Quick Roasted Shrimp with Spicy Cilantro Dipping Sauce

December 3, 2014December 3, 2014 / bkhdeli / Leave a comment

Last minute company coming over this holiday season? Be prepared with ingredients you have at hand in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. This quick shrimp dish will please all.

Shrimp:

2 bags extra large frozen shrimp, thawed and peeled

extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and pepper

Dip:

¾ cup low fat sour cream

¼ cup plain Greek yoghurt

1 clove garlic

1 small piece ginger

½ jalapeno pepper

2 green onions

handful fresh cilantro leaves

squeeze of lemon juice

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees on convection bake. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Dry the shrimp with paper towel and spread them evenly on the baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake until shrimps are cooked through and pink in colour, about 5-8 minutes. Remove and place on a decorative plate
To make the dip, add all of the ingredients into a blender and blend well. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Pour into a pretty bowl and serve it along side the shrimps

Enjoy and happy holidays!!

Berlin Farmer’s Market – A family outing

November 4, 2014 / bkhdeli / 1 Comment

The Porchetta Man

Porchetta and Truffles

Me and Kortney

Beautiful Veggies

When visiting Kortney this past October in her new hometown of Berlin, Germany, we visited her neighbourhood farmer’s market on Saturday morning – the famous Ökomarkt am Kollwitzplatz. What a beautiful market. Quaint, colourful, and filled with families running around and gathering the fresh picked vegetables. The market was a mix of farmers, food and drink stalls, and arts and crafts. Something for everyone! We sipped on fresh pressed grape juice called Federweißer and ate some delicious porchetta. Kortney educated us on the fact that Germany does not have any GMO, it’s not allowed here.

Like her mom, Kortney wanders around with no real agenda and will let the available produce plan her menu for the week. Today we choose plump sweet potatoes and unbelievably long green onions. Since it was our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, we picked up some cranberries (but we had to go the store for those).

Back in her tiny, but efficient kitchen, we cracked the bottle Riesling we also picked up and made a nice warm sweet potato salad. Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry Chipotle Dressing

4 large sweet potatoes

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup frozen cranberries

1/3-cup water

2 tbsp. honey

2-3 chipotle chilies, finely chopped plus 2 tsp. of adobo sauce

1 cup chopped green onions

¼ cup chopped fresh mint

Preheat oven to 400 degree (convection bake!!). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel and cut potatoes into 1-inch dice. Place in a large bowl with a generous amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pour onto baking sheet and bake until sweet potatoes are brown and soft in the centre when pierced with a paring knife, about 20-25 minutes.
While potatoes are cooking, make the dressing: in a medium saucepan add cranberries, water, honey, chipotle peppers and sauce. Cook over medium heat and bring to the boil. Cover and reduce heat. Cook until the cranberries pop and the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper
Place sweet potatoes in a large bowl and add dressing. Toss to coat well and garnish with green onions and mint.

Serves 6-8

Paris-The Ultimate Farmer’s Market?

October 6, 2014 / bkhdeli / Leave a comment

Beautiful pairs at the market in Versailles.

Mushrooms are in season at the Paris Farmer's Market

Over the many years I’ve been traveling to Paris, I’ve come to learn that the markets you see are really a big business. The people that run the stalls travel to a different market each day around Paris. Kind of takes the romance out of it doesn’t it? However, the small town markets still have that allure. These vendors are the real thing, not a big business or corporation.

I recently traveled to Versailles, to check out the vegetable gardens of the Sun King with a wonderful cooking school from Paris called La Cuisine Paris. We then wondered into town to hit up the farmer’s market. Well!! It was spectacular! Our guide told us it was one of the oldest markets, running for more that 150 years and the actual farmers come into town to sell their wares. It was vibrant, friendly and inspiring. Every fruit and every vegetable begged to be plucked from the piles and brought home to make some kind of wonderful dish.

Being in France inspired me to make the follow yummy dessert. Why not try it this weekend for your Thanksgiving table:

Tart Tatin with Pears

¼ cup butter melted

2 tbsp. butter

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp. water

5 firm pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

1 package puff pastry, thawed

Preheat oven to 350, brush insides of 12-1/2 cup muffin tins with the melted butter
Heat the 2 tbsp. butter in a frying pan over medium. When melted add the sugar and water and stir to cook. Cook until sugar mixture begins to turn golden in colour, about 5 minutes. Add pears and cook them for about 5 more minutes
Arrange the pear slices in the base of each of the 12 tins. Pour caramel over the pears
Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface and cut out rounds that will fit the muffin tins. Arrange the puff over the pears.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden and puffed. Remove and let the tin sit for 2-3 minutes before inverting on to a serving plate

Makes 12

Next Farmer’s Market visit-Berlin!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shao Mai with a Twist!

September 30, 2014 / bkhdeli / Leave a comment

My first video blog! I am making Shao Mai with a Twist. This is a traditional family recipe, but today we are swapping out soy sauce for fresh ingredients and adding a Thai inspiration.

Fall Farmer’s Markets – Calistoga, CA

September 25, 2014September 25, 2014 / bkhdeli / Leave a comment

Cool crisp air, smells of old leaves, those leaves crunching under your feet. Fall: my favourite season by far. I frequent farmer’s markets throughout the year, but visiting in the fall just inspires me to cook and try new ingredients. The colours and smells of the fresh new harvest are irresistible.

My goal is to check out a farmer’s market in every city I visit this fall. My travel card is pretty full, blessedly. I’m starting with Calistoga, California

Tomatoes and basil are in abundance here at the delightfully cute Calistoga Farmer’s Market. This market is charming. Small farms, artisans, musicians abound.

