9Cooks

Blog Hiatus

2010-05-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

It seems I have taken a bit of a blog hiatus lately, but there is a good reason, really there is!
We have always strived to eat well in our house, but eating well, and eating healthy are not always the same thing. Over the past few months, I have been slowly but surely shifting the way I cook. With my work days being few and far between as of late, I have been spending a lot of time on the internet, reading, learning, and absorbing some thoroughly amazing information. A lot of it has been quite eye opening. So much, in fact, that I think my cooking methods, and the way we look at food itself, may now be forever changed. My husband, who is always searching, researching and learning about ways to keep us healthy, has opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at the ways in which we nourish our bodies, and the differences it can make on our health and well being.

The three main influences, which have segued off into all kinds of different directions, have been these:

1: Nourishing Traditions, a book by Sally Fallon. As my husband and I read more on eating nourishing, traditional foods, and the benefits to your body and your health, this book was referenced time and time again. So much so, that we finally purchased the book ourselves. It is definitely worth a read.

2: The website for the Weston A. Price Foundation. http://www.westonaprice.org/ This site abounds with information on educating people about healthy traditional diets and the dangers of modern devitalized foods.

3: This website, http://www.180degreehealth.com/home.html which was referenced a few times in my online readings. If you are at all curious, read through the health problems link. I had a huge “AH HA” moment here. The information presented can simply not be ignored.

Because of all the reading I have been doing, and the changes I have been making, I feel it necessary to put this blog on the back burner for now, as I am very much wanting to focus my time and energy on this new journey into nourishing cooking. , I know, a lot of people will (and do!) think we are weird, but, I am okay with weird, normal never really worked for me anyway.....
I fully intend to start a new blog, documenting my adventures and education in the ways of preparing nourishing nutritional foods for my family (ones that they will actually eat!!). As soon as I have the new blog up and running, I will post the new address to it here, so any that want to follow this process can. I am very excited to share this information with you, but it is a lot to digest(literally!). It has taken me three months to fully embrace these new methods. These ideas challenge (and disprove) alot of the dietary truths that we have been taught for so long, this has been a bit of an eye opener for me on a lot of levels. Now I need to document as I go, so I can pass this information along.

I appreciate the support and feedback I have received from this blog, it has been a fun journey, and one that I believe has helped lead me to the path we are undertaking now. The recipes and content of this blog will stay, as is for future reference! Thanks to all my readers and followers, I hope to see you at the new blog!

PS: Until I can get my new blog up and running, I will give you a few more links, that have become favourites, so you don’t get bored!

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/

http://thenourishingcook.com/

http://www.livingthenourishedlife.com/

http://kellythekitchenkop.com/

Lemon Yoghurt Cake

2010-04-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably already know one of my favourite blogs is Orangette. Molly has never steered me wrong with a recipe, and her site is one of the first places I go when looking for inspiration, dinner, or just to pass some time. (now, if I could only get her to come and cook with me.....!!) She published a book last year, entitled A Homemade Life, and I was fortunate enough to find it under my tree this past Christmas. This is a book to be savoured, her stories and recipes are poignant, funny and deliciously romantic all at once. She writes and cooks from the heart, which is the beginning and ending of all great food. I love the fact that she encourages you to do as she does and play with the recipes, and, the eternal words of wisdom, read the entire recipe first! (this part, I need to work on!!) I have been reading it slowly, a recipe or two before I go to bed at night, which, I must now admit, has its problems! Almost every recipe leaves me wanting to make it, right then and there. 11pm at night is not the time to be starting to cook, for me anyway! I guess that is what bookmarks are for....

When I read the recipe for the French style Yoghurt Cake with lemon glaze, I knew it would be an awesome cake. After all, it was the cake that led Molly to meet the man who would become her husband. (See, food is love!) When our wonderful neighbours came for dinner Saturday night, it was the perfect excuse to try the cake. All I can say is Wow. It was an awesome cake, just like I knew it would be. Light, lemony ,and moist, everything it promised to be and more. Even today, 2 days later, the last small piece that I shared with Jim after lunch today, still delicious.

I made the recipe pretty much as is, my only real substitute was using my 9”springform pan instead of a 9” cake pan, which I do not have. I was almost tempted to substitute an 8” cake pan, but after seeing how much it rose, I am glad I did not. I did substitute the canola oil for a nice fruity olive oil that I have right now, which was a suggestion on the blog version of this recipe. I have been buying organic lemons whenever I can find them lately, I find a big difference in the taste, and this cake highlights the flavour perfectly.

Lemon Yoghurt Cake, taken from A Homemade Life, by Molly Wizenberg

Cake:

1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 tsp lemon zest (I used the zest from one whole organic lemon, it was very close to 2 tsp)

½ cup well stirred plain yoghurt, NOT low or non-fat

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

½ cup olive oil

Syrup:

1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted

¼ cup lemon juice (I used fresh squeezed organic, I find the taste difference well worth the extra price)

Icing:

1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted

3 tbsp lemon juice

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F. Grease a 9” cake pan or spring form pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper (important step!) and grease this too.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Mix in the lemon zest and whisk to thoroughly combine.

In another bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, sugar, eggs and olive oil (the original recipe has you add the olive oil separately, I did it all together with no problem. I said I needed to work on reading the whole recipe, didn't I!!)

Combine the wet ingredients with the dry, and mix just to combine. Do not over mix!

Pour into prepared pan

Bake for 25-35 minutes (mine took closer to 40) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the Glaze and Icing:

While the cake is cooking, Make your glaze and icing. I juiced 3 organic lemons, that were kind of smallish in size, and it was the perfect amount of juice for both the glaze and the icing.

I strained the juiced lemons before mixing with the icing sugar.

Mix the glaze ingredients in one bowl, and the icing ingredients in another. Set aside.

Cool the cake, right in the pan, on a wire rack for about 15 minutes.

Run a knife around the edge to loosen if necessary, and invert the cake onto a large plate. Remove the parchment paper, and flip back over on a wire rack—it should now be right side up. Set the rack over a pan with an edge. Spoon the glaze over the warm cake slowly, letting it absorb as you spoon.

Let cake cool completely.

Spoon the icing mixture over the cooled cake

Let the icing firm up for at least an hour. ( original recipe says you can eat it right away as well, feel free!)

I slid my cake off the wire rack and onto my serving plate before I finished spooning on the icing, so it pooled around the outside edges. Divine!

Chickpea, Tomato and Rosemary Soup

2010-03-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Fresh herbs rule. When the cold weather rolls in and puts my garden to bed for the winter, my herbs are what I miss the most. Grocery store herbs are alright, but my favourite place to buy fresh herbs in the winter is a little grocery/specialty shop in Dundas, Ontario, called Picone’s. Along with the beautiful display of aromatic fresh herbs, they also carry local and organic produce, artisan breads, specialty oils and vinegars, a beautiful pastry table, and, as we discovered on Friday, they make a mean Cafe Latte. I could extol the virtues of this little food market for this entire post. Really, I could ramble for on for days, it is such a cool little store. But this post, it is all about the rosemary, and what it does for this simple and unassuming soup. A handful of ingredients, just over half an hour of your time, and you will have a big pot of delicious, fragrant, mouth watering soup. And, if you are lucky, your rosemary will come from Picone’s, like mine did!

I have made this soup several times, but always with fresh rosemary. The flavour is divine, and I have my doubts that dried rosemary would measure up. I first found this recipe on the Orangette blog, and have since discovered it is also in my Once Upon A Tart cookbook, in the “Once Upon A Soup” section. I have really not altered it much at all, it is terrific as it stands. I made this batch when Jims Aunt came for lunch this weekend, served with a loaf of homemade bread and fresh butter. Simple, delicious, and satisfying. Well worth the drive to Picone’s to get your rosemary!!

Chickpea Tomato Rosemary Soup , Adapted from Once Upon a Tart

3 Tbsp olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic

1 – 6” sprig of rosemary

2 – 28oz cans of diced tomatoes with their juices

2 – 19 oz cans of chickpeas

1 900ml box of chicken or vegetable stock (or the equivalent amount of homemade)

Pinch of sugar

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Peel and chop the garlic,

Remove the rosemary needles from the stem, and chop finely

Drain and rinse the chickpeas, set aside.

Warm the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and rosemary, and let it cook for a minute or so, you don’t want to brown the garlic, you just want the flavours to infuse the oil. Add the tomatoes, ½ of the chickpeas, the stock, sugar, salt and pepper to the pot.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender. (if you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree it in batches in your blender or food processor)

It should look a bit like this:

Return to the stove, stir in the rest of the chickpeas,

Heat til the chickpeas are warm.

Enjoy!

Yoghurt Parfait

2010-03-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I come across an idea and say to myself, now, why didn’t I think of that before?? This little epiphany hit me shortly after reading this post on this blog, the one that inspired my yummy quinoa pudding post. In her pictures, she took her pudding to the beach in a mason jar. It didn’t hit me immediately...my epiphanies are sometimes like that; they need a nudge to come to light. This nudge came from the little containers that I take my daily yoghurt snack to work in. If I have any type of juicy fruit mixture in them, they tend to leak in my lunch bag, which is not pretty. Enter said Mason jar. I can layer my fruit and yoghurt, screw on the lid, and it never leaks, not even a little bit. Epiphany moment, complete with bells and whistles.

So this post is not a recipe per-say, but an idea you can take and adapt as you see fit. My favourite size jar holds about 3/4 of a cup, which is perfect for a mid morning snack. We can control the amount of sugar, as well as the kind of yoghurt we eat, and it is cheaper than purchasing one of those little parfaits from the local donut store. Easy, cheap, and portable!

We like our yoghurt and berries layered, this is how our parfaits go together.

Gently macerate (lightly mashed with the potato masher) some berries, and add sweetener of choice if desired.

Spoon into the bottom of the mason jar.

Spoon yoghurt of choice in the middle,

and more berries on the top.

Add the lid, and Ta Da, No leaks!

We use plain yoghurt, but you can use your favourite flavour, and mix up the fruit as you see fit. We have used raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, as well as mixtures of all three. Chunky applesauce also goes very nicely with the tart yoghurt flavour. Sometimes we drizzle some honey or maple syrup over the fruit, and top with a sprinkle of Lindy's granola.

Whatever you choose, it is a perfect mid morning snack in

a cute container that will not leak in your lunch bag.

I like to make up a few at a time to save time in the morning.

Enjoy!

Isaac's Buttermilk Toaster Waffles

2010-03-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

My boys have always loved breakfast food. Eggs, French toast, pancakes, waffles, they could eat these kind of foods till the cows come home. Then they would probably ask for seconds. So, when I was lucky enough to have a day off during march break, and I asked Isaac what he would like for breakfast, it was no big surprise that waffles were on the top of the list. This is the point when I should probably mention that he is hopelessly addicted to, ugh, frozen toaster waffles, from the grocery store. I know, it is sad. But, in my quest to convert him from a processed junk food loving kid to one who appreciates home cooked healthy food, I have stopped buying them. So, his help was recruited, and healthier waffles we would make.

I dug out my trusty waffle iron (and dusted it off...I haven’t made waffles in a while apparently!) and we proceeded to look for a recipe. I remembered this one from Orangette, but the shortbread part kind of threw him off (I will make these one day, but maybe for dessert, with some ice cream, and strawberries...swoon!!) Smitten kitchen was our next stop, and he was sold as soon as he read “ buttermilk”. (that word appears on his grocery store box too...) He mixed together the buttermilk, separated the eggs, and whipped the egg whites. I think I have a new kitchen apprentice in the making!

I doubled the recipe(the recipe below is not doubled) and froze the extras once they cooled, with wax paper between them in the freezer for easy removal, and....TA DA!! Homemade freezer waffles that I don’t mind him eating. Maybe I should have dusted off the waffle iron long ago!

Isaac’s Buttermilk Toaster Waffles (original recipe here)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached white flour (original recipe used all white, feel free!)

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 Tsp baking soda

1 3/4 cups buttermilk(I use buttermilk powder mixed with water)

2 eggs, separated

4 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 Tsp vanilla extract

neutral flavoured oil for brushing on waffle pan (I use grapeseed, but canola, or the spray cans work fine too)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a nice big bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk and egg yolks. Mix in the butter and vanilla. Set aside.

Lightly grease your waffle iron (I used my silicone basting brush and some grape seed oil, you can use canola

oil, or pam) and plug in to preheat.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until they will hold soft peaks.

They should look like this:

Fold them gently into the batter.

When waffle iron is preheated, ladle the batter onto the hot surface,

close and cook until the waffle is done, mine is usually about 4 minutes, different waffle irons will vary with their timing.

My first waffles always look a bit wonky til I figure out how much batter to use to fill the iron without overflowing it...

Serve while hot,

or cool to room temperature on cooling racks and store in freezer between sheets of waxed paper for easy toaster waffles.

Oh, so yummy!

Ginger Roasted Pear Scones

2010-03-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

I get strange urges to bake sometimes. A certain flavour or smell will stick in my head and linger until I bake it out. When I made the roasted pears last night, I suddenly wanted to make roasted pear scones. With ginger. So I rustled up some willpower, and saved 4 roasted pear halves, (which I only used 2 of incidentally) and these scones are the result. The original recipe came from a cookbook that is slowly becoming my favourite, Once Upon a Tart. You may be seeing alot from that book in the near future.

I changed it up a bit to accommodate the roasted pears, and I think the next time I would feel comfortable reducing the butter to 2 sticks instead of 2 ½, there seemed to be an alarming amount of butter swimming on the pan when I checked the scones at 15 minutes, but it had mysteriously vanished by the 18 minute mark. The scones are delicious though. The crystallized ginger complements the carmelly roasted pears, with the buttery scone marrying it all together. It was the perfect sidekick to my morning latte. I guess this urge was not so strange after all!!

