I want to take another crack at this one at some point. I didn't quite get the rise I was hoping for. It was a bit dense and didn't spring in the oven. I hadn't quite dialed in my technique yet when I tried making this one. I think I could probably get better results if I gave it another go now.

Molasses Bread

Slightly adapted from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 1/4 c. light molasses
• 600mL cold water
• 900g coarse, stone-ground flour
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. cold butter

Directions

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Dissolve the molasses in the cold water.
3. Combine flour and salt and make a well in the centre.
4. Pour yeast mixture and molasses mixture into the well.
5. Working from the centre out, combine all the ingredients to form a slightly stiff dough.
6. Turn out and knead for 20-30 minutes.
7. Smear the cold butter on the work surface and knead the dough on the buttered surface for 10-20 minutes until butter is fully incorporated, dough is silky-smooth, and gluten is well-developed.
8. Place dough in clean, ungreased bowl, cover, and set to rise (preferably at 20°C/68°F) for 10 hours.
9. Knock dough back, shape into a ball, and place in a warm spot (30°C/86°F) to rise a second time. This rise should take 1-2 hours.
10. Knock back again, divide into two equal portions, and shape each portion into a ball, stretching the gluten across the top.
11. Rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten.
12. Shape into loaves (folding and rolling as directed in A Loaf for Learning) and place into greased loaf pans.
13. Set to rise in a very warm place (30-35°C/86-95°F) for about an hour.
14. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 1 hour.

Kheema Lauki (Beef-Stuffed Bottle Gourd)

I did enjoy this curry. That said, it was both more effort and less tasty than other ground beef preparations. If I was in the mood for a ground beef curry, I'd almost certainly turn it into kheema paav rather than kheema lauki. That said, if you're looking for something a little more mellow and with some vegetables built in, you could do a lot worse than squash rings stuffed with nutty seasoned beef.

Kheema Lauki

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 (900g) bottle gourd
• 1/4 c. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 450g lean ground beef
• 1/4 c. ginger-chile paste
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. golden raisins
• 1/4 c. fried onion¹
• 1/4 c. raw pine nuts, ground
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. water

Directions

1. Cut off and discard the stem and heel of the squash.
2. Peel and slice crosswise into 3"-thick pieces.
3. Cut a circle from the centre of each squash slice, removing the spongy flesh and seeds.
4. Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil over medium heat.
5. Add the squash circles with the wider end down.
6. Cook, moving them around occasionally, until they are light brown (5-10 minutes). Remove squash rings and set aside.
7. Add remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil to pan.
8. Break up the ground beef and add it to the pan.
9. Add the ginger-chile paste.
10. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat browns (8-10 minutes).
11. Stir in the salt, raisins, fried onion, pine nuts, and cilantro. Remove from pan and set aside.
12. Add water to the pan and deglaze.
13. Place the squash rings in the pan and spoon the meat filling into each cavity.
14. Cover and cook over medium heat until squash is tender (20-25 minutes).
15. Serve with rice, bread, and/or a daal of your choice.

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¹ I just buy my fried onions by the bag from the Indian grocery store in town. If you don't have an Indian or Pakistani grocery store handy, you can substitute crushed French-fried onions (although they tend to be quite a bit more expensive) or you can make your own. ^Back

Goan Gosht Curry (Goan-Style Beef Stew)

This is one of my absolute favourite beef curries. Delicious! And not too difficult to throw together either. The vinegar stops the potatoes from breaking down too fast so they hold together while the beef tenderizes.

Goan Gosht Curry

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 450g stewing beef
• 1 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 250g russet (or other floury) potatoes, cut into 1" (2.5cm) cubes
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 (3") cinnamon sticks
• 120g shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 400mL coconut milk
• 430mL tinned diced tomatoes
• 1/4 c. malt vinegar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Toss beef with cayenne and turmeric.
2. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours.
3. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add cardamom pods, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks and sizzle for 10 seconds or so.
5. Add beef, shallots, and potatoes and stir-fry until beef is seared and shallots and potatoes are lightly browned (~5 minutes).
6. Add cumin and coriander and stir-fry for an additional 2 minutes.
7. Add coconut milk, tomatoes, vinegar, and salt and deglaze the pan.
8. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beef is very tender and potatoes are tender, but still firm (up to 1.5 hours).
9. Add cilantro and serve with crusty bread, naan, and/or rice.

Dhingri Gosht (Beef with Mushrooms)

This was okay, but I have to admit, there are much better beef curries in the book. Achar gosht, vindaloo, and Goan gosht curry probably top my list. But, if you're in the mood for something different, this bell pepper and mushroom dish can be a nice way to mix things up.

Dhingri Gosht

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric
• 227g stewing beef
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 120g cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1" (2.5cm) pieces
• 1 onion, cut into 1" (2.5cm) cubes
• 12-15 fresh (or frozen) curry leaves
• 1 c. water
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne

Directions

1. Combine coconut milk and turmeric and mix well.
2. Add beef and toss to coat.
3. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours.
4. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they stop popping (~30 seconds).
6. Add the mushrooms, bell pepper, onion, curry leaves, and beef mixture.
7. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until meat releases its liquid and meat and vegetables brown (~10-15 minutes).
8. Add water and deglaze pan.
9. Stir in salt and bring to a boil.
10. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender (~20 minutes).
11. Stir in cayenne and serve over rice.

Fried Onion (for Indian Cooking)

I have to admit, I almost never bother doing my own fried onion from scratch. We live right around the corner from an Indian grocery store, so it's easy enough to just get a big bag of fried onion and keep it in the fridge. They're good on pretty much everything, so we always have some on hand. Occasionally I will do a batch of Chinese-style fried onions if I need the onion-infused oil for something. But, other than that, I have to admit, I rely entirely on store-bought fried onions. If, however, you're not lucky enough to live near an Indian grocery store, here's how Iyer recommends making your own fried onions.

Fried Onion

Adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. thinly sliced onion
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 c. canola (or other neutral) oil

Directions

1. Toss sliced onion with cornstarch to coat.
2. Heat canola oil over medium heat.
3. Fry onion until crisp.
4. Remove from pan and spread on paper towel-lined plate to cool.
5. Refrigerate until ready to use.

This is a quick and easy-to-make paste that adds a nice, flavourful kick to curries. If you want to make it even quicker and easier, you can do what I do and just blend a few chiles into some ready-made ginger paste.

Ginger-Chile Paste

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. water
• 227g fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
• 12 fresh green Thai chiles

Directions

1. Pour water into blender, followed by ginger and chiles.
2. Purée until smooth.
3. Paste can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or frozen for later use.

Achar Gosht (Beef with Pickling Spices)

Achar gosht was a favourite of ours for a while (along with beef vindaloo). We haven't made it in quite a while now, but I feel like it still deserves a write-up. We got a lot of mileage out of this recipe.

Achar Gosht

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. mustard oil
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. mustard seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 450g stewing beef
• 1 large onion, cut into 1" (2.5cm) cubes
• 1 bell pepper, cut into 1" (2.5cm) pieces
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine mustard oil, ginger paste, garlic paste, ground mustard, cayenne, salt, and turmeric and mix well.
2. Add beef and toss to coat.
3. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours.
4. Heat a pan over medium-high heat.
5. Add beef mixture, onion, and bell pepper and cook, stirring, until beef is browned all over (~10 minutes).
6. Stir in tomato sauce and water.
7. Cover and braise over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is very tender (up to 1.5 hours).
8. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with naan and/or rice.

Punjabi Rajmah (Punjabi-Style Kidney Beans)

If you're looking for a quick and easy curry to throw together, this definitely fits the bill. It's not as saucy as many curries. The sauce is thick and scoop-able rather than pour-able. Iyer recommends serving this one with naan and I agree. Especially since the thicker consistency makes it perfect for scooping up with naan rather than soaking into rice.

Punjabi Rajmah

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 onion, minced very fine
• 3-4 fresh green Thai chiles
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste¹
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste²
• 1 Tbsp. amchoor (unripe mango powder)³
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1 c. water
• 2-3 c. cooked red kidney beans
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. Punjabi garam masala

Directions

1. Combine onion, chiles, garlic, ginger, and amchoor and mix well⁴.
2. Heat the ghee over medium-high heat and add the minced blend. Stir-fry for ~5 minutes. (Make sure you have good ventilation for this as the chiles will be very hard on your lungs otherwise.)
3. Add the yogurt and cook until dry and curd-like (~10-15 minutes).
4. Add water and beans and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for an additional 10-15 minutes.
6. Stir in the cilantro and garam masala.
7. Serve with warm naan.

