Equal Opportunity Kitchen

Penne in a Spicy Tuna Sauce & Contest Alert

2012-01-24T21:18:00.002-05:00

My pasta-making repertoire has become a bit predictable as of late. So, I was really excited when Aurora contacted me to see if I would be interested in participating in their Recipideo Roundup. Aurora is a Canadian-based company that sells quality Italian products in Canada, the United States and other countries.

Recipideos are short videos, developed by Aurora, showing how to make easy Italian recipes. Keep an eye out (or follow the youtube channel) for future recipideos. January's recipideo was Pasta with Spicy Tuna Sauce. You can watch the video here:

Aurora kindly sent me a few of the products used in the recipe, so I could try them out myself.

I was particularly impressed with the diced tomatoes. They have 10 mg of sodium per 1/2 cup, this is far lower than the diced tomatoes in my cupboard (even the ones that claim that no salt is added).

The La Bomba, an antipasto spread, is something that I would likely never have noticed on my own (I'm generally a creature of habit who sticks to my staples when shopping). But I was pleasantly surprised by the nice spice it added to the dish and plan to incorporate it in future dishes.

I included about two tablespoons of the La Bomba in the recipe. But, since we like our food spicy, I'll probably add even more next time. I think R also has plans to add some to his special sandwich.

The dish has an unexpected depth to it. Maybe this came from adding strained tomato. It was similar to the depth of flavour that comes from adding a wine reduction to your tomato sauce.

Definitely a winning dish!

But here's the exciting part...

Aurora has offered to send one of our readers the six ingredients you see, below:

Here's how to participate:

Go check out the Aurora catalogue and then leave a comment here, before Sunday, January 29th at midnight (EST). In the comment, let me know which product most interests you. After doing this, I will put your name in a draw to win the prize.

You can also have your name added to the draw a second time by tweeting the following information:

Enter to win specialty Italian food at http://tinyurl.com/7p26zrv @AuroraImporting @EqualOppKitchen

(you can personalize the tweet, if you'd like)

One more detail:

This contest is open to those living in Canada and the United States. However, please be aware that if you are located in the US, you will be responsible for covering the cost of border tariffs.

Pulled Pork

2012-01-23T14:36:00.003-05:00

When it comes to the pork department, other than bacon, I haven't experimented much with different cuts of meat. I've admitted it before and I'll say it again, I seem to have this FOP (fear of pork). I've always been curious about pulled pork. Yes dear readers, I've never made it before now. I had to go to a couple of grocery stores before I could find Canadian Pork; I'm strange that way. I believe grocery stores make a choice about what to buy; why not local??? I'd pay more for a local product and will leave a store that doesn't carry it. Support your local farmers!!!
OK enough ranting for one day.

I found a Bonnie Stern recipe and I really haven't met one of her recipes that I didn't like. I appreciate her sense of healthy eating and always works to take recipes and makes them more calorie friendly.

Paste:
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp each paprika, pepper and cumin
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 lb boneless pork shoulder (pork butt roast)

Cooking liquid:
- 2 cups apple juice
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 6 whole cloves garlic
- 2 onions, thickly sliced

Maple barbecue sauce:

- 2 cups favourite barbecue sauce
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp each Worcestershire sauce and apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1. Combine brown sugar, salt, paprika, pepper, cumin, mustard and garlic. Rub into roast. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

2. Combine apple juice, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Place garlic and onions in the bottom of a Dutch oven and set roast on top. Add liquid. Cover roast with a piece of parchment paper and then cover pan tightly. Cook in a preheated 325F/160C oven for 3 to 4 hours or longer, until pork is so tender it falls apart when pierced with a fork.

3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan whisk barbecue sauce with maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and mustard. Bring to a boil. Cook gently 5 minutes. Reserve.
4. When roast is ready, remove from pan. Slice thickly and chop. Combine with half the barbecue sauce, adding some of the strained cooking juices if meat is too dry.

Reheat meat just before serving in a 325F oven for about 30 minutes.
5. Make sandwiches on the soft buns with meat, extra barbecue sauce, coleslaw, chipotle mayo and guacamole (if using).

Makes 12 sandwiches

Verdict: Absolutely delicious and the maple bar b que sauce is just wonderful. I wouldn't hesitate to make this again.

Happy Seolnal (Korean New Year) Eat Your Kimchi

2012-01-20T16:45:00.006-05:00

I swim every morning with Kim Li who came from Korea only a couple of years ago. We have the best time, even more entertaining because she speaks no English and I don't speak Korean. Somehow, we manage to laugh and exchange ideas. We've taught her to say "see you tomorrow" and she's got it down pat. One day I asked her for her recipe for Kimchi (kim-chee). It took a couple of minutes but then she said, in her most outgoing voice "Ahhhh, Kimchi". I did the smile and nod thinking she didn't really understand but sure enough, the next morning she showed up with a recipe, hand printed, exactly as follows.

A Korean superfood eaten with every meal, it's said that Kimchi is part of a low fat, high fibre diet that keeps Koreans slim and trim. AND, since it's a fermented condiment, it has health benefits that both aid digestion and even helps to prevent yeast infections. There are many different recipes; this one is one of the simpler ones I've seen. Fellow blogger Kevin, from Closet Cooking has done alot of experimentation with many different recipes for Kimchi and I know he's hooked on it.

1 whole head Napa cabbage
1/4 cup sea salt
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup*red pepper paste (ko-choo-kah-rhoo)(*quantity depends on your heat tolerance)
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 tsp ginger, minced
3-4 sliced green onions
2 Tbsp fish sauce
A pair of kitchen gloves

1. Separate leaves of napa cabbage and chop into bite sized pieces (no need to clean them yet, we'll be giving them a good rinse in a bit)

2. Add sea salt to warm water, stir to dissolve
3. Add salt water to cabbage and give a light toss to distribute the salt water. Set aside at room temperature for 4-5 hours, stirring at the 2 hour mark.
4. Wash and strain the cabbage 2-3 times. After rinsing off all the salt water, return cabbage to a large bowl.

5. Add red pepper paste, garlic, ginger, green onions, fish sauce. Put on your gloves and give the kimchi a good mix massaging in the flavours.

6. Kimchi should sit at room temperature for 1-2 days and then transferred into capped jars. You can eat it with just about anything.

* The 1/3 cup of red pepper paste gave the kimchi a good amount of heat. If you're not a fan of spicy food, put in less.

Here's a great video that walks you through the steps.

Link:

History of Kimchi
Korean New Year 2012

Blueberry Meyer Lemon Muffins

2012-01-18T15:20:00.005-05:00

Bonanza this week at the supermarket. Both meyer lemons and blueberries were on sale. While shopping I remembered seeing an interesting looking lower fat muffin recipe so I picked up both ingredients, checked back in my saved file and found them again at Heather's Dish .

First time trying a recipe I generally stick to the recipe as written and I did just that. Muffins are generally pretty simple and the results usually predictable. For some reason that I'm still trying to figure out, mine didn't really resemble Heather's.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup yogurt
1 egg
4 Tbsp canola oil
zest of 2 Meyer lemons
1/4 cup juice from Meyer lemons
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a muffin pan or line with muffin cups. In a large bowl combine the sugar, sour cream, yogurt, egg, oil, and lemon juice. Add the dry ingredients and gently stir till just combined. Fold in the zest and the blueberries.

Scoop into a standard muffin pan, about 1/4 cup of batter per muffin cup.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

The taste is really good and I didn't feel at all guilty having 1 or 2. The texture seemed heavier than I expected so I'm convinced I missed something along the way.

Baked Chicken Thighs

2012-01-14T18:08:00.005-05:00

My mother always encouraged us to have chicken breasts over thighs because of the fat content. What she didn't tell us is that the dark meat holds moisture more efficiently and has more flavour. I feel somehow liberated knowing that I can cook thighs and not have my mom standing over me shaking her finger.

I recently found thighs on sale at my local grocery store and wanted something to go with mushroom brown rice that would have a bit of a gravy with it without it being a high calorie gravy.

8 to 10 chicken breasts, thighs or drumsticks
1 pkg. Knorr Vegetable Soup (or Onion Soup mix)
1 c. water or chicken broth
1/2 cup Italian dressing (I used tomato, basil and oregano dressing)
8 oz. apricot or peach jam
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Remove skin from chicken and arrange in a shallow baking pan or casserole.
Blend the remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.
Bake in a preheated 375°F for 45 minutes. Turn pieces half way through cooking and continue until tender and juices run clear.

Another easy recipe that is really forgiving and quick enough for week night dinner. If you don't care for the ingredients I used, make it your own. The jam/preserve is a great addition because it adds a bit of a sticky sweetness to it.

Benefits of Dragonfruit

2012-01-13T19:32:00.004-05:00

If you watch Dr. Oz you know that he's always giving out great tips on good nutritional habits. One of the sources he recommended that was low in sugar and high in omega 3's is Dragonfruit or also known as Pitaya. Go figure that a few weeks later I was contacted by Pitaya Plus who manufacture pitaya in drink form asking if I wanted to sample it. A low calorie, healthy cleansing drink is high in nutrients and recommended for diabetics.

This would generally have been one that I would have said no to only because there's no distribution in Canada but when I thought twice I knew that so many of our readers are American and could benefit from the product. It also doesn't hurt that I travel to California for two months in the winter and can get it there. AND for those who have interest, you can order it on their online store. For our readers in the U.S., if you've had some experience with Dragonfruit, I'd love to hear about it.

For those like me who really didn't know much about Dragonfruit, here's our own charming Chef Richardo giving just a brief demo.

I shared the samples with my doctor who validated the claims made by the product manufacturers. That was good enough for me.

Nutritional Facts:
• Particularly red-skinned pitayas are a good source of Vitamin C.
• Pitayas are rich in fiber and minerals, notably phosphorus and calcium. Red pitayas seem to be richer in the former, yellow ones in the latter.
• The seeds are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and in particular Red Pitayas contain very little saturated fat.
• Pitahayas also contain significant quantities of phytoalbumin antioxidants, which prevent the formation of cancer-causing free radicals.
• In Taiwan, diabetics use the fruit as a food substitute for rice and as a source of dietary fiber.
• Pitaya supposedly increases excretion of heavy metal toxins and lowers cholesterol and blood pressure. Eaten regularly, it is credited with alleviating chronic respiratory tract ailments.

Links
Diabetic Diet
Benefits of Dragon Fruit

Christmas in Saskatchewan

2012-01-11T07:30:00.001-05:00

Flights in Canada can be ridiculously expensive. Depending on where you're flying, there are pretty much two main airlines, which doesn't really inspire competitive pricing. When flying to the States, it's fairly common for Canadians to drive a few hours across the border, to catch a flight for a more reasonable price.

For that reason, R and I haven't been to visit his family in Saskatchewan for a couple of years. But, we decided that we couldn't skip Christmas in Saskatchewan for three years in a row and bit the bullet.

Shortly after arriving, we made our way north to spend the holidays with the whole family in a cottage in the Wapiti Valley. If you're familiar with Saskatchewan, it's about 30 minutes from Melfort.

We stayed in a 16 person cabin at The Outerbanks. The cabin was nicely laid out, with ample space for everyone and a hot tub on the deck.

The view from balcony:

It was a bit of a shock to the system to spend 3 days with six kids, all under the age of seven. It made me wish that there was more insulation between the floors of the cottage, because when we were downstairs, it sounded like a herd of elephants running through the house.

Thankfully, there were lots of winter activities to keep the kids busy. Nearby, there's tobogganing, sleighrides, skidooing, etc.

Skiing was a highlight for those that went. Even Grandpa had a good time. Maybe too good of a time:

I guess it's all fun and games until someone breaks a limb and needs to have surgery. Thankfully, it happened on the last day and it was time to return home and pick up my buddies from the "puppy jail."

It was also time to spend some time with R's friends and take pictures of one of the oddities of Saskatchewan: superfluous Saskatchewan Roughrider merchandise. Apparently the Riders sell more merchandise than all other CFL teams combined. Their merchandise sales are 3rd highest as far as sports teams in Canada go, after the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadians. Here's just a selection of what you can buy.

Everyone needs a Rider birdhouse, right?