Ginger and Roasted Pear Scones

1 ½ cups unbleached flour

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

2 ½ sticks unsalted butter (cut up into ¼ inch cubes)I will reduce it to 2 sticks next time)

2 eggs

½ cup cold buttermilk (see notes below)

½ cup diced roasted pears (see method here)

½ cup diced candied ginger

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Egg wash: 1 large egg mixed with 1 tbsp milk or cream

2 tbsp (ish) raw sugar for sprinkling tops

Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Make sure your rack is in the middle of the oven. Line a large pan with parchment paper, set aside.

Chop 2 halves of a roasted pear, approx 1/2 cup, set aside

Chop candied ginger, set aside

Grate fresh Ginger, a piece about this big...

Gives you about a tsp when grated, I use my rasp to grate, but you can use the smallest holes of a box grater too. (yes, that is a cut on my finger, very crusty bread and a serrated knife...'nuff said??)

Set aside for now.

Whisk together dry ingredients

Cut in butter with pastry blender until it is looks like moist crumbs, do not overmix,

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs

Add the buttermilk, ginger, roasted pears and crystallized ginger.

Add to dry ingredients

Mix just until the flour is incorporated, no longer, or your scones will be tough.

Using your hands(lightly flour your hands to keep dough from sticking), scoop out a small handful and shape into a ball. Place on parchement lined pan. Continue with the rest of the dough, you should end up with about 12 balls.

Press balls down with your palm

So they are about this thick

Brush with egg wash

Top with a sprinkle of raw sugar (a scant tsp per scone)

Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest on pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Serve warm, preferably with your morning latte!

Buttermilk notes:

Buttermilk is generally not replaceable with regular milk in recipes. I usually keep powdered buttermilk in my cupboard, I get it at the bulk food store. If you dont have any buttermilk or powder, you can use a tablespoon of white vinegar to one cup of regular milk. Stir and let it hang out for a few minutes, and then use the amount called for in your recipe

Roasted Pears

2010-03-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Wow. Roasted Pears. Where have you been all my life?? These are seriously good folks, in a roasty carmelly sticky yummy sort of way. When I first read this recipe, on the Orangette blog, I thought they would probably be good. After all, poached pears are good, my pear custard tart is tasty, pears in general are pretty darn scrumptious. But roasting takes these babies to a whole new level. I shouldn’t be so surprised, really. Roasting vegetables has elevated my favourites to delectable status. I don’t know why I wouldn’t assume it would do the same for pears. I just never thought of roasting them before. Oh silly me. This will be repeated , often.

If you happen to have any left, (I had to use every bit of will power to save some!!) save 2 halves for these Ginger Roasted Pear Scones. In a word, YUM.

Roasted Pears:

1 /4 cup( ish) vanilla sugar (see method at end of recipe)

7 medium ripe pears (I used Bosc, but I think any would do)

½ fresh lemon, squeezed and seeds removed

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Water

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Peel the pears and cut them in half lengthwise.

Core them with a melon baller. ( You can leave the stems on if you like, for presentation)

Place them cut side down in a large baking dish.

Drizzle with the lemon juice.

Sprinkle evenly with the vanilla sugar.

Place a piece of butter on each pear.

Add 3 Tbsp water to the dish.

Bake the pears for 40 minutes to 1 hour, basting every 10 minutes or so with the juices in the pan. Turn occasionally. They should be soft and starting to turn a nice carmelly brown when they are ready. Add a few tablespoons of water during the basting time if the liquid is evaporating to fast, I added about 6 more during the whole cooking time, 3tbsp at 30 minutes and 3 again at about 45minutes. (as you can see from my picture, I forgot the turning part...oops!)

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream, or yogourt, or sour cream.

We topped ours with some maple flakes and a dollop of sour cream, they were heavenly.

Vanilla Sugar

Method 1: Place 1 cup sugar in a small bowl. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds with the edge of the knife. Rub the seeds into the sugar with your fingers until well incorporated . Save the rest for another use.

Method 2: This method is not instant the first time, but once you make the inital batch, you will have vanilla sugar at your fingertips all the time. Once you have scraped your vanilla beans, place the rest of the bean pod into a jar, and fill with sugar. Let sit for a few weeks, shaking periodically, and the vanilla flavour will infuse into your sugar. I top it up with new sugar when it gets low, and add vanilla bean pods whenever I use them. I remember my grandma having a jar of vanilla sugar with vanilla beans in her baking cupboard when I was little. I think she was on to something!

Chicken Noodle Bowl

2010-03-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

I love dinners that come together quickly, particularly when I am multitasking in the kitchen (which is ~~most~~ all of the time) They come in quite handy as well when you spend all afternoon browsing recipes and blogs on the computer, and realize that a ravenous teenager is going to come through the door at 6pm, and you need to find something to feed him FAST! I found this recipe on the Kitchen Cafe blog, and had all of the ingredients at hand, no grocery store trip needed. (actually, what I thought was mozzarella cheese in my fridge was in fact Monterey Jack, but it made a pretty good substitution) It also boasted being ready in the time it takes to cook the noodles, which it was, almost exactly. I upped the veggie content a bit, by doubling the peppers and adding some leftover steamed broccoli. Easy, quick, and pretty darn tasty. It doesn’t get any better! I changed the name from Balsamic Chicken Noodle bowl, because the name seemed to suggest a strong balsamic flavour, which I didn’t really get. Maybe it was the cheese substitution, the Monterey Jack is certainly a bit stronger of a flavour than mozzarella. Whatever it was, the balsamic flavour was in there, but definitely more in the background.

(I actually weighed my pasta for this recipe, I usually just eyeball it. I am really loving the scale that my wonderful guys bought for me at christmas)

Chicken Noodle Bowl

1 pound long pasta (I used spaghettini, the original called for linguini, use your favourite)

2 yellow peppers, cut into thin strips

1 ½ cups steamed broccoli, optional

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

-------

1 1/2 cups shredded or cubed mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese (or use your favourite)

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

--------

Dressing:

4 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

5 garlic cloves, finely minced

½ teaspoons coarse sea salt

¼ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons dried basil (can substitute 1 cup fresh basil)

Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta till el-dente, according to package directions.

Drain and set aside until needed (pretty much right away!)

While water is heating, whisk together vinegar, garlic, basil, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil and set aside.

I love my garlic press!

While the pasta is cooking, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat and cook the bell pepper for a minute or two, just until tender crisp. Toss in the cooked chicken and broccoli if using, and cook for 1-2 more minutes, until they are heated through.

Toss the hot noodles and cheese in the skillet with the red pepper and chicken and mix quickly before the cheese totally melts. Pour the dressing over the top and toss well.

(I made a TOTAL mess of my stove top when I was tossing!)

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yummy leftovers for lunch!

BBQ Chicken Handpie Braids

2010-03-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

I try very hard to take lunch from home every day for my Hubbie and myself. It goes along with trying to eliminate processed and packaged foods from our diet, and most fast food is about as processed and packaged as you can get. I also make lunch for the boys, and one day a week I make lunch for Greg, the cousin who drives our son Mac to guitar lessons once a week. When I can come up with a lunch that works for everyone, that travels well in a lunch bag, that is quick to eat between guitar lessons and school, and tastes pretty darn good to boot, I know I have a keeper. This recipe itself has two little cheats in it, namely a deli roasted chicken from the grocery store, (I didn’t have my usual bag of chicken or turkey precooked in the freezer for just such occasions) and store bought bbq sauce (I am working on a recipe for one that doesn’t involve ketchup for a base or include refined sugar in the ingredient list, but it is a work in progress, I will keep you posted on that one). Other than that though, this recipe fits the bill. Add some fresh veggies or a salad on the side and you are good to go.

I saw a rendition of this recipe in a recent post in a new favourite blog, My Kitchen Cafe. The original recipe made one large braid, which I seriously considered making. But, being as I had 5 people to feed lunch to in 3 different places, I wasn’t sure how well slices of this would translate. So, I decided to make individual ones, and they turned out pretty darn cool. They kind of reminded me of the sweet hand pies that are on my “things to cook list”, but a savoury bread based version (ok, it is a bit of a stretch of the imagination, but the idea is sort of the same!) I used ½ a batch of my basic no knead bread dough for the braid part, the recipe for that can be found here. If you have a batch of that already in your fridge, these whip up fairly quickly. I intend to heat up ours in the toaster oven at work, but feel free to eat them right after you cook them. They smell amazing!

BBQ Chicken Handpie Braids:

Approx. 2 cups shredded chicken (I used 1 deli chicken, skin removed, legs, thighs and wings removed and set aside for another use. The leftover meat, shredded, was about 2 cups)

1 – 1 ½ cups bbq sauce of choice (our favourite store bought is a spicy and smoky chipotle)

2 medium onions, sliced, (I caramelized mine while I was getting everything else ready, I am not a huge fan of raw onions, but the original recipe used them raw)

1 ½ cup grated cheddar cheese (mine was marble, it was what I had in the fridge at the time, substitute cheese of choice!)

½ batch of no knead bread dough, divided into 6 equal portions

Place pizza stone on middle rack in oven, and broiler pan in bottom, as you would for baking a batch of no knead bread. (see recipe here for original technique).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, making sure it comes to full temperature before baking. The Stone needs to get nice and hot.

Take one of the portions of dough, and roll out fairly thin into a rough rectangle shape on a floured cutting board, or work surface, using as much flour as needed to keep it from sticking

to your hands and the rolling pin.

Cut 5-7 slits along each long side of the rectangle, leaving about 1/3 of the dough uncut in the center.

(Oops! Can you tell I didn't use the same hand pie for all the pictures?)

Starting with the bbq sauce, layer your ingredients along the middle strip.

Then the chicken

Then the onions

Then the cheese.

Now start the braid. Lift the strips and gently stretch and fold them across to the opposite side, starting at one end, alternating sides until you get to the bottom.

Tuck the last two strips under to complete the braid.

Carefully lift and place on parchment covered cookie pan with sides.

(the parchment paper, while not necessary, makes cleaning up very easy, as anything that leaks out of the hand pies does not stick and burn to your pan!)

Continue with the rest of the dough til all 6 are complete. My pan is quite large, and fit all 6 quite nicely.

Fill a measuring cup with 1 ½ cups of very hot tap water. Place pan with hand pies on the pizza stone and quickly pour hot tap water into broiler pan in bottom of oven. Close door quickly to retain heat and steam. Cook in preheated 400 degree F oven for 30-35 minutes, or until nicely browned and bubbling.

Enjoy carefully! Filling will be very hot!

Quinoa Pudding with Strawberries

2010-03-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

I came across this recipe in the same way as I come across most new recipes, while looking for something completely different. (actually I was searching for a recipe for a homemade Clif Bar, which I found, and may post about later, but that is another story, for another day—stay tuned!) Anyway, during my search, I came across a new(to me) blog called Cannelle et Vanille. It could be a new favourite. I blissfully browsed until I found this recipe, and promptly wanted to go for a picnic on the beach, and make this pudding, not necessarily in that order. The pictures were brilliant, and the pudding inspired. Being the beginning of March, in Southern Ontario, and no tropical vacation in sight, I had to make do with the pudding, and alas, no picnic. The pudding however, did not disappoint.

For those of you not familiar with quinoa, it is a tiny grain from south America, and has been around for some 6000 years. I have been enjoying it myself for at least 10 years, having experimented with it back in my vegetarian days for its high protein content. This, however, is the first time I have made a dessert type recipe with it, and I am very pleased with the results. Why did I not think of this before?? The grain lends an earthy flavour to the underlying familiarity of rice pudding, similar, but completely different at the same time. An old grain in a whole new light!

I changed it a wee bit, (quelle suprise) but the results were very yummy. In my quest to reduce the amount of refined products (ie: refined sugar, white flour, processed foods) from my family’s plates, I substituted maple syrup for the brown sugar, feel free to change it back if you like! The original recipe called for 3 cups of whole milk, and 1 cup of heavy cream, which was optional. I had 1% milk in my fridge, plus a cup of heavy cream lurking in there as well (doesn’t everyone???) so I used 2 cups of 1% plus the one cup of heavy cream, eliminating the 4th cup of liquid altogether. My resulting pudding was nice and moist, but not overly runny. Adjust the amounts of liquid to suit your tastes. I also left the chopped pistachios from the origional off the top of the pudding, as I did not have any. Again, feel free to add them back! The strawberries stayed, they were a great addition.

Quinoa Pudding, my adaptation. Original recipe here.

2 cups 1% milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 vanilla bean, sliced open and scraped (I only had a half of a bean, so I added a tsp of vanilla extract as well, you could just substitute 2 tsp vanilla extract)

1/4 cup maple syrup

pinch of salt

1 cup quinoa

Berry Topping:

1 quart strawberries

1 Tbsp maple syrup

Cut up the strawberries and toss with maple syrup. Let them stand at room temperature until they start to release some of their juices, 1/2 to 1 hr. Set aside and use to top the quinoa once it is cooked.

Rinse the quinoa in a fine meshed strainer with cold water for a minute or so, and set aside to drain.

In a medium pot, combine the milk and cream.

maple syrup,

and scraped vanilla bean, (and or vanilla extract)

and heat to a simmer.

Add quinoa, and stir to combine. (Check out the little black flecks of vanilla bean swimming in the pot!)

Reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 30 minutes (mine took more like 40 minutes, but I think the heat was too low, closer to medium would have been better) Stir every few minutes, until the grain absorbs most of the milk mixture and is tender.

It should go from this:

to this:

As it cooled it absorbed all of the liquid, becoming quite thick and creamy.

