Mashed Yams with Honey

A nice side dish, that's kind of different.

6 lbs yams, peeled
2 lbs. potatoes, peeled
1 c. butter
1/2 c. honey

Cut yam & potatoes into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Place in a large pot of boiling water, cook until tender, aobut 25 mins. Drain. Return potatoes to pot. Cook over med. heat until excess liquid evaporates. Stir frequently, about 3 mins. Add butter and honey. Mash until butter mets and potatoes are smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Serves 12.

Enjoy,
Myrna

Roasted Mashed Potatoes with Rosemary

I love mashed potatoes, and roasting them just gives it such a wonderful taste.

2 lbs baking potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. fresh or dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
3/4 c. hot milk
1/4 c. chopped green onions
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 (8oz.) container of sour cream

Pre-heat oven to 425F. Combine first 5 ingredients in lightly greased shallow pan, toss well to coat. Bake, uncovered for 30 mins. or until tender.

Combine milk and next 4 ingredients in large bowl; add potato mixture. Mash with potato masher. Serve.

Serves 6

Enjoy,
Myrna

Sweet Potato Casserole

I tried this one and loved it.

4 lbs yams (do not peel until after they are cooked)
boiling water
1 tsp. salt
6 med. bananas
1/2 c. orange juice
1/2 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine

Scrub yams, place in a large saucepan with salt. Add boiling water to cover. Bring to boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low; simmer 30 - 35 mins or until yams are tender. Drain, peel and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices.

Pre-heat oven to 375F. Using butter or margaine, thoroughly grease a deep casserole dish (2 quart).

Peel bananas, discard skins, slice bananas into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place banana slices in a med. sized bowl and toss with orange juice. In another small bowl, mix brown sugar with cinnamon, set aside. In the bottom of the prepared casserole dish, arrange one third of the yam slices in a single layer, overlapping slightly. Top with half the banana mixture and sprinkle with one third of the sugar mixture. Dot with one third of the butter.

Repeat layering until you use all the yams, and bananas. Sprinkle top with remaining sugar mixture, dot with remaining butter and pour on the rest of the orange uice. Bake 45mins. or until bubbly and very hot.

Makes 12 servings.

Enjoy,
Myrna

Vegetables in Coconut Gravey

This is great with namm bread and rice.

Any vegetables in season will do.

1 - 1 1/2 lbs vegetables (sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc.)
2 tbsp. peanut oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 fresh red chili, seeded & chopped
1 tsp. shrimp paste or fish sauce
2 strips of lemon rind
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 c. consume
1 1/3 c. coconut milk
3 tsp. peanut butter
2 tsp. salt (to taste)

Slice veggies into small pieces. Heat oil in a medium saucepan and fry the onion until soft and starting to change colour. Add garlic, chili, shrimp paste and fry over low heat for 2 mins. Add lemon & tomato. Stir and cook until pulpy.

Add stock & coconut milk and bring to simmering with lid off. Add veggies according to the time they take to cook. they should be tender but still crisp. Stir in peanut butter & salt to taste.

Serves 6

Enjoy,
Myrna

Beets with Orange

I just love beets, boiled or roasted. So here's a nice one that has a lovely citrus taste to it.

12 -14 small beets, do not peel
butter
1 tbsp grated orange peel
1 - 2 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp fresh tarragon (or 1 tsp. dried)
dash of fresh ground pepper

Cook beets in boiling, salted water for about 20 - 25 mins., or until they are barely tender. Let them cool slightly, cut off the stem and roots, and peel.

In pot, melt butter, add the orange peel and orange juice, stir. Add beets, stir. Add tarragon and pepper, mix well. Cook until beets are soft. Serve.

Enjoy,
Myrna

Honey Mustard Carrots

Something new to do with carrots.

4 med. carrots
1 tbsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Cut carrots in 1/4 inch thick matchsticks, in a steamer, steam over boiling water, covered until tender, about 4-5 mins. In a bowl, stir in remaining ingredients, salt & pepper to taste & toss with hot carrots.

Serves 2

Enjoy,
Myrna

Cucumbers with Yoghurt

This is a light & refreshing side dish, good with East Indian Food.

2 small cucumbers
coarse cooking salt
2 tsp. cumin seeds (less if you're using ground cumin)
2 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 c. plain yoghurt
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Peel cucumbers, cut in half lengttwise, remove seeds. Finely chop cucumbers, place in strainer, sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 15 mins. Rinse under cold water, drain well. Place cumin seeds in small pan, stir over low heat until well browned. Combine all ingredients in bowl, mix well. Serve.

