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D is for Dinner: July 2011 Archives

Wednesday July 27, 2011

D is for Dinner celebrates blueberry season

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photo (C) Leena Mikkonen-Young 2011, all rights reserved.

 

"Fruit delight" muffin recipe:

prepare oven at 300 f
prepare 2 trays of 12 muffins ( your choice of stone, plastic or large paper cups)
use second rack from the top to put the muffins on
 
set aside for the end your choice of berries. We put in all 3 ingredients.
 1   cup of blueberries
 1   cup of raspberries
 1/4 cup of crushed walnuts ( optional )
 
step 1:
mix in separate bowl:
3 ½  cups of flour
1/8  tsp salt (optional)
3    tsp of baking powder
2    tsp of baking soda
set aside
 
step 2: 
mix in another separate bowl: 
1 cup of butter or margarine
1 ½ cup of sugar or(3/4 cup of honey;add 2/3 tsp of soda; decrease liquid by 4 tbsp)
add:
4  X large beaten eggs
mix
 
step 3: 
in separate bowl
mash 6 large ripe bananas
 
step 4: 
mix all ingredients with fork -- your texture will be slightly thick. this is where you would add your nuts.
 
step 5:
Fill your muffin tray only half way. Add your blueberries and raspberries; now top up with the rest of your muffin mix. 
 
step 6: oven
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes depending on your oven. The muffins should be lightly golden on the top. 
 

recipe courtesy Hector Dignard Blueberry and Raspberry Farm

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Categories: D is for Dinner

Thursday July 21, 2011

D is for Turkish Dinner

turkishfest.jpgIf you head to Confederation Park for the Ottawa Turkish Festival this weekend, you can see folk dancing, listen to some traditional music, maybe check out the Whirling Dervishes...You can also line up for the well-known Turkish dishes like kababs and donairs. But for those who really know their Turkish cuisine, Gözleme will also be on the menu. It's a kind of Turkish pancake, recognizable by the long assembly line of people putting the time-consuming dish together.

Tuba Tas and Seyza Celik are two of the people helping out with the festival, and they joined us in studio to share the secrets of making Gözleme.

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Categories: Columnists, D is for Dinner

Thursday July 14, 2011

D is for Dinner: a whole lot of roti for those with the blues

mugena.jpgFor the past 14 years, Ottawa Bluesfest has been an event Merle Alhassan has marked on her calendar. In fact, she's up every morning of the festival to prepare for it. But she rarely actually attends Bluesfest. She's too busy rolling out dough, and simmering curries in her kitchen.

Merle Alhassan's Carribean cuisine has become a staple at the Bluesfest concession area over the years. She and her husband are the owners of Mugena's restaurant on Richmond road. On Wednesday, we called up Merle to see how many hundreds of rotis she's managed to churn out so far.

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Categories: Columnists, D is for Dinner