Bocconcini Salad

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Rating: 5 out of 5.
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A super simple and fresh salad…

After my latest Flora Friday post featuring basil, I just had to use the fragrant culinary herb in my next meal. This bocconcini salad highlights basil perfectly because its flavour enhances and brings the entire dish to life. This salad is super fresh and so quick and easy that it’ll only take you a few minutes to throw together. Paired perfectly with Italian cuisine, last night’s Italian themed dinner featured this delightful salad making it the perfect accompaniment to our chicken parm and inspired taste’s focaccia bread.

Bocconcini Salad

It’s all about quality…

Any recipe with few ingredients requires the best quality ingredients. There’s no where to hide with this bocconcini salad so I definitely recommend using top quality ingredients. Fresh basil from the garden brings a fragrant freshness to the salad. While perfectly ripe cherry tomatoes ensures you have a nice crisp bite each mouthful. Lastly, dressing your bocconcini salad with a high quality olive oil and salt will provide a noticeably tastier difference.

Tips and tricks

  • Cut your cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise as well as the bocconcini cheese. I find the smaller bites allow for better flavour distribution and the tomato juice adds to the dressing.
  • When chopping your basil, stack your washed basil leaves on top of one another. Then roll the stacked leaves and proceed to chop, which will result in uniformly thin stripes of basil.
Bocconcini Salad

Bocconcini Salad

A simple, fresh and fragrant salad.
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Prep Time 5 mins
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4

Equipment

  • Small bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes rinsed and halved lengthwise
  • 100 g bocconcini halved
  • ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
  • ½ tsp salt to taste
  • ½ tsp pepper to taste
  • 1 ½ tbsp olive oil extra virgin

Instructions
 

  • Rinse the cherry tomatoes and cut into halves.
  • Cut the bocconcini cheese into halves.
  • Chop the fresh basil into uniform thin stripes.
  • Combine the tomatoes, bocconcini, fresh basil, salt, pepper and olive oil into a service bowl and mix until the salad is fully dressed.
Keyword basil, bocconcini, Bocconcini Salad, cold pasta salad, italian, tomato

Potato Salad

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Rating: 5 out of 5.
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With us BBQ-ing so much lately, I simply couldn’t resist sharing another side dish recipe, my potato salad. As a Polish person, you know I love my potatoes, but in this summertime heat serving up a cold version of my favourite side dish is preferred. This easy cold and creamy potato salad is super simple to throw together and can accompany whatever main dish you’re grilling up.

potato salad

How to make it:

Start off by filling a medium pot 2/3 of the way with water and begin to bring to a boil. Next, cut the potatoes in half or quarter them depending on your preference, personally, I like my potatoes to be a bit smaller so I quarter the small potatoes. Add the potatoes to the water (even if it’s not yet boiling, that’s okay) and add 2 tbsp of salt (cooking starch in salted water is key!). Cook the potatoes until tender; they’re ready when your fork pierces through with ease. Drain the potatoes and let them cool.

While the potatoes are cooling, dice the red onion, red bell pepper, celery, radishes, chives, and bacon finely. If you like bigger chunks, feel free to dice the ingredients in larger chunks, just make sure that the ingredients are roughly the same size for a uniform and consistent salad.

Once the potatoes have cooled, combine all the ingredients and mix until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve. For presentation purposes, add some fresh dill on top when serving.

potato salad

Variations:

Vegetarian option: just don’t add the bacon! You can also try throwing in different veggies based on your personal preference.

Vegan option: omit the bacon and substitute regular mayo for vegan mayo.

Potato Salad

A classic creamy potato salad.
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Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 10

Equipment

  • Medium pot
  • Serving bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 lbs yellow petites potatos quartered
  • 3 stalks celery finely diced
  • 1 small red bell pepper finely diced
  • 1/2 small red onion finely diced
  • 6 stalks chives finely diced
  • 3 strips cooked bacon chopped
  • 2 radishes finely diced
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Boil the quartered potatoes in salted water under tender. Once cooked, drain and cool the potatoes.
  • Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix until well combined.
  • Garnish with fresh dill and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Keyword cold potato salad, creamy, potato, potato salad

Cheese Scones

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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Happy National Cheese day! I had a lot of cheesy recipes I wanted to share today, but with this summertime heat, I decided on a lighter recipe that wasn’t a heavy comfort food (although those are the most delicious in my opinion…). These flaky and buttery cheese scones are the perfect baked good for breakfast, lunch or with a tea. Eat them plain, with some butter, or ham and cheese like my partner likes. Although this recipe contains cheese, the cheese can easily be substituted; for fruit to make a sweet version, meat to continue on the savory route or you can make them plain and top them with a delicious jam.

