Sauces

Ricciarelli – An Italian Almond Cookie

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to be hired as the opening pastry chef of a new Italian restaurant. I say fortunate because I was given the freedom to introduce a dessert menu that would highlight Italian desserts, which are some of my favourites! Traditional Tiramisu, Panna Cotta, Zabaglione and biscotti cookies are always popular choices, however, I wanted to add menu items that were not as well known in Canada. That is why Ricciarelli was considered – An Italian Almond Cookie that soon became a customer favourite on the menu.

What appeals to me about Ricciarelli is that it is a rustic cookie with rugged edges and a light, crunchy texture. Another interesting aspect of why I included this cookie on the menu was that I have always adopted a no-waste approach to food preparation. Since there is always an abundance of egg whites left over in the fridge from the tiramisu and other menu items that required only egg yolks, I needed a way to incorporate the egg white surplus into my dessert repertoire; hence, the introduction of Ricciarelli, Italian Almond Macaroons, Amaretti and Twice Baked Meringue Cookie Crisps to the menu. I know that you will love this Ricciarelli recipe as much as my restaurant customers did! Ricciarelli is excellent with espresso or gelato, or just on its own.

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All-Canadian Poutine Gravy

By Denise Pare-Watson Leave a Comment

There are many Poutine Gravy recipes out there, however, everyone needs to be cognizant of the depth of flavour and complexity of many of these recipes. Bearing that in mind, you will find the following All-Canadian Poutine Gravy recipe simple, easy to follow and very tasty.

Poutine gravy has a unique golden brown colour that is the result of a combination of beef broth and chicken broth. The beef broth alone is too dark, and the chicken broth is too light, but a blend of both produces the characteristic colour of poutine gravy. The flavourful gravy that you will create from my recipe can be used on almost anything and is particularly good on my All-Canadian Poutine with a Blenditarian Twist.

All-Canadian Poutine with a Blenditarian Twist

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Homemade Grape Tomato Ketchup

By Denise Pare-Watson 12 Comments

The Inspiration of Urb’n’Spice Series

One of my most vivid childhood food memories is the aroma in my house when my Mom made ketchup from the bumper crop of tomatoes we always grew in our large backyard garden. The indescribable scent both piquant and zesty wafted throughout the house drawing everyone into the kitchen to peek into the bubbling pot. While I no longer have the large garden of my childhood, I am lucky enough to live in a wonderful part of Canada where fresh produce is easily accessible. The recipe I have provided below for Homemade Grape Tomato Ketchup is easy to make and a great project for you to try when tomatoes are plentiful. Once you have tasted your own homemade ketchup, you may never go back to store-bought again. I have used grape tomatoes in this recipe – their sweetness and flavour lend themselves well to making this popular condiment. Any tomato variety can be used for this recipe (see the proportions below), and even a mixture of fresh and canned tomatoes work well. Give it a try! It is well worth the effort. Skip to Recipe

Homemade Grape Tomato Ketchup

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Turkey, Mushroom and Power Greens Pasta

By Denise Pare-Watson 6 Comments

BLENDITARIAN CHALLENGE SERIES

Blenditarian.Com has initiated a monthly challenge that incorporates their Blenditarian approach into interesting and fun dishes. To clarify for my readers, a Blenditarian is “one who believes the mighty, meaty mushroom makes meals more delicious, nutritious and sustainable.” This approach stretches ground meat by adding finely chopped mushrooms to create a flavourful and more nutritious dish. The theme for the April Blenditarian Challenge is “Go Green for Earth Month.” The challenge is to create an earth-‘friendlier’ dish by incorporating The Blend (mushrooms + ground meat) into “power greens.” For this reason, I have developed a recipe called Turkey, Mushroom and Power Greens Pasta. It is a recipe that can be adapted for many dietary needs, such as dairy-free, gluten-free, heart-healthy, and is also Weight Watchers friendly.

