Home made olive oil crackers

This is something that I have wanted to make for a while. I love the artisan crackers that seem to be everywhere these days, but they are very expensive and really it is just flour and olive oil so how hard could they be?  Anyway I had a Christmas party for work colleagues so I decided to give them a try, and indeed they are not difficult at all. I found the recipe on 101cookbooks.com

3 cups of all-purpose flour (or half semolina flour half regular)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
toppings you like – sesame seeds, caraway seeds, rosemary, coarse sea salt

Whisk together the flour and salt. Add the water and olive oil and mix together

before kneading 

Knead on a floured counter-top or in a mixer for 5-7 minutes. The dough should be just a bit tacky - not too dry, not too sticky to work with.

After kneading

Turkey and cranberry balls

Tis the season of potlucks and appetizers and it always a struggle to find something vaguely healthy and tasty that can be made ahead and please a crowd.  To add to all the Christmas cheer we were also having a potluck lunch for a baby shower at work. Often these potlucks are heavy on the starch and desserts, so I thought some lean protein would be a good idea, and this close to Christmas what could be more appropriate than turkey and cranberries.

This made enough for about 35 walnut sized meatballs

2lbs of ground turkey
1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs
1 large garlic clove
1 onion
1 cup of frozen cranberries
1 sprig of fresh sage or parsley

Place the turkey and breadcrumbs in a large bowl.

Place the remaining ingredients in to a food processor.  I added the cranberries after the onion and garlic had been fairly finely chopped up as I did not want to turn them into mush.  Add this mixture to the turkey and breadcrumbs.

It looks like Christmas already

Lemon olives and rosemary almonds

One more party before the holiday season grinds to a halt, so here are a couple of ideas for New Years eve. Both these are quick and easy to make and put out when company is coming. They both take very little time, but look and taste so much better than opening up a package of pre made snack.

You could use any type of olives with the exception of those tasteless canned black olive slices that are put on pizza. This time I used large pitted green, but I have used mixed olives, black olives and even sun dried Moroccan olives.

Lemon marinated olives

2 cups of drained olives.
1 lemon
Handful of parsley finely chopped
1/4 cup of good extra virgin olive oil.

Place the drained olives in a bowl Grate the lemon zest on top and then cut the lemon in half.  Slice half the lemon in to thin slices and add to the olives.  Squeeze the juice of the remaining lemon half on top.  Add the parsley and olive oil and stir in. Sometimes I add crushed coriander seeds and finely chopped chili.

Marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours and serve at room temperature.

Quick easy and taste like you spent hours preparing.

Wonton wrapper appetizer

It was our annual Christmas caroling party on Saturday, so I spent Saturday morning looking for inspiration and ideas for new appetizer recipes.  There are some tried and true,items that I make over and over but it always good to try something new.  I found this recipe  for Wonton Wrapper Appetizers

I thought it looked good, easy and most of it can be made ahead just thrown in the oven for a few minutes before serving, these are all important criteria for appetizer recipes. I do not want to be a slave to the kitchen when everyone else is having fun, anyway the kitchen is always so full of people.

16 pieces


1/2 pound of sausage meat (I used Italian)
1/2 onion chopped or equivalent of green onion
16 won ton wrappers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheese


In a frying pan, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain if necessary. Stir in onions, cook for a couple more minutes and set aside.

Lightly brush the won ton wrappers with olive oil and press them into miniature muffin cups.

Crisp lime avocado and chick pea salad

This time of year is full of parties, drinks, rich food and little to no exercise, so for the annual Christmas potluck at work I like to make a light crisp salad to counteract all the damage I am doing to my body.

This year I am into avacodo's in a big way and often have a salad with avacado in it for my lunch or dinner, so I decided to make an avacado salad with a south west twist.  This made a potluck salad for 12.

One large avacado chopped into large chunks
Grated zest from one lime
One can of chick peas
Small bunch of cilantro chopped.
3 Hearts of romaine lettuce

Dressing ingredients

• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar or a good white wine vinegar with a pinch of sugar
• 1 bunch of green onions chopped
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic grated or crushed
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Put the avacado in to the bottom of a large bowl and add the zest of the lime.

Winter bruschetta

One of my favourite appetizers is bruschetta, but the tomatoes in the winter, though better than they used to be, are just not as flavourful as the tomatoes in August.  So I thought if I slow roasted them first it would help.  I was correct this mixture had a very intense flavour and made a wonderful bruschetta.

2 cups of cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1 small sweet onion or red onion finely chopped
small bunch of basil chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Lay the tomatoes on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Cook in a 250 oven for around 2 hours, or the length of time it takes you to go grocery shopping for the party that night. The tomatoes will look shrivelled slightly caramelized  but still have some juice in them.

Mini mushroom tatin

Saturday night was our first entertaining of the holiday seas and I was looking for new ideas for appetizers. I saw the idea for these on Martha Stewart's website, I find that there are often some good ideas there, but I do not follow the recipes, lets be honest I hardly ever follow a recipe. I have called them mushroom tatin as they are made using the same method as the classic french tarte tatin.

