Saturday 28 December 2019

Spiced Chickpea Wraps

The Kidlet really liked these. Like, a lot. They are pretty tasty. The filling is kind of like a mash-up (haha) between chana masala and refried beans. I'm not sure what was in the little "Indian spice" seasoning packet HelloFresh sent us, but I'm sure I could recreate something similar on my own. I'd actually be tempted to try sizzling some whole spices in the pan at the beginning of cooking next time.

Spiced Chickpea Wraps

Adapted from HelloFresh

Ingredients

Wraps

  • 2 Tbsp. ghee
  • 1 tsp. cumin seeds
  • 1/2 Tbsp. coriander seeds
  • 1/2 tsp. brown mustard seeds
  • 1 Indian bay leaf
  • 1-2 dried chile1
  • 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
  • 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
  • 1/4 c. tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 c. water
  • 2 c. cooked chickpeas
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 12 medium (6-8") flour tortillas
  • 1-2 tsp. canola (or other neutral) oil

Raita

  • 200mL plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
  • ~150g cucumber
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Directions

Cucumber Raita

  1. Grate cucumber and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt. Set aside while you prepare the wraps.
  2. While wraps are baking, drain the cucumber. (I like to squeeze it a bit to remove excess moisture.)
  3. Add cilantro, yogurt, pepper, and remaining salt and mix well.

Wraps

  1. Melt ghee over medium-high heat.
  2. Add cumin, coriander, mustard, bay leaf, and chile to pan and cook for 30-60 seconds. (Cover the pan so the mustard seeds don't escape!)
  3. Add ground pepper, turmeric, and ginger and sizzle for another 10 seconds or so. (Don't burn it!)
  4. Immediately add onion, garlic, and ginger paste and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
  5. Reduce heat to medium and add tomato paste.
  6. Cook until paste has darkened.
  7. Add water and chickpeas and simmer until sauce has thickened slightly (~3-4 minutes).
  8. Remove bay leaf and chile and stir in cilantro.
  9. Remove from heat and discard bay leaf and chile.
  10. Mash chickpeas.
  11. Divide chickpea mixture between the tortillas, placing a line down the centre of each.
  12. Tightly roll up and place seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  13. Brush with oil.
  14. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 6-7 minutes.
  15. Serve with cucumber raita. (Add a salad to round out the meal.)



1 I think arbol or kashmiri chiles would work well here. Back

Lemon-Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes

We're planning a trip to Ottawa in the new year. I've been looking at restaurant recommendations and came across a fun breakfast place that has lemon-blueberry ricotta pancakes. That sounded like an incredibly tasty breakfast to me. And I already had a bunch of ricotta in the fridge that needed to be used up. So it was just a matter of a quick Google search to find some plausible-looking ricotta pancake recipes. I found one on the Spruce. I ended up having to tweak it a bit since the batter came out way too runny, but it made nice pancakes once I added a bit more flour.

Lemon-Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Spruce

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 c. milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 c. ricotta
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 200g flour
  • 2 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • ~1 c. blueberries

Lemon Sauce (optional)

  • juice of 1 lemon
  • ~1 c. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. milk

Directions

  1. Combine milk, egg, ricotta, melted butter, vanilla, and lemon zest.
  2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Pour wet ingredients into dry. Mix until combined, but still lumpy.
  4. Preheat a skillet/pan.
  5. Lightly grease pan.
  6. Scoop large spoonfuls of batter into pan (~1/4 c.). Don't overcrowd the pan or it'll be difficult to flip your pancakes!
  7. Sprinkle a few blueberries onto each pancake.
  8. Cook until edges of pancakes start to look dry.
  9. Flip and cook other side.
  10. Serve with lemon sauce (optional) and/or maple syrup.

Lemon Sauce

  1. Whisk sugar into juice.
  2. Whisk in milk.
  3. Serve over pancakes.

Saturday 21 December 2019

Roasted Carrots and Shallots

These really are excellent roasted carrots. The flavour is excellent and they're done just right. I had a few extra parsnips, so I tossed them in along with the carrots.


Roased Carrots and Shallots

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country February/March 2018

Ingredients

  • 700g carrots (or mix of carrots and parsnips)1, peeled and halved lengthwise
  • 4 large shallots, halved
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme (optional)

Directions

  1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
  2. Toss carrots and shallots with butter, salt, and pepper.
  3. Spread mixture in an even layer on rimmed baking sheet, cut-sides-down.
  4. Roast at 230°C (450°F) until tender and undersides are well-browned (~25 minutes).
  5. Sprinkle with thyme and serve.



1 If your carrots are less than ~3cm in diameter, leave them whole. If they're thicker, you can roast them for a little longer. Back

Wine-Braised Short Ribs

I am really pleased with how this came out. It's delicious. It's easy. Everyone loved it. And, as an added bonus, it used up all the braising ribs that'd been languishing in our freezer. Don't be alarmed by the uncovered cooking, it gives the meat a chance to brown without having to do a separate searing step.

Served over polenta with roasted carrots and parsnips.

Wine-Braised Short Ribs

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country February/March 2018

Ingredients

  • 2.25kg bone-in "English-style" short ribs1
  • 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
  • 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1 tsp. flour
  • 2 c. dry white wine
  • 3 c. vegetable broth
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 1/2 Tbsp. dried thyme
  • 2 dried bay leaves
  • 1 tsp. cornstarch

Directions

  1. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper and set aside.
  2. Heat oil over medium heat.
  3. Add onion and cook until lightly browned (4-6 minutes).
  4. Add tomato paste and flour and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly darkened (~1 minute).
  5. Add wine and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  6. Cook until mixture is slightly thickened (~3 minutes).
  7. Add broth, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.
  8. Nestle ribs into braising liquid, bone-side-up.
  9. Bring to a simmer, then transfer pot to oven and bake, covered2, at 160°C (325°F) for 1.5 hours.
  10. Remove pot from oven, flip the ribs meat-side-up and return to oven.
  11. Cook, uncovered, for another 1.5 hours.
  12. Transfer ribs to serving platter.
  13. Spoon a few tablespoons of the broth into a small bowl and whisk in cornstarch.
  14. Pour cornstarch mixture into sauce and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
  15. Cook until thickened.
  16. Serve ribs over substrate of choice (mashed potatoes or polenta work well), topped with gravy.



1 They recommend "English-style short ribs 4-5 inches long with 1-1.5 inches of meat on top of bone". I had a bunch of braising ribs on hand already, so I just used those. They had about the right amount of meat on top of the bone, but were cut much shorter. Probably only ~1" (2.5cm). They were a little trickier to manipulate and get to stand up the right way, but other than that they seem to have worked just fine. Back
2 The original recipe has you leave the pot uncovered for the entire cook time. I cooked it covered for the first half and uncovered it for the last part of cooking. I didn't get quite as much browning this way, but it did leave me with a bit more sauce. I'm okay with this trade-off. Back

Friday 20 December 2019

Beet Casunziei

These casunziei (basically half-moon shaped ravioli) were really tasty. The poppy seed sauce didn't really seem to complement them that well though. I think next time I might experiment with some sort of cream sauce. Maybe something with a crème fraîche base. I'm not entirely sure, but I think something with a mild tartness to it would go well.

Beet Casunziei

Slightly adapted from Great Italian Chefs

Ingredients

Pasta

  • 300g pasta flour
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 egg yolk

Filling

  • 500g beets
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 egg white
  • 100g ricotta
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • breadcrumbs

Directions

Preparation

  1. Combine flour, eggs, oil, and yolk to make a smooth dough.
  2. Wrap up tightly and chill for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Steam and peel the beets. (InstantPot works well for this: high pressure 20 minutes, 10 minute natural release.)
  4. Purée the beets and place them in a fine mesh strainer to drain for 10 minutes or so.
  5. Stir together beets egg, egg white, ricotta, and salt and pepper.
  6. Add enough breadcrumbs to create a smooth but not runny filling (~1/4 c. give-or-take).

Assembly

  1. Take ~1/3 of the dough and roll it out very thin.
  2. Cut out as many 7cm circles as possible.
  3. Place a scant tsp. of filling on each circle.
  4. Fold over to create a half moon shape and press edges to seal.
  5. Crimp with fork.
  6. Repeat with remaining 2/3 of dough.
  7. Combine dough scraps and roll out again to make more casunziei.

Storage and Cooking

  1. If not cooking immediately, place casunziei in a single layer on a parchment-lined plate or baking sheet and freeze. (You will need to work in batches.)
  2. Once frozen, they can be transferred to a Ziploc bag and kept in the freezer for a few months.
  3. To cook, bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, add pasta, and cook until it floats (3-5 minutes depending on whether or not you're cooking from frozen).

Serving Suggestions

  1. The original recipe suggests sautéeing the cooked pasta in some butter with poppy seeds and then topping with grated Parmesan. This is okay, but doesn't seem like an ideal complement.
  2. Next time I'd try crème fraîche mixed with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and then serve topped with Parmesan. Maybe add a touch of milk and/or white wine to the sauce if the consistency needs adjusting.

