Zucchini Meat Loaf

The Richmond Community Kitchen resumed operation in September. The first kitchen took place at the Gilmore Park Church.

Zucchini-Meat-Loaf-9

Minoo prepared 3 recipes for this first kitchen. The main dish is a healthier version of meat loaf with the incorporation of zucchini. Zucchini is a summer squash. Zucchini has a delicate flavour and requires little cooking cooking time. You can steam, boil, grill, bake, barbecue or fry it.

Here are some of recipes using zucchini that we had made in the community kitchens:

Zucchini is low in calories (approximately 15 calories for 100g of fresh zucchini). It contains useful amount of folate, potassium, Vitamin A and manganese.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons Dijon honey mustard
  • 2  to 3 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste
  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 pound zucchini (about 2 small zucchini), coarsely grated
  • 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1 pound lean ground beef

Zucchini-Meat-Loaf-1

Source: via Minoo

(more…)

Continue ReadingZucchini Meat Loaf

Breakfast Idea: Omelette with Spinach and Cheese (Frittata di Spinaci)

Minoo shared more basic food safety guidelines at the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen. These guidelines apply to group cooking or cooking at home.

Personal Hygiene

  • If you are sick (cold, vomiting or have diarrhea), do not attend the community kitchen. If you must come, do not cook as you may contaminate the food you are cooking. Perhaps, you can help with the clean up.
  • Always tie your long hair back or wear a hat while cooking.
  • Wash your hands when you first get to the kitchen.
  • Wash your hands when you switch working from raw meats to vegetables or fruits.
  • Wash your hands anytime your hands become self contaminated. for example after sneezing or coughing into your hand or after using the washroom, after touching your hair, nose or face.
  • Don’t handle food with open sores and cuts on your hand. Wear thin plastic gloves is the best solution in this case.

Your Clothing

  • Pull up your sleeves to prevent your clothing from contaminated with food.
  • Wear a clean apron.

The Food

  • If a can is leaking, rusted or dented, do not open it. Throw it away. The contents may make you sick. If a can is bulging, do not open it and contact the Health Department.
  • After use, immediately wash any board and knife used for raw meat. Wash your hands too.
  • Cool food as quickly as possible before putting it into containers to take home. This can be done by putting it into shallow containers, and stirring regularly. Placing the pot or pan into an ice bath also works well.
  • Foods should be refrigerated or frozen as soon as possible. Bacteria will grow if food is left out at room temperature.
  • It is recommended that cooked meals can be kept up to 3 days in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer.
  • When reheating meals at home, be sure to get the food up to the proper temperature, i.e. the food should be steaming hot.
  • Thaw frozen foods in the fridge, microwave oven or cold running water; not on the kitchen counter.

Omelette-with-Spinach-and-Cheese-13

The last breakfast item which Minoo shared was Omelette with Spinach and Cheese (Frittata di Spinaci). You may add any leftover parsleys or cilantro into this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 to 3 green onions, chopped
  • 6 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 pound spinach, stems removed (or baby spinach)
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • salt and pepper to taste

Omelette-with-Spinach-and-Cheese-1

Source: this recipe is adapted from www.foodnetwork.com

Serves 6 to 8

(more…)

Continue ReadingBreakfast Idea: Omelette with Spinach and Cheese (Frittata di Spinaci)

Green Cabbage and Egg Dumplings

Li demonstrated how to make Green Cabbage and Egg Dumplings in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Making dumpling is common during the Chinese New Year eve. The whole family will gather together to make dumplings.

Cabbage-Dumplings-10

Many hands made this job so much more fun. Some will make the wrappers while others make the dumplings.

Cabbage-Dumplings-15

This Green Cabbage and Egg Dumplings has a crunchy filing as it just need to be boiled until the dough is cooked as the filling does not contain meat. It is almost a vegetarian dumpling if you substitute the egg with tofu, mushroom, etc.

Ingredients

  • 5 eggs
  • 1 kilogram (2 pounds) green cabbage
  • 100 g (3 to 4) green onions, finely chopped
  • 2 inches ginger, minced
  • salt to taste
  • 60ml vegetable oil
  • soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil for dipping sauce

For the wrapper

  • 1200ml all-purpose flour
  • 540ml water
  • Cabbage-Dumplings-1

Source: Li

(more…)

Continue ReadingGreen Cabbage and Egg Dumplings

Stocks 101: Butternut and Coconut Cream Soup with Veggie Stocks

This is the second workshop organized by the Richmond Food Security Society on Basic Food Skills. This workshop is all about stocks.

Butternut-Coconut-Cream-Soup-with-Veggie-Stock-1

I must say that documenting such workshop is the hardest. All I got was the few words on the board. I had to take photos and notes at the same time. Unfortunately, I do not know short hand and have not pickup the texting language. I’m trying my best to share what I learnt.

