Make International Cuisine The Easy Way

Tired of the same old scrambled eggs at breakfast? Looking for a way to add some zing to your meatloaf? Thanks to the good folks at Visual.ly, it is possible to give otherwise bland dishes an international pick-up-me with the use of just three ingredients.

March Break Meals: Dinner

Parents often scramble to find activities for their children to do during the annual week long spring break in the school year. If registering them into a day camp is not an option, this can be a good time to show how to cook some meals. Letting children help with meal preparation is a great way to spend time with them, and it also shows the effort involved in making what is put on the table everyday. Here is a dinner recipe that is easy to make and is something that kids like to eat:

Ingredients: Pizza  

420 g flour
240 mL water
10 g baking powder
5 g salt
1 jar of tomato sauce
sliced or grated mozzarella cheese
your favourite pizza toppings

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Whisk the flour with the salt and the baking powder. Add the water and let your child knead the dough into a ball, adding more flour a little at a time if the dough is too sticky. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
2. Spread the dough onto a generously floured baking tray, and have your child roll it into the appropriate shape.
3. Spread tomato sauce over the shaped dough, then add the mozzarella cheese and your pizza toppings (for toppings such as onions and sausage, sauté them first to avoid dealing with getting everything to cook at the same time; this would apply to bacon as well).
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the pizza base is puffed and golden, about 15 minutes.
   
   This yeast-free dough recipe can be found in my all-time favourite cookbook, "Cooking for Geeks".

March Break Meals: Lunch

Parents often scramble to find activities for their children to do during the annual week long spring break in the school year. If registering them into a day camp is not an option, this can be a good time to show how to cook some meals. Letting children help with meal preparation is a great way to spend time with them, and it also shows the effort involved in making what is put on the table everyday. Here is a lunch recipe that is easy to make and is something that kids like to eat:

Ingredients: Tacos

115 g corn kernels
6 small corn tortillas
5 g ground cumin + pinch for the salsa
3 ripe tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 small onion
1 lime
1/2 red chili pepper
1/2 jalapeno pepper
Handful of torn cilantro (optional)
salt, pepper

1. Finely chop the tomatoes, onion, both peppers and the cilantro. Cut the lime in half and have your child squeeze out the juice.
2. Put all chopped up items in a bowl, add the lime juice, salt, pepper, and a pinch of the cumin, and have you child mix everything together.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Open up the can of beans and drain them. Saute them in a skillet together with corn. After few minutes, season it with the remaining cumin, and some salt and pepper.
4. Heat the tortillas according to the directions on the package. When they are ready, spread a layer of beans and corn on a tortilla followed by some shredded cheese and the fresh salsa.

March Break Meals: Breakfast

Parents often scramble to find activities for their children to do during the annual week-long spring break in the school year. If registering them into a day camp is not an option, this can be a good time to show how to cook some meals. Letting children help with meal preparation is a great way to spend time with them, and it also shows the effort involved in making what is put on the table every day. Here is a breakfast recipe that is easy to make and is something that kids like to eat:

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Ingredients: C-3PO's Pineapple Pancakes

237 mL milk
75 g unsalted butter
30 g brown sugar
30 g baking powder
7.5 g salt
2 cans of pineapple rings
2 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 120° C. Open up the cans of pineapple and drain off the juice. Set the pineapples aside.
2. Put the butter in a small saucepan and put it on a burner at low heat in order for the butter to melt. Once the butter has melted, turn off the heat and let the butter cool for a bit.
3.  Pour the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl, and allow your child to stir everything up until it is well mixed.
4. Break the eggs in another mixing bowl (you know better than me if this is something your kid is capable of doing). Add the milk and about 60 mL of the melted butter and whisk everything until it is well mixed. Slowly mix in the flour mixture until everything is blended - what part(s) you want your child to do here is up to you.
5. Pour the remaining melted butter in a frying pan and spread it around to coat the cooking surface. Put the pan on the stove and switch the heat to medium-high. When the pan is hot after about a minute or so, pour in some of the batter. Cook the pancake until golden underneath and bubbles burst on the top, about three minutes.
6. Have your child place a pineapple ring in the middle of the pancake. With a spatula, carefully flip the pancake. Cook until the pancake is golden brown on the second side, about two minutes. Transfer the pancake to a baking sheet, and put the sheet in the oven.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6, adding butter to the skillet as needed. Serve the pancakes warm and butter and syrup.

This and other kid-friendly recipes can be found in "The Star Wars Cookbook".

Q & A with Maverick's Donut Company

Maverick’s Donut Company came about through a collaboration between the partners of two well-known local restaurants, and has made doughnut lovers in Ottawa stand up and take notice.   I had a chance to ask them some questions to Dominic Santaguida, the owner of the business, via e-mail recently, and here's what he had to say, as dictated through his partner Stacey:

FRANKLIN on FOOD: Is it the pastry or the toppings that makes the perfect doughnut?
STACEY SANTAGUIDA: That is of a personal choice, some people like plain donuts, and others like them all dressed up.

FRANKLIN on FOOD: What is it that makes Maverick’s stand out from the other specialty bakers in Ottawa?
SS: First, we are simply a donut shop. we serve beverages, but only donuts, no pastries etc.

FRANKLIN on FOOD: Was it hard to come up with the ideas for your signature doughnuts?
SS: We tried a few different things but really narrowed in down very quickly to the six we currently have with the plan to expand our signatures to many more.

FRANKLIN on FOOD: What was the creation you thought would be in the sweet six but wasn’t?
SS: A key lime donut, we will bring it back in the summer months to test out its popularity then.

FRANKLIN on FOOD: If you could take over a Tim Hortons for a week, what changes would you make, and why?
SS: We would not like to take over Tim Hortons for a week, as their operations are not at all like ours. We do fresh in house donuts only. No sandwiches, breakfast meals, soups or meal type things. We are strictly donuts and coffees/drinks. We aren't a chain either... Nothing wrong with Tim's, just not the same business.

FRANKLIN on FOOD: Other than doughnuts, what’s your go-to sweet treat to eat?
SS: Actually donuts are one of my most favourite things, but most of all I love apple fritters, which we are in the process of perfecting and getting onto the menu.