Goat Cheese Tart with Apricot-Fig Sauce

HIIIII EVERYBODY!!!

Sorry I'm such a loser and haven't blogged in three months. Life is ridiculous sometimes but today is my first day of holidays so I'm starting it off the only way that's appropriate - by sharing a tasty recipe with all of you.

I recently auditioned for MasterChef Canada for the second time. It was fun and exciting and Ben Miljure from CTV news interviewed me and it was the most awkward thing ever (not Ben, I was the awkward one) but it was still a cool experience. I did make it on the news though! From the chin down. Cool beans. There were way more people this time around but only one other person from last year was there. She and I were the first two to finish our auditions actually so unlike last year, I did not get to hang around all day and talk with the other contestants but the people I did talk to were friendly and fun and most of all, talented. The competition will be STIFF this year, no doubt about that.

Anyway, in honour of my MasterChef audition, I am going to share the dish I presented at last year's audition. The one I have said to many of you that I will never make again, ever, as long as I live. Not because it's  not delicious - it is - but because there was so much stress surrounding this dish for me that even writing about it gives me anxiety. But I love you all a lot so I'll power through and you all will be able to make it for yourselves. It's adapted from this recipe, and this is my version...

Goat Cheese Tart with Apricot-Fig Sauce

For the Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, diced, plus more for the pan
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add 1/3 of the diced butter, and pulse until well combined. Add the remaining butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs...

There's one kind of big chunk of butter there, make sure any chunks are a little smaller than that. It won't take very long so pulse once and get a good look at it before pulsing again. Okay, once you're happy with the texture, add the vinegar and 3 Tablespoons ice water. Pulse three or four more times to combine, just until the dough starts to come together...

Dump the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form it into a disc. Oh wait, first, squeeze a bit of the dough between your fingers. If it doesn't hold it's shape, add one more Tablespoon of ice water and pulse again. Okay, once it's in a disc, wrap it up in the plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Take the dough out of the fridge a few minutes before you're ready to roll it out so it isn't totally cold when you do. 

Put the dough on a floured surface and roll out into a ten inch circle. Ease the dough into the pan, pressing down the bottom and sides.

Pierce all over with a fork, then refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Next, line the dough with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans (or pie weights, as I have done. They help keep the tart shell flat instead of it puffing up...)

Bake the tart shell like this for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and "beans" and continue baking for another 15 minutes, or until golden. Transfer to a rack to let cool completely.

For the Filling:
 
6 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
3 large eggs, separated, plus 1 egg yolk
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cognac or brandy
Pinch of salt

Beat the goat cheese and 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until creamy, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (I used my stand mixer with the paddle attachment). Add the 4 egg yolks and beat until combined. Add the cornstarch, vanilla and cognac/brandy and beat until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down the bowl in between to make sure it's all mixed in there properly.

Here is where I shit the bed taking pictures, so sorry, no visuals at the moment.

In a separate bowl, beat the 3 egg whites until foamy (I used my hand mixer for this part). Add the salt and the remaining 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar and beat until soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Gently fold in the egg whites into the yolk mixture until combined, then pour into the prepared crust. Bake until the filling is set (your oven should still be at 400 degrees) and golden on top, about 20 minutes.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

For the Topping:
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons honey
Pinch of cinnamon
1/2 cup cognac or brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried apricots and figs, halved
Juice of 1 lemon
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Chop up all your dried fruits!! Wahoo!! (uh oh, my coffee is kicking in)

Bring the granulated sugar, honey, cinnamon, cognac/brandy, vanilla and 1/3 cup water to a simmer in a small skillet over medium heat, cook until syrupy, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the apricots and cook 3 more minutes, then add the lemon juice. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Use a small knife to loosen the tart from the pan, then remove, carefully!! Dust the whole thing with powdered sugar.

Serve at room temperature with the apricot-fig topping.

Yaaayyyy!!! Okay this thing is actually totally delicious and I might be changing my mind about never making it again.

There you go, lovelies! Your patience has been rewarded.

Also, this post is in memory of one of my biggest fans, Joan Friesen. Rest in peace precious Joanee Balonee.


xoxoxo

Ash

Giant Italian Meatballs with a Secret and Green Beans with Pancetta

Have I told you how much I love Italian food? I really, really, REALLY love Italian food. I love to cook all sorts of things but I think I love Italian (and desserts) the most. So, the recipe for these meatballs is something I have made a couple of times now and I've changed enough things that I think I could claim this as my own. It's based off of this recipe and here comes my version:

Ingredients:

For the Meatballs:

1 pound ground beef
3 large links Italian sausage (I've also used honey garlic sausage for this and it was also awesome)
2 large eggs
1 cup panko crumbs (the original recipe calls for stale Italian bread mixed with milk etc, and though that would be wonderful, I find panko does a great job on it's own. Also, it was what I had in my cupboard).
1 bunch parsley, chopped (should end up with about 1 cup)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
8 mini mozzarella balls (Bocconcini)

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees then put everything but the mozzarella balls in a bowl.

