tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67863663837640039452024-02-07T03:56:14.234-05:00Janet Is Hungrymy gastronomic adventuresJanethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comBlogger227125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-67932542736127210322010-07-06T07:07:00.001-04:002010-07-06T11:23:51.402-04:00Southwestern Corn Pudding<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/CornPudding.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/CornPudding.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />This is a variation on a recipe that my Mom makes a lot that I really love. I especially like that this one is made in individual ramekins. Although it didn't turn out to be such a hot idea with kids, as they kept burning themselves. Or maybe that does make it a hot idea, just not a very good one! Anyway, a word to wise... let the ramekins cool a bit before you serve them to children or absent-minded adults.<br /><br /><em><strong>Southwestern Corn Pudding</strong><br />Adapted from the July/August edition of Vegetarian Times Magazine<br /><br />1 cup soft breadcrumbs<br />4 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) corn kernels<br />4 large eggs, beaten<br />1 cup sour cream (fat free or low fat is OK)<br />1/4 cup chopped cilantro<br />1 small jalapeno pepper, minced<br />1 tsp salt<br /><br />1. Grease 8 small (1.2 cup size) ramekins and dust with breadcrumbs.<br /><br />2. In a food processor, blend up 3 cups of the corn kernels until pulpy. Dump them in a bowl and add the 1 cup of whole kernels.<br /><br />3. Mix up the beaten eggs, sour cream, cilantro, jalapeno, and salt. Then mix together with corn.<br /><br />4. Divide evently amongst the ramekins and bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350F until set and golden.</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-81328904790637229912010-05-10T06:50:00.000-04:002010-05-10T09:24:11.280-04:00Shrimp and Avocado Toasts<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/shrimpandavocadocanape.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/shrimpandavocadocanape.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />Sometimes on Sunday's just for the heck of it, I create a little canape for the family to snack on before dinner. I don't usually make a lot, just enough for one or two bites per person, but it's a fun way to try experiment with some appetizer recipes. I usually try to work with stuff I already have at home. <br /><br />This weekend, I wanted to use up some flour tortillas that I had in the freezer. They had become all bashed and battered around the edges from being buried under the frozen turkey and all those frozen <a href="http://janetishungry.blogspot.com/2010/03/peanut-butter-banana-and-cinnamon.html">muffins</a> and <a href="http://janetishungry.blogspot.com/2008/11/pumpkin-and-raisin-spice-muffins.html">muffins</a> and <a href="http://janetishungry.blogspot.com/2007/08/banana-coconut-muffins.html">muffins</a> and <a href="http://janetishungry.blogspot.com/2007/06/banana-and-raspberry-muffins.html">muffins</a>. They were no where near suitable for making wraps anymore, I don't know why I bother freezing them, I usually end up with a bag full of broken flour tortillas pieces. But it lead me to create this recipe, so I guess it's all good.<br /><br /><em><strong>Shrimp and Avocado Toasts</strong><br /><br />3 large flour tortillas<br />16-20 medium size cooked shrimp<br />1-2 tbsp olive oil<br />1 ripe avodaco<br />2 tbsp mayonnaise<br />1 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice<br />salt and pepper<br />lime zest <br /> <br />1. Using a 2" inch cookie cutter, cut as many circles as you can out of your flour tortillas.<br /><br />2. Brush the tortilla circles lightly with olive oil and fry them in a medium hot skillet on both sides until browned and crispy. Remove them to cool.<br /><br />3. In a small bowl, mash the avocado with a spoon, be a rebel and leave a few lumps (it's better that way). Stir in the lime juice and mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt and pepper.<br /><br />4. Place about a tbsp of the avocado mixture on each tortilla toast, and top with a cooked shrimp. Arrange on a platter and sprinkle with lime zest.</em><br /><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-5073613642967926072010-04-26T06:52:00.002-04:002010-04-26T10:08:14.893-04:00Sourdough Crumpets<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/crumpet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/crumpet.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />For the past few months I've been quite successful in keeping my sourdough starter alive and thriving. I use it often so I don't refrigerate it - I leave it on the counter and feed it everyday. I don't like throwing so much starter in the garbage, so I've started making these crumpets with the excess. It is very easy.<br /><br />Each night when I feed my starter, the portion I would normally discard goes into a little containter in the fridge. Once I have a cup, I make this recipe. You can freeze them and pop them in the toaster for breakfast. They are delicious with butter and jam.<br /><br /><em><strong>Sourdough Crumpets</strong><br />makes about 8 crumpets<br /><br />1 cup sourdough starter<br />1 tsp sugar<br />1/2 tsp baking soda<br />pinch of salt<br /><br />1. Preheat your griddle to medium heat. <br /><br />2. In a bowl with room for expansion, mix the starter with the sugar and salt.<br /><br />3. Stir in the baking soda. (The batter will get foamy and just about double in size).<br /><br />4. Lightly spray your skillet and 4 egg rings with cooking spray. Drop 1/4 cup of batter into each egg ring. Cook slowly until the top of the crumpet is set (no longer wet). If you want you can flip them and give them a few seconds on the other side to make sure they are cooked through, but this isnt' traditional.</em><br /><!-- google_ad_section_end --><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-80934969314912335712010-04-08T06:44:00.000-04:002010-04-08T09:35:08.521-04:00Penne with Chickpeas, Tomato and Feta<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PenneChickpeasandFeta.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PenneChickpeasandFeta.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />Way back in the olden days, when I was young and crazy, I used to post to this blog everyday. CRAZY! Because my family couldn't eat decadent, rich dishes all the time, this blog saw a lot more everyday, healthy things. <br /><br />So, as proof that we still enjoy a mostly clean eating lifestyle, I am posting an everyday dinner recipe. In life, I tend to follow the 90/10 rule. 90% of the time I eat healthfully and mind my portion sizes, and 10% of the time I eat what I want, in massive, astonishing quantities. Since about 10% of my total calorie intake comes from the stuff I eat 90% of the time 90% of my calorie intake come from the stuff I eat 10% of the time, I figure it all equals out to zero (or something like that). Maybe I should write a diet book... what do you think?<br /><br />Anyway, here's a nice healthy dinner recipe, that lands squarely in the 90% - healthy eating category. Based on my math equation above, you are now entitled to finish this meal off with about a half a chocolate pecan pie topped with whipped cream and an irish coffee. Enjoy.<br /><br /><em><strong>Whole Wheat Penne with Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Feta</strong><br />adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, March 2010<br />Serves 4 (with leftovers if two are finicky children)<br /><br />8oz whole wheat penne<br />1 tbsp olive oil<br />1/2 cup chopped onion<br />3 cups halved cherry tomatoes<br />3 cloves garlic, minced<br />1 yellow bell pepper, julienned<br />1 (15oz) can chickpeas<br />3oz feta, crumbled<br />1/3 cup fresh basil leaves<br />1/2 tsp lemon zest<br />1/2 tsp salt<br />freshly ground black pepper<br /><br />1. Cook and drain pasta. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.<br /><br />2. In a large skillet, saute onions and garlic until translucent. Add peppers and chickpeas, saute another minute or so. Add in tomatoes and continue cooking for two more minutes.<br /><br />3. Stir in the cooked pasta and reserved cooking liquid. Continue to cook until everything is heated through.<br /><br />4. Remove from heat and toss with lemon zest, feta, basil and season with salt and pepper.</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-86433389192818208782010-03-25T09:33:00.001-04:002010-03-25T20:15:07.049-04:00Pistachio, Blue Cheese and Apricot Canapes<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/apricotbluecheese1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/apricotbluecheese1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />A delicious and super easy little canape recipe that I tried out for the first time on my family last weekend. This was the perfect thing for my kids because my daughter loves blue cheese and pistachios and my son loves apricots, so they pulled them all apart and split things up. <br /><br />The contrast between the sweet honey and the apricots and the salty pistachios and the blue cheese was just divine. I'll be making these again the next time I have to bring an appetizer somewhere. They were super easy and I imagine they will travel well also.