Pre-Spring Feedin's

1). Best Omlette Ever (Promise)

-Make sure you add a bit of milk to the egg and beat it until it is foamy then let it SIT for a minute or two before you cook it so that it stays nice and fluffy.
-Put lots of butter in the pan and push the egg into the centre of the pan with a spatula so that the uncooked egg keeps running to the pan along the edge.
-When it's just about done (no more runny egg around the edges), put fresh basil, sundried tomato and brie on it.
-Fold it over and let it sit for a minute to finish cooking before serving–DELISH!


2). Burratta Salad

So burratta is the queen of all cheeses. Swear. Its a big ball of mozzarella that you cut into and BAM! It's still literally buttery, creamy on the inside. And it oozes out like a river of love when you cut into it.
Put it on a bunch of greens with lots of fresh basil (I also added some sliced shallots and red peppers) and a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar. That's all it needs. Really
Enjoy!

3). Potato Pancakes and Seared Scallops on Fresh Veggie Salsa

-Grate potato into a bowl and squeeze out extra juices. Add a bit of salt to draw out more juices, let sit for a few minutes and repeat.
-Add some flour an egg or two, garlic and salt and pepper until it comes together when you make it into a ball.
-Fry in a pan FLAT (or it won't cook through) on medium heat until nicely browned.
-Top with sour cream, yoghurt or apple sauce.

-Fry up shelled peas, corn sliced off the cob, diced carrots and herb of your choice (I did thyme) and salt and pepper in a bunch of butter.
-While frying, turn skillet to medium high and add lots more butter once hot.
-Place scallops on the pan and sear for 2 minutes a side, adding salt and pepper as they sear.
-Serve up on top of salsa with a slice or two of lemon. YUM!

4). Best Appetizers Ever
That's all.

Delicious, simple juice

So I found one of my favourite juice recipes today.

chunk of ginger (I like lots)
1/2 cantaloupe
2 bosc pears

Juice in that order.
Refreshing and slightly sweet, cut by an added zip from the ginger!
Mmm!

Best quiche combination

Caramelized onions,
Roasted red peppers
Goat cheese,
Dill,
Fingerling potatoes.

Try it.

Catch Up

So its been a while. Apprently it seems difficult for me to put things online. Or maybe I feel a bit silly because I don't have actual recipes–I just huck a bunch of stuff together. Unless I am following a recipe. In which case I suppose I'm just too lazy to post it online. Or else I'm a bit against the seeming pat-on-the-back involved in blogging... In any case, catching up on the last few months delicious food (as I still photograph it for some reason...)

1.The tastiest grilled cheese ever.
6yr old Balderson white cheddar,
sundried tomatoes, and
fresh basil on
carraway seed rye.

Make it like a regular grilled cheese (butter the toast, stick er in the pan) but then layer cheese, goodness, more cheese THEN put the second piece of bread on.

*note: make sure the cheese is nice and gooey before flipping or all the goodness will fall out when trying to flip it

2.Simon's fancy feast of shrimp cocktail appetizer,
Macallan 10yr cask strength whisky,
Roasted portobello mushroom stuffed with thyme goat cheese
Roasted fingerling potatoes, and
Mixed green and herb salad with my secret dressing :)
(maybe one day I'll post it)

3.Us being fancy dinner of:
Seared scallops with lemon juice,
Homemade gluten-free cornbread (to be doused in garlic butter)
Smoked gouda,
Simon's borscht.

More to come...

The. Best. Sandwich. Ever.

I was having another one of those, "Grr, I have nothing in my fridge... what do I eat?" days and before I headed to work, decided "Hey! I'm going to make a sandwich!" (I rarely eat sandwiches). Inspired by a Saving Gigi sandwich I ate the other day that was epically delicious as well, I created this. The. Best. Sandwich. Ever.

Isn't it pretty?

Ingredients:

for tapenade
-sundried tomatoes
-fresh basil
-olive oil
-pine nuts
-garlic cloves
for sandwich
-toast of choice
-avocado
-mustard (I used sweet red pepper jelly mustard)
-crab pieces (I used out of a can)
-portobello mushroom
-salt and pepper

Directions:

1). To make tapenade: Throw a handful of sundried tomatoes, some fresh basil leaves, a few garlic cloves, a few pine nuts and olive oil into a magic bullet (or blender) and pulse until blended. Add oil until at desired consistency.
2). Heat skillet to medium high and fry portobello mushroom in a bit of olive oil for approximately 5 minutes, flipping twice. Sprinkle some fresh ground pepper and a tiny pinch of salt on either side while frying. Toast bread while this is happening.
3). Mash 1/8 of an avocado onto a slice of the toasted bread. Layer mustard, tapenade and crab on top of that. Place hot portobello on top of everything and you have yourself the best open-face sandwich you will ever eat!

