Appetizer: Baked Brie in Pastry with Green Apples

This is one of those recipes that you can whip up in mere minutes when you have a spur of the moment get-together.  Plus, it's incredibly delicious.  I mean, who can say no to melted brie??

Brandi has made this delicious appetizer for us a few times when we've been over.  I made it earlier this summer when guests were over.  In fact, I had bought some more brie to make another one, just before going dairy-free.  Said brie happens to still be sitting in my fridge, all lonely, with no other dairy products to keep it company. 

Here's what you need:

1 package Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 piece of brie cheese (I used a 300g round from Costco) 
4-5 Granny Smith apples, cut into wedges

1.  Unroll the crescent rolls onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

2.  Place the brie on the dough.

Seem simple enough yet?

3.  Wrap the dough around the brie, making more effort than I did to make it look beautiful ;)

4.  Bake in a 350 degree Farenheit oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until pastry is browned.

5.  In the meantime, slice your green apples into wedges, sprinkling with a bit of lemon juice if you are not going to serve them immediately (to prevent browning).

6.  Serve hot, immediately after taking out of oven.  Serve a slice of the dough-wrapped brie on top of a piece of apple.

Difficulty level: easy

Felfel: Algerian Roasted Pepper and Tomato Salad

This roasted pepper and tomato salad, known as felfel, is an Algerian classic.  That is, according to our Algerian hostess, Assia, who we stayed with while recently in Paris.  

Both Jérôme and I love this dish.  Assia served it as an appetizer to the meal, which I suspect is probably how it is usually served in Algeria.  Back home, we've been eating it as part of our meal.  This will be a wonderful side-dish to different barbecued dishes come summer.  It can be served either hot or cold and is delicious both ways, though I prefer it hot.

Roasting the peppers is not super complicated, but takes a little bit of time.  You can always double the recipe to have it last a bit longer to make the work of roasting the peppers worth it.

In fact, I think I'm going to start making this in huge batches and freezing it so that it can be my "go to" vegetable staple this summer, in place of my (no) cream of vegetable soup, which I stashed away all winter.

Assia mentioned to me that she prefers the longer green peppers, such as the ones you see in the pictures below, as she finds them more flavourful.  I've never seen this shape of green peppers here, but it could just be because I haven't ever looked for them.  I recently made this recipe with a mix of red and yellow peppers, as that's what I happened to have in my fridge, and that was yummy as well.  Enjoy :)

5 green peppers
1 red pepper
2 tomatoes
good quality olive oil
fresh garlic, crushed
salt and pepper

1.  Roast washed whole peppers at 425 degrees Farenheit for 40 minutes.

2.  In the meantime, dice two tomatoes and crush about 3 cloves of fresh garlic.  Cook in a pan in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked.

 3.  Take peppers out of the oven and let cool.  Once cooled, gently peel off skins, take off stems and scrape out seeds.  Dice peppers.

 
4.  Drain some of the juices from the tomatoes and peppers.  Mix together and add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  Serve hot or cold.

Difficulty level: moderate

Roasted Chickpeas

My sister made some salt and vinegar chickpeas, which come from the Oh She Glows blog.  Again, if you haven't checked this blog out, you have to, as it is fantastic.  This has started a whole new obsession for me.  If you like the salt and vinegar ones posted here, read on for a couple other varieties that I've made that have been almost equally delicious (or more so, for those who don't like vinegar, like my husband).

Good thing these are chickpeas, as they are completely and utterly addictive.  As in, I can eat almost a whole can without even noticing it.  Watch out local grocery stores - next time you put chickpeas on sale, you're gonna regret it.

I love vinegar.  To the extent that my mouth is watering as I write this.  Knowing how much I love salt and vinegar, my sisters both told me that I had to try these.  But said that they probably wouldn't be quite vinegary enough for me. 

And then a friend tried them and she let them soak for an hour.  And found them nice and vinegary.  So that was my plan... soak for an hour.  But I forgot as I started making these that I had plans to meet a friend at the mall.  So when she called, I just left these soaking in the vinegar.  So they soaked for just over 3 hours in all.  Yikes...

They soaked so much that my eyes started burning and tearing as I opened the oven.  These are gonna be delicious, I thought.  Then I noticed 5 month old Chloé (who I had plopped on the kitchen floor to take these out of the oven), whose eyes were also tearing.  Oops.  But maybe she'll love them some day too?

