Osso Buco

Osso Buco: literally "Bone with a hole" in Italian. Traditionally, it's made with veal shanks, but a) veal is an industry I don't support and b) it's expensive. So get beef shanks instead.

Mats:

2 Bone-in beef shanks
1 onion, peeled and halved crosswise, then sliced into thin crescents
1 carrot, peeled and cut as small as you can (~1/8 inch dice)
1 celery rib, leaves removed, then cut as small as you can (~1/8 inch dice)
1 16oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk fresh rosemary, about 7 inches long. Or 1/2 tsp dried leaves
3 stalks fresh thyme. Or 1/2 tsp dried leaves
3 Tbsp butter
2c red wine
3c chicken or vegetable stock
Flour ~1/2c
~1 tsp salt

How-to

Pre-heat oven to 375F

Lay out the beef shanks and pat dry, pressing to get them as dry as possible. Sprinkle the salt on both sides of the shanks. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Pour the flour into a ziploc bag, then add the beef shanks. Seal and shake so the shanks are covered in flour.

Heat a pan over high heat and add 2 Tbsp of the butter **Important Note: You need to be able to fit both shanks in the pan at the same time without them overlapping** Make sure you use a big enough pan with a lid!

When the butter stops foaming, swirl the butter around in the bottom so everything is covered, then shake the excess flour off the shanks and place in the pan.

Cook for 6 minutes, then flip and cook for 6 more minutes. Then remove the meat to a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining 1 Tbsp butter, then add the onion, celery and carrot (mirepoix!) Add the minced garlic and cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until onions are golden. Make sure to stir often to scrape up all that delicious fat and brown bits that rendered off the shanks and incorporate them into the vegetables.

Add 1c wine, the can of tomatoes, and 1c stock, stir, and bring to a boil.

When it's boiling, add the rosemary and thyme, then put the beef on top of them. The liquid should be about level or 3/4 of the way up the sides of the shanks. Bring to a boil.

Cover and move the whole pan to the oven. We're going to braise the meat for 2 hours now, so the most important thing is to keep adding liquid as it boils off. So cook for 30 minutes.

Flip and add another cup of stock. Cook for 30 more minutes

Flip again and add the other cup of wine. Cook for 30 *more* minutes.

Flip again and add the third cup of stock. Cook for 30 more minutes.

The shanks should be falling-off-the-bone tender now and easily pierced with a fork. Pull out of the oven and serve. Traditionally it's served over risotto, but I paired it with mashed potatoes.

Sausage Barley Soup

I like barley a lot. My mum would make a spinach soup with these tiny little meatballs in it that I adored, but I often just don't have the energy to make dozens of tiny little meatballs.

Mats:

1lb Italian sweet sausage (or hot, but I don't like hot)
1/2c pearl barley, uncooked
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
5 cloves garlic, crushed
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1cm rounds
8 cups/16 oz/1 box chicken stock. Or two cubes of chicken bullions + 4c water
1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
1/2 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp tomato paste. Or 1 can diced tomatoes with liquid and omit the extra 2c water
Optional: 10 oz frozen chopped spinach. Don't defrost or drain it.

How-To

Heat a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage links and cook for 4 minutes, then rotate and cook for another 4. You don't need them cooked through, just a little char on the outside. Remove the links to a cutting board and cool.

Meanwhile in the same pot, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes or until onion starts becoming translucent

Add garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute.

Add the chicken stock and 2 additional cups of water. **Note** if you're using the can of diced tomato and liquid instead of the tomato paste, omit the additional water.

Stir in the basil, oregano and 1/2c of barley.

Cut your cooled sausage into 2cm rounds, then add into the soup, along with any juices. I find a knife with a serrated blade is best for cutting partially-cooked sausage.

Reduce heat to medium-low and boil for 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, add the sliced carrots and the block of frozen spinach. Cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve, topping with grated Parmesan cheese if you like.

Barley with Red Kuri and Thyme Sauce

You can cut the prep time of this dish drastically if you use brown rice instead of barley. Barley is nice and chewy, but some might not like the consistency of an unfamiliar grain.

