Chocolate Hazelnut Brioche Pudding

Yes, even bread pudding is better with chocolate!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup milk
  
• 1/4 + 1/3 cup whipping cream
  
• 3 oz. chocolate, finely chopped
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 Tbsp sugar
  
• 2 slices brioche or egg bread, cubed
  
• 2 Tbsp chopped roasted hazelnuts or almonds

Directions:

Butter four ramekins.
Bring milk and 1/4 cup cream to a boil.
Remove from heat and stir in 1 oz. chocolate until chocolate is melted.
Whisk eggs and sugar together.
Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture, a few spoonfuls at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Place bread and nuts in ramekins.
Pour chocolate mixture over bread.
Let sit for ten minutes.
Bake in a water bath at 350°F for 25-30 minutes.
Bring 1/3 cup whipping cream to a boil.
Stir in two oz. chocolate until chocolate is melted.
Pour sauce over pudding.
Serve immediately.

Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread is simple to make and wonderfully versatile. Try some of the additions suggested in this recipe for a delicious variety of flavours.

Basic Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1/4 cup corn starch

Additional Ingredients (choose one combination):

• orange zest & finely grated dark chocolate
  
• lemon zest & minced candied ginger
  
• ground pecans & finely grated dark chocolate
  
• peppermint oil & crushed candy canes

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Stir in flour and corn starch until incorporated fully.
Stir in additional ingredients, if using.
Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick sheet.
Cut into rounds or shapes with cookie cutters.
Arrange cookies on cookie sheets lined with waxed paper.
Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for five minutes.
Then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Store cooled cookies in airtight containers at room temperature.

Almond, Snow Pea & Sweet Pepper Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

• 8 oz rice stick noodles
  
• 1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
  
• 1 garlic
  
• 1 cup snow peas
  
• 100 g shelled almonds
  
• 1 orange bell pepper
  
• cilantro
  
• olive oil for frying

Directions:

Soak noodles in boiling water for 5-7 minutes.
Strain noodles. Toss with Hoisin sauce.
Mince garlic and stir fry in oil 1-2 minutes.
Slice peas on the diagonal.
Add peas to pan with garlic and stir fry 1-2 minutes.
Add almonds. Continue stir-frying another minute.
Slice pepper thinly & cut slices into thirds.
Add pepper to stir fry. Cook one minute longer.
Toss vegetable/almond mixture with noodles.
Garnish with cilantro.
Serve at room temperature.

Chocolate Hazelnut Yule Log

This recipe is very rich but not sickly sweet like the cheap sugary Yule log knock-offs sold in most grocery stores in my area.

It takes some time to make a real chocolate Yule log, but it's well worth the effort!
(This one is definitely another of my "invite lots of friends to share it with you" recipes!)



Ingredients:
For the cocoa genoise:

• 6 eggs, room temperature
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 6 tablespoons cocoa
  
• 1/3 cup water
  
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 3/4 cup flour

For the chocolate hazelnut cream:

• 2 oz. fine dark chocolate
  
• 6 tablespoons sugar
  
• 3 egg yolks
  
• 2 tablespoons flour
  
• 1 cup half & half cream
  
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico liqueur
  
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 100 grams ground hazelnuts

For the Frangelico Syrup:

• 1/4 cup water
  
• 1/3 cup sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons Frangelico liqueur

For the ganache:

• 8 oz fine dark chocolate
  
• 2/3 cup whipping cream
  
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico liqueur

Directions:

Prepare cocoa genoise:

Line 10 x 15 inch baking sheet with non-stick parchment paper.
(Butter and flour paper if non-stick variety is unavailable.)

Mix eggs and sugar together in a large bowl.
Place egg/sugar bowl into bath of very hot tap water.


Boil water in small pot.
Mix in sifted cocoa to form a paste.


Melt butter in a small bowl.
(Microwaving at 40% power works well for melting butter, or use a heavy sauce pan over low heat.)

Whip warmed eggs/sugar mixture until thickened.


Add one cup of egg/sugar mixture to cocoa paste.
Mix until smooth.


Add one cup of egg/sugar mixture to melted butter.
Mix until smooth.


Sift flour into remaining egg/sugar mixture.
Fold in cocoa and butter mixtures.


Pour batter onto baking sheet and smooth out to fill sheet.
Bake approximately 20 minutes at 400°F.

(When cake is done, it should be springy in the centre and come away from the sides of the pan easily. Be careful not to overcook the genoise and dry it out!)

Cover baked genoise with a fresh sheet of parchment paper and allow to cool.

