Rubbishy Cookery

  There’s a chill in the air! Let’s make split pea soup! Ingredients: Missing from the above photo but added later: a parsnip. And: Note that the pink object in the baggie is a defrosted chicken breast, not the typical meat in split pea soup. But that’s what was in the house so it will work. Nice, more traditional options would be ham or bacon, or I’ve also used smoked turkey drumsticks. I’ve also left out the meat and had a completely vegetarian/vegan soup that was still excellent. So you have options galore! Directions: If, like me, you’re working with a defrosted chicken breast, prepare it as in Recipe #14 with S&P, a little oil, and bake for about 30 minutes until fully cooked and browned: Meanwhile, in a big soup pot, add two cups of rinsed split peas and a lot of water and bring to a boil: Spooning off and discarding the foam as it develops: Once it reaches a full boil and all the foam has been removed, let it simmer for a while, maybe 45 minutes or so, give or take. It w...

  This recipe is by special request for a special friend who recently found a mini slow cooker at a thrift store. That’s where you find mini slow cookers. Nobody buys them new. They spontaneously generate themselves at thrift stores. Just make sure you clean them within an inch of their existence. Apparently my friend is more conscientious about second hand electrical kitchen appliances than I, and she looked online to learn how to use the mini slow cooker. I did no such thing and assumed, like regular slow cookers, they could be used safely for hours at a time. Apparently the mini slow cookers are only intended to be used for a mini amount of time: four hours maximum. I’m going to pretend that I never heard this information and will continue to throw caution to the wind with my second hand mini, but you, dear reader, should take this information as a caveat to this recipe, and if you decide to use it recklessly like me, and your thrift store mini slow cooker explodes after four ho...

  A long time  ago, in a relationship far far away, I was shlepped around on many a canoe trip. I was not then, nor have I ever been, a lover of being in nature. I should never have been taken on a canoe trip, let alone multiple canoe trips, and by the same canoe-trip-loving person, because I was definitely ruining the whole experience with my whining and complaining.  The best part about those canoe trips was the morning breakfast oatmeal. It was simple and easy to make on a camp stove with lake water, and the oats with added dried fruits filled us up with stick-to-your-ribs goodness to fuel us for the day’s paddling and portaging. And mosquito slapping. And sweating. And sun burning. And getting wet hiking boots. And so on. Needless to say, my canoe tripping days are over, but my enjoyment of this oatmeal recipe lives on. Ingredients: Directions: Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan with the dried apples and apricots cut into bite sized pieces: Get 1/3 cup...

  This is a Japanese-ish light dinner that is simple, but will knock your socks off with the subtle complexity of its flavours and textures. I didn’t invent it by any means, but it’s a mish-mash modification of actual recipes and deconstruction of dishes I’ve had at Japanese restaurants. Ingredients: The broccoli isn’t really part of the recipe, I’m just making it as a side dish. Directions: First, prepare your mise en place: Finely chop the ginger and chop the scallion into fine rings as above. Try to handle your extra firm silken tofu gentler than I have so it emerges from its packaging in a solid block rather than two iceberg shaped pieces with extra bits. Chop the silken tofu into delicate bite sized cubes. I’m saving half of my block for another day, possibly for a miso soup (see Recipe #2): Meanwhile, as I heat up a pot of water in which to cook my soba noodles, why not take advantage of the resultant steam for my broccoli side: After a few minutes, I have perfectly steamed a...

  As mentioned in an earlier blog post (Recipe #11), you can waffle just about anything. And yes, you can use the word waffle as a noun and a verb. At least here, at Rubbishy Grammary. Ingredients: As you can see in the above photo, the only ingredients are leftover buttery mashed potatoes and a seasoned waffle iron. If your leftover mashed potatoes aren’t buttery, or your waffle iron isn’t seasoned, you will also need oil. If you want to get extra fancy, you could also add some sautéed chopped onions. I wish I had thought of that earlier. Oh well. Next time. Directions: Preheat your waffle iron, green light means go: Add your cold leftover mashed potatoes to the hot waffle iron: And waffle: Until hot and golden brown: And that’s it! Serve as is, or make it a proper breakfast with two over easy eggs and hot sauce: So good!

  This is a recipe that uses not one, but two (2!) types of canned fish! Ingredients: Missing from the above photo, but should usually be assumed: salt and pepper. Also missing and a last minute optional addition: Directions: You’ve probably heard that kale needs to be massaged with oil for salads in order to soften the tough leathery leaves. We’re going to be extra frugal and massage our kale (which is coming from the late fall backyard garden crop today, harvested in the dark cold rain) with the fishy olive oil with which our canned tuna is packaged.  Here is a picture of pre-massaged kale: Add that tuna olive oil: Get in there with both hands and massage! Then you’ll have nice tender oily kale: Nice! Meanwhile, in a little dish, squish up a clove of garlic and add some salt to let the garlic mellow and soften for a minute or two: Add an anchovy: Mash them up together: Add some squeezed fresh lemon juice and a few squirts of Worcestershire sauce: Mix it all up and add a good...