Cheese Fondue for Two

When Matt and I got married we asked for, and received, a fondue pot.  I really wanted one, but it's not the most practical gift. I can't say we've used it regularly over the years, but we broke it out for Christmas Eve dinner and had a wonderful cheese fondue. 

Melty, tangy cheese on all manner of fruits, vegetables and bread is about the best meal there is.  We watched Die Hard while enjoying our fondue, and it may just be a new Christmas Eve tradition!

I don't know what Matt enjoyed more, eating the fondue, or arranging the fruit, veggies and bread on the tray.  

Here's the recipe for Fondue for Two.  This is enough for a meal for two hungry people or an appetizer or snack for four.  Double the recipe and add more hearty dippers like salami and pretzels to feed a crowd. 

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove

1 cup dry white wine

250g Emmental cheese, shredded

250g Gruyere cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon cornstarch

juice of half a lemon

black pepper to taste

Things to dip:

• slices of baguette
• pretzels or pretzel bread
• toasted bread cubes
• grapes
• apple slices
• chunks of salami or cooked sausage
• boiled mini potatoes
• blanched vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, etc.

Directions:

Cut the garlic clove in half and rub both halves all over the inside of the fondue pot. 

Add the wine to the fondue pot and heat slowly until hot but not boiling.  

Toss the cheeses with cornstarch. Over low heat, add the cheese slowly to the wine, stirring to melt after each addition. Don't let the mixture come to a boil, just keep it warm and stir until it becomes glossy and starts to thicken. 

Add lemon juice and pepper. 

The cheese may still be thin at this point, but it will thicken up as it sits.  

If you have a proper fondue pot with a heating device, keep the cheese warm over the heat source while you eat, reducing the heat as the level of the cheese goes down as it's eaten.  If you're using a regular pot, you can warm it up on the stove periodically if it gets too cool. 

Use long forks to dip into the cheese.  Be careful!  It's hot!

Enjoy!  

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

I was never a big fan of scalloped potatoes growing up.  I had a thing about mushy food, so that's probably why I didn't appreciate them.  As with so many things, my tastes have changed over the years.  It also helps that I am making my own recipes so I know what goes into them and can appreciate the finished product more. 

This is not a simple weeknight recipe, but it's not that complicated and the results are definitely worth the effort!  This is the perfect choice to serve with ham, and I'm going to halve the recipe for Easter dinner for two this weekend. 

A large gratin dish is great for this recipe, or you can use any glass baking dish. 

I find that slicing the potatoes in the food processor with the slicing blade really simplifies things.  But you can slice by hand or on a mandoline if you prefer.  It just takes more time. The important thing is to have thin, even slices of potato. 

The potatoes are boiled in milk, then placed in a buttered gratin dish.  I like lots of black pepper. 

The potatoes are then covered in the scalded milk and shredded gruyere cheese, then baked until brown and bubbly.  The cheese gets shredded in the food processer too, to make life easy.  

You end up with these amazing, creamy, cheesy potatoes.  The crispy edges are the best part!

Here's the recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 pounds yellow-fleshed potatoes
3 cups whole milk
1 clove garlic
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup whipping cream
150 grams gruyere cheese, shredded
salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:
Peel and thinly slice potatoes using a food processor with the slicing blade or a mandoline.  Place potato slices in a large pot and cover with milk. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Occasionally gently scrape the bottom of the pot so the potatoes don't stick, but be careful not to break up the potato slices.  

Drain the potatoes in a colander over a bowl to reserve the milk. You should have 2 cups of milk remaining.  If not, add additional milk to make 2 cups.  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Use a large oval gratin dish or rectangular glass baking dish. Slice the garlic clove in half and rub the cut halves all over the inside of the baking dish.  Brush the melted butter all over the inside of the dish. 

Carefully layer the potatoes in the baking dish.  Sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper.  Pour milk and cream over potatoes.  Top with shredded cheese. 

Bake for about 90 minutes until milk has become creamy and thick but not dry, and cheese is deep golden brown.  If the cheese begins to become too brown, you can cover the dish loosely with foil to finish cooking.  

Let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. I suggest serving with glazed ham. 

Fish & Chips

I rarely cook fish at home.  I love to order it in restaurants, but I never feel I can do it justice at home.  And I almost never deep fry at home.  I don't like the mess and smell and danger, so I avoid it for the most part. 

