Stir-Fried Chicken with Peaches & Peppers

I'm on a kick, swapping out mangoes for fresh, local peaches. This was inspired by a favourite mango chicken dish at a local Vietnamese-Thai restaurant. Simple and tasty, and once everything is chopped, it cooks up in 10 minutes.

2-3 servings
30 minutes - 20 minutes prep time


6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons vinegar or lime juice

4 medium firm-ripe peaches
3 small mild green peppers
1 hot green chile pepper
2-3 green onions
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup minced cilantro
2-3 lime wedges

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, and marinate it in the soy sauce and vinegar or lime juice.

Blanch the peaches in boiling water for 1 minutes. Plunge them into cold water at once to stop them cooking any further, then peel them and cut them into slices. Set them aside.

Core and de-seed the peppers. Chop the mild peppers, and mince the hot chile pepper. Trim the green onions and cut them into 1/2" pieces. Strip the basil leaves from the stems. Discard the stems and coarsely chop the leaves. Mince the cilantro, and set it aside.

Sauté the chicken in the oil, until lightly browned and about half done. Add the mild peppers and the minced chile pepper. Continue sautéing until the peppers are softened and the chicken just about done. Add the green onions, and sauté for a minute or two. Add the peaches and basil, and continue sautéin for just a minute or two more, until the basil is limp and the peaches are hot through. Serve at once, with steamed rice. Sprinkle the minced cilantro over top and pass the lime wedges to squeeze over if you like.





Last year at this time I made Green Beans in Tomato Sauce.

Apricot Mousse

Which was served with the Hazelnut Torte instead of ice-cream. However, it's a very respectable dessert all by itself, and not at all difficult to do.

6 to 8 servings
1 hour prep time - plus 4 hours needed to set


2 quarts - about 24 to 30 - apricots
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons water or lemon juice
1 tablespoon gelatine
1 cup whipping cream

Wash the apricots, and split them in half and remove the pits. Put them - apricots, not pits - in a large pot with the sugar and water. Bring them to a boil, then simmer until very soft, about 15 or 20 minutes. Press the apricots through a seive, or purée them using a blender or food processor.
Meanwhile, soak the gelatine in the remaining water or lemon juice. While the apricot purée is still very hot, mix the gelatine into it. Stir well until you are certain the gelatine is completely dissolved. Let the purée cool to room temperature, or even chill it a little, but do not let it set.

Put the whipping cream in a large bowl, and beat it until it is quite stiff. Beat in a little of the apricot mixture, then fold the rest of it in gently. You can mix it in thoroughly, or leave it with a slightly marbled pattern; whichever you prefer. Put the mousse into a serving bowl or bowls, and place it in the fridge to set; at least 4 hours.




Last year on this date, I made Linguine with Caramelized Onions, Beet Greens and Cheese, and very good it was too.

White Chocolate Frosting

Another recipe from Epicurious. This is a rich, truffle-like frosting. I would think the amount would be a bit skimpy - even in their proportions - to frost a layer cake completely, but it made an excellent filling for my Hazelnut Torte. Although I'm tempted to roll it in little balls and dip it in chocolate, and skip the cake altogether.

Makes about 2 cups frosting
20 minutes prep time


100 grams (4 ounces) white chocolate
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
milk as needed

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave, using very gentle heat in either case, and being careful not to scorch the chocolate. Set it aside to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, cream the butter and work in the icing sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat in some milk, a few drops at a time, until the mixture is smooth and workable. Fold in the melted chocolate, and adjust the sugar or milk as needed.

The icing can be kept covered and chilled for up to a day; however it must be brought back to room temperature and stirred well before being spread on the cake.

Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting

This recipe came from Epicurious. I did find that I needed to add more milk than called for in the recipe, but other than that it combined the flavours of chocolate and whipped cream to very good effect. This is not the icing for a cake when you think there will be leftovers, but if you expect that the wolves will fall upon your cake and dispatch it with speed and efficiency, give this a try. It has a light, creamy flavour lacking in most frostings and is not excessively sweet as many icings can be, although - alas - I'm pretty sure it has all the usual calories and more.

Makes enough for the outside of an 8" or 9" layer cake
20 minutes prep time - plus 1 to 4 hours chilling


1 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/8th teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk

2 cups whipping cream

Sift the icing sugar, cocoa and cream of tartar into a mixing bowl. Whisk in the milk, until you have achieved a smooth flowing mixture, about the texture of mayonnaise. Cover and chill thoroughly, about 1 hour (or up to 4 hours).

