Almond Cookies

Long time no post, dear friends; but I had to get one recipe in before we bid adieu to 2013 and decided to end this year on a sweet note. December was a busy month, I baked a lot and tried my hand at several new baked goodies so look out for recipes in the new year. My apologies if it competes with your "get fit" resolutions for 2014 ; >

This month our blog celebrated 2 years since we started and we'd like to thank you all for following us and reading our stories. We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful new year filled with happiness good health and success. For our part, we will try and bring you more recipes and try posting healthy versions of old favourites. For our annual post Christmas pre New Year party this year, I made a vegetarian lasagna using thinly sliced eggplant instead of pasta. Our friends pronounced it a hit so look out for that in January. My personal big win and proudest baking achievemenr this season was making baklava and watching it disappear and making it all over again. That will be my first post for 2014 - start the new year on a sweet note as well.

My mum gave me this super easy recipe that she baked with my nieces this Christmas. I made three batches, using pecans, walnuts and almonds. All were equally delicious.

Happy 2014.

Skill Level: Easy 

Makes: 16-18

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1 cup + 2 T flour
• 1/2 cup + 1 T butter
• 1/4  tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup icing sugar 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD: 

1. Pre heat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Put almonds in a food processor and pulse a couple of times. Do not make into a fine       powder, should resemble coarse breadcrumbs
3. Mix sugar and butter together, add flour, cinnamon, nuts and vanilla until dough               comes together and forms a ball.
4. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes
5. Take dough and roll into balls, place them open an ungreased cookie sheet
6. Using the prongs of a fork press to flatten the dough
7. Bake for 11 - 13 minutes
8. Cookie is still soft when it comes out at 13 minutes. Allow to cool completely 
9. Keeps well for one week in an airtight container

Chinese Steamed Black Pepper Pork Ribs

First of all, Spice Divas would like to wish you a Happy New Year. We hope you had a good Christmas with your family and friends. Christmas is one of our favourite holidays as it is filled with laughter, tons of food and good wine (for sure)! 

The year of 2013 has been great to us. We have more readership and managed to post more recipes to share with our readers. If you really really love our site and recipes, we strongly encourage you (ok, maybe begging you) to pass the word: forward our link to your family and friends. This blog was created out of our passion to cook and share with you all. Leave us comments in our blog. We would love to hear from you! 

As for myself, 2013 has been a great year. With all hard work and perseverance, I am happy to announce that my son, baby A, who is 17 months old now is free of eczema. He was on a special elimination diet for 4 months and we now are able to find certain foods that trigger his itchiness. As for now, he is able to tolerate wheat and dairy. We still have more allergens and food to introduce to see his reactions. The journey will not be short but I am sure it will be a fruitful one. Ever since Baby A was diagnosed with eczema, I have become more aware of this chronic skin disease. I did my research and was told by health professionals that eczema, unfortunately, has no cure. There are treatments only and he will grow out of it. But the question was: how long do we have to wait? Do we need to just sit and do nothing and wait for him to grow out of it while he is itchy here and there? 

With the success story that I have, I am hoping to be able to help mothers out there who have children who suffer from multiple allergies or eczema that triggered by food sensitivities or allergies. In the course of 4 months of elimination diet, I have developed recipes that are allergy-free and are baby/toddler friendly. In the coming year of 2014, I will share those recipes and hopefully, able to inspire mothers that living allergy-free may not be hard at all! We also received some emails from our viewers if we will eventually be blogging on dot com. We are happy to announce that we are working hard and on our way to launch our website to dot com, so stay tuned! We will also get our site exposed to social media so be prepared to see us launching our account on facebook, pinterest and twitter!

New Year is only one sleep away but my mind is already ahead of celebrating Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year will fall on January 31st in 2014. In South East and East Asia, it is the biggest celebration, just like Christmas in the western hemisphere. The holiday is celebrated for 15 days with family and friends visiting, chatting over plates of food as well as Chinese New Year snacks and cookies. I will be posting more recipes to come in the near future so you can celebrate Chinese New Year with your family and friends in style! 

Today I am featuring a Chinese Steamed Black Pepper Pork Ribs. This dish is juicy, succulent and flavoured with the spiciness from black pepper sauce and the sweetness from honey. It is one of my favourites and my mother-in-law loves this dish dearly when she came to visit this summer. I think it is a perfect dish to serve on Chinese New Year's Eve or even any other weekday dinners. 

