Normandy Crêpes

When I was in high school I spent 3 1/2 months in France on exchange. While I was there, I lived with a delightful little French family who had their own crepe maker. The idea was that you could all sit at the table and make your crêpes throughout your meal. I brought over some maple syrup for them but I don't think that they ever really warmed to it. We'd often have crêpes for dinner with an egg cooked on top and served with ham. If you've ever been to Paris, then you've definitely seen the crêperies :) Don't be intimidated - crêpes aren't that hard to make. It just take a little bit of practice to get it right. Bon Appétit!


Ingredients:
2 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tbs. sugar (if you want your crepes sweeter)


Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer if you're lucky enough to have one), mix together all of your wet ingredients (milk, water, eggs, vanilla, butter). Gradually add in the flour, sugar and salt, stirring to combine. Beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Spray with Pam or melt some putter and then pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly. Your first crêpe probably won't turn out too well, but keep up the practice and it'll get easier and easier.
3. Cook the crêpe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown and the top is mostly cooked. Keep the crêpe moving by lightly shaking the pan. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. 

* Depending on how many crêpes you plan on making, you may want to keep a hot oven on the go to keep your stock HOT. You may also want to have 2 frying pans on the go. The recipe above makes about 12 crêpes.

* You may have to adjust your temperature throughout cooking. Be sure to start with a very HOT pan, but at medium heat. You may be tempted to turn the heat higher but you'll just end up burning your crêpes and who want to eat a burned crêpe??

* Be creative in serving your crêpes, yummy combinations can include chocolate & banana, peaches and creme, mixed berries and yoghurt, you name it. Have fun!

Lentil Burgers

We're not vegetarians but we thought we'd give a go on trying lentil burgers. I have to admit that I had to do a lot of meat-loving-husband coaxing to even get him to try this meal. The recipe promised a "high-fiber, low-fat and even lower-cost recipe that turns the traditional beef burger on its head". Not sure about turning the traditional beef burger on its head part, but they were pretty good. I don't think that the photo does it much justice, the original recipe photo must have used a hamburger maker press or something, if they exist, because I ended up having a bit of trouble forming my burgers. They were yummy though and definitely a nice veggie alternative! They'd be a nice option to bring to a bbq. Bon Appétit! 


Ingredients:
1 cup dried green lentils, rinsed
6 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, minced
1/4 cup leeks, finely diced
2 tbs. flaxseed, ground (I added chopped walnuts because I didn't have any flaxseed)
5 tsp. dijon mustard
3 tbs. tomato paste
1 tsp. chile powder
1 tsp. tumeric
2 tsp. cumin
1 cup cooked long-grain brown rice
2 tsp. olive oil


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook lentils according to package directions.
2. In a large bowl, mix the garlic, onion, celery, leeks, flaxseed (walnuts?), dijon, tomato paste, and spices. When lentils are cooked, mash them with the back of a fork, leaving some of them whole. Add mashed lentils and rice to bowl, mix all ingredients together.
3. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. While oil is heating, form lentil-rice mixture into 6 lentil patties. Add them to the pan and cook for 2-3min. per side, until light brown. Transfer the patties to the prepared baking sheet and cook in the oven for 15 minutes until warmed through. Serve with a side-sald and topped with diced tomatoes and avocado if desired.

Butter Chicken & Naan ... Yummo.

So this post is for my twinny, Leah, all the way out there in Saskatoon. Leah is a big fan of our butter chicken, and all things fantastically spiced. This is an Indian dish from Punjab. The only kind of 'out there' ingredient in it is the garam masala. Garam Masala is from the Hindi for garam ('hot') and masala ('mixture') and is essentially just a blend of common Indian & South-Asian spices (commonly black & white peppercorns, cloves, malibar leaves, long pepper,black cumin, cumin seeds, cinnamon; black, brown, & green cardamom,nutmeg, star anise and coriander seeds). And by 'hot' we're talking about the intensity of the spice, and not spicy 'hot'. This is NOT a spicy dish. You should be able to get the garam masala at any grocery store spice isle. It may be under "Indian Masala". To make the meal go a little further, you could serve it with some nice rice. We like to serve it with naan bread. We buy our naan in bulk and keep it frozen in the freezer. If you look in different grocery stores (we're a big fan of Price Chopper) other than Loblaws where they sell the naan for 2 pieces for 4$, you can usually find bulk naan for 10 pieces for 5$. It freezers really well and heats up in a toaster oven really well in just a couple of minutes. Bon Appétit! 


