A very Happy New Year to alllll of my faithful readers...all three of you! haha We went to a BIG Asian market today, T&T Supermarket here in Ottawa, what an incredible place...really neat selection of produce, seafood, meats and teas, cooking and kitchen utensils, frozen veg and sauces to die for...black bean garlic sauce for instance...and really baby bok choy, the tiny ones that are really hard to find elsewhere....yay! I stir fry those with garlic and some lemon and they're awesome....
Today's new fruit, kumquats! They're small, about the size of a walnut, and firm, mostly orange with some green on them...you start the peeling with your thumbnail or a small knife, and when it's about half peeled, you just eat it out of the other half of the skin...there were a few seeds in the one I had so far, like orange seeds...it's a bit pulpy and tastes a bit like a tangerine and a peach together...nice, pleasant sweetness without being overbearing...
We also got some more dragonfruit, literally half the price! My dad and my son's friend also had a piece, they'd never seen one before, and they both liked it a lot...
Happy New Year again!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Quince-Essential Crumble...guilt free JOY
Quince-Essential Crumble
Peel and core 1 quince, and cook it in water with 1 tsp lime or lemon juice
(I used lime because I'm out of lemon. I had mine on for 1/2 an hour, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 mins or so...a number of websites I went to said that when it's pink it's ready, but mine never went pink...it stayed yellow but the flavour mellowed and it was tender, so I went with it...not the colour contrast I was hoping for in my crumble but who knows!! )
Peel and core 3 apples and set aside in water with lime juice in it ( I used 2 granny smith and a Gala this time )
I might make this with 4 quinces and no apples at some point...
Topping:
2/3 c. large flake oats
2 tbs. ground flaxseed ( this actually has a reallly nice flavour )
2 tbs. fruit sugar ( get this at Bulk Barn, much less expensive )
1/4 c. fine unsweetened coconut
2 tbs. finely chopped candied ginger ( Bulk Barn again )
2 tbs. butter or non-hydrogenated margarine ( I used butter )
1/4 tsp. sea salt
Mix with fingers, with so little butter it's impossible to get a good even mix with a spoon or pastry blender...
Spray a small baking dish with cooking spray and put the apples and quince in, and the topping over..don't pack the topping down, leave it nice and loose...Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until apples are tender but not mushy and the topping is browned...
When my mother made apple crisp she used butter, brown sugar, quick oats and a bit of white flour, and the apples had a 1/4c of sugar over them also...and of course it tasted great, she's a really good cook....this version is pleasantly sweet, crispy, and the coconut and ginger flavours show themselves in turn as you savour each bite...really interesting...and you can have some without feeling badly about it! This would be a really nice dessert if you had a roasted pork tenderloin for dinner or something like that...I'm doing a turkey breast for dinner tonight with fresh young carrots and pearl onions, and spinach...this should be a nice finish....
Peel and core 1 quince, and cook it in water with 1 tsp lime or lemon juice
(I used lime because I'm out of lemon. I had mine on for 1/2 an hour, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 mins or so...a number of websites I went to said that when it's pink it's ready, but mine never went pink...it stayed yellow but the flavour mellowed and it was tender, so I went with it...not the colour contrast I was hoping for in my crumble but who knows!! )
Peel and core 3 apples and set aside in water with lime juice in it ( I used 2 granny smith and a Gala this time )
I might make this with 4 quinces and no apples at some point...
Topping:
2/3 c. large flake oats
2 tbs. ground flaxseed ( this actually has a reallly nice flavour )
2 tbs. fruit sugar ( get this at Bulk Barn, much less expensive )
1/4 c. fine unsweetened coconut
2 tbs. finely chopped candied ginger ( Bulk Barn again )
2 tbs. butter or non-hydrogenated margarine ( I used butter )
1/4 tsp. sea salt
Mix with fingers, with so little butter it's impossible to get a good even mix with a spoon or pastry blender...
