Pumpkin Spiced Loaf - Vegan

 Pumpkin Spiced Loaf - with dates. Vegan

This definitely is a family favourite! I added half a cup of chopped dates to this, but you can leave it out, if you like.

You will need:

1 1/2 cups of unbleached flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp pumpkin spice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 a cup of chopped dates (You can use raisins or any other dried fruit- or leave it out altogether.

(Place the above ingredients in a large bowl.)

In another bowl - add the following ingredient:

1 cup canned pumpkin purée 

1/2 cup vegetable oil ( I used a canola/olive oil blend)

1 cup brown sugar - gently packed

4 tbsps liquid vegan egg  (or two tsps of powder egg replacer plus 4 tbsps of water. If you don’t have egg allergies, you can use two large eggs. You can also use apple sauce…about 4 tbsps.

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together until well blended.

In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, brown sugar, vegan egg and vegetable oil.

Add the liquid to the dry and mix well.

Pour into a loaf pan ( mine is 8 x 4 and 3 inches deep) that has been lined with parchment paper and is draped over the long sides. Oil the short sides.

Bake in a 350 F oven for an hour. Insert a wooden skewer to see that it comes out clean.

Let cool in pan on a cooling rack.

You can garnish the top of the loaf with toasted and salted pumpkin seeds if you like.

Osso Buco - Dairy and Egg Free

 Osso Buco - Dairy and Egg Free

Osso Buco translates to “bone with a hole” and let me tell you that the marrow that you find in the hole is absolutely delicious not to mention the “fall off the bone”meat that surrounds it. This meal is not complicated to make and will take a couple of hours of simmering on your stove or in your oven. I make it on my stovetop and pair it with creamy, dairy free, polenta. Check out the link for polenta recipe. (You can skip the tomato sauce because this Osso Buco recipe makes its own delicious sauce).

Quick Polenta with Tomato Sauce
https://youtu.be/o9Ph6rzgpBw

For the Osso Buco you will need:

- 4 veal shanks - you can ask your butcher to cut them or you can find them already cut and packaged in your grocery store. The packaged ones are usually 1 to 2 inches thick. I used 4 packaged ones from my grocery store.

- Half a cup of flour for dredging the veal shanks ( salt and pepper to taste)

- 4 tbsps of vegetable oil to sear the meat in

- 1 large carrot - diced

- 1 large celery stick- diced

- 1 small onion - diced

- 2 garlic cloves - minced

- 2 dried bay leaves - whole

- 3 tbsps of fresh chopped parsley ( and extra parsley for the garnish)

- 1 cup of dry wine - any colour - I used Rose

- Half a cup of Passata (crushed tomatoes in a jar)

- 2 cups of chicken stock (You can make your own if you like - check out my link - or you can use canned or 1 bouillon cube for two cups of water

- salt and pepper to taste

How to Make Chicken Bone Broth - Brodo Di Nonna

https://youtu.be/agH3VD-XLQI

Begin by dredging your veal shanks in flour seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large frying pan drizzled with vegetable oil,  on high heat, sear the veal shanks. Once browned on both sides remove them from pan and set aside.

Using the same frying pan, lower the heat to medium and add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaves and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring often until everything begins to soften. Sprinkle two tablespoons of the excess flour into the pan and stir.

Add the cup of wine and stir. Then add the broth and Passata and stir everything until combined.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Be careful with the salt as store bought broth and bouillon is already salted.

Put a lid on the pan and let simmer on low heat for 1.5 to 2 hours. Cooking time will depend upon the thickness of the meat. 

The liquid will be begin to evaporate and the sauce will thicken when its done. After cooking for 1.5 hours check the meat. It will fall off the bone when done. Continue cooking until meat is tender.

The best part of Osso Buco is the bone marrow. “DON’T LET IT GO TO WASTE”! I save it for last and savour every little bit of it. You can slather it on a piece of fresh Italian bread or you can eat it straight out of the bone. It can easily be scooped out with a bread knife.

Option : garnish with “Gremolata”. Chop some parsley, lemon and orange rind and sprinkle on top when plating. 

I love Osso Buco on creamy polenta. The sauce that the comes with the Osso Buco is so delicious on top of it. However, if polenta is not your first choice of accompaniment, you can make rice, risotto or pasta. See risotto link below. You can leave out the asparagus.

How To Make Asparagus Risotto with Saffron
https://youtu.be/qO0bgpa2OC0

This meal will definitely impress!!

