If you can recall my last post, I made pita bread as part of a Middle Eastern meal…well, I still had a ton of light whole wheat dough leftover from that. I decided to make a pizza/flatbread, using whatever I could find in the fridge! I had recently seen a pizza that used caramelized onions as a base, and I thought that was great, flavourful idea. My onions were burnt extra caramelized! It still turned out fantastic, and like my mom said ‘it’s like a fiesta in your mouth!’ *hides head in shame* Just so corny! Regardless, the comment is true. Try it for yourself!

Light Whole Wheat Dough (adapted from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day)

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (2 packs)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast and salt with the water in a stand mixer bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients, without kneading, using the dough hook on your mixer. Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature approximately 2 hours. Use the dough immediately after this, or, refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container for up to 14 days.

I made one batch of this dough, and got some pita bread, and 3 pizzas out of it. Each pizza will take one grapefruit sized piece of dough.

Fiesta Flatbread

• 1 grapefruit sized piece of light whole wheat dough
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/3 cup salsa
• chilli powder
• dried basil
• mozzarella cheese
• cheddar cheese

With a baking stone in your oven, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. Dust your table surface, rolling pin, and the top of your dough with flour. Stretch your dough into a round ball. Roll out your dough to 1/4 inch thick. Grease a pizza peel, and place your dough on top.

Drizzle olive oil in frying pan and heat, toss in onions and balsamic vinegar and caramelize. Put the onions onto the dough, add the other ingredients on top. Top with a sprinkle of chilli powder, dried basil, mozzarella and cheddar cheese. *Keep in mind that I estimated the amounts that I used, and if you make your pizza larger, add more toppings! If you want this to be vegan, simply exclude the cheese and it will still taste delicious! I was making this with my cheese-eating family in mind.

Bake on the pizza peel on top of the baking stone for 10 minutes, until crust no longer feels doughy.

Earlier in the week, in one of my culinary classes, we were all asked to bring in a dish that represents comfort food for us. We then headed to the kitchen and go to explain the dish we brought, and then share it with the class. One of my favourites was what my Chef brought in. He is from the Middle East, and he made beautiful, soft, homemade pita bread with hummus, a fava bean dish called Fool Meudane, and wonderful falafel. I was so impressed and inspired that I wanted to make the very same meal for my family! I decided to add a cumin-carrot salad to the meal, as well. Something I love about these dishes is that they all happen to be vegetarian- yum!

I’ll be sharing the recipes over the next little while, and I’d like to start with a basic hummus recipe that gets topped with the fool meudane. My chef informed me that this is not a traditional way of serving it, but hey, he did it….and I liked it!

Basic Hummus

• 1 19 fl oz can of chickpeas
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp tahini
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 3 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

Combine all the ingredients, except olive oil in a food processor and blend until smooth. Drizzle in olive oil and blend. Stir in parsley and top with paprika.

Fool Meudane (original recipe can be found here)

• 2 cups frozen fava beans
• 1 clove of garlic
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (add tbsp by tbsp, until you get the amount you want- a 1/4 cup may be too much for some people)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1 small tomato, diced

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the garlic, stir until fragrant. Add the fava beans, lemon juice, and salt. Cover and cook for a minute or two. Add the diced tomato, cover and simmer 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat, and mash the ingredients with a fork until chunky. You don’t want this dish to be perfectly smooth. Garnish with parsely and drizzle with olive oil.

To serve these, spread the hummus in a bowl leaving a hole in the middle, add the fool meudane in the centre, sprinkle with smoked paprika, and drizzle with olive oil.

This was a super fun week in pastry class. We focused on plated desserts. We were instructed to spend lots of time looking in books/magazines/online at beautifully plated desserts. As a class, we were told what we were going to be making- three desserts in total. We all volunteered to create one element of the dessert. I made hazelnut semifreddo. After all of the components for the three desserts were made, we were able to prepare our own garnishes and presentation elements, including lace cookies, caramel garnishes, chocolate garnishes, and tuiles. The next day, we came to class and were given between 8 and 10 minutes to plate our dessert and bring it to the front table. As a class we looked at each dessert and constructively commented on them…then, we ate! It was so neat to see how unique each plating was- we all used the same components, and produced all different ideas!

The first dessert to be plated was a apple-lime mousse with walnut japonaise, mango sorbet, apple chips and walnut-caramel sauce. Unfortunately my mango sorbet melted before I could get it in the picture! I think you can see it in some of the class pictures, though. I chose to serve my mousse in a lace cookie bowl, and crumble the japoniase on top, with a gooseberry garnish, and framed by the apple chips.

The next dessert was a chocolate-hazelnut-espresso terrine, with hazelnut semifreddo, black-cherry wine sauce, and caramel garnish. I chose to serve this one in a lace cookie bowl with chocolate dipped mint and a strawberry. Man do these things melt fast in a hot kitchen!

