Breakfast for Lunch . . . Egg and Potato Wraps

I've been wanting one of these for days now . . . I know, I'm a naughty girl. I just can't help myself.

These are so easy to make and so very tasty. They don't even have to be all that fattening . . . well, depending on the type of bacon you use . . . and how much oil or butter you use in the pan. I like to use cooking spray. That way I can control it better.



Nicely browned potatoes, onions and peppers . . . lightly seasoned and sprinkled over a nice piece of bacon . . . not too crisp. (The way I like it.) Then topped with some softly scrambled eggs, salsa and cheese and wrapped up in a nice warm tortilla.



Ok . . . so technically you could call this a breakfast burrito . . . I eat mine out of hand, coz I'm a bohemian . . . wild wooded colonial . . . Todd's a Brit through and through, and from the old school. He must have a knife and fork . . . and truth be told, he'd just as soon not have the wrap part of this at all.



Quick, easy and satisfying, and quite, quite tasty.

It's a wrap.



*Egg and Potato Wraps*
For one serving
Printable Recipe

You can increase the amounts according to however many people you are wanting to serve. This is quick easy and tasty!

1 cold cooked potato, coarsely chopped ( peeled or not as you wish)
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 small pepper (green, red, whatever), chopped
salt
pepper
oil or cooking spray
1 thick slice of back bacon (smoked or not, as you wish)
1 large egg, beaten

To serve:
1 warmed flour tortilla
grated cheese
salsa

Heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Spray with cooking spray and grease with a bit of oil, about 1 tsp. Add bacon and cook until it's as crisp as you like it. Remove and set aside, keeping it warm. Add the potato, peppers, and onion slices. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and the potato is beginning to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside, keeping warm. Wipe the pan out with some paper toweling. Lightly spray again and then scramble the egg, over medium low heat, just until the egg is cooked through, but still moist.

Take your warm tortilla. Lay the bacon in the middle of it, leaving about a 2 inch space at the bottom end. Cover with the potatoes, and then the eggs. Sprinkle with some cheese and salsa if desired. Wrap snuggly, leaving the top end open.

Eat and enjoy, either in your hands or with a knife and fork. I'm a hand person. Todd . . . well, he's British . . . knife and fork all the way.

Note: if you want, you can add other vegetables to the potatoes for added interest, like chopped courgettes. Nom! Nom! (or even some herbs)



Over in The Cottage today a delicious Holiday Fudge Wreath. Perfect for gift giving if you are so inclined!

Pear Ginger Streusel Muffins

I hate these dark gloomy days . . . the sky all leaden and filled with heavy clouds . . . the air damp and cold. It does nothing for my constitution! I find it kind of drags me down a bit . . . it also makes it very difficult to get good food pictures in natural light.



It would be different if the sky was filled with little white flakes instead of scattered plops and drops . . . that would actually be a bit exciting I think . . . and I know that is only because I am not a person who has to travel back and forth to work. If I did need to travel . . . I probably wouldn't be as enamoured with snow as I am!



Perhaps it's the Canuck in me . . . that finds myself longing at this time of year for that excitment of the first snow fall . . . I guess it's pretty hard to teach an old dog new tricks . . . even of the snowy kind.



I have to do my cooking early in the day these days . . . so that I can use the light from the back window for my picture taking. What do other people do? How do they manage. I see lots of lovely food pictures all over the place. There must be a way. Perhaps my camera is the wrong kind. I don't know.

I guess I'll just have to drown myself in one of these delicious muffins . . . buttermilk, brown sugar and grated pear makes them super moist . . . cinnamon, ginger and ground cardamom make them nice and spicy.



Altogether I guess you could call them incredibly, edibly moreishly scrumptious!
That works for me! hmmm . . . I might dig out my Dirty Dancing DVD and torture Todd watch it . . . a little bit of Patrick Swayze can't hurt either. Settled! Spicy Muffins and a Stud Muffin. The perfect afternoon sorted.



*Pear Ginger Streusel Muffins*
Makes 12 medium muffins
Printable Recipe

Moist, spicy and delicious. Perfect with a hot cup of herbal tea.

