Cardamom Pear Waffles with Drunken Pear Chutney

I admit it, I got inspired while looking at the selection of dried fruit carried by Noggins Corner at the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market.  All locally grown (apples, cranberries, blueberries and pears).  I bough several bags and already blogged the apple muffins and cranberry cookies and now I needed to play with the pears.  I wanted something a little different for breakfast today and kept thing about at my three bags of dried pear chips.  Step one is to think about what to rehydrate them with, hmmm amaretto yeah sounds good but sweet, ahh cut it with some white wine, yep that sounds good.  I decided to add in some dried currents and cardamom and make a little sweet chutney.  Now what to eat it with.  I saw a tweet from suzie the foodie aka @suzieridler about being out of maple syrup and thought hmmm how about waffles with a light coat of peanut butter and dried pear chutney.  That was all it took to create a great breakfast.  I have a nice sour cream waffle recipe that I decided to kick up with some cardamom and amaretto and make that to go with my dried pears.  Below is the result:

Ingredients:

Dried Pear Chutney

3 bags about 1.5 cups of dried pear chips

1/2 cup amaretto

1/2 cup white wine

8 whole cardamom pods

Cardamom Pear Sour Cream Waffles

1 1/2 Whole White Flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

2 tbsp amaretto 

1 cup real sour cream*

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

In a pot on low heat put in the ingredients for the dried pear chutney.  It takes an hour or so to rehydrate these so allow the time or do it the night before.  When all of the liquid is absorbed remove the cardamom pods and chop up the pears.  Reserve to top waffles.

To make the waffles sift together the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well.  Ensure the dry ingredients are mixed well because we won’t stir much after we add the liquid.  

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs then add in the milk, sour cream, amaretto and vanilla.  Melt the butter and add in the honey stir to combine then add to the other wet ingredients.  This will help combine the honey to the cold liquids.  If you add it directly it wont want to combine. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.  Do not over mix this will build gluten in your batter and result in tough waffles.  

Add enough waffle batter into a preheated waffle iron to cover the bottom and close the lid.  Cook until the steam starts to slow, take a peak the waffles should be golden brown.    This batch will make 2 - 4 square waffles.

I like these waffles with a little peanut butter and topped with the pear chutney.  They are soft and warm and the cardamon provides the perfect compliment to the pears.  

Thanks to my local suppliers:

Dried Pears : Noggins Corner Farm Market

Eggs: Elmridge Farm

Milk: Fox Hill Cheese House

White Wine: L’Acadie Vineyards

Oatmeal Muffins with Drunken Apple Chips

When visiting the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market I was looking through the product at Noggins Corner and was shown their new dried apple and pear chips.  We were discussing the uses for them and I decided that they had to be put into a muffin.  So into the kitchen I went to try to produce a creative tasty muffin using the dried apples and I am thrilled with the results.

I love cooking with high quality dried fruit.  I am not talking about the rubber textured chemical laden crap that is out there posing as heath food (beat down coming on foodthug.com), I mean fruit dried without chemicals and at the lowest temperatures possible.  In all fairness I have to mention that Superstore has a great selection of dried fruit in their organic section and though it can be pricey it is worth the money.  I have my problems with Superstore but their organic section is worth a long look.  Using dried fruit can help you get your daily dose of fruit while still maintaining a high level of nutrition and is a much better choice than fruit juice for those of us battling weight.

Proper dried fruit has all the flavor and most of the nutrition of the fresh item but can be fortified with more flavor but rehydrating it in flavored liquid.  This make is an amazing taste treat.  For this recipe I have rehydrated dried apples with a combination of calvados (apple brandy) and apple cider along with half a stick of cinnamon.  This really kicks up the flavor of the dried apples.

I added this to a basic oatmeal muffin base that uses yogurt to reduce the amount of oil required added in a little more calvados and kicked up the level of cinnamon.  I am very pleased with the results and hope you will be as well.