Begin preparing chocolate hazelnut cream:

Chop chocolate into small pieces.


Whip yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar together until smooth and light.


Beat flour into eggs until smooth.

Mix remaining sugar with cream and bring to a boil.


Temper eggs by slowly adding half of hot cream to egg mixture, one spoonful at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Pour tempered eggs into pan with remaining cream and heat to boiling.
Stir constantly and continue to heat until custard is thickened.


Remove from heat.
Stir in liqueur.

Add chopped chocolate and mix until smooth.


Set cream mixture aside to cool.

Prepare Frangelico syrup:

Bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Remove from heat and stir in Frangelico.

Begin assembling cake:

Turn genoise out onto parchment paper on flat surface.
Trim any dried crusty edges off the cake.

Brush cooled Frangelico syrup over genoise.


Finish preparing chocolate hazelnut cream:

Cream butter until fluffy.
Add to cooled chocolate hazelnut cream and mix well.
Stir in ground hazelnuts until well blended.

Continue assembling cake:

Spread chocolate hazelnut cream over genoise, leaving a one inch strip along one short edge uncovered.


Starting at the uncovered edge, roll up the genoise.
Wrap rolled log tightly in parchment paper.
Place on flat tray and chill in refrigerator.

Prepare ganache:

Chop chocolate into small pieces.


Bring cream to a boil.
Remove from heat and stir in Frangelico.

Pour heated cream/liqueur mixture over chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.


Allow ganache to cool, uncovered at room temperature, until a spreadable consistency is reached.

Finish assembling cake:

Remove rolled cake from parchment paper.
Place onto serving platter.
Spread ganache around circumference of cake, leaving ends exposed.
Draw fork tines across the ganache, lengthwise along cake, to create the bark effect.
Immediately prior to serving, dust icing sugar onto cake to represent snow, and decorate as desired.
Serve THIN slices. (This is a rich cake!)

Apple Spice Cake

This makes a delicious, moist and flavourful cake. I baked one for a camping trip, covered it in plastic wrap once it had cooled, and enjoyed some everyday of a five day trip!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 3/4 cup whole grain oats
  
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
  
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  
• 2 cups filtered apple pulp
  
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
  
• 1 cup raisins

Directions:

Beat butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs.
Sift flour, oats, baking salts and spices together.
Stir flour mixture into egg mixture.
Mix in apple pulp until well combined.
Fold in nuts and raisins.
Pour batter into greased and floured 9" x 5" loaf pan.
Bake at 350°F for 55-60 minutes (until wooden pick inserted in centre of cake comes out clean).
Allow to cool in pan on wire rack.
Cake is best fresh but cooled leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap, stored at room temperature and enjoyed for several days.

Apple Strudel

This is a great recipe for using up some of the pulp left over from the process of juicing apples. I use a high speed juicer which presses some filtered pulp through with the juice. This can be shaken into the juice for a healthy, fresh-pressed drink, but when I need my juice a little clearer, I strain it a second time through a double thickness of cheesecloth and use the pulp from that filtering in this recipe.



Ingredients:

• 4 cups apple pulp
  
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
  
• 1 egg, beaten
  
• 1 cup chopped pecan pieces
  
• 1 lb. phyllo pastry sheets
  
• 100g parmesan cheese
  
• 1 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Assemble all ingredients before beginning to work with phyllo pastry.

Mix apple pulp, ricotta cheese, pecans and beaten egg together thoroughly.

Grate parmesan cheese. (This step should be obvious, I know, and I'm not receiving sponsorship for any product placements on this site, but the tool I have been using for this job is so cool, I have to share it with you.)

The Amazing Microplane Zester


This fabulous tool was a gift from my friend Pam. The Microplane is awesome for finely grating chocolate, hard cheeses, garlic and hard fruits and veggies such as carrots and coconut.


Grated food is collected in the Microplane's own little tray.


And from there can be easily decanted into whatever other container you like.


The Microplane created a full cup of fresh and finely grated parmesan cheese in less than 60 seconds!

Spread one sheet of phyllo pastry out onto work surface.
Keep remaining sheets wrapped in damp cloth.

Lightly and quickly brush phyllo pastry with melted butter.


Sprinkle grated parmesan on top of buttered pastry.


Repeat with two additional layers of pastry, butter & parmesan.

Spoon apple mixture along one edge of pastry.


Fold near edge of pastry over apple mixture, tuck in sides of pastry, and roll up.

Bake strudels in 400°F oven for 20-25 minutes (until golden).

Enjoy these pastries fresh and warm.

