Fair Trade Gift and entertaining on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

 This morning on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Terry MacLeod, I presented some easy to prepare dishes that are also cruelty-free.  Now that the holidays are approaching, people love to serve shrimp.  If you buy certain wild caught shrimp from Argentina, Mexico, Texas, New Brunswick and Alaska, for example, you can be certain that slavery ships were not used to get the shrimp to your table.  The chocolate as well, is certified Fair Trade, which also means, for example, that child labour was not used to produce the chocolate.  Fair Trade Chocolate and other Fair Trade ingredients can be purchased at Ten Thousand Villages and through Fair Trade Manitoba.

Shrimp and other seafood are available at Gimli Fish.

Shrimp with dips (Korean)

1 bag wild caught peeled shrimp (now available at Gimli Fish) (or buy pre-cooked)

Blanch shrimp in boiling water until fully cooked and then cool immediately in an ice bath. Drain completely.

OR

Saut� shrimp in a drizzle of sesame oil until pink. Season with salt and white pepper. Chill until ready to serve. Serve with the following dipping sauces:

Korean dipping sauce
1 tablespoon kochu jiang (Korean hot pepper paste)
1 tbs white vinegar
drizzle sesame oil
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 scallion, finely chopped

Combine all ingredients until smooth. Enjoy with fried tofu, on salads, seafood, etc.

Wasabi Sour Cream Dipping Sauce
Sour cream
wasabi paste, to taste
pinch sugar

Mix all ingredients and increase wasabi for desired results. 
Fantastic with shrimp and other seafood but also wonderful with roast beef.

Ooey Gooey Brownies
1/2 cup butter
3 oz dark Fair trade Chocolate*
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unbleached white flour

*Callebaut Chocolate available at DeLuca's Grocery Store in Winnipeg or look for the Fair Trade label.  www.fairtrademanitoba.ca  Camino Chocolate can be found at Ten Thousand Villages.

Preheat oven to 350�F
Butter an 8-9 inch square baking pan or bread pan.
In a heavy large pot, melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring occasionally. Prepare remaining ingredients separately. Beat eggs in a separate bowl. When the butter and chocolate have melted, remove from heat. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and stir until well incorporated. Add the beaten eggs and stir quickly to prevent the eggs from cooking. Stir in flour and mix until smooth.

Pour into pan and bake for up to 20 minutes. Enjoy hot or cold. Optional to add up to 1/4 cup of your favourite chopped nuts.

Super Bowl FEASTMODE Recipe Round-up

Every single thing that these guys do makes me love them even more! Sherm, being a straight up team player, and, let's face it, total boss. BeastMode, being so charming and adorable I just want to watch cat videos with him all day. You guys! I mean, they're awesome players and everything, but what I love is that they're are actually trying to make a statement and change some of the shittier things in the NFL (for the better), rather than just sitting back and accepting the status quo. LOVE. Also, they're Hawks, so I love that too. 

You know what else I love? Football snacks. 


Whether you�re one of the good guys (the Seahawks), a Patriot, or someone who watches only for the commercials, food, and drinks, I think these meaty (ahem, beasty) snacks and bites are perfect for your SB party! Or your snow-day party. Or your Wednesday night. 

Pigs 'n a Blanket with Grilled Onion Cream Cheese Dip: Just like a Seattle style street dog, these little bite-sized snacks combine dogs, cream cheese, and grill onions. Plus jalapenos, if you like to bring the heat. 
Beastmode Hawk-Wing Pizza AKA: Buffalo Chicken Pizza: My favorite pizza. Spicy, sweet, saucy buffalo chicken, with gooey melted cheese, a lil' blue cheese drizzle, and celery leaves to round it out.
Smoked Salmon Dip: This dip is creamy and smoky, with a little bite from the horseradish. Perfect for crackers, veggies, or a spoon!
Carnitas (for tacos or nachos!): No one says no to carnitas. Especially my recipe... just sayin, you won't regret bringing this to a gathering. You'll only regret not setting some aside at home for later. 

Hawaiian Sliders: With half the country buried under snow, this year's Super Bowl is the perfect excuse to make something tropical, to remind you of sunny days ahead! 
White Chicken Chili: Likewise, snowy weather is also a great opportunity to hunker down with a bowl of hot, comforting chili. A big pot of chili is a SB no-brainer.
BBQ pulled pork hand pies: These are a little more involved, but they're great make-ahead game day food. Also, you could make them football shaped!
Shredded beef (for tacos or nachos!): This spicy, tangy shredded beef is just begging to be on top of a pile of tortilla chips with black beans, melted cheese, and some fresh avocado. 

Other drool-worthy SB recipes from around the blogosphere:

• Stephanie kills it with the best looking mashups ever. California roll nachos and pulled pork banh mi tacos are things I need in my life, like, daily.
• Molly shared a BBQ chicken nacho recipe from her book, plus a classy SB line up including meatballs... girlfriend knows how to party!
• Tieghan posted a lineup of 26 "dude-food" recipes, and I can't even make it all the way through the list because I keep stopping on the chipotle cajun shrimp and guac pizza.
• Emily shared this fried hot dog + egg sammy for the big game. I don't even like hot dogs, but these look amazing... maybe I'll try 'em with spam instead!
• The gals at Spoon Fork Bacon have the cutest tiniest bloomin' onions ever! Related: one time Evan accidentally selected cippollini onions instead of brown/yellow onions at the self-checkout and we paid like $7 for 1 boring-ass standard onion. 
• Mandy's recipes always look rich, flavorful, and a little bit insane. In the best way possible. Can we just talk about her hot wings and her baguette sub for a minute!?

And, in case you missed it, these ChampionChip Cookies are a must: pretzels, dark chocolate, butterscotch, M&Ms. BOOM. (Legion of Boom, obvi). 

Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Truffles

Do you guys have a favorite holiday movie?

As far as classics go, I love It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. I also love all the old animated ones like Rudolph, Frosty, and (the original) Grinch. The best newer holiday movie is obviously Elf. And as far as all-time favorites go, the best holiday movie, hands down, is Home Alone. I probably quote Home Alone at least once a month. I'm pretty bummed it's not available on streaming Netflix. Christmas Vacation is available though, and I watched that last night in the glow of my round, shrub-like Christmas tree. 

This year I decided I'm going to try to watch Love Actually. Guys, I'm sorry. I've tried. I really tried to watch it when it came out, and I just made fun of it and eventually left the room. I just don't love Hugh Grant romantic comedies. Not my thing. The only movie that I've liked in that type of genre so far is the Holiday, which is actually pretty good. So. I'm gonna do it. I'll report back and let you know what I think.

But in other news� CARAMELIZED ONION, PISTACHIO, AND GOAT CHEESE TRUFFLES. 

I love cheese balls, and couldn't get the idea of a caramelized onion and ch�vre ball out of mind. Then I remembered these little gems, and just couldn't live with myself if I didn't make tiny little bite-sized goat cheese balls. THESE ARE SO GOOD. The caramelized onions, with honey and balsamic, are sweet and tangy, and go so good with the creamy cheese. Then you roll them in ground pistachios for a nutty little crunch. The hardest part is waiting for the onions to cool so you can get to rolling.

You can serve these with crackers and jam (try something like peach jam or orange marmalade) or you can just pop 'em in your mouth like candy. Make these for a holiday party, and people would be pretty stoked about it. Or�make them for yourself, then sit inside near a heater and watch holiday movies, which is my plan, because it's freaking freezing outside. 

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Truffles
Inspired by this recipe

1 onion

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tablespoon butter

salt

honey

balsamic vinegar

8 ounces ch�vre

1/2 cup pistachios, finely ground (using food processor)

Dice the onion in small pieces.

Heat a  thick-bottomed saut� pan over medium high. Add olive oil and butter, and heat until it's shimmering. Add onions and stir. Spread onions evenly, and cook, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium/medium and cook for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, and cook another 20-40 minutes, until brown and caramelized, but not burned. Stir in a small spoonful of honey and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Add more honey, vinegar, or salt, depending on your tastes. Cook another minute or two, and remove from heat. Let cool completely. 

Crumble ch�vre into a bowl, and stir in cooled onions. Roll into 1 to 2 inch balls, and then roll in ground pistachios. Refrigerate until time to serve.