Summer Market Pasta

In the full swing of summer the carp farmers market truly has the most to offer. It is also a great indicator of what is in season. This Saturday we swung by Alice's village cafe for a nice breakfast and hit up the farmers market after. While there I picked up a large bunch of Swiss chard and a thyme plant. These were the inspiration for the following pasta recipe.

Summer Carbonara

2 zucchini, one yellow and one green, sliced lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
6 sun dried tomatoes sliced
1 cup sliced Swiss chard
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
7 tbsp cream
1 egg
Bowtie pasta, 1 lb
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to packaging.
Meanwhile heat a tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add zucchini and fry for 4 minutes, reduce heat and add tomatoes a chard. Cook for 4 min. Remove from heat. Stir through fresh thyme.
Combine cream and egg, whisk until combined.
Drain pasta and add to skillet. Pour over cream mixture and add cheese. Stir to combine.
Serve and enjoy.

Time Travel Tarts

I am going way back to December for this recipe, so imagine snow on the ground, Christmas jingles everywhere you turn and a family Christmas being hosted at your house. The inspiration for this recipe was for a 21" inch tart that had large chunks of vegetable and prosciuto throughout. I was well  prepared to make this tart when Katie suggested that bite sized tarts might be a better option for our appetizer themed party. As always Katie's idea was a hit, the mini tarts being perfectly sized one bite appetizers.

Vegetable & Basil Mini Tarts w/ Prosciutto

 

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

½ eggplant, finely chopped

1 zucchini, finely chopped

2 sheets puff pastry

8-10 cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced

4-5 slices prosciuto, finely sliced

10-12 leaves fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in deep side pan over medium low heat, stirring occasionally for 10 to 15 minutes, until soft but not coloured.

In a separate pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil add zucchini + eggplant and cook 5 minutes until tender.

Roll out dough and using a circular cookie cutter, make small disks. Places disks in greased muffin tin.

Mix together onions, eggplant, zucchini. Slice cherry tomatoes. Put 1 heaped tsp of vegetable mixture into pastry lined muffin tins. Add 1 slice cherry tomato to each tart and a pinch of sliced prosciuto. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove tarts from oven and sprinkle over basil.

Serve and enjoy!

Pie for Dinner

For a post about alcohol alternatives, I do realize the beer in the background is hypocritical.

 

I have been trying to cut out alcohol from recipes as of late. This has lead to some interesting discoveries, like reduced pomegranate juice as a sauce for steak. The inspiration for this recipe is for a steak and guiness pie, but was alter to accommodate the alcohol and the fact we did not have any steak in the freezer, just a pork tenderloin. I do realize a different cut of pork would have been better suited for the long cooking time and that is what I recommend for the recipe below. I suggest pork shoulder or a pork roast cut up.

 

Pork Pot Pie

 

Ingredients:

 

1 ½ lb pork, diced

2 tbsp Flour

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, peeled & chopped

4 sticks celery, chopped

½ sweet potato, diced

1 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried rosemary

1 bay leaf

2 ½ cups chicken stock

28 oz can tomatoes

1 sheet of puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

 

Method:

Season pork, and toss with flour. Heat olive oil over medium heat, brown meat in batches, set aside. Add onion, frying for 1 minute, add carrot, celery, sweet potato and spices. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Add stock and tomatoes, bring to boil, stir and simmer for 2 hours. Season to taste.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer stew to ceramic pot or mini ramekins. Roll out pastry, cut into circles to fit dish. Brush rim of pot with beaten egg, then place pastry over top, crimping at edges. Score top, or try for a design if feeling artsy. Bake in oven for 45 minutes.

Great with a side salad.

Go To Cookies

This versatile cookie has become my go to dessert for work functions and for a quick dessert when you don’t want to leave the house in search of more ingredients.

 

Assembled with cupboard staples, these cookies adapt well to the addition of nuts or other items that could spruce them up a bit. Out last batch had chocolate chips and pecans.

 

A word of warning though, the recipe calls for 2 cups chocolate chips, and unless Martha has some secret I don't know of, I don't think 2 cups of chocolate chips would even fit in the dough!

 

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pizza Pi

 

 

I have been testing out a new pizza dough recipe lately that instead of adhering to cup measurements just follows 1 rule. For every part flour, you have 65% water dependent on weight. A simple example below:

230g Flour

150g Warm Water

1 tsp yeast

 

1 tsp olive oil

½ tsp salt

½ tsp sugar

This will yield one medium sized pizza. Activate yeast in water. Mix ingredients, knead for 5 - 10 minutes and let rise for about 1 hr. Pre-heat oven to 485 F. Bake on pizza stone for 10 minutes and then switch on broiler and brown the top.

