Make This! Almond Milk Panna Cotta

We were invited to a 'Nut Party' last month hosted by The Almond Board of California. I am a big panna cotta fan and I couldn't get enough of this recipe, created by Pastry Chef Jenny McCoy. She's the real deal having worked at top restaurants like Charlie Trotter, Craft Restaurant and A Voce. Make this light dessert at home for your next dinner party:

Almond Milk Panna Cotta
Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients
1⁄4 cup (50 mL) almonds, finely chopped 
2 tbsp (30 mL) almond paste, finely chopped 
3 1⁄2 cups (875 mL) unsweetened almond milk 
1⁄4 tsp (1 mL) almond extract 
2/3 cups (150 mL) granulated sugar 
Pinch fine sea salt 
1 1/3 cup (325 mL) heavy cream 
2 envelopes powdered gelatin

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) Set 8 to 10 four-ounce (120 g) ramekins on a baking sheet.

Spread almonds on a baking sheet and toast until deep golden and fragrant, about 6 to 8 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, bring toasted almonds, almond paste, almond milk, almond extract, sugar, and salt to a boil. Turn off heat and let steep at room temperature for 15 minutes; return to a rolling boil.

Make This! Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

I found this recipe for Strawberry Cheesecake Bites at Food.com and have been bringing them to the slew of housewarming parties and baby showers that I seem to be attending every other week. I like adding my own little touches to the original recipe and have provided some ideas below. They are super easy to make, requires no oven and are always a big hit!

Ingredients:

• fresh strawberries
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 8 ounces puff marshmallow (alternatively use 2-3 tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp of cream or milk)
• I also like to add a few drops of vanilla
• crushed graham cracker
• other types of garnish: cinnamon, nutmeg, shaved chocolate, sprinkles if there are kids attending, etc.

Directions:

1. Cut out centers of strawberries and place them on a paper towel to absorb moisture. (If you want them to stand, cut a bit of the bottom off.)
2. Mix whipped cream cheese and puff marshmallow (or sugar with cream/milk) together until smooth and place in pastry bag or large zip lock bag with edge cut.
3. Fill strawberries with mixture and dip into crushed graham crackers.
4. Garnish to your liking.
5. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Total Prep Time: 20 mins and serves 2-4 people.

Make This! Better Microwave Popcorn

If you're still blowing $4 on three bags of microwave popcorn, you can save bit of cash and DIY yourself a healthy snack without the artificial flavouring and chemicals like diacetyl or PFA.

Get yourself a brown paper lunch bag

Add 2-3 tablespoons of popcorn kernels and scrunch/fold over the top

Microwave for 2-3 minutes and listen for when the kernels stop popping rapidly

Add your own butter and salt for easy, natural microwave popcorn

Loved this? Look for more of our easy Make This! recipes

Make This! Spaghetti & Bacon Meatballs

Trying to eat out less and cook at home more? We're trying to do the same thing. Christmas really took a toll on our wallets, so now we're trying to lay off the $12 cocktails and replace them with wholesome comfort food that stretches into leftovers the next day. This recipe from Real Simple features meatballs that have an amazing smokey flavour and moistness from the bacon fat.

To start, preheat your broiler for the meatballs and boil a large pot of water for your pasta.

Chop up your parsley and garlic

Mix with chopped onion

Cook your spaghetti. We used a thicker bucatini so it did take a bit longer.

Make This! Citron Presse: Sparkling French Lemonade

Drinking too much pop? I'm just as addicted to the taste of sweet carbonation, but the calories start to quickly add up. As part of my New Year's resolution to eat healthier, liquid calories are on the way out this month. So what to do?

Photo Credit

A citron presse or homemade sparkling French lemonade is an easy way to start cutting back. This simple drink is a cafe classic and super easy to make:

*Juice of 1/2 Lemon
*Sparkling Water 
*Ice
*Sugar or Honey 
*(Optional) Muddled Mint Leaves, Strawberries, Raspberries or Blueberries

Cut a lemon in half, squeeze the juice in a tall glass filled with ice. Add sparkling water and sugar or honey to taste. Throw the lemon in there if there's room in your glass. Voila! Save the other half of your lemon for another fresh glass tomorrow.