We learned from Ian, that there are three kinds of stocks, brown stocks, white stocks and veggie stocks. Brown stocks is usually made with veal and chicken bones and it takes a long time to make, something like 12 hours to simmer. So, we are not going to do this. It is usually made in restaurant with shift work.

White stocks is made with chicken bones and veggies like celery, onions, leeks, carrots and herbs.

Veggies stocks is also made with veggies like celery, onions, leeks, carrots and herbs. The ratio of celery, carrot, leek and onion is 1:1:1:2. Leeks can be substituted with onions as it’s expensive.

Herbs which are common for making stocks includes pepper corns, bay leaf and parsley.

Butternut-Coconut-Cream-Soup-with-Veggie-Stock-3

It is recommended to use a tall pot to make stocks. Tall and slender pot is recommended to prevent too much evaporation during simmering as the stocks is to be simmered uncovered.

Butternut-Coconut-Cream-Soup-with-Veggie-Stock-4

Ingredients

To make veggie stocks, Ian used:

  • two carrots, roughly chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
  • some frozen chopped parsley (leftovers from the previous workshop)
  • 1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorn
  • 1 bay leaf (if possible, get some from someone with a Bay Laurel tree, an evergreen tree which has more intense flavour than those store bought one)
  • a small bunch of thymes

Butternut-Coconut-Cream-Soup-with-Veggie-Stock-5

  • a stock of lemon grass (to tie to the Thai flavour as Ian will be making a Butternut and Coconut Cream Soup with the veggie stocks). Cut the lemon grass 6 inches from the root, remove the outer husk, trim root off and rough chop.

Butternut-Coconut-Cream-Soup-with-Veggie-Stock-7

  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped (without the skin as the skin makes the stocks bitter)
  • 1 leek roughly chopped (use only the white part as the greens will yield a dark stocks, make sure you wash the leek thoroughly as it often has dirts in between the leaves)
  • 1-inch chunk of ginger
  • cold water just enough to cover all the veggies

Instructions

  • Bring the water to just bubbling, lower heat and let simmer, uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes.

Butternut-Coconut-Cream-Soup-with-Veggie-Stock-12

After simmering for 30 to 40 minutes, you’ll get a flavourful clear veggie broth. Strain the stocks.

(more…)

Continue ReadingStocks 101: Butternut and Coconut Cream Soup with Veggie Stocks

Making Sauerkraut

In the last food preservation workshop organised by the Food Security Society at Garratt Wellness Center, Karen DW demonstrated how to make Sauerkraut.

Making-Sauerkraut-2

This is a simple home fermentation technique. You can use greens like cabbage, chard, etc to make Sauerkraut. The final product of the Sauerkraut is sour due to the acid lactic released by the bacteria during fermentation.

Ingredients

  • greens, like chards, cabbage, etc
  • salt

Making-Sauerkraut-1

For the best sauerkraut, use firm heads of fresh cabbage. Shred cabbage and start kraut between 24 and 48 hours after harvest.

Here is an excerpt supply by Karen DW  regarding preparing and canning fermented foods extracted from the Complete guide to Home Canning.

A 1-gallon container is needed for each 5 pounds of fresh vegetables. Therefore, a 5-gallon stone crock is of ideal size for fermenting about 25 pounds of fresh cabbage or cucumbers. Food-grade plastic and glass containers are excellent substitutes for stone crocks. Other 1- to 3-gallon non-food-grade plastic containers may be used if lined inside with a clean food-grade plastic bag. Caution: Be certain that foods contact only food-grade plastics. Do not use garbage bags or trash liners. Fermenting sauerkraut in quart and half gallon Mason jars is an acceptable practice, but may result in more spoilage losses.
Cabbage and cucumbers must be kept 1 to 2 inches under brine while fermenting. After adding prepared vegetables and brine, insert a suitably sized dinner plate or glass pie plate inside the fermentation container. The plate must be slightly smaller than the container opening, yet large enough to cover most of the shredded cabbage or cucumbers. To keep the plate under the brine, weight it down with 2 to 3 sealed quart jars filled with water. Covering the container opening with a clean, heavy bath towel helps to prevent contamination from insects and molds while the vegetables are fermenting. Fine quality fermented vegetables are also obtained when the plate is weighted down with a very large clean, plastic bag filled with 3 quarts of water containing 4 1/2 tablespoons of salt. Be sure to seal the plastic bag. Freezer bags sold for packaging turkeys are suitable for use with 5-gallon containers.
The fermentation container, plate, and jars must be washed in hot sudsy water, and rinsed well with very hot water before use.

Source: Complete guide to Home Canning via Karen DW

(more…)

Continue ReadingMaking Sauerkraut

Canning Zucchini, Squash and Tomato Ratatouille

With the abundance harvest of zucchini, Ian made a Zucchini, Squash and Tomato Ratatouille. This is very similar to the Mixed Vegetables Relish he did in an earlier workshop. However, since there is lesser variation of vegetables, this can be cooked together instead of individually.

