Recipes – Stephfood CLONE

Lentil Salad w Fennel, Arugula, Orange

Salad season is here, and I’m back on the hunt for salads with substance. This lentil salad is full of good stuff.

One thing you may notice when looking at the recipe… my photos are missing the feta. Man, oh, man! Don’t forget the feta! Sure, the salad was great without it, but the feta adds a great tang and saltiness that makes it so much better. Initially, I was going to leave the feta “optional”. No longer.

You are not allowed to skip the feta.

Lentil Salad w Fennel – sadly, missing the feta

I love lentils, but they feel like such a winter food. Stews, soups, rich sauces – they’re mostly associated with winter comfort food. I wanted to show how easy it is to incorporate them into summer cooking. They are so incredibly good for you, and are really quick to cook up from dry.

Lentil Salad with Fennel, Arugula and Orange

Ingredients

2 cups dried lentils (green or brown)
4 cups arugula
⅔ cup olive oil
1 large orange
1 small garlic clove, peeled
salt and pepper, to taste
1 small fennel bulb, quartered
feta, crumbled, to serve

Preparation

Add dried lentils to a large pot of water. Bring to the boil, turn off the heat and leave for 30 minutes. The lentils should be tender, but still intact.
Once cooked and drained well, put into a large bowl.
While the lentils are cooking, grill the fennel quarters just until they have some grill marks on them. Remove from the grill and set aside.
Zest the orange until you have 1 teaspoon. Set zest aside.
Half the orange, and juice one half. You should have about ¼ cup of orange juice. Add juice to reserved zest and set aside.
Carefully cut the orange segments out of the last half of the orange. Carefully peel off and discard the membrane covering the segments and pull the orange apart into smaller pieces. Add to the fennel and set aside.
Put half the arugula, olive oil, garlic, and the orange zest and juice into a food processor. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and gently toss with the lentils.
Fold in the rest of the arugula, grilled fennel and orange segments.
Crumble a bit of feta on top and serve.

Warm Chickpea Salad

Salad season is almost upon us… almost. This chickpea dish can be served warm or cold, depending on how co-operative the weather is being

This time around, we ate it warm.

I just got a new zester, so I’m a little obsessed with putting lemon zest in stuff. I love the blend of lemon zest, olive oil and chili flakes. Oh so good!

I’m also a sucker for nicely sautéed leeks – white AND green parts, thankyouverymuch! Sometimes I just cook up a bunch of them, and add them to every dish. It makes a really good condiment.

To prepare leeks:

cut off the root end, and the dried tops
half each leek across where the white meets the green
half the white part lengthwise, and do the same for the greens (by breaking them where they fold)
WASH LEEKS VERY VERY WELL – dirt gets into the layers of the leek, so put them under running water and wash in between the layers as best you can
drain well

They take a bit of prep, but are really worth it! I usually prep the whole bunch at once, and keep them in a ziplock bag in the fridge.

Warm Chickpea Salad with Tomatoes and Parsley

Ingredients

1 cup coarsely chopped parsley
zest and juice from 1 small or 1/2 large lemon (approximately 2 Tablespoons juice, 1 Tablespoon zest)
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (to taste)
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cups cooked chickpeas (roughly 1 can)
1 leek, sliced into 1/4″ half rings
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Make the dressing by combining the parsley, lemon juice, half of the lemon zest, about 1/4 teaspoon of the minced garlic, chili flakes and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix, and set aside.
In a sauté pan, add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté the leeks until softened.
Add the rest of the minced garlic, lemon zest and chili flakes and cook for another minute.
Add the chickpeas and cook through, stirring regularly to coat with the other ingredients. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Toss in the cherry tomatoes, remove from heat, and immediately toss with the dressing.

This dish is great served warm or cool!

3-Grain Soup

A couple of years ago, I only had two soup recipes – and I only used them once or twice a season.

This year, I think I’ve tried twenty new soup recipes, and have remade a few of them.

I’m not really into sipping cosommé (do people do that??). I like a soup that eats like a meal, but doesn’t come in a ready-made gelatinous blob. I’m not sure where the dividing line between soup and stew is, but I think I’m clumsily walking along it.

