I love, love, love all types of pâté, but j'adore foie gras. Mmmm, that extra fattiness makes all the difference, and I am fortunate to have friends that understand my love and bring some back for me on each trip to France. Somehow, it seems you can always tell the difference in quality between what I have tasted that's been produced here and the original. Also, since I seem to be one of the few people I know that enjoy it, it means I get most of the tin to myself!
Showing posts with label course: appetizer/condiment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label course: appetizer/condiment. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Pâté de foie gras
Friday, April 1, 2011
Cream Cheese + Skor = Better Than It Sounds
Don't judge me, okay. THIS DISH IS REALLY SHALLOW. After going to several book clubs and birthdays featuring this dip, I finally caved and asked a friend how it was made. Thus, my downfall. I did a quick google search to get the quantities right (the only change I made was to add a little vanilla) and had a Saturday night dessert in 5 minutes.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Prosciutto & Fig Crostini
I don't recall where I first read about someone combining fig jam and butter, but whoever it was is a genius. These appetizers have been a hit every time, and have even resulted in a marriage proposal. The sweet fig butter and salty prosciutto are a perfect contrast to each other. The first time I made these I went down to the Italian Centre to get Parma ham and kofylitiri cheese, and I recommend splurging on a good quality prosciutto. Subsequent attempts with supermarket prosciutto didn't have the same saltiness and bite.
Prosciutto & Fig Crostini:
1 loaf skinny french bread
olive oil
1/2 cup butter, softened
5-6 tbsp fig jam
salty firm cheese
prosciutto or Parma ham
For the crostini, I like them a little crispy and a little soft so I only toast one side. Slice the bread and lay out on a baking sheet, then brush the slices with olive oil. Heat under a broiler until just browning, then lay out to cool. These can be done a day or two in advance and kept in ziploc.
Mix the butter and fig jam together very well (this takes some doing). Spread generously on the crostini, top with a thin slice of cheese and then prosciutto. These appetizers were very easy to assemble on site, which is a lot more convenient than worrying about how to transport them as a finished product.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Quiche with Beets & Chèvre
For a recent pot luck lunch at work, I decided to make mini quiches as they're extremely easy to make and I already had all the ingredients at home. (Except pastry, and to save time I just bought pre-made shells.) I started off making Asparagus & Boursin Quiche, but when I ran out of boursin cheese I was forced to think on my feet. Our beet harvest came up last weekend, so with a fridge full of them it seemed like the easiest thing to use. Luckily, quiches are extremely forgiving and it's easy to simply toss things together.
Beetroot & Chèvre Quiche (makes 8-9 appetizer size):
2-3 medium beets, peeled & chopped
100g goat cheese
splash red wine
1 egg
salt & pepper
fresh sage, chopped
Put the peeled & chopped beets in a saucepan with water and a bit of red wine. Bring to the boil and let simmer around 20 minutes until cooked, then remove and blitz in the food processor. In a bowl, blend together the beet puree, cheese, egg, a splash of red wine, and add the seasonings to taste. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Prebake the pastry shells for 10 minutes to crisp them up, then add the filling and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the centres spring back. Before baking, I added garnishes of cooked carrot flowers - cute!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Pork Dumplings
Although I have not yet had any cravings that seem to be consistent (other than for Glosette peanuts), like many pregnant ladies, I am very susceptible to food suggestions at the moment. Especially early on (before the sad nauseous bit), I craved meat like a mad woman. I decided I needed a meat based snack that I could nibble on when the cravings struck, and as I often do, I roped Brooke into coming over and helping me invent something. I had dumplings on the brain, and so we looked at a variety of recipes, and then put the computer down and forged ahead with a recipe of our own making based on what was around the house.
Pork Dumpling Filling:
one small tenderloin pork (these are surprisingly inexpensive right now thanks to the swine flu scare, even though you don't get swine flu from eating pork - take advantage of the deal and stock your freezer!)
8 large shrimp peeled and uncooked
1/2 cup green onions
1 tsp ginger
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp mirin
Wrap using wonton wrappers
We didn't bother with much chopping, and instead just tossed everything in the Kitchenaid food processor and whirred it around until it had an even consistency. It is very strange to do this with uncooked meat.