Top with strawberries and enjoy!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

2010-03-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

Sweet potatoes are one of my favourite foods. I think I could eat them every day and not get sick of them. As long as they are cooked right that is...not the boiled, water-logged flavourless sort, or the ones dressed up with so much sugar and marshmallows that they become unrecognizable. No, just the plain simple sweet potato, baked or roasted in the oven, maybe dressed up with a wee bit of olive oil, fresh ground pepper and salt, or if I am feeling adventurous, a slight sprinkle of curry powder, but not much else. The oven is really all that is needed to bring out the flavour of this wonderful root vegetable. Baked used to be my favourite, in oven or the barbeque, wrapped in foil, it is one of the easiest (and healthiest) side dishes around. Being rich in complex carbs, beta carotene and vitamin c, it stands head and shoulders above most other vegetables on a nutritional scale. What is not to love?? But, I think the best way, my favourite by far, is roasting. When you chop them up and roast them, they reach new heights of flavour, carmeley and smoky sweet. My mouth is watering just writing this, I cannot wait for them to be out of the oven! I don’t peel mine, you can if you wish, but it is not necessary. Just give them a good scrub before chopping and you are good to go.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

3 lbs of sweet potatoes

Olive oil

Coarse sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 deg. F

Chop your sweet potatoes up in to chunks, and place on a large baking sheet with sides.

Drizzle with olive oil (I usually drizzle a big “s” pattern over the pan, maybe 2 tablespoons ish?)

and sprinkle with sea salt

and black pepper to taste (it is hard to use a pepper grinder and take a picture!)

Mix up to distribute oil, salt and pepper. ( I use my hands, it works better!)

Bake in a preheated oven for approx an hour, until the edges of the chunks start to brown. Stir once or twice during the baking time to loosen them from the pan.

I served these as a side with some jerk marinated chicken drumsticks and peas. Even Inka the cat wanted a taste!

Banana Oatmeal Snack Cake

2010-02-16T18:11:00.000-08:00

When life gives you a plethora of ripe bananas, make a banana cake!

This week for some reason, we ended up with loads of beautiful spotty brown bananas. (And beautiful red tulips from my hubbie for Valentines, but that is not what we are here to talk about now, is it??) I was also lucky enough to receive a bottle of vanilla, straight from Mexico, from--let me make sure I have this right--Dave, my vanilla guy. Now, super ripe bananas, plus some heavenly smelling vanilla (Muchas gracias, Dave!) to me, are two darn good reasons to bake something. (Like I need a reason to bake...) I made banana bread just last week, so something else banana-ey was called for. (is that even a word??) My Muffin Thursday’s Blog had a very nice Banana Crumble Snack Cake, perfectly suited to the occasion. I have been trying to cut down on the refined sugar and white flour that I use in my baking lately, so I did some substituting with the large pail of honey that my veggie guy Shawn procured for me from the market. I changed the white flour to whole wheat, so with the oats there is a good dose of whole grains in it as well. The result is a somewhat virtuous snack cake, while not calorie free, at least with better for you ingredients. Moist, dense and wonderfully banana-ey (there is that word again!) you will never know it is good (ish)for you! The crumble part is the proverbial icing on the cake, definitly do not leave it out! Part way through the cooking time, I was second guessing the addition of the 3rd banana that I added for moisture, it seemed to be taking way too long to cook, and was getting pretty brown around the edges. Make sure you wait until the test toothpick comes out just clean, though, with no batter, just a few moist crumbs showing. It is well worth the wait!
The original recipe is here if you want to try it unaltered, I am sure it is positively yummy.

Banana Oatmeal Snack Cake

1/2c butter, softened

2/3 cup honey

2 eggs

3 large, ripe bananas

2 tsp vanilla

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4c old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick or instant, the large flake kind)

For the topping:

1 c old-fashioned oats(same kind as for the batter)

¼ c honey, softened

2 Tbsp wh wheat flour

4Tbsp butter, softened

Directions:

Thoroughly grease a 9" springform pan.

Cream together first amounts of butter and honey in a stand mixer until very creamy, at least a minute or two.

Mash bananas

Add to creamed mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, beating till fluffy after each addition.

Add vanilla, beat til combined. Add salt, baking soda, oats and flour into the the batter, and mix til JUST combined. Over mixing will make your cake tough.

Pour into greased springform pan.

For Topping: Mix together the oats, honey, flour and butter until a crumbly mixture forms. Sprinkle over cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick tests just clean.

Run knife around the outside of the cake to loosen it from the sides as it cools.

Let cool in pan for 15 minutes, on a wire rack, then remove outer layer to cool completely, still on the wire rack.

Maple Oatmeal Breakfast Risotto

2010-02-14T11:35:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's day, I always try and make some kind of favourite or special food for each meal of the day. With it falling on a Sunday this year, making a real breakfast (not the rushed kind that precedes getting everyone out the door on typical work/school days) was a welcome change. When I was browsing a new blog a few weeks ago, I found both a new blog and a new recipe, (surprise surprise, I know) that was perfect to repeat for today. The original was posted on a previous valentine's day, so it seemed very fitting to make again for my sweethearts on valentine's day. The red berries against the creamy grains seem very fitting indeed. If you like cooked grain breakfast cereals, you are in for a treat. We love oatmeal in our house(my hubbie insists on calling it Porridge). This takes our humble oatmeal to a whole new level. Creamy and just subtly sweet, it is a definite breakfast indulgence, and the cooking method is totally hands off, which is another bonus. This “risotto” is cooked in a rice cooker, and I imagine it could be cooked on the stove-top as well.

(With the mess my rice cooker made on my counter this time, I think the next time I make it I may try a stove top method, wow, what a mess! )I will post the results and cooking times as soon as I try it!

I eliminated a cup of water from the recipe, as I feel this was the issue. The recipe below is changed already, the original one is here.

I made this this morning, while my sweethearts were in my craft room, making me ultra sweet valentines day cards, do I have great guys, or what!

Yummy Maple Oatmeal Breakfast Risotto, original recipe from My KitchenCafe Blog

1/2 cup steel-ground oatmeal (I used PC Blue Menu Steel Cut Oats)

1 cup Arborio rice

1 cup 2% evaporated milk

4 ½ cups water

1 vanilla bean**, scraped (if you don’t have a vanilla bean, substitute 2 tsp vanilla extract) **see notes below

1/2 cup real maple syrup (or brown sugar)

Pinch of salt

Berries of choice to top it off (we have used strawberries both times, as that is what i had in the fridge, but you could substitute any kind of fresh or frozen berry, just thaw the frozen ones first)

Place all ingredients except for the berries into the rice cooker:

steel cut oats

Arborio Rice

2% evaporated milk

Yummy maple syrup

vanilla bean

Then the water and salt (sorry, no pictures here!)

Turn on to cook as per your rice cooker instructions.

When it finishes the cooking cycle, stir well

Top with berries and milk if so desired, and enjoy.

**To use a vanilla bean: The fresher the bean the better, mine was getting a wee bit dried out, but still useable. Using a sharp paring type knife, slit the bean from one end to the other

Scrape out the seeds from the pod.

Use seeds in desired recipe.

Once scraped, I put the beans into a jar with some white sugar, shake it around, and let sit. The beans infuse a wonderful vanilla flavour into your sugar. You can then use it in anything that you would use regular sugar for.

E-zine has a good article on using vanilla beans here.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-01-27T15:37:00.000-08:00

When it comes to cookies, the powers that be in my house seem to be a bit picky. There are very few recipes that get nominated for repeats. I can probably count them on one hand. My mom’s peanut butter cookies are in the top 5 for requests (chocolate chip, shortbread, ginger cookies and my latest macaroons make the short list as well).

These peanut butter ones are perfect-- creamy, tender, just the right crispy on the outside, with a soft middle that melts in your mouth. In my early days of baking, I tried a dozen or so recipes, and never came close to this one that I grew up with. I finally caved and called my mom, and she very kindly dictated the recipe to me over the phone. She isn’t quite sure of its original source, she thought maybe from a jar of peanut butter long ago, we may never know. If anyone does recognize this recipe, please do tell, I would love to give credit where credit is due. Until then, my mom gets all the praise!) We do know, however, that it is a recipe not to mess with (kind of like my chocolate chip cookies, that after a memorable blunder, will NEVER mess with again!) And, it is easy peasy to put together.

As for peanut butter, I always use Kraft Original Smooth Peanut Butter. I am sure other peanut butters would work just as well, maybe even a crunchy version...(I happen to be married to a peanut butter snob though, Kraft Smooth is my hubbie's favourite, and the word crunchy does not appear on his label!) Anyhoo, use your favourite peanut butter, it just should have a nice creamy consistency.

This recipe makes a large batch of cookies, which is never a problem here, but I am sure you could freeze either the dough, or the cookies after they have been baked (or send your leftovers here, I am sure I could come up with a couple of kids to polish them off for you.....)

Moms’ Peanut Butter Cookies

½ cup butter softened (2 sticks)

1 ½ cups peanut butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (I leave this out if my butter is salted)

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachments, cream together the butter, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla and sugars.

Let it mix for a few minutes on medium speed to get it nicely combined, and looks like this:

Turn off mixer, and add in the flour, baking soda and salt (if using). With mixer on low, stir to just incorporate the dry ingredients.

Finish mixing by hand, taking care not to mix too much, over mixing = tough cookies!

Depending on the stickiness, you may need to chill the dough for an hour or so. I have used the dough right away numerous times, and other times have had to chill it. If you can roll it into a ball right away, skip the chilling. I am thinking the difference may be the moisture content of the butter? If you need to chill it, cover the top of the dough with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for about an hour.

(or, if it is nice and chilly out, place outside your back door, like this!)

Roll the dough, chilled or not, into 1 inch(ish) balls and place 2 inches apart on your ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet. They do spread, so do not crowd your pan!

Dip a fork in sugar,

and slightly flatten balls of dough, leaving the fork impression in the top of each cookie. Dip the fork in the sugar each time to prevent the fork from sticking.

Bake in 350 degree oven** for 11-13 minutes, or until the cookies are JUST starting to brown on the outer edges.

Let cookies hang out on pan for about 5 minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Makes about 75 cookies.

**I recently invested in an oven thermometer, and when my oven is set to 350 degrees, the thermometer inside reads closer to 375 degrees. Use your judgement and raise the temp if your first pan of cookies takes longer than 13 minutes to start to brown at the edges.

Yes, that is a rare January sunbeam shining on my cookies!

Oven Turkey Stew

2010-01-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

What is it about cold blustery days that cause one to crave comfort food? With the cold rain/snow mixture that we have been experiencing here all day today, turkey stew seemed the perfect remedy to combat the damp chill that overtakes you as soon as you step out the door. I stumbled across this recipe a few years ago, and have been making my turkey stew this way ever since. You do need a bit of time, being as it cooks for 2-2 ½ hrs in the oven, and the chopping at the beginning adds a good 10 minutes. But, if you have a lazy afternoon like I did, this recipe is well worth making. Once it is in the oven, though, you have 2 free hours, to say, watch a movie with a blanket, a cup of tea, a dog curled cozily at your feet, and the fireplace flickering comfortingly in the background. (Ok, in reality, while my stew was in the oven, I was finishing laundry, making beds, unloading and reloading the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, and typing this blog...but the whole movie thing sounds so much better, really!)

I doubled the original recipe, and usually add a bit more veggies than it calls for, as I prefer my stews to be a higher veggie to turkey ratio. The recipe below reflects these changes; adapt the recipe to suit your tastes. I use my large roasting pan, as it makes a substantial amount of stew, and it makes great leftovers. Feel free to substitute veggies of your choice as well. I have, in the past, added mushrooms, chunks of squash, parsnips and sweet potatoes. I also omit the coriander in the original recipe, and add sage and rosemary, but again, feel free to use your favourites.

Oven Turkey Stew

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

*If using frozen stock like I did, put it in a pot over medium heat on the stove while you chop the veggies, it will be thawed by the time you need to add it to the stew.

2lbs skinless boneless turkey thighs, cut into bite size cubes ( chicken thighs would do fine as well)

2 medium onions, chopped in chunks

4 large potatoes, washed and cubed

5-6 stalks of celery, chopped

3-4 carrots, sliced

½ of a rutabaga, cut into 1-2 inch cubes

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp dried sage

½ tsp dried crumbled rosemary

1 tsp salt

Fresh ground pepper to taste

3 ½ cups stock (veggie, chicken, whatever you have on hand)

2 bay leaves

Place all chopped veggies into large roasting pan.

Add the cubes of turkey.

Add flour and spices(except bay leaves), and stir all to combine.

Top with stock.

Put bay leaves into the center of the stew, cover, and cook in preheated oven for 2 -2 1/2 hours or until turkey is tender and vegetables are cooked through.

Remove bay leaves and stir before serving.

Makes 8 ish servings.

Good Food, Good Friends,

2010-01-18T18:31:00.000-08:00

I had to include some pictures from our recent seafood feast with our good friends Ken and Ally. They arrived at our house with a plethora of seafood, and the feast was born. No recipes alas, as the seafood part was a spontaneous cooking experience that I failed to record, (must have been the ceasars and the wine...)but I definitly didn't fail to enjoy! I will try and post a few of the recipes soon, like the new flatbread I made, and the coconut brulee that ended our meal , they are both worth repeating multiple times, and I do have the recipes! So, for now, all you get is pictures, I hope you enjoy!

This is an Algerian Flatbread called Msemmen, from the new Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day book. It is easy and impressive, and is cooked in a pan on the stove...definitly worth a future blog!

Red pepper fougasse, recipe link here.

Remnants of some very yummy smoked sheeps milk gouda, even if Ken doesn't really think it was so yummy!!

Mussels, ready to steam!

Mussels, ready to eat!

Mounds of fresh seafood, shrimp, scallops, monkfish, and squid, from the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto!

Squid Ink Pasta (and my foodie friend Ken in his first ever on-camera blog appearance!)

Cooked and ready for the pasta...

I expected a strong maybe fishy taste from this, but it really had no taste other than that of fresh pasta, good, but not what I expected. (but makes for good pictures!!)

