I know we've made pasta alla puttanesca before, but somehow it never made it onto the blog, so here it goes!

This recipe is not quick to put together, due to the long simmering stages, but is is easy and all of the ingredients are either shelf-stable or will keep for a long time in the fridge, making it a good "oh no what do we make" pasta dish. The proportions given here are for 450g of dry pasta, but it also works great with fresh pasta; I made it tonight with home-made fettuccine. Long noodly pasta is traditional with this sauce -- spaghetti, linguine, etc.

Compared to the recipe in the book, I use less oil and salt and more anchovies and garlic, but make no other changes.

Pasta alla Puttanesca

The Classic Pasta Cookbook

Ingredients

• 80mL olive oil
• 8 anchovy fillets, chopped
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 ~750mL tin of diced tomatoes, with juice
• 3mL dried oregano
• 30mL capers
• ~10 black olives, pitted and thinly sliced

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-low heat. Add the anchovies and cook, stirring occasionally, until the anchovies start to soften and flake, ~10 minutes. (Hazan claims that they will "dissolve". I have never observed this.)
2. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, but without letting it brown, ~30 seconds.
3. Add the tomatoes. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the sauce has reduced and the tomatoes started to break down, 30-40 minutes. (You can fridge the sauce at this point and resume later, if you want.)
4. Bring the water to a boil and begin cooking the pasta.
5. While the pasta cooks, increase heat to medium and stir in the oregano, capers, and olives.
6. Serve with freshly grated parmesan.

I'd never even heard of chiffon pies before coming across this recipe. Apparently they were popular from the 30s up through the 70s, but you don't see them so much these days. I'll still always love the classic cooked custard pumpkin pie, but it was nice to try something a little different this time. This does make a lovely light and airy pie. And it's not as difficult or fussy to make as I was expecting. I did use a ready-made graham cracker crust rather than making my own. Homemade would, of course, be nicer, but I was happy enough with the short-cut.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2016

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 ready-made graham cracker pie crust
OR

• 9 whole graham crackers, crushed into fine crumbs
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 1/4 c. dark rum
• 1 Tbsp. gelatin
• 2 c. pumpkin purée
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 4 large egg whites
• 1/3 c. sugar

Topping

• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 gingersnap cookies, crushed

Directions

Crust

1. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and ginger and mix well.
2. Stir in melted butter.
3. Press crumbs into bottom and up sides of pie plate.
4. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for ~15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Filling

1. Sprinkle gelatin over rum and set aside for ~5 minutes.
2. Microwave until mixture is bubbling around the edges and gelatin is completely dissolved (30-60 seconds). Set aside to cool until just warm.
3. Microwave pumpkin until also just warm (1-2 minutes).
4. Beat pumpkin with brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cream until completely combined.
5. Stir in gelatin mixture.
6. In a clean bowl and with clean beaters, whip egg whites on medium-low until foamy (~1 minute).
7. Increase speed to medium-high and whip to soft peaks (~1 minute).
8. Gradually add sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. (You should be able to invert the bowl without the meringue slipping or dripping.)
9. Whisk about a third of the meringue into the pumpkin mixture to loosen it.
10. Gently fold in the remaining meringue.
11. Scoop the filling into the crust, letting it mound in the centre slightly.
12. Chill for at least four hours.

Topping

1. Combine the cream, sugar, and vanilla in a blender¹ and mix on medium for 30 seconds or so.
2. Increase to high until cream stiffens.
3. Spread cream over pie.
4. Top with crushed gingersnaps.

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¹ Using a blender rather than beating with a hand or stand mixer results in smaller air bubbles and a denser, stiffer whipped cream that will last much longer without "deflating". If the pie will be eaten right away with no chance of leftovers, feel free to use the beaters for extra fluffy whipped cream. ^Back

This was really good. Better than I was expecting based on the recipe if I'm honest. And, even with making the cheese from scratch, it came together pretty quickly and easily. And I think you could easily substitute the vegetables depending on what you have on hand or what's in season. The carrots and spinach were great, but I think zucchini, snow peas, corn, or maybe even shaved asparagus would all work well. Sautéed kale would be nice too. Or even beets if you don't mind the extra overhead of cooking them first.

Farro Grain Bowls

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2018

Ingredients

• 6 c. water
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 2 c. farro
• 6 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 4-5 carrots, shaved into ribbons
• 4 c. baby spinach
• 450g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 batch fresh goat cheese

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add 1/2 Tbsp. salt and farro, return to boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine 1/4 c. oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
4. When farro is done, drain and mix with vinaigrette.
5. Add carrot ribbons and spinach and toss to combine. Set aside.
6. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil over medium-high heat.
7. Add mushrooms and 1/8 tsp. salt. (Add a little more pepper too if desired.)
8. Cook, covered, until mushrooms release their liquid.
9. Uncover and continue to cook until liquid has evaporated.
10. Stir 1/8 tsp. salt into the cheese.
11. Add cheese and mushrooms to farro mixture and enjoy!
12. For prettier presentation, divide farro mixture into individual serving bowls and top each with mushrooms and cheese.

