Taste of Chironto

Sesame Street Birthday Brunch

2011-05-23T15:49:00.010-04:00

I had a Sesame Street birthday brunch for my daughter's 2nd birthday and thought I'd share some of my decorating and food ideas. I had so much fun preparing everything...cooking, crafting and decorating...all of my favourite hobbies put to use for my favourite little girl.

It all started with a few (okay a lot of) printed images of Sesame Street Characters. I even found some of the old school characters that used to be on when I was a kid...(Guy Smiley, the yip yips...) It was fun finding these characters.
You can make a lot of inexpensive decorations with the simplest supplies.

I made this cute little birthday banner with some sticker letters and clothes pins.

I also printed the same Sesame Street images on labels and stuck them on clear plastic cups (in which I served Yogurt Parfaits).

Since I had some left over images, I just cut them out and stuck them on the walls, hung some balloons...et voilà!

I found the idea for these cute party hats on etsy. If I had orange paper, I would have made Zoe and Ernie as well...but alas...i had to make do.

Et la pièce de résistance...Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes.

Here's what I served for the birthday brunch:

Fruit skewers (green grapes and strawberries)
Yogurt parfaits (layered vanilla yogurt, mixed berries and granola)
Ham and Broccoli Quiche (recipe below)
Spinach and Artichoke Quiche (recipe below)
Hashbrowns
Sausages
Cupcakes

Quiche 2-ways (Spinach Artichoke and Ham, Mushroom and Broccoli)
2 pie shells, thawed
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 pkg spinach thawed (squeeze as much water out as possible)
1 jar marinated artichokes, drained and chopped
100g black forest ham, chopped
1 cup broccoli chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
6 eggs
2 cups milk
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions
Prick pie shells all over and bake for 15 mins at 400F. Allow to cool.
Beat eggs, milk, cornstarch, salt and pepper until blended.
Fill one pie shell with spinach and artichokes and half of the cheese
Fill other pie shell with ham, mushrooms and broccoli and the rest of the cheese.
Divide the egg mixture between the two pies and place pies on a baking sheet (to prevent spill-over in your oven while baking!).
Bake at 350 for about 35-40 mins or when egg is set.
(You can test by inserting a knife and if it comes out clean, it will be ready.)

Prego Rolls

2011-02-27T15:18:00.003-05:00

Yup, this one is sooooo delicious that I couldn't resist taking a bite before taking the picture! My mother-in-law made this for us when we went to visit them in Cape Town this year. It is so fast and easy to make and so so so so satisfying and yummy. The egg just oozes out and creates the most complimentary creamy sauce to the peri-peri steak. And the arugula gives it a fresh peppery taste.
Peri-peri sauce is a South African staple. It is Portuguese in origin, but adaped a little for South African tastes. We used Bushman's peri-peri sauce, but Nando's is also good. You should be able to find this at your local No Frills or Loblaws, but if you have no luck, try the Nando's chain restaurant...they'll have it for sure. There is no other flavour substitute for peri-peri I'm afraid. If you can get a hold of the actual peri-peri powder, then all the better. Not sure where you can find it in Toronto though? Perhaps in a Portuguese grocery shop? You can leave a comment if you know where to get it.

Ingredients
2 large thin cut beef steaks (sirloin should do it..)
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp peri-peri sauce
1/2 tsp peri-peri powder (optional)
juice of 1 lemon
2 large crusty rolls,
2 large eggs
2 handfuls of arugula

Directions
Marinate the steaks in the garlic, peri-peri sauce/powder and lemon juice for a few hours in the fridge.
Quickly toast buns in the oven for about 5 minutes.
Get out 2 skillets...this goes really fast. Heat one skillet on high and flash fry the steaks for about 2 minutes on each side. Cook 2 eggs in the second skillet on medium either sunny-side up or over easy, but do not allow the yolks to set completely. Put the steak and egg on the bun and top with arugula. Squish down so the yolk breaks and makes a runny sauce. Eat up...this is a messy one, so have napkins nearby!

Chicken with Artichokes and Mushrooms in Avgolemono Sauce

2011-02-24T10:54:00.004-05:00

My best friend married into a Greek family, and every time we go and visit them in Chicago, we often end up at a Greek restaurant. And let me say Chicago has amazing Greek food. Don't get me wrong...I have love for our own Greektown on the Danforth here in Toronto, but every time I go to Chicago and eat Greek food there, I'm always surprised at the different variety of dishes I find on the menu. Sometimes I even have to ask...is this really Greek food? Because when I think Greek, I have to admit that I think of roast lamb, souvlaki, feta and garlic. I have since learned, that there are other delicate, milder flavours used in Greek cooking. When I discovered avgolemono sauce, I think I fell in love. The creamy, lemony, savoury flavour is both tastebud awakening and light and mellow at the same time.
In discussion with my best friend's m-i-l, she told me about this dish she makes with avgolemono sauce and chicken with artichokes and mushrooms. I just HAD to ask for the recipe and make it when I got home. It was so good that even baby gobbled it right up!

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts sliced
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
5-6 button mushrooms, sliced
1 can artichokes, drained and quartered
1 cup water

Avgolemono Sauce
2 eggs
1/3 cup lemon juice (juice from 1 large lemon)
1 tsp cornstarch
1/3 cup hot broth or cooking juices reserved
1/3 cup freshly chopped dill (my own addition)

Directions

Saute the onions garlic and mushrooms in a skillet until soften and golden. Add chicken and brown slightly. Add water, cover and simmer on med-low heat until chicken is cooked through. Reserve a few ladle-fulls of the hot pan juices/broth (approx 1/3 cup)
Prepare the avgolemono sauce:
With a hand mixer, whisk eggs until pale and frothy. Slowly stream in the lemon juice and then the cornstarch. Very slowly stream in the reserved hot broth so that it does not curdle the eggs. Once the sauce is well incorporated, pour it all into the skillet, mixing well. Turn the heat on low and allow the mixture to heat through and thicken to a creamy consistency and do not allow sauce to boil. Sprinkle fresh dill, stir well and serve over rice or orzo. OPA!

Braised Short Ribs Penne

2011-02-13T19:51:00.005-05:00

This is just one of those really hearty meaty dishes that will warm you up on a winters night. Braising marbled meats like beef short ribs for hours in the oven, makes them soooooo juicy and fork tender. I remember seeing this recipe from Everyday Italian on the Food Network. I couldn't remember the exact recipe, so I just made up my own. This would be a GREAT dish to make for a dinner party or a potluck, because it is not only delicious and satisfying, it is really easy to make and shredding the meat like this stretches pretty far... plus short ribs are not really an expensive cut of meat. Serious good eats.

Ingredients
4 large short rib slabs
1 large onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 can tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 box penne

Gremolata
1 clove garlic, minced
zest of one large orange

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 F
In a dutch oven, brown the short ribs in olive oil on both sides.
Saute onions, celery and onions until soft. Add tomatoes, bay leaf, pepper and 1/2 of the beef broth. Bring to a boil and cover and transfer to the oven. Braise for about 2-3 hours. Check on the liquid halfway through and add the rest of the beef stock.
Boil penne to al dente.
When meat is fork tender, remove from sauce and shred with 2 forks, removing the bones and excess fat.
Skim the sauce of oil and puree slightly with an immersion blender. Add shredded beef back in and top with gremolata mixture (the heat from the sauce will melt the garlic and orange mixture slightly and give an amazing flavour). Drain penne and toss with the sauce. Eat with a salad and bread.

Bacon Cheeseburger Macaroni

2011-02-10T08:58:00.004-05:00

Bacon cheeseburger meets mac & cheese. What more do I need to say? It's comfort food heaven.

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup canned tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups macaroni
1 cup shredded cheddar (I used the Tex Mex shredded cheese)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard (or yellow mustard...whatever you like to put on your burger)
2 tsp Ketchup

Directions
Boil macaroni in a large pot of salted water for 11-12 minutes or until desired
Meanwhile, fry bacon in a skillet. Drain bacon on paper towels, set aside. Drain away fat from the skillet and brown the ground beef.
Make a hole in the middle of the skillet and saute onions and garlic until fragrant.
Add oregano, thyme salt and pepper and tomatoes and mix well and leave on low heat while you deal with the macaroni.
By now, the macaroni should be cooked. Drain water and while macaroni is still hot, add cheese and mix until melted and gooey. Stir in the sour cream, dijon mustard and ketchup. Then add the beef & tomato mixture from the skillet and the bacon. Stir everything together and season with more salt if needed. Serve with additional ketchup and mustard if you so please. I recommend you eat this in your pjs. It's that comforting.

Char Kway Teow

2011-02-01T20:36:00.006-05:00

Wow, it's been a while since i've blogged some recipes! A friend reminded me that she liked to get recipe ideas from here, so I will keep on posting when I remember.
Over the weekend, I went to T&T to take advantage of some of the CNY sales, so we'll be indulging in Asian food all week. Sunday night, I made enoki beef rolls and char kway teow. Char kway teow is a really popular dish in Singapore, and during my visit there last February, I ate my fair share in the food courts...ahh...Singaporean food courts...I miss you! Here's my recipe for char kway teow. Enjoy.

Ingredients
1 package of fresh ho fun (rice) noodles (you must use these the same day as you buy them, or they get hard and dried out)
1/2 lb thinly sliced beef
1 clove minced garlic
1 inch minced peeled ginger
2 cups bean sprouts
2 cups spinach
2 green onions chopped

Sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp kecap manis (thick sweet soy sauce or sugar if you can't find it)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup beef stock

Directions
In a colander, gently wash noodles under hot tap water, carefully separating them.
Mix ingredients for sauce in a measuring cup and set aside.
Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan on med/high heat and fry garlic and ginger quickly until fragrant. Add beef, and stir fry until cooked. Add beansprouts, and saute until softened. Gently stir in noodles and cook through. Add spinach to wilt gently and pour sauce over, while tossing gently. Just before serving, sprinkle with green onions and give a final gentle toss.

Mussels in White Wine Tomato Saffron Sauce

2010-08-15T20:34:00.002-04:00

I've never made them at home before but I heard they were super easy, so when I saw them on sale today, I bought a bag.
This recipe was so good. It tasted very restaurant quality if I do say so myself. Can't wait to go diving for fresh mussels while we're in Cape Town.
The broth was so good for dipping fresh crusty bread. Even our baby LOVED the broth. I gave her a few sips from a mussel shell. She couldn't get enough.
Please do try this at home.

Ingredients:
3lb bag mussels, scrubbed and rinsed (discard any cracked or open mussels)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion chopped
5-6 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup canned tomatoes
1 cup good white wine
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp good quality saffron
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Directions
In a large pot, heat olive oil and butter at medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until fragrant (about 3 minutes). Add tomatoes, wine, thyme, saffron, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add mussels and stir. Cover pot and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Shake the pot a few times (with the lid closed) while cooking so the bottom of the pot doesn't burn.
Serve in a large bowl with plenty of fresh bread to soak up the broth. Delicious.

Bloody Mary Burgers with Roasted Broccoli

2010-05-04T20:16:00.004-04:00

I am usually a purist when it comes to making burgers. I don't like to add any filler to my patties. I simply flatten out the ground beef and salt and pepper both sides before grilling. Today I thought I'd try out a recipe from the trusty Rachel Ray Cookbook my bestie got me for a birthday present one year. I LOOOOOVE Caesars, the Canadian Clamato twist on Bloody Mary's. The burgers were SO good. Of course, I adapted the recipe to suit my tastes. ;)

Ingredients

1 large head broccoli
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp peri peri powder
1 tbsp olive oil
600g ground beef
1 1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp Frank's Red Hot sauce
1 tsp Tobasco
2 tsp prepared horseradish
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tomato, diced
1 tbsp Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/2 tsp dried dill
4 hamburger buns
4 leaves lettuce
cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 F. Toss broccoli with olive oil, garlic, peri peri powder, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 15-17 minutes or until stems are tender and treetops are brown.

Lightly mix ground beef with celery salt, hot sauces and horseradish with a fork (fluff, do not mash!) Score meat into 4 equal parts and form into patties. Grill for about 4 1/2 mins per side until cooked through.

Mix mayo with diced tomatoes, hot sauce, dill and black pepper. Serve sauce on burgers with lettuce. I also added cheese, because my husband insists that cheese naturally belongs on burgers!

Hoisin Honey Grilled Pork and Chap Chae

2010-05-04T09:42:00.004-04:00

I should have known that eating Korean food a lot while I was pregnant would affect my growing baby. I made chap chae and the little one couldn't get enough of it! She even tilted her head back so I could drop noodles in her mouth with chopsticks, and then she slurped them down. It was the cutest thing. However, baby garlic breath is NOT cute. Okay, it kind of is...
This is my version, and I served it with Chinese-style pork chops.

Ingredients
3 pieces pork loin chops
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 thai chilies minced

4 bundles vermicelli noodles (or if you want to be authentic, Korean sweet potato starch noodles)
1 carrot cut into 3 and slivered into matchsticks
1 onion sliced thinly lengthwise
4 Chinese mushrooms soaked in boiling water and sliced
5 pieces Cwiss chard stalks and leaves chopped (should be 1 cup spinach but I didn't have any)
1/4 cup sodium reduced soy sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic finely crushed...use a garlic press or mortar and pestle

Directions
Pork
Place the pork, garlic, hoisin sauce, honey and chilies into a Ziploc bag and marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Grill about 4 minutes per side on the BBQ or until pork is cooked through properly.

