Christmas Dinner 2013

Christmas Dinner 2013

By far this year's Christmas has been the most memorable thus far, mostly due to the ice storm that hit most of Southern Ontario three days before Christmas. On Saturday night freezing rain poured down on the city from morning til night and into the next morning leaving Toronto in a sheet of ice reeking havoc on the electricity wires. On Sunday we woke up to a cold, dark and icy city wondering what kind of Christmas is was going to be this year. Thankfully, all of my family received our electricity back before Christmas Eve and our thoughts and prayers were with those who were without. By Christmas Day everything was almost back to normal. The ground was now covered with fresh, fluffy snow creating a winter wonderland. This year, we celebrated Christmas Day at my sister's house and to help out with the preparations we all pitched in on the cooking. Efi was in charge of making the roasts; Turkey and Roast Beef. My Mom and I were responsible for the fixings. My Mom made the stuffing and I cooked up my Festive Green Beans and Winter Roasted Potatoes. For an appetizer I baked up a couple dozen Tres Quesos Empanadas. 

Festival Green Beans

2 lbs fresh green beans
8 cocktail tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
5 slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 tbsp mint
salt 
pepper
canola oil

1. Stem the green beans for 10 minutes. Set aside.

2. In a large wok, saute onions, garlic and tomatoes until tomatoes are softened.

3. Season with mint, salt and pepper. Throw in the green beans and continue sauteing until green beans are coated.

4. Crisp up the bacon in a separate pan, drain and add to the green beans. 

*Serve warm

Winter Roasted Potatoes

3 lbs mini yellow flesh potatoes, quartered
1 red onion, sliced
1 tbsp mince garlic
salt (generous)
pepper
1 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
olive oil
1/3 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 450F.

2. Put all the ingredients in a large roasting pan. Cover with foil and roast for 45 minutes.

3. After 45 minutes uncover the pan, lower the heat to 425F and continue roasting for another 15 minutes to allow the potatoes to slightly crisp up.

Festive Green Beans

Winter Roasted Potatoes

Avocado Oil

Today's favourite ingredient is Avocado Oil. For the past year or so many chefs, health food advocates and doctors alike have been singing the praises of this light, nutty cooking oil that is taking the food lovers on an exciting adventure. Aside from the Avocado Oil health benefits, it is a nice alternative to some more traditional cooking oils such as canola or safflower oil. Since Avocado Oil has a high smoke point it is a better oil to stir fry with then your average canola oil which will prevent the oil from burning which produce toxins that lead to things like heart disease and cancer. Celebrity doctors, such as Dr.Oz recommend adding Avocado Oil to your diet to help promote healthy hearts because it is loaded with antioxidants and is 100% cholesterol free. http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/best-oils-use-your-kitchen

This is all good news for people who want to lead healthy lifestyles but want to continue eating delicious food. The delicate flavour of the Avocado Oil is perfect for a fresh green salad garnished with cilantro or used in a stir fry. A few days ago as I was walking the aisles of one of my favourite stores, I came across this huge bottle. I was surprised that Costco carried this trendy oil and that it was at an affordable price. Only $9.99 for 1 litre of 100% Avocado Oil. Since purchasing this incredibly versatile cooking oil I have used it in a dressing for my traditional Peruvian Avocado Salad - Ensalata de Palto, as a base for my Aji de Gallina and tonight I am using Avocado oil to saute dandelion leaves with green onions and garlic which I am then going to dress with an avgolemono - lemon egg drop.

Jamie Oliver Dips

Every once in a while I come across a new food item that I got excited about. A couple of weeks ago is was my delicious gift of Oaxaca Chocolate courtesy of Mary Luz Mejia. Several months ago it was Skotidakis Jalapeno Yogurt Dip introduced to me by my Mom. My latest find comes from a new line of Jamie Oliver products at Sobey's. The last time I was supplying in Sutton, Ontario I decided to visit the local Sobey's Supermarket on the hunt for Jamie Oliver's assortment of Dips made with Greek Yogurt. On this most auspicious day I was pleasantly surprised to learn that upon purchasing one Jamie Oliver Dip I would receive one package of Satosi Nan Bread. How delightful! I was in supermarket heaven. I love getting freebies. With this great buying incentive I bought not one Jamie Oliver Dip but all three - Italian White Bean Dip, Indian Curry Dahl and Moroccan Hummus. Each dip has its distinct flavour and topped off with a type of relish to compliment each dips main ingredients. The Italian White Bean Dip is complimented with a Sun dried Tomato Relish that gives the buttery flavour of the white beans a nice tang. The Indian Curried Dahl is dressed with a lemon and lime chutney which brings out the spices of the curry and lingers for a while longer on your tongue. I love it! I have never eaten such a unique flavour combination. Since my parents are super amazing I gave them the Moroccan Hummus which was paired with Harisa. The little hit of spice was perfect for my Dad who eats hot chilies like candy. To enjoy my favourite new dips I toasted the Nan Bread and paired my afternoon snack with a small bowl of pimento olives and pickles. Yummm!

