Wednesday 1 April 2009

Dog Cookies

When you can't get dog biscuits or want something a little different for your best friend -what do you do? make them!!!!
1 cup Meat or vegetable stock 1 cup All-Purpose flour 1 cup Whole-wheat or rye flour 1 cup Cracked wheat 1/4 cup Non-fat dry milk powder 1 1/2 tsp. Yeast Use dough cycle of your bread machine. Roll dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut with cookie cutters or knife. Place on baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover with clean kitchen towels and let rise in warm place about 45 minutes. Bake at 325F. for 45 minutes. When all are baked, turn off oven and return all cookies to cooling oven overnight to harden. Store in airtight container. Using a 3.5" bone shaped cutter, I get about 30-35 cookies from this recipe.

Monday 30 March 2009

Baked Spaghetti Squash

I was given a spaghetti squash last week and actually did not know what to do with it! I have read about them but never cooked one. It is amazing how hard the skin is - but the soft flesh makes up for this. This is a simple way of cooking the squash - a lentil or cheese sauce goes well with it - a pepper or garlic sauce would be really good - I still have half of the squash left so I will experiment! 1 spaghetti squash 1. Preheat an oven to 375F. With a long-tined fork, make deep pierces into the skin of the squash in several places & place it in a baking dish or on top of a piece of aluminum foil. 2. Bake the squash for about 30 mins, or until the skin is soft to touch. Let the squash cool for 10 mins, then cut it in half lengthwise & use a spoon to remove the seeds & strings from the center of the squash. Then use two forks to fluff up the flesh of the squash until you have spaghetti-like strands. 3. Transfer the strands to serving plates & top with your favorite sauce. Really tasty and does not need much seasoning if you want to serve it with just butter, salt and pepper!

Sunday 29 March 2009

Fresh Tomato and Squash Tart

A crust less tart that is ideal for lunch or a light supper. Could be served as a vegetable course with a meat dish such as roast pork. 2 large fully ripened fresh tomatoes -- (about 1 pound) 1 large zucchini (about 8 ounces) 1 large summer (yellow) squash (about 8 ounces) 1 large potato (about 6 ounces) -- peeled 1/4 cup chopped onion 1 cup shredded Swiss or other flavourful cheese -- divided 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste) 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 eggs -- lightly beaten Preheat oven to 400ºF. Butter a 9-inch pie plate or shallow casserole. Remove stem ends from tomatoes; cut in half through stem ends; thinly slice crosswise. Cut zucchini, summer squash and potato in half lengthwise; thinly slice crosswise - this can be done in a food processor . In a large bowl, combine zucchini, summer squash, potato, onion, 3/4 cup of the Swiss cheese, eggs, salt, Italian seasoning and pepper until well mixed. Arrange half of the tomato slices on bottom of pie plate. Evenly spoon vegetable mixture over tomatoes, pressing slightly to flatten. Arrange remaining tomato slices on top; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake until vegetables are tender and glazed, about 40 minutes.
Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve warm.
Can be served on its own or with crusty bread.