In a word...YUM!I

It went very well with the bottle of East Del Black Cabernet.

Cheers!

Oh, and we cannot forget the dessert, made lactose free just for Ken, Coconut Brulee. The recipe for this will hopefully be posted soon. It was, in my opinion, better than the Creme Brulee that I made for new years. The coconut milk made it nice and light, and not nearly as rich as the heavy cream base. (and check out my schmolly little blow torch...my new favourite kitchen tool!)

Will trade for Duck Eggs....

2010-01-13T11:46:00.000-08:00

When talking to Ken (my foodie friend) on the phone the other day, the conversation, as it often does, turned to food, and we ended up swapping my leftovers from dinner (Zuni Cafe-ish roasted chicken, roasted red potatoes, and onions, and steamed broccoli) for 6 wonderfully fresh duck eggs that he had procured. Personally, I think I got the best of the deal, although he really enjoyed the leftovers for his lunch that day. But, I am now the proud owner of 6 BEAUTIFUL duck eggs. (notice the bag that he brought them to me in....) When life gives you duck eggs, it calls for a cool recipe, not your ordinary throw-an-egg-in-your-cookie-dough kind of recipe, but something that highlights the richness of these beauties. I browsed and browsed for just the right thing, but the recipe that kept popping up in the back of my mind was the spicy cabbage recipe that I have made quite often from the Orangette blog, but always sans egg. She (Molly) says in her post that it is a perfect meal topped with an egg with a nice saucy yolk...it sounded perfect for lunch on this cold blustery day. And, topped with a duck egg, a match made in heaven. My whole lunch consisted of 5 ingredients, and took 20 minutes from start to finish, which included chopping the cabbage. It really isn’t very pretty, but the flavour more than makes up for the look. The cabbage takes on a whole new flavour, spicy, with a hint of smoky sweetness that is downright addictive. If you have never been a cabbage fan, this may be the recipe to convert you. (My 14 year old, upon tasting it for the first time, said “since when did cabbage taste this good??!!”) The egg on top is perfect. I must say, Molly was right again, (she always is, her recipes have never led me astray...if you haven’t yet checked her blog out, I highly recommend it) We have had the cabbage as a side dish many times, but this was my first try with the recommended egg. It makes a wonderful side dish turn into a perfect, quick meal that satisfies on multiple levels. The duck eggs, with their beautiful orange-doamed yolks were perfectly complimented by the spicy ribbons of cabbage. Sometimes simple just works. I thank you, Molly for the cabbage recipe, and Ken for the duck eggs, from the bottom of my stomach!

Spicy Cabbage and Eggs

1-2 tbsp grape seed or other high heat oil
½ head green cabbage
1 tsp Sambal Oelek hot sauce (or to taste)
2 tbsp soya sauce (ish)
2 eggs, regular or duck

Cut your ½ cabbage into two equal pieces, and remove the core.

Slice into nice thin ribbons.

Heat the grape seed oil till it is nice and hot in a wok ( I am sure you could use any other frying pan here, but I like the way the wok lets you toss the cooking cabbage) Toss in the cabbage, taking care with the hot oil, and give it a good mix to coat in the hot oil.

Add the Sambal Oelek, and again mix well (I use 2 wooden spoons) to distribute.

Let it hang out for a bit, so it starts to get some nice colour. Give it a good stir every minute or so until the mixture starts to brown nicely and wilt, about 10 minutes total.

Add the soy sauce, toss well, and turn down the heat.

It can sit and simmer until your eggs are ready.

Heat another pan, add a pat of butter or turn of oil, whichever you prefer to cook an egg ( I use a small pat of butter and maybe 2 tsp of olive oil) Crack your eggs into a bowl, and slide them out into the hot pan.

I like my yolks runny, so I let them cook for about 2 minutes, and then top with a glass lid to just firm up the whites, but not solidify the yolks, maybe another minute.

When they are cooked to your desired doneness, slide them out of the pan onto a plate of the spicy cabbage, and enjoy. Just look at that beautiful orange yolk....

This made enough for my lunch and lunch for Jim tomorrow. As a side dish the cabbage would serve at least 4.

If it Ain't Broke....

2010-01-07T17:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you should just stick with what you know. Especially if it is your tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe,

which comes out perfect, every time, pretty much without fail. It is THE most requested cookie in our house, and for a good reason. It is one good... no... GREAT... cookie. End of story. So I have no idea what possessed me to try another chocolate chip cookie recipe. Maybe it was that the recipe was so similar to my tried and true one or the lure of the fancy cookbook from a trendy New York bakery that swayed me to stray. The boys even tried to talk me out of it. Mac said, and I quote, “if it ain’t broke, Mom, don't fix it!” But, for some unknown reason, I convinced them that maybe it was time to try something new, the ingredients were close to the ones in my recipe, the technique, though, was a wee bit different, and one I had read about recently. It has you leaving the mixed dough to sit in the fridge, for at least 6 hours to chill. Apparently this takes chocolate chip cookies to a whole new level. Whatever it was that possessed me, I should have listened to that little inner voice, telling me not to do it. (I actually even felt guilty, like I was cheating on Betty Crocker...weird, huh?) But, I forged ahead, and made the dough, refrigerated overnight, and proceeded to make a batch to take into work with me that morning. So excited I was, as I put the first pan in the oven, turned it halfway thru the baking time, smelling that one of a kind baking chocolate chip cookie smell, only to be so sadly disappointed by the paper thin greasy cookie like things that came out of the oven.

Sometimes things just don't work out. No matter what you do. I always say that things happen for a reason, and maybe this happened to make me appreciate my Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie recipe that much more. If you want a good cookie, stick to this recipe. It will never steer you wrong!

Coconut Macaroons

2009-12-29T18:10:00.000-08:00

Well, my guys really spoiled me for Christmas, and I am now the proud owner of almost every cookbook on my wish list, plus a plethora of new cooking utensils, so, I am officially one happy cook. To celebrate my new kitchen additions,I figured I would bake something from “Once Upon a Tart”, which I have read so many good things about, both the bakery and the cookbook. If I ever end up in New York city, this cafe will be tops on my list of places to visit. The cookbook is divine. I want to cook everything in it. I figured I would settle for the “Classic Coconut Macaroons”, being as they are a favourite. I have made macaroons in the past, with acceptable results, but have never achieved macaroon nirvana. This recipe just may be the one. Alot of macaroons are either too dry, or too sweet. This one seems to be the best of both worlds, not sweet, moist inside, and oh so yummy. I dipped 1/2 of the batch in chocolate, and cannot decide whether they are better with or without. You will just have to make them, and decide for yourself!

Classic Coconut Macaroons, original recipe from “Once Upon a Tart”, by Frank Mentesana, and Jerome Audureau.

4 Large egg whites, at room temperature (they separate and whip better than cold eggs)

½ cup white sugar

4 cups Unsweetened shredded coconut (I used medium)

½ cup all purpose flour (always unbleached!!)

½ tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp honey

½ cup chocolate chips (optional, for dipping when cooked and cooled)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, with one rack in the middle of the oven. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites in a large bowl, using the whisk attachment of your electric mixer. Whisk until peaks form, 2-3 minutes approximately.

Slowly add the sugar, and mix for a couple more minutes. The result should be nice and thick and shiny!

In a separate bowl, mix together the coconut and the flour. Add this to the egg whites, and mix with a wooden spoon.

Add the vanilla, almond extract, and honey, and mix till combined. (note my shiny new measuring cups, thanks to my wonderful Mother in law Sheila...they are great! I love them!!)

Using a teaspoon dipped in water, or your 1 tbsp measure if it is an appropriate shape,

scoop dough and place on parchment paper, leaving 1 ½ inches between cookies.

Dipping the scoop into hot water between each cookie helps to release it from the scoop. (I left mine rounded, they suggest pinching the tops of each cookie into a kiss shape, with moistened fingers)

Bake in the center of the oven for 8-12 minutes. My tablespoon sized cookies took just over 11 minutes to start to brown on the bottom edges.

Place baking sheet on wire racks to cool a bit, then slide the parchment and cookies off onto the wire racks, and cool completely.

My tablespoon sized scoop yielded 46 macaroons.

Optional step: Melt chocolate chips in a bowl over simmering water, and dip the tops of the cooked and cooled macaroons. Let cool completely, or chill in fridge to set chocolate quickly.

No Knead Bread

2009-12-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

Let me start this post by apologizing for its length at the start. There is just so much information to pass along; I didn’t know when to stop! I have been asked for this recipe numerous times, and to give the recipe without all of the information that goes with would not be nice. I have learned a lot since making my first loaf, and hopefully my efforts will make your bread experience an easier one. The recipe is very simple, once you get the hang of it, but you need to know some things first. So, brave reader, be prepared for a long read, grab a cup of tea, pull up a chair, and get ready to make the best bread ever.

I have been making bread for years, and up until recently, almost all of it has involved my bread machine. At first, I used the machine cycle from start to finish, and made some pretty awesome bread, but I just never learned to love the shape of the bread, or the paddle hole that it left in the bottom of the loaf. So, I started using it primarily to knead the dough, with much happier results, and moved on to shape buns, pizza dough etc. This kept me happy for years. I still use it fairly regularly, for my “knotty” buns, Kaisers, pizza etc. My good ole’ Panasonic is close to 15 years old, and still churning out beautiful batches of dough.

But, then my foodie friend Ken gave me some sourdough starter, and some basic instructions, which I somehow never seemed to follow correctly, as the bread never worked, and the starter always died. I am not sure how many times he has asked how it was possible to kill it, but kill it I did. (sorry Ken, I did try!) Alas, Sourdough bread was just not meant to be in my kitchen. This whole experience left me wanting more from my bread experience though. I knew there had to be an easier way, and I really wanted to make a different style of bread. A lot of internet research later, I stumbled upon no knead bread. It sounded too good to be true. I made my first loaf in my cast iron Dutch oven, and, wow, it was pretty fantastic, with no kneading involved, as promised. I remember there being a pretty long rising time, and the baking process was a wee bit daunting, dumping a sticky wet ball of dough into a 500 degree cast iron pot was not something I wanted to repeat on a regular basis, no matter how good the bread was. Back to the drawing board I went, and I found the website for Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Five minutes. Could it really be so easy? I devoured that website from the first page to the last, and ordered the book the very next day. I almost felt silly,waiting for the mail to arrive so that I could try this new bread recipe. When was finally delivered, I promptly made my first batch of Boule, which consists of mixing some yeast, water and salt together, stirring in the flour, and letting it sit. I waited the two hours resting time, and made my first batch of bread. Now, the 5 minutes may sound misleading, but it relates to the actual hands on time of making a loaf of bread, once the Boule has rested. After the resting step, you can store the dough in your fridge for up to 14 days (trust me, you will probably never leave it that long once you taste it, I think I made a loaf or two every day for the first month!) when you want to make a loaf of bread, you pull out your dough, shape your loaf, let it rest, preheat your oven with your pizza stone, and bake your bread with the aid of steam. (I use a broiler pan on the bottom rack of my oven, and pour very hot water in right after putting the loaf onto the pizza stone.) The bread that comes out is, without a doubt, amazing. The crust is thick, crunchy and chewy all at the same time, with a moist custardy artisanal middle that will make you swoon. I kid you not.( I would NEVER kid about bread!!) Add some salted butter and nirvana comes to mind. It really doesn’t get any easier, or better, than this bread. A wee bit of planning, and a few basic kitchen tools are all you need to make this wonderful bread for yourself. Oh, and the book,(they have a new one out now too, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, it is on my Christmas list, I hope Santa brings it for me!) which is filled with tons of hints and recipes. The website is fantastic as well, lots of new ideas posted on a regular basis, and they always seem to answer any questions people leave in the comment spots, which is helpful, to say the least. I found it very helpful to watch the videos on YouTube as well, sometimes seeing something with your own eyes makes more sense than what you read. The authors, Zoe Francois, and Jeff Hertzberg, are bread geniuses. I tip my hat to them every time I make one of their awesome loaves of bread. And, you won’t even break a sweat, I promise!

So, if you are still with me, and you want to make some of this yummy bread yourself, you will need a couple of basic tools.

First and foremost is a pizza stone. I use my pampered chef bar pan, and rectangular pizza stone, often together in my oven when I am making multiple loaves.
You will also need some kind of pan to put in the bottom of your oven to pour hot water into. I use the base of the broiler pan that came with my oven. This step is necessary to create the steam that makes the amazing crust.
A pizza peel is very helpful, although you can use a cookie sheet with no sides, or the back of a cookie sheet. The dough needs to be able to slide off and onto the hot pizza stone; sides will get in the way.
I have found parchment paper to be my best friend. The book recommends using a good quantity of flour or cornmeal to use under the bread so it doesn’t stick to the peel, but I find parchment is way easier, and neater. You can place the formed dough right on the parchment to rest, and slide it, parchment and all, onto the hot stone, easy peasy. When I was using the cornmeal my smoke alarm was going off regularly because some cornmeal always seemed to hit the hot oven element and burn, causing smoke, noise, and kitchen chaos!
A large bucket/container with a lid, it needs to hold at least 12 cups.
I highly recommend buying the book. The recipe I am going to give you is just the basic recipe. The book goes into much more detail, and has many many recipes and variations that are well worth the price of the book.
Yeast and coarse salt. I buy my instant dry yeast in a brick at a baking supply store, but any instant bread yeast will do. I use coarse sea salt, I think they recommend kosher salt. If you use a finer salt, you will need to decrease the measurement by ¼. (i.e.: use ¾ as much of the original measurement)
Watch the video on you tube. I wish I had found that before I started!!
a dough or bench scraper comes in handy, for cleaning off your surface, unsticking dough, etc.

Now, after all that, if you have your tools assembled, and you are ready to make bread, let’s go!

