Name: Frozen Vanilla Mango Yogurt with Lime
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: 8-10
Ingredients: One 600 g bag of frozen mangoes; One 650 mL tub of Vanilla Yogurt; juice from 1/2 lime

Preserves

Frozen Mango Yogurt with Lime

This Frozen Vanilla Mango Yogurt with Lime is about the quickest sweet treat you will ever make. It’s so quick it’s almost instant. But I like to put it in the freezer for about an hour or so to firm up.

My sister reminded me recently of how we used to buy an ice cream cone in the middle of winter. We would eat it while we walked home from the local mall amidst swirling snowflakes. We would still be eating it when we got home which would give our Mom the shivers.

Frozen yogurt isn’t usually the first thing people think of for a sweet treat in the middle of the winter. Especially when it’s – 30 ° out. But, I don’t really mind the cold so much. I stay nice and warm bundled up in all my favourite winter gear.

What I miss the most during the long winter months is colour. I miss the green grass and leaves on trees, colourful flowers and even the colourful clothes that everyone wears. So, that’s what appeals to me with this Frozen Vanilla Mango Yogurt with Lime. I love the tropical mango, the fresh burst of lime and the coolness of the frozen yogurt. The colours of this frozen yogurt are eye-popping, yet soothing.

You can make this frozen yogurt in a snap. All you need is a tub of your favourite vanilla yogurt and a bag of frozen mangoes. Puree these ingredients in your food processor or blender until all the mangoes chunks are blended into the yogurt.

You can eat this frozen yogurt right away, as a kind of soft serve ice cream. But I like it more firm, so I pop it in the freezer for about 1-2 hours. I serve up a couple of spoonfuls in a fancy bowl or parfait glass and saveur every spoonful!

Bon appetit!

Bon Appetite!

Print Recipe

Frozen Vanilla Mango Yogurt with Lime

Serves: 8-10

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

One 600 g bag of frozen mangoes
One 650 mL tub of Vanilla Yogurt
juice from 1/2 lime

Instructions

Pour yogurt into food processor or blender.

Add frozen mangoes.

Blend until all frozen mango is blended thoroughly with the yogurt.

Add lime juice, and pulse for 30-60 seconds.

Transfer to a shallow rectangular plastic container.

Cover with saran wrap.

Place in freezer until firm (about 1-2 hours, depending on your freezer).

You can transfer the finished product to a more suitable container.

It will keep sealed in the freezer for approximately one month.

11:37 am

Baking

On-the-Go Carrot, Apricot, Walnut Muffins

This is such a super busy, stressful time of year for most people. The festivities in November and December are overwhelming: Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas all come within weeks of each other. And each of those festivities are accompanied by cooking, baking, shopping, office parties, school concerts, music concerts etc.

To help get through it all without getting sick, or super stressed, it’s super important to take care of yourself during these hectic months. Eat healthy, stick to a regular bedtime schedule and try and get some exercise, even if it’s a 30 minute walk in the sunshine during your lunch.

Whenever I go out to do errands, I always try to take a hot mug of tea, or a bottle of water and a small snack. These On the-Go Carrot, Apricot, Walnut Muffins are perfect for that. Besides carrots, apricots and walnuts, they also contain coconut and applesauce. When I bring my own snack, I am less tempted to buy a high calorie snack and sugar laden coffee at the corner coffee shop. This saves me a ton of money and I know I’m eating something healthy.

These muffins freeze really well. When you’re heading out, you can just pop a muffin in a container to take away with your favourite on-the-go drink. It will thaw out and be ready to eat within 30-40 minutes. Packing a snack is a good habit to get into even if you’re just going out for a couple of hours.

I hope you enjoy them! And Happy December!

I really liked these stress relieving tips. My favourites from this list were walking, enjoying the sunshine and laughter.

If you find any of the tips helpful, please share!

Print Recipe

On-the-Go Carrot, Apricot, Walnut Muffins

Serves: 16

Cooking Time: 20

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 eggs
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped apricots
1/4 cup coconut

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Fill muffin tray with paper cup liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, applesauce and eggs.

In a third bowl, mix together the carrots, walnuts, apricots and coconut.

Add the carrot mixture to the dry ingredients.

