Pancakes with Ricotta Cheese & Fresh Blueberries

These pancakes are fluffy and the cheese and blueberry combination is delicious!

Look for the small wild blueberries available in the summer.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups ricotta 

3/4 cup (6 oz.) milk

4 eggs, separated

1 cup plain flour (all-purpose)

1 tsp baking powder 

a pinch of salt 

1 1/2 oz butter (50g)

To serve: 

sliced bananas or fruit

icing sugar for dusting

Method

Place ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a mixing bowl and mix to combine. 

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Add to the ricotta mixture and mix until just combined. 

Place egg whites in a clean dry bowl and beat until soft peaks form.  Fold egg whites 

through batter in two batches, with a large metal spoon. 

Lightly grease a large non-stick frying pan with a small portion of the butter and drop 2 tablespoons of the batter per pancake into the pan (don't cook more than 3 per batch).  Cook over low to medium heat for 2 minutes, or until pancakes have golden undersides.  Turn and cook on other side until golden and cooked through.  Transfer to plate.

Sift a few tablespoons of icing sugar on top. 

Serve with Canadian Maple Syrup! 

Serves 6-8. 

Pea Soup

This is a simple recipe - great for those snowy days!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp canola oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground cumin (optional)

1/2 tsp sea salt (optional)

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 cups of uncooked green split peas

2 quarts of water

1 medium potato peeled & cubed

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 Ham steak (fully-cooked), chopped into 1/2" pieces (omit for Vegan)

Directions:

Wash the peas and check for stones according to package directions.
Saute onion and spices in oil for one minute. Add soy sauce, peas, carrots and water. 

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 1 hour.
Add potato and celery and cook an additional 20-30 minutes. 

Serve topped with a few croutons. 

Serve as is -- a little chunky, or use a hand blender or blender to puree. 

You can add boiling water if your bowl/cup if you don’t like it too thick.

Remove when the soup is done and cut up the meat and add it to the soup. 

Makes 8 servings. Freezes very well. 

Tuscan Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

Ingredients 

2 tbs olive oil 

1/2 onion chopped 

1 stalk of celery diced

1 carrot diced

2 cloves of garlic minced 

1 quart (32 oz) chicken broth or vegetable broth 

2 chicken sausages, raw (casing removed)

1 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp Tuscan or Italian seasoning 

salt & pepper 

1 can of northern beans or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

(reduced sodium) 

1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley 

2 Tbs grated parmesan cheese 

Method 

In a medium sauce pan, heat the pot on medium and add the olive oil. 

Add the onion, celery, carrots and stir till softened, about 5 minutes. 

Add the garlic and saute another 1-2 minutes. Add the sausage and fry until 

brown. Add the broth, tomatoes, seasoning, salt & pepper. 

Bring to a boil and then simmer for one hour till sausage is tender. 

Add the can of beans, and cook simmer another 1/2 hour. 

Serve with freshly chopped parsley and grated parmesan. 

Variation:  Use beef or porketta sausages, and use beef broth.  You could also add a handful of spinach, kale or swiss chard for some greens. 

Apple Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients 

2 Cups quick-cooking rolled oats 

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 cup packed brown sugar 

2 eggs 

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples (about 1 large apple) 

Preparation 

Preheat oven to 375F with racks in top and bottoms third of oven. 

Butter 2 large baking sheets or line with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, whisk together oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla.  Pour over dry ingredients and sprinkle with apples; stir until just blended. 

Drop batter of 1/4 cup for each cookie onto prepared baking sheets and leave about 2” between each cookie.  Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Let cool on pans on racks for 2 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. 

Florentines

Florentines, coated with chocolate on the bottom
 

From the Whare Kea lodge in New Zealand.  We were lucky to stay at this fabulous resort in New Zealand.  The chef prepared the most delicious degustation menus each night.  Every day at 4:00 pm, there would be Florentines and coffee & tea, prepared by Sarah.
She was kind enough to give us the recipe.

Ingredients

 

50 g coconut oil

50 ml water

100 g caster sugar

Pinch of salt

150 g sliced almonds

50 g coconut chips

20 g desiccated coconut

50 g coconut cream 

1 egg white

150 g dark chocolate

Method

 

Place oil, sugar, water and salt over med / high heat. Whisk

Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes till it turns golden

Mix in almonds, desiccated coconut, coconut chips and coconut cream 

Whip egg white in a small bowl till firm peaks form. Fold into coconut mixture

Place on a lined paper sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 180 C

Cool

Melt chocolate and paint onto bottom

Chill until hard

Store in a cool place or in the fridge. 

 

The coconut cream is weighed - double checked this with the chef 

Halibut with Herbes de Provence

 

 

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 6 portions of skinless Halibut (about 5 ounces each)
• 1 teaspoon of herbes de Provence
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Whisk the oil, herbes de Provence, salt and pepper in a bowl to combine. 
3. Arrange the halibut pieces in a lightly oiled baking dish.
4. Drizzle with the oil/herb mixture and spread with a spoon over the halibut.  Leave a little space between each piece of fish.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes in the middle of the oven, uncovered,  till it is white and flakes easily with a fork.  Be careful not to overcook the fish or it will be dry.  The fish will continue to cook a bit when you remove it from the oven.

Tips

• Serve with colorful vegetables such as red, yellow and orange peppers.  Broccoli, asparagus or green beans also go well with a white fish.  Baby Broccoli is a nice change and is milder, sweeter and more tender than broccoli.  It's sometimes call broccolini. 
• Herbes de Provence is available in the herb section of the grocery store; different brands will have slightly different mixtures.  It usually contains thyme, marjoram, rosemary, basil, fennel, sage, lavender - and sometimes tarragon.

Salmon with Hemp Seeds

This is a great recipe to incorporate healthy hemp seeds into your diet.  Look for the raw, shelled hemp seeds to add a nutty flavor and Omega 3 to your dish.

Ingredients

2 salmon filets

4 tbsp shelled hemp seeds

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup sliced fennel

1/2 cup chopped watercress

1 cup fresh radish sprouts, well rinsed

Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Rinse and pat dry salmon filets. Rub lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place hemp seeds in a shallow dish and dip salmon filets in on the flesh side.

Heat an ovenproof cast iron skillet over high heat for 3 minutes. Reduce to medium and place filets, seasoning side down, into the pan and allow them to cook for 2 minutes without moving them. Turn the filets over and place in the oven for 5-7 minutes, until the salmon is just cooked. Time may vary depending on thickness of the salmon.

While salmon is in oven, in a small bowl whisk the mustard, juice, vinegar and salt. Add fennel, watercress and sprouts and lightly toss until combined.

Put each filet on a dinner plate. Place a heaping handful of the salad on top of each of the salmon filets.