Chap Chae
Combine soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic in a bowl and whisk until well blended.
Place vermicelli noodles in a pot of boiling water and boil until softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, rinse and set aside.
Heat a little olive oil in a skillet, and sauté onions and carrots until softened, about 3 minutes. Add Swiss chard and sauté until wilted. Add mushrooms, noodles and sauce and mix well and heat until sauce has absorbed, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and eat warm or at room temperature with grilled pork

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

2010-05-03T07:10:00.006-04:00

When I brought home vanilla beans from our trip to Indonesia, I knew I would make a vanilla bean cheesecake for my husband's birthday. I didn't take the best pictures (note my baby's finger about to taste a sample) but this was honestly the best cheesecake recipe EVER. The texture was so light and creamy. I brought it to the restaurant to celebrate my husband's and my mom's birthdays and it tasted like it could have been on the dessert menu. I bought a really nice spring form pan from The Cook's Place on the Danforth and they had just about anything you could ever need to cook or bake with very knowledgeable staff. What an awesome store! Anyway...this recipe is pretty much guaranteed, so give it a shot if you want a texture-perfect cheesecake. I found the recipe on My Baking Addiction. The tips were so helpful!

Ingredients
Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake
3 packages Philadelphia cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
2 vanilla beans, (scraped innards only)
2 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream (I added this)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 if you have a light colored cheesecake pan, or 325 if your spring form pan is darker. Line the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan with parchment paper, and wrap the outside of the pan with aluminum foil to insure it is airtight.

In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar and vanilla and press lightly into the bottom of the spring form pan.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time ensuring each is incorporated fully.
Add heavy cream, vanilla bean innards and Bailey's and ensure the batter is smooth.

Pour cheesecake batter over the graham cracker crumb crust and place the pan into a larger pan. Pour boiling water into the larger pan so that the water comes halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. Carefully place into the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes. The cheesecake should be slightly wobbly but should hold together when finished. Do not over bake the cheesecake. To avoid cracks, turn off the oven and allow the cheesecake to gradually cool in the oven for an hour or more. Once cool, carefully remove the cheesecake pan from the waterbath and chill in the fridge.

Chinese Meatball Soup

2010-04-09T08:47:00.003-04:00

This is a very comforting home style soup. Even my baby loved it and couldn't get enough of it!
My mom makes it with ground pork, but I used extra lean ground chicken for a lighter version.

Ingredients
4-6 cups water
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced thin
2 tbsp light soya sauce
3/4 lb ground chicken (or pork)
4 dried Chinese mushrooms
1 clove garlic, grated (or use a garlic press)
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
Large handful spinach, torn

Accoutrement
2 birds eye chilies finely chopped and added to a small bowl of soya sauce

Directions
Combine water, ginger and soya sauce in a large pot and put on the stove to boil.
In a small bowl, allow Chinese mushrooms to soak in hot water for 10 minutes until soft, then chop finely.
In a mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, chopped Chinese mushrooms, garlic, egg and salt and pepper until well mixed and form into meatballs.
Drop meatballs into boiling pot, cover and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.
Just before serving, add spinach to the pot to wilt.
Serve over rice, with hot chilies mixed with soy sauce if you like the heat!

Pepper Steak and Mushroom Pie

2010-03-25T15:30:00.004-04:00

My grandpa loves steak and kidney pies, but they're hard to find in Montreal. So for Christmas I baked him half a dozen of them to store in his freezer. I am NOT a fan of kidneys (or any organ meat, for that matter) so it was kind of gross for me to prepare, but I love my grandpa enough to have made the effort. They pies turned out really well and Grandpa loved them. My husband, who also loves meat pies was only allowed to sample a taste of the sauce so I decided to make the pie again last week. Since I had to eat dinner too I decided to swap out the kidneys for mushrooms, and I thought the result was even better. Rich gravy, tender meat and delicious mushroomy goodness.

Ingredients

2-crust pie shell (I used Pillsbury pie crust to roll in my own pie dish but use homemade if you feel so inclined)

3 strips bacon, sliced

1lb cubed beef

2 tbsp flour

1 onion, diced

1 rib celery, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried thyme

1 package of button mushrooms, washed and quartered

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 egg lightly beaten

Directions

In a large pot, fry bacon until crisp and fat has been rendered. Move bacon pieces aside to paper towel lined plate.

Meanwhile, put flour and beef cubes into a plastic bag (I used a old bread bag...with no holes!) and shake to coat in flour.

Fry beef cubes in batches until brown on all sides. Don't overcrowd the pot or the beef will not brown properly. Move browned cubes to paper towel lined plate.

If there is not enough oil left in the pan, add about 1 tbsp olive oil and saute the onions, carrot, celery, bay leaf and thyme until softened.

Add mushrooms and saute until softened.

Season with salt and pepper

Return beef cubes and bacon to pot and cover with water.

Cover the pot and allow to simmer on low until the meat is fork tender (about an hour or so).

If the gravy does not look thick enough, mix 2 tbsp flour and 1/2 cool cup water in a mug. Slowly add the flour/water mixture to the gravy until it thickens to a nice consistency.

Pour Steak and Mushroom mixture into a 9-inch pie shell and top with remaining pastry, fluting the edges shut. Brush the top with beaten egg and cut some vent holes to let steam escape.

Bake at 350 F for about 45-50 mins or until crust is golden brown.

Grilled Filet Mignon with Peppercorn Mustard Recipe (Cooking Light)

2010-02-24T21:27:00.004-05:00

I got a cast iron grill pan for Christmas and absolutely love it! Summer is much too long of a wait for barbeque and an iron grill pan definately solves that problem.

I grilled a couple of filet mignons with a light mustard, peppercorn and brandy sauce.

I made some roasted red potatoes and Tyler's Florence's cream spinach and of course, some bread.

This turned out great!

Antipasto Pasta Salad

2010-02-10T13:07:00.004-05:00

I raided my pantry to throw this together because my fridge was empty and company was coming in an hour. The salad turned out amazing and it was ridiculously quick and easy.

Ingredients

1lb rotini pasta cooked al dente

6-8 large olives sliced (I used kalmata and green olives)

5 sun dried tomatoes rehydrated and chopped

3/4 can artichoke hearts quartered

2 tbsp chopped red onion

2 tbsp sun dried tomato pesto

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Toss everything into a large bowl and serve cold.

The BEST Baked Chicken Fingers

2010-02-03T11:11:00.004-05:00

This totally looks like the most Canadian children's meal ever, but it was seriously good. The taste SO much better than any frozen pre-made chicken fingers. Sharl made the comment that they were the BEST chicken fingers he's ever had. I liked the fact that they aren't fried. You can try it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

500g/1lb chicken fillets (or boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 2-inch strips)

2-3 tbsp light mayo

2 tbsp Franks Red Hot sauce

1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

1 sleeve saltine crackers

1 cup bran flakes

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried thyme

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 F

In a bowl combine mayo and hot sauces, and coat chicken strips in the mixture.

Put crackers and branflakes into a bag (i used an old bread bag) and crush with a rolling pin or your hands into rough crumbs.

Add crumbs to bowl and toss to coat all sides of the chicken strips

Lay chicken fingers on a baking pan and bake for 10 minutes per side or until chicken is cooked through.

I made a extra dipping sauce out of the mayo and hot sauce. DELICIOUS!

Shepherd's Pie

2010-01-29T15:19:00.004-05:00

Sometimes when I can't figure out what to make for supper, I turn to my friends for ideas. I'm always interested in what other people's go-to dinners are. My neighbour was over for tea one afternoon and she said her go-to was a shepherd's pie. I seldom make this dish so it was a good suggestion! I like shepherd's pie but don't like peas or corn mixed in so I adapted the general recipe for my tastes. I made individual shepherd's pies in french onion soup bowls and also made baby ones in little ramekins for my little one (minus the salt). What are your go-to dinners?

Ingredients

500 g/1lb lean ground beef

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

6-7 mushrooms sliced

2 cups beef broth

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp cornstarch

4 large potatoes

1/4 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tbsp butter

generous handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Put potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover potatoes and boil until cooked through.

Meanwhile in a large skillet, saute onions and carrots until softened.

Push the veggies to the edges of the pan and brown the ground beef until no longer pink.

Add the mushrooms and cook until softened.

Add thyme and bay leaf, beef broth and allow to reduce a little.

Sprinkle cornstarch over top and mix thoroughly to thicken the gravy.

Prepare the mashed potatoes: drain and mash the potatoes and beat in milk, egg, parmesan cheese butter and season with salt and pepper (I use a hand mixer instead of a potato masher so potatoes are really fluffy and smooth).

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large glass baking dish (or individual casserole dishes), layer beef mixture on the bottom and mashed potatoes on top and smother with cheddar cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes until cheese is bubbling and slightly brown on top.

Easy Oven Baby Back Ribs

2010-01-29T15:08:00.003-05:00

This is pretty much a no-fail easy recipe. I was going to finish the last 15 minutes of cooking on the BBQ, but didn't bother because it was too cold outside. The secret to really tender fall-off-the bone ribs is to cook at a low temperature for a long time. Don't rush them!

I served this with a spinach salad with strawberries, mushrooms, feta, walnuts and sunflower seeds.

Ingredients

Rack of ribs

1 tsp ground corriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or Indian chili powder

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup favourite BBQ sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 F

Remove membrane from underside of ribs. Mix all the spices together in a small bowl and rub all over the ribs. Place in a large baking pan bone-side down and bake for 2 hours. Brush ribs with bbq sauce and return to the oven for 15 more minutes.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

2010-01-26T16:30:00.003-05:00

This might seem like nothing special, but there's a reason it's so popular. I gave some to my 8 month old baby and she LOVED it!

Ingredients

500g/1lb lean ground veal

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

handful chopped fresh parsley

pinch ground nutmeg

1 egg

1 clove garlic, minced

salt & pepper

1 jar of your favourite marinara sauce

spaghetti cooked al dente

Directions

In a medium bowl combine ground veal, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, nutmeg, egg garlic and salt and pepper. Mix lightly with a fork but do not mash or meatballs will be tough. Roll meatballs into to whatever size you like...I make medium sized ones.

Place meatballs in skillet on medium heat and allow to brown on all sides. Pour marinara sauce in pan, bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook until sauce is hot and meatballs are cooked through. Serve on top of spaghetti and cover with cheese!

White Chicken Chili

2010-01-21T19:56:00.005-05:00

When I saw this recipe on Closet Cooking, I had to try it. It was the perfect way to use my leftovers from last night's roast chicken. I don't know why, but I thought that a white chili would somehow be less flavourful but it was pretty robust! I couldn't find canned chopped green chilies, but I found a jar of salsa verde, so I used that instead.

Here's the recipe copied from Closet Cooking:

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion (diced)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 tablespoon cumin (toasted and ground)
2 (4.5 ounce) cans chopped green chilies (I used salsa verde)
2 jalapeno peppers (sliced)
3 cups chicken (cooked and shredded)
2 (19 ounce) cans northern beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoon masa (or cornmeal)
1/2 cup milk

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-8 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cumin and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the green chilies, jalapenos, chicken, beans, chicken stock, oregano, salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Mix the masa into the milk and then mix it into the chili and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Yams and Asparagus

2010-01-21T19:48:00.005-05:00

No need to post a recipe here...This was Mandy's recipe from below. I was inspired by my bestie's roast chicken abilities. I always think of a roast dinner being a big deal, but she insisted that it was very simple, so I tried it last night...she was right! Very easy one dish meal. I didn't stuff the cavity with lemons and celery coz I didn't have any. I also didn't baste with wine. I just put the mustard herb rub on the chicken and tossed some yams and potatoes in olive oil and garlic and rosemary and threw them in the same pan as the chicken. 1 hour later, it smelled so delicious in the house and I felt like a total domestic goddess.

Apple and Spice Baked French Toast

2010-01-19T11:20:00.005-05:00

I had this delicious make-ahead brunch dish at a neighbour's house, and decided to make it when my bffs came to visit. It was tasty and the best part was that there was no fussing about in the kitchen in the morning. Just made this the night before and popped it in the oven for 50 minutes and voilà!

Ingredients

1 large loaf of French or Italian bread

8 large eggs

3 1/2 cups of milk or light cream

1 cup of sugar [ I used 1/2 cup plus 2.5 tbsps sugar]

1 tbsp vanilla

3 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

6-8 medium sized cooking apples (Cortland, Macintosh, Granny Smith)

[I used 5 Red Delicous apples]

1/4 cup of butter

Directions

Slice bread into 1 1/2 inch slices. Spray 9x13 glass pan with oil or non-stick spray. Place bread in glass dish, placing tightly together.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, 1/2 cup sugar [this is where I cut the sugar to just 2.5 tbsp], milk and vanilla (by hand with whisk for about 30 seconds).

