Mango & Lamb: A match made in heaven

        Each week we sit down before we go grocery shopping and make a menu for the week. This is helpful for many reasons.

1. We find that this helps us to not overspend at the grocery store - We make the menu, and decide what sides we'd like and how we can incorporate leftovers into lunches.
2. We both used to work crazy hours, so planning a menu helped the first one home start dinner.
3. Its a great way to take control of what is in the cupboard and freezer. We look there when we make the menu to try to use up the supplies we have, instead of adding to them.

        As of late, we are mostly concerned with 1 and 3 (I am currently "retired", so I have been making the meals), and since our freezer is FULL (meaning, there is no room for me to make some of my famous homemade ice cream), I've decided it is time to clean it out and eat the meat we've been saving, all while using ingredients kicking around the pantry (and, we hadn't done groceries yet).

Mango & Lamb: A Match Made in Heaven

        First, I started with lamb that we had previously cut into cubes and frozen to use in shishkabobs. Once they were mostly defrosted, I tossed the cubes into a bowl with Granny's Secret BBQ sauce (Your own secret sweet BBQ sauce will do just fine here). As those marinated I chopped up some onion and green peppers. "Hmmm," I thought as I looked around the kitchen, "I think it needs a little something to add some 'pizzazz'". Mango was just the pizzazz this dish needed, and lucky for me, I had half a ripe mango in the fridge.

      After cutting the mango into cubes I greased the bottom of a Pyrex dish (this isn't for flavour but to help make clean-up easier) and placed the thawed, marinated lamb cubes in the bottom in one layer. Next, I layered the mango and the green peppers over the meat. Finally, I topped it all off with the chopped onion. I popped it in the oven uncovered at 350°F, for about an hour (not sure how long it was in there exactly as I often forget to set the timer).

     As the delicious smells wafted through the house I prepared some rice and veggies. The key to good rice is to rinse it thoroughly until the water runs clear (or close to it). I find that by putting the desired amount of rice into a strainer (or sieve) and swishing it around under running water is the easiest way to clean the excess starch off the rice. Once the rice is rinsed, place it in the rice cooker and added a layer of frozen veggies on top. Cook the rice according to your rice cooker's instructions. 

     To plate: 1. scoop some rice and veggies onto the plate  2. Add a generous amount of mango, onion, lamb, and pepper over top of the rice.  3. Drizzle your Secret homemade BBQ sauce over top of the delicious combination.

                                                                            Enjoy!
                                                                                Mel

Peach Crisp

      Now, for some things, you will notice, I will use a recipe, and sometimes I will not, it really depends on what exactly I am making. Most often I will use a combination of recipes to tailor the dish to the ingredients I have on hand. Today's recipe is one of those just-whipped-it-together types.

     We had some very soft, but delicious, peaches (thanks Matt & Caitlin) in the fridge from the weekend, and so I decided to make a Peach Crisp.

My Le Creuset

        First, I started with my Le Creuset (One of the best kitchen gifts we've ever received). Check out their website here: http://www.lecreuset.ca/. I will have plenty more recipes using this awesome bakeware. You don't really need to grease it, but I like butter so I spread some butter along the bottom and up the walls to ensure that my peaches didn't burn.

Blanched and cut peaches

        Next I blanched the peaches for 30 seconds or so in boiling water to remove the skins. I read, after I finished this task, that if you score the skin with an X it makes it easier to peel. After blanching and peeling I cut each peach into chucks and slices. I just did a rough cutting. I find it nice when you have some thicker, firmer chunks along with soft chunks as it gives it more of a homestyle feel/taste.

        Then I added about 2 tablespoons of sugar and flour, and a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon. You don't need to use much sugar as peaches themselves have a great deal of natural sugars. I mixed that all together and dumped it into the Le Creuset spreading it out so it covered the bottom evenly.

Ready to pop in the oven

     Next, in a separate bowl, I mixed together about 1 cup of quick oats, some sugar, a little more flour and some butter. I used my hands and mixed it so it was a nice crumble, fairly dry. Then, I sprinkled it on top of my peach mixture. Now, my one complaint is that it wasn't enough like my mother's apple crisp topping, which has more butter, sugar and flour, so I wish I would have used that instead. Look around online and find a topping you like, or use one you already have.

       Now that you've got everything assembled, pop it in the oven at 400°F for about 30 minutes. Let it cool a bit before you scoop it out so that the flour can do its job as a binder. Serve with ice cream (recipe to come soon) or whipped cream garnished with fresh peaches and mint.

                                                                                   Enjoy!
                                                                                        Mel

The Beginning of a Lifetime Love of Food

        I have loved food for as long as I can remember, and I've repeatedly said, "I should start a blog." Well, here it finally is.

       This blog will discuss many items under the gastronomique heading. First and foremost, this is a place for me to share with you recipes that I experiment with (of course I will include pictures). Secondly, I always look for restaurant reviews, and since Mr. Pepper and I thoroughly enjoy eating out, I thought, "Why not include restaurant reviews?" so, those will be included here as well. Finally, I will include neat culinary techniques and tools that are either interesting, unique, helpful, and downright strange.

      So you ask, "Why the interest in food since a young age?" Well to start, my parents are amazing cooks. From a young age I remember helping them both in the kitchen. Sometimes it was a task as simple as turning on the oven or beating the eggs, eventually it turned into being my job to make the gravy and all the pies for Christmas dinner. My dad, in my opinion, is a master-griller. Give him anything, and he will grill it to perfection. My mom, in everyone's opinion, is a master-baker. For years we've been trying to encourage her to open her own shop, and maybe one day she will. Finally, my brother. My brother has loved the kitchen for as long as he's been alive. I am pretty sure 90% of his baby photos are of him in the kitchen. He even took his first steps there! It all makes sense now as he is a chef at O&B's Jump in Toronto. See, good food just runs in my family.

     Finally, you ask, "Where did you get the name for this blog from?" Simple. 'Peppery' comes from my future last name. After 6.5 years, my boyfriend (fiance) proposed, and he happens to have the last name of a vegetable! I know he was it, and we vowed to enter into a lifetime love of food together. (Oh, and he and his parents are great cooks too!) 'Pig' comes from bacon. Actually, bacon comes from a pig, but I liked the alliteration (did I mention that I am a 'retired teacher'?), and who doesn't love bacon? Finally, 'Gastronomique' is the french word for Gastronomy which is the "art or science of food eating". I learned of this word when my brother asked me to order Larousse Gastronomique when he was beginning his career as a chef.

      I hope you enjoy my blog and feel free to add suggestions and ideas of your own.

                                                                                  Cheers!
                                                                                            Mel