Ingredients

1 bag of Noggins dried apples (about 1/4 cup)

1/3 cup

1/3 cup apple cider

1/2 a cinnamon stick

Dry Muffing Ingredients:

1 cup of oatmeal

2 Cups Whole White Flour (Speerville Mills)

(If you cant get a whole white flour use 1.5 cups unbleached white and 1/2 whole wheat)

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Wet Muffin Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp Calvados

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

2 tsp vanilla 

To prepare the dried apple:

Place the apples, cinnamon stick, cider and calvados into a small pot and warm on low heat.  If you have a warming element place it on there and allow to sit until the liquid is absorbed.  This can be done ahead of time and then stored in a covered container until needed.  Be sure to remove the cinnamon stick when this step is done.

To prepare the muffins:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place the oatmeal in a large bowl.  Sift in flour, baking soda and baking powder (this help aerate the flower and prevents lumps of baking soda or baking powder which can ruin a muffin experience.)  Stir these together well to combine flavors. 

Note: You will want to mix your dry ingredients well to distribute the spices.  Once we add the wet ingredients will will only mix to combine.  Stirring flour in liquid builds gluten which is great for bread but makes tough chewy muffins.

Place the wet ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until well combined and frothy.   

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until combined.  Make sure you get right down to the bottom of the bowl.  The batter will be lumpy don’t over stir or you will end up with bouncy muffins and we are not cooking for McDonalds ;).  Fold in the prepared apples and then spoon into a oiled muffin tin.  This will make a dozen regular muffins.

Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.  The muffins should be golden and a tooth pick inserted in the middle should come out clean.  

Thanks to My Local Suppliers:

Dried Apples : Noggins Corner Farm Market

Apple Cider: Suprima Farms

Eggs: Elmridge Farm

Cinnamon: JamesLea - Bio foods International

Oatmeal / Flour: Speerville Mills

Yogurt:                       Fox Hill Cheese House

Oatmeal - A Simple Answer to Food Confusion

Our desire to be healthier, happier and have a healthy body are constantly exploited by marketers in their effort to push products.  Our memories of home cooked food is triggered while we are told we neither have the time or skill to recreate this food ourselves.  Kraft Homestyle is pimping low quality factory food and trying to convince us that it is the great home cooked meal we long for.  McCains runs commercials trying to convince us that pealing a potato is well beyond our skill level so we have to buy there frozen processed microwavable ‘product’.  Superstore produces an expensive commercial to push their blue menu bagels.  This is one of the worst bagels I have ever tasted and is not health food.  It contains corn sweeteners that are horrible for us, and a chemical soup including , monoglycerides, calcium propionate, diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides, sorbic acid, ascorbic acid, L-Cysteine hydrochloride, amylase.  Good thing their caring ‘President’ is selective in his choices for our table.  

There are 2 reasons that companies have to spend millions of dollars on commercials that not only insult our intelligence but underestimate our skill and under mine our confidence in the kitchen. 

• Their products are for the most part crap.  They use over processed poor quality ingredients which do not meet our nutritional needs.

• If we take the time to think about it we will realize we are more than capable of meeting both our taste and nutritional needs without them.

All of this is just too much so I am launching www.foodthug.com.  I want this blog to stay positive and focus on good food and good food providers so I have created another site for my alter ego to blog on.  More on the above there.

Now for one simple answer to all of this kitchen confusion: Oatmeal !!!!

The simple, humble oat provides us with many of the health and taste benefits we desire. Studies have indicated that oats have properties that:

• lower cholesterol helping to prevent heart disease
• contain fiber that will slow the digestive process helping us lose weight
• control blood glucose levels helping prevent type 2 diabetes
• contains vitamins, minerals & antioxidants all of which are keys to good health

Oatmeal is also inexpensive, easy to use and it tastes great.  Who doesn't like a nice oatmeal cookie, granola is great and oats can be used in waffles, pancakes, muffins and yes even making hot cereal.  I have hyperlinked the oatmeal recipes I already have up and I will for sure blog more.

Simple foods can be amazing, and are easy to use.  One of the things marketers are taught is to create a need then fill it.  They have made food (which has been around for ever) seem complex and beyond our grasp.  We are smarter than that!

We need to take our health and happiness into our own hands.  We all have the basic skills we need to make great food, don’t let marketers rob you of great food adventures. 

Pictured here :

Oatmeal : Speerville Mills - An Atlantic Canadian Company producing amazing milled grain products.

Simply Delicious Homemade Granola

I am developing a serious case of oatmeal dependency.  I have started increasing the amount of oatmeal in my diet and have discovered that on days I eat oatmeal I have more energy and don’t feel the desire for those mid day nibbles that can be so detrimental.  

