Clubhouse Sandwich

Recipe ingredients

• 1/2 tsp. (2 mL) olive oil
• 3 slices Yves Canadian Veggie Bacon
• 3 slices whole wheat bread
• 2 Tbsp. (30 mL) light mayonnaise
• 3 slices Yves Veggie Turkey
• 1–2 lettuce leaves
• 4 slices ripe tomato
• Pinch salt
• Pinch black pepper

Preparation

Sauté Yves Veggie Bacon over medium heat for 30 seconds per side.
Toast bread and spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread.
Place Yves Veggie Turkey and lettuce on bottom piece of toast; cover with second slice of toast.
Place Yves Veggie Bacon and tomato on center slice of toast. Sprinkle salt and pepper on tomato and top with remaining piece of toast
Cut diagonally into 4 pieces and serve.

Suggestion

This sandwich is undoubtedly a beloved lunchtime food. It is convenient; an appealing combination of colors, textures and flavors and it is packed with protein, iron and B vitamins. Combining Yves Veggie Turkey and Yves Canadian Veggie Bacon, this ‘Triple Decker' is designed for those with hearty appetites.

Homestyle Pot Roast

Simple things, such as cooking less expensive cuts of meat, can help save you money. The key is to use an oven bag to make chuck roast and similar cuts more tender. Oven bags, such as those made by Reynolds, trap in the moisture to help transform tough cuts of meat into tender, juicy, delicious meals.

And, cleanup is easy since all the juices stay in the bag. The bonus is that there is no dirty pan to scrub.

Here's a family-favorite recipe to try:

Homestyle Pot Roast

Ingredients: 1 Reynolds Oven Bag, Large Size ¼ cup flour ⅔ cup water 1 envelope dry onion soup mix 3- to 31/2-pounds boneless beef roast 4 medium red potatoes, cut in quarters 1 medium onion, cut in quarters 1 package (16 oz.) peeled baby carrots

PREHEAT oven to 325°F.

SHAKE flour in Reynolds Oven Bag; place in 9x13x2-inch baking pan.

ADD water and onion soup mix to oven bag. Squeeze bag to blend in flour. Add beef to bag. Turn bag to coat beef with sauce. Place potatoes, onion and carrots in bag around beef.

CLOSE oven bag with nylon tie; cut six ½-inch slits in top. Tuck ends of bag in pan.

BAKE 2½ hours or until beef is tender. Makes 7 to 9 servings.

meat cravers pizza

White Radish Cakes (Luo Bo Gao)

Ingredients:

• 3 white radish (other names: chinese radish/ turnip or daikon) ~ 1.75kg for this time
• 350g white rice flour (粘 米 粉)
• white radish : white rice flour (5:1)
• chinese sausages (mix of pork ones and the duck liver ones, usually available only in Winter

• dried chinese mushrooms or shaiiake mushrooms
• dried scallops
• dried shrimps (optional)
• handul of shallots
• a bunch of coriander
• approx 350ml chicken stock
• 2 -3 tbsp corn starch dissolved in little cold water
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• pinches of white pepper

Method:

1. Hydrate the dried scallops, dried mushrooms and shrimps in separate bowls of hot water for a few hours, finely chopped
2. Cut the chinese sausages into thin slices or small cubes (both are fine either way)
3. Finely chopped the shallots
4. Separate the leaves and stalks of the coriander, cut the stalks into small pieces
5. Coarsely grate the white radish, set aside
6. Heat up a wok or frying pan at medium high heat, add in the chinese sausages, stir-frying  for a few minutes, you will see some oil will come out from the sausages (like the bacon), you can then gradually add in shallots, mushrooms, scallops and shrimps, keep stir frying them for a few minutes until they are semi-cooked.
7. Boil the chicken stock  in a deep pan of another wok if you have available, and add in the grated radish, keep stirring and cook until the radish is soft and transparent.
8. Stirred in the chinese sausages mixture and coriander stalks into the cooked radish.
9. Turn off the heat, wait for a while about 5-10 mins, and pour in the rice flour and corn starch, keep stirring and then add in the salt, pepper, sugar. By this time, you will result to have a half cooked thick paste. Funny enough the rice flour can dissolve directly to the mixture without pre-dissolved in water but do prepare some cold water aside to adjust the paste where necessary, this part is the most important to get a correct consistency.
10. Generously oil 2 baking tins and transfer the paste mixture to cake baking tins (you can use the disposable aluminium ones too)
11. Steam each tin/ tray for an hour at high heat first, when the water is boiling turn to medium heat.
12. When it is cooked, remove from heat and sprinkle the coriander leaves on top as garnish.
13. Let the cakes to cool down completely before turning them to large plates.
14. Cut into slices and panfry until slight brown and crispy on the outside.  Serve with XO sauce or chili sauce if preferred.
15. You can also cut a portion in small cubes and stir fry with some bean sprounts XO sauce, I learnt it from the restaurant served as a contemporary dim sum.
16. Alternatively, if you want the panfried ones too heavy, I like cutting big cube and reheat by steaming it and pour a little dark soy sauce on it.