The Kidlet saw some cartoon characters eating tamales on TV the other day and asked if we could make tamales sometime. I said "sure" but didn't really have high hopes for her actually liking them. Turns out I was wrong. She loved them! She ate FOUR tamales for dinner tonight. Four! That makes this by far the most successful dinner we've had in recent memory. She's already asking if we can make them again sometime. I think I may end up putting my other cooking plans on hold for a bit and just spend tomorrow making several batches of tamales to go in the freezer. (Stay tuned for more recipes!)

For this batch I decided to wing it on a bean and cheese filling. The Kidlet has been pro-beans and tomatoes lately, so I figured that would be a good jumping off point. Plus I already had those things on hand. I tried to keep the flavours fairly mild since she's still not really down with "spicy" or "strong flavours". Feel free to add more chilies and seasonings if you're cooking for more adventurous palates.

One unwrapped tamale and one still in its banana leaf wrapping.

Cheese and Bean Tamales

Adapted from Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 Tbsp. corn oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder
• 1/16 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 c. cooked black beans
• ~600mL diced tomatoes
• 1 chipotle in adobo, minced
• 1/2 c. mushroom or vegetable stock
• 1 c. corn kernels (fresh, frozen, or canned)
• 1 c. mozzarella grated cheese
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Dough

• 2 c. masa harina
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 c. corn oil
• 2 1/2 c. vegetable broth

Assembly and Serving

• corn husks or banana leaves
• Cheddar cheese (optional)
• salsa
• sour cream

Directions

Filling

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook until softened.
3. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add coriander, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, and sugar and cook for another minute.
5. Add black beans, tomatoes, chipotle, stock, and corn and cook until slightly thickened.
6. Stir in cheese and mix well.
7. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and cilantro. Set aside.

Dough

1. Combine masa harina, sumin, and baking powder and mix well.
2. Use a hand or stand mixer to beat in oil.
3. Gradually beat in broth.
4. Increase speed to high and beat for 5-10 minutes.

Assembly

1. If using corn husks, you'll need to soak them for at least half an hour first. My banana leaves just needed to be thawed out and trimmed to appropriate sizes and they were good to go.
2. Spread a thin, even layer of dough over ~1/2 the leaf/husk.
3. Place a couple Tbsp. of filling in a line down the middle of the dough¹. Add a little Cheddar cheese on top if you like.
4. Fold both sides of the leaf/husk in toward the centre, then fold the bottom up.
5. Tie with a string or narrow strip of husk/leaf.
6. Place open end up in steamer.
7. Repeat with remaining dough. (You will have a bunch of filling left over.)
8. If steaming on the stove-top: Cover and steam for 30-50 minutes. If steaming in an InstantPot/multicooker: set to high pressure for 20 minutes².
9. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

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Variations

Alternate Masa Recipe

Slightly adapted from Tastes Better From Scratch

Ingredients

• 2/3 c. vegetable shortening or coconut oil
• 375-450mL vegetable broth
• 2 c. masa harina
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground

Directions

1. Beat shortening with 2 Tbsp. broth until light and fluffy.
2. Combine masa harina, baking powder, and cumin and stir into shortening.
3. Gradually add broth and beat on high for several minutes.
4. Add more broth as needed to get desired consistency³.

This dough seemed to cook up about the same as the previous batch. It was much easier to work with though. It seemed to spread more smoothly and it was easier to get a relatively thin, even layer put down. That said, I'm not sure how much of that is down to the recipe and how much is down to the fact that I was using a different brand of masa harina.

Sweet Potato, Spinach, and Black Bean Filling

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. corn oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 c. cooked black beans
• ~600mL diced tomatoes
• 2-3 chipotles in adobo, minced
• 1/2 c. mushroom or vegetable stock
• 1 c. corn kernels (fresh, frozen, or canned)
• 1 large sweet potato, cubed
• 250g baby spinach
• 1 c. mozzarella grated cheese
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Cook the sweet potato. (Boiling or microwave works well.)
2. Make the filling as above, but add sweet potato along with corn.
3. Toss spinach in on top, cover, and cook until wilted. Stir to combine.
4. Continue with recipe as above.

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¹ How much filling you need will depend on how big you make your tamales. I think I used ~2 Tbsp. of filling per tamal on average. ^Back
2 The instructions said 20 minutes "high pressure, natural release", but I forgot and did a quick release and they seemed fine. ^Back
3 The recipe author notes that the masa should have the consistency of peanut butter and be slightly sticky. The instructions also say that a small ball of dough dropped into a glass of water should float. If it sinks it needs more beating and/or broth. Mine didn't quite float, but it also didn't sink all the way to the bottom. It was sort of neutral. It probably could've done with more beating, but I was tired and in a hurry so I called it there. ^Back

I needed to make something to augment our dinner options. I needed to be relatively quick and easy and involve vegetables. It also needed to be something that we had all the ingredients on hand for already. Bonus points if it called for something we'd been having trouble using up. After a few minutes flipping through the vegetarian cookbook it was between latkes and tamale pie. Latkes won out because they were a little simpler and let us use up some carrots and potatoes that'd been hanging around. We also figured there was a good chance the Kidlet would like them. This, sadly, turned out to be wrong, but we tried!

