Joining "Food Revolution Fridays"

Today, I decided it is time to start changing the way we eat!

I mean enough is enough. It started earlier this week, my best friend told me about this documentary "Food Inc" which I wanted to watch, but was just able to see the first 15 mins. Believe me, that was enough to start questioning what I put in my mouth. I have also watched "Food Revolution" which is an initiative Jamie Oliver started in England and has now brought to America. He is trying to make us realize how Junk Food and all those excessive ingredient lists are triggering all sort of diseases, from Obesity, to Cancer, to Cardiovascular disease, etc. It is time for us to take back the control and understand what our food is made of and where is it coming from.

Today while I was reading the news paper I bumped into an amazing piece of news about a Canadian blogger Mom who felt the same way I do and started doing something about it! "Food Revolution Fridays". Now I joined the cause and I am posting my first Food Revolution Recipe! Home Made Pizza! Yes you can bake it at home and the result will be way healthier and more delicious than any grease fast food pizzerias out there!!.. So next time you have a craving for something delicious but healthy!.. think of this!...

Home Made Pizza 2 flavours:

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup of lukewarm water
2 1/4 tsp of instant yeast
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups of flour (you can use whole wheat flour)

Directions:

Sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the cup of water and let it sit for around 10 mins for the yeast to start bubbling. Meanwhile on a separate bowl add half the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix to bring all ingredients together. Then, add the yeast mixture. Use your hands for the mixing. Keep adding the remaining flour as needed until getting the right texture. The right texture is flexible and not sticky. After kneading the though for about 10 mins. you have to let it rest for 45 mins. in order for it to double on size.

Tomatoes & 3 cheeses

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
chopped basil
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup of goat's cheese
cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 minced garlic clove
salt & pepper
rosemary & 1 minced clove of garlic to mix with the pizza dough.

Directions:

When the dough is ready punch it down and stretch it out to fit on a pizza sheet. Mix the minced garlic with olive oil and spread it evenly on the pizza dough. On another bowl, mix the ricotta cheese with basil and again spread it evenly. Sprinkle the goat's cheese, tomatoes and mozzarella over the top. Finish it with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 400F for 20-25 mins or until dough is crisp.

Veggies Pizza

Ingredients:

2 boiled potatoes

a bunch of asparagus (season them with salt, olive oil & pepper)

1 cup of mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 minced clove of garlic

Directions:

Spread the olive oil and garlic, then sprinkle almost all the cheese and save some for topping it in the end. Place the potatoes and asparagus on top and finish it with a sprinkle of olive oil, the remaining cheese, salt & pepper. Bake the pizza for 20-25 mins. at 400F.

Tempura 主な訳語

For whatever reason I got more attached to sushi and Japanese food when I arrived to Canada. Even though in Mexico we also have sushi, and it is pretty similar to what Canadians are used to, we don't have sushi restaurants in every corner as you will find here, specially in Toronto!.. Anyways, Now that I have become such a Japanese food lover, I had to learn how to cook Tempura!!.. It is so good and a great appetizer!

I don't have a deep fryer, so having a thermometer was a huge help to get the temperature I needed. I highly recommend it!.. Also I know there are a couple of recipes for tempura, some say to use half wheat flour and half rice flour, and there are a bunch of other combinations but I used for this one only wheat flour and it turned out OK. And it's easier to have regular flour on your pantry.

Tempura:

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup of sparkling water

A bunch of broccoli florets

1/2 onion

2 sweet potatoes

1lb shrimp

Directions:

Fill 1/3 of a pot over high heat with vegetable oil until it hits 375F.

When the temperature is almost ready, prepare the flour mix. Combine the flour with the sparkling water, but don't over mix it, it's supposed to be lumpy. Coat the vegetables and shrimps one by one and.... start deep frying!

Onion & Tomatoes Tart

When you need to cook something quick and easy to entertain or just because you need a quick but tasty snack or lunch, it gets tricky sometimes to find recipes that are good enough to fullfill all the check marks on your list. I bumped up into this recipe which I made for the first time and was very very good. I added my personal touch and it turned out pretty great.

Hope you enjoy it too!

