Warning: file_get_contents(http://www.keramikoskitchen.com/empty) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found in /home/kerancom/public_html/blog/wp-content/themes/default/functions.php on line 28

Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

« Older Entries

Treat Your Dad to a BBQ This Father’s Day

Friday, June 10th, 2011

Throw Some Ribs on the BBQ for Father's Day

Father’s Day is Sunday June 19, 2011.

Dad’s are notoriously hard to buy gifts for, aren’t they? Year after year you rack your brain to come up with some new, unique gift that will win him over on Father’s Day, but you tend to fall back on good old standbys like a tie or maybe a fancy, new power tool. But, you know what dad’s really love? BBQ.

BBQ Favourites for Father’s Day
A big family BBQ is a the perfect way to let your dad know you care. Sure, you can still get him that tie or cordless drill, but when you accompany that gift with a classic BBQ dinner, you’ll really show him you care. There are a ton of great grilling options and what you decide to cook up should be based on what your dad loves. Is he always looking for excuses to cook up a steak? Does he order ribs every time you’re out at a restaurant? Or maybe your dad would rather have a few options to choose from like a rotisserie chicken and seared pork loin. Whatever his preference, make sure you have a number of sides to complement the main course.

Mastering the Grill for Father’s Day
Before you dive into your BBQ’d feast, you’ll want to make sure you’ve mastered the art of grilling. You don’t have to cook a bunch of test run meals; just make sure you check the approximate grilling times for the meat or vegetable you’ve chosen. Nothing ruins a BBQ more than a meal that’s been burnt to a crisp. When the time’s right, slice into your meat with a sharp knife to make sure it’s done. And don’t make your dad work for his supper – be sure to have plenty of good knives on hand so he can make quick work of digging into his special meal!

Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Mix all ingredients together in a small saucepan and cook over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes until thickened. Let cool and use on all of your BBQ favourites!

Don’t Forget Dessert!
Try one of these desserts to round out your Father’s Day dinner:

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Ceramic Knives, Recipes | 18 Comments »

Easter Recipes for a Dinner That’ll Impress

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Potato Gruyere Gratin for Easter Dinner

With just a week away until Easter, it’s time to start planning which Easter recipes you’ll break out for your big feast. Take a cue from what’s plentiful this spring when deciding what to cook – fresh fruit and vegetables will always make for a more impressive meal than canned.

Easter Dinner Recipes
Whether you decide to cook a turkey, a ham or opt for a vegetarian Easter dinner, you’ll also need a few good side dishes. Easter recipes should feature as many spring favorites as possible. Trade in tired Brussels sprouts for grilled or roasted asparagus. Swap out mashed potatoes for a rich, mouth-watering gratin. Leave the stuffing off the menu and instead pick up a fresh loaf of multi-grain or sourdough bread that can be warmed and served with herb butter. For perfectly chopped herbs for any dish, try using a double blade chopper!

Easter Recipe Prep
Just like Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll want to do a certain amount of prep ahead of the big day. If you’ll be serving herb butter, chop your fresh herbs and mix with your butter a few days in advance to let the flavours meld. Thyme, rosemary and even a little lemon zest are great options for this. Bake your dessert the day before – you may even have pre-chopped rhubarb hiding in your freezer that you can use.

Easter Dinner Presentation
Casual or formal, any Easter dinner can benefit from a few personal touches. Fresh cut flowers like tulips or daffodils will brighten up your dinner table, as will brightly colored napkins. These affordable accessories will make your meal all the more memorable.

Potato Gruyere Gratin Recipe for Easter

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pounds Yukon potatoes, thinly sliced
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cream
  • 2 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
  • Butter to grease the pan

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9- by 12-inch baking dish with butter. Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can and arrange them in a layer, overlapping the edges slightly. Add a sparse later of onion and then sprinkle with salt, freshly ground pepper and a third of the cheese. Repeat this process with remaining ingredients, but reserve the last third of your cheese for later.