Pour one half of the egg mixture over the bread. Peel, core and slice apples. Cover bread with sliced apples.

Pour balance of egg mixture evenly over apples.

Mix remaining 1/2 cup of sugar with cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle evenly over top of the apples and dot with butter.

Bake in oven uncovered at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow it to rest for 5-10 mins before serving.

Cassoulet

2010-01-15T07:59:00.006-05:00

A cassoulet is a hearty French stew with an assortment of delicious meats...usually pork belly, duck confit and Toulouse sausages. I had it at our favourite French restaurant in Toronto and tried to make a simpler version while replicating the same flavours at home. It turned out really well and the flavours were very similar to the restaurant's version. Next time I feel ambitious, I will attempt to make my own duck confit! It would totally make this dish shine.

Ingredients

4-5 Toulouse sausages (or Oktoberfest, or Bratwurst...choose somewhat smokey sausages)

2 medium onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can tomatoes

1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)

1 sprig fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp dried)

pinch ground cloves

1 can white beans

2 slices french bread diced small

1 tbsp olive oil

1 extra clove garlic minced

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Directions

Fry sausage in a skillet until brown on all sides and cooked through. Remove from pan and add onions and garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and herbs and season with salt and pepper. Slice the sausages and add to the skillet along with the white beans. Simmer mixture for 15-20 minutes to allow flavour to develop. Meanwhile, toss diced bread in olive oil and garlic and bake on a cookie sheet at 400F for 10 minutes (watch to make sure they don't burn!). Serve cassoulet in French onion soup bowls or mini casserole dishes and top with the garlic toasted bread crumbs and fresh parsley.

Boeuf Bourgignon

2010-01-14T10:24:00.002-05:00

I'm not a huge fan of stews, but this one is just sooooooo yummy. Who wouldn't enjoy tender meat slowly simmered in red wine? I decided to serve this with a baked potato only because I didn't want to wash another pot to make mashed potatoes. It turned out to be an excellent accompaniment. This is French comfort food at its finest.

Ingredients

4 slices bacon, chopped

1 lb cubed beef

2 Tbsp flour

1 large carrot diced

1 large onion diced

1 clove garlic minced

1 bottle red wine (minus a glass or 2!)... preferably Burgundy but any will do

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 container button mushrooms quartered and sautéd in butter

beurre manie (1 tbsp butter kneaded with 1 tbsp flour) - optional

Directions

In a large pot on medium heat, fry chopped bacon until crisp. Set cooked bacon aside on a plate with paper towel.

Meanwhile, toss beef cubes in flour in a bag until coated.

Fry beef in batches in the bacon fat until beef is brown on each side. Place fried beef on paper towel and season with salt and pepper.

If you need more oil at this point, add some olive oil to the pot and sauté onions, carrot and garlic until softened.

Deglaze pot with the wine making sure to scrape the brown bits in the bottom of the pot. Add the bay leaf, thyme, tomato paste and season with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour and a half or until the beef is fork tender.

Half an hour before serving, sauté mushrooms in butter in a separate skillet until golden brown then add to the pot. If sauce needs thickening (and if you want that 'certain je ne sais quoi...'), add the beurre manie and cook for 15 minutes more.

Serve with a baked potato (scrubbed, pierced and baked straight on the oven rack for 45 mins at 400F)

Ravioli in cream sauce with wilted spinach and toasted walnuts

2010-01-12T15:57:00.003-05:00

Cold night + creamy pasta = comfort gourmet

Ingredients

1 package of your favourite ravioli

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour

1/3 cup cream

1/4 cup milk

handful grated Parmesan cheese

dash fresh grated nutmeg

2 cups baby spinach

handful walnuts toasted in a dry skillet

Directions

Boil ravioli according to package directions in a large pot

Meanwhile, heat butter small saucepan on medium low heat. Add the flour and stir until you get a sandy texture. Slowly add cream but do not allow to boil. Add milk if you need to thin out the sauce. Add nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Once the sauce is at the desired thickness (coats the back of the spoon), remove from heat, stir in parmesan cheese.

Pour sauce over cooked ravioli and immediately stir in spinach. Sprinkle toasted walnuts over top.

Oreo Truffles

2009-12-29T11:25:00.005-05:00

I'm trying to get better at baking/making desserts. I feel like a good dessert is the finishing touch to a great meal.

I took a stab at making Oreo Truffles and they were a hit! Using Kraft's Easy Oreo Truffle recipe, I crushed nearly a whole bag of oreo cookies and mixed it well with fat free cream cheese. Then I made small little balls and set aside.

I melted an entire packet of Baker's Semi- sweet chocolate squares and using a spoon, dunked the balls in the chocolate.

I set them on parchment paper, topped each with sprinkles and refrigerated for an hour - et voila!

Cornish hens- Your own personalized chickens!

2009-12-26T14:20:00.006-05:00

So cute! I made a couple of cornish hens - they are too cute! They turned out great

Using the Roasted Cornish Hen recipe from Down Home With the Neelys, the recipe was a simple rub of poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, dried basil and

olive oil - that's it!

I roasted the hens for just over an hour at 375 and they were juicy and the skin was delicious!

I put a little too much oil because the skin wasn't as brown as I would have liked - next time.

How cute would cooking a bunch of these be for a holiday dinner? Everyone gets their own personalized chicken!

Dear Kim, fellow floggers and foodies,

2009-12-15T22:30:00.001-05:00

Do you have a crockpot/slow cooker and if so, what recipes turned out really good?

I used it for the second time on the weekend and make chicken jamabalaya. After 4 hours of paranoia of whether the chicken and sausage were actually cooked and we weren't going to get salmonella, I poured it over steaming rice and it was decent.

What I think got my goat was that I know I could really stepped up that dish by doing it in the pan. I could have developed the flavours, spices and improved the presentation plus not be worried. BUT.. then I would have been cooking a lot longer.

.So, I'm not sure what to do or really how to use this crockpot without feeling like I could have done it better by hand..

- A very crock-fused Mandy

Spaghetti with Butternut Squash and Prosciutto

2009-12-15T16:28:00.005-05:00

This recipe happened by accident but what a happy accident it turned out to be! I had made butternut squash casserole for a (cancelled) Christmas dinner party and had a lot leftover, so I decided to toss it with cheese and pasta. There's only so much you can take when it comes to leftovers so instead of tossing it out, I like to reinvent it. I've had ravioli with butternut squash before so it led me to believe that my leftover butternut squash casserole would work well with pasta, creamy cheese and salty prosciutto. It was a match made in heaven. Would have been even lovelier with fresh sage or basil but I didn't have any.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, halved

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp cream cheese

3 tbsp parmesan cheese

4 slices prosciutto chopped

spaghetti cooked al dente

Directions

Roast butternut squash cut side down in 350 oven for about 45 minutes or until tender.

When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh into a large bowl, and add butter maple syrup cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste and purée with a hand mixer until smooth. Add a little apple juice or water if the consistency is too thick.

Pour hot squash puree over spaghetti and cut cream cheese into little cubes tossing to coat the spaghetti and melt the cheese. Top with prosciutto and parmesan cheese.

Roast Chicken

2009-12-09T20:21:00.003-05:00

This is one of my favorite recipes! I saw it on a Martha Stewart DVD and had to make it. This is pretty much a guaranteed winner every time!

The original recipe is from Norma Darden of Miss Mamie's Spoonbread in NYC and was shown on Martha Stewart's DVD.

The only difference from the ingredients is that I basted the chicken with an entire bottle of white wine and threw in some onions at the bottom of the pan for flavor.

I served the chicken with roasted red potatoes in rosemary and thyme.

Chicken Enchiladas

2009-12-08T19:32:00.002-05:00

When I go grocery shopping, I seldom go down all the aisles. But since baby fell asleep in the shopping cart, I wanted her to nap so I took my time.

I ended up getting some inspiration to make Mexican food. I used a lot of shortcuts in this recipe so it was easy to throw this together.

Ingredients

8 flour tortillas

1 box Spanish rice cooked to directions

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced

1 onion, sliced

1/2 red pepper sliced

1/2 green pepper sliced

1 package Fajita sauce mix

2 cups shredded cheddar/jack cheese

Mexi-ranch sauce

Mix together:

1/3 cup ranch dressing

1/4 cup salsa

2 tbsp sour cream

Directions

Cook rice according to boxed directions. Meanwhile, stir fry onion, chicken strips and peppers until cooked through. Add fajita seasoning to package directions.

Spread half of the mexi-ranch sauce to the bottom of a baking dish.

Fill tortilla with a sprinkling of cheese, some Spanish rice and some of the chicken fajita mixture; roll tightly and place in baking dish seam side down.

Once all tortillas are filled and rolled, top with the remainder of the mexi-ranch sauce and rest of the shredded cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes until cheese is bubbling and browned.

Leek Potato and Chickpea Soup

2009-12-04T09:19:00.004-05:00

To use up the rest of the leeks I bought, I decided to make a leek soup. To be honest, cream of leek soup was about the only thing I thought leeks were actually used for. Now that I know the mild creamy flavour a little better, I will definitely be cooking with leeks more often and in more creative ways. This soup was actually very delicious...I kinda just made up the recipe as I went along. I reserved about 1/4 can of the chickpeas from my hummus and added it to the recipe and it added great body to the soup.

Ingredients

2 large leeks washed thoroughly and sliced into half moons

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large potato, peeled and diced

1/4 can chickpeas

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 tsp cumin

2 tbsp cream cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Sauté leeks and garlic and cumin with a little butter in a large pot until fragrant and softened. Add potatoes, chickpeas and chicken stock and simmer until potatoes are cooked (20 minutes or so). Remove from heat, stir in cream cheese and purée (careful not to splash, it's hot!) with an immersion blender until smooth.

Spicy Hummus

2009-12-04T09:09:00.004-05:00

My father-in-law taught me many kitchen lessons. With his hummus recipe I learned:

1. Making your own hummus is easy and tastier than the store-bought version

2. Remembering to keep the lid on the blender is easier than cleaning hummus off of the ceiling.

xo, Trevor ;) !

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed

2 tbsp tahini

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 clove garlic

1/4 tsp chili powder (not Mexican chili powder...Indian chili powder, or you can use cayenne)

1/4 tps cumin

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Place everything in a blender (don't forget to close the lid!!) and purée until smooth. Add a little water to loosen as necessary. I garnished this with an extra sprinkling of cumin and chili powder. Serve with warm naan or pita.

Veal Meatballs with Fingerling Potatoes, Green Beans and Leek Saffron Cream Cheese Sauce

2009-12-02T08:47:00.004-05:00

Sharl felt like meatballs for dinner, but instead of making them with traditional red sauce and spaghetti, I experimented a little and came up with this...it was SO good!

I've never cooked leeks before, so of course I couldn't resist buying some to try!

To wash leeks properly (because there is a lot of sand and soil hidden in the layers), cut leeks lenghtwise and slice thinly crosswise into half moon. Immerse leeks in a large bowl of cold water and separate layers to allow dirt to fall to the bottom of the bowl. They are so delicious with a really mild onion flavour. I'm already thinking about what to make with the rest of the leeks!

Ingredients

500g ground veal

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

2-3 tbsp Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1 egg

1 large leek sliced (white parts and light green parts only)

splash of vermouth or brandy

3 tbsp cream cheese

1/2 cup milk

pinch of saffron

Fingerling potatoes, scrubbed

Green beans, trimmed

Directions

Place fingerling potatoes in a pot of water to boil for about 15-17 minutes.

Meanwhile, use a fork to gently mix ground veal, half of the minced garlic, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, thyme and egg in a large bowl. Form into meatballs and fry in a non-stick skillet until browned and cooked through (about 7 minutes per side). When meatballs are cooked, remove from pan and allow to rest on a plate lined with paper towel.

Add the green beans to the pot of potatoes to steam for about 10 minutes while you cook the cream sauce.

Add a little olive oil to the pan and sauté the rest of the garlic and the leeks until softened. (You can add a splash of vermouth or brandy at this point if desired...I added vermouth) Melt the cream cheese in the pan and add enough milk to thin out the sauce a little. Add pinch of saffron and season with salt and pepper. Serve sauce over meatballs and serve alongside fingerling potatoes and steamed green beans.

Boxed Baby Lunches

2009-11-29T12:19:00.002-05:00

Found this really cool blog where a woman takes pictures of her baby's boxed lunches. I wish my mom made me lunches like this when I was a kid. Maybe I'll do this for my baby one day???

http://babylunchbox.blogspot.com/

Vegetable Soup with Wild Rice and Lentils

2009-11-26T11:31:00.005-05:00

I didn't intend on cooking vegan last night, but I had so many fresh veggies in the fridge that I felt inspired and wanted to cook them all! I never knew a vegetable stock could be so flavourful. This soup was very comforting and tasty and I didn't miss the meat. I served the soup with sweet potato and rapini salad. Extra veggie goodness!

