Raspberry Thumbprint Shortbread Cookies

Buttery melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies should always be part of your holiday baking game plan!

Ingredients:

1 cup icing sugar

1 cup cornstarch

2 cups flour

2 cups butter

seedless raspberry jam

coconut (optional)

Sift the icing sugar, cornstarch and flour together then use a pastry blender to incorporate the butter, using your hands at the end to form into a dough.

Roll the dough into small balls, about 1 - 1.5", and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Using your thumb or a round measuring spoon like I did here, press divots into the cookie balls. Fill the divots with a small amount of jam. This baby feeding spoon was just the right size for the job!

Sprinkle some coconut on top of the jam if desired and bake at 300°F for 16 minutes.

Cool completely before storing in tins.

Makes 64 cookies

Sheet Pan Marmalade Pork, Potatoes and Carrots

This fuss-free one pan dinner is tangy and sweet and perfect for Sunday dinner.

Ingredients:

2 lb boneless pork loin roast

2 tsps mild deli mustard or dijon

2 tbsps orange marmalade

1 tsp hot sauce

sea salt and cracked pepper

1 or 2 tbsps brown sugar to sprinkle

3 medium potatoes

3 carrots

2 tbsps olive oil

Combine the mustard, marmalade and hot sauce and spoon about half of it over the pork on a parchment line baking sheet. Refrigerate a couple of hours if you have the time, otherwise continue on.

Cut the potatoes into 1-1.5" chunks and thick slice the carrots. Separately toss the potatoes with 1 tbsps olive oil, then toss carrots with 1 tbsps olive oil. Place them on either side of the roast. That way if one veggie is fully cooked while the other needs more oven time you can remove one and return the other easily.

Salt and pepper the whole lot...pork, potatoes and carrots and sprinkle brown sugar over the pork.

Bake in a 375°F oven for 30 minutes. Then baste with the remaining sauce and return to the oven for another 45-50 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 145-150°F. Rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Serves 4-6

Island Beef Stew

If someone you cook for thinks it's st "ew" this might just change their mind! The seasonings definitely give this stew a caribbean flavour. And the beef is so tender you can cut it with a fork but you might want to use a spoon to get every last delicious drop!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 lbs stewing beef

salt and pepper to taste

1 onion, sliced

4 carrots, thick sliced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsps minced garlic

2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp dry thyme

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp hot pepper sauce

2 bay leaves

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

14 oz canned diced tomatoes

1 tbsp soya sauce

1 1/2 tbsps steak sauce, like A-1

Preheat the oven to 300°F and remove all but the lower rack.

Heat the coconut oil in a Dutch oven on high and add the beef. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and let brown for 5 minutes without stirring (resist the urge!) Then add the onions and carrots, stir and cook 2 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic, thyme, allspice and cinnamon (that's where the recipe takes a right turn to the islands, smells wonderful!) The original recipe called for 1/4 cup rum here. If you want to add it, bring to a boil then simmer for 2 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients, stir together and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and put it in the preheated oven for 2 hours.

If you want to reduce the liquid, remove the bay leaves. uncover on the stovetop and bring to a boil. Then simmer for about 10 or 15 minutes.

Serve with rice... and a spoon if you didn't reduce the liquid 😉

Makes 4 servings

Adapted from: seriouseats.com 

Honey Roasted Sweet Potato Oven Fries

Roasting sweet potato brings out even more of it's natural sweetness. The perfect side to your holiday ham or turkey! And they're super nutritious too!

This recipe is for one large sweet potato, but of course can be doubled. Just make sure to give the potato wedges lots of room on the baking pan to caramelize otherwise they will be too mushy.

Ingredients:

1 large unpeeled sweet potato

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsps melted butter

pinch or two of cinnamon or nutmeg

1-2 tsps mild hot sauce

sprinkle of sea salt

fresh chopped parsley

Cut the sweet potato into 8 long wedges, or more if you have a chubbier potato. Mix the honey, melted butter, hot sauce and cinnamon or nutmeg together and brush all over the wedges. 

Place the potatoes on a parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and roast at 400°F for 1 hour, basting with the sauce again about halfway through the cooking time.

And don't forget to garnish with fresh chopped parsley (Like I did 😕)

Meat Pie or Tourtière

This traditional meat pie with origins in the province of Quebec, Canada is usually served as part of a Christmas or New Year's feast. This particular tourtière is made with pork, beef and veal whereas a Montreal meat pie might only be made with ground pork. Either way the meat is distinctively spiced and baked in a flaky, golden crust. And you don't have to wait for a holiday to enjoy it, it's good anytime!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs ground pork, beef and veal (equal parts of each)

1 medium onion, chopped

3 stalks of celery chopped

1 carrot, shredded

1 apple, shredded

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp allspice or cloves

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp savory

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

Enough pie dough for 2 - 8" and 2 - 6" pies. I used store bought dough instead of homemade here.

1 beaten egg (optional)

Stir everything together up to and including the bread crumbs in a large frying pan and cook just until the meat is no longer pink.

You could put the cooked filling in the fridge and assemble the pies the next day or continue along. 

Roll out the pie dough to make the bottoms. Fill with meat to the top.

Then roll out the tops and put in place. Tuck the top edge over the bottom edge and pinch together.

Score vent holes in the top, brush with beaten egg if desired, then bake at 425°F for 25 - 30 minutes.

