Raspberry Ricotta Crepes

We take food very seriously in our household. We don't skip meals, we rarely cut corners with prepared foods, we take pride in bringing delicious and unique meals to our table on a regular basis, and we top it all off with some of the very best ingredients. 

Ok, I know what some of you are thinking...I sound like a bit of a food snob (cringe!). Food snobs are the WORST, I know, but in this particular instance, I feel like 'food snob' may just be a euphemism for food enthusiast, am I right? So maybe I like to have $8 fermented, cultured, grass-fed butter in my fridge, $9 boxes of flaked sea salt from England in my cupboard, and the occasional $7 loaf of organic cilantro and olive bread made in the traditional French method on my counter. I see that all as just being someone with an appreciation for excellent food! Don't get me wrong, we're certainly not buying organics and speciality foods all the time, but there are just some products that I consider essentials (ie. bread, butter, and salt) that can completely transform the way you eat every single day. 

There are some products that aren't even considered "specialty" or "gourmet" and have a low price-point that we have become very accustomed to, such as jam. Though we've tried many local jams made from Mennonites, certified organic, with low-sugar and all those other buzzwords that I need not waste time typing, we love to have plain ol' Smuckers Raspberry Jam in our fridge at all times for spreading on toast. So a few weeks ago when our Smuckers Raspberry Jam supply was running low, and there was none on sale, I took a risk and purchased an on-sale, grocery store-branded jam with low-pectin that I was so sure would be just as great as our beloved Smuckers. To put it simply, I was wrong. It just wasn't the same. So with a fridge full of rejected jams (including those organic, local, Mennonite-made jams from many moons ago) I began brainstorming different recipes that would allow me to use up these "rejected jams" in ways other than spreading on toast. 

With a container of ricotta cheese begging to be used up, as well as some ruby red raspberries, I dreamt up a quick and simple recipe for Raspberry Ricotta Crepes that would allow me to use up more than just my low-pectin jam in a delicious and satisfying way! 

Why didn't I post ingredient quantities for the filling?

I've started posting recipes that do not include exact ingredient quantities to allow you to get the experience with winging it in the kitchen. I want you to have the confidence to be able to season and taste on your own with just the ingredients as a guide. I'm hoping that this will encourage you to go out of your comfort zone and experiment based on what you have. Not listing exact amounts for the ingredients will hopefully make you realize that recipes are not set in stone. Don't have raspberries on hand? How about strawberries? Play with recipes based on what you have on hand already! Yes, the success of many baked recipes comes down to science, but with practice and a some basic food knowledge you'll be able to play around with those recipes as well. 

I also didn't include ingredient amounts for this particular recipe because I didn't fill all of my crepes with the raspberry and ricotta filling. I just made a single serving for myself, meaning I had lots of crepe batter leftover. I like to keep any unused crepe batter in my fridge for a few days to allow me to whip up quick and tasty meals with ease, once again using up whatever I have on hand. One of my go-to's for leftover crepe batter is a simple ham and cheese crepe that, with the batter already prepared, takes less than five-minutes to get on the table! 

Ingredients:
Crepes
1 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
Filling
ricotta
lemon zest
icing sugar
raspberry jam
fresh raspberries

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, flour, eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, and salt. Cover and chill for 1-hour.
2. In a small bowl stir together ricotta with some lemon zest. Sweeten to taste with icing sugar. 
3. Set a small crepe pan or non-stick pan to medium heat. Lightly spray pan with cooking spray and add about 1/3-cup crepe batter and swirl pan so that batter spreads evenly. When the top of the crepe begins to look matte and is no longer wet, flip crepe and turn off heat. With the crepe still in the pan, add about 3-Tbsp of the ricotta mixture to half of the crepe, and drizzle in about 1-2 Tbsp raspberry jam. Fold crepe and serve immediately with fresh raspberries on top. Repeat with remaining crepes. 

