Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
2 cups canned chickpeas (or dried cooked chickpeas)
2 Tablespoons oil
1 Tablespoon (or less) salt
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon garlic powder

Toss all ingredients together. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 425◦F for about 20-30 minutes until chickpeas are crispy, shaking the pan occasionally. 

Spices can be varied as desired. These keep well and can be reheated before eating to re-crisp them. Great as a snack or an addition to salads, a topping for curries and stir-fries and more.

Roasted Baby Carrots

This hardly requires a recipe, but when you have really nice, fresh, local baby carrots they don't need much adornment. I trim the ends of the baby carrots, then halve them lengthwise. Toss in a little oil, coarse kosher salt, ground nutmeg, and ground white pepper. Then simply roast until tender and caramelized!

Sunday Roast

At the restaurant where I work, Sundays are always special. We have a live Irish music session, as well as a big, special Sunday roast dish which is unique each week. Last Sunday was my first time doing the roast, and I was super excited. This is what I came up with:

• Irish style prime rib roast (flavored with rosemary, thyme, garlic, and black pepper)
• Brown butter champ mashed potatoes (green onion, garlic, brown butter, cream, black pepper, salt)
• Yorkshire pudding
• Red Wine Jus
• Braised baby onion and shitake mushrooms
• Roasted colored cherry tomatoes
• Creamed spinach

Forget-About-It Vegetables

My brother is on to something. He cooks a lot of vegetables at home and he has a genius way of doing it. We used to stir-fry chopped vegetables together for an easy side dish. Steaming also works.  But my brother cuts them up, puts them all in a bowl, tosses them in a little oil, salt, pepper, and sometimes other seasonings, and bakes/roasts them. Just places them all on a baking sheet and roasts them until tender. The higher the temperature, the faster they will cook.  But sometimes he cooks them at the same time as something else, such as chicken, and so the oven temperature is dictated by that. 

Easy Pork Tenderloin

"Mmm, this pork is delicious, what did you put on it?" Uh, salt and pepper. And a little garlic and cilantro. And some love and sweat.
Pork tenderloin is already a really nice cut, 'tender' and not overly pricey. It doesn't need a whole lot of love to be awesome; although it is rather versatile and can benefit from a lot of different preparation techniques.When I think pork tenderloin though, I always think roast. You can go crazy with marinades and rubs and sauces if you wish. But I kept it simple this time and it paid off.

Easy pork tenderloin
Trim the pork tenderloin of any silverskin.
In a large freezer bag, put some salt, cracked black pepper, garlic powder, dried cilantro.
Place the tenderloin in the bag and shake to coat all sides with the spices.
Heat some oil in a large frying pan over high heat.
Sear the pork on all sides just until browned.
Transfer to the oven and bake to desired doneness. Even overcooked, it's still pretty good!

Roast Turkey

This past weekend I cooked something I have never cooked before, which actually happens quite often considering I always like to try new things; however this is something I am particularly proud of. I prepared, roasted, and carved my very first turkey! Of course I have had turkey before, and maybe even helped in preparing it, but I have never made a whole turkey from start to finish. To do this, I placed a medium-sized turkey, about six kilograms or so, in a large roasting pan, and poured in a little bit of chicken stock and cranberry juice for moisture and flavor. Then I seasoned the turkey liberally, with salt, ground black pepper, thyme, sage, and whatever other ground spices I happened to find that appealed to me. I just sprinkled them all over the top of the turkey, like a dry rub. Then I cut up two onions into small wedges, and put them in as well. I then covered the roasting pan in tight plastic wrap and foil. The turkey didn't take too long to bake, only a few hours, and then of course it must rest in the pan, outside of the oven, before carving. Slice it tenderly, and then it can be put back into another pan with the juices and heated gently again to be really hot. Be sure to use some of the pan drippings for a rich gravy, and save some of the onion to eat as well - it is tender and flavorful. A bit of the spice flavor comes through the turkey and the turkey is moist and juicy, either white or dark meat, but the turkey is not overly spicy. Of course it is great served with carrots, peas, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce, and to make it extra special like Christmas dinner, stuffing!

Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a picture of the whole turkey after baking, but here it is all carved up!

