Strawberry Oat Muffins

I hate wasting food! It is one of my biggest pet peeves. Therefore there often comes a time when I look into the fridge and I see various items that are about to expire and I feel obligated to use them up in some way. Usually that involves making some sort of omelet or frittata because it's easy to throw virtually any ingredient in them and have it turn out. However this time I needed to use up strawberries and Greek yogurt...not exactly omelet ingredients. So I decided I would bake them into muffins and see how it turned out.

Wouldn't you know it the muffins actually turned out great! I'm quite proud of them because they tasted good and I realized later that they were pretty healthy too. The muffins were almost completely sugar and fat free. I managed this by substituting unsweetened applesauce for butter and relying only on the natural sugars contained in the strawberries and the yogurt itself. I also substituted half the flour with oats. As a result the muffins turned out quite dense and not sweet at all, but the missing sweetness was actually nice. It made the muffin feel more substantial and less like a dessert, fitting of a breakfast snack. The only unfortunate part was that the muffins stuck completely to the paper liners and it was very difficult to peel the paper off. Next time I think I will make sure to grease the muffin tin well and just bake them straight in the tin without the use of any liners.

Strawberry Oat Muffins
Note: These muffins could be made using other fruit instead such as blueberries or raspberries. I used strawberries because that's what I had on hand.

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (I used nonfat strawberry flavored but regular works too)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp oil
• 3/4 cup strawberries, cut into pieces

1. In a large bowl sift together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
2. In a separate bowl combine the applesauce, Greek yogurt, egg, and oil. 
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. The batter will be fairly thick.
4. Gently fold in half of the strawberries.
5. Distribute the batter evenly in a well-greased 12 cup muffin tin. Top the muffins with the remaining strawberry pieces.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit or until a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean. Cool for five minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Baked Potato Skins

Many months ago my brother, cousins, and I went to lunch at a local chain and ordered some potato skins as an appetizer. My brother went crazy over the potato skins and has been begging me ever since to make them. I finally got around to it last Saturday when my friend came over and I made them in addition to shrimp tacos...a strange combination, yes, but I had promised each of them those dishes so we ate it all together.

The concept of the potato skins is actually quite simple; you bake the potatoes, remove the insides, crisp the skins in the oven, then fill them with whatever you like. Despite their ease, I recognized that my potato skins could have turned out better. I chose to make mine barbeque flavored but I didn't use enough sauce to coat the skins, resulting in my brother adding additional sauce to the top of his. Also, I think I should have kept them in the oven under the broiler a little longer because they weren't quite as crispy as I would have liked. Still, my brother said they were top notch and I was glad to have finally fulfilled his longstanding request. His next request: make something with hazelnuts.

Baked Potato Skins

• 5 russet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
• 3/4-1 lb ground beef (depends on size of potatoes)
• Shredded cheese
• 1 green onion, chopped (green part only)
• Barbeque sauce
• Sour cream
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Pierce the potatoes several times with a fork and then place on a rack and bake for about 50-60 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or until they can be easily slit with a knife.
2. Meanwhile, cook the ground beef on high heat in a large skillet for 6-8 minutes or until no more pink is visible. Set aside.
3. Allow the potatoes to cool slightly before slicing in half lengthwise and removing the insides. Leave about 1/4" ring along the bottom and sides.
4. Rub both sides of the potato skins with olive oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Place the potatoes, skin side up, on a baking sheet and return to the oven with the broiler on for 2 minutes. Flip them over and broil the other side for 2 minutes as well. Watch the skins carefully so that they don't burn. If they aren't crispy enough, broil each side for an additional minute.
5. Remove the potato skins from the oven and brush the insides with the barbeque sauce. Distribute the beef filling evenly amongst them and top with some shredded cheese. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes under the broiler, or until the cheese on top is melted. 
6. Garnish with sour cream and green onions.

Happy Second Birthday Blog

Phew...another year gone by and once again I can't believe how fast time flies. It was only a little bit over a year ago that I found out I was accepted into the Faculty of Nursing at UBC and couldn't imagine what the experience would entail. I am now halfway through the program and now I can't imagine that a year from now I will have already graduated and (hopefully) have a job as a nurse.

In terms of my education I have definitely learned a lot since starting the program in September and continue to expand my knowledge every day. I find it amazing to think that after only nine months I already know so much and have acquired so many new skills! I have also grown even closer with my friends who entered the program with me and met some great new people as well.

Through it all my love of cooking, baking, and food in general has only grown. One of the greatest benefits of entering the program and meeting new people was that I got to share my passion with even more friends. Not only have I become better acquainted with some friends over good food, but I have formed some very close bonds with many great people.

I know that last year I wrote about how this blog transformed my life and that's true...to a point. The truth is that I have transformed myself over the past two years and I think the blog naturally reflects that. Whereas in the beginning I was cautious about my cooking skills and new recipes, I now have great confidence and a "don't shy away from it" attitude. I think that I have relaxed more and am better at accepting mistakes or "kitchen flops". Not everything can turn out perfect all the time and I realize that now...or at least I understand most of the time.

In about a month I will be traveling to Europe to study Italian cooking for a week and I couldn't be more excited. Of course I look forward to learning new techniques and eating all of the amazing food, but I am also equally excited to meet the other people who will be my companions for a week. I will be completely surrounded by a group of "foodies" and I can't wait to create so many new food friendships and memories.

The greatest lesson that I have come to learn in the past two years of cooking and blogging is that food is not just something to fill our stomachs. Yes, we need food for energy and ultimately survival...but it's more than that. Food is a medium, a platform. Food can be used as an icebreaker between new acquaintances or as a memory between friends. It can connect people in unimaginable ways from all over the world or simply bring families together in the same household. I am in awe of the power of food to change people's lives both physically and emotionally, and I am thankful to have learned this lesson and be able to pass it on. 