Listening To:

Disclosure - Nocturnal ft. The Weeknd

Beet & Sweet Potato Ravioli

I have known Danielle from Baked Soap Co. and Sweet & Splendid Bakeshop for years now, but it wasn't until we got together for a macaron making day that we realized just how much we have in common. I love finding interesting new people to share my love of cooking with, and it seemed Danielle shared that same love. Before hugging each other goodbye after she had taught me to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Macarons in her home, we promised that we would get together again soon for a pasta making day. While Danielle is a natural when it comes to baking and had many things to teach me, I seem to be the more comfortable 'Danielle' when it comes to cooking! I invited Danielle into my home for a lesson on how to make fresh, homemade pasta. Two passionate Danielle's in the kitchen may sound like a disaster waiting to happen, but it turned out to be a fantastic experience, with incredibly delicious results! 

Wanting to make things a little more interesting, and make the production more suited to two people, we decided to make ravioli. Because I had made ravioli in the past, I wanted to take things a step further and experiment with making a type of pasta that I was not yet familiar with, beet pasta! To be honest, I didn't care at all if the beets added any additional flavour to the pasta sheets, it was the stunning ruby red colour I was after! That shocking bright red is beautiful in the pasta, but note that if you don't want your fingertips stained that same red, you probably want to buy yourself some latex gloves when peeling the beets and kneading the dough. I, on the other hand, embrace those red fingertips as marks of honor!

Although we made up the recipe for our orange sweet potato filling (I was all about colour that week!), we found a recipe for Beet Pasta by Martha Stewart that we decided to follow...even though we rarely trust Martha recipes, and we both believe that Martha secretly leaves out one ingredient in each recipe to make sure no one can live up to her success. Despite our mutual trust issues with Martha Stewart recipes, and the fact that we were short on time and only rested out dough for about 40-minutes, the pasta turned out fantastic! We crated a very simple filling featuring roasted sweet potatoes, fresh ricotta, salt and pepper, and topped our little red pasta pockets in an olive and walnut oil mixture and lightly toasted pine nuts. Before digging in, Danielle asked if I had any good balsamic vinegar to lightly drizzle over her serving. I have to say, I thought it was a bit of a strange request at first, thinking that the filling should shine through on its own, but after trying my first bite, I realized that a very light drizzle of really good quality, aged balsamic vinegar was exactly what our pasta needed! The vinegar cut through the sweetness of the filling, adding another dimension to the final dish. By the end of our ravioli-making-mission, as we sprawled out on the couch, eating the fruits of our labour, we were smiling ear-to-ear, so incredibly proud of the dish we had created together. After having so much success we would be crazy to stop there. We are currently planning our next cooking day together, this time taking on Mexican cuisine by making fried fish tacos, a recipe that Danielle has experience with making! I can't wait to get in the kitchen with my new foodie buddy again and tell you all about our tasty results! 

* To save on time and energy roast sweet potatoes and beets at the same time!

Ingredients:
Filling
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup ricotta
olive oil, for roasting & cooking
salt and pepper, to taste

Pasta
2 medium-sized beets (equals 2 cups pureed), trimmed
1 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
2 eggs
2 egg yolks, separated (one for dough, one for assembly)
1 tsp salt

Topping
pine nuts, toasted
olive oil
walnut oil
parmesano reggiano, grated
good quality, aged balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Filling

1. *Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place on baking sheet flesh-side down. Bake at 375º for about 30-minutes, or until tender when inserted into the centre with a fork.  Let cool.
2. Once sweet potatoes are cooled, scoop out the flesh of the potato into the bowl of a food processor. Heat about 1 tbsp olive oil at medium heat in a small sauté pan, add shallots and cook until translucent. Add to bowl of food processor. Add the ricotta, taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until ready to use.

