May 8

Carmelized Onion and Bacon Tart

This is an onion and bacon tart that I made for dinner a few days ago, what I like about this tart is that is not too “eggy”.

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Ingredients *9 inch tart

For the pastry

1  2/3 c flour

8 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces

3-4 tbsp cold water

For the filling

2 tbsp butter

5 medium size onions, peeled and thinly sliced

3 slices of thick cut bacon, or 5 slices of regular bacon, diced

50g Swiss cheese, grated or sliced

30g Havarti cheese grated or cubed

1/3 cup 35% heavy cream

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large egg

Salt and pepper to taste

Place the flour in a large bowl, and work the butter into the flour using your fingers until it resembles bread crumbs, stir in the cold water, 1 tbsp at a time until the dough comes together.  Shape the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To make the filling, melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat, throw in the onions and allow the onions to slowly brown, and soften, about 20 minutes or so. Add the bacon to the pan and continue to cook the onions allowing the bacon fat to render off, about 15 minutes.  Take off the heat and allow the onions to cool.

Pre heat the oven to 345*f

Roll out the pastry dough on a lightly floured surface using a rolling pin, to about a 1/8 of an inch thick, and lay the dough over a 9 inch tart pan, gently pressing the dough into the sides and cutting off any excess dough away.

Fill the tart with the onion and bacon mixture, layering the onions with the cheese. In a small bowl combine the heavy cream, minced garlic and egg, season with salt and pepper and whisk, pour the egg mixture over the onions, bacon and cheese mixture in the tart shell.  Sprinkle with paprika for some colour.

Bake for 45 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden.

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Apr 23

Cheesy Rice Cakes with Marinara Sauce

I have been wanting to make cheesy rice balls since the day I first had them at a food show last year.I made these into small circular patties instead. These rice patties have a nice crispy exterior, encasing a creamy and cheesy, rice filling. They are great on their own or with a side of Caesar Salad.

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 Ingredients makes 12

4 cups cooked * Italian * style rice

300g grated Gouda cheese ( or mozzarella or other cheese you like)

1 tsp dry oregano

 4 garlic cloves, minced

 pepper to taste

 chopped parsley to taste

For the bread Crumb Coating

 1 cup dry bread crumbs

2 tsp dry oregano

1 tso dry basil

2 tsp garlic granules

salt and pepper to taste

Combine the cooked rice, grated cheese ,oregano, garlic parsley and pepper in a large bowl, using your hands, combine all the ingredients until thoroughly distributed.Divide the rice mixture, and form 12 patties about an inch or so thick.

Combine the ingredients for the bread crumb coating in a shallow dish. Dip the rice patties into the bread crumb mixture and ensure even coating. Set the patties on a baking sheet and refrigerate while making the marinara sauce.

 For the marinara sauce;

2- 796ml can of chopped tomatoes

1 cup water

6 garlic cloves, minced

8 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves only

8 sprigs fresh basil, leaves only

2 tbsp brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients for the marinara sauce in a large pot and simmer over a medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Use a hand held blender to puree the sauce, ensuring to allow the sauce to remain some what chunky.

You want the sauce to be pretty thick… if it is not at this point, than return the sauce to the heat, and simmer until the sauce reaches desired consistency.

Heat a shallow non stick pan with enough oil to come up about half way each rice patty, over a medium – medium high heat.

Remove the rice patties from the fridge, brown each patty in the hot oil for about 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown.

 Serve with the Marinara sauce and extra herbs for garnish.

 

Apr 23

Beef and Barley Risotto with Asparagus

This dish can certainly be made using risotto rice, but I like the texture of the barley in place of the rice, you’ll a whole lot more flavor with the barley as well. The beef I used, had had other plans prior to me deciding I would use it in a risotto and so it had alreadybeen marinated for 2 days in red wine, garlic , and malagueta. You dont have to marinate the beef before using, but you will add that much more flavour if you do.

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Ingredients, serves 3-4

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

150 g beef cutlet, marinated

½ cup pearl barley

½ cup small pasta, like orzo

1 medium onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

225g white button mushrooms, washed and sliced

1 Litre of beef stock + more if needed

1 bundle of asparagus, trimmed and cut into large pieces diagonally

Chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat, brown the beef cutlet about 2-3 minutes a side, set on a plate to cool, slice into bite size pieces.

Add the barley, and pasta to the pot, stirring for 2 minutes, browning the pasta and barley. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms to the barley and pasta stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes.  Slowly add the beef stock, scraping the bottom of the pot to get all the browned bits off.  Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the chopped asparagus pieces, parsley, and the cooked beef. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the asparagus is cooked the way you like it.  At any point during simmering you may or may not have to add a little extra beef stock if the stock simmers off before the barley is cooked, I like to add just a ½ cup at a time.

