Macaroons! YUM YUM!

I love coconut.
So I made coconut macaroons today.  The ones I made are inspired by
http://joyofbaking.com/CoconutMacaroons.html
But with my own twist, and I think it's a twist for the better.   It's kind of an easter-ish dessert for some reason, but honestly I've been looking for an excuse for weeks to make these.  They're super easy too.  Hope you enjoy!

COCONUT MACAROONS!

INGREDIENTS:

baked!  check out the nice golden colour

2 egg whites (about 60g, if you have pasteurized ones in a container, those are good)
Scant 1/2 cup of white sugar (about 90g)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup on unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut1 cup of sweetened shredded or flaked coconut
1/4 cup (approx 1 oz) of almond meal
1/4 tsp of almond extract
1/4 tsp of vanilla extract

Beef and Sweet Potato Stew - Moroccan style!

This is an old post, and I don't have photos, but it was delicious so I'm sharing!

I've made a very similar recipe for chicken, which you can see here but I like this one better!   Not so many photos because we've all seen crock pots before (that, and I forgot to take some)

Serves 6 (quite heartily!)

Recipe inspired by and adapted from:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-colombian-beef-and-sweet-potato-stew/
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/soups/beef-and-sweet-potato-stew/

INGREDIENTS
1 KG of stew beef (cut off visible flat globs)
2 tbsp of cornstarch = 1 tbsp of potato flour (alternately, use 1/4 c all purpose)
salt and pepper (about 1/2 tsp each)
4 C of sweet potatoes peeled with large dice (about 2 large, or 3 medium)
1 small onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 stalks of celery sliced
2 medium carrots sliced
4 whole cloves
1 large cinnamon stick (or 2 small ones, alternately, use 1 tsp of grated cinnamon)
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp of cumin
1 cup of beef broth
1 28 oz of diced tomatoes in juice
Fresh parsley for garnish
2/3 c of sliced dried apricots and/or prunes

Chocolate Almond (Insert Dessert Name Here)

So I haven't been blogging lately. I've been cooking and baking up a storm, seriously.  I've done some great stuff in my kitchen.

The finished product! jiggly on top

One thing I've figured out is that I'm definitely lactose intolerant, so no milk in great quantity (or a bunch of lactaid pills, but the first option works the best!!!) and I'm not necessarily gluten intolerant, but I feel and it works better for me if I don't go crazy on gluten based foods (not to say I don't enjoy them at times!!)

I'm coming back in here with DECADENCE.  You will find recipes for two of the most delicious things I've baked in a looooooong time!!!

CHOCOLATE ALMOND (LAVA CAKES)
This recipe below is very similar to the Peanut butter chocolate cakes I've made before, except this time with almond butter.  Oh, and no flour either!  These were OUTSTANDING.  I talked about them for days after I made them, and honestly, I still think about them.  The appeal besides the flourless aspect is the honey used as sweetener! Brilliant!!  (I made half of this recipe)

cocoa'd ramekins

TOOLS:
4 6-8 oz ramekin dishes
2 tbsp cocoa powder
Butter for greasing

Ingredients:
6 TBSP unsalted butter
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 TBSP almond meal
1/3 C liquid honey
2 eggs
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 TBSP natural almond butter mixed with 1 TBSP icing sugar and a bit of water (to help it combine)

Avocado Coconut Chocolate Mousse

Yes, the base of this dessert is AVOCADOS.  You won't even know they are there.  I served this to Adam's parents and I told them AFTER they ate it that they just ate a dairy free dessert with fibre and a low glycemic index.   They were suprised.  And they really enjoyed the dessert.

My inspriations (or, basically exactly what I did) come from these recipes:
http://www.hgtv.com/holidays-and-entertaining/chocolate-of-the-gods-mousse-with-raspberries-and-mint/index.html
http://www.notquitenigella.com/2011/06/17/in-my-kitchen-masterchefs-skye-craigs-chocolate-avocado-mousse/

AVOCADO COCONUT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE (serves 6)


Looks great!!!

 INGREDIENTS:

3 medium ripe haas avocados, peeled and wedged.
2/3 C Agave Syrup (or use pure maple syrup, add a bit more if it needs it as agave is sweeter)
3/4 C FULL FAT coconut milk (or about half of a 400 mL can)
6 packed TBSP of cocoa powder (I like the original, dutch process for a milder cocoa taste)
1/2 tsp of tamari (soy sauce is OK too)
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
itty bitty pinch of kosher salt

Raspberries, dried coconut, and mint leaves to serve

DELICIOUS roasted potato fries.

