Rice Noodles with Shrimp, Daikon Salad, Vegetables and Cashews

Raul's browsing at the Gerrard and Broadview markets pays off with a hefty huge (and surprisingly inexpensive) Daikon radish. Radish not only provides lots of healthy benefits but is a tasty vegetable. Raul plans to make a form of kimchi but decides to settles for a simple salad.

He grates the Daikon using a mandolin and grates a bunch of carrots while he is at it. He covers the gratings with vinegar, water, salt, and chili pepper flakes and lets it sit.

He boils broad rice noodles while he stirfries some chopped vegetables. He adds the noodles and a Pad Thai sauce and, at the last minute, a handful of shrimp. As soon as the shrimp change colour he transfers it to bowls, layers on the Daikon salad, chopped green onions and a heaping of cashews.

Every bite is a slightly different flavour and there is a huge textural contrast between the chewy noodles and crunchy salad. Drew rises to get some pepper but stops dead in his tracks when a bit of radish explodes in his mouth. "Wow," he exclaims, "that is a tasty heat that lingers! And healthy. Bravissimo!"

Leek and Mushroom Lasagna

It is a grey day with more than a hint of autumn. Raul had ventured out the day before to explore the markets at Broadview and Gerrard and returned home not only enthused but also in possession of a huge bunch of leeks and a package of flawless brown mushrooms. Never having cooked with leeks before he decides to adapt a favourite comfort food to include them. "I'm not a fan of lasagna with tomato sauce," he notes. "All those years working at the convention hall, I just served and ate way too much of it."

Drew says nothing of the fact that lasagna made with white sauces have never appealed to him and in fact have quite often been left uneaten when served. He trusts Raul's culinary skills and waits to see what the results are.

Raul chops two large leeks and a pound of mushrooms before softening the former and browning, further, the latter, in an iron skillet and a bit of vegetable oil. Eight lasagna noodles are softened as well in a bowl of warm water. He makes a

Bechamel/Alfredo Sauce:

Ingredients:
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons sale
1 teaspoon white pepper
4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper, and whisk in the parmesan cheese.

Raul layers the noodles with the leeks, mushrooms, noodles and sauce in a shallow glass baking pan. He then covers it thickly with a cup of grated mozzarella cheese. The lasagna bakes at 350 degrees for half an hour covered in foil and then 15 minutes more to brown. It cools, not for long, and is served. 

Drew is amazed. "It must be all the cheese but this is delicious," he raves.

"Perhaps I'll try one with tomato sauce some time," says Raul. "Perhaps."

General Tso Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce and Noodles

"What do you feel like having for dinner?" asks Raul.

"Pizza," replies Drew.

"We still have two thawed chicken breasts from yesterday," notes Raul.

"Bbq?" says Drew hopefully.

"Pho?" counters Raul. "No. Let's save that for winter. Something heartier. A stir fry."

"Sounds delicious," says Drew.

Raul slices the chicken breasts into strips and then rolls them in corn starch and then fries them until they brown. "The corn starch acts as an adherent," he explains. "When I add them to the:

Sweet and Sour Sauce: 
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, two tablespoons of white sugar 
2 tablespoons of soya sauce, 
2 tablespoons of water 
1 squirt of ketchup
1 teaspoon of hot chili sauce

it will coat them perfectly."

Raul stir fries onion slices, red pepper strips, sliced mushrooms and thawed frozen vegetables (cauliflower, carrot and broccoli). He layers the serving bowls with noodles, the chicken, the stir fried vegetables, pours the sweet and sour sauce on top, and then sprinkles with chopped green onions. "Stir it all together," he suggests to Drew.

Drew does and it is even better than pizza.

BBQ'ed Steak Sandwich with Nuclear Macaroni Salad

Raul is suffering from either a cold or allergies and rather than further inflict his misery and moans on Drew and the dog, he turns to extreme comfort food: a grilled cheese sandwich (made with processed cheese slices) and Kraft Dinner. "Isn't cheese bad for increasing phlegm," says Drew with concern.

"I don't care," mutters Raul. "It makes me feel better."

Raul isn't able to consume all the Kraft Dinner so he stashes the remains in the fridge for future use. By lunchtime he is feeling hungry and like having something more substantial. There are some eye of round steaks that Drew found on sale in the freezer and Raul thaws them, pounds them and coats them with his favourite spice mix (paprika, Greek oregano, pepper and garlic powder). He caramelizes onions and red peppers, and sends Drew to the Milk Mart for crusty buns. And then he has a moment of inspiration: turning the leftover Kraft Dinner into a salad. He adds chopped celery, red peppers, diced onions and a spoonful of pickle relish, and a dash of black pepper. He stirs in a big helping of Miracle Whip and there is an instant tasty salad.

"How does it taste?" asks Raul. "My taste buds are off."

"It's delicious," reassures Drew. "I'll never be a fan of Kraft Dinner but I do love the camping campy flavour of nuclear salad."

