Canned Sardines

If I had a daughter, I would name her Sardinia and call her Sardine for short.

Ingredients:

Half a dozen sardines

As much garlic as you like

2 medium white onions

The amount of tomatoes it would take to fill your can, I used about 6 different sized romas

Chili flakes

Olive Oil

Pepper

Salt

These were frozen whole. Defrost. Chop off the heads unless you want them. I slit their bellies and gutted them. Be very very gentle because sardines are extremely delicate fish. The silver skin scrapes easily too. Their bones are thin and once cooked will not do much harm but I was able to pull the entire skeleton out. Try not to damage the flesh so much. You can split them in two fillets or keep them whole.

Half tomatoes and remove the seeds, half them again and again . Roughly cut up garlic and onions.

In sauce pan on medium high heat, drizzle in olive oil. Fry chili flakes, very fragrant. Mine turned a little black there. Throw in vegetables. Stir and break down tomatoes. Put a lid on it for a few minutes, take lid off to stir. Add more olive oil if mixture evaporates and tomato flesh is sticking.

Stir in your sardines, fold gently to incorporate. Cover for a minute.

Off the heat, into your sterilized jar. 

Put the jar in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Refrigerate.

 

Enjoy! The tomato sauce is great on rice or pasta.

Pickled Peppers

My palate loves spice and heat. Peppers are sometimes more potent when dried, smoked, and pickled. Am I forgetting any? A bag of 15 serranos are a dollar at my favorite produce outlet. This is the perfect way to use them. I made a very small batch here just to see how they would turn out...

Ingredients:
6 serranos
2 garlic cloves
carrot for sweetness and presentation
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspon salt per cup of pickling liquid, a generous pinch will do

My jar is so cute! Sanitize the jar in boiling water. Add in peppers, garlic and carrot.

Boil water, vinegar and salt.

Pour in boiling liquid, close the top. In a sauce pan, boil some water and gently put the jar into the water for 10 minutes rapid boil. Remove jar, let cool. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Hungry

Salt, pepper, parsley, garlic, olive oil.

350 for 25 minutes, flip once.

I eat way too much chicken.

Marinaded Smoked Salmon

In my last post I used candied salmon (hot smoked). This recipe is usually made with sashimi but here I have cold smoked salmon. It is inspired by Sushi Train's sashimi bi bim bap.

Cut up about 3/4 cup of smoked salmon. Lighten the strong salty flavor with 2 tsp sesame oil, a little goes a long way. Add in 1 tsp of soy sauce. I chopped some cucumbers because I didn't have any shredded cabbage for a salad. Some garlic slices help balance the saltiness. I mixed in 1 tsp of sriracha hot sauce to taste.

Time to snack!

A Fresh Start.

 Instead of mixing canned tuna with just mayo, I made my own thousand island. 1 part ketchup, 1 part relish, 2 1/2 part mayo.

Vitamin C & fibre

 

It is never too late to start eating healthier. I've taken the lunar new year as an opportunity to cut back on bad carbohydrates.

Trying to keep it simple silly by going back to my roots. White rice, it has never failed my body.

My favorite part about food is preparing it. Lots of fun and relieves stress.

Voila!

Cut it up into fun snack size!

Love and Hate Affair.. With Gluten.

Picture from http://thisiswhatyoudream.blogspot.com
The thought came to me the way fresh baked bread fills the air. If I lived another sinful day of lust and gluttony, I'm afraid the guilt will be too much for me to handle. Seriously, it feels like the weight of every dish I've cooked here has surfaced to weigh me down before I can go on any further. I must stop immediately or else my days may be numbered.
It all began at the end of last week, one ordinary evening I could not sleep, my stomach poofed up feeling so full. What did I eat? The same stuff I've been eating the last ten years. Why was this happening all the sudden? My mind was thinking up of all the possible ailments. Sure I bloat after every meal but this was ridiculous. From my upper abdomen all the way down to the pelvic region was cramping actively. I couldn't sit, walk, and laying down did not make a difference. I had never been in so much pain for as long as I can remember.
Scared stiff, I googled my symptoms and quickly jotted down in my journal the awful sensations in hopes that I will make it through the night to look back upon. The past questions of other bloated people revealed that eating bread and pasta may be the cause, and right then it hit me, I remembered my History 12 teacher who was allergic to gluten and ate rice bread. No!!! I thought this was going to be the end.
I make it through that night rubbing the swell, imagining that it was erupting from the inside. When I awoke I knew I had opened my eyes because the pain was still there. It did not help that my toy sized dog pounced on my belly. As the hours went by, the pain stopped. I felt hungry but knew I could not go on eating the same foods anymore. Noodles. Just noodles, that's what I've eaten for the past week; egg noodles, udon noodles, wheat noodles. And sandwiches, or bread to dip in my curry, potatoes on the side, maybe it was the sugar in my coffee. I don't know exactly, nor have I seen a specialist to deal with it. Just hoping that it was my body's way of giving me a wake up call.
This experience has brought me to make a Lunar New Year's resolution: Live Without Gluten. Not just that slimy stuff that's found in flour, but I'm going to cut back on the potatoes and refined sugar too. I spent the last day unable to make up my mind on what to eat because everything I want to eat has been killing me slowly. I'm eating rice topped with a chicken and vegetable stir fry. I ate a banana for dessert. I drank herbal detox tea. On the even brighter healthier side, I am excited to be putting all my knowledge to work now; going to start recipes with diuretics, high fibre, whole grains, protein, fruit and honey to sweeten. It is never too late or early to redesign your diet.

Victoria, B.C.

Winter