Shortly before you wish to serve the cake, gradually beat the cream into the chocolate mixture. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Use at once to frost your cake. It can be then kept in the fridge for half an hour or so.

I don't think this would do well as a middle layer in a cake, as it is quite soft, and as already noted, I can't imagine that it would keep at all well.






Last year at this time I made Pasta Salad with Tomato, Zucchini & Corn, and Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Salad.

Hazelnut Torte

It's our birthday! Almost everyone in my sweetie's side of the family has a birthday in either July or August, so once a year we have a joint party to celebrate everyone's birthdays. I was elected to make the cake this year.

This is probably my favourite cake of all time. It can also be gluten and dairy-free (although the icing is another question, and providing you use oil instead of butter to grease the pans.) To make it gluten free, check your baking powder to make sure yours is gluten free, and then replace the flour with 1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch and 1 tablespoon fine rice flour in each layer. It may come out a little flatter than with wheat flour, but will otherwise be just fine.

You can buy hazelnuts that have been ground already - maybe. I tried to buy some for this cake at Bulk Barn and discovered they only carry them closer to Christmas, so I was obliged to grind my own. I was a bit concerned about this, but I was able to grind them in my food processor without difficulty. I first toasted the hazelnuts lightly in a dry skillet, then rubbed them in a tea-towel to remove some of the skins. Then I measured out 2 cups of hazelnuts and ground them. Somewhat to my surprise, they expanded as they were ground, and I ended up with more than 2 cups of ground hazelnuts, so once they are ground, you should re-measure them.



It's vital for this recipe that the hazelnuts be finely ground. If your cake sinks in the middle and it has been well baked, it is almost certain that the problem is that the nuts were not sufficiently finely ground. When I first started making this cake, I could use purchased ground hazelnuts without difficulty. Lately though, I have found that they need to be ground some more before proceeding with the cake.


After the nuts have been ground and re-measured, add the sugar and grind them again. Or if you have bought ground nuts, measure and add the sugar and grind them both together. I find this is necessary for the sugar as well as the nuts since I use organic sugar which is quite coarsely granular.


Not surprisingly, the freshly ground hazelnuts made a particularly tasty cake. I put a layer of White Chocolate Frosting between the layers and on the top, and a layer of apricot purée in the middle. The whole cake was then frosted with Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting, and decorated with some leftover ground and whole hazelnuts and chocolate syrup. I served Apricot Mousse and blackberries with the cake.

12 servings
50 minutes - 20 minutes prep time, does not include time to cool and decorate



2 cups ground hazelnuts (125 grams)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons unbleached pastry or other flour
2 pinches of salt
8 extra-large eggs

Butter 2 round 9" cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper, butter it as well, then dust the pans with flour. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put half of the hazelnuts, half of the sugar, half of the baking powder and half of the flour, and a pinch of salt into a food process. Process for several minutes - the hazelnuts should be as well-ground as you can get them.

Add 4 of the eggs and process again. Scrape out the batter into one of the prepared cake pans.

Wash and dry the food processor bowl and blade, and repeat the above steps with the remaining ingredients.

Place the two filled cake pans on a tray and place them gently in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the cakes are golden brown and firm, and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cool for about 15 minutes, then remove them from the pans to finish cooling.

Fill and ice the cakes as you like - I always seem to use a chocolate icing of some sort from a simple Cocoa Buttercream Frosting to the more elaborate White Chocolate Frosting and Chocolate Whipped Cream Icing I used this time. A layer of rasperry or apricot jam in the middle is good. I think a coffee-flavoured icing would be great, but I have never done it since my Sweetie doesn't like (hates, in fact) coffee.



Here's a picture from another time I made this cake. The flowers on it are made of marzipan, rolled as thin as I could get it, then cut out with a simple scalloped flower cookie cutter and pinched into more three-dimensional shapes. Some of them were single cut outs, some two layers and a couple I think were even three layers of marzipan. Get a good Danish or German marzipan if you are going to do that - no sense in wasting time with the cheap stuff.

Pasta with Beans & Smoked Pork Chop Ends

This was a quick dish I threw together with not much, but it was very tasty. Fresh green beans and ham are used in a classic Mennonite soup; this just adds pasta and makes a full meal of it. I used a bag of ends from smoked pork chops, which I got at the Kitchener Farmers Market for a laughably low price. However, you can use leftover ham, or if you don't eat pork a piece of smoked turkey would do very well.

Check out Presto Pasta Nights, this week at Got No Milk. Er, let them eat cream? (Yes, I feel just like Marie Antoinette.)

