Instant Pot Hünkar Beğendi (Sultan’s Delight, a Turkish Beef Stew on Eggplant Purée)

After three weeks in San José, we returned to Malaga via Granada where we met with Andy and Mark and stayed one night. We then drove to Malaga for 11 nights in the same flat we rented last year. We saw our friends in La Carihuela often but we enjoyed being in Malaga Centre. It is a vibrant city full of wonderful restaurants and bars. Then we flew from Malaga to Istanbul.

Here are some of our photos from Granada and our 11 days in Malaga:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We arrived in Istanbul one day before embarking on our Viking Cruise. We met our dear friends from Arizona, Paul and T there and they were kind enough to arrange a private walking tour on our first full day in Istanbul. We had lunch at Galeyan, a traditional Turkish restaurant specializing in cuisine from the Ottoman Empire, recommended by our delightful guide. We asked him to order a selection of traditional dishes so we could taste everything. This is one of the excellent dishes we sampled that day and we were smitten. The beef is soft and full of flavour on top of a creamy eggplant purée. We had never tasted anything like this before. Of course, I asked our guide to type the name of the dish into my Phone so that I could recreate it when we returned home. I checked several recipes and came up with this one. Turkish food is generally not spicy hot but it is packed with flavour from their wonderful collection of herbs and spices. The recipe name translates to Sultan’s Delight and it dates back to the Ottoman Empire. Not everyone loves eggplant, JT included, but I ask you to open your mind because this is like no eggplant you’ve ever tasted. We couldn’t get enough of it. 

Serves 2-4

Beef Stew:

Ingredients:

• 30 mL oil
• 500 g beef, cubed
• 30 mL of oil
• 15 g butter
• 200 g sweet onion
• 170 g red pepper (1 medium)
• 5 g red pepper paste
• 5 g tomato paste
• 5 g roasted garlic purée
• 2 tomatoes, skinned and seeded
• 125 mL beef broth
• 125 mL hot water
• 1 g each, salt, pepper, Aleppo pepper flakes, thyme

Directions:

1. Combine the beef broth and water and set aside. Add the oil to the Instant Pot and set to Sauté on high. Brown the meat on all sides (you may need to do this in batches so they don’t crowd each other and steam instead of brown). Deglaze with a little of the stock/water mixture and set the Pressure Cook lid onto the pot and lock. Choose the pressure cook setting on High for 15 minutes. Manual release the steam and remove the meat carefully and set aside.
2. Add the oil and butter to the Instant Pot and set on Sauté on High. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Return the meat to the pot and add the red peppers and stir well.
3. Add the pepper paste, tomato paste, garlic purée and the broth and water, stir well. Add the salt, pepper, Aleppo pepper flakes and thyme and stir well.
4. Secure the lid onto the Instant Pot and choose Pressure Cook Setting on Low for 30 minutes. Manual steam release and give the stew a good stir. Then set the Instant Pot to Sauté on high to allow much of the liquid to evaporate. 
5. Serve hot with the Eggplant Purée.

Eggplant

Ingredients:

• 300 g eggplant
• 10 g of butter
• 10 g flour
• 63 mL of cold milk
• 100 g grated cheese (I used Mozzarella)
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Pierce the eggplants with a fork in several places.
2. Bake the eggplants until soft. Set aside in a covered bowl for 30 minutes.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook for a minute or so.
4. Slowly pour in the milk and whisk until smooth and thickened. 
5. Add the cheese and stir well to combine. Set aside.
6. Peel the eggplant and chop it roughly and add it to the cheese sauce. Purée well with an immersion blender until smooth. You may wish to press this through a fine sieve for a really creamy sauce. Serve warm.

The creamy and luscious texture of the eggplant purée is a wonderful foil to the saucy meat.

 

This is supposed to serve four people, and we did have leftovers of the meat, there was nothing left of the eggplant. For four, I would definitely use 1 kg of meat and a lot more eggplant!

Read Full Post »

Low-Carb Japanese Cheesecake

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been as present in the blogging sphere in February and March, and that is because we spent the month of February and some of March, wintering in Spain this year, and then we enjoyed some adventure. The first part of our trip was in La Carihuela in the Torremolinos neighbourhood of Malaga. We met up with friends for 6 days and soaked in the sunshine. Then, we rented a car and zipped off to my Cousin Lucy’s flat in San José where we spent three weeks, enjoying the sunshine. We had booked a couple of days in Alicante and then we zipped back to Malaga for 11 days, this time we rented a flat in the old centre of Malaga and visited with our friends and their friends, in La Carihuela. From Malaga, we flew to Istanbul, Turkey for a Viking Cruise to Greece. I will do a more detailed post on our Viking experience in the coming weeks. This was our first cruise in 38 years (our honeymoon was a cruise) ! After we landed in Athens, the culmination of our cruise, we flew to London for 4 days and then to Dublin for 3 days and arrived home for the last of winter weather on March 27. It was definitely a whirlwind trip with old friends and new friends and we hope to recreate it again in the coming year.

Unfortunately for us, Basque Cheesecake is from the Basque region in Spain, in the far north. Of course, you can find cheesecake everywhere in Spain, but is it authentic Basque Cheesecake? Basque Cheesecake is a slightly burnt, crustless cheesecake. Who needs crust on a cheesecake? I first made the crustless Basque Cheesecake in December 2022 and to be honest, I didn’t miss the crust. Yes, it does add texture but honestly, who needs (or wants) the extra calories? Plus, graham cracker crumbs of late are absolutely awful, they have a strong chemical odour which is definitely a downer for me. Next comes the Japanese Cheesecake. Japanese Cheesecake is also a crustless cheesecake but it is also a lot less dense than the Basque Cheesecake which for me is a plus. You could put a fruit couli on top for colour, but it doesn’t really need it. It’s quite lovely on its own.

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes 1 20 cm pan

Ingredients:

• unsalted butter (for greasing the pan and parchment paper)
• 150 g cream cheese
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 150 ml heavy (whipping) cream (¾ cup + 4 tsp, to be precise)
• 100 g Erythritol (for the cream cheese mixture)
• 3 large eggs
• 40 g cake flour (I used 20 g lupin flour 20 g vital wheat gluten)
• 1/4 lemon (for the zest)
• 15 ml lemon juice (from ½ large lemon)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare your springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment and then rubbing butter on the bottom and the sides. Line the bottom of the exterior with 2 layers of foil (to prevent water leaking into the cake because it will bake in a bain marie). Take a larger pan than the springform pan and fill it halfway with water. Place in the oven to warm.
2. In the top bowl of a double boiler (or make-shift bain marie) place the cream cheese, butter, heavy cream, and sugar into the bowl and simmer over low heat until everything melts and is cohesive. Separate the eggs and set the egg whites aside in the refrigerator.
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the three egg yolks, one at a time until fully combined.
4. Sift the flour into the cheese mixture and whisk until fully combined. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve pressing through as much as possible, discarding the larger bits. Set aside.
5. Beat the egg whites into stiff but not dry peaks. Fold the beaten egg whites into the cheese mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Turn the heat down to 325° F. Set the cheesecake mixture into the ban marie and bake for 70-75 minutes. Lower the temperature to 300° F for an additional 10 minutes to give the top a beautiful golden colour. Turn the heat off and open the door slightly. Allow the cheesecake to cool completely in the oven. The cheesecake will shrink and become denser as it cools.

Read Full Post »

Classic Low-Carb Mac ‘n Cheese

When one is on a low-carb diet, one misses the old favourites like Mac ‘n Cheese. We particularly LOVE the way the cheese caramelizes on the noodles at the edge of the baking dish so they become crispy and slightly chewy. Most low-carb bread crumbs end up being almond flour which really makes the dish very heavy, I solved that problem by using my low-carb bread, toasted and pulsed into breadcrumbs. If you didn’t know this was low-carb, you wouldn’t have had a clue.

The noodles really maintain their shape and the sauce sticks to it nicely.

Classic Low-Carb Mac ‘n Cheese

A Kitcheninspirations original recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 100 mL milk, chicken stock, or water
• 60 g cream cheese
• 60 g Cheddar, grated
• 30 g Gruyère, grated
• 30 g Mozzarella, grated
• 1 slice of bacon, cooked until crispy
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• 92 g low-carb Garganelli, uncooked and dry
• 30 g Parmesan Cheese, grated, divided
• 30 g low-carb bread crumbs
• 10 g butter, also a little to coat the pan

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare an oven-safe dish by buttering the inside all-over and sprinkling about half the Parmesan cheese all over the bottom.
2. Begin to heat the milk very slowly over low heat.  Add the cream cheese, cheddar and gruyère and continue to heat until totally melted and incorporated smoothly into the milk. Take it off the heat and fold in the Mozzarella, bacon, and scallions.
3. Add the warm cheese sauce to the uncooked pasta and stir it so the sauce penetrates all of the hollows of the Garganelli. Pour the coated pasta into the prepared oven-safe dish.
4. Combine the remaining Parmesan cheese with the bread crumbs and butter and mix until crumbly. Top the pasta with the grated cheese mixture.
5. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the pasta has cooked through and has begun to caramelize on the bakeware.

 

Fresh out of the oven, the cheese was still bubbling!

Read Full Post »

Crusty Cheese Omelette

This is one of my Go-To omelettes. It’s not nearly as fussy as a traditional French omelette so it’s easy and relatively quick to put together. And did I mention that it’s delicious? The cheese caramelizes on the bottom of the omelette so that it becomes this incredibly delicious crust, like the end of a fondu! Also, there isn’t much technique involved so it’s super easy to execute.

This is one of those crusty videos that the kids are doing these days. It turned out fantastic!

Serves 1 or 2, depending on how hungry you are!

Ingredients:

• 60 g cheese, grated (see notes)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 30 g Greek yogurt
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Sprinkle the cheese in a small non-stick pan and set the heat to medium. Melt the cheese slowly (do not allow it to caramelize at this point).
2. Combine the eggs, yogurt, salt and pepper and whisk until smooth. Once the cheese has begun to render and bubbling a little, carefully pour the egg mixture over the cheese so that it sits on top of the cheese. Cover and cook until the top of the omelette has set at the top. Remove the pan from the heat (turn it off) and allow it to sit covered for a few minutes (the omelette should come away from the pan at the edges and easily slide out).
3. Serve warm on warm plates.

