Happy Cinco de Mayo

It's Cinco de Mayo and I feel like I'm finally getting out of my

Winter and Long Spring funk!

The weather has become Spring and

I've been tackling the flower beds:

One done - 6 to go!!!

There's a plump chicken in the crockpot for an effortless dinner tonight.

This chicken came from a local farm - free range.

I usually don't bother preparing the liver but this one looked so healthy.

 I just couldn't discard it like I usually do - that is since we don't have any Cairns around the house anymore.

(oh how they loved the chicken liver!).

I decided to cook the liver and make a little pate to enjoy later this evening,

 after a sauna to sooth those sore muscles.

Have you ever made a liver pate? I hadn't, so I followed a recipe online by Martha Stewart

and it turned out quite lovely!

The taste is quite spicy but nice and I'm so glad I could use that liver.

Here is the recipe I followed:

1/4 onion - chopped

1 carrot - grated

Seasoned with cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, thyme (just a sprinkle of each).

Saute the onion and carrot in butter and olive oil (added a bit of water as it fried down) just until the vegetables are tender/soft. Remove from pan.

Add a bit more butter and oil to the pan and add the liver. Salt and Pepper to taste. Fry this till cooked through (about 7 minutes).

Now just put it all into a chopper or food processor and process till fairly smooth.

Pat into a small bowl, splash with some Olive Oil and chill.

Pretty simple really!

Till next time ....... Happy Cinco de Mayo to you and yours!

Off I go to the garden .......

Cheddar Thumbprint Cookies

How are your Christmas preparations coming along?

This beautiful Nativity Snow Globe gifted to us many years ago by my

parents-in-law sets the tone for this time of year.

It's also the only "snow" over here right now as we are experiencing unusually warm temperatures (record breaking temperatures) this December!

We just might have a warm and green Christmas this year.

However, soon the 25th will arrive and thus the urgency to prepare some

appetizers and do some baking.

Today I made one of our favourite appetizers,

savoury cheddar thumbprint cookies.

To make these I dug out my food processor (which hardly ever sees the light of day).

This recipe works so well using this pulsing method - and it's quick to make!

A new to me kitchen utensil that is getting quite a bit of use

during this baking season, is my little Tupperware chopper.

This little chopper makes short order of chopping nuts, onions, veggies, fruit, etc.

When I first saw this demonstrated I knew that I "needed" to have one.

It worked perfectly for chopping these almonds.

It will be going with us in the trailer this summer for sure - no hydro needed!

 I also own it's big brother - excellent for chopping salsas, and mixing hummus!

This simple recipe only takes a

few ingredients ...

A few quick pulses blends the cheeses and the butter

Add the flour and pulse again

till you get a nice soft dough.

Now you just make little balls of dough, dip them into water,

and roll them into the chopped pecans.

Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Thumb press them and

chill for 15 minutes

while you clean up and preheat

The oven to 350F

Pop them in the oven for 15 minutes till golden.

Spoon on a dollop of hot pepper jelly and serve them warm.

They also freeze very well without the jelly!

Be sure to "recrisp" and fill them just before serving.

Savoury Cheddar Thumbprint Cookies

1 ½ Cups Shredded white or Old Cheddar Cheese             

½ Cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese                                                     

½ Cup butter – softened                                                                      

1 Egg yolk

¼ tsp. pepper

1 Cup all purpose flour

1 Cup finely chopped pecans or almonds

¾ Cup hot pepper jelly

Method:

In food processor, pulse together cheeses and butter until smooth.  Add egg yolk and pepper, pulse until blended.  Add flour, pulse just until soft dough forms.  Place pecans on a plate.  Place 1 Cup water in a bowl.  With hands, roll scant Tbsp. of dough into a 1 in. ball – dip into water – roll in nuts.  Place on ungreased baking sheet. With thumb, make indentation in center of each.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Bake in center of 350 oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Let cool on baking sheet and store or freeze until ready to use.  Recrisp by baking at 350 for 3 min. and fill indentations with hot pepper jelly. Serve warm.
Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

It won't be long now till we can hold this little beauty in our arms!!!

Till next time - what are some your favourite kitchen utensils this time of year?

Get Crackering!

Have you ever tried those tasty

crackers that come in the rectangular pretty boxes

and have the words Rain and Coast 

on the label?

You know the ones that feature dried fruits and roasted nuts...

they're a wee bit expensive but oh so good?

I found a great "knock off" and easy recipe on line.
I also remember that Kathy from
Mennonite Girls Can Cook also made these recently!

My rosemary is still green in the herb garden

in spite of the recent snow and freezing temperatures,

so it is perfect to use for this.

It's as easy as making quick bread!

Rosemary, Pumpkin Seed and Cranberry Crackers

2 Cups All-purpose Flour

2 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

2 Cups buttermilk

¼ Cup brown sugar

¼ Cup honey

1 Cup dried Cranberries or Raisins

½ Cup chopped pecans

½ Cup roasted pumpkin seeds

¼ Cup sesame seeds

¼ Cup ground flax seeds

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. Stir together the buttermilk and honey and pour it into the flour, stir just till incorporated. Gently fold in the remaining ingredients just until blended. Pour the batter into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350F for 35 minutes or until golden and springs back to the touch.

