Kitchen Quick Tips - Ground Meats

Ensure the ultimate freshness (aka best flavour) in ground meats and poultry by grinding shortly before using them.  In most cases you will save money by grinding the meat yourself.  

Baked Salmon with 7 Cheese Mac 'n Cheese

I grew up in a small town with a population just under 2,000.  We had one restaurant, a soft ice cream shop that was open only in July and August, a tavern,  a bakery and two very small and I do mean small grocery stores.   Oh, and we had a canning factory so the whole town smelled deliciously like tomato soup in the fall.  To this day, my favourite fall drink in the morning is not coffee but rather tomato soup.  My high school Home Economics teacher was adamant that using good quality food and easy recipes  was all that was necessary to prepare tasty home cooked meals.  Well, she would have to because she lived in the same small town where the choice of ingredients to cook with was rather limited.  Mind you back then there was not the variety of ingredients readily available like sea salt, organic sugar, fresh seafood, exotic seasonings and those types of things.  There was a lot less commercially prepared convenience foods (eg. cake mixes, etc.).   Even back then she taught us the value of food dollars and how to get the most for our food dollars.  I still use many of the recipes learned in that class!  One of the very first dishes she taught us was how to make macaroni and cheese.

When I was growing up, the only fresh fish we had was smelt.  We had canned tuna, canned salmon and once they came to town, frozen fish sticks.  My Mom was not a huge fish fan.  I can remember my excitement the first time I saw fresh fish at the market!  Now I buy fresh fish at one of the grocery stores or nearby fisheries.  We also enjoy locally caught fresh fish like bass, perch and pickerel.  While I enjoy a wide variety of fish, salmon is one of my favourite.

I baked a salmon fillet for dinner a couple of nights ago.  The fillet was about 10 - inches long, enough for two people.  I served the salmon with homemade 7 Cheese Mac 'n Cheese (recipe below) and an Asian vegetable mix consisting of yellow and orange carrots, snap peas, shelled edamame, whole baby corn and garlic sprouts.  It was delicious, easy to prepare, and frugal meal!

Baked Salmon
recipe by:  Garden Gnome

1 salmon fillet
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp Herbes de Provence

Place the salmon fillet on Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Divide the butter into four portions then put the portions along the centre of the fillet.  Sprinkle the herbs evenly over the fillet.  Bake at 350ºF until salmon is cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Our Home Ec teacher taught us to make macaroni and cheese from scratch using a simple cheese sauce consisting of milk, flour and cheddar cheese.  It is still a classic method but I love experimenting with macaroni and cheese.  There are so many wonderful cheeses available so I've developed several versions of macaroni and cheese. The cheese sauce in this version is rich and creamy.  The liquid smoke is a secret ingredient I discovered in the macaroni and cheese served at Mike's Smokehouse BBQ & Grill in Tampa Bay, Florida.  It adds a wonder note to macaroni and cheese!  The trick when using liquid smoke is to add one drop at a time until you get the desired aroma and flavour.

7 Cheese Mac 'n Cheese
recipe by: Garden Gnome

¼ c Asiago cheese
¼ c Parmesan cheese
¼ c sharp cheddar cheese
¼ c mozzarella cheese
¼ c colby cheese
¼ c cream cheese
1 tbsp Cheez Whiz
¾ c milk
7 cups cooked elbow macaroni
4 - 6 drops liquid smoke

Grate the Asiago, Parmesan, cheddar, mozzarella and colby cheeses.  Stir the grated cheeses to mix.  Cook the elbow macaroni and drain.  Pour the hot pasta into a mixing bowl.  Stir in the cream cheese and Cheez Whiz.  Mix then stir in the grated cheeses.  Mix well then stir in 4 - 6 drops of liquid smoke.  Mix.  Pour the macaroni mixture into a 2 quart baking dish.  Pour the milk over the macaroni mixture.  Cover with foil and bake at 350ºF until cheese is bubbling.  Remove foil and bake until the top starts to brown slightly.  Remove from oven and serve.

Harvey's Revisited

During our recent move we ate out and had take-out a bit more because it was practical when living for fifteen days between two houses and during the settling in period.  Once we were back from our fall vacation the first week of October, we quickly got into the routine of cooking at home again.  We generally go for wings at Crabby Joes on Tuesday nights and to our favourite English fish & chip restaurant on Friday nights leaving five nights a week most weeks for home cooked meals.  The weather has been getting gradually nastier so we even skipped going out the last couple of Fridays in lieu of have a nice home cooked fish dinner.  My husband surprised me last week by bringing home Harvey's burger and fries.  He seldom does this because he knows I usually have dinner on but that particular night he had a couple of meetings so was running late for dinner.  It's a good thing I didn't have dinner on!

