Avocado and Crab Bruschetta

So last week I took a wee vacation to my favourite city in the world…London, England.  It was a fabulous 5 days spent with my great friend, Lisa, who works at the Canadian Consulate and what’s better was that it was a gift from my hubby for the craptastic year I had last year!  So I got to be in my favourite city with a fabulous friend and not be a tourist.  Now don’t get me wrong, we did a couple touristy things like high tea at Kensington Palace, Portobello Market in Notting Hill (too many people for this claustrophobic), went to the top of the Shard for the view (it was raining so not so great but fun non-the-less) and took pictures in front of Big Ben to prove I was there.  But mostly we did not-so-common things including a morning trip to Richmond, tea at Peggy Porschen’s Cake Parlour and going out for pizza.

After the crazy of the Portobello market, Lisa took me to her favourite pizza joint where we shared an appetizer of avocado and crab bruschetta.  It was the tastiest thing I’ve eaten in a very long time.  I immediately had to figure out the recipe and I did :) yay me!

Avocado and Crab Bruschetta

• 1 ripe avacado
• 1/4 cup crab meat
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8-10 cherry tomatoes sliced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/4 cup onion finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp parsley

1. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
2. Toast favourite bread and top with mixture
3. Enjoy!

So now I’m back to reality and saw the avocados at the grocery store and my mind immediately went to that little pizza joint in Notting Hill.  I knew what I needed to do and you should too!  Now if you aren’t a crab fan, you could omit it but as a fan, it was soooooo good.

I hope you get a chance to visit London, but if you can’t you can certainly make this tasty treat at home.

Thanks for looking!

Roasted Garlic and Butternut Squash Soup–week 2 Gluten Free

I’d like to say that week two was easier than week one but I’d be lying through my bread eating lips :)  I may have cheated a wee bit, not a lot, but the cravings were crazy.  When you love bread, just the smell makes me want to have some.  Ok, must stop talking about it…

I also had some good reasons, starting when I got a good scare caused by my youngest.  She asked if we could do carpool Wednesday and I just assumed that meant drop off in the morning.  What I didn’t realize was that she meant end of day pick up as well.  So when Abby got home and asked if Rowan was there because she wasn’t on the bus my heart rate escalated to dangerously high levels.  I tried not to panic, too much.  Abby and I got back into the car and called the school as we drove towards it (slightly above the limit).  The school located her and when we got there she was in the front office surrounded by four teachers having no idea what she did was wrong.  Once my pulse got back to almost normal… I required a drink and a cookie.

Then the last nail in my proverbial coffin was while I was working out.  As you know I haven’t exactly had the best year in the physical department.  Three herniated discs, two ruptures with surgeries and a partridge in a pear tree.  Just kidding about the last one.  Anyway, I’ve started with a personal trainer who works with people with back trauma.  She’s great and I am doing very small movements but at least I can now engage my abdominals all by myself.  Not bad after a year and half.  Now that’s the good side, the bad side happened when I went to stretch or extend my leg after my 30 minute walk on the treadmill.  When I did, it went numb (pins and needles).  Which, to be honest, is the strangest feeling on the planet.  I know it’s not going to buckle but it still caused a pause of concern.  So I had a slice of pizza as I was just not motivated to make dinner that night. I’m heading back to see the doc this week.

So you may think I cheated three times but there were fairly good reasons, if any.

But I also made some super yummy GF items.  Lots of really tasty salads and this amazing soup.

I bought a bag of pre-cut butternut squash and roasted it with garlic.  I then added some low sodium stock and pureed until I got the right consistency.  Voila soup!  Simple and delicious.

You can also not be lazy like me and peel and chop your squash.

Roast at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown

Put into medium saucepan and add low sodium stock, about two cups.  Start with 1 cup and add until desired consistency.

Get to the right consistency.  I like mine a little thicker.

and last but certainly not least…enjoy!

So week two is behind me and I head into this upcoming week in a more positive frame of mind.  At least that’s what I’m planning.

Thanks for looking!

No Bean Crockpot Chili

Ok, so have you heard the term Paleo before?  I heard it for the first time about two years ago but just kind of shrugged and went about my way.  As the last two years have gone by the term has popped up more and more. 

