Imagelicious

March 06, 2008

Apple Stuffed Pork and Pork Stuffed Apple

I love pork and I love pork with apples - it's simple, it's elegant and it's classic. This dish is very comforting during a long cold winter. All it needs is a simple green salad and it can satisfy every hungry stomach.

Apple Stuffed Pork

recipe adapted from Chef at Home

for 2 portions

For apple stuffed pork chops

Fresh Italian sausage, chopped - 1
Onion, sliced - 1
Apples, cored and chopped - 1
Apple cider - 1/8 cup + 1/2 cup + more if needed
Wholegrain bread, toasted and cubed - 2 slices
Grainy mustard - 1/2 tablespoon
Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
Center cut pork chops, 1 and a half inch thick - 2
Salt, pepper

- Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add onions, cover with a lid, and cook for 5 minutes, until onion has softened.
- Add apples, 1/8 cup of apple cider and let simmer until apples have softened. Add more cider if needed to soften the apples.
- Add bread and stir until it's moistened and absorbed the liquid.
- Cut a deep pocken into the side of each pork chop and fill with stuffing. (Reserve any leftover stuffing for apples)
- Place a large skillet over high heat and add olive oil.
- When hot, season the chops with salt and pepper and then sear them for 3 minutes on each side.
- Cover the pan with a lid, turn the heat down to low and cook for 5 additional minutes.
- Remove the chops and rest on a plate.
- Reheat the pan and deglaze it with the remaining 1/2 cup (or more if desired) of apple cider, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Let it boil and reduce until thichened.
- Stir in grainy mustard and serve over pork chops.

For stuffed apples
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C)
- Slice the tops off 2 apples and scoop out much of the flesh.
- Fill with leftover stuffing.
- Place the tops back on and put into a baking dish.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until apples are softened and the filling heats through.

Pork Stuffed Apple

Comments

- I found that there's too much stuffing, so it might be reduced, or more chops and apples can be used for it. Although the stuffing by itself is delicious.
- The mustard-cider sauce is amazing and I highly recommend making more of that delicious goodness.

pork, sausage, apple

0 comments

February 27, 2008

Potato Salmon Cakes

Fish is usually associate with rice and/or green vegetables for me; never with potato. That starchy vegetable is firmly planted in my mind with a pairing of meat or chicken. Fish and potato? How can that work? I was intrigued by this recipe, it was simple, easy and I wasn't sure if the flavours would work together. Oh, and they did! Wonderfully!

Salmon Potato Cakes

recipe adapted from Chef at Home recipe

for 8 small cakes

For the cakes:

Baking potatos - 2 big
Salmon filet - 340 g (about 2 filets)
Egg - 1
Lemon juice and zest - 1 lemon
Dill, chopped - 4 tablespoons (or more to taste)
Salt, pepper
Oil for frying

For the sauce:

Mayo - 2 tablespoons
Horseradish - 2 tablespoons
Ketchup - 2 tablespoons

- Bake the potatoes in the oven or microwave until it's tender when pierced with a fork.
- Meanwhile heat a saute pan over medium-high heat and when it's hot, add oil.
- Season salmon filets and sear on both sides until just cooked through.
- Scoop out the potato flesh from the skins into a big bowl.
- Add the salmon filets and using a potato masher, mash the potato and salmon together.
- Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, chopped dill and egg, mix well.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Form into 8 small patties.
- Heat a large skillet and add oil.
- Add salmon cakes and fry them until they are golden brown on each side and heated through.
- Serve with Horseradish sauce.
- Whisk all of the ingredients for the sauce together.

potatoes, salmon

0 comments

February 21, 2008

Sage-and-Onion Chicken and Sausage

To be honest, although chicken is considered a staple ingredient in North American diet, I don't eat it that much. It feels boring and plain. So when I stumble upon interesting recipes that include chicken, I usually give them a try just to see if I can prove myself wrong. And this concoction is an amazing example of fun and tasty chicken dish. It's extremely easy to make, but the taste is quite complex and well-rounded.

Sage and Onion Chicken and Sausage

recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson Feast

for 4-6 portions

Onion - 1 large or 2 small
Olive oil (not extra virgin) - 100 ml
Grainy mustard - 2 tablespoons
Ground pepper
Ground sage - 1 tablespoon
Lemon - 1
Garlic - 1 head
Soy sauce - 1 tablespoon
Chicken thighs - 4 big
Sausages - 6

- Peel and cut the onion into eighths, and put into a freezer bag with oil, mustard, ground sage, a good grinding of pepper, the lemon juice, the squeezed out lemon husks cut into eighths, and the soy sauce.
- Squidge everything around to mix and then add the chicken pieces.
- Leave to marinade in the fridge overnight, or for up to two days. Or leave it on the counter for two hours.
- Preheat the oven to 220C (430F).
- Allow the chicken to come to room temperature in its marinade.
- Arrange the chicken pieces in a roasting pan, skin-side up, with the marinade, including onion and lemon pieces, and tuck the sausages round them.
- Add unpeeled garlic cloves to the pan.
- Put the pan in the oven to cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Turn the sausages halfway through to colour them evenly.

Sage and Onion Chicken and Sausage

chicken, sausage

1 comment

February 19, 2008

Molten Chocolate Cakes

I love my chocolate: dark, milk, white, plain, with fillings, with spices. It's such an amazing food that can lift up your mood and make the life feel much better. And I love chocolate in desserts: cookies, cakes, pastries, cupcakes, ice cream. So, this recipe is a chocoholic's dream come true. It's an extremely easy dessert to make, only takes about 5 minutes to bring the batter together and about 15 minutes to bake it.

