Itsa Pizza Party! (Roasted Vegetable & Goat Cheese Pizza)

A couple weeks ago, I took part in a noodle party featuring Korean yam noodles / dang myun. Participants were to blog about their favourite noodle recipe, try something new, or...anything, just as long as the recipe included the yam noodles. A couple days later, Jeroxie suggested a pizza party, and the ball got rolling.

Participants this time (to be changed periodically once this post is live - list is from Jeroxie) are:

• Penny - Jeroxie - Addictive & Consuming - Serpent Pie with Pizza Sauce (Happy Birthday and Thank you for Hosting!)
• Divina – Sense & Serendipity - Breakfast Pizza
• Christine – Christine’s Recipes - BBQ Chicken Pizza
• Mardi – Eat, Live, Travel, Write - Pizza w Lemon Asparagus Pesto
• Trix – Tasty Trix - Langos, Three Ways
• Conor – Hold the Beef - Poached Pear Pizza
• Shirley – Enriching your kid - Healthy Spiced Dough Vegetable Pizza
• Natasha – Five Star Foodie - Plum Pizza Pie
• Ozoz – Kitchen Butterfly
• Agnes – Off the spork - Pizza Pie (Literally! And cute pizza toppers on lemon cupcakes.)
• Joanne – Second Helping - Mushroom & Taleggio, Signore Lupo
• Celeste – Berry Travels - Lasagna Pizza Pie
• Mark – Cafe Campana
• Steph - Momofuku for 2 - Pizza 4 Ways
• Shao - Fried Wontons for You
• Ahn – A food Lover’s Journey - Chicken and Kimchi Pizza
• Cherry – Sweet Cherry Pie
• Tangled Noodle - Irish Pan Pizza

For my contribution, I kept in my "meatless" theme and went with an old favourite: roasted vegetable and goat cheese pizza. The crust is crisp, light and thin, and the vegetables are complimented by the tang of goat cheese. I forgot to add olives here, but they really add to the dish - calamatas please! :)


Ingredients - Crust (makes 2)
2 t yeast
1 1/4 c warm water
1 t sugar, syrup, or honey
2 T extra virgin olive oil
3 c all purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 t sea salt
1/2 t thyme leaves
1/2 t rubbed oregano

In a large bowl, mix together yeast, warm water, and sugar (or syrup or honey). Set aside for 10 minutes.

Add olive oil to bowl. In a medium bowl, mix together 2 1/2 c of the all purpose flour, all of the whole wheat flour, salt, thyme, and oregano. Gradually mix flour mixture into yeast mixture. Dough will be slightly sticky and moist. Add in remaining all purpose flour by hand.

Generously flour a working surface and hands. Knead for 10 minutes, adding flour if necessary to avoid stickiness. Place in well-oiled bowl; flip to coat surface. I covered the bowl and left it to proof for a good long while (I was away at work. :)

Punch down dough. Allow to rise for 1 hour.

Divide dough into two parts. With floured hands, on a floured surface, form the dough into two rectangular or circular bases.

Usually, I dust the pizza pan or baking sheet with cornmeal. In addition to adding lots of texture to the finished product, it prevents the crust from sticking to the pizza stone, baking sheet, or pan. But M is anti-cornmeal. So I dusted a piece of parchment paper with flour and used that instead.

Ingredients - Toppings (Yields about one pizza-ful; double to make enough to use up the dough)
1 small each red, green, orange bell peppers, or about 2 colours of your choice, cut into wedges
4-5 sliced mushrooms (I used shitaake, although this would be nice just with a mixture of mushrooms and asparagus!)
4-5 spears fresh spring asparagus cut into 3-4 inch sections
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t red chili flakes
1/2 t basil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 t balsamic vinegar
3 T olive oil
Tomato sauce
~150 g goat cheese / chevre

Preheat oven, with pizza stone, to 440ºF.

In a medium bowl, toss together vegetables, garlic powder, chili flakes, basil, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Smear tomato sauce onto reserved and shaped crust; top with seasoned vegetables. Drizzle any remaining olive oil mixture over top of pizza. Crumble goat cheese over pizza.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust bottom is lightly browned and toppings are cooked.

Enjoy!

I've enjoyed this with eggplant, portobellos, wilted spinach, and fresh summer tomatoes - it is just so good. Do give it a try and let me know how you like it!

BTW - this is not only limited to veggie toppings. M seemed to have assaulted his half of the pizza today with some cooked ham. C'est la vie!

Recipe: Butternut Squash & Romano Bean Soup

If you've been following my twitter, you may have noticed that I declared a temporary meat ban last week. While I haven't been 100% successful (from fistfuls of ham when M was making pea soup last week to dinner with the family this weekend to AYCE Thai lunch with Karl, Sherman, and Kim), the rewards have been generous. I *swear* I can see a change in my complexion, and I feel healthier. I'm also looking to get back into jogging (goal is a half marathon later this year, but please don't hold me to that).

