Cherry Tomato and Pesto Tarts

This is delicious! I'm eating it right now actually.  I can't believe how good it tastes, which is amazing because I don't really like tomatoes.  It actually tastes better than any pizza I've had lately.   What I love most about this is that it take literally a minute to assemble, so its perfect for mothers or working people who need to throw something fast and nutritious together on a limited time frame.  You just basically defrost some puff pastrys (or make your own, whatever you want). Put down a layer of pesto on the pastry, the slice some cherry tomatoes in half and lay them flat side down on the pesto.  Sprinkle with fresh rosemary, oregano, Parmesan cheese, and a bit of extra virgin olive oil and bake for 20-25 minutes at 400F.     Try it out!

Mint chocolate snap cookies

An Esme Q modified cookie recipe! I love mint.  I love chocolate.  I love the combination of mint and chocolate.  I love the combination of chocolate and cinnamon.  I love the combination of sweet and heat.  So I took this wonderful mint-chocolate chip cookie recipe and I added a few personal flares to make it more to my taste.  It is fantastic!  Watch out for my next sweet heat treat, Mayan chocolate cake!

• 3/4 cup butter


• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar


• 2 tablespoons water


• 1 handful semisweet choco-chips


• 1 handful mint choco-chips


• 2 eggs


• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper


• 1 tsp almond extract


• 1/2 tsp cinnamon


• mini chocolate chips

1. In a large pan over low heat, cook butter, sugar and water until butter is melted. Add both mint and semi-sweet chocolate chips and stir until partially melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until chocolate is completely melted. Pour into a large bowl and let stand 10 minutes to cool off slightly.


2. At high speed, beat in eggs, one at a time into chocolate mixture. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients, beating until blended. Chill dough about 1 hour.


3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


4. Roll dough into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes.


5. . When cookies are brought out of the oven, put a couple mint choco-chips on top.  Let the chips sit for up to 5 minutes until melted, then spread the on top of the cookie. Eat and enjoy!

Canneles

An easy at home variety of the wonderfully delicious french Canneles!  I've made these a few times now and every time I have to fight myself from eating the entire pan!  I'm working on finding variations to this recipe which i will share after I test a few things!

• 1 cup milk


• 2 tablespoons butter


• 1/2 cup flour


• 1 tablespoon sugar


• 1 egg


• 1 egg yolk


• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/2 tablespoon rum

heat the milk and butter just to a boil.  while doing this mix the flour and sugar, then add the eggs, then add that mix to the hot milk.   You're going to want to strain it after this.  It will make a very thin mix, like a crepe batter almost.  Add the extract and rum (or rum extract whatever works yer fancy) and refrigerate it overnight.    Pour it in to mini budnt pans, preferably silicon ones but I have yet to find them.  I haven't seen any silicon baking sheets as of late! I wonder if they've been pulled off the market?  Oh well.  Preheat the oven to 450, bake for 15 minutes.  This makes the outside nice and crunchy.  It will be very dark so don't be worried about that, its supposed to look near burnt.  After 15 minutes, lower the head to 350 and bake for another 45 minutes.

Easy Beef Bourguignon

I was always intrigued by this meal.  The way its always spoken of in high regard.   So I found a relatively easier recipe because as a mom I don't exactly have time to do all the fine points and details of a Julia Child Beef Bourguignon.  The smell was sweet, like that of when my mother cooks her flour dumplings for our Czech goulash.  The taste was wonderful, the onions were soft and flavourful.  I was very pleased with it and I will definitely do it again!

• 3 tablespoons olive oil


• 2 strips bacon, cut into l-inch pieces


• 2 pounds sirloin steak, cut into 1" cubes


• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


• 12 small white onions, peeled, whole (cut in half, if desired)


• 1 clove garlic, crushed


• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour


• 2 cups dry red wine


• 2 cups water


• 2 tablespoons tomato paste


• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme


• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley


• 3 bay leaves


• 7 peppercorns


• 1 pound mushrooms

First, you heat the oil in a deep stew pot on medium and then cook the bacon for about a minute.  Then add the meat (salt and pepper it first!)  and brown it on all sides (takes about 6-7 minutes) and empty the meats from the pot.  Toss in the garlic and onion, let that cook for 2-3 minutes then re-add the meat and flour and mix that around.  once the flour isn't visible anymore add everything else except the mushroom.  Stir it around a bit, then just let it cook for 1.5 - 2 hrs on low setting.  Once you're satisfied with that toss in the mushrooms and let them cook with everything for about 15 minutes, discard the bay leaves and voila! Easy Beef Bourguignon! Easier to make than to spell.

yum yum squash!

