Last night I made chiles rellenos and documented the whole thing, here are the instructions step by step.

Get 2 chiles poblanos per person. Wash, pat dry, spray with oil and broil for about 12 minutes turning once.

Take blackened chilies and put in plastic bag. Close and let them cool off.

While chilies are cooling off, prepare filling and sauce. I used the typical tomato sauce used for a lot of Mexican food: in blender put fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, veggie bouillon. Blend until liquified.

Cook sauce in 2 tbsp vegetable oil, for about 10 minutes. Salt to taste and season with bay leaf, oregano, garlic powder, cumin and pepper while it’s cooking. Let boil to thicken a bit.

For refried beans: finely chop onion, cilantro, jalapenos and garlic. Use one can of black beans.

Heat oil in pot, saute chopped ingredients for 4 minutes. Add the undrained can of beans. After about 8 minutes, mash beans with masher.

Chilies are now cooled. Peel skin off, make a side slit and take the seeds off as well as any veins.

Once peeled, seeded and deveined, fill chilies with refried beans. Careful, the flesh is very soft and delicate.

Serve sauce on top of chilies, with a side of rice and fried plantains. The sweetness of the plantains goes very well with the flavour of the poblano chilies.

Enjoy!

This recipe has been cross-posted with Garlicster.

How to make a creamy soup when no milk or cream is to be added? I found a few recipes but they all said to mix everything with the blender, but then the leeks would not be visible. I wanted the soup to be creamy but the leeks to be recognizable within the soup. To make this recipes you need to prepare the leeks and the potatoes in separate pots, this will allow to puree the potatoes and leave the chopped leeks to add chunky texture to the soup.

I used:
4 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 large leeks, chopped (there are 3 in the picture but I only used 2)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth or water (or more depending on how thick it is and/or how liquid you like it
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
In a large pot brown the garlic in the olive oil, add the potatoes and sautee until lightly browned. Add the broth to the potatoes and boil until softened.

In a separate pot, sautee the leeks in the olive oil for 2 minutes.

When the potatoes are cooked in the broth, puree with the hand blender, the texture will be that of a vichyssoise. Add the leeks and simmer for 2 minutes for flavour.

Add the chopped ginger and the curry powder to the soup. This will make the soup look a bit yellow, not the usual white, but will give it a distinctive flavour of deliciousness. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and enjoy!

Yesterday I tried this delicious recipe and a totally new thing for me, I knew that the dish existed because I saw it once on the Food Network, but I had never thought of trying it. I was trying to come up with original veggie ideas for grilling and that’s when I remembered the lettuce. I did not follow the recipe on the Food Network, but I followed the technique and main idea.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
3 heads of romaine lettuce

Instructions:
To make dressing, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Slice each head of lettuce in two, lengthwise.

Brush the lettuce with the dressing.

Grill the lettuce on both sides for 5 minutes total. Brush with the dressing when turning around. You don’t want to grill it for too long or it will wilt. You want it to be warm and grilled, but not soggy and wilted.

Here is the grilled lettuce. The picture is not very good, but I can assure you it was crunchy and soft at the same time, and it had nicely absorbed the delicious Asian-inspired dressing. Each person ate a whole half of lettuce and other veggies as well.

This recipe is super garlicky and not for the faint of heart. To make it a bit friendlier decrease the amount of garlic in the pesto.

Ingredients:
2 cups tightly pressed fresh basil
2 heads of garlic
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
3 cups assorted mushrooms (I used shitake and cremini, but you can use portobello, white, oyster, etc.)
Fresh long pasta (I used fetuccine from St. Lawrence Market)
Salt and pepper to taste
Dehydrated garlic to taste
1 oz cooking sherry

Instructions:
There are 2 parts to this recipe, the pesto, which is raw, and the pasta with mushrooms.

To make the pesto:
Finely chop the tomatoes or chop them in the food processor. Add some salt and leave them in a strainer to get rid of the excess water.

After about 10 minutes, the tomatoes will be rid of their excess water. Put them back in the food processor along with the basil and the peeled cloves of one head of garlic. You can also add about one teaspoon of dehydrated garlic if you want. Chop finely.

