Friday, August 24, 2012

Quinoa Salad made from leftover quinoa



Original Recipe By:  Miriam Borys
Servings: 6

 1/2  cup red onion
½ cup cauliflower – fresh or leftover cooked
1 cup cucumber
¼ cup red pepper
¼ cup yellow zucchini
3 heirloom tomatoes – cut in wedges
2 cups quinoa – cold
1 cup cilantro – chopped
Salt & pepper

Dressing
¼ cup olive oil
1/8 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon grainy mustard
2 tbsp. yogurt (I used plain Greek)
Salt & pepper
½ lemon juice

Preserve leftover cooked Quinoa in the fridge.
Wash & dice all vegetables into desirable cuts.
Add Quinoa to vegetables. Toss well
Make dressing and drizzle ¾ of the dressing over the Quinoa salad and stir well. (any dressing you have in the house would do just as well for this salad)
Store in the fridge until service time.

Note:  I have made this salad the night before and it is delicious the next day and it also travels well for picnic.

cilantro



Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Spicy Tomato Clam Vegetable Soup

Every once in a while you want a healthy dinner but really....you don't want to go through the motions of a big, multi-course meal.  The solution ...a big pot of tasty vegetable soup with clams and a little twist. To enhance the flavours of all these nutritious veggies, I have added serrano peppers and a small rind of parmesan cheese (see photo below). These two additions are so tasty and when added to this combination of super foods the result is so amazing.  Yummy is all I can say and this soup is so easy to make and is prepared and ready in under half an hour. Please enjoy and don't forget if you have any questions about cooking in general or about any of my recipes please email me at mlborys@telus.net

Recipe Title:  Spicy Tomato Clam Vegetable Soup

Original Recipe By:  Miriam Borys

Servings: 6

Ingredients:
1 large onion – diced
2 carrots – peeled & diced
1 red pepper – diced
3-4 large garlic cloves – diced
2 tbsp. anchovies (paste or fillets)
1-2 tbsp. serrano pepper – diced small
½ medium sized cauliflower (2 cups) – washed & cut into small florets
796 ml can diced tomatoes
794 ml can water (use water to rinse out tomato tin)
142 g can whole baby clams
540ml can bean medley – drained & rinsed in strainer with cold water
1 tbsp. vegetable soup stock base
500 ml vegetable stock
1 square inch parmesan rind[i]  (see photo below)
salt & pepper to taste


On medium heat sauté onions, carrots, red pepper, garlic, anchovies and serrano pepper.
When onions are transparent add cauliflower and sauté for 2 additional minutes.
Add diced tomatoes, water, clams, bean medley, soup base, vegetable stock and parmesan rind.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue to simmer for 20 minutes. Remove parmesan rind before serving.
Serve hot with fresh bread or crackers.



[i] fresh parmesan cheese comes naturally with a thick rind.  I save the rind and store in the freezer or fridge to use as a flavor additional for soups, sauces & stews.
Parmesan Cheese & Rind



Quinoa Pilaf with Prawns and Gai Lan



By:  Miriam Borys

Servings: 2-3


Ingredients:

Gai Lan
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. coconut oil (this is heat stable meaning it is great for cooking at high temperatures)
½ onion (1 cup diced)
1 cup yellow zucchini
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp. ginger
1 cup quinoa – any variety but I have used white
2 cups vegetable broth
 1 cup Prawns
3 cups Gai Lan (loosely packed) click here to find out more about this 'super food'.
½ cup almonds
½ juice of 1 lemon
½ tsp. thyme - fresh
½ tsp. oregano - fresh
Salt & pepper

Dice onion, zucchini, garlic & ginger (a mandolin[i] works very well for all of these).
Sauté onion, zucchini, garlic and ginger on medium heat in oils until the onions are transparent.
Add uncooked quinoa, herbs and salt & pepper. Stir until Quinoa is coated with oils.
Add 2 cups of stock (meat or vegetable). Cover and cook on medium heat for approximately 12- 14 minutes (Quinoa should still be wet).
Add washed & diced Gai Lan, diced almonds and raw prawns.
Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until prawns are pink and Gai Lan is wilted.
Serve hot with a tossed salad and a tender corn-on-the-cob!