Pasta with Sausage, Mushrooms, and Peas

I love one-pot pasta recipes. This one comes together exceptionally easy even for a one-pot recipe, and since the pasta is cooked in the same pot as everything else, nothing is needed to thicken the sauce -- the starch released from the pasta in cooking and in the final mixing is sufficient. Keep a close eye on the pasta, though. It's very easy to overcook it.

As written, the recipe calls for shells, which is what we used. That said, I think it would be even better with orechiette, since peas sit so perfectly in them.

If using beef sausage, add a bit of olive oil or butter to the pot when cooking the sausages and mushrooms; they won't release nearly as much grease as the pork sausages this recipe is written for.

Pasta with Sausage, Mushrooms, and Peas

Cook's Country

Ingredients

  • 450g cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
  • 450g hot italian sausage, casings removed
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 3mL table salt
  • 5mL black pepper
  • 1mL red pepper flakes
  • 120mL dry white wine
  • 450g dry pasta (shells or orechiette recommended)
  • 1.25L water
  • 500mL frozen peas
  • 240mL fresh basil, chopped
  • 120mL freshly grated Parmesan
  • 10mL lemon zest

Directions

  1. Combine mushrooms, sausage, shallots, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes in a dutch oven over high heat. Cook, stirring often and breaking up sausages, until mushrooms have released their liquid and liquid has evaporated.
  2. Add white wine, deglaze, and continue cooking until wine has cooked off.
  3. Stir in pasta and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until pasta is cooked al dente. Some liquid will remain in the pot.
  4. Remove from heat. Stir in peas, basil, parmesan, and lemon zest. Stir vigorously for 1 minute to thicken sauce further.
  5. Serve with additional parmesan.

Monday 16 December 2019

Easy Hazelnut Brownies

Have you ever just suddenly wanted to bake brownies? Not necessarily eat them, just bake them? I was hit by one of those the other day and this seemed like an excellent opportunity to try out one of the easy brownie recipes published in one of last year's Cook's Country issues. They may not be quite as rich and decadent as my go-to Cherry-Almond Brownies, but they're pretty good. And the ability to quickly toss them together, only dirtying a single bowl, is certainly appealing as well. We made the hazelnut brownies this time around, but you could really experiment with all sorts of flavours.


Easy Hazelnut Brownies

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country February/March 2018

Ingredients

  • 60g dark chocolate, chopped
  • ½ c. + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
  • ⅓ c. Dutched cocoa
  • 2¼ c. sugar
  • ½ c. canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • ¼ c. unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
  • ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • ⅓ c. toasted hazelnuts, chopped
  • ⅓ c. chocolate-hazelnut spread

Directions

  1. Pour boiling water over chocolate and whisk until melted.
  2. Whisk in cocoa followed by sugar.
  3. Stir in oil.
  4. Mix in eggs and egg yolks, one at a time.
  5. Add butter and vanilla.
  6. Sift flour and salt over wet ingredients.
  7. Mix until just combined.
  8. Fold in hazelnuts.
  9. Pour batter into greased and floured1 23x33cm (9x13") pan.
  10. Dollop hazelnut spread over batter and swirl through with spatula or paring knife.
  11. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40-50 minutes.
  12. Let cool completely before cutting.

Variations

Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Ingredients

  • 60g dark chocolate, chopped
  • ½ C + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
  • ⅓ C Dutched cocoa
  • 2½ C sugar
  • ½ C + 2 tbsp canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
  • ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 170g bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1cm chunks
Stir chocolate into batter just before baking.

Chocolate Mint Brownies

Ingredients

  • 60g dark chocolate, chopped
  • ½ C + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
  • ⅓ C Dutched cocoa
  • 2½ C sugar
  • ½ C + 2 tbsp canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
  • ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 113g + 52g Andes mints, cut into 1cm pieces.
Stir 113g of the mints into the batter, and top with the remainder, just before baking.

White Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Ingredients

  • 60g dark chocolate, chopped
  • ½ C + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
  • ⅓ C Dutched cocoa
  • 2½ C sugar
  • ½ C + 2 tbsp canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
  • ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1 C white chocolate chips
  • ⅓ C raspberry jam or 1 C fresh raspberries
Stir white chocolate into batter. Dollop jam or raspberries overtop before baking and swirl in with spatula.

[ToxicFrog comments: the kidlet and I really enjoyed these. symbol did not.]

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Brownies

Ingredients

  • 60g dark chocolate, chopped
  • ½ C + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
  • ⅓ C Dutched cocoa
  • 2½ C sugar
  • ½ C + 2 tbsp canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
  • ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1 C peanut butter chips
  • ½ C marshmallow crème
Stir peanut butter chips into batter. Swirl in marshmallow.



1 Greasing and flouring works just fine but may leave some white flour visible against the dark brownies. If you're concerned about aesthetics, "flour" your pan with cocoa. Back

Sunday 15 December 2019

Chickpeas and Potatoes with Singed Spices

This curry, despite its long ingredient list, comes together very easily. It requires very little prep and most of the time spent cooking it is just watching it simmer and stirring it occasionally.

It was also a huge hit with the family. symbol immediately declared it a favourite; Alex went back for seconds, and then thirds, and requested it in her lunch tomorrow. I thought it was ok but not great, but everyone else loves it.

Very little is changed from the original recipe. Toasted cumin-coriander blend is replaced with equivalent proportions of the untoasted spices, and the raw sliced chilies used as a garnish are omitted (since Alex is not a fan of the spicy).

Pindi Waale Aloo Chana

660 Curries

Ingredients

  • 1 large Yukon Gold potato, cut into 1cm cubes
  • 750mL cooked chickpeas
  • 30mL amchor
  • 15mL dried pomegranate seeds, ground (a spice grinder works well)
  • 6mL coriander, ground
  • 4mL cumin, ground
  • 2.5mL cayenne
  • 2.5mL sweet paprika
  • 5mL Punjabi garam masala
  • 2.5mL coarse salt
  • 2.5mL black salt
  • 30+60mL corn oil
  • 1 large red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 large tomato, cored and finely chopped
  • 60mL finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

  1. Combine 750mL water, potato, chickpeas, amchor, pomegranate seeds, coriander, cumin, cayenne, paprika, garam masala, and both salts in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer vigorously, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are fork-tender and sauce has thickened, ~20 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, heat 30mL of oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and stir-fry until starting to brown around the edges, ~5 minutes.
  3. Add tomato and continue to cook until it softens but does not disintegrate, another ~3 minutes.
  4. When potato-chickpea mixture has thickened, remove from heat and stir in onion-tomato mixture.
  5. Put the remaining 60mL of oil in the skillet and heat until just below the smoke point, then pour into the curry and stir in to scald the spices.
  6. Top with cilantro and serve.

Friday 13 December 2019

Mango-Coconut Muffins

The last batch of muffins I made were a huge hit, so I figured maybe another batch was in order. I was tempted to just make more lemon muffins, but we got a couple mangoes in our produce basket this week, so this seemed like a nice way to use up some mango and test a new recipe. The mango was slightly under-ripe, but hopefully the muffins'll still come out okay.


Vegan Mango-Coconut Muffins

Slightly adapted from Love & Lemons

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. ground flax
  • 3 Tbsp. water
  • 7/8 c. lite coconut milk1
  • 2 tsp. lime juice
  • 300g whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 c. cane sugar
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 c. finely diced ripe mango
  • 1/2 c. sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

  1. Combine flax and water and set aside. (You're basically making a flax egg here.)2
  2. Combine coconut milk and lime juice.
  3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together, buttermilk mixture, flax egg, coconut oil, and vanilla.
  5. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until combined.
  6. Fold in diced mango.
  7. Spoon into greased muffin tin. (This should make 10-12 muffins.)
  8. Sprinkle coconut on top.
  9. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 18-20 minutes.



1 The original recipe called for a non-dairy coconut-almond milk blend. I still had some vanilla almond milk left over from making the lemon muffins yesterday, so I just used that. That said, I think coconut milk would make an even better choice here! I think full fat coconut milk might be too thick, but lite coconut milk should be just about right. And it would add a little more coconut flavour. Back
2 If you don't have ground flax easily to hand, ground chia should also work. Alternatively, if you don't need these to be vegan, you can use one large egg in place of the flax or chia egg. Back

Thursday 12 December 2019

Eggs with Sweet Potato and Greens Hash

A Cook's Country recipe card, the original version uses swiss chard and cooks the potatoes, greens, and eggs separately before combining them on the plate. I'm not a fan of the intense bitterness of chard, so this verson uses the much milder baby chard along with other greens. The cooking process is also simplified, although it might be possible to simplify it further by cooking the garlic with the potatoes and then adding the greens once the potatoes are browned.