Just lightly golden as these pies when cooled were packaged in plastic ziplock bags to be used at a later date.  If using the next day re-heat at 325°F for 15-20 minutes or until warmed through. 

Or from frozen, place in a 400°F oven for 20-25 minutes. If the crust looks like it's getting too brown cover it with a piece of foil.

You could also freeze unbaked pies wrapped well in foil. To serve defrost in fridge overnight, then unwrap and bake in a 425°F oven for 30 minutes or more until golden brown. Don't forget the eggwash before baking!

Makes 2 - 8" and 2 - 6" pies

Christmas Fruitcake with Papaya

While regularly compared to a brick or doorstop, the traditional fruitcake has been around for hundreds (maybe thousands) of years. It must be doing something right! This one is chock full of fruit with just enough cake to hold it together nicely. And it's incredibly easy to make!

Ingredients:

2.2 lbs (1 kg) dried fruit and nuts

2 cups brewed tea

1/3 cup orange juice

5 or 6 drops angostura bitters (optional)

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1/2 cup apple jelly (for optional glaze)

1 tbsp water

So, the dried fruit and nuts is a mix that's really left up to you...what do you like and what's in your pantry? This time I used a small container of mixed citrus peel, chopped walnuts, sultana raisins, dried cranberries, glazed red cherries and for something a little different... dried papaya instead of my usual candied pineapple! Just use a cup or two of each ingredient until you have the required 2.2 lbs. of dried fruit and nuts.

Mix this with the tea, orange juice and angostura bitters then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and allspice together and add to the fruit mix. Stir until combined then pour (more like glop!) into a parchment lined 8 X 8" baking pan. It will be packed to the brim! Add more fruit on top if you like.

Then bake at 320°F for 2 hours or until a cake tester comes out clean. Turn off the oven and leave the cake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool the fruitcake completely in the pan on a rack.

While the cake is cooling you could choose to glaze it. Simple heat apple jelly with 1 tbsp of water until liquified then brush over the fruitcake. Rum or brandy could be brushed on it too.

Once you take the cake out of the pan you can glaze the sides.

It slices beautifully!

Look at all the fruit and especially the jewel-like chunks of papaya!

Yield: about 4 lbs

Lemon Butter Cod

This lemon butter cod is simple to make and simply full of flavour. If you're looking to incorporate more fish recipes into your meal planning look no further. And it's ready in about 30 minutes!

Ingredients:

3/4 lb (400g) cod, thawed

2 tsps minced garlic

zest of 1/2 lemon

3 tbsps lemon juice

2 tbsps olive oil

1 1/2 tbsps melted butter

3 tbsps flour

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp lemon pepper

1/4 tsp ground celery seed

2 tbsps fresh chopped parsley

Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Combine the lemon juice, olive oil and melted butter. In another bowl combine the flour, smoked paprika, lemon pepper and celery seed. Dip each piece of fish in the lemon mixture, then coat in the flour mixture. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Add the lemon zest and minced garlic to the remaining lemon juice mixture and spoon over the fish.

Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Serves 3

Candy Cane Sleigh Place Markers

These easy to make candy cane sleighs can be used as table place markers, gift toppers or added to any Christmas display. These were made for last year's Christmas before Covid-19 came to challenge the world. Here's hoping we can be together for family celebrations this year, but if we need to stay apart this year then we will, so that we WILL be all together in the future!

What you'll need for each sleigh:

glue gun

2 candy canes for the runners

a chocolate bar to fit as the base of the sleigh

a chocolate Santa (of course😀)

and a pile of candies for his pack 

Make sure the chocolate bar for the base of the sleigh fits the length of the candy canes. I used minis here. Tuck the wrapping ends of the bar underneath and glue. Then glue the bottom of the bar to the candy canes. There you have your sleigh bed and runners. Glue Santa's feet to the front of the bar (so he can stand up to drive the sleigh!) And stack chocolates and candies (or a little toy) behind him as his stash of goodies!

If you are going to use this as a place marker just leave enough room behind Santa to tuck a name card in.

These mini Santa's sleighs sat neatly at each place.

Apple Berry Skillet Pie

Goodbye summer berries and hello autumn apples! The best of both seasons is baked up in this gorgeous pink fruit-filled pie!

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh raspberries

4 cups sliced apples

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour (or 1/8 cup cornstarch)

a few pats of butter

1 1/4 lbs pie dough

1 egg, beaten

10" cast iron skillet

Any six cups of fruit and berries will give you a good fruit pie along with sugar for sweetening and flour as a thickener. If your fruit of choice is not too sweet you might add up to another 1/2 cup of sugar, but these berries were quite sweet so I stuck to the 1 cup of sugar.

Toss the fruit with sugar and let sit 10 minutes, then toss and taste to see if the addtional sugar is needed.

Roll half the chilled dough out and place in the bottom of the cast iron pan. Stir flour into the fruit and dump into the pie shell. Add a few pats of butter on top.

Roll out the rest of the dough for the top. Make it a bit bigger than the bottom so that you can tuck it under the edge of the bottom crust, then pinch together. Cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape and add a few dough cutouts on top to decorate. Just dampen them with a little water or the beaten egg to stick. Then brush the rest of the beaten egg all over the pie to give it that golden shine once baked.

Place the pie on a baking sheet in case there are drips, then into a 450F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375F and bake another 50-60 minutes.

Some of the crust opened up but that just adds to the rustic look of the pie 😉

Cool before cutting.

Wouldn't this go well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?