Mats:

1 cup pearl barley
2 cups red kuri squash
1 Tbsp butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4c heavy cream
2 Tbsp fresh thyme (or 2 tsp dried)
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp apple vinegar (I used red apple balsamic, but apple cider is also good)
1/2c feta cheese, crumbled

How-to:

Cook the barley. 1 cup of barley, 3 cups of water, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium low, cook for 45-50 minutes.

Meanwhile, cube the squash. Cut the stem off the top, then split the squash. Scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh with a spoon (like you would with a butternut squash or a pumpkin). Slice the squash into cubes. You don't have to peel it! Just give it a good scrub before chopping up and the rind of the plant is delicious.

Put the cubed squash into a medium pot and fill with water. Bring to a full boil and cook for 10 minutes or until the squash is tender. You need to be able to easily pierce the rind-side with a fork.

Drain the squash, reserving 3/4c of the cooking water.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and saute for 7 minutes or until translucent. Add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 more minute, then remove from heat.

Put the squash, thyme, nutmeg, cream, and 2/3c of the reserved cooking water into a food processor and puree. If it's too thick and your processor is seizing up, add the rest of the reserved water. Process until you have a smooth sauce with no visible lumps.

Hopefully your barley is done cooking now, so dump that in a big serving bowl and add the onion/garlic mixture and pour the squash puree over top. Stir in the apple vinegar.

When serving, sprinkle the feta cheese on top and enjoy.

Pasta with Marinara-'Cream' Sauce and garlic breadcrumbs

This recipe uses pureed cashews to fake a cream sauce.

Mats - serves 4

1 recipe of Pasta Sauce
1 1/2 roasted, UNSALTED cashews
4 slices sourdough bread
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp butter
1 lb pasta of choice. I use penne because it's easy to eat.

How-to

Soak the cashews in enough water to cover them for 2 hours, or overnight. This softens them so the sauce will be creamier, but you can skip this step if you're pressed for time.

Heat the pasta sauce in a small pot.

Add the soaked cashews to a food processor, then add 1/2c of the soaking water (or regular water if you didn't soak them). Blend until smooth. If the cashews are a bit chunky still, add water at 1/4c at a time until it's smooth as you can get it.

Prepare the pasta according to directions on the box.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a small saucepan over  medium-low heat.

Gouge the middle of the bread out and crumble it into crumbs. Add it to the melted butter.

Add the garlic powder to the breadcrumbs and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often so your breadcrumbs don't burn.

While the pasta is cooking, add the pureed cashews to the warm pasta sauce, stir to combine, and heat through.

Drain the pasta, top with the warm sauce and sprinkle the garlic breadcrumbs on top. I also tossed some Parmesan cheese and sliced kalamata olives in there as well.

Fruit Tarts

This does not qualify as a 'healthy' meal by any stretch of the imagination, but it was so tasty I want to add it to my repertoire. Slightly time-consuming though.

Crust
1/2c butter, softened to room temperature
1/4c white sugar
1 1/2c flour
1 egg, lightly beaten

Beat the butter until fluffy.

Add sugar and mix until lightly combined.

Add beaten egg and mix until smooth

Add flour in small increments, mixing gently until it forms a stiff dough.

Put the dough ball on a sheet of wax paper, flatten into a disc and freeze for 15 minutes

Press the dough into your tin of choice (I don't have a tart tin so I used little cupcake-sized holders. They were the kind you can bake without a separate tin, and they worked surprisingly well).

Prick the bottoms of the tart crust with a fork gently to keep it from puffing up.

Heat oven to 400, bake for 5 minutes

Reduce heat to 350, bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool COMPLETELY before filling otherwise your custard might curdle.

New, Improved, Gluten-Free Crust: when flour does not love the ones you love

2c almond flour
1/4c white sugar
1/8tsp salt
1/4c butter, softened
1 egg
1/4tsp vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients together

Cut in the soften butter and mix until loose crumbs form

Add the egg and vanilla, mix some more.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown

Same caveats apply in regards to cooling.