Granola is a simple and easy way to get my oatmeal fix.  I make granola about once a week now and it is a household staple.  It is easy to make, and you can play with the mix of spices to create a product that meets your personal needs.  I have designed a simple base for my granola that includes oats, nuts, maple sugar & syrup, and spices that I enjoy.  I do not add dried fruit to the granola I make it I add it when I make my bowl so I can have a variety of flavors through the week.

Ingredients 

2 pounds large rolled oats

2 cup fine chopped walnuts

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup slivered almonds

1.5 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg 

2 tsp maple sugar

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees

Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper or if at all possible silicon mats (they are a beautiful kitchen tool).  I prefer the heavy cookie sheets that you can get at Costco.

In a large bowl add  the rolled oats, walnuts, sunflower seeds and almonds in a large bowl and toss with your hands to combine.  Sprinkle in the spices, salt and maple sugar and again toss well with your hands.  In a small bowl combine the maple syrup and canola oil and whisk then add half to the dry ingredients, mix well with your hand.  Then add the rest and mix again.  Be sure to get down to the bottom and toss the spices in.  Rub together with your hands and make sure the oats get coated with flavor.  Yes you will get your hands dirty but we all love that when we were kids right! :)

Spread the mixture evenly over your cookie sheets and place in the oven.  After 10 minutes take them out of the oven stir making sure you move the granola on the edges to the middle, this is what will burn or overcook.  Rotate the pans top to bottom and put back in the oven for 10 minutes more.  Again remove from the oven and stir.  It is done when lightly golden.  If it needs more time do it 5 minutes at a time as when the moisture level goes down it cooks a lot faster.  Keep an eye on it at the end.  It should not take longer than 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely then store in a large zip top bag.

You can serve with milk, yogurt, different fresh and dried fruits, it is a great base to an amazing breakfast.

Thanks to my local suppliers:

Oats :                                  Speerville Mills 

Organic Maple Sugar:     Coulis Divin         

Maple Syrup:                    Acadian Maple Products

Fair Trade Cinnamon and Ginger from:     

JamesLea - Bio foods International

Also Pictured in this recipe:

Dried Cranberries: Terra Beata Cranberry Farm

Dried Blueberries:  Noggins Corner Farm Market
Vanilla Yogurt:        Fox Hill Cheese House

Fruit of the above purchases from Noggins Corner Farm Market at the Halifax Seaport Farm Market

Dill Lemon Creamed Eggs with Foxhill Cheese Milk

Foxhill Cheese’s new milk has inspired me to go back to update a classic breakfast that I first cooked when I was in grade 9.  I love breakfast, always have and always will.  I was looking for something different and went through my mom's cookbook and found creamed eggs.  A basic recipe with hard boiled eggs and a white sauce served over toast.  I made it and everyone loved it.  Over the years I have made a lot of variations of this recipe using various herbs, spices, cheese and presenting the eggs different ways.  Since I am using amazing milk I decided to come up with a variation to honor this, something clean that added flavor without covering up the taste of farm fresh whole milk.  I hope you enjoy, I know I did.

Ingredients:

8 Free Range Eggs

1/4 cup Butter

1/4 cup Flour

1/2 small onion (minced)

1 clove garlic (minced)

2 Cups Whole Milk 

1/2 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg (cream sauces love nutmeg)

3 whole sprigs of Fresh Dill

1 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice

1 Tbsp Fresh Parmesan Cheese 

4 Pieced of Toast

Paprika 

Place the Eggs in a large pot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil then simmer for 6 minutes.  I prefer this recipe with slightly runny yolks, I have an aversion for dry egg yolk however if you want to cook it longer feel free.  

As soon as the eggs are started melt the butter in another pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic, cook for about 3 minutes till they soften and then add in the flour.  Stir with a whisk and allow to cook until it turns a light carmel colour.  You want to toast the flour a bit or your white sauce will have a raw flour taste and it will dull the flavor of the herbs and spices added later.  Next add about half the milk, and whisk until smooth then add the remaining milk and the dill.  Heat until the mixture thickens, then lower the heat.  Add in the mustard, salt, white pepper and lemon juice and stir in.  Then add in the cheese and stir until smooth.  Heat for about 10 min over low heat to blend the flavors, taste and add salt and pepper as needed.  

When the eggs are done drain and place in cold water, when you can handle them peel the eggs carefully.  Take half the eggs and chop into the sauce, the yokes will be soft but will pop out of the whites just stir those in. 

To plate put the toast on your plate add some of the sauce egg mixture, take a whole pealed egg and place it in the toast, cut in half, top with a little more sauce, some fresh snipped dill and paprika.   Enjoy.

Thanks again to my local suppliers:

Milk : Foxhill Cheese House

Eggs: Shani’s Farm

Garlic:         Active Life Farm

Onion:         Noggins Corner Farm Market

Dill: Riverview Herbs

And as always thanks to the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market for giving me a place to meet all these great suppliers.

Fresh Ricotta Cheese Cakes - With Fox Hill Milk

One of the things I love about classic Italian food is how simple it is and how it really highlights ingredients.  Therefore I decided to honor the high quality milk from Fox Hill by making little ricotta cheese cakes.  These are lighter that cheese cake made from sour cream and cream cheese but are just as tasty.  This is very simple to make and it has nice clean flavors that you are sure to enjoy.  

Ingredients:

1/2 pound fresh ricotta cheese (recipe)

2.5 Tbsp White Sugar

2 T Flour

2 Eggs

1/4 Tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Orange zest

1 tsp Vanilla

1/8 tsp sea salt

20 dark chocolate disks

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

Prepare 4 ramekins by greasing the insides with butter then flour.  Tap out the excess flour. Ensure the entire surface is covered with butter and flour or the cakes will stick.

In a mixing bowl add sugar to ricotta, and stir with a whisk until somewhat smooth, then whisk in flour and eggs (one at a time).  When you have a smooth batter add in cinnamon, orange zest, vanilla and salt and beat again.  

Fill each ramekin about half way, then put 5 chocolate disks in each one then top each with the remaining batter.  ramekins should be about 3/4 full.  Do not fill to the top.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes to an hour.  They will get golden on the top.  They are going to puff up but will fall when cooling, that is expected dont be alarmed.

When the are done remove to a wire cooling rack and refrigerate.   Top them with a cool strawberry sauce and a little powdered sugar.  

As always thanks to my local suppliers:

Milk for Ricotta : Fox Hill Cheese House

Eggs: Shani’s Farm

These suppliers are located at the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market

A note about the Cinnamon I used:

While at the international day which is held every Friday at the Halifax Market I ran into a vendor who was selling spices and teas from Ceylon.  As with most of the vendors at the market he was passionate about his product.  His company imports spices directly from Ceylon from a fair trade cooperative of farmers.  He stressed the freshness of the product as well as the quality.  He was proud that the farmers could make a good living providing a high quality product, this is what we want for all of our farmers .  I ground up 2 cinnamon sticks to test and it was amazing.  The scent had an amazing citrus note to it and the cinnamon taste was great.   I will be doing a blog of them soon after I have sampled a few more products but had to give them props for the cinnamon.  They can be found at the market on international day and their website.

Ricotta Cheese with Fox Hill Milk

I love italian food.  Can't get enough of it.  I have already given you a recipe for a great tomato sauce, and now I will show you how to make ricotta cheese.  Ricotta is used as a filling for ravioli or other stuffed pasta, it is used in lasagna and is also fantastic for making all kinds of desserts.  You can get ricotta in the stores but trust me this is much better.  It is so soft, smooth, and creamy.  It has a clean rich flavor that can't be matched by the cheese you get at your local factory food outlet.

This recipe uses 2 L of Fox Hill milk and will yield about half a pound of ricotta.  It is very simple to do and it will be worth the effort.  If you do not use Fox Hill Milk then you will need to as about 3/4 cup of cream into the mixture to get a nice rich ricotta.  I have made this a number of times and I can tell you honestly tell you using Fox Hill’s milk results in the best ricotta that I have had.  It only makes sense as the more natural the product the better the results will be.

I will be using this cheese in several recipes I will blog later but this will go great in any recipe you have that uses ricotta cheese.  

Ingredients

2 L Unhomogenized Milk or 2 L Whole Milk and 3/4 cup cream

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp salt

Cheese Cloth (this will be required to drain the cheese)

Add the milk and salt to a heavy bottom pot or dutch oven and heat the milk to 180 degrees.  Be careful to not let the milk boil.  Make sure you put the thermometer into the milk deep enough to get an accurate reading.  When the milk is to temperature add in the lemon juice and gently stir it in one or two stirs, do not aggressively stir because you do not want the curds to be broken up.  

Turn the heat to low and allow to cook for 15 minutes longer.  Again do not let it come to a boil.  After 15 minutes turn off the pot and cover.  Allow to sit for about 30 minutes to an hour or until you see the curds formed and the liquid separating.  You will see the milk curdle when you add the lemon juice this is not what you are looking for.  You want the milk solids to really form up or the liquid will not strain off.

When this is completed line a colander with several layers of cheese cloth.  Slowly pour the mixture into the cheese cloth and allow to drain until all of the liquid has passed through.  (About 30 min to an hour).  You can then take the cheese and put it in a storage container and refrigerate or use it right away.  It will stay fresh 2 to 3 days.

Special thanks to Fox Hill Cheese House for making such a wonderful product.

Fox Hill Cheese House HAS MILK!!!!!!

I have been a big fan Fox Hill Cheese House for 4 or 5 years now.  I have an issue with commercial milk products.  Something in the processing causes me to have itching on my hands and I get stuffed up.  I thought I was reacting to dairy products which was really strange because it was never an issue for the first 30 years of my life.  Being a cheese freak I could not stop eating cheese and when I heard about Fox Hill I drove right up the next weekend for some cheese.  The first thing I noticed was that I did not react.  I decided to test it out and went back and bought some gelato and some cheese curd and consumed it all in one night (the sacrifices we make).  No reaction at all.  I was thrilled.  I have been a customer ever sense.

When I was visiting them I heard the story of how they graze, and care for their cows.  How much care they take to ensure there are no antibiotics in their milk and how they use their own milk to make their products.  The level of pride they show in their business and the food they produce shows through.  You can tell that pleasing their customers is the priority of Fox Hill.

When they came out with bottled milk I had to try it and ran down to the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market to get my bottle (ok, 3 bottles, oh yeah got 5 more...).  The milk is pasteurized so no fear there but except for that and the Vitamin D they have to put in it is unprocessed.  You have to shake it because the cream will rise to the top but when you drink it, wow, fresh cold milk, you can taste the cream and natural sugars.  It is amazing.  I had my first glass of milk & cookies for the first time in years.  It is by far the best milk I have ever had.  And no reaction at all. 

Factory milk essentially has the crap kicked out of it, they separate off all the cream using a centrifuge, high temperature pasteurize it, then pump in milk fat to the prescribed percentage, add back vitamins they destroy in the processing of the milk and homogenize the milk.  Of course this allows them to use the cream in other applications, make modified milk ingredients and allows dairies to make more profit off their raw material.  The final product is not however whole milk.  As with most things produced in factories you end up with a poor copy of the real thing.

At 3 dollars a liter the milk is cheaper than the organic milk sold in the factory food outlets and is a far superior product.   I am very excited to have this available to me and I encourage you to go try a bottle (just leave one or three for me).  If you have a chance go up to their Port Williams location and take the time to talk to them about their operation.  You will be impressed by the level of pride and commitment to quality that they have.  You will also get some of the best gelato available.  If you don't want to take the trip to the valley then visit them at the market and you can get a sample of their milk (and gelato).  

Poached Eggs on Roasted Root Vegetable Hash

As those who follow my blog may know I am a bit of a breakfast lover.  I enjoy a hearty breakfast and love a properly cooked egg.  This morning I got up and saw the wonderful selection of root vegetables I purchased at the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market and decided poached eggs on hash would be ideal.  

To make my roasted vegetable hash I first needed roasted vegetables.  Since it is winter and I am trying to eat locally then the roasted veggies are root vegetables.   I picked up some great red onions, sweet potatoes, multicolored carrots and fingerling potatoes from Noggins Corner Farm those served as the base for my breakfast.  Who said winter eating is boring in Nova Scotia.

Roasted Root Vegetables

12 Fingerling Potatoes 1 inch slices

3 Carrots Sliced

3 Small to Medium Sweet Potatoes 1 inch dice

1 Red Onion Chopped

2 cloves of Garlic Sliced

1 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

6 sprigs of Oregano

3 sprigs of Rosemary

Preheat the oven to 375.  Chop up the vegetables and put them in a roasting pan.  sprinkle with salt and pepper, add in the herbs and toss to coat all of the root veggies.   Roast in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes.  Allow them to brown slightly but take care not to burn the onions or garlic.  Stir occasionally to allow for even roasting.

Remove from the oven.  These can be served as part of a main course or as I did this morning be used in a hash.

Roasted Vegetable Hash with Poached Eggs

1 Recipe of Roasted Root Vegetables

6 strips of bacon

1 tsp Paprika

8 fresh eggs

1 Tbsp Salt

2 tsp vinegar (rice wine I prefer)

Fry off 6 strips of bacon until crispy.  If you are using good smoked bacon render the fat off on medium low heat and then drain off the fat and crisp up.  It takes a little more time but you end up with better bacon.  

Prepare water for poaching the eggs but filling up a large frying pan with water, add in the salt and vinegar, bring to a simmer. 

Roughly mash up the hash and add to the pan (preheated) you used to cook the bacon and add the paprika.  Fry until potatoes turn a nice shade of golden.  Between the oil in the roasted vegetables and the residual bacon fat you will be able to brown up the potatoes.

To poach the eggs crack each egg into a small bowl and slide into the simmering water.  Cook them until the whites are firm but the yokes are still runny.  The yoke makes a beautiful sauce for the hash.

Plate the eggs on top of the hash.  I find this hash sweet enough to support a little spice so I topped it with sriracha hot sauce and some fresh cilantro.  

Thanks to my local suppliers:

Root Vegetables: Noggins Corner Farm

Garlic, Eggs and Bacon : Active Life Farm

Fresh Herbs : Riverview Herbs

And as always the Halifax Seaport Farm Market for providing a place for me to purchase great local product.  (Especially in the Winter)

Oatmeal Cookies with Drunken Dried Fruit

Who want to make cookies this weekend!!!  I have heard people say they don’t like a lot of things, but cookies are not one of them.  We can all think back to the smell of homemade cookies fresh out of the oven.  The taste of a warm cookie with a tall glass of cold milk, and of course sneaking cookies from the freezer for a midnight snack. (Ok maybe that was just me -- blush) 

One of my favorite cookies is an oatmeal cookie with raisins or assorted dried fruits.  It just so happens that oatmeal is incredibly good for you.  I am not promoting this as a health cookie, you wont see me on an infomercial promoting this a a cookie that will cure your every ailment.  However increasing your intake of oatmeal does help reduce weight, lower cholesterol and reduce blood pressure.  Oatmeal also is loaded with fiber which makes you feel full so you will eat less.  So if you can replace a factory food cookie with something that contains oatmeal then you have done a good thing.

This cookie is also very flavorful.  I think that we can eat our way to better health and weight (in my case a major concern) by eating better food.  However for me this only works if it tastes good.  Here is a cookie that I have come up with that is a good choice for a sweet snack.  

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter (organic and local is best) - At room temperature

3/4 Cup of Brown Sugar

2 Eggs (beaten)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 Tbsp Honey

1 1/2 cups Whole White Flour (if you cant get this go half & half white and whole wheat)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 tablespoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon of Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon of Ground Cloves

2 Cups of Rolled Oats

1/3 cup dark raisins

1/3 cup golden raisins

1/3 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup dark rum or orange juice

Directions

This recipe takes a little bit of wait time at the beginning.  Take your butter out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.  Put the dried fruit in a small pot and cover with dark rum or orange juice.  Put over very low heat, the warmer element of your stove if you have one is ideal.  Allow the dried fruit to sit until the butter is soft.  

Preheat your oven to 375

When the butter is softened, place it along with the brown sugar in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid Mixer with the whisk attachment (or a large metal bowl and use a hand mixer).  I don't shill for Kitchen Aid by the way but their mixer is one of my favorite kitchen helpers and I use it extensively.  Beat the sugar into the butter until it is smooth.  It is important not to use melted butter the sugar grains when beat in with the butter form little pockets of air which will make the cookies lighter in texture.  

