Seared Scallops with Fennel and Leeks on Saffron Rice

I love scallops. Sweet, delicious scallops.....Have I mentioned that before. Probably. Just me finding another way to eat them. This one is a little heartier and the saffron really works with any kind of seafood. I like to serve this with a bit of hearty bread with garlic butter. Serves 2.

What you need:

2 servings of rice, any kind cooked according to package directions with a pinch of saffron added to the cooking water

1 leek, cut in half white and light green parts only

1 Fennel Bulb, leafy green parts removed and sliced thinly (Save some of the frilly fronds)

1 clove of garlic

Splash of dry white wine (Like Chenin blanc or Sauvignon Blanc)

6 Jumbo Scallops cut in half lengthwise

salt and pepper

COOK your rice according the the directions. Make two servings. Add a pinch of saffron to the water as well as a bit of butter and a tsp or so of salt if the directions don't say to.

HEAT a large frying pan on medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it starts to foam add your leeks and fennel. cook down until they are soft and starting to caramelize just a bit. add the garlic and cook one minute more. 

ADD a splash of white wine and scrape up the bits stuck to the pan and completely cook down so no liquid remains. It wont take very long. Add some salt to taste.

ADD a knob of butter to another frying pan and heat to medium-high. Season your scallops with salt and pepper on both sides. When the butter is melted and the pan is hot add the scallops. They don't take too long. About three minutes or less depending on how big they are. flip them over half way through to sear both sides nicely. Just don't overcook them.

DIVIDE rice between two shallow bowls or plates and then top each with the leeks, fennel then with 6 scallops. Garnish with fennel fronds.

Beet and Mint Salad

This recipe comes courtesy of Chef Jan Dobbener from the Sensory Tasting at Quails' Gate winery where I work. It is more of a food and wine pairing focused menu on the terrace with the most beautiful view.

So this recipe is for all the beet lovers out there. It's so earthy and complex. Sweet, salty, earthy, crunchy, tender.... Definitely not your everyday salad and with a bit of prep pretty easy to put together. 

When asking Jan how to make the smoked dressing for this salad he said "well just use your smoker" ok. Like we all have a smoker at home. Haha. "What do you mean you don'thave a smoker?" So my work associate suggested the liquid smoke and it works great! You should be able to find it at the grocery store.

Serves 3-4 people

What you need: 

8 med sized beets

Apple cider or sherry vinegar

1/4 cup of mayo

A couple Tbsp of liquid smoke or to taste (it can be pretty strong) 

Lemon juice

A small bunch of fresh mint

A package of prosciutto or about 8 thin slices. 

Truffle oil

Crispy five spice rice. (recipe will follow)

FIRST to cook the beets. Just wash them and throw them in a big pot. No peeling yet. Fill the pot with water to cover the beets and then add 10% vinegar to the water. So your cooking liquid should be 90% water and 10% vinegar. Add a good  tbsp of salt to the water as well and boil until your beets are tender. Sometimes it take 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of your beets so keep checking them. 

ONCE they're done cool them down in some cold water and use a dry clean kitchen towel to peel them. The skins will easily rub off. 

CUT the beets into 1' wedges and put into a bowl. 

FOR the dressing just mix your mayo with a bit of salt and pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Add the liquid smoke and taste to see if you want it a bit smokier or not. Your taste. Mix the dressing into your beets.

CHOP up a small bunch of mint leaves very roughly and keep a few small ones whole for garnish. Mix the chopped mint in to taste as well. Saving the whole leaves for garnishing plates. 

For plating add a big spoonful of beets to a shallow bowl and  gently fold two prosciutto pieces on top of the beets. Garnish with the mint leaves and drizzle a little bit of truffle oil on top. Don't overdo the truffle oil! 

THE crispy rice is wild rice that has been cooked and then fried to make it crispy then tossed in a bit of Chinese five spice. This is an optional garnish but it definitely adds a nice textural component to the dish. You could also try pumpkin seeds or other nuts for a crunchy component. 

