Bacon, Cheese & Caramelized Onion Quick Bread

Good Morning friends! Surprise, I'm back! My life has been crazy and I have been going through some huge life changes during the last 6 months or so and my blogging and baking/ cooking has been put on the back burner. I don't know how regularly I will be back here, so I'm not making any promises, but I've been missing all of you and missing spending some QT in my kitchen. I will post some more about all of the life changes and craziness soon, but I want the focus of this post to be this spectacularly delicious quick bread. It is totally worthy of a post devoted to its awesomeness.

 



The quick bread name is a little deceiving for this bread if you decide to make it all at once. Caramelizing onions properly takes time (read minimum 30 minutes). But the good news is that you can caramelize the onions and cook the bacon ahead of time. My method has you making the bacon in the oven while you caramelize the onions on the stove top, which will be the most efficient and least messy way to do the prep work!

Bacon, Cheese & Caramelized Onion Quick Bread
Recipe minimally adapted from Oprah Magazine

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. butter, plus more for greasing
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 slices lazy maple bacon
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 1/3 cup EVOO
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups muenster cheese (or any other sharp, white cheese), shredded

Method

1. First things first - cook your bacon and caramelize the onions. You can do this up to 2-3 days ahead of making the actual bread. Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and lay the bacon in one layer, making sure the edges of the bacon don't overlap. Cook the bacon for 15-17 minutes or until crisp. Remove from tray to a paper towel lined plate and let cool. While the bacon is cooking - melt 3 tbsp. butter in a medium non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. Add onions. Cook, stirring every few minutes and making sure they don't brown, until onions are soft and caramelized. This should take approximately 30 minutes. If onions are browning, your heat is too high. Remove onions from heat and let cool.
2. When ready to prepare the bread, preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan or line with parchment paper. Don't skip this step or skimp on the grease!!! The cheese can stick to the pan as it cooks, so you need to grease well.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Make well in center of bowl.
4. In a medium bowl, combine milk, EVOO and egg. Mix until combined.
5. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients. Gently fold mixture together until flour is incorporated. Chop the bacon into small pieces. Add bacon, cheese and onions to batter and mix together gently. Don't over mix or you will have tough bread. Place mixture in prepared loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cool as long as you can bear it and then remove from loaf pan and slice. Delicious topped with butter or jam for that sweet-savory combo.

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite quick bread recipe thus far and I know its my hubby's favorite too. It doesn't last long in our house. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

The thing I love about this recipe is that you can mix it up - add some herbs and spices that you like, change up the type of cheese or change up the type of meat - you could do prosciutto (go easy on the salt if you decide to do that though), left over ham, etc. The possibilities are endless!

I'm so glad to be back! Hopefully you'll be hearing from me more often this summer as we get settled into our new life. :) Happy baking my friends!

Bacon Rolls for 7th World Bread Day

Its the 7th Annual World Bread Day hosted by Zorra Kochtopf!! Food bloggers all over the world join in and bake bread and post about it on October 16. How fun right? I missed it last year, so there was no way I was going to miss it this year. :)

I decided to do a savory version of cinnamon rolls - Bacon Rolls! Easy and delicious! First, you're going to start off by making my herb bun recipe and letting it have its first rise. Here's the recipe.

Once your dough has completed its first rise, roll it out into a large rectangle - til its about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick. You'll need the following ingredients to put on that rectangle of dough:

• Bacon (I used 1 lb, but that was overkill!!) - chopped and cooked til crisp
• Cheese (I used a 4 cheese italian blend) - enough to sprinkle over the dough and a bit more to sprinkle on top of the pan
• 2 heads roasted garlic

Spread the roasted garlic on the dough rectangle, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Then sprinkle liberally with bacon and cheese. Roll tightly, starting on the long side of the rectangle (like you're rolling cinnamon buns). Then pinch the seam tightly to make sure it stays put. Next, cut into approximately 12-15 buns. Place in a greased 9x13 inch pan with the cut side up. Once the pan is full, sprinkle with a bit more cheese, bacon salt and a bit of smoked bacon salt. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 45 minutes to one hour or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 375F. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes or until they sound hollow when you tap on them. Let cool slightly and enjoy!

The picture above is the bacon salt I like to use, but you can use any brand you like. Most gourmet food stores will carry various types of salt and since bacon is so popular right now, they're likely to carry bacon salt.

