Bangers n Mash

I love Bangers n Mash, not only was it one of my favourites growing up , but it always reminds me of home ( England ) , and is still one of my favourite meals today .  Now, mind you .. my Bangers n Mash dish , is not my Mums , which while delicious! Would be lacking in garlic and spice ... my two favourites :)  Hahaha  For those of you that have never had this , or don't even know what it  is ...     You are going to love it :)    Bangers are sausages , typically an English Banger is a short fat little sausage seasoned with herbs and spices, containing ground pork and bread .. but that can vary widely from region to region , fennel was quite popular when I was younger.  The name Banger , mostly got its name from WWII when rationing was in full effect and the sausages were likely to have a higher water content , causing them to explode if not cooked carefully :))
   Mash , well.. quite simply its Mashed Potatoes :) Either simple or spruced up with some garlic and herbs .. I much prefer the later ! I like to use Yukon or Russets , however any type will work , the ones shown here were white.

Chili n Cheese PIta

Ive been meaning to get back to blogging , and actually typing out recipes for everyone .  Im hoping to be able to streamline them and reduce the amount of typing required ( The hardest part for me ! ) So here we go, Simple Good Food !

One of my favourite go to snacks or light meals :)

Ingredients :

1 Whole Wheat Pita
1/2 cup each of shredded mozzarella & 5yr old cheddar
Splash of Olive oil
One Cayenne Chili Pepper ( minced )
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste

  

Lightly spray or brush the pita with oil
place in 350F oven on rack , about 3 minutes per side
remove from oven , should be halfway to crispy
Place onto an oven safe plate or baking tray
Sprinkle on Cheeses and chili pepper
Salt n Pepper, and return to oven for about 12 minutes
or until cheese is melted to your liking :)
You could also use the broiler for this , reduce time to about 3 minutes .

Thats its , So Simple, So Good !
Enjoy   

Jalapeno, Garlic & Onion Quick Pickle

My whole life I avoided pickles... but slowly over the past year , i have been warming up to 

them , never store bought , and to date just mushrooms and hot peppers were all I was 

able to manage .. so I decided to try making my own .. turns out it was mostly the dill I 

couldn't handle , and something in the commercial spiced ones :)  

This is my second attempt at pickles ... 

Ingredients 

8 to 10 Jalapenos 

1 Large White Onion  

4 Cloves of Garlic 

1 TBS Sea Salt 

2 TBS Honey ( I used local, unpasteurized )

1 cup water 

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup cider vinegar 

2 Sterilized Mason Jars 500ml 

Step 1:  Get all your ingredients out ,  slice the jalapeno ( I left seeds in ) , onion and garlic 

Step Two : Bring Water/ Vinegar/ Salt & Honey to boil in stainless pot , add the chopped goodies .. bring back to a boil, remove from heat

Step Three : Hot Pack into sterilized jars , seal and place in the fridge for at least a couple days, a couple weeks is better :)

Step Four :  Enjoy!!!  

So simple, so GOOD!!   Over the summer I will continue my experiments ..  different combinations & textures .. and also a shelf safe version .  Stay tuned !!

Peace, Love and Happy Pickles !!  

Rich 

Homemade Oven Baked Naan Bread

Lately Ive been trying to expand my bread making skills, this week I tried two new ones for me ... Hamburger Buns ... and one of my all time favourites , Naan Bread .

Ingredient List :

2 Cups Unbleached AP flour 

1 Cup Bran AP Flour 

1 TSB Sea Salt 

1 TSB Garlic Chips ( or fresh , whichever you have on hand )  

1/2 TSB Baking Soda

In a Sauce Pan :

1/4 cup melted butter 

1/4 cup warm milk ( not boiling ! ) 

1/4 cup yogurt ( I used 3% organic ) 

In a bowl :

2 1/4 TSB Dry Active Yeast ( or One pouch )
2 TBS Warm Water 

1 TSB Sugar

Extras : 

2 TBS Butter , melted - For brushing Naan after
1 TSB Sea Salt - For brushing Naan after

1/3 Cup Water -  

1/4 Cup flour - 

2 TBS Oil - I used EVOO 

Step One : 

Put warm water in a small bowl, add sugar and yeast and stir until dissolved. Leave for about 10 minutes , should be frothy 

Step Two : 

In a Sauce pan gently warm yogurt , milk and butter ...  Once warm , add to bowl with flour , baking soda, salt and garlic chips ...  use your mixer , or hands ... and knead for 6 - 10 minutes :) Mix until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl then knead for 6 - 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.  You may need to add a little water or flour , I ended up adding a 1/2 cup of warm water , and 1/4 cup of flour ...   I think 1/3 cup would have been perfect.  

