Fredrik and I have a really silly running joke that doctors are the ones to run to for IT questions, especially for engineers, if docs don't know, run to the hairdresser, she knows everything! So anyways, somehow, Fredrik, an engineer managed to sort out this RSS link, it's a million times better than the blog layout - it's actually possible to follow the recipe, click on http://popielzoo.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss.
Busy watching George interviewing K'naan, cool guy, inspiring story. Love the song 'Waving Flag'! The funniest song was on the radio last night, a Habs version of Lady Gaga, cracks me up!! You can download it from here: http://montreal.virginradio.ca/blogs/39/posts/464.
Anyways, I won't linger around the house too much today... the sun is shining and I'm hoping to meet up with Steph and Alain and their kids at the Biodome :o) For the 411, we went out of Salvadorian food last night, so tasty, yet so simple, looking forward to going again, definitely recommend it. Oh, and Fredrik and I went to the 24hr market last night, only in Montreal! - not too sure where they get their produce from, blueberries and strawberries and 2 mangos for 1$.... cool stuff! So I just had the bestest blueberry and strawberry cereals, with almond milk actually; it's cheaper than soy milk and tastes just as good as the cow-produced stuff, minus the antibiotics. Also in the shopping basket, we landed some of that white creamy clove honey so when we got home we had sticky salty butter and honey sandwiches :o) We also drove past my new 'home', the Montreal Jewish Hospital, best one in town... but still very daunting %-).
So, the next restipy has become a favourite here, it's an asiatic (is that PC?) version of fajitas from allrecipes.com, with lettuce leaves instead of cornflour wraps stuffed with juicy minced meat, chop suey, grated carrots, those see-through thin rice noodles, snow peas and peanut sauce.
Lettuce Wraps
Boston or romaine lettuce leaves
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 c hoisin sauce
2 tsp minced pickled ginger
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
some form of chili sauce/flakes if you want it really spicy
1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tsp sesame oil
Rinse the lettuce leaves, spin and leave to dry.
You might want to grate some carrot, rince the chop suey, chop the snow peas and get a steamer ready, also boil some water for the rice noodles, others like to eat it with rice...
In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce (optional) to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
Wrap the lettuce around the meat and stuff like a burrito, and enjoy!
Well, I should really start focusing on finding some thrifty healthy student recipes but as I was going through the recipes I had typed up from cookbooks at home, I realised that there are quite a few that I haven't posted yet, so I figured I might as well do it now, as once I start work, it will be the beginning of not having a life. Having issues with the fonts and formatting on this again, don't have the patience to try and sort it out - sorry!
For the next recipe, it's a Christmas special: peeling and shooting almonds, trays of drying almonds everywhere and icing the famous x-mas cake with it - good ol' marzipan!
Marzipan
200 g ground almonds
200 g icing sugar
1 egg white
1 tsp almond essence
Mix everything together and if it doesn’t stick, add a little milk.
Next, is the never-fail indispensable recipe for quatre-quarts, perfect for birthday cakes, cupcakes and just plain tea-cake. My favourite thing to do with it is to make ice-cream cone cakes - use flat-bottomed ice-cream cones instead of muffin papers and top with colourful icing and lots of sprinkles.
Quatre Quarts
300 g butter
300 g sugar
4 eggs (5 if small)
300 g flour
2 tsp baking powder
Beat sugar and butter till whitish. Add eggs one by one mixing well after each addition. Mixture should be light and fluffy. Add flour and baking powder. Bake in greased and floured mold at 175 C for 45 minutes.
For buttercream icing, combine: 1lb icing sugar, 1/2c butter, 1tsp vanilla extract and 3tbsp milk. Whip it up and if too stiff, add more milk.
Apple crumble. You can't be born in a Popiel household and not have enjoyed it through the Fall! It's the bestest piping hot with vanilla ice-cream.
Apple Crumble
apples
cinnamon
1 c flour
1/4 c butter
1/3 c sugar
Cut the apples and put a little sugar on top if they are very sour. Add raisins and oatmeal if wanted. Mix sugar and flour and run in the butter with fingertips. Alternatively, for the topping, in a bowl, combine: 1c oatmeal, 1/2c packed brown sugar, 1/3c flour and 1 pinch nutmeg. Drizzle with 1/3c melted butter and mix until well incorporated. Place over the apples.
Ok, hope you have a KitchenAid for the next recipe because you don't want to stand there forever whipping up 14 eggs. I don't think I ever plan to make this cake but it usually comes about around Christmas in order to salvage all the yolks left over from the marzipan making. Make sure to make it well in advance and even ice it the day before as it gets better with time! Thank you Côte d'Or for this recipe.
Tarte au Chocolat Maison
6 eggs
8 egg yolks
300 g white sugar
250 g cacao powder
400 g dark chocolate
1L whipping cream
Preheat oven to 180 C. Mix the sugar with the eggs until it becomes white and fluffy – don’t attempt this unless you have a machine and patience. Sift the cacao and the flour together and fold them into the eggs. Pour into a greased and floured mould (at least 25cm diameter) and cook for 20-40 mins, depends on the size of the mould – beware this cake is huge. Melt the chocolate and 0.5 L of the cream- leave to cool. Whip the remaining cream and fold into the chocolate mixture - ! make sure the chocolate mixture is cool or else it will melt the whipped cream. Cut the cake into 3-4 slices and put the chocolate mousse in between every slice and on top. Refrigerate, preferably 24 hrs. Note: to cut the cake evenly, slip a small chopping board under then knife, between the knife and the cake and turn the cake. This will make nice even slices.
Another chocolate cake - courtesy of LeRoy Louis... It looks a little like a lunar landscape but is absolutely delicious. For extra calories, serve with vanilla sauce or raspberry treacle.
Gateau au Chocolat Amer
200 g dark chocolate
5 eggs
180 g sugar
180 g butter, softened and cubed
30 g flour
Break chocolate into pieces and melt along with 4 tbsp cold water
Separate eggs and beat yolks with 150 g of the sugar until light and creamy
Add in the melted chocolate, butter and flour.
Whisk whites until starting to rise, add remaining 30 g sugar and whip until stiff
Beat in whites to the chocolate mixture
Pour the batter into greased and sugared round cake tin
Bake 45 minutes
Next, perfect for a tea-time snack, serve with ice cream or custard.
Apple Vanilla Sponge
250 g unsalted butter
250 g golden caster sugar (demerara) + vanilla sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or more if artificial)
4 eggs
3 cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced into wedges
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1/4 cinnamon
250 g self-rising flour (a lot better if you substitute 50 g flour with ground almonds and add 1tsp almond essence)
Preheat oven to 180 C
Grease 20cm springform and line the base with parchment paper
Beat together sugar, vanilla and butter and light and fluffy
Beat in eggs one at the time, mixing well after each addition
Add flour and mix briefly – do not overmix
Tip the mix into tin
Slot the apple wedges on top of the mix – pack them tightly as they shrink
Mix cinnamon and brown sugar and sprinkle over the top
Bake for 1 hour until skewer comes out clean – make sure to check at 50 minutes that it’s not burning
Leave to cool for 10 minutes and then release from tin, leave to cool on wire rack.
Last but not least, a newly found recipe for chocolate mousse. I know we have been pretty faithful to the Callebaut recipe we received years ago from Mme Ketchup, bless her soul, but this one is so much simpler and more likely to succeed everytime - halve it unless you plan to feed an army.
Chocolate Mousse
250g bittersweet chocolate
1/4c unsalted butter
3tbsp liqueur - Kahlua, dark rum or brandy
2tbsp water
1tsp instant coffee powder
4 large eggs - separated
1tsp vanilla essence
180ml/ 3/4c heavy/double cream
pinch of salt
1/4c sugar
I can't stand using a bain-marie, so I use a good thick-bottomed pot instead, whatever you prefer, slowly melt the chocolate and butter along with the liqueur, water and coffee powder.
Remove from heat and whisk until the mixture is glossy and smooth.
Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add vanillla, stir until well blended and set aside in order to let it cool to very tepid.
In one bowl, whip the cream until stiff.
In a second bowl, combine the egg whites and salt and beat until soft peaks form.
Gradually add the sugar and beat until glossy and firm peaks form.
Spoon the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture and fold it in gently, just enough to mix it, chocolate streaks should still be visible - !! make sure the chocolate mixture is cool before adding the cream or else it will melt.
Add the beaten egg whites and fold gently until just blended.
Spoon into individual bowls or into one large one. Cover and place in the fridge for a t least 4 hours.
