Garlic Flatbread

I found this recipe on a "best recipes" website.  I made for my family and it was a big hit!

Ingredients:

1 pinch granulated sugar
3/4 cup (175 mL) warm water
1 tsp (5 mL) active dry yeast or quick-rising yeast
3 tbsp (45 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1-3/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp (1 mL) dried mint or dried oregano

Preparation:

Grease rimless baking sheet; set aside.

In large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in 2 tbsp (25 mL) of the oil. Stir in flour, about 1/4 cup (50 mL) at a time, and salt to form sticky dough.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over; cover and let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface; press fingertips into dough to create dimples. Gently stretch into 15- x 6-inch (38 x 15 cm) rectangle. Transfer to prepared pan. Cover and let rise in warm draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Bake in centre of 400°F (200°C) oven for 13 minutes. Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir remaining oil, garlic and mint; brush over flatbread. Bake until light golden around edges, about 5 minutes.

Black and Green Olive Tapenade: (for Garlic Flatbread): In bowl, stir together 1/4 cup (50 mL) each finely diced pitted Kalamata olives and finely diced pitted green olives; 1/2 tsp (2 mL) grated lemon rind; 1/2 tsp (2 mL) toasted coriander seeds, crushed; and 1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup (50 mL) extra-virgin olive oil. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 1 week; let come to room temperature to use.) Makes about 1/2 cup (125 mL).

Changes: I melted mozzarella cheese on the finished garlic bread and it was great!

Cauliflower Pizza Bites

Cauliflower Pizza Bites, I found the recipe here and the picture here

2 cups	Cauliflower (about 1/2 head of cauliflower)
1/4 cup	Egg whites (or 1 large egg white)
1/8 cup	Low fat cottage cheese
1/4 cup	Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp	Dried oregano
1/2 tsp	Dried basil
1/4 tsp	Garlic powder
1/4 cup	Mini turkey pepperoni’s (or regular size turkey pepperoni cut into quarters)
Optional	Topping: Additional pepperoni’s to place on top just before cooking

*instead of dried I used 1 tsp Dried Italian Seasoning.

Preheat oven to 425. Line 14 mini muffin cups with silicone liners, or foil muffin liners with paper liners removed. Spray liners with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Wash cauliflower, and cut in half, (save the rest for later). Break cauliflower into segments, and place in food processor. Pulse until it reaches a rice-like texture.

Place cauliflower in microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes. (Do NOT add water or cover).

Remove cauliflower from microwave and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine. Place back in microwave for 2 minutes. Mix again.

Scoop cauliflower mixture into muffin liners, dividing evenly between the 14 mini liners. Fill to the top, and press filling down so it’s compact in liner.

Place muffin tin in the oven and bake muffins for 30-35 minutes, or when top starts to become golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cool completely before popping the muffins out of the liners. Serve warm with pizza sauce for dipping!

Tomato Bruschetta

This is my go-to recipe when I am in need of a really tasty appetizer. It is also great on its own as a lunch. The original recipe has oregano instead of basil but I'm not a huge fan of oregano. So, I replaced it with the basil and, IMHO, it is 100% better. (I will add a photo later)

1/2 baguette, sliced into 1 inch slices                 
1/3 cup butter  (or margarine)                                                      
1 garlic clove, minced                                          
1 Roma tomato, diced                                           
½ green pepper, diced
1 tsp basil or 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 TBSP olive oil
½ cup mozzarella, shredded
1/3 cup parmesan, shredded



Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Mix oil, tomato, green pepper, and basil.  Set aside.
Mix minced garlic and butter (margarine) until creamy.  Spread on one side of the sliced baguette.
Sprinkle slices with shredded cheeses.
Spoon tomato/pepper mixture onto the slices of baguette.  
Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes.

In class cooking: chili and hot chocolate

Mrs. D's Chili

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, crumbled and fried
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
8 mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 can pasta sauce
1-2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can dark red kidney beans (sometimes I add a can of white kidney beans as well)
2-3 tsp chili powder (start with 2, add another if needed)
salt and pepper to taste
pinch cayenne pepper (to make the chili more spicy)

Directions:
1.  Fry the ground beef in a frying pan until browned (no pink showing any more)
2.  Add the onion and green pepper and continue frying until both the onion and green pepper are softened.
3.  Drain and rinse the can of kidney beans
4.  Put all ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil.  Stir often.  Turn down the heat to minimum and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring every 5-10 minutes.  The longer the ingredients simmer the more flavourful the chili.

Mexican Hot Chocolate
Recipe courtesy The Food Network

Ingredients
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 C milk
2 tbsp sugar
pinch salt

miniature marshmallows, for serving

Directions:
Using a sharp knife, break up the chocolate into smaller pieces.  In a saucepan, combine the chopped chocolate, milk, sugar and salt over medium-low flame.  Heat and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and milk is very hot, but not boiling, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and froth the chocolate milk with a mini whisk.

Tomato ball

Last Friday was a snow day, and also my birthday.. so I decided to make a more creative appetizer which are salsa with bread and the tomato ball....   it looks nice and works well... I also cooked some dumplings for Chinese New Year..as shown on the right hand side.
I got the recipes from a Chinese website.
I am going to introduce the tomato ball .
Ingredients:
Tomatos
red and green peppers
cheese

meat

bread


Directions:
Cut the vegetables in to small pieces..  dice  the breads.
Take a big ball to put all the things together with cheese pieces.
Put them in the oven for about 300 degree and for 10 minutes.
Then take them out and use some green leaves to democrat.

I made some more to share with my homestay and they said it taste good..

Week 2: Salads

lettuce, tomatoes, shredded carrots, oh my!

This week's category is salad.  Think outside the salad spinner... salads have evolved to so much more than they used to be.  Consider adding a grain or a vegetable you've never used.

If you do a basic salad, try making the dressing from scratch.  If you want to use a dressing in a bottle, try a new, unique combination of ingredients.

Don't forget to post a picture!

In class cooking: Salsa-licious

The thing about salsa... Fresh salsa recipes are easily modified.  There are no rules as to how much of a certain ingredient you need to put in, but there are guidelines.  Start with the recipe below, and before you begin ask your group the following questions: how spicy do you want your salsa to be? how much garlic do you want to put in?   do you want big chunks in your salsa or small pieces? Cilantro: smell it.  Do you think you will want a large or small amount of this herb? Remember: It is easy to add MORE to a recipe, but very very difficult to remove a certain ingredient.  Start small and add more to taste.

Fresh salsa recipe:

3 large tomatoes
½ chopped onion
1or 2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ c finely chopped cilantro
1 tbsp lime juice
½  jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
salt to taste

1.  chop tomatoes, place in bowl.
2.  After discussing questions above, measure and chop other ingredients.  
3.  Mix all ingredients together

Home-made Pita Chips:
2 whole pitas
1 tsp olive oil
tyme
garlic salt

1.  put the olive oil in a small bowl.
2.  Use your brush to lightly kiss the pita with olive oil, on one side
3.  lightly sprinkle the thyme and garlic salt on the pita
4.  cut the pita into wedges
5.  spread the wedges on a cookie sheet
6.  bake in the oven for approximately 8-10 minutes