Mojito Lamb with Naan Bread

Ingredients for Lamb:

3 Servings of Lamb, cubed

Fresh Mint, one handful

4 Cloves of Garlic 

1 1/2 tsp Curry Powder

3 Limes (about 3oz of lime juice)

Salt/Pepper

1 TB Olive Oil

Sour Cream (optional)

Ingredients for Naan Bread:

2 Cups Flour (white or whole wheat)

3/4 Cup of Water (approximately, see below)

1 TB Dried Rosemary

Directions:

1.  Start preparing your marinade about an hour before you want to begin cooking so that the meat has time to absorb the flavours.  Mince the garlic cloves and the mint in a food processor with the TB of olive oil.  Sprinkle the curry powder on the cubed lamb, add the minced mixture and pour the lime juice on top.  Mix with your hands, and cover, letting it sit for at least an hour.

2.  Once the lamb has sufficiently marinaded, fry it on the stove top until it is cooked to your preference.  You can always take one of the cubes and cut it open to see how well cooked it is inside.  You'll want to start the naan bread pretty much as soon as you have the lamb on the stove.

3.  For the naan bread, mix two cups of flour with approximately 3/4 cups of cold water.  I say approximately because you want to add as much water as it takes for the dough to pull away from the side of your mixer (use a dough hook attachment if you have it).  The dough should not be sticky.  You can add herbs to your flour if you like, I added dried rosemary because it goes well with lamb.

4.  Divide the dough into eight pieces and generously flour your cutting board.  Make each piece into a ball and roll out as thin as possible, this will help it bubble up more.  Throw the rolled out naan into a hot pan (I prefer cast iron), do not grease the pan.  Depending on how hot your pan is, the naan will need to be cooked anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes per side.  You know the naan is done when it starts to create air pockets inside, but make sure they don't burn!

5.  To assemble my naan I put 3 or 4 pieces of meat, and a TB of sour cream on top.  These were sooo good, and reminded me of street food!  I think tzatziki sauce would also be really good with these.

Gingerbread Loaf with Glacé Cherries

I'm back!  I know it's been a long time since my last post.  I've been super busy lately. This time of year always gets me inspired so I am committed to posting more regularly on here!

This loaf is super moist, and works with or without the cherries.  I like the bit of crunch and sweetness the cherries add.  I also love anything to do with gingerbread this time of year.  This recipe is super easy, but it takes a long time in the oven to cook because it does not have eggs in it and the applesauce makes it so moist.



Ingredients:

1.5 Cups White Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 1/3 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Margarine
1 tsp Lemon or Orange Extract
1 Cup Apple sauce
Glacé Cherries, red and green

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan.

2.  Combine all of the dry ingredients except the baking soda.  Combine the margarine, and sugar in a mixer until fluffy.  Then add the extract, baking soda, and apple sauce to the margarine/sugar mixture..  Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, and then fold in the cherries.

3.  Pour the batter in the loaf pan and cook for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  I had to place some foil on the top of mine after about 40 minutes so the top wouldn't get too brown, but the inside would continue to cook through.

4.  Add some cream cheese icing if available and, enjoy!

Spinach and Feta-Stuffed Chicken Breast with Accordion Potatoes

We eat a lot of chicken in my house, and I was getting a bit bored of having it the usual way. I thought I would try stuffing it, because what doesn't taste better with cheese, am I right?  This was so delicious!!  We also eat a lot of potatoes, and this is one of the more creative ways to fancy up a normal, baked potato.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 Chicken Breasts (4 - 6 oz)
90 grams Feta (I used goat feta)
6 pieces of sun-dried tomato
2 Eggs
2 Cups Bread Crumbs 
1 Cup White Flour 
Spinach
Garlic
Russet Potatoes
Oil
salt and pepper


Directions:

1)  Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

2)  The potatoes will take about an hour to cook, so you want to put them on before the chicken, which only takes 40 minutes.  Stab each potato with a fork so it won't explode in the microwave.  Microwave each potato for about 2.5 to 3 minutes each, they can all go in together.  For example, if you are doing three potatoes put them in for about 7.5 to 9 minutes.