Ingredients:
2 tbs. olive oil (divided)
1 lbs. boneless, skiness chicken cut into bit-sized pieces
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp. butter
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. of each: garam masala & cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
salt & pepper to taste
Serve with: rice or naan bread


Directions:
1. Heat 1 tbs. oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes and then set aside. If serving with rice, start your rice cooking.
2. Heat remaining oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, garlic and ginger until soft and fragrant. Stir in butter, lemon juice and all of the spices. Cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, cooking for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the milk and yogurt. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add reserved chicken to sauce and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes until sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through. In the mean time, if serving with naan, heat in the oven with a light brushing of olive oil.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Homemade Granola

The great thing about do-it-yourself homemade granola is that you can think outside the box and customize it with whatever nuts, seeds, and dried fruit sound good to you. The problem I often find with store-bought granola is that it always seems to skimp on one ingredient or another -- the one that happens to be your favorite, of course.There isn't really a specific recipe to making granola - take a stroll through the isles of your local Bulk Barn and pick and choose some ingredients that look good to you. The main ingredient is rolled oats and you will need 4-5 cups for a batch. You can use your granola as a healthy snack throughout the day, with milk for cereal in the morning or with yogurt as a dessert. When you make granola yourself, you can adjust the proportions to your liking. Add more dried fruit and honey for sweetness and texture, nuts for richness, even a little vanilla or apple cider for flavor. Bon Appétit!


Ingredients that I often throw in could include:
- 4-5 cups of large rolled oats (NOT the quick oats!)
- sunflower seeds
- walnuts
- dried apricots, cranberries or mangoes
- 1/2 cup of shredded coconut
- sliced almonds
- wheat germ
- raisins
- figs
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup honey 


Instructions:
1. Line an 8x11 baking dish with parchment paper or greased aluminum foil, set oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all of your ingredients in a bowl and pour the honey over top, mix again.
3. Bake your ingredients in the oven for 25 minutes to 1/2 an hour - stirring every 10 minutes, until the granola is golden brown. Watch your granola carefully so that it does not burn.  Enjoy!

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake (A.mazing.)

This cheesecake is a Giles haus favourite. It shows up here and there and is often devoured on site. Your "crazy bad for you" siren should be going off right about now just looking at it, but oh boy is it ever good.  “Dulce-de-Leche“ is Spanish for “milk-candy” and is the basis for many classic Latin and South-American desserts. It is a delicious, caramelly sauce that you can actually make by yourself by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk for about 40 minutes. Or, to go on the safe side, you can pick it up at any grocery store (I often find it in the honey, jams and peanut butter section). ¡Buen provecho! 

By the way, if you're keen to try the starbursty top, here's a great link

Ingredients:

Crust

- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs 

- 3 tbsp. butter, melted
- pinch of sugar

Filling

- 3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese (24 oz. total) – softened to room temperature

- 1 cup superfine granulated sugar 

- 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour 

- 2 tsp. vanilla extract 

- 3 eggs 

- 1/3 cup whole milk 

- 1/2 cup Dulce de leche sauce (+ more for serving)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). 

2. Mix crust ingredients together, and press into the bottom of a lightly buttered 9-inch springform pan. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. 

3. Reset oven temperature to 325°F (160°C). 

4. With an electric mixer beat cream cheese, sugar and flour together until well mixed and smooth. Add vanilla and beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until smooth. Add milk and mix until well blended. 

5. Measure 1/2 cup of the cheesecake batter and pour into a small bowl. Add Dulce de Leche sauce and stir until well combined. 

6. Pour plain batter over crust. Top with Dulce de leche batter by placing rounded spoonfuls over the cheesecake batter and gently swirl into plain batter with the tip of knife or spatula. 

7. Bake in preheated 325°F (160°C) oven in a water bath for 45-55 minutes or until center is almost set. The water bath helps prevent the cheesecake from cracking. After the cheesecake looks done, just turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour so that it cools very slowly (again, this helps prevent cracking). Remove from oven and gently run metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cheesecake (cracking...). Let cool 30 minutes outside of oven before covering and placing in the refrigerator. Refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or overnight before serving. If desired, serve each slice drizzled with a little bit of dulce de leche sauce, or pass around a bowl of dulce de leche sauce for guest's to help themselves.

Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

This is a dish from one of my favourite foodie magazines "Everyday Food", by none other than Martha Stewart. For some time I had a subscription to Martha's "Martha Stewart" magazine but got tired of the 12 page articles on gravy boats and Easter Eggs and exquisite (ie. EXPENSIVE) dishes that were just too over the top (that said, what I wouldn't give for a 'linens room' in my own Turkey Hill, which, remarkably is on the market at present for $4,500,000). When I discovered "Everyday Food" though, I was in heaven. It's recipes for normal people and comes highly recommended by Kendra Giles.
This is a yummy, zippy meal that I often just serve up with a side of greens or asparagus. The buttery and cool avocado is such a treat with the spicy cayenne pepper. Enjoy! Bon Apétit!


Ingredients:
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
- 2 tbs. olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, finely diced
- 2 tbs. lime juice
- 1 avocado, pitted and cut into chunks


Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne; rub all over chicken.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add chicken, and cook until browned on the outside and opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes per side.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine onion and lime juice; set aside. Just before serving, fold avocado chunks into onion mixture; season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken topped with salsa.
4. Serve with spring greens mix or with asparagus.

Spinach, Asparagus & Salmon with Blackberry Glaze

This is a gorgeous, bright summer meal. Baking the salmon and steaming the asparagus are good ways to make the meal cleaner, but I decided to sauté the asparagus in a tiny bit of butter to give them a nice, rich taste. This was my first experience steering away from my usual way of cooking salmon (frying and then serving with lemon juice... which, I must say, is still very, very delicious!). The bright pink salmon, purple berries and a background of deep green veggies definitely satisfied both the eye and the tummy. This meal looks difficult, but it's really, really not. From Clean Eating magazine. Bon Apétit!

Ingredients:
- Salmon fillet, skin and bones removed
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 2 cups asparagus tips
- 2 cups blackberries
- 1-2 peaches
- 2 tsp. raw honey
- 4 tsp. soy sauce
- 2 tsp. dark sesame oil
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 6 cups greens (ex. spinach, arugula, dandelion... be creative!) 
- 4 large scallions, cut on the diagonal


Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Given that you're not baking much, I recommend you cook up your fish in a toaster oven if you have one. Mist a baking sheet and divide the salmon in to individual servings. Bake the salmon for about 18-20 minutes (when done the salmon will flake but still stay together). 
2) Cook the asparagus by steaming either in the microwave or with a steamer (or you can sauté in butter which I recommend!)
3) Take about 16 blackberries and put them in a small bowl; set the remaining blackberries aside. Mash the 16 blackberries, the add honey, soy sauce, oil and orange juice. Stir to combine (your berries will still be chunky).
4) Serve! Arrange the greens, asparagus and salmon on your plate and then drizzle with the blackberry glaze. You can garnish your salad with orange zest and the remainder of your blackberries.

Yummy Summer Drink - The classic, Shirley Temple.

I don't make too many fancy drinks, but I generally always have a bottle of grenadine syrup on hand to give a sweet kick to punches. Grenadine is essentially red liquid sugar. High-fructose corn syrup to be precise. It used to be made of pomegranate juice ("grenadines" en français). You can buy a bottle of grenadine syrup at any grocery store. 


Shirley Temples are delicious summer drinks that come highly recommended by Gilesies and have been a long-time favourite by most children at Swiss Chalet. Of course the drink is named after the biggest child star in history and doesn't contain any alcohol. Serve with fresh fruit and enjoy!


Ingredients to mix together:
- 1-2 tsp. of grenadine syrup
- 1/2 glass of orange juice
- 1/2 glass of ginger ale or some other limey/lemony carbonated drink
- fruit to garnish 

Orange Broccoli Stir Fry with Honey & Almonds

Today's post is quite a tummy tickler with LOTS of bold, zesty tastes. I really like how bright the meal is as well with all sorts of different colours. Jeremy tells me that he now really likes this blog because it means that he's eating well :) One little tip with this meal is the beef. We always buy a roast and cut it in to 5-6 different meal-sized portions... that way it goes much further.
Bon appétit! Ingredients

- 1 pound beefsteak, cut into thin strips 

- 4 teaspoons soy sauce

- 2 teaspoons minced fresh gingerroot

- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel + remainder of orange cut in to thin slices

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 2 cups fresh broccoli florets

- 1 small sweet red pepper, cut into strips

- 3 tbs. picante sauce (or tabasco)

- 1 teaspoon honey

- 1 tablespoon cornstarch

- 1/3 cup orange juice

- Sliced almonds, optional

- Hot cooked rice or egg noodles

Directions

• Toss meat with soy sauce, ginger and orange peel; set aside for 10 minutes.
• Heat oil in a wok or large skillet on high. Stir-fry mixture just until meat is no longer pink; remove. Add broccoli, pepper, picante sauce and sugar to skillet. Cover; reduce heat to simmer. Cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.
• Combine cornstarch and orange juice until smooth; add to skillet along with meat and onions. Cook and stir 1 minute or until sauce is thickened. Sprinkle with almonds and orange slices if desired. Serve with rice or noodles.

