Cooking Uncovered plus MORE with Miriam : June 2015

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

too-hot-to-cook easy and tasty Salad for 2

Summer is here and it is too hot to turn on the stove or the oven. This tossed salad is easy, quick and perfect for a hot summers day. To add protein use up the left over chicken or salmon, or open a can of tuna. Happy summer everyone! Please click here to go to my original salad video.

(published first in Dec. 2013 on http://cookinguncovered.blogspot.ca/2013/12/individual-green-salad-with-chilli.html)

By: Miriam Borys

Yield: 2 salads

Ingredients:

1 large tomato

1 cup of bell peppers - your choice (in this

recipe I use yellow, red and orange bell

peppers which are so tasty

1/2 cucumber

4-6 olives - green sicilian

3/4 package (5oz. package) of Herb Blend

Salad Mix or lettuce of choice

4 basil leaves - fresh

Chilli Dijon Dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white balsamic or wine vinegar

1/2 red chilli (or more if you like it hotter)

3 drops of hot sauce

1 tsp. dijon mustard

salt & pepper

Wash & dice bell peppers, cucumber & tomatoes of choice. (peeling not necessary if using an english cucumber)

Wash basil leaves and cut chiffonade

Chop up 4 sicilian green olives. Use 2 olives per salad.

On a dinner plate arrange salad greens of choice.

Top with diced tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and fresh basil.

In a bowl measure out the vinegar and olive oil.

Add the diced hot chillis, salt & pepper, hot sauce and mustard.

Whisk until emulsified.

Spoon dressing over salad and add roasted chicken if desired. Enjoy!

Chef Miriam Little Borys, B.Ed., MA.
'Cooking Uncovered'
http://www.youtube.com/user/mlborys?feature=mhee
blog: www.cookinguncovered.blogspot.com
Website: www.miriamborys.com

How to pit an Avocado & Easy-Make Guacamole

Please follow this link to view a quick demo of removing the pit of an avocado and how to remove the delicious flesh when making easy Guacamole.

For a complete recipe for guacamole please follow this link to the recipe in this blog.http://cookinguncovered.blogspot.ca/2013/04/guacamole.html

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Children Baking in Vernon...can't get any better!

Happiness is...

There is nothing more enjoyable than being in the kitchen with children who are so eager to learn, bake, and to eat cookies. These chocolava cookies (click here to go to the recipe) are easy and tasty and perfect for children wanting to bake. At the end of the mixing the dough gets a little hard to handle so we helped out with that part. We used teaspoons to portion out the cookies ....the goal is to have all cookies the same size so that they all bake at the same rate.

Today's young bakers... Tristyn, Carson & Jaida

Tristan reading the recipe out loud while we organize our ingredients.

Halle says "Mommy, when is it my turn?"

carefully measuring all the dry ingredients

Jaida measures the flour correctly

Carson measuring the vanilla

Carson's turn to mix the cookie dough

Before we start scooping the cookies to bake we watch the video of Carl scooping the cookies and rolling them in icing sugar (click here to go directly to that video on YouTube)

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Chocolava Cookies....so good...one is not enough!

Cocoa doesn't get any better so please click on this link to go to my YouTube video of this recipe.

These cookies are really easy to make and you don't need commercial baking equipment to get
perfect results. Using room temperature butter really allows the batter to be mixed by hand or with a mixer. If the cookie dough looks dry, do not worry as this is the way the batter is. The egg whites give these cookies enough moisture and they allow for the crispness on the outside while being soft and chewy on the inside. Without a doubt one of the tastiest cookies for children and adults alike. They were a big hit at my sister's, Marie-Terese and brother-in-law's, Kevin's garden party in Metchosin this past weekend.

Yield 44 cookies (this recipe can easily be cut in half to make less cookies)

2 2/3 cups all purpose white flour

2 cups white sugar

2/3 cups brown sugar

1 1/4 cups cocoa

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter - room temperature

5 egg whites

3 tsp. vanilla

2 cups icing sugar - reserve for dusting the scooped cookies

Into a large bowl or a mixer bowl sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa. There is usually unwanted lumps in the flour, baking powder and cocoa hence the reason for sifting. I use a wire mess strainer for this.

Add brown sugar and salt and mix well.

Add butter to the dry ingredients and mix the butter in until it disappears.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and save the yolks for another recipe.

Now add egg whites and vanilla and mix until the cookie dough becomes wet and almost comes together.

Don't be surprised if the dough looks a little dry. This is normal but it comes together when you start to scoop the cookies.

Pre-heat oven to 350° (176° C).

Place sifted icing sugar into a bowl. Roll dough into small balls or scoop with a small portion scoop as seen in the video and roll in powdered sugar to coat completely until the cookie is white.

Place white cookies 1 1/2 inches apart on a cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes in a pre-heated oven. The goal is to have the cookies soft on the inside and done on the outside.

After removing the cookies form the oven allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet to set. Transfer to cooling rack or a large platter to cool.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Garden Party in Metchosin on a perfect June Saturday.

A perfect day for a Garden Party at Marie-Terese and Kevin's beautiful acreage in Metchosin.
We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day; the weather cooperated, the garden was spectacular, the treats were delicious (recipes to follow), the guests were delightful and the music superb!
Thank you to Kevin, Marie-Terese and Sophia-Kathryn for hosting this lovely gathering in such a perfect spot.