Recipe blog

Another two part post, the mayonnaise recipe here works on its own as well as perfectly complimenting potato salad.

Homemade Mayo

Ingredients:

Yields about 2 cups

4 egg yolks

1 tbsp montreal steak spice

1 tbsp flour

1 tbsp sugar

4 to 5 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar

1-1/2 cups olive or other salad oil ( I used Canola oil)

2 tbsp hot water

Prep:

Old Fashioned Potato Salad Recipe

Ingredients: Serves 4

Homemade Mayonnaise above.

4 cups boiled, peeled and cubed potatoes
1/4 cup sugar
1 pinch of turmeric
2 teaspoons butter

Heat mayonnaise on medium in a sauce pan. Stir butter into the Mayo and let the mixture cool, stirring often. Dressing will keep thickening as it cools.

Pour dressing over potatoes and mix lightly until thoroughly combined.

Variation:

I made a simple stir fry to incorporate with my potato salad.

Ingtredients:

2 green onions, chopped

100 grams of diced honey ham

1/2 a cup of corn nibblets

1 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette

Fry the ham in the salad dressing in a pan until browned. Add the corn and onions, and cook a further 2-3 minutes. Add mixture on top of potato salad. Serve.

This is the salsa that the farmer’s market team made for the competition at the KCBIA Merchant’s Market. Despite the judges opinions, I think it’s delicious.

Ingredients:

serves 3-5

5 Medium Tomatoes, de-fleshed and chopped

1 Medium Orange Bell Pepper, sliced into 2 inch sticks

1/2 of a Large Mango, chopped

4 Limes

3/4 of a cup shredded Basil

1/2 a cup diced Red Onion

3-5 Garlic cloves, crushed and diced very finely

1 tbsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce (alternatively, 2-3 tsp chipotle powder)

Add ingredients into a mixing bowl in the following order, stirring continuously: onions and garlic, basil, tomatoes, mango, peppers.

Squeeze the limes into the mixture, and continue to stir until evenly mixed.

Let sit for 15 minute, mixing occasionally.

Plate attractively and serve.

This recipe makes a robust quiche that makes a great centre piece dish.

Pie crust recipe:

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup ice water

3/2 cups plus 2 tbsps purpose/pastry flour, plus some for work surface

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 3 tbsps chilled butter or margarine, cut into 1 inch pieces

Mix salt and water together in a bowl, Keep cold.
Place flour and butter in another bowl, mash and stir together until mixture forms large-ish chunks. Add salt water mixture and continue mashing/ stirring until a dough has formed but is still chunky.
On a lightly floured work surface, form dough into a disk about an inch thick. Chill at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

Makes one 10 inch quiche

Ingredients:

6 tbsps all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
6 large eggs
2 cups half and half
2 tsps salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp thyme
2 cups torn/chopped Swiss chard leaves
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

1. On a floured work surface, roll pastry dough into a 12 inch round. Fit dough into a 2-inch deep-dish tart pan with a removable bottom, gently pressing it into the sides.  Trim the dough evenly with the edge of the pan. Chill shell until firm, or for roughly 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line the dough with a sheet of parchment paper and fill with pie weights (water-logged legumes work well in a pinch). Transfer to oven and bake until light brown, about 25 minutes. Remove weights and parchment paper and continue baking until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool completely.
3. In a bowl, whisk together 1 egg and flour on high speed until smooth. Add the remaining eggs and continue mixing until well blended.
4. Place half and half in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add to mixture the salt, pepper, and thyme; whisk until well combined.
5. Tightly pack Swiss chard leaves and cheese into prepared pastry shell. Pour over egg mixture until tart shell is full (you may not need to use all of the egg mixture). Bake for 20 minutes; reduce temperature to 325 degrees, and continue baking until filling is slightly firm, rather than liquid, and crust is a deep golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes more. Allow quiche to cool until set, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. To reheat, cover quiche with aluminum foil and bake in an oven heated to 325 degrees for about 15 minutes.

This summer soup can be made light or heavy depending upon your preference, but is delicious either way. The crêpes are also quite light, and would make an excellent appetizer or small breakfast.

Scandinavian Summer Soup

Ingredients:

serves 3-4
2 cups fresh cauliflower florets
2 cups sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced green onion, garlic scapes, or a mix
1 tsp dill
3 tablespoons of butter or margarine
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk
1 & 1/2 cup of cream
2 slightly beaten egg yolks
2 cups torn fresh spinach, or 1 cup frozen
6-8 largish radishes, sliced

Directions

In a large covered saucepan, cook cauliflower, carrots, green onion, garlic scapes and dillweed in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Drain, keep 1 cup of the drained stock.

