Fiddle Heads Attempt #1

This is our first attempt at fiddle heads this spring. They were good, but we've since done WAY better. Everyone probably knows how to grill a steak and how to cook rice already, so we're not going to talk about that here.

Ingredients
1/2 lb Fiddle heads ends trimmed
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp jarred garlic (could use fresh garlic but it would give it a much stronger garlic taste)
1 tsp lemon juice

1. Boil fiddle heads for 5 minutes in salted water in order to get rid of the brown coat that grows on the fiddle heads to protect them over the winter (it's this that makes the fiddle heads bitter, so you have to boil them even if you plan on pan frying them as well).
   
2. Mix the butter, garlic and lemon, pour on top. This mixture is really good if you have the rice underneath because it flavours the rice as well.

Grilled Marinated Veggies and Shrimp

Last weekend Geoff and I finished exams and had the chance to escape up to my family's cottage for the weekend. Two out of three days it was rainy and cold and gross, but on Sunday it was gorgeous. Sunny, warm, no wind, 15C. Perfect spring weather. Finally BBQ season has commenced.

We went to the grocery store in town and picked up some shrimp (mom, just so you know we didn't even raid the freezer at the cottage... and there was A LOT of shrimp in there) and some vegetables.

The shrimp was probably the best shrimp we have ever made. It's way better than in a frying pan. WAY better. And of course the vegetables were really good too.

It was such an easy and fast meal that I plan on making again and again all summer now that I can finally uncover my own barbecue here in Ottawa.

Ingredients:
1 zucchini, sliced
2 bell peppers of your preferred colour cut into large chunks
1/2 of a large egg plant cut into slices then quartered
Bag of 21-24 sized shrimp
Butter
Garlic
Oil
Spices
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Wooden Skewers
BBQ grill pan

1. Soak skewers in water (this will prevent them from burning on the BBQ)
   
2. Mix 2 parts oil with 1 part vinegar in a large Ziploc baggy or a large bowl. Add in whatever spices you like (we used rosemary and thyme pluse some others that I can't remember... I just open jars and smelled, using whatever I liked at the time), 2-3 crushed cloves of garlic, 1/4 tsp salt, fresh ground pepper. Make sure you mix it up well
3. Add veggies into the baggy or bowl and cover with the marinade. Let sit at least 20-30 minutes
4. Heat up the BBQ
   
5. Peel shrimp and impale them on the skewers. About 4 shrimp should fit on a skewer. Brush the shrimp with a mixture of 1 clove garlic and 3-4 tbsp melted butter.
6. First put the vegetables on the BBQ grill pan on the bbq and grill until almost done
7. put shrimp right onto the grill. Should take 1-2 minutes per side. Flip when the first side turns pink
8. Serve!
   

Salmon with Dijon-Dill Sauce

We were rummaging through the freezer and found some salmon steaks that we thought we'd finished. As it was already late and we were ridiculously hungry, we came up with this deliciously light meal that didn't take more than 10 minutes to put together.

We had some extra tomatoes that needed to be eaten so we made a small salad to go with the salmon. Our final touch was to fry up some mushrooms and drizzle the bed of veggies in our balsamic dressing. The bite of the salad dressing and the Dijon-dill sauce complemented each other perfectly so we could attack everything at once when we finally sat down to eat!

Ingredients:
2 Salmon Steaks
2 Handfulls of fresh baby spinach
1 Tomato - sliced
1 small hand full of mushrooms
1 Knob of butter
1 tbsp of Dill Weed
1/3 cup of Sour Cream
3 tbsp of Dijon Mustard
2 tsp of lemon juice
1 clove of garlic - minced
salt
pepper

For the sauce:
Mix the dill, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice and garlic into the sour cream.

For the salmon:
Brush melted butter onto salmon and fry until cooked through. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, fry mushrooms in butter until softened. Spread the spinach on the plate and top with the tomatoes and mushrooms and drizzle with balsamic dressing. Place the salmon on top and cover liberally with the sauce and enjoy!

