Sausage and Sweet Potato Frittata

2 small sweet potatoes (3/4 lb/375 g total), well scrubbed

1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil

2 turkey sausages, casings removed

3/4 cup (175 mL) Ocean Spray Craisins Sweetened Dried Cranberries

1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped onion

1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt, pepper and crumbled dried sage leaves

3 cups (750 mL) baby spinach leaves

4 each whole eggs and egg whites

1 1/3 cups (325 mL) 1 % milk

1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard

1/2 cup (125 mL) shredded Gruyère or white Cheddar cheese

Pierce each sweet potato several times with a fork; microwave on Medium-High for 4 minutes or until just fork tender. Cool completely. Cut the sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch (1 cm) cubes; reserve.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Heat the oil in a 12-inch (30 cm) oven-proof skillet set over medium heat. Crumble in the sausage meat; add the Craisins, onion, salt, pepper and sage. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until sausage is browned and onion is golden. Stir in the sweet potato and spinach; cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes or until the spinach is wilted. Spread evenly into a 12-inch (35 cm) baking dish.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and egg whites with the milk and mustard. Pour evenly over the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until set. Makes 8 servings.

Per Serving: Calories: 233, Protein: 14 g, Total Fat: 9 g, Saturated Fat: 3 g, Cholesterol: 120 g, Carbohydrate: 23 g, Fibre: 3 g, Sodium: 420 mg, Potassium: 412 mg

For more recipes and tips on healthy living, visit www.oceanspray.ca.

Credit: www.newscanada.com

Written by Ian McKenzie on April 2nd, 2008 with no comments.
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Five Star Meatloaf

Written by Ian McKenzie on May 4th, 2007 with no comments.
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Food Bites - April 27

• 2 Ingredients, 2 Recipes, 4 Meals – Here’s a couple of recipes using pork and green beans.
• Curry pastes – A necessary ingredient in a Perfect Pantry.
• Honey Glazed Lemon Roast Chicken Recipe – A simple and delicious recipe for roast chicken.
• What Do 300 Calorie Meals Look Like? – Pictures to give a visual sense of what a 300 calorie meal looks like.
• The Top 5 Brain Health Foods – Good quality dark chocolate and coffee. How can you go wrong?
• Best of Panama 2007 – the best of the 2007 brain food (coffee) from Panama.
• Roasting coffee with a popcorn popper – How most of us get started roasting.
• Chicken with Apples and Raisin Couscous – a Moroccan style dish.

Written by Ian McKenzie on April 27th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Main Dish and Diet and Poultry and Tips and Condiments and African and Pork and Beverages and Coffee and Thai and Vegetable and How To and Oriental and Low Fat and Herbs and Spices.

Slow-Cooker Pork with Dried Fruit and Squash

Ingredients:

• 3 pound lean boneless pork loin roast
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated, fresh ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/ teaspoon pepper
• pinch of saffron
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup dried apricots
• 1/2 cup bit-sized pitted prunes
• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 4 cups)

Directions:

1. Trim fat from pork; cut pork in half crosswise.
2. Combine brown sugar and next 8 ingredients in a small bowl; stir mixture well. Rub pork evenly with sugar mixture. Place pork in a 4 1/2 quart slow cooker. Arrange apricots, prunes, and squash around pork.
3. Cover with lid, cook on high-heat setting 1 hour. Reduce to low-heat setting, and cook 6 to 7 hours or until pork, fruit, and squash are tender.
4. Cut pork into thin slices, and serve with fruit, squash and couscous.

Written by Ian McKenzie on April 23rd, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Main Dish and African and Pork and One Pot Meals and Low Fat and Slow Cooker.

Food Bites - March 16

• Irish Soda Bread – A great St. Paddy’s day recipe, paticularly if your going to prepare…
• New England Boiled Dinner – Also know as Jiggs’ dinner.
• Cooking to Connect – Some Lenten thoughts from Milton
• Red Bean Hummus with No-Knead Bread – Hummus made with kidney beans instead of chickpeas.

Written by Ian McKenzie on March 16th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on European and Main Dish and Appetizers and Holiday Recipes and One Pot Meals.

30 Minute Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

The Simple Dollar offers five tips for preparing home-cooked meals, with minimum effort at the end of a busy day.

• Prepare meals in advance.
• Discover the crockpot.
• Have regular “leftover” nights.
• Use lots of items that require minimal preparation.
• Eat extremely simple meals

The Simple Dollar » “I’m Too Tired To Cook” - At-Home Dining Solutions For The Overworked Family.