Cheese Scones

Recipe tips:

You must must must use cold firm butter!!

No pastry cutter? No problem! You can easily use your hands to break up the cold firm butter into the flour mixture. The key is to make sure the butter doesn’t melt. You want there to be tiny butter chunks throughout the flour mixture.

When mixing the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, be sure not to overwork the dough. Less is better with this recipe. The mixture should just be combined before transferring to your floured surface and knead only a few times until your dough has been formed and shaped.

Cheese Scones

Variations:

With savory scones, depending on your taste buds, you can cut out a little extra sugar and add a tiny bit more salt (I’d recommend only adding 0.5-1 tsp extra). Remember this all depends on how you’re adding flavour to your scones. For example, if you want to make cheese and bacon scones, I wouldn’t add anymore salt because you’ll have added salt from the bacon bits.

With sweet or plain scones, I would add an extra 1/4 cup of sugar to the recipe. My personal favourite are raspberries, but feel free to experiment!

Cheese Scones

A delicious, flaky and butter base scone recipe with added cheesiness.
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Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 8 scones

Equipment

  • Baking sheet
  • Pastry cutter
  • Large bowl
  • Measuring cups/spoons

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter firm and cubed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup cheddar cheese shredded

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in firm cubed butter.
  • Add the egg, milk, and cheese and stir into the flour mixture until moistened.
  • On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough briefly and roll out into a 1/2-1 inch think circle. Cut into 8 wedges.
  • Place on a baking sheet and back for 15 minutes of until lightly browned.
Keyword baked good, cheese scones, cream cheese, scone, scones

Slow Cooker Molasses Beans

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
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If you know me, you know I absolutely LOVE beans and so does my partner, so they make an appearance just about every weekend morning. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with canned beans, but this slow cooker molasses bean recipe beats the added chemicals and preservatives that come in the canned versions. While you can definitely bake these beans so they’re ready in much less time, I personally love slow cooking them for a long time on low heat on a Friday night so that I wake up to fresh slow cooker molasses beans on Saturday morning.

slow cooker molasses beans

Now, this recipe definitely makes a fair bit if beans so if you’re not feeding a lot of people, they do freeze super well and can be taken out the night before you plan on eating them. Freeze them in a freezer bag or glass jars for up to 3 months. I personally prefer small glass jars, which I clean and reuse (ex. small salsa jar) because it’s a great portion size for 2 people. For a family of 4, I’d recommend a pasta jar size.

slow cooker molasses beans

Recipes tips:

  1. The first tip, and trust me I learned this the hard way through many trials and errors, make sure that your navy beans are cooked properly before adding them to the slow cooker and/or oven. NO they will not continue to cook and soften, so do not leave them a little al dente. It’s key that your beans are tender, but not mushy.
  2. Rendering your bacon fat is absolutely crucial and requires your attention. Dice your bacon and add to the pan on medium heat. Render the bacon slowly and when 3/4 of the way done (you do not want the bacon to get crispy) add the onion, garlic, pepper and chili powder. Seasoning at this point will help boost the flavour. The bottom of your pan will have brown bits full of flavour, called fond, so it’s key to deglaze your pan to extract all that flavour. Here at Fork & Flora it’s all about flavour, flavour, flavour!
slow cooker molasses beans

Variations:

For a vegetarian option you can easily omit the bacon. Replace with some diced tomatoes or nothing at all!

For a vegan option, omit the bacon and use a vegan molasses and BBQ sauce and you’re good to go!

For a non-alcoholic option, use a non-alcoholic beer, water or broth.