[i] Mandolins are handy tools for creating evenly thin slices or dices of fruits and vegetables.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

SASKATOON SOUR CREAM PIE made right in the Cariboo


Recipe Title:  Saskatoon Sour Cream Pie ( another Greenlake special)

Recipe By: Miriam Borys

Ingredients:

PASTRY

Full recipe                                                                   Half Recipe
5 cups all-purpose flour                                             2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp. salt                                                                   1 tsp. salt
1 egg                                                                           1 egg
1 lb. shortening                                                           ½ lb. shortening
4 tbsp. white wine vinegar or white vinegar                   2 tbsp. vinegar
1 cup ice water                                                           ½ cup water
1 tbsp. brown sugar                                                    ½ tbsp. brown sugar
1.     Mix together flour, salt and brown sugar. Whisk together to remove the lumps.
2.    Cut up shortening into small cubes, return to cooler to keep cold.
3.    Add vinegar and egg to liquid measure cup. Beat with a fork.
4.    Add enough ice cold water to egg/vinegar mixture to make a total of 1 cup of liquid.
5.    Place measured dry ingredients in a large bowl if mixing by hand.
6.    Add shortening and with a knife or a pastry blender start cutting the shortening in to the flour until all the shortening is dime size and mealy.

Miriam's Time Saving Tip If using a stand mixer in pastry making do not multi task. Stay at the mixer and pulse the machine on and off until the flour and shortening are slightly mixed but not totally combined. There should still be big size chunks of shortening showing and plenty of loose flour. Do not be alarmed at this because if you go too far at this stage you will ruin the pastry.
7.     Add liquid to mixing bowl and with a fork mix liquid in. Do not over mix at this stage or your pastry will be tough. Gently form into a ball with your hand.
8.    Roll dough up into a disc and wrap in parchment paper and then in a clean plastic bag and store in cooler until needed.
Miriam's Time Saving Tip Making this pastry ahead is a great time saver. It keeps well for over a week in the fridge as long as it is wrapped well. After making pies freeze the remaining pastry for use later.



Maggie picking Saskatoons at her home north of 100 Mile

 SASKATOON SOUR CREAM PIE FILLING

1 unbaked pie shell
5 cups fresh Saskatoons
1 egg
1 ½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sour cream

In a bowl mix together egg, granulated sugar, flour, and sour cream. Whisk to remove lumps. Set aside.
Wash and remove stems from Saskatoons.  Miriam's Time Saving TipMy friend Maggie cleaned the Saskatoons in a bowl of water. This method allows the dried or unripe berries to float to the top for easy removal.
Line the bottom of an unbaked pie shell with fresh Saskatoons.
Pour sour cream mixture on top of berries.
Place on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet (for easy clean up).
Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes and reduce heat to 375 and bake for 35 minutes more until mixture just starts to bubble out and pastry is golden brown.
Serve warm or cold.
                                                                                                                                              

Friday, August 10, 2012

Five Star Bread Recipe from Miriam's Mom, Eileen Little


Recipe Title:  Best Ever Bread Recipe from Miriam’s Mom, Eileen Little
(for Herb Focaccia, French bread or Cinnamon buns)

Original Recipe By: Eileen Little

Recorded and adapted by: Miriam Borys
1st proof  (letting dough rise)

 Ingredients:
3 pkg. instant yeast (3 X 8g or 7 tsp.)
2 ½ cup of warm water (not too hot or it will kill the yeast)
½ cup olive oil + ¼ cup for drizzling
2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. white sugar
1 egg
5 1/2 to 6 cups flour + flour for kneading
Dry herbs of choice (1 tbsp. each of rosemary, thyme, oregano)