I have reduced my overall cooking time in favour of finishing off the pizza with the broiler. This allows for a softer crust, but you still get the nicely browned cheese.

Pizza Π = J

In the end the math always works out!

 

Pierogi Party

Dinner is served!

My beautiful wife has been craving Pierogis for several weeks now, she even threatened to buy cheap freezer ones from the grocery store. In order to satiate her craving I turned to my street food cookbook and made two variations on classic Pierogis. For option one I added bacon and substituted cheddar for the traditional twarog cheese. Option number two had mushrooms, herb de province and cheddar. Both tasted great but the bacon option one out as the superior pierogi. Katie really enjoyed them and said she was glad she held out and did not buy the grocery store ones!

Bacon Cheddar Pierogi

2 Slices cooked bacon, chopped

70 g Cheddar Cheese

1 Medium Baking potato, cooked and mashed

½ onion, chopped and cooked in oil

 

Mix together all ingredients in bowl and reserve.

 

Mushroom Cheddar Pierogi

2 Medium porcini mushrooms, chopped

1 clove Garlic, minced

¼ tsp Herb de Provence

70 g Cheddar Cheese

1 Medium Baking potato, cooked and mashed

½ onion, chopped and cooked in oil

 

Mix together all ingredients in bowl and reserve.

 

The 2 fillings ready to be transformed into pierogis!

 

Dough

4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup water

2 tbsp olive oil

 

All wrapped up and resting

 

Mix together all ingredients and knead for approximately 10 minutes. Add more water as needed until you have a smooth, elastic dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at room temp for 30 min.

Roll out dough until 2-3 mm thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out 3-4 cm circles. Spoon in 1 tsp of filling, fold over and seal by pressing together sides with fingers.

To cook, place pierogi in simmering water for 3-4 minutes. They are done when they float to the top.

Fry in oil on medium heat for 3-4 minutes until brown on both sides.

To serve, plate pierogi with a dallop of sour cream and a side salad.

Angle Change

 

 

Cuisine of the Far East…of Canada

A few months ago we were planning to have Katie’s Dad over for lunch and I was trying to think of something interesting to serve. I definitely wasn’t feeling brunch options or anything that would require the full effort of a dinner. Perusing my go to recipe index, otherwise known as Michael Smith’s website, I came across his recipe for Clam Chowder. This hearty soup was just what I was looking to make for lunch, a nice filling soup that would pair well with the fresh bread I had previously made.

 

 

 

 

Recipe: Maritime Clam Chowder

My Very Own Ravioli

The Right Tools

 Mom gave me a ravioli maker for Christmas this year, and this weekend I finally got around to breaking it out and concocting a ravioli recipe I made. I was looking for something different than the typical ricotta and spinach mixture that is most predominant in the store. A quick search through the fridge highlighted the fact that we had some leftover bacon, so I was going to make this the centre point of the ravioli filling. Thinking I would make a basic basil tomato sauce, I tried to incorporate other ingredients that would pair well with this. The dinner ended up delicious and a big thanks goes out to Mom for getting me the great gift!
 

Balsamic Mushroom & Bacon Ravioli

 Pasta Dough
200g Flour

2 eggs

Filling

4 slices of bacon, chopped

1 Cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 Cup Chopped Spinach
1 Clove of Garlic, minced
2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
¼ cup chopped Chives
Pepper to taste

Egg Wash for assembly

Basil Tomato Pasta Sauce

1 Can Tomatoes

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

2 sprigs basil, leaves removed stalks finely chopped

1 Onion, diced

Method

Heat a pan over medium heat and cook bacon until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Set bacon aside and discard all but 1 tbsp bacon drippings. Return pan to medium heat and add mushrooms. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add garlic, cooking for a further minute. Add spinach to mixture and cook until wilted. Add balsamic vinegar and cook until slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat, and add to bacon. Stir in Parmesan and Chives. Allow to cool.

 

The bacon mushroom filling

 

For pasta, in a food processor mix together eggs and flour. Place mixture into bowl and knead until a smooth ball forms. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Take pasta out of fridge divide into 2 sections and using a pasta machine roll out each ball until desired thickness. Place 1 sheet over ravioli mould, pressing pasta sheet into divets. Fill each section with reserved filling, brush with egg wash and place second sheet over top, using a roller to combine the 2 sheets. Flip over mould and separate ravioli.

