Recipes – Page 6 – Tim's Kitchen Table

>Oatmeal Cookies with Drunken Dried Fruit

Who want to make cookies this weekend!!! I have heard people say they don’t like a lot of things, but cookies are not one of them. We can all think back to the smell of homemade cookies fresh out of the oven. The taste of a warm cookie with a tall glass of cold milk, and of course sneaking cookies from the freezer for a midnight snack. (Ok maybe that was just me — blush)

One of my favorite cookies is an oatmeal cookie with raisins or assorted dried fruits. It just so happens that oatmeal is incredibly good for you. I am not promoting this as a health cookie, you wont see me on an infomercial promoting this a a cookie that will cure your every ailment. However increasing your intake of oatmeal does help reduce weight, lower cholesterol and reduce blood pressure. Oatmeal also is loaded with fiber which makes you feel full so you will eat less. So if you can replace a factory food cookie with something that contains oatmeal then you have done a good thing.

This cookie is also very flavorful. I think that we can eat our way to better health and weight (in my case a major concern) by eating better food. However for me this only works if it tastes good. Here is a cookie that I have come up with that is a good choice for a sweet snack.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter (organic and local is best) – At room temperature

3/4 Cup of Brown Sugar

2 Eggs (beaten)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 Tbsp Honey

1 1/2 cups Whole White Flour (if you cant get this go half & half white and whole wheat)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 tablespoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon of Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon of Ground Cloves

2 Cups of Rolled Oats

1/3 cup dark raisins

1/3 cup golden raisins

1/3 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup dark rum or orange juice

Directions

This recipe takes a little bit of wait time at the beginning. Take your butter out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. Put the dried fruit in a small pot and cover with dark rum or orange juice. Put over very low heat, the warmer element of your stove if you have one is ideal. Allow the dried fruit to sit until the butter is soft.

Preheat your oven to 375

When the butter is softened, place it along with the brown sugar in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid Mixer with the whisk attachment (or a large metal bowl and use a hand mixer). I don’t shill for Kitchen Aid by the way but their mixer is one of my favorite kitchen helpers and I use it extensively. Beat the sugar into the butter until it is smooth. It is important not to use melted butter the sugar grains when beat in with the butter form little pockets of air which will make the cookies lighter in texture.

Next add in the eggs, honey and vanilla. Stir until smooth. In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda and spices. Change the mixing attachment on your mixer to the paddle. Mix these well then sift into your wet ingredients adding about a third at a time stirring each time to incorporate. Don’t skip the sifting step. It will ensure the flavors are well mixed and will weed out any lumps of baking soda which can be a very unpleasant bite.

Drain the fruit in a strainer and then add the fruit and oatmeal to the mixer and stir until incorporated.

Now for cookie sheets I highly recommend a nice heavy cookie sheet with a silicon mat to help stop sticking. These produce nice evenly browned cookies that do not stick and make cleanup a non issue. To scoop out the cookies I recommend getting a disher. It is like a small ice cream scoop, you can get them in various sizes and they will make a nice uniform cookie.

Scoop the cookies out onto your cookies sheet in about tablespoon full sizes. I like to press them down a bit to make a cookie about half an inch thick. Bake in the 375 oven for twelve to fifteen minutes. Check the first batch often, you want a nice golden brown, they will still be soft. Remove from the cookie sheet on to a wire rack. This recipe will make about 2 dozen cookies.

Play around with the recipe, try different dried fruits (though I recommend soaking them to add additional flavor and to stop them from turning into little bullets). Also you may want to add more spices or maybe play with adding a little nutmeg. Taste and try, that is the secret to good home cooking.

Thanks again to my local suppliers:

Oatmeal and Whole White Flour – Speerville Mills

Eggs – Active Life Farms

Honey: Cosman and Whidden Honey Ltd

>Smoked Salmon on Fresh Bagel – A great local treat

I have already blogged about the bagels from Spice of Life Artisan Foods at the Halifax Seaport Market in my breakfast sandwich blog. But this morning I have to mention them again because I paired them with another treat from the Market and wanted to share the experience.