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 6 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.2 kg pork side ribs (request your butcher to cut into bite sizes)
• 3 1/2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee brand black pepper sauce
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp corn starch

METHOD:

1. In a small bowl, mix the black pepper sauce, garlic, soy sauce and honey with a spoon till uniform
2. Place bite-sized pork side ribs in a heat-proof dish, pour the sauce in and mix well 
3. Add in the corn starch, mix uniformly and marinate for at least 4 hours in the fridge. Best if left marinated overnight
4. In a steamer, boil water. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, place the pork side ribs (with the heat-proof dish) in a steamer
5. Steam for 35 minutes and best served warm

Flourless Snow Drops

In my pursuit of gluten free cookies, I have been reading a lot of recipes and happened to come across this recipe card from CHATELAINE magazine. Not only is it easy to make, but tastes great and with all the chocolate and cocoa involved, you really do not notice the lack of flour. Like the flourless chocolate cake that I posted earlier, these are quite dense and heavy, which is great because you cannot eat too many of them. I used unsweetened Baker's Chocolate because I wanted something not overly sweet. I am notorious for reducing sugar in my baking recipes (I figure it will ease the guilt and be kinder on the waistline). Not having made anything flourless before, I did not want to mess with the sugar in case its functionality impacted the cookie texture. I made small "toonie" sized cookies that were soft and chewy. I powdered whole unblanched almonds in a food processor, although it was not very fine, I think leaving it a coarse like breadcrumbs would enhance the texture.
I hope to post more gluten free offerings in the coming weeks. I can hear my friend G asking for egg free recipes so look out for that as well.
Stay warm and bake lots, nothing quite like holiday baking and eating.

Skill Level: Easy 

Serves: 8-10

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1  egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 112 g unsweetened dark chocolate, (4 squares) chopped, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup  icing sugar

METHOD: 

1. Whisk almonds with cocoa, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

2.  Beat butter with brown sugar in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, until light and fluffy, about 3 min.

3.  Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in cooled chocolate. Fold in almond mixture until combined. 

4. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is firm enough to roll, about 10 min.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

6. Put the icing sugar and granulated sugar in two separate bowls

7. Make small balls with the dough, roll first in the granulated sugar and then in the icing sugar

8. Bake in the middle and bottom racks for 12 -14 minutes in total

9. Rotate and switch sheets halfway through until cookies crack

10.Remove and allow to cool

11. Cookies will look undercoked but will continue to bake as they sit

12. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container for a week

13. Can be frozen for up to a month

• 
  

Fabulous Flourless Chocolate Cake

This past weekend, Ju had a few friends over at their place for a holiday get together and I was in charge of dessert. It proved to be the perfect opportunity to try out some gluten free/no flour recipes. I made a cake and some cookies, the cake made it to the party, the cookies were consumed too quickly (but not before I took pictures, so I will be posting the recipe). Both used no flour, lots of chocolate and cocoa and were delicious. The Flourless cake is thanks to the recipe on www.epicurious.com; it is heavy, dense, almost fudge like in texture and is a real treat for chocoholics. I am sure it will be an equal success among those who are avoiding gluten and for those with no gluten issues. This cake is easy to make with only 5 ingredients; it is rather heavy so a 9" cake serves 12 people. You can get creative with the topping - I macerated very ripe raspberries with some sugar and lime juice, then used a potato masher to make a thick pulp which I poured on top of the cake. I wanted to strain it and make a coulis but only had a half pint of berries on hand so that is an option for you folks reading this. 
One change I made from their recipe, was using a 9" springform pan as I do not have an 8". I doubled the recipe and it made 4 ramekins in addition to the 9" pan. Perfect if you want to serve individual cakes for a small group.
This one is for Mitra, who had the best reaction to my foray into flourlessness :) Enjoy.

