Strawberry Topped Coconut Scones

I was having company over for dinner the other evening to celebrate my father-in-laws birthday. I ran through the list of possibilities in my head as to what to serve for dessert. Cake, cookies, pie I have all done before for my in-laws. And while the 'birthday boy' likes sweets he doesn't like them overly sugary. I came across a recipe on the Baking Bites site and thought it would be the perfect mix of sweet and savoury.

This dessert would please both hard core sweet lovers (that is me, I could eat cake icing by the bucket) and the people whole like sweets a little. Biscottis, digestive cookies, tea biscuits are all perfect examples of sweets that aren't too sweet. While it is not as sweet as say ice cream, cupcakes or the sort it still is a nice way to finish of a meal. I was struck with the thought that by adding whole wheat flour instead of white it would also cut the sweetness a bit. I swapped the flours and the result was still delicious. I myself would prefer a sweeter cake so would recommend going with regular all purpose flour, if you are going for healthy and a little hardier go with whole wheat flour.

Coconut Scone

• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp. butter, chilled and cut into 6 pieces
• 2/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

*Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
* In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar
* Add butter, using your hands rub the butter and the flour together until it looks like a course sand
* Add vanilla to mixture, then add milk 1/3 at a time and stir until becomes like a dough texture, kneed until smooth and slightly sticky
* Break into 2 pieces, place on cookie sheet and press down until 1/2" thick. Then divide into 4 using a knife. Cut and wiggle so the quarters are a few millimeters apart
* Bake for 15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown

Strawberry Topping

• 1 package of strawberries, diced
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp corn starch (if needed)

* Place strawberries in pot with sugar and stir, once strawberries start to juice allow it to slightly bubble
* Once juice bubbles turn down to simmer and allow to thicken and get 'juicer', about 10-15 minutes
* Pureed 1/2 the mixture so it is like a jam. I use my immersion blender so I can simply just stick it in the pot puree it for a second that way there are still chunks in it.
* If still too liquidity add corn starch to thicken
* Place on scones

Garnish with whip cream and enjoy!

Candace's Guacamole

Guacamole is one of those dishes that tastes delicious, is simple to make, but there are so many recipes out there it is hard to figure out which one is worth making. Quite often people only make it when company is coming or as a dip with a corn chip, but guacamole is an ideal way to get in healthy fats and Compliments the flavour on so many other foods.

I put guacamole on toast, in sandwiches, I even use it to dip veggies in. Below is a super simple recipe that I always get lots of compliments on. I have tried several that involved cilantro and/or onions, this one has neither, making it super fast and favorable to more people. See how to cut an avacado here.

Candace's Guacamole

• 2 avocados, inside scooped out and mashed, reserve one pit
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• salt and pepper
• few drops of Tabasco (optional)

* Combine all the ingredients and stir. Since lemons and garlic can very greatly in size you may need to add more of one or both to suit your taste, but the above measurements are fairly accurate for medium sized ingredients.
* If not serving immediately put the pit in the guacamole. This will help it from turning brown. Keep in mind it isn't bad when it turns brown. It is just oxidizing like an apple would do. It just isn't as appealing visually, for what ever reason the pit helps with this.

Enjoy!

"Greek" Potatoes

I feel like I post recipes for potatoes fairly often. Now I myself am not a huge fan of white potatoes, but the rest of the family is. Health wise although they aren't as nutrient packed as their cousin the sweet potato, they still are an unprocessed, untouched by man source of carbs. The below recipe is one modified slightly from the book entitled "New Recipes From Moosewood Restaurant". The original restaurant is in Ithaca N.Y.. I have never been, but have read a few of their cookbooks. They have 12 cookbooks in total! It must be a pretty good restaurant! Some supermarkets in the USA even carry their soups now.

As to why these potatoes are called Greek Potatoes, I am not too sure. Nevertheless these potatoes were a definite success around here. My husband requested them again for this week, and my son gobbled them up in a minute.

"Greek" Potatoes

• 6 medium potatoes, cubed (I chose to peel mine, but as long as they are scrubbed well you could leave on the peels)
•  1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, (about 2.5 lemons)
• 1/3 vegetable or olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2-1 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 tsps dried oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup - 3 cups hot water (This seems like a big range, but depending on your oven and the type of potatoes that you use you may not need a lot of water. When I made this in my previous oven I need 2 cups of water, last week when I made them in my new one I only need 1 cup. Start with one and if when you stir them most of the water is absorbed add more, 1/2 cup at a time)

* Preheat oven to 475
* Toss potatoes, lemon juice, oil, spices and garlic into a deep flat pan, add 1 cup of water
* Bake uncovered stirring every 20 minutes, this is important, they will stick to the bottom if you do not
* At each 20 minute mark you may need to add more water, when they are in the final 15 minutes let most of the water absorb, you may need to stir more frequently so they do not burn. They will take approx 1 hour to cook

Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and watch them be devoured!

