Guacamole and Salsa Fresca

Guacamole and Salsa Fresca

Guacamole has got to be the ultimate dip. Even better than hummus. Who doesn't like the creamy buttery texture of an avocado? Though, the best part of an avocado is the texture and not the taste. So make sure you mix some wonderful flavours into it.

ingredients:

3-4 avocados

1 tomato
1/2 red onion
1/2 lemon
pinch of salt
2 cloves of garlic

1 tomato
1/2 white onion
handful of cilantro

1/2 jalapeno

salt
pepper

directions:

1. Mash avocados with a hand masher, or a fork if you don't have one. Or any blunt object would do. Mix in chopped tomatoes, red onion, and crushed garlic. Sprinkle with salt, and squeeze in some lemon juice. You can also use lime juice, I just find lemon isn't as bitter and is a little more sweet. Stir the works altogether.

2. Chop tomatoes, white onion, cilantro, and jalapeno (chop it really tiny). The jalapeno is optional for some heat. Mix in a bowl. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper. If you want, you could add some oil and vinegar too it. But I think this way is much more fresh tasting.

Mountain Dew Pancakes

Mountain Dew Pancakes

Once upon a time I received some free mountain dew at an event, and I wanted to cook something fun for it. So I searched online, and the best idea I could come up with what mountain dew pancakes. I pretty much substituted mountain dew instead of water with an instant pancake mix. The results were interesting!

ingredients:

1 cup mountain dew
2 cups bisquick pancake mix

2 eggs
butter

maple syrup

whipped cream
sugar
mint

directions:

1. Mix bisquick, mountain dew, and 2 eggs into a bowl. If you want, you can replace the eggs with bananas if you want to make them vegan.

2. Heat a frying pan or griddle, add some butter, and cook the pancakes on it. Turn the pancake when it starts to form bubbles and its a golden brown on the one side.

3. Top with maple syrup. Whipped cream from a can, or make it fresh. (cream + sugar + hand mixer or stand mixer)

Pear, Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onions, Prosciutto, Walnuts, Mozzarella Cheese Pizza with Arugula Salad

Pear, Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onions, Prosciutto, Walnuts, Mozzarella Cheese Pizza 
with Arugula Salad

This is possibly the best pizza I have ever had. Pear is one of the most underrated fruits, and tastes amazing on pizza. If you have never tried it before, you should! And this pizza recipe is your chance.

ingredients:

dough
blue cheese
caramelized onion
prosciutto
walnuts
mozzarella
pear
olive oil
pepper
cornmeal
arugula

directions:

pizza dough:

1. Fill a mixing bowl with 1-1 and 1/4 cups of warm water in a bowl.

2. Add 1 tbsp of active dry yeast. Add 1 tbsp of brown sugar, or white sugar if you feel the yeast is old. It will help activate the yeast and give it something to "eat". Let stand for about 10 minutes until white frothy bubbles are on top. Add in 1 tbsp of oil (though probably optional) and 1/2-1 tsp of salt.

3. Mix in 3 cups of flour. You can add more flour if its too sticky. Kneed dough on a flat surface covered with flour. Add more flour to the surface as needed. Maybe kneed for at least 10-15 minutes. Until the dough no longer sticks together on your hand.

4. Form the dough into a ball and coat with olive oil. Put in a covered container in a warm place. Warm is key. I sometimes run the oven for a little while, and then turn the oven off and put it in a pot. Let it sit for at least one hour. Two hours works too. The Longer the better. The dough should double in size.

5. Punch the dough, and cut in half. This pizza recipe will make two pizzas.

6. Oil a pizza pan with butter or margarine. And dust it with cornmeal. The cornmeal will adhere to the grease. And then spread out the dough on the pan.

7. Top pizza with olive oil, pepper, mozzarella cheese, sliced pear, prosciutto, walnuts, caramelized onions, and crumbled blue cheese. Cook in an oven at 400 F for about 30 minutes. Or until the top gets golden brown.

8. Eat with a arugula salad, or top the pizza with arugula after it comes out of the oven.

Crusted Tilapia, Bed of Coleslaw, Roasted Beets and Potatoes

Crusted Tilapia, Bed of Coleslaw, Roasted Beets and Potatoes

The crust is only on the top. I hate when fish gets soggy on the bottom. There is also a sauce under the crust of yogurt, lemon, cayenne, honey, dijon mustard, salt and pepper

ingredients:

tilapia
bread crumbs
eggs
salt
pepper
flour
cabbage
mayo
vinegar
beets

Butter Chicken with Cucumber, Mint and Pineapple Salad

Butter Chicken with Cucumber. Mint and Pineapple Salad

Butter chicken has to be the most famous Indian dishes outside of India. But from what I've heard it's not actually called Butter Chicken there... or at least parts of India, but either way it's a yummy dish and I don't care. Butter Chicken is probably best with boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you could also use chicken breast if you want to be healthier.

