Shrimp Gyoza

It’s dinner party and cocktail party season so the team at Kitcheninspirations have been busy making and freezing party food so we are never caught empty handed. The filling for these tasty little bites comes together very quickly and if you don’t have time, store-bought wonton wrappers will do the trick.

For original gyoza wrapper recipe, please click here.

Makes 20 gyoza

Ingredients:

• 120 g AP unbleached flour
• 65 g water, boiling
• pinch of salt
• cornstarch for dusting
• 5 mL sesame oil
• 75 g shrimp
• 2 scallions, finely diced
• 5 g ginger, finely grated
• 10 g roasted garlic
• 20 g carrot, finely grated
• 10 mL soy sauce
• 8 g cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• Butter or grapeseed oil to brown gyoza
• Sesame seeds and cilantro for garnish

Directions:

1. Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Add boiling water to the flour and salt mixture slowly to make a dough, turn out to a surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the sesame oil in a pan and add the shrimp and stir fry. Stir in the scallions, ginger, roasted garlic, carrot, soy sauce and cook for a minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool thoroughly. When cool, add the cilantro and mix well.
3. To make the wrappers, roll each sausage out to a manageable thickness and run it through the KitchenAid pasta roller from #1 to #4.
4. Cut into 7.5 cm (3 inch) rounds. Wet the edges of each round, spoon 5 mL (1 tsp) of the filling into the centre and fold in half and seal the edges. I used a handy pleater like this one to get perfect pleats.
5. Steam each one for 3-5 minutes. When cooked, melt butter or grapeseed oil in a cast iron pan. Pan-fry each one on one side only so it is golden and crispy. Serve with your choice of dipping sauce.
6. Freeze uncooked gyoza on a piece of parchment and once frozen add to a ziplock bag for future use. Frozen gyoza will cook in 3-5 minutes!
7. To serve, melt about 15 g of unsalted butter with 30 mL of grapeseed oil and fry one side of each gyoza. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and bits of cilantro.

Serve these tasty treats with a sweet and salty soy sauce.

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Asian Inspired Instant Pot broiled Cod

Summer dinners are often a pain because I just don’t feel like turning the oven on and heating up the kitchen, this is where the Instant Pot really comes in handy. I have the one with the air-fryer lid and it can also act as a broiler, and it’s fast! Easy clean up too. I came up with this recipe for a quick dinner (less than 20 minutes, including the rice in the Instant Pot) and JT said, you should make this again. Always a nice compliment, particularly with fish.

Asian Inspired Instant Pot broiled Cod

Ingredients:

• 15 mL honey
• 10 mL rice vinegar
• 5 mL sambal oelek
• 8 g white miso paste
• 3 mL soy sauce
• 5 g puréed roasted garlic
• 3 g grated ginger
• 5 mL toasted sesame oil
• 20 g Wild Alaskan Cod
• Rice, mushrooms and peas to serve on

Directions :

1. Combine the first 8 ingredients to form a paste. Brush the paste lightly on the cod and allow to sit for an hour or so; when ready to cook, pour the remainding sauce on the top.
2. Set the air-fryer basket into the Instant Pot, add the second shelf, and line with parchment. Set the glazed fish on top. Close with the air fryer lid and set to Air Fry for 5 minutes or until the internal temperature is 145° F.
3. Serve on rice, mushrooms and peas.

 

Notes:

• Because the air-fryer lid isn’t secured like the pressure cooker lid, I was able to attach a thermometer to the fish and have it notify my phone when it reached the temperature so it doesn’t over cook.

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Cream of Celery Soup

Spring came early to Toronto, with warm, sunny days as early as the first week of April! Buds burst on trees and shrubs and we waited with bated breath for the blooms in hopes that we wouldn’t get a spring frost. A good spring always has rain and we’re OK with that as long as we get some sunny days interspersed to keep our mood elevated and this spring was perfect. The rainy days were a touch cooler (still above freezing) but cool enough to crave soup. JT has been a real trouper this winter, eating without complaint, my favourite brothy soups but his true love are creamed soups so I thought I’d create this creamy, tasty soup on a rainy mid-April day. I served this with Cheesy Onion Scones!

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes about 400 mL soup

Ingredients:

• 15 mL EVOO
• 50 g sweet onion
• 300 g celery hearts, tender leaves included, roughly chopped
• 50 g cauliflower florets (as a thickener)
• 400 mL vegetable stock
• 7.5 mL lemon juice
• Salt to taste
• 30 mL table cream

Directions:

1. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a soup pan and sweat out the onions until translucent, add the celery and cook on medium/low for about 3 minutes.
2. Add the cauliflower florets and vegetable stock and simmer until all of the vegetables are soft.
3. Purée until smooth and taste for acidity and salt, add as required. Keep warm until ready to serve.
4. Just prior to serving, add 30 millilitres of table cream, stir well.

Celery in North America doesn’t have a strong anise flavour, it’s very mild.

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Thai Basil Eggplant

Mid last month, I made a batch of Mulligatawny Soup and had some leftover eggplant, so I searched for a recipe for Thai Basil Eggplant that reminded me of a delicious dish served by a hole in the wall Ma and Pa shop when I worked in the corporate world. This one fits the bill.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 250 g Japanese or Chinese eggplants
• 45 mL toasted sesame oil, divided
• 5 g roasted garlic puréed
• 5 g toasted sesame seeds
• Good handful of basil leaves, plus more for serving
• 30 mL unseasoned rice vinegar
• 10 mL soy sauce
• 15 mL Sweet Thai Chili Sauce

Directions:

1. Chop the eggplant into eighths. Heat 30 mL sesame oil in a large pan and cook the eggplant chunks until slightly golden and somewhat soft in the centre, about 6-8 minutes.
2. Add the garlic purée and sesame seeds and toss to coat well. Add the basil leaves and cook until wilted.
3. Stir the vinegar, remaining sesame oil and soy sauce into the sweet Thai chili sauce and mix well. Drizzle half of the sauce into the eggplant and cook stirring often until the eggplant has entirely softened.
4. Serve hot with the remaining sauce drizzled over it and additional Thai Basil leaves as garnish.

I never said it was authentic Thai.

 

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Kedgeree, my way

Some time ago, the wee menu on Facebook on my iPhone changed to include videos and a whole bunch of other garbage I wasn’t interested in. I figured out a way to customize it but I left in the videos because it made me look at suggested videos on my feed which was advantageous because I would have never come across Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Kedgeree. The ingredients and origin of the dish enticed me.

“According to “Larousse Gastronomique”, what we call kedgeree originated from a concoction of spiced lentils, rice, fried onions and ginger known as khichiri dating back to the 14th century and eaten across India. The early colonists developed a taste for it, as it reminded them of nursery food” (from The Economist, please click here for the link).

Nigella’s version was made with rice and some simple spices such as curry. On perusing the internet, I discovered that many recipes did not include curry powder but a variety of spices to make the flavours more interesting. We love cumin, coriander and turmeric so those were my spices of choice. I also found a few recipes to include raisins which brought me right back to Morocco. I thought I’d give the dish a go and it was very successful with the exception that it was a bit dry. I have amended my ingredients to include a little extra chicken stock to give it a bit more wetness, not quite like risotto but just this side of it.

The recipe is full of flavour and works well as a quick weeknight meal.

Kedgeree

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 150 g hot smoked salmon
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
• 100 g sweet onions, finely chopped
• 30 g butter
• 5 g cumin
• 5 g coriander
• 5 g turmeric
• 130 g basmati rice, rinsed
• 300 mL chicken stock, plus more for wetness
• 8 g puréed roasted garlic
• 10 mL fish sauce
• 25 g sultana raisins
• Cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 lime, zested and juiced

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce-pan, sauté the onions in the butter until translucent, add the spices and cook until fragrant. Rinse the rice and strain. Toast the rice with the onions and spices until it’s fairly dry.
2. Combine the chicken stock with the roasted garlic and fish sauce and add it to the rice cooker, mix in the sautéed onions, rice and raisins and cook as directed by the manufacturer. When cooked, stir in a little additional chicken stock to achieve the desired wetness in the rice.
3. Flake the salmon and toss it with the cooked rice on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the cilantro and lime zest and juice. Garnish with the hard-boiled eggs. Serve at any temperature you wish.

Notes:

• This is not an authentic kedgeree recipe, it is my version of several recipes after I discovered this dish on the web.
• Most recipes use curry powder but I prefer the flavours of cumin, coriander and turmeric in this recipe.
• As with many Indian foods, this is likely an English bastardization.
• To make this dish vegetarian, or vegan, use coconut oil instead of butter, vegetable stock instead of chicken and tofu or beans instead of salmon.
• We grilled our Pacific Salmon on the Big Green Egg which provided enough smoky flavour to the dish. If it’s not enough, add a little smoked paprika to achieve a slightly smokier flavour.
• It seems that this dish can be eaten at any time at any temperature but we prefer it warm for lunch or dinner.



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Baja Mexican Spicy Beans with Lime Sauce and Salsa

In mid-July, we were one of five couples invited to a socially responsible BBQ at a friend’s house. They put three tables together outside giving us ample space to distance ourselves. Each couple was asked to bring something and this marvellously flavourful side was one of the dishes someone brought. Everyone asked for the recipe, including me! I chose to make it as a dip for a summer evening cocktail party, socially responsibly distanced, of course. Each couple had their own plate!

The beans and lentils are packed with flavour, the salsa and lime yoghurt just up the ante.

Baja Mexican Beans and Lentil Dip with Lime Sauce and Salsa

From Bowls of Goodness: Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes Full of Nourishment By Nina Olsson

For the original recipe please click here

Ingredients for the Salsa:

• Home grown vine ripened tomatoes, chopped
• 1 green onion, chopped
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients and set aside.

Ingredients for the Baja Sauce:

• 150 mL sour cream or yoghurt
• Juice of 1 lime
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate until needed

Ingredients for the Beans:

• Olive oil
• 2 shallots, diced
• 200 g dried navy beans (400 g cooked)
• 100 g dried lentils du puy (200 g cooked)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 avocado, finely diced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
• 3/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Cook the beans and lentil until softened, rinse.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan and add the shallots until caramelized, add the garlic and cooked beans and cook until they can easily be mashed about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Serve in a bowl or on a plate drizzled with the Baja Sauce and Salsa with baked tortilla chips

I chose blue tortilla chips because they were gluten-free and organic.

