Lamb Shanks & Mashed Potatoes

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Don’t worry about Summer being over… be ‘Shankful’ it’s Fall! …. OK, that was pretty corny, but as it’s sad that the long warm days of Summer are getting shorter and cooler there is a silver lining… now it’s the season for delicious slow cooked comfort foods.

Lamb shanks are one of our favourites to make this time of year. They are an easy dish to prepare and result in a rich delicious meal. The method we use has minimal prep, a slow roast to start then a few hours of braising. There are so many flavour combinations you can use with lamb shanks – just ask Google and you’ll see. For our recipe we used an adaptation of a recipe we found on Cooks Illustrated (Braised Lamb Shanks with North African Spices). Here’s how we did ours…

Two Step Cooking Method:

Roast…. Salt & pepper shanks then place in Dutch oven and slow roast low temp (325 degrees) with the lid off for about a ½ hour
Braise… Take shanks out of pot, set aside. On stove, add a bit of oil to Dutch oven, sweat onions and garlic (or whatever you like), add broth, wine, tomato sauce, any spices you like (we used our own Moroccan Dry Rub instead of the Ras al Hanout that CI used). Bring to a boil for a couple minutes to mix ingredients. Put lamb shanks back in, cover and cook at 275 degrees for 2-3 hours or until the meat pulls away from the bone.

Ingredients:

The ingredients we use are all approximate and added to taste. I think that you really can’t go wrong when adding whatever appeals to you – here’s the gist of what we used:

4 lamb shanks
3 Cups broth (we generally use whatever is in the freezer – this time we used chicken broth as that’s what we had)
1 C Tomato sauce
½ C White Wine
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion – finely chopped
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
2 tbsp MMJ Moroccan Dry Rub
S&P

This time we served it with mashed potatoes, some corn we had in the freezer from earlier this summer and a sprinkle of parsley. Delish!!

Made from Scratch Freezer to Oven Meals

Posted on September 6, 2016 by admin

As requested we have been on the look out for healthy and delicious ready-made freezer to oven meals. Recently when chatting with a friend she said “you should meet my friend Nadine Hughes… she is renown caterer, award winning cookbook author, proprietor of ‘Thrive’ a very cool seasonal store she just opened Honey Harbour and…. she makes fantastic freezer to oven dinners made from scratch with great ingredients!”.

We went to visit Nadine at her 2000 sq ft kitchen in Oakville where all her catering magic and Dinner at Home Meals preparation happens. We left with a whole bunch of samples to try and may I say… sometimes our jobs are so hard… over the last month we have sampled some really really wonderful dinners and are now excited to share them with you.

A few things that stand out for us on Nadine’s meals:

Drug-free, Antibiotic-free Meats – The meats that Nadine uses are all drug free; no hormones, no antibiotics which, most importantly, keeps to our standards in meats.
It’s all about the ingredients – Just real delicious food! Without the use of all sorts of unpronounceable ingredients ie: preservatives, stabilizers, fillers etc.. You taste the actual food and spices and sauces – not the other mystery stuff.
Not over-seasoned – A pet peeve with prepared meals or even restaurant meals is that they are often made with too much sodium. I like to have the option to add salt and pepper if I like. These meals in my opinion are perfectly seasoned.
Portions are big – There are recommended serving sizes but in my opinion these serve more people as the meals don’t have loads of added carbs like rice and potatoes and pastas (except the mac & cheese of course). When you add your favourite sides the meals go a LONG way.

Here’s what we’ll be offering this order cycle (Sept2016) – for pricing and any newly added items check out our online order form.

Indian Butter Chicken, ~1.2Kg

One of the most popular, this dish is all chicken with a delicious sauce. Served along with some rice and veggies this meal will go a long way. Depending on appetites this should easily serve 4 hungry folks maybe more! Gluten Free

Ingredients: Chicken thigh meat, tomatoes, yogurt, tandoori paste, cream, ginger, jalapeno pepper, spices, vegetable oil, lemon, kosher salt, black pepper.

Chicken Pot Pie, ~1.3kg

Very chickeny with veggies, sauce and a delicate top crust this pie should feed 4 hungry adults. Just pop in the oven when you get home, maybe throw together a quick salad and you’re ready to go!

Ingredients: Chicken breast meat, carrots, butternut squash, potatoes, chicken broth, milk, peas, onions, unsalted butter, flour, garlic, spices, kosher salt, black pepper, Pastry (flour, milk, unsalted butter, vegetable shortening, baking powder, salt)

Gourmet 3 Cheese and Macaroni, .750gm

We think there should always be something for everyone – meat eaters and non-meat eaters! This 3 cheese macaroni & Cheese is great. Kids and adults alike will love this classic.

