Tag Archives: lemon

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Sauce

These are lemony, light and airy pancakes. The egg whites give a slightly soufflé like texture and the ricotta gives extra protein. The sauce is quick to make while the pancakes are cooking, just maple syrup, seedless raspberry jam and frozen blueberries simmered to make a sauce.


Start off by seating a lemon, you will need 1 heaping TBSP of the zest.

In a large bowl whisk two egg yolks (save the whites), 1cup ricotta, 3tbsp sugar, 1/2 cup all purpose flour and zest

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until glossy peaks form.

Gently fold the ricotta mixture, a bit at a time, into the egg whites. Then slowly mix in 2tbsp melted butter.

Cook in hot fry pan or griddle 

For the sauce I placed 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, 1/3 cup frozen wild blueberries and 1/3 cup maple syrup in a small saucepan and let simmer gently for a few minutes and then keep warm until ready to pour over pancakes.

Too with the blueberry maple sauce
Very light and fluffy and sooo good!

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Lemon Caper Cod en Papillote

Well that sounds fancy! Everything sounds fancier en francais, non?

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This dish is very simple to put together and only about 15 minutes to bake and the result is impressive.

Only a few ingredients:

Cod (1 piece person, each piece a little larger than a deck of cards)

lemons ( about 4-5 thin slices per piece of cod)

2tbsp chopped capers

1-2 shallots, thinly sliced ( about 1/3-1/2 shallot per piece of cod)

salt to taste

cold butter cubed (about 1-2 tbsp per piece of cod)

Parchment to wrap

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Take a large piece of parchement (about 4X the size of your cod) and place pats of butter, shallots capers and lemons on top of and around cod.  Then wrap cod tightly in the parchement so it can steam.

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Bake at 450F for about 15 minutes.  I baked our little pieces for about 18 minutes, cause I like my fish well done.  The time will depend on the size of the cod.  When done you should insert a knife tip into the center of the fish for a few seconds and be hot when you take it out, and the fish should be white and flaky.

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We served ours over basmati rice, but you can use anything that would go well with white fish and lemon.

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Cilantro Mint Chutney

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I have a favourite Indian restaurant close by that I usually crave just for their mint chutney, it is sooo incredibly good.  We order it with paneer pakoras which Evie also loves so we will have to start doubling and tripling the orders because we are like crazy seagulls fighting over them! Of course since she is the child we let her get her fill.  Since we have that mint field in the back garden we decided to search online and try our own which was reminiscent of my favourite but not really like it in consistency (probably because I used the NutriBullet) I am sure they hand chop everything.  This sauce was so good Evie even gobbled it up with her pakoras.  I did not make the pakoras, we ordered those from the Indian restaurant and picked them up just before we were ready to eat.  We will definitely be making this again!  I just saw that Natascha posted zucchini fritters and Elaine posted cauliflower cakes so I think I will be trying out those recipes to accompany the sauce.

This was very quick and easy to make.  I googled and checked pinterest and basically looked at a few recipes and combined different parts and came up with this.

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Into the large jar of the Nutribullet blender I added 1 cup fresh mint leaves along with 1/2- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (along wit h some team pieces), a thumb sized pieces of ginger chopped and 1 green chile, chopped and about 1TBSP fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1tsp cumin powder and a good pinch of salt.  I blended a little and it was dry so I added enough water just a TBSP or two and blitzed again.  This loosened the sauce a blended it nicely.

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Do not take a huge sniff when you take the lid off, it will knock your socks off, pretty potent stuff.   I did and it was like smelling salts.

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I placed it in a jar in the fridge until ready to use.  Give a stir before pouring out in bowl as some separation may occur.

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This sauce was so fresh and spicy, delicious!

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Kouzounas Lemonade

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I saw this “Lemonade with a Twist” recipe on Kouzounas Kitchen and I just happened to have lemons and limes in the fridge and an abundance of mint in the garden.  I had to make it to go with our Canada Day dinner.  I adapted the recipe slightly as she used ginger and she also used the peel on the citrus, stop by her blog if you would like the original recipe….there are also a lot of other wonderful greek and mediterranean recipes there as well.  I didn’t have ginger so I left that out and I cut the peel off the citrus but then I added a few pieces of each type back to blend.  I also used superfine sugar (also known as caster sugar) because it dissolves well in drinks.

The lemonade was delicious and I have added it to my old fashioned real handwritten recipe book so I always have it.

2 lemons

2 limes

3/4 cup sugar

sprig of fresh mint

8 cups of cold water

I don’t have a large blender to I used my NutriBullet (I love it).  I added the citrus, a bit of the peel, and sugar to the NutriBullet with about 2 cups of the water as that was all l that could fit in the largest canister.  I blended that and strained the juice out into a large jug (discarding the pulp and peely bits),  then I added the remaining 6 cups of water to the jug as well and gave it a stir. Then I threw in a few mint leaves and placed in the refrigerator to chill.

We thought it was a really great lemonade because it was tart, but just sweet enough to be delicious.  We will definitely be making this a regular summer drink.

Cheers!

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Lemony Chicken Skewers

Food Revolution Day is May 15, 2015, it was started by Jamie Oliver a few years ago, following in the spirit of his Food Revolution cookbook, which I have and use often.  I highly recommend it as it is a great book.   It is all about making your own, good, healthy real food.  Making your own food doesn’t have to be complicated, some of the best meals are very simple.  This recipe is one of those.  I found the original recipe in a magazine and have tweaked it to be quicker and easier, but it is healthy and full of flavour.

