It’s HOT right now.  As in, 75 degrees F (23 C).  And it’s mid-January.  Oh how I love living on the Central Coast.  In Toronto right now it’s 21 F (-6 C) and snowing.

This past weekend we had a bonfire on the beach, went for [...]]]>

It’s HOT right now.  As in, 75 degrees F (23 C).  And it’s mid-January.  Oh how I love living on the Central Coast.  In Toronto right now it’s 21 F (-6 C) and snowing.

This past weekend we had a bonfire on the beach, went for a bike ride up on the cliffs by the ocean, and basically enjoyed this lovely summery weather we’ve been having.  Try not to be too jealous.

And lighter, spring-timey meals have suddenly become more attractive.  As has the unheated outdoor pool in our apartment complex.

Technically, these are called tuna CROQUETTES.  But for some reason, the word “croquettes” sounds to me really hokey and old-fashioned.  It might just be me.  Anyway, these easy tuna cakes have become a regular in my kitchen repertoire, for several reasons:

- They’re light and a nice alternative to meat, especially as we’ve been trying to eat lighter after the New Year =).

- They’re SUPER easy and fast to make and can be mixed up in one bowl, but you get a home-cooked meal instead of prepackaged junk.

- They use panko breadcrumbs, and everything is better with panko.

- They use canned tuna, which I ALWAYS have in the house.  But are quite elegant, not what you’d expect from canned tuna.  Would even make nice appetizers.

So without further ado, here’s the recipe from Mr. Alton Brown!

Tuna Cakes (or Croquettes)
Serves 2 as a light meal with a salad.

1 7-oz can of tuna
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 green onions, chopped
2 eggs
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs + another 1/2 cup for breading
salt and freshly cracked black pepper
squeeze of lemon juice
olive oil

Mix together tuna, mustard, onions, eggs, 1/4 cup breadcrumbs and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Using your hands, pat into 6-8 patties. Roll in remaining breadcrumbs. Place on a flat dry surface for 15 minutes (this allows them to firm up and the breadcrumbs to absorb excess moisture).

Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil over medium heat. Fry tuna cakes about 3 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through.

Serve with tartar sauce and wedges of lemon.

Sometimes you just want comfort food.  Good, warm, filling, comfort food.

This recipe arrived in my inbox from my weekly Saveur emails, and I was intrigued.  Not being American, I had never had this so-called “American classic” (or so Saveur dubbed it).  It looked incredibly easy [...]]]>

Sometimes you just want comfort food.  Good, warm, filling, comfort food.

This recipe arrived in my inbox from my weekly Saveur emails, and I was intrigued.  Not being American, I had never had this so-called “American classic” (or so Saveur dubbed it).  It looked incredibly easy – it’s just, after all, a bunch of cornmeal baked with meat sauce.  I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands, so I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to bake a casserole, but cooking the cornmeal and the meat sauce on the stovetop took a mere 20 minutes, and after popping it in the oven, 35 minutes more finished the meal.  35 minutes, might I add, that I used to brush my teeth, put on makeup, and kiss my husband when he came home before we needed to go out again to visit with friends.  I’m all about multi-tasking, and I love dishes that you can just stick in the oven and then forget about.  Especially dishes that are, with the addition of a salad, basically complete meals.

I don’t have kids, but if I did, I might put this dish into heavy rotation.  I mean, it’s so easy, it’s so filling, it’s tasty, and it’s so dang CHEAP!  I used a bit from my stock of ground beef from the HUGE package I got from Costco a while ago, added a can of tomatoes and some frozen “petite peas” and an onion, and with a few cents’ worth of cornmeal I had supper on the table!  It’s kind of Depression-era cooking, isn’t it?  Or should I say, Recession-era cooking?

I’ve also been reading a lot about gluten-free these days, especially since I have a couple friends who have recently switched to gluten-free diets and find that health issues they’d struggled with have suddenly vanished.  I think – I’m not sure, so correct me if I’m wrong – that this recipe doesn’t have any gluten in it.

Tamale Pie
From Saveur.com

4 tbsp butter
Salt
2 1/4 cups coarse cornmeal
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 cup green peas (original recipe called for 1 chopped bell pepper)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 1/4 pound lean ground beef
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Then cook the cornmeal.  Heat 4 cups of water with 2 tsp salt until boiling.  While water boils, sprinkle cornmeal in gradually, whisking vigorously all the while.  Turn heat down to low, and continue to cook until thick, about 8 minutes, stirring often.  When cornmeal is done, stir in 3 tbsp butter.

2.  While cornmeal is cooking, use remaining 1 tbsp of butter to butter a casserole dish or baking pan.  When cornmeal is ready, spread half of it out over the bottom of the pan.  Set the rest aside, covered to keep warm.

3.  Heat olive oil in a skillet, and cook the onion and garlic until slightly softened.  Add ground beef, chili powder, and cumin, and cook until ground beef is no longer pink.  Add the can of tomatoes and salt to taste.  When sauce is somewhat thickened and most of the liquid has been reduced, spread the meat sauce over the cornmeal in the dish.

4.  Spread the rest of the cornmeal over the meat.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until top of casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbling.

