Recipes | Urban Deli

Posted on February 11, 2015 Posted by Urban Deli

Creamy Raisin Rice Pudding Recipe

On Monday I wrote a post about some of my favourite nostalgic childhood foods. I promised to try the rice pudding recipe from my mother and report back, keeping in mind that the last time I had this recipe was 35 plus years ago! So, I made it.

The house smelled great and I couldn’t be happier with the results!

Tasting it was EXACTLY as I remember it as a child. The creamy custard-like topping from the eggs, sugar and vanilla is the key – my blast to the past!

(See more, including the recipe, below the pic.)

Creamy Raisin Rice Pudding

Some like to pour milk on top when it comes out of the oven, but not me. Eat it warm. The hard part was saving some for others.

Speaking of others, I was so excited that it turned out I wanted others to share in my excitement. Others, like my husband who returned home while I was out.

With enthusiasm and eagerness in my voice like a kid at Christmas, I called to tell him that I had just made the rice pudding from my childhood years and it was on the stove. There was laughter in his voice as he said, “I know!”

I immediately asked what was so funny, thinking that he ate most of it because it was so friggin’ good. He said, “I don’t like rice pudding.” My heart sank.

Well, I brushed off my bruised ego of enthusiasm and then took some rice pudding to my business partner Gord’s house for dessert after dinner. He said, “I don’t like rice pudding.”

OMG. Is there anyone who likes it?

So, I brought it into work. With 10 people on staff, finally it was eaten.

What did I learn?

The majority of people I know don’t like rice pudding, bread pudding, or tapioca.

Not everybody gets excited about all foods like I do. (Remember that I ate worm poop in Italy two years ago.)

I eat everything and when I meet fussy or discerning eaters, I don’t get it. I hope you give it a try (if you like rice pudding). Or give it to someone who does.

One substitute for me: All I had was brown rice, which I made but then decided not to use it. Searching my cupboards I found Carnaroli rice in my cupboard. It’s the same as arborio rice or better known as ‘the caviar of rice’…who knew?

Creamy Raisin Rice Pudding

by: Margaret Harriman

Ingredients:

1 cup raisins
1 cup cooked rice
3 cups milk (370 ml can of Carnation Evaporated Milk + 1.5 cups water)
1 Tbsp. margarine
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg (I personally prefer cinnamon)

Directions:

Place raisins and cooked rice in buttered deep dish.
Heat milk and margarine to scalding.
Lightly beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and stir into heated milk.
Then pour over raisins and rice. (do not stir)
Sprinkle with nutmeg and cover with lid.
Set dish in shallow pan surrounded with hot water.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

(This could easily feed 10 for dessert after a meal.)

(This post written by Liz.)

Posted on January 14, 2015 Posted by Urban Deli

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Our Donna Hay Cookbook Night

Just before Christmas I was given the Donna Hay cookbook titled ‘The New Classics.’

While browsing through the cookbook I was in awe of her food photography. One of my first thoughts was if the recipes were half as good as the pictures then this book would be fantastic!

My second thought was how simple things appeared (ingredient lists and the recipes themselves). It reminded me a bit of Michelle’s food shots and recipes at Bite by Michelle.

Two friends also bought the cookbook after browsing through mine and that is what prompted the birth of our Donna Hay Cookbook Night.

Our recipe for getting there…

You have a wine meeting to go through the cookbook in detail (again) and flag all the recipes that appeal to you – most of them did.
Determine any guests with food allergies or diets. (After Christmas, everyone is on a diet.)
Narrowing down your recipes before your wine is gone is no small task. We would have been there for hours discussing the recipes without the wine time limit.
Challenging the person who loves to bake to stay out of the dessert section and stretch themselves. Trying another chapter is always fun.
Reading your recipe in its entirety is critical. Michelle taught me this. Well, actually I learned the hard way and she let me – I just like to dig in.
Now sticking to a recipe is also very difficult (for me). I always want to tweak things before I’ve even tried the original recipe. (It may be confidence, arrogance or ignorance – or a combination of all three!). I hear my sister Michael-Ann’s voice saying ‘just make the recipe the way it should be and then tweak it’. So I did.
We agreed to prepare our dish(es) at home, to the point of just being able to finish them at the host home.

We, the re-creators of the Donna Hay recipes, made a pact to not deviate from her recipe directions. Other than not being able to find yellow zucchini in the middle of winter, we honoured our pact.

Plus, once I fixed my problem of purchasing the wrong ingredients for the wrong recipe, I was well on my way to my chicken dish. (It’s that reading thing I was telling you about.)

These are the recipes we chose to prepare from the Donna Hay cookbook titled The New Classics and each of them was fantastic! 6 out of 6 wins!