Custard
1 1/4c whole milk
3 large egg yolks
1/4c white sugar
4Tbsp cornstarch
1tsp vanilla extract

I've found the key to the custard is to do all the prep steps first and MOVE QUICKLY. Measure everything out and have all the bowls ready to do the assembly process.


Beat the egg yolks. Add the sugar to the yolks and stir to combine. This should happen in a large, heatproof bowl.

At the same time, bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan. Use medium-low heat and keep an eye on it, stirring it as much as you can.

Add the cornstarch/flour mixture to the egg/sugar mixture and stir until it resembles a paste.

When the milk is starting to boil, remove the pan from heat and pour some of the hot milk into a measuring cup.

Very, very, VERY slowly, pour the hot milk into the egg paste, stirring all the time. We're talking add drops at a time and whisk like a maniac, scraping the sides of the bowl and trying to get all the egg incorporated.

When you've mixed about 3/4c of the hot milk into the egg, return all of the egg mixture and all the remaining milk to the saucepan. Bring to a boil on the lowest possible heat setting.

Never stop whisking.

Add the vanilla extract.

Keep whisking.

When it starts to boil, let it boil for 45 seconds.

Keep whisking.. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as much as you can manage.

Pour the custard into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Make the plastic wrap touch the top of the custard so a skin won't form. Refrigerate until you need to use it.

Glaze
Heat 1/4c jelly or jam in fruit of your choice with 1Tbsp water until the jelly goes back to being a liquid.

Assembling
Take the crust, spoon the cool custard on top of it, top with fruits that you like. I used berries. Avoid 'drippy' fruits like pineapple. Spoon the cooled glaze over  top, cover again with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Pasta "Alfredo"

Again, this is not a real alfredo recipe. Dairy and I do not get along well, but that doesn't mean I stop looking for delicious alternatives. And this is *miles* better than my previous attempt.

Mats:
1 lb spiral pasta - I used cavateppi
1 head cauliflower, florets removed from stem
1 onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Tbsp olive oil
2c almond milk
Optional tasty add-ins - I used sun-dried tomatoes and kalamata olives

How-To
Heat oven to 425. In a baking dish, toss the cauliflower florets, chopped onion and WHOLE garlic cloves in the oil. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, or until the cauliflower is easily pierced with a fork.

When the veggies are done, blend with the almond milk in a food processor. You'll probably need to do it in two batches unless you have a really big machine. You want a very smooth consistency. If it's too chunky, add a bit more milk until you have a thick, but smooth, almost-paste.

While the sauce is processing, heat a big pot of water until boiling, then cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and pour into a big bowl.

Add the sauce and any add-ins to the pasta and stir

Sweet Mustard Marinade

I did chicken in this marinade, as it's a good base to hold the flavors. White fish or shrimp would probably be nice too.

Mats:

1/2cup Dijon Mustard

1/4cup packed brown sugar

1/4cup red wine vinegar

1tsp dry mustard powder

1tsp salt

1tsp ground black pepper

6cloves garlic, crushed


How-to:

Combine all ingredients and mix until combined. I used a food processor so I didn't need to crush the garlic by hand.

Marinate meat of choice for at least 4 hours.

*This was enough marinade for 2 chicken breasts and 2 chicken thighs (because I needed to use them up). I cooked it by running 3 onions through my mandolin and lining a baking dish with them, then putting the chicken on top and dumping the marinade over it all. 45 minutes at 400 degrees and paired with broccoli.

Salad with basil-feta pesto and shrimp

I used my very own garden-grown lettuce and basil for this one :) I also forgot to take a picture of it before I ate it... whoops

Mats:

4 cups lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized chunks
1 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup raw walnuts
2 Tbsp sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil
1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp Feta cheese
1 can artichoke hearts
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined

How-To

Dump the basil, walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes, 1 artichoke heart, and both cheeses into a food processor. Run the food processor to combine, adding the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes as needed to get a smooth consistency.

Grill the shrimp at 375 for 3 minutes. I put them on my pannini press, so I did both sides at once. If you're doing it on a real grill, about 2 min, flip, then grill 1 more minute

Toss the lettuce with the shrimp, pesto, rest of the artichoke hearts, and halved tomatoes. Top with extra feta if you wish.