Black Pasta

Depending on where you purchase your groceries from you may have seen black pasta and kept on walking. Would it taste different? What makes it black, chemicals? I took the plunge and purchased it a while back and was totally delighted with the taste, texture and look of it in the below recipe. My husband faved about this dish.

What makes it black you ask? Well rest assured it isn't chemicals but it actually gets its colour from squid ink. This isn't nearly as gross as it sounds, to any squid haters out there. The ink merely lends colour without much, if any flavour. The brand I bought was called Rigoletto Squid Ink Fettuccine, made by Helen's Homestyle Foods Ltd.. This pasta was so good I am tempted to try the other varieties made by this company. It was slightly chewy, but not mushy or flimsy. The below picture (not great quality) shows how it holds its colour. Some coloured pasta I have previously tried faded when cooked.

Black Pasta with Zucchini and Seared Chicken

• Pan Sear 2 chicken breasts (skip this if you are a vegetarian, it is still great)
• 3-4 zucchini, cut up into dice size cubes
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• salt and pepper
• evoo
• black pasta

* Pan sear chicken breast, as shown here. Set aside on plate, use the same pan to make the following;
* Brown onions then add garlic and saute in olive oil
* Stir in zucchini add salt and pepper and allow to slightly wilt and brown, still firm and not mushy approx 5 mins. 
* Boil pasta as usually would, drain
* Add 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil to pasta and stir then add zucchini and chicken mixture

Serve and Enjoy! May be don't mention how the pasta gets its colour until it is all gobbled up!

French Onion Soup

As a child my mom occasionally would make us French Onion soup. She would get out these special bowls that she only used for this soup, therefore making it an extra special treat. I remember the soft bread and the gooey, stringy cheese more than the actual soup!

I wanted to recreate the soup but didn't have her recipe. Quite a few recipes involved French onions (I know shocking). I found a recipe by Michael Smith he is the Chef at Home on Food Network. This super simple recipe uses simple yellow onions, and who doesn't have a whole bag of those sitting around and chicken stock, for the main ingredients.

The result was a good soup, with the gooey topping I remember but just not with the dark strong broth that most French Onion soups have. This soup is light in colour with a fairly mild taste which actually is nice with the cheese and bread. I used mozzarella for the cheese instead of Gruyere as the recipe suggests. Not my favorite soup of all time, but I would make it again.

Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes are super simple to make, you just wrap them in tin foil and throw them in the BBQ or oven. The problem is they are fairly time consuming. If you come home from work at 6 and are hungry you don't want to wait 1-2 hours for the side of your meal to slowly bake away. By using a Crock Pot you can have your potatoes waiting for you when you get home.

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

• 4 large potatoes, washed and dried
• 4 pieces of tin foil, large enough to wrap around 1 potato each

* Wrap each potato in a piece of tinfoil. I usually leave the one end with a 'tail' to fish them out when they are super hot and done cooking.
* Place in Crock Pot on low for 8 hours and they are soft but not mushy, 10 if you like them super soft. You could also do it on high if you have a few hours before dinner.

That is it! Now go throw some chicken on the BBQ because your side is done!

Avocado, Fennel & Radish Salad

I love radishes! They are crunchy and cool while having some heat to them. I frequently put them in salad as a garnish. I wanted to have a salad the other day that was more filling then a leaf salad but without any meat or anything heavy. Enter this salad.

Even if you are a not a huge fennel person (aka my husband) you probably still wouldn't mind this salad. He gobbles it up and says 'mmm' while doing so. Fennel and radishes last forever in the fridge so they are the perfect ingredients for this fast, full of colour salad. Even 'dressed' this salad can be stored over night and still be delicious as the vegetables are so hardy. (With the exception of the avocado, but it just gets creamier, which is still yummy.)Fennel is super easy to cut up, but if you aren't sure how click here for step by step instructions. You can use the discarded avocado shell as a bowl for your salad! The below recipe is how much I would make for a single serving, so use the whole fennel, two avocados, and 10- 12 radishes for 3-4 people.

Avocado, Fennel & Radish Salad

• 4-6 radishes, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 avocado, cut into small cubes
• 1/3 fennel bulb, cut or sliced

* Mix all these in a bowl then add a lemon and oil dressing. I make mine by pouring it on, but it is approximately, 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 Tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Depending on how lemony you like your salad you may choose to add more lemon to intensify the taste or more oil to tone it down. 

