...Dutch Apple Pie

Never have to choose between apple pie and apple crumble ever again. This recipe combines the flakey crust of pie with the crispy topping of a crumble.

Ingredients:

Pie Filling

- 5 medium apples thinly sliced

- 1/4 cup granulated sugar

- 1/4 cup of brown sugar

- pinch of salt

- 1 tsp cinnamon 

- 1/2 tsp nutmeg

- 1/2 tsp ground clove

- 1/4 cup heavy cream

Crumble topping

- 1/3 cup unsalted butter

- 2tbsp granulated sugar

- 2 tbsp brown sugar

- 1/4 cup flour

- 1/4 cup quick oats

Method:

1. Combine the pie filling ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Defrost a pre-made pie shell for 15 minutes at room temperature and fill with the apple mixture.

3. Combine the crumble topping ingredients with your fingers until it forms pea sized crumble pieces.

4. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the apples.

5. Bake the pie in an oven pre heated to 375F for 50-55 minutes

6. Allow the pie to cool for at least an hour before serving

Enjoy!

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5 Thanksgiving Recipes That Are Not Turkey

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we've already started thinking about what to cook for the holiday season.  If you're looking for an alternative to turkey or a side dish to complement your bird, here are five tried and true recipes from our blog: 

Thanksgiving Ham with Apple Bacon Chutney

This recipe elevates the Thanksgiving ham with a delicious apple bacon chutney.  Both sweet and savoury, the chutney both compliments and adds another dimension to each bite of ham.  Recipe here.

Bacon and Mushroom Thanksgiving Strata

This Italian 'strata' is essentially a savoury bread pudding flavoured with cheese, bacon, mushrooms and caramelized onions. Although not a traditional stuffing, this side more than makes up for it with the perfect blend of earthiness from the mushrooms, caramelized onions and richness of the cream and smoky bacon. Recipe here.

Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing

This recipe uses cornbread which gives the stuffing a wonderful texture and sweetness to balance the savouriness of the bacon and sausage.  The cornbread is also amazing for soaking up that puddle of gravy on your plate so you're guaranteed every bit of gravy goodness gets in your belly.  Recipe here.

Roasted Beef Tenderloin and Carmelized Onion Gravy

If you're sick of the traditional turkey, here's a beef alternative.  This recipe is equally as satisfying as a turkey with the caramelized onion gravy and makes for fantastic left overs.

Recipe here.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

If you're not a huge pumpkin fan, here's a different dessert to try.  I discovered a fantastic recipe for sticky toffee pudding last year and made it for Thanksgiving.  The cake is moist from the dates and the toffee sauce rich and decadent; needless to say, it was a hit.  Also, I feel like baking anything in a bundt pan makes your creation ten times more impressive.  Recipe here.

We hope these recipes were useful and at the very least gave you some inspiration for Thanksgiving this year!

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5 Stir Fry Recipes for Busy Nights

Stir fry recipes are all about throwing your ingredients into one pan or wok and cooking them up in under 15 minutes and serving it hot over rice or noodles.  Here are five of our stir fry recipes that will be ready in no time on those busy nights.

Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry
What makes this stir fry so delicious is the aromatic Thai basil which enhances the chicken and savoury fish sauce.  With the addition of fresh squeezed lime juice, this dish is a Thai favourite of ours.  Recipe here.

Chinese Beef and Pickled Cabbage Stir Fry

This stir fry is particularly appetizing with the sweet and sour pickled cabbage and gives the dish a slightly crunchy texture along with the beef and onions. Recipe here.

BBQ Pork Egg Foo Young

While this dish isn't technically a stir fry, it is still as easy to make and requires just one pan or wok.  These little omelettes full of Chinese BBQ meats and fried veggies are so easy delicious over rice and if you can't get Chinese BBQ pork, any meat can be mixed into the eggs to make this dish.  Recipe here.

Mapo Tofu:
Mapo tofu is fantastic on top of rice and the spicy flavour of the chili oil and XO sauce can be addicting.  This is one is for all the tofu lovers out there!  Recipe here.