Carefully pour the cream over the potatoes. It should come up to the bottom of the top layer of potatoes; add more if this was not enough. Bake it for about an hour. Halfway through the baking time, take the gratin dish out of the oven and gently press the potatoes flat to keep them moist. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the gratin for the last 15 minutes of baking. The gratin is done when the potatoes are soft and the top is golden brown.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Ceramic Kitchen, How To, Recipes | No Comments »

Rhubarb Recipes and Cooking Tips

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

Try Cooking With Rhubarb This Spring

Traditionally used in desserts like cakes, pies and crumbles, rhubarb recipes can be used for sweet and savory dishes alike. As we enter rhubarb season, here are a few ways you might incorporate this tart ingredient into your spring kitchen.

How to Pick Rhubarb
When looking to pick the best rhubarb, pay attention to the thickness of the stems, as well as their crispness. The thicker the stem, the tougher the rhubarb will be. Ideally, you want to pick out slender, firm stalks. If rhubarb stalks are in any way floppy, they’re most likely old and will not yield the tastiest results. Rhubarb stems range in color from pale green to dark pink – the rosier the hue, the sweeter the rhubarb will be. When you get your rhubarb home, keep it in your vegetable crisper for up to one week.

Cooking Rhubarb
Rhubarb adds a delicious tang to sweet treats, and when cooked takes on an almost buttery texture. Because of its composition, rhubarb is also a terrific addition to chutneys or compotes that complement a number of grilled or roast meats. On it’s own, rhubarb can also be stewed and served alongside breakfast dishes like pancakes, waffles or oatmeal.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients:

FILLING

  • 5 stalks rhubarb; 1/4 inch slices
  • 4 cups sliced strawberries
  • Juice of one small lemon
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

TOPPING

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter softened
  • 2/3 cup rolled oats
  • 2/3 cup sliced almonds

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375F. Add the rhubarb and strawberries to a large bowl, tossing with the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Squeeze in lemon juice and stir to combine. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl combine all the topping ingredients, except the almonds. Using a wooden spoon, stir everything until clumps form.
  3. Spread fruit filling evenly in a 9×13 glass baking dish. Using your hands, scatter the topping over the fruit filling. Top with sliced almonds.
  4. Bake for 45 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit filling is bubbling. Cool slightly and serve with whipped and ice cream.

Rhubarb gives apple sauce a satisfying tartness – check out this recipe!

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Ceramic Kitchen, How To, Recipes | 5 Comments »

How to Cook the Perfect Roast

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Cook a Perfect Roast Every Time With These Tips

With at least a few more weeks of winter ahead of us, it’s not quite time to break out the salad recipes. Instead, add a roast to your meal plan this weekend – it’ll fill the house with a delicious and comforting aroma and will provide you with enough leftovers for several lunches during the week. Take a look at how easy it is to cook the perfect roast.

Traditional Roast Beef
A traditional roast beef dinner is a Sunday staple in most English homes. Paired with tender roast vegetables, rich gravy and crispy Yorkshire pudding, it’s not hard to see why its such a favorite. Despite its simplicity, roast dinner is bursting with flavour and is relatively easy to prepare. Choose a few vegetables to place around the roast like carrots, onions and potatoes and you’ve got a hardy meal for a crowd.

Non-Traditional Roast Recipes
While beef is the classic meat to roast, many others lend themselves to this method of cooking as well. Pork loin, turkey breast or lamb shoulder can all be roasted and paired with complimentary sides for a satisfying meal. The key to a mosit roast, regardless of the type of meat you’re using, is to cook it on a low heat. Boneless roasts are the perfect food to use a ceramic knife on.

Roast Beef Recipe
Cooking roast beef is as simple as buying a roast and placing it in the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Choose a four to six pound eye round or top sirloin roast and place it on a rack in the centre of a roasting pan. Surround the roast with your vegetables of choice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in oven on centre rack and cook for 20-30 minutes per pound of roast.

