Family favourites (old and new)
The Dahlia Bakery Cook book has a recipe for roasted carrot, leek and goat cheese hand pies which looked interesting so I thought I’d give it a go with the ingredients I had on hand. I also had a whole bag of rye flour left …
Mmmmmm pie. Buttermilk lemon pie…double mmmm. Thank you to Taste of Home for a quick and awesome pie recipe. Just a quick note on buttermilk…it’s super good for you and is great for making biscuits, scones and coffee cake…and this pie! I didn’t change a …
My daughter is on a gluten free kick and loves banana bread so I set out to find a good recipe for gluten free banana muffins. This one is a mishmash of several on the web including a gluten free, vegan optional version from Minimalistbaker.com. I didn’t bother with the vegan bit and I used coconut sugar as the sweeter which tastes like cane sugar. I found them a bit drier than I like so next time I will consider adding 1/4 c. of coconut oil (since I have some organic coconut oil in the cupboard that I’ve never tried).
2 eggs
2 medium ripe bananas mashed (I raided the banana graveyard in my freezer)
3 Tbsp coconut sugar ( you could use agave, maple syrup, honey…or “gasp” sugar if you like)
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 c ground almonds (the recipe called for almond meal but they are really pretty much the same thing)
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp oat flour (just grind large flake oats in a food processor…works like a charm)
Baked chicken kabobs are quick, easy and great with a spinach salad. This meal takes 30 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to bake. Chicken Kabobs 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in chunks 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar 1 tsp …
This easy vegetarian trio of roasted cauliflower, asian baked tofu and brown rice is healthy and satisfying. It takes a little preparation but once that’s done it’s smooth sailing. Brown Rice The rice takes the longest amount of time so start by cooking up 1 …
I told my friend Paula I’d cook her dinner and asked her what she wanted. “Spaghetti” was the response. Normally I just wing spaghetti sauce with whatever I have on hand but today I decided I’d have a look to see if what I think is “Spag Bol” is really authentic. Not even close. I never put in red wine (an excellent idea) and I normally tart it up with way more various grasses and spices than are necessary. I decided to follow a recipe from the Telegraph that purported to be the Real McCoy. Unfortunately, the recipe missed a few things (like when to add certain ingredients that were listed)…but I’m pretty good as making it up as I go along so that’s what is recorded below. Oh and I doubled the garlic. Result: I don’t care if it’s authentic or not…it’s really good.
2 tbsp olive oil
6 rashers of streaky ‘pancetta’ bacon, chopped or any good quality bacon (I used President’s Choice Wilthshire Smoked Bacon)
2 large onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 carrots, chopped
Stick of celery
1kg/2¼lb lean ground beef…I used close 3 lbs so added extra tomatoes
2 large glasses of red wine (I used a demi bottle of Valpolicella)
1 796 mL can organic diced tomatoes
1 540 mL can chopped tomatoes (I used Alymer Accents Garlic and olive oil)
2 fresh or dried bay leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cooked pasta of your choice.
Freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve
Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and fry the bacon until golden over a medium heat. Add the onions and fry for about 3 minutes, add garlic, frying until softened. Increase the heat and add the minced beef. Fry it until it has browned. Pour in the wine and boil until it has reduced in volume by about a third. Reduce the temperature and stir in the tomatoes, carrots, celery, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
The recipe says to cover with a lid and simmer over a gentle heat for 1-1½ hours until it’s rich and thickened, stirring occasionally. I didn’t bother covering it and it was fine but maybe that’s because of the extra tomatoes.
Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water according to the package directions. Drain and divide between plates. Sprinkle a little parmesan over the pasta before a healthy spoonful of sauce (or two). Sprinkle with a little more cheese and fresh pepper.
Serves 4 with left overs.
Beef and beer stew is perfect for a Fall evening and pretty easy…just takes a while to simmer so make it the night before. I used Jamie Oliver’s Beef & Ale Stew and added in some fresh made in-house beef and bacon sausages that I …
Quinoa and kale are great combined. Add in aromatic toasted almonds for crunch and dried cranberries for a hit of sweet to offset the kale and WHAM…yummy salad (even if the photo is a bit blurry…I was shaking from hunger). Ingredients: 1 bunch kale washed …
One of my favourite Thai soups is Tom Kha Gai. It’s a mildly spicy soup with coconut milk to add a bit of body and flavour. For this soup I used the Thai Tom Yum Soup spice paste from Asian Home Gourmet. It’s a bit of a cheat but at $2.79 a packet it is more economical then buying all the ingredients you need to make a home made broth and it has no MSG. As it turns out this soup tastes a LOT like the Singapore Laksa they serve at Freshbowl. The mildly spicy flavour is balanced with a nice zing from lime juice and a hit of fish sauce.
1 50g packet of Asian Home Gourmet Thai Tom Yum Soup spice paste.
4 c. chicken stock
1 can coconut milk
1-2 tsp fish sauce
juice of one lime
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite sized chunks
1 c. sliced carrots (or a small bag baby carrots)
1 c. chopped broccoli (florets and stems)
Handful of chopped cilantro for garnish
Bring the chicken stock to a boil and stir in the spice paste until dissolved. Add the coconut milk. Bring the stock back to a boil and add the vegetables. Bring it back to a boil and add the chicken pieces. Reduce heat and simmer and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked). Stir in the fish sauce and lime juice.
You could serve this over jasmine rice or over rice vermicelli noodles which is what I did.
I used Sparkle brand rice vermicelli. It comes bundled in 5 individual bundles that are roughly 50g and I used 1 per serving. Put the dry noodles into a pot and cover them with boiling water to loosen them (takes about 3 minutes). Strain and rinse with cold water. Add them to your soup pot or you can put them in the bottom of individual serving bowls and spoon the soup over top.
Serve immediately.
Makes enough for 6-8 people.
Sugar cookies are a favourite at our house and we’ve tried many recipes but the best one I’ve found is this one that came courtesy of a cookie exchange I did years ago with my “Mom + Tots” friends (they know who they are ;)). …