Mamma Mia, Meatza-ria, Meatza Perfection!

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When I was a child there was this irritating radio jingle for the local grocery store’s bake-it-yourself pizza. I still sing it in my head when I am thinking of pizza. I love pizza more than I love a lot of things. I love it around the same amount that I love Well Fed. The best cookbook on the planet. You see, I bought the PDF last year, but it was so damned nice that I needed to buy the hard copy when I finally had a chance to get it in the USA. Of course, right after I ordered it Amazon marked it down. Bleh. STILL worth it. A phenomenal cookbook.

Speaking of which, this recipe is from Well Fed. Meatza is a versatile recipe that can hit the spot when all I really want is some damned pizza. The Mexican version pictured if you click the link is next on my hit list. One of my favourite things about Well Fed is its flexibility and inspiration in “You know how you could do that?” – suggestions to doctor the recipe to your tastes. Because a recipe is just that: a guideline. Follow your tastes and preferences to make the perfect meal.

And that’s what I did tonight. I used the recipe as inspiration and made my own Meatza. I only wondered why it has taken me so long to try this. Awesome idea.

I made the “crust” by mixing italian sausage seasoning with ground beef and spreading it on a stoneware pan. I popped this in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

It came out looking like a meat pancake. Not too appetizing…. 

I spread some tomato sauce (homemade from the freezer) on…

Gathered up some toppings. I chose red pepper, olives, onion and basil

Layered them on with some cheese. Yes, cheese. Blasphemy. I love cheese. Cheese hates me, but I love cheese. We’re in this torrid relationship that I just can’t escape. Delicious.

Back into the oven for another 15 minutes and out comes a delicious MEAT PIZZA!

 

Magnifique! This actually had enough structure to it that I could pick up a slice and eat it with my hands. I was quite impressed and happy with it. Why, oh why did I take so long to make it? Definite make again. Maybe even this week…

 

 

Chicken Tikka Masala

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I love Indian food. Once in a while I will get together with some girlfriends and order a huge load of it. The restaurant always thinks the amount of food we order is crazy, but somehow we end up finishing it all. Burp. Eating Indian while following Whole30 is pretty tricky. Lots of legumes, dairy and wheat to navigate. Channa Masala (curried chickpeas) is one of my faves, but definitely something to avoid during a strict clean eating program like Whole30.

During the latest of these decadent nights out (where I magically avoided the butter chicken, naan, bhatura, channa masala and MORE), I chose some Chicken Tikka Masala and Baingan Bharta (Eggplant). Deelish. The only problem was that it left me wanting more. I set out to make a paleo-friendly Chicken Tikka Masala to fill that spot in me that was still craving some butter chicken.

Chicken Tikka Masala – serves 8-ish

  • 2 lb of cut up boneless skinless chicken pieces – breasts or legs, doesn’t matter.
  • 1T cumin
  • 1t cinnamon
  • 1t pepper
  • 1/2t cayenne
  • few grinds of salt
  • 3T ghee
  • 2T lemon juice

Combine all ingredients, marinate for an hour

The flavours in a curry dish can be very complex depending on the quantity and quality of spices that you use. Methods of preparation can also vary, and I’m still tweaking my perfect approach. For this one, I aimed for speed over perfect flavour.

Sauce 

  • 1 jar passata or crushed tomatoes
  • 1 onion
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 3T fresh ginger
  • 1t garam masala
  • 1/2t coriander seeds
  • 1.2t cumin seeds
  • 1/2t tumeric
  • 2t cumin
  • 2T curry paste (I use Pataks)

Have you ever used passata? It is just a tomato puree with nothing added to it. I like that it comes in glass jars. It makes a great base for recipes.

Get the onions, garlic and ginger ready with your spices

Add the sauce ingredients to a pot. I had intended on making this in a slow cooker until I realized that I didn’t have enough time. You can also soften your onion, ginger, garlic and spices in a skillet before you add the tomato.

Simmer it for 30 minutes or so until it begins to reduce

Here are some photos of my attempt at making Baingan Bharta. It wasn’t very good, so I’m not going to share my version of the recipe.

Serve with Cauliflower rice.

Enjoy the delicious Indian flavours. Serve with fresh chopped cilantro sprinkled on top. And some chutney, if you are so inclined.

Weekend Adventures: Operation Vitamix!

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I’ve been planning to buy a Vitamix for a while. I’ve balked at the cost, but now that I’ve swallowed that pill I am so glad that I did. It’s only been a member of our household for just over a day and I’m already in love. Why don’t I get a year off paid to spend with my blender like I did with my baby? Hmm.

I had planned on buying it in the US, but a Vitamix road show was at my local Costco. I had no idea until I was walking through a parking lot and stopped to admire it in the window of someone’s car. The owner was right nearby and we laughed at me admiring her Vitamix and she directed me to Costco. I sped off to make it before it closed.

Isn’t she a beauty? I also bought the dry mix container.

Here she is! Sorry for the poor quality iPhone photo.

I haven’t stopped playing with it! The first thing I made was apple, carrot ginger juice. I was too excited to take a photo. So far, I’ve made nut butter…

Roasted tomato and pepper sauce…

Kale, hazelnut, basil and garlic pesto…

Pureed lemon for cooking. I peeled and threw the lemons in whole, then strained. Yum!

Kabocha squash soup…

So velvety smooth! And yes, it’s true. The Vitamix can really heat up the soup from the blade friction. It’s kinda cool!

