Sweet and Spicy Cauliflower Bites

I am currently home in Halifax for a few months to wait out the winter, so I’ve been enjoying cooking for my parents again. I live alone in Toronto and knew that the winter would be tough in the pandemic without … human contact. While I am home my mom and I are trying to eat more plant-based meals coming off the holidays, which involved a lot of meat and pastries, and pastry wrapped meat. These cauliflower bites are the perfect veggie appetizer, snack or main (paired with a big salad).

Cauliflower has become really trendy in the last few years but I’m kind of ok with it. I find it super filling, and these bites are no exception. It’s also a blank canvas that can take on pretty much any flavour. I also love how cauliflower can become so creamy when cooked through, and these bites pair that creamy texture with a crispy, slightly chewy exterior. 

I am borderline obsessed with these cauliflower bites. I love that they are made in one bowl, and the texture they get without oil or frying makes me very happy. I hate when you have to set up an intense dredging station to get something breaded (one bowl for egg, one bowl for flour, one bowl for crust). It’s worth the effort but sometimes you just don’t want to put in the effort, ya know?

The key to these cauliflower bites is the biscuit-like batter, that when cooked for a super long time gets crispy and holds up against the sauce. The batter completely coats the cauliflower, seeping into all the little crevices, making an almost fritter meets cauliflower bite… bite. 

There are a lot of different directions you could take these bites - Franks Red Hot Sauce paired with ranch to go traditional buffalo style; I am also going to try them out with some spices added to the batter (like chili powder and cumin) to use for cauliflower tacos. But today’s recipe is inspired by flavours of the Vietnamese sauce nuoc cham. Typically nuoc cham includes water so this is a bit more concentrated. I also added in melted butter to allow the sauce to emulsify, helping it coat the cauliflower more evenly and added a bit of richness. The sauce is tangy, sweet and spicy. Topping with fresh herbs or sliced green onion adds some freshness to finish them off.

A few tips:

• Spread out the cauliflower on the cookie sheet to ensure it gets nice and crispy. If you overcrowd the pan, the bites will steam - you need enough space to let the air circulate

• 45 minutes feels like a long time in the high heat but don’t take them out sooner! You want them to deeply cook. They may have some brown bits and that’s ok! That’s just extra flavour.

To serve:

• Best served fresh out of the oven and tossed in the sauce.

• They will keep ok in the fridge, but they may lose some of their crunch the next day but will still be very flavourful. If you can reheat in a toaster oven or the oven vs. the microwave, that will preserve some of the texture.

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Sweet and Spicy Cauliflower Bites

Serves 4-6 appetizer style

15-minute prep, 45-minute cook time

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower, leaves and stem removed, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup panko

1 egg

1/2 tsp kosher salt

½ cup water or milk

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp fish sauce (my favourite brand is Red Boat)

1 tsp sriracha (or other hot sauce/chilli sauce like sambal oelek)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Juice of 1 lime (roughly 2 tbsp)

Optional toppings: fresh herbs (basil, mint) or green onions

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Prepare a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or line with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the batter ingredients until smooth - should look like a drippy/loose biscuit batter.

3. Add in your chopped cauliflower and toss to coat. Ensure you toss well - you want every little crevice of the cauliflower to be coated.

4. Place the coated cauliflower onto the prepared cookie sheet one at a time, in one layer, with plenty of space between each piece.

5. Bake for 45 minutes, until they get really dark and crispy. You can flip them over partway through to ensure both sides crisp up.

6. Meanwhile, prep the sauce. In a microwave-safe bowl add the honey and butter. Melt in the microwave. Add in the fish sauce, hot sauce and lime juice, whisking until well emulsified. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper!

7. When the cauliflower is done take it out of the oven and put them in a large heat-safe bowl. Pour over the sauce and toss the cauliflower until they are evenly coated.

8. Serve on a platter topped with any soft fresh herbs you have on hand (ex. Basil, mint) and sliced green onion.

Spanakopita (Leek and Spinach Cheese Pies)

I absolutely love Greek food. My mom and I used to always go to Greek restaurants as our mother-daughter dates growing up, and when I moved to Toronto in 2015 I happened to move to Greektown. Through the years I mastered when to cross the street so that I wouldn’t be on the same side as the tavernas with spinach and cheese pie in the window. It was too hard not to stop in and pick up a $3 slice to take home. I love making this recipe when I have a weekend afternoon free - they take a bit of prep and assembly, but they freeze super well (uncooked) which makes them a handy little snack for future-you or easy entertaining! These are perfect as an appetizer or pair with a big salad for a veggie main. As you have probably picked up from other recipes, I love leeks dearly and prefer them in the filling here, but you could always swap for white onion. 

