Huge Tea Sale!

My favourite tea is on sale! Shop online at the Sisters Leap website and then enter the promo code SALE11. You'll save 30% on orders of $50 or more. The sale is on until February 7, but quantities may be limited.

For awesome iced tea, I use a 4-3-2-1 recipe:

4 c. boiling water

3 tbsp. Sisters Leap tisane (I love Fruit Cocktail or Angel Falls Mist, but you could use any flavour)

2 tbsp. sweetner (sugar, honey, or maple syrup)

1 pitcher of ice

Steep the tea for about 30 minutes. Add sweetner. Strain and pour over ice.

Perfect Chicken Dinner

After a day like today (don't ask), tonight's supper was heaven on a plate. I didn't take a picture, but you've all seen it before - no surprises, no quirky twists on an old recipe, just plain and simple roasted chicken with veggies, gravy, and some classic Stove Top Stuffing!

Just in case you need a "tried-and-true" chicken recipe, here's what I did:

ROASTED CHICKEN & VEGGIES
1 chicken, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with whatever spices you like (I used some of Epicure's Turkey Rub and a bit of Adobo Seasoning, which has a garlic/onion flavour to it.)
potatoes (I used about 12-15 baby potatoes and left them whole)
3-4 carrots, cut into thick slices
1 onion, cut into wedges
3/4 c. water

Drizzle some oil in the bottom of a dutch oven or roaster with a lid. Place the chicken in the pan and arrange the veggies around it. Pour water over the veggies. Cover and cook at 350 F for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Drain liquid into a pot and thicken with a few tablespoons of flour, whisking well to get rid of any lumps. Simmer until slightly thickened, and serve over chicken.

Don't forget the Stove Top Stuffing!

Weekly Meal Plan

I've been a lazy blogger - I have six recipes to share with you and I should have posted them last week. My apologies. I followed the meal plan (more or less) from this month's issue of "Everyday Food", and ended up with some pretty decent meals... and a couple duds. I've scanned the recipes to save me the hassle of typing them all out. Like I said, I'm a lazy blogger.

PARMESAN CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS (and bacon!)This recipe was really good, although I asked my Facebook friends for some tips on cooking brussels sprouts and decided to use their method instead - I cooked some bacon, set it aside and then sautéed the brussels sprouts and mushrooms in some butter and a little of the bacon grease. Then I added some white wine and let it simmer till the brussels sprouts were soft, and then I added the bacon back into the pan.

POTATO, ONIONAND MUSHROOM FRITTATA (dud #1 - it was okay, but my frittata-flipping skills could use a little work. It wasn't very pretty on the plate.)

See, I told you so.

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH HERB RUB AND QUINOA SALAD

This was yummy. I used the Herb Rub, but instead of cilantro I used basil.

MUSHROOM AND BLACK BEAN TORTILLA CASSEROLE (Dud #2 - Did you know that if you sauté mushrooms and add cayenne pepper, the entire house fills with an aroma that permeates your lungs and leaves you coughing for the entire evening?)

This was edible, but like I said, the entire house reaked while I was making it.

SEARED FISH WITH GOLDEN BEETS AND BROCCOLI

I hate beets, but I found golden beets at Safeway so I gave this recipe a shot, and it was really good! I added some onion to the roasted vegetables, and I think I seasoned the fish with Cuban Seasoning before cooking it.

STEAK AND POTATO SALAD (I didn't get a picture of this one, but it was really good.)

I don't know why some of the scans came out so tiny - I'll try to edit this post later on and type out the teeny-tiny recipes for you. This will teach me not to get so back-logged with my recipes!!

Epicure's Cha-cha Chicken Chili

I tried the Tortilla Soup. I tried the Pulled Pork. I tried the Jambalaya. They were all amazing, and tonight's Cha-cha Chili was no exception. These are all from the "What's For Dinner" collection in the new Epicure Selections catalogue. This chili was ridiculously fast and simple to make, and pretty darn healthy too! It takes less time to make this meal than it would to go through a drive-thru at McDonald's, and it only cost me $4 for the ground chicken, less than $2 each for the beans and tomatoes, and the seasoning package costs $3.95. The packet says it makes 4 servings, but I think we got about 6 servings out of it. So it works out to less than $2 per serving!

