Tweety Bites (No Bake Cookies)

It has been a cold, damp summer thus far which has given me a bit more time indoors.  Late last week it suddenly turned very hot and humid, bringing a few nasty storms with the change.  I wanted to do a bit of experimenting in the kitchen but didn't want to use the stove or oven.  I came across a recipe for no bake treats and immediately thought it could be tweaked to use hemp hearts.

Hemp hearts are about the size of sesame seeds.  They have a nutty flavour with a firm yet somewhat chewy texture.  Typically they are used to boost the protein content as they contain just over 3 g protein per 10 g (1 tbsp).  Hemp hearts  are also high in omega 3 and 6 polyunsaturated fats.  They can be stored at room temperature but for best taste, they can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

I buy Canadian grown hemp hearts at our local health food store.  They are on the expensive side at $14 for a 454 g (1 lb ) container but it lasts a long time.  I like sprinkling a teaspoon of hemp hearts on top of plain Greek yogurt for breakfast.  

No bake cookies and bars are perfect hot weather treats.  I experimented with hemp hearts to make no bake treats that are not only easy to make but a tasty low calorie, low car, high protein, tasty treat.  I used organic 90% cacao dark chocolate for dipping.  Clearly, I need to practice my dipping skills but overall, I was rather pleased with the results.  The cookies are tasty, with a slightly nutty flavour.  The chocolate adds a nice note.  These are not really sweet cookies but they are tasty. 

Tweety Bites
recipe by:  Garden Gnome

113 g (4 oz) cream cheese
140 g (3/4 c plus 3 tbsp) hemp hearts
1/2 tsp homemade vanilla extract
40 g (1.4 oz) 90% cacao dark chocolate

Soften the cream cheese at room temperature in a small bowl.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Stir in hemp hearts until well mixed.  Roll into 20 equally sized balls.  Place balls on Silpat lined baking sheet.  Flatten balls with fingers.  Cover and place baking sheet in refrigerator for an hour.  Melt chocolate in small bowl place over slightly larger bowl containing boiling water.  Carefully tip the bowl with the melted chocolate and dip each chilled cookie, replacing the dipped cookie onto the Silpat.  Chill.  Remove from Silpat for serving.

Note:  These cookies should be kept in the refrigerator.  I put them in a container to enjoy as desired.

Meatballs with Nidi Capellini

 Pasta is a fun addition to any dish.  It is available in so many shapes, texture, sizes and now colours.  While a large portion of pastas are wheat based with high quality pastas using durum wheat semolina, rice based pastas are also available.  Various colours are derive from the addition of spinach (green), tomato (orangish red), whole wheat (brown), buckwheat (brown) and beets (purplish red).  Low-carb pastas are available as well although they have a bad reputation for poor taste. 

Pastas should be cooked to al dente meaning with bite.   When you bite into a piece of cooked pasta there should be a slight resistance.  In general thinner pastas cook faster.  Angel hair pasta is a long, very thin pasta with a short cook time.  It is available in strands or formed into angel hair nests (nidi capellini).  The nests are dropped into boiling salted water.  A gentle stir may be needed but avoid if possible so the nests keep their shape.  Once the nidi capellini is cooked, carefully remove it from the pot using a wide slotted spoon.  Allow to drain on the spoon then place on a plate or in a bowl to add the toppings for serving.

The inspiration for this delicious soup came from the picture on the cover of Food & Drink (Winter 2010).  The pasta looked like angel hair nests in a beef broth topped with chopped tomatoes and green onions.  I started about my creation without looking at the recipe until I started to write the blog post.  My dish was quite a bit different in that I didn't use soba noodles or mirin.  Rather I used angel hair nests and added homemade meatballs and sliced mushrooms.  The end result was quite delicious!  I thought the dish had nice eye appeal served in shallow bowls to show off the nidi capellini.

Meatballs with Nidi Capellini

6 c homemade beef stock
1 c homemade tomato stock
1½ lb lean ground beef
¼ c milk
½ tsp garlic pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
½ lb sliced white mushrooms
½ tsp browning
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to taste
2 nidi capellini per person
2 green onions
3 - 4 chopped home canned (or store bought) whole tomatoes

Mix garlic pepper into ground beef then pour in milk and mix well.  Form into 1 - inch diameter meatballs.  Heat olive oil in fry pan then add meatballs.  Cook until well browned.  Use a slotted spoon to remove the meatballs to slow cooker.  Add butter to reserve liquid in fry pan and add mushrooms.  Cook until caramelized.  Pour mushrooms over meatballs.  Pour in stocks then add browning, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaf.  Turn slow cooker to high and cook for 2 hours.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook nidi capellini to al dente in boiling salted water.  Remove nidi capellini with wide slotted spoon allowing it to drain in the spoon.  Place two nidi capellini per person in shallow soup bowl.  Spoon about 2 tbsp chopped tomatoes over the nidi capellini.  Ladle soup mixture over the pasta and tomatoes.  Garnish with thinly sliced green onions.

