Orange Chocolate Walnut Biscuits

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Something Sweet     baking, biscuits, chocolate, dessert, quick and easy, recipes

What you’ll need…

2 cups flour

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup walnuts (loosely chopped)

1 TBSP orange zest

2 TSP cinnamon

3 TSP baking powder

1 TSP salt

1/2 cup butter (chilled, 1/2″ cubed)

1 cup milk

2 TSP vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 egg (for egg wash, optional)

I’m not much of a baker. So, when I ‘bake’, I make biscuits. They’re simple and consistently delicious no matter what you decide to fold into them. Since I’m not much of a baker, I don’t often excel in the dessert category of awesomeness. These orange biscuits are just sweet enough and can pass as a delicious dessert if you slice them in half, add a dollop of whipped cream and some orange slices (from the orange you zested for the recipe, peel to pulp cooking, right?). One day I’ll learn to make a one-of-a-kind cake or something…I promise…Until then, enjoy this biscuit-y goodness I guess?

So, this recipe will be easier to make than your bed. Unless you have a really complicated linens system…Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees. Place the first 7 ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the chunks of butter and loosely mix in with your hands.

Next, mix the milk, vanilla and sugar together in a separate bowl, stir until sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix together with a spoon, or by hand, until a dough forms. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and form into a circle-esque shape, 2″ thick. Slice into 12 pieces and place onto a prepared baking sheet. Brush the top of each piece of dough with the egg wash and let bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the biscuits start to brown.

Let cool slightly before eating, however hard that may be…

As previously mentioned, slice in half, add a spoonful of whipped cream, some orange slices, and you have yourself a simple, ‘rustic’ if you will, dessert. Happy eating!

Yields 12 biscuits

Total cook time…20 min

Top Secret Smokey Tomato And Chorizo Soup

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     calgary, chorizo, comfort food, delicious, recipes, soup, winter

What you’ll need…

1/2 pound chorizo sausage

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 cups crushed tomatoes

3 cups chicken broth

1 russet potato (1/2″ cubed, approximately 1 1/2 cups)

1 TBSP lapsang souchong tea (ground or crushed with a mortor and pestle)

1 TSP chili powder

1 TSP paprika

1 TSP cayenne pepper

1 meyer lemon (zest and juice)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup harvarti cheese (grated)

2 cups fresh spinach

salt and pepper

olive oil

As I’m typing this, inside my house, away from the -30 degree (celsius for any Americans reading this!) weather, I’m fairly happy to be back home in Calgary. Shortly after Christmas, I departed from Canada for a three week adventure in the United Kingdom and Denmark. On this adventure I encountered delicious food, more pubs than you could shake a stick at and, of course, Hogwarts…but I digress, these are all stories for another day.

Today it is cold. Really, really damn cold. When it’s cold, all I want to do is wear my sweatpants, my TMNT bunnyhug and sip some soup. So, I did just that. I had some lapsang souchong tea kicking around the house and since I hadn’t used tea in a recipe since the summer, I thought its smokey flavour fit the bill perfectly for a tomato and chorizo style soup. I know it must sound weird reading through the ingredient listings…tea, lemon, cream, but, trust me, it all works! If you don’t trust me, then I dare you to make a liar out of me.

Time to cook! Place the sausage in a large pot, drizzle with some olive oil and cook on medium-high heat until it is completely cooked through, about 5 minutes. Spoon out the cooked meat and cooking oil, leaving just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Now, toss in the onions, minced garlic and let cook until the onions soften, another 5 minutes or so. Next, add the following seven ingredients to the pot as well as the juice of the meyer lemon. Once the mixture starts to bubble, reduce to low heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

On a side note, take a big whiff of your soup after stirring in those ingredients. Doesn’t the lapsang souchong tea make it smell amazing? Smokey deliciousness here we come!

(In the meantime…tidy up your living room! I know it’s messy…)

 After that time, the chunks of potato should be, at the very least, fork tender. If that’s the case, let the lemon zest, cream, shredded cheese and spinach join the soup party. You can now return the cooked sausage to the pot as well. Give the pot a good stir until the cheese melts away into nothingness and you’re left with a thick, rich-tasting soup. Let the soup cook for another 10 minutes. Finally, take a sip, season with salt and pepper to taste and you’re done! Bam!

