Chow Times » Staple Food

Moroccan Chicken and Rice

Suanne — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:00:45 +0000

The main dish which Minoo planned for the South Arm Community Kitchen is a Moroccan Chicken and Rice dish. We were surprised with the use of winter squash in this rice dish.

This Moroccan Chicken and Rice dish is a all in a pot dish. It has protein, vegetable and grain in this dish. This recipe is adapted from Alive Magazine and it serves 4.

The butternut squash and raisins add sweetness to this rice dish. This is a good recipe to make use of winter squashes which are in season now. They are cheap and nutritious.

Here is a tip to peel the tough skin butternut squash. Microwave the whole squash, on high, for 2 minutes. This softens the skins, making it easier to peel.
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Moroccan Chicken and Rice (160 words)

Brown Basmati Apple Walnut Salad

Suanne — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:00:25 +0000

If I remembered correctly, June shared this recipe of Brown Basmati Apple Walnut Salad. Brown Basmati Rice is gaining popularity for it’s higher nutritional values. It also tastes nuttier than regular white rice. A friend told me that after a few months of changing from white rice to brown rice, she is actually losing weight. I may try to include some brown rice in my regular rice and my family will slowly accept it. I’m sure Ben is going to make a fuss of it as he hates grainy stuff like whole wheat or whole grain bread.

This Brown Basmati Apple Walnut Salad can be kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days, which makes it the perfect make-ahead dish for company. You may add the apples and toasted walnuts just before serving. In fact, this salad tastes better the next day.

Ingredients

1/3 cup toasted walnuts
4 cups cooked brown basmati rice
1/2 cup dried cherries, raisins or cranberries
1 apple, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
5 to 6 celery leaves, chopped
4 sprigs parsley, chopped

Dressing:

2 tablespoons olive oil
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

You may toast the walnuts in the microwave. Microwave them on high at 45-seconds intervals, smelling for doneness. It takes between 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

June and Frances make this healthy and nutty salad.

More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Brown Basmati Apple Walnut Salad (37 words)

Cranberry Feta Pinwheels

Suanne — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:00:39 +0000

For the first meeting in October, the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors whipped up 5 dishes. What a great start for fall. Stella decorated the dining tables with a spaghetti squash and some miniature pumpkins. The squash and pumpkins are gifts from members of the community center. Initially, Stella wanted to use the squash as a prize for some kind of quiz. However, at the end of the cooking session, no quiz idea yet. So, the squash went to whoever who wanted it and it went to Chris. Stella also shared some pears and prune plums with us which she got free from friends who harvested them from their gardens. It is the time of the year where lots of sharing is going around.

The first item on the dining table is Cranberry Feta Pinwheels. These pretty pinwheels are perfect for a Christmas buffet with the festive colours of red from the dried cranberries and green from the chopped green onions.

The Cranberry Feta Pinwheels are great as appetizer. They are so rich with the feta cheese and cream cheese. This recipe is taken from tasteofhome.com. Christina and Ken made this delicious pinwheels.
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Cranberry Feta Pinwheels (96 words)

© suanne for Chow Times, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Post tags: Appetizer, Community Kitchen, Cranberry, Feta, Recipe

Peruvian Cuisine: Potatoes Huancaina Style (Papas a La Huancaina)

Suanne — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:00:29 +0000

The second dish which Erika shared with us is called Potatoes Huancaina Style (Papas a La Huancaina). It has a few similar ingredients as in the Chicken in Aji Sauce recipe. You can kill two birds with one stone for these dishes, i.e. prepare 2 dishes with common ingredients which helps to reduce preparation time.

The Potatoes Huancaina Style is relatively salty because we use feta cheese. You can reduce the saltiness by using a mixture of ricotta or cottage cheese with feta cheese.

Ingredients

2 to 5 aji amarillo fresco or fresh yellow aji peppers

2 garlic cloves

1 3/4 cups (400g) farmers cheese (ricotta, cottage, or feta)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 hardboiled eggs

4 Spanish olives, pitted and cut in halves or quarters

2.2 lbs (1 kg) yellow flesh potatoes, boiled, peeled and sliced (use white potatoes if not available)

lettuce for plating

salt and pepper to taste

For this recipe, Erika used the Aji peppers in whole in a jar. Under normal circumstances, canned peppers tend to be hotter than fresh ones. Erika shared with us tips on how to reduce the heat of the peppers, especially if you are serving the dish for children. For those who cant find the aji peppers, you can replace it with sweet yellow peppers.

More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Peruvian Cuisine: Potatoes Huancaina Style (Papas a La Huancaina) (163 words)

© suanne for Chow Times, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Post tags: Community Kitchen, Potato, Recipe

Peruvian Cuisine: Chicken in Aji Sauce (Aji De Gallina)

Suanne — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:30:02 +0000

Erika Pereyra is a relatively new member of the South Arm Community Kitchen. We were glad that she’s sharing some of her favourite Peruvian dishes in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Erika shared with us that Peruvian cuisine has lots of influences from Spanish cuisine. One can also find a lot of Japanese and Chinese restaurants in Peru.

I bet you will never guess that Peruvian Cuisine has one of the most diverse in the world and is at the same level of cuisines of the Chinese, Indian, French and Spanish. Lima, the capital of Peru, is referred to as the “gastronomic capital of the Americas”.

The video above on Peruvian Cuisine is a bit long but I find it interesting that the country of Peru is so rich in gastronomic heritage. Did you know too that Peru is home to about 2000 types of potatoes? Peru accounts for 40% of all potato varieties in the world.

