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egg boats

May 26, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Hard to believe my sister is getting married in two weeks! With her and her fiance living in two different countries, it’ll be nice for them to finally be together.

Before my sister and her fiance headed out of town for one last adventure before their wedding, we had a little family breakfast as a send off.  We had lots of sweets – pain au chocolat, tres leches cake, chocolate chip cookies.  We also had fresh fruit, turkey bacon, chicken sausages, hashbrowns, samosas…and egg boats!

I was going to do my usual frittata.  Always a hit and super easy, it’s one of my go-to breakfasts.  I came across this egg boat though on Pinterest and knew I had to change it up.

This recipe comes from the site Spoon Fork Bacon.  I loved the idea of the eggs baked into the bread with all those veggies.  The result was a very tasty breakfast and something a little different.

Instead of using mini baguettes, we used two long ones to feed the crowd.  I kind of wish I did one more to enjoy for breakfast the next day. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Egg Boats
Adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon

1 long baguette
6 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated cheddar
2 green onions, sliced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut a deep “V” through the top of the baguette until about a 1/2 inch to the bottom. Partially unstuff the baguettes.

Place the eggs and cream into a mixing bowl and lightly beat together. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and lightly season with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into the baguette boat and place onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown, puffed and set in the center.

Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, cut and serve.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: breakfast, celebrations

kofta curry

May 21, 2012 By Fareen 1 Comment

Hubby came home today after being away for ten days.  Yay! It felt like he was gone for ages and Q and I were really happy to have him home.  I made sure to welcome hubby home with one of his favourite meals – kofta curry.

This recipe is his mom’s recipe, kinda sorta.  She has mastered every dish without a recipe so, although I was able to get the ingredients, I had to guess on some of the measurements.

The meal turned out great!  The curry was tasty and flavourful and the meatballs were soft and tender.  Hubby ate his over rice while I ate sopped mine up with delicious roti.  Even Q loved it, licking his fingers and saying “mmmm….”.

Kofta Curry

1.5 pounds ground beef
1/2 heaping TB crushed garlic
1/2 heaping TB crushed ginger
1/2 TB ground cumin
1/2 TB ground coriander
1/4 tsp tumeric
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
handful chopped cilantro

2 TB oil
6 TB crushed tomatoes
3 TB fried onions
2 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp salt
1 TB garlic
1.5 cups water

Mix the ground beef with the spices until incorporated.  Make into small balls.

Add the tomatoes and spices to the oil and cook the spices for a couple of minutes.  Add the water and let it come to a boil.  Carefully place the meatballs into the pan and cook on high for about 10 minutes.  Reduce the heat and let it simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.  Sprinkle with cilantro and serve over rice or with roti.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: indian food

cinnamon buns – happy mother’s day!

May 14, 2012 By Fareen 1 Comment

After discovering last month Q’s love of cinnamon rolls at the mall, I knew it was something I wanted to try at home.  Q loves being in the kitchen and helping mamma so it was the perfect project for Mother’s Day.  I searched for a recipe similar to Cinnabon and discovered this recipe from Joshua Kennon.

There was some resting time required but it was a really simple recipe.  Q helped out with measuring ingredients, rolling out the dough and slathering on the butter.

This recipe made quite a few rolls – 12 large ones and then 12 mini ones from the scrap.  It was so fun watching the rolls rise into each other. 

The best part was the intoxicating smell as these rolls baked.  The smells competed with the gorgeous lilies I received for Mother’s Day.  Mmmmm….

While the buns were baking, I whipped up some of the cream cheese frosting I’ve used on muffins and it went great with the buns!  You just can’t beat fresh out of the oven cinnamon buns.

It was an awesome day!  Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms out there.  Hope your day was as great as mine!

Cinnamon Buns
Adapted from Joshua Kennon

1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

Microwave the milk for 45 to 60 seconds. Then, dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix well. Allow the dough to come together with the dough hook of the mixer.

Put the ball of dough into a bowl that is sprayed with cooking spray.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for roughly 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. 

Once the dough has risen, roll it out into a 16 x 21″ rectangle.  Spread the softened butter on the dough and then sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll up the dough starting with the longer side and cut into 12 cinnamon rolls (or more smaller rolls, if you prefer). To even out the rectangle, I cut off all the edges and the scraps made an additional 12 mini rolls.

