Salmon with Potato Roesti and Dill Aioli

Salmon with Potato Roesti and Dill Aioli

Something about this recipe just caught my eye. Could it be the bed of crispy, lacey potatoes; or perhaps the luscious red colour of the Spring salmon? Perhaps the mild garlic and dill flavour of the aioli? Whatever the reason we really enjoyed this lunch.

Aioli is a zesty garlic mayonnaise that's used as a sauce, most often for seafood and shellfish, although it's also excellent on green beans and potatoes. It's made by slowly whisking oil into egg yolks and garlic, so pump some iron before attempting...your arm will get tired!!!

The Chantilly Meringues that Never Were........

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

Once again it is time for the Barefoot Bloggers to join forces and make some delicious recipes from Ina Garten and her league of cookbooks. She is one of my favourites. It is always a "win win situation" because her recipes are always consistent. I haven't come across a recipe yet that hasn't turned out and been a crowd pleaser. This week BMK of Reservations Not Required had chosen Meringues Chantilly. Now don't adjust your monitor or think that I don't know a biscuit from a meringue, I just haven't had the time to cook up this sweet temptation. It is not even the fact that it is a dessert because this would be light on the waistline with all those egg whites. You will find the recipe here to make these delicious treats. Don't they look so tempting!!!!!!!!

A Greek Tribute with Rolo me Abelophylla with Avgolomeno

Rolo me Abelophylla with Avgolomeno

One of the perks of blogging is meeting some very kind hearted people who ultimately become your friends. In the two years that I have been blogging one of these people would be Ivy of Kopiaste. On a recent trip to the Central Market in Athens, with her good friend Marianna of History of Greek Food, Ivy thought of me. Even though we are thousands of kilometers away and an 11 hour plane ride from each other our love of food, Greece and friendship brings us together. Thank you Ivy!!!

Caramel Sea Salt Brownies for Dinner & a Movie

I recently had a craving for something chewy and chocolaty so what better way to thwart off any hunger pains than with a chocolaty treat. It also gave me the excuse to join in on the fun with Marc from No Recipes and Susan of Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy for their Dinner & a Movie Event. Each month they will take us on a delicious journey though some of the most gastronomically inspirational films. Each month there will be a new movie to watch which will hopefully inspire you to cook something amazing.

To revel in February, the month of hearts and chocolate, they are watching "Chocolat."

The movie follows a single mother and her six-year-old daughter when they move to rural France and open a chocolate shop, during Lent, across the street from the local church. They are met with some skepticism. They coax the townspeople into enjoying their delicious products,aqnd win them over. Who wouldn't be won over by a movie starring Johnny Depp!!!!

What fits the bill better than the BEST brownies I have EVER come across in all my years of baking!!!!!!!!BROWNIES!!!!!

Brownies come in all guises, shapes and sizes...with nuts, without nuts, swirled with cream cheese, sprinkled with chips, spiked with espresso or even better booze, or just plain chocolate in a million variations. And if this doesn't cure your addiction how's about topped with ice cream and a chocolate sauce!!!

But the most important aspect of a brownie, for anyone who loves brownies, is texture. There are three camps: cakey, fudgy and chewy. I thought my feet were firmly planted in the chewy category but I can be easily swayed by a little chocolate. Just don't overcook them and remember to share. Email me for my address...wink...wink...

Which camp do you fall into? Or do you swing?

1) FUDGY- dense, with a moist, intensely chocolaty interior. I think of it as somewhere between a rich truffle torte and a piece of fudge.

2) CHEWY:moist, but not quite as gooey as a fudgy one. The chewiness seems to come from a couple of different factors: more all-purpose flour, and whole eggs.

3) CAKEY: a moist crumb and a slightly fluffy interior. When I mix cakey brownies, I use a bit of cake-baking technique by creaming the butter and sugar first and then whisking the batter to aerate the mixture and get a light crumb like my Mascarpone Brownies.

After testing, tasting, and canvassing friends and colleagues I have officially, and maybe not temporarily, swung over to fudgy camp for these "caramely, salty, chocolaty" treats... Mari Tuttle's Caramel Sea Salt Brownies. I have been happily converted!!!

