Category Archives: Cooking

Fried Cauliflower

18 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Cooking, recipe

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I learned how to make this delicious food from an Albanian.  I don’t know if people make it around here, but it was the first time I heard about it.  I don’t have a recipe written out, as I learned Albanians don’t go by “recipes”.  They cook and bake by how it looks, feels, and tastes.

That was something new for me who typically needs to follow the recipe – especially when baking.  I’m a little more flexible when I cook.  I am going to attempt to write out a recipe for you incase you are so inclined to try cooking these up yourself.  They are definitely worth a try.


Ingredients

Chunks of cauliflower
2 – 3 Eggs beaten
2 – 3 tbs flour
pinch of salt
Vegetable oil (or Olive Oil)
Directions
1.  Cook the cauliflower in boiling water until tender.  They taste much better when this is done, I know from experience of forgetting to cook them first!
2.  While the cauliflower cooks, beat the eggs and add some flour and salt to make a light batter.  You should have more egg then flour.  It is not a thick batter.  
3.  Drain cauliflower and take the bite size pieces and coat in batter.  It should look like a think layer on the cauliflower – just enough to coat it lightly.  
4.  Heat enough oil in a pan so that when you place the coated cauliflower in the pan, the are mostly covered.  Once oil is heated, place as much coated cauliflower as the pan will allow.  
5.  Turn over when batter begins to brown.  The batter should fluff a bit.  
6.  Remove from oil when they are a golden brown (see picture above).
7. Serve warm and enjoy!  
These are best eaten fresh, although they can be saved for the next day.
The last time I made this I served them with salmon, beats, beat greens, and roasted sweet potato.  It made for a delicious meal!  Since they are fried, I don’t make them often, but they are a nice treat to have once in a while.  
Do you have any fun recipes from other cultures?  I would love to hear about them.  Let me know if you try this recipe by leaving a comment below.

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Spinach Dip

10 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Cooking, Dukan Diet

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Hot-Out-of-the-Oven Spinach Dip

I had a few friends over for New Year’s Eve and I decided to make a spinach dip.  I have a little recipe book that I write my favourite recipes or ones that look really great that I want to try one day.  Finally I tried the spinach dip.  It turned out amazingly good!  We had crackers, purple corn chips, and veggies to eat it with.  I preferred the purple corn chips, but it was nice with the others too.

Next time you are having some friends over or going somewhere that you need a finger good to take, I highly recommend this appetizer!  You can even make it fancy by cooking it in pumpernickel bread.  That is how it is originally suppose to be done, but of course I left it until the day off to find bread and I wasn’t going to drive 20 minutes just for one thing.  So as you can see it can also be made in a dish suitable for the oven.

The Recipe:

2 pkg (250g) cream cheese softened
1 C                grated cheddar cheese
2 tsp              dill
1 C                mayo
1/4 C             diced onion
1/2 C             bacon bits
1 pkg             chopped spinach
1 large round loaf of pumpernickel bread

1) mix cream cheese, cheddar cheese, dill, mayo, onion, and bacon bits together.
2) Put spinach dip in the pumpernickel bread (with a knife cut out or pull out a majority of the centre of the bread and cube the leftover bread for later).  Wrap in foil.
3) Back at 325 for 1 hour.
4) Serve with leftover cubed bread or any kind of tortilla or corn chips, or crackers.

Note: If you do not have pumpernickel bread, place into a casserole dish or other oven safe dish.  Do not cover and keep same cooking temp and time.

Unfortunately I can’t have this recipe again for another few months because I am following a new dieting program (Follow my series starting with Dukan Diet: Intro and Attack Phase)  But we can actually have most of what is in the recipe during our second phase with some modifications.

Things that need to be modified:
The cream cheese needs to be fat free.  We have been finding it difficult to find no fat cream cheese in Canada, but they have it in the States.  We are heading there at some point before our third phase so we will definitely be picking some up while we are there.  We could use light cream cheese, but fat free would be better.

The cheddar cheese also needs to be fat free or maybe by this phase we can have low fat or regular cheese (I’ll have to double check on that one).