This morning I paired the bagel with some beautiful rich smoked salmon that I got at the Halifax Market on Saturday. I have bought some nice clams, and fresh haddock from Evan’s Fresh Sea Food before and will have some recipes to blog out in the near future, however I had to share with you the delightful smoked salmon experience I had this morning.

Smoked salmon is a real treat, and Evan’s does a great job preparing it for us. The cure has just the right amount of salt and the light smoke taste does not overwhelm the beautiful salmon that is used. The fish is rich and almost buttery in texture and had a clean fresh flavor. This combined beautifully with some nice creamed cheese, a crisp bagel, and some fresh snipped chives.

I found the balance of flavors in the salmon to be perfect. I enjoyed every aspect of it and it made for a great start to the day. This was not a planned blog but the experience was so good I thought I would share it. This was a great local food treat.

I have shared with family and friends my reasons for eating local and my experiences. It started out as a reaction to the dismal quality of the food in our local factory food outlets. The questionable handling of meat, the produce that is full of mold or that is half rotten the day after you buy it and all of the additives and chemicals that we must endure drove me to look for a better option. I figured that even if I had to sacrifice variety, put in a little more work and spend extra money it would be worth it.

However the results have been surprising. I find that I waste less food, and that the price difference is not as high as I thought it would be. I always cook so the additional work is really not there, and I have found ways to make cooking from scratch work for me even during busy times. As far as variety and quality, there is no comparison. I am eating a wider variety of food than ever before, and the food is amazing. I can’t remember ever having smoked salmon on fresh bagels at home and having it be this good. This was an outstanding taste treat once of many that I have had since starting to eat local.

I would encourage you to review my prior blog articles and see what I am doing with local foods. I am now giving links to local suppliers in every recipe and have links on the right hand side of the menu. If you don’t live in Nova Scotia, please google around and find the local suppliers in your area. Our local farmers provide us food with pride. Factory food outlets (even the one that has their president choose food for us, ya right) take pride in their share price and CEO’s bonus structure. Lets vote with our dollars and pay those who are looking to provide us their best. The experience of eating local is too good not to be shared.

>Oatmeal Corn Waffles

I really enjoy waffles. All those little pockets to hold syrup and butter, or a nice fruit sauce. They are a real treat on a weekend morning, and the left overs can be popped in the toaster for a nice treat in a week day morning. I know there are waffle like substances available from your local factory food outlet, but we deserve better.

I will be releasing a number of waffle recipes on the blog, including a traditional wheat flour waffle, a herb and parmesan cheese waffle which is an amazing base for poached eggs and smoked salmon and a chocolate desert waffle which would be amazing topped with Fox Hill Cheese Coconut Gelato.

But for today I am going to give you my favorite hearty waffle recipe. This recipe is a cross between a waffle and a bowl of flavorful oatmeal. It is crispy on the outside and soft and a little creamy on the inside. A couple of these waffles will give you the energy you need to start the day.

Ingredients:

7 Cups of Rolled Oats

1.5 Cups of Corn Meal

8 Cups of Hot Water

1 Cup of Apple Cider

1/4 Cup of Canola Oil

3 Tbsp of Honey or (Brown Sugar to make it Vegan)

2 Tbsp of Vanilla Extract

1.5 Tbsp Cinnamon

2 Tsp Sea Salt

1/2 Cup Currents

1 Apple Cored and Diced

In a large mixing bowl combine the first 9 ingredients (not the apples or currents) and stir to combine. Allow this to sit for about 20 minutes to allow the grains to hydrate and absorb the flavors.

While waiting heat up a waffle iron if it is variable heat it to medium heat.

Using an immersion blender blend up the batter a little bit, it is ok to have flakes of oats left but the batter should be mostly smooth. Then stir in the currents and diced apples. You can blend this in small batches in a blender but really get an immersion blender because it is so much cleaner. (Well for me anyway :))

When the iron is heated, spray with no stick spray and cover the bottom plate with batter. This is not leavened so it will not rise much so don’t worry about filling it up. It wont expand and overflow. These waffles take a while to finish cooking as they contain a lot of moisture, cook them until they are crisp on the outside and the steam is no longer pouring out of the waffle iron. It takes 5 to 8 min a waffle. They should be golden brown in color. Serve right away, if you are going to freeze the left overs allow them to cool on a cooling rack and then freeze. They reheat beautifully in a toaster.

