Image courtesy of www.joythebaker.com

The internet is a great source for all things foodie, and we’re constantly bookmarking, starring, and emailing intriguing recipes, food porn, and inspiration. Here’s a selection of clippings we think are worth checking out.

Waking up to these lemon raspberry rolls on a sunny Sunday morning would not be too shabby.

I know we’ve been enjoying late summer sun and warm temperatures, but I couldn’t help start drooling over these very Fall-appropriate roasted carrot and ricotta gnocchi.

Same thing goes for these bread and cheese meatballs. You’re sure to please the vegetarians in your life.

And again, it’s time for tomatoes. Think about making this Southeast Asian tomato salad for dinner tonight. Or, if you want some indulgence, roll up your shirtsleeves and make some biscuit dough for a tomato cobbler.

With a proper farewell to the days of cold weather eating, we christened the grill shortly thereafter with a new recipe from Bill’s Open Kitchen, by Australian superstar chef Bill Granger. I’ve waxed on before about my love for all things Bill, and his recipes continue to find their way into my regular kitchen rotation. Simple. Fresh. Delicious.

The warm weather menu: Bill’s Marinated Coriander Chicken with Cucumber Relish served with my own Mango and Herb Salad. This simple grilled chicken scented with fresh cilantro, peppercorns, citrus, and the sweetness of the grill, pairs perfectly with his Asian inspired cucumber, shallot, and chili relish that is tangy with a hint of sweetness. The fresh addition of my ripe mango salad with herbs and a light acidic dressing made for a lovely combination that I will certainly visit again and again.

Bill’s Marinated Coriander Chicken with Cucumber Relish

Mango Herb Salad

For the salad:
2 ripe mangoes cut into bite size pieces (the organic ones from Planet Organic are amazing!)
1 head of fresh butter lettuce washed and torn
2 green onions sliced
handful of chopped fresh cilantro
tbsp of chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup of sliced cucumber
1 avocado sliced

For the vinaigrette whisk together:
4 tbsp good quality olive oil
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 finely diced shallot
freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all of the salad ingredients in a big pretty bowl and toss lightly with vinaigrette just before serving. Happy sunshine days!

Cooking for others has become the most tangible way for me to tell them that I love and care for them without directly saying, “I care about you and want to do something to show you that I do.”  It’s done not by thinking those words, but by feeling them.  This is hardly revolutionary.  But as someone who is trying to put that caring toward herself (Solo Suppers Beyond Cereal), I need to regularly remind myself.  It’s not about keeping up with the Culinary Jones’, but keeping on top of making my special peeps feel as special as I can make them.  Food is nourishment.  For the body and the heart.  The act of sharing it with another person or showing a little love to yourself is so basic, yet so important.  It is nourishment for the soul.

The act of making a simple supper made me happy, made me busy.  The simple supper made someone else happy after a long week.  Thus, it was one of the best of recent memory.

Cornmeal-Crusted Tilapia

3 bowls:  One, about 0.5 cup of flour, salt and pepper.  Two,  a beaten egg.  Three, about 0.5 cup of cornmeal.
Dip tilapia fillets (washed and dried) in flour, then egg, then cornmeal.  Place on greased, tinfoil-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees.  Then broil for about 3 minutes until lightly browned.
Serve with sauce made with 0.75 cup of plain yogurt, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 cucumber, seeded and chopped, juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper.

Shaved Asparagus and Fennel Salad

I skipped the capers, topped with shaved Piave Vecchio.

Last-Minute Salad

8 halved cherry tomatoes, 3/4 cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced, 1 sliced mango, few teaspoons of chopped mint.  Dressing of 3 parts sesame oil, 1 part rice vinegar, 1/2 part honey, 1/2 part Sriracha.

Rice pudding and Blueberry-Lime Compote

Compote:  1 cup of frozen blueberries, zest and juice of 1 lime, 2 teaspoons of sugar.  Simmer everything together for about 20 minutes. Cool completely.

For those of you who know me, I apologize that since vacationing in Vietnam,  the only post I’ve done about it concerns fruit. 

Amazing fruit, mind you, but fruit nonetheless.

Every time I think about doing a post, I start to miss being there.  And as Edmonton’s winter still seems to be leaving its trace, remembering moments in tropical heat makes my current discontent all the more worse.  As we cannot stop mentioning the longer Alberta days, I thought our obsession with the sun would twin nicely with posts on Vietnam.  And as the days are just going to get shorter again (too) soon, I should get in while the getting’s good.  Like Kramer and Newman with the Mackinaw peaches.

I don’t have to go much into why a foodie would want to go to Vietnam.  Culinary stars such as Tony Bourdain and Dorie Greenspan have made recent journeys to taste the vast landscape of Vietnamese cuisine.  More sweet in the South, more bitter in the North.  City air that is as heavy with the smells of rice and cilantro as it is with scooter exhaust.  The best baguettes I’ve had outside of France.  Right now I’m craving a deep-fried pumpkin flower stuffed with catfish that I had while in the Mekong Delta. *sigh*

Green papaya salad with shrimp, Mango Rooms, Hoi An

Green papaya and green mango salads quickly became an obsession.  Few things seemed more perfect on a hot afternoon than a cold salad of crunchy fruit in a salty dressing.

