Uno, Dos, Trays

Do any of you like making hors d'oeuvre? Honestly? Really? Seriously? Come on. No you don't. Maybe you enjoy presenting a tray full of bite sized gems at parties, but making them is such a pain. However I bet you love eating them. Yes, I am sure you do. So, keep your hors d'oeuvre selection simple, light, hopefully inexpensive and definitely full of flavour.

This recipe is the first of three from tonight. The theme was Central American which is often simple, inexpensive and full of flavour. This a super simple recipe that takes moments to assemble and will cost you pennies (if you still have some). 

You can purchase canned beans if you want. I wouldn't. It will taste metallic and mushy. Do yourself the party favour and cook the beans from dry: Soak the beans overnight, drain, cover with fresh water, and boil  for 70 - 80 minutes. Add a pinch salt for last 5 minutes of cooking and drain. That's it. Then, allow to cool and do whatever you want with them (including the next recipe I will post on the blog). You all know the health benefits of beans so I won't even go into it. 

One more note: soaking beans. There are two sides to the coin. Heads: soaking removes flavour and does little to the cooking time and is actually inadvisable. Tails: soaking them removes phytic and enzyme inhibitors which helps with digestion. I still soak them myself. But go ahead and do your own research and decide for yourself which argument is more full of beans.

Tortilla Chip with Black Bean Salsa

150 g Black Turtle Beans, cooked
1/2 Avocado
1 Roma Tomato, diced
1 Garlic Clove, crushed
1 Tbs. Tamarind Paste (if unavailable, use the juice of half a lime)
A Few Spinach Leaves, chiffonade
Corn Tortilla Chips (Que Pasa makes a great Organic Unsalted Tortilla Chip)
A Few Splashes of Tabasco

In a metal bowl, smash avocado to a paste. Add garlic and tamarind and mash for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, beans, Tabasco, salt and stir until blended. Let sit for at least 15 minutes. Check for seasonings.

Dollop a spoonful onto a chip and garnish with spinach chiffonade.

Makes a few dozen appetizers.

A Humble Chef's tip: this is completely vegetarian,dairy free and gluten free. Great for parties where you aren't sure of any allergies. 

What To Do On a Date

Yesterday was fun. I spent the afternoon trying out some recipes and spending time with Iris. After making pasta,she asked if we could bake some cookies. I went through our baking goods and found dried dates beside the brown sugar. And so I decided to use them up for sticky toffee pudding.

This is a simple recipe that I used for Mother's Day brunches in large quantity. Compared to many others I researched, this is by far the simplest. No steaming, you see. Easy to freeze and reheat, sticky toffee can be made individually or in large quantity. It is also very inexpensive and uses ingredients that most people will have in their home inventory most days of the week.

Anyways, try this recipe on a Sunday afternoon for your fam. They won't be disappointed. In fact, it is so simple that you should deduct an administration toffee from their dessert account.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

55 g Dried Dates, finely chopped

200 ml Water, boiling

1 Tsp Baking Soda

100 g Butter (plus a little extra for greasing ramekins or muffin tins or whatever), room temp

150 g Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Tsp.  Almond Extract

125 g Flour

.5 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Baking Powder

For the sauce:

120 g Butter

175 g Brown Sugar

1 Tbs Frangelico liqueur (optional?) 

200 ml 35% Whipping Cream 

Pinch of Cinnamon 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease ramekins with butter. 

On your stove top, bring water to a boil. Add your dates and removed from heat. Stir for 1 minute. Add baking soda and watch it rise. Let cool for a few minutes.

In a stand mix or with a hand mixer, cream the butter for one minute. Add sugar and continue blending for another minute. Add eggs one at a time and almond extract and mix until blended. 

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powpow. Whisk to combine and add to the wet mixture. Mix until blended. Pour in liquid dates and fold together. 

Pour mixture into your ramekins and bake for 20 - 22 minutes. Careful not to fill too high. The pudding rises and can overflow. It's a neat look but a pain to wash.

For the sauce: In a sauce pan melt butter until frothy. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add 100 ml of the cream and bring to a boil stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add Frangelico and stir. 

Whip remaining cream until stiff peaks. Add pinch of cinnamon. 

Using a paring knife, cut around the pudding in the ramekin and remove onto plate. Drizzle (or drown, according to preference) with caramel sauce and garnish with whipped cinnamon cream. 

Makes 8 servings. 

A Humble Chef's tip: when chopping up your dates, dip your knife into hot water occasionally and wipe. 

Brave Noodle World

I posted many years ago a recipe to make fresh pasta and quite honestly, my feelings haven't changed that much from then. Fresh pasta is a bit of a novelty. But it is a fun one.

I have a new recipe that is a little larger quantity but I find it works well and it's easy to remember: 3 cups flour, 6 eggs, drizzle of oil. Plus a little extra flour during kneading.

This post will have mostly photographs taken by my lovely daughter who is really interested in doing things with me, include cooking. She has a good eye and none of the pictures taken were cropped or edited. Not bad eh?

I have decided to make fresh pasta once a week and practice making different types of shapes and fillings. Last week I made tagliatelle and this week a thinner spaghetti shape. Next weekend, I intend to continue this recent trend and bend the pasta into a penne lisce shape.

This recent trend is an attempt to feel more connected to my food and kind of get back to basics. I have recently taken a job where I am no longer a chef (I am now a Food & Beverage Manager of a golf course in the Ottawa region) and I don't intend to cook in a professional kitchen anymore. Home, however, is another story. Cooking remains a love of mine and making more homemade meals is, without a doubt, an absolute knead.

Fresh Egg Pasta

3 Cups or 725g AP Flour
6 Eggs
Drizzle of Olive Oil

Make a volcano with the flour

Fill volcano with lava yolks

 Whip the lava with a fork and slowly mix with the flour.

Once eggs are combined, start mixing with your hands and make a ball.

Knead for several minutes. The way I knead is lift dough from the top towards you.
Then use the palm of your hand and push into the dough away from you.
Turn dough 90 degrees and repeat until dough is firm and a little sticky.

Keep kneading!

Kneading gets harder and harder until it forms this type of shape.
Cover with plastic wrap and put in your fridge for an hour.

Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough before using the roller.

Time to pull out that pasta roller from your wedding.

Stage 1 of rolling. There is a dial on the side to adjust thickness.
Turn the dial one notch after every roll to make the pasta thinner and thinner.

With the spaghetti attachment. 

Easier when you have help.

Cook in boiling salted water for 5 - 6 minutes with a small amount of oil and stirring frequently.

Makes 10 - 12 portions.

A Humble Chef's tip: I'm freezing half of the batch in individual portions. The pasta cooks well right out the freezer.