These are very flavorful and very good for you. They are low in fat and oats are one of the best grains you can eat. For my vegetarian and vegan friends they can be made with no animal products. Having said that these waffles do not sacrifice any flavor in order to be healthy. Give them a try.

Thanks to my Local Suppliers:

Oats: Speerville Mills

Honey: Cosman and Whidden Honey Ltd

Apple Cider: Pasture Hill Farm

Apples: Noggins Corner Farm

Also Pictured:

Berkshire Bacon: Active Life Farms

Fresh Mint: Riverview Herbs

As always thanks to the Halifax Seaport Farm Market for giving me a place to connect with my suppliers.

>Beef and Barley Soup – A Hearty Winter Warmer

On a cold snowy day there is nothing better than a hearty hot soup to fill you up. A thick soup with big pieces of flavorful beef, sweet savory carrots and tender barley really hits the spot.

As alway I try to source local product to make my soup and I use my homemade beef stock base which I keep in my freezer. With the stock already made this is a quick and easy supper idea and leftovers make a great work day lunch.

Ingredients

1 tbsp of Grape Seed Oil (vegetable oil will work as well)

1 pound of Stew Beef cut into 1/2 inch cubes and trimmed of excess fat

2 Medium Potatoes – 1/2 inch cubes

1 Medium Onion rough chopped

3 Large Carrots sliced

2 Stalks of Celery – sliced

1/4 cup of pearl barley

2 Cloves of Garlic – chopped

1 tbsp Tomato Paste

2 tsp Paprika

1/2 Cup Dry Red Wine

8 – 10 Cups of Homemade Beef Stock

2 tsp Sea Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

Fresh Thyme 6-8 sprigs

Fresh Rosemary 2-3 sprigs

Heat up the oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the beef and add to the hot oil. When the beef is about half browned add in the paprika and tomato paste and continue cooling until the beef is nicely browned. Remove the beef from the pot and add in the potatoes, onion, celery, barley and carrots. Cook until the onions start to get a little color stirring occasionally, add in the garlic and cook until the garlic starts to turn a very light brown. Be careful not to overcook the garlic.

Add the beef back into the pot and deglaze the bottom of the pan with the red wine. Continue cooking until about 1/3 of the wine has cooked off and then add in your beef stock. Tie together with butchers twine the herbs and add into the pot.

Heat to a simmer and allow to simmer for about an hour, or until the potatoes and beef are nice and tender. At this point add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Thanks to My Local Nova Scotia Suppliers

Beef – from Getaway Farms

Vegetables – from Noggins Corner Farm

Garlic – from Active Life Farms

Red Wine – from Jost Vineyards

Herbs from Riverview herbs (Located at the Halifax Seaport Market)

>An All Nova Scotia Bagel Breakfast Sandwich

I love a good bagel. A real bagel, chewy and soft, lightly toasted. Though the local supermarkets are full of bagel like substances, really large doughnut shaped dinner rolls, it is really hard to find a good bagel. I have been known to lose my mind over bagels I have bought that are bread through and through but being sold as a bagel.

In my quest to find a real Bagel in Halifax I happened upon one made by Spice of Life Artisan Foods at the Halifax Seaport Market. They have it spot on, nice and chewy, on the outside, soft on the inside and it toasts up beautifully. If you are a bagel lover you have to try this. They are affiliated with Rock Island Bistro and if you buy their delicious baked goods you get Bistro bucks that you can use toward a meal at the Bistrol. I will have to review them soon. Check out their facebook page.

The bagels inspired me to create an all Nova Scotia Breakfast Sandwich. I used eggs and the amazing Berkshire pork bacon from Active Life Farms and Garlic Quark and medium cheddar cheese from Fox Hill Cheese House.

What is Quark you ask, well I just asked that question my self a week ago. Whitney, Fox Hill’s smiley, friendly and informative sales person (be careful she will bewitch you with free gelato samples), explained that it is German cream cheese like product. It is spreadable and rich in flavor, it is also lower in salt then standard creamed cheese. Click on this link and scroll down to the Quark section for more information.