So what is it?  As defined by thepaleodiet.com: The Paleo diet is based upon eating wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era, the time period from about 2.6 million years ago to the beginning of the agricultural revolution, about 10,000 years ago. These foods include fresh meats (preferably grass-produced or free-ranging beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and game meat, if you can get it), fish, seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthful oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed). Dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods were not part of our ancestral menu.

I like to describe it as the back to basics diet.  The “if you made it from scratch” you can eat it diet, provided you don’t use ready made items, dairy, white or brown sugar or legumes (beans).  Yes, I know that’s an over simplification but I’m overly simple when it comes to food.  Too many rules makes me want to walk away because, if anything, food should be easy.  Anyone should be able to eat healthy.

At the grocery store, the best way to stay in the “zone” of healthy eating is to stay to the outside aisle.  The moment I go down the other aisles, that’s where I get in trouble.  I do love a good processed food :) Crackers are my biggest downfall.

As we enter into 2014 with all the possibilities available, my only goal is to be pain free and to not have to have another surgery.  Sadly there is a possibility there, so I’ve hired a personal trainer who specializes in back trauma to help me strengthen pretty much every muscle I have and to eat healthy consistently.  I mean we all try to eat healthy but who doesn’t like to indulge now and again.

I have no plan to go completely paleo, but I am going to try limit my intake of all things processed.  Now saying this; the month of January is going to be gluten free-ish.  I’m a baker after all and therefore I taste all things I bake.  I just need to gain back control after the gluttony that was the holiday season.  I was so so bad.

My first recipe I’m sharing in the savory department is this crockpot chili.  I must confess, this wouldn’t be the way I would eat chili but when you have a husband who doesn’t do beans or onions, you kind of have to roll with it.  Without knowing it, this actually falls into the category of being paleo.  It’s also a set-it-and-forget-it kind of meal, which I do so love.

Crockpot Chili

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup homemade tomato sauce or favourite organic sauce
• 1 chopped red pepper
• 1 roasted pablano pepper chopped, seeds removed
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 1 tbsp ancho chili powder
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp pepper

1. Put all ingredients into crockpot, mix well and set on high for 6 hours.
2. Enjoy!

My mother, in all honesty, makes the best chili.  However, this is darn good.  Even Abby gave it a thumbs up and that, right there, speaks volumes!!!

So over the next month, why don’t you join me while I attempt to stay on the straight and narrow!  Don’t worry, lots of sweet treats will be shared as well. Fun cookies as well as taking some old favourites and giving them a new twist.  It’s also my birthday month followed closely behind by Rowan’s 6th birthday.  Lots to celebrate!

Thanks for looking!

Best Buttermilk Biscuits EVER!!!!

We’ve lived in Cary, NC for three years now and up until a few weeks ago didn’t have a really good breakfast spot.  We had several favs in Ottawa but here, nada.

We were introduced to The Flying Biscuit and I am so glad we were.  But now I crave the bloody biscuits every weekend and since that’s a little ridiculous and expensive, I scoured the internet for the recipe.

Jackpot!!!! I found the recipe and then I changed it because that’s what I do :)  I took out the heavy cream and added buttermilk and then the half and half and added just 2% milk.  I think I like these even more.

Recipe: Adapted from Epi Curious on Food.com

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder plus 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar plus 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2/3 cup buttercream
• 2/3 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. This recipe can be done in one bowl (me likey that!!!)
3. In the bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
4. Cut the butter into the flour until it looks like oatmeal.
5. Add the buttercream and milk and fold until just combined.  You don’t want to over knead, nobody likes a heavy biscuit.
6. Roll the dough to an inch thickness and use a square cutter to cut out the biscuits.
7. You can re-roll the left over dough, but just once.  Again, you don’t want tough bickies.
8. Brush the biscuits with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar.
9. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes until golden brown.
10. Let cool a bit and enjoy!!!

These are awesome and now requested every weekend.  They are flakey, buttery, and awesomesauce!!!!

Have a great rest of the weekend and thanks for looking!

English Muffins–Take Two!

Ok, sorry for another delay in posting but I’ve had another drawback with my back.  Apparently it doesn’t want to heal as fast as I’d like it to so I’m back to moving very slowly.  I also require a brace for now and so my ability around the kitchen is a bit limited.  I’m still baking as you can see, just not as often as I’d like.  I thank you all for your patience with my healing, you have been great for coming back to visit!

Enough about my pity party, lets get on with why you are all here.  The sweets or in this case the savory treats!