Enough for 24 appetizers


2 cloves of garlic sliced
1 onion chopped

2 tablespoons of olive oil
6 cups of sliced mushrooms
sprig of fresh thyme
1/4 cup of sherry or wine
11/2 packages of puff pastry

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil a large frying pan until the onion is transparent, then add the mushrooms

Saute stirring frequently until the mushrooms have given off their liquid, then add the sherry or wine and thyme.  Continue to cook stirring occasionally until the liquid has all been absorbed. taste for seasoning and add salt and a good amount of pepper.

Generously butter 24 muffin tins then spoon the mushroom mixture in dividing it evenly amongst them.

Now cut rounds of puff pastry that exactly fit the top of the muffin tin.

Oat cakes

The first time I took my husband back to the old country I introduced him to oat cakes with cheese, he loved them.  Back then you really could not buy them in British Columbia except perhaps a speciality store, so whenever I came back from England I bought him a package or two of Oat cakes.

They are one of my favourite foils for cheese, and these days with the ever shrinking world, you can pick them up at almost any grocery store.  But when I found a recipe for making them in a cook book celebrating the food of London I had to have a go at making them.

11/3 cups of medium ground oatmeal (I used instant)
1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
11/2 tablespoons of melted butter
1/2 cup of warm water, or as needed

In a bowl stir together the dry ingredients, using a wooden spoon stir in the melted butter and warm water. At first it seems impossible that this will turn in to a dough.

Vegetarian option to turkey

Every year I have the pleasure of hosting my husbands extended family to Christmas dinner, this year it was 16 of us.  The numbers have been diminishing every year with grown children moving away to Alberta and sadly we have lost both my husbands parents and my mother.  But this year there was addition to the family my niece gave birth to a baby boy at 1:30 on Christmas morning. What a joy it will be next year to have a baby at Christmas, this year we had to make do with my rather prickly kitten.

Christmas Kitty

My sister in law is vegetarian, and so every year I try to make a dish that will give her some protein, and as she loves beans it often involves some kind of beans. This year I set my self a challenge to create a dish that would be full of the flavours of turkey but with out trying to imitate the meat and be completely vegetarian.  So this is what I came up with.

1 cup of black eyed peas
1 cup of small white lima beans
4 cups of water
1 onion chopped
1 large garlic clove sliced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 vegetarian stock cube (try McCormick's vegetarian chicken stock cubes)
2 tablespoons of fresh sage finely chopped
1 stalk of fresh rosemary leaves stripped and chopped
1/4 cup of chopped parsley.
1/2 cup of fine breadcrumbs
zest of one lemon

Italian sausage white bean soup

The other soup that I made for the carolling party this year was using Italian sausages and white beans.  These two things go very well together I have always thought and I had some home made beef stock in my freezer and this was a good way to use it. I also added Kale as the dark green flavour of the kale really complements the slightly sweet spiciness of the Italian sausage.

I made a very large amount of soup that would have fed 30 people a mug of soup so unless you are expecting a crowd you might want to scale it back.

12 hot Italian sausages cut up
2 onions chopped
2 very large cloves or garlic sliced or 4 smaller ones
6 cups of beef stock
2 cans of tomato puree
1 lb of dried white navy beans soaked in water for an hour.
2 bunches of kale chopped

Asian flavoured slaw

On Friday we had our annual Christmas pot luck, we celebrate most things in my department like birthdays, retirements, marriages and anything else we can think of with a pot luck.  But the Christmas one is different we set a table with table cloths, decorations and Christmas crackers, people make even more of an effort with their contributions.

Then at the end we do our secret Santa gift exchange, it is a highlight for me and gets the Christmas season off to a good start. I usually bring a salad as any good buffet needs something a little lighter to counter all the rich and calorie laden options. This salad has become a favourite, though I do change it up a little using different fruit and nuts. This year I used pomegranate and cashews, but I have used mango and papaya and almonds and peanuts.

1/2 white cabbage shredded
1 red onion very thinly sliced
2 red peppers thinly sliced
1 cup of toasted nuts (cashews this time)
2 cups of fruit sliced in most cases (pomegranate this time)
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro (optional as there are those that hate cilantro)

Ginger Carrot Soup

Every year we have a Christmas Carolling Party, where we have 40 or so good friends over and we go out along the street singing Christmas Carols to our neighbours.  We collect donations to the food bank and get into the Christmas spirit.  When the Carollers return I give them some hot soup to warm them up, this year one of the soups I made was ginger carrot soup.

We have a collection of over 40 Christmas mugs that we have collected over the years and these make a wonderful vessel for serving soup to a crowd.  Even though you do need a spoon to eat the soup it is much easier to juggle a cup and spoon when you are not at a table than a bowl.  And anyway I do not have that many bowls.

I love carrot soup but I wanted to put a little bit of a twist and ginger and carrots go so well together. I used both fresh and dried ginger as they each has its own flavour and cumin seemed to be the natural spice to use,  this is what I came up with


2 tablespoons butter
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon of cumin seeds
6 cups chicken broth
2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon of ground dry ginger

Topping
1 cup of pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon of cumin seeds


Over medium high heat, add butter and onions, cumin and cook, stirring often, until onions are limp.

