Salads, pasta and mascarpone filled cake!

And we're back! Well, we didn't really go anywhere (yet), I've just missed a couple of dinners and forgot to ask people to document it for me. Hopefully, the next following recipes makes up for the missed entries!

For once, the weather was actually nice, neither humid or rainy, and it was a very good turnout. Especially since Zhadie and her mom came by!

Elisha and sis' arugula, pumpkin seed and strawberry salad
Let's start with a summer salad of arugula, pumpkin seeds and strawberry from Elisha and her sister.

For salad
1 container of arugula
1/2 container of strawberry, sliced
100-150 g of goat cheese
2 T of pumpkin seeds

For dressing
olive oil and balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

1. Slice strawberries.

2. In a bowl, mix arugula, sliced strawberries and pumpkin seeds.

3. Crumble goat cheese into the mix.

3. Add olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Mix.


Purple coleslaw
This recipe is from Danielle and Chris, who are expecting their first child ANY DAY NOW. We're looking forward to meeting baby Moishe when we come back from Europe!

For salad
1 whole purple cabbage (can be substituted by carrots, radish, etc.), sliced

For dressing
1 cup mayo
1/3 cup white vinegar
2 T salt
1 t pepper
juice of half of a lemon

1. Slice the cabbage and put in a salad bowl.

2. Mix all other ingredients into the bowl.

3. Eat right away.

Bread salad
If you have some bread that are starting to go stale, this is a good recipe you can use to salvage them.

For salad
1/2 of a baguette, cut in thin slices
1 container of fresh arugula
6 tomatoes, sliced
1 cucumber, cut in quarters
2 red onions, chopped
2 T capers
4 cloves of garlic, chopped

For dressing
red wine, olive oil and salt and pepper

1. Chop the red onions and put in a heat proof bowl or pan. Pour boiling water on them and let sit for 45 min.

2. Cut the baguette in thin slices and brush with olive oil and chopped garlic.

3. Cut tomatoes into halves then slice, cut cucumber into half lengthwise, then cut into quarters.

4. Mix red wine, olive oil and salt and pepper in a small bowl to your taste.

5. After 45 min, mix all the ingredients into a salad bowl and serve.


Gem Squash from South Africa
Apparently gem squash is not sold or grown in Toronto. You can get your friends to bring over some gem squash next time they are in South Africa. Or do what Jamie did - have friends bring you seeds from South Africa, plant it in your farm then wait a year. Or, substitute zucchinis for them.

a dozen gem squash or 6 zucchinis
olive oil
pepper
butter

1. Heat oven to 350 C or start your grill.

2. Cut your gem squash (or zucchinis) into quarters.

3. Put in a bowl and toss with olive oil and pepper.

4. Gut in oven or grill for 30 min, check intermittently as they might be cooked (stick a fork into it and if it's soft, then it's cooked) earlier.

5. Lather with butter. Mmmmm mmmm mmm.


Pasta with broccoli, cilantro and basil

For salad
1 container of pasta
1 head of broccoli
1 container of cherry tomatoes, sliced

For dressing
olive oil and balsamic vinegar
1 T dijon mustard
1 T honey
1 T chopped basil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1. Cook pasta (follow the instructions on the package).

2. While pasta is cooking, chop broccoli and slice the tomatoes

3. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, garlic and basil.

4. In a salad bowl, mix all ingredients. Can be served warm or cold.


Salad from the New York
When she doesn't have classes, my friend Minh-Huyen will join us for dinner. She recently moved from New York and she likes to remind us that when she comes over and brings recipes from the New York publications ;-)

For dressing

3⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 eggs, hard-boiled, finely chopped

For salad

1 pound gemelli, cooked al dente, rinsed to prevent sticking
6 ounces prosciutto, julienned
1 pound asparagus, peeled, grilled, and thinly cut
1 small bunch of radishes, thinly sliced and crisped in ice water
6 ounces pecorino peppato, shaved
1 small bunch of basil, leaves torn
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. To make the vinaigrette: Add all ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. If necessary, add more vinegar to acidity.

2. To make the salad: put all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss together with the vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Source: New York magazine recipe

Mascarpone filled cake with sherried berries

This next recipe is now a favourite of mine. A friend from grad school recommended it and the fact that it has mascarpone makes it an automatic winner. The only down side is that it only uses half a container of mascarpone. My suggestion is to double the quantity for the mascarpone filling - use half for the filling and the other half to top the cake with. The original recipe states 2 hr prep time, with 45 minute active time but I finished the whole thing in an hour, including clean up. Granted that clean up involved putting the dishes in the dishwasher but that still counts. So, don't be daunted about the time commitment - it's absolutely worth it!

For cake
2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

For berries
1/2 cup Fino (dry) Sherry
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups mixed berries, cut if large

For cream
8 ounces mascarpone (1 cup)
1 cup chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
I suggest you double the quantity for this so you can put a layer of cream on top of the cake as well, it will not disappoint.

Garnish
confectioners sugar

Make cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Line bottom with a round of parchment paper, then butter parchment.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer at low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing after each addition until just combined.

Spread batter in cake pan, smoothing top. Rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.

Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to loosen, then invert onto a plate. Discard paper and reinvert cake onto rack to cool completely.

Macerate berries:
Bring Sherry and sugar to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Put berries in a bowl and pour hot syrup over them, gently tossing to coat. Let stand 15 minutes.

Make cream and assemble cake:
Beat mascarpone and cream with sugar in a large bowl using cleaned beaters until mixture just holds stiff peaks.

Halve cake horizontally with a long serrated knife. Carefully remove top half and reserve. Put bottom half on a plate, then spread evenly with all of cream and replace top half. Serve with berries.

Cooks notes:

• Cake, without cream, can be baked 1 day ahead. Wrap in plastic wrap once cool and keep at room temperature.
  
• Berries can macerate at room temperature up to 2 hours.

Source: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mascarpone-Filled-Cake-with-Sherried-Berries-242873#ixzz0vN2z9zDH