Cooking Red Corn

On a recent trip to the grocery store I bought some bicoloured corn, something new to try cooking. Since the weather was so unsettled today, and I had the irrational weather theory that if I set up the BBQ it would immediately start to rain, I opted to roast the corn in the oven. One of my favourite spring/summer salads is a black bean mixture that I thought would go great with the roasted corn. A new camera has inspired me to take photos of almost everything, and a friend's food pictures of her culinary adventures are always so wonderful, that I had to try a food blog entry. Here are the pics from our nice dinner of roasted corn and black bean salad.

Bicoloured red corn from the grocery store

Corn with butter and spices, ready for the oven

Black bean salad ingredients

Salad prior to mixing

Finished plate with an egg bun and some peach chutney

 Yum! And I have enough salad left over to stuff into taco shells with extra salsa tomorrow for a quick supper prior to heading out for trivia night. Wish I could post this in taste-o-vision because black bean salad is scrumptious.

Simple foods

Grilling vegetables releases their most primal flavours, reminding the eater of the true taste of those foods. I spent the afternoon grilling large quantities of vegetables, to make into several meals; it's hot out there, but I used the patio umbrella, and I survived. I had one green fig left from my first-ever fresh fig experiment, and I've been reading often on food blogs about grilled figs, so I sliced it in half and popped it on the electric non-stick (non-stick, my A**) that I use because I'm scared of gas and too lazy to work with charcoal. [Aside: can you believe that I waited until I was over 39 to eat a fresh fig?] Grilling a fig (see the one on the left in the pic here) proves that they are basically pure sugar, leaving a gorgeous dark crust on the grill when I pried it off. I let it cool for a few minutes, then cut each piece into halves, so that I would have four mouthfuls of HEAVEN. Yes, just like that, no added herbs or spices or oils, a fresh fig grilled: succulent, sweet, charred to perfection, ooey gooey loveliness.
I enjoy all sorts of foods and recipes and combinations, but lately I have been experimenting with relearning the flavours of the basic food: what does a cooked carrot really taste like, do I actually like broccoli or only when it's drowned in cheese or stir-fried with mucho spices and surrounded by other veggies? That was what I was doing with the fig/grilled fig: I ate both without any added ingredients, and I enjoyed them so much.
As we age, our sense of taste does dull somewhat, so I guess I am trying a mid-life "remembrance of foods past" so that after another 20 yrs on this Earth, I will have those imprints on my brain and the sights of those foods will still evoke the taste-memory if not the actual taste in my mouth. A large part of the enjoyment of food for me is the visual display of the dish and the memories associated with the enjoyment of eating that particular food previously.
As part of thinking about the basic flavours of food, I tried to remember some of the simpler tastes that I have enjoyed over the years. I realized that some of my favourite dishes from among the thousands of recipes I have sampled during 40 years of eating are some of the simplest. The recipes are practically in the description of the dish, they're that simple. If the freshest ingredients and some attention are paid, they are so satisfying and delicious. 

Here are some of the most simple foods that still delight my palate:

Sauteed mushrooms on toast;

Whole grain sourdough bread toasted with BUTTER;

Poached egg with salt and freshly cracked pepper;

Tomato and cucumber salad with lemon juice/evoo vinaigrette;

Crackers and goat cheese;

Spaghetti with butter/olive oil, parmesan cheese, and fresh-ground pepper;
Aged cheddar in a grilled cheese sandwich;
Broccoli and spaghetti;
Fried egg sandwich;
And any vegetable grilled on the Bar-Bee-Q. Good thing I just ate, or this blog entry would be making me hungry!

This spice is so nice

My favourite spice is cumin, which I hadn't really tasted until I became an adult. Now I use it in so many dishes that I routinely run out of it and have to make a special trip to the Bulk Barn (my favourite spice store) to stock up. During this most recent restocking trip, when I opened the little bin, the aroma made me smile and giggle a little bit, right there in the aisle of the Bulk Barn; what a weirdo, getting a thrill from a spice aroma. The nutty, peppery flavour of cumin fills in the profile of so many dishes, from chili to curries, from hummus to spiced cornbread; Mexican, Spanish, Indian, and Middle Eastern cuisines favour cumin.
For a treat, fry some potatoes in butter with onions, and then dust with cumin in the last couple minutes of cooking. Lentil soup will earn extra praise with cumin added early in the simmering, so its flavour permeates the broth.
Any time I cook with avocados (cumin punches up guacamole to a whole new level of divinity), such as this summer of my tostado, I always sprinkle in a little cumin. Cumin can improve almost any dish: add a little cumin plus some chili powder to regular macaroni and cheese, and Ole! It's Mexican-inspired Mac & Cheese.
My D. and I disagree about some spices, but he never complains when I add cumin to my favourite dishes, from casseroles to soups and stews to rice pilaf and corn muffins. I should get a mortar and pestle and try the seeds; I bet they're great toasted a bit before they're ground into the powder. Yum.

Ode to cocktails

What an odd thing to write about on a Sunday morning.

The first time I drank a cocktail, a Tom Collins (see pic right) mixed by the bartender at an air force base dance, circa 1986, was a revelation. Wine is fine, beer brings cheer, liquor is quicker, but cocktails are sublime. Alcohol + sweet or sour, fire or cool, jewel fruit or earthy spices creates a recipe meant to evoke emotions, inspire enthusiasm, or mellow temperaments; in the hands of a skilled bartender, cocktails = alchemy. I mean, I slurped that Tom Collins with such gusto that I almost went home with a complete stranger that night, a Quebec air force minion; talk about stranger danger. And I don't even like gin!

I discovered a new cocktail of my own concoction this week, which I just had to share [NOT pictured, that's a margarita on the left]. President's Choice has a new product called Blood Orange-Juice in Italian Soda. I put cubes and gold tequila in a tall glass and topped it with the Blood Orange Soda: delicious and slightly nutritious (real blood orange juice in the soda). Now, lately I think tequila tastes just right in almost any cocktail, but this one was special: the slightly sour but mostly sweet orange soda, the fresh cubes clinking against the glass, the bite of the tequila, the bubbles; ah, a great summer drink. I will definitely serve that at my next party, along with margaritas for the tequila-traditionalists. [Not those frozen abominations called margaritas, the real thing, where you still taste the tequila and it doesn't give you an ice-cream headache].

My favourite cocktail is a cosmopolitan (pic right), and I cannot believe how many places I've visited in Canada where they don't know how to mix one. I mean, this drink recipe has been around for more than 30 years. Catch up, people! I was starting to get really annoyed by the enormous variation in cosmos that I was served, until I realized that I really didn't care that much, as long as I just called it a "cocktail" and enjoyed the drink for its own self and the effort of the maker. I did buy a book called "The Little Pink Book of Cocktails" because it's the perfect size to fit in my purse, and when a waitress at a small place says they do make cocktails but they don't know how to make a cosmo, I can whip out my book and show them the recipe.

Just for the edification and future reference of my readers, a cosmo requires (amounts are for those who enjoy the flavour of vodka, if you want it fruitier, increase the cranberry and lime slightly):

1 oz vodka

1/4 oz triple sec

1/4 oz lime juice

1 dash cranberry juice

Mix vodka, triple sec, lime, and cranberry juice in an iced mixing cup. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lime wedge. Now, is that such a difficult drink recipe to have in your permanent repertoire, people who pretend to be bartenders but really ARE NOT? NOTE: in a mixed drink, premium vodka is optional; regular vodka will do, and saves the wallet. They've done taste tests, and most people cannot tell the diff between vodkas.

Grape juice and ginger ale

Real grape juice mixed half-and-half with Canada Dry ginger ale ranks in my top 5 favourite soft drinks. I'm enjoying some now as I blog. Others in the top 5 include Orangina, exotic root beers, President's Choice Peach White Grape juice, and chocolate milk. I recommend PC White Grape & Peach juice because it is not loaded with refined sugar and it is not mixed with apple juice; one cup also provides 100% of your DV of Vitamin C. Most of the 100% real juice blends use apple juice as the base, because it is cheap and flavours can layer on top of it without being lost in the mix. Apple juice is so acidic, however, that I have to avoid drinking it most of the time: I am a sensitive flower. That adorable pot-bellied Orangina bottle fills me with joy when I see it; how attached I am to a simple container of juice.

