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Four delicious recipes you can try this holiday season

I know the holiday season is here when I begin to see Christmas Pillsbury cookies at Fortinos. During my first year at McMaster University, my friends and I went through over a dozen boxes of Pillsbury cookies and it was always an intense battle to get our hands on them at the grocery store. I still remember the smell lingering in our communal kitchen all throughout December finals. 

I’ve never been much of a baker myself but during the pandemic I have been cooking and baking more fresh food. This year I’m especially looking forward to making winter holiday treats for my family and friends. I’ve gathered below a few beginner and budget-friendly recipes from friends and fellow Mac students.

The Recipe: London Slices

The Chef: Una Pasagic, a human behaviour student, shares her Bosnian family holiday recipe.

Ingredients:

Dough:

 Filling:

 *Allergy warning: walnuts

Directions:

Dough:

  1. Mix flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
  2.  In a separate bowl, whip butter and sugar together until slightly fluffy.
  3. Add the butter and sugar mixture to the large bowl with flour then combine the ingredients by hand.
  4. Add yolks and zest to the bowl then combine ingredients by hand.
  5. Set dough aside to make filling.

Filling :

  1. Whip egg whites and sugar until fluffy.
  2. Fold in 150 grams of walnuts.

Assembly:

  1. Spread the dough onto a large rectangular baking sheet pan. The dough should only cover the base and does not need to go up to the sides of the dish.
  2. Spread a layer of jam, enough to cover the surface of the dough.
  3. Add the layer of filling and top everything with 60 grams of walnuts.
  4. Bake at 375 ˚F for a maximum of 25 minutes.
  5. Let it set after removing it from the oven.
  6. Once set, cut into rectangular pieces and serve.

The Recipe: Vegan brownies

The Chef: Emma Sood, a student studying psychology, neuroscience and behaviour, shares her favourite vegan dessert recipe.

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 ˚F.
  2. Line a muffin tin with a paper liner.
  3. Prepare flax eggs by mixing 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal and 3 tablespoons of water stirred to a smooth, gel-like consistency in a small bowl and let it rest for a couple of minutes.
  4. Melt vegan butter in a mixing bowl. After stir in flax eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Whisk to combine.
  5. Add all-purpose flour. You can fold in chocolate chips, nuts or fruits at this point. 
  6. Scoop the batter into the muffin tin until three-fourths full and bake on the middle rack for around 24 minutes. It could be a little less or more. Look to see if the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the tin.
  7. Remove from the oven and let the brownies rest for a couple of minutes. Enjoy!

The Recipe: Toblerone cookies

The Chef: Subin Park. This is a recipe I learned from a friend. You can never have too many chocolate chip cookies!

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 300 ˚F
  2. Coarsely chop one chocolate bar into quarter-inch pieces (approximately 1/3 cup). Set the remaining chocolate bar aside.
  3. In a mid-sized mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy. 
  4. Beat in vanilla and salt.
  5. Using a wooden spoon, stir in one cup of flour until just mixed.
  6. Stir in remaining flour and chopped chocolate bar pieces until mixed.
  7. Scrape dough into an ungreased eight-inch square baking dish. Lightly flour fingers then pat mixture into an even thickness. 
  8. Use a fork to pierce the dough in one inch increments.
  9. Finally, chop the remaining chocolate bar and sprinkle over top of the dough.
  10. Bake on the lower rack at 300 ˚F until the edges are deep golden and the centre is pale golden for 35 to 40 minutes.
  11. Remove from the oven and immediately cut into 16 squares.
  12. Cool completely in the pan. Once cool, store in an airtight container in a cool place or refrigerator for up to two weeks.

C/O Visual Stories on Unsplash

A&C editor shares a recipe for red pepper, cherry tomato and mushroom gnocchi

When I moved back to Hamilton earlier this year, I was really looking forward to cooking for myself again. This gnocchi recipe is one of my favourite things to make, because it’s full of vegetables, comes together quickly and also often makes more than enough leftovers for a busy week. It’s also the perfect recipe for students who have come back from reading week and are now busy with assignment deadlines and midterms to study for. 