This soup was a great find, because it allowed me to use a few ingredients I don’t normally buy (like wheat berries and le puy lentils). Do you really need to buy le puy lentils? I don’t think so. I’ve made the soup twice now: once with le puy lentils; and once with brown lentils. Both were great. This is my first time cooking le puy lentils, so I haven’t quite formed an opinion of them.

If you’re not sure whether you’ll ever use wheat berries or lentils again, go to your local bulk store and buy just the amount you need. I do that to save money, and cupboard space.

The amount of garlic in it may sound shocking, but don’t skimp! The garlic mellows out while it cooks, and lightly flavours the soup. I prefer to mash the whole cloves in my bowl just before I eat – it’s less startling than a mouthful of garlic, and nicely seasons the rest of the soup.

3-Grain Soup

One tip – don’t undercook the soup. You might think that the rice should be intact, but I would disagree. I tested the soup with the rice intact, and the broth seemed a little thin. A little more cooking, and the rice starts to break down and thicken the soup. You don’t need the rice to stay perfect in order to have a nice texture – the lentils and the wheat berries do just fine in that regard.

Where to buy in Toronto?

Le puy lentils – I thought I should be able to find these at Bulk Barn, or Loblaws, but no luck. I got them from Rube’s at St. Lawrence Market. You should be able to find them at ‘finer’ bulk stores.
Wheat Berries – These are pretty easy to find. I got mine at Bulk Barn, but I think you can find them at Rube’s. You might be able to get them from grocery stores.

3-Grain Soup

Source: Adapted from this recipe.

6-8 servings

Ingredients:

2-3 medium leeks, white parts only, halved lengthwise and sliced (3-4 cups of sliced leek)
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Fine sea salt
14-ounces canned peeled whole tomatoes, crushed, with juices
6 cups cold water or light-flavoured stock
1 head of garlic, separated into whole peeled cloves
1/3 cup brown rice
1/3 cup le Puy lentils
1/3 cup wheat berries
Freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Heat oil in a preheated, heavy soup pot.
Add the leeks, carrots, olive oil, bay leaves, thyme and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover and cook over low heat until softened.
Add the tomatoes with their juices, the water/stock and garlic and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Turn the heat down to low, add the rice, lentils and wheat berries, cover and simmer until the grains are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Discard the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper and serve.

Vietnamese Vegetable Curry (Cà Ri Chay)

This Vietnamese curry brings me back many years. The mix of savoury spices and rich root vegetables was a surprise when I first tried it. It reminds me of my first years in Toronto, trying new cuisines and opening my eyes.

I think the first Vietnamese dish I ever tried was a vegetarian curry. A group of co-workers filed into the (now gone) Peach Garden restaurant around the corner, and I had NO IDEA what to get. Being veg at the time, I was happy to be able to narrow down my options.

Vegetable curry, with fake “meat”, sounded like a good idea to me.

It was incredible. I wasn’t able to put my finger on what made it so special. There were the root veggies – I knew they weren’t all potato, but I had never tasted these flavours before. I figure they were an assortment of white-fleshed yams and purple-veined taro.

It was the sauce. Like, and yet incredibly unlike the Indian and Thai curries that I was becoming familiar with. Maybe more like a marriage of the two?

When looking at the list of spices in the curry powder, it’s not hard to imagine why: a healthy dose of turmeric (hello, yellow!) mixed with star anise, cloves, coriander, nutmeg and cinnamon. As I prepared my curry powder, I was a little worried that it would be too cinnamon. My freshly ground cinnamon was incredibly pungent, and seemed to overpower the mix at first. I shouldn’t have worried; it worked perfectly.

If you have a favourite Vietnamese curry powder, feel free to use it here. I have linked to the recipe that I use, and can vouch for it.

Eating the curry brought me back to my early days in Toronto. This is where I first fell in love with curries – Thai, Indian, Vietnamese (and, eventually, others!).

This is also where I decided I had to learn to make them myself…

Vietnamese Tofu Curry (Cà Ri Chay)

This dish can easily be made vegetarian/vegan by omitting the fish sauce (and using a vegetable broth) and gluten-free by omitting the seitan. These changes won’t drastically change the dish.

