All posts tagged with: easy

This is it! The kick-off to the festive holiday season. For the next month every weekend will be spent celebrating the season. This is a simple martini that is easy to make and will impress any guest at your party. Enjoy the holiday season responsibly and have fun!

• 1 oz Vodka
• 1/2 oz Crème De Cassis
• 3 oz Cranberry Cocktail

Place all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with a few raspberries or cranberries, or a sprig of fresh mint.

In celebration of this weeks American Thanksgiving, the New York City Macy’s Day Parade, and Black Friday, the Black Forest Manhattan seemed to wrap up all three events into one happy package! It’s reminiscent of a traditional Black Forest chocolate cake, loaded with cherries! This cocktail appears by the directions to be complicated, but it’s really quite simple to make. It’s fun, bold and creative. Give it a try; you’ll love it!

Cherry Syrup:

• ¼ cup sour cherry juice
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup Kirsch

In a saucepan, boil cherry juice and granulated sugar. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Stir in Kirsch. Pour into sterilized glass jar and chill overnight.

Chocolate Rim:

• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar

In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and superfine sugar.

Rim the Martini Glass:

Pour some of the cherry syrup into a wide, shallow bowl. Dip the rim of a martini glass into the juice. Pour the chocolate rim mixture onto a plate. Dip the martini glass rim into the cocoa mixture to create a thin chocolate ring.

Make the Cocktail:

• 3 oz Canadian Club 12 Years Classic Aged Whisky
• ¾ oz cherry syrup
• ½ oz Crème de Cacao

Fill a cocktail shaker ¾ full of ice. Add whisky, cherry syrup and crème de cacao. Shake well. Pour into chocolate rimmed martini glass. Garnish with cherry.

Preserving fruit is a tradition of our grandmothers. But believe it or not, there’s a whole new generation that have embraced the by-gone skills of past generations, and re-erected the craft to produce fun and exciting temptations, including brandied cherries

Brandied cherries are simple and easy to make. It all starts off with fresh, juicy cherries, hand-picked from the tree! Here’s how you make it happen:

1. Pitt fresh cherries
2. Place the cherries in sterilized pint canning jars. Fill to ¾” from the top of the jar.
3. Pour in 1 oz rum, 1 oz brandy or vodka, and 1 oz amaretto.
4. Fill the jar to ½” from the top of the jar with hot simple syrup (1 cup of water brought to boil with 1 cup of sugar).
5. Quickly wipe the rim of the jar with a clean, moist cloth and place a snap-seal lid (previous heated in hot water), on the jar. Screw on a canning ring until it’s finger tight.
6. Place the jars into a boiling water bath canner. Allow the canner to come to full-boil, and then boil the jars for 10 minutes.
7. Remove the jars from the canner, keeping them in an upright position. Place them on a thick towel, away from drafts.
8. Allow the jars to cool overnight. After 24 hours, remove the rings, and wash the jars in warm, soapy water, to remove the sticky syrup from the sides of the jar.

Store the jars in a cool, dark, dry location. Let them sit for at least two weeks. Use within one year of canning. Once the jar is opened, it can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

In the winter there’s nothing like homemade soup to warm you up from the inside. Soup from scratch doesn’t have to take a long time to make either – it can be as fast as 20-30 minutes. Here’s a quick and easy recipe for making cream of broccoli soup from scratch.

• 4 cups broccoli florets and stems, chopped
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

Cook broccoli in chicen stock until tender. Do not drain. Let cool for a bit and then puree in a blender or food processor. Set aside.

In a large sauce pan, melt butter. Add onion and carrots and saute lightly. Do not brown. Add flour, salt, pepper and milk. Stir until mixture boils and thickens. Add broccoli mixture. Stir until hot again.

Carefully ladle into bowls and top with cheddar cheese.

This recipe should make 5 individual servings.

A wonderful and easy to make roast beef that can be made in a slow cooker. Ideal for a fall or winer evening. Add some garlic mashed potatoes and a side of steamed carrots to make it a complete meal.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 lb Roast
• 1 Cup Red Wine
• Fresh Rosemary
• 1 Bay Leaf
• Medium White Onion
• 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
• 2 – 3 Cloves Garlic
• Pepper

Directions:

• Slice onion and place into bottom of slow cooker. Add in fresh rosemary, Bay Leaf and peppercorns.
• On med-high head, in a large, heavy frying pan, add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Sear roast on all sides, including the ends. Remove roast from frying pan.
• While the pan is still hot, deglaze the pan with 1 cup of red wine. Any red wine will do. Scrape up all the “brown bits”. Pour into slow cooker.
• Slice each clove of garlic into 3 – 4 pieces. With a sharp knife, cut deep into the roast and then insert garlic. Be sure to insert the garlic all over the roast.
• Place the roast into the slow cooker and sprinkle with pepper.
• Cover and turn on the slow cooker to low. Cook for 6 – 8 hours.

