Monday, September 24, 2012

Tiramisu with Chocolate Wafers

Tiramisu ( a little bit more healthy version)

Serves 6-8

By: Miriam Borys

Ingredients:

5 yolks
1/2   cup white sugar
¼ cup Philadelphia spreadable cream cheese or ¼ cup mascarpone cheese (both optional)
5 egg whites
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
500ml whipping cream
1 tbsp.  Icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup vanilla yogurt – Greek style (thick)
1 pkg. (200 g) Mr. Christie's Chocolate Wafers
½ pkg. ladyfinger biscuits (100G)
1 cup hot espresso coffee
1 T cocoa powder

Prep:
1.     Whip 5 egg whites, ¼ cup sugar and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Hold in another bowl.
2.    In a bowl on top of a double boiler (bain marie) soften cream cheese.
3.    Add ¼ cup sugar & combine until smooth.
4.    Add 5 egg yolks and cook while whisking constantly until mixture starts to thicken. (do not cook eggs). When mixture has thickened take off heat and hold to cool.
5.    Whip whipping cream together with vanilla and icing sugar. Whip until soft peaks form.
6.    Make coffee and pour into a shallow bowl. Dissolve cocoa in coffee. Set aside for assembly.

Assembly:
7.    Stir cold yogurt & cooled egg yolk mixture into whipped cream. Stir only until combined.
8.    Gently fold in egg whites just until blended.
9.    Start layering:
a.     Start with coffee soaked lady fingers on the bottom of your cup/dish
b.    Spoon egg/ cream mixture on top of lady fingers
c.     place a single layer of chocolate wafers on top of egg/cream mixture
d.    spoon another small portion if the egg mixture onto wafer careful not to dirty the outside rim of your bowl
e.    one more layer of chocolate wafers
f.     Top with egg & cream mixture
g.    Decorate the top of the tiramisu with half-moons of chocolate wafers

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Chicken Vegetable Soup with Brown Rice & Cilantro

Recipe Title:  Chicken Vegetable Soup with Brown Rice &Cilantro (click here to go directly to my YouTube video of this recipe)

Original Recipe By:  Miriam Borys

Servings: 4

 
Ingredients:
1 T  coconut oil
2 T olive oil
½ yellow onion – diced
4 fillets of anchovies
½ small zucchini – diced
½ red pepper
3 stalks celery
1 small yam – peeled and diced
1 ½ cups new potatoes – cut in ¼’s
1 tsp. bouillon of choice
8 c  chicken stock *  see video ‘how to make stock at home’
½ cup brown rice (optional but delicious)
1 c fresh cilantro – add to soup pot just before service

Procedure:

Heat a large sauce pan.  Add oils & continue to heat to a medium.
Add diced onion, anchovies, celery, red pepper, zucchini, yam and sauté until onions are transparent.
Add bouillon, chicken stock, potatoes, brown rice and herbs of choice.
Cover and bring up to the boil.
Uncovered, and reduce the heat to low so that the soup simmers for approximately 25 minutes.
Just before service, add 1 cup of chopped fresh cilantro (optional but delicious).
Serve hot with crackers or fresh bread or with nothing at all because this soup is delicious on its own


                                                                                                                                                

Chicken Stock at home from a leftover chicken bones



Original Recipe By:  Miriam Borys

Servings: makes almost 4L of chicken stock (16 cups)

Ingredients:
2 chicken carcasses (small) chicken removed
3 cups      diced onion
1 ½ cups   diced celery
1 ½ cups   diced carrots
6 black peppercorns
3 bay leafs
Optional:  fresh thyme, rosemary or oregano
5-6 L COLD water (enough to cover the vegetables)

Procedure:
Wash and chop vegetables  
Add chicken, vegetables, bay leaf, & peppercorns to the cold water. Make sure the cold water covered all the ingredients.
Bring up to the boiling point. Immediately turn down and simmer for 1 ½ hours. Skim off any impurities off the top of the stock but do not disturb the stock.
Cool & strain to preserve the liquid stock. Discard the cooked vegetables and chicken bones.

Principles of Stock Making[i]
Start with cold water that covers all the ingredients
Simmer stock gently
Do not cover
Skim off any impurities that rise to the top but do not stir
Strain carefully
Cool quickly

                                                                                                                                             


[i] Labensky et al, ‘On Cooking A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals’ Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006

Monday, September 10, 2012

A true Canadian pie story




Sophia & her winning pie



Imagine if you will a delicious pie recipe created in Saskatchewan in the 1950’s by Maggie’s Mom (Helen Patterson), being resurrected in Green Lake (1/2 an hour south east of 100 Mile House) this summer (2012) and just this weekend the same recipe winning a pie competition at the Metchosin Day Fall Fair 60 years later.  Sophia, my niece, decided to enter the pie contest at the local country fair. With the help of my Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie video and blog she made the pastry and the strawberry only filling (no fresh rhubarb available) and with her mom’s help (my sister Marie-Térèse) packaged it carefully up and headed for the fair. And this is the result of her baking efforts as told by her mom in an email;
Sophia received 3 ribbons for her Strawberry Sour Cream Pie at the Metchosin Day Fall Fair Pie competition today.

1. Best pie in category of entrants 11 years old and under
2. Best Berry Pie
And...
3. Grand Prize (big blue ribbon) best in show -for the best of all pies in
any category.

Sophia modified her Auntie Miriam's Rhubarb sour cream pie recipe from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmnGLFoVO1s


Ask me is I am the proudest Auntie in the world?  Congratulations Sophia…job well done!

Monday, September 3, 2012

What's cooking in September?

Alexandra with her first ever 'Hali'

Can you believe it is September already and the kiddies go back to school tomorrow September 4th...Yikes!!!!  That means that I am back to school as well. But, I have some amazing recipes to share with you in September that will help the transition between summer and fall. How about a very garlicky Caesar dressing or a luscious pasta sauce to use up the fresh tomatoes and zucchini. To keep up with the change in the temperature ….yes it is getting really cold in North Vancouver at night… I have some delicious soups on the back burner and  …for all you fish fans how does Hali Ceviche or BBQ’d  Hali sound (Hali is fishing lodge talk for Halibut). My daughter Alexandra is up in the Haida Gwaii ("Islands of the People"), unofficially the Queen Charlotte Islands, working at the floating West Coast Fishing Resort….hopefully she won’t forget the fish when she returns home!