Concord Grape Jam- No pectin added

 Concord Grape Jam

Love my organic grape vine. It not only provides privacy to my small urban backyard but it also provides me with tons of grapes which I, unfortunately, have to share with the raccoons and birds.

I was able to pick about 2 lbs of grapes so far and decided to make grape jam. No pectin added! 

You will need: ( for 3 filled jam jars)

2 lbs of grapes, weighed with stems on.

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup water

Pull the grapes off the stems then squeeze the skins off.

Save the skins. They’re what gives the jam its beautiful colour.

In a pot, boil the pulp, or the inside of the grape, with 3/4 cup of water for about 5 minutes. This will soften up the grapes so you can remove the seeds easily. 

Drain the water and place grape pulp into a sieve. (You can also use a cheesecloth and squeeze all the juice out). Place sieve over a pot and press out the pulp. You can use the back of a wooden spoon to do this. Discard seeds.

Finely chop the grape skins and add to the pot with the grape juice.

Bring to a boil and add 2 cups sugar. Stir.

Simmer for about an hour. The liquid will evaporate and the juice will slightly thicken and reduce.

You can test to see if your jam is ready and will solidify once cooled. This is done by placing a small amount of your boiling jam into a small dish and refrigerate. If it thickens when cooked, then it’s ready!

Now at this point you have two choices. You can either sterilize jars and place the boiled jam into jars to store for the winter.

I chose to simply pour jam into clean jars and refrigerate. I didn’t have enough grapes to make more than 3 jars so we will go through it quickly.

So good!

Hot Pickled Peppers

Hot Pickled Peppers

My garden produced a lot of peppers this year. I planted hot chili peppers, hot Portugal peppers and sweet banana peppers.

In an attempt to preserve them so I can enjoy them all year long, I thought I would try to pickle them. Soooo worth the effort.

The challenging part was to cut them and remove the seeds without burning my throat, eyes and fingers. I wore a mask, glasses and gloves. I stood over my stove using a cutting board as my work surface and with the exhaust fan on “high”. I later removed the glasses as they kept fogging up! But the mask and the exhaust fan worked fine.

For this recipe you will need:

220 grams of peppers - I used 6 hot Portugal peppers and 4 sweet banana peppers…..sliced and seeds removed

Place peppers in a large, glass canning jar with a wide mouth

In a pot I combined:

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

2 tbsps sugar

1 large garlic clove, peeled and flattened 

1 tsp salt

Stir and bring to a boil. Pour the boiled liquid into the jar with the peppers. Stir and let fully cool on counter. 

Once cooled, refrigerate. They will last a few weeks in the refrigerator.

Crunchy and deliciously hot!

Tomato and Basil Pasta - Dairy and Egg Free

 

Tomato and Basil Pasta - Dairy and Egg Free ( recipe for 2-3 people)

My vegetable garden is overflowing with Roma and Cherry tomatoes and this quick and easy recipe allows me to enjoy the fresh garden flavours.

Begin by boiling a pot of water for your pasta. I used about 200 grams of Bucatini pasta…about a handful. This should feed 3 people.

You will need:

200-250 grams of Bucatini or any type of pasta

3 cups of cherry tomatoes - I used small Roma tomatoes, chopped in half

2-3 tbsps EVOO

1-2 minced garlic cloves

1 tbsp minced onion

Fresh Basil - I used about 3 tbsps of small leaf Basil. If you have larger leaf basil, chop them.

Fresh Oregano - 3 tbsps - whole leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil water, salt ( about 3/4 tsp salt) then add pasta. 

In a large frying pan, heat up olive oil over medium heat. Add your garlic and onions. Stir for a few minutes and take care not to burn your garlic.

Add your fresh tomatoes. Cook over medium heat stirring. Salt and pepper to taste.

Stir and cook until tomatoes soften and begin to break down.

Stir in your basil and oregano.

At this point, your pasta should be cooked al dente.

Drop your pasta along with some pasta water into frying pan and stir.

I used about half a cup to 3/4 of a cup of pasta water. Continue to stir until water and tomato juices thicken.

Done!!

Serve topped with fresh basil and Romano or Parm cheese - or vegan cheese.

This is absolutely delicious!

Vegan Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

 Vegan Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

Healthy and Delicious! Makes 12 muffins. 

Preheat oven to 375F

You will need:

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour

1 cup quick oats

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Mix these dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Add 3/4 cup shredded carrots ( 1 large carrot)

1/2 cup dried currents ( soak them in warm water for about 20 minutes to plump them up a little) - you can also use raisins, dates, prunes, figs etc)

Stir the carrots and currents into the flour mixture.