As for Logan... not so much.  He was eager to try them, as he saw that I couldn't stop eating them.  Has to be something good... right???  Wish I'd gotten a picture of his face.  He apparently doesn't like super duper, erase your taste buds vinegar.  

I love, love, love these.  Love them because they're chickpeas, so they're good for you.  Love them because they pretty much taste just like really good salt and vinegar chips (ya know, like the old salt and vinegar Ruffles they used to make maybe 15 years ago... my mouth is watering again as I type this).  Love them because nowadays I'm starving midafternoon and this is the perfect snack to help me stay full until dinner.  Just... must... not... eat... the... whole... can... 

And the 3 hour soaking?? Great if you love, love, love vinegar like myself.  If you just love it, perhaps stick to the 30 minutes to an hour.

Two little hints if you make this recipe.  Just sharin' some personal experience here.  If you have a cut on your finger, put on gloves before massaging in the olive oil.  As the vinegar just seeps right onto your hands... 

Also,  don't take your contacts out immediately after mixing these.  Even if you have washed your hands.  You'd think I'd have learned after getting vinegar in my cut...

2 C canned chickpeas
3-4 C white vinegar
1 tsp. coarse sea salt (I used fleur de sel)
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1.  Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.  

2.  Take chickpeas and vinegar and place in a medium sized pot.  Add a dash of sea salt.  Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.  Let sit in pot for 30 mins.

3.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit.  Carefully drain chickpeas.  Place on lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sea salt.  Massage with fingers until fully coated.

4.  Roast for 45 minutes, flipping once half way through.  Keep a careful eye on them after 35 minutes of cooking to ensure they don't burn.  The goal is crispy and golden chickpeas, not black ones.

Note: when you bring the chickpeas to a boil, some of them split open and some of the skins come off.  Not to worry if this happens - it will turn out regardless. 

As for the other varieties... 

Garlic Roasted Chickpeas

I made just a plain salt and garlic version for my husband to snack on, and also, to put on salads and stuff.  They were really good too. A bit crunchier than the salt and vinegar variety though, since they hadn't been soaked in vinegar prior to cooking.  I basically used the same procedure as above, but didn't pre-soak the chickpeas in vinegar and then I threw in 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic alongside the olive oil.

Logan loves, loves, loves these ones, much in the same way that I love the salt and vinegar ones. He can often finish off almost a half can by himself.  And I'm happy that I'm finally getting some protein into him.

Sweet and Salty Chickpeas

This time, I roasted the chickpeas dry and afterwards, mixed them together with 2 tsp. olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar and 1 tsp. sea salt.
 
These are all best right out of the oven.  Any leftovers (as if!) are best kept in a sealed glass jar.  The salt and vinegar ones become less crunchy after a day (but even more vinegary!!).  The other ones tend to stay relatively crunchy. 

Difficulty level: easy

Spinach Dip

Gotta hate these kind of days. It is 4:45 am right now.  And I am blogging... having been up since about 4 am already.  Yesterday too.  And I knew last night as I ran around the house until 11pm getting random things done, that I would regret not having gone to bed at 9 pm with Chloé, right after zumba.  And I realize now that I was right.

Why did I chose a clean - well, let's just say cleaner, house, since the word clean certainly could not be used right at this moment to describe my house - over sleep?  You'd think I'd have learned my lesson, with this being my second baby and all.  But the temptation of *finally* not having a baby in my arms until we all went to sleep was just too tempting.

Wishing my dishes were dirty right now and my kitchen floor was unswept and that I had two hours more sleep under my belt to attack the day, right about now...

I suspect that Logan's ear infection isn't quite healed, yet again, as this is what happened the last two times.  The only symptom being him waking up at ungodly hours.  I'm thankful that at least Chloé is still asleep.

So after cuddling a bit with Logan to try to get him back to sleep (we let him cry it out for an hour last night before going to get him and no go), I decided to come down to the computer to book a doctor's appointment for him.  So here we are, blogging, with him on my lap, not quite drowsy enough to go back to sleep, but too tired to do anything independently. 