Step Three :

Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl , turn to coat the dough ball . cover with a clean , damp cloth , and leave to rise for about 4 hours or until doubled in volume . 

Step Four : 

Preheat oven to 520 degrees F   or your oven's highest setting and set a rack in the lower third of the oven, place a pizza stone on the rack to preheat also. 

Step Five :

Knock the dough down and knead briefly. Then Divide into six pieces, roll them into balls. returm them to the oiled bowl and cover with lightly plastic wrap. Rest them for 10 to 15 minutes. Next, roll out and stretch each ball until it is about 10 inches long and 4 inches wide.

Step Six : 

Gotta be fast for this step ...   I left the pizza stone in the oven and just slid the rack out a little,  I managed to fit two loaves onto the stone ,   4 minutes on the first side, and then 2 to 3 more on the other, and that is it !   Remove from the oven , I used my bbq flipper ... worked perfect !  Repeat until all your dough has been cooked .  Took me less than 30 minutes to make the six loaves.

Step Seven :

On a clean tea towel , lay out the hot naan bread, and brush with melted butter and salt , wrap in the towel,  and served immediately , or cool and refrigerate.  They should last for up to a week...  but its highly unlikely they will be around that long .   

Step 2

My Scribbles ! 

Step 3

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Mmmm Naan Bread ! 

If your dough hangs off the stone , it will get crispy :) 

All done :)  Time to eat ! 

I enjoyed this one while still warm from baking !  

Mmmm it made for an amazing pizza ! 

I promised myself I would make this well over a year ago , Im so happy to say , that it was quick, easy and VERY tasty and it will become one of my regulars :)

I hope you enjoy

Peace, Love and Good Food
Rich  

Homemade Crusty Bread

Okay ....   Enough already , Ill write the recipe !!  hahahaha I must have had 20 requests for this bread recipe :)   So here it is :)  

I must add this has become my favourite bread of all time ...   nothing Ive made or had can beat the crunchy crust with the chewy soft interior , and as a bonus its a very flexible recipe , can be made with or without a blender with equal success.

This post outlines , my first attempt at making this , almost a year ago now ...  since then I have made well over 50 loaves , using a wide variety of flours and flavours :)

Ingredients for a double batch :)

12 Cups of Flour , can be a variety of combinations for this one it was 10 cups AP, 2 cups 12 Whole Grains  , if using Whole Wheat I use 8 AP , 4 WW
2 Teaspoons Dry Yeast
7 Teaspoons Sea Salt
6 Cups Warm Water

The rest is optional ...  for this batch I used

4 Cloves of garlic, Minced
1 Large pinch of dried basil
2 dutch onions , minced

Mix all the dry ingredients first 

Stir in water

I did this batch by hand , using two wooden spatulas , took about 5 minutes ...   A stand mixer will do the same, in about the same time ...  should be a sticky mess

Cover with plastic wrap , and leave on counter for 18 - 24 hours 

Should at least double in size over night  - At this point you will want to put your dutch ovens into a oven , preheat t 450F ( about 20 minutes or so )  

On a well floured surface , divide into whatever sized loaves you like ..  this will require a bit of effort ...  you do not want them sticky ..  

Drop the dough into the HOT dutch ovens ...  no oil required, just a hot pot!  

Cover and into the 450F oven for 30 minutes...   Just for fun I tried one in a silicone bread pan , with tin foil as a lid , remove the lids after 30 minutes , and continue cooking for another 15 minutes 

After 45 minutes ... you will have something like this !!!  Mmmmmm

This is my 6.5 Q dutch oven, makes a really nice big oval bread !  