Place the cinnamon rolls in a lightly greased rectangular pan. Let the rolls rise another 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degree.  Once your cinnamon rolls have risen, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, approximately 18 to 20 minutes.

Eat warm as is or with some delicious cream cheese frosting.

Filed Under: foodmamma

smashburger

May 8, 2012 By Fareen 5 Comments

Calgary’s newest burger joint is Smashburger.  The restaurant officially opened on May 2nd and I was excited to try out the burgers at a blogger preview the day before.  Tom Ryan, the founder, spent time with us explaining the chain while we enjoyed the menu.

Smashburger gets its name from how the burgers are prepared – smashed on the grill.  Fresh Angus beef meatballs are pressed with a smasher between a buttered grill and wax paper.  According to Tom, this allows the burger to cook up rather than out and locks in the juices.

The menu is quite extensive, featuring both beef burgers, chicken burgers, sides, salads, shakes and hot dogs.

I especially loved the tea bar.  This is perfect for people like hubby or my sister who just don’t like carbonated drinks.

The three of us at our table ordered 3 different burgers and sides and decided to share so we could get the full variety.

In regards to the sides, we tried the Smashfries and the Sweet Potato Smashfries, both of which were tossed with rosemary, olive oil and garlic.  I loved the sweet potato fries the best and found myself munching on these until the very end, even after I was stuffed.

Another great side were the fried pickes.  I have seen these on numerous menus and finally decided to give these a try.  The salty discs of pickles that were breaded and fried were really tasty.  Being a pickle fan, I know Q will really enjoy these!

We also had the veggie frites, sticks of carrots and beans that were flash fried. A great alternative for those avoiding carbs.

The first burger I tried was the Mushroom Swiss.  I think this was one of my favourites.  The patty itself was really moist! The burger was topped with garlic sauteed mushrooms, swiss cheese and mayo and was served on an egg bun.

We also ordered a spinach and goat cheese burger which was originally meant for chicken but we ordered it with beef.  This was a messy one but really good!  It had goat cheese, cucumbers, spinach, tomato, onion and a balsamic vinaigrette and was sandwiched between a multi-grain bun.  The tangy goat cheese was quite prominent, so if you’re not a fan, this is not the burger to order.

The chicken burger we tried was the avocado club, minus the bacon.  Creamy avocado in any sandwich is always a hit.  I was surprised by how moist the chicken was!

If you’re not a burger fan, Smashburger also has salads.  Tom made sure that we had one at our table and we were able to see how huge they were.

Don’t forget to try a milkshake when you’re there.  Milkshakes are made with local MacKay’s ice cream.  We sampled both the Vanilla and Saskatoon Berry but Vanilla was easily my favourite.  It went great with all those burgers.

Want to try out Smashburger for yourself?  If you’re in the Calgary area, leave a comment with your email address or send me a tweet (@fareenjj) by Thursday at midnight and I will make a draw for some gift certificates on Friday.

Smashburger on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma

wordless wednesday: the best part about helping mamma

May 2, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Filed Under: foodmamma

funky monkey snack giveaway

April 29, 2012 By Fareen 4 Comments

Funky Monkey Snacks has graciously donated a 7 flavour sampler pack of their fruit snacks.

Funky Monkey Snacks are real fruit snacks,
made using a freeze-drying process that creates Fruit That
Crunches while retaining nearly all of the fruit’s natural goodness.

On May 1st at 9 am MST Funky Monkey Snacks
will be hosting a twitter chat. Questions can be asked
to @funkymonkeysnck and the hashtag for the twitter chat
will be #funkychat.

Contest closes at midnight on May 2nd.


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a Rafflecopter giveaway
<a href=”http://rafl.es/enable-js”>You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.

Filed Under: foodmamma

easy eggs benedict

April 22, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

To celebrate our anniversary, hubby and I thought it would be fun to spend some time in the kitchen and attempt to make eggs benedict.  I had made it years before but the hollandaise just didn’t seem right and the poached egg did not look like what I would order at a restaurant.  I am so thrilled that I found Kitchen Magpie‘s instructions on making EASY eggs benedict.  When I poached eggs years earlier, I had used a huge pot.  Turns out all you need is a pan – less depth seemed to hold the eggs together.  1 TB of vinegar in boiling water, 3 minutes later, you have the perfect poached egg.

