Pear and Ginger Smoothie

We're almost into February and there's hardly any snow on the ground! What is wrong with this picture?  Where are the scarves, mitts, shovels, heaps of snow, slush and salt machines?  One of the benefits, (I thought), of being in TO in the winter while hubby is travelling on business would be that I get to have my snow fix.  But it seems like God has other plans!  The weather is completely wonky- freezing one day with wind chills in the double digits, the next day it's a balmy 5 degrees Celsius.  No wonder people are getting sick!

To help me get through this very weird patch of winter weather we're experiencing, I decided to make a pear and ginger smoothie, courtesy of Guilty Kitchen.  I tweaked the recipe just a tad to suit my needs.

Pear and Ginger Smoothie

1 Bosc pear, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
juice of 1/4 a lime
a tiny nob of fresh ginger, peeled and grated (you know those tiny nobs that grow off the body of ginger? well that's what I used)
2 tbsp honey flavoured 0% Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup 2% milk

Put all ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth. 

Cinnamon-Sugar Palmiers

 For years, I've been eating palmiers, (sometimes referred to as elephant ears, french hearts, or glasses). My grandmother and grandfather were fans of the cookies/pastries and we always used to have them readily available in the kitchen. They were great on their own, or could be dunked into a cup of chai or hot chocolate.  

I never thought I'd try my hand at making palmiers, because they looked so complicated with all of their beautiful, swirly layers. However, I have Martha Stewart to thank for making, what seemed like a daunting task, so simple and effortless.  Martha came onto the Today show in December and showed how to make some holiday sweets.  Once I saw her show Al Roker how to make the palmiers, I knew I had to go and make them myself. 

I tweaked the recipe to reduce the amount of sugar from 1 cup to 1/4 cup and I cut out the chocolate. Also, the only difference that I noted between regular palmiers and Martha's palmiers is that regular palmiers are rolled so that the pastry rolls meet each other, while Martha's rolls the pastry so that they form an "S" shape.

Cinnamon-Sugar Palmiers

1 package pre-rolled puff pastry

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

Unwrap one sheet of pre-rolled puff pastry and loosen pastry from paper.  Sprinkle half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture onto half of the puff pastry. 

Begin to fold the dough towards the centre in small increments until you reach the halfway point (no more sugar). 

Gently flip the dough over and repeat the same process again- sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over the pastry and being to roll the dough to the rolled half (it's okay if one roll is bigger than the other).   Repeat same process with second puff pastry sheet.

Wrap the dough rolls in plastic wrap and chill for 20-30 minutes in the fridge.  Cut the ends off until you are left with even edges. Cut the dough lengthwise int 1/2" or 1" pieces and lay them 2" apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

 

Bake cookies until underside is a deep golden brown colour.  Using a metal spatula, flip cookies over and bake for another 5 minutes.  Transfer cookies to cooling rack. Store in an airtight container for 1-2 days.

Happy New Year! Plus some Lemon Pepper Chicken

Happy New Year everyone!

When I look back, it seems as though 2011 went by in a flash.  I can think back to some key things that I did, saw, and participated in and I hope to do some of those things again in 2012.  Here's to hoping for a safe and healthy 2012 filled with lots of adventure, lots of learning, and lots of time spent with those whom I love.

This recipe that I'm going to share with you tonight has been a long time coming.  I've made it several times (great reviews from family members!)  and have been wanting to share it with you for a really long time.  The reason for it not appearing sooner?  Well, I've been lazy. :o) 

I was inspired by a Barefoot Contessa episode where Ina Garten made lemon-pepper chicken breasts. I took some of her ideas, changed them around a bit and came up with my own version using a whole chicken.  This is super simple and is great on a weeknight (it only takes about 1.5 hours to bake if the chicken has been prepared beforehand) or the weekend.   What I do is buy one or two whole chickens and clean them up, then marinate them with the ingredients in the recipe. I then wrap them up in freezer bags and put them in the freezer for a day when I don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen.  Add the chicken to a roasting pan filled with vegetables or small potatoes and bake for 1.5-2 hours and you have a healthy meal on your hands.

