Moroccan Out

An email from the library inspired this past Sunday’s dinner of a Moroccan Beef Tagine, or basically a beef stew with a hard hit of eastern spices. This stew blends together spice and sweetness that when topped over the nutty flavour of couscous was all kinds of tasty. The recipe is from Jamie Oliver’s Food Escapes, a recent addition to the Jamie Oliver collection where he travelled to Morocco, Stockholm, Venice, France, Greece and Spain in search of inspiration. I would say overall I was not overwhelmed with a plethora of recipes I want to try from the book, but there were a few that caught my eye. I am glad it was free from the library though and a lot of the recipes can be found online at Jamie Oliver’s website.

Now for the alterations:

If there is one herb that is not welcomed into this household it has to be fresh coriander. The somewhat soapy taste of the herb can add a fresh vibrancy to a meal but does not please everyone’s pallet. All of that to say I left out the coriander in this recipe. Substituting some fresh flat leaf parsley may also add that nice fresh hit.

This recipe calls for prunes. We did not have prunes, and to be honest I am not sure what part of the store they are sold in. We do however have a boat load of raisins, not enough for big boat but enough to fill a dingy. So to replace the sweet flavour the prunes would be adding I threw in some raisins instead.

Lastly the recipe called for a table spoon of ras el hanout spice, which the cookbook describes as a mixture of anywhere from 10 to 100 spices ranging from tumeric to smoked paprika. The mix of spices, outside of this foreign mixture of unknown substances, was more than enough to coat the beef and had extra to dump into the stew once all the liquid was added.

Recipe: Jamie Oliver’s Beef Tagine

Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie

Yummy!

This is a very fast, simple recipe to make, and one that has room for variety in it. Combine the following ingredients in a blender, mix, and enjoy. This recipe makes one large smoothie!

3/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/3 cup fruit juice (I used peach puree but pomegranate is also suggested)
1 small container yogurt (plain or blueberry)
1/2 tsp honey
a few ice cubes
a splash of milk (more or less depending how thick you want your smoothie to be).

Honey, Honey

Katie has been espousing on the benefits of honey over raw sugar and the natural benefits of honey. I took this as a signal to base an entire meal around honey (in moderation). I grouped the meal below based off the sweet flavour of honey and tried to find things that would match up, like fruity white wine, or the spicy fruity flavour of coriander seeds. In the summer we had some wild flower honey purchased from the Carp Farmers Market, which imbued a floral flavour into the honey, however that honey ran out many months ago. Instead of fancy honey from a farmers market I used the kind originating from a big plastic bear for the recipes below and they were still delicious. Proving once again that sometimes you can just put all snobbery aside and use what you have.

Spiced honey roast pork with apple & mustard salad

This recipe is from an Australian food magazine called Delicious. Magazine. Their website is a good place to search for new and interesting recipes.

　

Honey Glazed Pecans

½ cup Pecans

2 Tbsp Honey

1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Salt to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together honey, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Stir in pecans. Arrange pecans in a single layer on a lined baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes.



Apple & Glazed Pecan Salad

1 Apple, cut into matchsticks

1 Carrot, cut into matchsticks

1 Romain Heart, torn into bite sized pieces

½ cup Honey Glazed Pecans


Honey Mustard Dressing

1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 Tbsp Mustard

1 Tbsp Honey

1 Tbsp Apple Cider vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

Salt & Pepper


Method:

Stir together ingredients for dressing and mix well. Combine with salad ingredients and mix thoroughly. Serve.

More HEALTHY recipes to come!

We have been inspired by some healthy living cookbooks lately, so look out for some quick and easy ideas in the near future! granola bars, smoothies, muffins, and cashew chicken are next on our list of healthy things to try!

Banana Bread - gluten and sugar free!

Okay, so at first glance many people might think that if you take out the sugar and the flour, you are also taking out the flavour - that is not the case with this recipe! We have been trying to be healthy, but who doesn't want something yummy for dessert?! This recipe is moist, flavourful, and packed with protein because the base is ground almonds. I liked it so much I plan to try making it with pumpkin in place of the banana!

 

 



Banana Bread
3 eggs, separated
5 tbsp honey
4 tbsp olive oil
2 mashed bananas (I used the food processor to blend them)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups finely grounded almonds

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cream the egg yolks and honey in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Add the oil, vanilla, mashed banana, cinnamon, baking powder and ground almonds and combine well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Fold egg whites into the banana mixture to pull it away from the sides before gradually folding the rest of the egg whites into the mixture. 
Grease a large loaf pan and spread the batter in it.

Place in the oven for 40-45 mins 

 

This recipe was originally found on and adapted from http://blueberrygirlinoz.blogspot.com/

New Year, New Resolutions

With the decadent chocolates, delicious roast meats with gravy and lethargic days of December behind, we are looking, like so many others, to make some better, healthier choices in the New Year. This means upping the vegetable content in our meals and looking to lower fat choices like fish. Salmon is our most used fish when cooking due to its unique flavour and multitude of ways to prepare. While the recipe below calls for frying the fish, I am sure you could bake the fish in a 425 degree oven for 15 – 20 minutes, which would further reduce the fat content of the recipe.

