Shortbread 3 Ways

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To get you into holiday baking mode, we’ve rounded up 3 of our shortbread cookie recipes. Each are made using a classic shortbread recipe but have unique flavour twists to shake things up a little.

First up is Lemon Thyme Shortbread. Lemon zest brightens up the classic buttery sweet taste and a bit of fresh thyme adds a nice herbaceous note. This is classic shortbread taken to the next level.  Recipe here

lemon rosemary shortbread_9360

Next we have our Brown Sugar Shortbread with Garam Masala. If you aren’t familiar with the spice blend Garam Masala, you must try it! It’s a comforting blend of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg,  cardamom, cumin and pepper that pairs really well with these brown sugar shortbread cookies. Think cinnamon sugar with a bit of an extra kick.  Recipe here

garam masala shortbread_9378

Last but not least, we  have our savoury Asiago Pesto Shortbread cookies. Instead of being sweet, these are savoury and packed with asiago cheese and a hint of pesto. These would go great served as a cheese plate accompaniment and offer a nice change from all the sweet things we tend to eat around the holidays. Recipe here 

Asiago Pesto Shortbread

Hope you enjoy these recipes! Do you have your own twist on shortbread? We’d love to hear in the comments below!

A Drink to Celebrate the Season

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Fall is hands down our favourite time of year.  The breathtaking colours, the sound of leaves crunching under your feet, watching leaves dance and fluter in the air as they slowly fall, the smell in the air, cozy sweaters, the list goes on and on.

To celebrate this glorious season, we created this colourful cocktail. Cheers to our favourite season!

RosemaryCocktail_NBP1465

 Ingredients: makes 1 drink

  • 3 oz of mulled apple cider
  • 2 oz of your favourite sparkling wine
  • splash of cranberry juice
  • sprig of rosemary

Directions:

  1. Pour chilled apple cider and sparkling wine  into a champagne flute
  2. Give it a little spash of cranberry juice
  3. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary
  4. Give a cheer to fall!

Expert Tip:

Take the sprig of rosemary and rub it between your hands, this releases the natural oils and gives the cocktail a little extra somethin’ special

 

 

 

 

Ravioli with Pumpkin, Greek Yogurt, Maple and Thyme

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It’s our favourite season, pumpkin season!  And with Thanksgiving coming up, we wanted to make an appetizer to bring to our family dinners.  A few years ago, we learned a cool trick from Food & Drink Magazine: quick and easy ravioli using store bought wonton wrappers. Although nothing can beat homemade pasta dough, this is a very easy alternative that’s perfect when you don’t have a ton of time but still want to make something special.

For Thanksgiving, we decided to make a pumpkin ravioli. For the pumpkin filling, we used canned pure pumpkin and mixed it with greek yogurt for a nice creamy and rich texture. We seasoned the filling with nutmeg and thyme for the perfect combination of thanksgivingy flavours. After they were cooked, we sautéed them in a bit of brown butter and a drizzle of pure maple syrup for a touch of sweetness.

PumpkinRavioli_NBP1437

 

Ingredients: makes 12 (serves 4 as an appetizer)

  • 24 storebought wonton wrappers
  • 1 canned pure pumpkin
  • 1/3 greek yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1tsp fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • warm water

Directions:

  1. combine pumpkin, greek yogurt, nutmeg, thyme, salt and pepper in a medium mixing bowl
  2. spoon about 1 tbsp of pumpkin mixture onto a single wonton wrapper
  3. dip your fingers into warm water and run your finger along the edge of the wonton wrapper to moisten the edges
  4. place another wonton wrapper on top and with a fork, press down to seal all four sides
  5. repeat with all ravioli
  6. boil a large pot of water
  7. boil raviolis for 5 min or until cooked through, remove from heat and strain
  8. on medium heat, melt butter and sautee until it begins to brown slightly
  9. add raviolis, lower heat and sauté raviolis for 3-5 min
  10. drizzle with a touch of maple syrup (less is more in this case)
  11. garnish with fresh thyme sprigs
  12. serve and enjoy!

 

Grilled Corn Salad

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This weekend we celebrated the end of summer (sad, we know) with a last day of summer BBQ.  Although the weather didn’t cooperate, there was plenty of warm weather nostalgia provided by all of the tasty summer food. We created this colourful, bright and fresh tasting grilled corn salad as a tasty side. It was such a big hit, we thought we’d share this one with you on the blog. We have a feeling this will become a regular in our repertoire of favourite salads and would also be awesome with grilled shrimp, lobster or fish.

Grilled Gorn Salad

Ingredients

  • 4 cobs of corn, husks on
  • 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
  • 2 avocados
  • 1 medium red onion
  • handful of cilantro/to taste
  • 1-2 jalapeños (optional, depending on if you like it hot)
  • 2 limes

 

Directions

  1. heat BBQ to medium
  2. leaving husks on the corn, place corn cobs directly on the grill
  3. BBQ corn for about 35-40 min or until nicely charred, rotating every 10 min or so
  4. remove corn from grill and set aside to cool of
  5. once cool, remove husks from corn and cut kernels off cobs
  6. place corn kernels into a large salad bowl
  7. dice red onion and place into salad bowl
  8. finely dice jalapeno(s) and add to salad bowl
  9. slice cherry tomatoes in half and add to salad bowl
  10. chop cilantro finely and add to the bowl
  11. chop avocados and add to bowl
  12. squeeze limes into the bowl and stir carefully (try not to mash up avocados too much)
  13. serve as a side with grilled meat, fish, shrimp or lobster

Farewell Summer Salad with Black Kale, Peaches, Almonds & Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette

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It’s officially fall and we’re excited for cozy sweaters, colourful leaves and pumpkin spice everything! But before we go there, we thought we’d savour the very last of summer with a Farewell Summer Salad. Yes, it’s sad. Summer is over. However,  you can still grab some local bites of sunshine (or peaches as they are more commonly known) at your local market and have one last taste of summertime.