Black Pepper  Beef Stir Fry
This popular dish is a classic Chinese dish often served in restaurants on a sizzling cast iron plate.  The aromas of the cilantro infused beef and mushrooms are just as good as it tastes.  Recipe here.

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...Duck Confit, Foie Gras and Morel Mushroom Pizza

This pizza was created for the YYC Pizza Week 2015 Blogger Challenge and it's a fantastic one at that.  It is our opinion that you can never have enough duck; enter the 'Duck Duck Deuce' pizza. This doubly decadent duck creation is the perfect way to herald in the cooler months.  It features earthy morel mushrooms, ricotta, tender duck confit and duck rillete-foie gras quenelles atop a foie gras spread.  The sweet and tangy fig-balsamic reduction and fresh pea shoots balance out the richness.  This luxurious pizza is surprisingly easy to re-create as we document below.

YYC Pizza Week is an annual fundraiser for Calgary Meals on Wheels where restaurants across the city enter into a friendly competition for best pizza in several categories.  We have submitted our "lucky" duck pizza in hopes of victory. Please visit the YYC Pizza Week website for full details and vote for us!

Ingredients (Yields approximately two 10" pizzas)
-Duck confit (see our recipe here)
-1 package duck foie gras or foie gras/rillette
-1 package duck liver pate or foie gras pate
-200 g of dried morel mushrooms
-1/2 cup ricotta cheese
-1/2 cup pea shoots
-3 tsp fig jam
-1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
-Pizza dough (see our thin crust pizza recipe)
-3 tbsp melted butter
-Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Rehydrate the morels by placing them in 1 cup of lukewarm water for 45 minutes.  Once rehydrated, slice the larger mushrooms in half.  Fry the morels in 1 tbsp of butter until tender (you can add 2-3 tbsp of the liquid from rehydrating them to ease the cooking process).

2.  In a small saucepan, combine the balsamic vinegar and fig jam and simmer over medium-low heat until the mixture reaches a consistency of syrup (approximately 20 minutes).  Set aside and cool to room temperature.

3. Preheat oven and pizza stone to 425 F.

4. Roll out pizza dough on pizza peel to approximately to 10".  Dock the dough with a fork, leaving a one inch border for the crust to rise.  Brush it with melted butter and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.

5.  Bake the dough until the edges are a light golden brown.  Cool the crust for 5-10 minutes.

6.  Spread the foie gras/duck live pate on the crust.  Add pieces of duck confit, ricotta cheese and morel mushrooms.  Bake in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese and warm the toppings.

7.  Remove the pizza from the oven and using two teaspoons make one quenelle for each slice of pizza (we made six).  Scatter on top the pea shoots and generously drizzle the fig-balsamic reduction over the entire pizza.

8.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Let us know in the comments if you try this pizza out.  What is your favourite pizza?  Also, don't forget to vote for us on the YYC Pizza Week website and check out which restaurants are participating!

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...Asparagus, Bacon & Ricotta Rotini

Spring has sprung and I've been inspired by the beautiful asparagus that is currently in season.  Used in this rotini dish with creamy ricotta and flavourful bacon, it is not only gorgeous to look at but delicious to eat.  On this occasion, I've used Catelli's Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains rotini and the slightly firmer texture compliments the asparagus perfectly.

Ingredients: (Yields ~6 servings)

-1 bunch asparagus spears

-1 cup ricotta cheese

-1 cup grated parmesan cheese

-6 slices of thick cut bacon 

-3 cups rotini

-Extra virgin olive oil

-Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Clean the asparagus and snap off the woody ends.  In a large pot of boiling water, cook the asparagus until tender, approximately 4 minutes.  Cut into 1" pieces and set aside.

2. Put the bacon on a foil lined sheet tray and bake for approximately 7 minutes at 350 F until golden brown.  Remove and cut into 1" pieces.

3.  Using the same pot in step 1, boil the pasta in salted water according to the instructions or until al dente.

4. In a large serving bowl, mix the ricotta, most of the grated parmesan cheese (reserve some for garnish), and 3/4 cup of the pasta water into a creamy sauce.  Adjust the amount of pasta water to your liking.

5. Toss the pasta, bacon and asparagus with the cheese sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.

6.  Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese for garnish.

Enjoy!

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