R and I had several "discussions" where I've flat out refused to have a Rider BBQ cover:

Co-marketing with Pilsner:

I'm sure the fish in Saskatchewan won't be able to resist a Rider fishing lure:

A must have to go with the BBQ cover:

Don't blame the Riders if your drink isn't cold:

Seriously - it's your own fault! They even provide the ice:

Someone turned this poor stuffed monkey into a green monster:

Even the dog can't escape the Riders:

I think I offended a few Rider fans when they realized that I was taking pictures of Rider merchandise because I think it's over the top. So, after wearing out my welcome in the province, it was time to leave the Prairies and head back to Ottawa.

Winter Fancy Food Show & Tate's Cookies

2012-01-09T20:37:00.004-05:00

This post is long overdue and I must apologize. As bloggers we often have opportunity to either win something really cool or sample a product that really fits with our values. Admittedly both Psychgrad and I have turned down our share of offers simply because we felt that the product was just not a good fit for us for whatever reason.

Today I'm sharing a "Martha" moment with you to share a product that to me, is really worthy of mention and sharing with our readers. I was lucky enough to win a contest at More Than Burnt Toast in celebration of National Cookie Month. The cookies are from the artisan baker in Southampton called Tate's Bake Shop. I had no idea what to expect but was pretty excited when they arrived together with the Tate's Bakeshop Cookbook

My first impression when I sampled the cookies I received was "WOW, I had no idea" (I seemed to say that a lot when it came to these cookies) How is it that I never heard of them before. Plus, the cookbook has a preamble from Ina Garten and for those who know me, anything Ina has got to be good. Not only did the cookies get a yummy award from me, I started doing some research and found that their whole wheat dark chocolate cookies took the gold award at the 2011 sofi Awards. The sofi Awards from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) are the highest honour in the specialty food industry. They recognize the outstanding foods and beverages of the year that demonstrate top quality, taste and overall appeal.

That leads us to some exciting news! NASFT's Winter Fancy Food Show is kicking off in less than a week, inviting approximately 60 countries to San Francisco displaying, 80,000 new products looking to trade in and out of North America. Can you just imagine a show of this magnitude and being let loose to be one of the first to see all the new offerings? Totally awesome.

What's even more awesome is that Psychgrad will be attending the show and representing Equal Opportunity Kitchen, while combing the floors for the most interesting new products to blog about.
She plans to tweet all about her favourite products and interactions with various exhibitors. If you're not already following her on twitter, you can find her here: @EqualOppKitchen.

Basement Renovations

2012-01-06T07:00:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! Life and a lack of cooking are my two excuses for my absence from blogging. Plus, Giz has been doing a good job holding up the fort.

In the life department, we've been busy with household renovations, namely updating the basement. The goal is to turn what has been a mish-mash of storage and guest room into a comfortable, appealing living space.

I started with painting our white fireplace.

I prefer a more natural look. So, I purchased some Brick-Anew paint, in taupe.

Here's a step-by-step pictorial of the progression after each coat:

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

So far, I'm happy with the result. I may tinker with the colours a bit more to even out the colour a bit more. Plus, the hearth and mantel look kind of ridiculous. So, I plan to plant them a dark brown colour so that they look more like wood and not something out of a bad 80s paint job.

I actually think it looks better from a distance:

Next, we moved on to dealing with the floors. We started out with about 6 different types of flooring to deal with. There was a rug (cut to look like a carpet), with who knows what bacteria growing in it.

Under the rug and (I'd estimate) 30 year old ceramic tiling, there was VCT (vinyl composite tile...or quite possibly, given the age, vinyl asbestos tile; VAT).

We soon became experts in the downfalls of adhering your VCT to the cement floor with black tar, something installers used to do "back in the day." Namely, getting the stuff off would require some heavy toxins and scraping.

We opted to just keep it on, but that limited our options for covering it. Our initial plan to put in new ceramic tiling was foiled. Instead, we opted for a floating floor using Vinyl Allure. Here it is, part way through. The black layer is a waterproofing layer, recommended (but perhaps not essential) for basement installations.

It sort of looks like tile, but it's joined by sticky edges. Installation basically involved an xacto knife, a ruler, pencil and tape measurer. We used an offset pattern, which was recommended by the guy at Home Depot to avoid showing imperfections in the alignment of 'tiles'. But, it required some focus and mental rotation to figure out where to mark for the cut (particularly when working around doors).

In addition to the 80s tile and VCT, there was also some sort of sticky tile on the perimeter of the room over top of the VCT (you can see it in the next picture). I can't quite figure out why it was put there. Any theories on that?

We also had laminate flooring throughout part of the basement. It was in good condition, but not at all part of the design plan (let's just pretend that I have a design plan).

Since the stairs already had carpet on them, we R removed it so that there would be consistency between the stairs and the basement.

We had briefly debated what to do for flooring throughout. The basement is a pretty cold space, so something warm on our feet was a must. I really like the feel of plush carpets. But, in the end, R's preference won and we went with berber carpet. I'll admit, the maintenance is probably easier since it doesn't show footprints the way plush carpet would. The carpet people said that men tend to prefer berber and women tend to prefer plush carpets. Who knew?

Carpet installation was a bit of a fiasco. We were told by the guy that came to do the measurements that we didn't have to remove the VCT/VAT. Turns out the people that do the measurements for things don't always provide accurate information. After about 10 minutes of installing the tack strip, we were told that they couldn't continue to do the work until we remove all of the VCT and sticky tile. That was frustrating because it basically meant that the time taken off from work, to be home while the installation took place, was for naught.

It may have worked out for the best though, because the smell of the carpet was pretty strong. So, getting the installers to come back a day before we left for vacation gave us about 10 days of airing out time without being home to smell the off-gases. Plus, I'd rather take an extra day off work and have the installation done properly.

So far, I'm satisfied with the carpet. It's soft on the feet and the colour is pretty much what I expected.

It's pretty close the original carpet we had picked out, which was no longer available when we were finally ready to make the purchase. I prefer the non-patterned, slightly more natural (in my opinion) look of the sample, below. But, the carpet we went with is softer.

So, now I've got a pretty neutral canvas to work with. I don't want the room to be boring. So, I think it's going to be a bit of trial and error. Suggestions are more than welcome (as long as it doesn't involve changing what I've already done)!!!

Next up:

- paint the walls (including a feature wall or two)

- paint the baseboards and install new quarter-round

- switch out the light fixtures

- decorate (I'd love to put shelving around the fireplace -- not that I have any carpentry skill, mind you)

- figure out what to do for window coverings

We're not exactly the fastest with renovations. But, I'll post an update as soon as possible/available.

Camarones Fritoes with Mexican Cocktail Sauce

2012-01-04T00:10:00.000-05:00

After spending the past couple of weeks of 2011 cooking, eating, celebrating, eating, relaxing, eating and of course, eating, I feel like I'm ready to get back on track. A smart person once said to me that we can chose to live life consciously or unconsciously. So no, I'm not going to stop eating, but I'd like to be living my life a little more consciously with more assurance about outcomes. Actually, I think that smart person was Psychgrad.

One of my new efforts this year is being the newest member of the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club. I join a formidable group of fellow bloggers; Jerry of Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants , Val from More Than Burnt Toast , Sandi of Whistlestop Cafe Cooking and Roz of La Bella Vista . Based on the philosophy of Healthy Foods - Cooking Light , each month one of the members selects a theme and each of us participates by selecting a recipe based on the theme. Each blogger selects a course to prepare and submits their choice to the group. If I choose an appetizer, the next blogger must choose a different course until we fill the entire meal. Posting is generally the first Wednesday of each month.

This month's theme is "Dreaming of a Summer Mexican Fiesta". The dreaming part and preparing Mexican dishes is about as close as I'm getting to Mexico especially when it looks more like this here.

The fun is both in the challenge of the theme and also in the blog hop to see what everyone else has done. Happy blog hopping.

My choice for the Fiesta is a shrimp appetizer - Camarones Fritoes with Mexican Cocktail Sauce

Ingredients

Shrimp:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 large egg white

1 (5.5-ounce) bag baked potato chips (such as Lay's)

1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

Use the coating and crisping technique for different fillets of fish, such as halibut or catfish. It will also work in making chicken fingers. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

Sauce:

6 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon hot sauce

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

To prepare shrimp, lightly spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a shallow dish. Combine the buttermilk and egg white in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place potato chips in a food processor; process until finely ground. Place chip crumbs in a shallow dish.

Sprinkle shrimp evenly with salt and pepper. Working with 1 shrimp at a time, dredge shrimp in flour; dip into buttermilk mixture. Dredge shrimp in crumbs, shaking off excess. Place shrimp on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Lightly spray top of shrimp with cooking spray. Repeat the procedure with remaining shrimp, flour, buttermilk mixture, and crumbs. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until done.

To prepare sauce, combine ketchup and remaining ingredients, stirring well. Serve sauce with shrimp.

Holiday Memories

2011-12-28T00:06:00.006-05:00

This year's holiday celebration was one of the most memorable on record. The only thing that creates a hold back on perfection is that Psychgrad and "R" were out west with "R"'s family. We were a collection of family and friends who shared the non commercial joys of the season.

We were at my brother's home and I love that he's a foodie and also pays attention to detail.

We decided to not go with the traditional North American dinner and opted to have a cultural celebration. Everyone had a contribution to bring so you could say it was a pot luck dinner.

I was excited to learn about traditional Venezuelan Christmas foods. The first is call Pan de Jamon, a ham, raisin and olive bread. A sweet, soft dough is rolled up around savory ham, sweet raisins and pimento-stuffed olives.

The dough is deliciate and soft and the filling, as unusual as it sounded to me initially just works. The Pan de Jamon is something that I'll definitely try. I was lucky enough to have it made for us by our friend Carlos of Empanada fame. Not only is he a great cook, he also shares his knowledge enthusiastically.

If you're in the Toronto area you could also do this the easy way and give Jose of Pimenton a call.

Jose is also known in our circle for his boozy gluten free Christmas cakes, great food and fun cooking classes.

My next fascination is with the Christmas Hallacas, kind of a tamale; served either as an appetizer or a main dish. To say tamale really minimizes the effort it takes to make this dish. Some make it at family gathering that takes a full day with all involved or for Carlos who didn't have alot of help, it was a 4 day ordeal. A Masa corn dough filled with a stew and wrapped in either corn husks or banana leaves, the finale is in placing them in a pot of boiling water for an hour to marry all the flavours together.

and of course a vegetarian one for "A"

I've included a recipe in the links below. I suspect that each region has it's own version with variations in the spice mixture. The one thing that's for sure, the hallaca is a labour of pure love and I savoured every mouthful.

There was a fully stuffed Tofurkey complete with vegetarian gravy. I had no idea vegetarian gravy could be so good.

For the poultry lovers, we had Chicken Scallopini stuffed with Fontina Cheese (one of Giada's recipes - see below)

and a Quinoa Everything Salad

Of course, by this time you're on overload already but somehow just have to find a little more room for desserts.

We generally finish off with a round of table musicians - oops...we forgot all about it.

Suki was on guard through the whole thing just to make sure that if anything dropped, it didn't hit the floor.

Disclaimer: I just couldn't include EVERYTHING - this post would have been 3 days long :)

Links:
Pan de Jamon
Chicken Scallopini

Vegetarian Tourtiere

2011-12-22T17:22:00.006-05:00

The family and friends are getting together this weekend for the BIG celebration. Our family is both multi ethnic with a variety of religious affiliations. As my SIL "R" says, we celebrate Chrismakkah in a non denominational way. Everybody brings a little bit of where they come from and who they are to the table and it's a wonderful celebration. That's not to say that it's stress free. Hell no!

Our newest member of the family as I've mentioned before, is a vegetarian so it's always a challenge for me to create something that's vegetarian worthy while still being tasty. Since I'm not a vegetarian it presents a greater challenge for me only because it's unfamiliar. This year, I made traditional French Canadian tourtieres but also wanted our veggie being to have some too. I found a recipe for vegetarian tourtieres on Canadian Living . So happy!!!! I was particularly happy since our vegetarian is from Venezuela and having something so distinctly Canadian was important for me.

It took the better part of a day (start to finish) to create the tourtiere. I also decided to go with a vegetable shortening premade pie crust (although I'm listing Canadian Living's recipe for the crust). Everything went amazingly UNTIL I took the tourtiere out of the oven. I won't repeat what came out of my mouth - I'll just show you. Don't you just hate when this happens?

