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.

Asian-Style Chicken Salad Rolls

This recipe is from Super Food Ideas...

1 barbecued or roast chicken
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 carrot, cut into small this strips
1/2 cup cashews, roughly chopped
bread rolls, to serve

Dressing
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
1 garlic clove, crushed

1) Remove skin from chicken and discard. Remove chicken from bones and discard bones. Shred chicken. Place into a bowl.

2) Make Dressing. Combine all ingredients in a jug. Whisk with a fork until well combined.

3) Pour dressing over chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Toss well to combine. Place into an airtight container. Place onions, carrot and nuts into separate airtight containers.

4) When ready to serve, add onions, carrot and nuts to chicken. Toss. Spoon into bread rolls or serve as a salad.

Teriyaki Beef with Potato Salad

This recipe is from the magazine Super Food Ideas.

1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp BBQ sauce
1/4 cup red wine, optional
2 tbsp brown sugar
2cm (about 1 in) piece ginger, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 scotch fillet steaks
500g (1 lb) chat potatoes, washed and halved
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp basil leaves
salad leaves, to serve

1) Combine sauces, wine, sugar, ginger and garlic in ceramic dish. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Add steaks. Turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

2) Place potatoes into a saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 8 minutes or until just tender. Drain and transfer to large bowl.

3) Preheat BBQ plate on high heat until hot. Reduce heat to medium. Grease plate with oil. Cook onion for 5 minutes or until tender. Add to potatoes. Cook steaks basting with marinade, for 5 minutes each side for medium.

4) Combine cream, mayonnaise, mustard, basil, and salt and pepper. Stir into potatoes. Serve with steaks and salad leaves.

Warm Sausage Pasta Salad

This recipe is from the magazine Super Food Ideas.

2 tsp olive oil
500g (1 lb) lean pork sausages
1 1/2 cups small pasta shapes (such as shells)
5 green onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
250g (8oz) cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1/4 cup chicken stock
100g (3oz) baby spinach

1) Heat 1 tsp oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add sausages. Cook, turning occasionally, for 12 to 15 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to a board, slice thinly and set aside.

2) Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water, following packet instructions until tender.

3) Heat remaining oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until soft. Add tomatoes, peas and stock. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook for 2 minutes and remove from heat.

4) Drain pasta and return to pan. Add sausages, onion mixture and spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and serve.

As an alternative, tastes great with a light vinegrette dressing.

Corn, Chicken and Cashew Salad

This recipe is from the magazine Super Food Ideas.

1/3 cups cashews
2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
250g (about 9 oz) fresh baby corn, washed and halved
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
125g (about 4 1/2 oz) snow peas, trimmed and shredded
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp caster sugar

1) Heat wok or large frying pan over high heat until hot. Add cashews and stir-fry for about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a plate.

2) Add 2 tsp oil to wok and swirl to coat. Add corn and stir fry for about 1 to 2 minutes until bright yellow and mostly tender. Remove to a large bowl and set aside for about 5 minutes to cool.

3) Add green onions chicken and snow peas to corn. Toss gently to combine.

4) Whisk 1/4 cup lime juice, sugar, remaining oil and salt and pepper in a bowl and drizzle over salad. Add cashews, toss gently and serve.

Note: I stir-fried the meat and veggies together and made it a warm (not hot) salad... tasted really good!