The last dessert to be plated was a lemon-coconut brioche bread pudding with passionfruit-caramel drizzle, lemongrass cream sauce, raspberry coulis, honey-thyme ice cream, and candied citrus. I added strawberries, mint leaves, raspberries, and a lace cookie bowl!

And one more group shot!

P.S. Check out these fun little tuiles I made when my Olympic spirit was running wild!

I love veggie burgers because they are so easy to make, healthy, and filling. For a long time I have been wanting to make my own veggie burgers- avoiding soy, preservatives, and unneccessary ingredients. Many people think that when they are buying packaged veggie burgers in the grocery store, that they are ‘veggie, and therefor healthy’, but that’s not true. A lot of brands use nasty ‘improvers’ to help flavour the burger, and they can be really awful for your body. Not to mention extra sugar, and artificial colours.

I based this burger around two kinds of beans- chickpeas, and red kidney beans for healthy fibre and vegetable protein. I added vegetables, spices, and seeds for extra yummy flavour, and used chickpea flour to bind the burger together. I lightly coated the outside of the patties in panko bread crumbs and baked them in the oven with just a small drizzle of olive oil on each one.

I loved these burgers, and my meat-eating family enjoyed them too! I put mine in an wrap with ketchup, mustard, avocado, and lettuce. Yum!

These almost remind me of a burrito in burger form! So without further ado, here is the recipe:

Veggie Bean Burgers

• 2 19 fl oz cans of beans- I used chickpeas and red kidney beans
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 Tbsp ground flaxseeds
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 2 Tbsp crushed pecans, chopped
• 1/4 tsp each smoked paprika, cumin, coriander
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup oats
• 3 tbsp chickpea flour
• 1 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
• Panko bread crumbs
• olive oil to drizzle

Combine all but the last three ingredients  in a food processer and pulse until a chunky paste is made (ie. a few whole chickpeas should still be visible)

Remove the mixture to a bowl and stir in oats, chickpea flour, and cilantro until mixed. To make the patties, spread panko crumbs onto a plate. Take 1/4 cup of the burger mixture at a time and make into a ball. Press down on the ball to make an even veggie patty. Coat top, bottom, and sides in panko. Place on a parchment-line sheet tray and drizzle a bit of olive oil on top. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and bake for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve in a bun or tortilla, with all your favourite toppings!

So I have dabbled in a couple of raw food dishes, such as the raw cheesecake I tried in the summer. I’m feeling a bit less than myself lately and was sick over the past week or so. Because I am in pastry school, I find myself consuming a lot of sugar, and I basically went from a near zero sugar diet, to one where I’m bringing home cakes, pies, tarts, and bread several times a week, and while a lot gets shoved in the freezer right away, it’s the odd bites that catch up to us. I want to start cleansing my diet again, as my school winds down, and wean myself off the sugar once more. I thought a good place to start would be a raw food dish, and though I don’t necessarily think that having a completely raw diet is the best diet, I know that I can count on raw food recipes to provide light, healthy nourishment. I got the recipe from here and only slightly modified it. I really enjoyed the dressing and used it on several salads I had in the following day or two. This was a very nice lunch, and also a great side dish at dinner. Enjoy!

Raw Vegetable Pasta

Dressing:

• 1 inch ginger
• 3/4-1 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp sesame oil (toasted)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 4 tbsp mellow white miso
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• zest of one orange
• 1/3 cup water

Blend in a blender or food processor until creamy and emulsified.

Pasta:

• 1 large zucchini, sliced with a vegetable peeler
• 1/2 red pepper, sliced into matchsticks
• 1 carrot, sliced into matchsticks
• 1/2 small cucumber, grated
• Scallions or green onion to garnish
• Sprinkle of raw sliced nuts of your choice
• handful of cilantro, chopped

Prepare and mix all veggies, save the scallions or green onion. Toss them with 1/4 cup sauce, adding more if necessary, and sprinkle with scallions. Sprinkle with sliced nuts and cilantro.

I love eating salads, but I often add some protein in the form of seafood to them. I recently had a great salad made with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, about half of an avocado, goat cheese, and these orange-chipotle shrimp. I think these shrimp would make a great filling for shrimp tacos, as well! There really aren’t exact amounts of each ingredient for this recipe. Just use however much shrimp you want, and make sure there is enough marinade to coat them all!

Orange-Chipotle Shrimp

• about 2 chipotle peppers packed in adobo sauce
• juice of one orange
• honey
• salt and pepper
• 1/2lb peeled shrimp (I take the tails off, too,  so there is less work to do while I am eating the salad)
• cilantro, chopped

Mix the chipotle peppers, shrimp, orange juice, salt and pepper together. Let marinade for just a few minutes. Heat up a frying to medium hight heat, and add the shrimp. Discard the leftover marinade. Drizzle the shrimp with honey and cook for about one minute, tossing after about 30 seconds. Top with plenty of chopped cilantro.

