Baked Pasta with Ricotta and Ham

Yes, my little Sous-chefs, I won't be posting the recipe this evening. No sense when I took it from here.

The Chef's inspiration for the dish comes from a foodie within the Capital City.I've never met her, but here's her blog. Thank you, Ms. Yeo!

I have to admit, that for the recipe I did use dried thyme, and that after reading "Only here for the Food" I doubled the amount of sauce (a wise girlfriend once told me that it's all in the sauce. I don't think she reads this blog...). No italian ham was used either - I don't think I can find any in Camrose. The recipe really should have been halved, unless I was going to feed this damned city of Vikings I live in.

The sauce portion took the majority of my Sunday morning. What else can I do? And when the ham was browning with the vegetables and the Chianti was added, I really should have recorded that smell. It was de-LISH!

In the end, it was a fancy Mac & Cheese with ham and bits o' onion in it, that's how I would describe it. It was pretty cheesy, and with every bite, you could catch a hint of Chianti in it. Beats Kraft Dinner, that's for sure.

I'm not sure your kids would like it. But it's worth a shot. Final Outcome: 7.1 out of 10.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

250 mL milk
125 mL frozen strawberries
1/2 banana
50 mL plain yoghurt
15 mL liquid honey

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This is a pretty easy, quick and refreshing drink. I don't know why I added "breakfast" to the labels, but I think it would make a suitable "drink-on-the-go" that you could take with you on your way (walking, driving, riding?) to work. Just slide that into your travel mug and away you go! Enjoy it's cool freshness. Your tongue will soon smack those lips of yours after that first quaff. Soon, you will be a greedy little piggy and slurp down the rest of your drink. Without ever thinking of sharing, of course.

If you like your beverages not too sweet, then this is for you. While it certainly has the look of a milkshake, the taste is much more tame.

The whole "blueberry versus strawberry debate" won't be discussed here, but Chef Jeremiah highly recommends you try this recipe substituting some blueberries in for your strawberries at least once. Then tell me which you prefer.

I might also suggest some low/zero lactose milk. I was told this was a milk option at Starbucks a few weeks ago, but I keep forgetting to look for it at Safeway.

Prognosis: delicious! A commendable 7.9 out of 10 for a 2-minute effort. Kudos!

Breakfast Enchiladas

2 cups finely chopped cooked ham (black forest ham)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
2 tbsp. oil
8 flour tortillas (7 inch)
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
4 eggs
2 cups light cream
1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2-3 drops hot pepper sauce (I used tobasco sauce)

salsa
sour cream

Chef's note: I halved he recipe above.

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I've had this recipe for about four years now. It's been in my binder ever since it was given to me and on Sunday night I finally dusted it off.

It's only been in the last nine or ten years that the Chef has ordered and even eaten egg dishes. Indeed, my tastes have changed.

Hmmm. I would say I was a little low on the green onion mix - the dish was a little low on the vegetable quotient. Otherwise it was pretty tasty. A savoury dish. The ham took care of that.

Certain things I'd change next time would change the green onions to spanish onions. Maybe even substituting the ham with chorizo sausage? All this in addition to including some guacamole, of course. :)

The dish plated just hours ago...

The grade: a respectable 7.2 out of 10.

น้ำปลา - Num pla

Anchovy fish extract
Water
Salt
Sugar

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You get 57% of your Daily Value of sodium in a single tbsp serving.

Question: What is indispensable to Thai cooking, yet has such a pungent smell? Fish Sauce

Here's a piece of advice from the Chef: ensure your fish sauce does NOT spill during your move. Don't let it spill on your clothes, in your car or on any of your stuff. You will regret it.

Chef's Note: Check out that Sapporo beer can in the background! Good stuff!!

Phuket Prawns

6 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb. tiger prawns, shelled (I think I had about 1.5 pounds - too much, really)
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
1/2 cup thinly sliced green bell pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
1/2 cup Thai basil leaves (I had to omit these, as the City of Leduc enacted a rationing of these goods. Just kidding. Seriously, there's nowhere in Leduc to get any of these)
2 tsp. curry powder
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
3 tbsp. sugar

serve with steamed rice - I cooked 1.5 cups of Japanese sticky rice - enough to feed 4
***

Well, I busted out the Thai cookbook tonight. Actually, I busted it out last night, and took out the shrimp so they could thaw for tonight's meal. Honestly, it takes maybe 30 minutes. And most of that is just waiting for the rice to cook. Pre-cut the vegetables and your cooking time is down to about 5 minutes - if that. So wait until your rice is done before you start the shrimp and you are laughing.

Well, here are two memories I have of Phuket:

Yeah, that's Darcy's (he of TDWaterhouse-infamy) armpit. And just above and to the right is this hot Russian chick's bum-bum. Yeah, she was there good-looking but a little pale. Still, I'd wager a princely sum that the view to our left was way better than the view to our right. We had about three fifty-something year-old french women without their tops on and who were as brown and leathery as saddlebags.

That's Chef Jeremiah playing in the water. I look like one of those constipated kids who sits in the shallow end and piles sand on top of themselves, don't I? But I don't usually get constipated. In fact, we had the opposite problem our second night there...

Well, there are a few other things I remember. Like seeing that Israeli guy who was getting out of the tuk-tuk at his hotel with a latex-clad (Thai, female) nurse and a latex-clad (Thai, female) cop. Maybe he wanted to discuss Thai health-care and Thai law enforcement?


