ModernGear Food: Roasted Veggies from Kiki!

It has been a while since we've had a creation from Kiki's Kitchen! She has been in Montreal spending time with family, and when she's there she always entertains and cooks for them...so this is from Kiki in Montreal.

Roasted Veggies from Kiki

Marinade

in a jar put:

juice of 2 limes

2 tablespoons chopped freshed ginger

4 garlic cloves chopped

various herbs from the garden - I used chives, basil, cilantro, thyme

fleur de sel & freshly ground black pepper 3/4 cup olive oil

close lid on jar and shake to mix

Veggies

Vidalia onion, 1/4 inch slices

4 zucchinis - sliced length-wise

4 red peppers, quartered

portobellos & crimini mushrooms - stemmed and washed

place in a baking dish and cover with marinade for about an hour

1 yam - sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 roma tomatoes, sliced in half


Directions

1. Heat the bbq and depending on how big your grill is grill the veggies in stages - I did the mushrooms first, then the zucchinis, onions and peppers - the baskets for grilling and "stir-frying" are awesome and make this all so easy - no more losing veggies down the grill!! http://www.nextag.com/basket-grill-vegetable/compare-html

2. The yams I tossed in olive oil, salt & pepper and put them directly on the grill - DELICIOUS!
3. I put the tomatoes cut side down in the marinade for about 5 minutes before putting them on the top part of the grill for the last 5 minutes or so of cooking - just to get them a bit soft.
4. Put the veggies on a bed of arugula or wild greens and use the remaining marinade as a "dressing" - no photos of the end product - sorry!!! (baby, mum, dog, etc - all very distracting)

I can see why she was distracted - sweet Lola! K. was there celebrating Lola's first birthday..I hope that she'll share a post about Lola's birthday cupcake caterpillar!

Bon appetit!
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ModernGear Food: Baked Yam and Sweet Potato "Fries"

I am a BIG FAN of yams and sweet potatoes. Packed with nutrients and flavour, they're just a nice change from plain potatoes, and I love to eat anything with bright colours - makes me feel like I am doing something healthy.

Before we get to the recipe though, there's a question I must ask - what the heck is the difference between a yam and a sweet potato, anyway? Luckily the good folks at the Library of Congress wondered as well, and they solve the mystery for us, here.

I love yam fries and decided some time ago to try and make both yam and sweet potato fries to see if one was better than the other. And I can report - no! They're both delicious, and they go well together.

This recipe is based on one found at Yamfries.com, with a slight variation. Now, let's head into the kitchen!

BAKED YAM AND SWEET POTATO "FRIES"

INGREDIENTS
2 large unpeeled sweet potatoes
olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Scrub potatoes.

And I suggest you get a great potato potato scrubber to make the task really fun - had you fooled, didn't I?!

2. Cut each into thin strips (4 x 1/4 x 1/4 inch) and plunk into pan.

3. Drizzle generously with olive oil.

4. Sprinkle spices on top.

5. Bake at 425F for 25 minutes or until browned, turning potatoes after 15 minutes. I always find mine need more time, because I like them nice and crispy.

6. Soyve.
I had brought home crab cakes and salmon cakes from Whole Foods, so I also decided to make a dipping sauce for the fish as well as the fries. Is this maybe a healthier fish and chips? Suppose so. For the sauce, I just throw a bunch of things together and it comes out different every time. This one had:
mayo, plain yogurt, buttermilk ranch salad dressing, mustard, dried dill, curry, San Francisco Bay seasoning, poultry seasoning. And it was YUM!

Bon appetit!

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ModernGear Food: Stewed Prunes, Apricots and Blueberries (the ultimate topper)

I love trying new recipes - I'd say that every second day I am in the kitchen either trying someone's recipe or changing it up and experimenting with ingredients. So when I saw a blog post entitled, "The World's Most Unsexiest Recipe? Yes. Stewed Prunes" on mattbites.com, (which would have only been grammatically correct if it said either The World's Most Unsexy Recipe or The World's Unsexiest Recipe, but that's okay), I was intrigued.