A few tips:

Frozen vs Fresh spinach

I would definitely use frozen spinach over fresh for this recipe. I don’t think fresh is worth the effort here, plus it will save you money! You need the spinach cooked, so may as well use the already cooked stuff! The only thing to watch out for is the water content of the frozen spinach once you defrost it. You really want to get as much water out of it as possible otherwise you’ll have soggy spanakopitas. Here is how I prep the frozen spinach:

• Ideally, I take it out of the freezer when I take out the phyllo pastry (2-3 hours prior to assembly)

• If after 2 hours on the counter it hasn’t fully defrosted, I put it in a bowl to let it fully defrost in the microwave. 

• I then pour into a fine-mesh sieve and allow the water to drain into a bowl below.

• I use the back of a spoon to push on the spinach and squeeze out as much water as possible!

• You could also use cheesecloth to do this, but this saves your hands from getting spinach juice all over them!

Fresh herbs vs dried herbs

If you don’t have fresh herbs, you can also omit these! Or you could sub in dried herbs. I would do 3 tbsp of dried herbs instead of ½ cup of fresh since dried herbs are generally more concentrated in flavour.

How to Freeze

If you plan on baking them within a few days, you could store them uncooked in the fridge. I prefer to freeze the ones I am not baking immediately. To freeze, I place them in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours. Once they are fully frozen, I then put them into a freezer-grade plastic bag or sealed container. Freezing them first in a single layer will ensure they don’t stick together in the freezer.

Serving

These are best served fresh from the oven, but after they are baked they will keep well at room temperature for 1 hour, so they do make for perfect party food. 

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Spanakopita (Leek and Spinach Cheese Pies)

Yields 24-36 small (three-bite) individual pie triangles

Note: this recipe will use roughly half a package of phyllo pastry. If you’d like to use the full package, double the recipe! Or use the leftovers to make half a baklava recipe in an 8x8 pan - this is my go-to recipe!

Ingredients:

1 package of frozen, cooked spinach, thawed

1 package of frozen phyllo pastry, thawed

1 leek, sliced thinly (white part only)

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp olive oil

½ cup fresh herbs - I prefer dill, but parsley can also be used

2 cups of feta cheese, crumbled

1 egg

Salt and pepper to taste

For assembly:

Approx ½ cup - ¾ cup melted butter (to brush on phyllo)

Method:

Pre-prep:

• Minimum 2 hours prior to starting, remove your phyllo pastry from the freezer to allow it to defrost.  This is also a good time to take your spinach out to defrost.

Making the filling:

• Heat a pan to medium heat and add in the butter and olive oil. Add in your sliced leeks, saute until buttery and soft - approximately 8 mins. Season leeks with salt and pepper. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature (if you mix it in too hot it will cook your egg!)

• Drain spinach really well by pressing it with the back of a spoon in a strainer. Once well-drained, put the spinach onto a cutting board and run your knife through the packed spinach a few times to chop it roughly. Add the chopped spinach to a large bowl.

• To your large bowl with the spinach, you can add your feta, fresh herbs and cooled leeks. Mix together until everything is well distributed. Take a little taste - does it taste good? Does it need more salt? Maybe some pepper? Taste and adjust the seasoning until it tastes yummy.

• Once you are happy with the seasoning, crack in one egg and mix it into your filling mixture.

The Assembly:

• Set up your assembly station: you’ll need melted butter, a pastry or bbq brush, a pizza cutter or sharp knife, and a cutting board

• While you are assembling I recommend putting a damp clean kitchen towel on top of the phyllo pastry so it doesn’t dry out.

• Take a sheet of phyllo. Brush half of the sheet with melted butter and fold the other half over. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut the now half-sized sheet into 3 long strips (or 2 if you want them to be bigger).

• Place a heaping tablespoon of filling at the end of the strip, and brush butter over the rest of the strip. Fold over the filling from the bottom corner to the top of the strip, forming a triangle. Then continue to fold the triangle repeatedly down the strip until all the phyllo is used (This is hard to explain so I have saved a video to my Instagram story highlights!).

• Repeat for all of your strips until all of the filling is used. 

• Once all of your pies are assembled, you can either freeze for later or bake right away.