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¹ Or, alternatively, 4 large cloves of garlic, crushed. ^Back
2 Fresh ginger also works here, I just find ginger paste more convenient. ^Back
3 If mango powder is unavailable, use lime juice instead. ^Back
4 If you have a food processor, you can skip mincing the onion and crushing the garlic and whatnot and just bung everything in and pulse until minced. If you go the food processor route, hold the amchoor back until everything else is minced and then sprinkle the powder in and mix it through at the end. Trying to add it at the beginning with everything else will result in clogs and chunks. ^Back

Spiced Honey Lemon Beef Tagine

This tagine sounded really promising. The onions were excellent. But, overall, I found the dish a little bland. A generous dollop of harissa on top perked it up nicely though.

Honey Lemon Beef Tagine

Slightly adapted from 150 Best Tagine Recipes by Pat Crocker

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. pomegranate molasses
• 4 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. ras el hanout
• 450g stewing beef
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, cut into eighths
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 c. beef broth
• juice of 1 lemon
• flesh and rind of 1 very small preserved lemon (or 1/2 large preserved lemon), chopped
• 1 very large (or 3 small) parsnips, chopped
• Harissa, to serve

Directions

1. Combine honey, sesame oil, pomegranate molasses, garlic paste, and ras el hanout to make a marinade.
2. Toss beef with marinade, cover, and chill for up to 24 hours.
3. After meat has had at least half and hour to marinate, heat oil over medium heat and add onion and bell pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add broth, lemon juice, and preserved lemon and bring to a boil.
5. Stir in parsnips, beef, and marinade.
6. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour.
7. Serve over couscous with harissa.

I've always been hesitant to get into sourdoughs because I worry I won't make them enough to make keeping the starter around worthwhile. The Laurel's Kitchen approach to sourdoughs though seems to be a sort of hybrid method. They use a rye sour to achieve the distinctive sourdough flavour (and to help "condition" the dough), but the actual leavening power still comes from active dry yeast.

The fact that the sour isn't expected to provide any of the leavening and is simply there to help flavour the dough makes it a bit more forgiving than what I tend to think of as your "typical" sourdough starter. It can sit neglected in the fridge for months on end and still be good to go when you finally get around to making sourdough again. Thus, it doesn't come with quite such a high level of commitment to these tangy baked goods as a more all-in-one starter might.

Manuel's Rye Sour

Slightly adapted from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 1 c. rye berries, milled into flour
• 250mL water
• 1/2 tsp. milk
• 1 grain/granule active dry yeast

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
2. Keep in a covered non-metal container at room temperature -- ideally between 20 and 25°C (68 and 77°F) for 3-5 days, stirring twice a day.
3. Mixture should smell pungent and sour, but not unpleasant. If it smells bad, it has likely gotten too warm and should be discarded.
4. Store in an airtight, non-metal container in the fridge.
5. Let mixture come to room temperature before using.
6. Whenever you want to use your sour, simply take out as much as you need and replace it with equal quantities of fresh rye flour and water. (eg. If you use 3/4 c. of sour, replace it with 3/4 c. rye flour and 3/4 c. water.)

This bread did come out with a mild, but detectable sourdough tang. The loaves were a little smaller and flatter than I would've liked though. The recipe calls for only 525g of flour (plus 175mL rye sour) rather than the usual 900g of flour called for in the rest of the 2-loaf Laurel's Kitchen recipes that I've made so far. I'd be inclined to increase the amount of flour and water next time to produce the usual amount of dough.

Whole Wheat Sourdough

Adapted from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

Starter

• 175mL sourdough starter or rye sour
• 225g whole wheat flour
• 175mL water

Dough

• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 120mL warm water
• 500g whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 250mL water

Directions

1. Combine all starter ingredients (sourdough starter, flour, and water), cover, and set aside at room temperature for 12-18 hours.
2. The next day, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
3. Combine the flour and salt and mix well.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the starter mixture as well as the additional 250mL of water.
5. Mix the flour into the liquid working from the centre outward.
6. Once mixture comes together into a loose dough, turn it out and begin kneading¹. Knead for 20-40 minutes².
7. If, after 10 minutes of kneading, dough seems too loose, add a little more flour. (Be very sparing with the flour!) If dough is too tight, add more water. Knead a few more strokes and continue to adjust as necessary.
8. Once dough is supple and elastic and gluten is well-developed (usually ~40 minutes for me), form into a ball and place dough in a bowl to rise at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap, a shower cap, or a damp cloth. Check proof after ~1 hour: Poke a damp finger ~1cm into the dough. If the hole fills in fairly rapidly, the dough is still under-proved and needs to rise for a bit longer. If the hole stays or only fills in a tiny amount/very slowly, it's ready to be knocked back. (If the dough sighs and/or sinks back around the hole, it's over-proved and should've been knocked back a bit earlier.)
9. Knock the dough back. (Sometimes I like to knead it a little bit at this point to help press out the bubbles and move the yeast around.)
10. Set to rise again³.
11. Knock dough back again, pressing out as many bubbles as possible.
12. Divide into two equal portions and shape each one into a ball, stretching and smoothing the gluten across the top. Set aside for 10 minutes to allow gluten to relax.
13. Shape into loaves as desired. (I prefer to bake mine in loaf tins. The recipe recommends making hearth loaves.)
14. Set to rise one final time. This time you're looking for a fingerprint that does fill in, but only slowly.
15. Steam at 450°F (230°C) for 10-15 minutes⁴.
16. Reduce heat to 325°F (160°C) and continue baking for ~40 minutes.

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¹ I actually find it easiest to turn the dough out before all the flour has been completely incorporated. It will be wet and sticky. It likely won't hold together very well. But if you turn it out and start working it, it will take up the rest of the flour as you do and gradually get less sticky and crumbly. I strongly advise against adding any more flour until the dough has had at least 10 minutes of kneading. And, even then, do so with extreme caution. Don't be afraid of dough that's a little wet and loose. In my experience that's probably going to be better than dough that's too tight and dry. ^Back
2 Exact timing will depend on your technique and speed. Aim for 600-1000 strokes. It's nearly impossible to overwork dough when kneading by hand, so err on the side of more rather than less. If kneading by machine, you may need much less time. Check gluten development after 10 minutes. ^Back
3 The recipe advises that the second rise should take about half as long as the first, but mine always seems to take about the same amount of time. Start checking around the 30-45 minute mark, but don't be alarmed if it takes an hour or more. ^Back
4 Steaming can be done a bunch of different ways. I prefer either baking the bread in a covered dish with a few tablespoons of water poured over the top crust before the lid is added or placing a pan of hot water on the rack directly below the baking bread (no lid for this method). ^Back

Zunka (Toasted Chickpea Flour Curry)

This curry is meant to be served with bhaakar, but I also enjoy it on its own. Especially when topped with fried onion. This also makes a great "everything-free" sort of meal. It's vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free. I believe the lack of meat and dairy also make it halal and kosher-friendly (although I'm not as familiar with these diets, so check before you serve if this is important). The only dietary restriction that it doesn't really play nice with is low-FODMAP. The chickpea base means it's not really compatible with a low-FODMAP diet, so that might be a situation where you give it a miss. Other than FODMAP or maybe an onion allergy though, this curry should be fine for pretty much anyone. It's not fancy, but it's quick, easy, tasty, and satisfying. Definitely something worth having in the repertoire.

Zunka

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. Toasted chickpea flour
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 3 c. water¹
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 (red) onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 fresh green Thai chiles, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 c. fried onions (optional)

Directions

1. Combine toasted flour, salt, turmeric, and water. Set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the mustard seeds and cover the skillet while they pop.
4. Once mustard seeds have stopped popping (~30 seconds) add the cumin seeds and sizzle for a few seconds.
5. Immediately add the onion and chiles and fry until onion is brown around the edges (~5 minutes).
6. Add the flour mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
7. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with bhaakar (or flatbread of choice). Sprinkle with fried onions if desired.