Spray a small baking dish with cooking spray and put the apples and quince in, and the topping over..don't pack the topping down, leave it nice and loose...Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until apples are tender but not mushy and the topping is browned...
When my mother made apple crisp she used butter, brown sugar, quick oats and a bit of white flour, and the apples had a 1/4c of sugar over them also...and of course it tasted great, she's a really good cook....this version is pleasantly sweet, crispy, and the coconut and ginger flavours show themselves in turn as you savour each bite...really interesting...and you can have some without feeling badly about it! This would be a really nice dessert if you had a roasted pork tenderloin for dinner or something like that...I'm doing a turkey breast for dinner tonight with fresh young carrots and pearl onions, and spinach...this should be a nice finish....
Let me introduce myself....and today's recipe is Quince-Essential Crumble, by the way....
Hello, world....This is my first entry so I'll start at the top and tell you what I'm going to do here...
*sigh* Let's start at the beginning...
I've struggled with my weight since I was about 20 or so, 15 long years ago. Up and down, mostly up...draggy metabolism, 2 kids, office job for a while, and sheer unadulterated laziness coupled with a 'I feel like crap so I'd best eat some" philosophy...a series of unsatisfying relationships on top for a perfect parfait of pitiful pathos!
What I have found this time around is Tosca Reno's Eat Clean program...what a joy...all she wants is for you to eat fresh produce and lean meats, whole grains, and eat more often...she used to be a big girl when she was in an unhappy marriage and when that didn't work out she got busy and made herself look unbelieveable and her outlook on life is awesome...I feel like I can relate to her and she just turned 50 this week...you would not beleive this woman's visible health and vitality....I have the journal book also which is awesome, you don't have room to write down "3 oz. fish, 2c. spinach leaves, 1 tbs dressing" etc, which I tend to do and then give it up, you have no room...you can just write something like 'tilapia, spinach salad, asst.veg'....just the personal accountability and a memory tweaker without the sordid details...I have been doing this since November 20 and I can NOT believe how amazing I feel...I'm down 12 pounds so far
I took a night off from Clean Eating and ordered chinese food with a friend and I felt like GARBAGE all the next day, like a junk food hangover...upset stomach, headache, draggy, horrible.....I drank tons of water all day, went to the gym, had a smoothie and some salmon and a big spinach and fruit salad and by the next day felt great again...
(My smoothies consist of frozen berries, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and orange juice )
So anyways another thing Tosca said in her book is that to keep things interesting, try some fruits and vegetables that are in season, things you've never tried before....I've always considered myself to be fairly adventurous in a culinary sense so off we went to Produce Depot and we tried several new things...
Cactus Pears - interesting, a little bland flavourwise and watch the tiny white spines! But really nice in a fruit salad if you put something else on the spoon with it, like kiwi or a piece of orange...it's colour is just gorgeous, like deep raspberry...really pretty inside...
Dragonfruit - possibly the coolest naturally occuring fruit ever, it's just a work of art on the outside, pink with artichoke-like protuberances...and you would never ever guess from looking at the outside,what the inside is like...it's got no core, no sections, no visible divisions inside, it's a big round ball of white flesh peppered with tiny kiwi-like seeds...you cut it top to bottom into two halves and scoop out the inside with a spoon...it's so cool!! then you just eat it...it tastes a bit like a cross between a kiwi and a Bosc pear...not too sweet...and it looks awesome in a fruit salad....
Quince - that's today's experiment...you have to cook it, you can't eat it raw...( I looked up each of these new fruits before I cut into them...) and apparently the yellow flesh turns crimson when you cook it...so I'm going to make a Quince and Fuji apple crumble, Eat Clean style...there are better 'versions' of a lot of things in the Eat Clean cookbook, you use different flours, grains and sweeteners than Grandma or even Mom did, so you don't get the Junk Hangover...
Wow, this went on much longer than I thought it would...
This week? Vietnam! I'm going to make Bo nuong xa, a skewered and grilled beef dish with Lemongrass, served on Romaine leaves...awesome....indoor grilling is a problem, I can't seem to find a grill that gets HOT so we'll just bundle up and grill outdoors for this one...
