Ham & Egg Cups

Being a busy weekend for me, I decided o make some Ham & Egg cups, similar to quiche. These are perfect for on an on the go breakfast or quick afternoon snack.

 

What you need (makes 12):

  • 6 sheets phyllo pastry
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/4 spanish onion
  • 3 slices ham
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary
  • 1/4 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 muffin baking pan

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375° F
  2. Mix spices in separate bowl, set aside
  3. Dice onion, saute in pan with oil until translucent
  4. Chop ham into cubes
  5. Beat 6 eggs with 3/4 cup water
  6. Cut each phyllo sheet into 4 cubes, approximately 5 inches by 5 inches
  7. Oil pan
  8. Take 2 sheets (layered) and place into each cup – gently twist in to make your phyllo cup
  9. Baste oil on edges of each phyllo cup to prevent burning
  10. Add equal parts ham & onion to each cup
  11. Add a pinch of spice to each cup
  12. Add egg mixture until the egg reaches just below the top of the pan
  13. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until eggs are cooked

That’s it, enjoy!

N

Grilled Cheese with Ricotta, Aged Cheddar and Tomato

No matter what, grilled cheese sandwiches will always be one of our all time favourites. To satisfy a grilled cheese craving last weekend, we decided to get creative and use whatever ingredients we had in the fridge to make a totally epic grilled cheese that we’ve never had before. The great thing about grilled cheese is that you can make it as simple or as fancy as you like and it’s always going to taste great. As long as your two main ingredients remain good bread and lots of cheese, you really can’t go wrong. So next time you’re craving a grilled cheese, get creative!

For this particular grilled cheese we mixed a nice Ricotta cheese with some shredded aged cheddar, spread it on garlic rubbed sourdough toast, and topped with thin slices of ripe tomato. The result, is a creamier, gooey-er grilled cheese with a slight hint of garlic and tomato. Yum, Yum YUM!

INGREDIENTS (for one sandwich)

  • 2 slices of sourdough bread
  • 2 thin slices of ripe tomato
  • 1/4 cup Ricotta cheese
  • large handful of shredded old/aged cheddar cheese
  • salt & pepper
  • butter to butter bread slices
  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled

DIRECTIONS

  1. On the stovetop, heat up frying pan on medium heat
  2. Lightly butter both sides of each bread slice
  3. Lightly toast each side of each slice of bread, remove from pan
  4. Take garlic clove and smash it with the side of a wide knife to release juices
  5. Take garlic clove in your fingers and rub on 1  side of each slice of bread (this adds a slight garlic flavour that won’t over power the cheese)
  6. Mix cheeses together in a bowl
  7. Place 1 piece of bread, garlicy side up back into the pan, scoop cheese mixture on top
  8. Place tomato slices on top of cheese
  9. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper
  10. Top with remaining slice of bread (garlic side down)
  11. Once bottom slice of bread is well toasted, carefully flip over and toast the other side
  12. Remove from pan when final side is toasted and cheese is nicely melted
  13. Slice in half (let it cool down a bit) and enjoy!

 

OMG Cupcakes!

I recently won a contest from one of our favourite cupcake places in the city, OMG Baked Goodness. I won by entering their “OMG In the City” contest where they’d post images of cupcakes around the city on their twitter and facebook.

Followers were asked to guess the location of each photo (always containing an OMG cupcake), I correctly guessed the location of the photo above and won 6 cupcakes! It was the perfect way to start off the weekend!

My Choices (I got 2 of each) Left: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana (my favourite!), Middle: Lemon Curd, Right: Red Velvet

While I didn’t eat all of them in their entirety (it was tempting though), I did try some of each, sharing the rest with my sister and friends. My favourite was the Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana which had banana cake with chocolate chunks topped with a delicious peanut butter icing. MMM!

Thank’s OMG Baked Goodness!

~Amanda

 

Photography by: Nicole Billark (as always!)

 

 

Pumpkin Muffins (low fat & dairy free)

Canadian Thanksgiving might be over, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave those yummy thanksgiving flavours behind! These pumpkin muffins are a spin off of these delicious ones we get at a local cafe called Lit. One day we decided, instead of walking down to the cafe to buy one (it was raining and cold out), we’d try making our own! While we admit, they aren’t exactly the same, we enjoy them just as much! An added bonus, they do not include any dairy or butter so they are both low in fat and safe for those with lactose intolerance.  Make these ahead for a great breakfast on the go, they taste great with a good cup of coffee or Chai tea.