Like store-bought gnocchi, the recipe is also versatile and it’s easy to make adjustments depending on what other ingredients you have on hand or how much time you have. For example, if I’m in a rush or when they’re not in season, I substitute some tomato sauce for cherry tomatoes, adding it after the red pepper and gnocchi. Or if you want to add some leafy greens, you can omit the cherry tomatoes and add some chopped baby spinach after the mushrooms.

As it is, provided you can find vegan gnocchi, the recipe is also vegan, though if you like you’re welcome to add cheese or some chicken to it as well to suit your tastes. My sister loves this recipe and she’ll often add heaps of Parmesan to her servings, though, to be fair, she does that with just about every food she can. Feel free to make as many substitutions as you wish and to make the recipe aligned with your tastes. 

The Chef: Arts & Culture Editor, Nisha Gill

Ingredients

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Yield: 3 - 4 servings

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Chop a large red onion, mushrooms and a red pepper. Set aside, each in a separate bowl.
  3. Put cherry tomatoes in a baking dish or on a pan, drizzle with one to two Tbsp olive oil, sprinkle three to four cloves of garlic and salt and pepper. Mix and spread evenly across the pan.
  4. Roast cherry tomatoes in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, checking periodically because they might sizzle a bit.
  5. Meanwhile, cook store-bought gnocchi according to package directions.
  6. Then, heat one Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot add red onion and cook for about four to five minutes. Add mushrooms, cooking for another two to three or until they've browned a bit. Add red pepper, tomatoes and gnocchi and cook for another four to six minutes. 
  7. Serve warm and enjoy!

It’s important to take breaks from studying and engage in activities you enjoy and find fulfilling. For seasoned chefs as well as those looking to improve their culinary skills, this quick recipe is the perfect way to get busy in the kitchen in between studying and enjoy a great meal! 

Please comment down below with your twists on the recipe or let us know what recipes you would like us to see featured next in our next issue of In the Kitchen with Arts & Culture.

C/O Joshua Zuckerman

Feeding yourself on a student budget is difficult. It can be especially hard to find affordable meals that produce lots of portions. This Bolognese sauce recipe was made with student budgets in mind.

Our chefs this week have worked hard to create a recipe that removes dinner time stress from people's plates (pardon the pun), without sacrificing quality. Not only can it be made for under $20, but it can produce up to eight portions.

C/O Joshua Zuckerman

The Chefs: Matt Dunbar and Michael Abbott

Matt Dunbar and Michael Abbott spent the last 10 years building up their successful catering business, No Small Feast. But despite catering events for organizations such as Spotify, Microsoft and BMW as well as foreign dignitaries, they weren’t pandemic-proof.

The dynamic duo pivoted their business to survive during the pandemic. They launched Provisions, a frozen upscale comfort food line for home delivery to the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area.

C/O Joshua Zuckerman

The Recipe: Bolognese Sauce

Description:

This is the black-tie version of a classic Bolognese sauce. Even though you can make this recipe for under $20, it will taste like you need to add a few more zeros to the price tag. Makes easily enough for four portions, and another four that live in the freezer for another day. Add any pasta you would like or have in your kitchen!

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Brown meat in a pan medium heat until you hear it start to sizzle and it sticks to the bottom
  2. Remove meat from pan, add all vegetables and cook until onions are translucent, approx. 7-10 minutes, then add tomato paste, cook for another 2-4 minutes.
  3. Add wine and reduce until almost fully reduced, approximately 7-10 minutes.
  4. Add meat back into the pot, add milk and reduce by half, approximately 5 minutes.
  5. Add tomatoes, bay leaf, cinnamon, salt
  6. Simmer 90 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking on the bottom.
  7. Finish sauce with chopped basil.  
  8. If you really want to impress, drizzle some white truffle oil over the finished sauce when serving.
Photos by Lauren O'Donnell 

The bread episode of The Great British Bake Off is notoriously difficult. Every season, contestants struggle to capture that perfectly crunchy crust with a light and fluffy interior. For something with so few ingredients, bread can be extremely finicky. Just one wrong move and you’ll be left wishing you’d never started. As one example, if it’s undercooked it can wind up doughy and inedible. But fear not! With this short recipe and a dash of patience, you’ll soon have your very own freshly baked bread to enjoy. 

