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Zucchini “Spaghetti”

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This is a summery twist on a standard comfort food.  It’s just some raw zucchini strips with a delicious tomato sauce.  I served it with chicken, but it makes a nice light and healthy meal on its own.  The sauce only takes about a half hour of cooking, and the zucchini just needs to be julienned, and you’ve got a great meal!

What you need:

1 zucchini

1 – 796 mL can of pureed tomatoes

1 small onion

a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil

a few garlic cloves

salt and pepper to taste

fresh basil

What you do:

1. Throw the whole onion, garlic cloves, butter and tomato sauce into a pot and cook for about half an hour, or more if you’ve got the time.  Take the onion and garlic out when it’s done, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

2.  Julienne the zucchini and plate it.  Pour some of the hot sauce on top of the zucchini, and top with some fresh basil.

Yum, easy and delicious!

Breakfast Arepas

On my recent trip to Quebec City I was treated to this great breakfast made by Eduardo.  He is from Venezuela, and he showed me how to make these traditional Venezuelan arepas.  They are the vehicle for whatever you want to stuff into them; we had egg and cheese in ours, and then some “dessert” arepas with nutella, cream cheese and jam.

What you need for the arepas:

1 cup corn flour

about 1 cup water

about 1/2 teaspoon salt

a little oil for frying

What you need for the eggs:

a few eggs

chopped onion

chopped tomatoes

diced garlic

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Mix the flour, salt and water until there are no lumps.  Scoop some dough into your hands and roll it into a ball.  Then flatten it out and make the edges round.

2. Heat a frying pan with a little oil, then place the patties in the pan until browned on each side.

3. Heat the oven to 350F and place the arepas into the oven on the rack.  After 10-15 minutes, take one out of the oven to see if the inside is cooked.  To do this, take one in your hand and tap on it; it’s ready if it makes a dull hollow sound.

4. While they are baking, cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes in a little oil in a frying pan, then add the tomatoes.  Beat the eggs with a fork and add about a tablespoon of water and some salt and pepper.  When the onions and tomatoes have cooked for a few minutes, add the eggs to the pan and cook them.

5. To serve, slice the arepas open, spread on a little butter,  and then fill with some egg.  Add a piece of cheese if you like, and you’re set.

 

Brocoli Salade avec Bacon

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Je suis dans Quebec, et dans ma cuisine we have few supplies, so my quest to make interesting food continues.  We recently had croissants with bacon, eggs and tomatoes, so I needed to use up the leftover bacon.  Leftover bacon – who has heard of such a thing?  But here it is, in a broccoli salad.  I had to toss the salad in a pot because we have no bowls in the dormitory, but it tasted great just the same. Of course I wanted to use up the other ingredients we had, so I made a dressing with yogurt, and topped it with pumpkin seeds.  It all seemed to work well together; it’s great when a fridge cleanup tastes this good!

What you need:

a few heads of broccoli, broken into florets

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/3 cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, or to taste

salt and pepper to taste

a few slices of crispy fried bacon, broken into pieces

1/4 to 1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

What you do:

1. Wash and drain the broccoli and break it into florets.  Put them into a bowl.

2. To make the dressing, stir the mayonnaise with the yogurt, salt and pepper, then add the vinegar a little at a time, stirring until it is incorporated.

3. Chop the onion and add it to the dressing.

4. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a frying pan, stirring from time to time until they are brown, or begin popping.

5. Mix the dressing into the broccoli, then toss in the bacon and the pumpkin seeds.

Voila, c’est une salade magnifique!

Le Croissant Quebecois de Kim

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This summer I am staying in a college dormitory for three weeks as I attend French classes at the College Merici. Our kitchen is equipped with just a pot and a pan and a few plates, cups and cutlery.  Not wanting to equip an entire kitchen, my roommates and I have been challenging ourselves to make delicious meals using few ingredients and cooking utensils.

For Saturday brunch I walked to the patisserie to buy the croissants, and then came home to whip these up.  Et voila!  Les Croissants aux oeufs, avec bacon et des tomates!

What you need:

croissants, 1 per person

eggs, 1 per person

bacon, 1-2 slices per person

tomatoes, 1 small tomato per person

salt and pepper

olive oil

What you do:

1. Fry the bacon until crispy, then drain it on paper towels. Remove most of the bacon fat from the pan.

2. Slice the tomatoes, then fry them in a little bit of the bacon fat.  Add salt and pepper, and cook a little on each side.

3. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add a little salt and pepper and mix them up with a fork.  Add a little water, about a tablespoon, and mix it in.

4. Remove the tomatoes from the pan and set aside.  Add some olive oil to the pan, then cook the eggs. I like to have the pan on medium high, then add the eggs.  I don’t stir them until they have cooked a bit on the bottom, stir a little, then let them cook again, stirring maybe once or twice more before they are done.

5. To prepare the croissants, slice them open, then put in some eggs, then add the tomatoes and bacon on top.

Bon apetit!

