Category: Uncategorized

Here we are in Sicily again, with another special and particular type of pizza/focaccia 🙂

I have already wrote a post about the most famous Sfincione (symbol of the city of Palermo), this instead is a traditional recipe of the town of Bagheria.

This is also not a light recipe, and it’s something traditionally eaten during feasts, but nowadays it is made all year long. And it’s really tasty!

It is a very rich recipe, with a lot of good cheese and other typical Sicilian flavors.

The cheese that is usually used is the tuma or the primosale, which are the first and second stage of maturation of the Pecorino cheese. Someone use to add also fresh sheep ricotta, but I think it’s rich enough also without 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

Dough:

• 300 g flour (Manitoba if you have, or some strong flour)
• 150 g durum flour, “semola rimacinata di…

These cookies have a perfect amount of oatmeal to give them some great texture but still remain chewy and delicious. I love the two kinds of chocolate and it’s nice to find two different sized chips for variety. I love guittard extra large in the milk chocolate. They melt beautifully. Happy baking!

Yield 18-20 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour ( I love Bobs Red Mill Pastry flour)
• ½ cup extra thick rolled oats (I love Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup milk chocolate chunks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cream butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium…

Warm and hearty for a cold day in March in Canada. Serve with a side of Cast Iron Cornbread.

A wee bit of a tip … to get the full flavour of this soup I encourage you to make it as the recipe shows, with roasted tomatoes, and all the spices and toppings. If not, the soup is just going to taste like regular chicken soup and you’re going to say “What the heck?!? This is just regular chicken soup!”

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño pepper, diced
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 4 c chicken stock
• 2 c shredded rotisserie chicken
• 1 can (398 ml) fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 can (341 ml) corn kernels or 1 c frozen corn niblets
• 1/2 c…

What makes a stew Irish? Must be the Guinness. Serve with a big hunk of Irish Bannock on the side.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs stewing beef, large dice
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 whole onion, large dice
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 c carrots, large dice
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and large dice
• 1 c celery, large dice
• 1 c white mushrooms, quartered
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 c stout or Guinness beer
• 2 c beef broth
• 1 (28 oz / 796 ml) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp fresh thyme (best hack for always having fresh herbs)
• 2 whole bay leaves
• salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Combine flour, 3/4 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp pepper in a large freezer bag. Toss in beef to coat.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot. Place flour-coated beef in…

By Angelika Hanna

Recipe:

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 3 h

Total Time: 3 h 10 min

Yield: 6 servings

Cuisine: North American/Canadian

Author: Angelika Hanna /Zest4Food

Ingredients

• 4 pounds beef short ribs, cut into 2- to 4-inch pieces
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 3 carrots, halved and cut in thirds
• 1 parsnip, halved and cut in third
• 2 medium-sized onions, quartered
• 1 head garlic, halved crosswise (optional)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 cups full-bodied red wine (f.ex. Cabernet Sauvignon)
• 2 springs rosemary
• 6 springs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 jalapeno pepper, whole
• 2 cups beef stock
• 12-14 button mushrooms (small cremini)

Instructions:

1. Sprinkle the short ribs with salt and pepper (both sides).
2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the ribs and cook about 6 – 8 min until browned. Remove from…

Baking chicken breasts stuffed with guacamole is a very easy way to look like a champ in the kitchen. Baked chicken breast, either bone-in or boneless is I believe THE fundamental skill in the kitchen. Those who come to cooking late in life need to know how to bake chicken breasts first and foremost if they want to start feeding themselves and those they love. This versatile protein is probably the most popular choice the world over. Once you’ve mastered the simple breast bake the next obvious step is to start stuffing your chicken with delicious sides. It’s the easiest way I know to add variety to the menu… and look like a hero!

Having said all that, it’s an obvious next step to combine the world’s most popular side…

Baked Zucchini Ziti is a great idea for a Sunday dinner. Zucchini is the key to this dish which is generally used as a vegetable in savoury dishes. I was personally surprised to learn that Zucchini is actually a fruit and has quite a dense nutritional value. It’s peel is an excellent source of dietary fibre and provides all the benefits of fibre. It contains certain antioxidant and folate values, is an excellent source of potassium and has moderate amounts of vitamins A, C and B complex. This dish is a little fussier to prepare than most I recommend but, if you approach it in the steps I suggest, it comes together nicely and turns out to be very yummy.

It probably goes without saying but the most important benefit of…