We Provice Recipes

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Salmon Hash – the Perfect Breakfast for a Jet lagged Chef

I was so tired from flying cross-country last night, there was just no way I was going to have a fresh, new video to post today. So, I was very happy when I realized Id saved this salmon hash recipe shot for About.com.

I really, really love traditional corned beef hash. Its on my short list of potential "last meals." There are few things sexier than the yolk of a perfectly cooked poached egg slowly flowing over and into a crusty corned beef hash. The problem is, a steady diet of corned beef hash and poached eggs for breakfast may bring about this "last meal" much more quickly than one would prefer. So, as a more heart-friendly alternative I offer you this recipe. Enjoy!

Note: This video was shot for About.com, so when you click on the video below, youll be taken to the recipe page there (complete with transcript and ingredients).

Roasted Game Hen with Fluffy White Rice

Roasted Cornish Game Hen is the perfect substitute for a larger baked chicken, particularly when you are feeding one or two. It only takes a fraction of the amount of time to cook and nothing goes to waste.

I purchase these little hens frozen, they are very inexpensive about $4 or $5 for 4 hens from Sams Club. They need about 48 hours to thaw out in the refrigerator. Then, I simply rinsed it and dried it thoroughly, seasoned it with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning and placed on a baking sheet fitted with a rack. I roasted it for 45 minutes at 400 degrees and it was cooked perfectly, still moist and with a crispy delicious skin.

I cooked 1/2 cup of white rice in 1 cup of water seasoned with salt and butter. After bring the water to a boil, I reduced it to a simmer, covered the pot with a tight fitting lid, and cooked for 18 minutes. Let sit off the burner for 5 minutes before fluffing with fork and serving.

A delicious, homey, comforting dinner when served with a simple tossed salad.

Homemade Ricotta Cavatelli

My Grandmother would be proud. Every time I use her cavatelli maker I feel like she is there with me. I remember making them with her on her wood dining table. She let me turn the handle of the machine and I got a big kick out of watching the pasta turn into cavatelli. I wish we thought of taking pictures or videos then. When I use the machine and get stuck I think of her saying, "I told you, you have to you a lot of flour!" I try to remember that and flour it up really well.

Sometimes it makes me really sad because Nanny isnt around to see how she influences every meal I make. Even when I make something I knew she really wouldnt like, I am still thinking about her.

She had no idea how much she meant to me. Even if it seemed like she did, she just didnt. Hopefully shes looking down at me and shes happy to see what Ive been doing.

I cant believe it took me so long to post this but I actually lost the recipe and couldnt remember where I found it. Well it finally occurred to me and this post was all set up and ready to go. The credit for the recipe goes to Deborah Mele of Italianfoodforever.com. Check out her website for some great authentic Italian recipes!

To make the dough for the Cavatelli:

Ingredients:

4 Cups All-purpose Flour (or 2 cups tipo "00" & 2 cups tipo "0")
1 Egg
1 Pound Full Fat Ricotta Cheese
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/3 Cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

Place your flour in a bowl and make a well in the center. Add your other ingredients into the well and stir until the dough comes together. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead with your hands for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. You may also wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate it until needed. This rest period is necessary to obtain the right texture of the dough.

To form the Cavatelli:

When ready to cut the cavatelli, first cut the dough in half and place one half on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/3 of an inch thick and cut into strips about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick. Flour a strip well, and using one hand, pass it through the wooden rollers, turning the crank clockwise with the other hand. The cavatelli will drop onto the counter after they are cut. Place the cavatelli on a lightly floured baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to cook. Cook cavatelli in large pot of boiling salted water for about 5 minutes. Like gnocchi, cavatelli will rise to the surface when cooked. Drain and top with your sauce of choice.

Pictures by Salvatore Corso. Click here to see his amazing website.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

A Classic American Apple Pie – Warning This Video Recipe is Almost All Filler

I really wanted to do a from-scratch apple pie video, complete with my Aunt Angelas famous homemade crust, but with my chicken wing video blowing up all over the web, and the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival this weekend demanding my time and attention, I took the easy way out (Im looking at you Sandra Lee), and used a pre-made pie dough.

Besides, if youre not an experienced pie baker (and lets face it, youre not), theres nothing wrong with a little ready-to-use dough, as long as its filled with this fantastic apple pie filling.

What will strike you about this filling is just how few ingredients go in it. Sliced apples baked with sugar taste really, really good, and we dont want to mess with that too much. For me, a little pinch of nutmeg and some cinnamon is all this timeless combination needs.

The other key here, compliments of my mother Pauline, is to use multiple types of apples. There are subtle differences in flavor and texture with the wide variety of baking apples (basically defined as anything except Red Delicious). This is a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.