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¹ Iyer has you add the water to the pan first and then whisk in the dry flour mixture just after the water comes to a simmer, whisking vigorously to avoid lumps. I thought this sounded suspiciously similar to the "common wisdom" method of cooking polenta. So I decided to adapt it to my favourite method of preparing polenta. Which involves adding the dry ingredients to the water while it's still cold and stirring only occasionally. This seemed to work quite well, so I'll be sticking with my method in the future. Feel free to try Iyer's method if that's more appealing though. ^Back

Bhaakar (Sorghum/Millet Flatbread)

The recipe for this flatbread is actually very similar to a basic shortcrust recipe: cut fat into flour then add water a little bit at a time until the dough comes together. The main difference, of course, is that you're not using wheat flour.

Bhaakar will never replace naan as my favourite flatbread, but I did quite enjoy them. And I think they'd take additional spices and flavouring very well. I'd love to try adding things like cumin, fennel seed, or fresh cilantro sometime.

Bhaakar

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 c. sorghum or millet, milled into flour¹
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 Tbsp. ghee or unsalted butter
• ~3/4 c. cold water

Directions

1. Combine flour and salt.
2. Cut in ghee/butter.
3. Add water a tablespoon or two at a time until mixture comes together into a ball and forms a stiff dough.
4. Knead for a minute or two.
5. Divide into 8 portions.
6. Place a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper on your work surface.
7. Place one of the portions of dough on the paper and press it flat. Make a 4-6" (10-15cm) round ~1/8" (3mm) thick.
8. Peel the round off the paper and cook over medium heat for a minute or two.
9. Flip and cook the other side.
10. Brush with butter or ghee and cook both sides again.

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Variations

Vegan

Ingredients

• 2 c. sorghum or millet, milled into flour¹
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 Tbsp. vegetable ghee or shortening
• ~3/4 c. cold water

Use vegetable ghee or margarine in place of the butter brushed on the bhaakar during cooking.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 2 c. sorghum or millet flour. I didn't have any flour on had, but I did have some millet. Milling 2 c. of millet yielded slightly more than the required 2 c. of flour, so I just added an extra tablespoon of butter and called it a day. ^Back

Potato, Spinach, and Raisin Tart (Quiche)

Wow! This one was good! I have to admit, I was dubious of the raisins in this combo, but it really worked. Only thing I'd do differently next time is to be a bit more diligent about pressing excess liquid out of the various components before they go into the pie shell. The end result was slightly soupy (although still totally delicious).

Potato, Spinach, and Raisin Tart

Slightly adapted from the Book of Old Tarts by Elizabeth Hodder

Ingredients

• 225g shortcrust pastry (homemade or store-bought)
• 25g salted butter
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil¹ (optional)
• 2 leeks (white part only) or 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 tsp. garlic paste (or 3 cloves garlic, crushed)
• 3 medium-sized potatoes, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper
• 220g spinach, rinsed and trimmed²
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 55g raisins
• 140g grated Cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs
• 200mL table (18%) cream³

Directions

1. Line a 9" deep dish pie plate with the pastry and blind bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
2. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper and return the pie shell to the over for 5 minutes.
3. Melt the butter over medium heat (with oil, if using)
4. Add the onions or leeks and cook until softened.
5. Add the garlic and cook until just starting to brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
6. Bring some water to a boil and add the potatoes.
7. Season water with a bit of salt and boil for 5 minutes.
8. Remove potatoes from water with slotted spoon, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
9. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute.
10. Remove spinach from water and drain, squeezing out a much liquid as possible.
11. Sprinkle spinach with the nutmeg and set aside.
12. Add the raisins to the hot water and let them soak for a few minutes.
13. Drain the raisins, dry off, and set aside.
14. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
15. Sprinkle ~60g of the cheese over the base of the baked pie shell.
16. Spread half the potatoes over this.
17. Spread half the spinach over the potatoes.
18. Sprinkle half the raisins over the spinach.
19. Repeat the layers once more.
20. Top with the sautéed onion and garlic mixutre.
21. Whisk the eggs with the cream and season with salt and pepper.
22. Slowly and carefully pour the the egg mixture into the pie, giving it time to percolate down through the various layers.
23. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
24. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40 minutes.

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Variants

Lighter Version

Ingredients

• 15g salted butter
• 2 leeks (white part only) or 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 tsp. garlic paste (or 3 cloves garlic, crushed)
• 3 medium-sized potatoes, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper
• 250g spinach, rinsed and trimmed
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 55g raisins
• 100g grated (low-fat) Cheddar cheese
• 1 egg
• 4 egg whites
• 200mL milk
• 2 Tbsp. flour

Directions

1. Cook and prepare fillings as above.
2. Grease a 9" deep dish pie plate.
3. Sprinkle 40g of cheese in the bottom of the pie plate.
4. Spread half the potatoes over this.
5. Spread half the spinach over the potatoes.
6. Sprinkle half the raisins over the spinach.
7. Repeat the layers.
8. Spread the onion mixture over top.
9. Whisk together egg, egg whites, milk, and flour.
10. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Slowly pour the egg mixture over the fillings, giving it time to seep in.
12. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40 minutes.

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¹ I actually completely forgot the oil. I don't think it really missed the extra fat though. I probably won't bother with the oil next time either. ^Back
2 The original recipe calls for 450g of spinach, but I only had 220g and I found that to be enough. I think more would've been fine, but it definitely would've required a larger pie plate. ^Back
3 The original calls for 225mL of cream, but I couldn't quite fit all of the egg-cream mixture into the filled pie, so I'd try it with slightly less cream next time. ^Back

I went to search the cookbook shelf for dinner inspiration yesterday and ended up doing an organizational overhaul. This lead to reorganizing the shelf, pruning a bunch of books that we don't really use, and rediscovering some others that I probably should be! Among this last category was The Book of Old Tarts. It's a great little book featuring both sweet and savoury tarts/pies from as recently as the 1960s and as far back as Roman times. It is very much up my alley!

I ended up starting with a 20th century recipe because it was one of the few for which I actually had all the ingredients on hand. (And because it sounded tasty!)

TF and I both really enjoyed this pie. The crisp oatmeal and breadcrumb topping reminds me of an apple crumble or a Dutch apple pie which is definitely a favourite with both of us. I found it slightly on the sweet side, but not unbearably so. And the pie was excellent served with a bit of heavy/whipping cream. I think it'd be even better served with some vanilla ice cream or maybe a fool, but the cream was lovely all the same. The only really problem was with structural integrity. Despite pre-baking for 20 minutes and brushing with egg white, it still ended up with a soggy bottom. Next time I think I'd pre-bake it for slightly longer and pour the apple poaching liquid over after all the other ingredients have been added (rather than just after the apples go in). That might not be enough to save it from having a soggy bottom, but hopefully it'll at least help a little.

Oatmeal, Apple, and Syrup Tart

Slightly adapted from the Old Book of Tarts by Elizabeth Hodder

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe sweet shortcrust pastry
• 55g rolled oats
• 1 egg white
• 450g apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 300mL water
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 25g butter, cut into small pieces
• 50g brown sugar
• 25g fresh breadcrumbs
• 55g sultanas
• 3 Tbsp. golden syrup¹

Directions

1. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface sprinkled with 25g of the rolled oats to a thickness of 3mm and use it to line a 9" deep dish pie plate.
2. Prick all over with a fork.
3. Brush with egg white.
4. Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 400°F (200°C).
5. Chill the lined tin for at least 10 minutes.
6. Place the empty pie shell on the preheated baking sheet and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20-25 minutes.
7. Remove baked shell from oven (leaving the baking sheet in).
8. Combine the apples, water, cloves, and cinnamon and bring to a boil over medium heat.
9. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes until apples are tender, but not mushy.
10. Remove apples with slotted spoon and set aside.
11. Add sultanas and golden syrup to apple poaching liquid and continue to cook, uncovered for another 10 minutes.
12. Place the apples in the bottom of the baked pie shell.
13. Scatter the pieces of butter on top of the apples.
14. Sprinkle the brown sugar over this in an even layer.
15. Combine the remaining oats with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle these over the sugar.
16. Pour the syrup-sultana mixture over everything.²
17. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes (you may need to cover the exposed crust with foil to stop it from burning).
18. Serve warm with cream or ice cream.