For an even fancier glass of lemonade, muddle fresh mint leaves or berries with the lemon juice at the bottom of your glass before adding ice and sparkling water.

Bon Appetit!

Make This! Easy Cheese + Meat Board

If you're struggling with what to serve at your holiday cocktail party, whip together this easy cheese and meat platter in under 10 minutes. Just hit up the local deli and bakery for all these finds. No one will be able to resist this presentation and it's so simple to make. We created this fancy looking charcuterie this past summer for Diner en Blanc in Toronto. Here's what we suggest:

1) Serving Platter - Start with the largest cutting board or rustic looking serving platter that you can find. Put a few cheese and bread knives out and add the following...

2) Meats - Thinly sliced proscuitto, spicy salami, dry cured sausages or whatever is your favourite.

3) Pate - Cut into two generous triangle chunks

4) Bread - Baguette, country loaf or anything that pulls apart easily. Crackers work too

5) Olives - Scoop up a big container of assorted olives

6) Cheese - Go for variety with a soft brie, a crowd-pleasing havarti and maybe a harder gouda

7) Fruit - Add grapes, peaches, figs, strawberries, green apple slices - whatever looks good and ripe at the grocery store and is easy for people to grab. Dried apricots are great too

8) Nuts - I like to put out some natural unsalted almonds, walnuts and pecans

9) Spreads - Fig compote or honey for drizzling over cheese makes it extra fancy

Arrange everything beautifully on platter and voila! Your work here is done. Proceed to open a bottle of wine, light some candles and bon appetit.

Make This! Herb and Scallion Bread Pudding

We made this savoury herb and scallion bread pudding from the latest Martha Stewart Living Magazine (December 2011) last weekend. It's the perfect side dish to accompany a ham or pork entree and has some serious WOW factor when it comes to the presentation. To start, chop up 2 tablespoons each of fresh parsley, fresh thyme and fresh sage.

Cut up 10 cups of day-old challah or brioche egg bread into 1-inch cubes. We only needed one loaf of bread to get the amount we needed. Mix with your chopped up herbs.

Make This! Easy Cranberry Sauce

Homemade cranberry sauce is so easy to make, that you'll never open a can again. Bookmark/print this recipe for your Christmas menu. Bring to boil 1 cup of water + 1 cup of sugar. Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved before you add (1) 12 oz bag of fresh or frozen cranberries.

Simmer for 8-10 minutes until the cranberries begin to burst

Add orange zest and nutmeg to taste

Make This! Gourmet Green Beans

Here is my step-by-step pictorial for easy gourmet green beans. I have made this recipe for friends/family and for special occasions. It's always a big hit and a fancy way to dress up your vegetables. Thoroughly rinse off 1 lb. of green beans and prepare homemade vinaigrette - see recipe here.

Trim the ends off of the green beans and bring water to a boil

Lay out your pitted dates

Make This! Beer Can Chicken

When it comes to summer food pairings, nothing beats the season for beer and barbecue. So we decided to bring the two together for the grilling sensation of beer can chicken.  Shake off the novelty and kitschy apparatus you may have seen, because this pairing actually works!  Beer serves for both function and flavour in this recipe, producing tender and juicy chicken while imparting seasoned and characterful flavour.  

Here's also an opportunity to try out and support quality local craft brews. We recommend for this recipe a light to medium ale.  Try a malty brown ale like Neustadt 10W30, the hoppy West coast style pale ale 'Crazy Canuck' from Great Lakes Brewery, or go gluten-free with your beer with the option from Nickle Brook Brewery's light and glutenless ale (all the beers are homegrown Ontario brews and easily found at the LCBO).

Once you've picked out your choice of beer, all you need is a chicken (approximately 5 pounds) and a generous helping of your favourite barbecue spice rub.  If you're crafty enough to make your own rub, check out this recipe from the Toronto Star.

Make This! Avocado Cocoa Mousse

The next time you are reaching for ice cream try this instead! All you need is three ingredients and 5 mins of prep time. This makes a ridiculously delicious snack or dessert and for once, something so yummy is actually healthy.

Avocados are a vitamin powerhouse, rich in magnesium, iron, calcium and composed of Monounsaturated fat (the good stuff). It's packed with essential vitamins that protects against many diseases and helps maintains overall health.