Salmon Chowder

One upon a time, I thought my husband was teasing me by telling me to get the Liquid Smoke out of the cabinet for him. Ha ha, I said, you can't fool me...

Mats:
3 Tbsp butter
1 onion, cut into 1cm sized bits
2 stalks of celery, cut into 1 inch bits
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 Tbsp flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 carrots, cut into 1 inch bits
2 cups potatoes, cut into 1 inch bits. This is about 1 lb.
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried dill
1 lb of salmon, bones and skin removed and cut into bits. You can either use fresh salmon and cut it up or canned salmon.
1 cup whole milk

2 caps Liquid Smoke, because it is a thing.

How-to:

In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.

Add the flour and stir well to make a roux.

When the flour is making a sticky paste on the veggies, add the chicken broth, carrots, potatoes, pepper and dill.

Cover and boil for 20 minutes.

Turn the heat to low and add the milk, and salmon, stirring well. Heat the soup and keep stirring so the cheese melts.

Add the Liquid Smoke, stir, and serve.

Green Pasta Primavera

Springtime again! Start the season with some fresh veggies

Mats:
1/2cup pine nuts. Also called pignoli nuts
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp olive oil
8 cloves minced
2 medium leeks, sliced
1 lb broccoli raab, chopped into bite sized bits
1 cup peas
8 oz farfalle (bowtie) pasta
1/4c white wine

How-to 
Heat a pot of water to boiling, add the pasta and cook for 10 minutes or until done. When you drain the pasta, save 1/3c of the pasta water.

Heat a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts and toast for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the toasted pine nuts to a food processor with 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Blend on high until smooth.

Add the pine nut mixture to the reserved pasta water. Stir so the pine nut mixture is soupy

In a large saucepan, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. The garlic should get nice and browned.

Add the sliced leek and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the chopped broccoli raab and white wine, cook for 10 minutes. Stir halfway through

Add the peas and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.

Turn off the heat, add the cooked pasta and stir so it's combined.

Pour the soupy pine nut mixture over top and mix well.

Red Curry Vegetable Soup

My work has instituted a soup day where someone brings in soup! I hesitated on the sign-up list this month, but if we do it again later, I'm totally bringing this one.

Mats
1Tb canola oil
1 head cauliflower (about 1.5 lbs) chopped into bite-sized florets
6 green onion, trimmed and chopped into 1/2in bits
2Tbsp red curry paste
4 cups = 32oz = 1 box vegetable broth
1/2c rice
15oz canned diced tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
12 oz green beans, cut in half
1.5Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp salt

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add cauliflower and green onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add curry paste and rice, stir so everything is coated and cook 1 minute

Add vegetable broth and diced tomatoes, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Boil for 10 minutes.

Add coconut milk and lime juice, boil for 5 minutes.

Add green beans, bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.

Serve. This is really mild, so if you like it with a bit of a kick, add some cayenne or red pepper.

Chicken, Pears, and Cherries

I *may* be on a bit of a pear kick recently.

Mats:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise so they're thin cutlets
2Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 pears
1c chicken broth
1/4c balsamic vinegar
2Tbsp sugar
2tsp cornstarch
1/4c dry cherries or 1c whole frozen cherries

Remove the stems from the pears and slice a very thin bit off the top and bottom so it can stand on a flat side. Slice the pear in half from top to bottom, then remove the seeds and any tough flesh from the core.

Turn the pear halves so the long side is down (skin should be up now) and slice into thin half-moons. Try to get them about 1/4in thick.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and saute for 4 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken to a plate when done cooking. Don't cover the plate in anything, the chicken and all the delicious juices are going back in the pan eventually.

Add the diced onion to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the pear slices. Cook until the pear slices are soft, about 5 minutes.

While the pears are cooking, combine the broth, vinegar, sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly so the cornstarch dissolves - you don't want lumpies in your sauce.

When the pears slices are soft, add the sauce to the pear/onion mixture. Increase the heat back to high and heat the mixture until it is just barely bubbling. Cook for 6 minutes, stirring the whole time. This will thicken the sauce.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the cherries and the chicken along with any juices that have escaped from its time sitting. Stir.