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Chicken Waldorf Salad

When I was first dating JT, back in the eighties, his dear Mom would make a version of this salad for lunch. She wasn’t into cooking so this type of dish was perfect, few ingredients and easy to assemble. She would poach the chicken where I prefer to use leftover BBQ’d chicken because of the additional flavours the smoke of a charcoal BBQ adds, but leftover rotisserie chicken works wonderfully as well. The original recipe was heavy in mayonnaise, I like to lighten it up with a little yoghurt and a splash of lemon juice. The flavours and textures really hit the spot.

Waldorf Salad was created by Oscar Tschirky, in the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City in 1896. The original Waldorf was made with only apples, celery, and mayonnaise, it did not contain a protein or nuts. The latter two were additions made in the 20th century. I like to make this salad with chicken or canned tuna, both are equally satisfying.

Chicken Waldorf Salad

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 2 portions for lunch or a light dinner

Ingredients:

• 100 g BBQ’d or rotisserie chicken, cubed or 1 tin albacore chunk tuna in water or stock 
• 1/2 cup diced celery (dice all items similar size)
• 1/2 green onion finely chopped
• 1/2 apple, diced 
• 2 tbsp walnuts pieces, toasted
• squirt of lemon juice, more for taste 
• 15 mL mayo (I used full strength)
• 15 mL yoghurt (I used an Icelandic style)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Drain the tuna and set aside, if using.
2. Add the apple to a small bowl and squirt a bit of lemon juice on it to prevent it from oxidizing.
3. Add the celery, green onion, walnuts and apple to a bowl and combine well.
4. Combine the mayo and yogurt with a squirt of lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir well. Add it to the vegetable fruit mix and coat evenly.
5. Add the cubed chicken or chunk tuna and stir until equally distributed.
6. Serve on a bed of salad greens, butter lettuce is particularly nice.

 

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Asian Inspired Steamed Whitefish

Season 20 of America’s Test Kitchen seems to be reinventing the wheel for the sake of reinventing the wheel. Case in point is this simple, yet flavourful recipe for steamed fish; ATK goes through some gyrations creating a foil sling to hold the fish and then wrapping the pan in even more foil. This presents two problems for me, it uses too much foil and the foil actually creates a barrier to the steaming ingredients. I created this dish the old fashioned way, en papillote, a tried and true envelope made of parchment paper and it worked perfectly. Although steamed fish can be boring, this one really brings it on so I would definitely recommend this as a dinner party main. It’s definitely a keeper.

The foil sling is a bit overkill, in my opinion.

Please click here for the original recipe.

Serves 2 as a main.

Ingredients:

• 15 mL black vinegar
• 45 mL soy sauce
• 10 mL Chinese rice wine
• 7.5 mL toasted sesame oil
• 7.5 mL sugar
• 10 mL roasted garlic purée
• .5 mL ground white pepper
• 4 scallions
• 10 cm ginger, divided
• 200 g firm whitefish (see notes)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• a handful of fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450° F.
2. Combine the black vinegar, soy sauce, rice wine, toasted sesame oil, roasted garlic purée, sugar and white pepper and mix well. Set aside.
3. Cut two scallions in about 2 cm pieces. Finely slice the other two scallions and set aside. Peel and cut 3/4 of the ginger into about 2 cm pieces and add to the cut scallions. Slice the remaining ginger into matchsticks, set aside.
4. Line a baking pan large enough to hold the fish in a single layer with parchment (making sure there is enough parchment to enclose the fish). Add the scallions and the roughly chopped ginger to the centre of the parchment paper.
5. Add the Fish on top of the scallion and ginger base, pour the sauce over the fish, allowing to pool below the fish.
6. Bring up the sides of the parchment, to form a tent and fold and twist to seal and hold in place.
7. Place the pan on the middle baking rack and steam until the fish reaches 125° F to 130° F.
8. Meanwhile, heat 30 mL of vegetable oil in a small saucepan and fry the matchstick ginger until crispy.
9. Serve on sticky rice garnished with the finely cut scallions and crispy ginger drizzled with the steaming broth.

Notes:

• Firm whitefish options are haddock, cod, tilapia, monkfish. We used cod in this recipe. It is important to use similarly thick pieces of fish so they steam evenly.
• I use this awesome wireless thermometer.
• This recipe would be beautiful sous vide.

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Creamy Corn Risotto with Bay Scallops

How are you? It’s a question that has gained more substance than it garnered in the past. We used to ask it in passing, often not even thinking about the answer, which was usually, “fine”. Our answers have become more thoughtful because now we are genuinely asking. Making sure everyone is “fine” is the only way of taking care of one another at this time.

I honestly miss cooking for my friends and family. Oh sure, I’ve baked a few care-packages, but it’s not the same as sharing a meal you’ve laboured over with love. Sharing your home, a meal, or a drink with people you love. This blog also allows me to share, I thank you for kind words and support during this unparalleled time. So how are you?

I’ve been cooking a lot. It makes my day more interesting and we really look forward to the meals which have become more of a focus these days. It also makes me think of all the wonderful times we’ve shared meals with friends and family.

Several years ago we met up with friends in Almeria, we were staying one night and then driving to my cousin’s flat in San José. We stumbled upon Joseba Anorga Taberna quite by accident and had one of many memorable meals that time in Spain. One of the tapas we ordered was a seared scallop in a creamy corn velouté and it was incredibly delicious. The unexpected combination of sweet corn and sweet scallops hit our tastes perfectly. I filed it in my recipe vault in my head and in 2018, I recreated the dish and it did not disappoint.

Scallop wrapped in Iberian bacon bathed in a corn emulsion

Fast forward to our 2020 Spanish adventure to one of our favourite tapas tabernas in Almeria where we had a marvellous creamy rice dish with mushrooms. It was delicious, creamy, cheesy and absolutely more-ish. Upon our return to Toronto, I wanted to recreate the dish but I had scallops and corn on my mind, so I reinvented it.

Creamy Mushroom Risotto from Casa Paquita in Almeria.

I had also filed a wonderful cauliflower risotto recipe that my friend David (Fine Dining at Home) posted in 2012. He recreated a Heston Blumenthal recipe where Heston made a really flavourful stock using the cauliflower end cuts and I wondered if corn-stock would have a similar effect on the risotto. It sure did! Of course, because my dish had scallops in it, I skipped the cheese and used the creamed corn velouté from the stock to add more creaminess to the disk. You could also add a splash of cream or butter.

Creamy Corn Risotto with Bay Scallops

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 2 for a main course or 4 for an appetizer course.

Ingredients:

• 200 g frozen corn see notes)
• ~250 mL water
• Pinch of salt
• ~250 mL chicken bone broth (or the amount that would yield 500 mL corn broth in total)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 75 g sweet onion, finely minced
• 10 mL roasted garlic purée
• 120 g La Bomba Rice
• 30 g clarified butter
• 200 g bay scallops

Directions:

1. To make the corn broth, bring the frozen corn, water and salt to a simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to sit for 20 minutes. Strain and reserve both the corn and broth separately. Reserve 70 g corn kernals, set aside.
2. Add the chicken bone broth to the corn broth to make 500 mL stock and heat to a simmer.
3. Purée the cooked corn (minus the 70 g) from the corn broth and press through a fine sieve. Reserve.
4. Heat the oil in a medium Dutch oven and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic. Add the dry rice and toast, stirring for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the warm broth 125 mL at a time, stirring constantly, adding additional broth as the rice absorbs it. The rice should be tender with a small bite to it and it should be creamy but not soupy. This process will take about 25 minutes. Add the puréed corn and stir well. Turn the heat off, cover and set aside.
6. Dry the bay scallops well. Heat the butter in a cast-iron frying pan, add the scallops to the pan but do not crowd, we want seared scallops not steamed!
7. When the scallops have cooked fully, add to the risotto and stir. Plate.

Notes:

• Grilled corn would have been better but we were still on lock-down when I made this dish. Grilled corn cobs would have made excellent stock.
• Bacon would have been a nice addition, I had actually forgotten I had some in the freezer, next time.

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Mediterranean Tuna Casserole

As our time in Spain was sadly coming to an end, I had developed a menu plan that utilizes the food we had in our pantry/refrigerator so that there was little to no waste (I didn’t have a group of friends here to have a pantry clean out party with). This was one of those meals.

As most recipes, this one evolved to the posted rendition. We’ve enjoyed this meal a few times in Spain and again during the weeks of isolation upon our return. Now my focus is rationing pantry items and getting a tasty, healthy meal out of a recipe. A few friends have kindly offered to grocery shop for us, for which we have been grateful because the online shopping/delivery services all seem to be a week out! But I don’t want to push their generosity, so I’m rationing the staples. Plus, this is a fantastic opportunity to clean out my Toronto pantry!!!

Mediteranean Tuna Casserole

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 100 g dry Romano Beans, cooked
• 125 mL greek yogurt
• 5 mL roasted, puréed garlic
• Sea salt
• 100 g celery, sliced thinly
• 10 black olives, roughly chopped (no pits)
• 2 roasted red peppers, skinned, seeded and roughly chopped
• 50 g green onion, thinly sliced

• 45 g Feta cheese, crumbled

• 85 g canned tuna, drained

• Butter, for greasing casserole pan

• 50 g cheese, grated
• 50 g bread crumbs, toasted
• Fresh parsley, finely chopped
• EVOO

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Whisk the greek yogurt with the roasted garlic and salt. Combine the beans with the celery, black olives, red peppers, green onions, feta and tuna, mix well. Add the yogurt and mix well.
3. Grease a small casserole with a bit of butter. Pour the tuna mixture into the casserole and spread evenly in the pan.
4. Combine the grated cheese, breadcrumbs and parsley. Spread evenly over the tuna mixture. Drizzle with a little EVOO.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or everything is heated through. Tent with foil if the breadcrumbs are toasting too quickly.
6. Serve hot.

Notes:

• This is a meal that I was trying to use up ingredients, if it strikes your fancy, throw caution to the wind and improvise with whatever you have in the fridge/pantry!
• The first version had rotini pasta which was lovely but I prefer the beans.

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Eggs in Purgatory Indian-style

This is one of the last recipes I developed in Spain, before we returned to reality on March 12. We’re already talking about two months next year, provided things settle down and the world becomes safe again. JT and I left on the second last plane to Gatwick from Almeria, they cancelled the flights the next day! We are so fortunate in so many ways. We hope everyone is doing well under the circumstances.