Eggs with Sweet Potato and Greens Hash

Cook's Country

Ingredients

  • 450g Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1cm cubes
  • 450g sweet potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1cm cubes
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 10mL Lawry's seasoned salt
  • 60mL olive oil
  • 350g baby chard, kale, spinach, or other assorted greens
  • 6 garlic cloves, sliced thin
  • 10mL lemon juice
  • 4-8 large eggs (depending on preferred egg:hash ratio)

Directions

  1. Combine potatoes, sweet potatoes, onion, and half the salt in a large bowl and microwave, covered, until potatoes are almost tender, stirring halfway through, ~10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, heat 15mL oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add garlic, and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
  3. Add greens and remaining salt, and cook until just starting to wilt, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
  4. Buffer greens in a bowl and mix in lemon juice.
  5. Heat remaining oil in the same skillet over medium high heat and add potato-onion mix. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 10-15 minutes.
  6. Mix in greens.
  7. Make wells in the hash for the eggs. Crack the eggs into them, cover, and cook until eggs reach desired done-ness.
  8. Serve.

Lemon Muffins

I'm normally a bit wary of vegan recipes, but these came out pretty good. And I've just now realized that I completely forgot to make the glaze for them! They were still good, even without the glaze, but it'd be nice to try them with it next time and see how it is.

Vegan Lemon Muffins

Slightly adapted from Love & Lemons

Ingredients

Muffins

  • 1 c. + 1 Tbsp. vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 260g whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 c. almond flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/3 c. coconut oil, melted
  • 2 Tbsp. meyer lemon zest
  • 3 Tbsp. meyer lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp. chia seeds

Glaze

  • 1/2 c. vegan cream cheese
  • 2 Tbsp. meyer lemon juice
  • 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 1 tsp. meyer lemon zest

Directions

Muffins

  1. Combine almond milk and cider vinegar and set aside
  2. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt.
  3. Whisk together sugar, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla.
  4. Add almond milk to sugar mixture.
  5. Stir wet ingredients into dry and mix until combined.
  6. Fold in chia seeds.
  7. Spoon batter into greased muffin tin. (It should make 10-12 muffins.)
  8. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 18 minutes.

Glaze

  1. Beat cream cheese with lemon juice, maple syrup, and lemon zest until smooth.
  2. Spoon glaze over cooled muffins.
  3. Sprinkle with more lemon zest and/or chia seeds if desired.

Tuesday 10 December 2019

Shrimp Ramen

This recipe boasted of being "the best" shrimp ramen, but I honestly found it pretty "meh". Too much soy sauce. Too much sauce in general. Too salty. And just texturally very... disappointing. I think it would've been dramatically improved by cutting the soy sauce by at least 50% and giving the noodles a good fry while the sauce cooks.

Shrimp Ramen

Adapted from Delish

Ingredients

Noodles

  • 3 packages of ramen, flavour packets discarded
  • 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 scallions or 1/4 c. Fried Onions

Sauce

  • 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
  • 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
  • 1/2 tsp. chile flakes
  • 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. black vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine
  • 1/4 c. brown sugar
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 tsp. sriracha
  • 1 c. vegetable broth

Veggies and Protein

  • 3-4 c. veggies of choice (broccoli, peas, corn, bell pepper, etc.)
  • 400g cooked shrimp

Directions

Noodles

  1. Cook ramen according to package directions. Drain.
  2. Heat oil over medium heat.
  3. Add noodles and cook, stirring and turning occasionally, while sauce and veggie cook.

Sauce

  1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
  2. Add garlic, ginger, and chile flakes and cook for 30-60 seconds.
  3. Stir in dark soy, light soy, black vinegar, wine, sugar, lime juice, sriracha, and vegetable broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.

Veggies & Protein

  1. Add veggies to sauce, cover, and cook until just tender.
  2. Stir in shrimp and cook until heated through.
  3. Stir in noodles.
  4. Top with scallions and/or fried onions.



Variations

Vegetarian Ramen

Ingredients

Noodles

  • 3 packages of ramen, flavour packets discarded
  • 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 scallions or 1/4 c. Fried Onions

Sauce

  • 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
  • 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
  • 1/2 tsp. chile flakes
  • 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. black vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine
  • 1/4 c. brown sugar
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 tsp. sriracha
  • 1 c. vegetable broth

Veggies and Protein

Monday 9 December 2019

Mediterranean Rice and Lentils with Beef

I feel like there's probably a name for this type of dish. If so, I don't know it. Whatever else it is, it's also reasonably tasty and filling. The lentils bulk it up nicely and the beef is only really incidental. I think this would work just fine with TVP or tempeh as a meat substitute.

I made quite a few substitutions and adjustments for this recipe. First off, I don't tend to keep canned lentils on hand, but I do have an ample supply of dried pulses, so I substituted 1 c. of dried Puy lentils for the canned lentils called for in the recipe. Then we were all out of ground beef, so I just chopped up a pound of stewing beef instead. I didn't really feel like peeling and chopping garlic, so I used a few Tbsp. of garlic paste in place of the three cloves of minced garlic called for in the original. I don't generally keep pumpkin pie spice on hand either. I have all the individual spices I'd need to make it. That said, I figured the pumpkin pie spice was only acting as a stand-in for another more "exotic" spice blend in this particular instance. Given that, I decided to use 1 tsp. of ras el hanout in place of the 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice called for and then cut the cumin and pepper both down to half what was called for in the original. I also swapped out the long-grain white rice for long-grain brown rice. The last change I made was to reduce the amount of liquid used to cook the rice (and now lentils as well) and replace some of the water with vegetable broth and omit the salt called for later in the recipe.

Mediterranean Rice and Lentils with Beef

Adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2019

Ingredients

  • 1 c. dried Puy lentils
  • 1 c. long-grain brown rice
  • 3 c. vegetable broth
  • 4 c. water
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 500g extra lean ground beef or chopped stewing beef
  • 3 Tbsp. garlic paste
  • 1 tsp. Ras el Hanout
  • 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
  • 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
  • 1/2 c. plain Yogurt
  • 1 c. Fried Onions
  • 1/4 c. fresh dill, chopped

Directions

  1. Combine lentils, rice, broth, and water in a pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  2. Cook, uncovered, until lentils and rice are both tender (~25-30 minutes).
  3. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium heat.
  4. Add beef and until it starts to brown (~8 minutes).
  5. Stir in garlic paste and cook for another minute or so.
  6. Add ras el hanout, cumin, and pepper and cook for another minute.
  7. Add lentils and rice (along with any residual liquid) to the pan with the beef.
  8. Cover and cook until all liquid has been absorbed.
  9. Stir, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes.
  10. Drizzle with yogurt and sprinkle fried onions and dill over.

Yogurt

I've made my own cheese before -- several different kinds, in fact -- but I've never done homemade yogurt. With cheeses it can sometimes be difficult to find a really good cheese of the variety you want. Or the labeling is too vague for you to really be able to tell what it's gonna be like. So making your own can provide some clear benefits. With yogurt, the labeling generally provides ample information and I'm really spoiled for choice on types and flavours. All that being said, I figured it'd be nice to try making some yogurt because it's one of the quicker and easier cultured dairy products to make. And also, from a somewhat completionist standpoint, it'd be nice to say that I've done it.

Yogurt

From the Home Creamery by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley

Ingredients

  • 1L whole (3.25%) milk
  • 1/4 c. plain yogurt1

Directions

  1. Heat milk to 85°C (185°F).
  2. Allow to cool to between 40 and 46°C (105-115°F)2.
  3. Whisk in yogurt.
  4. Hold at 43°C (110°F) for 6-12 hours. (I like to pour it into Mason jars before incubating. Volume will be slightly more than 1L due to added yogurt so use three 500mL jars.)
  5. Transfer to fridge. Yogurt should keep for ~2 weeks.

Tips:

  • For milder yogurt, use less starter (only 2-3 Tbsp.) and incubate only 6 hours. For tangier yogurt, use the full 1/4 c. of starter and incubate 12 hours.
  • Some whey may separate out. It may be poured off or stirred in. Stirring in will result in thinner yogurt.
  • To make thicker yogurt, stir 1/3 c. dry milk powder into milk before heating.
  • For even thicker yogurt, sprinkle 1 tsp. unflavoured gelatine over milk after stirring in milk powder.



Variations

Greek Yogurt

Ingredients

  • 1L whole (3.25%) milk
  • 1/4 c. plain yogurt

Directions

  1. Make yogurt as above.
  2. Line a fine mesh strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth (or a single layer of butter muslin) and set over a large mixing bowl or pot.
  3. Once yogurt has finished incubating, pour into lined strainer and let drain overnight.
  4. Transfer yogurt back to jar (or storage container of choice) and refrigerate.

Vanilla Yogurt

Ingredients

  • 1L whole (3.25%) milk
  • 1/4 c. plain yogurt
  • 2-4 Tbsp. honey
  • 1-2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Make yogurt or Greek yogurt as you prefer.
  2. Stir in honey and vanilla. If your honey has a very strong flavour use only 1-2 Tbsp. and, if it's still not sweet enough, add 1-2 Tbsp. of sugar instead of more honey.