Hope you enjoy my contribution to World Bread Day! I can't wait to see what everyone else contributes this year. :)

Happy Baking my Friends! And thanks Zorra for hosting this lovely gathering of food bloggers.

Macaroni & Cheese Carbonara

 



Hi Friends! Happy Saturday - hope you have some fun stuff planned for one of the last weekends of summer. :) We are heading out hiking this morning on a 10 km adventure which I am looking forward to a lot. I hadn't planned on blogging this recipe - I made it for my sister's BF's birthday dinner last night, but a number of people are asking for the recipe - so here ya go! I've changed the recipe quite a bit from the original recipe, but we loved it. Hope you enjoy it too!

 

Macaroni & Cheese Carbonara
Adapted from Bobby Flay's Throwdown

Ingredients:

• unsalted butter, for the baking dish
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8-10 strips of bacon, cut into bite size pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 5 cups milk, hot (the recipe called for whole milk, but this is such a rich sauce recipe, skim or anything in between would also work here without impacting the taste)
• 4 large egg yolks, lightly whisked
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or less if you don't like heat)
• 3/4 cup grated asiago cheese + 1/3 cup for the top
• 2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, + 1/4 cup for the top
• 1 * 250g tub of McLaren's Sharp Cold Pack Cheddar Cheese
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb elbow macaroni, cooked just under al dente

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x 13 inch baking dish and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan (remember you need to be able to fit 5 cups of milk plus all that cheese in here later) over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.
3. Add the garlic to the remaining fat in the pan and cook until light golden brown, 1 minute. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk, raise the heat to high, and cook, whisking constantly until thickened, about 5-6 minutes. Whisk in the eggs until incorporated (be careful here or you will end up with scrambled eggs!). Let cook 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the thyme, cayenne and all three cheeses until completely melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If mixture is too thick, add additional warm milk, 1/4 cup at a time.
4. Put the cooked macaroni in a large bowl, add the cheese sauce, reserved bacon and stir until combined. Transfer to prepared baking dish.
5. Combine additional 1/3 cup asiago and 1/4 cup parmesan and sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake in preheated oven until heated through - about 15 minutes. Then broil for 3-5 minutes until top is browned and crisp. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

This recipe is a little involved for mac and cheese - Bobby Flay's recipes tend to be a little on the heavy side (think dirtying every dish in your kitchen) but well worth the effort and the cleanup later. I've tried a lot of mac and cheese recipes (check out my archives for this blog and you'll see what I'm talking about), but I think this is one of the best one's I've made to date. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Cooking my Friends! Enjoy your weekend. :)

Bacon & Maple Scalloped Potatoes

Alright, to get things started today - please defer to my last post for my excuses for the horrible photo quality and lack of photos in this post. I wouldn't be sharing this with you except that it tasted so good that I just can't resist.

I made these Bacon & Maple Scalloped Potatoes for our Easter dinner and they were soooo unbelievably delicious. I normally don't like Kraft recipes because of the overabundance of processed food they promote, but this recipe wasn't too bad and with a few minor swaps I found myself a dish that I will make over and over again.

Bacon & Maple Scalloped Potatoes
Recipe minimally adapted from Kraft Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 oz low fat cream cheese
• 1 1/4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup milk
• 7 slices lazy maple bacon
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 lbs baking potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Method:

1. Heat oven to 400F. Cook bacon until crisp in a frying pan over medium heat. Set aside on some paper towel to drain. Remove all but 2 tbsp of the bacon drippings from the pan. Return the pan to medium heat and add the onions. Sautee five minutes until very tender, stir frequently. Remove the onions from the skillet and set aside.
2. Add the cream cheese, broth and milk to the skillet and heat until the cream cheese has melted nicely into the sauce. Stir with a whisk until sauce is smooth and creamy. Remove from heat and crumble the bacon into the sauce and add the maple syrup. Stir well.
3. Place half the potatoes in a 9x13" baking dish in an even layer. Cover with a layer of onions and sprinkle with cheddar. Top with a layer of potatoes and repeat layers of onions and cheddar. Finally end with a last layer of potatoes. Pour bacon-maple sauce over potatoe layers. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, removing the foil after 50 minutes in the oven. Potatoes are done when top is golden brown and potatoes are tender.

We really, really enjoyed this one! My hubby doesn't normally eat leftovers, but he eagerly gobbled these potatoes up in the few days following Easter. :) I love the new twist on what is usually such a tried and true classic dish.

