Books2Eat 2010

A couple of weeks ago the Covent Garden Farmers’ Market participated in Books2Eat, a really incredibly good  fundraiser for the London Public  Library. Each team (usually a restaurant or bakery) picked a book, and then made food according to the theme of the book. We chose Hansel and Gretel.

Nicole Di Pinto, who has a wonderful stand at the farmers’ market called ‘Tiramisu’, made a gingerbread house and tons of beautiful little vanilla bean cookies decorated like little fruit or vegetables or small animals like squirrels and bunnies that you might find in the forest, lavender macarons and maple syrup macarons (French meringue cookies), caramel pinwheels, and more! Dee Biggar , also a farmers’ market vendor, made luscious lemon squares, and I made tiny little flower cupcakes. We also had a whole “eat local’ picnic basket theme going on with bison salami (the surprising ‘hit’ of the night) from Blanbrook Bison farm, local cheeses from Smith Cheese, artisan bread from International Bakery, and a crazy crudite garden pathway. Wow, what a great evening! OK, we didn’t win the crown, but we met so many fabulous people and had such a fun time we felt like winners!

Here’s a picture! 

Chickens – They may look peaceful…

Well, those chickens are always surprising us! Like, ‘surprise!’ they ate all the lettuce seedlings! And ‘surprise!” one would rather sleep outside at night (doesn’t she know how dangerouse that is?) And the other day ‘surprise!’ the pecking order gets vicious. Sure enough one chicken pecked at another chicken hard enough to make her comb bleed. Ick, We called her ‘the bloody head’ for a couple of days, but it is looking better now. I don’t know what the problem is, they have lots of space, lots of food, and really, lots of love!

We do love their fabulous eggs, and the excited clucking they make each and every time they lay an egg, well, that is a joyful sound.

Here they are having a relaxing afternoon under their favourite tree. You can see the one that has been pecked, white one, 2nd from the right, you’ll notice her head feathers are slightly darker. This is maybe 2 days after the incident.

Earth Day Recipes

I made these on Rogers Daytime with host Darrin. Tons of fun! Amazing what can be done in 13 minutes!

Earth Day Fresh Rolls

1 package rice paper wraps

1 cup (250 mL) cucumber, seeded,cut into thin sticks

1/4 cup (60 mL) shredded carrots

2 cup (500 mL) thin rice noodles, cooked according to package directions

1/4 cup (60 mL) fresh mixed herbs, finely sliced (cilantro, basil, mint are all good choices)

2 tablespoons (30 mL) fresh lime juice

2 tablespoon (30 mL) soy sauce

1 teaspoon (5 mL) fresh ginger, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 green onions, finely sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1. Combine noodles with herbs, lime juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, green onions, and jalapeno.
2. Dip one sheet of rice paper into warm water, lay out on work surface, and place some shredded carrot, cucumber sticks, and some fresh herb leaves in center of wrap. Top with noodles. Fold in edge, then roll up into a cyclinder. These can be made in advance, but must be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out. Cut in half before serving.
3. Serve with dipping sauce
4. TIP: spray the platter with cooking spray so the rolls do not stick!

Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup (125 mL) smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon (15 mL) rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon (5 mL) dried chili flakes

1 tablespoon (15 mL) soy sauce

Hot water

Combine all ingredients. If it seems too thick, add a little hot water. Serve with wraps.

Love The Planet Brownies

1/4 cup (60 mL) Ontario maple syrup

1/2 cup (125 mL) organic raisins

3/4 cup (185 mL) organic butter

6 oz (160 g) fair trade or organic chocolate (70-80% cocoa solids)

3/4 cup (185 mL) organic all purpose flour

1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking powder

2 organic eggs

1 1/2 cups (375 mL) granulated sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8×8 inch metal or Pyrex baking pan with cooking spray or butter and flour it.
2. Warm up the maple syrup, either in the microwave or in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Stir in raisins and let sit to plump while you are preparing the remaining ingredients.
3. In the top of a double boiler, melt the butter with the chocolate. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool somewhat.
4. Sift together the flour with the baking powder. Set aside.
5. Beat the eggs with the sugar. Stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Stir in the flour and baking powder. Stir in the raisins and maple syrup. Scoop batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake brownies for 50-60 minutes, until edges are raised a bit, and a tester inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of moist batter attached. These are a dense moist brownie, so you don’t want to over-cook them.
7. Cool completely before cutting.
8. Cut into 16 brownies.