Thankfully, I'd like to say that I truely enjoy my share of vegetables. I was probably one of the only ten year olds that counted broccoli and cauliflower amongst my favourite foods. Today they still are, along with a variety of squashes, beets, mushrooms, eggplant and kale. Here's a hearty but healthy butternut squash and romano bean soup that I whipped up last week to comfort against the cold weather. I pureed a portion of the soup after it was done to thicken it up. The bean and squash texturize the soup very well - you don't miss meat or cream here!

Ingredients
1/2 small onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
~2 t vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 t ground cumin
3/4 t ground coriander
Salt & pepper to taste
1 butternut squash peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes
1 - 16 oz romano beans
Water to cover

Method
In a large saucepan, over medium to medium-low heat, saute the onion, celery, and carrot until the onion is translucent and fragrant (about eight minutes). Season with salt and pepper. Do not brown.

Add the garlic, cumin, coriander, and cook 1-2 minutes more. Add the squash; stir and cook 1-2 minutes more. Season again.

Add romano beans and add water to just cover vegetables. Simmer on medium low for 20-30 minutes, or until squash is tender. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Remove half (or more, your preference) of the soup into a blender or food processor. Pulse until texture is uniform. Return to pot and simmer on medium low until desired consistency is obtained.

I garnished my soup with a sprinkle of dukkah and some rice milk drizzled over top. With the sweetness of the squash and bean, and the savoury spices, I really enjoyed it. It was a *little* reminicent of the infamous squash at East is East, but in a good way. :) It made for a nice vegan / vegetarian lunch the next day too.

I haven't pinned it down to what exactly I'm trying to accomplish with the meat detox. If anything, just to be healthier and lessen the amount of antibiotics / drugs / crap in my body. So far, it hasn't been hard. But dining out is pretty tricky. Stay tuned for more.

Vegan Recipes for the Bake Sale for Chile!

Just a reminder that the (Vegan) Bake Sale for Chile takes place tonight! 6:30pm to 10pm, at the Radha Yoga & Eatery on 728 Main Street. Here are my two contenders for the event. It is not my first time baking vegan (previous work experience allowed me the expense of learning to substitute certain ingredients for healthier or more ethical options!).

What is vegan? Vegan is a lifestyle that, for health, religious, or ethical reasons, does not utilize or consume any animal-based, or animal-derived products. That is, no meat or use of products like eggs, dairy milk, honey, nor gelatin. The vegan lifestyle also shuns products like leather, silk, or wool, or even other textiles and products that may be be animal derived.

When I was younger, I used to order home-delivered produce through an organization called Urban Organics. It was a company based in Vancouver who would "surprise" you with a weekly delivery of fresh local produce - sadly, I cannot find them on the web. I believe they were bought out by SPUD?

Along with the weekly delivery came a newsletter with recipes and other tidbits of information, and (once) a book by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer titled, "How It All Vegan!". It is a *really* great vegan resource, and as I worked on different projects and looked for healthy recipes, I turned to it time and time again! My favourite recipe is one that includes rice, beans, and zucchini (SO perfect for a winter night!) It is a wonderful stepping stone if you are looking to transition to veganism, as there tips for vegan substitutions for milk and eggs, and a whole section on other consumables such as beauty and pet products.

While I am not vegan, and not even vegetarian, I can appreciate vegans who make the lifestyle choices to avoid consuming any animal products. And vegans who join together to contribute to a charitable cause like relieving Chilean earthquake victims? Even better!

Here are my two contributions to the night: mini babingka cakes, and brownies.

If you've been following my twitter, you'd have seen that I'm erring on the side of using rice milk exclusively, with only skim milk for a "backup". The beauty of having rice / almond / soy / potato milk in the pantry is that it (aside from tasting yummy!) has a long shelf life. The only dairy milk substitute that I *cannot* stomache is hemp milk. Yes, I know we live in BC and I know it is probably one of the healthiest, "whole" food alternatives, but had too much of it at one time and can not drink it anymore. *shudder*

I used a combination of rice milk, coconut milk, and tofu in this babingka recipe to substitute out the butter, egg, and milk that is sometimes used in this Filipino dessert. I also utilized rice flour to make this product gluten-free; while this affects the texture of the finished product (short texture feeling), it pairs nicely with the coconut. I am pretty pleased with the results as the cakes were moist and had a nice coconut flavour.

Ingredients (makes about 24 mini cakes
1 c white rice flour
1/2 c organic cane juice solids
2 t baking powder
1 c coconut milk
1/4 c tofu (I've used original dessert tofu, although a coconut dessert tofu and a mango-peach flavoured dessert tofu were wonderful substitutions as well!)
1/4 c rice milk

Method
Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a medium bowl, sift together the white rice flour, cane juice solids, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, mash tofu, or blend until no large chunks remain. Mix or blend in the coconut and rice milks.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and mix in the wet ingredients until just mixed. Pour into paper-lined mini muffin tin and bake 12-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cake comes out clean.