In a large dutch oven, or stew pot melt butter or margarine. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper. Add the reserved stock from the vegetables, the milk, and cream all at once. Cook and stir until it’s been thick and bubbly for about a minute. Slowly stir roughly 1 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolk; return to the saucepan with the remaining cream sauce. Cook and stir over low heat 2 minutes more. Stir in cooked vegetables, spinach and radishes. Heat through.

BC Mushroom Crêpes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

3 large eggs

1/3 to 1/2 cup bread flour

2 tsp unsalted butter

1/4 tsp sugar

freshly ground pepper

1 tsp chopped fresh/dry tarragon

1 tsp chopped fresh chives

1 1/2 cups morel mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups oyster mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 pound camembert, or ricotta cheese room temperature

1 tbsp asiago cheese

Directions:

Place milk, eggs, 1/3 cup flour, butter, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl; combine well using a whisk. This mixture should be the consistency of heavy cream. If mixture is too thin, add more flour. Add tarragon, and chives, let stand 15 minutes.

1. Place an nonstick skillet with a shallow round edge (trust me) or crêpe pan over medium heat. Use butter or some canola oil for lubrication. Add a scant 1/4 cup of batter and quickly swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook until edges begin to dry, about 1 minute. Using your fingers or tongs to turn the delicate crêpe, continue cooking about 15 seconds more, and then transfer to a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter, stacking each crepe on top of one another as you work.
2. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Place all the mushrooms in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to combine. Spread mushrooms on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer; transfer to oven and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. (alternatively, you could fry the mushrooms in olive oil and set aside)
3. Place a crepe flat on work surface. Spread 1 tbsp of cheese evenly over 1/2 to 3/4 of the crepe. Top with 2-3 tablespoons of mushrooms. Starting with the covered portion, roll crepe toward the uncovered portion and place seam-side down on a baking sheet. Repeat process with 11 crepes and remaining cheese and mushrooms; reserve any remaining crepes for another use. Transfer filled crepes to oven until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve.

A sweet dessert, delicious with vanilla ice cream, yogurt, or milk.

Filling Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, sliced thickly

2 cups of sliced strawberries

3/4 of a cup of sugar

2 tablespoons tapioca mix

2 Tablespoons fresh fruit juice. I used apple juice.

A pinch of salt

Topping Ingredients:

5-6 tbsp butter

1/2 cup quick oats

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup flower

1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F

Stir rhubarb, sugar, berries, tapioca, salt  and juice in a large bowl. Let  stand for 15-20 minutes, stir every few minutes. Spread mix evenly into a glass or ceramic casserole dish.

With a large spoon, mash all ingredients together in a bowl until evenly mixed, and forming into dry-ish bits of various sizes. Sprinkle evenly over filling. Bake until filling bubbles and topping starts to brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes, serve.

These two dishes work well together as a breakfast or a mid-afternoon meal

Spanish potato tortillas: Spanish tortillas, not Mexican tortillas

servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable oil (for frying, you can use plain olive oil, I used sunflower oil)

1 1/2 lbs low starch potatoes, about 5 or 6 medium, peeled or not. I used Yukon Gold

1  teaspoon of coarse salt

1/4 cup of onions, diced

1/2 cup of green onions, chopped

2-3 medium garlic cloves, crushed and very coarsely chopped (optional)

1 medium red pepper

6 large eggs

A pinch or two of black pepper (optional)

So basically what this dish looks like is a fried potato, onion, red pepper and garlic omelet. First thing is to slice the potatoes quite thin, about 1/8th of an inch. Then, fry the potatoes in a shallow frying pan on medium for 5-10 min, depending on thickness and type of potato. Wait until the oil is quite hot before dropping slices into the oil. the objective is to cook but not fry, so remove potatoes before they brown.

After potatoes are finished drain away all but a tbsp of the used oil from the pan, this will be used later. With the remaining oil, fry the onions and garlic until cooked, but not browned. Toss this mixture in with the potatoes, add salt and pepper.

This next part is the tricky bit, so you’ll need to have everything ready before you start.

With the eggs scrambled, add enough to the frying pan to just cover the bottom. Before the eggs start to cook, lay/slide potato mix on top like paving stones, edge to edge. Slight overlap is fine, but the majority should be flat to the pan. Let cook until golden on bottom.

Flipping the tortilla can become a bit tricky due to the delicate potatoes, but if you’re careful you can quickly become proficient. Various techniques with plates or a second frying pan were quickly abandoned.