The first dish which Erika shared with us is called Chicken in Aji Sauce (Aji De Gallina). Aji is a kind of pepper, also known as Peruvian hot pepper.

The above are two types of Aji pepper which Erika introduced to us, one in the form of paste while another is whole. Erika told us that we can find Peruvian groceries in Killarney Market at 49th Ave East Vancouver. For the Chicken in Aji Sauce, we used Aji paste.
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Peruvian Cuisine: Chicken in Aji Sauce (Aji De Gallina) (322 words)

© suanne for Chow Times, 2009. | Permalink | One comment
Post tags: Chicken, Community Kitchen, Potato, Recipe

Fettuccini with Tuna and Fresh Tomatoes

Suanne — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:00:59 +0000

The second recipe which Minoo demonstrated at the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen was a pasta dish. It is a fast, easy and fresh tasting pasta. It is made with canned tuna which is usually a pantry item and freshen up with some fresh sweet tomatoes.

This fast and easy Fettuccini with Tuna and Fresh Toamatoes dish is perfect for a family meal on a busy evening.

Ingredients

375g fettuccine or other long pasta

1 tablespoon butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon each, dried basil and thyme

pinch of hot pepper flakes (or to taste)

salt

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

grated zest of 1 lemon

2 cans light tuna (look for Italian tuna packed in olive oil for a more intense flavour tuna); you may replace tuna with 125g chopped smoked salmon and add 1 teaspoon crushed pink or green peppercorns with the garlic or 2 tablespoons drained capers

4 small plum tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup whole or chopped black or green olives (optional)

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Fettuccini with Tuna and Fresh Tomatoes (185 words)

© suanne for Chow Times, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments
Post tags: Community Kitchen, Fettuccini, Recipe, Tomato, Tuna

Quick Curried Couscous

Suanne — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:00:27 +0000

The South Arm Community Kitchen meets again with the leadership of Minoo. We enjoyed meeting one another after a long summer break. We shared our summer stories while preparing and enjoying the food.

Minoo prepared three recipes for the first meeting. The first recipe is a Quick Curried Couscous. Couscous is a staple food of North Africa like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Western Libya.

This Quick Curried Couscous is easy and quick to prepare. The couscous we found in Western supermarkets is the instant type, i.e. the couscous have been pre-steamed and dried and only needs a small amount of boiling water or stock to rehydrate the couscous, covered tightly for 10 minutes. The couscous will swells and ready to be fluffed and served. It’s preparation time is shorter than dried pasta or dried grain like rice.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups couscous

3 cups chicken stock or water

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup raisins

1 bunch parsley or cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup of almond slices or slivered almonds

This recipe serves 6.

More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Quick Curried Couscous (92 words)

© suanne for Chow Times, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments
Post tags: Community Kitchen, Couscous, Raisin, Recipe

Wrinkled Potatoes (Papas Arrugadas)

Suanne — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:00:02 +0000

This is another potato recipe from the Culinaria Spain book. I found the name quite interesting and decided to give it a try. It is also the season of nugget potatoes and it’s just the right potato for this recipe.

As the name suggests, the potatoes turned out looking wrinkled. It has a slightly salty taste on the skin and creamy soft inside. Arkensen enjoyed this and asked me to make it again for him. This is an easy and fast side dish to make, ready in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients

2 1/4 lbs/1 kg small quick-cooking potatoes

1-2 tbsp coarse sea salt

More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Wrinkled Potatoes (Papas Arrugadas) (71 words)

© suanne for Chow Times, 2009. | Permalink | One comment
Post tags: Potato, Recipe, Spanish

Claypot Rice with Minced Pork and Salted Egg Yolk

Suanne — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:12 +0000

My family likes claypot rice. We always order claypot rice when we are in a Chinese restaurant or dim sum place like the following:

King’s Chinese Cuisine

Lido Restaurant

Top Gun J&C Restaurant

This is my take of Claypot Rice with Minced Pork and Salted Egg Yolk. We had this in Hot Pot One and we found that the salted egg yolk’s taste and texture complements the minced pork very well. It’s something different from the regular combination of minced pork with salted fish.

Ingredients

2 – 2 1/2 cups long grain rice (I meant measuring cup for rice)

3/4 to 1 lb minced pork

2 salted egg yolk, cut into half

bak choy

Marinate for pork:

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

drizzle of sesame oil

Sauce for rice:

2 tablespoons of hot water

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 drops of sesame oil

More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Claypot Rice with Minced Pork and Salted Egg Yolk (195 words)

© suanne for Chow Times, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments
Post tags: Pork, Recipe, Rice, Salted Egg

Potato Omelet (Tortilla De Patatas)

Suanne — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:00:32 +0000

Potato Omelet (Tortilla De Patatas) is a common savoury breakfast in Spain. It is usually eaten as a second breakfast around 10 to 11 am. We had this in BraCafe while we were in Barcelona.

I made this Potato Omelet for Ben’s lunch as he is a light eater while he is at work. This is great as it can be eaten warm or cold. This will be a great lunch box item when the kids are back to school next week.

I got this recipe from the Culinaria Spain book as mentioned in this post.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup/150 ml olive oil

2 1/4 lbs/1 kg large potatoes (about 4 large russet potatoes), peeled and thinly sliced

2 tsp salt (I used 1.5 tsp only)

6 eggs

The hardest part in this recipe is to turn over the omelet. Chick on more for the instructions.
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Potato Omelet (Tortilla De Patatas) (182 words)

© suanne for Chow Times, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments
Post tags: Egg, Potato, Recipe, Spanish