1 Make sure that the yogurt you're using as a starter has live cultures. Also be sure that it doesn't have any sweeteners, flavourings, or gelatin. Back
2 The author says that it should only take 5 minutes for the milk to cool down to an appropriate temperature, but mine took ~30 minutes! Back

Sunday 8 December 2019

Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli

From the Cook's Illustrated "All-Time Best Pasta Recipes" issue, this recipe comes together surprisingly easily; it takes a while but is not particularly complicated. It was also a huge hit! Everyone finished their bowl and went back for seconds, even Alex.

As written the recipe uses chicken breasts. We used imitation pea-protein chicken; no-one would mistake it for real chicken in either taste or texture, but it's tasty in its own right and can generally be used in the same places you'd use chicken meat. Use either as the mood takes you.

For noodles, the book recommends penne, ziti, or campanelle. We did it with cavatappi and that worked excellently. I suspect that rotini would also be a good choice.

The proportions on this, intuitively, look a bit weird. There's half as much pasta as usual, twice as much chicken as pasta, and three times as much broccoli. With the cavatappi, at least, this worked fine, although I think that doubling the pasta would also have worked ok at the cost of increasing the starch:everything else ratio.

Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli

Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients

  • 60mL unsalted butter
  • 450g boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise and then sliced into strips
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 10mL fresh thyme (or ~7mL dried)
  • 10mL all-purpose flour
  • 1mL red pepper flakes
  • 500mL chicken or vegetable broth
  • 250mL dry white wine
  • 250mL freshly grated parmesan
  • 250mL (~1 jar) sliced, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
  • 15mL fresh parsley
  • 657g fresh broccoli, florets cut into ~2cm pieces, stems discarded
  • 225g dry pasta
  • salt and pepper

Directions

  1. Melt 15mL butter in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook, without stirring, until browned around edges, 1-2 minutes. Stir and continue to cook until cooked through, 2-3 minutes. Remove to plate.
  2. Reduce heat to medium and melt another 15mL of butter. Add onion and 1mL salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, 5-7 minutes.
  3. Add garlic, thyme, flour, and pepper flakes, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30-60 seconds.
  4. Add broth and wine, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened somewhat and reduced by half, 15-20 minutes.
  5. Add parmesan, tomatoes, parsley, chicken, and remaining 30mL butter and cook until chicken is heated through and butter is melted, ~1 minute.
  6. Season with black pepper to taste.
  7. Meanwhile, boil water in a large pot. Add broccoli and 15mL salt and cook until crisp-tender, ~2 minutes. Remove broccoli, but keep water.
  8. Return water to a boil and add pasta. Cook until al dente. Reserve 125mL of pasta water and drain pasta.
  9. When sauce is ready, add broccoli and pasta and toss to combine. Adjust sauce thickness with reserved pasta water and serve.

Saturday 7 December 2019

Blueberry Scones

I don't do well with breakfast. I get bored easily. I'm also not a morning person, so I'm not generally interested in putting any effort into making a food first thing in the morning.

Milk and cereal are pretty much exclusively a camping food for me. Toast is boring. Porridge is good for a day or two, but then I want something else. Fry-ups are fatty and also way too much effort first thing in the morning most days. I tried making some "Carrot Cake Energy Bites". They were okay, but not great. I decided to keep perusing the breakfast ideas to see if anything else grabbed me. These scones seemed promising. I tweaked the recipe a little to use whole wheat flour, but otherwise left it pretty much alone.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Scones

Slightly adapted from Love and Lemons

Ingredients

  • 330g whole what flour1
  • 1/2 c. sugar + 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1/2 c. unsalted butter
  • 1 c. frozen blueberries
  • 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Combine flour, 1/2 c. sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well.
  2. Cut in butter.
  3. Toss with blueberries.
  4. Stir in cream, egg, and vanilla extract.
  5. Turn out dough into a well-floured surface and shape into a disc 3-4cm thick.
  6. Sprinkle top of disc with 1 Tbsp. sugar.
  7. Cut disc into eight wedges and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  8. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes.



Variations

Vegan Whole Wheat Blueberry Scones

Ingredients

  • 330g whole what flour
  • 1/2 c. vegan sugar
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1/2 c. coconut oil
  • 1 c. frozen blueberries
  • 3/4 c. full fat coconut milk
  • 1 flax egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract



1 I used hard wheat for this. I think soft flour would be fine as well. Back

Thursday 5 December 2019

Braised Red Cabbage with Apples

I've been kind of discombobulated this week and keep dropping the ball on things I'm normally pretty good at being on top of. One of them is our produce basket. So, suddenly we had an influx of fruit and veggies with no plans on how to use them. During my somewhat befuddled grocery trip this morning, I noticed that perogies were on sale. Normally I just have perogies with some sautéed onions and sauerkraut (and maybe some sour cream and/or cheese), but I figured adding braised cabbage as a side dish probably wasn't a terrible idea.

Braised Red Cabbage with Apples

Adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. lard
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • ~1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 apple, coarsely chopped
  • 1 small head of red cabbage, cored and sliced
  • 1/4 c. cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

  1. Melt lard over medium heat.
  2. Add onion and cook until softened (~4 minutes).
  3. Add pepper and apple and cook for another minute or so.
  4. Add cabbage, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, sugar, and salt and stir to coat.
  5. Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.



Variations

Vegetarian Braised Red Cabbage with Apples

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • ~1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 apple, coarsely chopped
  • 1 small head of red cabbage, cored and sliced
  • 1/4 c. cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Monday 2 December 2019

Carrot Cake Energy Balls

I tried to mostly follow the recipe for these. It didn't work very well. The original recipe calls for grinding up raw sunflower seeds in a food processor. I added a few Tbsp. of water and used the "food chop" setting on my blender. The resulting mixture was simultaneously wet and crumbly. I found that adding a little sunflower seed butter improved the handling dramatically. I think I'd just forgo the ground sunflower seeds and go for SunButter (or similar) right off the bat next time.

Carrot Cake Energy Balls

Adapted from Love and Lemons

Ingredients

  • 12 dates, soaked
  • 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 2/3 c. carrots, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
  • up to 1 c. sunflower seed butter

Directions

  1. Combine dates, maple syrup, and carrots in a food processor or blender and mince. You may need to had a couple Tbsp. of water if using a blender.
  2. Combine cinnamon, sea salt, and coconut and mix well.
  3. Stir carrot mixture into coconut mixture.
  4. Add enough sunflower seed butter to hold it together.
  5. Form into small balls and roll in graham cracker crumbs, more coconut, crushed banana chips or a combination of all of the above.

Tamatar Malai Rajmah (Kidney Beans with Slow-Stewed Tomato Sauce)

Here's an easy curry to throw together if you have time for the simmering. I replaced the minced garlic and ginger with their paste equivalents to reduce the prep work still further. I also halved the salt, black cardamom, and cayenne called for in the recipe; the first two to cater to my tastes and the second to cater to the Kidlet's.

Tamatar Malai Rajmah

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. ghee
  • 2 (3") cinnamon sticks
  • 2 bay leaves or Indian bay (cassia) leaves
  • 1-2 black cardamom pods
  • 4 Tbsp. garlic paste (or 4 large cloves of garlic1, minced)
  • 2-3 Tbsp. ginger paste (or 5 [1"x2"x1/4"] slices ginger, minced)
  • 3 c. water, divided
  • 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1 Tbsp. sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
  • 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
  • 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
  • 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
  • 1/4 c. fried onion paste
  • 3 c. cooked red kidney beans
  • 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
  • 1/2 tsp. Punjabi garam masala
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh minced cilantro

Directions

  1. Melt ghee over medium-high heat.
  2. Add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and cardamom pod(s) and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
  3. Add garlic and ginger and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
  4. Add 1/2 c. water, tomato paste, paprika, salt, coriander, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric and reduce heat to medium-low.
  5. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. Stir in another 1/2 c. of water, cover, and simmer for another 5 minutes.
  7. Repeat step 6 twice more.
  8. Add fried onion paste, cover, and simmer for another 5 minutes.
  9. Add remaining 1 c. water and kidney beans and increase heat to medium.
  10. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for ~15 minutes.
  11. Stir in cream and Punjabi garam masala and cook until warmed through (~2 minutes).
  12. Remove from heat and sprinkle with cilantro.
  13. Serve with rice and/or naan.



1 You will probably have less than 4 Tbsp. of minced garlic. I always use a bit (or sometimes a lot) mare garlic paste than fresh garlic because its flavour is usually somewhat muted compared to fresh garlic. Back

Sunday 1 December 2019

Biscochitos

The Kidlet was keen on making cookies today, so we flipped through the most recent issue of Cook's Country to see what goodies they had recipes for. The first two (chocolate brownie cookies and turtle bars) were a no-go due to the chocolate. But these biscochitos got the green light. We even still had some lard left over from our forays into sopaipilla-making, so it worked out quite well overall.