Chocolate Molten Cakes

recipe adapted from carina-forum

for 4 small cakes

Dark chocolate - 90 g
Butter - 80 g
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup
Flour - 2 tablespoons
Flavourings (rum, cognac, vanilla) - 1 tablespoon optional.

- Preheat the oven to 430F (220C).
- Melt the chocolate and butter together in a microwave or in a double boiler.
- Whisk the eggs, sugar and flour together just until combined.
- Add the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and mix well.
- Add flavourings if using and mix.
- Butter the ramikens and pour the butter into them.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes depending on your oven.

dessert, cake, chocolate

1 comment

February 11, 2008

Chocolate Banana Bread

I am not a fan of bananas in desserts. Don't really know why. But sometimes it just hits the spot. I rarely buy bananas just to make a cake, but I usually have a couple of almost dead bananas waiting in my freezer. If you are using a frozen banana, then let it thaw in a seive for 20-30 minutes to get rid of too much moisture.

Chocolate Banana Bread

recipe from Tyler's Ultimate

Unsalted butter, at room temperature - 1 stick (1/2 cup)
All-purpose flour - 2 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cups
Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Dark chocolate, melted - 113 g
Large eggs - 2
Very ripe bananas - 3
Vanilla - 1 teaspoon

- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Butter a 9x5-inch load pan.
- Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy with a mixer.
- Then beat in the chocolate, eggs, bananas, and vanilla.
- Stir in the dry igredients just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the load pan and bake until a toothpick stuck into the center of the bread comes out almost clean, around 60 minutes.
- Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 15 minutes before unmolding.

Comments

- This bread really needs some kind of nuts. I think pecans would go great with it.
- And rum... a couple of teaspoons of rum would be a great addition to this recipe or maybe rum syrup to pour on top.

Chocolate Banana Bread

dessert, cake

0 comments

February 03, 2008

Honeycomb

Fancy? Yes. Impressive? Yes. Sweet? Yes. Fun? Yes. Tasty? Not so much, but then again it's not really about the taste, but mostly about fun and impressive. It's really interesting to make and it looks really pretty, so why not? Especially when all the ingredients are already in the pantry.

recipe adapted from Nigella Express

Sugar - 1/2 cup
Golden syrup - 4 tablespoons
Baking soda - 1 1/2 teaspoons

My Mom's Crêpes

In Russian culture crepes are quite common, kind of like pancakes here. We usually make a big batch of crepes and eat them for breakfast with jam and sour cream or for dinner with sauteed minced meat, egg salad, etc. There countless options on what to put inside a crepe. They are versitile, they are tasty, and although they are time consuming to make, they freeze really well if separated by parchment paper. And as with pancakes, there are numerous recipes for crepes. This one is my favourite. It's a childhood memory. It's the one that my mom used to make.

For a big batch of crepes (around 25 medium sized)

Eggs - 4
Milk - 1 litre
Flour - 2 cups
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Sugar - 1 tablespoon (I usually put 2 tbsp since I prefer sweeter crepes)
Oil - 1 tablespoon (plus more for the pan)

- In a big bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together.
- Add the flour, salt and sugar, whisk really well to get rid of all the lumps.
- Add oil and mix again.
- Let the batter stand for about 30 minutes.
- Lighly brush a pan with some oil and heat it on medium heat.
- Pour a little bit of the batter onto q pan and quickly swirl it around, so that the batter covers the pan in a thin layer. You might need to adjust the amount of batter based on the size of your pan.
- Let a crepe bake for about 1-1.5 minute until it sets and no longer glossy. Turn it and bake for another 30-45 seconds.

Comments

- In Russia there's a saying that the first crepe never turns out right. It usually takes a couple of crepes to figure out the right amount of batter and heat.
- In the end, there's nothing better than a hot crepe rolled and willed with sweet cherry jam and cold tangy sour cream.

crepes, dessert

1 comment

January 06, 2008

Éclairs with Rum Pastry Cream

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa in Paris

For the pastry

Milk - 1 cup
Unsalted butter - 1 stick (113 g)
Pinch of salt
All-purpose flour - 1 cup
Eggs, large - 4

For the cream

Egg yolks, large - 5
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Cornstarch - 3 tablespoons
Scalded milk - 1 1/2 cups
Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
Rum - 1 teaspoon
Unsalted butter - 2 tablespoons

Pastry:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Heat the milk, butter, and salt over medium heat until the butter melts.
- If electric stove is used, then turn off the heat, but leave the pot on the stove.
- Add the flour all at once and beat it with a wooden spoon or spatula until the mixture comes together and forms a dough.
- Cook the dough, stirring constantly, for a few more minutes so that the most amount of moisture evaparates.
- Put the dough into a big bowl and start adding eggs to it one at a time, mixing the dough after each time until the egg is fully incorporated.
- Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large plain roung tip.
- Pipe in eclairs onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Make sure that they are 2-3 inches apart, since the pastry will expand during baking.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Then turn off the oven and allow to sit for another 10 minutes, until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Make a small slit in the side of each eclair to allow the steam to escape.
- Set aside to cool.

Cream:
- In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed for 4 minutes, or until very thick.
- Reduce to low speed, and add the cornstarch.
- With the mixer still on low, slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture.
- Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, 5-7 minutes.
- Switch to whick and cook for another 2 minutes, whisking constantly until the custard becomes very thick.
- Stir in the vanilla, Rum and butter.
- Pour the custurd through a fine seive into a bowl. - Place plastic wrap directly on the custard so that the skin doesn't form and refrigerate until cold.

dessert

1 comment

January 01, 2007