Birthday Bowls

One of my girlfriends from university and her amazing fiance bought me the most perfect birthday gift!  A beautiful set of colourful, ceramic mixing bowls from Crate and Barrel.  I absolutely love them and cannot wait to get in the kitchen and use them this summer.  4 more days of work then it's two months off for me, which means a lot more posts to come.  Thank you A & B for the thoughtful, generous birthday present.

xoxo

Greek Pasta Salad

This weekend we travelled to my hometown for a surprise birthday party for wonderful friend of mine. We had a fantastic time - ate, drank and laughed a lot!  My contribution to the great spread of food was a gigantic Greek pasta salad.  I needed something that was quick to make an could transport easily. I will absolutely make this again.

Ingredients
2 boxes smart pasta (any shape you wish), cooked, drained and cooled
3/4 bottle light kraft Greek and feta salad dressing
1 container cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1 block feta cheese, crumbled

Method
Cook pasta until its almost done.  When making pasta salad you always want to under cook the noodles since they will absorb the dressing and will become mushy if cooked all the way.  Cool in fridge. Mix in everything but the dressing.  Add dressing just before serving.    

Father's Day French Toast

 

This morning we had my husband's family over for a little brunch get together to celebrate Father's Day.  I wanted a meal that was quick to prepare and didn't require a lot of space in the fridge.  We had company on both Friday and Saturday so there wasn't much room in the fridge.  I decided on a fresh fruit spread, peameal bacon and cinnamon french toast.  The easiest meal EVER!  The kitchen gadget that made it all happen - - the flat griddle. If you don't have one I would suggest investing in one.  We use ours often for grilled sandwiches, bacon, eggs, pancakes etc.  It runs about $50 at Canadian Tire, Zellers, etc.

Yields: 4 slices (2 servings)

Ingredients
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 slices of bread
butter to grease griddle
powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Method
Mix eggs, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon together.  Dip bread in egg mixture and coat lightly.  Cook on a greased griddle for 2 minutes on each side, or until browned slightly.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with REAL maple syrup.

Beer Battered Perch

I don't eat seafood very often but wish I did.  My goal for the next little while is to try out some new yummy recipes that have a variety of seafood in them.  This was my first time frying something.  It tasted great but I definitely won't be using this type of recipe often because I'm not a fan of at home frying.  I'd much prefer to keep that cooking method at the restaurant. 

Yields: 2-3 servings

Ingredients

6 ocean perch fillets (ocean perch are far bigger then lake perch)

1 cup flour (reserve 1/4 for dusting)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 bottle room temp beer
salt & pepper to taste
Canola oil (enough to have a good layer of oil going on the bottom of your pan - I used about 1/2 cup)

Method
In a bowl mix 3/4 cup of flour with chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper and beer. Put in fridge for 20 minutes to chill.  Meanwhile, coat fish with remaining 1/4 cup of flour.  Over medium heat, warm oil in a deep drying pan.  Dip fillets into batter mixture and add to warm oil.  Cook on each side for about 5 minutes.  Remove from oil and serve with tartar sauce (mayo & relish mixture).

A day out and about

This week I took my students a field trip to an herb farm and an apiary.  We had perfect weather and so much fun!  If you have the chance (and have kids) you should definitely check out Clovermead !  We did honey sampling, held bees, fed goats and played like we were back in grade one.  My Mother was even along for the trip. 

 

Sweet Potato & Chick Pea Curry

I have a problem.  When I watch a cooking show I immediately HAVE to cook whatever was on the show.  Last week I was watching "Best Recipes Ever" (The host really annoys me but I like that its a half hour show).  The episode was about vegetarian cooking and the three recipes she made looked very tasty.  There wasn't suppose to be sweet potato in this recipe but I didn't have any squash in the house.  It turned out pretty tasty however next time I would half the recipe because I'm the only one in my house that will eat it...

Servings: 6ish

Ingredients
3 cups cubed peeled sweet potato
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced ginger root
1 tbsp curry powder
1 can light coconut milk (or ½ cup milk + 1 additional cup of stock)
1 cup vegetable stock (I used chicken)
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups packed fresh spinach
1 cup frozen green peas
1 tsp coriander

Method
In Dutch oven, fry onion, garlic, coriander and ginger as directed. Add curry paste; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add sweet potato and chickpeas; stir to coat. Add coconut milk, stock and salt; bring to boil. Cover and simmer, stirring twice, until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Gently stir in spinach and peas; cook, stirring, until spinach wilts, about 5 minutes. Serve as a stew.

Pineapple on the BBQ

On the weekend I got together with some of my amazing high school girlfriends.  We sat on the deck and ate, chatted and laughed until our stomachs hurt.  I ate something that I'd never tried before - pineapple on the BBQ.  It was absolutely fantastic.  We had it as a side with our entree however it could also be served as a dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  It will be making this dessert very soon.  I know the hubby is going to LOVE it.

Ingredients

1 pineapple, peeled and sliced

Method

Heat BBQ on medium.  Throw slices of pineapple on the BBQ and flip after 1-2 minutes.  They take no time to cook!  Yummy!