Low Fat Hazelnut Frozen Yogurt

It’s been blazing hot in Toronto, as I am sure most of my dear readers are experiencing in the northern hemisphere. For our dinner party last week, I decided to make the Armenian Nutmeg Cake (OK, I didn’t make another cake, I simply defrosted the cake I made about a month ago) and I wanted to serve it warm with a cold scoop of hazelnut frozen yogurt. I chose hazelnut because I adore the flavour (no, JT didn’t even save me a bite of the frozen yogurt) and I wanted something nutty to go with the nutmeg cake. I also made a very easy caramel sauce (just used ordinary milk instead of cream, which still worked out but wasn’t as creamy). Now this recipe is not entirely fat-free because hazelnuts contain fat, but it’s about balance, I saved the fat with using fat free Greek Yogurt so I didn’t mind adding the ground hazelnuts. You could leave the ground hazelnuts out entirely opting to use just the extract but then you will need to balance with a bit more sugar, as roasted hazelnuts have a bit of sweetness to them.

All in all the recipe worked out well. The yogurt adds a very nice tanginess to the frozen dessert that I liked. The caramel sauce balanced the tanginess (good call JT). And I adore a contrast of warm and cold; cake: warm, frozen yogurt: cold!

Creamy, nutty, low fat frozen yogurt.

Makes a little more than 500 g of frozen yogurt

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, roasted and peeled (I found this method after I painstakingly peeled mine the old fashioned way!)
• 2-3 tbsp brown sugar, or to taste
• Pinch of salt
• 1-2 tsp hazelnut extract
• 500 g non-fat Greek yogurt

Directions:

1. In a coffee grinder reserved for this type of thing (i.e. not coffee) grind the hazelnuts, salt and brown sugar until it becomes a paste (like peanut butter). Mine took about 10 minutes, stopping to allow the machine to cool down every so often.
2. Whisk the hazelnut extract into the non-fat Greek yogurt, and then whisk in the hazelnut mixture. I found the mixture was a bit lumpy so I took my immersion blender and blended it until I no longer saw any lumps. Doing this will make the yogurt a bit more liquidy, but it still works.
3. Pour into the chilled ice cream bowl and assemble as per instructions. Turn on and allow the machine to work its magic. Mine took about 20 minutes. Scrape into a freezable container and freeze.
4. Frozen fat free Greek yogurt doesn’t have enough fat to make it creamy straight out of the freezer, so I had to bring it out to sit on the counter for about 10-20 minutes, depending on how cool your house it. Scoop onto prepared plates and drizzle with the easiest caramel sauce ever.

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Surimi ‘Crab’ Salad, a nice light summer dinner

The weather in Toronto is warm and crisp this week, the humidity is all but gone, which is a lovely change to the close weather we were having over the last couple of weeks (sadly, it will turn ‘oven-hot’ again tonight). We turned the A/C off and opened windows, taking full advantage of all the fresh air, but someone forgot to tell the birds that 3:30am is far too early to get up and start chirping. Did they not get them memo?

Here is one of the culprits, I’m sure (I didn’t want to scare him so I took the photo through the screened window). This Blue Jay (not to be confused with our team*)  and his partner were at the feeder by the kitchen window the other day — the small bird feeder. The partner was smart and was picking up the seeds from the ground. Can you see how ridiculously he is balancing to get to the seeds (his feet are hanging onto the feeder just below his neck and he is balancing with his tail); clearly this feeder is not his size!

It’s like he sitting at the ‘kids table’

This incredible weather also means that we can enjoy our meals al fresco under the canopy of the arbor in our garden. Our lives are a little topsy turvy as JT recently started a new job that has him working some nights until 8:30 which leaves me to prepare ‘dinners’ that will mainly be used as lunches for us both the following day. I guess this forces me to eat, because I can get caught up in various chores around the house or blogging and simply forget to eat (I can be pretty focused). In general, I come home, cook ‘dinner’ eat it and prepare our lunches for the following day. Then I sit and blog. Sometimes I cook something I can blog about, this is one of those times.

