Spaghetti with Homemade Sauce and Meatballs

Humble beginnings, as usual: tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and an onion.

Tomatoes coarsely diced, for the sauce.

Veggies, chopped and ready to add when the time is right.

The sauce after cooking and blending. Stewing in its own juices with a bay leaf, and some basil, salt, and pepper.

Spice mix for the meatballs...homemade bread crumbs with finely diced garlic and onions, and a little salt and pepper.

Sauce on the stove.

Meatballs about to go in the toaster oven. My wife Mary calls them her 'minions'.

On top of spaghetti...

All covered with cheese!

(and a little bit of my homemade hot sauce)

Fried tofu with peppers and sesame seeds

This is the beginning of a delicious meal, as inspired by the fact that I was too lazy and cheap to make something fancy. It doesn't look like much now, but just wait...

Sauteed an onion and 13 cloves of garlic in olive oil, and then crumbled in 1 kg of soft tofu.

These little babies are going to add some flavor to the whole situation. Two kinds of red pepper, and some sweet long green chiles.

Christmas in September!

Looking almost ready to eat. Fried it all together with some soya sauce, thai sweet chili sauce, salt, and sesame seeds.

Paprika Chicken

This is one of my favorite recipes, care of my lovely aunt Josie. It has been a staple in my house for about 5 years now, so I thought I'd show off how it's done.

To start with, you need a LOT of paprika (I use about 1/3 to 1/2 cup, depending on how strong the flavor is). A little (1 tsp.) of chili powder gives it a nice edge. Lately, I've been putting turmeric in everything, so I put in a dash of that too.

Onions and garlic sauteed in butter and a tablespoon of leftover bacon grease.

After the onions and garlic are browned, I added yoghurt and all the spices to the mix, cooked for another minute or so, and then tossed the whole lot in the blender.

A copule nice chicken breasts, fried in butter...let's have a close up of those, shall we?

Once the chicken is cooked, the mix from the blender goes back on top. At this point, it's nice to let the whole thing cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, which gives time to make a side dish.

Completed meal, with broccoli as a side. It turned out quite well, though the paprika in Korea is a distinctly different flavor than what I was getting at the House of Spice in Toronto.

Dinner for two!

Hot Sauce

Started with a giant basket (800g) of hot peppers. I'm not sure what variety they are. I asked the guy at the store which peppers were the hottest, and this is what he gave me...

Diced onion, alongside my trusty Opinel.

Chopped up peppers; they are a thing of beauty!

Close-up of the peppers - they were such a vivid green color!

9v battery for size comparison; that's a mighty clove of garlic!

That should be enough...

Sweet peppers - I'm going to roast them and add them to the mix for a little smoky flavor. The other benefit of adding these is avoiding the need to add any sugar to the sauce; they provide just the right amount of sweetness.

Roasting the peppers.

Peppers, onions, garlic, and olive oil together in the pot. 

Finished cooking them, and they're about to go in the blender for their final dissolution ;)

Finished sauce on the stove.

Finished! The big jar is for me ;)

Home Fries

Humble beginnings - two different kinds of potatoes, because variety is the spice of life!

Little did I know that these would end up being the best tasting potatoes I've ever eaten in my life.

Rinsed and soaking in cold water. Longer is better, but they need to soak for at least 10 minutes.

Chopped up garlic - I think 5 cloves ought to do it, since they're huge!

Dry 'em before you fry 'em!

(after cooking, making bad puns and wordplay are my favorite things to do.)

My little tiny stove, and my trusty frying pan.












About 1/4 cup of olive oil, and the potatoes were on their way to...

Golden brown perfection!

(on the way, they met a little salt, pepper, chili powder, and a handful of minced garlic)

Homemade Pizza!!

Toppings: Mozarella, roasted red peppers, white mushrooms, and pepperoni.

Doughs rolled out, ready for baking. Small size due to the fact that each one has to fit in the toaster oven. That wine bottle isn't for inspiration, by the way; that's my rolling pin!

This was my first attempt at making my own pizza dough from scratch. It worked better than I expected, and was easier to roll out than any prepared or premixed dough I've ever used.

 Frying a little chicken to vary the flavors a bit.

 That's homemade tomato sauce on the right; ever since I started making my own, I can't go back to the store-bought stuff.

Stage one: tomato sauce on the pre-baked crusts.

On goes the cheese...

Close-up.

Stage two: three pepperoni pizzas, and one chicken.

Mushrooms added for flavor and cool looks.

Close-up #2.

Finished products, complete with roasted red pepper, and sesame seeds on the chicken pizza.

 Close-up #3.

Tried to take a picture before we ate it, but it got snapped up too fast!

Delicious!!