Apple Crisp

This is not your average Apple Crisp (I don't think!!):

Recipe:
Filling
3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, chopped small
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans (I used walnuts)
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Topping
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup coursely chopped pecans (again, I used walnuts)
(I also added 1/4 cup rolled oats)

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix all the Filling ingredients together, pour into a square baking pan
3. Topping: Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Blend butter into the mixture until pea size lumps forms. Stir in nuts (and rolled oats). Sprinkle over filling.
4. Bake for 35 to 40mins. Cool 10mins before serving.
5. Serve with whipped cream

Bon Appetite!

Farmers Market Perogies with Grilled Red Peppers and Leeks

The fabulous-ness of this dish is that it's simple, fresh, and quick to make. Isn't that exactly what we want for our weekday meals?!!

Perogies with Grated Romano Cheese, Grilled Red Peppers & Leeks, with an adaptation of Caprese Salad:

Baked Sweet Potato with Black Beans

Baked Sweet Potato with Black Beans:



I thought this meal was pretty yummy, but J thought the sweet potato taste was a little overwhelming ... too sweet. Or bland. What could spice this dish up?? I'm not sure but I'd definitely like to tweak this recipe and give it another try. (May I just say I realized I had forgotten to add the salt and pepper? oops ... that explains a LOT about the blandness of flavor).

Recipe:
Baked Sweet Potato and Blackbeans - serves 4
4 sweet potatoes, skins scrubbed
2 cups black beans
2oz. cheddar cheese, grated
salt and peppar

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Pierce potato with fork and put in oven to cook for 45mins (I must have had an exceptionally large potato ... 45mins was NOT enough time. I added another 20mins baking and then another 10mins in the microwave on high ... and then broiled to brown the top for a few minutes at the end)
3. Once fully cooked, slice potato length-wise and top with 1/2 cup black beans with 1/2oz. cheese.
(I scooped the potato out of it's skin, mashed the potato, added the black beans and minced onion. Put this back into the potato skin and topped with cheese and cilantro).

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Frittata with Mesclun Salad

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Frittata:


... with Mesclun Salad


Yum, yum, yum. I would recommend this meal ... it's fresh yet comforting with the ooey gooey cream cheese melted throughout the frittata.
I couldn't find smoked salmon, so I went for smoked Lok. Is this the same thing?? It tasted just like smoked salmon!
The frittata would have been perfect if I followed my natural obsessive instinct to overcook anything that contains any meat-like product. And this includes eggs. I followed the recipe to a T but the centre came out a little undercooked (which totally grossed me out!) so I popped it back in for a few more minutes. The hard part is you just don't know for sure if it's entirely cooked until you cut into it. The bottom was a nice brown and so was the top. Not very helpful in knowing what the centre was all about. Do people use toothpicks for frittatas??

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Frittata - serves 4 to 6. Cook time: 20mins.
6 large eggs
2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp fresh dill (I added at least 5 Tbsp!!)
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used an entire package ... guilty pleasure)
2 oz. smoked salmon, chopped
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
Serving Suggestion: Crispy Potatoes and Mesclun Salad

1. Position rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 375F.
2. Whisk the eggs, milk, dill, salt and pepper in a bowl. Using two spoons or your fingers, separate the cream cheese into small clumps. Fold the cream cheese and salmon into the egg mixture.

3. Heat the oil in a medium non-stick skilled over med-low heat. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet, and stir lightly to make sure the fillings are evenly arranged in the pan.
Cook until the bottom is set, but not brown, about 2mins.
4. Transfer the skillet tot he oven an dbake until the top is set, about 8mins.
Remove from the oven, cover and set aside for 5mins.
5. Invert the frittata onto a large plate. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.


Mesclun Salad - serves 2
2 Tbsp butter
1 dash cayenne pepper
3 Tbsp sugar (this was waaay too sugary ... I'd use 2 Tbsp next time)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup halved pecans
1 red bell pepper
2 oranges (I used x1)
pepper
2 cups mesclun greens (couldn't find any, so used baby Romaine ... this was a tad bland - would go for arugula next time!)

1. In a small saute pan add butter, cayenne, sugar, salt, pecans. Cook slowly over low heat. Stir occasionally. (The sugar didn't dissolve for me ... when I added this to the salad, the sugar clumped a bit ... don't know how to fix this!)
2. Julienne bell pepper and peel and section oranges into wedges
3. Squeeze left over orange pulp in salad bowl, add oil.
Toss greens in this and place on a salad plate.
4. Arrange orange wedges and pepper slices on top. Garnish with caramelized pecan halves.

Leek and Potato Soup

Saturday is Farmer's Market Day. I love meandering through the stalls and looking to see what might be new in produce.
This week I noticed that almost everyone had these lovely stalks of green tops peeking out the tops of their bags.
I wasn't too sure what this popular item was at first. And then I found the booth that had them: Leeks. They are such a neat variation of the onion. I don't know much about them but I do know they make for a wonderful combination with potatoes in soup! So that's what I made on my Saturday afternoon at home.


I was out of all basic items (no oil, vinegar, butter, amongst many other things but I wanted to make dessert ... namely an apple galette. But - no apples, no butter ... and my puff pastry was mouldy in the fridge! Boo. So for dessert, I tried a mixed berry tart using phyllo pastry with lemon glaze on top. This would have been great if it weren't for the competing "tart" tastes between the berries and the lemon juice!)

Wednesday's Meal ... aka. Cabbage Salad Addiction

What's the deal?? I certainly would not categorize myself as a cabbage fan and yet tonight I found myself (almost as though moving in some hypnotic state) making yet ANOTHER cabbage salad variation to accompany the new Pad Thai variation I found in the Rebar cookbook.

Thai Cabbage Slaw ... with spicy red curry vinaigrette. Lets just say that between the garlic and the ginger, this slaw should keep even the most daring cold bug at bay.


Pad Thai ... with tofu, bean sprouts and roasted peanuts:

Tuesday's Meal

Tuesday night called for Frozen Pizza. And that's what we had. Buuuut ... it was accompanied with a Greek Goddess Salad. That somewhat legitimizes the fast foodiness of a frozen, ready-made item, right?
Did I mention the salad has the word Goddess in it? It was good enough to rival something you would have at a restaurant.
No pictures, sorry.

For the recipe, go here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/greek-salad-recipe/index.html

Monday's Meal

Butternut Squash Soup

Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread

Roasted Beet and Orange Salad

Sunday Delights

Rosemary Garlic Focaccia


Orzo Salad:

Party Food for Two

Let me share with you how we are achieving to gain weight on a vegetarian diet.

On tonights menu:
Mixed green salad with homemade garlic croutons

Not a bad start, right?

Had a selection of veggies as a side:


Then it was time to pull out the big guns: Bread and Cheese ... Camembert and Aged Cheddar with Rustic Bread:




And to drink, you might ask?
Jackson Triggs, Sauvignon Blanc


Our little way of contributing to the Winter Olympics, 2010:


... I wouldn't mind doing this again sometime.

Cabbage Noodle Salad with Mango Shrimp Rolls

Tonight's meal was a sort of "kick back" to what was on the menu during my Asian inspired week.
On the menu:

Cabbage Noodle Salad, and


Mango Shrimp Rolls

The Cabbage Noodle Salad was a hit with my life partner who happens to double as my culinary guinea pig. When his palate is pleased, I feel confident in sharing the recipe with whoever may happen upon this blog and who may be looking for a recipe to try.
This one I would suggest making for a pot luck contribution ... it makes a LOT, is pretty quick to make, and is tasty and unique without being overly exotic.


Cabbage Noodle Salad (serves 6)
Dressing:
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar (I just used 1 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp soy sauce

Salad:
1 small head of red or green cabbage, chopped
2 green onions, chopped (I didn't have any on hand so used a small amount of finely chopped white onion)
1 carrot, grated (I used 2)
1 pkg raman noodles, crushed

1. Make dressing by combining ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to dissolve sugar.
2. Combine the first three salad ingredients, toss well. Add crushed ramen noodles and dressing to salad and toss again.
3. Serve right away or cover and refrigerate to allow the flavors to blend.

Vi's for Pies and The Duchess

Today I met my friend, Diana, at Vi's for Pies and had a lovely afternoon of yummy food and great conversation.
This is what I had as we discussed the books we are currently reading (Sense and Sensibility for Diana, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for myself):


Vegetable Bunwhich with dill dressing. Diana had a fabulous looking Shepherd's Pie, which I wasn't stealthy enough to capture.

We then moved our party of two to one of Edmonton's finest bakeries, The Duchess. This place is incredible. Like walking into what I imagine a pastry shop in Paris to look like.
This is what we shared for dessert:

Chocolate Eclaire, Fruit Tart (with the best crust ever to grace these lips), and sweet little macaroons - lemon and strawberry.

Does it look as divine as it tasted?
For more on The Duchess, go here:
http://duchessbakeshop.com/wp/

Quinoa Salad with Potato Wedges

Tonight's meal was a humble one. Kept it simple, but surprisingly the flavour really came through in both dishes which made it taste so much more than what it was.

On the menu:
1. Quinoa Salad - this seemed a simple variation from a black bean salad I love to make - pretty much just swapped out the black beans for quinoa (a hearty little grain that is packed full of protein!). This grain is easier to make than rice (or at the very least, just as easy). All it needs is a rinse or two (takes any bitterness out of the grain) then it's on the burner (one part grain, two parts water) ... turn it up to high heat until a boil begins. Turn the heat right down and let it sit there for 15mins with the lid securely on the pot. The salad ingredients are easily prepared within this timeframe.

2. Potato Wedges - I love potato wedges. I used two russet potatoes, cut them into 1inch wedges and lay them flat on a baking sheet (lined with tinfoil - easier cleanup!). Three garlic cloves were minced and scattered over the wedges along with a douse of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. 30mins on the lowest rack at 400F. Flip the wedges halfway through and there will be golden nuggets of goodness awaiting you at the end.

3. What I like to call "Labour of Love" aka Chocolate Hazelnut Cookie
This recipe make FOUR DOZEN COOKIES. No joke. That's what was promised and it actually delivered. I didn't have the stamina to scoop that many cookies out, so I froze 1/3 of the batch in the freezer. What I WISH I KNEW before doing this:
It's possible to scoop the batter on parchment paper, put this in the freezer. When the batter is hard enough not to stick together, throw them into a ziplock bag and freeze for future use.
This recipe is courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis from her cookbook, "Giada's Family Dinners"

1/2 cup old-fashioned (not instant) oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (Anyone know where to find PURE vanilla extract?? Last time I saw it, I was in Mexico ... )
4 oz. english toffee candy, finely chopped (I used 3x SKOR BARS)
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked, and chopped
1 (12oz.) bag of semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line 2 large, heavy baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Finely chop the oats in a food processor. Transfer the oats to a medium bowl. Mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in the toffee pieces, hazelnuts, and chocolate chips.
4. Drop the dough onto the prepared sheets by rounded tablespoonful, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake until the cookies are golden (they will flatten slightly), about 15mins. (I COOKED MINE FOR 11MINS ... came out nice and chewy!). Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Brie Honey Almond Melt with Fruit Salad

Oh. My. Goodness. Where has this combination of flavour been my whole life??? This meal is nothing short of fabulous. To the very last bite. I love love love brunch but never think to incorporate brunch food items at dinner time. Why Not?? I honestly could eat this at least once a week and here's why:

1. It's the most extravagent comfort food that has ever touched my lips
2. The warm melted brie over the fresh sesame bagel, topped with lovely drizzled honey and a smattering of toasted almond flakes ... this is the only food that appealed to me ALL DAY as I was feeling under the weather.
3. I realize that #2 is merely a description of the ingredients going into this melt, but oh ... can't you just taste it???
4. Fresh fruit salad on the side gives that perfect "bite" to freshen the palate between creamy yummy bites of brie