Note:

Step 9 is very critical and was where we did wrong, we were worried that the rice flour would not dissolve properly and thicken to a paste, so we heated it up again and all of a sudden we discovered that it was beginning to burn. And when I talked to my dad, this was almost the first thing he asked if I have done. I wish I had talked to him beforehand but luckily we solved this by not stirring too hard to the bottom.

Vampire Staked Steak

Ingredients

• 4 (16-ounce) rib-eyes, each about 1 1/2-inches thick
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 4 tablespoons minced garlic, divided

Directions

Season the steaks evenly on all sides with the kosher salt and let come to room temperature for at least 20 minutes.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is almost smoking, add 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the butter and the steaks and cook, undisturbed, for 6 minutes, or until well-browned on the first side. Turn the steaks over and top each steak with 1 tablespoon of the garlic and 2 teaspoons of the remaining butter. Continue to cook the steaks on the second side for 5 minutes for medium-rare. Remove the pan from the heat, tilt the pan slightly and remove some of the excess rendered fat from the pan, turn steaks briefly so that the garlic and butter are in the pan, and allow steaks to sit for 15 seconds. Transfer the steaks to a platter and pour the garlic-butter drippings over the steaks. Allow steaks to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Slice the steaks thinly and serve, with the pan drippings drizzled over the meat.

Pumpkin Pie

The most common desert that you will find on Halloween is the Pumpkin pie a staple seasonal favourite. The pumpkin pie can be made from the flesh of your Jack’ O Lantern so it’s essentially a fantastic desert that can double as a decoration. This scrumptious harvest treat is one that no Halloween party should be without.

Difficulty: Medium

Time:  30 minutes – 1 hour

What you need:

Filling: 450g – 1lb of pumpkin flesh, cut into 1inch chunks, 2 large eggs + 1 yolk, 75g dark brown sugar, 1tsp ground cinnamon , ½ level teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg, ½ tsp ground allspice, ½ tsp cloves, ½ tsp ground ginger. 275 ml double cream.

Pastry: used pre shop bought crust pasty case

Instructions:

1. Pre heat oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas 4
2. Open and prepare store bought crusty pastry case, aim for around 25cm diameter and 5 cm deep.
3. Steam pumpkin, place is coarse sieve, extract excess water
4. Lightly whisk eggs and excess yolk in large mixing bowl
5. Add sugar, spices and cream to a pan and heat until simmering, mix together and pour over eggs, whisk again.
6. Add pumpkin puree and whisk mixture together. Pour filling into pastry case
7. Bake 35 – 40 minutes
8. Remove from oven, cool, cover with foul wrap and place in fridge, serve chilled.

Rack of Lamb

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
•  
• 1 (7 bone) rack of lamb, trimmed and frenched
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Move oven rack to the center position.
2. In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, garlic, rosemary, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss in 2 tablespoons olive oil to moisten mixture. Set aside.
3. Season the rack all over with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy oven proof skillet over high heat. Sear rack of lamb for 1 to 2 minutes on all sides. Set aside for a few minutes. Brush rack of lamb with the mustard. Roll in the bread crumb mixture until evenly coated. Cover the ends of the bones with foil to prevent charring.
4. Arrange the rack bone side down in the skillet. Roast the lamb in preheated oven for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on the degree of doneness you want. With a meat thermometer, take a reading in the center of the meat after 10 to 12 minutes and remove the meat, or let it cook longer, to your taste. Let it rest for 5 to 7 minutes, loosely covered, before carving between the ribs.

Pepperoni Pizza

When they hear the name "pepperoni pizza," Italians always are puzzled at first and then amused. Puzzled because the word peperoni (with one p) is the Italian for peppers, and the question comes natural: how could this word end up meaning something completely different, from a vegetable to a spicy pork sausage? Amusement comes when they wonder how many foreigners ordered a pepperoni pizza in Italy,receiving one with peppers topping.

Tools you will need

The best pepperoni pizza starts with the right tools. Make sure you have the following things available:

Baking tray. If you have an oven I assume you also have a large baking tray.

Parchment paper (baking paper). This is very useful to make sure the dough won't stick to the tray

Rolling pin (optional). Pizza makers use their hands to flatten the dough and give it a circular shape. Some even throw it in the air and make it spin. But we don't need to show anything to anybody, right? So feel free to use a rolling pin, it won't change the taste of your fabulous pepperoni pizza at all.

