Apricot Day

We are doing a mini theme for the rest of the month...National Days. Today happens to be National Apricot day so we are going to give you a little info about the apricot and a couple sweet and savoury recipes to try out.

The apricot is a stone fruit and comes from a small tree with a dense canopy and oval leaves. It bears flowers that are whitish and pink. The actual fruit looks like a small peach with a firm and not very juicy flesh and is often yellow to orange with a red tinge sometimes if it gets too much sun exposure. Apricots are often eaten dried with the world’s largest producer being Turkey. When dried, the nutrients are actually increased with Vitamins A and E, potassium, and iron having 25% of the daily value.

Check out this sweet recipe we found...

Honey Grilled Apricots

You will need...

3 Tbsp.butter

2 Tbsp. sugar

6 to 8 apricots (halved and pitted)

2 Tbsp. honey

1 lemon

How to make...

Melt butter and sugar together in a large pan.

Add apricots and coat with butter mixture.

Place on grill for 6 to 7 minutes, turning often.

Once cooked, place apricots on dessert plates cut side up, drizzle with honey and lemon juice, and serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or with slices of Brie cheese.

Garnish with cinnamon and mint leaves.

Apricot Preserve

You will need...

2 cups dried apricots

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 3/4 cups water

How to make...

Finely chop the apricots in a food processor. Make sure the pieces are all uniform.

Place the apricots in a slow cooker. Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, and water. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Uncover and cook on high, stirring occasionally, 1 to 2 hours longer or until the mixture has thickened.

Ladle into clean glass jars. Let the glass jars cool before sealing. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Savoury recipes...

Apricot BBQ Sauce

You will need...

1/2 cup apricot preserves

1/4 cup onion (pureed)

1/4 cup ketchup

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp. mild chili sauce

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 pinch salt

How to make...

In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil.

Add pureed onion and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Then add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Finally add remaining ingredients and allow to bubble up slightly.

Reduce heat and simmer through for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Once ingredients have formed a glaze-like consistency, remove the pan from heat and allow to cool before using.

Moroccan Chicken and Apricot Tagine

You will need...

1 whole chicken, cut into eight pieces

2 medium onions, grated

3 to 4 cloves of garlic

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. saffron threads, crumbled

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 or 2 small 3-inch pieces of cinnamon stick

3 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. olive oil

A small handful of cilantro sprigs tied into a bouquet

1/2 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup water

3 Tbsp.sugar or honey

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup dried apricots

1 to 2 tsp. sesame seeds

How to make it...

Remove the skin from the chicken.

Combine the spices in a large bowl, add the chicken, and toss to evenly coat the chicken pieces with the spices.

Over medium-low heat, melt the butter in the base of a large tagine. Add the olive oil, onions, garlic, and cinnamon. Add the seasoned chicken, meat-side down, in a single layer on top of the onions. Place the cilantro bouquet on top.

Add the broth to the tagine. Swirl the water in the bowl to cleanse it of the spices, and then add the water to the tagine as well. Cover and leave the liquids to reach a simmer over medium-low heat.

Once simmering, cook the chicken, for one hour. Remove and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquids.

Carefully turn the chicken pieces over so that they are meat-side-up. Cover and continue simmering for another 30 minutes to one hour, until the chicken is done and the liquids are thick and reduced. 

Mix together the honey and cinnamon to form a flavuored syrup.

Top your finished dish with the honey-cinnamon syrup, dried apricots and sesame seeds.

Happy Apricot Day!

New Years Oliebollen

Now that Christmas is over and done with, up next is New Year’s. On our last trip around the world, we are going to Holland and looking at a traditional New Year’s treat.

Oliebollen are deep fried donut like balls often containing currents and then sprinkled with icing sugar. They are like a dessert dumpling. They are first thought to have originated in Germanic tribes in the Netherlands during the Yule season which runs from December 26^th and January 6^th.  The name Oliebollen means oil ball or oil cookie. A typical Oliebollen recipes calls for flour, yeast, baking powder, salt, eggs, currents and milk. Many recipes do also call for raisins and finely chopped Granny Smith apples.

Take a look at our try at Oliebollen and see if it inspires you to make some for the New Year!

Classic Oliebollen Recipe

You will need...

