Rice Pilaf with Pork

I have never made rice pilaf before. I was never the biggest rice fan but I am learning to be more open to things. I had some instant brown rice in my pantry and wanted to try something new (instant brown rice isn't really "instant" like white rice is, but it only takes about 10 minutes to cook as opposed to 40 minutes. What makes it instant is that it is already partially cooked, then dried. Plus, it's way easier to cook and you don't have to worry about wrecking it by lifting the lid).
I made this with pork stir fry strips, but you could easily substitute chicken or turkey if you wanted.
This recipe looks simple but it is hearty and full of flavour. I served it with a side of steamed garlic zucchini.

Rice Pilaf with Pork
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 package pork stir fry strips (about 500g)
1 TBSP olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 cups chicken broth1/4 tsp each dried parsley and paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups instant brown rice
1 TBSP fresh oregano

Method:
1. Cut stir fry strips into small pieces. In a large, deep pan, cook pork in the olive oil over medium heat stirring frequently until fully cooked, about 6 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.
2. Cook the onion in the same pan that you cooked the pork in. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
3.  Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add rice, all spices (except the fresh oregano) and salt and pepper and stir until completely mixed. Top with cooked pork. Turn heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 5 minutes
4. Remove from heat. Stir in fresh oregano. Cover again and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir and serve.

Quick Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

This post is really hard for me to write. I learned yesterday that a colleague was killed in a car accident while she was on vacation overseas. She and I used to talk about food all the time and she loved reading my blog. I shared this recipe with her several years ago and it was her favourite. Every time she made it she would thank me for giving her the recipe and exclaim how good it was. So, Catherine, this post is for you.
My favourite kind of sausage to use in this is Capital brand turkey sausage,  but any kind of ready-to-eat sausage would work (kielbasa is yummy.)

Quick Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Yield: lots

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 TBSP olive oil
1 ring turkey or ham sausage, sliced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 each green, red and yellow peppers, diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced stewed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
5-6 heaping handfuls instant brown rice (or more, if you like)
2 pinches ground sage
2 pinches dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 good shakes Worcestershire sauce
1 pinch red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Method:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep pan over medium heat. Add the chicken, onion and sausage. Cook, stirring occasionally
2. When the chicken is halfway cooked, add the peppers, garlic and all the spices. Cook, stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, broth and rice. Stir until incorporated. Cook until the rice is done and most of the liquid is gone, about 15 minutes.   

Quinoa Stirfry with Chicken Thighs

This is what I made for dinner tonight and the hubby declared that it was his favourite quinoa dish I've made. Quinoa is so easy to make and I love that it's a complete protein. Plus, it's gluten free!This recipe uses broccoli slaw, which is a pre-made slaw mix of shredded broccoli, carrots and cabbage - it gives the stirfry a satisfying crunch and it's full of all sorts of good vitamins.

Quinoa Stirfry with Chicken Thighs
Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 20 mins | Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 chicken bouillon cube
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 green onions, diced
3/4 cup broccoli slaw
1/8 tsp each cumin, ginger powder and paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp lemon juice
2 TBSP soy sauce

Method:
1. Rinse the quinoa cold water. Put in a small saucepan and cover with 1 cup water. Crumble the bouillon cube into the water and stir. Cover and put over medium heat and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Resist the urge to lift the lid to check on it. Check after 15 minutes - you will know it is done because the grains will be translucent and all of the water will be absorbed. If it is not quite done, cook for 5 minutes more. Fluff with a fork and let sit about 5 minutes
2. While the quinoa is cooking, cook the chicken. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Cook the chicken over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, turning several times. You want it to get crispy on the outside but be careful not to burn it. The chicken should be no longer pin in the middle and the juices will run clear when you cut into it.
3. When the chicken is cooked, remove it to a cutting board. Add the onion to the pan and give it a quick stir. Cut the chicken into small pieces. Once the onion had been cooking for about 5 minutes, return the chicken to the pan. Add the green onions and stir. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add the broccoli slaw, the lemon juice, the soy sauce and all the spices. Stir and cook for about 3 more minutes. Add the quinoa and stir. That's it!

Turkey and Ricotta Shepderd's Pie

My Mother-in-law inspired this post as she first came up with this idea for my husband's birthday lunch last month. The secret is adding ricotta cheese to the filling - it keeps it moist, helps it stick together and makes it amazingly creamy. She put crushed corn flakes on top of the potatoes under the cheese which gives it a nice crunch and it compliments the flavours very well - I didn't have cornflakes so I made it without and it worked fine. I would probably add them next time I make this.
This is my version - just made it for dinner and it was so, so good. Plus, it's gluten free, for those who can't eat gluten.

Turkey and Ricotta Shepherd's Pie
Prep Time: 35 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Serves: 4


Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 TBSP dried onion flakes
1/4 tsp each ground sage and dried oregano
2 tsp Johnny's Garlic Seasoning (or garlic powder)
salt and pepper to taste
300g light, extra smooth ricotta
3-4 large red skin potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 chicken bouillon cubes
water
2 TBSP butter
3-5 TBSP 1% milk
1 TBSP Johnny's Garlic Seasoning (or garlic powder)
salt to taste
about 200g grated monterey jack or cheddar cheese (or a mix of both)

Method:
1.  Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put the diced potatoes, smashed garlic and crumbled bouillon cubes in a large pot and cover with water. Boil until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, reserving 5 TBSP cooking water. Mash the potatoes. Add the butter and mix it in. Add the milk 1 TBSP at a time until you reach your desired consistency (they should be creamy and smooth but still fairly thick)
2. Meanwhile, cook the ground turkey in a large, deep pan until no longer pink. Add all spices and corn. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the ricotta cheese and the 5 TBSP potato water. Mix throughly.
3. Put the turkey mixture in a 9x9 square casserole dish. Top with the mashed potatoes and then the cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Blast under the broiler for 2 minutes more. Let sit at least 3 minutes before cutting and serving.

Pita Pizzas with Pancetta and Fresh Oregano

This recipe was inspired by a recipe I saw in an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook I have but the only similarities are that they are pizzas without tomato sauce (their recipe is just olive oil with garlic and mine is a white sauce with garlic/shallot) and include pork (theirs is ham, mine is pancetta), fresh herbs (they use sage, I use oregano) and cheese (their fontina to my mozzarella). So really, not at all similar.
I like Byblos brand pitas because they are really thin and have a great flavour, but use whatever pitas you can find (Byblos bakery is based in Calgary, AB and they distribute through out Western Canada so you may not be able to get them elsewhere).
Pancetta is Italian bacon, but please, please do not substitute bacon in this recipe. Pancetta has a different flavour and you will be disappointed if you don't use it. You can find already diced pancetta in the deli section of most grocery stores.

