Hi everyone.
It's been seven months since my last post. Summer hasn't been too eventful this year. The lack of warm weather didn't bring me to the beach or pool too often. However, I have just returned from a two week vacation where the weather was spectacular for us. I returned home with some new tan lines, a few extra pounds on the "derriere" and about 80 pounds of peaches.
I have spent yesterday evening bringing out my dusty canning jars (which haven't been used in 7 years) and got straight to work. In 3 1/2 hours last night, I canned 24 jars of peaches. I still have approximately 30-40 more jars to fill.
I have to say, looking at the jars this morning gave me great sense of accomplishment. Homemade, tasty and free. I think canning will become a new hobby for me.
Canned Free haven peaches
I made a light syrup by warming 1 cup of sugar with 3 cups of water. (These peaches are quite sweet and do not require much sugar). I think next year I will play around with different recipes where you can use fruit juice instead of sugar. I have also read that adding sugar isn't necessary.
You can cut your peaches into halves, quarters or eighths. Ensure that you remove the skin and any bruising. You should be able to cut your peach in half and then pull your peach apart. If the skin doesn't peel off easily, dip the peach in warm water first.
Place your peach slices in the jars then fill with syrup. Place your seals and lids on the jar for canning.
http://www.homecanning.com/can/AlRecipes.asp?R=103
Here I sit regretting I didn't bring any pears home!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Hi everyone.
I have had a bad week. It was supposed to end with a belated birthday celebration for my daughter, but I got sick and needed to postpone plans. The only thing I can really do when I am not well is rest in bed or watch tv. Today, I caught this episode of Nigella Express and I wanted to share it right away. It is really simple and involves all of the important food groups. You will see below that recipe call for pancetta. I used a smoked canadian back bacon, it is MUCH leaner. Pancetta is quite fatty. For those of you who eat white chicken meat only, boneless breasts or fillets work just as well. I personally use a mixture.
Happy cooking.
Pollo alla Cacciatora Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson, 2007
Show: Nigella Express
Episode: Hey Presto
This is an old favourite - chicken cooked 'the hunter's way' which grants a certain amount of culinary licence. This, my, version is traditional enough, only speeded up and simplified. The only unexpected deviation lies in the addition of a can of cannellini beans. This, in effect, turns it into a quick, one pot, all-inc supper. Having said that, I also adore it - as do my children - with plain steamed rice, as well. But whatever, when I cook this, I know I can count on getting tea on the table from scratch in comfortably under half an hour.
1 tablespoon garlic oil
1/2 cup pancetta cubes
6 scallions, finely sliced
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 pound chicken thigh fillets, each cut into 4 pieces
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 cup white wine
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 (14-ounce) can cannellini beans, optional
Put the garlic oil into a pan with the pancetta, sliced scallions and chopped rosemary and fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the bite-sized chicken pieces, stirring well, and sprinkle in the celery salt.
Pour in the wine and let it come to a bubble before adding the tomatoes, bay leaves and sugar. Put the lid on and let the pan simmer for 20 minutes.
Drain and add a tin of cannellini beans and when they have warmed through too, you are ready to eat.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_77081,00.html
I have had a bad week. It was supposed to end with a belated birthday celebration for my daughter, but I got sick and needed to postpone plans. The only thing I can really do when I am not well is rest in bed or watch tv. Today, I caught this episode of Nigella Express and I wanted to share it right away. It is really simple and involves all of the important food groups. You will see below that recipe call for pancetta. I used a smoked canadian back bacon, it is MUCH leaner. Pancetta is quite fatty. For those of you who eat white chicken meat only, boneless breasts or fillets work just as well. I personally use a mixture.
Happy cooking.
