Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

Sometimes there's nothing more classic and satisfying than a Caesar Salad with crunchy croutons and Parmesan cheese.  It's my choice of salad whenever I dine out and surprisingly enough, it's pretty easy to make at home.  The most difficult part is the dressing, which can sometimes deter those who want to shy away from using raw egg.  But guess what?  There's no egg in this dressing at all!!   Did you know that you can use mustard as an emulsifier instead of an egg?  Like raw eggs, mustard is the component that brings everything together and prevents separation of the oil and other ingredients.  This way, you can enjoy a healthy homemade version of this classic salad and not have to worry about salmonella

This homemade dressing is lighter and packs more flavor than the creamy dressing you buy in the grocery store.  Be sure to dress the salad lightly.  A little goes a long way!

Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

Ingredients

Croutons

4 slices rustic white bread, cubed or torn

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

Dressing

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1 50g can of anchovies, not drained

4 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 and 1/2 cups olive oil

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp honey

juice and zest of 1-2 lemons (depending on your taste preference)

Salad

1 head romaine lettuce, washed and torn

1/2 cup good quality Parmesan, grated or thinly sliced

Directions

Croutons

Preheat your oven to 375ºF. Infuse the olive oil with garlic by heating the olive oil and garlic in a small saucepan until gently sizzling, remove and let cool slightly. Sprinkle the bread cubes with water then toss with the olive oil. Scatter on a baking tray and toast in the oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. **The water will help the crouton interior stay chewy while the oil will crisp the exterior.

Dressing

In your blender or food processor pulse the garlic, anchovies and mustard to a paste. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and process to a smooth dressing.

Salad

Soak  the romaine lettuce in cold water, transfer to a salad spinner and spin dry. Transfer to a large bowl.   Dress lightly, reserving any leftover dressing in the refrigerator for your next salad, garnish with croutons and cheese, serve and share.

Recipe adapted from Chef Michael Smith

Berry Beer and Lime Popsicles

All last summer I was hunting for Popsicle molds.  All I wanted to do was make a variety of fun popsicles to eat on those really hot days.  Everywhere I looked only had those molds that are plugged into the wall and are rather pricey and more extravagant than what I needed.  Finally, in September, I found some cute ones at Ikea and my summer popsicle to-make list grew.  On the top of that list were these delicious pops made from berry beer, strawberries and lime.

I used a Belgian fruit beer called Fruitesse which is flavoured with cherry, raspberry, elderberry and strawberry.  I added some mashed strawberries and lime juice to add texture and flavour.  The result was a delightfully fruity and refreshing pop with just a hint of lime.   It makes the perfect adult dessert after a BBQ on a hot day.

Berry Beer and Lime Popsicles

1 cup fruit beer *strawberry or berry beer

1/4 cup sugar

juice from 1 lime

1/4 cup strawberries mashed

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large measuring cup. Stir until sugar has completely dissolved.

Pour into popsicle molds and place in the freezer for 4-6 hours.  Run the popsicle mold under warm water to loosen the frozen pop from the mold.

Concept  from The Beeroness

San Diego 2013 Part 2

Finally, part 2 of my San Diego trip from May.  You can find part 1 here.

Edith and I rented a car for the last two days of our trip so we could save on cab fare and be a bit more mobile and adventurous.  For Edith's birthday, I took her to San Diego Zoo Safari Park!  The original plan was to do the zip lining adventure, but the timing didn't work in our favor, so we did the Jungle Rope Safari.  Your basically 35 feet in the air, climbing through an obstacle course in the trees.  It was super fun and I would recommend the adventure to anyone.  We then had time to wander around and check out the animals.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a fruit stand about 5 minutes away from the Safari Park.  They had plenty of fresh fruits and veggies and we walked away some apples, oranges, cherries and pears.