So what am I doing deep frying fish in my kitchen?

I can tell you it was worth it!  

We had some wonderful beer-battered cod at Milos' Craft Beer Emporium this week that made me remember how much I love fresh fish when it's done well.  Then I saw some lovely haddock on sale at my local market so I decided to give it a try.

Frying both the fish and the chips was a little too ambitious for me.  The fish and fries cook at different temperatures, so I'd need two pots of oil. Instead, I used this smitten kitchen recipe for oven fries.  

Leftover Turkey Dinner Hand Pies

Overwhelmed by leftovers from turkey dinner?  Here's how to go from this:

To this:

Watch the video to see how it's done!





My first video recipe!  Enjoy and happy holidays!

Potato & Cheese Frittata

I rarely make eggs for dinner but every time I do I wonder why I don't do it more often. 

A frittata is very simple to make. You just cook your fillings and add eggs, then bake in the oven until set.

This is a great vegetarian meal that's filling and tasty and works surprisingly well as leftovers the next day.

This recipe comes from The Kitchn, with a few changes to make it even faster. Here's what you need:

Bone-In Country Ham with Dr. Pepper Glaze

I haven't always been the biggest ham fan. I've always liked thinly sliced deli ham on sandwiches, but I couldn't get behind baked ham for the holidays.  

That all changed when we went on our road trip down South last spring and tried country ham. Most of the time, when you see a ham in the grocery store it is a "city ham" that has already been cooked. Country ham is dry-cured but not cooked so it needs to be fully cooked, not just warmed up, before serving. Country ham is usually much saltier as well but it tastes amazing!

Tart of the Month - Roasted Vegetable Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin is usually dessert.  Fruit, usually apples, is cooked in caramel and baked with pastry on top, then flipped over to serve, with the browned fruit dripping in caramel on top.  This recipe uses root vegetables and savory herbs instead of fruit.  It comes from Bon Appetit magazine and it tastes amazing!  

I even made the pastry from scratch!  And it wasn't hard at all.  I used the food processor and it was a breeze.

This tart is amazing warm from the oven, but it's great at room temperature the next day too.  It would make a fantastic vegetarian main dish.  Here's what you need:

The Perfect Storm: Spicy Rosemary BBQ Potatoes

This post comes from Matt, the Beer Baron, who is also a potato baron in his spare time. 

Just like pigs in The Simpsons, potatoes are the proverbial “magical animal” of the vegetable kingdom. From the ubiquitous French fry to the glorious pierogi, potatoes are definitely versatile and absolutely wonderful – so it came as no surprise to the Clockwatching Tart when I excitedly started thinking up recipe ideas for our little Something Blue potatoes from The Little Potato Company. 

Since I was starting with something I love so much, I decided to just roll with it and create a perfect storm of things I love: potatoes, extra virgin olive oil, fresh rosemary, hot pepper flakes, and cooking on my beloved Weber barbeque. 

To create my flavour-infused olive oil, I just took a shade over half a cup of extra virgin olive oil and got it up to a low simmer over medium heat on the stove top before adding six sprigs of fresh rosemary and two heaping teaspoons of hot pepper flakes. I let everything simmer for five minutes, then removed it from the heat and let it cool down before pouring the oil through the strainer to create a wonderfully fragrant, lightly spicy oil for the potatoes. 

Little Hasselback Potatoes

I was lucky enough to receive some "Creamer" potatoes to try from The Little Potato Company.  

The Baby Boomer variety is a tiny, yellow-fleshed potato that's great for roasting, so I thought I'd turn them into mini hasselback potatoes.  

Hasselback potatoes is a Swedish potato recipe where thin slices are cut almost all the way through, but the potatoes stay whole, so you get crispy crackles on top, but have creamy roasted middles.  The best of all potato worlds. 

Spring Lobster Salad with Corn, Potatoes & Tarragon

It's finally starting to feel like spring around here.  So I decided to celebrate with a simple but luxurious dinner salad.  

Tarragon is easily found in most grocery stores. It's has a liquorice flavour that's a great match for lobster.  

This recipe is inspired by Epicurious but I made some small changes.  