Green papaya salad, Hoa Sua School, Hanoi

Hoa Sua School

KOTO

Banana flower salad, KOTO, Hanoi

Banana flower salad, Red Bridge Cooking School, Hoi An

The salads were what I wanted most when I came home.  An inspired bowl of cold-spicy and salty-sweet to offset the persistence of dry radiator air.  Something that would be kind to my waistline after one too many baguettes and cones of “young rice” ice cream.  For a quick fix, I headed to Lucky 97 to get some ingredients to go with the rotisserie chicken I had at home.   

With the exception of the dressing, I didn’t really follow a recipe.  For two girls who were to stay in and paint their nails, I bought two mangos and one green papaya.  Purple basil, cilantro, and mint.  Shredded carrots.  One diced chili.  Scallions.  Sesame seeds.  The chicken.   A super simple dressing c/o Red Bridge:  juice of one lime, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 garlic clove crushed, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. 

It was too cold for a cold beer, but that’s what was then needed.
And as they say in Vietnam:  Yo!

With fresh on the mind, last weekend launched our BBQ season for the year and set the bar high. Perfectly grilled salmon with a Moroccan Chermoula that could make anything delectable. Admittedly, salmon is never my first choice of fish. I prefer the meatiness of halibut, they delicate taste of basa, or the simplicity of pan fried trout, but this preparation boosts a simple fresh piece of salmon to a crave worthy treat. Add to that two fresh and simple salads, one beetroot salad with arugula, snap peas, and fresh oranges, and one carrot, feta, and mint salad (both from Simply Bill by Bill Granger), and there was no doubt that my days of summer had begun.

These dishes are the kind you will return to again and again, when the days grow longer and the sun starts peaking through the long cold days to finally warm your skin.

Chermoula Grilled Salmon

fresh salmon fillet or fish of your choice

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup sesame seeds

4 cloves of minced garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp chili flakes

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Using a food processor or mortar and pestle, chop/pound cilantro, sesame seeds, and garlic. Slowly add oil to mixture. stir in paprika, chilies, salt, and lemon juice.

Place salmon on foil lined with parchment. Spoon mixture over the top of the fish generously. (This recipe usually makes more marinade than I require and I freeze the extra for future use.) Fold parchment/foil over fish to form a sealed packet that will be placed directly on the BBQ. Let marinate in the fridge for up to one hour prior to grilling. Heat BBQ to medium heat and grill for approximately 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the fish.

Beetroot Salad

18 baby beets

baby arugula

handful of snap peas, trimmed and blanched

2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced (I couldn’t find blood oranges and substitued with a regular orange)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp chopped fresh oregano

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Trim beets and cook in boiling salted water for 30-40 minutes, or until tender.Rinse under running water and peel away the skin.

Arrange arugula, sliced beets, snap peas and blood oranges on a platter. Mix together olive oil, white wine vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper and drizzle over salad.

Carrot, Feta and Mint Salad

1 kg carrots, peeled, halved, and sliced

2 garlic cloves crushed

3 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup pitted black olives (I like the dried at the Italian Centre for this recipe, or kalamata)

small handful of fresh mint leaves

Cook the carrots in boiling salted water for 1 minute. Drain and refresh in iced water. Stir together garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. Arrange carrots on a serving platter. Top with crumbled feta, mint, and olives, and drizzle with the dressing.

Add a crisp chilled buttery viognier and soak up the sun!

So, a post about a lazy meal on a lazy Sunday is going to be just that.  The laziness also extends to it being posted a week late.  But as it’s Sunday again, it all works.

The most effort this lazy salad required was making the red wine vinaigrette and slicing the fennel.  Otherwise, everything was simply chopped:  pre-washed baby romaine, kalamata olives, tiny sweet peppers, avocado, yellow tomatoes, fennel, fresh basil, store-bought rotisserie chicken.

The modified ham and cheese required the use of the broiler.  Therefore, I technically cooked.

After slicing the cheddar biscuits (from the freezer), I placed shaved prosciutto, sliced Granny Smith, and goat cheese on top.

Dessert was Breyer’s.  The digestif was a good dose of laughing while watching the gang of 30 Rock with my Lazy Sunday partner in crime.

I did not make a Sunday roast, but I did turn the oven on and the chicken had been roasted at some point.

So there.

The Matsuhisa dressing on this signature dish has become a kitchen staple that is simple, delicious, and immensely versatile. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and is packed with flavour. Add that to thinly sliced, crisp, ice bathed vegetables, like radishes and turnips, with a side of perfectly seared tuna, and you have Nobu at home.

The recipe can be found in Chef Matsuhisa’s cookbook “Nobu Now” or at:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/10/nobus-tuna-tataki-sashimi-salad-matsuhisa-dressing-recipe.html

For the dressing, I have found that Keen’s Hot Mustard powder is also quite successful if you are unable to track down the Japanese style mustard powder. And of course the salad can be adapted to any and all vegetables that you fancy, and in this sub-zero weather, perhaps best enjoyed with a bowl of hot miso?