Simple but impressive tomato tart

Everyone has a few things in their fridge or freezer, that with a few key ingredients, they can whip something together that is sure to impress. For me, it is a tomato tart made with puff pastry. And no I don't make my own or I wouldn't be able to whip this together. But it is beautiful, flaky and definitely something that everyone loves. The beautiful buttery flavour is one that few can resist.

It takes about 10 mins to assemble, and then 30 mins to cook, and it is fabulous!! As an appetizer, or a side with salad or steak. Hope you enjoy!!

150 g puff pastry, thawed
4 ripe tomato, sliced into rounds
3/4 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup nicoise olives (optional)
1/4 cup fresh roughly chopped basil
1/4 cup olive oil
Fresh ground pepper

1. Roll the puff pastry out into your desired shape, square, rectangle or circle. Fold the edge over once to create a small lip
2. Lay out tomato slices around on the puff pastry side by side filling the the tart
3. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the entire tart, followed by the olives and then the basil.
4. Drizzle the olive oil over top of the tart and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 mins or until the crust is a nice golden brown

The beauty of this recipe, is also that it can handle so many variations. Change your vegetable based on season and pair with a different cheese that compliments your vegetable and you have a whole new dish.
For example, pear & blue cheese, asparagus and brie cheese, caramelized onions with...just about anything. Have fun with it, sweet or savoury. Enjoy!

The pleasure of gluttony

Sometimes it is not about what I make, but about what I eat. I would never dare to prepare this at home but it was oh so delicious! I will preface this by saying that despite the fact that I shared this with my girlfriend, I still couldn't finish my half!

I found myself at The Counter at The Thompson Hotel this week where my AWESOME waiter recommended the double grilled cheese burger. Yes you heard it, that is 2 grilled cheese sandwiches as the bun, plus the burger, bacon and all the toppings.

Look at that cheese oozing out of that burger and the generous strips of bacon! So delicious. I would have preferred my burger to not have been so well done, I am a medium-rare girl myself but I understand that restaurants can't serve their burgers that way, but it was still fantastic. I loved that the grilled cheese was a combination of cheeses as well and that they were not at all chintzy.  However, if you choose to order this crazy burger, you have to ask for it. While it is a regular part of the menu, you won't see it printed on the menu.

Ok, so I know your arteries are beginning to clog, but it didn't stop there. That's right, if a double grilled cheese burger wasn't enough, we also ordered the rings & fries combo with chipotle mayo. Ok, so I am a sucker for a good onion ring. French fries I can do without, and these onion rings are fantastic! Not your traditional batter, super crispy, not greasy at all and with a sprinkle of salt...perfection! As for the fries, not bad. I like my fries crispy but not too crunchy. I was worried when the basket appeared that they would be too "potatoey" but no. They had substance and were definitely crispy.

All in all, it was hilarious lunch. Here were 2 girls sharing this enormous lunch, laughing at the fact that we even ordered it, but enjoying every bite. Should you choose to try it, definitely share it, maybe even 3 ways. I still couldn't finish my half, and then couldn't eat for the rest of the day.

The Harvest

Well, it is not because I have not been busy in the kitchen that I haven't posted lately. It is harvest time with the tomatoes and peppers that I have been growing in my garden. So in fact, I have been very busy making enough tomato sauce to keep me eating homemade sauce through the entire winter, PLUS, I have enough red pepper jelly to ensure that not a cheese plate will go without until next year. Oh yeah, and I still have enough to give to friends and family. I have always wanted to do that, pretty little jars with my own homemade concoctions. Truth is though, I have always felt a little bit intimidated by canning. What with the boiling and pectins and the sterilizing and the tongs and the potential to accidentally poison the people that I love. Well this year, I conquered that fear with a fabulous little book given to me by my good friend Chris, Jellies, Jams & Chutneys, by Thane Prince and published by DK Books.

So with the detail and far from overwhelming instructions from this beautiful little book, I felt ready to tackle my first 'official' jelly. So following the recipe on page 182, I made a most lovely Red Pepper Jelly that is now the talk of my girlfriends and family. Not only is good on cheese, but I quite like on toast with butter and eggs too! So here it is my friends, the Jellies, Jams & Chutneys recipe for Red Pepper Jelly.


My personal notes before you start:

1. This Jelly has great flavour and a very pleasant amount of heat. But if you like a little more kick to your jelly, throw in a couple more fresh peppers, or include the seeds.
2. I prefer to have a few flakes of the peppers floating in the jelly, so once you drain the peppers, take a couple of tbsp of the peppers and put it back into the mixture. 
3. This is a 2 day process, so you don't have to prep you jars until Day 2.