I couldn't believe it. I should have put a pan underneath it prior to putting it in the oven. I didn't. I will next time. The filling, by the way, is really and truly tasty and inspite of the crack I'm sure it'll be well received for the effort.

Ingredients

2 cups (500 mL) TVP* (Textured Vegetable Protein)
2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
3 ribs celery, (with leaves)diced
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups (500 mL) cubed peeled potatoes
2 tsp (10 mL) tamari or sodium-reduced soy sauce
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) dried savory
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper
1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground allspice
1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground cloves
2 bay leaves
2 cups (500 mL) vegetable broth

Pepper Thyme Pastry:

3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme
1/2 tsp (2 mL) cracked black peppercorns
1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (125 mL) shortening
2 tsp (10 mL) vinegar
2/3 cup (150 mL) Ice water

Pepper Thyme Pastry: In bowl, whisk together flour, salt, thyme and pepper. Using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter and shortening until in fine crumbs with a few larger pieces. In liquid measure, whisk vinegar with enough ice water to make 2/3 cup (150 mL). Drizzle over flour mixture, tossing with fork to form ragged dough.

Divide in half; press into 2 discs. Wrap each and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)

In large bowl, pour 1 cup (250 mL) boiling water over TVP; cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in shallow Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat; cook celery, onions and garlic, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes.

Stir in potatoes, tamari, savory, salt, pepper, allspice, cloves, bay leaves and TVP; cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

Stir in broth and 1 cup (250 mL) water; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, 30 to 40 minutes.

Break up most of the potatoes with back of spoon; simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened, 7 to 10 minutes. Let cool. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 24 hours.)

On lightly floured surface, roll out 1 of the pastry discs to generous 1/8-inch (3 mm) thickness. Fit into 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Trim to rim of plate. Spoon in filling.

Roll out remaining pastry. Brush rim with water. Place pastry over filling; trim to leave 3/4-inch (2 cm) overhang. Fold overhang under pastry rim; flute to seal.

Roll out pastry scraps; cut out holiday shapes. Brush top of pie with water; arrange cutouts on top. Cut steam vents in top. Bake in bottom third of 400°F (200°C) oven until bubbly and golden, about 1 hour.

Links:

** More about TVP
Arguments for and against the use of TVP

Tangy Meatballs

2011-12-20T16:24:00.005-05:00

I'm quickly running out of time and still have so many posts in waiting. I'm clearly not going to get everything up on time. If you're looking for a quick, really easy, tangy dish to take to your celebration (or even if you're having guests over), this is it.

3 lb lean ground beef (veal, chicken or turkey would work too)

1/2 cup corn flake crumbs

2 eggs

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

3 Tbsp onion powder

Sauce

1- 14oz can jellied cranberry sauce

1- 10 oz jar chili sauce

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1. Combine beef, corn flake crumbs, eggs, soy sauce, ketchup and onion powder. Roll into meatballs and place on a foil lined cookie pan. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine cranberry jelly, chili sauce, brown sugar and lemon juice.
3. In a dutch oven, combine meatballs and sauce and cook on medium low for approximately 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

I call these my grown up meatballs. So delicious and they freeze really well.

Quinoa for Lunch

2011-12-19T17:41:00.008-05:00

This is the kind of week that has just about every minute accounted for. We still want to eat things that are nutritious and for me quinoa is a magic food that's both really satisfying as well as healthy. I don't think I've met a quinoa dish I didn't like and this one is no exception. The combination of squash, mushrooms and onions is amazing.

1 cup Quinoa
2 cups water
2 cups butternut squash, cubed
1 large onion, sliced
2 cups mushrooms (I used cremini), sliced
3 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medium pot cook the quinoa with the water for approximately 12 minutes, lid on (water should be absorbed). Let stand with heat off for a few minutes and then fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool.
2. Roast the butternut squash in a 350 F oven until tender - approximately 20 minutes. You can fry it if you prefer but roasting brings out the beautiful flavour of the squash.
3. Fry onion and mushroooms in the olive oil until the onions are carmelized.
4. Combine everything with the quinoa including any leftover olive oil in the pan. Salt and pepper to taste.

President's Choice Holidays and Tips 2011

2011-12-16T19:39:00.003-05:00

Here we are on the biggest shopping weekend before the holidays and you're probably thinking that you don't need any reminders; that you're already stressed to the max and still have a gazillion things left to do.

In addition to some last minute things you may need, did you know that President's Choice also has a wealth of tips and how to videos to help you get through the season. Are you making a turkey for the first time or haven't had total success with ones you've made in the past? Spend a couple of minutes with Chef Tom PC - Videos who will help you perfect your turkey skills.

I have family coming to celebrate this weekend and one of the plates I'll serve is a cheese platter. I always feel a little challenged in deciding what goes with what and how to create a beautiful looking platter. Want some tips? How to create a great cheese platter or plate - PC -helps take the uncertainty out of preparation.

The focus on great desserts is one that everyone looks forward to. Personally, I've been making some of my own regular desserts but I'm also picking up a few others that will make my life so much easier.

One of our group loves molten lava cakes. I made them last year - a total and dismal failure. I'm not letting that happen again.

The kids will be so happy. Between the ice cream and whoopie pies, it'll be a memorable time for them too. I'll be in the running for "cool aunt" award. I'll give them their grape juice in wine glasses too.

After each group gathering there's always the one dreaded event none of us is excited about; the dreaded clean up. Of course you know that PC is going to have some tips about this too. Check out the Clever ideas for your post-holiday clean up - PC -

Magic in the Middle Cookies

2011-12-14T15:13:00.003-05:00

I know - I'm on a blogging marathon these days. I'm so far behind and so many good things to share before the holidays hit us. This Magic in the Middle Cookie from King Arthur Flour is one of the "must do" cookies for the holidays. Although it's probably been around forever, it's a new addition to my cookie list for this year.

CHOCOLATE DOUGH

1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened baking cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for dredging)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

PEANUT BUTTER FILLING

3/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth, your choice
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
2. To make the dough: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
3. In another medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the egg, beating to combine, then
4. stir in the dry ingredients, blending well.
5. To make the filling: In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter and confectionersâ€™ sugar until smooth.
6. With floured hands or a teaspoon scoop, roll the filling into 26 one-inch balls.
7. To shape the cookies: Scoop 1 tablespoon of the dough (a lump about the size of a walnut), make an indentation in the center with your finger and place one of the peanut butter balls into the indentation.
8. Bring the cookie dough up and over the filling, pressing the edges together cover the center;
9. roll the cookie in the palms of your hand to smooth it out. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
10. Roll each rounded cookie in granulated sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.
11. Grease the bottom of a drinking glass, and use it to flatten each cookie to about 1/2-inch thick.
12. Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they're set and you can smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Tips from the King Arthur Flour Bakers:

The most reliable way to make sure you have equal amounts of filling and chocolate dough is to use a cookie scoop. Our teaspoon scoop yields exactly 26 fillings when scooped with the dough level across the top. Our tablespoon scoop when filled level will yield exactly 26 chocolate blobs of dough to match.
If you're doubling this recipe, add an extra egg to the chocolate dough.
If you're making this dough ahead of time, add an 2 tablespoons of milk to the chocolate dough. It tends to dry out as it sits, and the extra moisture will keep the outside dough from cracking as you form the cookies.

Oven Roasted BBQ Chicken

2011-12-13T01:00:00.001-05:00

I've been following Chicken Farmers of Canada on Twitter for awhile now (@chickenfarmers). Chicken Farmers of Canada is an organization that works with our 800 chicken farmers making sure there is a steady supply of safe chicken to the Canadian consumer market. Their website is a great visiting spot for me to check out chicken recipes, sauces, rubs and tips, especially from new chef partner Chef Rob Rainford. Not only is Chef Rob an accomplished chef and cookbook author, he's pretty easy on the eyes too. (did I really just say that?) Val from More Than Burnt Toast had an interesting post about Rob Rainford worth reading.

I found an interesting recipe for BBQ Chicken Rub on the website and had to try it out. I had a couple of small packages of chicken pieces, felt inspired and that was all it took.

BARBECUE CHICKEN RUB

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed 60 mL
2 Tbsp chili powder 30 mL
2 Tbsp paprika 30 mL
1 Tbsp cumin, ground 15 mL
1 tsp cayenne pepper 5 mL
1 Tbsp garlic powder 15 mL
1 Tbsp mustard powder 15 mL
2 tsp salt 10 mL
1 tsp pepper 5 mL

Mix all ingredients

Store in an airtight container until needed
Coat chicken generously with rub and roast or grill

Tip: Dispose of unused rub that comes in contact with the raw chicken.

I coated the chicken with the rub, put it in the oven at 350 F for 35-40 minutes (depending on how hot your oven is) and that was it. Pretty darned easy and within seconds the rub was giving off an aroma from heaven. I can really remember hearing myself have a Martha moment and saying "this is a good thing."

Ina's Daisy Shortbread Cookies

2011-12-11T13:49:00.004-05:00

Two of the staples for me each holiday season are the fruit cakes and the shortbread cookies. I always do these first since the curing process makes both better with time. I generally make the food processor variety. We all love them; easy to make and so melt in your mouth. This year, I wanted to add a variety that's more firm so I started my search online for the best rated cookies. It was no surprise to me that Ina Garten's Daisy Shortbread Cookies had such great reviews. It's hard not to love everything that comes out of her kitchen.

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients

3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 pound confectioners' sugar
Yellow white chocolate buttons, for decoration
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and granulated sugar until they are just combined and add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick and cut into flower shapes with a cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

For the glaze, place the confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl and add about 4 to 5 tablespoons of water until you have a runny, but not too thick frosting. Spread the glaze to the edge of each cookie and garnish the middle of each cookie with a chocolate button.

I didn't include the glaze or finishing touches but frankly, I found these cookies to be fantastic the way they come out of the oven.

Tip: Don't roll the dough too thin or your cookies will brown too quickly.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

2011-12-08T07:30:00.025-05:00

Remember when Giz lost her mind and bought way too many pumpkins? I know that's vague seeing as losing her mind and buying too much food is a bit of a regular occurrence. Well, one of the side effects of this was me having frozen pumpkin puree in my freezer for about a year. Maybe that makes me an enabler.

I figured, it would probably be 'pushing it' to keep the puree in the freezer for more than a year. Around the same time, I saw this really great post and video about making pumpkin gnocchi. The inspiration began... Then, Proud Italian Cook featured a gnocchi-making day on her blog. I would love to be able to take part in one of her mass pasta-making days. I e-mailed Marie, asking for her recipe. Turns out she got about 200 other similar e-mail requests.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

Ingredients

2 cups of pureed butternut squash (I used pumpkin)
½ cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
2 eggs
2+ cups flour

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the squash in half. Remove the seeds, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay cut side down on parchment lined baking sheet. Roast the squash until soft—30 minutes or so.

Scoop the flesh of the squash out and place it in the food processor. Puree until completely smooth.

**I started at this point in the recipe, since I already had the pureed pumpkin. However, I figured I should remove the water from the puree. I put the puree in cheese cloth and let the water drain for about an hour (and then squeezed it impatiently).

What originally started out at about 4 cups, turned into about 2 cups, after the water was removed.

Mix the pureed squash with parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and eggs.

Then add the flour into the mixture and work together by hand (I started with a spoon and then switched to using my hands).

It will be very sticky. I ended up needing well over 2 cups (probably closer to 2 and 3/4 or 3 cups) by the time I was done.

Once smooth, flour work surface, Divide dough into 6 pieces.

Roll each piece into a long strip, about ½ inch wide. Cut the strip into ¼ to ½ inch pieces.

Using a gnocchi board, a fork, the back of a grater (or just as is) to create ridges.

Place each piece on the floured wax paper and repeat with the rest of the dough.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Boil until all the gnocchi floats—about 5 minutes.

While gnocchi is cooking have your sauce ready so you can toss right in.

If not you can freeze them.

The recipe made enough for 3 sheets worth of gnocchi. I actually froze them all, but defrosted one sheet the next day for dinner.

The rest went into a freezer bag for leftovers.