Skill Level: Medium

Serves: 12 - 14

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate (do not use unsweetened)
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

Raspberry topping:

• 1/2 pint (one clam shell) raspberries
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• juice of 1/2 a lime

METHOD: 

1. Pre heat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Butter the sides of a 9" round baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper and set aside
3. Break chocolate into small pieces. Place a glass bowl (or use a double boiler) over a pot of simmering water on the stove. Reduce heat to medium and add chocolate and butter. Stir until most of it has melted, then remove from heat and continue to stir until all of it is melted 
4. Add sugar and whisk. Then add eggs and mix well
5. Sift the cocoa powder over the chocolate mixture and mix until well combined
6. Pour the batter (it is quite thick) into the cake tin and give it a good thump on the counter so as to have a batter without any air pockets
7. Bake for 25 minutes, this does not rise because there is no baking powder, it will form a thin crust on top
8. Macerate the fruit with sugar and lime juice, allow it to sit for 10 minutes. Mash the fruit with a fork and pour it on top of the cake; it will not soak through even if you top the cake  up to 4 hours before serving
9. Cake keeps well for 1 week in an airtight container
   

Easy Apple Strudel

 

This is my second recipe for the day; I had to post this as today is the day I overcame my fear of phyllo. While the result is not picture perfect, it is a first attempt working with phyllo and I wanted to share how easy it is to make a strudel within an hour. 

I have always associated phyllo with pastry chefs and baking experts and stayed away from using the box of phyllo dough I had in the freezer. This morning I moved it from the freezer to the fridge so I could try it out. The box had a recipe on it but I looked up some recipes online to see if there were any particular watch outs, the filling varied between pears and apples with the addition of dried fruits like figs or apricots. But once I read a few recipes, it was not so daunting.

One recipe called for brushing the phyllo with walnut oil instead of butter. I recently bought avocado oil which is what I used since I did not have any walnut oil. It was not too greasy, nor did it have any particular flavour, in fact, the cinnamon was the perfume in the house as this was baking. My next try will be a sweet ricotta with lemon rind and raisins.

Skill Level: Medium 

Serves: 8-10

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 packet frozen phyllo dough (1lb/454 g)
• 1/2 cup avocado oil
• 5 apples  (I used macintosh and crispin)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar + 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (the only kind of breadcrumbs I had on hand)
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

METHOD: 

1. Allow the phyllo to thaw in the refrigerator and work when it is room temperature
2. Once phyllo has thawed, brush oil on one sheet, then move it on to a sheet of wax paper
3. Place the next sheet on top of the first and then brush oil on that sheet
4. Repeat until you have a stack of 6 sheets
5. In a bowl, cut apples into thin slices, add lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon
6. Add breadcrumbs to the apples
7. Spoon the apple mixture on to the long side of the phyllo sheets (horizontally)
8. Gently roll the sheets until the end and tuck in the short end
9. Place the seam side down put put on to a baking sheet
10. Using a pair of scissors make small cuts on the surface to allow steam to escape
11. Brush oil on the surface and sprinkle with reserved sugar
12. 1 box of phyllo dough makes three strudels with 6 sheets each
13. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes before cutting

Minty Lemony Beany Soup

Cold days are the perfect excuse to make a big pot of hearty soup. My love for lentils and legumes is certainly no secret. Beans and lentils are fibre rich, a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals and can be added to grains, soups and salads. There are so many shapes sizes and colours to choose from that you have endless options with this inexpensive, healthy ingredient. 
Several years ago, a classmate from Iran made me a delicious soup called Ash with several kinds of beans and grains garnished with crispy fried onions and garlic. While my inspiration is certanly from that delicious dish I had 20 years ago, my version transpired because I had leftover boiled chickpeas and wanted to use it up. This is a vegetarian dish that is quite filling and definitely tastes better the next day.

Skill Level: Medium 

Serves: 8-10

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups cooked chick peas (if using canned chickpeas - 2 x 454 ml)
• 2 cups cooked red kidney or fava beans (if using canned - 1 x 454 ml)
• 2 Tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 cups red lentils (masoor) 
• 2 large red onions sliced
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
• rind and juice of 1/2 a large lemon
• 3 Tbsp dried mint
• 4 cups of fresh chopped spinach 
• 7 cups vegetable stock

METHOD: 

1. In a large pan on medium heat, add oil and saute onions and garlic until transparent
2. Add all spice, cumin, chili flakes, turmeric and chili powders, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper and stir into the onion garlic mixture
3. Add chickpeas, fava beans and red lentils and stir, then add vegetable stock
4. Check seasoning, reduce heat, grate lemon rind and add juice of 1/2 lemon into the pan
5. Cover and cook for 1/2 an hour until red lentils are cooked (the chickpeas and beans are already cooked and will get softer but should still retain its shape
6. Add spinach and cook until just wilted, serve hot
7. If serving the following day, you may need to add more water as the beans will have absorbed some liquid and the consistency will be quite thick

