Sausage & Apple Phyllo Bites

Pies, crumbles, muffins, cakes; It's easy to come up with plenty of delicious sweet dishes using apples, but with apples so abundant this time of year in Ontario, I was itching to move away from familiar sweet flavours and create a savoury dish using local apples. While it's still pretty early, I'm always looking for new dishes to add to my potluck repertoire to bring for my family's Thanksgiving. We always do a potluck format for our big family holiday dinners, so that everyone can contribute to the work and celebration. While a lot of family members have their favourites that they like to stick to each time, I tend to get bored easily and am always looking to switch things up with something new and exciting!

With savoury apples on the brain, I kept swimming around the idea of creating my own version of a sausage roll, but this time with apples as well! I love the combination of pork and apples together, and with sausage rolls as a popular Thanksgiving appetizer (it's such a delicious and comforting way to kick off a meal!) I knew I could create something special that I would be proud to serve to my family!

To make my own sausage rolls a little bit different, I first added sweet and sour Granny Smith apples to aid in rounding out the flavour of the sausage meat. I also added some fresh rosemary still kicking around in my garden, and chose to wrap my rolls in phyllo dough as opposed to the traditional puff pastry, to give them more of a crunchy exterior. I also spread two different types of mustard (one dijon and one with lots of texture) right on the interior of the phyllo to allow the flavours to blend during baking. I love mustard, but I find that sometimes sausage rolls can be a bit bland, and when dipped in mustard, the flavour is improved, but can overpower the roll all together. Adding the mustard right into the roll avoids this, and gives a much more rich and well-balanced flavour.

I was so happy with how these sausage rolls turned out, and cannot wait for my family to try them! These will be so easy to transport to my aunts house that we are hosting Thanksgiving at, as well as reheat without losing their texture or flavour.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, small dice
1 large Granny Smith apple, small dice
1 lb. fresh Italian sausages, casings removed
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
Metro Irresistibles Frozen Phyllo Pastry, thawed
about 1/2 cup Kozliks Triple Crunch Mustard
about 1/2 cup Metro Irresistibles Traditional Prepared Dijon Mustard
about 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
Maldon Salt, for garnish (optional)
salt and pepper to season

Directions:

1. Heat a large skillet to medium heat. Heat olive oil and add onion, apple, and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. 
2. Add sausage meat and break up with a spatula, and cook until browned. Add rosemary and stir to combine. Taste and season as needed with additional salt and pepper. Set aside to cool. Filling may be made in advance.
3. Preheat oven to 375ºF. 
4. Stir together both mustards in a medium bowl. Lay out your phyllo pastry and cut into four even strips widthwise. Take one stack of phyllo strips and place them on a work surface. Cover both stacks of phyllo with damp cloths. 
5. Working one at a time, lightly brush one sheet of pastry with butter and layer another sheet on top. Brush lightly with butter once again, and lay a third sheet of pastry on top. Leaving a 1/2-inch border from the end of the strip, spread about 1 tsp of the mustard mixture. Top with about 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp sausage and apple mixture. Roll in the half-inch border on the end and both sides, like you're wrapping a present, and carefully roll up. Place on a greased baking sheet, and continue this process with the remaining pastry and filling. Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter and score with a knife. Sprinkle a little Maldon Salt on top of each one for garnish (optional). 
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden. Serve immediately or refrigerate. To reheat, place in a 200ºF oven for about 10-20 minutes, covering with aluminum foil if they start to get too dark. 

This post was created in partnership with Metro Ontario. 

Listening To:
Darling - Real Estate

Peanut Butter Banana Energy Balls

My schedule is all over the place, and often means eating meals at odd times of the day (think lunch at 3:00 and often dinner at midnight...I know, it's not good!). With so much running around between commitments, it's so important to have quick and easy snack options on hand that can keep me satiated and energized throughout the day. I always like to keep nuts, yogurt, fruits, and veg on hand for that purpose, but a new healthy snack that has become a prominent feature in my kitchen is energy balls!

I have to admit, when I first tried making energy balls a couple years ago, they did not go successfully. I focused too much on health instead of flavour, which resulted in dry and flavourless balls of chia and coconut oil, that ultimately ended up in the garbage. The trick to making energy balls is striking that perfect balance between healthy and delicious! Inspired by the flavours in banana bread (another snack I love!), I created my Peanut Butter Banana Energy Balls that are just sweet enough to trick me into feeling like I'm enjoying a treat, but are packed with ingredients that will keep my body and mind feeling energized and alive!

Keep these energy balls on hand to enjoy for a midday pick me up, or a pre-workout energy boost that won't leave you feeling bogged down and sluggish.