A bowl. The concept here is the same as for the rolling pin. If you want to do like the real chefs do, you are supposed to put all the flour on the working surface, make a hole in the middle and pour half the water and the yeast in there. The thing is, unless you know what you are doing, things can get messy, and you don't want to end up with water running out of the little pool, and around the working surface. So, again, there's no shame in using a bowl. Once all the ingredients have come together, and it's kneading time, you can get rid of it and pass to the working surface.

A sift: whenever you use flour to cook is always a good habit to sift it, as it will come out of the packet all compressed and with lumps. 

A small jug. This is for the liquid ingredients, A smaller bowl will do as well.

Ingredients for 4 people

If your intention is to do carbo-bingeing you can use double quantities. You don't want to count the calories in pepperoni pizza, right?

For the dough:

• 500g (4 cups) strong white flour
• 40g (1/3 cup - 1 ½ cup) fresh yeas, or the equivalent of dry yeast for the required amount of flour, according to the packet instructions
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 15g (1/8 cup) salt
• 15g (1/8 cup) sugar
• 240-250g (8 - 8½ fl oz) filtered water

For the topping:

• 2 cans of good quality tomato purée (in Italian it would be passata di pomodoro)
• a generous pinch of oregano
• 250-300g (about 10 oz) mozzarella cheese
• a pepperoni (spicy) sausage

Step 1: dry and liquid ingredients go separately. Sift the flour and salt in the bowl. In the other bowl put together yeast, water, olive oil and sugar, which is not a liquid, but it's a very good friend of yeast's (which means it helps its chemical reaction), whereas salt is not. For this reason, salt and yeast should get together at the very last minute.
Give the water and yeast a stir, stick it in the microwave for 40 seconds and give another stir. The water should be a bit more than lukewarm.

Step 2: put everything together. Make a well in the centre of the flour, and pour 3/4 of the water. Start stirring with a wooden spoon, then when everything has come together, use your hand(s). If the dough is too dry add the rest of the water (see next capsule for a more detailed explanation). When there is little or no loose flour in the bowl put everything on the working surface and start kneading. Stretch the dough using your wrist then fold it back. A good technique here is to turn it upside down before folding it, so the internal part of the dough will be in contact with the remaining flour on the working surface.

After kneading for 10 minutes the dough should be elastic enough. Now the main question will be: how dry/wet should the dough be?
The quantity of water given here is an average indication. Different types of flour absorb more or less water. If the dough is too dry you can add water, if it's too wet you can add flour. Ideally, it's always better to be in the position of adding water, as any extra flour will alter the balance of the dry ingredients.
But how do we know when the dough is wet or dry enough? My personal advice is: make it as wet as possible, it means that it should actually stick to the working surface, but come off straightaway. If you find it too hard to work, and pieces of dough remain stuck on the working surface, it means that it's too wet and you need to add flour. Do it one tablespoon at the time.

Step 3: rise. Now, it's time for some chemical reaction. The answer to the question "what's the ideal temperature for yest dough to rise?" is still a mystery to me. Leave it rise until in doubles in size, but a really cool thing that I have found out recently, which has taken my pepperoni pizza recipe to the next level is to prepare the dough 24 hours before and leave it in the fridge. Let it rest one hour before rolling it, to make it reach room temperature.

Step 4:prepare the topping. in different containers put the sliced mozzarella cheese, pour the tomato purée with a pinch of salt, pepper and oregano, and the sliced pepperoni. If you really want to do things properly, season the tomato purée, bring it to the boil in a frying pan and let it simmer for ten minutes.

Step 5: roll and shape. Preheat the oven at a very high temperature 430º F 220º C. Now it's rolling time, and it's your personal taste. Do you want a thin pepperoni pizza or do you like it thick? I prefer it thin, but it's up to you. Give it a round or a square shape, depending on how bad you need to use all the space in the baking tray.

Step 6a: the first ten minutes. Now, what usually do here is adding the tomato purée, and put it in the oven for ten minutes. The reason is that if I put the mozzarella from the start it will end up burn by the time the dough is baked. It probably has to do with my oven. If it'd the first time you are baking pizza with you oven I suggest you do the same. Better a half melt mozzarella than a burnt one. Be generous with the tomato.

Step 6b. the rest of the best. Take the half-baked pizza out of the oven and, as quick as possible, lay the mozzarella and the pepperoni slices on the dough and put it back in the oven. Wait for ten more minutes, then check it. It probably won't be ready yet, but it should be almost there. When the bottom of the pizza is solid enough, it's ready.