Braised Halibut on Spinach

The chef has been extra wonderful this week, making dinners from the low glycemic index cookbook that I bought at Costco last weekend. It’s The G.I. Diet Menopause Clinic — the latest in a series by Canadian author, Rick Gallop.

The book has 13 weeks of optional menu plans and grocery lists, and about 80 pages of recipes. We’ve adapted some of them, to include ingredients that we prefer, and followed the instructions exactly for some of the others.

Monday was Lemon Linguine with Smoked Salmon, which the chef changed to “with Sliced Ham”. We added a bit more liquid than the recipe called for, and it was very good.

Tuesday we had Cheesy Lentil and Bean Bake, which I really enjoyed. The chef ate most of his, but would prefer something with ground beef, instead of all those beans.

Wednesday, the chef grilled himself a small steak, and I had grilled back bacon.

Thursday we had braised halibut. I’m not a fish lover, but this was so good that I had the leftovers in a tossed salad today. Here’s the chef’s adaptation of the recipe, and a picture of the finished dish.

Braised Halibut on Spinach

• 1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach
• 1 lb Pacific halibut
• 1 tbsp grainy mustard
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. In medium saucepan, bring 1/2 cup water to boil. Add frozen spinach, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until thawed.
3. Drain spinach in colander, and squeeze out as much water as possible.
4. Rinse and pat fish dry with paper towel.
5. In small bowl, mix mustards, lemon zest and pepper. Coat fish on all sides with this mixture, and set aside.
6. In large ovenproof frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.
7. Add garlic and onion and cook for 8 minutes, or until softened.
8. Reduce heat to medium and stir in spinach and salt.
9. Pour in water, and place fish on top of spinach mixture.
10. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until fish just flakes with a fork.

Serves 4.

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Pasta Cabonara With Mushrooms

The chef made a fabulous pasta this week, and we both rated it as one of the best things he’s ever cooked. We can’t wait to have it again!

He agreed to share the recipe, which he concocted by himself, from a mixture of other recipes. There’s a picture of the finished dish at the bottom of the recipe. Yummy!

Pasta Carbonara

• 6 slices Prosciutto
• 2 cups mushrooms
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup cream
• Pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese (grated)
• Fresh curly parsley a few sprigs
• Fresh Italian parsley a few sprigs
• Fresh garlic chives
• 1 package fresh pasta (I used Olivieri 350 grams linguine — about 2/3 pkg)

1. Slice mushrooms, dice prosciutto, dice parsleys and chives and set aside.
2. Place pasta in pot with enough water, a dash of salt and a bit of olive oil bring to boil and cook until el dente.
3. In large mixing bowl beat egg with the cream and add pepper and set aside
4. Next while the pasta is cooking sauté the mushrooms in olive oil and a bit of butter as the pasta is almost ready add the prosciutto and herbs to the mushrooms.
5. When pasta is ready drain and toss in the egg and cream and add  parmesan and mix in the sautéed mushrooms mixture.

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Grilled Rack of Lamb

Last week the chef made a lovely grilled rack of lamb, and he emailed me the recipe so I could post it here. Yes, that’s right – he emailed it – all the way from the kitchen laptop to my office upstairs. I’ll bet we’re not the only people who email within their own house though!

Anyway, here’s his top secret recipe. And when he says to watch carefully, you should take his advice. He turned his back on ours for about 5 minutes, and we almost lost it! It was engulfed in flames, and the chef risked life and limb to retrieve it.

So, it was a little crispy on the outside, but moist and flavourful, and done to perfection inside.

Grilled Rack of Lamb

• 1 rack of lamb (we used Australian from Costco)
• 1 heaping tbsp Dijon
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• One stem of Rosemary (Cut in thirds)

1. Mix all ingredients in a bag with the rack of lamb
2. Place in fridge until ready to BBQ (1-2 hours)
3. Set BBQ on medium and place rack on
4. Spread remainder of marinade on rack
5. Watch carefully turning occasionally for approx. 5 minutes a side for medium rare

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Potato Salad With Bacon

This would be great for a summer dinner on the patio, or for a family gathering. The recipe is from the June issue of Real Simple magazine, and adapted to our tastes. For example, the original recipe calls for 1 cup of parsley, and I’ve reduced that to 1/4 cup.

• 1-1/2 lbs new potatoes
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1-1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup fresh flat leafed parsley, roughly chopped

1. Place potatoes in pot with water to cover.
2. Add 1 tsp salt, and simmer till tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool.
4. Cut into quarters
5. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 6 minutes.
6. Transfer to paper towels, and crumble when cool
7. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, mustard, 3/4 tsp salt  and 1/4 tsp pepper
8. Toss with potatoes and parsley.
9. Just before serving, mix in bacon.

Serves 6.