Slow Cooker Molasses Beans

These delicious slow cooked beans are the perfect accompaniment to your weekend breakfast.
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Prep Time 1 d 1 hr
Cook Time 10 hrs
Course Breakfast, Side Dish
Cuisine British
Servings 20 individual servings

Equipment

  • Slow cooker
  • Medium pot
  • Large pan

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups white navy beans soaked in cold water for 24 hours
  • 1 large yellow onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup bacon diced
  • 3/4 cup beer of your choice
  • 4 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 3/4 cup vegetable broth

Instructions
 

  • Soak 2 cups of white navy beans in cold water for 24 hours.
  • Simmer the soaked beans, in fresh water, for approximately 40-60 minutes until tender but not mushy (the timing will largely depend on your stove top).
  • In a large pan, over medium heat, cook and render the fat of the diced bacon for approximately 12-15 minutes. At this point, before the bacon gets crispy, reduce to medium-low heat and add the diced onion, garlic, pepper and chili powder. Sauté for 3-5 minutes, until onion becomes translucent. Next, turn up to medium-high heat and add beer to deglaze the pan, about 5-7 minutes until the alcohol evaporates.
  • Add your bacon mixture and drained tender navy beans into the slow cooker. Add the molasses, BBQ sauce, ketchup, tomato paste, vegetable broth, onion powder and garlic powder and stir the contents until well combined. Depending on time, you can slow° cook the beans on low heat for 10 hours (overnight) or on high heat for 4 hours.

Notes

Don’t have a slow cooker? You can easily bake these beans in the oven at 375°F for 2.5-3 hours.
Keyword breakfast beans, navy beans, slow cooker, slow cooker beans, slow cooker breakfast beans

Coconut Red Thai Curry

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
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Here in Ontario, we’ve officially skipped spring and jumped straight into summer. With no time to let our bodies adjust to this sudden heat wave, sometimes the best way to temper your body is by eating a hot dish instead of a cold one, so here’s a deliciously fresh vegan Coconut Red Thai Curry that will help your internal temperature adjust to this sudden burst of summer.

coconut red thai curry

With minimal equipment, fresh ingredients, and so many options to make this suit your own taste buds, this quick and easy 30 minute dinner is perfect for a busy schedule.

Not vegan?

Not vegan or don’t like vegan food all that much? Don’t worry! This coconut red Thai curry definitely doesn’t have to be exclusively vegan. We’re still very much in quarantine so this dish was whipped up with whatever I had left in my fridge and pantry, but you can easily substitute the chickpeas for any other protein you like.

coconut red thai curry

Alternative options:

  • Replace the chickpeas with chicken or seafood and you still have yourself a yummy and fresh curry.
  • If you’re not the biggest fan of coconut, I’d recommend cutting the amount of coconut milk in the recipe in half and in turn add more broth instead. However, if you do this, you may need to add a bit of cornstarch (mixed in with the broth before adding it to the curry) to thicken it up.
  • If you don’t like coconut at all, you can omit the coconut milk, but I’d recommend replacing it with some heavy cream to ensure you’re left with a curry like thickness. If you use broth only, this will end up being more of a soup than a curry.

Coconut Red Thai Curry

A fresh vegan red thai curry full of vegetables and coconut flavour.
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Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Thai
Servings 4

Equipment

  • Large pot

Ingredients
  

  • 2 small carrots peeled and julienned
  • 1/2 red bell pepper julienned
  • 1/2 green bell pepper julienned
  • 1 medium yellow onion julienned
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup bean sprouts
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp ginger minced
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 lime juiced
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp red curry paste store bought or homemade
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • fresh cilantro for garnish
  • 1 cup uncooked rice for serving; cook as per instructions

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot, on medium heat, add the olive oil and sauté the onions for about 1-2 minutes. Add the bell peppers and carrots and continue to sauté for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and salt and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.
  • Add the chickpeas, soy sauce, red thai curry paste, rice vinegar and lime and mix until well combined. Cook for 2 minutes.
  • Add the broth and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to a simmer and add the coconut milk. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
  • Add the bean sprouts and continue to simmer until they are the texture of you're liking, which personally I let simmer for about 2-3 minutes.
  • Serve on a bed of the rice of your choosing and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Notes

If you don’t like rice, you can also serve this delicious Vegan Coconut Red Thai Curry over some rice noodles. 
Keyword coconut, Coconut Red Thai Curry, curry, Red Thai Curry, Thai, vegan

Imitation Crab Pasta Salad

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Rating: 5 out of 5.
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Summertime dinners and BBQ’s require plenty of fresh and delicious side dishes, so this cold imitation crab pasta salad is perfect for any summertime meal. Don’t be thrown by the use of imitation crab because for the price you absolutely can’t go wrong. However, if you’re feeling bougie, feel free to substitute it for some real crab!

Imitation crab pasta salad

This simple and tasty side dish is super easy to make. Dice up your ingredients, add them to your cold cooked pasta and coat with the dressing and you’re ready to go!

