Category Archives: Recipes

Fresh Fruit Tart

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fresh fruit arranged in a tart - Use your food processor to make this in a matter of minutes.

Fresh fruit tart is an attractive dessert and it tastes as food as it looks.

One of my favourite recipes, this fresh fruit tart is easy to make, looks spectacular and tastes delicious. As far as I’m concerned those are the three criteria for a perfect recipe. This was the first recipe I ever learned to make in my very first food processor – a Cuisinart that I spent an unconscionable amount of money to buy back in 1977. It was well worth every penny. Use your food processor to make this in a matter of minutes.

For the pastry:

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, cold, cut in pieces
  • 1 tbsp. white vinegar

Preheat over to 400 F.

Add the dry ingredients and the butter to the bowl of the food processor. Process until the butter is cut into the flour….about 10 seconds. Keep the machine going and pour the vinegar through the feed tube. Keep processing until the dough forms a ball. (It will form a ball, just keep it going)  Don’t over-process.

Note: You can do this by hand as well. Just cut the butter into the flour and rub until it forms crumbs. Add the vinegar and blend with a fork to form a ball.

hands pressing dough into the edges. Fresh fruit tart

Press the dough along the edges to form the pretty fluting.

Press the dough into the bottom of a 9 inch flan pan with removeable bottom. (For an 11-inch pan, use 1 1/2 times the ingredients.

pastry in oven Fresh fruit tartBake at 400 F for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Cool on a rack. Lift the removable bottom from sides. Place on pretty plate and fill.

Fruit Filling:

Choose contrasting colours of fruit – blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, strawberries, are all pretty. You can use apples if you slice them thinly (with skin on) and overlap them prettily around the circle. Wash fruit and set out to dry thoroughly. If using strawberries or grapes, choose smaller ones or cut them in half.

Brushing glaze on fruit

Brush on the glaze

When you’ve arranged fruit, brush with the glaze to prevent the fruit going brown and give it a pretty glow. Mash about a dozen berries with about 1/4 cup water. Bring to a gentle boil and strain out the liquid. Sprinkle with 1/2 packet of gelatin – about 3 gms. And stir until completely dissolved. Use a pastry brush to brush this over the fruit.

Nectarine Pie

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lattice nectarine pie

Nectarine pie is bubbling with juicy nectarines

Nectarines are a really delicious blend of peaches and apricots. This beautiful fruit manages to capture the best of each of its parents in a beautiful flavour profile.

Frankly I’m happy to just eat them as they come, but my family really likes nectarine pie. It’s a slightly tarter version of classic peach pie. And it’s irresistible. In the Fall, when the fruit isn’t quite as pretty and may have more bruises from the colder weather, it’s a great way to still have this delicious flavour on the menu. And unlike peaches, you don’t have to peel nectarines!

For the Crust:

Make your own favourite pie crust recipe. This is mine:

  • 12 ounces all-purpose flour (2 1/2 cups)
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. baking powder
  • 8 ounces cold shortening, cut into small pieces
  • 1/3 cup cold water

I make mine in a food processor – it’s easy peasy. Just put all the ingredients except water into the processor and process quickly until it’s crumbly. Add water a little at a time through the spout and process for a few seconds each time. Do this until the dough forms a ball. It should be stretchy and able to be rolled.

nectarines cut for pie Nectarine filling:

  • 3-4  pounds ripe nectarines, approximately 7-8
  • 1 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • Dash of ground cinnamon
  • a grating of fresh nutmeg
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch

 Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Slice the fruit in half and remove the pits. Place the nectarines flat side down and cut each half into three slices. In a large bowl, toss the slices with the lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Leave for about 5 minutes, then add the cornstarch and lightly toss again.

On a generously floured surface, roll out just over half the dough and line your pie pan. Roll the second Carefully place in a 9 1/2 inch pie pan. There should be a slight overhang. Add the nectarine filling.

Roll out the remaining dough to about 10 inches in diameter. With a pizza slicer or sharp knife, cut even strips. Layer the strips in a decorative lattice pattern. Fold the bottom overhang over the strips and gently crimp the edge of the crust all around.

Place the pie pan on a baking sheet and place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake for an additional 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is browning at the edges and the filling is bubbling.

Cool to almost room temperature and serve with some vanilla ice cream.

 

Butter Chicken at the Chelsea

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Butter Chicken at the Chelsea

Rich, creamy and delicious, Butter Chicken is a decadent dish from North India.

Although a relative newcomer in India’s diverse and spicy food history, Butter Chicken has become a favourite dish on Indian buffets the world over.