The silicone pan worked out just fine 

Thats it ... let them cool on a rack , as long as you can , and then grab some butter and dig in ! 

Nice bonus, if done right ...  no clean up!!  Just a quick wipe of the pot!  

I hope you try this out, and come to love it as much as I do ...

Peace, Love and Good Food!

7 Pepper Birthday Chili

Whats your favourite Birthday meal ??   Mine is a nice juicy steak, with a jacket potato ... but this year for the first time in ages , birthday dinner with Mum ( We share the same Bday ) was a few days early ...  leaving me with a big question ... What to have on my Birthday !!   It didnt take long to realize Id been craving chili all month .. so Chili it was !!    Simple, Good Food !

Basic Ingredients ( I dont cook with a recipe , or even write anything down hahaha )

2 lbs of Ground Beef from local butcher
2 large mexican sausages from local butcher
1 lb of braising steak , Crossrib - Flour for dusting
4 tins of Beans ( Unico , 3 Red Kidney , 1 Romano ) - I prefer dried , but am using up old stock
2 large sweet red peppers
2 large chili peppers
2 cayenne chili peppers
6 long green chili peppers
3 small dried red chili peppers ( Very hot ! )
8 medium onions
1 head of garlic
1/2 tin of chipolte peppers
2 green bell peppers
1 pint of dark ale
1 pint roasted tomato sauce ( Homemade )
1 quart of stewed tomatoes ( homemade )

Chili Powder, L&P, Sea Salt & Black Pepper

Start by sauteing the onions ...  transfer to slow cooker when done 

Next step, the beef , best to add flavour here , chili powder, S&P, L&P, and half the can of beer 

 In the meantime,  I rinsed and boiled the tinned beans ... rinsed again and added to the slow cooker

While the beef is browning ... add in the beans, stewed tomatoes , and roasted tomato sauce 

Once the ground beef has finished, add the sausages , and cubed and flour dusted steak ..   just need to brown these , then add to the slow cooker 

Once done with frying ...  use the other half of the beer to deglaze the pan , add to the slow cooker, this is some amazing flavour here !  

Its starting to look like chili :))   Let simmer for 2 hours 

Once the base chili has simmered , its time to add the peppers in for the last 1 to 2 hours of cooking 

All sliced and diced, and ready for the pot!! 

Five hours after slicing the onions ...  CHILI!    Mmmm its time to eat ! 

The leftovers....  usually i portion this out and freeze it up for easy meals later , this time I decided to pressure can it ...   a future post maybe ??

MmmmMmmm  I do hope you enjoy my spicy chili , this one was quite the sweat inducing bowl of goodness !!  I wouldnt change a thing .. but if your not a big fan of spicy, i would cut back considerable of the hot peppers and add more sweet :)

Don;t forget , you can always follow the daily fun over at https://www.facebook.com/RichsGoodFood

Peace, Love and Good Food to everyone !
Rich

Sausage n Mushroom Frittata

I love making frittata's !  They are such a simple and easy way to use up leftovers, you can make a personal sized one  or  a quick meal for 4 or 6 people .   As for ingredients the options are endless..  for me ,  Cheese and Eggs are the only must have .. well maybe garlic too!   

This season, we have a new vendor at the Farmers Market , CrosswindFarms :) A local goat farm , that specializes in goat cheeses ..  and even sell some of the meat.  I ended up with some of their sausages... and what better way to use up the extras than to make a frittata! ! 

You will need an oven safe frying pan for this dish :)

Start off by prepping your veggies ..  Mushrooms, Onions,  Peppers, Broccoli, Grape Tomatoes ..  

Start off with the mushrooms and onions, a nice pat of butter will help out here , just long enough to get some colour on them . 

