Cranberry Apple Chutney

Cranberries pair so perfectly with Turkey and even more my favourite...

Turkey sandwiches.

If you enjoy cranberry sauce then this simple quick chutney might become another option to try.

It is a little less sweet than regular cranberry sauce and has a hint of savoury.

It makes a beautiful hostess gift and if you make it a few weeks before the holiday and store it in the refrigerator you are ahead of the game.

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 2 large tart apples, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients and bring to a simmer over medium low heat.  Stir often to keep from scorching.
2. Simmer uncovered about 30 - 35 minutes.  
3. Pour into sterilized 8 ounce jars and seal. Refrigerate until you use it.

Makes 6 cups.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

We really enjoyed this dessert while traveling in Great Britain so duplicating it for special meals here on the other side of the Pond was a fun adventure for me. It's a warm dense cake with a caramelized sauce. There are many versions of Sticky Toffee Pudding and this is one that has been successful and good. Don't let the pudding confuse you. It's not like our creamy soft pudding. This "pudding" is cake like.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan

Pudding:

1/2 cup butter
2 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
2 eggs
3 cups flour
8 ounces dates (pitted and chopped into pieces)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups boiling water

Sauce:

1 cup butter
2 - 3/4 cups brown sugar
2 cups whipping cream

You will need extra whipping cream to top off the cake with when ready to serve.

Directions:

For the pudding:

Cream butter and sugar.
Beat in eggs one at a time and incorporate completely.
Fold in flour.
Put the chopped dates in a separate bowl.
Pour the boiling water over the dates and add the soda to this mixture.
Give the water time to be absorbed into the dates.
When water is mostly absorbed add the flour mixture and blend well.
Pour the mixture into prepared pan.
Bake for 40 minutes. Time may vary slightly depending on your oven.

Sauce:

Mix all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat.

When cake comes out of the oven poke the top of the cake evenly with many holes. Pour half of the sauce over the top of the cake evenly. Allow Sauce to soak into cake.

When ready to serve cut cake into squares and place the squares on your dessert plates. Top with remaining sauce that is hot onto the warm cake. Top with a dollop of whipped cream.

 

Remember

We must never forget the profound sacrifices of those who have died...

 those who are serving....

and the families that love them.

Today we wear a poppy on our lapel and we remember.

For your sacrifice..

for our freedom..

we thank you.

Lest we forget.

Looking forward to that day when all wars will cease.

Spelt Buns / Bread

Spelt is an ancient grain and has a really nice nutty flavor. Lately I have enjoyed using spelt flour to make my buns and bread. It doesn't work any differently than other wheat flour and has a nice taste to it. I modified my Honey Bran Bun recipe replacing the wheat and bran for spelt to make these.

• 2 cups very warm water
• 1/3 cup of honey
• 1/2 cup of olive oil, or the oil of your preference
• 7 cups of organic spelt flour 
• 2 eggs, fork beaten
• 1 tbsp. dry instant yeast (added to the flour)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tablet of crushed Vitamin C* (optional)

1. Combine  honey, water oil, salt and eggs (and Vitamin C if using).
2. Add 3 cups of spelt with the dry yeast, stir well to mix.
3. Add remaining flour gradually as you are kneading to make a soft dough but not too sticky. You may need to add a little more flour as needed.
4. Knead about 8 minutes until smooth and elastic.
5. Place in a large greased bowl, turning once to grease all the dough
6. Cover with a tea towel and put into your oven with the oven light on, for about 40 minutes or until doubled in size.
7. Punch dough down and shape into buns or bread. I usually get about 3 dozen buns, or 2 loaves of bread from this recipe.
8. Let them rise on the cookie sheet or loaf pan for another 30-40 minutes.
9. Bake at 375 for about 15-18 minutes, depends on your oven and how brown you like them.  For the loaf bake for 25-30 minutes. The bread will sound hollow when you tap on it, then you will know it is done.

 * A professional baker told me a tip that they use in their bakery is to crush a vitamin C tablet and dissolve it into the water. I did that for one recipe and not for the other. The dough may have been a bit lighter in texture, but I didn't find it to be essential to have good results.  I also only had orange flavored tablets and we could not taste the flavoring in the buns at all.

Butter Pecan Pumpkin Squares

These Butter-Pecan Pumpkin Squares would be a nice alternative to Pumpkin Pie. They have a good base and the filling stays moist and is very similar to pumpkin pie filling.

Base Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, softened

Filling Ingredients:

1 - 15oz. can of pure pumpkin (2 cups pumpkin if you make your own)
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. To prepare base: Combine sugar, flour and butter in a bowl with pastry cutter until crumbly. Press into 12 x 8 x 2 inch greased baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly browned and puffed. Set aside to cool.
2. To prepare filling: Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt with electric mixer until smooth. Pour over baked crust. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until slightly firm.
3. To prepare topping: Combine brown sugar and butter in small bowl with pastry blender until crumbly. Add nuts and stir to mix. Sprinkle over pumpkin filling and return to oven for about 10 more minutes until mixture is bubbly and browned.
4. Cool thoroughly before cutting into squares.
Yield: Approximately 36 squares, 2 by 2 inches.

