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The following two appetizer recipes are courtesy of my friend, food consultant and food stylist Yvonne Tremblay. Either (or both!) would be a flavourful addition to your New Year’s Eve menu.
In the weeks before Christmas, Yvonne was busy doing TV interviews/cooking demonstrations as a media spokesperson for Mushrooms Canada. One of the recipes she was demonstrating was Bacon, Walnut and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms. I was the lucky recipient of some of the leftover filling one day and promptly went home to stuff a few mushrooms.
Bacon, Walnut and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
(Makes 32 appetizers)
3 strips of cooked crisp bacon
1/2 container (250 g) spreadable herbed cream cheese
1/2 cup (125 mL) coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
32 fresh medium mushroom caps
Paprika
Crumble bacon (about 2 tbsp /25 mL) into a small bowl; mix in cheese and walnuts until well blended. Stuff each mushroom with about 1-½ tsp (7 mL) of mixture. Place on baking sheet; sprinkle with paprika. Broil just until the tops are browned slightly and filling is warm, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Tip:
* To toast walnuts, heat in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly until browned slightly, about 3 to 5 minutes. Cool.
Nutritional Information: Per Stuffed Mushroom: 29 Calories, 0.9 g Carbohydrate, 1 g Protein, 2.5 g Fat, 0.4 g Fibre
Recipe Source: mushrooms. ca
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I’ve been asked whether Cocoa enjoyed the canned gourmet turkey dinner and apple crumble dessert I bought him as a Christmas treat. (See post on Dec. 21st.) Simply put, he devoured both courses!
I had to endure much howling and carrying on from him while I prepared his dinner (i.e. opened the cans and scooped the food into his bowl!). He could sense something special was coming. That I made him pose for a picture before he was allowed to dive into his dinner only accelerated his howling!
Since Cocoa usually gets dry dog food, he regards wet food such as this “turkey delight” as a special treat. He didn’t come up for air until the bowl was licked clean!
Yesterday was a bittersweet day for me.
Thirteen years of writing the Creative Cooking column for The Record ended with my farewell column. For the last few years, the column has also been published in the Guelph Mercury.
To read my farewell Creative Cooking column published in both newspapers yesterday, please scroll up to the top of my blog and click on the Creative Cooking Columns page. To view the photo of the Brownie Pops that accompanied the column, please visit my column on The Record’s website (link included on Creative Cooking Columns page above).
This is an easy shredded cabbage salad you can make in less than 5 minutes. I took full advantage of its simplicity a few days before Christmas. Enroute to work one day, I suddenly remembered we were having a staff potluck lunch. What to do? I could stop at a grocery store and pick up a prepared salad, or the ingredients for a green salad or a coleslaw. I opted for the latter. After a hasty stop, I had the necessary ingredients for this creamy, crunchy, quick colelaw.
Buying a package of pre-shredded green and red cabbage and carrots took most of the work out of this salad. Of course, you can shred your own cabbage if you wish. Count on needing about 4 cups (1 L) or a medium head of cabbage.
I chose a green apple because it made for a festive-looking salad with the red cranberries. Of course, you can use whatever type of apple you wish, or have on hand. For flavour, I prefer a Honeycrisp, Crispin or Granny Smith apple.
The store I stopped at didn’t have plain dried cranberries, just orange-flavoured sweetened dried cranberries. The citrus flavour turned out to be a nice complement to the apples and poppyseed dressing.
The amount of each ingredient needed is really up to you and your taste preferences.
If you wish, toss in a handful of toasted walnuts.
Quick Coleslaw with Apple and Cranberries
(Makes 6 to 8 servings)
1 pkg (l lb/454 g) coleslaw mix
1 large apple, cored and diced
Prepared poppyseed dressing, to taste
Handful of dried cranberries
In a medium bowl, combine coleslaw mix, apple, poppyseed dressing and cranberries. Toss to blend ingredients. Adjust amount of dressing, if necessary.
Serve immediately, or better yet, refrigerate for an hour to blend flavours.
Set another place at the table this Christmas. Well, maybe under the table.
You can now invite your canine companion to share turkey dinner with you. He’ll have some pretty tasty fixin’s – a gourmet meal consisting of an entree of extra meaty turkey and cranberry dressing, and apple crumble for dessert. My pooch will be impressed considering he gets the same dry dog food day in and day out.
The meal, a President’s Choice product I recently found in my local Superstore (therefore likely found in all stores within the Loblaws chain), comes in a package that contains two cans of both entree and dessert. It sold for $2.99.
Season’s Eatings from Wendi and Cocoa!
Yes, this crunchy chocolatey toffee treat is full of sugar and highly addictive, but it’s so easy to make, and it will bring a smile to your face after one bite. And it will win you rave reviews. It’s a recipe that has been around for years and it goes by a few different names. I’m not sure where it originated. I’ve made pans of it over the years and often use it for gifting. It’s a perfect sweet treat to present to someone you want to give a little something to, like a co-worker, teacher or the host/hostess at the next dinner party you go to.