Ingredients

3 ribs celery sliced (set aside half of a celery sliced)

2 large carrots diced (set aside half of a carrot diced)

1 large onion diced

6 mushrooms sliced (set aside 2 mushrooms sliced)

2 tomatoes diced (set aside 1 tomato diced)

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp thyme

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/3 cup lentils

1/3 cup wild rice

2 cups spinach

Directions

Vegetable Stock

Heat olive oil in a large pot and sauté celery, carrots, onions and mushrooms until caramelized. Add tomatoes, bay leaf, soy sauce and thyme and mix through. Add about 5 cups of water and allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes to make a flavourful stock. Season with salt and pepper.

Strain stock veggies and discard (they've done their job).

Add the reserved carrots, celery, mushrooms and tomatoes into the stock along with the rice and lentils. Simmer until rice and lentils are cooked through (about 50 minutes). Just before serving add the spinach into the pot and ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with a couple of extra spinach leaves.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Rapini Salad with Sunflower Seeds

2009-11-26T11:19:00.003-05:00

I love rapini. It kind of reminds me of gai lan (Chinese broccoli) but with a slightly bitter bite. I happen to like the contrasting tastes of bitter and sweet, but if you don't like rapini, you could always substitute broccoli in this recipe.

Ingredients

6 stalks of rapini chopped in 2-inch lengths

1 large sweet potato peeled and cut into medium cubes

2 cloves garlic, smashed

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 lemon, juiced

1 green onion sliced finely

2 tbsp sunflower seeds

Directions

Bake sweet potato cubes tossed in a little olive oil in a 400 F oven for about 30 minutes until tender but not mushy.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet and add smashed garlic to infuse oil. Once fragrant, remove garlic pieces and sauté rapini until bright green and tender crisp (about 6 minutes).

Remove from heat and add lemon juice, green onions, sunflower seeds and roasted sweet potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine salad. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chicken Milanese with Caramelized Fennel, Tomato and Arugula

2009-11-23T19:00:00.008-05:00

Sharl felt like schnitzel tonight, so I decided to make this version I saw on Everyday Italian to the best of my memory.

I LOVE fennel. I think it's such an underused vegetable. It's got a texture sort of like celery and when it's cooked, the licorice flavour mellows out beautifully. If you haven't tried it before...this is the recipe to use!

Ingredients

2 chicken cutlets

Flour for dredging

1 egg lightly beaten

breadcrumbs

Parmesan cheese

1 fennel bulb (fronds and outer layer removed and thinly sliced)

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 clove garlic minced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 generous handfuls of baby arugula

Directions

Dredge cutlets in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs mixed with Parmesan cheese.

Fry cutlets in a hot pan with oil until golden brown on both sides and chicken is cooked through (about 3-4 minutes per side). Set aside to drain on paper towels.

Add sliced fennel and garlic to pan. Sauté until caramelized and tender. Add tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and continue to sauté until tomatoes burst and balsamic vinegar is reduced.

Serve chicken over a bed of arugula and spoon fennel & tomato sauce on top.

Sausage, Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna

2009-11-23T14:32:00.004-05:00

I heart lasagna! Here's an easy tasty recipe

Ingredients

1 jar favourite tomato sauce (I used PC Tomato Basil)

350g ground hot Italian sausage, casings removed

5-6 sliced mushrooms

1 1/2 cups chopped spinach

1 tub ricotta cheese

1 egg

dash nutmeg

fresh basil

9 no-bake lasagna noodles

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Brown sausage in a pot until cooked through. Add mushrooms and saute until softened. Add tomato sauce and basil and simmer for 20 minutes. Add about 1/2 cup water (to help cook the noodles)

2. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, spinach, egg, nutmeg and basil.

3. Layer some sauce on the bottom of a lasagna pan and top with 3 noodles. Spread 1/3 of ricotta mixture across the noodles. Top with sauce and repeat with the rest of the noodles. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.

4. Bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes until noodles are tender and cheese is melted and bubbling.

Banana Muffins

2009-11-23T09:58:00.005-05:00

Ever since I've developed an allergy to bananas I've missed them terribly. I couldn't resist buying them when I saw them in the supermarket. LUCKILY, I can eat cooked bananas, so I let them ripen on my kitchen counter waiting to turn them into a delicious baked good. It was torturous waiting for them to turn brown. Does anyone know of a way to ripen them more quickly? Anyway, I decided to bake banana muffins since I had company coming over the weekend and also wanted to bring in a breakfast treat for my dance team.

Ingredients

3 large ripe bananas

1/4 cup butter

3-4 tbsp plain yogurt or sour cream

1 egg

1 tps vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Directions

1. Mix bananas, butter, egg, and vanilla with a fork or hand mixer.

2. Add flour sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir until just combined.

3. Spoon batter into 12 greased or paper lined muffin cups

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes in 350 degree oven until risen and firm to the touch.

5. Cool and top with icing if desired.

My friend Nicole had made LOTS of extra cream cheese icing at our house so I decided to make use of it. I added 2 tbsp peanut butter to a cup of icing and iced the muffins. Was so delicious!

Boston Cream Pie

2009-11-16T17:35:00.003-05:00

Sharl and I were looking for something to do on Sunday afternoon and we were also craving some kind of dessert, so we decided to bake this cake! It was a lot of fun and easier with two people helping with all of the steps and trying to amuse a fussy baby. It turned out to be REALLY delicious. I got this recipe from this old Good Housekeeping Book that I swear has EVERYTHING you could possibly want to cook and bake.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups sugar

Pastry Cream (recipe to follow)

Chocolate Glaze (recipe to follow)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. LIne bottoms with parchment paper; grease and flour cake pans.

2. In large bowl, beat eggs until light and tripled in volume (about 5 mins with electric mixer on high)

3. Meanwhile in small pot, combine water and butter and heat to boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla

4. With mixer at high speed, gradually add sugar to eggs. Beat until thinck and lemon colored and mixture forms ribbon when beaters are lifted (5-8 mins). In two additions fold in flour baking powder and salt until just blended.

5. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean (20 mins). Run thin knife around layers to loosen from pans and invert to cool on wire racks. Remove parchment paper.

6. Meanwhile, prepare pastry cream.

7. When cake is cool, prepare chocolate glaze.

8. Place one cake layer, rounded side down on cake plate. Top with pastry cream. Top with second cake layer rounded side up. Pour glaze over top. Gently spread glaze evenly to edge allowing it to drip down side of cake. Let glaze set.

Pastry Cream

Heat 3/4 cup milk to boiling over medium heat.

In a large bowl, beat 2 large egg yolks with 6 tbsp milk and 1/3 cup sugar until smooth. Whisk in 2 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp cornstarch until combined. Gradually whisk hot milk into egg yolk mixture until blended.

Return mixture to saucepan; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture thickens and boils, about 4 mins. Reduce heat to low; cook, whisking constantly, 2 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat; stir in 1 Tbsp butter and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Pour pastry cream into a pie dish. Press plastic wrap onto surface of pastry cream to keep skin from forming as it cools. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate 2 hours or up to overnight Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Chocolate Glaze

Heat 3 squares semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, 3 Tbsp butter, 1 Tbsp corn syrup and 1 Tbsp milk over low heat, until chocolate and butter melt and mixture is smooth. Makes about 1/2 cup.

Homemade pizza!

2009-11-07T11:26:00.003-05:00

Took another attempt at making pizza. I made the dough by hand but this time, I used bread flour which made the dough more crustier. It ended up turning out really good except I wish I could make the dough thinner. Next time, I want to experiment with some different topping combinations and different cheeses.

Dough recipe

Toppings

A mix of low fat mozzarella and regular mozzarella (You need a little fat) :)

Hormel no preservatives turkey pepperoni

Sliced green pepper

Sliced mushrooms

Pizza sauce

Oregano

Easy Jambalaya

2009-10-27T20:05:00.003-04:00

I'm always in the mood for something spicy. Tonight I made some Cajun shrimp jambalaya. To cut time in half, I cooked the sauce in a skillet and the rice in a rice cooker.

Ingredients

1 onion diced

1 rib celery diced

1/2 red pepper diced

4 cloves garlic minced

2 cups cooked ham/kielbasa/chorizo

1 can diced tomatoes drained

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp Cajun spice mix

10-12 large shrimp, peeled and de-veined

2 cups rice cooked in 2 cups chicken stock

2 green onions sliced

Directions

Cook the rice in a rice cooker with chicken stock.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil on a skillet and sauté onions, celery, red pepper and garlic until softened. Add ham/kielbasa/chorizo and brown. Add spices, tomatoes and simmer until sauce thickens. Add shrimp and cook through. Once rice is cooked, pour jambalaya mixture in and mix through. Scatter green onions on top.

Moroccan Chicken with Apple Cranberry Couscous

2009-10-27T08:47:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I just couldn't decide what to make for dinner. All of my go to dishes felt boring. I didn't want rice or pasta or potatoes...I wanted to try a new starch that I usually never eat, so I thought I'd give couscous a try. I've had it before but have never made it at home. It was so easy! I decided to look up the spices used in Moroccan food and try out my own rendition of Moroccan food at home. Here's what I came up with!

Ingredients

Chicken

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp ground corriander

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp honey

salt and pepper

Couscous

1 tsp butter

3 green onions sliced

1 macintosh apple diced

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp red onion diced

handful cranberries

2/3 cup couscous

1/3 cup boiling water

1/3 cup orange juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp honey

salt & pepper

Directions

Combine cinnamon, cumin, corriander, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper in a bowl and coat chicken. Grill until cooked through (about 7-8 minutes per side)

Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan and sauté apples, green onions, cinnamon and curry powder until the spices are fragrant and apples have softened slightly.
Stir in red onion and cranberries and couscous.
Stir in orange juice and boiling water and cover pot for 5 minutes.

Once the couscous has absorbed the liquid, fluff it up with a fork and mix in olive oil, honey, salt and pepper.

Serve alongside grilled chicken and vegetable of choice.

Spicy Pasta and Bean Soup

2009-10-26T09:27:00.004-04:00

This is one of my favourite soups. It's so flavourful and healthy. It's almost a cross between a soup and a stew since it's so hearty. I served this with olive bread.

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion diced
1 rib celery diced
1 carrot diced
4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes
1 can white beans
2 cups chicken, beef or vegetable stock

1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp fennel seed
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce

3/4 cup dried macaroni
Shredded mozzarella and Parmesan

Directions

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil on medium heat and sauté onion, garlic, carrot and celery until soft.
Add tomatoes, beans, broth, herbs and spices and simmer on low for 1/2 hour or longer.
Just before serving, add dried macaroni and cook for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente.
Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Oat and Apple Crumble-Topped Muffins

2009-10-26T09:16:00.006-04:00

I meet with all of the stay-at-home moms and dads on my street every Thursday morning and they always seem to serve muffins. I decided to bake some since I hosted our get together last Thursday. Since apples are in season (49 cents a pound at Loblaws!), I decided to try out this recipe from Canadian Living.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cups quick rolled oats

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 apples peeled and diced

Crumble Topping

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 tbsp melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Topping:

In bowl, stir sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon; set aside.

In large bowl, whisk all-purpose and whole wheat flours, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

In separate bowl, whisk milk, oil, egg, sugar and vanilla; pour over dry ingredients. Sprinkle with apple; stir just to blend.
Fill paper-lined or greased muffin cups three-quarters full. Sprinkle with topping. Bake in centre of 375°F (190°C) oven for 25 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch. Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Remove to rack to let cool completely. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container for up to 2 days or wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.)

Best Bolognese Rigatoni

2009-10-26T08:40:00.003-04:00

When I was travelling in Barcelona, eating out at all the tapas bars and filling up on paella soon took its toll on me and I was craving some comfort food. We went to this restaurant where I ate the most delicious Bolognese sauce ever. I tried to duplicate the recipe at home from memory and it was pretty spot on. This is possibly the best Bolognese sauce I've ever had (even though it didn't photograph too nicely).

Ingredients

1 onion finely diced

1 carrot finely diced

2 cloves garlic minced

1 lb lean ground beef

4 slices bacon chopped

1 bay leaf

1 small can tomato paste (about 4-5 tbsp)

1 can condensed beef broth

Red wine (pour two glasses then use the rest for cooking - about 2 cups)

Cooked Rigatoni pasta

Directions

In a saucepan, brown the ground beef until very brown and dry. Then add beef broth and keep on a medium simmer.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Drain some fat off from the bacon and cook onions, carrot and garlic until soft.

Add red wine to skillet and allow liquid to reduce by half to concentrate the flavour. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour contents of skillet into saucepan with ground beef and broth.

Add tomato paste and bay leaf and simmer on low for as long as you can wait. (I lasted 30 mins before getting really hungry)

Toss with rigatoni pasta and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.

Oven fried chicken

2009-10-25T20:26:00.005-04:00

Wow! This was one AWESOME oven "fried" chicken recipe and made fantastic leftovers.

This is Aida's recipe. You can get to the recipe by clicking on this post's title.

Prosciutto, Spinach & Artichoke Quiche

2009-08-29T09:50:00.004-04:00

Quiche always reminds me of my Grandma. It was always the TOP dish I'd ask for when visiting her home in Montreal for the summer. She always made her quiche with ham, mushrooms and cheese, but I've since experimented with different ingredients.