Serves 6

Enjoy,
Myrna

Mashed Potatoes with Mustard & Onions

I just love this recipe, it gives new life to the old mashed potato.

1 kg potatoes, peeled, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp butter (more if required)
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp prepared mustard

You can either boil or roast the cubed potatoes.
Boil potatoes until tender, drain... or roast diced potatoes until done. Meanwhile, heat oil and some butter in frying pan, cook onions, stirring over low heat, about 15 mins, or until onion lightly browns. Add sugar and vinegar, cook, stirring until sugar disolves.

Mash potatoes with milk & 1 tsp of butter until smooth. Stir in mustard and 1/2 of the onions. Serve potatoes topped with the remaining onions.

Enjoy,
Myrna

Holubchi (Cabbage Rolls)

There are so many ways to make this Slavic dish. This is my Moms'. The Cabbage rolls are meant to be made small, just slightly larger than your thumb.

***PLEASE NOTE*** You will need to prepare cabbage a few days ahead, as it needs to be blanched, frozen,then thawed before making the rolls.

1 head green cabbage
1 can tomato soup
salt and pepper to taste
1 small onion, chopped
1 c. pearl or sushi rice
Seasoning salt
few slices of bacon, cooked crisp & crumbled (optional)
small amount of sauerkraut (optional)

Remove core of cabbage. In large pot of boiling water, blanch cabbage. Taking leaves apart carefully as they blanch. DO NOT COOK THROUGH. Remove leaves as they soften, immediately plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process. When all leaves have been blanched, and put into water, pat dry, put into plastic bags, then freeze for 2-3 days.

Thaw cabbage, then cut out the rib of each leaf (this makes the cabbage rolls softer). Meanwhile, wash rice thoroughly and cook as per package instructions ***do not fully cook rice, it needs to remain a bit hard***. Drain rice. Fry the onions. Add most of the onions (reserve some to be put between the layers of cabbage rolls), cooked bacon, salt & pepper to rice, mix well.

Cut each cabbage leaf into a rough triangle, the longest side being just slightly larger than your thumb. In the centre of each leaf, place a small amount of the rice mixture. Roll up, folding ends in as you go.

Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place a layer of rolls into the casserole dish, sprinkle with seasoning salt. Pour some of the tomato soup over top, add a bit of drained sauerkraut if you like. Repeat with the rest of the layers. Before baking, add some water to almost the top of the cabbage rolls, then add some fried onion and a bit of butter. Bake at 350F for about 1hr. covered, test after 1 hr, add more water if required. Cook until cabbage rolls are soft, and rice is done.

***the cooking time varies for some reason, it shouldn't be done in less than an hour, but could take up to 2.5 hours.

Enjoy,
Myrna

Roasted Vegetables with Thyme

My favourite way to make vegetables.

4 small onions, peeled, quartered through root end
2 fennel bulbs (anise), trimmed, each cut into 8 wedges
2 med. beets, peeled and quartered
8 oz. baby carrots, peeled
8 whole garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 tbsp dried thyme (fresh tastes better)
2 tbsp dry white wine (or white cooking wine)
Fine Sea salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425F. Combine onions, fennel, carrots, and garlic in a large bowl. Add olive oil & thyme & stir gently to coat. Remove veggies to a large rimmed baking sheet. Put beets into the same large bowl that the other veggies were in, and repeat process. After placing all veggies (including beets) onto baking sheet, drizzle with wine, sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast 35 mins. Gently turning vegetable half way through cooking. Roast until tender. Transfer to platter.

Cooking time may vary with oven and size of cut vegetable.

Also, the wine tends to smoke up the inside of the oven a bit, so have the fan on. (At least this always happens to me).

The vegetables also taste great the next day cut up and placed on top of a spinach salad.

Serves 8

Enjoy,
Myrna

Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage

One day I had a craving for this, I'd never even had it before. Guess it's my Ukranian/Russian heritage coming out. At any rate, I went in search of a recipe that made my mouth water, and this was it. I can't even remember where I found this one.

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 apple, peeled, cored, chopped
4 c. thinly sliced red cabbage
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/4 c. crumbled, well cooked bacon (I like the maple flavoured stuff)

Heat oil in large saucepan over med-high heat. Add onion and apple, and saute until golden. About 7 minutes. Add cabbage, vinegar, sugar & celery seed and cook until cabbage is crisp-tender and liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 10 mins. Mix in bacon, season with salt & pepper. Serve.

Serves 4

Enjoy,
Myrna