I was inspired by Chef David Rocco’s Instagram post but didn’t have some of the spices he used so I improvised, in addition , this was the culmination of my kitchen clean-out. It turned out exceptionally well and can be eaten as breakfast, brunch or lunch. Heck, you can even have it for dinner. It’s quite easy to prep and you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand, perfect for veg that may not be at their best.

Eggs in Purgatory Indian-style

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 90 g onions, diced

• 15 mL EVOO

• 2 g garam masala

• 2.5 g cumin

• 1.5 g meat masala

• 5 g curry powder

• 250 mL passata

• 125 mL water

• 3 g freshly grated ginger

• 5 mL roasted, puréed garlic

• 230 g frozen vegetables, defrosted and drained

• 50 g grilled peppers, diced

• 2 g fresh Cilantro, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

• 2 eggs

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and sauté onions until golden. Add the spices and cook until fragrant. Add the passata and water and mix well. Add the vegetables and cilantro and mix until combined.
2. Prepare an oven proof dish by rubbing with olive oil or butter. Pour in the vegetables and spread out evenly. Make two large divets in the vegetables and crack on egg into each one.
3. Bake in a 200C preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until eggs are cooked to your taste.

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Tuiles of Sevilla (Chocolate Tejas Dulces de Sevilla)

We have been doing a lot of entertaining since our return from Arizona. I love feeding my friends, it really does make me happy. A few weekends ago we had a marathon weekend entertaining on Friday, Saturday, Sunday AND Tuesday! Fortunately, I was able to plan ahead and make a few things for a couple of the dinner parties considering both friends had gluten-free requirements. First, I made a batch of the original recipe with almonds then I recalled that my dear friend’s hubby is a nut-hater (the food kind) so I created a chocolate version of the recipe. It was wonderful. I served them with coffee.

The snow just doesn’t want to stop.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Tuiles of Sevilla (Tejas Dulces de Sevilla)

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 25 cm x 30 cm (10″ x 12″) sheet, cut to make cookies of various sizes

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 95 g sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla
• 30 mL unflavoured oil
• 50 g Gluten Free flour (I used this mix)
• 15 g cocoa powder
• 80 g milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 250° F.
2. Beat the egg with the sugar until it reaches the ribbon stage, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and oil.
3. Sift the gluten-free flour with the cocoa powder and salt together then fold into the egg mixture.
4. Pour the entire batter onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and spread out until it is quite thin (about 3-4 mm (about 1/8-3/16 inch) works out to about 25 cm x 30 cm (10″ x 12″). Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips onto the batter and gently push into the batter.
5. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until evenly baked, turn the pan once about halfway.
6. While still warm, move parchment onto a cutting board and cut into uneven shapes with a pizza cutter or break into natural shapes after it cools. Transfer parchment to a cooling rack and allow to cool. Cookies will firm up as they cool.
7. Once cooled, store in an airtight container for about a week, but they won’t last that long!

Notes:

• I use an offset spatula to spread the batter onto the parchment paper.
• This recipe will work well with store-bought gluten flour too.

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Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Canadian Thanksgiving was at my SIL’s place in Peterborough. She asked that we bring hors d’œuvres so I made three dips. This one was blog-worthy.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Makes about 250 mL dip

Ingredients:

• 160 g roasted red peppers, skin and seeds removed
• 15 g roasted garlic purée
• 1 g salt
• 10 mL red wine vinegar
• 20 g almond flour

Directions:

1. Combine everything in your food processor and process until smooth.

1. Serve at room temperature with crackers or bread.

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Thai Inspired Lentil Coconut Soup

As you can imagine, I had hoped that winter would be on its way out by our return from Europe last week. Sadly, it wasn’t so. Temperatures, although slightly warmer were still not showing signs of spring. And Facebook was of no help, throwing into my face, a year that the crocus’ were out and the lily of the valley was growing in thickly. No, spring has not sprung — that damn groundhog lied, again.

During these colder days, I like to eat soup so I’ve been creating new flavours since our return. I cobbled together a version of this recipe just before we left and JT liked it so much he asked for it upon our return so I got out my measuring tools and recreated this tasty dish for posterity. To me, lentils have always been paired with warm South Asian spices, more like curries, which we adore but I wanted something different. This soup comes together quickly and is thick and luscious enough to make a meal on its own. It has some nice comforting flavours of roasted garlic and cumin with a beautiful fresh hint of kaffir lime leaves and coconut. I didn’t have time to source fresh Kaffir lime leaves so I used the dry stuff, if you use fresh, you may wish to cut it back a bit, they are meant to be a background note. The lentils purée up creamy and smooth and make a gorgeous luxurious soup. I will serve this at an upcoming dinner party, I know it will be a hit.

Some crispy rice crackers would have made a nice side for this dish.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes about 1.25 L soup

Ingredients:

• 15 mL coconut oil
• 130 g sweet onion, chopped
• 15 mL puréed, roasted garlic
• 5 mL cumin
• 8 kaffir lime leaves (mine were dried)
• 300 g red lentils, rinsed and picked through
• 1 L chicken stock, or vegetable stock
• 250 mL coconut milk
• salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the coconut oil in a Medium Dutch oven. Sauté the onions until translucent. Add the roasted garlic and stir until fragrant.
2. Add the lentils and stir to coat. Dust with the cumin and cook until fragrant.
3. Add the kaffir lime leaves and the chicken stock and cook until lentils are soft. Remove the kaffir lime leaves.
4. You can run an immersion blender through the soup, leaving a few chunks for texture or entirely creamy or you may leave it soupy.
5. Garnish with toasted coconut.

Notes:

• I usually remove 250-500 mL of the chunky soup and purée the remainder until smooth and creamy and then I add back the chunky bits for texture.
• Lentils generally thicken as they sit so you may wish to add a bit more stock or coconut milk depending on your preference for the thickness and how long it sits before serving.
• America’s Test Kitchen recently mentioned that a sprinkle of baking soda on onions as you sauté them will reduce their acidity and make them caramelize quicker. I have been using this technique since I saw it.
• When I prepped for Anjum Anand, she had me toast the cumin quite a bit, but for me, toasting until fragrant is enough.

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Tex-Mex Seasoning

As you may well know, I am not a fan of buying ready-made seasonings. I always try to make my own and that way I can customize it to my own taste. This one is a perfect example. It’s wonderful on fish or chicken and it’s salted to my taste instead of the ridiculous amounts of salt in store-bought versions. The sugar is optional, I have used erythritol as well, works similarly and the taste is still good due to the flavours of the other ingredients.

This seasoning is particularly good on grilled meats, we’ve been grilling on the Big Green Egg all winter and loving it. The intense smoke infuses into everything we grill and it is awesome.

Tex-Mex Seasoning

Ingredients:

• 10 g dehydrated onion flakes
• 5 g granulated garlic
• pinch of smoked sweet paprika
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 3 g cumin
• 10 g brown sugar
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients in your spice grinder and grind until onion and garlic are pulverized and the blend is a fine powder.
2. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry spot.

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Baba Ganoush Revisited

We are knee-deep in entertaining season so I thought I’d share some easy recipes for entertaining. Homemade dips are simple to make and are a million-times better than store-bought dips. I’ve suggested grilling the eggplant for a smoky flavour in my recipe but if your grill is tucked away for the long winter, you can broil them for a similar effect.

Speaking of entertaining, do you own a wood-burning fireplace or know someone who does? Do you struggle to bring wood in from your wood pile when you have friends over? The sawdust and bits of wood alway stick to your clothes and the number of trips in and out is tiring! I have a solution! I’ve created a handy log carrier, hand made by yours truly in Canada! This is the perfect gift for the wood burning fireplace owner! Made of heavy duty denim, with a copper handles, these carriers can hold 12-14 kg (25-30 lbs) of wood, the perfect amount for a roaring fire without breaking your back! They are $60 (Canadian) each or two for $100 (Canadian). Shipping within Canada and to the US is available but you’ll need to contact me before November 23 to make sure you get it by Christmas. Now let’s get busy and make some baba!

Baba Ganoush

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes about 400 mL dip

Ingredients:

• 8 small Thai aubergines, halved and seeded
• olive oil
• 2 cloves of roasted garlic
• 15 mL tahini
• 6 g cumin
• extra virgin olive oil
• juice of half a lemon
• sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Grill aubergines on very hot BBQ, until skin is charred and the flesh is soft (we did ours mostly on the skin side on the BGE).

1. Roast the garlic in a parchment pouch wrapped in foil. Cool.
2. Peel the charred skin and away from the aubergine and discard, peel roasted garlic and discard skins.
3. In the bowl of your food processor, add all of the ingredients and purée until smooth, season to taste.

Notes:

• I like to toast my cumin for big flavour.
• Use raw garlic if you wish, we have developed a bit of an aversion to raw garlic so I roast it whenever possible.
• Use as much olive oil to give you a smooth dip.
• I would not substitute peanut butter for the tahini in this case.
• If you like a tarter dip, add more lemon juice.
• Seeds of the eggplant tend to be bitter, so I’d remove them.

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Grilled Vegetable and Cilantro Salsa

This past July, we traveled to Wisconsin to visit friends at their gorgeous lake house; it was bittersweet because they were selling it to move down to Arizona for good. The weather wasn’t great so we only got in one very short boat ride but we enjoyed every last minute. We shall miss visiting this little gem in Wisconsin. But that just means we’ll be visiting Arizona even more!

While we were in Wisconsin, our dear friends introduced us to an incredible product: Rick Bayless’ Fonterra Grill salsa! It was to die for! The layered flavours of grilled vegetables and fresh cilantro created a complex salsa that was totally unexpected, so of course, I had to try to recreate it upon our return. I used our Big Green Egg which is the ultimate charcoal barbecue! It imparts the most incredible smoky flavours but if you have gas or propane, just fire up some wood chips on the side for a similar experience.

Grilled Vegetable and Cilantro Salsa

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Yields about 1 Litre of salsa (about 4 cups)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg tomatoes, seeded (reserve seeds and pulp for tomato jam)
• 2 sweet red peppers
• 4 jalopeño peppers, seeded and veins removed or to taste
• 2 nora peppers, rehydrated in warm water, skins and seeds removed (yields about 15 mL flesh), optional
• 1 sweet onion
• 1/2 garlic bulb, skin on
• 2.5 mL smoked sweet paprika
• Salt
• Cilantro leaves, good handful or to taste
• juice of 2 limes

Directions:

1. Remove seeds and pulp from the tomatoes and set cut-side down on a cooling rack lined with parchment paper. Overnight is best, you want to dry out the tomatoes as much as possible.
2. Roast the tomatoes, peppers, jalapeños and onion on an open flame (I used our Big Green Egg) until softened and slightly charred. Wrap the garlic in parchment and then foil and roast over the open flame until soft.
3. Remove the skins from the tomatoes, peppers and garlic, discard skins. Add roasted veggies and cilantro leaves to a food processor and chop to desired consistency. Add salt and lime juice and pulse to combine.
4. Add the scraped flesh from the Nora peppers to the processor and pulse a few more times.
5. Fill sterilized jars with the salsa. If you are not using right away, you will want to process the jars in the typical canning methods. I processed my salsa for 15 minutes.