Finish chopping everything while that is happening . Bite sized is best . The Goats sausage was very good, nice texture and very meaty !
Throw whatever you like for seasoning in with the veggies, I went with chili powder and basil  :) 

Eating Local,even in Winter

While working in the fields of a local organic farm last summer,  I had a lot of time to think ... One of the many bonuses to working outside with your hands :)  During harvest season life was great , fresh local veggies everyday , just picked 10 minutes before heading home :)   But what about winter ?  When I can't just simple pick something fresh, either from the field or from the grocery store.   I decided this year , I was going to challenge myself to continue to eat local thru the worst two months for fresh, local food here.  January and February ...   So i started stocking up ,  between a few farms and my own garden I managed to pack away a few hundred pounds of veggies...  lots to see me thru the two months I promised myself.    Quick numbers are 150 lbs of potatoes , 75lbs of acorn and butternut squash, 100lbs of tomatoes, jarred and frozen as a garden sauce,  50lbs of red peppers mostly all roasted and frozen , along with onion and garlic ( quick flavour adders ) ,100lbs of onions and 50 head of garlic .   I did have ambitions to put away more, but simply ran out of time and freezer space ...  It didnt help that the 20lbs of carrots went bad on me lol ..   Looks like I wont have a huge variety to choose from , but it should be fun , and best of all LOCAL :))  I'm already thinking ahead to next year ...   more frozen soups or puree's for sure , and more root vegetables carrots, parsnips, turnips etc...  More variety in canning , not just tomatoes :)

Four weeks in ,  Im really craving a nice big Caesar salad lol .... but its been fun,  Here are a few of my creations so far :)

Roasted Red Pepper n Garlic Hummus :) 

Roasted Red Pepper n Garlic Hummus, garden tomato sauce, red onions, garlic ,  ground beef , and roasted red peppers...  all local :)) Making  homemade hamburger helper :)   

Spicy Meatball Pasta Bake - Good Food Cheap

Lets try this again !  I typed this post up a week ago , only to have the whole thing disappear on me just as I was finished up . For someone that has a hard time writing , that was a major bummer....  so I took a week , and figured I would try it again . This time Ill be typing it up on Word , and will copy and paste to blogger.   I just love this series , Good Food Cheap !  What could be better ? Besides free! Hahaha that and its a one pan dinner... which is great as there is not as much clean up .   So ... here we go , first recipe post in 7 weeks for me ... where does the time go ??

You will need :

Meatballs :

3 Cloves of Garlic
2 Small Red Onions
1/2 a Large Red Bell Pepper
2 dried chili's
1lb of  ground beef
1 egg and ...
a touch too much bread crumbs ( kinda knocked the jar over .. ooops :)
To Taste : 
My chili powder
Basil
Smoked paprika
Sea salt
Black pepper,
L&P

Note : Normally I would have added mushrooms too .

Pasta Bake :

1 Pint Jar of Tomatoes, juice and all
1lb of cheese tortellini
2/3 cup of beef stock
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli
90Gm of Mozzarella

Total Cost :    Just under $10 for dinner for four!

  Start by chopping the veggies for the meatballs :)

Add the veggies to the  beef and the spices , Mix well with your hands , and let rest for at least 30 minutes for flavour developing time :)

Roll them into balls, I decided to go with small ones this time . This made about 36 little ones.

I pan fried them in a spoonful of sunflower oil , for about 5 minutes each ( in two batches ) just long enough to get some colour on the outside of them. Preheat your oven right about now to 350F

Meatballs are browned up and, ready for the oven

 Now its oven time, the tomatoes were added juice and all , the pound of cheese tortellini and the beef stock . set the timer for 15 minutes at 350F 

 At the 15 minute mark , give it all a good stir , and set it for 15 more. Add the chopped broccoli & mozzarella at the 30 minutes in mark , and leave it for 10 more minutes.

 Total oven time 40 minutes :)) Mmm smells good!!

 My finished plate :)) Spicy Red Pepper/Onion Meatballs, with garlic tomatoes, cheese tortellini , broccoli and mozzarella . 

Well there you have one of my favourite one pot cooking meals !  Simple, easy and cheap!  Hahaha what could be better ??   Besides having someone make it for you ?  

This is the first Good Food Cheap post where I didnt break all the costs down ?  Does this work for you ? Or would you prefer a more itemized price list like i have done in the past ?

I hope you have enjoyed my Spicy Meatball Pasta Bake :)) Happy Cooking