the picky cook

I've always been the pickiest eater in my family. The older I get the more willing I am to try something new and improve my skills in the kitchen.

[thepickycook]

Homemade Dumplings

Feeling a little Asian inspiration the other day and started craving the dumplings my family use to make en mass, leaving our freezers stocked to the brim with these yummy little pockets of pork and cabbage.

Ingredients

·         1lb of ground pork

·         1 head of Napa cabbage

·         1 bunch of green onions

·         1 tsp of salt and pepper (for flavouring)

·         Splash of soy sauce and sesame oil

·         1 pack of wontons

·         1 tbsp of water

Directions

Shred the cabbage and green onions. Separate each layer with salt to pull excess moisture from the greens. Once they’re all shredded, wring out all extra moisture with a towel. Mix the cabbage and green onions with the ground pork, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Once combined, scoop a tsp of the mixture into the centre of a wonton wrapper. Using your finger, brush a little bit of water along the edges of the wrapper to bind it. Fold up the edges of the wrapper and twist. Repeat until all the mixture is gone.

Boil some water in a pot, and cook as many dumplings as you wish for about 7 minutes. Alternatively, you can fry them in a pan with sesame oil after boiling for about 3 minutes.

Enjoy!

[thepickycook]

Picky cook turned one year old this week! One year of recipes, and here’s to many more!

[thepickycook]

Creamy Tomato Soup

This wasn’t my favourite recipe that I’ve tried, but live in learn. I’m not a big fan of tomatoes but on the plus side, I tried something new which is the point of this blog.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 onion, coarsely chopped Onions Red$1.28 thru 10/14

1 to 2 cloves garlic (optional)

2 (14-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 cups Basic Chicken Stock, or water

1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

Directions

1. Melt butter in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic (if using), stirring constantly, until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes, their juices, and stock. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

3. Working in batches, transfer tomato mixture to a blender, food processor, or food mill. Puree tomato mixture (if using a blender, cover the lid with a kitchen towel while machine is running).

4. Return soup to a clean pot and set over low heat. Whisk in cream, if desired; season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or transfer soup to a bowl set over an ice-water bath to cool completely. Transfer cooled soup to an airtight container and refrigerate. Reheat over medium heat until heated through.

[thepickycook]

Top sirloin roast

[thepickycook]

2 pounds cubed beef stew meat

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups red wine

2 beef stock

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces

4 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons cold water

Directions

In a large pot or dutch oven, cook beef in oil over medium heat until brown. Pour in beef stock and red wine. Stir in rosemary, parsley and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour.

Stir potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion into the pot. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 teaspoons cold water and stir into stew. Cover and simmer 1 hour more.

[thepickycook]

Homemade Gnocchi

I’m constantly trying to improve my skills in the kitchen and try something new. When I was younger I wasn’t a big fan of gnocchi, probably because of the texture. Last night however I was home alone and decided to make something a little different. Homemade gnocchi seemed like the perfect challenge.

Gnocchi Recipe

Gnocchi is simple enough to make, after all it’s only 3 ingredients. If you have flour, eggs and potatoes in your house and about half an hour to kill, you can make gnocchi.

2 potatoes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and add to pot. Cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and mash with a fork or potato masher.

Combine 1 cup mashed potato, flour and egg in a large bowl. Knead until dough forms a ball. Shape small portions of the dough into long "snakes". On a floured surface, cut snakes into half-inch pieces.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi have risen to the top; drain and serve

Roasted Pepper and Tomato Sauce

2 bell peppers

1 ½ tbsp olive oil

1 small garlic clove, crushed

1 small shallot, roughly chopped

1/3 cup vegetable stock

2 tomatoes

thyme, oregano, or any other herbs you want

Heat oven to 400F.  Place the peppers on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 45 mins until the skins are blackened. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skins with your fingers. Slice the peppers open, pick out and discard all the seeds and membrane, then roughly chop.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. When hot, fry the garlic, shallot and herbs for a few minutes. Add the chopped peppers and tomatoes and continue to fry for a few mins, stirring to combine everything. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil, then allow it to reduce a little.

Pour the contents of the pan into a blender and blend until smooth. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

(Optional) Chop up a protein (chicken was used in this recipe) and sauté in the pan used for the vegetables. Toss with sauce and add to gnocchi.

[thepickycook]

It may not be the prettiest looking pie but it was my first pie ever. My mom is the master pie maker and in the spirit of fall I’ve decided to try my hand at it. The crust was flaky and the filling was just right, so all in all it was a success.

