Chicken Broccoli Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. broccoli
  
• 1 lb. chicken breasts
  
• 1 onion
  
• 1 garlic
  
• olive oil for frying
  
• 2 cups thick tomato sauce
  
• fresh basil, minced
  
• fresh oregano, minced
  
• 9 lasagna noodles
  
• 300 grams chevre
  
• 300 grams mozzarella, grated or thinly sliced
  
• freshly grated parmesan

Directions:

Precook lasagna noodles.
Cut broccoli into small florets and steam until nearly tender.
Peel and mince onion and garlic.
Stir fry onion and garlic in olive oil until soft.
Dice chicken and add to onion and garlic.
Fry until chicken is lightly browned.
Stir minced herbs into tomato sauce.
Spread 1/3 of tomato mixture over bottom of large lasagna pan.
Cover with a layer of noodles.
Spread 1/3 of tomato mixture over the noodles.
Add half the chicken mixture, half the broccoli and half the chevre.
Follow with another layer of noodles topped with the remaining sauce, chicken, broccoli and chevre.
Cover with the third layer of noodles.
Arrange mozzarella over top of the lasagna.
Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes until mozzarella is golden brown.
Slice and serve, sprinkling freshly grated parmesan over individual portions.

Celery Cheese Bake

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce butter
  
• 1 head of celery, thinly sliced
  
• 3 ounces chevre, crumbled
  
• 3 ounces Lancashire cheese, crumbled
  
• 4 tablespoons light cream
  
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed pan.
Fry celery in hot butter for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add 3-4 tablespoons of water to the pan.
Cover pan and simmer celery over low heat for 5-6 minutes until celery is tender and water has evaporated.
Remove pan from heat and stir in cheeses and cream.
Season with pepper.
Transfer mixture to a shallow, buttered casserole dish.
Cover dish and bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Gourmet Cheese, Tomato & Carmelized Onion Panini

Cheese & tomato sandwiches, grilled cheese, and cheese & onion just about anything are traditional common grub in my native land. In the best tradition of my adopted country; however, I've combined these flavours with some local specialties and a cooking technique from yet a third country (the Italian pressed & grilled sandwich or "panino") to create this delicious sandwich. Simple food with gourmet taste.



Ingredients:

• hearty whole grain, multi-grain bread
  
• onion, thinly sliced
  
• tomato, sliced
  
• chèvre
  
• aged Canadian cheddar, sliced
  
• extra virgin olive oil
  
• olive oil for frying

Notes:

Panini are traditionally made in a ridged sandwich press which toasts both slices of bread while heating the sandwich through and fusing the fillings together. The ridges give the panino its characteristic stripes. If you don't have such a press; however, you can still enjoy this delicious sandwich by cooking it in a skillet and pressing down the top of the sandwich with a second heavy skillet or other weight, then flipping the sandwich halfway through the cooking time to toast the opposite side of the bread. You won't have the stripes using this second method, but you'll still get all of the flavour!

Directions:

Stir fry onion in olive oil over medium heat until onions are caramelized (soft and caramel in colour).
Spread chèvre on one side of each slice of bread.
Place tomato slices on one slice of bread for each sandwhich.
Top tomato with slices of Canadian cheddar. (I've had great results making this sandwich with Balderson's 2 Year Old Royal Canadian Cheddar.)
Spread carmelized onions over top of cheddar.

Top sandwiches with second slice of bread (cheese side inside).
Brush outside of sandwiches lightly with extra virgin olive oil.
Cook in a hot sandwich press or skillet with top weight until both sides of the sandwhich are toasted and the cheeses have melted, fusing the fillings together.
Enjoy hot off the grill.

Smoked Salmon Pasta Bake

I was never a fan of "macaroni and cheese". Not as a child, nor as a starving student, nor a starving artist, nor a wilderness camper in the middle of Algonquin in the pouring rain with nothing else to eat. There's simply never been a time in my life when consuming those boxed dinners of macaroni noodles and powdered "cheese" product seemed like a good idea. When I recently came across Clever Karen's recipe for "Grown Up Mac n' Cheese" however, my eyes were opened to the potential of this (much-maligned-by-the-insta-food-industry) dish and I was inpired to try my own hand at a "macaroni & cheese" creation. This was the result.



Ingredients:

• 1 lb (dry weight) whole wheat rotini
  
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
  
• 1 cup tzatziki
  
• 150 g chèvre
  
• fresh dill
  
• 3/4 cup grated aged Cheddar cheese
  
• 3/4 cup grated Lancashire cheese
  
• 3/4 cup grated Montery Jack cheese with hot pepper flakes
  
• 3/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
  
• 200 g smoked salmon, torn into small pieces
  
• freshly grated parmesan

Directions:

Cook pasta until al dente.
Cream together ricotta, tzatziki and chèvre in a large bowl.
Stir in Cheddar, Lancashire, Jack & Swiss cheeses and dill.
Add pasta and salmon to cheese mixture and combine well.
Transfer contents to a large lasagna pan or other oven-proof dish.
Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
Remove foil, top with grated parmesan and bake uncovered for a further 10 minutes.
Serve warm.