Ginger Beer

I love ginger beer that has a strong ginger bite, and not too much sugar.  Here’s a really easy recipe that costs very little to make your own ginger beer.  You just need to plan a couple of days ahead of time to let the yeast work its magic.  This is a non-alcoholic drink; nothing to do with real beer!  Some people like to mix it with beer, though, but I prefer a little rum, or just on its own.

What you need:

a clean 2 litre plastic pop bottle

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger(I keep my ginger in the freezer – it grates easily that way)

1/4 teaspoon baker’s yeast

juice of 1 lemon or lime

What you do:

1. Using a funnel, pour the sugar into the bottle.  Add the yeast.

2. Mix the lemon juice with the grated ginger.  Add this mixture to the bottle.

3. Add some cold water, put the cap on the bottle, then give it a shake until all the sugar dissolves.

4.  Add more cold water to the bottle until it is filled to about 3 cm away from the top of the bottle.

5. After closing the bottle, place it in a warm place for a day or two.  If you give the bottle a squeeze now you will notice that it has some give to it. You will know the ginger beer is done when you squeeze the bottle and it is firm and no longer has any give to it.  At this point you need to put it in the fridge so the yeast stops working.

Because there are bits of ginger in the bottle,  you need to strain it before you serve it.  I just do this as I am pouring each glass.

Bienenstich or Bee Sting Cake

 

When I was growing up I attended a lot of Mennonite weddings and funerals, and this cake was always present, and always my favourite food.  There are three parts to this cake – light vanilla cake, a coconutty-buttery-almondy-sugary baked topping, and a whipped cream filling . . . decadent!  It’s a bit of work, but so worth it.  I made it for a party recently (not just for weddings and funerals!) and everyone raved about it.  I sure hope there’s Bienenstich at my funeral!

I found this version on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog.

What you need for the cake:

1/2 cup milk, scalded

1 tablespoon butter

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

What you need for the topping:

1/4 cup melted chocolate

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cream

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup slivered almonds

What you need for the cream filling:

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup icing sugar

2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix, like Oetkers’s

What you do for the cake and topping:

1. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper.  Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Beat the eggs and gradually add the sugar, beating until it is thick and light in colour.  Mix in the vanilla.

3. Mix in the dry ingredients only until they are incorporated.

4. To scald the milk, first rinse your pot with a little cold water.  This should help avoid scorching the milk.  Then put the milk in, place on medium heat, and stir until the milk has almost boiled.  Add the butter to the scalded milk and stir until it melts.

5.  Slowly add the milk to the cake batter, and mix until incorporated.

6. Pour the batter into the lined pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, inserting a toothpick when you think it’s done to see if the toothpick comes out clean.

7.  Just before the cake comes out of the oven, melt the butter and mix together all of the topping ingredients.  Spread the topping over the cake, all the way to the edges.  Broil, watching very very carefully so it doesn’t burn! until the topping is bubbling.

8.  Let the cake cool, then remove it from the pan and put it in the freezer for an hour or so.  This will make it much easier to cut the top off to make room for the cream filling.

What to do for the filling:

1.  Add the sugar, vanilla and vanilla pudding mix to the whipping cream.  Beat it until it forms firm peaks

2.  Remove the cake from the freezer, then cut it horizontally.

3.  Spread the whipping cream onto the bottom layer, then place the top on the cream.

4.  Freeze the cake until you are going to serve it.  If you slice it while it is frozen it won’t squish all the cream out.  Then just let it sit for about half an hour before serving.  Of course, lots of people love eating it while it’s still frozen – they can’t wait for it to thaw, so yummy!

Homemade Olive Bread Croutons

I bought a loaf of bread from the fabulous Terra Breads the other day, and since I couldn’t use the whole thing, I threw it in my freezer.  Later I pulled out a couple of slices to make these yummy croutons.  They were fabulous on top of a caesar salad.

What you need:

a few slices of olive bread

1-2 cloves garlic, finely diced

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh sage

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

1.  Cut the bread into cubes.

2.  Heat a frying pan to medium-low and drizzle in some olive oil, then throw in the garlic, sage and bread.  Toss the bread around so it gets coated in oil.  Add a little more oil if you need it and toss it again.

3.  Toss the bread from time to time until it gets a little browned and crusty.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Throw them on your favourite salad!

Fondant Eggs

This is a big tradition in my family – my mom has made these almost every year at Easter, and there’s nothing we love more.  It’s basically butter and sugar dipped in chocolate . . . and what could be better?  I brought the recipe home from my preschool, and my mom’s been making it ever since, sometimes after a bit of pleading.  Usually it’s my job to do the chocolate dipping, but this year my mom agreed to go through the whole process together with me.

The process takes a while because of the refrigeration between each step, but they aren’t too hard to make.  And they are SO worth it.  The bitter chocolate is a perfect contrast with the sugary filling.