Would you say this is a 3 dressed up as a 9?

Sissi at With a Glass reminded me of Surimi Crab (yes, fake crab) and that it does have a place on the luncheon menu, as long as you buy good quality brand and pair it with a tasty side or salad (Sissi and Maria at A-Boleyn made fresh rolls out of them which for me ended up to be rather unattractive when I tried to make them, practice makes perfect!) So an Asian inspired Surimi ‘crab’ salad was to be on the menu on this day. Surimi ‘crab’ is low in fat, contains some omega-3 so it is a good low fat dinner/lunch option.

Incidentally, we are presently redesigning the packaging for Clover Leaf Surimi (we do all of their packaging, the photos in the link are NOT our’s, they were provided) so it’s apt that I post a recipe for it. Sadly, my photography skills do not compare to the skills at our studio, but then again, nor does my camera! The plate, however, is a hand-me-down from the studio!

We are heading out to Illinois and Wisconsin this weekend (it’s a long weekend for us too, in Canada we celebrate Canada Day on July 1) to visit our friends Paul and T, so I want to use up the fresh goods in the fridge so I don’t have to toss them (or worse yet, so they don’t walk out on their own!). Much of this recipe is what’s in my fridge right now, I was trying to go without purchasing new produce. The measures are eyeballed, go with your tastebuds. The trick to this salad (or slaw) is to cut all of the vegetables uniformly so you can get a little bite of everything. To keep this salad over a few days, separate the wet (cucumber and mango) from the rest and mix as required. The ratio should be about 1/3 wet to 2/3 dry.

Surimi “Crab” Salad

Serves 4 (2 for lunch and 2 for dinner, 100 g protein portions each)

Ingredients:

• 4oo g Surimi Crab, flake style
• 1./2 Jicama or Yambean, finely grated on  a mandolin
• 1/2 celeriac or celery root, finely grated on  a mandolin
• 6 radishes, finely grated on  a mandolin
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 5 mint leaves, finely chopped
• 10-20 Thai basil leaves, finely chopped
• 2 regular basil leaves, finely chopped
• 1/2 English cucumber, finely grated on  a mandolin
• 1 slightly unripened mango, finely grated on  a mandolin

Directions:

1. Combine the Jicama to the basil leaves and mix well. I use my hands so all the ingredients are evenly distributed in the salad.
2. Combine the cucumber and mango. Keep the wet from the rest so that the salad doesn’t wilt in the fridge. Mix only as required.

Dressing Ingredients:

This is just eyeballing, make the dressing to your own taste.

• Trim off bits of mango from the stone (keeping away from the stone) that you weren’t able to grate with the mandolin (you’ll be surprised how much fruit is left over).
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 lime cordial
• 1-2 tsp fish sauce
• 1-2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes (or to taste)

Dressing Instructions:

1. Add all the ingredients to your immersion blender container and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust as required.

Assemble Instructions:

1. Combine 1/3 wet ingredients with 2/3 dry and mix well. Add a few tablespoons of the dressing and mix again.
2. Plate, adding about 100 g surimi crab.
3. Garish with sesame seeds, if desired, I forgot.

What ever it is, it sure is tasty

Notes:

• I use Rose’s Lime Cordial as a short cut for lime juice and honey. I find it has the right balance for sweet and sour for my taste buds.
• About a 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro is a wonderful addition. I didn’t have cilantro at home (my plant died) and in order not to buy anything new to make this meal, I omitted it.
• Red cabbage also makes a great addition to this salad (see above for why it’s not in the recipe)
• Mango has the same toxic ingredient as does poison ivy, therefore you want to ensure you remove ALL of the skin and stay about 0.5 cm from the stone. This ingredient causes stomach upset.
• If you run out of mango, I have successfully substituted dried apricot (reconstituted with a little water) or even tamarind paste, both make exceptional dressings but you will need to adjust the salty and sour bits to taste.

*Sports reference provided for my friend Jed, the Sportsglutton

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Low Fat, Gluten Free Strawberry Soufflé

JT has asked me to thank everyone for their lovely birthday wishes; thank you!