Remove from the pans and cool. In fact, it’s best to totally cool them and even partially freeze them before slicing. You can even freeze them at this point and leave the slicing and crisping for another day.

Slice the loaves as thin as possible and lay the slices out in a single layer onto large ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 300F for 15 minutes on one side – flip them over and bake for another 10-15 minutes on the other side until crisp and deep golden.

This recipe makes approx. 8 dozen crackers. Store in an airtight container and try not to eat them all at once J.

These crackers are perfect for serving the Antipasto we

just made the other week.

Till next time ............. get crackering before the rosemary freezes solid!

Pesto Sun-dried Tomato Cheese Torta

This cheese loaf appetizer

is a family favourite.

I first tasted this at my

nephew's wedding - made by his mom,

my sister-in-law Charlene!

She's a great cook

and always comes up with the best recipes!

This is a keeper ....

Cheese Mixture:

250 g feta cheese crumbled

1/2 lb butter cut into pieces (I use ¼ lb. butter and 150 g soft unripened goat cheese instead)

250 g cream cheese - softened

2 cloves garlic

few drops of hot sauce

Combine in food processor or whip with electric mixer until creamy.

Layer Ingredients:

1/2 Cup pine nuts roasted

2/3 Cup minced sun-dried tomatoes (pat oil off if using oil packed)

1 Cup Basil Pesto - or less (I just used enough to "dollop" it onto the layers).

To assemble, line 4-5 Cup bowl or loaf pan with plastic wrap (mold it tight to the container leaving lots hanging over the edge), sprinkle with the pine nuts first then spread on some pesto, then ½ the sun-dried tomatoes. Cover with half the cheese mixture, remaining pesto and tomatoes then remaining cheese mixture. Fold over plastic wrap and press down gently to compact layers, refrigerate to chill and set. When ready to serve, invert onto platter, remove plastic wrap and serve with sliced baguette or crackers.

 Warning - this makes a very large

appetizer so sometimes I cut the recipe

in half and make

smaller individual ones

molded in custard cups.

Warning #2 - if your food processor

is 40+ years old and it begins to smoke

while mixing this - you may need a new one.

Just saying ....

Happy Thanksgiving to all 

those celebrating this week!

May we all pause to give thanks

wherever we may be,

before the Christmas season hustle and bustle begins!

Till next time ..... are you dreading the Christmas frenzie or do you look forward to the hustle and bustle?

Popcorn to Pizza

Our Sunday Suppers have evolved

into PIZZA!

We used to just make buttered popcorn

for Sunday supper,

but since I got my sweet lipstick red KitchenAid Mixer

it seems that pizza is the norm of late!

Is this a bad thing??

The goal is to have the pizza in the oven

before Amazing Race starts and tonight

happens to be the first episode of the season.....

or should we watch "Catch Me if You Can",

tonight's movie?

We can't get Downton Abbey but have been 

watching Season 3 on DVD - maybe we'll choose 

to watch that!

We'll have to decide soon ...... no "taping"

devices or Netflix or any of that stuff here in the boonies!

Hmmm - are we getting old and set in our ways or what!?

Chop all your favourite toppings

and watch the sun set

while the dough rises!

I love our February sunsets on these very cold

Winter evenings, even though I am longing for Spring.

Here is the recipe for the pizza dough I've been using:

Pizza Dough
(makes 2 regular thin crust pizzas)

1 ½ Cups warm water

1 tsp. yeast – rounded

2 Tbsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt

1/3 Cup olive oil

4 Cups Flour – approx.

In large bowl combine water, yeast, sugar and salt – let sit for 5 minutes.  Stir in the oil, then a cup of flour at a time – continue adding flour, stirring with heavy spoon (or let your KitchenAid with dough hook do some of this work for you).   Knead in more flour as needed to get a smooth elastic dough. Let it rise in a greased bowl until doubled (approx. 1 hr.). I like to loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap while rising. Punch dough down, knead a bit and divide in half. Roll half the dough on floured surface forming a pizza crust and place on greased pizza pan or stone.  I usually form the second pizza as well, spread half the pizza sauce on it and freeze it for next Sunday night's supper!
Spread half of the pizza sauce on the dough and top with your favourite toppings.  We like to use regular, good old "Canadian" ingredients such as mozzarella cheese, green pepper, red onion, mushrooms, and pepperoni slices.  Sometimes we also enjoy using a yummy combination of Pesto sauce, topped with cooked chicken strips, fresh basil and goat cheese! 
Bake at 425F for 15-20 minutes. 


Hints - if you have a "proofing" feature on your oven - use it for letting the dough rise.  I also heat a T-towel in  
the microwave for 35 seconds and throw it over the plastic wrapped bowl for extra warmth.
Cheese - grate your own cheese with a box grater.  Don't use pre-grated packages of cheese.  Why? Because the pre-grated cheese is sprayed with something to keep it from sticking together - yuck!

Voila - botta bing botta boom - here it is!

Let the shows begin.....

Till next time ........... what is your favourite Sunday Supper meal???