Cracked salt for the top of the focaccia

In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar, egg and warm water.
Add yeast and stir. Leave this mixture in a warm place 
to allow the yeast to activate (the yeast bubbles will appear 
on the surface).
Add 5 cups of flour, salt and herbs.
shape dough & add toppings
Mix until the bread dough comes together into a ball.
Transfer to a workable surface and knead for 4-5 minutes, adding flour so that the dough does not stick to the surface.
Once the dough is smooth, form into a large ball and place in an oiled bowl and cover with parchment or a tea towel. This is the first rise and the dough needs to double in size. This takes approximately 30-40 minutes.
When the dough has doubled in size, punch down the ball of dough and form the dough into whatever shape is desired. For focaccia place the bread dough onto an oiled baking sheet and pull the dough so that it stretches into a large rectangle shape (see photo). Once the dough is shaped, make indentations your fingertips on the surface of the dough (this is to allow the olive oil to pool).
Drizzle olive oil over the surface. Sprinkle with fresh or dried herbs of your choice (Italian seasoning works well) and sprinkle salt over entire surface.
2nd proof
Allow to rise for the 2nd time until the dough has risen above the baking sheet (doubles in size again).
In preparation, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  
Bake focaccia for approximately 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with a dipping bowl of olive oil and balsamic vinegar sprinkled with dried or fresh herbs.
baked focaccia
                                                                                                                                              

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Salmon Wellington



By: Miriam Borys

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

The best Pastry ever!!!  (see recipe below)
1 salmon fillet – divided into 4 portions (or buy the IQF[i]frozen wild salmon already in four portions)

1 brick of cream cheese – room temperature
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
½ cup onion – diced small
¼ cup leeks – diced small (click here to view my video on how to clean leeks)
¼ cup celery – diced small
3 tbsp. fresh dill – chopped
3 tbsp. chives – diced
½ tsp salt and cracked pepper
1 egg + 1 tbsp. water for egg wash

Make pastry and chill for a minimum of one hour.


Remove skin from salmon fillet. Cut fillet so that each piece is approximately the size of a deck of cards.

Meanwhile prepare leeks, onions and celery for sauteing . Dice them into brunoise size  (very tiny diced).  Sauté leeks, onions & celery in olive oil and butter over medium heat until onions are just transparent. Remove form heat and cool slightly.
In a bowl combine leek/onion mixture, softened (room temp.) cream cheese, chives, fresh dill, salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Roll out 4 rectangles (approximately 6 in. by 8 in.) of pastry.
Into the center of each pastry rectangle spoon 1 large tablespoon of the cream cheese filling.
Place one piece salmon (presentation side down[ii]) on top of cream cheese.

Fold pastry up to seal the pastry ends for baking. This part if up to you. A Wellington can be sealed and folded like a pita pocket or a cornish pastie, or simply made into a rectangle as you see above.

Place the finished Salmon Wellington on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Pre-heat oven to 400 F degrees (204C)  and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.
Serve hot.


Option: Drizzle with a warm yogurt hollandaise sauce (see recipe below) over the hot Salmon Wellington.

Maggie’s Yogurt Hollandaise
1 tub (500g) Greek style yogurt
6 Egg yolks
½  cup butter
¼ tsp. Dry mustard powder
Dash cayenne
Salt & pepper
1 tsp. fresh dill – diced small
In a double boiler combine yogurt and egg yolks. Whisk until combined while cooking over medium heat.
Add remaining ingredients and continue to cook until thickened. Do Not Boil or it will separate.
Remove from heat and serve hot over baked salmon wellington.

PASTRY
Full recipe                                                                   Half Recipe
5 cups all-purpose flour                                             2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp. salt                                                                   1 tsp. salt
1 egg                                                                           1 egg
1 lb. shortening                                                           ½ lb. shortening
4 tbsp. white wine vinegar or cider vinegar                2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 cup ice water                                                           ½ cup ice water
1 tbsp. brown sugar                                                    1 tsp. brown sugar
1.     Mix together flour, salt and brown sugar. Whisk together to remove the lumps.
2.    Cut up shortening into small cubes, return to cooler to keep cold.
3.    Add vinegar and egg to liquid measure cup. Beat with a fork.
4.    Add enough ice cold water to egg/vinegar mixture to make a total of 1 cup of liquid.
5.    Place measured dry ingredients in a large bowl if mixing by hand.
6.    Add shortening and with a knife or a pastry blender start cutting the shortening in to the flour until all the shortening is dime size and mealy.