These latkes are a little more involved than my usual approach of stirring eggs into grated potatoes, but they did turn out pretty nice. I'm not sure I'd always bother going to the extra effort, but it's nice to know a few tricks for making really good latkes. TF certainly enjoyed them!

Latkes

Slightly adapted from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 400g potatoes, grated (preferably russet or some other floury variety)
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 1 onion, grated (or chopped fine)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
• oil, for frying

Directions

1. Combine potatoes, carrot, onion, and salt and mix well.
2. Wrap half the potato mixture in a tea towel and wring out as much water as possible, reserving liquid. Repeat with second half of potato mixture. Set liquid aside for 5-10 minutes to let starch settle out.
3. Microwave potato for 1-2 minutes in 30 second intervals. It should be warmed through but not hot. Spread out onto a baking sheet and set aside to cool.
4. Once the potato liquid has separated, carefully pour off the water from the starch.
5. Add eggs to starch, beating and mixing well.
6. Return potato mixture to bowl and pour starch-egg mixture over.
7. Add parsley and pepper and mix well.
8. Pour oil to a depth of 3-4 mm and heat over medium to medium-high heat.
9. Scoop generous 1/4 c. portions of latke mixture into the hot oil and flatten with a spatula to form pancakes.
10. Cook until underside is golden-brown, flip, and continue cooking until second side is done.
11. Repeat until latke mixture is used up.
12. Serve with sour cream and/or applesauce.

Lobster rolls are a divisive topic, primarily because there's two main schools of lobster rolling: cold, with mayo and celery, and hot, with butter. I like both, although I have few chances to eat either. This recipe for the hot ones comes from Cook's Country.

They recommend cooking and disassembling a whole, live lobster, or, failing that, using frozen raw lobster tails. I very much did not want to do the former, and didn't have access to the latter, so I used frozen, pre-cooked lobster bits. Interestingly, this doesn't seem to be one of the formats CC tested -- they tried whole lobster, frozen tails, tinned cooked lobster, and fresh pre-shelled lobster bits. The results were definitely not as good as fresh lobster, but a great deal faster and easier.

Similarly, they call for New England-style "split-top" buns, which are not readily available here. Normal hot dog buns do fine, though, as do small kaiser rolls or pretty much any other slightly crusty bun; you'll lose out on some of the crispness of the outside, though.

The recipe as recorded here is the recipe as I made it, but with quantities appropriate for four people, in keeping with the original; when I made it I was cooking for myself and halved everything. Compared to the original, apart from the change of lobster format, I also increased the proportion of chives and shallots slightly.

I suspect, but have not yet tested, that adding a few minced garlic cloves and sauteeing those and the shallots in the butter for a bit before adding the lobster would make things even better.

Hot Buttered Lobster Rolls

Cook's Country

Ingredients

• ~900g frozen cooked lobster meat, thawed
• 30mL softened unsalted butter
• 90mL unsalted butter, cubed
• 4 split-top hot dog buns (or alternative bunbreads)
• 2 shallots, minced
• 30mL minced fresh chives

Directions

1. Use softened butter to butter the outsides of the buns. Toast in a skillet over medium heat. Remove to a plate and set aside.
2. Melt the remaining butter in the skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Add the lobster, shallot, and 1mL salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lobster is heated through and the shallot softens, ~2 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and stir in chives.
5. Divide filling between buns; drizzle additional butter from the skillet over filling, if desired.

I've had my eye on this one for a while. TF loves both dark chocolate and orange and especially so when they're combined. As long as you plan ahead a little to account for the chilling time, this makes for a very quick and easy dessert to throw together. And if you're concerned about eating raw eggs you could always look for pasteurized ones.

Chocolate-Orange Mousse

From Cook's Country February/March 2019

Ingredients

• 225g semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. grated orange zest
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 3 Tbsp. orange juice

Directions

1. Gently melt the chocolate and set aside to cool¹.
2. Combine eggs, yolks, sugar, and orange zest in a blender and process until light and frothy (~1 minute).
3. Add cream, orange juice, and chocolate and process until slightly thickened (~1 minute).
4. Pour ~1/2 c. each into six ramekins, cover, and chill until set (~3 hours).
5. Uncover and let sit at room temperature for ~10 minutes before serving.

