Green Apple Salsa

1/2 small red onion, quartered
1 small jalapeño chile, seeded
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
2 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Using a food processor, finely chop the red onion, jalapeño and cilantro. Transfer to a bowl and add the apples. Stir in the lime juice, salt and sugar. Serve with tortilla chips.

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup

Ingredients
• 3 large sweet potatoes, cut in chunks
• 3 leeks, rough chopped
• A pinch of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
• A nub of butter
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 big knuckle of fresh ginger (about 1 tablespoon peeled and grated)
• 2 cups water
• Curry powder and turmeric to taste

Directions
Sweet Potato Soup
1. Peel and quarter the sweet potatoes.
2. Wash leeks well and drain, remove any damaged outside peel, remove the hairy white tips from the end, and cut leeks into 1 inch slices. (leave one 3inch section aside to be fried for the garnish, later)
3. Soften leeks in a large pot with a nub of butter. Do not brown.
4. Add 6 cups of stock or water.
5. Add sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil until cooked through --just softer than fork tender. Using an immersion blender, puree the ingredients until they are thoroughly blended (or blend in batches in a blender).
6. Add the grated ginger, curry and turmeric, and test for consistency. If too thick add a bit more water. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt or pepper as needed.

Thai Cashew Chicken

This recipe can seem like a lot of work…. But it is so worth it! You can buy chilli paste to cut down on prep… Found some at Hamilton farms...

Serves 4

3 tbs. canola oil, divided
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
2 1/2 tbs. Thai chili paste (Recipe below)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 large onion, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1 tbs. sugar
6 dried red chiles, seeds removed, finely diced
Generous 1/2 cup cashews
½ cup chives, chopped
Steamed Thai jasmine rice, for serving

Heat 1 tbs. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken, season with salt and pepper and stir fry until cooked through. Put the chicken in a bowl and set aside. Repeat with 1 tbs. of the oil and the rest of the chicken.

Add the remaining oil to the empty skillet and heat. Add the chili paste, stirring constantly to break it up for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, red bell pepper, onion, oyster sauce and sugar. Stir well and simmer for 3 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, return the chicken to the skillet and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened and the vegetables are tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chiles, cashews and chives, stir to combine and serve immediately over rice.



Thai Roasted Chilli paste:
16 dried red chilies
1/4 cup unpeeled shallots, cut into chunks
4-5 large unpeeled garlic cloves
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1.5 tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar
1.5 tablespoons Tamarind Liquid
½ tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt

In a wok or a small, heavy skillet, dry-fry the chilies over medium-low heat until they darken and become fragrant and brittle, 3 to 5 minutes. Shake the pan and stir frequently as they roast. Remove from the heat and transfer to a plate to cool.
Increase the heat to medium and dry-fry the shallots and garlic, turning them occasionally, until they are softened, wilted, and blistered, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to the plate to cool.

Stem the chilies and shake out and discard most of the seeds. Crumble the chilies into small pieces. Trim the shallots and garlic, discarding the peel and root ends, and chop coarsely. Combine the chilies, shallots, and garlic in a mini processor or blender and pulse to a coarse paste, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Add 1/8 cup of the vegetable oil and grind to a fairly smooth paste. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

Pour the remaining 1/8 cup oil into the wok or a skillet. Place over medium heat until a bit of the paste added to the pan sizzles at once, about 1 minute. Add the ground chili paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until the paste gradually darkens and releases a rich fragrance, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Combine the sugar, tamarind, soy sauce, and salt in a small bowl and stir well. Add this mixture to the cooled chili paste and stir to combine. The paste will be quite oily, and must be well stirred before each use. Transfer to a jar, cap tightly, and refrigerate for up to 1 month.

Basic Pasta

We love this easy past recipe... and your bread machine does the kneading for you! SOOO nice!