EPICURE'S CHA-CHA CHILI

1 lb. ground chicken or beef (I used chicken)

1 package Cha-cha Chili seasoning mix

1 - 19 oz. can kidney beans (rinsed and drained)

1 - 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (I used low-sodium)

1 c. frozen corn (this isn't part of the recipe on the packet, but I think it adds a nice touch!)

Brown the meat (and drain if necessary), add the remaining ingredients, and bring to a simmer. Cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with sour cream and grated cheese if you like.

I love the list of ingredients for this seasoning packet: onion, red bell pepper, spices, green bell pepper, tomato, garlic, salt, ancho chili. Since I rinsed off my kidney beans and used a low-sodium can of tomatoes, this meal had almost no salt in it at all! But it had tons of flavour, and you could easily spice it up with some chipotle or cayenne powder if you like it muy caliente!

One-Pot Fish Dish

My sister kindly signed me up for a subscription to Martha Stewart's "Everyday Food" magazine, and each issue has a meal plan so I thought I'd start off 2011 with one big grocery list and all the ingredients to make a week's worth of meals (actually, I picked out 9 recipes to make, so I was really starting out with a bang!)

I haven't made it all the way through my list yet, but I think I'm scrapping some of the fritattas I had planned (because I really wasn't a big fan of the first one I tried, so I doubt the other flavour combinations will be any better!) It might take me a while to get all the recipes posted, but I had to share tonight's with you because it was so easy and SO GOOD!

SPICE-RUBBED FISH WITH LEMONY RICE

Coriander Spice Mix

1 tbsp. ground coriander

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. paprika

3/4 tsp. coarse salt (I found the fish a little salty, so I would use less salt next time)

3/8 tsp. cumin

3/8 tsp. pepper

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 c. basmati rice

1 tbsp. lemon zest

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2 c. chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped (original recipe called for zucchini, but I don't like zucchini and I had half a red pepper in my fridge to use up. I think it was a huge improvement to the recipe!)

salt & pepper, to taste

4 white fish filets (I used basa)

Heat some butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for about 4 minutes, until onion is soft. Add rice and cook for 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients (except for the fish) and bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 13 minutes. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the fish filets (just on one side). Arange fish snugly in a single layer on top of the rice, spice side up, and put the lid back on. Cook for another 6-9 minutes until fish is opaque.

This was perfect! One dish, no mess, and it took less than 30 minutes from start to finish. And everyone liked it, which is always a bonus!

Homemade bread and yogurt

I remember my mom making homemade bread when we were kids. She'd set the dough to rise next to the hot air vents, and the whole house smelled heavenly. I also remember my mom making homemade yogurt when we were kids. This was back in the days when yogurt was just plain yogurt - none of this strawberry vanilla actually-tastes-good kind of yogurt. In stark contrast to the homemade bread, homemade yogurt brings back memories of my sister and I praying mom would never try that again!

Well, this weekend I did what my mother used to do - baked bread and made yogurt! The bread was fantastic, and with the addition of some various other flavours/sweeteners, I think the yogurt will go over quite well too.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD (I followed this recipe)

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (1 packet)

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 c. melted honey

1/3 c. whole milk

1/4 c. canola oil

1 c. hot water

3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

Mix together first 6 ingredients, then add in the flour and mix till it forms a dough. Add a little flour as needed, and knead the dough for a few minutes. (I do this all in the bowl where I mixed the ingredients.) Drizzle with olive oil to coat the ball of dough and cover with a tea towel. Let it rise somewhere warm for 1 hour, then put it into a loaf pan and let it rise for 30-60 minutes (till it's about 1" above the loaf pan.) Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, the loosely cover it with tinfoil and continue baking for another 20 minutes.

HOMEMADE YOGURT (I used this recipe)
8 c. whole milk
1/2 c. plain yogurt (must have active/live cultures in it)

Pour milk into crockpot and heat on low for 2 1/2 hours. Unplug crockpot and let it cool for 3 hours. Take out 2 c. warm milk and whisk in the plain yogurt, then pour it all back into the crockpot. Cover with a thick bath towel to insulate the crockpot, and let it sit for 8 hours (unplugged). Store in fridge for up to a week. For thicker yogurt, set a strainer overtop of a bowl and place a coffee liner or cheesecloth in the strainer. Pour some yogurt over the coffee liner and let the liquid drain out of it, then transfer the yogurt back into a container. This made the yogurt nice and thick, and it cut down the volume considerably (originally I had 2 1/2 plastic yogurt containers filled up, and after straining it I only had 1 1/2 containers.)