Tomato Jam

Yields a scant 250 mL (1 cup) tomato jam

Ingredients:

• 370 g tomato pulp (all the seeds and pulp from the tomatoes that you plan to roast for the above recipe)
• 100 g shallots, minced finely
• 10 g garlic, minced finely
• 15 mL EVOO
• 50 mL cooking sherry
• 15 mL white balsamic vinegar
• 1.25 mL baking soda
• basil, chiffonade
• salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the onions and garlic until caramelized, deglaze the pan with cooking sherry. Add the tomato pulp, basil, season with salt and then add the baking soda, being careful because the baking soda will foam up.
2. Cook for about an hour until most of the water has cooked off. About half-way through the cooking, add the white balsamic vinegar and stir well.

Notes:

• I used a combination of vine-ripened tomatoes and Roma because that is what looked the best to me.
• I have mentioned this before, baking soda neutralizes the acidity of the tomato and therefore there is NO NEED TO ADD SUGAR (yes, I yelled that!).
• You could do whatever you wish with the pulp, I just don’t like throwing away food!
• Since this post was written, I’ve made two additional batches of this salsa and the last batch was rush so I used the entire tomato instead of seeding it, it made for a wetter salsa so I strained it before canning. The seeds added a bit more texture that wasn’t unpleasant. But, I’d still go the extra mile and seed the tomatoes if I have the time.

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Korean-Style Mung Bean Pancakes

This is not your ordinary pancake. The mung beans add a certain richness and denseness to the pancake. It’s almost like an overmixed North American pancake! Having said that, it still has nice fresh flavour and can be quite addictive. Some recipes have you remove the skins and split the mung beans, I had neither the patience nor the time, so this recipe is a little green/greyer than most. I figured the skins had vitamins or at the very least, fibre. Use whatever veggies make you happy. Next time, I’ll add green onions because the chives had very little flavour.

Korean-Style Mung Bean Pancakes

This recipe makes about 20 appetizer portion pancakes.

To see the original recipe, please click here.

To print this recipe, please click here.

Ingredients:

• 95 g mung beans, soaked in warm water for at least 2 hours
• 250 mL water
• 15 mL miso paste
• 10 g coconut sugar
• 65 g rice flour
• 5 g ginger, grated
• 45 g coconut, soaked in water then drained
• 60 g each, frozen peas and corn
• a handful of pea shoots
• Chives
• Cilantro

Directions:

1. Combine everything but the peas, corn, pea shoots and herbs in the jar of a blender and blend until very smooth.
2. Heat a non-stick pan and spray lightly with oil. Drop 15 to 30 mL batter onto the pan a good distance apart from each other (so you can easily flip them) and top with a sprinkling of the peas and corn, pea shoots and herbs. Cook until golden on one side, then flip and finish cooking for a very short time so that the herbs don’t burn.
3. Serve warm with dipping sauce (recipe below).

Ingredients for the dipping sauce:

• 30 mL rice vinegar
• 5 mL soy sauce
• 2.5 mL sesame oil
• pinch of coconut sugar
• pinch of toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Serve with mung bean pancakes.

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Mediterranean Red Bulgur Salad with Tuna

I must apologize, my post did not post as I had hoped (perhaps it was because it was scheduled for Wednesday!). Better late than never!

Our summer began with the most perfect temperatures (for me), low 20’s° C (low 70s° F) with low to no humidity. You have to understand, Toronto becomes a sauna in the summertime, high temperatures and humidity and which makes it seem so much hotter and muggier than it actually is. It’s usually so soupy that a shower seems less wet than going outside! As soon as July hit, so did summer temperatures 34° C (93° F) and in rolled the humidity (making 34 seem like 42° C or 107° F). I am a sweater, I sweat thinking about physical effort, it’s really awful, so these hot temps force me to stay inside with the A/C cranked low and a fan blowing on me. It really is a curse.

I came up with this recipe for a lunch during a long-weekend that I was locked inside my house. I wanted something fast, light and easy with ingredients I had at home. Usually, I wouldn’t blog about this type of recipe but JT loved it so much, he literally asked for it again the very next day! This is day two, I didn’t have enough home-grown tomatoes so I added a vine-ripened tomato I had at home. I’ve made this salad a few more times! The bulgur adds a lovely texture, not quite chewy but not soft either. The tuna is a nice addition but it’s even tasty without it for a vegan recipe.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

This recipe makes 4-6 servings

To make this vegan, omit the tuna.

Ingredients:

• 200 g red bulgar
• 2 cloves garlic, halved
• 1 can tuna (flaked white albacore in water)
• 10 cm cucumber, finely diced
• a handful of parsley, chopped finely
• 3-4 mint leaves, chopped finely
• 12 or so kalamata olives, chopped
• a handful or so of grape tomatoes, finely diced
• Handful of chopped artichokes

Ingredients for the dressing:

• juice and zest of 1 lemon (about 60 mL)
• same quantity olive oil, or less
• 10 mL tomato paste
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, tomato paste and salt and mix well.
2. Add the garlic cloves to the bulgur water with salt. Cook the bulgur according to directions (mine said 500 mL water with 200 g bulgar). If all of the water did not absorb, strain. Discard garlic.
3. Pour dressing over the strained, hot bulgur. Cool slightly.
4. Combine everything for the salad and mix well.
5. Serve immediately in a bowl or spoon into iceberg lettuce leaves.

Notes:

• If you don’t have any tomatoes, use about 125 mL sundried tomatoes in olive oil, strained and chopped.
• I usually buy chunk albacore tuna because we like it better than flaked but this recipe is better with flaked because it distributes more evenly.
• If you dress the bulgur when hot, it will absorb the dressing more and evenly.
• I would have added a little Greek Sheep’s Milk crumbled feta if I had some at home. If you do, omit the salt in the dressing.

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Kimchi

We have been really enjoying Korean cuisine for a while now, and my dear friend Barb (Profiteroles and Ponytails, in hiatus) gave us a wonderful jar of gourmet Kimchi for Christmas. The first time I ever tried Kimchi was in Paris with my friend Charles (Five Euro Foods, also in hiatus) when he took us to a Korean BBQ place. It was a delicious lunch filled with bright and heady flavours but I have to tell you that I did not love my first experience with Kimchi. Fortunately, since then, I have tried many different versions and I am very happy to report, I LOVE IT! My friend Sissi over at With a Glass is the Kimchi expert, she has made several versions and recipes using Kimchi, check out her lovely blog. In fact, it was the persistence of Sissi’s recipes on her blog that made me want to make my own, plus that jar that Barb so generously gave us was awesome and I wanted more! Thank you, Sissi and Barb.

The recipes are as easy as they sound, the most difficult part will be the waiting until it ferments and then dig in. It works well with Korean but we’ve also had it with Indian and it is wonderful. This makes a smallish batch but it is enough for a few meals.

Kimchi

Please click here for original recipe.

To print recipe, click here.

Makes 1 650 mL jar

Ingredients:

• 450 g chopped and grated vegetables (see notes)
• 75 g table salt
• water to cover
• 20 g ginger, grated
• 16 g garlic, grated
• 6 g Korean red pepper
• 13 g sugar
• 30 mL fish sauce (or 45 mL, to taste)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add the coleslaw mix (minus the celeriac). Pour the salt over the entire mix and rub in with your hands. Cover with water. Allow to sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Rince the salted coleslaw mix 4-5 times with fresh water. Add the green onions and celeriac and mix thoroughly.
3. In a small glass bowl, combine the ginger, garlic, red pepper sugar and fish sauce and mix well to create a smooth paste. Pour over the coleslaw mix.
4. Using a gloved hand, rub the paste into the slaw until it is fully incorporated and evenly mixed. Pack the entire slaw mix into a sterilized jar, pressing down to remove large air bubbles, leaving about 2.5 cm space at the top, then cap with the lid. Allow to ferment for 2-3 days in a cool spot but not the refrigerator. It’s probably a good idea to open the jar every-so-often to release the gases that build up during fermentation. Once it has reached your desired flavour, refrigerate. Some recipes need to sit in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks but this one you may use right away, knowing that the flavours will only get better as it ages.

Notes:

• Buying an entire cabbage is far too much for just the two of us, it would take us a year to go through it all, so I buy the pre-shredded coleslaw mix in the bag salad section and augment it with what I have at home, this time it was celeriac and green onions.
• I would use gloves to massage the paste into the vegetables, the red pepper may stain your hands and nails.

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Creamy Mushroom Soup — revamped

Soup has been on our menu quite often this winter. Personally, I adore soup, so much so, we’ve coined the expression “I love soup so much, it could be my middle name”! My favourite are brothie soups like chicken noodle, Phõ, lemongrass, and miso to name a few, but JT prefers creamy soups so I throw him a bone every so often and blitz the soup with my immersion blender. This one turned out exceptionally well so, I decided to repost. Plus the light is getting much better and I couldn’t resist.

Creamy Mushroom Soup

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes about 500 mL

Ingredients:

• 25 g variety of dried wild mushrooms
• 35 g red lentils, dried
• 140 g shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 90 g sweet onion, roughly chopped
• 60 g celery, roughly chopped (about 1 rib)
• 25 g butter
• 40 g roasted garlic (about 5 large cloves)
• salt and pepper to taste
• ~300 mL vegetable stock
• 2-4 tbsp finishing olive oil

Directions:

1. Soak the dried, wild mushrooms in about 500 mL water for a minimum of 30 minutes. Strain through a gold coffee filter and reserve liquid. Rinse the mushrooms.
2. Caramelize the onions in the butter. Add the celery, roasted garlic and rehydrated mushrooms and cook until soft, about 15 minutes.
3. Add the reserved mushroom liquid and lentils and simmer loosely covered for an additional 30 minutes, stirring often. Meanwhile, toss the sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms in some olive oil and roast in a hot oven (375° F) until caramelized (roughly 20-25 minutes), turning once.
4. Remove soup from heat and purée with an immersion blender until smooth, adding vegetable stock to desired consistency (I added about 300 mL). Press through a fine sieve for a velvety, smooth texture. Add salt and pepper to taste and purée once more. Garnish with the caramelized mushrooms and drizzle with the finishing olive oil. Serve piping hot with Cheddar Orange Scones.