3)  Give the potatoes some time to cool once they are out of the microwave because you will need to be able to handle them for the next step.  In order to create the accordion effect you want to slice the potato straight down, leaving about .25 to .5 of an inch at the bottom.  Do this across the whole potato, and then add sliced pieces of garlic in between the slats.  Sprinkle with dried rosemary, salt, and pepper.  I would recommend putting these in the oven before you start your chicken so they will be done around the same time.

4)  Using a sharpish knife, cut your chicken breast butterfly style.  Don't worry, it doesn't have to be pretty, just make sure you don't cut it all the way, leave about .25 to .5 inch connecting the two halves.

5)  Combine the chopped spinach, chopped sun-dried tomato and crumbled feta.  Spread 1/3 of the mixture evenly across the chicken breast.  Fold the top back over and place on a baking sheet.

6)  Now it is time to bread the chicken breasts.  This part is totally optional, of course!  The breading helps to keep the chicken moist but it is still awesome without this step.  Put the flour, beaten egg, and breadcrumbs in three separate bowls.  Dip the chicken in the flour, then the egg, and then the bread crumbs.  Place back on greased baking dish.

7)  Bake the chicken for 40 minutes, and the potato for an hour.

This was so good, I think I am going to have it again tomorrow =P

Heart-Shaped Soft Pretzels

Greetings!  Welcome to February, I can't believe it is here already.  My first recipe of this month are these awesome soft pretzels.  I got this recipe from Alton Brown http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-soft-pretzels-recipe/index.html

I decided that in honour of February I would try making some heart-shaped pretzels.  This recipe might look a little intimidating, but it is actually really, really easy.  These pretzels are great on their own but sometimes I like to make some bigger ones and use them as hamburger buns, yum!


Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Warm Water (115 degrees F)
1 TB White Sugar
2 tsp Salt
1 TB Active Dry Yeast (Or one package)
4 1/2 Cups Flour (You can use a combination of white and whole wheat, I used white)
2 oz Unsalted Butter, melted
Oil for pan
10 Cups Water (for boiling)
2/3 Cup Baking Soda (to add to boiling water)
1 Large Egg Yolk beaten with 1 TB Water
Coarse Salt


Directions:

1.  Combine the water, sugar and salt in your stand-mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes or until it foams.

After 5 minutes.

2. Add the flour and melted butter and mix using the dough hook attachment.  Mix on low until all ingredients are combined, switch to medium speed and mix for 5 minutes.

3.  Move the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with saran wrap and let it rise for about an hour.

After an hour!

4.  Once the dough is almost finished rising, preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Prepare two baking sheets by covering them with greased parchment paper.  I brushed some olive oil onto mine.

5.  Bring the 10 cups of water to a boil and add the baking soda.  Make sure you use a big enough pot!

6.  Turn the dough onto a greased work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces.  The pretzel I made into a heart shape was 1/16 instead of 1/8 because I thought it would look cuter.  I have done this recipe making 8 large pretzels, and 16 half-size ones.  The large ones are great to use as hamburger buns, and the small ones are awesome for bringing to a party.

7.  Create a tube shape with the dough by rolling your hands back and forth from the middle, outward.  To create the pretzel shape, do the same thing you would to make the heart, but cross the ends over each other and pinch onto the bottom of the pretzel.

8.  Place each pretzel into the boiling water (one at a time is easiest) for no longer than 30 seconds.  Place the boiled pretzels onto the baking sheets.  I used a metal, slotted spoon for this part.

The pretzels will increase in size after being boiled.

9.  Mix the egg yolk with the tablespoon of water.  Brush this mixture on top of each boiled pretzel.  This helps the pretzel get the golden colour on top.  Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt.  I used some pink Himalayan sea salt I got from World Spice when I was in Seattle.

10.  Bake for 12 to 14 minutes.  Watch them carefully as they bake because they can get too brown on top really quickly!

 Enjoy!!

Baked Lemon-Glazed Donuts

Ingredients:

Donut:

1 Cup White Flour
6 TB White Sugar
1 tsp  Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Lemon Extract
1 Egg
1 TB Melted Margarine or Butter
6 TB Liquid (I used soy milk)

  
Glaze:

1 1/2 Cups Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Lemon Extract
2 1/2 TB  Warm Water


Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and prepare your donut pan by greasing it.

