Month: August 2016

ChiCken SouP with CauliFlower

On By felisrecipesIn ChickenLeave a comment

Chicken soup is a very special soup for me. I was a picky eater as a child but my mom’s chicken soup got my attention almost every time 🙂

I still crave it from time to time and sometimes even if I don’t have all the necessary ingredients,  I can still figure out a way to make a tasty  alternative 🙂

Ingredients fro about a 5 L pot:

  • 1 chicken preferably organic ( I used a kosher chicken this time )
  • 3,5 – 4 liters of cold water
  • 3-4 carrots
  • 1 large parsnip
  • 1 yellow onion, cut in half
  • celery root ( 1/4 from a root )
  • 2-3 garlic cloves
  • red pepper ( 1/2 of a large one )
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt to taste
  • 1 pinch of turmeric for a bright yellow color

Cut the chicken in pieces, wash them well and bring the chicken to a boil in about 3,5-4 liter of cold water. Bring it to a boil over a medium heat, skimming off the scum with a ladle when needed.

When the stock is clear of scum add the carrots, onion, celery root, parsnip, garlic, red pepper and the bay leaves. Bring back to a boil. Skim again if needed. Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for about two hours, skimming regularly.

Almost at the end you could start adding the salt little at a time, until you get the right seasoning.

For the traditional chicken soup I will strain the stock and add some cooked hair pasta noddle to it and fresh herbs and just serve it hot with fresh back pepper on top.

As I mentioned above, sometimes I don’t have the proper ingredients for a chicken soup, but this won’t stop me to create a new version. This time I had a beautiful cauliflower head handy so I created a chicken – cauliflower soup.

 

I cooked this late at night and I had to refrigerate it so I missed the serving pictures the next day. 😦

What I did : I removed the chicken pieces. I removed some meat from the chicken legs and and put it back to the soup,  added some fresh chopped dill and just enjoyed it 🙂

Bon Appetite

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Guest Recipe Post: Summer Chia Seeds Pudding

On By felisrecipesIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I will be making this Chia Pudding this weekend 🙂

Forsythe Farms CSA

This week we have a special guest post from food photography and recipes blog, Cooking Without Limits. You can see more of her amazing photography at her Facebook page: Gabriela Lupu Photography. Take a look at some of her incredible photos and give the page a “like” while you’re over there!

Gabriela has shared with us a delicious recipe that uses fresh strawberries.

Summer Chia Seeds Pudding

Delicious anGAB_8592_resd nutrition-rich red colored strawberries are among the most popular berries. The berries are native to Europe but now they are widely cultivated as an important commercial crop in many temperate regions all over the world. These berries have the taste that varies from quite sweet to acidic.

Strawberries are available year-round in the stores but are fresh and plentiful from the spring through the mid-summer. Avoid those appear dull, sunken or flattened and those with signs of mold…

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ChiCken – Smoked Paprika Roasted Chicken

On By felisrecipesIn Chicken2 Comments

 

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Curry Roasted Cauliflower with Sweet Green Peas was a real success. Everyone wanted some more … I will definitely  be doing it again.

We served the  Curry Roasted Cauliflower as a side dish to go together with a very delicious roasted chicken: Smoked Paprika Roasted Chicken.

What I used:

  • 1 carved chicken ( you can also use a whole chicken, I just wanted to have it done faster )
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 cup of cold water
  • juice from one lemon

Instructions:

 

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Wash the chicken pieces. Place them in a glass baking dish or a roasing pan, skin up.

Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil over the chicken. Sprinkle the above mentioned spices and herb: salt , pepper, turmeric, smoked paprika and oregano. Add the water between the chicken pieces.

 

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Roast for about an hour basting at least ones with the cooking juices.

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To check if the chicken is done, insert a skewer deep into a thick end of a thigh. If the juice running is clear  the bird is done.

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We served the chicken with Curry Roasted Cauliflower.

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Yummy 🙂

 

Curry Roasted CauliFlower with Sweet Green Peas

On By felisrecipesIn VegetarianLeave a comment

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It’s been a few weeks now since I’ve cooked anything curry related. Hot days came on us here in Toronto where mornings felt like 32 and afternoons felt like 40.  I turned away from the stove and oven as much as I could. Instead I switched to fruits and veggies salads and pre-cooked chicken.

It’s the weekend now and to treat ourselves, I’ve decided to ignore the heat. With the air conditioner turned on in the living and the fan turned on in the kitchen I’ve decided to conquer the heat and turned the oven on.

Ingredients needed:

  • 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon tandoori powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • 3 cups frozen sweet peas

 

How you do it:

Break the cauliflower in small florets and wash it thoroughly. Shake the colander well to drain the water excess. Put the colander into a large bowl and sprinkle the followings  over the cauliflower: salt, curry powder, olive oil, tandoori powder, turmeric. With two spoons mix well until every floret is covered in curry. Set a baking tray with baking paper and pour the cauliflower over.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cauliflower can be easily pierced with a fork.

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This can be eaten as a side dish or just by itself.

I decided to follow the inspiration recipe I found on Andie’s Mitchell blog andiemitchell.com. As I had sweet pea in my freezer, I decided it’s a good time to use it.

While the the cauliflower was in the oven I brought the 3 cups of sweet peas to a boil for about 5 min. Drain well and mix with the curry cauliflower. Delicious !!!

 

Bon Appetite !

PanCakes

On By felisrecipesIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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I don’t know about you, but for me, when it comes to weekends’breakfast is all about PanCakes 🙂

There is an infinite variety but just to remain on a healthy side I adopted and updated my favorite pancake recipe from Weight Watchers Complete Cookbook.