This recipe is adapted from Edna Staebler’s “Neil’s Harbour White Bread” from her book Food That Really Schmecks. 

The Ingredients

1 cup lukewarm water

1 teaspoon white sugar

2 tablespoons yeast

2 cups lukewarm water

1⁄2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1⁄2 cup canola oil, or substitute vegetable oil

8 cups all-purpose flour

Part One — Making the dough

  1. Pop on a podcast, audiobook or a fun playlist.
  2. Pour one cup of lukewarm water into a large bowl (big enough to hold 10 cups of water). Dissolve one teaspoon of sugar, and sprinkle two tablespoons of yeast over top.
  3. After about ten minutes, the yeast should be frothy and will have risen to the top of the water. Stir until blended completely.
  4. Into the yeast mixture, stir two cups of lukewarm water, half a cup of white sugar, one generous tablespoon of salt and half a cup of canola oil.
  5. Beat in the flour one cup at a time. Eight cups is usually enough. After all eight cups have been added, the dough should be able to stay together and be easy to handle, while still remaining a little moist.
  6. Place the dough on a liberally floured countertop, sprinkling with more flour as needed. The flour helps to prevent your hands from getting too sticky as you handle the dough. Take out all of your frustrations and aggression on the dough, kneading it until the dough is smooth and elastic. This usually takes about eight minutes, depending on how aggressive your inner demons are.

Part Two — Proving yourself

Once you’ve finished kneading the dough, it needs a chance to rest and rise—also known as proving. To do this, place the dough in a large bowl that’s been lined in oil. Flip the dough to cover both sides in oil. Loosely cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave it to prove in a warm spot for 1-2 hours or until it has doubled in size. Leaving it by a sunny window is generally your best bet. Here is a trick to know when you’re ready to move to the next step: when you stick your finger in the dough, your imprint should remain. 

Punch the dough down until it has deflated a bit, and divide into 4 equal-sized loaves. Place the loaves onto parchment-lined sheet pans and let rise for another hour in the same sunny spot, covered in a damp tea towel. Make sure to leave room between the loaves.

While you’re waiting for the dough to rise, go enjoy spring days that will hopefully be here soon. You could go for a hike, grab coffee with a friend or maybe catch up on the Netflix show you’ve been binging. Better yet, invite someone over for a date and impress them with your incredible baking skills. You could even make the dough before class and then finish it when you get home.

While you’re waiting for the dough to rise, go enjoy spring days that will hopefully be here soon. You could go for a hike, grab coffee with a friend or maybe catch up on the Netflix show you’ve been binging. Better yet, invite someone over for a date and impress them with your incredible baking skills. You could even make the dough before class and then finish it when you get home.

Part Three — Let’s get this bread

Take the same four loves on the parchment-lined pans and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes, until both the top and bottom of the loaves are golden, and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. After you’ve removed your loaves from the oven, let them cool on a rack. This is the hardest part, but trust me, if you try to eat it right away you’re going to burn your tongue.

Voilà! You now have four delicious loaves of bread, perfect for any kind of sandwich you can think of. If you try this recipe, make sure to tag the Silhouette, we would love to see your baking adventures!

Voilà! You now have four delicious loaves of bread, perfect for any kind of sandwich you can think of. If you try this recipe, make sure to tag the Silhouette, we would love to see your baking adventures!

 

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Photos by Andrew Mrozowski / Arts & Culture Editor

Hamilton’s apple season kicked off this past weekend with Apple Fest Weekend, as part of Food Literacy Month. Orchards are officially open, and there’s no better time to go out and pick some apples. I have a habit of picking way more apples than any one human can possibly eat. To make use of all them, I pull out a classic apple crisp recipe to bake and share with friends. Although honeycrisp apples were used for this recipe, you can use any baking apple. 

There’s no better way to enjoy fall than with some freshly baked apple crisp and a nice cup of tea while bundled up in a scarf. This recipe pairs best with orange pekoe or chai drinks. 

This recipe is a modified version of Apple Crisp II by Diane Kester.

