Lamb Kofta with Garlic Sauce and Pickled Onions

Jan 25, 2019

Lamb Kofta with Garlic Sauce and Pickled Onions – Candy Coated Culinista

A great middle eastern dish that is so scrumptious and satisfying you’ll have to hold yourself back from overeating.

Yield/Serving: 4-5
Difficulty level is: Easy, time consuming

From At My Table

Ingredients
Kofta
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1 peeled and coarsely grated, to give ¾ cup loosely packed
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
• 3 tbsp finely grated parsley
• 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
• 2 tbsp olive oil
Garlic Sauce
• 1 2/3 cups Greek yoghurt
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 – 2 lemon zest of 1 lemon and 3 tbsp of juice
• 2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
• 2 tsp dried mint
Toppings
• Tomatoes
• Iceberg lettuce
• Faltbreads
Quick Pickled Onions
• 1 small red onion, peeled & cut into half moons
• Juice from 2 -3 limes

Assembly
Kofta
1. Combine all ingredients except olive oil into a large bowl and roll into sausage shapes. Do not compact the lamb mixture once in the desired shape.
2. Slightly flatten sides and place on a baking sheet lines with cling wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Combine yoghurt, garlic, lemon zest, juice, salt and dried sauce together.
4. Slice red onion into half moons and let marinate in lime juice
5. Using a large frying pan heat frying pan and cook kofta on medium-high heat for 5 of so minutes each side until cooked all the way through.
6. Serve inside faltbreads along with toppings

Please Enjoy

My thoughts

It was great making koftas another way as last time I made them it was a bowl and I quite enjoyed them. I decided to serve mine with cucumber, pomegranates, and pickled onions to bulk up the meal a little. This was a lovely meal; but it was time consuming. It didn’t seem like it would take so long and since there is not times given I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. The directions were a little off, so to achieve the kofta look I was accustomed to I sear all sides and cooked the remaining time in the oven. Almost 2 hours beginning to end. That’s a little long for me on a weekday after getting home for work; but then there is leftovers for the next couple of days. A trade off perhaps?

Lamb Kofta with Garlic Sauce and Pickled Onions – Candy Coated Culinista

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Spatchocked Chicken with Asparagus & Grilled Lemons

Jul 10, 2018

Spatchocked Chicken with Asparagus & Grilled Lemons – Candy Coated Culinista

A simple weeknight grilling dinner, so good it can be served for Sunday dinner.

Yield/Serving: 2 to 4
Prep Time: 15 min.
Cook Time: 35 min,
Difficulty level is: Easy

From: Food 52 Any Night Grilling

Ingredients
• One 4-4 ½ pound chicken, spatchocked (ask your butcher to spatchock it for you
• Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• Kosher salt
• Ground black pepper
• 1 bunch of thyme
• 8 ounces haricots, bottoms trimmed
• 2 spring onion, halved
• 2 lemons
• Flaky salt

Assembly
1. Spatchock chicken by removing the spinal cord and lightly drizzle with olive oil and then sea with salt and pepper.
2. Tuck the wings under the legs making the chicken lie flat.
3. Spread thyme and oregano on a baking sheet and set aside to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. Prepare charcoal grill or coat the gill pan with extra virgin olive oil over high heat using a paper towel.
5. Place season chicken, skin side down onto the grill with the thyme & oregano underneath and brown skin for 8 – 10 minutes.
6. Turn chicken, discard any burnt thyme or oregano, and cook until nearly cooked through and cook for another 8-10 minutes.
7. Flip chicken again and cook for another 3-5 minutes until skin is crisp and browned.
8. Transfer to a baking sheets to rest
9. Place asparagus over grill and char for about 5 minutes, ensuring you get grill marks.
10. Cut lemons in half and grill along with the onions.
11. Mix onions with the asparagus.
12. Serve chicken on a platter family style with asparagus and grilled lemons.

Tips
• I added oregano, used white onion instead of green onion and also swapped asparagus for the green beans as its asparagus season.
• Serve with potatoes on the side.

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
I have been wanting to practice my grilling skills and this book is a great option as these recipes are easy and well good for weeknight grilling. I opted to buy a enamel cast-iron grill pan as I didn’t want to pull out my cumbersome indoor grill. The recipes turned out excellent, the only thing I have to do is get stronger grill marks next time. Otherwise this recipe tasted to healthy and yet so simple. I opted to spatchock my chicken myself as I had never done this before. I found it a little gross removing the spinal cord, and have much respect to butchers getting the job done. All I could think of when I was butchering this chicken was the ritual called the Blood Eagle from Viking lore; which was a tad funny that my mind went there; but it was apt. This recipe is easy to swap out any in season veggies you prefer and get the same amazing results. I have never had a grilled lemon and enjoyed squeezing it over the asparagus and chicken. I served lemon oil gem potatoes with cayenne pepper on the side. I will be making this again. This recipe is visually attractive and will catch your dinner guests or families attention.