Notes:

• No matter how well your blender purées creamed soups, push it through a fine sieve for a creamy and velvety texture. Then blitz it again just before serving. This is a tip from the 1-star Michelin chef we had a cooking lesson with in Lyon.
• Thick creamy soups that are not made with cream, like this one, deserve a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
• Serve with a scone to make a hearty lunch.

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Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower “Wings”

We had a Super Bowl party in early February and I made the usual suspects but I also wanted a slightly healthier and vegetarian version of the traditional Buffalo wings. I have made Buffalo cauliflower in the past but it never really met my expectations achieving the crunchy coating I had hoped for, so I put it on the back burner. Then in January, I started thinking about adding texture to the florets in the form of breading. I tested this recipe with panko with regular flour and the crispy rice cereal with coconut flour and to be honest, in a blind taste-test, JT voted for the crispy rice cereal and coconut flour version. The coating has a great crunch and being made of crispy rice cereal and coconut flour, it is also gluten-free. Vegans may use chia seeds instead of the eggs for the binder.

Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower “wings”

Ingredients:

• 60 g coconut flour
• 2 eggs, whisked well
• 120 mL water, plus
• 120 g crispy rice cereal, hand crushed
• 15 g Buffalo chicken spice mix
• 15 g dehydrated onion flakes
• 15 g granulated garlic
• 5 g sea salt
• ~750 g Cauliflower, cut into 2-bite pieces
• Non-stick spray

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Place coconut flour, eggs whisked with water, and crispy rice cereal into three separate medium-sized, deep bowls.
3. Add 15 g of Buffalo spice mix into the crushed crispy rice cereal and mix well.
4. Take one cauliflower floret at a time and dip into the coconut flour first, then the egg and lastly the crispy rice cereal and coat well. Lay each cauliflower floret (flat-side down) onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Continue until all of the cauliflower is coated with the rice-breading. You may need to add a bit more water to the egg mixture as the coconut flour tends to thicken it up.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cauliflower is cooked but not too soft (test with a cake tester, there should be resistance when poked through).
6. Drizzle with Buffalo-style sauce, if using.
7. Serve hot with blue cheese dipping sauce.

Ingredients for Buffalo-style sauce:

• 65 mL melted butter
• 15-30 mL honey (to taste)
• 50 mL hot sauce

Directions:

1. Combine all three ingredients in a small pan and heat slowly to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Drizzle lightly over the baked cauliflower.

Notes:

• I find the best results are achieved using dry cauliflower (wash and spin-dry then lay out on a clean dishcloth for 20-30 minutes).
• You will need to coax the coconut flour into the cauliflower crevices.
• If you are trying to be healthier, omit the Buffalo sauce.
• This dish is best served right out of the oven, as the crispy rice cereal eventually gets a bit soggy, particularly with the Buffalo sauce on it.
• I puréed leftovers with vegetable stock into a smooth soup and JT could not stop raving about it.

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Updated Kale Chips

In an effort to eat healthier, I developed this recipe for a snack that is flavourful, crunchy and delivers a bit of protein and vitamins! The almond flour helps with the crunch as does the coconut flour, the dehydrated onion and garlic give the flavour this healthy snack delivers.

Kale Chips

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 2 to 4

To print recipe, please click here.

Ingredients:

• 120 g kale, washed, dried and cut into medium-sized pieces
• 30 g almond flour
• 20 g coconut flour
• 10 g dehydrated onion
• 5 g dehydrated garlic
• 30 mL olive oil
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 93° C (200°F )(I used my convection (fan) setting).
2. In a dedicated spice/coffee mill, grind the almond flour, coconut flour, onion and garlic until a fine powder. Set aside.
3. Wash kale and dry as well as possible. Remove thick ribs. Cut into bite-sized pieces keeping in mind that they will shrink to about half their raw size.
4. Drizzle olive oil over kale and toss to coat evenly. I gave them a quick, light massage to evenly coat each leaf.
5. Spread kale on a cookie sheet so they are on one layer and not overlapping. Sprinkle lightly with about 7 g of almond flour mixture (I found it easier to sprinkle through a fine sieve).
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes tossing occasionally until crisp. Sprinkle with salt.
7. Serve immediately.

Notes:

• Spice up the finished kale chips with a little cayenne pepper.
• Instead of olive oil, use chili oil to coat raw chips.
• Spread the oil-coated chips evenly on a cookie sheet to dry quickly and evenly.
• A medium to larger cut leaf will dehydrate to a bite-sized chip.
• Store the leftover coconut flour mix in an air-tight container for future kale chips.

Nutritional facts for kale chips

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Southwestern Bean Soup

I wish you all the Merriest Christmas and the Happiest New Year! Thank you for your continued support, you have all made this blogging experience so much richer than I ever could have imagined, thank you.

Our neighbourhood progressive dinner party was scheduled for the Saturday after we returned home from Arizona; I didn’t think it would be a problem since we were responsible for hors d’œuvres and appetizers. Had I read more than the heading of the email from the organizers (the main course couple), I would have realized that things were to get a bit more complicated since one person decided to go vegetarian and dairy free (for health reasons). I love a challenge but I would have liked to experiment a bit more, notwithstanding, it turned out delicious so I documented the recipe for the future. Like most recipes, this tastes better the day after it is made!

South Western Bean Soup

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 6-8 depending on serving size

To print recipe, please click here.

Ingredients:

• 40 g black beans, soaked overnight
• 160 g navy beans, soaked overnight
• 100 g kidney beans, soaked overnight
• 200 g sweet onion, finely chopped
• 15 mL olive oil
• 5 g toasted cumin
• 2 g toasted coriander
• pinch of chili powder, or to taste
• 5 g smoked paprika, or to taste
• 7 g cocoa powder
• 10 g garlic, finely minced
• 40 g tomato paste
• 2 g puréed chipotle peppers
• 750 mL vegetable stock
• 250 mL passata
• 165 g grilled corn, removed from cob
• cilantro to garnish
• sour cream or Greek yogurt to garnish
• grated cheese to garnish
• 125 mL creamed lentils (see notes)
• 1 large avocado, cubed to garnish

Directions:

1. Caramelize chopped onions in the olive oil. In the meantime, add the vegetable stock, passata, beans to the warm crock pot and put on high for 5 hours.
2. Add the onions, all of the spices, tomato paste, and enchilada sauce and stir well. Cover and cook for 5 hours.
3. When the beans are soft, add the creamed lentils and stir into the soup so it is consistent and creamy. Add the grilled corn kernels, and cook for an additional 30 minutes on high, stirring occasionally.
4. Serve in warmed bowls and top with avocado, a spoonful of Greek yogurt, cilantro, and cheese. Serve immediately with Cornbread.

Notes:

• I use lentils as a thickener particularly when I make gluten-free recipes. Simply cook lentils until soft and purée with a stick blender until smooth. Freeze the excess in an ice-cube tray and when frozen, pop into a zip lock bag.
• I buy chipotle peppers in a can, purée and freeze the excess in an ice-cube tray and when frozen, pop into a zip lock bag, same goes for tomato paste.

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Zucchini Crêpes

JT and I have been training for an upcoming epic 15 km hike. We do a gruelling route for 7-8 km through High Park on its steepest terrain, circling through a 98-step staircase and a 120 metre hill. Sometimes we drive to a Provincial park and hike unchartered territory to mix it up. But I’m a bit concerned as we can’t replicate the altitude we will ultimately face, I’ve never worked out at 6,800 feet before!

The best we can do is prepare ourselves. Eating healthy is part of that preparation so I’m constantly on the lookout for ways to change a recipe to make it healthier. Adding my favourite veggy, zucchini (or courgette) to a slightly modified crêpe batter does the trick!

These “crêpes” have an incredibly similar bite to them as their authentic French cousins, but they are less calorie laden. The small amount of whole wheat flour gives them the perfect amount of texture and volume. They cook up like a super thin omelette but results in a thin crêpe.

Definitely a keeper recipe.

Zucchini Crêpes

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 1 large crêpe, for multiple crêpes, simply multiply the ingredients below by the quantity you wish to make.

Please click here to print this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 50 g (1/4 cup) zucchini, grated
• 45 mL egg whites (6 tbsp egg whites or 3 large whole eggs)
• 10 g (1 tbsp) whole wheat flour
• salt & pepper, to taste

Directions :

1. Combine the flour, egg whites and salt and mix well.
2. Heat a nonstick pan and spray lightly with nonstick spray.
3. Spread the grated zucchini around in an even layer, predominantly in the centre of the pan and cook for a minute.
4. Pour the egg mixture over the zucchini and spread thinly over the pan as evenly as possible, making a large filled circle. Gently coax the egg mixture into gaps or holes.
5. Cook until side has browned a little, carefully flip crêpe when cooked and repeat for other side.
6. Serve warm filled with your favourite savoury filling.

Caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms made a wonderful filling with a lentil-based béchamel.

Notes:

• These are as close to a real crêpe texture as I have gotten using low-calorie ingredients.
• Make them as large or as small as you wish, they have good structure and will hold up for hand held fillings like soft tacos.

Nutritional Facts for 1 crêpe, no filling.

Weight Watchers Points for 1 crêpe, no filling.

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Zucchini Wraps

In early April, my dear friend from University invited me to spend a few days at her second home in southwestern Florida. I did a lot of the cooking because I enjoy doing so and she just loves my creations. I whipped up a batch of the zucchini wraps that JT and I often have, because I thought she might enjoy this calorie reduced, gluten free deviation and I was right. I knew I had to share the recipe and spread the love. It’s a cross between a crêpe and a wrap but it is sturdy enough to hold in your hand and fill with whatever your heart desires. I’ve tried the cauliflower version and to be honest, I did not find them satisfying nor were they sturdy enough to hold the filling. We have these at least once a week, I hope you will give them a try.

