Category Archives: Recipes

Going Greek! Part 1

I really love Greek food and although I have tried a few recipes over the years, I was never really that happy with the results. Well, this past week, I decided to “Go Greek” and try out some new recipes. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised and loved them all! Our meal consisted of:

  • Greek Salad
  • Gyros with Greek Marinated Chicken
  • Tzatziki Sauce

Although I only made three dishes, it was quite a bit of work simply because there was lots of chopping to do. I needed chopped veggies for both the salad and for adding to the gyros. I decided to chop everything I needed and make a tray up earlier in the day. I then just added the veggies to the salad and gyros from the previously prepared tray. This certainly made dinner time much easier.

Yummy Greek Salad:

I am one of those people that prefer my Greek salad with Romain lettuce. This recipe is really all about the dressing! It was a “restaurant hack” and that’s probably why is tastes much like one that would be served when having dinner out. The flavour is great and I will definitely be making it often. As for the actual salad, I used the following:

  • Romaine lettuce, washed and torn
  • tomatoes (I used Roma tomatoes because I had them on hand, but otherwise I would have bought cherry/grape tomatoes)
  • red onion, thinly sliced or diced
  • Kalamata olives
  • avocado, chopped (add right before serving)
  • cucumber, peeled and chopped
  • pepper, chopped (I used yellow and red because I had them both on hand)
  • Feta (I honestly can’t even believe this, but I completely forgot to add my favourite ingredient because it was the one and only thing that I had not put on my tray. I thought I was so well prepared and it wasn’t until I finished my salad that I realized I had completely forgotten to take the feta out of the fridge. Dam.)

Greek Salad Dressing:

This recipe was adapted from Danielle’s recipe that I found on All Recipe’s. The recipe makes a huge batch because it is an actual restaurant recipe. I originally divided it by 12, but still felt it was too much. I took my 1/12 recipe and then halved that. So, if my math serves me correct….I made 1/24 of the original recipe. I only wanted enough for the dinner salad in case I didn’t like it. In the end, I had more than enough for the salad and enough left over for another smaller salad. Here is my scaled down version of the original recipe.

Ingredients:

Pampered Chef Sliding Measuring Spoons

2/3 tsp. is a bit tricky. I was so glad I have these sliding measuring spoons from Pampered Chef!

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2/3 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2/3 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2/3 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/3 cup red wine vinegar

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients together (with the exception of the vinegar). Once mixed, add the vinegar and mix vigorously until the ingredients are well blended. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature.

Pat’s Delicious Oven Stew with Dumplings

stew and dumplings

You may notice that I used baby potatoes in this stew. I usually just peel and chop regular potatoes, but i had these on hand and it was super easy because I didn’t even peel them. Wash and add.

It’s my day off today and I decided to make one of my favourite stew recipes. It was given to me several years ago by, Pat, a great family friend and my spiritual Mama! She was one of my mom’s closest friends and has always been there for me since my mom passed away over 15 years ago. I love this recipe because it is quite different from the traditional brown stew my mom served when we were growing up. I loved my mom’s stew as well, but I was intrigued by the flavour in this tomato based stew.

Pat’s Oven Stew Recipe:

  • 2 lbs. of stewing beef, trimmed of fat and cut into 1″ chunks
  • 2 cans of diced tomatoes, puréed (I use one 28 oz. tin because we by this size bulk at Costco)
  • 2 Tablespoons of beef bouillon mix
  • 2 teaspoons of sugar (or to taste)
  • Seasoning Salt
  • Mrs. Dash (regular) or pepper
  • 3 garlic cloves (minced)
  • Vegetables of your choice, peeled and chopped  (potatoes, turnip, celery, onions, carrots)
  • 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 2 Tablespoons melted butter
  • Optional: 3/4 cup of BBQ sauce
  1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
  2. Place the puréed tomatoes in the bottom of a roaster.
  3. Put the stewing beef on top and stir to cover. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir.
  4. Cover the roaster and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
  5. Add the vegetables, stir and cover. Cook another 2 hours, stirring occasionally. (If the vegetables are done before the two hours are up, remove them from the oven.)
  6. Dissolve the bouillon mix in 1 cup of boiling water.
  7. Place a colander into a large bowl. Drain the juice into this bowl; add the sugar and beef bouillon mix to the juices. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if necessary.
  8. Set the drained meat and veggies to the side.
  9. Make a roux with the flour and melted butter in another pot. Slowly add the juice. Cook and stir until you have a nice gravy.
  10. Add the vegetables and meat into the gravy mixture. Stir and serve.