Ingredients
9 inch pie shell (homemade or frozen)
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 small onion diced finely
2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
4 large artichoke hearts chopped (canned in water)
3-4 slices prosciutto chopped
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. While pie shell is defrosting, beat 3 eggs with milk, dijon mustard cornstarch and cayenne pepper.
2. Layer onion, spinach, artichokes, prosciutto in pie shell and top with cheese.
3. Pour egg mixture slowly into the pie over filling ensuring that everything becomes moistened with the eggs.
4. Bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes or until eggs are set and wait 5-10 minutes before slicing

Penaci (Indonesian Spicy Beef)

2009-08-26T13:42:00.004-04:00

I LOVE Indonesian food, and of all types of food available in Toronto, I don't know of any Indonesian restaurants in the city. Luckily for me, my mom's family is from Indonesia and I watched my Oma cook some of her signature dishes. Over the weekend, my mom and I got together to cook some Indonesian food and we made pecel, soto ayam and my favourite...penaci. Penaci is a ridiculously hot beef dish, but it's so irresistibly good.
I toned down the spiciness from my Oma's recipe so that my husband could enjoy it too.

I served this with pecel (vegetable and peanut sauce dish) and rice.

Ingredients:
Roast of beef (about 3lbs or so)
1/2 red sweet pepper (optional...use sweet red pepper if you don't want this dish to be too spicy)
1 shallot
7 cloves garlic
1/4 onion
10 large chili peppers (I used 5 to tone down the spiciness, but use as many as you can tolerate)
4-5 kemiri (candle nuts) toasted in a dry skillet
1/2 lime
1/2 cup kecap manis (sweet thick soy sauce)

Directions
1. Place the roast of beef in a pot with water and boil until cooked.
2. In a food processor or blender, combine red pepper, shallot, garlic,onion, chilies, kemiri and lime juice and blend into a paste. Add a little water to loosen the paste if needed.
3. Heat up 1/4 cup oil in a wok or skillet and fry the paste until very fragrant.
4. Stir in kecap manis and continue to cook.
5. Cut beef into cubes and add to sauce. Cook until beef is tender.
Serve with rice.

Earthbox - Week nine

2009-08-01T16:23:00.003-04:00

Be making Greek salads soon! (Tomato and pepper plant)

Cucumber plants - week nine

2009-08-01T16:15:00.006-04:00

My little babies are growing up!!

Cucumber plant

My first year at gardening - week one

2009-08-01T15:54:00.011-04:00

One train ride home, I was reading an article in Chicago magazine about a man who grows vegetables on his rooftop patio. Very inspired, we decided to take an attempt at gardening. The man used an Earthbox to grow the vegetables, which is a self- contained garden environment with a water reservoir so you don't over water. So, we bought a (below from lower left) cucumber, tomato, dill, basil, oregano and were given an Earthbox as a gift. In the Earthbox, we planted another tomato and pepper plant (on left).

Roasted Tomato, Onion and Penne Fritatta

2009-07-31T15:17:00.005-04:00

I'm baaaaaaaack! It takes an extra effort to cook with a newborn on hand, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. I saw a recipe for fritatta on the Food Network's, Giada at Home, so I thought I'd give it a try with my own spin of course!

Ingredients
5 large eggs
3 tbsp milk
1 1/2 cups cooked and cooled penne pasta
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 onion cut into thin wedges
2 cloves garlic minced
handful fresh parsley chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Toss grape tomatoes and onions in olive oil, salt and garlic and roast in the oven on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F. Allow to cool.
Boil and drain penne pasta and leave to cool.
Beat eggs with milk, herbs, salt pepper. When pasta has cooled, add to egg mixture along with cooled roasted tomato and onion mixture.
Heat a skillet on medium heat and pour in egg pasta mixture. After 10 minutes when the egg has almost set and bottom is golden brown, use a plate to flip and cook the other side for about 5 minutes.
Serve warm or cool with a salad.

Surprise! Margherita pizza.. kind of... :)

2009-07-25T12:12:00.012-04:00

Steve was playing soccer and so I thought it would be a nice surprise to have some homemade pizza waiting for him. :) I thought this would be easy because I had some Pilsbury dough in the freezer. So the night before, I took it out and thawed it out in the fridge.

When Steve left, I was very excited to make the pizza. I put on the radio, took out the dough and looked at it. Expired.

Oh.

Ummmm..

I guess I'll just have to make my own.
Kind of ambitious for someone who has never made dough before. So I googled the ingredients and got the yeast, oil, water, salt, sugar and flour together.
But I only had about 1 cup of flour left.

Great. The main ingredient, I barely had.

I was almost ready to give up and just order some pizza until I decided to use cornmeal as a substitute for the flour. Pretty bold at first but then I just became curious as to how this would turn out.

I made the dough, let it rest and then made a version of margherita pizza. I put sliced tomatoes, olive oil, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, parmesan and feta.
Turned out well, although I think the dough was a little bland but nevertheless still worked out.

I bought more flour and will try it again.

Turkey, feta, spinach and roasted red pepper wrap

2009-07-18T16:32:00.003-04:00

We always have sandwiches on weekends but they are generally the same: toasted bun with an assortment of cold cuts, cheeses and vegetables. Not bad but getting a little boring. So I decided to change things up and make a wrap.

I used tortillas and laid 4 slices of turkey down the middle. I covered with spinach and sprinkled with feta. I sliced 2 long strips of roasted red pepper and put one on each side of the turkey. I tightly rolled the tortilla and sliced horizontal down the middle and voila!

Grilled Octopus

2009-06-01T22:44:00.009-04:00

Hello World!

Sorry I have been M.I.A. Lots of great and amazing things have been happening but, unfortunately, I haven't had enough time to cook as much as I've wanted too. I will start to post about my other new hobby soon. This will be incorporated into many of these upcoming posts (I hope). :)

When we were in Greece three years ago, I tried octopus for the first time. It didn't look that appetizing as it was hanging to dry. In fact, I was mortified. But I didn't want to disappoint and tried it anyways.

Grilled octopus is now one of my favorites. I love it when it's grilled, with a little olive oil, salt and oregano. Octopus is crunchy on the outside and chewy inside. Trust me, it's very good.

So we tried making it at home.

We bought two baby octopus (already tenderized - be sure to ask your fish market). There are different ways to clean it, but we just kept the tentacles on. Then we boiled it in hot water for about 30 minutes to get it most tender. After, we threw the octopus on the grill, five minutes on each side and tossed it with olive oil, oregano, salt and some lemon. Paired with white wine, we were pretty much in Greece.

Delmonico potatoes

2009-05-04T10:36:00.004-04:00

One of the best things about being back home is the home cooking of course! Nothing soothes the soul (or prepares your for childbirth) quite like mom's cooking. What could be more comforting than meatloaf and potatoes? My mom's Delmonico potatoes are comfort food at its finest. They're basically potatoes with mac & cheese sauce. YUM!!

Ingredients:
5-6 potatoes peeled, cooked and diced
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded old cheddar cheese
1/2 package saltine crackers crushed
salt and pepper

Directions
Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat; stir in flour. Cook for 3 minutes, but do not brown. Stir in milk and continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.
Combine potatoes, white sauce, salt, and pepper. Pour into a shallow glass baking dish. Sprinkle shredded cheese over potatoes the top with saltine cracker crumbs. Cook at 425° for about 20 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Tomato and Cheese Sandwiches on Olive Bread

2009-05-04T10:28:00.005-04:00

I had this sandwich at a baby shower and HAD to make it at home. It is so simple and satisfying!

Ingredients:
Olive bread (I bought mine at Loblaws)
Tomato slices
Buffalo mozzarella cheese, sliced
Pesto
Pizza sauce

Directions
Spread pizza sauce on one slice of bread and top with cheese.
Spread pesto sauce on the other slice of bread and top with tomato slices.
Place in the oven under the broiler until cheese is bubbly and slightly golden.
Assemble sandwich and enjoy.

At the shower, these sandwiches were not melted, but I just can't resist melt-y gooey cheese! This would probably be good grilled in a grill pan as well.

Baking once a week

2009-05-02T21:06:00.009-04:00

I have been in a real baking kick lately. I think this was inspired by my recent participation in a bake sale at work. I told the lady to price my cookies significantly lower due to my skills. Shockingly, the cookies sold and I gained some confidence in this.

I love how baking makes the house smell so wonderful and really "homey". Also, there is nothing to get a man's attention like baking. :) Steve loves when I bake, since this is so infrequent.

So in addition to my efforts to be conscious of what we eat, I have decided that I want to make/bake one snack per week.

Last week, I made banana nut muffins and today I made rice krispies squares. I'll feel better about snacks around the house, get extra love and the house will smell great!

Kahlua Cheesecake

2009-05-01T08:33:00.002-04:00

I may be 9 months pregnant but it's still hard to keep me out of the kitchen!! For Sharl's and my mom's birthday, I decided to make a cheesecake. It was my first time baking a cheesecake, and I don't know why I was intimidated by it, it was rather easy! I got the recipe from my boss at work who brought this in for a potluck one time. So delicious! The next kitchen item I need to get for my new house is a springform pan!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Oreo crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup caramel sauce (I used a jar of the best stuff I could find)
3 pkgs Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature (DO use this brand)
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup Kahlua
6 squares melted Baker's semi-sweet chocolate

Directions
Mix Oreo crumbs with melted butter and press lightly into a 9-inch springform pan. Pour caramel sauce over top.
Beat cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time and mix until just blended. Stir in chocolate and Kahlua, and pour mixture into crust.
Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 F or until the cake is set and slightly wobbly in the centre. Cool completely and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Garnish with caramel sauce and whipped cream if you like.

Five ingredients! Tilapia with Cherry Tomatoes and Anchovie Sauce

2009-04-28T21:05:00.004-04:00

I would have taken pictures of this dish but it looks much better in person. You'll have to try the recipe and post your pics. :)

This is one of Steve's favourite dishes, is so easy to make and has only 5 ingredients!

You'll need:

Tilapia fillets
Anchovies in the oil
1 full packet of cherry tomatoes
1 to 2 cloves of chopped garlic
1 tbsp of olive oil

In a pan over very low heat, pour entire content of anchovies and oil. Let anchovies melt. This should take about 12 minutes or so. If you cook the anchovies at a high heat, it will splatter everywhere. Big mess! Stay low!

Throw in garlic, all cherry tomatoes and olive oil. You can toss these ingredients in while the anchovies are cooking.

Let entire sauce cook for a total of 20 minutes or so.

Put tilapia fillets in sauce and cook for about 10 minutes or until fully cooked through.

Serve cherry tomatoes on top of tilapia fillets. Drizzle with leftover sauce.

Steve loves having this dish with fresh bread to sop up the sauce.

So technically, this dish has six ingredients. :)

Happy Earth Day

2009-04-22T15:37:00.003-04:00

2 Ways to celebrate in Toronto:

1. Free coffee at Starbucks if you bring in a travel mug.

2. Beginning at 1pm they are giving away FREE Brita pitchers at Yonge-Dundas Square. Quantities are limited to the first 3600 people.

Woohoo!
They were also handing out pine tree seedlings to pedestrians from Honda.

Happy Greek Easter!

2009-04-19T19:59:00.012-04:00

(From top right, dolmades, pork tenderloin, potatoes, spanokopita, lamb and orzo salad)

This Greek Easter, Steve and I worked really hard. We fasted every Wednesday and Friday, no meat or dairy. This proved to be quite the culinary challenge because if you make leftovers with meat on Tuesday, you can't eat it the next day and same deal with Thursday. So you really have to make more proportionate meals on those days as well.

One of the hardest things I found was fasting from dairy. Those ingredients seem to be in everything I eat! Yoghurt, Cheez-it, etc. Towards the end of Lent, I was craving meat like crazy. I wanted a Big Mac so bad. :)

So we had a big feast to celebrate Easter and boy, did I go to town. We went to my sister and brother in laws house. I could smell the lamb as we approached their street. My father and brother in law had prepared the lamb the day before with garlic and cheese. In addition, my mother in law made her wonderful spankopitas (spinach pies) and potatoes. She also made dolmades, which is meat wrapped in grape leaves covered with a creamy egg sauce. We also had salad and made my orzo salad. Dan, my brother in law, grilled sausages and the lamb. Connie, my sister in law made this mouthwatering pork with a meaty gravy. I can't remember even talking during dinner. For dessert, Connie made a chocolate cake with a mocha frosting. This cake was so moist. My mother in law also brought Galaktoboureko, which is a Greek pastry with layers of phyllo and custard. She also made Koulouria, which are Greek butter cookies.

Opa!!!

Scraping the bottom of the pantry

2009-04-19T15:54:00.002-04:00

I've been on a bit of a flogging hiatus because I'm in the midst of packing and moving. Since I'm trying to to use up the remaining stuff in the freezer and pantry and not buy any new groceries, my dinners haven't been overly exciting. I just packed up most of my spices, pots and baking supplies, so my kitchen feels really barren right now. Very sad. :(
And of course, with the impending arrival of the baby, I'm not sure how much cooking I'll be up to in the next little while. I'm going to have to rely on Mandy to keep the flog alive for the next month or so. :)

Creamy Scrambled Eggs on English Muffins

2009-04-12T12:06:00.006-04:00

Scrambled eggs are probably one of my favourite ways to cook eggs. The perfect scrambled eggs are creamy with large soft curdles and just set. The key to cooking them just right is to not over scramble them and to not overcook them. You can put whatever herbs you like in the egg mixture but I prefer when they're not over seasoned. In this recipe, I used fresh dill. It would have been lovely if I had some smoked salmon to top this with, but smoked salmon is off the list of pregnancy-appropriate foods. I thought this tasted great on its own.

Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 tsp butter
4 tbsp milk
handful fresh dill chopped
cream cheese
2 halved english muffins, toasted

Directions
Melt butter in a skillet on medium/low heat (should not be hot enough to allow the butter brown).
In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk until combined. Season with dill, salt and pepper.
Pour egg mixture into skillet, and allow to set for about a minute. Slowly drag your spatula across the bottom of the pan to form soft curdles. Once the eggs are set and done to your liking, divide into four portions and remove from heat.
Spread cream cheese on English muffin halves and top with scrambled eggs.

Crab & Broccoli Alfredo

2009-04-11T21:42:00.003-04:00

I made this dish for one of my first dinner parties back in first year university when I just got into cooking. It was a success then, and a decadent treat today.

Ingredients:
One can of crab meat (or use fresh if you have it)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 tbsp butter
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
2 cups of cream (10%)
2 tsp of cream cheese (I didn't use for this version)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
dash of freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup broccoli florets, cooked tender crisp
1/2 lb Linguini pasta, cooked al dente

Directions
Saute garlic until fragrant in a little olive oil and salt. On low heat, melt butter with flour. (will look like a sandy mixture.. but it's okay.. don't let the butter brown) Slowly stir in the cream. Add Parmesan and cream cheese and salt and pepper and nutmeg. Keep heat low and keep stirring. Add crab meat last. Remove from heat and serve immediately or sauce will become too thick! Serve sauce over linguini and broccoli.

Adas Polo

2009-04-10T18:48:00.004-04:00

I had Adas Polo for the first time at a Persian restaurant called Pomegranates on College St. It was so delicious. I loved the sweet tasting rice and lentil pilaf and the saffron infused fork tender braised lamb. It was the first time I'd tasted Persian food, and from then on, I was hooked. I hounded my Persian co-worker, Shiva for some recipes the next day!

Today, I had beef shanks in the fridge so I made Adas polo with beef instead instead of lamb.
Here's my version of the recipe. It served two with some extra rice and lentil pilaf leftover for tomorrow.

Ingredients
2 beef (or lamb) shanks
2 onions diced
2 cups chicken stock
4 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 tsp saffron
2 cups basmati rice (I used jasmine rice)
1/2 cup lentils
1/3 cup raisins
few dashes cinnamon
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup barberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grind saffron and place in a small bowl and add 2-3 tbsp hot water.
Saute onions and garlic in a skillet until golden. Add half of the saffron water to the onions.
Push the onions to the edge of the pan and sear the beef shanks on both sides and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer beef and onion mixture to a baking pan and pour broth until it reaches 1/3 way up the sides of the beef shank. Braise in the oven for about 2 hours (or more) until fork tender. Check on the beef every half hour and top up with more broth or water so beef is always immersed in liquid 1/3 up the sides.

When beef has only 1/2 hour more to braise, cook rice in the rice cooker.
Was and simmer lentils in a about 1 cup of water on the stove in a small pot until tender but not mushy (about 15-20 minutes). Drain and set aside.
When rice has finished cooking pour the rest of the saffron water over the top of the rice and mix so that some rice grains are white and some are yellow. Stir in raisins, lentils, cinnamon and butter and season with salt and pepper.

Remove beef shanks from the oven and serve on top of the rice scooping some of the caramelized onions and sauce over top if desired. Sprinkle with barberries to finish off.

Canvas shopping bags

2009-04-07T21:35:00.005-04:00

We must have a ton of plastic bags. I kept them all in one big bag and it is always stocked. We try to use them when we can but we are never short on supply.

I always feel bad about these plastic bags. I know they are bad for the environment.. but what for?

(Here is some research that I got from The Real Cost of "Free", http://www.reusablebags.com/)

"Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. Turtles think the bags are jellyfish, their primary food source. Once swallowed, plastic bags choke animals or block their intestines, leading to an agonizing death.

On land, many cows, goats and other animals suffer a similar fate to marine life when they accidentally ingest plastic bags while foraging for food.

In a landfill, plastic bags take up to 1,000 years to degrade. As litter, they breakdown into tiny bits, contaminating our soil and water.

When plastic bags breakdown, small plastic particles can pose threats to marine life and contaminate the food web. A 2001 paper by Japanese researchers reported that plastic debris acts like a sponge for toxic chemicals, soaking up a million fold greater concentration of such deadly compounds as PCBs and DDE (a breakdown product of the notorious insecticide DDT), than the surrounding seawater. These turn into toxic gut bombs for marine animals which frequently mistake these bits for food.

Collection, hauling and disposal of plastic bag waste create an additional environmental impact. An estimated 8 billion pounds of plastic bags, wraps and sacks enter the waste stream every year in the US alone, putting an unnecessary burden on our diminishing landfill space and causing air pollution if incinerated."

"The Real Cost of "Free"".<http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php?id=2> April 2009.

Awwww. :(

These plastic bags can truly be wasteful and be highly toxic. So ignorant am I to frivolously use these bags without any consideration. Its frightening to think that these toxins contaminate our soil and water, the very essence of our life and resources. What truly is in our water and vegetables? I wonder if they tasted different centuries ago? I'll have to flog about this later.

So, we bought a bunch of canvas grocery bags. I really hope we saved some animals.

Chicken Giovetsi / Kota Lemonati

2009-04-06T18:11:00.006-04:00

I was reading Closet Cooking and loved the look of the recipe for Chicken Giovetsi. It reminded me of this amazing dish I had at a Greek restaurant in Chicago called Kota Lemonati. Kota Lemonati was a delicious melange of chicken, artichokes, mushrooms and tomatoes served over rice. I happened to have steamed fresh artichokes that I prepared a while ago and had stored in the freezer as well as some fresh mushrooms in the fridge. I liked the Giovetsi recipe because it was a one pot oven dish using orzo instead of rice, but I included some other ingredients from my memories of the Kota Lemonati.

Here's my version of these 2 recipes combined. It turn out to be a really yummy dish with comforting flavours.

Ingredients
4 chicken thighs (skin removed)
1 cup orzo pasta
1 can diced tomatoes
1 large onion diced
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 can whole artichoke hearts, drained (or freshly steamed if you have!)
6-7 button mushrooms, wiped and sliced
Handfuls of chopped baby spinach

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Saute onions and garlic in a skillet until fragrant. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until softened. Add uncooked orzo and stir to allow to toast for a bit and absorb the flavours in the skillet. Add artichokes, tomatoes and oregano and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer mixture to a baking pan and top with uncooked chicken thighs.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until liquid is absorbed, orzo is nice and puffed up and chicken is cooked through. Garnish with chopped baby spinach.

Polish Charcuterie

2009-04-06T17:53:00.005-04:00

I'm a little behind on my flogging, because I had a busy weekend, so I'll post my catch up from the weekend. I went to this AMAZING Polish grocery store in Mississauga with my mom on Saturday. It was called Starsky's. I felt like I was in eastern Europe. Everything in the aisles were imported...beautiful looking jams, marinated vegetables, fish, packaged cookies. There were huge counters for deli, meats, cheeses, brined fish, bread, pastries, and hot prepared food. I was in heaven. I picked out some cheese, smoked sausages, meat loafs, bread and perogies and made a 'charcuterie' platter for dinner - Polish style! Would have been perfect if I had some pickled onions or baby cornichons to go with...

I love simple meals like this.

More time for Greek fries!

2009-04-05T23:03:00.004-04:00

Sorry I haven't flogged in a while.. Sometimes I find it so hard to get everything done and still relax!

And to think, I don't even have kids yet.

I was trying to think of ways to save time. I am going to spend a little more time prepping for the next day's dinner so it will be quicker.

Please post your tips of getting through the week! I'd love to know what things you do to cut time.

Now, to more important things: Greek fries!

Greek fries remind me of Messini, the absolutely best place to have gyros. This is very high on the list of comfort foods.

So easy too.

Ingredients:
Potato wedges or fries (I used the pre-cut frozen ones)
Feta
Freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
Oregano

Top fries with oregano, feta and lemon juice.

Bravo!

Spinach, Ricotta & Prosciutto Cannelloni

2009-04-01T22:43:00.006-04:00

This cannelloni was perfect for a weeknight. It was easy to prepare and while it baked in the oven I was able to kick up my feet and relax before my home church came over.

Ingredients
10 ready bake cannelloni tubes
1 tub ricotta cheese
1 package of frozen spinach, defrosted and towel dried
6 slices prosciutto diced
1 egg
1 tsp basil
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine ricotta cheese, spinach, prosciutto, egg, basil salt and pepper in a bowl. Stuff mixture in cannelloni shells. Lay 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Place cannelloni in a single layer in the pan. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 40 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and cannelloni are tender.

I had some mixture and sauce left over, so I made a lasagna as well for tomorrow's supper.

Tandoori Chicken

2009-03-31T22:40:00.000-04:00

I can't take credit for this recipe...it was my father-in-law who prepared everything and my husband who BBQ'd. Lucky me, I had the night off! The food was so delicious. My father-in-law is one of the best cooks that I know.

Ingredients
1 Whole Chicken , cut into pieces
1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt
2 tbs. Tandoori Masala
2 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Crushed Ginger
1 tsp. Crushed Garlic
1 tsp. Red Chile Powder

Directions
Wash Chicken. In a separate bowl mix remaining ingredients. Cut one to two deep cuts in each piece of chicken (to allow paste to marinade). Next mix chicken with the paste.
Refrigerate the chicken overnight in a sealed container. Bake chicken at 350 degrees for approx. 15 minutes. BBQ on med-high heat for 9 minutes per side or until cooked through and charred. Serve with Raita (yogurt mixed with cucumber and onions), sliced onions and naan.

Frikkadelles

2009-03-25T18:34:00.005-04:00

South African Cuisine is unique in that it blends a mix of African, Indian, Malaysian, Dutch and British influences. Most dishes are heavily meat-based as South Africans LOOOOOOOOVE to braai all types of meat and game. So much so that it's almost a sacrilege to compare braai to BBQ. To remind us to keep up the South African heritage in our household, my in-laws sent us this awesome cookbook called Rainbow Cuisine, full of South African recipes. I decided to make Frikkadelles for supper which are meatballs spiced with seasonings found in the famous rustic Boerewors (farmer's sausages.)

Ingredients
500g lean ground beef, lamb or mixture of the two
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely minced
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 slice bread
65 ml milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions
Mix together the minced meat, onion, garlic, coriander, cloves, salt and pepper in a bowl. Place the bread on a flat plate, pour the milk over, crumble and add to the mince with the beaten egg. Set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes to let the flavours mingle.
Form into balls, and fry in oil over medium heat for 12-15 minutes until cooked, turning occasionally. Make sure that they are cooked through without burning. Drain and place in a hot dish. Serve with spicy tomato sauce and rice.

Kirkland Fruit and Nut Medley

2009-03-25T09:22:00.003-04:00

I'm eating this delicious snack right now and thought it would be worth sharing.

I was at Costco with my mom last weekend and picked up this bag of Fruit and Nuts. I first had it at my aunt's house during Christmas and let me tell you...it is the BEST 'trail mix' I've ever come across.
There are huge chunks of dried fruits and nuts: cherries, mangoes, pineapple, raisins, kiwis, strawberries, bananas, papaya, apples, walnuts, almonds and peanuts.

This stuff is SERIOUSLY addictive.
If you have a Costco membership or know someone who does, GET THIS!!

Simple orzo salad

2009-03-24T22:36:00.007-04:00

This was one of the very first Greek dishes I made. I had actually never heard of orzo until I met Steve and we had lamb together. I loved it. Orzo is a pasta but has the shape of rice. It is generally used in soups.

I really like orzo as a side. Orzo really takes on flavor and I love the smooth and creamy texture. Orzo can be served either hot or cold.
Ingredients:

2 cups of orzo

2 chopped tomatoes

1 cup chopped or whole olives

1 or 2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

feta

Boil water and cook orzo for 10 minutes. Drain all but 1 cup of pasta water.
Cover for 5 minutes. The starchiness of the pasta will create a creamy texture of the orzo.
Add tomatoes, chopped or whole olives, salt and pepper and olive oil. Mix and top with feta!

Chicken Fajita Bowl

2009-03-24T19:58:00.004-04:00

This dish was inspired by my craving for chicken fajitas and my lack of motivation to go to the store and pick up tortillas. This recipe serves 4 (perfect for tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunches).

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts sliced
2 peppers sliced (red & orange)
1 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tomato chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 lime zest and juice
1 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos
2 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
Saute the garlic in a hot skillet until fragrant. Add cumin, chili powder, lime juice, lime zest and chicken and stir until coated and cooked through. Add onions, peppers, jalapenos and tomatoes and saute until tender crisp. Stir in sour cream to create a sauce. Serve over rice and top with cheddar cheese and extra sour cream.