The blender hollandaise was super easy and came together perfectly.  3 egg yolks, 2 tsp lemon juice and a pinch of salt whirred together.  1/2 cup of hot melted butter drizzled into the mix and you have the simplest and tastiest hollandaise.

The perfectly cooked poached egg was laid upon a slice of turkey bacon on an english muffin.  Topped with the buttery sauce and some pepper, it was a tasty way to start the day.

Filed Under: foodmamma

happy six year anniversary!

April 15, 2012 By Fareen 2 Comments

Today hubby and I are celebrating our six year anniversary!  It seems like just yesterday that we were planning and organizing our big event.  The years have just flown by.  For our honeymoon, we took a Caribbean cruise.  While docked in St. Thomas, hubby and I did an underwater scooter adventure – the BOB (Breathing Observation Bubble).  Basically you ride a scooter under the water and only your head is covered in a bubble.  Being somewhat of a chicken, it was something I never ever imagined myself doing.  We had such a great time and we purchased an underwater camera just to capture these moments riding with the fish.  We returned from our trip and completely forgot about the camera with the precious pictures.  This past week, I found the camera!  I rushed to get it developed hoping that the film didn’t get damaged after six years.  Even though they were a little fuzzy, I was thrilled to see the pictures were still there!

Happy Anniversary love!  Looking forward to many more adventures with you.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: celebrations

tango bistro

April 13, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Hubby and I were able to take some time a couple of weekends ago for date night.  We had a voucher for Tango Bistro and, after hearing so much about their “small plates”, was excited to try something new.  Tango Bistro is part of the Smuggler’s group and in the same complex as Smuggler’s Inn, Bolero and Open Sesame. 

We had a super friendly waiter who was happy to make recommendations and help us choose what to eat.  We started out with the Wonton Crusted Prawns.  These were served on top of some Togarashi Mayo and were delicious!

The next item that was brought out was the trio of dips. The dips included an olive tapenade, a sesame lime hummus and a goat cheese with sundried tomatoes in olive oil.  The goat cheese was my favourite!  The dips were served with a nice soft flatbread that was perfect for scooping.

I am so happy that our server recommended the Seared Sea Bass.  This was my favourite meal of the night and was served with a roasted garlic risotto and mushrooms.  The fish was cooked to perfection and the sauce that was on top was light and flavourful.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Our last dish was the Mixed Grill.  This dish contained a few pork items but the restaurant was happy to make some substitutions and accomodate us.  Venison smokies and an Alberta tenderloin served with some potatoes on the side.  Just looking at this dish, you can tell that this was hubby’s favourite.

We were incredibly stuffed from our meal and had no room for dessert.  With all the tasty offerings though, we are sure to be eating there again.

Tango Bistro on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: eating out

chevdo

April 10, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

It’s exactly two months until my sister gets married!  We are super excited for her big day so she can marry the love of her life.

A huge part of an Indian wedding is the food.  With lots of people traveling for the wedding, it’s nice to have snacks around, like chevdo.  Chevdo is an indian snack mix, mostly filled with fried lentils and peanuts.  With my sister’s allergies, this is something she has had to stay away from.

I was intrigued when I saw Aarti Sequeira’s recipe for chevdo that had no chickpeas.  The peanuts were easily replaced and it made for a dish that my sister can actually enjoy.  I knew I had to give this recipe a try.  I made an addition of coriander seeds, which added a lemony taste to the mix.  I still had some Christmas Rice Krisipies left which added some fun colour with flecks of red and green.

Looking forward to my sister’s return so that she can finally try some chevdo.

Chevdo
Adapted from Aarti Sequeira of Aarti Party.

2 cups Corn Flakes
2 cups Rice Krispies
1/4 cup almonds, halved
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 TB oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
5 dried curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup plantain chips
salt

In a large pan over medium heat, toast the cereals, pumpkin seeds and almonds for about 2 minutes.  Remove from the pan.

Warm the oil in the same pan over medium heat.  Add the mustard seeds, coriander seeds, curry leaves and turmeric.  Cook for 30 seconds and remove from the heat. 

Add the cereal mixture and plantain chips.  Season with salt and toss until combined.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: indian food, snack

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Hello!

My name is Fareen and I'm so happy you stopped by! This blog is about my favourite things - family, food and travel. Here you will find adventures with hubby, my two boys and my great big family. There is food (lots of food!), as much travel as we can squeeze in and just life in general.

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