Yay! Chocolate is now considered a health food (well in certain forms and the darker the better). Cocoa can uplift your mood with anantioxidants that act to counteract some of the cellular damage that can lead to chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Ingredients and Instructions:

• 1 avocado
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 3 tablespoons honey (or sweetened as desire)

You can smash all the ingredients together with a fork or use a blender. Make sure everything is mixed really well. If you prefer a texture more like ice cream - refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For an added fancy finish - cut another avacado in half and spoon the mousse into it. Then encrust the outside with honey and crushed pistachio and chocolate bits. Enjoy!

Make This! Homemade Cavatelli Pasta

If you missed out on our hug Italy Supper Club Event with Chef Massimo Bruno this month, you can still re-create his authentic Cavatelli Pasta recipe at home. Thanks to Massimo for sharing this with us! Homemade pasta may sound intimidating, but it's actually incredibly easy and totally worth the effort. We've also attached a video at the end of this post, so you can visualize all the elements.

What You Need:

1 Pound of Semolina di Grano (flour) plus more for dusting (it’s a thin ground semolina, you can find it at Italian specialty store like Lady York on Dufferin or Grande Cheese). In case you can’t find this semolina, regular semolina will be fine, it will be just harder to work but the flavour will be there.

Warm Water (it makes easier to work the dough) have at least half liter ready

Sea salt 

Make It:

1) On a Pasta Board or on a regular working counter pour the semolina and form a Volcano.

2) Sprinkle fine sea salt on the flour and pour some warm water inside the hole until full. Slowly with the help of your finger or a fork start whisking the water with the semolina until dense. 

3) Start working the semolina with your finger tips until all the semolina is incorporated with the water. You’ll be really tempted to add more water right away, but wait and work the dough slowly with your hands until you really need more water, add a little until all the working surface is nice and clean and the dough starts to be all together.

Make This! Easy Easter Side Dishes

When did it become April and why is it still snowing in Toronto?

Well guess what? Easter is THIS weekend and our favourite chef and recent hip + urban girl of the week, Kaylie Daniels - has whipped a few presto-easy Easter Side Dishes for you to impress your family with. Excuse me while I omnomnom... We love Kaylie's recipes because they're always easy to make and full of flavour. Start planning your Easter menu now, or save one of these yummy side dishes for a busy weeknight.

FOIL ASPARAGUS BUNDLES 

INGREDIENTS

Asparagus spears - aprox. 6 per person-  36 pieces
(snap off the woodsy ends where they naturally break, usually a few inches up)
3 TBSP Olive oil
2 TBSP Chopped garlic
Salt and Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375
Place spears on a sheet of foil
Drizzle/toss with olive oil
Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper
Wrap tightly in foil and place directly into oven (or on grill)
Roast for aprox 18 mins or until tender but still crisp

ROASTED BABY CARROTS WITH DILL AND HONEY 

INGREDIENTS

2lbs baby carrots
3 TBSP Honey ( or maple syrup)
2 TBSP of finely chopped dill
1 TSP sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375
Toss all ingredients together in a bowl
Pour into a roasting pan
Roast for 20 mins or until tender and starting to brown

Make This! Pudding Shooters

If you're looking for a little boozy treat this weekend and are tired of the traditional Jello shots, this one's for you! It takes less than 5 mins to make and tastes absolutely DELISH!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
• 1/2 cup vodka
• 1 (4 serving size) package instant chocolate pudding mix

Directions:

1. Whisk together the milk, Irish cream liqueur, vodka, and instant pudding mix in a bowl until combined.

2. Spoon the pudding mixture into shot glasses or disposable 'party shot' cups.

3. Chill until set, about 30 minutes. The shots will have the consistency of mousse. Garish with berries if desired.

Tidbit from our friend, Liz Gazer-Proudfoot:

I have made 3-4 different batches using different pudding mix flavours and Baileys. (You could also use Kahlua as well.) We tried vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch pudding mixes and chocolate, caramel and chocolate/mint Baileys. You can modify the amount of Baileys/Vodka you use, to taste, and double the recipe as needed. These are always a huge hit at house parties. Get creative, have fun and enjoy responsibly! CHEERS!

