Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball

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appetizers, cheese, cheese ball, chives, comfort food, cooking, cranberries, delicious, easy cooking, eat, entertaining, fall, fall dishes, food, holiday, pecans, retro, simple entertaining, tasty, thanksgiving, winter

I don’t know about you but I love a good cheese ball as part of a charcuterie board. I know it sounds bit retro but I don’t care.

They are creamy, and tasty and SO easy to make. You can whip this up in 10 minutes. I prefer letting it set overnight so the flavours come together but I have also been known to eat this straight out of the bowl… this is a judgement free zone 😉

Here is what you need:

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup white sharp cheddar cheese shredded / of old white cheddar
• 1 cup dried cranberries chopped and divided
• 1 cup pecans chopped and toasted 
• 1/4 cup chives or green onions chopped (I prefer chives)
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp of seasoning salt 

1. To Toast Pecans: Pre-heat oven to 375F. Place chopped pecans on a baking tray and bake for 5 minutes or until aromatic. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, cheddar cheese, ½ toasted pecans, ½ cup dried cranberries, chive or green onion, seasoning salt and garlic powder until well combined.
3. Place mixture in the center of a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper and cover completely with wrap while forming it into a ball shape. Place in fridge until ready to serve.
4. Just before serving, combine remaining ½ cup pecans, ½ dried cranberries, and 2 tablespoon chives on a flat surface or cutting board. Unwrap the ball and roll in cranberry-pecan mixture.
5. Serve with anything and devour! 

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Soup Addict – Italian Wedding Soup

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basil, butter, cheese, comfort food, cooking, delicious, easy cooking, easy dinner, easy dinners, easy pasta, eat, fall, fall dishes, food, fresh, italian, Italian wedding soup, Italy, kid friendly, leftovers, make ahead meals, Parmesan, pasta, pork, quick cooking, simple entertaining, soup, soup recipes, wedding soup, winter, winter soups

When you live in Ottawa, and it’s the winter and it’s cold than Mars (true story) I crave soup. This delicious Italian Wedding soup always makes feel cozy and warm. Italian wedding soup is a combination of a killer broth, mini tasty meatballs, a small pasta, veggies and greens.

I honestly adore soup.  I love it for lunch with a piece of crusty bread and it makes a great appetizer before dinner. My youngest Holly loves this soup (she loves meat) my oldest Chloe avoids meat like the plague, so I wanted to create a version that would appeal to both kids. Chloe just eats hers minus the meatballs.

This soup is made on the stove 🙂 sorry Instant Pot lovers this is old school 🙂 This soup will keep in your fridge for 5 days and freezes superbly well. Rolling the meatballs are the most time consuming part of this recipe so if you have child labor kids to assist you, use it.

Ingredients

Ingredients for Pork Meatballs (can be done ahead of time and frozen):

• 1 pound ground pork (makes a tender meatball, but you can also use beef)
• 1/2 cup onion , finely diced (about 1/2 medium onion)
• 2 cloves garlic , peeled and minced (or use a rasp)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs or seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs (parsley, basil, rosemary)
• 1 egg

Ingredients for Soup:

• 1 tablespoons butter or oil
• 1 cup onion , finely diced (1 medium onion)
• 1 cup carrot , peeled and diced (1 medium carrot)
• 2 cloves garlic , peeled and minced
• ~3 liters chicken broth – organic if you can (or homemade… I don’t have time for that though :)…)
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• 1 cup orzo, seme di Melone or acini di pepi
• 1 pound fresh tender spinach
• 2 tablespoons finely diced mixed herbs

Instructions

Meatballs:

1. In a large bowl, mix together pork, onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese, salt, bread crumbs, herbs, and egg until combined
2. Shape into tiny bite-sized meatballs, roughly 1/2 inch in diameter; place onto parchment covered cookie sheet and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. Luckily if you live in Canada during the winter you can put these babies outside to freeze while you prepare your broth 🙂 * Refrigerating is important as it will keep them from falling apart in the soup. You need a minimum of 30 mins to set up.

Soup:

1. In a large stock pot, melt butter; add onion, carrots, and garlic. Saute until tender, but not soft (about 5 minutes)
2. Add chicken broth; bring to a boil. Turn to simmer, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.
3. Taste and season with salt and pepper, to taste
4. Drop meatballs into broth; cook 7 minutes. Add pasta of your choice and cook 5 minutes
5. Add herbs and simmer for 30 minutes to meld flavours, adding more broth, if needed. Add spinach for the last few minutes.
6. Serve with crusty bread, or garlic bread (my kids favourite) and top with additional Parmesan cheese. I also love to add a bit of Sriracha to my soup too.
7. Enjoy!

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Put the soup on, it’s snowing!

Tags

easy dinner, fall, ham, healthy, leftovers, peas, soup, winter

Holy Moly that was fast. It was +21 last Sunday here in Ottawa and this morning, snow flurries. I am so not ready for this yet. 

Besides drowning my sorrows in coffee and Baileys I decided to make some delicious soup to warm me up. I have to admit I was inspired by my girlfriend Kelly who made me this soup last week and it was DELISH! 

On the menu today is, Yellow Split Pea Soup with Ham… very Canadian, eh?

It is easy peasy even if you don’t have all the ingredient you can still make it work. Plus the cost is around 10.00$ for an entire pot which breaks down to    Around $1 per serving. 

Here is what you need:

• 2 1/2 cups of dried split yellow peas
• 10 cups of water
• 5 stalks of celery diced finely and 5 carrots diced finely
• 1 small yellow onion diced finely
• 3 cloves of roasted garlic (you can omit) 
• 3 bay leaves
• Fresh thyme – at least 6 sprigs or 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp pepper
• Ham bone with ham left on it or a ham steak (diced into 1centimeter by 1 centimeter cubes) 
• No salt until soup is done

Place split peas, ham bone or diced  ham steak, carrots, onion, celery, thyme, bay leaves and pepper into a large pot; pour in water. Bring mixture to a boil and skim off any foam with a spoon. Reduce heat; place a lid on the pot slightly ajar to allow some evaporation. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until peas are tender and soup is thick, about 21/2 hours. I also added another 2 cups of water at the end to thin out the soup. Taste and add salt as needed. 

Serve with crusty bread and butter and enjoy! 

   
  

    
 

Bet you can’t eat just one!

Tags

easy appetizers, fall, nuts, simple entertaining

Well I had the pleasure of being back on Daytime TV today for a cooking segment and it was a blast! Derek Fage is hilarious! What a great group of people over at Rogers channel 22.

I made a charcuterie board, some canapés and these delicious spiced nuts. These nuts take 10 minutes to make and they are irresistible. You can’t stop eating them 🙂

Try them today!

Here’s what you need.

Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts

2 cups of assorted mixed unsalted nuts
2 tbs butter softened
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp flaked sea salt
2 tbs fresh rosemary (topped)

Roast the nuts in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. While the nuts are roasting, in a large bowl combine the butter, sugar, salt, cayenne and rosemary. Remove the toasted nuts from the oven and place in the bowl. Toss the nuts with the seasoning. Eat, eat and eat some more.

These are addictive and are a perfect addition to anyone’s Fall dining room table.

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ http://www.monicaskitchen.com