Pita Pizzas with Pancetta and Fresh Oregano
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 15 minutes | Yield: 6 pizzas

Ingredients:
6 whole wheat pitas
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
1 scant cup 1% milk
1 TBSP flour
150g diced pancetta
dash of black pepper and salt
2 TBSP fresh oregano, chopped
300g grated mozzarella

Method:
1. Cook the pancetta over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the edges start to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove pancetta to a bowl; keep the fat released by the pancetta in the pan
2. Cook the garlic and the shallot in the pancetta fat until very fragrant but not brown, about 1 minute
3. Add the flour to the milk and mix well
4. Reduce the heat under the pan to medium-low and slowly add the milk/flour mixture, stirring constantly. Add the pepper and salt (resist the urge to salt the sauce more than just a dash as the pancetta is very salty). Sitr frequently until the sauce is thickened and is a uniform consistency 5-7 minutes. Remove form heat
5. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Divide the pitas on 2 baking sheets. Divide sauce evenly between pitas and spread with a spatula. Sprinkle pancetta equally over pitas, then the oregano, then the cheese
6. Bake for 7 minutes, then turn the pan 180 degrees (so the pizzas that were at the back of the oven are now at the front). Return pizzas to the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes longer (until cheese is melted and bubbly). Let sit for 2-3 minutes, then slice in half and serve

Pizzas before the cheese has been added

Finished product. Yum!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

If you like chocolate and peanut butter together, you're going to love these. They're chocolate-y, peanut butter-y, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and totally delicious.
I wasn't entirely sure if there were going to work as they were an experiment, but they did and I'm really happy with the result.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Prep: 25 mins | Bake Time 10 minutes | Yield: 3-4 dozen

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 squares semi-sweet baker's chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:
1. Cream together the butter and the sugars until smooth and creamy using a wooden spoon. Add the peanut butter and mix well. Add the melted chocolate (make sure it has had some time to cool because you don't want it to melt the butter) and mix well. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg.
2.  Add the flour and baking soda to the peanut butter/chocolate mixture. Blend until just mixed. Add the chocolate chips and stir until incorporated
3. Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased, non-stick cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart (if your cookie sheet is not non-stick, grease lightly with a bit of vegetable oil or no-stick spray or line with parchment paper).
4. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-11 minutes. Check after 10 minutes - if the cookies are very puffy looking, bake for 1 minutes more (this will give them the crunch on the outside ad the chewy centre).
5. Let sit on baking sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 3 minutes. Put them in an air-tight container while they are still warm.

Be sure to enjoy one or two while they're still warm from the oven with a tall glass of milk

Linguine With Garlic Oil and Pancetta

 I made this a short while ago for dinner and it is amazing. I found the recipe in the book Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson (it is the recipe, in fact that made me want her cookbook). It is posted on her website and I thought I'd share it with you. It is so easy to make and so delicious!

The recipe calls for garlic infused oil, which I didn't actually have, so I just cooked 3 smashed garlic gloves in 2 TBSP of olive oil for about 2 minutes, then discarded that garlic and used that oil and it worked just fine.

 

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/linguine-with-garlic-oil-and-pancetta-188

What's For Dinner?

In light of my husband's recent development of food sensitivities (tomatoes, bell peppers, spinach), he has come up with a theory: our bodies are designed to digest food that our ancestors ate, and are less likely to be able to digest foods that weren't available before globalization carried food around the world. His ancestors hail mostly from the United Kingdom and therefore he has challenged me to cook foods that would be classified as "British" to see if his body feels better eating those foods rather than things like spinach and bell peppers.
Here's what I've come up with:

First off, a ham roast (just the pre-cooked kind, not one that you have to cook all day) with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed baby carrots. Good old fashioned comfort food.

Next is Chicken Club Wraps. This is basically a chicken club sandwich in wrap form (cooked diced chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, cheddar cheese wrapped in a whole whet tortilla) . I've taken out the tomato part and added chopped green onion (I add green pepper for me too because I love it) and Caesar dressing.  

We're going to have hamburgers with corn on the cob one night as we try to hold on to the last days of summer.

The ultimate comfort food this week is potato chowder, hearty and savoury. You peel and cube the potatoes and cook them in a little veg oil in a deep pot with the onions and carrots. Then you boil that mix in chicken (or veggie) stock with some earthy herbs (oregano, thyme, sage, etc). when the potatoes are super tender,  take out about a cup of potatoes and a cup of broth. Puree that until it's smooth and add it back to the soup. This thickens it and gives it a velvety texture. Then add milk, corn, bacon bits and green onions. Top with cheese.

Next, we're going to try a prosciutto and parmesan filled pasta (found this fresh pasta at the grocery store - excited to try it out) with a creamy chicken sauce plus cooked zucchini with garlic.

Then we're going to have beef stroganoff on whole wheat egg noodles plus steamed broccoli. Stroganoff is one of my husband's favourites and I never had it as a kid, so I've had to watch his mom make it and pick up some of her tricks. The trick is instead of using all sour cream, use half sour cream and half onion dip (that way, you don't have to chop up an onion) - if you use a cream cheese based one rather than a sour cream based one, it gives great flavour. I also add paprika for some depth and half a beef bouillon cube.

Lastly, chicken enchiladas. This is one of my favourites and is the only thing on the menu that has peppers. It was my very first "featured recipe" and it just gets better every time. Adding a poblano pepper gives it nice smokiness and serving it with salsa verde (a green sauce made with tomatillos,  serrano or jalapeno peppers and  cilantro) is key. Latin import stores often carry authentic versions.   

I hope this has inspired you.

Bon Apetit!

Kitchen Tips - Part 1

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone has their favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe; whether it's the cookies your mom used to make as an after school snack, a secret family recipe passed down through the generations, a recipe you discovered at the back of a magazine, or simply the recipe from the back of the chocolate chips package.
I don't claim to have the best recipe - in fact, I have a sister-in-law and a friend who both make better chocolate chips cookies than I do and, to me, my Grammie was the reigning queen of baked treats (her double chocolate snaps, nutmeg logs with pink icing and coloured sprinkles, boiled raisin cookies and butterhorns were the best things around), but I found a good recipe (on the back of the chocolate chips package) that suits me just fine.
There are, however, a few tips for making GREAT chocolate chips cookies, no matter the recipe.