Pollo alla Cacciatora Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson, 2007
Show: Nigella Express
Episode: Hey Presto
This is an old favourite - chicken cooked 'the hunter's way' which grants a certain amount of culinary licence. This, my, version is traditional enough, only speeded up and simplified. The only unexpected deviation lies in the addition of a can of cannellini beans. This, in effect, turns it into a quick, one pot, all-inc supper. Having said that, I also adore it - as do my children - with plain steamed rice, as well. But whatever, when I cook this, I know I can count on getting tea on the table from scratch in comfortably under half an hour.
1 tablespoon garlic oil
1/2 cup pancetta cubes
6 scallions, finely sliced
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 pound chicken thigh fillets, each cut into 4 pieces
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 cup white wine
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 (14-ounce) can cannellini beans, optional
Put the garlic oil into a pan with the pancetta, sliced scallions and chopped rosemary and fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the bite-sized chicken pieces, stirring well, and sprinkle in the celery salt.
Pour in the wine and let it come to a bubble before adding the tomatoes, bay leaves and sugar. Put the lid on and let the pan simmer for 20 minutes.
Drain and add a tin of cannellini beans and when they have warmed through too, you are ready to eat.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_77081,00.html
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Happy New Year..and for my fellow Italian friends Buon Anno
Being Italian is truly a blessing. Well, most of the time. Most Italians are really simple people. Everything is about the family. ESPECIALLY THE FOOD. For Italians, sitting around the table is something that is taken as seriously as going to church on Sundays. This is how "Sunday lunch" came to be. I will talk about Sunday lunches another time.
Fish. For years, I thought that we only ate Fish on Christmas Eve because it was holy obligation that the Catholic Church created. Well, most of my classmates in Catholic school were Italian, my teachers were either Italian, married to an Italian or just plain wanted to be Italian (LOL- some humor). So each year, we spoke about how groce it was that our mothers served "bacala" on Christmas Eve.
Well, after 36 years, I am now clear on the subject. Eating fish on Christmas Eve is an Italian tradition, not a Catholic one. I have to say, "Thank God for Italian traditions!" The very food I didn't like as a child warms my heart today. It is like I explained in a previous blog post, foods made by MOM bring you back to some loving memories. My mother is the oldest sibling in her famiy, so growing up, Christmas Eve was always at Mom & Dad's house. 36 years later, Christmas Eve is still at Mom & Dad's house.
Like most other Italian families, we fit 26 people in the basement of a Vancouver Special home. It doesn't matter that the plates and cutlery don't match. What matters is that you come ready to celebrate Christmas and the family.
Now if you are a new comer, you'd better bring earplugs. Especially if you are not Italian. About 9 years ago, my cousin brought her new boyfriend (now husband) to Christmas Eve dinner. As soon as I met him, I loved him. I saw such kindness in his eyes. I very quickly noticed something else. He was quiet and shy. After that evening, he was either going to propose to my cousin or dump her. Thankfully, he was strategically seated next to my father, who ensures all drink merrily along with him. My father is not typical of most Italian men when he drinks. He actually becomes alot of fun (unless something goes wrong with the food).
To bring myself back on topic, our Christmas Eve menu looks like this:
Pasta with Salmon
Pasta with plain tomato sauce (for the non fish eaters)
Steamed Broccoli
Steamed Rappini (broccoli rabe)
Prawns sauteed with brandy a la flambe
Bacala (salt cod)
Tuna salad (for the non fish eaters in my family, who apparently can like only tuna from the fish family)
Vegetable salad (this is a newer menu item, made with tons of love by my sister in law)
Garden Salad (radicchio grows in cold weather)
dessert - Fennel & Mandarin oranges
Just before everyone leaves for midnight mass, cookies and espresso is served. For those Italians that have westernized themselves, coffee is served earlier. However, for my parents, coffee is known as the "gentle kick out the door".
Now my father is a culinary cook and butcher by trade, so the family meal and gathering is a very important event for him. So two things cannot happen. We cannot run out of any dish, (that would signify that not enough was made)and we have a change in the menu. I was almost uninvited when I said I would bring crabcakes this year. Whoa.....