You may cool and serve as is, or you may sprinkle with additional cane juice solids and broil or brulee with a blow torch until the cane sugar caramelizes.

---

The brownies came out a little drier than I had hoped. Next time I'd bake it in a smaller pan for shorter amount of time, and also add some extra chocolate chips for flavour.

Ingredients
2 c all purpose flour
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 ripe banana
2/3 c organic cane sugar
1 c rice milk
2/3 c vegetable oil
1 t vanilla

Method
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

In a medium bowl, mash banana together with the cane sugar. Beat in vanilla, rice milk, and vegetable oil.

Spread into a greased (I greased with vegetable oil) 9x3" pan (I would use an 8x8" or 9x9" pan next time!). Bake at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool and cut with a serrated knife.

This was a well-organized event with many volunteers in a great venue. Radha Yoga and Eatery serves vegan (many raw options) fare four nights a week. All baked goods were vegan and were paid for in donations. About $1500 was raised, and will be matched by a corporate sponsor!

Ina Gartens' Banana Crunch Muffins

My cousin sent me an email the other day that made me laugh. It was a woman's response to an poster ad she saw at the gym asking "Do you want to be a whale or a mermaid?" (Link here.) I know, it is a little cheesey but it is cute and makes you think. Yes, with that argument, I'd want to be a whale too.

I think one of the joys of food comes not only with eating, but cooking. For that reason, we hosted a brunch last weekend. While I was looking for some brunch recipes, I came across Ina Gartens' recipe for Banana Crunch Muffins. If there is one food network / food tv star that I love, it is Ina Garten. My aunt became a fan of Ina while she was on maternity leave, and recommended her and her show to me. I've been a fan ever since!

Not only does Ina make great food (every recipe of hers that I've tried has been a winner), but follows the philosophy of being a warm, caring, loving and loved individual. The scenic shots from the Hamptons also help. :)

I love bananas, so I copied down the recipe right away - while I didn't make them for the brunch last week, I did sit down and make them this week. I adapted it a little - no coconut (we are not coconut fans. Except for Bubby Rose's macaroons!), frozen bananas, a combination of half & half and skim milk, and pecans in place of walnuts. I also only made half a recipe as M, although he is getting his sweet tooth back, is a not a muffin man. :)

With the addition of the granola and nuts, these muffins remind me of Thrifty's Trail Mix muffins (they have pepitas, granola, and dried fruit in them!). I love the texture all the mixings give to the muffin, and love how the bananas and whole milk keep the muffin moist and tender.



The amounts and method below yield a "Jessicas dozen" - about 10 to 11 muffins. Yes, I like my muffins puffy!

Ingredients (Halved and adapted from Ina Gartens' recipe)

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c white sugar (I lessened the sugar as the bananas and banana chips were sweetened)
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1/4 c skim milk + 2 T half and half (or the same amount of whole milk - we don't use whole milk in this house)
1 t pure vanilla extract
2 bananas (previously frozen, slightly mashed)
1/2 c pecans
1/2 c granola (I used
1/2 c banana chips

Method
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a medium muffin pan with muffin liners.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and mix in melted and cooled butter. It will be get a little "sandy" - press it together with your fingertips if you have to. The texture will be like wet sand. Try to break apart any large lumps and make a well in the center.

In a separate bowl, beat egg with whole milk, (or skim + half & half like I did), vanilla, and fresh or frozen banana. Add to the flour / butter mixture and mix until just coming together. Fold in granola, banana chips, and pecans.

Fill muffin cups to the top. Top with additional pecans, banana chips, and granola if desired.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.



These are hearty muffins. Great for when I'm on the go or late for work! Will definately make these again, may incorporate some dried fruit too!

Recipe: Banana Choco-Chip Cake

I was having dinner with family last night, and apparently it came up that when my aunt sees ripe, black bananas, she thinks of me. I suppose I should feel flattered that she was thinking of me. :)

This recipe has been in my repertoire for a while. I made it in high school after my aunt found me the recipe to satisfy her cravings. I've tweaked it a little for my liking as the original recipe was a little sweet, and it is a really yummy snack cake. The sour cream, bananas, extra baking powder and baking soda make for a light, moist cake, but the chocolate chips and cream also add some beautiful richness. Mmmm. As I'm writing this, the smell of rich dairy notes, chocolate, and a hint of cinnamon are wafting through my place.



Ingredients
3 c all purpose flour
2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder

1 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
4 ripe bananas

1 c sour cream

1/3 c brown or yellow sugar (brown sugar yields a more flavorful cake, but use what you have on hand)
1 t cinnamon

1 c chocolate chips (you could experiment and try dark chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or white chocolate...mmm.)