Serves 4-5

Total cook time…40 min

Rosemary Mushroom Pate with Homemade Cranberry Crackers

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes, Vegan     appetizers, crackers, delicious, mushrooms, pate, recipes, vegan, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

Pate:

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

3 garlic cloves

1 cup crimini mushrooms (quartered)

1 cup white mushrooms (quartered)

2 portabella mushrooms (loosely chopped)

1 TBSP red wine vinegar

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes

2 TBSP fresh rosemary (chopped)

1 cup vegetable stock

1 cup bread crumbs

salt and pepper

Crackers:

3 cups flour

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 TBSP fresh rosemary

2 TSP sea salt

1 cup warm water

1/3 cup olive oil

Poor little vegans…They’re always overlooked in a holiday season full of buttery baking, roasts, turkeys and bacon-wrapped appetizers. Never fear, for I have got your back! This is an ideal dish for a holiday party whether or not your friends are vegan/vegetarian. Whenever I’m at a Christmas party, I tend to overindulge in any spreadable mixture that happens to be available on the table. And, besides, you’ve never really lived until you’ve tasted a delicious mushroom pate!

Start off by placing the chopped onion in a large pan. Drizzle with some olive oil and cook on medium-high heat until they start to caramelize, about 10-12 minutes. Next, add the garlic, three kinds of mushrooms and vinegar to the pan. Give the pan a good sprinkling of salt and pepper and let the mixture cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the time’s up, remove from heat to cool slightly.

Pour the mushroom mixture into a blender or food processor and add all remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste, then place in a covered container in the fridge to chill. (this can be made several days in advance)

Moving swiftly along to the crackers…Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl. Pour in the water and olive oil and mix with a spoon until a soft dough forms (Note: an electric mixer, i.e. KitchenAid, makes short work of this task!). Take the dough out of the bowl and place onto a floured surface, then knead it a few times. Cut into ten even sections and roll each out until they’re nice and thin.

Place on some prepared baking trays, brush with olive oil and let them bake for 15 minutes, or until the crackers are crisp, starting to brown on the edges. Feel free to make whichever size of cracker you please. I tend to err on the side of larger, as it looks more rustic to my guests, but less work for me! Now that’s a win/win!

Once the pate is nice and chilled, scoop some into a bowl and serve with your beautifully rustic crackers. Done and done!

Yields 4 cups of pate

Total cook time…45 min (not including chill time)

Five Dollar Risotto (more affectionately called ‘Sweet Tomato And Lemon Risotto’) For A Cause!

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     calgary, charity, recipes, risotto, simple, uend.org, vegetarian

2 yellow onions (finely chopped)

1 cup cream

2 cups water

2 TBSP tomato paste

1 clove garlic (minced)

1 cup arborio rice (uncooked)

1 lemon (zest and juice)

2 TSP dried dill

1 pinch cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Acorn Squash And Pink Peppercorn Vinaigrette

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes, Vegan     acorn squash, autumn, recipes, salad, squash, vegan, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

Dressing:

1/2 acorn squash (gutted, reserve seeds)

3 cloves garlic

2 TSP pink peppercorns

1 orange (zest and juice)

1/2 cup of orange juice

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cups olive oil

salt and pepper

Salad:

Whatever you’d like, really, but here’s what I used…

remaining 1/2 acorn squash (chopped 1″ pieces, skin on)

1 package spring mix

2 tomatoes (sliced)

1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)

1 small zucchini (halved, 1/2″ sliced, approximately 1 1/2 )

remaining 1/2 acorn squash (chopped 1″ pieces)

1 cup garlic and fine herb boursin cheese (gently crumbled)

There are so many things to do with some many different types of squash and very enough time. True. Story. Since I think most of us are knee deep in squash soups right now, figuratively of course (what an odd sensation that would be if literal), I thought it might be need to try throwing a squash into a salad dressing. Blending the roasted squash in with the usual suspects of vinaigrette ingredients, with some sweetness of the maple and orange, resulted in an interesting autumn-appropriate salad. I tested out this concoction just this past week at my Thanksgiving dinner and although I was too busy drinking wine and socializing, I’m going to just assume that everyone enjoyed it!