Pasta & Assembly

1. *Coat beets in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and place on baking sheet. Bake at 375º for about 1 hour or until beets are tender when inserted into the centre with a fork. Let cool. Rub beets with paper towels to remove skins. Puree in food processor (you should have 1/2 cup puree).
2. Add eggs and one yolk to beet puree in food processor, and process until combined. Add flour and 1 heaping teaspoon salt and process until dough just comes together, about 20 seconds. 
3. Transfer dough to a well-floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes), adding up to 2-tablespoons flour if dough is sticky. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and rest for at least 45-minutes (if you have the time, rest for 2 hours). 
4. Tear off a baseball-sized piece of dough, and recover remaining dough with plastic wrap. Flatten dough into an oblong shape. Dust dough very lightly with flour and feed dough slowly through the pasta machines widest setting. Turn the dial to the next narrower setting and feed dough through. Continue this, turning the dial to a finer setting each time until you have fed the dough through the finest setting. You may feed the dough through each setting twice. 
5. Lay dough sheet out on a clean, dry towel. Fold dough in half and cut into approximate squares (don't worry if they're not perfect, I like the rustic shapes). Place remaining egg yolk in a small bowl and lightly beat. Place filling in a pastry bag and pipe about a teaspoon of filling into the centre of half of the squares of dough. Lightly brush edges of squares with egg yolk. Place the remaining dough pieces on top and pinch dough to close, being careful to squeeze out any air bubbles inside. Dip prongs of a fork into flour and scallop edges. Set aside on a baking sheet to "dry". Continue with remaining dough and filling.
6. When all dough has been turned into ravioli, fill a large pot with heavily-salted water and bring to a boil. Boil ravioli for 4 minutes, being sure not to crowd pot. Drain. 
7. In medium-large saucepan heat desired amount of olive oil and walnut oil. Add cooked ravioli and toss in oil to coat. Plate, and top with pine nuts and a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately. 

Listening To:
Kurt Vile - Baby's Arms

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Leftover Lovin': Stuffed French Toast

I hate when food goes to waste, even worse when it's really good food! It eats me up inside, and I feel guilty all week long knowing that good food had to go into the garbage. I consider this just about every time I cook or bake anything, doing whatever I can to incorporate whichever ingredients are nearing their final days into my meal. I also consider this while I'm cooking, making sure that I always have the right ratio of sauce to noodles so that none is left over without it's partner in crime, as well as my cheese blintzes, stuffing the crêpes so they're practically bursting at the seams thanks to the overload of stuffing. The problem with trying to use every single little bit of food up all the time, is that leftovers can often be the best inspiration for other meals. Take my cheese blintzes for instance, to be honest with you, I don't really like when my cheese blintzes are filled to the brim as I had been making them. I found when there was so much filling, it distracted from the delicate flavours and texture of the crêpe. So when I opted to stuff my blintzes less, I made sure to begin my leftover filling brainstorming right away to ensure that it would indeed get used up!

For years and years I have been wanting to make stuffed french toast, imaging the incredible contrast in both flavours and textures thanks to the addition of a creamy filling. As much as I wanted to try stuffed french toast, I really wanted someone else to make it for me. It looked like way too much work to have to make a filling from scratch, just to attempt to stuff it into a tiny crevice in the bread, that I believed would inevitably shred apart. With my leftover cheese blintz filling waiting patiently in my fridge, I had found my solution to making a stuffed french toast filling from scratch! With a few minor adjustments to sweeten up the already tangy filling, and add some more flavours and textures thanks to the addition of fresh strawberries and toasted almonds I had created my new favourite indulgent breakfast!

Tip: Be patient and gentle when stuffing the filling into the bread. Add a little bit at a time and you shouldn't come across any issues.

Note: I am fully aware of the many sexual innuendoes in this post, but it really couldn't have been written any other way! So laugh it up! I sure did!

Ingredients:

1 slice challah bread, thick-cut

1 egg, lightly beaten

splash of milk

2 shakes cinnamon

about 1/4 cup leftover cheese blintz filling

3 strawberries, finely chopped,

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

butter for frying

2 strawberries, sliced for garnish

handful of sliced almonds, lightly toasted

maple syrup, for serving

Directions:

1. Cut the thick slice of challah into halves, making two triangles. Using a small serrated knife, carefully cut a slit into the centre of each half, leaving a border around the edges so that the bread holds together. This is where you will be stuffing the filling. Set aside.