Method
Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until uniform. Mix in vanilla and bananas until combined. (If they are a little on the un-ripe side, I mash the bananas in a separate bowl first. If they're competely ripe and syrupy, I just add them directly to the mix - I love the texture it gives to the final product!)

Alternately add the flour and sour cream to the mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon.

Spread half the batter into a greased 9 x 13" pan. Smooth top.

Sprinkle with half the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle with half of the chocolate chips. Repeat layers.

Bake at 350ºF for 45-50 minutes.




Since the cake has sour cream and bananas as moisteners, it keeps well! Store, wrapped, for up to a week (it rarely lasts that long). Yay to my big yee yee and her love of black bananas. I believe she was one of the first people to buy me a cookbook. :)

Recipe: Sticky Beef Ribs

As I didn't get to take any new photos of the beef ribs I served at a family get together a couple weeks ago, I'm using the same photos I used for the photo teaser previously!

Me and M are always on the hunt for a good deal - garage sales, store promotions, double duty / uses for things we buy. When we decided that we were going to have each of our families over for dinner, we thought about tasty dishes that each family would like, but wouldn't break the bank.

When we came upon packages of beef ribs at our local supermarket labeled and priced as "beef rib soup bones", our eyes got that special glint. Whereas other supermarkets priced the same item (beef bones!) as "prime rib bones" at over $9 a kilo, our supermarket was pricing them at around $4 for soup bones. For under $5, we could have ourselves a very substantial meal!



Before marinading the ribs it is important to remove the papery "tissue" on the back of the ribs. It's a little tedious, but once you get the hang of it, the results are well worth it! It makes the difference between sifting through sinewy, tough, papery skin, to chomping down on juicy, tender meat with no resistance at all.

To remove the "skin", use a small paring knife to slip under the paper layer behind the ribs. Wiggle the knife around so that you can make a hole large enough to fit a finger or your fingers in. Moving your fingers around, loosen the papery layer and tear it off. Work from rib to rib until the entire piece is complete.

Ingredients
~2.5kg / 5 lbs of beef ribs (about 12-16 ribs)
2 t dried oregano leaves
2 t sweet paprika
1 1/2 t brown sugar
1 t garlic powder
1 t kosher salt
1 t ground black pepper

Method
Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Prepare beef ribs as described above and rub marinade into the meat on both sides. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

30 minutes before you are ready to prepare the ribs, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come up to room temperature.

Preheat the grill to high heat. Place ribs onto grill; reduce heat to medium or medium low to create sear marks in ~2 minutes. Sear on both sides; turn the heat elements under the ribs off; leave others on. Close barbeque and allow to cook on indirect medium low heat for 50-60 minutes.

During the last 10 minutes of cooking, baste with your favourite barbeque sauce.

Slice into portions and serve!



I multiplied the recipe / rub and made it for Ms family when they came over. They almost finished all the ribs but they left lots of leftovers of everything else!

Recipe: Mango Pudding!

Would you believe that we recently had not one, but TWO huge family / friend gatherings at our apartment this last while with HORDES of food and all I have for you in terms of recipes and photos is this mango pudding???!

I tell you - eating with Ms or my own family is like eating with a pack of hungry wolves. If you get to taste every dish, you could be said to be a) an extremely fast eater with asbestos lips (there have been occasions where my father has finished a bowl of soup and there is still STEAM coming off of the residual coating of soup in the bowl, or the server is still ladling soup for everyone) b) a stamina eater with lightning reflexes (perhaps a pavlovian-trained reflex), or c) you're sitting next to my dad or J (in either family. haha!)



So...the reason why these photos even exist is because this is, in fact, a "leftover" pudding from the Y familys' feast. Surprisingly, Ms family eats less than my family - even J disappointed me when he had to doggy bag the rest of his plate. Who would have thought that a seasoned athlete arriving for dinner after a long evening of volleyball would have a moderate sized appetite (vs the monstrous one I was expecting?) *shrug*.



Ingredients
2 envelopes Knox granulated gelatin
1/3 c granulated sugar
1 c boiling water
1 c cool water
~400g sweetened mango puree (about 15 oz) - I used Rellure brand of sweetened Kesar Mango Pulp, although you could experiment and find a brand or product that you prefer
1 c whipping cream
1/2 c diced fresh mango
Evaporated milk for serving

Method
In a large metal or ceramic bowl, stir gelatin and sugar together. Add boiling water and stir until dissolved.

Stir in cool water, mango puree, and cream until combined. Stir in diced mango.

Pour into small molds or a large jelly mold and refrigerate until firm.

Serve with a thin layer of evaporated milk.



I poured mine into individual molds and used teacups when I ran out - I thought it looked cute with the layer of bright yellow pudding and the thin layer of milk on top. This recipe made about 18 portions. Thank you to L for the beautiful roses and vase!

Recipe: Quick (Rough) Puff Pastry

I made a "quick" puff pastry for a mushroom tart with mushrooms that I picked up from the local farmers market.

