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Archives for August 2019

Unbeatable Meat Loaf – The Ultimate Comfort Food

By Denise Pare-Watson

Urbnspice Ultimate Recipe Series

My daughters were both very involved in soccer during their childhood (continuously, for seventeen years), sometimes seven days a week during soccer season.   Needless to say, we were very busy parents, often delivering one daughter to a field before driving to the other side of the city for our other daughter’s practice or game.  As a working Mom, I needed to be extremely organized with meal prep for breakfast, snacks, lunches and dinners.  I developed strategies to make my busy week simpler with a freezer reserve of homemade meals, a repertoire of slow-cooker recipes and a selection of make-ahead meals prepared over the weekend.  One of our family favourites was this Unbeatable Meat Loaf.  

Sliced Meatloaf on a Wooden Board | urbnspice.com
Unbeatable Meatloaf – The Ultimate Comfort Food

We often had what we called ‘oven-meals’ on Sunday and meatloaf was a favourite comfort food of the kids.  The addition of scalloped or lemon potatoes, roasted butternut squash and an apple crisp made this oven meal wholesome and healthy for two very hungry, fit and growing girls.  Meatloaf is an excellent quick and easy make-ahead dish, which also keeps the budget in mind.  

Meatloaf can be popped into the oven immediately after mixing together, or prepared up until topping (see Method) and refrigerated until the next day. This recipe makes two family-sized free-form meatloaves – one to have now and one to freeze for later.  If you can resist eating it all, there should be leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches! 

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Filed Under: Gluten Free Recipes, Main Dishes or Entree Options, Meat Dishes, My Recipes, Sandwiches, Urbnspice Ultimate Recipe Series Tagged With: Comfort Food, Gluten Free Recipes, Ground Meat Recipes, Meat Dishes, Meatloaf, Ultimate Recipe Series

Picca-Bots – A Chocolate Chip Cookie Story

By Denise Pare-Watson

Ever since our granddaughter was a toddler, she has had an affinity for polka-dots.  She found them everywhere:  on clothing, gift-wrap paper, ribbons and on wallpaper.  Her excitement when finding ‘picca-bots’ was so contagious that we were constantly searching as well.  This endearing term has stuck around our family ever since.  She was two years old when I was testing recipes for a cookbook, and she was ‘helping’ me in the kitchen with some Chocolate Chip Shortbread cookies when she blurted out that the cookies were ‘picca-bots.’  My initial thought was to name the little cookies Dalmatian cookies, but as soon as she said it, I knew that the name for these cookies would always be “Picca-Bots” – and the rest, as they say, is history.

A closeup of a Picca-Bot:  A chocolate Chip Shortbread cookie | urbnspice.com
Picca-Bots – A Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookie

These delightful little cookie poppers are, enriched with white chocolate and butter in the polka-dotted dough (they are essentially a shortbread cookie).  Since Picca-bots are made with only a few ingredients, make sure that they are of the highest quality (white chocolate couverture, excellent butter and pure vanilla). As these cookies are very rich, I have developed the recipe with this in mind and utilize my smallest cookie scoop. I know that you will love these dainty cookies!

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Urb'n'SpiceAll Rights Reserved
Original content here is published under these license terms: X 
License Type:Commercial
License Abstract:You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). You may make other uses of the content only with the written permission of the author on payment of a fee.

Filed Under: Chocolate, Cookies, Dairy Free Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, My Recipes Tagged With: Cookies, Dairy-free Desserts, Gluten Free, Shortbread Cookies

Bacon, Mushroom and Toasted Brown Rice Soup with Aromatic Vegetables

By Denise Pare-Watson

I love reading cookbooks and food magazines so much – they are like novels to me. Some of the most enjoyable aspects of this hobby is reading the narrative behind how each recipe or article is inspired.  I have a lot of  ‘ah-hah’ moments as I read through a vintage cookbook or modern cookbooks.  The new techniques that have been developed or the old tried and true methods that have long been forgotten are exciting tidbits to incorporate into my day-to-day cooking or baking. This is precisely what happened the other day when I was researching gluten-free thickening techniques. I came across this recipe, which has a very unique technique.  I have rewritten the recipe to simplify it (reducing the number of pots and pans used) and I also added bacon and aromatic vegetables.  I think that you will find this recipe for Bacon, Mushroom and Toasted Brown Rice Soup with Aromatic Vegetables to be a hearty, flavourful and very satisfying soup.

close up of Bacon Mushroom and Brown Rice Soup
Bacon, Mushroom and Toasted Brown Rice Soup with Aromatic Vegetables

Experience from my culinary training and working in a high volume restaurant environment has taught me to read a recipe from beginning to end before I start.  This is a process that I emphasized to my apprentices as it serves several purposes. You should be asking yourself a number of questions:

  1. Does the recipe make sense as you read it through to the end?   
  2. Do the steps in the method flow easily from the ingredient list?  I often find that the ingredients are out of order from the steps in the instructions.
  3. Do I have all of the ingredients before I start?  
  4. What is the yield of the recipe?  How many servings/portions?
  5. What is the amount of time required to make it (in my work, it often meant starting certain components of a dessert two or three days ahead).   
  6. Can I make any part of this recipe ahead?  
  7. Do all the steps in the method/instructions make sense?  
Bacon, Mushroom and Toasted Brown Rice Soup

This particular recipe is a prime example of why you need to ask these important questions.  You will note as you read the recipe that this soup uses brown rice in two ways – firstly, as a wholesome soup ingredient and secondly, as a toasted pulverized rice powder (See Method – Step 1 below and Chef Talk).  The toasted rice powder is added as a natural thickening agent to the rich broth as it simmers. 

Cremini Mushrooms | urbnspice.com
Cremini Mushrooms have a pleasant meaty flavour
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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Urb'n'SpiceAll Rights Reserved
Original content here is published under these license terms: X 
License Type:Commercial
License Abstract:You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). You may make other uses of the content only with the written permission of the author on payment of a fee.

Filed Under: Cooking Techniques, Dairy Free Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, My Recipes, Preservative Free, Soups and Chowders Tagged With: Cremini Mushrooms, Gluten Free Recipes, Gluten Free Techniques, Mushrooms, rice, Soups, Vegetarian

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Meet Denise – The Urbnspice Chef

Welcome to Urbnspice - A Taste of Heart and Home. Inspiration in my kitchen is often a trip to the market or an experimental coincidence! Come and join me on this culinary journey where I share my passion for the creative, technical and teaching components of the profession and unravel culinary quandaries for you with fun and easy to follow user-friendly recipes, tips & techniques.
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