Stuff in Jars (1)

I love to make things and give them as gifts. Jars work great for this. I have a whole collection of things I've made that go in jars - jams, mustards, flavored oils, salsa and stuff. This recipe is for a salsa that you cheat when you make. Instead of using fresh tomatoes, I use canned. It saves all that time you have to spend peeling tomatoes and it really tastes the same in the end. Plus, if you use canned tomatoes, you can make this anytime of the year. I've made it at Christmas time and given it as gifts! But mostly I make it for myself so I have it to eat! It really is much better than salsa you buy and it isn't any harder than making spaghetti sauce.

Tomato Pineapple Salsa

1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onion
4 - 6 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
5 - 7 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans (791 ml - each) diced tomatoes
1 can (398 ml) pineapple tidbits, drained
3/4 cup whit wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Prepare canning jars, set aside. You need about 8 - 250 ml jars or equivalent

In a large pot, combine all the ingredients except the cilantro. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, stirring often for about 1 hour, until it appears to thicken. Stir in cilantro.

Fill sterilized jars, leave about 1/4 inch space at top. Makes about 8 cups.

Enjoy with your favorite chips or on burgers.

Fast, Easy and you don't have to Bake Cake!

With Easter on the way, I thought this would be a great recipe to share. You can make this cake a day ahead, which is the best way to do it. It's domed shape can be sort of Easter Eggy, too. I use store bought pound cake. At the local grocer's, they sell a brand called "Farmer's Market" and they have a chocolate loaf cake that works great for this cake. If you're buying the cake, buy two, you need more than one, but you'll have a bit of leftovers. In my house that's great because as soon as I make the cake they all want to eat it. I feed them the leftover loaf cake and the actual cake is safe until the next day. This is based on an Italian style cake. In the Italian version, they cake is usually vanilla and they have fruit, like strawberries or raspberries in the middle. I have never made it that way, but it sounds great. Next time I make one, I'll add a picture to this post, but at the moment, I don't have one. Not sure why, I usually take pictures of all the cakes I make!

Zuccotto

Butter - to grease the bowl
2 loaf cakes, chocolate
3 tablespoons of almond flavored liqueur
3 oz of dark chocolate, chopped
3 oz of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups of whipping cream
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup of sliced almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
Icing sugar to dust the cake

Use butter to grease a 1 1/2 quart size bowl. Line bowl with plastic wrap. Slice loaf cake into slices that are 1/3 inch thick.Cut each slice diagonally in half to form two triangles. Line the bottom and sides of the prepared bowl with cake slices. Brush liqueur over the cake slices lining the bowl. Reserve extra triangles.

Melt chocolate in double boiler, stir until smooth. Set it aside and allow it to cool to room temperature. Using electric mixer, whip 1 cup of cream in a large bowl until thick and fluffy. Fold in one fourth of whip cream into the chocolate mixture, until well blended. In two separate additions, add remaining whipped cream, blending well to make a fluffy, thick chocolate mousse type filling. Spread chocolate cream mixture over the cake lining the bowl. Be sure to cover the cake completely. Create a well in the center of the cream, cover and refrigerate while you make the second filling.

Using an electric mixer, with a clean bowl and beaters, beat remaining cup of whipping cream until thick and fluffy. Gradually whip in 1/4 cup of icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whip until stiff peaks form. Fold in almonds. Spoon the mixture into the well of the other filling.

Brush the remaining slices of cake with liqueur and arrange them, liqueur side down, over cake, covering the filling completely. Trim slices to fit if necessary. Cover cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours, but over night gives the best results.

To serve, invert cake onto a serving platter, dust with icing sugar and serve. It's great with fresh berries, like strawberries or raspberries on the side, even an extra dollop of whipped cream!

Serves 8 to 10

Some of My Favorite Things

Part One

I figure if Oprah does it, so can I! One of my favorite things in my kitchen right now is my Keurig Coffee Brewer. If you have never heard of this, I'll explain it to you.
It brews a single cup of coffee in about 90 seconds. The coffee comes in a K-Cup, which actually looks like an extra large creamer. You place the K-Cup in the machine, it heats the water to 192F in about 45 seconds, then it forces the hot water through the K-Cup and out into your cup.

There all kinds of coffees and teas available. I like regular coffee, like Sumatra or Moka Java. But if you like flavored coffees, they have those too. There is different varieties of tea available, as well as hot chocolate.

My girls bought the brewer for me this past Christmas. I think they wanted me to have it because I drove them crazy obsessing about it. It is one of the few kitchen appliances that my husband uses regularly.

No Cooking - No Recipe

There hasn't been much cooking going on in the last couple of days. Last night, the girls and I went out for supper. We went to Montreal to go shopping and stopped at a restaurant that must be at the same location for at least 25 years. When I lived in the city, I went to this restaurant 3 or 4 times a month. They make great long ribs. The whole menu consists of ribs or chicken or both! The place is exactly the same as it was 20 years ago! The girls really enjoyed it. They couldn't believe that I never took them there before. If you're ever in Montreal want some tasty, fast and inexpensive ribs check out the Bar B Barn. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Fast, Easy, Tasty

Fast, easy, and tasty are three things I really like when I have to prepare supper. I like to do everything in the oven, It makes clean up faster and easier. It makes preparation easier, as you don't have to watch any pots on the stove. This is a family favorite.