Here's what you need to serve two as a main course or four as a starter:

How To: Home Made Gnocchi

Last time I made store-bought gnocchi I really liked it but I vowed to make the real thing from scratch.  Now that I've done it I can see the benefits of both.  Home made gnocchi is very simple to make with only a few ingredients, but it's somewhat time-consuming and messy.  I wouldn't go all out with home made on a week night, but it is well worth it and actually fun to do if you have a bit of time.  The results are fantastic.  The gnocchi are so tender and full of potato flavour.  

Once you make them, they're also incredibly simple to cook and serve.  I tossed them with some browned butter and sage and a little fresh Parmigiano Reggiano.  

Prime Rib Hash

This is a fantastic second life for leftover prime rib.  You can also use up some leftover mashed potatoes while you're at it.  

Here's what you need:

Gnocchi with Broccoli

Gnocchi.  Why didn't I make these sooner?  These little potato dumplings make a hearty main dish or an interesting but simple side dish.  

I fully intend to use my potato ricer to make home made gnocchi in the future, but for now I can pick up a package ready-made at the grocery store and have a meal in minutes. 

Here's what you need for this tasty meal:

Quinoa and Potato Salad with Sausage and Tarragon

This combo may sound a little odd, but it's very tasty, full of protein and makes a nice, filling main course salad.  Leftovers are great for lunch the next day.  

The recipe came from Serious Eats. Since I had almost all the ingredients on hand, I gave it a whirl.  Here's what you need:

Spanish Sausage Hash with Potatoes & Corn

We found some more delicious sausage at The Hungary Butcher at Ogilvies Market.  This time we chose the spicy Spanish sausage.  I thought it would be nice with some crispy potatoes.  I also had some fresh corn from the market so I threw that in too.  It tasted incredible and we'll definitely have it again.  

I made this one up myself.  This will make enough for 4.  Here's what you need:

Spatchcock Grilled Chicken with Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

I've spatchcocked a chicken before to roast in the oven.  I've even spatchcocked a turkey.    But this may be my favourite spatchcock yet!  Grilling the chicken is quick and easy and doesn't heat up the kitchen.  The skin is crisp and the meat is juicy and delicious.  

Pork and Plantains with Cilantro Pesto

I used to hate cilantro, but I'm becoming much more tolerant of it.  This pesto works really well with the pork and plantains and the cliantro adds a fresh, tasty kick in this interesting dish adapted from Clean Eating magazine.

Plantains were easier to find than I expected.  I thought I might have to go to the Asian grocery store, but my regular supermarket had them in stock right by the bananas.  Plantains are shaped just like bananas but are much firmer and starchier.  They need to be cooked before eating.  

Baked Potato Soup

Here's a nice winter treat. It's not exactly on the healthy menu we've been following lately, but it is a very nice, hearty soup that's great for lunch or dinner on a cold day.  It's inspired by the Pioneer Woman's potato soup.  

Here's what you need:

6 slices bacon
6 russet potatoes
1 onion
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
salt & pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
8 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar
3 green onions
sour cream (optional)

Lamb Vindaloo

We love curries. The spicy richness is so warming in the depths of winter and it fills the house with aroma for days.  But they're not always the healthiest choices calling for fattier cuts of meat, oil or ghee and sometimes yogurt or coconut milk.  Plus there's the rice and naan we like to have on the side.  This is a slightly slimmed-down version of lamb vindaloo inspired by Clean Eating magazine.  

Some people think "curry" is the name of a spice in their spice rack but it's actually any of a number of dishes made with a blend of spices.  Here's a great article about the history of curries.  I learned while making this dish that vindaloo actually means wine & garlic in Portuguese, a leftover from their influence in India. Most versions of vindaloo will have plenty of garlic and vinegar.  I love learning tidbits like this about world cuisine, especially these tales of long ago food fusion, like the French influence in Vietnamese food.  

This version is kind of spicy. I was wishing for some raita to cool things down, but I'm a wimp so most people should be able to handle it.  Here's what you need for this lamb vindaloo:

• 1.5 lbs boneless lamb shoulder 
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 hot chili peppers
• 1 1-inch piece of ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how hot you like it)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or other cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 cups beef broth (I made a quick stock from an onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, peppercorns and a meaty beef bone I'd stored in the freezer, but store-bought is fine)
• 1 lb white potatoes
• Fresh cilantro (optional)