Verdict: A very good first effort, if I do say so myself. My gnocchi may not be as pretty as Marie's, but I really liked the taste. I didn't really taste the pumpkin flavour, but that's probably my fault for pairing it with a tomato sauce. I would definitely make this (or one of Marie's other gnocchi recipes) again -- probably a double or triple recipe.

It has been a really long time since I've made a pasta dish worth blogging about. So, I've got to share this with Presto Pasta Night. This week's (week #243) roundup is being hosted by Jamie at Cooking with Moxie.

President's Choice Holiday 2011

2011-12-05T13:50:00.005-05:00

I recently received the holiday package of samples from the Holiday Insider's Report . How beautiful is the container the PC products came in? Kudos to the marketing team that put together this campaign - it's brilliant!

It made me think about those timeless memories that we all have about the anticipation of holidays. Sit back and think about what those are for you. Do you remember your growing up years and the etched in stone traditions of the holidays? Do you have young children that you're creating new memories with? Wouldn't you love to just be able to put time in a bottle?

The rituals of the holidays include family, friends and equally as important is the food we enjoy and share. I don't know about you but for some reason, this year feels like it was a total blur and I can't figure out how it's getting to be Cbanukkah and Christmas again. Every year I make myself entirely crazy over prepping for the holidays. Not doing it this year. Well, at least I'm going to enlist some help. I'm thankful to be able to have a large variety of food products available at reasonable prices that are either ready to go or require minimal preparation.

So many delicious looking new and tested ideas for entertaining. When I'm going through new products to review I generally like to take everything out, check each item individually firstly for how appealing it is to me and would be to my family and secondly (and equally important) I check the ingredients. While I was doing that I came upon one item that it been the only product I'd received, I would have had a smiling girl for the whole day. For those who don't know me, I have a wierd and wonderful connection to all things peanut butter. I'm wierd and the peanut butter is wonderful.

Peanut butter pretzels with white candy topping - oh my gawd!!!! In my opinion, this is a treat that should be available to everyone during the holidays and beyond. I know it will be in my home.
The second thing that immediately caught my attention was a bottle of Memories of Morocco.
I like to buy chicken when it's on sale. I marinate and freeze it in zip lock bags and defrost it in the fridge with the marinade day before. Memories of Morocco is an ideal marinade for this. The combination of sweet and spicy with the fragrance of Moroccan spices is hypnotic. I shared the bottle with a neighbour who is from the Middle East and her evaluation was the same as mine. Her comment to me was "why bother making it at home; this is terrific". That's the whole message with the new PC products; if you've got a product that's not hard on the wallet and fills a need while saving you your precious time I can't find an argument to not buy it. See how easy it is to put together a great meal in minutes.

I'm happy to share some of the newer branded PC products with you;
Do you enjoy a dark roast cup of coffee?

or a decandent Dulche de Leche decaf

or try something you might never have even thought of ...

Looking for some quick and easy appetizer ideas? How about Blue Cheese with Walnut Canapes?

Timeless melba toast that works with so many toppings:

with Goat Cheese and Cranberry (my personal favourite)

or just plain Goat Cheese

While you're busy in the kitchen and wrapping gifts, don't forget to keep yummies on hand for the kids;

Give yourself some munchie treats while you're at it.

You're not going to stop creating old family favourites but instead of slaving over so many different varieties, give yourself a break with some of these ageless treats AND get the kids to chip in - isn't this what memories are made of?

Who says you can't add chocolate chips :)

Now if I could find an elf that would wrap everything for me, life would be complete. There are the gifts for the concierge, the mailman, newspaper boy/girl, friends down the hall, teachers and hairdressers to name just a few. Who wouldn't enjoy some of these'

(I love that the biscotti has a COR that makes it kosher/dairy. A fabulous Hanukkah gift.

I can see this post is getting very long but I still have much to share. Stay tuned for further posts on making memories with President's Choice.

Preserving Bruschetta

2011-12-03T09:30:00.001-05:00

As I was getting my tomatoes ready to preserve tomato sauce, I realized that a fair number of them weren't ripe yet. I set the unripened tomatoes aside and decided that I would find another recipe to use them in later.

It didn't take long for me to find this Bruschetta in a Jar recipe. I pinned it on my Pinterest account and by some magical online word-of-mouth Pinterest process, 43 people ended up repinning it! Guess I'm not the only one who thought preserving bruschetta mix sounded like a good idea!

Bruschetta in a Jar

Adapted from Ball’s Bruschetta in a Jar recipe

Makes: 6 half pints

Ingredients:

4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp dried basil
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp rosemary
1 Tbsp salt
7-8 cups diced tomatoes

Directions:

Heat water to simmering in your boiling water canner (or any pot large enough to place the jars in the canner and have the water 1-2 inches above the tops of the jars). Get your lids simmering in a small pot, and set the bands aside.
Pour hot water into your clean jars and let them sit until you’re ready to add the tomatoes.
Mix the garlic, wine, vinegars, water, seasonings and salt in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Reduce heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes or until all the flavors are combined.
Pour the water out of the jars, and fill with your diced tomatoes, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
Spoon the hot vinegar mixture over the tomatoes, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles, wipe the rim, put the lid on and twist the band on.
Place in canner and make sure the water is 1-2 inches above the tops of the jars.
Process for 20 minutes. Remove from the canner and let cool.

Verdict: It's really nice having these on hand -- I've already taken some to a friend's potluck. Everyone seemed to like it. Personally, I found the flavour of vinegar to be a bit strong. Giz made the same recipe, but forgot the balsamic vinegar. She doesn't find hers to be too vinegary. So, maybe I'll limit it to white wine vinegar next time. That will also cut back a bit on the sweetness from the balsamic vinegar. Plus, I'm kind of skeptical that the original recipe includes balsamic vinegar because it looks way too clear.

Preserving Tomato Sauce

2011-11-30T07:30:00.003-05:00

In my last post, I talked about some lessons learned related to growing tomatoes. But, I think I left out the biggest lesson learned: grow plum tomatoes!

Plum tomatoes are used in so many recipes that it is easy to find ways to use them up. Not to mention that I spent quite a while trying to figure out where to buy a bushel of plum tomatoes, including contacting local farmers, Loblaws and Farmboy. Some of the prices are a bit hard to take, knowing that Giz is able to find a bushel for $20 in Toronto. In the end, I went with the 1/2 bushels sold at Parkdale market for $15.

On our first tomato day, Ron (whom I've mentioned before, here) set out to can tomato sauce. We started by washing and coring the tomatoes.

Next, we scored the tomatoes by making an "X" shape at one end of the tomatoes and blanched the tomatoes to peel them.

We had enough to make a double recipe of this tomato sauce:

Seasoned Tomato Sauce

Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving

12 cups chopped ripe plum tomatoes (about 6 lb/3kg), unpeeled

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried

1 tsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice

1/2 tsp pickling salt

1. Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, sugar, pepper and bay leaves in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1.25 hours of until very thick (note: you can determine your preferred level of thickness).

Press through a food mill or coarse sieve; remove and discard seeds and skins. (Note: I didn't do this because I wanted a diced tomato texture and had already removed the skins via blanching). Add vinegar and salt to pulp.

2. Prepare jars in water canner (I let my jars sit in a rolling boil for about 20 minutes). Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of rim (headspace). After reading about tomato sauce separating here, I was careful about only removing jars one at a time and then replacing the filled jar to the water canner while filling the remaining jars. Process for 35 minutes for half-pints (250mL) and pint (500 mL) jars.

Makes about 7 cups (1.75 L). I got about 6- one litre jars from a double recipe.

Note: the above picture was taken the day after I canned the sauce. When the jars have cooled and the lids have sealed, I removed the rings.

Since making these 6 litres, I made another double recipe with a separate half bushel. Then, I went to a friend's place and showed her how to make tomato sauce.

I made the tomato sauce in September and I've since used a couple of jars. The flavour is great and it is quite a treat to have sauce on hand that is home-made. Next year, I plan to make more so that I don't have to eat it sparingly to ensure that it lasts the winter.

Cauliflower and Broccoli Bake with Toasted Almonds

2011-11-27T20:58:00.010-05:00

I have a great brother. How's that for an opening line? Seriously, my brother is one of those guys who always knows exactly how to chose the best gift for whoever he's buying for. The especially nice thing is that he can show up one day and say "I have something for you" and there isn't an occasion attached to the gift. How special is that? During a trip to Victoria, British Columbia he came back with a couple of exceptional cookbooks written by Canadian west coasters.

The book Quinoa The Everyday Superfood 365 by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming will expand the way think about meals made with quinoa. This superfood can be breakfast, lunch, snack, dessert and is totally versatile with other flavours. You can include it in the kids' meals and they won't even know they're eating "good for you" eats.

Ingredients

3 cups cauliflower florets
3 cups broccoli florets
2 cups milk
1/4 cup quinoa flour
1 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch groung nutmeg
1 cup shredded aged cheddar cheese
1 cup sliced toasted almonds

Method:

Ensure you move the top oven rack to accommodate a 9x13 casserole dish, with a second rack underneath to toast the almonds.**
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease or spray a 9x13 casserole dish
Steam the cauliflower and broccoli together in a large saucepan until just barely tender. Place them in the bottom of the casserole dish.

Combine the milk, quinoa flour, mustard, garlic, salt, and nutmeg in a medium saucepan over low heat. Simmer whisking the mixture until the flour is well blended. Add the cheese as the mixture begins to thicken. Continue cooking and whisking until the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth and coats the back of the spoon. Pour the sauce over the vegetables.

Bake the casserole in the oven uncovered for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.
After the casserole has baked for 13 minutes, toast the almonds on a small baking dish on the bottom rack of the oven. Toast the almonds for 7 minutes until fragrant and slightly toasted.

Remove both the casserole and the almonds and sprinkle the almonds generously on top of the casserole and serve immediately.

For me it was a whole meal but honestly a wonderful side.

** Note: Although the recipe suggested toasting the almonds in the oven, I did them in a dry frypan.

Links:

Facts about Cooked Quinoa
Nutritional Facts About Quinoa

Overnight Chicken Stew with Israeli Couscous

2011-11-24T13:57:00.004-05:00

My culinary bucket list is loaded with international recipes I have yet to experiment with. Israeli food has been near the top of my list because the food of Israel embodies flavours and methods that have, over the years, been a melding pot of many different countries.

Inspired by Israeli Kitchen , my friend "L" gave this recipe for Overnight Chicken Stew with Israeli Couscous a try and raved about the outcome.

Serves 6 – easily halved

Ingredients:
2 cups – 500 grams Israeli couscous
2 medium onions, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 bay leaf

*Optional: 1 tiny red chili, or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne flakes
4 cups boiling water plus 1/2 cup later
*Optional: 4 medium potatoes, thickly sliced
1 entire, jointed chicken or 6 leg and thigh pieces

Method:

Rub salt and olive oil into the chicken pieces. In a large pot, fry on the chicken on all sides in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Remove from pot.

Add 1/3 cup oil to the pot and in it, gently fry the onions till they’re very soft and golden.

Add the Israeli couscous stir, and fry for 3 minutes.

Add the 4 cups of boiling water. Stir, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper. Cover and cook 8 minutes.

Remove from heat and fluff the Israeli couscous up with a fork. Let it cool somewhat and then remove it from the pot to a bowl.

Wash the pot out, dry it, and line it with parchment paper. If adding potatoes, put a layer of raw potatoes down in the pot and up around the sides, till they’re all used up.

Put half the Israeli couscous in the pot (on top of the potatoes, if using). On top of it, place the chicken pieces. Add the paprika, cumin, bay leaf, and optional chili.

Top with remaining pasta and add 1/2 cup hot water.

Cover all with baking paper. If you wish to cook eggs in this stew, either place them alongside the chicken pieces or on top of this baking paper cover. Cover the pot with its lid and make sure it’s down tight. If necessary, wrap tin foil around the top to make sure no steam escapes.

Bake overnight in oven set to 215° F – 100° C, or 4 hours at 300° F – 150° C. I put mine in at about 11 p.m. and took it out at about 9 a.m.

Verdict:
I loved the method. So easy with simple ingredients and is one of those recipes that you can add additional vegetables, mushrooms and a variety of spice to. When you wake up in the morning, the incredible fragrance of cumin fills your home and one could be tempted to eat it for breakfast (just sayin')
"L" actually added bacon bits to the potatoes on the bottom and said it was a 5 Star addition and had everyone fighting for the potatoes.