While at our local farmer’s market this weekend we noticed the last of the Ontario peaches and grabbed a basket along with this gorgeous black kale.

black kale & peaches

We had never tried black kale before but were intrigued by it’s beautiful purple colour. We thought  it would not only look great (hello contrasting colours!) but also taste great and deliver a good dose of healthy vitamins and nutrients to our bodies too.  Something we all need after a summer of indulgence.

Farewell Summer Salad

To make this salad is very easy, toss all the ingredients below together with your favourite berry vinaigrette (or make your own). Farewell Summer Salad goes well on it’s own as an appetizer or with grilled salmon or chicken as a main dish.

Farewell Summer Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch of black kale
  • 3 fresh whole peaches
  • 1 handful of raw almonds
  • your favourite berry vinaigrette- we used Kraft Fruit & Veg Berry Balsamic

Directions:

serves 4 as an appetizer/side or serves 2 as a main

  1. wash kale, remove stems and chop into bite sized pieces
  2. dry kale  in salad spinner or pat dry and place in a large salad bowl
  3. wash peaches, remove pits, cut into slices and add to bowl
  4. roughly chop almonds and add to bowl
  5. drizzle with salad dressing
  6. toss, serve & enjoy!

Honeydew, Cucumber & Mint Popsicles

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Homemade popsicles really are the best. They always taste good and are SO easy to do. Say goodbye to sugary fake flavours and hello to healthy, tasty, colourful treats.

We recently picked up a cool star shaped popsicle mold and thought we’d put it to use over the weekend. We wanted to create a light, cool and refreshing pop and came up with this Honeydew, Cucumber and Mint version. They turned this amazing green colour, tasted great and were super refreshing. Best part- all natural and pretty much guilt free!

Honeydew Cucumber Mint Popsicles

Ingredients: makes 6 popsicles

  • 1/2 small honeydew melon
  • 1 whole cucumber
  • 8-10 mint leaves
  • simple syrup

Directions:

  1. Remove seeds & skin of honeydew, chop into small pieces
  2. Remove seeds & skin of cucumber, chop into small pieces
  3. Chop mint leaves finely
  4. Place all ingredients into a blender and blend throughly
  5. Taste and add simple syrup as needed to desired sweetness
  6. Pour blended mixture through a mesh strainer to remove pulp & chunks
  7. Pour strained mixture into popsicle molds (or use paper cups and popsicle sticks)
  8. Freeze overnight & enjoy!

Fish Tacos with Ontario Yellow Plum Salsa

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When we think of the perfect summer meal, there isn’t much that can top a good fish taco. The combination of light, flaky fish, soft corn tortilla and bright, crsip toppings can’t be beat. We recently went to one of Toronto’s best known taco spots “La Carnita” and were inspired to try our own version of the famous fish taco with a unique  twist- Ontario yellow plum salsa.

Fish Tacos w Yellow Plum Salsa

First, we topped fresh Cod fillets with a spice rub and baked them in the oven.

Fish for Tacos

Next, we made our own corn flour tortillas from scratch. Nothing quite beats warm, homemade tortillas and they are well worth the extra effort!

tortillia

Finally, we made a salsa from Ontario yellow plums, jalapeño and red onion. The tart and slightly sweet yellow plums really add a nice flavourful punch to this dish. We added shredded cabbage for extra crunch and texture and a squeeze of fresh lime to top it all off.

We hope you enjoy our fish tacos as much as we did!  The salsa is also great served on it’s own with some tortilla chips, or on top of salmon like we did here.

 

Ingredients: serves 4

Fish Fillets

  • 8 small fillets of cod (or any other mild flavoured white fish)
  • 2 tbsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp corriander
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp cajun spice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Cabbage Slaw

  • 1/2 of a small head of green cabbage
  • juice of 1 lime
  • handful of chopped cilantro

Ontario Yellow Plum Salsa:

  • 1o Ontario yellow plums
  • 1/4 red onion, finely diced
  • 1 jalapeño, finely diced
  • 1 tbsp sugar

Corn Tortillias: (follow package instructions)

  • corn flour
  • water

 

Directions:

Fish Fillets

  1. pre-heat oven to 350 F
  2. pat fish with a paper towel to remove any excess water (do this especially when using frozen fish)
  3. mix spices listed above
  4. rub spices on both sides of the fish fillets and place fish on a non-stick baking tray
  5. bake fish in the oven for approximately 20 min or until fish is flaky in texture

Cabbage Slaw

  1. slice head of cabbage in half, set aside one half for future use
  2. shred or slice remaining 1/2 of cabbage finely
  3. chop cilantro
  4. throw shredded cabbage and cilantro into a mixing bowl, add lime juice and set aside

Ontario Yellow Plum Salsa

  1. chop all ingredients, mix in a mixing bowl and set aside

*Note: Depending on the tartness of the plums you use, you may have to use slightly more sugar aim for slightly sweet but not overpowering. You still should be able to taste the tartness of the plums.

Corn Tortillas

  1. for the dough, follow directions on corn flour package for 1 batch of tortillas. We used the brand “Maseca” – find it in the baking aisle at the grocery store.
  2. form small balls (size of a ping pong ball) in your hands, roll out to flatten (or ideally use a press)
  3. cook stovetop in a frying pan (cast iron is best but non-stick will do)
  4. cook each side for 2-3 min similar to a pancake
  5. wrap cooked tortillas in a clean kitchen towel to keep them warm

 

Taco Assembly: Top 1 tortilla with 1/2 a fish fillet, cabbage slaw and a spoonful of salsa. Hot sauce, sour cream and guac also make great additions.