Category Archives: cooking

Squash and Kale Orecchiette with Italian Sausage

This is a delicious fall pasta. The original recipe is from a magazine cut out (I have a lot those). I think the magazine was The Pioneer Woman Magazine. It got us to eat our weekly bunch of kale!

Ingredients:

1tbsp olive oil

2-3 Italian sausages removed from casings (I used medium heat)

1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled seeded and and cut in 1/2 ” cubes

1/4 tsp chili powder, plus a pinch extra

Black pepper

1 bunch kale, stems discarded and leaves torn into bite size pieces

Parmesan cheese for serving

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage meat and cook breaking up with a wooden spoon, stirring occasionally until browned.

Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Pour off drippings if there is a lot. You probably need about a tbsp of oil. The sausage I used didn’t leave much dripping so I added a drizzle of olive oil to the pan.

Add the squash and toss to coat with the oil then sprinkle with chili powder, 1/2 tsp salt and a sprinkle of black pepper. Cook stirring occasionally until squash is browning and tender (not mushy or falling apart). I did have to add water to the pan a couple of times because it was browning and getting dry but not getting softer. Add a few tbsp at a time as needed. Once the squash is cooked add to the bowl with the sausage.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve about 2/2-3/4 cup of the pasta water before draining.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in skillet over med-high heat. Add half the kale and 1/4 tsp salt. Cook tossing until wilted. Then add other half and another 1/4 tsp salt and toss to mix and cook until all wilted.

Add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water to the pan with kale and then add the squash sausage mixture and cooked pasta. Give it a generous sprinkle of black pepper. Cook tossing carefully until heated through.

If it seems dry add the rest of the reserved pasta water.

Serve topped with shaved Parmesan.

This was delicious and the leftovers were really good the next day for lunch. I will definitely be making this one again and I hope you give it a try.

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School Lunch Pizza Bites

The school year has just started and I am already sick of packing lunches! I always see amazing looking lunches on Pinterest that I would like to pack but who has the time and those containers! I went looking for some of those nice compartmentalized (is that even a word) containers and they are pricey. They were ranging from CDN$45-80. Oh Mylanta, I will need a second job! I can’t comit to just one container and those are so expensive. Can you sense my angst here? 

Anyway, on to the post. After perusing Pinterest for a few hours, I mean minutes, I came across these little pizzas that looked like faeries made them. This is it, my lunch saver.

We used:

1 tube pilsbury pizza dough

1 stick small pepperoni 

1 small can pizza sauce (for dipping)

Preheat oven to 350F.

We used a small round cookie cutter to make little dough circles just a little larger than he diameter of the pepperoni.



Place dough circles on a lightly greased baking sheet and press the pepperoni into the dough.Bake for 10 mins on 350F.




And here is a lunch all ready to go, note the absence of cool container. I will comit to a cool container soon.

There are good. Of course you can use cheese or anything that your child likes on the dough. This took minutes and she can’t wait to have lunch.

Chicken pesto flatbreads with arugula salad

This looks fancy but really is very easy, fast and delicious. Perfect for busy summer days!

I used prepared flatbreads and brushed with olive oil, add small dallops of pesto all over, added cut up cooked chicken breast (vegetarian option-leave out chicken) and topped with crumbled goat cheese. Then bake this in 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for 5 minutes.


Take out and top with arugula (dressed with balsamic vinaigrette) top with a few cherry or grape tomato halves. Drizzle with balsamic glaze. That’s it, quick, fancy and delicious. Just pop open a nice bottle of wine et voila!

Crepe Cake with Raspberry Orange Mascarpone Cream

This is a great celebration cake and would make the perfect Mother’s Day dessert. It would also be a great addition to a baby shower, bridal shower, or brunch table. The best part is that you can make the crepes the day before and then whip up the cream and assemble a couple of hours before you serve it.


