Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 lb (1 kg) stewing beef cubes
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 carton of beef broth
• 1 large tomato diced
• mini red or yellow potatoes halved or quartered
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 carrot, chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, toss beef cubes with flour, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Put beef in the slow cooker.
2. Add beef broth into the slow cooker.
3. Add tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves and rosemary; stir and cover. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.

Makes 6-8 servings

Freezer Food Prep:
Place onion, potatoes, celery, carrots, tomatoes, garlic first (in that order). Then add in the bay leaves and rosemary. The beef goes in last. That way when you put it into the slow cooker, the beef will be at the bottom.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup of sugar or 3/4 cup substitute sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 1 tsp pure vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sour milk (1tbsp white vinegar + rest, homogenized milk)

Instructions:

1. Butter and flour loaf pan or line non-stick pan with parchment paper with overhang on 2 sides. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl or mixer. 

3. Add eggs one at a time.  Add banana and vanilla extract.

4. Sift dry ingredients in medium bowl.

5. Add alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

6. Pour all batter in regular loaf pan. Place on bottom third of oven rack.  Rotate pan to upper third rack, halfway. Bake for 50-60 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Curry Chicken

Ingredients:
1 can of green curry (or red curry)
less than 1/2 a can of coconut cream
chicken/beef cut into chunks
frozen veggies
1 onion sliced
spaghetti
 
Instructions:
Pour a little curry into the frying pan.  Cook meat and then put aside. Using the same pan, pour the rest of the curry sauce and cook the veggies and onion slices. Then add some coconut cream (less than half the can) and stir.  Pour in the meat and cook on low.

If the sauce is too water-y, add cornstarch and/or let it simmer.

Add onto rice or spaghetti

Mediterranean Pie

Ingredients:
1 pkg ready made Puffed Pastry (thawed)
2 pkg chopped spinach (thawed)
2 large red bell peppers (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
3-4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (Monterey Jack is good too)
1 pkg (approx. 1/2 lb) deli sliced ham (honey or black forest)
6 eggs (4 if using a smaller spring form pan)
3/4 cup milk OR cream (1/2 cup if 4 eggs)
1 beaten egg for wash

Instructions:

Sautee onion and peppers just until thye sweat. Squeeze out all the water from spinach (must be very dry or you will have a soggy pie).

Roll out 1 piece of the puffed pastry to fit a spring form pan (bottom & up the sides), layer with 1/2 of ham, 1/2 spinach, 1/2 peppers & onion, top with 1/2 the cheese, repeat.

Beat together eggs and milk with some black pepper (no salt) pour over cheese and GENTLY pierce thru the layers but not the bottom pastry to let eggs seep thru. Top with the rolled out 2nd piece of pastry and loosely rool the edges closed.

Brush over with the egg wash, make steam vents in top of pastry. Bake in pre-heated 375 oven until inserted knife come out clean, approx 1 hr for smaller pan and an extra 15-30 minutes for a larger pan.

Bake in centre of the oven for first 1/2 hour then on the lower rack for the 2nd half to ensure a nicely browned bottom.

This reheats beautifully! 30-45 minutes at 350. Great for a Christmas Brunch.

Bean and Feta Salad

Ingredients:

1 stalk of green onion
1 tomato-seeded and chopped
1 cucumbers
6 bean mix-rinsed
a small handful of parsley curley
feta cheese - crumbled
1/4 cup soaked pearl barley

Dressing:
1 olive oil
1 red wine vinegar
dried mint
oregano
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar
2-3 cloves of minced garlic

Instructions:

Mix the salad and dressing separately. Put the ingredients for the salad in a small container that has an air tight/spill tight lid. Shake the container until the right consistency. Then pour the the dressing on the salad. Served best when left to sit overnight in the fridge.

Apple Crumble

Ingredients:

Topping
•1 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
•1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
•2 tbsp sugar
•1 large egg
•1 tsp vanilla
•1 3/4 cups all purpse flour
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/4 tsp baking powder
•1/4 tsp nutmeg

Fruit
•10 cups diced apple such as Granny Smith, Spy or Mutsu
•1/2 lemon, juiced
•1/3 cup sugar
•1 tsp cinnamon
•light brown or demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:
Topping
1.For topping, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg to combine. Add to butter mixture and combine just until blended. Wrap and chill while preparing fruit.

Fruit
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2.For fruit, toss diced apples with lemon juice in a 10-cup baking dish, then add sugar and cinnamon. Bake fruit for 30 minutes, then remove from oven. Grate crumble topping over apples using a cheese grater. Sprinkle crumble with brown or demerara sugar and return to oven. Bake for 30 minutes, until crumble is a rich golden brown and juices are bubbling. Serve warm with ice cream

Lemon Cupcakes Filled with Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest (or 1 tsp lemon extract)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
approx 1 1/2 cups lemon curd

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Adding the lemon zest early helps release more of its flavor. Blend in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla extract. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half of the milk. Add another 1/3 of the flour and the remaining milk, then stir in the remaining flour, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain.

Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each approx 2/3 to 3/4 full.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

To fill, use a melon baller to scoop a small hole in the top of each muffin. Alternatively, you can use a small knife to carve a small cone of cake out. Fill the depression with 2 tsp lemon curd.
Serve shortly after filling. Unfilled cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container until ready to fill and serve.

Makes 24 cupcakes.


Light Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

1/3 cup strained, fresh lemon juice
2 tsp fresh lemon zest
5 tbsp sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, combine sugar and lemon juice. Add zest and stir until sugar is dissolved completely.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat egg. Whisking constantly (or with an electric mixer on low), very slowly stream the hot lemon-sugar syrup into the egg. Beat for 2 minutes (only 1 if you’re using a mixer), then transfer back into the saucepan by pouring the mixture through a sieve.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the curd just comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Transfer to a small airtight container and store in the fridge.
Makes about 2/3 cup. Recipe can be doubled.