Fruit Pizza + Pineapple Glaze

A simple, easy dessert that nevertheless looks pretty and summery. I tweaked the version found on BCTree.com and added pecans to the crust...I think it's tastier that way. XD My version also had a handful of garden-fresh raspberries added into the cream cheese for colour.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup pecans, grated
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
In medium bowl, combine flour, pecans, and salt. In mixing bowl, blend butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add flour mixture; blend just until mixed. Roll dough into a disk; cover, refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 325° F (160° C). Roll dough to about 1/2 inch thickness and place on an ungreased, 12" pizza pan. Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Cool crust fully. (Crust can be made 2 days in advance.)

Sauce:

1 package light cream cheese - regular or spreadable
1/3 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Combine all sauce ingredients; blender until smooth. Spread on cooled crust.

Glaze:

1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Combine in a small saucepan and let simmer until thickened to syrup-like consistency; spread atop artfully arranged fruit.

Fruit toppings:

2 kiwi fruit, sliced in thin circles
1/2 cup strawberry slices
1/2 cup canned pineapple chunks (reserve juice for glaze)
1/4 cup fresh B.C. blueberries
1/4 cup mandarin orange slices

The Best Pasta Salad OF ALL TIME.

If you're like me, the highlight of any barbeque (besides the meat, of course) is when somebody brings along pasta salad. If you're also like me, you dig into the first two or three bites with relish before you have to stop, since it's usually that stuff that comes in a plastic carton at the supermarket and it's drowned in horrible, horrible sauce.

Well, now you can have your delicious pasta salad and eat it, too!

Ingredients:

-1 Ham Steak

-Old/Extra Old Cheddar (yellow, it comes in blocks, maybe like 1/2 a cup?)

-Celery (1 or 2 stalks is fine)

-Green Onions (a small bunch)

-Sweet Pickles (the kind that come pre-sliced in a jar, maybe five or six of these chopped up)

-Pickle juice (from the aforementioned jar - maybe about 1/4 cup)

-1/2 tbsp of American mustard (French's, etc.)

-1/2 cup of Mayonnaise (light varieties are fine too)

-1/2 cup Miracle Whip

-Pinch of curry powder (optional)

-3 cups Tortiglioni (this is my favorite pasta, but you can use macaroni or penne or any other type of pasta that comes in small pieces.)

Instructions:

-Cook your pasta. It should be al dente (firm, but cooked) rather than soft and squishy. The pasta tends to fall apart if you cook it too long, which is just not cool in a pasta salad.

-While your pasta is cooking, chop up the ham steak and cheese into small cubes. (Less than 1cmx1cmx1cm.) Chop up the celery into small bits, cut up the green onion into slivers and cut up the pickle slices into bits even smaller than the celery bits.

-Chill the pasta in cold water until it's at room temperature or less. Make sure it's very well strained!

-Dump the pasta into a large bowl. Add the bits you've chopped up, the mayo and the Miracle Whip. Combine. Add the pickle juice a little bit at a time, to taste. It gives the pasta salad a little bit of zing, but it's easy to go overboard. Add the mustard and the curry the same way, a little bit at a time.

-Cover and chill in the fridge for AT LEAST an hour before whatever you need it for to let the flavors blend. Voila!

Creamy Pasta with Pecans and Mushrooms

An excellent recipe I forgot about until very recently; you know me and my love of pecans, so know that this will work with walnuts too (the more traditional version is to use walnuts and spinach pasta). VERY FILLING!


Creamy Spinach Pasta w/ Pecans and Mushrooms

Ingredients:


8 oz. spinach pasta (spaghetti or fettucine, though you can use whichever pasta you like)
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, quartered and sliced
3-4 large white mushrooms, sliced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans

2 tbsp chopped oregano
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp soup stock + 1 tbsp white wine
4-6 oz mascarpone cheese (depending on how creamy you like your pasta)

Salt + pepper, to taste

1. Put saucepan of water + a little salt to boil; meanwhile, heat butter and oil in another saucepan, add onions, and cook until soft and slightly caramelized. When water has boiled, add the pasta; meanwhile, after about 8 mins of cooking, add the garlic to the onions, then the mushrooms. The pasta should be about ready, so drain it an set it aside for now. Working quickly, add the pecans, lemon juice, soup stock mix, and oregano to the onions. Blend, then turn off heat.