We took the meat mixture and sat in front of the TV watching mindless chick shows on Slice, as we dropped a small spoon of meat into the middle of the wonton wrappers, and tried to fashion them into pretty looking envelopes. There were a lot of imperfect parcels, but by the end we had made almost 100 and were getting the hang of it. I popped most of them in the freezer, but to prepare them, we pan fried them in oil to brown the outside (2-3 minutes per side), and then steamed them after for about 8 minutes. This was enough to cook the meat through, and give them a nice texture, although a few of the wrappers tore a bit, making them not look as nice. They tasted fantastic though, and that is what matters most right? 
Friday, June 19, 2009
Mushroom Bruschetta
This is another dish from my local snacks book club menu. I discovered that Prairie Mushrooms grows mushrooms in Sherwood Park, a suburb of the city, so I felt like I had to take advantage of this and include a mushroom themed dish. Mushrooms are one of the few vegetables that you just don't see often at farmer's markets, and I had assumed that a local 100 mile diet would mean doing without. Not the case! For this recipe I chose to go with portabella and crimini mushrooms because I love the former, and have never cooked with the latter. They were easy to find at the Italian Center Shop , and I have been told they are also at Costco, some Sobey's and I saw them at Elsalfi Brothers as well.
Mushroom Bruschetta:
One Baguette (mine was from the Treestone Bakery on 99 st. that makes bread with local ingredients)
A small knob of butter (I used Dairyland, since they use Alberta milk to create their dairy products)
One portabella mushroom
One small container crimini mushrooms
A tsp. each of chopped parsley and chives (from my garden)
One small container of goat cheese
Cut the baguette into rounds and lay flat on a baking sheet. Spread each round with a generous pat of goat cheese, and set aside.
Chop up the mushrooms a little larger than the size you want them to be in the end, so that you allow for shrinkage in cooking. Saute the mushrooms in the butter until they brown, and throw in the herb about 30 seconds before finishing.
Scoop the mushroom mixture on top of the baguette slices and pop in the oven at 350 F until they are warm (10 minutes). Serve warm so that the cheese is nice and gooey.
It is worth mentioning that the goat cheese I used was from Fairwinds Farms out of Fort Macleod, AB. That is totally not within 100 miles of Edmonton, but that factored into our discussion of why "local" in the book was defined by a 100 mile radius (extra strange since in Canada we usually refer to distances in kilometers).
Monday, May 4, 2009
Caramel Nut Brie
I will confess, this is not my brie. It's actually some brie a girlfriend of mine made for our book club, but my pictures of hers looked more delicious than the pictures I took of my own. No skin off my back though, I still got to make it myself and eat a very large amount of yummy cheese all on my own. Good brie recipes abound in my kitchen. I am in a couple of book clubs, and brie seems to be a staple on the snack list, so I have a very extensive knowledge of great ways to serve brie.
In my mind it comes down to these four classifications: baked or not, encased in pastry or not, and sweet or savory. I love them all, so I try and give each of them their fair share of attention. I am sure many of you are familiar with the brandy nut brie recipe in the Best of Bridge cookbook series. I was actually given the entire set one Christmas as a gift (an excellent gift!) by my mother. The brandy nut brie is one of my favorite ways to serve brie, but the one difficulty for me is that I don't regularily have brandy on hand, so it seems like every time I make it I make a special trip to the liquor store to pick up an airplane sized bottle of over priced brandy.
This brie actually tastes quite similar (brandy combined with a pile of brown sugar ends up being kind of caramely), but is an easier make for me because I like to keep caramel sauce on hand for ice cream. To make it, pop a wheel of brie into the oven at 350 for about ten minutes (just so it gets warm and a little melty), and then top with either walnuts or pecans and some caramel sauce. It doesn't get easier than that. On top of being delicious, it makes for a beautiful presentation served on a nice little plate with caramel dripping into the cheese as wedges are cut.
This is a great little appetizer to put out at a party, but can also double as a dessert/cheese plate type dish for a dinner party if you want something sweet and decadent to finish a meal, but don't want to do up a full dessert course.
In my mind it comes down to these four classifications: baked or not, encased in pastry or not, and sweet or savory. I love them all, so I try and give each of them their fair share of attention. I am sure many of you are familiar with the brandy nut brie recipe in the Best of Bridge cookbook series. I was actually given the entire set one Christmas as a gift (an excellent gift!) by my mother. The brandy nut brie is one of my favorite ways to serve brie, but the one difficulty for me is that I don't regularily have brandy on hand, so it seems like every time I make it I make a special trip to the liquor store to pick up an airplane sized bottle of over priced brandy.
