Category: Easy Recipes

French Hot Dog Video!

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Last summer I was fortunate enough to visit France for a third time. If I had been on my own I might not have tried French hot dog, but because I was traveling with my sweetheart, Corey, I was tempted to take a bite of his hot dog.  He had ordered one, and I thought it would be just like the ones at home that I don’t enjoy, but this one looked so good. It was made on a baguette, with a European wiener, with mustard and grilled cheese.  The toasted baguette was crusty, the wiener was of a much higher quality that Ameri/Canadian wiener, and the gooey grilled cheese made it magnifique!

My friend Justin Cathcart recently filmed me making French hot dogs (pronounced ‘ot dogs), and worked his magic with his amazing production values and inspirational direction! Check out what he’s done!

 

 

Brown Rice, Veggies and Ground Turkey- Meal in a Bowl

I made way to much rice the other day, so I bought a bunch of veggies to cook up with the leftover rice to make a great new meal.  I love making a big meal and then having leftovers for lunch for a few days, and this works perfectly for that.  It’s easy to make, and the only part that takes a bit of time is letting the onions brown, which is key to the flavour in this dish.

I took this picture before adding the kale; it’s really good without kale too, but I added it because it’s so good for you.

What you need:

leftover brown rice, about 2 cups (okay, you can use white if that’s what you’ve got)

400 or so grams of ground turkey (or not, for a veggie option)

one large sweet or red onion, sliced

1 leek, thinly sliced

3-4 garlic cloves, sliced

red bell pepper, thinly sliced

carrot, grated

a bunch of kale, finely chopped

olive oil

pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne, unless you like it really hot, in which case add more

soy sauce

What you do:

1.  Slice the onion into strips that are just less than 1cm wide.  In a large frying pan, heat the oil on medium high, then add the onions and cook them until they are slightly browned.

3.  Cut peppers into strips similar in size to the onions.  Add to the onions, along with the sliced garlic and leeks, and cook for a few minutes.

4.  Grate the carrot and add to the other veggies.  Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the peppers are soft and the onions are quite brown.

5.  Place the veggies in a bowl, then cook the ground turkey until it’s not pink any more.

6.  Add some olive oil to the pan, then add the cooked rice to the turkey and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan, for several minutes.  Now add the veggies, the chopped kale and some soy sauce to taste, and cook for a few minutes.  Season with lots of pepper.

Mushroom Ravioli and Grilled Zucchini Appetizer

 

Here’s a super easy appetizer; you just need to be able to find some great mushroom pasta for this.

What you need:

mushroom ravioli

one small zucchini

olive oil

finely grated parmesan

salt and pepper

large toothpicks or small skewere

What you do:

1. Boil water for the pasta and grate the cheese.  Slice the zucchini thinly.

2. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan.  Fry the zucchini until both sides are slightly browned; alternatively, you can grill them on the barbecue after brushing with olive oil.

3. Cook the pasta, then skewer each ravioli along with one slice of cooked zucchini.

4.  Arrange the skewered pasta and zucchini on a platter and drizzle with a little olive oil.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and salt and pepper.

Leek, Prosciutto and Gruyere Toasts

 

I made this yummy appetizer for my mom’s birthday, and it was a big hit.  I used the leek recipe from here, but then changed the recipe a bit by adding the prosciutto and switching the brie for gruyere.  The brie would be amazing on these, but we already had one appy using it, so I wanted to use a different cheese.

You can make the leek part ahead of time, and then make them up just before you need to serve them.

What you need:

3 tablespoons butter

6 cups leeks, sliced thinly

2/3 cup whipping cream

1/3 cup parmesan

salt and pepper

100 grams or so of prosciutto

grated Gruyère cheese (or pieces of Brie)

1 loaf sourdough baguette (Terra Bread makes a great one)

What you do:

1. Heat the butter in a frying pan, then add the leeks.  Cook for about 15 minutes, until they are soft, but not browned.

2. Add the cream and bring it to a boil, then cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the parmesan, salt and pepper.

3. Slice the bread in half lengthwise and put it on a baking sheet.  Spread the leek mixture onto the bread.

4.  Put some prosciutto on the bread, then top with some grated cheese.

5. Bake at about 400F for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling a little.

6.  Slice the bread and serve right away.

Another Beautiful Veggie Platter

 

I’ve posted once before about making a veggie platter, but I thought I’d do another, since this one features an idea from my friend I-Wen, her pepper bowls.  You just cut the tops off of some bell peppers and use them for bowls for the dip and other veggies.  This one also has some edible flowers on it; they look pretty, but I tasted them just to see what they were like, and I can’t say I thought they tasted very good.  But they are safe to put on your platter, in case anyone does want to try them.

What you need:

several large bell peppers, in a variety of colours, preferably with flatter bottoms so they can stand)

assorted veggies, such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and more peppers (I never buy the pre-cut mini carrots because I find they don’t taste like much, and I’ve heard that they rinse them in bleach to keep them from turning white)

radishes with greens still on

edible flowers, such as chrysanthemum, violet, snapdragon, or marigold (I found a package at a produce store)

your favourite dip

a large platter

What you do:

1. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds.  If you need to, cut a little off the bottom of the peppers so they are level and can stand up.

