Grilled Rabbit

I joined my other half on a hunt one morning. He caught a rabbit, which we ate for supper. While he cleaned it, I made some croutons out of some stale bread and made some home made rolls. It was the first time eating rabbit for both of us, and I'd definitely try it again. For those of you wondering, rabbit is a red meat. I wouldn't BBQ it again - the legs were too tough. We took the leftovers and made pulled teriyaki rabbit the next day, which was much better!

Fish Fry!

No recipe, just instructions:

1. Catch some fish (or send husband to do so). Pike is pictured.
2. Fillet said fish
3. Rinse clean.
4. Chop into pieces, and deep fry (I dipped pieces into milk then Fish Crisp original batter to coat before frying).
5. Serve and enjoy - eat as soon as it cools enough to bite into for the crispiest serving!

Fresh Spring Rolls

I watched a demonstration in the store and was inspired to try to make these Vietnamese fresh veggie spring rolls. They weren't as good as his, but it was a fun experience!

Just another burger and a salad

Salad: baby romaine, cucumber, tomato, feta cheese, pecans, and avocado topped with a raspberry walnut vinaigrette.

Burger: BBQ sauce, onion, ketchup, tomato and avocado on a home made beef patty.

Roasted Chicken

First crack at roasting a whole chicken, and I wanted crispy crackling skin. I followed this recipe for Perfect Roast Chicken, which was FANTASTIC. I used butter instead of margarine, and my only complaint is that it needed far less butter than it called for, so I will half the quantity next time. It also cooked faster than expected, so make sure to take periodic temperature readings as you baste it.

Janice's Indian-Inspired Soup

5 large potatoes
5 large carrots
6 small stalks of celery
1 medium-large onion
1 cloves of garlic


Chop it all up. 
Boil in about 8 cups of beef broth (I think I used just slightly less). 
When veggies are very soft, stop boiling, blend it all until reasonably smooth. 
Pour back into pot and mix in 2 teaspoons each of cumin and curry, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, and 1 teaspoon of thyme.

Great when you're craving a low-cal version of Indian cuisine.

Serves 6. Each serving:

Calories: 86
Potassium: 415
Fat: 0
Carbs: 14
Fibre:2
Protein: 4

Kibbee (a Lebanese dish)

From Wikipedia: Kibbeh or kibbe (also kubbeh, kebbah or kubbi) (Arabic: كبة‎) is an Arab dish made of bulghur, minced onions and ground red meat, usually beef, lamb, goat or camel. The best-known variety is a torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb. Other types of kibbeh may be shaped into balls or patties, and baked or cooked in broth.

This particular recipe is a pan-fried version of burger-shaped patties that has passed down through the generations. Kibbee is also eaten raw, drizzled with oil (I wouldn't recommend that unless you hand grind your meat, as ground beef is notorious for food safety issues unless fully cooked), and can also be baked in a pan as a single piece and cut into pieces (but I find it less flavourful), or in a muffin tin at 350F for about 20 minutes. I have tried to be thorough in my instructions. If there are any questions, just ask!

Note: the real recipe involves purchasing steak, trimming all the fat, and grinding the meat by hand, but I cheat by using very lean, high quality ground beef.

Ingredients:
This recipe is based on the pounds of meat used. Quantities here are for 1 pound of meat, which should make about 7-8 pieces of kibbee, depending on the size.

• 1 lb extra lean ground beef (I use extra lean sirloin or extra lean from my local butcher - must be at least 90% lean)
• 1 c. dry bulgar
• 1 medium onion (puréed)
• 1-2/3 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. pepper
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. allspice
• 3/4 tsp. cumin
• Arabic spice/7 spice (if this cannot be found, add extra 1/4 tsp allspice, and about 1/3-1/2 extra tsp of cumin/lb)

Instructions:

1. Measure out bulgar. Pour into a very large bowl, and add water until the bowl is full. Leave it to soak at least 30 minutes. Drain & rinse it well - pour it out trough a sieve, rice with water, and push down on the bulgar to squeeze out excess water.
2. Puree onions.
3. Add beef, bulgar, onions and spices together in a large bowl.
4. Mix by hand until evenly blended.
5. On the stove, place a large pan (cast-iron or non-stick with high sides work best). Add oil until the pan bottom is covered - if making more than one pound, use about 1/2cm/1/4" of oil in the bottom. You can always add more if required. Turn heat onto medium.
6. Form patties - make a think oval-shaped burger, and press an indent into the centre.
7. Put a small amount of butter (about the size of a pea) into the dent. Note: butter should be placed on a side plate and not cut directly from the block so you don't contaminate the rest.
8. Add more of the meat mixture to form a complete patty. Try to pack is so it's smooth - no cracks or the patties may break apart when turning over while cooking.
9. Place patties into hot oil.
10. You'll notice the sides start to change colour. Turn over patties when bottom is well-browned.
11. When both sides are well-browned, remove from pan and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Repeat until all patties are cooked.
12. Eat - plain, or in a piece of pita.

Kibbee freezes well, and can be eaten hot or cold.


Photo tutorial (click to enlarge):

Nutrition Information (based on 8 pieces per pound, pan- fried):
Calories: 221
Potassium: 0
Fat: 10
Carbs: 10
Fibre: 2
Protein: 15

Enjoy!

"Greek Goddess" Burger

A knockoff of my favourite burger from The Works.

Chicken breast topped with dived tomatoes, feta cheese, garlic, and oregano.

Weight Watchers: 9 points plus values (plus 7 for the salad).

Beef Sirloin Tip Roast with Mushrooms

Check out the recipe here.

It's easy and delicious. I recommend serving it with a potato side dish. For the meal shown in these photos, I tried my hand at hasselback potatoes.

Pan fried chicken with mashed potatoes and garden salad

To make the chicken, I took out some all-purpose flour and added a bit of any spices I had on hand that sounded good: paprika, mustard powder, oregano, coarse sea salt, etc. Then I broke one egg into a shallow bowl, and whisked it around with a splash of milk. After rinsing the chicken breasts, I dipped each into the egg mixture, coated it in flour, back into the egg mixture and a final flouring before gently putting it into a pan of hot oil. Once removed, I drizzled with some light Renee's Caesar dressing and honey.

The mashed potatoes were two red potatoes I washed, cubed, and boiled, then mashed with my new Pampered Chef potato mashing tool along with some butter and milk.

Point Plus Value for this meal: 14

Buffalo Chicken Salad

I love chicken. It's my favourite white meat. And it's a little à propos, because for most of my life, I have been somewhat chicken to experiment with food. A part of the reason for this blog is to chronicle my food life and to start trying more - more foods, more recipes, more ways of preparing.

I am simultaneously on a quest to eat a more healthy and balanced diet, so I'm hoping that you'll be seeing a lot more veggies and salads than I've traditionally eaten, accompanied by an occasional dessert or home baked bread recipe. I tend to use a combination of from-scratch and pre-made ingredients, depending on the amount of time I have to devote to the food. I have been using myfitnesspal.com to help figure out the nutrition information for the meals I prepare for several years, and find it very useful.

Today, I tried a recipe from skinnytaste.com for crockpot buffalo chicken wraps. However, I decided to turn this into a salad concoction to suit the ingredients I had in my fridge. I also had an issue where my crockpot is not working, so I cooked it in a covered pot instead. I present to you my very own buffalo chicken salad:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup buffalo crockpot chicken made with Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce
3 cups baby romaine lettuce
1 handful of chopped carrots and celery
1-1/2 Tbsp Kraft fat free Rancher's Choice salad dressing

Nutrition information:
Calories: 209
Potassium: 173
Fat: 3
Carbohydrates: 15
Fibre: 2
Protein: 28
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 5 (4 if you only used 1 Tbsp of salad dressing)

The results: flavourful and fantastic. Definitely something I will make again!