This is a great summer recipe, very tasty and perfect on the grill, but good in the oven too.  Especially nice because you can throw everything in a zip top back to marinade all day and then grill in the evening.

I will spare you the photos of cutting up raw chicken. The chicken should be cut in chunks big enough to be threaded onto a bamboo skewer, maybe an inch or two.

Place chicken in a zip top bag along with 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp minced garlic, 1&1/2 tsp dried oregano, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Shake around to coat chicken and place in refrigerator all day (or at least a an hour).

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Thread onto bamboo skewers that have been pre-soaked in water for a couple of hours (so they don’t catch fire), or you can use metal skewers if you have them.  Grill until cooked through.

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These skewers are good served with greek pita that has been warmed on the grill , tzatziki (i know that is spelled wrong) and a nice salad.  We made Jamie Oliver’s chopped salad from his Food Revolution book, it is really good.

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Roasted Garlic Hummus

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I haven’t made hummus in a long time.  It is so easy just to pick up a container at the grocery store.  The last few times I made hummus we didn’t eat much of it and it ended up in the bin, the garlic was too strong.  This time I decided to roast the garlic first to make it sweet and mellow.  It worked wonderfully, it was really good, from now on I will roast the garlic before adding it to hummus.

This really is quite simple to make so if you like hummus and have never made it you should.

To roast the garlic:

Take a whole garlic bulb and cut the top off.  Place the bulb in a piece of foil drizzle it in a good glug of olive oil, wrap and bake in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes.  It should look golden and sticky when done.

Sometimes I roast a few bulbs at time and once cooled place them in a jar covered in olive oil for use in recipes.  They keep for weeks like that as long as they are completely covered in oil.

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For the hummus:

Place a (540ml) can of chick peas,(rinsed and drained) into a food processor.

Add the full bulb of garlic (squeeze the cloves out of the bulb, discard the peel)

Add about 3 Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)

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freshly squeezed lemon juice lemon juice, to taste.  At least a 3 tbsp.

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and a generous pinch of salt and 1/4 tsp ground cumin and 3 tbsp water

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Blitz it, drizzling in a few tbsp olive oil until it is nice and smooth.  I usually stop a few times to scrape down the sides and continue blitzing.  Taste and see if you need more lemon or salt.  Add what you want to get the flavour and continue processing until it is as smooth as you want.

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Serve drizzled in more olive oil.  I sprinkled with some sumac.

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We served it for dinner with a salad that Evie made (all by herself), homemade pita breads and beef kabobs.

IMG_3145The recipes for the pita and kabobs will follow soon!

Lemon Roast Chicken & A Winter Outing

This is a pretty simple roast chicken.  It is tasty and the chicken is moist.  Of course all the better if you are using a good quality chicken.  I have a favourite which is locally sourced and is organic and free roam.  I am sceptical when large commercial brands make that claim, so locally sourced from small producers who actually have a large yard where they allow the chickens to roam around is best.  We use leftovers for sandwiches or to top salad so we don’t waste any.  Evie is quite aware of where her food comes from and meat means that an animal died to give that food, that means you do not waste it.  Same rule goes for anything that comes from an animal, it doesn’t always work to get her to eat everything but the message is there.

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Preheat oven to 400F

In a small bowl stir together 1 TBSP olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic, 1tsp dried sage (or thyme if using), 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4tsp black pepper. Slice 1 lemon into thin slices.

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Rinse and dry chicken.

I apologize for the raw chicken picture, this is the only one just to show the process.

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Gently separate the skin from the chicken by sliding your fingers underneath the skin. Rub the oil-herb mixture under the skin and insert the lemon slices between the skin and the meat.  Gently smith the skin back over this.  I always throw any leftover lemon pieces into the cavity before tying it up neatly.

Place in a baking dish (breast side up) and roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350F and roast another 30 minutes until done.  A meat thermometer should read 180F and juices run clear.  Let stand about 10 minutes before slicing.  We serve with roasted potatoes and carrots drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of fleur de sel.  Sorry I didn’t take pictures of the veg.

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It has been a very long cold and messy winter this year.  Winters here are never great but this year it seems like it its never going to end.  We did force ourselves out to see a bit of the winter carnival.

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Luckily we are in maple syrup country

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this was quickly followed with  “you are brushing your teeth as soon as we get home”

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Some Quebecoise musicians, not Arcade Fire, but nice.

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Try walking in those!

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Hope spring is staring where you are.

Raspberry Jam

Raspberry picking is hard work.  We picked a few raspberries, just over a pint.  I didn’t want any more that that because they go bad really fast and I don’t like raspberry seeds in my teeth.  So, we used a pint of berries to make a small batch of jam to keep in the fridge and use over the next couple of weeks.  It has a beautiful deep raspberry colour and smells great too.  Even though there are seeds I do like the jam.

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Raspberry Jam

2 cups fresh raspberries

1 cup sugar

1tbsp lemon juice

1&1/2 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

In a small saucepan bring all ingredients to a boil, stirring constantly and mashing berries with the spoon.  Boil hard, skimming off any foam and stirring frequently, until slightly reduced and thickened…about 5 minutes.  Pour into a container, preferably glass, and let cool completely.  Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 weeks.