I wrote about the Canadian restaurant chain, Harvey's before.  By far, Harvey's is one of the very few fast food restaurants I will eat at.  Their charbroiled on a flame grill burgers are very much like the burgers we make at home on the outdoor grill.  The burgers are deliciously unpretentious with custom toppings of your choice.  What is really nice is you can order a topping like pickles on the side.  They are quite generous if ordered this way. 

Pictured is the old fashioned cheese burger with fries and dill pickle slices on the side that my husband brought home for me.  He had a double original bacon burger and we shared the fries.  It was a delightful taste of summer on a cold, dreary, rainy evening.

We grill year round but during the months of November and March, the weather tends to be the nastiest.  Quite often it is raining or drizzling or sleeting or whatever else Mother Nature wants to toss at us making it not the nicest grilling weather.  It doesn't help that its dark by 5 PM in November either.  It's nice to have an alternative like Harvey's where the burgers are very close to homemade to enjoy should the craving for a grilled burger arise during those months.  Now the biggest difference between our homemade grilled burgers and Harvey's is the actual burger patty.  Our homemade burger patties are handmade, never flattened or frozen into a pattie so if you want to make one Harvey's style you need to flatten the patty using a burger press then freeze and grill from frozen without thawing.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - 'Tis the Season

Today is November 25 aka Black Monday which really ushers in the holiday season.  All the stores put on the best possible sales hoping to get you to part with your hard earned money in lieu of wonderful gifts to bless your family and friends with.  The Home Hardware and Canadian Tire sales flyers came out last week and oh my gosh, it is time to do a bit of power shopping for kitchen inspired gifts.  This week's Frugal Kitchens 101 discusses how to make frugal choices when buying kitchen gifts.

• know the home cook's cooking style - If you don't know how a person cooks then don't buy a kitchen gadget or small appliance for them. Back when my husband brought me home a bread machine courtesy of the Christmas sales he knew I would use it.  Sadly many rather expensive bread machines ended up in the garbage or second had stores because their owners were gifted with an appliance the neither wanted or would use.
• know the person - It is far easier to gift a person with the perfect gift if you know them.  Those who are elderly or who have health problems may need specialized kitchen equipment.  Ask to see what they need.  It can be something as simple as an ergonomically designed paring knife, easy lid remover, grip extender and even a kitchen step stool.  Seriously, if I were gifted with a bag of unbleached flour, I would be elated!  It's all about know who the gift is going to.
• avoid the gimmicks - Most home cooks will not use a lot of the gimmick small appliances like cotton candy machines, chocolate fountains, individual pie makers and that type of thing.  My rule of thumb when buying someone a small kitchen appliance is to ask what they need.  I honestly have the fondue set that our kids were gifted with as a wedding present that I have yet to use but it has moved with us twice.  These types of things tend to add kitchen clutter.
• don't buy knives - Knives are a very personal choice that are best left to the individual person rather than gifting unless you know that person well.  The knife must meet the hand feel for the user.  My husband and I both love cooking but the knives that work well for him are too bulky for me.  I particularly have a knife requirement that it must be one solid piece tip to handle end but that is because of a horrid family event.  
• choose neutral - If buying kitchen textiles or serving ware go neutral so it will match if the person receiving the gift decides to change their kitchen decor.  Classic white or black always works with most decor as does clear glass.
• collectables - I collect antique kitchenware, canning jars and glassware so I am alway very appreciative when someone gifts me with that.  The problem is if that person does not know what they are buying they can easily get burned.  This is the time to definitely ask.
• gift certificates - These are my personal favourite.  Whenever I'm in doubt I give a kitchen/food gift certificate but only to a place where I know that person shops.  If someone gave me a gift certificate to the Bulk Barn I would be in seventh heaven!
• culinary classes - One year for Christmas a couple of our kids were gifted with enrollment to culinary classes. 
• brand name - Some including myself are very much brand name oriented when it comes to small kitchen appliances.  Be observant or ask.  If a person has all Hamilton-Beach small kitchen appliances that is a good sign you should buy them Hamilton-Beach if buying a small kitchen appliance.  If however, they have a hodge podge of brands for small kitchen appliances choose the best fitted appliance for their needs.
• gifts from the kitchen - Homemade gifts from the kitchen (eg. jams, preserves, bread, mixes, cookies in a jar, cookies and etc.) are always welcomed.  I like to include the recipe as well in case the recipient would like to duplicate it.