VOTING OPENS TOMORROW at www.recipetoriches.ca - hope you'll go out and vote for me and my scrump-dilly-icious brownies!

Vote for me on RecipetoRiches.ca - voting opens tomorrow!

Okay - time to shamelessly self promote!

Voting for Recipe to Riches is December 5 to 7 and I'd kind of really like to win so I'm gonna start plugging my product!

My Salt-kissed Dulce De Leche Brownies are from President's Choice. You can get it at any grocery store that sells PC products.

I hope you'll go and try it, like it and go to www.RecipetoRiches.ca between 12:01 pm on December 5 and 4:59pm December 7 to vote.

Kay?

Thanks!

Bye

Just in time for the holidays - my Cranberry Ginger Upside Down Cake!

With Christmas 3 short weeks away my mind has turned to the flavours of my childhood. Gingerbread and Scottish shortbread, peanut butter squares, and mincemeat tarts. (I'm of British descent if you can't tell ;-) )

So, just in time for the upcoming festivities here's my newest creation.

CRANBERRY GINGER UPSIDE DOWN CAKE


Ingredients

Syrup and Fruit

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
¼ cup crystallized ginger
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup

Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed demerara sugar
1 egg
1 cup fancy molasses
1 cup hot water
¾ cup chopped crystallized ginger
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
¾ tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp each fresh grated nutmeg and ground cloves

Preparation

Grease and flour a 10-inch (3 L) Bundt pan or 9-inch (3 L) tube pan; set aside.

Coarsely chop the cranberries and crystallized ginger and mix with the granulated sugar then set aside. Heat the butter in a saucepot over medium heat until the foaming subsides and it begins to brown. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and stir until bubbling and smooth. Pour into the baking pan and spoon the chopped cranberry mixture over top.

In bowl, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy; beat in egg. Blend in molasses and hot water until combined; let cool for 10 minutes.

In separate bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, grated and ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves; stir into molasses mixture until combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake in centre of 350ºF oven for about 50 minutes or until cake tested inserted in centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes then turn out on cake platter. Serve warm or let cool.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a piece of crystallized ginger.

Eat.

Enjoy!

Vote for me on RecipetoRiches.ca - voting opens tomorrow!

Okay - time to shamelessly self promote!

Voting for Recipe to Riches is December 5 to 7 and I'd kind of really like to win so I'm gonna start plugging my product!

My Salt-kissed Dulce De Leche Brownies are from President's Choice. You can get it at any grocery store that sells PC products.

I hope you'll go and try it, like it and go to www.RecipetoRiches.ca between 12:01 pm on December 5 and 4:59pm December 7 to vote.

So this is my product

Isn't it pretty???

And pretty delicious too! You can get them at any grocery store that sells President's Choice products!

Kay?

Thanks!

Bye!!

Busy Busy Busy!!! - but don't forget the back bacon!

Wow!

I never thought, when I auditioned for Recipe to Riches, that I would win or that my life would be so crazy as a result. I wouldn't trade a minute of it, mind you, but I've spent the last few weeks doing TV, radio, magazine, newspaper and blog interviews. It's been a zany thrill ride but one that has left me little time for breathing let alone cooking, blogging or coming up with my own recipes!

Be that as it may, I still have a few old favorites to pull out of my hat.

Like my easy peasy Peameal bacon roast.

Here's some neat facts about Peameal:

Peameal, back bacon, or Canadian bacon, is actually a very lean cut of meat unlike regular bacon. It's made from boneless pork loin, which is one of the leanest parts of the pig. The fat is usually trimmed down almost to the meat and then the loin is pickled in a brine and rolled in cornmeal.

Historically it was rolled in ground peas - peameal - but in the 1900's people switched to cornmeal as it was a better medium for preserving the brined meat.

There's about 50 calories and 2 grams of fat per ounce of peameal where regular bacon is approximately 165 calories and 14 grams of fat per ounce. The only negative is that Peameal is still fairly high in sodium... but it tastes sooo good!

Impromptu lesson over.... on to the recipe!

Peameal Roast Pork

•       2 lb peameal pork roast
•       2 tbsp grainy mustard
•       1 tbsp of honey

1. Mix together honey and mustard
2. Score top of peameal with cross hatching
3. Smear honey mustard mixture over the whole roast
4. Place in roasting pan (I use a pyrex loaf pan – it’s just the right size)
5. Pour ½ an inch of water or apple cider into bottom of pan
6. Cover with foil
7. Bake in oven at 450 degrees for an hour and 45 minutes.
8. Remove from pan, tent meat and rest it for 10 minutes before slicing.

And here's an added bonus - my fennel salad recipe makes a great side dish for the roasted peameal.

Orange Fennel salad

•       ½ a head of fennel – sliced super thin or shaved on a mandolin
•       5 dried figs, finely chopped
•       1 orange, halved, sliced then and then quartered
•       Cider vinegar
•       Olive oil
•       Salt
•       Pepper

1. Combine fennel, figs and orange in a bowl
2. Drizzle with vinegar and oil
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste

Eat!

Enjoy!!

I won my episode of Recipe to Riches!!! I'm a grocery store product!!!

Oh my god it has been INSANE in the best possible way since Wednesday night when my episode aired on the Food Network Canada.