Red Pepper Jelly

Takes 30 mins over 2 days
Makes about 3 1/2 lbs or 16 little jars
Keeps for about 6 mos. refridgerated

Ingredients
6 large red bell peppers, stems remove, halved and seeded
12 red chiles, halved (I used a combo the Bird's Eye or Red Thai, Westland and Scotch Bonnet Chiles)
2-1/2 cups red wine vinegar
2-1/4 lb granulated sugar
9 oz. liquid pectin

1. Put the peppers and chiles into a blender or food processor, and chop finely, pulsing the machine on and off. Alternatively, chop by hand.
2. Transfer the chopped peppers and chiles to a deep, heavy nonreactive saucepan. Add the vinegar, and bring to a boil Boil for 5 minutes, then let drip through a cheesecloth or other jelly bag overnight.
3. Pour the resulting liquid into the cleaned saucepan and add the sugar. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
4. Add the pectin, increase the heat, and cook at a full rolling boil for 2 minutes, then test for a set.
5. When the jelly has reached the setting point, ladle into small sterilized jars and cover with vinegar-proof seals.

Hope you enjoy this beautiful jelly as much as I do.  I will let you know what else I make from this great little book.

Fish Tacos

Many years ago, my partner David and I went to Venice Beach in L.A. where I had the opportunity to try fish tacos for the first time. They were delicious and since that time, I  haven't found anything like them. And these are not like them either, sorry! But, I still think they are pretty good. Plus, the fish is so full of flavour that you could use the same fish recipe and serve with the salsa and rice and have a whole other meal. ln fact, you could pretty well dissect almost the entire meal and use each of the recipes in other meals.

This one though is fresh, simple, quick and easy to make! Obviously you could use use a store-bought salsa and guacamole, but, given how quick and truly easy they are to make, I prefer to make my own (plus it is a great way to impress guests!) In this case, I not only made my own, but I used fresh ingredients from my garden. My tomatoes and hot peppers are ready to go!

Hope you enjoy it as much as my family did! (This recipe served 3 adults)

Fish Tacos

FISH
3 Tilapia filets
1 lime, juiced
1 tbsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil

1. Sprinkle the fish, both sides, with the chili powder and salt. Gently rub it into the fish.
2. Squeeze lime juice on the fish, then drizzle with olive oil. 
3. Allow it marinade for approx. 1 hour.

SALSA
1/4 red or white onion, chopped fine
4-5 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 thai red chili, chopped fine (remove the seeds to make it less spicy)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

• Mix all of the above ingredients in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Stir and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

GUACAMOLE
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1-1/2 limes, juiced
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
2 dashes chipotle sauce
1/2 thai chili chopped fine
sea salt to taste

1. Place avocados in a medium sized bowl. Add garlic, lime juice, cumin, salt, cilantro and chipotle sauce.
2. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are well combined and the avocado has achieved your desired texture. (I like mine a little lumpy).

TO SERVE:
1/4 head butter lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yoghurt
1/2 cup Feta cheese
6-8 small wraps
1/4 cup refried beans or black beans (optional)

Once all of that is ready, and your table is set, it is time to cook the fish!

COOKING THE FISH

1. To cook the fish, heat a cast iron pan over med-high heat until it is almost smoking hot. 
2. Add fish and all of the juices from the marinade and cook for approx. 3-5 mins per side (depending on thickness of the fish) or until the fish is cooked through.

Place on a platter, and serve while hot! This is a great serve yourself dinner. Everyone can mix and match their ingredients according to their tastes. I usually keep an extra bottle of hot sauce on the table for those who need that extra kick!

My favorite salad, The Cobb

I love Cobb Salad. It has a little bit of everything that I love, cheese, bacon, avocado and more. It is particularly good when prepared now when we can use the vegetables that are in season. Ontario has fantastically sweet peaches'n'cream corn and my tomatoes that I have grown in the backyard are ripening. Plus, with the heat of the summer, salad is all I want to eat. So Cobb it is.  I hope you enjoy this version, full of protein and lycopene, fibre and more, so a meal you can feel good about, it covers all the bases, indulgent with the cheese, but healthy!

Cobb Salad
1 head boston/butter lettuce
2 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts (Scallopini style/cut thin)
6-8 slices organic bacon
2 cobbs of corn or 1-1/2 cups frozen or canned
1 avocado, cut into cubes
1 full tomato, cut into cubes
1/2 cup blue cheese (I like Roquefort)
1 cucumber (which I actually didn't include this time)
4 hard-boiled organic eggs
1/4 cup nicoise olives (optional)

Dressing:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp chopped chives
salt & pepper

1. Cook your bacon until it is crispy. Once it has cooled, break them into pieces and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for about 5-10 mins to make them extra crispy and set aside.
2. On med-high heat, cook the chicken breasts in the leftover bacon grease until cooked. Allow them  to cool and then set aside.
3. If you are using fresh corn, remove cut it away from the cobb and steam. I cut my corn directly onto a tea towel to keep if from rolling off the cutting board and onto the floor
4. To assemble the salad, lay out the lettuce onto a dish. Then in sections, lay each of the ingredients. If your plate is circular, lay them out on top of the lettuce like individual pie slices (as I have done), if your dish is square or rectangular, lay the ingredients in rows. 
5. Drizzle with your salad dressing

Enjoy!!