I'll say right off the bat that I could never claim to be an expert on brownies—there are so many recipes, and everyone has a favorite. But there are definitely guidelines to follow so that you can make the style of brownie that suits your taste, whether it's cakey, fudgy, or chewy.

a) Start your brownies with melted chocolate. Whether you melt it with butter or not, use the gentle heat of a double boiler—there's no remedy for scorched chocolate.

b) All brownie recipes have enough chocolate flavor to satisfy a chocolate yearning, and they all have similar ingredients. Killer brownies don't need expensive chocolate!!! But because of the different proportions of these ingredients and varying amounts of chocolate, butter, sugar, and flour, the texture of each brownie is quite different.

c) In addition to ingredient proportions, baking time greatly affects the consistency of a brownie, so it's important to be attentive. Fudgy brownies baked three minutes too short can be unpleasantly gooey; chewy brownies baked three minutes too long become tough and dry.

d) Brownies will cook more quickly in metal pans than in glass, which is what accounts for the wide time windows in the recipes. If you're using metal, cooking times will be on the short side; with Pyrex, they'll be longer.

e) For all your brownie recipes, and regardless of the pan you're using, start testing for doneness after 20 minutes of baking. First, press your fingers gently into the center of the pan. If the brownie feels like it's just setting, insert a toothpick near the center.

-Brownies are underdone when smudges of wet batter cling to the toothpick.
-Brownies are just right when traces of moistness and fudgy crumbs cling to the toothpick.
-Brownies are overdone when the toothpick comes out perfectly clean.

f) For uniform squares, flip the cooled, whole brownie out of the pan. You'll have a much easier time cutting neat squares, with the option of cutting off the edges if you want to. Lining the pan bottoms with parchment makes it much easier to get the brownie out of the pan. If you don't have any on hand, waxed paper works, too.

g) Although it's awfully tempting to cut into a pan of just-baked brownies be patient. The flavor and texture of each type of brownie will be at their best when completely cool. Well worth waiting for!!!

Mari Tuttle is owner of Mari's New York, a New York based company that specializes in gourmet artisanal brownies. For more information about her company, please visit her site here .

** Mari Tuttles Caramel Sea Salt Brownies**

1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup caramel sauce, warmed*
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, preferably fleur de sel

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease an 8 x 8 square pan. Line with parchment; grease again.Sift flour; measure; resift with salt. Over double boiler, melt butter. Once melted, add chocolate; stir until melted. Remove from heat.

With hand or stand mixer, whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla extract together until fluffy and light in color; add chocolate mixture; mix until combined; fold in flour. Pour half the batter into pan; smooth top; pour half the caramel sauce over mixture; smooth evenly; pour remaining batter over caramel; smooth top again.

Drizzle remaining caramel sauce over top, in one continuous zig-zag pattern. Turn pan 90 degrees; with toothpick, drag tip through top caramel and batter layer making same zig-zag pattern.

Bake for 20 minutes, turn pan and bake for 15 minutes more.Remove from oven and sprinkle sea salt on top. When cool, cut into squares or bars. Enjoy!

**Caramel Sauce**

1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pour sugar into heavy skillet and caramelize over low heat; constantly stirring until it has completely melted and is light brown in color. Remove from heat and very slowly stir in hot water. Don't worry if sugar clumps, it will melt again when you reheat the mixture.Return the pan to medium heat; stirring to melt sugar clumps. Mixture will begin to boil. Continue boiling until mixture thickens and the boil isn't as rapid. Remove from heat; add butter, salt and vanilla. Strain if there are remaining sugar clumps.

Yield: 1 cup

Joan's Culinary Tour Stops in Ethiopia

Chick Pea Fritters (Yeshimbra Assa)

Joan of Foodalogue, is helping to promote hunger awareness through her event, A Culinary Tour Around the World. Joan has been travelling virtually wherever her imagination has taken her these past few weeks. Her journey ends in April. If you haven't already, why not join Joan on her culinary tour around the world!!!!! How about meeting her in any one of her itinerary stops and presenting your interpretation of the cuisine from that destination. Who wouldn't enjoy taking a journey around the world even if it is from the comfort of your favourite armchair??

Chicken Gyros

In keeping with my barbecue loving ways and my longing for sunny climates I decided to bring those Greek flavours into my home as I do at least once a week.