2. Cut the other veggies and put some of them into the pepper bowls; I found carrot and pepper sticks work best for this.

3. Fill one of the peppers with your favourite dip, and put a small spoon in it for serving.

4. Arrange the veggies around the platter, and put a few flowers on top.  Keep some veggies on hand to refill the platter as parts of it get eaten up.

So pretty you almost don’t want to eat it!

Awesome Ouzo Prawns

For my mom’s 70th birthday party last weekend we made many appetizers, but I think this was my favourite.  The sauce is really yummy, and the prawns were so fresh and huge that they popped when bitten into.  Even if you don’t like ouzo, you’ll probably still like these, as the anise taste is quite subtle.

I served these as an appy, so I just put a toothpick in each one.  They would also work great on pasta.  Mmmm, makes me want to make them again!

What you need:

about 1lb fresh prawns, cleaned and shells removed

3 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, finely diced

1/3 cup cream

1/4 cup ouzo or sambuca

salt and pepper

What you do:

1.  Cook the garlic in the butter for a minute or so, but make sure the garlic doesn’t brown.

2.  Add the cream and cook for a few minutes, stirring, until it has thickened up a bit.  Add some salt and pepper.

3.  Now you have two options:  you can either add the ouzo to the cream and cook it off, then cook the prawns, which is the way I did it.  Or,  you can cook the prawns, then add the ouzo to them and set a flame to them, then add the cream mixture.

4.  If you chose the adding the ouzo to the cream choice, you may now heat some butter in a large frying pan, add the prawns and cook on each side only until they turn pink.  Over-cooking will turn them into tough, unpleasant things.  Once they are cooked, add the cream and ouzo sauce, give it a good stir, and serve.

 

 

Cranberry Coffee Cake with Walnut Crumble

This is one of my all-time favourite cakes.  It is easy to make, and people love it.  The tartness of the cranberries balances out the sweetness of the walnut topping.  I sometimes make it in a big 9×11 pan, but often in two round or square pans so I can freeze one or give it to someone.  I also make this as a rhubarb cake, but only in the summer when I’ve got rhubarb coming up in my garden.  I often make this to bring to someone’s house when I don’t know what else to bring, because so far everyone who has tried it has loved it.  You can’t go wrong!

What you need:

1/2 cup butter

1 & 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain yogurt (not no-fat)

1 & 1/2 cups cranberries, frozen or fresh

For the topping:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

What you do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.  Cream butter and brown sugar, then blend in egg.

3.  Sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

4.  Mix one-third of the flour mixture into the butter mixture with a wooden spoon.

5.  Add half the yogurt and mix until just incorporated.

6.  Mix in one-third more of the flour, then the rest of the yogurt, then the rest of the flour.  Mix until just combined or it will make a tough cake!

7.  Add cranberries, then pour into a buttered 9 x 13 inch pan (or two round or square 9-inch pans), smoothing the top a little.

8.  To make the topping, melt the butter, then stir in the rest of the ingredients.  Spread if over top of the batter.

9.  Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Noodle Monsters!

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I made these noodles monsters for my niece and nephew, and they liked them so much that they helped make a second round of them.  The kinds’ noodle placement is way more creative than mine was, as is usually the way with kid’s art.

What you need:

wieners – veggie if you like them!

spaghetti noodles

ketchup and mustard for decorating

What you do:

1. Boil a big pot of water.

2.  Poke the spaghetti through the wieners – be creative!

3.  Throw the spaghetti/wieners into the boiling water and cook until the noodles are soft.

4.  Drain the spaghetti/wieners, then use ketchup and mustard to make faces on the wieners.

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Chorizo and Lime Appetizer

This idea comes from my good friend, Sarah.  It’s so simple and so delicious.  I bought the chorizo at Oyama Sausage at Granville Island; I particularly love the red wine chorizo.

What you need:

chorizo

lime

toothpicks

paper towel

What you do:

1.  Slice the sausage.

2.  Heat a frying pan.  Put the sausage in it.  Fry on each side until slightly browned.

3.  Use the paper towel to soak up the fat.

4.  Squirt lime over the sausages, then put a toothpick in each one.  I served them right out of the cast iron frying pan so they would stay hot.

Tomato Pesto

I haven’t made this in ages, but now that I’ve reminded my taste buds, I’ll be making it again soon.  This is a twist on traditional pesto, with a base of tomato.  It’s so easy to make, and works well on pasta, spaghetti squash, or steamed julienned zucchini, which is pictured.

What you need:

1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted and chopped (use pumpkin seeds if you don’t like pine nuts)

1  small can of tomato paste

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup chopped basil

1/2 cup grated parmesan

2 cloves garlic, finely diced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

1. Mix all the ingredients together.  If you have time, let it sit for about an hour.  If not, serve it on top of your favourite pasta or one of the other suggestions above.