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¹ I ended up using corn syrup in place of the golden syrup. Maple syrup or pancake syrup would also make reasonable substitutes. ^Back
2 The original recipe calls for mixing the (dry) sultanas with the oats and breadcrumbs and pouring the poaching liquid (without the syrup) over the apples before adding the butter, sugar, or oat mixture. Then the syrup gets drizzled over on its own after everything else has been added. My hope is that by holding all the liquids back 'til just before the pie goes in the oven, it won't develop quite such a soggy bottom. Although this theory remains untested at this point. ^Back

Fettuccine alle Erbe e Panna Rosa (Fettuccine with Herbed Rosé Sauce)

Hazan warns that this recipe requires the freshest, best-quality herbs and tomatoes possible. I didn't have fresh tomatoes nor all of the herbs on hand, so I decided to risk trying it with tinned tomatoes and dried herbs. It was delicious!

Fettuccine alle Erbe e Panna Rosa

Slightly adapted from the Classic Pasta Cookbook by Giuliano Hazan

Ingredients

• 450g fettuccine
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary)
• 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh sage (or 1/2 tsp. dried summer savoury)
• 1/2 beef bouillon cube
• 900g fresh ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4" dice (or 900g tinned diced tomatoes)
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream

Directions

1. Get the water boiling for your pasta.
2. Melt the butter over medium heat.
3. Add the herbs and bouillon cube and stir until cube has completely dissolved.
4. Add the tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes.
5. Increase heat to medium-high and pour in the cream.
6. Cook, stirring often, until reduced by half. Remove from heat and set aside.
7. Salt the boiling pasta water, add the fettuccine, and cook until al dente.
8. Drain pasta and toss with sauce.
9. Serve as is or sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

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Variations

Vegetarian

Ingredients

• 450g fettuccine
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary)
• 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh sage (or 1/2 tsp. dried summer savoury)
• 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
• 900g fresh ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4" dice (or 900g tinned diced tomatoes)
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream

Spaghetti al Sugo di Cipolle Varie (Spaghetti with Mixed Onion Sauce)

This recipe calls for shallots, red onions, and leeks. I decided to fake it with yellow onions, garlic, and leeks. I sautéed half an onion with a bit of garlic to try to approximate the shallots. Used yellow onions in place of red. And came up slightly short on shallots. I also ended up using rotini rather than spaghetti. TF quite liked to rotini, but I definitely prefer spaghetti or spaghettini with this one.

The flavour of the sauce was great, but I found it somewhat lacking in... substance. It was all starch and oil with no protein. I have another cookbook, The Good Egg, that features a very similar recipe featuring eggs fried on top of sautéed onions and garlic. When you toss the pasta with the egg-onion concoction, the whites break up and mix through the noodles and the soft yolks coat the noodles and form a sort of sauce (similar to how carbonara works). I decided to add a few eggs to the pasta to make it a little more filling. I think the eggs did improve matters, but I still feel like it was missing something. I might try adding some scallions or a pinch of red chile flakes next time. Having the full measure of leeks would probably also help.

Spaghetti al Sugo di Cipolle Varie

The Classic Pasta Cookbook by Giuliano Hazan

Ingredients

• 450g spaghetti
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 1/4 c. thinly sliced shallots
• 2 c. thinly sliced red onions¹
• 350g leeks, white parts only, cut into thin strips 2" long
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 c. dry white wine
• 2 Tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 4 eggs (optional)
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Combine olive oil and shallots over medium heat and cook until lightly coloured.
2. Add onions and leeks and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Add 1/4 c. water, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until very soft and tender.
4. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil for the pasta.
5. Uncover the sauce and raise the heat to medium-high.
6. Cook, stirring occasionally until the liquid has evaporated and the leeks and onions begin to brown.
7. Salt the boiling water, add the pasta, and cook until al dente.
8. Add the wine and parsley to the sauce and cook until wine has almost completely evaporated.
9. If using eggs, add them at this point, frying until whites are set but yolks are still very soft.
10. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce.
11. Add the Parmesan and toss again.

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¹ These quantities were fine, but I don't think I'd be worried about going up to 3 or 4 c. for the onions next time. ^Back

I was surprised to see that Edmonds' vegetarian lasagne recipe didn't involve any tomato sauce. It also called for a huge amount of cheese but hardly any spinach or walnuts! Only 130g and 50g respectively. I upped the spinach to 300g and the walnuts to 100g. I think that gave a decent amount of spinach, but I still felt like it could've done with more walnuts. Especially since the walnuts are apparently meant to be one of the key components going by the title.

Spinach and Walnut Lasagne

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 1 recipe cheese sauce
• 300g frozen chopped spinach
• 225g ricotta
• 150g chopped walnuts
• 300g grated mozzarella, divided
• salt and pepper
• 50-100g blue cheese¹
• up to 250g lasagne noodles, ready to use²
• 1 (370g) jar roasted red bell peppers
• 2-3 Tbsp. roasted garlic purée

Directions

1. Make the cheese sauce and set aside.
2. Thaw the spinach and press out as much liquid as possible.
3. Combine the spinach, ricotta, walnuts, 200g of mozzarella, and blue cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Place a layer of lasagne noodles in the bottom of a greased lasagne pan.
5. Spread a thin layer of roasted garlic over the noodles.
6. Spread a layer of spinach mixture over the garlic.
7. Pour some of the cheese sauce over the spinach.
8. Put a layer of roasted red peppers over the cheese sauce.
9. Repeat the layers as many times as possible ending with a cheese sauce layer.
10. Sprinkle with the remaining 100g of mozzarella.
11. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 1 hour.

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¹ The recipe calls for an optional 100g blue cheese so I added 100g Rosenberg Danish blue to my spinach mixture. It was delicious. That said the blue cheese overpowered basically everything else in the dish. And some things that weren't! (The container of whipped cream that sat next to the lasagne in the fridge ended up tasting very faintly of blue cheese after a couple days.) Next time I think I'd either scale the blue cheese back to 50g or use a milder blue if going with the full 100g. I really like Danish blue, but it might be nice to try it with Gorgonzola dolce or saint agur at some point. ^Back
2 I must've made my layers a lot thicker than they did because I was only able to get two repetitions of each thing in before I ran out of spinach mixture and cheese sauce. This meant that I didn't use nearly the full 250g of pasta. ^Back

Edmonds "white sauce" recipe is extremely versatile. Aside from the basic roux-based dairy sauce it can be turned into half a dozen other variants using the same base. The cheese sauce simply involves adding a bit of grated Cheddar to the finished sauce.

Cheese Sauce

From Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. salted butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour (any type)
• 1 c. milk, warmed
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 c. grated Cheddar

Directions

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Stir in the flour and cook until frothy.
3. Remove from heat and gradually stir in the milk.
4. Return to heat and cook until sauce boils and thickens.
5. Cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Stir in cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.

I've made this bread before, but I never got around to writing the recipe up. We were all out of bread, so I decided to try it again today. I am quite pleased with how it came out! It rose very well and even got a decent little spring in the oven. Historically my 100% whole wheat breads have had good flavour but have been a bit denser than I would've liked. I haven't sliced this one yet, but based on how it looks and the feel of the loaf, I definitely think this is one of my best ones yet.

This is the very first recipe in the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. It has an entire chapter to itself. All the tools, ingredients, and techniques are covered in detail. This is a single-loaf recipe meant to be practiced to get used to the techniques involved and the textures and timings required. I'm not going to try to duplicate that level of detail here as I don't want to plagiarize (and, honestly, I'm not really interested in doing that much typing for this anyway).

I wanted two loaves today, so I doubled all the quantities from the Laurel's Kitchen recipe. Obviously, if you only want one loaf, just halve the amounts listed here to get back to the original. (You can also probably cut the kneading time down by about half as well.)