Gyro is probably the most often mispronounced food name. Even its biggest fans sometimes don't get the pronunciation exact. Is it a "jee-rohs," "jai-rohs," "gee-rohs?" The correct Greek pronunciation is “yee-rohs, ” at least in my best explanation. Or is it a Donair?

Almost every culture has its own version of 'fast food', and in Greece I am giving that honour to the gyro sandwich. Have I eaten enough gyros or donairs in my life to become an expert...well not really, but here is what I do know.

Here in Canada a gyro is quite often made with meat cut off of a big cylinder of well-seasoned lamb or beef. This meat is cooked on a slowly rotating vertical spit or gyro, implying the circular spinning motion of a gyroscope. A gyro sandwich consists of various rotisseried meats, all or none of tomatoes, lettuce and onions, along with a yogurt-based tzatziki sauce. These ingredients are placed on a grilled pita bread and served as a wrap sandwich. The type of pita bread may also vary, from the pocket style to a round flatbread. I am salivating already!!!!

A Turkish Doner Kebab or Gyro is slices of marinated lamb, mutton, beef, veal, or chicken which are stacked on a vertical spit and roasted at a vertical grill. It is served as a type of sandwich stuffed into Turkish bread, rolled into flat bread, or laid on top of diced flat bread with a sauce. This type of sandwich has been known, and sold on the streets, by the people of Greece, the Middle East, and Turkey for hundreds of years. In Greece I found they usually add french fries and sometimes mustard inside their gyro as well for a "full meal deal". If you're lucky you can get this type of donair here in Canada too!!! Greek historians believe that the dish originated during Alexander The Great’s time, when his soldiers used their long knives to skewer meat and kept turning the meat over fires.

My version is made with marinated chicken breasts, so we do get all the flavours reminiscent of a true gyro without having to try and replicate the meat. This is something I make often all year round... and talk about fast!!

Before I move on to the recipe I have a few orders of business. I have been the recipient of a couple of awards this week.


The first is the "You're a Sweet" bestowed upon me by my good friend and blogging sister Ivy of Kopiaste. Thank you so much Sis, I think you're the sweetest too with one of the biggest of hearts out there!!!

With the help of Giz of Equal Opportunity Kitchen , the three of us have been working hard to pull together the BloggerAid Cookbook.









The second is from Gloria of Cookbook Cuisine and Foods and Flavors of San Antonio. Her cookbook is coming out this month so check it out. She has been a major influence on the cookbook project as well!!!

I am giving both of these awards to my friends out there...you know who you are...who have supported me and brought a little sunshine into my life each and every day.

So, without further adieu ..on to the recipe because I have to type up a few resumes for friends and get on with my next project.......

**Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce and Feta**

2 T garlic, minced
2 T fresh thyme, minced or 1 T Greek oregano, crushed
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T cracked black pepper
zest and juice from one lemon
pinch of salt
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Tzatziki sauce (recipe follows)
4 large pita bread rounds
1 heart of romaine lettuce, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tomato, halved and sliced
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

******************

Place boneless chicken breasts in a shallow glass container. Season with thyme or oregano, pepper, garlic, oil, lemon (juice and zest), salt and olive oil. Distribute the seasonings evenly over the chicken breast by rubbing well. Allow to marinade in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Clean the grill well with a grill brush. Once the grill is clean rub with an oiled paper towel. Heat the grill on high for 5 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade and place on prepared grill. Discard remaining marinade. Cook chicken until juices run clear, about 8 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from heat, and allow to sit about 10 minutes before slicing into thin strips.

Place pita rounds on the grill, and cook for about 2 minutes, until warm, turning frequently to avoid burning. Stuff pita pockets with chicken, toppings and tzatziki to serve.

**Tzatziki Sauce**

2 medium size cucumbers
400g strained yogurt
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. wine vinegar
a little salt
fresh chopped fennel fronds or dill
********************
Peel cucumbers and grate each one length-wise with course grater. Salt, allow to drain and press out excess liquid from grated cucumbers. Peel garlic cloves, remove sprout if it exists and crush them. Mix cucumber, garlic, vinegar and salt. Fold the yogurt and the olive oil into the mixture.

Taste of the Mediterranean-Pastitsio Venetsianiko

Mediterranean-Pastritsio Venetsianiko

Tony from Olive Juice highlights fresh and colourful Mediterranean flavours through his event Taste of the Mediterranean . It’s a food blogging event sponsored by igourmet.com and each month, a journey and celebration of each dish takes place, focusing on a popular dish from each of the regions of the Mediterranean.This month's event is being co-hosted by Peter at Kalofagas. So check it out!! Close your eyes and imagine yourself on a Greek island.