On Saturday morning, our last full day in San Diego, Edith and I tried to go back to Cafe 222 but the wait was too long so we decided to stop in at a coffee shop and grab a quick breakfast.  Instead of going to Starbucks, we chose a cute local Hawaiian coffee joint called LION Coffee and to our complete amazement, they served waffles!  We each ordered the Macadamia Nut Waffle with coconut syrup and they were absolutely amazing!!  The coconut syrup really took it to another level.  I also ordered an iced Aloha White Mocha and it was hands down, the best white mocha I have ever had!  As a special added benefit, they have live music just outside their front door and it can be heard inside as well.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky after breakfast, and we packed up our swag and headed to Pacific Beach for some fun in the sun.  We jumped around in the waves for a while and did lots of sunbathing.  Despite going through a whole bottle of sunscreen, we both managed to get some pretty bad sun burns which followed us home and caused problems for about a week.
   By 3 o'clock, we were hungry and tired so we stopped in at a place just off the boardwalk called Diego's which was voted best hot dog in Pacific Beach and they certainly didn't disappoint.  Edith ordered the Tex Dog (chili, cheese and onions) and I ordered the PB Fried dog (bacon wrapped dog, deep fried and topped with chili, coleslaw and jalapenos).  Edith said it was the best hot dog she had ever eaten and that's saying something cause she's not the biggest hot dog fan out there.

We headed back to the hotel to freshen up and pick up our friend Jaclyn (who was in a conference all day) and headed down to the outlet mall for some shopping. The only good thing about this outlet mall was the churro stand and I got a bag of 7 little churros to munch on while the girls did their shopping.
After the mall, we headed to San Diego's Little Italy for a late supper.  Most of the restaurants had stopped serving but we managed to find a place to eat at.  I honestly cannot remember the name of the place, but after some Google Maps street view stalking, I think I found the place, Zia's Bistro.

I ordered the spinach cannelloni, Jaclyn ordered the lobster raviolli and Edith ordered the Salsiccia Pizza which was so huge it hung over the sides of the plate!

We had about 4 hours of sleep that night and were out of the hotel by 4:45 am to catch the shuttle to the airport.  When we landed in Denver I headed right for Caribou Coffee for a Turtle Mocha Cooler!  In my opinion, the Turtle Mocha Cooler is better than any frapp on the Starbucks menu.

I loved being in San Diego and to have spent all my time with my best friends was the cherry on top! I think we might need to make it an annual tradition to take a trip to California ;)

My First Authentic Canadian Food Memory

This blog entry is part of The Canadian Food Experience Project which began June 7, 2013. As we (participants) share our collective stories across the vastness of our Canadian landscape, through our regional food experiences, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity through the cadence of our concerted Canadian voice.   I will be writing new entries and posting them on the 7th of each month with a focus on Canadian food, particularly food found in Saskatchewan and the Canadian Prairies.  Please join us. 

First of all, I want to express how thrilled I am to be participating in this project!  This is an amazing way for us Canadian food bloggers to showcase the magnificent and unique foods, traditions and people that are found in our glorious country.  I would like to thank Valerie over at A Canadian Foodie blog for bringing this project to fruition.  Our collective voices will surely leave a mark!

When you grow up with certain foods as a staple, you often don't think of its origin.  Canadian food has been influenced by generations of immigrants.  The prairie provinces are largely influenced by Ukrainian and Polish cultures.  If you ask me, perogies and cabbage rolls are as Canadian as they are Ukrainian or Polish.  In fact, I haven't been to a wedding, banquet or buffet in Saskatchewan this didn't offer perogies!

Baby me with Baba getting the cabbage rolls ready

 Being part Ukrainian and Polish, naturally my first food experience involved perogies, cabbage rolls and Kielbasa but I have a very vivid memory of another food that really sticks out as my first authentic Canadian food memory.

When I was in grade one, we had an Intern with our class for part of the year.  The one thing that I remember most about her was that she made Bannock for our class.  We all filed into the teacher's lounge (which alone made most of us squeal with excitement) and we were able to watch her make the dough and fry it.  Once it was ready, we sat around the gigantic board room table and ate the warm bread with jam.  So simple and so delicious! Fried bread with some sweet jam was just an exciting mid day snack coupled with  a class trip to the teachers lounge and learning a little about First Nations people and their culture.  This experience has always stuck with me.  At that very moment, my first Canadian food memory was ingrained in me.

Bannock (also known as frybread) is a type of flat quick-bread that is a specialty of the First Nations of Canada and has come to be known as a comfort food to many.   If I were to describe bannock, I would say it's basically a really dense pancake; however it does't taste like a pancake at all.  It's density makes it really filling!  Beware!!  Your eyes are most likely bigger than your stomach!