Add in the oil/applesauce and egg mixture.

Stir briefly until everything is combined.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. You should be able to fill about 16 cups.

Place muffin tray in oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Muffins should rise nicely and be golden brown when done.

1:00 am

Baking

Festive Mocha, Almond, Brandy Strazzate

Christmas Cookie baking has begun! I started my baking season with these Vegan Mocha, Almond, Brandy Strazzate. This cookie is normally made with Strega, a herbal liqueur from the Basilicata Region of Italy, which supposedly goes really well with chocolate. That liqueur is difficult to find where I live, so I used brandy, which I always have on hand this time of year., and which also works well with the mocha, almond flavours in this cookie. This is a super delicious cookie, made without eggs or butter.

I woke up the other morning to this snowy site and decided it was the perfect day to begin my Christmas Baking.

It’s never too early to start baking Christmas cookies or playing around with Christmas lights: two of my favourite winter activities.

These Mocha Almond Brandy Strazzate cookies come together very quickly. And the taste is divine. A cookie dough made with cocoa powder and chocolate chips so you get chocolate goodness in every bite. The dough also contains ground almonds + chopped almonds – double goodness again! And the espresso coffee blends with the chocolate to create than umami mocha flavour that is so powerful.

Like I mentioned above, this cookie is traditionally made in the Basilicata Region of Italy where Strega is made. I think any liqueur/liquor that goes with mocha and almonds would work. If you don’t drink alcohol, try a strong spiced herbal tea or chai. Those would work too.

You can eat them plain, or sprinkled with some icing sugar. So tasty. Make a splash with your Christmas Baking this year. Try something new.

Print Recipe

Mocha, Almond, Brandy Strazzate

Serves: 16

Cooking Time: 30

Ingredients

1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp finely ground almonds
1 tbsp roughly chopped almonds
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp white flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tbsp chocolate chips
1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup brandy
2 tsp espresso powder, dissolved in 1/4 c. boiling water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix together the ground almonds, chopped almonds, flour, brown sugar, chocolate chips and cocoa powder and olive oil.

Dissolve the baking powder in 2 teaspoons of hot water.

Add baking powder solution, coffee, and liqueur.

Give it all a good brisk stir. The dough will be very wet.

Form into 30 gram balls (or 1 ounce).

Place on parchment paper about 1 inch apart.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes, until dried out and set. The bottom will be slightly golden.

After 30 minutes, remove from oven.

Let dry on baking tray for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from baking tray to cool on a rack.

Enjoy!

Notes

These cookies will keep in a coo, dry place or 3-5 days. Or you can freeze them for up to one month.

Recipe slightly adapted from Saveur Magazine February 4, 2013.

1:00 am

Cooking

Easy Chicken Thighs in Peanut Sauce and Cookbook Review

The Ultimate One-Pan Oven Cookbook – Book Review

I recently had Julia Konovalova’s cookbook, The Ultimate One-Pan Oven, sent to me to review from Food Bloggers of Canada. I prepared one dish from the book for my review: Easy Chicken Thighs in Peanut Sauce with Green Beans. It was soooo good. I’ve tried a lot of homemade peanut sauces over the years, with most recipes being duds, but this one was tasty and full of flavour. If you’re interested in family-friendly, easy and delicious recipes, read on.

The Ultimate One-Pan Oven Cookbook was written by blogger Julia Konovalova, creator of Imagelicious. I have to admit, this is my first cookbook review. I have been reading cookbooks since I was a little girl, and somehow thought this would be a fun and easy activity. Well, of course, browsing through any cookbook is fun, but reviewing one is not as easy as I thought.

I realized as I was going through this book, that there is a lot more to a good cookbook than just the recipes. Everything about the book has to make you want to use it: the photos, the names of the recipes, the layout of the book, the style of writing, the categories of recipes and of course, the recipe instructions.

I will break my review down into the categories mentioned above.

The Photos

Every recipe in this book is complimented with an eye-popping, mouth-watering photograph. I love that the photographs are light and bright and really expose the natural look of each dish and are not over edited. The dishes look just the way they would on your kitchen table at suppertime. And that’s nice.