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Turkey, Mushroom and Power Greens Pasta

When you use chicken or turkey in a ‘Blend’, it is called a ‘blond blend’. Lean ground turkey is an excellent choice, not only because it is a low-fat protein option, but also because it readily assimilates the flavours of the ingredients. In this recipe, spices such as cumin and chilli powder lend a subtle earthy spiciness, and using paprika helps to create an appealing golden colour to the meat mixture. The use of fresh herbs (parsley and basil) adds brightness to the dish.

Let’s talk about power greens. Power greens can be described as a nutrient-dense superfood of leafy greens contributing an energy boost with high amounts of Vitamins A and C, iron and calcium, dietary fibre and potassium. The greens can be used individually or can be found in a mix often comprised of baby spinach, Swiss chard (both red and green), and kale. For this recipe, I utilized Dinosaur Kale (also known as Tuscan kale, or black kale). I love the look of the curled dark glossy leaves. It is a sturdy green with a tough stalk. I removed the stalk by slicing along each side. Once all of the stalks have been removed, I gathered the leafy ‘strips’ and sliced them thinly (a chiffonade cut). I added the prepared kale to the pasta water during the last few minutes of cooking.

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Pan Roasted Chicken with Creamy Asiago Sauce

By Denise Pare-Watson 10 Comments

This recipe for Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Creamy Asiago Sauce has gone through a significant transformation over the years. It is interesting how favourite family recipes experience modifications as a result of ingredient costs, dietary restrictions or simply, a streamlining of the recipe.

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When I read the original recipe provided by the meat department of a major grocery chain a number of years ago, I recall thinking that it would be a rich and indulgent dish for company only. I also noted the recipe used two large frying pans, and since my kitchen equipment was rather meagre at the time, I simplified the recipe so that it could be prepared in one pan.

The original recipe was named “Chicken Breasts with Blue Cheese Sauce”, which called for 550 g of Blue Cheese – that is a lot of Blue Cheese! Since our family was not really a huge fan of Blue Cheese, I modified the recipe to use Asiago Cheese. Asiago Cheese is similar in taste to Parmesan and can be easily melted. A small amount of flavourful Asiago cheese goes a long way. I created a delicious sauce with 120 g (2 cups grated) of Asiago cheese, which is a significant departure from the amount of cheese used and cost associated with the original recipe. Save this dish for company or share it with someone you love – just give it a try – you will not be disappointed!

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Dressed Up Sour Cream

By Denise Pare-Watson 6 Comments

This simple recipe was inspired by All-Dressed chips. I like the rounded blend of spices in that addictive snack. I followed the same idea in creating this recipe for Dressed Up Sour Cream, combining a few pantry items with the addition of fresh or dried herbs. I serve this delicious mixture with so many things: baked potatoes, potato chips, appetizers and snacks such as Game Day Savoury Potato Wedges and Parmesan Pita Crisps and Dry Roasted Crispy Chicken Wings with Honey Garlic Dip.

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Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing

By Denise Pare-Watson 14 Comments

I traditionally have made garlic salad dressing for Caesar Salads. As much as I enjoy making Caesar Salad Dressing from scratch, I wanted a develop a versatile and easy-to-make dressing that could be used as a dressing, or a dip, or a spread or an aioli. This Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing is made with mayonnaise as the base ingredient and with the addition of a few ingredients, you can create a flavourful and versatile dressing. It is convenient to have on hand in the refrigerator for a multitude of purposes, which are outlined below under the “What Else Can I Do With This Recipe?” section of this post.

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Roasted Garlic Dressing can be used for a multitude of dishes

The first essential step in making this dressing is roasting the garlic. I will share with you how to pan roast garlic cloves to make your own roasted garlic puree. This process is much simpler, less messy and yields far more roasted garlic puree than oven roasting whole heads of garlic. CHEF TIP: The garlic oil that remains from pan roasting garlic cloves is a very useful bonus item….

HIDDEN VEGGIES from the Food Bloggers of Canada

By Denise Pare-Watson 2 Comments

from the Food Bloggers of Canada

Finding ways to use more vegetables sometimes means hiding them. The Food Bloggers of Canada has organized an excellent round-up of recipes from 25 fellow food bloggers and each of them shows you how to incorporate more vegetables into your diet in ingenious and delicious ways – Hidden Veggies.