Basic Boule (Original Master Recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois)

3 cups lukewarm water (hot water will kill the yeast; cold water will delay your rising time a lot!)

1 ½ tbsp granulated yeast

1 ½ tbsp coarse salt

6 ½ cups all purpose flour (I use unbleached, the book recommends this too)

Extra flour for shaping the dough

Mix the water, salt and yeast together in a large container.

(I find a lower round container is easier to get the dough out of later) Don't worry about the yeast and salt being dissolved completely. Mix in the flour with a wooden spoon. Do not knead, just mix until it all comes together in a globby kind of dough.

Allow it to rise covered until it rises and collapses, with the lid on but NOT sealed, at room temperature for about 2 hours. The dough should be flattened on the top when it has is ready.

I have had this take anywhere from 2-4 hours in my kitchen, I think the cooler it is in the kitchen the longer it takes to rise.

The dough is ready to use at this point, or you can store it in the fridge in a lidded but not airtight container for up to 14 days. (If you do use it right away, your initial resting time can be a lot less. Cold dough needs a longer initial rest time.

To bake:

Dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a grapefruit sized piece (in my round container I divide it into 4 wedges, ¼ of the dough is a perfect size to work with). A serrated knife works well.

With the extra flour in a low dish of some sort (I use a pasta plate) plop your ball of dough in and coat the surface of the dough with a bit of flour. I think they call this “cloaking the dough.”

Quickly shape into a ball, kind of stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom all around the ball, rotating quickly and trying not to work it over much. For this step I found the YouTube video essential, it made a lot more sense when I watched it actually being done. It was also hard for me to take pictures with dough and flour covered hands, I should have had a kitchen assistant for this part!!

Place your smooth ball of dough to rest on a corn meal covered pizza peel or parchment paper.

If the dough is cold, you are going to let it rest for at least 40 minutes. I have left mine for longer than this, up to an hour for some loaves, just note that some of the shaped specialty breads take less resting time.

20 minutes before it is ready to bake, you are going to get your oven ready. Place your broiler pan in the bottom of your oven, near the front so that when you are pouring the hot water in you don't pour it on your element by accident!

Place your pizza stone in the lower middle portion of your oven. Pre heat to 450 degrees F. With my oven it takes about 16 minutes to preheat.

Dust the top of your loaf with flour, and cut a few deep slashes in the top of your loaf using a serrated knife. You will want enough flour that the knife doesn’t stick and drag the dough. A regular knife doesn’t work well for this, trust me!

Fill a measuring cup with very hot water, and prepare to put your bread in the oven.

If you are resting on parchment, slide the whole thing onto your pizza peel or overturned cookie sheet, open your oven and slide the loaf onto the hot pizza stone. If you are resting on cornmeal, it could take a couple of quick shakes to get it to slide off the pizza peel. Quickly pour the hot water into the broiler pan, and shut the oven. You will want to complete this step as fast as possible, so very little heat escapes your oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes. If your loaf is bigger or smaller, adjust your baking time accordingly.

The whole batch of dough was used to make these 4 loaves.

When it is done, the crust should be a golden brown colour. (And your house should smell amazing!!) Let the loaf cool almost completely before slicing it, it makes it way easier to cut, and doesn’t smush the custardy interior together.

Now that we have the basic recipe out of the way, I will share one of my favourite ways to use the dough, which really was the whole point of this long winded blog!

Hot Pepper Olive Baguette

¼ of batch of no knead Boule (recipe above)

1/3 – ½ cup of sliced or roughly chopped green olives, drained well

1/3-1/2 cup hot pepper rings, drained very well, I give them a squeeze to release any extra liquid

1/3 - ½ cup of some kind of hard cheese, grated (parmesan, asiago, romano, etc. They all work well)

Flour

Olive oil

Dust your counter with flour, dip your ball of dough into the flour as well, just to nicely coat the surface and make it easier to work with. Working quickly, stretch, coax, and coerce your dough into an 8” by 10” ish rectangle. If it is really sticky, dust with a bit more flour to make it workable, if it is stiff, let it sit for a minute or two then try again to coax it out into the rectangle shape. Again, you don't want to knead it or over work it, but you need to get it into a nice flattened piece.

Once your dough is shaped, scatter the olives, peppers, and cheese evenly over the surface, and roll up into a log along the longest edge.

It may stick, don't give up, just ease the dough off of your surface, (a dough scraper or bench scraper may help here) stick it in place and carry on. The good thing about this is it is supposed to look rustic!

Fold the ends under, and place on parchment or well corn-mealed pizza peel to rest.

After about 20 -30 minutes, prepare your oven for baking. Place pizza stone in center, and broiling pan in bottom. Preheat to 450 Degrees F.

When oven is preheated, take a serrated knife and cut slashes down the length of the loaf.

Spray or brush with a bit of olive oil, and slide on to hot stone in oven. Pour hot water in to the broiler pan and shut the door quickly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the crust is a beautiful golden brown and the cheese that peeks through the slashes is browned.

Allow to cool before slicing.

This is a Red Pepper Fogasse, from the website. It is very good as well. Click HERE for the recipe!

Baked Potato Soup

2009-12-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

Oh, what a bad blogger I have been. My last blog was over 2 weeks ago!! My only excuse is the Christmas rush, both at work and at home. Both seem to be under control at the moment though, and I feel like I can breathe again, if only for a day or two. My Christmas cards(the other thing that I enjoy almost as much as cooking, making handmade greeting cards, 50 in all this season, all different...what was I thinking????) are all made and sent, my house is pretty much ready for Christmas, the shopping is about 80% done, and I actually have a day off from work tomorrow. Halleluiah! My goal for my day off is to not leave my house for anything. What are the odds that I will actually achieve my goal??

The good thing about loving to cook is that during these crazy busy times, I always make time to cook. Take out food seems like a cop out to me, when there are so many yummy things that can be made in just as much time as it takes to dial the phone and wait for the delivery guy. Call me crazy, but I would rather spend that 45 minutes cooking, than timing the pizza guy to see if my order is free! I am such a food nerd that I always compare what is delivered to what I could have made, and how much better it would have been. (now you really can call me crazy!!) Now my camera is full of pictures just waiting to be blogged about. All I need now are a few spare hours to just sit and type. Cross your fingers for me, will you?

So, here I sit, at my laptop, drinking a very enjoyable glass of red wine, trying to decide what to blog about tonight. After seeing the boys devour the baked potato soup that I made for supper, I figured it was a recipe worth sharing. Apparently a lot of restaurants have a soup like this on their menu, but I have never ordered it. After having this though, I just might! I baked a bunch of extra red potatoes the other night when I was making dinner, figuring I would slice them up and pan fry them in a bit of butter, kind of like really thick potato chips. But, somewhere in the back of my wee food addled little brain, I remember reading this recipe and wanting to make it one day. So, here it is! I didn’t really plan on blogging it, so the picture part is a wee bit sparse,please forgive me! The soup makes up for it, I promise. It goes together quickly, and easily. Next time you have extra space in your oven, bake some extra potatoes, this soup is worth it...your stomach will thank you!

The original recipe uses regular bacon, but being as we don't eat pork, I substituted some fantastic turkey bacon that Shawn, my veggie guy brought me from the market. I also lightened up the recipe a lot, cutting out the sour cream, some of the butter, and a lot of the cheese. Not having ever had this in a restaurant, I wasn’t sure how much of a difference it would make, but the flavour was very good. It is very thick, creamy and satisfying, great for a cold winter day

Baked Potato Soup (Original recipe here)

8 slices bacon (I used turkey bacon)

4 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

6 cups milk (feel free to increase stock and decrease milk if you like)

1 cup chicken stock

4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cook bacon and chopped green onions in a large, deep skillet, over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble, and set aside.

In a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk and stock, whisking constantly until it thickens up. Stir in diced potatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to break up some of the chunks if desired. (You can blend till smooth if you prefer your soup to have no chunks at all)

Top each bowl with the crumbled bacon, onions and cheese. A dollop of sour cream would probably be good on top as well!

Dad's 70th Birthday Cake, or Chocolate Stout Cake

2009-12-01T04:59:00.000-08:00

For my Dads 70^th dinner this year, I was put in charge of the cake. His only request was chocolate, (unlike last year, when he asked me to make my brothers black forest cake....) so the search began for a chocolate cake. It had to be unique, and it had to be good, like, REALLY GOOD. The first runner up was a Chocolate Whiskey Bundt Cake(I do love a Bundt cake!) from Orangette, which sounded divine, but after reading that she was a wee bit woozy from one piece, and the boys were going to be eating it, I figured something with a little less alcohol may be called for. When I found the recipe for Chocolate Stout Cake on Smitten Kitchen, and got to the Ganache topping, I knew it was the one. It did not fail to please. What a fine chocolate cake. The chocolate flavour is enhanced by the beer, but don't let that intimidate you if you are not a stout fan (I am not!) You can't taste the beer itself; it just brings a new dimension to the batter. The flavours meld in perfect harmony, giving a cake with a beautiful moist crumb, and a big bold chocolate taste, without being overly sweet. The Ganache is literally, the icing on the cake. Sublime, divine-- a chocolate lovers dream. Happy Birthday Dad! I hope you enjoy the cake!

The cake originally called for Guinness Stout, but after reading the comments underneath the recipe on her site, I decided to try a different beer. My beer connisure/ foodie friend Ken picked me up two bottles of Sinha stout, which is brewed in Sri Lanka, and has chocolate, coffee and toffee flavours, perfect for this cake. He brought two bottles, which gave me enough to make another cake. But, if I make another one, I don’t think I will share....

Chocolate Stout Cake, originally posted on Smitten Kitchen

1 Cup Stout (I used Sinha, SK used Guinness, feel free to substitute the stout of your choice)

1 cup Unsalted butter (2 sticks)

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (SK recommends Dutch process)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 ½ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp salt

2 large eggs

10 tbsp sour cream

6 oz good semisweet chocolate chips (I use PC Decadent semi sweet chocolate chips, they are awesome!)

6 Tbsp heavy cream

¾ tsp instant coffee granules (i used the new Starbucks instant packets, about 1/2 of the packet will do)

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Thoroughly grease your Bundt pan. I melted butter and used my baster to get every nook and cranny. Don't scrimp on this step, if you miss even the smallest bit, your cake may stick. You can also use a spray, or butter on a bit of paper towel or waxed paper, just make sure to cover the ENTIRE PAN!!

Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to a simmer in a large pot with a heavy bottom over medium heat.

Sift in cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. (I am not sure the sifting is necessary, but I usually sift my cocoa to eliminate any chance of lumps)

Cool Slightly (I set it outside on my railing, it was easier than clearing a spot in my fridge, and it was about 2degrees C outside.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and ¾ tsp salt in a large bowl to blend. Set aside.

Using a hand or stand mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in large bowl, till blended.

Add the slightly cooled chocolate mixture, and again, beat until just blended.

Add flour mixture, and mix briefly on low, just to bring ingredients together, (to get mine to this stage took about 30 seconds)

Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined, being careful not to over-mix.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven until tester inserted comes out clean, 35-45 minutes. ( I think mine took closer to 50, but start checking around 35 minutes, you don't want to over or under bake)

Transfer cake to a cooling rack, STILL IN THE PAN, and let it cool completely. Leaving it in the pan helps it to release perfectly. As you see in the picture, I cooled it on my railing as well, I should have taken a picture of my dog, on the inside of the door, drooling at the cake, just out of reach...) When the cake is completely cool, turn out of pan and plate it.

Ganache:

Melt the chocolate, cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler.

If, like me you don't have a double boiler, place a glass bowl above simmering water (be sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl) and proceed.

Stir occasionally until warm and smooth.

Drizzle over the cooled cake, and enjoy!

I had to include a picture of the salmon that my brother made for Dad's birthday dinner, it was awesome! Sorry, no recipe, for that you will have to contact my brother!

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

2009-11-24T13:28:00.000-08:00

In my veggie box again this week, Shawn, my veggie guy, added blueberries. I actually had a hankering for muffins, but stumbled across this recipe for a blueberry loaf/cake type thing that hooked me at first read. I had everything the recipe called for, and, believe it or not, I DID NOT TINKER WITH IT AT ALL! Not even one little bit. Weird, I know, but sometimes I surprise even myself! It whipped up quickly, and the smell in my kitchen was amazing while it baked. If you follow the link, Smitten Kitchen gives all kinds of variations you could try. I am kinda stuck on this one at the moment, but will definite keep it in the repertoire. The loaf itself is very moist, and as she suggests in the original recipe, needs to be cut very carefully. Try and allow it to cool completely before attempting to slice. One suggestion she gives that would be divine is doubling the recipe and baking in a Bundt pan. Maybe with a lemon icing sugar glaze…time for another slice!

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf (Or, as Smitten kitchen calls it, Lemon Yogurt anything Cake)

1 ½ cups all purpose Flour plus 1 tbsp extra to toss blueberries in

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup white sugar, plus 1 extra teaspoon for lemon drizzle

3 XL eggs

2 tsp lemon zest (I only needed one, hers suggested 2)

½ tsp vanilla

½ cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed (miniature wild blueberries are great for this, and pose the least risk of sinking) (I used fresh)

1/3 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and then prepare your pan. Grease a large loaf pan, Mine measures about 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ inches. After you grease it, line the bottom of it with parchment, grease the parchment, and then flour the pan. Set aside.

Whisk together 1 ½ cups flour, the baking powder and the salt, set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, sugar eggs, zest, vanilla and oil until well blended.

Slowly add the dry ingredients, stirring till just mixed.

Toss the blueberries with the remaining 1 tbsp flour, then CAREFULLY fold the berries into the batter, being careful not to over mix.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes (mine took closer to 70) or until cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean.

While loaf is baking, combine lemon juice and remaining tbsp sugar in a small pot. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and set aside.