ingredients:

1 - 1/2 pound chicken thighs
1/4-1/2 cup cream
tomato paste or 1 can diced tomatoes

1 onion
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
pinch of salt
1/4-1/2 cup butter

1/4-1/2 cup yogurt

1 cucumber
handful of fresh mint
1/2 a pineapple

directions:

1. Mix yogurt with cayenne, cumin, salt, pepper. Cover this yogurt mixture on to the chicken thighs. Then bake chicken thighs in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

2. Chop up onions, and sautee them in a frying pan until they start to get caramelized. Then toss in your cayenne, cumin, curry powder, coriander into the onions and cook for a few minutes to reinvigorate your spices. Toss in some tomato paste, or canned tomatoes, and cook down until tomatoes seem cook. Transfer mixture to a food processor, or blender, or use a hand blender, and blend til smooth.

3. Mix in some cream and butter until the mixture to help make it creamy and velvety. Then put in your cooked chicken thighs and let them cook out a little more in the sauce.

4. Serve butter chicken over rice. And a great salad to accompany it would be some chopped pineapple, cucumber and mint. Dress is with a little vinaigrette or keep it plain.

Hungarian Chicken Meatballs with Raw Zucchini Salad

I think the only that makes these meatballs Hungarian is there is paprika in the sauce. Zucchini salad was amazing! So fresh and crisp.

Pork Tenderloin with Mango Compote, Parsnip Puree and Brussel Sprouts

The pork tenderloin was marinated with lime juice and zest, honey, salt, garlic powder and chipotle chilies. The parsnip puree could maybe have used some potatoes. Overall amazing though thank you Alton Brown!

Beef Stew with St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout

Beef Stew with St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout

If you don't cook beef stew with either red wine, or an amber or dark beer, than you should. For this stew, I used the St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout. It gave it a dark deep rich flavour. Cooking with this beer gave it tastes of espresso and chocolate, which gave the stew another dimension.

ingredients:

2 pounds stew beef
2 carrots
2-3 celery stalks
1 onion

3 poatoes (skin on or off)
1 container of beef stock, or beef bouillon cube

handful of frozen peas

1-2 bay leaf

3 tbsp flour
salt
pepper

1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 bottle of dark or amber beer

directions:

1. Cut stewing beef into cubes. About 1-2 inches thick. Just make sure they are an even size and will cook at the same rate. Chop vegetables into similar sized pieces and set aside.

2. Dredge the beef in a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper. And heat some oil in a large pot. Once the pot is hot, put in the beef to get a sear on the outside of the beef. Flip around until there is a brown crust forming on all sides of the beef.

3. Next, drop in your potatoes, and pour in your beef stock. This is also when you can pour in your beer, and your vinegar. The vinegar will help break down the beef and make it more tender. I'm not going to put in the other vegetables yet because I don't want those to become overcooked. But I don't mind if the potatoes are mushy. If you want firmer potatoes, put them in with the rest of the vegetables later. Bring to a boil, and then simmer.

4. Simmer the beef in the broth for at least 30 minutes on its own. After 30 minutes, you can add the onions, celery, and carrots to the stew. Also add 1-2 bay leafs. And cover the pot again.

5. Continue to simmer the stew covered for another 30 minutes. At this point you can pull out your bay leafs. And drop in your frozen peas which should cook quite quickly, which is way we save them for last.

6. After a few minutes the beef stew should be done, and ready to serve. Best eaten with bread.

Kale and White Bean Soup

Kale and White Bean Soup

I have totally gotten into kale lately thanks to my friend Tara who kept telling me to make Kale Chips, and man they are so delicious! The broth of this soup I felt had a lot of layers and substance for a veggie soup.

ingredients:

1 can of navy beans, or cannellini beans, or white kidney beans

big handful of kale
tomato
onion
veggie stock
garlic
salt
pepper

directions:

1. Caramelize onions in a large pot. Once caramelized, throw in some chopped tomato, and garlic. Stir and mix with the onions. Season with salt and pepper. After a few minutes pour in 1 container of veggie stock, or use veggie boullion cubes.

2. Drop in the white bean of your choice into the soup. You could mash some of the beans first, to give more texture to the broth of the soup, and then drop the rest in whole. Then add lots of fresh chopped kale. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, to make sure everything is cooked through and give the flavours of the soup a chance to meld.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I always wanted to roast some peppers and peel the skin off. Had seen it done way too many times on TV that I had to try it. It was surprisingly easy. And delicious!