I am so happy to be included in this recipe roundup with my post on Power Sauce. I hope you enjoy looking through all of the different recipes. Please visit the food blogs and their recipes and give them some comment love. Here is how you can find the excellent recipe roundup: http://bit.ly/FBCHiddenVeggies

Here is UrbnSpice’s post called Power Sauce that was also featured in this recipe roundup:

Hidden Veggies: Gluten Free Flatbread using Power Sauce and a few select topping ingredients

Have fun with these ‘hidden vegetables’ recipes!

You Might also enjoy these Recipe Roundups:

Homemade Candy Recipes by Food Bloggers of Canada

Super Bowl Snacks by Food Bloggers of Canada

Power Sauce – Hidden Greens for Kids of Every Age

By Denise Pare-Watson 10 Comments

Kid of a Chef Series

Kid of a Chef gave me this recipe concept for Power Sauce on a recent visit. Her reasons for making this sauce are simple: as she laughingly says, she has three kids (one adult and two wee ones) who are not enthusiastic about eating their greens. Hence, this brilliant method of hiding greens in a delicious pizza sauce.

This is what she wrote about her Power Sauce: “I made it to hide greens from the boys in the house. They are all carb-hungry and are more likely to eat the pizza crust than anything else. Even if they pick the pizza apart, they still get the veggies. I also put the ground power greens in shakes, or use the sauce as a dressing for sandwiches or a panini instead of mayonnaise.”

Power Pizza ready to eat

Power Sauce has excellent flavour – it is the best pizza sauce that I have ever tasted. While I find most pizza sauces too sharp, this sauce is perfectly balanced. Kid of a Chef freezes the ground greens and uses the frozen greens to make delicious smoothies and shakes. She made a strawberry shake while we were there and the little ones were asking for ‘more shake please, Mommy, more shake.’ Her version of the Power Shake had banana; frozen strawberries; some of the frozen ground power greens; yogurt; protein powder, vanilla, and milk to thin out the shake consistency, and a little maple syrup if needed for sweetening. When she covertly adds a little more ground greens to the shake ingredients, the boys call it Leprechaun shake.

The Power Shake: strawberry, banana, ground power greens, protein powder, vanilla, a little maple syrup, yogurt and milk.

POWER SAUCE

CHEF TALK: The key to making Power Sauce is the use of organic greens, which are available at most grocery stores. The greens that I used were a blend of baby spinach, baby kale and baby red and green Swiss chard. You can also use arugula or any other of your favourite greens. Both my daughter and I pre-roast garlic cloves and freeze them for use in everything, including the Power Sauce recipe that follows. The sauce is gluten free, dairy free, grain free, refined sugar-free, egg free and nut free. My herb garden is currently flourishing, so fresh basil, oregano, rosemary and other fragrant herbs make their way into the Power Sauce.

For the purpose of this post, I made a gluten-free thin crust pizza shell (I will post the recipe for Super Thin Pizza Crust soon). You can use any of your favourite thin crust pizza shell or flatbread. The recipe makes over 2 cups (500 ml) of sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Power Greens:

Yield: 1 lb. of organic power greens = 3 cups of ground power greens

1 lb. assorted power greens (spinach, arugula; kale, chard, etc.)

For the Power Sauce:

Yield: 2 1/3 cups sauce/ 575 ml

1 cup ground power greens
2 – 156 g (6 oz) cans of tomato paste
1 clove garlic, minced (or 2 pre-roasted garlic cloves)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon olive oil

For the Power Pizza:

Yield: 1 – 14″ large pizza (10 -12 pieces or 4 – 6 servings)

1 pre-baked large thin crust or gluten-free thin crust pizza crust
1/2 cup – 1 cup Power Sauce
Toppings of your choice: I used pre-cooked, diced bacon and thinly sliced mini portobello mushrooms
Shredded pizza mozzarella, as needed (about 2 cups)
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

For the Power Greens:

Place the greens in the bowl of a food processor and grind finely. There should be approximately 3 cups of ground greens when you are done. Utilize immediately or place the ground greens in a sealed bags in 1 cup portions and freeze.