Recipe Names

While browsing through the cookbook, I was drooling over the food adjective-heavy names. She includes recipes such as Cocoa-Rubbed Pork Back Ribs with Chocolate BBQ Sauce, or Roasted Berries with Orange Mascarpone. The names, ingredients, accoutrements – so simple, so delicous-sounding.

Layout

I really like the layout of this book. The book starts out with a short two-page intro of how Julia got interested in cooking, as well as what she likes and doesn’t like. This helps the reader decide quite early on if they’re on the same page as the author. Julia doesn’t like stress in the kitchen. She likes healthy family-friendly recipes with minimal effort and washing up. Also, the abundance of photos really entices the reader to use the book.

Writing Style

Julia’s experience as a food blogger is evident in the personal anecdotes she includes at the beginning of every recipe. She always has a nice paragraph at the beginning of every recipe explaining what she loves about a particular ingredient in the recipe on the page. Her comments and dialogue are very insightful and help us get to know her and learn what is important to her: her family, fresh produce and a no-muss no-fuss style of cooking. This book is so perfect for people that love home cooked meals, but don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen preparing and cooking dinner.

Categories

I love the categories in this book. Because this book is primarily savoury dishes, with ten sweet dishes at the end, all baked in a pan in the oven, it could be challenging to divide the recipes into interesting and different groups. But her categories are brilliant: Oven-Made Breakfasts, Complete One-Pan Oven Meals; Hands-Off Main Dishes, Simple Soups, Salads and Sandwiches, Easy Sides, One Pan, Many Nibbles and ending with Delicious and Unique Desserts.

Recipe Instructions

The instructions are clear and precise. I like how she uses metric and imperial measurements, as we Canadians still use a mix of both.

She also has many helpful Notes at the bottom of the recipe.

If you’re looking for a cookbook as a gift this Christmas, definitely have a browse through this book. It is full of imagination, creativity and some very delicious meals anyone would be happy to prepare for suppertime.

Here’s a link to her cookbook on Amazon.ca The Ultimate One-Pan Oven Cookbook by Julia Konovalova.

Print Recipe

Easy Chicken Thighs in Peanut Sauce with Green Beans

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 30

Ingredients

2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, divided
1/4 cup 45g smooth peanut butter
2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
4 tbsp (60 ml) orange juice
2 tbsp (30 ml) Sriracha (I used Sambal Olek)
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
3/4 lb (340 g) green beans
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (218 C). While the oven is preheating, mix 1 tbsp (15 ml) of the olive oil with the peanut butter, lemon juice, orange juice, soy sauce, and Sriracha in a bowl. (Julia mentions that she likes to use a small glass jug for this. She recommends heating the sauce ingredients, as it's much easier to mix when the peanut butter is warm).

Place the chicken thighs in the middle of a 11 X 17 inch or 28 X 43 cm nonstick baking pan. You need room for all the ingredients to spread out. Make sure that the chicken thighs are fully flattened. Pour half the sauce over the thighs, then flip and pour the rest of the sauce, making sure that it fully covers the chicken. Alternately, you could mix the thighs in a bowl with the sauce. However, that would add one extra dish to your washing up.

Spread the green beans around the chicken thighs in one layer. Pour the remaining 1 tbsp (30 ml) of olive oil over the green beans, season with salt and pepper to taste and lightly mix with your hands or tongs to cover them with oil and seasoning.

Roast for 30 minutes, or until the chicken thighs are cooked to 165 degrees F (74 C) and the sauce is thickened.

Serve with rice, if desired, or double the amount of green beans and cook on a separate pan.

10:57 am

Cooking

Awesome Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables

I love turkey dinners. But it seems that major holidays are the only times that I think of serving it for dinner. And yet there are plenty of ways to cook turkey without having to roast a whole bird. This recipe for my Awesome Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables is easy and nutritious. Plus, as it bakes in the oven you can sit back and relax and let the oven do all the work for you!

I really like using ground turkey (ground chicken would also work if you can’t find turkey). Turkey is very versatile and has a delicate flavour so it will compliment many other flavours.

This turkey meatball dinner is an easy healthy one-pan dish that you will want to make again and again.

All of the ingredients are cooked all together in one pan: potatoes, autumn vegetables and turkey meatballs. I love dishes like this. While everything is baking in the oven, I can set the table and get drinks ready or sit for 30 minutes and read another chapter in one of my on-going reads.

