Family favourites (old and new)
My freezer had a good sized banana graveyard and some frozen blueberries I had painstakingly frozen on trays. In addition I had some soon-to-expire buttermilk in the fridge so it was time to take action. The result are these moist and delicious banana, blueberry, buttermilk …
Nutella (aka chocolate hazlenut spread) is a big hit at my house. We all love it but I don’t love some of the ingredients so I went looking for a homemade alternative. I ended up settling on a combination of Elsie + Emma’s A Beautiful …
My Mom makes excellent crepes. Light, crispy edges and just a hit of cinnamon. Warning: the “skinny” has nothing to do with calories because they need butter to make them tender. Don’t use margarine…please just don’t. The secret to these delicious crepes is a smooth batter, a good crepe pan (I use an 8″ French cast iron pan…it’s worth the money) and a skinny spatula. Oh and cooking them in a decent amount of butter so they don’t stick. Do not cook these in margarine or use that spray gunk…they will taste like dreck and no one wants to eat dreck for breakfast.
3 eggs
2 1/2 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c. flour
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp melted butter (I use salted so there is no need to add extra salt)
Extra butter for frying the crepes.
Preheat your oven and turn off (you will keep the crepes in here as you cook them). Melt the 3 Tbsps of butter in your crepe pan and let cool. Whisk the eggs together with 1 cup of the milk. Add the flour gradually and whisk until you have a smooth batter. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and whisk again. Add the vanilla to the remaining 1 1/2 cup milk. Whisk the milk and vanilla mixture in to the batter and then whisk in the melted butter. Make sure your batter has no lumps. Lumps are verboten!
Heat about a teaspoon of butter in your crepe pan (aim for a medium heat). Pour a scant 1/2 cup of batter in your pan and swirl so you get a nice thin crepe. Let it cook until it starts to become opaque and you get some steam pockets (you just have to figure this out for yourself). Flip and cook the other side until lightly browned. The crepe below has been flipped once.
Flip the creme in half and then in quarters and remove to a pie plate and pop it into your warm oven. Repeat until all the batter is gone.
You can serve these any way you like but my kids like to open them flat dust them with cinnamon sugar and roll them. You could spread them with fruit compote, Nutella, or do up a ricotta filling with a bit of sugar and lemon. Or, if you are lucky enough to have real maple syrup (just say NO to that gross fake stuff) then drizzle that on top.
Makes about 12 crepes.
Beat the eggs, then beat in the milk, cream, water, and salt. When well blended, gradually add the flour whisking until the batter is perfectly smooth. Or combine all these ingredients in a blender. Stir in the melted butter, sugar and cognac and leave the batter to rest for at least 2 hours.
Heat your crepe pan and melt a piece of butter in it. As soon as the foam subsides, pour a small amount of batter in the pan, then tilt to spread the batter around the pan. (about 3 Tbsp for a 7″ crepe pan).
Cook over medium heat for about a minute. Loosen the edges and flip. Cook on the other side for about 1 minute.
My son the carnivore is heading off to boarding school on Tuesday so I thought this warm steak salad would be a good way to feed him a steak and get some extra veggies into him…also since my daughter “the mostly vegetarian” had already eaten …
This recipe comes courtesy of my friend and fellow dance Mom Linda. Our daughters had a very successful year dancing together this past season and aside from some great dance memories, we got Linda to share her apple sauce recipe which my daughter insists is …
This is a super easy recipe for roasted new potatoes. If they are out of season just cube larger potatoes into 1/2″ chunks.
1 lb of new potatoes (President’s Choice often has small 1 – 1.5 lb bags of red or yellow new potatoes)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig fresh rosemary (wash, dry and remove the leaves from the stalk)
salt and pepper to taste
If you have fresh thyme and oregano you can also chop some up for garnish (they don’t roast as well as rosemary in my opinion…for what it’s worth).
Preheat your oven to 425 F. Wash and dry the potatoes and put them in a pie plate (or oven proof dish). Drizzle them with olive oil and toss to coat the potatoes. Chop the garlic with the rosemary and sprinkle on the potatoes, toss. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Put in the oven and bake 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. Toss in your fresh thyme and oregano (optional). You can serve these hot or let them come to room temperature. If you have left over you can chop them up for potato salad or chop them up and make hash browns.
My friend Laura gave me a lovely bunch of Red Swiss Chard from her garden today. After mucking about this afternoon doing the usual mundane Sunday chores I suddenly realized I was ravenous. I opened the fridge and there was the bag of chard so …
Here’s another yummy quinoa salad for a summer supper. Ingredients: 1 c. quinoa 1 1/2 c. water 1/2 tsp salt Juice and zest of 1 lemon Equal amount olive oil to lemon juice 1 clove garlic Salt and pepper to taste 12 marzano tomatoes cut …
I thought it might be time for a summer dinner salad so here’s a variation of the Layered Orzo Salad in Company’s Coming Meal Salads that adds chicken for protein and substitutes delicious Bulgarian feta (hat tip to Jordan and Emma) instead of bocconcini cheese. The result is a light and tangy salad that is also a balanced meal. I brought this over to my friend Paula’s house and we paired it with new roasted potatoes and petite pan squash from her garden…and a bottle of Malbec (the fruit course).
Note: Israeli couscous would also work well in this salad.
8 c. water
1 tsp salt
1 c. orzo
1 clove garlic crushed with 1/2 tsp salt (I use a mortar and pestle)
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (or you can use red wine vinegar)
1 tsp dijon mustard
9 tbsp olive oil
1 c. chopped feta (I used Bulgarian feta which is made with sheep’s milk and has a lovely creamy texture)
1 c. chopped tomatoes (I used marzano tomatoes … they were on sale)
1/4 c. basil (chiffonade). Click for Youtube video on how to chiffonade basil.
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 poached chicken breasts chopped (put chicken breasts in a large frying pan, cover with water and simmer covered for 10 to 12 minutes until no longer pink) Drain and chop … makes about 2 cups.
4 c washed and spun mixed greens (I used romaine and spinach but arugula would also have been good)
1 c. diced Japanese cucumbers
1 c. red pepper chopped (I used Windset Farms sweet pointed peppers). I did not roast the pepper, 1) because I’m lazy and 2) because I like the crunch of sweet red pepper but you do what you want.
1/2 c kalamata olives
Bring water and salt to a boil. Add orzo and boil uncovered 8 to 10 minutes stirring occasionally until tender but firm. Drain and rinse with cold water and return to sauce pan.
Whisk together the dressing ingredients and stir 3 tbsps of the dressing into the drained orzo and put into a large glass bowl.
Combine the next 4 ingredients and spoon over orzo.
Combine next set of ingredients and toss with the remaining dressing.
Serves 4.
I went to the Friends of Southland’s Heritage Farm Market this weekend and was delighted to find (among other things) the loveliest looking garlic scapes. Actually, they look like green onions having a bad hair day or a bit like SideShow Bob’s hair…except green. However, …