I have no photos of this, but after the reviews on Saturday night for making these when Adam's parents came over for dinner, I had to post what I did, or else I'll lose the recipe in the back of my mind forever!  These were some of the best roasted potatoes I've ever made.

INGREDIENTS:
4 large white potatoes (oblong is best)
Olive oil (will use about 1-2tbsp total)
2 tsp of nutritional yeast
3/4 tsp granulated garlic powder
2 tsp of italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
fresh ground sea salt and pepper

I intolerate food

You know, I love food and as a foodie of sorts and food intolerances and even worse - food allergies, are definitely not an easy thing to grapple with.  But they must be acknowledged.

I have a sensitive stomach, and have experienced stomach issues of varying types and degrees for several years. After over 20 years of being the kid who would always clean her plate and ask for seconds of pretty much anything under the sun - things changed for me literally overnight in my early 20's and it hasn't been the same since.

I don't have allergies or intolerances diagnosed by a physician (YET), just the experience in my gut, on my skin, and in my throat to thank for alerting me that something just ain't right.

I've done much research on the subject of food sensitivity and food allergy, and the former is actually extremely common, infact, most people have at least a mild intolerance to SOMETHING. 

Why this post is coming out now is because I am pretty sure I need to put more foods on my hit list.  I'm in an exploritory phase and trying to figure out in a dietary sense what is causing my various stomach troubles, and omitting suspect foods.

__________ Noodle Casserole

You fill in the blank here.  It could be tuna, chicken, ham, turkey, whatever.  Same with the vegetables.

The finished product!



This is a recipe that came from my grandmother, passed to my mother, passed to me.  It's an homage to 'convenience' cooking when it started to shine post war.  It uses a can of cream soup as the casserole base. When I make this, it's good, when mom makes it, it's quite good, when Grandma makes it, it's great.  I have no idea why.  It reminds me of when I was a little kid.  Yummy.

The traditional recipe is for tuna noodle casserole.  I made a ham noodle with broccoli casserole.  Similar principles, great results!   (see the Ham Noodle version below the original recipe)



ORIGINAL RECIPE (copied straight from my mom):

Broad Noodles cooked (2-3 cups dry depending on how large a casserole you are making

1 can drained flaked tuna (can also used left over turkey or chicken for a change)
1 large onion chopped
1 can mushroom soup

1 green pepper

Ingredients....

3 stalks of celery chopped

(may add other veggies for variety)

salt and pepper

Mix together and put in a casserole dish
cover with milk

sprinkle top with bread crumbs (or cracker crumbs)

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours (give or take depending on casserole size)

(meat)BALLS.



Appetizer sized all cooked up!

I like meatballs, I haven't made them excessively but I made them by way of (you guessed it) Jamie Oliver and have had great success.  I tried this recipe with ground chicken (don't) and just beef (great but not the greatest) I have found, and as suggested in the recipe, a combination of ground pork and ground beef give a great meatball, and it's true.  It is an excellent flavour profile.   Meatballs are for more than pasta!  Soup, sandwiches, and hors d'ouvres are all excellent ideas for these.

These are great fresh, or make ahead.  I did both!  See notes below.

This is the original and inspiration:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/meatballs-pasta

I made a triple batch.  This is what I did:

INGREDIENTS:

Several sprigs of fresh rosemary (5 or 6 will do)

2 lbs of lean ground beef

1 lb of lean ground pork

2 eggs

2 heaped tablespoons of italian seasoning

2 tablespoons of dijon mustard

salt and pepper

30 saltine crackers, pulverized (smash them up yourself or place in a food proccessor)

Olive oil (if you like)



Get your hands in and mash!

GREEN SALSA!

I had two piles of tomatoes, one was ripe or ripening, the other was still green.  I had to do something with some of them, so I decided to make a relish/sauce!  I was looking up chow chow, but they all had SCADS of sugar in them, I was searching and searching and found this recipe:

Blending away...

http://www.farmgirlfare.com/2005/09/saving-harvest-green-tomato-relish.html

This is so straightforward!

I can say, it is quite delicious.  I'm not planning on canning this stuff so I used the option for less vinegar and it was great, right now it's covered in the fridge and then it will make it's way into freezer bags in 1 C or so portions.  (this makes a good 6-8 cups I'd say).



Some Ingredients...



INGREDIENTS:

2 lb. green tomatoes (I used Roma), cored and chopped

1 lb. white or yellow onions (I used yellow), chopped

3/4 lb. sweet peppers (red, but I also used some green too) cored and chopped

1/2 lb. tart cooking apples cored and chopped (granny smith is good, but I had golden delicious on hand)

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 cup 5% acidic organic raw apple cider vinegar (or less, see note below)*

1 Tablespoon kosher or sea salt

4 jalapeno peppers, cored, seeded if desired, and finely chopped (*note, I used thai green chiles, about 5 of them)

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro (I used more than this)

Mole - eh?



