Sweet and Savoury Spiced Nuts

I loved this recipe for spiced nuts.  You can use any combination of nuts with this recipe.  I will often use walnuts, pecans and almonds.  They are great to eat by the handful or to be used as a garnish for salads and side dishes.  Be careful because it can be hard to control how many you eat!

Sweet and Savoury Spiced Nuts

2 cups of nuts 

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp all spice

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp oil

1. Heat the oven to 350.  Spread the nuts on the backing sheet and toast until they are fragrant (about 6 minutes).
2. Stir together the spices and salt in a bowl.
3. In a saucepan, combine the water, brown sugar, vanilla and oil.  Bring this to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.
4. Stir in the nuts and continue to stir until all the nuts are shiny and the liquid is gone.
5. Move the glazed nuts to a mixing bowl and sprinkle on the spice mix.  Toss the nuts to ensure they are coated in the spice mixture.
6. Spread the coated nuts on a cookie sheet and return to the oven for another 4 minutes.  Be sure to check regularly to make sure they do not burn.
7. Remove and let cool.

Poulet Dijonnaise

This is a fantastic recipe my mom has been making for years and I have always enjoyed it.  I love the richness of the flavour and how easy it is to prepare. It is wonderful because you can make full size portions or appetizer size portions.  This is a great one to make in advance to freeze in whatever portion size you need.  If you are going to freeze them, wrap them individually and freeze them before baking them in the phyllo dough. When you take it out of the freezer, reheat frozen at 425 for 25 minutes.
The recipe below is how to make it in an oven but I have also done this in a crockpot by putting the chicken, dijon, whipping cream, salt and pepper in.  I cooked it on high for about 4 hours and then pulled the chicken breasts apart with forks.

Poulet Dijonnaise

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts1/4 cup Dijon mustardpan juices from cooked chicken2 cups whipping cream salt and white pepper16 sheets of phyllo dough, defrosted1 cup butter1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1. Season chicken breasts. Place in a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-50 minutes (or until just cooked).  
2. Remove meat, cool, skin and cut into small pieces. 
3. Remove excess fat from pan juices, add mustard and deglaze over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. 
4. Gradually stir in light cream, salt and pepper. 
5. Lower heat and cook slowly until the liquid is reduce by one-quarter. 
6. Add chicken to sauce. Set aside and cool.  (I take out the phyllo pastry at this point)

Rectangular Single Servings

Butter one layer of phyllo, top with a second layer. Butter second layer. and sprinkle with a few bread crumbs. Place one-eighth of filling in rectangle about two inches from the narrow end of phyllo closest to you.  Fold two-inch end over the chicken filling. Smooth right and left-end edges down. Then fold left and right sides up to centre of the rectangle of filling. Butter the new unbuttered sides you have exposed. Sprinkle the same with bread crumbs.  Then finish rolling the individual serving up ensuring that the last edge is placed face down on the cooking sheet. Brush with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes.  

Triangles

Butter one sheet of phyllo and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Envision vertical lines at the 1/3 and 2/3 marks of a vertical sheet of phyllo.  Fold left third over the centre third, then fold the right third, over the centre. Place a spoon full of filling into the bottom corner of the new three-layer piece of phyllo.  Fold diagonally, triangle over triangle, as if folding a flag. Place seam side down (Cut off any extra left after the last fold)

Sugar Cookies

Decorating sugar cookies has always been one of the exciting Christmas time activities for me. I remember growing up having so much fun making them every year.  It is a good thing I enjoy making them because my family eats them very quickly.  I remember one year, I made a double batch of sugar cookies and they only lasted a day. Even though we are adults now, my siblings still seem to expect for me to make them some sugar cookies each year. This year I am in charge of bringing dessert for Christmas dinner and as I was telling my sister what I was planning on making, she interrupted me sentence to make sure I was going to be bringing sugar cookies. I really like this recipe, the cookies always turn out so nicely.  I usually make a triple batch and the measurements seem to lend themselves to a triple batch easily. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Sugar Cookies

2/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. 
2.  Add granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. 
3. Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla until combined. 
4. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with a mixer and then stir in the rest by hand. 
5. Cover the dough and chill for at least 30 minutes or until it is easy to work with. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough so it is about 1/8 of an inch thick and cut into desired shapes. 
6. Bake at 375 for 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and the bottoms are very lightly browned.

Turkey Tetrazzini

We love turkey season in our house because we are able to get several meals out of one bird.  We will often purposely make a bird much larger than we need to feed everyone just so we have lots of leftovers for various leftover turkey recipes.
I think this is one of my favourite recipes to use up the extra meat.  I will sometimes make this a gluten free recipe by using cornstarch instead of flour to thicken the sauce, leave out the bread crumbs and use spaghetti squash in lieu of the noodles.  Regardless of what I use, this casserole gets eaten up quickly without complaints.