Healthy Quinoa Salad

Some of you have asked if we ever have some healthy dishes. Here's a salad that is chopped full of powerhouse nutrients. I have joined a group of ladies this past fall, for a 7-week challenge.  No junk food nor refined sugars. Truly this has been a challenge, but I've noticed how quickly those extra pounds can sneak on.  So this week I chose kale and quinoa.  I'm very content to eat the same old, but during this time I challenged my self to eat healthier and wiser, hoping to see some beneficial results.

Kale is known as one of the powerhouse of nutrients, high in antioxidants.  Quinoa is also known as an ancient grain which is high in fiber and protein and very low in fat and it's gluten free. 

You'll notice that we only use olive oil and lemon juice for the dressing, keeping things light.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 cups spinach
• 2 cups kale
• 1 cup chopped cucumber
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/4 cup red onions.
• 1/4 cup pure virgin olive oil 
• 1/2 freshly squeezed lemon  
• I/2 pound cooked shrimp (optional)

1. Cook quinoa as per instructions.  I cooked my quinoa in my rice cooker. 
2. Layer spinach on the bottom of the platter.
3. Chop up kale and drizzle pure olive oil on leaves.  It gives a perfect healthy shine.
4. Combine kale and spinach to form a bed of greens.
5. Spoon cooked quinoa on greens.
6. Combine cucumbers, tomatoes and onions in bowl and mix well with 1/4 cup olive oil.
7. Spread over quinoa mixture. 
8. Optional: Top with some freshly cooked shrimp.
9. Take your lemon pieces and drizzle juice over the whole salad.
10. Add your favorite seasoning spice on top.
11. Let the juices and oil marinate your salad.

It's simple, nutritious and it's paid off.

Chicken and Butternut Squash Lasagna

How many of you head to the computer when you're looking for a meal idea or for a particular recipe?

I love paging through magazines and cookbooks but find myself turning more and more often to the internet - to Pinterest or various recipe sites for ideas.

Lately, I've been intrigued by several chicken lasagna recipes I've seen on the internet 

and decided to experiment with the fall flavours of butternut squash and sage.

Here's what we had for dinner tonight.  I must say it was delicious.

1 small head garlic

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 tablespoons olive oil (2nd amount)

1 Butternut squash, peeled and seeded (I use a potato peeler)

salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon fresh sage chopped fine (1st amount)

2 cups cooked chicken, sliced

2 cups fresh spinach

1 leek, washed, halved and sliced

2 tablespoons butter

1  1 /2 cups Ricotta cheese

1 egg beaten

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

3 cups white sauce

1/2 cup butter 

1/2 cup flour

3 cups milk 

3/4 tsp fresh sage, chopped fine (2nd amount)

salt and pepper to taste

12 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente

sliced Mozzarella cheese

1/2 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped fine (3rd amount)

1. Heat oven to 400º F.
2. Remove outer paper skin from garlic head, slice the tips off of the whole head and place on a square piece of foil.
3. Drizzle the garlic with 1 teaspoon olive oil, gather the four corners of the foil and twist.
4. Place garlic in oven and roast for 20 minutes or until tender.
5. Cut squash into 1/4" slices and then cut again to make 1 inch pieces.
6. Toss in a bowl with olive oil and salt and pepper and 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage.
7. Lay squash pieces on parchment paper lined baking sheet and place in oven alongside the garlic.
8. Roast squash for 12 minutes or just until tender.
9. Saute' leeks in butter until tender.
10. Mix Ricotta cheese with egg and Parmesan cheese.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.
11. Make white sauce by blending melted butter and flour, adding milk and seasoning. Stir and cook until thickened. ( I do this in the microwave)
12. When garlic is done, squeeze the cloves out of the paper skin, into the white sauce and whisk until blended.
13. In a 9"x 13" pan or two smaller pans, assemble lasagna in layers as follows:

1st layer: Spread 1/4 cup white sauce  in the bottom of the pan and cover with lasagna noodles, 

2nd layer: 1/2 of the chicken slices, spinach,  1/2 of the leeks, 1/2 of the butternut squash, 1 cup or so of white sauce

3rd layer: lasagna noodles, 1/2 of Ricotta cheese mixture, remaining chicken, squash and leeks, cover with white sauce

4th layer: lasagna noodles,, remaining ricotta cheese, white sauce 

5th layer: sliced Mozzarella cheese, 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh sage.

  14. Cover with foil and bake in preheated 350º F oven for 40 minutes.

  15. Remove foil and continue to bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese begins to brown and the casserole bubbles.

  16. Let sit 10 minutes before cutting and serving.