Remove from oven and let rest in pan for 10 minutes.

Turn out onto a cooling rack, and baste with lemon juice sugar mixture while the loaf is still warm.

Allow to cool before slicing, and don't forget to remove the parchment from the bottom of the loaf.

This is what my kitchen looks like during my baking episodes!

Eggs Poached in Tomatoes

2009-11-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time reading food blogs; (no, really, like A LOT!) I ~~think~~ know it has become my latest obsession. Having a new obsession connect so closely with another obsession (cooking) is both a good thing, and a very bad thing. On the good side, discovering these food blogs has opened up a whole new world of yummy recipes for me to feed my loved ones with, and it inspired this blog of my own. So far, win-win, right? On the bad side though, I find myself looking for a recipe that I read somewhere, and end up, hours later, with a whole new list of recipes that I want to try, while I click from blog to blog, eventually forgetting what I was looking for in the first place. Whole afternoons have been lost while reading posts for things like pear and chocolate cakes, ginger chocolate banana bread, key lime coconut cake, or Dutch baby pancakes. (can you see new blog posts here? I can!) I end up STARVING by the end of it all, realize I have no time left to cook what I originally set out to find, and end up in need of something quick. I have a few quick meals that I fall back on, and a lot of them seem to include eggs, because they cook so very quickly, and they are pretty darn tasty with not a lot of fuss. I will have to do a post on my omelet/frittata thing, but I think it needs a much better name first! When browsing one afternoon, I found this particular recipe, and I was pretty sure it would become a contender in the “I want something tasty but I need to eat RIGHT NOW” category. I made it for Jim on a Saturday morning when the boys were both out (it is not really their kind of breakfast) and I was hooked. I could eat this every day (well, maybe not EVERY day, but you get the point; it is that good). It doesn't get any better than that. My inspiration recipe came from Smitten Kitchen, and had some sautéed greens on the side, which, alas, I had none of at the time. Feel free to add them if you like, I am sure they would make a very tasty addition.

Eggs Poached In Tomatoes

1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (or use a can of whole ones, and dice them yourself, me—I almost always buy diced!)

1 onion

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

A pinch of hot pepper flakes (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

4 eggs

2 pieces of bread, pick your favourite kind, (something with some substance is best, like a yummy sourdough, or multi-grain loaf. You will want one that won't turn to mush under the tomato egg mixture)

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a medium saucepan. Thinly slice the onion, and chop the garlic, and add to the heated oil. Sauté until just starting to soften and brown a wee bit. Add the tomatoes along with their juices, the pinch of hot pepper flakes (if using), and season with salt and pepper. Heat to boiling, stirring often.

Break eggs one at a time into a small bowl, and add them to the bubbling tomato mixture. (If you are a pro- egg cracker, you can crack them right into the tomatoes without using a small bowl, a pro I am not!)

Repeat with remaining eggs, spacing them evenly around the pot.

Turn temperature to medium low, and cover the pot.

Toast your bread; place in a shallow bowl type plate like a pasta plate.

Let the eggs simmer until the yolks are how you like them; ours cooked for 4-5 minutes tops. I prefer the yolks to be just on the thick side of runny.

Using a large spoon or ladle scoop a generous portion of tomatoes out of the pot along with eggs, and place on your toast. Another grind of fresh black pepper, and bon appétit! Simple, delicious and nourishing, all within about 15 minutes.

Life is good.

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

2009-11-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

I am a big fan of roasting veggies. I used to stick to root type veggies, like sweet potatoes, onions, parsnips, potatoes, onions etc. I branched out to Brussels sprouts a few years ago, and immediately fell in love all over again with the wee little cabbage guys. Asparagus followed shortly thereafter, and was added to the yum list. I think it was last year that I read somewhere about roasting cauliflower, which, of course, I tried right away. Wow! Once you have had it roasted, you will never settle for steamed again! It gives it a nutty sweetness that is downright addictive. So, adding broccoli, it had to be done. I am hooked. I think I could eat a whole pan of roasted cauliflower and broccoli myself, it is better than candy (notice I did not say chocolate…) It is so simple, and looks beautiful, with all those roasty brown tips….OK, now I am getting hungry again!

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

1 large head broccoli

1 medium head cauliflower

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut apart broccoli and cauliflower, and evenly distribute flowerets on large pan with an edge, like a jelly roll pan, or even a large roasting pan.

Lightly drizzle with olive oil, I probably use 3-4 tbsp max, then sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. My salt of choice is coarse sea salt, use whichever is your favourite. Use hands to mix in oil, S&P, to evenly distribute.

Roast in hot oven for 35-45 minutes, until the edges start to turn a nice dark brown colour. Be sure to stir a few times during the cooking time.

Great accompaniment to Sticky Sweet Spicy Chicken.

Sweet Spicy Sticky Chicken

2009-11-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

We eat a lot of chicken in our house. As I have mentioned before, we don't eat beef or pork, which narrows the variety of protein choices a bit. So, I am always looking for different ways to cook chicken. While browsing on the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog the other day, I found this recipe, and it looked so yummy, I knew I had to make it. It is all she raves about and more. Mine didn't seem to darken up as much as hers, but the flavour was awesome. The boys had the sauce drizzled on their rice, and their roasted cauliflower and broccoli. I think they were going for the straws to suck up what was left in the pan. My guess is they liked it….

Sticky Sweet Spicy Chicken

1 Cup Apricot Preserves

1/2 Cup Ketchup (I used the spicy ketchup that has been lingering forever in my fridge, and omitted the hot sauce)

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Hot Pepper Sauce

8-12 chicken pieces, bone-in (thighs, drumsticks, your choice, I used 4 of each)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small saucepan, mix together apricot preserves, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic and hot pepper sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, till combined and bubbly.

Arrange chicken pieces in a 13 x 9″ baking pan. Don't over crowd the dish or it will steam more than bake. Use a bigger pan if necessary.

Pour sauce over chicken, making sure to cover all pieces thoroughly.

Bake, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes, basting 3 or 4 times during cooking time with accumulated pan sauces.

(If you compare our recipes, I cooked min a wee bit hotter, as I was roasting the broccoli and cauliflower at the same time. The increased temp and time was fine with the thighs, if you are using all drumsticks, you may need to decrease the time a bit)

Goes great with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

Chili Lime Popcorn

2009-11-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

This popcorn was created because of one simple little question. “Hey sweetie, where are those chili lime almonds that were in the cupboard?” Of course, the one thing that I happened to snack on that very afternoon is the one thing that my husband decided he wanted to snack on when he arrived home from work. “Um, I dunno sweetie, maybe the boys ate them???” (she says with a sheepish grin….) so, my slightly guilty mind is racing, trying to figure out how to recreate that spicy, crunchy lime flavor, without having to fess up that it was in fact me that ate them. “What if I make chili lime popcorn?” I throw in hopefully. The look I received was as doubtful as the thoughts in my head that this might actually work, but, being me, I forged ahead, and was just as surprised as Jim that this actually worked. When you look at the ingredients, and see lime juice, you will probably get that same doubtful look on your face. It kind of congers up a vision of slimy popcorn, not really that appetizing, right? Well, for some karmic reason, it works. You just need to have a wee bit of adventure in your heart, and a craving for that yummy chili lime flavor...! If the flavours work for you, it is definitely worth a try.

Chili Lime Popcorn

8-10 cups freshly popped popcorn (popping instructions here)

1 lime (or 3-4 tbsp lime juice if you don't have fresh)

2-4 tsp chili powder (depending on your taste)

Salt to taste

Take your lime and roll it around on a hard surface (counter, cutting board) using fairly firm pressure with your hand. This helps to release the juice from your lime. It also helps if your lime is room temperature. Cut lime in half thru the middle, and using a juicer, squeeze as much juice from the lime as you can, using both halves.

Place about 1/3 of your popcorn in a large (very large!) bowl. Using a teaspoon, use about 1/3 of the lime juice and sprinkle over the popcorn. Follow with 1/3 of the chili powder, and salt to taste. Repeat this process twice, so that the lime and spices are distributed throughout the popcorn. The more chili powder you use, the spicier it will be, so adjust to your taste.

Bread Pudding, Dumplings and Goo, Oh My!

2009-11-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a treat. My hubbie and I actually managed to get a weekday off together. This doesn't often happen in our house, so it was a day to celebrate. I offered up all kinds of tasty things to cook for lunch, but his taste buds were calling for some spicy wings. So, off to our favourite wings and beer place we went, for lunch, just the two of us, in the middle of the day. Wow! Now, you are probably thinking that this post is in no way related to the title that I picked, but, trust me, I am getting there! We arrived at Sammy's Rec Room, and ordered the wings, butter Cajun for the hubbie, and Bundy for me (a mix of hot and honey garlic that is sweet, hot, and delicious!) plus two pints to go with. Our favourite waiter Goo (see, part of the title makes sense now…)was working, and somehow we got to talking about food, go figure! One of his staff had a craving for dumplings, and he had made some up for her, just like that. The conversation continued, about the poaching liquid, the dumplings, and what everyone was doing with them, (some where even being baked if I recall) Anyway, he brought out a few samples for us, some rolled in the butter Cajun chicken wing sauce, and some sprinkled with cheese. Goo makes a mean dumpling, who knew? Tasty tasty! (I still think they should go on the menu, dumpling appetizers..A whole new concept!) The conversation then turned to the bread pudding , that he was making right then, which unfortunately was still in the oven when we left, so we didn't get to try it. But this lunch time conversation left me with 2 cravings that need to be attended to, ASAP! Hence the title of this blog, get it now?! I knew the bread pudding would have to wait when I found this recipe for chicken and dumplings on the Smitten Kitchen website. To the grocery store for leeks and chicken thighs I went. Thanks Goo! Your dumplings were an awesome segue to an amazing meal, and this blog!

This recipe takes a wee bit of time to cook, so be sure to leave enough time to let the chicken simmer, I step I somehow missed when I previewed the recipe, which left a very hungry teenager lurking in my kitchen for the last half hour of the cooking time, trying to eat everything that wasn't nailed down.

I barely changed the recipe, which is odd for me, like REALLY odd, but it sounded pretty much perfect the way it was. My only changes were due to what I had in my kitchen, hers had sherry, I used white wine, and I used thyme instead of tarragon. Other than that, the recipe was amazing, as is.

Smitten Kitchens Chicken and Dumplings with Leeks and Tarragon

Stew (make this part first, do not start the dumplings until this part is complete!)

5 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (I bought 2 packages with 9 thighs in each)

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

4 teaspoons olive oil

4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)

2 medium leeks , white and light green parts only, cut in half lengthwise, rinsed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large onion, minced

6 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white wine

4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

2 bay leaves

1 cup frozen green peas

2 tsp dried thyme

Dumplings

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

1 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons reserved chicken fat (or unsalted butter)

For the stew: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the chicken and cook until golden on both sides, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the browned chicken to a bowl and remove the browned skin. (Use tongs, it is HOT!) Pour off the chicken fat and reserve. Repeat with remaining chicken, remembering to save any excess chicken fat, you will need it for the dumplings.

Add the butter to the Dutch oven and melt over medium-high heat.

Add the leeks, onion, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the wine, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the broth, milk, thyme, and bay leaves. Nestle the chicken, with any accumulated juices, into the pot.

Cover and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and tender, about 1 hour. (mine was done in about 45-50 minutes)

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board.

Remove and discard the bay leaves. Let the sauce hang out for a few minutes, then skim the fat from the surface using a wide spoon.

After the chicken cools a bit, shred the meat from the bones, and return it to the stew. Discard the bones. Leave on burner to simmer.

Dumplings: Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Microwave the milk and fat in a microwave-safe bowl on high until just warm; in my microwave it took about 40 seconds. (do not over-heat).

Stir the warmed milk mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just incorporated and smooth. Over-mixing will make your dumplings tough.

Stir in the peas and tarragon into the simmering stew, and season with salt and pepper.

Gather a golf-ball-sized portion of the dumpling batter onto a soup spoon, then push the dumpling onto the stew using a second spoon.

Cover the stew with the dumplings, leaving about 1/4 inch between each. You should have about 18-20 dumplings. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook until the dumplings have doubled in size.

SK suggested 15-18 minutes, mine took more like 25, much to the dismay of the hungry teenager!

Quick Tomato Sauce

2009-11-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

I usually have a lot of time to cook. It is not unusual for me to spend an entire afternoon (or whole day) cooking. There isn't a whole lot that I enjoy more. Some music in the background, my fridge and pantry full of ingredients, my kitchen is definitely my happy place. (Add a glass of wine and it is absolute nirvana!) Sometimes though, I need a quick meal, on the table in a hurry. But, being in a hurry doesn't always mean sacrificing flavor or resorting to pre- made meals. In just a wee bit more time than it takes to boil up a bag of frozen ravioli, you can make a pretty darn good tomato sauce, from just a few simple ingredients. Now, where was that glass of wine….

Quick Tomato Sauce:

2 small onions, halved and sliced very thin

3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 28oz can diced tomatoes with liquid

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in pan on medium high. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until softened and starting to brown. Add the can of diced tomatoes, bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer until it thickens, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over your favourite pasta.

Top with your choice of grated cheese. The Marble cheddar is Isaacs favourite, and he wanted me to point out that it is his hand in the picture below, just visible under the bowl of cheese!

Coconut Jam Tarts for Jim

2009-11-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

I don't very often get requests for specific foods from my husband. He isn't picky, and generally likes everything I make. I am in charge of our menu, from groceries to table, which is perfectly fine by me. As I have mentioned before, I don't make very many things twice, unless they are requested. So, when Jim does ask for something specific, I am all over it. He is worth it. He lets me cook to my hearts content, and eats everything I cook.So when I can spoil him, I do. Like the other day, when he bit into a coconut tart from a bakery not far from us, and said, “oh, you so need to make these!” He even had some pretty specific requests to go with it…more jam, a bit more gooey, like that tart but better! Coconut tarts he asked for, coconut tarts he would get! So, to my trusty computer I went. Tons of recipes exist for these kind of tarts, but they all seemed to be too firm, and too chintzy with the jam. So, I read a few, got some ideas, and set off on my own to create what he was asking for.