We are not allowed to have mayo (I don’t even think in the third phase – another thing to double check) but Greek yogurt is a great substitute for mayo or there is a recipe for Mayo in the Dukan Diet book.

Bacon bits are a no because we can’t have real bacon!  But we could make our own bacon bits with chicken or turkey bacon, which we are allowed to have.

No pumpernickel bread on the second phase, but we can have some whole wheat grain bread on the third phase!  But the dip is really good with veggies anyways which we can have after we are done the first phase.

Things we can have without modification:
Dill, onion, spinach.

I think on the third phase we can have this without as much modification, but I would have to check on that.  For sure I will be able to eat it on the fourth phase, because that is the phase for life.  You will hear all about it when I start it.  But not until then… except for maybe some hints here and there!

Don’t worry, eventually when I get into the other phases my Tuesday post won’t revolve around the Dukan Diet.  I don’t want you to get sick of hearing about it!  If you want to hear about it then look for my Friday posts, which will be a weekly update on my progress of the Dukan Diet.

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Crepes

14 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by in Cooking

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One Saturday morning I went to a house brunch with a bunch of friends from ADC.  I took my lovely Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancake batter along with me to make pancakes.  When I got there someone was making omelettes, another bacon, and still another crepes.  Yes, crepes!  Something that I have always wanted to try making, but never had.  I was very excited when Matt (who is taking a culinary arts program) asked if anyone wanted to try cooking crepes!  HELLO!  OF COURSE I DO!

Crepe with peanut butter and banana

He showed me the technique and I was on my way to cooking awesome crepes.  He even used my favourite website to find the recipe: allrecipes.com   One morning I woke up and decided to try it on my own since I hadn’t made the batter, I had only cooked them.  They turned out great!  I was very pleased.

For those of you dying for the recipe, here it is:

1 C      all-purpose flour
2          eggs
1/2 C   milk
1/4 C   water
1/4 tsp  salt
2 tbsp   butter, melted

1.  In a mixing bowl mix together flour, eggs, and gradually mix in milk and water until combined.  Add salt and butter and beat until smooth.
2.  Heat desired size griddle or frying pan (as you can see by the size of my crepes I used a small pan) with a bit of olive oil.  When hot, lift frying pan off the stove and scoop about 1/4 C of batter into centre of the frying pan.  Tilt the with a circular motion so the batter coats the surface of the pan evenly.
3.  Cook crepe for about 2 minutes.  Loosen with spatula.  Turn and cook the other side until lightly brown.  Serve hot.

Notes:
– do not use more then 1/4 C of batter because then they will be too thick (small pan).
– You see it cook from the outside in.  Once the outer edges are cooked you can start to lift it with the spatula.
– Next time I am going to try making them with whole wheat flour and see how the turn out.

Ways to Serve:
– plain (how boring, but good!)
– any kind of jams / syrup
– peanut butter and banana
– brie cheese and salmon
– ice-cream and favourite toppings
– tuna melts
– taco’s (soft shell)
– burrito’s
– any kind of wrap you can think of
– use your imagination!

What’s your favourite kind of crepe?

P.S. I hope to make a video at some point for the technique of cooking crepes.  Stay tuned!

Above Left: Before it was flipped
Below: After it was flipped

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Kale Chips

30 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Cooking

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I love this healthy snack!  It is so delicious!  Don’t knock it until you tried it!

Make them on your own.

~ Get a bunch of kale (found at the local grocery store or markets)
~ cut or rip the leafy part of the hard stem
~ wash in a salad spinner (if you don’t have one just run under water and pat (use dish towel, not paper towel) or shake dry
~ in a bowl use 1 – 2 tbsp of olive oil and mix in with the kale
~ add in your favourite seasoning – salt, balsamic vinegar (my fav), soya sauce, spices, herbs, etc.
~ place on a cookie sheet in one layer
~ bake at 350 in the oven for 10 – 15 min.  They should come out crispy and not brown.  Watch them so they do not brown/burn.

