Kate's Cuisine

For the pastry:

2 cups all-purpose flour $0.44
1 cup shortening $0.44
1 teaspoon salt $0.01
1 egg $0.17
1 tablespoon vinegar $0.03
2 tablespoons cold water Free

For the filling:

1 egg $0.17
1/2 cup brown sugar $0.10
1/2 cup corn syrup $1.50
1 tablespoon butter, melted $0.06
1 teaspoon vanilla $0.22
1 cup raisins $0.75

Total Cost   $3.89

For the pastry:

1.) Blend the shortening and the flour with a pastry cutter, or two knives, until you’ve created a uniform mixture that is crumbly and about the size of frozen peas.

2.) In a separate bowl mix 1 egg, white vinegar, and cold water. Add to shortening and flour mixture. Mix all ingredients together until they are just combined. Do not overmix or overhandle the dough!

3.) Make a ball of the dough, wrap in cellophane, and place in freezer for 10 – 15 minutes. Place dough onto floured surface and roll out until it’s about the thickness of a CD case. Using a cookie cutter or a jar lid, cut out circles from the dough. Press dough circles into muffin tin.

For the filling:

4.) In a seperate bowl mix well: the maple syrup, melted butter, brown sugar, and egg. Add vanilla and stir in raisins.

5.) Spoon filling into pastry until just below rim.

6.) Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes until golden brown.

7.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here

Butter tarts are very Canadian, and this recipe is too; according to All Recipes it came from Cindy Snetsinger in Brantford, Ontario. I changed this recipe only very slightly, to substitute maple syrup for corn syrup. I beg you, do not use corn syrup. For anything, for any reason. It is vile, vile stuff that will turn your insides to glue and cause all kinds of problems. Corn syrup, unfortunately, is in just about everything we buy, including bread, and so avoiding it completely is probably not possible. But, stay away from prepackaged foods as these are bound to have more HFCS (high fructose corn syrup, the especially bad kind) and always try to substitute it in recipes.

I always substitute HFCS with maple syrup and I’ve never run into a problem so far. This recipe was no different. The tarts were a bit runny, but the recipe said they would be. And I still didn’t find them so runny that they weren’t delicious, or hard to eat. This is a great recipe and I’ll pass it on to many more, I’m sure. Not surprisingly, my girls absolutely loved them – and I loved knowing they were much healthier than the ones I’d buy off the shelf.

1 cup vegetable stock $0.50
1 cup water Free
1 cup long grain rice $0.28
2 teaspoon olive oil $0.36
1 onion, diced $0.17
1 clove garlic, minced $0.01
1 green bell pepper, roasted and chopped $0.45
1 red bell pepper, roasted and chopped $0.45
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes, drained    $1.98
1/4 cup green olives, sliced $0.80
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped $0.17
Salt and freshly ground pepper $0.02

Total Cost   $5.19

1.) In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring vegetable stock and water to a boil. Add rice, return to boil, then turn heat to low. Cover saucepan and simmer 15 – 20 minutes until the liquid has just absorbed and rice is tender.

2.) Heat olive oil in a heavy non-stick skillet over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic for 5 – 7 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Stir in green and red peppers and saute another 4 to 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, olives, basil, salt and pepper and simmer another 4 – 5 minutes, stirring occassionally. Add cooked rice to vegetable mixture. Cook until heated through.

3.) Serve and enjoy

Read the review here

I got this recipe from Canadian House & Home and the only thing I changed about it was the stock, so that it could be vegetarian. The next time though, I would definitely skip the olives. They didn’t seem to fit well with the dish and they made it way too salty. I might try Kalamata olives, that might be delicious. Spanish rice is one of my favourite side dishes though, especially because we eat rice quite a bit and changing it up is always good. It’s also really easy and does all come together in the time it takes your rice to cook, under 20 minutes. Something that I always appreciate!

