11. A Quaggle* of Quiche: Kitchen Sink Quiche

What do you do when you have pie shells languishing in the freezer and way too many veggies in a fridge that threatens to be on its last leg**?

Quiche, bitches!

I hadn't made quiche in years, but it has to be one of the fastest and easiest dinners to prepare with a salad. The real draw is that it gives you an opportunity to use up veggies since just about anything tastes good cloaked in eggs, cheese and pastry.

For this standard pie shell (I used Tenderflake for ease, but homemade tastes way better), I whisked 3 eggs into a half-cup of yogurt and seasoned with salt, pepper and a handful of shredded Jarlsberg. To that I added whatever was left of my asparagus (blanched), a few sliced, sauteed mushrooms and a handful of sliced farmer's sausage. I topped it with another sprinkling of Jarlsberg and ghetto parmesan and baked at 350 until it looked done (about 30 minutes).

And since heating the oven for just one dish would have been a real shame, I quickly mixed a batch of my favourite Banana Oatmeal Bread (less sugar, more cinnamon, butter in place of shortening, chocolate chips in place of raisins) and had a mid-morning snack for the rest of the week.

I make for you. You eat it. 

Booyakasha!

*Edit: See the first Google result for what I thought was an original word:

I have to say, it's not totally inaccurate.

**Our fridge was fixed on Thursday. It was dicey there for a while. . . I thought I was going to have to throw out CHEESE!

10. Rice n' Easy: Arabic Rice

Jealous?

About a week ago I made one of my favourite dishes and certainly my preferred Lebanese dish: Arabic rice, also known by its full name, Jess is Hoarding the Arabic Rice. It's full of savory goodness from its unique combination of chicken, beef, onion, cinnamon, rice and of course butter-fried pine nuts, and reheats so well that it was my lunch all week. 

While there are many methods for cooking Arabic rice, here's my simple version with approximate amounts:

• Boil about five fatty chicken legs in salted water until cooked. Cool, remove meat from bones and strain broth. If you'd like (I don't like), chill the broth until the fat congeals and is easy to remove.
• In a large pot, fry a big onion (small dice) with a sprinkle of salt in a drop of olive oil or butter or a mix  of the two or tears or something else slimy until soft. I also used a minced clove of garlic this time. Toss in a pound or so of ground beef. I like extra lean. Brown the meat and and drain off the fat. Add black pepper and whatever amount of cinnamon looks good. I think I use about a teaspoon or less. Other recipes include spices like coriander, so experiment if you're feeling saucy.
• Rice, baby. Swirl in about two cups of long-grain white rice and stir until shiny. Add enough of the broth for a 2:1 ratio, adding water if needed. Do a salt check. Stir in the chicken meat from before, bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and wait about 18 minutes. 
• In the meantime, fry a good 1/3 cup of pine nuts in salted butter. I used unsalted this time by mistake (after buying it by mistake) and it just wasn't the same. They're easy to burn; be careful! Also try not to eat them all. Oh yeah, you can substitute sliced almonds. Serve on top of the rice. 

That's all you need for a bigass pot of deliciousness. I said this was one of my favourite dishes, but I didn't mention that I've spoiled myself with a lot of favourites lately. My favourite fruit (okay, top 5) was lurking around Urban Fare this evening when I went in to grab some tortillas. Guessing time!

I didn't receive permission from the unnamed pet owner's
unnamed pet to post a picture of him on the web. Om nom.

9. The Rockfish Files: Lemongrass-Steamed Rock Fish

Ever have rockfish? I hadn't, but when whole rainbow trout was sold out at IGA I picked up a fillet of this firm species of cod instead. This is where I get moralistic on your ass: I didn't know until I got home that rockfish is on OceanWise's "not recommended" list for overfishing and its trawling method of harvest, which damages reefs. I try to only cook sustainable seafood and eat at restaurants that do the same (like my most favouritest sushi joint, Sushi Mart), but once I messed up I decided to prepare it like I had planned for the trout:

Line a steamer basket with bruised lemongrass, basil leaves and a couple of split chilies. Lay the fillet on top and steam for 5-6 minutes. Meanwhile, julienne a stalk of green onion and heat sesame oil with soy sauce and a half-teaspoon of sugar to toss on top of the fish once cooked. The meal came together quickly; I blanched asparagus for 2 minutes and to ensure our daily intake of butter we had mashed por-tatoes. 

Verdict? It was alright. Good, even--but I'll stick to sustainable fish. I find that I like white fish best when it's prepared like tofu: in soup, covered in a sauce like red curry, fried, or battered and fried. Oily fish is still at the top of my list since it needs nothing more than a sprinkle of salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Happy Helping-to-Destroy-the-Ocean Day!

