Local Grocery Shopping on a Budget

If you are interested, here is my latest column in The Rossland Telegraph, where I kind of give LOGS a hard time! Let the controversy begin!

Ambrosia Salad for a Crowd

This is one of those dishes you find at church potlucks, in delis, and at my work! And, to be honest, I kinda like ambrosia. I mean, marshmallows, coconut, and mandarin oranges? That is a pretty delicious combination! This recipe makes a huge amount and will provide dessert for about 25 - 30 people, though I'm not sure this is an "authentic" ambrosia like you'd find at the deli, because mandarin segments in a can are pricier than fruit cocktail, but when I make it, I often just use the mandarin oranges anyway because I think it's better that way. But even with the fruit cocktail, it's good stuff, and the diabetics at work like it because they can have it, too.

Ambrosia for a Crowd

6 cups mixed fruit or fruit cocktail
3 cups mandarin orange slices
3 cups pineapple tidbits
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 bag coconut
4 1/2 cups sour cream (we use light)

It's as easy as this: drain all the fruit very well. Combine all the ingredients in a big bowl, mixing lightly. Chill thoroughly. Serve.

Lingonberry Bread...From Ikea

A couple of months ago, my dad went to Vancouver and spent a whole day in Coquitlam's gigantic - and I mean GIGANTIC - Ikea store. He was very impressed with the cafeteria there, and he also really enjoyed the food selection for sale that you could bring home & prepare yourself. He bought three copies of the Ikea cookbook - one for me, him, and my SIL, and he also brought me back a package of Lingonberry bread mix. He was attracted to this item because the ingredients were right up his alley: no white flour whatsoever, full of seeds, and nice and wholesome-looking.

I finally got around to making this bread on the weekend for a family dinner. Basically, it was a just add water deal, with the yeast in a separate package attached to the bag of mix. All I did was chuck everything in my mixer, develop the dough, let it rise, shape, rise, and bake.

Incidentally, this bread mix is Danish, not Swedish!

Anyway, this is what I got:


I was a very tasty, crusty loaf, actually, but I thought the mix was pretty chintzy on the lingonberry angle; there were barely any berries in it and they didn't add anything to the flavour at all, which was disappointing. But it was a nice loaf and Dad was pretty happy. The mix made two loaves, so he got one and so did I.

I have yet to use any recipes from the Ikea cookbook...

Magazine Monday #61: Chocolate-Orange Brownines

For once, a non-Canadian Living recipe!

We have having some serious renovations done around here and I have baked a few things for the contractors, who appear to all have sweet tooths. This works for me! I get to bake and not have to have any sweet stuff hanging around my place tempting me, and they get to have nice treats after a day's hard work.

This recipe for Chocolate-Orange Brownies comes from the March 2010 issue of Bon Appetit. Apparently, the recipe originated at Homepage Cafe in Bozeman, Montana, and it was included in the RSVP section of the magazine, where readers write in asking for recipes from restaurants and other eateries - hence it's not included in the recipe database on Epicurious.com. Gr!!!

Anyway, here it is.

Chocolate-Orange Brownies

non-stick vegetable spray
1/2 cup boiling water
6 tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 large eggs
10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks...God I hate how US recipes do this! This is 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp for you Canadians out there!) butter, melted & cooled
1 tbsp grated orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 9x9x2" metal baking pan with spray. Whisk 1/2 cup boiling water with cocoa powder in a small bowl to blend. Whisk sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Stir in pecans. Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Add butter, vanilla, and orange zest. Whisk cocoa mixture into egg mixture. Add flour mixture, stir just to blend. Transfer to prepared pan.

2. Bake until tester inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on rack. Cut & serve.

These were a huge hit with both the contractors (we took them out on a big platter & my SIL provided them with cold beer!) and with my family. They were perfectly-textured and delicious! Definitely a keeper recipe!

Latest Food Column

Here is my most recent installment of Coyote's Kitchen appearing in Bread 'n Molasses Magazine.

Magazine Monday #60: Curried Pork Burgers

Canadian Living strikes again! When I got the new issue last week, I knew I had to make this recipe. I really like using ground pork for burgers because the burgers are always so nice and juicy, and the mean it a neutral enough flavour that you can do what you want with it seasoning-wise.

I made these last night for my family and they were a huge hit! The grilled red onions were a perfect accompaniment. I will definitely make these again!

The recipe is not up on the site yet, but I'll post it for you here.