I have some exciting news to share with you today! I was approached by Daniel Maxian, a contributor at MyCityCuisine.org, a wiki project providing travelers with information on local cuisine in cities around the world. He said he was working on an article about Lemon Tarts and came across the recipe you have posted for the same dish.
“I think your recipe would be a great addition to the MyCityCuisine wiki resource, so I highly recommend that you have it added to the Featured Recipe section on the Lemon Viennese Tarts page.” Woohoo! I’m really pumped over this! Thank you for allowing me to share my excitement with you. Here is the link for the page.

I spotted this recipe for Strawberry Souffés with Fresh Berries on my friend Liz’s blog a couple of weeks ago (That Skinny Chick can Bake) and I knew I had to try it. It fit right into my healthy cooking and I was having a gluten intolerant friend over for brunch…perfect timing!

But I first made the ‘test’ dessert for my nephew Brian (Ceement Boy) who was over for dinner a couple of weeks ago. It was a great success and I’ll be making it again on the weekend for my gluten intolerant friend.

Now you must be wondering why I have lovingly named my nephew Ceement Boy? I’m more than certain he is wondering too, as he is one of my lurkers (one who reads the blog but never comments; that’s OK, I’m just pleased that he cares enough to read about my mundane life, thanks Brian, I mean Ceement Boy).

The story goes like this: JT and I are NYC; it’s late one evening and I’m blogging, updating or just responding to comments on my blog using my iPhone 3Gs. Ding Ding, my phone pings. Hmmm, there is a text. It’s from Brian. That’s a bit odd in in itself as we are not texting buddies. He says “Be on vacation!!! Don’t blog!” Many of you will be able to relate to this, but blogging is part of you. You just can’t stop! You are either in the act of blogging, or preparing to blog or thinking about a story to blog about. It’s innate. So Brian, it just isn’t possible, sorry. (As I’m typing this, I wonder where all the words went before blogging?)

Upon our return from the Big Apple, we had Brian over for dinner; the night before we were coordinating our timing and JT gets a text from Brian referring to me as Princess Blogalot. Hmmmm. Did someone have a few cocktails? In retaliation (yes, I can be vindictive that way) I thought I would come up with a nick-name for Brian. Brian is a structural engineer specializing in cement, hence Ceement Boy. I like to draw out the Ceeee really long. Country and western-style . Somehow I don’t even mind Princess Blogalot. Not too much, anyway.

Since we’re all trying to watch our waistlines, this dessert was a perfect intensely flavoured ending to our delicious meal. Our in-season Ontario strawberries really popped with flavour and the aged balsamic reduction drizzled over top added that wonderful tartness that the strawberries craved. The toasted slivered almonds were for texture as the egg white souffé is light, airy, full of flavour and needed a bit of crunch.

I snapped this pic with my crappy iPhone 3Gs. When will they release the 5???? I can’t wait forever.

Please head over to Liz’s blog to see her recipe. I have altered the recipe to our taste and requirements.

Strawberry Soufflés with Fresh Berries…

Serves 4, 200 mL ramekins

Ingredients:

• Butter, to grease ramekins
• 340g fresh strawberries, divided
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 6 tbsp sugar, divided, or to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp Grand Marnier, optional
• 4 tbsp toasted almonds slices
• 4 tbsp balsamic reduction for garnish

Directions:

1. Butter four 200 mL ramekins and dust with sugar. Set aside. May be prepared in advance and refrigerated.
2. Purée half the berries with 2 tablespoons of sugar (or to taste), lemon juice and cornstarch. Pour into small sauce pan and cook on medium till puree boils and thickens. Cool completely. May be prepared in advance and refrigerated.
3. Slice remaining berries and add 1 tablespoon of sugar (or to taste) and 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier. Mix and taste for sweetness. Set aside. May be prepared in advance and refrigerated.
4. Just before serving, pre heat oven to 400°F.
5. Beat egg whites till foamy. Slowly add in remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and whip till stiff peaks form. Slowly fold purée into egg whites, one third at a time. Divide between the four ramekins and smooth tops with offset spatula. Run finger around perimeter of each soufflé to make a slight indentation in soufflé. Slide tray of ramekins into oven and bake 14-17 minutes or till soufflés are puffed and golden.
6. Serve immediately garnished with sliced berries, toasted almonds and drizzled with balsamic reduction.