Lemon-Pepper Chicken

1 whole skinless chicken, cleaned, washed and pat dried with paper towel

juice of 2 lemons

zest of 2 lemons

4 lemon halves (use the left over lemons)

2 tbsp  + 1 pinch dried dill

2 jalapeno peppers, sliced lengthwise with seeds intact

2 tbsp freshly minced garlic

2 tbsp freshly minced ginger 

2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp salt

Place the chicken on a flat surface and take the minced ginger and garlic and rub them all over and inside the chicken. Take care to get in between the joints.  Take 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of dried dill and rub them on the inside of the chicken. Take 1 tbsp of salt and rub it over one side of the chicken and repeat on the other side.   Pour juice of two lemons over both sides of the chicken.  Take the remaining dill and spread it evenly over both sides of the chicken. Take the 4 lemon halves and jalapeno peppers and stuff them into the chicken's cavity.  Sprinkle lemon zest over the top of the chicken (breast-side down).  At this point you can stick the chicken and any juices into a freezer bag and put into the freezer.  If you want to roast it the same day, let it marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Roasting chicken

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place marinated or thawed chicken, and any juices in a roasting pan. If any lemons escaped, stick them back into chicken cavity.  Cover roasting pan with lid and place in the lower half of oven.  Check chicken after 30 minutes. If chicken juices and lemon juices have been released, begin to baste chicken with them. Repeat every 30-40 minutes until chicken is done (about 1.5 hours although I usually check by poking at the leg joints to see if everything is cooked).  Remove chicken from oven and set aside for 5-10 minutes. Remove lid and baste chicken with juices again before cutting it into pieces.  Repeat basting again before serving.

How to: Brown Onions

Carrots, onions and celery are the base if you want to make soup. Browned onions are the base if you want to make a curry.  Some people brown the onions just before they start to make their curry, others (like myself) tend to make a large amount of the base beforehand and freeze it in small packs. I'm always looking to save time in the kitchen and by having the onions pre-cooked shaves 20 minutes off of my cooking time.  Also, by making the onions in big batches beforehand, I reduce the amount of onion stink in the house..BONUS!

I remember as a kid, my mom would gather the troops, meaning me, my sister, and my grandmother, and we would sit at the kitchen table and peel and chop 50 lbs of onions.  My dad would then hook up the gas stove in the garage and my mom would cook the onions in a HUGE pot over the fire.  Once the onions reached the right texture and colour, the onions were cooled, blended in the food processor and then put into neat packs and stocked in the freezer.  Those onions would usually last about 3 months and then we'd have to start the whole process over again.

Now I'm not crazy to handle 50 lbs of onions all by myself! I stick with 6 lbs-10 lbs at a time, use 2.5 hours making/watching/stirring the onions and then the rest of the day is spent airing out my home!

Browned Onions

Browned onions

6 lbs yellow onions, peeled and chopped
1 cup olive oil ( I know that sounds like a lot, but I generally don't add anymore oil to my dishes because the onions have enough to help with the cooking process)

6 lbs of onions BEFORE cooking

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
In a large roasting pan, mix together the onions and oil.  Cover the roasting pan and place it on the lower rack of the oven.  Every 20-30 minutes give the onions a good stir.  After about 2-2.5 hours, the onions should be a rich brown colour and the quantity reduced by half.

Cool the onions down for 20 minutes.  In a food processor, blend the onions to a somewhat chunky paste. Scoop out the paste into small freezer friendly dishes to stock in your freezer.

When you're going to make your curry, you'll want to take out a dish of browned onions 5-6 hours in advance and let it defrost on the counter.

My Measurement notes:  1-2 heaping tablespoons onion paste  = 1 uncooked onion

'Tis the season to get sick

With the stresses of daily life and the change in weather, people are starting to fall sick with the cold and flu. I've been stuck with this "light" cold for a while now. It started off as a runny nose and some sneezing and then slowly progressed into a thick feeling in the throat.  For a few days I had a raspy, hoarse voice and then it went away, but I have a feeling that it is on its way back for another visit.

My mom gave me a recipe that was passed along to her by an aunt of mine.  It's a mixture of hot water with fresh lemon, honey and cinnamon. It's supposed to help boost your immune system and combat colds (**do remember that if you are sick, you should go and visit your doctor and seek his/her advice**).  Because I was so miserable, I thought I'd give it a whirl and I think it's what gave me my voice back.

I played around with the ingredient proportions until I found something I liked.  You can change the proportions very easily if you want a stronger or milder flavour.