4 cups of flour

2 packets/4 tsp. of yeast

1 tsp. of salt

1 large egg

1 ½ cup of lukewarm milk (about 50 seconds in the microwave)

2/3 cups of currents (optional)

2/3 cups of raisin (optional)

1 small Granny Smith apple (optional)

Oil for deep frying

Icing sugar to top

How to...

Put flour, yeast, and salt into mixer’s bowl/mixing bowl. Stir together.

Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and crack your egg into it. Cover with your lukewarm 

milk.

Using a dough hook if your using your mixer or a wooden spoon if you are not, Mix it all together to make a sticky wet dough.

Cover with saran wrap or a wet dish towel and place in a warm spot to rise - about 1-2 hours or until it doubles in size. If you can find a warm spot, put your oven at around 200 degrees and place it in the oven to rise.

Once risen, use two tablespoons and scoop the batter into the hot oil. 

Cook until puffed up and golden brown.

Pat with paper towel to remove excess oil and then sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy warm. They aren’t the best to eat the next day so gobble them all up while fresh!

Lamb

This week we are going to Iceland and taking a look at one of their famous Christmas foods; it’s called Hangikjöt.

Hangikjöt is a smoked lamb. It became popular in the 9^th and 10^th centuries and it was smoked over sheep dung. To keep with the tradition, it is still often smoked in dung but birch is used as well. Now it’s cold smoked, boiled, or roasted after dry salting or brining first; smoking usually lasts for up to two weeks. It’s often popular to smoke either a leg or shoulder. As part of Christmas dinner it is often served with potatoes and creamy sauce and canned peas. It’s also popular cold and in slices on sandwiches for lunch. About 90% of Icelanders will have Hangikjöt during the holiday season.

We thought we’d use the main ingredient of lamb and share with you some fun appetizer recipes for all those Christmas parties that you may be attending and needing to find the perfect dish to bring along with you. Check out the three that we thought sounded pretty interesting!

Mini Lamb Meatballs

You will need...

1 lbs ground lamb

¼ small red onion, finely chopped 

1 clove minced garlic

¼ cup breadcrumbs

2 eggs

1 tsp. lemon zest

2 tsp. lemon juice 

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill or mint

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano or parsley

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp. olive oil

For the Lemon Yogurt...

1 cup thick plain Greek yogurt

2-4 tsp. lemon juice

1 pinch kosher salt

1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

How to...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Place all ingredients for meatballs in a large bowl and mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, roll one tablespoon of lamb mixture into small balls and place on a baking tray about 1" apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Serve with a savoury lemon yogurt, sliced cucumber, and toasted pine nuts or just have plain.

Baby Lamb Chops with Sauces

For the chops you will need...

1 tsp. kosher salt

12 to 15 baby lamb chops, bones Frenched

1 Tbsp. olive oil

For the Red Sauce you will need...

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 clove garlic

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

For the Green Sauce you will need...

1 1/2 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves

2/3 cup fresh mint leaves

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lightly toasted almonds

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

How to make...

Salt both sides of the lamb chops. Heat oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat. Cook in two batches, turning once until chops are deep brown and cooked to medium-rare. Serve with sauces.

Red Sauce - Combine the water, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, vinegar, sugar, cumin, salt, garlic and black pepper in a food processor and process until smooth. 

Green Sauce - Combine the parsley, mint, olive oil, almonds, and lemon juice in a food processor and process until smooth. 

Sauces can be made ahead and stored in airtight containers in the fridge up to a day in advance. 

Lamb Stuffed Mushrooms

You will need...

1/2 onion

15 Cremini mushrooms

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

½  pound ground lamb

Butter, to taste

Breadcrumbs, to taste

3 sage leaves

2 Tbsp. olive oil

How to make...

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems.

Finely chop 3 of the mushrooms and set the others aside.

Finely dice the onion, garlic, and chop the sage. Set aside.

When the oven is hot, toss the remaining whole mushrooms with olive oil and roast for 15 minutes.

Combine the ricotta and parmesan cheese.

Brown the lamb. Strain and then sauté the onion over medium heat in the fat for about 5-7 minutes, until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute.

Stir in the diced mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Then stir in the breadcrumbs, butter, and sage leaves. Turn off the heat and mix lamb back into the mixture.

Place roasted mushrooms bottom side up on a sheet pan. Turn on the broiler in your oven.

Stuff your mushrooms with your lamb mixture. Top the stuffed mushroom with a small spoonful of cheese mixture. Then place in the oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is slightly crispy.