A Loaf for Learning

Slightly adapted from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. warm water
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 850g whole wheat flour
• 50g gluten flour (optional)¹
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 1/3 c. hot tap water
• 2/3 c. plain yogurt
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 c. canola (or other neutral) oil

Directions

1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the flour(s) and salt and make a well in the centre.
3. Combine the yogurt and warm water to make a lukewarm mixture.
4. Stir the honey into the yogurt mixture.
5. Pour the honey mixture and the yeast mixture into the well in the centre of the flour.
6. Gradually stir the flour into the wet ingredients, working from the centre outward.
7. The Laurel's Kitchen folks recommend evaluating the dough at this point to see if it needs more flour or water. I prefer to knead it for 5-10 minutes first and then make adjustments as needed. Don't worry if all the flour hasn't been incorporated into the dough when you first turn it out. It will get worked in as you knead. Avoid adding any more flour if at all possible. It's much better if the dough is a bit too slack than a too tight. The dough may seem very wet, sticky, and/or fragile at first, but it will become smoother, stronger, and less sticky as it's worked. If the dough is too stiff, work in more water a couple teaspoons at a time.
8. After kneading for a while and making any adjustments, start working in the oil². (Pour a couple tablespoons of oil over the dough and/or work surface and knead until fully incorporated. Then add the next portion of oil and repeat.)
9. Once the dough is well-kneaded and has taken on a smooth, silky texture (20-40 minutes depending on your technique), place it in a clean (ungreased) bowl covered with plastic wrap and/or a damp cloth to rise. This should take 1-2 hours depending on the temperature of the room.
10. The rise is done when the dough holds the impression of a finger poked ~1cm in. If it fills in, it's under-proved and needs to rise a bit longer. If it sighs and sinks back a bit around the fingerprint, it's over-proved and should've been knocked back a little earlier.
11. Turn the dough out (I prefer an unfloured surface for this as I try to avoid adding any extra flour after kneading). Press out the accumulated bubbles and deflate the dough.
12. Shape into a ball and return to the bowl, cover, and leave to rise again. (The second rise is supposed to go a bit faster, but I actually found all my rises needed about an hour today.)
13. Turn the dough out and press the gas out again.
14. Divide into two equal portions and shape into balls, smoothing the tops to create a smooth sheet of gluten.
15. Leave to rest for 10 minutes to allow gluten to relax.
16. Shape your loaves by pressing each ball into a round, folding it in thirds, and rolling it up.
17. Place into greased loaf tins and cover with a damp cloth to rise.
18. If the bread has risen particularly well, slash the tops to give it room to spring in the oven.
19. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for ~1 hour.

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¹ If you have good hard bread flour, you probably won't need the extra gluten -- just use a full 900g of whole wheat bread flour. I was using all-purpose flour, so I replaced a little of the whole wheat flour with gluten flour. If your flour is very soft, you'll probably want to use even more gluten flour. ^Back
2 The original recipe actually has you add the oil with the rest of the wet ingredients, but for the rest of the book it says to make sure you develop the gluten a bit and then work any oil or butter in about halfway through the kneading, so that's what I did for this one. ^Back

Fettucini al Pesto di Noci (Fettucini with Walnut Pesto)

From The Classic Pasta Cookbook, this recipe comes together very quickly. It's worth noting that since the sauce is uncooked, the garlic has much more of an edge to it than usual; I habitually go heavy on the garlic, but in this recipe symbol found that excessive. Thus, I've recorded the garlic as originally written in the recipe and not the 3-4x as much that I actually put in.

It calls for using a "blender or food processor" to prepare the pesto. It did not work particularly well with our blender, so if you have a food processor instead I recommend using that. It was still better than not using the blender at all, although to get any meaningful blending I had to add the cream while it was in the blender rather than folding it in later.

Ingredients, for 450g dry, store-bought pasta

• 250g shelled walnuts
• 5mL finely chopped garlic
• 30mL extra virgin olive oil
• 64mL ricotta
• 64mL heavy cream
• 64mL freshly grated parmesan

Procedure

1. In the background, boil the water for the pasta and cook the pasta al dente; reserve the water.
2. Put the walnuts and garlic in a food processor or blender and blend/chop finely.
3. Add the olive oil and blend in.
4. Add the ricotta and blend in. Season with salt to taste.
5. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the cream.
6. When the pasta is cooked al dente, transfer 64mL of the pasta water to the pesto and stir it in. Drain the pasta.
7. Toss the pasta with the pesto, top with cheese, and serve immediately.

This is the first thing I've made where I've felt a little like I was trying to do a Great British Bake Off technical challenge. I had a recipe, but I had no idea what it was supposed to come out like. And the recipe seemed very odd to me. The description made it sound like a sort of lemon self-saucing sponge pudding. But the recipe only contained 2 Tbsp. of sugar and looked a bit more souflé-like.

In the end, it came out very light, pale, and almost meringue-like with -- as promised by Edmonds -- a layer of lemon custard at the bottom. I think it probably could've used a couple tablespoons more sugar, but that could just be down to the size of my lemon.

Lemon Delicious

From Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 1 c. full fat milk¹
• 1/2 c. sugar
• juice and zest of one lemon
• 2 Tbsp. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 Tbsp. salted butter, melted
• 2 eggs, separated

Directions

1. Whisk together milk, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, flour, butter, and egg yolks until smooth and well-blended.
2. Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C) and grease a small casserole dish and set it inside a larger ovenproof dish or pot filled with enough water to come about halfway up the sides of the casserole.
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
4. Gently fold egg whites into lemon mixture being careful not to knock too much air out.
5. Pour mixture into prepared casserole.
6. Bake at 325°F (160°C) for 40 minutes.

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¹ I ended up using 2 Tbsp. of heavy (35%) cream and then adding 1% milk to make a cup. That seems to have done a reasonable job of approximating whole/full fat milk. ^Back

I had a bunch of ganache left over after making the Chocolate Cream Biscuits, so I figured it was time to make truffles. The ganache is lovely, but the hazelnut flavour didn't come through as much as I would've hoped. Ideally the hazelnuts on the outside would've been chopped, rather than ground, but I overshot the mark a bit and ended up with more of a hazelnut meal.

Hazelnut Truffles

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. chopped hazelnuts
• 24 whole hazelnuts
• 1/4 c. ground hazelnuts
• 2 Tbsp. Frangelico
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 recipe chocolate ganache

Directions

• Toast the hazelnuts.
• Mix the ground hazelnuts, Frangelico, and vanilla into the ganache.
• Scoop up a whole toasted hazelnut and a scant tablespoon of ganache and roll into a ball, aiming to get the hazelnut completely encased in ganache.
• Roll in chopped hazelnuts.
• Repeat with remaining ganache and hazelnuts.
• Chill for at least and hour before serving.

I've never had a Chelsea bun before, but TF and catalyst both love them, so I decided to try a batch. I had to improvise a bit on the fruit since we were out of raisins. I ended up using a mix of dried cranberries and glacé cherries. That mix seems to have worked out well, although I think I'd like to try it with some raisins (and maybe a few chopped pecans) in next time. I also think it'd be fun to try the dried cranberries with an orange-flavoured dough and glaze.

Chelsea Buns

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

Dough

• 225g hard (bread/"high grade") flour
• 1 tsp. sugar¹
• 100mL warm milk
• 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 75g salted butter
• 1 egg

Filling

• 50g salted butter, softened
• 100g mixed dried fruit
• 25g mixed peel
• 50g brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Toppings

• 1/4 c. sugar, divided
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Directions

Dough

• Mix 2 Tbsp. of the flour with the sugar and milk.
• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes.
• Sift the remaining flour and salt together and cut in the butter.
• Pour in the egg and the yeast mixture.
• Mix well to form a soft dough.
• Knead (as best you can) for 5 minutes. The dough will be quite wet, so it probably work best to knead with one hand while wielding a bench scraper with the other hand. I found that the dough became even slacker after the first minute or two as the butter began to melt from the heat of my hands. I recommend working quickly.
• Shape into a ball and place in a lightly buttered bowl.
• Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill and rise overnight.²
• On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough and roll it into a 23x30cm rectangle.
• Spread evenly with the softened butter. (I found a long off-set spatula helpful for this.
• Combine the dried fruit, mixed peel, brown sugar, and spices.
• Sprinkle the filling mixture evenly over the buttered dough.
• Roll up from a long edge to form a cylinder.
• Cut into nine pieces and place cut side down in a greased 7" (18cm) square tin³.
• Cover with a damp cloth and set to rise for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. of sugar.
• Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
• Dissolve the sugar in the milk and heat to form a glaze.
• Brush the glaze over the buns while hot.
• Pull apart and serve warm.

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¹ Edmonds calls for caster sugar here, but I just used regular granulated sugar. ^Back
2 The original recipe has you setting the dough to rise for 90 minutes at room temperature, but with the butter melting and the dough being so soft, I decided that it might benefit from some time in the fridge. My understanding is that a long slow prove is often quite beneficial as well, so I figured why not! ^Back
3 I only have an 8" square tin, so I just used that. They didn't quite rise enough to fill the tin during the second prove, but they had closed the gaps by the time they came out of the oven. I think a 7" tin would've been better but, in a pinch, you can get away with an 8" tin. ^Back

I covered making ganache in a chocolate truffle post a while ago. I felt like it was worth writing up a basic, unflavoured ganache recipe as well though. This can be flavoured and used for making truffles. It could be whipped into an almost mousse-like consistency and used as a spreadable icing or filling. Or poured over cakes for a shiny, chocolate-y finish.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 225g semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Heat the cream until steaming and very hot, but not quite boiling.
2. Pour cream over chocolate, cover, and set aside for 5 minutes.
3. Uncover and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and homogeneous.