While I love puff pastry, I don't want to spend three days preparing it, or spend money on expensive store-bought doughs!

After some quick research, I found a recipe for a rough puff pastry that required a food processor. Since I am really ghetto, I don't have a food processor either, so I prepared the puff pastry by hand in a day.

There's a term that my chef instructor (Chef Patrice!) taught us for preparing a tender short crust pastry. Sablé, a method of gently kneading cold butter and flour together to form a thin layers of butter and flour. While I still "turned" the puff pastry a number of times, I believe the sabléing lended some tenderness to the pastry.

Here's a short video on the method (sorry for the graininess - I know *nothing* about video shooting / editing):



Ingredients
1 c unsalted butter
1 2/3 c all purpose flour
3/4 t salt
1/4 c ice-cold water, more if needed

Method
Dice butter and place in freezer for 15 minutes.

Sift together flour and salt into a large bowl. Add about half of the butter cubes to the flour mixture and sable until all butter has been kneaded. Chill if necessary (if it is a hot day, or you feel that the butter has softened too much!). Add remaining cold butter cubes and sable again. Do not work the butter in too much - you want a shaggy appearance.

Mix in ice water with a spoon or spatula. Gather the rough dough together and place onto parchment paper. Place another layer of parchment paper on to and flatten with your hands. Chill the dough for fifteen to thirty minutes at this point if you are working on a warm day.

Fold the dough into thirds and roll out. Turn the dough 90 degrees and fold into thirds again. Repeat the turning process two more times, then chill until firm, fifteen to thirty minutes.

The dough may be used in your recipes, or stored, wrapped, in the freezer for up to two months.

I'll post the recipe for the mushroom tart later - here's a side view of the puff pastry. Not too bad for handmade!

Recipe: Tomato & Mozzarella with Sel de Guerande

Remember how I visited Whole Foods on Cambie this weekend?

Well of *course* I couldn't leave empty handed!

I actually circle the store a couple times, oohing and aahing at their beautiful frosted mini cupcakes, their assortment of dried mushrooms, variety of salts, and selection of cheeses. I wanted a lot of products but didn't want to spend that much money, knowing that there was a huge mark up and I already had a fair amount of leftovers and food to work through at home.



I wound up buying some Fleur de Sel (de Guerande) and some dried lobster mushrooms.

For dinner one night, we had a simple salad. What follows is not a traditional recipe, but a sort of arrangement and garnishing of alternating mozzarella and ripe hot house tomatoes with drops of fig-scented balsamic vinegar, a couple pickled capers, a twist or two of black peppercorn, a pinch of chopped parsley, and of course, some fleur de sel.



The fleur de sel is about twenty to thirty times more expensive than regular table salt. This is owed to the fact that it is hand-harvested in a town in France (Guerande). There are different grades of salt coming from Guerande, but Fleur de Sel remains the top quality salt. Fleur de sel has a less harsh taste than table or sea salts and dissolves quickly on the tongue.

I actually debated about getting grey salt de Guerande at Whole Foods, and reasoned that it was half the price of the small tub of salt that I eventually walked out with, for about five times more...but the fancypants in me went with Fleur de Sel. :) Aaaah. Gotta love eating.

Recipe: Healthy KFC = KRT?

We had a craving for KFC without all the grease and salt. After looking online for a couple copycat recipes and tweaking them to our own liking, we came up with the following - KRT! Kentucky Roasted Turkey! We used turkey wings (for maximum skinage & flavour, and lower fat content than chicken) and roasted them as opposed to deep frying them to cut down more fat!

I *did* marinate in sour cream, only because I wanted to tenderize the wings, and I did lightly bread them. I know - counter productive to the "healthy" issue, but we didn't want to eat half and chuck half either!



Ingredients
6 turkey wings (about 1.4kg / 3.5lbs)
1/2 c sour cream
1 c flour, more if needed

Seasoning mix:
1 T paprika
2 t garlic powder
2 t salt
2 t thyme powder
2 t oregano flakes
2 t ground sage
1 t celery seed
1 t ginger
1 t allspice
1 t chili powder
1 t black pepper
1 t white pepper
1 t basil flakes
1 t marjoram

Method
Mix together all the seasoning ingredients. The night before, mix together the sour cream and 4 t of the seasoning in a large non-reactive container. Marinate poultry in sour cream mixture overnight, or at least eight hours.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Mix together flour and remaining seasoning mix. Remove poultry from sour cream mixture, remove any excess sour cream mixture, and dredge in flour. Shake off any excess flour. Place coated turkey wings onto foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes on one side. Flip pieces over and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes, until cooked, depending on the size of your wings.



We found that the recipe needed a *touch* more salt. M liked the turkey wings and I found the seasoning mix pretty close (minus any MSG) but I thought the turkey wings were a little too sinewy and chewy. Ahh, the things I give up for health. :)

We enjoyed the wings on brown rice and a side of Greek salad (with fresh home-grown oregano!) to extend the "healthy" kick.