 

Read Full Post »

Pantry Clean Out Crackers

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone is having a wonderful time.

We spent the month of November in Arizona again, although it might be our last time this time. But we say that. Every. Single. Time. We see our dear American friends and get in a load of sunshine to boot! The weather was beautiful and slightly warmer than last year, we had high twenties (celsius) most of the daytime and mid-teens at night. Perfect for leaving the windows open for sleeping.

We did a lot of walking and hiking. The National Parks have beautiful trails that are reasonably priced and there are many free parks too. We fed our resident bunny and, inadvertently fed our resident Road Runner (sadly a bird crashed into our window and he died on impact and fortunately, the road runner didn’t mind and he scooped up the bird and took him home for a late Thanksgiving Dinner!) At least, we did not have to deal with it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Of course, we always have a party at the end to use up pantry ingredients and this time was no different, I came up with this recipe to use flour, oil, cheese, and herbs.

The oven was gas and baked rather unevenly.

A Kitcheninspirations original recipe

This recipe makes about 2 sheets approximately 25 cm x 38 cm (10 x 15 inches)

Ingredients:

• 125 g “00” flour
• 40 g cheese, finely grated
• 30 mL olive oil
• 80 mL water
• Pinch of salt
• 3-6 g dried herbs

Directions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Transfer to a clean surface and knead by hand until the dough becomes smooth and everything is evenly distributed. Rest the dough for 20 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
4. Roll out the dough into a thin sheet about the size of the baking sheet. Transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet and bake for xx minutes or until lightly browned and crisp.
5. Cool and break into chip-sized fragments. Serve with your favourite dip.

Read Full Post »

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

Mac and cheese is a family favourite so it shows up on the meal plan a few times a year, usually when I have some leftover cheese that needs to be used up. This was not such an occasion. Ever since my friend Jeff the Chef over at Make it like a man posted his Cheeseburger Macaroni in an Instant Pot I have been obsessed with creating an authentic “oven-baked” Mac and Cheese in the Instant Pot! We just adore the caramelized edges of the noodles and the crispy panko topping contrasted against the soft-baked cheesy noodles of the center. This version is just as good. You can see from the top-down photo how the panko has toasted and crisped up, as well as some of the noodles that poke through the panko. If you want more crunch, allow more noodles to peak through the panko so that the air-fryer lid and do its magic!

This recipe is only made in the Instant Pot, I usually use 2-3 pots to make my traditional baked Mac and Cheese, one for the cheese sauce, one to cook the noodles and one for baking. So many fewer dishes! Plus, on a warm day, you needn’t heat up the kitchen with the oven. It’s win-win, in my humble opinion.

The crispy topping really adds to the Oven-Baked style.

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

A kitcheninspirations original recipe

Makes 4 servings (just over 50 g dry pasta per serving)

Ingredients:

• 213 g dry pasta
• 325 mL water
• 3 g salt
• 100 g old cheddar
• 50 g mozzarella
• 125 mL milk
• 30 g butter
• 15 g flour
• Good pinch of smoked paprika
• 40 g panko
• 20 g Parmesan
• 2 slices crispy cooked bacon

Directions:

1. Add the dry pasta and water to the Instant Pot and mix well, making sure the pasta is mostly submerged in the water. Put the lid on and set Pressure Cook for 5 minutes with the Pressure Release in the up position (closed).
2. When the cycle has completed, release the steam manually; the noodles should be half-cooked and there will be a little water left in the pot. Set Instant Pot to Sauté on High and stir in butter, sprinkle in the flour and stir to mix well and cook until a roux is formed. Add the milk and stir well and cook stirring until thickened. Add the cheese and stir until melted and thickened. Stir in the bacon. Now leave on Sauté for 5 minutes, not stirring.
3. Meanwhile, combine the Panko and Parmesan and mix well. Turn the Instant Pot off. Sprinkle the Parmesan and Panko evenly over the top. Set the Air Fryer lid on top and set to Air fry for 4 minutes at 400° F. After the time has been completed, turn off the pot and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

There is bacon in there, trust me.

Notes:

• While the Instant Pot does create a ‘crispy’ top and somewhat crispy sides, it is not the same as a traditional oven-baked Mac and Cheese with caramelized noodles, although JT said it was quite acceptable.
• You will need a good metal spatula to get under the caramelized noodles but the resting period should loosen them so you’re not fighting to get a serving out.
• I generally freeze the 2 extra portions for a quick meal. Just allow it to defrost in the refrigerator and bake in a 350° F oven until warmed through.
• The Swiss enjoy applesauce with their mac and cheese and that is how we prefer to eat ours too.

The Air-Fryer lid really helps toast up the top of this dish.

Read Full Post »

Spicy Cornbread

• 105 g finely ground corn meal (not corn flour)

• 100 g all-purpose flour

• 50 g granulated sugar

• 3 g baking powder

• 2 g salt

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 175 mL milk

• 2 finely sliced green onions (~30 g)

• 50 g finely diced jalapeños or hot chili peppers (or more if you really like it hot!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400° F with your cast iron pan until the pan is smoking.

Read Full Post »

Bacon and Gruyére Scones

Scones are so easy to make and they are always a crowd-pleaser. Plus, they freeze beautifully with quick defrost in the microwave or oven. I whipped these up for the soup I posted about last week and the bacon went beautifully with the green vegetable soup. 

These delicately flakey scones have a strong gruyère aroma, particularly when you reheat them.

A kitcheninspirations original recipe

Makes 7 5 cm (2 inch) scones

Ingredients:

• 280 g AP flour
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 15 g baking powder
• 6 g salt
• 34 g cold butter, in cubes
• 16 g bacon fat
• 1 L egg
• 120 mL buttermilk
• 100 g grated Gruyére cheese
• 2 slices bacon, well done, chopped roughly
• 5 mL milk or cream

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.
2. In the large bowl of your food processor, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and chopped bacon and pulse to combine.
3. Whisk to combine the egg, buttermilk, and the cooled bacon fat and slowly add it to the dry ingredients while running the processor. Change the blade to the plastic blade and add the cheese. Pulse to combine.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the scone dough to about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick. Cut into even squares. Lay on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced out about 2 cm. Brush the tops with milk or cream. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Read Full Post »

Creamy Lupin Flour “Polenta”

It’s well into the new year and I must confess, we’ve been doing a low-carb diet for 2023 to shed the pounds that Covid brought upon us. Unfortunately, like most Europeans, I do love my carbs so it’s not been the easiest thing to change, that is until I discovered Lupin flour! Lupin flour is a high protein, low carb flour created from Lupin beans; if you want to learn more about Lupin flour, see this post. What I love about it is that it behaves very similarly in recipes as flour and it doesn’t have an off-putting taste like many bean flours have. Lupin flour can be bitter so make sure you find a brand that claims it is sweet.

Way back in January, we were just into two weeks of our new diet and I was starting to get a little tired of cauliflower mash when I came across Lupin flour “polenta”. It has the same creaminess and texture like actual polenta, and it gets more solid as it cools so I’ve indicated a range of chicken stock if you are reheating the polenta. I am excited to try this new flour in other recipes, like batter for fried fish, pasta and such. It’s definitely going to be a staple for the immediate future anyway.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 2 about 125 mL each

Ingredients:

• 100-200 mL chicken stock
• 30 mL whipping cream
• 30 g ground lupin flour
• 15 g unsalted butter 
• 50  g sharp cheddar cheese (or sharply flavoured melting cheese of your choice)
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Aleppo peppers and finely chopped parsley, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small pot, add the chicken stock and whipping cream. Stir well.
2. Add the ground lupin flour and stir until thickened.
3. Add the butter and stir until melted, add the cheese and stir until melted. Season with salt, pepper, Aleppo and parsley to taste.
4. Serve warm.

I received a whole-hearted thumbs-up from JT on this one!

Notes:

• Allergy warning: Many people who are sensitive or allergic to peanuts or soy find that they have a sensitivity to Lupin beans/flour.
• As I mentioned above, this “polenta” gets thicker and thicker as it cools so you may need a bit more chicken stock to loosen it for serving if you’ve made it in advance.
• The flavour of Lupin flour is not strong like chickpea flour but there is a very slight taste that is not off-putting at all. I would almost say sweet.
• I purchased this brand from Amazon (around $3.00 per 100 grams) but found that Bulk Barn has it for a more reasonable price (about $1.30 per 100 grams), although I haven’t tried it yet.
• Use vegetable stock and a cream and butter substitute if you are making this vegan or vegetarian.
• We found this more filling than traditional polenta but less filling than something made with almond flour so the serving size should be smaller than traditional polenta.

Read Full Post »

Boursin Christmas Tree Dip Plate

I wanted to get this cute little presentation onto the blog so I don’t forget about it next year. It’s so simple, it’s not even a real recipe, but here it is. I think I saw it on my Facebook feed but it immediately disappeared and I cannot find it, sorry. We had a bunch of kids in the mix so I diluted the boursin with cream cheese, it was still plenty flavourful and the kids loved it too.

Makes 4 little Christmas trees of various sizes (about 250 g of dip)

Ingredients:

• 150 g Boursin dip (I used one package of the fine herbs and garlic), room temperature
• 125 g plain cream cheese, room temperature (half a package)
• 1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• a handful of dried cranberry, cut into small triangles
• Bread and crackers for serving

Directions:

1. Combine the Boursin and cream cheese and whip with a small hand mixer until thoroughly combined.
2. Using a small piece of plastic wrap, take some of the dip and form it into a cone shape using the plastic wrap to protect your hands, do this three more times. Varying heights will look best.
3. Combine the parsley and green onion on a plate.
4. Roll each cone into the parsley and green onion to cover the outside. Place little cranberry pieces into each tree to decorate it.
5. Serve on a large platter that can accommodate the bread and crackers.
6. If you are not serving this immediately, refrigerate covered so it doesn’t dry out. Bring to room temperature to serve.