Enjoy all the lamb recipes! 

Marbled Bundt Cake

Time for a Father’s Day treat. My dad is always asking for a marbled something when it comes to baked goods so we tried this one out and it was a huge success so give it a try for your dad this Father’s Day. I know I couldn’t stop eating it when we baked it!

You will need...

3 cups of flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¾ cup of buttermilk

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 ¼ sticks of butter

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

3 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips

2 Tbsp. of butter

2 Tbsp. of unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare your bundt cake pan by greasing it and then flouring it.

In a two separate medium sized bowls, mix/whisk your dry (flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda) and wet (buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon juice) ingredients separately.

Now beat the sugar and the butter with your mixer.

Add in the eggs one at a time followed by the one yolk.

On low, add in one third of the flour mix followed by half of the wet mix and then repeat with remaining dry and wet ingredients.

Separate the batter evenly into two bowls.

Now it’s time to make the chocolate part of the marble cake.

Melt the chocolate chips, butter, and cocoa powder in the microwave until smooth and fully melted.

Stir the chocolate mixture into one of the bowls of batter.

It’s time to marble!

I put a dollop of each batter side by side until the bundt pan is full. That is one layer. Then on top of each dollop, put the opposite flavour for the top layer. Swirl it all around with a butter knife until you get your desired marbledness. You can also layer one flavour on the bottom and one on the top and swirl. I tried that the first time I made this cake but it didn't get as marbled as I wanted it. 

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. It usually takes the full 60 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan and then slide it out of the pan and allow to cool about 2 hours before eating.

You can eat it plain or you can make a glaze or icing to put on it (the second time around we made a caramel glaze). You can put whipped cream or ice cream and even some berries on top if you like.

Now it’s time to enjoy!

*You might have noticed that the last few final steps have no pictures. We were so excited to eat this cake that we got distracted and forgot. Next time!

Dessert Muffins

Sadly our muffin theme is coming to an end, but we saved the best recipes for last. Our focus today is on dessert muffins. Dessert muffins might make you think of cupcakes, but they are not cupcakes. There’s no icing or sprinkles or fancy piping. These muffins are just a little sweeter and have richer ingredients than most muffins. They also aren’t probably something that you would have for breakfast every day; they may be more of a treat so that’s why we think of them as dessert muffins.

The first one is a recipe that I have tried many times before. It’s a very chocolatey and delicious muffin. They are quite sweet and rich so we have made them mini.

Chocolate Buttermilk Muffin

1/3 cup of vegetable oil

1 cup of buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. of vanilla

½ tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of baking soda

2 tsp. of baking powder

½ cup of sugar

¼ cup of brown sugar

½ cup of cocoa powder

2 cups of flour

1 cup of chocolate chips

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl and then whisk all of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add the dry to the wet and stir well making sure to incorporate all of the ingredients.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Fill the muffin pans ¾ full and bake in a 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

Allow them to cool slightly. Some people like to let them cool lots, but I like to eat them with the chocolate all melty.

Another dessert muffin recipe that you can try is this Chai-Spiced Cheesecake Muffins. Nicole’s tried it once and says they are quite yummy. She made a few changes to the recipe when she made them; I’ve made some notes about that in the recipe below.

Chai-Spiced Cheesecake Muffin

For the muffin you will need...

1 ¾ cups of flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. of ground ginger

½ tsp. of ground cardamom

½ tsp. of ground nutmeg

1 tsp. of baking soda

½ tsp. of salt

2 cups of applesauce (Nicole used 1 cup applesauce and 1 cup pumpkin)

1 ¼ cups of brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. of vanilla

½ cup of vegetable oil

For the filling you will need...

8 oz. brick of cream cheese

¼ cup of granulated sugar

1 tsp. of vanilla

Non-stick cooking spray for greasing

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

First of all you’re going to make the batter.

Whisk the flour, spices, and salt with a fork in one bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the applesauce, pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and oil.

Mix it all up with a fork and then add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ones and stir with a fork until the batter is thick and smooth.

Now to make the filling.

In a bowl, use a fork to mix the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Mix until fluffy and smooth.

Grease your muffin tin with non-stick spray.

Scoop about ¼ cup of the batter into each of the muffin cups. Add a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling to the centre of each muffin and use a toothpick to swirl the filling into the batter.

Bake for 18 minutes.

Cool for about 5 minutes and serve warm.