Chantrelle and Cream Cheese Filled Trout

Hello Everyone! How are you doing?? I have been busy focusing on raw foods and eating really simply; I'm actually taking part in Raw Food Rehabs 11 week initiative Raw Balance but before I made that commitment I made this treat, and oh my! was it ever a treat! And while it was a treat I actually felt really good about it. It is trout that I caught filled with Chantrelle mushrooms that I picked, onions and garlic from my garden and a little cream cheese to hold it all together.  What is better then that? Plus the fish was a lunker so I was extra proud! My boyfriend has been working out of the country so I have been learning to do all of these things all on my own :) I've always loved fishing but as he is the 'professional' he always took over in some way, this time I did everything all on my own, even the cleaning and filleting. AND the chantrelles I picked while out getting firewood with a friend - how resourceful am I?? Haha... I have been feeling pretty empowered lately but don't worry I won't get to carried away!

Anyways back to the food talk...

It really is more about the method then the measurements as all of my cooking is. I do want to share something about the mushrooms though, many people cook all mushrooms on a lower heat and with chantrelles if you do that a lot of water comes out and end up steaming them instead of frying them, so I cook them at at medium - high, not full out but closer to high then medium and they get really nice and caramelized quite quickly. I then let them cool down and added a little onions, garlic, salt and pepper, it really should be all about those beautiful mushrooms. I added enough cream cheese to hold it all together. I filleted the trout and laid each fillet out, I added a scoop of the filling and rolled it up securing it with a toothpick. I roasted it in a 350 degree oven until the fish was opaque, I was careful not to overcook it but I can't really give you a time as it will all depend on the size of your fillet, and how much filling is inside, the filling does need to be warmed through only, my fillets came from a 3 1/2 lb trout (REALLY good size for my lake!) took about 25 minutes.

Bacon Wrapped Cod

First things first: Happy New Year!
Now onto the goods...

These tasty bites are a little bit of heaven!

Just look at them!

They were actually inspired by an appetizer that I had at a Christmas Eve party that I went to. A friend of mine always has an appy and drinks party of Christmas Eve and it is always a lot of fun. Over the holidays there are always so many parties to attend and everyone is always trying to feed you but a lot of people go for the convenience of pre-made appies and that just doesn't fly with me. Sure they are convenient and a lot of them taste not so bad, but Donna always outdoes herself with a beautiful spread of homemade spanikopita, wontons, dips, spreads, meatballs, pizza bites and this year a little bundle that consisted of a piece of chicken and a water chesnut marinated in ginger, garlic and soy and wrapped in bacon. I decided to seafoodize that tasty little bundle that was gone off the table in mere minutes!

I simply took two fillet of cod and added it to a bowl with some lime zest, ginger and garlic all of which a grated with my new microplane that I got for Christmas. Thanks Mom! I added a bit of pepper and left it in the fringe overnight. Then I just chopped it into bites and wrapped each bit with bacon and secured with a toothpick. Pop those suckers into a 400 degree oven until the bacon is crisp and you have one tasty treat on your hands!!

I would suggest the bites be on the bigger side as not to dry out the fish but if you wish to substitute any other protein, I love scallops, or chicken, even beef would probably be pretty good.

Skate (ahem.. cod) with Traditional flavours powdered for Daring Kitchen

My sincere apologies... I know this is outrageously late. Blame the swine flu. I have been so sick since Monday that I haven't even been able to look at a computer, a TV, even a book. I have had just enough energy to lay in bed and drift in and out of consciousness, usually arising to cough up a lung. Yum! This is exactly what you want to read on a food blog....

Anyways I did complete this months daring kitchen challenge. It was a lot easier then it looked and took a lot less time then I imagined, but to be totally honest I wasn't overly wowed with the results. This may have been due to some dulled taste buds as I was just starting to become ill (unknown to me... I thought the sore throat came from 5 days of hooting and hollering at ska fest!). My man-friend wasn't very into it either - hes a man food man, and this was definitely veering towards lady food. I'm sure the recipe is all over but due to my current condition, which has improved but not all that much so I thought I would go easy on this post. Here was my final result:


And here are some other pictures during the process:


My powders consisted of Red and Green Onion, Mango Jalapeno, Cilantro and Sun dried Tomato, which I found really helped to round out the flavours with a little sweet earthiness.


These were my green beans, which were actually my favourite part.

And last but not least, cod (which was supposed to be skate) swimming in a warm bath of butter!

Creamy Crab Spagettini

Oh Canada! Mmm.. Mmmm...
I am lucky to live on Vancouver Island, we have some of the freshest seafood around and it doesn't get any fresher then when you catch the main ingredient yourself! The crab from this dish came from the waters of one of my favourite places: Port Renfrew. The cool waters of the harbour at Port Renfrew are prime crabbing ground; especially during the late winter but also all year round. I absolutely love the Ocean and the beach so in honour of our 142nd Canada Day I created this dish. All red and white and filled with a local Canadian delicacy; dungeness crab.

This dish was delicious and quite simple to put together, I added sun dried tomato for some depth and also so it would complement the sweet crab flavour; and then topped it off with lots of Parmesan cheese for richness. Here is the recipe:

Oh! and don't worry, you don't need to catch the crab yourself; just make sure that you do use the fresh stuff that can be bought from the seafood counter, or your local fish monger. There really isn't room here for the canned stuff!

