Twisted Parmesan Herb Buns

 The summer has been an unbearably hot one, and we have been staying away from the stove and oven as much as possible.I'm not complaining, because I actually love all this sunshine and warm weather. but our poor lawn is almost turned to hay!
Today we woke to some rain and a much cooler day.
I had made a pulled pork in the crock pot and was planning to make some homemade potato buns, but after a busy morning found myself with not enough time required to make them..
In the end because I was craving some type of homemade yeast bread, I decided to make these yummy soft fat bread twists.
They literally require only 15 minutes of prep time, an hour to rise, and then another 20 minutes to rest and bake. You can top them with almost anything you feel like, caraway seeds, sesame,rosemary or like I did with some grated Parmesan, sea salt and herb De Provence. I hope you try these as they really do melt in your mouth.

TWISTED HERB BREAD STICKS
1T. yeast
2T. sugar
11/2C. warm water

Mix all these in your mixing bowl

Add
31/2C flour
1tsp.salt

With your dough hook knead for 5 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the bowl.
I then take the dough and lightly oil the bowl ,return the dough and cover with cling wrap and let rise for 1 hour or until double in size.

Flour your counter and roll out the dough into a rectangle about 15X20. with a pizza cutter cut 12 strips about 11/2 inches wide.

Melt 1/4C of butter
 Por the melted butter right  on to your baking sheet.

 Take your stip of cut dough and coat it in the melted butter ,
 fold the dough strip in half and then twist and lay in a row on your baking sheet.

Repeat the same way with all your stripes.

When they are all in the pan  side by side,you are ready to dress them up any way you want. I generously sprinkled Parmesan cheese, salt and herbs on mine. Let rise for another 20 minutes while you preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
Beware, when they come out of the oven they won't last long!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH GINGER

I like to serve smooth soups when I entertain, they are appetizing but not heavy and very unfussy to prepare. You can make them ahead of time when entertaining and then just reheat.  If you wish you can add a little bit of heavy cream to "rich" it up and make it a bit fancy for your guests, or if serving  for your family, a garnish of parsley makes it just as festive .

BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH GINGER
2 butternut squash about 4-5 lbs in total
2 T vegetable oil
2 C thinly sliced onions
1 T golden brown sugar
2 tsp.minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves coarsely chopped
1/2 cinnamon stick
5 C vegetable/or chicken broth ( you can use more broth if desire)

Pre-heat oven to 375.
Oil a baking sheet.
Cut your squash in half and place  flesh side down and bake until soft , at least 50 minutes.
Using a paring knife cut off the skin on your baked squash and then cut in chunks.
Heat oil in in your soup pot, add the onions, garlic,ginger and cinnamon stick.
Cook about 15 minutes until onion are tender.
Add your broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for another 20 minutes.

At this stage you can  puree in batches to your desired  consistency,serve immediately or refrigerate for use the next day.
Garnish with a dollop of heavy cream swirled to impress your guests or
garnish with parsley.

ORANGE DATE SQUARES

After 36 years of marriage you would think that I would know what my husband liked  for something a little sweet to nibble on. For example I know that when he had his nose job after making contact with a rugby cleat all he asked for were his mother's chocolate chip cookies. In a torte he always asks for a Frankfurter Kranz,at Christmas he loves Red Velvet cake and Nanaimo bars, and he especially enjoys a good pound cake or banana cake with a cup of tea. So why am I posting a date square? Because whenever we are invited out where someone serves a date square, my husband chirps quite pleasantly how ,"date squares", are his favourite!! Really??  I swear , his mother never made a date square in her life, neither did my mom or for that matter any one of my sisters....oh wait, he tells me that his Aunt Louise makes date squares... whatever!The point being after all these years surely he would have asked me to make some..before now .

While it may not be a new recipe for you,but it is most certainly my first attempt at making these squares. I probably should have called Aunt Louise,but instead I chose to go to a Canadian Living recipe where I know for sure recipes are tested and guaranteed not to fail.

 Dates are a good source of fibre, and I must admit these squares are satisfying and quite delicious and would make a good morning snack...they are just a bit too sweet for my tastes.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon grated orange rind
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter cubed
1/3 cup sliced hazelnuts (optional)

Filling
375 grams pitted dates
3/4 cup sugar
2Tbsp. lemon juice
2Tbsp. orange juice

Preparation

Filling:In a saucepan stir together 2 cups water ,dates,sugar, lemon and orange juices and let stand for 30 minutes.
Bring to boil and reduce heat to medium and boil gently, stirring often, until thickened, around 10 minutes. Let cool.

In large bowl whisk together oats,sugar,flour,orange rind and salt.
Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Press 1/2 of oat mixture evenly into an 8 inch square parchment lined pan.
Spread with date mixture.
Toss remaining oat mixture with hazelnuts if you are using them, sprinkle over date mixture pressing lightly.
Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 minute.