1. The fat you use - I always use butter and have found that it creates the best flavour. I have tried shortening (when I really wanted cookies but had no butter) and they were okay, but butter works best. Hard margarine works to, but I avoid margarine at all costs as it contains a huge number of ingredients I can't pronounce and is about 2 ingredients away from being plastic. Truthfully, you can use any kind of fat that is solid at room temperature (butter, hard margarine, shortening, lard) but no oils (your cookies will be a funky texture if you use oil). Also, do not melt the fat (same funky texture as using oil). Changing the fat will change the taste.
2. The sugar you use - Many chocolate chip cookie recipes will call for a combination of white sugar and brown sugar. They key here is that a higher ratio of brown sugar will make the cookies chewier; more white sugar will make them crispy. I personally like a soft cookie, so my recipe has twice as much brown sugar as white. (Brown sugar  has molasses added to give it its distinct colour and flavour. It varies in darkness depending on the molasses content. I generally use "golden" or light brown sugar because I think it gives the best flavour). Measuring brown sugar is different than measuring white sugar. Brown sugar needs to be "packed" (scoop it into your measuring cup and then press down with the heel of your hand so it compresses ("packs") some. Then add more sugar and press down until you have the full measurement. Perfectly packed brown sugar will keep its shape when you tip it out of the measuring cup.
3.  The crucial first step - most cookie recipes start the same: "Cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla." Creaming the butter and sugars together is sooo important in getting the texture right. The butter must be room temperature soft (be careful if you microwave the butter to soften it - a few seconds too long and it's melted and that is not good for your cookies). You need to beat the sugars into the butter for several minutes (please, please, please, use a wooden spoon, not an electric mixer! Using an electric mixer makes the texture too fine and besides, cookies taste better when mixed with a wooden spoon) - you will notice that the mixture gets very creamy and the colour will get lighter than when you started mixing. Only then are you ready to add the eggs. Add them one at a a time and fully mix it in before you add the next one. 
4. The flour - This step is more important when making cakes and pastries, but it's not a bad habit to get into for cookies. When measuring the flour, use a smaller scoop/cup to spoon the flour into the measuring cup, then level the top with a flat edge like a butter knife. Spooning the flour into the cup gives you a more accurate measurement. If you just scoop it up with the measuring cup you're using  and then level it off, it packs the flour into the cup and you will actually get more than you really need. 
5. Baking - once you've added all the other ingredients, you're ready to bake. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet and bake for the shortest time as suggested by the recipe, then check them. For a softer cookie, they should just be golden around the edges; for a crispier cookie, they should have a light golden colour on the top and darker edges. To keep soft cookies soft, put them into an airtight container when still slightly warm. 
6. Be sure to eat one or two when they are still warm from the oven with a big class of cold milk!

Featured Recipe

Okay, these are amazing. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was very very happy with the way these turned out. I was a wee bit worried about the flavour and that's the biggest problem with making meatloaf - you can't taste it until it's completely done. Thankfully, they worked and were delicious. I was worried that they would be too spicy, but they weren't at all and had a really nice smoky taste - just what I was hoping for. Not too much work either . We ate them with Mac and Cheese and a side salad.

Smoky Pork Mini-Meatloaves

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground pork
1 poblano pepper, diced
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 TBSP olive oil
1/4 tsp each dried oregano and paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper, divided
1 TBSP Johnny's Garlic Seasoning
2 pinches chipotle chili powder
1 tsp hot sauce (i.e. Frank's Red Hot Sauce)
4 TBSP BBQ sauce (I used Bullseye)
1/4 cup quick oats

Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add poblano and onion. Cook until very soft, about 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with half the salt and pepper. Puree in a food proceesor until smooth. Cool in the freezer for 5 minutes
2. Add all remaining ingredients into a large bowl. Add pepper mixture. Gently mix with your hands until just mixed (be careful not to mix the meat too much as that can make your meatloaf tough).
3. Form into mini loaves (about the size of a hamburger patty and about 1.5 inches thick). Cook at 400 degrees Fahrenheit on a drip tray  for 20 minutes (the drip tray helps them get crispy all the way around as the fat can drain off); flip and cook for 20-25 minutes more (until the temp reads 170 on a meat thermometer).

  

Featured Recipe

This idea came about from a conversation with my brother-in-law (who is also a bit of a foodie) who was telling me about savoury waffles. We had quite the conversation about all the different kinds that could be made and, to be honest, he beat me to the punch and made ham, cheese and broccoli waffles a few months ago. I made these tonight and they were really, really good! I made a bell pepper sauce to go on them which just rounded out the whole flavour. If you're looking for a savoury option for breakfast (or dinner), these are the waffles for you!

Savoury Ham and Cheese Waffles with Bell Pepper Sauce

Ingredients (waffles:)
1 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp paprika
1 1/4 cups milk
5 TBSP vegetable oil
2 eggs, separated
150 grams of sharp cheddar cheese
6 slices deli ham, coppped

Method:
1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside
2. Separate the eggs. Put the egg yolks in a medium size bowl, beat with a fork and set aside. Put the egg whites in a glass bowl and beat with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside
3. Mix the remaining wet ingredients, except egg whites, into the bowl with the egg yolks. Add the ham and the cheese
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet into the well. Mix gently until everything is incorporated. Gently fold in the egg whites
5. Cook on a hot, non-stick Belgian waffle maker (round waffles with really big "holes"). Cook until deep golden. Serve with bell pepper sauce (recipe follows)



Ingredients (sauce)
1 each red and poblano peppers, roughly diced
1/2 green pepper
1/4 small red onion, roughly diced
1 splash grapeseed oil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp Johnny's Garlic Seasoning
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1/2 vegetable (or chicken) bouillon cube
1/4 cup water

Method:
1.  Heat the grapeseed oil in a large pan. Cook the peppers and onion for about 5 minutes, until soft.
2. Add the remaining ingredients (except the water) and cook for about 3 minutes more. Turn off the heat.
3. Add the water to de-glaze the pan. Pour into a large bowl and puree with a hand blender (or use a regular blender) until pureed (but don't make it super smooth, you want it to have some texture). Serve warm over fresh waffles.

Waffles with the sauce on top

This sauce would also be really good on pizza.

What's For Dinner?

I know it's been quite a while since I've done a "What's for Dinner" feature and, to be honest, I've had very little inspiration and my menus have been very boring repeats of the same things I cook all the time.
This week, things have changed. I was sick if cooking the same stuff over and over so I have at least 3 creative meals this week. My husband has some favourites so I've mixed those with the creative ones.

The first is an experiment and I made them tonight and they are so good! Savoury Ham and Cheese Waffles with Bell Pepper Sauce. Mixed sharp cheddar and diced ham into my mom's waffle recipe. The served them with a sauce made of green, red and poblano peppers cooked with red onion and a wee bit of veggie stock. They are good enough to be this week's featured recipe.

Next up, chicken club wraps. Cook chicken and sprinkle with some Johnny's Garlic Seasoning. Warm a whole wheat flour tortilla and put a on few thin slices of cheese, some chicken, bacon bits, green onion, green pepper, chopped tomatoes, lettuce and Caesar dressing and wrap up. Simple and quick and delicious

Next, Peanut Noodles with Chicken, Carrots and Red Pepper. This is one I came up with when I first got married and it's a favourite. Cook up some whole wheat spaghetti. Meanwhile, cook diced chicken breast with red onion, julienne carrots and julienne red peppers (julienne is just a fancy French word for really thinly sliced). Stir in some store bought spicy peanut sauce (I like President's Choice Memories of Szechaun), some warm spices (like ginger, cinnamon, cayenne), some green onion, and a few drops of sesame oil. Add cooked spaghetti and stir to completely coat. A nice change from tomato based spaghetti.