I find that a combination of the last two tips can lead to some first-class dishes, without resorting to microwaved “poor man quesadillas” Here’s my recipe for spaghetti with tomato sauce that can be prepared in the time in takes the water to boil and the pasta to cook.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dried spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1 28 ounce tin of diced tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Fill the pasta pot with enough water to cook the spaghetti, salt well and place on high heat. Once the water comes to the boil add the spaghetti and cook until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, a pinch of salt and saute for five minutes. Add the dried herbs, crushing them and cook for another minute.
3. Add the ground beef, break it up and cook until no longer pink.
4. Stir in the diced tomatoes, bring to a simmer. Add pepper and reduce heat and continue to cook until the spaghetti is ready.
5. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
6. Drain the spaghetti, return to the pot and toss with the tomato sauce.
7. Serve with Parmesan cheese. Serves four as a main course.

The thing with this, and similar dishes, is you can substitute to your heart’s desire depending on the contents of your pantry.

• You can use ground or boneless chicken parts or omit the meat for a vegetarian version.
• If you like it spicy, add some dried chilis during the cooking process.
• Use what dried herbs you might have, instead of basil and thyme.
• If you happen to have fresh herbs on hand, chop them and add them just at the end of the cooking process.

Written by Ian McKenzie on February 28th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Main Dish and Tips and Italian and Pasta and How To and 30-Minute Meals.

Food Bites - February 16

• Arroz Con Pollo Recipe – the classic Spanish chicken and rice dish.
• Chocolate-covered cars – a waste of good chocolate.
• No-Knead Bread – A bread recipe that requires no kneading, but takes plenty of time.
• Love is a big rare roast – Lynette creates one of her great sounding meals for Valentine’s Day. Lucky Cakes!
• The Fundamentals Of Running A Restaurant - A Forbes.com article on what is involved in running a restaurant. (Hint, it’s not all Food Network glamour.)
• Roasted Garlic - Getting Back to Basics – Just thinking about roasted garlic gets me salivating in a Homer Simpson kind of way.
• Breville 800ESXL – on my wish list.
• Pork. Chop. Noodles. – Who needs to eat out when you’re preparing food like this.
• Yogurt Panna Cotta with Raspberries – A simple, elegant, light dessert.
• Spicy Beef Curry Stew for the Slow Cooker

Written by Ian McKenzie on February 16th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on European and Main Dish and Mediterranean and Tools and Equipment and Indian and Poultry and Holiday Recipes and Pasta and Pork and Bread and Coffee and Dessert and One Pot Meals and How To and Oriental and Slow Cooker.

Spicy Moroccan Beef Stir-Fry

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Lean Ground Beef
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 2 Carrots, julienned
• 1 Bell Pepper, julienned
• 2 Cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 
• 1/2 teaspoon hot chili pepper flakes
• 28 ounce Can of diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup sliced green olives
• Toasted pine nuts
• Chopped fresh coriander

Directions:

1. Cook ground beef, onion, carrots and sweet pepper in large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking beef up into small chunks with back of spoon for 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is completely cooked and vegetables are tender-crisp.
2. Stir in garlic, seasonings and cook for 1 minute longer.
3. Stir in tomatoes and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer, covered for 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
4. Stir in olives; heat through. Season with more salt and pepper if desired.
5. Serve with cooked pasta, rice or couscous.

Written by Ian McKenzie on February 5th, 2007 with no comments.
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Baked BBQ Hot Wings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups BBQ sauce
• 1 12 ounce tin frozen orange juice concentrate
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 C. red wine
• hot sauce to taste
• 2-3 lb. wings

Directions:

1. Mix together BBQ sauce, orange juice, brown sugar, hot sauce and wine. Set aside.
2. Cut wings at the “elbow.”
3. Dip pieces in sauce and lay in a Pyrex dish or a stainless steel baking pan.
4. Pour any remaining sauce over all and bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 1-1 1/4 hours.

Written by Ian McKenzie on February 2nd, 2007 with no comments.
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Lentil Cassoulet

Ingredients:

• 4 x Toulouse sausages
• 1/4 cup meaty salt pork
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 x bone-in pork chops, 1 cm thick, fat trimmed
• 2 x onions, quartered
• 4 x cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups green lentils, rinsed
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 x confit duck legs
• 2 x bay leaves
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. With the rack in the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 170°C (325°F).
2. In a Dutch oven, or other oven-proof pot, over medium-high heat, brown the sausages and salt pork in the oil, 2 or 3 minutes per side. Remove the sausages and cut each diagonally into 3 pieces. Set aside.
3. In the fat remaining in the Dutch oven, or other oven-proof pot, brown the pork chops over high heat for 1 minute on each side. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. In the fat remaining in the Dutch oven, soften the onions and garlic over medium heat. Add the lentils and mix well. De-glaze with the wine. Return the chops and sausages to the pot. Add the broth, duck legs and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover, transfer to the oven and bake until the lentils are tender, about 90 minutes.
5. Adjust the seasoning

Ricardo Larivée

Written by Ian McKenzie on January 29th, 2007 with no comments.
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