I love this recipe and wouldn’t adjust a thing. However, I did come across a similar recipe one time that included BBQ sauce. I decided to mix it in with the tomatoes and it was a nice addition, so I included it as an option. Either way is delicious!

Dumplings:

Dumplings are the selling feature in my family. My kids absolutely love them and they are pretty easy to make. My recipe comes from my Grade 7 Home Economics cookbook “Recipes for Young Adults”. I have to say, I still use several recipes from that book.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 Tablespoon of butter
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup of milk or water (I use milk)

Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Cut in the butter and crumble by rubbing it with the flour between your hands. Slowly add the milk (or water) and mix. Drop by spoonfuls onto the top of the stew. (I usually get 4 blobs from one batch, but I always double it because my family loves stew and dumplings.) Cover. Place in the oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.  Don’t lift the cover during cooking. I don’t worry about the stew over cooking. I just crank it up for the last 10 minutes and it seems fine. The dumplings rise beautifully and are a yummy addition to any stew. (If you are making a stove top stew, just cook the same way – drop on stew, cover and cook for 10 minutes or so.)

 

 

Bacon Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

My cousin makes this Bacon Stuffed Jalapeño Popper recipe often and these tasty morsels always disappear quickly. This appetizer is very yummy and surprisingly, they don’t burn the end of your tongue off! I love peppers, but many don’t enjoy hot and spicy foods. When the “guts” of the jalapeños are removed and then grilled/cooked, they aren’t nearly as hot as you might expect. Even my dad enjoys them and he is not one for spicy foods at all. This recipe is super simple and a guaranteed hit!

Bacon Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

Ingredients:

  • 1  8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened at room temperature
  • 6 – 8 jalapeños, sliced  lengthwise with ribs and seeds removed (depends on size of the peppers)
  • 8 slices of bacon
  • 2 finely chopped green onions
  • 1/2 – 3/4 cup of grated cheddar cheese

Instructions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degree. Line your baking sheet with foil and apply cooking spray.
  2. Cook the bacon until crisp and then soak up the fat using a paper towel.  Chop the cooked bacon into very small pieces.
  3. Give the cream cheese a really good stir to create a smooth consistency. Add the bacon pieces, chopped green onions, and grated cheddar into the cream cheese and mix until thoroughly combined.
  4. Cut the jalapeños in half, lengthwise. (You may want to wear gloves when handling the peppers.) Carefully remove the seeds and ribs with a spoon. Fill each jalapeño half with the cream cheese mixture.
  5. Place the poppers on your prepared baking sheet. (They can be quite close together.) Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling begins to bubble. Serve hot from the oven!

Recipe Variations to Consider:

Kathleeen’s recipe on Gonna Want Seconds is slightly different, but she recommends dipping the stuffed jalapeños into bread crumbs, so that the crumbs stick to the surface of the cream cheese. I’m sure this would give the finished popper a nice crispy texture once baked. Sounds delicious!

Another variation of this recipe is to omit the chopped bacon from the filling mixture and in lieu of that, wrap each stuffed poppers with a slice of raw bacon and then secure it with a wooden toothpick. Depending on size of the bacon slices, you may want to slice the bacon in half lengthwise, so that one slice will actually do 2 poppers. If you choose to do this option, make sure you have enough slices (whole or halved) to wrap all your poppers.

These could also be placed on the BBQ for a great grilled appetizer.

No matter what variation you choose, these are sure to be a hit. Enjoy!

Click here to print the recipe for Bacon Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers in PDF format.

Shmoo Torte

Shmoo Torte has been my husband’s favourite dessert for years, so I figured it would make a perfect 50th birthday cake for him. It’s actually not that difficult to make, but does contain pecans, so it’s not appropriate if you’re serving it to guests that may have a nut allergy. I was given this recipe many years ago, but my good friend Pat. I must admit I have only made it a few times, but only because it is much too dangerous to have in the house! This is an incredibly delicious recipe and a guaranteed hit!