Honey Oat Muffins

Today being Saturday I thought it was a nice chance to have something a little different for breakfast but still wanted it to be fairly healthy. Muffins are one of those sneaky foods that can be full of fat and calories. In fact some have as much fat as a hamburger (gross).

I found a recipe at the Canadian Living website and although it looked pretty healthy I tweaked it even more to make sure it was perfect for breakfast. My son loved them, my husband thought they were good (he still prefers the 'hambuger' type). I will make these again.

Honey Oat Muffins 

• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1-1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup bran
• 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk (I put in 1/2 Tbsp of white vinegar in the bottom of a measuring cup and filled the rest with milk until it reached the 1 1/2 mark)
• 1/2 cup liquid honey
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1-1/2 tsp  vanilla

 * Preheat oven to 375
* Mix in all dry ingredients until well combined
* Add in milk, honey, egg, vanilla and oil, stir until well combined and moist
* Put into either a muffin pan that is either greased or paper lined
* I choose to top mine with a drizzle of honey and sprinkle of oatmeal and coconut prior to baking them
1-1/2cups(375 mL) 1-1/4cups(300 mL) 1cup(250 mL) raisin1/2cup(125 mL) 1-1/2tsp(7 mL) 1tsp(5 mL) 1tsp(5 mL) 1/2tsp(2 mL) 1-1/2cups(375 mL) 1/2cup(125 mL) 1eggs1/4cup(50 mL) 1-1/2tsp(7 mL)

Phyllio Pizza

So last night I wanted something a little different for dinner. I feel like we have dinner based around the same 'template' almost every night. . . protein, veggies, salad and a starch. This was a nice break away from that cycle, but not terrible for you.

For the sauce I put pesto on one half and traditional tomato sauce on the other. I preferred the pesto side but the tomato one was my husbands preference.

Phyllio Pizza Crust

• 8 sheets of Phyllio pastry
• 1 Tbsp Olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup pesto (if only doing half, 1 cup if doing whole pizza)
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce (1cup for whole pizza)
• 1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded (I used 1 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup marble)

* 'roast' olive oil and garlic in microwave till warm, about 20 seconds
* lightly grease cookie sheet, then place 2 Phyllio sheets on cookie sheet, coat with light layer of oil mixture
* layer another 2 Phyllio sheets, then layer with oil mixture then top with remaining 4 sheets, top with oil
* there will be a little overhang of Phyllio over the cookie sheet, so after putting on all the toppings roll the sides back onto the sheet and coat with reaming oil, this will form the 'crust'
* bake for 12-15 minutes at 425


Toppings
For the toppings you can use pretty much anything, broccoli, chicken, feta, roasted peppers, etc. I used. . .

• sliced turkey pepperettes (Try the Hayter ones, they are the best!)
• mushrooms (I used canned ones. It sounds gross but fresh mushrooms on pizza release moisture making the crust mushy. Once cooked the difference between the canned and fresh is marginal)
• sliced olives
• sliced banana peppers

Boxed Cake Upgrade

I am all for making food from scratch and usually find that products from scratch/homemade do taste better then prepared food. There are exceptions for this rule though. There are some prepared/boxed things that are pretty comparable to homemade items or that with such a small difference my time can be used to something that I can make better. Enter the vanilla cake . . .

Vanilla cake is one of those things that is a starting off point for decorating, icing, layering, etc. The flavor of the cake plays second to the topping on it. I 'Dr.' boxed cake mix to make it extra tasty and always get lots of compliments. Save your time by making a boxed cake and put the time into making  homemade icing!

Boxed Cake Upgrade
Vanilla Extract - I always add in about 1 Tbsp to my cake mix, it gives it a slightly moister, more vanilla-ish taste.
Butter/Margarine - Instead of the oil I use margarine. It gives the cake a moist texture without being as oily.
Carmel Sauce - When I am making a cake with Carmel icing, I like to add about 1/4-1/2 a cup of Carmel sauce to the cake mix. It is the last ingredient I add before giving it a final stir and then baking.
Banana - 1 or 2 mushed up banana gives the cake an extra moist feel but is not necessarily all that noticeable.
Sprite/Mountain Dew - If I want the cake to be extra sweet I sub in the liquid (usually it calls for 1 1/3 cups water) for one of these clear sodas. It makes for a moist, slightly sweeter cake.
Extras - Consider adding coconut, chocolate chips, mushed strawberries (add a little less liquid the the box calls for), chocolate sauce, candy bits, etc.

And there you have it! A few extra ingredients to make the cake your own!