Family favourites (old and new)
I’ve been making soup lately and I think I’ve finally perfected my chicken soup recipe. I have received independent verification of a high “yum” factor from two separate sources who are not related to me or in any way financially dependent upon me. Of course …
I always liked apple butter as a kid but we didn’t buy it very often. Had we only known a crock pot (aka slow cooker) could make the stuff without much fuss then we would have made much better use of the apple trees on …
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 over from Christmas time when my Mom made Piirakka (a Finnish hand pie of sorts) so I decided to find a rye flour pie crust recipe. The version I found is here (you make it in your food processor and I made the version with 1/2 shortening and 5 Tbsp butter). Alternatively, use your favourite pie crust recipe.
The pie crust was delicious but it was a bit finicky to work with (very soft). It has almost a sweet flavour even though there is no sugar in it.
A note about Persian feta…it is awesome. It is creamy and delicate in flavour and lacks that sharp tang you sometimes get from cheapo cow’s milk feta. If you can get it, do but I think this will work just as well with your favourite feta.
Make the filling first and make your pastry while the veggies are roasting.
3 medium sided onions, halved and sliced3 medium yams cut into cubes
1/2 a fennel bulb sliced
5 cloves garlic minced
3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 c. Persian feta crumbled
Whisk together:
1 large egg yolk
1 Tbsp cold water
Preheat oven to 425 F. Heat oil in a big cast iron frying pan and toss ingredients (except feta) together. Move to oven for roasting. If you don’t have a big enough frying pan toss the ingredients in a bowl to coat with the oil and spread on a parchment lined baking sheet. Either way, bake 20 minutes, stir, bake for a further 20 minutes until veggies are tender and remove from oven to cool to room temperature.
Reduce oven temperature to 375 F.
Remove pastry from the fridge and cut into 4 pieces each. Roll on lightly floured service into circles. Using a pastry brush, brush a 1/2 border on the lower half of the circle and fill with 1/4 cup filling, sprinkle with crumbled feta and fold top half over, pinching the pastry edges closed with a fork. Move to parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat until all your dough and filing is used up. Brush the tops of the piece with your egg wash mixture. Bake @ 375 F for about 30 minutes until golden.
They aren’t the prettiest pastries I’ve ever made but they are very tasty!
NOTE: I used the other half of the pastry dough to just do a simple pie.
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. …
Baked chicken kabobs are quick, easy and great with a spinach salad. This meal takes 30 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to bake.
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in chunks
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
zest of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic minced
8 cherry tomatoes
fresh ground salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Mix the ingredients together and let stand 20 minutes at room temperature. Thread 3 pieces, followed by a tomatoe and three more pieces of chicken onto 8 wooden skewers. Keep going until the chicken is gone and place skewers on the lined cookie sheet. Grind salt and pepper over top. Bake for 20 minutes. Broil for a couple minutes to brown if desired.
While the chicken is baking make the spinach salad.
Toast 1/4 c pine nuts in a dry pan and let cool.
Place 2 large handfuls of baby spinach into a bowl.
Crumble 1/4 c feta cheese on top.
Dress with oil and vinegar dressing and top with the pine nuts.
Remove chicken from oven and let cool long enough to handle the skewers. Plate the salad and unskewer the chicken and tomatoes on top. This would also be good served in a warm pita.
Serves 4
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 …
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 got from our new local butcher, West Broadway Meat Co.
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
2 stalks celery
1 large carrot
3 bay leaves
2 c. chopped tomatoes (canned are fine…I used up some left over strained tomatoes and added enough chopped fresh to get to 2 cups)
bottle of beer topped up with water to make 2 c.
2 c. cubed stewing beef
2 beef and bacon sausages chopped in rounds
1 Tbsp flour
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Rough chop all your vegetables and put them in a big pot.
Add the bay leaves and olive oil and fry on medium for 10 minutes.
Add the meat and flour and stir until flour is incorporated.
Add the tomatoes and beer and stir making sure no flour is left stuck on the bottom of the pot.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.
Cover and simmer for 3 hours. Uncover for the last half hour.
Serves 6
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 …