Shmoo Torte Recipe:

Cake Ingredients:

  • 12 eggs (separated)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla
  • 2 cups ground pecans
  • 1 cup of cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
  2. Separate the eggs and then beat the egg whites until very stiff.
  3. Add cream of tartar. Beat. Slowly add 1 cup of sugar, beating as you add it.
  4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks, 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla. Continue to beat this mixture until it is thick and light.
  5. Fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites.l
  6. Sift the cake flour and baking powder together. Fold the dry ingredients into the eggs.
  7. Fold in the ground pecans.
  8. Divide the batter in half and pour into two greased angel cake pans.
  9. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 300 degrees on the lowest rack in the oven.
  10. When the cakes are done, invert them immediately to cool.
  11. Remove the cakes from the pan while they are still warm. (I actually baked my cakes the day before and left them in the pans until the next day with a clean towel laying over the tops of the completely cooled cakes. I simply used a butter knife and slid it around the edges and the cakes released just fine.)
  12. Cut the cooled cakes in half so that you end up with 4 horizontal layers.
  13. Place whipped cream between the layers and on top.
  14. Drizzle a scant amount of caramel sauce over the top to decorate the cake. (I didn’t do this because it was a birthday cake and I wanted to pipe on top, but normally I would.)
  15. Serve the torte with warm caramel sauce drizzled on top. (It isn’t necessary, but if you want to “plate” it nicely, add a little extra dollop of whipped cream and then the caramel sauce drizzled on top, with a pecan set in it for a lovely presentation.)

Caramel Sauce:

  • 2 cups of whipping cream
  • 2 heaping tablespoons of butter
  • 2 cups of brown sugar (packed)

Place the ingredients in a sauce pan and let simmer cover for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (When I make a sauce like this, I will often put it on the stove early in the day on the lowest setting on my stove until all of the ingredients are melted and well mixed. I will then turn it off and just let it stand until closer to serving time and then just heat it up.)

Cream for Layers:

  • 3 cups of whipping cream
  • 1 1/2 – 2 Tablespoons of icing sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whip the cream until it holds its shape. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat to mix. (The original recipe calls for 2 cups whip cream, 1+ T. icing sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla, but I find that it isn’t quite enough to get good coverage of the sides and top, so the above is 1 1/2 times the original and made plenty.)

*This recipe makes a lovely tall 4 layer torte that served all 20 people at Tim’s birthday. The pieces weren’t huge, but everyone got a piece and there was a good hunk of cake left. I was worried about how many it would feed and actually made 12 cupcakes as well, just in case. I would say this cake would easily serve 16 to 20 people.

*I have also halved this recipe and made only one cake when serving less people.  I then slice the single cake into thirds to get 3 layers.

*I don’t generally have “cake flour” in my house, but did go to “Bulk Barn” and bought 1 cup just for this recipe. I am not sure how important that is??

Did you know?

I already had this recipe, but was originally wondering if I might try to bake it in regular round cake pans, so was researching to see if it would work or not? (I found mixed responses to this and ended up using my angel pan and a borrowed one from a neighbour.) Anyway, in my research I discovered that Shmoo Torte is somewhat of a Winnipeg/Manitoba phenomena. I never realized that, but evidently it’s rare to find it in a bakery or on a dessert menu outside of our lovely province. Interesting? I don’t know if there is any truth to this or not, but if you are reading this post and you live outside Manitoba, I’d love to know if you’ve ever heard of Shmoo Torte before. If Shmoo is new to you, it is an absolute MUST TRY!  Let me know how it works out for you when you have a chance to try it!

P.S. I didn’t have a great picture from the party, so I “plated” a piece this morning just for this post. After snapping a few pictures, I thought “Ah, what the hell! No body else is around…”, so I ate it for breakfast! Not the healthiest start to the date, but well worth the temporary euphoria!

Yummy NO-BAKE Peanut Butter Bars

chocolate plus peanut butterI am a total sucker for peanut butter and chocolate and when I came across this recipe on “I Heart Nap Time”, I just had to try it. Being able to do very little over the past 10 days, I at least managed to try out this new recipe. These yummy bars taste just like Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups and were loved by the entire family ~ even Shay who is generally anti-peanut butter anything! Of course, my brain got quite rattled in my fall and it didn’t even cross my mind to take a photo of the bars before the entire pan was gobbled up. If you want to check-out what the bars look like follow the link back to Jamielyn’s blog.