2.  Mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder.  Add the liquid, egg, and melted margarine/butter.

3.  Put batter in a ziploc bag and cut the corner off.  Use this to pipe the batter into the donut pan.

4.  Bake 8 to 11 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the donut.

5.  While the donuts are cooling, prepare the glaze.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Once the donuts are cool, apply the glaze using a spoon.  Let one layer of glaze set and then add a second.  This helps you achieve a more opaque glaze.  One trick I use is to ice them on a metal tray, as seen above, over some waxed paper.  This way, none of the glaze is wasted.  Any glaze that dripped off the donuts will land on the waxed paper and can be reapplied.

First coat of glaze.

Second coat of glaze.

This is what the donut will look like once both layers of glaze have completely set

 I hope you enjoy!!

Roast Chicken with Quinoa Stuffing

Happy New Year!!!  I'm still not used to saying 2013.  I usually get the hang of not writing down the wrong year sometime in the middle of January.

Oh yea, and this happened:

Piper

Asher

The white one is named Piper, and the black one is named Asher!  I have been thinking about adopting a kitten for awhile.  Someone suggested to me that getting two was better because they would keep each other company.  Best advice I have gotten so far this year!  They are super affectionate and playful.  

So I thought I would start this year off with something savoury, as I know that I did a lot of sweet, baking recipes toward the end of last year.  This recipe is so easy.  I know that the idea of roasting a chicken can be daunting, but once you get the hang of the basics there is so much you can do with it.  I decided to stuff this one, and because I was lazy and did not want to make bread stuffing, I made some quinoa stuffing!  Hope you guys like it.


Ingredients:

1 Chicken (You want it to fit in a roasting pan)
1 Cup Uncooked Quinoa (Once cooked it makes 4 cups)
1 Large Handful of Kale or Spinach
1 Red Onion
1/2 Yellow Onion
1 Large Carrot
1 Head of Garlic
1 TB Dried Cilantro
 Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

1.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Cook your quinoa first, following the directions on the bag/box.  You want it to have time to cool before you stuff the chicken, otherwise it will burn your hands.  Once the quinoa is cooked add a sprinkle of olive oil, the cilantro, half of the garlic and half of the red onion, and all of spinach/kale.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Stir and let cool while you get your pan ready.

3.  Grease a roasting pan large enough for your chicken, with room around the chicken to put vegetables.  Rinse your chicken, inside and out.  This is optional.  I've always done it.  Just be careful to not cross-contaminate by getting it on your counter or clean dishes.

4.  Once the quinoa is cool take about half of it and put it on another bowl.  You will only need approximately half to stuff your chicken, depending on the size.  By putting a portion in another bowl you aren't risking it getting contaminated by raw chicken.  The extra quinoa can be served with dinner, or saved for another meal!

5.  Stuff your bird!  I used a small wooden spoon to scoop the quinoa in and stamp it down.  Stuff it as much as you can.  I then sewed the end of the chicken shut using some metal skewers.

6.  This is the tricky part.  Trussing!  You want to get some cooking-safe white string and truss your bird so that it cooks evenly.  Start by making a loop around one of the drumsticks, tighten the loop and wrap the string around the other drumstick.  Tighten the two drumsticks so that they ends are crossing slightly.  Lift the wings up as seen in the picture below and wrap the string around so that they stay.  Tie a knot and you are good to go!  It doesn't have to be pretty, don't stress.

7.  Sprinkle some olive oil in the bottom of the pan and place the chicken inside.  Cook for one hour, stopping halfway through and basting.  I use a brush to take the grease from the bottom of the pan and rub it all over the chicken.  This is going to help the skin on the outside crisp up, but not dry out.

First baste, after 30 minutes.

8.  Once the hour is up baste the chicken again.  Arrange your vegetables around the outside of the chicken and stir them around so they get the drippings from the chicken all over them.  Cook for an additional 45 minutes to an hour, stopping after 20 minutes to baste for the last time.  Do not baste again after this unless you use a clean brush, otherwise you are risking brushing raw chicken back onto your dinner.  If you notice at any point in this last 45 minutes that your chicken is getting too brown on the outside, place a foil tent over top.

Roasted veggies!  YUM!  (Someone took all of the carrots)

9.  Enjoy!  And keep in mind that you can use any roasting vegetables you prefer with this recipe.  You can also change up what goes in the quinoa, this is just what I had on hand.  So much can be done with this!  You can also use cous cous instead of quinoa!