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Protein Pancakes January 8, 2010

Posted by Teresa in : Breakfast, Lunch , add a comment

Creamier and softer than normal pancakes, with great flavour!

Protein Pancakes

Ingredients                        Supplies/Equipment

1 cup               ricotta cheese             food processor
2                     eggs                           frying pan
1/4 cup           water
1/3 cup           all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp             brown sugar
1 Tbsp             vegetable oil
1/4 tsp            salt
1/4 tsp            baking soda
1/8 tsp            cinnamon

Measure all ingredients into a food processor. Pour 1/4 cup bat-
ter for each pancake; makes 8 pancakes.

Bacon and Cheese Puffs! Gads! January 8, 2010

Posted by Teresa in : Snacks/Party Food , add a comment

Bacon and Cheese Puffs

Although this recipe seems a bit strange when you are making it, these little nibbles are truly scrumptious! Go buy bacon now, start crisping it (“Ready Crisp” bacon works great) or use leftover ham! And they aren’t even deep fried…..!

Ingredients                                Supplies/Equipment

1 cup                 water                                   heavy saucepan
1 cup                 white flour                           wooden spoon
4                        eggs                                    cookie sheet
1/3 cup             butter
1 cup                 crisp bacon, or ham, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups        sharp (old) cheddar cheese, grated
4 oz can            jalapenos, or less (optional)
1/2 – 1 tsp        dry mustard

Make sure you have enough bacon or ham already crumbled or chopped. Combine water and butter in heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, grate the cheese and chop the jalapenos (if you’re using them). As soon as the butter-water mixture boils, remove from heat and add flour at once. Beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Return to medium heat and beat until moisture leaves sides of pan and mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat and one at a time, crack an egg, beat lightly, and add to pot to form a smooth mixture — be patient and beat thoroughly. You may build muscles! Stir in cheese, ham or bacon, mustard and jalapenos. Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400°F for 15 – 20 minutes. Reheat if frozen in 350°F for 5 – 10 minutes. Be careful; they are addictive!

Spinach Cheese Frittata January 8, 2010

Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a comment

Spinach Cheese Frittata

Another great find in a cookbook that was a Christmas gift! Delicious casserole! Preheat oven to 300°F.

Ingredients                              Supplies/Equipment

2 cloves                fresh garlic                      frying pan
1                          small cooking onion         hand whisk
1 Tbsp                  butter                              9″ square baking dish
9 – 10                   large eggs
1/2 cup                milk
1 box (300 g)       frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed dry)
1 brick (250 g)     cream cheese, cut into small cubes
1 cup                   cheddar cheese, grated

Cook garlic, onion and butter together in frying pan until garlic is clear and onion is cooked. Let cool. Meanwhile, grate cheddar cheese and cut cream cheese into small cubes. Squeeze liquid out of thawed spinach by rolling in a paper towel. Whisk eggs until frothy. Add milk, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and whisk together. Add garlic and onion mixture, spinach, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and mix together. Pour into a 9″ square
baking dish and bake at 300°F for 30 – 40 minutes until edges are golden brown and center is firm.

The cream cheese is such a soft, gooey delight! It’s wonderful!

Pumpkin Bread January 8, 2010

Posted by Teresa in : Dessert , add a comment

Found a few new recipes while making “A Few of our Favourite Egg Recipes” book for my dad to give to egg customers. Here’s one of them:

Lynn’s Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

- 3 1/3 cups Flour

- 4 teaspoons Cinnamon

- 2 teaspoons Baking soda

- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder

- 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt

- 2 2/3 cups Sugar

- 2/3 cup Vegetable Oil

- 4 Eggs

- 1 can (15 oz) Pumpkin

- 2/3 cup Water

- 0.5 cup Pecans chopped (optional)

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat sugar and vegetable oil together until blended (mixture will still look dry). Add eggs, 1 at a time, until blended. Add pumpkin and mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients a little at a time, alternating with water. Mix in pecans Pour batter into 2 9x5x3 loaf pans. Sprinke tops of loaves with cinnamon sugar before baking.

Bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing from pans.

Pumpkin Cake September 30, 2009

Posted by Teresa in : Dessert , add a comment
Here’s another one from “French Food at Home,” one that I haven’t had a chance to try yet! But oh, it looks YUMMY!!!!
Ingredients:

Pumpkin Cake

  • 3 x eggs, separated
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup corn flour
  • 2 cups butternut squash or pumpkin purée
  • 1/4 cup rum
  • Zest of 1 orange
Directions:
  1. Heat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Grease and line a 9-inch/23-cm spring-form pan. Beat the yolks and sugar until light and pale. Beat in the cornstarch and corn flour until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, rum, and orange zest. Finally, beat the whites into peaks.
  2. Stir some into the pumpkin mixture to lighten it, then fold the pumpkin together with the remainder. Pour into the pan and bake until done, 45 minutes to an hour. Let the cake cool slightly, before running a knife around the edges of the pan and removing the sides. Serve slightly warm (not too warm, or impossible to cut) with cinnamon whipped cream.

Black Bean Brownies August 9, 2009

Posted by Teresa in : Dessert , add a comment

This recipe is from one of my favourite sites, 101Cookbooks!  :) Click here. They are a bit of work, but SO WORTH IT!

Amazing Black Bean Brownie Recipe

For those of you who have a hard time tracking down agave nectar (which is becoming much more readily available) substitute honey 1:1 for the agave nectar. Ania’s head notes encourage you to keep these brownies in the refrigerator, they will slice much better if refrigerated several hours or preferably overnight. I used instant coffee this time around, but you can find natural coffee substitute at many natural food stores.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups soft-cooked black beans, drained well (hs: canned is fine)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (granulated) natural coffee substitute (or instant coffee, for gluten-sensitive)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 large eggs
1½ cups light agave nectar ( I used honey… and wow, that’s a lot!)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line an 11- by 18-inch (rimmed) baking pan (hs note: or jellyroll pan) with parchment paper and lightly oil with canola oil spray.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl in the microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on high. Stir with a spoon to melt the chocolate completely. Place the beans, 1/2 cup of the walnuts, the vanilla extract, and a couple of spoonfuls of the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Blend about 2 minutes, or until smooth. The batter should be thick and the beans smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts, remaining melted chocolate mixture, coffee substitute, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer beat the eggs until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the agave nectar and beat well. Set aside.

Add the bean/chocolate mixture to the coffee/chocolate mixture. Stir until blended well.

Add the egg mixture, reserving about 1/2 cup. Mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup egg mixture until light and fluffy. Drizzle over the brownie batter. Use a wooden toothpick to pull the egg mixture through the batter, creating a marbled effect. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set. Let cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares. (They will be soft until refrigerated.)

Makes 45 (2-inch) brownies.

Reprinted with permission from Baking With Agave Nectar: Over 100 Recipes Using Nature’s Ultimate Sweetener by Ania Catalano. (Ten Speed Press 2008)

Creamed Eggs Au Gratin March 30, 2009

Posted by Teresa in : Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch , add a comment

This is a delicious recipe from the Joy of Cooking. You’ll need 4 boiled eggs.

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat until blended in a frying pan over low heat

- 1 Tbsp butter

- 1 Tbsp olive oil

Add

- 1/4 cup minced onion or shallots

Cook the onion, stirring, until softened but not browned (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat. The recipe says to put the onion mixture into a bowl and add everything to that, but I just added the ingredients below to the frying pan (it was pretty cool by the time I was ready to add stuff). It saves dirtying another bowl! Add and mix together gently:

- 4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped or sliced

- 1 cup of white sauce (see recipe here, or if you had to, you could use store-bought Alfredo sauce)