Recipes from a few Rogers TV shows that I did this Winter

The past few months I had the opportunity to be on Rogers Daytime show with hosts Darrin and Stephanie. What a ton of fun! The very first show was just before superbowl, so I had to come up with recipes that were good for entertaining a superbowl crowd, but healthy at the same time. Here’s what I came up with:

You can eat locally, even in winter, and you can eat healthy, even when entertaining for an event such as superbowl Sunday.

Define local: my definition of local changes throughout the year.

Why would you choose to eat local? The first reason for me is that it’s  FUN to eat locally, it gives you a reason to slow down and really think about what you are putting on your plate, you are supporting the local economy, you are supporting small farms, it’s healthier (you know what’s in your food), it creates conversation (both at the store/market and around the table), it gets you in touch with the seasons.

How do you do this? The easiest way is to shop at farmers markets or directly from farms during the growing season. You can preserve/freeze/ can food at its peak of freshness, and then you can enjoy local produce year round.

Choosing to make all your own food and shop locally is naturally healthier, as you are simply more inclined to include more fruit and vegetables in your diet.

Entertaining can be a dieters conundrum, can low fat healthy food taste delicious enough for that ‘wow’ factor we look for when entertaining? Of course the answer is yes. I have never been a big fan of deep- fried greasy food, anyway.

Let’s think about today’s menu, we need it to fulfill certain criteria: local, healthy, delicious, crowd pleasing, not fussy to make, and everything needs to be made in advance so we can all enjoy the party.

No sweat. I’ve chosen a couple of casual entertaining /potluck ‘musts’ and run with them. Pizza and chili.

Our pizza has a home-made whole multi-grain crust, then I topped it with roasted local mushrooms and peppers, caramelized local onions, some Ontario mozzarella cheese and Ontario goat cheese finish it off. You can make this in advance and freeze it unbaked, which makes it really easy to deal with the day of your party.

Our chili is made with low fat turkey, which is pretty much one of the leanest sources of protein you can get. I’ve added some nutrient rich Ontario sweet potatoes to the mix, and we are going to top it all with low fat sour cream and low fat grated cheese. You can make this the day before, and then just reheat it in the crock pot the day of the superbowl.

Here are the Recipes as promised:

Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Shallots and Leeks

Dough:

2 cups (500 mL) warm water

2 teaspoon (10 mL) yeast

2 teaspoon (10 mL) granulated sugar

2/3 cup (150 mL) olive oil

2 teaspoon (10 mL) salt

3 cups (750 mL) all purpose flour

2 cups (500 mL) whole wheat flour

1. Combine warm water, yeast, sugar, olive oil, salt, and all purpose flour in bowl of table top mixer. Beat with a dough hook for a few minutes, until you have smooth dough, and then add the whole wheat flour.
2. Beat with dough hook until it comes away from the edges of the bowl, about 5 minutes.
3. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 1 hour, until doubled in bulk. Makes enough for 2 large pizzas.

 

Caramelized Onion Topping:

1/4 cup (60 mL) olive oil

3 large onions, sliced

2 leeks, white part only, thinly sliced

4 large shallots, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup  (125 mL) balsamic vinegar (choose a less expensive one)

1/4 cup (60 mL) maple syrup

1 teaspoon (5 mL) salt

2 tablespoons (30 mL) fresh rosemary, minced

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. To caramelize onions, place a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Pour oil into pan, and stir in onions, leeks and shallots. Pour in balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. Stir so everything is coated. Sprinkle salt on top of mixture, stir, and let cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally and adjusting heat so mixture does not burn. The onions should be a deep, rich colour and very soft.
2. Remove pan from the heat.  Stir in rosemary and freshly ground pepper, add more salt if necessary. Let mixture cool.