Corn Meal crusted Salmon

2 skinless salmon portions

3 tbsp oil

1/3 cup fine ground cornmeal

Salt and pepper to taste

A squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

In a bowl mix together the the cornmeal, salt and pepper. Take each salmon portion and generously coat each side.

Put  a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Once heated through pour in oil and then place salmon portions in pan. Cook 3-4 minutes per side until crust is golden brown. Remove from pan and squeeze over a bit of lemon juice.

Pan Roasted Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes

2 Tbsp oil

2 Zucchini, cubed

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 cup cherry tomatoes

½ tsp dried oregano

Salt and Pepper

Method:

Heat large pan over medium high heat. Add zucchini, garlic and onion, fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and oregano and cook for 5 minutes longer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Comfort Food on a Freezing Day

With the weather network telling me it is -30 with a wind chill, I have no desire to face the icy wasteland that is awaiting out our front door this morning. Instead I thought I would make French toast with a twist, drink my coffee and hide under a blanket somewhere warm, dreaming of the return of spring.

Pumpkin Pie Seasoned Crunchy French Toast

French Toast:

3 slices whole grain bread

2 eggs

A splash of milk

Oat Crust:

½ cup quick cooking oats

1 tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp pumpkin pie seasoning

Syrup to serve

Method:

 Pre-heat frying pan over medium heat.

 Mix eggs and milk in a bowl. Mix together ingredients for the Oat Crust.

Dunk bread in egg mixture and then evenly coat both sides in Oat Crust.

Spray pan with a bit of oil or melt a tbsp of butter in pan and add French toast. Cook for about 5 minutes or until both sides are evenly browned.

Remove from pan, add some syrup and enjoy!

Healthy Cookies: No Sugar Oat Drops

We are making an effort to cut down on sugar and just eat more healthy food in general. However, both of us enjoy something sweet for dessert. I found a recipe for No Sugar Oat Drops and thought I would give it a try. This recipe is originally from http://blueberrygirlinoz.blogspot.com but I have adapted it slightly.

While there is no added sugar, there is sugar in dried fruit and in coconut flakes that give these cookies their sweetness. So while they aren’t completely sugar free, their sugar comes from relatively healthy sources. This recipe also does not have any milk or wheat products in it, and is a vegan recipe (note: oats can contain wheat, so to make it gluten free you need to use oats that are labelled gluten free).

No Sugar Oat Drop Recipe


1 1/2 cups regular rolled oats
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (the original recipe called for allspice)
1/4 cup of flax (you can also use almond meal)
1/2 cup mixed nuts, finely chopped
1 cup dried fruit (I used raisins)

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.
In another bowl, combine canola oil, mashed banana and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Drop by tablespoon onto parchment paper lined baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

The Evolution of a French Onion Soup

I have only made French onion soup once before, but with a beef stock made from the leftovers of Christmas dinner sitting in the freezer, I wanted to use it in a good soup. As usual I turned to Chef Michael Smith for help and found this recipe for French Onion Soup on his website. I substituted beef stock for the chicken stock he called for in his recipe, replaced the gruyere cheese with a mix of cheddar and mozzarella we had on hand and used dried thyme instead of fresh for ease. The carmelized onions add a robust sweet flavour to this soup and add the body of the flavour. As you can see the ingredient list is pretty sparse so using a good stock is key to this delicious soup.

Comfort Food



With the cold weather, it seemed like a good time to make some comfort food. Meat and Macaroni is a simple recipe that my Nanny used to make. The great thing is this recipe makes two casserole dishes full, so you can easily freeze one for later. It does have quite a bit of cheese, but you can use low fat cheese to make it a bit healthier, and I used whole wheat macaroni.

To make Meat and Macaroni, cook 1 lb of ground beef with 1/2 tsp garlic salt. Cook about 3 cups (or one package) of macaroni. Mix the pasta and meat together with 1 tin tomato paste, 1 large tin of tomatoes with spices, and 1/2 lb of grated cheese. Divide between casserole dishes and cook, covered, at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

This is a great meal to serve on a cold day!

Happy New Year!

What better way to ring in the new year than with a champagne based drink?! One of our favourite frozen drinks is the bellini from Moxie's, so I figured why not try to recreate it. Here is the result:

The recipe I used was from Fabulous Foods and tasted just like a Moxie's bellini. Just add the sangria topping and you are all set. I followed the recipe, adding about 10 ice cubes for a slushy consistency. I then doubled the recipe to make enough for about 8 martini glasses. We did not add the extra champagne as the recipe suggested, as we found it was a good slushy consistency without doing so. Yummy!

We promise to post more recipes in 2012, with an emphasis on healthy eating. We are trying to incorporate more whole wheat foods, and trying to cut down on sugar. Do you have any healthy recipes that you want to share with us? Or any you have yet to try but would like us to test out?

Happy 2012!