Good Intentions

I had every intention of posting the last two days but life is busy. The weekend kept me busy with a soccer game and then my niece stayed the night with us. We watched The Last Unicorn and I made us some popcorn. We don't have an air popper or a microwave (not that I would want to eat the congealed slime that passes for "butter" in microwave popcorn) so I always make it on the stove. I don't think people realize how easy it is. I'm not going to bother posting a recipe because if you just go buy a bag of popcorn kernels you can read how to do it on the back. Make sure to use a lid that fits well though. On my second or third date with Ryan I was making popcorn in my mom's wok with a lid that didn't ft. A hot, oily kernel jumped down my low-cut top and badly burned me. That was a year and a half ago and I still have a scar.

We had no such mishaps on Friday though. My niece, Amaya, got up at a decent time on Saturday and she helped me make Gluten Free Pancakes, recipe courtesy of Four Chickens - my go-to place for all things gluten free baking. We also used the handy grill that Amaya and her dad got us for Christmas to cook up some of the bacon we got at Frigs. It was all delicious. I threw some frozen berries in a pan with 1/2 a tbsp of sugar and slowly heated it on the stove and I always have Honey Butter on my pancakes now instead of syrup - it's also local.


After breakfast we went skating on the river behind the apartment and were served free hot chocolate by volunteers from the Festival du'Voyageur and free kettle corn too. It was a good day.

After Amaya left it was back to more cooking. We'd already decided we were going to have a nice dinner and cook up the sirloin steak we picked up at Frigs. I always feel like I eat a decent amount of red meat but I realized this is actually the first meal I've made with red meat since we moved here. I always marinade my steak the same way - about 1/4 cup soy sauce (gluten free - I like the China Lily brand), the juice of half a lemon, and 2 tbsp olive oil and anywhere from all day to 1/2 hour is fine. I had assumed I would cook the sirloin on the countertop grill but then I started looking up sirloin steak recipes. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Alton Brown, but I love him - he always has the answer I'm looking for - Sirloin Steak Recipe. I've heard of cooking steak under a broiler before, but never like this. But be warned, open all your windows because the steak will blacken (which is good) and the fire alarm went off in our place. I had to get Ryan to stand by it waving a towel for 5 minutes while it finished cooking.

I also picked up some green beans and just did them up simply - boiled 'em for 5 minutes - I like them crunchy - and then put them in a frying pan on med-low with a chopped up garlic clove and enough butter to cover 'em. I also did my salad. This is probably my favourite salad and the one I make the most. Ryan loves it too.

The whole meal was delicious. The steak was perfectly cooked and tasted just like it had been bbq'd and it wasn't too heavy at all with all the greans. And doesn't it look pretty? I'm sure there are hundreds of versions of this salad but this is mine.

Apple Walnut Goat Cheese Salad

• mixed green lettuce, enough for a salad - I did enough for two
  
• 1/4 cup craisins
• 1/4 cup candied walnuts (I was out, so I used sugared almonds in this one - I'll post a recipe another time)
• 3 radishes, sliced thinly
• 1 apple, cored and cubed
• 1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp basil - I used dried, but in the summer fresh is the best

Mix all dressing ingredients with a spoon, or put in a jar and shake to mix. Combine all salad ingredients, add your desired amount of dressing, and toss. Put any leftover dressing in the fridge for later. I'll also say that you should really make the dressing to your taste - this is the ratio I like but you might like to change it up. Also, the longer you let it sit the better it will taste so make up enough for a few batches.

I'm excited for the next post but I'm not going to tell you why yet.