This being the first time I made these, I didn’t change a thing and there is no need to. They were perfect as is. However, I did use a combination of white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips, but only because that was what I had on hand. These are require no baking and can be whipped up in a matter of minutes. They do need to set for about an hour, but the prep is super fast and easy. I love finding great no-bake recipes for summer as our house just gets way too hot when you use the oven. I couldn’t help but imagine what this peanut butter mixture would be like if I somehow combined it with this no-bake chocolate brownie recipe I have – mmmm Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies sound simply delicious!

Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars:

 Ingredients:
  • 1 cup salted butter (melted)
  • 2 cups graham wafer crumbs
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 (11 oz) bag milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients, except chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl. Stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
  2. Dump the peanut butter mixture into a 9×13 pan and spread it out to make a smooth surface.
  3. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave (at 50% power) for 1-2 minutes. Stir chocolate and pour over the peanut butter mixture. Spread chocolate with a spatula. To even out chocolate, tap pan on the counter.
  4. Refrigerate bars for one hour. Cut while bars are still cool. Enjoy!

These are a really great treat for adults and kids alike, but be sure to serve them when you don’t have guests with a nut allergy.

Picnic Potato Salad

This homemade salad dressing was my Grandma Cooley’s. She used to make it and passed it along to my mom who used it as the base for her potato salad. It has great flavour, but I sometimes add extra spices and/or pickle juice for a little extra kick when making potato salad. Prepared mustard is also great for kicking up the flavour in the final stages if you feel you need to.

Grandma Cooley’s Homemade Dressing:

  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 cup cream
  • 3/4 cup vinegar
  • To use for potato salad , you will need to add milk and either Miracle Whip or Mayo

Method:

Place all of the ingredients in a double-boiler. Stir and cook over boiling water until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and refrigerate. To use this dressing recipe for a potato salad, my mom would combine equal parts of the dressing with milk and either Miracle Whip or Mayo. She suggested using 1/3 of a cup of each. Mix to combine and stir into potato salad.

Potato Salad:

When making a potato salad, I generally make about 1 potato per person. I alter the additional items based on the number of potatoes I use in the salad. Although I don’t always use the same ingredients, this is what I generally add to the base salad.

        • Russet potatoes ~ peeled, boiled, chopped and cooled
        • chopped celery
        • chopped radish
        • diced red onion or sliced green onions
        • dill
        • salt and pepper to taste
        • chopped sweet or dill pickles
        • 4 to 8 hard boiled eggs (chopped in the salad and/or sliced to decorate the surface)
        • paprika sprinkled on top

If you’re are planning to serve a number of people and need to make a large salad, you may want to try this speedy method of removing the peels from all of those potatoes. Brilliant!

Post by Leo Morten Lund.

Roasted Rhubarb and Beet Salad

My friend Joan passed on this great article about rhubarb from Alive and it included this awesome recipe for a scrumptious summer salad. The article itself provided information on rhubarb and also highlighted some of its medicinal benefits. I made this for dinner on Sunday night and absolutely loved it. Tim thought is was very good, but he isn’t a lover of goat cheese and said he would substitute feta for it next time. I can’t say the kids loved it, but it is a little different than anything they’ve had before. For me, it was pure perfection…..loved the combination of flavours! This was a perfect dinner salad for our family, but would also be a  fabulous side dish to serve company.

Pamela Durkin’s Roasted Rhubarb and Beet Salad:

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium beets
  • 1 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1 1/2″ diagonal slices
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 cups mixed greens
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • soft goat cheese (or feta)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place the washed beets in the oven to bake. Remove when they can be pierced easily with a knife or fork. (About 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size.). Set the roasted beets aside to cool. Peel and slice.
  2. Toss the rhubarb with the honey in the same measuring cup used to measure the rhubarb. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for about 6 to 10 minutes until tender, but not mushy. Set aside to cool.
  3. After emptying the rhubarb and honey onto a baking sheet, I used the same cup to make the dressing, so there was a bit of honey remaining from the original mixture. To the scant amount of remaining honey, add the oil, vinegar and salt and pepper. Whisk together.
  4. Toss the greens, beets and walnuts with the dressing to coat evenly. Divide evenly onto 4 salad plates and top with rhubarb and crumbled goat cheese.