Christmas Baking with my Sister

There are a lot of things I love about Christmas. I love the decorations. I love the sharing of time with loved ones. I even love the all Christmas Music Radio Station, CHFI 98.1. But most of all I love creating new traditions or observing old ones. Every Christmas season I use to make Melamakarona with my Mom. Those are traditional Greek spice cookies. This Christmas season my sister, Efi and I started our own Christmas tradition of making a variety of sugar cookies for all to enjoy. I don't usually blog about baking because that is not my forte (perhaps that should be on my resolution list). My sister is the baker in the family. Efi can make almost any type of dessert you can imagine or having a craving for. Hands down I love her cheesecakes; baked and unbaked. Lately she has been making our family birthday cakes putting the professionals cake makers to shame. My sister is a Baking Wizard and I'm glad we got a chance to start this family tradition. Not only did we have a nice time baking the cookies but I learnt something new. I learnt how to make a variety of sugar cookies. We started out with our basic sugar cookie.

Basic Sugar Cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. Combine together.

1 egg
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar

2. Beat in the mixer until smooth

3. Add the dry ingredients a bit at a time until crumbly.

4. Using a spatula get all the dough out of the bowl and form into 7 inch logs. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before cutting.

5. After an hour cut the log into 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch disks and place on a lined baking sheet.

6. Bake for 12 - 16 minutes in a 350F preheated oven.

We decorated our Basic Sugar Cookie with melted chocolate and a variety of nuts. We chose chopped pecans, sliced almonds and shredded coconut.

To change it up a bit we made a few batches of Maple Walnut Sugar Cookies. If you love the taste of maple syrup and walnuts this the cookie for you. The maple syrup gave this basic cookie some personality. For this delicious variation to the Basic Sugar Cookie simply

7. Omit 1/2 cup sugar and the vanilla. Add 1/2 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

We also made Cherry Pistachio Sugar Cookies for even more variety. For this delightful little cookie just add 1/2 cup each dried cranberries and chopped pistachios. Mix them into the dry ingredients before adding into the dough. 

Oaxaca Chocolate

Every now and then I am blessed with receiving an incredible delicious and unique ingredient or food item. When I first met my husband he introduced me to Aji Amarillo. Several months ago my Mom shared Skotidakis Jalapeno Yogurt Dip. Just a few days ago, while cooking with my new friend Mary Luz Mejia she gave me a box of Oaxaca Chocolate. Aside from loving anything chocolate I accepted willingly this delicious gift because it came from a special place Oaxaca, Mexico and the story Mary told me brought me back to my Mom's home town of Veroia. Upon presenting this gift to me, Mary told me the story that in this town there is a shop that grinds your own concoction of chocolate. Not one box of chocolate is ever the same for each family that uses these services. You might want dark chocolate combined with toasted almonds and cinnamon, while your cousin might prefer milk chocolate with vanilla and cinnamon. As Mary was telling me this story I remembered a coffee shop in Veroia that did the same thing with the Greek coffee. It's amazing that Oaxaca, Mexico and Veroia, Greece are oceans apart but they have this one amazing service to their customers in common. Muchas Gracias Mary! We have been enjoying each cup as if we were in Oaxaca ourselves.

Burrito de Lentejas

  

One of my favourite things to do with food is combine different ingredients into traditional dishes. To my delight the concoctions I create are usually a success. A few days back I was thinking of what to do with my left over lentils. Remembering a conversation I had with my husband about a popular Latino eatery - Mucho Burrito, I decided to use the left over lentils as a filling for my burritos. Along with my lentejas I added finely chopped coleslaw (thanks to my wonderful Dad who is crazy amazing at chopping coleslaw), homemade salsa fresca and shredded marble cheddar cheese. To compliment my lentejas burritos I made a refreshing coleslaw. Of course we washed everything down with our favourite Peruvian soft drink, Inca Cola.

Lentejas

1 cup of lentils
1 onion, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tbsp paprika
1 cup tomato pulp
4 cups of chicken stock
salt
pepper
olive oil

1. Place the lentils in a medium sauce pot and bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes.

2. Add the onion, garlic, cumin and paprika. Stir together and let the onions sweat a little 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Add the tomato pulp and chicken stock. Lower the heat to a simmer and continue cooking for 30 minutes.

4. Lastly, season with salt, pepper and olive oil

This is a perfect recipe for lentils that you want to eat over rice, as my husband likes to do. If you are going to use these lentils as your filling to your burritos like I did, you want to cool them down so that they thicken slightly. This will help with the stuffing of the burrito.

Burritos de Lentejas

2 cups cooked lentils
1 cup coleslaw
1/2 cup salsa fresca
2 cups shredded marble cheese
4 large tortillas

1. To assemble first spoon on a good helping of salsa fresca on the bottom of each tortilla. Followed by the coleslaw, then 1/2 cup of lentils in each tortilla and topped with the cheese.

2. Fold and place on a lined baking sheet. Dress with leftover salsa fresca and cheese.

3. Bake for 30 minutes in a 350F preheated oven.

Salsa Fresca

1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 cup tomato pulp
juice of 1 lime
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 tbsp minced garlic
salt
pepper
1 tbsp oregano

Through all the ingredients into a blender and blend together until smooth.

Eleni's Coleslaw

4 cups chopped cabbage
1 carrot, grated
juice of 1 lime
salt
pepper
1 tsp dried mustard
1/2 bunch cilantro
olive oil

Place all the ingredients into a large salad bowl and toss.