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Thursday, February 3, 2011

French Canadian Tortiere















The reason I enjoy this recipe so much is my absolute desire for any kind of meat pie. This is a classic Canadian favourite. Served up with a side order of poutine (French fries with beef gravy and cheddar cheese curds), which happens to be another Canadian staple.Very easy to make and very delicious too.
Ingredients:
For double pie crust
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup crisco shortening
4-8 TBSP cold water

Method:
Blend flour and salt. Cut in pieces the shortening. Add to flour. Gently use pastry cutter or two forks to combine until mixture resembles small peas. Add a little water at a time until you get the consistency ,(not too wet). Add flour if this happens.  Do not overwork dough.  Divide the dough into halves, and flatten into 1 1/2 inch rounds.  Place in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for approximately 1 hour.

Ingredients :
Meat filling
1 lb ground beef (or pork, or combination)
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t black pepper
1 t salt
1/2 t dried thyme
1/2 c beef broth
2 T breadcrumbs


Method:
Put the stock in a large pan or pot and bring to a boil.  Add the beef, onions, and seasoning.  Cook with the lid on until the meat is completely broken down and cooked, about 1hour.  Remove the lid and cook until all of the liquid has evaporated.  Add bread crumbs one tablespoon at a time to soak up any oil.  Cool completely before filling the pastry shell

Meanwhile, remove the dough from the fridge and throw some flour on area where you will roll it out. Roll the dough to fit in pie plate and fill the shell with the COOLED filling.  Roll out the other crust and place on the top of filling. Remove excessive dough and brush with egg wash, (1 egg with a tsp water combined). Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top and bake for 25-30 minutes (check after 20 minutes), at 375 degrees. Let cool 15 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Cheezy Cheddar Muffins


These muffins are so light and fluffy.  They are almost the same texture of a cruller!  I enjoy these so much, that they are going to be a hard habit to break when it comes to my  diet starting next week.  So this is my week-end to indulge!  Going to make some of my favorite things, and enjoy them for the last time in awhile.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups sour cream
9 oz grated cheese
1/2 tsp sweet paprika powder
1/2 tsp salt
butter (for greasing tins)
4 eggs

DIRECTIONS:
Sift the all-purpose flour and baking powder over a big bowl. Dump in 1 1/2 cups of sour cream. Add the eggs, 1/2 a tsp salt and 1/2 a tsp sweet paprika powder.  Add some cayenne as well or some herbs such as dried rosemary or thyme. ( I have even added some chopped and fried bacon bits too). Use the dough hooks on your mixer and lightly mix things up. Add the cheese and keep mixing until all the flour is incorporated.The dough will be really firm and sticky. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin and fill them with the batter. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F (180C) for 25 minutes. Let them cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the muffin tin.
*Serve hot!!!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Toblerone Cookies


Toblerone cookies! An absolute guess on what I was going to do with all the Toblerone chocolate I had received over the holidays.  I figured it would be a wonderful replacement of regular old chocolate chip cookies.  It turned out that they were pretty darned good!  They made little puddles of chocolate in the centre of the cookie. Oooey and gooey!!!

INGREDIENTS

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup Toblerone chocolate bar (roughly chopped)

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 350°F; line baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.  Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth, then stir in the flour, baking soda, salt. Drop leveled tablespoons of dough onto each sheet, (2 inches) apart. Press the chopped Toblerone over the surface of the cookies.
Bake for 8 or 9 minutes (do not overcook). Leave to cool and firm up on the baking sheets for a few minutes before carefully peeling away from the paper.

*The cookies will keep in an airtight tin for up to 3 days.
Makes 22