In a small bowl combine:

1/2 cup almond milk - or soy, oat, cashew milk …….

1 egg replacer (1 tsp egg replacer mixed with 2 tbsps water)

1/3 cup melted vegan margarine

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together all the liquids and stir into the dry ingredients, gently, until well mixed.

Fill 12 muffins cups 3/4 of the way. I used paper liners for the muffins tin. You can butter or oil the tins, then sprinkle with flour.

Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let tray cool on cooling rack. Remove muffins from tins after 10 to 15 minutes and continue cooling on rack.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Puff Pastries

Strawberry and Rhubarb Puff Pastries- Dairy and Egg Free, Vegan

Strawberry and Rhubarb Puff Pastries
https://youtu.be/UJ1gxVy27qM

Nothing better than this strawberry rhubarb combination. However, I’ve also combined rhubarb with blueberries and it’s very good as well!

The first thing we want to do is make a compote for the filling and make sure your puff pastry is thawing out in the fridge. It needs a couple of hours to thaw. Follow the instructions on the package.

For the compote you will need:

1 cup chopped strawberries, washed and hulled

1 cup rhubarb, chopped into approximately 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch pieces 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 

1 square of puff pastry, thawed and rolled out to 12x12 inch square

Fresh strawberries for garnish

Coconut whipping cream for filling

Place the strawberries and rhubarb into a pot along with the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice and cook down, while stirring often, for about 10 to 15 minutes until thickened.  Set aside and cool. It will continue to thicken a little more as it thickens.

Roll out your puff pastry dough to 12 x 12 inches. You can find puff pastry dough in the freezer section and they usually come in a package of two. I am using one. I let it thaw for a couple of hours in the fridge. This puff pastry is totally dairy and egg free, and vegan.

Next cut the rolled out dough into even sized rectangles......or whatever shape you like. You can even simply cut it in half and make a large rectangle shaped pastry. The rectangles are 2 x 4 inches. I was able to get 8 rectangles.

Bake them in a preheated 400 F oven for about 15 minutes until slightly golden.

Once everything is cooled you can assemble.

Slit your pastries in half, horizontally. Place your whipping cream, I used a coconut based cream, on the bottom half. Top with 2 to 3 Tbsps of the strawberry and rhubarb mixture and cover with the other half of the puff pastry. Place a bit more cream on top and garnish with fresh strawberries! 

Best when served immediately. Does not keep well overnight in fridge.

Looks and tastes delicious!!

Fish Tacos

 Fish Tacos- Dairy and Egg Free with Tomato and Avocado Salsa

Crispy fish filets topped with a delicious salsa. So easy to make and sooooooooo tasty. You could bake the fish filets, if you prefer.

You will need: ( for 2 people - 2 tacos each)

One large basa filet, thawed and patted dry with paper towels- you can use any other white, mild tasting fish

1/2 cup flour, lightly salted

1/2 cup water

1 cup bread crumbs - I use a mixture of Italian bread crumbs, pinko crumbs and corn meal

1 tbsp of taco seasoning mix, spicy or hot - mix it into your breadcrumbs 

4 tortillas- I used corn tortillas 

Begin by cutting your fish filets into strips so you have 8 pieces. Dredge filets in the flour, then dip into water, and finally coat with the breadcrumbs

Heat up your frying pan to medium high and add a couple of tbsps of a light vegetable oil

Fry your filets until cooked, a few minutes on each side. If breadcrumb mixture begins to burn, lower heat.

In a separate frying pan, lightly coated with a vegetable oil, heat your tortillas until lightly golden. Don’t over do it or they will become too hard. You can also warm them up in the microwave for 15 seconds on high heat. They can also go into a hot oven for a few minutes.

Place two pieces of cooked fish onto one tortilla and top with salsa.

So good😋😋

Salsa recipe: enough for 4 tacos - can easily be doubled for more tacos

Half a tomato, diced

Half an avocado, diced

Half a green onion, thinly sliced

4 slices of pickled jalapeños, diced

Juice of half a lime

1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley 

Sprinkle of salt

Mix altogether. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.

Asparagus and Ham Roll-ups with Mornay Sauce

 Asparagus and Ham Roll Ups with Mornay Sauce

Vegan, Dairy Free and Egg Free options included!

Asparagus and Ham Roll Ups with Mornay Sauce
https://youtu.be/PpIKPG958ZY

There’s nothing better than fresh Ontario asparagus! This is asparagus season and I love to include it in as many recipes as I can. 