What do you need as per the book recipe; I will add bolded and italicize my update:

  • 2 cups of all-purpose flour ( I used 1 cup all purpose 1 cup whole grain flour )
  • 1/3 cup pf sugar ( 3 table spoons of sugar ) 
  • 2 tablespoons of baking powder ( 1 table spoon of baking powder )
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 1/2 cups of 1% milk
  • 1/2 cup fat – free egg substitute ( 2 medium organic eggs ) 
  • 2 tablespoons  of oats 
  • 1 tablespoons of chia seeds 
  • 1 tablespoon of dried cranberries 
  • 1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds

How you make it:

In a large bowl whisk together  the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, oats, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, cranberries. Make an indentation in the middle of the four mixture, add the eggs and milk and whisk together.

Spray or brush a non-stick pan with olive oil ( peanut oil work as well if handy; I tried ones and I liked it ). Pour 1/4 cupful of batter and cook for about 3 minutes each side. When bubbles appear and margins of the pancakes look dry turn the pancake over.

Repeat with the remaining batter, making a total of 12 pancakes.

One thing is certain … you cannot stop after just one. 🙂

PS. What I did not mentioned if you really feel like indulging leave a square of chocolate to melt on top of your pancake or pour some maple syrup. Yummy !!!

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ClaFouTis / ClaFouTi

On By felisrecipesIn Muffins and other sweets1 Comment

I am in love with a new dessert. It’s a very easy one. However it took me a few tries to have right taste and texture.

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The traditional recipe asks for black cherries. Actually the cherries have to be used with pits for an intense almond flavor.  Another little tidbit to take into account is: this lovely, delicious desert can be made with pears, figs, grapes ( red and white ), berries. Lots of great variations to appeal to everyone’s tastes!

Another love of mine are berries: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, currants, raspberries. I have to have at least one type of  berry ( fresh or frozen ) at all times. It’s a must. I cannot survive without.

For this recipe I used blackberries and strawberries; fresh from the market.

  • 30o g  blackberries
  • 200 g strawberries ( cut it in half if they are too big )
  • 4 eggs
  • 400 ml milk
  • natural vanilla extract
  • 1/2 stick of butter ( melted ) + some extra for the baking form
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp of chia seeds ( optional/ original recipe doesn’t ask for it )

How you do it:

 

Preheat the oven at 350. Butter a baking dish with butter. Sprinkle with sugar and add the fruits ( washed, drained and cut it, if needed it.) to the dish.

 

Lightly beat the eggs; add the sugar and whisk together until smooth. Stir in the flour.

Add the milk and vanilla extract and chia seeds. Pour into the baking dish over the fruits.

 

Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown.

You can sprinkle icing sugar. We prefer it just as it is 🙂

Bon Appetite ! Enjoy !

BuTTer CooKies

On By felisrecipesIn Muffins and other sweets3 Comments

My daughter told me while she was indulging a piece of Blueberry Pie

” Mom, could have the filling ? All I like is the dough !”

” Sure ! Maybe you should just have a cookie instead of a piece of pie ! LOL ”

I woke up Sunday morning with only one thought: to make some cookies.

What I used for about 12- 14 cookies

  • 1 stick of unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs ( lightly beaten )
  • 1/2 cup soft brown sugar ( the only one I had home now, I believe any kind if suger will work)
  • 2 tbsp oats
  • 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
  • natural vanilla extract ( you can also use almond extract; I just ran out and did not have handy)felisrecipes

How you do it:

Mix the flour and oats in a large bowl. Beat the eggs. Make a hole in the flour and pour the eggs, sugar and melted and cooled butter and mix well. Also add the vanilla extract mix ti incorporate.

Line a baking tray with baking sheet and with an ice cream scoop place the cookie dough  1,5 – 2 inch apart.

Bake for approx. 15- 20 min depending on the oven. The cookies were a bit soft when I removed them from the oven but they will shape up in a few minutes while they are cooling on a cooling rack.

felisrecipes

Enjoy !

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Curry Cauliflower with Spicy Italian Sausages and spaghetti

On By felisrecipesIn Pork8 Comments

I find curry dishes so easy and diverse. I bought this Spicy Italian Sausages to cook them with cabbage. You might already know how crazy we are about curry so my daughter made me change my mind and transformed  them into a curry dish, again. I know but it’s never too much curry for us 🙂

I knew I would have to use the mild version of the sausages for curry but my hubby added it also some more hot pickled red peppers.

How can he do that is a mystery to me 🙂

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What I used:

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 4 spicy Italian sausages ( 450 g )
  • 1/2 package curry paste (Kitchens of India)
  •  1/2 package spaghetti
  • 5o ml cream
  • 1 teaspoon dry dill
  • salt and black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • chicken broth – home made if you have
  • 1/2 (350 ml) bottle of strained tomato paste

How you do it:

In a skillet add the chicken broth and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Take the sausages one by one and remove small amounts ( balls ) with your hand and let them fall into the skillet.

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Wash and break the cauliflower in small florets. Put them in a food processor and bring them to the size of a green pea ( approximately )

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Prepare the sauce:

Add the chicken broth and curry pasta, tomato sauce    and cream into a small bowl and mix well.

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Add the cauliflower and the sauce to the meat and let it simmer for about 20-30 min on medium low heat.

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Now it’s time to put the spaghetti to boil in a large pot of salty water following the package instructions. Drain the spaghetti and add the cauliflower sausage mixture to the pot and give it a gentle stir. Season with more dill if needed and let it cook for about 5 minute so all fragrances combine.

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Bon Appetite !