Another dark and dreary photo with my iPhone 3Gs.

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Egg Foo Yung (gluten free, fat free but NOT flavour free)

Many people think that eating healthfully means eating without flavour or excitement (remember the cottage cheese diets?), but I am here to declare that they are WRONG! It’s particularly important for low fat recipes to be seasoned properly, and I’m not talking salt, but a variety of flavour builders. When you eat low calorie, fat free food, you NEED to be satisfied, otherwise, you will likely snack and cheat. It’s plain and simple, make sure ALL your senses are satisfied and you will be happy.

My friend Norma over at Garden to Wok has been making recipes that have tempted me for a while and I found one a couple of weeks ago that really spiked my curiosity: Egg Foo Yung. Now Norma is a Chinese Culinary Expert and she teaches hands on cooking classes at Pearl River Patch in New York State so I am by no means trying to one up her. JT and I are doing a very concerted effort for three weeks to eat virtually carb free, fat free and sugar-free (a low glycemic diet), so I have modified Norma’s recipe to suite our dietetic needs at this time, it may not be for everyone, but it worked for our taste buds and diet chemestry. So, I hope you don’t mind, Norma, here is my version of your wonderful Egg Foo Yung. Please check out Norma’s blog to see her gorgeous and tasty looking recipe and pictures. This dish satisfied every one of my senses; my sense of smell was being teased as I prepared the dish, my sense of sight was excited at the site of the dish and my sense of taste was bowled over at the first bite. And then I was full.

Note about my ingredients. I made this twice and the second time I used what I had on hand instead of the basics Norma suggested in her recipe. The first set of photos sucked, hence their obvious absence, these are the photos from the second set.

Canadian Egg Foo Yung (for a low glycemic index diet)

The egg and vegetable pancake sits in a delicious stock, that eats like a soup.
It's a perfect light meal.

Serves 1 (recipe can easily be multiplied to the number of people to serve). You will need egg rings for this dish (I used mini spring form pan rings without the bottoms).

Ingredients:

• 50g raw shrimp (I used 3 from a packet that listed 21-30 per pound)
• 4.5 tbsp egg beaters egg whites
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated, divided
• 1 tsp fresh garlic, grated, divided
• 1 scallion or green onion finely sliced, divided
• 1 tsp Kikkoman Low Sodium Soy Sauce, divided
• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock (I use Pacific)
• 15g Chinese mushrooms sliced thinly (use the dried variety and reserved the hydrating liquid)
• 1/2 cup mushroom hydrating liquid
• 50g of fresh baby spinach
• Parsley and scallions for garnish
• non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

1. Peel and de-vein the shrimp, cut into quarter bits and set aside.
2. Pour the chicken stock, the strained mushroom hydrating liquid, 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, 1/2 tsp fresh garlic, and half of the finely sliced scallions or green onions into a sauce pan and begin to heat slowly (the aim is to infuse the broth with the flavours added, not to boil the heck out of it).
3. Pour the egg whites into a small bowl and whisk with the soy sauce and ginger, set aside.
4. Pre-heat the pan WITHOUT the egg rings and lightly sauté the spinach until entirely wilted. Remove from pan and add the shrimp and cook through. Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Pre-heat the pan WITH the egg ring, lightly spray both with non-stick spray.
6. Combine the wilted spinach, shrimp, Chinese mushrooms with the green onions and add to the egg ring and distribute evenly. Heat through (this will help the egg cook).
7. Pour the egg whites over the vegetables and adjust so that it all sits evenly in the ring. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes (you will need to put a lid over the ring so that the top of the egg sets nicely so you can flip it and get that gorgeous golden colour that Norma talks about.
8. When the egg has set, carefully remove the ring and with a large spatula, flip. You will want both sides golden and cooked all the way through.
9. To plate, carefully remove the egg pancake (you may need to slide your knife around the edge to loosen) and pace in a rimmed soup bowl (I like my Asian style bowls for this type of presentation). Carefully ladle the hot broth around the egg, so that it doesn’t cover it. You can either strain the broth so the garlic, ginger and the scallions don’t end up in the presentation (which is what I did for the photo) or you can leave in and enjoy with your egg and broth (which is what I did when I served it to JT and I). Garnish with parsley and a sliver of the green onion (or chives if you have on hand). I also added a few chili pepper flakes on mine for heat!