Tony says, "Imagine a culinary getaway with all your food-blogging friends to all the hot spots around the Mediterranean. It’ll be like island hopping, but better - country hopping!"

An Original "7 Layer Dip" Pizza

"7  Layer Dip" Pizza

I find myself heading over to Facebook more and more these days. I am always a little far behind because the"new" thing is Twitter (which I haven't even signed up for). As I said I am usually a year behind.

I came across this fun MEME on Facebook that I had to share.

Go to google and search "(your name) likes to" and write the first 10 things that come up...This was hilarious!!!!

Potato & Olive Terrine for Taste & Create

Potato and Olive Terrine

For those of you who frequent my blog you know that I try never to miss the Taste & Create event which gets bigger and bigger each and every month. It is the brainchild of Nicole over at For the Love of Food . I love to visit her site for all the delicious recipes and tidbits of very helpful information. She even has an on-line store with wonderful kitchen gadgets and gourmet foods.

This month I was paired with Kit of Kits Chow who lives fairly close to home in Vancouver, British Columbia. She says, "Chow is a synonym for food and also the Chinese cooking method where ingredients are added to a heated pan and tossed continually during cooking".

She made it very difficult to choose only one dish from her blog which shows her love of traditional type foods as well as Asian inspired dishes such as Seafood Udon, Grand Marnier Pork Chops, and Mussel Bisque. She also loves soups such as Khao Tom Congee, or Pumpkin Soup, I was very lucky to be paired with a fellow Canadian this time around to share some good food and flavours.

Chicken Wellington for Love & Valentine's Day

Chicken Wellington

The very talented mother/daughter duo of Equal Opportunity Kitchen are planning a wedding. Yes Psychgrad and R are getting married!! Congratulations are definitely in order. Do we remember the days? What a better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than rejoicing in the love of a young couple.

As we all know there is a lot of planning involved in the big day!!! To get some ideas from all of you talented bloggers Psychgrad is holding another rendition of their very popular Tried, Tested and True event Tried, Tested and True - Wedding Edition.

Cookbook Deadline March 31st

Children are the Future – BloggerAid Invests in Children!!

You may have heard that BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine is publishing a cookbook !!!

We are very pleased to announce that a program has been selected that targets children and education through the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations frontline agency. One of WFP’s largest areas of assistance is called School Meals. Through this program, a meal is provided to children in schools where there are low attendance rates with a particular focus on schools that have a significant lack of children attending, especially girls. The goal in poorer communities worldwide is to provide a hot, nutritious meal as an incentive for parents to send their children to school rather than keeping them at home working. An education is the best thing we can give our kids to break the cycle of hunger and poverty and for both boys and girls alike to become contributing members of society.

FACTS & FIGURES

• 75 million primary school-aged children do not go to school
• 97 percent of them are in developing countries
• 57 percent of them are girls
• 150 million children drop out of school before attaining basic primary education

With projects like School Meals, we are very excited to have the opportunity to contribute to this program of the WFP through BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine.

Encouragingly, the group of talented bloggers committed to the BloggerAid Cookbook project is growing by the minute!!! We have now reached a milestone of over 100 members.



At the request of some of our new members, who are just as excited about this ambitious project as we are, we have decided to extend the deadline until the end of March. We know that we are all busy and you may not have found the time to submit a recipe for the cookbook yet. The new logo is based on a few of the recipes submitted so far. Feel free to use this logo in your post. So keep those recipes coming in!!! The sooner the better so that you are assured of being published in the book.

Children are our future, so 100% of the proceeds from the sales of the cookbook will be channeled to the School Meals Program.

We are continuing to brainstorm about new BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine initiatives and would love to have your input.

You don't need to be a member of BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine to submit a recipe. You just need a willingness to share your love of food from around the world and want to be involved in raising awareness and money for this program. There is no cost to you – just a sense of satisfaction that comes from participating in this exciting project and seeing your name and recipe in print.

You may post about your recipe without revealing the ingredients...the cookbook will be the round-up where your recipe will be published. Once the cookbook has been published you can publish your recipe wherever you like...it will always be yours and you will always receive full credit.

