Vancouver Chilli

Let the gamers begin!

I know it’s been a while since my last blog but I haven’t been sitting idle. I’ve been working on a few blog ideas, getting ready for the holidays, and preparing for my sons’ departure for Vancouver. I’ve traveled here with them to help set up an apartment they will call home as they attend Vancouver Film School for the next 2 years. We’ve spent the last few days shopping for those bare necessities they would need to get them going, but as you can see in the picture, I think they would have been okay with a TV, their gaming gear and a couple of lawn chairs!

View from Grandville Island

We did stock the fridge though, and I’ve made a pot of chilli and a beef stew that I will portion out and freeze for later use. We shopped Granville Island for some really nice food I can take back to YK, (watch for the Osso Bucco blog coming up later!) and we wandered the neighborhood checking out the shops and restaurants they will be relying on for food. There is a Safeway down the street that should carry everything they need, a whole food store called Capers right next door if they ever feel the need to eat organic or more healthy, (wonderful baked goods, nice coffee, excellent produce) and a 7-11 across the street for all the junk food they will probably eat. I wonder which shop they will use the most? Time will tell I guess.

There are lots of Asian restaurants in the area, a pizza shop and a Greek food place just across the street, and even a Dutch pancake house a few blocks distant. I envy them as they explore the neighborhood and try all the different food options available to them.

But more than that, I hope they put in the effort to cook for themselves, and I don’t mean KD! It’s easy enough to whip up fresh stir fries or pasta dishes especially given the wide variety of food available to them in the neighborhood. Eat healthy you guys! You’ll feel better, think better and probably save money!!

Here’s the chilli recipe that I used. It’s quite simple so any student should be able to make it. I packaged it up in zip lock bags of 1 cup portions which they can take out and reheat later. You can also stretch it out by adding some cooked pasta to it or serving it over plain rice. That would increase the nutritional value as well!! Enjoy school, boys and take the time to eat right!!

Chilli

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lbs ground beef

Chilli prep

1 red pepper, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 small zucchini, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp chilli powder

1 tbsp ground cumin 

1 28-oz cans diced tomatoes

½ can water (14 oz)

1 5.5 oz tin tomato paste

1 10 oz can red kidney beans

2 tsp salt

• Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up as much as possible.
• Drain the fat from the meat and put the meat back in the pot.
• Add the peppers, onions, celery, zucchini and garlic.
• Sauté until the onions are clear then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, kidney beans and spices.
• Add water and simmer until meat is tender, adding water as needed.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper and a little hot sauce if desired. You may want to add a bit of hot sauce or a fresh chilli pepper to give it a bit more heat.

Fresh Pasta

Monica and Tyson rolling the dough.

Sunday afternoon was a very productive day in the kitchen. Monica, Tyson and Carine helped me prepare and perfect pasta dough and fillings that I hope to use in an upcoming Pasta Lesson. We made one dough using all semolina flour, two using all-purpose flour, and the fourth recipe was taken from the French Laundry cookbook and uses lots of egg yolks and milk of all things.

We found that the semolina dough was hard and difficult to work with, and decided that mixing half semolina and half all-purpose flour might give us a better result. The recipes using all purpose flour worked well and gave us nice pasta dough to work with. The French Laundry was a nice dough which I found very easy to work with. But it doesn’t matter how many times I make pasta, I never seem to be able to incorporate all the flour into the dough. There’s always some left over, sometimes as much as 20%. This however, doesn’t seem to have a negative affect on the end product.

We did find however that by mixing slowly, more flour was absorbed into the dough. Tyson wins the prize for the most patience, stirring the flour into the eggs little, by little, by little. I think he stirred for over 20 minutes before he had a firm dough, but there was only about 5% of his flour that he couldn’t mix into the dough.

We also made two fillings for our pasta, cheese and butternut squash. They were both very tasty but I think the squash was the most popular. The mild, sweet flavour of the squash is a perfect vehicle for carrying other flavours, especially herbs. For this version we added Mascarpone cheese and fresh dill to the squash for a really tasty filling.

All and all it was a great afternoon. It’s nice to spend time with family and friends making something that everyone can enjoy. The pasta turned out really nicely, we had a great meal, we learned a bit more about pasta making and we had fun! What more could you ask for?

Here are two recipes that we worked out, one for dough and one for filling:

Pasta Dough

1 ½  cups flour

1/2 cup semolina flour
3 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1. Pour the flour onto a clean smooth work area.
2. Make a well in the center, large enough to hold the eggs.
3. Beat the eggs together and pour them into the well. Sprinkle in the salt and add the oil.
4. Begin mixing the dough by drawing flour from into the egg in the center, bringing more and more flour in to make the dough.
5. If the dough is too dry and does not come together, you may need to sprinkle a little cold water over it. If the dough is too moist and becomes sticky, you may have to add a bit of flour.
6. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic.
7. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Butternut Squash Filling

1/2-3/4 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 1 lb)

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

¼ cup grated parmesan

¼ cup fresh dill leaves

salt and pepper           

1. Steam the squash until easily pierced with a fork.
2. Mash the squash, add the butter, mascarpone and parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.
3. Cool.

To Make the Ravioli

1. Cut out an even number of circles in the dough.
2. Drop a spoonful of filling in the center of each circle, moisten edges with water, and cover with a separate circle.
3. Pinch edges together, and leave ravioli dry for about 2 hrs, and refrigerate until needed.
4. Cook ravioli in boiling salted water for about 3 or 4 minutes, drain, and serve with preferred sauce.