Curried Pork Burgers

1lb lean ground pork
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tbsp curry paste (I used Patak's mild curry paste, which I always have on hand)
2 tsp minced gingerroot (I used about 1 tsp dried ground ginger)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & minced (which I skipped because I don't like them)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp each salt & pepper

1 red onion sliced, drizzled in some vegetable oil

buns, lettuce, etc.

Simple instructions: mix all the meat, the feta, and all the seasonings together & form burgers. Grill. Grill onions until nice & soft. Serve on buns. Bob's your uncle.

Delicious!

Dining at The Garage

The Garage has been around Rossland for quite a while, and has had two incarnations. A few years back, it as a high-ish end steak house, and for ages all my dad could talk about was the amazing steak he had there with a blue cheese sauce. I never ate there during this era of the restaurant because A) I didn't live here for much of that era, and B) when I was here, it was way out of my price range. Some time ago (I don't remember when exactly) the restaurant closed and the building was put up for sale. It never sold, so the owner revamped the menu into something simpler and more affordable, and all I ever heard was how great it was. And it was all of a sudden in my price range! It still took me a while before I actually got to eat there, but better late than never!

Located on Columbia Avenue in the former Shell gas station, The Garage reopened in November 2009, touting itself as a family restaurant with a an emphasis on burgers, ribs, and owner Julie Eyres' desserts. There is a great article here about the "new" Garage with an interview with Julie herself.

Now a more casual eatery with a garage theme, I have had two opportunities to eat there recently, and I can say that both experiences were great.

The first time, I went with my dad and SIL, and we all had bacon mushroom cheeseburgers with Julie's thick cut fries. Dad started off with a bowl of French Onion soup, which he said was good. Shan and I opted to have half salad/half fries with our meals; she had the green salad and I had a Caesar (this cost $2.50 extra, if memory serves).

We were told at the beginning of our service that chocolate souffle was on the menu for dessert, and if we were interested, it needed about 25 minutes or so to bake and we'd have to order it when we ordered our meals, and that's what Dad opted for.

The only glitch with this meal was that the burgers came already dressed with ketchup, mustard, and relish. I wasn't aware of this when I ordered, and I hate mustard and relish! I sent my burger back & I got a new bun without the offending condiments, and all was well after that. The burgers were served in a hub cap lined with that checkered paper you often see in diners, and the meal was excellent. My dad had the souffle and loved it. I didn't have dessert because the burger & fries were so huge I was stuffed. Shan, always a huge fan of Julie's vanilla bean creme brulee, had that for dessert. I had a taste and it was awesome!

The second meal was a few weeks later. I needed a greasy meal very badly and ordered the halibut & chips. Shan had a chicken burger with bacon & mushrooms. Oh, man! The halibut & chips was AMAZING. The fish was perfectly cooked and was so tender and juicy...It was heavenly. Shan enjoyed her burger. Both needing sugar fixes on top of our fried food cravings, Shan had the homemade hazelnut ice cream with espresso & biscotti, and I had a chocolate sundae. This meal totally hit the spot!


On top of this, for both meals I indulged in a cocktail: the Rattlesnake Long Island Iced Tea. This is a regular Long Island Iced Tea laced with melon liqueur. Big, potent drink, let me tell you, and for someone who drinks as rarely as I do, it hit me quickly and I was feeling pretty good.

Definite yumminess to be found at The Garage! With my boozy drink, my first meal came to about $18, and with tax & tip, my second meal came to $32 (I had two pieces of halibut for $16.95), and although that is a lot for one person, it was worth it.

Magazine Monday #59: Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake

Oh, where has the Coyote been?

Busy!

I spent about a week painting my new place, and the fruits of my labours can be viewed here.

I have been cooking, but not so much into blogging about it. But last week, oysters were on sale at LOGS, so I decided to make oyster burgers for dinner. In order to do this, I needed buttermilk, because I soak the oysters in this before breading them. I had a whole bunch of buttermilk left over, and happened across a recipe for Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake in the November 2009 issue of...wait for it...you'll never guess...Canadian Living!

Here is the recipe.

This was really easy to make and so incredibly luscious...It was tart and tasted quite a lot like a lemon meringue pie without the crust. It puffed up like a souffle in the oven, and was light and fluffy when served. I didn't bother with the water bath, as specified in the recipe, and it worked out just fine. Definitely a keeper recipe!