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Cabbage and Carrot Slaw

Tossed salad is good, but it’s nice to have something different occasionally. The chef promised to by me some shredded cabbage this week, and this is a tasty way to prepare it.

If your chef won’t bring home a bag of coleslaw mix, you could use 2 cups of thinly sliced cabbage and 1 cup of carrot strips.

You can see a picture of our slaw at the end of this post. It’s a bit tart, so if you like a milder slaw, you could add a tablespoon of mayonnaise, to smooth out the flavour.

• 3 cups coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. In a large salad bowl, toss the coleslaw mix, vinegar and oil.
2. Season with sale and pepper to taste.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

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Baked Quesadillas

We enjoy quesadillas, and the chef usually makes them in a frying pan, with butter on the outside of the tortillas. That adds extra fat and calories, so baking them in the oven reduces some of that.

As you can see in the photo below, they turned out great, and browned nicely in the oven. We’d never tried quesadillas with cream cheese, and we enjoyed the extra flavour that it added. We didn’t use the entire tub though — just spread a thin layer on each tortilla.

The chef also made some taco flavoured ground beef, to serve on the side. Next time we’ll add it inside the quesadilla, before baking them.

• 1 tub (8 oz) light cream cheese spread, chive & onion or herb & garlic
• 8 flour tortillas (9” diameter)
• 1 cup grated Tex Mex cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Spread cream cheese on each tortilla, stopping about 1/2” from the edges.
3. Sprinkle Tex Mex cheese on half of each tortilla
4. Fold each tortilla in half, over the sprinkled cheese.
5. Press lightly to seal each tortilla.
6. Spray both sides of each tortilla with baking spray.
7. Place tortillas on ungreased baking sheet
8. Bake in centre of oven for about 15 minutes, turning after 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
9. Cut each quesadilla into wedges and serve with salsa and light sour cream.

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Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies

These are delicious, chewy cookies, and very easy to make. Pack them with your lunch, or serve with milk or coffee as an afternoon snack.

Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup oat bran
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• grated peel of 1 orange
• 1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oats
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a small bowl, mix flour, oat bran and baking powder.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together margarine, granulated sugar and brown sugar, until fluffy.
4. Add egg and mix well.
5. Stir in orange juice and peel.
6. Stir in flour mixture, and mix thoroughly.
7. Stir in oats and cranberries.
8. Drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto greased baking sheets, about 2” apart.
9. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned.

Makes 3 dozen

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Speedy Chili

We’ve enjoyed this recipe several times, sometimes using leftover roast beef instead of ground beef. It’s quick and easy to make, and very filling. The recipe makes lots, so you can freeze the leftovers, or have them the next day.

Speedy Chili

• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1 can (19 oz) diced tomatoes
• 2 cans (19 oz) red kidney beans
• 2 cans (14 oz) baked beans in tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup medium salsa
• 1 tbsp taco seasoning

1. In a 5-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat, then add ground beef.
2. Cook beef, stirring often, until browned, and no pink remains.
3. Add onion, and cook 3 minutes, stirring often.
4. Add tomatoes, baked beans, kidney beans, salsa and seasoning.
5. Reduce heat and cover.
6. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes.

Makes 8 servings

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Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

This chicken recipe looks really easy to make, and the chef likes sweet potatoes, so maybe he’ll try this one. It’s adapted from an old magazine clipping that I found in my recipes file. 

Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

• 1 can (10-3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 8 chicken thighs
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
• 3 cups frozen peas

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Spread undiluted soup in bottom of a 5-quart Dutch oven.
3. Add chicken, and turn the pieces to coat with soup.
4. Sprinkle with thyme, and add sweet potato.
5. Cover and bake for 50 minutes.
6. Add peas, cover and bake for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked, and vegetables are tender.

Serves 4.

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Pork Tenderloin With Mustard Glaze

There’s a pork tenderloin in the fridge, and the chef is trying to decide how to cook it. This recipe might inspire him. He could make the marinade in the morning, and leave the pork in it all day, then grill it for supper.

Update: At the end of this post you can see a picture of our tenderloin. There were a couple of crispy spots on the outside, but it tasted great, and the mustard glaze was delicious. We’ll definitely have this again.

Pork Tenderloin With Mustard Glaze

• 1 tbsp liquid honey
• 1 tbsp grainy mustard
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• dash of salt and pepper
• 1 pork tenderloin

1. In large sealable plastic bag, combine honey, mustard, vinegar, oil, garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Add pork, and seal bag, squeezing out all the air.
3. Refrigerate for 1 to 24 hours, turning the bag once.
4. Reserve the marinade, and place pork on a greased grill, over medium-high heat. Brush with marinade.
5. Close grill lid and cook, turning occasionally for 18-20 minutes, until cooked, with just a hint of pink remaining.
6. Transfer meat to cutting board, covered with a tent of foil, and let stand for 5 minutes.
7. Cut into 1/2-inch slices and serve.

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