To prepare my sandwich I cooked the bacon first on low heat to render off the fat then I drained the fat and turned up the heat to crisp it. This makes for more tender meaty bacon.

I selected 2 beautiful farm fresh eggs to poach. Notice in the picture the different colors, which occurs because the eggs are from different breeds of chicken. If you talk to Kevin and Heather from Active Life they can tell you which eggs come from which types of chickens. When I visited the farm I was impressed with how the chickens were treated, I even saw one of them jump into Kevin’s feed bucket, it was pretty cute. Free range eggs are the only eggs I want to eat, not only are the chickens treated better than egg factory chickens but the eggs are better for you. For information on this go to the Active Life Farms Egg Page and click on the hyper link for the specific nutritional benefits. In addition to this the eggs taste amazing and are not watery and runny like factory eggs.

To poach the eggs heat up some water to a simmer (not a rolling boil). Add in salt and 1 tsp of vinegar(I prefer rice wine vinegar). The vinegar will help to quickly set the egg whites. Poach the eggs until the egg yokes are just firm, you don’t want them runny, but you don’t want them dried out and bright yellow. When they are set allow them to drain on a plate.

I then lightly toasted the bagel, spread it with quark, put the bacon on the bottom and added the eggs, which I sprinkled with black pepper and paprika. I then topped with Fox Hill Cheese Medium cheddar and enjoyed.

This is just an example of the kind of high quality, flavorful food you can have while eating local. It is good in so many ways but from a selfish perspective, it just tastes great. That is all the reason I need.

Roasted Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

I am a serious soup lover. A hot bowl of soup on a cold winter night is one of my favorite comfort foods. A smooth creamy soup can be just the thing to bring warmth and comfort, but those calories can get a little out of hand. I have just the fix, a rich creamy soup with no dairy and very little added fat. Roasted butternut squash, one of my favorite winter vegetables makes a wonderful creamy soup that your whole family will enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 Butternut Squash halved and seeded

1 Apple pealed cored and diced

1 Pear pealed cored and diced

2 Cloves of Garlic chopped

1/4 cup of Calvados (apple brandy) optional

1/2 a medium onion chopped

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

8 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock (Click for my stock recipes)

1 tbsp Good Olive Oil

2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 and sprinkle the squash with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the squash for 45 minutes to an hour until slightly browned and fork tender. Allow to cool so it can be handled.

Heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a stock pot over medium heat. Add onions, pear, apple, garlic and a tsp of salt. Stir until it slightly caramelizes. Deglaze the pot with calvados or a little vegetable stock. Add vegetable stock and simmer until the apple and pear are tender. Scoop the butternut squash out of the skin and into the pot. Simmer for about 15 min. Blend the soup in the pot with an immersion blender (Kitchen Aid makes a good stainless steel model that comes with a little food processor). When the soup is smooth stir in the balsamic vinegar, you can adjust the consistency by adding more stock if it is too thick, we want a creamy soup not something akin to babyfood. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

If you make this with chicken stock you have a totally vegan soup and even with chicken stock it is very healthy. It is a soup that uses local winter product, all of the produce for the stock and soup I obtained from Nova Scotia providers.

Variation

For those of you like my buddy Sairam (a faithful vegetarian follower and good friend) who love to feel the spice, here is a simple addition to kick it up a notch.

When roasting your squash roast off one Serrano pepper. Let it cool in an air tight container to make pealing easier. Peel and seed the pepper when cool and add to the soup before blending. If you are cautious about spice add it in a quarter at a time blend and taste. This adds a very nice level of heat to the soup.

Special Thanks to my Providers

Active Live Farms for the Chicken for my Chicken Stock and the Garlic

Noggins Corner Farm for all of the wonderful Fruit and Vegetables

And as always the Halifax Seaport Market for giving me a place to find local product.

Local product also pictured

Oatmeal Bread from Aziz Best Bakery obtained at the Halifax Seaport Market

Cranberry Cheddar from Fox Hill Cheese