*Notes*
These are best eaten out of the oven or up to 3 – 4 hrs later.  They are not that great the next day.  Plus, once you start eating them you won’t be able to stop!  🙂

Other ways to incorporate the very green veggie into your healthy eating plan:
– put it in smoothies: Just rip it up and throw it in (don’t use the stem – just the leaf).  Try putting it in first so it grinds up well.  Can’t even tell it’s in there!
– in stir fry: rip up or cut the leaf off the stem and throw it in (closer to the end of cooking time)
– in the juicer: you do not get that much juice from it, but if you want some green in there it will work
– in salad: put it in salad with other leafy greens
– plain: just pop it in your mouth and chew away

It’s a great veggie and I hope you try it and incorporate it into your eating habits!

How have you used kale?

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Fluffy Omelettes

25 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in Cooking

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I’ve always wanted to make my own omelettes.  I’ve tried in the past but they haven’t turned out that great.  The funny thing is I don’t really like ordering them when I eat out for breakfast (and I love eating out for breakfast).  I think it is because they always have things in there that I don’t want in them and I don’t want to be bothered to ask them to leave it out because it normally ends up only having cheese in the omelette.

I have access to a small frying pan and flipper, which I think are key to making a lovely omelette.  I can also put what I want in them – no onions or peppers!  I also fluff them up.  I use an electric whisk.
Something like these (either one works):

This fluffs the egg up really nicely!

Today I added cheese, kale, and some lemon herbs.  It was delish!

I’m not going to go into details about how to make the omelette, but if you are curious, just ask.  
                                                      Or go to www.allrecipies.com  
                                                      A great cooking website!

The eggs do make a difference!
These are our own free-range eggs.

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Jackman’s Whole Wheat Shake ‘n Bake

20 Thursday Oct 2011

Posted by in Cooking

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A couple years ago I wanted to make chicken with a crispy outside but didn’t want to use Shake ‘N Bake. I also wanted a healthier alternative so I looked up a recipe.  I remembered this tonight when I was cooking fish for supper, but I didn’t bother to look up a recipe.  I thought I would get a little creative and just try out using whole wheat flour and some herbs.  Did it work?  Read on and find out!

This is what I did:

I took some whole wheat flour and put it in a bowl (enough that you think will cover the amount of meat you have – can be used on any meat like fish, chicken, pork chops, etc.).

Then I added crushed basil leaves, parsley flakes, pepper, dried lemon and herb to the flour.  You can add whatever herbs or spices you would like.  Don’t be afraid to be generous with the herbs and spices.  Sorry, I don’t measure when making this type of thing.  I just throw it in and see how it ends up.  If you are stuck on measurements, just try it out and see what happens.  Be creative with your cooking!

After you mix the whole wheat flour and the herbs and spices together prepare the meat (I used fish) by covering it with olive oil or egg white.  I’ve always used olive oil, but my Sister asked if I wanted egg white, so I tried it out.  It was awesome.  A little tip from my Sis:  use the egg white and yoke and mix together to get a thicker coating on your meat.

Do one piece at a time.  I find it more manageable.  You can put your mix in a bag and shake it all about, but I just put it in a bowl and use a spoon or my fingers to get it all over the fish.  Once it’s all battered up, put it in a pan with about a tbsp of olive oil.  (You might need to add oil depending on the size of your pan and how much meat you are cooking)  Then pan fry your fish until it is cooked to your likeness.

For oven baked fish or meat, you can do the same.  Try cutting up fresh, local veggies like sweet potatoes, carrots, and yellow beets and cooking it in the pan with your chicken or pork chops.  You could also cook them in a pan separately.  I loved baked veggies.  This combo is my favourite.  Mix the veggies with olive oil and your favourite herbs/spices and bake until desired tenderness.  Lovely meal combo!

When cooking meals, remember to try and be creative.

P.S. I’m sorry I don’t have a picture.  It was so good that it was gone before I even thought of snapping a picture.  Oh, and yes, it sure did work!  It was mighty fine tasting!

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