Updated March 19, 2019

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 6 wraps 15 cm (6-inch) diametre (they shrink quite a bit)

ZucchiniWraps Recipe

Ingredients:

• 400 g (4 cups) raw zucchini, grated
• Salt for osmosis
• 30 g (1/4 cup) coconut flour
• 5 g (1/2 tsp) sea salt
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) egg whites, lightly whisked
• Non-stick spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F).
2. Grate the zucchini and salt generously in a bowl to remove excess liquid. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes.
3. Rince zucchini well and squeeze out as much liquid as possible, return to a clean, dry bowl.
4. Combine the grated zucchini with the coconut flour and toss until evenly coated. Add the salt.
5. Pour the egg whites over the zucchini and mix well. Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment (I have only tested this recipe with parchment, not Silpat or any other silicon matt). Spray well with non-stick spray.
7. Tightly fill an 80 mL (1/3 cup) measuring cup with the zucchini mixture. Turn out onto the prepared parchment and using the back of a fork, spread out the zucchini to make a 20 cm (8-inch) diameter pancake, the same thickness throughout (they will shrink to about 15 cm (6-inch)).
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden along the edges, carefully flipping about halfway through. Spray lightly with non-stick spray before you flip.

Notes:

• You may flavour the zucchini wraps with herbs or spices but I prefer to keep mine relatively simple so that the filling can do all the flavouring. We usually have these as fish tacos or chicken fajitas.
• The zucchini wraps do shrink quite a bit as they bake so make sure you make them large enough to hold the filling of your choice.
• Spraying the parchment is necessary because, without it, they really stick to the parchment.

Nutrtional Facts for 1 Shell

Weight Watchers Points

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Crispy “Unfried” Breaded Fish

Although I am not a huge fried food fan (I know, I’m weird), JT loves the stuff. I don’t even like the way it stinks up the house, so if I do pull out the deep fryer, I usually set it up on top of the BBQ outside, sorry neighbours!

Recently, I’ve been experimenting using coconut flour instead of regular white or whole wheat flour in the breading process because I discovered that coconut flour draws moisture out, so it actually makes a fabulous base for a truly crispy coating, much like that of the unhealthy deep frying method. The first time I made this dish, I just eyeballed everything and hoped for the best. I received a lot of mmmmm, yummmm and best of all, JT said, “please make this at least once a week.” If that isn’t the top accolade, I am not sure what is. A week later, I got out my scale and measuring cups to document the recipe. If you like crispy breaded, deep fried-like things, I would encourage you to try this healthier alternative.

I can see using this method to “un-deep fry” many things in the near future!

Crispy Unfried Breaded Fish

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 2, 100 g portions

Ingredients:

• 200 g firm white fish, like tilapia
• 40 g (1/3 cup) coconut flour
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) egg whites
• 30 mL (2 tbsp water), plus a little more near the end of the breading process
• 45 g (1/2 cup) whole wheat panko bread crumbs
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Cut the fish up into smaller, one to two bite portions, about the same thickness.
2. With a whisk, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy.
3. Dredge the fish in the coconut flour, then dip it into the egg whites until entirely covered. Place the fish back into the coconut flour and coat again, and dip it into the egg white for the last time.
4. Toss the wet fish pieces into the panko until entirely covered, shake excess off. Place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Continue with steps three and four until all of the fish is coated evenly and lined up on the baking sheet. You may need to add a bit more egg or water into the egg white mixture as it thickens with the coconut flour near the end. Discard unused coconut flour, egg whites and panko.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for thirty minutes to two hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F). Bake fish, turning once until both sides are golden and the fish has an internal temperature of 63° C (145° F). Serve immediately with Romesco sauce.

You may toast the panko, like my friend Sissi does, but I find using the whole wheat panko gives it a head start to a gorgeous golden colour.

Notes:

• Use this recipe in the popular fish tacos (like my friend John’s recipe), but these are much healthier.
• These fish pieces would also make a delicious hors d’œuvres, serve with tartar sauce.
• The facts below do not include the frying process.
• Recently, I have been adding about a tablespoon or so of toasted black and white sesame seeds and it really enhances the crispy texture as well as adds lovely flavour (I wish I had taken a quick pic of it, they are truly fabulous).

This is the nutritional breakdown of the coconut flour breading.

All purpose flour and whole egg breading.

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Vegetarian Butternut Squash Chili

We had a bunch of dear friends for Superbowl a few weeks ago and I made this vegetarian chili. I know I’m a little late, but I wanted to capture the recipe for next year. It was delicious and it makes a huge amount (1 L or 8 cups). It has a lot of great flavours and textures, I’ll definitely add it to my repertoire for future Superbowl parties.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 1 L (8 cups)

Ingredients:

• 180 g (1 cup) dried red kidney beans (soaked for 12 hours)
• 1 small onion, diced (100 g)
• 1 small carrot, diced (100 g)
• 1/2 butternut squash, diced (150 g)
• 2 celery ribs, diced (100 g)
• 250 mL puréed tomatoes (200 g)
• vegetable stock or water, to cover
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp red pepper paste
• 2 tsp ground cumin, toasted
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup Pearl Barley, cooked
• 1 avocado, for garnish
• 1/2 cup sour cream, for garnish
• chopped cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

1. Put the beans in a pot, cover with 2 inches of water, and bring to a boil. Boil for ten minutes. Drain.
2. Combine beans with everything but the frozen corn, cooked barley and the garnishes in the bowl of a slow cooker. Add enough water to cover. Cook for 8 hours on low or until beans are tender. Add frozen corn and cooked barley about 30 minutes before serving to allow to heat through.
3. Serve with garnishes or plain.

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Quick Pomegranate Cherry Syrup

Recently, JT and I spent three wonderful weeks touring through London, Almeria, San José, Granada, Sevilla, Madrid and finally Paris. It was awesome. I will recount some wonderful meals and memories in future posts but I wanted to share a quick and easy recipe to make pomegranate syrup because my dear friend Sissi (With A Glass) recently posted a beautiful salad which included pomegranate seeds and the dressing was created with pomegranate molasses, a slightly sweet and sour syrup.

Sissi’s post went live around the time we had just spent the day in Granada, a large, historical city in the south of Spain. We did a wonderful walking tour of the city with Panchotours with Registered Tour Guide, Veronica and at one point she mentioned that the word Granada in Spanish means pomegranate! What a coincidence! The name is appropriate because the streets are lined with gorgeous pomegranate trees. Yes, you could just reach up and grab a fresh pomegranate, how cool is that? Sadly, they were not quite ripe enough, otherwise, you know I would have!

Our lovely tour guide, Veronica.

Several weeks prior to our departure, we purchased something and for some unknown reason were given a 473 mL bottle of Pom Pomegranate Cherry Juice for free. We don’t normally drink juice as it is far better to eat your fruit than drink it so it sat in the refrigerator until now! Making the syrup is so easy, I won’t even list it as a recipe. Simply pour the entire content of the bottle into a non-reactive pan and boil it on medium-high for about 30 -40 minutes or until it reduces to about 100 mL. I didn’t want an overly thick syrup (the viscosity is about the same as maple syrup) so you could boil it down even more — but be very careful, after a very short time, it can burn very easily! Allow to cool and pour into a sterilized bottle. Store in a cool, dark location.

It’s a thick, sweet and slightly sour syrup. that is delicious on chunks of Parmesan.

The view of the Alhambra.

Panoramic View of Granada.

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“Unfried” Garbonzo Beans (or chick peas)

This recipe nothing new. You’ve seen it posted a million times on a million blogs (OK, maybe I exaggerate!). And I wasn’t going to post about it, but it turned out SO WELL so I kinda felt like I had to. I’ve made the oven roasted garbanzo beans (chickpeas) before and although they were pretty good, they didn’t have the crispy crunch that I had been lead to believe they would. Sure they were crisp on the exterior but the interior was rather pasty. These beans are crunchy through and through! In fact, if I hadn’t “unfried” them, I would not, could not, have believed that they were not deep fried. Yes, you read that correctly, my dear friend: they are UNFRIED.

Some time back, I cooked for a short testimonial-piece for the T-Fal ActiFry Express XL appliance (not published yet) where I had to cook twelve dishes in advance for an on-location motion shoot with a local celebrity. The great folks at T-fal gave me an ActiFry Express XL for the job. I started cooking at 5am so that food would look fresher than cooking it the night before and left just in the nick of time to get there (far end of town). We got the house at 12:30 and had to be out at 3:30! It was challenging, to say the least, particularly because the kitchen was the commercial set! I had to prep on the floor in the hall, and at one point, in the garage so that I could have access to an electrical outlet! That profession kitchen truck would have come in very handy!

JT and I are not big on fried foods, so this cool appliance is perfect for us and recently I needed a cocktail snack for the cottage and I wanted something healthy with protein and crispy garbanzo beans (chick peas) popped into my head. I thought the beans would be perfect for the ActiFry (see notes). So I purchased two 540 mL (19 oz) cans of low sodium chick peas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and dried them on a clean towel and popped them into the non-stick coated ActiFry. The result was magical, it did not dehydrate the beans (which sometimes makes them a bit leathery), it actually fried them in 1 tbsp oil! They are crunchy through and through! And the next best part? I didn’t have to turn on the oven because it was 30° C (86° F) outside and humid! And cleanup was a cinch (I vacuumed it and wiped it out with a soft cloth).

I know that this recipe will be a repeat for all parties from now on!

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes ~250 g or 2 cups unfried garbanzo beans (chick peas)

Ingredients:

• 540 mL (19 oz) cans of low sodium chick peas
• 1 tbsp dehydrated onion powder (see notes)
• 1 tbsp granulated garlic (see notes)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• dash of sesame oil

Directions:

1. Combine all of the spices and salt and mix well.
2. Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans (chick peas) and lay out on a clean towel to dry for 30 minutes).
3. Add the dried beans to the ActiFry bowl and drizzle in the oils. Set the timer to 45 minutes and close the lid. Start, allow the paddle to rotate a full circle and open the lid and sprinkle about 1/3 of the spice blend onto the beans. Close the lid and allow the paddle to go around twice. Repeat until all of the spice blend is used up. Close the lid and wait for the magic to happen.
4. Test the beans around 35 minutes and then about 5-minute increments. You want a crunch, much like the crunch you get when you eat potato chips. Keep it going until you achieve a great, crunchy bean.
5. Pour the beans out onto a clean cookie sheet (with sides) and allow to cool. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge until needed (it was too humid to store in the pantry).

Notes:

• I keep a container of Kirkland Signatur Chopped Onion and I combine it with Kirkland Signatur Granulated Garlic (not garlic powder) and blitz it in a coffee come spice grinder for this purpose (great on popcorn too!).
• Be creative and come up with your own blend of spices, like garlic, ginger and sea salt.
• I did not have time to use dried beans but feel free to soak, dry and ActiFry dried beans, I’m sure the result would be the same.
• Although the ActiFry paddle moves around at a very slow pace, I find larger things get a bit beat up without the stationery tray but it’s perfect for these beans.