 

Read Full Post »

Cheddar Cheese and Onion Kefir Scones

Hearty winter soups are a staple when we are in Canada and I just love to serve soups with scones. This recipe is an old favourite but I had run out of fresh onions so I used my handy dehydrated onion flakes in this easy recipe. There is just a little time to rehydrate the onions and you’re good to go. 

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 9 large scones

Ingredients:

• 260 g AP flour
• 15 g sugar
• 15 g baking powder
• 5 g salt
• 2 g cream of tartar
• 56 g cold butter
• 155 g frozen, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for topping
• 200 mL buttermilk, 15 mL for brushing the tops
• 30 g dehydrated onion flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Rehydrate the onions flakes in the buttermilk for 5 minutes.
3. Combine the dry ingredients in the large bowl of your food processor with the blades and mix well.
4. Cut in the cold butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Replace the blade with the plastic dough blade.
5. Add the buttermilk onion mixture and cheese to the flour and pulse to combine into a ball (cheese should still be frozen or at the very least, extremely cold).
6. If it’s really warm in your kitchen, it’s best to refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. With very little flour to prevent sticking, roll the dough into 1 cm thickness and use your favourite cookie cutter to cut even shapes (I used 5 cm squares with scalloped edges.
7. Place each shape onto the prepared baking sheet about a centimetre apart and brush the tops with the extra buttermilk. Add a pinch of frozen shredded cheese to each top, if desired.
8. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

So flakey and delicious!

Notes:

• I buy my cooking/baking cheese on sale in 400 g logs and I grate them into zip-lock bags and freeze them. If you break up the shreds as they freeze, they won’t stick together in clumps.
• The frozen cheese will help make these flakey.

These are the grey days that just kill me.

Read Full Post »

Stracciatella (egg drop soup)

Stracciatella is one of my favourite soups. Oh, who am I kidding, I adore all soups! The broth is the real star of this simple dish, homemade is best and this recipe will give you a quick solution to a flavourful broth in 30 minutes. Yes, it’s another Instant Pot recipe. I usually have homemade chicken stock in the freezer but if I don’t, I definitely have a BBQ’d chicken carcass in the freezer! This easy stock comes together quickly and I dare you to find a difference from the long, slow-cooked stocks of the past. I based this recipe on Frank’s lovely dish. The soup is more filling than you’d think, so limit the servings to the smaller side.

This is the perfect soup for a chilly day.

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes 1 L of soup

Ingredients for the quick stock:

• A barbecued chicken carcass with most of the meat stripped off.
• 1 onion
• 1 rib celery
• parsley stems
• 15 mL better than bouillon chicken broth

Directions for the quick stock:

1. Combine the ingredients in the instant pot and cover with water. Put the pressure cooker lid on and lock it into place. Set the IP to Pressure on High for 30 minutes making sure the steam release valve is closed (up position).
2. Strain the bones and vegetables from the stock and reserve about 1 liter of stock for this soup, reserve the remaining stock for another recipe.

Ingredients for the Stracciatella:

• 1 L of homemade stock (see above)
• 2 eggs
• 45 g Parmesan, finely grated
• few drops of lemon juice
• pinch of nutmeg

Directions for the Stracciatella:

1. Bring the stock to a slow boil. Combine the eggs and parmesan cheese until it is whisked smooth.
2. Once the stock boils, slowly drizzle the egg mixture into the stock, whisk the stock around in the same direction so the egg doesn’t form one large blob.
3. Allow the soup to continue cooking for a couple of minutes; the egg will turn into beautiful little curds and the broth will clear.
4. Add a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of nutmeg and serve warm.
5. You may add some additional grated parmesan as garnish at the table.

The soup comes together quickly if you already have chicken broth on hand but it only takes about 40 minutes if you make the stock from scratch.

Read Full Post »

Cheese Sticks revisted

During the final days of September, my brother came to visit, I hadn’t seen him for about a year. He was back for a month from his new home, abroad in the Caribbean. I thought I’d make the cheese sticks that we enjoyed so much during our early days of adulthood. I’ve updated the recipe below. They were very well received.

Cheese Straws

Ingredients:

• 280 g all-purpose flour

• 5 g salt

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (cold), cut into small cubes

• 110g cheese

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1-2 tbsp water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
2. Whisk the egg and water together until homogeneous, set aside.
3. Add the flour, salt, butter, and cheese to the large bowl of your food processor. Plus a few times to mix thoroughly and add the egg and water and whiz until a smooth ball of dough forms.
4. Roll the dough to an even thickness of about 2 mm between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut into even sticks. Bake for 10-14 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack and serve. Baked sticks may be frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

These are rather moreish, don’t let their unassuming look mislead you.

Read Full Post »

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara is one of our absolute favourite quick dinner dishes. I saw a unique method of warming a thick paste of eggs, Pecorino and a little of the rendered Guanciale oil in a bain-marie on Bobby and Giada in Italy at Trattoria Santa Palato. They claim that the eggs won’t scramble as easily because you have more control over the heat with the bain-marie. I am not sure that is true, but it does make a super creamy and delicious sauce. 

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a pasta course.

Ingredients:

• 100 g Guanciale, thinly sliced
• 250 g spaghetti
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 100 g Pecorino, finely grated

Directions:

1. Cook the Guanciale until crispy, and reserve the fat.
2. Heat a pot of water for the pasta. In a heat-proof bowl, combine the egg and Pecorino until you get a thick paste. Put the bowl of eggy cheese over the lightly boiling pasta water and whisk until smooth. Set aside, away from heat.
3. Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Use tongs to move the pasta from the boiling water and add it to the warmed egg mixture and mix rigorously until you achieve a smooth sauce, adding pasta water as needed. 
4. Serve sprinkled with the crispy Guanciale and more cheese if desired.

Creamy, salty and absolutely delicious!

Notes:

• This recipe uses Pecorino exclusively, but I have seen Pecorino and Parmesan used in various ratios.
• There are many versions of this recipe on line this is just one of them. The authentic Carbonara NEVER uses cream.

Read Full Post »

Savoury Cheese Tuille

Upon our return from Spain, I was missing being there so I made the Almond Tuiles of Sevilla (Tejas Dulces de Sevilla). They are delicious but it got me thinking about a savoury version. We had brought home some wonderful cheese called Old Amsterdam and I thought it would make a delicious snack. They are light and airy and crisp. They are strong enough for dip, but tasty on their own. I love how rustic they look from just breaking them apart.

Savoury Cheese Tuiles

Makes about 20 cm x 30 cm sheet

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 30 g cheese (I used Old Amsterdam)
• 1 g salt
• 1 g smoked paprika 
• 50 g flour 

Directions:

1. Beat the egg until it reaches the ribbon stage (about 5 minutes), add the salt and smoked paprika and mix well, then fold in the flour.
2. Spread evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle the cheese over it evenly and bake at 275° F for 20-35 minutes or until it has totally dried out and developed a golden colour.
3. Cool entirely and once cool break into shards. Serve at room temperature.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Fried Cheese Tortellini

I always create a menu plan for every week and when we arrived in Spain, it was no different. I like to schedule meals out in a restaurant but if they don’t work out, I also like to have something easy to fix on hand, dried cheese tortellini was one of these things. We had been out for lunch at one of our favourite Italian places and the couple at the table next to us ordered the fried cheese tortellini and I was inspired, they looked so delicious. I have made fried pasta before but used North American dried pasta and it wasn’t good, they were too thick and ended up really hard and difficult to eat so I didn’t bother posting about them. These little gems are different, they are crispy, chewy little parcels filled with cheese! They are wonderful. I tested up a batch of 18 and found them quite successful so I fried up the entire package! I froze them for when we reunite with our dear friends Paul and T from Arizona, they came for a visit in early May. Just pop them onto a parchment-lined baking pan and bake at 350° F for about 10-12 minutes. Serve with salsa, romesco sauce or any one of your favourites. Make sure you make a bunch because they are addictive.

They are crispy and chewy little parcels of deliciousness.

Crispy Fried Cheese Tortellini

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes as many tortellini as your package has.

Ingredients:

• 1 package dry cheese-filled tortellini, cooked through
• 500 mL high flash-point oil
• dipping sauce, your choice

Directions:

1. Heat the oil to 350° F
2. Fry only 5-6 at a time until golden, place on an absorbant cloth to soak up any excess oil.
3. Serve warm with your favourite dipping sauce.

Notes:

• Cook your pasta to slightly overdone, this will provide the best crunch.
• Cook your pasta in advance so that you can totally drain them and allow them to slightly dry out on a paper towel or parchment (this will prevent the oil from splashing when the water hits it).

Read Full Post »

Retro Olive Balls

You may have noticed from my other socials that we have escaped Toronto and finally headed to Spain. Our first trip in February was cancelled by you know what. We are here for 51 days. The sun and relative warmth have been life-altering. I wake up just to see the sunrise on the Mediterranean (it’s not that bad, 7:30-ish during our stay).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our kitchen in the flat (my cousin’s flat) is challenging from a size point. I have fitted it with most of my favourite tools so I can do most things but finding a place to do them can be a challenge. Most people who rent do take away or go out to one of the many restaurants in this little village. The Spaniards like to eat late (9pm would be considered an early dinner) but I find it difficult to eat that late, so we end up going out for lunch and having a light dinner around 7pm. Although the first few attempts to lunch were failures as many places don’t open until at least 1:30 (we don’t eat breakfast) and they close between 2-5pm for Siesta. Don’t get me started on Siesta, it is a beloved ritual in the smaller centres. This little recipe was developed to take us through cocktails one evening. 

Retro Olive Balls

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 8 pastry-wrapped olives

Ingredients:

• 15 g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 60 g cheese, we used manchego
• 60 g flour
• 15 g roasted garlic purée
• Salt, pepper to taste
• water to bind
• 8 olives

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Combine everything but the olives in the small bowl of a food processor and process until combined. If the dough still doesn’t come together, add a few drops of water and pulse until it comes together.
3. Divide the dough into eight equal portions. Roll each portion into a small circle and wrap around each olive, rolling in your hand until it is smooth. Repeat until all of the olives are wrapped.
4. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet until golden, serve warm.