For the Power Sauce:

Place all of the ingredients for the Power Sauce into the bowl of a food processor and blend to a smooth consistency. You should have approximately 2 1/3 cups (575 ml) of sauce. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your preference. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to one week. For longer storage, freeze in 1/2 cup to 1 cup portions.

For the Power Pizza:

Spread 1/2 cup to 1 cup of Power Sauce to cover the large pre-baked pizza crust. Sprinkle with your favourite toppings and bake at 425°F/220°F for 10 to 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Enjoy!

Here is the visual shown in step-by-step photographs:

Power Greens: a blend of chard, kale, spinach | urbnspice.com

Power greens are a blend of greens: arugula, spinach, kale, chard, etc.

The Greens are stuffed into a food processor and ground finely | urbnspice.com

Power greens are stuffed into a food processor and ground finely to use in smoothies or made into Power Sauce

1 lb. of power greens make 3 cups of ground greens | urbnspice.com

1 lb. of power greens equals 3 cups of ground power greens

Use the greens immediately or freeze the ground greens in one-cup sealed container

Power Sauce, rich and healthy with power greens galore

The Power Sauce is spread onto a pre-baked pizza crust and topped with your favourite toppings

Power Pizza is almost ready for the final baking | urbnspice.com

Power Pizza is almost ready for the final baking sprinkled with favourite toppings

Power Pizza baked, melted and ready to eat

Enjoy a slice of Power Pizza

More Ideas using Power Sauce:

Gluten Free Flatbread served in small wedges as a small plates offering

Gluten Free Flatbread using Power Sauce and a few select topping ingredients

Panini spread inside and served with Power Sauce | urbnspice.com

Power Sauce is spread inside a panini as well as served alongside as a condiment

Power Shake is another way to use the Ground Power Greens | urbnspice.com

A Power Shake is another great way to use the healthy Ground Power Greens

There is really no limit how you can use Power Sauce (and power greens). Just to mention a few uses: use it on hamburgers; as a topping on meatloaf; serve with charcuterie plates; serve alongside toast and scrambled eggs; and any place that you would use mayonnaise.

You Might Also Enjoy these ‘Hidden Vegetables’ Posts by UrbnSpice:

Gluten Free Rock Star Veggie Burgers

Australian Meat Pies

Make it your Own Burger

LEARNING TIPS:

Please CLICK the link above to access my UrbnSpice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:

Oven Temperature Accuracy
The Simple Spatula
Blooming
Parchment Paper
__________

If you try this recipe using Power Greens to make Power Sauce or Power Pizza or Power Shakes, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback.

You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy!

Denise Paré-Watson

The Urbnspice Chef

Follow me on Social Media:

Urbnspice Facebook Page – If you like what you see here, please LIKE my page. I would love that – thank you!

Urbnspice is on Twitter

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Raspberry Coulis

By Denise Pare-Watson Leave a Comment

Raspberry Coulis or Raspberry Sauce is a very important item in the pastry kitchen. It is used for so many desserts. It is a mise-en-place item in the pastry kitchen (everything in its place). You definitely do not want to run out of this delicious sauce during a busy lunch or dinner hour rush.

I will always remember shopping at my local grocery store one day and there was a lady in a panic trying to get several clerks to help her find raspberry coulis for a special dessert that evening. If you have done the same thing, you know it is not something you will find readily in the store. Alas, raspberry coulis is surprisingly easy to make with just a few ingredients. In this post, I will show you how to make raspberry coulis by first making a raspberry puree.

Milk chocolate Torte with Almond Praline Crust and Raspberry Coulis

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Sauces

The Inspiration of Urb’n’Spice Series

BLENDITARIAN CHALLENGE SERIES

Kid of a Chef Series

POWER SAUCE