What if my photo skills are not up to cookbook standards? Submit a photo anyway because we are our own worse critics aren't we? Don't let that stop you!!! But, if you would like, one of our team members will recreate your recipe and photograph it for you. Email your recipe in a plain text Word document along with a photo of your dish to bloggeraid(AT)gmail(DOT)com by March 31st, the deadline for receiving recipes. Let's get the word out!!!!!

More information can be found in the forum of our Social Network, BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine.

Complete details are here . Everything you need to know to submit a recipe.

Remember you don't need to be a member to participate!!!

Deadline for Submissions ....March 31st

Making Spaghetti & Meatballs with the Barefoot Bloggers

As part of our continued saga of being part of the illustrious group the Barefoot Bloggers Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake has chosen Real Spaghetti and Meatballs from Barefoot Contessa Family Style. A recipe is chosen and the BB's blog about our results on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month.
I couldn't find any ground veal at the grocers I visited but these meatballs were droolworthy without it. Mixing the ingredients with a fork kept the meatballs so light and tender. This recipe is a keeper!!

The Barefoot Bloggers have made 67,848 Friday dinners for Jeffrey!!!!

Today was the last day for submissions to the BloggerAid cookbook...but it is still not too late if you can manage it. A program has been chosen where all the funds raised from the sale of the cookbook will be channeled. Stay tuned for more on this site tomorrow. We are very excited!!

**Spaghetti & Meatballs**

For the meatballs:

1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 extra-large egg, beaten
Vegetable oil
Olive oil

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan
***********************
Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan .

Pasta with Chicken & Spinach Red Wine Sauce for PPN #100

Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast has been organizing Presto Pasta nights every Friday for over 2 years now. Even if I don't prepare pasta sometime over the week I always head to her site to find out what everyone has been up to. It's a great place to come across some delicious recipe ideas for those who are struggling to decide "what's for dinner"!!!!! She is the very first blogger I ever met before I even knew what a blog was. She is also a fellow Canadian blogging out of Halifax, Nova Scotia so if you haven't had the pleasure of visiting her blog please do!!!I don't eat pasta as often as I would like but I do enjoy participating in the Presto Pasta Nights event whenever I can!!!!

Spinach & Greek Potato Salad with Feta Vinaigrette for No Croutons Required

Greek Potato Salad with Feta Vinaigrette

When the very talented ladies over at No Croutons Required announced this months theme was potatoes you never thought for a moment that I would miss this opportunity to strut my "potato stuff" did you? Was there ever any doubt!!!! Not if you know me well!!!! The founders of this event are the friendly duo of Holler of Tinned Tomatoes and fellow Canadian Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. Each month they are looking for our vegetarian soups or salads always based on a different theme. Both of these ladies follow a vegetarian and healthy lifestyle which is evident in each of their feature stories. The mere mention of the word potato and my mind was twisting on how to incorporate this humble tuber into my repertoire.

I remembered a salad I had seen Canadian Chef and Food Network host
Michael Smith of Chef at Home, Chef at Large and The Inn Chef prepare on one of his shows.

Tried, Tested and True Turkey Pinwheels & The Winner of the Give Away!!!!!!

Turkey Pinwheels

"As your marriage brings new meaning to love,

So your love brings new meaning to life"

The very talented mother/daughter duo of Equal Opportunity Kitchen are planning a wedding. Yes Psychgrad and R are getting married!! Congratulations are definitely in order. This will be a day for remembering all the beautiful things that have been and a day for looking forward to all the beautiful things yet to come. There is a lot of planning involved in the big day!!! To get some ideas from all of you talented bloggers Psychgrad is holding another rendition of their very popular Tried, Tested and True event Tried, Tested and True - Wedding Edition. What would you serve to impress a group of approximately 20-30 people that can be featured on a buffet or sweet table?

I have had this particular hors d'oeuvres on my list of things to try for a while. The filling in these little rolls is reminiscent of the holidays with a slight sweetness from the cranberries. I can also imagine these delicious rolls with a filling of goats cheese and spinach. These are not just "eye candy", the fragrance alone from the sprigs of rosemary make these an ideal addition to a buffet table. They are quick and easy to prepare and can be made far in advance. The stuffed turkey scallopine are rolled up tightly in aluminum foil like Christmas crackers and baked in the oven. When cool, slice each roll and spear each piece with sprigs of rosemary. Perfecto!!!