Today Al and I choose some of the basil and a couple of branches of cherry tomatoes.

Basil! It smells so delicious!

Beautiful tomatoes… perfect for snacking

Beans!

Try this:

Preheat your oven to 400 and on a baking sheet lay out the cherry tomatoes still on the branches, sprinkle a generous amount of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Roast until the tomatoes just start to collapse down and brown, about 15 minutes
Pick up a round of burrata, break it up and place in a bowl. Lay the roasted tomatoes over top and rip leaves of basil over.
Awwww…enjoy!

Clean Eating can be Delicious! Eating

February 17, 2014September 25, 2014 / bkhdeli / 1 Comment

Al and I have been attempting to eat clean these last few weeks. No boxes, no packages, just whole foods.

It has been pretty easy so far. Here’s a quick recipe for Red Quinoa. Make a bunch so you can take it for lunch for a couple of days

1 cup red quinoa, rinsed well in cold water

1 1/4 cup water

1 red pepper, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced

juice of half a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

handful of basil and cilantro, finely chopped

Cook quinoa as per package directions. Fluff quinoa with a fork and turn out into a large bowl. Add peppers, celery, jalapeno and toss to mix. add juice, salt and pepper and stir well. stir in basil and cilantro. Enjoy!!

Savoury Waffles with Artichokes and Crispy Ham

November 10, 2013September 25, 2014 / bkhdeli / Leave a comment

This recipe I’ve adapted from a cute little place in Paris that I love called Avant Comptoir. The best appetizers, champagne, and ambience.

Savoury Waffles with Artichoke Puree and Crisp Ham

1 ¾ cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. fresh ground pepper

3 eggs, separated

1 cup butter, melted

1 cup buttermilk

¾ cup soda water

½ cup Parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, measure out flour, sugar, powder, soda, salt and pepper. Whisk to mix well
Separate eggs. Whip whites in a stand mixer until firm.
Whisk together egg yolks, butter, buttermilk, and soda. Stir into dry ingredients. Fold in whipped whites and Parmesan
Cook in a waffle maker according to directions

Artichoke Puree

4 fresh artichokes

fresh lemon juices and lemon slices

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

4 slices sliced prosciutto

Trim artichokes and add to a bowl with lemon juice, 1 cup water and lemon slices
Place artichokes, a splash of olive oil into the bowl of a food processor. Process using the pulse button to break up the artichokes. With the machine running add a stream of olive oil and proceed until a smooth thick paste is created. Remove puree from the processor to a small bowl and season with salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degree. Lay the prosciutto on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake until prosciutto is crispy
To present: cut waffle into 4 pieces. Dollop some artichokes puree onto to the centre of waffle and place a piece of prosciutto into the puree to allow it to stand up. Lay on a platter and continue with the assembly

Makes 16 pieces

The Perfect Food: This is it!

March 8, 2013September 25, 2014 / bkhdeli / Leave a comment

So you haven’t heard from me in a while. Did you think I gave up on the search for my perfect food? Hell no!! It’s been a dreary selection I must say. Nothing to write home about that’s for sure. Until…….

Here it is, and I know I’ve said this before. I didn’t write about it right away just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Had to try it several times. Quality assurance!!

This is the best sausage roll I have ever had!! It’s from The Ginger Pig, a butcher shoppe in London, England. If you didn’t know, my daughter Kortney is over there doing her Masters and my hubby Al started a new business in the UK. So all roads led to London, to The Ginger Pig. Tucked away on a very cute side street in Kortney’s new neigbourhood, we found it one morning heading to her local farmer’s market. I popped in to look at the butcher shoppe, which is gorgeous by the way. There in a warming case stood the plumpest, juiciest sausage roll I have every seen. I jumped into the line and ordered one.

Hot, juicy, crispy, and pungent with the right spices, meaty. Oh my God (yes it was a Sunday) I had found my savior – my ‘savoury’. I stood on the sidewalk with people all around me, but I didn’t care I was transfixed by every bite. I couldn’t move! The flavor engulfed me. It took all I had not to go in and get another. I had to be sensible, it was huge: probably equivalent to my daily-required caloric intake.

In my last blog about the perfect food I thought I found it at the Distillery. I still love that sausage roll, but this is the one. My one true love. And I’m not sad that the search is over because I feel complete.

Now I can’t wait to get to London!! Oh, of course to see my darling Kortney!! hehe

The Perfect Food: Part 3

September 3, 2012September 25, 2014 / bkhdeli / Leave a comment

Is this it?!

I’ve enjoyed the search, believe me!! My waistline is the proof. Sometimes I have to take necessary breaks to gain my figure back. Recently there has been a flurry of study and search.

I think I’ve come close to the dream sausage roll, right here in my beloved city of Toronto. One of my favourite sandwich places is the Brickwork Bakery at the Distillery District in east downtown. Going there for years to enjoy their wonderful club sandwich (really, another obsession I can blog about for years!!). The rolls have been there in a small glass sided oven, taunting me. Why I never tried one is beyond me and may require treatment. Well finally I decided to try one instead of a club

Awwwwww, crunchy, flaky crust, the juice of the meat ran down my fingers. Spicy, savoury, delicious!! The world around me stopped. I was in sausage roll heaven. I had to sit down. I had to stop my self from inhaling it in a second. I had to stop myself from going back into the bakery to get another one!! It was as close to what I had imagined my perfect food could be.

But suddenly I was overwhelmed with sadness and confusion along with elation. Elated because it was sooooooooo good. Sad because would this be the end of the search; I loved the search. Confused because surely this wasn’t the best, what if it was, should I keep looking, searching?

I must keep searching; it is my duty for all of the sausage roll lovers out there….