Moth bean with buttercup squash

As the weather gets colder, we've been having a lot of soup. This year my squash of choice has been the buttercup variety. I had half a baked squash left over from the weekend and wanted to try incorporating it with some kind of bean - and moth bean with buttercup squash was created. I bought Moth Beans recently for the first time, mostly because I was curious about the this odd sounding, tiny bean. Looking it up, I found that it is pronounced Moat not Moth despite the spelling, is also known as Turkish gram and is called Matki in Hindi. 
This small, slightly longish bean is tan on the outside and brownish yellow on the inside. It has a nutty flavour and an earthy odour. Moth beans are available at Asian grocery stores or in the international aisles in large grocery chains. You can substitute with mung or adzuki bean. This high protein dish can be eaten as a snack or a meal. Serve with flatbread or rice.

 Skill Level: Easy
Serves: 4 - 6 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup moth beans (soaked for a min of 3 hours or overnight 
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 2 cups baked buttercup squash     (approx. 1/2 )
• 1/2" piece of ginger grated
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 dry red chilli
• 1/8 tsp cumin whole
• 1/8 tsp nigella * seeds
• 1/8 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/8 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/8 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 T coconut oil

* Nigella seeds look like black cumin seeds, they are part of a group of 5 whole spices called paanch pooran used in Indian cooking. 

METHOD: 

1. Wash and soak moth beans for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight
2. Drain water; bring 3 cups of water to a boil and add garlic and moth beans to the pot
3. Boil until soft, drain but reserve 1/2 a cup of the liquid
4. Put oil in a saucepan and add the dry red chilli, cumin, nigella, fenugreek and mustard seeds, allow them to brown a little until fragrant. Add onions, saute until transparent
5. Cube the baked buttercup squash and add to the onion mixture, stir gently to keep the squash intact
6. Add chopped tomato, turmeric, cayenne, salt, pepper and cumin powder
7. Put the drained moth beans to the onion quash mixture, add in the reserved liquid and mix. 
8. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check seasoning. This dish is dry with very little liquid

Truffles

Around this time of the year, I am always on the lookout for recipes for my annual Christmas bake exchange. If the recipe has no added sugar, no egg or flour, then it covers most dietary restrictions in my circle of friends. This recipe I found on a blog called 
"An edible mosaic" is a winner. I used a combination of sunflower and pumpkin seeds simply because I did not have enough of the latter, otherwise made no substitutions It is moist and delicious and can be rolled in cocoa, nuts or seeds to have a variety of different looks with one recipe. Thank you to Faith Gorsky Safarini for this one.This recipe is a keeper; in fact, my blog partner's little guy loved it too, so it's thumb's up from a little person in addition to all the adults who tried it. Enjoy!

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 pitted chopped Medjool dates (approx 4 oz)
• 4 Tbsp roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
• 2 T pumpkin puree ( canned is fine, do not use pumpkin pie filling) 
• 1 T cocoa powder
• 1 T ground flax seeds
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 t coconut oil melted
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t ground nutmeg
• 1/8 t ground ginger
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch ground cloves

TOPPING IDEAS: 

Desiccated coconut, cocoa powder, sesame seeds, crushed nuts

METHOD: 

1. Pulse together all ingredients (except toppings) in a food processor until it comes together to form a ball.
2. Scoop the dough into 1 tablespoon-sized truffles, roll into balls, and then coat in any topping(s) you like.
3. Store the truffles in an airtight container up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

Corn and Potato Chowder with Bacon

This is a classic and hearty chowder for the whole family. You may think that chowder is a very difficult soup to make but trust me, it is not a complicated task that requires you slaving your time in the kitchen. I made this chowder out of ingredients that are available at the time. Not to miss bacon! I love adding bacon in my chowder to incorporate in smoke flavour. 