<br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/apricotbluecheese2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/apricotbluecheese2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><em><strong>Pistachio, Blue Cheese and Apricot Canapes<br /></strong><br />16-20 dried apricots<br />1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese<br />2 oz salted pistachios, shelled and chopped<br />1 tsp honey + more for drizzling.<br /><br />1. In a bowl mix the blue cheese, chopped pistachios and 1 tsp of honey, until it forms a bit of a paste that can be shaped.<br /><br />2. Use a tsp to form out little round mounds and place on on top of each apricot.<br /><br />3. Arrange on a serving platter and drizzle with honey.</em><br /><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-19730223554876885582010-03-18T07:33:00.001-04:002010-03-30T10:38:43.294-04:00Peanut Butter, Banana and Cinnamon Muffins<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/BananaandPeanutButterMuffin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/BananaandPeanutButterMuffin.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />What this blog really really needs (other than a different author/cook) is yet another muffin recipe. I know, I know, I've made promises to myself to stop making muffins until I use up the dozens that are languishing at the bottom of my freezer, but I have a problem, OK? I should probably seek therapy. MUST. MAKE. MUFFINS. I can't stop.<br /><br />But these are REALLY REALLY good. The only thing that might make these even better is a cup of semi sweet chocolate chips, a stroke of brilliance that didn't occur to me until the muffins were already in the oven. But, unfortunately I won't ever be able to try that, because I am hereby making a solemn promise to myself to stop making muffins! I mean it this time. Really! (Gosh, it's hard to type with your fingers crossed).<br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/BananaandPeanutButterMuffinSplit.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/BananaandPeanutButterMuffinSplit.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><em><strong>Peanut Butter Banana Muffins with Crumb Topping</strong> <br />Makes 15 large muffins (or if you prefer, 12 large and 6 mini muffins)<br /><br />1 1/2 cups bran flakes cereal<br />1 1/2 cups milk<br />2 cups flour<br />2 tsp baking powder<br />1/4 tsp salt<br />1 tsp cinnamon<br />3/4 cup peanut butter<br />1/4 cup butter<br />1/2 cup brown sugar, packed<br />1 cup banana, mashed<br />1 egg, beaten<br />1 cup chopped dates (or nuts, or chocolate chips)<br /><br />Crumb Topping <br />1/4 cup butter<br />1/4 cup brown sugar, packed<br />1/4 cup flour<br />1/4 tsp cinnamon<br /><br />1. Stir together the milk and bran flakes and let stand for a few minutes.<br /><br />2. In another bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon).<br /><br />3. Heat peanut butter and butter in microwave for 60 seconds. Pour into flour along with bran flake mixture and the banana, brown sugar and egg. Stir until just combined.<br /><br />4. Mix in dates and spoon into prepared muffin tin.<br /><br />5. Mix together all Crumb Topping ingredients until crumbly and divide amongst the muffins.<br /><br />6. Bake at 400F for about 20 minutes or until the muffins pass the toothpick test.</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-79045416142075751562010-03-09T07:05:00.001-05:002010-03-09T08:50:35.297-05:00Sourdough Pancakes<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/SourdoughPancakes.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/SourdoughPancakes.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A few weeks ago I posted the recipe for my <a href="http://janetishungry.blogspot.com/2010/02/sourdough-pizza-crust.html">Sourdough Pizza Crust</a>. This was more of an experiment than anything else. An experiment that went very well for a change. I've been working on a little project to develop a sourdough starter for about a month now, and I've baked with it a few times. Enough to know that I have a good starter going. In addition to the sourdough pizza crust, I've made sourdough cornbread, sourdough pancakes, sourdough crumpets, sourdough blueberry muffins, and a sourdough paperweight. All those recipes will be posted in good time - well except the paperweight recipe. Although, if anyone would like the recipe for a really heavy paperweight which can double as a brick to throw at your husband if he makes fun of your flopped bread, please just e-mail me for the recipe at: <br /><br /><a href="mailto:janetishungry@gmail.com">madwomanattackshusbandwithunleavenedbread@crankypants.com</a><br /><br />Anyway - I digress (as usual) - I thought I would share my sourdough pancake recipe today. <br /><br />I've experimented with many different pancake recipes over the years. Sour Cream Pancakes, Pancakes with Beaten Egg Whites, Buckwheat Pancakes, Oatmeal Pancakes, Pancakes with all sorts of things added in, Pancakes from boxes, Pancakes from a can...<br /><br />Until this past Saturday. My days of pancake experimentation are over. I will never ever be able to make pancakes again without making THIS recipe (unless I kill my starter, but that's another story). Before Saturday, my favorite pancake recipe has been one that I found in my Fanny Farmer Cookbook, where you separate the eggs, beat the egg whites and then fold them into the batter to make the pancakes extra fluffy.<br /><br />But this recipe seriously blows that one away. On two fronts... it is way easier to make and it tastes better.<br /><br />Here are the reviews of my family on these pancakes when asked which of my pancake recipes they like best:<br /><br />Marco (6 years old): I don't know, do these ones have money in them? (In reference to the fact that I bake money into the pancakes every year on Shrove Tuesday).<br /><br />Claire (10 years old): Yes, Mommy I love these ones best, can you buy me a new DS game? <br /><br />Mario: I don't know, I think I need to try them all side by side to compare properly.(Seriously? OK, now where did I put that sourdough brick?)<br /><br /><em><strong>Sourdough Pancakes</strong><br /><br />Before you go to bed:<br />1/2 cup sourdough starter<br />1/2 cup milk<br />1/2 cup warm water<br />1 1/4 cup flour<br /><br />In the morning:<br />1 egg, beaten<br />1 tbsp sugar<br />3 tbsp melted butter<br />1/2 tsp baking soda<br />1/4 tsp salt<br /><br />1. Before you go to bed, mix together the starter, milk, water and flour. Give it a good stir and let it sit on the counter overnight.<br /><br />2. In the morning, add in the remaining ingredients. Stir.<br /><br />3. Cook your pancakes as per usual.</em><br /><br />That's it! This recipe made 12 fairly generous size pancakes (using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop to drop the batter on the frying pan), plus one runt size pancake for the cook to eat on the sly.<br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-12095793913868659042010-03-06T14:45:00.002-05:002010-04-12T21:00:21.840-04:00Chocolate Peanut Butter Mud Pies<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PeanutButterChocolateMudPie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PeanutButterChocolateMudPie.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />I grew up eating mud pies. Yes, actual mud pies, like these ones: <a href="http://janetishungry.blogspot.com/2007/10/mud-pies.html">here</a>.<br /><br />My Mom's original mud pie recipe calls for coconut but my husband, Mario, really hates coconut. I've been promising for years to try making him a more palatable version of my classic mud pie. As you can see I promised as much back in October 2007 when I posted the original recipe... better late than never, right?<br /><br />This version uses peanut butter instead of coconut. I also threw in some chopped peanuts hoping to give them some more "crunch". The peanuts (although really good) didn't add a lot of crunch, and so next time I am going to stir in some Rice Krispies at the end instead...that ought to be in about January of 2013 if you want to check back then...<br /><br /><em><strong>Chocolate Peanut Butter Mud Pies</strong><br /><br />2 cups sugar<br />1/2 cup milk<br />1/2 cup cocoa<br />1/2 cup butter<br />pinch salt<br />1 cup peanut butter<br />1 tsp vanilla<br />3 cups oats (quick cooking)<br />1/2 cup chopped peanuts<br /><br />1. In a saucepan, mix sugar, milk, butter, cocoa and salt. Bring to a boil, and cook for about one minute (stiring constantly).<br /><br />2. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until melted and smooth.<br /><br />3. Mix in the oats, and then the chopped peanuts. Let sit for about 10 minutes.<br /><br />4. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, and chill until set. Makes about 60 cookies. (or do like me and eat 12 and tell everyone it makes 4 dozen).</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-84714294791725304462010-02-24T17:05:00.001-05:002010-02-24T17:17:49.393-05:00Chicken B'stilla<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/bstillaunmoulded.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/bstillaunmoulded.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />I adore Moroccan food. The smell that envelopes your house when you are cooking a Morrocan Tagine is, in my books, way up there with Glade Plug Ins, popcorn, and white glue! I also love the way so many Moroccan dishes incorporate dried fruits and nuts (two of my favourite food groups). I have recently invested in a real ceramic Tagine, and a couple of Moroccan cookbooks and I've experimented with some different types of salads, couscous, and stews. I haven't posted any of these recipes yet but I will (someday). <br /><br />Both of my Moroccan cookbooks have recipes for Chicken B'stilla (pronounced Bisteeya). Everytime I flip through those books, I hang on those pages, drooling over the pictures, but despairing over how complicated (and caloric) the recipe seems. And so, I dog ear the page (again) for another time.