It doesn't get much fresher than this!

Every year for the past 10 years, my closest friends (Kim, Christopher and their 2 gorgeous young children) who rent a house in Martha's Vineyard and invite me. I have never been, until this year. It is a beautiful island, scenic, soft sandy beaches, quiet, and great seafood! For years I heard tales and names of places like Chilmark and Menemsha, but now I know these places.

Menemsha is a small fishing area where one goes and chooses their favorite fish house and orders what they want, fresh from the days haul. Then, with your food and your bottle of wine, glasses, etc. that you bring with you, since this is a dry part of the island, you sit on the shoreline and enjoy them. It doesn't get much better than that does it? Well this sounded just perfect for me so off we went, just after we had arrived. Her favorite place, and where we went was Larsens. A tiny little place that backs onto the harbour. In you walk into their shop, the left side is for ordering your fish that you can prepare at home, the right has a tiny little window where you order your seafood...oysters, little necks, lobster bisque, etc.

We ordered oysters, lobster bisque and little necks. Reaching into buckets of ice right in front of you, the fish monger chooses your selection and shuck them right there placing them onto the most lovely...paper plates. Yes, you heard it paper plates Nothing fancy abut this place. It's all about the haul. They don't need to gussy it up with fancy plates or seaweed. It is real simple, with your plate of fish, you choose your acoutrements, lemon wedges from a tupperware container, jarred horseradish, cocktail sauce. But all of this...just adds to the experience.

Well, if this wasn't enough, Christopher added to the meal by heading just across the street to The Bite, where also using fish from the daily haul, he brought deep fried scallops, clams and zucchini and their famous clam chowder.

So how was it all? In a word, delicious! Let's start with Larsens. The oysters, you could still taste the salt from the ocean in them. A little gritty, they don't clean them maybe quite as much as I am accustomed, but it doesn't change how delicious and fresh tasting they were. They weren't the big meaty ones nor were they too metallic a flavour either. The little necks, my first time having them, were quite tasty, not too fishy with a neat texture, kind of crunchy. As for the lobster bisque, I have never had a lobster bisque like that. It was AMAZING!! Not too rich, good lobster flavour, not too thick, and had a little spice in it. We only ordered 1 to share amongst David (my partner & I) and I ended up eating almost all of it. I just couldn't get enough of it.

As for The Bite, being deep-fried helps, since we all know everything is better when its deep-fried. But not everybody can deep fry well. The Bite does. I was a little weary on deep-fried clams, the rest I knew could be good, but clams? Ok, these were like little deep fried candies, so good. Nothing tasted greasy, it was all just good. The only thing I didn't love, and that doesn't meant it was bad, was the Clam Chowder. I am not a big fan of potato and I could taste more potato than I would prefer, but the texture was good, like the lobster bisque from Larsens, not too rich, I would still recommend it if you like Clam Chowder, but if I had to choose one, go with the Lobster Bisque from Larsens.

Simple is delicious

I love things that are simple. This little appetizer is so easy you don't even have to cook it, refrigerate it or freeze it. It can be prepared and served in about 15 mins! So what is it you ask?

Smoked trout crostini

Smoked trout (from your local fish monger, preferably organic)
1 tsp capers
1/2 cucumber, cut into slices
olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper
1/2 baguette or crostini or crackers

Remove the trout from the skin and simply break it into small pieces. Sprinkle with the capers, lemon, olive oil and a bit of salt & pepper.
To serve, place a cucumber onto your crostini, then layer with the trout mixture and enjoy!

Simple and delicious! This is a favorite appetizer of mine that you can make all year. What I particularly love, is that if you make it in the winter, it has a freshness that reminds you of summer.

And now, the sour of summer...

Yesterday I was watching The Food Network and was inspired to make a deep fried lamb chop wrapped in bacon. How can that be bad? Deep fried and bacon. So on my walk to the neighbourhood butcher I was pleasantly surprised to see the sour cherries are out! I carefully picked about 3 cups worth and then made my way to the butcher to get my lamb. So tonights menu?

• Fennel salad with cucumber and parmesan
• Deep fried lamb chops wrapped in bacon
• Mini sour cherry pies

The fennel salad is a lovely addition to any meal. Fresh and easy to make in 5-10 mins!

1 whole fennel, cut in half and then sliced very fine (preferably with a mandolin if available)
1/4 cucumber (sliced equally as fine)
Fresh italian parsley, chopped
olive oil
red wine vinegar
lemon
Parmesan cheese

Combine the fennel and the cucumber and then throw on the parsley. Drizzle with olive oil, red wine vinegar and then squeeze approx. 1/2 lemon on top. Shave on thin slices parmesan cheese and then sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.