The tart that came out of my oven are sublime, the coconut and raspberry are in perfect harmony with the flaky pastry. I think I succeeded. I cannot wait for him to get home tonight. My guess is he will swoon, they are that good. I really hope they last till he gets here…

One small suggestion… let them cool a wee bit more than I did before you test the first one, my tongue feels a bit burnt, but it was soooo worth it! If your tart tin is bigger, adjust your squares of pastry accordingly, mine measures about 2 ¾ “ across.

Jim's Coconut Jam Tarts

(Makes 12 tarts )

¼ of perfect pastry recipe, chilled

(recipe for pastry is included in my very first post, after the pear tart recipe)

Raspberry jam – 2 tsp ish per tart shell

(pick your favourite if raspberry doesn't do it for you, just don't be chintzy!)

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)

1/4 cup superfine granulated sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Roll the chilled pastry quite thin, you will need to cut 12- 4”squares(I cut them square because I like my tarts to look homemade, not like they just came from a container at the grocery store-- if you prefer circles, use them) from it, and you should have a bit left over. Try and get it big enough the first time to get most of your squares cut without having to re-roll. The less you work with your pastry, the more tender and flakier it will be.

Fold each square into the tart tin, and let them hang out in the fridge to keep cold while you prepare the coconut mixture.

Cream the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the egg and beat well for another minute.

Fold in the coconut with a rubber spatula until it is mixed in well.

Remove your tart shells from the fridge, and spoon the jam into the each shell.

Top with the coconut mixture.

Bake in the oven at 375degrees F for 15 minutes until golden and firm to the touch. Let them hang out in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, so the pastry firms up a bit. It will be easier to get them out.

Let cool on a wire rack, and try not to swoon when you taste them, I dare you!

Poached Pears

2009-11-04T18:42:00.000-08:00

When my Mom and Dad came for dinner a few weekends ago, I knew I had two more willing guinea pigs for a dessert I have wanted to try for ages. I have had an abundance of pears lately, thanks to Shawn (my veggie guy!) and had just enough ripe ones to experiment with poaching pears. I have read recipes that peeled them and left them whole, and ones that peeled and halved them. I opted for the halved version, as I wanted to try different toppings, and this gave more pieces to experiment with! I would have to say this was definitely a recipe worth repeating. It was easy, delicious, and a very elegant looking dessert. We tried topping the pears with 1: plain yogurt, 2: vanilla yogurt, 3: sour cream and 4: vanilla ice cream. We also sprinkled some organic maple flakes on top of each of these. All I can say is WOW! Each topping was fantastic in its own way, and I am not sure which if any was “the best”. I would say to use whichever one sounds good to you, as they were all winners in my book, or leave them as they are in a little pool of the poaching liquid.

Poached Pears

8 pears, peeled, halved and cored (I used Bartlett, use your favourite!)

3 cups of poaching liquid (I used part apple juice and part apple cider)

½ cup brown sugar

2 cinnamon sticks (around 3” each)

Optional: Topping of your choice (we tried plain yogurt, vanilla yogurt, sour cream, and vanilla ice cream)

In medium pot, bring poaching liquid, brown sugar and cinnamon sticks to a boil.

Reduce heat to simmer, and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Carefully place pears in hot liquid, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from liquid with slotted spoon and place on serving dish.

Spoon some poaching liquid over top, and if desired top with one of the optional toppings.

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

2009-11-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

After roasting and freezing my pumpkins, I had one cup of leftover puree. Muffins seemed to be on my mind, so I searched for a recipe, but just couldn't come up with a recipe that didn't contain a ton of sugar (Halloween is just over, the boys have had LOADS of extra sugar, I wasn't wanting to add more!) I looked for a healthy muffin, low in sugar, low in fat, with more than just white flour. (I go on ultra healthy binges every so often; it seems I don't always have to use butter after all...now is where you ignore the butter, melting on the muffin, just warm, from the oven in the picture above, I have no idea how it ended up there, honest!) But, alas, nothing seemed to fit the ideas that were in my head so I ended up making up my own recipe. I used honey, and not a lot of it, counting on the sweetness of the pumpkin and applesauce to lend a hand. I added some oatmeal to give it some fiber, and added the dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds for texture and flavour. You could substitute raisins for the cranberries, I am sure they would be um, lovely.... (being as I have a few raisin issues, I rarely use them in my muffins!) These turn out to be moist, barely sweet, with a nice spicy flavour, perfect for a rainy fall afternoon, with a hot cup of tea.

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins:

1 c unbleached all purpose flour

1 c whole wheat flour

½ cup oats (quick, regular or large flake, anything but steel cut)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp cloves

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) plus ¼ cup to sprinkle on top

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger** (you can substitute dried ginger here, add 2 tsp to the dry ingredients instead)

Mix together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir in first amount of pumpkin seeds and the dried cranberries. Set aside.

Whisk together beaten eggs, oil, honey, milk pumpkin puree, applesauce, vanilla and ginger. Add to dry ingredients and stir only to moisten.

Fill greased muffin tins (or use papers if you are lazy like I was today!) ¾ full, and top with remaining pumpkin seeds. I filled 20 muffin liners*, but my pans are small, if your pans are large, this would probably make on dozen nicely (increase cooking time to 25 min).

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

*If you are left with empty spots in your muffin pan, and your pans are thin, like these ones of mine, you can put about ¼ cup of water in each empty spot to prevent your pan from warping, just be very careful not to spill or splash the water on you when removing them from the oven! I have a nice heavy muffin tin but somehow seem to have left it at the trailer when we closed up for the season. I use it in the barbeque there during the summer, driving our trailer neighbours crazy with the smell of fresh muffins in the mornings. If they are lucky, they get leftovers, if my vultures haven’t polished off every last one that is!

**I keep a piece of ginger in my freezer all the time. To use, do not thaw, just peel back the skin with a sharp knife, and use a kitchen rasp or fine grater to grate it. Pop it back in the freezer til next time. Fresh ginger all the time! It works great!

Roasted Pumpkin Puree

2009-11-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

Now that Halloween is over, I always feel sad for the pumpkins, their season is over, and the glorious orange colour that they lend to the fall season is quickly replaced by the reds and greens of Christmas, as they are sadly placed by curb or composter, their usefulness seemingly done. When we pick our pumpkins, I always make sure to pick 3 or 4 small pie pumpkins to decorate with, (not the two pictured above, these are regular pumkins!) so that at least a few will live on in some tasty fall baking. (I did bring home 3 this year, but as you see in the picture on the roasting pan, only two made it to my oven, one seems to have met an untimely end. No one knows quite how it managed to fall off the porch and smash on the front walk…we seem to have a pumpkin killer in our midst!)

Roasting pumpkins is very easy, and with the little pie pumpkins, I find the flavour better than any thing you get out of a can, albeit a wee bit more moist. When using homemade pumpkin puree, be sure to adjust your other liquids accordingly if your recipe calls for canned pumpkin, a bit less liquid is probably recommended, as canned pumpkin tends to be a bit denser in texture.

Roasted Pumpkin Puree

Choose nice firm pumpkins, your pumpkin patch will probably have ones specifically for baking; they are sometimes called pie pumpkins, or small sugar pumpkins. They are much better choices for baking, having a much higher sugar content, and smoother dense flesh. Look for pumpkins that are free from blemishes or soft spots.

Wash the outside of the pumpkin, and remove the stem. I find this easiest by giving the stem a quick whack on the edge of your counter; this generally makes it pop right off.

Cut the pumpkins in half with a sharp knife, and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Set these aside if you are going to roast them. Line a pan with foil, place the pumpkins, cut side down, on the foil, and place in preheated 375 degree oven. Pour a cup to a cup and a half of water in the pan before shutting the oven door. Roast for approx. 1 hour, depending on the size and density of your pumpkin it may take up to 2 hours. When a sharp knife sticks easily thru the flesh, they are cooked.

Remove from oven, taking care not to splash or spill the water, and let cool to room temperature before handling.

When cooled, use a spoon to remove the flesh from the shell.

Place in a bowl, and use an immersion blender to puree. If you like a chunkier puree, a potato masher would work fine as well.

I like to freeze my pumpkin in zip type freezer baggies, feel free to use the freezer container of your choice. When I am preparing to fill my bags, I fold the top to the outside and down about an inch, this keeps the zip lock top part cleaner for closing.

I fill each bag with 2 cups of puree, squeeze out any excess air, and seal. This year I decided to make an indentation in the bag and fold it in half before freezing; this creates two sections, 1 cup each. Depending on the recipe, I will be able to use half the bag or the whole thing, much easier than having to thaw the whole bag when I only need one cup.

My 2 pie pumpkins yielded approx 7 cups of puree.

Crispy Caramel Corn

2009-10-31T04:00:00.000-07:00

I love caramel corn. Actually, I love almost anything caramel, that creamy, sweet, buttery, sticky, almost burnt sugar flavour is one of my favourites, hands down. It is right up there with really good chocolate, on the very top of my sweets list. (It is a really big list!) But, again, I digress! Back to the caramel corn. One would think, given my love for all things caramel that I would have attempted to make this before now. I have no idea why I haven’t! So, for Halloween this year, I decided to give it a go. This is not a recipe that is done quickly; though it is not difficult, it is a bit time consuming, so if you are going to make it, allow for a few hours in the kitchen. The last hour just requires stirring, so you can turn your attention elsewhere if you have a good timer to call you back to the oven. The cooling process didn’t take as long as I thought it might, my only issue was keeping all the not-so-little fingers out of it before I packaged it up to go into my nieces and nephews treat bags! I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that gave very good reviews, (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/My-Amish-Friends-Caramel-Corn) and used this for the basis of my attempt. My major tweak was switching the butter for the margarine called for, because butter is always better, right? It seems like a lot of butter, but hey, it is caramel corn, it is meant to be decadent! I also took out the peanuts, so feel free to add a few cups of nuts of your choice to the popcorn prior to adding the caramel.

The resulting caramel corn that I did manage to save from the vultures that are my boys, was very tasty. Addictively tasty. Now I am thinking about how to make maybe a chipotle maple version, sweet and salty with heat…now that sounds delicious!

Crispy Caramel Corn

7 quarts plain popped popcorn (see my method for popping popcorn at the bottom of this post)

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon salt (omits if using salted butter, unless you are like me and like the salty sweet combination)

1 cup Butter

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Spread the popped popcorn into two shallow greased baking pans, removing any unpopped kernels that you can. I used my large jelly roll type pans, but you can use roasting pans, disposable roasting pans, anything large and with a bit of a side. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt (if using) in a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend.

Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.

(Here is where my laptop comes in really handy. I have some counter space on the right hand side of my stove, and generally while I am cooking, this is where my laptop sits. When I need to spend any amount of time stirring something, to save boredom, I turn to my favourite blogs, and read while I stir. The time goes much faster, when you occupy yourself with delicious reading!)

Remove from the heat, and stir in the baking soda and vanilla.

This makes the mixture foam up a bit, and it becomes light and airy. Spoon the caramel mixture quickly over the popcorn in the pans, and stir to coat as best as you can. This was a wee bit messy, don’t worry about getting every kernel in contact with the caramel, it will be mixed a few times while it bakes, and this distributes it further.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. Every 15 minutes, take the pans out and stir the popcorn around to further distribute the caramel.

While it is in the oven, you will need to find a large area to cool the caramel corn when it is finished in the oven. I cleared off a large section of my island, and lined it with wax paper. Dump the finished corn out and separate the pieces. Make sure to cool completely before putting into airtight containers or baggies, or it won’t stay crispy.

Yield: A lot! Unless you have vultures like mine, then it doesn’t make enough!

Popping Popcorn, the old fashioned way!

In a large pot with a lid, (mine is about 6 quarts or so) place about 2 tbsp of some kind of oil, my favourite is coconut oil, but you can also what you like. Add 1 cup of popcorn kernels and place pot on burner.

Turn burner on medium high, and place lid on pot but do not seal, have it angled away from you to allow steam to escape.

Hold a tea towel around the front edge of pot to prevent being splashed by hot oil, steam or kernels. Shake pot gently to keep kernels moving. It won’t take long, so do not leave unattended! Remove from heat when the rapid popping slows down considerably, about 3 to 5 seconds between pops. Immediately remove from heat and remove lid.

Voila! Beautiful popcorn, ready for topping!

Bundt Pan Banana Bread

2009-10-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

We go thru bananas in our house like a pack of monkeys. No matter how many I buy, I always seem to be stopping at the grocery store to get more a few times a week. The dogs even love them. As soon as you peel one, they are both sitting pretty by your feet, waiting for their customary bite. And, should it be a particularly good banana, and you forget to share, well, you can expect the cold shoulder for at least 5 minutes, from both of them!

So, when I get the urge to make muffins, banana bread, or anything similar, I need to buy ones that are already “ready” to cook with, because they never last long enough to go brown here. When we were at our favourite little fruit market today, there was a perfect bunch, spotty and browned, just waiting for me. I took it as a sign that today was banana bread day.
This recipe makes a lot of batter. (As much as we like bananas, we seem to like banana bread more…) It will do 2 loaves nicely, but I prefer to cook mine in my Bundt pan. I like the even way it cooks, and it just looks so much nicer, I am sure you could even ice it and serve it as cake! (Oh, what a thought, maybe a nice dark rich chocolate icing…..I am going to have to try that!) The original recipe came from the Silver Palate cookbook; this is my “tweaked” recipe, for my Bundt pan.