Double Garlic Chicken Crêpes

These crêpes are wonderfully tasty with sweet, well-blended flavours that even the finicky eaters on my guest list enjoy. The double dose of garlic comes from sweet oven roasted garlic and thick, rich Skotidakis Tzatziki.



Ingredients:

• 1 batch crêpe batter
  
• 150 g chèvre
  
• 2/3 cup tzatziki
  
• 1 oven roasted garlic
  
• 7 sun-dried tomato halves
  
• 1 large yellow onion
  
• 1 red pepper
  
• 1 lb cooked chicken breast
  
• olive oil for frying vegetables
  
• butter for frying crêpes

Directions:

Roast garlic.
Prepare crêpe batter.
While batter is chilling, prepare the filling:

Dice the sun-dried tomatoes.
Remove oven roasted garlic flesh from the skin.
Beat together chèvre and tzatziki until smooth.
Add garlic and tomato and mix until well blended.


Finely slice onion and red peppers.
Stir fry onion in olive oil until onion turns soft and translucent.
Add red pepper and continue stir frying until peppers are cooked through and onion begins to carmelize.


Dice chicken.
Add chicken and sauce to the pan with the vegetables.
Mix well and cook gently -- just enough to warm the filling through.


Cook crêpes as per recipe.
Spoon chicken mixture onto crêpes, roll and serve.

Savoury Fresh Cheese Tart

My favourite savoury pie. Excellent as an accompaniment to chicken or shrimp or as a main dish itself. Serve warm or chilled. Leftovers (if there are any) will keep in the refrigerator for a few days. (Serve leftovers cold or re-heated in an oven. Avoid re-heating in the microwave as this will make the pastry soft and mushy.)



Ingredients:

• 1 quantity whole wheat pastry
  
• 300 g chevre, room temperature
  
• 1 yellow onion
  
• olive oil for frying
  
• 1 oven roasted garlic
  
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
  
• 1/2 cup sour cream
  
• ground thyme
  
• 3 or 4 tomatoes

Directions:

Partially bake pie shell blind for 10 minutes at 450°F.
Slice onion thinly and fry in olive oil until caramelized.
Beat together chevre, cream and sour cream.
Stir in thyme, garlic and onion.
Pour filling into partially baked pie shell.
Slice tomatoes thinly and arrange on top of cheese mixture.
Bake at 400°F for 30-45 minutes.

Crostini à la Dragon

My own take on garlic bread with the works. This is a favourite appetizer at my dinner parties, but the recipe is hearty enough to serve as a meal in itself!



Ingredients:

• 1 fresh baked, hearty whole grain baguette
  
• 1 oven roasted garlic with roasting oil
  
• 140 g chevre, room temperature
  
• fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
  
• sun dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
  
• roasted red pepper, cut into small pieces
  
• feta cheese, crumbled
  
• fresh grated parmesan

Directions:

Slice baguette in half and place both halves, cut side up, on a baking tray.
Drizzle oil from the oven roasted garlic over the bread.
Spread bread with chevre.
Pile on basil, tomato, pepper and feta.
Top with parmesan.
Place under broiler on low heat until parmesan turns golden brown.
Enjoy immediately.

Lemon Mint Fresh Cheese Tart

The perfect mix of tart and sweet, this pie is a favourite summer dessert. Tonight I was lazy and made it with a graham crumb crust, but it also works well with a short crust pastry.

Makes one 8-9 inch pie or 12 mini-tartlets.



Ingredients:

• one quantity of your favourite pastry or shortbread crust
  
• freshly grated zest of 3 lemons
  
• 2 eggs, separated
  
• 4 tablespoons sugar
  
• 140 g chèvre
  
• 13 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
  
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
  
• freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
  
• whole fresh mint leaves for garnish

Directions:

Mix zest of one lemon into dry ingredients for pastry/shortbread.
Prepare crust recipe as per usual and bake blind.

Cream together egg yolks and 2 tablespoons sugar.
Add chèvre, chopped mint and zest of one lemon. Mix well.


Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form.


Gently fold beaten egg whites into cheese mixture.
Pour filling into baked tart crust.


Bake in pre-heated oven at 325°F for 30 minutes or until filling is set and golden in colour.


Whip cream with lemon juice and 2 tablespoons sugar.
Spread cream mixture over cooled tart.
Garnish with lemon zest and whole mint leaves.