I'm sending this recipe over to Frugal Recipes for the next submission of easy to make recipes with simple ingredients. If you missed the last roundup, you can find it HERE

Burekas

2011-11-21T22:19:00.003-05:00

A few months ago I was inspired to experiment with hand pies, both sweet and savoury. It is, after all the Year of the Pie . Hand pies are not new but of late I've noticed a huge revival of their popularity. Different doughs, different fillings, various cultures with their own form of pie and each has its own identity.

While travelling through the middle east years ago I was introduced to a savoury form of hand pie called Burekas; flaky and delicious and found made by home cooks, restaurants and street vendors. I was so hooked it was ridiculous. I couldn't pass a street vendor without buying one. I know, I'm sad. With the aid of Tenderflake Puff Pastry I can now whip up a batch in short order or freeze for a later date.

There are a multitude of fillings one can use but my very favourite is a combination of feta and mozarella cheese.

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1 cup grated mozarella cheese

2 eggs

1 pkg. Tenderflake puff pastry

1 egg yolk, slightly beaten

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Turn oven to 350 F

Roll out each piece of puff pastry separately to cut 6 even squares. If you prefer a thinner pastry, you could roll it thinner.

Place 1 heaping Tbsp of filling to the center of each square bringing two opposite points together; pinch. Using a floured fork pinch all the way around the joined area.

Place bourekas on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Brush tops with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

OMG, I'll bet you can't have just one.

Note: If you don't want your burekas to be too salty, rinse feta before crumbling and add more mozarella to offset the saltiness.

Pumpkin, Cranberry, Walnut and Currant Bread

2011-11-17T21:04:00.007-05:00

I love pumpkin. I haven't met a pumpkin dish that I didn't like. My very favourite recipes using pumpkin are pies and breads. Moist and flavourful, appropriate for so many different occasions, breads always seems to draw positive comments often related to memories of home.

There are so many recipes available for pumpkin bread but this one, because it's loaded with so many different textures is really my very favourite.

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 cups pumpkin (I used fresh)

1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2 cup currants

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and orange zest; mix well (mixture will appear curdled). Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder; add to pumpkin mixture, beating on low speed just until moistened. Fold in nuts, cranberries and currants.. Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Enjoy! No disappointments, I promise.

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

2011-11-14T07:30:00.001-05:00

This was my second year of gardening. Although it's still a learning process (which I intend to post about in the near future), it was definitely more productive than my first year. Here are just some of the tomatoes I pulled from the garden:

As the tomatoes kept coming, I knew that there would be no way for me to eat all of them before they went bad. So, I decided to oven roast and freeze some of the small and medium tomatoes.

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

olive oil
tomatoes, sliced in half
garlic, crushed
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200F.

Place tomatoes, slice side up on cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Spread garlic over top and add salt (sparingly) and pepper. You can, of course, experiment with whatever other herb flavours you'd like.

The tomatoes will slow-roast. I kept mine in for about 2.5 hours. But, take a look at them every once in a while and remove them when they're done to your liking.

Lesson learned: used parchment paper.

Gardening Notes:

Although I was thrilled to have a better crop of tomatoes this year, 95% of the yield came from 2 plants that had prime property in the sun and the remaining 8 plants were lackluster.

Next year, I'm going to make sure the tomatoes have a better spot in the sun, keep on top of the plants that are growing like weeds and pinch off plants to keep my green tomatoes a fighting chance of ripening as it gets later in the season; I ended up with a lot of green tomatoes at the end of the season.

Apple Butter Apple Pie

2011-11-11T08:48:00.000-05:00

Are you looking for a dessert recipe for American Thanksgiving? This one is a winner!

Giz and I made it for Canadian Thanksgiving last month. I was inspired by Sugar Plum's Apple Butter Apple Pie recipe. Specifically, the apple butter portion was particularly enticing, since both Giz and I had recently made apple butter.

Apple Butter Apple Pie

6-7 cups thinly sliced peeled apples

1/2 cup apple butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

1/3 cup white sugar (optional -- we added this to the recipe)

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out half of the pie dough, on a lightly floured surface, and fit into a pie dish. We used this pie crust recipe.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together apples, apple butter, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and clove until well combined; pour into pie dish.

For the top layer, I opted to do a lattice. It was a first attempt.

The lattice looked good, but I wanted to add something more. Thankfully, Giz has a good selection of cookie cutters, so we re-rolled the dough made some apple cutouts.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until deep golden brown and bubbly. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

The pie exceeded my expectations and passed the Baba test (she sincerely liked it, which is a feat unto itself).

Here's Kodi, who just turned 12, hanging out in the kitchen after dinner.

Great Ocean Road

2011-11-09T07:30:00.003-05:00

Giz has officially passed the blogging baton back to me, so I guess it's my turn to post. Good thing too because it's definitely time to finish off my trip report.

You can read about the rest of our trip here:

New Zealand

Part I (Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula & Rotorua)

Part II (Taupo & Hawke's Bay)

Part III (Abel Tasman & Franz Josef)

Part IV (Lake Matheson, Wanaka, Queenstown & Milford Sound)

Australia

Now, for the last stop on our trip, the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is about 150 miles of road that travels along the ocean, beginning (or ending, depending on the direction you travel) in Torquay, about 1 hour and 15 minutes outside of Melbourne, and ending in Warrnambool. The views on this road are stunning.

We stopped in Torquay for lunch at the Torquay Larder, a cute little cafe with made-from scratch food and specialty food items.

After Torquay, we continued on to the Angelsea Golf Club, which is known for being a location to see wild kangaroos.

You don't have to search particularly long to see a whole bunch of kangaroos. There were about 30 in this shot that I took just outside the main gate.

Next, we stopped off at the Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet and took some time to enjoy the majestic views all around.

There are a few lighthouses along the Great Ocean Road, the most famous is the Cape Otway Lightstation. We opted not to visit it since they charge $17.50 per person. But, now I'm kind of regretting it since it looks like the views there are second to none.

By this point in the day, the sun was starting to set, so we made our way for our hostel, the Apollo Bay YHA. We practically had the place to ourselves by this point (3rd week in May). But apparently it books up over the summer.

The next morning, we started off at Maits Rest Rainforest Trail, a quick walk along a rainforest boardwalk.

Gotta love the driving reminders:

Next, we started the search for wild koalas amidst the eucalyptus on the road toward the Cape Otway's Lightstation. Definitely like looking for a needle in a haystack. We were about to give up, but spotted some cars along the side of the road. Bingo!

No trip to the Great Ocean Road is complete without seeing the Twelve Apostles.

Don't bother trying to count all twelve apostles (the limestone rock stacks). There are only about eight left.

We both agreed that we should have spent an extra day on the Great Ocean Road. Still, it was a great way to close out our trip.

We returned Melbourne that evening and caught a flight to LAX the next day.

I could have done without the 47 hour return voyage to Ottawa, which included spending the night sleeping in the Chicago Airport and having to fly to Montreal and bus to Ottawa after flights were delayed and sold out. But, we'll just forget about that part and call it an excellent trip!

I hope you enjoyed my posts about Australia and New Zealand! Thanks for sticking them out with me.

Pear, Apple, Cranberry with Gingersnap Crumble

2011-11-06T17:50:00.003-05:00

Sweet Melissa from Start Baking and Sweet Melissa' Patisserie in NYC makes a crumble pie with pear, cranberry and a gingersnap crumble on top. This is an adaptation that also adds apple to the mix. This is a very easy and forgiving recipe that you can substitute fruit easily in.

All I can tell you is that my guests would have been happy starting with dessert and moving to the rest of the meal only when the crisp was entirely finished. It's a keeper.

Crumble

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

3 tablespoons (37 grams) packed dark or light brown sugar

1 cup gingersnap crumbs (4 ounces or 113 grams or about 16 storebought cookies)

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup (4 ounces or 113 grams or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling

3 large ripe pears, peeled, halved, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 large apples, peeled, halved, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces or 170 grams) fresh cranberries

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

2 tablespoons (14 grams) cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, gingersnap crumbs, ginger and salt. Stir in the melted butter until large crumbs form.

In a 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish, mix the pears,apples, cranberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and cornstarch together then toss it with the fruit mixture in the pan.

Sprinkle the gingersnap crumble over the fruit. Set the crumble on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes, until the crumble is a shade darker and you see juices bubbling through the crumbs.

Fresh out of the oven..

Spoon out individual servings or I promise you won't have enough for everyone

Serve warm with ice cream.

Notes:

Use fresh and gingery cookies for the crumble.

I used bosc pears for this but anjou would also be good.

Tres Leches Cake

2011-11-04T22:21:00.008-04:00

I seem to be catching up on my South American influences these days. If you've been following, you'll remember my collaborating with Karenis from Venequela in making Arepas . The same day we decided that the arepas were so quick to put together that we wold tackle making a Tres Leche Cake.

This cake is incredibly delicious but not very figure friendly. It's definitely a special occasion cake. The special occasion for me was making it with Karenis and having one of the best laughs of my life as the afternoon unfolded as a whole comedy of errors beginning with spills and ending with a cake so saturated with deliciousness dripping down a very long carpeted hallway. But....as far as we were concerned - NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!

5 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups white sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 cups whole milk

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2.Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.

3.Cream butter and 1 cup of sugar together until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla extract . Karenis is doing a terrific job :).

4. Add the flour and milk alternately mixing well after each addition.

5. In a large bowl, beat egg whites with remaining cup of sugar until stiff peaks are formed. Gently fold in the egg whites to the batter. Spread into prepared pan.

6. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool.

7. In a medium bowl, mix together the whole milk, condensed and evaporated milk and the almond extract.

8. Poke holes all over the cake with a fork and spread the milk combination over the cake (slowly) and keep adding until the cake cannot absorb anymore.

Be careful - this step can get very messy.

9. Beat the whipping cream and vanilla to form peaks. Cover the top of the cake with the whipped cream.

Total YUM-a-LICIOUS!!!!

Empanadas

2011-11-02T19:46:00.006-04:00

This past weekend I was invited for brunch and a bonus. The bonus was that a friend, Carlos, was going to be making empanadas three ways. Count me in! I'd made sweet empanadas before so I admit, that's what I was expecting. Wrong. Carlos brought 3 different fillings with him; beef, black bean and feta cheese. I watched carefully as he shared some of his tips.

Although Carlos did share the recipe, I didn't get a chance to write the recipes down so I'll share a couple that look very similar at the end of this post. I'm not remembering where I found them so I'll apologize for not referring the sources.

We started with premade empanada discs available in any latin grocery stores.

Then came the fillings; beef, black beans and feta cheese.

The first combination was black bean and feta;
I asked about the amount of beans and how it affects the system. A great tip was to cook the beans in water with a teaspoon of baking soda to remove the gaseous effect.

Then beef;

Tip: If you want to make sure your empanada doesn't open up when baking, do a double pinch method;

The finished product should look like this.

Bake at 325 for 20 minutes.

Beef Filling

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

3/4 pound ground beef chuck

2 tablespoons raisins (optional)

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped pimiento-stuffed olives

1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice, drained, reserving 2 tablespoons juice, and chopped

1 package frozen empanada pastry disks, thawed

Black Bean Filling

200 grams dried black beans

Pinch of bicarbonate of soda

Pancetta or bacon rashers

1 onion

1 green pepper

2 cloves of garlic

Fresh coriander

Olive oil

SaltBlack pepper

Oregano

Cumin

Worcestershire sauce (Salsa Inglesa)

Preparation
Place the beans in a large saucepan or bowl. Cover with tap water leaving at least an inch of water above the beans as they will swell. Add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Leave overnight.Before cooking, drain and rinse beans under the tap. Place in saucepan or pressure cooker and cover with fresh water. Bring to boil and boil vigorously for 10-15 minutes. Add no salt.Reduce heat and simmer until soft - 60 minutes (minimum) in saucepan, 45 minutes in pressure cooker.To make the sofrito used to flavour the beans finely chop onions and peppers.Dice pork into small cubes.Crush garlic cloves in mortar or garlic crusher.Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onions and when they start to brown add pork and peppers and garlic.Season with salt, pepper, oregano, a small pinch of cumin and Worcestershire sauce and when all ingredients are cooked remove from heat.When beans are cooked place some of the water and beans in a blender, add the cooked sofrito and blend until creamy. Pour back into beans and simmer to reduce and allow flavours to combine.Finely chop coriandor and add to beans just before serving, stir through.