A delicious buttery pastry enveloping a Manzanilla Olive.

Notes:

• I used unpitted Spanish Manzanilla Olives because it is what I had at home, black olives or even pimento-stuffed olives would be lovely with this recipe. Make sure you mention to your guests that the olives are with pitts.
• Double or triple this recipe for more tasty little balls.

 

Read Full Post »

Kartofdzhyn (Cheese and Potato Stuffed Bread)

I started watching a couple of Ontario-guys on Facebook who try to prove or disprove crazy videos they’ve seen, mostly of food but it can also be science or cleaning and such. They are a bit goofy which makes them rather charming. Their girlfriends sometimes participate in these videos by making some outlandish foods. This traditional Georgian potato, cheese-stuffed bread was one of them. The recipe looked so good, I had to do a little research and make my own. Their recipe was fairly straight forward using baking powder and not yeast bread dough, but the research showed that most of the recipes were yeasted bread dough, so I went with that. Then I found a few that had egg in them which gives the bread a wonderful, chewy texture. Then there is the mashed potato and cheese stuffed inside. OMG, so good. My recipe makes four disks about 20 cm in diametre, cut into eight portions.  The bread freezes very well. Remember to put it in the refrigerator overnight to defrost, then allow it to come to room temperature before baking. We went through two bad boys in two days and I sent a third one to a friend who was going to visit her parents! The fourth one is under lock and key in the freezer, I’m saving it for a special time! I will definitely be making this recipe again and again!

Soft, pillowy mashed potatoes with the sharp feta (or goat) and gooey mozzarella makes for a more-ish starter.

Kartofdzhyn (Cheese and Potato Stuffed Bread)

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 4 stuffed bread rounds about 20 cm (8 inches) each

Ingredients for the Bread:

• 6 g quick yeast
• 8 g granulated sugar
• 120 mL milk, at 110F
• 460 g bread flour
• 6 g salt
• 215 g Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• Olive oil for the dough
• 1 egg yolk, whisked for brushing the dough

Directions:

1. Combine the yeast and sugar with the warm milk and allow to proof for about 10 minutes (it should froth up)
2. Add the flour and salt to the large bowl of your stand mixer and mix lightly.
3. Combine the Greek yogurt and eggs with the frothy yeast mixture and whisk until well combined.
4. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour and knead with the hook for 10 minutes. Stop the mixer and allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes, then resume kneading for about 15 minutes or until the dough comes away from the bowl.
5. Coat the dough with olive oil and allow to proof for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Ingredients for the Filling:

• 2 medium yellow potatoes (about 230 g), boiled
• 30 g butter
• 30 g roasted garlic purée
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 100 g feta cheese or goats cheese
• 230 g mozzarella
• 6 g salt

Directions:

1. Mash the potatoes with butter and roasted garlic, then beat with a whisk beater until light and fluffy. Fold in the scallions, cheeses, and salt and set aside.

Directions for the dough disks:

1. Divide the dough into four equal portions. Roll out each portion evenly to a circle about 25 cm (10 inches). 
2. Add one-quarter of the filling to the centre of each round and pull in each side to form a sealed disk. Flip over and gently roll out to about 20 cm (8 inches). Pierce the top of the disk with a fork and brush each dough disk with the egg yolk. Set aside while the oven preheats or freeze on a baking sheet and transfer to a plastic zip-lock bag for the future.
3. If baking at the moment, put a cast-iron pan into the oven and pre-heat the oven to 400° F. Add one disk to the hot pan and bake for 20 minutes. When done, remove from the heat and brush the top with some more olive oil. Serve warm.

 

Read Full Post »

Freehand Kefir, Scallion and Cheese Scones

I usually make my scones and biscuits with my handy food processor but I have to say that these freehand scones will change my method for all my future scones. For what I save in time, I sacrifice in cleaning time and most importantly, texture of the scones. These scones are light, airy, filled with gooey cheese and scallions. They are great with soup or a stew. Serve them warm with fresh butter.

This post was created on a blistery, cold day in latter January. We just had received about 50 cm (20 inches) of snow in a period of 24 hours. We must have a VIP living on our street because the damn snowplow came down our street four times, depositing a heavy mess of snow at the end of the driveway. Honestly, the last two times were ridiculous, there was hardly any new snow on the road! This was one of the sunniest days we’ve had so far, the sun reflected in the new white snow and  I just had to take advantage with the photos.

Freehand Kefir, Scallion, and Cheese Scones

Original recipe from Jean Paré’s Company’s Coming Muffins and More cookbook

Makes 8 large wedges

Ingredients:

• 240 g All-Purpose Flour
• 16 g baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 4 scallions, roughly chopped
• 150 g cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
• 57 g cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 egg
• 100 mL kefir (and extra kefir for brushing tops)
• Parmesan, finely grated for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425° F.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, with the butter and manually cut like you would pastry dough. When it is slightly smaller than pea-sized bits, add the shallots and cheese and mix.
3. Combine the kefir and the egg and whisk until frothy. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well. Turn dough out to a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice, just enough to pull it together. Roll out to a round shape and cut 8 wedges to make. Brush tops with kefir and sprinkle the parmesan on top.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Serve warm with butter.

Tender and delicate scone with lots of cheese and scallions.

Read Full Post »

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

It’s been wickedly cold here, and by wickedly cold, I’m talking -21° C or -5.8° F! I have only been able to think about soup. I love brothy soups but JT is not as much of a fan, he prefers creamed soups so I like to mix it up. I had purchased too much broccoli for Christmas day dinner so I had a small crown leftover along with a not-so-perfect-looking romaine, so this recipe was a result of these two leftovers.

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes just over a litre of soup

Ingredients:

• 1/4 Vidalia onion, roughly chopped
• 15 mL EVOO
• 1 fist-sized head of broccoli, roughly chopped
• 1/2 romaine lettuce, shredded
• 1 L chicken stock
• 5 cm x 5 cm Parmigiana rind, cut into smaller pieces
• 30 g of cheddar, shredded
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. In a hot pan, cook the onion in the olive oil until translucent, add the broccoli and romaine lettuce and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and the Parmigiana rind and simmer for about an hour or until everything has softened.
2. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. If using a traditional blender, allow to cool a bit so the steam doesn’t blow off the lid.
3. Serve with some shredded cheddar sprinkled on top.

Notes:

• The romaine didn’t end up adding much flavour but it did help with thickening.
• Use vegetable stock if making vegetarian.
• The Parmigiana also helps to thicken the soup.
• I used both orange and white cheddar because that is what I had.

Read Full Post »

Jalapeño Jack Scones

 

Jalopeño Jack Scones

Makes 9 5 cm (2 inch) scones

Ingredients:

• 280 g AP flour
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 15 g baking powder
• 6 g salt
• 56 g cold butter, in cubes
• 1 L egg
• 120 mL buttermilk
• 100 g grated sharp cheese (I used jalapeño Monterey Jack)
• 5 mL milk
• 10 g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.
2. In the large bowl of your food processor, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter and pulse to combine. 
3. Whisk to combine the egg and buttermilk and slowly add it to the dry ingredients while running the processor. Change the blade to the plastic blade and add the cheese. Pulse to combine.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the scone dough to about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick. Cut into even squares. Lay on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced out about 2 cm. Brush the tops with the milk and sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese on the top of each scone. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Read Full Post »

Ham, Cheese and Apple Bread Pudding

 

Ingredients:

• Butter to coat pan
• 4 large eggs
• 375 mL milk
• 2 g sea salt
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 180 g sourdough bread cut into largish cubes
• 1/2 apple, like gala, cored and sliced thinly
• 100 g ham, cut into ribbons
• 70+ g Gouda or Gruyère, divided

Directions:

1. Brush the melted butter along the bottom and sides of a 9” x 9” decorative baking dish.
2. Whisk the eggs, milk, salt and nutmeg.
3. Lay the bread evenly in the prepared baking dish, place the ham and apples evenly throughout, then sprinkle 70g of the cheese over it tucking it into the spaces.
4. Pour the egg mixture over the bread, ham, apples and cheese evenly. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. The next day, remove the prepared bread pudding from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature, about an hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and bake for 40-45 minutes or until set. All the bread pudding to sit for 10-15 minutes to fully set.
7. Serve with yogurt and Dijon maple syrup.

Ingredients

Read Full Post »

Roasted Garlic, Cauliflower Gnocchi

We had some friends over for a patio dinner in early September and I made a Barbequed Chicken on the Big Green Egg with Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Purée and a wonderful Fennel salad. Everyone had seconds and maybe even thirds but I still had a handful of the Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Purée leftover. I decided to make Gnocchi out of it. Any purée would work, I’ve made lentil gnocchi and sweet potato gnocchi as well as the traditional potato gnocchi before so I thought, why not? 

The grooves and divots are intentional so that the sauce sticks to them better!

Roasted Garlic, Cauliflower Gnocchi in a Simple Avocado Cream Sauce

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes about 2-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 218 g roasted garlic, cauliflower purée (for the purée recipe, please click here)
• 250-270 g “00” flour (depending on how wet your cauliflower purée is)
• 15 g Parmigiana, finely grated

Directions:

1. Combine all three ingredients and mix well. Knead into a smooth, not sticky dough.
2. Allow to rest for 20 minutes. Roll into 1-1.5 cm ropes and cut into 2 cm lengths. Run up the tines of a fork for the traditional grooves or use a gnocchi paddle like this.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt. Boil gnocchi until they pop up to the surface and remove with a slotted spoon. 

Notes:

• I like to freeze the gnocchi on a parchment-lined sheet and transfer them into a ziplock baggy for future use. They cook from frozen almost as quickly as the fresh ones, so timing is not an issue.
• I bought a Danish Dough Whisk for my husband last Christmas because he often bakes his no-knead bread and I thought it would make mixing the dough easier for him…what I didn’t think was that I would end up using it more than he does, it makes stirring thick batters and doughs a snap! I used it for the gnocchi and it was so easy.