Next up, Smoky Pork Mini Meatloaves with poblano peppers and new potatoes. This is also an experiment and I'm not quite sure how it's going to work. I am envisioning roasting the poblano pepper with some white onion, then pureeing and adding it to the ground pork with some oats, cumin, chipotle chili and maybe some bbq sauce and/or Frank's Red Hot sauce. I have learned from my mother-in-law that if you make mini meatloaves and just cook them on a cookie sheet, they get crispy all the way around (no more soggy meatloaf!). Serve with boiled new potatoes. Fingers crossed it works out.

The third experiment is going to be mini beef meatballs with a sesame/soy quinoa salad. Quinoa, bean sprouts, green onion, lettuce with a sesame/soy ginger dressing. Then toss in some mini beef meatballs (home made, of course). Should be good.

Last up, Creamy Chicken Carbonara Penne. Chicken, bacon, red peppers and onions in a delicious creamy sauce serve over whole wheat pasta (penne or rotini work best). This is one of my husband's all time favourites (pretty much any creamy pasta sauce will please him, but this is one of his faves). I've made this with leftover pork tenderloin before and it was divine.

One last thing - a tip for today: if you cook with any kind of hot pepper (poblano, jalapeno, banana, etc) make sure you WASH YOUR HANDS before you touch your face. My face was a bit burn-y because I scratched an itch before washing my hands. Very Important Step!!  

I hope this helps you with some ideas for dinner.

Bin Appetit!  

Featured Recipe

Ok, to be completely honest, I have never had a pulled pork sandwich before. I understand the basics (that pork shoulder cooked low and slow until it's fall-off-the-bone tender and then shredded ("pulled") and simmered in a sweet-smoky sauce and piled high on a soft white bun) but I've never actually eaten one. So when thinking of what to make for dinner tonight (I have been very bad about meal planning and have had to think on the fly for a few days now) I asked my husband to take the pork strips out of the freezer as I was planning to make something with that and some quinoa and whatever few veggies are still in the fridge. He said "we have these really nice buns, why don't you make pulled-pork sandwiches." I said okay but I started to panic a wee bit since, as indicated above, I have never eaten one before and was worried about getting the flavour right. The panic quickly passed and the wheels started turning and what came out tasted "pretty close to bang-on" (according to the hubby). Not bad for trying to re-create a flavour you've never tasted.
These are not "traditional" as I did not cook a pork shoulder for hours and hours until it was uber tender (I cheated and used pork stir fry strips) and I did no actual "pulling" but the flavour was good and they were totally satisfying (and it didn't take me all day).

Pulled Pork Fakies

Ingredients:
1 package uncooked pork stir fry strips (enough for 4 large sandwiches)
2 green onions, minced
1 TBSP vegetable oil
2 TBSP ketchup
1/4 cup thick teryaki sauce (I used Kikkoman brand)
1 tsp barbeque sauce (I used Bulls Eye brand because it's not as vinegar-y as some other brands)
1 tsp lime juice
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 smidge cinnamon (a smidge is about half a pinch or, if your spice is in a shaker jar, one light shake)
1 smidge ginger powder
1 smidge red pepper flakes
1 pinch black pepper
4 large soft, good quality white buns 

Method:
1. Slice the pork into very thin slices, then into pieces around 2cm long or so
2. Heat a large pan over medium-low heat (if your burner dial has 8 increments, put it at about 4). Add the oil, green onion and pork and cook, stirring frequently, until pork is cooked through and no longer pink (7-10 minutes)

3. Make the sauce. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the buns) in a small bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork. Add to the cooked pork

4. Turn the heat to high and bring mixture to a boil. Simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce is reduced and thickened and clings to the meat (about 12-15 minutes)

5. Slice each bun in half and top with a quarter of the meat mixture. Enjoy!

Featured Recipe

For some reason, I have a lot of eggs in my fridge. And they will all hit their expiry date before the end of the month and I didn't want them to go bad. Solution: crustless quiche! The nice thing about a crustless quiche is that it is way lighter and does not have the heavy greasiness of a pastry crust, so it is nice even on a summer day.  Plus, it takes way less time to prepare. A meat thermometer is handy for this dish as the eggs need to be at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit to be fully cooked but not over 180 or they will turn kind of rubbery. 


Crustless Quiche

Ingredients:
6 large eggs
2 TBSP 1% milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 green (or red) pepper, finely diced
1 cm wide section red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup bacon bits
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
cooking spray or vegetable oil

Method;
1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F
2.  Crack eggs into a medium size bowl. Whisk with a fork together with salt, pepper and milk. Set aside
3. Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray (or brush lightly with vegetable oil). Put peppers, onion and bacon in the bottom of the pan and pour the egg over top
4. Top with grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes (eggs need to be at least 160 degrees F but not more that 180 degrees F) 
5. Let cool for 5 minutes, then cut into squares


Here are a few other flavour variations to try:

• mushroom, spinach and gruyere
• ham, broccoli and swiss
• sundried tomato, basil, mozzarella
• turkey sausage and monterey jack cheese
• mild Italian sausage (pre-cooked), red pepper, parmesan and mozzarella 

Featured Recipe

I ADORE apple crisp. A lot. The soft apples, the cinnamon, the crunchy granola topping....yum! And my mom makes the very best apple crisp in the world. Sadly, my husband cannot eat cooked apples so I do not make it very often. Plus, it's a lot of work to have just 1 person eat it. So.....I have come up with a 1 serving version that is super quick, low carb, low fat and totally delicious!

Guiltless 5 Minute Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
1 medium McIntosh apple (soft apples like McIntosh work best)
2 shakes of cinnamon
1 tsp brown or white sugar
2 TBSP Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal or other granola (Go Lean Crunch is the best for this but Harvest Crunch would be good too)

Method:
1. Peel apple and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place in a microwave safe bowl and sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar
2. Cook in mircowave on high heat for 1 minute. Stir and cook for another 30 seconds or so.
3. Top with cereal and let sit for 1 minute to cool.

For an added treat, top with vanilla ice cream or vanilla yogurt

Featured Recipe

Today's recipe is a variation on basic baking powder biscuits but they are more like a scone than a biscuit. They are sweet but not too sweet and have a pleasant texture. They are particularly good warm from the oven with a bit of butter. I substituted vegetable oil for the traditional shortening as I hate cutting in shortening - it does give it a spongier texture than shortening, but it is much faster and less hassle.  I added Peach/Passionfruit curd that I had in my pantry, but you could add apricot or peach jam instead. The curd is nice because it is made with butter and it is not as sticky as jam. Lemon curd would be really lovely too. You could add blueberries or blackberries instead of raspberries if you wanted.   