Christmas Dinner- Salad: Spinach & Bacon Salad

Dec 20, 2017

Christmas Dinner: Spinach & Bacon Salad – Candy Coated Culinista

A simple salad course to keep the Christmas dinner festivities running smoothly.

Yield/Serving: 4
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cook Time: 20 min.
Difficulty level is: Easy

From: Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook

Ingredients
• 6 thick cut slices of bacon
• Olive oil
• 2 heaping tablespoons pine nuts
• 12 x ½ ” thick slices of French baguette
• 6 medium pickled onions, and 2 tbsp liquor from the jar
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Quality extra virgin olive oil
• 4 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 1 handful of seasonal salad leaves

Assembly
1. Slice bacon into lardons and put into a large frying pan over medium-high heat and fry.
2. Add pine nuts for a minute and scoop out with a slotted spoon leaving the bacon fat behind.
3. Toast the bread in the bacon fat until golden on both sides.
4. Finely slice pickled onions.
5. Using a large bowl mix the pickled onion liquor with the Dijon mustard, ¼ cup olive oil and a pinch of black pepper.
6. Wash and dry the spinach and add to bowl.
7. Add bacon, pine nuts and pickled onions and then toss.
8. Place the croutons (sliced baguette) in and serve.

Tips
• Add crumbled blue cheese or feta or matchstick apples or pears would work well.

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
Such a tasty simple salad and with preparing a full Christmas dinner this salad packs a punch without that much effort.

Super Quick Garlic Bok Choy

Jul 26, 2017

Super Quick Garlic Bok Choy – Candy Coated Culinista

Yield/Serving: 4 to 6 servings
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cook Time: 5 min.
Difficulty level is: Easy

From: Eat Delicious from Dennis the Prescott

Ingredients
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 10 green onions, trimmed and cut into thirds
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound bok choy, ends trimmed and leaves separated
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds toasted

Assembly
1. Using a wok over medium-high heat and sesame oil and when oil is hot add the green onions and garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds ensuring to keep them moving the full 30 seconds.
2. Add the bok choy and soy sauce and stir fry for 2 minutes and then transfer to a serving dish.
3. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over top and serve.

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
I halved this recipe because I didn’t need 6 servings of bok choy. It tasted so good; I’ve always loved Bok Choy and in the area I live this is always at least two varieties in the grocery store. For this recipe I choose Shanghai Bok Choy as they are bigger in size.

Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon

Jan 25, 2017

Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon – Candy Coated Culinista

I was given a bottle of red wine from a co-worker who had recently gotten marriage. The couple had given all the guests a bottle of red wine they bottled and corked at a winery in the Niagara region. Now since I don’t drink and don’t like wine I said I’d taste a small bit and would cook with the rest. I thought to do coq au vin again; but then thought I should try something else. This is when beef bourguigon came into my head. I also remember that scene from Julie & Julia where Julie says “don’t crowd the beef” and I said to myself this is a good recipe and I have never actually made a Julia Child’s recipe before. I started my prep and had everything ready to go and all that was left was to open the wine (queue the ominous music). Since it’s 2016 I made the assumption that this bottle of wine was going to be one of those twist top varieties and I was so wrong; and believe it or not I don’t even own a cork screw. So here’s where my 30 minute struggle to open a bottle of wine begins. I tried to use a knife and cut away at the cork on a slant, no luck. Then I went to my tool box; because I have a full tool box at the ready; but I don’t own a corkscrew. (I’ve never really been a conventional girl here; and have always been the work on my own car and build my own curio stand and solder this or that) hence I grabbed a screw and twisted it into the cork and then grabbed the hammer to pop it out. Still no luck and at this point I thought I was done, until I did the one thing I really didn’t want to do which was to push the cork in. I did this and strained away any cork pieces that may have broken and then pulled out the cork after the fact and retrieved my screw. Lesson learned here and I will be going to the dollar store to get myself a corkscrew as that was not a fun experience for me at all.