 

Read Full Post »

Herbed Bread Knots

I have been following fellow blogger, Lorraine Eliott over at Not-Quite-Nigella on Instagram and in August she posted a photo of the most beautiful bread knots I have ever seen. I knew the moment I saw them, I’d have to give them a go. They are not only beautiful, but they are also very tasty and quite easy to make so I’m sharing the recipe here so that I will remember to make them again.

I made 12 knots but to be honest, they were a little too big so next time, I’ll make 14!

Makes about 12 -14 bread knots. For the original recipe please click here.

Ingredients:

• 6 g instant dried yeast
• 250 mL warm water (around 110° F)
• 400 g flour
• 6 g granulated garlic
• 3 g Salt
• 15 mL EVOO
• 70 g unsalted butter, softened
• 25 g roasted garlic purée
• 100 g Parmesan cheese, grated
• Variety of herbs to make up about 20 g, chopped or julienned
• Eggwash to glaze

Directions:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water, set aside. In the large bowl of your stand mixer, add the flour, garlic and salt and mix well.
2. Add the yeasty water to the bowl with the flour mixture and knead for 2-3 minutes until it is roughly incorporated. Allow the dough to sit for 20 minutes. Then start the kneader up again and knead until a beautiful shiny dough is achieved (around 10 minutes). Grease the bowl and the dough with the EVOO and allow to proof in a draft-free location for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
3. Meanwhile, cream the butter, the roasted garlic, the Parmesan cheese and the herbs until well mixed.
4. Once the dough has doubled in size, roll out to 35 cm x 50 cm. Spread the butter mixture all on the dough, right to the edge. Fold it length-wise into thirds (like you would making croissants) and lightly roll out to a slightly larger rectangle (careful not to put too much weight in rolling, otherwise the butter mixture will ooze out).
5. Cut the dough into 12-14 equal widths and make an additional length-wise slit down each width without going right to the edge. Lift by each end and roll into a beautiful knot, carefully twisting each roll so that the cut sides are exposed and you can see the herbs. Tuck each end into the knot and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Make all of the knots and allow the knots to rest for 30 minutes covered with a clean cloth.
6. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Bake the knots for 18-25 minutes or until the centre registers about 200° F. Serve immediately, but they also freeze beautifully. Reheat in a 350° F oven for a few minutes until they are warmed through.

They are a cross between bread and a laminated dough, the layers are scrumptious!

Notes:

• Any herbs would work, I used basil, parsley and thyme.
• I may not chop the herbs as finely next time.
• I can’t wait to try sundried tomatoes and basil with mozzarella cheese or a sweet treat of cinnamon butter and sugar.

Read Full Post »

Plums with Honey infused Goats Cheese wrapped in Serrano Jamon

I had a few plums leftover from the plum cake recipe and I decided to make a tasty hors d’oeuvres for cocktails the following evening. They come together quickly and are very tasty. The amount of honey needed will depend on how tart the plums are. The sweet, honey-infused goats cheese with the tart plums and salty Serrano Ham are a perfect taste sensation.

Soft, sweet goats cheese pairs very well with the tart plums and salty Serrano Jamon.

Makes 6 pieces (2 servings)

Ingredients:

• 3 plums (should be bite-sized)
• 15-20 mL Manuka Honey
• 50 g goats cheese, at room temperature
• 3 slices Serrano Jamon

Directions:

1. Cut plums in half, remove stone.
2. Combine the honey with the goats cheese and mix well.
3. Mound the cut sides with the honey and goats cheese combo and wrap with half a slice of Serrano Jamon, spear with a skewer.
4. Serve at room temperature.

Read Full Post »

Zucchini Rösti

I’m always on the lookout for low-carb options, not that I don’t love my carbs, they are just not as kind to me as alternatives, so I like to balance our intake with some low-carb options. I created this recipe when I had purchased too many zucchini’s and I thought it would make a nice alternative to the potato rösti that we are used to, I was wrong, it was significantly better than I expected. There is only cheese in this, no other binder! Other recipes use egg but it made a frittata-like pancake instead of rösti, which should be crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. This recipe is definitely a keeper! 

Zucchini Rösti

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 2 dinner portions or 4 appetizer portions

Ingredients:

• 250 g zucchini, coarsely grated
• 50 g Parmigiana, finely grated
• 50 g Gruyère, coarsely grated
• 2 g salt, divided
• Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place the grated zucchini into a bowl and toss with 2 grams of salt, allow to sit for about 30 minutes.
2. Strain the zucchini and salt mixture and squeeze out as much water as you can. Taste for seasoning and add a little more salt if necessary, keeping in mind that some cheeses are saltier than others.
3. Toss the strained zucchini with the cheeses and add pepper to taste.
4. Heat a seasoned cast iron pan or non-stick frying pan to medium heat, then lower to medium-low.
5. Add about half or a quarter of the zucchini mix to the pan and press down into a pancake about 1 cm tall. Cook until the edges are golden, gently loosen the cheese all around and beneath the patty, it may have stuck a little on the pan and flip repeat for the other side. 
6. Serve hot as a base for fish, steak, chicken or even a poached egg.

Cheesy delicious goodness in every bite.

Notes:

• Other cheese that would work: low moisture Mozzarella, Appenzeller, Cheddar etc. I would avoid feta, cream cheese, brie, etc.
• There is no need for oil or butter, the cheese will render and the oils will help fry the Rösti.
• If you don’t have time to wait for the salt to squeeze out all of the moisture from the zucchini, you may use it as is, just note that the inside will be much softer than if you had removed most of the moisture.
• If you don’t have a seasoned cast iron pan or a non-stick pan, add a piece of parchment to the pan before adding the zucchini mixture, this will allow the cheese to caramelize and release from the pan easily.
• I served Serrano ham wrapped cod with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Read Full Post »

Croquetas de Jamon Serrano y Manchego

We were having the Boyz over for a trip down memory lane in May, we had just come out of a 100+ day, hard lockdown and were finally permitted to have less than five people in our backyards so we jumped on it! The Boyz are Andy and Mark, they own a lovely Irish Pub in Leslieville called The Roy. I met Andy many years ago when we both worked at a design firm and have been friends ever since. Andy and Mark love to travel and they love to travel to Spain. Way back in 2020, before the world fell apart, we happened to be in Spain at the same time so we met up in Malaga. We soon realized that our friendship had gotten a lot deeper because of our shared love of Spain. Sadly the last year and a bit has not been kind to restauranteurs and the Boyz are definitely feeling the pinch so when we were allowed people over, I thought I’d create a night of tapas for a trip down memory lane with food. And who doesn’t love an entire night of eating?

Many of the recipes I served have appeared on the blog, but this one is new and so delicious, I had to post it. This is a compilation of several recipes online and my tapas books so I don’t have a reference. When you say croquetas, I immediately think of creamy potatoes but this one is not made with potatoes (although it would have been delicious too), it’s made with a thick béchamel, and you know how I adore béchamel! As you can see from the menu, it was served later in the evening and people were getting pretty full, but not one was left on the plate! Not one.

The menu for the night:

1. Crispy Calamari with Romesco Sauce 
2. Bacon Wrapped Dates
3. Sautéed chorizo with Bread 
4. Spanish Potato Omelette 
5. Tuna Avocado salad in Endive Spoons 
6. Manchego and Serrano Croquettes (recipe below)
7. Catalan Tomato Bread with Anchovies
8. Seared Scallop on Creamed Corn 

Dessert:

• Selection of Spanish cheeses, crackers, grapes, nuts

Croquetas de Jamon Serrano y Manchego

Makes 16 croquettes, about 26 g each

Ingredients:

• 80 g serrano ham, finely chopped
• 50 g shallot, finely chopped
• 50 g manchego cheese, coarsely grated
• 30 g butter
• 15 mL EVOO
• 60 g all-purpose flour
• 200 mL milk
• Pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• 45 g panko
• 20 g manchego cheese, finely grated
• 500 mL peanut oil

Directions:

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan, add the shallots and cook until translucent.
2. Add the flour and stir well and cook for a couple of minutes. Whisk in the milk and stir until thickened. Stir in the Serrano ham and 50 g of the coarsely grated cheese.
3. Spread the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and allow to cool completely.
4. Once cool, shape into little ovals about 26 g each. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Whip the egg with a fork in a small bowl. In another small bowl, combine the panko and the finely grated Manchego cheese.
6. Dip each oval into the egg and coat thoroughly, then plunge each one into the panko mixture and coat well, storing each one on a clean parchment-lined pan.
7. Heat the oil to at least 350 F and fry each croquette until golden. Serve immediately or hold on a baking sheet and reheat in a 350 F oven until warmed through.
8. Serve with Romesco Sauce.

Read Full Post »

Pastitsio (Greek Lasagna)

We totally got sucked into another ATK (America’s Test Kitchen) recipe that we saw as we were trailing off to sleep one night in April: Pastitsio. What got me this time was the way they reinvented cooking the noodles, these reinventions usually turn me off (why mess with a good thing?) but this one totally got me. Get this, you par-cook the noodles in béchamel! Yep, you read that right. Par-cook in Béchamel. I had to try it. Plus I just loved the way the noodles were lined up. Of course, they didn’t use the right noodles for authentic pastitsio, but I just loved the way they lined up. So I gave it a try. It is rich, filling and ever-so-moreish. Particularly if you love Béchamel like I do. I won’t be making this every week, but once in a while, it will be a nice change to the repertoire.

Also known as Greek Lasagna.

Pastitsio

For the original recipe, please click here.

This recipe serves 4-6 people (it freezes well).

Ingredients for the meat sauce:

(this dish may be made up to 5 days before needed and refrigerated):

• ¾ teaspoon table salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup water
• 8 ounces 93% lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 sweet onion, finely diced
• 30 mL pureed roasted garlic
• 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 65 mL red wine
• 65 mL tomato paste

Directions for the meat sauce:

1. Sweat the onions in the oil until translucent. Add the garlic and the meat and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Add the spices and cook until fragrant. Turn the heat down to a simmer.
2. Combine the salt, baking soda, 1/2 cup water, wine and tomato paste and mix well. Add this mixture to the meat, stir well and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from hear and allow to cool completely.
3. Meanwhile make the béchamel.