Peach/Passionfruit Raspberry Biscuits

Ingredients:
3-3/12 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup peach/passionfruit curd
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen raspberries

Method:
1. Mix together 3 cups of the flour, the baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium sized bowl
2. Add the veg oil, milk and fruit curd. Mix well. Add the frozen raspberries and mix well. The dough should be really soft and a bit sticky, If it is too sticky, add more flour
3. Gently pat about 1/2 cup of the dough into a disc about 1.5 cm thick and about 6-8cm in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, leaving about 3 cm between biscuits. It should make between 9-12 biscuits
4. Bake at 450 for 8 mins, then turn the pan 180 degrees (so the the biscuits that were at the front of the oven are now at the back) and bake for 5 mins more. They will be light golden on the top and a rich brown on the bottoms when they are done.
6. Let cool at least 10 mins before serving. Freeze any leftovers

Experiments in the Kitchen

 Today was a gloomy, grey day - perfect for baking. I wanted to make cookies so I asked my husband what kind he wanted and his suggestion was Chocolate Thimble Cookies. I make these at Christmas every year and they are his favourite (they're one of my favourites too), but I ended up giving most of them away this year and I did promise him I would make a batch just for us. It is now June....I guess it was time.
Chocolate Thimble Cookies are made with a chocolate dough that you roll into balls, then in nuts (pecans are best), the when they're on the baking sheet, before they go in the oven, you make a depression in the middle with your finger. When they come out of the oven, you put 4-5 chocolate chips in the depression and when they melt, you swirl them with a toothpick. (A traditional version of these cookies are called thumbprint cookies and are usually a white dough with jam in the middle). 

Experiment #1:

Terr's suggestion was to make the dough chocolate/peanut butter - I can't believe I had never thought of this before! I figured I could just substitute half the butter for peanut butter and everything would be good. Yeah, that didn't work too well. My dough was really dry and crumbly and was impossible to roll into balls. I ended up adding more butter (in total about 3/4 of what the original recipe called for) and even then they we drier than they should have been. I managed to roll them, though they did fall apart a wee bit when I tried to put the depression in. They actually managed to hold together fairly well as they baked and weren't too dry to enjoy. The flavour was incredible and I would totally do it again. Lesson: substituting peanut butter for butter does not work. Next time, add the full amount of butter, plus the same amount of peanut better. If I need to add more flour, so be it.
Was it a success? Yes! Just a few minor tweaks and they'll be perfect!

Experiment #2:

I also wanted something that I could take in my lunches to have for my coffee break. I toyed with the idea of muffins, but decided on biscuits in the end. But, of course, I couldn't make just plain baking powder biscuits - I was in a creative mood. I settled on Peach/Passionfruit Raspberry biscuits. I had a jar of Peach/Passionfruit curd in my pantry and some frozen raspberries. I had to adjust the amount of flour becuase of the curd and the raspberries, but they totally turned out. They're a little spongier than normal biscuits and are more like a scone.   
Was it a success? Totally! They are delicious and will be nice in my lunch.So good, in fact, that they are this week's featured recipe!

Featured Ingredients

I have learned that not everyone is a "foodie" like me and may not know what all the ingredients I refer to are. So, here is another installment of "get to know new ingredients:

Quinoa
Quinoa is a lovely grain (technically it is a seed more than a grain and it is not a part of the grass family) that cooks up quick like couscous (10-15 minutes) and, to top it off, it is packed with protein (unlike rice or beans, it is a complete protein; you would need to eat rice and beans together to get a complete protein). Quinoa originated in the Andes of South America and was cultivated by the Incas who referred to it as the "mother of all grains." It has a somewhat nutty flavour and can be used in place of couscous or rice and is great in salads, soup and other side dishes. It has also been made into flour and pasta as a gluten-free option (these products can usually be found at health food stores). It must be cooked before you eat it.

Uncooked Quinoa seeds

Cooked quinoa

Proscuitto
Prosciutto is an Italian dry-cured ham that is usually very thinly shaved. It is nicely salty and tastes a bit like bacon but is much leaner. A classic Italian dish is melon (often cantaloupe) wrapped in prosciutto. I like to wrap chicken breast with it, put it on pizza or fry it until crispy to put in salads.

Cumin
Cumin is an ancient spice originally cultivated in the Mediterranean, Middle East and parts of North Africa (Egypt and Morocco). It can be purchased in both its original seed form, or ground into a powder (I have never used the seeds, only the powder). It has an intense smoky, earthy flavour (but no heat) and is very good in chili, Mexican/Latin style dishes and Indian curry. A little goes a long way

Cumin Seeds

Ground cumin

Monterey Jack Cheese
This is probably my favourite type of cheese. It is a semi-hard (like Cheddar), white, cow's milk cheese with a kind of mildly tangy flavour (as opposed to a "sharp" flavour like cheddar). It melts really well and I love it on pizza (though not as stretchy/stringy as mozzarella). We also like a variety called Jalapeno (or pepper) Jack cheese that has bits of jalapeno peppers mixed in. Gives a nice bit of heat.

Montery Jack cheese

Jalapeno Jack

Featured Recipe

Two featured recipes in one day! I must be hungry or something. This recipe was inspired by a recipe I found in an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook for Chicken Margherita (chicken breasts stuffed with bocconcini cheese (soft mozzarella), spinach, tomatoes and pesto and then wrapped in proscuitto and baked) which is really, really good, but we've recently discovered that my husband gets sick when he eats tomatoes and spinach. Unfortunate, but I can change. I wanted the taste of this chicken, but without using spinach or tomatoes. My version uses Monterrey Jack cheese, dried oregano and minced onion. Turned out awesome (and sooo cheesy)! It sounds a bit complicated, but it isn't really. Served it with Warm Vegetable Quinoa Salad (which I'm also including the recipe for).

Cheesy Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fillets attached)
8 slices prosciutto
8 slices Monterrey Jack cheese (about 5mm thick)
dried minced onion (about 2 tsp total)
dried oregano (about 2 tsp total)

Method:

1. Pound chicken with a mallet (the bottom of a heavy frying pan works too) until the chicken is an even thickness of about 1.5 cm
2. On the side of the breast opposite the fillet, make a horizontal cut down length of the breast with a sharp knife so that you have a pocket large enough to put a piece of cheese in. Be careful not to cut all the way through the chicken. Place a piece of cheese in the pocket you created and sprinkle with a bit of the onion and oregano. Fold the chicken over the cheese to enclose it in the pocket
3. Flip the breast over and place a second piece of cheese in the natural pocket between the breast and the fillet (you may need to use your knife to make the pocket big enough for the cheese). Sprinkle with the oregano and onion
4. Wrap 2 slices of prosciutto around the chicken breast enclosing the cheese. Place in a glass baking pan (brush with olive oil)
5. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 with the remaining chicken
6. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through (should reach 165 degrees on a meat thermometer). The cheese will ooze out somewhat during cooking but that's ok, just scoop it out of the pan and spread in on top while it's still melty.