This post has been linked up with the Recipe Party over at the Sweet Spot. Stop by and check out what other bloggers have whipped up this week.
Happy Cooking my Friends!

Mini Meatloaf Bites

Hey Peeps! I know, I know, its been a couple days since I last posted! Today I'm blogging from my little ol' home town in Northern British Columbia. I'm up for a quick weekend visit and managed to find some time to get this post together. :)

I made these cute little mini meatloaf bites for our Super Bowl party last weekend, but they would be cute to make for any gathering you're having at your place. You could even make these in regular sized muffin tins for a cute dinner party main as well. Use a mini muffin pan for appetizer size though so people can eat them in a bite or two! I found the inspiration for these on the blog First Look Then Cook but I used my own recipes for meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Have a look at her photos because hers are far prettier than mine - my photos snapped from my iPhone just don't do these justice (it also doesn't help that I had probably consumed more than my fair share of super bowl beverages before attempting to put these together..!!). But they were delish! And super cute.

Meatloaf Bites

Recipe minimally adapted from the Girl Can't Cook

Ingredients:

•  3/4 lb lean ground beef
• 3/4 lb ground pork
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 loves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 up hickory bbq sauce (plus extra for brushing after wards)
• 1 tbsp worcestershire
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 cup parmesan
• mashed potatoes
• bacon bits

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a medium sautee pan, sautee onion and garlic with olive oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl mix together beef, pork and bread crumbs with your hands. Mix in sauteed vegetables, BBQ sauce, worcestershire, egg, basil, salt, peper and parmesan until uniformly mixed. Press scoopfulls of meat mixture into a mini muffin pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Prepare mashed potatoes (I make mine with butter, whipping cream, salt and pepper. Make them wetter than you normally do, so you can easily pipe them onto the meatloaves).
5. Brush each mini meatloaf with BBQ sauce. Pipe mashed potatoes on top of each mini meatloaf, then sprinkle with bacon bits.

Hope you enjoy this one! We didn't have many leftovers because these were eaten so quickly when I put them out. Enjoy the last day of the weekend!

This post was linked up with Mouth Watering Mondays over at the Sweet Spot. Head over there ASAP to check out all the linky deliciousness going on this week. :)

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Bacon Wrapped Sirloin with Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes!!

A few weeks ago a childhood friend who is also coincidentally also friends with my husband now was in town visiting. I promised to have him over for dinner, but couldn't decide what to make for him and my husband. What do you do when you are cooking for two men who just like meat? You omit the frilly greens and you get straight to the meat and potatoes! Of course, I couldn't make just plain old meat and potatoes, so I made Bacon-wrapped sirloin with super-stuffed potatoes with smoked gouda and caramelized mushrooms and onions? Sounds like a mouthful and it lived up to that expectation. I think both men were so excited by how delicious and "manly" this meal was that they were nearly at a loss for words other than the "mmmmm" sounds coming from their mouths.

I also loved this meal, though it is one to eat only occasionally because it is very high in fat and super rich tasting! I am very proud of myself  (excuse me while I pat myself on the back) because normally I make hubby cook the steak, but he deserved a night off to visit with his friend, so I emarked on pan searing the perfect steak and I nailed it! Hubby was also proud and there was a lot of compliments coming in my direction, which as those of you who also live with males will understand, this doesn't happen that often!! Needless to say, this was a winner! Try it out on your husband when you have a bit to-do list waiting for him and he will be more than happy to work on that list in exchange for this meal. :)

Bacon-Wrappe Sirloin with Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes
Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats

Ingredients:

• 2 large russet potatoes, cleaned and pricked with a fork several times each
• 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb button mushrooms, brushed clean and then thinly sliced
• 1 small yellow onion, minced
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 4 slices thick, centre cut bacon
• 4 steaks (aproximately 1 - 1 1/2 inches thick)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/3 lb smoked gouda cheese, shredded

Method:

1. Preheat the broiler to high.
2. Place potatoes on microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 15 minutes, or until tender. While potatoes are cooking, make the stuffing for the potatoes.
3. Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat with about 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to brown (about 4-5 minutes). Add the onions, garlic, thyme, salt & pepper. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes.
4. While all that is working, line the bacon slices up on a meat-safe cutting board a few inches apart. Preheat a second skillet over high heat with the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and center each steak on top of a bacon slices. Wrap the bacon over the steaks and place seam side down in the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, turning occasionally for another 6-10 minutes for medium rare to medium well.
5. Once the potatoes are cooked, cut them in half lenth-wise and scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl, taking care not to rip the potato skins. Using a potato masher, smash the potato flesh together with the sour cream until combined. Stir in te sauteed mushrooms and onions, shredded gouda, salt and pepper. Mound the filling back into the skins and top with a little more gouda cheese. Place on a cookie sheet and transfer to the broiler, 6 inches from te heat, until lightly brown, 3-4 minutes.
6. Serve bacon wrapped sirloin alongside the stuffed potatoes.