As FYI: I omitted the ginger wine, egg yolks, oil, salt and corn starch and substituted the chicken broth with low sodium, the soy sauce with low sodium to make my version low glycemic. The vegetables, as mentioned previously are just what I had on hand, you could add whatever you choose as Norma indicated in her recipe.

Thank you, Norma, this is indeed a very flavourful dish even with my alterations.

You may have noticed that WordPress is auto checking “Notify me of all comments made on this post”. l really do appreciate your comments and generosity on my posts, but I’m sure you probably don’t want your mail box filled with comments someone else made to my post! Uncheck the box below before you post your comment.

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Cinco de Mayo — Celebrate with Ceviche

My friend Angela (Titanic dinner party) sent me this link. Her boys (the lovely stewards of the same party) said it reminded them of a play dough toy they once had. It is pretty gross so be warned if you’re squeamish! I’m not sure what disturbs me more, the video or the comments!

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo a wonderful holiday sadly not celebrated to any degree in Canada, in fact, it’s only been a few years that I have even heard of it, believe it or not. Being one who loves to celebrate, I thought, why not this lovely holiday? And it could and should be celebrated with celebration food, of course. Still watching my carbs, sugars, fats and such, I had to come up with a recipe that would work in this regime I am following.

Celebrate with Ceviche

Serves 1 (or multiply by the number of people you wish to serve)

A little Ceviche never hurt anyone!

Ingredients:

• 100 g Shrimp, deveined, cleaned, tails removed
• 1 tbsp mint, chiffonad finely
• 1 tbsp green onion, finely chopped
• 2-3 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup celery, cubed
• 1/4 cup apple, cubed
• 1/4 cup cucumber, cubed
• 1/4-1/2 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup Piri Piri Sauce (see recipe below)
• 1 tbsp red pepper coulis (or you can use honey or agave, but I am limiting my sugars)
• 1 tbsp toasted shredded coconut (unsweetened, desiccated), plus a pinch for garnish
• Arugula greens

Directions:

1. About 3-4 hours before serving, chop the shrimp up into relatively even bits (this is so that they ‘cook’ in the citric acid evenly).
2. Combine the mint, green onion, cilantro and celery together and mix well. Add about 2 tbsp of this mixture to the shrimp. Toss.
3. Combine the lime juice and Piri Piri Sauce and red pepper coulis and mix well. Pour over the shrimp mixture and coat evenly. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until shrimp is opaque. You may wish to stir this from time to time.
4. When the shrimp is totally cooked, add the remaining mint, green onion, cilantro and celery combo. Toss in the apple, toasted coconut and stir well.
5. Garnish with the pinch of toasted coconut and extra hot sauce. Enjoy!

Tangy, sweet, crunchy, soft; it’s everything I dreamed of.

Piri Piri Sauce

(Inspired by Kristy at Eat, Play Love Our Family Food Adventure)

• 1-2 Serrano chiles
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1/3 cup low sodium vegetable stock (I used vegetable stock as it is slightly sweeter than chicken stock, because I replaced the wine vinegar with white vinegar)
• hand full of roughly chopped parsley
• hand full of roughly chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven on high broil. Cut the chile peppers in half (don’t bother removing the seeds and stems, they come off easily after roasting). Place the chiles on a lightly sprayed (with fat free cooking spray) baking sheet and roast until blackened, Kristy says about 10 minutes (I didn’t time it).
2. Trim the stems and remove the seeds (the seeds are the really hot bits)
3. In your immersion blender container, combine the chiles, garlic, paprika, lemon juice, vinegar, vegetable stock, parsley and cilantro and purée the ingredients until smooth.
4. Store in the refrigerator, you won’t regret making an extra large batch!