Now, don't be a wuss, and just get your hands in there and mix it all up. You'll do the best job with your hands, so just get right in there. Once it's all mixed up, I like to make one huge ball and then portion off from there.

Split this huge meatball into four. Make an indentation in each and place two mozzarella balls in each.

Form the meat back over the mozzarella and place each on a baking sheet brushed with olive oil

Put in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden. I do the full 30 just to make sure they are cooked all the way through.
Once you have the meatballs in the oven, start your sauce.

For the sauce:

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or less if you don't want to use that much)
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 or 4 sprigs basil
Kosher salt, to taste

Preheat the olive oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, stirring for about 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes, 1 cup of water, about a teaspoon of salt and the basil sprigs. I don't actually know exactly what they mean by "sprigs" so I just used whatever basil leaves I had.

Bring that to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Once the meatballs are finished, add them to the sauce...

Then spoon some of the sauce over top. Continue spooning sauce over top with the burner on low until ready to serve. Boil whatever pasta you would like, then place a meatball on top and some ricotta cheese on top of the meatball.

Yep, just as delicious as it looks.

Okay, onto the green beans. This one comes straight out of Food Network Magazine.

Ingredients:

1 - 1 1/4 pounds green beans, trimmed
4 ounces pancetta, diced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup panko crumbs
Pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook until bright green, about four minutes. Drain, then plunge the beans into a ice bath to stop the cooking process. Drain again.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the pancetta. Cook until crispy, then drain on paper towels.
Add the garlic to the pancetta drippings and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Add the panko crumbs and stir around, until golden and toasted, another minute.

Add the green beans and to the skillet and cook, tossing until evenly coated, about 2 minutes. Add the pancetta and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Toss that shit up and serve. With lemon wedges if you feel so lead.

Look at that! What a beaut. On a side note, you should all watch the show Call the Midwife on Netflix. A-may-zing show. Amazing. The BBC never does anything wrong.

xoxoxoxo


Ash

Thai food. By Ashley.

You're in for a treat today as I'm going to be posting FOUR Thai recipes that I make all the time. Figured I would just get it all out there, and if you're like me and have a newfound love affair with Thai food, you're going to need to change your pants. I don't know how authentic any of these recipes actually are but, whatevs. You're going to love these recipes. They are so wonderfully warm and comforting, after you try them, it won't matter if they're actually authentic Thai or not. And you'll need to stock up on coconut milk and curry powder. You've been warned. So let's giver...

Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients: original recipe can be found here

Skewers:
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
4 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoon white sugar
2 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
2 pounds boneless pork loin/chops
16 skewers (or enough for all the meat)
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
2 Tablespoons curry powder
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy peanut butter because I think that smooth is for chumps)
2 Tablespoons white sugar
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons fish sauce

First, combine every ingredient for the skewers (besides the pork) in a small bowl. Cut the pork into thin slices then add to the bowl and toss to coat.

Allow to marinate for at least two hours. After you have waited patiently, thread the meat onto the skewers. Cautionary note: if you are going to be cooking these on a barbeque and are using wooden skewers, make sure you soak the skewers in water for at least half an hour so the wood doesn't burn to a crisp on the barbeque. I used a griddle on the counter as it was the middle of winter when I made these for the first time and because the skewers I used were pretty long. So preheat the oil in whatever cooking mechanism you are using and cook each skewer until browned and no longer pink, approx 3-4 mins on each side.

My dad was helping me with this while I cooked other things. I have the best dad.

You need to make your sauce at some point as well. Add the coconut milk to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the curry powder and simmer for approximately 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth, peanut butter, sugar, lime juice and fish sauce, then simmer for one minute to allow all the ingredients to come together. Serve your sauce with your skewers. Boom, done.

Okay, up next, Pad Thai courtesy of Martha Stewart. This recipe doesn't take very long so it's great for a weeknight meal.

Ingredients:
8 ounces dried, wide, and flat rice noodles (my husband recently said to me the last time we made this that he thought thinner noodles would be good too. So we'll try that one day and I'll keep you posted)
2 Tablespoons dark-brown sugar (I just used the brown sugar I have, so if that's not dark then, whatever)
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving (if you want, I would say that's optional)
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 large eggs, lightly beaten (I use four eggs when making this as an entree on it's own)
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped (the original recipe says to use cilantro, and I hate cilantro. So I never use it, but if you like it, by all means, go right ahead and eat that horrible weed)
1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts

First, soak the noodles in a large bowl of warm water for AT LEAST half an hour (or according to package directions), then drain. Whisk together the brown sugar, lime juice and soy sauce in a small bowl.