 

All seperated and ready to cook

For sauce, cook onions on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add garlic and basil stalks, cooking for 1 minute. Add tomates and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Add basil leaves and stir. Using immersion blender blend sauce until smooth.

 

Cook ravioli in salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes and serve with tomato sauce. Enjoy!

Dinner is served!

Pho-tastic

For Christmas Katie got me “The World’s Best Street Food” by Lonely Planet. This book highlights unique recipes from around the world and gives you a recipe for each as well as where you can procure them. Pho immediately caught my eye as I flipped through the pages. I have had pho in China town and thought it was really good, except that the broth was so salty that I left most of it in the bowl at the end of the meal. What better way to remedy this than to whip up a batch of home-made pho, either that or go to the Quan An Ngon restaurant in Hanoi as the book suggests. The broth takes 3 hrs to simmer but everything else just goes in the bowl uncooked and is cover by the boiling broth. I added some vegetables to the recipe in order to make it a more well rounded meal.

 

Beef Pho

Serves 4 large bowls

Broth:

10cm piece ginger, halved

2 yellow onions, havled

Canola Oil

5 lbs beef marrow bones

5 L water

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tbs fennel seeds

5 star anise

2 cardamom pods

6 cloves garlic, whole

¼ cup fish sauce

2 tbs sugar

1tbs salt

 

Assembly:

225g sirloin steak, very thinly sliced

450g rice noodles, cooked as per packet instructions

Handful chopped parsley

Handful chopped fresh basil

Green onion, thinly sliced

450g bean sprouts

1 cup sliced Napa Cabbage

1 Carrot, julienne

 

Method:

Place onion and ginger on baking tray and brush with oil. Broil on high for 10 to 15 minutes until slightly charred. Remove from oven and set aside.

Fill large pot with cold water, bring to boil and add beef bones. Cook for 5 minutes and then drain. Rinse bones and pot. Add 5L water, w/ bones and bring to boil. Once at a steady boil, lower heat and simmer, removing any scum with a spoon.

Place spices and garlic in mesh bag, tied off with kitchen string. Add to pot with charred garlic and onion. Simmer for 1 ½ hours.

Discard spice bag, ginger and garlic. Continue simmering for 1 ½ hours, skimming off excess fat.

Strain broth into clean bowl and add salt, fish sauce and sugar.

 

To serve:

In bowl place cooked noodles, beef, carrots, bean sprouts, cabbage, green onion, parsley and basil. Ladle over boiling broth and allow beef to cook. At table mix ingredients and dig in!

You Say Gnocchi, I say No-key

Katie whipped up this delicious one pot dinner the other week and I thought it brought a nice broth-y flavour to an Italian classic. To often gnocchi recipes seem to be centred on the classic brown butter and sage sauces. I find these recipes to be a bit overpowering and have me searching for something with a little more substance to it. This recipe has lots of healthy asparagus and the broth reduces down to gravy like consistency, creating a tasty pairing. 

 

 

 

Recipe: Shrimp Gnocchi

Waffle House

A crude house, but a home none the less!

Witticism aside, the following recipe for yeasted waffles intrigued me in more ways than one. The combination of the delicious breakfast, or if you play your cards right, dinner, treat and the yeasted flavour of fresh bread had me intrigued from the start. Add to that an easy recipe that you can prepare the night before and it just doesn't get any better. The yeast did not overpower the traditional flavour of the waffles just added a hint of that bread-y flavour.

Yeasted Waffles

1 1/2 tsp yeast

2 cups flour

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups milk, warmed

5 Tbsp Oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix together dry ingredients. Add in wet ingredients. Stir until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in fridge overnight. In the morning, heat your waffle maker and cook according to directions, in our case when the little light turns off.

We served ours with fresh berries, and maple syrup.

A Sweet Treat that is Great to Eat!

In celebration of Katie’s Mom’s Birthday, I made this over the top delicious dessert. I don’t often break out my baking skills, tending to leave the sweet treats to the professional in the house otherwise known as Katie. However, when I do whip up a dessert, I throw out the calorie guide, ignore the Canada food guide and just make something that I know will be delicious and memorable. This recipe, as quite often happens lately, comes from Michael Smith, utilizing one of his freestyle suggestions of using chocolate chips instead of raisins as in the printed recipe. I also replaced 1 cup cream for one of the cups of milk. Of note is that the recipe makes quite a large portion, so either invite guests or enjoy for the next week!

Recipe: Bread Pudding