Okanagan wine touring day 3! (80 wines, 19 wineries)

So it was a boring, rainy Friday afternoon. What to do?? What else would I do...... So we figured we would do the Lakeshore Wine Route, Which consists of Tantalus Vineyards, St. Hubertus, CedarCreek, and Summerhill Pyramid. Then a couple of the "Fab Five" after that. The View and House of Rose. I wish I would of took some pictures but the though skipped my mind. Next time! I'm sure I will be back soon.

Tantalus was our first stop. We really liked the Riesling. It was really crisp and had a great flavour. They have a beautiful tasting room with a huge wall of windows overlooking the lake and vineyard. Worth a visit just for that.

Summerhill Pyramid was next. They had the first sparkling wine that I have tried so far. It won an award of some kind I don't remember now but they do make it the traditional Champagne way. I can see why it won though it was delicious! We also tried their Cabernet Sauvignon and their Baco Noir. Both had this strange Petrol taste that I've never experienced before, which is always fun to me even if I didn't particularly love them. It also shows you how important "Terroir" is when it comes to wine making. Where the grapes are grown makes a huge impact on the final wine. Even if it's the same grape variety in the same valley. Their Ehrenfelser, which is a German varietal white, was more on the sweet side compared to CedarCreeks. It didn't seem to have enough acidity to be very refreshing but that's just me. I also don't get the pyramid thing? I don't get what the point of it is. They did have a really nice view as well here though.

CedarCreek had some of the best wines of the day for sure. I really loved how much more balanced and fruitier their reds were compared to others of the day. Really liked their Syrah.

St. Hubertus was the last one for this area. They had the greatest Rose I've had so far. Really interesting strawberry jam on the nose and cranberry on the palate. So good!

So after these we took a scenic trip through South East Kelowna. Winding roads and Fruit trees all along the way. It was really nice. Most of the wineries we came across here were closed though :( with the exception of The View Winery. Their tasting room is in a old fruit packing house with the tin siding and red trim. Very industrial looking and really cool. We tried all their wines here plus a dry cider and a very interesting cherry fortified wine which i really didn't like but to each their own. The dry cider was awesome though and I can see myself sitting at the beach one day with a six pack of them if the sun ever decides to shine on me again soon. Anyway the wines were pretty delicious too. They had a Pinotage (The first so far) which was really good.

Last stop was House of Rose. Their wines were so different from the rest. All very fruit forward compared to others. They also have an icewine and rose blend which was really awesome for a fraction of the cost of icewine. Their wine shop was super cute too. There are a few more wineries around here I want to try some other time when they are open so I might come back to this one and pick some up.

Saturday we checked out the farmers market and did a tasting at Tree Brewing. We tried 8 beers and they were all really great and different. I loved the Winter Ale. Too bad it's seasonal though :(

So so far I've tried about 80 different wines at 19 wineries and one brewery. Life is good here in the Okanagan!

Masoor Dal

Sometimes really good things come in not so good looking packages. I learned to cook this dish from an Indian cooking class I took last year. It was super fun and I learned a few great recipes including this one. I still go back to it every once in awhile when I'm craving something different. I know it may not look as fancy or delicious as others but the flavour is all there. It's the spices that make this such a great dish and some are very good for you too. Did you know that turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties? Plus lentils are really good for you as well so eat up and know your doing something good for your body. To warm you up on a cool rainy day it's perfect. Try it tonight for Meatless Monday!