I appreciate how quick and easy these cookies were to throw together. It's a very simple dough to mix up, but the presence of the anise makes them a bit more special than a plain sugar cookie. It was a bit difficult to get the cinnamon sugar to stick to the outside after they came out of the oven, but a some gentle pressure seemed to do the trick in the end. I enjoy the very subtle savoury quality they get from the lard, but if you're wary of cookies that tread that line, feel free to use butter or shortening instead.

Biscochitos

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2020

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1/2 Tbsp. anise seeds, crushed
  • 2/3 c. lard
  • 3/4 c. sugar, divided
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Cream the lard with the crushed anise and 1/2 c. of the sugar.
  3. Beat on medium-high for ~3 minutes.
  4. Beat in egg and vanilla.
  5. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in dry ingredients.
  6. Divide dough into two equal portions and roll each one into a 15cm (6") log.
  7. Wrap tightly and chill until firm (~3 hours in the fridge, less in the freezer).
  8. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  9. Slice logs into 5-6mm (~1/4") discs. (You should get ~4 dozen cookies total.)
  10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 13-15 minutes. (You will most likely need to do this in two batches.)
  11. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.
  12. Combine remaining 1/4 c. sugar with cinnamon.
  13. Toss the cookies, one or two at a time, with the cinnamon sugar. You may need to apply a bit of gentle pressure to get the sugar to stick.



Variations

Vegetarian Biscochitos

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1/2 Tbsp. anise seeds, crushed
  • 2/3 c. butter
  • 3/4 c. sugar, divided
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Corn and Tomato Soup

We had nachos for dinner tonight and I figured this quick and easy soup would be a nice way to round out the meal.

Corn and Tomato Soup

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2020

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 Tbsp. cumin, ground
  • 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
  • 1L vegetable broth
  • 2 1/2 c. frozen corn
  • 2 tsp. chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
  • 1 c. cooked black beans (optional)
  • 1 (800mL) can diced tomatoes1
  • ~1/2 c. crumbled feta2, to serve
  • thinly sliced radishes, to serve (optional)
  • chopped avocado, to serve (optional)

Directions

  1. Melt butter over medium heat.
  2. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened (~4 minutes).
  3. Add cumin and pepper and cook for another minute or so.
  4. Add vegetable broth, corn, chipotles, tomatoes, and beans (if using).
  5. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  6. Reduce to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
  7. Serve topped with feta (or cojia) and radishes and avocados (if using).



1 The original recipe calls for whole tinned tomatoes. It calls for draining them, reserving the juice, and then coarsely chopping the tomatoes. You then add tomatoes and the reserved juice along with the broth. I'm not sure why they don't just call for diced tomatoes to begin with. Back
2 Use cojita instead if you can find it. Back

Saturday 30 November 2019

Ravioli Squash Bake

This was ok but I didn't love it. It has a rich cheesy sauce, but I feel like it's too cheesy for a cream sauce and not cheesy enough for a cheese sauce.

It was part of a meal with caramelized pear salad.

Ravioli Squash Bake

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

  • 500g ravioli
  • 340g butternut squash, cubed
  • 100g shallots, cubed
  • 10g thyme, chopped
  • 10g parsley, chopped
  • 30mL oil
  • 90mL cream cheese
  • 180mL sour cream
  • 250mL grated mozarella

Directions

  1. Toss squash, shallots, thyme, and oil. Roast at 425°F until tender, 22-25 minutes, turning halfway through.
  2. While squash is baking, cook ravioli. Reserve 250mL of pasta water, drain, and buffer.
  3. In pot, whisk cream cheese and sour cream into pasta water.
  4. Return ravioli to pot with sauce. Mix in squash, shallots, and parsley.
  5. Pour ravioli with sauce into a greased 9×13" baking dish. Top with mozarella. Broil on high until mozarella melts, ~5 minutes.

Friday 29 November 2019

Caramelized Pear Salad

This recipe was part of a Hello Fresh dinner that included baked ravioli, but works fine on its own. The pears take a little while to cook but require almost no attention while doing so, so you can easily build this in parallel with something else.

I think this could probably have taken considerably more greens, perhaps twice as many, but it was tasty as is. It would probably also have taken very well to blue cheese.

Caramelized Pear Salad

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

  • 2 pears
  • 113g baby spinach, spinach-arugula blend, or similar greens
  • 56g pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
  • 30mL white wine vinegar
  • 15mL dijon mustard
  • 20+5mL sugar
  • 30mL olive oil

Directions

  1. Core pears. Slice into thin wedges.
  2. Toast pepitas over medium heat, 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove to plate.
  3. Put pear slices, 20mL sugar, and 30mL water in pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until starting to brown, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat.
  4. Whisk together vinegar, mustard, remaining 5mL sugar, olive oil.
  5. Combine greens, pears, pepitas, and dressing.

Thursday 28 November 2019

Pumpkin Waffles

I may have gone slightly pumpkin crazy this year: two batches of Pumpkin Snack Cake, two different types of pumpkin soup, and a pumpkin chiffon pie. And I'm not done yet! We got two more pie pumpkins with our last produce basket. Some of it is earmarked for pumpkin pie. But I decided that some of it should go into waffles. There are a lot of different pumpkin waffle recipes out there. I looked at a few, but I was intrigued by the use of oat flour in this one.

Pumpkin Waffles

Slightly adapted from Cookie + Kate

Ingredients

  • 200g oat flour1
  • 1 Tbsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
  • 3 large eggs
  • scant 2/3 c. milk
  • 7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 c. pumpkin purée
  • 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Sift baking powder into flour.
  2. Add salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice and mix well.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs.
  4. Add milk, butter, pumpkin, maple syrup, and vanilla to eggs and mix well.
  5. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir to just combine. (It will be a bit lumpy.) Set aside for 10 minutes.
  6. Pour batter into preheated waffle iron and cook until done. (Amount of batter and cooking time will vary according to waffle iron and settings.)
  7. Repeat until all batter has been used up.
  8. Serve with maple syrup, fruit, and/or whipped cream.



1 I had a bit of extra whole wheat flour left over from making bread, so I used that and then added oat flour to make 200g. Back

Wednesday 27 November 2019

Calabacitas

I needed something to go with our Bean and Cheese Sopaipillas and I had this recipe kicking around and zucchini just happened to be on sale...

I'm not normally a big fan of zucchini (unless it's in the form of zucchini bread), but this was really good! I mean, cheese and heavy cream will go a long way toward making most things good, but still... it was better than I was expecting. The Kidlet didn't care for it (I thought she'd like the corn at least), but everyone else liked it. Definitely worth keeping in mind when looking for a good vegetable side.

Calabacitas

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country August/September 2017

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 poblano chile, seeded and chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 (~230g) zucchini, diced
  • 1 (~230g) yellow summer squash1, diced
  • 3-4 ears corn, kernels cut from cobs
  • 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
  • ~1/2 c. crumbled feta2
  • lime wedges (optional)

Directions

  1. Melt butter over medium-high heat.
  2. Add onion, poblano, bell pepper, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until softened (~4 minutes).
  3. Add zucchini and summer squash and cook until tender (~6 minutes).
  4. Stir in corn and cream.
  5. Pat into and even layer and cook, without stirring, until liquid has evaporated and vegetables have browned slightly (~7 minutes).
  6. Sprinkle with feta (or Cotija).
  7. Serve with lime wedges.



1 I couldn't find any yellow summer squash this time of year, so I just tossed in an extra zucchini instead. Back
2 Use Cotija cheese if you can find it. I don't think I've ever seen it for sale around here, so I generally just substitute feta instead. Back

Tuesday 26 November 2019

Bean and Cheese Sopaipillas with Green Chile Sauce

These were delicious! Not particularly healthy, but definitely delicious. I thought they'd be bland without the sauce, but they're still amazing even on their own. The sauce just takes them to the next level. We had our sopaipillas with calabacitas. I feel like they probably could've used another vegetable side as well, but this dinner already had enough moving parts as it was. Maybe some sort of simple garden salad next time?

Sopaipillas, as it turns out, can take on many different forms. Sometimes they're made entirely with masa harina; sometimes wheat flour is added. Sometimes they're stuffed; sometimes they're not. They may be flat or puffy. And they can run the gamut from sweet to savoury; part of the main course or a sweet treat for dessert. Based on a quick internet search, the sweet varieties seem to be more widespread than the savoury ones. So the "default" sopaipilla (as much as there can be said to be a default) might be something along the lines of a corn-based doughnut/fry-bread possibly coated in sugar and/or served with honey. These stuffed, savoury sopaipillas seem to be somewhat less common. Which is a shame because they are wonderful!