Sounds like a lot of work, but this recipe is out of one of Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals cookbooks, so it actually doesn't take that long! I think from start to finish I had this on the table within 40 minutes. :)

Happy Cooking my Friends! Hope you are managing to stay dry in this miserable weather. :) Time to break out the comfort food!

The Daring Bakers Challenge - April 2011 - Maple Mousse in Bacon & Chocolate Bowls

Well, another month has passed by and its already time for another Daring Bakers' post. This month we weren't up to anything technically difficult, but it was definitely a crazy combination that not many of us had ever attempted (in a dessert any way). Funny how maple syrup with pancakes and bacon is a perfectly acceptable breakfast food (at least in Canada) yet the thought of pairing bacon with maple flavoured mousse seems weird! I will admit that the bacon bowls weren't my favorite and given the chance to make this dessert again I would likely opt for a different edible vessle, but I would definitely incorporate the bacon somehow. The rich saltiness of the bacon really offset the sweetness of the maple mousse.


The April 2011 challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded for the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at the Daring Kitchen.

This month's challenge was really interesting and really showed how creative the Daring Bakers' can be!


I'm not going to share the bacon bowl technique with you because I wasn't overly impressed with the results, but the maple mousse was so decadent that I must share that recipe. It is super easy so I hope if you're a maple lover that you will give it a try. Be sure to use a high quality maple syrup in this recipe (not maple-flavoured syrup) or you won't have the same results. One other tip I have for you: the maple mousse is very sweet so serve it in small portions (think shot glass size) with something a little salty on top. The salty will counter the sweet to balance out the flavours so perfectly.

Maple Mousse

Recipe provided by Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pure maple syrup


• 4 large egg yolks


• 1 pkg unflavoured gelatin


• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream

Method:

1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.


2. In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks and pour a little of the maple syrup in while whisking to temper your egg yolks.


3. Add warmed egg yolks to the maple syrup and mix well.


4. Measure 1/4 cup of the whipping cream into a bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Place bowl in the microwave and microwave for 45 seconds (taking out and stirring every 10 seconds). Whisk the gelatin mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.


5. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.


6. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream and refrigerate for at least one hour.


7. Remove from fridge and divide equally among any edible (or non edible) containers of your choice.

I can't believe thats another Daring Bakers challenge all finished! Thank you Evelyne for the very interesting and inspiring challenge! I can't wait to see what next month has in store. :)

Not-too-Special Grilled Cheese

Well folks, I have some earth-shattering news for you!!!!! I made it through cooking my entire Superbowl menu without some sort of accident (knock on wood that next year goes as smoothly). Some highlights from the menu include: slow cooker chicken wings, stuffed mushrooms, ginger sandwich cookies with lemon cream and drum-roll please..... Caramel Apple Cheesecake that some of you may have seen on an episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown! It was a great night and recipes will most likely follow (although, no promises about how quickly they will be posted)! All in all it was a good time and definitely good food. But, after all that luck, of course everything can't be perfect right? I woke up sick, sick, sick on Monday morning and of course its busy at work so I have to drag myself in there and do my job. :( Poor me! haha

So I'm laying in bed "resting" right now while I post a short post to let you know I'm still alive after all the Superbowl cooking and definitely feeling a little sorry for myself (which I shouldn't be - there are people out there feeling a heck of a lot worse than me right now!!!).

When you're sick you want a little comfort and for me that came in the form of coming home to dinner being all ready for me - tomato soup (yes, from a can) and grilled cheese sandwich. Hubby felt bad that I had to go to work sick, so he made me my favorite "sick meal". :) What a nice guy!

So tonight, I made another grilled cheese - that of course I took a couple pictures of! Here is what is in my not-too-special grilled cheese (recipe by me!) haha if you can call it a recipe.