Warm Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 each green and red peppers, diced
2 green onions, diced
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp each pepper and salt
1 tsp Johnny's Garlic Seasoning

Method:
1. Cook quinoa according to the package directions, but substitute the water for chicken broth
2. While the quinoa is cooking, sautee the peppers in the olive oil. sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until the peppers are warm through but still crunchy. Add green onion and cook for 1 minute more
3. Mix veggies with quinoa and sprinkle on garlic seasoning. Stir and serve warm

Featured Recipe

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I've had this recipe in my file for quite some time but only tried it for the first time yesterday. You should try it too because it is delicious. The recipe comes from Cooking Light Magazine and the link can be found here. I made a few changes to the recipe and it turned out really well (see the recipe below - the notes in blue are my changes). This bread is not super sweet, but the glaze is and makes it more like a cake than a loaf. It's really nice served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream 

Ingredients

• Bread:
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
• 1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt (I used vanilla yogurt)
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed (I don't like the texture of flax seed in things so I added an extra loose handful of flour)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (This is a very strong spice - I used it but I would leave it out next time as I think it is a wee bit overpowering)
• 2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts (I omitted these and added 2 handfuls of chocolate chips instead) 
• Cooking spray
• Glaze:
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon 1% low-fat milk (I substituted for chocolate milk)
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter 
• 1/4 tsp cocoa powder

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.
4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread.

Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light
OCTOBER 2010

 

Featured Recipe

Broiled Pork Chops

I made these for dinner tonight and my husband said "these are sooo good, you should post the recipe on your blog." So, here it is. I made 2 pork chops, but the marinade would probably do 3. The measurements could easily be adapted for more meat. I used bone-in loin chops that were about 1 inch thick. You don't want to use the thinner fast fry ones as they would get too dry when you broil them.

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce (I happened to have gluten free but regular or low sodium is fine too)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried minced onion

Method:
1. Mix all the marined ingredients together in a small bowl. Place pork in a shallow dish big enough so that all of the pork chops can lay flat. Pour marinade over meat. Refrigerate for 1 hour, turning meat over every 15 minutes
2. Set the broiler on your oven to low. Place marinated meat on a rack in a broiler pan. Broil for about 16-18 minutes, flipping over halfway through the cooking time. The meat is done when it is no longer pink in the middle (if you have a meat thermometer, it needs to read at least 160 degrees) and it should be golden around the edges.

Serve with pan roasted potatoes and a green salad.

Beer

Hey everyone! My brother has just started a blog about beer! If you are a beer person and are interested in reading about new beers, you should check it out. You may find a new favourite

Joel's Beer Blog

Featured Recipe

Featured Recipe - Fan Potatoes

I found this recipe in an old Canadian Living magazine at work and knew I had to try them. They are crispy on the outside and buttery and melt-in-your mouth on the inside. I served them with roast beef and broccoli, but they would be really nice as a brunch item too. The recipe calls for fresh thyme to be sprinkled on top which I did not do and I didn't miss it. They do take quite a while to cook (1 hour 15 minutes) so not the best choice for a rushed weeknight. They are very, very yummy.

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/fan_potatoes.php

What's For Dinner?

It is so easy to get into a food rut. You run out of ideas of new things to make and you end up making the same things over and over. I have been in a food rut lately and it makes it hard to want to cook. But, there is hope on the horizon! I've had some inspiration and delicious things are coming this week on the menu. Hope they help to inspire you too.

First up, roast beef with fan potatoes and steamed broccoli. I bought a hormone/antibiotic free sirloin roast, coated it with a mix of salt, pepper and Johnny's Garlic Seasoning the roasted it low-and-slow until it was tender and juicy and still a bit pink on the inside. Let me tell you, some of the best roast beef I've ever had. The fan potatoes recipe can be found as this week's Featured Recipe: they are crispy and buttery and melt in your mouth all at the same time. A must try for potato lovers.

Secondly, Spicy Roasted Sweet Potato Soup. Now, let me be the first to say that I am not the hugest sweet potato person. They are okay as fries, but the sweetness of them really throws me off. I know they are good for me so I'm trying to find ways to eat them. I came up with this recipe about 5 years ago when I was working at a cafe that had its soups delivered by a local soup company. I had a bowl of the sweet potato soup for lunch and it had a nice spicy kick to it that was highly enjoyable. I decided to see if I could come up with something similar. Mine is a puree of roasted sweet potatoes, red peppers and carrots seasoned with a blend of ginger and cinnamon (and a few other secret spices). Then it's mixed with chicken broth and cayenne pepper. Lastly, after it's pureed, add sauteed chicken, green peppers and onions. Top it with a little Parmesan cheese. Divine! This is also good as a pasta sauce or as lasagne filling. This is kind of my "signature" recipe, so you may have to wait until my cookbook comes out for the recipe.

Next up, chicken strips and Caesar salad. Ok, so this is a "stand-by" recipe, but seriously, so delicious!

Fourth, Shepherd's Pie with garlic mashed potatoes. This is one of my favourite foods. I adapted my version from a Best of Bridge cookbook from my mom. I guess this one is not "technically" shepherd's pie (according to traditionalists) as it is made with ground beef instead of traditional lamb and has cheese on top. But, I don't really like lamb and cheese makes everything better. Also, the secret to great garlic mashed potatoes is to smash about 6-8 cloves of garlic and drop them in the pot (remove the skins first, of course) when you're boiling the potatoes. Then, when you mash the potatoes, you just mash the garlic right along with it. Monterrey jack is a nice cheese for the top, but cheddar is good too.

Next, chicken quesadillas. Chicken, green and red peppers, green onion and cheese grilled inside a tortilla until crispy...my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I'm going to season the chicken with some tex-mex seasoning to give it some depth and then serve with salsa or hot sauce. Plus, the recipe is a balanced meal, especially if you use whole wheat tortillas: it has grains, poultry, veggies, diary and good fat (as long as you cook them in olive oil). I haven't had these in ages - they're going to be so good!

Next up, perogies! I haven't had perogies in a long time (I think since Christmas when I helped two of my sisters-in-law make them from scratch. It's kind of weird, but my husband and both his brothers married women with Ukrainian heritage) so I'm pretty excited. These, of course are not going to be home-made but store bought ones can be pretty good. The trick is to boil them first, then fry them in butter until they're crispy and then top them with bacon and cooked onions.

Finally, rice noodles with chicken, red peppers, carrots and peanut sauce. I came up with this one the first year I was married but haven't dug it out of the "vault" in several years. It's wide rice noodles (Pad Thai style) with julienne red peppers and carrots (julienne is just a fancy French work for really thin strips), sliced green onion and diced chicken. You soak the noodles in hot water until they're al-dente (soft but still firm - the time will vary depending on what brand you buy. My favourite is Rose brand because they hold together really well and they only cost about $1.50 for a big package, but they have no cooking instructions on them. I soaked them for about 15 minutes or so). Then you saute the chicken and veggies in a large pan or wok (you're going to need a big, deep pan for this one). Then, add the noodles once they're cooked and stir in store bought spicy peanut sauce (I really like PC Memories of Szechwan  spicy peanut satay sauce). Yum.

Bon Apetit!

Featured Recipe

Spring is in the air and the weather is finally cooperating. I made these kebabs the other day (I think the second time ever I've made kebabs) and Oh My Goodness were they delicious. You could use whatever meat you like (I used beef and shrimp (the shrimp were for my hubby; I can't eat them) and vegetables of your choice. Also good the next day in a wrap.

Surf 'N Turf Kebabs

Marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari sauce
3 TBSP lime juice
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 TBSP white sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Kebabs:
1/2 lb lean beef cubes
20 cooked, de-veined shrimp (optional)
1 each green and orange pepper
1/3 red onion
1 medium zucchini

Method:
1. Cut beef cubes in half. Cut peppers into about 4cm pieces. Cut the zucchini and onion into half moons about 1 cm wide
2. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large freezer zip top bag. Add the beef and all the veggies. Seal the bag and shake gently to coat. Marinade in the fridge for 3-4 hours., turning over every hour
3. Soak wooden skewers in cold water for 30 minutes to prevent them burning (you could use metal skewers if you have them). 
4. Assemble kebabs: Alternate veggies, meat and shrimp (if using)
5. Cook on an indoor clam-shell grill (e.g. George Foreman grill). Cook for 3 minutes. Flip and cook 3 minutes more (if using an outdoor grill or barbeque, cook a little longer on each side as you don't have the same heat from the top as you do using a clam-shell style grill)

Serve with brown rice (I just used that express 2 minutes rice that's already cooked that you just heat up in the microwave) with a splash of grapeseed oil or butter and 2 tsp Johnny's Garlic seasoning

Featured Recipe

I have had a craving for lemon cake for about a month now and nothing I've tried has quelled this craving (Liberte brand lemon yogurt almost worked) so I gave in and made lemon cupcakes tonight. You're welcome.

I've tweaked my Grammie's "Good Cupcakes" recipe and figured out how to make lemon buttercream without it curdling, which is quite a feat as citrus and dairy don't play well together. These are really fairly simple to make and ready in about 30minutes.

Lemon Cupcakes

1/4 cup plus 3 TBSP lard or shortening
2 tsp lemon extract
zest of 1 lemon (this is a good use of a micro plane)
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice and pulp (approx. 3 lemons worth)
1/2 cup milk
3 tsp baking powder

1. Beat lard, lemon zest, lemon extract, sugar and eggs together until creamy.
2. Sift together salt and flour into a small bowl. Add 1/3 of the flour to the batter. Stir to mix. Add the lemon juice and stir. Add 1/3 of the flour and mix well. Add the milk and stir to mix (it will curdle a wee bit, but that is okay). Add the rest of the flour and mix well.
3. Sprinkle baking powder over mixture and stir in.
4. Grease silicon muffin tins (metal works too but I like the silicon ones), or line with muffin papers, and fill about 2/3 full with the batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. When they are done the edges and tops should be a tiny bit golden and a toothpick will come out clean when inserted in the middle.

The recipe will make about 15 cupcakes (it's a weird amount, I know. My Grammie's original recipe says it makes 24 cupcakes, but it never makes that many). If you end up with a weird number and you're not able to fully fill a muffin tray, put about 1 cm of water in each of the empty holes to promote even baking and to prevent your pan from burning.
These cupcakes are not super yellow but you could add a few drops of yellow food colouring if you wanted that yellow colour. Same goes for the icing. 

Lemon-Lime Buttercream

1/3 cup butter, softened (do not substitute butter for anything)
zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp lemon extract
3 TBSP lemon juice (can use bottled lemon juice if you want)
1 TBSP lime juice (can use bottled lime juice)
2-3 cups (or more) icing sugar

1. Mix butter, lemon zest and lemon extract until fully incorporated.
2. Sift in 1/2 cup of icing sugar, 1/4 cup at a time. Add 1 TBSP lemon juice and stir until smooth. Continue adding icing sugar and lemon/lime juice alternately until you have a thick but spreadable icing. It may take a bit of practice to get the right ratio of icing sugar, just keep tasting the icing and checking the consistency. You will be able to tell when you get that perfect combination of sweet and tart and the perfect consistency.
4. Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!

What's For Dinner?

I went and did a big grocery shop yesterday at Superstore and it was CRAZY BUSY as it was the day before Good Friday. I cannot imagine what it would have been like today. But I did have some great inspiration and I'm excited to share it with all of you.
I am not cooking an Easter dinner as there's just 2 of us, but I'm hoping to get some ham at my in-laws...

Yesterday we had pork tacos which were delicious. You really must try it as a change from ground beef as the sweetness of the pork really compliments the spices of the taco seasoning. Be careful when draining the grease from the pan though and don't flail like I do or you may end up with a second degree grease burn on your stomach (ouch!).
Next up we have steak pie. When I make steak or chicken pie, I don't use pastry. I make it in a 9x9 (or 9x13) pan and then top it with baking powder biscuit dough. I guess it's kind of like dumplings, but the dough is spread out across the filling like a crust. Baking powder biscuits are so easy to make and if you use vegetable oil instead of shortening, it comes together in a snap (using vegetable oil gives it a bit of a different texture and they're not as fluffy but just as delicious).
Next I'm making chicken Caesar wraps. Cooked cubed chicken breast seasoned with Johnny's Garlic Seasoning, lettuce, shallot, Monterrey Jack cheese, green pepper and Caesar dressing wrapped up in a whole wheat flour tortilla. 
Also on the menu is pork tenderloin served with potatoes and garlic/lemon broccoli. I'm drooling already.
I'm also making Orzotto (like risotto but made with orzo pasta). You cook the orzo in a large pan with chicken broth until the liquid is all absorbed (about 15 minutes), then you stir in some ricotta cheese, cooked chicken breast, caramelized shallot, bacon, orange and green peppers and some parsley. It is also good if you stir in some spinach sauteed with garlic and some tomatoes (leave out the peppers if you do this).
Now for a summertime dinner: Beef kabobs (with green pepper, red pepper, zucchini and red onion) on the good old George Foreman grill (the bbq is not in useable condition at the moment) and brown rice. Going to do a soya sauce, lime, sesame oil and chili flake marinade.
And last but certainly not least, chicken enchiladas. These are one of my all time favourites. Check out my first ever Featured Recipe for the recipe.

I hope this has given you some ideas for dinner.

Bon Apetit!

Featured Recipe

Pita Pizza. So simple, so delicious. The trick is to use thin pita. If you live in a place where you can buy Byblos Bakery Pita (it's a bakery in Calgary, AB and I know you can get them at some stores in Greater Victoria, BC), use that because it's the best. If you have kids, it might be fun to use the little pita pockets (see picture at right); if not, use the regular size ones. If you can't find Byblos, make sure you use a thin pita (I think Olafson's makes one). Then, top anyway you like. Below is my favourite combo.

