baked bison-stuffed shells

buffalo! so i was pretty pumped to pickup some organic lean ground bison at the local farmers’ market. i’ve experimented with bison in my kitchen a few times before — check out my previous recipes for sauerkraut bison sliders and peppadew bison meatballs. i thought i’d try a bison bake this time around…

the bison:
- heat up extra-virgin olive oil in a large saucepan at high heat
- slightly brown 2 cloves garlic (peeled, minced) in pan
- add 500g organic lean ground bison (divided) to pan
- season evenly w/ 1 tsp quatre epices
- add a dash of sea salt
- season w/ ground black peppercorns
- stir regularly & cook bison until meat is browned and cooked through (no longer pink/red in hue)

the shells:
- boil 1/2 bag of giant pasta shells until al dente

(tip: if you’re tight on prep time, best to start boiling the pasta shells before you start cooking the bison.)

prep stuffing:
- 4 heirloom tomatoes (rough chop)
- fresh french tarragon (finely chopped)
- 1 cup crimini mushrooms (washed well, sliced)
- 300g queso fresco (grated)

pizza sunny-side-up

sunny-side-up? say wha?! rise & shine, my friends. yes, that is a pizza with an egg on it. call it breakfast, call it brunch, call it a midnight snack. call it what you want. :)

i’m a big fan of breakfast-for-dinner, so what better way to enjoy it than to combine fried eggs and pizza — two of my favorite things.

two free-range eggs, a homemade yogurt-based, dijon pizza sauce, and some fresh pizza dough from itza bakeshop made for a fantastic base for this culinary experiment.

- preheat oven to 400F

prep the dough:
- sprinkle some whole-wheat flour on a clean surface before rolling out the fresh pizza dough
- using a rolling pin, flatten out the dough into a thin, round pie
- sprinkle some more flour on the dough pie, flip over before applying the rolling pin again
- place the prepped dough pie on a pizza stone (at room temperature) or a lightly-greased, round baking pan

prep the sauce:
whisk together the following ingredients in a small prep bowl:
- 2-3 tbsp low-fat, plain yogurt (instead of traditional pizza sauce)
- 2 tbsp fresh french tarragon (stems removed, leaves finely chopped)
- dollop of dijon mustard
- dash of sea salt
- season w/ ground black peppercorns

prep the toppings:
- 2 free-range eggs (cooked separately, sunny-side-up)
- 1 cup organic cherry tomatoes (sliced into halves)
- 1 cup organic mixed greens
- 75-100g queso blanco (grated)
- 1/4 cup green onions or scallions (rough chop, rooted stems removed)
- 1 tbsp fresh french tarragon (stems removed, leaves finely chopped)

apricot & chicken apple sausage pizza

for the record, the pink peppercorns on this pizza were inspired by don cherry’s pink floral blazer à la stanley cup final. :) 

yes, i’m canadian. and yes, i love the good ol’ hockey game. and what better way to (peacefully) celebrate tonight’s stanley cup final than with some homemade pizza and some local beer. although the canucks didn’t bring home the cup tonight, it’s still a fun annual tradition to watch a bunch of happy, grizzly-bearded dudes on skates hollering and hoisting the stanley cup in victory on the ice. well done, boys.

ok, back to the pizza… :)

some fresh pizza dough from itza bakeshop made for a fantastic base in tonight’s culinary experiment. add some organic chicken apple sausage, fruits & veggies from the local farmers’ market and you’ve got a pretty fantastic powerplay of a meal. um, ok, that was a little cheesy. pun intended. ;)

prep the sausage:
- heat up 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (evoo) in large saucepan on high heat
- add 1 clove garlic (peeled, diced) and sauté til slightly browned
- add organic chicken apple sausage (4-5 links, sliced rounds) to pan
- season w/ ground black peppercorns & dash of sea salt
- drizzle 3 tbsp of lager beer over sausage (i used some local honey wheat ale)
- sauté chicken sausage w/ garlic for 8-10min, or until cooked through
- remove from heat & set aside