Next add in the eggs, honey and vanilla.  Stir until smooth.  In another bowl combine the  flour, baking soda and spices.  Change the mixing attachment on your mixer to the paddle.  Mix these well then sift into your wet ingredients adding about a third at a time stirring each time to incorporate.  Don’t skip the sifting step.  It will ensure the flavors are well mixed and will weed out any lumps of baking soda which can be a very unpleasant bite.

Drain the fruit in a strainer and then add the fruit and oatmeal to the mixer and stir until incorporated.  

Now for cookie sheets I highly recommend a nice heavy cookie sheet with a silicon mat to help stop sticking.  These produce nice evenly browned cookies that do not stick and make cleanup a non issue.  To scoop out the cookies I recommend getting a disher.  It is like a small ice cream scoop, you can get them in various sizes and they will make a nice uniform cookie.

Scoop the cookies out onto your cookies sheet in about tablespoon full sizes.  I like to press them down a bit to make a cookie about half an inch thick.  Bake in the 375 oven for twelve to fifteen minutes.  Check the first batch often, you want a nice golden brown, they will still be soft.  Remove from the cookie sheet on to a wire rack.  This recipe will make about 2 dozen cookies.

Play around with the recipe, try different dried fruits (though I recommend soaking them to add additional flavor and to stop them from turning into little bullets).  Also you may want to add more spices or maybe play with adding a little nutmeg.  Taste and try, that is the secret to good home cooking.

Thanks again to my local suppliers:

Oatmeal and Whole White Flour - Speerville Mills

Eggs - Active Life Farms

Honey: Cosman and Whidden Honey Ltd

Chef Michael Smith - An Inspirational Chef for Home Cooks

Flavor, we all love it.  Good food brings back memories of childhood, can make us feel better after a bad day, and is the center piece of a great social event.  We have dinners at weddings, state functions and to host an important person in our lives.  Food is something that we enjoy and cant wait to share with those we love.  

I have always loved cooking, I started cooking at the feet of my Grandma Pratt when I stood on a milk crate to fry my first egg and my Grampa Skakum inspired me to cook for others.  Our family occasions were always filled with great food and it seemed magical how a feast could be created when you opened the fridge and saw just a few raw materials.  I would watch my grandfather cook and see him say, ok we need some sweetness what do I have, it could have been sugar, honey or Coke as long as it brought the flavor he wanted.  He would dip into his herbs and spices and add then taste and it always turned out amazing.  I have great family role models to guide my cooking and that is where my love of food came from.

Another person who has inspired my cooking style and who taught me how to play with flavors was Chef Michael Smith.  I started watching him when he had his Inn Chef show and was impressed with how easy he made everything look, and how much I wanted to eat the food he served.  His show Chef at Home provided tremendous inspiration.  The line “My favorite recipe...cooking without a recipe” really caught my interest.  My grandfather and grandmother both seemed to throw things together and the results were always amazing.  I wanted to be able to do the same thing, break away from formula cooking and just create great food.  I wanted to create and Michael Smith held the secret. 

Michael Smith educated me on how to build a recipe based on the flavors you love.  When he would walk into his pantry during the show I was amazed at all of the ingredients he had, he would describe flavors and how they went together.  I could taste it as he described it.  I love how he will take an ingredient then build a recipe around it and enhance the flavors.  His approach is very clear and his food is not at all intimidating.  I find that his approach to food has changed how I watch cooking shows.  I don’t look at a dish as a dish but as a combination of flavors, I pay attention to what is used with what, and what flavors make or break a particular dish.  After watching his shows I am better able to learn from other Chefs.  

I firmly believe that we have to take responsibility for our food and free ourselves from the factory food that can be so bad for us.  In order to do this we have to learn how to cook and how to make food that is pleasing to ourselves and our family.  I will share with you all of the things I am learning but I would strongly recommend that you follow Michael Smith.

He has launched a website where he is broadcasting a new series called Food Country.    He has launched 5 episodes so far and has a new one every Tuesday.  He also has some great recipes and tip and is building an interactive food community inviting others to share their tips.

He is of course on Food Network Canada and you can follow him on Twitter @ChefMICHAELsmith and on Facebook.  If you love food and love cooking I recommend bookmarking his site and following him on Twitter.  He will change the way you look at food and cooking, I know he did that for me.