Remove the roast from the slow cooker and let it rest on the counter for 15 – 20 minutes. Remove the butchers twice, slice, and serve hot.

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A great traditional home-cooked dinner. Fast and easy to make.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 or 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 1 lb ground beef or veggie ground-round (or ground lamb for traditional Shepherd’s pie
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 398 ml / 14 oz can creamed corn
• 1.5 cups of mashed potatoes (leftovers work best!)
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350′f (180′c).

In a large pan over medium heat, cook ground beef. Add olive oil, garlic and onions and saute for about 5 minutes. Add carrot and cool for an additional 5 minutes. If using veggie-ground round, add to vegetable mixture.

Spread beef mixture into large casserole dish. Cover with frozen corn and peas, then cream corn. Top with mashed potatoes. Spread evenly. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

This recipe can be modified by adding green beans or broccoli.

Adapted from original recipe from Kraft.

It’s time for the kids to go back to school and for some adults, summer holiday’s are over too and we’re headed back to our busy work-lives. Instead of going out for lunch every day or eating unhealthy prepared food, here’s a great lunch you can make that’s healthy.

• Start your morning off with a banana with your morning coffee when you get into the office.
• Late-morning stop for a water break and snack on an apple – you’re more-likely to eat it if you pre-cut it.
• For lunch:
  • mixed raw vegetables – carrots, celery, cucumber, tomatoes, green beans, snap peas… the options are endless! Just pre-cut them into bite-sized pieces.
  • Hand-full of raw almonds
• For an afternoon pick-me-up, a low-fat granola bar and another glass of water.

This is a great lunch for busy people because everything is bite-size, portable and fast. So if you’re in your car, running between meetings, or on transit, you can still snack the day away.

Another great feature is that this lunch does not need to be refrigerated if you keep it in a theromo lunch bag. Bring along a stainless steel water bottle – perfectly acceptable to take to meetings to keep you hydrated.

Save even more-time during the week by pre-cutting all vegetables and fruit on Sunday evenings and store in air-tight containers in the fridge.

Nothing is better than enjoying home canned pears with a cup of hot tea on a cold winter evening. This recipe comes from the Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving book.

You’ll need:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• 7 cups pears

How to make it:

• Place 7 X 500ml jars on a rack in boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat to a simmer. Set screw bands aside; heat SNAP lids in hot water (not boiling). Keep jars and SNAP lids hot until ready to use.
• Wash, peel, halve and core pears. Cut into bite-size cubes.
• Combine sugar and water in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil.
• Pack fruit into hot jars within 3/4″ of top rim.
• Add hot syrup to cover fruit to within 1/2″ of top rim (headspace). Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness.
• Centre SNAP lid on jar; apply screw band securely and firmly until resistance is met – fingertip tight. Do not over tighten.
• Place jar in canner; repeat for remaining fruit and hot syrup.
• Cover canner; bring water to a boil. At altitudes up to 1,000 ft (305 m), process – boil filled jars – for 20 minutes.
• Remove jars without tilting. Cool upright, undisturbed for 24 hours. Do not retighten screw bands. After cooling check jar seals. Sealed lids curve downward.
• Label and store jars in a cool, dark place.

Another great, fast and easy recipe that you can whip up in the matter of minutes! Best of all, it’s fat free!

• 1 can of black beans, drained
• 1/4 cup white onion
• 2 – 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp roasted red peppers (jarred)
• 2 tbsp vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients into food processor and pulse to desired consistency. Black beans can be substituted with pinto beans.

You can serve this dip warm – just add 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese and heat.

Black bean dip goes well with nachos or pita bread.

Here is a fantastic fat-free recipe for hummus ~ and it’s super easy to make too!

• 1 tbsp chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1.5 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic
• salt and pepper

Put all the ingredients into food processor and blend until smooth.

Goes perfectly with fresh vegetables and pita bread. Make some for your next house party or take to work in your lunch.