Ingredients: Elbow macaroni, milk, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, flour, unsalted butter, breadcrumbs, dry mustard, kosher salt, black pepper

We also will have available 2 fun products made by Nadine…

Energy Bites, Oatmeal Chocolate, 185gm, 12 balls/pk

I love these! They are perfect for when you need a little energy boost, great for school lunches (nut-free!) or simply for a yummy treat. You can eat them frozen right out of the freezer or let them sit out for 10 minutes to defrost and enjoy.

Hand rolled with 100% all natural ingredients – no preservatives, no artificial flavours, Gluten Free Friendly, Vegetarian.

Ingredients: Oatmeal, Sunflower Seed Butter, Soya Butter, Ground Flaxseed, Dark Chocolate Chips (cocoa) Unsweetened Coconut Flakes, Sesame Seeds, All Natural Honey, Pure Vanilla Extract.

Tomato Jam, 250gm

Chunky tomato sauce with the sweet and tang you find in ketchup but with extra yum complex flavours. This is dynamite – with the Macaroni & 3 Cheese and the Chicken Pot Pie – it also pairs wonderfully on a cheese plate!

Ingredients: Tomatoes, brown sugar, lemon, garlic, ginger, pepper, salt, ground cloves

Fish at Meat Me in the Junction

Posted on April 11, 2016 by admin

We have been doing our research, talking to many fish mongers/suppliers and sampling various types of fish. We are happy to say that we are now ready to offer fish that you can purchase with your regular order. Scroll down this article for info on how we determine which fish to offer.

Here are the fish that we have this month!

Wild Pacific Sablefish aka Black Cod – NEW this month!! (Jun2016). Ocean Wise certified for sustainability and wild caught. This fish has a smooth velvety texture with large yet delicate flakes. It has a rich, satiny sweet buttery taste. Rich in Omega-3s.

Wild Atlantic Haddock – NEW this month!! (Jun2016). Ocean Wise and MSC-C-51042 certified for sustainability. This haddock is a mild slightly sweet tasting white fish. It is lean with a medium texture.

Wild BC Sockeye Salmon – Ocean Wise and Marine stewardship Council (MSC) certified for sustainability. This Sockeye salmon has is a red/orange colour, is richly textured and highly flavourful. It is rich in Omega-3 essential fatty acids. The firm texture of this salmon lends itself well to grilling on the BBQ. It is also delicious baked, broiled, steamed etc…Wild Pacific Halibut – Ocean Wise certified for sustainability and wild caught in the Bering Strait. This skinless premium whitefish is a naturally lean and light fish with a sweet, delicate flavor with an added firm texture with a pure, snow white flesh. Maintains its firm texture and shape whether it is baked, broiled, grilled, poached or steamed.

Arctic Char – Ocean Wise certified and sustainably farmed. Arctic Char has a pale orange/pink colour, a firm texture and a flavour that strikes a balance of the mildly sweet freshwater taste of trout with the more robust taste of salmon. With a good fat content, Arctic Char is suitable for dry heat cooking such as grilling on the BBQ or under the broiler.

All fish products will arrive flash frozen and vacuum packed, in 4oz or 6oz portions.

So… how do we decide which fish to choose?

We use 3 key criteria to help us decide what to offer:

Sustainability
Healthfulness
Deliciousness

What is sustainable seafood?

It’s seafood that’s managed and fished in ways that support healthy fish populations and healthy ocean/lake environments so that seafood can be enjoyed for many years to come.

Here are two key issues considered:

Overfishing: When too many fish are being caught and populations aren’t able to replenish themselves.
Environmental impact: When the way a fish is caught (wild) or managed (farmed) has negative impact on marine plants, animals, the environment or other fish.

Healthfulness of the fish.

Key considerations to determine what fish are healthiest are the positive and negative attributes of the fish itself:

Positive attributes: Levels of healthy Omega3 fats, vitamins, minerals etc.
Negative attributes: Presence of mercury and other toxins in the fish

Deliciousness – As with all the products we choose – they have to taste great too!

Several organizations such as Ocean Wise, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), SeaChoice and others monitor and recommend types of fish and fisheries. Our choices have been guided by the recommendations of these organizations.

We found that beef, pork, lamb and poultry products that are properly raised without the use of antibiotics and growth promoting hormones grow at a slower (more natural) rate. This natural growth rate along with proper access to pastures, real daylight, etc. result in the best tasting meats. This is the same in the fish industry – the fish that grow in an sustainable environment and have the best health attributes end up having proper textures and the best taste.

More info please….

If you are interested in finding out more about which seafood rates the best on a sustainability and health level we found these websites reputable, easy to understand and very helpful:

http://www.oceanwise.ca/seafood

https://www.msc.org/cook-eat-enjoy/fish-to-eat

http://seafood.edf.org/

Meat Me in the Junction

Healthy Affordable Deliciousness

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