This was a very good concoction. When I stirred everything together in my bowl it looked like this...YUM!!

Eggplant Provolone

2009-03-24T10:03:00.003-04:00

My friend Bella came over for dinner last night, and I taught her how to make eggplant provolone sandwiches. It's pretty much the same thing as Eggplant Parmesean except with delicious provolone cheese!
We documented our cooking with lots of pictures, but for some inexplicable reason, when I tried to upload the pictures they were GONE....wiped clean from the memory card!!! I'm really irritated about it. The sandwiches were soooooooo good and photographed really well. But anyway...please try to use your imagination. The recipe is still worth writing about. This recipe makes 6 sandwiches, and we ate them all between 3 of us!!

Ingredients
1 medium eggplant cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp dried basil
salt & pepper
6 slices provolone cheese
1 cup marinara sauce, heated (I used Ronzoni's Tomato & Basil, which is my favourite jarred sauce)
6 large fresh kaiser buns, split

Directions
Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet at medium heat.
Set up 2 plates - one with beaten egg, and the other with breadcrumbs mixed with basil, salt and pepper.
Coat both sides of eggplant rounds in egg and dredge in breadcrumbs.
Fry eggplants in hot skillet until golden brown on both sides and soft in the middle (about 4 minutes per side).
Place 1 or 2 rounds of breaded eggplant on kaiser bun, top with cheese and marinara sauce.
We also added my homemade "La Bomba" Antipasto hot sauce to the sandwiches which gave them and extra flavourful spicy kick.

Sodium nitrite

2009-03-23T23:08:00.004-04:00

Steve came home one day and searched through the fridge for cold cuts, bacon and hot dogs. Then he pulled out the trash can and threw it all out.

WHAT?? Especially to Canadians like me, you just don't throw out bacon..

For goodness' sake, we ALL know that bacon isn't exactly a source of Omega 3 or the "good fat”..

Steve explained the food additive, Sodium nitrite, is found in these products. Specifically, processed and cured meats, hot dogs and preserved fish.

Known to kill bacteria, and add color, this ingredient is linked to cancer and toxins are most evoked by high temperatures. This means frying bacon or grilling hotdogs.

Oh.

The biggest issue is how carcinogenic these toxins are when ingested. “When consumers eat sodium nitrite in popular meat products, nitrosamines are formed in the body where they promote the growth of various cancers, including colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer, says Adams. "Sodium nitrite is a dangerous, cancer-causing ingredient”.*

I would think the more genetically predisposed one is to cancer based on lifestyle and family genetics, the more higher the risk this is.

The good news is that there is sodium-nitrite free deli meats and bacon. In fact, we now eat these products by Hormel. I will post more links to preservative-free products as I continue my education and awareness.

Here is some links that aided my research:

Processed meat consumption results in 67% increase in pancreatic cancer risk, says new research

12 Food Additives to Avoid

*Quote pulled "Processed meat consumption results in 67% increase in pancreatic cancer risk, says new research".<http://www.naturalnews.com/007024.html> March 2009.

Club sandwich

2009-03-22T21:48:00.005-04:00

Have I mentioned that I love sandwiches? One of my favourite classics is a turkey club...perfect for a Sunday afternoon.

Ingredients (for 2)
6 slices bread, toasted
6 slices roasted deli turkey breast
6 slices bacon, cooked
2 slices cheddar cheese
4 slices tomatoes
2 or 3 large leaves lettuce
mayo
mustard
salt & pepper

Directions
Spread mayo on first slice of toast and add a slice of cheese and 3 strips of bacon.
Top with a second slice of toast and add 3 slices of turkey, 2 slices of tomatoes and lettuce. Salt & pepper the tomatoes!
Spread mayo and mustard on third slice of toast and cover sandwich.
Insert toothpicks into the corners and slice on a diagonal.

I like big sandwich pieces so I only sliced it in half instead of quarters. Serve with kosher dills.

Spanokorizo

2009-03-22T14:16:00.009-04:00

Fasting for Lent is a quite a culinary challenge! Steve and I have been working hard to prepare meatless and dairy-free meals on Wednesdays and Fridays.

So I looked to my Greek family for ideas. Yiasou!

Ingredients:

1 med onion chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
2 cups of cooked brown rice
2 frozen packages of spinach thawed
28 oz of pureed tomatoes
feta
oregano
salt and pepper
olive oil

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add rice and tomatoes. Turn down heat and let simmer. Add spinach. Stir. Add oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Top with feta (unless fasting) :)

Pavlova

2009-03-18T23:23:00.001-04:00

Dessert for tonight's home church meeting was pavlova. It's such an easy and yummy dessert. I first had it in Montreal made by one of my Grandma's friends who was from New Zealand. I'll never forget my first crusty chewy pillowy bite of the delicous merengue topped with cold whipped cream and fresh kiwis. I made the pavlova last night as the recipe said that it could relax all day in a dry oven. I got the recipe from Joy of Baking.

Sarah came over before home chruch and helped prepare and assemble the toppings.

Et voilà!

Since we have a lot of people at home church, I added an extra egg white and sugar from what the original recipe called for.

Ingredients
Pavlova:
5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Topping:
1 cup whipped cream (could have used more)
1 pint each of strawberries and blueberries macerated with sugar and vanilla
4 kiwis, peeled and sliced

Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F
Beat egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form.
Slowly mix in the icing sugar 1 tbsp at a time until well blended.
Add vinegar and cornstarch and fold in with a spatula.
Put some parchment paper on a large baking sheet and mound mixture into the shape of a circle. I like to create a big well in the middle of the circle with the edges slightly higher to create a space for the whipped cream and fruit.
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the pavlova is slightly golden and crispy on the outside
Turn off oven, keep the oven door ajar and leave the pavlova inside to dry overnight.
(You can also remove from the oven and cool if you are serving sooner)

Once the pavlova has cooled, fill the well with whipped cream and fruit.

Grilled Vegetable and Havarti Sandwiches

2009-03-18T18:33:00.001-04:00

My inspiration for this sandwich came from Closet Cooking. I had some vegetables leftover from making the 'La Bomba' hot sauce so I sliced the leftover vegetables and grilled them in the oven (450 F for about 10 minutes per side). Here's what I came up with...

Ingredients
4 rounds of grilled eggplant
4 slices of grilled red peppers
4 thick strips of grilled zucchini
2 tsp la bomba sauce (or marinara sauce)
4 slices whole grain bread
butter
havarti cheese

Directions
Make sadwiches from the grilled eggplant, red peppers, zucchini and havarti cheese.
Spread 'La Bomba' sauce on the inside of the sandwiches.
Butter the outsides of the sandwiches.
Grill sandwiches on a hot grill pan for about 6-7 minutes per side until cheese is melted and oozing and bread is nicely toasted. I put a heavy pan on top of the sandwiches to press like a panini maker would.

"La Bomba" Antipasto Hot Sauce

2009-03-17T17:50:00.004-04:00

It's St. Patrick's Day... I can hear the pub downstairs getting lively. They've set up tents and outdoor porto-potties on the patio too. It's quite the set up. Pretty soon it will be filled with drunken party-goers. I can't drink since I'm all knocked up, the husband is out drinking green beer somewhere, so to celebrate I'm staying in and cooking up a storm. More importantly, I'm raising a glass (of chocolate milk) to my BESTIE and flog partner-in-crime, Amanda because it's her birthday today!
Happy Birthday, special!!

Well the first thing I made today was an antipasto hot sauce. I got the idea from the MOST delicious hot sauce I've ever tried, called La Bomba. I was introduced to it when I asked for hot sauce at Cafe Cinquecento. Since then, I found it at Metro in Liberty village. I'm almost out of it so I thought I'd try to make some at home. I basically just looked at the ingredients listed on the jar and threw in what I had on hand and thought would taste good.

Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients
1 cup eggplant diced very small
8 mushrooms diced very small
1 red pepper diced very small
1 banana pepper diced very small
5 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup of the best olives you can find, pitted and minced
4 tbsp olive oil
6-7 basil leaves torn
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
7 HOT dried chilies crushed

Directions
Saute garlic and dried chilies on med-low heat in 1 tbsp olive oil until fragrant. Add the mushrooms, red peppers, banana peppers, olives, basil leaves and fennel seeds. Saute until all the veggies are soft. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool for a bit and transfer to a jar. Pour 3 tbsp olive oil over the top and store in the fridge. This should last in the fridge for about a month.

La Bomba sauce tastes DELICIOUS on pizza, pasta sauces, crunchy bread or even just tossed with fresh hot pasta.

Balsamic vinaigrette glazed vegetable pita

2009-03-15T22:16:00.008-04:00

Ingredients:

1 green pepper julienned
1 red pepper julienned
1 cup asparagus
1 medium onion thinly sliced
2 tomatoes finely chopped
Pitas
4 tbsp balsalmic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar

Saute all vegetables with vinegar and brown sugar until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Serve in pitas topped with chopped tomatoes. This is a great Lenten meal! Steve loved it.

Make it in the Office: Chocolate cake in a mug

2009-03-15T19:32:00.003-04:00

I got this recipe in a forwarded email from my mother-in-law. Of course I had to try it myself! I sent the recipe to some people on my team, and each person brought in an ingredient. It was a fun collaborative effort. Great for a team building activity too!
Try it yourself. It's not bad. The texture is a little spongy at the top, but at the bottom, the chocolate chips are melted and create a gooey surprise. It does the trick to fix your chocolate craving and sends a delicious home-baked smell throughout the office!

Ingredients
1 large mug
4 tbsp flour (Thanks, Shiva!)
4 tbsp sugar (Thanks, Markus!)
2 tbsp cocoa (Thanks, Kendi!)
1 egg (Thanks, Kevin!)
3 tbsp milk (courtesy of our in-office coffee supply)
3 tbsp oil (I hope everyone appreciated that I spent an inflated price of $5 for a small bottle of canola oil at The Kitchen Table)
3 tbsp chocolate chips (Thanks again, Markus!)

Directions
1. Put everything into a large mug. Ensure everyone is laughing and having a good time while doing so.

2. Mix well. Continue to be excited for what is to come!

3. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Enjoy the delicious smell that permeates through the office and be prepared to answer questions and strange looks from passers-by.

4. Et voila!! The original recipe said the cake would rise higher than the mug, and not to be alarmed, but ours looked like this. We might have not been paying 100% attention to the task at hand.

5. Enjoy right out of the mug. 1 cake will serve 2 people. See? Yum.

Thanks, Tetiana for capturing the moment on film. :)

How to prepare and eat whole artichokes

2009-03-14T22:11:00.005-04:00

I had never grown up eating artichokes. The only kind I had ever eaten were the marinated artichokes in jars or antipasto bars. The first time I saw fresh artichokes in the grocery store I decided to buy some and experiment. It was not so intimidating once I found out how easy it was to prepare them and I discovered how delicious they are!! Now artichokes are one of my go-to easy appetizers to serve when guests come over. They are pretty and fun to eat.

Here is my step-by-step method or preparing fresh artichokes.

1. Run water vigorously over the tops of the artichokes separating the leaves slightly so any dirt that may be inside the layers are forced out.

2. Peel away the tough outer petals. (Approximately 2 layers) Using a sharp knife, cut off the stems of the artichokes so that they can stand upright. Also cut the top of the artichoke off to expose the inner layers.

3. Using kitchen scissors, snip the thorny points off of the remaining outer petals.

4. Cut a piece of garlic in half and rub the tops of the artichokes.

5. Squeeze a quarter of lemon into the tops of the artichokes, separating the petals slightly to get inside the layers.

6. Stand the artichokes upright in a pot. Place some crushed garlic cloves on top and fill the pot with about 1-2 inches of water. Add the just-squeezed lemon wedges into the water to create aromatic steam. Cover the pot and steam the artichokes on medium heat for about 20-30 minutes or until the petals can be removed easily when pulled.

7. Serve artichokes with lemon wedges and dijon-mayo dip (recipe below...)

Dijon-Mayo dip
Artichokes and mayo are a match made in heaven.
To make a perfect mayo dip for the artichokes, mix the following into a small bowl:
3 tbsp mayo
1 tsp dijon mustard
squeeze of lemon
1/4 tsp of dried dill
salt & pepper to taste

To eat the artichoke, pull a petal, dip the end into mayo, and use your bottom teeth to scrape off the inner flesh of the petal. Discard the outside as it will be too woody to eat. The further you go into the artichoke, the more tender the petals become.
Once you reach the center of the artichoke, you'll come to the heart. Pop off the 'cone' of remaining petals, and you'll see the fuzzy 'choke' that looks like a thistle. Using a teaspoon, gently scrape out and discard the choke, and you will be left with the delicious tender heart at the base of the artichoke. You can eat the entire base...it's the best part! Dip into mayo and enjoy!