8.5 ounces plain flour, divided (2 cups)
7.5 ounces light muscovado sugar (1 cup packed)
4 ounces cold butter, diced (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground ginger
pinch salt
165ml of milk or buttermilk (about 2/3 cup) (you may not need it all)
1 large free range egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 conference pears, peeled and grated (Bosc, use pears that are more on the hard side)

Combine 6 ounces of the flour, along with the brown sugar in a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine meal. Measure out 2 ounces (1/4 cup packed) and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a 12 cup medium muffin tin with paper liners, or butter really well.

Add the remaining flour to the flour mixture in the bowl, along with the spices, baking powder, soda and salt. Mix well. Beat together half of the milk, egg and vanilla. Add to the butter mixture along with the grated pears, only adding as much of the remaining milk to give you a soft droppable batter, and mixing only to moisten. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups, dividing the mixture equally amongs them. Sprinkle some of the reserved crumb mixture over top of each.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until risen, lightly brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre of one comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Store any leftovers in an airtight container.



Over in The Cottage today, a comforting Potato Pie.

Gift Wrapping Ideas

It seems that a few days ago I looked at my calendar and September was just ending. How is it almost December? The one thing I systematically look forward to at this time of year is waiting for the first real snow fall. You know, that moment when the skies become white and fluffy, the city quiets down, and thick cotton-like fluffs fall from above in calming streaks? I might not love it as much come February, or March.. or April! but in December it has to be one of the most beautiful scenes nature has to offer.

The first snow fall hasn't hit Toronto yet, but we've been hard at work preparing for the holidays at the Style at Home offices! Whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah or just time off with friends and family, this time of year usually comes with wrapping a few gifts. I've prepared a few easy ideas to spice up your wrapping skills this year. What do you think? These are all you need to make something personal and pretty without spending a bundle.

To read more about these, take a look at my complete article here.

Minestrone Soup is a Once in a Lifetime Experience

I always feel a little apprehensive when I post a recipe like this minestrone soup. It’s the type of dish I never make the same way twice, and the fear is that someone will watch and assume that this is my “official” version.

You don’t need a recipe for minestrone, just like you don’t need a recipe for a great sandwich, or an epic salad. To make minestrone soup precisely same way every time, using a very specific list of ingredients and amounts, is to trample on the soul of this Italian classic.

Having said all that, what if you happen to make it so incredibly delicious one time that you want to experience the exact same shuddering soupgasm in the future? That seems like a perfectly sound reason for why you should write down the recipe…except cooking food doesn’t work that way.

Your perception of how a recipe tastes involves so many factors above and far beyond the list of ingredients. Remember that time you made that super awesome whatever, and it was so perfect, and then you made it again, exactly the same way, but somehow it just didn’t taste as great? This is why.

So, I hope you give this amazing minestrone recipe a try soon…but only once. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 oz pancetta

2 tbsp olive oil

1 diced onion

1 cup diced celery

4 minced garlic cloves

4 cups chicken broth

1 (28-oz) can plum tomatoes, crushed fine

2 cups water, plus more as needed

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp dried Italian herb blend (mine was thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil)

red pepper flakes to taste

1 cup freshly shucked cranberry beans (aka shelling beans)
2 or 3 cups chopped cabbage

1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans, drained

1 bunch swiss chard, chopped

2/3 cup raw ditalini pasta

extra virgin olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and fresh Italian parsley to garnish the top

Lemon Glazed Cinnamon Scrolls

There was a similar recipe to this printed in the January issue of Sainsbury's magazine, which is usually a very good magazine . . . in fact it is generally one of my favourites. In fact I generally pounce upon it as soon as it pushes it's way through my post box and I devour each page slowly as if at a feast . . . I just can't wait to see what Nigel Slater is up to each month. (This issue is spicey treat!)



The instructions on this recipe however . . . left a great deal to the imagination. (Not one of Nigel's I hasten to add! He would never let us down so . . . ) There was not even a baking temperature was included. If one didn't have a sound knowledge . . . as simple as they are . . . one might have been quite confused.