2. In a shallow dish, whisk together the egg, a splash of milk, and two shakes of cinnamon. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the leftover cheese blintz filling, the 3 finely chopped strawberries, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Using a small spoon, carefully and gently stuff the filling inside the slits in both halves of the challah bread. Once bread is stuffed, dip and coat both sides in egg mixture.

4. Melt butter in a skillet or griddle at medium heat. Add the stuffed french toast into the pan and cook until golden on both sides. Serve immediately garnished with the sliced strawberries, almonds, and maple syrup!

Listening To:

TV On The Radio - Will Do

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Click here for my cheese blintz recipe!!

Wild Mushroom Baked Brie

The holidays: a time for love, giving, family...and...repetition. I'm not quite sure how many years it's been going on for, but for as long as I can remember my family has been serving up the exact same meal at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For years I loved that tradition, knowing that I only had a few months to wait before I could enjoy that same delicious meal again, but as more and more years have passed, and at a much more alarming pace, both myself and some other family members have grown a little tired with our staple holiday meal. The first time my sister and I suggested switching up our holiday meal, we were returned with either a grimace or a confused deer-in-headlights expression. No one was the slightest bit interested in shaking up the familiar meal. I understood where everyone was coming from, seeing as the meal...actually, make that feast is so damn delicious, but at the same time, I felt it would be more special if we had it less frequently. Another year of the same meal passed and we began to see family members taking our side one at a time. Slowly people began switching up their signature dish (our meal is always a pot luck so that everyone is contributing), either making a variation on their old standby, or sticking to their same theme of either vegetable, starch, protein, salad, dessert etc. but turn it into a completely new dish. By slowly introducing new flavours and menu items, both the family members that were itching for something new and the ones who loved the old meal would walk away with a full belly and a smiling face.

For about three years now, I have been on appetizer duty for our Christmas dinner, a role that I absolutely love to take on! Despite the incredible wide range of delicious appetizer options there are, especially for the holidays, I always crave a good baked brie come Christmas time. Baked brie can be as easy as wrapping a wheel of brie in tin foil and popping it in the oven, but I enjoy playing with different flavours, both savory and sweet, when it comes to my homemade baked brie. In the past I've made everything from caramelized onion brie, cranberry brie, pecan brie, the list goes on, so that no matter if I am making baked brie again, I can still surprise people by turning it into something new and interesting. This year I wanted to use an ingredient I have never cooked with before, dried mushrooms. When it comes to wild mushrooms, many people choose dried as opposed to fresh for the wonderful convenience and concentrated mushroom flavour, so I was curious to finally give them a try myself and see how the flavour measured up. Using a bag of mixed wild mushrooms including shiitake, oyster, and porcini, as well as some caramelized onions, fresh thyme, and balsamic vinegar, I made an insanely quick and easy brie topper and had my yummy appetizer ready to go into the oven before I knew it. Because there is so much cooking and baking being done last minute on Christmas, I made my brie and wild mushroom topper ahead of time so that 20 minutes before our guests arrived all I had to do was simply pop my little brie baker in the oven! Bubbling, oozing, and perfectly melted through, the creamy brie arrived at the table hugging the mushroom mixture layered on top, a dangerously tempting sight! There's no question that I have a tendency to toot my own horn when I'm really happy with how a dish turned out, but there was simply no need to when I served my Wild Mushroom Baked Brie, because the brie baker, which was empty within a matter of minutes, spoke for itself. Easy, convenient, attractive, and incredibly delicious, my Wild Mushroom Brie may have to make another appearance at our next Christmas dinner...or is Easter too soon?

Tip: Make your wild mushroom mixture brie topper ahead of time to save time before your guests arrive. Simply top your brie and bake 20 minutes before guests arrive.