The final product, YUM!



Once in awhile I come across a great cookbook.  Now, all of my cookbooks are great in their own rights.  I have my favourites and my most useful ones.  I think I have found a new book to make it to those ranks, and it only took one recipe, which happened to be an exceptional one.

One way we can help the worlds food supply, our health, and so many other things is to go meatless sometimes.  I don't mean we all have to be vegans and never so much as look at livestock again, but it is wise to consider a reduction in meat consumption.  It's a topic I would encourage people to read up on, and draw their own conclusions and actions.

Regardless, I like (LOVE) vegetarian cooking.  One thing I find though is it's not always easy to make a meal feel complete.  It often feels like there is complexity or texture...just something missing...so you might say "duh! meat!" but that's not always the case, I've had plenty of meat recipes that were bland and missing something.

In any case, This is not that bland meatless meal!



Adam got me a cookbook for my birthday called the New Vegetarian Kitchen.  It's a green colored cookbook out of the UK.  It took me a bit of time to get into it but once I did I had that bugger bookmarked to kingdom come, and the first on my list was this recipe below.  It was worth the effort and I would use this mole sauce for veggie or meat, again and again, it is that good! The chickpea pancakes were a departure for me, I've never used chickpea flour but you know what?  They were delicious.  An excellent accompaniment.



This recipe also has the potential to be gluten free and vegan with a couple of very minor ingredient tweaks (sour cream, chocolate, baking soda, etc).  WOW.  This is an ace for alternative and special diets!

BLACK BEAN MOLE (pron. moh-lay)
(adapted from the New vegetarian Kitchen, an excellent cookbook)

INGREDIENTS:
The mole:
3 1/2 C of diced butternut squash (recipe calls for acorn squash)
1 small onion pulverised (recipe called for 1 large onion diced)
2 large cloves of garlic, minced 2 TBSP of Chipoltle hot sauce (recipe called for 3 T of chipoltle paste)
1 thai green chile, fine dice (recipe called for 1 dried ancho chili)

Borscht!?!? YES!!

I've been browsing borscht recipes for awhile, not sure why.  I had savoy cabbage to eat and I was at home sick.  Nutritious soup was in order for lunch, but the preparation ended up tiring me right out.  At least it tasted great.  Or I think it did.  Not sure if I've even HAD this kind of soup before.  It's Ukranian apprearantly.  I can only assume if I like it it turned out right, traditional or not!  (It's a great way to use beets!)



A messy bowl, served with sour cream, YUM.

My main inspirations are these pages here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/ukrainian-red-borscht-soup/detail.aspx

http://mostlysoup.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/vegetarian-borscht/

I also did some stuff from here and there but honestly, I don't remember what recipes the ideas came from.

Sarah's Basic Borscht!

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb beets*
1/2 lb carrots (about 3 medium)
1 small onion slivered 2 garlic cloves minced
4 C of savoy cabbage shredded
1c canned chopped tomatoes drained**
3 medium new potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and cubed into approx 1.5cm pieces
1t dried dill
1/4t caraway seeds
2t balsamic vinegar

1T of vegetable oil

900ml carton of beef broth (or equivalent homemade stock)
2+C of water (I say + because you may need a bit more than 2, depending on consistency)


salt and pepper to taste

Sour cream for serving

Special Tools:Food Processor

Pantry Pumpkin Pie!

Okay, so happy belated thanksgiving.  This will be handy next year :)

With a bit of whip cream, perfect
(actually, after I took the photo i covered
it in the stuff...)



I'm sick, I've had a terrible cold but also a terribly busy weekend, which may have exacerbated my symptoms...but dammit I was on dessert duty, and what is tradition without a little pumpkin pie?  I was going to buy the pie but doing an audit of my pantry, I had all of the ingredients here already, so why not?

So, I'll confess, this is about as shortcut-homemade as you can do it.  It's not from scratch (really).  I've done it before.  I've roasted, peeled, pitted, pureed, strained the pumpkin, ground my spices, got the homemade pastry going (which I kind of suck at btw) and whipped some heavy cream (no cans here!) but you know what?  It's great, but I would be inclined to argue not really worth the work.

PANTRY PUMPKIN PIE (makes 2 pies)



Inspired by the recipe from the ED Smith pumpkin can with a few tips from the joyofbaking.com website.  I call it that because most of the stuff came from my pantry. :)

RIBS! (again)!!!