Cover the pan with a lid, then cook for 10 minutes.

Serve over a starch. I used a rice/lentil/quinoa mixture, but a solo of any of those would be fine too.

Pear and Avocado Veggie bowl

Nothing like a nice, ripe pear in the winter! This recipe uses firm-fleshed Asian pears, but Red Pears would work just as well. Don't use a mushy strain of pear, and make sure your avocado isn't overripe.

Mats
1 15oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
2 Asian pears, cored and thinly sliced.
3 celery stalks, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 cucumber, diced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
1/2c cilantro, chopped
1/4c lime juice
2 Tbsp oil. I used avocado oil because it's awesome, though canola would be fine.

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and toss to combine.

White Fish, Green Salsa

This recipe will work well with any fairly firm, white fish like cod, red snapper, or tilapia. Stay away from fragile fish like flounder.

Mats:
2 fillets of your fish of choice. I used tilapia
1 Tbsp butter
1 lb new or fingerling potatoes. Or 4 red skinned potatoes, cut into bite sized chunks
1 bunch parsley. I used curly because I think flat-leaf parsley is a bit bitter
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 Tbsp capers
3 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Hass avocado
2 Tbsp oil

Cut the potatoes into bite-sized bits and put in a small pot. Fill with water so the potatoes are covered, add a tsp of salt, then heat over high heat. When the water begins to boil, reduce heat to medium, cover, and boil for 15 minutes. When they're easily pierced with a fork, drain the water.

Combine capers, garlic and lemon juice in a food processor and run for about 30 seconds to chop.

Add the parsley and cilantro, then run the food processor some more. You may need to add the greens in small bunches so they get processed evenly. Scrape the sides down to the bottom of the processor so the blades can chop everything.

When the greens are chopped as small as you can get them, slice the avocado in half, remove the pit, then add the avocado flesh to the food processor. Run it again to incorporate the avocado into the salsa.

While the processor is running, add the 2 Tbsp oil. By this point you should have a smooth, creamy mixture. If it's not incorporating well, add some more oil to the running processor.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Tilt the pan around and spread the butter so it coats the entire bottom of the pan. Add the fish fillets and cook for three minutes.

Flip the fish fillets and cook for another 3 minutes.

Serve by putting a fish fillet on top of a bed of potatoes, then top with half of the green salsa mixture.

Vegetable Pot pie

Huh, recipe 100. I guess that's one way to kick off the new year!

Mats:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 leek, white and light green parts only. Split in half lengthwise, wash the grit out (there's always grit in the leaf layers), and cut into 1/2 inch rounds.
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch rounds.
2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch bits (noticing a trend?)
2 Tbsp flour
2 1/4 cups vegetable or chicken broth. If you're using bullion cubes, use 1 cube with 2 1/4c water
1 tsp poultry seasoning (otherwise known a 1/4 tsp each of dried rosemary, thyme, sage, and lemon pepper)
4 red skinned potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Leave the skins on!
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 cup frozen peas
1 head broccoli, chopped into bite-sized chunks. If you're using frozen broccoli, use 1 cup.
1 9-inch pie crust, rolled out big enough to cover your pie plate.

Preheat the oven to 400.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the leek, carrot and celery. This is really close to our friend 'mirepoix', just using leek instead of an onion. Leeks are close enough to onions in taste that if you don't want to use a leek, or can't find them, substituting a yellow onion is perfectly fine.

Cook the vegetables together for 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Add 2 Tbsp flour and stir so the veggies are coated. We've added flour to an oil - we've now made a 'roux'! It's olive oil instead of the more common roux-base butter, but same principle.

Add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the vegetable/chicken broth, poultry seasoning, and the potato pieces. Stir so the potatoes are submerged in the liquid, then cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in the peas and broccoli, then pour into a pie pan. Note that there is no bottom crust on the pot pie!

Drape the pie crust over the vegetable mixture. It should overhang the edge of the pie plate by about a half inch. Press the hanging edges onto the pie plate to seal the pie shut, then poke a few holes in the crust for steam to escape.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Let sit for 10 minutes to allow the broth to thicken before scooping and serving.