Bundt Pan Banana Bread

Makes 1 Bundt pan or two loaf pans (would work for muffins too, would probably make 3-4 dozen though, and cooking time would be substantially less, around 20 minutes would probably do)

½ cup olive oil
½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (I use coarse sea salt, feel free to use your favorite)
6 large ripe bananas, mashed with a potato masher
2 Tsp vanilla

Liberally grease your Bundt pan. (Seriously, this is one place not to be lazy; getting something out of a Bundt pan when it sticks is not fun, at all! I grease mine with a paper towel and a big smear of softened butter)

In stand mixer, cream together oil, butter, and sugars. Beat for about 3 minutes, until creamy, and lighter in colour. Continue beating while you add in the eggs, one at a time. When eggs are well incorporated, turn off mixture, and measure the flours, baking soda and salt into the bowl. Mix on LOW (unless you want to give your kitchen a flour bath…) until just combined. It is good to still see bits of dry flour. Over mixing of baked goods like this makes them tougher and drier, I think it has to do with the gluten in the flour being released. Good for yeast type bread, not so good for quick breads.) Turn off mixer again, add mashed bananas and vanilla, and again mix on low until just nicely combined. Again, do not over mix. (If you do not have a stand mixer, just use a large bowl, and stir ingredients together in the same order, mixing with a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula)

Pour batter into pre-greased Bundt pan and bake in center of oven, preheated to 350 degrees. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs, (not wet batter).
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack and cool completely before cutting (if you can…)

PS: I have since made this with the addition of 2 espresso shots (or if you can find instant espresso powder, 2 tsp of that), and a cup of chocolate chips...Wow!!

Crispy Purple Smashed Potatoes

2009-10-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

A while back I was reading a magazine of some sort at work, I think it may have been the LCBO one, but I am not quite sure. In the magazine was a recipe using purple potatoes, roasted with some kind of vinegar and salt. So, to Shawn, my veggie man I went, and asked if he could get purple potatoes. Obliging, as always, he found some, but he could only get them in 25 lb bags. That is A LOT of purple potatoes! Not to worry, he said, he would keep looking for a smaller amount. So, I kind of forgot about them, and carried on with other recipes and such. But, one beautiful fall Sunday afternoon, didn’t he show up on my doorstep with a beautiful little bag of purple potatoes, “All Blue Creamers” to be exact, that he had found while at a fall fair. Oh the excitement! I couldn’t wait to use them in that recipe….but….where did it go??? Not only had I forgotten about the purple potatoes, I had also forgotten where I saw the recipe! Thus began my quest, which still remains unfulfilled. If anyone out in blog land has an idea of what it was, I would love to hear from you. So, needless to say, I had to find another way to use these little purple beauties. Most everything I found had them mashed, or used in a potatoes salad, but the roasting and the vinegar was still stuck firmly in my taste buds, so I had to improvise. While I was browsing on The Pioneer Woman cooks blog, I came across a recipe for Crash Hot Potatoes that looked very interesting. (So interesting, in fact, that the guys at work were drooling over the picture on the computer monitor!) Hers called for herbs to be sprinkled on top before the baking part, but I my taste buds were still stuck on the vinegar thing, so I ran with that.

Here is my version of the recipe, tweaks and all!

Crispy Purple Smashed Potatoes

2lbs smallish purple potatoes, (other small new ones would do, Just omit the purple from your recipe name or people will look at you funny!)

Olive oil

Coarse sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Malt vinegar (I am sure your favourite vinegar would work here, this just seemed to pair naturally with the potatoes)

Bring water to boil in a large pot, add potatoes and cook till tender when poked with a fork. When they are done, remove from pot and place on a pan well coated with olive oil, leaving space in-between. Take a potato masher or a large fork and carefully mash the potato, trying to keep it as intact as possible. This takes a wee bit of skill to hold the hot potatoes on the oily pan, but you will catch on quick, I did! In the original recipe, she mashed first one way, then turned the masher and did it the other way. My potatoes where quite small, and one “smash” seemed to give the desired result. The pioneer woman’s analogy of making a “cookie” from the potato is quite appropriate.

When you have all the potatoes smashed, drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast in a 450 degree oven on the top rack for about 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are crispy and starting to brown.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with malt vinegar. Serve hot!

Raspberry Crumb Coffee Cake

2009-10-26T19:39:00.001-07:00

In my veggie box this week, Shawn, my veggie guy, gifted us with LOTS of raspberries, knowing that our youngest has a very soft spot for them. (He has been known to eat an entire container or more by himself, which, when it comes to snacks for a 12 year old boy, could be A LOT worse, I know! But, it leaves none for the rest of us…which causes issues, to say the least). So, I decided today to make something with them before Isaac could eat them all. Smitten Kitchen had an awesome crumb coffee cake recipe on her site, using rhubarb, but also with the suggestion that other berries would be just as good. I was convinced! My recipe differs slightly, as usual, a tweaker I am and always will be! I doubled it, and made some changes with what I had in my kitchen at the time. It is in the oven as I am typing this, and the smell…is…divine…I made this with the intention of taking it in to work tomorrow, I am having doubts it will make it that far!

Raspberry Crumb Coffee Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

Fruit:

1 lb raspberries (I used about 3 of the little 6oz clamshell containers)

2tsp lemon zest

6 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

Combine GENTLY so the raspberries hold their shape, set aside.

Crumb topping:

½ cup butter, melted

½ cup olive oil

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

3 cups all purpose flour

Mix together the butter and olive oil in a large bowl. Add sugars and cinnamon, and stir until combined. Mix in the flour with a wooden spoon or spatula. It mixes to make a very solid dry-ish dough. Leave it pressed together in the bottom of the bowl and set aside.

Cake:

3 eggs

2/3 cup yogurt (if you use sweetened, you can decrease the sugar to ½ cup if you like) (SK used sour cream, but I didn’t have any)

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt (if your butter is salted, omit this…I was out of unsalted)

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

Whisk together eggs, yogurt and vanilla, set aside. In large bowl on stand mixer on low, blend together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt if using. Add butter and ½ cup of yogurt mixture and mix on medium speed until flour is moistened. Increase speed and beat for 30 seconds scrapping down the sides of the bowl. Add ½ of remaining yogurt mixture, and beat for 20 seconds. Add final amount of yogurt mixture, scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula and beat for final 20 seconds. Scoop out about 1 cup batter and set aside.

Spread remaining batter into prepared pan. Carefully Spoon fruit mixture over batter, and then drop the batter that you set aside by tablespoonfuls over top of the fruit. Gently spread the spoonfuls out just a bit.
Using your fingers and a soup spoon, break crumb topping mixture into big crumbs, about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch in size, and sprinkle to cover the top of the cake/fruit with the crumb chunks. (this makes the crumbs big and chunky, and oh so sneak-ably good!)
Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean of batter (it might be moist from the fruit), 55 to 65 minutes.

Cool completely before serving. (If your kitchen smells anything like mine, good luck with this step…)

Chipotle Black Bean and Pumpkin Chowder

2009-10-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

I took a quick trip to the grocery store this morning, and, thinking it was warmer outside than it really was, left my coat at home. By the time I returned home, the chill had set in, and I decided it was a soup day. A friend of mine, Paul, mentioned on Face book this morning that he was making Corn chowder with roasted red peppers, which sounded really, really yummy (and I am still waiting for pictures!). Not wanting to copy him, I decided to make a Black Bean Pumpkin Soup that I found a while back on the Smitten Kitchen Blog. Between her ingredients and my cupboards, there were a few holes, though, so here is the recipe that I came up with. The chipotle gives it a nice smoky heat, perfect for a cool fall day! The Smitten Kitchen recipe called for ham, so here I substituted the black forest chicken.

Chipotle Black Bean and Pumpkin Chowder

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp cumin
3 cups pumpkin puree
1 can black beans, rinsed (19 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes with juice (28 oz)
2 cups chicken stock
4 thicker slices of black forest chicken, diced
2 Tbsp chipotle tobacco sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil and butter in large soup pot. Add onion, garlic and cumin, sauté over medium high heat until onion is starting to brown. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. (My stock and pumpkin were both frozen, so it took a bit to come to a boil) At this point I used my immersion blender, and coarsely pureed the soup, making sure to leave it a bit chunky. You could omit this step altogether, or puree it totally, depending on how you like your soup. I think the next time I make this I would add the diced chicken after the pureeing process.

The Smitten Kitchen recipe topped the soup with some brined and baked pumpkin seeds, which would have made a very nice addition. But, being as I used frozen pumpkin puree, and not fresh, I had no seeds to brine. Definitly something to try soon though!

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

2009-10-21T17:11:00.001-07:00

This morning, my wonderful teenage son presented me with a smallish piece of paper, and said two words to me, with a grin on his face. The words were “Chocolate Chip”, and the piece of paper was “Bunny Munny”. (Bunny Munny, I should explain, is something I started with my boys probably 5 years ago, at Easter. Instead of filling all those plastic eggs with loads of candy, I started filling some with Bunny Munny “coupons” for use during the rest of the year. Their favourites seem to be the ones that they can redeem for some kind of food. (Second runner up is the “get out of chore free” one, or the one to have their room cleaned by me—I still wonder at my wisdom in including those ones….) Anyway, Mac presented me with his Bunny Munny for “a batch of cookies, flavour of his choice”, which was chocolate chip, not really a big surprise. Chocolate chip cookies are a favourite in this house, and surprisingly, the recipe is the same every time I make it. I haven’t even deviated from the original recipe that came out of the Betty Crocker cook book that was a wedding present 16 years ago. That, for me, is just shy of amazing, being the recipe tweaker that I am. The recipe does call for nuts, which I omit, being a chocolate chip cookie purist! I use my stand mixer, and always butter, never margarine. That is personal choice, but I do believe it makes a difference, as it does with most baking. I also use the “Presidents Choice Decadent Chocolate Chips”, personal preference again, they are the best!

Chocolate Chip Cookies From The Betty Crocker Cookbook, 7^th Edition

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 egg

2 ¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)

1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sugars, butter and egg. (I use my stand mixer, and cream very well, 3-4 minutes at least on medium speed!) Stir in flour, baking soda and salt, dough will be stiff. (If using stand mixer, mix till just starting to hold together in larger crumbs) Mix in chocolate chips and nuts if using. (If using stand mixer, mix these in by hand, this will finish incorporating the dough as well)

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2” apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Centers will be soft.

Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Enjoy! (be sure to let them hang out on the cookie sheets for a minute or two to firm up, or they will fall through the cooling rack...trust me!)

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

2009-10-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

I think fall is my favourite time of year for vegetables. So many to choose from, so little time! My veggie man Shawn put a charming little bag of Brussel sprouts in my box this week, which in turn inspired one of our favourite simple dinners. Rotisserie Chicken with baked red potatoes, steamed green beans, and, the best part…roasted brussel sprouts. For the last few years, I have been roasting almost every kind of vegetable I can get my hands on. Roasting brings out entirely new flavours in so many veggies, and brussel sprouts are one of my favourites. I have always been a fan of these mini green cabbages; this just made me fall in love with them all over again. Feel free to experiment with different cheese, and different nuts, depending on what you have on hand. Some of my favourite things have come about because I ran out of one thing, and substituted another. Cooking is a creative process, have fun and explore!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Romano and Pine Nuts

2lbs brussel sprouts, trimmed of outer leaves and cut in half
3-4 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup grated Romano cheese
3-4 tbsp pine nuts

Once the sprouts are trimmed and cut, place in oven safe pan, and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Roast in 375 degree f oven for approx 30-40 minutes, or until they are browning and starting to soften, stirring about ½ way thru.
While sprouts are roasting, toast pine nuts in a small pan, till aromatic and starting to brown. Set aside.

When sprouts are finished, remove from oven, and toss with Romano and pine nuts.

Serve warm.

Mini Apple Puff Pastry Tarts

2009-10-17T11:22:00.001-07:00

I came up with these tarts when friends were coming over last night, and I wanted something quick to make. I had a box of Puff Pastry in the freezer that was just begging to be used, and this recipe didn’t disappoint. Reducing the sauce at the end was a real treat, but you could use any caramel topping, or even a sprinkle of cinnamon. Many different fruits could be substituted for the apples, I think plums or peaches would be good, but the simmering step should probably be left out for softer fruit.

When I made my first puff pastry purchase, it came in a block that you needed to thaw out and roll into the desired thickness. Since then though, I have found a few brands that have packaged it in pre-rolled sheets. Easy- peasy! I used the pre-rolled sheets in this recipe, but if the block kind is all you can find, just roll it into a square roughly 9-10” square on a lightly floured surface.

Puff Pastry Apple Tarts

4 apples, preferably ones that will hold their shape when simmering

1/3 cup apple cider (apple juice would work too)

6 Tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

4 Tbsp butter

1 package of butter puff pastry, with 2 sheets

1 egg yolk

White Sugar for sprinkling

In a medium to large pot, mix together the cider, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat.

Peel apples, quarter and core. Cut each quarter in 1/2 lengthwise, then in ½ again, giving 16 slices per apple. Place these into the pot with the brown sugar cider mixture, stir to coat, and simmer for 5-8 minutes, until just starting to soften. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In small bowl, mix together egg yolk with 1 tbsp water, and set aside.

Unroll puff pastry onto lightly floured surface, and cut into 9 equal squares. Place squares on a parchment paper covered pan. Place 3 cooled apple slices on each square, and using a pastry brush, brush edges of puff pastry around apple with the egg yolk wash. Sprinkle each square with sugar, and bake in 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, until starting to puff and brown.

Remove from pan and cool before eating (if you can wait that long!). Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

Optional: after removing apples from simmering liquid, place remaining liquid back on burner, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer till thickened and reduced by ½, stirring often. Spoon over ice cream just before serving.

Heaven on a plate!