Cod and Tomato Chowder

Another successful recipe last night, from Gordon Ramsay's book.

Cod and Tomato Chowder:

3 tablespoons oil, olive
2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
sea salt
pepper
2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 large potatoes, waxy, peeled and roughly chopped
1 pepper, sweet yellow, cored, seeded and roughly chopped
few thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
398 grams tomatoes, canned, chopped
3 ½ cups stock, fish or chicken
150 grams beans, green, cut into short lengths
2 zucchini, roughly chopped
few dashes Tabasco sauce, optional
1 ½ pounds cod fillets, skinned and pin-boned
1 bunch parsley, Italian, roughly chopped

Heat oil in heavy pan. Add onions, celery, and some seasoning, and cook, stirring, over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes to soften. Add carrots, potatoes, sweet yellow pepper, and herbs, and saute for 5 minutes until veggies are lightly golden.
Add tomatoes to the pan and pour in the stock. Cover and simmer for about 7 to 9 minutes until the veggies are tender. Now tip in the green beans and zucchini, give the mixture a stir and simmer for another 3 minutes. Check the seasoning, adding a few dashes of Tabasco to spice it up if you like.
Lightly season the cod fillets and lay them on the veggies in the pan. Cover the pan again and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until the fish is opaque.
Using a spoon, gently break the fish into large flakes. Ladle the hot soup into warm bowls and scatter a handful of chopped parsley over each serving.

Dinner Tonight

I have a favourite recipe that I have been making for years, that I would like to share with you.
It is one that I made tonight, and after smelling it and working with all of the ingredients, for almost 2 hours, it was so tasty when we finally got to eat it for dinner.

Shereen's Meatloaf Recipe:

1 pound beef, ground, lean
1 pound sausage stuffing
1 cup breadcrumbs, fine
2 medium onions, chopped finely
2 tablespoons curry powder
½ cup water
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup milk, if needed
SAUCE
1 onion, chopped very finely
¼ cup water
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup red wine or beef stock
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons vinegar
¼ cup sugar, brown
1 ounce margarine
2 teaspoons lemon juice

LOAF:
Combine meats, breadcrumbs, onions, salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, curry and egg in large bowl. Mix well. Mix milk and water and add to meat mixture a little at a time until smooth but firm. Shape into loaf and put into loaf pan (greased).
Bake 30 minutes at 375F.

SAUCE:
Saute onions in margarine until golden and add all other ingredients. Bring slowly to a boil, lower heat and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. After loaf has cooked for 30 minutes, pour half of the sauce over the meat, return to oven and bake for 45 minutes more, basting often.

And to go with it tonight...

Roasted Parmesan Potatoes:
3 tbsps butter, melted
3 tbsps grated Parmesan cheese
8 medium unpeeled red potatoes, halved lengthwise

Pour butter into a baking pan. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over butter. Place potatoes with cut side down over cheese. Bake uncovered, at 400F for 40-45 minutes or until tender.
Makes 8 servings.

Make-Your-Own Energy Bars

Another successful recipe tried tonight. Yummy energy bars (granola bars) that are homemade and healthy! You can substitute different ingredients, if you prefer. I used a a package of mixed dried fruit and some Sultana raisins for the dried fruit, and pumpkin seeds instead of walnuts and sunflower seeds.
And they taste really good, and chewy too!

Makes 24 bars.

Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Grape Nuts cereal
1/2 to 1 tsp ground ginger
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tbsp packed brown sugar
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp cooking oil
2 7-oz. pkg. mixed dried fruit bits
1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line 8x8x2-inch baking pan with foil. Lightly coat foil with cooking spray. Set aside.
In large bowl, combine oats, flour, cereal, and ginger. In small bowl, combine egg, applesauce, brown sugar, honey and oil. Add to oat mixture; stir just until moistened. Stir in dried fruit bits, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool in pan on wire rack. Using foil, lift cookies from pan. Cut into bars.

These awesome bars only have 30 mg sodium per bar, 126 calories, 3 g total fat, 24 g carbs, 1 g fibre, and 2 g protein.

Chicken Noodle Soup

For the longest time, Jaymi has not liked soup. At all.
The only soup she will eat is the unhealthy, pre-made, creamy tomato soup in a drinkable container from the store.

We have decided to have soup night once per week. The rule in our house is, she has to have a tiny bit of the soup I make, and if she doesn't like it, I heat up one of her creamy tomato soups that she likes.

So tonight, because Mark is fighting off a cold and we're all trying to stay healthy through this cold and swine flu season, I decided to make a soup that is rich with immune-system-boosting ingredients.

And to my surprise, Jaymi loved it!!

Chicken Noodle Soup:

2 1/2 cups fresh chicken or vegetable stock
1 carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1-inch cube fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 ounces vermicelli, broken into small pieces
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
salt and pepper, optional

Put stock in saucepan with carrot, onion, garlic, bay leaf, cloves, and ginger. Bring to a boil, cover the pan, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Strain the stock and discard the vegetables and spices. Return the liquid to the pan and add vermicelli. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir the chopped parsley into the soup and serve in bowls, decorated with croutons or crackers.