Make This! Garlic Bread Knots

Made some delicious garlic bread knots this weekend.  I couldn't believe how easy it was and biting into that warm morsel of bread was worth the small effort to source some pizza dough.  Here's a great recipe from Martha Stewart for you to try out at home.  Serve with cheese and salami for an easy appetizer.

What You Need:

1 Pound of Pizza Dough

Flour

Olive Oil

4 Garlic Cloves

Salt + Pepper

Follow the link above for the full recipe.

Make This! 15 Minute Portobello Burgers

It's the start to another crazy work week and the last thing you want to do after a long day at work is cook dinner.  Yes, you can swear off the fat and calories of take-out by making this easy and healthy Portobello Burger recipes from Hip + Urban Girl Chef: Kaylie Daniels.

What You Need:
Large Portobello Mushroom Caps (one for each person)
Whole Wheat Buns
Cheese
Arugula or Lettuce

1. Preheat oven to 425  
2. Drizzle Portobello cap with balsamic vinegar and olive oil 
3. Place on a cookie sheet in the oven for 10mins, remove from the oven and cover with blue cheese and red onion (or any of your favorite toppings) 
4. Return to the oven on broil for 3 mins, or until cheese is melted 
5. Top with some fresh spinach or arugula on a wheat bun - enjoy!

Wanna make more awesome stuff that doesn't take a ton of your sweet time?  Check out more suggestions from our Make This! column.

Make This! Affogato Dessert

What You Need:


(1) Scoop of Ice Cream per person
(1) Shot of Espresso per person


Collect your prettiest petite dessert cups.  Place a scoop of ice cream in each dish.  Top with a shot of fresh hot espresso.  Delight in your easy coffee and ice cream dessert - fancy, yet simple.  Try it out at your next hip + urban girl dinner party or girls night!  I like spooning a bit of ice cream and then dipping it into the coffee.  Go crazy and add a side of biscotti or amaretti cookies.


What's your favourite ice cream dessert recipe?  Please share to all our hip + urban girls out there!

Make This! Creamy Crab & Red Pepper Spread

Our lovely friends over at Kraft, sent us a couple recipes to try out.  I attempt to make the Creamy Crab & Red Pepper Spread for the annual family tree-trimming party.

I kinda want to eat this now...

Getting distracted by all the salad dressing flavours.  Follow on for the result and the recipe...

Make This! Amarula Hot Chocolate

I used to think hot chocolate was just some powdery mix with hot water or milk.  Boy, was I wrong.  I sampled some proper Amarula Hot Chocolate at The Distillery Christmas Market last week and it was out of control!  The secret?  Lots and LOTS of cream.  Here a recipe I dug up online and made for our family Tree-Trimming Party.  The Amarula makes it sweet and creamy.  It's all about high-quality chocolate too and the coffee which helps bring out even more flavour.  Make this for Christmas Eve or snuggle up with it over a DVD night at home:

Amarula Hot Chocolate (adapted from Sherry Yard recipe)    

1 cup cream (35%)
8 oz 70% dark chocolate (any high quality chocolate will do), chopped
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup cream (35%)
¼ cup fresh-brewed coffee
3 tbsp cocoa powder
½ tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
pinch cinnamon
to taste Amarula

Boil first quantity of cream and pour over chocolate. Stir mixture will spatula to bring the chocolate and cream together. You’ll know the ganache is properly emulsified when the mixture is shiny and supple.

Make This! The Hip + Urban Girl's PB & J Smoothie

Tastes just like the peanut butter and jam sandwiches that Mom used to pack in your My Little Pony lunch boxes! This is a great nutritious breakfast for the busy hip and urban girl on the go.
Serving for one
5 mins prep time

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup 2% milk (or soy/rice milk)
• 1/2 medium riped banana
• 2 slices of red apple
• 2 tbsp of creamy peanut butter
• 1 tbsp of your favourite jam or jelly
• 3-4 icecubes

Instructions: Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth and enjoy!
TIP: To garnish your glasses with peanut butter and jelly, microwave 2 tbsp peanut butter in small microwave-safe bowl 30 seconds or until melted. Microwave 2 tbsp jelly in another microwave-safe bowl 15 seconds or until melted. Drizzle into glasses, tilting to colour sides, then pour in smoothie.