You can see the apple blend I used in the ingredient list below, but there are an endless number of combinations (not literally! I know how you math people are – you were so going to send me an email, werent you?)

Anyway, I hope you give this delicious apple pie filling a try, and if you were going to shock the world and bake a homemade pie for dessert for one of the upcoming holiday meals, this would be a great choice. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
6-8 baking apples (depending on size) I used 2 Granny Smith, 2 Braeburn, 2 Fuji
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 cup white sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
very tiny pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter
1 egg, beaten
ready to use pie dough (I used Pillsbury)

More Prawns

I have one courgette plant growing in a big pot, so far Ive had about 5 courgettes. I picked a couple on Friday night and sauted them with garlic and a red pepper.

I dont normally buy this sort of ready prepared rice, but had bought it for our self-catering holiday and in the end we didnt use it. I thought it would be ideal for a quick supper dish. I cooked up a small amount of ordinary basmati rice and added it, as the packet wouldnt have provided enough for 3 people.

I added a bit of tomato puree, some sweet chilli sauce, some prawns and quartered tomoatoes.

It was very quick and tasted good.

Friday, January 31, 2014

SUGAR SNAP PEAS PORIYAL

SUGAR SNAP PEAS PORIYAL
I bought a packet of sugar snap peas recently though I didn’t know how to cook them. We tried it in pastas…nah…it was too sweet for our taste, soups…still the same :( After all these experimentations, I still had some more left. I wanted to finish them off somehow, so I thought of making a poriyal of them maybe just like a cluster beans poriyal. I made it a little bit spicier and added some dried mint leaves to it since I didn’t have any fresh herbs at hand and actually this poriyal did taste very good with the mint flavor. I think I’ll be making sugar snap peas poriyal very often from now on…

I prepared this as a side dish with rotis and rice. This goes very well with rasam or curd rice. Our weekend lunch that day was rotis, dum aloo, sugar snap peas poriyal, onion raita, and brown rice.

INGREDIENTS:
1. Sugar snap peas, chopped finely, 1 cup.
2. Onion, medium-sized, 1.
3. Chili powder, 1 teaspoon.
4. Coriander powder, 1 teaspoon.
5. Ginger-garlic paste, 1/2 teaspoon.
6. Dried mint leaves, 1 teaspoon.
7. Mustard seeds, ¼ teaspoon.
8. Ural dhal, ½ teaspoon.
9. Salt as per taste.

PREPARATION:
Wash the sugar snap peas well. Cut off the pointed ends and chop them into small pieces. Dice the onion finely. Heat some oil in a pan and when the oil turns hot, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the urad dhal and fry it for a few seconds until it turns golden brown. Add the diced onion and sauté for a few minutes until the onion turns soft. Then add the sugar snap peas, garlic paste, chili powder, coriander powder, mint leaves, and salt and mix everything well. Cook closed under low flame for 5-10 minutes until the peas are cooked. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Garlic Bread Rolls Recipe

My garlic bread recipe is really simple to bake and is not very time consuming at all.

I use a mixture of brown spelt flour and white spelt flour to make this delicious and healthy bread recipe.

The great thing about using spelt flours is that you do not always need to let the bread dough rise twice, you can just whip up your bread, let it rise once then place it straight in the oven to bake - just fabulous.

You can eat my garlic bread rolls with soup, salad, beans, as a delightful sandwich or just as they are. The outer bread is golden and crisp while the centre of the bread is fluffy, the rolls are as light as a feather to hold in your hand.

Spelt flour is very healthy for you as it contains Vitamin B3, Maganese, Copper, Phosphorus and Fiber. Spelt is also well known for being easier to digest than normal wheat. Spelt does contain gluten so is not suitable for celiacs.

Ingredients for Spelt Garlic Bread Rolls

8oz White spelt flour
8oz Brown spelt flour
1 Sachet Yeast (7g)
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Rice bran oil
Warm water

Garlic Filling
4-6 Garlic cloves
Bunch fresh parsley
Salt to season
Pinch dried Chives
2 Tbsp Rice bran oil
1 large tsp Sunflower margarine

How to make Garlic Bread Rolls

Place all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir together.

Add enough warm water a little at a time until you get a dough.

Knead the dough with a dough hook or by hand for 5-10 minutes.

Mix all of the garlic filling mixture in a small bowl.

Cut the dough in half, take the piece of the dough and cut into 3 chunks.

Roll out of stretch using your hands in a long oval shape, place all 3 ovals onto a greased and floured baking tray.

Spread the garlic bread filling mixture onto the flat dough making sure you leave a gap for the edges.