Skill Level:Medium

Serves: 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups chopped leeks, white part only
• 1 rib celery, sliced
• 1 can (12 oz) peaches and cream corn, or 1 cup of frozen corn 
• 1 can ( 14 oz) cream of corn
• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2" length
• 4 cups 2% milk
• 1 cup 35% cream 
• 1 cup chicken broth 
• 4 potatoes, cut 3 into small cubes, 1 to be shredded
• 1 tbsp wheat flour 
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper, to taste

METHOD: 

1. In a pot, sautee bacon slices till crisp with medium heat
2. Scoopt the bacon on a plate layered with paper towel (to soak up the grease). Drain the fat and leave around 3 tbsp bacon fat in a pot 
3. With low heat, stir in wheat flour to make a roux (white creamy paste). Stir for 3 to 4 minutes to prevent any lumps
4. Increase the heat to medium and add in chopped leeks and celery, cook for another 3 minutes
5. Pour in chicken broth, peaches and cream corn, cream of corn, cubed and shredded potatoes
6. Stir well and cook till boil. Boil under low heat for 5 minutes
7. At this time, you can add in milk and cream. Continue to stir. Season with salt and pepper 
8. Heat through but do not boil. Cook till all vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes 
9. Serve with crispy bacon bits on top

Mango dessert with pomegranate

This is probably the easiest dessert I have ever made, the only thing easier than this would be to open a can of mango puree pour into bowls and hand out spoons ! I even bought a few extra cans to have in store for when I am short on time and have to produce something sweet. Alphonso mangoes are considered to be the best in terms of flavour and sweetness. They have a relatively short growing season and are known to be one of the most expensive varieties of mangoes. Fortunately, they can be found at Indian supermarkets and this year, even large grocery chains in Ontario carried them. The growing season is March to May which means they are not available now, but you can find Alphonso mango puree in cans at Indian grocery stores. 

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 4 - 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups mango puree
• 11/2  cup low fat cottage cheese
• 1 Tbsp rose water (found in Indian grocery stores) 
• 3 Tbsp pomegranate 
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder  

METHOD

1. Put all ingredients except pomegranate and cardamom powder in a bowl
2. Using an immersion blender, mix until it is a smooth puree 
3. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours
4. It will not be cuttable in texture, more like a creamy soup
5. Before serving garnish with pomegranate and cardamom powder

Chutney Pulao (Pesto Rice)

This past weekend along with the clocks turning back an hour, Hindus around the world celebrated Diwali - the festival of lights - which is considered one of the most important of Hindu celebrations. Generally, small clay lamps (see picture) are lit and fire crackers are burst in order to chase away any bad spirits. This 5 day festival is spent with friends and family, involves a great deal of cooking, sharing of food and the exchange of Indian sweets.
On Diwali we try and observe a vegetarian diet and it gave me a chance to to try a new recipe for pesto rice that had recently tweaked my interest. Contrary to the image that pesto conjures up, this recipe did not call for pine nuts, basil or olive oil. It was easy to make and delicious to eat on it's own.
I am currently using coconut oil almost exclusively in my cooking and I substituted this in place of the oil or ghee the recipe called for and found that it enhanced the flavour. Another substitution I made was to use frozen green chickpeas or hara chana (Hindi) in place of green peas. Hara Chana is found in Indian stores but you can use any kind of beans of peas you have on hand.
The recipe suggested eating it with something light as this dish is quite rich. So I made dal and Indian Zucchini (recipe to follow). This would be equally good with some baked or steamed fish or BBQ chicken.

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 2 - 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup basmati rice (washed, soaked and drained of water)
• 1/3 cup desiccated unsweetened coconut 
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger root 
• 2 cups coarsely chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
• 1 cup chopped mint leaves
• 2 T coconut oil
• 2 green chilli deseeded
• 12 raw cashew nuts
• 1 inch piece of cinnamon
• 4 cardamom pods crushed slightly
• 4-6 cloves
• 1 red onion sliced
• 1 cup frozen green chick peas
• salt to taste
• 2 cups of water

METHOD

1. Wash and soak the rice for 20 minutes
2. Put the coconut in a bowl and add a 1/2 cup of water, let it sit for 10 minutes
3. In a food processor add the coconut with the soaking water, chilli, coriander, mint, ginger and garlic and blend until smooth
4. Add 1 Tbsp of coconut oil to a pan and fry cashews until they are brown, remove, drain and set aside
5. Add the rest of the oil to the same pan and put in the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, stir for a minute and then add the onion and saute until transparent
6. Add the rice, coconut mixture and salt and stir until combined, taking care not to overmix and break the grains of rice
7. Add the green chick peas and the 2 cups of water, reduce heat to low, cover and cook rice for about 10 minutes
8. Turn off the heat. Do not lift up the lid, allow rice to continue to cook in steam for another 7-8 minutes
9. Fluff rice with a fork, add cashews and serve with raita (seasoned yogurt) or chutney. Our raita had pomegranate seeds and a dusting of cumin powder