Ingredients:

1/2 medium-large onion, sliced

2 tbsp butter

1 small package dried mixed wild mushrooms (equalling about 1/2 cup dried)

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper

1 wheel of brie, about 5 inches in diameter

Directions:

1. Rehydrate the dried mushrooms following the package instructions, or place dried mushrooms in a bowl and add just enough boiling water to cover the mushrooms, let soak for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms have softened.

2. In the meantime, heat butter in a medium skillet at medium heat. When butter is hot, add the onions and stir. Place a lid over the onions in the skillet to allow them to steam, stir occasionally. Continue to cook onions in the lid, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and beginning to colour.

3. Strain out the soaked dried mushrooms (you may reserve the soaking liquid for a soup, stew, or sauce!), and squeeze them to remove any remaining water. Roughly chop the mushrooms and stir them into the softened onions on the stove. Cook for about 3 minutes.

4. Turn up heat to medium-high and add the balsamic vinegar, stirring to combine. Continue cooking until mushrooms are almost dry. Turn off the heat and stir in thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Using a serrated knife, cut off the top rind of the brie wheel and place inside a brie baker (or on a large piece of tin foil). Mound the wild mushroom mixture on top of the brie and close the lid of the baker (if using tin foil, wrap the foil around the brie and mushrooms securely). Bake in a 350º oven for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately with fresh baguette and crackers.

Listening To:

TV on the Radio - Ambulance

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Valentines Day Menu 2011

Every year as the days start to get a littttle longer, I start to get a litttttle bitter knowing that Valentines Day is just around the corner. No it's not because I am usually single on the so-called "holiday", but because I'm one of the firm believers that Valentines Day is merely a Hallmark Card holiday that reenforces dangerous social constructions. Despite my distaste for the day, I do enjoy any occasion that calls for a special meal. Valentines Day is a great excuse pull out some of your favourite dishes to either impress a loved one or indulge yourself in! Here is my Valentines Day Menu that is sure to knock your honey's socks off...and maybe even more!

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

While you're finishing up the final touches on the meal, you'll want to give your honey a little something to snack on. My Cheaters Handbook Rosemary Focaccia Bread is perfect for this. Store-bought pizza dough makes this savory bread super simple and quick to prepare.

OR

Rosemary Crackers with Figs and Aged Cheddar

High on flavour, low on time and effort. All this snack takes to prepare is a quick assembly.

Fig and Goat Cheese Salad

Creamy and crunchy, sweet and savory, this salad is packed with complementing textures and flavours to get your lovers taste buds warmed up. Skip the onions to make this more Valentine's Day friendly.

OR

Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad

Just like the Fig and Goat Cheese Salad, this salad has those same fantastic complementing textures and flavours. If you're on a budget this salad is the better option, as tomatoes are much more affordable than fresh figs, while still giving you that contrasting sweetness from the balsamic.

OR

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Worried about getting salad caught in your teeth? A soup is a great option to start your meal with. The comforting aspect of the soup will help to relax your partner, not to mention warm them up from the February cold.

Chicken Marsala

Striking in both appearance and flavour this is a knockout dish that is sure to get you some major action later! Don't be intimidated by the appearance, this is actually a pretty simple dish to make. If you want to make this entree more filling, rest the chicken and sauce on a bed of egg noodles.

OR

Maple Glazed Salmon

If you're looking for a lighter option to keep you energized for the rest of your night, seafood is the way to go. With its sweet and sticky maple glaze, this salmon has a ton of flavour, will leave you feeling satisfied, and is once again crazy simple and quick to prepare.

Molten Chocolate Cake

This is a good 'ol standby that you can do no wrong with. Not only is it the perfect dish to satisfy any sweet tooth, it is also very sensual in the way the ooey gooey chocolate in the centre of the cake oozes out into a pool of rich chocolate onto your plate.