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Layered Avocado Beet Citrus Salad

My friend, Sawsan over at Chef in Disguise made this salad and posted it early this week and by luck we had all the ingredients on hand and by that same luck we needed something to go with our oven roasted Salmon. I can honestly say it was delicious, the flavours and textures really worked well together, please pop over to Sawsan’s blog and check out her photos (it was dark by the time I snapped the shots and my photos are pitiful!). If you don’t have salmon to eat with it, a little goats cheese would be very tasty indeed!

I left out the pomegranate seeds as they are now out of season and were $7.00 for a very small container! We should have substituted pine nuts for the pomegranate seeds…next time. Sawsan gave me a great tip, she said she buys her pomegranate when on sale and she seeds them into a little container and freezes them for just this type of application! That’s just genius, thank you for sharing that great tip!

Thank you Sawsan for another wonderful recipe.

I used a square form, the round one would have worked out better!

Serves 3 (I made extra for lunch the next day)

Ingredients for the Salad:

• 4 Beets, roasted until fork tender, peeled and cubed
• 2 oranges sectioned and cut into cubes (juice reserved)
• 1 medium avocado, cut in half, pit removed and cubed
• 1 1/2 cups arugula leaves, cleaned and dried

Ingredients for the Dressing:

• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (one to two oranges)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard

Directions for the Dressing:

• Combine all ingredients into a small jar and shake well. Refrigerate.

Directions for assembly:

• Arrange the arugula leaves in the centre of the plate.
• Place a plating ring or square (7 cm) on top of the arugula leaves.
• Layer with the beets then the avocado and finally the oranges.
• Remove the ring and drizzle with the dressing.
• Enjoy!

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New York Style Chocolate Cheesecake with a Cherry Pie Topping

To finalize Super Bowl Food Frenzy, I deliver to you the piece de resistance: New York Style Chocolate Cheesecake with a Cherry Pie Topping.

Would you like extra cherry sauce with your slice?

I made a cheese cake which was supposed to be representative of the NY Giants, New York Style Chocolate Cheesecake with a Cherry Pie Topping. The recipe originated from my very old and battered Fanny Farmer Cookbook which was given to me as a wedding gift by one of the wives of a guy that worked in John’s Father’s factory. I used to make it all the time, but now it’s reserved for very special occasions (mainly because it is quite rich and fattening). I’ve lightened it up quite a bit from the original, but you can use the full fat versions should you please. This is a baked cheesecake and therefore not as creamy as an unbaked cheesecake, but that’s exactly what I love about it.

Crust Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (or any type of cookie, your choice)
• 2 tbsp ground almonds
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa, sifted

Crust Directions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients above well and press into a 7″ spring form pan. Set aside.

Cheese Cake Ingredients:

1. 2 small eggs separated
2. 200 g low fat cream cheese
3. 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
4. 1/4 cup sugar
5. 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
6. 1 tbsp flour
7. 1/4 tsp salt
8. 1 tsp vanilla

Cheese Cake Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 325°F / 165°C.
2. Beat the egg yolks until thick and pale.
3. Add the yogurt, sugar, sifted cocoa, flour, salt, sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.
4. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Set aside.
5. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, add 1 tbsp sugar gradually, until it is stiff and shiny (as if you were making a meringue).
6. Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated being careful not to deflate.
7. Bake for about 1 hour until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Top with sour cherry pie filling topping (recipe below).

Sour Cherry Pie Filling

Ingredients:

1. 540 mL / 19 oz Pitted Sour Cherries in a jar, strained, liquid reserved
2. 2 tbsp cornstarch
3. 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Dissolve the cornstarch in a little bit of cold water.
2. Bring the reserved liquid to a boil, add sugar and stir until dissolved.
3. Gently pour in the cornstarch and stir until the liquid has thickened.
4. Return cherries to the liquid and stir gently.
5. Allow to cool a bit. Gently pour over cheese cake. Save any left over sauce for extra sauce for the cheese cake.