 Bannock is great with a little butter, slathered in some Saskatoon Berry Jam, (another prairie wonder) or just eat it plain.  If you feel so inclined, you can wrap the bannock dough around a hotdog and bake it up for a different version of a corn dog.   You can bake bannock in the oven, fry it in a skillet with a little oil, deep fry it or put it on the end of a stick and cook it over an open fire.   Bannock is incredibly versatile and can be either sweet or savory and is often eaten with stews.  I personally prefer bannock fried and slathered in jam.  It's incredibly satisfying.

Bannock

3 cups of flour

2 tbsp of baking powder

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup of melted butter

1 - 1 and 1/2 cups of water

Directions

Stir dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add melted butter and 1 cup of the  water and use a fork to mix all ingredients. Add more water as needed.

Form a ball with the dough (do not over work, kneading about 10 times)

It's up to you how you would like to cook the bannock:

You can roll the dough out until it's about 1 inch thick and bake on a parchment lined sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

You can also cook it in a heavy bottomed skillet with a little bit of oil. Form a small amount of dough into a thin round pancake shape, and place in the hot skillet.  Fry until golden brown, flip and repeat on other side.  

You can also deep fry it until golden brown. 

Recipe was provided to me by a good friend who used to be the Cultural Coordinator for the City of Regina.

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Brownies

I encountered quite the dilemma the other night when I got home from the gym (yes, the gym).  Should I make brownies, or my fave peanut butter and butterscotch marshmallow bars?  Seriously guys, it was a tough decision and I really didn't feel like compromising.  But, I also didn't want to  have two different types of  dessert kickin' around the house for me to eat.  Then, it struck me, why settle for just one?  Why not make brownies, and instead of topping it with some kind of icing, I could use my marshmallow bars.  It could work right?

For the record, it works.  Like, really, really works! Fudgy brownies are a classic treat, but peanut butter, butterscotch and marshmallows really give it some flair.  The awesome thing about this dessert, is that it can be made with staple items in your pantry and you can whip them up in no time.  Perfect for a summer BBQ or block party!

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Brownies

For the Brownies

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup dutch process cocoa powder

1 tsp espresso powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

7 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate

For the Peanut Butter Marshmallows

 1/2 cup butter

 1 (11 ounce) package butterscotch chips

 1 cup peanut butter

 3 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions

For the Brownies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,  beat the eggs, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on high for at least ten minutes. You need a meringue type consistency in order to create a crust on top of the brownies. 

In a separate bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt.  Stir to combine.

In a microwave safe bowl, add the butter and chocolate. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until chocolate has completely melted and is smooth.

While the stand mixer is on medium speed, slowly add the chocolate until mostly combined.  Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour batter into dish and smooth out the top.   Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is matte and a bit cracked. Don't over bake.  The brownies will set as they cool.  Allow the brownies to cool for 10-15 minutes before you top them with the marshmallows.

For the Peanut Butter Marshmallows

In the top of a double boiler, heat butter, butterscotch chips and peanut butter until melted. Remove from heat.  Stir in marshmallows.

Pour mixture on top of brownies and carefully spread evenly.  Allow the brownies and marshmallows to come to room temperature.  Wrap the pan in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.   

Cut into squares and serve!

San Diego 2013 Part 1

First of all, our hotel was insane!  I would stay there again in a heartbeat.  Perfect location, close to everything we wanted to do and a spectacular view (plus a balcony that we used everyday).  I read some reviews online, and people complained about the room size, but we had no problem with it.  We had three girls in one room and we had no issues with space, so that is really saying something!

Two weeks ago, I took a spontaneous trip to San Diego with a friend of mine, Edith.  Our trip was full of wonderful food, new exciting adventures and sun burns.  Oh man, the sun burns.  I think both of us are still feeling the effects from the burns.
Within an hour of landing, we took a Segway tour around downtown San Diego and the Gaslamp Quarter.  Can you say..."White and Nerdy", sans the blue track suite.  I'll admit, at first, I didn't want to partake in the tour, but ended up enjoying it.  Segways, as it turns out, are pretty fun to drive.  The tour really helped us get a feel for downtown and it was much easier navigating our way around town the rest of the stay.
Queue sun burn #1.
Immediately after our super-cool Segway tour, we were shuttled off to take a speed boat tour of the San Deigo Bay.  I had no idea we would actually be driving the boats!  By far, the best part of our day!  I kind of wished we could do the speed boats again!