This yogurt definitely isn't as sweet as the stuff you're likely used to in the stores, but you can sweeten it however you like. I tried it with some sliced bananas and maple syrup.

You could also add in fresh fruit and purée it right into the yogurt, or try mixing in a little bit of the fruit dips from Epicure. You could try adding some vanilla extract, or whatever else you think might taste good. I used the unstrained plain yogurt this morning to make a smoothie, with a little bit of fresh spinach, some frozen mixed berries, juice, and a little maple syrup. If it weren't so cold out, I would try making some frozen yogurt popsicles for the kids!

The crockpot method was definitely a little time-consuming (and so is the straining method), but it's a lot healthier than the yogurt you find in the stores. My friend Jen said that she makes her own yogurt just using warmed milk on the stove, which would be a lot quicker. Maybe next time I'll try it that way instead to see what works better.

Epicure's Jambalaya

This was the third time I've tried out one of Epicure's new "What's For Dinner?" packets - this time it was the Jambalaya. As with the Tortilla Soup and Pulled Pork recipes, this one was perfect! I bought a tray of chicken thighs and a tray of Italian sausage and a bag of shrimp - I only needed half of each, so I cut everything up into the right sizes and put half into a freezer bag so that I'm ready to make Jambalaya in the future. (I put the chicken and sausage in individual sandwich bags, and then put those bags in a larger freezer bag with the shrimp.) I ended up using 4 1/2 chicken thighs, 2 1/2 sausages, and about 1 c. shrimp. Simply brown the chicken and sausage with a little salt & pepper on them, add some rice (I used basmati) and stir in a can of diced tomatoes and water along with the seasoning packet. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then add the shrimp and cook for another 5 minutes. It's that easy!
This had just the right amount of spice - the kids thought it was a little spicy, but not so bad that they complained or wouldn't eat it. We had enough for two meals, so it makes quite a large batch. I'm looking forward to trying out the other "What's For Dinner?" meals to see how they turn out!

Mini Maple & Bailey's Cheesecake Mousses

For dessert on New Year's Eve, I adapated a recipe from the Epicure Selections website and made some cheesecake mousses. The original recipe called for Maple Spice, Pumpkin Pie Spice, and gingerbread cookie crumbs. I decided to jazz it up a little!

MAPLE & BAILEY'S CHEESECAKE MOUSSES IN VERRINES
1/2 c. spreadable cream cheese
2 tsp. Maple Spice Fruit Dip Mix
1/2 c. whipping cream
2 tsp. Bailey's liqueur
6 Maple cookies
1 tsp. real maple syrup

Cream together first two ingredients. In a separate bowl, cream together the next two ingredients, then fold them into the cream cheese and mix well. Crush up each Maple cookie and press into the bottom of a verrine. Scoop the cream cheese mixture into a ziploc baggy and cut off the tip of one corner (now you have a piping bag!) Squeeze the mixture into the verrines, filling them to the top. Drizzle with maple syrup before serving.

Raclette Supper

Seven years ago, we spent our daughter's first Christmas in Quebec with my husband's side of the family. It was a bit of a whirlwind for me - his family is much larger, louder, and Frencher than my side! My family traditions consist of church on Christmas Eve, stockings and presents on Christmas morning, and a big turkey dinner later that day. Sweet and simple. My husband's family traditions consist of traveling around to all the aunts' and uncles' and grandparents' houses for lots of laughter, presents, games, tacky gift-exchanges, brunches, snacks, suppers, etc. It's a little crazy, but it's a lot of fun!

Amidst all the hustle and bustle of my first Quebec Christmas, I discovered the Raclette. My sister-in-law hosted a big raclette supper on Christmas Eve that year, and it was love at first bite! I am forever in her debt for introducing me to what has now become our family's favourite traditional holiday meal!

