Blueberry Cornbread Muffins

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baking, blueberries, butter, cooking, cornmeal, delicious, dessert, easy breakfast, easy cooking, eat, eating, food, fresh, kid friendly, kids baking, muffins, sugar, summer, summertime, vanilla, vanilla beans

Mixing up the usual … these are gloriously delish 🤤

The slight crunch of the cornmeal make a perfect backdrop for blueberries, which burst as they bake, creating pockets of juice that keep the muffins tender. Serve warm with a pat of butter 💥

Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
2 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 stick or 1/2 cup salted butter, melted

Set oven to 350, 325 for convection bake.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Place the blueberries in a small bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon of the flour mixture. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients, along with the melted butter. Stir until just blended; and then stir in the blueberries. Do not overmix. The batter comes together in about 5 minutes.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup very full and please use liners as the blueberries will make everything very sticky. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are set and golden around the edges. Cool the muffins for a few minutes in the pan, then serve warm with butter or transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Enjoy!

Cauliflower Wings – Must Try!

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baking, cauliflower, cauliflower wings, cooking, delicious, easy dinners, eat, food, fresh, garden, quick cooking, simple entertaining, summer, summertime, tacos, wings

So Pure Kitchen just opened up in Kanata and now I eat, sleep and dream about their cauliflower wings.

And as much as I would love to eat there every single day, I needed to come up with my own recipe for making cauliflower wings in the oven.

These were pretty delicious I must admit they will curb my craving for the PK version. They are great as a appetizer, on tacos, in a wrap instead of meat or on top of a salad.

Here’s what you need:

(Preheat your oven to 425 degrees)

• 1 Head cauliflower cut into bite sized “wings”
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp garlic and onion powder
• 1/4 tsp chipotle powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup water
• A good squeeze of sriracha
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 tablespoon sriracha
• 2 tablespoons Mirin or 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Steps:

1. Cut up the cauliflower
2. Make batter with the flour, garlic and onion powder, water and sriracha
3. Toss wings in batter with your hands. Make sure they are all covered
4. Lay out on a parchment paper covered baking sheet
5. Bake in oven for 25 mins
6. Remove from oven and toss wings with melted butter, mirin and sriracha mix
7. Put back in oven for 15 mins
8. Devoir
9. As much as I would like to say this is 1 serving, it is not. It is 4 servings. But you don’t need to share with anyone. 😉

Drop me a note and let me know how you liked them!

Enjoy

Www.monicaskitchen.com

The BEST Mexican Corn Salad recipe

Tags

avocado, cooking in 15 minutes, corn, easy cooking, easy dinner, easy dinners, easy salads, eat, eating, entertaining, feta, food, fresh, fresh cooking, grill, light dinners, quick cooking, simple entertaining, summer, summer salads, summertime, tomatoes

It’s late summer and corn is in season right now in Ontario and it is DELISH! I know after a few meals of corn on the cob we all want to switch it up a little … so this is a perfect alternative to corn on the cob.

Not sure if you are familiar with Mexico’s all-dressed corn-on-the-cob…but this recipe turns it into a summery salad. If you don’t like spicy foods, use smoked paprika in the crema; otherwise, chipotle powder or canned chipotles gives the salad an authentic smoky kick or in a pinch use Sriracha. The crema is also delicious with nachos, on burgers, chicken, grilled fish, honestly anything!

Chipotle Lime Crema

• ½ cup (125 mL) mayonnaise (reduced fat is fine)
• ½ cup (125 mL) sour cream
• 2 Tbls fresh lime juice
• Finely grated zest of 1 lime
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika or ground chipotle pepper
• Salt to taste

Corn Salad

• 6 cobs of corn, shucked
• 1 orange pepper diced finely
• ⅔ cup dice finely a Vidalia onion
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 whole avocados diced
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups arugula (the peppery taste is a nice compliment to the sweetness of the corn)
• 1 cup (250 mL) crumbled feta or cotija cheese if you can score that
• Lime wedges

 

Step by Step:

For the crema, whisk all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate at least 24 hours and up to 1 week.