Marie to the rescue. I do have a sound knowledge of baking and lots of experience and have made many similar things to this, and often and so I sorted it out. I can only think that it must have been an oversight on the part of Sainsbury's as they are usually very good . . .but then again, nobody is perfect, mais oui! (Not even me! ☺)



These are perfect little flakey bites . . . stogged full of cinnamon sugar and glazed with butter and demerara sugar before baking. (The sugar is my own addition to give added crunch)



Baked until golden brown . . . and then glazed with a tangy lemon drizzle icing, these would be perfect a hot drink for elevenses . . . or for a special tea with the gals, or even just when you feel like indulging yourself just a tiny little bit.



After all the holidays are almost upon us and there is nothing like a tiny bit of self indulgence to bring a smile to one's face and a lift to one's weary feet!! Nom! Nom!



*Lemon Glazed Cinnamon Scrolls*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Perfect little puffed bites, stogged full of cinnamon and glazed with a tangy sweet lemon drizzle. Delicious!

1 package of all butter puff pastry
2 heaped tsp of ground cinnamon
4 TBS of demerara sugar (Turbinado)
2 TBS butter melted
more demerara sugar for sprinkling
For the glaze:
8 TBS of sifted icing sugar
the juice of half a lemon

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Set aside.

Unroll your puff pastry, leaving it on the liner paper. Combine the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle evenly over top of the pastry. Starting at one short end and using the liner paper to help you, roll up tightly as a jelly roll, up to the centre of the pastry. Flip around and then repeat from the other side, again meeting in the middle. Place in the refrigerator to chill for about 15 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and cut into 12 equal slices. Place evenly spaced and leaving at least 3 inches between each, onto the baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand and brush each with some of the melted butter. Sprinkle with some of the demerara sugar

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until crisp and golden brown, checking after 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth, only adding enough lemon juice to give you a smooth drizzle. Drizzle decoratively over the cinnamon slices. Allow to set before serving. Store in an airtight container.



Cooking in The Cottage today . . . The French Wedge, a delicious salad with a tangy dressing, roquefort cheese, toasted nuts and creamy slices of avocado!

Next Up: Minestrone

Christmas Cookie Cutters and Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

Several weeks ago the people from Eddington's sent me a couple of things from their Christmas line to test out. You probably remember the snowflake moulds that I made little nutmeg cakes with. The other thing that they sent was this sweet and charming Birkmann VIP IV Angel Wings Cookie Cutter Set! Each cookie features a slot allowing you to perch them on the side of your mug. Charming and fun, they'lre just perfect for baking with during the Christmas holidays!!

Can you imagine hot mugs of cocoa with these little angel wings perched along side? I know! A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! Could you get any cuter??? I think not!

They're not just for cookies though. They also come in incredibly useful for making toasty croutons for soup or even little puff pastry savouries to serve along with soup!



Are they not just the sweetest perched on this delicious mug of Creamy Sweet Potato Soup that I made for our lunch today??? I know! I am so in love with them!



This really is a delicious soup. You wouldn't need angel wings to convince you of that really, but they are cute. Creamy and rich . . .



Slightly sweet from the addition of chopped apple . . . a bit of spice from a cinnamon stick, some fresh ginger and . . . garlic . . .



As touch of heat from Chipolte Chili Paste, which you can find in the spice sections of most shops. Mine is from the people at Bart's. Don't add too much though! A little bit goes a very long way!



*Creamy Sweet Potato Soup*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Creamy and rich with a slight sweetness from the apple and a bit of a bite from the chipolte paste.

1 TBS olive oil
1/2 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp finely grated fresh gingerroot (no need to peel)
2 eating apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 stalk of celery, trimmed and chopped
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1000ml of vegetable stock (4 cups)
500ml of water (2 cups)
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp (or to taste) chipolte paste
Salt to taste if necessary

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and gingerroot. Cook, stirring occasionally over low heat, until softened. Add the apples, celery and sweet potatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Add the stock, water and cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil. Reduce to a slow simmer. Cook until the vegetables are meltingly tender, about 30 minutes. Fish out the cinnamon stick and discard. Stir in the chipolte paste. Blitz until smooth with a stick blender, or alternately by pureeing carefully in a blender. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Keep warm until ready to serve. Serve in heated bowls.