<br /><br />When I was in New Zealand on vacation over the holidays, I was happy to see there was a Moroccan restaurant in Rotorua. I went on-line and noticed that they had Chicken B'stilla on their menu. My heartrate went through the roof (hey, I get excited about food!). This was a perfect opportunity to taste this dish without having to slave over it all day, and without being able to go back for seconds (or fourths)...which I knew was going to be a serious risk...<br /><br />Sadly, our travel companions weren't so fussy about the whole Moroccan food idea, and so I didn't get to go. I've been mourning that Chicken B'stilla ever since. There aren't too many Moroccan restaurants here in Ottawa, and to my knowledge, none serve Chicken B'stilla.<br /><br />And so, when I noticed that the 2009 Holiday edition of the <a href="http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/RecipeController?language=EN&recipeType=1&action=recipe&recipeID=4248">LCBO Food and Drink Magazine</a> had a recipe for Chicken B'stilla, I new it was fate. I ran out right away and bought the ingredients before I could come to my senses. I even made one last ditch attempt to subvert my own plans. That morning at breakfast I asked my husband Mario, "so what would you like for dinner tonight, poached plain chicken breasts with boring steamed vegetables and dry boiled potates OR Chicken B'stilla?" <br /><br />He answers (with conviction) Chicken B'Stilla! And then, "so what exactly IS Chicken B'stilla again?".<br /><br />This is Chicken B'stilla. <br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/bstillasliced.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/bstillasliced.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><em><strong>Chicken B'stilla</strong><br /><br />(Note: the original recipe called for chicken with the skin on, and for 1/2 cup of butter, I used skinless chicken and cut the butter in half and the recipe did not suffer at all from these alterations. At least I don't think it did... I'd have to actually try it the original way to know for sure.... oh geez....)<br /><br />2 tsp vegetable oil<br />4 chicken breasts<br />4 onions, finely chopped<br />1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped<br />1 tbsp ground cumin<br />2 tsp ground ginger<br />1 tsp ground cloves<br />1 tbsp ground cinnamon<br />1/4 tsp chili flakes<br />1/4 tsp turmeric<br />1 cup chicken stock<br />salt and pepper<br />3 eggs, beaten<br />1 cup dates, coarsely chopped<br />1/4 cup raisins<br />1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted<br />9 sheets phyllo pastry<br />1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (or more if you run out)<br />Icing sugar for garnish<br /><br />1. In a large frying pan with a cover, heat vegetable oil and brown chicken breasts on both sides. Remove to a plate. <br /><br />2. In the same pan add onions and cook about 10 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, chili flakes and turmeric. Stir for 30 seconds. <br /><br />3. Place chicken back in pan with onion mixture and add the chicken stock. Cover with lid and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. <br /><br />4. Remove chicken from mixture and let cool. When cool enough to handle shred the meat into bite-size pieces. <br /><br />5. Stir chicken back into the onion mixture and add eggs, dates, raisins, and almonds. Combine well and season to taste. (Steps 1-5 can be completed ahead of time).<br /><br />6. Place one sheet of phyllo pastry horizontally on your work surface, brush lightly with melted butter. <br /><br />7. Place a second sheet on top of this, vertically to form a plus sign (this is symbolic of the clothing sizes you will soon need if you eat to much of this). Brush with butter and place the third sheet diagonally, and so on until 8 sheets are used up. The eighth sheet does not need to be buttered, unless you are a rebel, in which case, I won't stand in your way. <br /><br />8. Place the sheets in a greased 9-inch springform pan. Fill pastry with chicken mixture and spread out evenly. Enclose by pulling the overhanging pastry up and over the chicken. (Note: This is where I used that 9th sheet of phyllo. My eight sheets did not reach up far enough to fully enclose the filling, so I buttered that ninth sheet, folded it in quarters and placed it on top of the filling, before I folded my other eight sheets in.) Then brush the whole top with melted butter. <br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/bstillastuffing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/bstillastuffing.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />9. Bake the B'stilla for 50 minutes at 375F or until pastry is golden and chicken mixture is heated through. <br /><br />10. Serve hot with sifted icing sugar overtop.</em> <br /><br />One other funny note. Before I assembled the B'stilla, I lined my springform pan with a circle of parchment paper (I didn't want to take any chances of sticking). When I was cutting the wedges for dinner, I forgot, and cut right through the parchment. So each person got a little triangle of parchment paper on their dinner plate underneath their B'stilla. When I was doing the dishes, I noticed that mine was the only plate that still the had paper on it! (I guess I've trained my family well not to complain about my cooking!!!)<br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/eatingpaper.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/eatingpaper.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"mmmmm.... parchment paper"<br /><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-37201995187428565792010-02-21T13:25:00.001-05:002010-03-09T08:52:04.713-05:00Sourdough Pizza Crust<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/Pizzadone.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/Pizzadone.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />I have always loved baking bread. Nothing beats the satisfaction of seeing your bread rise, or the smell of bread baking in the oven. I usually bake two loaves at a time and then we eat toasted homebaked bread every Sunday morning for breakfast until its gone. Then I bake more, it's a viscious, kneady circle. Guffaw.<br /><br />But we also love sourdough bread. LOVE. We eat a loaf a week (and that's in addition to the homemade white bread, and the countless bagels, raisin bread, rye bread, flatbread and sandwich bread that our carb-obsessed family goes through). We use the sourdough on the weekends to make yummy panini sandwiches for lunch, and then Mario will finish up the rest of the loaf, toasted with butter and molasses for his breakfast during the week. I usually just buy my sourdough from the bakery at the grocery store. But, lately I've been thinking (stand back)...if I can make my own regular bread? Why shouldn't I make my own sourdough? <br /><br />So, I started to research sourdough starters. The first thing I noticed was how many different methods there are out there for getting a sourdough starter going. I am impatient, and I didn't want to devote two weeks to developping a starter that flopped and then have to start all over with a different method. So, I tried ALL the methods at once. That is how my kitchen came to be over run by little smelly, fermenting containers of sourdough starter. <br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/sourdoughbabies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/sourdoughbabies.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />(from left to right: Dudley, Cynthia, Barney, and Abigail)<br /><br />These are my sourdough babies (not to be confused with sourpatch kids). I've been easily spending an hour each evening in the kitchen, mixing and feeding my little babies, tracking my actions and the reactions of the various potions like a mad scientist.<br /><br />Guess what? They all took! Wow! I now have several very active and lively sourdough toddlers. And I can't decide which one to keep and which ones to give up for adoption! Seriously. These kids are going to eat me out of house and home! That is, if I can manage to keep them all alive (I don't have such a great track record with house plants...)<br /><br />This pizza dough represents my first attempt at sourdough baking. For this recipe I used the sourdough starter that I named, "Abigail". Abigail was my firstborn and she holds a special place on top of my breadbox. Abigail was developped using equal parts plain white (unbleached) flour and bottled water. Everyday, I throw away all but 100g, and then feed her 50g flour and 50g water. Abigail was two weeks old, yesterday.<br /><br />For a couple nights before I was going to make my pizza, I fed Abigail without dumping half (just to increase the volume of starter). On Saturday morning, I set aside 100g of Abigail to keep, in case she turns out to be "the one", and I fed the remaining portion again. When I noticed Abilgail had gotten all bubbly and foamy, I stirred her down, removed 1.5 cups and made the recipe below: <br /><br /><em><strong>Sourdough Pizza Crust</strong><br /><br />1.5 cups active sourdough starter (300g by weight)<br />1 tbsp olive oil<br />1.5 cups flour (250g)<br />1 tsp salt<br /><br />1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix the starter, flour, olive oil and salt until a nice soft dough forms. Depending on the consistency of your starter, you might need to add a little warm water, or a little more flour. Mine seemed good.