Yield/Serving: 8 – 10 servings
Prep Time: 1 hr.
Cook Time: 3 plus hours
Difficulty level is: Medium, very time-consuming and persnickety

From: Slightly altered from Julia Child

Ingredients
Bouquet Garni
• 1 stalk of celery, cut into three pieces
• A bunch of parsley, stems only
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 5 garlic cloves, whole and peeled
Boeuf Bourguignon
• • 4 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled
• 3 pound of stewing beef
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
• 1 bottle of dry red wine
• 1 stick unsalted butter, total use accordingly
• 3 cloves of garlic, whole
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 carrots, cut into ¼ inch slices
• 3 celery, chopped
• 1 pound button mushrooms, quartered if large
• 1 tbsp herbs du provence
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• Parsley, handful rough chop

Assembly
1. Using a frying pan, fry bacon, drain, crumble and set aside.
2. Pat dry all beef pieces and season with salt and pepper.
3. Divide flour and beef into four portions. Place batch one into a ziplock bag and coat beef.
4. Place two tablespoons of oil into a heavy bottomed pot and brown beef on all side. Don’t crowd the meat. Once the meats is browned transfer to a bowl and continue with the next batch of beef until all is browned.
5. Pour off any excess oil from the pot if necessary and then pour wine into pot to deglaze for about 1 minute. Ensure to stir and scrape up brown bits and then pour over the beef.
6. Make the bouquet garni and set aside for the moment.
7. In the pot put butter and oil over medium-high heat and put in the garlic, onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms along with the crumbled bacon and sauté until browned.
8. Add in the herbs du provence, tomato paste and parsley and continue to stir.
9. Pour in the wine and the beef along with the bouquet garni and gently simmer partially covered until the meat is tender; about 3 ½ to 4 hours and occasionally stir.
10. When beef bourguignon is ready remove bouquet garni and serve.

Tips
• Have kitchen string/twine on hand for bouquet garni
• Serve with baby potatoes or a baguette.

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
I didn’t add the pearl onions to this recipe as I didn’t really want all of those onions in the dish. I found this recipe to be so persnickety and yes I get the whole “don’t crowd the meat”; but this recipe had a lot going on and was so finicky and Mise en Place. Maybe it’s because I have always found myself to be a more instinctual cook who doesn’t like to follow a recipe in its entirety and yes I even slightly altered a Julia Child’s recipe as sacrilege as that probably is to most; but that’s just who I am. It was still an amazing recipe with its richness the smell the wine aroma and those perfectly chopped vegetables. I can see what all that fuss was about; but in the end this recipe is still way to fussy for me and this isn’t the way I like to cook. I didn’t even have kitchen twine for the bouquet garni and I had to use a cheesecloth that I use for my almond milk. It was really quite an experience to MacGyer my way through some aspects of this recipe. I have always loved MacGyer so in some ways I got to try my hand at working with what I have on hand; but next time I will try this is a slow cooker recipe.

20 min. Lazy Leftover Shepherd’s Pie

Mar 2, 2016

20 min. Lazy Leftover Shepherd’s Pie – Candy Coated Culinista

Having a time crunch for dinner? Have left over ground beef from last night’s pasta dinner? Make this twenty minute individually sized shepherd’s pie.

Yield/Serving: 2
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cook Time: 10 min.
Bake Time: 5 min.
Difficulty level is: Medium

Ingredients
• Ground beef
• Kosher salt
• Ground black pepper
• Season Salt
• Paprika
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Dried basil
• Worcestershire sauce
• ½ small onion, diced
• 6 mushrooms, chopped
• 2 medium-sized potatoes, chopped but not peeled
• Table salt
• Canola oil
• Peas, frozen or canned
• Carrots, frozen or canned
• Cream corn, canned
• Pasta sauce
• Margarine
• Milk

Assembly
1. Pre-heat oven to 450°F.
2. Use leftover ground beef and warm up or: Over medium-high heat in a frying pan fry ground beef and add salt, pepper, season salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil and Worcestershire sauce to your taste
3. Add onions and mushrooms to ground beef and continue to cook.
4. Wash, cut & boil the potatoes in a pot of water over high heat with a little table salt and canola oil.
5. Prepare the remaining vegetables (used canned as there are already the perfect size then you can just add when putting pie together or steam the bagged frozen vegetables)
6. Add pasta sauce to your ground beef and stir.
7. Once potatoes are done, strain, add butter & milk and mash.
Pie Assembly
1. Butter a large oven-safe cappuccino mug; (or any bigger oven-safe mug you have)
2. Add the meat sauce followed by the vegetables
3. Top with the potatoes.
4. Use a fork and push (on an angle) down the corners and all along the edges of the pie in the mug and make some fork scratches all along the top pie so it doesn’t look so boring.
5. Cook for 5 minutes at 450° or until top is golden brown.
6. Torch the top with a kitchen torch if desired and serve.