Ingredients for the béchamel and pasta:

• 30 g unsalted butter
• 45 g unbleached flour
• 30 g roasted garlic purée
• Pinch of nutmeg

• 1 L whole milk, heated
• 250 g ziti or penne
• 250 g kasseri cheese, divided

Directions for the béchamel:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium/low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.
2. Whisk in the garlic and nutmeg until combined. Whisk in the milk and cook until thickened.
3. Add the pasta and return to a simmer, stirring constantly. Once simmering, remove the pot from the heat and allow to sit, covered for 15 minutes (pasta should not be cooked through).
4. Preheat the oven to 350F.
5. Assemble the pasta in straight rows on the bottom of a buttered casserole, reserving the béchamel. Top with half of the cheese and then the meat sauce, cover with remaining béchamel and the remaining cheese.
6. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour until cheese has melted and has browned. Allow to sit for 20 minutes. Serve with a lightly dressed green salad.

Notes:

• If you’re making this in advance, assemble cooled ingredients and refrigerate, covered for a maximum of two days. Allow to come to room temperature before baking.
• This can be frozen in cooled assembled format or after it’s been baked.
• Like most casseroles, this gets better the next day.

 

Read Full Post »

Croque Madame Crêpe

I’ll never forget the Croque Monsieur sandwich that JT ordered at the Café du Parc at the Intercontinental Willard Hotel in Washington, DC in 2013. It was incredible, but soooo filling. I adore the components of this sandwich but I find that the whole thing is just too much so I like to lighten it a bit by replacing the bread with a crêpe. It still has a generous layer of béchamel, with a slice of ham, gruyère cheese and a slather of mustard, the only difference is the crêpe! This recipe was for a brunch we had so I added the egg and it changed it to a Croque Madame!

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 Crêpes
• 125 mL béchamel sauce
• 50 g gruyère cheese, shredded
• 2 slices ham
• 15 mL Dijon mustard
• 2 eggs, fried

Directions:

1. Spread half of the béchamel in the centre of each crêpe and top with the grated cheese. Put into a preheated oven to slightly melt the cheese.
2. Heat the ham in a frying pan on both sides. Spread half the Dijon mustard on each slice and put it on top of the melted cheese, keep it warm.
3. Add the fried eggs in the centre and fold each side in, leaving the yolk exposed.
4. Serve with some lightly dressed greens.

 

Notes:

• Traditionally, the egg is baked in the crêpe but I didn’t like how crispy the crêpe became so I changed the directions.

Read Full Post »

Warm Salmon Dip

This post was inadvertantly published on the same day as another, so we apologise if you’ve already seen/been here. Also, this post was written during our first foray out of lockdown.

We have continued to entertain one couple at a time outdoors, keeping well below the allowed maximum of five (outdoors only). Our space allows for four people socially distanced, any more, we’re less than two metres (six feet) apart and we are not comfortable with that.

I try to make meals that are hearty and warm. This is one such dip I made as an hors d’œuveres for friends who came for lunch (the main was JT’s Bœuff Bourguignon). That day in February was 6° C (43° F) outside but our heater warmed our little area to 15° C (59° F) which made it very comfortable with light coats on (in fact, my friend came seriously over dressed and had to peel layers off to be comfortable).

It’s quite romantic eating outside in the winter, and even my naysayer hubby is loving it. In fact, most of the negativeness has come from the men, the women are all over being outside but once the guys experience our little cozy nook, they are sold. Just like this dip, one taste and you’re sold. I make a similar dip using canned crabmeat but I must tell you that this salmon dip is so much more flavourful.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes about 375 mL dip

Ingredients:

• 250 g Cream Cheese, room temperature
• 1 tsp dill (dried is fine)
• 2 tsp horseradish (the original recipe called for horseradish cream, but I never had horseradish cream on hand)
• 20 g red onion or shallot, finely minced
• salt & pepper to taste
• 25 g celery, finely minced
• 150 g canned salmon, without skin or bones. It’s about 1/2 cup, or one can give or take.

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients and mix well (a light-duty hand mixer is perfect for this).
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. If you are making this for the future, line three 125 mL or half-cup ramekins with plastic wrap.
4. Divide the mixed dip into the three ramekins pressing into the ramekin so it will retain the shape. Try not to have too many folds so that the plastic comes off easily. Carefully twist the plastic wrap to seal. Place the ramekins in the freezer. Once the dip has frozen to the ramekin shape, remove the frozen dip and label it and return the shaped dip to the freezer until needed. Put your ramekins away.
5. About 30-40 minutes before serving, pre-heat the oven to 375° F. Remove plastic wrap from the frozen dip and pop the shaped-frozen dip into the original ramekin you used to freeze it. Place on a cookie sheet (it may boil over depending on how full your ramekin was) and bake for 30-40 minutes or until dip is bubbling in the centre.
6. Remove the baked dip, garnish with a smoked salmon rose and serve with papadams, crostini, crackers or even sliced cucumbers.

A warm, boldly flavoured salmon dip that is perfect for outdoor entertaining.

Read Full Post »

Sourdough Cheese Sticks

 

Over the holidays, I received some lovely sourdough starter and I made sourdough bread (as though we needed it!). I’m always a little distraught discarding some of it so I adapted an old recipe I brought back from Hungary to utilize the discard and a little of the fed starter, it worked out very well. I’ll definitely keep this in mind for future baking.

Makes 1 30 cm x 42 cm sheet, cut to whatever size you desire.

For the original recipe, please click here.

Ingredients:

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 150 g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 100 g discard sourdough starter plus 30 g fed starter
• 125 g Greek Yogurt
• 100 g shredded cheese (sharp cheddar works well, freshly grated Parmesan is best)
• 5 g Salt
• 20g shredded cheese

Directions:

1. In the large mixing bowl of your stand mixer with the scraper attachment, blend flour, butter, starters, 100 g cheese and salt until incorporated, then switch to a dough hook and add the Greek yogurt and knead until smooth ball forms.
2. Allow to rest in a warm dark place for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 375° F
4. On a piece of parchment paper, roll out dough to about 1/2 cm thickness.
5. Cut into 7-10 cm x 2 cm sticks.
6. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
7. Slide cheese sticks on the parchment paper onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is golden and melted.
8. Re-cut sticks, if necessary, while still warm. Serve warm or at room temperature.

These are very tasty served warm.

Notes:

• Use a flavourful, hard cheese (like cheddar, gruyere or Jarlsberg) is best for this treat.
• I use a pizza cutter with a kitchen ruler to cut the sticks, it makes it very easy. If you cut the sticks after you sprinkle with cheese, your cutter will take up most of the cheese!
• In the original recipe, there is an egg wash on the top, I omitted this time because I figured the cheese would stick regardless, but it does add a lovely sheen which I will not omit next time.
• These cheese sticks freeze well. To reheat, spread in a single layer, cheese side up on a baking sheet and bake at a low 200° F for 10-15 minutes or until defrosted and slightly warm.

Read Full Post »

Hummingbird Cake

For special occasion desserts, I like to pop over to my long-time blogging-friend Liz, Skinny Chick Can Bake. Liz has the most beautifully presented desserts that I have seen from a home cook. Most of Liz’s recipes are also unfamiliar to me as I grew up in a European household. A dear friend was turning 70 in September and I wanted to make a special dessert to celebrate the occasion and this beauty did not disappoint. It has a lovely banana flavour but the pineapple isn’t flavour-forward other than providing some added moisture. It reminded me of banana bread but it was much moister than the standard quickbread. And that cream cheese frosting is one that dreams are made of.

Hummingbird Cake

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes one 20 cm cake, about 16 servings

Ingredients for the cake:

• 400 g flour
• 300 g sugar
• 6 g cinnamon
• 6 g salt
• 5 baking soda
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 375 mL vegetable oil
• 7 vanilla extract
• 540 g mashed bananas (use ripe bananas)
• 228 g crushed pineapple, drained (about 1/2 a container)
• 120 g chopped pecans, toasted for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees

Ingredients for the Frosting:

• 500 g cream cheese, room temperature
• 40 g butter, room temperature
• 10 mL vanilla
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 500 g icing sugar, sifted
• Pecans, for garnish

Directions:

1. Begin by preheating the oven to 350° F and prepare three 20 cm round cake pans by lining with parchment paper and spraying with a non-stick spray.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl, set aside.
3. Combine the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, mashed bananas and crushed pineapple and fold into the flour to make a smooth batter. Pour evenly into the three prepared baking pans.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
5. Meanwhile, cream the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and beat well until incorporated. Add the sugar a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently until all of the sugar has been incorporated.
6. When the cakes are thoroughly cool, cut the dome off the top is there was one. Lay the first cake on a serving platting protected by parchment (in short rectangles so that they are easy to remove). Spread a thin layer of the icing over the first layer, place the next cake on top and spread again, add the final layer to the top. Crumb-coat the entire cake in a thin layer and refrigerate for 2 hours to set. When the frosting is firm, finish the cake with the remaining frosting or as desired.
7. Decorate the cake with more pecans that have been toasted.

Notes:

• Although the cake has a whopping 300 g of sugar, it is not excessively sweet, it’s the frosting that takes it over the top! I won’t kid you, it is sweet but not as sweet as it was in the original recipe.
• I reduced the butter to about one-quarter of the original recipe, it still made a super-rich frosting.
• Neither our friends nor we like super-sweet desserts so I opted to reduce the sugar from 6 cups to 4 cups in the frosting and added the juice of half a lemon to help cut it even more. The resulting frosting was still sweet but it didn’t make your teeth tingle. If you prefer an even less sweet frosting, I suggest you reduce the cream cheese by one quarter so that you require less the icing sugar thicken it up. As it was, 4 cups of icing sugar to 500 g cream cheese and 40 grams of butter made a light fluffy frosting but it needed refrigeration to keep stiff. It was a hot and humid day when I served this cake and my version of frosting didn’t melt but it wasn’t as stiff as frosting usually is.
• I baked the three layers in a 20 cm (8-inch) round pans because I did not have 9-inch pans as Liz’s recipe calls for (hence the slightly longer baking time as they turned out somewhat thicker.
• The original cake had coconut but I omitted it because our friends do not like coconut.