Take a couple pieces of bread, butter one side of each slice. Spread a thin layer of mayo on the other side of one of the slices of bread. Put a nice layer of shredded old cheddar cheese on top of the mayo, top with some crisp fried bacon, sprinkle with garlic powder and a few red chilli flakes then top with a bit of shredded parmesan cheese. Top with other slice of bread (buttered side out) and place in frying pan heated over medium heat. Fry until golden brown on one side, flip and fry until the other side is golden brown. Remove to plate, cut in half on the diagonal and serve with bucket-loads of ketchup (or not, but thats how I roll!). Enjoy while wallowing in your own self-pity.

Heres to feeling better tomorrow!!! Happy Cooking my Friends! More exciting posts to follow later in the week. :)

More Mac & Cheese... and peas & bacon!

All I have to say about this recipe is YUM!!!! It was sooooo good. I know the photos aren't great and there aren't very many of them, but thats because I was far to excited to just eat this mac & cheese. Its nothing fancy and mine is really low class because I ran out of macaroni and just substituted broken up spaghetti instead... oh well, its the taste that matters right? And cheesy goodness can cover up a multitude of sins!

I am in the middle of prepping for my Superbowl party which as most of you are aware (or should be aware in hubby's opinion) is happening tomorrow - like ALL DAY! I am definitely not a football fan, nor will I ever be, but I am always game for having people over and cooking and baking for them! Its so fun and it gives me an excuse to try out new recipes and spend exhorbitant sums of money on food without hubby getting after me! Entertaining is the one time its acceptable to go all out in the kitchen! WAHOO!!! I will be tired on Monday, but it will be worth it.

Last year while prepping for the Superbowl party I burned myself really badly by stupidly picking up a hot pan... I had to hold ice packs on my hands for the next two days and my hands blistered. :( It was not fun, but the food was still delish!! So far, this year's prep work is going far better than last year... will keep you posted because I still have a lot to do!

On to the mac & cheese though...

The Ultimate Macaroni & Cheese with Peas & Bacon

Recipe from Tyler's Ultimate

Ingredients:

• kosher salt
• 1 lb elbow macaroni
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 4 cups warm milk
• 5 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat,leaf parsley
• extra virgin olive oil
• 4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• leaves from 1/4 bunch of fresh thyme
• 2 cups froze peas, thawed in a colander under cool water

Method:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add macaroni and cook 8-9 minutes, until al dente. Drain.
2. Preheat oven to 400F.
3. Melt the butter in large, deep skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly to keep lumps from forming. Gradually whisk in the milk and, whisking vigorously, cook until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add cooked macaroni and the parsley and folt that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3 quart baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
4. While thats going on, heat a 2 count of olive oil in a saute pan. Add the bacon, onion, garlic, and thyme and cook for 5 minutes to soften the onion. Fold in the peas and season with salt and pepper (I cooked mine longer to make sure the bacon was a little crisp).

Enjoy!!!

Happy Cooking my Friends! Hope you get a chance to take in some Superbowl festivities and maybe do some cooking and baking! :D

On the Sixth Day of Christmas... "the best stuffing recipe ever"

I have a bit of a problem with cooking stuffing inside of a turkey. I know it tastes good and I grew up with my mom doing it every single year, but I just can't bring myself to do it. All I can think of is I'm going to make my guests sick and someone is going to get food poisoning. Salmonella scares me... Irrational I know, but still.

I am also of the opinion that cooking a turkey with stuffing is a lot harder than cooking it without - you have to be very careful that the stuffing is cooked enough on the inside, but that the turkey meat is not overcooked. So I make my stuffing in a casserole dish every year and most years people have told me that it was good, but this year, this new recipe I used, I received rave reviews. In fact, I was told by my sister that she thinks it was the BEST stuffing she has EVER tasted. Period. So try it out for yourself - you won't be disappointed.

Herbed Stuffing
Recipe adapted from Canadian Living Everyday Favorites

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 4 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp each salt, dried savory, marjoram and pepper
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• 14 cups cubed white bread
• 1/2 package bacon, chopped

Method:

1. Brown the bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, but leave bacon fat in pan. Melt in the butter over medium heat. Fry onions, celery and seasonings until vegetables are tender. About 10 - 15 minutes. Transfer to a very large bowl. Add bread and bacon. Toss to combine.
2. Spoon into a greased casserole dish. Cover and bake at about 350F to 375F for 20-40 minutes. Remove the cover for the last 10 minutes or so to let the outside crisp up a bit if you like that. Otherwise leave it covered til its nice and hot.

