Monthly Archives: May 2012

Walnut Feta Dip

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I was inspired to create this dip by this recipe of the same name. As I’ve mentioned before, we have been eating a lot of walnuts lately and we had a ton of feta left over from the pizza, so it was the perfect time to try out this dip. I always make a point of making something once before adjusting it. This time, it only took me as long as I mixing it to know it needed some adjustments to be right for me. I’ve done so much to the original recipe that I will be calling it an inspiration rather than an adaptation. The original was good, but was a little much for me, with some changes this dip is rich but also lighter and brighter.

Walnut Feta Dip

Inspired by Princess Misia’s Roasted Walnuts & Feta Dip

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups walnuts (halves, shelled)
  • 2 cups of feta
  • a tsp of brine if you want
  • 1/4 cup greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 lemons worth of juice
  • 1/4 cup milk

Directions

  1. Place everything in a food processor and blend into as smooth as possible/as smooth as you’d like. Taste, adjust flavours as necessary (maybe more lemon, maybe some of your favourite herbs).
  2. Serve with veggies, pita, chips, a spoon.

Gen’s Birthday Pizza

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Gen’s birthday was on Saturday and he asked for pizza, yum. I whipped up an easy and delicious pizza dough and topped it with simple ingredients. It was an great way to spend a Saturday night.

Pizza

Ingredients

  • 4.5 tsp active dry yeast
  • 2 cups warm water (not hot, don’t kill the yeast)
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp white sugar

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, olive oil, salt, sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine.
  3. Using a strong wooden spoon (I stress this because I broke my Kel’s favourite) or your dough hook (if you have a mixer), mix until a dough that pulls away from the bowl has formed. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.
  4. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Roll into desired shape (I had no pizza pans so I used my cookie sheet covered with parchment paper). Cover with your favourite toppings and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. This recipe makes two pretty huge cookie sheet pizzas, so we froze one of the balls of dough for later.

Soft pillows of dough.

My favourite toppings?

» Good tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, olive oil.
» Kalamata olives, marinated artichokes, feta, (roasted red peppers are great here too).
Brush your prepared dough with some olive oil, use the artichoke liquid if you are feeling feisty. This actually helps to prevent the crust from getting soggy. This also makes the pizza leftovers (if there are any) freeze well.

Oh yes, and one of the best parts of getting packages from my parents is the fantastic drawings my dad does on the outside.

Muffin Pudding (hmm, sounds weird) Muffin Bread Pudding (better?)

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Well I am not sure how to properly title this. I had a heck of a time googling around to see if it had been done, done successfully, or was being warned against. I found all of the above but little other information. Bread pudding is one of my all time favourite desserts, which is weird, I know. Something about the creamy custard and the rich flavours. It just floats my boat. Anyway, yesterday was Gen’s birthday, so I felt the need to make every meal a fancy feast. My whole plan was to bake some brioche on Friday, slice it up and make french toast casserole on Saturday. Well that’s not how things panned out. I made a mess of the bread, we wont even speak of it. It tastes fine but it is under cooked and very dark… I need to go into a bread baking workshop, I am not doing it right. Anyway, so this morning I was out of luck for that dish, though I did make some delicious omelets with the left-over Jalapeño Popper Dip from the night before. But as I was making pizza (recipe tomorrow), I looked over at the leftover Coffee Cake Muffins and had a brain wave. I kind of winged it, but it turned out delightful. Not too sweet, the sugar in and on the muffins did the trick.

The pictures are not great because I wasn’t entirely sure that this was going to turn out. Also, I switched from the 9 x 13 pan to a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish that was deeper so the custard could reach more of the muffins. It was nice using already so tasty muffins because it meant I had to do little in the line of flavouring to make this tasty. You could certainly use other stale muffins, but the flavours will change substantially depending on the muffins you use. These had a nice hint of nutmeg and cinnamon, and they were studded with the walnuts I had used in the crumb topping. Awesome.

Muffin Bread Pudding

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • zest of ½ lemon
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 7 slightly stale muffins, in this case my Coffee Cake Muffins
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp sugar (more if your muffins are less sweet)
  • 1 cup cream
  • 2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions

  1. This pudding needs 15 minutes soaking time, follow the directions, let soak for 15 minutes and then bake.
  2. Break muffins into medium chunks and spread on a baking sheet, place in 350°F oven to toast for 8 minutes.
  3. Put the milk into a small pan with the vanilla. Bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat, add the lemon zest and allow to cool.
  4. Meanwhile, butter a medium casserole dish and put the muffin chunks into it, dot with the butter.
  5. Beat the eggs together with the sugar until combined. Beat the milk, nutmeg, and the cream into the egg mixture. Pour over the muffins, add any nuts or fruit you might want, and leave for 15 minutes.
  6. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top.
  7. Place on middle rack and cook for 20-30 minutes. The pudding is done when it is browned on top and set. Serve with half-whipped cream (whip until it just starts to thicken)

Muffins crumbled with butter, then I realized this dish was not going to work.