I was watching my favourite TV channel last week, the Food Network and was watching the show, The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  One of the contributors, can’t remember his name, was in love with English Muffins from a bakery in Napa.  They used focaccia dough and thought that was pretty cool.  A couple days later I made pizza dough for dinner for the kids but they wanted something else and since I forgot to mention to Rob that I had made the dough, he offered them pasta.  So now I’ve got dough and I could just use it tomorrow or…

ooooh oooh that show used focaccia and pizza dough isn’t really that different.  Why not????  So I put the dough into the fridge over night and when I got up (way too early) I rolled it out and cut them with my circle cutter and let them proof.  Now this bakery also used butter in the pan instead of a dry pan with corn meal, so lets try that too!

I pulled out my cast iron pan (one of my favourite pans) and put it on medium-low heat.  I then coated the cut pieces of dough in corn meal and put aside.  Once the pan was heated, I added 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and added 3 to 4 muffins.  They baked for 7-10 minutes until golden brown, then I flipped and baked again for 7-10 minutes.  I pulled them out of the pan and set them aside while I repeated for the rest of the muffins, about 18 in total.

I really loved my first attempt at English Muffins using the King Arthur Flour recipe, but these were hands down better.  The dough is so simple or you can even buy ready made pizza dough at the store but it’s the butter in the pan that brought them to a new level.  These were amazing.  My next door neighbour has started to call me Mrs Crocker.  I’ll take that as a complement thank you!  Rob even said they tasted like more

Recipe:

• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 pkg)
• 1 1/3 cup warm water
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar

1. In the bowl of a mix master with dough hook, add all ingredients.  Mix on low until combined and then increase to medium low and knead for 5 minutes.  If you don’t have a mixer you can do this by hand but you need to put your back into it
2. Once kneaded, coat with a little oil and place back into bowl and let rise for an hour.  Punch down and put into fridge over night.
3. Next morning, take out of fridge and knead until warm.  Roll out and cut into circles.  Dust with corn meal and let rise an hour.
4. Using a cast iron skillet (if you have one, if not no worries) put on med-low.  Add a tablespoon of unsalted butter and place 3-4 (depending on size of pan).  Fry for 7-10 minutes, flip and fry for another 7-10 minutes.
5. Remove from pan and continue making the muffins until all are fried.
6. When still warm, slice and smother with jam or butter.  Bet you can’t eat just one!
7. Enjoy!

These are without a doubt delicious.

Thanks for looking!

Roasted Garlic Chicken with Couscous

It’s been a while since I posted a savory dish but I had to share this dish.  I first saw it when watching The Food Network, The Best Thing I Ever Made.  Anne Burrell made the inspiring dish and you can find her recipe here.

Fast forward to this week and I wanted to try it.  But if you are like me you loosely follow the recipe and alter for your tastes.  That’s what I did and I gotta say, thank goodness as this is so delicious.  A couple of the reviews said the dish took to long and there wasn’t much flavour, so I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen.  Since I’m probably the only one who will eat this in our family and I’m ok with that

Here’s what you’ll need:

• whole chicken cut up into parts
• 2 bulbs of roasted garlic
• One lemon – zest and juice
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• red pepper flakes (amount depends on how hot you like it)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cups Israeli couscous
• 1 large zucchini cut up
• 1/2 onion cut up
• 2 celery stalks cup up
• 3 tbsp tomato paste with basil
• pinch of saffron
• 1 cup good white wine (if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it)
• 3 cups low sodium chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Marinate chicken:

1. Roast garlic in oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Remove and let cool
2. In bowl combine lemon, zest, thyme, cumin, salt, pepper flakes, oil.
3. Mash up garlic and put into marinade.
4. Rub all over chicken pieces and let sit at least one hour.

Make couscous:

1. Bring water in saucepan to boil and cook couscous for 5 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

Make Chicken:

1. In a large saucepan, saute chicken in olive oil until crispy brown on all sides.  Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Drain the fat but try to leave as much of the garlic in the pan as possible.
3. Return pan to heat and saute the onions and celery until soft (3-4 minutes). Take all the remaining marinade left in original dish and add to saute pan. This really bumps up the flavour.
4. Deglaze pan with wine and let simmer another 3-4 minutes.
5. Add tomato paste, saffron, zucchini, couscous and chicken stock.
6. Return the couscous to a deep baking dish and nestle the chicken (skin side up) into the couscous.
7. Bake at 375 covered in foil for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and continue cooking for 20 minutes.  When chicken temp hits 165, you are done!
8. Let sit 10 minutes and then serve!
9. Enjoy

Ok, so I made this mid-day and was going to eat for dinner but couldn’t wait and had the plate in the pictures as a snack (hangs head but it was really really good).