Bean and Cheese Sopaipillas with Green Chile Sauce

From Cook's Country October/November 2019

Ingredients

Dough

  • 2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 6 Tbsp. lard
  • 14 Tbsp. water

Refried Beans

  • 1/4 c. lard
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 c. cooked pinto beans
  • 1 c. chicken broth

Green Chile Sauce

  • 900g fresh Anaheim chiles
  • 1 fresh jalapeño chile
  • 2 Tbsp. lard
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp. flour (hard or soft is fine)
  • 1 c. chicken broth

Assembly

  • ~2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
  • oil for frying

Directions

Dough

  1. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder and mix well.
  2. Cut lard into flour.
  3. Stir in water.
  4. Turn out dough and knead a little (1-2 dozen strokes).
  5. Divide into 8 equal portions, cover and chill for at least 30 minutes1.

Refried Beans

  1. Melt lard over medium heat.
  2. Add onion and cook until softened (~4 minutes).
  3. Add beans and broth.
  4. Mash beans with potato masher and cook until thickened (~8 minutes).
  5. Season to taste and set aside to cool.

Green Chile Sauce

  1. Adjust oven rack to ~15cm (6") from broiler element and preheat broiler.
  2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
  3. Place whole chiles (Anaheims and jalapeño) in single layer on prepared sheet.
  4. Broil until blackened all over, turning every 4-5 minutes so that all sides get charred.
  5. Remove from oven and quickly wrap chiles and foil to trap steam. Set aside for ~10 minutes.
  6. Unwrap chiles and remove skins.
  7. Stem and seed Anaheims.
  8. Stem (but do not seed) jalapeño.
  9. Chop all chiles into half cm (~1/4") pieces.
  10. Melt lard over medium heat.
  11. Add onion and cook until softened (~4 minutes).
  12. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so.
  13. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.
  14. Stir in broth and chiles and bring to a simmer.
  15. Simmer until thickened (~6 minutes).
  16. Season to taste, cover, and set aside.

Assembly

  1. Retrieve dough balls from fridge and keep all but the one you're currently working with covered with a damp tea towel.
  2. Working with one dough ball at a time, roll into an 18cm (~7") circle on a floured surface.
  3. Squeeze ~1/4 of Cheddar to form a slight oblong shape (vaguely like an American football or rugby ball).
  4. Place your cheesy ovoid in the centre of the dough round and top it with ~1/4 c. of refried beans.
  5. Fold the dough round in half to create a semi-circle/half moon shape.
  6. Press around edges to seal.
  7. Moisten the top of the sealed edge with a bit of water and pinch the dough diagonally up and over the sealed edge to seal again and create a decorative rope-like border.
  8. Repeat with remaining dough and fillings. (You may have some beans left over.)
  9. Use a paring knife to poke a 1cm (~1/2") hole in the top of each sopaipilla2.
  10. Line a baking sheet with paper towels (preferably a double or triple layer).
  11. Heat frying oil to 190°C (375°F). Oil should be ~4cm (1.5") deep.
  12. Add 2-4 sopaipillas at a time to the oil (depending on the size of your fryer/Dutche oven) and fry until golden brown (~3-4 minutes per side).
  13. Transfer fried sopaipillas to prepared baking sheet.
  14. Reheat green chile sauce over medium-high heat.
  15. Serve sopaipillas smothered in chile sauce and accompanied by vegetable side(s) of your choice.



Variations

Vegetarian Bean and Cheese Sopaipillas

Ingredients

Dough

  • 2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 6 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
  • 14 Tbsp. water

Refried Beans

  • 1/4 c. vegetable shortening
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 c. cooked pinto beans
  • 1 c. vegetable broth

Green Chile Sauce

  • 900g fresh Anaheim chiles
  • 1 fresh jalapeño chile
  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp. flour (hard or soft is fine)
  • 1 c. vegetable broth

Assembly

  • ~2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
  • oil for frying



1 If you want to make ahead, dough will keep in fridge for up to 2 days. Back
2 Assembled but uncooked sopaipillas can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Back

Monday 25 November 2019

Potato and Blue Cheese Tart

We had a bunch of potatoes and blue cheese that needed to be used up so it seemed like a good opportunity to try out this recipe. The instructions having you making the pastry from scratch and rolling it out into a rectangle, but I already had some frozen pastry rounds in the fridge, so I just used one of them.

This is quite rich and very starchy: three kinds of cheese + potatoes and pastry. I served it with a salad to try to get some more vegetables and variety in the mix. Possibly a goat cheese and prosciutto salad was a bit too rich to be paired with this particular tart, but I really wanted to try it! I think, if I were to do it again, I'd go with a slightly lighter salad and probably add a soup as well just so the meal doesn't lean quite so heavily on the tart. I think a spinach salad with some fruit and nuts (maybe strawberries and almonds) and a nice balsamic vinaigrette would be a good complement to the tart. And maybe a fresh, homemade (not-too-creamy) tomato soup to go along with it.


Potato and Blue Cheese Tart

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2020

Ingredients

  • ~200g pie crust pastry
  • 120g cream cheese, softened
  • ~1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  • 1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese, divided
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 tsp. Roman Mustard
  • 3/4 tsp. dried rosemary, divided
  • 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
  • 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
  • 1 large egg, separated
  • 450g russet (or other floury) potatoes, sliced thin
  • 1-2 shallots, sliced thin

Directions

  1. Roll pastry into a large circle or rectangle and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  2. Whisk 1/4 c. of Parmesan and 1/4 c. of blue cheese into the softened cream cheese.
  3. Add oil, mustard, 1/2 tsp. of rosemary, pepper, and salt and mix well.
  4. Mix in egg yolk.
  5. Add potatoes and shallot to cream cheese mixture and stir/toss to coat.
  6. Transfer potato mixture to centre of dough and spread evenly to cover, leaving a border for folding up edges later.
  7. Sprinkle filling with remaining 1/4 c. of blue cheese and 2 Tbsp. of the remaining Parmesan.
  8. Fold edges of crust over filling. (The aim isn't to cover all the filling, just give it a neat border.)
  9. Lightly whisk the egg white and brush it onto the exposed bits of crust. (You won't need it all.)
  10. Sprinkle the crust with the remaining 2 Tbsp. of Parmesan.
  11. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 45 minutes.
  12. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes.
  13. Carefully transfer to wire rack to cool for another 20 minutes or so before serving.



Variations

Potato and Parmesan Tart

Just replace all the blue cheese with more Parmesan. Done.

Saturday 23 November 2019

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Tofu & Mushrooms

This Cook's Country recipe was inspired by Dan Dan Mien; their goal was to make something based on dan dan noodles that could be easily cooked on a weeknight and relied on ingredients that could be easily found in a north american supermarket. For the most part, I think they succeeded, and the result is very tasty indeed.

As written, the recipe calls for ground pork. We swapped that out for mushrooms and tofu, and I have no complaints, although I think it might have been even better with seitan or tempeh; the tempeh, in particular, would more closely match the texture of the ground pork.

A few other adjustments have been made: the original uses tapwater instead of reserved pasta water for the sauce, and sherry instead of shaoxing wine. They also recommend making (or buying) sichuan chili oil as an optional topping.

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Tofu & Mushrooms

Cook's Country

Ingredients

  • 15mL butter
  • 200g cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 200g extra firm smoked tofu, sliced and chopped into ~1cm squares
  • 500g whole wheat spaghetti
  • 30mL toasted sesame oil
  • 45+15mL soy sauce (I used a 1:1 light:dark soy mix)
  • 15+10mL hoisin sauce
  • 15mL shaoxing wine or white wine
  • 60mL tahini
  • 30mL rice vinegar
  • 15mL sambal oleck
  • 10mL sugar
  • 60mL oil
  • 6 green onions, sliced thin, green and white parts separated
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced, or 30mL garlic paste
  • 5mL red pepper flakes
  • 2mL ground Sichuan peppercorns

Directions

  1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
  2. Sautée mushrooms and tofu until mushrooms have released their liquid and softened and tofu has started to brown, ~10? minutes. Remove from skillet and buffer.
  3. Meanwhile, boil water. Add pasta and 15mL salt and cook until just past al dente. Drain, reserving 250mL of the pasta water, and return noodles to the pot. Toss with sesame oil and cover to keep warm.
  4. Whisk together tahini, vinegar, sambal oleck, sugar, salt, 45mL soy sauce, 10mL hoisin sauce, and the reserved pasta water in a medium bowl.
  5. Add oil, the white parts of the green onions, garlic, pepper flakes, and Sichuan pepper to the skillet. Cook over medium heat until fragrant, ~2 minutes.
  6. Pour contents of skillet into pasta pot. Add tahini sauce, green onions, mushrooms, and tofu. Toss to combine.

Sautéed Baby Bok Choi

This definitely isn't substantial enough to be a main dish, but it makes a tasty and very quick to put together side, and goes well both on its own or mixed in with noodles or rice. Note that the bok choi cooks down significantly; if you want to have lots of bok choi, double or even triple this recipe.