• To bake, preheat the oven to 350F. Place spanakopitas on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet 1 inch apart and bake until golden brown on top, approximately 15 mins. 

  • From frozen they take 20-25 mins.

Mushroom Tourtiere

Meat pies have always been a Christmas tradition in our house. I remember my grandmother used to make rabbit pies on Christmas Eve - she always told me my piece of pie was from the “chicken” pie, bless her. As I got older and more interested in cooking, as well as our Acadian background, I started making tourtieres to enjoy on December 23rd. A new tradition was born, and each year the “tourtiere” night grew as well. One of my dear friends who attends every year is vegetarian, so I’ve been playing around with a veggie tourtiere recipe for the past few Christmases. I wanted it to have the same warming flavour as tourtiere, and for the filling to have a similar texture. The different mushrooms add savouriness, and the variety of nuts add texture (and nuttiness!). Since mushrooms and nuts can be a bit one-note in flavour, I have added a balsamic maple reduction to drizzle over the filling right before it’s baked so that every bite tastes a little different. Some bites you’ll get the reduction, others will just be mushrooms. A new adventure every time! 

Tips for the pie

Cut everything into equal sizes

To replicate the texture of a pie with ground meat, I try to cut my mushroom, celery, leeks and nuts into relatively equally small pieces. This gives it a bit of a crumbly texture, and then the grated potato with the broth helps hold the filling together.

Do not disturb the mushrooms

Mushrooms have the ability to get a deep brown colour to them if they aren’t fussed with too much. Once you add in your mushrooms to the pan, walk away! It’s always tempting to stir and move around food in a pan, but letting the mushrooms sit undisturbed will allow them to get a nice, deep colour (which means more flavour!).

Serve it with a nice, bright salad

The pie is pretty heavy, so a bright, acidic salad will pair well with this. My Go-To Winter Salad is a perfect partner. Even some simple arugula dressed with lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper would be great! 

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Mushroom Tourtiere

Makes 1 x 8 inch pie, or 2 x 4 inch mini pies

2 hours total, assuming your pie crust dough is ready/chilled

Ingredients:

Filling:

1-2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

3-4 cups of diced mixed mushrooms - (I did 1 portobello mushroom, 1 large oyster mushroom and 1 pint of shiitake)

2 celery stalks, finely diced

1 leek, sliced

¼ cup chopped pecans

¼ cup chopped walnuts

½ tsp dried thyme

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

⅛ tsp ground clove

⅛ tsp ground nutmeg

1 potato, grated

⅓ cup vegetable broth

2 pie crusts (here are my two go-to recipes: all butter or butter/shortening)

Optional: balsamic maple reduction

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp maple syrup

Optional: egg wash

1 egg

2 tsp water

Method:

Make the filling:

1. In a cast-iron pan or frying pan, heat 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.

2. Add in your leek and celery, cooking for 3-5 mins until softened. Season with a pinch of salt.

3. Add in your mixed mushrooms. DO NOT DISTURB. Allow to brown on one side for 4-5 mins before stirring. Then DO NOT DISTURB. If you move mushrooms too much they release liquid and steam vs. brown. Once your mushrooms are perfectly browned, move to the next step.

4. Add in your chopped nuts and spices, giving a gentle stir to allow everything to mix together. This is where you could add in the extra 1 tbsp of butter if needed.

5. After everything is nice and toasty (3-5 mins), add in your grated potato and vegetable broth. Stir to distribute the potato throughout the filling and cover with a lid for 8-10 mins, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the potato is cooked.

6. Taste and adjust seasoning - does it need more salt? More pepper perhaps? Continue to taste and season until it tastes yummy. Set aside.

Make the balsamic maple reduction:

• Bring balsamic vinegar and maple syrup to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Keep an eye on it. It will eventually start to thicken, around the 5-minute mark. Remove from heat.

To assemble the pie:

• Fit the pie crust into the 8-inch pie pan.

• Add in your mushroom/nut/potato filling. Drizzle the balsamic maple reduction on top of the filling.

• Top with the second pie crust, sealing your edges and crimping in the style you prefer. 

• Cut three air holes into the top of the pie.

• Place the pie in the fridge for minimum 30 mins to allow the pie crust to firm up again. If you put a warm pie crust in the oven you will have a shrunken pie!

To bake the pie:

• Preheat oven to 375F.

• In a bowl whisk together 1 egg with 2 tsp of water. Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash.