I decided to buy a whole LOAD of prunes, as I was also going to make Chicken Marbella and they're a staple ingredient in the dish. And after a trip to the Farmers Market, I just knew I couldn't stew my prunes without adding in a few other flavours. Check it out.

Stewed Prunes, Apricots and Blueberries
Adapted from MattBites.com, which was adapted from The Joy Of Cooking (Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006 $22.40 at Amazon.com)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb dried prunes
8 apricots
3/4 cup blueberries
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 sliced lemon
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick or dash cinnamon
dash nutmeg

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine the water, dried prunes and apricots, and bring to the boiling point. And, if you're like me, decide that it needs just a little something else, and add blueberries!

2. Reduce the heat and gently simmer, about 20 minutes. Hold your face over the pot and inhale deeply, letting memories of jam making rush back to you. If you haven't ever made jam with your Mom, think about doing so in the future, and fantasize about this. Stewing fruit always takes me back, and also makes me want to be a jam and compote entrepreneur one day.

3. Add three slices of lemon, let soften, and then add the sugar and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

4. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla, simmer for another 5 mins, and then enjoy.

This lovely stewed fruit mix is a delicious and nutritious topping. I tried it on top of ice cream the night I made it - still steaming hot (mmmm), and also the next morning, reheated, on top of rolled oats. My hubby had it a few days later on ice cream and said he'd marry me all again because of it. What can I say!
Bon Appétit!

PS What would make this recipe perfect? Cooking it while wearing this adorable apron ($28.75) from Boojiboo, on etsy.

Or this one, the Birdseed Apron:
...my favourite (and reviewed by excellent blog
The Giveaway Diva - where she's giving one away! Click here for details.)
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ModernGear Food: Purple Asparagus

I truly love Sundays, and wait all week for this wonderful day to come - not for the sleep-in or the relaxation, but for the Farmers Market! I go to the Long Beach Farmers Market at the Marina, though I started to only recently. I had no idea what I was missing out on since moving here! For those of you from Vancouver, it's like the Granville Island fresh market, only less expensive.

A rainbow of fruit and veggie delights greets you:

Carrots, $1.50 a bunch. I am steaming these, then dressing with a little butter and dill tonight.

Baskets of berries, one of each kind, for $10. If you've seen the price of berries in the store lately, you'll know what a steal this is. I bought one and it's already gone!

A rainbow bag of potatoes. I missed out on these this time but will get next week.

Gorgeous asparagus - $3 a bunch! I had my eyes on these but then spotted...

Purple asparagus. I'd never prepared these beauties before so I decided to use a fallback recipe I make with green asparagus and see how the two compared.

INGREDIENTS
asparagus
olive oil
salt
pepper
grated parmesan

DIRECTIONS
1. Snap ends off of asparagus. The purple asparagus was a bit softer, and wasn't as pleasant to snap as their green counterparts, so I ended up cutting some of the ends off.

2. Place asparagus in baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Place in the 350 degree oven and bake for 4-5 minutes.

3. After those 4-5 minutes, pull pan out and sprinkle top of asparagus with parm.
And back in the oven she goes, for another 4-5 minutes. Keep your eye on it - you want nicely melted parm.


In a kind of boring dinner, I served the asparagus with a veggie burger patty:
And ya know what? It was kind of underwhelming. So I guess you ought to consider this an un-recipe. I wouldn't say hey, DON'T make this - but just don't expect your socks to be knocked off. And I am not sure I'd make it for guests either. The look of it is so much more interesting and exotic, I suppose, but green asparagus tastes much more flavorful, and I also think has a better texture.

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ModernGear Food: Homemade Pork Chop Marinade

To me the most satisfaction that comes out of cooking is not from following a recipe by rote, or using a bottle of pre-made sauce (though one can have yummy results in doing so), but going off the (egg) beaten path. (Did that little pun work? I dunno. Not so much.) Anyhoo.

I decided it was time to support pork producers since they've been getting a bad rap thanks to the swine flu panic, and take the opportunity come up with a yummy marinade.

I am happy to say - mission accomplished!