This brie actually tastes quite similar (brandy combined with a pile of brown sugar ends up being kind of caramely), but is an easier make for me because I like to keep caramel sauce on hand for ice cream. To make it, pop a wheel of brie into the oven at 350 for about ten minutes (just so it gets warm and a little melty), and then top with either walnuts or pecans and some caramel sauce. It doesn't get easier than that. On top of being delicious, it makes for a beautiful presentation served on a nice little plate with caramel dripping into the cheese as wedges are cut.
This is a great little appetizer to put out at a party, but can also double as a dessert/cheese plate type dish for a dinner party if you want something sweet and decadent to finish a meal, but don't want to do up a full dessert course.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Poached Beet Salad
I have been thinking about this salad for months now, since I tried a version of it in late January at Muse in Calgary. With the warmer weather here (hopefully to stay!), I am finally starting to crave salads rather than hearty winter fare. This salad kind of bridges the gap between the two; the beets give it a warm earthiness and the slight bitterness in the arugula somehow manages to keep it feeling light.
Poached Beet Salad with Chèvre:
5 small beets, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 cups red wine
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 large handfuls rocket
goat cheese
2 slices cooked bacon, cut into fifths (optional)
balsamic vinegar to dress
The only thing that takes any time at all is poaching the beets - this will take at least 40 minutes, but it's fine to do that a day ahead. Peel and quarter the beets (I wear plastic gloves to do this, else my hands would be pink for the next few days) and put them in a pan with the red wine and balsamic vinegar. Bring everything to a low simmer and keep an eye o
n it for the next 40 minutes. I was not paying attention, and about 3/4 of the way through the poaching I went in to check on them and the cooking liquid had thickened and burned - smelling awful and covering the beets in a thick black coating. Luckily, rinsing them off took away all the bad taste and I was able to clean out the pan, replace the cooking liquid, and keep going. While this is finishing up, cook the bacon strips if you are using them (I didn't this time) and then cut into 3cm pieces.
Let the beets cool, then plate and top with the arugula and bacon and dress with balsamic vinegar. (My photos were taken prior to adding the dressing.) I rolled my goat cheese in fresh ground pepper, but it definitely could just be crumbled into the salad. I really liked the cute little spheres though, and it only took a minute to make it look a lot prettier.
Later, with my leftovers, I tried making appetizers on top of pieces of croissant... AMAZING! There is no doubt that these will be making an appearance the next time I entertain.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Reinvention!
The entertaining just does not stop over here! My parents were visiting from down south, so I hosted some family dinners in celebration of that. The first time I did not have enough appetizers to appease my father until dinner, so this time I was determined not to have that problem again. Although I had one appie on the roster (the shrimp blossoms), I figured last minute that I would add another by revising one of my favourite lunches ever so slightly.
I have posted in the past about my love of mango with brie as a flatbread at lunch, so it was a quick change to make that into a little appetizer. I left out the onion, since it would be a bit fiddly to add, and simply cut up pieces of yellow pepper, mango and brie to pile on a little square of flatbread. I picked yellow pepper instead of red so that the whole thing was yellow, which I thought made it extra cute.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Thai Peanut Sauce
Inspired by Court's last post, here is a sauce adapted from Michael Smith's Chef at Home Easy Thai Dinner episode. The chile and lime give the peanut sauce extra depth of flavour, and it keeps in your fridge for several months so it's a great staple to have on hand.
Thai Peanut Sauce:
1 cup peanut butter
juice & zest of 1-2 limes
half of a minced & deseeded thai bird's eye chili
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
Put everything in the food processor and whizz together. Like this, you can jar it and keep it in the refrigerator. If you want to thin it out a bit when using it, just heat it up on a low heat and combine 2 parts sauce with 1 part milk or coconut milk. This gives a creamy sauce that makes a great dip for appetizers.
Bird's eye chiles are about 3-5cm long and very narrow and pointy. You can always find them at asian grocery stores, but the bigger chains often have them as well. If you can't find any, you can substitute a 1/2 tsp of dried chile flakes or hot sauce. I used natural peanut butter, so the sauce thicker, oilier, and less sweet than it would be if you use regular peanut butter. You may want to reduce the amount of sugar if the peanut butter you use is already sweetened.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Shrimp Blossoms - New Best Appie
Looking at Tastespotting before the holidays, I saw this recipe and photos posted by Once Upon a Plate. It looked good, sounded easy, and I had most of the stuff needed to make it on hand, so when I had the fam over for dinner the other night, these started off the festivities. I literally thought a fight might break out over who got how many of these, they are creamy and delicious! I deviated ever so slightly with the quantities (due to not having quite enough), but mostly held to the recipe.