Once the tortilla is cooked to a golden colour, add chopped red peppers on top, and serve.

“Randinga”: Swedish striped salad (striped because of the bold layered colours)

This salad is almost a complete meal in itself.

serves 3-4

Ingredients:

2 eggs , hardboiled and sliced

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, julienned

1/2 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 cup of garlics scapes, sliced diagonally.

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 beet, julienned

2 large carrots, peeled, and shredded

8 tablespoons dressing. I used raspberry vinaigrette.

With lettuce on the bottom, layer ingredients in a way that seems pleasing to you, serve with dressing on the side.

As we are now in the full swing of strawberry season, and with rhubarb plentiful already, here’s a dessert that uses them well. In addition, a healthier (and more delicious) way to enjoy pizza.

Rhubarb Zabaglione (zaba-YON-eh): Hot Italian Custard

4 servings:

1 cup chopped rhubarb stalks
1/2 cup refined sugar
1 cup Dessert wine, preferably an orange Muscat wine such as Essensia. I used a local late harvest merlot from Paradise Ranch.
1 qt strawberries, trimmed and quartered
2 large eggs

Equipment: an instant-read thermometer

Simmer sugar, rhubarb, and wine in a saucepan and mix lightly until rhubarb starts to fall apart (5 min). Puree in a blender. Divide prepared strawberries between 4 large glasses. Beat eggs in a large deep metal bowl with a  mixer at high speed for 1 minute, then add hot blended rhubarb in a stream, beating constantly. Put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and beat until mixture is tripled in volume, very thick, and reads 160°F on your thermometer ~ 6 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle over strawberries. Serve hot.

Portobello Pizza

Per serving:

1 portobello top, de-stalked and de-gilled

2 tsp olive oil

3/4 tbsp pesto sauce

Cheese and Toppings are more a case of personal taste, but I used grated marble cheddar and asiago cheese along with  chopped white onions, tomatoes, and green peppers.

Preheat your grill to 350ºF. Brush both sides of mushroom cap with oil, and season with S&P. Arrange on grill stem side down. If using an open-topped grill, tent with foil. Cook on each side ~3 minutes, or until almost tender. Transfer to a cooking sheet, and cover/fill with ingredients as you would a pizza. Cook for ~3 minutes more, and serve. Goes great with a white wine or champagne.

Whipped Eggs on Toast is an Australian recipe, and coupled with a seasonal Spinach Salad makes for a simple and nutritious breakfast or brunch for company.

Whipped Eggs on Toast per Serving:

1 egg

1 thick slice of bread or bun half

2-3 tsp of honey mustard

1/2 tbsp of chopped chives

Preheat your oven to 350ºF and prep a baking sheet with paper. Separate your eggs, yolk from white, taking care to keep the yolk intact.  Beat egg whites until they stand up*. Spoon whites onto the centre of your bread, making a fluffy dollop. Hollow a place on the top of each egg white for the yolk.

*Note: If your egg whites are not firm enough, the yolk will fall off the side.

Bake for 5 minutes

Spoon dressing over yolks

Bake for 5-10 minutes until yolk set as desired, and whites a golden brown colour. Take care to remove from oven before bread is completely dry.

Spoon chives on top and serve.

Spinach Salad, 4 servings:

1 head of spinach

1/2 a small red cabbage

1 medium white onion

1 cup dried peaches, sliced

3-4 tbsp sunflower seeds

Toss washed, torn spinach with sliced cabbage, sliced onion, and sliced peaches in oil and vinegar dressing. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and serve.

This is a really easy recipe.

step 1: wash strawberries

Step 2: melt chocolate in a double boiler

Step 3: Dip strawberry in chocolate so 1/2 is covered

Step 4: arrange artfully on a plate, impressing all your friends

Potato Asparagus Soup

5 medium-small potatoes (approx. 3-4 cups)
1/2 lb fresh asparagus, chopped
4 cups chicken stock
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp dill
1 cup of milk, cream, evaporated milk or other dairy product of your choice

Peel, cube and place potatoes in a pot with the chicken stock. Boil until pretty much tender. Throw in the asparagus and cook until it’s soft. Take a few asparagus pieces out after 2 minutes and shock in ice water. This will be your garnish.
When the potatoes are nice and tender, blend the stock and potato mix in a food processor until smooth.

In the pot, melt butter. Add garlic and onion and cook until tender and transparent. Add the flour and cook until bubbly. Now pour the potato puree back in, bring back up to a boil and add the milk. This should cool it off enough to eat. Add herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Place reserved asparagus spears on top.