All ingredients should be at room temperature (70°–80° F)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semolina flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil
3/4 cup water

1) Measure all ingredients into bread pan.
2) Select Dough setting.
3) Press “Start” and allow to mix 8 to 10 minutes. Then press “Stop”
to cancel.
4) Remove dough and roll out on lightly floured surface. Roll to 1/8-inch
thickness. Dust with flour if dough is sticky.
5) Cut into 1/8-inch strips for narrow noodles or 1/4-inch for medium noodles.
6) Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling, salted water for 10 to 15 minutes.
Drain in colander.

BUTTER CHICKEN

Phil and I really enjoy this version of butter chicken... I usually try to do half fresh tomatoes instead of all canned tomatoes - better tate and better for you!
really good with garlic naan! Garam Masala is a must! You can buy it any grocery store in the spice section. Is is a powder spice blend that is needed in a lot of indian cuisine.... so if you like indian, this is a good spice to have in your shelf!

4 servings
Ingredients
Spice Blend :
• 1 tablespoon garam masala seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Sauce:
• 3 tablespoons butter (Must be butter not margarine!)
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
• 4 cooked chicken breasts, choppped
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• Hot basmati rice, for serving
• Cilatnro, for garnish



Directions
To make the spice blend: Stir the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the pieces just begin to turn gold, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and spice blend, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. The spices will be fragrant. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and stir will. Add the chicken pieces, spoon the sauce over the top and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook, uncovered, until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce is flavorful, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Remove the chicken to a serving dish and cover to keep warm. Add the cream to the sauce in the pan, stir well and heat through. Do not boil. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice and warmed pita bread.
Variation: If you prefer shreds of chicken to whole pieces, remove the skin from the chicken and pull the meat into large chunks by hand. Add to the pan along with the garlic, tomato paste and spice blend. Cook for 3 minutes and then add the tomato sauce and continue with the recipe. Serve over basmati rice. Sprinkle cilantro over top.

Baked french toast

Makes 8 servings

1 baguette
6 large eggs
3 cups milk
1/2 t. freshly, grated nutmeg
1 t. vanilla extract
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
2 cups frozen blueberries (Or any frozen berries)
1 cup frozen blueberries (Or any frozen berries)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 T. fresh lemon juice

Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Cut 24 1-inch slices (or chunks) from baguette and arrange in one layer in baking dish. In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla and 3/4 cup brown sugar and pour evenly over bread. Chill mixture, covered, until all liquid is absorbed by bread, at least 8 hours, and up to 1 day. ( I usually soak it over night)

Preheat temperature to 400 degrees.


Sprinkle 2 cups blueberries evenly over bread mixture. Cut 1/2 stick butter into pieces and in a small sauce pan heat with remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, stirring until butter is melted. Drizzle butter mixture over bread and bake mixture 20 minutes, or until liquid from blueberries is bubbling.
Make syrup: In a small saucepan cook 1 cup blueberries and maple syrup over moderate heat until berries have burst, about 3 minutes. Take off heat and stir in lemon juice. Syrup may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat syrup before serving.

I have done this with apples and with all types of frozen berries… pretty much everything works…. If you want to make it richer, cut up about ½ cup of cream cheese and place in chunks all over pan before putting in oven.

You can use this with any bread… but we found baguettes kept it’s shape the best…. Other bread kinda turns into mush…

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

A very yummy twist on mashed potatoes... We had this for thanksgiving mashed potatoes this year... now a holiday tradition!


4 pounds russet potatoes peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 stick butter, melted plus 1 tablespoon at room temp
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, divided use
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 chopped fresh flat leaf Italian parsley
2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish with the 1 tablespoon of room temp butter and set aside.
Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well with a potato masher. Whip with hand held mixer. Whip in the melted butter and milk. Whip in the mozzarella, 3/4 cup of the Parmesan. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper and add in parsley. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish. Stir the bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the mashed potatoes. Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time; cover and chill.

Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Serving Yield: 6 to 8