Taking photos of our dishes and comparing them to her cookbook’s pictures was a lot of fun … as you can see (below). The cookbook pics are on the left side of the picture and our dishes are on the right. Just in case you couldn’t tell the difference. 🙂

Cauliflower Puree pg. 220 (was served with fish; however, we eliminated the fish)
Chinese Spice Pork Loin Rack pg. 156
Sticky Lime and Ginger Chicken pg. 127
Zucchinni and Mozarella Salad w/ Lemon Vinagrette pg. 268
Porcini Gnocchi with Creamy Mushroom Sauce pg. 52
Coconut Palm Sugar and Bananna Upside Down Cake pg. 343 (We missed this pic)

Cauliflower Puree (page 220 of cookbook)

Chinese Spice Pork Loin Rack (page 256 of cookbook)

Sticky Lime and Ginger Chicken (page 127 of cookbook)

Zucchini and Mozzarella Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette (page 268 of cookbook)

Porcini Gnocchi with Creamy Mushroom Sauce (page 52 of cookbook)

Where Did We Get the Book?

We picked up our copies of The New Classics at Costco. It is also available at Chapters/Indigo. (We couldn’t see it on Amazon except as used copies – and they were pricey.)

Posted on May 29, 2012 Posted by The Deli

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Our fresh lemonade is back!

Urban Deli's fresh, from scratch, lemonade is back! (Photo: iStockphoto) Summer beckons and so does Urban Deli’s Lemonade … Our lemonade is scratch lemonade, refreshing and worth coming in to try (straight up or with a spirit)! And on the theme of lemons … Read on for two fantastic recipes we tried this past weekend that are definitely worth making at home or at the cottage this summer.

But first, a little lemonade trivia.

Where did the phrase, “If life hands you lemons, make lemonade,” come from? It came from the early 1910’s and friends of H. J. Whitley (considered the father of Hollywood) in reference to his transformation of the existing lemon fields of the time into the area now known as Hollywood, CA.

I have a new found love for anything lemon this year, thanks to my friend Joanne. This past week I had two very good friends (Joanne and Henry) visiting from Edmonton. It’s their fourth trip to Saint John and they LOVE IT here!

It’s the people and the sense of community, they tell me. Oh yes … Lobster is also an attraction and their timing is always impeccable for that treat. Thank you to Karen and Kenny at Whitetail Fisheries in Lorneville for the 4 pounder. And yes, we squeezed lemon on our lobster 🙂

We picked up the Occasions Magazine from NB Liquor this week (like I do with every edition that is released) and Joanne made two recipes from it. You won’t be disappointed!

Two refreshing recipes from NB Liquor’s Occasions Magazine

The first was the Frozen Lemon Mousse. (Take out of the freezer 1/2 hour before serving to rest in the fridge or on the counter.)

Frozen Lemon Mousse Recipe

This is a complete “no fuss” dessert. The beauty of serving a mousse like this as a dessert is not only the ease of preparation, but it’s also light. After a big meal, a light dessert is often a welcome respite from dense, heavy cakes.

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 egg whites
2 cups whipping cream

Preparation Method:

Whisk together the egg yolks, lemon zest, the lemon juice and one tablespoon of the sugar.
In a separate bowl, place the egg whites and remaining sugar; beat using an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
In another bowl, whip the cream.
Fold the egg white into the whipped cream, followed by the egg yolk mixture.
Place the mousse in rocks glasses or for a more eclectic look, a variety of glasses.
Place the glasses on a tray and place in the freezer for a minimum of three hours before serving.

Servings: 6

The second recipe is the Classic Lemon Gin Fizz. Ok, I had one too many but they are delicious and refreshing and one was simply not enough. Agian, thank you Joanne for mixing these up!

The other recipe we tried this weekend was the Classic Gin Fizz recipe.

Classic Gin Fizz Recipe

Ingredients:

2 ounces (60 ml) Beefeater London Dry Gin (we used Bombay)
1 ounce (30 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce (30 ml) simple syrup
1 egg white
Soda Water

Preparation Method:

Put the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white in a cocktail shaker filled with ice; shake vigorously.
Strain into an ice-filled rocks or highball glass; top with soda water and garnish with a slice of lemon.

Servings: 1

Enjoy life when it hands you lemons!

Posted on April 8, 2011 Posted by Urban Deli

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Gluten-free quinoa wraps – our recipe

We hope you made it to the Simply For Life (SFL) seminar last night at the Trade and Convention Centre. If you did, you may have seen us. We were one of the many Saint John vendors taking part. Events like this are always full of information and for us it was a nudge to get on something we have in the works: identifying the SFL approved items on our menu.

On the subject of foods, last year when we were at the Fundy Food Festival we served up quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) wraps and they really went over well with everyone. Quinoa is a gluten-free food and we’re posting our recipe (see below).

What’s quinoa?

Quinoa is a grain-like crop grown for its seeds, which are edible. It has a long history as a food source. More significantly, it’s known for a number of valuable properties. Wikipedia tells us quinoa is,

“… Highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.”