Sautéed Baby Bok Choi

Cook's Country

Ingredients

  • 700g baby bok choi
  • 10mL toasted sesame oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1mL red pepper flakes
  • 15mL corn oil
  • 1mL salt

Directions

  1. Cut leaves from bok choi heads, chop coarsely, and rinse.
  2. Cut base off each head and discard. Detach stalks from each other and core; discard core. Rinse stalks and store separately from leaves.
  3. Combine sesame oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl.
  4. Heat corn oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add stalks, sprinkle with salt, and cook without stirring until stalks start to brown, ~5 minutes.
  5. Stir and continue cooking until stalks are just starting to become tender, ~1 minute.
  6. Add leaves and sesame oil mixture and continue to cook, stirring often, until leaves are wilted, 1-2 minutes. Eat.

Wednesday 20 November 2019

Prosciutto, Apple and Goat Cheese Salad with Fig Vinaigrette

This comes together pretty easily, although the toasting of the hazelnuts and crisping of the prosciutto can be time consuming. (The original recipe doesn't call for crisping, but I find it both makes the prosciutto easier to work with and tastier.) The biggest problem with it is that the goat cheese likes to form clumps once stirred in, so occasionally you'll spear what looks like a ball of leaves and find out that it's actually a ball of goat cheese in a leafy shell.

As written, it calls for mesclun as the greens. We used spinach and lettuce and that worked fine. I think kale would be excellent, although you might need to either dial back the quantity or use a bigger bowl, as it doesn't deflate the way spinach or lettuce do when wet.

Prosciutto, Apple and Goat Cheese Salad with Fig Vinaigrette

Cook's Country

Ingredients

  • 60mL olive oil
  • 60mL cider vinegar
  • 45mL fig preserve
  • 1mL salt
  • 1mL freshly ground black pepper
  • ~2.5L greens
  • 1-2 sweet apples (Fuji, Gala or Honeycrisp work well), cored and sliced thin
  • 125mL hazelnuts
  • 170g thinly sliced prosciutto
  • 250mL goat cheese, crumbled

Directions

  1. Whisk together oil, vinegar, fig preserve, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add hazelnuts and toast, stirring occasionally, until just starting to brown, 5-10 minutes. Remove hazelnuts to a plate to cool.
  3. In the same skillet, cook the prosciutto slices until just starting to crisp, 1-2 minutes per slice. You will likely need to do multiple batches. Remove these to cool as well.
  4. Peel the hazelnuts (if they had the skin on); after toasting, it should come off easily. Chop coarsely.
  5. Slice or tear the prosciutto coarsely.
  6. Toss greens, apple slices, hazelnuts, prosciutto, cheese, and dressing together. Serve.

Quick Candied Orange Peel

This is "quick" candied peel because it only involves one round of simmering in sugar syrup. There are other methods that involve multiple simmers in increasingly concentrated syrups. I didn't bother going through that whole process here.

Quick Candied Orange Peel

Slightly adapted from BBC Good Food

Ingredients

  • Orange peels1
  • water
  • sugar

Directions

  1. Place orange peels in a pot and add enough cold water to cover.
  2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
  3. Drain and add fresh, cold water to cover.
  4. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
  5. Drain, reserving liquid.
  6. Measure the strained liquid and add 100g of sugar for every 100mL of liquid.
  7. Stir to dissolve sugar and return mixture to pot with peels.
  8. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
  9. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  10. Remove peel from syrup and spread in a single layer on a cooling rack set on a baking sheet.
  11. Bake on lowest oven setting for ~1 hour.
  12. Remove from oven and toss with sugar.
  13. Set aside to dry for another hour or so.
  14. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 months.



1 If you'd like very pretty, presentable pieces of candy, you can cut your oranges into quarters and then scoop out the flesh and cut the remaining peel/pith into neat little sticks. I was going to be juicing a bunch of oranges, so I just peeled them with a vegetable peeler and then coarsely chopped the peels. Back

Monday 18 November 2019

Penne with Pancetta & Asparagus

This was absolutely delicious and surprisingly easy to assemble. Most of the prep time was spent cutting the asparagus.

Penne with Pancetta & Asparagus

Cook's Country

Ingredients

  • 125g pancetta, diced
  • 700g asparagus, trimmed and cut into 5cm lengths
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 500g store-bought dry penne rigate or similar pasta
  • 250mL mascarpone
  • 15mL lemon juice
  • ~200mL freshly grated parmesan
  • 80mL coarsely chopped fresh basil
  • salt and pepper

Directions

  1. Cook pancetta in a large, deep pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and crispy, ~10 minutes.
  2. Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon and reserve.
  3. Increase heat to high. Add asparagus and cook, without stirring, until starting to brown, ~3 minutes. Stir vigorously and continue to cook until browned and starting to become tender, ~2 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in garlic and pancetta.
  5. Cook pasta al dente. Reserve 250mL of pasta water and drain.
  6. Return asparagus to low heat. Stir in mascarpone, parmesan, lemon juice, the reserved pasta water, and pepper to taste.
  7. Add pasta and basil and toss to combine. Serve.

Sunday 17 November 2019

Israeli Couscous with Tomatoes and Chickpeas

This looks like it wants to be a curry and tastes like it want to be an Italian pasta dish. Either way, it makes for a great one-pot offering that can be thrown together quickly. It's a little lacking in the vegetable department, but a good salad or vegetable side can remedy that. You could even try adding a bit of chopped spinach or something similar to it if you wanted to keep everything to one pot.

Israeli Couscous with Tomatoes and Chickpeas

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country June/July 2019

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
  • 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • 1L vegetable broth
  • 1 (~800mL) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 c. Israeli couscous
  • 2 c. cooked chickpeas
  • 1 Tbsp. dried oregano (or 2 Tbsp. fresh)
  • Parmesan, to serve

Directions

  1. Heat oil over medium heat.
  2. Add onion and cook for ~4 minutes.
  3. Add garlic, pepper, and pepper flakes and cook for another minute or so.
  4. Add broth, tomatoes, and couscous.
  5. Bring to a vigorous simmer and cook, stirring often, until couscous is tender (~15 minutes).
  6. Stir in chickpeas and oregano.
  7. Serve topped with Parmesan.

Saturday 16 November 2019

Crunchy Tortilla Chip Cheeseburgers with Guacamole and Salad

This Hello Fresh recipe was really tasty and not at all hard to put together. As written it uses Beyond Meat fakemeat patties, but you should be able to swap in pretty much any other burger patty you like, including home-made meat patties, without issues. You can also omit the cheese to make it vegan, or the jalapeños for people who don't like spicy things.

This was a big hit with the whole house; even the kidlet ate all of hers (although she disassembled it first), which is unusual when it comes to burgers.

Despite having a lot of moving parts, this recipe comes together fairly easily.

Crunchy Tortilla Chip Cheeseburgers with Guacamole and Salad

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

  • 2 avocados
  • 1 fresh jalapeño, stemmed
  • 2 limes
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 60mL white wine vinegar
  • 10mL sugar
  • 4 burger buns
  • garlic butter
  • 85g tortilla chips
  • 4 burger patties
  • cheddar cheese
  • 1 tomato, sliced (optional)
  • 125g baby kale
  • 125g mini cucumbers
  • 30mL olive oil

Directions

  1. Guacamole
    1. Halve and pit avocados. Scoop flesh into a medium bowl.
    2. Mince 30mL of the jalapeño (about half of it). Leave the rest intact.
    3. Add minced garlic, minced jalapeño, and the juice of one of the limes to the avocado flesh. Mash together.
  2. Burgers
    1. Slice the remaining jalapeño into thin discs.
    2. Combine jalapeño slices, vinegar, the juice of one lime, 30mL water and 10mL sugar in a small pot.
    3. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender-crisp, ~5 minutes. Transfer quick-pickled jalapeños to a small bowl; reserve pickling liquid.
    4. Halve buns. Spread with garlic butter, and toast.
    5. Toast tortilla chips at 450° for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown but not yet dark. (A toaster oven works well here.)
    6. Cook burger patties until browned on both sides and cooked through. Remove from the heat, top with cheddar, and cover the pan until the cheese melts, 30-60 seconds.
    7. Assemble the burgers: spread toasted buns with guacamole, then put pickled jalapeño slices, burger patty, and tomato onto the bun. Top with toasted tortilla chips, then add the top half of the bun and press down so that the chips crunch into the guacamole.
  3. Salad
    1. Cut cucumber into 5mm half-moons.
    2. Whisk together pickling liquid from jalapenos with olive oil.
    3. Combine dressing, cucumber, and kale in a bowl and toss to combine.

Monday 11 November 2019

Cottage Herb Loaf

This makes a lovely, fragrant, flavourful loaf. The dough was a bit strange, but the resulting bread was very nice. My only regret was that I didn't double the recipe. We're almost out already! I've still got some dill and cottage cheese left though, so hopefully I can do another batch sometime in the next few days. And this time I will double it.


