Overnight Apple Pie Oatmeal

"I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation."

-Madame Jehane Benoit

I'm really happy with this new blog philosophy. Since the summer, I was trying to force out recipes and writings. I was trying to keep pace with a time when I could cook multiple times in a week and then sit and write for an hour or two at night. It just wasn't going to happen like that anymore, but I pushed myself anyway. Blogging became a chore, not a hobby, and things are definitely not as fun when things are a chore. 

School has started up quickly again this semester with a pretty hefty list of assignments and presentations, but this time around, I don't feel the same pressure to sit and write. I'm glad I was able to sit back and examine how I wanted to go about blogging again, and not just give up. Go me! 

This semester is definitely a busy one, but an interesting one as well. I have two interesting papers to write. The first is about the impact of video games on students in school. Think about how kids stay up late playing games, how it affects them socially, the level of violence and sexuality in some of them... sounds interesting eh? I hope some parents read and think about this.... 

The second is about boys in classrooms. Boys are starting to lose ground on grades to girls and aren't graduating as much. The idea, is that teachers have become focused on creating classrooms that are more girl friendly, than boys. Boys tend to be more active, moving around and louder, and they tend to get in trouble more often. 

I also found it interesting with this example... girls in younger grades like to draw with lots of bright colours. Boys tend to gravitate more towards browns and blacks. As a teacher and you are comparing two drawings, one colourful and bright, and one darker... compliments tend to go towards the girls drawing. The theory is that girls are getting lots of compliments, and boys are getting more time in the principals office. It will be interesting to see what sorts of results I can find! 

When you're stressed with school, there is nothing better than having breakfast ready for when you get up! Especially a recipe that makes the whole house smell like deliciousness! Overnight oatmeal has been buzzing around the blogosphere for awhile now. I tried This One a few months back, but I was caught up with the idea of apple pie... mmm... apple pie *drool*. Just a reminder, you need to use steel cut oats for this recipe, not the popular rolled oats. 

Overnight Apple Pie Oatmeal

Steel Cut Oats - 1 cup

Apples - 3, cored, peeled, diced

Almond Milk - 1 1/2 Cups

Water - 1 1/2 cups

Brown sugar - 2 tbsp

Butter - 1 tbsp, cut

Cinnamon - 1 tsp

Salt - a few healthy pinches (about a tsp)

Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray or grease with olive oil. Add all the ingredients, and give a good stir to combine. 

Cover and cook on low for about 7 hours. If you know your crockpot cooks faster or slower, adjust accordingly, but 7 hours does fine. Even when finished, giving it a stir before serving will freshen the whole thing up if a little overcooked. 

You can serve this with a variety of favourite oatmeal toppings, such as nuts, dried fruit, etc. But my favourite has to be just a little bit of brown sugar sprinkled on top and a little bit of almond milk to soften the whole thing up. What a great way to wake up!  

Viet Turkey Meatball Bún Tàu

"I was eating in a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called Mother and Child Reunion. It's chicken and eggs. And I said, I gotta use that one."

-Paul Simon

I have been owing my wife a date night for a long time. Not a "let's watch a movie on the couch" kind of date night, but an actual dressed up, bottle of wine kind of date night. I have owed her this as she has put a lot of heart and soul into her job, but still manages to come home and take care of me. Heck, I owe her a lot more than just a dinner out. BUT, that's just how the cookie crumbled tonight. 

So I told my wife about my plans to take her out and asked where she would like to go (remember this moment). When she got home from work that night, she decided to go to the Firestone Grill. 

"Sounds good" I exclaimed, and jumped into a nice shirt. Off we went, excited and fresh. We discovered a long line, lasting an hour and a half. Needless to say, we didn't hang around very long. 

So off we went to the Miro Bistro, a little European place that we have never tried before. We step in the doors, it looks empty! Alas... a waitress approaches to inform us that, unless we have a reservation, there is a Christmas party that has booked most of the restaurant. So we mosey down the street to a little wine bar that... unfortunately, doesn't have any food items that interest my wife. BUT they suggested a restaurant down the block that would definitely have room for us. 

So off we go to this new Restaurant... Plum. Once again, a wonderfully empty restaurant that still promises a good meal. So the hostess asks for our reservation... and promptly informs us that they are full for the night. I hate empty restaurants promised to other people. It makes my stomach sad. 

So as we are driving to head to another restaurant, when we see a little Chinese restaurant that neither of us have eaten at. We walk up a stairway reminiscent of a tiny New York apartment to a little upstairs restaurant. The food was... unspectacular, but at that moment it was all about getting food into my gullet. We had a nice dinner, but nothing that was worthy of fancy clothes. 

