A Peek in My Cart – January 25 – 31

I started the week in Masset, Haida Gwaii (a.k.a. Queen Charlotte Islands). Then a trip to the Winter Farmers Market inspired Sat & Sun meals.

Monday – Salmon, roasted potatoes, kale in peanut sauce, chocolate zucchini cake and red wine

A colleague and her partner hosted me for a delicious dinner my first night in Masset. Yes, the salmon was local. But so were the potatoes - did you know that there is a Haida potato?!

Tuesday – Halibut burger, salad, beer

It’s evening number 2 in Masset. There’s not many restaurants in Masset but we stumbled across a good one yesterday for lunch and we repeat for dinner. I’m not sure of the cafe’s name but it’s below Players. Succulent halibut burgers – ‘nough said.

Wednesday -    Spinach and orzo pie

I’m tired from travelling home from Masset so I’m happy to find that W hasn’t eaten all the leftovers.

Thursday – Fried oysters, bison flank steak, potatoes con queso, roasted tomatoes, and coconut rice pudding

W and I go to Latitude for a simple, beautiful anniversary dinner. The highlight of the meal was the coconut rice pudding – rich and great combination of textures. Oh, the breaded and fried Fanny Bay oysters were nice too.

Friday – Pesto pasta with snapper, rapini, bell peppers, mushrooms and capers

It’s a quick, fridge clean-out meal before we head over to babysit for friends. I used up a snapper fillet that I’d cooked that morning for a demonstration. Also, I used up the last of the frozen rapini, an OK product but I’ll stick to the old standby of frozen spinach.

Saturday – Sausages and celeriac-potato au gratin

A trip to the Winter Farmers Market today inspired tonight’s dinner. A gratin is such an easy way to cook root veggies like potatoes and celeriac. Especially with a Cuisinart. I use it to slice the celeriac, potatoes and onions. Then I switch to the grater blade to shred the cheese. Layer the veggies with salt, pepper, a dash of nutmeg, top with the cheese and fill the pan almost 1/2 way with milk. Cover and bake in the oven 400 – 425 degrees for 40 min – 1 hour, removing the cover for the last 10 minutes or so to brown the cheese.

Sunday – Beef stew

I use very few gadgets in the kitchen. But tonight I use a second gadget (after last night’s Cuisinart) – the slow cooker, a.k.a. crock pot. I LOVE slow cookers! Put you food in it and walk away. Return at dinner time and voila – a hot meal is ready. And, because they use slow, moist heat, you can use inexpensive ingredients like tougher cuts of meat, dried beans and lentils and root veggies. 

Beef Stew

This straight-forward recipe is from the manual that came with my slow cooker.  

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

¼ cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1.5 cups broth (e.g. beef, veggie)

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 clove garlic

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon paprika

4 carrots (or a combination of carrots and parsnips)

3 potatoes

1 onion

1 stalk celery, sliced

1. Peel and slice carrots/ parsips, peel and dice potatoes. Chop onion. Slice celery. 
2. Put meat into stonewear.  
3. Mix flour, salt and pepper. Pour over the meat. Stir to coat meat with flour. 
4. Add remaining ingredients and stir well to mix. 
5. Cover and cook on Low 10 hours or High 6 hours.  
6. Stir stew thoroughly before serving.