Roasted Asparagus and Brussel Sprouts with Jamie Oliver's Egg Salad

Ingredients:
for the egg salad
8 large hen's eggs
6 tbsp mayonnaise (we used Helman's light mayo because it doesn't add too much sugar too it like other brand tend to, alternatively you could make your own mayo which would be much better)
Lemon zest from one lemon
Juice from 1/2 lemon plus a little more
Salt and pepper

for the asparagus and Brussels sprouts
1/2 pound Brussels sprouts
1 bunch asparagus, stems removed
Coarse salt
3-4 tbsp white wine vinegar
Olive Oil
Freshly ground pepper
2-3 garlic cloves chopped


For the eggs:

1. Place eggs in a pot of water that is lightly salted. Bring to a boil.
2. Let boil for 3 minutes, then immediately place under cold water
3. Peel the eggs and cut in half like you were going to make deviled eggs
   
4. Mix the mayo, lemon zest, lemon juice together in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste.
5. put the mayo mixture on top of the eggs

For the veggies:

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Cut ends off of Brussels sprouts and peel off outer leaves. Cut in half
3. Clean asparagus and cut into 3 sections
4. Toss veggies in olive oil and garlic and put in a roasting dish
5. Squeeze some lemon juice on top, sprinkle liberally with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
   
6. Put in oven for 15 minutes. About 8 minutes in, flip veggies.
7. When the 15 minutes is up, put the white wine vinegar on top, we just eyeballed it, but we probably put 3-4 tbsp of the vinegar. Put back in oven for 3-4 more minutes.

The veggies also taste REALLY good dipped in the lemon mayo that was used on top of the eggs

Spicy Pasta with Shrimp and Grape Tomatoes

Geoff and I made up this pasta as we went last night. We wanted to try and take pictures before it was too dark so we kind of rushed this meal. It was pretty tasty and really easy.

Ingredients:
(serves 2)

200g pasta of your choice (we chose springs)
3/4 of a carton of grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
5 cloves chopped garlic
1 jalapeno pepper
1 other hot pepper that was green and small
12 shrimp (6 each!)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbs olive oil
2tbs butter
grated Parmesan cheese to your liking
salt and pepper to taste

1. Defrost and peel shrimp
2. Boil pasta until al dente
3. While pasta cooks, melt butter in pan, add garlic for 20 seconds with red pepper flakes.
4. Add peppers to pan, then add shrimp
5. Cook shrimp until they curl up and turn pink (1-2 minutes per side)
6. Toss pasta with olive oil then dump in everything from the frying pan
7. Add Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste

You could toss in some spinach to this recipe for extra fiber, but we used pasta that already had lots of fiber and protein added to it (Catelli has made white pasta healthy, finally!)

Roast Prime Rib of Beef with Horseradish Crust

My grandpa called me on Thursday when he found out that I would be coming back home for the weekend. He wanted Geoff and I to bring a 10 pound roast beef home for dinner Saturday night. At Costco they didn't even have roasts cut that big! We had to have it specially cut, but it was definitely worth it.

I've had this recipe bookmarked since last Christmas. I was watching the Food Network with my mom and we decided we had to try it. The last time we tried it we didn't have use the right cut of meat and it was too tough to chew. This time, perfection.

Taken from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/roast-prime-rib-of-beef-with-horseradish-crust-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:
We used a 10 lbs bone in prime rib
7 cloves smashed garlic
1/3 cup grated or prepared horseradish
leaves from 3 fresh rosemary sprigs
leaves from 6 fresh rosemary sprigs
3/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Lay the beef in the roasting pan, bone side down (you can use the bone as a roasting rack)
3. In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients and rub all over the roast
4. Cook for 20 minutes a pound to cook to medium-rare (the thermometer should read between 130F-135F, take out and let rest for 20 minutes before carving. While letting it rest, cover it with tinfoil)
5. Make gravy from the drippings!