Wonton Shrimp Blossoms:
24 square wonton skins/wraps
10 ounces peeled, cooked shrimp, finely chopped
2 green onions/scallions, finely chopped
1/3 cup carrot, finely grated
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Small pinch cayenne pepper, or dash of Tabasco sauce
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Gently press wanton wrappers into muffin cups, and spray again. Bake 8 minutes or until brown and crisp. Remove from oven and cool.
Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients, mixing well.
Fill each baked wonton cup with some of the shrimp mixture. Place filled cups on a baking sheet as you fill them, then bake 5 to 6 minutes, or until filling is hot and bubbling around edges. I went a little longer than this to make sure everything was hot.
This one will definitely be stocked in my freezer going forward.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Mushroom Black Bean Pinwheels
The other day I was on Tastespotting, and The Review Lady had posted a picture of a black bean and mushroom pinwheel, but did not have the recipe. Well, it looked delicious, so I added it to my list of favourites, vowing to invent something based on the picture in the near future. Well, when I was making a vegetarian meal when a couple of friends came over, I thought "black beans, that would add some substance," and it was ON. I am 100% sure this did not taste like the inspiration pinwheel, but it was delicious!
Pinwheel:
1/2 package puff pastry (one of the two Tenderflake squares)
1 tsp olive oil
10 mushrooms
1/2 can black beans
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 tsp cumin
As per the pastry instructions, defrost and roll out the puff pastry. Saute the mushrooms in oil, and as they are finished, sprinkle in the cumin. Drain and rinse the black beans, and smush them with your hands as you add them in. Mix everything together, and spread evenly over the surface of the pastry. Sprinkle the parmesan over evenly as well.
Gently roll the pastry into a tube shape. Try not to loose the filling. Cut it into even sections about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.
Spray a backing sheet with cooking spray (to avoid pastry sticking), and place each roll with a flat side on the sheet. If you have some extra parmesan, you may want to sprinkle a bit on top.
Back at 375 F for about 20 - 30 minutes (until golden brown) and then serve. When I made this for the girls, it went over very well, but when i made it for my husband he said it tasted a bit like a Taco Bell burrito. He seems to think that anything made with cumin does, but what does he know?
I made them as full sized appetizers, but if you cut the dough in half so that the wheels are smaller, they would make a tasty finger food.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Spanakopita from Scratch
I was chatting last night with my brother's girlfriend, and she was wondering what to do with her days off now that all the holiday stuff was done. I suggested she take some time to stock the freezer to make her life a little easier once she was back at work. I figured that along those lines, I would post one of my favorite freezer recipes. As I have mentioned in the past, I really like making and eating Greek food. Ages and ages ago when Tyler Florence was hosting Food 911 on the Food Network, he featured the following spanakopita recipe, that I have been accepting compliments on ever since. They are a bit labour intensive (it'll take an hour or a bit more), but the results are so good that I keep making them anyway. You can make about 40 small ones, but I like to make dinner sized ones instead, as they take less time and feel more worth the effort.
Spanakopita:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds fresh baby spinach, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
12 ounces crumbled feta
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbsp oregano
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted
1 pound phyllo pastry sheets
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and place over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic for 3 minutes until soft. Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and continue to saute until the spinach is limp. Add lemon juice, remove from heat and place in a colander, and squeeze out excess liquid. Set aside to cool. The filling needs to be cool and dry to prevent the phyllo from becoming soggy. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with feta, coriander, and nutmeg. Season, then fold in the cooled spinach mixture until well blended.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, brush 2 baking sheets with some melted butter. Unroll the phyllo dough and lay a sheet flat on a work surface. Take care to keep the phyllo covered with a damp, not wet, towel as you work to prevent drying out and becoming brittle. Brush the sheet with melted butter, and repeat with 2 more sheets of phyllo, stacking on top of each other. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the sheets lengthwise into halves to form 2 3-inch strips.
Place a heaping teaspoon of filling near 1 corner of the layered phyllo strip. Fold the end at an angle over the filling to form a triangle. Continue to fold the triangle along the strip until you reach the end, like folding up a flag. Brush the top with butter and dust with Parmesan
, place on prepared baking sheet, and cover while preparing the remaining pastries. Repeat until all the filling and phyllo strips are used up. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the triangles are crisp and golden.
Alternately, you can freeze the uncooked triangles, and cook the same way from freezing (may take 5 extra minutes). They freeze so well I love to keep some in my freezer for days when I don't have time to cook, but still want to eat real food.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Cranberry Sauce
There was once a time when I hated cranberry sauce, but this is what changed my mind. And it is not for turkey alone! It's also terrific with duck and beef, and makes a great addition to sandwiches when you're consuming the leftovers. I made this a day in advance simply to help save time preparing Christmas dinner, and served it chilled. Usually I prepare it to be ready with the meal, as I prefer it warm.
Cranberry Sauce:
2 bags/700 g fresh cranberries
3/4 cup/165 g sugar
1 bottle/750 ml red wine
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
In a saute pan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer uncovered for 1 hour stirring occasionally.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Quick Quaint Quail Eggs
This week was Christmas Pot Luck at work and I wanted to make something that is tasty, quick, and not going to break the bank. It's also a little different from the usual fare, which I always enjoy. Most of the people I know have never tried quail eggs, but they're pretty much just like regular eggs - only cuter!
Put 24 eggs in a large saucepan of simmering water and cook for 5 minutes. While they are cooking, make the salt dip(s) by just grinding all ingredients together using a mortar & pestle or spice grinder.
Sesame Salt:
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/2 tsp sea salt
Coriander Salt:
2 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted until fragrant (~2 min) in a fry pan
1 1/2 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp demerara sugar
When the eggs are done, drain, then run cold water over the eggs to stop them from cooking. It's easiest to peel them now, under the running water. The shells are a bit thicker than regular eggs, so the peeling is what takes the longest as you want to keep them looking pretty. I made these the night before and used the egg tray to transport & serve them at work, and stuck toothpicks in them to serve. Easy peasy!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Naaaan
I've been searching forever for a naan recipe that is both easy (since I'm am certainly no expert when it comes to making bread) and near-equivalent to restaurant goodness. Luckily, I've found one that is both! The other week when I made Cashew Butter Chicken, I served this with it and the girls devoured almost all of them. While the quantities below will make enough for at least 10 people (if you each only want a couple), I tried freezing some of the dough and pulling it out a few days later and it still worked like a charm.
Naan:
1 pkg/7g active dry yeast
1 cup/250 ml warm water
1/4 cup/55g sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups/435g plain flour
1/4 cup/60ml butter or margarine, melted
Dissolve the yeast in the water and let stand 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir the yeast with the sugar, milk, egg, and salt, then add enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 8-10 minutes until smooth, then place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place for around 1 hour, until it has doubled in size. Wh
en ready, punch down the dough and pinch off small 3cm rounds of dough and roll into balls. Place these on a tray and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place for around 30 minutes - this works particularly well in a warming drawer.
Preheat a frying pan or grill to medium-high, and start rolling out the dough balls. The thinner you roll them, the more bubbly and naan-like they get. Brush some melted butter in the pan and cook the dough for 2-3 minutes until puffy. Before turning over, brush the uncooked side with butter and cook another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until done.
Freezing tip: After the second rise, you can put the dough balls in a freezer bag to enjoy at a later date. When you pull them out, just let defrost to room temperature and then roll them.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Creamy Mushroom Tarts
Winter is a tough time of the year for me. Not only is it cold and dark, but a lot of the fruits and veggies I like best are out of season (and the grocery store versions are often flavorless), so it is hard to keep the veggie count up. Mushrooms, however, have pretty consistent quality in the grocery store, so they are a good pick for me during this time of year.
I get tons of compliments on this particular recipe. I would say it is my top appetizer pick. It takes some time to make, but a lot of the more time intensive steps can be done in front of the TV, and these are great to stock the freezer with.