What you need:

1 & 1/2 cups butter, room temperature

2 lbs icing sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon yellow food colouring, or whatever makes it a colour yellow you like

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

6-7 ounces bitter chocolate

What you do:

1.  Beat the butter in a mixer until soft.  Add the sugar gradually, then the egg, salt and vanilla.

2.  Remove about 1/4 of the mixture.  Add the yellow food colouring and almond extract to the 1/4 of the mixture.  Cover and refrigerate both parts until cold.  The yellow will form the centres of the eggs.

3.  Once the mixtures are cold, use your hands to roll the yellows into 7-9 balls.  Form the whites into 14-16 flat ovals, slightly concave.  Place them on a wax paper covered baking pan.  You need two white ovals to each yellow centre.  Refrigerate again until cold.

4.  Form the whites around the yolks with your hands, making them into an egg shape, smoothing them out.  Refrigerate again until cold.

5.  Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler.  Using a fork, dip the eggs into melted chocolate.  Place them on a wax paper covered baking pan.  Use the chocolate to touch up any spots with a spatula that aren’t covered.  Refrigerate again until the chocolate hardens.

6.  Wrap  them up individually and put a ribbon on top.  They are best served in thin slices.

Lebanese Chocolate Anise Cookies

When I lived in Halifax circa 1995 my friend and I ate a Lebanese feast every weekend at Mediterraneo Restaurant.  We were so addicted to their food that we were devastated to find they weren’t open on Easter weekend.  Luckily for us there was another Lebanese restaurant across the street, called Beirut Beirut.  I don’t think either of these places exist any more.  It was at Beirut Beirut where the owner, Peter, asked us to sample some of the desserts.  When we tasted these little unbaked chocolate cookies he made us guess what was in them.  We couldn’t, but after many visits and special orders for these cookies, he shared the recipe with me.  This is only my best imitation of the real thing, as I never actually saw him making them, so I had to guess at some of the process.

Instead of baking, you toast the ingredients, then mix them with some honey.

Today I made them into Easter egg shapes because it’s that time of year, and it was Easter weekend when I first tasted them.  Peter made them into small logs, or shaped like a Hershey’s Kiss.

This recipe makes about a dozen small cookies, but they are packed with flavour, so you don’t need a lot at one time.

What you need:

1/4 cup raw peanuts

1/4 cup raw almonds

1/4 cup raw walnuts (I used half walnuts, half pecans when I ran out of walnuts)

1/4 teaspoon mint leaves

a pinch of thyme

2 teaspoons anise seed

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons cocoa

honey

a little icing sugar for sprinkling on top

orange flower water, optional

What you do:

1.  Grind the nuts, anise seeds, thyme and mint.  I used my electric coffee grinder to do this.  Spread this mixture on a baking sheet and toast at about 250F for about 15 minutes.  Every 5 minutes you need to give them a bit of a stir, and make sure they don’t burn.

2.  Mix the flour and cocoa with the nut mixture in the baking pan.  Toast for another 5 minutes or so.

3.  Let the ingredients cool, then place them into a bowl.  Mix honey in, a little at a time, until you get a firm mixture that you can make into shapes.

4.  Shape the cookies into logs, eggs, “kisses,” or whatever shape you desire.

5.  Sprinkle with a tiny bit of orange flower water, if you are using it, then dust a little icing sugar on top.

Homemade Yogurt

For the last few years I’ve been making my own yogurt.  It’s really easy to do, it is way cheaper than buying yogurt (1L of yogurt for the cost of a litre of milk), and it tastes amazing.  I eat it for breakfast most mornings, but I also use it to make yogurt cheese, dips, and as an ingredient in many recipes like this, this, this and this.  I also eat a lot of yogurt as a source of calcium, because as a person who is lactose intolerant I am always trying to include calcium rich foods in my diet.  The culturing process eats up most of the lactose, so it doesn’t hurt me.

The brand of my yogurt maker is Deni, and I like it because it’s the perfect size for a quart canning jar.  I just took out the little jars and insert that came with the machine, and make it in the big jar – fewer jars to wash up!

What you need:

1 litre milk, I use whole or homo, from Avalon Dairy

1/4 cup plain yogurt or yogurt starter

What you do:

1.  Heat the milk in a pot, stirring to avoid scorching.  Heat until just before it boils (110F if you want to be exact).

2.  Let the milk cool to room temperature.

3.  Mix a little of the cooled milk into the yogurt, then add a little more milk, stir it in, then mix all the rest together.

4.  Put the milk into a clean jar and screw the lid on tight.  Place it in the yogurt maker.  This keeps it a constant temperature.  I like to keep it in for 8 hours, but you can keep it in up to 12 hours.  It will taste more tangy the longer you keep it in

5.  Refrigerate the yogurt to stop the process. You can eat it a few hours later. I like to just cut up some fruit and put it in a bowl with the yogurt – a delicious and healthy breakfast or snack!