4-6 servings

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons vegetable oil or coconut oil
1 block extra firm tofu, chopped into 1″ pieces
3 shallots, chopped
1-2 cups chopped mushrooms (optional)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 Tablespoons Vietnamese curry powder
roasted chili flakes, to taste (optional)
salt, to taste
2 chinese eggplants, cubed
1-2 cups gluten (seitan) pieces (optional)
2 cups root vegetables, peeled and cubed (sweet potato, potato, taro)
1 lemongrass, cut into 3″ lengths and bruised (a mallet or a pestle work well)
2″ piece of ginger, sliced thickly
3 kaffir lime leaves or bay leaves
1-2 teaspoons fish sauce
1.5 cups of light broth (like vegetable or chicken – can even use water)
400 mL of coconut milk
1 cup green beans or long beans, cut to 2-3″ lengths
scallions, fresh cilantro and/or Thai basil to serve

Preparation:

Heat oil in a stir fry pan, over medium-high heat. Fry tofu until browned on all sides, and a bit crispy. Remove and set aside.
Add a bit more oil to the pan. Sauté shallots and mushrooms over medium-high heat, until liquids are released. Add chopped garlic, and sauté for about a minute.
Add the curry powder, chili flakes and a pinch of salt. Stir regularly, and sauté for one to two minutes.
Add eggplant, gluten (seitan) and potatoes and mix well.
Add lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce and broth. Mix well and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, and simmer uncovered until root vegetable pieces are tender. The sauce should be fairly thick, similar in consistency to a milkshake. If the sauce is a bit too thick for your taste, add a little bit of water.
Add beans in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Try to remove the lemongrass pieces and ginger.
Add tofu and some of the Thai basil just before serving.
Serve over rice, topped with some scallions, cilantro and/or Thai basil.

Shakshuka

Shakshuka is a North African dish that is mostly eggs cooked in tomato sauce – with other things added to it to make it interesting – eaten with bread. In this case, we added colourful bell peppers, onions, and herbs. Incredibly simple – but so very good.

This recipe is a sort of “cookbook author audition” for me. There’s this cookbook I want, and the recipes look good and the photos are enticing, and the reviews have been great – but I’m still wary. Haven’t we all tried a recipe that was nearly unfollowable (if that’s a word)? I don’t have enough shelf space for books like that, so I’m holding auditions.

I’ve been lucky enough to find some recipes posted online by said cookbook author, Yotam Ottolenghi, and I’m trying a few out to see if we’ll get along. Oh yes, I think we’ll get along just fine.

This particular recipe isn’t from Jerusalem – the book I plan to buy. It was offered online by The Guardian (and possibly in his other book, Plenty, but I’m not sure if it’s the exact same recipe). I chose it because I’ve made Shakshuka before, and wanted to compare. To make things interesting, there’s also a video of him actually making the dish – yay!

A close look at the runny egg yolk

This one was fantastic. It made me want to go out and buy personal-sized cast iron pans so I can make this every day and not make a mess. Although, to be fair, there is no mess to be had now. We ate every bite, and sopped up every bit of sauce with delicious bread.

Of course this was incredibly satisfying on a cold winter night, but I can’t wait for the fresh and perfectly ripe tomatoes of summer. Heaven!

Get the recipe here:
Yotam Ottolenghi’s shakshuka recipe

A “Truly Mexican” Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa

I hadn’t had the urge to buy a cookbook since 2010…

When I saw Roberto Santibañez’s “Truly Mexican” cookbook at the Frida and Diego exhibit at the AGO, it looked like something I would enjoy and learn from. This book focuses on some of the basics of Mexican cooking, with most of the book dedicated to perfecting variations on sauces.

The first dishes I tried can both be described as “meats cooked in adobos”, using different recipes each time. I had never made an adobo before, and I think it opened my eyes to the possibilities of using chiles. The complex flavours can’t simply be measured in Scoville units.

My favourite thing to make with these “meats cooked in adobos”? Tacos. The meat was great on its own, with some sides, but it really had a chance to shine in the tacos. It also gave me an excuse to try another recipe from the book, one for whom a recipe can be found online if you are inclined to try. I highly recommend that you do.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa with Chipotle and Roasted Garlic. The name alone sold me on it, and a quick glance at the recipe allayed any fear that the recipe would be challenging. I’m not even sure where to start with this, because it made THAT MUCH of an impact. It was the star of the tacos, without taking over. It was the zip atop my chili, on a cold evening. It was incredible over whitefish.