Grandma's Hot & Spicy Meatballs

This 2nd post is a special shout out to my grandma Dorothy. She's one mean cook and one of her specialties is her infamous Hot & Spicy meatballs. There wouldn't be a Hartley Christmas without em'. These meatballs really seem to bring out the best, and worst, in us. I made them for a very special fraumate's wedding a few years back and they were a big hit. There's never a meatball left when they are served as appetizers & potlucks. They have about 50 ingredients and a very special secret ingredient, which you'd never guess. Since I'm sharing my recipes though and want your meatballs to taste just as good as my grandma's, I'll tell you what that very special ingredient is: grape jelly.  Yup. It's true. Grape jelly is what makes em'. I'd have never guessed it, but according to my gram, you can't substitute it for any other kind of jelly - apparently they just won't taste the same. Even though this recipe calls for a ton of ingredients, it's totally worth it. Bon appétit! 


For the meat balls:

2 eggs

2-3 tsp horseradish

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 lbs of ground beef

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients together & shape in to 1” balls. Bake at 350⁰ on slightly greased baking sheet about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so.

For the sauce:

1 onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic crushed

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup or more grape jelly (don't use any other jelly, as it does not taste the same)

1/2 cup or more ketchup

1/2 cup or more of chilli sauce (or you can use salsa)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup cider vinegar (you can use white)

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp mustard

1 tbsp Tabasco or hot pepper sauce

Place all ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, reduce, simmer uncovered  for 5 minutes. Place meat balls in sauce and simmer covered in the pot or bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 1/2 an hour. Serve them nice and hot out of the oven or you can freeze them until ready to use. If this is the case, after your meat balls thaw out, bake them covered for about 1/2 to 3/4 hour at 350 degrees until they look done.

- Grandma Hartley

Lemon-Marinated Chicken Breast with Eggplant Ratatouille

For my first recipe post, I have decided to share last night's dinner. Believe it or not, this was my first experience with eggplant. I had always been rather inquisitive of the large purple vegetable, and finally decided to give it a go. Result: delicious. Somewhat zucchini in nature and taste. Purply. Spongy. Mild yet creamy. To my surprise, seedy. Upon further research, I discovered that it has both a male and female variety. When choosing your eggplant, you want to look for heavy, firm fruit with unblemished skin. Ratatouille is a stewed vegetable dish, typically tomatoey in nature... it originated in Nice, France. We decided to pair this with the Little Penguin's Chardonnay Reisling + some nice greens. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

- Juice 1/2 lemon (or lemon juice)

- 1/4 cup olive oil

- salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- 4 3-oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

FOR THE RATATOUILLE:

- 1tbs. olive oil

- 2 cloves garlic

- 1 medium yellow onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

- 1 large purple eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice

- 2 small zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch dice

- 1 medium to large bell pepper, cut into

- 4 tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch dice

- salt & pepper, to taste

- 1/2 cup white wine

- 1-2tsp. wine vinegar

- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Instructions:

1) In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oilve oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Place chicken breasts into a small baking dish or large zip-top bag. Add lemon mixture and coat the chicken thoroughly. Store chicken in fridge.

2) Preheat the grill on high for direct heat.

3) To make the ratatouille: In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and sauté until the onion starts to soften, about 1-2 minutes. Add eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper and tomatoes. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with a lid and let cook for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

4) Remove chicken from marinade, discard marinade. Place chicken on the grill and grill for about 3-5 minutes per side or until done. Remove from grill.

5) To finish the ratatouille, add the white wine and stir to combine. Let the wine cook off, gently scraping the pan to deglaze it. Taste and adjust the seasoning by adding salt & pepper to taste. Add 1-2 tsp. wine vinegar. Add parsley ad give it a final stir. Spoon the ratatouille onto four plates. Add chicken breasts and serve.

From my kitchen to yours.

For some time now I have been thinking that I would like to start a blog. I am probably one of the slowest to catch up on all of this bloggidy goodness, but want to have a fun avenue to share my latest recipes. Happy cooking!