On the bright side of things, at least we have electricity.  Since it was out last evening until about when we went to bed.  And at least I'll have lots of time to get ready to leave for my conference this morning.  I thought today would be a mad dash kinda morning, since we need to be out of the house by 7am.  But look at that.  It's only 5am, I have already blogged, and still have a full two hours to get ready!!

I made this recipe over the holidays to take over to a friend's house.  Well, to be honest, I had originally bought the ingredients to take to the Christmas potluck of that cake decorating club I had mentioned.  But then I had to skip that meeting, as it turned out to also be the evening of Jérôme's departmental Christmas party.

In any event, this recipe is super fast to whip up and always a hit.  Perfect for potlucks and the like.  I really only make it when we are entertaining.

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry  
1 package Knorr vegetable soup mix
1 container (500 mL/2 C) sour cream
1 C mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, chopped (optional) (I find these add nice crunch, and wouldn't omit them)
3 green onions, chopped
pumpernickel bread, chopped into chunks 

1.  Stir soup mix, sour cream and mayonnaise until blended.

2.  Stir in spinach, water chestnuts and green onions.

3.  Cover and chill 2 hours (but best if made the day before).  Stir before serving.

4.  Serve with pumpernickel bread.  This looks nice if you hollow out the pumpernickel and serve the dip inside the bread, using out the inside part as your chunks of bread to serve it with.

Makes about 4 cups.

Willie's Guacamole

When you read the ingredients to this recipe, you’re most likely going to think that it sounds disgusting.  I have to admit that that’s what I thought when I heard what was in it.  But it is more than worth giving it the benefit of the doubt to make it.  This is the best recipe for guacamole that I’ve ever had.  It comes from my friend Willie, who is from El Salvador.  So you know that it has to be good.  He made this for us in Maine a couple of weekends ago and it disappeared in the blink of an eye.  I made it again at my sister’s when we went to visit her this past weekend and the same thing happened.  Despite the massive quantity that it makes.

5 avocados
6 hard boiled eggs

2-3 tomatoes, chopped

3-4 radishes, finely chopped

½ large red onion, finely chopped

Fresh coriander

Salt and pepper to taste

1 lime

1.  Mash the avocados and the hard boiled eggs, to obtain as smooth of a texture as possible.

2.   Stir in the chopped tomatoes, radishes and red onion. 

3.  Chop and stir in as much coriander as you like, to taste.  I like to use lots, as coriander is probably my favourite herb.

4.  Add salt and pepper and freshly squeezed lime juice to taste (I used about ¾ of the lime).

The trick to preserving leftover guacamole (if there is any!) is to put an avocado pit into the bowl with the guacamole and to put the saran wrap right down directly onto the top of the guacamole.  Both will help to minimize oxidization (which causes the browning of the guacamole).

Indian Lentil and Split Pea Spread

Here's another one for you Eliza :) And it's absolutely DELICIOUS!! Heather gave me this recipe, who had gotten it from Cynthia. Good thing to have a good circle of friends so that you constantly get delicious recipes passed on to you :) I was called over to Heather's for a quick lunch specifically to try this, because she thought it was so wonderful. And so do I. It's my new addiction. Ok, along with the black bean soup that I posted yesterday.

Sadly, I just made it for a second time, and absentmindedly forgot to put in the turmeric and cumin. I stirred them in once I realized it, but it's not nearly as good as when you put them in a heat the spices for a minute. I guess that's what you get for trying to cook while entertaining a busy 10 month old.

I didn't put in the additional 3 tbsp. of olive oil, as Heather didn't use them. I used red lentils instead of yellow split peas, as that's what Heather had done. If you use yellow split peas, be sure to soak them in water for 12 hours prior to cooking. I also used canned lentils for the other lentils, just to be lazy and threw in the whole can.

This is delicious served with crackers, pitas, or veggies. I had it for lunch today. And wanted it the other day for breakfast, though I restrained myself :)

1 C dried lentils
1 C yellow split peas (I used red lentils)
1/3 C + 3 tbsp. olive oil
1 C chopped red onion
2 tbsp. chopped garlic
2 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 C (packed) fresh cilantro leaves
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. chili powder



1. Cook lentils and split peas in 3 C of water until very tender, about 35 minutes. Add more water while cooking if necessary.

2. Heat 1/3 C of oil in heavy large skillet. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add turmeric and cumin and stir 1 minute.

