IHCC - Ottolenghi's Asparagus with Polenta

Here is a star side dish for you ! My new friend Yotam has kindly shared his recipe for Asparagus with Polenta in The Guardian. Everything about this dish is pleasing to me at this time of the year - the bright colors of the polenta and asparagus, the lemon zest brightness that's added as a hint in the polenta and a flash of citrus to the garnish, the nutty crunch that comes with each bite.  It's Spring on a plate for me.

Strawberry Custard Pie ...

Spring is here when the strawberries start tempting you, as you pass through the produce department at the supermarket. Am I right? They're not perfect, but they are just so darn promising of warmer days. I can't wait to get down on hands and knees to creep along the rows of berries, filling a colander and contemplating strawberry shortcake, stopping to brush the dirt off a particularly beautiful berry and pop it in my mouth to sample the juiciness. Berries and cream, berry smoothies, strawberry ice cream, spinach salad with strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette, strawberry jam ... is it any wonder that I always fall for the first berries that come in from 'where ever'? I'm a strawberry junkie.

Today I made strawberry custard pie.

IHCC - Ugly Food From A Lovely Lady

This week's I Heart Cooking Club is a potluck affair - I decided to look around at the other chefs that the club has concentrated on over time ... and ... oh, look! Giada de Laurentiis! How can a woman who looks that good eat the killer recipes that she comes up with and remain looking that good? She must take nano-bites and eat salad the rest of the time! Take this recipe for baked potatoes with sausage and arugula.

Random Recipes - Cathy Rothwell's Teryaki Sirloin Tips

It's that Random Recipe time of month again! Every month, our cyber friend Dom gives us a new way to find a recipe from one of our cook books that we might not have seen, might have passed over, might have been afraid to tackle, might have ...

This month, Dom has challenged us to use his random number generator thingamabob to come up with a random number that corresponds to one of the books on our cookbook shelves; we are to open that particular book, make the recipe, and then "eat and of course, enjoy" ! My number is 128. Well, counting the books on the shelf brought me to the first of two of our family cookbooks - these binders hold recipes that I have diligently saved over the years from family, friends, magazine articles, newspaper slips, labels, etc. They're the one's that I have tried and loved and made the commitment to preserve. I have slowly transcribed them to word files, printed them out, placed them in waterproof plastic page liners and placed them in the huge binder/cookbook - they're there for all time! Anyway, flipping to a random page, I came to my friend Cathy's recipe for sirloin tips - her shiny, sweet, tangy, juicy steak bites.

This recipe is all about the simple marinade. I always soak the tips all day - for flavouring and tenderizing purposes. Then, I make slivers of onions and green peppers and give them a fast stir fry in the wok while I use a grill pan to sear these tips (or if the weather is nice, I grill them) to a perfect medium-rare. It's simple, but so wonderful! Sometimes, we have the tips with steamed jasmine rice and an Asian vegetable side dish, but at other times we have them with roasted spears of sweet potato and a simple salad. However you make them, I hope you enjoy them!

Cathy Rothwell’s Teriyaki Sirloin Tips

One day before you want to grill these, make the marinade and place the tips in a zip-lock bag. Seal and massage the tip with the marinade. Store the bag in a bowl in the fridge and give the meat a toss and a squeeze every now and then during the day.

Grill to medium-rare for the best and most tender chew, brushing the steaks with some of the marinade while they cook.  Sprinkle on the scallions and sesame seeds and serve hot from the grill.

Marinade:

½ c. soy sauce

¼ c. brown sugar

½ c. orange juice

1 large clove garlic minced

1 tsp. black pepper

1 – 2 lbs. sirloin tips or steak of your choice

Garnishes:

scallions, sliced into thin coins

sesame seeds, toasted

Accompaniments: Green pepper and sweet onion strips stir fried in peanut oil, black pepper and ginger root and garlic aromatics.

Note: If you choose to use a steak for this marinade, don’t forget to poke it all over with a meat fork to let the marinade really work its way into the slab of meat.

A New Twist on Hawaiian Pizza

This weekend's pizza was totally interesting ! Take a traditional tomato-based pizza and turn it on its ear! Hawaiian pizza has always seemed really exotic and kind of weird to me, but my brother-in-law raves about it! Whenever the guys have their poker parties at the family farm, Dan likes to order a Hawaiian number to split with the rest of the guys. So I've slowly come around to the idea of trying a pie decked out with ham and pineapple.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

The crock pot that I bought several months ago has gotten incredible use over the winter, and now Spring is back and busy times come with yard and garden work. I haven't gone and put that slow cooker away for the summer, though! It will be kept just as busy as during the wintertime!  Case in point, today's dinner and tomorrow's leftovers ... pulled pork.

IHCC - Royal Potato Salad

Oh, what a warm green mess this is and oh, how utterly delicious! I found myself humming Mellow Yellow as I peeled eggs last evening while making Yotam Ottolenghi's Royal Potato Salad.  Whirling the basil, parsley, Parmesan and pine nuts in the blender made me giddy with the luscious shade of green that resulted. I switched over to trying to remember the Seuss text to 'Green Eggs and Ham'. Whenever, I plopped warm potatoes and eggs, pesto, and peas together and added some mint and tossed, I could tell by the texture, color, and scent that we had a winner here!

Moroccan Crab Cakes ???? Yup, Apparently!

Matthew Kenney has sucked me in  ... again! Perhaps it's the gorgeously photographed food in his cookbook or maybe it's just the interesting combinations of ingredients. Whatever, I saw this recipe for Moroccan Spiced Crab Cakes and knew that I had to make them. I have found myself daydreaming about placing them on a nice bed of greens and serving them with a super chilled crisp white wine ... it's supposed to be a warm sunny day here. The back porch will warm right up with the sun hitting it ... it may even feel like a warm summer afternoon out there ... these crab cakes should be a great way to celebrate the return of the sunshine and warmth!