Nancy Guppy & Chapman's Landing Cooking Studio

Cilantro Pesto

2012-02-04T13:31:00.000-05:00

I used cilantro pesto on a pizza base instead of the usual tomato sauce. I painted the base with chili oil followed by a generous slather of cilantro pesto, cooked masala shrimp, slivers of peppers and mushrooms and finally a lot of shredded mozzarella cheese. Easy and delicious. Unfortunately no picture as we were intent on eating and got side-tracked which often happens when I am preparing

Cranberry Poppyseed Vinaigrette

2011-12-30T15:06:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favourite winter salad dressings. I keep frozen cranberries on hand and can whip it up fast in the blender. The ingredients are simple and also rely on a good olive oil and local honey. I have seem my daughter mop up this tasty vinaigrette with her bread! It is good over a winter salad with shredded cabbage and grated beets. Top with your favourite nuts for extra fibre and

Potato Tofu Latkes (gluten free)

2011-12-18T14:34:00.000-05:00

I have been making these potato latkes with tofu since my university days. Simple, satisfying and economical. The tofu boosts the protein and makes them more substantial. I like to serve them with my recipe for simple applesauce. Some people would reach for the sour cream. The latkes also sub as a veggie burger and freeze well. Lots of options. # volume (# mL) Ingredient 2.2

Simple Applesauce

2011-12-18T14:29:00.000-05:00

I bought a big 20 lb. bag of McIntosh apples at the local grocery store for less than five bucks. Hard and crisp, jut the way I love them. Aside from daily snacks I also used some to make this simple applesauce. So easy and so much more flavourful than the jar stuff from the store. I love to eat it "as is" but you can also use applesauce in baking to replace some of the fat and boost the

Greek Lentil Salad Vinaigrette (gluten free)

2011-12-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

Here is a simple take on Greek salad. It comes together quickly and can be the hit at your next family or office pot-luck. The lentils pack a lot of vegetable protein, complex carbohydrate, fibre, potassium, B vitamins and iron. Substitute any cooked bean of your choice such as chickpeas or a can of mixed beans for the lentils. I have even made it with cooked wild rice and everyone loved it

Stuffed Peppers Two Ways - Meat or Vegetarian

2011-11-20T10:53:00.000-05:00

It is a great time of year to use our oven and make stuffed peppers. I wrote this recipe to be 1/2 vegetarian and 1/2 meat as lots of times we need both to satisfy a crowd. If you're vegetarian skip the meat instructions. Bake any leftover filling in a small oven proof bowl. Imperial Metric Measure Ingredients 1 cup 250 ml Brown rice, raw 6 6 Peppers (2 red,

Easy to save squash and pumpkin seeds

2011-09-10T20:45:00.003-04:00

Above I am starting to clean up the seeds from an organic Kabocha squash. They look somewhat like a buttercup squash but are Japanese in origin. Use your hands to remove the pulpy bits and wash in water as necessary. Spread out on a plate to dry. Turn them every day or so until very dry. Then pack in a glass jar and seal for next's years garden. Couldn't be simpler. One caution though - be

A Glut of Garden Lettuce - a year of food by the season

2011-07-13T22:11:00.000-04:00

Summer is here and there is an abundance of lettuce in my garden. We have been enjoying fresh salads daily combined with garden herbs, green onions, baby zucchini and snow peas. This glut of lettuce seems to come from the the wet cool spring followed by hot summer conditions. I have been eating lettuce I planted from seed in early April for at least a month. This year I grew Iceberg (above),

Snow Peas with Marjoram

2011-06-30T23:02:00.000-04:00

Snow peas early morning with fresh dew! A pretty sight. I planted these peas mid-April and have been sowing more along the way. This is a simple saute to accompany summer meals. I also love to just eat them fresh or chopped into garden salads. Makes four servings (1 cup - 250 ml each) INGREDIENTS: # volume(# ml)Ingredient 4 cup1 litresnow peas, fresh ("mange tout") 3 Tbsp45 mlmarjoram,

Mint magic vinaigrette and marinade

2011-06-16T09:51:00.000-04:00

This is a simple, delicious salad dressing you can quickly make. We enjoyed it all last week on early lettuce, spring onion and herb salads. It is also good as a marinade for chicken, fish, lamb, tofu or bean salads. Very versatile. Where I live there is no shortage of mint! Ha, there are at least four kinds growing. There is old fashion spearmint that was here on the farm when I moved in

Chive & Honey Vinaigrette

2011-06-14T19:55:00.000-04:00

Vinaigrettes are versatile. You can use them as marinades as well as salad dressings. I like to make my own as I can use what have handy in the kitchen along with in-season herbs and vegetables from the garden. Over the years I have found ways to create dressings that taste excellent while being lower in calories, fat and salt and have ZERO additives and preservatives. Notice I say lower

Chive Blossom Vinegar

2011-06-14T19:19:00.000-04:00

This chive blossom vinegar is a beautiful pink and has a good oniony, garlic flavour. It makes wonderful salad dressing and it is especially good in a home-made Caesar dressing. Below are chives gone wild from the old homestead out in the back forty (well back seven actually). Our spring has been wet and rainy so the chives are still in bloom. First, collect the the blossoms by separating

Asparagus Pesto

2011-05-18T08:51:00.000-04:00

We've been enjoying local asparagus and here I have used it to make one of my favourites! This pesto/pate/hummus like recipe is a favourite around our house. I love it because it is easy to make and you can do so many different things with it. The original recipe was from a dinner party I went to at Veronica Uzielli's years ago in Commanda. I modified it to be lower in fat but it still have

I love Lovage (levisticum officinale)

2011-05-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

Lovage is tall! Very majestic. Above it is shown in early spring. It is an old country herb used frequently in Southern Europe but used rarely in Canada. Lovage is a clump forming perennial with rhizome roots and thankfully it is very easy to grow. It shoots up early in spring and produces well into fall and the cold weather where I live. The plant is an umbelliferae producing

Maple Syrup is running and it is spring time!

