Finally, two firsts.

Today I finally got to do two things that I have been wanting to do for a while.
The first was to buy and use a Chinese hot pot.
Matt and I went to the Cleveland Asia Market this morning to buy it and some ingredients. I bought several different hot pot soup bases, so I'm looking forward to trying them all.
Today I made a spicy Szechuan broth. To it we added some noodles, bok choy, bean sprouts, beech mushrooms and specially sliced beef.
It was delicious, but very VERY spicy. I think I will only use half a packet of the base next time.

The other first was achieved, finally, when we were out for a stroll. I have been trying to get a photo of the scenic railway train for the past couple of months, but always seem to miss it. Today we were at the station just as the train pulled up...

 ... and a ticket master was kind enough to wave to us as the train left the station :)

Mexican Stew

I had a request from a reader to cook some authentic Mexican recipes.
THIS is NOT an authentic Mexican recipe! I am going to do one in the near future, I've always wanted to cook with cactus, but I need to get to a specialty store first to see what's available.

The main part of tonight's dish was an altered version of this recipe. I added black beans and used chipotle peppers in adobo sauce instead of 'chipotle paste'.

I also used fresh tomatoes instead of canned.
I have a secret about using fresh tomatoes in a sauce..... Cut the tomatoes into chunks of various sizes, from small dices to ping pong ball sizes!
I have found that if I cut the tomatoes to approx the same size it doesn't really become a sauce, but rather a mash of hot tomatoes. I think the different sizes allows the smaller ones to cook down quickly while the larger ones remain more 'chunky'.

I also had some potatoes, celery and carrots that I wanted to use too, so I made up a side dish.
The finished product yields 6 generous servings!

Side Dish


5 idaho potatoes
1 onion chopped
2 carrots diced
2 sticks of celery diced
Throw all veggies into a roasting tin.
Season generously with salt and pepper.
Add enough olive oil to to coat potatoes (approx 3tbsp)
Bake at 400F (200C) for 60 minutes, stir every 20 minutes.

'Mexican' Stew


3 large chicken breasts, cut into thirds
1 onion chopped
4 garlic cloves sliced
500g tomatoes chopped.
430g tin of black beans
200g tin of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

In a large pan, fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil over a low heat until soft.
Add chipotle peppers and tomatoes.
Bring to a gentle boil.
Add chicken.
Bring back to boil and then lower to a simmer for 20 minutes.
Add drained black beans.
Simmer for another 10 minutes.
Remove chicken and shred with 2 forks.
Add chicken back to pan and bring to final boil right before serving.

I became worried after adding the chipotle peppers that I may have added way to many. A google search heightened my fear when I read that 10lbs of Jalapenos make 1lb of chipotle!!!

But I was worrying for nothing. The dish was spicy but pleasantly so, with a lovely smokey finish on the palate. 

The potatoes turned out great too. Although this side dish is not a typical Mexican food it still went well with the stew, adding some starch to mop up the juices. Maybe some Mexican seasoning would have made them 'more suited' to the stew.

Stay tuned for some authentic Mexian cooking in the near future!

Seriously Scrumptious Soup

Dear readers, please listen to me when I tell you YOU HAVE GOT TO MAKE THIS SOUP!!!!

Nothing is better than a good autumn/winter soup that'll warm you up on a cold night. I have found a really REALLY good soup. It's my own recipe, I was making it up as I went along and it turned out absolutely fabulous!

You will need:

• 1 butternut squash (about 2lbs)
• 2 small onions finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• olive oil
• crushed chili peppers
• garam masala
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups of chicken stock (I had some left over stock, skimmed of fat, from yesterdays roast)
• 4-6 strips of previously fried bacon. I am had some in the freezer and so crushed it into small pieces while frozen.

Heat oven to 400F (200C) 

Peel the squash, remove the seeds and then cut up into dice sized chunks.

Place squash into a roasting tin. Add enough olive oil to coat the squash. Sprinkle with crushed chili peppers and garam masala.

Roast for 30-40 minutes. Stir them every 10-15 minutes.

While the squash is roasting go ahead and saute the onion, garlic and bay leaves over a low heat in the butter. The longer and slower they cook the better!

When the squash is finished roasting add it to the onions and garlic. Add the chicken stock. 

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low for 20 minutes. We want the flavours to develop and the squash to get nice and soft.

Serve with some homemade Irish soda bread.

I cannot say enough good things about this soup. It was perfect! I still have a lovely flavor in my mouth and it's 2 hours later.

I went to the store tonight and enjoyed being welcomed back to the fragrant reminder of the soup when I returned. The chili pepper gives the soup an extra warmth, which is perfect for this time of year.
I'm really really happy with this soup!! I urge you to try it! I think it would also be great with a small amount of red lentils in it too, but not too many, you don't want to change the consistency of the soup.
It would also be super easy to turn it into a vegetarian dish. Leave out the bacon and use vegetable stock instead. You would probably want the lentils then for sure!

Monday's Sunday Dinner

As previously mentioned, yesterday I was planning to make a roast dinner, but we were out too late. So I made it for dinner tonight! Roast chicken served with roast potatoes, steamed green beans, broccoli, bread sauce and pepper cream sauce.

Penny and Lucy were both in attendance, hoping for some food....

 ... after a while, they figured they  might not actually get any....

 ...so Penny started being obnoxious!

 The war zone. This was where I did the cooking. It's a lot smaller than what I'm used to and it got very hot.

All flustered ;)

Sunday afternoon walk

Today it was cold and rainy. I loved it!
We decided to take a drive to lake Erie to walk along some of the shore that we haven't yet been to. When we got there it was still grey and drizzly, perfect beach walking weather :)
Of course, I just HAD to get a shot of the heron for my Dad!

There was a beautiful weeping willow on one end of the beach

Lots of shells to look through....

and some smoothed glass...

And stones to skim....

Here's a shot of downtown Cleveland...

Another heron....

Matt posing for a catalogue ;)

On your marks.... get set...

 GO!...

I was planning on making a roast chicken dinner tonight but we spent a lot longer on the beach than originally planned. So we stopped by #1 Pho for dinner. I decided NOT to have Pho this time, and instead opted for a curried squid dish. It was absolutely delicious!!!

Yet another wonderful weekend in the Cleveland area :)

'Fall'-ing head over heels in love with Ohio

We nearly always have our two companions with us when we go exploring. This time of year they have been confined to the boot of the car, as they tend to get very muddy!

The start of our 11 mile hike

Past goats and chickens

Here's a feel for some of the colour,

Setting off on a 10 mile hike..

This is so beautiful....