Scallop Croquettes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
  
• 1 cup carrot
  
• 1 yellow onion
  
• 2/3 cup flour
  
• 1/2 cup milk
  
• 1 oven roasted garlic
  
• 1lb scallops
  
• fresh parsley or cilantro
  
• flour, eggs and bread crumbs for coating
  
• olive oil for frying

Directions:

Dice onion.
Chop carrots finely in a food processor.
Melt butter in a frying pan.
Add onion and carrot. Cook until softened and onions are translucent.
Add flour. Cook for one minute.
Add milk, incorporating thoroughly.
Remove from heat. The mixture should be a thick paste at this point.
Purée scallops and garlic in food processor.
Chop herbs.
Fold puréed scallops, garlic and herbs into mixture.
Refrigerate mixture one hour or more.
Shape scallop mixture into small patties.
Coat each patty in flour, then quickly dip it in a beaten egg, then roll in bread crumbs.

Heat oil in a large frying pan.
Cook croquettes until they are browned on both sides and heated through. (Approximately two minutes per side.)
Serve with Lemon Tarragon Cream Sauce.

Stilton, Apple and Parsnip Soup

A hearty winter soup with a delicious medley of flavours.



Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 1 garlic
  
• 1 bunch leeks
  
• 1lb parsnips
  
• 3-4 large apples
  
• 1/2 cup apple wine
  
• 3-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  
• 1 oven roasted garlic
  
• 300g Stilton cheese
  
• 2 cups light cream or half & half

Directions:

Melt butter in large pan with lid.
Mince garlic.
Dice leeks (whites and "solid" pale green portion of shoots).

Cook garlic, leeks and butter until leeks are translucent. (Approximately 5 minutes.)
Remove pan from heat and allow to sit, covered, for 5 minutes.
Peel and dice apples and parsnips.

Add apples, parsnips, wine and stock to pan.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until parsnips are tender. (Approximately 20 minutes.)

Add oven roasted garlic.
Crumble cheese into soup and stir until cheese is melted.
Purée soup in a food processor.
Return mixture to pan.
Add cream.
Heat gently until soup is hot.
Serve immediately.

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 red bell peppers
  
• 4 - 5 large tomatoes
  
• 6 jalepeño peppers
  
• 1 yellow onion
  
• olive oil
  
• 2 heads oven roasted garlic
  
• 1 sweet potato
  
• fresh basil
  
• 3 cups herb broth

Garnish:

• seasoned croutons
  
• feta cheese
  
• fresh basil

Directions:

Remove stem and seeds from peppers.
Remove stem from tomatoes.
Peel onion.
Cut peppers, tomatoes and onion into large chunks.
Coat large baking pan with olive oil.
Add peppers, tomatoes and onion. Toss to coat with oil.
Roast in oven at 350°F for 1 hour.
Peel and cube sweet potato.
Boil until soft.
Strain off water.
Purée peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, sweet potato, basil and juices from roasted vegetables in food processor.
Add broth.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes to allow flavours to blend well.
Serve topped with seasoned croutons, crumbled feta cheese and fresh basil.

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.

Jalepeño Cheddar Soup

This recipe makes a hearty, delicious, brightly coloured winter soup. The jalepeños give the soup a nice flavour, but are not the hottest peppers available. Add some of your favourite hot sauce or a few habeneros for a spicier soup.



Ingredients:

• 2 x 796 ml tins no salt added tomatoes
  
• 2 red bell peppers
  
• 3 cups carrots
  
• 9 jalepeño peppers
  
• 1-2 yellow onions
  
• 2 heads oven roasted garlic
  
• 1 lb aged cheddar cheese
  
• basil
  
• oregano
  
• olive oil

Directions:

Peel onions and carrots.
Remove seeds and stalks from peppers.
Cut onions, carrots and peppers into large pieces.
Toss with olive oil in a large oven proof dish.

Roast at 400°F for 40 minutes.
Transfer roasted vegetables to a large pan or stock pot.
Add tinned tomatoes and their juices.
Add flesh of oven roasted garlics.
Season generously with basil and oregano.
Stir all ingredients together and heat to a gentle boil.
Simmer until vegetables have softened.
Purée soup in a food processor or blender.
Return puréed soup to the pan.
Finely grate cheddar cheese.
Stir cheese into soup and heat until melted.

Enjoy this soup as a meal on its own, or with a salad or a flavourful bread such as my Ancient Grains Focaccia.

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.

Oven Roasted Garlic

Oven roasted garlic is soft, sweet and delicious! The slow-roasting process really brings out garlic's wonderful flavour!

These take some time to cook, so plan ahead: I usually set my garlic to roasting first, then prepare the remaining ingredients for my recipe. Oven roasted garlic is well worth the wait!

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic
  
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1 tsp. water

Directions:

Slice the top off a head of garlic.
Remove outer papery skins.
If shorter cloves remain with points intact, slice these off.


Place garlic into ovenproof custard cup or other small ramekin.
Spoon oil and water over top of garlic.


Cover custard cup tightly with tin foil.


Bake for 75 minutes at 325°F.
Uncover and baste with any remaining oil.
Bake uncovered until golden (~ 15 minutes).
Spoon flesh out of skins and incorporate into your favourite recipe.

Cheddar & Herb Scones

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. all purpose flour
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
  
• 2 tsp. baking powder
  
• 2 oz. butter
  
• fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
  
• flesh of one oven roasted garlic
  
• 1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
  
• 5 fl. oz. milk

Directions:

Mix flour, salt and baking powder together.
Incorporate butter until mixture is crumbly.
Add basil, garlic and cheddar. Mix well.
Add just enough milk to hold dough together, forming dough into a ball with your hands.
Roll dough out one inch thick.
Cut into rounds with cookie cutter.
Place scones onto greased baking sheet.
Brush tops of scones with milk.
Bake for 7-10 minutes at 425°F.