Recipes – Page 7 – a hippie with a minivan

Gooey Swiss Delice Brownies…

Years ago I found the best brownie recipe ever… The recipe is all over the web and called “Whatever Floats your Boat Brownies” because the base of the brownie is the same and you add “whatever floats your boat” to them…
I usually add chocolate chips but the only colouring/artificial flavouring free chocolate chips I can find are pretty awful and are not even real chocolate. So I haven’t made brownies in a while… until a few days ago…

I decided to make them and then remembered that I had a bag full of Swiss Delice chocolates in my cupboard that I bought at Costco. I love these little chocolates. They are creamy, chocolatey but not too sweet. I buy a large bag and keep some in my bag in case we want a treat when we are out.
I got a few out and unwrapped them and started to cut them into chunks… after about 30, I had the right amount to add a heap of chocolate chunks to the brownies.
OMG… these are to die for!

“Whatever Floats your boat brownies”

1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use a dark dutch cocoa)
1 cup sugar (I use less, especially if I am using a sweet addition)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

1 -2 cups of whatever floats your boat (chocolate chips, chunks, candies, nuts, raisins etc)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8X8 pan
Mix the melted butter and cocoa together, add the sugar and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time and mix in. Add the vanilla and mix and then add the flour and salt. Mix until the flour is incorporated but don’t overmix. Add whatever floats your boat.

(Swiss Delice Chocolates)

Bake for about 25 min but don’t overbake… you want a nice moist crumb.

If you want to double the recipe, use a 9X12 pan and bake for about 5min longer.

Warning: these are addictive and will disappear fast…

Split pea soup…

This is based on a Quebecois dish “Soupe aux pois” which is traditionally made with a ham bone, salt pork belly and yellow slit peas. I made a ham the night before and threw out the bone before I had the craving to make this soup, and I didn’t have/want the salt pork belly so I so just used a bit of leftover smoked ham, though you can leave that out also if you really wanted to but the smoky flavour really adds to this dish…

This is another of those very easy soups… though you do need to allow for a few hours of cooking…

First soak 2 cups of dried yellow slit pea in water for 1 1/2 hours…

Chop up some leftover smoked ham (about 2 cups)

Celery (2 stalks)

Carrot (3)

Then Chop up a large onion…

Drain the peas and you’re ready to assemble…

In a large soup pot with a bit of olive oil, Sauté the onion until translucent, season with a bit of salt and pepper, add the remainder of the ingredients and 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer and let simmer for about 2 1/2 hours… the peas will fall apart on their own…

Adjust seasonings (I added about a tsp of garlic powder and 1/3 tsp of smoked paprika) and that’s it!

Of course I serve it with my homemade bread 🙂

Can you believe that I used to refuse to eat any kind of soup?

Perfect ribs…

I have shared these before, but they were not in my Recipe Page and didn’t have pictures so I though that I would share them again….

When I was young, one of my favourite places to eat was the Bar-B-Barn in Montreal. I remember going with my mom or my dad on many occasions, but these always remind me of my dad. Around the time I got married, I found the recipe for Bar-B-Barn ribs on the internet, from an article in the Montreal Gazette from 1990…

I have made this over and over in the last years and they have just gotten better and better through trial and error…

I usually use two racks of ribs when I make this recipe since that is usually how they are sold. I get the small ones because I rarely can find long ribs here, but either will do.

First, line a pan with tinfoil and put the dry rub together.

2 tbsp Kosher Salt
2 tbsp Paprika
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Chili Powder
2 tbsp Garlic Powder

Lay the ribs on the pan and coat on both sides with the dry rub.

Cover with more tin foil and seal tightly around the edges…

Bake in oven at 275 for about 2 1/2 hours….

Meanwhile, make the sauce…

In a sauce pan combine…

2 c Brown Sugar
1 c Apple Sauce (homemade is great 🙂 )
1/2 c Fresh Lemon Juice (about 2 lemons)
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 ts Paprika
1/2 ts Cinnamon
1/2 ts Pepper
1/2 ts Garlic Powder

Bring to boil and let boil for about 2 min and then let cool…

(homemade apple sauce)

Take the ribs out of the oven… When they come out they should already have a great colour…

Turn the heat up on the oven to 350, baste the ribs heavily with the sauce and bake for another 45min (adding more sauce to the ribs every 10-15 min)

The ribs will have no problem being fall off the bone tender…

Sprinkle with lemon juice before serving,… it is essential 🙂

Potato-Leek soup

I love leeks and love that leeks are cheap right now. I usually stock up on leeks in this season, chop them up and freeze in portion sizes for soups.

This is such a fast meal also, I got home late yesterday after a trip to the Library, the pool and two parks and 1/2 hour later we were sitting down to eat.

I usually use dill but I didn’t have any on hand so I improvised and I love the way it turned out.

3 Leeks (whites only, sliced)
6-7 medium potatoes (peeled and cubed)
6 cups of water
1/4 cup Braggs seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika

In a soup pot, sauté the Leeks in a bit of oil or butter until the are a bit caramelized. Add the potatoes, the water and the Braggs (or you can substitute the water and Braggs for stock). Add the smoked paprika and garlic powder. Bring to a boil and then let simmer until potatoes are soft. Taste broth and adjust seasonings.

Take off heat and Purée the soup using a wand blender until smooth and creamy… .

That’s it…

Cha-cha-cha-Chia!

When I was in BC visiting Annie, her mom also came for a visit and had brought Chia Seeds with her. I had only even heard of chia in those informercials about Chia pets around the holidays when I was young… I still remember the jingle vividly..

Annie’s mom mentioned that Chia was a great super-food, high in Omega-3’s… So when I got home I and found some at my grocery store I decided to try them and look for more info. I was amazed at what I found. It seems that Chia has been a big craze in the last few years but I guess we are really behind in crazes because it was all new to me.

Chia seeds are in the Mint family and were once considered a staple food for the Aztec. Not only is Chia said to be higher in Omega 3 fatty acids, it also contains higher amounts of protein, dietary fibre and antioxidants. Unlike Flax seed, it doesn’t have to be ground and it does not go rancid either so it can be stored indefinitely.

Again like flax, when you add water to Chia seeds a gel is formed. Chia can absorb 10X its weight in water. What is different however with Chia is that the gel isn’t oily or sticky as the flax gel gets but instead each seed is enveloped. When you touch it you fingers are just slightly damp and it doesn’t stick at all and instead the seeds are like like pearls of tapioca.

You can either use Chia by sprinkling it on your food, or adding it to recipes, but my favourite way to use it is to make “Chia Fresca”…

This drink not only helps rehydrate, but also gives a healthy dose of Omega-3’s, protein, fibre and antioxidents. And because the Chia seeds hold so much water themselves by making the chia gel before hand, you are also getting more water in your water… 🙂

Make the Chia gel by mixing any amount of chia seeds with 10X the amount of water… stir a few tines so that is doesn’t clump and then let sit to form the gel for about 10 min…

You can make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge…

Squeeze some lemon into your water, add a few spoonfuls of Chia gel and that’s it! (some may add sugar but I like it as is)

(the true and natural energy drink)