Next, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat, then add the scallion whites and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the eggs and cook, scraping the skillet with a rubber spatula, until the eggs are almost set, about 30 seconds. Transfer the egg mixture to a plate.

Add the noodles (they should be nice and floppy) and the soy sauce mixture to the same skillet.

Cook, tossing constantly, until the noodles are soft and coated with the sauce, about 1 minute.

Add egg mixture, and toss, breaking up the eggs gently. Serve noodles with lime wedges (if you felt like it), topped with scallion greens, parsley and peanuts.

See that? Horrible presentation BUT easiest thing ever. Next up, one of my absolute favorites Curried Coconut Chicken. From All Recipes

Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
Salt and pepper, about a teaspoon of each, or to taste
1 1/2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons curry powder (Lately I've been using 1T curry powder and 1T garam masala, which I guess makes this dish more Indian than Thai, I suppose, but still delicious)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 14 oz can coconut milk
1 14.5 oz can stewed, diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
3 Tablespoons sugar

Oh gosh, even listing those ingredients makes me happy. This dish is so good it should be illegal.
Okay so first, heat the oil and curry powder in a large skillet over medium-high heat for two minutes. Stir in the onions and garlic, and cook for one more minute. Add the chicken, tossing to coat in the curry oil. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 7-10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Pour the coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sugar into the pan and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring once in a while, approximately 30 to 40 minutes. I usually do just 30 minutes and it turns out beautifully.

Serve it with rice and have the happiest meal of your life.

Now, if you've looked at the above picture, you may be wondering what that food item is on the right side of the picture. Or maybe not, I don't know your life. Anyway, it's Crunchy Thai Salad with Cashews.

Ingredients:
1 English cucumber, chopped up
1 carrot, grated
1 cup whole roasted, unsalted cashews (the original recipe makes a note to use bulk cashews instead of the ones you get in a little bag in the baking aisle because bulk are usually fresher which is such a wonderful little piece of advice)
1/2 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 green onions, thinly sliced (or cut into strips lengthwise, if you're in that kind of mood)

Add all of those ingredients into a bowl together. Then make the dressing:

1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar, or rice vinegar
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 fresh red chili, de-seeded and minced, OR 1-2 tsp chili sauce, OR!!! 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed chili
1-2 teaspoons white sugar (to taste, I think I usually use two)
pinch of white pepper (or black pepper if that's what you have)

Mix all that shit up, then pour over your vegetables. Toss it up, and serve!!!

Okay, that's enough for today. Hope you're all enjoying your green beer, if that's your thing. And just in case I made you all too happy, I just wanted to let you know that two years ago today I was drinking green beer on a patio. What does grass look like, again?

Love love love

Ashwee

Cheesecake with Meyer Lemon-Ginger Curd

Hey errbody, this winter feel long enough for all of you? Why do we live here again? Someone remind me, because I've legit forgotten.

Anyway, time for a recipe that will brighten up your day. I made this a while back and for all of my fellow lemon lovers, you're going to shit, I guarantee it. This is a Food Network mag recipe, from the very first issue that ever arrived in my mailbox. Little did I know, it would be the beginning of the most beautiful relationship (with a magazine subscription) that I will probably ever have.

Just in case you weren't aware, Meyer lemons are from heaven. They are slightly sweeter than a regular lemon and they are a gift from God. I'm pretty sure He picked them in His own garden and sent them to us here on Earth because how else could we have something so beautiful and wonderful in our grocery stores? Yep, that's the only reasonable explanation.

So, to the cheesecake...

For the Crust:
8 whole graham crackers and 1 1/2 cups lightly crushed butter cookies
5 Tablespoons butter, melted

*Okay, right away I have a disclaimer. I didn't use the butter cookies (because I couldn't find any) and the way we get our graham crackers in grocery stores in Canada vs. how they get them in the US is obviously different. I discovered this when I was making another recipe recently and the recipe asked for 9 graham crackers for an entire pie crust. Never in a million years would that be enough so my best guess for this recipe is to use about 2-2 1/2 cups crushed graham crumbs (or a mixture of graham crumbs and butter cookie crumbs). When you add the butter and mix it up it should look like wet sand so you can always start with less and add either more crumbs or butter depending on the texture. When you squish it between your fingers it should hold it's shape fairly well, so that's how you can tell that you have the right consistency.

For the Filling:
3 8 oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature (I had a friend ask me how much 8 oz of cream cheese was. It's one brick of cream cheese. So you need 3 bricks)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 Tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice (from about 1 lemon. DON'T YOU DARE USE BOTTLED LEMON JUICE FOR THIS!!)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
 
For the Curd:
1 4 inch piece ginger, peeled (you have to grate this thing and it takes a while and will make your arm sore, just so you know...)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (from about 4 lemons. Again, no juice from a bottle. Don't even use regular lemons, we can't be friends anymore if you skip out on using Meyer lemons. Your life will be better after experiencing them, I promise)
2 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Sliced strawberries, for serving

Directions:
Make the crust first. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you are using whole cookies/crackers, pulse those in a food processor first until you have fine crumbs. Drizzle the melted butter all over the crumbs in the food processor then pulse again until you achieve wet sand crumbs. Press into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake until golden, about 10 mins, then remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Next, make the filling. Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and a touch fluffy (you'll get there in about 3 minutes).

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the lemon juice (from heaven) and the vanilla. Pour the batter into the prepared crust

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 mins - until the edges are set and the middle is still slightly jiggly. Turn off the oven but leave the cheesecake in there with the door slightly ajar for 20 more minutes. Transfer to a rack, let cool completely, then refrigerate at least four hours or overnight.

Once your cheesecake is completely cooled off, make the curd. Finely grate the ginger then press through a fine mesh sieve to extract the juice. Whisk the eggs, sugar and cream in a small nonreactive saucepan until combined. Add the lemon juice and ginger juice and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly (CONSTANTLY!! Leave this alone for even one second too long and it will burn. I learned the hard way and had to throw away my first batch of curd), until thick and bubbly, about 6 minutes. Make sure you have this much free time, nothing in your life is more important during these 6 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter until melted. Strain through a fine mesh sieve (press it through with a rubber spatula) and refrigerate until ready to use.

Once everything is ready, spread the curd over the cheesecake and allow AT LEAST 30 mins to set in the fridge.

Remove from springform ring and slice. Serve with sliced strawberries (if you so desire).

Confession time. This last picture was taken the next day as I didn't give the curd the proper amount of time to set when I first cut it. So by the next day it had had lots of time to chill out (har har) and looked much prettier when sliced.

And now my dear readers, I want to hear from you. Anything you don't know how to do and would like to? Any cooking questions you have and would like an answer to? Any ingredients you're curious about and would like me to feature? I had a friend ask me about avocados the other day. She had no clue what to do with them so once I compile a few different things, I will do some small features. Please don't be afraid to ask questions, even if you think they're stupid or you're stupid for not knowing something that you think is obvious. Other people might have the same question and it doesn't hurt to ask. You can either leave a comment on this post or email me at ashley.olynick@hotmail.ca if you're too shy to have others see your question.

Okay, that's it. For today.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Ash

Honey-Balsamic Lamb Chops

Whooooaaaaaaa okay it's been a while. Let's not even go there and just get straight to what we all love - FOOD!!

This is a special occasion recipe. It'll impress, I promise you and the best part? It's fast, easy and delicious. It's also a Giada recipe, and if you've been following this blog, you will know that I WORSHIP Giada. She is just, ugh, the most.

ANYway, let's get to it.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
8 small lamb chops (I bought a rack from Marcello's meats)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

I would start this recipe by making your sauce first. It can hang out while you're cooking the lamb chops and since those don't take long to cook you might want to pay attention to one thing at a time when it comes to these. Start by combining the balsamic vinegar, garlic, honey and parsley in a food processor. Pulse until well blended. Turn the machine on to low, then slowly pour in the vegetable oil into the top of the machine, thusly...

Ugh, sorry about the horrible lighting. But I'm sure you get the idea. Anyway, pour in the oil with the machine running until the mixture is smooth and forms a thick sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Okay, now for the lamb chops. Place them on a plate and season each side with salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and fresh chopped rosemary.

Preheat a grill pan on medium-high heat and make sure it's nice and hot before you add the lamb chops. Also, lamb chops should be cooked to about medium-rare. They're small and dry out fast. Plus anything over medium is blasphemy anyway, sooooooo....
Cook the lamb chops on each side for 2-3 minutes.

Once lamb chops are done, arrange on a plate and spoon some of the sauce over top.

LOOK AT THOSE!! Shit. So good. Feel free to go crazy with the sauce. I won't even judge you for it.

I served my lamb chops with Parmesan Basil Orzo (which I think I have blogged?) and Brussel Sprouts with Bacon. Fantastic.

Love you all! Thanks for your patience during my hiatus.

-Ash