Pineapple and Yam Cake February 23, 2009

What to do with some pieces of fresh (or canned) pineapple that you don’t wanna eat anymore and some yam you didn’t use? Just make a pineapple and yam cake! You’ll need: 1 and 1/4 cup of oil or butter, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, salt, baking soda, 4 eggs, 3 cups grated yam, 1 cup pineapple, and 1 cup walnuts.

Instructions:

1. Mix the melted butter (or oil) with sugar.
2. Add flour, cinnamon and baking soda (I always mix the baking soda with 1 tsp of lemon juice first).
3. Add 4 eggs, one at a time.
4. Incorporate 3 yams, pineapple and walnuts (if the mixture is too thick and sticky, add a bit of milk or water).
5. Pour into a big cake pan and put in the oven (350F) for one hour or until done.

Fresh Pineapple and Whipped Cream Dessert February 20, 2009

Lila at Lime and Lemon inspired me for this easy and delicious dessert (her version here). Pineapples are very good these days, and you can find lots of them in Safeway, Superstore and Coop.  The version I made last night included: 1/2 pineapple, 1 banana, 250 ml whipping cream, some 6-8 social biscuits, raisins and a bit of rum.

Instructions:

1. Peel and cut the pineapple. Use 1/2 (if pineapple is big).
2. In a bowl, break the biscuits, pour a bit of rum, and add the raisins. With a fork, mash them thoroughly. Add as much of the pineapple juice as you have available (if you have some juice in the house, that would work too. Or just a bit of water).
3. Add the sliced banana and the pineapple.
4. Beat the whipping cream and add as much as needed.
5. Put everything in small serving dishes and leave in the fridge for some 10-15 minutes to cool down.

As I said: fresh, quick and delicious!

Favorite Brownies with Orange Jam February 18, 2009

This is the recipe for my favorite brownies. I got it from Calgary Herald a long time ago, and only recently discovered how well it goes with a bit of orange jam…

Ingredients: 3/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup cocoa, pinch of salt, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, 2 eggs, 3 tbsp water, vanilla, raisins, chopped nuts and 1-2 tsp orange jam.

Instructions:

1. Stir together flour, cocoa, salt and sugar.
2. Add melted butter, eggs (incorporate one by one), water and vanilla. Beat thoroughly.
3. Add raisins, nuts and orange jam. The best orange jam is the one made with big chunks of orange peels.
4. Pour everything into a pan and put in oven (350F) for some 25 minutes.

Ibex Restaurant – Lunch in Calgary under $50 February 15, 2009

Ibex is an Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant on 17th Ave SE (3515 17th Avenue S.E., Calgary). A party of two can have lunch there for around 40. The place is nice, with some 15 tables and nice decorations from the region. I confess to eating Ethiopian/Eritrean food for the first time in my life, so there were quite a few things I didn’t know. The waiter was nice and helped us through. I wanted something with meat but not very spicy. He recommended a lamb stew which was very tasty (and a bit spicy…). My partner went for a dish with ground beef, which was less impressive.

We didn’t quite know what to expect: the food came with a big spongy pita – injera - and a small side salad. The injera was quite sour for my taste, but went really well with the sauce from the lamb stew. And the waiter taught us how to use the injera to eat the food (you scoop the food out with a small piece of injera).  We’re used with having  veggies or rice next to the meat, so the salad was welcomed. Towards the end of the meal, one waitress came with a pot with roasted coffee beans and ’smoked’ us. As another restaurant guest told us, this is a custom in such restaurants and later on, they brought us a cup of coffee on the house. Our waiter told us coffee is the main export staple in the region, and the coffee was indeed very good.

The two main dishes, plus two cokes (again, they have the cans which I so much like over the tap) – $36.

Spanakopita – quick and easy February 9, 2009

I just love the puff pastry rolls available in the grocery stores! You can do so many things with them… like this

Spinach by Gaetan Lee

spanakopita. All you’ll need is 1 pack of puff pastry, 1 pack of frozen spinach leaves, some 300 gr feta cheese and  bit of nutmeg.

Instructions:

1. Unroll one of the puff pastry rolls on the baking sheet.
2. Squeeze the water out of the spinach leaves. In a bowl, crumble the feta cheese and mix it with the spinach leaves. Add a bit of nutmeg.
3. Evenly spread the spinach-cheese mixture on the pastry roll.
4. Cover with the second pastry roll.
5. Brush with some milk or one egg (beat it well).
6. Put in the oven (350F) for some 20 minutes. Remove, then cut into squares.

Favorite Shawarma Place February 7, 2009

I know there are lots of shawarma places in Calgary, but my favorite is way down in SE. You cannot get there without a car, but my partner discovered the place some time ago, and we keep on going there almost once a week. The owner makes delicious desserts (especially the cookies…), but they are quite pricey.

The place is called Desert Deli, located in Forest Lawn, off 17th AVE se with 52nd st (1830-52nd St. SE). You can get the chicken donair for 7.50 (the beef donaire is 6.50). They have regular and large sizes, for the hungry ones. There are quite a few tables there, the place is always clean but crowded at lunch time. It’s open every day until 8pm (Sunday til 6pm).

Stuffed Vine (Grape) Leaves Rolls February 5, 2009

You may have tried the cabbage rolls and liked them. If so, this one is not very different, except you use vine (grape) leaves instead of (sour) cabbage. Of course, the taste is different, but the principle is the same… I like the pork and beef mixture, but you can easily change it to any type of meat you like – or simply vegetarian (for this, replace meat with mushrooms).