Ingredients:
1 overripe banana*
1/2 cup Metro Irresistibles Organics Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup ground flax
2 Tbsp chia seeds
2-4 dates, pitted and softened (adjust the amount depending on your sweetness preferences)
1 - 1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, frozen (freezing your chocolate chips allows them to hold their shape, giving the energy balls some texture)

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor, add banana, peanut butter, coconut, flax, chia seeds, dates and 1-cup oats. Pulse until just combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl several times. Pinch the mixture between your fingers to test consistency. You want the mixture to be able to form into balls without being too sticky. If mixture is still very sticky and wet, add more oats as needed.
2. Stir in frozen chocolate chips. 
3. Using clean hands, form into 2 Tbsp balls and place in an airtight container. You should be left with 12-14 energy balls. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy throughout the week! 

*To quickly ripen bananas, separate individual bananas from the bunch and place on a baking sheet. Cook in a 300ºF oven for 25-30 minutes, or until black and shiny. Cool.

This post was created in partnership with Metro Ontario.

Listening To:
Pusha T - Santeria

The Only Roasted Pumpkin Seed Recipe You Will Ever Need

Last week I started a new part-time job. It's exactly the type of malleable job that I was hoping to get, that would allow me the flexibility to work on my creative pursuits, while still learning and growing in the food industry. I was so happy when I was offered the position, feeling like my steel-toe-shoe-covered-foot was finally in the door! That feeling lasted...hmmm...all of maybe three days before my self-doubts began to set in. It's so hard to get excited about starting a new experience when you're a natural self-doubter, never trusting yourself and your abilities. 

"What the hell am I doing here?"

I have to be honest, I feel totally out of my element. It feels just like the first few weeks of culinary school, where I kept asking myself "what the hell am I doing here?" telling myself that I didn't belong and I was going to fail. Culinary school was definitely a humbling experience for me, but also an incredibly rewarding one. When I look at how much I grew in just the several select courses that I attended, and more than that, how much my confidence blossomed, I can't help but feel proud of myself. 

As much as I know there will be a light at the end of the tunnel, and that it's going to take time to find my groove and get comfortable, this beginning stage is absolutely excruciating to get through. I'm clumsy, I'm slow, I'm messy, I second guess myself, I can be forgetful, and my anxiety can get the best of me and I can slip into panic mode. 

It was the same when I first started serving - clumsy, slow, messy, second guessing myself, being forgetful, and I most definitely slipped into panic mode more times than I care to recall. I remember the look on my managers face when I would mess up an order. The nicest guy would suddenly look terrifying. That look would be burned into my soul as I saw it again and again as I helplessly tried to find my feet. 

"It's so easy to be comfortable and stay in a safe space where you know you can't fail, but if you can't fail then you can't grow."

I saw that same look on our head chefs face at my new job when we thought I almost used up all the chives that were meant for another recipe...and then again when we thought I almost broke the $1000 Vitamix, because I forgot to tell my group to remove the sachet before blending the soup...and oh, so much more. So, so, so much more! It's so horrible, and challenging, and stressful right now, and I want to cry just thinking about it, but it's always the most difficult and challenging experiences that end up being the most rewarding for me. Though I was a horrible, spastic server at first, I eventually became one of our most reliable and respected in the restaurant, a place I never thought I would get to. It's so easy to be comfortable and stay in a safe space where you know you can't fail, but if you can't fail then you can't grow. 

I'm so damn scared of embarking on this new endeavour, but I'm also so insanely eager to meet the Danielle that comes out of this experience. I know she will come out stronger, tougher, wiser, faster, and so much more confident than the Danielle that walked in. 

"The spicy makes the sweet all the sweeter, and so is the same in life."

Without the spicy and bitter life experiences, we would never have the sweet, which brings me to one of my favourite autumn recipes, my take on Martha Stewart's Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds (recipe here!). As I mentioned in the title, this will be the only roasted pumpkin seed recipe you will ever need, because no other recipe will ever come close to being this delicious! This will be the fourth or fifth mention of this recipe on my blog, because it's just that good! I can't get away from it! What makes these seeds so addictive is the contrast between the sweet and spicy seasonings. The sweetness of the sugar is brought to life thanks to the addition of fragrant sesame oil, and spicy cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper. If these were only seasoned with sweet flavours, they would fall flat. The sweet needs the spicy to keep everything in balance. The spicy makes the sweet all the sweeter, and so is the same in life. 

Check out my slightly adapted version of Martha's Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds here! And if you haven't started watching Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party, you need to start RIGHT NOW because it is amazing!!! 

Listening To:

Tycho - Daydream