Miriam's Time Saving Tip If using a stand mixer in pastry making do not multi task. Stay at the mixer and pulse the machine on and off until the flour and shortening are slightly mixed but not totally combined. There should still be big size chunks of shortening (mealy) showing and plenty of loose flour. Do not try to incorporate every bit of flour as you may end up over working the pastry and it will be tough and not flaky.
7.     Add liquid to mixing bowl and with a fork mix liquid in. Do not over mix at this stage or your pastry will be tough. Gently form into a ball with your hand.
8.    Roll dough up into a disc and wrap in parchment paper and then in a clean plastic bag and store in cooler until needed.
Miriam's Time Saving Tip Making this pastry ahead is a great time saver. It keeps well for over a week in the fridge as long as it is wrapped well. After making pies freeze the remaining pastry for use later.







[i] IQF individually quick frozen
[ii] Presentation side down refers to placing the most attractive side of the salmon (non skin side) down so that when you turn the wellington over on a baking sheet, the salmon is baked with the best side up 

Monday, August 6, 2012

Marty’s Summer Nicoise Salad


Recipe Title:  Marty’s Summer Nicoise Salad

Original Recipe By: Marty Dobbin

Recorded and adapted by: Miriam Borys

Ingredients:

SALAD
25 new potatoes – not peeled
5 eggs – hard cooked
30 grape tomatoes
3 stalks – celery
2 corn on cob
1 cup green beans or asparagus
1 small red onion
1 jar capers (small) - drained
1 shallot
½ cup basil – fresh
Butter lettuce – one head
salt & cracked pepper to taste

SALAD DRESSING
½ cup evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
¼ cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp. grainy Dijon
Cook and cool potatoes, eggs, corn and beans (or asparagus). Peel eggs, dice in ¼’s. Cut potatoes in half. Remove corn from the cob.
Dice celery, onion, shallot, basil. Cut grape tomatoes in half.
In a large bowl add diced vegetables, basil, eggs, potatoes, corn, and drained capers.
Add salt & pepper and toss well and store in fridge until service time.
Wash & spin butter lettuce dry and keep cold until service time.
Make dressing and set aside until service time.
5 minutes before service time pour dressing on cold salad and toss well.
Serve on a bed of crisp butter lettuce.







                                                                                                                                              

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Lemon Meringue Cream Pie


Recipe Title:  Lemon Meringue Cream Pie (made at the Greenlake cabin in the Cariboo)

By: Miriam Borys

Ingredients:

PASTRY (enough pastry for 4-5 pie shells)

5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 lb. shortening
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar or white vinegar
1 cup ice water
1 tbsp. brown sugar

1.     Mix together flour, salt and brown sugar. Whisk together to remove the lumps.
2.    Cut up shortening into small cubes, return to cooler to keep cold.
3.    Add vinegar and egg to liquid measure cup. Beat with a fork.
4.    Add enough ice cold water to egg/vinegar mixture to make a total of 1 cup of liquid.
5.    Place measured dry ingredients in a large bowl if mixing by hand.
6.    Add shortening and with a knife or a pastry blender start cutting the shortening in to the flour until all the shortening is dime size and mealy.

Miriam's Time Saving Tip If using a stand mixer in pastry making do not multi-task. Stay at the mixer and pulse the machine on and off until the flour and shortening are slightly mixed but not totally combined. There should still be big size chunks of shortening showing and plenty of loose flour. Do not be alarmed at this because if you go too far at this stage you will ruin the pastry.
7.     Add liquid to mixing bowl and with a fork mix liquid in. Do not over mix at this stage or your pastry will be tough. Gently form into a ball with your hand.
8.    Roll dough up into a disc and wrap in parchment paper and then in a clean plastic bag and store in cooler until needed.
Miriam's Time Saving Tip Making this pastry ahead is a great time saver. It keeps well for over a week in the fridge as long as it is wrapped well. After making pies freeze the remaining pastry for use later.


