Cheap & Cheerful Red Lentil Soup

A nice recipe I made for the first time tonight. I like it because it is warm, comforting winter food but has some bright accents (ex: lots of lemon juice, fresh rosemary). It conjures up thoughts of Italian cypresses, sunshine glinting off the Adriatic & oregano-honey tisanes.

Rebar's "Greek Red Lentil Soup" recipe.

Chocolate Strawberry Ice-Cream Sandwiches

Great looking dessert to follow-up a romantic Valentine's Day dinner at home. Yummy.

Golfer's Delight (aka: Trail Mix Bars)

I call these bars "Golfer's Delight" because my husband, who is a golfer, is delighted when he eats one at the turn. Without a mid-game snack his energy fades but he didn't like the idea of eating all those preservative filled "power bars". So, I began making some at home. The sugars give a quick boost to one's energy, the oats kick-in pretty close after while the almond protein digests nice & slow so you doesn't have an energy crash 60 min. later. I bake a bunch of them, cut them into single serving sizes, wrap them in plastic wrap & store them in freezer in a big zip lock bag. Defrosting only takes an hour or two so you can just grab one, pop it into a lunch bag & by-the-time someone is ready to eat it it is, well, ready to be eaten. The recipe (which has been adapted from an online recipe from "I Can't Remember Where" blog ages ago) is as follows...

Ingredients
4 ½ cups rolled oat
1 cup flour (white, whole wheat or a mix is a-ok)
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup butter (soft)
½ cup honey
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup raisins
½ cup craisons (dried blueberries or cherries also work nicely)
½ cup (heaping) whole almonds
½ cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees & grease a 9x15 inch pan.

2) Combine the first four ingredients in your largest bowl. Add honey, brown sugar, butter & vanilla. The batter will be quite sticky & heavy so scrub up and use your hands to mix.

3) Add rest of ingredients & mix until combined.

4) Press the "dough" evenly into the greased pan. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. If undercooked they will crumble. They are nearly impossible to burn so better to over bake them then under bake them I say. Allow pan to cool for about 10 minutes. Cut into "bars" BUT leave them in the pan until they have cooled completely.

5) Enjoy!

Gaspacho (not the cold soup kind)

It is similar to a fruit salad but I hate using those words 'cause I don't want you to think this is just some regular, old, boring fruit salad. It's really so much more than that! It's healthy, exotic, juicy, crunchy, delicious & it'll be a ray of sweet sunshine in the middle of a grey winter day! Listed below are the fruits I used for this particular gaspacho but you can use any mix of the following fruits (honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, papaya & mango). However, jicama & pineapple are musts! They give gaspacho its signature flavour & crunch. The other key step to making a yummy & authentic gaspacho is the size of the fruit. All fruits pieces are 1/4" diced. I know, sounds like allot of work but once you get going it's really not that bad.

So, here we go! You'll need...

2 cups diced pineapple (about 1/2 a pineapple)

2 cups diced jicama

1 cup diced cantaloupe

1 cup diced mango

1 cup diced papaya

Lime & orange juice.

These fruit amounts are flexible. Just use what you've got.

1. Peel, de-seed & dice all fruits. Don't worry about uniformity. Concentrate on size! Mix all diced fruits in a big bowl. Hands work best.

2. Scoop fruits into tall glasses.

3. Fill each glass with oj & add about a 1/2 lime splash worth of lime juice on top.

4. Eat with a spoon & enjoy!

If your feeling adventurous locals in Morelia (Mexico's gaspacho capital) top their gaspacho with a dash of hot sauce, a sprinkle of chili powder & about 1 tbsp. of "cotija" cheese. Crumbled feta or even cottage cheese would work ok too.

Mmmmm Yorkshire Pudding

Thanks for the recipe Martha!

Handcrafter's Holiday Blog Meme - What is your favorite holiday food?

For the past 7 or 8 years I've made a savory strudel (from "A Veg. Christmas" Cookbook) in place of the traditional bird. I still make the usual fixin's like mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, cranberry sauce, side vegetables, a big basket of buns, etc. so the meal still feels all Christmas-y and festive. It is great as a veg. alternative for the usual bird or as an addition to your traditional holiday meal for any vegetarians you may have coming. Use vegan margarine instead of butter and you've got yourself a vegan main! Parts (ex: filling or toasted nuts) can be made ahead of time & refrigerated or you can even make the entire strudel and freeze it until the big day!

The recipe is....

3 tbsp. olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 x 400g/14oz cans of tomatoes
1 tsp dried basil
1/3 cup red wine
225g/2 cups mushrooms (cremini work well), sliced
salt & pepper
275g/10 oz phyllo/fillo pastry
1/2 butter, melted
3/4 cup roasted cashews, roughly chopped (pecan or pine nuts would work well too)

1) Heat oil in large sauce pan. Add onions and saute on med./high heat until tender (but not brown (approx. 10 min.)

2) Add garlic, basil, wine, tomatoes & their liquid. Simmer uncovered until mixture is quite dry. Stir occasionally. The recipe calls for 20 min. but I find I need longer. If the mixture is too wet it'll rip the phyllo later on.

3) Add mushrooms and cook another 15 min. or until soft.

4) If dry enough (there should be no liquid left at all really) then remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. ALLOW MIXTURE TO COOL BEFORE MOVING ON.

5) Preheat oven too 200C/400F. Lay out phyllo. I like to do this directly on my Silpat or parchment. Makes transfer to the baking sheet allot easier. It should be approx. 30cm x 20 cm/12 " x 8". Double up two sheets side by side if need be.

6) Brush phyllo with melted butter and sprinkle with 1/3 of nuts. Place another sheet of phyllo on top, brush with melted butter and sprinkle again with 1/3 of nuts. Don't fret if the phyllo tears abit around the nuts. It'll be a-ok. Repeat phyllo, butter & nut step. Lay another sheet of phyllo and brush with butter.

7) Spoon cooled filling onto phyllo layers and spread leaving 2.5 cm/1 " clear at edges. Fold all edges over to enclose filling. From long end roll phyllo up like a Swiss/jelly roll. Brush with butter, garnish with phyllo cut outs (see NB below) and transfer to baking sheet.

8) Bake for 25 min. or until brown. Slice widthwise to serve. Enjoy!

N.B. I use leftover phyllo (5 or 6 sheets together so it's nice & thick & won't burn & crisp off) and cut out decorative shapes (holly leaves & berries or the words "Merry X-mas") and lay them on the top of the strudel and brush with the melted butter. It gives the dish a cute & kitschy kick.

Homemade Dog Cookies

I make cookies for my dogs. They are super easy (Rex or Regina really won't care if they're not perfect), when compared with gourmet treats are quite inexpensive and are chalk-a-block full of luv! Here is the nice & basic recipe I often use (Thanks Natural Health Magazine).

2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup corn meal
1/2 cup sesame seeds (flax would work too)
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken broth (avoid sodium heavy powders)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced (some dogs should not have garlic so omit until you check with your vet)

1) Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a second bowl, beat 2 eggs, milk oil & garlic together. Mix wet into dry well. Let sit for 15 min.


2) Roll dough out (1/4" or 6mm thick) on a lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Beat remaining egg and brush on tops of biscuits.


3) Place cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet (Silpat or parchment paper ok here too) and bake at 350 F for 25-35 min. or until brown. Remove and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Couple these with the reversible dog scarf or plastic bag (aka poo bag) holder tutorials (I will soon post) and you've got a great x-mas gift for the dog lovers in your life. It would also make a unique dog- owning host/hostess gift too!