The vegetables caramelize slightly in the pan while the turkey meatballs bake to a nice golden brown. Halfway through baking, pour over a tin of cherry tomatoes to create a scrumptious thick tomato sauce.

This dish is also tasty without the tinned cherry tomatoes…just turkey, veg and potatoes!

With or without the tinned tomatoes, this one-pan dish comes together in a flash and is just SOOOO yummy!

Serve this dish up with a glass of your favourite wine, some baguette and jazz music in the background.

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Totally Awesome Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

450 g ground turkey
75 g dry breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1 eggplant, cubed
3 medium zucchini, sliced thickly on diagonal
3 plum tomatoes, cubed
1 onion, chopped roughly
2 garlic cloves, sliced
4 medium potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
olive oil
1 14 ounce can of cherry tomatoes (optional, but we preferred this dish with the extra tomatoes)

Instructions

Oil two 9 X 13 inch trays.

Mix together meatball ingredients. Form into 12-16 meatballs.

Place meatballs on trays.

Place prepared vegetables around meatballs.

Drizzle everything with olive oil (about 2 Tbsp)

Season with salt and pepper.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes. If you want, pour one 14 ounce can of cherry tomatoes over all of the vegetables and meatballs.

Continue to cook for another 20 minutes. Meatballs and vegetables will be golden brown.

1:00 am

Baking

Dairy-Free Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Bread

Who’s up for Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Bread! This bread has everything: subtle spicy sweetness rolled inside a delicious pumpkin enhanced bread with a really good crumb. It is delicious on it’s own or toasted and spread with cinnamon butter.

I always make pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and then wonder why I don’t cook with pumpkin more often. Pumpkin is fantastic in so many baked goods. It has a beautiful colour and texture. And it is the perfect vehicle for all those delicious baking spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

This Dairy-Free Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Bread is made with coconut milk, so it’s a dairy-free dessert. Whether you eat dairy products or not, you will not miss them in this sumptious loaf.

This bread has two rises in it, so it’ll take a few hours before it comes out of the oven. But a lot of that time is inactive, just waiting for those busy yeast cells to multiply and plump our dough up. So, while the bread is doing both of it’s rises, you could do some other fun stuff like read a chapter in a book, do some gardening, or go for a nice long walk. However you spend your day, you will definitely have a feeling of satisfaction when this lovely Dairy-Free Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Bread comes out of the oven.

Not only do I love the taste of pumpkin, I just love the look of them: big, orange globes that come in so many shapes and sizes. Pumpkins are super fun to grow. As they grow on a meandering low-trailing vine, you don’t necessarily need a separate, huge garden to grow them. They can wind their way through your flower garden, too. We grew some a few years ago, in a small veggie garden we created in our backyard. It was super fun. Our kids really enjoyed watching the pumpkins grow throughout the summer. Our pumpkins didn’t get super big, but by the end of October we had six pumpkins that we drew faces on for Hallowe’en. How fun is that!!!!

This loaf is perfect as it is, but if you wanted extra sweetness, you could add a drizzle of icing over the top of the loaf.

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Bread

Serves: 12-16

Cooking Time: 40-60 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2/3 cup coconut milk
1 egg
3/4 cup pureed pumpkin
1 tablespoon oil
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat spelt flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
Cinnamon Filling
water
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger

Instructions

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

After the yeast is frothy, add the milk, egg, pumpkin, oil, 2 cups of flour, brown sugar, salt, and spices to the yeast mixture.

Stir by hand or use an electric mixer and mix for about one minute.

Using a dough hook, add remaining flour in small increments. The end result should be a dough that is just slightly sticky.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

After the dough has doubled in size, roll into a 9" X 18" rectangle.

Rub the water over your hands and then over the surface of the dough.

Sprinkle the spice and sugar mixture over top of the dough, covering the entire surface.

Beginning at the short side, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Pinch the seams to close. You may have to use some water to seal the seams closed.

Place the dough, seam side down, in a buttered bread pan.

Cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Place in a warm area and let rise until almost doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for about 45 minutes until golden brown on top.

Let cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Then remove from pan and let cool.