Links:
Black Bean recipe
Culinary History

Strawberry Frozen Souffle

2011-10-30T22:29:00.004-04:00

I had desserts for a family event. Each one was pretty decadent and I really needed something that would satisfy the very diet conscious and still feel that they were having something that pleases the pallet. My friend "S" came to my rescue with a very simple, make ahead and throw it in the freezer souffle that's not only quick to make but can stay in the freezer up until 5 minutes before you're ready to serve. Here it is.

2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

2 egg whites, unbeaten

Put all your ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer

Create a tent for the top of the bowl (can be very messy when mixing)

Beat 15 minutes and pour into a medium large bowl suitable for freezing and serving

Decorate with sliced strawberries (optional)

This should be made at least a day in advance of serving. Take out of freezer 5 minutes before serving.

Note: This recipe doesn't double well.

So fresh tasting - yummy.

Arepas

2011-10-26T11:01:00.023-04:00

I'm always curious about cultural foods from around the world. Any chance I have, I ask for quick lessons on what's popular in peoples' countries of origin. Our newest addition to the family - "A" is from Venezuela. "A" often talks about the history of Venezuela and the influences that have shaped Venezuelan cuisine. It's just so refreshing to have another foodie in the family. A's friend Karenis was visiting from Caracus and even though I don't speak Spanish and she doesn't speak English, we found a common language in food. (with the help of a little interpretation) We decided that she would teach me how to make a Venezuelan street food called Arepas or corncakes.

Arepas were originally made by the indigenous inhabitants of Venezuela and Colombia. These small corncakes are sold in Venezuelan restaurants called areperías and are stuffed with all manner of fillings like a sandwich. In Colombia, arepas are made a little smaller and are spread with butter or topped with cheese.

Translating a recipe was near impossible so I found one HERE This recipe makes 5-10 arepas

Ingredients

•Pre-cooked cornmeal (see notes) -- 2 cups
•Salt -- 1/2 teaspoon
•Boiling water -- 3 cups
•Oil -- 3 tablespoons

Method

1.Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal and salt.

Pour in 2 1/2 cups of the boiling water and mix with a wooden spoon to form a mass. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

2.Using wetted hands, form balls of dough out of about 1/4 cup of dough and press to form a cake about 3 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick. If the dough cracks at the edges, mix in a little more water and then form the cakes.

3.Heat the oil in a sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the patties, a few at a time, to form a light brown crust on one side, 5 to 6 minutes. Flip and brown on the other side.

4.When all the patties have been browned, transfer them to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they sound lightly hollow when tapped. Serve immediately.

Variations
•Filled Arepas: Split the arepas in half when finished and scoop out a little of the soft dough filling. Stuff with your chosen filling.
•Arepa de Pabellón: shredded, seasoned meat and black beans.
•Reina Pepeada: chopped chicken, avocado, and mayonnaise mashed together.
•Arepa de Dominó: black beans and crumbled white cheese.
•Arepa de Perico: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, peppers and onions.
•Columbian Arepas: make smaller and thicker and don't bake. Top with butter and melted cheese.
•Other possible fillings: grated white or cheddar cheese; guasacaca, ham and cheese, hard-boiled quails eggs.
•The sautéing step is sometimes skipped and the arepas are simply baked. In the countryside arepas are often cooked on the grill.
•Small arepas can be made and served as appetizers with garnishes on top instead of inside. Or they can be eaten as small biscuits.
•Sometimes a little sugar is mixed in with the dough to form sweet arepas (arepas dulces).

Notes
•The cornmeal used to make arepas is a special, precooked type that usually goes by the name masarepa, or masa precocida. It can often be found in Latino markets. The more commonly found masa harina is not the correct type to use for this recipe.

;

Marcella Hazan's Simple Tomato Sauce

2011-10-24T00:23:00.008-04:00

Ruth from Once Upon a Feast is celebrating Presto Nights #237. This week's host is
Theresa of The Food Hunter's Guide to Cuisine . The roundup will be up on October 28th so make a point of checking out the entries on Theresa's blog.

It wasn't that long ago that I was speaking with Val from More Than Burnt Toast sharing with her that I was on tomato surplus. She told me that I had to try Marcella Hazan's sauce recipe; that I'd never had anything like it .and that I would be pleased with the result. Val also mentioned that it was easy peasey (my favourite) and inspired me to check out Hazan's cookbook and give it a try.

If you're not familiar with Marcella Hazan, get to know her a little better HERE

* 2 cups canned plum tomatoes (whole, peeled, chopped, with their juices about one 28-oz. can) I used fresh tomatoes.
* 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut in half
* salt, to taste

#1 Combine the tomatoes, their juices, the butter, and the onion halves in a medium saucepan.

#2 Add a pinch or two of salt. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, at a very slow but steady simmer, adjusting the heat as necessary, for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free from the tomato.

#3 Stir occasionally, mashing any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon. Taste and salt as needed.

#4 Discard the onion.

This is one of those forever recipes that will always get a WOW reaction at the table and nobody will know how simple it really is to make (unless, of course you tell them)

Pumpkin Stuffed Vegetable Stew

2011-10-21T00:32:00.000-04:00

I was so happy to have Psychgrad and "R" here for Canadian Thanksgiving. I was equally as happy to have the help in hosting dinner for the family. Psychgrad was the Chef de Cuisine, "R" moved tables and chairs and heavy things in and out of the oven and I was the Sous Chef.

This year we have an addition to the family. "A" is charming, gracious, kind and vegetarian. Is vegetarian really an adjective? We did want him to feel special and comfortable with the family and in our family food=love.

Psychgrad and I had to put our thinking caps on. The challenge was to create a main dish that was both impressive and vegetarian. I mean you can always fill up on sides and salads but to me it's just not special enough. We finally found what we believed was going to be a show stopper at the Gourmet site. Pumpkin Stuffed Vegetable Stew!!! Sounds good, no?

I drove up to the Southbrook Pumpkin Patch to pick out a perfect pumpkin. I was looking for a pumpkin that was a sweet, flavourful eating pumpkin.

We read the recipe over a couple of times to make sure we had the sequence right and all the ingredients we needed. The recipe has three parts to it; a sauce made of roasted vegetables and wine, a stew of roasted vegetables (not the same as the sauce) and a combination of all inside the pumpkin to bake to perfection.

ROASTED-VEGETABLE AND WINE SAUCE
MAKES ABOUT 6 CUPS
ACTIVE TIME:30 MIN START TO FINISH:4 HR

This intense base is the secret to the full-bodied richness of the stew. Roasting emphasizes the vegetables' best qualities, and they're simmered with red wine and plenty of herbs and aromatics.

1 large leek (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise
5 carrots, quartered
1 head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
2 red bell peppers, quartered
1 lb plum tomatoes, halved
1 fennel bulb, stalks discarded and bulb quartered
2 large onions, quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup boiling water
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms (1 cup)
1 (4-inch) piece celery
4 parsley stems
1 large thyme sprig
8 black peppercorns
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
1 cup dry red wine
4 qt water
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil; 1 1/2 ounces)
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
EQUIPMENT: cheesecloth; kitchen string

ROAST VEGETABLES:

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
Wash leek halves (see Cooking Tips) and pat dry.

Toss leek, carrots, garlic, bell peppers, plum tomatoes, fennel, and onions with oil, then spread in a 17- by 14-inch roasting pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until well browned and tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
SOAK PORCINI AND MAKE BOUQUET GARNI WHILE VEGETABLES ROAST:

FINISHING THE STOCK:
Transfer roasted vegetables to a 6- to 8-quart pot and add wine to roasting pan, then deglaze pan by boiling, scraping up brown bits, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine to vegetables in pot along with water (4 quarts), porcini and soaking liquid, bouquet garni, sun-dried tomatoes, and 2 teaspoons salt.

Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, until stock is reduced to about 6 cups, about 2 hours. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing firmly on and then discarding solids.

MAKE SAUCE:
Melt butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat and whisk in flour, then cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add stock in a stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, then bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

COOKS’ NOTES:

Stock can be made ahead and cooled, uncovered, then chilled, covered, 1 week or frozen in an airtight container 1 month.
Sauce can be made 2 days ahead and chilled, uncovered, until cool, then covered. Reheat before using.

Root vegetables, mushrooms, and seitan—a firm, meatlike wheat protein that soaks up all the flavors of the sauce—mingle with roasted vegetables inside the pumpkin, whose flesh you scoop out along with servings of the stew. (Don't be intimidated at the thought of assembling such a masterpiece—if you've ever made a jack-o'-lantern, you have the skills to prepare this dish.)

THE VEGETABLE STEW

1 fennel bulb with fronds
2 medium parsnips (1/2 pound total), peeled, quartered, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 lb celery root (sometimes called celeriac; 1/2 of 1 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
14 small shallots (about 1 pound), peeled and left whole, plus 1/2 cup chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 red bell pepepers
1 (8- to 9-lb) pumpkin (preferably cheese, pie, or Sweet Meat variety)
Roasted-vegetable and wine sauce, heated
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 lb fresh cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved
1/4 lb fresh chanterelle mushrooms, trimmed
1 lb seitan (seasoned wheat gluten), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon chopped thyme, divided
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

ROAST ROOT VEGETABLES:
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
Chop enough fennel fronds to measure 1 tablespoon and reserve, then discard stalks and remaining fronds. Halve bulb lengthwise, then core and cut lengthwise into 1-inch wedges.
Toss fennel wedges, parsnips, celery root, carrots, and whole shallots with 2 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 17- by 12-inch shallow baking pan until coated, then roast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and almost tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove vegetables from oven. Leave oven on.

PREPARE PEPPERS AND PUMPKIN WHILE VEGETABLES ROAST:
Roast peppers on racks of gas burners over high heat, turning with tongs, until skins are blistered, 5 to 8 minutes. (If you stove is not gas, see cooks' note, below.)
Transfer peppers to a bowl and let stand, covered, until cool enough to handle. Peel peppers and discard stems and seeds. Cut peppers lengthwise into 1-inch strips.
Remove top of pumpkin by cutting a circle (6 inches in diameter) around stem with a small sharp knife. Scrape out and discard seeds and any loose fibers from inside pumpkin with a spoon (including top of pumpkin; do not discard top), then sprinkle flesh with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Put pumpkin in a large roasting pan.

STUFF AND ROAST PUMPKIN:
Pour 1 1/2 cups sauce into pumpkin and cover with top, then brush all over with remaining tablespoon oil. Roast 1 hour.
While pumpkin roasts, heat butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then sauté chopped shallots until softened. Add mushrooms and sauté until they are browned and begin to give off liquid, about 8 minutes. Add wheat gluten and 1/2 teaspoon thyme, then stir in 1 1/2 cups more sauce and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and fold in roasted root vegetables and peppers, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

After pumpkin has roasted 1 hour, spoon vegetable filling into it, then cover with top. Roast until pumpkin is tender when pierced with a fork, vegetables are tender, and filling is hot, about 30 minutes more. Transfer pumpkin to a platter using 2 sturdy metal spatulas.
Stir together fennel fronds, parsley, zest, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme and sprinkle half of it over filling. Stir remainder into remaining sauce and serve sauce on the side.

COOKS’ NOTES:
Bell peppers can be broiled on rack of a broiler pan about 2 inches from heat, turning occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes.
Peppers can be roasted and peeled up to 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.
Root vegetables can be roasted 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.
Pumpkin can be cut, scraped, and seasoned 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Pour out any accumulated liquid and bring pumpkin to room temperature before proceeding with recipe.

We didn't use the entire 6 cups of sauce; the pumpkin creates juice also. I froze the leftover and can certainly use it for another recipe.

We couldn't find seitan at the health food store so used cubed and herbed firm tofu.

Verdict: Was it a fair amount of work? YES! Was it worth it? YES YES AND YES -- 'nuf said

Chive Pesto

2011-10-19T07:21:00.005-04:00

I think I need to plant more perennials. I loved having chives growing without having to expend any energy. Not to mention that they grew better than the plants that I worked hard to grow!

The thing is, I don't tend to use chives in many of my dishes. So, I decided to expand my pesto collection and make some chive pesto.