OR

Lemon Ricotta Crepes with Berry Icewine Sauce

Think molten chocolate cakes are overdone? These crepes will surely surprise your lover with its beautiful presentation and unique flavours. This is a great option as you can prepare each part of the crepe in advance and because it's so light, you'll still feel pumped for more Valentine's Day fun!

Listening To:

Skinny Love - Bon Iver

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Lemon Ricotta Crepes with Berry Icewine Sauce

January is icewine month! To celebrate, here is the recipe I created for the iYellow Wine Club featuring our star, icewine!

Just as a fantastic icewine strikes the perfect balance between sweetness and acidity, any dish made with icewine should do the same. For such a special wine you want the other flavours in the dish to complement the icewine rather than overpower it. Lemon Ricotta Crepes with Berry Icewine Sauce is the perfect example of this. Despite ricotta being the main ingredient in this dish, the subtle flavours of the creamy cheese lets the icewine take centre stage. Inspired by traditional Italian cannoli filling, the ricotta mixture mimics those same sweet and acidic flavours you get in icewine, but with a touch less sweetness. Hugging the ricotta are thin, delicate crepes speckled with fragrant lemon zest, which is topped with a generous drizzle of sweet, yet complex berry icewine sauce. The addition of lemon in both the crepe and filling brings f

reshness to the dish allowing your taste buds to experience that same refreshing taste that comes with a sip of icewine. The only thing that can make this dessert more special is serving it alongside your favourite Vidal icewine.

Tip: To ensure that your crepes are not greasy, take a small piece of paper towel and rub it in softened butter. Quickly, carefully, and lightly rub the paper towel with the butter onto the hot pan so that you have the thinnest layer of butter possible on your frying surface.

Ingredients:

Crepes

3/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp lemon zest

Filling

1 400g container of fresh ricotta cheese

4-5 tbsp confectioners sugar

1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Sauce

1 cup raspberries

1 cup blueberries

6-7 tbsp VIDAL sauvignon blanc icewine

Directions:

Lemon Crepes

1. Whisk or process (using a food processor) all ingredients until blended. Transfer batter to a bowl or container, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. On medium-low heat, lightly grease a small crepe pan (see tip above). When pan is hot, add 1/4 cup of the crepe batter and tilt your pan around so that the batter covers evenly. Fry crepes for approximately 60 seconds on one side, or until golden. Using a spatula, carefully flip the crepe and fry on the other side for approximately 30 seconds, or until golden. Repeat with remaining batter. Crepes can be made up to 2 days in advance and may be reheated upon serving.

Lemon Ricotta Filling

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta with the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Sift in the confectioners sugar (you may add 4-5 tbsp depending on your taste). Refrigerate until ready to serve. Filling can be made up to 2 days in advance.

Berry Icewine Sauce

1. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, puree raspberries and blueberries until liquified, but not so much that the seeds begin to crush.

2. Pour berry mixture into a fine sieve resting over a bowl to remove the seeds.

3. Once berry mixture has been strained, stir in the icewine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Assembly

1. If crepes have been made in advance and refrigerated, reheat, wrapped in tin foil, in a low temperate oven or toaster oven until warm.

2. Lay a crepe out flat and add desired amount of lemon ricotta filling down the centre of the crepe. Drizzle with berry icewine sauce and roll the crepe up. Drizzle with additional berry icewine sauce and garnish with fresh raspberries and blueberries. Repeat with remaining crepes. Enjoy served alongside Vidal icewine.

Listening To:

Science of Fear - The Temper Trap

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Spooning With Ginger: Valentines Day Menu Part 2

This week in The Lion's Den University's Spooning With Ginger, I give you part 2 of my Valentines Day menu for impressing your lover! I'm pairing last weeks Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken Marsala and Molten Lava Chocolate Cakes. Click here to check it out!

Spooning With Ginger: Valentines Day Menu Part 1

This week in The Lion's Den University's Spooning With Ginger, I give you part 1 of my Valentines Day menu for impressing your lover! Click here to see the appetizer, Butternut Squash Soup.