If Using for Truffles:

1. Mix in any desired flavourings.
2. Chill for at least two hours.

If Using as an Icing:

1. Chill until cool and slightly firm (~1 hour).
2. Beat hard for 2 minutes to produce a lighter, more mousse-like texture.

I wanted something to do while waiting for the cracked wheat to soak for my bread, so I decided to make cookies. Edmonds recommends filling these sandwich cookies with either chocolate buttercream or ganache. I'm sure they'd be fine with the buttercream, but between the two, it's really no contest: Ganache is far and away the winner for me!

Edmonds ganache recipe calls for butter whereas I'm used to making ganache with just chocolate and heavy cream. I decided to go the two-ingredient route and try whipping it as suggested by America's Test Kitchen when using ganache as a filling or frosting. I had to run out to pick up the kidlet from school after preparing it and it got a bit colder and stiffer than I would've liked, but overall I think the whipped ganache worked well.

The mixed spice in the cookie dough was really nice. I think it'd be fun to try adding different flavours to the ganache as well. Or maybe swapping out the mixed spice in the dough for other flavours. It might be fun to experiment with ground almonds and/or almond extract in the dough or amaretto in the ganache. Mint, ginger, cherry, hazelnut, or orange would also be interesting.

Chocolate Cream Biscuits

From Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 75g salted butter, softened
• 125g sugar
• 1 egg
• 175g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. mixed spice
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa
• 1/2 recipe chocolate ganache

Directions

1. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in egg.
3. Sift in flour, baking powder, mixed spice, and cocoa.
4. Mix to form a stiff dough.
5. Wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 10 minutes.
6. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 4mm thickness.
7. Cut out circles¹, re-rolling as needed.
8. Place biscuits on a greased (or parchment-lined) baking tray and bake at 375°F (190°C) for 10-12 minutes.
9. Remove from oven, but leave on tray for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool.
10. Cool completely before filling.
11. Spread (or pipe) ganache onto half the biscuits.
12. Place another biscuit on top to make a sandwich.

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¹ Use whatever size circles you prefer. I went with a 4.75cm cutter and ended up with 48 biscuits (24 once they were sandwiched together with the ganache). ^Back

This recipe is lifted straight from the Great British Bake Off. I made it about half size and had to substitute sweet bell peppers for sweet Romano peppers and kale for the spinach, but other than that did it to spec. I do think that spinach (or a kale-spinach mix) would've been nicer than straight kale. The kale ended up being a little tough.

The flavour was good, but I think it could've done with a little more seasoning. Some of that is down to me just not having a good handle on how much salt to add. But I also think that a few more herbs, some onion, and a bit more garlic wouldn't've gone amiss. I think next time I'd add roasted garlic purée to the potatoes and an onion and some savoury to the greens. I think I'd probably also add a mushroom layer.

Kale, Caramelized Garlic, Red Pepper, and Potato Pithivier

Adapted from Brendan Lynch

Ingredients

Potato Layer

• 450g new potatoes
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. roasted garlic purée

Mushroom Layer (Optional)

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 250g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• black pepper

Pepper Layer

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3 large red bell peppers, sliced
• 1 fresh red Thai chile pepper, minced
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 Tbsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 Tbsp. sugar

Caramelized Garlic

• 15 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
• 2 Tbsp. fresh tarragon
• 1 tsp. dried savoury (optional)
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

Kale/Spinach Layer

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 500g spinach (or 350g kale), chopped
• 1 egg
• 250g soft goat cheese

Everything Else

• 150g shredded Cheddar
• 900g puff pastry
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tbsp. water

Directions

Potato Layer

1. Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender.
2. Drain and cut into 5mm (1/2") slices.
3. Toss with pepper and garlic purée and set aside.

Mushroom Layer

1. Heat butter over medium heat.
2. Add mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid and most of the liquid has cooked off.
3. Season with black pepper to taste.

Pepper Layer

1. Heat oil and butter over medium heat.
2. Add bell pepper and chile and season with salt. Cook until peppers have softened.
3. Add cumin and sugar and cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat and set aside.

Caramelized Garlic

1. Boil garlic for 3 minutes. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.
2. Heat oil over medium heat.
3. Add drained garlic and cook for 4 minutes.
4. Add balsamic vinegar and 1 c. of the reserved cooking water. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
5. Add herbs and sugar and cook until liquid is mostly gone and sauce resembles a runny caramel. Remove from heat and set aside.

Spinach/Kale Layer

1. Melt butter over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook until it has softened and begun to brown.
3. Add greens and a little more of the reserved garlic cooking water. Cover and cook until greens have wilted. Remove from heat.
4. Press out as much liquid as possible. (If you're using kale, there won't be much.)
5. Stir in caramelized garlic mixture.
6. Beat egg.
7. Add goat cheese to egg and mix well.
8. Stir goat cheese mixture into spinach/kale mixture. Set aside.

Assembly

1. Roll out your pastry. You will need either one 13" and one 14" round or two 9" round and two 10" rounds.
2. Place the smaller round(s) on a parchment lined baking sheet and preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
3. Beat the egg white with the water.
4. Brush the edges of the smaller round(s) with egg wash.
5. Layer potato over the pastry, leaving a 1-1.5" (2.5-3.5cm) border.
6. Sprinkle a little shredded cheese over the potato.
7. Layer mushrooms on top of cheese.
8. Layer the peppers over the mushrooms.
9. Add the spinach/kale mixture on top of the peppers.
10. Put the rest of the shredded cheese on top of the greens.
11. Shape the filling stack into a rounded mound.
12. Place the larger pastry round(s) over everything and crimp the edges of top and bottom rounds together. Trim into classic scalloped shape around the edge if desired.
13. Brush pastry all over with egg wash.
14. Cut a hole in the top of the pithivier to let steam escape.
15. Cut four small slits around the top.
16. Score the sides of the pastry, being careful not to cut all the way through.
17. Chill in the freezer for 5 minutes (or in the fridge for 15).
18. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 25-30 minutes until pastry is well-browned and cooked through.

This tagine came out quite well. And it seems like it should be reasonably flexible as well. I ended up using tinned cherry tomatoes rather than fresh. Because the recipe was expecting fresh tomatoes, I only put the exact number called for and held back the juice. Next time I think I'd just put the whole tin in, juice and all. I think I'd also up the feta next time and sprinkle it over the whole tagine, rather than just the portobello caps. And while I have no objection to the cannellini/white kidney beans, they didn't have much presence. I think, if you want a mild, unassuming bean that isn't going to stand out, stick with the cannellini beans. If you want something that's going to have a little more chew and be more noticeable, swap them out for some chickpeas.

Mushroom Tagine with Eggplant and Squash

Slightly adapted from 150 Best Tagine Recipes by Pat Crocker

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. ras el hanout
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 227g cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 2 Asian eggplants (long, skinny, and pale purple), peeled and diced
• 1 c. diced squash or pumpkin
• 1 dried cayenne or arbol chile, crumbled (optional)
• 18 fresh cherry tomatoes, halved or 1 (400mL) tin of cherry tomatoes
• 1 (400mL) tin cannellini/white kidney beans or chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• 1 c. chopped kale, Swiss chard, cabbage, or bok choy
• 2 portobello mushroom caps
• 1/4 to 1/2 c. feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion, garlic, and ras el hanout and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
3. Add butter, cremini mushrooms, eggplant, and squash and cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Add cayenne, tomatoes, and beans.
5. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Stir in kale.
7. Nestle portobello caps into vegetables, gill-side-up.
8. Sprinkle with feta.
9. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
10. Cut portobello caps in half to serve.
11. Serve over rice or couscous with condiments of choice: chermoula, tamarind-date chutney, cilantro-mint chutney, fried onions, etc.