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Maple Prosciutto Scones from Sawsan, Chef in Disguise

To accompany the navy bean ‘risotto’ on our ski day, I was inspired by Sawsan’s Scone post and decided a scone would be the perfect foil for the beans. I was also inspired by Kristy’s Maple Bacon Biscuits to change up Sawsan’s recipe and add some good old fashioned maple syrup! I am happy to report they were AMAZING. The maple really complimented the saltiness of the crispy fried prosciutto very nicely, the only thing I would change is not add the cheese, it had no impact on the flavour what-so -ever. What’s really interesting about this recipe is that has so little fat in it…most biscuit or scones have at least a half a cup of butter or shortening! I followed Sawsan’s recommendations with some exceptions as indicated in blue below. My one regret is that I didn’t double the recipe! Thanks for a winner, Sawsan, I shall certainly make these again and again!

Basic Scones (from Sawsan at Chef in Disguise)

Servings: about 6 7½ cm scones that are 2.5 cm high

Recipe can be doubled

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
• 1 tablespoons (15 gm/0.5 oz) frozen grated butter
• 1 tablespoons (15 gm/0.5 oz) frozen grated shortening
• approximately ¼ cup (120 ml) cold milk
• approximately ¼ cup (120 ml) cold maple syrup
• 2 pieces of crispy prosciutto (I baked mine on hi broil for 3-4 minutes and then blotted the rendered fat out of them. Break them into smaller pieces).
• ½ cup grated frozen cheddar
• 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
3. Rub the frozen grated fats including the cheese into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones. I used my pastry cutter to do this. Add the crispy prosciutto bits.
4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth (make sure your hands are not warm as it will melt the fat). To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.) I also used the folding technique that Sawsan recommended
6. • pat the dough into a rectangle and fold 1/3 of the dough over itself (similar to croissant making)
   • fold the other third over the first
   • turn 90 degrees and repeat patting and folding
7. Roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about 1 inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2.5 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
8. Place the rounds not touching on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Glaze the tops with milk.
9. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
10. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm with sweet butter.

I made them large on purpose, you don't have a problem with that, do you?

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Charles’ Curry Roasted Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

Sunday dinner with nephew Brian is quite the meal. I usually like to have a few courses consisting of an hors d’œuvres, an appetizer, a main, a salad and a dessert. I blogged about the Saganaki that we had as an hors d’œuvres. And then there was the salmon cake with Cilantro Pesto, now for the appetizer.

A few days ago, Charles at Five Euro Foods posted a recipe for Curry Roasted Jerusalem Artichoke Soup which peaked my interest on a number of levels. First, I have never had, or even cooked Jerusalem Artichokes and secondly, there are not too many of our friends or relatives that will eat and enjoy curry, and Brian is certainly one of them — so I thought, perfect. He’s a good guinea pig and like Mikey will eat almost anything.

The Jerusalem Artichokes were not inexpensive so I added a potato to the mix to help increase the volume (5 smallish heads were about $4.00 Canadian). This recipe ended up making about 8 cups, so I’m going to freeze it for another time. To see the original Charles’ recipe, please click here. This is a highly flavoured soup with a touch of heat. Would I make this again? I have to say that even though I was not overwhelmed by the Jerusalem Artichokes I would certainly take the spices in this soup and make it with other vegetables, such as cauliflower. The flavour certainly hit the spot, thanks Charles!

I read a tip quite some time ago, to lessen the oil used for oven roasting vegetables; fill a bowl with cold water and add 1-2 tbsp olive oil, then dump your evenly cut vegetables into the water — they will pic up the oil as your remove them with a slotted spoon. Works like a charm!

Just grab a piece of bread and dip already!