So... in reflection. I from this point on, will set a personal deadline of calling in a reservation. I'm quite sure that my wife wouldn't mind if I chose a restaurant to take her out to. A learning experience I guess! 

This recipe is Vietnamese, not Chinese. But I wanted some tasty Asian flavours and I'm afraid that my ability to cook some tasty traditional Chinese food is somewhat limited. So... Vietnamese. A simple and easy recipe  that tastes delicious on a busy night is, as you know, always a good thing in my books. This isn't a traditional recipe by any means, but just a recipe that seems to come as close as possible to a Vietnamese restaurant we frequent. It's the best I've got! Anyway, I'm too tired to continue writing, so I'm going to get straight to the recipe and move on from there. I hope you like it!

Viet Turkey Meatball Bún Tàu

For The Meatballs
Ground Turkey - 1 pound
Bak Choy - 3 stalks, chopped
Ginger  - 1 inch piece, grated
Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
Onion - 1/2, minced
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Salt & Pepper - a few healthy pinches

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a baking sheet.

Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until all the ingredients are incorporated together. Using your hands, take a small portion of the mixture and roll into a small ball, about an inch in diameter. You can also make them smaller if you'd prefer.

Place in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes. Rotate them and cook for another 10 minutes or until they are browned and cooked through.

Nuoc Cham (A dipping sauce)
Lime Juice - 1/4 cup
Rice Wine Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Honey - 1 tbsp
Water - 2/3 cup
Fish Sauce - 1/4 cup
Sambal Oelek (Hot chili paste) - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 3 cloves, minced

Combine all the ingredients and stir until the honey has dissolved. Set aside. You can also keep leftovers for other dishes like stir-fry's or salad rolls.

The Rest
Rice Noodles
Carrot - Julienned
Cucumber - Julienned
Green Pepper - Julienned
Radish - sliced

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the rice noodles and cook until softened, about 5-10 minutes.
Take the julienned vegetables and place in a small greased frying pan. Warm them over low heat, not enough so they get hot.

When the rice noodles are done, drain and place into bowls. Add the julienned vegetables and the cooked meatballs. Drizzle some of the Nuoc Cham sauce over top. My wife likes to add a bit of hoisin sauce to hers as well.

Dig in and enjoy!

French Toast

"My doctor told me I had to stop throwing intimate dinners for four
 unless there are three other people."
-Orson Wells

A few days ago, my wife and I went out with some friends to an all-you-can-eat sushi place in town. It is one of our favourite places to go as sushi is one of our favourite things to eat. This restaurant doesn't simply focus on the fish, but has soups, tempura, noodle dishes etc. that one can gorge themselves on. 

So we are sitting at the table catching up on how everyone's holiday when the conversation turned towards the book/movie The Hunger Games. Being a foodie/social activist, I picked up on one part of the book that I wanted to share with our friends (Spoiler Alert, albeit a small one). I told them of the part of the book where the heroine Katniss is talking with some people from the Capital at a party about the abundance of food items that are available. One of the characters tells Katniss that she can eat as much as she can stand, then all she has to do is take a pill afterwards. It is revealed that this pill allows the members of this rich society to throw up food they have digested, so they can continue to eat. 

I then looked down at my plate, at the crumbed pieces of rice, the edamame shells, the tempura flakes... and realized how much I actually had just ingested. It was far beyond my normal capacity, to the point of being uncomfortable. 

And I was ashamed. 

Here I am at a table, ingesting far more food than I actually needed, while elsewhere in the world, there are those that don't have enough. It was like a slap in the face, and one that was fairly shocking. How this concept never occurred to me before I'm not sure, but I do plan on making changes about it. If the need for sushi comes up, and we go to that particular establishment. I will never again order so much it is uncomfortable. Instead, I will eat until I am satisfied and adequately full. It is a practice I follow at my own table, so a restaurant shouldn't be that much difference. 

Any thoughts on that? If not, finally onto the food! 

French Toast must be one of the easiest recipes that one can cook. It involves minimal ingredients, instruction and time. Yet, French Toast is usually passed over for a piece of toast, a bowl of cereal... a breakfast bar. It is simplicity, and comfortably so. 

While it might seem easy and simple to write about mere French Toast, the passion behind this particular recipes comes in the form of bread. This loaf of cinnamon and cranberry bread comes from a local bakery. Bread from a grocery store tastes like cardboard compared to this place, even if it is baked fresh. This bread screamed out to be made into French Toast when I grabbed it off the shelf, and I made that wish come true. 

Even the simplest recipes need some love every now and then. 

French Toast

Thick Crusty French Bread - 2 slices

Eggs - 2

Milk - a splash, approx 1/8 cup

Butter

Maple Syrup

Whisk together 2 eggs and the milk until a frothy mixture has formed. Heat up a skillet over medium high heat, and melt approx. 1 tbsp of butter inside. 