Yeah, I ate some right out of the bowl. I DON’T JUDGE YOU!

This salsa gets an incredible tang from the tomatillos, smokiness with a bit of heat from the dried and roasted chipotles, and an earthiness from the garlic that brings it all together. Amazeballs.

I do have to admit, however, that I did not include all of the suggested chipotles, out of fear that the salsa would be too spicy for my J’s delicate palate. Hahaha. Next time, I’ll go all out, and he’ll like it.

Maybe I’ll make some now. Writing this up is making me crave it!

In case you missed it, a version of the recipe can be found here: Roasted Tomatillo Salsa with Chipotle and Roasted Garlic

Slow-Cooker Chili (a.k.a. “Tough Beans”)

In my last post, I mentioned my frustration at the length of time it took to cook legumes from dried (soaked) in my slow-cooker. I’ve done some testing, and found a method that seems to work well.

I did a bit of Googling to see if other people had the same problem…

I should have known it was an “issue” when I saw so few recipes that started with dried beans. I found a range of possible causes, such as old beans, too much salt, and too much acid.

That last one rang a bell for me – too much acid. Of the beany dishes I had made so far, the ones that resulted in tough beans contained TOMATOES. The ones that cooked perfectly did not.

I formulated a test to confirm my theory… a reworking of the chili dish that didn’t cook as expected, full of tomatoes and spices and beans. The difference would not be in the ingredients, but in the process. I started by cooking the legumes in *some* of the ingredients and some broth… and added the tomatoes in later.

It worked!

Unfortunately, this is (again) not a dish that can be done start-to-finish on a weeknight, as it would take at least 9 hours if you cook it as intended – and you have to be there to add the ingredients after 3. Being the mindful person that I am, I have included some alternative instructions for those of you starting with a cooked legume. You can always start it the night before, just to cook the beans, put it in the fridge overnight and resume cooking the next day.

A quick note… Be careful about cooking legumes from dried/soaked, using too low of a temperature may not kill the toxin described in this article on the FDA website. Using the slow-cooker on low may not be enough.

Slow-Cooker Chili

6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 -2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups dried legumes, soaked overnight (or 4 cups cooked)
2 bay leaves
2-4 cups broth (can use water) – just enough to cover
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup corn kernels
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1/2 tablespoon ground ancho chile (or another mild chile pepper)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (can also use ground)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 – 1tablespoon canned chipotles in adobo, chopped or puréed – optional
28oz canned tomatoes, with juices
1 green bell pepper, chopped

Preparation:

Note: if you are using pre-cooked or canned beans, omit the broth and skip steps 2 and 3.

Add onion, celery, garlic, olive oil, soaked beans and bay leaves to the slow-cooker.
Add enough broth to fully cover the beans.
Cover, and cook on the slow-cooker on high for 3 hours.
When the beans have finished, add the carrots, corn, spices, canned chipotles and tomatoes to the slow-cooker.
Cover, and cook in the slow-cooker on high for 6 hours.
In the last hour, add bell pepper. If the chili hasn’t thickened enough, you can take the lid off to allow some of the liquid to evaporate.
Taste, and adjust the seasoning as needed.

I Am Slowly Going Crazy, 123456 Switch! (Slow-Cooker Bolognese)

If the first week is any indication, 2013 will be the year of the slow-cooker.

Yes, I just got a slow-cooker for Xmas. I have used it nearly every day since I’ve been home (and, when you take leftovers into consideration, have likely eaten slowly cooked food every single day).

It’s a totally different way of cooking, and not quite in the way I expected. I’m going to have to get used to my new little friend, and figure out the quirks.

I haven’t quite figured out how to cook dried beans in the slow-cooker. I’ve tried a few times, and only once have the beans come out perfectly tender. Some reading has led me to believe that it might be the inclusion of something acidic (in this case, tomatoes) that prevents the beans from softening properly. I’m going to test this theory, and see what happens.