You’ll need: 1 jar vine leaves (find them at the European food stores around Calgary), 300 gr minced meat (as I said, I do the half pork/ half beef combination), 1/4 cup of white rice, 1 big can diced tomatoes, 1 small can tomato sauce, 1 onion, dry parsley, basil, oregano, oil, salt and pepper.

Instructions:

1. In a frying pan,  put a bit of oil and fry the finely chopped onion for 2 minutes.
2. Add minced meat and spices (parsley, basil, oregano, pepper) and salt. Fry for some 5-7 minutes (the meat does not have to be fully cooked). Drain oil and set mixture aside.
3. Optional: using the oil from the meat, cook the rice for 3-4 minutes. Drain and incorporate in the meat mixture. If using rice, make sure you do not fully stuff the vine leave, as the rice will grow.
4. On a plate, unfold the vine leaves. Use a spoon to take some meat, place it on the vine leaf, and then roll. My way of rolling the leaves is to put the meat right in the center, fold the left/ right margins, then roll.
5. In a big pan, stack the rolls. Add the diced tomatoes, the tomato sauce and some water. The liquid has to fully cover the rolls. Add as much water as needed.
6. Boil on the stove for some 20-30 minutes, then put in the oven. Leave covered for the first 20 minutes, then remove lid and bake for 20 minutes more.
7. Serve hot with sour cream and polenta.

Mushroom Stuffed Salmon February 4, 2009

Another tasty way of cooking salmon: stuff it with mushrooms, olives and green onion! To preserve the flavor, cover the pot with aluminum foil when you put in the oven.

Ingredients: 1/2 salmon (the fish, not fillets or anything else, so that you can stuff it), 200 gr mushrooms, 1 bunch green onion, 100 gr pitted black olives, bread crumbs, oil, 1/2 lemon, cooking wine, salt, pepper, and any spices (like basil, parsley, oregano, thyme…).

Instructions: Wash fish, season with salt and pepper, a bit of olive oil and the juice from the lemon. Set aside. Wash and cut green onion, mushrooms and olives. In a frying pan (large enough to put all ingredients in), fry the green onion for 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms, salt, pepper and other spices. Add a bit of cooking wine. Leave for 5-7 minutes. Add black olives, remove from stove and incorporate enough bread crumbs to make the mixture sticky. With a spoon, stuff the salmon with the mixture. In an oven-proof dish, sprinkle a bit of olive oil and add cooking wine (just enough to have a liquid film covering the dish). Place salmon, add any remaining mixture on the fish, and cover with aluminum foil. Put in the oven (350F) for20-30 minutes, or until fish is ready.

Feta Cheese Veggies February 3, 2009

Another way of cooking garlic veggies – this time with a bit of feta cheese (I’m a big fan of the Macedonian feta from Kalamata, the one you can buy for $30/bucket).

Ingredients: 1-2 red bell peppers, 2-3 yams, 2-3 carrots, 1 bunch asparagus, 1 onion, 2-3 garlic cloves, 6-8 mushrooms, olive oil, 1/2 lemon, 300 gr feta cheese, basil, salt and pepper.

Instructions:

1. Peel and cut yams and carrots, and boil them for some 20-30 minutes (they need to be soft, but not completely done).
2. Cut bell peppers, asparagus and mushrooms and marinate them with olive oil, juice from half a lemon, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to marinate.
3. Put all veggies in a big pan, add the yams and the carrots. Put in the oven (350F) for 30 minutes.
4. When almost  done (all veggies are soft), add the basil and the crumbled feta cheese.

Coffee & Tea in Calgary February 2, 2009

A coffee/ tea house is for me a social place. A place where you sit and sip your cup of coffee/ tea for the socializing aspect of it: you watch passerbys coming and going, the music plays in the background, the place is almost-full and the nice murmur of people chatting warms you up. I’m quite picky about such places, so my taste may not be your taste. But here are some nice places I like to go to in Calgary:

• Good Earth Cafe on 17th Ave – well, not really on 17th, but on 15 ave with 11 st (1502 11th Street SW). The place is open until 10pm, and it’s always full with people. It has lots of tables, so you’ll always get a spot – yet it’s still intimate. Oh, and in summer, they have a patio which is lovely, right by the street so you get to see people and cars and all the urban buzz…
• Kaffa Coffee and Salsa House in Marda Loop (2138 33 Avenue SW, Calgary). If only there were more of these in Calgary… located in a house, you can choose your table in one of the three rooms. Always busy, very good hot chocolate. And in the summer, the lovely patio with lots of vegetation makes it almost perfect…
• Cafe Beano, again on 17th Ave, just a few blocks away from Good Earth (1613 9 St SW). A bit more crowded than Good Earth, but with huge windows so that you can see the world moving by. The caffe latte comes in a huge soup bowl… and the brownies are just delicious. Open until midnight or 11pm.
• Oolong Tea House located in Kensington (#110 10th St NW). The tea collection is intimidating at first – what to choose? What to choose? But once you settle on something (I’d advise green tea, cause that’s my favorite), get a brownie too… Open until 11pm or midnight (Friday and Saturday).
• Steeps Tea House is right downtown, on 17th Ave (12G-880 16 Avenue SW). Only serving tea (from $ 3.50 the small cup) and hot chocolate ($4.50). A very large selection of teas available.
• Primal Grounds – in SW (3003-37st SW), boasts freshly made breakfast and lunches, as well as a selection of coffee.