Katia Trudeau Photography

What does a girl do when she has a 20 min time slot between finishing up work and watching the season premiere of House MD?  Make pastries, of course!  This was a complete spur of the moment decision that turned out quite nicely. Took four peaches that were slowly being attacked by fruit flies and cut them up into a pot. Generously sprinkled sugar over them and poured a tiny bit of water to get the whole thing going. While that was bubbling away, rolled out the left overs of some puff pastry and cut that up into squarish parts. I put a spoon of peaches into each square, closed them up, and into the oven they went. They were ready just in time for the first commercial break! Mmm yummy goodness.

Another week, another cooking adventure! Once again I was watching The Main on the food network. Figured out why I like that show – his kitchen wall is teal colour. I love teal! And his photography director is super awesome! When they show snapshots of the food he is about to make, it’s always very artsy and goes along with my style. And, and I like the videography too: they focus on the details! Plus, the song to the show is great. I swear I don’t sing along! Anyways, I tried this Trout themed episode, and I made everything minus the pastry, which I bought fresh. Flaky pastry is not my forte and it takes too long to make. I was running late as it was and only managed to take a few quick photos. Only a few fantabulous food shots this time around, sorry!

So here is my problem with this recipe – he made it in 30 min! Which I understand, it’s television and all, but it took me almost 2 hours to finish up everything, and I didn’t make the pastry!!! I went for one large pot pie instead of individual ones simply because I don’t have ramekins. I also used more trout than was required, which ended up costing 15$ alone. Also I didn’t bother getting white wine, wine vinegar, or dill, just subbed everything. The good things about this recipe: a) delicious is an understatement! Pot pie was simply amazing b) Caesar salad dressing is one of the best I’ve ever had c) Croutons turned out very nice d) I used leek and anchovies for the first time EVER.

There were few things that didn’t go as smoothly as I’ve hoped. The sauce for the pot pie got a bit too thick and while layering the ingredients it also got cold. It ended up just sitting on top of the trout, but at the end it still worked out nicely. Other issue was with separating the skin from fillet of the trout. You know how on TV they do it so effortlessly? They say “just place a knife between the skin and fillet and glide it through”.  As i discovered, it’s actually a lot of work! First, you have to get a good grip on the fish, then try to stick a knife between the skin and fillet without cutting yourself. Next, you have to hold on to that skin tight and PULL the knife through. It’s a mini workout in itself!

All in all dinner worked out well! Once again there were a lot of pots, pans to wash, and a full dishwasher of random plates and cutlery. Pheeewww! This recipe was a delicious ‘workout’! I’ll do it again.

Doesn’t leek look pretty when cut??

My food looks messy as always : )

Keeping in tradition with my list, I tried yet another recipe. I’d like to think I’m doing well with my clean 2 for 2 record (six more weeks to go!). This time around, I mixed and matched things, making an oyster sauce stir fry. On my trip to a Korean supermarket I ran into a white lady who was trying to explain to the stock boys that she wanted an oriental salad dressing. She was looking for that sweet and tangy thing she had at some restaurant. It was pretty amusing watching them search through various bottles of dressings, marinades, oils, and vinegars. After a few recommendations the lady gave up and said that she’ll look it up on the food network… Yay food network!?!? I love that supermarket. It’s like being back in Japan but with the addition of Korean and Chinese foods! And nothing beats 50% off all prepared food after 7, aaaand they are open 365 till 11pm. Wow, I sound like an ad campaign for the store, it’s just that good!

So, back to my awesome cooking skills: onion, garlic, bean sprouts, oyster mushrooms, baby bok choy, fresh rice noodles, and oyster sauce. Turned out pretty good, looked messy as always. I’ve never been one to plate my food all pretty, unless we’re talking cake. I’m more of the “cook, pile up, and eat” type of girl. So that’s exactly what I did. The picture proof of me keeping up with the list follows.

Cauliflower – $1.00 you say?!? That was my reaction when I noticed the price tag on white delicious goodness while on a quick mission to pick up pasta at a grocery store. The gears quickly turned trying to recall the recipe that I just saw on Food Network’s ‘The Main’ (Yay, for food network!). Hmm.. potatoes, breadcrumbs, CAPERS = basket full, so much for ‘just pasta’ pick up. I scavenged the fridge and the garden gathering left over ingredients. Not gonna lie, I substituted herbs, simply because rosemary always tastes like soap to me. Threw in some basil, thyme, and bay leaf fresh from the garden. Scratched the whole nutmeg deal, not a fan. Peal, cut, boil, stir, bake, done! It was fast, easy, and very messy. Four pots? Are you kidding me? The end results was delicious, maybe not so presentable, but delicious. Slightly unhealthy due to the whole cream/butter part, but I did cut back on those, and maybe cauliflower with it’s almost 0 calories and 0 bad stuff balanced it out.  Anthony Sedlak can definitely cook! And I’m working through my “I’d love to …” list, trying new recipes once a week: Cauliflower and Caper Gratin. By the way, the price tag on this is less than $5, and feeds 4 without a problem.

P.s. I’m also testing Twitter hook-up with this post. Let’s see if it‘ll work. If not, I apologize for the mess.