Ginger Beet Salad

Made this delicious little bugger the other night. Serves 4+ as a side.

• 5 beets
• 3 leaves of black kale
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp fresh basil
• 4 dried figs
• 3 Tbsp pecans
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 3 Tbsp feta cheese
• 1 Tbsp balsamic reduction
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Peel and cube the beets. Steam for 15-20 minutes until you can easily poke them with a fork. Meanwhile, remove the stems from the kale and chop it up nice and fine. Add it to your salad bowl along with the lemon juice and olive oil. Massage the kale in the oil and lemon for 3-5 minutes. Next, chop up your basil, figs and pecans and mix in with the kale. Once the beets are cooked rinse them under cold water to stop them cooking more. Add them to the salad bowl along with the ginger,  and feta. Stir well. Add the balsamic vinegar and reduction and stir again. For an extra delicious salad, cover and refrigerate over night to let the flavours mingle... but it's pretty good straight away as well. 

Celery, Apple, Roasted Garlic and Blue Cheese Soup

This blended soup turned out really nice so I thought I'd share!

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 white onion chopped
• 1 bulb roasted garlic chopped
• 4 stalks celery chopped
• 1 gala apple chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh (or frozen) basil
• the zest and juice of 1 lemon

Combine all of the above and simmer over medium-high heat for 8 minutes. 

• 6 cups of chicken stock
• 30 grams / 2oz of danish blue cheese

Add the stock and blue cheese and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Blend the soup using a hand held blender, food processor, or regular blender. 

• garnish with a fresh basil leaf

Roasted Peppered Meatballs with "Stuffing" and Balsamic Roast Beets

Gee I wish I weren't so busy with the food prep to forget about taking pictures! Anyhow... here's another one the hubby was raving about. And by raving I mean eating with his eyes closed and moaning and groaning and eating seconds even when he was full. Serves 2 as a main.

2 medium-large beets peeled and quartered
1 Tbsp balsamic reduction

3 slices whole-grain bread
3 Tbsp danish blue cheese
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves roasted garlic
3 Tbsp shaved fresh (or frozen) basil

1 lb organic grass-fed ground beef, thawed
1 egg
1 Tbsp HP sauce (or apple cider vinegar)
4 Tbsp fresh cracked ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground sage
salt

1. Place the beets in a saucepan with an inch and a half of water at the bottom and turn heat to medium-high. Steam for approximately 12 minutes until tenter but not mushy.

2. Cut bread into small squares and place in a small roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Add shaved basil, blue cheese and roasted garlic and squish it all around with your fingers. Be sure to get a little bit of cheese and oil on all the pieces of bread.

3. Place the beets on top of the bread and cheese mixture. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Celsius.

4. Mix the beef, egg, and HP in a bowl. Grind the pepper fresh, 1 Tbsp at a time, onto a plate. Form 1.5" diameter meatballs out of the beef mixture and roll them into the ground pepper. Place the peppered meatballs into the casserole dish (dispersed semi-evenly).

5. Sprinkle with sage and salt then bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes until you can smell the smells emanating from the oven. You can check to be sure it's done by splitting a meatball and making sure there is no red inside.


Enjoy! We sure did!

Zuchinni & Sundried Tomato Tagine

Wow! I stumbled across this recipe recently (found in my fave cookbook The Kitchen Garden Cookbook), which I proceeded to alter like crazy, and my guy was beside himself pleased with it. He made me promise to post the recipe here and that we would sell it in our restaurant as soon as we have one. For those of you who don't know, Tagine is a sort of cross between soup and stew. There is a nice amount of falvourful liquid broth and lots of chunky ingredients. It is normally served over cous-cous, but in this case I served it on basmati rice and it was deeeelish. Serves 4 as a main.

1/4 Olive Oil
1 white onion chopped
1 red onion chopped
1 large orange pepper
1 bulb roasted garlic (I like to pre-roast up to 4 bulbs for the week for cooking and store in the fridge)
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice mix)
1 x 14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbsp honey
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper

1lb zucchini halved lengthwise then cut into 1" sections
1 cup soft romano beans
3/4 cup moist sundried tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped

1. Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan over low heat. Add the onions, orange pepper and roasted garlic (peeled). Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are softened but not brown.

2. Add the cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, cinnamon and grated ginger for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, honey and S&P and stir again. Simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Start the basmati rice. I recommend 1 cup rice with 2 cups water simmered on medium-low until the water is absorbed by the rice (approximately 15 minutes). If done before the rest, it's OK to leave it on the stove with the lid on and burner turned off.

4. Add the zucchini, beans, and sundried tomato to the sauce and cook for 7 more minutes.

5. Remove from heat, add fresh cilantro to the sauce and stir it all up. Serve over a bed of basmati rice.

Fried Chickpeas with Parsley Salad

I went to an "ethnic" potluck last night, but I wanted to make something up, so after a little brain storming I decided to use the deep fried chickpeas from Campagnolo Restaurant as inspiration for this dish. It must have turned out well as people were excited and asking for the recipe... so here it is! You can really use whatever spices you want. I did some up with curry and cumin and they were good, too, but the ones below were my fave. Takes maybe 35 minutes and makes a bit of a mess... wear an apron!


SALAD PREP
1 small onion
1 cup vinegar

For the salad bit you're going to fresh-pickle an onion, so dice it up and submerge it into a cup of vinegar.

FRIED CHICKPEAS
1 large can of chickpeas
1 egg beaten (may need two depending on size)
3/4 cup flour 2 Tbsp coriander seed
1 tsp ground cardamom
4 tsp white sugar
2 tsp salt
1/3 cup fresh mint shaved (cut into strips)
1/2 cup canola oil (or similar) for frying

Open, drain and rinse your chickpeas. Beat an egg into a sizeable flat dish. Cut up your coriander seed as best you can. They tend to go flying so if you can guard the edges of your cutting board, and dampen the cut with your hands, you'll make less mess. In a medium mixing bowl mix all the flour, chopped coriander seeds, ground cardamom, sugar and salt. You may wish to put half the mixture aside to have some fresh stuff for your second batch. Also cut up your mint have it ready. Put your oil in a frying pan and turn it on high. Make sure your hood fan is on and you have a lid nearby. You'll also want a bowl with paper towels on the bottom nearby to put the chickpeas in when they come out of the frying pan, and a slotted spoon or spatula for transferring them from the pan to this bowl.

Take about as many chickpeas as will fit along the bottom of the pan and coat them with egg. Then coat them thoroughly with the flour mixture. Ideally they'll all be separate little balls. Once the oil is hot (it'll start crackling a bit), remove the balls of chickpea from the flour and put them into the pan. Sprinkle some fresh mint over top. Put the lid on and let cook for 6-10 minutes - stir frequently to brown on all sides. Remove from heat and oil into the bowl with paper towel in it.
Repeat as necessary.


PARSLEY SALAD

1 fresh-pickled onion
2 cups chopped parsley
.5 diced red pepper
1 Tbsp avacado oil
1 Tbsp olive oil juice of
1 big lime

 Combine all the above into a salad. Serve with fried chickpeas on top.

Dani's Eggplant Parmesan

This one turned out really well; so well, in fact, that my man called it "perfect" so I thought I'd better share. This takes about an hour to make (most of that is just "waiting time")and serves 4.


LAYER ONE 
1 eggplant
1.5 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp pepper

 LAYER TWO 
1 jar of PC roasted tomato sauce

LAYER THREE 
1 large dinner roll
6 springs of fresh oregano

 LAYER FOUR 
150g medium swiss cheese
150g grated parmesan
1 egg beaten


PREP 

Slice your eggplant to about 1/2 inch thick, salt thoroughly on both sides, place in a colander either in the sink or with a dish underneath to catch the liquid. Leave 30 minutes. 15 or so minutes later you can mix LAYER FOUR together in a bowl and have it ready (FYI it will be a pretty thick mixture). Cut your dinner roll into cubes and put them aside. Remove the leaves from the oregano stalks and put them aside. Just before your half hour is up, put the olive oil in a fry pan on medium-high and shake some pepper in it. You'll know the oil is hot enough when the pepper starts sizzling in the pan. While waiting for that to happen, rinse the salt off the eggplant slices. Next, fry your eggplant on both sides. Use more olive oil for the next panful if necessary. The eggplant flesh should turn green (not brown) when it's ready. Place along the bottom of a 12" x 9" dish (or similar). Heat the oven to 350 F.

BUILDING THE CASSEROLE 


The idea is to layer each of the layers above at least twice. Start with eggplant, then pour some tomato sauce on top, then sprinkle cubes of bread and fresh oregano. Next put some of the cheese and egg mixture. I use my hands because of how thick it is and just disperse little globs of it across the layer (I don't cover the entire pan with it). Do it all over again. Cover the dish with tinfoil. If your pan is really full you might want to put some toothpicks in the food so that the tinfoil isn't touching it (the cheese will stick and make a mess if it's touching). bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes remove the tinfoil, crank the oven to broil and put back in until the cubes of bread on the top turn golden. Et voila!

Blond Chili

This is a nice hearty and spicy dish that feeds 4-5 and takes about 40 minutes start to finish.

Add the following to a pot on medium high, stirring occasionally.

1 lb ground beef (sautéed about 5 minutes before adding next ingredients)

1 small onion chopped

1 carrot sliced 1/16" thick

1 potato peeled and cubed

6-8 dehydrated garlic slices (failing that just put fresh slices in, so 2 cloves or so)

1.5 yellow peppers diced

12 tomatillos (you can use frozen, whole tomatillos in winter)

1 cup corn kernels

1 can of kidney beans rinsed well

12 pickled jalapeños (you can pickle these super easily from fresh jalapeños, sliced, placed in vinegar with a clove of garlic and stored in the cupboard for at least a week)

1.5 tsp cumin

1.5 tsp chli powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper

1 tsp fennel seed

1 kaffir leaf

3 dashes worsecstershire sauce

3 dashes franks

Lower heat and cook with a lid on top for 30 minutes. Dissolve 1 tsp of corn starch in 1 tsp cold water, add to chili and stir to thicken juices. Let stand for 15 minutes before eating. Top with an aged white cheddar if you aren't counting calories. 

Altered Nanaimo Bars

This is my mom's recipe altered to make it a bit more like a macaroon... because my sweetie loves his coconut! Super easy to make, takes about 15-20 minutes.

Melt in a small pot over low heat:
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 4 Tbsp cocoa

Add 1 beaten egg and stir until thickened. Remove from heat.

Stir into above:
• 1 3/4 cup cocount
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts, but I'm allergic and never use 'em)

Press it all into a greased 9" square baking pan or equivalent. Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

Cream together the following:
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 3 Tbsp Triple Sec or Grand Marnier orange liqueur
• zest of orange (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Spread over the cooled base. Pop it back in the freezer while you melt the following over low heat:
• 5 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 2 Tbsp butter

Pour over icing and refrigerate until the chocolate is getting firm. Cut them into small squares, contain them (place wax paper between layers so they don't stick together), and store them in the freezer until you want to serve them. I think they're best cold!

Chocolate Chocolate Candied Orange Cookies

This is a fairly elaborate cookie recipe, but if you're like me and agree that good things come with time and effort, you won't mind. Alternatively, if you don't want to candy oranges, just add more chocolate chips to the cookie recipe instead. So I'll split this into 2 recipes. The orange recipe is borrowed, but the cookie recipe is made up.

Candied Oranges
Takes 35-40 minutes + drying time (mine took 1.5 days to fully dry)

1 orange
1/2 cup sugar

In a no-stick frying pan bring 1.5 cups of water to a boil. Add 1/2 cup white sugar and boil 5 more minutes. Slice your orange into 1/4 inch thick half moons and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 30 minutes, flipping the orange slices occasionally. The sugar water will reduce to a thick syrup and all but disappear. The oranges should now have a thick glossy coating. Remove orange slices and lay them out on wax or parchment paper tO dry. If you like, or if the oranges don't seem coated enough to you, sprinkle some sugar on each side before drying. These should keep quite a long time if sealed away and can be eaten straight, added to desserts or used as garnish on cocktails.

Cookies
Makes 16-20 cookies, takes about 30 minutes including cook time.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

Cream together the following in a mixing bowl:
3/4 cup soft butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Add and beat well:
2 eggs

Melt in a saucepan on low heat:
2 bakers semisweet squares
2 tsp butter

Add the melted chocolate to the contents of the bowl and mix thoroughly. Next add the ingredients below, mixing the dry ingredients together a bit first, then into the wet mixture:

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup icing sugar
Dash salt

Finally, stir in:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup candied orange pieces (your half moons cut into little 1/8" pieces)
Zest of 1 orange

Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. You can tell they're done when a) you can smell them and b) there is only a dime-sized moist/glossy spot remaining in the center of the cookie.

Zesty Sauceless Spinach & Tomato Pasta

This dish is one of my favourites when i don't have a lot of time for prep... so quick and fresh! I'm sure someone out there has made this before, but in my head i like to think i made it up. Serves 4, takes 15 minutes.

1.5 cups of dried pasta (any kind will work, but i usually use hand-made short pasta)
2 tomatoes
1 bunch of spinach
1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic
3 Tbsp olive oil
15 pitted kalmata olives
12 leaves of fresh basil
1/3 cup feta or fresh ricotta cheese (I prefer feta, but they're both good. If you use ricotta be sure to add a couple dashes of salt)
Pepper

In a large saucepan boil your pasta til it's el dante. Meanwhile dice your tomatoes, wash and trim the roots off your spinach, chop your kalmata olives and shave your basil. You may also have time to zest your lemon and then cut it in half in preparation for squeezing.

To shave basil: take all your leaves and stack them on top of one another flat, with the largest ones sandwiching the rest together, then, roll them tightly from one end to the other like you'd roll a sleeping bag. With a sharp knife start at one end of the roll and slice it off as thin as you can. This makes long threads of basil.

Once the pasta is done, drained and rinsed put a little bit of oil on it so it doesn't stick together. You can leave it in the colander for now.

In the pan that used to hold the pasta, put the rest of the olive oil on medium heat. Crush your garlic into it and add the olives, lemon zest and pepper. This flavours the oil which in turn will coat the dish. Let that do it's thing for about 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and squeeze the lemon juice into the pot and let it do it's thing for another 1 minute.  Lastly, add the pasta, spinach, basil and feta. Stir and heat for another 2 minutes. You'll know it's done when your spinach is wilted but still bright green.