8. Brothers and Souffles: Thai Red Curry and Lemon Pudding

There will be times that I don't post much, and you can count on the reason being pure laziness. But for now, my chosen excuse is that I've been busy with work and visitors and Sporcle.com and movie-watching. There has been some good eatin' as of late, but instead I'll tell you about a meal I made weeks ago with the rest of the tofu puffs from my noodle soup.

I love Thai curry because of the fatty coconut milk and fragrance and subtle (or not so subtle) spice. If you buy the curry paste premade (which I always do, even though I have a recipe for homemade from the cooking class I did in Chiang Mai), the meal comes together in as much time it takes to chop some veggies and, if you like, meat. Here's my tofu version (excuse the blurry photo; we were eager to eat):

On top of my usual undercooked Jasmine rice sits broccoli, gai lan (most often seen at dim sum, stir-fried with oyster sauce), soft tofu, tofu puff, grape tomatoes, onion, peanuts and cashews. The rice soaked up the sauce, which I could happily eat on its own for days. This is an easy meal, but it always tastes better than the effort you put in. I also love the sauce poured over white fish.

For dessert that night or another night, I spied this recipe on HuffPo and had to try it. Puddings and souffles are totally dope and you can make up for eating all that sugar by beating the egg whites to soft peaks manually. I actually cut the recipe in half and poured it into three ramekins, which explains why they didn't puff above the ramekin, but it was still a pretty and delicious treat, and the portions were perfect!

Try it TODAY!

7. Who Mistook the Steak for Chicken?: Lemongrass Chicken

Anyone who knows me can guess that Vietnamese is on my list of favourite cuisines. The restaurant I frequented in Victoria, Pho Vy, had two main dishes that I sometimes found it hard to choose between: pho (27 regular; hold the rare steak) and lemongrass chicken bún. Bún comes in a large bowl filled with rice vermicelli, pickled vegetables, a chopped spring roll, cilantro, crushed peanuts, fried shallots and chicken. Top it off with the fish sauce-based dressing--I use it all--and mix. All of the elements are, in my opinion, equally important, but the chicken is incredible. Moist, salty-sweet, smoky and sticky with a bit of tang.


I had good luck recreating the chicken at home tonight with this recipe, with sides of lemongrass-scented jasmine rice (toss a few bruised pieces into the pot as it cooks) and garlic-sauteed vegetables. As I don't
have a grill, I made it on the stovetop, then placed it on a baking sheet to broil for some colour. I'm looking forward to round two at lunch tomorrow.

Chopped roasted peanuts and green onion to sprinkle on top. 

I also finally made the rosemary and kosher salt bread I had mentioned. It was delicious! This time it rose much better, but although I was hoping to use it for sandwiches we just kept slicing pieces off to eat plain or dipped in olive oil and balsamic. Here's a pic:

Once again, the recipe is here to tinker with as you wish. Easy peasy rice and cheesy. 

6. Mmm, Noodle Soup: Cellophane Noodle Soup with Tofu

Today I slept in way too late and gorged myself on cereal. This resulted in a mid-afternoon shawarma binge (delicious with an ice-cold can of Vimto) and a desire to eat a light dinner. I had made a simple broth with the leftover beef bones and went out to get a bag of rice noodles. What did I find instead?

I grabbed the last bag of dangmyeon, descriptively known as "Oriental Noodle," in my awesome hidden grocery, along with some sprouts, tofu, herbs and veggies and set out to make some soup. These dry noodles are made from sweet potato starch and are the star of the delicious Korean stirfried dish Japchae. I like that they still have a bit of bite to them when they're cooked. They're made in China, and I guess in response to a story about factories using lead to cut noodle ingredient costs (I'm serious), they've issued a helpful statement right on the bag:

Well, that sets my mind at ease. 

I chopped the accoutrements and set out my beloved Sriracha, then added a bit of soft tofu, quartered mushrooms and mini bok choy to the broth.

Fresh basil, mint, lime, red pepper, mung bean sprouts, green 

onion, tofu puffs and HOLY SHIT WHY IS ANYTHING THIS 

HOT Thai bird's eye chili. 

Here's the result:

Oh yeah, I also added half a soft-boiled egg to each bowl. It was pretty good! A little lacking in the flavour department on its own, but nothing a little lime and hoisin couldn't balance. I might try replacing the noodles with fresh storebought ramen and the broth with miso next time. A good recipe for a restful sleep.