 

The Ingredients

For the apples:

10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ cup water

 

For the topping:

2 cups quick-cooking oats

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, melted

 

Caramel drizzle (optional):

1 cup butter

1 cup light brown sugar

The Preparation

When you’re peeling the apples, it helps to peel them over a sheet of newspaper (just as long as it’s not a copy of the Silhouette). When you’re tidying up,wrap them up in the newspaper and put them directly into the compost bin. This saves a lot of time cleaning up the counter. The prep takes about 30 minutes, but by far the most difficult part is waiting for the apple crisp to finish baking.

Note: If you find it’s too sweet, you can cut the white sugar down to half a cup. 

The Baking

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (175 degrees celsius). 
  2. Place the sliced apples in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour, ground cinnamon and nutmeg together. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples. Pour water evenly over all incorporated ingredients
  3. Combine the oats, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
  4. Put in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes.
  5. Do your best not to burn your tongue when you immediately start eating it. 

The Finishing Touch

  1. In a saucepan, combine butter and light brown sugar. Bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Pour immediately over the apple crisp. Enjoy!

If you aren’t in the mood for orange pekoe or chai tea, this crisp is also great with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Share it with friends, or eat the whole thing yourself. I won’t judge you. Make sure to tag The Silhouette if you make this recipe at home!

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Many of us don’t need to be reminded that there’s only a few days left before exam season starts, but we might need a reminder to make time for a nice home cooked meal. It’s easy to turn to buying lunch or dinner when you’re tight on time during these next few weeks, but there are ways to make cooking an enjoyable experience while relieving some stress too.

The Sil staff have compiled their favourite recipes that are easy to make, especially when you’re short on time. We encourage you to try them out, change up the ingredients and most importantly, take the time to take care of yourself this season.

 

Hands-off tomato sauce

Shared by Sasha Dhesi (Managing Editor)

Pasta is a staple batch recipe since it’s fairly easy, delicious and lasts the whole work week. While most people don’t have time to make homemade pasta, students don’t have to rely on jarred sauces and compromise their time. 

Making a sauce at home can seem challenging, but simple recipes like this one are great for students low on time and on a budget.

I adapted this recipe from Bon Appetit’s Bucatini with Butter-Roasted Tomato Sauce. I replaced a few of the more expensive ingredients with more accessible, easier kept items that make more sense for students to keep around in the house. The recipe should make about four servings and take about 40 minutes, but only 20 of those minutes are active! This is a great recipe to make while studying at home — just pop the sauce into the oven and you’ll have a great sauce in no time!

 

Ingredients

 

Steps

    1. Crush the garlic cloves, removing their skin. Cut the butter into small cubes. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
    2. Pour the can of tomatoes into a rectangular baking dish. With your hands, gently crush the tomatoes. Add garlic and butter cubes to baking dish alongside tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. roast for 20 minutes.
    3. Take the baking dish out of the oven and add the fish sauce and chili paste to the dish. If you don’t like heat, don’t add the chili paste! If you like it spicy, feel free to add more. Return dish to oven for another 20 minutes.
    4. While the sauce roasts for another 20 minutes, begin cooking the pasta. Boil four to five quarts of water, adding salt when the water starts to release steam. Once the water boils, add the pasta and cook according to the pasta’s instructions. Reserve one cup of pasta water, and drain the pasta.
    5. Once the sauce is done roasting, remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly. Using a fork or masher, crush the garlic and tomatoes into a jam-like texture. Add the pasta and sauce into one pot. Toss the pasta and sauce with tongs, slowly adding about ¼ cup of pasta water to thin the sauce.
    6. Serve while warm, garnished with parmesan.

 

Warm carrot and potato soup

Shared by Hannah Walters-Vida (Features Reporter)

In an effort to describe how good this soup is, the most a room full of Sil writers could come up with is “warm, warm soup, it hugs you from the inside”. Pretty much everyone in the office will agree that this is a great recipe for soup. I typically double the recipe and freeze the soup in mason jars for when I need a quick, filling meal.

This recipe is originally by Jennifer Segal and I made a few modifications to make it vegan friendly. This recipe yields 8 servings and takes about 45 minutes to make, but most of the time is spent letting the soup simmer. This soup can stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months, so it’s worth the investment in time. Just make sure to pop it into the fridge the day before wanting to reheat it!