What you need:

1 large onion, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 thumb size knob of ginger, minced or 1/2 tsp or so of powdered ginger
2 cups of red, yellow or green dried lentils (I use red)
4 1/2 cups of vegetable stock or water
1 Tbsp thyme
1 Tbsp tumeric
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp cardammon
(Alternately, if you have some Garam Masala on hand you could use that too. It is a blend of all or some of these spices and is really tasty)
Salt and pepper to taste

PREHEAT a large pot on Medium and add a glug of oil or ghee (clarified butter) to the pot. Add onion, garlic and ginger and saute until soft (ten minutes or so) but not browned.
MEANWHILE rinse your lentils in a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a mesh strainer very well until they are no longer foamy (you will not want to skip this step. Trust me!)
ADD spices and water or stock and bring to a boil Reduce heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with Basmati rice, Some kind of sweet/spicy Chutney (My favorite is mango chutney or salsa, spicy or not) and some pappadums. You can find pappadums in the Indian food section at the grocery store and are like a big chip that you fry in oil or you can also do it in the microwave but it's not as good that way. The directions are on the back of the box anyway but it's really easy and really fun. I just put a big bowl of rice and the pot of Dal of the table with everything and let people help themselves.

1

Chicken Oscar

This was always one of my favorite things to order back home at the various Bavarian restaurants in the area. Its so good I could eat it everyday but better for special occasions maybe? It's great for impressing someone of your amazing cooking skills too no?! Crispy breaded chicken topped with crab, asparagus and buttery Bearnaise sauce. Sound good to you?? I thought so......

What you need: (Serves 2)

2 chicken breast
1/3 cup or so of flour
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2/3 cup or so of bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp or so of salt and pepper (I always wing it when it comes to salt and pepper, use your discretion)
1 can of good quality crab meat or fresh crab
8-10 asparagus spears (not too thick ones)

SEASON your asparagus with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil and roast at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.While its baking you can make your sauce and prepare your chicken.

My recipe for Hollandaise sauce is here . All you need to make it into a Bearnaise sauce is add some fresh chopped tarragon. Voila! You can make this ahead and refrigerate it to reheat later if you like too.

NOW you need to make your chicken like a schnitzel. Place your chicken breast in a large Ziploc bag or between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them flat with the flat side of a meat tenderizer or other similar object until they are a uniform thickness (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick). A rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy pan works in a pinch.
USE three shallow dishes for your coating. Flour in one, egg and milk (mixed together) in another and your seasoned bread crumbs in another. Dip each breast first in the flour, shaking off any excess, then the egg and milk mixture, then your bread crumbs.
HEAT a large pan on medium-high heat and add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add your chicken and fry until golden and cooked through on both sides. This doesn't take too long, about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes a a side.
WARM up your crab while the chicken is cooking in a pan with a little butter if you like or just in the microwave if your in a hurry.  

To put it together just top your chicken with the crab and the roasted asparagus and top with your sauce.

Pan Seared Strip Loin with Sautéed Mushrooms and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

I discovered this new grocery store called Urban Fare in Kelowna and it is awesome! So many great gourmet foods and local sustainable foods as well. I found some really interesting mixed mushrooms there to go with this great looking Triple A Alberta beef strip loin. I never, ever eat red meat except on very rare occasions. This was amazing. A rare indulgence, and very easy to prepare.

What you need: (Serves 2)

2 amazing steaks of your choice
Butter
A large bunch of interesting mixed mushrooms (remember they shrink when cooked)
1/2 a large onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic minced
A sprig of fresh rosemary or thyme, chopped
Your favorite red wine
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper

IN a medium size frying pan heated on medium. add a knob of butter to your pan and when hot and melted add you onions and saute until they just start to brown.
ADD your garlic, rosemary and mushrooms and cook until they become tender and their moisture has evaporated. Add a big glug of red wine and reduce until you have a nice saucy consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm in the oven until your steak is done.

I use a big griddle pan to make my steak but you could do them on the BBQ or just in a frying pan if you like. Just make sure you season them well with salt and pepper on each side and that your pan is nice and hot before you add them so they form a nice crust. I cook mine on medium-high or so for about 5 minutes a side for medium rare depending on how thick they are. Mine were pretty thick.

For the Potatoes just peel about 4 potatoes and dice them roughly. Add them to a pot of boiling water until tender. Drain and add a handful of Parmesan cheese, a big knob of butter, a few glugs of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Mash them up really good and your done! Simple and soooo good!