Put the onion mixture in the empty saucepan used for the pasta; put on lowest heat. Stir in cheese until everything is well blended. Season with salt + pepper. Add pasta, and toss everything together. Garnish as desired, and serve.

Serves 4

This is a recipe for homemade cinnamon buns that I found. If you want a small project or just feel like making a treat for yourself or others then give it a shot. Below i have the recipe as well as recipe cards which you can print out onto 3" x 5" index cards.

Ooey-Gooey Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients:
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups all-purpose flour

Syrup
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar

Filling
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup melted butter

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Directions:
1.In a small bowl combine 1tsp sugar, water and yeast and let stand until creamy, 10 min. Warm milk in saucepan, remove and mix in sugar, butter and salt until melted.
Noob Tip: Never let the milk boil, heat breaks down proteins which make the dough taste crap.

2.In large bowl combine yeast mixture, milk mixture, eggs and 1 1/2 cups flour. Slowly mix in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough pulls together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
Pro Tip: Dough should want to stick to its self more than your hands. All of the flour may not be required (-/+ 1/2 cup)

3.Lightly coat dough in bowl and cover with damp cloth. Let rise in warm place 'til double in volume, 1 hour.

4.While dough is rising, make syrup by melting butter and brown sugar in small saucepan over medium heat, whisk until smooth then pour into greased 9" x 13" baking pan. Make filling by combining brown sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.
Noob Tip: Do NOT overcook the syrup, too long on the burner and it'll turn into fudge.

5.Turn dough out onto floured surface and roll into a 18" x 14" rectangle. Brush with 2 tbsp melted butter, leaving a 1/2" border; sprinkle with filling mixture. Starting at long side, tightly roll up, pinching seam to seal. Brush with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Using floss, cut into 15 pieces; place cut side down, in prepared pan. Cover and let rise for 2 hour or until doubled in volume.
Pro Tip: To cut with floss, slip the floss under the dough, make a loop and pull through. This is preferred since a knife will squish the roll.

6.Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

7.Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in pan for 3 minutes, then invert onto serving platter. Scrape remaining filling from the pan onto the rolls.
Pro Tip: To make icing topping, whisk 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup margarine, 3 cups confectioners' sugar, 1 tbsp milk and 1 tsp vanilla extract until frosty.
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-->Now if you'd like to print this out then you can find the recipe cards here <--

ENJOY!

Recipe: Maple-Rosemary Satay Skewers with Wild Rice Salad

I have neglected this blog. For that, I am sorry. :( Today I come bearing a recipe that I brought to a friend's for dinner recently. I promise it is full of delicious and because it's made with maple syrup it's totally Canadian.

You will need:

1-2 Pork Tenderloins (depending on how many moochers you're feeding; I used 1.5 to comfortably feed four)

1/4 cup maple syrup (the real stuff, if you put Aunt Jemima's in there I will slap you through your monitor)

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. grainy Dijon mustard (or any mustard you like)

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary (if you don't have fresh, you can use dried, it'll still turn out okay. You might want to use a bit more in that case. Caveat: if you use dried rosemary, there will be loads of it sticking to your skewers, which can be a bit offputting to picky eaters.)

Bamboo skewers (remember to soak your skewers in water for at least ten minutes before you use them, or they will burn!)

Procedure:

Easiest recipe on the planet.

Combine everything except the tenderloins in a ziploc bag. You might want to use a little bit more maple syrup if you have it, or a little bit more mustard. It just depends on your taste.

Cut the tenderloins in half widthwise (so they're half as thick) and then into strips.