Sausages and Roast Veggies

2 - 3 pounds of your favorite Italian sausage, I use Mild Italian
1 red, yellow or green pepper, cut into strips
1 large onion, red, sweet, whatever you like best, sliced
1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes
Add a variety of sliced vegetables. Add your favorites. At my house asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, baby carrots (sliced in half) are the usual suspects
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425F

In a large, parchment lined baking dish place all your prepared vegetables, add garlic, toss. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top with sausages.

Place in oven. After 20 minutes, pierce the skin on the sausages to release the juices, turn the over and continue to cook another 15 - 20 minutes until they are done.

Serve with your favorite bread and a nice salad. Serves 4 - 6.

Happy St.Patrick's Day

I have an Irish mother - I mean off the boat Irish. She came to Canada as a young woman, on her own, when she was about 25 years old. She met my father, a true Montrealer of Polish decent, soon after. What a combination. My mother travels back home less frequently than she did when she was younger, but certain things are always packed in her suitcase on the return flight back to Canada. Irish chocolate and Irish soda bread. No matter how much I have tried, I cannot recreate that Irish bread. The reason is the flour. My mother adamantly refuses to lug back flour so I can make bread. I have created a recipe that makes a soda bread, all be it tasty, it's not the real thing. It is not bread to eat warm from the oven. It really is best the day after, toasted, with butter and jam. It's great because it's very fast. In honour of St. Patrick's Day and my Irish mother..here it is.

Irish Soda Bread

2 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk - as a dairy farmer- with my own milk- I use whole milk, soured. Do this by adding 3 tablespoons of vinegar to your measuring cup before adding the milk. Add milk to measure 1 1/2 cups, stir and let stand 5 - 10 minutes until it thickens.

Preheat the oven to 425F - make sure rack is in the center. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle lightly with flour.

Mix all dry ingredients together. Mixing as you go, stir in enough buttermilk to form moist clumps. Gather dough into a ball. Turnout onto lightly floured surface and knead just until the dough holds together, about 1 minute. If the dough is too sticky, knead in some flour. The texture should be rather dry and dense. Shape dough into a disc about 6 inches in diameter. Place onto prepared baking sheet. Cut an "X" across the top. This cut should be about 1 inch deep. Bake until bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap the bottom, about 35 minutes. Transfer bread to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Casual Family Get Together

On Sunday, we had a small family get-together to celebrate my younger daughter's 13th birthday.

The cooking theme was Italian. I made antipasto, salad, soup and lasagna, with cake and ice cream for dessert. This is the recipe for the soup. If you have ever been to Eastside Mario's Restaurant, you should be familiar with this soup. I went there once and this was the part of the meal that stood out.

It's a simple soup - broth, little meatballs, acini di pepe pasta and baby spinach. I have perfected my own recipe over the years and here it is.

Italian Wedding Soup

5 cups of chicken broth - I use homemade, but low-sodium store bought works too
2 pounds of ground chicken or ground turkey
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup acini di pepe pasta - this is small pasta that looks like ball bearings! If you can't find this kind of pasta use the smallest pasta you can find. I once used little stars!
2 - 3 cups of fresh baby spinach. If you like arugula, that also works well

Preheat the oven to 425F

Mix ground chicken, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper together in a bowl.

Once mixture is well blended, form into small meatballs. I use a teaspoon to measure the amount of meat. They look really small, but if you're using chicken, they will actually get bigger once you cook them. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, single layer.
Place in the over, after 7 minutes turn. Bake about 7 more minutes. This is to brown the meatballs so they will not fall apart in the soup.

Once the meatballs are browned, add them to the stock, bring to a boil and cook on high heat for about 15 minutes. This will cook the meatball through and add more flavour to your broth. After about 15 minutes, add pasta to boiling pot. Stir constantly for about 3 -4 minutes so pasta doesn't stick. Turn heat down to medium, add baby spinach. Cover pot, wait 3 -4 minutes to wilt spinach and serve.

This will serve 4- 6 people.

Dinner Tonight

Tonight I made a casserole that was tasty and easy. It does take 2 hours to cook in the oven, but it's great for when you have time earlier in the day to prepare your supper but are going to be busy with stuff just before you want to eat.

I prepared this, put it in the oven and then my girlfriend came over to borrow a tomcat to use as stud. We had a nice visit, a cup of coffee, all while my supper was cooking away in the oven.

I adjusted the recipe a bit, can't help myself! But after eating it, I have adjusted it again before posting it here. It's similar to Shepherd's Pie but you slice the potatoes instead of using mashed. Since I don't really like mashed potatoes, this recipe appealed to me.

Three of us ate and my husband, who never says if it's good or not, had two helpings. My guess is, he liked it.

Here's the recipe, with all adjustments:

Meat and Potato Casserole

2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups of chopped celery
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 medium onions, chopped
2 pounds of lean ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 - 2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups of frozen corn or canned corn, drained
2 cups of your favorite cheese - I used cheddar
2 cups of fresh, toasted bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 325F

In a medium saucepan, melt butter, add garlic and cook until soft over medium heat. Add flour, stirring constantly until smooth. (This butter and flour mixture is called a rue, it will thicken your sauce) Slowly add milk, stirring constantly, bring to a boil, stir until slightly thicken, remove from heat and set aside.

In a skillet, over medium-high heat, brown ground beef with onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drain any fat off meat, stir in celery.

Peel and slice potatoes, no thicker than a 1/4 inch. I use the food processor, so the slices are pretty thin.

In a 5 quart casserole place half the meat. Cover meat with all the potatoes. Cover the potatoes with the corn. Pour white sauce over the corn. Place the other half of the meat mixture over top the corn. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, then breadcrumbs.

Bake uncovered for about two hours.

Serves 4 - 6 people. Add a green salad on the side.