 

Ingredients

 

Steps

    1. Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat in a large pot.
    2. Add chopped onions and stir for about ten minutes or until soft. Avoid letting the onions turn brown.
    3. Add the curry powder and cook for an additional minute.
    4. Add chopped carrots, sweet potatoes, vegetable broth and salt. Allow the vegetables to come to a boil.
    5. Cover the pot and allow the vegetables to simmer on low heat for about 25-30 minutes.
    6. Stir in the chopped apples and honey. If you have a stick blender, you can directly puree the soup in the pot until the consistency is smooth and creamy. If you have a blender, let the soup cool slightly and then puree it in batches. Segal recommends leaving the hole in the lid open and covering it with a kitchen towel while blending to allow the steam to escape.
    7. Season your soup to taste with salt, pepper, curry powder or honey if desired.

 

Black bean and chickpea salad

Shared by Razan Samara (Arts & Culture Editor)

This is my go-to recipe for dinner with friends and potlucks. It also makes for a perfect side dish alongside lunch or dinner, I personally think it pairs really well with chicken tawook tacos and panko-breaded fish. This recipe yields about 3-4 servings and was inspired by Cookie and Kate.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve found myself become quite reliant on this recipe. It requires minimal effort, which means I can throw a whole batch together pretty quickly the night before my early morning commutes. This recipe has filling ingredients, can easily travel and can be modified to meet your taste preferences. I encourage you to keep things new and interesting with every rendition of the dish!

 

Ingredients

 

Steps

    1. In a large bowl (like really large), combine all of your beans, corn, chickpeas and vegetables. Add in the lime or lemon juice, zest, olive oil and season with ground cumin, salt and black pepper to your taste! I tend to go heavy on the cumin.
    2. Mix all your ingredients.
    3. You can serve right away or cover the bowl and let it chill in the fridge for a couple hours to really enhance the flavours. This recipe can also last in the fridge for about 2-3 days, just make sure to replenish the flavours by adding in lemon or lime juice and giving it a quick stir before serving! I also like to add fresh tomatoes.
    4. Garnish with slices of lime, extra cilantro, avocados or even some tortilla chips!

 

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Healthy eating can be the last thing you have time to think about when you have papers due and midterms to study for. is curried chickpeas with spinach and
tomatoes recipe is an opportunity to cook a healthy meal while fulfilling your craving for a warm and comforting
dish.
This recipe was made with students in mind. It’s flavourful, delicious, nutritious and simple to make with accessible ingredients from your local grocery store or the
Hamilton Farmers’ Market. Unlike the other aspects of student life, cooking can be uncomplicated. This recipe is fast and easy to make regardless of skill level.

Have a little more time on your hands? is recipe is made to serve four and is perfect for sharing a homemade meal with your friends or housemates. Complete your curried chickpeas dish with flatbread, naan or steamed white rice.

Curried chickpeas also taste better the next day and freeze well too, so make sure to make the full batch and freeze the rest for those tight days.

[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Curried-Chickpea-Recipe.png" type="big" color="orange" newwindow="yes"] Print recipe here![/button]

The Chef: Joanne Rappos

Joanne Rappos is the Hamiltonian home cook behind Olive and Mango, a food blog dedicated to sharing her recipes from a variety of food cultures, including her native Greece and Caribbean in fluences from her husband’s side of the family. From Rappos’ popular sheet pan meals, like Greek shrimp with tomatoes and feta, to her golden lemon ricotta wa ffles, there’s something for everyone try making in their own kitchen.

The Olive and Mango blog and Instagram feed are thoughtfully curated with photographs worth getting hunger pangs over, which may just be the push we need to get inspired by her recipes. Rappos’ was just as careful with creating this curried chickpeas recipe for the Sil, she even relies on it at least once a week because it’s just that good.