2 servings
20 minutes prep time

225 grams (1/2 pound) pasta
450 grams (1 pound) mixed green and yellow beans
225 grams (1/2 pound) ham or smoked turkey
black peppercorns, crushed
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch

Put a large pot of water on to cook the pasta. Do NOT salt it, unless your ham or turkey is low in salt.

Meanwhile, clean and trim the beans and cut them in bite-sized pieces. Cut the ham or turkey into bite sized pieces as well.

When the pasta is half done, add the beans. When the pasta is 2 minutes short of done, drain off most of the water, leaving just as much as you think right to supply some "soup" - perhaps a cup, or a cup and half of water. Return it to the stove with the ham or turkey pieces, and cook until the pasta is done. Mix the starch into the cream, then stir it slowly into the pasta. Cook for one minute longer, until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Season generously with the black pepper, and serve at once.




Last year at this time I made Grilled Tomato & Zucchini Stacks.

Marinated Beans with Spiced Walnuts

It's been a while since I made this, so I goofed. Lately I've been inclined to serve my beans whole - they look so nice that way. However, it's a mistake with this recipe. They really need to be cut up to absorb the vinegar and so that you get beans and nuts in every mouthful. If you make them with the whole beans, as I did in the photo, you are really eating two different things. Mind you, I think the nuts are more than tasty enough to snack on by themselves, but that's not the point. Cut those beans!

2 servings
30 minutes prep time


Spiced Walnuts:
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1 tablespoon walnut or sunflower seed oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons garam masala OR 5-spice powder

Heat the oil in a small skillet, and cook the walnuts gently in it until slightly browned and fragrant.

Meanwhile, mix the salt, sugar and spice in a small bowl. Lift the nuts out of the oil with a slotted spoon, and toss them in the spice mixture until evenly coated. Let them cool.

Marinated Beans:
450 grams (1 pound) mixed green and yellow beans
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wash and trim the beans, and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Cook them until just tender.

Meanwhile, Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt in a shallow bowl. Add the hot, drained beans, and let them cool, stirring occasionally. When they are cool and have mostly absorbed the vinegar, about 1/2 hour to an hour, put them in a serving dish and top with the spiced walnuts.

These can be made in advance; just don't combine the beans and nuts until just before serving.





Last year on this date I made Meatloaf Rouladen.

More Cheesy Cheese Stuff

Dr. Alcott published a book on cookery and housekeeping in 1846, titled "The Young House-Keeper; or Thoughts on Foods and Cookery", and thanks to the miracles of modern technology and old-fashioned copyright, it is available online. Read it and laugh. The sample below will give you a fair idea of what kind of a bloviating, pompous, Victorian (American) male know-it-all wind-bag the good doctor was.

I am particularly fond of the fact that he never lowers himself to provide any proof or documentation of his statements. While it is true that dairy products were often rendered dangerous by unmanaged grazing of poisonous plants by cows during the early years of the nineteenth century in America - Lincoln's mother is believed to have died of such poisoning - I have never heard of arsenic being added to cheese from any other source. Although it is well documented that producers of food used to commit some pretty hair-raising acts of alimentary terrorism, before the days of government inspection and regulation, his assertion that this was done loses a great deal of authority in the face of the fact that his real objection to cheese that it was often made by *gasp* WOMEN!

At any rate, while the entire book should leave you slack-jawed and laughing, I will just quote his chapter on cheese:


"CHEESE is generally considered as quite indigestible, and therefore to be avoided by all those who have not very strong stomachs. If, however, a very little good cheese be taken in conjunction with other proper substances, as bread or rice, as a mere condiment, it can hardly be considered as positively hurtful, to those who are very vigorous. A stronger objection to its use is, that it is too concentrated a substance--or too pure a nutriment.

I have spoken, however, of good cheese only. Bad cheese is among the worst of eatables. Cheese is even sometimes poisonous. I have known nearly a hundred persons poisoned at once by eating from a certain cheese. Other instances of the kind have occurred. I do not know that the cause of this phenomenon has ever been detected. Some have supposed it to be a vegetable poison, as the lobelia or the hemlock, eaten by the cows.

The anatto or otto, so frequently used to give color to cheese, is slightly poisonous; but there is another more striking method of poisoning cheese which has been discovered very recently. Some of our dairy women have fallen into the habit of adding a small quantity of arsenic, (ratsbane,) say a piece half as large as a small pea, to each large cheese, especially when made, in part, of old milk. The object is, to give it freshness and tenderness; and the plan is said to succeed admirably. But it produces, or may produce, great injury to the human constitution; and some persons have been made immediately sick by it.