Recipe is adapted from Karma Per Diem’s Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Yeast Bread

4:24 pm

Journal

Ottawa Farmer’s Markets in and around our Capital City

When I was little, my parents took my sister and I to the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto. I stood amidst bushels of acorn squashes, orange pumpkins with dirt on their bottoms and ripe, fragrant corn on the cob. My dad bent down to me and said, “Would you like to try a russet apple. They’re really good. They’re my favourite.” I looked at the apple in his big warm hands. I had never seen an apple with bumpy golden chartreuse skin. I took a bite. It was crispy with an earthy sweetness. It was the most delicious apple I had ever tasted.

I have been visiting Farmer’s Markets since I was a little girl. With every house move I have made, starting in Toronto and moving east and then west across Canada, one of the first addresses I would google would be the local Farmer’s Market.

I even go to Farmer’s Markets when I’m on vacation: Montreal, Quebec City, Isle de la Magdalene, London, England, Vienna, Austria – big or small, I just love meeting the local bread bakers, jam makers, knitters, potters and wood workers.

There are so many great things about Ottawa: skating on the Rideau Canal, Winterlude, close proximity to Gatineau Park and other great things. But I especially love Ottawa for it’s many wonderful Farmer’s Markets. And there are a lot.

Following are some photos from some of my favourite Ottawa Farmer’s Markets. At the bottom I also have addresses of a few more markets.

Lansdowne Farmer’s Market

Lansdowne Farmer’s Market is the only year-round producer-only market in Ottawa. From May 1st until the end of October, the vendor’s booths are outside in Lansdowne Park. From November 1st until the spring the market continues indoors.

Some of my favourite products are homemade breads, local honey, fresh local fruit and vegetables and British savoury pies. There are also some great stalls selling alpaca wool items, wood cutting boards as well as pottery.

At the end of September they still had amazing produce on offer.

Baskets and baskets of delicious, fragrant German Plums. Great for making jam, tarts or just eating by the handful.

These Bosc Pears are just too good to pass up. Soft and sweet, they are fantastic for baking or just eating on their own for lunch, snack or a delicious healthy after-dinner dessert.

Can you believe this? Strawberries and raspberries still available locally at the end of September. Unbelievable. Eat them as is, or use for jam making or any other amazing fruit dessert you can think of. You can’t go wrong with fresh, local raspberries or strawberries.

Gourds and pumpkins are just so cool to look at. I love to have them on my porch, or a few small ones inside to give off that authentic autumn ambience. The stranger the better.

My favourite succulent booth is at the Lansdowne market. Kiwi Gardens sells the most gorgeous plants and containers that I have ever seen.

Carp Farmer’s Market

I love all Farmer’s Markets. But, Carp Farmer’s Market is my favourite market in the Ottawa area. It’s out in the country and has some amazing vendors, including some ready prepared food carts such as Tibetan Momos, Indian Curries, Stella Luna Gelato, local Coffee, Thai Food and a few more.

I love the bright colours of golden and purple beets.

This gentleman has some amazing plants. Plus he sells elderberries in the summer!

I love homemade lemonade on a hot summer day!

I love beans in every colour!

Hot sauces! So many flavours!

Braided garlic is a quintessential item at any Farmer’s Market.

Additional Information on Ottawa’s Farmer’s Markets

Lansdowne Farmer’s Market

Byron Park – Westboro

Orleans Market – Ray Friel Center

Byward Market

Parkdale Farmer’s Market

Cumberland Farmer’s Market

Carp Farmer’s Market

10:50 pm

Preserves

Autumn Orange Port Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Thanksgiving is almost here! Yay! Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite family dinners. I like it because it’s just about getting together with family and friends and enjoying all the great seasonal fruits and vegetables. No gifts, no cards, nothing commercial involved at all. We usually go for a nice long walk in the woods in the afternoon, followed by a lovely dinner of turkey, stuffing, brussel sprouts all served with my Autumn Orange Port Cranberry Sauce.

For me, cranberries are ubiquitous with fall. These ruby red berries, while incredibly tart on their own, absorb sweetness and flavour like no other fruit. In this Autumn Orange Port Cranberry Sauce I have added port, orange and lemon zest and juice as well as ginger. It is sweet, tangy and smooth all in one spoonful.

