Eye for a Recipe

These braised lamb shanks from Lucy Waverman are delicious and can be made ahead. Rub shanks with spices, brown and set aside. Sauté the vegetables, more spices, red wine, vinegar, stock, tomato paste and bay leaf and then bring to a boil. Return meat to pan and bake for 2 to 2 ½ hours. At this point, you can puree the sauce while baking the shanks for another 15 minutes. Reheat the sauce and the shanks together. To make ahead, refrigerate for up to a day before reheating.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Make sure the spices don’t contain colour or anti-caking agents. I used Acetaia La Bonissma balsamic vinegar which has no added sulfites, a wine from Frogpond Farm with a sulfite level below 10 parts per million, Better Than Bouillon chicken paste for the stock and Simple tomato paste.

Spice braised lamb shanks

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground cumin

1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground ginger

1 teaspoon (5 ml) paprika

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) cinnamon

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) cayenne

3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil

4 lamb shanks

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup (250 ml) chopped onion

½ cup (125 ml) chopped carrot

½ cup (125 ml) chopped celery

2 teaspoons (10 ml) chopped garlic

1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried rosemary

1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried thyme

1 cup (250 ml) red wine

1 tablespoon (15 ml) balsamic vinegar

2½ cups (625 ml) beef or chicken stock, home-made or low-sodium

1 tablespoon (15 ml) tomato paste

1 bay leaf

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300 F (149 C). Combine cumin, ginger, coriander, paprika, cinnamon and cayenne. Rub shanks with 2 teaspoons (10 ml) spice mixture.

Heat 2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil in skillet or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Brown lamb shanks in batches on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve. Wipe out pan and add remaining oil. Reduce heat to medium.

Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Sauté until onion browns slightly, about 5 minutes. Add reserved spice mixture, rosemary and thyme and sauté for 30 seconds. Add red wine and bring to boil. Add balsamic, stock, tomato paste and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Return meat to pan.

Bake for 2 to 2½ hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat and reserve. Discard the bay leaf and puree the stock and vegetables in a food processor or blender. Return sauce to pan. Place pan on stove over high heat and reduce until sauce lightly coats a spoon. Meanwhile, place the shanks on a baking sheet and bake at 400 F for 15 minutes. Return to pot.

When ready to use, simmer sauce and lamb together for 15 minutes or until reheated. Serves 4. To make ahead, refrigerate the vegetable-stock mixture and shanks separately for up to a day. Remove fat from vegetable-stock mixture, puree and reheat. Add the shanks to the sauce and simmer until they are reheated.

From Lucy Waverman

We are lucky to have a great fish monger close by, so were able to buy sushi-grade tuna for this delicious salad from Lucy Waverman’s Dinner Tonight cookbook. Cook the noodles and make the sauce. Then sauté shiitake mushrooms and ginger and stir in mirin, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and green onions. Then quickly sear the tuna so that it brown on the outside and rare in the centre (you can cook it longer if you wish, but the tuna won’t be as tender). Plate the noodle mixture and top with slices of the tuna and a spoonful of sauce.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Wasabi paste typically contains artificial colour and flavour, so I used 1 tsp (5 ml) of freshly grated horseradish and 1 tsp (5 ml) of President’s Choice Old-Fashion mustard in place of the wasabi paste. I used tamari instead of soy sauce, Yoshi mirin, Marukan rice vinegar and Lee Kum Kee sesame oil, which are additive-free.

Add cooked noodles to sautéed mushrooms

Quickly sear tuna on each side - it should be rare in the middle

Seared tuna with Japanese noodles

Ingredients:

2 tsp (10 ml) wasabi power or paste

½ cup (125 ml) mayonnaise

3 tbsp (45 ml) whipping cream

8 oz (226 g) udon noodles

2 tbsp (30 ml) vegetable oil

6 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced

1 tbsp (15 ml) grated ginger

1 tbsp (15 ml) mirin

1 tsp (5 ml) sesame oil

2 tbsp (30 ml) soy sauce

1 tbsp (15 ml) rice vinegar

3 green onions, slivered

4 8-oz (226 g) tuna steaks, about 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Combine wasabi, mayonnaise and whipping cream. Add a little water if it is too thick.

Cook noodles in boiling water until al dente. Drain well.

Heat 1 tsp (5 ml) oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and ginger and sauté until softened, about 1 minute. Stir in mirin, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and green onions. Stir in noodles and keep warm.

Heat remaining 1 tbsp (15 ml) oil in skillet on medium-high heat. Season tuna with salt and pepper. Sear tuna for 2 minutes per side (or longer if desired).

Divide noodle mixture among serving plates. Thinly slice tuna and place on top. Spoon wasabi mayonnaise onto tuna. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman’s Dinner Tonight

This Lucy Waverman recipe from Food and Drink features zhug – a Middle Eastern hot sauce that originates from the Yemeni region. It has great heat and flavour; I used it on both the vegetable kebabs and on grilled fish. Delicious!