<br /><br />2. Knead your dough (either by hand or in the stand mixer) for about 10 minutes.<br /><br />3. Set the dough in a greased bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a tea towel and set in a warmish spot (I like to let my dough rise on top of the PVR, it gets nice and warm there). My dough took about 6 hours to double in bulk (sourdough rises a lot slower than breads leavened with commercial yeast).<br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/pizzadough.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/pizzadough.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />4. Punch the dough down, and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Roll or pat the dough out to your desired pizza size/shape. I preheated my oven to 450F with the pizza stone inside and rolled my dough out on a piece of parchment paper dusted with cornmeal. Then, I just slid the parchment right onto the pizza stone in the hot oven.<br /><br />5. I prebaked the crust for 5 minutes and then pulled out the pizza stone and topped it with your favorite toppings. Then I returned it to the oven for 15 more minutes.</em> <br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PizzaPrebaked.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PizzaPrebaked.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />This was my dough, after the 5 minute "pre-bake". <br /><br />Although not really relevant to this post, for anyone who is curious, the toppings on my pizza were: canned pizza sauce, mozzarella, pre-roasted vegetables (green pepper, onion, eggplant and garlic), halved grape tomatoes and parmesan cheese. Claire and Marco suggested that next time, I make the pizza <strong>EXACTLY</strong> the same, only add pepperoni and leave out the green pepper, onion, eggplant, tomatoes and garlic. So, in other words, pepperoni pizza, please.<br /><br />Next weekend, I am going to try baking a loaf of classic sourdough bread using one of the other starters... right now I'm off to water my plants, the leaves are looking a little crispy...<!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-34632047430642206952010-02-18T06:39:00.000-05:002010-02-18T13:10:19.517-05:00Pumpkin Swirl Brownies<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PumpkinSwirlBrownies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PumpkinSwirlBrownies.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />My most excellent place of employment recently went through an exercise to upgrade all of its employee workstations. I had forgotten about this until I noticed an appointment in my calendar for somebody from our IT department to come and take my old computer away and install a new one. What ensued was a mad scramble to rid my existing hard drive of anything and everything <strike>incriminating</strike> personal. I had a LOT of junk on there. But some of it wasn't junk, like this picture that I found of these Pumpkin Swirl Brownies that I made back in the fall and then completely forgot about. <br /><br />So then I transfered the picture on to one of those little USB thingers, and forgot about THAT instead. <br /><br />But yesterday, I was sitting in a meeting, and I remembered it! Can't remember the meeting very well though...<br /><br />So here is the recipe. It was truly fabulous. These brownies were moist and rich and melt in your mouth (see no memory problems there!). I even remember where I got the recipe from: <a href="http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/RecipeController?language=EN&recipeType=1&action=recipe&recipeID=4314">LCBO Food and Drink</a><br /><br />One thing I really CANNOT remember, though, is how many of these little suckers I ate. So it must have been only one. Yeah. I'm sure it was only one!<br /><br /><Strong><em>Pumpking Swirl Brownies</strong><br /><br />Pumpkin Swirl<br />1 oz cream cheese, room temperature<br />1/4 cup sugar<br />1/2 cup mashed pumpkin<br />1 large egg<br />2 tbsp flour<br />1/4 tsp vanilla extract<br />1/4 tsp cinnamon<br /><br />Brownie<br />6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped<br />3 tbsp butter<br />1/2 cup sugar<br />2 tsp vanilla extract<br />2 large eggs<br />1/2 cup pastry flour<br />1/2 tsp baking powder<br />1/4 tsp salt<br /><br />1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8x8 inch square baking dish. <br /><br />2. For pumpkin swirl, stir together the cream cheese and sugar. Add pumpkin and beat well. Blend in egg, pastry flour, vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside. <br /><br />3. For brownies, place chocolate and butter in double boiler and stir until melted. <br /><br />4. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, then vanilla, and then the eggs one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. <br /><br />5. Scrape half of batter into baking dish and spread evenly. Drop spoonfuls of pumpkin filling onto brownie batter and then drop remaining brownie batter around pumpkin. Swirl filling with tip of a knife and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownie comes out clean. <br /><br />6. Cool at room temperature before slicing (makes 16 square or 20 smaller rectangular brownies).</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-73249491364050962832010-02-07T14:15:00.005-05:002010-02-18T13:13:20.011-05:00Dark Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/almondbutterdarkchoc.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/almondbutterdarkchoc.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />I have been out of the country on vacation for what seems like MOST of the last six weeks. Four weeks galavanting around New Zealand, followed by a week at home, and then a week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It's been a whirlwird, and there hasn't been much cooking going on (at least not by me).<br /><br />In the weeks leading up to the New Zealand vacation, I sort of made a little game out of seeing how much food I could use up out of our pantry/freezer before I left. I did pretty good; but I have come to the conclusion, that if some sort of natural disaster were to hit Ottawa, Canada; and my house survived it, we would still have enough food to last about 6 months.<br /><br />Does anybody really need 8 different types of vinegar; 6 hot sauces, or 6 open jars of different fruit preserves in the fridge? Then there are the nut butters, cereals and grains, mustards, spices... <br /><br />Coming home from my travels (with a suitcase full of New Zealand olive oils, avocado oils, chocolates, MORE fruit preserves, Mexican vanilla, agave syryp, dulce de leche, spices... I kid you not), I realized that my work in cleaning out the pantry had only just begun.<br /><br />And so, I grabbed my jar of natural almond butter, which was so severely separated, I had to get out my hand mixer to blend it back together... and I made these cookies. I also used up a bar of Green and Black's dark chocolate which has been sitting in my secret chocolate stash calling (screeching) my name since my birthday in August.<br /><br />What amazing willpower! You remark. Well save your breath, I ate so many of these cookies, I would have been better off to just eat the chocolate bar and been done with it. But then, I'd still have that separated jar of almond butter taunting me from the pantry, and I would have had no material for this <em><strong>riveting</strong></em> blog post...<br /><br /><em><strong>Dark Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies</strong><br /><br />1 cup smooth almond butter<br />1/2 cup sugar<br />1 egg<br />1/2 tsp baking soda<br />1/4 salt<br />3oz dark chpcolate, chopped<br /><br />1. In a large bowl, mix together the almond butter, sugar, egg, baking soda and salt until well combined.<br /><br />2. Stir in chocolate chunks.<br /><br />3. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.<br /><br />4. Bake at 350F for 12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.<br /><br />P.S. These were so good, I made a second batch with 1/2 almond butter, 1/2 peanut butter and used chopped up whoppers (aka, maltesers, or malt balls) in place of the chocolate... yum.</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-56530198449406951492009-12-11T06:06:00.001-05:002009-12-11T10:26:55.555-05:00Simple Dinner Rolls<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/DinnerRolls2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/DinnerRolls2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Here is a no fail, super easy dinner roll recipe. The rolls come out light and buttery and simply delicious. They really aren't much work at all, and if I start them about an an hour and half before dinner is ready, then they are fresh out of the oven and straight to the table.<br /><br />This is my go-to recipe for dinner rolls when I have guests. Homemade bread never fails to impress.<br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/DinnerRolls1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/DinnerRolls1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><em><strong>Simple Dinner Rolls</strong><br /><br />3 1/2 cups flour (plus a bit more during kneading)<br />2 tbsp sugar<br />2 envelopes Quick-rise yeast<br />1 tsp salt<br />3/4 cups milk<br />1/2 cups water<br />1/3 cups butter<br />1 egg<br /><br />1. Reserve 1 cup flour.