Happy Eid!
May your plate of life always be full.
Wishing you and your families love, peace and happiness always.
~sfq
Eid Mubarak!
blog
mascarpone stuffed zucchini blossoms
I had been wanting to make stuffed zucchini blossoms for a while but it has been so hard to find the delicate flowers. The kind folks at Michelle’s Market were happy to help and picked some for me. Check them out, they are awesome!
Most recipes for the stuffed flowers called for ricotta but when I saw Trestelle‘s Mascarpone* on the shelf, I had to grab it. I had looked for mascarpone months back and couldn’t find it so I was not going to miss this opportunity.
The cheese mixture for this was so creamy and so flavourful, it’s a wonder that any made it into the flowers. The mascarpone was rich and light all at the same time, and is fast becoming one of my favourite cheeses. (In fact, I can’t wait to try this vanilla mascarpone cream from Julie!)
The flowers were really delicate. They needed to be carefully opened so the pistils could be taken out. After being washed and dried, I piped in the cheese mixture with a ziploc bag. As the flowers came out of oil, I sprinkled them with some fleur de sel.
I served these with some warm pasta sauce. Hubby was surprised by how much flavour was in the petals. The cheese completely complemented the flowers. These are a definite must-try if you can find some of these beautiful blossoms.
Mascarpone Filled Zucchini Blossoms
Inspired by recipes from Anna Olson and Chuck Hughes, Food Network
8 zucchini blossoms
Cheese mixture:
1/2 cup mascarpone
2 TB grated parmesan
zest half lemon
1/2 TB garlic, minced
1 TB fresh basil
1/4 cup cream
Batter:
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 cup club soda
Mix together everything for the cheese mixture. Place in a ziploc bag for piping.
While the oil is heating for frying, mix together the ingredients for the batter. Dip the filled flowers in the batter and fry until golden brown. Salt the fried blossoms and serve with pasta sauce.
*I did receive vouchers from Trestelle to try out their cheese. Opinions are my own.
taste the trucks II – 08.10.2012
The trucks
The food
The people
Dairyland Fresh is Never Far Tour
On Saturday, August 11, 2012, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., the Dairyland mobile team will be at the Calgary Wellness Festival. Festival-goers will have a chance to enjoy a free sample of Dairyland chocolate milk & white organic 2% milk so keep your eyes out for the Dairyland van!
Location: Murdoch Park, Centre Avenue and Ninth Street NE, Calgary, AB
Date: Saturday, August 11, 2012, 2pm to 6pm
On Saturday, August 18, 2012, the Dairyland mobile team will be at Calaway Park. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. the Dairyland team will be handing out samples of 250 mL cartons of chocolate milk and poured white organic milk. Their station will be fully equipped with a photo booth and participants are encouraged to pick their favourite Dairyland blue milk moustache, pose and get uploaded to the Dairyland Flickr page!
Location: Calaway Park, 245033 RR 33, Calgary, Alberta
Date: Saturday, August 18, 2012, 10am to 6pm
For a chance to win a $50 grocery gift card, courtesy of Dairyland milk, let me know what you like to eat with a tall glass of milk. Either leave a comment below or send me a tweet (@fareenjj). If leaving a comment, please be sure to leave your email address or email it to me (foodmamma [at] gmail [dot] com) so that I can contact you. Winner will be chosen on Monday, August 13th at noon MST.
fudge brownies
One of my new favourite shows is Bake with Anna Olson. It’s like a teaching cooking show, where Anna shows you a technique or a skill and builds on it, starting with simple to complex. When I watched the episode with brownies, I knew I had to make them!
I had a house full of people coming in a couple of hours and had errands to run and cleaning to do, but I still had to squeeze in brownie-making time. It didn’t take long at all to put these together and all in one pot – a bonus! I didn’t have time to roast the pecans in butter and salt and just tossed them in but the brownies still tasted really good. I opted to use a mini muffin tin and made them into two bite brownies.
The aroma of the chocolate filled the house and it was intoxicating! They were easy to make and so delicious, I know I will be making these again and again.
Fudge Brownies
Adapted from Food Network, Bake with Anna Olson
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup pecans
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a mini muffin pan for 24 brownies.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a medium pot over medium-low heat, stirring until melted. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the sugar and brown sugar right into the pot. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then whisk in the vanilla. Stir in the flour and cocoa powder until evenly combined.
Roughly chop the pecans and stir most of them into the brownie batter. Divide the batter into the muffin pans and sprinkle the remainder of the pecans on top.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until the tops of the brownies lose their shine. Cool the brownies for an hour before removing from the tin.
raspberry mint lemonade
There is nothing like a refreshing glass of lemonade on a hot day. I watched Michael Smith make this the other day on Chef at Home and have
been thinking about it ever since.
We changed this up a little bit by adding mint and using sparkling water.
Since Q doesn’t like anything fizzy, we divided the mixture into two
containers, making one with still water and one with bubbles. Q was happy to help in the kitchen, juicing all the lemons needed for the lemonade.
This was a very pretty drink to look at, the raspberries making it a
beautiful pink and the strands of lemon zest and pieces of green mint
adding pops of colour.It was tangy and quenched
everyone’s thirst.
Raspberry Mint Lemonade
Adapted from Michael Smith via Food Network
2 cups frozen raspberries
The juice and zest of 10 lemons
1 cup sugar
Bunch of mint, torn
6 cups of sparkling water
Fill a large pitcher or mason jar with ice and add frozen raspberries, lemon zest, juice, mint and sugar. Stir well to dissolve the sugar and fill up with water.
wordless wednesday: breakfast for dinner
thai boat
It’s always bittersweet when friends you love move away. You’re happy for them for their great opportunity but know it will be sad to not have them around all the time. We went out for dinner with D, who was moving to The Emerald Isle. Our outings with D are usually for sushi or thai and this time, it was one of our faves, Thai Boat.
Since Q had skipped his nap, we wanted to keep him happy for the short time before his bedtime. We ordered his favourites, vegetarian spring rolls and calamari. The spring rolls were great, full of veggies, and he finished off the plate.
The calamari was not your traditional calamari, but boy was it good! The squid was coated in a thick batter, almost onion ring-like. The best part was the sweet and tangy sauce that it was served with.
My favourite dish of the night was the Panang Curry. We ordered it with chicken and shrimp and it was so tasty! The curry was fragrant and so satisfying. I could have eaten this dish by myself.
Our second curry was the Beef in Red Curry. This was a mild curry, so perfect for me, and full of flavour. We have had this dish before with chicken and we all agreed that the red curry tasted better with it rather than the beef. We ordered coconut rice to absorb the curry which added even more flavour.
We rounded up the meal with our usual, Pad Thai with chicken. It was a good noodle dish, and would satisfy any craving. We did have Pad Thai a few days earlier elsewhere though, and unfortunately, it didn’t compare.
It was a good meal with an awesome friend. Good luck in Ireland D! You will be missed!
potato and green bean salad
We had a barbecue awhile back and it included a lot of meat! We really needed to balance out the meal with some carbs and veggies and this was the perfect dish for it – Potato and Green Bean Salad. It didn’t take long to make and the crisp beans with the cooked potatoes provided great texture. I served this warm but it can easily be served cold, perfect for taking along to a potluck.
Potato and Green Bean Salad
2 large potatoes
1 pound green beans
2 green onions
1/2 cup mayonaise
2 TB grainy mustard
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Blanch the green beans for one minute and immediately place in some ice water. Combine the mayo, mustard and vinegar and season well. Add the potatoes, green beans and onions until well coated with the dressing.