This is a truly delicious recipe. The herb combination is absolutely amazing - don't cut back because it sounds like a lot of herbs - the flavours combine so nicely and just give the stuffing the most amazing flavour.

Happy Cooking My Friends!

On the Fifth Day of Christmas... Delicious Turkey

Turkey... for most people Christmas dinner is not complete without it. If the turkey is dry or lacking flavour, dinner is not usually considered a success. Turkey causes the most stress for most people taking on the huge task of cooking Christmas dinner - whether its for your immediate family members or for your extended family plus all of your "closest friends". So its important to start with a great recipe and some awesome tips! Hopefully this post will give you a good start.

And, lets not forget the gravy - it is equally important and can cover a multitude of culinary sins when poured over a plate! It can moisten dry turkey and give flavour to not-so-perfect mashed potatoes! So I've got a great gravy recipe to share with you! It got rave reviews at our Thanksgiving dinner and I know it will be a hit at your Christmas dinner too.

Roast Turkey

Recipe adapted from Canadian Living Everyday Favorites

Ingredients:

• 15 lb turkey (preferably a fresh, never frozen turkey)
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp each dried sage and thyme
• 1 tsp coarse salt & freshly ground pepper
• bacon (about 1/2 a package, but buy a nice big package because you'll want the other half of the bacon to go in your stuffing!)
• fresh thyme, rosemary and sage sprigs
• whole head garlic, cut in half horizontally
• 1/4 of a large onion, chopped into coarse chunks
• 1/4 of an apple, coarsely chopped
• a few bottles of dark beer (approximately 1/2 a bottle for each 1/2 hour of cooking)

Method:

1. Remove giblets and neck from turkey. Place in large saucepan and set aside.
2. Rinse turkey inside and outside and then pat dry inside and out. Loosely fill cavity with fresh herb sprigs, garlic, onion, and apple chunks. Don't over stuff it. You just want those yummy ingredients in there to give it some delicious flavour. Lift wings and twist under back. Tuck legs under band of skin or tie together with kitchen twine.
3. Immediately place turkey, breast side up, on rack in roasting pan. In small bowl, mix together butter, sage and thyme. Rub over turkey. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay strips of bacon over turkey until most of the outside is covered in bacon. Tent with foil, dull side out, leaving sides open.
4. Roast in 325F oven, basting with 1/2 bottle of dark beer every 30 minutes, for 4 hours. Remove foil; roast until meat thermometer inserted in thigh registers 185F, about 1 hour longer. Transfer to cutting board; tent with foil and let stand for 20 minutes before carving.

*Note: This cooking time is for a 15lb stuffed turkey. For details on how long to cook your turkey (based on size and whether or not it is stuffed), please check out the JD farms website. Cooking time makes a big difference in the taste of your turkey, so be sure to keep a close eye on your turkey while it cooks and makes your house smell so delicious!

Gravy
Recipe adapted from Canadian Living Everyday Favorites

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups chicken stock
• half a bottle of dry white wine
• 1 onion chopped
• 1/2 cup each sliced carrot and celery
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour (you might need a bit more)
• 2 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. While the turkey is cooking, to saucepan with turkey parts, add stock, wine, onion, carrot and celery; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and skim off the fat. Simmer for three hours. Strain into a measuring cup, adding enough wine to make 3 cups.
2. When turkey is done, skim fat off roasting pan. Stir flour into pan; cook over medium heat, stirring for 1 minute. Whisk in stock and bring to boil, stirring to scrape up brown bits; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Strain if desired.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do! They are delicious and have become a part of our holiday traditions. I'm sure you are almost ready for Christmas by now... I however am not! I still have much Christmas shopping to do... its on my to-do list for tomorrow. I did get my Christmas cards out today (finally!) though! They may be a day or two late though.

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Potato Soup with Bacon and Cheddar

Well, I think fall is officially here! We've had our first couple of frosts here in the lower mainland and its definitely starting to cool off. I've taken my scarves out of my closet and been wearing them most mornings to keep warm. I really love this time of year when the temperatures just start to drop, the days are crisp and sunny, and you can see the beautiful orange pumpkins in the fields when you drive by. It is absolutely beautiful. With fall come changes in cusine type too - we shift from fresh and light to heavier and warm dishes to compliment the weather. Since we're starting to see fall, I thought I would share a recipe for a deliciously hearty potato soup topped with bacon and cheddar cheese. I also have a recipe for cheddar cheese biscuits to go with the soup that I'm going to share with you.