The simplest way to describe raclette is "fondue on a grill". It's an open-faced grill that sits in the middle of the table, and you can cook your food on top and/or place it in little broiler trays that slide underneath the grill. The traditional Swiss raclette features melted cheese (there's actually a type of cheese called raclette - careful, it stinks to high Heaven, but it's really good once it's melted!), cured meats, boiled potatoes, gherkins, and pickled onions. That's not how we do it, though! Our raclette meal is a feast of the following ingredients:

• thinly sliced meats (usually chicken and beef) in a couple different marinades
• seafood (usually shrimp and scallops, but this year we added salmon)
• cured meats (usually prosciutto and something a little spicier)
• boiled potatoes (we used quartered baby potatoes and julienned sweet potatoes)
• assorted diced veggies (bell peppers, onions, mushrooms)
• french bread (I made homemade baguettes this year!)
• 3 different kinds of sliced cheese (this year we used smoked Gouda, Provolone, and Meunster)
• dipping sauces (usually 3 different kinds - this year we had Chipotle Curry mayo, Sweet & Spicy Asian dipping sauce, and one with ketchup/mayo/honey mustard and some 3 Onion Dip Mix)
• thinly sliced fruit (apples, pears, and/or bananas) that you can place under the broiler with brown sugar and rum (we don't always do this, but it is a delicious way to make dessert!)

Sometimes we don't marinade the meat, but this year we did two different marinades for the chicken and two for the beef:

• Chicken Marinade #1: oil, lemon juice, Herb & Garlic dip mix
• Chicken Marinade #2: lime juice, ketchup, Cuban seasoning
• Beef Marinade #1: vinegar, ketchup, Adobo seasoning, Cinco Pepper blend
• Beef Marinade #2: Kraft Teriyaki Ginger cooking sauce (from the Sizzling Salads Entrée Kit)

We grill meat and veggies on top, and then put them in the the broiler trays with a slice of cheese on top. We also put slices of baguette underneath the broiler with a piece of prosciutto and a slice of cheese - it's so good!!

Once the raclette meal is over, two things are certain: you will be incredibly full, and you will have tons of leftovers. You know the story of Jesus feeding 5000 with just a few fish and some loaves of bread? Well the raclette is kind of like that - you start out thinking you'll never have enough food for everyone, and somehow you end up with enough for at least one more large meal!

There are a number of ways you can use up your raclette leftovers. Since we banished the kids to the basement during our New Year's Eve supper, we let them have raclette the next night. There was still some leftover veggies and a little bit of chicken, so the following night I used the potatoes, mushrooms, and onions in a frittata, and I made a small stir-fry with the remaining bell peppers and chicken. Friends of ours always make a huge stir-fry with all the leftovers, and we often use the diced veggies and cheese for omelettes or quiche. It's amazing how far a little bit of food will go! We had 6 adults at our Raclette meal, and I used about 3 chicken breasts, 1 tray of rouladen beef, about 1 c. shrimp & scallops, a very small salmon filet, about 10 slices of prosciutto, 3 bell peppers, 2 small onions, 1 sweet potato, 1 small bag of baby potatoes, about 1 c. sliced mushrooms, and 2 baguettes. And like I said, that was more than enough - way more than enough!

I hope this post will inspire you to try a Raclette meal! Happy New Year!!

Epicure's Pulled Pork

I tried out another one of the What's For Dinner? products from Epicure Selections, and just like the Tortilla Soup, this one was a huge hit! The Pulled Pork Seasoning Mix is a fool-proof way to make delicious shredded pork - simply mix with ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and a little water in the crockpot, and add a pork roast (the recipe suggests a 2.5kg. roast, but mine was only 1.5kg.) Coat the roast with the sauce, and then cook on high for 5 hours. Then remove the roast, cut the strings, and use two forks to tear apart the meat. Put all the meat back into the crockpot and let it soak up all that amazing sauce before you serve it up on a crusty bun, piled up nice and high and topped with the most delicious coleslaw!

COLESLAW DRESSING

store-bought coleslaw mix

mayonnaise

sugar

Italian Dressing Mix (the link on the Epicure website isn't working right now, sorry!)

fresh lemon juice

Sorry, I don't have measurements, but I'm going to guess that I used about 2 c. coleslaw mix, 1/2 c. mayo, 1-2 tsp. sugar, 1 tbsp. Italian Dressing Mix, and 1 tbsp. lemon juice. It was the best coleslaw I've ever tasted!!

There was tons of pulled pork leftover, so I put it in the freezer to save for another day. The package says that it makes 20 servings (if you use a 2.5kg roast). I forgot to read the list of ingredients on the back before I put the empty package in the garbage, but I trust that it's filled with wholesome ingredients, just like all the other Epicure products. Low-sodium, no fillers or preseratives, and lots of flavour!

If you live in Canada and would like to order any Epicure products, please let me know and I'd be happy to help you out!