I’ve come to appreciate flipping my day, getting all of the dinner prep and cleanup out of the way early, so we can just enjoy dinner at dinnertime. This is a luxury that comes with vacation (or weekend), so I’ll see whether I can translate it to the weekday.

Expect more slow-cooker recipes from me in 2013! I’ll be sure to let you know about my failures, and what I did to make it work in the end.

My first slow-cooker recipe is not really a work day dish, as it takes quite a bit of prep and makes a lot of dishes. I’ve never made a bolognese sauce before – in fact, I don’t remember ever buying ground beef before – and thought it would be a nice warming dish on a cold day. Enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Bolognese Sauce

Source: this recipe, adapted for the slow-cooker.

4-6 servings

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped celery stalks
1 cup finely chopped, peeled carrot
3 oz. thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped (full disclosure: I used regular strip bacon here)
1 – 2 lbs. lean ground beef
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup whole milk
5 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups beef or chicken stock, divided
250g tagliatelle or fettuccine
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (for serving)

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook until the onion is translucent and all the vegetables have softened.
Add the pancetta, and sauté for a few minutes to release some of the fat into the onion mixture.
Add the beef, breaking it apart with your spoon and cooking until it is just browned. Season with salt, and pepper.
Add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits that are stuck to the pan and mixing them in. Stir in the milk and simmer until the milk has reduced completely and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste, and allow to cook for a few more minutes.
Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker. Add the cup of canned tomatoes and 2 cups of the stock. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 8 hours.
In the last half hour of cooking, remove the lid to allow any excess liquid to evaporate and reduce the sauce to a thick gravy consistency.
Gently toss sauce with al dente cooked pasta, top with parmesan and serve. I also added peperoncini flakes – and it was great!

Grilled Eggplant and Haloumi Stacks

This summer was full of grilling, fresh veggies and fresh herbs. One of my favourite dishes made good use of a grillable style of cheese called Haloumi, which holds its shape during grilling and even ends up with adorable grill marks!

Grilling makes everything better. I’m pretty convinced that this is true, and so far I haven’t been challenged on it. Eggplant is one of the easiest things to grill up – it gets tender inside, and full of flavour. I was inspired by the caprese salad stacks I often make in the summer, and decided to come up with a grilled version that featured eggplant.

My introduction to Haloumi made the cheese selection simple. It was a revelation! The cheese melts just a little, and even gets the grill marks, but it doesn’t start to get oozy. You just put it straight on the grill and watch the magic happen. I tried a few different brands that were all delicious, but my favourite came from nearby Upper Canada Cheese Company. Their Guernsey Girl grillable cheese is delicious and salty, and just a little squeaky.

made with Grilled Guernsey Girl cheese from Upper Canada Cheese Company

While the cheese and the eggplant are amazing on their own, I felt they needed something to pull the dish together. I made a topping with diced tomatoes mixed with fresh chopped basil. It’s important to make this a couple of hours before you want to eat, to give the mixture some time to be totally infused with basil.

I made this dish at least a dozen times this summer, and as a result ate waay too much cheese for my own good. Yay!

Grilled Eggplant and Haloumi Stacks

It’s best to choose an eggplant that is longer, rather than wider, with a fairly consistent diameter. This ensures your stacks are roughly the same size.

Ingredients:

4-6 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 small bunch of basil, chopped
pinch of sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 eggplant, 2 pounds, sliced into 1-inch rounds
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
500g haloumi cheese, or another grillable cheese, sliced 1/2 inch thick

Preparation:

Mix the tomatoes with the basil, salt and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside. If your tomatoes are too watery (even after seeding), you may need to strain this mixture later on to remove the liquid.
*Lightly* brush both sides of the eggplant slices with olive oil while the grill is preheating.
Grill the eggplant rounds until tender, and grill the haloumi slices until softened and lightly browned on the outside. The haloumi will not melt entirely.
Stack the ingredients as follows: eggplant round, haloumi slice, a teaspoon of the tomato mixture.

Daring Brining and Roasting

I have the most shocking thing to confess – I roasted a whole chicken… and I liked it.