So savory dishes might be making an occasional comeback for a little while as I try to get back to menu planning and eating right. I hope you don’t mind.

Thanks for looking!

Baba Ghanoush w/ homemade tortilla chips

When we moved to the states I never truly appreciated some of the staples you can get at the local Canadian grocery store.  Then after a year and half away and a month long visit, I again am missing some of those precious commodities, like President’s Choice dips.

Every one knows hummus but there are other Middle Eastern spreads that are even better and in my opinion, Baba Ghanoush is one of them.  It’s a roasted eggplant spread with tahini and garlic and lemon oh my!

Whilst we were north, in Ottawa to be precise, I have two baba ghanoush stories.  I know it’s odd to have one but to have two…I know.

First we were staying at a friend’s for dinner and she did a whole Middle Eastern themed evening.  For our appetizers, she served hummus (which the girls devoured) and baba.  I think I walked away from the appies for like 5 minutes and came back to find the baba was completely gone and watched in awe as Rob took a piece of pita and wiped clean the last few remnants.  What the?????  Let’s just say when it comes to veggies, eggplant wouldn’t be allowed in the house and the fact he just ate an entire dish of it was shocking.  Then being the lovely wife I am, I tormented him with it.  “Do you have any idea what’s in that?” “um, no”, “tehehe, that’s eggplant” and then the blank stare, the shrug and then he continued to wipe the bowl clean.  VICTORY!!!!  Only because I can now make it at home.

Second story was when my sister in law, Catherine and I went shopping before our girls night.  We were both so hungry and craving an Ace Bakery baguette, possibly the best on the planet. We also grabbed some President’s Choice Baba.  When we got back to our friend’s and without thinking, pulled off a chunk of the bread and dipped it right into the container, seriously classy!  It was like heaven in my mouth.

So now back in Raleigh and sadly our local grocery store and even our local Whole Foods didn’t have a pre-made baba but they did have tahini (sesame seed paste) , so screw it I’m making my own!

Here’s what you do!

• 2 medium sized purple eggplants
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped or dried parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel and slice eggplant and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake at 375 until soft, about 35 minutes
2. Transfer to food processor and add remaining ingredients. Puree together.
3. Put in air tight container and chill.
4. Serve!

If you want to make an easy tortilla chip.  Just take a tortilla and brush with olive oil. Toast and then slice into eights.

This is really good and low in fat.  Now don’t eat it all in one sitting, because you totally could.  If you find there is a bitter taste, your eggplant wasn’t cooked enough.  It should be easily mushed, it if stays lumpy, it’s not quite done.

Thanks for looking!

And we’re off…

Welcome officially to 2012 at Trilogy Edibles! 

My first post of the year and to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to make.  We got back from Florida late Sunday night after 12 hours in the car and then woke up Monday morning with nothing to bake.  Then it came to me, homemade biscuits.

CRAP!  No food in the house.  That’s what happens when you haven’t been home in 10 days and whatever you do have usually says hi back…ew.

Off to the grocery store to stock up was the first order of business.  I had to leave the kids on the couch where they were watching cartoons and announcing they were S   T   A   R  V   I   N   G!!! as only a 3 and 6 year old can do.

I also had to pick up the cat who was at camp whilst we were away.  Good Times all around.

When I walked back in the house, the girls were begging for breakfast and the cat was saying things that can’t be repeated here.  I know she wasn’t actually talking but there were definitely expletives being used in her language.  Many of them starting with the letter B and directed straight at me :)

Then I got caught up in the whirlwind of making breakfast and forgot about baking anything.  Fast forward a couple hours and the house is eerily quiet.  One child is next door and the other is out with her father who “needed” to go to the Apple store…yeah right.  But I’ll take the quiet house any way I can get it!

My first thought for baking was biscuits, at least it was for breakfast.  Then I was reminded by my friend Dorothy at Crazy for Crust’s and her fudge post about my intentions to make real, get down and dirty, kneaded fudge.  But I was missing a few items, so back to biscuits.  It still works because I’ve got a pot roast in the slow cooker and biscuits go great with pot roast.  Especially Cheesy Biscuits.