<br /><br />2. Mix remaining flour, yeast, sugar and salt in large bowl.<br /><br />3. Warm milk, water, and butter until very warm (approx 115F).<br /><br />4. Stir warm liquid into dry ingredients and beat in 1 egg.<br /><br />5. Mix in enough reserved flour to make a soft dough that does not stick to bowl.<br /><br />6. Knead lightly for about 6 minutes. Adding flour to prevent sticking.<br /><br />7. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Shape as desired. (I shape into 18 rolls and put them 8 per pan in 8" round cake pans)<br /><br />8. cover, let rise about 30 minutes. At this point you can brush butter, or egg on top and sprinkle with poppy seeds, or sesame seeds, if desired.<br /><br />9. Bake in 375F oven about 20-25 minutes, until golden. Cool on wire rack.</em><br /><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" />Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-53765990044255519122009-09-18T07:21:00.001-04:002009-09-18T08:45:34.135-04:00Salmon with Tuscany Beans and Heirloom Tomatoes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ib22HHC5xkmCVlpmGk7Y6diXshPVZtABJI58LtpdKPiFF3PBUXk97t3-STJUhS9ZZ2KA4svM2yzHdmgOUmbfKo7sl08hx_hCKyXliLYrzXs03_JXNf12IjhZSU3yk3HTXPcMaEXPF6Q/s1600-h/Salmon_and_Bean_Salad_2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ib22HHC5xkmCVlpmGk7Y6diXshPVZtABJI58LtpdKPiFF3PBUXk97t3-STJUhS9ZZ2KA4svM2yzHdmgOUmbfKo7sl08hx_hCKyXliLYrzXs03_JXNf12IjhZSU3yk3HTXPcMaEXPF6Q/s400/Salmon_and_Bean_Salad_2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382786396137882978" /></a><br /><!-- google_ad_section_start -->Last night for dinner, I made a delicious Salmon recipe from the July/August edition of <a href="http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/minisite/ce_index.htm">Clean Eating Magazine</a>, my new FAVORITE cooking magazine. I have already made 3 recipes from this issue alone. This is unheard of for me, usually I buy cooking magazines a couple at a time (I have a cooking magazine habit) and then I will read them, drool over the pictures, chose a few that I want to make, then throw the magazine in a pile and never make the recipes. So when I find a magazine like this, that is actually worth the $6.99 cover price, I might actually subscribe!<br /><br />This salmon was delicious. Marco ate it all up, he loved the bean salad, and was cajoled into eating the salmon with the lure of a chocolate covered jube jube from Candy Mountain (does that make me a bad mother? Hey, he ate the salmon! That's good for him right?). Unfortunately, Claire, at the mature age of 10 is no longer susceptible to such cajoling and would eat nothing on her plate. She went to bed hungry, I'm sure.<br /><br />Will this prevent me from making this dinner again? Not a chance. My kids eat what they're served (or not), but I refuse to cater to their finickiness. Besides, my theory is that you will never LEARN to like something if you never eat any of it...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihR1PP8nnKEAjlDvZVvl0zY2Mo0MnpsoIYvA6z8TK5Iyb89h9UC_Z9fhCqyywl-JRHpbnNA-veuNarWbipjcRHgjlBoMwa6da_H2Duezq9saNZmJMmzWl9Z0R9pxC69WcV4YZpOUhdpVE/s1600-h/Salmon_and_Bean_Salad_1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihR1PP8nnKEAjlDvZVvl0zY2Mo0MnpsoIYvA6z8TK5Iyb89h9UC_Z9fhCqyywl-JRHpbnNA-veuNarWbipjcRHgjlBoMwa6da_H2Duezq9saNZmJMmzWl9Z0R9pxC69WcV4YZpOUhdpVE/s400/Salmon_and_Bean_Salad_1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382786385431711986" /></a><br /><em><strong>Salmon with Tuscany Beans and Heirloom Tomatoes</strong><br />Serves 4<br /><br />1 15oz can of white kidney beans<br />1/2 onion, thinly sliced<br />1 large red pepper, chopped<br />4 salmon filets<br />1/2 cup fresh dill, minced<br />cooking spray<br />2 large heirloom tomatoes, chopped (I used about 400g)<br />1/4 cup olive oil<br />1/4 cup balsamic vinegar<br />2 shallots, minced (I used 1/4 cup chives - that's what I had)<br />4 cloves garlic, minced<br />2oz capers, drained and rinsed (I didn't have any on hand)<br />salt and pepper to taste<br /><br />1. To make the marinade, mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, shallots, garlic, and capers.<br /><br />2. Pour half of the marinade over the salmon and sprinkle with the dill. Let the salmon sit for about 30 minutes (or up to a full day in the fridge).<br /><br />3. In a bowl mix the beans (rinsed well) with the onion, and red pepper and toss with the remaining marinade. Let sit. Right before you are ready to serve, toss in the chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste.<br /><br />4. In a non stick pan, misted with cooking spray, cook the salmon (5-7 minutes per side depending on the thickness) until it is cooked through.<br /><br />5. Serve with bean salad.</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-73480866940307969632009-09-08T07:21:00.000-04:002009-09-08T10:34:37.850-04:00Camping Chocolate Orange Cakes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTBs_OQCg8Ko7dr2zxSPeMb-J5QJQj2sB32RvOVd7XxkMGuZF4lnHQAG4vT0PQ0YYYkrQNdVUqOWnZygjgUOv0lhNbqrA5RA81EaTmAnjWmmWVX2TFlkM3y3t71t61TZrG2yLRND-sBE/s1600-h/Campfire+orange+cakes.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTBs_OQCg8Ko7dr2zxSPeMb-J5QJQj2sB32RvOVd7XxkMGuZF4lnHQAG4vT0PQ0YYYkrQNdVUqOWnZygjgUOv0lhNbqrA5RA81EaTmAnjWmmWVX2TFlkM3y3t71t61TZrG2yLRND-sBE/s400/Campfire+orange+cakes.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379103895504647442" /></a><br />This is not a great picture, because it was taken in the dark, but I just really wanted to share this recipe. It was great.<br /><br />We were camping last weekend, and my daughter's 10th birthday fell on the Saturday so I made these campfire cakes for everyone. The cake was cooked inside an orange peel and it just gave such a yummy refreshing orange flavour to the cake. I served the cake with a little bit of whipped cream. It was also fun to scoop your cake out of the orange peel with a spoon. You could also make this in the oven at home, and I intend to try that sometime (it was too good to save only for camping).<br /><br /><em><strong>Campfire Chocolate Orange Cakes</strong><br /><br />1 package Devil's Food Chocolate Cake mix (enough for a one layer cake)<br />egg, oil and water etc (whatever is needed to prepare the cake according to the directions<br />8 medium size navel oranges (thick skinned are best)<br />Tin Foil<br />Whipped Cream<br /><br />1. Slice the top off of each orange and scoop out all the flesh (a grapefruit knife and grapefruit spoon worked well). Keep the lids matched up with their respective orange peels. Don't throw all that great orange flesh out. I saved it in a ziploc bag and made orange creamsicles for the kids when we got home.<br /><br />2. Prepare the cake mix according to the package and spoon it into the orange peels. Don't fill them more than about 2/3 full. (Hint: Set the oranges in plastic cups so they stand up while you fill them, muffin tins would work too).<br /><br />3. Replace the lid and wrap the orange in tinfoil.<br /><br />4. Place on the barbeque for 25 minutes. You could also put the foil wrapped orange right in the coals of the campfire. This gives off a fabulous orange aroma.<br /><br />5. Wait a few minutes for the cakes to become less scorching hot and top with whipped cream.</em><br /><br /><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" />Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-22852724511793251002009-09-03T07:20:00.000-04:002009-09-03T11:36:33.199-04:00Huevos Rancheros<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYso07bvcAxgo3WeR8fbJhqfVfxQLZQRWTWdZgOuUqm5DpdKCb-CCxqSAjokZrwjwHBTmu7Fq0KuEH04Cvcwe7rQdEXRly0R-hZVpIfML_KCkGPVyuwyvCcWUy6Ctgt_5o4-Y69QuW1B0/s1600-h/Huevos+Rancheros.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYso07bvcAxgo3WeR8fbJhqfVfxQLZQRWTWdZgOuUqm5DpdKCb-CCxqSAjokZrwjwHBTmu7Fq0KuEH04Cvcwe7rQdEXRly0R-hZVpIfML_KCkGPVyuwyvCcWUy6Ctgt_5o4-Y69QuW1B0/s400/Huevos+Rancheros.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377264412325907218" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />This isn't really much of a recipe and it's probably not all that authentic, but I wanted to post it anyway, due to it's deliciousness...<br /><br />I made this for dinner the other night because I had to throw something together quickly for myself before Mario and the kids ate... I didn't have high expectations, having had scrumptious huevos rancheros at a local restaurant called George's Kitchen in Belize...<br /><br />BUT... it was pretty darned good and very healthy. You can use homemade salsa with fresh tomatoes (if you want to feel more like you actually made a recipe) but mine was good with bottled salsa...<br /><br /><strong><em>Huevos Rancheros</strong><br />Serves 1<br /><br />1 flour tortilla<br />2 eggs<br />1/4 cup grated Monterrey Jack Cheese (about 15g)<br />1/2 cup salsa<br />chopped fresh cilantro<br />cooking spray<br />salt and pepper to taste<br /><br />1. Heat your oven to 300F, put the tortilla on a dinner plate and throw it in to warm up both the plate and the wrap...<br /><br />2. Heat up the salsa (in the microwave if you want... gasp!)<br /><br />3. Fry the eggs in a non-stick pan coated with cooking spray. I did mine sunnyside up (season with salt and pepper).<br /><br />4. Remove the plate and tortilla from the oven (put on oven mitts first - OUCH) and slide the eggs onto the tortilla. Spoon the hot salsa around the eggs, and sprinkle with cheese and cilantro.