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Make sure your spices don’t contain colour or anti-caking agents. Always use freshly squeezed lime juice. I use Marukan rice vinegar.

Zhug is a hot sauce that originates in the Yemeni region

Toss the vegetables with some of the zhug and then thread onto skewers

Grill until tender and charred in some spots

Middle Eastern vegetable kebabs

Ingredients:

¼ cup (60 ml) zhug (recipe follows)

2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil

1 tbsp (15 ml) rice vinegar

8 cups (2 L) mixed vegetables, cut into ¼ inch (5 mm) pieces, if necessary

Zhug

⅓ cup (80 ml) seeded, stemmed and quartered green jalapeño peppers, about 2 peppers

½ cup (125 ml) chopped parsley

½ cup (125 ml) chopped cilantro

1 tbsp (15 ml) chopped garlic

2 tsp (10 ml) lime juice

½ tsp (2 ml) ground cumin

½ tsp (2 ml) ground coriander

½ tsp (2 ml) ground cinnamon

¼ tsp (1 ml) ground cardamom

⅓ cup (80 ml) olive oil

Preparation:

Zhug

Place peppers, parsley, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and cardamom in food processor. Pulse until slightly chunky. Stir in olive oil.

Kebabs

Mix together zhug, oil and rice vinegar. Toss with vegetables.

Thread the vegetables onto skewers, either making skewers of single vegetables or making mixed skewers. Grill about 5 minutes a side (about 10 minutes total) or until vegetables are browned but still a little crunchy. Grilling time will depend on which vegetables you are using.

Serve with extra zhug as a dip. Serves 4.

From Food and Drink

The best ribs are cooked low and slow on a charcoal grill—but who has time to tend to the barbecue for hours? Instead, bake your ribs in a tangy marinade, pop them on the grill and baste them with your favourite barbecue sauce. This recipe from Lucy Waverman even gives you a great shortcut to make “half homemade” barbecue sauce.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Look for a Dijon without white wine or sulfites and make sure your spices do not contain colour or anti-caking agents. Heinz ketchup, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco original hot sauce are all additive-free. I used Miss Diana’s barbecue sauce as the base for my sauce.

Pour the liquid over the ribs in a baking dish

Bake for about 90 minutes

Separate ribs and grill, basting with barbecue sauce

Oven-baked ribs

Ingredients:

2 racks pork back ribs

Marinade

1 cup (250 ml) water

1 cup (250 ml) cider vinegar

¼ cup (60 ml) Dijon mustard

3 tbsp (45 ml) brown sugar

1 tsp (5 ml) hot-pepper flakes

½ tsp (2.5 ml) cayenne

½ tsp (2.5 ml) salt

Half homemade spicy rib sauce

1 cup (250 ml) store-bought barbecue sauce

¼ cup (60 ml) ketchup

½ cup (125 ml) cider vinegar

1 tbsp (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp (5 ml) hot-pepper sauce

1 tsp (5 ml) cayenne pepper

1 tbsp (15 ml) chili powder

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).

Remove the membrane covering the bones as that stops the rub from properly absorbing. Using a small, sharp knife, work the tip under the thin membrane until you have enough to grasp. Then, using your fingers, peel it back and discard. It is easiest to start in the middle and pull each part away from the bones. Place ribs in a baking dish.

Whisk together water, vinegar, mustard, sugar, pepper flakes, cayenne and salt until sugar dissolves. Pour over ribs and cover with foil. Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until ribs are tender. Reserve ribs and discard liquid.

Preheat barbecue to medium and oil the grill. Grill ribs for 25 minutes or until brown and crispy, turning occasionally.

Meanwhile, combine sauce ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes.

Brush with barbecue sauce of your choice and continue cooking until sauce is glazed, about 15 minutes. Cut into ribs and serve with more barbecue sauce. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman

You can make these tangy chicken wings from Lucy Waverman on either a gas grill or a charcoal barbecue, but the latter infuses them with delicious smoky flavour. These couldn’t be simpler to make; just combine hot sauce, cider vinegar and melted butter, toss the wings with oil salt and pepper, and grill them, basting every few minutes with some sauce. Cook’s note: keep the basting sauce separate from the serving sauce to avoid contamination from the raw chicken. You may also want to take it easy when salting the wings, as most hot sauces are very salty.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

There are lots of great hot sauces out there, and many don’t have artificial ingredients. Two classics – Frank’s Hot Sauce and Tabasco original hot sauce – are both additive-free. Look for butter that does not contain colour.