Preheat grill to high. Clean and oil barbecue grate. Place corn on grill. Cook, turning occasionally, until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. (Alternatively, you could boil the corn in unsalted water for 5 minutes then quickly char it directly on the flame of a gas burner.) Transfer to a baking sheet and cool completely.

* TIP! Start with a large bowl and then place a smaller bowl upside down. Stand corn on end. Slice downward with a sharp knife to cut kernels away from cob. Less Mess!  Place corn in a large mixing bowl with onion, peppers, avocados, tomatoes, cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix.

For each serving, place a little mound of salad greens in a bowl, if using. Spoon in some corn salad. Top with a dollop of crema and sprinkle with feta. Serve with lime wedges.

Enjoy!

www.monicaskitchen.com

 

Bakery Style Buttermilk chocolate chip muffins

Tags

bakery, baking, butter, buttermilk, chocolate, dessert, eat, entertaining, food, kid friendly, kids, kids baking, mini muffins, muffins, simple entertaining, sugar, summer, summertime, treats

First let me start by giving credit where credit is due, this recipe was given to me by a friend who found it on Pinterest these have got to be some of the best chocolate chip muffins I have ever eaten. I have tweaked the original recipe a bit, so here is my version. 

Chloe makes them at least every 10 days or so, they freeze incredibly well all you need to do is take a muffin out of the freezer put it in the lunch bag and by snacktime it’s thawed, Voila! These are a winner winner.

 INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar or vanilla bean sugar 

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 larges eggs beaten 

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or the best extract you can find 
1 1/2 cups miniature chocolate chips

sanding sugar for sprinkling on top – makes all the difference. 

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Use muffin liners or Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. This recipe makes 12 large and 12 mini muffins.
In a larger bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the butter, eggs, vanilla, and the buttermilk. Stir JUST until a batter with lumps forms.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup in the muffin tin to be completely full (about a heaping 1/4 cup).

Bake at 425ºF for 5 minutes. Then decrease the heat to 375ºF and bake for another 13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 minutes before removing from the tin and serving.

Enjoy! 

http://www.monicaskitchen.com (new website coming soon!) 

Light and simple turkey chili

Tags

chili, fresh, fresh meals, light dinners, summer, turkey chili

This is absolutely delicious, takes minutes to prepare and you can make it in the crockpot. 

Perfect for spring, summer, fall and winter! Chili at times can be very heavy and filling, this version is light and fresh. 

Here is what you need:

• 1 lb of ground turkey (usually I prefer to use beef but for this chili, turkey gave a much lighter taste)
• 1 package of chili seasoning mix 
• 1 tbls of tomato paste
• 1 can of diced tomatoes 28 oz
• 1 can of corn or 2 ears of fresh corn sliced off the cob
• 1 19 oz can of black beans, or you can use kidney, pinto etc
• 1 onion diced finely
• 2 garlic cloves
• Pinch of salt 
• Toppings, sour cream or greek yogurt, cubed avocado, cilantro, grated cheese etc

Brown the turkey in a frying pan with 1 tbs of oil. After a few minutes add the onion and garlic. Once browned 2-3 minutes, add the mixture to a crock pot. Add in tomatoes, corn, chili seasoning mix, tomato paste and beans. Let simmer for 3 hours on high or 5 on low. 

To serve, top chili with whatever topping you would like. Enjoy! 

  

Simple and Delicious Salsa

Tags

easy cooking, fast, food, fresh, garden, salsa, summer, tomatoes

Nothing beats a fresh homemade salsa served with hot and salty tortilla chips.

But did you know that you could make a fresh salsa in about 90 seconds?

Here is how:

You need approx 8-10 smaller tomatoes (I used Campari tomatoes)
1 jalapeño pepper deserved
1 red onion
1 garlic clove
Handful of cilantro
Pinch of salt

Half or quarter your tomatoes, quarter your onion, slice your pepper and garlic. In two batches toss your tomatoes into your food processor and pulse. You want to break them down but you don’t want them to be puréed. Pour into a bowl.
Next batch put in your garlic, onions, jalapeño, and cilantro and pulse until finely chopped. Put that into a bowl and mix together. Season with salt and taste.

Done and done! Enjoy your fresh salsa.

I love me some basil

Tags

basil, cooking, garden, summer

Summer is coming and summer to me means fresh herbs from my garden.

Every year I plant a few planters full of herbs. The standard herbs – Italian parsley, chives, sweet basil, rosemary, cilantro, thyme.. But this year I added a few new ones.

Thai Basil – one of my favorite basil’s so I knew I needed to plant it this year. I use it in my fresh spring rolls, Thai curries, and stir fries. It tastes more exotic than my regular sweet basil and looks a bit different too. Thai basil has smaller leaves and purple stems and it is delicious!

Tuscan Basil – this stuff is awesome. It is a cross between basil and fennel and it rocks! It is funky looking too, it looks like a lettuce leaf. I went to a local farm in Kanata and the lady introduced me to it. I tried it and I was hooked. So far I have used in it a steak
salad as a lettuce element, and on top
of my bolognese sauce.

My advice, don’t be afraid to experiment with new herbs and flavors. Plant some herbs and add a few knew ones to the mix. A little experimenting is always fun.

Holy Jalapeño

Tags

BBQ, eat, food, grill, jalapeno, relish, summer

It’s the third week of May in Ottawa, and although it is late, I can feel that spring has finally arrived. To mark the end of a 6 month winter, I have started to crave heat. Heat in the form of sun, +20 degree weather and spicy foods.

A spice that I like to use a lot is the jalapeño.  It is not too spicy, it has great flavor and it can get used a lot more than just sprinkling it on top of your nachos.

The jalapeno chile pepper is arguably the most famous chili pepper on the face of the planet. Mexican Spanish pronunciation: [halaˈpeɲo] is a medium to large size chile which is prized for its warm, burning sensation when eaten. It is almost always sold while still green. As the growing season comes to an end, the jalapeños start to turn red. Growers often either discard the red jalapeños into the ground or use them for production of chipotle peppers. (I LOVE using chipotle peppers!) Jalapeño Chile Peppers generally range from 3,500 to 8,000 on the Scoville heat scale. What does that mean? It means it is mild with a bit of heat. To give you a point of reference, a bell pepper is a 0 on the Scoville heat scale and a habanero pepper is a 350,000 ad a ghost pepper is over 1 million.

Scoville Heat Chart

Ok okay… enough background.

So as I was saying, I have been craving spice. I went to the grocery store and saw fresh jalapenos and I got an idea. Let me introduce you to my favorite condiment – Jalapeño relish!

Use this to on tacos, chili, nachos, eggs, anything! It is awesome and it lasts in your fridge for about a week.

Jalapeño relish

WARNING: Handle hot peppers with care because when you cut them up you can get hurt. Use rubber gloves and do not rub your eyes, nose, mouth or any other mucous membrane (that I do not want to hear about) after handling them.  Most of the heat is in the seeds.  Use or do not use the seeds accordingly to turn up (or down) the heat in your finished product. A jalapeño is not that hot, but trust me if I was working with habaneros I would apply all of the rules above. You have now been warned. Moving on…

Ingredients:

• 5 jalapeños (sliced open and seeds removed)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/8 red onion
• ¼ cup of cilantro leaves
• Pinch of salt, sugar
• ½ lime squeezed

Put everything into a mix food processor, I used a mini one and blitz for 30 secs or so until you have a relish like consistency.

Viola!

Once it has the right consistency, taste a little bit to see if you require more salt, acid, sweetness etc and adjust accordingly. Store in the fridge in a jar with a lid or a Tupperware container. It will last approx. 5 days. Enjoy it with grilled steak, veggies, chicken, nachos, tacos, quinoa etc. It goes with everything!

Make a batch of relish today and enjoy!

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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 @ www.monicaskitchen.com