My greatest objection, after all, to the use of butter and cheese both, grows out of the consideration, that their manufacture involves a great amount of female labor, while no permanent or substantial benefit is obtained. What can be more valuable than female labor, applied to the physical and moral management and early instruction of children?

If cheese is to be eaten at all, let it be eaten rather new than old; and let it be well masticated. Do not eat grated cheese. Nor should it be toasted. Toasting, though with many a favorite process, only renders cheese more indigestible."

William Andrus Alcott

And now, if you will excuse me, I believe I will go off and make myself a nice grilled cheese sandwich, with plenty of hot sauce and extra-old cheddar. I hope it was made by a woman.






Last year at this time, I made Savory Mashed Limas and Apple Crisp with the first apples of the season.

Zucchini & Peppers Roasted with Barley & Cheese

Here's a fairly quick and easy vegetarian casserole, providing you have cooked some barley in advance. It's a meal by itself, but you could serve it with some salad, or it's light enough to squeeze in a dessert as well.

2 to 4 servings
1 hour - 20 minutes prep time

2/3 cup barley
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 medium zucchini
2 or 3 mild yellow or green peppers
1 hot pepper, green or red
2 tablespoons sunflower seed oil
black peppercorns, ground
salt to taste
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
400 grams (1 pound) ricotta cheese
100 grams (1/4 pound) Cheddar or Parmesan cheese

Cook the barley in the water until it is tender. I use my rice cooker; this can be done in advance, and I usually cook more barley than needed for this recipe - it is useful to have in the fridge or freezer for salads or other dishes. It should be about 2 cups when cooked.

Wash the zucchini and cut it into thickish slices; in half crosswise if the zucchini too large for this to be reasonably bite-sized. Wash the peppers and core them, and discard the seeds. Cut them up into fairly small pieces. The hot pepper should be minced.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Sauté the zucchini and peppers until softened and lightly browned. Season them with the salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Mix in the barley, and spread the mixture into a shallow casserole or lasagne pan. Cut or crumble the ricotta cheese and spread it over the barley and vegetable mixture. Grate the stronger Cheddar or Parmesan and sprinkle it over as well.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the vegetables are quite tender and the cheese is beginning to brown.





Last year on this day I made Green Beans & Cabbage "Scandia" - a recipe from my grandmother.

Ontario Chutney

Chutney (or chatni, a more accurate transliteration) refers to a variety of Indian condiments; usually intensely flavoured thick sauces, but they can also be thin, or even dry; occasionally smooth but generally fairly chunky. They often have a bit of sweetness to them. This idea got taken back to Britain, and by Victorian times chutney was firmly established there as a kind of thick, spiced jam to be eaten with meat, possibly curried, for a value of curry also defined by British imperialism.

The idea of chutney as a preserve is one that makes a lot of sense in a northern climate; our fresh fruits and vegetables just aren't around for all that long. Here I have taken inspiration from several recipes for English-style mango chutney - although I think one of them may have staggered through the Caribbean and picked up a little extra spicing - and then I swapped out all the exotic southern fruits for exotic northern fruits. Good stuff.

I ended up with rather a lot of chutney; you could cut it in half quite easily I would think. In which case it will likely not take 45 minutes to thicken up. No problem; turn it off when it's thick, and bring it back up to a boil just before you are ready to can it.


10 250-ml jars
2 hours - 1 hour prep, 1 hour canning



The chutney ready to start cooking.



The jars of chutney ready to be sealed, above; and the finished jars of chutney, below.



1 1/2 cups apple butter
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 cups Sucanat
2 cups dried cranberries
2 tablespoons pickling salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin seed, ground
1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seed, ground
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1 to 3 fresh cayenne peppers
1 cup peeled, minced fresh ginger (about 200 grams/ 1/2 pound)
4 mild green peppers
3 quarts peaches, a little on the unripe side
OR a combination of peaches and apricots

Into a large canning kettle put the apple butter, vinegar, Sucanat, cranberries, salt and prepared spices.

Peel the ginger and trim the stems from the cayenne. Mince them finely - a food processor is the best way. Add them to the kettle. The seeds from the cayenne chiles will add a lot of heat; it is your choice to leave them in or remove them, along with the stems. I left mine in, and I used 3 of them. My impression is that my chutney is pretty hot; you may wish to adjust accordingly.