Canning-Mixed-Vegetable-Relish-29

For this Zucchini, Squash and Tomato Ratatouille, Ian used various kinds of tomatoes, i.e. tomato sauce, sun dried tomato and fresh tomato.

Zucchini-Ratatouille-2Zucchini-Ratatouille-3

Ian told us he uses the organic tomato sauce from Costco for pasta or cook it down for pizza topping.

Zucchini-Ratatouille-4

Ian also used the above canned tomatoes for this recipe.

Ingredients

Zucchini-Ratatouille-20

Ian’s recipe as above, plus chopped onions.

Zucchini-Ratatouille-1

The zucchinis were huge. Just remember to remove the core as they are spongy.

Source: Ian Lai

(more…)

Continue ReadingCanning Zucchini, Squash and Tomato Ratatouille

Canning Mixed Vegetable Relish

Ian Lai conducted another food preservation workshop at the Garratt Wellness Center organised by the Richmond Food Security Society. For this workshop, Ian decided to make a Mixed Vegetable Relish from the glut of vegetables he got from the Richmond Sharing Farm.

Canning-Mixed-Vegetable-Relish-1Canning-Mixed-Vegetable-Relish-2Canning-Mixed-Vegetable-Relish-3

The vegetables includes zucchini, squash, chard and carrot.

Canning-Mixed-Vegetable-Relish-29

We managed to can 14 x 1 liter jars of the Mixed Vegetable Relish for the food bank. This Mixed Vegetable Relish can be used to make a vegetable lasagna or making it into a soup by adding stock and your favourite grain.

Ingredients

  • squash
  • zucchini
  • carrot
  • onion
  • tomato paste
  • can dice tomato
  • assorted chili pepper (Nanami Togarashi), a Japanese spice mix which is available from Fujiya Japanese store. Ian jokingly said that this is his favourite spice mix for 2010.

Canning-Mixed-Vegetable-Relish-5Canning-Mixed-Vegetable-Relish-17

You may click on the image of the package to have a larger view.

Ian does not provide a specific measurement for this recipe. In fact, Ian told us that he cooks by feel and he is a not a strict recipe follower.

Source: Ian Lai

Yields 14 x 1 liter jars.

(more…)

Continue ReadingCanning Mixed Vegetable Relish

Filipino Cuisine: Eggplant Torta

Linda shared a few Filipino recipes in the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen. Linda loves to cook. She used to do catering for parties but she stopped doing so after she had trouble with her hand. Perhaps due to too much heavy lifting while doing the catering.

Eggplant-Torta-31-600x400

The first Filipino dish is called Eggplant Torta or Eggplant Omelet.  This is really great as it is crunchy on the crust and the eggplant inside is very tender. We should have leave the cap intact so that it is more visible as an eggplant like those I saw in Filipino groceries store.

Ingredients

  • 6 long eggplants
  • 6 eggs, beaten slightly
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • Panko breadcrumbs
  • Garlic Plus seasoning (from Costco)

Eggplant-Torta-32-600x400

Source: Linda

Prep time: 30 minutes;  Cook time: 20 minutes;  Serves 6

(more…)

Continue ReadingFilipino Cuisine: Eggplant Torta

Creamed Kale with Caramelized Shallots

The last kale recipe in the kale feast at the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen is a side dish.

Creamed-Kale-13-600x400

This Creamed Kale with Caramelized Shallots is absolutely delicious, almost like a dessert. It’s creamy and sweet from the caramelized shallots.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped Spanish onion
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups milk
  • pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 3 pounds kale, center stalk removed, and coarsely torn into pieces

Ingredients for Caramelized Shallots

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 10 shallots, peeled and sliced, or 40 baby onions, peeled
  • salt and freshly ground pepper

Creamed-Kale-1-600x400

Source: this recipe is adapted from Food Network, Bobby Flay

Prep time: 30 minutes;  Cook time: 30 minutes;  Serve 6 to 8

(more…)

Continue ReadingCreamed Kale with Caramelized Shallots

Beet and Cabbage Borscht

This Beet and Cabbage Borscht soup is a wonderful winter treat. It uses vegetables that are readily available and inexpensive. Borscht is originated from Ukrainian and is popular in Eastern and Central Europe.

Beet-Cabbage-Borscht-6-600x400

The cheery colour of the Beet and Cabbage Borscht is more like a stew than most soup. Borscht is another soup that freezes well.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 6 medium size beets, peeled and diced
  • 1 small russet potato, peeled and diced
  • 2 small carrots, peeled and diced
  • 3 cups finely chopped green cabbage (about 1/3 of small head)
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (we used chicken broth)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • salt, pepper and sugar to taste
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
  • low fat sour cream or plain yogurt, optional

Beet-Cabbage-Borscht-1-600x400

Sydney, Frank and Ken prepared this delightful coloured soup adapted from Bon Appetit.

Prep time: 30 mins; Cook time: 40 mins; Serves 6

(more…)

Continue ReadingBeet and Cabbage Borscht