In keeping with the last veggie post, I am currently eating another delicious and healthy vegitable dish.

Butternut Squash with Maple Cinnamon Butter!



First off just peel, chop and cook your butternut squash as you please.

To make the butter, mix thoroughly 1 lbs butter, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 2 drops vanilla, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and some salt.  pack it up and fridge it to use with whatever you want!

I discovered squash very late.  My mother never liked cooking, and she never liked trying new things so I never tried zucchini, squash, mango's or anything like that until my twenties.  Better late than never!



Roasted Tomatoes

• 12 plum tomatoes, halved


• 8 slices of pancetta or 4 slices of bacon, optional


• 2 onions, chopped


• 4 garlic cloves, minced


• 1/4 cup of olive oil


• penne pasta or other type


• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Cut the bacon with a pair of kitchen scissors (its easier than cutting raw bacon!) and toss it with the garlic, tomatoes, olive oil and onions in a casserole dish or glass dish.  Preheat the oven and bake them until the tomatoes shrivel up a bit, the onions and garlic cooks down and the bacon is done (around an hour).  It smells fantastic! eat it as is, or mash it up and put it over penne or some larger slotted or fluted pasta so it holds everything nicely.

We absolutely loved it! so fragrant and fresh!

Hello, Cupcake!

I went to the local bakery supply store last night with a good friend because I wanted to pick up some mint wafers to make a chocolate mint cookie recipe  While we were there I we saw this book with the cutest Westie cupcakes on the front.  We though, OMG  LOLA! (her dog is a westie named lola l-o-l-a- Lola).   I stopped and flipped through this particular New York Times bestseller and we marvelled at these amazing cupcake ideas in the book, and how easy they actually were to create!  I just had to have it.  We then sat in the car drooling on these pictures while we picked one design in particular and proceeded to pick up the needed supplies to bake it!



We made the cupcake batter from scratch and probably should have made the frosting from scratch as well but we were on a limited time frame.  We baked, we decorated, we ate! It was a ton of fun and the smile on my daughters face this morning when she saw her breakfast was a full fledged panda bear make out of entirely edible contents was worth the effort.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

So for dinner I finally made that sweet potato gnocchi and it is very delicious.  It is a little time consuming to make and the dough is very sticky so a good army of flour is needed for the rolling.

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) sweet potatoes


• 1 clove garlic, pressed


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg


• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

Cook the sweet potatoes until they're mashable, once they are and cooled mash em up and add the rest of the ingredients.  It will be VERY sticky, add the flour bit by bit not all at once. It will create a soft dough.  Flour up yer cutting board and put your playdoh skills to use rolling it out like a snake.  At this point you should have prepared a large pot of boiling salty water.  Cut up your snake in to may little snake pieces and toss it in the pot a few roll outs at a time as to not overcrowd the pot.  Once they're floating take them out.  When I took them out I let them sit in a strainer for a sec to get the water off them and then bowled them.  Eat it with whatever sauce or butter meets your fancy, I ate them plain.

yum!

Buffalo Chicken Fingers!

I saw this recipe and it looked fast and intriguing. I love spicy.  I say that boldly, because I honestly mean that I like SPICY, not HOT.  Hot is tasteless and burning.  I like my heat in my food to be pure flavourful spices.  Tonights dinner is based on that recipe! With adjustments and changes to fit my taste.

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into finger-sized pieces


• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon garlic powder


• 1 teaspoon medium chilli powder


• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt


• 3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs


• 2 egg whites, beaten


• 1 tablespoon water


• splash of Jan's Spicy Sauce (substitute for your favorite sauce)