Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Top 10 Recipes of 2011
I’m looking forward to what 2012 has in store for this blog and for food blogging in general. Now I’d like to share with you the most popular posts from Food and Whine for this year. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!
5. Chicken and Vegetable Penne
6. Chicken Mole
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Turkey Vegetable Soup
After indulging in far too many unhealthy treats during Christmas, I've been starting to crave wholesome and nutritious foods that have been sadly lacking in my diet lately. I happen to have a lot of leftover turkey in my fridge, as I'm sure many of you do, so this soup was a perfect way to use some of it up while satisfying my need for a healthy meal. This recipe is very similar to the soup from Whole Chicken in a Crockpot. By simmering the bones overnight in the slow cooker, you get a rich and nutrient-packed stock for your soup. If you don't have any turkey bones to do this or you just don't have the time, store-bought turkey or chicken stock is fine for this too. The whole family loved this soup, and suprisingly it was my usually picky Cole who seemed to enjoy it the most. He asked me if it was good for him and I told him it was, then he asked "so how come it tastes so good?" Apparently a meal can't be good for you and taste good, according to Cole's logic. This soup just blew his mind.
Turkey Stock
1 turkey carcass, meat and skin removed
1 onion, cut in half
1 tsp vinegar
Break up the turkey carcass as much as you can and place the pieces in a slow cooker with the onion. Add enough water to cover the bones, then add vinegar and cook on low heat overnight.
In the morning, pour the contents of the slow cooker through a strainer to remove the bones and onion. Either use the stock right away for your soup or place it in airtight containers in the fridge or freezer to use later. The benefit of chilling the stock first is it allows you to scoop the fat easily off the top. Don't be alarmed if the stock congeals when chilled; this is caused by the natural gelatin from the bones and is a sign of a great stock.
Turkey Vegetable Soup
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 small head of broccoli, chopped
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 tbsp fresh basil, diced
1/3 cup fresh parsley, diced
6 cups (approx) turkey stock
1/2 cup of your favourite pasta
1 cup (more or less) of cooked chopped turkey
salt and pepper, to taste
Heat oil on medium heat in a dutch oven or soup pot. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli, poultry seasoning, basil and parsley. Stir and cook for another minute. Pour in your turkey stock and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook for about 10 minutes, until pasta is soft. Add turkey and reduce heat. Simmer covered for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper.
On a side note, I love this photo because you can see my cat in the spoon's reflection. He was hovering pretty close to the soup the whole time. He promptly jumped onto the table to try to lick our bowls after we were done. Naughty kitty!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Cherry Bread
Pat each ball into 11- x 8" rectangle. Starting at narrow end, roll up into cylinder; pinch along bottom to smooth and seal. Place seam side down in small greased loaf pans or on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Heat oven to 375°F and bake for 25 minutes or until loaves are golden and sound hollow when tapped. Let cool on racks before slicing.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Christmas Goodies Round-Up
Banana Chocolate-Chip Biscotti
This was my first attempt at making biscotti...ever! It was fun to make and it's great to give as a gift because it keeps well. This recipe is also nut-free so that's good if you're looking for a gift for someone with a nut allergy. Tony and I have been enjoying it with coffee and Bailey's- yum! I couldn't really taste the bananas in it, but the chocolate chips were very tasty.
Peppermint Patties
These are my new favourites! I had a blast making them, and I couldn't believe how easy and fast they were to make. I love peppermint patties but never thought about making my own until I saw this recipe on Pinterest. I think these will become a Christmas tradition in our house. I'm contemplating making a second batch since we've almost gone through all of them already.
Christmas-Tree Fruit Platter
I made this for Bennett's preschool Christmas party and I'm making it again tomorrow for Cole's kindergarten party. It's a fun design for kids to enjoy and it's healthy because of the fruit. Ok, the cookies aren't healthy, but I needed something to hold the fruit in place so they wouldn't roll around. The cookies you see here are Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies and White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread.
And here are some holiday recipes I posted last year that you may enjoy:
Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Meltaways
Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
Happy Holidays!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs
It's funny that out of the huge variety of meals that I've cooked, it's still good old spaghetti that the kids will most often request. It's a request that I'm more than happy to fulfill, since I'm a big lover of spaghetti myself. If we're in a rush, I just pour plain pasta sauce over the noodles, but if I have more time and I'm in a creative mood, I like to add things like vegetables and meat into the sauce. Meatballs are a fun option, especially when stuffed with cheese. I learned that if you freeze the cheese first, it prevents it from oozing and seeping out of the meatballs as they cook. I skipped this step to save time and as a result, they weren't as cheesy as I would have liked, so next time I won't be skipping that part. You can change the meat and cheese to suit your preference. For instance, ground turkey would be a nice leaner choice of meat, and mozzarella cheese instead of provolone would be great too. These meatballs freeze really well, so you can make them ahead of time and throw them in a freezer bag to be used whenever you make spaghetti and want meatballs in a hurry. The kids loved the cheese centres, and they didn't even notice that I had put grated vegetables in them. This recipe is a wonderful way to make a simple meal like spaghetti a little more special.
Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs
4 oz provolone cheese
500 g ground beef
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup finely shredded carrot or zucchini
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
Cut cheese into 3/4" cubes (about 18 of them) and place in freezer for at least an hour. Preheat oven at 350F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Take cheese cubes out of the freezer. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture and flatten it in the palm of your hand. Place one of the cheese cubes in the center, then gather the meat around it and form a ball. Place on baking sheet. Repeat until you've used up all the meat mixture. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until meat is no longer pink inside. Serve with pasta sauce and spaghetti.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Low Fat Multigrain Pancakes
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup of applesauce