Rice and Summer Bean Salad

Serves 2-4.

This is another recipe from the Rebar cookbook. I've been on a two week candida cleanse. It has been so hard! The diet required is very restrictive, no sugar, milk, cheese, sour cream, alcohol, caffeine, fruit (other than berries), tofu, walnuts, peanuts...this list actually goes on:( I cried on the first day, The good news is it has become much easier to follow and has led me to make some new dishes that I would never have made otherwise. This recipe actually calls for kasha rather than rice but I did not have success with kasha (it ended up a consistency of mush) so I used rice instead.

Vinaigrette

juice of 1/2 lemon
zest of 1/2 lemon, minced
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp minced fresh dill
1/4 tsp cracked fresh pepper
1/2 sunflower oil

Salad
1 cup buckwheat groats/kasha  (or 1/2 cup rice)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
2 cups water/1 cup water
2 medium beets roasted in olive oil
1/2 lb green or yellow beans, blanched
2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
2-3 hard-cooked eggs for garnish


1) To make the vinaigrette, combine lemon zest, juice, vinegar, garlic, and Dijon mustard and whisk to blend. While whisking slowly drizzle in the oil. Add 1 tbsp dill and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2) Next, spread kasha in a single layer on the pan and roast in 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Bring water to boil in a small pot and stir in kasha, bay leaves and slat.  Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let fluff for at least 5 minutes. (Or cook rice according to package instructions).

3) Peel and dice the roasted beets into 1-inch cubes. Toss with small amount of vinaigrette and set aside to marinate. Trim the ends of the blanched beans and slice each bean into three pieces on the bias.

4) To assemble the salad, toss kasha and beans with enough vinaigrette to coat. Gently mix in the marinated beets, the remaining dill and toasted sunflower seeds. Turn onto a serving dish and garnish with an arrangement of slice eggs and dill sprigs.

Easy Six Minute Chocolate Cake

I made this cake for Kaley's going-away BBQ a few nights ago. It is so quick and easy, almost like a cake mix! My sister gave me the recipe for it, she used to make it all the time. If I am ever going to an event with any of my vegan friends I bring this since there is no dairy in it.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sifted white flour
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 chopped roasted nuts (optional)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cup safflower oil
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp vinegar

Mix dry ingredients together then add the oil, water and vinegar. Stir just enough to combine wet and dry ingredients. Don't stir too much.

Pour into a greased 8 inch square or round baking pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!:)

PIzza Dough

I made two pizzas last weekend when a group of us went to Saturna. We had them as an appetizer and everyone liked the dough. It didn't turn out as crunchy as real Italian pizza. Every time I have made home-made pizza dough this has been the case. I actually prefer it soft so I don't mind. I've been told that it is very difficult to make the dough crunchy without a brick oven. Baking the pizza at a high temperature ( 425 degrees) will make it a bit less soft.

The toppings I used for these two pizzas were varied. One half I kept simple and just had mozzarella (*if you can find it, soft buffalo mozzarella is amazing! They sell it Bosa in Vancouver), parmesan, and thin slices of tomato, the other pizza halves were a mixture of capers, prosciutto from Angelo's, carmelized onion, and different types of cheeses.

For the pizza dough I followed 'Jay's Signature Pizza Crust Recipe' from allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
3. Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
5. Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Tiramisu

This dessert is one of my all-time favorites. My friend told me this recipe makes Tiramisu that is better than any Tiramisu she tasted while visiting Italy! The recipe written here is very similar to the Joy of Baking.com Tiramisu recipe, the only difference is I added whipping cream as an additional layer to the cake and reduced the amount of rum in the coffee mixture since I found the rum taste overpowering. 

Ingredients:

Cream Filling:

2 cups (480 ml) milk, divided

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar, divided

1/4 cup (35 grams) all purpose flour

6 large egg yolks

1/4 cup (60 ml) Marsala or dark rum

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

8 ounces (1 cup) (227 grams) mascarpone cheese, room temperature

Whipping cream 

I use a small cartoon.