</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-46264949006901379012009-08-26T07:02:00.000-04:002009-08-26T08:26:49.409-04:00Penne with Roasted Tomatoes and White Beans<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PennewithRoastedTomatoes-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/PennewithRoastedTomatoes-1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />No, your computer monitor is not on the fritz!! I am actually posting TWO DAYS IN A ROW! <br /><br />I just had something else to post, and I figured I'd better get it up now, before I forget.<br /><br />About a month ago, I suggested to my husband Mario that we start having one meatless dinner per week. He was a little reluctant, but as long as I promised not to feed him anything strange (by his definition strange would include tofu), I managed to convince him that this was a good idea (or at least not a horrible idea)...<br /><br />So, I'm working hard to show him how good meatless meals can be, and I think this dish went a LONG WAY towards that. It was delicious, and he went back for a second huge helping!<br /><br />This recipe is from Ellie Krieger, and I got it from the Quick and Fresh, Fine Cooking Magazine. I remained true to the recipe, only I cut down the olive oil from 3 tbsps to 2 tbsps.<br /><br /><strong><em>Penne with Roasted Tomatoes, Garlic, and White Beans</strong><br /><br />3 large ripe tomatoes (2 pounds)<br />6 cloves garlic, unpeeled<br />2 tbsp olive oil<br />salt to taste<br />Pepper to taste<br />1 15.5 ounce can of white kidney beans, drained and rinsed.<br />8 ounces of penne pasta<br />2 tbsp fresh lemon juice<br />1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped<br />1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan<br /><br />1. Slice each tomato into wedges and discard the seeds (I forgot to seed mine, and it made my sauce a little juicier, which was OK). Toss the tomatoes in 1 tbsp of the olive oil and spread on a baking sheet. <br /><br />2. Throw the unpeeled garlic cloves on the baking sheet too.<br /><br />3. Roast at 450F for about 35-40 minutes until the tomatoes are starting to char.<br /><br />4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the penne. When the penne is about 1 minute from cooked throw in the drained and rinsed beans (to get them hot).<br /><br />5. Drain the pasta and beans and return to the pot. <br /><br />6. For the sauce, remove the garlic from the baking sheet and squeeze the flesh out into a small bowl. Mash it, and add the lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil and a dash of salt. Stir to combine.<br /><br />7. Add tomatoes to beans and pasta. Add the roasted garlic sauce and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.<br /><br />8. Serve with Parmesan.</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-67899151021254635212009-08-25T06:38:00.002-04:002009-08-25T14:55:33.686-04:00Salmon with Yoghurt Dill Topping<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/SalmonWhole.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/SalmonWhole.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />My apologies for going so long without posting. It has been a busy busy summer. And yes, we have still been eating all summer long, but I've been a little boring with my recipes (reverting mostly to old already posted faves). I have also been trying to eat a cleaner, healthier diet... which often leads to less food-porn worthy blog material.<br /><br />This meal here was healthy while also meeting my other unofficial blog material criteria... (1) I actually remembered to take pictures before I was halfway finished eating; (2) It is something new; and (3) It was picture worthy.... oh yeah and of course, (4) It tasted good. <br /><br />We all loved this (kids included), and it will be making an unbloggable return appearance in my recipe line-up!<br /><br /><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/SalmonPlate.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/SalmonPlate.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><strong><em>Salmon with Yoghurt Dill Topping</strong><br /><br />1 1/4 cups plain fat free yoghurt<br />20 kalamata olives, chopped<br />15 cherry tomatoes, chopped<br />1 1/2 tsp dried oregano<br />6 cloves garlic, minced<br />2 tbsp chopped fresh dill<br /><br />1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.<br /><br />2. If you are barbequeing this, as we did, it is easier to put the salmon on the barbeque and add the topping after (rather thay trying to transfer it onto the grill without spilling). So... arrange your barbeque for indirect grilling and cook the salmon with the topping for about 20 minutes (until is cooked through). Your cooking time will depend on the thickness of the salmon.<br /><br />3. Alternatively, you can put this on a baking sheet in a 400F oven until cooked through.</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/><strong></strong><strong></strong><strong></strong>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-12763746374530551342009-06-25T10:59:00.004-04:002009-06-25T11:43:25.423-04:00Shrimp Summer Rolls with Two Sauces<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/VietnameseSummerRolls.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/VietnameseSummerRolls.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />I have been wanting to try making homemade summer rolls for some time, and I finally found a good excuse. I made these for a party at my Mom and Dad's place last weekend. I made a trial run ahead of time at home for the family and we had them for dinner. The picture above is from the trial run.<br /><br />I was a little worried that my kids wouldn't eat them, so I told them we were having Egg Rolls for dinner (they LOVE Egg Rolls... Egg Rolls and Chicken Balls ARE Chinese Food to them). So, we were about halfway through dinner, and Claire had eaten a couple of the summer rolls when she says, "Mommy, I think you might have done something wrong, these don't taste like Egg Rolls". So then I had to fess up and explain the difference between Egg Rolls, Spring Rolls and Summer Rolls.<br /><br />I tried out two different dipping sauces in the hopes that one would emerge as a clear winner to take to the party. But, Claire and I favoured the Peanut Sauce, and Marco and Mario liked the Sweet Chili Sauce. Given the stalemate, I decided to go ahead and make both for the party. I had a lot of leftover Peanut Sauce the night that I made them at home, so I used it on a stir fry and it was fabulous. (Only the peanut sauce is pictured above, sorry!)<br /><br />These aren't as finicky as one might think. The important part is to get a little system going with all your ingredients laid out in order. The night I made them at home, I had some trouble with the summer rolls sticking to each other. So for the party, I tried misting them lightly with non-stick cooking spray before I set them on the platter. Then I covered them with damp paper towels before I covered the tray in plastic wrap. This worked nicely. I made them about 2-3 hours ahead of time, and they didn't dry out, and the cooking spray kept them from sticking.<br /><br /><em><strong>Summer Rolls</strong><br /><br />1 generous cup lettuce (I used mescalun mix)<br />1 cup bean sprouts<br />1 cup rice vermicelli noodles (about 2 oz uncooked)<br />1/2 cup shredded carrot<br />4 green onions, cut into 3" pieces<br />1/4 cup thinly sliced basil<br />1/4 cup chopped mint<br />6 oz cooked shrimp, roughly chopped<br />8 8” round sheets rice paper<br /><br />1. Prepare all your ingredients and set into piles close to your work surface.<br /><br />2. Set about 1" of hot tap water in a shallow dish that is a little bigger than the rice paper wrappers (I used a round cake pan).<br /><br />3. Prepare your work surface with a couple of layers of paper towel in order to absorb the excess water from the wrappers.<br /><br />4. One at a time dip the wrapper in the water. Hold each one in the water until softened (over soaking might make them easier to rip). After one or two, you'll get a feel for how soaked they should be.<br /><br />5. Set the wrapper down on your paper towel and at one end stack the ingredients: noodles (about 20g per wrapper), shrimp (about 20g per wrapper), then the rest of the veggies (eyeball about 1/8 of each pile).<br /><br />6. Roll burrito style. Fold the bottom up, sides in, and then roll the rest of the way. Spray with cooking spray if you are making ahead (very lightly - you don't want them to feel greasy).<br /><br />7. If serving as a finger food, slice in half diagonally and set on a serving tray.<br /><br /><strong>Sweet Chili Sauce</strong><br /><br />2 tbsp sugar<br />1/4 cup rice wine vinegar<br />1/4 cup fresh lime juice<br />2 tsp chili paste with garlic<br />2 tsp soy sauce<br /><br />1. Mix all ingredients together. Chill until ready to serve.<br /><br /><strong>Peanut Sauce</strong><br />I got the Peanut Sauce recipe from the blog, <a href="http://http://chefandphotographer.blogspot.com/2008/02/perfect-peanut-sauce.html">The Chef and The Photographer</a>, and it was fabulous.<br /><br />2 tbsp finely chopped shallots<br />2 tbsp finely chopped lemongrass<br />2 tbsp minced garlic<br />2 tbsp finely chopped ginger<br />1 tsp sesame oil<br />1/2 cup chicken broth<br />1/4 cup peanut butter<br />2 tbsp brown sugar<br />2 tbsp rice wine vinegar<br />2 tbsp soy sauce<br />1 tbsp lime juice<br />salt and pepper to taste<br /><br />1. In a small non-stick pan, saute the shallots, lemongrass, garlic and ginger in the sesame oil until soft.