Brookies Cookies

 

My daughter found this recipe many years ago and it has become one of our favourites. Be sure to not over brown the butter or the cookie will be dry. So just lightly brown. 

Bubbly Sourdough Focaccia

 

This is such a great loaf of focaccia made using active sourdough. Soft, bubbly and tender.  I love eating this cut into cubes dipped into olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It is also awesome sliced and made into sandwiches. Great toasted with a slather of peanut butter. 

Sourdough Bread

 

I have been making sourdough bread for the last 4 years, almost on a weekly basis.  It is amazing to me that combining four simple ingredients can create such a delicious loaf of bread.   It is definitely a labour of love and one of my favourite hobbies. I can say that not all my attempts have been successful but I learn from every failed loaf. Even a bad loaf tastes good or makes excellent bread crumbs or croutons. If you don't have sourdough starter you can make your own, buy online or get some from a friend who makes sourdough bread. Be careful because once you start making it you will find it hard to buy bread from the store. 

Blackened Creole Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

 

This is a copycat version of Cactus Club's Blackened Creole Chicken. It has taken me several attempts to come up with this version and I think it is a ringer for the original. Make the creole butter and marinade the chicken 24 hours in advance. Then on the day you are serving this dish all you have to do is make the potatoes, cook the chicken and steam a vegetable. Make sure you take the creole butter out of the fridge several hours prior to serving to ensure the butter melts over the hot chicken and potatoes. 

Pomegranate and Feta Salad

 

This is a tasty simple salad that is a real crowd pleaser. Simple enough for a week night meal and great for company as well. If you don't have pomegranate seeds use dried cranberries instead. 

Pitcher Margarita

 

This is a great party drink that you can make ahead of time and serve in a pitcher. This is a classic margarita and a real crowd pleaser. I sometimes add a little club soda to each glass for a little fizz.

Chicken Satay Skewers

 

This recipe comes from one of my favourite cooking websites called Recipe Tin Eats.
The chicken thigh meat is so tender and flavourful. The homemade peanut satay sauce is very easy to make. I divide the sauce into smaller containers and freeze as it is too much for one recipe. I serve the peanut satay with coconut rice and cucumbers and red onions drizzled with a homemade vinaigrette.

Rice Krispies Squares

 

Here is the original Kellogg's Rice Krispies Squares recipe. I have wanted to post it for many years now an for some reason it has never made the cut. This is always a favourite with young and old. I typically use a 13x9 inch pan but if you like thicker squares use a smaller size. I have also doubled the recipe and spread on a cookie sheet and then carved out large numbers for a birthday cake.

Vinaigrette

 

This is my go to salad dressing. It is so easy to make and so much better than store-bought dressings. Once you start making homemade vinaigrette, you won't go back. You simply mix up some basic ingredients, and you'll end up with a dressing that tastes infinitely better than store-bought. No preservatives here and no more bottles of old dressings that you didn't like expiring on the shelves of your fridge, taking up precious real estate. The only thing to remember that the olive oil will solidify in the fridge and you will need to take it out before you actually need it on your salad. Sometimes I forget and I just set it in some warm warm to hasten the process. I love red wine vinegar but you can swap out for other vinegars. I also use more vinegar compared to the classic French ratio of one part vinegar to three parts olive oil. The beauty of making your own dressing is that you can customize to your tastes. I will add a couple teaspoons maple syrup if I want to add sweetness and leave it out when I don't. The recipe makes a small quantity but you can double or triple depending on your requirements. 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

 

This is a super easy cookie to make. The center of the cookie is a MINI peanut butter cup.

The cookie dough contains three ingredients, crunchy peanut butter, brown sugar and a egg. All you do is mix the cookie dough together and then divide the dough between a 24 cup mini-muffin pan. Bake for 10 minutes and then immediately stuff each cookie with a Reese's peanut butter cup.

This is a great gluten free cookie.