Disclosure:

Eva Taylor/Kitcheninspirations received T-fal ActiFry Express XL from Group SEB, Toronto; this recipe was developed by Eva Taylor for Kitcheninspirations, and the opinions expressed in this post are that of Eva Taylor/Kitcheninspirations.

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Apple Jelly

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But I didn’t get lemons. I got apples. 907 g (2.2 lbs) to be exact!

I made JT an apple pie with two, and then made apply jelly with the remainder. I was at the cottage, so I had limited ingredients but apparently apples have a lot of natural pectin in the skin and core so I wasn’t worried. The trick is to cook the apples with skin, core and seeds until very soft and that coaxes the pectin out. I made a clear apple jelly, or as clear as one can get without using this nifty Mehu-Liisa.

Makes 236 mL (8 ounces)

Ingredients:

• 900 g (2 lb) apples (I used Granny Smith and Gala), wash and cut into small cubes
• 600 mL (20 fluid ounces) water
• 300 g (1.5 cups) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a non-reactive Dutch oven and stir well.
2. On medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then simmer until apples are very soft.
3. Strain through cheese cloth and then through a very fine sieve.
4. Pour into a smaller pot and bring to a boil. Boil for about 20 minutes to at least 104° C (220° F) or when it begins to gel (test frequently on an ice-cold plate).
5. Pour into sterilized mason jars (I used two 118 mL (4 ounce) jars and continue the canning process, or use immediately.

I was surprised at how relatively clear the jelly was.

Notes:

• Save the soft apples (not the core or seeds) and purée until entirely emulsified, push through a fine sieve for a delicious apple sauce. Freeze in a zip lock bag if not using right away. Makes about 125 mL (1/2 cup) applesauce.

Apple Jelly serving is based on 10 mL (2 tsp) serving size.

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Gazpacho Revisited

Recently, my long-time blogger friend Liz, of That Skinny Chick Can Bake posted a delightful Gazpacho recipe which made me immediately crave this summer sensation! Liz’s recipe took her back to her childhood when her dear Mom recreated the recipe on a summer car vacation to Aspen after having it at a favourite restaurant. My recipe isn’t quite as romantic, in fact, it has no history nor does it conjure up childhood memories because cold soup in a Hungarian household is Sour Cherry Soup, a delicious soup made from European Sour Cherries in a lightly sweetened syrup, yogurt and cinnamon — it is delicious but it does not come anywhere near the complex flavours a Gazpacho has. Each vegetable contributes a certain aspect and my proportions are intentional. Some gazpachos are onion heavy so I used a very small French shallot, and I didn’t use garlic this time, I wanted a mellow flavoured soup with depth. Liz chose tomato juice or V-8 which adds a lot of flavour, I went with plain ordinary vine-rippened tomatoes and water — you could use a veg stock instead. I like a smooth soup so I press it through a fine sieve several times, I find the tomato seeds and the red pepper skin adds a little too much texture, and I do blend for several minutes a few times to get as much out of the pulp as possible. I loved Liz’s crouton garnish, because it adds such texture and interest but we’re going light this week and omitted it. Thank you Liz, your inspiration was perfect timing as we’ve been having 35° C (95° F) with high humidity.

To see more chilled soups that I created in the past, please click below:

• Chilled Watermelon Gazpacho Scented with Almond with Basil and Mint,
• Chilled Watermelon Gazpacho with Watermelon Cucumber Salsa
• Gazpacho – Chilled Tomato Soup with Raw Vegetable Salsa
• Chilled Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with Warm Sesame Crusted Goats Cheese Balls
• Green Pea and Basil Soup, chaud ou froid (hot or cold)
• Cold Avocado Soup with Cilantro Oil
• Chilled Caramelized Vidalia Onion Soup with Gruyère Brûlé
• Hungarian Sour Cherry Soup

A full flavoured soup, perfect for hot and muggy summer days.

Gazpacho

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 1.5 L strained soup (about 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 300 g Red Pepper (Capsicum)
• 125 g celery
• 140 g zucchini
• 100 g radish
• 120 g cucumber
• 15 g shallot
• 25 g avocado
• 430 g vine ripened tomatoes
• 500 mL water
• 1 tsp salt
• mint
• basil
• parsley

Corn Salsa

• 40 g sweet corn
• 40 g cucumber, finely cubed
• 40 g celery, finely cubed
• 5 g cilantro, chiffonade
• zest of one fresh lime
• splash of lime juice
• sea salt

Directions:

1. Chop everything roughly and add to a large 4 L bowl. Blend with a stick blender (immersion blender) until smooth.
2. Press through a fine sieve and blend the remaining pulp with about 500 mL of the strained soup, press through a fine sieve again. I usually repeat twice to get the most out of the pulp. Discard pulp (or compost) and refrigerate strained soup for a couple of hours.
3. Combine sweet corn, cucumber, cilantro, lime juice and salt, stir well. Top each bowl with 1 tbsp of the salsa just prior to serving.

Note:

• I used about 2 large mint leaves, 20 basil leaves and 4 parsley sprigs.
• Avocado would be an excellent addition to the salsa garnish.

Based on 4 servings without the garnish.

Based on 4 servings without the garnish.

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Green Pea and Basil Soup, chaud ou froid (hot or cold)

In my line of work, sometimes I acquire excess food from time to time — it’s just stuff that’s left over. The protocol is to offer it first to the client, then the photography staff, art director and lastly the food stylist (me). Recently, we were shooting a video ad for a popular small appliance on location in someone’s home, I had to shop and prepare about 12 recipes in advance and arrive only to do last minute plating and garnishes. It’s not the best situation for food because the food can look wilted and old very quickly, but it had to be done, so I persevered and it was done. It was an extremely professional group and the video team was equally as lovely (everyone came over to hug me after the job was done). Because the location was a private house, we had to vacate very quickly, packing up in warp speed — no time to wash anything, everything was put into bags to be washed at home. The leftover food was repackaged and everyone helped and carry everything to my car. Many of the items (everything on set) was garbage because we didn’t have proper refrigeration (like chicken wings and drumsticks that sat out at room temperature for about 4 hours) but some of the vegetables were entirely usable, including the ingredients in this recipe. The bag of frozen petite pois (small peas) had defrosted but were still very cold so they were fine and the basil was in tip top shape and so this soup was born. Peas and basil are a lovely combination and I urge you to give it a try, it really is so refreshing and moreish plus it is an absolutely gorgeous colour. You can serve this simple soup hot or cold, we had it hot for dinner with a nice dollop of goats cheese melting into the soup. Bon Appetite!

Green Pea and Basil Soup, chaud ou froid

Makes about 1 L of soup

Ingredients:

• 750 g bag frozen petite pois (sweet peas), defrosted
• 500 mL vegetable stock (preferably homemade like this easy, economical recipe)
• 10-20 large basil leaves, to taste
• 4 basil leaves, chiffonade
• Sea salt, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large glass container, combine the petite pois and vegetable stock with 10-20 basil leaves. Blend with an immersion blender until very smooth, taste and season accordingly.
2. Press this liquid through a fine sieve (the pea skins are not a great texture in this soup). Serve hot or cold with a chiffonade of basil or a dollop of goats cheese.

This simple yet versatile soup may be served hot or cold. Think about garnishing it with a caramelized scallop!

Notes:

• This is a light soup, if you would like it to have more body, consider blending an avocado into it, starting with half and blend until smooth and taste for richness, blend in the second half if necessary.
• If you are not fond of basil, try mint, it also pairs beautifully with sweet peas.
• The beauty of this soup is its simplicity, no cooking, few ingredients.

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Homemade Sriracha Sauce

Recently, I was given a small basket of a variety of chili peppers. I don’t know about you, but these days I don’t like to tempt fate with overly hot things so incorporating them into a dish was out of the question. In the bunch were scotch bonnets, serranos, poblanos, jalopeños and Thai chilies so it was a basket of epic heat! Since I’ve already made Sweet Chili Sauce with Dried Apricots and Hot Sauce I decided to make a version of the very popular Sriracha Sauce because it is a staple in my pantry.

I love hot sauce, but sadly my innards, not so much so I wanted to  tame the heat without compromising flavour. The solution was grilling the peppers to a blistery/blackened stage, peeling and cleaning the seeds and veins out to temper the heat, the smoke flavour was a bonus! This recipe is roughly based on the link below.

Hot sauce.

Makes roughly 225 mL sauce.

Adapted from Leite’s Culinaria

Ingredients:

• 400 g variety of hot peppers
• 10 g garlic, minced
• 25 g granulated sugar
• 5 g sea salt
• 125 mL white vinegar or to taste

Directions:

1. Grill the hot peppers until their skin is blistered and black. Set hot chili peppers into a glass bowl and top with a plate to further steam the peppers (this makes peeling much easier, but if you have issues, just microwave them on high for 10-20 seconds). Peel, remove seeds and veins (the sauce will be hot enough even with this step) using gloves to protect your fingers (these are extremely hot peppers).
2. Combine all ingredients except the white vinegar in a food processor and pulse until you have a paste. Scrape into a glass jar and tightly seal. Allow to sit on the kitchen counter (bench) for 1 week, stirring once daily. The mixture will ferment so if you see bubbling action, it is par for the course.
3. After one week, transfer the chili mixture to a saucepan over medium heat and add the vinegar and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer 5 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool slightly and then purée it again using an immersion blender. Push through a fine sieve, taste and season with sugar, salt and vinegar as desired.
4. Store in the refrigerator in a glass jar with a tight lid. The original recipe indicates that this sauce is good for six months.

Perfect timing because I’m going to need a small bottle for the cottage!

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Chocolate Cherry Brownies

As I was recently cleaning out my freezer, I discovered I had some cherry pie filling likely left over from a shoot or test because frankly, I would not buy the stuff myself! Being one who does not like to discard food I came up with this chocolate cherry brownie recipe. It’s moist, very chocolatey and surprises you with the odd cherry. I cut them into 2.5 cm (1 inch) cubes so you could have more of them, but you may cut them into the larger, traditional brownie shapes and have fewer or more, who am I to judge.