Now, here’s our quinoa wraps recipe, via our long time friend Lianne of Exhale Coaching in British Columbia. Thanks Lianne!

Quiona Wraps Recipe

Ingredients

1 cups quinoa (keen-wa)
2 cups water
Lettuce (iceberg, butterhead or romaine)

Method

Combine water and quinoa. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered and cook for 15 minutes.

Marinade

3 tbs ginger, fresh and grated
1 garlic clove minced
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbs cilantro
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs honey
3 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1-2 scallions (optional)

Method

Combine ginger, scallions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, honey and salt. Combine these together and then add the quinoa.

Note: can be served warm or cooled. Next day, it’s even better. Can be served on its own or with a dollop of peanut butter / peanut sauce on each with the lettuce.

Posted on April 1, 2011 Posted by Urban Deli

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Recipe for Italian Wedding Soup

Italian wedding: scene from The Godfather (1972).

You don’t have to be Italian to enjoy Italian Wedding Soup and, with our current weather forecast, you may find it a very tasty way to ward off the chill of the next day or two.

Janet, one of our Urban Deli customers, came by one day and shared a recipe for Italian Wedding Soup with us. Not only that, she also brought in the finished dish and it was wonderful!

It’s great with something as simple as bread sticks, Italian bread or baguette. Of course, a nice wine would be nice too. 🙂

Thank you to Janet for both the recipe and the sample.

Ingredients:

– 6 cups chicken broth
– 1 package mild sausage
– 3 tbsp garlic
– 2 cups celery (chopped)
– 1 large red onion (chopped)
– 1 – 16 oz (300g) frozen spinach (chopped)
– 1/2 – 3/4 cup pearl barley

Preparation:

1 – Remove sausage meat from sleeve and make into meatballs. Sauté with garlic in a frying pan until cooked.

2 – In a large pot, sauté chopped celery, onions and garlic until soft.

3 – Add chicken broth, spinach and barley, sausage meatballs to cooked veggies.

4 – Simmer for 2 hours

Serve with freshly ground parmesan cheese and enjoy!

(Aside: according to Wikipedia, the phrase wedding soup, “… is a mistranslation of the Italian language, minestra maritata (“married soup”), which is a reference to the fact that green vegetables and meat go well together.”)

Posted on November 25, 2010 Posted by Urban Deli

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A word about our BBQ sauce

A couple of weeks ago we came upon a great site for foodies called Plato Putas. We stumbled upon it via Twitter because they had a post titled Trip Report: Saint John, N.B., Restaurants. And guess what restaurant they loved? Yes, the Urban Deli.

And yes, we may be slightly biased in our love of their site. 🙂

One of the things they loved at the Deli was our BBQ sauce so we decided to do something we don’t normally do and mail them a bottle. But that also got us thinking … A lot of people have commented on our sauce, so we thought we’d give you a brief word or two about it.

As with any great tasting sauce or dish, the secret to its success is in the blending and proportions of the herbs and other ingredients — all the elements of flavours that make up the condiment or dish.

Now, we can’t give you a detailed recipe — it wouldn’t be much of a kitchen secret then — but we can tell you that it’s a combination of onion, garlic, chili’s’, sugars, vinegars, and one or two special flavours that are brought together to make our Urban Deli Gluten Free BBQ sauce.

Unfortunately, beyond that we can’t really tell you much without giving the secret away. But if you haven’t tried it yet, please pay us a visit and check it out! We’d love to see you!

Posted on November 16, 2010 Posted by Urban Deli

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Creole Jambalaya – cooking class at the Urban Deli

Creole Jambalaya - photo: laaloosh.com We did it a few months ago; we’re doing it again – a cooking class coming up on a Sunday – November 21, 1:00pm to 3:00pm – with ‘Chef Bob.’ That’s Saint John’s Bob McVicar. The subject of the class? Creole jambalaya!

Traditionally, jambalaya is put together in three main parts involving meats and vegetables, and there are two main types of jambalaya: Creole and Cajun.

There are likely many more, because cooks love variations. We understand that Chef Bob has a Creole jambalaya in mind for us on November 21. If you’re the curious kind, you can read more about jambalaya and its history.

The class at the Urban Deli will be ‘reserved seating only.’ There is a cost — $25 — to help offset some of our costs. But we’ve tried to keep it as minimal as possible. And we ask that you bring your own “to-go” container so you can take away your own sample of the finished dish.

Of course, you’ll also learn how to make this jambalaya and take home a copy of Bob’s recipe.

This should be a lot of fun. If you get thirsty, beverages will be available for purchase: beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks.

If you’re interested in what promises to be a flavorsome and entertaining afternoon, just give us a call at the Urban Deli: 652.3354.

The details one more time:

Cooking class at the Urban Deli
Creole jambalaya with Bob McVicar
Sunday, November 21, 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Cost: $25

We hope you can join us!

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