SLOW COOKER RIBS. 
AKA the best ribs ever (photos coming soon)

So it was the end of summer, actually, autumn had already started when I made this...but it *was* an unusually warm week.  What better meal than ribs? Especially the ones that were on a super sale :)  I googled several places, but I think this recipe came mostly from Kraft Canada, I'll try and find a better reference shortly.

Meat:2 racks (3 lb) of pork back ribs, cut into 2-3 rib portions (back layer of connective tissue removed)
salt and pepper

Sauce:1 small carrot diced
1 small onion blitzed (in minichop or food processor, to a pasty consistency)
Dash of worcestershire sauce
2 cloves of garlic pressed
2/3 C ketchup
2/3 C chili sauce
1/3 C BBQ sauce
1/4 C of golden sugar

Method:Turn on your broiler
Remove layer of connective tissue from back of ribs and cut into portions as required.
Season ribs with salt and pepper
Place under a broiler about 5 minutes a side until golden

Meanwhile....
Combine all ingredients for sauce and stir well
Transfer ribs to large slow cooker, coat with sauce.
and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until tender.
Remove ribs from sauce, skim fat from sauce
Now you have a couple of options, either place the stoneware on high and reduce sauce for several minutes until thicker, pulverise any remaining carrots with immersion blender
-or-
Pour sauce into a medium pot, bring to boil and then simmer for a few minutes until sauce thickens, pulversise any remaining carrots with an immersion blender.
Serve the ribs with some extra sauce brushed on.

Cooks notes:  You only need about half the sauce, so take what I said there and reduce it.  Otherwise, best ribs I've ever made.

Peanut Butter. Chocolate. Ice cream. Do I have your attention yet?



Scooping it up! YUM!

The other day I set out to make a favourite of mine: Peanut butter chocolate ice cream.  Dave Lebovitz is full of wonderful ice cream recipes, but when I did a quick google search for what I thought was the easiest ice cream recipe ever, I found another recipe, that's even easier, and I dare say better.

Inspired by and mostly copied this recipe right here:  http://dinneranddessert.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/peanut-butter-ice-cream/

PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM
with chocolate sauce and chocolate covered peanuts



INGREDIENTS:

Base:
3/4 C whipping cream
1 3/4C 1% milk

2/3 C granulated sugar

2/3 C smooth peanut butter
pinch of salt


1/4 t vanilla

1 capfull of vanilla vodka

Love Thy Tomato

Here are two recipes I've made recently which feature herbs and tomatoes from my garden at home.   ROASTED TOMATO SOUP and QUICK BRUSCHETTA.  Simple, but oh so tasty.  Hope you enjoy!



Ingredients for the brushetta



Quick Bruschetta

1.5 lb of roma tomatoes, washed, seeded, and diced

2 cloves of garlic, pressed

1t of balsamic vinegar

1T of extra virgin olive oil

pinch of kosher salt

several large basil leaves, rolled and sliced (approx 3T packed). 

Baguette, sliced thin on the bias, toasted



Toast, ricotta, and brushetta

Ricotta cheese (if desired)

Method:

Place diced tomatoes in a strainer over a large bowl to rid of any excess juice, leave for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl combine garlic, olive oil, salt, and vinegar, whisk until combined.

Add tomatoes and basil, stir gently to combine.

Leave at room temp up to an hour before serving (if longer, cover and refrigerate).

Short Rib Succulence!

MEAT!

This was a good recipe, I'd do it again exactly.  I've never had short ribs and I will have them again, oh yes I will.  I LOVED THE SAUCE.  Repeat..I LOVED THE SAUCE.  Alright, done.   I was going to blog the whole meal but the other two recipes I had although good, were not exceptional and I honestly don't want anyone else making them thinking they're awesome.  I give you the awesome people, not the 'it was okay'

This is Kraft easy, because I got the recipe from Kraft.  They often boast their own produced (obviously) and sometimes the shortcuts they have are kinda silly but more often than not, you find a jewel on there and it's a good jewel.   With this, I hit a goldmine.  Or a giant carbon deposit! anyhoo...  I made a few mods, the link has the original, and what I did is below that

BBQ SLOW COOKER BEEF SHORT RIBS


All done, served with slaw and biscuits

 INGREDIENTS:

3 lb of beef short ribs

Salt and pepper

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small carrot, diced

3T flour

3/4 cup chicken and rib BBQ sauce (Kraft)

3T honey

1 Tbsp. yellow mustard

watermelons cuke me up!



Plated on arugla, topped with feta



Sounds like an odd combo here, doesn't it?  I had (no, have, since I still have 3/4 of it) a watermelon, and of course the garden fresh cucumbers and beautiful Roma tomatoes and basil from my backyard.

