Recipes

Octopus Banchan

Octopus Banchan 1

Today, I have used the tentacle tips and other scraps from a recent Octopus Purchase to make a little Korean style Banchan, or side-dish. This style of Banchan involves cooking the main ingredient with the Korean Chili Paste known as Gochujang, and a sweetener, usually a syrup such corn, or rice syrup, or even honey. The presence of the latter allows for such dishes to keep a long time in the fridge.

There is a very similar dish to the one that I am making called Nakji bokkeum in which additional vegetable are added during stir-frying. Typically, the result is served hot, often over rice, but the simple, banchan-style type is served cold… Continue reading “Octopus Banchan” →

Recipes, Restaurants

Scallop Appetizer

Scallop Appetizer 1

Back when I was a kid growing up in Maritime Canada, Clams and Chips were nearly as popular is Fish and Chips and, if you were in a restaurant that served both of these, it was generally a safe bet that you could get Scallops and Chips as well. That dish generally used the larger variety usually of scallop referred to as ‘Sea Scallops’, and even a half-dozen of these, along with chips and cole-slaw, made for a very filling meal. For today’s appetizer version, I am using the smaller ‘Bay Scallops’… as with the old-standby of Scallops and Chips, the scallops are battered but, here, I have jazzed things up a bit … Continue reading “Scallop Appetizer” →

Recipes

Shrimp with Pesto

Shrimp with Pesto 1

This dish is just something I put together using my Pesto Piccante, although you could probably just use a more traditional Pesto Genovese, either home-made or commercially prepared.

Basically, I just sautéed some nice shrimp in butter then deglazed the pan with a little white wine before adding back the shrimp with a generous dollop of pesto. I served them immediately with lightly grilled slices of baguette. The latter could be spread with butter, or drizzled with oil, I suppose, but there was enough sauce under the shrimp that it was nice to just dip the bread in it. I conceived of this as an antipasto sort of dish, but it made for a nice light lunch all by itself….

Recipes

Pasta Ratatouille

Ratatouille Spaghetti

Today’s post is just a little dish I created using some of my home-made Ratatouille. It isn’t a particularly original idea, but the Ratatouille recipe is my own and the combination here works very nicely.

Just cook pasta as you normally would, reserving a little of the pasta water when you drain, and then sauté the pasta with a splash of oil before adding good ‘dollop’ of Ratatouille and a bit of the pasta cooking water. As the water cooks down a bit, you can form a really nice sauce. This version I made was very tasty with some Parmesan cheese added on serving, but a bit more of the Ratatouille would have been better 😊

Recipes

Pesto Bites

Pesto Bites 1

When I first conceived of this idea, it struck me that what I had in my mind was very similar to the Provencal specialty known as Pissaladière, except that the traditional topping of caramelized onion is replaced with Pesto (in this case my own homemade Pesto Piccante)

Initially, I thought of doing a single, large, rectangular ‘bread’, but then I decided to make individual, round ‘bites’ as you see pictured above … [ Continue reading “Pesto Bites” →

Recipes

Pasta Vitello Puttanesca

Pasta Vitello Verde 1

I purchased some nice thin veal cutlets in my local store just the other day and one of the uses I planned was for a pasta dish something like a Puttanesca (but with veal added). I only had green olives, rather than the black sort I usually use, and I also happened to have some nice fresh Basil that I thought might make a nice addition. Altogether, my creation departs quite a bit from most Puttanesca recipes, but it is close enough, I think, that the name still applies … Continue reading “Pasta Vitello Puttanesca” →

Foodstuffs

Foodstuff: Octopus

Octopus 1

Until recently, I had yet to see octopus in any stores locally. Even in the south, I generally encounter them frozen and, so, when I saw a fresh whole octopus here in my local supermarket I snapped up, despite the price tag of $50 for a 2kg specimen…

Actually, the price I paid is not that bad given that I will get several dishes from this single purchase… before getting to that point, though, the octopus needs a little preparation … Continue reading “Foodstuff: Octopus” →

Recipes

Ratatouille with Pancetta Wrapped Prawns

Ratatouille with Pancetta Wrapped Prawns

This is the third recipe I have presented using  my home-made Ratatouille as a focal point. Her, the Ratatouille is served warmed, rather than at room temperature, as a ‘bed’ for some large shrimp wrapped in Pancetta. Bacon could also be used, but the pancetta is more delicate and goes nicely with the shrimp. As a single Antipasto, a bit of buttered fresh bread, or oil-drizzled grilled bread would be a great accompaniment…  Some lemon slices on the side would be nice too.