Chill until ready to serve, but serve at room temperature.

Next, Deep fried lamb chops wrapped in bacon

Lamb chops
Bacon
Homemade pesto with additional olive oil to make it a little liquidy

Individually wrap each lamb chop in bacon. Try to tuck the bacon in at the end so it doesn't fall off. Bring the meat to room temperature. Place the chops into the hot oil, ensuring that the oil covers the meat entirely. Cook for approx. 5 mins. You want to serve the meat medium rare.

When it is finished, place on your plate and drizzle your pesto around and on top and serve hot with your fennel salad.

Sour Cherry Tarts (makes 5)

Pie Pastry for single pastry (see instructions in post Pie Pastry 101)
3 cups sour cherries, pitted
5 + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg
LG muffin tin

Make your pastry and roll it out according to instruction in Pie Pastry 101. Using a cup approx the same size as the opening of your muffin tin, extend 1" beyond and cut the pastry in circles.
Place the pastry into the muffin tin and fill with your fruit mixture.
For the top, cut thin strips with leftover pastry to make a lattice top.  Crimp your edges, and brush with eggwash and then sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp. of sugar. Chill for 30 mins.

Place into a 400 degree preheated oven for 10 mins and then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and cook for 30-40 mins or until top is golden brown.

Enjoy...

The sweet of summer

I love summer. The sun, the heat, the beautiful flowers, and the garden fresh bounty. At my house, I have a garden that sits in full sun from 11am until sunset. So this year, I planted vegetables for the first time. Just so you know, I have been renovating my house for that last 3 years, and finally got the back garden pulled together last year, so this was my first year planting. This picture was taken at 6:30 pm, just to give you an idea of the light.

Remember, I have never planted a vegetable garden before. A garden yes, but vegetable no I always had shade. So I started this year with rhubarb and two different tomato and hot pepper varieties. I have already learned a lot, like next year buy fewer tomato plants. In case you hadn't noticed, they seem to be taking over my garden. But I will use them, tomato sauce, oven dried tomato, etc.which of course I will share here with you. However, the reason for todays entry is that I have already had the luxury of using something from my garden, rhubarb. I was sure to purchase a plant that was a few years old as you can only harvest rhubarb from a plant that is at least 2 years old.
So, what did I make? Strawberry rhubarb pie! Mmmm....so good. With local Ontario strawberries, sweet and delicious and rhubarb from my garden, this was a delicious pie, better than most if I do say so myself. :)

So, the recipe starts with the pie pastry, which you can view in my blog entry on pie pastry. The filling is made as follows:

4 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups chopped strawberries
3-6 tbsp cornstarch (I like mine less liquidy so I use 6 tbsp)
2 tbsp sugar

Mix it up and roll out your pastry and place it into your pie dish. Fill it with your fruit, remember, it may seem like a lot, but it cooks down, a lot.

With the top, once you have rolled it out, you will slice it into 10 equal sized strips (approx. 1"). Take your longest piece and lay it across the centre of your pie, and then follow it with the next longest directly across, making a "+" . With each following piece, be sure to alternate top and bottom, creating your lattice.

Make an egg wash and brush your pie and sprinkle with sugar.

Allow it to chill for 30mins, before placing it into a 400 degree preheated oven for 10 mins, and then turn the heat down to 350 and bake for another 50 mins or until the crust is golden brown. Allow it to come to room temperature and enjoy...

White Castle

This blog is not all about the food I cook, but also about my food experiences out in the rest of the world. When I have my camera, and I am inspired, I will do my best to document my experiences for you, my wonderful followers! ;)
I am a huge fan of the food network. I love to watch cooking shows but I must admit, what I may love even more, is to watch shows about restaurants. So on some random night that I happened to be watching, there was a show that talked about White Castle. Now I must admit, I had never heard of White Castle before, but I did enjoy learning about their history and the fact that they are still doing sliders now as they did way back when they started, and for a fast food chain I was curious about their technique. Small curious little things, cooked or rather 'steamed' on a bed of onions. The patties themselves have small holes in them so as to better absorb the flavour of the onion when it 'steams'. Not to mention those cute little buns that they make themselves.
So when I found myself driving through Michigan this Spring enroute from Chicago to my home I jumped at the chance to visit the White Castle that I came across in Flint, Michigan.

True to their description, cute little burgers in cute little packages, and you definitely could taste the steamed onions in the meat. But, as much as I wanted to like them...they weren't for me. A bit chewy, what with being steamed and all. But I did love the authenticity of them, I imagine that they must taste the same as they did when they came out almost 100 years ago.
So if you get a chance, and want to taste history, give them a try. It certainly was fun if not tasty experience for me.