Cranberry sauce is fun to make because it pairs well with so many flavours. Many sweeteners work really well with cranberries such as maple syrup, honey, brown sugar or even white sugar. You could also use a combination of any of those. Add to that another layer of flavor with orange, lemon or baking spices such as allspice, nutmeg or ginger and you’ve got a sauce with flavours that just pop! I also love to add port to my cranberry sauce to balance the flavours.

Here are a few fun facts about cranberries.

Cranberries grow in Ontario. These berries grow on dry land on low trailing perennial vines in bogs. The bogs are flooded in the fall just before harvest. In October a harvester is driven through the bog and knocks, or combs the berries off the vines which then float to top. Farmers wade in to coral the berries to an elevator which sucks them up into a truck. I think that is pretty cool!

I love cranberries! And if you do too, here is a great place to visit to learn more and possibility get the best photo op ever!

Print Recipe

Autumn

Ingredients

1 pack cranberries, rinsed and picked over
2 cups cups sugar
1/2 cup port
1 orange (grated and juiced)
1/2 lemon (grated and juiced)
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp cup lemon juice
1 tsp fresh ginger grated

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a medium sized pot.

Bring to a boil.

Simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

Serve hot, or room temperature.

Makes about 3 cups.

1:00 am

Cooking

Quick and Spicy Chicken Wings Recipe

Chicken Wings are one of the easiest and quickest meals anyone can make. You can buy chicken wings all year round from your local supermarket, which is great. Also, they’re inexpensive and quick to prepare and cook: no chopping, marinating or deboning. And they’re finger foods. Who doesn’t love that!

Normally I bake them slathered in barbeque sauce, but I wanted to try and get crispier chicken wings. This Quick and Spicy Chicken Wings recipe works a charm.

My Quick and Spicy Chicken Wings are super quick to prepare. They are seasoned with a balanced combination of spices and herbs including chili powder, chipotle chili pepper, oregano and a few others. The cayenne pepper is adjustable. I used 1/2 a teaspoon, but if you are making these for wee ones, just leave it out. It’s not super hot, just a nice warm flavour, but too much heat for small ones.

This recipe makes about 1/4 cup of spice mixture. You could also multiply the recipe by 3 or 4 and keep it in a jar and just measure out 1/4 cup every time you make wings. You could also sprinkle a bit of this spicy mixture on chicken breasts to use in wraps or fajitas.

For a fantastic finger food dinner, serve these up with some veggies, pita bread and hummous or one of your favourite dips. Then you could eat the whole dinner with your fingers! Less dishes, more time for fun!

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Quick'nSpicy Chicken Wings

Serves: 3-4

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

2 lbs of chicken wings (rinsed and patted dry)
1 T chili powder
2 tsp chipotle chili pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 T dark brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Mix spices together.

In a large bowl, sprinkle spices over chicken wings.

Coat the wings with the spice mixture with your hands.

Place the seasoned chicken wings on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 45 minutes, turning once after about 20 minutes.

Bake until a deep golden colour.

Serve hot or room temperature.

Notes

Chicken wings give off a bit of oil when cooking. When you're turning them over, just place them on a clean portion of the parchment paper.

1:00 am

Baking

Apricot Cherry Oat Bara Brith Loaf Recipe

Bara Brith is a lovely Welsh snacking cake. It is quick to prepare but very hearty. The name Bara Brith means speckled bread in Welsh. It is a delicately sweet loaf loaded with dried fruits that have been soaked overnight in strong tea. In my recipes, I have added a bit of rum to the black tea to smooth out the bitter black tea tannin flavours. The rum is optional, so you don’t have to add it in, but I find that it really brings together the tea and dried fruit flavours very well. But, by all means, leave out the rum, if you must. It is completely optional.

I have added in loads of extra flavour components to really make the flavours of this tea loaf pop! There is maple syrup, marmalade, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger as well as demerara brown sugar and dried fruit. The aromas coming from the oven are to die for!

Bara Brith has been made in Wales for over one hundred years and was traditionally eaten on St. David’s Day or Christmas day, thickly sliced and slathered in butter. It is not as popular as it used to be, so can be difficult to find in the larger grocery stores. Traditional Bara Brith is made with currants. In this recipe I have used a combination of dried apricots and dried cherries which go really well together. And the oats add a lovely texture to this baked treat.

