Canadian Adventures

While venturing in Canada in October, I came across this!

Behold Lobster Potato Chips!

Much tastier than the lobster ice cream that I was too afraid to try in Maine the summer before. (It actually had lobster in it!)

Garden Harvest!

This was taken on October 8th and it was in the mid 80s.

Raw Mango Sorbet

frozen mango chunks
Coconut milk

Blend together. Serve or freeze to eat later.

Raw Portabello Sandwhich

avocado

2 large portabello mushrooms 

tomato 

cucumber

fresh basil 

peppers

I bought all of these ingredients except for the avocado locally from Farmer's Markets to make this delicious sandwich! 

Raw and Baked Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms

Courtesy of From Sad to Raw http://www.fromsadtoraw.com/Recipes/PestoStuffedMushrooms.htm

 Stuffing
 1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 cups basil
1/2 cup olive oil
 3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

- Place mushroom caps top side down on a plate.
- Blend all stuffing ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

 I think part of the secret to my success in making this pesto was due to the fact that I used fresh pulled basil plants from my garden. I've pulled up all of my plants yesterday for fear that the frost would come any morning and ruin them all. I stuffed both raw mushrooms for the raw diet eater in house and also stuffed mushrooms to bake in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes. I also baked the cooked mushrooms with a sprinkled cheese topping using only the very best: Halifax's own local That Dutchman's Farms'  Hammer and Chisel cheese, a hard 60 year old cheese with a distinct and delicate flavor.

Raw Chocolate Sauce

We're celebrating a birthday in the house today so I figured I'd make something extra special for my boyfriend, whose been on a raw diet. It takes hardly any time and it tastes like a nice dark chocolate sauce!

Courtesy of Annie

http://www.adventuresinrawfood.com/deep-dark-delicious-raw-chocolate-sauce

Recipe as shown on website

2 T raw cacao powder, either ground from raw cacao nibs or purchased as powder

2 T raw agave syrup*

1/2 t coconut oil or other organic raw nut oil OR 1/2 t filtered water*

*I used honey instead of agave syrup and vanilla almond milk instead of the oil or water. I also increased the amount of liquid for the milk to a teaspoon for a creamy chocolate sauce. I also added a half teaspoon of cardamom powder for a little depth and a sprinkle of sea salt. I recommend experimenting with different flavors. Try using coconut oil or milk for a different flavor or maybe add a dash of cayenne or chili pepper to make it a spicy chocolate sauce. It is delicious!! I had a hard time resisting  this myself, despite not being on a raw diet!

This post was created on 10/2/2011.

Grilled Vs. Stone Baked Pizza

Grilled pizza is quick, requires little to no prepping or preheating but if you aren't careful, you can easily ruin a pizza that you've spent hours making. The trick is to be precise, vigilant and to oversee the pizza while it is being grilled.

 Cooking on a stone gave my pizza a calzone feel to it because it literally folded in half when I tried to transfer the pizza to the stone. It was a little more time consuming and it also did not cook the pizza evenly. This is probably because the pizza had improperly fallen onto itself. However, it was delicious and had a nice crispy doughy crust. 

Margarita pizza with homemade marinara sauce and roasted garlic. 

 American Style Pizza Dough (for grilling)
 Courtesy of The Cooking Photographer, Adapted from a Wolfgang Puck recipe http://www.thecookingphotographer.com/2009/04/lets-talk-dough-pizza-dough.html 

Potato Pizza with Balsamic Onions and Goat's Cheese

  Potato Goat Cheese Pizza Courtesy of The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook
Prep time: 40 min. + standing
Total Cooking time: 55 minutes
Dough
1/2 cup warm milk
50 g (1 2/3 oz) fresh compressed yeast or 2x7g (1/4 oz) sachets of dried yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 cup mashed potato
1 cup plain flour
2 tblsp chopped parsley
ground black pepper


-Mix milk + yeast with sugar and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Leave in warm place for 10 minutes until frothy.

-Stir mashed potato, flour, parsley, salt pepper and yeast mixture in a large bowl until soft dough forms. Knead on floured surface for 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and springs back when pressed.

-Put dough back in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until it has doubled in size.

-Preheat oven to 415 F. Knead dough for 2 minutes on floured surface. Oil a pizza tray/baking sheet. Press on tray to fit.

-Add toppings.


Topping 
1 kg (2 lb) red onions (thinly sliced)
1 bulb of garlic
200 g (6.5 oz) roasted red pepper cut into strips
1/2 cup black olives
50 g (1 2/3 oz) goats cheese cut into small pieces
black pepper

-Add sliced onions to a bowl and pour balsamic vinegar over to cover. Leave onions in bowl overnight or until they've caramelized. Preheat oven to 475 F. Wrap garlic bulb in foil and leave in oven for about 25 minutes or until soft. Mash roasted garlic. Add coarse salt (I used sea salt) to the top of your pizza crust. Spread garlic mash over crust. Push in balsamic onions into the crust. Add strips of red pepper, olives, and goat cheese. Sprinkle with black pepper.

I  personally preferred the grilled pizza with the other kind of cheese as opposed to the potato pizza with goat cheese. Now that I've made homemade pizza, I'm impressed by how easy and amazing it can taste. I used to order from a gourmet pizza place in town called Anastasia's but now I know I can make any specialty type of pizza I want without compromising flavor. Give it a try! You may surprise yourself!