1 pork picnic roast $14.97
12 hamburger buns $1.99
2 tablespoons  vegetable oil $0.14

For the dry rub:
2 tablespoons brown sugar $0.02
1 tablespoon garlic powder $0.39
1 tablespoon onion powder $0.45
1 tablespoon paprika $0.48
1 teaspoon dry mustard $0.03
1 teaspoon chili powder $0.47
Pinch of cayenne pepper $0.01
1 teaspoon black pepper $0.01

For the mop and sauce:
1 cup cider vinegar $0.57
1/4 cup water Free
1 tablespoon brown sugar $0.01
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper $0.12
1/4 teaspoon black pepper $0.01
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes $0.06

Total Cost   $19.74

1.) Combine all of the ingredients for the dry rub and mix thoroughly. Rinse pork roast and pat dry. Coat entire pork roast with the dry rub mixture and massage into roast. Cover roast in a dish or resealable bag and place in fridge for 8 hours or overnight.

2.) Combine ingredients for the mop and sauce in a bowl, jar, or squirt bottle. Mix thoroughly and allow to sit in fridge overnight so flavours can mix completely.

3.) Light coals in smoker and allow flame to extinguish so that the coals are hot, smoking, and ash grey. Remove roast from dish, drizzle with oil, and place in the smoker. Brush or squirt the sauce mixture over pork when first placed into smoker, and then every 45 – 60 minutes until pork is finished cooking. Smoke pork for 6 – 8 hours.

4.) Remove pork from smoker and cover with aluminum foil. Allow to rest for 20 – 30 minutes.

5.) Pull pork apart into shreds with gloved hands or two forks.  Mix with a tiny bit of sauce and pile on hamburger buns.

6.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here

When people rave about North Carolina pulled pork sandwiches, they’re not just talking about any pulled pork, but this particular type of pulled pork that uses a vinegar-based sauce rather than the sloppy tomato-based barbecue sauce that many of us Northerners think of when we think of pulled pork sammys. Personally, I still prefer the tomato-based version, and I do have a recipe for it that I will post shortly.

It’s not only the ingredients in the sauce that set these two different types of sandwiches apart from each other, but also how the sauce is used. I did really like the fact that with the vinegar sauce you can use it as a baste while the pork is in the smoker. But I also found the vinegar taste to be extremely overpowering and really took away from the taste of the pork.

For those who prefer the authentic North Carolina style of pulled pork sandwiches, I do see a certain charm to them. But I think in the future, I’ll only be dipping my picnic roast in ooey-gooey sauce before piling it onto the buns – and the rest of the folks around my dinner table are in agreement with me, making this one an easy call.

2 inside round marinating steaks, cut into strips $7.38
2 tablespoons ground ginger $0.90
1 teaspoon cinnamon $0.15
1 teaspoon nutmeg $0.17
1 teaspoon garlic powder $0.13
1 teaspoon ground mustard $0.03
1 tablespoon soy sauce $0.05
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce $0.12
1 tablespoon honey $0.10
1 tablespoon brown sugar $0.01
2 tablespoons pineapple, finely chopped $0.01
1 leek, cut length-wise and then sliced cross-wise $0.75
2 cups cremini mushrooms, cut in half $2.48
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-size chunks $0.45
3 bunches baby bok choy, washed with ends cut off $2.50
2 cups pineapple, cut into large cubes $3.00
1/2 package dry chow mein noodles $0.50
1 tablespoon sesame oil $0.10
2 tablespoons vegetable oil $0.14

Total Cost   $18.97

1.) In a large bowl whisk together: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic powder, ground mustard, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, honey, brown sugar, finely chopped pineapple, leeks, and sesame oil. Combine thoroughly and then place strips of meat into the marinade; turn to coat thoroughly. Cover and keep in fridge for 2 – 4 hours.

2.) When ready to start cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cover, if desired, until ready to use.

3.) Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, remove strips of meat from marinade and add to skillet, reserving marinade. Cook, stirring regularly for 6 – 8 minutes, until meat is fully browned and starts to become crispy along the edges. When meat is cooked, remove from pan and set aside.

4.) To the pan add the cremini mushrooms and cook for 4 – 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Then to the pan, add the red bell pepper. Cook for another 2 – 3 minutes, then add the baby bok choy. Combine all ingredients in the pan and cook, until bok choy is wilted.

5.) Meanwhile, add dried chow mein noodles to the boiling water. Cook for 3 minutes, then drain.

6.) To the skillet add the beef, 2 cups of pineapple chunks, the reserved marinade, and drained chow mein noodles.

7.) Mix everything in the skillet together thoroughly and cook for 3 – 4 minutes so that all the flavours can combine, stirring regularly.

8.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here