Searching for this image, I came across the Orangina.com website, and they have recipes for not-soft drinks on there -- what a brilliant idea; this one sounds delicious. I may have to buy some Orangina and try some of these cocktails. If anyone is ever wondering what to get me for a present (not that I'm hinting here, or, maybe I am), consumables are the way to go (I have a very tiny house), and I adore small-batch or non-Canadian root beers. I rarely make it to the US by car, but when I do, I always stop at a grocery store on the way back and pick up at least 4 different kinds of root beer. Back to the grape juice and ginger ale: that was a drink my mother always made for parties or any number of guests, even one. I don't make it very often because I like it to remain a special treat, and when I do imbibe many pleasant childhood memories are brought into focus. Almost everyone who tries that mix loves it. If you've gotta drink soft, might as well be special.
Short blog tonight, kinda tired; just wanted to share a favourite sipper and recommend a couple products: Orangina and PC Peach, definitely the way to go.

Breakfast tostadas

I neglected to get groceries (yet) this weekend, but sometimes it's amazing what a desperate cook can throw together from the bits and bobs left in the refrigerator and the canned-foods cupboard. And thank goodness for the microwave. Thanks to a friend supplying us with authentic Mexican tortillas, I had those in the fridge, awaiting their purpose in this galaxy. 
I fried the small tortillas in oil on both sides, then put them on a plate lined with paper towel. The rest was put together from the veggie drawer and my yearning to make this the Summer of the Tostada. My D. gave it a thumbs-up review, and we both polished off three, so this recipe was definitely a winner.
Breakfast Tostadas
Normally, two tostadas per person will likely be enough, especially if you heap on the veggies, like I did. Preheat oven to 425F.
Then, sauteed some veggies with cumin and a splash of hot sauce: a bit of red pepper, a bit of mushroom, a shallot chopped, added some canned corn kernels, and pieces of cooked potato (that's where the microwave came in; I cooked the potato while I was cutting up the veggies for the saute).
Next, swiped out the pan and scrambled some eggs (three eggs, with about 2 Tblsp of water and 1 tsp mixed herbs; was out of milk or cream because of lack of groceries).
Put the fried tortillas on a baking sheet, spread with some jarred salsa, topped with heap of veggies, followed by some scrambled eggs, then a few shreds of cheese.
Popped that into the oven for 10 minutes; turned on the broiler for 4 or 5 minutes (watching them the whole time they're under the broiler). Was delicious and nutritious and quite pretty too. They sort of looked like these pictured, but without the lettuce on top (I really need to get a camera if I'm going to keep blogging about food).

Those fried tortillas made the best tostadas I've ever had (even better than the ones I had in Mexico), so THANKS to my thoughtful friends for giving us those from the Mex-I-Can restaurant downtown.
Here's a link to a similar recipe, in case mine isn't that easy to follow (leave the salt out, though: it isn't really needed).

Kale CAN be delicious

One of the super-foods people tout lately is kale. 

Now, I like greens, greens, greens, but not everyone enjoys kale. I saw a fun way recently to get just about anyone to eat some kale: make it into chips.
If you want to try eating this mega-food in an entree, here's a delish re-ceep that has odd ingredients, but the resulting dish is divine.
Penne with Kale, serves 4
12 oz penne pasta (sorry, re-ceep is from an American magazine)
3 tsp evoo
1/4 cup pine nuts OR walnuts OR pecans
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 and 1/2 cups broth (I use veggie broth)
1 bag or bunch of kale, stems removed and coarsely chopped [NOTE: for kale, it is important to extract as much of that hard central stem as possible, and the chopping really helps with kale-enjoyment too]
1/4 cup golden raisins (tip: if your raisins are a little dried out from languishing in the cupboard, cover them in boiling water in a bowl for at least 15 min. while you're getting everything else ready; then drain them when you're ready to start the sauteing part of this re-ceep)
garnish: shaved Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes, which REALLY finishes this dish and you should should should include!
1. Cook pasta as package directs.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp oil in skillet over medium heat, stir in nuts, saute 1 minute or until lightly toasted, remove and reserve.
3. Heat 2 tsp oil in same skillet, add garlic, saute 30 seconds; add broth, kale, and raisins (drained! if you had to soak them). Cover and steam 5 to 6 minutes until greens are tender.
4. Drain pasta, return to pot, toss with kale mixture and nuts. Serve with Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.
Happy greens-eating!
After you make this and love it, then the next day you might be stuck again over what to make for dinner: the blog Smitten Kitchen inspires me all the time.
Now, I have to go figure out what to have for dinner, maybe the eggplant that's languishing in my bottom fridge drawer needs to be devoured tonight. NOM.
P.S. The eggplant made it into a quick-stew of veggies that I served on brown rice; it was definitely NOM.
One of my favourite new food blogs belongs to Lady Buttons, and she's my inspiration.