3. Transfer mixture to food processor. Add lentils and split peas, cilantro, lemon juice, chili powder and remaining 3 tbsp. of oil. Process until smooth. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Mushroom Bread

Here is another French recipe, so the quantities are again in grams and mLs. So you'll have to get a food scale to make it. The recipe also calls for Alsacienne yeast, which, to the best of my knowledge, can only be found in France or in French-specialty stores. I googled it, and it seems that this can just be replaced by baking powder. I've never done it this way, as we bring the little packets back with us from France each visit. But if you want to try it using baking powder, you would use 11g.

This recipe is for a savoury bread, that is nice served as an appetizer at a party or to accompany soup for dinner (which is what I made it for). I had made it for last year's New Years party, but had never gotten around to posting it. I often get asked for the recipe when I make it, as it's a bit different from recipes from over here.

The other thing is that bread pans in France aren't as wide as they are here. I'm sure though that it would work in a bread pan from here, just be sure not to use one of the extra-wide ones, of you may not have enough batter to fill the pan so that the bread will rise enough.

This tends to go bad quickly because it is so moist, so if possible, keep it in the fridge.



180 g flour
1 package of Alsacienne yeast
3 eggs
100 g grated Emmenthal cheese (I used light Swiss)
1/2 C olive oil
100 mL milk
300 g of mixed mushrooms (I typically mix portabellos and regular white mushrooms)
2 shallots
a handful of fresh chopped parsley (I just put in dried)
a pinch of salt
pepper to taste



1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

2. Melt a bit of butter in a pan. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook. Add the shallots and cook with the mushrooms for the last minute of cooking time. Let the mixture cool.

3. Mix together the eggs, oil and milk, then add salt and pepper. Mix in the flour and yeast.

4. Add in the cheese, parsley and mushrooms and stir.

5. Place in a non-stick bread pan. Cook for approximately 50 minutes. Let the cake cool before taking it out of the pan.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

So I did end up making salsa this week... though I only made two batches since it's so much harder to get things done than it was pre-baby and essentially took me a full day to get each batch. But I did get it done, just with many breaks between each step. I ended up going to Marché de l'Ouest and got a huge box of slightly damaged tomatoes (perfect for cooking with) for only $10. Which got me 18 jars of salsa, plus a few toasted tomato sandwiches.

A tip about how to quickly peel the tomatoes. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Core the tomatoes and cut an x into the bottom of the tomato. Place tomatoes in boiling water for one minute. Remove and let cool. The skin will then easily peel off, starting from the x.

12 C chopped, peeled tomatoes, about 24
3 cans corn
2 cans black beans
1 pkg. Bernardin salsa mix
1 1/4 C cider vinegar
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Wash, core, seed and chop tomatoes; drain off excess liquid. Measure 12 cups.



2. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine Bernardin salsa mix and cider vinegar. Add tomatoes, black beans, corn and cilantro; mix well. Bring to a boil; boil gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes.



3. Ladle salsa into a hot jar, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Using a nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar to removing any stickiness. Process for 20 minutes.



Makes about 8-9 500mL jars.



Some tips on canning:

The jars need to be sterilized prior to placing food in them in order to eliminate possible bacterial growth. Wash jars and then place in a 225 degree Farenheit oven for at least 20 minutes. You then spoon the hot salsa into the hot jars, using a canning funnel, if you have one. You then need to get the air bubbles out of the jar prior to sterilizing, again, to prevent bacterial growth. You can buy a kit that has a tool to help get the bubbles out, a funnel, lid lifter, headspace gauge and jar lifter for about $15 at Canadian Tire. Alternatively, you can use a spatula to coax the bubbles to the top.

You then need to measure the headspace for the recipe you are making. Headspace is the unfilled space above the food in a jar and below the lid. This space is needed for expansion of the food as the jars are processed, and for forming a vacuum to preserve the food, once the jars are cooled. Again, you can get a headspace gauge to easily judge how much space to leave (1/2 inch, for this recipe).