2011-04-10T11:53:00.008-04:00

Maple syrup is one of my favourite sweeteners. It is a local product that has been a source of pleasure and food energy for people living in the north for a very long time. I do imagine the early homesteaders relied on it and were shown how to make it by the native people. One tablespoon, or 15 ml, has 30 calories and 7 grams of carbohydrate/sugar with small amounts of nutrients such as 11

Banana Pancakes - Shrove Tuesday

2011-03-08T08:31:00.001-05:00

Many flap jacks will be flipped today on Shrove Tuesday! It is also the end of Mardi Gras and known as Fat Tuesday. For Christians it is the final feast day before Lent which begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday. Historically this was the last day of feasting and the day to finish the sugar, fats and eggs that were restricted during lent. These pancakes are quick to make and use common

Pioneer Baked Beans with Pork Hocks

2011-03-01T18:55:00.000-05:00

I got into making old fashioned baked beans this past winter. Dried white "pea" or "Navy" beans, molasses and pork were staple foods of many Canadian pioneers. I fooled around with a few versions trying to make something close to the ones my father used to make. He preferred the dry baked beans and used both molasses and brown sugar. Some people, including my mom, like to make a saucier baked

Tomatillo (Physalis Ixocarpa)

2011-02-21T12:30:00.001-05:00

If you are thinking about your summer garden you may want to get some tomatillo seeds. Tomatillos are Mexican and were a staple part of the diet for Aztec and Mayan peoples. They are not tomatoes but members of the genus Physalis, a group of plants whose fruits grow in paper-like husks. They are related to the ground cherry as well as those ornamental Chinese Lanterns that are inedible.

Quinoa Corn Polenta with Roasted Garlic Red Pepper Sauce

2011-02-06T18:01:00.000-05:00

This delicious, hearty polenta dish is a bit of work but well worth the effort. It took me an hour and 15 minutes to make it including roasting the garlic and peppers in the oven. The polenta triangles are served over a roasted garlic and red pepper sauce that is a snap to make in a blender or food processor. Impress you friends! Quinoa is a high protein, quick cooking whole-grain from

Egyptian Mint Potato Salad

2011-02-06T10:49:00.002-05:00

I love all kinds of potato salad but this is one of my favourites. It uses garden mint that is so plentiful in spring. This is a simple recipe and good eaten hot, warm or cold! I first had this at a dinner party at Donna Gray's in Callander. It was years ago now but she had hosted an Egyptian dinner theme as part of our gourmet girls cooking club. This dish goes well with vegetable or

10 Day Coleslaw

2011-02-03T18:29:00.000-05:00

Cabbage is an old time food that is affordable, in-season, very nutritious and it fits right into winter salads and hearty soups and stews. I don't know if you remember the Mennonite cookbooks written by Edna Stabebler. I have "More Food That Really Schmecks." She described how in the fall she would buy the biggest, heaviest cabbage she could find at the market and then stored in a plastic

Black Beauty Eggplant

2011-01-29T20:35:00.000-05:00

This is a retro post on last summer's garden. I have never succeeded in growing eggplant in northern Ontario. It is not usually hot or dry enough. The summer of 2010 was both and I had three fruits coming along in the garden in September. This little darling below was about 3 inches long. The variety is Black Beauty and the seedlings were started by my friend Rachel. Even the flowers were

Polenta Pizza in a Cast Iron Fry Pan

2011-01-28T20:36:00.000-05:00

Polenta, in case you don't know, is basically a corn meal mush eaten much like mashed potatoes and is often served with saucy dishes. In the north of Italy it is served instead of pasta or rice. Made firmer it can be sliced and used as a base for appetizers and other foods. It is quick to prepare. Here it is used for the base of a pizza prepared in a cast iron fry pan. Polenta (corn meal) is

Starting cilantro indoors

2011-01-24T22:01:00.000-05:00

Little garden projects can start now! Over the weekend I started organic cilantro seeds. They grow nicely in a sunny window and usually give me an indoor crop within 2 months. I cut them back, use in cooking and the plants keep on growing! Well, for 3 months anyway. Plant them tight together so you get a nice bushy crop. I tend to refer to the leaf of the herb as cilantro and the seed that

Masoor Dal with Winter Vegetables

2011-01-11T23:09:00.000-05:00

It is the dead of winter in northern Ontario and it has been very cold outside. Lately I have been making a lot of soups and stews. I love making Dal and this recipe allows me to use my garden foods from last summer like potatoes, onions, garlic, dried chiles, frozen tomatoes and cilantro. Dal is a favourite dish of mine winter or summer. Some say chili.... I say chile! As far as I know in