A favourite around the table

I know that a lot of people may not be super into the whole imitation crab aspect of this cold pasta salad, but I wouldn’t recommend leaving it out. The imitation crab is the main component of this dish but you could substitute real crab instead. I tested this dish out on a couple of friends who don’t touch seafood and even they liked it, so it’s sure to be a BBQ favourite.

Imitation crab pasta salad

Tips:

  1. Ensure that you dice the red bell pepper, green onions, radishes and celery quite finely. In my opinion it tastes better when the veggies are cut in a uniform and consistent way.
  2. Feel free to add more chopped fresh dill based on your preference.
  3. Although you can use any type of caesar dressing, Renée’s has been and always will be my absolute favourite. It’s much creamier than most other dressings so the consistency will be more suitable compared to other brands.

Imitation Crab Pasta Salad

A fresh, cold pasta salad dish that's perfect for your next BBQ.
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Prep Time 25 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Course Salad, Side Dish

Equipment

  • Medium pot
  • Medium bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 450 g macaroni pasta
  • 227 g imitation crab meat chopped
  • 1/2 cup corn kernels
  • 1/2 cup red bell pepper finely diced
  • 2 stalks celery finely diced
  • 2 tbsp green onion finely diced
  • 3 radishes finely diced
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup Renée's Caesar Dressing (or an alternative brand)
  • 2 tbsp fresh dill chopped

Instructions
 

  • In a medium to large pot, bring 5 cups of salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook as per packet instructions. Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the macaroni from continuing to cook.
  • In a medium to large bowl, add macaroni and remaining ingredients until well combined.
  • Garnish with fresh dill and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Keyword cold pasta salad, crab, imitation crab, pasta, salad, side dish

Classic Beef Burger

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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Spring is officially here in Southwestern Ontario, so that means BBQ season is about to ramp up in my household. I love grilling season because there’s just something about cooking outside over the grill or fire that makes food taste better in my opinion. Whether you’re grilling veggies, meat or fruit (yes, fruit!) there’s one staple recipe everyone should have at their fingertips, a good ol’ classic beef burger.

Dressing a classic beef burger with some classic condiments.

This simple and juicy classic beef burger is super easy to make and definitely beats out the box of frozen burgers you’d buy at the grocery store. All you have to do is combine all the ingredients listed below, form some patties and throw them on the grill. Don’t have a BBQ? Don’t worry! You can still make these on your stove top using a grill pan or a regular pan.

A classic beef burger dressed with bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onion and pickles.

Toppings!

So many toppings to choose from, so this is where you can build the perfect burger based on your taste buds. I decided make a classic bacon cheeseburger (pictured above) topping it with mayo, mustard, ketchup, sliced red onion, pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. The opportunities are endless!

Beef Burger

A tasty, juicy classic beef burger. Perfect for those summer nights on the grill.
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Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 patties

Equipment

  • BBQ (or stove grill top and/or pan)
  • Large bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 lbs ground beef
  • 1 med yellow onion very finely diced, I personally use a hand held food processor.
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp chili flakes
  • 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp BBQ sauce
  • 6 buns
  • toppings of your choosing

Instructions
 

  • Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
  • Preheat BBQ to 450°F
  • Make patties to the size of your liking, but remember that they will shrink a bit once cooked. I made 6 patties out of the beef mixture.
  • BBQ on each side for about 4-5 minutes, (this depends on the thickness of your burger).
  • Toast your bun and top the burger with your preferred toppings.

Notes

Personally I like using a hand held food processor to dice the onion and garlic until very finely diced, to an almost paste like texture.
How do you know when your burger is done? Brown meat and grill marks on both sides of your burger patty give a pretty good indication that your burger is done. You don’t want to leave it on too long otherwise it’ll dry out, so if you want to be extra sure don’t be afraid to slice into the middle of a patty to check if it’s done. It’s also very common in Europe to eat burger’s that are medium to medium-well done, so don’t be afraid if it’s a little pink. That being said, a little bit of pink is okay, but too much and you can get sick. Particularly if you’re not used to eating rare meat. 
Keyword beef burger, beef,, burger, classic burger, classic hamburger, hamburger

Banana Bread

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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Guess what the most searched recipe has been during quarantine? Banana bread! So, this cold dreary end to the Victoria Day long weekend was destined for this yummy loaf.