When roast is done cooking, take out of the oven, remove the vegetables from the pan and tent the roast in the pan with tinfoil. Let roast sit, tented for about 20 minutes.  Once 20 minutes has passed, use your sharpest Chef’s knife to slice roast. Serve with horseradish. Pan juices can be used to make a beef gravy.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Ceramic Knives, How To, Recipes | 1 Comment »

Cooking a Romantic Dinner for Your Valentine

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Cook Your Valentine a Romantic Dinner

While chocolates and flowers seem to fly off the shelves this time of the year, one of the most thoughtful gifts is to cook a romantic dinner for your valentine. Staying in and cooking something special is far more impressive and intimate than the standby heart-shaped box of truffles.

What to Cook for Valentine’s Day Dinner
What you cook is entirely up to you, but it’s best to choose a meal that you are comfortable preparing. Save the culinary experiments for another day – you want this meal to be flawless and impressive. Brainstorm some of your partner’s favorite meals and try to figure out a way to incorporate those into your meal plan. Using fancy ingredients that you might not use regularly can also take an ordinary meal to the next level. Try fresh made pasta with truffle oil or a saffron rice pilaf.

Romantic Dessert Ideas for Valentine’s Day
There are so many desserts that lend themselves to Valentine’s Day. Classic chocolate-dipped strawberries are actually quite easy to prepare. As long as you’re working with good quality chocolate, you can’t go wrong. Melt, dip and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet to dry. Try making an assortment of milk, dark and white chocolate strawberries, and if you’re feeling particularly crafty, you can even stick them with skewers and tie them together with ribbon to make a chocolate-strawberry bouquet. Chocolate molten lava cake or strawberry shortcake are also easy to prepare, but are sure to get you brownie points.

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake for Two

Ingredients

  • 3 oz dark chocolate; chopped
  • 1/3 cup butter; cold and diced
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 Tbsp butter
  • 3 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp flour
  • 1/2 Tbsp butter (for dusting)
  • 1/2 Tbsp flour (for dusting)

Directions
Grease two ramekins with butter and dust with flour. Add about 2 inches of water to a 2 QT saucepan and place over low heat. Combine chocolate and diced butter in a stainless steal bowl that will fit on top of the 2QT saucepan. Bring water to a simmer and place the bowl over the pot to melt butter and chocolate. Stir slowly with silicone spoon and remove from heat when melted.

In another bowl, using a whisk beat the eggs, yolks and sugar until pale in color. Gradually add the flour. Slowly pour the melted chocolate mixture into the batter. Beat until thick and glossy.

Divide the batter equally among the pre-greased ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes, up to 24 hours. Before cooking bring lava cakes out of the fridge and remove plastic wrap. Preheat oven to 325F, place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until outside edges are cracking but centre is wobbly. Remove from the over, cook slightly, loosen cakes with small knife around the edges. Invert onto dessert plates and serve with fresh berries.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Recipes | 6 Comments »

Healthy Recipes for the New Year

Friday, January 7th, 2011
Easy, Healthy Dinners

Easy, Healthy Dinners

It’s the same old cycle every year – the holidays roll around and we gorge ourselves on rich meals, baked goods and endless sweets and chocolates. Luckily, the New Year always promises a fresh start, including healthy recipes to get us back on track.

Easy, Healthy Recipes
While we may want to get back in shape and start eating healthier food, most of us don’t have the time to spend on elaborate weekday meals. Take a look at these easy, healthy recipes:

Healthy Dinner Recipes
A great way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet is by preparing healthy dinner recipes, like chopped salad. You can use whatever you have on hand, but to make it a complete meal, add in some sort of protein. Using a sharp Chef’s knife, thinly slice a cooked chicken breast, egg or even tofu and place it on top of your salad. Homemade dressings will make your dinner even healthier. Use vegetables that have a bit more substance and nutrients, like broccoli, yams or cabbage, in place of a regular head of lettuce. And don’t forget to be creative. The more you personalize a healthy recipe, the more likely you’ll be to continue along a path of healthy eating!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Ceramic Knives, Recipes | 1 Comment »

Christmas Recipes for Any Sized Gathering

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Try Cooking a Glazed Ham This Christmas

With Christmas less than a week away, you may still be scrambling to find easy Christmas recipes that you can make for the holidays. Whether you’re serving four or forty, these recipes for Christmas will make a great addition to your meal.