When all the ingredients are finely chopped in the food processor, add about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. This will give the pesto its saucy consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

To make the pasta and mushrooms:
Chop the mushrooms and the cloves of 1 head of garlic.

Stir fry the chopped garlic in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, when the garlic is softened, add the mushrooms and keep stir frying. Add salt and pepper to taste. When mushrooms are cooked (about 4 minutes) add one shot of sherry. Cover and let boil for about 1 minute.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in lots of salted water according to instructions. The fresh pasta from St. Lawrence Market takes about 4 minutes to be al dente.
When pasta is ready, toss it into the warm soupy mushrooms (my pasta looks red because I got tomato pasta).

Let the pasta absorb the mushroom juices for about 1 minute.
Serve in a big spaghetti bowl. Add the pesto on top.

Enjoy, and be careful with all that garlic. No, seriously, I was kind of crying at the end of my dinner. But it was goood!

Tonight I’m planning on making lentil soup in my pressure cooker. Not the Mexican style lentil soup that I posted recently. This time I’m planning on making “normal” style, with carrots, celery and spinach.
The past week I haven’t cooked much at home, I was planning on doing so yesterday, but it was so cold in Toronto it reached -24 or something. I just couldn’t find the will to go to the supermarket to get the ingredients. I have some rice at home and that’s what I was going to make for dinner, but James suggested going to The Richmond Rogue for dinner and it was so much better. We still froze on our way there and back, though, even if it’s like 300 metres from our building.
The funny thing is that I had been to the Rogue the previous evening as well, this time with Wendy, we went for a nice dinner and drinks after work. Ah well, I had different things for dinner both nights.

Winterlicious starts today in Toronto and it’s all over the news. I can’t go, though. It’s a fixed menu with no substitutions. Usually the vegetarian entry is loaded with cheese, so it doesn’t fit my dietary restrictions.
Ah well, I guess I’ll cook at home. I enjoy it.

On weekends, we usually make the time for bigger breakfasts, almost brunch I should say.
I usually make everything from scratch, except for the tortillas, I buy those in St. Lawrence Market.
Last week we had chilaquiles.

I made the sauce with pasilla chiles (dry chiles, I bought those in St. Lawrence Market as well), tomatoes, onion, garlic and cilantro. The chips were Que Pasa unsalted tortilla chips. We ate them with a side of sunny-side-up fried eggs and pinto beans.

This morning we had enchiladas.

The enchiladas had tomatillo sauce (with green chile, onion, garlic and cilantro), they were filled with corn nibblets and served with fried eggs, avocado and refried beans.

These are all vegetarian and they would be even better with sour cream and crumbled cheese (NOT cheddar, there is no cheddar in Mexican food), but when you’re allergic to dairy you have to make some sacrifices. Ah well.

This post has been cross-posted with Garlicster.

Last week I got an email notifying me about the Joy of Cooking and its new website, The Joy Kitchen. My mother used to have The Joy of Cooking and I used to consult it a lot in my early days of learning how to cook.

The Joy of Cooking is celebrating is 75th anniversary (in 2006, actually) and it is credited to Irma S. Rombauer (the original author), Marion Rombauer Becker (her daughter), and Ethan Becker (their grandson and son, respectively).
It is Ethan Becker who took care of this latest edition includes a note from Julia Child dated 2004, who was consulted as an authority for this revision and helped with the revisions. A letter from Ethan Becker dated 2006 explains all this and also tells about the sampling of the recipes, the work it took to bring this 75th anniversary edition to print, etc.
I do not have my mom’s edition with me to compare, and I don’t remember exactly what it included, but this edition has a lot of helpful information and ideas, including A History of the Joy of Cooking by Anne Mendelson. Apparently the first instruction that the original Joy included was to stand facing the stove and that’s how Anne Mendelson named her book published in 2003. It is an appropriate addition to this edition of Joy.