Seafood Lettuce Wraps

Ontario has been under a heat wave since Sunday and it is not predicted to end until this Friday.  Preparing a no-cook or minimal-cook meal is always important on days like this to minimize any heat in house.  If you are using air conditioning cooking taxes it more and if you don't have air condition extra heat and humidity from cooking does not help.  Tuesday (July 6) it was really too hot to even grill.  I decided on a minimal-cook meal.

Dinner consisted of seafood lettuce wraps, peeled pre-cooked frozen shrimp and deviled eggs.   The only thing that required cooking were the eggs for deviled eggs and egg salad for lunch the following day.   The method for cooking hard boiled eggs that I use requires only bringing the water to a boil with the eggs cooking to perfection it the covered pan during the sitting period.    It was a light, refreshing meal for a hot summer evening.

Seafood Lettuce Wraps

1 can (5 oz/142 g) solid white albacore tuna
1 can (4 oz/120 g) chunk crab meat
4 - inch piece of English cucumber, chopped
2 tbsp green pepper, chopped
2 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
¼ tsp celery seed
⅓ - ½ c MiracleWhip® salad dressing
1 leaf of lettuce per wrap*


Prepare cucumber, green pepper and red onion.  Place in mixing bowl.  Add celery seed.  Drain tuna and crab meat. Pour the tuna and crab meat into the vegetables mixing well.   Add the desired amount of MiracleWhip® to get a nice spoonable mixture that isn't too runny.  Cover and chill the seafood mixture for about 20 minutes.  Wash and pat dry lettuce leaves. Spoon seafood mixture into the centre of each lettuce leaf.  Roll up the lettuce wrap style.  Cut in half then serve.
Yield: 4 - 6 wraps

*Leaf lettuce is idea for wraps but iceberg lettuce works well to, giving a bit of a refreshing crunch to the wrap.

Chicken Portobello

I can remember the first time I saw portobello mushrooms in a grocery store. At that time they were considerably more expensive than the common mushrooms. I bought one to use in my first attempt at making beef burgundy. The dish itself was a disaster beyond being edible but I learned the valuable lesson to never cook with a wine I wouldn't drink. Sometimes cooking lessons are hard learned! Over the years our preference has remained the common white mushroom. We do use a lot of them not only fresh but home preserved (some ways here). Not only are mushrooms low in calories they are high in vitamin B, potassium and phosphorus.

Chicken Portobello

A few years ago I began experimenting more and more using portobello mushrooms. I find these meaty, flavourful mushrooms are even more versatile than the common mushroom so watch this blog for more ways we enjoy this wonderful mushroom. Unlike the common mushroom I have not canned portobello mushrooms but I have dried then both as pieces and powdered.

When we were at Sam's Club on Saturday I bought 4 lovely portobello mushooms. Normally I do not like to buy mushrooms in plastic wrapped trays because moisture tends to make mushrooms tough and rubbery but also because this type of packaging is not environmentally friendly. I made an exception since these were such lovely looking mushrooms. As you know two of the mushrooms were made into very tasty portobello pizzas. Last night I used the remaining two mushrooms to make chicken portobello using a mushroom chicken sauce I often serve over rice or egg noodles. The result was a wonderfully rich and creamy yet very filling entrée.

Chicken Portobello

2 lg portobello mushrooms
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can condensed mushroom soup*
½ can skim milk
500 ml jar home canned green beans
125 ml (½ c) chicken stock
1 tsp Montreal Steak seasoning
1 tbsp butter
sour cream (optional)

Heat a little oil in a fry pan. Sear chicken breasts on both sides. Remove chicken breasts from pan and deglaze pan with chicken stock. Cut chicken breasts into cubes then put back into the pan. Sprinkle with seasoning. Stir in mushroom soup and milk. Bring to a simmer. Cover and let cook about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover and let sauce reduce to half. Stir in the green beans to heat through.

While chicken is simmering, heat oven to 350ºF. Place mushrooms gill side up on Silpat® lined baking sheet. Melt butter. Brush onto the mushroom using a pastry brush. Bake until cooked through about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place in centre of plate. Top with the chicken mixture. Garnish with a teaspoon of sour cream if desired.

* Although we do not use condensed mushroom soup as a soup I keep a good supply on hand for making creamy mushroom sauces. Homemade mushroom soup is often used for the same purpose either fresh or frozen.