Recipe: Simply Sunny Fruit Salad

It is a week of sunshine like this, with the cherry blossoms blooming and clear blue skies that make Vancouver such a likeable city.

The sun also made me indulge in a bunch of fresh fruit and melon - perfect for snacking on, or an accompaniment to a healthy lunch!



Feel free to incorporate any of your favourite fruits!

Ingredients
1 baby watermelon, diced
4 small organic kiwis, peeled & diced
2 Alphonso (Philipine) mangoes, peeled & diced
1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and diced

Method
Mix all ingredients together gently. Enjoy within 2-3 days!

I've been eating this all week - the tart kiwis with the fragrant mangoes and the sweet pineapple *all* go so well together!

Recipe: Say 'Hello' to my Little Friend, aka "Hot" Chocolate Pudding

Fulfilling promises of a recipe from some time ago...

I had a craving for something rich. Brulee? Maybe. Pot de creme? Meh. Chocolate? I ended up with a concoction of what I call "Hot" Chocolate Pudding. I used egg yolks for the pudding, and the egg whites in a pavlova. It was the perfect marriage of dark and rich, and light and sweet.



I even had the perfect ingredient - a lonesome milk chocolate bunny from Purdy's chocolates that I bought on sale on the Tuesday after easter. Yum! Make sure you chop some extra chocolate for nibbling on! :)



Alas, I did make a mistake when preparing the pudding. I forgot to draw off all the foam / floaty proteins and so the top of the pudding wasn't as smooth as I'd liked. I'll be sure to post another recipe later on where I'll detail that.



Ingredients
1 c half & half
150 grams milk chocolate, chopped (or about half of a good-quality easter bunny! :)
3 large egg yolks
3 T white sugar
3/4 t ground cinnamon (or better, a cinnamon stick!)
1/2 t chili powder (gives a nice "warm" spicy note, as opposed to cayenne, which would kick you in the 'buds. . .nice flavour, but not for everyone.)

Method
Heat the half and half with the cinnamon and chili over medium heat just until small bubbles start to form around the edges.

Meanwhile, beat together the white sugar and egg yolks.

When the half and half has just heated to just bubbling, remove from heat and remove cinnamon stick, if using. Cool slightly.

Temper the chocolate by adding the slightly cooled cream to the chocolate and mixing vigorously until the chocolate is melted. Add to the egg yolk mixture and stir well.

Allow to settle overnight in the fridge, or skim off the foam / curdled protein on the top of the mixture before pouring into ramekins.

Bake in a bain marie for 30-40 minutes at 325ºF or just until set. Cool, or enjoy warm. :)



The above recipe made about six individual puddings - I'm sure that if I had remembered to skim off the foam, it would have made about four or five custards instead.

The 'Hello' To my Little Friend reference in the blog title? No, I wasn't talking about the chocolate bunny (although I could have been). I was talking about the brulee torch that I forgot about since I've moved in!

It was a present from my brother and cousin from way back when when I was still in culinary school. Hard to believe that that was almost ten (10!) years ago. Holy cow time flies!

I have to say that my brulee-ing skills have gone downhill. That, and trying to brulee in a rectangular ramekin when you have vivid memories of being burnt by an industrial torch when you were working in a open restaurant kitchen makes it a little difficult. (There were times when I had to go to the back to swear. haha! ha.)

I think this pudding was better without the bruleeing, personally. It was a touch on the sweet side, so leaving it plain was better instead.

It was all enjoyed by M and my dad, surprisingly. :)

Additional photos available at my flickr set.

Recipe: Solo Breakfast - Eggs Florentine, Hold the Sauce!

M had to go to work on Easter Monday, so I was left to my own devices. (Not that I couldn't handle it! :)

In the essence of the holiday, I made a simple "fancy" breakfast - poached eggs with spinach, on toast. Eggs Florentine, my way!

I'm not one to drown my breakfast in oil, lard or grease - my Eggs Florentine is minus the heavy mornay (cheese bechamel) sauce, or the hollandaise sauce that usually accompanies poached eggs. I wanted to go for a jog after my breakfast!



Ingredients
1 egg
1 slice bread
salt, pepper to taste

1 T minced onion
2 handfuls spinach, washed thoroughly, drained, and trimmed of stems
pinch of thyme
pinch of nutmeg
salt, pepper to taste

Tomate concasse to garnish

Method
Bring to a boil a 3" deep pot of water. Put a couple drops of vinegar into the pot to help poach the egg (vinegar helps the egg white coagulate).

In a small pan, heat a small amount of oil on medium heat. Saute minced onion, stirring until onion is opaque.