I thought I would share this cake with you all because it’s tasty and looks very pretty. It’s killer rich, and you won’t want toooo big of a slice, either The cake is a hazelnut sponge cake and it’s topped with a mocha Italian buttercream and some chocolate run-out decorations.

Hazelnut Sponge Cake

• 50g egg
• 120g yolks
• 85g sugar
• 5g vanilla
• 55g pastry flour
• 160g ground hazelnuts
• 180g egg whites
• 85g sugar

Whisk eggs, yolks, first amount of sugar and vanilla to ribbon stage. (You should be able to take the mixer whisk out of the bowl and have the batter drip in ribbons for about 4 seconds before it stops dripping.)

Sift flour and combine with hazelnuts. Fold into egg mixture.

Whisk whites with remaining sugar to medium peaks.

Fold 1/4 of the whites into batter.

Fold remaining whites into batter and put in prepared cake rings.

Bake at 375F until golden- test with a skewer if you like.

Mocha Buttercream

• 7 egg whites
• 375g granulated sugar
• water as needed
• 625g lightly salted butter, softened

Place egg whites in a mixing bowl. Place 120-130g sugar in a saucepan with enough water to moisten all of it. Bring to a boil, and add candy thermometer. Begin whipping egg whites to stiff peaks. When the sugar syrup reaches 116 degrees C, remove from the heat immediately and slowly pour into egg whites with the mixer running. Continue beating until the egg whites are completely cool. Gradually add the softened butter. When all the butter is added, add a 1-2 oz of melted dark chocolate. Add coffee extract to taste.

Building the Cake

Cut the hazelnut sponge cake into three equal layers. Place buttercream between each layer, and a thin crumb coating on the outside of the cake. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Do the final presentation coating of buttercream. Add 8 even rosettes to the top of the cake, and top with chocolate decoration or shavings on each rosette.

I’m totally obsessed with yams and sweet potatoes, as ya’ll probably know, and here’s one more recipe for when I have to satisfy my craving! These are sesame baked yam fried and they are served with an almond butter dipping sauce. I recently made an almond butter dipping sauce to use with my spring rolls, and it was quite different to the one used in this recipe. This one, to me, tasted just like ketchup, so I added some ginger to try and make it taste a bit more interesting without being overpowering. This made a great 2 am snack

Sesame Sweet Potato Wedges with Almond Dipping Sauce

• 4 medium sweet potatoes, cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• sea salt
• chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 400F.

Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on a lined baking tray. Drizzle with the olive oil and sesame oil, sesame seeds, and salt.

Bake in the oven for approximately 35 minutes until tender.

Almond Dipping Sauce

• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• red chili flakes, to your liking
• 1-2 tbsp tamari
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1-2 tsp fresh grated ginger
• sea salt and pepper

Whisk all ingredients together well, and add 1/4 cup of hot water, blend until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and heat gently.

Sprinkle the cilantro over the potato wedges, and serve with dipping sauce. Enjoy!

I feel like it’s been longer than usual inbetween posts for me. I have had midterms all of last week, so I was a bit busy studying (or trying to….). Honestly, who can study with the excitement of the Olympics coming up in just under a week! I can’t wait to have some fun amidst all the chaos and hectic activities downtown. And now onto the food….

I really wanted to make something sort of unique, and cute. I decided on Herb & Feta Polenta with Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade. I had never made polenta before and I think I had only tried it once. I really like the look of these for appetizers- they are easy to make and can need to be made ahead of time. The polenta has a pretty neutral flavour with just a bit of feta in each bite-sized cake. The sun-dried tomato tapenade livens it up with a splash of balsamic vinegar, and black olives. Try these for some classy superbowl hors d’oeuvres

Herb & Feta Polenta with Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade (adapted from Vegetarian Food for Friends)

• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 3 scallions, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp polenta or yellow cornmeal
• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 tsp of dried dill
• sea salt and black pepper
• sliced black olives

• 2 oz sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in water and 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar overnight
• 1/3 olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 tsp red chili flakes
• small handful of fresh basil

Polenta:

In a saucepan, combine butter, olive oil, garlic and scallions and cook until scallions are translucent- a couple minutes. Pour in boiling water, add polenta in a steady stream whisking the whole time to prevent lumps. Cook until polenta thickens and starts forming large bubbles. Stir in feta, dill, salt and pepper. Pour into a well-greased 8 inch square baking pan. Smooth the top of the polenta. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Cut out approximately 16 rounds with a 2-inch diameter cookie cutter. Top with a spoonful of tapenade and 2-3 slices of olive. Garnish with fresh dill or cilantro. Serve and enjoy!

Tapenade:

Drain the sun-dried tomatoes, and put in a blender with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chili flakes, and basil. Process until fairly smooth, and add salt and pepper to taste.

As you can see, I made gigantic truffles, and they had started to melt by the time I got home!!