Beef And Broccoli Stir-Fry

Tonight we had a quick and easy supper made from mostly leftovers in the fridge. The beef came from last night's roast beef. We had a few of several different types of vegetables kicking around in the fridge, so we used those. They consisted of onion, carrot, broccoli, mushrooms, and asparagus. We also had some leftover pasta, so we cooked up  little extra rice to serve with it with our stir-fry. Pasta and rice are the best two options to serve stir-fry with. Stir-frys are quick and easy, just cut everything into bite-sized pieces and sautee in a little oil until tender, then add some seasonings and flavor. Since the beef was leftover, it was already cooked and only required a short time in the pan. I love having beef stir-fry because I am not really a fan of roast beef by itself. But when it is put into a stir-fry, especially paired with broccoli, which seems to be a classic duo, I enjoy roast beef a lot more.

Roasted Chickens

Roasted chicken! Yum! These little birds are so much quicker and easier to prepare than an entire turkey, and leftovers are also easier to handle. We ended up cooking three birds to feed our family, with leftovers, but one bird would make a nice meal for a smaller family. It is also nice to have some precooked chicken on hand. Freeze it and save it for later to add to soups, stews and casseroles. Roasted chicken dinners are very good, they are usually composed of vegetables, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. However, if you are tired of the traditional roast chicken dinner, roasted chicken is also very good for hot chicken sandwiches, casseroles, soups, and divans. Chicken is an extremely versatile meat that goes with a wide variety of vegetables, grains, and flavors. Roasting chicken allows you to easily cook an entire chicken, and lends a moist and tender quality to the chicken. It isn't difficult, and all you need really is a suitable roasting pan. Here we have a large enough roasting pan to accommodate three whole chickens, but we've also got a smaller roasting pan for when we only want to cook one. In my opinion, if you are going to have the oven on to cook one bird, you might as well throw in another or two, as they may come in handy later on for a quick and easy meal!

Roast Pork Tenderloin and Mushroom Dinner

Here was tonight's supper: a roasted pork tenderloin cooked with mushrooms, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, and cooked in a creamy mushroom sauce. It was very easy and efficient to make, since the entire meal cooks together in one dish. The various aspects cooked beautifully together, and cleanup was a breeze. I found the recipe in a 2011 calender. The only big changes I made was to use two small pork tenderloin "quick roasts" because that is what I found at the grocery store, and to add an extra sweet potato.

Roast Pork Tenderloin and Mushroom Dinner
1 large pork tenderloin, trimmed (about 1 lb/500g)
2 medium white potatoes, cut in 3/4 inch chunks
2 medium sweet potatoes, cut in 3/4 inch chunks
salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter
8 oz (250g) mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 375◦F. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place pork in center, tucking thin end underneath. Arrange potatoes around pork, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, onion, paprika, and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper. Saute until mushrooms are browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in broth and mustard. Whisk flour into milk, stir into pan and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring for 1 minute.

Pour sauce over pork in pan, roast 10 to 15 minutes longer, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 160◦F. Let rest 5 minutes, before cutting pork crosswise into thin slices. Serve with a scoop of mushrooms and potatoes and a drizzle of sauce. 

 "Roast Pork Tenderloin and Mushroom Dinner.” http://www.dairygoodness.ca/recipes/roast-pork-tenderloin-and-mushroom-dinner. Dairy Goodness, n.d. Sunday, December 4, 2011. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts aren't considered to be a very popular vegetable, many people overlook these poor veggies because they are bitter and green. When prepared properly however, they can turn out quite yummy. Although a quick steam is probably the healthiest method of preparing them, Brussels sprouts require a little more that that to make them taste good. And, like most seemingly unpleasant vegetables, they are extremely good for you! They are a good source of many vitamins and minerals, and are particularly high in fibre and vitamin C. They are also beneficial in protecting against many types of cancer, so eat up! Here is how I prepared them:

Cut in half and toss with wedges of onion (red or white) and small carrot sticks. Drizzle with some Italian dressing and a little bit of brown sugar. Roast at 350◦F for 50-60 minutes or until vegetables are tender. That's it! Pretty easy but quite good.

By the way, Brussels sprouts were actually originally cultivated in Italy, not Belgium. They received their name from a newer variety cultivated in large quantities in Brussels, Belgium.