Back to Phuket. So, this dish is Phuket Prawns, and as mentioned above, you can cook it up in a snap! Mere minutes is all it takes.

Chef Jeremiah was, of course, nearly overtaken by the fish sauce. I mean, that stuff really assaults the ol' olfactory glands, but it sure adds flavour. Yum! And the oyster sauce, too! CJ hasn't cooked with that stuff for months. No question it was worth the wait.

The vegetables weren't overcooked - still crisp. With the shrimp being done maybe only 20 seconds too long. I often overcook those little crustaceans, so I was pleasantly surprised the way they turned out - not chewy at all. Even the sauce was done well, slightly sticky and a little sweet - and with just a hint of curry. Someone very wise once told me that it's all in the sauce... Darn well near perfect!

Here are the prawns (honestly, is there a cooler accent than that? The answer is "No", of course). But that's not the type of prawn you see below:

Day-um! Judging from the focus, Chef Jeremiah needs to upgrade his camera from the BlackBerry Curve 8330..

And the Jeremiah-sized serving:

Yeah, Chef Jeremiah and his crew even ate it with spoons. No farang here!

Grade: A solid 8.4 out of 10. It's a great quick dish.

Chef's Note: You won't see anymore photos from the Chef's kitchen. In fact, a move is imminent! Soon a new kitchen will be established in the Land of the Lutherans. So my little sous-chefs, don't fret if you don't see an update for a week...

Kit Kat

Nutrition Facts (per 45g bar):
Calories: 230
Fat: 18% of Daily Value
Cholesterol: 2% of Daily Value
Sodium: 2% of Daily Value
Carbohydrate: 10% of Daily Value
Vitamin A: 2% of Daily Value
Calcium: 6% of Daily Value
Iron: 8% of Daily Value

2 Bars of Nestlé products for $2 CAD at the local Petro-Canada here in Leduc.

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Nestlé has always had a special place in my heart. With such scrumptious candies, I always wanted to cash in with their goods on Hallowe'en as a child...

The Kit Kat bar has recently moved into Chef Jeremiah's "Top Three Chocolate Bars". The number one slot is occupied by "Smarties" (another Nestlé product) - don't you EVER offer me any M&M's, otherwise I'll respond like this. The Silver Medal belongs to "Skor" (go for a Skor Blizzard at Dairy Queen. It is Divine. I swear they even meet the Virgin Mary's approval). Number Three is now the Kit Kat, with the Coffee Crisp close behind.

My allegiance to the Kit Kat shifted this past summer, during my tour against communism. We weren't allowed to leave the facility during our break time or for meals. So our Beloved-Employer-Corporation provided us with meals and snacks. Said snacks included fruit, banana bread, youghurt, cheese, leftovers from previous meals. And candy. If dentists had a Saint, I'm sure she/he would have rolled their eyes in disapproval.... but Chef Jeremiah's palate has a hunger for sweets. Chocolate in particular.

Most of the chocolate bars came in those small sizes that you'd hand out to children at Hallowe'en. Indeed, I think the Beloved-Employer-Corporation was dippin' into their supplies a little early.

Regardless, I had a lot of Nestlé in the summer. There's just something about those four crisp wafer bars of a Kit Kat surrounded by chocolate. I just love it. Sweet. Smooth. Creamy. Delicious!

I wonder if they've ever thought of increasing the size of the bar to include a fifth bar?

Keep your panties on - I know how badly you want to see one:

I'm not a marketing major and I'm far from a customer-service expert, but I think this bar is superb. Grade: 9.3 out of 10.

Chef's Note: It turns out those teeth-molesters DO have a saint. Appollonia is her name, and sounds like getting her teeth smashed was her game. Ouch.

Boston Brute w/ side bolognese, 2 mug Canadian draft, 2 side Clamato juice - Boston Pizza

Boston Brute - A deli style sandwich for the ages, this BP Favourite is loaded with Genoa salami, pepperoni, smoked ham, pizza mozzarella, onion and pizza sauce w/ a side of fries. Baked on a French-style bun. $9.95 CAD
With bolognese meat sauce. $2.25 CAD
2 Mug Canadian Draft - $8.00 CAD
2 Side Clamato - $1.90 CAD

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I have no idea why they don't have a write-up on the beer or Clamato. That stuff goes together like the Dude and White Russians.

Well, it's pretty easy to make an Edmonton Oilers - Minnesota Wild regular season NHL game more entertaining - just do something else while the game is on. Seriously. I cannot remember the number of times I curse the Heavens for investing 2.5 hours into watching those games. Even the Count can't count that high. After watching too many Wild games, you become a broken man...

Anyway. So for what we all knew was going to be a boring game, a little sandwich with meat sauce and beer is a good solution.

I think there's one that Boston Pizza does well - their pizza sauce. Other than that, they are mediocre. Not terrible, and not fantastic. The atmosphere in the lounge was fine. Not too loud. Service wasn't bad, although the big screen tv had a few technical difficulties, making the game awkward to watch.

Jade, our waitress, was quick with the beer and drinks. And I didn't have to ask twice for the Clamato. Nothing causes rage like having to order your clam a second time.

The sandwich, while it has gotten smaller over the years (I had the "pleasure" of working at the Leduc BP when I was a teenager), was still pretty tasty. That salami and onions dipping into that sauce is all good. It helps when everything is still hot too. Generous portions all around.

Photo:

The grade: 6.4 out of 10.