Swedish pea soup

I came back from holidays with the fam to an empty fridge and freezer, determined to fill it back up (or at least to start). Although I didn't cook as much as I'd planned to this weekend, I did manage to make two batches of soup and also (wait for it) bake another ham. (It's for the ham bone, I swear.) A new pork-related recipe for the new year? Clearly "keeping kosher" was not one of my New Year's resolutions ;-).

Black lentil soup with ham and spinach

While rummaging around in the freezer today I discovered a huge container of leftover cooked ham. (That ham has lasted a disturbingly long time.) And you know what ham means... soup.

Lentil soup with chorizo and kale

This soup is basically an excuse to use my inky-black beluga lentils. They're so tiny and adorable, so much cuter than that common (yet equally tasty) reddish-green-brown lentil :-). And I really don't need a special reason to cook chorizo, do I?

While this isn't quite as delicious as M's infamous sausage and kale soup (one of my all-time favourite soups), it is a tasty alternative. And who can't use more legumes in their diet? :-) 

Green chili

As soon as I fished my last container of chili out of the freezer last week I began jonesing for another pot. I have quite a few different chili recipes bookmarked - you know, just in case my regular supplier can't come through. Ummm... I mean, just in case I want to try something different.

Okay, maybe I have a bit of a chili problem. Admitting it is the first step, right? And making another batch is the second step. (Who needs twelve steps when two will do?)

Pork with eggplant

Final recipe of the day - a stir-fry of pork with assorted veggies. And pretty much every condiment that I had in the fridge door. It reminds me of the "pass the spoon" game we'd play as kids.

Except that this time it was voluntary. (Shudder.)

Pantry "paella"

Although this is far from an authentic paella, it was inspired by a variety of paella recipes (including one in the lovely cookbook that M gave me for my birthday!). All of those recipes looked delicious but I wanted to limit the ingredients to whatever I had on hand. My pantry was fairly well stocked, but it was stocked with such an odd mixture of ingredients (escargots? when did I buy those??). As a result this ended up being quite an eclectic dish, and one that was heavy on the seafood but light on the vegetables. Hmm, why is this suddenly reminding me of Spain?

Mung bean and ham soup

Have you ever bought an ingredient on spec and found absolutely no use for it? Let me introduce you to my whole mung beans. I bought a largish bag of them quite a while ago (embarrassingly so) and just never got around to making anything. But when I wanted to make a soup and all other legumes had been consumed, it was time to turn to the mung beans.

I wasn't sure how to prepare them - a lot of recipes called for soaking overnight (I'm never that organized) or cooking for several hours (doable, but not preferred). So when I came across a recipe that could be prepared in around an hour it seemed too good to be true. It wasn't - this is a fast soup to pull together, and the results are surprisingly good. This soup isn't going to knock anyone's socks off, but it's comforting and pretty nutritious. Good fall fare.

Black bean and chorizo chili

The final recipe of a long day of cooking! I'm a sucker for a new chili recipe, and this one has been bookmarked for some time. The original recipe involves making your own chorizo. I'd like to try that some day, but with the amazing Spolumbo sausages being sold by the local grocery stores, who needs homemade?

Ham and lentil soup with kale

I still have some cooked ham and stock in the freezer, and they seemed like the perfect excuse to make a hearty lentil soup. I bought all of my produce at the farmers market today and it's always so inspirational to check out all the colorful fruits and veggies. It's great to pick up such fresh items - I had forgotten how juicy a garlic clove could be!

Breakfast scramble

This started out to be an Asian-inspired scramble, but then I veered off track and decided to add ham. It ended up more like the kind of farmer's breakfast scramble that Dad makes on Sunday mornings. That one is so very yummy, this one... not as yummy, but still pretty tasty.

Be sure to drink plenty of black coffee with this. I made a thick brew with some Cafe du Monde coffee and chicory that I picked up at a Vietnamese market yesterday. Zowie!

Pork with vegetables in a spicy bean sauce

Although I went out today intending to stop at the farmers market, I ended up at T&T superstore instead. I wanted to pick up some interesting greens for my breakfasts, and at some point the items in my basket began to look a lot like supper. (Hey, who put that pork loin in my basket?)