I would normally wrap the asparagus and ham in homemade crepes but I recently tried wrapping them up in flour tortillas and they’re just as good. They save a lot of time too.

You will need, for 2 people: (2 roll ups per person)

12 asparagus stalks - cooked ( 3 per roll up )- see how to cook asparagus below

4 flour tortillas- you can also use corn tortillas if you prefer

4 slices of cooked ham - ( one slice per roll up). For vegan options, replace ham with fried mushrooms- delicious😋

One and a half cups of Mornay sauce - this is basically a Bechamel sauce with grated cheddar cheese added. Recipe on how to make your own below, dairy free option, vegan, included below.

Directions:

Begin by cooking your asparagus. Simply put then in a shallow pan with some water and a drizzle of olive oil, lightly salt them and let them cook until fork tender. Follow link below for YouTube tutorial.

How to Cook Asparagus

https://youtu.be/Y7_7jtvaNh0

Lay 3 asparagus stalks onto each tortilla. Top with cooked ham.

Spoon Mornay sauce over the asparagus, about 3 tbsps for each. Roll the tortilla up and place into a baking dish seam side down. Spoon more Mornay sauce over the tortilla. Then sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese. I used sharp cheddar but you can use whatever you like.

Place baking dish into a 375 to 400 oven and bake for about 20 minutes until cheese all melted and bubbly and tortilla is heated through and through. All the ingredients are cooked so they don’t need much time in the oven. You may also want to broil for a couple of minutes to get the top all bubbly. Keep an eye on it though! Don’t know about you but every time I broil, I end up burning it😔

Mornay Sauce: This sauce goes well with other vegetables as well, such as cauliflower and broccoli.

2 tbsps butter ( or vegan margarine)

2 tbsps flour

1/4 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

1/2 tsp dry mustard ( leave it out if you don’t have it)

1 1/4 cups of milk, I use 2% (or almond or soy milk)

1 handful of grated cheddar cheese, I use sharp cheddar ( or any vegan cheese that you like)- (be careful, vegan cheese tends to be saltier than regular cheese- so I would put a little less) Also, vegan cheese may need a flavour boost, so consider adding a bit of garlic powder

More grated cheddar, or vegan cheese, to sprinkle on top.

In a small pot over medium heat, melt your butter. Using a wooden spoon, stir in your flour. Add your salt, pepper and dry mustard and stir. Let cook for a few minutes. Stir in the milk and then add the grated cheese. Continue to stir over medium heat. The cheese will all melt and it will begin to thicken. Continually stir or it will stick to the bottom of the pot. Once thickened, remove from heat. This should only take a few minutes. It will coat your wooden spoon when thickened. It’s ready to go!

Pasta Alla Norma

 Pasta Alla Norma- A surprisingly quick and easy recipe using eggplant. It’s also dairy and egg free, vegan.

Pasta Alla Norma, Dairy and Egg Free, Vegan
https://youtu.be/hDyK40Ydz4c

You will need: ( for 4 people)

1 medium sized eggplant- peeled and cubed. It will shrink to almost nothing when cooked so you can put more if you like.

Extra virgin olive oil- you will need several tbsps to fry the eggplant. Eggplant tends to absorb a lot of oil while cooking so you want to use a good olive oil

Half a medium onion, chopped

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 jar Passata, or can of Italian plum tomatoes 

3/4 of a Tsp each of dried basil and oregano, or to taste

3/4 tsp salt, or to taste 

pepper, to taste

Vegan mozzarella cheese to sprinkle on top, if desired. If you don’t have a dairy allergy, top with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Pasta- (400 grams)I used penne rigate but you can use rigatoni or any broad or large pasta shape.

In a large frying pan, drizzle 3 to 4 Tbsps of some good olive oil.

Saute, over medium to medium high heat the eggplant until almost fully cooked through. Should only take a few minutes. Add a little more olive oil as needed.

Remove eggplant from frying pan. It will be returned to the pan to finish cooking once the sauce is cooked.

In the same pan, drizzle a couple of tbsps of olive oil and fry the onion and garlic over medium heat for a minute or so.

Add your jar of Passata or can of plum tomatoes. Stir and add your basil, oregano salt and pepper. Let simmer for about half an hour until reduced and thickened.

Boil the pasta.

Return the eggplant to the sauce and simmer for about 5 more minutes until eggplant is cooked through and through. I like to see the chunks of eggplant in my sauce. If you prefer, you can cook the eggplant in the sauce a lot longer so it disintegrates. Easily becomes invisible if the children might be hesitant about eating eggplant 😁

Taste for seasoning.

