Recipe Box Swap: Beatrice Street Lentil Stew

It’s that time again! Yay Recipe Box Swap! This month there is no theme so I decided to post a recipe that I made up a couple of years ago after trying a coworker’s homemade lentil stew. She refused to give me her recipe so I created my own. It’s called Beatrice Street Lentil Stew because I was living on Beatrice Street when I came up with it (yes, I am that creative…hah); it's super-yummy! Again, this is a recipe that I just wrote up this morning so spice measurements may be off a bit; I usually just throw things in the pot as I go.

Photo by Claus Ableiter

Beatrice Street Lentil Stew

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 28 fl oz can of stewed tomatoes
1 540 ml can of lentils, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onions until tender, add garlic and let soften a bit. Add tomatoes, lentils, curry powder, ground cumin, salt and black pepper, stir to combine. Let simmer covered for approximately 20 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasoning accordingly. Allow to simmer uncovered for another 5-10 minutes. Serve with warm bread or naan.

I hope you all enjoy!

The Recipe Box Swap: Chicken Cacciatore

Ya, it's Recipe Box Swap time again! This month's theme is pasta. Many people might consider this recipe I'm sharing to be more of a chicken recipe, but it also has pasta (and the sauce alone without the chicken makes a great accompaniment to pasta). I'm really proud of this recipe; it's one that I came up with myself a couple of years ago and I think it's pretty darn tasty! I usually don't measure when I cook this, so the measurements for the spices, etc. are really just my best guesstimates. Also remember that I'm Canadian, so some of my measurements are metric. Please feel free to let me know if you think I've omitted anything (I just wrote up the recipe this morning). Without further ado, here you go!

Kaye’s Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
10-15 button mushrooms, quartered (about one cup)
1 medium/large red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 medium green zucchini, roughly chopped
1 28 fl oz can of stewed tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
½ cup red wine (optional)
1 tsp sugar
½ tbsp dried basil
½ tbsp dried oregano
dash of nutmeg
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 900g package of linguine or fettuccine (I usually use whole wheat)

Heat oil in large skillet and brown chicken on all sides (about 10-15 minutes). Remove chicken from skillet and set aside (keep warm if possible, I usually store it in the microwave).

Sauté onions, garlic and mushrooms in the same skillet until onions are tender.

Add all remaining ingredients, except pasta, to skillet, mix well, and bring to a boil, reduce heat. Return chicken to skillet (try to make sure that it’s completely covered by the tomato and vegetable mixture). Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and chicken is heated (and cooked) through. Adjust seasoning to taste. Cook pasta while skillet mixture is simmering.

Serve chicken and vegetable mixture over pasta, serves 4-6 people.

I hope you enjoy!

The Recipe Box Swap: Tea Biscuits

I wanted to take part in the Recipe Box Swap this month and lucky me it was no-theme month so I got to choose whatever I wanted to share. This recipe comes from one of my all-time favourite cookbooks, The Purity Cookbook. The edition I have is a 2001 reprint of the 1967 edition, but the cookbook has been around for a long time. The maker of Purity Flour, Western Canada Flour Mills Co., was founded in 1905 and I believe the first edition of the Purity Cookbook was released in 1917. I believe that you can still get the 2001 reprint and I highly recommend it.

A tea biscuit dough should be soft but not sticky. A little kneading improves the quality of the biscuits, but should be done with a gentle touch as too much handling tends to make them tough.

Tea Biscuits, BASIC RECIPE

Preheat oven to 450F
Blend or sift together
2 cups Pre-Sifted PURITY All-Purpose Flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Cut in finely
1/3 cup shortening
Add
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
Stir with a fork to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 8 to 10 times. Roll or pat to desired thickness, (biscuits will be doubled in height when baked). Cut out with a floured cutter.

Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet, close together for soft-sided biscuits or about 1″ apart for crusty-sided biscuits.
Bake in preheated 450F oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
Yield: 18 to 20 - 1 3/4″ biscuits.

You have no idea how good these tea biscuits are. They may sound simple, or even bland, but they are really homey, cozy, and perfect. Also remember that since this is the basic recipe that you can add whatever you want (raisins, berries, cheese, etc) to change them up.

Follow this link to see who else is swapping this month: The Recipe Box Swap