OK, so most people have roasted a whole chicken at some point in their lives. Not me. I had never cooked chicken that had skin on it, or bones. Being a vegetarian for many years will do that to you. I just don’t have the usual meat-making skills that other people have. I figure it’s time to change that. Even if I don’t regularly make roasts or brine chickens, it’s worth learning these techniques just to know that I can do it.

I think he’s a little cold…

The hardest part was finding a container big enough for the brining. Seriously, I couldn’t find anything that would allow me to fully submerge the chicken in liquid that also fit in my fridge. I made it work, and managed to brine the chicken, and let it air dry overnight.

The roasting was the most fun part, of course. I found a recipe with a simple rub and shoved a couple of lemons up its cavity. All in a day’s work, my friends.

Finished product – tasty and economical!

I think I did a pretty good job for my first chicken roasting. I came to realize just how economical it is to make a whole chicken. This very inexpensive bird made us a very filling meal that night (ughh… I think we ate more of the meat than we needed to) and the leftovers were plenty for a chili I made a couple of days later. I also made chicken stock with the carcass (sorry, Mess, but that’s what it’s called). So tasty and useful!

This was a great experience, and no doubt I will be doing it again soon!

Audax of Audax Artifax was our November 2012 Daring Cooks’ host. Audax has brought us into the world of brining and roasting, where we brined meat and vegetables and roasted them afterwards for a delicious meal!

Roast Chicken with Lemon, Garlic and Rosemary

Source: this recipe

1 cooked chicken

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
6 mini potatoes, halved
3 large carrots, chopped diagonally
1 large onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1 whole chicken
1 lemon, halved
1/4 cup (60 mL) all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) chicken stock
brining ingredients (recipe below)

Preparation:

Brine chicken for at least 6 hours, and air dry overnight.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Combine garlic with 2 tablespoons of the oil, mustard, rosemary and half each of the salt and pepper.
Toss vegetables (carrots, onion and potatoes) with oil, salt and pepper. Layer on the bottom of the roasting pan.
Remove giblets and neck from chicken. Pat chicken dry inside and out. Place lemons in cavity. Tie legs together with string; tuck wings under back. Place, breast side up, on rack in large roasting pan. If you don’t have a rack, make sure the chicken is on top of a layer of vegetables.
Brush mustard mixture all over chicken. Roast for 15 minutes.
Lower the heat to 375°F and roast for a further 12-15 minutes per 450 grams/pound. The internal temperature should be 165°F, or the juices should run clear when you pierce the bird between the leg and thigh.
Rest for approximately 30 minutes covered loosely in foil.

All-Purpose Brine

Ingredients:

4 cups (1 litre) of cold water
¼ cup (70 gm) table salt or ½ cup (70 gm) Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
optional 2 tablespoons (30 ml) (30 gm/1 oz) sugar
optional 3-4 peppercorns, a few springs of herbs, a garlic clove or two, a knob of ginger etc.

Preparation:

Bring 1 cup of water to the boil. Stir in the salt, sugar and other seasonings (if using) until salt and sugar completely dissolve.
Place in a non-reactive container (glass, plastic, stainless steel, zip-lock bags etc). Add the remaining water and stir. Allow the brine to cool until it comes down to room temperature.
Add your cut of meat make sure that the meat is completely submerged (that is totally covered in the salty water) if need be you can weigh down the cut of meat with a clean plate (etc). If using plastic bags make sure that the meat is totally covered in brine and make sure that is bag is locked securely.
Cover the container with plastic wrap to prevent odours contaminating the flavour brine or the brine leaking.
Place the container into the refrigerator for the soaking time suggested by the guidelines above.
If desired you can air-dry your poultry (usually over night) in the refrigerator if you wish to have crispy skin on your bird. It is best to pat dry your brined item (inside and out) with paper towels before cooking.
Cook the brined item as directed by the roasting guidelines above.

Lentil Salad with Fennel, Arugula and Orange

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Warm Chickpea Salad with Tomatoes and Parsley

Ingredients

Preparation

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3-Grain Soup

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Vietnamese Tofu Curry (Cà Ri Chay)

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Slow-Cooker Chili

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Slow-Cooker Bolognese Sauce

Grilled Eggplant and Haloumi Stacks

Roast Chicken with Lemon, Garlic and Rosemary

All-Purpose Brine