I started out by separating the flowers from the rest of the chives.

I like using the flowers (they're edible) as a garnish or in a vase, for decoration.

I found a recipe for chive pesto at this link

Chive Pesto Recipe

2 cups roughly chopped chives

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup toasted nuts: almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, etc.

1-3 ounces or 1/3 cup more or less parmesan cheese

1 clove or less of garlic

Blend it in a food processor until fairly chopped up but still smallish chunks. Note: I blended it until pretty close to smooth.

I ended up having enough ingredients for a double recipe, which filled up two ice cube trays.

Here's my pesto collection: 3 bags of scape pesto, 1 bag of chive pesto and 1/2 bag of basil pesto. Each pesto has its own distinct flavour and I'm looking forward to try them in the months to come.

Melbourne: Part II

2011-10-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

After touring the downtown area of Melbourne, which you can read about here, we wanted to check out some other parts of town.

On the second day, we walked from the part of town we were staying in, Brighton, to St. Kilda (about 6-7 km). The walk by the Bay is lovely, peaceful and gives you a view of some of the nicest real estate in the city.

St. Kilda is an interesting part of town that, after a period of being dodgy, is returning to its original glory.

After our walk, we were ready for lunch. We took our chances and tried Rococo. We started with a Caprese salad and each ordered a panini.

Both tasted really good and really hit the spot!

After spending some more time walking around St. Kilda, we were drawn in by the dessert window at the Acland Cake Shop.

Source

Unfortunately, I think in this case, it looks better than it tastes. I got a vanilla slice. The custard was sticky and hard to swallow and the pastry was so hard, it was difficult to break apart.

R wasn't a big fan of his dessert either.

The restaurant is in need of some updating and the bathrooms were in need of toilet paper. I got the impression that it was a long-run family business, run by people who lost their passion for desserts and customer service a long time ago.

On a different day, we visited the Queen Victoria Market. The market has the distinction of being the largest market in the southern hemisphere.

The market has rows upon rows of household items, clothing, shoes, jewellery, etc.

Produce

Meats

We stopped in the food court for lunch.

and got some famous jam donuts for dessert

After the market, we quickly made our way back downtown to go watch an Aussie Rules football game. Melbourne is the hub of Aussie Rules, which is actually more popular in Australia than is rugby. Thankfully, we were with fans of the sport who could explain how the game is played.

We watched a big game between the Richmond Tigers vs Essendon. The guys we were with were cheering for (or as they say in Australia, barracking for) the Tigers. The atmosphere was great, with somewhere around 80,000 spectators.

In the end, the Tigers won and their theme song was played:

Apple Sauce & Apple Butter

2011-10-15T12:12:00.000-04:00

After preserving apple pie filling, I still had a tonne of apples inundating my fridge.

So, I decided to make some apple sauce and apple butter. Apple sauce is very easy to make and tastes much better made from scratch than the sugar-filled sauce you'll buy at the grocery store. I took some inspiration from Marisa's, at Food in Jars, apple sauce recipe

Apple Sauce

5 lbs apples
1/2 cup of apple juice
1 tbsp of cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp of clove
2 pieces of star anise
2 heaping tablespoons of honey

I don't have a foodmill, so I peeled, cored and sliced my apples ahead of time. Add apples, apple juice and star anise to a non-reactive pot and let cook until apples soften. Once apples are getting softer, add cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Stir every few minutes. After about 15 minutes, apples will be quite soft.

Remove star anise. I like a blended consistency for my apple sauce, so I used my immersion blender. Then, I added honey to taste.

While apple sauce is cooking, prepare jars by putting them in a water canner on a slow boil to sterilize. I usually leave them in there for about 15 minutes.

Pour applesauce into your prepared jars leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Wipe rims, apply lids and screw on rings. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes for half pints and pints, 20 minutes for quarts.

When time has elapsed, remove jars from canner and let them cool on a towel-lined countertop.

To store, remove rings and keep in a cool, dark place. Applesauce will keep in storage up to one year.
******************************************************************************
I knew I wanted to use at least part of my apple sauce to make apple butter. Apple butter is also very easy to make. You just take apple sauce and cook it down more to make it into a thicker consistency. This can be done on the stove, in the oven or in a slow-cooker.

It seemed simplest to me to use the slow-cooker.

I started with 2.5 litres of apple sauce and let it cook on low for about 16-18 hours. This may be more time than necessary, but I didn't follow instructions and left the lid on overnight. I should have left the lid partially open so that the water being released from the sauce would evaporate more. Maybe it's for the best since I only stirred it once during the night rather than more regularly, as required.

As it cooks, it gets darker and thicker. You'll know that it's ready when you put it on a plate and, after leaving it for a minute or so, water doesn't form around the mound of apple butter.

In the end, I reduced the sauce by half and ended up with 1.25 litres of apple butter.

Go ahead and can that, following these instructions.

By this point -- I had used up all of my apples! Success!

Until.... I went and visited Giz this past weekend and picked about 3 bags worth of apples. Doh!

Cranberry Sauce

2011-10-13T13:42:00.004-04:00

I never love cranberry sauce or jelly out of a tin. It's just not as flavourful as home made. And why wouldn't you make home made - it's just so easy and supports our local cranberry farmers.

I happened to be following Johnston Cranberries on Twitter (@CranberryFarmer) and saw a recent marketing video for his farm. Many thanks to Jake Thomas of Riley_Lake_Productions (@RileyLakeFilmTV on Twitter) for allowing us to share this wonderful video about cranberry production on the Johnston Cranberry Farm.

1 pkg (12oz) fresh cranberries

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup sugar

In a medium saucepan stir together orange juice and sugar. Add cranberries and cook on medium heat, stirring often for about 15 minutes. Cranberries will start to pop and soften. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

I can't even share a finished product with you - it was all gone before I could even get a photograph.

Melbourne: Part I

2011-10-11T08:24:00.000-04:00

R and I met about 11 years ago. We were both planning to live and work abroad, in London. After an initial meeting at a restaurant a few months before starting the trip, we met for a second time in the departure lounge at the Toronto Pearson Airport to catch our flight to London Heathrow.

We were pretty much inseparable from that point and found a flat together, along with 4 other guys (a mix of Aussies, Kiwis and Italians). I was a bit hesitant to live with 5 guys, but after hearing daily stories about my colleague's four female flatmates, I was quite content to be with a group of guys (despite the Playboy poster that hung in the kitchen).

When we started to plan our trip to Australia, we sent a message to the Aussie flatmates (who are still travelling the world) for advice. This is the first time we got a sense of the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne. Here's the advice we got from our flatmate from Sydney:

not too sure about melbourne but bring your turtle neck sweater so you can fit in with the other Melbournites when you're sipping a latte writing poetry on your computer wearing a beret.

Alrighty then!

***************************************************************

We flew from Sydney (read about our time in Sydney here: part 1, part 2 and part 3) to the last destination, Melbourne. We were lucky to have some friends and family in Melbourne.

On our first full day, a friend who has moved from Toronto to Melbourne took us on a walking tour around central Melbourne. We met up at Flinder's Station and went from there. Here's just some of what we saw:

This is Flinder's Station:

Across from Flinder's Station:

Melbourne is known for its great restaurants, coffee culture and the uniqueness of the various areas of the city. I would love to spend more time getting to know the cafes, restaurants and laneways. This laneway is called Centre Place.

Melbourne has these fancy (I probably am not allowed to walk through here) arcades that look like something out the Victorian era. This is the Royal Arcade.

This is the visual orgasm that is the Hopetoun Tea Rooms.

These amazing-looking desserts can be found in the Block Arcade.

Also in Block Arcade is Haigh's Chocolate

They sell high quality chocolate, which we taste-tested for good measure:

Another thing you'll notice is that there is a lot of graffiti in Melbourne. Sure, some of it is just tags. But, a lot of it is really impressive. There has even been some debate around the protection of the street art.

On a separate visit downtown, we stopped in to the Cupcake Bakery.

I think this is their molten chocolate:

and this is the lemon meringue:

View of downtown:

I'll stop there... But stay tuned because there's more to come!

Hourly Photo Project

2011-10-10T06:02:00.007-04:00

Andrea at A Peak Inside the Fishbowl is holding an hourly photo event to commemorate Canadian Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving!

To participate, you take one photo every hour, on the hour, for ten hours. The goal is to get ten photos from where you happen to be at that time.

It has been a couple of years since I last participated, which you can see here.

Let's get started with this year's hourly photo project...

5:20am: Not loving my new wakeup time. I'm not sure why I keep waking up at 5:00 on the weekend, particularly when I spend the week looking forward to sleeping in on the weekend.

With any luck, there will be a delay before my next photo, meaning that I managed to fall back asleep.

9:00am -- Yay! Got a couple more hours of sleep.

Now I'm up and surveying the damage from yesterday's Thanksgiving dinner. Giz and I (with R's help) cooked for 11. Here's some of the damage:

10:00am

Funny story... A few weeks ago was Baba's (my grandmother) birthday. She turned 89. Baba decided to make "full" use of the birthday special (free dozen bagels) at the bagel store that my family frequents. After visiting one franchise, she worried that she wouldn't have enough to give to both my mom and Auntie Takeout. So, she got my mom to take her to a second bagel store and get another birthday special.

I decided to pull a birthday prank. I got R to give her a call, pretending to work for the bagel company. He does a great job of playing the "straight man." He asked her how many bagel stores she visited and how many birthday specials she had used. He explained that she is only allowed to have one dozen free bagels for her birthday.

Poor Baba nearly had a heart attack. After she tried to plead ignorance, she just went silent. Finally, I took the phone and after catching my breath from laughing hysterically, I yelled "Just kidding Baba!" #elderabuse

11:00am -- working hard...

We're heading out for a few hours...So, my next updates may be a bit delayed.

Several hours later....

Oops - that took longer than expected. But, I did take hourly photos!

12:00pm -- We met up with Auntie Takeout et al. and the Bubster (Baba) and went apple picking.

1:00pm -- Guess what kind of apple this is!

2:00pm -- Back seat driver, Suki

3:00pm -- Lunch at Auntie Takeouts. Love bagels with tuna and egg salad. (Yes -- I know -- second bagel of the day. It's getting excessive.)

4:00pm -- Getting ready for the game.

5:00pm -- Gotta love anthropomorphized fruit:

That marks the last of my 10 photos! It's 5:30 now and our last evening at Giz's. Tomorrow, we drive back to Ottawa. So it's probably time we start discussing plans for the rest of the evening.

Preserving Apple Pie Filling

2011-10-07T07:11:00.000-04:00

I have a partner in crime...literally. Well, let's call it a partner in urban foraging. It has a more rustic, eco-friendly ring to it.

My accomplice, we'll call him Ron, told me about some local apple trees, no where near houses, that were just sitting there (as opposed to all the other apple trees that have a very active social life). The apples were falling off the tree and rotting on the ground. So, with the health of the world in mind, we set out to save the tree! (like how I turned that around?)

If you look closely, you can see Ron, who took one for the team and climbed the tree.

The apples weren't the most beautiful, I'm guessing because they're not sprayed with insecticide. But, they tasted like perfectly good Macintosh apples.

We kept picking until it became dangerous to climb any higher and ended up with a pretty decent accumulation.

Next, we started discussing recipes. Ron wanted to make apple pie filling that could be given away as gifts.

We got a conveyor line of peeling/chopping going and made relatively quick progress preparing the apples.

Apple Pie Filling

allrecipes.com

4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
10 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 drops yellow food colouring (omitted)
6 pounds apple
In a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and food colouring.
Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water.
Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.

Fill jars with hot syrup, and gently remove air bubbles with a knife.

Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

Notes: Like the canned peaches, we has some siphoning issues...AGAIN! But, I think I've learned my lesson. I'm starting to give a generous amount of headspace. When I see 1/2 inch of headspace in a recipe, I check whether other similar recipes give the same amount. I also lean toward 3/4 or a full inch of headspace (maybe this is bad advice, but I'm tired of siphoning). The other recommendation, which comes from Giz, is to fill the jar only 1/2 full of apples. Then, add some of the hot syrup. Get the air bubbles out. Then repeat (add more apples, syrup and remove air bubbles). It's easier to get the air bubbles out this way and it makes a difference because those apple slices make for great hiding spots for air bubbles.