Chris and I are starting to settle into a rhythm of life here on the Central Coast. Chris goes to work; I tidy up the house and try to do some work (I’m freelancing now) while getting distracted by Facebook. Usually by the [...]]]>

Chris and I are starting to settle into a rhythm of life here on the Central Coast. Chris goes to work; I tidy up the house and try to do some work (I’m freelancing now) while getting distracted by Facebook. Usually by the afternoon, cabin fever sets in and I’m ready to get out of the house, especially on a beautiful clear day like today (gotta love that California weather). Today I took a walk and came to the most adorable family farm on the edge of town where they had a farm stand, and the cutest little organic fruits and vegetables! The owner told me in neighborly fashion that I could come take a walk on the fields anytime I felt like it. I didn’t have any money on me at the time, but I’m going to go back soon and bring home some pesticide-free produce.

I’m enjoying working from home. It gives me time to experiment with things I don’t always have time to do, like making bread. It’s also really nice to be on my own time.

In my newfound role as stay at home working wife, I also spend a good part of my day thinking up what to make for dinner. This is one of my husband’s favorites.

This tortilla pie is comfort food at its best. It’s the sort of humble, homey dish that hungry husbands love to come home to (woah, check out the alliteration there. I didn’t do that on purpose). Kind of a twist on lasagna with some Southwestern flavors. It’s easy to put together, and cheesy, spicy, saucy and delicious. To make it more kid-friendly, just omit the chili powder.

Tortilla Pie
I love serving this in a pie dish so it really seems like a tortilla PIE. My husband doesn’t love corn, but feel free to add some if you do.

5 8-inch round tortillas
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 pound ground beef
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 cup cooked pinto beans (or canned)
1 ½ cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
(optional) ½ cup frozen corn
(optional) prepared salsa

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Heat a little cooking oil over medium heat, and cook the onion and garlic until onion is softened. Add the ground beef, cumin and chili powder, and cook until ground beef is cooked through and no longer pink. Add the diced green pepper and stir for a minute to soften the green pepper. Add the tomato sauce and beans (and optional corn), stir till heated through.

In a pie dish, spread a layer of sauce, then lay a tortilla on top. Spread another layer of sauce and sprinkle a little cheese. Lay the next tortilla on top. Continue layering sauce, cheese, tortillas until finished (with cheese as the top layer). It’s ok if your stack ends up higher than the dish. If desired, put a few dollops of salsa on top of the pie.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and pie is heated through.

Serve with a big green salad. You’ll need to – this pie is pretty heavy, but delish!

Now, I realize that I don’t have a lot of meat recipes up on this site yet.  Um…like…any.  That’s not because Chris and I are vegetarians.  Oh no, quite the contrary.  While we can appreciate the fact that raising meat creates exponentially more [...]]]>

Now, I realize that I don’t have a lot of meat recipes up on this site yet.  Um…like…any.  That’s not because Chris and I are vegetarians.  Oh no, quite the contrary.  While we can appreciate the fact that raising meat creates exponentially more greenhouse gases, and that North Americans eat way too much meat for their own good, and that a diet based on vegetables, legumes, healthy oils, and fish helps you live the longest (aka the Mediterranean diet)…we couldn’t really envision giving up steak.  Or chicken.  Or bacon.

The reason, plain and simple, is that our freezer is a bit wonky, and only one of the 3 freezer drawers actually freezes (we live in China, friends).  Which makes it a bit complicated to store a lot of meat at once, and I’m generally too lazy to walk to the supermarket every time we want meat for a meal.  When faced with the choice between a walk (that might actually constitute exercise), and well, just using what’s in the crisper drawer…I’ll vote for vegetables every time.  I’m really not too sure how my health account sheet balances on that.

But with the realization that Chris needs protein in his diet to maintain his wonderful muscular figure came the realization that I really ought to cook some meat once in a while so the poor guy doesn’t have to rely solely on peanut butter for his protein fix.

So here we are.  Meat!  Finally!  I actually really like pork tenderloin.  It’s tender and juicy, and here in China, it’s dirt cheap, because China is the land of pork!  And by the way, I should really make this more often, because this dish came together in all of 20 minutes – just the time it took me to slice and season the pork, slice the apples, fry the meat, and sauté the apples.  The pork was juicy, savory, and just slightly spicy, and the sweetness of the apples was the perfect counterpoint.

Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Sautéed Apples

Tenderloins vary in size, so for 4 people, plan to buy about a pound to a pound and a half of pork.  You may have to buy 2 tenderloins.

1 to 1 ½ pounds of pork tenderloin (for 4 people)
½ tbsp mild red curry powder
salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp oil

3 apples (I used Galas, but any cooking apple will do)
¾ cup chicken or vegetable broth
pinch of dried herbs (thyme or rosemary or whatever you like…)

Cut the tenderloins into ¾ inch slices (they will cook quicker this way than if you cut them thicker, but if you like the look of a thicker medallion, go ahead and slice them 1 inch thick).  Season each side with salt and pepper, and rub them with the curry powder.

Peel and thinly slice the apples.  Set aside.

In a skillet, melt the butter with the oil over medium-high heat.  Lay the pork in the skillet and fry about 2 minutes on each side until cooked through, turning once.  The pork should be nicely browned on the outside.  Remove to a plate.

Add the apples to the skillet with the pan drippings.  Sauté until apples are browned, then pour in the broth, scraping up any browned bits.  Stir in the dried herbs and any juices that have accumulated on the plate with the pork.  Turn heat down to medium and boil until sauce is thickened and apples are tender, about 3-4 minutes.

Divide among plates and serve.