Sunday Feast № 39 | Spicy Chicken Stir-fry

Keeping it very brief this time. It's been a long while since I made this one, and since I am burrowing through my recipe notes, it was time to make it. The spices give this dish a warmth that has nothing to do with heat but everything with aroma. With this amount of vegetables, you can skip sides like rice or noodles, unless you absolutely must have them for a trio on a plate. Serves 4.

Sunday Feast № 38 | You saucy tart, Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Spaghetti alla puttanesca means "spaghetti in the style of a prostitute", and is not a very old dish after all, but considering the taste profile, it has a fitting name. Saucy, briny, with a hint of spicy heat, with a color selection of red and black that imitates just right, say, Carmen's garb (Spanish, I know, but you get the reference), while taking care of you just the way you needed. I was so fixated on getting the visual right that the Kalamata olives I already had just would not do. They were not black enough. The recipe is adapted from "The Food of Italy: A Journey for Food Lovers" - I used fresh cherry tomatoes instead of canned ones, and dried oregano although I could've used 1 tbsp fresh oregano. Let's play.

Sunday Feast № 37 | Goat Cheese Pistachio Prune Savory Cake

As Rachel Khoo notes in her video, often cake is taken as something sweet, but French do savory cake. Music to my ears as I believe that cakes are perfect breakfast food. Think of them as something similar to muffins. This one being savory has the lower guilt factor, if you will, and as such can be paired with egg done you favorite way - sunny side up in my case, till I truly master poached egg. The recipe is from "The Little Paris Kitchen" by Rachel Khoo, adjusted to use goat cheese instead of sausage, the way she does it in the video of her show.    Hopefully, unlike me, you can bake it at a setting specified in the recipe below, or twiddle with it all by baking at 345°F for 45 min then 340°F for 10 min then 350°F for 10 min then keeping it in an off-oven for 5 min for a total of 70 min.    Absolutely not necessary, but I guess I like to twiddle.

Sunday Feast № 36 | Roasted Trout with Thyme

This is a recipe I picked up a long time ago. Really long time ago. It is the easiest way to prepare a meal that can be served on a bed of lettuce or with Turkish bread and salad or with some sautéed potatoes and salad, and paired with a nice sauvignon blanc or similar dry white wine. Till now, I always did it with a whole trout, head and all, but as it turns out fillets work just as well. They have the added advantage of visual assessment for doneness as you can see the flesh turning opaque. Clean, filling, and very satisfying.

Sunday Feast № 35 | Quinoa Salad

Don't know where this recipe came from. My guess is that it was from a vegetarian magazine or website or blog. It made it into my recipe notebook back when I didn't keep references. Let me know when you find a reference, but till then I encourage you to give this one a go. Make the whole batch, which is meant to have 12 servings, and make those servings larger for a stand alone lunch or eat the leftovers on the weekdays as your carry-with lunch. Chill in the refrigerator in a meantime, of course. With the magic of quinoa and freshness of vegetables and herb and fruit (yes, tomato is a fruit) and nuttiness, prove me that you are not feeling wholesome after having this salad. Let me know if used it as a side dish, if you used it a side dish at all, and what did you pair it with.

No rice cooker? Lost the box with cooking instructions? No worries. Bring 2 qt/2 L of salter water to boil. Add quinoa, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 12-14 min, or until quinoa is tender and small 'tails' bloom from the grains.

Sunday Feast № 34 | Baked Potato

Baked potato is so pedestrian, and so simply comforting for that very reason. Helen Russell in her book "The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country" wrote how in the rural Jutland, where she ended up living for a year ... or ... I digress, feasts seemed to include something with potatoes more often than not. That something many a time was a pork product of one kind or another, but that is beside my rambling point. The Russets at my local seemed appealing all of the sudden, especially so since I prefer to either roast or fry or boil potatoes (yes, in that order, with the latter the only choice for young potatoes) rather than bake them, and Russets are perfect for baking; hence, there was something new to do at home. For me. Armed with Ali's recipe for the perfect baked potato at Gimme Some Oven and simply dressing the finished product with butter, sea salt, ground pepper, and dill, I was set to have my Jutland inspired meal. However, rather than porky anything, I opted for a different nod to the Scandinavian - smoked salmon. The meaty and porky sides will come out later in the year when the temperatures drop and need to feast rises.

Sunday Feast № 33 | Roasted Romaine Hearts with Vinaigrette

I like lettuce as much as the next person who likes lettuce. Its coolness is wonderful for hot weather, and having something light or lightened up, but unless loaded with extras that go beyond the dressing and extras with heft that might drown it as the star feature, lettuce does not even remotely feel like a meal. It just does not hug the tummy. Alas. With a bit of roasting, yes - roasting of lettuce, before getting dressed up moderately, it can be transformed. This is my favorite way of making romaine hearts into a meal with them still at the center. Sometimes I skip the cheese, or sprinkle on few bacon-y or bacon-like bits. The recipe is adapted from Food & Wine magazine from October 2013 - a recipe that inclued crushed roasted pine nuts in the vinaigrette and shaved hard cheese instead of crumbled feta.

Sunday Feast № 32 | Pesto and Feta Cheese Pizza

Are you still sitting on some frozen pizza dough from the time you made pizza Margherita? Made a new batch?    I am the former, freezer is my treasure chest, and lusting for that pizza base crunch, but with something other than tomato sauce. Here is something easy I threw together.

1 30 cm/12 in pizza base ½ cup traditional basil pesto ½ small red onion finely chopped 1 cup feta cheese crumbled

Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F. Spread pesto onto the pizza base. Top with tomatoes, red onions, and feta cheese. Bake for 8-10 min or until cheese is melted and brown.

Sunday Feast № 31 | Crispy Tilapia with Spicy Thai Basil Sauce

Ah dear Thai basil, you just keep on growing! Also, it is time to clean out the freezer from those frozen tilapia fillets (fresh is always nicer, but stocking food is a must). How can I marry you both? Thai basil meet tilapia fillets. Tilapia fillets meet Thai basil. And lets coax this relationship along with a dowry of matching staples. The recipe is from Sel et Sucre, and considering that I more often than not have non-panko bread crumbs (for such comforts as breaded pork cutlet), panko breading was a textural heaven for the mouth with that funky Thai basil sauce. Up for many returns. Thank you Thai basil!

Sunday Feast № 30 | Apple Walnut Spelt Muffins

"Why is there spelt flour in the cupboard?" "Dunno." "There must be a reason. I get the almond flour, but ... What was it used for?" "Dunno." "Hmm. Wait. Ah yes, it was for that rosemary and chocolate cake! OK, what else can I do with it?" "What does it say on the packet?" "Muffins. Yes, muffins are good and while at it let's see what else is there to add. Apples. Nuts. OK. OK." So I searched and came upon apple walnut crunch spelt muffins by Anne of fannetastic food (get it, f-anne-tastic?). I had pretty much everything except for ground flaxseed or even whole flaxseed; hence, the recipe below uses old fashioned oats as a substitute, and for different kind of texture. Also, a small pointer: skip using muffin cups like I did, unless you are willing to spray them with something oily; just spray the muffin pan or use a non-stick one. Why? The cups adhere quite well to the muffins and do not peel as smoothly as usual. Otherwise, if you are OK with fussing or eating paper ... See how you do. Makes 12+ muffins.