Perfect!

Jalapeño Popper Dip

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This fantastic dip recipe comes from my friend Susan in Calgary. She brought this dip to my going-away party and I just had to have the recipe. I made it for my family when they were in town around Christmas, and I made it just for Gen and I to munch on yesterday. It is best served warm, with your favourite tortilla chips, though I will admit, I used some of the left over dip (it get pretty solid when cold) to stuff some omelets this morning for Gen’s birthday. I’ve made a couple adjustments to make up for the fact that we use greek yogurt for pretty much everything.

Jalapeño Popper Dip

Ingredients

  • 2 blocks cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise (homemade is always better)
  • 1/2 plain greek yogurt (or sour cream, heck, or just plain yogurt)
  • 1 can chopped green chilies, drained (1/2 cup)
  • 2 diced fresh jalapeños
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400ºF
  2. Stir together cream cheese and mayonnaise in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in green chiles, jalapeños, and 1/4 cup of the parmesan.
  3. Pour mixture into medium casserole dish (or a hot-dip dish, if there is such a thing). Sprinkle the top with the remaining parmesan and the panko bread crumbs.
  4. Heat dip in the oven for 15-20 minutes until it is heated through, the top is golden, and the cheese is bubbling.
  5. Serve with chips and bread.

Portobello Fries with Basil Aioli

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I found this recipe a couple years ago and have only made it a handful of times since, which is silly because it is delicious and easy. These ‘fries’ are crunchy and juicy (the mushroom is juicy… this is a good thing) and are the perfect vehicle for the surprize star of the show, the basil aioli. Now, I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I make some tasty mayonnaise and it is made even better with the addition of a handful of basil, some garlic, and lemon. Don’t be afraid of making mayonnaise, it’s easy and WAY better than store bought. But, if fooling around with raw eggs isn’t your thing (or if you are vegan), by all means, buy some, just don’t let anything stop you from making these!

Baked Portobello Fries with Basil Aioli

Lightly adapted from this gorgeous blog’s recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of panko bread crumbs (other bread crumbs will do, I just had these on hand)
  • 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese or pecarino
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp of garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp of oregano
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 portobellos
  • 3 large eggs, beaten (or to veganize, use dijion mustard and no cheese… or daiya, as suggested to me by my great friend, Lauren!)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray it with cooking spray (I was at a friends, we made do with aluminum foil and olive oil, but I don’t recommend that).
  2. On a plate, mix together the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper.
  3. In a small to medium bowl, beat the eggs.
  4. Cut the portobello mushrooms into 1/4″ slices.  One by one, dip the portobello slices in the beaten eggs and transfer to the place with the bread crumb mixture, being sure to coat the mushrooms thoroughly.  Place the bread crumb covered mushrooms on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, checking on them after 10 and flipping them to ensure thorough baking.

Basil Aioli

  • 1 room-temperature egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp mustard (your favourite kind)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • your favourite oil (remembering strong-tasting oils like olive oil will make your mayo taste like that flavour)
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar (more to taste, depending on your tang levels)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • ¼ cup packed basil leaves
  • ½ tsp. lemon juice
  • 1 medium garlic clove, pressed
  • Pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Mayo-making time! I will do a picture tutorial for this, just not today. In a tall, clean container (a jar works), put your egg yolk and a half of the egg white (discard the rest of the white). Add your mustard and some salt and pepper. Using a hand blender (easiest way by far, but you can also use a whisk or a food processer or a blender) blend the egg a bit. Slowly drizzle in oil. You will see the mayo coming together (emulsifying). Once you’ve reached a consistency and amount that you like (it will grow forever, more oil = more mayo), add the vinegar and mix it together. You may want to add a little bit more oil at this point to thicken it up a bit more, as the vinegar might loosen the mayo. Taste, adjust as needed.
  2. Now that you have delicious homemade mayo, make it into aioli!
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Stir well. Chop the basil well and add into the aioli, at this point you can hand-blend it quickly to make a nice smooth dip, or stir the basil through for big bites of basil flavour.

Ready to be baked!

Munch time!

I was over at Caelin’s for this recipe… so of course there was Jamesons.