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¹ The original suggests melting the chocolate in the microwave -- 1-2 minutes at 50% power. Something went wrong with my microwave settings though and the chocolate ended up slightly burnt. I think next time I'd just do it on the stove. ^Back

The Kidlet is suddenly back on broccoli. I'm surprised, but I'm not about to question it. My typical approach to broccoli is either to steam it, make soup, or use it as an ingredient in a casserole. I remembered seeing a recipe for skillet-cooked broccoli in an issue of Cook's Country a few months back though, so I figured I'd give that a whirl. It comes together very quickly and easily and doesn't take much in the way of ingredients. Nice for a quick, last-minute side-dish or snack.

Skillet-Charred Broccoli

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2019

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 250g broccoli florets
• 1/4 tsp. sweet paprika¹
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• scant 1/4 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 10-20 grinds black pepper

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add broccoli, paprika, salt, coriander, and pepper.
3. Cook for ~15 minutes, stirring every 4 or 5 minutes.

The original recipe has to continue to cook the broccoli for another 6 minutes beyond this (stirring every 2-3), but I liked the look of it after the first 15 minutes of cooking, so I just took it off the heat then. They also suggest sprinkling with chopped fresh basil and serving with lemon wedges, but I liked it the way it was.

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Variations

Skillet-Charred Broccoli with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2019

Ingredients

Broccoli

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 250g broccoli florets
• 1/4 tsp. cumin, ground
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• scant 1/4 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 10-20 grinds black pepper
• 2 tsp. sesame seeds

Sauce

• 4 tsp. plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tsp. tahini
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. roasted garlic paste
• 5-10 grinds black pepper
• 1/16 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Combine the broccoli, cumin, salt, coriander, and pepper and cook as for previous recipe.
2. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
3. In a separate bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and mix well.
4. Drizzle sauce over or serve on the side as a dip.

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¹ The original recipe calls for smoked paprika. I only had sweet and hot on hand, so I just went with sweet. I think the smoked would've been nice too though. ^Back

I love cornbread. I've been meaning to try this recipe out for a while. When sweet potatoes showed up in our produce basket this week, I figured this was a good opportunity.

I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I especially appreciate that it doesn't go too heavy on the flour. And it's not too sweet either. I think adding a bit of Cheddar and a few green onions would make it really exceptional.

Sweet Potato Cornbread

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country August/September 2015

Ingredients

• 700g sweet potatoes
• 1/2 c. + 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 c. milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. cornmeal
• 60g flour
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Prick sweet potatoes with fork and microwave on high for 10-15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.
2. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise.
3. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
4. Peel skin from potatoes.
5. Add 1/2 c. butter and mash into hot sweet potato.
6. Stir in milk.
7. Lightly beat eggs and mix them in as well.
8. In a separate bowl combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
9. Add sweet potato mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine.
10. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in 10" oven-safe pan over medium heat.
11. Swirl butter to coat bottom and sides of pan.
12. Pour batter into hot pan and smooth top.
13. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 25 minutes.

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Variations

Healthier Sweet Potato Cornbread

Ingredients

• 700g sweet potatoes
• 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 c. milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. cornmeal
• 60g whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3-4 green onions, chopped (optional)

Vegan Sweet Potato Cornbread

Ingredients

• 700g sweet potatoes
• 1/2 c. + 1 Tbsp. coconut oil, divided
• 1/2 c. lite coconut milk
• 4 flax eggs
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 c. cornmeal
• 60g flour
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

After my semi-failed attempt to make rye bread last week, I wanted something wheat-based and relatively simple this time. I debated going for a basic whole wheat or French bread since I've had really good results with them in the past. But I like variety and wanted to try something different. This oatmeal bread looked approachable and tasty, so I figured I might as well give it a whirl.

It made a nice bread overall. Good colour and crumb with a bit of spring in the oven. I didn't get quite as much gluten development as I would've liked and the dough wasn't quite as stretchy and elastic and I'd hoped. But maybe that's just a consequence of adding other grains into the mix. Whatever the case, it does seem to have baked up nicely and the Kidlet approves, so I'll take it!

Oatmeal Bread

Slightly adapted from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 105g oats¹
• 2 c. water
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 750g whole wheat bread flour
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• extra water, for kneading
• extra rolled oats, for coating (optional)