First things first! Create a crab stock, you only really need about 2 cups.

It is important if you can to cook the crab in the water that it came in, if not have it cleaned and halved and boil it for only a few minutes until it turns a deep shade of red. Cool and shell the crab, I tried to keep a few of the claw pieces intact for a garnish, but the rest will taste great no matter how it looks! Put the shell pieces into a clean pot of fresh water, about 4 - 5 cups; bring to a simmer and reduce until you have roughly 2 cups. You can add any vegetables that you would normally add to a stock, but in all honesty what your after is a deeper crab flavour for the pasta sauce.

I box of Spagettini (or enough for 4 ppl)
1 medium onion
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
3/4 Cup sun dried tomatoes
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1-2 Cups of crab stock
1 Cup of Parmesan
Meat from 2 crabs
3 lemons
S&P
1 handful parsley

Once the stock is ready you can throw enough spagettini for 4 people in a pot and cook until al dente. In the mean time saute 1 medium onion in 2 table spoons of butter, once the onion is softened add 2 tablespoons of flour to create a roux. I actually cook onions with a little bit of water in the pan, it helps to create a more even heat for the onions and encourages them to caramelize, so I would add the flour after the water has evaporated and the onions begin to brown. Once the roux has browned add 3/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes, I used regular dried tomatoes (not in oil, but you can if you want), just slice them and throw them in as well as the zest and juice of 1 lemon. Add 1 Cup of the crab stock and 1 cup of heavy cream to create a sauce, at this time you can add both the crab meat and the pasta. Toss it all together with 1 cup of Parmesan cheese and the juice of another lemon. Feel free to add more Crab stock depending of the consistency, you want a nice rich and thick sauce that coats each and every noodle. Serve topped with extra Parmesan cheese, fresh chopped parsley, a wedge of lemon and an extra knuckle of crab right on top.

You are going to love this fun and festive meal! Make sure that you take a nice big bite with a little bit of everything so that all of those beautiful flavours dance in your mouth together.

Smoked Trout and Corn Pot Stickers for Daring Cooks

I was so excited to see that this was the challenge. I was not part of the group last month but have signed up for both the daring cooks and daring bakers... I will post my next one on time, but as I tried to find rules on there about posting late and couldn't here are my scrumptious morsels:


To be honest I wasn't very impressed with my photography, well I wasn't impressed with the light nature had provided me. But. You know what nature did provide? A beautiful, fresh little trout on my father in laws line. So brined it with some soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger salt and pepper like this:


Then I gently smoked it in the BBQ... this is tricky but after a while of tinkering totally worth it. You just need to create a sealed tent with tin foil in the BBQ, put a sack of wood chips in and get them going, then put in the fish when it is really going. How long you leave it going will depend on how thick the cut of your fish. Mine only needed a few minutes. I charred the corn on the BBQ next, husks fully removed so that the kernels could carmalize. We haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet and it already drool-worthy.

After it cools, I put it in the food processor with a few other friends, green onions, sesame seeds, soy sauce and Chinese red pepper.


The dough came together easily enough, I used the food processor again. Ahh food processor my new best friend.. Just 2 ups of flour and slowing add 1/2 cup of water, until the dough pulls away, I used that amount the first time, but need a little more the second. It all depends on the humidity and what not. Pour it out, kneed it and let it rest. Here's a glamour shot of mine:


After some beauty rest, I just cut off little knobs and flattened them with my hand... maybe a secret fairy will drop off a roiling pin one day but for now I just used my hand, then added a little filling, just a little less then you think you should add, you need to make sure you can seal these babies up.


Which brings me to sealing, that was a little tricky, getting those pretty little crimps right, but it really only took a few to practice and then you got the hang of it.

After that I popped them into a frying pan with some oil and fried them part way, added some water and steamed them, then let them fry a little to make sure they kept their crispy little bottoms, like the picture above. And then:

So tasty!

Rice Paper Roll Ups

Today I had the hugest sushi craving, I decided that I would make it myself. After all it wasn't a full on raw fish craving just the novelty of a roll. I made the rice and then realized that I didn't have any seaweed so I ran down to the grocery store and you know what? They wanted $9 for 6 sheets of Nori. Ha! The nerve ! The gall!
I would outsmart them! Yes I would!

And I did, I knew that I had rice paper roll ups from making summer rolls, I picked up a package of Dulse and I went about recreating a sushi taste. I combined the sushi rice with some wild smoked salmon lox, avocado, cucumber, a few spears of Asparagus and some roasted garlic aioli. I rolled it up and it was just as satisfying.

And here it is all laid out...

Tuck in the sides and roll like a burrito...

Enjoy!

Garlicy Scallop and Asparagus Stir Fry

I have another simple and delicious dish! you could have this for lunch, as a side dish or a nice light dinner.

1 lb of scallops
6 spears of Asparagus
4-5 cloves of garlic 2 tablespoons of garlic
salt and pepper

I chopped the asparagus into fork sized pieces; then threw all the kids in to pool and stir fried. My scallops were frozen and everything was cooked to perfection - the garlic got nice and sweet, the asparagus tender and vibrant green and the scallops seared golden and accented by sticky garlic. I cooked it over a medium heat until it was all golden and ate it right away!