Read Full Post »

Mille-Feuille Vegetarian Lasagna

My friend David of Fine Dining at Home (blog on hiatus) put me onto this recipe on his instagram; it looked absolutely delicious, so, then and there, I decided I wanted to make it. I renamed the recipe mille-feuille lasagna because the number of layers reminded me of one of my favourite pastries. I won’t lie, this is a labour-intensive recipe, but then again, what lasagna recipe isn’t? I will say that it is well worth the effort. The homemade pasta is so delicious, light and somewhat crispy. The spinach and basil layers against the creamy béchamel and the stringy mozzarella are divine! Don’t skip the resting and searing step, it really makes the recipe.

Mille-Feuille Lasagna

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes one 21.6 cm x 11.4 cm (4″ x 7″) loaf pan, about 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 300 g Spinach, blanched
• ~50 g basil, blanched
• 125 mL passata
• 15 mL tomato paste
• 15 mL roasted garlic, puréed (fresh is fine too)
• 300 g mozzarella, ground

Directions:

1. Combine the spinach and basil and wring out the water well. Set aside.
2. Combine the passata, tomato paste and garlic and mix well. Set aside.

Ingredients for the Béchamel:

• 30 g butter
• 40 g flour
• 500 mL milk, warmed

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a medium, heavy-bottom pan. Whisk in the flour and mix well. Cook on medium-heat for 2 minutes.
2. Slowly add the warm milk and whisk. Whisk the sauce until smooth and creamy. Cool completely.

Ingredients for the Pasta:

• 1 large egg
• 125 g Flour (“00”)
• Salt

Directions:

1. Add the egg to the small bowl of a food processor and whisk. Add the flour and salt and pulse until it forms into a soft dough.
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead gently a few times until it comes together into a smooth ball. Cover in plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
3. Using a pasta maker, create 12 sheets that are #8 thickness on the kitchenaid pasta maker. Cook the sheets in salted boiling water for 1 minute or less. Cool in an ice bath, remove and dry off.

Ingredients for the Spinach Pesto Sauce:

• 150 g spinach and arugula
• 30 g ricotta or cream cheese
• 30 g pesto
• 200 mL milk or cream
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Blanch the spinach and arugula, immerse in ice water to stop the cooking. Wring out as much water as possible.
2. Place spinach, arugula, cheese, pesto and milk into a bullet and purée until smooth. Season to taste.
3. Press through a fine sieve into a heatproof container, set aside.

Final Assembly:

1. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, it will make it easier to pull out.

2. Add one pasta sheet to the base, follow with

• • A thin layer of spinach,
  • Another pasta sheet
  • A layer of passata
  • Another pasta sheet
  • A layer of béchamel
  • Another pasta sheet
  • A layer of cheese
  • Another pasta sheet

3. Repeat until all the ingredients have been exhausted ending with a pasta sheet and cheese on the top.

4. Bake in a 350° F preheated oven for 50 minutes or until cheese has entirely melted and béchamel is bubbling.

5. Allow to cool completely. When cool, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate 24 hours.

6. To serve, cut into 5-6 slices and reheat in the oven. Then sear one side on a non-stick frying pan.

7. Serve on a bed of warmed spinach pesto sauce (recipe above) with a little crème fraiche.

The pasta crisps up on the seared side to give you a wonderful crunch against the creamy textures of the cheese and spinach and basil layers. 

Read Full Post »

Low Carb Spinach and Goats Cheese Tart

This recipe has become a staple that we have once every two weeks. The pastry comes together easily (use any favourite pastry recipe you like), great texture and has a nice depth of flavour with the sesame seeds. The custard with spinach, shallots and goats cheese are a delight in every bite. 

Makes one 20 cm tart

Ingredients for the pastry:

• 100 g almond flour
• 8 g psyllium husk powder
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 30 mL egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 20 g toasted sesame seeds

Directions for the pastry:

1. Combine all of the ingredients with the exception of the sesame seeds in a small food processor and process until smooth and totally combined. Gently knead in the sesame seeds. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment, so that it is a bit larger than the pan. Gently peel off the parchment and roll onto the pan, pressing into the sides. Fold-down excess and press into the sides making the thickness even all around. Dock.
3. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool slightly.

Ingredients for the filling:

• 40 g shallots, finely sliced
• 15 mL EVOO
• 100 g baby spinach
• 2 eggs
• 5 mL roasted puréed garlic
• 2 tbsp milk or cream
• Salt
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 15 g Beamster, finely shredded, divided
• 50 g soft unripened goats cheese, sliced into 6 rounds

Directions:

1. Sauté the shallots in the olive oil until soft. Add the baby spinach and wilt completely. Cool on a piece of parchment.
2. Combine the eggs, roasted garlic purée, cream, salt, nutmeg and about half of the Beamster and whisk until smooth.
3. When the spinach cools, evenly spread it into the baked tart shell and pour the egg mixture evenly over it. Sprinkle with remaining Beamster.
4. Top with the sliced goats cheese and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the egg has set. You may wish to protect the side crust if it gets too dark.
5. Serve with a green salad.

Read Full Post »

Tortilla de Arroz, Coliflor y Queso

Our little village in Spain has an awesome Indian restaurant at the far end. We ate there once and even though everything was great (food, service), we decided that going forward it’s a better take-out place because it just didn’t have a cool vibe (overly lit); and a bonus is that it’s far better value as take away, if you don’t order way too much rice, like I inadvertently did!

Even though the rice wasn’t expensive, I really hate throwing away good food so I kept it for something in the future. The future arrived in the form of a tapa! I made a spin on the famous Spanish Tortilla de Patatas but used rice, cauliflower purée and cheese instead of potatoes. It made a very tasty tapa which we later used as breakfast.

The measurements are approximate because I used leftovers.

Tortilla de Arroz, Coliflor y Queso

Makes 1 omelette about 20 cm in diameter (serves 4-6 people)

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 250 g cooked rice
• 125 mL cauliflower purée
• 125 mL milk
• 50 g cheese, finely grated
• 30 mL pesto

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients and whisk until smooth. Set aside for 20-30 minutes at room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F.
3. Heat a small 20 cm frying pan on the stove on medium heat and brush generously with olive oil.
4. Pour the contents of the omelette into the hot frying pan and press evenly in the pan.
5. Cook uncovered for 10-15 minutes.
6. Place pan into the oven and finish cooking until a toothpick tester come out clean.
7. Serve warm with a roasted garlic aioli.

Read Full Post »

Spinach, Feta and Manchego Pie

My dear friend Lorraine Elliott published this recipe while we were wintering in Spain. It’s not super hot in Spain this time of year and we prefer it that way because we are not fans of extreme heat or crowds. I like to choose simple recipes that can be baked in the oven to warm the kitchen up a bit. The moment I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t source Halloumi in our little village or even the big supermarket in the city so I used a Spanish Manchego. It was delicious! A perfect lunch with a tomato side salad.

It’s similar to Spanakopita but not really.

Makes a pie about 12 cm x 25 cm x 3 cm.

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets of puff pastry, defrosted in the refrigerator overnight
• 400 g frozen spinach, defrosted in the refrigerator overnight
• 100 g sweet onion, finely sliced
• 20 g roasted garlic, puréed
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 120 g Greek feta, crumbled
• 80 g of Manchego, grated
• 15 mL milk, divided

Directions:

1. Once the spinach has defrosted, squeeze out as much moisture as you can.
2. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
3. Roll out one sheet of the puff pastry to about 2 times the size of your pan. Insert it into the parchment-lined pan and dock it with a fork.
4. Press a sheet of foil into the pan to hold the sides of the pastry up. Add some weight to avoid it from rising too much. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden.
5. In the meantime, sauté the onion until translucent, add the spinach and break it up to incorporate the onion evenly. Stir in the roasted garlic purée and nutmeg. Transfer to a bowl.
6. Add the cheese to the spinach and stir until entirely combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Roll the second sheet of pastry to the size of the pan. Return it to the refrigerator.
8. Remove the foil from the baked pastry and spoon the spinach mixture pressing it evenly into the pan.
9. Brush the top part of all four sides of the pastry with milk. Remove the second pastry from the refrigerator and lay it over the spinach-filled pastry. Press the sides of the top pastry into the spinach-filled pastry.
10. Brush the top of the pastry with the remaining milk and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
11. Slice the pie into equal portions, serve piping hot with a little salad.

Note:

• You can make your own laminated pastry just like Lorraine did, I couldn’t because of my limited kitchen.

Read Full Post »

Ham and Cheese Egg Cups

I made this simple breakfast dish for overnight guests in early February. Unfortunately, they had to leave before they could be oven-ready so I popped them into the nuker and presto, done in three minutes! They are super easy to put together the morning of, but I wanted even less kitchen time so I assembled them the night before. To bake quickly, allow them to come to room temperature for an hour before you bake them.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 200 g of cooked ham
• 200 g of grated cheese, divided
• 50 g of tiny broccoli florets

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Spray each ramekin with non-stick spray.
3. Break the eggs into a medium bowl snd whisk well to break the yolks and combine with the whites.
4. Add the ham and broccoli florets and mix well. Add the cheese, reserving a small amount to garnish the tops.
5. Divide the mixture evenly between the four prepped ramekins. Garnish with reserved cheese.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Or you can nuke them for 3 minutes on high.
7. Allow ramekins to sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Option to serve: Carefully turn out each egg cup onto a warm plate and turn right-side-up. Serve warm.

Winter has come. But the weather has been really strange because as soon as we have any snow accumulation, it warms up, the rains come and the snow melts.

Notes:

Inclusions are limitless:

• Smoked salmon, capers, red onion slices, cream cheese.
• Cooked shredded chicken, roasted red pepper cubes, avocado cubes, sliced onions, roasted corn, shredded jalapeño jack cheese, served with salsa.
• Roast pork tenderloin, sluced red onions, sliced black olives, roasted red pepper and greek feta served with Tzatziki sauce.