Christmas Dinner Recipes
You may have settled on the menu for Christmas dinner, but do you have a game plan for how and when you’re going to cook it? Prepping in between opening presents and washing up the breakfast dishes often leads to a stressful day. During the holidays, it helps to plan ahead, especially for Christmas dinner. If you’re cooking a turkey from frozen, make sure you take it out at least the night before. Making stuffing? Chop up onions and celery, and tear up your bread the night before as well. This will save you a lot of time come Christmas morning.

Christmas Side Dishes
Christmas side dishes need to be simple and complementary to your main course. If you plan to cook a Christmas ham, consider pairing it with scalloped potatoes, a green bean casserole and maple glazed carrots. Sticking with traditional turkey dinner? Pair it with mashed potatoes, braised cabbage and roasted root vegetables. Almost all Christmas side dishes can be partially prepared ahead of time, giving you more time to spend with your friends and family on the big day. Cut and pare any vegetables you can in the days leading up to Christmas and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.

Christmas Recipe for Glazed Ham
A glazed ham is a nice Christmas recipe alternative to turkey for those who still have Thanksgiving leftovers lurking in their freezer.

Ingredients

  • 1 10-pound fully cooked, boneless ham
  • 1 cup unsweetened apple juice or apple cider
  • 1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
  • 2/3 cup golden brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey


Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place ham in roasting pan and spread mustard evenly over surface. Pat brown sugar over mustard coating, pressing firmly to adhere. Drizzle honey evenly over. Bake until ham is well glazed, spooning any mustard and sugar glaze that ends up at bottom of pan, about 30 minutes. Transfer ham to serving platter; let cool at least 25 minutes. Slice ham with sharp knife and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Serves 10

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Ceramic Knives, Recipes | 2 Comments »

Freezer Recipes for Easy Weeknight Dinners

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
Lasagna Makes for a Great Freezer Meal

Lasagna Makes for a Great Freezer Meal

Life can often be hectic and very few of us have time to cook up elaborate meals during the week. This time of year, comfort foods like soups, stews and casseroles are great, but they require time and planning. Instead of stressing about getting dinner on the table, why not look to freezer recipes that will keep for weeks and provide easy weeknight dinners in a flash?

Freezer Meals
Not all of your favorite meals are freezer friendly, but there are a number of recipes that are easily frozen. Think of things that often taste better the second day like chili, lasagna or soup. By preparing a large batch of something, you are instantly cooking freezer meals that will be good for lunch or dinner. If your regular recipe usually provides you with four servings, double it and freeze the leftovers. It often doesn’t take much more effort to make twice as much of something – especially when you’re prepping with a sharp, Chef’s knife – but it does save you lots of time and energy the next time you need a quick meal. Just chop up a few extra onions for pasta sauce, or peel a few more carrots for chicken stew.

Preparing Freeze Ahead Meals
How do you prepare freeze ahead meals? It’s pretty simple. If you’re  making something like soup or chili, ladle it into freezer safe containers and let it cool down before putting the lid on. Once your containers are cool enough, they can go straight into the freezer. Freeze ahead meals like soup are then ready to be pulled out whenever you need them. Making a lasagna? You can either make it, cook it and then freeze it in portions, or make a whole lasagna in a Pyrex or disposable aluminum pan and freeze it before cooking. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, and then aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn.

Great Meals to Freeze

You can choose from a number of meals to freeze to add to your standard weeknight dinner lineup:

  • Pesto
  • Macaroni and Cheese
  • Soups
  • Stews
  • Pasta Sauce
  • Chili

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in How To, Recipes | 5 Comments »

Make This Your Best Thanksgiving Dinner

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Peeling Potatoes for Thanksgiving Dinner

Peeling Potatoes for Thanksgiving Dinner

No matter how you slice it, cooking Thanksgiving dinner is a lot of work. From the mashed potatoes to the sweet potato pie, each Thanksgiving dish you make requires some form of prep and can make for a long and hectic day of cooking. Instead, why not spread your meal prep over a couple of days to give yourself a stress-free holiday.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu Plan

When you have a Thanksgiving dinner menu, cooking becomes a whole lot easier. Decide how many dishes you want to prepare, and how big each dish will need to be to accommodate all of your guests. Once the dishes have been established, it’s time to figure out what can be prepared ahead of the big day.