Pumpkin Muffins

INGREDIENTS makes 12 medium sized muffins

  • 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 cup canned pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup apple sauce
  • handful of raw pumpkin seeds
DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand up mixer, combine all wet ingredients.
  3. In another bowl, sift together all dry ingredients (except pumpkin seeds, save those to top muffins with).
  4.  With the mixer on meduim, slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined (but be careful not to over work). If you don’t have a mixer, you can do this by hand.
  5. Scoop batter into a lined muffin tray and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.
  6. Bake for 25-30min or until you can insert a toothpick into the centre of a muffin and it comes out clean.
  7. Remove from oven, allow muffins to cool and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Turkey Breast with Bacon & Apple Stuffing

Thanksgiving is just days away and although it’s a time where most people get together with family for a huge feast, sometimes it’s just not possible to get everyone together. Whether you are away at school, travelling abroad (or like us have a weekend jammed packed with weddings),  we aren’t always able to join in on the festivities.

While most people who can’t attend their family’s big dinner just go without the turkey, stuffing and all the fixings, we couldn’t stand the thought of not having a turkey dinner this Thanksgiving. We created this recipe for those of you who want all of those thankgiving flavours but don’t have an army to feed.

Apple Bacon Stuffed Turkey Breast

We took our Mom’s stuffing recipe with apples, fresh thyme, sage, onion and crusty bread,  added some double smoked bacon (because it makes EVERYTHING better) and then stuffed that into a Turkey breast. To complete the meal, serve with mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies. Recipe Below.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

STUFFING

  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 McIntosh Apples
  • about 1/3 of a baguette or french bread, torn into chunks
  • 4 pieces of thick cut, double smoked bacon, cut into chunks
  • 2 fresh sage leaves
  • small handful of fresh thyme (stems removed)
  • salt and pepper

TURKEY

  • 1, skinless, boneless turkey breast
  • salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 375F
  2. Season turkey breast with s&p and sear each side of the turkey breast in a non stick skillet on high temp until nicely browned on each side, remove from pan and set aside
  3. In a cast iron pan, cook bacon chunks on medium/low heat, remove bacon and set aside (leave the bacon grease in the pan, that’s extra flavour and we substituted that for butter found in most stuffing recipes)
  4. Dice onion and cook on medium in bacon grease for a few minutes
  5. Add diced apples and cook with onions until onion is translucent and apples start to soften
  6. Add bread chunks and spices
  7. Lightly toss & cook in the pan for 5 min to coat bread and combine flavours, set aside
  8. Going back to the turkey breast, with a sharp knife, make a slit horizontally, lengthwise on the turkey breast to make a pocket for the stuffing
  9. Stuff pocket with stuffing mixture
  10. Tie with butchers twine to secure stuffing inside the breast
  11. Bake at 375 for 20-25 min
  12. Remove from oven, cut & remove butchers twine, slice and enjoy with mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies!

Tomato Soup

It’s getting colder, the days are getting shorter and we’ve been feeling a little under the weather lately. When we’re feeling a bit under the weather, there’s nothing like a warm bowl of soup to make it all better, and for us tomato soup is the ultimate comfort food. To make this soup, we used local Roma Tomatoes, as well as the last of the Cherry Tomatoes we had growing in the backyard. We love this soup for it’s brilliant red colour and the delicious tomato-e-y taste.  That, and the fact that this soup goes perfectly with grilled cheese!

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
  • 2 pints of Roma tomatoes (about 18 tomatoes), cored & sliced in half
  • 1 pint of Cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cups of water
  • fresh basil
  • salt & pepper
  • olive oil

DIRECTIONS

  1.  In a large pot on medium heat, add a tbsp of oil, add onion and cook until translucent
  2. Add garlic, stirring frequently until cooked through (about 3 min)
  3. Add tomatoes & stir
  4. Add water and increase temp to high
  5. Simmer for 30 min
  6. Remove from heat, let stand to cool down a bit
  7. Blend with emulsion blender or in batches in a blender or food processor (making sure to blend to a smooth consistency)
  8. Enjoy!