To give, break up the crunchy brittle and layer it in a pretty tin or a cellophane bag. If you wish, first line the tin with tissue or parchment paper. You’ll likely be asked for a copy of the recipe so why not give it as part of the gift!
Chocolate Toffee Crunch
(Makes one 10 x 15-inch (25 x 30 cm) baking pan)
Approximately 40 soda crackers (about 1 sleeve of crackers)
1 cup (250 mL) butter
1 cup (250 mL) brown sugar
1-1/2 to 2 cups (375 to 500 mL) semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 to 1 cup (175 to 250 mL) chopped nuts (optional)
Line a 10 x 15-inch (25 x 30 cm) baking pan with aluminum foil so the foil extends up the sides up the pan slightly; wrap excess foil over edges. Cover pan completely with crackers, trimming to fit if necessary. You should have 5 rows of about 8 crackers each.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add brown sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil; boil for 3 minutes without stirring. Carefully pour hot mixture over crackers. Tilt pan (again, carefully!) to spread mixture evenly over all the crackers.
Bake in a preheated 350F (180C) oven for 15 minutes (mixture will be bubbling all over). Carefully remove pan from oven. If crackers have shifted a little, use a fork to quickly poke them back into position.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let stand for a few minutes until the chips are shiny and look soft, then gently spread melted chips over entire surface with the back of a spoon. If desired, sprinkle nuts over chocolate and press down lightly.
Let stand or chill until firm. Cut or break into pieces and store in a covered container. Can be frozen.
TIPS: I’ve also baked this at 375F (190C) for 5 or 6 minutes with great results. The butter/sugar mixture should be bubbling all over.
VARIATION: Graham crackers can be substituted for soda crackers. You will need about 4 rows of 6 (square) crackers or 12 double crackers. Top with mini marshmallows instead of or in addition to nuts, if you wish. After sprinkling marshmallows on top, pop the pan into the oven for 30 seconds to a minute to soften marshmallows. Then lightly spread with the back of a spoon creating a marbled effect. Top with nuts, if desired.
The moment the roof collapsed, I knew it was all over. My career as a builder of marshmallow igloos, that is.
The writing had probably been on the wall of the igloo project from the start. (Too bad there weren’t support beams there as well!) I had initially started out using sugar cubes as the building blocks, but for a variety of reasons that had just not worked out.
When the idea to use marshmallows occurred, it seemed to make logical sense. The shape and appearance of the marshmallows would be perfect, I naively assumed. In fact, that was true. It was building the darn thing where the problems surfaced.
Need some muffins for a holiday brunch? These Orange and Date Muffins not only taste good, but they can be made pretty quickly because all the wet ingredients get blended together in the food processor. And, if you tell your guests a whole orange, peel included, was used to make them, you may start an interesting discussion of odd ways foods have been used in cooking and baking over the years.
Over the years, cakes have been made with a variety of foods one might not think of as typical baking ingredients. Sauerkraut, condensed tomato soup, mayonnaise and beets come to mind. I’m dating myself but I also recall Ritz crackers being used to make apple pie, shredded zucchini masquerading as crushed pineapple in jello, and 7-Up used to marinate and glaze meat. In most cases, only the cook knew what had gone into the recipe.
You’re welcome to share the secret in this muffin recipe!
Orange and Date Muffins
(Makes 12 muffins)
1 large orange, washed and unpeeled
1/2 cup (125 mL) orange juice
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped dates
1 egg
1/2 cup (125 mL) butter or margarine, cut up
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking powder
3/4 cup (175 mL) sugar
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) salt
Cut orange into chunks and remove seeds. Place chunks in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add juice, dates, egg and butter; process until blended.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt. Pour orange mixture over flour mixture; stir just until blended. Divide batter between 12 lightly greased or paper-lined muffin cups.
Bake in a preheated 400F (200C) oven until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Let muffins cool on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before removing them from the pan.
Welcome fellow food lovers!
Here’s my recipe for a new food blog…..
FoodWise Blogger Pie
(This recipe should be enjoyed frequently by anyone who loves to eat and those who like to talk about what they love to eat.)
1 foodie who fancies herself a writer
2 cups desire to share food news and views and recipes
2 cups passion for (almost) all things edible
2 cups healthy appetite
1 cup curiosity
1 cup culinary knowledge
1 cup cooking expertise
1 cup writing experience
2 tablespoons humour
Pinch of insanity (for starting a blog!)
1 blog
Commitment
Chocolate (because everything tastes better with chocolate!)
In a small but adequately equipped kitchen, combine foodie with desire, passion, appetite and curiosity. Stir in knowledge, cooking expertise and writing experience until well blended. Season with humour; add insanity to taste. Let marinate until ingredients are well blended. Pour into blog. Bake until edges are golden brown, centre is cooked through and pie is easy to digest.
Serve garnished with a generous dollop of commitment and a drizzle of chocolate.
Pie serves as many as desired. Any leftovers can be stored and served again the next day. Flavour improves upon standing.