As mentioned above, save the squash seeds, then roast them until crispy. Toss with some salt and pepper and sprinkle on top of or salad. Or, do what I did, and just eat all of the seeds by the handful and do not share with anyone.

Roasting a squash of any type is ridiculously simple. Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Place the half squash on a prepared baking sheet, brush with some olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and let roast, flesh side up, for about 35-40 minutes, or until fork tender. Remove from heat and let cool.

Once cool, spoon out flesh into a blender, followed by the next six dressing ingredients. Puree until smooth. Next, while pulsing, gradually pour in the olive oil. Once everything is combined, have a quick taste, and season with some salt and pepper if needed. Store in an air-tight container and refrigerate. Can be stored for up to one week.

**Note: I did notice that after a few days, the maple flavour of the vinaigrette became more and more prominent. If you’re making this in advance, add a bit more oil and vinegar to avoid this. Unless you really like maple, then just sit with it!

When you’re ready to serve, combine the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle the crumbled boursin cheese (and squash seeds if you didn’t eat them all!) on top, finish with some freshly ground black pepper and you’re good to go!

Yields 4 cups salad dressing

Total cook time…55 minutes (including roasting)

Balsamic Roasted Red Pepper Risotto and Giveaway

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     appetizer, recipes, red pepper, risotto, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

2 cups half and half cream

4 cups chicken broth (or veggie to keep vegetarian-friendly)

3 roasted red bell peppers (approx. 1 cup)

1/2 bulb roasted garlic

2 TBSP butter (softened)

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 cups arborio rice

salt and pepper

olive oil

fresh parsley (for garnish, optional)

I just finished filming two segments for Food Network Canada’s series ‘Eat St.’ these past couple of days. It was a lot of fun, I got to talk about two of my favourite food trucks (Alley Burger and Perogy Boys), but two days of shooting in cold fall weather, with rain to boot, has officially chilled me to the bone! Damn…fall really is here now…

Well, what better way to warm up then with a creamy risotto? The thing some people don’t like about risotto is all the stirring you have to do, but when you’re looking to shake the chilly, then standing by the stove, spooning (not that kind of spooning) a hot pan for thiry minutes couldn’t really be all that bad, right?

If you’ve ever made risotto before, you’ll know that it comes off a lot more intimidating then it actually is. Hell, we even make risotto in my Start From Scratch class. If those kids can do it, you can do it! Anyway, onto the cooking…Start off by putting the cream and stock into a medium-sized pot, then let come to a simmer on high heat. Once it starts to bubble, reduce to low heat, you just need the broth hot, not boiling. While you’re waiting for that to heat up, puree the roasted bell peppers, roasted garlic and butter using a blender or food processor. We’ll add thisat  the end of the risotto cooking process, so better to have it ready and waiting now!

Now, drizzle some olive oil in a large pan, throw in the chopped onion and garlic and let cook on medium-high heat until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar to the pan and continue to cook until the liquid has reduced byhalf, about 5 more minutes. Now, pour in the arborio rice, stirring until everything is evenly mixed. Let the mixture cook for another couple minutes before you start adding the broth.

This is where all the stirring comes in, you don’t really need to stir with religious conviction for the next 25 minutes, but be attentive and stir regularly. Add-in one ladle of broth at a time, letting the liquid become almost completely absorbed before adding more broth. Continue this process until you’ve used up all of the broth. Finally, stir in the roasted pepper puree and watch your risotto turn a beautiful orange-reddish hue. How autumn, right? Season with a bit of salt and pepper and dish out. Warm up by the mouthful!

Serves 4-5

Total cook time…40 min

As an added bonus today, The Rocky Mountain Wine And Food Festival is taking place this weekend in Calgary. The festival showcases amazing wines, spirits, as well as great food from local restaurants. Since I love to share, I’m giving away two sets of double passes to attend this event this Friday night, October 14th (doors open at 4 p.m.).

To enter to win one of the double passes simply share my recipe on twitter (mentioning myself, @dansgoodside and the festival, @rockywinefood), or leave a comment in the thread below. You have until Thursday night, October 13th, at 11PM to enter the contest. I’ll announce the lucky winners on Friday morning! Good luck!

Click here for full details on this festival.