Gaurav Kapoor (fondly known as GK) grew up in New Dehli, India, and trained in some of the best kitchens of his native country. Now, as Executive Sous Chef at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Canada’s largest hotel, GK has tailored a lunch buffet with the flavours of North India. Served daily in T Bar Lounge at the hotel, a cornerstone of this daily fare is Makhani Chicken, familiarly known as butter chicken.

Butter Chicken was invented in the 1950s by Kundan Lal Gujral, who is also credited with creating tandoori chicken – skewers of marinated chicken cooked in the super hot tandoori oven used traditionally for breads (like naan). Rather than wasting leftover cooked chicken,Gujral created a ‘gravy’ of tomatoes and cream and Butter Chicken was born.

Mildly spiced and slightly sweet, butter chicken doesn’t have the spiciness of many Indian dishes and note that Chef GK doesn’t use onions for this dish. “You don’t need onions,” he explains. “The flavour is mild and not overpowering.” He uses his own garam masala (a powder made from a blend of spices), though one can buy these in an Indian grocer.

Butter Chicken at the Chelsea GK’s Butter Chicken sauce is rich and creamy, buttery and smooth. I am happy just to enjoy the sauce with some naan bread or plain rice. By the way, Kundan Lal Gujral’s restaurant, Moti Mahal,in New Delhi has attracted the patronage of such luminaries as Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and Gordon Ramsay. And if the restaurant name seems familiar, it might be because there are more than 100 Moti Mahal franchises around the world.

At a meeting of the Society of American Travel Writers at the Chelsea Hotel, GK gave us a lesson in preparing this quintessentially North Indian dish his own unique and delicious way.

GK offered some tips:

  • It’s important he explained, to use Kashmiri red chili powder. It’s aromatic but milder than southern Indian chili powders and adds a bright red colour.
  • Yes, you have to use real butter and heavy cream. The flavour depends on these
  • He likes to use whole spices in the first step of the sauce. He suggests straining the result to remove the spice pieces, though in India, they probably would not.
  • An important ingredient is the Kasoori methi or fenugreek. According to GK, this is what adds the distinctive flavour to his dish
  • Adding a little honey at the last can detract from the acidity of the tomatoes and smooth out the flavour.

For the Butter Chicken

  • 400 g Boneless chicken cut into 1.5 inch pieces
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • Salt to taste

Apply a mixture of the chili powder, salt and lemon juice to the chicken. Set aside for half an hour in the refrigerator.

For the Marinade:

  • ½ cup hung yogurt (Greek yogurt or sour cream can substitute)
  • 1 tsp ginger paste
  • 1 tsp garlic paste
  • ½ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
  • ½ tsp Garam Masala powder
  • 2 tsp mustard oil
  • Salt to taste

Hang the yogurt in a clean muslin cloth for 30 minutes to remove excess water (or use substitute). Add remaining ingredients and blend. Apply this marinade to the chicken and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400F. Cook the chicken in preheated oven (or moderately hot tandoor) for 15 minutes or until almost done.

Baste with the 2 tbsp butter and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Butter Chicken at the Chelsea

You know the sauce is ready when the butter starts separating

For the Makhani Sauce:

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 pods green cardamom
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 2 black peppercorns
  • 1 inch piece of cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ginger paste
  • 1 tsp. garlic paste
  • ½ cup crushed tomatoes
  • ½ tsp red chili powder
  • ½ tsp julienned strips of ginger
  • 2 pieces of green chilies
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • ½ tsp. powdered Kasoori methi (fenugreek)
  • ½ cup 35% cream
  • Salt to taste

Heat the butter in a non-stick pan, add the cardamoms, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon. Saute for 30 seconds, then add ginger and garlic pastes and sauté another minute. Add the tomatoes, red chili powder and salt. Cook on a low flame until butter starts to separate.

To finish the sauce, sauté the julienned ginger and green chilies in hot oil in another pan. Add the sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the honey and powdered fenugreek. Add in the chicken pieces and simmer for 5 minutes, Then add the cream. Serve hot with naan or paratha breads.

Like spicy food? Why not try Khao Soi Curry Noodles which we learned to make on board AmaWaterways Amapura in Myanmar. Or try Macaw Lodge’s recipe for Chilero

Easy as Pie Apple Tart

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Apples are so versatile and this apple tart is one of my favourite go-to recipes. Using a food processor, it takes literally minutes to prepare. Use tart (ie. slightly sour) apples. You have two alternatives for this recipe – the quick, easy method which I use all the time of the pretty method with the results you see above. Continue reading →