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Variations

Vegan

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. ras el hanout
• 2 Tbsp. margarine
• 227g cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 2 Asian eggplants (long, skinny, and pale purple), peeled and diced
• 1 c. diced squash or pumpkin
• 1 dried cayenne or arbol chile, crumbled (optional)
• 18 fresh cherry tomatoes, halved or 1 (400mL) tin of cherry tomatoes
• 1 (400mL) tin cannellini/white kidney beans or chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• 1 c. chopped kale, Swiss chard, cabbage, or bok choy
• 2 portobello mushroom caps
• 1/4 to 1/2 c. vegan feta

I really wanted to make grapefruit curd to go with my cake. Historically I've generally had some sort of fresh fruit or fruit compote on my angel food cake along with a dollop of whipped cream. I suddenly got the idea of grapefruit curd in my head and haven't been able to shake it.

I was reasonably pleased with the result... eventually. Recipe as written, it came out very bitter. Sour/tart would've been fine, but it was almost inedibly bitter. Adding an extra 1/4 c. of sugar helped balance things out a bit. I still noticed a slight bitter aftertaste, but TF couldn't taste it when he tried it the next day.

I'm not sure if the bitterness came from the large quantity of grapefruit zest called for in the recipe or the pulp or what. (The recipe didn't specify whether the juice should be strained or not and I thought the little pink bits of pulp looked pretty so I left them in.) I think next time I'd try reducing the zest and straining the juice to see if that gives a less bitter result that doesn't need quite so much extra sugar.

Grapefruit Curd

Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 2 c. strained, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
• 2 Tbsp. grapefruit zest
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3/8 c. (6 Tbsp.) to 3/4 c. sugar, depending on how sweet your grapefruit are and how sweet/tart you like your curd
• pinch of coarse sea salt
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small chunks and softened

Directions

1. Bring juice to a boil over medium heat and cook until reduced by half. Set aside and allow to cool.
2. Combine zest, eggs, yolks, sugar, and salt in a heatproof bowl and mix well.
3. Slowly whisk in the juice reduction.
4. Place bowl over boiling water (double boiler set-up) and cook until thickened, whisking constantly.
5. Remove from heat and whisk in butter.
6. Chill and serve cold.

I bought myself an angel food cake pan recently and I've been dying to try it out. I've eaten my fair share of store-bought angel food cakes, but I've never attempted to make one from scratch before. I think my first experiment with them was quite successful! It had about the same texture as the store-bought cakes. (It might have been ever so slightly firmer, but not by much.) The main difference was that it seemed to be much less sticky on the surface. I think this is probably just down to having less sugar in the batter. I don't think it tasted quite as sweet as the commercial cakes either. I quite like it.

Vanilla Bean Angel Food Cake

Slightly adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients

Cake

• 200mL egg whites (~6 or 7 large eggs)¹
• 1/2 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 3/4 c. sugar, divided
• 1 vanilla bean/pod²
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar (optional)³
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Icing (optional)

• 400mL heavy (35%) cream
• 3 Tbsp. icing sugar

Directions

1. Place egg whites in a bowl and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).
3. Sift together flour and 3/8 c. (6 Tbsp.) sugar.
4. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the egg whites.
5. Add cream of tartar and salt to egg whites.
6. Beat whites on medium speed until soft peaks form.
7. Gradually add remaining sugar, 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, beating on high after each addition.
8. Continue beating until soft, glossy peaks form.
9. Gently fold in flour mixture, a little at a time.
10. Carefully pour batter into an ungreased 7" (18cm) tube/angel food cake pan.
11. Bake at 325°F (160°C) for 35-45 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and immediately invert.
13. Allow to cool completely in the pan (upside down).
14. Once cake is completely cool, run a blunt knife around the edges of the pan to loosen it.
15. Press to pop the loose bottom out.
16. Run a blunt knife along the bottom of the pan now that the sides are off.
17. It should now be possible to remove the cake and transfer it to a serving plate.
18. If desired, combine cream and icing sugar in a blender and blend on high speed until cream is stiff and spreadable.
19. Spread whipped cream over top and sides of cake and serve.

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¹ Fresh egg whites will whip up best and give the most volume. In a pinch liquid whites out of a carton will work, but the volume will be noticeably less than if fresh whites were used. Previously frozen whites also will not whip up as well, sadly. ^Back
2 Whoops! Just realized that I completely forgot to halve the vanilla when I was halving everything else! The original recipe called for a whole vanilla bean for twice this amount of batter. No wonder my cake came out so vanilla-y! I mean, I quite like it. It's very nice. But if you're not looking for a very intense and in-your-face vanilla flavour, then I'd recommend only using half a vanilla bean for this recipe. ^Back
3 The cream of tartar was not listed as an optional ingredient in the original recipe. I didn't have any on hand when making this though, so I just left it out and my cake came out fine. I imagine that adding the cream of tartar would have resulted in an even more stable meringue, but I'm happy with the results anyway. ^Back

Photo is bad, pie was good!

I've been baking a lot of bread lately and really enjoying that. I'm looking forward to making more, but in the meantime I'd like to keep baking other things. I'm a bit burnt out on sweets at this point, so I've been thinking more along the lines of savoury baked goods. We ended up watching pie week on the Great British Bake Off and that was enough to get me set on doing pies.

Initially I was thinking that I'd do some sort of of... I guess pub-style meat pie. I briefly contemplated doing a basic mince pie, but... I just wasn't feeling it this week. And I've been trying to avoid buying meat lately. (I have a bunch of beef stashed in the freezer, so I've still been cooking with that from time to time.) Eventually, it came down to a choice between a potato, spinach, and bell pepper pithivier or a kale, lemon, and cheese phyllo pie. TF cast his vote for phyllo, so phyllo it was! (I'll probably still make the pithivier at some point.

Kale, Lemon, and Cheese Phyllo Pie

Slightly adapted from BBC Good Food

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 leek, sliced (white parts only)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 green Thai chiles, minced
• 1 small preserved lemon, flesh and pith removed
• 1/4 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/8 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 500g frozen kale (or kale-spinach blend), thawed
• 100g fresh green herb of choice¹
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 eggs
• 300g ricotta
• 300g feta, crumbled
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 227g phyllo pastry
• canola (or other neutral oil) for brushing

Directions

1. Head olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add leek, onion, garlic, chile, preserved lemon, cumin, fennel seeds, and salt and cook until soft and fragrant (~10 minutes).
3. Add kale, herbs, and lemon juice and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
4. Beat the eggs until smooth and slightly frothy.
5. Mix in ricotta and feta.
6. Press as much liquid as possible out of the kale mixture and stir it into the cheese blend.
7. Stir in nutmeg and set filling aside.
8. Oil an 8 or 9" (20-23cm) springform pan.
9. Lay a sheet of phyllo over the pan, gently pressing it into the corners and up the sides, letting the extra hang over the edge.
10. Brush the pastry with oil and lay another sheet on top at a slight angle to the first. (I tried to place mine so that the corners were offset by ~1cm from the previous layer.)
11. Continue adding more layers, brushing each one with oil, until the tin is well-lined.
12. Spoon the filling into the pastry and fold the excess pastry over the top, brushing each bit with oil as it's folded in.
13. Once all the overhanging bits have been brought into the center and the pie is completely enclosed, brush the top with more oil.
14. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 50 minutes.
15. Cool for at least 20 minutes before removing from tin.
16. Release the sides and carefully transfer the pie off of the tin base and onto a serving platter.
17. In theory the pie should now be chilled before serving, but I cut it while it was still warm and quite enjoyed it that way.

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¹ I used a mix of cilantro and flat-leaf parsley. ^Back

Caramelized Onion and Balsamic Glazed Mushroom Brie en Croûte

I have a backlog of about half a dozen recipes that I've made in the last week or so and haven't gotten around to writing up yet. I was doing them more-or-less in order. I think I have to jump the queue with this one though. I ended up improvising a bit and I'm afraid that I'll forget what I did if I don't write it down right away.

This recipe ended up being a hybrid of two other recipes I came across online. I wasn't intending to do this. The plan had been to just make the brie en croûte recipe I found on Food52. I didn't realize until I was already mostly done cooking the onions that I'd somehow managed to get the wrong tab open and had actually been following a completely different baked brie recipe on Eipcurious. So, from there I just kind of improvised to merge the two recipes into something delicious.

