Pickles!

Who doesn't love pickles in one form or another? Pick your favourite veggies and make yourself a great homemade snack! 

Ingredients

   half a head of cauliflower

   3 stalks of celery

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups filtered water
2 tablespoons salt
 4 garlic cloves, peeled
 4 teaspoons dill
2 teaspoons black peppercorns

   2 teaspoons mustard seeds

1 teaspoon red chili flakes ( or a chopped up fresh chili )

Directions

1. Wash and dry jars. Wash and dry veggies ( I used celery and cauliflower ).  Cut into chips, spears or leave whole, depending on your biting preference.

2. Combine vinegar, water and salt in sauce pan and bring to a boil.3. Equally divide garlic cloves, dill, black peppercorns, mustard seed and chili between jars. Pack prepared veggies into jars as tightly as you can without crushing them.4. Pour the brine into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

5. Let sit for a minimum of 24 hours before indulging, the longer the wait, the more pickely you get!

Sweet Potato/Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups

A semi healthy twist on a classic.  

Ingredients

For the Sweet Potato Parmesan Sauce: 

3 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
2 tbsp fresh grated parmesan cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the Lasagna:

whole wheat lasagna noodles
1/2 cup of wilted spinach
1 cup fat free ricotta cheese 
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt and fresh pepper
shredded Italian Blend Cheese to top
2 tbsp parsley, minced

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add sweet potato and cook until soft. Drain from pot but reserve 1 cup of the water and set aside, then blend until smooth with an immersion blender or mash, adding 1/4 cup  of the reserved liquid to thin out.
2. Meanwhile, in a large deep non-stick pan, add the oil, sauté the shallots, onion and garlic over medium-low heat until soft and golden, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add pureed sweet potato, season with with salt and fresh cracked pepper and add a little more of the reserved water to thin out to your liking. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the parmesan cheese and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Ladle about 1/2 cup butternut sauce sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.4. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. 
5. Lay out lasagna noodles to cool and dry. Make sure noodles are dry before rolling! Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.
6. Ladle about 1 cup of sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp Italian cheese blend. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts.  I put my oven on broil for the last 5 minutes to get the cheese a bit crispy and brown. Top with parsley and I also added green onions to serve. 

To serve, ladle a little extra sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

Chocolate Whiskey Cupcakes

It's November in Toronto and that means three things....

1. It's almost Christmas!

2. It's cold.

3. It's Sophie's birthday!!!!!

Sophie Marguerite Roberts born on November 5th, 1982 is one of my dearest friends and we have been known to share a few evenings over many single malts.  In lieu of such occasion, I whipped up a batch of these to welcome her with warm whiskey arms to her 'almost mid thirties'.  

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt 
2 eggs
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1/2 cup Whiskey ( your choice! )
1 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together wet ingredients. 
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and whisk until just combined and mostly smooth. {Don't overdo it, it'll make for tough cupcakes.}
5. Scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 of the way full. 
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.
7. Let cool completely before frosting. I also added unsweetened coconut for some texture, but you can add whatever topping you like!

Intermission

After a prolonged intermission of Cheese Please, I'm happy to announce the return of flavour to your eyes. There won't be any recipes today but in return, a compilation of some delicious things consumed over the last six months...

CNE eats, Shrimp Tacos and a Pork Sandwich.

 Misto Platter at Ganzi http://ganzi.ca/

 Cheese board pairing at Reif Estate Winery http://www.reifwinery.com/

 Tsukemen Ramen at Raijin http://ramenraijin.com/

 Shrimp Fest Fundraiser! We ate shrimp and the kids get to play sports!

 Salad Days Fattoush Salad saladdaystoronto.wordpress.com/

Tips & Tricks

For anyone that spends as much time in the kitchen as I do, you're welcome.

Mother's Dumplings

Over the past month I've become slightly obsessed with dumplings. I've always loved them, and if put in front of me, I would never leave one to not join the rest of his friends, but now I think I've taken it to another level. Last week I went to our new local Asian Supermarket and got all the fixin's for several types of dumplings. Rice flour, wheat starch, tapioca starch, shaoxing wine, ground pork, shrimp and the list goes on.... but before I got my hands dirty I had to do some research first!

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon for Mother's Dumplings!

We ordered the kimchi to start which was fresh and had a slight sweetness to it which was a nice change to other japanese style kimchi's we were used to.

Then on to some boiled pork and dill dumplings which were loaded with dill! These were light and tasty, everything you would ever want in a dumpling.

Finally we had a couple of beef buns and an order of steamed shrimp, egg and chive dumplings. Everything we ordered gave me the inspiration I needed to start my own dumpling factory at home.

Stay tuned for my homemade attempts...

Homemade Vietnamese

I've always had weakness for the Vietnamese cuisine.  There's something about the combination of sweet, savoury and spicy flavours but with that, still light and refreshing, that has an addictive quality. These three recipes are definite staples in any  Vietnamese restaurant and turned out ridiculously tasty at home too! 

Bun Bo! ( Beef and Vermicelli Bowl )

Ingredients

Vermicelli noodles

Beef ( any way you like it, I chose cubed tenderloin pieces )

1/4 cup minced lemongrass 

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp ground pepper

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 shallots, minced

3 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

To dress bowl:

Thai Basil, cilantro, cucumbers, beansprouts, peanuts, scallions, carrots, nuoc mam cham

Directions

Place vermicelli in boiling water for about 6-8 min, stirring regularly so it won’t stick to the bottom of the pot. The noodles should be still slightly firm but easily break apart. Drain and flush with cold water to stop cooking process. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl with beef to marinate for a minimum of 1 hour.  Pan fry beef with excess sauce until cooked to your liking. In a large bowl, combine vermicelli with grilled beef, fresh thai basil, cilantro, cucumbers, beansprouts, crushed roasted peanuts, fried scallions, carrots and dress with nuoc mam cham.

Nuoc Mam Cham ( Dipping Sauce )

Ingredients

1/2 cup of warm water

1 tbsp rice vinegar 

2 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes)

2 tbsp sugar

1 hot thai chile 

3 cloves of garlic

1/8 cup fish sauce

Directions

Mix warm water and sugar together until sugar is dissolved. Add lime juice, vinegar, minced garlic and chilies. Finally, add the fish sauce and stir. For a deeper red color, add some chile garlic sauce. You can also add pickled carrots and daikon into the nuoc mam cham for a more authentic taste.

Cha Gio ( Spring Rolls )

Ingredients

1 lb ground pork
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup wood ear mushroom, soaked
1 cup bean thread noodle, soaked and cut
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 package rice paper

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Any type of ground meat can be substituted or combined such as chicken or turkey or pork and shrimp.

Place about 2 tbsp of filling onto the edge of your wrapper and roll up the sides. Fry in small batches at 350 degrees until golden brown. Place on a plate with paper towel to get rid of excess oil.

Note: Rice paper will never brown as nice as wheat based paper. If using rice paper, fry only a few at a time, do not let rolls touch each other or they will stick together.