LEMON CREAM FILLING 

Servings: 2 pies

2 cups sugar
5 tbsp. flour[i]
½ tsp. salt
3 cups water
5 egg yolks
5 lemons – zest & juice         
5 egg whites
1 tsp. cream of tartar
¼ cup white sugar

Roll out pastry and line 2 pie plates with pastry.
Dock[ii] the pastry with a sharp knife to make multiple pin holes.
Blind bake (without filling) in a hot oven (400 degrees) for 12 minutes until pastry is golden brown. (If you have more than 2 pie plates place an extra pie plate inside each pastry lined pie plate and weigh each down with 4 forks. This weighs down the pastry so it stays flat)
On the stove in a stainless steel pot add sugar and flour. Whisk together and add water and salt.
Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, to the boil.
Continue to cook for 5 minutes while stirring.
Meanwhile, separate egg yolks from whites ensuring that no yolk gets into the whites.
Whisk yolks together. Slowly drizzle a small amount of the hot sugar syrup into yolks to temper[iii] the egg yolks.  
Add tempered egg yolks to hot sugar mixture and continue to whisk and cook.
Cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and add lemon juice, zest and butter.
Allow to cool slightly before adding lemon filling to baked and cooled pie shell.
Whip egg whites. Slowly add 5 tbsp. white sugar and cream of tartar.
Pile on top of lemon filled pies and bake in hot oven 425 degrees until meringue is golden brown (approximately 2 minutes)
Remove from oven and cool before serving.









[i] I have used flour only in this pie filling because we did not have corn starch at the cabin. If you have corn starch available, reduce the flour to 4 tbsp. and add 2 tbsp. cornstarch to the white sugar mixture.
[ii] To dock the pastry you would take a sharp knife, skewer and lightly piercing the base of the pastry to stop air bubbles from forming which would result in an uneven pie shell.
[iii] Tempering refers to the process of slowly raising the temperature of an ingredient without causing it to cook or coagulate as in tempering egg yolks before using.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Maggie’s Summer Tomato Garlic Pasta


Recipe Title:  Maggie’s Summer Tomato Garlic Pasta (another delicious recipe from  Greenlake in the heart of the Cariboo)

Original recipe by: Maggie Dickey
Recorded by: Miriam Borys
Yield: 4-5 portions

Ingredients:

TOMATO GARLIC SAUCE
5-6 ripe tomatoes - diced
4 lemons - juiced
½ cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic – diced
1 cup basil – fresh, diced chiffonade[i]
Chili flakes – optional ½ tsp.
Salt & pepper

PRAWN MIXTURE
Prawns – 1 bag frozen or 12 large prawns
3 tbsp. olive oil
¼ c sundried tomatoes
1 lemon – juice & zest
1 pkg. pasta (375g) of choice

In a medium bowl combine diced tomatoes, juice of 4 lemons, olive oil, garlic, basil, & seasoning.
Mix well and allow this to marinate to sit at room temperature for a minimum of 2 hours.
Cook pasta to el dente in a large pot (cast iron works well).
While pasta is cooking, heat up sundried tomatoes, 2 cloves garlic, juice & zest of 1 lemon, and chili flakes in a sauté pan.
When pasta is el dente, drain pasta and immediately return drained pasta to cooking pot.
Add prawns to sundried tomato mixture and sauté prawns until just pink (1 -2 minutes)
Add tomato marinade and prawn mixture to hot pasta.
Toss pasta so that the tomato garlic sauce and prawns are mixed in.
Serve hot.



[i] [i] Chiffonade is a cooking technique in which herbs or leafy green vegetables (such as spinach and basil) are cut into long, thin strips. This is generally accomplished by stacking leaves, rolling them tightly, then cutting across the rolled leaves with a sharp knife, producing fine ribbons