Below, I have attached a recipe for Bacala. It really is tasty. My mother follows a very similar recipe.
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Bacala%20alla%20vincentina
My moms secret to Pasta with salmon is so simple. She makes a basic tomoto sauce and then opens about 3 cans of salmon and gently places then to simmer in the sauce. This is actually a great meal for those of you who are short on time. Your meal is made up of protein and carbs.
My father marinates his prawns in sliced onions. When he cooks them, he cooks the prawns alone in garlic, spices, olive oil and brandy. Here is a link to assist you with the "flambe"
http://whatscookingamerica.net/flambe.htm
I hope you enjoy these recipes. May they bring as much warmth to you as it does to me.
Fish. For years, I thought that we only ate Fish on Christmas Eve because it was holy obligation that the Catholic Church created. Well, most of my classmates in Catholic school were Italian, my teachers were either Italian, married to an Italian or just plain wanted to be Italian (LOL- some humor). So each year, we spoke about how groce it was that our mothers served "bacala" on Christmas Eve.
Well, after 36 years, I am now clear on the subject. Eating fish on Christmas Eve is an Italian tradition, not a Catholic one. I have to say, "Thank God for Italian traditions!" The very food I didn't like as a child warms my heart today. It is like I explained in a previous blog post, foods made by MOM bring you back to some loving memories. My mother is the oldest sibling in her famiy, so growing up, Christmas Eve was always at Mom & Dad's house. 36 years later, Christmas Eve is still at Mom & Dad's house.
Like most other Italian families, we fit 26 people in the basement of a Vancouver Special home. It doesn't matter that the plates and cutlery don't match. What matters is that you come ready to celebrate Christmas and the family.
Now if you are a new comer, you'd better bring earplugs. Especially if you are not Italian. About 9 years ago, my cousin brought her new boyfriend (now husband) to Christmas Eve dinner. As soon as I met him, I loved him. I saw such kindness in his eyes. I very quickly noticed something else. He was quiet and shy. After that evening, he was either going to propose to my cousin or dump her. Thankfully, he was strategically seated next to my father, who ensures all drink merrily along with him. My father is not typical of most Italian men when he drinks. He actually becomes alot of fun (unless something goes wrong with the food).
To bring myself back on topic, our Christmas Eve menu looks like this:
Pasta with Salmon
Pasta with plain tomato sauce (for the non fish eaters)
Steamed Broccoli
Steamed Rappini (broccoli rabe)
Prawns sauteed with brandy a la flambe
Bacala (salt cod)
Tuna salad (for the non fish eaters in my family, who apparently can like only tuna from the fish family)
Vegetable salad (this is a newer menu item, made with tons of love by my sister in law)
Garden Salad (radicchio grows in cold weather)
dessert - Fennel & Mandarin oranges
Just before everyone leaves for midnight mass, cookies and espresso is served. For those Italians that have westernized themselves, coffee is served earlier. However, for my parents, coffee is known as the "gentle kick out the door".
Now my father is a culinary cook and butcher by trade, so the family meal and gathering is a very important event for him. So two things cannot happen. We cannot run out of any dish, (that would signify that not enough was made)and we have a change in the menu. I was almost uninvited when I said I would bring crabcakes this year. Whoa.....
Below, I have attached a recipe for Bacala. It really is tasty. My mother follows a very similar recipe.
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Bacala%20alla%20vincentina
My moms secret to Pasta with salmon is so simple. She makes a basic tomoto sauce and then opens about 3 cans of salmon and gently places then to simmer in the sauce. This is actually a great meal for those of you who are short on time. Your meal is made up of protein and carbs.
My father marinates his prawns in sliced onions. When he cooks them, he cooks the prawns alone in garlic, spices, olive oil and brandy. Here is a link to assist you with the "flambe"
http://whatscookingamerica.net/flambe.htm
I hope you enjoy these recipes. May they bring as much warmth to you as it does to me.
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