<br /><br />2. Add broth, peanut butter, brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat, covered, for about 5 minutes.<br /><br />3. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing all the juice you can out of the garlic, shallots etc. <br /><br />4. Add lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Chill until ready to serve.</em><br /><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-66719746029919125042009-06-19T06:53:00.000-04:002009-06-19T09:45:08.761-04:00Roast Leg of Lamb with Tahini Sauce<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/LambwithTahiniSauce.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/LambwithTahiniSauce.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />When I was little, I really didn't like lamb, and consequently I avoided it completely for years. But then about 5 years ago my Mother-in-Law made a Rack of Lamb with a rosemary biscuit-like crust on it, and I loved it! I'll have to make and post that recipe sometime. Since then, I can't get enough, lamb has become one of my "go-to" favorites, especially when we are out in restaurants.<br /><br />We are planning a trip to New Zealand for this upcoming December, and the part of our trip I am most looking forward too (aside from getting to visit with my Sister-in-Law and her Husband, of course)... is getting to eat lamb, lots and lots of lamb....<br /><br />This meal, here, combines some of my favorite things - lamb, and Middle Eastern flavours. The next night for dinner, I made pita sandwiches with the left over lamb and tahini sauce with tomato, lettuce and onion. They were fabulous! It was actually pretty funny, I wrapped the sandwiches up using squares of waxed paper. My kids did not eat the lamb the first night, when it was served as in the picture, above (with roasted golden beets, steamed snow peas and Israeli couscous). However, when I made it into the wraps, they gobbled them up. <br /><br />At one point while we were eating the sandwiches, I said to my husband, Mario, "This is the closest I've ever come to a good homemade shawarma sauce". Claire (looking a little stricken) says, "What do you mean, <em>HOMEMADE</em>, didn't these come from a restaurant?? How come they are wrapped in this paper???" I explained that I just did that myself to help make them easier to eat. Well, their enthusiasm for the meal vanished immediately and we had a job getting them to finish. How could they love something one minute (when they thought it came from a restaurant), and then hate it the moment they realized I made it! I was mortally offended (as I am most nights when they turn their noses up at my cooking!!).<br /><br /><em><strong>Roast Leg of Lamb with Tahini Sauce</strong><br />from Eating Well Website<br /><br />8 medium cloves garlic, divided <br />2 1/2 tsp salt, divided<br />2 tbsp olive oil<br />1 1/2 tsp ground mace <br />1 tsp ground cardamom<br />1 tsp paprika<br />1 tsp ground cinnamon<br />1 tsp ground cumin<br />1/2 tsp cayenne pepper<br />1 4lb boneless leg of lamb, butterflied and trimmed <br />1/2 cup fresh lemon juice<br />1/2 cup tahini <br />1/2 cup minced fresh parsley <br />1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt <br />1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper<br /><br />1. Mince 6 garlic cloves. Place in a small bowl with 1 1/2 tsp salt and mash into a paste using the back of a spoon. Stir in the oil, mace, cardamom, paprika, cinnamon, cumin and cayenne until combined. <br /><br />2. Lay lamb out flat, with the cut side up. Spread three-quarters of the spice paste over the cut surface. Roll the lamb closed and tie in several places so it is about the shape of a large football. Spread the remaining paste over the outside. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.<br /><br />3. Mince the remaining 2 garlic cloves. Combine with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl with lemon juice, tahini, parsley, yogurt, and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.<br /><br />4. About 20 minutes before you are ready to grill, preheat a gas grill (with all burners lit) to 400°F or build a fire in a charcoal grill and let it burn down to medium heat (about 400°F).<br /><br />5. Roast Lamb in BBQ over indirect charcoal until it reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees. (You can use a gas BBQ, by turning off the burners on the side where the lamb is, or roast in the over at 400F). Total cooking time will vary, but will be approximately 1 hour. <br /><br />6. Transfer lamb to a platter and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with the tahini sauce.</em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" />Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-36835218683097462122009-06-15T07:18:00.000-04:002009-06-15T09:50:44.124-04:00Grilled Eggplant Salad<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/GrilledEggplantSalad.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/GrilledEggplantSalad.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><!-- google_ad_section_start --><br />This was a delicious salad that I made a few weeks back when my Mom came over for dinner on her 65th birthday. This salad was the appetizer, for the main course I made BBQ leg of lamb with tahini sauce (recipe coming soon!) and for dessert we had <a href="http://janetishungry.blogspot.com/2009/05/hot-cross-bun-pudding.html">Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding</a>. The recipe for the salad dressing called for smoked paprika, but I only had hot paprika on hand. So, even though I cut down the amount a little, my salad dressing had some serious kick, or as my six year old, Marco, would say.... this salad "stings my tongue!"<br /><br />Turns out I could have gone ahead and added a cup of hot paprika, my kids weren't going to touch this salad anyway (I think they ate the cheese curls only)... so in that case, I figure I might as well continue to make it the way the adults prefer it... stinging tongue and all!<br /><br /><strong><em>Grilled Eggplant Salad</strong><br />from <a href="http://http//www.eatingwell.com/recipes/smoky_eggplant_salad.html">Eating Well Website</a><br /><br />2 small eggplants (about 1 pound total)<br />1 1/4 tsp salt<br />cooking spray<br />1/4 cup olive oil<br />1 tbsp sherry vinegar<br />1 plum tomato, diced<br />1 clove garlic, chopped<br />1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (I used 1 tsp hot paprika)<br />3 cups mixed baby salad greens<br />2 oz Manchego cheese<br /><br />1. Make decorative stripes down the length of the eggplant with a vegetable peeler, and then cut the eggplant crosswise into 1/2" thick slices. Spread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. Let stand 15-20 minutes then rinse thoroughly and pat dry.<br /><br />2. Preheat BBQ to medium. Lightly spray eggplant with cooking spray and grill for about 10 minutes total (turning halfway) until eggplant is soft and has grillmarks on both sides.<br /><br />3. In a blender, puree the oil, vinegar, tomato, garlic, paprika and 1/4 tsp salt.<br /><br />4. In a large bowl toss salad greens with half of the salad dressing.<br /><br />5. On 6 salad plates, arrange a few slices of eggplant. Drizzle with remaining salad dressing, and then top with salad greens and a few curls of Manchego Cheese (make curls with a vegetable peeler). </em><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" />Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-66828533093946676682009-06-01T07:06:00.000-04:002009-06-01T10:35:11.888-04:00Tomato Cream Penne with Artichokes and Chorizo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/TomatoCreamPenne.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/TomatoCreamPenne.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I apologize, everyone must be getting so bored with seeing this same soup bowl over and over again. I'll have to start trying to be more creative with my photo staging.<br /><br />Years ago when Mario and I were in University, we had a standing date night every Wednesday with another couple at a local Italian restaurant. This restaurant, which is now closed, had half price night on Wednesdays. The four of us would order 1 medium pizza with Italian Sausage, Tomatoes and Onion and have a slice each for an appetizer, and then we would each have a main course. Mario and I usually ordered the same thing (a testament to how good this meal was, because normally Mario won't order the same thing as me). We loved a dish called "Tortellini Hayden", it had bacon, artichoke hearts, onion, and tortellini in a tomato cream sauce. It was so good and it came with a nice hunk of baguette toasted with garlic butter (all this for around 10$ a person). <br /><br />I have made numerous attempts over the years to re-create "Tortellini Hayden", sometimes more successfully than others, but I have never recorded exactly what I did, so each time I have to start from scratch figuring it all out.<br /><br />This dish isn't exactly the same, it has chorizo along with the bacon and penne instead of tortellini, but overall it was inspired by the original "Tortellini Hayden" and if anything, the chorizo was an improvement.<br /><br />This time, I wrote it down...<br /><br /><em><strong>Tomato Cream Penne with Artichoke and Chorizo</strong><br /><br />1 can artichoke hearts (quartered)<br />4 slices bacon, chopped<br />1 cup chopped chorizo sausage<br />1/2 cup chopped onion<br />1 clove garlic<br />1/2 tsp oregano<br />1/4 tsp each basil and thyme<br />ground black pepper to taste<br />1/2 lb dry penne <br />2 cups strained tomatoes<br />1/2 cup heavy cream<br />Freshly grated Parmesan<br /><br />1. Saute bacon and drain fat, reserving about 1 tsp of the drippings.