Tzatziki Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• cooked chicken breasts, diced
  
• apples, cored and diced
  
• dried cranberries
  
• pine nuts
  
• tzatziki *
  
• baby spinach leaves
  
• extra virgin olive oil
  
• balsamic vinegar
  
• apple butter **
  
• mandarin orange segments

Notes on the Ingredients:

* One day I will figure out my own tzatziki recipe. Until then, the thickest, garlickiest tzatziki I have found is Skotidakis Tzatziki.

** Commercially prepared apple butters are often flavoured with spices such as cinnamon - which are fine for this recipe - but please choose an unsweetened variety. Apples are sweet enough on their own!

Directions:

Mix oil, vinegar & apple butter together.
Toss spinach leaves with vinaigrette.
Mix chicken, apples, cranberries & pine nuts with tzatziki.
Line serving plates with spinach.
Heap chicken salad on top of spinach.
Garnish with mandarin orange segments.

This chicken salad also works well as a spread for sandwiches.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

This creation was designed jointly by my friend Sumaya and I and is based upon my green pesto recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 bunches fresh basil
  
• 2 packed cups sun-dried tomatoes *
  
• 1 garlic, peeled (yes, the whole thing!)
  
• 2 handfuls pine nuts
  
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  
• freshly squeezed juice of one lemon
  
• extra virgin olive oil to mix

Ingredient Notes:

* The sun-dried tomatoes should be moist. Sumaya and I have had great success with a variety which is sold vacuum-sealed in plastic with some moisture locked in. Oil-packed tomatoes also work nicely. (Unless the oil is pure extra virgin olive, drain the tomatoes well before use.)

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend, using just enough oil to mix pesto into a thick paste.
Invite your friends over to enjoy the wonderful aroma in your kitchen and sample your flavourful creation.
If there are any leftovers, package them into single portion airtight containers and freeze immediately.

To enjoy leftover pesto:

Thaw enough pesto for one use GENTLY.
(Be careful NOT to cook the pesto!)
Enjoy immediately.

Notes:

Pesto is a wonderful, versatile food, bursting with heart-healthy garlic. I enjoy our sun-dried tomato variety tossed with whole grain pasta and sprinkled with additional freshly grated parmesan.

Pesto

The herb seller in my local market knows me as "the basil lady" because, whenever my friend Sumaya and I get together for "Fest-o-Pesto", I am wont to clear him out of his stock.

A word on garlic and quantity: When I write "one garlic" I really mean the whole garlic (NOT one clove). Cooking with part-bulbs is for wusses. There are no vampires in my kitchen!

Ingredients:

• 3 bunches fresh basil
  
• 1 garlic, peeled
  
• 2 handfuls pine nuts
  
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  
• extra virgin olive oil to mix

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend, using just enough oil to mix pesto into a thick paste.
Invite your friends over to enjoy the wonderful aroma in your kitchen and sample your flavourful creation.
If there are any leftovers, package them into single portion airtight containers and freeze immediately.

To enjoy leftover pesto:

Thaw enough pesto for one use GENTLY.
(Be careful NOT to cook the pesto!)
Enjoy immediately.

Notes:

Pesto is a wonderful, versatile food, bursting with heart-healthy garlic. I enjoy it spread thickly on fresh, whole grain bread and topped with fresh tomatoes and Lancashire cheese.

Pesto is for sharing! Trust me on this one. If you consume this pesto, you will NOT be able to mask the scent with a swig of mouthwash or a sprig of parsley. You will breath garlic and you will sweat garlic! The only way to enjoy garlic and to still have friends is to share your garlicky creations with all of your mates. Then you will all smell the same!

Sunshine Salad

Ingredients:

• mixed salad greens
  
• cooked chicken, diced *
  
• avocado, sliced
  
• mango, cubed
  
• red bell pepper, sliced
  
• feta cheese, crumbled
  
• roasted cashew nuts (unsalted)
  
• pumpkin seeds, shelled
  
• sunflower seeds, shelled
  
• dried cranberries
  
• golden raisins
  
• citrus vinaigrette **

Options:

* If you prefer a vegetarian salad, simply leave the chicken out. My diet isn't overly high on protein, so I tend to throw some chicken breasts into any dish they will suit for some nutritional balance, but this salad is loaded with plenty of other goodness!

** Kraft's "Mandarin Orange wtih Sesame" works wonderfully with this salad!

Directions:

Line plate with mixed greens.
Sprinkle chicken, avocado, mango, peppers, feta, nuts, seeds & dried fruit over greens.
Drizzle with vinaigrette.