Spaghetti Squash, Chicken and Coleslaw with Guyanese Chow Mein Noodles

There is still more spaghetti squash to be consumed so Raul decides, uncharacteristically, to improvise. He dry rubs two chicken breasts with paprika, Greek oregano, garlic powder, black pepper and salt, and sets them aside. He chops some green onions and carrots, and thaws a handful of frozen chopped vegetables. The chow mein noodles, imported from Guyana, are from the Danforth Variety & Fruit Market and are infused with turmeric for extra oomph. The noodles are boiled and stir-fried with the vegetables while the chicken breasts grill on the bbq. A dash of Nuku Cham (misspelled or mistranslated on the bottle R&D use - it is actually called Nuoc Cham) Vietnamese Salad Sauce in the stir fry, a handful of spaghetti squash for calorie light bulk and a sprinkling of Drew's sister's leftover coleslaw to add some vivid colour and the base is ready for the chicken. Raul chops the chicken into bite-sized pieces and layers on top.

"I wanted to play with different temperatures," says Raul of the way the cool squash and crunchy coleslaw contrast with the hot chow mein which is tasty and bursting with subtle flavour.

"Hmmm," says Drew. "A different explanation from my lukewarm spaghetti squash . . ."

Tempeh and Noodles

The tempeh has been in the fridge for over a week while Raul mulls how best to deal with the impulse buy. The weather remains rainy and cool so he decides to make noodles in an Asian style. A bit of googling and he is ready to tackle the tempeh.

The marinated tofu is supposedly somewhat tasteless so must be marinated. Raul chops the tofu into quarter inch squares and immerses them in a marinade of soya sauce, hoisin sauce, a bit of brown sugar and a squirt of garlic paste. He lets it soak for 20 minutes and then fries until browned on both sides.

At the same time the noodles are boiling for seven minutes then strained and splashed with sesame oil so that they won't stick together when stir fried. Green onions, carrots (pre-microwaved for three minutes) and green beans are stir fried into the leftover marinade and stir fried for three minutes. The noodles and tempah are mixed in and the entire mixture is covered and left to steam for five minutes. While plating he stirs in copious chopped coriander, mint and basil. 

"I'm not sure of the texture," says Raul of his first bite of tempeh.

"It's not like meat," agrees Drew. "More sort of grainy. But it doesn't have to have a meat texture. I like it."

The abundance of herbs gives each bite a slightly different flavour and all of them are good so Raul comes around. However he does insist that next time he will use less tempeh or perhaps add another protein like shrimp. Drew just decides to up the texture quotient and sprinkles crunchy cashews on his portion. Perfection.

Pork Loin with Noodle Stirfry and Watercress Salad

Raul rubs the pork loin with Chinese Five-spice then sets it to marinate for eight hours in soya sauce and chopped garlic. A quick bbq to 165 degrees, five minutes on each side, and it is ready for Raul. Drew's half takes another five minutes on each side. Despite having bravely enjoyed pork tartare, "Weird texture but delicious taste," the specialty of Zum Schlüssel a brewery/restaurant in the Altstadt in Dusseldorf, Germany, Drew still prefers his meat on the well done side. Raul indulges him with only a mild eye roll.

Pre-cooked Miki noodles are stir fried with chopped onions, carrots and red pepper. The pork loin is sliced and layered on the resulting noodles. The bowl is then smothered with chopped watercress, mint, coriander and chives, before being dressed with Nuku Cham Vietnamese Salad Sauce.

The pork loin is tender and succulent with lingering hints of cinnamon and pepper. The noodles are thick and the hint of salty fish sauce in the dressing gives the watercress a mild bite. A great blend. "You are the king of pork," says Drew though the words are almost unintelligible because his mouth is full.

Raul only nods. He is too busy chewing and savouring to bask in the compliment.

BBQ'ed Pork Filet on Thai noodles and broccoli slaw

After a lunch of homemade pesto linguine the grey day, and full stomach, drives Drew to a nap. When he awakens, the usual late Saturday afternoon dialogue begins. "What are you thinking for dinner?" says Raul casually.

Drew doesn't believe for a moment that Raul is being passive-aggressive, he is just trying to make Drew feel included in the culinary decisions. "I don't know, what do you have in mind?"

"I don't have anything in mind but there is pork marinating . . ."

The pork filet had been purchased on sale, Raul's Portuguese background is inexplicably more frugal than Drew's Scottish one, at No Frills because meat should never cost more than $1.99 a pound. Raul took the large cryovac packaged slab of meat and using a filet knife removed the silver skin - to avoid bitterness when cooking - and fat. He then cut the foot-long results in half to create portions for two which were then frozen.

After thawing the pork, Raul marinates it for four hours in a mixture of soya sauce, hoi sin, brown sugar, garlic and chili pepper. Sealing the filet in a airtight Ziploc bag means a small amount of marinade can infuse the meat completely.

In a mason jar Raul combines lime juice, olive oil, brown sugar, garlic paste, fish sauce and chili flakes. He adds the broccoli slaw (99 cents at Sobeys for a package he used a third of), shakes it vigorously and lets it sit while the pork is being bbq'ed for about 10 minutes. The pork is sliced against the grain in slivers and placed as the top layer over a bed of broad rice noodles (snapped into four inch segments before cooking to provide ease of eating) crowned with the now dressed broccoli slaw. The results are garnished with chopped coriander, mint, parsley and basil from the balcony garden, and cashews.