Spicy minced pork with vegetables

2009-03-12T22:10:00.001-04:00

To make this dish, you'll need some black bean chili sauce. You can pick some up at a Chinese supermarket, although I think they might also sell it at Loblaws too, depending on where you live. I use Lee Kum Kee's guizhou black bean chili sauce which comes in a jar like this:

Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork (or turkey)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 ribs celery diced
large handful baby carrots diced
1 tsp of soy sauce or more depending on your taste
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
2-3 tsp black bean chili sauce (depending on how spicy you want it)
2 cups baby spinach

Directions:
Brown the pork until cooked through. Drain fat.
Push the meat to the edges of the pan to create a hole. Pour a little oil into the centre to heat and saute the garlic, celery and onions until soft. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese cooking wine, and chili sauce, mixing thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss in spinach so that it wilts lightly as you stir everything together.
I usually serve this dish with white rice and wrap with large lettuce leaves.

Epic Trifle

2009-03-11T23:12:00.001-04:00

I love collaborating with Sarah for desserts to make for our home church. She's so much fun to cook with! Tonight it was an 'epic trifle' layered with homemade chocolate cake, custard, cream, strawberries, mangoes and kiwis.

Ingredients
Sarah's homemade chocolate cake cut into cubes
1 package of instant custard prepared (or you can use Jello instant vanilla pudding)
2 cups whipping cream, whipped with sugar and vanilla
2 pints strawberries sliced and macerated with sugar
5 kiwis sliced
1 can of mangoes in syrup (reserve syrup too!)

Directions
In a large glass bowl, create layers of chocolate cake, custard, fruit, syrup and whipped cream. Allow to soak in the fridge for at least an hour. Serve into bowls.

YUM!!

Spaghetti with chickpeas, cherry tomatoes & spinach

2009-03-10T22:57:00.004-04:00

I think a sign of success of a good vegetarian meal is if I can get my husband to eat it without noticing he's missing meat. ;) We both LOVE chickpeas, and I could snack on them like chips. This recipe was super easy and tasty and all the ingredients are of things I always have in the pantry or fridge.

Ingredients
Dried Spaghetti (cooked al dente - 10 1/2 mins)
1 can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 cups fresh baby spinach
6 or 7 cremini mushrooms
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp hot chili flakes (for a milder dish, use less or omit, but I like things SPICY!)
parmesean cheese

Directions
While pasta is boiling, heat up olive oil in a large skillet.
Saute garlic until fragrant. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until softened, about 3-4. Add tomatoes, chickpeas and hot pepper flakes. Allow to heat through until tomatoes release their juices and become slightly wrinkled. Ladle some boiling water from the pasta pot into the sauce, and season with salt and pepper.
Drain spaghetti, and toss with sauce and spinach. Spinach will slowly wilt from the heat of the spaghetti. Top with parmesean cheese and enjoy!

Lobster Roll

2009-03-10T21:50:00.007-04:00

I saw this on the Food Network and have been craving to make it! Steve thought it tasted exotic!

It was a very easy, quick and light dinner.
I think I would have used more lobster though. Maybe after the recession ;)

Ingredients

1 cup Greek yogurt or plain
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons green onion
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 hotdog buns
Salt and pepper to taste
**2 lobster tails

** I used 1 lobster tail.

I bought frozen lobster tail yesterday and thawed it over night in the fridge. Today, I steamed it for about 7 min until the tail curled.

In the meantime, I mixed the yogurt, mayo, celery, green onion, lemon juice and salt and pepper together.

Once the lobster was done, I chopped up into fine pieces and folded it into the above mix.

I toasted the bread, spread the mix on and served with some tomatoes on the side.

"Lobster roll"http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/lobster-roll-recipe/index.html March 2009.

The BEST Chili con Carne

2009-03-09T17:45:00.003-04:00

I LOOOOOOVE homemade chili, and though I still think my mom is the master, this recipe is just amazing. And super easy too. It has a surprising secret ingredient - cocoa. I introduced the recipe to my co-worker, Tetiana and at first she was VERY skeptical (Her reaction was, "Chocolate in chili is just disturbing!!") but she has already made it twice since I gave it to her! I think that's a pretty good sign!

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 red peppers, chopped
500g ground beef (one packet)
3 pickled jalapeno chiles, seeded and finely chopped (2-3 tbsp)
2 tbsp chili powder
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 can tomatoes, chopped
1 can white kidney beans rinsed and drained
Directions
Brown ground beef in a large pot
When cooked through, push the meat to the edges of the pot to create a hole.
Pour olive oil in hole and saute onions and garlic until softened and translucent (5 mins).
Add red pepper and saute until tender crisp (5 mins).
Stir in jalapenos, chili powder, cocoa, salt coriander, oregnao tomatoes with their juice; heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer stirring occasionally until slightly thickened (15-20 mins, though sometimes I like to leave it longer for richer flavour!).
I like to eat this over rice or sprinkled with cheese. If I'm feeling ambitious later, I might just make Mandy's cornbread!

Cubanos at Delux Restaurant

2009-03-05T23:59:00.001-05:00

Cubanos are HANDS DOWN my favourite sandwiches in the world. Amanda introduced me to them during our trip to Florida. I’ve since had one in Atlanta, Buffalo and finally, Toronto!! They are not as popular here in Canada as they are in the States…in fact, very few people have heard of them. I don’t know why, because they are crunchy, cheesy, melty, pickly, meaty delights. I have tried making them at home, but will try again because I didn’t exactly get the flavours down to my liking.
Anyway, I went out with Marissa this week to Delux on Ossignton, simply because they serve the BEST Cubano sandwiches. I found it a little overpriced, but it's still worth it, since we've been back twice. Inside a cuban sandwich you'll find, Grilled pressed bread with brined pork, ham, swiss cheese, garlic flavoured mayo, mustard and pickles. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's pure heavenly bliss to bite into one. I am going to try to make this at home once again, so stay tuned!

Jerked Pork Tenderloin with Rice and Peas

2009-03-04T19:10:00.006-05:00

I happen to love the 'Memories of..." sauces from Loblaws. I know I usually like to make sauces from scratch, but I have my exceptions, especially on weeknights. For this quick and easy Caribbean supper, I picked up a 'Memories of Montego Bay' jerk sauce and marinated a 1.25lb pork tenderloin with it in a large Ziploc bag. I baked it for 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven. I served this with some rice and peas cooked in the rice cooker. Here's the recipe for the EASY rice and peas.

(I didn't really plate this nicely because I was hungry and in a rush!)

Ingredients
3 cups of rice
1 can of kidney beans
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1 chili (You're supposed to use a habanero pepper, but I only had a thai chili, so I used that)
2 tbsp minced onion
1 cup of coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 teaspoons of dried thyme

Put everything into a rice cooker and wait until the light goes off!
I would have served this with some fried plantain if I had more time.

Going green: lifestyle change: #1

2009-03-03T22:12:00.003-05:00

Thermal coffee mug.

You can take me out of Canada, but you can't take Canada out of me.

I miss the coffee culture.

I never really realized how much a part of my life it was until I moved. I never appreciated that it was a social activity, "something to do" and I just miss it. I loved going to Tims for coffee, cookies, ice caps, bagels and sandwiches.

It was fun no matter where. Drive- through, road-trips, sitting in the car, school. It was always that “go to” place.

So, I have become an active Dunkin Donuts customer. Starbucks is a little too $$ for moi and no Tims in Chi..

I stop at a Dunkins religiously on my way to work now. They even have my coffee ready when I walk in.

I used to get coffee every morning with a Styrofoam cup and just felt plain guilty about it. Plus I spilled it a couple times.

So my new accessory is a stainless steel thermal mug. She is with me at all times and is used for coffee, tea and water. She also doesn't spill and no more coffee cups for me.

Saving the environment one change at a time.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

2009-03-02T20:51:00.008-05:00

Sharl was reading over my shoulder as I was reading through my blog list, when he saw this recipe on Canadian Baker, he begged me to make it. I didn't use the frosting recipe from the recipe because my brother had given me his leftover cream cheese icing that he made a TON of. I used 1 cup of the cream cheese icing and mixed in 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter. It was heavenly.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

Ingredients
6 oz (175 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz (125 g) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup (75 mL) butter 1/3 cup (75 mL) natural peanut butter, at room temperature
2 cups (500 mL) granulated sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
4 eggs
1-2/3 cups (400 mL) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 mL) chopped unsalted peanuts
Pinch salt

Frosting:
1/3 cup (75 mL) butter, softened
1/4 cup (50 mL) natural peanut butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla 2 cups (500 mL) icing sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) milk
3 oz (90 g) bittersweet chocolate, melted

Preparation: Line 13- x 9-inch (3.5 L) metal cake pan with parchment paper or grease. In saucepan, melt bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate, butter and peanut butter over medium-low heat; let cool for 10 minutes. Whisk in sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each. Stir in flour, peanuts and salt. Spread in prepared pan. Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging, about 25 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack.
Frosting: In bowl, beat butter, peanut butter and vanilla until creamy. Beat in icing sugar in 2 additions; beat in milk. Spread over brownies. Drizzle with chocolate. Refrigerate until firm, 1 hour. (Make-ahead: Remove from pan; wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Or overwrap in heavy-duty foil; freeze for up to 1 month.) Cut into bars. Makes 60 bars.

Lamb on Naan with Greek Salad

2009-03-02T20:04:00.003-05:00

Not all leftovers have to be boring. If you turn them into something completely new, you'll never know they were leftovers. I used the left over roast lamb we had on Saturday and gave it a middle eastern twist by spreading baba ghanoush on warmed naan bread and serving it with a simple Greek salad. Delicious!

I very seldom buy prepared salad dressing because it's easy and fresher to make your own.
To make a simple Greek dressing at home, combine the following into a small mug and mix:

juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper
1 clove lightly crushed garlic

Pizza Party!

2009-03-01T21:27:00.007-05:00

I LOVE to share food with others, and even better if we can cook together! Anita and I made 2 types of pizza tonight, and had a lot of fun doing it.

While Anita rolled out the dough, the boys 'helped' out in the background.

Pizza # 1:
Quatro Stagione (For Seasons) Pizza

Ingredients
Artichokes
Olives
Mushrooms
Prosciutto
Mozzarella
Pizza sauce
Directions
Layer the pizza with sauce, cheese, artichokes, olives and mushrooms, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 450 F. Once the pizza is removed from the oven, top with proscuitto.

Pizza # 2:
Caramelized Onion and Bacon Pizza

Ingredients
6 strips of bacon crumbled
3 onions sliced into rings
1/2 tsp butter
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp thyme
pinch of saffron (we were feeling decadent)
salt and pepper to taste
mozzarella cheese
pizza sauce

Directions
1. In a hot skillet, fry bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
2. Drain bacon fat, but leave browned bits in pan. Melt butter.
3. Add onions, thyme and rosemary and cook until they turn brown and become caramelized (the key is not to stir them too much)
4. Remove from heat and let cool for a bit.
5. Top pizza dough with sauce cheese, onions and bacon (we also added artichokes) and bake for 20 minutes at 450 F

*If you are baking 2 pizzas at once in the oven, rotate between upper and lower rack halfway though.

Et voila!

Pizza Dough

2009-03-01T14:59:00.006-05:00

Anita and Ivan are coming for dinner and we're going to make homemade pizzas together.
Anita's picking up ingredients, so I thought I'd make the dough ahead of time so all we have to do is roll it out and prepare and assemble our toppings.
Kneading dough is quite the workout. I think I will take up bread-making while on maternity leave to help me lose the baby weight!

Here's a simple recipe for pizza dough found in my Good Housekeeping cookbook.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
1. Combine 1/4 cup warm water, yeast and sugar in large bowl. Stir to dissolve and let stand until foamy (5 mins).
Stir in remaining cup warm water, oil, salt, and 1/2 cups flour until smooth.
Gradually add 2 cups all purpose flour and stir until dough comes away from the side of the bowl.
2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (10 mins). Work in enough of the remaining 1/2 cup flour to keep dough from sticking. Shape dough into ball and place in greased large bowl, turning dough to grease top.
3. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in volume (1 hour).

Roast Leg of Lamb with Yorkshire Puddings

2009-03-01T11:53:00.007-05:00

My father-in-law is an AMAZING cook. One of my favourite things (among many others) are his roast dinners. Last night, he made roast leg of lamb with roasted potatoes and Yorkshire puddings. I know Yorkshire puddings belong with roast beef, but we thought... why not with lamb too?
One of his tricks in making super flavourful lamb is stuffing garlic pieces into the meat before cooking. Then he coats the lamb with salt and pepper, butter, rosmary and thyme.
Because Yorkshire puddings are my absolute favourite part of the roast dinner, here's the recipe...

Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients
1 cup flour
pinch of salt
2 large egg
300 ml milk
300 ml water

Directions
Ensure oven is heated to 400 F
Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth, scraping down sides occasionally.
Put about 1/2 tsp vegetable oil into the bottom of each well of a muffin tin and place in hot oven for 3 minutes.
Once the oil is hot (should be smoking), carefully but QUICKLY pour batter into each well.
Bake for 10 minutes at 400 F, then reduce heat to 325 F and continue to bake until puffy and golden brown.

Here's a picture of Sharl digging in. It must have been torture for poor little Xhosa.