Put a large pot of water on to boil to blanch the peaches. Fill a large bowl or the sink with cold water.

Wash the mild green peppers, core them, and chop them. Add them to the kettle.

Blanch the peaches by dropping them into the boiling water (in batches) for a minute to a minute and a half each. Remove them to a bowl or sink full of cold water to cool. When cool enough to handle, pull off the skin (it should come right off) and chop them coarsely, discarding the pits. Add them to the kettle. If you are using apricots, don't bother to skin them.

Put the kettle on to come up to a boil. While it heats, put the jars into a canner with water to cover them by at least an inch. Set that on to come up to a boil, and boil the jars for 10 minutes. Total time is likely to be about 45 minutes. Add a shot of vinegar to the water if you have hard water.

Meanwhile, boil the chutney, stirring frequently, until thickened. Conveniently, that should be about 45 minutes.

Put the lids and rings into another pot, with water to cover. About 5 minutes before you are ready to remove the jars from the canner and start filling them, turn the heat on for the lids and rings, and boil them for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the jars from the canner. Empty the water from half of them back into the canner, and empty the other half into the sink.

Fill the jars with the hot chutney, using a sterilized ladle (put it in the top of the canner for a few minutes; the funnel too, if you are using one.) Wipe the rims of the jars with a paper towel dipped in the boiling water. Seal with the prepared lids and rings. They should be on firmly, but don't wrench them - they need to expand and contract as they seal. Put the jars back into the boiling water in the canner, and process for 10 minutes. Allow to cool, check for seals, and label.




Last year at this time I Roasted an Organic Chicken and made Cole Slaw with Lime-Celery Seed Dressing.

Cauliflower in Spinach Sauce with Feta

Cauliflower and spinach - two favourite things. And cheese. Mmm. Serve it over rice or pasta, and I am one happy camper.

4 servings
20 minutes - 10 minutes prep time


1/2 of a large head of cauliflower

8 cups raw spinach
2-3 green onions
1/4 cup fresh dill weed
1/4 cup cream
1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

150 grams (1/3 pound) feta cheese

Wash and trim the cauliflower, and break it up into florets. Put it in a pot with about 6 cups of water, and bring it to a boil. Boil it for about 4 or 5 minutes, until just tender.

Meanwhile, wash and pick over the spinach, and put it in a colander with the green onions, washed and cut in thirds, and the dill weed.

When the cauliflower is ready, drain the water out over the spinach, soaking it and the onions and dill completely. Keep the cauliflower in the pot.

Drain the blanched spinach, etc, then put it in a blender and purée well. Add the purée to the drained cauliflower in the pot along with the cream with the cornstarch blended into it, and heat through, over medium heat, until slightly thickened. Stir frequently. Add the crumbled feta cheese, and heat until the cheese begins to melt.

Serve over pasta or steamed rice.




Last year at this time I made Corn Pudding with Buckwheat, Spinach & Feta Cheese, and Roasted Cauliflower.

Creamed Corn

Here is one of those classic dishes that everyone has had - they think. Unless they have made it themselves, they think wrong. There is no resemblance between canned creamed corn and creamed corn freshly made. (Although I admit to being strangely fond of the canned stuff. Ooops.)

It's not hard or time-consuming to make, although it does dirty rather a lot of implements for a simple veggie dish. However, it keeps and reheats fairly well, so I make a big pot of it - enough for several meals. Or it would be, if it wasn't so darn good!

4 to 6 servings
30 minutes - 20 minutes prep time


6 to 8 cobs of fresh corn
1 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup cream
1 teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed
1 teaspoon sea salt (half if regular salt)

2-3 tablespoons minced herbs, if desired

Husk the corn, and cut off the kernals into a good-sized pot. Scrape the cobs into a bowl, removing any pulp left attached to the cobs. Then, remove some of the corn from the pot into the bowl, until you have about 3/4 of the corn in the pot and 1/4 of it in the bowl.

Put the corn and pulp from the bowl into a blender with the cup of water, and purée thoroughly. Add it to the pot of corn, and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the corn is tender.

You can continue at this point, or the corn can be prepared ahead of time and reheated just before serving.

Add the butter, the cream with the cornstarch or arrowroot dissolved in it, and the salt and pepper. Reheat the corn, stirring constantly, until hot through and slightly thickened. Serve garnished with a sprinkling of chopped herbs such as basil, dill or chives, if desired.




Last year at this time I made Fish & Pasta with Greens in Saffron-Paprika Broth and Apricot, Cucumber & Feta Cheese Salad.