You’ve probably done this already, but it only hit me yesterday that I could make my own chocolate covered pretzels. The best ones I had in Calgary so far were the made-in-alberta Pretzel Twists (Country Market Gourmet Foods). You can find them at the Bay for $3/ 100gr. But with $3 I can make half a kilo of my own chocolate covered pretzels! And what a nice Christmas present they would make!

Get pretzels (28 cents/100 gr) and cooking chocolate (try the Callebaut) from Superstore (bulk section). Then follow these really quick instructions:

1. In a pan, melt over medium heat some 300 gr of dark chocolate. If you wanna be fancy, melt in a separate pan some white chocolate.
2. When chocolate is melted, add a bit of vanilla essence and 1-2tsp cinnamon. Mix well then pour in a small bowl or cup.
3. Quickly dip each pretzel into the chocolate mixture, then put on a cookie sheet. If using white chocolate, drizzle a bit  over the pretzels to create an uneven pattern.
4. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. Make sure you don’t eat them all at once…

Springbank Cheese Company is a favorite destination for locals when they’re looking for cheese. There’s a store in NW (2015 14 Street NW, Calgary) and one in SW (Willow Park). The store in SW is definitely fancier… I visited the NW store today and the first thing I noticed was a very stringent smell (almost like sour cabbage). Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try, since the place came highly recommended.

The store has a wide variety of cheese. But most of the stuff is available in Superstore or Safeway (like spreadable soft cheese, brie, cheddar, feta). A very small piece of bulgarian feta cheese was $6.09 (personally, I’d go for the Macedonian feta cheese from Kalamata, $30/ 3kg). A few French bries – disappointingly, all expiring by December this year or January next year. In spite of being asured by the shop assistant that they’ll taste just as good after the expiring date, I didn’t want to take a chance.

I got a few varieties of goat cheese with various fruits inside (cranberries, mango). I was also very tempted by a white cheese covered in raisins, but decided to wait until my next trip there. All in all, a neat little store – I just hope the smell will soon be gone!

Making a quiche is easy – that’s it, if you already have the crust for it. You can either buy a pie shell or you can make your own pastry (pretty easy, just follow the instructions on any lard package) and freeze it. In the end, if you’re not too fussy about it, you can just make the quiche without the crust.

I baked my quiche in a 9×5 loaf pan, using the following ingredients: 3 eggs, 2 Tbsp margarine, 2 Tbsp tomato sauce, 1 red pepper, 2 green onions, grated cheese, milk, white flour, salt, pepper, paprika.

Instructions

If using pastry, coat the pan with it first and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the tomato sauce, the margarine, some milk and white flour (you want the batter to be slightly consistent, but still fluid). Mix thoroughly. Add chopped green onion and bell peppers. You can add all sorts of goodies that are left in your fridge, like ham, bacon, salami, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, olives, etc. Add salt, pepper and paprika. If using pastry, sprinkle it with cheese and then pour the egg mixture on top. If you’re not using pastry, simply incorporate the cheese into the egg mixture. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until done.

For me, this dish has two main advantages: it’s easy and you can make a huge pot and refrigerate it for a week. You can also add more veggies – for instance, you can replace the potatoes (or one of the potato layers) with eggplants.  For the basic version, you’ll need: 400 gr minced meat (I use a mixture of pork and beef, but if you want the healthy option, go for chicken or turkey), 6 large potatoes, 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, 3-4 tomatoes and 1 small can of tomato sauce, 2 carrots (grated), cooking wine, oil, salt, pepper, basil, parsley (plus any other spices you like with your meat).

Instructions Prepare the meat: saute chopped onion and garlic. You can either put the meat in the frying pan, add spices and cooking wine and sear for 2-3 minutes, or simply mix in a bowl the meat with the onion, garlic, spices and cooking wine. Add grated carrots for extra taste. Set aside. Peel potatoes and slice them (big, round slices). In a big oven proof dish, arrange potatoes into one layer. Spoon one layer of meat over the potatoes.

Slice tomatoes and layer them on top of the meat. Finish with a second layer of potatoes. Add tomato sauce. If needed, use some more water (you want the whole dish to have enough liquid, otherwise it will dry up in the oven). Put in the oven for 45 minutes to one hour (or until potatoes are tender). My advice is to keep the lid on, otherwise the top layer will get really dry. Serve warm with cold sour cream or yogurt on top.

Nothing fancy or very original here. But it’s cheap, tasty and healthy! All you need are some tortillas for the wrap and some veggies for the filling. You’ll need 1 pack of tortillas (try the small ones, 110 calories each from Superstore), 2-3 lettuce leaves, 1/4 red pepper, 1/2 avocado, 1-2 green onions, feta cheese and, if you’re a meat lover, any deli cold cuts.