I was inspired by this recipe:  http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/watermelon-cucumber-feta-salad-113980.aspx

I was also inspired by the recipe in my runners world magazine, it's not online yet, but I'll post a link to it (actually, I sort of wish I made that one, but it would need a firmer melon since it calls for yogurt based dressing)



Watermelon, Cucumber, Tomato salad



Most of the ingredients!



INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of cubed peeled cucumber (if not seedless, take the seeds out)

1 cup of seeded roma tomatoes (Cherry, grape can also be used)

2.5 cups of seedless diced watermelon

1 T of basil leaves, sliced thin

1 T of scallions, minced fine

3 T of Renee's spring herb italian vinagrette

Juice of half a lemon

Lamb-tastic

Alright vegetarians this post is NOT for you.

grilling it up! naan ready to be toasted

Adam once upon a time bought me a book by Ted Allen, called "The Food you want to eat"  I've made a couple recipes from this book and I remember reading this one several times, "The ultimate burger is a lamb burger" and I thought 'riiiiiiiiiiight'

Anyway, the last time I had a lamb burger was at one of my favourite pubs and i didn't like it, it was lamb burger sliders, the seasoning wasn't good the taste was far too strong, almost inedible.  So what possessed me to make one?



I have something of a motto or way of being, I prefer to order things that I can't do or haven't done myself. in other words, I often order new foods, or order things that aren't my strongest methods or styles of cooking (or even cooking I would probably never do - like sushi for instance).   So I had this less than stellar lamb burger, and I keep reading lamb is the ultimate burger...conflicted, I took this s**t on and I WON GLORIOUSLY!

The lamb was from Aubrey's meats in the market, and it was good.  real good.

Inspired very heavily by Ted Allen's ultimate lamb burger

INDIAN SPICED LAMB BURGER



(with cucumber sauce on naan)



some of the spices used...



INGREDIENTS:

1 LB of ground lamb

2T finely diced green onion (white parts too)

1/2t garam masala

1/4t of cumin

1t of coriander seeds, crushed

1/2t turmeric

1T fresh grated ginger

1/4t salt

1/4t pepper

1/8t cayenne pepper



Chicken Bacon Brochettes, Baby!

I had fresh chicken, I had some bacon (no babies though) - and we needed dinner.  I've made this before and renditions of it, and it's always good.  Generally in life when you add bacon, you can't go wrong.  Here it is:

CHICKEN BACON BROCHETTES

I followed this recipe almost exactly:  http://www.canadianliving.com/food/quick_and_easy/chicken_bacon_brochettes.php

INGREDIENTS:



A fine summer supper!

1 LB of boneless skinless chicken breast

1 TBSP of olive oil
1 TBSP worcestershire sauce
1 TBSP of soya sauce
dash of white wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves pressed
Few grinds of fresh black pepper

4 slices of bacon cut into 3

CHARIZO! (Chard, Chorizo, Orzo)



At the end, colourful and just lovely!

Chard Chorizo Orzo.

Ever think of doing these three together? YOU SHOULD!  This was good and an homage to 'use what you have in the fridge' kind of cooking.  The names of the ingredients had a slight influence on being included in the dish, I must admit.   I was going to make risotto, and this is actually very much like risotto, except more straightforward and I dare say easier.  Actually Risotto was my backup plan in case I didn't have enough Orzo, but I had exactly the right amount of Orzo (I mean, to the gram - it was meant to be).

Orzo is not rice! It's pasta shaped like rice.  It's something I forget I have when I have it....and that's too bad, because it's really good.  Great for cold salads as well.

One pot meals people!  They make the world go 'round and dinner easy and delicious.

Very much inspired by the ingredients (and the looks) of this recipe:  http://jillianskitchen.com/2011/05/04/sausage-orzo/

CHARIZO! -or- Orzo with Chard and Chorizo

Here is what I did



The main star of the dish! Nice chard.

INGREDIENTS:

- 8oz Orzo (about 1 1/4 C)
- 1 bunch of white swiss chard, leaves separated from stems.  Stems chopped into 1cm pieces, leaves chopped.
- 1/4C fine diced onion (about 1 small)
- 2 cloves of garlic fine dice
- 2t olive oil
- 2t butter
- 2T fresh sliced sage
- 4 oz chorizo sausage, casing removed, thinly sliced
-1 C of white kidney beans (drained, rinsed)
- 1/4C fresh grated parmesan
- 2c chicken broth
- 1-1.5C of water (as needed)
- Fresh ground pepper