Fried Tofu and Egg Stew

Ben loves dishes with sauce.This Fried Tofu and Egg Stew is just one of such dish.

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Plenty of sauce to go with steamed rice.

Ingredients

  • 8 hard boiled eggs
  • 1 package of fried tofu
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 1 tablespoon dark say sauce
  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 cups water

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P/S: the dark soy sauce was missing from the above photo

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Moroccan Chickpea Stew

I made this Moroccan Chickpea Stew for dinner. I tried to introduce different cuisine at home.

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You can have this Moroccan Chickpea Stew with steamed rice or couscous.

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We had it with some grilled lamb and couscous. Well, my boys love the lamb but not so much of the stew especially Nanzaro, He does not like tomatoes at all. Arkensen is more open minded to try new food.

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 cup diced onion (about 1 medium)
  • 1 cup diced carrot
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups cubed peeled potato (about 1 large)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • salt to taste
  • 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (14-ounce) can vegetable broth

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Source: this recipe is adapted from myrecipes.com.

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Beef Stew with Noodles

The South Arm Women Community Kitchen is back in action after Christmas break.

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For the first kitchen, Michelle prepared 3 simple recipes for some old and some new participants. The main course is a Beef Stew with Noodles. This is a hearty one pot complete meal.

Tips

  • Use affordable chuck roast for stews because it becomes tender and flavourful as it simmers. Cutting the meat into smaller pieces shortens the cooking time.
  • Cutting vegetables into evenly sized cubes helps to ensure that they’ll finish cooking at the same time.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • salt and ground pepper
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth (preferably reduced-sodium)
  • 1/2 pound carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
  • 2 cups egg noodles (or more)
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon red-wine vinegar

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Source: This recipe is adapted from MarthaStewart.com

Serves about 6, depending on serving size

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Beety Vegetarian Borscht

The South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors met again on Valentine’s Day. Michelle had planned a Valentine’s Day menu with the color red in mind. Unfortunately in the morning of the meeting day, Michelle did not feel well and had to leave the kitchen to Stella to manage. We wished Michelle well.

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We had a group of very capable seniors and everything went well.

The first dish is a Beety Vegetarian Borscht. It is a sweet vegetable stew of beets, cabbage, carrot and tomatoes.

Here are some nutritional information on beets from Livestrong.com:

  • low in calories
  • rich in fiber, containing 3.4g per cup
  • good source of potassium, 518mg per cup, 15% of your daily requirement
  • rich in folate, 136mcg per cup, 34% of your daily requirement
  • contain Vitamin C, B6 and protein
  • contain unique nutrients that may lower cholesterol level

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil or butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 3 medium beets, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 green cabbage, chopped
  • 2 cups canned diced tomatoes
  • 4 cups water or vegetable broth
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 tablespoon dried dill or 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ground pepper to taste

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Source: via Michelle Li

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Chicken Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish. Ratatouille is usually served as a side dish. The key ingredient in Ratatlouille is tomatoes accompanying by garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, carrot and a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence which is typically a combination of savory, fennel, basil, and thyme.

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Jorge served this Chicken Ratatouille with Jalapeno Chili Corn Bread which I will blog next.

Ingredients

  • 2 onions, quartered
  • 2 zucchini, cut into cubes
  • 1 eggplant, cut into cubes
  • 2 red or yellow bell peppers, halved, seeded, and thickly sliced
  • 3 tomatoes, peeled, quartered and seeded
  • 12 chicken drumsticks or thighs
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup butter, divided
  • 10 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

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Source: Jorge Viduenez

Prep time: 30 minutes;  Cook time: 1 hour and 10 minutes;  Serves 12

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African Curried Coconut Stew with Chickpeas

Helena and June made this African Curried Coconut Stew with Chickpeas in the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors.

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This African Curried Coconut Stew with Chickpeas is wonderful. The peanut butter adds an interesting flavour to this hearty stew.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno chili, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 medium can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 medium can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup light coconut milk
  • 3/4 cup cooked white or brown rice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
  • salt to taste

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Source: adapted from Donna Klein’s Tropical Vegan Kitchen

Prep time: 20 minutes;  Cook time: 25 minutes;  Serves 4.

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Old Fashioned Beef Stew Recipe for Slow Cooker

For those of you of follow chowtimes, I’m sure you’ll know me well enough that I try not to use the oven in summer.  It’s hot enough already and we do not need the extra heat from the oven.  I made this Old Fashioned Beef Stew using the slow cooker.

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I find that this beef stew is slightly on the tangy side.  We are not so fond of tangy meat but I’m ok with tangy dessert.  The next time I’m going to make this again, I will omit the lemon juice.  This is a very hearty meal.

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The main reason I made this beef stew is I found a great deal for eye of round roast at Save-On-Foods.  This 2.6kg piece of meat only cost $11.42.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 pounds lean stew beef
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 cups beef broth or bouillon
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (I think I will omit this next time)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 6 carrots, cut in pieces
  • 6 medium potatoes, cut into pieces
  • 1/3 cup cold water blended with 3 tablespoons flour for thickening (I find it not necessary)

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Barley Chicken Stew

It’s Mona and my turn to demonstrate in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Mona made a German dish called Barley Chicken Stew for the main dish while I made Malaysian Fruit Rojak for dessert. I had blogged about the Fruit Rojak here.

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The Fruit Rojak was accepted well even though it is a little too spicy for some of the members in the group despite I did not add Thai chili to the dish. The only problem is the confusion of the origin of the dish where I kept hearing people saying Thai or Indonesian when they mentioned about the rojak.

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The Barley Chicken Stew is a very hearty meal and it’s very filing too. It’s a great dish for cold weather.

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Another new member of the kitchen, Jane, brought some corn meal muffin to share with us. Jane was a school teacher for 25 years, teaching cooking in school. We hope she will share with us many of her culinary skills.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup pearl barley, soak in water or broth overnight
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 to 3 chicken drumsticks
  • 1 litre chicken broth
  • 150g cream cheese
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoons chopped chives or green onion and parley each
  • a pinch of tumeric
  • a pinch of chili flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste

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Mona made her own chicken broth with chicken bones and she added tumeric to the chicken broth for colour. Mona also bought organic pearl barley for about $5 per kilo from Galloway which is just 30% more expensive than regular ones. She also brought her own frozen chopped green onion and parsley which she planted in her garden during summer.

Click on Read More for the instructions.

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Beef Stew with Split Peas a la Lime (Gheimeh)

In the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen, we had a new member to demonstrate a Persian recipe. Azar is an Iranian and she enjoys the community kitchen as she can learn about food from other cultures and also practice her English. Azar is a beautician and I was told that she does a very good job in threading, an ancient method of hair removal which originated in India and gaining popularity in the Middle and Far East.

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The Beef Stew has a very lemony flavour. The flavour comes from the dried lime which can be found in Persian stores and is relatively cheap. Minoo volunteers to get us some the next time she goes groceries shopping at a Persian store.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 cup split peas
  • 1 lb beef or lamb, cubed
  • 3 dried lime
  • 2 teaspoons lemon powder
  • 3 cups water
  • salt and cinnamon to taste
  • 2 large potatoes, cut into sticks for making fries

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Click on Read More for the instructions.

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