Birkmann VIP IV Wings Cookie Cutter Set, available at all good Kitchen stockists, Stainless steel and very easy to use. The set also comes along with a few tasty recipes.

Many thanks to Miriam from Shrewd PR and the people at Eddingtons for sending them to me! I just love them.



Over in The Cottage today, Dressed Road Kill Potatoes. Oh so scrummy!

Note: Anyone in the UK can purchase these adorable angel wing cutters at Trendy Kitchen for only £6.99 a full £2 off the regular price. Sounds like a great deal to me!

Rum Baller, Shot Caller?

I was playing with some rum balls today, for a video next week, and the first one I pulled off the silpat left this perfect chocolate smiley face. That has to be a great sign, right?

Aubergine & Tamarind Curry

Have I ever mentioned how much I love aubergines? It's borderline obsessive really. They're big meaty things with fantastic texture and they absorb flavours like a sponge, what's not to love? This curry is fairly similar to the aubergine, coconut and lime dhal in that they both contain aubergines, coconut - this time though, with a Thai twist and a sour tang that comes from tamarind.

A vivid orange curry was packed full of iron-rich cavolo nero and a head of pak choi that I had spare in the fridge; you can really use any green vegetable you like. Lots of dried red chillis were minced together with galangal, lemon grass and garlic to make a curry paste but it's the lime leaves thrown in while cooking that really gives it that fragrance the Thais do so well.

Aubergine & Tamarind Curry

Serves 2

For the spice paste:

A large handful of dried red chillis, rehydrated in boiling water
2 inches of galangal
6 cloves of garlic
1 stalk of lemongrass, inner soft part only
Half an onion
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp shrimp paste
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Deseed the chillis and blitz all of the above with a little of the water from soaking the chillis.

1 medium aubergine
3 stalks of cavolo nero, or other dark leafy greens
4 lime leaves, torn roughly
1 can of coconut milk
A few seeds of tamarind - put these in a little boiling water and work the tamarind paste away from the seeds. Drain, reserving the tamarind paste. Alternatively, use 1.5 tbsp ready made tamarind paste
1 tbsp sugar, to taste
2 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
1 tbsp each of chopped basil and coriander

Slic the aubergines into fingers and fry in a little oil until coloured on both sides. Set aside. Heat some oil in a wok and add 2 tbsp of the curry paste. Stir fry until fragrant, then add the aubergines back in. Add the leafy greens and stir to coat. Add the coconut milk with the lime leaves and cook gently for 15 - 20 minutes.

Add the tamarind, the fish sauce tbsp by tbsp and the sugar; taste as you go. Add more of whatever you think it needs but keep tasting; it should be perfectly balanced.

Scatter with the chopped basil and coriander and serve with rice.

Holiday Danish

I confess, it's the weekend and I've been playing with Mincemeat again . . . an activity that I freely indulge myself in at this particular time of year!



I was surfing the web yesterday and I came across a recipe here for Easy Blackberry Cheese Danish. It looked really delicious and I printed it out.



Then I got to thinking . . . and we all know what happens then.



As scrummy as the idea of blackberries sounded . . . mincemeat sounded even better to me, and even more seasonal!



I mean . . . this is the festive time of year is it not??? The store shelves are stocked with a bazillion jars of mincemeat, in all sorts of scrummy flavours, just waiting for us to partake, right???



And so I did what any mincemeat obsessed person would do . . . I created a Holiday Danish that would be perfect for any holiday breakfast or brunch.



Flakey croissant dough . . . rich and creamy cheese filling . . . spicy and sweet mincemeat . . . baked until golden brown and then drizzled with a creamy sweet icing drizzle.



Oh my . . . wicked but OH SO GOOD!!!
Nom! Nom! I rest my case.



*Holiday Danish*
Serves 8Printable Recipe

Another cheat recipe which used refrigerator croissant dough. Flakey and delicious with a filling of mincemeat and cream cheese!

1 (250g) tube of Jus-Rol Croissant dough (in North America use Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough)
250g of full fat cream cheese (8 ounces)
3.5 ounces caster sugar (1/2 cup)
3 TBS sifted plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 of a (411g) jar of prepared mincemeat (1 cup)
demerara sugar (turbinado)

To ice:
2 ounces sifted icing sugar (1/2 cup)
2 TBS heavy cream
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Lightly butter. Set aside for now.