The one where I bake a ham

It's quite cool and rainy here in Calgary, almost as if L's wishing for fall has made it so :-). I don't mind it at all; it's been a nice break from the mini-heat wave we've been having. Plus, it gave me an excuse to bake a ham.

(pause)

Yes yes, we all know that I dislike ham. But I baked one last fall and really enjoyed making a variety of hammy recipes with the leftovers. So expect to see a few ham-related entries over the next few days and weeks (and months?).

Pork Marbella

This is a very frisky recipe for me to try. A pork dish? Combining sweet and savory? Clearly I went "all-in" with this one. I came across this recipe in a GQ magazine while I was travelling. Luckily it was available online because I'm feeling too lazy to type it up in any detail :-). The sauce was adapted from a Silver Palate recipe for Chicken Marbella (which explains the quantity of olive oil ;-).

Squid ink tagliatelle with prawns, scallops and chorizo

Although I've made a few prawn/scallop/chorizo dishes lately, this Mario Batali recipe looked like an interesting variation. And if my taste buds fail me altogether at least I'll be able to "sense" the searing jalapeno pesto.

As for why I'm cooking an Italian dish after returning from Spain... well, although I was energetic enough to make a few dishes today (including the meatloaf that I'd made previously -- must.restock.freezer) I didn't quite have enough gumption to scour the net for some interesting Spanish dishes.

Warm chorizo, scallop, bean and tomato salad

With the start of my vacation less than three weeks away I have Spain on the brain. So it isn't surprising that most of my recipe browsing this weekend was focused on Spanish dishes. I found some incredible recipes, and although the pulpo a la gallega did sound tempting I'll wait until I'm in Galicia to try the octopus. Tonight's meal was much less adventurous but it was chock full of pork fat. I like to think of it as acclimatizing.

Paellaya

Although I intended to cook up a storm this weekend, yesterday was a total write off. I came home from the gym after a late afternoon workout and was absolutely ravenous -- that poor meatloaf didn't stand a chance. But today I was determined to cook something interesting (yet easy). Emeril to the rescue.

Meatloaf by the oven light

I'm a little battered and bruised from this past week (emotionally, not physically :-), so I was sorely in need of some comfort food this evening. But since I also wanted to keep up with the semi-nutritious meals I decided to make a meatloaf rather than lowering myself into a tub of KD.

I have nothing against meatloaf, but I've never come across a recipe that really wowed me. Until tonight... nah, I'm kidding. I made this one up after scanning several online, and working with what I had in the fridge.

Chorizo, scallop, and radicchio pasta

I tried this amazing recipe from bitchincamero tonight, and it was fantastic. I wasn't sure whether it would have enough flavour, but the chorizo totally made it. I followed the recipe pretty much (just varied the quantities a bit), and highly recommend it. I'll make it again, I'm sure.

Quick cassoulet

I wanted to have some bread with my supper tonight, but I was a bit too lazy to head out in search of a nice loaf (what a shocker :-). Generally this would result in a bread-less supper, but while surfing some food blogs this morning I came across a recipe for bread and it got me thinking. It's still early enough in the day, why not bake a loaf?

I used the faster no-knead bread recipe from the NY Times, but used 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose and 1/2 cup of whole-wheat flour. For some reason my dough was still a bit dry after adding the water, so I added another 1/4 cup or so (although it still didn't look very "shaggy" to me). I don't have a feel for bread making, but luckily this recipe is quite forgiving. I coated the loaf with poppy seeds to prevent it from sticking to the dutch oven -- and much like my previous attempt at this, I ended up with poppy seeds bouncing all over my kitchen. Fun!

And now for the main event... cassoulet!

Sausage, bean and barley soup

Now that the temperature in Calgary has dipped back to a seasonal (yet frigid) -20 I'm once again craving something a little heavier. And since my freezer is looking a little bare these days, I resolved to make this a cooking weekend.

I planned four different dishes to make over the next two days. I decided to hit the Bon Ton Meat Market, a family run butcher shop not too far from my neighbourhood. I ended up buying almost all of my meat there (except for some Spolumbo sausages that I picked up elsewhere), and it is all really fresh. I think Bon Ton is going to become a regular weekend stop for me.