I got this recipe from Canadian Living magazine. They test the recipes until perfect and I have never made a bad recipe from that magazine. I will include a link below to the original recipe.

For the crepes:

2&1/2 cups warm milk

2cups all purpose flour

6 eggs

6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 cup vegetable oil

In a blender ( I used my Hand blender in a large bowl) purée together milk, flour, eggs, butter, sugar and salt until smooth.  Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.


You should have a very smooth batter with no lumps at all.

Heat an 8″ skillet or crepe pan over medium heat, brush lightly with oil. Pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter into pan swirling to coat. Cook turning once until golden.



Layer between waxed or parchment paper. Repeat with remaining batter. You should have about 30 crepes.


I ruined the first two and ended up with about 23, the last one was tiny as you can see on the top of the cake. 

I wrapped the crepes in plastic wrap on plate wth parchment between each one and kept in the fridge overnight.

For the cream:

2&1/2 cups whipping cream

1&1/4 cups mascarpone cheese

5 tbsp liquid honey 

1tbsp vanilla 

1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed 

2cups fresh raspberries 

In large bowl beat together cream, mascarpone and honey until stiff peaks form, then beat in vanilla, orange juice concentrate and 1 cup of the raspberries until evenly distributed. Remove 1/4 cup to a small bowl and set aside.




To assemble:

Place 1 crepe on cake plate. Spread with thin layer of cream mixture. 

Repeat with others. 

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Just before serving top with reserved cream and mound remaining raspberries on top of cake.


Look at those layers!


Original source: Canadian Living 

Guinness Beef Stew

I am trying to get ahead of the game for once and share a holiday recipe before said holiday, when it is most relevant. Here is one for St. Patrick’s Day.


In my normal fashion I didn’t write anything down. I just put the stew in the oven so I am typing before I forget

1lb stew beef

3carrots

1parsnip

1 onion

2-3 stalks celery

Tomato paste

3 cups chicken broth

4 tbsp flour

3cloves garlic

Thyme & bay leaf

Season the beef pieces with a good sprinkling of salt and pepper. Add a few glugs of olive oil to a Dutch oven and brown all sides. 

Remove meat from pan and set aside.This is the good stuff, leave it in the pan, it is the flavour. 

Add 200g chopped meaty bacon ( I used a maple wood smoked).  Add chopped onion and minced garlic and cook until softened. 


Once softened sprinkle with 3-4 tbsp flour and stir around to coat everything and add 1 can of Guinness.

 

When we are done with Guinness, the leftover foam always gets put into a small bowl for Max, he loves it! After he laps it down he runs off to his bed to roll around.


Back to the cooking.  

Add carrot and parsnip, celery, chicken stock and 4 tbsp tomato paste. Stir again to mix and dissolve the paste.

Add the meat back to the pot along with any accumulated juices

Add 2 bay leaves and a tsp of dried thyme.

I think I added about 1/2 tsp salt and a generous 1/8tsp pepper. Cover and cook in 325F oven for 2 1/2 hrs.

Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Probably best to let people add their preferred amount at the table.


Serve with bread or crusty rolls for soaking up the gravy.


😊 

Homemade Spinach Flatbread Paneer Fajitas 

It may sound like a strange fusion but it was sooo good and I ate so much it hurts to breathe. Evie ate as much as I did! 


I took two different recipes and put them together for this meal and it worked. I used a bottled cilantro chutney to drizzle, which would have been even better if I had the time to make my own version.

 For the paneer there really wasn’t a measured recipe so I just make a guess at amounts.

For the spinach flatbreads I pretty much used Jhuls recipe, but I used about 5-6 tbsp of water to get the dough to come together.




For the paneer I followed SJ’s instructions, used a mixure of about 1tsp of each, chilli powder, coriander, salt, cumin and a garam masala that I had in the cupboard. Basically combined spices them tossed the slices of paneer with the spices and a drizzle of canola oil then grilled.


Make onion and pepper mixture with some tomato to top.