Prepping for Thanksgiving Dinner

A number of Thanksgiving dinner recipes can be made ahead of the actual day. Dessert is definitely a dish you want to make at least one day in advance – two is even better. That will give you the night before Thanksgiving to cut up vegetables, get your turkey thawed and the stuffing ingredients prepared. Here are a few quick tips:

  • Vegetables like potatoes can be peeled, cut and stored in water in the fridge until you’re ready to use them. Stir in a little lemon juice to prevent them from browning.
  • Chop your onions and celery for stuffing and store them in an airtight container. You can also cube your bread and store in a plastic bag overnight. Toss everything together first thing in the morning before putting your turkey in the oven.
  • If possible, choose an appetizer that doesn’t take a lot of prep or one that can be made in your crockpot. Butternut squash soup is a warm and satisfying first course that can be made the day before and reheated in the crockpot. Baked brie or a quick spinach salad are quick Thanksgiving appetizers that are also sure to be a big hit.

Not sure what to do with all that leftover turkey? Check out our turkey soup recipe!

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in How To, Recipes | 4 Comments »

Root Vegetables Make Healthy, Hearty Meals

Monday, November 15th, 2010
Cooking with Root Vegetables

Cooking with Root Vegetables

Root vegetables come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing they all have in common is that they’re high in essential vitamins and minerals. Diced, chopped or sliced,  root vegetables can be easily added to a weeknight meal.

Health Benefits of Root Vegetables
Carrots are chalk full of beta carotene, which helps with eye health. Rutabagas are a great source of vitamin C, A and B. Beets provide you with an excellent source of folic acid. And potatoes are one of the most nutrient-dense foods around. On top of all the vitamins and minerals found in root vegetables, they are also full of fibre, which many of us don’t get enough of in our daily diets.

Roasted Root Vegetables
Root vegetables can be prepared in a number of ways and added to many different dishes. While potatoes are probably the most popular root vegetable, many others can be substituted in place of potatoes. Next time you’re thinking of an alternative side dish, consider mashed rutabaga, sauteed carrots or steamed beets. One of the easiest ways to prepare root vegetables is to roast them. Choose a medley of root vegetables, chop and peel them and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for about an hour on a cookie sheet until tender. Once roasted, the root vegetables can be eaten on their own or added to pasta, soups or stews.

White Bean and Roasted Root Vegetable Stew
This hearty root vegetable stew makes for a warm, satisfying meal on a cold night and is even better the next day. Feel free to swap out the root vegetables for whatever you have on hand.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound medium yellow potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-inch rounds
  • 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch rounds
  • 1 small celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 leeks, halved and sliced into ½-inch pieces
  • 1 small rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 can white beans (Cannellini or Great Northern)
  • 5 sprigs thyme, leaves pulled from the stem
  • 1 sprig rosemary, leaves pulled from stem and chopped
  • salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss parsnips, carrots, celery root, garlic and rutabaga in olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Spread root vegetables on two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Roast root vegetables for 45 minutes or until tender.

In a large pot or dutch oven, saute onions and leeks for 5 minutes. Add roasted vegetables, beans, and broth to the pot. Bring to a gentle boil and then turn heat down to low. Add rosemary and thyme and stir. Simmer for another ten minutes. Serve with thick slices of whole grain bread.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Ceramic Knives, Recipes | 4 Comments »

« Older Entries

Warning: file_get_contents(http://keramikoskitchen.com/empty) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found in /home/kerancom/public_html/blog/wp-content/themes/default/functions.php on line 28