Sicilian Duet

Monday 13 March 2017

Homemade Vanilla Extract :)

Posted by Sicilian Duet at 16:47

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About Me

Sicilian Duet: My name is Lisa and I Love cooking! Like most home cooks I learned most of my cooking skills from my mother. She taught me to be creative in the kitchen, to experiment whenever possible, and the art of creating recipes using what I have on hand. I learned with a few simple ingredients the possibilities are endless. When my mother and I are in the kitchen together we call ourselves the Sicilian Duet, this started one very fun Christmas in the 80’s and has stuck ever since. I dedicate all of my recipes to her. For more recipies visit sicilianduet.com.

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Followers

Real Women of Philadelphia awards dinner

RWOP Dessert Finalists

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The Sicilian duet

Baked Brie

Pine nuts and almonds are toasted then seasoned with cayenne and nutmeg, then I added dried cranberries and red pepper jelly. Orange sliced thinly on top to garnish and to add a touch of fresh sweetness.

Mandolin Salad

Almost everything in this salad is made using a mandolin, it includes orange, fennel, radishes, scallions, baby spinach, pomegranate seeds and mint then dressed in a vibrant lemon & rice vinegar dressing.

Italian Spice Cake

Christmas Cookie Tray

Every year the women in my family get together to make a number of treats for our Christmas cookie trays, here is what we came up with this year.

Almond Cookies

Wine Pretzels

These are an old family recipe that go great with coffee or dipped in wine. We used a local sauvignon blanc.

Peanut butter balls

Chai Custard

Another version of coconut burfee

Raisin Nut Rose buds

An old family recipe, great to keep in the freezer and pull out when friends come over for coffee.

Recipe of the day

Fresh Fennel Salad: sliced fennel with a touch of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, a dash of rice vinegar, s & p, with a hefty sprinkle of pomegranate seeds.

Quinoa stuffed Peppers

Sauteed mushrooms, onions, sundried tomatoes, olives and herbs were added to Quinoa. The peppers then topped with ground Asiago and Parmesan and baked for about 20 minutes at 375.

My version of Coconut Burfee..Philadelphia style

I used 1 brick of regular Philly, 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups coconut, zest of 1 lemon, 1 tsp ground cardamom. In a frying pan melt 1 tspn clarified butter add sugar and stir continuosly until melted add coconut and keep stirring, Once coconut gets heated well add the Philly and keep stirring until it is all melted, add the cardamom and lemon zest. Pour into a 8x8 baking dish lined with parchement, chill then cut into squares, serve and enjoy.

Apple Streudel

Local apples with sugar and spices, easy and delicious.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing

Sugar cookies

Orange Chocolate Ganache with Purple Cats

Fondant bat cake

PCFI Bake Sale this weekend

Maple Cake with Maple Vanilla icing and cute pumpkin design

This weeks Sunday Dinner

Cabbage Rolls

Wild Blueberry pie with trillium pastry design

We picked the berries in Chapleau. I love dishes that look rustic. The taste of wild blueberries brings me back to my childhood when camping with my family.

My Herb Garden

I won again!

My PHILLY Quinoa Casserole with Jalapeno and cilantro made it to the PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESE on-line cook book.

Side dish winner

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Sunday Dinner - Summer Ratatouille

When zuchini is plenty Ratatouille is the way to go. I used 1 large green and yellow zuchini, about 3 tomatoes and seasoned it with my Basil pesto. This recipe will be uploaded soon on my site at sicilianduet.com.

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Gravlax

Thank you chef Alex of Pan Cafe for sharing your wonderful Gravlax recipe with me. It turned out beautiful and my husband really loved them!

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Grilled Tandoori wings

Marinate for 24 hours in yogurt, and a medley of spices. Recipe will be in my cookbook.

Grilled Satay wings

Marinated for 24 hours in a medley of satay spices and lime. Recipe will be in cookbook.

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August 4: Cucumber Avocado Salad

Cucumbers sliced and seeded with Avocado wedges seasoned with fresh lemon, dill, garlic, oregano, wine vinegar, olive oil and S & P

Recipe of the day: Sicilian Duet Potato & Green Bean Salad

This summer salad recipe is an old family favourite and goes well alongside grilled meats.

To make this salad simply boil small red potatoes, steam green beans, add sliced purple onion (nice big chunks), chopped fresh parsley, oregano (when you think you added enough oregano - add more), chives, green onions, salt & pepper, and a quality extra virgin olive oil.
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Recipe of the day: Sicilian Duet Stuffed Figs

I simmered dried figs in a simple syrup with some spices and orange rind to make them tender. Then I flavoured some goat's cheese with honey & balsamic, then stuffed them along with a dried cranberry, a half of a walnut and then topped with the candied orange rind. Before serving drizzle remaining syrup over top and enjoy!