Onion & Tomatoes Tart

Ingredients:

135g puff pastry

2 tomatoes

1 yellow onion finely chopped

fresh sage

fresh thyme

crumbled goat's cheese

1 tbsp olive oil

grated lemon rind

parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400F. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface into a rectangular shape (3mm thick). Place the pastry on a tray. To make the filling heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Heat the onions, herbs and lemond rind until the onions are soft and golden. Sprinkle goat's cheese on the tart leaving a 2cm border. Then spread the onions, place the tomatoes on top, sprinkle some parmesan cheese and drizzle some olive oil on top. Bake for 25-30 mins or until pastry is puffed and golden.

St. Lawrence Market

I know I've talked about the St. Lawrence Market before. The thing is I really do enjoy buying my ingredients there, you end up meeting all this amazing people that can offer you different products and sometimes even suggest how to cook and match different ingredients, which I think it's amazing!.. They are so nice and will always receive you with a big smile!

As you walk through the market you'll see all this fresh ingredients waiting to be picked! And sometimes is hard to resist not to take them home with you. Most of the things you'll find there come from local farmers, and I am totally in favour of supporting our people!..

The smell, different textures, noise and people will make you realize how full of life it is.

Every time I need a nice cut of beef I go to Upper Cut Meats, located on the main floor on the South Building.. It is always fresh and amazing!! .. They have also helped me find great options that accommodate my budget.

For Fruit and Vegetables I always go to Family Foods, it is always very fresh and they have a great variety. I was able to find Chiles Serranos there and believe me those are hard to find.

And for the best Cheese in town I always go to Alex Farms. The best mild Gouda I've ever tried. They have a huge selection of great quality cheeses! They are so delicious!!.. Every week I go there to buy 1 kilo of Gouda cheese.. YES! In my house we do eat lots and lots of cheese!!!..

White Chocolate Tart

What kinda girl doesn't like chocolate???? I don't believe there is such thing. I bet any girl knows how to appreciate a good piece of quality chocolate; either milk, dark or white. You name it. Chocolate comes from the seed of the tropical cacao tree which has been cultivated in Mexico since 1100 BC. The Aztecs used to make chocolate beverages known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". Chocolate beverages were often flavored with vanilla, chili pepper, and achiote (known today as annatto). The Maya civilization used to grew Cacao trees to produce xocolātl as well. Actually the word "Chocolate" which we use today, derived from the Nahuatl word "xocolātl".

Even though you don't believe that chocolate has benefits other than giving you great pleasure, there are potential beneficial health effects of eating chocolate. Cocoa or dark chocolate benefits the circulatory system. Other beneficial effects include anticancer, brain stimulator and cough preventor. But of course, although chocolate has it's good things.. you also have to eat it in moderation.

My recipe today doesn't include the healthy dark chocolate I was just talking about, but instead I used white chocolate which in fact is mostly cocoa butter, sugar, milk and vanilla... but I just felt like I needed a little treat for the weekend!!...
If you also feel that you deserve a little something special for the weekend ... here it goes:

White Chocolate Tart

Ingredients:

375g of shortcrust pastry

225 g blackberries

Filling:

300g white chocolate, chopped

2 cups cream

4 egg yolks

Directions:

Preheat oven at 400F. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface. Place the pastry in a 25cm removable-base tart tin. Prick the pastry with a fork and top with a piece of non-stick baking paper. Fill with baking weights and bake for 5 mins. Remove weights and paper and cook for a further 6 mins or until pastry is a light golden colour.

For the filling, Place the chocolate and cream in a sauce pan over low heat and stir until smooth. Then take away from the heat and let cool. Add the egg yolks and whisk until smooth. Pour the mixture into the tart and bake at 275F for 25 mins or until the tart is just set. Refrigerate until cold and firm. To serve top the tart with blackberries.

Morning Easter

Is there a better way to celebrate Easter than with Blueberry Pancakes!!!?? Fortunately, I was able to find blueberries at a great deal on the market!! So, I cooked them today! 

Happy Easter!!!

Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of sea salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups whole milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus melted for frying
1 1/2 cups of blueberries

Directions:

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until well mixed and make a well in the center.

Pour the eggs, milk and the 2 tbsp melted butter into the well, then gradually whisk from the center outward, until the ingredients are well combined but still s little lumpy; do not over mix the batter, or the pancakes will be heavy. Very gently stir in the blueberries. And mix again. The batter should be thick.

Preheat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and get started.. create perfect circles with the batter. When the pancakes have begun to bubble in the center, a few of the bubbles have popped, and the undersides are golden, after about 2 mins, use the spatula to flip them and cook the second side until golden.

Eat them all!!!! and Happy Easter!!!