I don't know about you, but my first experiences with Quiche Lorraine do not rank in my favourite. I remember thinking that if ever I have kids, I would never dream of making them eat it. I'm sure it was quite tasty, but what made me gag was the whitish clear liquid that used to seep from it... it's probably normal but it just made me wish I had stayed over a friend's house for dinner. Another one of those dishes I loathed was cooked ham - it had those crunchy fatty parts - although I don't see what I was fretting about now, with all the liquid in the world I was unable to swoosh it down my throat. So in memory of my childhood terrors, why not combine the two?
I made this quiche in order to finish up some pie dough that was sitting in the fridge and it was actually edible and surprisingly good. I sliced it up and put it in the freezer and it became a useful option for lunch, I even ate it of my own free will. I now have some pie dough and a big bag of spinach sitting in the fridge, I'll give spinach quiche a shot and will post it if it turns out well.
You will need a big momma pie dish for this (23cm) with decent depth. I like to use the smaller cheap aluminium dishes, so I made two out of this recipe
Ham and Broccoli Quiche
1 pie crust - I promise I will post a recipe soon - I have been converted to the Vorwerk, but will try it by hand to see if it works; roll it out and place it in pie dish, poke it with a fork and line with foil or baking paper, fill with lentils or beans and bake for 15-20 mins at 200C, or basically until the edges turn golden; remove the beans and leave to cool
7 eggs
1 c broccoli heads
3/4 c cheese (mix some regular cheese (eg. cheddar) with some parmesan for a little more bite or whatever you have lying around)
4-5 slices cooked ham cut in to little strips - I used a big chunk of cooked ham
2-3 spring onions, chopped, or any kind of onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
In a large bowl, whip up the eggs.
Add all other ingredients save 1/4 c of the grated cheese.
Give it a good mix and pour it into the prepared pie shell.
Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over it.
Bake at 180C for 35 minutes until it is set. Let it cool before cutting/serving.
Ok, I can't believe I'm actually posting TWO quiche recipes, man did I loathe this stuff! Anyways, so I saved the poor spinach from a vertical trip into the bin and whipped up a spinach quiche. The recipe I have calls for frozen spinach, thawed and drained - I used fresh leaves, just chopped them up and poured the egg mix over them, perhaps not the best strategy as all the cheese just sat on top and the spinach was at risk of burning, so I had to mix it all up and it became green quiche. Therefore, if using fresh spinach, perhaps wilt it quickly in a pan prior to dumping it into the pie shell...
Spinach Quiche
pie shell - pre-cooked with lentils/beans for 15 mins at 200C
5 eggs
3/4c milk
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
150g spinach - if frozen, make sure it is well thawed and drained
125g grated cheese
Preheat over to 190C.
Whisk up the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper.
Add in the cheese and give it a good stir.
Line the bottom of the cooked pie crust with the spinach.
Pour the egg/cheese mixture over the spinach.
Cook at 190C for 15 mins and then for a further 20 mins at 160C - it took about 15 mins more for me until it was became nice and golden... but then our oven really stinks...
I couldn't help but chuckle when Mom wrote to me this morning that Bobo loves making and eating "pain perdu". I remember wanting to have that as my birthday meal, that and ketchup with shepherd's pie. But the reason for my glee was the picture that popped into my head: the Smoocher and his 'pain pairdy'! You must remember the little tyke in the kitchen in Ehrenberga, getting the eggs and milk from the fridge on his own, dumping out the insides of the eggs with a few bits of shell, giving the whole thing a good shake and then he used to come and ask 'a grown-up' to turn on the stove for him. I can just imagine Bobo doing the same... those Popiels!... the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
So I thought, although completely unnecessary, I just had to post the pain perdu recipe :o)
You'll need some bread, an egg, some milk/water and some vanilla extract if you wish, butter to fry and maple syrup.
Whisk up the egg(s) with a dash of milk and a little extract - it makes it smell good while it's cooking :o) - and dump a thick slice of bread in it, and once saturated on one side, flip it over.
Heat some butter in pan on medium heat and drop the gooey bread on it and cook until nice and golden.
Drown in maple syrup and enjoy!
While I'm at it, I might as well post the following recipe for banana pancakes - add one banana for the taste, add two if you like moosh. I got this recipe from allrecipe.com.