Dump the strips into the bag, seal it, put it in the fridge and walk away for at least four to six hours, preferably overnight. Make sure your ziploc bag is sealed. You do not want this stuff leaking all over your fridge.

The next day (or four to six hours later, whatever) thread the marinated tenderloin strips on to your bamboo skewers. Yes, it is messy. Be a man. Toss out the rest of the marinade and run to the sink to wash your hands like a little girl.

Throw the skewers onto the grill for about ten minutes. Watch them like a hawk. They will burn quickly if you're not careful.

Serve hot, warm, or cold, just don't leave them out too long. They taste good with a spicy thai sauce or a peanut sauce to dip them in.


For the salad:

2 cups cooked wild and brown rice mix (depends how much you're making, again. You could use just brown rice if you want, just wild rice, whatever. Just don't use white rice, or it will turn out mushy.)

Chopped pecans

Green onions, chopped (one or two should be fine)

Dried cranberries

Dried chopped apricots

Parsley

Dressing of your choice (nothing creamy - go for Greek, Italian or maybe a vinagrette. This is not the time to indulge in your personal obsession with Ranch.)

Procedure:

Put your two cups of chilled rice in a bowl. Add all ingredients to the bowl.

Dress the salad lightly. The salad should be pretty flavorful all by itself, so think of the dressing more as another ingredient rather than the source of the flavor as with lettuce-based salads.

If you screw up and add too much, don't worry about it, the rice will soak up some of the extra dressing so nobody will know how hard you fail.

Chill until serving. If you have to leave it in the fridge for a while, cover it with saran wrap to keep the rice from drying out.


Both recipes were modified from ones by Julie van Rosendaal.

Recipes: Onigiri

So, this time around I'm cheating a bit.

This recipe probably fits the "homemade" and "geek" labels best out of the ones I've posted so far, mainly for the reason that anyone who was ever twelve and into anime probably still has a small corner of themselves that wishes they could make tasty and authentic Japanese food at home (whether or not they want to admit to it >.>).

Also, anyone who ever watched Fruits Basket probably had a random fascination with the "Japanese soul food" known as onigiri (omusubi), or rice balls.

I, however, am no longer twelve, and as such recognize that I will never be Japanese. As such, it makes the most sense to respectfully bow my head to someone who is an expert on the subject. Specifically, Maki of the AMAZING blogs JustHungy and JustBento. Both are totally worth checking out!!!

I tried this recipe this weekend and its awesome. I'm linking to it instead of reproducing it mainly because I don't want to remotely take credit for it and also because the recipe has further links to other necessary recipes, like how to properly make Japanese rice. The section at the bottom of the JustHungry post (and comments) on alternate fillings is good, too, since not everyone I know is fond of umeboshi paste, etc.

I filled mine with avocado and garimono (sushi ginger; patted dry so as not to make the rice mushy), and they were very tasty!


Onigiri (Omusubi) 2.0 - suitable for absolute n00bs

JustHungry Recipe


enjoy!

~M

Recipes: Best Soft Oatmeal Cookies

So, back again with more cooking, this time in the dessert department. ^^

This recipe pretty much wins for "best oatmeal cookies I've ever had" by a longshot. Slightly spicy (because of the cinnamon and nutmeg), plus they stay wonderfully soft for days after baking.


Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground or powdered cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (or to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 whole bar (355 g) Lindt Dark Chocolate, chopped into chunks


In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugars together. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients in a different bowl (flour, baking soda, salt, and spices).

Stir in with wet mixture. Mix in oats, then chocolate, trying to get an even distribution of chunks if possible. Cover and chill dough for about an hour (I'f found this not to be a terribly crucial step, but it does keep the cookies from spreading out too much when baked).

Preheat oven at 375 F; grease cookie sheets.

Roll dough into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls and place evenly spaced on cookie sheets, around 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 to 10 mins. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about five minutes on the sheets before moving to wire rack.

enjoy!^^


~M