• Bake pie for 45 mins - 60 mins until the crust is evenly golden on top and bottom!

• Serve warm with maple syrup.

Sweet and Spicy Cheeseball

I feel like the official sign of the holiday season is when cream cheese goes on sale at the grocery store. So many recipes growing up started with cream cheese - this cheeseball being my favourite. I have such a natural sweet tooth so I love how this recipe has the sweetness from the pineapple balanced with the tang and spice of the other ingredients. If you have pineapple-adverse people in your life, do not fret! It doesn't taste *like pineapple* - since you use crushed pineapple, it evenly distributes into the mixture to add subtle sweetness throughout vs straight-up pineapple flavour. The green onion adds savouriness, the red pepper adds some bite, and the Worcestershire sauce adds the tang. Tabasco is the final piece to bring this together with a lingering heat that makes you want to come back for more. 

After much testing, I’ve determined that this does in fact freeze! If it’s just you and your household this holiday season, stock your freezer with mini-cheeseballs for a special night in treat.

About the ingredients

Canned crushed pineapple

You want to make sure you are draining the pineapple super well before mixing into the cheeseball, otherwise you’ll have more of a spread instead of a firm cheese ball*. To drain, you can use a fine-mesh strainer and press on the pineapple with a spoon to push out the extra liquid, or you can put it in cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the liquid.

*Honestly, making a spread instead of forming into a cheeseball is a delicious, easier alternative. Sometimes I just put the “cheeseball” mixture in a bowl and call it a “spread”. 

Cream cheese

I buy the blocks of cream cheese to ensure the cheese ball can firm up. The spreadable cream cheese also works but you will have trouble keeping its shape. Again, the worst-case scenario is you make a “cheese ball spread” that you top with nuts, which honestly is a pretty delicious worst-case scenario.

Cheese

Make sure you choose a cheddar cheese with some oomph to it, like old cheddar. You want your cheese to add flavour and bite to balance the pineapple.

Nuts for the coating

I use whatever tree nuts (read: anything but peanuts) on hand to coat the outside. If you feel like adding an extra layer of flavour, you can toast your nuts before chopping them. I prefer to toast nuts in the oven (350F for 5-8 mins - when they smell toasty they are done!) to avoid burning. Anytime I toast nuts on the stove I inevitably forget about them and burn them.

How to store:

In the fridge: 

The cheeseball will be good in the fridge for 3-5 days. I prefer to wait to do the coating so it doesn’t get soggy, so I store it in the fridge tightly wrapped in saran wrap until just before serving. You could do the coating an hour before serving, place it on your serving plate, and loosely cover it with saran wrap to save you from having a mess when guests arrive!

To freeze:

This cheeseball freezes well which is truly a dream! You can make the cheeseballs well ahead of time and then just take them out of the freezer the morning of. Because of the pineapple, there might be a little bit of liquid in the saran wrap when it defrosts. That’s ok! Once you toss it in the nuts this extra liquid will get absorbed. Plus, if you properly drain and squeeze out the liquid from the pineapple, you shouldn’t have too many issues.

To defrost on the counter: it will take about 2 hours at room temperature to defrost. You can then store it in the fridge until ready to serve!

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Sweet and Spicy Cheeseball

Yields 2-4 cheeseballs, depending on size

3 hours needed for prep to serving, only 20 mins of active work

Ingredients:

2 packs cream cheese, room temperature

1.5 cups old cheddar cheese, shredded and lightly packed

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

2 green onions, small dice, to yield ¼ cup 

½ red pepper, small dice, to yield ½ cup 

½ cup canned crushed pineapple, well drained

½ tsp onion powder 

½ tsp garlic powder  

1-2 tsp tabasco, or other vinegar based hot sauce (1 tsp is lightly spiced, 2 tsp has some kick - anywhere in between is medium spice!)

½ cup chopped nuts of your choice (pecans, almonds, walnuts) per cheeseball - up to 1 ½ cups needed

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. At least an hour before you start making your cheeseball, take your cream cheese out of the fridge! You want it to be truly room temperature, otherwise it will be difficult to properly mix it together.

2. In a large bowl, combine your ingredients. Mix until well combined. I use a sturdy spatula to stir and mix together, but some people like to use an electric hand mixer. I find this breaks up the cheese a lot so I prefer to do it by hand.

