Family favourites (old and new)
My Dad’s side of the family is Scottish so I decided to make a couple different kinds of shortbread this year. I did up a traditional Scottish shortbread which is basically butter, brown sugar and flour and a whipped shortbread which is butter (again), confectioner’s …
These are my friend Laura’s famous Christmas Tree Cookies. I forgot to write out the recipe and in truth they are super fiddley to make (even Laura says so). They are basically a linzer cookie (hazelnut cookie) filled with raspberry jam. I don’t know that …
I make this recipe every holiday season. My kids love them and this recipe makes a tonne of cookies that freeze really well. In fact, they are great straight out of the freezer. My friend Stacy gave me the original base recipe and my friend Crystal (a Chef) recommended adding white pepper for an extra kick. The white pepper makes this cookie as far as I’m concerned.
Makes about 6 dozen depending on how big you roll the dough balls.
This recipe comes via my good friend Laura’s kitchen (she makes very yummy things). It was one of the recipes we made on our cookie day. These are lovely, savoury bite sized pieces that melt in your mouth. They require restraint lest you have a …
I had a baking day with my friend Laura yesterday. Ok so it was a baking, mulled wine and cheese and crackers day. The base recipe is from Julee Rosso’s classic, Great Good Food. I thought it would be good with toasted almonds and dried …
This is another recipe from the Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book. It was quite tasty with good ol’ fish sticks so I thought I’d share it.
Ingredients:
3/4 c. Mayo
1 large finely chopped pickle
2 Tbsp finely chopped capers
1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley or chervil
2 green onions finely chopped
1 tsp Horse-radish
Combine ingredients, blend well and serve with fish or cold meat.
Makes about 1 cup. Refrigerate leftovers.
So…apparently only the bunny hill was open at Grouse Mountain on Friday so the girls decided they’d do some Christmas baking (aka destroying my kitchen). But, who am I to discourage the making of goodies. First up…Gingerbread with Caramel Sauce. The Gingerbread recipe came from …
My daughter loves Chinese green onion pancakes. She particularly likes the ones her friend Steph’s Mom Cathy makes. Cathy graciously shared her recipe with me and I made them tonight. They were delicious. Thank you Cathy! Ingredients: 2 eggs 1/4 c. water 1/4 c. flour …
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 3 to make this recipe (they are a good size). I also decided to use egg noodles.
Ingredients:
3 Honest Butcher house-made pork sausages with fennel (approx 400 g)
1 medium yellow onion peeled and quartered
4 spring onions, rough chopped
1 carrot, rough chopped
3 sticks of celery, rough chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper deseeded (it’s the seeds that provide most of the heat)
1 pinch of dried oregano (to be honest I’m guessing…it was some sort of dried (legal) herb)
4 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 jar of Passata strained tomatoes (I used Mutti brand) (700 g)
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 package egg noodles
Put the rough chopped veggies in a food processor and whiz for a few seconds. With the motor running feed the sausages through the feed tube and whiz until you get a meatloaf like substance – don’t worry it breaks up when you fry it. Heat the olive oil in a big frying pan and add the sausage and veggie ragu. Fry, breaking up as you go. If it’s good quality sausage (and David’s is very good) you won’t get a lot of grease so there’s no need to drain it. Add the oregano (or other legal dried herb), fennel seeds and crush the garlic into the meat with a garlic press. Add the balsamic vinegar and fry for about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer while you bring the pasta water to a boil. Cook the whole package of egg noodles. Drain off but keep about a cup of the pasta water to thin the sauce. Add the drained pasta to the frying pan, stir, add some pasta water to create a “sikly” consistency and serve with fresh grated parmesan (or not…I had mine with just salt and fresh ground pepper).
House carnivore comments: “Umph that smells good” and (after tasting) the “Mmmmm” sound Homer Simpson makes.
House vegetarian comments: “It’s yummy” ?!? Nuff said.
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. …