Directions

1. Combine oats and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low and simmer until thickened.
2. Stir in salt and honey and set aside to cool.
3. Sprinkle yeast into warm water and set aside for ~10 minutes.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add cooled oatmeal and yeast mixture.
5. Working from the centre outward, gradually incorporate the flour into the liquids.
6. Turn dough out onto work surface and begin kneading. It will be very stiff at first. Don't add more water yet.
7. After 10-15 minutes of kneading, smear 2 Tbsp. of butter in the work surface and knead it in.
8. Once first measure of butter has been fully incorporated, add the remaining 2 Tbsp. in the same way.
9. One all of the butter has been worked into the dough, evaluate to see if it needs more water.
10. Work in additional water by wetting hands every few strokes as needed.
11. Knead dough for 20-40 minutes total. (Timing will depend on how efficient your kneading is.)
12. Shape into a ball and set in a covered bowl to rise for 60-90 minutes. Rise is done when 1cm (~0.5") deep fingerprint doesn't fill in at all.
13. Knock back, shape into a ball again, and return to covered bowl to rise again. This rise should take 45-60 minutes.
14. Knock back again, divide into two equal portions, and shape each portion into a ball, stretching the gluten taut across the top of each ball. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.
15. Shape into loaves by pressing each ball flat, folding into thirds, and rolling up like a jelly roll.
16. If desired, roll each loaf in rolled oats to coat the outside.
17. Place shaped loaves into greased loaf pans, cover, and set aside to rise for 30-45 minutes.
18. If they rise very well, slash the tops.
19. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45 minutes.

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¹ The authors recommend either old-fashioned rolled oats or steel-cut oats for this recipe. I had ~120g of quick oats left in the cupboard, so I just tossed them in. Rolled oats will make for a lighter bread with a milder flavour. Steel-cut oats will make for a slightly denser, heartier bread with a stronger flavour. ^Back

symbol and I both found this delicious and went back for seconds, while the Kidlet carefully ate around all the tomatoes and spinach. Oh well.

The recipe here is modified slightly from both the recipe as written and the recipe as cooked:

• When cooking it, I omitted the lemon juice called for in the original; the lemon zest adds enough citrus flavour.
• It was cooked with both cherry and grape tomatoes; I've written it for cherry tomatoes alone, since I generally prefer those, but using a mix or even substituting in grape tomatoes will be fine if you can't reliably source cherry tomatoes.
• The Hello Fresh "parmesan cheese" that came with this recipe didn't really behave like parmesan; it both tasted and behaved more like mozzarella. I've written parmesan into the recipe, but I think using mozza and then topping it with parmesan at serving would also be fine.
• We made it with cheese tortellini, but I think other tortellinis would also work fine.

Tortellini with Cherry Tomatoes and Pine Nuts

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 500g tortellini
• 56g pine nuts
• 2 shallots, minced
• 5 large garlic cloves, minced
• 500g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 125mL basil pesto
• 125mL freshly grated parmesan cheese
• zest from 2 lemons
• 113g baby spinach
• 60mL unsalted butter
• 14g fresh basil, shredded

Directions

1. Bring 2.5L water to a boil. Add 10mL coarse salt and the tortellini and cook until tender, 2-3 minutes; reserve 250mL of cooking water, drain the tortellini, and set aside.
2. Heat a large, deep pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and toast, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Add 30mL oil and the shallots to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4-5 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook for another 4-5 minutes, until the tomatoes start to soften.
5. Add basil pesto and reserved pasta water. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, 5-10 minutes depending on desired thickness (note that it will thicken slightly further in the next steps).
6. Reduce heat to low. Season with pepper and stir in tortellini, lemon zest, parmesan, and butter.
7. Add spinach and stir and/or cover as needed until spinach wilts.
8. Remove from heat and add basil and pine nuts.

I've always enjoyed a good lemon meringue pie, but I didn't come across the concept of the lemon tart or tarte au citron until relatively recently. You don't really see them much over here. Small, single-serving lemon tarts show up frequently enough, but not full-sized pies. I had some extra lemons left over after making a batch of chicken piccata, so giving this lemon tart a whirl seemed like a good way to use them up.

Tarte au Citron

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 300g sweet shortcrust pastry¹
• 4 large eggs
• 170g sugar
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest (1.5-2 lemons)
• 1/3 c. lemon juice (~2 lemons)
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar, to garnish

Directions

1. Roll out pastry and press into a 23cm (9") shallow tart tin.
2. Set oven to 190°C (375°F) and place pastry-lined tin in fridge to chill while oven preheats.
3. Cover pastry with crumpled parchment/baking paper and fill with pie weights, dry beans, or sugar.
4. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15 minutes.
5. Remove paper and pie weights and bake for another 5 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
7. Place a baking sheet in the now empty oven.
8. Whisk the eggs with the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice until well-combined and homogeneous.
9. Whisk in cream.
10. Open the oven and pull the middle rack out slightly. Place baked pie shell (still in its tin) onto the hot baking sheet. Pour the lemon mixture into the pie shell. (It will be very full.)²
11. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 5 minutes.
12. Reduce heat to 150°C (300°F) and bake for another 20-25 minutes.
13. Remove from oven when filling is set but still has a wobble to it.
14. Dust with icing sugar.
15. Serve warm or cold.