Hot Lemon Water with Cinnamon and Honey

1 cup boiling hot water
1/2 or 1 slice of fresh lemon
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp honey

Boil water as you would for tea.  Put the lemon, cinnamon and honey in a heat-proof cup. Pour hot water into the cup and give it a stir.  Snuggle up in bead with a good book and drink away!

A note:  If I make a second cup for myself, I use the same lemon slice and just add the cinnamon and honey.

Eid Treats # 2: Coconut Macaroons

I don't know about you, but I have some recipes that cannot be shared here on the blog. They are so top secret, that only a few pairs of eyes have ever witnessed their birth in my kitchen.  People have asked me for the recipes and I have to politely decline. It's not that I purposely want to be mean; it's just that some of them are my special signature desserts and I want to keep them close. If I passed out the recipes to every person on the street, that "special-ness" would dissipate.

I'm not the only one who feels this way. Many friends and family that I know like to keep one or two recipes secret. There are even bloggers out there who openly admit that they will not share everything with their readers.  One such blogger is Gesine from Confections of a (Closet) Master Baker.  I came across her blog after reading her book "My Life From Scratch." Gesine works magic in her kitchen and spices up her blog entries with snarky, in your face commentary that will keep you on your toes and coming back for more.

Getting back to recipe protection, Gesine made a name for herself by baking up delicious French Macarons. On her blog, she notes that a guy named Gary e-mailed her and asked her for the recipe. Did he HONESTLY think she would give him the recipe that gave her her livelihood?    DUH!  Instead, she gave him a coconut macaroon recipe to try.  I ran with it and tweaked it ever so slightly (instead of vanilla extract, I used vanilla bean paste so there were millions of tiny vanilla bean specks running throughout the macaroons).  The next time I make these babies, I'd probably cut down on the sugar or used unsweetened coconut and let them brown up just a tad more.

Coconut Macaroons

Scooped macaroons ready to go into the oven

4 egg whites
3 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine all ingredients into a heatproof glass or metal bowl and set atop a pot of simmering water (about 1-2 inches of water in the pot).

Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not come into contact with the simmer water.  Stir the mixture occasionally, ensuring to scrape the bottom of the bowl, to prevent ingredients from burning.

After approximately 10 minutes, the mixture should be hot and slightly thickened.
With a medium or large cookie scoop, drop batter onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, than remove using a offset spatula to a cooling rack.


**UPDATE DECEMBER 6, 2011


I asked Gesine the best way to store the macaroons so they don't dry out. They last for one day outside, but if you find yourself not eating all of them at once, put them in the freezer. When you are ready to eat them, thaw them out and warm them in the oven. The macaroons will last for a little bit less than a month if stored properly in the freezer.
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Dried Fruit

This Eid went by in a blur. We flew in to TO, blinked our eyes, and bam it was over! Seriously, as soon as we got off the plane, it was like we hit the ground running. Every single day there were things to bake, gifts to buy, home to clean, clothes to iron, people to call, and appointments to go to. It almost felt like we didn't have a chance to sleep, eat, or breathe. I still don't know how I managed to get to the gym to work out.

And because everything was a blur, I didn't get an opportunity to blog about the treats I made until now.

First, I must inform you that the pictures in the next few posts were taken from my iPod and tweaked using Instagram.  I left my camera back in LA and had to make due with some grainy shots.  Oh well....

This first treat is so easy to make, you can do it blind folded (but you really don't want to do that because you might burn yourself and/or the chocolate).

Dark Chocolate Dipped Dried Apricots

20-30 dried apricots

1 bar Lindt Excellence Madagascar 65% Dark Chocolate, broken into small pieces

1/2 cup sliced almonds, crushed into small pieces

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.  Place the crushed almonds in a bowl and set aside.

First, get a large pot and fill it with 1 to 2 inches of water and place it over low-medium heat until the water begins to simmer. Take a glass or stainless steel bowl that has a diameter larger than the pot and place it on top.  Make sure the bowl doesn't touch the simmering water. Place most of the chocolate (three-quarters worth) in the bowl and let it melt, while stirring occasionally. Once the chocolate has melted, remove from heat and stir in the remaining chocolate until melted.

Take the dried apricots and dip them half-way into the melted dark chocolate.  Then roll the apricots in the crushed almonds and place them on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Once the chocolate has set, about 20-30 minutes, place the apricot pieces into cellophane bags and tie with ribbon if you want to give them as a gift, or place them in an air tight container.