Chocolate Cherry Brownies

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 1 pan 23 cm X 23 cm (9″ x 9″) about 2.5 cm (1″) thick.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 45 g semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup cherry pie filling
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F.
2. Sift flour, icing sugar, cocoa powder and baking powder.
3. Combine the brown sugar and chocolate chips and slowly melt the chocolate, add vanilla and mix well.
4. Beat in the egg whites (if the liquid is still hot, temper them so you don’t get scrambled eggs!)
5. Add dry ingredients and stir well.
6. Pour into a prepared 23 cm X 23 cm (9″ x 9″) pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30-35 minutes until firm and tester comes out clean.

Per single 2.5 cm cube brownie.

OK, I lied. Full disclosure: I really came up with this recipe so that I could use my adorable, new petite sweet stand (using up the cherry pie filling was just a bonus!). Isn’t it gorgeous? Cue JT’s famous Eye Roll.

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Healthy Hungarian Green Bean Stew (Egészséges Zöldbab Főzelék)

Green bean stew (Zöldbab Főzelék) is one of those Hungarian dishes that is an aquired taste, it has a bit of a sour flavour and is usually rather heavy on the dill. I never liked it as a kid, but it is a Hungarian staple particularly as spring approaches. Recently, I found myself with a relatively large package of the lovely, extra-thin green beans and I wondered how I could make this roux-based dish a little healthier. I omitted the lard (I know, it’s flavour but we’re also trying to lose a few so we’re being good!) and I remade the roux with puréed lentils! Not so traditional, but it was rather tasty. With JT giving it a solid thumbs up, I’ll definitely be making this dish again!

Healthy Hungarian Green Bean Stew (Egészséges Zöldbab Főzelék)

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 300 g Green Beans, trimmed and cut i bite-size pieces
• 90 g leeks, roughly chopped
• 20 g garlic, roughly chopped
• 30 g red lentils
• 1 tsp Hungarian Paprika
• Vegetable Stock
• 1 tsp EVOO
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 2-3 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped.

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven, sauté green beans until soft but still has a bit of a crunch adding a tablespoon of the vegetable stock as needed. Set aside.
2. In the same pan, add leeks, garlic and lentils and sauté adding a bit of vegetable stock until lentils are soft, add the paprika near the end. Purée the lentil sauce until smooth add  vegetable stock until desired consistency is achieved (should be thick like a roux). Add the yogurt and purée again until smooth. Return the beans to the lentil sauce and add the chopped dill (to taste), heat through and serve immediately.

Notes:

• For an authentic Hungarian Green Bean Stew, please visit my friend Zsuzsa for her recipe.
• I wanted a fat-free and gluten-free roux and that is why I chose red lentils to thicken the sauce.
• This is a slightly sour dish from the yogurt, if you don’t like that type of flavour, omit it.
• I served a baked tilapia on the stew, the tilapia is just seasoned with salt and pepper.

This was the first time I made this stew and JT LOVED it!

 

The healthy version based on 2 servings per recipe.

This is the original Hungarian Recipe which uses lard, sour cream and flour.

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Chicken á la King Soup

During my childhood, we ate mostly Canadian-ized Hungarian food. And by Canadian-ized, I mean that Mom used yogurt instead of tejföl (sour cream), oil instead of lard etc. Every weekend we would have a roast of beef or pork (but mainly beef) and in the summer, Dad would BBQ steak and thick juicy bacon (szalonna). On weekdays Mom had her repertoire of chicken and fish dishes and I do recall the odd (when Dad wasn’t home for dinner) meatloaf, with the obligatory hard-boiled egg inside and various Hungarian stews like Lecsó and tok fózelék (a similar dish to creamed spinach but it’s on the sour side).

Around the timeI turned 14, I became interested in cooking recipes that I chose myself and my dear Mom encouraged me. One of my favourite resources very early on was the Milk Calendar, put out in full colour print for free by the Dairy Farmers of Canada. Every December, I eagerly awaited the Milk Calendar tucked away in the weekend edition of the Toronto Star. One of the first dishes I ever made on my own was Chicken á la King with leftover chicken (back in the day when a roast chicken fed a family of four AND had enough leftovers for another meal!)

I have to admit, I am unsure if the following inspiration came from the Milk Calendar (I’m leaning toward this) or my beloved Five Roses Cookbook (recipe page 233). What I can tell you with most certainty is that as I was making this soup, I instantly recognized the aroma and flavour of our beloved childhood Chicken á la King. The ingredients are quite unexpected and it’s pretty healthy to boot. If you love the flavours of a creamy Chicken á la King, you will LOVE this recipe.

When did you first begin cooking on your own and did you have a favourite recipe book that you used until it fell apart?

Chicken á la King Soup

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes  3 or 4 servings 700-800 mL (3 1/2-4 cups),

Ingredients:

• 180 g red lentils, rinsed and picked through
• water to cover
• 2 tsp vegetable oil, divided
• 1/4 cooking onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 celery stalk, cubed
• 1 carrot, cubed
• 2 radishes, cubed
• 2 tbsp frozen peas (optional garnish)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 100 g chicken breast, skinless and boneless, cut into smallish strips
• chicken stock
• sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium, heavy bottomed pot, add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and sauté the celery, carrot, and radish until soft. Add the chicken and cook through. Set aside in another bowl.
2. In the same saucepan, add the remainding 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Add the lentils, stir and cover with water. Cook until lentils are very soft. Remove from heat and blitz with an immersion blender until very smooth, adding chicken stock until desired thickness is achieved (I left mine relative thick so it’s more stew-like). Add the apple cider vinegar and blitz until well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Return the puréed lentils to the heat and slowly reheat, add the cooked vegetables and chicken and stir well. Serve pipping hot.

Healthy Chicken á la King Soup

 

Traditional Chicken á la King

 

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Tilapia Crusted with Arugula Paste

Last week we posted the Arugula Paste (or Arugula Pesto for those of us less traditional) and you might have guessed that I would do something tasty with it. The paste ended up on a tilapia fillet with some sautéed vegetables on a bed of spinach. The dish got rave reviews even if the lighting sucks.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 60 g button mushrooms, cut in half
• 60 g radishes, cut into triangles
• 50 g yellow pepper, cut into cubes
• 50 g red pepper, cut into cubes
• 70 g eggplant, cut into cubes
• 70 g onion, chopped
• 60 g celery, cut into cubes
• 200 g tilapia fillet
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup arugula paste

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F (176° C). Place fish in the centre of a heart-shaped sheet of parchment paper. Spread about half of the arugula paste on top and close and fold the parchment en papillote style (please see note below).
2. In the meantime, add 1 tsp vegetable oil to a sautée pan and sautée all of the vegetables until just crunchy. Toss with the remaining arugula paste.
3. When fish has reached an internal temperature of 158° F (70° C)
4. Serve hot on a bed of baby spinach topped with the fish and the sautéed vegetables.

A delicious topping on a firm white fish.

I created this easy to follow video on how to fold en papillote. Please let me know what you think.

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Arugula Paste

So far, winter hasn’t been horrible (dare I say it out loud?). In the last week, we’ve only had a couple of super cold days (-23° C or -9.4° F) but we’ve only had one snow storm and although it was super wet, it wasn’t that bad (shovelling was awful!). The one thing I will complain about is the lack of sunshine November and December was…gloomy, gloomy, gloomy! Although January’s start has been chilly, it has been sunny! So if I have to give up warmth for sun, so be it.

Have you made a New Year’s Resolution? JT and I decided that we need to get back on track and eat more vegetables and limit eating out (oh dear, we do eat out a lot). So, I have determined that the next month or so I will dedicate the blog to super healthy, clean eating, roughly based on a ketogenic diet. I say roughly because I’m going to allow myself one day per week to ‘cheat’ (TBD)! I will comb through your lovely blog pages and get my inspiration there.

We’ve also decided to eat our main meal at noon instead our norm of 6 or 7 in the evening. We’re hoping that these changes will result in some shedding!

This condiment came about as I stared blankly in the refrigerator…so many vegetables but no inspiration! The bag of baby arugula called out to me…pesto, it whispered. Now I know many of you are pesto traditionalists and only basil, garlic, EVOO, pinenuts and parmesan will do…but what if you wish to limit calories? Yes, there is the argument that you should only use a little, but I wanted to start the week off right so I created this unique paste that resembles pesto (notice I didn’t call it pesto?). I received a solid thumbs up from JT, it has texture, a slight kick and it’s bright and beautiful green. A little sunshine on these gloomy winter days.

The raw cauliflower gives makes a good substitute for the nuts, providing the slight crunch needed.

Makes a 125 mL (1/2 cup) sauce

A Kitchen Inspirations Original Recipe.

Ingredients:

• 60 g raw cauliflower (either stems or florets or both)
• 60 g baby arugula
• 1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp vegetable stock (home made)
• sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Add the raw cauliflower to a small processor bowl, process until it becomes a fine meal.
2. Add the arugula (may need to be added in smaller portions), garlic, vinegar and stock and process until a desired consistency is achieved (I wanted it relatively fine).
3. Season with sea salt and process until totally combined.
4. See serving suggestions in notes.

Notes:

• Serving suggestions: pasta, sautéed vegetables, zucchini noodles, drizzled on tomatoes, meat or fish.
• Add a spoonful or two into a simple oil and vinegar salad dressing or greek yogurt for a dip.

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Barbeque Sauce

The Hungarians have arrived and the “to do” list is finally complete! Just in the nick of time too. We decided to start their visit off with a little welcome party but we all know it’s just my excuse to cook and feed my kin!!! I was fortunate enough to score a sizeable number of vine ripened tomatoes so I decided to make barbeque sauce because JT made a special request for Pulled Pork. The sauce turned out perfectly, sweet, piquant and zesty — cooking it with the pork tenderloin for 5 hours made the flavours all the more richer and balanced the vinegar very nicely. Like any low and slow cooked meal, I made the pulled pork a day in advance because we all know it tastes better the next day!

I’ve geared up a couple of posts for the following weeks, but I may be AWOL depending on how busy things get, so if I miss to comment on your blog or I don’t post, I apologize in advance. Thanks for understanding.

Makes 1.25 L (42 oz)

Ingredients:

• 200 g onions, coarsely chopped
• 50 g garlic, finely chopped
• 125 mL white vinegar
• 1.2 kg tomatoes, chopped
• 30 mL tomato paste
• 125 mL molasses
• 50 g sundried tomatoes (not in oil)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp of each sweet paprika, cumin, coriander and cocoa powder

Directions:

1. In a splash of canola oil, sauté onions and garlic until translucent, add dry spices and stir until fragrant.
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Simmer for one hour or until dark and thickened.
3. Purée until smooth and press through a fine sieve.
4. May be kept in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or freeze for 3 months.

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