Curry Roasted Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

Ingredients:

• ~5 medium-sized Jerusalem Artichokes
• 1 medium sized Yukon Gold potato (or another potato that is creamy and not starchy)
• ~1 litre low sodium vegetable stock or water
• 3 tbsps Olive Oil
• 4-5 cipolini onions
• 1 small head of garlic
• 2 tsp Garam Masala
• 2 tsp Curry Powder
• 4 tbsp Greek yogurt with 2 tbsp milk or cream (to loosen a bit)
• Salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
2. Peel and clean the artichokes and the potato and cut into even pieces. Peel the cipolini onions.
3. Mix the garam masala and the curry powder together with a pinch of salt. In the method described above, ‘oil’ the vegetables and place evenly on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the spice mixture.
4. Remove the outer skin from the garlic and place into a small ramekin; drizzle with the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil, sprinkle with a bit of sea salt. Cover with foil. Place in the corner of the baking sheet with vegetables.
5. Once the vegetables are cooked through to soft, place them into a large bowl; remove the roasted garlic cloves and add to the bowl, sprinkle the olive oil onto the mixture.
6. Pour the vegetable stock over the cooked vegetables and blend well with your immersion blender. Add stock or water until the desired thickness and consistency is achieved. Press through a fine sieve for a velvety smooth and creamy texture.
7. Serve in a small bowl drizzled with the yogurt mixture.
8. Enjoy.
   

   Did anyone see where I left my glass of wine?

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Chicken Cacciatore Revistied

Although it has been unseasonably warm this past week in the big smoke, it’s been crazy rainy and windy. It’s a perfect time to stay in and make some healthy comforting food that is great for lunch the next day. I posted this recipe in 2009 because it is an incredibly tasty and easy dish for a week night, but I find myself craving to repost as I really hated the old photo! This is still JTs signature dish so I won’t alter his recipe other than how it has morphed over the years, and it has morphed a touch over the years. But I will say, please make this, it is really, really, really good!

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway! I’m really excited about the give away and what creative things you will make with it and blog about. I did forget to detail the time the draw closes: 12pm Eastern Standard Time, that will give me some time to get the correct entries together and have JT do the draw! As well, the Just a Pinch salts were purchased entirely by ME! It is not linked to any other promo! Time is a tickin’ people, better enter soon!

And did I mention that a couple of the answers are found in more than one post? Oops! Good luck!

A hearty but healthy dinner on a cold winters night

JTs Chicken Cacciatore

Adapted from Fannie Farmer, December 1984 (originally published in 1896!).
Serves 4 (2 dinners and 2 lunches in our case)

Ingredients:

• 400g chicken breasts, skinless, boneless
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 28g dried mushrooms rehydrated in about 1 cup warm water, set liquid aside (make sure you strain through coffee filter to ensure no sand gets into it)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (or low sodium chicken stock)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 red pepper, sliced (we used green this time because that is what we had)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (put remaining tomato paste into an extra ice cube tray and freeze, remove from tray into a resealable container and voila, tomato paste as required!)
• 2 cups canned Roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• Chili peppers to taste
• Salt to taste
• Grated Parmesan, if you wish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (or you could just cook the entire dish stove top with the lid on)
2. Heat the oil in a large dutch oven and cook the chicken until lightly browned on all sides.
3. Add the onion and sauté a minute or two and then add the wine and allow to boil up.
4. Lower the temperature and add the garlic, tomato paste, tomatoes, pepper and the mushrooms.
5. Add the seasonings, bay leaves and the mushroom liquid.
6. Cover and bake in the hot oven for about 1 hour, or until chicken is cooked through. If you like a dryer cacciatore, leave the cover off so that some of the liquid evaporates; I prefer mine a bit wet so that it makes a tasty ‘dressing’ for the greens.
7. Remove bay leaves, taste and season if required.
8. Serve on a bed of mixed baby spinach and baby arugula leaves. You can also serve with grated Parmesan and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, but we’re reducing our intake this week, so we omitted it.

Tips: You can also add black olives (chop in half) and crumble some sheeps milk feta on top instead of the Parmesan for a slightly Greek version of the dish.

I had to update this post with a photo I recently took with my iPhone at work. I just loved how rich the sauce looks and how luminous this photos is.

Our studio has amazing light. And yes, that surely is cayenne pepper on the chicken.

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