I like Anna Olson's heading for this recipe in her cookbook Fresh:

"A good potato soup can warm you even on the coldest day, especially when its
topped with bacon and cheddar, just like a baked potato."

Potato Soup with Bacon & Cheddar

Recipe from Fresh p. 136

Ingredients:

• 4 strips bacon, diced
• 1 1/2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts only
• 1 1/2 lb yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup grated old cheddar
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives or finely chopped green onion, for serving

Method:

1. In a large pot, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the leeks in the bacon fat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, chicken stock, and thyme. Cover the pot loosely, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and puree. Strain the soup through a sieve and return the pot to medium heat. Stir in the sour cream and season to taste.
2. Serve the bowls of soup garnished with grated cheddar, the reserved bacon, and a sprinkle of chives or green onions.

This soup is absolutely divine and I love how simple the ingredients are! Try it with these cheddar cheese biscuits and you're set!

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

Recipe adapted from Better Home & Gardens New Cook Book

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup grated old cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you like)

Method:

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in shortening til mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Toss cheese with flour mixture. Make a well in the center, add milk all at once. Stir just until dough clings together.
2. Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter and knead gently for 10-12 strokes. Roll or pat dough out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, dipping cutter into flour between cuts. Transfer to ungreased baking sheet. Bake in 450F oven for 10-12 minutes until golden. Serve warm.

This is a delicious and comforting meal that will take the edge off the cold fall days! It doesn't really get much better than home made soup and biscuits - definitely the ultimate comfort food.

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Potroast Meatloaf

First off - I have to apologize - I've gone from posting almost daily to posting only a couple of times a week. I just started back to full time work and hopefully once I get in the groove of things, I'll get around to posting more. I'm hoping to get up to posting about 4-5 times per week, so please bear with me while I get settled in my new job!

Secondly, I know meatloaf isn't exactly classy and that a lot of people don't like it, but I really like meatloaf and I found this lovely recipe for potroast meatloaf in Jamie Oliver's cookbook "Jamie's Food Revolution". It is so incredibly flavourful and your house will smell divine while it's cooking. So if you're not a meatloaf fan, do scroll a little further and at least have a look at the recipe - I promise it's delicious and you won't be disappointed.

Potroast Meatloaf

Recipe from Jamie's Food Revolution

Ingredients:

• 2 medium onions
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 level teaspoon cumin
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander
• 12 plain crackers
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 heaped tsp dijon mustard
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large egg
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2-1 fresh red chile
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• 2 14-oz cans diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 12 slices smoked bacon
• 1 lemon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 475F. Peel and finely chop one of the onions. Place in a large frying pan on medium high heat with 2 lugs of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the ground cumin and coriander. Fry and stir every 300 seconds for about 7 minutes until softened and lightly golden, then put into a large bowl to cool. Place crackers in a ziplock bag and smash up until fine crumbs. Add to the bowl of cooled onions with the oregano, mustard and ground beef. Crack in the egg and add another good pinch of salt and pepper. With clean hands scrunch and mix up well. Move the meat mixture to a board, then pat and mold it into a large football shape. Rub it with a little oil. Place meatloaf into a baking dish and put into preheated oven, and turn down temperature immediately to 400F. Bake for 30 minutes.
2. Peel the other onion and chop into 1/4 inch pieces. Peel and slice the garlic. Finely slice the red chile. Place the onion, garlic, and chile in a large pan on medium high heat with 2 lugs of olive oil, the paprika, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for around 7 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until softened and lightly golden. Add the worcestershire sauce, chickpeas, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil then turn heat down and let it slowly simmer for 10 minutes. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper if needed.
3. Pick the rosemary leaves off the stalks and put them into a little bowl. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and pour all the fat from the pan over the rosemary leaves and mix up well. Spoon your sauce around the meatloaf. Lay the slices of bacon over the top of the meatloaf and sauce. Scatter the rosemary leaves on top. Put the pan back into the oven for 15 minutes or until the bacon turns golden brown and the sauce if bubbling and delicious. Serve with a mixed leaf salad and some wedges of lemon for squeezing over.