Valdosta Pecans

This is a recipe that I got from my good friend and fellow blogger Cottagers wife she made these and brought them over one evening when they were here for dinner.  And my husband just loved them, he loved them so much he tried making them.  Now my husband is a very good person with many talents, but cooking is not one of them.  But after two attempts and a little prodding in the right direction he made some very tasty pecans.

So now that the holiday season is here I thought they would make a great addition to the snacks and appetizers at our annual carolling party.


SAUCE
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp butter (best) or margarine
Pinch of salt

ADD IN
1 and 1/2 cups whole pecans
1 tsp finely grated orange peel aka zest
1 tsp course salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries

METHOD
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

In a medium sauce pan combine sauce ingredients and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until bubbling. Cook one minute longer, then remove from heat.

Home made crackers

I am having a Christmas party this Sunday (I know it is awfully early) and so I decided rather than going out and buying crackers for my cheese and quince paste platter I would make my own.  I had seen these being made when I was lying on the couch a couple of weeks ago sick and unable to do anything but watch the Food Network.  I found the recipe from Laura Calder on the food network web page. I have of course changed it a little but not materially

2/3 cup butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 egg
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Put the butter, sugar, salt, water and egg in a food processor and mix until the ingredients have formed a smooth paste.

Then add the dry ingredients and pulse a few times until the mixture looks like course bread crumbs,
do not overwork. Then pour into a bowl.

Quince cheese or Dulce de Membrillo

I found these beautiful looking quinces at the farmers market and could not stop my self from buying them.

They look like a cross between an apple and a pear, and though they are related to these fruits they are quite different.  They really can not be eaten raw as they are extremely hard and dense and are very sour.

Quince

I have never cooked with quinces before, but I have had quince cheese before and enjoyed it so I thought I would have a go at making it. What we call quince cheese here is a traditional south American treat called Dulce de Membrillo which is served with manchengo cheese.

I peeled the quinces cored them and chopped in to small pieces.  This was much harder than it sounds as they fruit is so dense that it is hard to cut the core out.  I was ready to give up at one point but I persevered.

Roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts

Roasting vegetables that are usually steamed or boiled seems to be every where these days and for good reason.  Asparagus, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts all seem to improve with a little caramelising.  Brussels sprouts are actually in my opinion the king of the green vegetable kingdom, and I would eat them much more often if it was up to me.  I am afraid the rest of my family does not necessarily agree, they are willing to put up with them with a Sunday roast but that is about it.

But with my husband and father in Chicago for a few days I find my self on my own for dinners, so I can cook what ever I want.  This will often be eggplant or liver but it is the season of the Brussels sprout and I had one last potato from my garden to eat so I decided to roast them together.

This could hardly be called a recipe really just a suggestion.  Toss Brussels sprouts and chopped potato together with a little olive oil and some salt . I used about 2/3 sprouts to 1/3 potato.

The potatoes need to be cut quite small so that the sprouts do not get over cooked before the potatoes are ready.

pissaldiere

This Saturday we had our annual Christmas party, many of the same people were coming that went to the retirement party last week so I had to make some different dishes.  I also wanted to make food that could be eaten with fingers or toothpicks and I did not want to spend the entire day cooking so I chose things that were not time consuming.

This recipe is one version of what is sometimes called Provencal pizza.  It can be made with a bread dough or puff pastry, I chose puff pastry as I was already making foccacia two ways.

1 package of puff pastry
6 small onions thinly sliced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
1 can of anchovies
About 20 pitted nicoise olives

party food - Curried chicken in endive

This is a dish I have made a few times, it is mostly prepared ahead and is a lo carb option on the often carb heavy buffet table. It is one of my few exceptions to the not using curry powder rule, as it really works well with mayonnaise.

Rather drunken looking appetizers

4 Belgian endive all leaves split apart
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon of curry powder (or more to taste)
Small handful of chopped coriander
1/3 cup of chopped cashews
1/3 cup of chopped green grapes

Party food - Roasted prawns

One of the most popular items at a appetizer buffet always seems to be prawns. I much prefer to buy raw prawns and cook them fresh rather than buying pre cooked as they taste so much better. I have taken this method of cooking the prawns from my friend Candy who served them at a recent get together at her house.  It was simple to do, did not require a lot of last minute work (I want to enjoy the party) and most importantly tasted good.

Party food - Cheese straws

It was a very good friends retirement party this weekend, and of course I was helping with the food. There were going to be 40 people so not a sit down dinner, and we decided that all the food should be able to be eaten from small plates with out the use of cutlery.  I will share several of the items I made this week as this is the time of year to be partying. The first thing I made was an old standby as it can be made ahead, presents well and tastes good, cheese straws.

Cheese straws ready to party

You could make your own puff pastry for this, but at the moment I really do not have the time or the patience for that, so I buy it.  Lat year I discovered the Presidents Choice brand, I really like this one as it is all butter and it comes in a sheet, so you do not have to roll it out which often destroys the layers and it saves time.