Mushroom Tarts
2 loaves of your favorite whole grain bread (using white just lowers the "healthiness" but I do it if I need to use up bread)
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp finely chopped shallots (or onion in a bind)
½ pound (227 grams) mushrooms finely chopped (use the grocery store scales)
2 tbsp flour
1 cup/250 ml whipping cream
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped chives (or the tops of green onions)parmesan cheese to top
The first part is making the bread tart shells. I use a wine glass to make the bread rounds because they usually have narrower edges than a normal glass, and go through the bread well. Also, when I am done I can have a glass of wine while I chop seeing as the mushrooms take some time unless you have much better knife skills than I do. First, spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray (or grease it with butter or margarine). To form the tart shells you just press the rounds flat with your fingers and then press them into the pan. Bake at 400F/200C for 10 minutes. They will be nice and golden and hold their shape when removed. You can freeze these on their own if that is enough work for you in a day and put any filling in them that you like later.For the filling, melt the butter in a large frying pan or electric skillet. You need enough room to be able to stir the mushrooms before they reduce in size. Add the shallots and cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes until transparent. Add the mushrooms and cook until the moisture they release has mostly evaporated. Remove the pan from heat and dust the mixture with flour evenly so that you don't end up with little flour lumps, then mix it in. Stir in the cream, and put it back on the heat to simmer until thickened. Add in the remaining flavoring ingredients. Do taste it before you are done, as adding more flavoring to suit your taste is nice and easy. I like to kick up the cayenne pepper if I want to take it from a creamy tart to a spicy, creamy tart.
Let the filling cool so that it doesn't make your shells soggy, and then fill them and top them with a sprinkle of parmesan. At this point you can either pop them into a container and throw them in the freezer (put a layer of wax paper in between if you are stacking them), or throw them in the oven at 350F/180C for 10 minutes. If you are taking them out of the freezer they may need more like 12 minutes. If I have left over filling, I pop it in the fridge and then spread it on toast and put it under the broiler for a minute the next day as lunch.Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tzaziki is Greek for Delicious
I love Greek food! I love souvlaki and spanikopita and Greek salad and Greek roast potatoes, but most of all I love tzaziki. My favourite tzaziki at a restaurant is from It’s All Greek to Me, a little restaurant on Rice Howard Way and Jasper Ave that I used to have lunch at when I worked next to there. I actually got them to sell it to me in containers for a little while, until I learned that the reason it tasted different was because it had sour cream in it. Since then, I have updated my own tzaziki recipe to be as close as possible, and can have delicious homemade tzaziki whenever I like.
Tzaziki:
1 cup of Greek yogurt
¼ cup Sour Cream
½ cup grated cucumber
pinch of salt
1 clove garlic finely chopped
some dill finely chopped
When buying Greek yogurt, sometimes I go to the Greek food store that is just west of 124 st. around 111 Ave, but more often I just get the stuff in my local grocery store that is called Balkan yogurt. To start you must “sweat” the yogurt and sour cream. Basically you just put it in a fine strainer over a bowl and cover with cling wrap then sit it in the fridge. If yours is metal, you may want to line it with cheesecloth or it will drip through. This plastic one works like a dream. Ideally you want to sweat it for eight or more hours. If you start it in the morning before running off to work that is great. If not, I have been known to cut it down to an hour if I am struck by an intense craving. It will just impact the consistency. Some people will like it a bit less thick anyway.
With about 30 minutes to go, grate the cucumber. I use an English one, because you don’t have to peel it and I like the green colour. Regardless of which kind you use, quarter it lengthwise and take out the seedy bit. Sprinkle the pinch of salt over it and put it in the refrigerator so that it too will release some of its liquid. This step is a good one to do before you worry about getting the main part of your meal going. Letting it sit for more than 30 minutes is fine, just cover it if it is going to be much longer.
Put the reduced yogurt and sour cream into the dish you are making the tzaziki in. Press the cucumber to get rid of as much liquid as possible (I press it between stackable glasses, or use my hands) and add it to the bowl. Throw in the garlic and dill and mix. Done!
I fully encourage you to play around with the amount of each of the ingredients, as the results will not be altered much if you adjust to taste. I like mine to be very strong and garlicky, but if you would like it to be milder, put in less sour cream and garlic and it will be more like what you get in other restaurants. It is nice to warm up your pita bread if you have picked it up from the grocery store. Don’t get the thin stuffing pitas; get the nice thick bread-like Greek pitas.
This is a great appetizer, or I make it to use as a tasty condiment for Greek potatoes or souvlaki or to eat with my spanikopita or even perogies. It will keep pretty well for a couple of days, but some liquid will rise to the top. Drain it off or just mix it in.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
