Impromptu meal....

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"mouse on a wheel..."

This week has been hellishly busy and mouse feels like she's been running on one of those mouse wheels all week long. Seriously, what happened to Monday? Tuesday?? There was some blinking involved because when mouse next opened her eyes, it was Friday and Daddy was calling to say he wanted to have an impromptu get-together at Casa de Omega.

Tonight!! No less and to make sure the meal is kosher. Oy vey!

And not to mention the house isn't exactly company ready. So it started, mouse running around making the house presentable and made an emergency trip to the butcher.

Not it demands saying you really need to be on good terms with a good butcher...he was able to hook mouse up and it's ready to go into the oven. Stopped at the market and picked up the other stuff needed for dessert, and even had time to stop at the dry cleaners and the florist.

Now of course the final touches will be cleaning the kitchen, setting the table and doing all the regular things.

Just in case anyone is curious...

First course

Assorted olives, nuts and grapes

Second course

Charred pepper salad

Burn the skins of red, yellow, green and orange bell peppers on cooktop, remove skins and slice, discarding seeds. Toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin.

Third course

Eggplant soup

Take two whole eggplants and put in oven to roast for 45 minutes. In the meantime take one onion, some fresh garlic, celery (2 ribs or more), couple carrots, cut so they're similar in size and cook until they begin to soften. Add pulp from eggplant and chicken stock about 6 cups. salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paperika, and whatever other spices sound good. Some add cream.

Main course

Pot roast with baked potatoes

Dredge roast in flour, salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Cut up two cups each of onion, celery and carrots. Three cloves of garlic, minced. Place roast on a platter and toss in veggies. Cook the veggies until tender. De-glaze pot with red wine, or cognac (or both). Take about 4 sprigs of rosemary, 20 sprigs of thyme tied together, two bay leaves and half cup of minced parsley. Return meat to pot, add 1 large 28oz can of whole tomatoes (Roma). Bring all to simmer. Cover and bake in oven for about two hours.

Prep potaoes, scrub, wash and put in oven for about an hour (can be done while roast cooks)

Horseradish, chive and sour cream topping. Pint of sour cream, a nice bunch of chives chopped, grate horseraddish and mix together. If using prepared horseradish about a tablespoon. Mix thoroughly adding a little pepper and maybe salt, to taste. Great on potatoes. Not really kosher tho...

Dessert course

bread pudding


Enjoy the weekend and mouse is hoping for left-overs.

Spicy Beef Nachos

This recipe is from the magazine Super Food Ideas. Tastes great with sour cream and extra salsa for dipping.

1 tbsp oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

500g (1 lb) beef mince

400g (14oz) can kidney beans

390g (14oz) jar salsa

230g (8oz) bag natural corn chips

2 cups grated tasty cheese (mild cheddar)

1 avocado, diced

1 tbsp fresh parsley

1) Heat oil in frying pan. Saute onion and garlic until onion is tender. Add mince. Brown well over high heat, breaking up with a spoon as it cooks. Add beans and salsa. Simmer for 10 minutes.

2) Arrange corn chips in a heat-proof platter. Top with mince, then cheese.

3) Place under hot grill (broiler) for 3 to 4 minutes or until cheese has melted. Top with avocado and parsley before serving.

Chicken Kababs

This recipe is from the Mastering the Art of Wok Cooking cookbook.

345g (11oz) chicken breast, boneless
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp mild curry powder
pinch of chili powder or cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Batter
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp mild curry powder
3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs

1) Skin chicken breasts and rub with a mixture of the lemon juice, curry and chili powder (or cayenne) and the salt. Place on a covered plate and set aside at room temperature for 10 minutes to absorb the flavors.

2) Cut the chicken into 12 strips and thread each strip onto a bamboo or metal skewer. Mix the batter ingredients, except the breadcrumbs, together in a bowl. Spread the breadcrumbs on a plate.

3) Heat deep oil to moderately hot in the wok. Dip the chicken into the batter, then coat with crumbs. Place in the deep oil to fry about 2 1/2 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown on the surface. Serve hot with wedges of lemon and a sweet chutney.

Herbed Garlic Bread

1 loaf Italian bread
1/2 cup softened butter
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
Parsley or Basil (or both if you want)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Mix the butter, garlic and herbs together in a blender or food processor if you have one. If not, then let the butter sit out until its very very soft and mix them all together with a fork. Cut the Italian bread down the middle length-wise so that you have a top half and bottom half. Spread the garlic butter on the inside of both halves and then sprinkle some parmesan cheese over the top.

If you like soft garlic bread, put the pan in the oven on bake on a medium temperature until the butter and cheese is melted and the bread is nice and hot. If you like it crispy on top, then put it in the broiler on medium until it's nice and golden brown on top. Then just cut it into slices and serve.

Use this Simple White Bread recipe to make your own Italian loaf.