Grilling these wings over charcoal infuses them with smoky flavour

Ingredients:

Dunking sauce

½ cup (125 ml) hot sauce

¼ cup (60 ml) cider vinegar

¼ cup (60 ml) melted butter

Wings

2 lb (1 kg) chicken wings, separated, wing tip discarded

2 tbsp (30 ml) vegetable oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Preheat grill to medium high. If using a charcoal grill, sprinkle some soaked wood chips on the coals; I used pecan wood chips.

Combine hot sauce, vinegar and melted butter. Remove ¼ cup for basting and reserve the rest.

Toss wings with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place wings on grill, and grill for 3 minutes on each side. Baste with sauce and turn over again. Repeat turning and basting with sauce every 3 minutes or until chicken wings are cooked through, about 12 minutes to 15 minutes total, depending on the size of the wings. You can throw the wings into the remaining sauce or serve separately for dipping. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman

Spring may be just around the corner, but while there is still a chill in the air try this delicious baked pasta from Lucy Waverman. This is comfort food at its best – Italian sausages, a creamy sauce and five kinds of cheese. Enjoy it with a salad and a glass of wine.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Look for sausages without fillers or preservatives and for wine with a sulfite count lower than 10 parts per million. Cheese may contain colour, so read the label carefully. Use butter that contains only cream.

After browning sausage, mix ingredients in a bowl

Place pasta in glass baking dish and top with cheese

Bake until bubbling and brown on top

Ingredients:

12 oz (375 g) rigatoni

2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil

3 mild Italian sausages, meat removed from casings (14 oz or 400 g)

½ tsp (5 ml) chili flakes

½ cup (125 ml) white wine

1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream

1 cup (250 ml) milk

8 oz (250 g) ricotta

1 4-oz (125 g) ball buffalo mozzarella, sliced

8 oz (250 g) grated fontina

4 oz (125 g) grated ricotta salata (or feta)

1 cup (250 ml) green peas, defrosted if frozen

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp (15 ml) butter

½ (125 ml) cup grated Parmesan

Preparation:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add rigatoni and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until pasta is slightly undercooked (it will continue to cook as it bakes). Drain and reserve, reserving 1 cup (250 ml) cooking water separately.

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble in sausage meat and cook, breaking up with a fork, until it loses its pinkness, 4 to 5 minutes. Add chili flakes and cook for 1 more minute. Add wine and bring to boil. Boil until wine is reduced by half, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in reserved cooking water. Return to a boil then remove from heat.

Transfer contents of skillet to a bowl and allow to cool. Stir in cream, milk, ricotta, buffalo mozzarella, fontina, ricotta salata and green peas. Stir in pasta. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.

Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Butter a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) baking dish. Pour pasta mixture into dish and dot with butter. Cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer or until mixture is bubbling and cheese is golden on top. Serves 6-8.

From Lucy Waverman

Tagliatelle is a long, flat egg noodle that looks like fettucine. In this recipe from Lucy Waverman, it is paired with a delicious meat sauce. It’s a perfect supper for a stormy January evening.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

I used Unico tomatoes and tomato paste and Imagine brand organic chicken stock instead of the beef stock. Check the label on the mushrooms and cheese to ensure they are additive-free and do not contain colour. I used a red wine with a sulfite level lower than 10 parts per million.

Tagliatelle is a long, flat egg noodle

Brown the meat until no pink remains

Simmer the sauce

Tagliatelle with bolognese sauce

Ingredients:

½ cup (125 ml) dried porcini mushrooms

1 cup (250 ml) boiling water

One 796 mL can tomatoes

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

1 cup (250 ml) finely chopped onion

½ cup (125 ml) finely chopped carrots

½ cup (125 ml) finely chopped celery

1 tsp (5 ml) chopped garlic

1 tbsp (15 ml) chopped parsley

12 oz (375 g) ground beef

12 oz (375 g) ground pork

Salt and freshly ground pepper

½ cup (125 ml) red wine

1 cup (250 ml) beef stock

1 tbsp (15 ml) tomato paste

¼ cup (60 ml) whipping cream

Pinch nutmeg

1 lb (500 g) tagliatelle

½ cup (125 ml) grated parmigiano Reggiano

Preparation:

Soak mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes. Strain and reserve mushrooms and liquid separately. Finely chop porcini mushrooms and reserve. Strain tomatoes and reserve juice for another use. Chop tomatoes and reserve.

Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add onions, carrots and celery and cook gently for 10 minutes or until vegetables are very soft and beginning to brown. Stir in garlic and parsley and cook for 3 minutes more.

Add beef and pork and sauté until meat looses its pinkness, about 5 minutes. Add reserved mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Add wine and boil until wine is mostly evaporated and mixture is saucy. Stir in stock, mushroom soaking water, tomato paste and tomatoes.

Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 1 hour. Re-season and add whipping cream and nutmeg. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes longer or until flavours are combined.