Siphoning aside, the recipe was still a success. The seals were good, so we wiped down the outside of the bottles of their syrup. The flavour reminded us of apple pies from McDonald's. I haven't tried it in an actual pie yet.

After finishing the apple pie filling, we still had a tonne of apples... Stay tuned for more apple preserving posts.

Peach & Cherry Oat Crumb Bars

2011-10-05T08:00:00.002-04:00

I don't know how we ended up in an awkward camping situation. Here's how it started...

We made plans to go camping with my friend and a friend of hers (T). Then, T backed out. During that time, my friend started dating a new guy. She asked me if we'd be okay with her bringing the new guy camping in place of her friend. The fact that she hadn't known him long enough to even get his last name made me pause a bit. But, she caught me after I had just come back from drinks with friend and I said, "Sure - bring him along!"

Then, she told me about this new guy, but did the worst sales job ever (not that she needs to sell me on the guy). Basically she told me about all of the undesirable (in a significant other) things the guy has done in his life.

Great. This should be interesting.

To offset the potential weirdness with the new guy, we invited another couple along. We figured we could just hang out in a canoe all day if things were weird.

Here's the canoe:

Enough said.

Well....at least the food was good. Here's dinner from day 1:

Part of dinner from day 2:

Definitely not roughing it.

R and I were responsible for breakfast. But, I decided to also bring a dessert. I still had peaches on my mind after preserving peaches four ways and put them to good use making Deeba's Cherry & Peach Oat Crumb Bars. If you're a foodblogger, you probably already know Deeba and visit her site regularly. If not, go check out her beautiful blog. She puts such care into each and every post, it's a delight to read (not to mention beautiful photography).

Cherry & Peach Oat Crumb Bars

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup vanilla sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
200gms chilled butter, cubed (about 7/8 of a cup)
1 large egg
3-4 peaches, pitted and sliced
100gms cherries, pitted and halved
1 sachet vanilla sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C (375F). Line a 9 X 13″ baking tin with baking parchment.

Whisk the flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of the blender to mix.

Add chilled butter, vanilla bean and egg and process until you have a breadcrumb like mix.

Turn out 2/3 of the crumb mix into the prepared tin and pat gently into place.

Top with sliced peaches and pitted cherries. My battery operated scale needs a new battery, so I just estimated how many peaches and cherries to add. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar if using (I didn't use this).

Scatter the remaining 1/3 crumb mix over the fruit.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is light brown.

Cool completely before cutting into squares (if you can wait that long). Store in an airtight box in the fridge.

The bars were so delicious! This is my kind of dessert! Thanks Deeba.

Organic Meadow

2011-10-03T14:58:00.005-04:00

I was thrilled to have been contacted to be part of a blogger group to tour

Birchwind Holsteins - The Vice Family Farm . We were met by the incredibly hospitable Debbie and Ron Vice.

The visit was arranged to give exposure to organic farming in Ontario. I had no preconceived ideas of what to expect and found that what I learned is so important for my family and also to share with others so that we all make conscious choices about what we're eating and drinking. The Vice Farm is part of a local cooperative called Organic Meadow . As a Co-operative, Organic Meadow provides a unique opportunity for organic farmers to collectively store, process and market organically-grown products including organic milk, organic dairy products, organic eggs and organic grains. Their goal is to unite small family farms under one brand, letting them share in the benefits of their marketing efforts. Organic Meadow is committed to ensuring fair, consistent financial returns to its farmers while maintaining quality at every stage, from soil to table.

We've all heard of and many use organic products but do we always know exactly what it means to be organic. Here's what I learned about becoming and maintaining an organic farm:

What makes organic milk certified organic?

1. The land farmed using conventional methods must go through a three-year transitional period during which time and from then after, no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides can be used, in order to clear the land of synthetic elements and restore it to its natural fertility.

2. Dairy cows must be fed feed produced under organic practices for 12 months before organic certification.

3. Livestock cannot be fed or treated with breeding and growth hormones.

4. Livestock must be provided with ample sized accommodations and with plenty of room to socialize.

5. Manure must be properly composted and used as a natural fertilizer.

6. Sustainable crop rotation must be practiced using crops that enrich the soil's fertility.

7. Detailed records must be kept. After the transition period has been completed, the farm is inspected by a third party certification agency as well as every year thereafter to ensure organic practices are maintained.

8. Certification doesn't end at the farm. Milk transporters and processors must be certified organic as well.

We met several of the cows and in particular, this one ready to calf anytime:

and next door is the nursery...

and where the calves hang out...

Ron spoke to the process of milking, processing and shipping of organic milk...

Time for lunch ...

Have you tried these President's Choice organic crackers? They're incredible with cheese; try them!!!

We went on the most incredible hayride to see a visually stunning landscape and learn about the nutrients added to organic fields. I admit I had no idea how cost intensive maintaining organic fields really is.

and back in time to see the cows going out to pasture.

Many of the farms in Ontario welcome visitors and trust me, your kids will love it and you'll be in awe of the dedication of our farmers to bring organics to our tables. I certainly have a new found respect for our farmers. They work long, hard hours and deserve our support!

Links:

Organic Week October 15-22, 2011

Dairy Farmers of Canada

Dairy Farmers of Ontario

Canadian Organic Growers

David Suzuki Foundation

Vice Family Farm

Preserved Peaches: Four Ways

2011-10-01T11:57:00.000-04:00

I have such a tumultuous relationship with peaches. OK, maybe that's overly dramatic. But - when they're good, they're amazing and then (what seems like) a week later, they're practically inedible.

It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode with the Mackinaw peaches:

So, to capitalize on the deliciousness that is in-season peaches, I preserved peaches four different ways.

To start, I froze a large freezer bag full of peaches (skin on) to use in my smoothies throughout the year. This is something I started doing last year.

Next, I got together with a friend to make two types of peach jam. The first was a sugar-free peach jam recipe from Bernardin.

Sugar-Free Peach Jam

4 cups (1000 ml) peeled, pitted and crushed peaches

1 cup (250 ml) unsweetened apple or white grape juice

2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice

1 pkg (49 g) BERNARDIN® No Sugar Needed Fruit Pectin

Sweetener – if using:

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) granulated sugar

** I used about 3/4 cup of honey

Check out the Bernardin website for the full recipe.

I'm quickly shifting the majority of my preserving recipes to low-sugar. I prefer to use honey or maple syrup over an artificial sweetener and, in the end, they taste great!

The next recipe we tried was a Peach Lavender jam from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving.

Peach Lavender Jam

2 tbsp dried lavender flowers

1/2 cup boiling water

4 cups finely chopped peaches (about 5-6 medium peaches)

2 tbsp lemon juice

6 cups granulated sugar

1 pouch liquid fruit pectin

1. Place lavender flowers in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over flowers and steep for 20 minutes. Strain (keep liquid) and discard flowers. Make sure to smell the amazing lavender fragrance as much as possible.

2. Combine lavender liquid, peaches, lemon juice and sugar in a very large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a full boil over high heat and boil hard for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in pectin.

3. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. Makes 6 cups.

Note: this was my first time using liquid pectin and it didn't thicken up the way I would want. Maybe it requires more boiling before adding the pectin. I'm not sure. I may try something with liquid pectin again in the future, but it seems more challenging to work with since you're supposed to remove the fruit mixture from heat before adding the pectin.

The flavour is good, but it's more of a ice cream topping consistency than a jam.

The fourth peach preserving recipe I followed was peaches in simple syrup. I recruited my cousin, who was visiting for the week, to make this with me. He's going to make an awesome boyfriend for someone one day -- he likes cooking and is studying to be a massage therapist. Not to mention that he's a good kid and a nice guy (there's a difference between the two, right?). Ladies???

I has some siphoning issues (syrup solution leaking out of the jars when removed from boiling canning water). After some freaking out, I sought advice from Marisa at Food in Jars and @Canvolution on Twitter (check out Canning Across America). Both are great preserving resources and both said that this is probably due to a lack of headspace and, as long as the seal is good, it should be fine. PHEW!

So, there you have it -- preserved peaches, four ways.

I started off the summer with a goal to fill the shelf, below, with jars. The shelf runs the length of my 10 X 10 guest room. Here's the progress:

If you're interested in reading more of our preserving posts, click on this link.

Honey Cake for Rosh Hashana

2011-09-26T15:56:00.005-04:00

Nothing represents Rosh Hashana (New Year) in the Jewish tradition more than honey cake. Each year I follow the tradition by making my mother's honey cake recipe. Each year I tell myself it's a good cake but a little on the dry side. Sorry mom!!

This year I really wanted to find a honey cake that was full of flavour and moist!! I found the perfect balance in Marcy Goldman's Jewish Holiday Baking cookbook.

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup warm coffee or strong tea
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup rye or whiskey
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds (optional)

Fits in three loaf pans, two 9-inch square or round cake pans, one 9 or 10 inch tube or bundt cake pan, or one 9 by 13 inch sheet cake. I made mine in a bundt pan and still had enough for a small loaf pan.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease pan(s) with non-stick cooking spray. For tube or angel food pans, line the bottom with lightly greased parchment paper, cut to fit.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Make a well in the center, and add oil, honey, white sugar, brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee or tea, orange juice and rye or whiskey, if using. (If you measure your oil before the honey, it will be easier to get all of the honey out.)

Using a strong wire whisk or in an electric mixer on slow speed, stir together well to make a thick, well-blended batter, making sure that no ingredients are stuck to the bottom.

Spoon batter into prepared pan(s). Sprinkle top of cake(s) evenly with almonds, if using. Place cake pan(s) on two baking sheets, stacked together (this will ensure the cakes bake properly with the bottom baking faster than the cake interior and top).

Bake until cake tests done, that is, it springs back when you gently touch the cake center. For angel and tube cake pans, this will take 60 to 75 minutes, loaf cakes, about 45 to 55 minutes. For sheet style cakes, baking time is 40 to 45 minutes.

Let cake stand fifteen minutes before removing from pan.

Since I'm responsible for all the desserts this year, I decided to include a show stopping apple cake that's always a hit. You can find the recipe HERE

To all who celebrate, a very sweet Shana Tova (Happy New Year)

Scallops with Pea Puree, Pancetta and Gremolata

2011-09-24T08:28:00.003-04:00

Moment of honesty: Beyond being an opportunity for socializing, inviting people for dinner is the way I motivate myself to clean the house.

R likes to say, "I'm busy that day" (regardless of whether he knows the day) to avoid the chores. But, he always comes around and "makes time in his busy schedule."

I don't mind telling my guests that we cleaned up, to counterbalance the facade we've created of having a meticulous house. But, there's no way I would actually have people over when my house is a mess.

Last weekend, we invited some friends for dinner. The mains were fairly standard (brisket, roasted potatoes, tomato salad), but I decided to go a bit fancy for the appetizer.

I found this recipe on Alosha's Kitchen. If you haven't visited Melissa's blog, you should -- she has a great variety of dishes that will definitely entice you. Melissa got this recipe from her friend, Amy.

Scallops with Pea Puree, Pancetta and Gremolata

Ingredients

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
3 ounces diced pancetta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups frozen early sweet peas, thawed
1 cup chicken broth
12 medium sea scallops, patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter

Method

For the gremolata: in a small bowl combine the parsley, lemon zest, and one tablespoon of shallot. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the pancetta until crispy and cooked through, 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan, leaving some of the reserved fat in the pan. Set aside.

In the same pan, over medium heat, sauté the garlic and remaining shallots for about 3-4 minutes. Add the peas and broth and season with a little salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 5 minutes.

Transfer the contents to a blender and puree to a smooth consistency (I used an immersion blender). Return the puree to the pan, along with the cooked pancetta, cover and set aside to keep warm.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat butter and the remaining olive oil over medium-high until very hot. Add scallops and cook, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides and almost firm to the touch, about 3 minutes per side.

On serving plates, arrange the scallops on top of the puree and sprinkle with the gremolata.

Note: The dish was flavourful and well-received. It looks fancy, but is pretty easy to make. I consider it a success and feel a scallop kick coming on.

If you're making this for guests, I recommend cooking the pancetta well before guests arrive to avoid having a house full of smoke when guests arrive.. If I were to do it again, I'd probably not add salt to the pea blend since the pancetta is already quite salty.