Roasted purple cauliflower and parsnips also became…

MORE SOUP! Doesn’t this soup look strange? It’s purple! ha! And kinda thick. It will be thinned out before I eat it. This “recipe” also caused the Vitamix to activate the safety stop before I overheated the motor. I had to process it in two batches to do it.

And of course, some ice cream! (frozen strawberries, pineapple and coconut milk. That’s it!)

Oh Vitamix, where have you been all my life?! Sure you cost almost as much as tuition for a Master’s course, but you are so delightful, wonderful, utilitarian and do wonders for my mood. Hey, you’re cheaper than a few hours of therapy! ha!

Weekend adventures: Seed to Sausage

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Last weekend, this Foodie Family packed up our vehicle and took a little road trip to visit Mr. Foodie’s parents at a campground. I’ll be honest, my real motivation for going was not the camping itself but its close proximity to an amazing little shop that I’ve heard great things about and was looking forward to checking out myself. Seed to Sausage, in Sharbot Lake, Ontario.

I love their logo. Just love it!

I forgot my camera on this trip (argh! but it was the least of our worries because we also forgot the potty and the kiddo’s hat… and more. Just wait for it!) but if you’d like a taste (ha!) of what Seed to Sausage is all about, check out this youtube video. Do check out their website for photos of the store itself. It’s so cutel!

What a hidden gem. A few local shops in the city sell a limited selection of their products, but it was a super experience going out to the store, tasting the products, talking to the owner and hearing about the store itself, how the products were made, and meeting the people who have helped get local food onto your plate. Their slogan “local. ethical. humble.” really speaks to the type of food that I want to put on plates on my family dinner table. They also had some not-so-common grocery items at the shop that I added to my pile on the counter. (fermented probiotic pickles! YES!!!!!!!)  The little shop in the middle of nowhere was empty when we arrived but had a steady stream of traffic in and out shortly after.

Now, most importantly, the taste. Wow. Amazing. THIS is what meat should taste like! I sampled the chorizo, saucisson sec (dried sausage, literally! for the non French speaking readers), and the lomo (I think!). The flavours in the chorizo were especially out of this world. Just a thin slice on the tongue is all it takes to experience the robust taste of the smoked paprika. Phenomenal. I bought several of them and asked how long they would keep for, snickering a bit as I figured it didn’t matter because it would likely all be eaten before that became a concern.

Check out their website to find out more about their products! Not mentioned on their website, but fantastically delicious is their selection of fresh sausage. I think I bought about 30 of them!  There were flavours such as apple and sage, pepper and caramelized onion, maple walnut, just to name a few. These blow any other sausages out of the water. And I consider myself quite fortunate to have a grocery store nearby that makes some pretty decent sausage without fillers.  They were as delicious cooked fresh on the camping BBQ as they were frozen, thawed and popped on the grill at home. I used a thermometer to temp the insides to 160 degrees when I cooked them. It’s quite easy to overcook sausage if you aren’t careful.

As I went outside to grab my cooler to load up my pile, I had the quite unfortunate discovery that our car wouldn’t start. Say WHAT? It just wouldn’t start. And we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with a two year old who thought it would also be a good time to pee his pants.  It turned out to be a weird battery issue (it’s a 2009 Honda CRV, so not exactly a clunker!!). Thankfully the lovely family at the shop were incredibly kind and had booster cables on hand. And hey, if we were stranded for too long at least there was lots of yummy sausage to eat so we surely wouldn’t starve.

On a more exciting note, did I mention they have the most delicious BACON!? Flavors like garlic juniper and molasses/cracked pepper make for some mighty fine bacon. Even though I overcooked it (thanks for interrupting, two year old temper tantrum…), it was still so tasty!

Just beautiful…

And yes, there is more of this hiding in my freezer waiting to be devoured!

I will definitely be a return customer to Seed to Sausage. You can also check them out on Facebook. The keen eyed readers will note that my new header image is of delicious cured sausage from this shop as well.

I’m not dead! August Update

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It’s been almost three weeks since my last post! I’m not dead, I promise. So just a small update!

I’ve been swamped with personal stuff, work stuff, and finishing up my semester for my Master’s degree. The good news is that I am 60% done my course work and well on track to be finished this time next year!

Mr. Foodie and I have also been preoccupied with our new hobby: road cycling. We made the investment in two beautiful Trek road bikes and it is SO much fun! Here’s my beauty! 

I’m planning a cross border shopping trip to load up on essentials buy stuff I really want but probably don’t need. i.e. a Vitamix blender. A haul of spices from Penzeys. And a load of cheese from Cabot.  Some things are just so much cheaper to buy in the USA than here in Canada!  We’ll also be heading to Vermont for another foodcation.

The keen eyed among you will notice that I’ve had a “I’m doing the Whole 30!” badge up for quite a while. I completed 29/30 days of the Whole 30 in June. I felt great. Then I went on vacation to the East coast. Then I ate my feelings while dealing with a lot of stress. Shameful.

For the month of August, I am doing the Whole 30 once again! This time, Mr. Foodie is also doing it with me (sorta… he’s already cheated!)

Another goal of mine is to redecorate this blog into something more visually appealing… I love the bacon, but it’s kind of boring around here! I’m going to look into more themes, so if anyone wants to volunteer to design me a custom Word Press template, let me know. Ha. I’ll probably end up just buying one!

I promise to post more this month, now that I’ve found some more time!