Mini polenta rounds are a great base for a large range of meaty or meat-less hors d’oeuvres. They’re also cost effective and easy to make for a large crowd. For my dad’s surprise 60th birthday party, I topped these mini herbed polenta rounds with sauteed cremini mushrooms tossed in balsamic cream. They were one of the party favourites.
I hated gingerbread until two years ago, when my friend Allan made delicious chewy gingerbread cookies for his naughty cookie decorating party (see the photos of our x-rated cookies here). Last year, I fell even harder for gingerbread when I discovered this recipe for wonderfully crisp and crunchy gingerbread cookies. They were addictive! I made more batches of mini gingerbread men than I could count and turned some of them into decorations for my family’s Christmas tree (see below for how to make gingerbread ornaments and garland). They made the tree smell delicious. Thank you to the White family for sharing this recipe with me. For an even better gingerbread idea, see not martha’s gingerbread mug decorations here. They are mini gingerbread houses that perch on the edge of mugs!!! I can’t wait to make these next year!
I served warm brie and apricot jam crostini at my dad’s 60th birthday party and they were a huge hit. Switch things up a bit by using a different flavoured jam or fruit butter. For example, peach jam would have the same beautiful orange colour, any berry jam would work beautifully, blackcurrant jam would be amazing, apple butter would be comforting in the fall, and cranberry sauce (see recipe here) would be perfect for the winter holidays. These are incredibly easy to make for a large crowd. The key to making these delicious is using the perfect ratio of jam to brie cheese. Don’t hold back with the jam, as it’ll make your crostini look prettier too.
I love cooking lentils in the fall and winter months. Here are just some of the many reasons why I almost always have some in my pantry: they are very economical, they store well and are great to have on hand when I’m out of fresh vegetables, they’re easy and forgiving to cook, they work well in side dishes, one-pot main courses, or soup, they make freezer friendly meals, and they’re hearty, nutritious, and high in fiber. This is my favourite red lentil soup recipe.
I’ve made this delicious and authentic Italian bolognese sauce twice now, and I’ve learned a few things about how to make this sauce even better. First of all, don’t use finely ground meat. You will get the best results in texture if you grind the meat yourself using a food processor fitted with a metal blade. The store ground meat ends up feeling and tasting gritty. Secondly, the quality of the canned tomatoes that you use makes a huge difference. For best results, use san marzano tomatoes if you can afford it. Though not necessary to make a delicious sauce, it will make a huge difference in tomato flavour. (I found very affordable cans of san marzano tomatoes at Costco.) Lastly, this sauce is delicious when made with lamb, too. So feel free to try making this using beef, lamb, or a combination of beef and pork. This recipe makes a large batch of sauce and is an easy way to cook for a large group. I made this for dinner for 9 people and there was enough for everyone to have seconds. The sauce is freezer friendly and the recipe can be halved.
I don’t normally experiment with anchovies, so I’m really glad that I gave this recipe a chance. I guess you could say that it was meant to be, because I had some anchovies leftover from making caesar dressing (see recipe here), when I happened to stumble upon an anchovy pasta recipe in an old cookbook that I was flipping through. I made it for a dinner party and everyone loved it. I love how quick and easy it is to make. You could easily double the recipe (I did!) and make it in advance. I like serving this with roasted chicken and a side salad. The only downside to serving this dish is that it’s not easy to pair with wine.
I have dozens of frozen egg yolks that I would love to use up. (See here for how to freeze eggs and other ingredients.) But I don’t want to make any more desserts, so I have been looking for new savoury recipes that require egg yolks. This egg yolk vinaigrette only uses up 1 egg yolk, but it’s a delicious start. 🙂 You can use it as a dip for vegetable sticks, or as a dressing on leafy salads or cold, cooked vegetable salads. (The caesar dressing recipe here also uses an egg yolk.)
Cooking with Alison’s Mom (Part 5)
According to Chinese medicine, “dong chong cho” or ‘winter worm summer grass’ or caterpillar fungus (ophiocordyceps sinensis), has many health benefits. Despite its high price tag, many Chinese families will boil it in a soup to improve their health. After being boiled, the “dong chong cho” does not really taste like anything, and it has a nice slight crunch in texture. This is how my mom makes “dong chong cho” soup.
Curried white bean and sweet potato soup made without coconut milk
I was inspired by The Bean Ladies at Toronto’s One of a Kind Show in December, 2013 to make a curried white bean and sweet potato soup. The flavours of this soup are mild; the spice from curry and cumin is balanced by the subtle sweetness of the sweet potatoes and brown sugar. To add richness and/or another layer of flavour to the soup, try making this soup with coconut milk. I have also given these soups away as gifts in the form of meals in a jar (DIY meal in a jar instructions provided below). This soup can easily be made gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and vegan. See another recipe that was inspired by The Bean Ladies here (Split Pea Soup and DIY meal in a jar).
Example of a meal in a jar (split pea soup)
I never understood why people like cabbage rolls until my friend Joana made Romanian cabbage rolls. This is the same friend that changed my mind about polenta, by the way (see my soft polenta recipes here). I am so so grateful that Joana introduced me to Romanian cabbage rolls, because I am in love with them! They are truly the best cabbage rolls that I have ever tasted. The main difference between Romanian cabbage rolls and other cabbage rolls is that the Romanian ones are made with pickled cabbage. You can find vacuum sealed whole heads of pickled cabbage in European grocery stores. Joana’s recipe is also great because she uses a blend of different types of meat. Although they are easy to make, I don’t make them often, because rolling all of those cabbage rolls can be time-consuming. I hope you won’t be discouraged, because this recipe makes a very large batch that happens to be freezer-friendly. With the colder weather moving in, I knew that I couldn’t put off making these any longer. These are great to make for pot lucks or when feeding a crowd, because they can be served warm or cold.
Sour cream is one of my favourite condiments, but I feel guilty buying it for two reasons: 1. it’s unhealthy and high in calories, and 2. I often end up wasting food, because I have trouble using up an entire container before the expiration date. So you can imagine my excitement when I watched chef Rocco DiSpirito share his healthy sour cream substitute on tv a few years ago. It only requires 2 ingredients: cottage cheese and white vinegar/lemon juice. I have to admit, I was very doubtful that anything could even come close to tasting like sour cream. When I first tried it, I was expecting to be as disappointed as the first time I ever tried vegan cheese, but it was amazingly similar to sour cream. You just need to have the equipment to get the texture completely smooth (I used a mini food processor). You can make as little or as much as you want and you don’t have to feel guilty eating it.
Cooking with Alison 