Ladyfingers:

28-32 crisp ladyfingers

Coffee Soaking Syrup:

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) very strong brewed coffee or espresso

1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar

1/8 cup (60 ml) dark rum or Marsala

Topping:

Cocoa Powder for Garnishing 
1 ounce (30 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, grated or chopped. * For an even nicer look, run a vegetable peeler down the edge of chocolate bar. 

Fresh Raspberries (optional)

Instructions: 

Cream Topping: Put 1 3/4 cups (420 ml) milk and 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar in a medium sized saucepan. Place over medium heat, and bring this mixture just to boiling, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, in a heatproof bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk, 1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar, flour, and egg yolks. When the milk comes to a boil, gradually whisk it into the egg yolk mixture. Transfer this mixture into a clean large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil. When it boils, continue to stir for another minute or two or until it thickens. Remove from heat and strain into a large bowl. (This will remove any lumps that may have formed.) Whisk in the Marsala (or rum), vanilla extract, and butter. Immediately cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Refrigerate until thick and cold, at least two hours.

Once the custard has cooled sufficiently, remove from the refrigerator. In a separate bowl, with a wooden spoon, beat the mascarpone cheese until it is soft and smooth. Gently fold, or whisk, the cold custard into the mascarpone until smooth.

Coffee Soaking Syrup: In a large shallow bowl combine the coffee (espresso), sugar, and Marsala (rum). Taste and add more sugar if you like.

To Assemble: Line a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap extends over the sides of the loaf pan. 

Have ready the ladyfingers, coffee mixture, and cream filling.

Working with one ladyfinger at a time, dip 7-8 ladyfingers in the coffee mixture and place them, side by side, in a single layer onto the bottom of the loaf pan. Spoon 1/3 of the cream filling over the ladyfingers, making sure they are completely covered. Then add a layer of whipping cream. Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers by dipping another 7-8 ladyfingers in the coffee mixture and placing them on top of the cream. Add another layer of whipping cream if you like. Again, cover the ladyfingers with cream and repeat with another layer of ladyfingers, cream, and ladyfingers. Cover the Tiramisu with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. 

To Serve: Remove the plastic wrap from the top of the tiramisu. Gently invert the Tiramisu from the loaf pan onto your serving plate and remove the plastic wrap. Sift cocoa powder and/or grated chocolate over the top of the Tiramisu and decorate with fresh raspberries.

Makes 8 - 10 servings. Preparation time 30 minutes.

Hazelnut Custard Ice Cream

My mum borrowed her friend Dora's ice cream maker. This recipe is a combination of a few recipes I found in the recipe booklet that came with the ice cream maker and from the hazelnut gelato recipe at Epicurious.com.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup whole milk
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
4/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts  (*Extra delicious if roasted: bake in oven at 350 degrees, stirring every 5 minutes for 20 minutes or until you can smell their fragrance. Be careful not to burn!)
** Try to buy hazelnuts without the skin because it can be time consuming and difficult to remove them.

Directions

(1) Roast hazelnuts and rub off any skins in a kitchen towel, then cool completely.

Pulse with 1 tbls sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor until finely chopped.

Transfer to a heavy saucepan and add heavy cream. Bring just to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat and let steep, covered, 1 hour.

(2) In a medium sized sauce pan heat milk until scum forms on top and milk bubbles on edges.

With a fork mix sugar and egg yolks.

Slowly pour 1/2 of milk into egg mixture, stirring constantly. Pour mixture into a different sauce pan, add remaining milk, blend well.

Stir constantly, cooking about 5 minutes or until mixture coats spoon and thickens slightly. Don't let it boil (make sure the temperature does not go beyond 175 degree F. Custard can burn easily (I learned this the hard way:( Immediately pour custard through cleaned sieve into a metal bowl, then set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and cool, stirring occasionally. Chill custard, covered, until cold.

(3) Blend hazelnut mixture with custard. Place in ice cream maker and follow instructions.

Ice Cream maker instructions:

(1) Place chill chamber in freezer overnight.
(2) Pour in your ice cream ingredients
(3) Turn a few times to "churn". After churning about 5-8 minutes ice cream is ready!  Transfer to a separate container for harder ice cream and to store for later.