Delicious Rhubarb Slush

If you’ve got a rhubarb patch and are looking for the perfect summer recipe to prevent your rhubarb from going to waste, this might be it. I got this recipe years ago, but only made it once as I don’t have access to my own patch.  I would love to make this again, but it requires lots of rhubarb.

Ingredients:

rhubarb slush

Here is another rhubarb slush recipe from qwerkyqook.

  • 20 cups of chopped rhubarb
  • 10 cups of water
  • 4-6 cups of sugar
  • 1 small package of Strawberry Jello
  • 12 1/2 oz. can frozen lemonade
  • 12 1/2 oz. can frozen orange juice

Boil the rhubarb and water in a large pot for 15 minutes. Do not stir. Place the mixture in a clean pillowcase and tie it onto a broom stick that is propped over two chairs for support.  Set it above a large bowl or pot. (Seriously, these directions are not a joke.) Let the mixture “strain” through the pillowcase overnight. Heat the juice and add 4 – 6 cups of sugar (I can’t remember how much I used, but I like the tart flavour, so I would suggest starting with 4 and doing a taste test.) Stir until dissolved. Add Strawberry Jello.  Stir and remove from heat.  Add frozen juices. Pour the mixture into an ice cream pail until it is 3/4 full and freeze. Makes 2 pails full. Serve with equal portions of slush and 7-up. Hope you enjoy this refreshing summer drink!

Rhubarb Muffins

rhubarb muffinsYahoo! Rhubarb is in season! I grew-up picking rhubarb fresh from the patch and then dipping the end in a bowl of sugar….so 70’s! I no longer do the sugar dipping thing, but I absolutely love rhubarb recipes. I don’t grow any (not sure why not), but a few ladies from work brought me in some fresh rhubarb and I’m totally going on a rhubarb rampage over the next few days, so brace yourself.  The first recipe is for delicious rhubarb muffins….mmm good.

Rhubarb Muffins:

Preheat the over to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon soda
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2/3 cups oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups of chopped fresh rhubarb

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Fold in the rhubarb. Grease muffin tins. Place the batter in muffin trays. This recipe makes 24 muffins.

Topping:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoon melted butter
  • Optional: candied pecans

Mix the ingredients together and sprinkle on top of the muffins. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Cauliflower with Broccoli Cheese Sauce

Growing-up, one of my favourite ways to eat vegetables was with my mom’s homemade cheese sauce. She would simply melt some butter (1 to 2 Tablespoons), add flour to soak up the butter (paste like) and then whisk in milk (1 to 2 cups) until the flour was mixed in. She would then put it on medium heat (stirring constantly to avoid scorching) until the mixture thickened. She would then add grated cheddar until desired cheesiness was achieved.  She often add dill as well as salt and pepper.  My mom would serve the cheese sauce over cabbage, cauliflower or steamed broccoli. Knowing how much I loved this growing-up, I was intrigued when I found Jamie Oliver’s recipe for the Best Cauliflower and Broccoli Cheese ever.

Jamie Oliver’s Cauliflower and Broccoli Cheese:

broccoli cheese casseroleThis recipe is like our long time family favourite kicked-up a notch. You’ll have to follow the link to get the complete recipe, but basically it is much the same as my mom’s with a white sauce as the base. Here is what sets his recipe apart:

  • Sauté fresh garlic in the butter prior to adding the flour
  • Simmer broccoli florets in the milk mixture for about 20 minutes
  • Blend the above, so that the broccoli is puréed
  • Place small cauliflower florets in a baking dish
  • Pour broccoli mixture over top
  • Add additional grated cheese, bread crumbs, slivered almonds, salt and pepper and fresh thyme to the top
  • Bake at 350 for one hour

I really enjoyed this recipe and will definitely make it again. However, I happened to have frozen veggies on hand and he suggested it was a great option. I think the moisture in the cauliflower may have “watered it down” a bit. Next time I will use fresh and I think it will be superb. It makes a nice potluck dish or side dish to serve for company.