I honestly never thought I'd make it this far and yet on Saturday I launched _MY_ brownies as a President's Choice Product for grocery stores across Canada. Somebody pinch me - I still can't believe it!

So I'm asking all those who follow my blog in Canada - please go out and try my product and if you like it please write a review on the President's Choice website - better yet, vote for me when the polls open between December 5 and 7 please go out and vote for me!

President's Choice Salt-Kissed Dulce de Leche Brownies

The Final Countdown

OMG!!!!!

Just 7 more days until my episode airs on Recipe to Riches.


SEVEN!!!

Trick or treat Canada!!


Sooooooo nervous!

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe-to-riches/season2/

Texas Style Chili

Well I'm feeling particularly bloggish this week - probably due to a two month dry spell. It's 7am and I should be getting ready for work but I wanted to get this out before I did.

This is my attempt on making a beanless chili. I was going to go all meat but I just couldn't do it. This is my compromise.

Hope you like it!

Tracey’s take on Texas Style Chili

Ingredients

·         2 lbs ground beef

·         5 chorizo sausages

·         3 carrots – finely diced

·         2 medium onions – finely diced

·         3 celery ribs – finely diced

·         2 cloves garlic – minced

·         2 jalapenos – finely diced

·         3 chipotle peppers – diced (with some of the adobo sauce)

·         2 18 oz cans of spicy or chili seasoned diced tomatoes

·         1 28 oz can of regular diced tomatoes

·         1 can tomato paste

·         1 tsp salt

·         Fresh cracked pepper to taste

·         1 tsp cumin

·         1 tsp coriander

·         1 tsp cayenne pepper

·         2 tsp oregano

Directions

1.       Take the sausage out of the casings

2.       Brown the ground beef and sausage together on medium high

3.       Drain excess fat

4.       Add the diced garlic and jalapenos, sweat for a few minutes

5.       Add the diced vegetables, sweat down for a few minutes

6.       Add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste

7.       Stir in spices

8.       Reduce to low and let simmer on the stove for the day (I usually let mine simmer about 5-7 hours to make it lush and rich and thick.)

NB – I like my chili spicy but if you don’t use regular tomatoes, take out the cayenne and the jalapenos and use a milder sausage.

Eat!

Enjoy!!

Shaved Fennel Salad

I was trying to decide what to have with my coffee coriander seed marinated sous-vide steak tonight (Thank you Amos's!) and decided to get a little cheffy in the kitchen. This is what I came up with!

Shaved Fennel Salad

Dressing Ingredients

• 3 tblspns orange juice
• 3 tblspns Rice wine vinegar
• 3 tblspns mirin (cooking wine)
•  2 tblspns Grape seed oil
• 2 tsp grainy mustard
• 1 tsp Fennel powder
• 1 tblspn curry powder
•  ½ tsp tarragon
• Salt & pepper to taste

Salad Ingredients

•  Fennel
• Green apple
• Shallot
• Orange
•  Dried figs

Directions

1. Using a mandolin shave fennel, shallot and green apple
2. Thinly slice orange and dried figs
3. Mix it all together and toss with dressing.

Eat!

Enjoy!!

Raspberry Lemon Blondies

It's been a long two months without being able to bake - I think I was going into withdrawal!!! This weekend has been lovely - I've baked _and_ cooked. I'm feeling relaxed and happy and ready to take a nap ::laughing::

But before I do I thought I'd share a recipe. My Raspberry Lemon Blondies!

Raspberries and lemons are just a perfect marriage of flavors; how could I not try to incorporate them in a dessert?

I've tested this recipe amongst friends and co-workers and I've been told they're just as good as the brownies that landed me on Recipes to Riches so I know I've got a good thing here! ;-)

Raspberry LEmon Blondies

Ingredients

1 cup of butter (2 sticks)

1¼ cups of Demerara sugar

2 eggs

1tsp vanilla paste/pure vanilla/seeds of 1 vanilla pod

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp lemon extract

Zest of 1 lemon

1½ cups flour

1 pint of fresh raspberries or 1 cup of frozen raspberries

Directions

1. Place baking rack in centre of oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Butter (or spray) a 9x13 pan;
2. Place raspberries in a bowl and mash slightly
3. Sift together dry ingredients onto a sheet of parchment or wax paper (you don’t mess up a bowl and you can just slid the dry ingredients into the bowl and then reuse the parchment as separators when you store your blondies)
4. Cream butter on high and gradually incorporate sugar; beat until well incorporated;
5. Reduce mixer speed to medium and add eggs one at a time (I first crack mine in a clear bowl to make sure there is no shell) and add vanilla and lemon extract and lemon zest, mix until all ingredients are blended thoroughly;
6. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated
7. pour ingredients into greased pan and pour raspberry mash over top. Press in slightly and then with a skewer, palate knife or spatula swirl into blondie batter
8. bake for approx. 40 minutes or until toothpick/skewer comes out clean
9. Transfer to rack and cool completely before cutting into squares.

Serving suggestion: sift a little powdered sugar over top and garnish plate with some fresh raspberries, a lemon twist and a sprig of mint to make a ‘pretty’ presentation.

Eat!

Enjoy!!