Pickled Peppers

In my previous post, I mentioned that we recently made zacusca and since we had lots of peppers left over, we decided to pickle the peppers. So that evening, after putting away the jars of zacusca, we rummaged for large 1.8L jars so we could use them for the peppers. Fortunately some were short and curly so we were able to sort them and fill them in. Many vegetables can be pickled, I have done cauliflower, carrots and baby cucumbers before. The method is the same - wash and dry the vegetable, put them in jars and pour the liquid in the jars and leave it for a few weeks before consuming,

Skill Level: EASY

Makes 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup water

• 5 cups apple cider vinegar

• 4 T coarse salt

• 10 bay leaves

• 20 black peppercorns

• 20 sweet long red peppers

METHOD:

1. Wash the peppers and pat them dry with a paper towel. Do not use bruised peppers

2. Wash and dry glass jars

3. Arrange peppers loosely into jars, divide bay leaves into the jars

4. In a pot, bring water, vinegar, salt and peppercorns to a boil

5. Carefully pour the hot vinegar solution into the jars, making sure to leave a 1 inch head space

6. Spoon in peppercorns into each jar

7. Close the lid tightly and store in a cool place for about 2 weeks before using

8. Opened jars must be refrigerated

Zacusca (Red pepper and Eggplant Spread)

Fall is a time of such abundance and there is no place better than a farmers market to enjoy all the bounty of this season. One of our favourite markets is in Southern Ontario - Saint Jacob's Farmer's Market http://www.stjacobs.com/farmers-market, open year round, there is a much to see and lots of local products to savour at this market. Once we are done shopping, our next stop is usually to Anna Mae's in Millbank for their broasted chicken http://www.annamaes.ca. Highly highly recommend both the market and the chicken (I'm sure the other stuff on the menu is good but we've never had anything but the chicken in the 15 years since we've been going there).

This year, we bought bushels of eggplant, sweet long red peppers and tomatoes because I really wanted to try my hand at making zacusca which is a Romanian dip. I am certainly not entering the minefield of where this spread originated because I am sure that similar spreads are found in all Balkan countries. Since my husband is Romanian, my mother in law was the perfect person to recruit for this mission; between her, my husband and I, we grilled, peeled, chopped and stirred for a few hours until my mission was accomplished.


The preparation is time consuming, but it yields several jars of finished product so you have some to keep and enough to share with friends and family. It is best refrigerated once opened and should be used up in 3-4 months.

Zacusca is delicious on bread or crackers with
some olives, feta or goat cheese. I had enough for 12 mason jars of 250 mL each (see picture) and about 3 jars of 1 L each.

Skill Level: Time consuming, involves a lot of stirring

Makes : Approx. 6 L

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 medium sized eggplant (grilled and peeled)
• 20 long sweet red peppers (grilled and peeled)
• 10 long sweet red peppers (finely chopped)
• 8 medium sized onions (finely chopped) 
• 10 medium roma tomatoes (pureed)
• 1 L sunflower oil
• 4 Tbsp salt

METHOD:

1. Grill eggplant and peppers. We used the BBQ, but the oven would work just as well. Grill until the eggplants and peppers are soft but not charred. Wait until it is easy to handle and peel the skin under running water. 

2. Puree eggplant, peppers, onions and tomatoes and set each aside separately. Do not worry if you cannot remove all the pepper seeds it adds to the visuals of the spread

3. In a large soup pot, pour 2 cups of oil and add the bay leaves and peppercorns

4. Add the chopped onions and stir for 3-5 minutes

5. Add the eggplant and peppers to the pot

6. Add salt and stir continuously so it does not stick to the bottom of the pot 

7. Add 2 more cups of oil and continue stirring. Check and adjust salt as needed

8. After approximately an hour when some of the liquid has reduced. Add the pureed tomatoes

9. Continue stirring; when the oil rises to the sides of the pot, zacusca is done

10. Hot fill into glass jars, close tightly. Some oil may rise to the surface, stir in before serving