Turkey Tetrazzini

1 tbsp butter

1 onion, finely chopped

4 ribs of celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

3/4 cup frozen peas

1 cup sliced mushrooms

pinch of salt and pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup flour

4 cups broth

1 cup parmesan cheese, divided

4 oz cream cheese

8 oz pasta of your choice (cooked)

2 cups diced turkey meat

1/2 bread crumbs

1. Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the onions, celery, carrots and mushrooms until they are tender.
2. Add the flour and stir until the vegetables are coated.  
3. Add the wine and stir until the flour has been absorbed
4. Gradually add the broth, stirring constantly.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil, and reduce heat.  Frequently stir the mixture while it simmers for five minutes.
6. Remove from the heat and add the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese, stirring until they melt.
7. Add the peas, pasta and turkey.  Make sure you combine the new additions well.
8. Transfer the mixture to a oiled casserole dish.
9. Combine the remaining parmesan cheese and the bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture.
10. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes and allow it to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know I have found a good recipe when it disappears quickly and everybody asks me for the recipe.  This is one of those recipes and a couple of people have reminded me they would like the recipe so I better post it.
These cookies are soft, lovely and moist.  I love the spice combination in them, I always add extra spice to cookies.  Please note that this recipe has the increased spice values in it so if you want a more subtle spice to the cookies I suggest you reduce the amount of spices you use. These cookies freeze well, but the trick is keeping them in there.  I hope you enjoy this twist on chocolate chip cookies.
*Note these cookies are chilled for 3 hours before they are baked so don't start by preheating the oven.

Pumpkin Chocolat Chip Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar, plus 1/3 cup for coating

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 tbsp molasses

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, plus 3/4 tsp for coating

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Pinch of salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup white sugar.  
2. Beat in the egg and vanilla until they are light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the pumpkin and molasses.
4. Combine the remaining dry ingredients (sans the cinnamon and sugar needed for the coating) in a separate bowl.  I suggest giving this a smell to see if you want to alter the spices.
5. Gradually start adding the mixture to the wet and make sure it incorporates completely.  
6. Stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Form the dough into balls about the size of two table spoons and place them on a plate.  I suggest having some wax paper between the layers on the plate.  Chill for 3 hours,
8. Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
9. Combine the remaining cinnamon and sugar.  Roll the dough in the coating before placing them on the cookie sheets and lightly press them down with a fork.  Make sure there is good spacing between the cookies.
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges and tops have started to set.  The cookies firm up as they cool.

Apple Cheddar Biscuits

I like to have some bread or a biscuit to enjoy soup with, especially when the soup is so tasty I want to mop up every last drop of it to be sure that none is wasted.  I don't have time to make a nice french loaf very often and getting all of us out of the house to go pick up a loaf from the local baker is sometimes a little daunting.  Especially on rainy days when every one is tired.
I have had a bunch of old magazines with recipes I have wanted to try piling up in my house over the years.  Recently I have decided to look through them and tear out the recipes I think I will actually try and then recycle the rest.  After I try the recipe, if I like it I will post it so I don't have to keep the loose recipe around and I know I will always be able to find it when I want it.  The other day I found this wonderful biscuit recipe in Canadian Living.  It is a perfect biscuit to enjoy with fall soups.  They were a hit in our house and one of my little ones kept sliding a chair to the counter so she could help herself to them.  The batch didn't even last 24 hours.  I am sure I will be making these again soon.

 Apple Cheddar Biscuits

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cold butter cubed

1 cup shredded extra-old Cheddar cheese

1 cup grated, cored and peeled baking apple

2 tbsp minced chives or green onions

3/4 cup milk

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
2. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse oatmeal with a few large pieces.
3. Stir in the cheddar, apple and chives.
4. Using a fork, stir in the milk to form a ragged dough.
5. Drop into roughly 1/3 cup mounds on a parchment lined baking sheet.
6. Bake at 425 for 13-15 minutes or until they are lightly browned.

Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup

I know it has been a while my friends but life has been very busy with two little ones and lots more.  I have tried lots of recipes and I need to get better at posting my favourites.  Our garden was wonderful this year and I have been trying lots of new ways to use up the various squash and pumpkins we grew this year.  I have also found my new favourite type of pumpkin.  It's colour is amazing, I love it's shape, I love how easy it is to prepare for baking and most importantly it has a wonderful flavour!  For those of you who garden as well I got the seeds from Renee's Garden and they are called Cinderella's Carriage Antique French Pumpkins.

I had some leftover pumpkin puree from making some other delicious pumpkin recipes (I will try to post them soon) and needed to make dinner so I decided on a curried pumpkin soup I came across a while back.  This soup turned out amazing.  Everybody loved it. My husband even said he was sorry he didn't have to take lunch in to work tomorrow because he loves it when his coworkers comment on how wonderful his lunches smell when he heats them up in the office kitchen.

 Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup

1/4 cup butter

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 cups chicken stock

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 can coconut milk

1. In a heavy bottomed stock pan, melt the butter and sauté the onions until they begin to brown.  
2. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant.
3. Add the stock, salt and spices and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and allow this to simmer covered for 20 minutes to deepen the flavour of the broth.
4. Add the pumpkin and coconut milk and blend using an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender.
5. Allow the soup to reach desired temperate before serving.

This soup goes well with a biscuit to help clean the bowl with.  I found a great Apple Cheddar biscuit recipe I made along with it.