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¹ The recipe calls for sweet shortcrust. I had some ready-made pastry in the freezer so I just used that. I'm sure the sweet shortcrust would've been lovely, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out with the "regular" pastry. (We don't really do sweet shortcrust in Canada. Most of our pies are sweet, rather than savoury, but they all use "regular"/savoury shortcrust without any added sugar. ^Back
2 Placing the pie shell in the oven first and then filling it tends to be easier and less messy than filling the shell first and then attempting to transfer a very full shell to the oven. ^Back

It's October and that means pumpkins are in season! I don't tend to go in for "pumpkin spice" everything like you tend to see marketed this time of year, but I do really enjoy pie pumpkins. Aside from pumpkin pie and pumpkin cake being great, pumpkin soup is also fantastic. I made a chunky tomato-pumpkin soup a couple years ago, but failed to write down the recipe. I took a slightly different approach for this version, but I'm pretty happy with the results. I think the only change I'd make next time is swapping out the tamarind concentrate for amchoor (unripe mango powder).

This is a fairly flexible and forgiving recipe. It can be made with regular or low-fat coconut milk (or even cow's milk/cream if you prefer). You can use diced or crushed tomatoes and skip the purée step for a more chunky soup. You could swap out the red kidney beans for cannellini beans or chickpeas. For a completely smooth soup, red lentils would work well. If using lentils, I'd add a cup or so along with the broth and probably use an extra cup of broth. Simmer until tender and then purée for a thick, smooth, delicious soup.

Tomato-Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pie pumpkin
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (800mL) can tomatoes¹
• 1 (400mL) can lite coconut milk
• 2 c. vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar or coconut sugar
• 1 tsp. Madras Curry Powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• ~30 grinds black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. red chile flakes
• 1/2 tsp. tamarind concentrate or amchoor
• 2 c. cooked kidney beans
• 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. Cut pumpkin in half and scrape out seeds and "guts". (Save seeds for roasting if you wish.)
2. Brush inside of pumpkin and cut edges with olive oil.
3. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 50-60 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
5. While pumpkin is cooling, melt coconut oil over medium heat.
6. Add onion and cool until edges begin to brown.
7. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two.
8. Add tomatoes, coconut milk, vegetable broth, sugar, salt, pepper, chile flakes, and tamarind concentrate/amchoor.
9. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes or so.
10. Remove from heat and purée².
11. Return to medium heat and add kidney beans. Cook until beans are heated through.
12. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ Diced, whole, or crushed would be fine here. ^Back
2 I used a stick/immersion blender to purée the soup right in the pot. Soup can also be puréed in batches in a regular blender jar. ^Back

I had a sheet of puff pastry in the freezer and decided that this would be a good way to use it up. The original recipe included instructions for making your own pastry, but I figured that the puff pastry would make a reasonable substitute and I wanted to use it up, so I just went with that. The pastry ended up being very full, but I enjoyed that once it was cooked (even if it did make assembly a little difficult).

Tomato Galette

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country August/September 2019

Ingredients

• 600-700g mixed tomatoes, sliced
• 1 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1 shallot, sliced thin
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 (400g) sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 4 tsp. Roman Mustard or Dijon mustard
• 3/4 c. grated Cheddar
• 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Toss tomatoes with 1 tsp. salt and transfer to a colander to drain for at least half an hour.
2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 190°C (375°F).
3. Give tomatoes a shake to remove any excess juice.
4. Transfer tomatoes to large bowl and combine with shallot, oil, thyme, garlic, pepper, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
5. Unroll pastry onto baking sheet (leave the parchment paper under it.
6. Spread mustard onto pastry, leaving a 4cm (~1.5") border.
7. Sprinkle Cheddar on top, covering the mustard.
8. Place tomato mixture over cheese.
9. Sprinkle Parmesan on top of tomatoes.
10. Fold pastry border up over the edges of the tomatoes.
11. Brush exposed pastry with egg.
12. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 45-50 minutes.
13. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before sliding onto wire rack.
14. Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes.
15. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

There was a recipe for Pumpkin Snack Cake in the most recent issue of Cook's Country. I wanted to try it out using a fresh pie pumpkin rather than canned purée. This, of course, meant pumpkin seeds. The Kidlet voted for pizza flavour this time, so we gave that one a try. I think it would've been nice with a bit of tomato powder as the author suggested, but they still came out nice even without it. The Parmesan did have a tendency to clump together though. I think maybe the recipe was written for what TF and I call "Parmesan sand" and not fresh grated Parmesan. It still came out tasty despite the clumping issue though, so I don't think it was a problem in the end.

Pizza Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Slightly adapted from Wholefully

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 (generous) Tbsp. grated Parmesan
• 1/2 tsp. lightly dried basil¹
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. tomato powder (optional)
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder

Directions

1. Toss pumpkin seeds with olive oil.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix to coat.
3. Spread coated seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet. (Line the baking sheet with parchment paper for easier clean-up.)
4. Bake at 150°C (300°F) for 30 minutes, checking seeds about halfway through baking to see if they need to be flipped or turned.

