Drunken Spaghetti

Spaghetti all'ubriaco. I bookmarked this recipe when I first saw it and finally had the occasion (of too much leftover wine) to use it.

Making Lemonade

Macarons that cracked during baking.

Odds and Ends

The last eggs in the carton, the ends of the loaf of rye, and lox trimmings = eggs en cocotte.

Jewelled Salad

Last night's impromptu salad (I am clearing out the fridge) yielded this lovely creation. Your favorite salad mix + valencia orange segments + avocado + figs = jewelled salad. A light, fruity vinaigrette made with the juice of your orange, extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, kosher salt and pepper to taste.

Remains of the Day

That's it. The last remains of the wonderful long weekend. The final slice of the proscuitto and ricotta pizza with red onions. Tub ricotta, italian proscuitto and pizza dough from Duco's on Granville Island. I accidentally threw in a too generous portion of red pepper flakes to the onions which imparted a nice heat to the thin crust pizza. Served with a walnut and blue goat cheese salad, a glass of pinot noir, and a soft summer breeze.

Arugula: Weeknight Spaghetti

I think this week will arugula week, all because I bought a box of baby arugula and I'm trying to use it all up. Dinner tonight was a simple spaghetti with pesto, garlic and wilted arugula. Some butter while sauteing the garlic, and some parmesan to top it all off in the end. I also tend to use a pinch of nutmeg in non-tomato-based sauces, which I did here.

Proscuitto-wrapped Snapper with Greens

Belated post--I made an impromptu recipe to clean out my fridge. I had a quarter of an onion left in my fridge, which I chopped and sauteed with a clove of garlic. While that was cooking, I used two last pieces of proscuitto to wrap a small fillet of snapper. Sprinkle some pepper and top with the leftover dill in my fridge that would start to wilt soon. I threw this in the pan with some juice from half a lemon and covered it. After the fish was ready, I threw in a bunch of pre-washed baby spinach, pinch of salt, and stirred it with the onions for two minutes. 20 minutes for a meal and a cleaned-out fridge.

Chili Pasta

Leftover chili con carne from yesterday now becomes spicy pasta for today, when I add some whole wheat spaghetti.

Turkey Salad Sandwich

October 13th was Thanksgiving in Canada. As usual, my talented sister and I made Thanksgiving dinner, although it always seems more like her making the turkey and meal, and me helping out with the sides and prep.

So I'm polishing off the leftover turkey right now, turning the trimmings into turkey salad, substituting turkey in my usual chicken salad. Celery, mayo, toasted pine nuts, a dash of cumin, salt and pepper are added. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours (it's even better overnight), and I spread a little bit of dijon mustard onto both sides of some light country rye bread before spooning in the mix and toasting the sandwich. I always make a big bowl because I always end up eating forkfuls of this while making the sandwich.

Our Thanksgiving meal consisted of a 48-hour-brined turkey stuffed with herbs and oranges, celeriac mashed potatoes, gravy, fried fresh sweet corn cakes, turkey stuffing made with mushrooms and Italian sausage, cranberry sauce spiked with citrus zest, sauteed carrots, green salad with pear and pomegranate dressing, and my sister's dessert of fruit segments, cranberry and prosecco jellies.

Easy Pasta

What to do with that remaining capicollo I had in the fridge...I decided to throw together a pasta for dinner and the leftovers went to today's lunch. A roasted red pepper, portobello mushroom, garlic, onions and cream on linguine. That's it.

Chicken on Rye

The half of the chicken from Pizza Night left over, I turned into a Yogurt & Dill Chicken Salad for sandwiches at work and for general snacking. I finally finished the last of the salad this morning, making myself a sandwich with some delicious extra dark rye bread. The chewy, grainy bread's deep flavor paired well with the dill in the salad; bonus for me since I'll take any opportunity to eat a slice of rye.

Easy Pasta on a Thursday Night

Pasta is probably the easiest thing to make and take to the office as lunch. I hastily put together a dinner and lunch for tomorrow from scrounging around my fridge. Pizza night yielded some leftover ingredients I had to get rid of: some chopped tomatos and mushrooms. I also had a random pack of turkey sausage, which I broke up into ground meat. I played it by ear and came up with rotini with turkey sausage, mushroom, tomato, basil, sun-dried tomato and capers.

Morning Hash

Weekends are the time when I usually clear out my fridge, and they're also when I have the time to make a decent breakfast. Making a hash kills two birds with one stone, and today I have:

- a single leftover yellow nugget potato
- leftover scraps of BBQ salmon
- the few remaining non-shriveled grape tomatos from a week-old box

To this I add:

- a free range egg
- a tablespoon of pesto

I nuke the small nugget potato until done, then dice it. I heat up a tablespoon of oil in a pan and lightly fry the diced potato, tossing them every so often. I then halve the tomatos, break up the salmon, turn down the heat and throw those in the pan. Whoops, should've turned the heat down sooner—a side of the potatos are a bit burnt this time. I break a free range egg into the hash and gently fold it in. The vivid orange yolk colors the hash a rich yellowy color. As the egg starts go cook, I turn the heat off completely, add pesto and keep gently mixing. Fresh ground pepper and a side of greens dressed with vinaigrette, and it's done.