<br /><br />2. Return bacon and tsp of dripping to pan and add chorizo, garlic and onion. Saute until onion is soft.<br /><br />3. Put penne on to boil.<br /><br />4. Add artichokes, tomato sauce and spices and allow everything to simmer while pasta cooks.<br /><br />5. Drain pasta and add to sauce along with cream. Stir until cream is incorporated and heated through.<br /><br />6. Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan and serve.</em><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: none; background: transparent;"/>Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-50810674640119573412009-05-29T07:10:00.000-04:002009-05-29T10:00:43.150-04:00Black Bean Soup<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/blackbeansoup.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/blackbeansoup.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I have discovered a great recipe for black bean soup. Although I don't really consider myself a "soup" person, the rest of my family loves their soup. There are a few soups which I do enjoy - they are mostly the hearty, meal in a bowl type of soups. A favorite of mine is pea soup - I'll have to get that posted someday soon.<br /><br />This is a soup that simmers all day long in the crock pot. I love coming home from work to the smell of dinner already prepared. This recipe would be great for those rainy summer "non-BBQ" type of days, and makes a fine meal with a hunk of crusty bread and a side salad. It wasn't as spicy as I would have liked, so next time I might opt not to remove the seeds from the jalapeno pepper. I also throw a bit of grated Monterrey Jack cheese on the top for the sake of my kids, because for some reason it helps them see past the little bits of "green stuff". <br /><br /><strong><em>Black Bean Soup</em></strong><em><br />from Cooking Light Magazine, March 2009<br /><br />1 lb dried black beans<br />4 cups low sodium chicken broth<br />2 cups chopped onion<br />1 cup water<br />1 tbsp ground cumin<br />3 bay leaves<br />1 jalapeno pepper (seeded and finely chopped)<br />2 tbsp lime juice<br />1 tsp salt<br /><br />Garnish<br />Chopped cilantro<br />Sour cream<br />Grated Cheese<br /><br />1. Sort and rinse the beans, cover with water and let stand overnight to soak.<br /><br />2. The following morning, drain the beans, and add them to your crock pot along with the chicken broth, onion, water, cumin, bay leaves and jalapeno.<br /><br />3. Cook on low all day (about 10 hours or so).<br /><br />4. Just before serving, stir in lime juice and add salt to taste. Spoon into bowls and top with sour cream, cheese, and cilantro.</em><br /><br /><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" />Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-20266465337943846602009-05-21T07:20:00.000-04:002009-05-21T10:40:02.315-04:00Hot Cross Bun Pudding<a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/HotCrossBunBreadPudding-1.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/HotCrossBunBreadPudding-1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />This is the dessert that I made for dinner at Easter. I know this is almost cruel, since it calls for Hot Cross Buns and you probably won't be able to find those in the grocery store to make this recipe until next spring. Yet, it is worth the wait, and I decided that I should post this now, before it gets buried in my alarmingly sizeable photo archive of unposted recipes.<br /><br />I usually buy Hot Cross Buns for the kids as soon as I see them in the store each spring. They love to eat them split and toasted with a little butter for breakfast. Well at least LAST year, they loved them. Children, however, can be fickle (especially mine) and a favorite treat <em>last year</em>, can turn into one step up from fried liver <em>this year</em>.<br /><br />So, I took my regular everyday Bread Pudding recipe with a few tweaks and made this delicious bread pudding with the surplus buns. We loved it so much (even the kids), that I ran back out to the grocery store and bought three more packages of Hot Cross Buns, so I will be able to make this six more times before next Easter!<br /><br /><strong><em>Hot Cross Bun Pudding</em></strong><br /><strong><em></em></strong><br /><em>4 Hot Cross Buns<br />2 eggs slightly beaten<br />⅓ cup sugar<br />¼ tsp salt<br />3 cups unsweetened almond milk<br /><br />1. Cut buns into 1" cubes. Spray an 8" round cake pan with cooking spray and dump the cubes in.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>2. Mix together the eggs, sugar, salt and almond milk (you can certainly use regular milk instead, I've discovered that I like almond milk in bread puddings because it adds nice flavour and it is thick like using whole milk without as many calories). </em><br /><em></em><br /><em>3. Pour the milk/egg mixture over the cubed buns and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 325F.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>4. Bake for 1 hour. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.</em><br /><br /><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" />Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786366383764003945.post-11366756900859724572009-04-12T21:48:00.002-04:002009-04-12T22:29:54.254-04:00Fish and Brewis<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/FishandBrewis2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/FishandBrewis2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!-- google_ad_section_start -->I made <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_brewis">fish and brewis</a> (pronounced "bruise") for dinner on Good Friday. This is a meal that has a lot of nostalgic appeal to me. I associate fish and brewis with my childhood, and it is something that my Mom made fairy often whenever she could find the ingredients. The recipe originated a long time ago in Newfoundland, where it was prepared by sailors who were often at sea for long periods of time without access to fresh ingredients. Fish and brewis is very simple to make, as it only has three ingredients. Some of the ingredients are only readily available in Eastern Canada, but nowadays thanks to the internet, I can order them on-line.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/FishandBrewis.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; text-align: center;" src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/witchywife/FishandBrewis.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Here are the ingredients: Purity Hard Bread, Dried Salt Cod, and Salt Pork Fat. The hard bread is a hard block of dried biscuit that will literally crack your teeth if you try to bite into it (sounds yummy eh?)... wait, it gets better. The Pork Fat gets fried up into little bits of heaven that Newfie's like to call, "scrunchions". So, you have to soak both the hard bread and the salt fish overnight to make them edible and then the next day it all gets fried up in the fat that has been rendered from the scrunchions. In Newfoundland, this meal is often served for breakfast to patients undergoing cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. OK, I made that last bit up (about the cardiac patients, not the breakfast!)<br /><br />I can honestly say that this was one of my all time favorite meals as a child (yes, I was a peculiar child). Apparently, my own children are NOT as peculiar because they hate fish and brewis. It is actually a little stressful for them, you see they hate the fish, but like the bruise. Problem is, once the dish is prepared, the two are pretty much indistinguishable. So the kids will be sitting there examining, and sniffing each morsel of food trying to determine what the heck it is...half the time they get it wrong, and fish comes flying back out in a projectile fashion, "nope not bread". Oh well, what can I say... they are "mainlanders".<br /><!-- google_ad_section_end --><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fish and Brewis<br /><br /></span>3 hard bread cakes<br />1 lb dried salt cod<br />1 cup cubed salt pork fat back (about 100g)<br /><br />1. Soak the hard bread in a large bowl of cool water overnight at room temperature. Make sure you add a lot of water because these suckers really swell up.<br /><br />2. Soak the dried salt cod overnight in cool water at room temperature. In the morning, you can change the water to help remove more of the salt.<br /><br />3. When you are ready to eat, drain the fish and boil it for about 20 minutes in a fresh pot of water.<br /><br />4. Meanwhile, fry up the cubes of pork fat in a large non-stick frying pan until they are golden brown and crispy. Remove the scrunchions with a slotted spoon and set aside.<br /><br />5. Drain the hard bread, and the fish and add it to the frying pan with all the fat from the scrunctions. Fry this whole mixture up for about 5 minutes, breaking the larger chunks of fish and bread up with your spatula. Right before serving you can either mix the scrunchions back in, or sprinkle them on top.<br /><br />6. Serve with a homemade tomato relish or chutney of some sort (mine is pictured with a caramelized onion chutney).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/209/C75A16CD8B0F2FAD884638570E4EC078.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" />Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560402754461368882noreply@blogger.com