Perfect for the morning, daytime or evening dessert, heck it’s the perfect snack at any point in the day. Whether you want to eat it in loaf form or as individual muffins, this fantastic recipe was gifted to me by my best friend’s mom, Dale.

Sliced banana bread with chocolate chips and crushed walnuts.

Variations:

Keep it simple and straight up banana or for added flavour and texture I recommend walnuts and/or chocolate chips. It’s all based on personal preference so don’t be afraid to get creative. My personal favourite is banana bread with chocolate chips.

Plain banana bread batter fully combined and ready to be baked.
Banana bread batter with chocolate chips and walnuts.

Dale’s Banana Bread

A yummy banana bread recipe perfect for any time of the day.
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Prep Time 10 mins
Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 1 loaf or 12 muffins

Equipment

  • Loaf pan or muffin pan
  • Fork
  • Two bowls, (medium-large size)

Ingredients
  

  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 lg bananas ripe, or 4 small ripe bananas
  • *1/4 cup walnut pieces (optional)
  • *1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375°F
  • In a bowl, mash your bananas using a fork until there are no large chunks of banana left. Add sugar, beaten egg, and melted butter to the banana mixture and mix until combined.
  • In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder together.
  • Mix the flour mixture into the banana mixture until combined. *Add walnuts and chocolate chips, something else or nothing at all!
  • Grease loaf pan or prep muffin pan before filling.
  • For loaf: bake 30-35 minutes, for muffins: bake 20 minutes. Ready when toothpick comes out clean when checking if ready!
Keyword baked good, banana, bread, muffins

Butter Chicken

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Rating: 5 out of 5.
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For my first post, I just had to share my all time fan favourite recipe, butter chicken. This recipe takes time to build it’s flavours, but the end result is absolutely to die for. My version has a bit of a kick to it, but don’t worry, you can omit the spice factor if that doesn’t suit your taste buds.

Did you know?

During this quarantime, Butter chicken is the most ordered takeout dish during In Canada? With all that time on your hands, why not give this easy butter chicken recipe a shot!

Butter Chicken over basmati rice with a side of garlic naan.

The prep and actual cooking of this dish doesn’t take long, but the key is to let this curry simmer for at least 2 hours to absorb and build all of it’s delicious flavours. Trust me, if you’re looking for a quick curry than this is not the recipe for you.

This recipe is also vegetarian friendly as the chicken breasts can easily be substituted with chick peas. Serve over a bed of basmati rice and/or some lightly toasted naan and you have yourself a wonderfully comforting and tasty dish.

Butter Chicken over a bed of basmati rice
Print Recipe

Pat’s Butter Chicken

A creamy, buttery and comforting curry.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time2 hrs 30 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: butter, chicken, curry
Servings: 8
Author: Fork&Flora

Equipment

  • Large pot

Ingredients

  • 3-4 chicken breasts, cubed You can also use 6-8 deboned chicken thighs or 1 can of chickpeas for a vegetarian version
  • 1/4 cup salted butter
  • 8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup ginger, freshly grated or minced
  • 473 ml heavy cream
  • 1 lg yellow onion, diced
  • 156 ml tomato paste
  • 796 ml tomato sauce
  • 2-3 jalapenos, diced Control the spice level by removing jalapeno seeds for less of a kick or omit the seeds entirely for no kick at all. Personally, I like mine to have a bit of a kick so I generally add 3 diced jalapenos and the seeds of 1.5 jalapenos.

Instructions

  • Combine the cumin, coriander and salt in a small bowl, set aside.
  • *Cube chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. In a large pot, melt 2 tbsp of butter on medium high heat and add in chicken. Use half of the spice mix on the chicken and cook chicken pieces for approximately 2 mins on each side until lightly browned. Remove chicken from the pot.
  • Add remaining butter and onion to the pot. Cook for about 2 mins, until onion begins to become translucent. Add remaining spice mixture, garlic, ginger and jalapenos. Sauté until vegetables are cooked, about 4 minutes. Return chicken to the pot.
  • Stir in tomato paste and tomato sauce until well combined.
  • Add the cream and bring to a boil. Immediately turn down to simmer and let the curry simmer for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours to let the flavours develop.
  • Serve over basmati rice and/or naan.

For a vegetarian version:

  • *Add the can of chickpeas a minute after adding the remaining spice mixture, garlic, ginger and jalapenos to the pot.

Notes

It is absolutely key that you let this curry simmer for a minimum of 1 hour, but for best results simmer for 2 hours.