- 2 Tbsp of chopped herbs (I used some fresh parsley and dried Basil)

- 1 tsp Dijon mustard

- 1/2 tsp minced garlic

- salt and pepper to taste

You can add other things too. I had an avocado that was ripe, so I cut it in half, scooped out one half and threw that in, cut into pieces about the same size as the eggs were cut into. I could also imagine adding a few capers, or grated cheese, and the Joy recommends 1 tsp. curry powder (added to the onions). Once everything is mixed in, transfer it to a baking dish (I used a 9 inch square pan). Sprinkle with

- 3/4 cup (or more, depending on your dish) fresh bread crumbs

- 1 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces.

Bake until heated through and browned, about 15 to 20 minutes (less if the eggs are warm from just being boiled).  If desired, place briefly under the broiler to brown and crisp the crumbs.

I wish I had taken a picture of it — it looked absolutely amazing and tasted that way too!  :)

joy-of-cooking

Mushroom Casserole March 16, 2009

Posted by Teresa in : Dinner , add a comment

This recipe comes from 101cookbooks – a great site for healthy, unique recipes!  :)

Use any cooked grain you like. Feel free to use low-fat cottage cheese or sour cream if you prefer.

1/2 pound (8 ounces) brown mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 large onion, well chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups cooked brown rice, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
a bit of fresh tarragon, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Rub a medium-large baking dish with a bit of olive oil or butter and set aside. The pan I use is slightly smaller than a classic 9×13 baking dish – just grab for something in this ballpark.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat saute the mushrooms in a glug of olive oil sprinkled with a couple pinches of salt. Stir every minute or so until the mushrooms have released their liquid and have browned a bit. Add the onions and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes or until they are translucent. Stir in the garlic, cook for another minute and remove from heat. Add the rice to the skillet and stir until combined.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, and salt.

Combine the rice mixture and cottage cheese mixture in a large bowl, stir until well combined and then turn out into your prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with 2/3 of the Parmesan cheese, cover with foil and place in oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 or 30 minutes more or hot throughout and golden along the edges. Sprinkle with the chopped tarragon, and the remaining Parmesan and enjoy.

Serves about 8.

Pasta Carbonara March 13, 2009

Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a comment

I wanted to try a Carbonara sauce, so I found this one on the web and made it today… it turned out pretty yummy!

- 4 eggs
- 1/4 c. butter
- 1/4 c. whipped cream
- 1/2 lb. bacon, cut up
- 1 lb. fettuccine or spaghetti
- 1 c. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
- 1/4 c. snipped parsley
- Pepper

Let eggs, butter and cream stand at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. In a skillet, cook bacon until brown. Remove bacon and drain on paper toweling.Heat an ovenproof serving dish in a 300 degree oven. Meanwhile, beat together eggs and cream just until combined. Add pasta to a large amount of boiling salted water. Cook 10 to 12 minutes or until tender but not firm; drain well.Turn hot pasta into the heated serving dish; toss pasta with butter. Pour egg mixture over and toss until pasta is well coated. Add bacon, cheese and parsley; toss to mix. Season to taste with pepper.

Serves 12 side-dishes.

French Toast Twists January 13, 2009

Posted by Teresa in : Breakfast , add a comment

Okay, this isn’t about actually twisting french toast, although you could probably try and it would turn out great! This is just some ideas to make French toast more exciting!

Things to add to the egg, for flavour:

- oregano or basil, or

- parmesan cheese, or

- anise seed (not too much, just 1/4 tsp or so), or

- sugar

Things to do with the bread:

- cut the crusts off, or

- cut the slices in half for better cooking (no gooey spots in the middle), or

- use a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter on the slice of bread before dipping it in egg

Things to top it with:

- jams – various fruit jams, but don’t forget red pepper jelly!

- syrups – maple is the favourite around here, but saskatoon or blueberry syrup is nice too!

- cheese – if you do a savoury spice

- or just plain butter  :)