Take a Culinary Tour Around the World with Portuguese Bolo de Queijos (Savory Cheese Loaf)

Portuguese Bolo

Joan of Foodalogue, is helping to promote hunger awareness through a new event, A Culinary Tour Around the World. Joan will be travelling virtually wherever her imagination takes us until April through food, sights, and cultural diversity. Why not join Joan on her culinary tour around the world!!!!! How about meeting her in any one of her itinerary stops and presenting your interpretation of the cuisine from that destination. Who wouldn't enjoy taking a journey around the world even if it is from the comfort of your favourite armchair??

Joans fifth stop on your culinary adventure is Portugal!!!!

Val's Wanna-Be Greek Burgers... Take Me Away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wanna Be Greek Burgers

Usually by February I am ready to start shedding my winter coats, boots and gloves. The only problem with that is that the weather here in the "Great White North" simply doesn't care to co-operate. Instead of warm days with daffodils peaking their cheerful heads through the sun-drenched earth we have bleak, snow covered mountains and frozen ponds. Cry me a river...if it wasn't frozen of course:D

Celebrate World Nutella Day..... Mascarpone Brownies with Nutella & Toasted Hazelnut Topping

I very seldom make dessert so when I do it has to be special and there has to be a reason. February 5th has been designated World Nutella Day so what better excuse to have some chocolaty goodness and make dessert. Forget about counting calories and "Go Big or Go Home", as they say!!!!!

Nutella is that hazelnut spread that we longed for as children smeared onto warm bread fresh from the oven or in between crepes. As if a spoonful of this chocolate-hazelnut spread gianduja isn’t delicious enough straight off the spoon!!!! Think Nutella and Ferrero Rocher!!!! Nutella is the brand name of a hazelnut-based sweet spread created by the Italian company Ferrero in the 1940s. At the time, chocolate was very limited due to World War II. Nutella is now marketed in over 75 countries across the globe. Other countries even have their own versions of this spread.

Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy, and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso (and Shelley from At Home in Rome, in spirit) solemnly declare Thursday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2009″ - a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella. The idea of spreading Nutella on my brownies came from Giada de Laurentis on the Food Network. She used brownies from a mix which are still good but don't have the lighter crumb and texture of these mascarpone brownies. These are my favourite by far!!! Toast a few hazelnuts add them to the batter, reserving a few choice specimens for the top!!

**Mascarpone Brownies with Nutella and Toasted Hazelnut Topping**

1 cup unsalted butter

3 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened

 3 large eggs, at room-temperature

 2 teaspoons vanilla

 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

 1/4 tsp salt

 3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

1 cup Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread

 Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter an 8-inch square cake pan.

Add the chopped chocolate to a large bowl. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and bring it to just below a boil. Pour the hot butter over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Sift in the sugar and cocoa powder (I do this through a sieve, not with a sifter). With a wooden spoon, beat in the mascarpone, eggs (30 minutes on the counter brings them to room temperature) and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Gently fold the flour and salt into the batter. Add chopped hazelnuts, reserving 1/4 cup for decoration.

Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly--this is important since, if the batter isn't spread evenly, it won't bake evenly. Place into preheated oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean (45 minutes did it for me). Place pan on a cooling rack and let brownies cool for 10-15 minutes.

 Spread Nutella over entire surface of brownies or cut into slices as I did and spread each piece with Nutella separately. Decorate with remaining chopped hazelnuts.

Two years of Blogging....and a Giveaway!!!!

More Than Burnt Toast is celebrating it's 2nd birthday!!!!!

It's hard to believe that two years ago on February 2nd I posted my first entry on this blog. My posts had no comments and no readership in those days. I was recording my recipes for my family and friends starting with Fried Zucchini Blossoms with Feta & Mint which I learned by the shoulders of Aglaia Kremezi on an island in Greece at Keartisinal; plus family favourites like Seafood Salmon Roulade and Val's Rhubarb Cheesecake. So much has happened since those early days!!! I've met many amazing foodies who share a passion for food. I have improved my baking and cooking skills and have been challenged to think outside my comfort zone and spread my wings. I'd even like to think that I have improved my photography and writing skills which is still a work in progress.