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Inn the Pines with Chef Olaf

What better way to start the weekend then to sample some fine local cuisine followed by a book signing, thanks!

Chef Olaf's salads

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July 31 - Dessert

Simple summer dessert - Peaches from Inn the pines with a local wine and a sprig of mint from my garden. I squeezed a bit of orange juice over top to give it another layer. That is one of the suggestions Chef Olaf made yesterday. 'It's all about the layers'.

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For more recipes go to www.sicilianduet.com

July 16 - Leftover day

What to do with leftovers

I often grill vegetables as a side for many of my meals and today found a quick and innovative way to re-create a dish out of them. I took all of my leftovers...peas, grilled tomato, onion and yellow zuchini. I rolled a piece of puff pastry and drizzled some olive oil on the stretched dough, sliced all the leftover veggies and placed them in the centre of the puff pastry dough. I added some fresh herbs and seasonings then folded the sides in and cut 3 holes into the top, brushed with egg white and baked at 425 for about 20-30 minutes. The results were delicious and the best part is it took minutes to prepare.

'My messy loaf'

When I have leftover or broken Phyllo sheets I just throw them in a bowl with dried fruit, nuts, honey, brown sugar, orange rind, spices and of course butter and mix it all together then shape a loaf onto parchment then transfer to a cookie sheet and bake for about 30 minutes at 350. when it is done I sprinkle some icing sugar over top and then I have a tasty little coffee cake ready to go for when guest pop over.

Olive Loaf

Last year when my husband and I were in Paris I discovered a bakery that made an olive loaf worth going back for. Basic dough with green olives, simple and rustic, and so good. I bought one every day we were there! so when I noticed I had too many olives in my fridge today and had to do something with them I thought of that bakery in Paris. My version is different of course as I believe in expirimenting even with the best recipes. I had some garlic stuffed and pimento olives in the fridge that needed to be dealt with so I took the rest of the puff pastry and did the same thing, just rolled it out and placed the sliced olives in the centre along with some fresh herbs. For this one I actually rolled it then folded the sides up. This made a tasty little appetizer.

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I Love Breakfast

My favourite time of day is the morning when I get to sit out on our back patio sip some Starbucks and mangiare on some simple yet tasty dishes. Kraft makes an amazing coffee as well called Jacobs Kronung.

Fibre cereal with rich yogurt and fresh blueberries

6 minute egg with Lavender & Sea Salt

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Today's Lunch

Seafood Salad - A lovely combination of shrimp, calamari, crab and scallops dressed in Lemon and fresh herbs.

for more recipes go to ....

www.sicilianduet.com

Private tour of Canoe's Kitchen

with Chef John Horne at Canoe

with Chef Robin Howe of Wine Country Catering

Friend and Chef Robin Howe. Here he is cheering me on at the Pasta Sauce contest where I won 1st Place this year!

Fallsview Casino Resort - Pastry Chef Pradeep Dharmawardane

Here is a photo of Fallsview Casino Resort - Pastry Chef Pradeep Dharmawardane at the Food expo facilitating a demonstration on chocolate truffles and then wowing the audience with his edible masterpiece.

Chef Jill St Amour and me at the Food Expo.

The lovely fresh ingredients Chef Amour (what a beautiful name!) used in the Scallop Escabeche recipe she was demonstrating at the food expo.

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Monday 13 March 2017

Homemade Vanilla Extract :)

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Recipe of the day

Quinoa stuffed Peppers

My version of Coconut Burfee..Philadelphia style

Apple Streudel

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing

Sugar cookies

Orange Chocolate Ganache with Purple Cats

Fondant bat cake

PCFI Bake Sale this weekend

This weeks Sunday Dinner

Wild Blueberry pie with trillium pastry design

My Herb Garden

I won again!

Side dish winner

Sunday Dinner - Summer Ratatouille

Gravlax

Grilled Tandoori wings

Grilled Satay wings

August 4: Cucumber Avocado Salad

Recipe of the day: Sicilian Duet Potato & Green Bean Salad

Recipe of the day: Sicilian Duet Stuffed Figs

Inn the Pines with Chef Olaf

~.~.~.~.~.~

July 31 - Dessert

.

What to do with leftovers

'My messy loaf'

Olive Loaf

I Love Breakfast

~ * ~ * ~

Today's Lunch

for more recipes go to ....

Private tour of Canoe's Kitchen

with Chef Robin Howe of Wine Country Catering

Fallsview Casino Resort - Pastry Chef Pradeep Dharmawardane

Chef Jill St Amour and me at the Food Expo.