, for the awesome martini chiller glass and dirty martini juice, and Karen for the Pau pineapple vodka the martini was made with!

The Hot Brown Sandwich - A Kentucky Favourite

We fell in love with the Hot Brown sandwich in Kentucky on vacation. Invented by the Brown Hotel in Louisville, it is a broiled open-faced turkey sandwich on toast with tomatoes, bacon, and cheesy Mornay sauce.

We tried it at home and it was a success, although next time we might add ham and even more cheese to more-closely approximate what we enjoyed in Lexington at Thoroughbred Restaurant.

Steak dinner, roasted brussels sprouts and acorn squash

Chicken Thigh Dinner with Spaghetti Squash, Asparagus, and Orange Cauliflower

Yummy tray-baked dinner with teriyaki-sauced chicken thighs, spaghetti squash (a bit overcooked), orange cauliflower, and roasted asparagus. Really hit the spot after a rough week...