So the first recipe of the year is Cheese Biscuits.  What I like about biscuits is that they are easy, you don’t have to make them perfect looking and I get to use my most treasured baking utensil.  My grandmother’s rolling pin.  You all know how much I love my gran, so using her pin makes me feel like she’s here.  She made a mean biscuit too :)

Check out this bad boy!  It’s a solid piece and perfectly balanced. I love it!

Recipe: adapted from Alton Brown of the Food Network

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese

1. In mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
2. Add cut up butter and shortening and combine by rubbing your fingers through the flour mixture.  It should look like dry oatmeal when done.
3. Add buttermilk and cheese and mix until just combined.
4. Turn out on floured surface and knead lightly then roll out to 1 inch thickness.
5. Using 2 inch circle cutter, staying close together to minimize waste, cut out circles.
6. Recombine left over dough, trying not to over mix.
7. Place on baking sheet so the circles just touch, bake at 450 for 15-20minutes until golden brown.
8. Let cool and serve!

So welcome to 2012, I hope it brings you all much happiness and every good thing.  Don’t forget to check out my 1000 Fan Giveaway here and I hope you’ll come back again and again!

Thanks for looking!

Oh yeah, what’s your treasured item in the kitchen?  You know, the one thing you wouldn’t want to be without?

Linking with:
Get Your Craft On
Tea Party Tuesday
Handmade Tuesdays
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Tuesday To Do Party
Let's Do Bruch
I'm Loving It Fridays
Foodie Friday

A French Canadian Christmas Tradition–Tourtière

Something a little savory today!

Up until I moved to Ottawa ten years ago I had never heard of Tourtière.  After hearing about it, I thought OK, meat pie.  But I was promptly corrected at every turn and was taught about this French Canadian delicacy.

Very good friends of ours made it for us at my first Christmas in Ottawa and I loved it.  In essence it is a meat pie.  There is no sauce to speak of but the mixture of spices with ground pork and veal make it a truly wonderful savory treat. 

When I asked Gail if I could share her recipe, this was her response:

“Our pleasure.  It is an authentic French-Canadian recipe from around the Quebec City area from the early 20th century at least, if not earlier.  Many members of the family make it because it is delicious and so easy.  The flavourings are also typical of old French and Italian medieval recipes when strong spices disguised the taste of meat that was going off!”

So the “going off” is a bit of a turn off, no doubt.  But rest assured this is a delicious cold evening meal, served with roasty potatoes and salad and, of course, a nice bottle of wine!  Even the girls loved it (no wine for them!) and to be honest, they don’t like much.  Our next door neighbour’s daughter was over too and she only likes rice and chicken, so when she said it was really yummy, I knew we had a winner!

Recipe:

• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 1/2 lb ground veal
• 1 small onion minced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp powdered savory
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp powdered cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1. In a large saucepan, add onions and garlic and heat through.
2. Add remaining ingredients except for the bread crumbs and bring to boil.  Cook for 20 minutes uncovered.
3. Do not allow the pan to go dry.
4. Add bread crumbs and remove from the heat.  Let cool.
5. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
6. In an already prepared uncooked pie shell, fill with the cooled meat.  Cover with pastry top and add decorative pastry cutouts for venting. 
7. Bake at 425 F for 30 minutes or until pie crust is golden brown.
8. Can be eaten immediately or frozen when cooled and reheated in microwave or oven.  (it was delicious for lunch the next day)
9. Enjoy!

This truly is a wonderful and very traditional French-Canadian meal and I hope you give it a try.

Thanks for looking and thanks Gail for sharing!

(sorry about the not-so-great pictures, I haven’t mastered the art of indoor at night picture taking)

Savory Monday–Mini Chicken Pot Pies

It’s starting to feel a lot like fall!  Now the weather is all over the place because at the beginning of the week last week was 80s and then by then end of the week it was 60s.  Always makes picking the kids clothes a challenge each day.

I need to vent!  All you mum’s out there you know what I speak of when I say, I hate changing out the seasonal clothing.  Especially with such fluctuating temperatures.  One day shorts and t-shirts, the next day socks and long sleeves are a necessity.  I hate it!  Sadly it must be done.

I’m also not a fan of the fact that my kids are on opposite seasons for sizes. BLEH!