And that's that! It makes a lot of food, so make sure you have enough people to eat most of it or lots of containers for leftovers! I hope this recipe can change your opinion on meatloaf - it is easy and delicious! Bon apetit!

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Savory Scones

This is a really fun scone recipe! You can toss in whatever you feel like or whatever you have on hand. You can make substitutions in the recipe if you want and just be creative! This recipe is out of one of my favorite cookbooks - The Guy Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich. In the cookbook, Cinda's comments regarding this recipe are as follows:

...scones are loaded with savory stuff, from roasted red peppers and
spinach to fresh herbs. The combinations are infinite - so get creative. They're
great split, toasted, and topped with poached eggs, or simply to grab for a
portable breakfast."

And the plus side of this recipe - you'll be noshing on delicious scones within 35-40 minutes! Doesn't get any better than that! :)

Savory Scones

Recipe from The Guy Can't Cook, p. 65

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt (omit or decrease this if using salty ingredients like feta, bacon, proscuitto)
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup finely chopped savory stuff (roasted red peppers, carmelized onion, roasted garlic, finely chopped spinach, chopped steamed broccoli, crumbled bacon, slivered proscuitto, etc.)
• 1 green onion minced
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (dill, basil, oregano, or thyme)
• 1 cup shredded or crumbled cheese (aged cheddar, feta, gruyere, gouda, or blue cheese)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup half-and-half cream or buttermilk (use plain yogurt in a pinch)
• poppy seeds or sesame seeds

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a food processor, combine the flours, salt, baking powder, and butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, then transfer to a bowl.
3. Sitr in savory vegetables and/or meat into the dry ingredients along with the green onion, herbs, and cheese. Add just enough cream to make a soft dough (the amount you add will depend on how wet the vegetable mixture is), and stir with a fork until until the dough forms. Don't work the dough too much, the less you handle it, the flakier your scones will be. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently pat the dough onto and 8-inch square about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into four 4-inch squares. Slice each square crosswise to make 8 triangular scones. Set the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using a pastry brust, lightly brush the tops with extra cream and sprinkle with seeds.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a cooling rack for a short time. Serve warm with butter or plain cream cheese. Makes 8 scones.

One more tip from Cinda:

"Think about complementary and classic combinations for the scones (red pepper
with oregano and cheddar cheese; spinach with dill and feta; proscuitto with
chopped olives, basil, and parmesan; cooked and crumbled italian sausage with
carmelized onions; or just get creative)."

I used bacon, cheddar cheese and chives. Hubby & sister loved these and eagerly devoured them. :) These are easy to whip up on a Sunday morning to go with your coffee instead of going to the coffee shop to buy them or as a snack to go in your lunch. Happy Baking my Friends!

Smoky Roasted Chicken and Corn Chowder

I don't make soup very often - I'm not really much of a soup eater, but it seems that sometimes I just have to make soup! I liked the sound of this low-fat corn chowder recipe, and knew that my hubby would love it, so I decided to give it a try. I found the recipe in my Eat Shrink and Be Merry cookbook put out by Janet & Greta Podleski (which is a really fantastic cookbook!!). The soup was creamy, thick and delicious and as a bonus really quick and easy to make!


Smoky Roasted Chicken and Corn Chowder
Recipe from Eat Shrink and Be Merry, p. 59

Ingredients:

• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 cup sliced onions
• 1/2 cup each diced celery and diced red bell pepper
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 1/2 tbsp minced fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 can (385 ml) fat-free evaporated milk
• 1 can diced tomatoes (540ml), well drained
• 1 can (398ml) cream-style corn
• 2 cups chopped roasted chicken breast (buy one of those roasted chickens from the grocery store to save yourself a lot of work and use the extra chicken for dinner the next night!)
• 1 tbsp hickory-flavored bbq sauce
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Cook chopped bacon in large non-stick soup pot over med-high heat until lightly browned, but not crisp. Stir in onions, celery, red pepper and garlic. Cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Add thyme and flour. Mix well. Stir in broth and evaporated milk. Bring mixture to gentle boil and stir continuously until soup thickens slightly.
3. Reduce heat to med-low. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionaly. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

As you can see, this recipe is quite simple and quick to make. It is great served with some nice biscuits (you could make them from scratch if you're feeling ambitious - or just buy some nice buns from your local bakery!). More posts to follow over the next few days - I have so many things to tell you about from my vacation! In the mean time - keep on cooking and baking - would love it if you share some of your endeavours with me!