What makes a recipe unique?

Creating new recipes requires a passion for flavour, love of food and the ability to put new ingredients together. Following a recipe provides a guide to producing beautiful meals pleasing everyone. And so, making a recipe unique is what my Canadian Cook loves to do.


Generally, he starts with an existing recipe. And then he tweeks it here and there, adding his favourites such as fresh seafood or a fresh spice that happens to be in season and before you know it, we have a new recipe. Some recipes need to be followed to the letter to create the ultimate dish. But trying something new makes cooking refreshing and exciting.


Today, we started with a recipe created by Giada De Laurentis called Tilapia Fish Tacos with Arugula, taken from the FoodNetwork.com. My Canadian Cook put his own spin on the recipe and created a wonderful appetizer!


Next time you are looking for a new twist in your kitchen, take an old recipe and give it a little zip by using the ingredients that are in season. June is time for fresh strawberries - what could you create with that fresh ingredient?

Recipe #42 Seafood Mango Cups

Ingredients:

WonTon cups:

12 (3 1/4 x 3 1/4 inch square) wontop wrappers

1/4 cup canola oil

Filling:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove finely chopped garlic

8 shrimp (30 ct)

4 large scallops

1 large mango, peeled and fresh cut in 1/2 in cubes

2 tbsp fresh chives

Juice of 1 lime

Grated rind of 1 lemon

3 cups chopped spring salad mix

Using a pastry brush, brush one side of the wonton wrappers with canola oil. Gently press the wonton wrappers in the bottom and sides of a 12 count muffin pan. Bake at 365 until lightly golden, about 7 - 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Gently lift the wonton cups out of the pan and cool completely, about 10 minutes. Can be stored in a plastic bag (no air) at room temperature.

For the filling: Steam cook the shrimp and scallops for 3 minutes

Then cool in ice water. Then chop into small pieces.

Mix with olive oil, garlic, chives, lemon zest and lime juice. Marinate for 1/2 hour or until ready to use. Can be done ahead of time.

To Assemble: Mix seafood mixute with mango and lettuce and arrange in the cups just before serving.

Recipe #41 Garlic Scape Soup

Ingredients:

2 tbsp clarified butter or extra virgin olive oil

2 dozen garlic scapes, flower buds discarded and green shoots chopped

3 large russet potatoes, unpeeled and cut in 1/2 inch dice

5 cups vegetable stock or water (or a combination of both)

2 large handfuls of spinach leaves, stemmed

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt

Freshly ground black petter

1/2 cup heavy cream or half/half

Chive blossoms for garish (optional)


Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add the scapes and saute for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and stock, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked throught and beginning to break down.


Remove from the heat, add the spinach, and puree using a hand blender. (If you use a conventional blender, be careful; the hot liquid can burst out the top and make a huge, potentially painful mess. Try leaving the lid slightly ajar to allow steam to escape. Cover the top with a kitchen town and blend in batches at low speed. Season with lemon juice, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Whisk in the cream a silkier texture. Add salt pinches at a time.


Serves 4 to 6


This recipe is taken from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson.

Fresh produce from the garden.......

Whether you grow your own vegetables or visit the local farmer's market, the time of year has come to enjoy fresh produce from mother earth. One of the first sprouts from the earth in the springtime is the garlic because it was planted in the fall and is just waiting for the snow to melt.

Over the years, we have had many gardens. We started out with a small garden plot in a neighbours backyard when we lived in an apartment building. Then we bought our own home and experimented with square foot gardening - we tried a litttle bit of everything including asparagus. Now that we live in a condo, we were still attracted to gardening and share a garden plot with our friends Brenda and Todd in Tavistock.

Last week, we picked scapes from the garden. Scapes are the vibrant green tops of the garlic plant. They look like gigantic chives. These are good in soups, stews, or in your favourite potato salad. Use them like chives if you like garlic and we certainly do. Scapes can be purchased at the farmer's market too!

Recipe #40 - Easy Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/2 cup MIRACLE WHIP Dressing
1-1/3 cups mashed fully ripe bananas (about 3)
1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

BEAT egg, dressing and bananas in large bowl with whisk until well blended. Mix remaining ingredients in separate bowl. Add to banana mixture; stir just until moistened.
POUR into greased 9x5-inch loaf pan.
BAKE 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 min.; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely.

Here is the link to the Kraft Website -

http:/www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/easy-banana-bread-115804.aspx

Introducing Matthew Edward Pallant

On Tuesday, June 1st, 2010, Matthew Edward Pallant arrived at 4:25 am. He becomes a brother for Julia Faith, a son for Kristel & Andrew, a nephew for Andrea & Michael, a cousin for Keira, and a grandson for Kern & I - we could not be happier. As his life begins in this world, it is a reminder of how wonderful the miracle of birth can be! Our family is truly blessed - what a beautiful experience and I thoroughly love being a part of the excitement.

Well, you must be wondering how I am going to incorporate my exciting news with a recipe. First, I would like to share a recipe from an old friend in Elliot Lake - Louise McLean. This is taken from the "Rio Algom Memories Cookbook" and I wanted to include it in mine too.

"A Happy Home Recipe"

4 cups of love
2 cups of loyalty
3 cups of forgiveness
1 cup of friendship
5 spoons of hope
2 spoons tenderness
4 quarts faith
1 barrel laughter

Bake with sunshine and serve generously!

Secondly, today's recipe is taken from the Kraft Foods website, a delicious banana bread made with miracle whip.

Recipe #39 Bert's Roast Beef Sandwiches

Following a recipe like #9, how to slow roast beef but use a butcher quality rump roast

Thin slices of dark dense rye bread

Butter

Mixture of mayonaise and mustard

Thin slices of hot roast beef, piled high

Thin slices of barrel dill pickle

Thin slice of Havarti Cheese

Enjoy anytime!

Mouth watering sandwiches.......

Everyone has a favourite sandwich.....it might be peanut-butter and jelly from our childhood or a grilled cheese eaten at your local hangout as a teenager. But it is that unforgettable taste that triggers memories of places from our past.

My favourite sandwich was found at a small delicatessen in Elliot Lake. The owner would slow roast a rump roast of beef early in the morning and by noon if you did not pre-order, you were out of luck. Once it was gone, that was it for that day. The sandwiches were so large that one person really only needed a 1/2 sandwich. We have tried many times replicate this sandwich but it was never quite the same as "Berts", the owner of the deli. He was the local butcher and his European delicatessen served the community well.

Kern spent some time learning how to "butcher" meat from Bert. It was a labour of love and the time spent gave Kern a real appreciation for the various cuts of meat.