Ok, so back to the reason you are here.  Food!  Now I love the fall because I like to wear shorts with long sleeve shirts.  I’m Canadian, I like it cooler than warmer. I know I’m rare :)

And with cooler temperatures comes homier foods! Soups, stews and pot pies!

I also wanted to try something that my kids would eat..well attempt.  I have the pickiest eater on the planet and another who follows along.  Abby loves chicken, carrots, potatoes and peas so why not put them together.  Automatic response “I don’t like it” before it’s even served.  But the statement has been made and she now can’t back down.  She sat at the table for an hour but ate it all.  She liked it but would never admit it until 30 minutes later when she turned to me and said, “I really liked that!”

Rowan kept coming and going from the table and also ate it all too, so success. 

How did I feel about it???  It was awesome.  I inhaled it.  What I actually really loved, other than flavour, was the pastry top. I used puff pastry, for ease, but wow, yummmmmmmmm!  I also had it for lunch the next day and it was even better because all the flavour had more time to set.  Delish indeed :)

Recipe:

• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2.5 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup chopped and blanched potatoes
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Cook chicken in oven, tossed with oil and salt & pepper until fully cooked
3. Remove from oven set aside. Once cooled, chop into bite size pieces.
4. In saucepan, melt butter and add flour.  Make a roux
5. Slowly add heated chicken stock until it starts to boil an thicken.
6. To the sauce, add chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas and yogurt. (if you don’t want to add yogurt, heavy cream for a little richness will work as well, the yogurt gives it a sourness that I love)
7. Put mixture into ramekins or serving dish.
8. Cover with puff pastry.
9. Bake until puff pastry is puffy and golden brown. This will depend on how big your puff pastry is, but the ramekins took about 20 minutes and the larger one 30.
10. Enjoy!

These are great for a cold evening to warm everyone up!  So tasty and really quite easy…which I’m always on board with.

That great orange ceramic dish in the background is another great find at Home Goods and is perfect for making meals for two!  It’s Le Crueset and was like 14.99!!! LOVE IT :)

Thanks for looking!

Linking with:
Hunk of Meat Monday
Mingle Monday
Melt In Your Mouth Monday
Mangia Mondays
Made By You Monday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesdays at the Table
Hearth & Soul Blog Hop

Savory Monday–Thanksgiving Turkey 101

Well my intention today was to show you with pictures…oops.   Don’t get me wrong we had a great dinner and the turkey was fabulous.  One small detail I forgot was to take the after picture.  So I’m going to need you to use your imagination, if you don’t mind.  I can give you signed affidavits if you need them to confirm my review, but I assure you if you want a juicy, delicious turkey for Thanksgiving you need to follow this recipe.

First up you need a turkey.  Now it’s October and Thanksgiving in Canada is always the first weekend and usually my sister’s birthday weekend.  Happy Birthday Meredith!!!!

I digress. When I went to the local grocery store here in Cary, NC and asked if I could order a fresh turkey, the butcher looked at me like I had two heads.  So I had to settle for frozen.  No biggy, I shall persevere!

Next you need wine, minimum two bottles but feel free to indulge in more.  I like to use a good un-oaked Chardonnay.  If you live in Canada, grab the East Dell Un-Oaked Chardonnay, it’s awesome.  But here in the states we can’t get the good Niagara wines, so Rob got something called Abbyville, which Abby thought was pretty awesome.  It really was quite tasty wine.

So the first bottle of wine is for the turkey and the second (or third) is for you!  I like to call this drunk Turkey!

So here’s the before!  I had good intentions with the pictures.

Recipe:

• 12-14 lbs turkey
• 1 bottle wine or two (I won’t judge)
• 1 cup unsalted butter, plus 4 tbsp
• fresh thyme
• 4 garlic bulbs
• 3 lemons
• salt and pepper
• cheese cloth

Directions: For convection oven! Preheat oven for 325 degrees.

1. Rinse turkey and pat dry.  Salt and pepper cavity.
2. Cut lemons and garlic bulbs in halves, insert in cavity.
3. Add fresh thyme sprigs to cavity, plus 2 tbsp butter
4. In sauce pan, melt 1 cup butter and add 3/4 to full bottle of wine.
5. With remaining butter softened, rub over turkey, salt and pepper again.
6. Dip cheese cloth in butter and wine and cover turkey, leaving legs exposed.
7. Ladle two to three scoops of butter/wine over turkey. Have a glass of wine (without butter) yourself!
8. Put in oven, baste with butter/wine every 30 minutes.  For last 30 minutes remove cheese cloth.
9. Remove from oven around 1hr 45mins, or when leg temperature reaches 180 degrees.
10. Cover with tin foil and towels, let sit 15-20minutes.