Mar 19

Sopa Da Ti-tia ( Auntie’s Soup )

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So a few weeks ago I made this simple red pepper and potato based vegetable soup, I had my Mom send some over to my sisters house and My Niece  the cutie loved the soup. She is probably the soups biggest adorer. The original I made took Israeli couscous, unfortunately I have none in my pantry at the moment and used alphabet pasta instead. In addition to this soup being yummy, it is also a healthy soup, loaded with veggies…

Ingredients serves 4-6

1 red pepper, diced
4 stalks of celery, sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced + 1 medium potato peeled and diced, saved for later
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2.5 L chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups broccoli florets,
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1/3 cup +2 tbsp small pasta
1/3 cup milk
1 heaping tbsp all purpose flour

Place the pepper, celery, 2 medium potatoes, garlic, and stock in a large pot and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Remove the pot from the heat.

Puree the soup in a blender or in the pot using a hand held blender until smooth. Add the remaining diced potato, broccoli, grated carrot, and pasta to the soup and continue to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally  until the vegetables and pasta are tender.
At the last minute, combine the milk and flour in a small bowl, pour into the soup and simmer the soup for 2 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of dry basil.

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Jan 6

Panettone Bread Pudding

 

I originally purchased a whole panettone in the hopes of making some panettone french toast. While at the grocery store I noticed a sale on what I was assuming was older, not the freshest panettone, seeing as I was going to make french toast anyways I saved myself some change and got the would be old stuff… when I got home I opened the bag that the panettone came in and I had a slice which turned into 3 slices, which then turned into me and mother sitting at the kitchen table devouring more than half of the loaf. Needless to say, the old panettone was delicious, and there was now not enough to make my french toast, in turn I used what was left to make some panettone bread pudding with a vanilla cream sauce. IMG_5787 (800x533) IMG_5800 (800x533) IMG_5821 (800x533) IMG_5828 (800x533)

 

Dec 26

Jamaican Sorrel Drink

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A co-worker was kind enough to let me take a bottle of her home made Sorrel off of her hands this Christmas.  Sorrel is, from what this nurse told me, a plant that grows around Christmas time, which is then made into this wonderful drink consisting of, along with this Christmas plant, Rum, Ginger and wine….  The result is this deep red colored fluid, mildly spicy, tasting not of wine or ginger and not of rum, but a sweet and smooth blend of all these flavors.  Sorrel tastes like nothing else Ive ever had, and a must try drink for everyone.

Dec 21

Ginger Snaps and Cream Pudding

 

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This is probably the easiest dessert that you will ever make in your life. This is a variation of a dessert that my sisters Godmother makes. The first time I had said dessert was at a family party and I liked it so much that a few days later I had a dream that I was eating a treasure chest full of it. Long story short, the lady was kind enough to give me her recipe which is made with bolacha Maria ( Maria Cookies). Here Ive made it with Ginger Snaps just to add a touch of Christmas feel to it and the result was dream worthy <3

Ingredients for 4 – 6 servings

  • 250ml whipping cream
  • 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
  • 15 ginger snaps, crushed

Whip the cream using the whip attachment of an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the sweetened condensed milk and continue to whip on high speed until firm peaks form.

Layer the whipped cream mixture alternating with the ground ginger snaps ensuring that the last layer is the ground ginger snaps.  At this point the dessert can be eaten if it is a last minute dessert, otherwise place in the fridge so that the cream mixture firms up.

Note: You can also make this dessert in individual glasses or bowls.

 

 

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Dec 20

Gingerbread Squares

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Gingerbread has got to be one of my type of favorite cookies, with a side of creamy 3% milk. When making this Martha Stewart recipe, I slightly adjusted the amount of spice that I added. I halved the recipe but doubled the ginger just because I especially like a spicy gingerbread cookie.

Ingredients ( Gingerbread Cookies from Martha Stewart Magazine, Special Issue; Holiday Cookies. 2001)

  • 3 cups flour
  • .5 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 pound (1 stick of butter)  at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 4 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup molasses

In a large bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add the spices, egg, and molasses, mix to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda mix until combined. Divide the dough in half and chill for 1 hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 350*f.  Line several baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Remove the cookie dough fro the fridge and let stand for a few minutes. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.  place the rolled out dough on a piece of parchment paper and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes to chill and become firm.

Cut the dough using whatever shaped cookie cutter your heart desires or use a fluted pastry wheel  to cut the dough into squares as I did. Bake on the lined baking sheets for 8 minutes, and not a minute more! or they will burn, as did my first batch :(

Let the cookies cool on a wire rack before transferring to an airtight container.

 

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Dec 20

Tangerines and Custard Apples

 

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My Mother was super excited to find these a few days ago, at the Portuguese fisg market of all places, they are Tangerines and Custard Apples ( coracoes negros – black hearts  in Portuguese) These were imported from Terceira, one of the small Azorean Islands that my family is originally from and where my parents immigrated from. Needless to say these brought back a lot of happy feelings and “saudades” ( home sickness ) for Mother. The Tangerines are soo fragrant and the custard apples are said to be sweet / sour although I cant say for sure since I’ve yet to try one! they are still ripening and will probably be a few days before we get to crack one open.