Pita Pizza

6 pitas (white or whole wheat)
pizza sauce*
1 green pepper, finely diced
1/4 red onion or 1 shallot, finely minced
pepperoni
bacon bits (optional)
shredded Monterrey jack or mozzarella (or a blend)

Method:

1. preheat the oven to 425. Place the pitas on a baking sheet (you may need 2 sheets to do all the pizzas)
2. spread the pitas with pizza sauce. Top with pepperoni, bacon (if using), green pepper and onion. Cover with cheese
3. bake for 7 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees (so the pizzas that were at the back are now at the front) and bake for 7-8 minutes longer, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
4. let cool for 3-4 minutes. cut in half and serve warm

You may never buy frozen pizza again!

*note: we have discovered that most tomato sauces do not really agree with my husband, so we were looking at different sauces that we could use to replace pizza sauce and still have it taste like pizza. We used an alfredo sauce, which he said was a nice change, but we just recently tried this Butternut Squash pasta sauce by Dave's Gourmet (see picture at left) that we had in the pantry and it was spectacular on pizza! The flavour was similar to pizza sauce but without tomato. I almost like it better than tomato sauce. You have got to try it, if you can find it (Costco, I think)

What's For Dinner?

Dinner is my favourite meal of the day. I can be so much more creative than with lunch or breakfast and the possibilities are endless. So what's on the menu this week?

Making chili tonight. It's not really a "chili" kind of day outside today (all sunny and spring-like) but chili is good all the time. Chock full of peppers (a great use for a poblano) and onions and meat (no beans here). Yum! 
For some reason, my mouth really, really wants Kraft Dinner and meatballs, so I'm making that probably tomorrow. I found some really yummy Italian meatballs at Superstore and I know they'll go great with good old KD. Sometimes, you've just got to have KD and meatballs.
Other things on the menu: Pad Terr. A delicious combo of chicken and veggies (carrots, onions, peppers, beansprouts, bok choi) stirfried together with teryaki/soy sauce and wide Thai rice noodles. Not really a "classic" Pad Thai, but great flavours.
Craving spaghetti too. Classic spaghetti with meat sauce. I bought some ground sirloin instead of just lean ground beef (and the price was comparable) and I just know it's going to be good. They key to a really good tomato meat sauce is adding a teensy bit of white sugar. The sugar cuts some of the acidity/bitterness of the tomatoes and balances everything out quite nicely. The other trick is to use whole wheat pasta. It makes firmer pasta and the flavour is nice and earthy - you can eat less to feel full.
Parmesan chicken strips are on the menu too (check out the featured recipes section for the recipe). They're juicy, tender and crispy with just the right amount of saltiness. Serve with a big Caesar salad.
And lastly, pita pizzas (see today's featured recipe). The thin pitas give a nice crispy crust. My favourite combination is pepperoni, green pepper and red onion, but you can use any pizza toppings you like. I also spoiled myself and bought Kraft pre-shredded Pizza Cheese (mozzarella, provolone and cheddar) because it is just that good.

I hope this inspires you and gets those creative juices flowing!

Bon Apetit!

Featured Recipe

Strawberries are starting to appear on the shleves at the grocery store again and spring is on it's way, so it's time for a spring/summer recipe. I came up with these last summer and they are so amazing and so simple. I took them to my neighbour's for a bbq and they were a hit. Beware, these are addictive.

Cheesecake Strawberries

1 package cream cheese
250ml whipping cream
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 pounds strawberries
2 squares baker's milk chocolate

Method:
1. Whip cream with a mixer until fully whipped (if the bowl is cold and the beaters are cold, the cream will whip faster and nicer). Set aside in fridge
2. Beat cream cheese with a wooden spoon until soft. Sift in icing sugar (use a sifter so you don't get lumps) and whip into cream cheese. Stir in vanilla
3. Fold whip cream into cream cheese  and sitr until completely mixed and smooth. Set aside in fridge.
4. Wash strawberries. Hollow the strawberries out with a sharp knife (put your knife in at the edge of the green stem and plunge it about 2/3 of the way into the strawberry. Cut all the way around the green stem. Discard the cut out. You should end up with a "well" in the strawberry. Be careful not to cut all the way through; you want to keep the bottom in tact).
5. Put the cream cheese mixture in a large freezer ziploc bag. Cut a small corner off the bag (this will act like a piping bag. You can use a piping bag if you have one). Pipe the cream cheese mixture into your hollowed out strawberries. Place strawberries on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
6. Melt chocolate in a small saucepan stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Dip strawberries in chocolate so that they are about half dipped (this part is a wee bit trickey. It helps if you have a small spoon to spoon the chocolate onto the berries). Place on the wax paper lined baking sheet. Refirgerate for about a half hour until the chocolate has cooled.

That's it! You will not regret eating these.   

Featured Recipe

My husband always comes up with the best names for my recipes; I generally call them by the ingredients they're made up with. Today's recipe, for example, was originally called Garlic Chili Ginger Steak with Asian Vegetables; now it's called Spring Stirfry. Much better. It is called Spring Stirfry not only because spring is on the way, but because of all the colourful veggies and bright flavours. The beef could also be substititued for chicken if you like.

Spring Stiryfry

Stirfry
1 each green and yellow pepper, diced
I cup carrots, diced
2 green onions, minced
4 gloves garlic, minced
1 cup broccoli slaw
2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 pound fast fry steaks (about 4 largeish) or 2 packages stirfry strips cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 beef bouillon cube, crumbled

Sauce
1/2 cup sweet Thai chili sauce (I like VH brand best)
1 TBSP thick teryaki sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
pinch chili flakes (optional, depending on how spicy you want it)
1 TBSP ginger powder
pinch cumin
pinch cinnamon
1/2 beef bouillon cube
2 TBSP corn starch

Method

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, deep pan or wok. When the oil is hot, add the carrot and cook for about 7 minutes (you want to add the carrot first because it is the hardest vegetable and takes the longest to soften). Next, add the green and yellow peppers. Cook about 5 minutes. Then add the beef. Season with salt and pepper, add the spices and crumble in half the bouillon cube. Cook, stirring frequently until the beef is mostly cooked (only a little pink left) and the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the green onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the broccoli slaw and the bean sprouts and cook for 2 minutes
2. Make the sauce while you are cooking the stirfry. Put all ingredients (except the cornstarch) in a small bowl and whick together with a fork. Add the corn starch just before adding the sauce to the stirfy and mix until completely dissolved.
3. Add the sauce to the stifry. Stir to coat. Cook, stirring frequently until the sauce loses that "milky" look from the cornstarch and takes on a glossy look, about 5 minutes.
4. Serve and enjoy!

If you want, you can serve over rice or noodles but it is good just on its own!