Instructions:
1. Cut avocado in half, place half (with seed inside)in a plastic bag and refrigerate. Scoop the other half and mix with a bit of feta cheese.
2. Cut green onion. Add to avocado mix. Set aside.
3. Prepare lettuce and red pepper by cutting them into very small pieces.
4. Put one tortilla on a plate and spread some avocado mix. Add some lettuce, pepper and meat. Then wrap and use two toothpicks to hold it in place.

These quantities should be enough for three wraps. Yummy…

Turns out ‘mushroom’ is the most sought-after keyword that brings people to this blog. So, if you are one of the mushroom-people give this quick appetizer a try – you will love it! I enjoyed it more with crackers (the President Choice multi-grain crackers from Superstore), but the initial recipe was for bruschetta. You’ll need: mushrooms – some 400gr of mushrooms – mix white mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, enokitake mushrooms, oysters mushrooms (really, anything you find! dried mushrooms work as well), 1 tbsp sour cream, 1 onion, oil, cooking wine, roasted pine nuts, basil, salt, and pepper.

Instructions:

1. Wash and slice all mushrooms.
2. Cut onion and saute for 2-3 minutes in a large pan with a bit of oil.
3. Add mushrooms.
4. Add a bit of cooking wine, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, mixing constantly.
5. When mushrooms are almost done, add the basil.
6. Put them in a bowl, add the sour cream and mix.
7. Add roasted pine nuts and mix.
8. Serve on crackers or toasted baguette.

Here’s a plate of appetizers we had about a week ago. Nothing fancy, just:

• Tomatoes (pesticide free, Farmers’ market)
• Cucumbers (pesticide free, Farmers’ market, $3/ bag)
• Feta cheese (best feta cheese in town, called the Macedonian feta, in a huge yellow bucket from Kalamata, $30/3kg)
• Kalamata olives (Superstore, bulk foods)
• Hummus (Superstore, deli section – not impressed, if you have a chance get the canned one from the ethnic food section and mix with smashed garlic, olive oil, paprika, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley).
• Roasted peppers dip (Kalamata, $6)
• Red peppers (Superstore)
• Mortadella with Caciocavallo and Grapes (Lina’s Market)
• Hot Pastrami with Small Bocconcini and Tomatoes (Lina’s Market)

Had brunch in Nellie’s on 4th St the other day and I should say right from the start that I won’t be going there again. I am not a big fan of Nellie’s in the first place – the menu is a bit too heavy for my taste, but that’s more of a taste-buds  thing (I could never understand the idea of potatoes for breakfast…). But that’s not the reason I disliked the place: it’s crowded in the sense that there’s no room to move around the tables and you’re practically spitting on the person at the next table… And it’s filthy. I mean, really filthy. Everything is dusty; our cutlery, mugs and dishes were dirty and stained. So, no second trip for us there…

For a party of two, we paid $31 (tip included) for two omellettes, tea and coffee. I got the Californian omellette, with avocado and cheese; it turned out that the ingredients were not mixed, so half of my omellette had avocado inside, and half had cheese. My party got an omellette with spicy sausages. As usual, the meals come with hasbrowns and greasy toast (they put some margarine on the toast before they bring it to you).

Apple by Abhijit Tembhekar

Apple omelette is so easy to make! It’s good warm or cold, simple or with icecream or jam. You’ll need 4 apples, 4 tbsp white flour, 4 eggs, cinnamon, some butter and around 1 cup of milk. Optional: rum, raisins, vanilla essence.

Instructions:

1. Peel and cut apples into cubes. Butter an oven proof deep dish and put the apples in.
2. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Add rum and raisins, if using.
3. In a separate bowl, mix eggs with flour. Gradually incorporate milk.
4. Pour over apple cubes and bake at 375F for around 45 minutes or until the mixture has thickened.

Photo credits: Abhijit Tembhekar

An interesting dessert for the wine lovers. Got the recipe from ecurry (beautiful pictures too!). You’ll need: 2 firm pears (very firm!), 1.5 cup red wine, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup sugar, orange grind and spices like whole cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon.

Instructions:

1. Peel pears, set aside.
2. In a pot, bring to boil wine and sugar. Then add all spices and keep on low heat for 10 minutes.
3. Add pears. They need to be completely sunk in. Boil on low heat until pears are tender (30-40 min).
4. Remove and put aside. If serving immediately, continue boiling the sauce until it gets syrupy.
5. Serve with sauce and icecream.