The book also includes information about nutrition, and an explanation of the Nutrition Facts sticker and how to read food labels. I’m pretty sure this is something recent in the book, since the inclusion of food labels and nutrition facts is quite recent (definitely less than 75 years).
It also includes a heading about vegetarian diets. Too bad it says “in the United States, some vegetarians happily eat chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy products”, ah well, people who eat chicken and fish are definitely not vegetarian, they may not eat red meat but they should not label themselves vegetarian. Too bad a misconception like this is included in such an important book.

There is a section about entertaining, including details that go beyond the menu, such as table decor, table setting, seating, etc. It also includes suggested menus for holidays, special occasions, 30 minute recipes, etc. All with recipes that can be found in the book. A suggested menu for a vegetarian event includes:

• White bean dip with rosemary and garlic
• Tuscan bread and tomato soup
• Gazpacho
• Mushroom barley soup
• Wonton soup

There are, of course, lots of other recipes for vegetarian dishes throughout the book.

The beverages menu has section has a great explanation about coffee and different types of coffee pots, including recipes for different types of coffee beverages. The section also includes explanations for juices, punches, and other soft drinks. But, and this is what is super exciting, there is a section for wine and beer, and a section for cocktails and party drinks. No more fiddling around to find the perfect margarita or martini recipe, everything is clearly explained with measurements and everything.

This is the most complete cooking book you’ll ever find, and what better than getting this new updated edition instead of going back to your mom’s recipe books. It is published by Simon & Schuster and retails for $35 in the US and $39.99 in Canada. Definitely an investment worth making.

On a further note, I am proud to say that they spell “portobello” for the mushrooms, which is how I’ve been spelling it all along. And if such an authority in cooking spells it like that, I very well take it that such is the correct spelling.

This is a vegan take on Mexican style lentil soup, people usually add sausage, or bacon, or ham or all of the above. My mom did not use to put any meat in lentil soup but she used plantain. I forgot to get it today but it may also work out with this recipe.
I went to St. Lawrence Market and got a jar of “nopalitos” (tender cactus).

I also used 2 cups dry green lentils, I soaked them for about 6 hours beforehand.
5 medium tomatoes (I used tomatoes in the vine)
4 green chilies (or to taste)
1 small onion
Half a cup chopped cilantro
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons Knorr vegetable bouillon powder
3 tablespoons cooking oil (I used canola)

Cook the lentils making sure they don’t go mushy, I cooked them for 7 minutes in the pressure cooker (after soaking). Use no salt for cooking them.
Chop tender cactus into small (about 1 inch) strips.
Combine the onion, garlic, tomatoes, chilies and cilantro in the food processor. Chop finely.

Heat the cooking oil and fry the salsa in it. When it’s cooked, add the chopped nopalitos and cook for about 1 minute.

Add the cooked lentils and the vegetable bouillon powder. Let boil for about 8 minutes.

Serve as a soup.

Delicious!

Don sent me this recipe of the chicken sandwich they had in Puerto Vallarta. It looks super delicious, the combination of sweet pineapple and cheesy mozzarella, mmh mmh (damn milk allergies). OK, for everyone’s enjoyment here it is.

Ingredients:

Two chicken breasts (boneless)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1-8-oz. can of crushed pineapple with juice
½ cup slivered almonds
6 sandwich rolls or hamburger buns
Tomato slices
Tabasco, hot pepper or buffalo sauce of your choice

Bake two boneless chicken breasts wrapped in foil to keep moist. Approx. 30 minutes at 350 degrees (F) until tender. Shred the breasts into a layer in a twelve inch frying pan.

Mix in the slivered almonds and set the heat to medium. Pour the crushed pineapple and juice into a bowl and blend in the hot sauce to taste. Note: you will probably add more sauce the next time. Pour the mixture into the chicken and stir together.

When the mixture is warm add one cup of mozzarella cheese and fold together until mixed and the cheese is melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly so the cheese holds the mixture together.

Butter the buns and season with garlic salt and place in the oven to toast. Serve with a slice of tomato and a little Miracle Whip or mayo. Makes six servings. Leftover chicken is excellent in a tossed salad.

Oh dear, I’m so hungry now!