Add spinach to pan (don't worry if it looks like a lot of spinach, it will wilt down to a beautiful glistening green!) and season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat in oil; season with nutmeg and thyme. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the bread and poach the egg. Crack the egg into a small dish or ramekin first. (This prevents me from steam burns, and also from getting shells into the egg or breaking the yolk. Murphys law.) Slowly pour the egg into the boiling pot of water and turn the heat down to a simmer. Allow to poach 1-2 minutes, until the white has cooked but the yolk is still runny. Remove from the water and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Butter the toast. Place cooked spinach onto the toast. Top with the poached egg and garnish with tomate concasse (tomato that has been peeled, seeded, and diced).

Yum!

More photos available at my flickr photoset.

Recipe: Zucchini and Carrot Pappardelle with Parsley Sauce

Sunny days call for sunny recipes! . . .too bad this is being posted a day late. Vancouver had a sunny weekend that extended two days into the work week. Unfortunately, this morning it gradually clouded over.

Although, while it was sunny, I had the chance to whip out the pasta machine again and made a batch of pappardelle, a thin, wide ribbon pasta accompanied by equally wide ribbons of tender zucchini and carrots that were sliced thin on my handy mandoline.



I brought the veggies and fresh pasta together with a fresh (and raw!)parsley sauce blended together in my handy magic bullet (this entry should be a kitchen gadget entry!).

Ingredients

2 small zucchinis, trimmed and sliced with a mandoline to 1/8" (~0.3cm) thick
2 small carrots, peeled, trimmed and sliced with a mandoline to 1/8" (~0.3cm) thick
1 pasta dough recipe

1 bunch parsley
1/4 cup piave vecchio, parmesan, romano, or other hard cheese
Juice of half a lemon
5 cloves of roasted garlic
3 T olive oil
2-3 T hazelnuts or pepitas
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup water

Method

Divide the pasta dough recipe into three portions. Roll each portion out with the pasta machine. Start with the lowest setting, run the dough through once, fold the dough into thirds, run through the machine again, and repeat.

Increase the thickness setting and run the dough through the machine; dust lightly with flour if necessary, and run through twice more. Repeat this step with all the thickness settings until you get to setting 6. Dust the pasta strip with more flour, fold or roll loosely into a bundle, and cut into approximately 3/4" (~2cm) strips. Dust with more flour, and hang on suspended wooden spoon handles to dry slightly while you roll out the rest of the dough.

For the sauce, blend together the last 7 ingredients together in a blender, food processor, or magic bullet. Taste for seasoning; add more cheese, salt or pepper to taste. Set sauce aside.

Slice the vegetables with a mandoline to about 1/8" (~0.3cm) thick. Slice the strips lengthwise in half if necessary.

Bring a large stockpot of generously salted water to a rolling boil. Quickly blanch the vegetable strips for 30-60 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon to an ice bath. Drain and reserve in a large bowl for later.

In the same large stock pot, bring the water back to a rolling boil. Drop in the dried pappardelle and stir to loosen and separate the strands. Cook for 5-8 minutes, or until desired doneness. Remove with tongs or a pasta fork to bowl of blanched vegetable strips.

Add parsley sauce to pasta and veggies, toss lightly, and serve!

Be sure to enjoy in the sun. :) It makes all the difference in the world!

Recipe: Ubi / Ube (Purple Yam) Bread

When I first joined the Foodbuzz community, one of the first recipes I was and was enamoured with was Angie's Ubi Purple Yam Two-Tone Bread.



I set out to search for Ubi powder, and found it shortly after while we were antiquing on Main Street! ...We wandered into a Philipino grocery store where the owner / lady helped us with a smile. Aside from the Ubi powder, we also picked up a variety of sauces. ...we tried the sauces first (that night actually) and were surprised to find that they were all very sweet - much like Philipino "ketchup", we declared. We had been expecting fiery, spicy sauce, so the sweetness was a little bit of a surprise.

Fast forward a couple weeks - I had forgotten about the ubi powder, but wanted to make a sweet bread. My mind went back to that fantastic photo of the dramatic purple streak through the white bread, and also the curiousity of what Angie calls a Tangzhong starter.

The Tangzhong starter utilizes a concept called starch gelatinization. It makes sense that as the water and flour are stirred and heated up over medium heat, that the starch, an insoluble polysaccharide breaks down into simpler sugars. The resulting hydrogen bonding sites are then able to pick up more water, and thus, improve the texture and moisture content of bread. (My Food Tech instructors would be so proud!)




While I was weighing out and preparing the bread dough, I noted the weights. I also made some changes and suggestions below.