Curried Chickpeas with Spinach and Tomatoes Ingredients:

Curried Chickpeas with Spinach and Tomatoes Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, chile and ginger; sauté until fragrant and softened for about three to four minutes.
  2. Add the curry powder and the chili powder and continue to sauté with the onion mixture for one minute more. Then add the tomato paste and continue to cook it while stirring it in with the curry and onion mixture for another minute.
  3. Add 1/4 cup of water to the skillet along with the spinach and continue to sauté for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted.
  4. Add chickpeas and tomatoes with juices, squeezing tomatoes with your hand as you add them to pan or use the back of a wooden spoon to break apart on the pan. Add a 1/2 cup of water to the pan.
  5. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until tomatoes are broken down and sauce has thickened, this will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
  6. Remove the pan from the heat and serve with rice and or bread. Recipe notes: If you’d like less intense heat, skip out on the red chili and instead use ½ teaspoon of dried chili flakes. If you use fresh chilies make sure to scrape out the seeds. To freeze, portion out into meal prep containers, cool completely, then freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat until steaming hot in the microwave or stovetop.

 

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Photos by Razan Samara

Whether you’re a seasoned cook or simply craving for an opportunity to learn to make something new, nothing beats a warm home cooked meal. This recipe for potato and carrot latkes served with a simple apple sauce was created to complement student life. The ingredients to make these golden and crispy potato pancakes are budget-friendly and many can be found in the McMaster Students Union Food Collective Centre’s monthly Good Food Box. The recipe calls for about half an hour of your time over a mixing bowl and frying pan, making it a fair bargain for a wholesome dish to enjoy over a sit-down meal or on the go.

[spacer height="20px"]The Chef: Sara Wiseman

Wiseman is the creative mind behind Dundurn Market’s prepared meals and helped evolve Green Bar into a full vegan restaurant. The local Hamiltonian has been cooking up hearty meals for 20 years and has a passion for healthy eating, sustainable food practices and recipe creation. Wiseman is currently packing her bags for a trip to Bali, Indonesia where she will be studying raw, vegan cuisine and chocolate.

Latke Ingredients:

[spacer height="20px"]Apple Sauce Ingredients:

[spacer height="20px"]Latkes Directions:

Grate the potatoes and carrots using a hand grater or a food processor using the largest holes to get thick strands. Place the grated vegetables together with the sliced green onion into a large bowl. Allow the mixture to stand for a few minutes. Scoop out handfuls of the mixture and squeeze over a small bowl to remove excess moisture. Transfer to another bowl and repeat with the remaining veggies.

Add the egg, flour, salt and pepper to the veggie mixture. Drain the liquid from the small bowl; you will find a layer of potato starch on the bottom. Add this starch to the veggies as well. Stir everything together.

Heat a large frying pan (preferably cast iron) over medium heat. Cover the bottom of the pan with ¼ cm oil. Pack a ¼ cup measuring cup with the veggie mixture and form this into a small cake in your hand; place in the hot oil. Repeat until the pan is full, leaving space around each latke for even cooking. Cook several minutes until golden brown on one side. Flip and cook until done on the second side. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all the veggie mixture is cooked.

[spacer height="20px"]Simple Apple Sauce Directions:

Roughly dice the apples. Place in a small pot along with the water and sugar. Cook on medium heat with the lid on for 25 to 30 minutes, until the apples are very soft. Remove from heat and blend with a potato masher, food processor or immersion blender.

Serve the latkes with the freshly made apple sauce and sour cream or Greek yogurt. Garnish with more sliced green onions or fresh thyme leaves.

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As a child I often lingered around the outskirts of my family home’s tiny kitchen, careful not to exceed the imaginary boundaries my mother had defined. I watched quietly as she bustled in the kitchen, chopping and stirring ingredients for several dishes at once, in what seemed like a random and complicated series of motions.

As I grew older, my mother lifted her boundaries and invited me into her space. She tried to teach me, but it didn’t take long for me to come to the realization that I simply wasn’t good at cooking.

My mother never strictly adhered to recipes but our dinner table was graced with delicious dishes, whereas I relentlessly relied on calculated measurements and somehow managed to make pasta barely edible.

I never explored with ingredients or improvised, partly due to my inability to reach the spice shelf for most of my life, but mostly because I was stubborn. I had to learn to try new things, make mistakes, follow some rules and mix others up to finally make a dish I was proud of.

Along the way I also learned to embrace my heritage and native land. I often find myself adding olive oil to everything, a nod towards the olive trees that make up Palestine’s landscapes and my grandmother’s homemade extractions.