Read Full Post »

Seafood Stew in Sourdough Bread Bowls

Happy New Year! Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, spoiling your loved ones! Wishing you a new year filled with joy, good health, good friends and good food! Love from Éva

I do apologize for not being more present with my blogging buddies, but we’ve only just returned from our month-long sojourn in Arizona. We had three sets of dear friends visit us for 5-6 days each during our stay; it was a fun-packed time away, also enjoying our dear friends who currently live in Arizona.

I made this delicious winter stew for friends just before we left for Arizona. It was a perfect way to begin winter. The stew was filled with succulent seafood drenched in a creamy béchamel. And if you’re super hungry, you can eat the bowl, or part of it!

Seafood Stew in Sourdough Bread Bowls

Please click here for the original recipe.

Serves 4-6 depending on size of bowls.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
• 1/2 a sweet onion, finely diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 8 mini potatoes
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 2 cups whole milk
• 500 g mixed firm seafood — peeled shrimp, scallops, lobster meat, mussels, calamari or white fish (cubbed)
• 1 cup shredded flavourful white cheese, like Gruyère and Asiago
• Kosher salt (to taste)
• 4 sourdough bread bowls

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil and sauté the onions until translucent.
2. Add the potatoes and carrots and sauté until about half-cooked. Add the celery and sauté for about 2-4 minutes.
3. Lower the heat and add the butter and allow it to melt. Sprinkle the flour into the vegetables and mix well. Cook for a minute or so. Add the dried herbs. Slowly add the milk, stirring to mix into the floured vegetables and bring to a slow simmer, stirring and allowing the mixture to thicken. You may bring this to room temperature and refrigerate until required.
4. If you have refrigerated the vegetable mixture, simmer on low until the vegetables are thoroughly cooked through. Add the seafood with the longest cooking first (shrimp, scallops, calamari and lastly, mussels). Cook the seafood through.
5. Add the shredded cheese, mix well and taste for seasoning. Serve piping hot in hollowed out sourdough bread bowls.

Here is that gorgeous winter light again.

Notes:

• I like to spend as much time with our guests instead of stuck in the kitchen cooking dinner so I try to make as much of the dishes in advance as possible so that my time spent in the kitchen is minimal while we have guests. Because I cooked most of the stew earlier that day, I was able to reheat it and cook the raw seafood quickly without missing too much of the evening.
• I gently warmed the sourdough bread bowls so that they kept the stew warm a little longer, things cool down so quickly in the winter.
• I used a mixture of Wild Argentinian Shrimp, Bay Scallops, Mussels, and Chopped Calamari for this dish but white fish would also work beautifully.
• If the thought of adding cheese to a fish dish offends you, please omit it. The original recipe called for cheddar but I did not wish to add red cheese to discolour the sauce. The cheese adds a nice background flavour with a little body, it’s really not enough to make it stringy.
• The smooth béchamel flavoured with the tarragon and thyme made a lovely background for the seafood. Our guests loved it, the homemade sourdough bread bowls helped! 😉
• It’s a really heavy meal, I hollowed out the bread bowls so that there was only about 1 cm of the bowl all around, even so, most of us couldn’t finish it!

Read Full Post »

Pan-Seared Lentil Gnocchi with Blue Cheese Sauce

The first time we tried gnocchi was in the late 80’s or early 90’s. It may seem a bit odd that it took so long living in a multi-cultural city like Toronto, particularly since Toronto had the largest Italian population of any city outside of Italy (in 2016, we had the fourth largest Italian population), but back then the restaurant scene was really bad. Italian food was more or less American Italian (not to imply that it’s bad food, just limited), serving spaghetti, lasagna or pizza, nothing quite as exotic as gnocchi graced the menus. High-end restaurants were generally decorated in a men’s club style, dark and dingy and the waiters were often grumpy old guys in dark pants, white shirts and short aprons. Then, for some reason it all changed. JT read a lot of real estate articles and one such article was about a restaurant in mid-town that spent a million dollars in creating one of the best Italian restaurants in the city; imported décor, a well-paid chef and a menu that used traditional Italian ingredients described in Italian words. Of course, we had to try it and we were not disappointed. It still took a few more years for the rest of the industry to up its game but we were certainly on the right track.

When I told my Mom that I’d ordered gnocchi and what it cost, she was appalled! She called it peasant food! Of course, my generation had no idea what that was and maybe that’s why the restaurant industry changed, we were willing to pay for it! And we were hooked! Those soft little pillows drenched in a rich sauce were stuff dreams were made of, so I began experimenting with recipes after seeing Biba Caggiano make it (Biba’s Italian Kitchen) on the very early Food Network. She made it look so easy, and it was! JT proclaimed that he would no longer be able to order gnocchi in a restaurant because he would be disappointed after eating mine! Then came the low carb movement and we put those dreamy little pillows on the back burner. Fear not though, they are making a comeback albeit in moderation.

In our effort to eat less animal protein and more plant-based proteins, I created this gnocchi recipe using lentils. I’ve made them a few times because they are quite easy to make and super tasty, and they have the same light, fluffy consistency of traditional gnocchi. We like the contrast of texture by pan-frying the little pillows until one side is crispy, but you don’t have to. This recipe would be quite lovely with a sage and butter sauce or any sauce for that matter.

Pan-Seared Lentil Gnocchi with Blue Cheese Sauce

Makes about 40 gnocchi, about 2-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 50 g red lentils
• 90 g “00” flour
• 10 g freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 20 g unsalted butter, divided
• 125 mL milk or cream
• 50 g gorgonzola, divided (any blue cheese will do)
• parmesan for serving

Directions:

1. Cook the lentils until soft (about 1:2 ratio) in enough water to cover. Blend in a processor until very smooth.
2. Add the flour a little at a time and blend. Add the cheese and pulse to combine, then remove and knead gently with your hands until a smooth dough is achieved. Roll into a 1 cm roll and cut about 1.5-2 cm lengths. Roll each pillow up the tines of a fork or a gnocchi paddle to get the grooves.
3. Boil water with a little salt and cook the gnocchi until they float to the top. Strain the gnocchi and set aside until ready to serve.
4. Melt butter in a frying pan and sear the gnocchi until a little crispy on one side. Remove from the pan. Add 5 additional grams of butter to the pan and sprinkle about 10 g of flour on it. Cook the roux and add about 125 mL milk or cream. Add some of the gorgonzola into the roux and allow it to melt (reserve a little gorgonzola for garnish).
5. Add the gnocchi back to the pan and stir to coat. Serve immediately with freshly grated parmesan and dot each plate with remaining gorgonzola.

Notes:

• I use my trusted gnocchi paddle that I bought in Florence to make the grooves in the little pillows and recently I discovered that using a very small round measuring spoon to press the gnocchi up the paddle creates perfect groves on one side and a nice little divet on the other (without ruining my mani). The more grooves and divets the more the sauce will stick to it, and who doesn’t love sauce?!
• I used gorgonzola cheese but you may use any blue cheese. Gorgonzola is slightly milder but creamier than blue cheese.
• Traditional gorgonzola sauce uses heavy cream instead of a roux, but I prefer to use milk and a roux. You may do it either way.
• I never add egg to my gnocchi because that is the way Biba Caggiano made it (Biba’s Italian Kitchen). My gnocchi binds well and has never fallen apart in cooking.

JT and I just completed refinishing our kitchen floors, don’t they look lovely? (and yes, that means renting a belt sander and working our ancient butts off!). The best light was on the floor, they are clean!

Read Full Post »

Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)

I remember seeing these tasty morsels a few years ago and was intrigued by the tapioca flour ingredient but I soon forgot about them. Recently, we were watching America’s Test Kitchen and by fluke, they were making a batch which reminded me how much I had wanted to make them. These days, more and more of our friends have become gluten intolerant or simply wish to reduce their gluten intake so this recipe comes at the right time. Plus the weather is perfect for cocktails on the back deck while the sun moves across the sky for its exit. I’ve made a few adjustments to the original recipe and have converted it to metric weight measures because that is my preference for baking.

We loved these little cheesy dough balls and you can bet that I will make them again and again. I hope you try them too.

Would you care for a few with your cocktail?

Brazilian Cheese Bread (gluten-free, lactose-reduced)

Makes 50-60 little balls. For the original recipe, please click here.

Ingredients:

• 390 g tapioca flour (starch)
• 8 g baking powder
• 10 g plus 2 g salt, divided
• 2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks, divided
• 200 mL lactose-free milk
• 25 g unsalted butter
• 115 mL grapeseed oil (any vegetable oil)
• 212 g sheep’s milk semi-firm cheese

Directions:

1. Combine tapioca flour, baking powder and salt and mix well in the large bowl of your stand mixer.
2. In a small saucepan, heat until just boiling the milk, butter and grapeseed oil.
3. While mixing the flour on low spead, add the hot milk solution and beat well for about 3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat for about 8 minutes or until dough is shiny and smooth.
5. Add the cheese and mix for about 1 minute.
6. Preheat the oven to 450° F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with damp parchment paper. Put the baking sheet on top of another baking sheet (these little breads tend to burn on the bottom so insulating the bottom will help them bake more evenly).
7. Scoop out 15 mL spoonfuls the prepared baking sheet. It’s easier if you dip your scoop into water each time. Shape into little balls.
8. Combine the egg yolk with the 2 g salt and mix well.
9. Brush the egg yolk mixture on top of each dough ball and bake until tops are golden and crusty 18-20 minutes. Turn the pan around for the last 5 minutes of baking.
10. Refrigerate the dough while baking the first batch. Repeat making little balls of dough until finished.
11. Cool for 10 minutes and serve.

Notes:

• Check the saltiness of the cheese you use, and adjust the salt measurement accordingly. I found America’s Test Kitchen recipe was a little saltier than I like.
• I used Starkey and Hitch goat’s milk gouda in this recipe.
• America’s Test Kitchen found the dough too sticky to work with so they rested the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours before baking. I did not find the dough too sticky so I skipped that step (it’s about the same as choux pastry) .
• The recipe is as easy as making choux pastry but the texture is quite bready.
• Freeze in a zip-lock baggy. To reheat frozen balls, bake them at around 275° F until defrosted and warm.

Read Full Post »