Whisk together the cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla in a small bowl. Set aside.

Pop open your croissant dough. Unroll, leaving the croissants in rectangles and separating the dough into 3 rectangles. Lay the rectangles out onto the prepared baking sheet as a larger rectangle, long sides touching each other. It should almost cover the baking sheet. Press all the perforations and edges together, sealing all holes. Cut 1/2 inch diagonal strips up each long side of the dough. Spoon the cream cheese filling down the centre of the dough, spreading it out to about 3 inches in width. Top with the minemeat, spreading it carefully over top. Fold the 1/2 inch wide strips over top of the filling, alternating from side to side so that you have somewhat of a braided pattern. Tuck in edges as best as you can. Sprinkle with some demerara sugar.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the filling is set and the croissant dough is golden brown in colour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the baking sheet and proceeding.

Once cooled, remove to a serving platter. Whisk together the icing ingredients and drizzle over the danish. Cut into slices to serve.

Note - over here in the UK, you can get the Jus-Rol croissant dough at ASDA. Stock up! It comes in ever so handy!



Over in The Cottage today there's a bone warming Corn Chowder brewing.

Smoked Ham and Butternut Squash Spaghetti – Short on Daylight, Long on Flavor

I never film at night, since I don’t like the look of the video when I use artificial lights. Sure, I could actually learn how to use a real lighting kit, but it’s easier for my simple brain to just film during the day.

However, once in a great while, I’ll starting making something, like this smoked ham and butternut squash spaghetti, that looks like it’s going to be so good that I don’t care about lighting quality, and film it anyway.

Other than this less-than-subtle warning about the lighting quality, there’s not a lot to say about this simple and very delicious winter pasta. It will work with literally any type of ham or smoked sausage; and as I mention in the video, bacon would also shine.

Despite the rich and decadent mascarpone, the sauce is actually pretty light when you consider much of the sauce is really just chicken broth and squash. By the way, I didn’t add it, but I think a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end would have been a great idea. I hope you give this hearty pasta a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

14 oz package dry spaghetti

2 tbsp olive oil

4 oz thinly slice smoked ham

3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

red chili flakes to taste

1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken broth, or as needed

3 cups diced butternut squash

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup mascarpone cheese

1-2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Know Your Cheese

As most of your know, I LOVE cheese, and two of the most commonly used varieties in my kitchen are fresh mozzarella, and mascarpone. In addition to this recipe, I’ve used mascarpone in several recent videos, and received numerous inquires as to which brand I used.

My usual go-to brand is Galbani, so I was thrilled when Michele and I were recently invited to an event hosted by Lactalis Foodservice. Along with Galbani, Lactalis owns many of markets’ top cheese brands, such as President, Sorrento, and Precious, just to name a few.

This Chef’s Table event was held at Farina, San Francisco, and not only did we enjoy a very nice meal, but we got to talk directly to the people making the cheese. One reason I love shopping at Farmers Markets is that you get to meet the people producing the food you’re about to cook, but it’s not often you get the same experience for a product you buy at the supermarket.

Here are a few highlights from the evening.

Pardon the poor quality photo, but I just had to show this Foccacia di Recco, featuring Galbani’s Bel Paese. It’s sort of like a stuffed pizza, which uses a very basic, unleavened bread dough that’s rolled, spun, and stretched very thin, before being stuffed with the creamy cheese. It’s baked in a very hot oven, where it puffs up, and gets crispy on the outside, while the inside stays soft and cheesy. It was awesome, and something I must figure out how to make!

Chef at Farina spinning the dough for the Foccacia di Recco. By the way, the videographer seen here is my friend Vincent McConeghy, a fellow western New Yorker, and author of the novel, Gastro Detective.

This was my favorite course of the night. A golden and red beet timbale with Istara Petit Basque and shaved black truffles. What glorious combination of flavors!

I want to thank Lactalis Foodservice for hosting such a fun evening, and the chefs at Farina for taking such good care of us! For those of you that requested more info about the mascarpone cheese, you can check out the official website here. Grazie!