While sauce is cooking add tagliatelle to a large pot of boiling salted water and boil for 5 minutes or until tagliatelle is al dente. Drain well.

Toss tagliatelle with sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman

Lucy Waverman recently published this recipe from Estonia in the Globe and Mail. She described it as a “powerful, full-flavoured but not spicy dish with the taste of the sun that we sorely need at this time of the year.” Estonia is in the Baltic region of northern Europe and Tallinn is its capital city. You can make this dish ahead, and serve it with rice or egg noodles. However to be truly Estonian, Lucy says to serve it with black rye bread.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Make sure your spices do not contain colour or anti-caking agents. I used nitrite-free bacon instead of pancetta and a red wine with a sulfite count of less than 10 parts per million. Unico tomatoes and Pilaros olives are additive-free.

Season the chicken thighs

Use only the white and pale green part of the leeks

Brown the chicken well and set aside

Bacon and parboiled garlic add flavour

Saute the bacon and vegetables

Add spinach and chicken and then bake

Chicken from Tallinn

Ingredients:

1 head garlic, separated into cloves

1 ½  lb (750 g) boneless skinless chicken thighs

½ tsp (2.5 ml) ground fennel

½ tsp (2.5 ml) chili flakes

1 tbsp (15 ml) finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup (125 ml) coarsely chopped pancetta

3 tbsp (45 ml) olive oil

4 leeks, white and light green parts only, well washed

½ cup (125 ml) red wine

1 ½ cups (375 ml) drained canned tomatoes, chopped

1 cup (250 ml) chicken stock

½ cup (125 ml) Kalamata olives, pitted, halved

1 tbsp finely chopped preserved lemon or 1 tsp grated lemon zest

4 cups (1 L) packed baby spinach

4 caper berries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 F (205 C).

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Remove root end from garlic cloves and add to water. Boil for 2 minutes. Drain and peel garlic cloves. Reserve.

Cut thighs in half. Sprinkle with fennel, chili flakes, rosemary, salt and pepper. Slice leeks on a diagonal into ½-inch (1.27 cm) pieces.

Heat oil in a large oven-proof skillet over high heat. Brown chicken in batches, about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and reserve.

Add pancetta to pan and cook for 1 minute. Reduce skillet heat to medium-low. Add garlic cloves and leeks, and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until soft. Add red wine and bring to boil, reduce by half. Add tomatoes and stock, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add olives and preserved lemon and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in spinach. Return chicken to skillet.

Transfer to oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in centre. Sprinkle with parsley. Top each portion with a caper berry. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman

This delicious combination of pork tenderloin with braised red cabbage and apple is from Lucy Waverman. The pork is sprinkled with spices and seared. The cabbage and apple are sautéed and then bathed in wine, vinegar, sugar and stock. Place the pork on top and simmer until the pork is done. While the pork rests, add more wine, vinegar and stock to the pan, reduce the sauce, and whisk in a little butter at the end.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Check your spices for colour or anti-caking agents. I used a red wine from with a sulfite level of lower than 10 parts per million, Imagine organic chicken stock, butter containing only cream and a balsamic vinegar with only naturally occurring sulfites.

Rub spices into pork tenderloin

Place seared pork on sauteed red cabbage and apple

Reduce sauce while pork rests

Pork tenderloin with red cabbage

4 cups (1 L) red cabbage, thinly sliced

1 tsp (5 ml) ground fennel seeds

1 tsp (5 ml) ground coriander

Pinch cinnamon

1 lb. (500 g) pork tenderloin

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil

1 apple, peeled and diced

½ cup (125 ml) red wine, divided in half

3 tbsp (45 ml) balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp (15 ml) brown sugar

Pinch red pepper flakes

1 cup plus ¼ cup (310 ml) chicken stock

1 tbsp (15 ml) butter

2 tsp (10 ml) fresh parsley, chopped

Preparation:

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add cabbage and bring back to a boil. Boil 1 minute, drain and refresh the cabbage with cold water. Drain well and set aside.

Combine fennel, coriander and cinnamon. Sprinkle over pork tenderloin, and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a skillet large enough to hold pork, or cut the meat into large sections to fit into the pan. Add pork and sear on all sides until browned, about 2 minutes a side. Remove pork and add apple and cabbage.

Sauté until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add ¼ cup (60 ml) of wine, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil. Add pepper flakes and ¼ cup (60 ml) of stock and return pork to the pan, reduce heat to medium-low. Cover skillet and cook tenderloin for 10 to 15 minutes, or until a touch of pink is left in the centre.

Remove pork and cabbage from the pan. Let pork rest 5 minutes.

To make the sauce, add remaining vinegar, wine and stock to the pan. Reduce on high heat for 5 to 7 minutes, or until thickened. Whisk in butter to finish.

Slice pork and serve with the red cabbage and apple mixture. Drizzle with sauce and garnish with parsley. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman