Family favourites (old and new)
So I finally managed to get some pork sausage so I could follow Jamie Oliver’s original recipe for Jool’s Pregnant Pasta. As luck would have it The Honest Butcher had not only pork sausage but pork sausage with fennel – oh happy day. I bought …
We don’t eat a tonne of meat at our house but when I do make something for the resident carnivore (my darling boy) I don’t stint on quality. As I’ve mentioned before I’m lucky enough to live within an easy walk of The Honest Butcher. …
Roasting veggies brings out their full flavour and sweetness. They are great on their own, in a sandwich or tossed with your favourite pasta orrrr in a quiche! There are no rules with roasting veggies. For the quiche I happened to have green, yellow and orange peppers and some adorable Indian eggplants that needed cooking.
Easy Peasy Roasted Veggies
Red, Green, Yellow and Orange bell peppers washed, cored and cut in chunks (use whatever colour you have on hand)
1 red onion peeled, quartered and quartered again (break part)
Peeled cloves of garlic from one head. No need to chop them they’ll roast nicely as they are. For easy peeling just squash with the flat blade of a cleaver and the skins should slide right off .
1 medium sized zuccini cut in 1/4″ rounds
1 medium sized yellow zuccini cut in 1/4″ rounds
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp each dried thyme, basil and oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp good quality balsamic vinegar for drizzling
My kids are not big breakfast eaters during the school week. This is a bad habit they got from me (I’m a coffee for breakfast kinda gal). So, to atone for my sins (today anyway), I’m making some healthy chocolate zucchini muffins. I have added …
Another late dance pick up another “What the ‘blank’ do I make for dinner that’s fast?” night. Quiche? Nah. Who wants to fiddle with pie crust when they’re tired. Instead…I made a frittata. You can use pretty much any veggies you have around…that Mann’s broccoli …
It’s November and raining in Vancouver…what a surprise. I made Jamie Oliver’s Perfect Roast Chicken the other night and rather than chuck out the carcass I did the Scottish thing – I made soup stock. But then I got lazy. So two days later we are having chicken and dumplings (good ol’ Bisquick).
Ingredients:
1 roasted chicken carcass (meat left on the bone) and any left over roasted veg
1 tsp white pepper balls
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
2 allspice balls
Put the carcass and any left over veg into a stock pot and cover with water. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 hour or more, cool and strain. Make whatever soup you please or make mine.
For this soup saute about 2 c. of mirepoix (equal amounts of diced onion, carrot and celery) in 1 Tbsp butter until the onion goes translucent. Add the stock and a tsp of dried thyme. Let the soup simmer another hour. Chop up 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts into large chunks and add to simmering broth. Simmer about 7 minutes while you make the dumplings. The dumplings are just 2 c. Bisquick mixed with 2/3 c. milk. Bring the soup to a boil and drop the dumbling dough in one Tbsp at a time until it’s gone. Make sure each dumpling gets dunked under the broth. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes uncovered. Put a lid on the pot and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve.
We love samosas. Heads up…this has a kick to it so if you don’t like strong spices…make something else. If the thought of making a gajillion samosa cones does not thrill you try a samosa pie recipe. I settled on this one from Bhavna’s kitchen. You …
On weeknights who needs to spend an hour our more cooking dinner…particularly when you’ve just dragged yourself home from work? Not me, that’s who. This is a version of Jamie Oliver’s “Jool’s Pregnant Pasta” from his 30 Minute Meals series. I like to support the …
I got this recipe from Jamie’s 30 minute meals video series but couldn’t find the lovely pastry cases he used at No Frills (must have been a “frilly” item) so I fudged it with sweetened tart shells. So far I’m baking off 12 and I had loads of frangipani left so I suspect it’s closer to 24 (which is good to know because these are easy peasy and would be great for a Christmas treat). I found the jam a little too sweet for my taste but my kids didn’t seem to have any issues.
This recipe made enough frangipane filling for 18 standard tart shells. With the six I had left over I thought I’d try just apricots. I just soaked 6 apricots in boiling water, opened them up and placed them inside down on top of the first tsp of frangipane and topped with the second.
Next time I think I’ll try some diced apple that has been tossed in lemon juice to balance the sweetness. Overall this is a super easy recipe so I’m game to make them again and try some different variations.
Ingredients:
100 g softened butter
90 g golden caster sugar (I used berry sugar because I had it on hand)
100 g ground almond flour (I used ground almonds)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla (the good stuff)
zest of half an orange (I forgot this bit the first dozen so it may have cut the sweetness d’oh)
pinch of salt
Raspberry Jam (I think it would also be good with apricot jam)
Cook off the tart shells for 9 minutes @ 375 F and let them cool completely.
Beat butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almonds. Add the pinch of salt.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Place a scant tsp of jam in each tart shell. Place a tsp of frangipani on top. Follow with another tsp of jam and end with another tsp of frangipani.
Bake for 18 minutes.
My family is from Timmins, Ontario. Wild rice (really a grass but, like rice, also gluten free) is readily available in the north (or was) and my Mom’s sister, my Auntie Kaija, would always make this dish at holiday time (among other treats…stay tuned). However, …