The speed boat tour docked right in the marina by our hotel, so we walked back to our room, freshened up and went down to one of the restaurants in our hotel for a bite to eat.   We were starving!  We ordered Buffalo Wings, Potato Wedge Nachos and Spinach and Artichoke dip.  When the food arrived, we scarfed it down; we didn't even talk to each other, just stuffed our faces.  We were that hungry.

Day two started out with grabbing breakfast at the cutest, smallest breakfast restaurant in town, Cafe 222.  Edith and I both ordered the Peanut Butter and Banana Stuffed French Toast and it was uh-maz-ing!  So amazing that this particular dish has been featured not once, but TWICE on the food network.  The service was fast and super friendly and our waiter even offered to take a picture of us together, since we were only taking selfies. We actually tired to go back to this cafe a few days later but there was a long line and we just didn't have time to wait.    We wandered around downtown, did some shopping and headed back to our hotel and sat by the pool and got some sun (in hopes of evening out our farmers tans).

For supper, we decided to head down to Old Town and try out their famous Mexican restaurants.  Our cab driver recommended Cafe Coyote, so we gave it a shot.  They brought out tortillas and salsa and we both ordered Margaritas.  Edith ordered Mango and I ordered Prickly Pear and they came out in huge glasses!  Delicious and refreshing!  We each ordered a combination plate, so we could try a few things at once.  Each plate came with rice and beans and a taco.  Edith ordered combination dos; Rojo beef tamale, enchilada Suiza and a beef taco. I ordered combination uno; Chicken enchilada, traditional chile relleno and a chicken taco.  Edith loved hers but mine left something to be desired.  The chicken was very plain and most of the items on my plate seemed flavorless.  I was kind of disappointed.

(source)

After supper, we walked around Old Town, checked out the cute (and mostly sketchy) shops along the way.   We also took a late night tour of the historic haunted Whaley House.  We sat out of the front step of the house waiting for our tour to being and it was kind of spooky.
We were really hoping for some kind of ghostly encounter, but alas, it didn't happen. We learned about the Whaley family and the ghosts that haunt the house and grounds (because apparently, the house was built on top of San Diego's old hanging grounds...kinds of creepy and morbid)  and we sat out in the yard for awhile after the tour, still hoping to see or feel something out of the ordinary, but still no luck.  I guess ghosts need a break from haunting once in awhile ;)

More to come later this week.  Hopefully I'll have an actual recipe to share, and part 2 of my trip as well!

Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche with Mashed Potato Crust

Eggs usually make an appearance at breakfast in our house during the weekend.  It's pretty much the only time of week I have time to make them, so I like to do it up right!  Regular 'ole scrambled eggs will not suffice.  This past weekend, quiche made a special appearance.  It wasn't your regular quiche with a pastry crust.  Instead it was composed of mashed potatoes!  Because really, not everyone wants to whip up a fancy pants pastry crust on Sunday morning. And sometimes it's nice to skip the extra calories and fat associated with a buttery, pastry crust, too.

This quiche is a great way to use up left-over mashed potatoes from supper the night before.  If you don't have any, it doesn't take much time to boil a couple.  While you're boiling your potatoes, you might as well steam your broccoli.   The potatoes brown up and get flaky, just like your typical pastry crust, but healthier. I think I'm probably going to be using potato crusts a bit more often.  The filling is a classic broccoli and cheddar combo that's perfect for a weekend brunch and sure to please!

Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche with Mashed Potato Crust

Crust

1 lb Yukon Gold or baking potatoes (about 2), peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

Filling

2 cups coarsely chopped, cooked broccoli  *I steamed mine

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

pinch ground nutmeg

2 green onions, chopped

Directions

Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling water for about 20 minutes, or until tender.  Drain well.  Mash with milk and salt.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.  You should have about 2 cups of mashed potatoes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  

Brush a deep 9-inch pie plate with half the oil.  Press in mashed potatoes.  Brush with remaining oil.  

Bake crust for 25-35 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned and crusty. Remove from oven, and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Arrange broccoli and then cheese over bottom of crust.

Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Pour over broccoli and cheese.  Sprinkle with green onions.

Bake quiche for 25-35 minutes, or until slightly puffed, browned and just set.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from Heart Smart