I have to say that this turkey was fantastic and on time!  Unlike last year where it was done an hour before our guests were to arrive…another oops (I have a few, but I’m only human!)

We served this succulent bird with roasted fingerling potatoes, mixed green salad, pasta salad, sweet potato casserole, roasted asparagus, and stuffing.  Thanks to our guests for all the great side dishes!  For the kids we served homemade mac&cheese.  It was a big success!

Then there were the desserts! Pumpkin pie of course!  Also a caramel apple Bundt cake and maple leaf sugar cookies! (will post separately about these because really desserts are what I do!)

So I apologize for no after pics, I could just post an “off the internet” one but that would be untruthful.  So I hang my head in shame and drink another glass of wine!

Thanks for looking!

Linking with:
Hunk of Meat Monday
Hearth & Soul Blog Hop
These Chicks Can Cook
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try

Savory Monday–Coleslaw

Every now and again as I walk through the veggie section at the grocery store and something grabs me, this time it was cabbage.  I love to use them but I’m the only one.  So I thought I’d make something that’ll last a while in the fridge and that’s coleslaw.  I love the stuff, especially when it doesn’t have mayo in it.

I’ve been using this recipe for years and with this recent ah ha moment, I thought I’d share it with you!  When I went back to read the recipe, it’s called Carolina Slaw, which is very apropos since that’s where we live now.  Here’s what you’ll need.

Recipe:  Adapted from About.com

• 1 head of cabbage
• 3 carrots
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp dry mustard (I didn’t have any and have used yellow or Dijon in the past)
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Chop up cabbage and carrot to desired size, I like mine a medium dice.
2. In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt, oil, mustard, celery seed and vinegar.
3. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
4. Pour over cabbage and carrots, cover with plastic and refrigerate over night.  The longer the better!
5. Serve and enjoy!

It’s delicious and I eat it with anything.  But it’s really good with pulled pork or anything bbq!

And now some sad news.  As I was cleaning the above salad bowl, it hit the side of the sink and shattered in my hand.  I’m so sad because it was a wedding gift and I loved it. And I’m also covered in nics and cuts on my hand, which will make tennis tricky :(

anyway, Thanks for looking!

Linking with:
Mingle Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Mangia Mondays
Made by You Mondays
Let's Do Brunch
These Chicks Cook
Share the Wealth Wednesday
Recipes I can't Wait to Try
Full Plate Thursday
It's a Keeper Thursday

Savory Monday–Mini Quiches with a twist!

What to do for dinner? How about quiche?  Wait…crap…I don’t want to make a pie crust and I don’t want to go to the store.  So what’s a girl to do???

Ok, so here’s the backstory.  I was being the dutiful blogger and reading other blogs and I came across these.  Cinnamon Toast Roll-ups and they are genius!

Back to dinner.  What to make, what to make?  How about eggs? Oh maybe quiche…damn…but wait would that rolled bread thing work? Let’s give it a whirl…

Here’s what you need.

Recipe:

• 12 pieces of bread
• 12 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt & pepper
• cheese, mushroom, broccoli, etc

Directions:

1. Take piece of bread and roll out flat.
   
   
2. Cut with circle cutter.
   
   
   
3. In prepared muffin pan, place bread and spray with oil.
4. Add cheese and mushrooms to bottom of cups.
5. Mix eggs, milk and salt & pepper.  Pour into cups.
   
   
   
6. Bake at 350 until browned and egg is cooked.
7. Enjoy!

I wasn’t sure how these would go over with the girls but after they were inhaled, I felt pretty good about sharing them with you!  I’m still going to try the cinnamon toast rolls for sure and I thank them for such a great inspiration!

Thanks for looking!

Linking with:
Mingle Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
The Kurtz Korner
Tea Party Tuesday
Handmade Tuesdays
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Hearth & Soul Blog Hop
Tuesday To Do Party
Get Your Craft On
Let's Do Brunch
These Chicks Cook
Share the Wealth Wednesday
Your Whims Wednesday
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try
Full Plate Thursday
It's a Keeper Thursday