This Apricot Cherry Oat Bara Brith makes a lovely addition to packed lunches. It is also excellent with morning coffee or your afternoon tea. Not bad with your favourite program or movie after dinner either.

Next time you are in the mood to bake a sweet treat for your family, try this Apricot Cherry Oat Bara Brith. It’s really hits the spot.

Print Recipe

Apricot Cherry Oat Bara Brith

Serves: 8-10

Cooking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

75 g dried cherries
175 g dried apricots
250 mL of strong black tea
2 Tbsp rum
100 g butter, melted
2 T marmalade
2 eggs
100 g medium sized oats
100 grams whole wheat flour
250 g white flour
3 tsp baking powder
175 grams demerara sugar
2 T maple surup
2 T milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger

Instructions

The night before you plan on baking, soak the dried fruit in the strong black tea and rum (optional) in a bowl.

The next day, just before you start to mix together your ingredients, preheat oven to 350 F. degrees

Drain the dried fruit mixture and discard the tea and rum liquid.

Mix together the melted butter and marmalade. When this mixture is cool, add in the two eggs.

Mix together the flour, oats, baking powder and brown sugar and spices.

Add the butter, marmalade, egg mixture to the flour. Add in the milk and maple syrup.

The batter should be able to drop from a spoon. If it is too thick, add in more milk.

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Pour batter into a prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. If the top starts to over brown before the cake is done, cover the top of the cake with tin foil and continue baking until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool cake in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. Then remove onto a rack.

Wait until the cake is cold before cutting. About 1-2 hours.

Serve as is or with butter.

Enjoy!

8:32 am

Cooking

Barbecued Jamaican Jerk Pork Sandwiches

Even though the summery weather is slowly fading, I’m happy that we can still barbecue for another few weeks. Jamaica Jerk Pork is perfect Autumn barbecue food because the gentle heat of the jerk spices warm you up as the evening cools down. My husband and I loved camping in the fall: the campgrounds were quiet and still, the lake water still warm from the heat of the summer and the bugs had all but disappeared. And whenever we camped, we always made Jamaican Jerk Pork.

Homemade Jamaican Jerk Pork is so perfect for the home barbecue, or outdoors campfire. The direct heat from the barbecue or campfire gives this dish its special characteristics: smoky, spicy and seared with flavour. Jamaican Jerk Pork is made from cubes of pork seasoned with a spicy, aromatic marinade. After the pork has marinated for a minimum of a four hours (although we always did it overnight) the pork is cooked on the campfire or barbecue until the meat is seared to a deep golden brown on all sides and cooked through. It is pure heaven. We always served the jerk pork with fresh juicy local-grown tomatoes and crisp iceberg lettuce wrapped up in a warmed pita. The heat of the jerk with the coolness of the fresh vegetables is a unique combination.

ingredients for jamaican jerk pork sandwiches

Jamaican Jerk is really easy to make with white and green onion, thyme, soy sauce, oil and a few pantry spices.

herbs and spices for jamaican jerk pork sandwiches

Finely chop all of the ingredients in the food processor.

Barbecuing the pork is super easy. There are two ways that you can barbecue the pork. 1) either on skewers, or 2) in a perforated pan. I usually wrap the pita bread in tin foil and heat it gently by the fire.

Place the grilled pork cubes, into pita bread or a wrap grilled pineapple, tomato and lettuce.

So perfect!

Print Recipe

Jerk Pork

Serves: 6

Cooking Time: 12 hours + 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the marinade:
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup scallion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground jamaican pimento (allspice)
1/ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 hot pepper, finely ground (see Note)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Tbsp cidre or white vinegar
3 pounds pork tenderloin
condiments:
tomatoes
lettuce
grilled pineapple
pita bread
condiments such as BBQ sauce or salsa

Instructions

To Make the Marinade: Place all marinade ingredients in a food processor and blitz until everything is finely chopped.

Cube the pork into pieces about 1". Mix pork cubes and jerk marinade together. Marinate a minimum or 4-6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Next day, thread cubes of pork on skewers and barbecue until meat registers 145 degrees F on a cooking thermometer. Meanwhile, warm pita bread in low oven (about 300 degrees) for about 10 minutes. Or, if you are cooking outdoors, wrap the pita in tin foil and place on top of grate to warm up. Don't get them too hot or they will just toast.

Place jerk pork in a bowl and serve with diced tomatoes, grilled pineapple, chopped lettuce and pita bread cut in half and popped open. Alternatively, you can place ingredients on top of pita and just roll up. Serve with your choice of barbecue sauce or salsa if you like.

Notes

Tip: The peppers you choose will depend on how spicy you want the jerk marinade. The most common hot peppers available in supermarkets are: jalapeno (mild to hot), serrano (hot), habanero (very hot), bird's eye chill peppers (very very hot). And remember! when working with fresh peppers, be extra careful and never rub your eyes, nose, or mouth when working with peppers. Wash your hands with soap and water immediately after cutting the peppers up. Extra Cooking Tip: We love grilled pineapple with the Jamaican Jerk Pork. If you buy fresh pineapple in the grocery store that has the skin and top removed, slice the whole piece down the centre so you have two halves. The slice the two halves in half. This makes it easy to remove the core. After you have sliced away the core (the woody fibrous part in the centre, slice each segment into pieces about 1/2 inch thick and grill these in a perforated vegetable tray on your barbecue.

Recipe adapted slightly from Jerk, Barbecue from Jamaica by Helen Willinsky.

1:00 am

Cooking

Armenian Red Lentil and Apricot Soup Recipe

The days are getting shorter, the nights cooler. Sweaters are coming out of their storage bins, light ones first. The heavy wool ones will come later. The rain jackets hang in the front closet. Rain boots are placed in the hallway near the door. Autumn is coming.

Cooler weather also means new menus. So, I’m filling my pantry and freezer with new ingredients for these approaching autumn days: pasta for comforting macaroni and cheese and hearty lasagna, beans for chili and soups, and dried fruit, nuts and a multitude of flours for baking – cookies, squares and pies. And I’m filling my downstairs freezer with big containers of soup stock.

vegetables for Armenian Red Lentil and Apricot Soup

This Armenian Red Lentil and Apricot Soup is a perfect seguay into our autumn menus. The earthy onions, carrots and lentils remind us of the approaching coolness, while the flavour of the sweet apricots tug at the memory of the summer weather that hasn’t completely ended.

Apricots have always been very special in Armenia, as their scientific name, Prunus Armeniaca, or Armenian prunes, shows. They have grown in Armenia for many centuries. A recent dig at an ancient village found apricot cores that were over 3,000 years old!

So, it goes without saying, that Armenians use apricots in many of their dishes.. During apricot season, women make jams, marmalades, even homemade apricot vodka. After the season has ended, apricots are places on balconies and rooftops to dry in the sun to be used whole or made into apricot leather. Armenians want their precious apricots to last until the next season.

This soup is very tasty and also very nutritious. This soup provides an excellent source of iron, protein, folate, B vitamins, Vitamins A and C as well as potassium. Not bad for one bowl of soup.

You can use store bought of homemade vegetable stock. If you want to make your own vegetable stock, you can find my recipe here.

If anyone had any doubts about vegan food – whether it’s tasty, nutritious or filling – one bowl of this soup would settle that argument. I hope you enjoy my Armenian Red Lentil and Apricot Soup.

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Armenian Red Lentil and Apricot Soup

Serves: 4-6

Cooking Time: 40-60 minutes

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
3 carrots (200 grams), peeled and chopped
1 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed and chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 tsp cumin powder
1 cup tomato puree
2/3 cup red lentils, washed
1 litre vegetable broth
1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tbsp lemon juice
a handful of parsley, chopped

Instructions

Saute the onions and carrots. When almost soft, add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add apricots and cumin powder and cook until aromatic.

Add tomato puree.

Then add the lentils, vegetable broth and thyme.

Bring the soup up to a boil, and then simmer for about 20 minutes.

Take the soup off the heat. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Either blitz half of the soup in the blender, or use a hand held mixer, and blitz a bit, but make sure it's not entirely pureed.

Serve in bowls with parsley sprinkled on top.

2:50 pm

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