Add the bread to the egg mixture, and let is soak for a few seconds, then flip and repeat. Take the soaked bread and place gently into the frying pan. 

Cook for about 5 minutes a side, or until it has become golden brown and crispy. 

Serve with a little bit of butter and some maple syrup drizzled on top. Eat with gusto. 

Bison Bolognese Ragu Sauce

"A writing cook and a cooking writer must be bold at the desk as well as the stove" 

 - M.F.K. Fisher

And so it is January. The start of a new year, a new chapter, and a new beginning. And I for one, am excited. 

I was just finished reading The Everlasting Meal: Cooking With Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler, and she writes about how sometimes cooking and food can become exhausting. Even the most passionate foodie can get bogged down doing something that they love. I fell out of love with cooking for awhile, but reclaimed that one fairly easily. It was getting back in love with writing about it that has taken a bit more effort.

Back when life was easier, coming up with a  wide variety of recipes and writing about them was a cinch. As things have become more complicated, cooking and writing got moved to the backburner. I have finally come to the realization that I can not keep up to the pace that I had set for myself earlier. With that off my shoulders, it has become a lot less stressful to sit and write. Writing about food should be enjoyable, especially as it is a passion of mine! So instead of going to quantity, I am going to aim for quality. 

It was nice to read about a former head chef, foodie and writer, and how difficult it can be sometimes even for her to enjoy food. She writes 

"Food is what I love, and how I communicate love, and how I calm myself. 

But sometimes, without my knowing why, it is drained of all that. 

Then cooking becomes just another one of hunger's jagged edges. So I have to take hold of this thing and wrest it from the claws of resentment, and settle it back among things that are mine"

Well I've done my own bit of wrestling with the resentment towards food and come back from the edge myself. The fact that Adler devotes a whole chapter of her book towards the subject was greatly appreciated, and definitely enjoyable to read. This book is a must read, filled with cooking knowledge, tips, hints, and recipes. They aren't difficult recipes to cook, but useful and tasty ones. I haven't had an opportunity to try them however, but it is marked for the future! 

As you may have noticed the blog has undertaken a bit of a transformation. While I liked the last version, it didn't really feel like me. Hopefully I can get the chance to give this one a test drive and see how it goes. How does it look to you? 

This one particular recipe however, I am extremely proud to write of. My wife and I went for dinner one night a few months back, and I had this brilliant bolognese sauce! When we went back a second time, the sauce recipe had unfortunately changed. I set out to make my own, and this one... this is it. This is the only bolognese sauce I will ever make from this point on. Why mess with perfection?

I unfortunately ran out of a short pasta noodle and had to use spaghetti instead. This is a pasta that demands a penne, fusilli, tagliatelle or a tortellini, but any noodle can work in the end. You can also use beef, pork, ground turkey, etc. with this meal, but bison gives it a little extra something. If you have never tried bison meat before, it's definitely worth it. I also chose to use red wine instead of the traditional white, but I think it turned out for the better. I hope you like it. 

Bison Bolognese Ragu Sauce

Ground Bison Meat - 1 pound

Bacon - 6 pieces, chopped

Butter - 2 tbsps

Onion - 1 cup, diced

Celery - 1 cup, diced

Carrot - 1 cup, diced

Mushrooms - 1 cup, roughly chopped

Crushed Tomatoes - 6oz

Water - 1 cup (You could also use beef or vegetable broth for some added flavour)

Red Wine - 1 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Nutmeg - 1/2 tsp

Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Pasta - approx 2 cups worth. 

Start with melting the butter in a large dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot. Sprinkle with a little salt and cook for about 10 minutes or until they have softened. Add the mushrooms, cook for another 2-5 minutes or until they have softened as well. Add the crushed tomato and give a stir into the mixture, cooking for about a minute. 

Add the ground bison, bacon and water and raise to a simmer. Let cook slowly, stirring occasionally. When the water has mostly evaporated, add the cup of wine and repeat the process. When the wine has mostly evaporated, add the milk, nutmeg, and black pepper. Bring this mixture back to a simmer, letting the milk evaporate as well. When you reach your desired consistency, remove from the burner. I like mine with just enough sauce to coat the pasta noodles properly. 

Once the milk is added to the sauce, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt. You want to add enough salt that if you were to taste the water (and you should), you can taste some salt. Add the pasta and cook until it is al dente. 

To serve add the pasta to a large bowl, then spoon a little bit of sauce of top. Give it a toss. Repeat this step until all the pasta noodles are well coated with sauce. Place the noodles in serving bowls, then add a generous portion of the meat sauce on top (like a 1/4 cup worth). Grate Parmesan cheese over top and dig in!