TAM'S HOMEMADE PORK CHOP MARINADE

Ingredients
olive oil
Worcestershire sauce
balsamic vinegar
mustard (preferably a yummy gourmet blend - your choice - I used roasted garlic mustard)
ginger
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper
mirin (rice cooking wine)

Directions
1. The best recipes start with an empty bowl and some imagination. Go ahead and set yours up!
2. Pour in the olive oil, Worcestershire, balsamic vinegar and mustard - about 2 tbsp each.
3. Dice ginger - about 2 tbsp as well. Add that to the mix, and then salt & pepper, just a few sprinkles.
And let's get a little cray and add some cayenne pepper. Why not?!
4. And now, the finishing touch - mirin (rice cooking wine). I meant to add a little dash, but then when I tipped it, the bottle made a "gloop" sound and I had way more than I wanted. No worries though, it turned out DELICIOUS! So, go ahead and add a gloop!
5. Stare at your handiwork. Yes, you made this.
Add the pork chops in to the marinade, turn them over, coat them all nice-nice. Make sure there's plenty of ginger on top too. And let them sit - I did for about an hour, but more time would yield even better results.
And then cook as you normally would. Mr. MGTV is a BBQ machine, so grilled they were! (say that in a Yoda voice...)
Yaaaa-hummm. Swine flu, begone.

Bon Appétit!
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ModernGear Food: The Starling Diner's Breakfast Bruschetta

I have probably said it before on the blog - I think that San Francisco is the best city I have ever been to, from a "foodie" perspective. At least ten of my favourite restaurants are located in that city. Some day I want to move there, and I think the only thing keeping me from gaining at least 20lbs will be walking up and down all those hills!

Anyway, I'm getting to my point.

We have lived in Long Beach, CA for 16 months now, and we've been just now making great restaurant discoveries. It's taken this long to really settle in, get to know the place and find those spots that are the best. One such new favourite is the Starling Diner. We knew immediately that we would like this place when we found it completely by accident while scouting around for a place to move into. I set one foot inside the diner, and felt like I was transported to San Francisco. It just reminds me of that amazing city, and that is the highest compliment I can pay to a restaurant, anywhere.

It turns out that the owner Joan used to own a restaurant in Cole Valley in SF, that my husband frequented on a regular basis. Small world! Before that, Joan was a lawyer. I am glad she decided to pursue a new and completely unrelated venture, or we'd never have the recipe I am posting today, with Joan's blessing.

When MGTV Hubby and I are at The Starling Diner (or when I'm brunching with my friend Jemie), we can't start off without this amazing appy. Actually, before the Grand Prix last weekend, I made a large plate of this to kick the day off right.

I'll be starting cooking videos this summer, and hope to cook with Joan and learn the secret of her TO DIE FOR Stuffed French Toast. 'Til then, onto the Bruschetta!

THE STARLING DINER'S BREAKFAST BRUSCHETTA

INGREDIENTS
1 baguette (you won't need it all)
marscapone cheese
strawberries
blueberries
blackberries
honey

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to high high temp (maybe even broiler? Broiler freaks me out.), high enough to toast bread.

Slice baguette into 1/2" slices, as many as you think you'll be eating. (This is a great breakfast party appy.) Arrange on baking sheet.

2. Stick sheet in oven and keep your eye on the bread - it'll be ready in probably 5 minutes or so. In the meantime, wash and prep your berries - I used strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. Or were they bumbleberries? You know those ones that look like a dark, elongated, misshapen raspberry? Those ones.
3. By the time you're done that, the bread should be good and toasty, so get 'er out of the oven.
4. Spread a layer of marscapone cheese - how thin? Depends on your taste, of course. Not so thin you won't taste it, but not so thick that it's gross.

5. Artfully arrange fruit on slices of cheesed-up toast. Geat your little honey bear and give him a squeeze - drizzle honey over top.


YUM. Starling might dust the top with icing sugar - I am not sure. I might also suggest a fine sprinkle of cinnamon over the cheese, too. I'll try that next time. I might also try making a whole breakfast of Breakfast Bruschetta for guests - this sweet version and a more savoury one - I'll come up with a recipe soon. Enjoy!

Bon Appétit!

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