Banana Pancakes
1 cup flour
1 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 or 2 ripe bananas, mashed
Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.
I just attempted to make cookies again - failure! Some wires in the oven got confused and everything just burns: the top is raw and there is a nice uniform black base to everything :o(. I plopped the rest of the cookie dough in the freezer, perhaps the oven might magically fix itself?
Anyways, as I was looking up the Toll House choc chip cookie recipe, I came across this recipe that I made a couple months ago - it was the bestest! - simple rocky road fudge. The recipe calls for walnuts and marshmallows, but feel free to chuck anything you want in there: peanuts, almonds, dumle caramels, pistachios and bits and bobs.
Rocky Road Fudge
2 (12 oz.) cups chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
LINE 13 x 9-inch baking pan with foil; grease lightly.
HEAT morsels and sweetened condensed milk in a large pan until melted. I would advise to use a tall-ish pan with a small base - it avoids marshmallow flying around everywhere... Stir in vanilla extract. Fold in marshmallows and nuts.
PRESS mixture into prepared baking pan. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into pieces.
Well, the general feeling today is "p-ed" off... for no good reason really. Just don't feel like liking people today. I logged on to facebook and got even more p'ed off by the crap people had posted- so I took much pleasure at deleting a few more 'friends'. Hmm, there really is something about narrow-minded people that just infuriates me. Wow, who am I to judge? I don't know, but I do like to discuss opinions - but to some people, this means: I have the truth and the only truth, if you disagree then you are wrong! Sounds like fundamentalism here! And the harm closed-mindedness causes is amazing. I came across a blog written by some self-proclaimed chiropractor health guru dude, you can sum it up in one word: misinformation. For more info on chiropracters, trust Eddie Izzard. :o) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUwnkTnHrtI
I am 100% for healthy living, organic food, exercise, very sparse use of pharmaceuticals and careful attention to nutrition. However, in the event that the body suffers a grave insult, someone reorganising your bones and feeding you super antioxidant juice is not going to fix it. One has to match the pieces properly! This genius chappy copied and pasted (great effort!) some research saying how bad Simvastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug, was and how many drug interactions it had. That was it. The take-home message the readers would get: do not ever take cholesterol lowering drugs.
I have seen the adverse effects of this drug first hand. From severe acute pancreatitis to complete loss of motor function of lower limbs without forgetting the more common rise in liver transaminases. Ok, fair enough, no one is denying it.
The sad reason it is still so commonly prescribed is that it is cheaper for insurance companies. While working in the UK, one had to get special approval from a consultant in order to prescribe a safer statin drug such as Atorvastatin.
What bothered me most about this blog was that there was no mention of 1-the risks of high cholesterol, 2-how to take measures to lower it without a magic pill, 3-all the research showing how high dose statins are actually beneficial following and preventing a cardiac infarct. So basically, the way this was presented, it just picked a few things and made a headline out of it... how many people will read this and take it to face value and simply quit their medication with potentially fatal effects?
Talk about misinformation versus education... I won't even start with the whole antioxidant fad... you really think that anything so delicate as an antioxidant particle, put down your throat will survive the acidic environment of the stomach? Of course eating blueberries and the such will have positive effects on the body because they are packed with vitamins and minerals, but antioxidants?? Save your money!
Well, for the trivia part, any of you remember who and what 'Passover' was? It was the first chicken - who turned out to be a nice handsome rooster - who was born in our incubator when we were still living in Belgium. I think that was the first and the last time I found a chicken cute.
So for dinner, let's skip the meat and go for nice easy peasy prawns. You might want to make sure you have curry paste and coconut cream before you start, but it's an awesome and tasty dinner served over some instant thai noodles. Enjoy!
Thai Prawn Curry
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp root ginger fresh
1-2 tsp Thai red curry paste (we used Sharwood's)
400g can chopped tomatoes
50g sachet coconut cream
400g prawns, frozen
coriander, chopped, to serve (optional)
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Tip in the onion and ginger, then cook for a few mins until softened. Stir in the curry paste, then cook for 1 min more. Pour over the chopped tomatoes and coconut cream. Bring to the boil, then leave to simmer for 5 mins, adding a little boiling water if the mixture gets too thick.
Tip in the prawns, then cook for 5-10 mins more, depending on how large they are. Serve alongside some plain rice and sprinkle with a little chopped coriander, if you like.