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Variations

Vegan

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp. lightly dried basil¹
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. tomato powder (optional)
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder

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¹ I don't generally recommend or keep fully dried basil on hand as it loses most of its flavour and pretty rapidly approaches the taste of hay instead. Dried would probably be fine here (as long as it hasn't been sitting around for too long), but I didn't want to go out and buy dried basil just for this. I had some "lightly dried" basil in the fridge, which tends to retain a lot more of the fresh basil flavour than its fully dried counterpart, and opted to use that instead. ^Back

This recipe cake out of Cook's Country. It's very easy to throw together and makes an amazingly tender, wonderfully moist cake. I made it more-or-less recipe as written this time around¹. And I'm definitely very happy with it. That said, I'm still gonna tweak it next time around!

The original recipe calls for white flour and granulated sugar. It also uses quite a bit of oil. My test with whole wheat flour today showed me that I can swap that in with no problems. I think next time I might try reducing the oil and adding a bit of applesauce. I'll also definitely be swapping the granulated sugar out for brown sugar and omitting the salt. And I think it might be worth attempting to scale back the sugar slightly too. Not too much -- the cake is quite tasty as it is -- just a little bit, to make it a little more snack-y and less dessert-y.

So, with all that in mind, here's what I'd do next time:

Pumpkin Snack Cake

Adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2019

Ingredients

• 1 pie pumpkin (or 1 c. canned pumpkin purée)
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. mixed spice
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. mini semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out all the seeds. (Save the seeds for roasting if you wish.)
2. Brush the insides of the pumpkin with olive oil and place cut side down on a baking sheet.
3. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45-60 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and set aside.
5. Combine flour, mixed spice, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
6. Sift in baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
7. Peel the pumpkin and place it in a separate bowl. Mash with a fork or a potato masher.
8. Add sugar, applesauce, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla to pumpkin and whisk until well-mixed and homogeneous.
9. Pour pumpkin mixture into flour mixture and stir until just combined.
10. Stir in chocolate chips (if using).
11. Pour batter into a greased and floured 20cm (8") square pan.
12. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-35 minutes.
13. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack.

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¹ I swapped out the white flour for whole wheat, omitted the chocolate chips, and used mixed spice in place of pumpkin pie spice. I also used a fresh, roasted pie pumpkin rather than tinned pumpkin purée. ^Back

For a condiment with almost nothing to it, these are incredibly tasty. I guess that's the power of deep frying? They're tasty to much just on their own and even better mixed into a bowl of steaming congee.

Fried Noodles

From Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Ingredients

• 1 (227g) package wonton wrappers, cut into 1cm (~0.5") wide strips
• peanut or corn oil, for frying

Directions

1. Heat wok or small pot over medium-high heat for 40 seconds or so.
2. Pour in oil to a depth of 2-3cm (~1").
3. When oil is hot, add a handful of noodles and stir them around.
4. Fry, stirring occasionally for 60-90 seconds.
5. Remove from oil with a spider/Chinese strainer and drain on paper towels.
6. Continue frying in batches until all noodles are cooked.

Jook/Congee

I've been in a big breakfast rut lately. The problem is that I like lots of variety but also minimum effort. I'm not a morning person and I'm way too groggy first thing in the morning to actually do much in the way of cooking. This presents something of a problem.

Lately, I've been craving congee -- or jook, depending on where you're from -- for breakfast. I like the idea of something warm and savoury and comforting that isn't eggs. (Nothing against eggs, I just don't normally feel like actually cooking them for breakfast.) I flipped through a few different recipes before settling on what I was going to do for this batch.

My first stop was Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking where I took a look at her recipe for bak jook or "white congee" and suggested accompaniments. This is a simple porridge of short-grain and glutinous white rice and water. All the seasonings and condiments are added at the table. She suggests salted (duck) eggs, fried peanuts, and fried noodles.

Next, I took a look at a short YouTube video featuring a jook with "lots of vegetables". It suggested including green onions, garlic, ginger, jalapeños, chicken, cabbage, snow peas, green beans, soy sauce, and sesame oil in your jook. They also made their version with brown, rather than white rice and topped it with cilantro.

And last, but not least, I had a gander at Budget Byte$ InstantPot jook recipe. They included garlic, ginger, chicken, shiitake mushrooms, and salt in their jook, which used jasmine rice as its base. And for toppings, they went with green onions, cilantro, chopped peanuts, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

Those three recipes gave me a pretty good base to work from to create my own custom congee tailored to my tastes. I ended up using short-grain brown rice as the base and using a mix of vegetable broth and water for the liquid component. I followed the suggestion of including some aromatics and mushrooms and added some green vegetables (based on what was on sale at the grocery store) right at the end of cooking. Condiment-wise, I went with fried onions, sesame seeds, fried noodles, light soy sauce, and Laoganma (spicy chili crisp). There would've been fried peanuts as well if I hadn't burned them. And hard-boiled eggs if I hadn't forgotten them.

