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nutella pot de creme

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Valentine’s Day is this weekend, and as fun as it is to go out, sometimes it’s nice to have a quiet meal at home…or, a loud and crazy if you have the kids at home with you.

Nutella Pot De Creme is the perfect dessert to celebrate the day of love. It takes minutes to prepare, so you can spend the day with your loved one, and is super easy. The fancy sounding chocolate pudding is mousse-like in texture and is creamy and chocolatey. The fact that it has Nutella makes me love it even more.

These luscious desserts take a couple hours to set so they can easily be made in advance.You can make this in large bowl or make individual desserts by placing them in glasses. Makes it look a little more fancy. Top it with a dollop of whipped cream and you’ve got yourself something to spoil your Valentine.

I’m excited to be participating in a Valentine’s Day Blog Hop with some of my favourite foodies. Check out posts by: Merry About Town, Bakerbeans, Dish N The Kitchen and Edible Life in YYC.

Nutella Pot de Creme

1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup Nutella
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cup whipping cream

1 cup whipping cream
1 TB icing sugar

In a blender, combine the chocolate chips, Nutella and egg yolks and blend together. Meanwhile, heat up the whipping cream until bubbles start to form but not boiling. Add the whipping cream slowly through the lid of the blender while blending on low. Once combined, pour into some bowls or glasses and place in the fridge to set, approximately 2-3 hours.

Blend the cream and the sugar until whipped. Place a dollop on top of each pot de creme.

nutella ricotta braided pastry

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It’s World Nutella Day so I felt I needed to make you something with Nutella. Okay, fine, I made it for me, but I’m happy to share. This dessert is super simple, takes a couple minutes to put together and bakes for around 15 minutes.

I love the versatility of puff pastry so it’s something I usually have around. I took the pastry and made cuts on two sides so that it could be braided.  I spread about 2TB of Nutella in the middle and topped with about 4 TB of ricotta on top. Braid the pastry, brush with egg whites and top with nuts. Easy peasy. Just put the prepared pastry in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Voila – you have something delicious to celebrate Nutella!

french toast waffles

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What do you do when you send hubby out for bread and he comes back with Texas Toast? Make french toast! I still had the waffle machine out so decided to put the eggy bread in the machine. Turned out to be a great idea, it was so delicious!  Perfect for a lazy weekend breakfast.

French Toast Waffles

2 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 TB sugar
1/4 cup milk
6 slices Texas Toast

Combine the eggs, cinnamon, sugar and milk. Dip the bread into the egg mixture and place into a waffle machine. Sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy!

a spicy touch and chana wagharia

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I was very excited about the release of another “A Spicy Touch” cookbook. This is the food that I grew up with – Indian food with East African influences. Noorbanu Nimji’s books have been a staple in my house and of most people that I know. They are a great reference for even the most experienced home cook. I was especially excited for this new book since it was co-authored by my friend, Karen Anderson.

This book is beautiful with pictures of mouth-watering food. I especially like the pictures of the different spices and the step-by-step instructions. The pictures help make it easy to know what to look for in the grocery store. The book is hard cover and would make an excellent gift for any foodie!

I love how this fourth book incorporates stories and tips – it is definitely my favourite of the series! Check out the website for more info.

This recipe for Chana Wagharia was super easy to make and was a hit with all the boys. I was happy that I had most of the items in the pantry and took less than 30 minutes to make.

Chana Wagharia
From A Spicy Touch

1 TB olive oil
5 – 6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1 Chinese eggplant, cut into bite-size cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Indian chili powder
1 19oz can chick peas
1 TB Ambli Ni Chutney or 1 TB lemon juice
1 TB finely cut coriander leaves

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat and add the curry leaves and mustard seeds. Cook covered until the seeds pop – about 1 minute.

Stir in the tomato, eggplant and salt and cook on medium-low heat – adding a little water if necessary – until eggplant is almost cooked, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the cumin, turmeric, coriander, sugar and chili powder and cook for 4 to 5 minutes more or until the eggplant cubes are cooked and tender when pierced with a fork.

Stir in the chickpeas, Ambli Ni Chutney or lemon juice and simmer for another 5 minutes. The gravy should cover the chickpeas and eggplant.

Stir in the coriander leaves just before serving.

jalapeno popper dip

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One of everyone’s favourite appetizers is a jalapeno popper. Jalapenos filled with cream cheese, coated in a bread crumb mixture and deep fried. Yummy! I thought that this combo would be great for a Superbowl party, but in dip form.  Every sports party has to have a great dip and this one fits the bill!

This warm dip is creamy and cheesy with the perfect amount of crunch from the panko topping and heat from the jalapenos. It is perfect for serving with crackers or crostini.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

1 block cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
125mL can jalapenos
1 cup panko
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 TB olive oil

In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, mozzarella and parmesan cheese until well combined. Add the jalapenos and mix well. Put into an oven safe dish. In a separate bowl, combine the panko, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top of the cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes. Enjoy with crackers or bread.

green tropical smoothie

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We have been enjoying our daily smoothies and I have been having fun coming up with some tasty combinations. Today was a good one and I could not wait to share.

The spinach smoothies haven’t been a favourite for the boys…until today. Today, they wanted more! That is a huge win. The greens combined with the tropical flavours of pineapple, banana and coconut worked really well together. The pineapple added the sweetness and the banana and coconut milk the creaminess. The coconut milk also made it dairy free so even hubby could enjoy it.

This tropical concoction will allow you to escape to somewhere warm, even if just for a minute.

Green Tropical Smoothie

1/2 cup pineapple, cubed
1 banana
1/2 cup spinach
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
ice

Place all the ingredients and blend until smooth.

chocolate chip, coconut, pecan banana bread

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I have a new helper in the kitchen. The little guy is always eager to see what’s cooking and to help out in any way possible. Z is 21 months and lately, when he thinks I’ll be doing something in the stand mixer, he pulls the chair to the counter, ready with measuring cups so that he can pour things in.

This morning we made banana bread, using up ripe bananas that we wanted to put to good use. We loaded up the batter with pecans, chocolate chips and coconut. The resulting bread was moist and full of character. We cut into it while it was still hot, it was too hard to resist!

Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Pecan Banana Bread

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Cream margarine and sugar together.  Once combined, add eggs and vanilla.  Next, mix in the dry ingredients – flour and baking soda.  Add the mashed bananas, sour cream along with the chocolate chips, pecans and coconut.

Add the batter to a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

candied pecans

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At our house, we are nuts for nuts. Like all kinds of nuts. One of my favourites though is pecans. I was looking for a way to perk up my salad and thought candied pecans would be perfect.

The coating is light and crispy and I loved the addition of the cinnamon and salt. They provided the perfect crunch that I needed for my salad but they were also great for snacking on. These are so good and very addictive. You have been warned.

Candied Pecans

1 cup pecan halves
1 egg white
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Beat the egg white until frothy. Add the pecans, cinnamon and salt and mix until coated. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes.