In My Kitchen August 2017

Aug7

We only have a few things in our home kitchen this month. We left to fly to Newfoundland on August 5th, but there is a little peak into our Newfoundland kitchen as well. We have been updating our Instagram page regularly while on vacation, if you want to see more you can check that out.

Bruschetta

Flatbreads, you may have seen this on our Instagram page

A Big Mary

I went cod jigging with my Dad

We caught a few and are having fish and chips for dinner tonight

Even got close to some feeding humpbacks

Always need some chocolate in the kitchen

The “In My Kitchen” monthly theme host is Sherry, from sherryspickings.blogspot.ie If you would like to know what is happening in other kitchens or join IMK head over to Sherry’s blog and check out all the other IMK participants and join in.

Sherrys Pickings

Stewed Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Feta

Sep5

I received a blog post in my inbox from Alexandra for this chickpea stewy dish and decided to try it because 1) Evie loves chickpeas 2) had a bowl full of cherry tomatoes from our garden and 3) needed a vegetarian meal. Perfect right?

Before I forget here is the link to the recipe on Alexandra’s website, https://www.alexandracooks.com/2016/08/30/stewy-chickpeas-tomatoes-feta/

First of all you need to sweat some garlic in olive oil, you do this slowly on low heat, I probably used 4-5 cloves sliced and roughly chopped. Just let the garlic cook down until soft. Then I stirred in 2 cans of chickpeas, probably about 4 cups.

Then I roughly chopped 3 regular medium sized tomatoes and about 2-3 cups halved cherry/grape tomatoes.

Throw all of the tomatoes into the chickpeas. Stir. Then I added about 1/2-3/4 of a bottle of capers. And a large splash of balsamic vinegar. Turn up the heat to medium to get simmering and the tomatoes will start to release their juices. I sprinkled with little salt and black pepper. Once it is simmering and nice and stewy throw in a large handful or two of chopped fresh basil.

When Evie walked into the kitchen she promptly stated that isn’t stew there is no broth, that is not enough broth. Right away she decided it was not going to be good. Until she tried then she gave me that look that says oh, actually I do like it.

Toast some crusty bread or baguette in a hot pan with olive oil to serve with the chickpeas.

Top chickpeas with crumbled feta and serve with toasted bread. It was delicious!

Mango BBQ Sauce

Jul26

Summer is in full swing and so is grilling. This homemade BBQ sauce is so delicious and it isn’t full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup or artificial colours or nasty preservatives it has really ingredients and is full of flavour. It keeps well refrigerated for weeks and you could freeze (in freezer bags) some as well. It does make a lot.

Chop the mango

Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in pan and add 4 cloves chopped garlic and 1 sweet onion and 1 diced mango. Sauce until soft and onions are translucent about 5 minutes.

There is a handful of other ingredients

I love this stuff and I add it to almost everything!

To mango mixture add 1 28oz can of diced tomatoes and 1 small can (about 5 oz) of tomato paste, 1/2 pure maple syrup, 1/2 cup molasses, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 cup water, 2 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp ground pepper.

Once these are all added together mix bring to a boil and then simmer, stirring often for about 30 minutes. The sauce will get a little darker and thicken.

Take off heat and let cool for about another 30 minutes, then puree, I use a hand blender, and place in containers and refrigerate or freeze.

This makes a lot for a small price! And it is much healthier than commercially prepared sauces, loaded with vitamins and minerals from the mango, molasses, maple syrup and tomatoes. If you try it let me know what you think.

Adapted from Oxygen Magazine.

Fresh Homemade Salsa

Jun22

This is a nice fresh salsa, that can be mild to hot depending on how much jalapeño you put in. My version is mild to be more child friendly, but you can make to to suit your own taste. This is also really economical, you get a lot from a few very affordable ingredients. It is perfect for summer gatherings when you need a lot. It is also very quick to put together, it may look like a lot of steps but it isn’t, I was showing everything for this post.

1 – 28oz can of diced tomatoes

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

3/4 cup chopped red onion

2-3 Tbsp finely chopped jalapeno (or more if you want spicy)

1 tsp garlic powder (or garlic salt)

2 tsp fresh minced garlic

1 small can tomato paste

2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

I blitz the canned tomatoes in the food processor to break them up a little more.

You can omit the food processor steps if you want it chunkier (I tailored my version of the recipe to suit Evie not wanting onion or jalapeño chunks)

Chop jalapeño and red onion

I blitz the jalapeño and onion together too

Give this a whirl to get it all finely chopped. I do this so the onion and jalapeño gets really incorporated into the tomatoes. Evie will not want to get a chunk of onion or jalapeño in her mouth, this takes care of that.

Add to the tomatoes along with minced garlic.

Add the salt and garlic powder ( I use granulated garlic,I like the flavour in recipes more than powder)

Finely chop fresh tomatoes (a great way to use up ripening tomatoes from your garden)

Give all of this a stir and add in tomato paste and stir

Add in chopped cilantro (this is optional if you dislike cilantro, some people really hate it)

Stir again

Taste test to make sure the flavours are good (yup, it is good)

Just to show you how frugal this recipe is, I got a little over 6 cups of salsa from those few ingredients!

It keeps well for a few days refrigerated.

Chickpea Quinoa Chili

May23

This was my mother’s day dinner, prepared almost entirely by Evie (her dad had to help with cooking the quinoa). Someone gave me this recipe and they got it online, I don’t know where it came from so I cannot back to them directly. This is a great recipe, it is very tasty, fast and nutritious. It also reheats well and can be frozen.