Tips
• As this is a 20 minute recipe using canned vegetable or frozen veggies is optimal to save on time.

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
This recipe is always a hit no matter who I’m making this for. It has all the food groups and is so wholesome and comforting, especially in the colder months. I always burn my tongue as I just can’t wait to dig in and you’d think I’d learn after all these years; but I haven’t and it’s so worth

20 min. Lazy Leftover Shepherd’s Pie – Candy Coated Culinista

Skillet Roast Chicken with Vegetables

Jun 24, 2015

Skillet Roast Chicken & Vegetables – Candy Coated Culinista

I am finally starting to love my skillet, don’t get me wrong I still find cooking certain proteins on it a little challenging; but every day it get better and today I am trying to bake a whole bird using the skillet.

Yield/Serving: 4
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cook Time: 1 hour
Difficulty level is: Easy

Ingredients
• 1 small whole chicken
• Season salt
• Paprika
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• 3 tbsp, extra virgin olive oil
• 4 medium potatoes, cut into wedges
• 4 stalks celery, rough chop
• 4 carrots, rough chop
• 1 small onion, sliced
• Handful, green beans
• 2 fresh sprigs, rosemary
• 8 chives
• 6 cloves garlic, rough chop

Assembly
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Season whole chicken rubbing seasoning onto chicken.
3. Pour olive oil into skillet and place potatoes on the bottom of the pan.
4. Place celery, carrots, onion, and green beans around the side, leaving space for the whole chicken in the middle.
5. Stuff the rosemary, chives and garlic into the cavity of the chicken.
6. Place chicken into the middle of the skillet and bake for 15 minutes.
7. Then reduce temperature to 375°F and bake for about 45 minutes.
8. The internal temperature should be between 150°F – 165°F, or cut into the thigh meat at the joint and if the juices run clear it is ready.
9. Let rest for 10 minutes and serve with vegetables.

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
This is my best roast chicken to date. It was so fragrant, juicy and succulent and I could smell the rosemary, chives and garlic throughout the chicken. Cooking the whole recipe in one pan made me so happy as I really dislike using multiple pot and pans, but most times it is needed. The only thing I would change is putting the potatoes in first let cook and then the whole chicken followed by the carrots, celery and green beans.

Skillet Roast Chicken & Vegetables – Candy Coated Culinista

French Onion Soup

Oct 10, 2014

French Onion Soup – Candy Coated Cullinista

A rich vegetable broth, served with artisan whole wheat bread sounds delish right? I have been practicing my knife skills and I thought making French onion soup would be a good idea after having a cutting board full of onions and my eyes full of some almost forming tears.

Yield/Serving: 1
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cook Time: 2hrs & 45min.
Difficulty level is: Easy

Ingredients
• ¼ cup vegetable margarine
• 1 onion, sliced lengthwise
• 1 sweet onion, sliced lengthwise
• 1 red onion, sliced lengthwise
• ½ tsp sea salt, to taste
• 900ml vegetable stock
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• Artisanal bread, cut into thick slices

Assembly
1. Slice all the onions the lengthwise and then slice a few into half.
2. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat and melt the margarine until it’s foamy.
3. Add in all the onions and coat with the margarine.
4. Add in the sea salt and mix.
5. Lower the temperature to medium-low and let onion mixture brown for 45 minutes, stirring frequently until they have turned a dark brown.
6. Pour in the vegetable stock and let boil for 5 minutes.
7. Finally turn down the heat to low and let simmer for 2 hours. (Cook longer if desired)
8. Season with black pepper and serve immediately with a few slices of artisan bread.

Please Enjoy

My thoughts
My knife skills are improving; granted I am slower when I use the proper cutting form but I will speed up over time. Until the onions broke down the whole place smelt like onions and made my eyes burn. I’m not sure if I would make this again just based on this even if the soup tasted great. It was a lot of watching and waiting for some soup. I may try a version in the slow cooker and see if that is a possible way to make French onion soup. I have never had French onion soup before, but I was told by Mr. C. that it tasted like it should (he isn’t a fan of French Onion soup though). I always wondered why this soup could cost anywhere from $7 to $10 in the restaurants, but I never realized how much onions and time was put into this dish. Typically beef broth is used and topped with cheese, but I wanted to make a totally vegan option and I used vegetable margarine vs. butter.