Guaranteed to cure all ills!

First cucumber!

A few days ago I picked my first cucumber! Grown all by myself from seed! So pretty! Here it is!

I also – luckily – moved into a place with black raspberry bushes in the backyard. Taste a bit different than plain raspberries but just as delicious! Also, a bit smaller and, well, tougher I would say. They don't squish when you're picking them which is nice. Native to the neighbourhood (and wild!) so says my downstairs neighbour!

The daily pickins!

Corn-mazing pancakes!!

Who loves pancakes? I love pancakes!
Who loves corn? I love corn!
What happened when I found a recipe combining the two? Love!!

So I have an amazing cookbook called "A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen" by Jack Bishop and it is my favourite. I rarely find a recipe I don't like. Here is one I made the other day and have been raving about to everyone who doesn't tell me to stop talking about food.

Ingredients:

-4 medium ears uncooked corn, husks and silks removed
-1oz (1/4 cup) cheddar cheese, shredded
-1 tbsp minced cilantro (I used parsley)
-3/4 cup milk (I used soy milk)
-2 large eggs
-2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
-1 cup all-purpose flour (I used all-purpose gluten-free flour and added 1 tsp guar gum)
-1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1). Grate the corn (yes, grate!) the corn down to the cobs. Stir in cheese, cilantro/parsley, milk, eggs and melted butter until smooth. Fold in flour, baking powder and salt.
2). Make like a pancake in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until lightly browned on either side, about 5 minutes total.
3). Serve with salsa, sour cream or (surprisingly tasty) honey!

This is my little urban garden a few weeks ago :) From left to right I have: rainbow chard, rainbow kale, tomatoes, sweet red peppers, cucumbers, french beans.

It has provided me with a few handfuls of french beans as of yet. These are the first ones (The first things I ever grew from seed that I could eat!) So easy! Thank you beans!

Berry Overload Cups

It's that berry-full time of year and I have been thinking, what do I do with this overabundance of berries? Make delicious phyllo cups of course!

Ingredients:

-spelt phyllo (defrosted in fridge overnight)
-1/4 cup melted butter
-approx. 2-2 1/2cups of berries (I used currants, raspberries and cherries)
-1 tbsp flour (of whatever variety)
-lemon curd
-cinnamon
-sugar

Directions:

1). Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough on working surface and brush with melted butter. Place another sheet overtop the butter and repeat with 4 more sheets (there should be 6 layers). Cut into 6 squares and fit each square into a muffin tin. Repeat with a second 6 sheets. Bake for 5 mins at 400 degrees. Place in freezer for a few minutes to cool.
2). Simmer berries on medium-low heat for approximately 10 minutes. Add flour to thicken.
3). Spoon a tablespoon of lemon curd into the bottom of each chilled cup. Distribute berry mixture evenly between 12 cups. Sprinkle a bit of sugar and cinnamon on top of each cup.

Voila!

Easier than pie!

Empty Fridge/Heat Wave Potato Salad

So the recent heat wave in Toronto has made me not want to grocery shop, nevermind cook something and have to turn on a stove. But rain saved the week and here I am cooking again.

Because of no grocery shopping I had a random collection of food in my fridge but, man, success! The Empty Fridge/Heat Wave Potato Salad!

Ingredients:

-approx. 12 small organic red potatoes
-1 bunch farmers market spinach (yum!)
-1 avocado
-4 large cloves garlic (less if you are not a garlic fanatic like me)
-fresh ground pepper
-juice of 1 medium sized lemon
-2 tablespoons(ish) extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1). Boil the potatoes in small chunks until tender. Drain and put in large bowl.
2). Wash, dry and rip up spinach. mix in with potatoes while still hot so spinach wilts a bit.
3). Cut up avocado into small pieces and add. Dice up garlic and do the same.
4). Add lemon juice, olive oil and fresh ground pepper as a vinaigrette.
Makes about 6 servings

Who knew heat waves could taste so good??