Boil your pasta and add to the eggplant sauce! Top with any cheese of your choice. 

Few ingredients, but delicious 😋 

Vegan Banana Muffins

 Vegan Banana Muffins

This will be the easiest and quickest banana muffin recipe you will find. Just stir all the ingredients in a bowl with a fork! They are so tasty and moist without eggs or dairy.

Vegan Banana Muffins
https://youtu.be/whChm6coYss

You will need:

5 very ripe bananas - I usually freeze my overripe bananas and pull them out for this recipe. Freeze them whole with the peel on.

Remove them from freezer about one hour prior to use. Once thawed, peel and put into a large bowl. Using a fork, mash the bananas.

Then stir in: ( stir after each ingredient)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg replacer ( 1 tsp egg replacer plus 2 tbsps water)

You can also add 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce or 1tbsp chia seeds with 3 tbsps water to replace the 1 egg.  If using chia seeds, let sit with water for 5 minutes.

1/3 cup melted vegan margarine- I melt it in the microwave then let sit until cooled

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour - stir in half at a time until very well incorporated 

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, if desired. You can also add dates or raisins, or chocolate chips.......or nothing at all.

Line your muffin tray with muffin or cupcake liners. Fill each with 2 tbsps of batter.

Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in muffin tray.

Makes 12 muffins.

How to Make Pink Pasta, Caramelle and Cappelletti

Cappelletti and Caramelle - Dairy and Egg Free pasta dough and filling!!

The beautiful little pouches of deliciousness are quite easy to make and the pink hue make them very pretty.

Cappelletti translates to little hats - they actually look like Cardinal hats.

Caramelle translates to candy and the pasta looks like candy wrapped bonbon.

Follow my YouTube link for tutorial.

How to Make Pink Pasta, Caramelle and Cappelletti
https://youtu.be/1puNiMZwpJw

It’s so easy to make pink pasta! All you need is some beet juice. I recently made a delicious beet salad and held on to a cup of the beet water after boiling. I let it sit sit until it cooled a little and used the warm beet water instead of regular water. Such a pretty, natural colour and I avoided using food colouring.

Pasta Ingredients:

1 cup unbleached flour

1 cup Semolina flour

3/4 cup warm beet water

1 tsp salt

Mix the two flours with the salt, together on a board or granite counter, (marble works too), and gradually add the warm beet water.

You may not need all the water. Knead until smooth.

You can watch YouTube video for tutorial.

Let dough sit covered in plastic wrap for about 10 minutes.

Ingredients for meat filling:

3/4 lb ground beef, pork, or veal or a mixture of all three. You can also use ground chicken or turkey.

Lightly oil a frying pan and add meat. Cook until pink is gone:

Then add:

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

Small garlic clove, finely minced

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Pepper to taste

1/2 tsp dried Basil

1/2 tsp dried Oregano

2 tbsps finely chopped fresh parsley, or tsp dried parsley

A handful, or two, of your favourite grated cheese

Continue frying until fully cooked. Remove from heat and add cheese of your choice..... Romano cheese, Parmesan cheese or ricotta. If you want to keep it dairy free use vegan Romano or mozzarella cheese.

Let mixture cool prior to filling the Cappelleti  or Caramelle.

Follow YouTube link to see tutorial.

When rolling out your pasta on pasta machine, roll it out to the very last notch on machine setting. Fill with meat immediately. You don’t want the pasta to dry out or it won’t fold and bend.

Follow YouTube link to see tutorial.

Boil your pasta until they float, a minute longer. Homemade pasta cooks within a couple of minutes. Top with your favourite sauce.

How to Make Marinara Sauce Recipe
https://youtu.be/KBCZGHFdDK8

Beet Salad

Beet Salad

Whether you choose to boil or roast your beets, they will take about one to one and a half hours to become fork tender depending on their size. I boiled my two large beets whole, with the skins on, for one and a half hours.

A trick to peeling them without staining your hands is to peel them under running water or remove skins while the beets are immersed in water. The skins will come right off and your hands won’t stain.

You will need:

2 large beets, boiled, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces

Half a small onion, thinly sliced ( I used sweet Vidalia)

3 tbsps olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Half a tsp salt, or to taste

Some fresh cracked pepper, to taste

1/2 tsp sugar, or to taste

Mix all together and refrigerate.

The longer it sits the better it tastes as the vinegar has a chance to soak into the beets.