[thepickycook]

Since I’m an impatient person and I can’t wait for fall I’ve decided to start making some yummy soups for the freezer. This was my first time ever making mushroom soup and it turned out great! The recipe is from the Gilmore Girls unofficial cookbook and it sure was delicious. I’m not a fan of mushrooms at all, and honestly I ate around most of them, but all in all it was definitely a win.

Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

4 cups of vegetable stock

12 tbsp of unsalted butter

1 shallot, finely minced

2 cups of de-stemmed, sliced cremini mushrooms

1 cup of de-stemmed, sliced shitake mushrooms

1/3 cup flour

1 cup white wine

2 tbsp chopped thyme leaves

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cups half and half

2 tbsp chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

 Directions

Heat vegetable broth in a large saucepan to a slow simmer of medium heat.

In another large stockpot or cast enamel Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium- low heat. Then add the minced shallot, cook until translucent. Add all of the mushrooms and cook for 15 minutes until softened.

Add the flour and cook for two minutes, stirring through and be sure there is no raw flour. Add the wine and cook for two or more minutes, allowing the alcohol to cook of slightly and stir, deglazing the pot.

Add the vegetable stock, thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the half and half and heat through.

Serve and enjoy!

[thepickycook]

A big day of cooking yesterday. Get ready for some recipes!

[thepickycook]

Last night my lovely boyfriend cooked me one of my favourite meals; a steak dinner. Since we don’t have a barbecue he had to use a cast iron and it turned out great, and it’s really simple to do. Preheat the oven to 450F. In a cast iron heat up 1 tablespoon of oil until it starts to shimmer. Season the steaks and place them in the cast iron for 2 minutes each side just to sear it. Place the cast iron in the oven for 2-4 minutes. ( We did two minutes for a medium rare steak). And you’re done.

Roasted, garlic and Parmesan potatoes were the perfect side dish to go with this yummy meal.

[thepickycook]

A whole bunch of yummy new recipes thanks to my mom, I can’t wait to try some! I don’t think I’ll be able to wait for fall, I’ll have to start making batches of soups ASAP!

[thepickycook]

In my mind, as long as it’s homemade it’s a pretty healthy meal. Even if it is pork chops smothered in gravy with an herb cream sauce pasta side. And this comfort meal was the perfect end to the chilly, rainy day.

To make a gravy, cream sauce, or any other delicious and not that healthy sauce, you need a roux. A roux is a mix of equal parts flour and fat (i.e butter) used to thicken a sauce. To make this sauce I added some leftover pork drippings to the roux, some cream and thyme. Just another example of how food can be re-purposed and you can make the most out of your groceries.

[thepickycook]

Autumn is my favourite time of year, and while summer has it’s positive aspects I can’t wait for autumn to arrive. It’s the time of year when my family bakes and cooks until our freezers are full of soups, muffins, pot pies and all our autumn favourites. And with the rain and the chill in the air today, I’m reminded of my favourite season and can’t wait to cook a warm and comforting dinner.

[fattributes]

Nashville Hot Chicken

[thepickycook]

Now that I have vegetable stock, it only seems fair that I use my leftover chicken bones to make some chicken stock. After all, it’s the key to the best homemade soups! And it’s just as simple as making the vegetable stock.

[thepickycook]

On busy days this makes for a great meal. All you have to do is saute up some chicken and then simmer in the butter chicken sauce. You can add some cream or sour cream if you want a creamier sauce. It’s delicious and as easy as cooking rice.

[thepickycook]

Two posts in one day? I’ve just spent most of my day in the kitchen and I really don’t mind. Moving out means money is much tighter than when I was living with my parents. Lucky for me, my mom instilled in me a habit to get as much use as possible from food. I’ve been collecting and freezing veggies scraps for about a month, perfect for homemade vegetable stock.

Vegetable stock can be the basis for so many different dishes so it’s a great stable to have in my freezer, just waiting to be turned into something delicious.

In a pot, I placed my frozen vegetables, some fresh carrots and an onion, roughly chopped. As well I threw in some fresh herbs from my herb garden. Last but not least, a little salt and pepper and I topped it all off with water. Bring the pot to a boil, turning your home into a beautifully aromatic place, and reducing to a simmer for an hour. Easy as pie - er stock rather.

Once the stock cools a bit, you can start storing it for whatever and whenever you need it. I opted to freeze some smaller portions in an ice cube tray and two larger sections in Tupperware. 

Later in the week I’ll be making some chicken stock, a chef needs some variety in her kitchen. However, the great thing about vegetable stock is, for those with dietary restrictions you can be 100% sure about what you’re putting in your dishes. So save some money and make your stock at home!