I'll post again when I make it and put a picture up....
Have a wonderful day, and if anyone at all besides me reads this and has a suggestion for an unusual fruit or veg, or a country to try, please do let me know...
I'll put up the recipe for Quince-Essential Crumble when I've figured out what's in it!!
Have a wonderful, wonderful day...
Amy
*sigh* Let's start at the beginning...
I've struggled with my weight since I was about 20 or so, 15 long years ago. Up and down, mostly up...draggy metabolism, 2 kids, office job for a while, and sheer unadulterated laziness coupled with a 'I feel like crap so I'd best eat some" philosophy...a series of unsatisfying relationships on top for a perfect parfait of pitiful pathos!
What I have found this time around is Tosca Reno's Eat Clean program...what a joy...all she wants is for you to eat fresh produce and lean meats, whole grains, and eat more often...she used to be a big girl when she was in an unhappy marriage and when that didn't work out she got busy and made herself look unbelieveable and her outlook on life is awesome...I feel like I can relate to her and she just turned 50 this week...you would not beleive this woman's visible health and vitality....I have the journal book also which is awesome, you don't have room to write down "3 oz. fish, 2c. spinach leaves, 1 tbs dressing" etc, which I tend to do and then give it up, you have no room...you can just write something like 'tilapia, spinach salad, asst.veg'....just the personal accountability and a memory tweaker without the sordid details...I have been doing this since November 20 and I can NOT believe how amazing I feel...I'm down 12 pounds so far
I took a night off from Clean Eating and ordered chinese food with a friend and I felt like GARBAGE all the next day, like a junk food hangover...upset stomach, headache, draggy, horrible.....I drank tons of water all day, went to the gym, had a smoothie and some salmon and a big spinach and fruit salad and by the next day felt great again...
(My smoothies consist of frozen berries, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and orange juice )
So anyways another thing Tosca said in her book is that to keep things interesting, try some fruits and vegetables that are in season, things you've never tried before....I've always considered myself to be fairly adventurous in a culinary sense so off we went to Produce Depot and we tried several new things...
Cactus Pears - interesting, a little bland flavourwise and watch the tiny white spines! But really nice in a fruit salad if you put something else on the spoon with it, like kiwi or a piece of orange...it's colour is just gorgeous, like deep raspberry...really pretty inside...
Dragonfruit - possibly the coolest naturally occuring fruit ever, it's just a work of art on the outside, pink with artichoke-like protuberances...and you would never ever guess from looking at the outside,what the inside is like...it's got no core, no sections, no visible divisions inside, it's a big round ball of white flesh peppered with tiny kiwi-like seeds...you cut it top to bottom into two halves and scoop out the inside with a spoon...it's so cool!! then you just eat it...it tastes a bit like a cross between a kiwi and a Bosc pear...not too sweet...and it looks awesome in a fruit salad....
Quince - that's today's experiment...you have to cook it, you can't eat it raw...( I looked up each of these new fruits before I cut into them...) and apparently the yellow flesh turns crimson when you cook it...so I'm going to make a Quince and Fuji apple crumble, Eat Clean style...there are better 'versions' of a lot of things in the Eat Clean cookbook, you use different flours, grains and sweeteners than Grandma or even Mom did, so you don't get the Junk Hangover...
Wow, this went on much longer than I thought it would...
This week? Vietnam! I'm going to make Bo nuong xa, a skewered and grilled beef dish with Lemongrass, served on Romaine leaves...awesome....indoor grilling is a problem, I can't seem to find a grill that gets HOT so we'll just bundle up and grill outdoors for this one...
I'll post again when I make it and put a picture up....
Have a wonderful day, and if anyone at all besides me reads this and has a suggestion for an unusual fruit or veg, or a country to try, please do let me know...
I'll put up the recipe for Quince-Essential Crumble when I've figured out what's in it!!
Have a wonderful, wonderful day...
Amy
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