Cheese Börek

This week we have family friends who have come to visit us from Washington, DC and in honor of their arrival we had one of our classic family get-togethers last night. I viewed the evening as a great way to test out some recipes including spiced poached peaches and an apple and cherry strudel. I also made this lovely cheese börek which I think was the most successful of the three dishes I produced. Börek, as I learned, comes in many different styles and shapes but the basic concept is to wrap cheese in phyllo dough and then bake it. The dish is Eastern European though in some places, such as Greece, it has been adapted into meat börek or spinach börek (also known as spanakopita). It is best served hot and straight from the oven, but I have to say it tasted pretty good after being in the fridge overnight and then reheated in the microwave this morning.

Cheese Börek
Note: The dry curds and sour cream can be substituted with cottage cheese and ricotta.

• 1 package phyllo dough (18 sheets), thawed
• 2 cups dry curds
• 2 cups sour cream
• 3 cups feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
• Pepper
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1. Combine the dry curds, sour cream, feta cheese, eggs, parsley, dill, and some fresh pepper. Mix well until homogenous and set aside.
2. Using two sheets at a time, spray the bottom phyllo sheet with PAM and then lay second sheet on top. Keep remaining sheets covered with wax or parchment paper and a damp (but not dripping) paper towel on top. 
3. Spread the filling into a thick log shape along the short side of the phyllo, keeping about 1/2" on each end free of any filling.
4. Carefully bring the bottom of the phyllo over the filling and proceed to roll into a tight log. Don't press too hard so that filling does not come out the ends but make the roll tight enough so that no air is trapped inside.
5. Lay the roll, seam side down, into a 9" x 13" baking pan and press tightly against the side. I lined my pan with parchment paper so that I could easily remove the börek but it can also be generously greased with butter and served straight from the pan.
6. Repeat the process with the remaining phyllo sheets and filling and continue to lay the rolls side by side in the pan until all full. The rolls should be tightly pressed against one another.
7. Carefully spread the melted butter over the surface of the rolls and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or until the dough turns golden brown. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before slicing and serving.

Roasted Tomatillo Enchiladas

Yeeeeeeeeeeeessss! I finally made roasted tomatillo enchiladas. I can't even describe how excited I am to be sharing this recipe. For a while now I have been making chicken enchiladas which my family absolutely loves. They're very easy to make, taste delicious, and reheat well. But after a while of making the same version over and over I wanted to try something different. In the past I had seen enchiladas with a green sauce instead of a red one and I became curious how to create it. After some research I found out that the green sauce is made from tomatillos, small green tomatoes that are part of the nightshade family and related to eggplants. They basically look like green tomatoes but they have a husk covering them and have a meatier, tangy flavor.

Once I browsed through a few recipes I found one that I liked and wanted to try. Unfortunately, tomatillos, common in Mexican cuisine, are extremely difficult to find in Vancouver. The regular grocery stores do not stock them and there are not many Mexican grocers. I really wanted to find some fresh tomatillos to create the sauce and didn't want to resort to buying canned ones. For months I thought about where I could go to buy some but ultimately I was lost.

Then one day I was describing my problem to my friend and she told me that she had just seen tomatillos at one of our local farm markets. I suddenly became so excited and I couldn't wait to go and buy them; in fact I don't know how I even managed to wait until the next day to do so.

Fast forward three days and I finally made the sauce and the enchiladas to go with it. I'm not going to lie and say it's the best dish I've ever made but I'm so happy to have checked it off my list. The tangy taste of the tomatillos combined with the cilantro made the sauce very unique and I could easily see it as being great for dips as well.

Because I cooked the chicken a couple days prior in some chicken stock I didn't realize until I opened the pot that my brothers had actually eaten the majority of the chicken. They both claimed that it was one of the most flavorful broths I had made, probably because I added some garlic cloves to it. I was glad that they enjoyed it but that left me scrambling for extra ingredients to add to the filling. I kept the filling simple with the remaining chicken, corn, red pepper, red onion, cilantro, and shredded cheese. Ultimately I think any filling would work well with the sauce including beef or vegetarian.

Roasted Tomatillo Enchiladas

• 8-10 tomatillos, husks removed and washed
• 5-7 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 3-4 cooked skinless chicken breasts (can use chicken thighs instead)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup whole corn kernels
• 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 12 fajita-sized tortillas
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. To prepare the sauce, arrange the tomatillos and garlic on an aluminum foil-lined roasting pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Roast in the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-40 minutes, flipping over once halfway through.
2. Add the roasted tomatillos and garlic to a food processor along with half of the cilantro. Process until smooth. You may add some water through the spout to thin the sauce if desired but I like it thick so I left it as is.
3. Meanwhile, saute the onion and pepper over medium heat until softened. Season with salt and pepper.
4. To make the filling, shred the chicken and combine with the cooked onion and pepper, corn, remaining half of the cilantro, and one cup of shredded cheese. Add about 1/4 cup of the tomatillo sauce and mix well to combine.
5. Microwave the tortillas for 30-60 seconds so that they are soft and pliable. Working with one tortilla at a time, spread about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture in a line evenly along the bottom third of the tortilla. Roll up tightly and lay, seam-side down, in a baking dish with just enough sauce spread to lightly coat the bottom.
6. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and lay each one so that it is touching its neighbors. Pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas and top with the remaining cup of shredded cheese.
7. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes or until the cheese browns a little. Remove from the oven and let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.