Place all on flatbread and drizzle with cilantro chutney and tamarind sauce.

Instagram & Falafel Veggie Burgers

First of all, before I forget, we are now on Instagram! I have wanted to do that for a very long time and today I did it! We are @ cookswithevie.

I have so many posts to finish! I hope I can get time to post them soon. 

We made these “burgers”, next time I want to try these on pita with tahini and hummus. I wasn’t prepared this time and just used the buns we had. 

This recipe is so easy. 

1/3 cup large flake oats

1cup chickpeas (I used canned, drained)

1cup lentils (I used canned, drained)

3 garlic cloves, minced 

2 green onions, chopped

1 egg

2tsp chili powder 

1tsp oregano

 1/4tsp salt

1/2 English cucumber, finely diced

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 

Whirl oats in food processor until ground. Add in chickpeas, garlic, onion, egg, chili powder, oregano and salt. 

Process scraping down sides as needed until smooth. 

Place this mixture in a bowl and stir in lentils, cucumber and parsley. 

Shape into 4 patties.  

Cook patties in a lightly greased pan until golden on each side. 



We served on buns drizzled with tahini. And added whatever each person felt like adding. 

We also served with these baked sweet potato fries with curry lime dip.

 That super simple recipe will follow tomorrow.

Beet Potato Salad

This is definitely a Newfoundland recipe, or at least that is the only place I have ever had this type of potato salad. If it is made in other places please let me know, I would love to hear about it.  After our thanksgiving we had leftover turkey and potato so we decided to make a cold plate, which is cold leftover meat with a variety of salads. This is a great way to use up leftovers to avoid food waste.

To make this salad I don’t have a recipe, just eyeball and taste based on knowing what it should taste like.

Basically take a small (or large) bowl of leftover potatoes and mash them.  

Take a jar or pickled beets (mine have a slightly sweet pickled flavour) and place beets in food processor, or chop and mash if you don’t have one. You will have this beet pulp.

Add the processed beets to the little potatoes, add a table spoon or two of the beet pickling liquid if too dry. Add a large spoonful of mayonnaise and stir

Taste and add more beet, beet liquid, mayo and salt & pepper to taste 

You will have a lovely pink coloured potato salad.

Homemade Cough Drops

The air has changed this weekend. There is a chill in the air and the light has changed,the sun seems a little lower in the sky and there is less natural light in the house. Not great for picture taking. I have a dry tickle in my throat that I hope is just due to the air getting drier and not of anything else starting. Since it is a holiday we get to stay home, so we decided to give these cough candies a go. 

There are only a few ingredients, and I had all on hand. These are to use when you just need to keep your mouth and throat from being too dry, not in place of medication or a visit to the doctor if you are feeling under the weather. 

The recipe is from Noshing with the Nolans, take a look for detailed instructions. Basically, to a saucepan add 1 cup sugar, 1/2cup sugar, 1tbsp honey (I used unpasteurized buckwheat), 1/2tsp ginger, 1/2tsp cinnamon & 1/4tsp cloves, 1 tbsp lemon juice. Bring to a boil & boil until it reaches hard crack stage, about 20 minutes. That is 302 degrees Fahrenheit, you will want to use a candy thermometer.





Drop in little blobs onto a silpat or parchment, let cool.

Let cool and harden completely, the toss in confectioners sugar so they don’t stick together. 
Shake off excess sugar.  Store in a container until ready to use.

Madras Chicken Soup

I found this recipe in an old Chatelaine magazine. I put it aside years ago and decided to actually make it. It is fall and that brings soup weather.  It was very tastyand smelled wonderful.


I didn’t have any brown rice so I used basmati. Also, I didn’t have frozen peas, I used a mixture of peas and corn.




This is the point when the smell gets amazing!


This is the point where I forgot to take pictures, but you just add the stuff to the pot, so there wasn’t anything to exciting that you missed.


Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.