Onion and Mushroom Brie en Croûte

Ingredients

Onions

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 onions, sliced
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• few grinds black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. dry white wine
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

Mushrooms

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 227g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. dry white wine
• 1 tsp. light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Everything Else

• 454g puff pastry, divided
• 2 small (4-5"/10-13cm) wheels of brie
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tbsp. water

Directions

1. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter over medium heat.
2. Add onions and cook until softened.
3. Add thyme and salt, reduce heat to medium low, and cook, stirring often, until nicely brown and caramelized. This will take about half an hour.
4. Add pepper and cook for another minute or so.
5. Add wine, stir and cook for another minute.
6. Stir in sugar and cook for a further 2 minutes.
7. Remove onions from pan and set aside.
8. Increase heat to medium and add remaining butter to pan.
9. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook until mushrooms release their liquid.
10. Pour wine, soy, and vinegar over mushrooms and cook until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are nicely glazed.
11. Preheat oven to 425°F (210°C).
12. My puff pastry came in 2 squares, each one pretty much the perfect size for wrapping one of my wheels of brie. If yours are packaged/portioned differently or if you're making your pastry from scratch, you'll have to roll it out to an appropriate size.
13. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
14. Place a square of pastry on the lined baking sheet.
15. Bisect each wheel of brie horizontally.
16. Place the bottom half of the brie in the centre of the pastry.
17. Spread half the mushrooms over the brie.
18. Spread about a quarter of the onions on top of the mushrooms.
19. Place the top half of the brie over this.
20. Spread another portion (about 1/3 of the remaining onions) on top of the brie.
21. Mix the water with the egg white.
22. Gently pull the pastry up over the brie stack. Brush a little of the egg wash over the corners to help them stick. Press gently to seal.
23. Entire assembly can be frozen at this point for later baking.
24. Brush the outside liberally with more egg wash.
25. Repeat procedure with second portion of pastry and brie, using up the remaining mushrooms and onions.
26. Bake at 425°F (210°C) for 25 minutes.
27. Serve warm on its own or with baguette and/or crackers.

Full disclosure: I haven't had a chance to test this recipe yet. But it definitely sounds promising! Although I'd be tempted to up the salt a bit. One of the things I really enjoy about feta is its saltiness. Hopefully I can try it out sometime in the near future and report back on whether or not it makes the grade and whether the salt needs to be adjusted.

Vegan Feta

From Dreena Burton

Ingredients

• 340g extra-firm tofu, cubed
• 1 c. water
• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar + 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, divided
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. mild miso
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. maple syrup
• 1/3 c. minced green or kalamata olives

Directions

1. Combine tofu, water, 1/4 c. red wine vinegar, salt, and garlic and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine miso, oregano, lemon juice, and maple syrup and mix well.
4. Add olives to miso mixture and stir to combine.
5. Once tofu has simmered for 20 minutes, drain and add to miso mixture. Stir to coat.
6. Cover and refrigerate for up to a week.

I've been wanting to try out this cinnamon scroll recipe for ages. It's a fairly basic, yeasted, enriched dough cinnamon roll. But it's been a really long time since I've worked with an enriched dough and I was intrigued by the use of soft flour in this recipe. It seemed like a fun thing to try. And I liked the idea of keeping my first foray (back) into enriched dough fairy simple.

There are actually instructions for making sticky cinnamon scrolls (aka schnecken) after the main recipe. They sound amazing! But I wanted to stick to the basic recipe for my first go 'round. I'll definitely be trying the schnecken next time though. The basic cinnamon scrolls were nice, but slightly lacking in both sweetness and cinnamon flavour. Adding a sweet, sticky topping to them would certainly address the lack of sweetness. And I think I'd just double the cinnamon in the filling next time for an extra cinnamon-y kick.

Cinnamon Scrolls

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 c. warm water
• 4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 115g salted butter, melted
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 tsp. salt¹
• 4 1/2 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom² (optional)

Filling

• 115g salted butter, softened
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon³

Glaze⁴

• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Directions

1. Dissolve 1 tsp. of sugar in the warm water and sprinkle with yeast. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Stir in remaining sugar, melted butter, eggs, and salt and mix well.
3. Add flour and cardamom (if using) and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. The mixture will be fairly loose. Almost more like a thick batter than a dough.
4. Cover and chill (in the fridge) for at least 2 hours or as long as overnight.
5. After dough has chilled, turn out onto floured surface and divide in half.
6. Roll each half out to a 30-35cm square.
7. Spread half of the softened butter onto each square.
8. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
9. Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over each square.
10. Firmly roll squares up and press edges to seal.
11. Cut each log into 9 even pieces and arrange into two greased 8" (20cm) round tins.
12. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
13. Combine beaten egg with milk and mix well.
14. When rolls have risen, brush tops with egg mixture.
15. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes.
16. Let cool in tins for 5 minutes before turning out.
17. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. salt, but I halved it since there was already quite a bit of salt coming from the butter. ^Back
2 I didn't add any cardamom to mine. ^Back
3 The original recipe calls for 3 tsp. (1 Tbsp.) cinnamon. I didn't find that amount of cinnamon to have much impact though, so I'll definitely put a bit more in next time. ^Back
4 Full disclosure: I completely forgot to glaze my buns. They were still tasty, but I'm sure they would've had a much nicer finish with the glaze. ^Back

I needed something to use up the rest of the sweet shortcrust pastry I made for the pear tart the other day, so I turned to Edmonds to see what I had the ingredients for. What I really wanted to make was the lemon tart (tarte au citron), but I was all out of cream. So I decided I'd try Edmonds' take on the classic American pecan pie. (Which they've dubbed "pecan tart" presumably because "pie" generally refers to a savoury meat and/or vegetable-filled pastry in NZ while "tarts" are a sweet dessert pastry.)

I enjoyed Edmonds pecan tart. That said it's nothing like the American classic pecan pie that I know. This was much heavier on the nuts and lighter on the sugar than the American version. It was also much shallower with a darker, sweeter crust. Edmonds only calls for about 1/4 the amount of sugar I'd expect based on the number of pecans they call for. And they also have you blind bake the pastry shell before filling it. Which does result in a well-browned, crisp crust. That said, I'm used to pecan pie having a lighter, slightly softer crust that comes from pouring the filling straight into the unbaked pie shell. Both versions are good but, all-in-all, I think I prefer the sweet, deep dish, American version. (Possibly just because that's what I'm used to.) However, if you're ever looking for a less sweet take on a pecan pie that puts more of a focus on the nuts and cuts back on the sweet, buttery filling, this recipe is probably for you!

Edmonds calls for baking this pie in a shallow 8" tin. I tried that. I filled my tin right up to the brim and still had enough filling left over to make a dozen 2" tarts. Given that, I'd actually recommend baking this in a shallow 10" tin. (Or, if you're going for the classic American size and shape, a 9" deep dish pie plate.)

Pecan Tart

From Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe sweet shortcrust pastry
• 100g salted butter, softened
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tbsp. honey¹
• 200g pecans²

Directions

1. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface and line a shallow 10" (25cm) tart tin. Chill for at least 10 minutes³.
2. Put a sheet of parchment/grease-proof paper or tin foil over the pastry and fill it with pie weights, dried beans, rice, or sugar.
3. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 15 minutes.
4. Remove pie weights and paper/foil and return to oven for 5 minutes to dry out the bottom.
5. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
6. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F (180°C).
7. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
8. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
9. Stir in honey and pecans and mix well.
10. Pour filling into baked pie shell.
11. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes.

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¹ Edmonds calls for honey and that's what I used. Many (possibly most) American recipes use corn syrup. Maple syrup is also sometimes used, especially in Canadian butter tart recipes. Feel free to experiment with substituting corn syrup, maple syrup, or golden syrup for the honey. Or try mixing two or more of the above! ^Back
2 Traditionally pecan pie is made with pecan halves. I didn't have any on hand, so I just used chopped pecans. Flavour is the same, just doesn't look as fancy. Does make it easier to pour though. If you are working with pecan halves, I'd actually recommend putting them in the bottom of your pie shell first and then pouring the filling over them rather than trying to mix them into the filling and then pour everything in together. Either method should bake up fine, but you'll probably get a nicer look if you lay the pecans out first and then pour the filling over them. (They should sort of rise to the top during baking.) ^Back
3 If the pastry is too warm when it goes in the oven the butter will melt before the rest of the pastry has a chance to begin to cook/set and the sides will fall down. It'll look like the pastry has melted and sort of fallen down the sides of the tin. Which, basically, it has. If it's good and cold when it goes in, the butter will hold up long enough for everything to start to cook and the pastry will keep its shape. ^Back