Optional topping: Nut Fudge Sauce

2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 oz (3 squares) unsweetened chocolate
2/4 cup cream
1 t. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix together in sauce pan the sugar, brown sugar, chocolate, cream, and butter. Cook over medium heat until the mixture crinkles around the edge of the sauce pan. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and chopped nuts. Serve at once.

My brother and I about to have some ice cream:)

Angelo Tosi's Heritage Italian Grocery Store

 Today I went to Tosi Italian Food Importers, an Italian grocery store owned by a man named Angelo Tosi. It is quite the place! The business was started by Angelo's father and has been in the family for 111 years.  The two-story building housing the store is in the heart of Chinatown and is the only remaining structure of the original Woodwards store. According to Angelo's store website, in the past the area had many Italian shops, however, between 1930-1960 the Portuguese and Chinese arrived and bought most of the houses in the area. As Chinatown began to grow, Angelo remembers it being extraordinarily beautiful, and recalls such things as people smoking water pipes amongst all of the fresh produce they were selling.

I'm really glad I had a chance to meet Angelo and see the store since the business may not be in operation for too much longer. The Vancouver city council is considering rezoning parts of Chinatown for highrises, and Angelo's store is in the middle of one of the blocks likely to be redeveloped.

Angelo is 79 years old and his father worked for the business until he died at the age of 85. Angelo told me that he eats a tablespoon of lecithin every day and adds dandelions to his salads to keep the blood in his veins flowing quickly. He also told me I was going to make love to the olive oil I bought from him when I put it on salad and that his canned tomatoes are so good that if I'm a good cook the second I open them I'll be able to smell how delicious they are. He gave me a sample of his yummy organic parmesan cheese and I also bought some of his bulk olives and a chunk of salami prosciutto for Cole to try. I'm looking forward to eating well this weekend:)

The Vancouver Sun published an article about Angelo and his business in April, 2011:

 http://www.vancouversun.com/Tosi+Chinatown+heritage+classic+classic/4585795/story.html#ixzz1VWUq34XR

The things I bought! The boxes at the back are risotto. the darker box is the higher quality of the two. I love the balsamic vinegar bottle. Planning to make hazelnut gelato with the hazelnuts. Everything was very reasonably priced, I spent less than $50 for everything here.

Let's Cook Italian

This past March I took an Italian cooking class at the the Italian Cultural Centre in East Vancouver. I am finally getting around to recording a few of the recipes and posting some of the pictures one of my classmates took. I definitely recommend the class! My favorite day was when we made pane, pizza Napoletana e focacce liguri (bread, Neopolitan pizza and focacia bread from Liguria). I've copied our Italian teacher's copy of the recipes to give a sense of the traditional way of recording and preparing Italian food as we learned it in the course.

White bread

15 gr. of salt
2/3 spoons olive oil
25 gr. fresh yeast (Using fresh yeast really adds to the taste!)
500 gr flour
250 ml warm water
2 tsp of sugar

Bake at 400 degrees C.

Focacia and pizza dough

Same ingredients as above plus choice of rosemary, thin onion slices, minced olives, cherry tomatoes cut in half for focacia.


Pizza, tomato paste, capers, soft mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Melt yeast in the warm water. Add sugar. Dissolve salt in a separate glass with warm water. Sift the white flour, add other ingredients. Knead with strength. Make a nice smooth ball. Let it rest.
Remanipulate the dough. Stretch it with the rolling pin or by hand.

Some additional notes from our teacher:
*Dough should rest one hour
*Rest in a place that is warm and not airy
*Cover the dough while it is rising
*Use warm water

 

 

First day of class. Hand-made pasta with tomato and pesto sauce. One important lesson I learned- sometimes less is more! An important part of Italian cooking is using only a few high quality ingredients. For example, all that went in the tomato sauce was fresh tomatoes, garlic, fresh parsley and salt and pepper.

We made short-bread pie with berry jam and cake with lemon custard cream and pine nuts on the last day.

This appetizer was so simple yet completely delicious! Sliced oranges with high quality olive oil drizzled on top with a dash of salt and pepper.