Every recipe I am sharing is inspired by my mother’s traditional cooking, with my own twists to make them easier to prepare and incorporate the kinds of flavours I love. I encourage you to try one out, improvise and make it your own.

Manakish

I like to call this a Middle Eastern pizza that can be enjoyed at any point in the day.

Thyme Manakish

  1. Preheat oven to 270 °C.
  2. Place naan on a baking tray (go for a plain and thick tandoor or clay oven baked bread).
  3. Put two tablespoons of thyme in a bowl and mix in just enough olive oil so that the mixture is a paste-like consistency.
  4. Spread it over the naan.
  5. Dice tomatoes and add to the naan.
  6. If you have akkawi cheese (white brine cheese), you can dice that up and add it too for some traditional flair but this cheese is hard to come by.
  7. Broil for two minutes or until naan turns golden

Jalapeño Monterey Jack Manakish

  1. Preheat oven to 270 °C.
  2. Place naan on tray.
  3. Thinly slice or grate enough jalapeño monterey jack cheese to cover the naan entirely.
  4. Broil for two minutes or until naan turns golden.

Ground Beef Manakish

  1. Preheat oven to 270 °C.
  2. Place naan on tray.
  3. Finely chop ¼ of a large red onion, ¼ of a tomato, ¼ of green pepper and 1/5 cup of fresh parsley leaves.
  4. In a bowl, break apart ¼ lb of ground beef (no fat).
  5.  Add ½ teaspoon of salt, a dash of black pepper, cumin, paprika, coriander, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and cayenne pepper to the meat. Feel free to substitute or skip spices to taste.
  6. Add finely chopped vegetables to the beef and mix thoroughly.
  7. Spread a thin layer of the beef mix on the naan.
  8. Bake for 10 minutes or until naan turns golden.

This Isn’t Your Typical Meatballs Recipe

This dish is inspired by my mother’s ‘Kebab Hindi’ recipe. It’s a meatball and tomato sauce dish that can be served over rice or bread.

  1. Place ½ pound of lean ground beef in a bowl and add ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon allspice.
  2. Get in there and mix the meat and spices with your hands.
  3. Make little meatballs, but try to elongate them into a more “torpedo-shape”.
  4. Add ½ cup vegetable or corn oil to a skillet and let it warm up on medium heat.
  5. Thinly slice ½ cup of onions, ¼ green peppers, and peel and dice 1/3 cup of tomatoes.
  6. Sauté onions for five minutes in the skillet.
  7. Add the meatballs and continue sautéing them until the red meat turns light brown.
  8. Add diced tomatoes and slices peppers.
  9. Add ¼ tomato paste to about 30 mL of water and mix well.
  10. Pour tomato sauce evenly over everything in the skillet.
  11. Add salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper to taste.
  12. When the sauce comes to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover skillet and cook for an additional half hour.

Spinach & Chickpea Salad

A salad that’s high in protein, flavourful and easy to improvise with.

  1. Wash a cup of spinach leaves well and dry them with paper towel.
  2. Rinse out 1/3 of a 540 mL jar of canned chickpeas and place in a bowl.
  3. Jalapeño kick: Super finely chop a fresh jalapeño pepper and two small cloves of garlic
  4. and place in them in a small bowl.
  5. Add fresh lemon juice and mix into jalapeño-garlic until it’s a liquid consistency.
  6. Add the jalapeño-garlic sauce to the bowl of chickpeas, mix until dressing is evenly distributed.
  7. Add spinach leaves, salt and olive oil to the bowl and mix.

or 

  1. Wash a cup of spinach leaves well and dry them with paper towel.
  2. Rinse out 1/3 of a 540 mL jar of canned chickpeas and place in a bowl.
  3. Zesty cumin: Add one teaspoon of cumin, a sprinkle of lemon-pepper spice and two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice to the chickpeas and mix.
  4. Add in spinach leaves, salt and olive oil to the bowl and mix.

You can find the written recipe and a bit more backstory behind it over on his blog. Our full interview with him also features insights into the food culture of Vietnam and his life in Hamilton.

https://www.facebook.com/TheMcMasterSilhouette/videos/10155755591735987/

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