Ingredients - Purple Dough
3/4 c all purpose flour (the original recipe calls for bread dough, but Canadian flour is harder / has more gluten, so I used that instead)
3T Ubi powder
2T + 2t white sugar
1/2t salt (I used Kosher salt)
1/2t instant dry yeast
2T Tangzhong starter (prepared from approximately 1/2 c flour + 1 c water)
1/4 c warm milk
1T + 1t egg, well beaten
2T butter, melted

Ingredients - Light Dough
1 c all purpose flour
2T + 2t white sugar
1/2t salt
1/2t instant dry yeast
2T Tangzhong starter
1/4 c warm milk
1T + 1t egg, well beaten
2T butter, melted

The recipe instructs users to prepare the dough separately, but next time, I'd prepare the doughs (minus yam powder) together, then divide them in two and knead in the yam powder. When I prepared the purple dough, I was worried that the yam powder wouldn't dissolve and make the bread grainy (see photos above). However, after baking, the yam provided a slight sweetness, and there was no graininess.

I'm looking forward to trying out the starch gelatinization concept in other applications. The bread was noticeably more moist than other breads, even a day later. I've been snacking on it here and there and it is tasty!

Recipe: French Onion Chicken Stew

Had our annual general meeting for our strata last night. It was a JOKE.

Knowing that we basically had to go straight home last night, wolf down a quick dinner, then to the meeting, we knew that we had to have something preplanned. Something fast. Something that required no fuss!



Behold, Michael Smith's recipe for French Onion Chicken Stew. It looked interesting and simple enough when I had seen it on his show, Chef at Home while eating breakfast one morning. The ingredients were simple, I had a Costco-sized bag of onions to use up, and I've been dying to maximize effort and time to use the slow cooker!

I adapted the recipe to my slow cooker - it wouldn't hold the entire recipe, and also added some extra seasonings.

Ingredients (adapted from Michael Smith's recipe)
9 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in, rinsed and patted dry
8 garlic cloves
8 yellow onions, peeled and sliced
1 cup white wine (I used a Californian Sauvignon Blanc)
2 T ground thyme
4 heaping tablespoons of dijon mustard
1 t oregano
4 bay leaves
salt, black and white peppers
pinch of cayenne

Method
I used a cast iron pot to brown off the chicken thighs which were first seasoned with a generous amount of kosher salt and pepper. I did not use oil in the pot as I figured that the chicken skins would render off enough oil to cook the meat in. I was right.

I layered the ingredients into the crock pot, starting with a layer of onions. I scatted a couple cloves of garlic on top of that, then lowered in some chicken. I dotted the chicken with dijon mustard, then seasoned with thyme, salt and pepper, oregano and bay leaves. I repeated the layers once more, and topped everything off with a layer of onions.

This was all done the night before. Before I went to work, I removed the crock pot insert from the fridge, poured in a cup of wine, then plugged the slow cooker in, turned it to low, and went to work!



When we got home yesterday, I boiled up some pasta and served the chicken and onions atop noodles. It was one heck of a comfort meal!

...Before and after the annual strata meeting. :o\

Recipe: Pumpkin Ravioli with Pecans and Butter

I promised in my last jaunt with ravioli making that I'd post a couple more photos and possibly a recipe. Here she is!

I opted for a pumpkin ravioli this time as I found the crumbly meat mixture to be difficult to work with last time. The pumpkin, on the other hand, held together nicely and didn't provide too much air in the way of vacant space inside the raviolis themselves.

This time, I used the same pasta dough recipe, and made the raviolis by running them through the pasta machine a number of times. I ran a quarter of the pasta dough recipe through the pasta machine at a time. For the first few passes, I folded it into thirds and ran it through again. I ran it through each thickness setting at least three times before increasing the thickeness setting dial.



I prepared a filling by mixing together:
1 c cooked pumpkin (I suppose cooked butternut squash would work wonderfully as well!)
1/4 c grated piave vecchio cheese
Pinch nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste



The rolled pasta dough was placed onto the ravioli form; I then placed the corresponding piece over the dough and pressed slightly to create an indent in the sheet of pasta dough.





About two teaspoons of the pumpkin filling was spooned into each indentation, and, after water was brushed around the edges of each ravioli, another sheet of pasta dough was placed and pressed into place.





A rolling pin was used to cut the dough against the ravioli form, and the individual ravioli were gently popped out and dredged heavily in flour. The raviolis were allowed to dry at room temperature for a good half hour before being dredged in more flour and stored between sheets of parchment paper in the fridge.





When I was ready to eat some ravioli, I removed them from the fridge and boiled a large pot of salted water. Once the water came to a rolling boil, several (about six per serving?) raviolis were dropped into the water, and immediately stirred to separate from one another.

Concurrently, I melted about a tablespoon of butter over medium heat, and toasted some pecan halves for about 2-3 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. I seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper, and also a pinch of ground thyme. Once the ravioli had cooked for about five minutes and floated to the top of the pan, I removed them with a slotted spoon and dropped into the hot butter. I continued to stir the raviolis and walnuts for a couple of minutes, then plated and served, garnished with some chives and freshly shaved piave vecchio.

It was rich, but so good. And vegetarian to boot!

I've also had the ravioli in chicken broth, and with some of the meat mixture from my lettuce wrap recipe since. It makes for a hearty, yet healthy meal. :)