MIA

Ron and I have been missing for a while, well not really... just a whole lot of unfortunate events that has kept us from blogging.
At the end of August after some continued minor home repairs to our home, it came to our attention that my camera was missing. Ron had taken some picture of a nagging problem he had with the kitchen floor, and took it over to Home Depot for some advise. I thought I saw the camera in the car, he says he brought it home. Long story short, the camera is gone! Home Depoy doesn;t have it , we checked all the cars, the house, all our little nooks and cranies...no little red camera. He had it last!

Barb, lent me her super expensive Nikon, (you need a degree in engineering to figure it out) I took some lovely food pictures,but was remiss about posting them promptly. When a few spare moments came along and I was ready to blog, I could not find the cable that went from the camera to the computer to download the pictures! Truth be told I still haven't told her it's missing and now her camera is also dead as a doornail. Oh my... do you think I have to go to a camera store to replace this part? Surely it will turn up soon? But then neither has my little camera that I loved so much.

I guess all good things come to an end eventually, and change ultimately sometimes is for the good, well time will tell. In the meantime no food pictures, no yummy recipes,no conversations...how quickly the months have flown by and how I have missed my little blog and here it is almost Christmas ...so  from my heart a sincere wish for all of you to have your lives filled with the joy and happiness that this holiday season has to offer. Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah to everyone. See you all in the New Year, I'm sure a new camera will be under the tree waiting for me.

English Fish and Chips in a Beer Batter

 It was a dreary day here in Ottawa... oh don't get me wrong the sun did make a feeble attempt at peeking out a few times today, but basically it was a good day for laundry and a good book.

I really don't know where the craving came from , because we usually don't eat this greasy , so if you have a heart condition , or are watching calories stay clear  from this recipe.

However, once in a while, it isn't so horrible or terrible to have a little indulgence.
 I made homemade fries and had haddock in the freezer although a cod is also a good fish for this dish. I must say, the batter was really light and 3 minutes on each side for the fish was the perfect time for a beautiful tender flaky fish. I like mine with a spritz of lemon , the hubby with tartar sauce. Either way you like it, sometimes the day just calls for a good fry.

Beer Batter
140 g. flour
50g. corn starch
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg beaten
250mi. beer
Mix the first 4 ingredients
In another bowl beat the egg and then mix with the beer,
Incorporate the beer mixture into the dry ingredients. Whisk and make sure there are no lumps.
Make sure that your fish has no bones and that the fillets are dried with a paper towel, the batter stick better to the fish and stays crispier when the fish is fried.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan and when hot fry the fish one piece at a time,
Garnish with fries, lemon wedge and tartar sauce.

Israeli Couscous Mediterranean Salad

 Our August weather is still holding up quite nicely and with the sun shinning and the out door temperatures still hovering up there a cool salad for supper seemed to be the answer for a quick supper meal.

 I had some cooked shrimp in the freezer, olives and feta are a staple in our house as are grape tomatoes,cucumbers and a bunch of dill...this was definitely becoming a Mediterranean salad.  I had some Israeli couscous which is actually a wheat pasta, but you could use whatever pasta or orzo you have at hand.Voila Done.

MUSTARD DILL DRESSING
1/4 cup fresh dill
3 T. Dijon mustard
1/4 c. good white wine vinegar
1/2 C olive oil
salt and pepper
Pulse first 3 ingredients in blender, then gradually pour in the olive oil, season to taste.

SALAD
Prepare 1 lb. Israeli couscous according to instruction.(Ratio 1cup to 4 cups of water.)
1large cucumber peeled and cubed
3 -4 green onions sliced
1 sl. package of grape tomatoes , halved
1/2 c.cup lalamata olives  halved
20 shrimp cooked

Note: The hubby loved the salad, but he did make a suggestion and that was to have grilled the shrimp or served them up in a garlic butter with bay spice. I had just defrosted the cooked shrimp and tossed them in the dressing along with the rest of the ingredients. Maybe a little bland. Your choice. 

Easy Beer Bread and Corn Chowder

 I'm not really a fan of corn I know everyone is in shock now... don't get me wrong I enjoy my corn on the cob, especially with a good lobster boil, or roasted on the grill yummy... but by the third time I tend to pass on this summer crowd pleaser. Last week, my neighbour offered me some corn and because it was a busy week I am ashamed to say that the corn never even made it to the fridge. I hate to spoil food so the corn was quickly grilled then scraped off the cob. I quickly sauteed 3 sliced celery ribs with a large diced onion in some olive oil. Added that to 4 cups of milk, 2 cans of creamed corn 2 potatoes that I cubed and then in went the roasted corn for a quick corn chowder soup.Bacon Garnish optional

Over at Stone Gable , Yvonne had posted this or a similar recipe and included this super simple Beer Bread that I just had to make . Not only is this a simple bread recipe but quick to make in a pinch.

Beer Bread

21/4 C. flour

3T. sugar

1/2 tsp,bakeing sodar

1 T bakeing powder

Mix all the above ingredients.

1 bottle beer

1T oil

ix the oil in the beer and then pour into the flour mixture. Mix just until batter is incorporated. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 400 for about 45 minutes until golden. ( If you wish pour 1 T. melted butter over beer bread before bakeing.)