Cottage Herb Loaf

From the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. oil
  • 1/4 c. minced onion
  • 1/2 c. warm water
  • 2 tsp. active dry yeast
  • 1 c. cottage cheese
  • 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. honey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
  • 375g hard (bread/strong/high grade) whole wheat flour

Directions

  1. Heat oil over medium heat.
  2. Cook onion in oil until softened and beginning to brown.
  3. Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside.
  4. Add cottage cheese, parsley, and dill to onion and gently warm.
  5. Remove onion mixture from heat and stir in honey and egg.
  6. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt and mix thoroughly.
  7. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the yeast mixture and the cheese mixture. (Make sure that the cheese isn't too hot when you add it. If it seems overly warm, give it another few minutes to cool before mixing it in.)
  8. Working from the centre outward, gradually mix the flour into the liquids until most of it has been incorporated.
  9. Turn out onto your work surface and begin kneading. The dough may be quite sticky. Try to knead it for at least 10 minutes before you make a call on adding extra flour.
  10. Knead for 15-30 minutes1.
  11. Shape into a smooth ball and place in a covered bowl to rise2. Rise is done when a 1cm deep fingerprint (with a wet finger) doesn't fill in at all.
  12. Knock dough back. Knead for a few more strokes if desired.
  13. Shape back into a smooth ball and return to the covered bowl to rise again. Use the same test to determine when the second rise is done.
  14. Knock back again and shape into a smooth ball, stretching gluten taut across the top.
  15. Place the dough ball into a greased casserole dish or deep dish pie plate, cover, and let rise one more time. For the final rise, the dough should still slowly return the wet fingerprint.
  16. Gently brush the top of the dough with oil and slash it if you like.
  17. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45-50 minutes.



1 You can probably get away with only 15 minutes if your kneading is very efficient. I always err toward kneading my bread for longer though since I don't seem to have a very efficient technique. Back
2 The original recipe suggests a warm rise for this bread. They recommend aiming for a temperature of ~32°C (90°F) for 45 minutes for the first rise. I didn't want to mess around with trying to set up a warm rise, so I just went with a longer, cooler rise: 20°C (68°F) for ~75 minutes. Back

Sunday 10 November 2019

French Buttercream

This is quite different from other buttercream icings that I've had. I am, of course, familiar with American buttercream: overly sweet and greasy, but very quick and easy to make. And I've made Swiss meringue buttercream before. I quite like that one since the meringue base means it's not so cloying and doesn't taste quite so fatty and greasy. I'd never heard of French buttercream before though. It's very rich with its egg yolk base. And pouring the boiling sugar into the eggs made me a bit nervous. It does make a pretty nice icing in the end though. I think it's probably a bit too butter-forward to be my favourite, but it's still an improvement over American buttercream IMHO.

The original recipe provides instructions for making 3 c. (just the right amount to frost a dozen cupcakes), 5 c. (should be enough for a 23cm (9") round two-layer cake), and 6 c. (enough to ice a three-layer cake). It also suggests a couple flavour variations in addition to the basic vanilla.

Vanilla French Buttercream (for Cupcakes)

Makes ~3 c.

Ingredients

  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1/3 c. corn syrup
  • 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt (optional)
  • 1 1/4 c. (20 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

Directions

  1. Beat egg yolks on medium speed for 4-6 minutes.
  2. Combine sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
  3. Reduce mixer speed to low and pour hot sugar mixture into the whipped yolks in a thin, steady stream. Don't let the sugar directly touch the sides of the bowl or the beaters/whisk.
  4. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for 5-10 minutes. Mixture should be well-aerated and no longer warm.
  5. Reduce speed to medium low and beat in butter 1 Tbsp. at a time.
  6. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for another minute or two.



Variations

Almond French Buttercream (for Cupcakes)

Ingredients

  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1/3 c. corn syrup
  • 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. almond extract
  • pinch of salt (optional)
  • 1 1/4 c. (20 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

Coconut French Buttercream (for Cupcakes)

Ingredients

  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1/3 c. corn syrup
  • 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. coconut extract
  • pinch of salt (optional)
  • 1 1/4 c. (20 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

French Buttercream (for a Two-Layer Cake)

Makes ~5 c.

Ingredients

  • 7 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 c. sugar
  • 2/3 c. corn syrup
  • 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 Tbsp. almond or coconut extract (optional)
  • 1/8 tsp. salt (optional)
  • 2 1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
For this larger amount you can add the butter 2 Tbsp. at a time rather than 1.

French Buttercream (for a Three-Layer Cake)

Makes ~6 c.

Ingredients

  • 8 large egg yolks
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 3/4 c. corn syrup
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla
  • 2 tsp. almond or coconut extract
  • 1/8 tsp. salt (optional)
  • 2 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
Butter can be added 2 Tbsp. at a time rather than 1.

Yellow Cupcakes with Vanilla French Buttercream

All the Kidlet wanted to do yesterday was watch TV and play video games. She did stop to do her chess homework and I suggested that some of the video game time be spent on Khan Academy, so it wasn't all brain-melting, but still... Not really the best way to spend the day.

Yesterday was swimming lessons as well, so that got us out of the house for a bit. And we stopped at the craft store on the way home to pick out some new beads. After that I was casting around for fun things to do that didn't involve a screen. I suggested colouring, painting, macaroni art, collages, board games, and baking. And the promise of fresh baked goods did pique her interest. Initially she wanted to bake cookies, but the only recipe she would consider used a boxed cake mix and made these weird sort of cake-cookies. I suggested that maybe if she wanted something cake-like we should just make a cake or cupcakes. She was keen on the cupcakes.

There is a simple vanilla cupcake recipe in the "Young Chefs" cookbook I got her. But we've made that one before and I really wanted to try something different. We flipped through every cupcake recipe in The Perfect Cake and, after looking at each of them, she decided that she wanted to make the yellow cupcakes. So, yup, after all that we just ended up making plain vanilla cupcakes after all. Oh well. At least these were different vanilla cupcakes.


Yellow Cupcakes

From the Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 c. sour cream
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 c. icing of choice (I used a Vanilla French Buttercream)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line muffin tin with paper/foil liners.
  2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix well.
  3. Add butter, sour cream, egg, egg yolks, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for ~1 minute.
  4. Scrape down bowl and give a final stir by hand, making sure there are no residual flour pockets.
  5. Scoop into prepared muffin tin. (Should exactly fill a dozen 5cm (2") wells.)
  6. Bake at 180°C (350&de;F) for ~20 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and cool in tin for 15 minutes, then turn out and finish cooling on wire rack.
  8. Wait until cupcakes are completely cool before icing.

Pan-Roasted Pear Salad

I really liked this salad! I ended up making it with mature black kale, but I think it would've been even better with baby kale. That said, the mature kale was fine, just make sure you get enough of it. You may need more than one bunch depending on how big your bunches/packages are.

You can make this salad with romaine lettuce if you want. Personally I think it's better with kale though. I also think it'd be nice with a handful of toasted chopped pecans added. I don't think it needs the nuts, but they'd definitely be nice.

Apologies for the terribly presentation and badly lit photo; I was in a hurry.

Pan-Roasted Pear Salad

Adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2018

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. lard1
  • 200g bacon-flavoured tempeh
  • 3 slightly underripe Bosc pears, quartered and cored
  • 2 tsp. sugar
  • ~1/2 c. vinaigrette2
  • 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • ~350g kale3
  • 1/4 c. fresh chives, chopped
  • ~1 c. crumbled blue cheese
  • 1/4 c. chopped pecans, toasted

Directions

  1. Melt lard over medium heat.
  2. Add tempeh and cook until well-browned.
  3. Remove tempeh from pan and set aside.
  4. Toss pears with sugar.
  5. Add pears to pan and cook, cut-side down, until well-browned (2-4 minutes). Flip to brown the other cut side (another 2-4 minutes).
  6. Remove from heat and set aside.
  7. Toss kale with vinaigrette and maple syrup.
  8. Add tempeh, pears, chives, and blue cheese and serve.



Variations

Dressing Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1/4 c. olive oil
  • 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
  • 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients and whisk vigorously.
  2. Omit maple syrup listed in main salad recipe as it will be incorporated into the dressing.



1 I used lard because I had some on hand and I figured why not make the tempeh extra bacon-y? If you don't have any lard lying around or you'd like to keep things vegetarian, feel free to substitute an oil of your choice. I'd probably roll with coconut or corn oil, but it doesn't really need to be anything specific. Back
2 The original recipe comes with instructions for making the dressing from scratch. We already had a bottle of homemade vinaigrette in the fridge, so I just used some of that. The original was pretty similar except that it used apple cider vinegar for the acid component whereas we'd used a mix of lemon juice and red wine vinegar. It also included a bit of maple syrup, so I just added the same amount of maple syrup after the fact. I think it worked out quite well. Back
3 If you end up using baby kale, you can probably reduce the vinaigrette and maple syrup slightly. (Maybe cut it back to 6 Tbsp. and 2 Tbsp. respectively.) Back