3. Once combined, divide into portions to make your cheeseballs. This year, I am making smaller versions since we are gathering in small groups but here are basic measurements:

   ¾ cup for small cheese ball - good for a gathering of 4 people, yields 3-4 cheeseballs

   1 cup for medium cheese ball - good for a gathering of 6-8 people, yields 2-3 cheese balls

   1.5 cups for large cheese ball - good for a gathering of 8+ people, yields 2ish cheeseballs

4. I wrap the cheese ball tightly in saran wrap and let them set in the fridge for a minimum 1 hour before serving. If I’m saving for a future event, I freeze and then let it thaw on the counter the day of (more on this in the above article).

5. Before serving, combine finely chopped nuts with a pinch of salt and good crack of pepper in a bowl. Toss the cheese ball in the coating and serve!

Mom's Whipped Shortbreads

These are my favourite Christmas cookies. They are super simple and they just melt in your mouth. Perfect with afternoon or after-dinner tea. I like making them small because they are basically just sugar, butter and flour. They are best as a one or two-bite treat! The best thing about these cookies is they are only 4 ingredients, all of which you probably have on hand. They do take some time to firm up after they are baked so I recommend making them at least the day before you plan on serving them to ensure they aren’t too delicate to touch. 

Here are a few common questions on these cookies:

Do I need a stand mixer to make them?

No, but you definitely need an electric hand mixer if you don’t! I think it would be pretty difficult to achieve the fluffy texture you need with just hand mixing. But maybe you are stronger than me!

 Can I use unsalted butter for these?

You could but I recommend using salted butter as it is already perfectly seasoned throughout. Since this cookie has very few ingredients, this is one of the few times I recommend using salted butter instead of unsalted. Usually, I prefer unsalted because you can control the level of seasoning yourself. If you did use unsalted butter, I would add 1 tsp kosher salt.

Do I need to use cherries on top?

No, those are totally optional! I like the festive touch they add but you could do them plain, or go crazy with sprinkles. Just be gentle with toppings as you don’t want to press out any of the air you’ve built up in the dough.

Can I halve the recipe?

Absolutely. This makes about 6 dozen small cookies. All of the measurements are easily halved, so go right ahead. The cookies do freeze well if you want to make the full batch and save some for future you.

Can I pipe these cookies, or use a cookie press?

Maybe? I actually am not confident in this answer so do let me know if you experiment with them! I personally think they are cute and charming as little imperfect blobs. 

 My cookies are falling apart when I touch them!

Be patient with letting them cool. Honestly, even the first day they can be pretty delicate. Once they are fully cooled the cookies are much easier to handle. I prefer to store them in the fridge (or winter garage which is basically a fridge) because I like them cold, but that also helps keep them firm.

 How should I store the cookies?

I prefer the shortbreads cold but they keep well on the counter as well. I like to line my container with wax paper and place a piece of wax paper between each layer of cookies. I find the wax paper protects the cookies if they get moved around at all, and it’s not rough on them so they stay intact better. These also keep well in the freezer.

• Counter/room temperature: 4 weeks in an airtight container

• Fridge: 4-6 weeks in an airtight container

• Freezer: up to 3 months

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Mom's Whipped Shortbreads

This recipe makes about 6 dozen small cookies. You can halve it easily if you want less.

1 - 1.5 hour total prep and bake time

Ingredients:

1 lb or 454g of salted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 cup icing sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

6-8 Maraschino cherries (if desired)

Method:

1. Cream together the butter, cornstarch and icing sugar for 1-2 mins until well combined using a stand mixer or hand mixer on medium speed.

2. Scrape down the sides and add in flour. Start on a low setting until the flour is incorporated and then turn up to medium-high speed for 15 mins. The mixture should almost double in size and look fluffy and cloud like.

3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (TIP: I prefer to use two cookie sheets so I can put one tray in as soon as the other comes out)

4. Dice maraschino cherries into 6ths and pat dry with a paper towel.

5. Drop 1 heaping teaspoon worth of cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. Place cookies 1 inch apart. Try not to disturb the cookie dough too much as you don’t want it to lose air.

6. Place a piece of cherry on top of each cookie and gently push it into place.

7. Bake for 10 mins until the bottom is lightly golden. The top of the cookie should not colour much.

8. Allow to cool on the sheet for 1-2 mins before transferring to a cooling rack. The cookies are very fragile until fully cooled - it takes 30-45 mins for them to fully firm up.

9. Repeat until all of the cookies are baked.

10. Store cookies in a container lined with wax paper on the counter or in the fridge (I personally love them cold!)