InstantPot Jook

Adapted from Budget Byte$ (and a couple others)

Ingredients

• 1 c. short-grain brown rice
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2.5cm (1") knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
• 200-250g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 6-8 pieces dried black fungus, crumbled
• 2 c. vegetable broth
• 5 c. water
• 50g pea shoots (or other vegetable of choice)
• 170-200g snow peas (or other vegetable of choice), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2-3 scallions, sliced

Condiments¹ (Optional)

• Laoganma (spicy chili crisp)
• sesame seeds (preferably toasted)
• chopped peanuts
• light soy sauce
• fried onions
• fried noodles
• boiled eggs (hard or soft)
• salted eggs²
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Measure rice into InstantPot.
2. Place garlic and ginger on top, along with fresh and dried mushrooms.
3. Add vegetable broth and water.
4. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
5. Leave on "keep warm" until ready to serve³.
6. About 5-10 minutes before serving, stir in the pea shoots, snow peas, and scallions.
7. Serve with whatever condiments you prefer.

This is an incredibly flexible recipe. Feel free to vary, increase, or reduce the inclusions based on what you find appealing or what's available and/or on sale.
Other inclusions that I think might go well:

• cabbage, shredded
• Brussels sprouts, quartered
• bok choy (especially Shanghai bok choy)
• gai lan
• broccolini
• carrots, grated
• sugar snap peas (mangetouts)
• tofu
• shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dried)
• dried black mushrooms⁴

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¹ I didn't end up using all of these condiments. This is just a list of suggestions and ideas. Feel free to mix-and-match as you see fit. ^Back
2 You can buy salted duck eggs but Eileen Yin-Fei Lo advises against this. She recommends making your own at home. I haven't tried this yet. I'll do a write-up if when I do. In the meantime, I'm happy with adding plain (unsalted) hard-boiled eggs to my congee. ^Back
3 You can cook your congee the night before and just leave it on "keep warm" overnight. ^Back
4 Not to be confused with "black fungus". Black mushrooms look like pretty typical mushrooms and rehydrate to a chewy texture. Black fungus, meanwhile, is a shelf fungus, if I remember correctly. Its form factor is more of a thin, crinkly sheet, black on top and white/cream on the underside. It rehyrates into slippery sheets that are normally julienned to make thin, jelly-tough, wobbly matchsticks. If I forget to rehydrate my black fungus ahead of time, I just crumble it and mix it into the liquid component of whatever I'm cooking. ^Back

This beef stew recipe from Cook's Country was a bit of disappointment, honestly. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't up to the standard we've come to expect from that publication, either; symbol and I agree that if we have a bunch of stewing beef to use up, we'd much rather use it on a beef curry, or on my family stew recipe, than on this.

On the plus side, it's a big hit with the kid, although that seems to be more for the buttered noodles we serve it with than for the stew itself. (The recipe suggests serving it over buttered egg noodles; we used a mix of white rotelle and brown macaroni).

Carbonnade

Cook's Country DEC/JAN 2019

Ingredients

• 2kg stewing beef
• salt and pepper
• 2 large onions, sliced thin
• 30mL corn oil
• 15mL packed brown sugar
• 60mL tomato paste
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 5mL dried thyme
• 45mL all-purpose flour
• 470mL Belgian-style beer or lager
• 250mL chicken or vegetable broth
• 60mL chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Season beef with salt and pepper and place in slow cooker.
2. Combine onions, oil, sugar, 2.5mL salt, 1mL freshly ground pepper, and 250mL water in deep skillet. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook, covered, until water is nearly evaporated, ~10 minutes.
3. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring often, until onions are soft and dark brown, another ~10 minutes,
4. Add tomato paste, garlic, and thyme and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
5. Stir in flour and cook for another minute.
6. Add beer and broth and simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened, ~2 minutes after simmering.
7. Add onion/beer mix to slow cooker and stir to combine with beef. Cook until beef is tender, 8-10 hours on low.
8. Stir in parsley; season with salt and pepper to taste.

(Anglo-Indian) Chickpea Curry

This recipe comes from one of the Cook's Country 30-minute recipe cards. And it is indeed a quick and easy recipe to throw together. That said, I found it somewhat lacking in flavour. I think it really needs more chiles and maybe a little garam masala and some lime juice stirred in at the end. I've reflected these changes in the recipe below.

Chickpea Curry

Adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2019

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 onion, chopped¹
• 1 (300g) package frozen spinach
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1-2 fresh Thai chiles, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. Madras Curry Powder
• 1 tsp. Bin Bhuna Hua Garam Masala (optional)
• 4 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1 (400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (400mL) can lite coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion, spinach, salt, and pepper and cook for ~7 minutes.
3. Add chile(s), garlic, ginger, curry powder, and garam masala (if using) and cook for another minute or so.
4. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and coconut milk and bring to a boil.
5. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for ~20 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and lime juice.
7. Serve over rice with Indian mixed pickles.

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¹ The original recipe called for two green bell peppers here. We didn't have any bell peppers on hand, so I opted to toss in an onion and some frozen spinach instead. ^Back