The next step is to prepare the snap lids, by placing them in hot, but not boiling water and leaving them there until you use them. Recommendations used to be to boil them for 5 minutes, but they no longer recommend placing them in boiling water. You then place the lids on the cans, using a lid lifter, so that you don't burn your fingers. Then screw on the screw tops just until you meet resistance, being careful not to overtighten. Note that you can reuse the screw tops, but cannot reuse the snap lids. Also, be sure not to tighten the screw top once you have processed the jars, as this can affect the sealing process.

Once the lids are placed, bring water to a boil in a waterbath canner, which is a huge black pot used for canning. These usually come with a canning rack, so that you can get the jars in and out of the boiling water without burning your fingers. You should probably start the water boiling way before you are ready for it, as it takes quite awhile for such a large quantity of water to boil. I often start boiling the water well in advance and then top it up by adding a few kettles full of boiling water.

You need to process the jars while they are still warm, otherwise they will crack when they are placed in the hot water. Alternatively, you can place the jars in the water while it is still cold, but I find that it takes forever for the water to come to a boil this way. You then need to leave the jars in the water for 20 minutes (for this recipe), once it has come to a boil again after placing the cans in it. Also, be sure that the water covers the top of the jars. Once they have been processed long enough, take them out, being careful not to burn yourself as I did this week (as the scab on my stomach proves!).

After the jars have cooled, inspect them to be sure that the snap lids have sealed. If you press on the centre of the lid, it should not pop back up. If it does, you need to reprocess them again in the boiling water so that the lids seal (or alternatively, put that jar in the fridge and use it immediately). And that's it. It all sounds complicated, but it's actually quite easy and lets you enjoy fresh, homemade, delicious salsa year-round.

Surprise Spread

This recipe also comes from my mom and is standard at any large group gathering at our place. The original recipe calls for the 2nd layer to have 1 C of seafood sauce and a 4 oz. tin of cocktail shrimp, but I replace this by salsa, as I prefer this. I made this for a Superbowl party that we went to on the weekend and serve it with nachos.

1st layer:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 C sour cream
1/4 C mayonnaise

Mix together and spread in the bottom of a 12-inch dish.

2nd layer:
1 large jar of salsa

3rd layer:
2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped



Put in fridge. Leave for 1 hour at room temperature before serving.

Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip

This is one of the recipes I made for this year's New Years Eve party. It's also one of the few recipes that I remembered to take a picture of. It's standard fare at any large get-together in our house, as it's generally loved by all.

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 C mayonnaise
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 C grated Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14 oz.) can artichokes, drained and chopped
1/2 C frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
1/4 C shredded mozzarella cheese



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Lightly grease a small baking dish.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.

3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.

I usually serve this with nachos, though it would also go well with veggies.

Chipotle Salsa

My Aunt sent me this recipe, which she made last fall and said was highly recommended. I recently heard that Alanna was dying to get a copy of this recipe, so I figured I'd post it up now. It is taken from the Canadian Living Test Kitchen.

Servings: eight 2-cup (500 mL) jars

250 g jalapeno peppers (about 6)
1 can (7 oz/198 g) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
16 cups (4 L) coarsely chopped peeled tomatoes (about 7 lb/3.15 kg)
6 cups (1.5 L) chopped seeded Cubanelle, Anaheim or sweetbanana peppers (about 1-3/4 lb/875 g)
4 cups (1 L) chopped onions (about 2 lb/1 kg)
4 cups (1 L) chopped sweet green peppers (about 2 lb/1 kg)
4 cups (1 L) cider vinegar
8 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans (each 5-1/2 oz/156 mL) tomato paste
1/4 cup (50 mL) granulated sugar
5 tsp (25 mL) salt
2 tsp (10 mL) dried oregano
3/4 cup (175 mL) chopped fresh coriander

1. Wearing rubber gloves, seed, core and finely chop jalapeno peppers to make 1 cup (250 mL).

2. Reserving sauce, remove chipotle peppers; seed if desired and chop.

3. In large heavy nonaluminum stock pot, combine jalapeno peppers, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, tomatoes, Cubanelle peppers, onions, green peppers, vinegar, garlic, tomato paste, sugar, salt and oregano; bring to boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring often, until thickened, 2 to 2-1/4 hours.

4. Add coriander; simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

5. Fill hot 2-cup (500 mL) canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch (1 cm) headspace. Cover with prepared lids. Screw on bands until resistance is met; increase to fingertip tight. Boil in boiling water canner for 20 minutes.