Other toppings:

1 of each, red, orange, yellow peppers, thinly sliced and roasted

3 cups (750 mL) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup (250 mL) crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese

1/4 cup (60 mL) chives or green onions, finely chopped for garnish

1. While onions are caramelizing, roast peppers. To roast pepper, heat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss sliced pepper in a bowl with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil spray, and spread peppers out on sheet. Place in oven for 30 minutes, or until peppers are softened and a deep brown at the edges. Remove from oven and let cool.
2. Keep oven at 425 degrees F.
3. To assemble pizza, divide dough in half, and press out onto two pizza  or cookie sheets that have been prepared by spraying with vegetable oil. Press out as flat as you can, without over-working the dough.
4. Spread the caramelized onion mixture over all of the dough. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella, scatter roasted peppers over mozzarella, and sprinkle with blue cheese.
5. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes. The edges should be a deep golden brown, and the cheese should be melted.
6. Let sit for a couple of minutes before slicing. Sprinkle with chives.
7. Makes two large round pizzas, which could serve four people each, or one very large rectangular pizza, which you can cut into about 12-16 pieces.

Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili

 

1 Tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil

1 lb (500 g) ground turkey meat

1 cup (250 mL) chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

2 Tbsp (30 mL) chili powder

1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin

1 tsp (5 mL) dried oregano

1 cup (250 mL) chicken or vegetable broth

1 can (796 mL) diced tomatoes

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite size pieces

2 cans beans (540 mL each) – your choice, I used black beans and white beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cayenne (or to taste)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped fresh cilantro

Shredded cheese, optional

Sour cream, optional

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan set over medium high heat. Add the turkey meat, cook, stirring to break up the chunks, until turkey is no longer pink, and adjusting heat as necessary. Add the onion to the pan, cook and stir for 5 minutes, add the garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, ground cumin, and oregano. Cook and stir for another couple of minutes. Add the broth, the canned tomatoes, and the sweet potatoes. Cover the pan and let simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add  the beans and let simmer until potatoes are fork tender. Season to taste with cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir in cilantro. Serve immediately topped with shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.
• Serves six to eight.

Mom’s Carrot Cake – transformed

I love my Mom’s carrot cake recipe, and I often make it into muffins, but let’s face it, that recipe from the 70’s needs to be lightened up.

I like low-fat healthy food, but I still want it to be delicious. I’ve made a few easy changes to the original recipe, and you can make similar changes to any of your favourite recipes at home that you would like to see made healthier and lighter.

I’ve reduced the fat by substituting applesauce for most of the vegetable oil, increased the fiber by replacing half the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour, reduced the amount of granulated sugar by one fourth, and increased the antioxidants by using walnuts. All combined with organic carrots, eggs and flour for a healthy and satisfying snack.

3 organic eggs

1/2 cup (125 ml) organic vegetable  oil

1 cup (250 mL) organic unsweetened applesauce

1 1/2 cups (375 mL)  granulated sugar

1 tsp (5 ml)  Vanilla

1 cup (250 ml) all purpose organic flour

1 cup (250 mL) whole wheat organic flour

2 tsp (10 ml) Cinnamon

1 tsp (5 ml)  Baking soda

1 tsp (5 ml)  Salt

1/4 tsp (1.25 ml)  Nutmeg

2 cup (500 ml)  grated organic carrots

1 cup (250 ml)  canned crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup (250 ml)  shredded unsweetened coconut

1 cup (250 ml)  chopped walnuts

• Heat oven to 350° F (180° C). Spray 4 dozen mini muffin cups with non-stick vegetable spray..
• In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light.  While still beating, slowly add in oil, and then applesauce.  Stir in sugar and vanilla; beat well.  In a separate bowl, sift together flours, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.  Gradually add flour mixture to egg /sugar mixture.  Stir in carrots, pineapple, coconut, and chopped nuts.  Pour batter into prepared muffin pans. 
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Makes 4-5 dozen mini muffins. These freeze well.