Palak Papad ki Subzi (Spinach with Lentil Wafers)

This curry was alright, but it was probably the weakest of the selection we made for dinner the other night. I love papads, but I'm not crazy about the soft texture of the slightly stewed ones in this dish. They're not awful. I just don't like them as well as their flame-toasted, crispy counterparts. (Not that I have the ability to flame-toast them anymore since moving -- *sad* -- but that's neither here nor there.)

The spinach itself is tasty enough. Maybe a bit underseasoned for my taste, but that's probably at least partially because I cut back on the chilies to accommodate the Kidlet's palate. I think it'd be significantly better with the full measure of ground and fresh chilies.

Palak papad ki subzi (right), pictured with moghalai aloo aur simla mirch (bottom), moth nu dal (left), and muttai kari (top) with some rice in the middle.

Palak Papad ki Subzi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. ground Deggi chilies (or hot paprika)
• 10 fresh (or frozen) curry leaves
• 1-2 fresh green Thai chilies, halved lengthwise
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 225g chopped spinach (or kale)
• 3 (6" diameter) uncooked papads (lentil wafers/papadums), broken into pieces

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
3. Remove from heat and stir in cumin, coriander, ground chilies, curry leaves, and fresh chilies.
4. Add water and salt, return to heat, and bring to a boil.
5. Add spinach a few handfuls at a time, stirring, and allowing greens to wilt slightly.
6. Add papadum pieces, lower heat to medium, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until papadum pieces are soft (~5 minutes).
7. Serve with rice and plain yogurt.

Moth nu Dal (Moth Bean Dal)

Moth beans don't tend to be one of my go-to legumes, but I was looking for an easy dal recipe and I had some moth beans easily to hand... I still think I like some of the other legumes better, but this dal did come out pleasingly warm and creamy. It made a nice complement to the other curries we had for dinner last night.

Moth nu dal (left), with muttai kari (top), palak papad ki subzi (right), and moghalai aloo aur simla mirch (bottom) with some rice in the middle.

Moth nu Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. moth beans (uncooked)
• 3 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 onion, halved and sliced thin
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 15 fresh (or frozen) curry leaves
• 2-4 fresh green Thai chilies, cut into 1cm lengths
• juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. Rinse beans well and place in pressure cooker with water.
2. Bring up to pressure and cook for 10 minutes, allow for a 15-minute natural release before opening the cooker. (10 minutes on high pressure with 15-minute natural release in InstantPot.)
3. Meanwhile, heat ghee over medium-high heat.
4. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they stop popping (30-60 seconds).
5. Add onion and cook until lightly browned (~3 minutes).
6. Remove from heat and stir in turmeric.
7. Add cilantro, salt, curry leaves, and chilies and set aside.
8. Once beans are cooked, stir the onion mixture into the beans.
9. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes to allow flavours to meld. Add a little more water if you'd like a thinner consistency.
10. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice.

Muttai Kari (Garlic-y Egg Curry)

TF and I occasionally make a Burmese egg curry. It's very nice, but can be a bit fiddly to make. This one isn't as striking as the Burmese curry with it's turmeric-yellow eggs, but it is much quicker and easier to throw together. And the dark, garlic-y, tamarind-laden sauce is delicious!

Muttai kari (left), pictured with palak papad ki subzi (bottom), and moghalai aloo aur simla mirch (right), with some rice at top.

Muttai Kari

Slightly adapted form 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro
• 10 fresh (or frozen) curry leaves
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1-2 fresh green Thai chilies, stems removed
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 2 shallots or 1/2 red onion, sliced thin
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 4 extra-large or jumbo eggs (or 5 medium or large eggs), hard-boiled, peeled, and halved lengthwise
• 2 tsp. rice flour or cornstarch (cornflour)

Directions

1. Combine cilantro, curry leaves, garlic, and chilies and mash with a mortar and pestle until a paste is formed¹.
2. Whist salt and tamarind concentrate into water and set aside.
3. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
5. Add the paste along with the shallots and cook for ~2 minutes.
6. Stir in turmeric.
7. Quickly add tamarind water and bring to a boil.
8. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring, until thickened.
9. Carefully place egg halves in the sauce and cook until warmed through (~5 minutes).

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¹ I wasn't confident in my ability to fit that much stuff in my mortar, so I just minced everything very fine and called it a day. ^Back

I wanted to make some Christmas cookies for our old neighbours and the starter was looking a little hungry, so I figured it was time to give this recipe a go. Initially I was a bit disappointed at how cakey they came out. But after I'd tried a few I decided I quite liked the texture! And the flavour was quite nice. The orange just comes through, the spices are nice, and the cranberries are wonderful little nuggets with a bit of sweetness and chew. I left the walnuts out of this batch because I was giving them as gifts and wasn't sure about nut alergies. I think walnuts or pecans would definitely be a nice addition though!

Cranberry-Orange Sourdough Cookies

Slightly adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 250g fresh (fed/active) sourdough starter (100% hydration)
• 1 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 300g (~2 c.) whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 c. rolled oats
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/4 c. honey
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. dried cranberries
• 1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions

1. Mix starter with butter. (Make sure the butter isn't too hot!)
2. Add flour and oats ~1 c. at a time, cover and set aside for 2-8 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
4. In a separate bowl, mix together brown sugar, salt, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, orange zest, honey, eggs, and vanilla.
5. Add egg mixture to sourdough mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.
6. Stir in cranberries and nuts.
7. Spoon mixture onto parchemnt lined baking sheet.
8. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 10-12 minutes.

Moghalai Aloo aur Simla Mirch (Imperial Potatoes with Bell Peppers)

This was a last minute addition to last night's dinner. I'd already made an egg curry for protein and a spinach curry for the vegetable component. We were just going to have rice as the starch/substrate and call it a day. But looking at the spread, I felt like it wasn't going to be substantial enough. I think some sort of legume curry probably would've been ideal. But I already had a short list of potato curries easily to hand so I went with that instead. And I gotta say, this was really tasty!

Balti masala is one of my favourite spice mixes. Including that along with cashews, raisins, and a bunch of whole, oil-roasted spices is an almost certain recipe for success! And the inclusion of two different colours of bell peppers makes it look very vibrant and fun.

Moghalai aloo aur simla mirch (right), pictured with palak papad ki subzi (bottom), and muttai kari (left), with a bit of rice at the top.

Moghalai Aloo aur Simla Mirch

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 2 (3") cinnamon sticks
• 2 bay leaves (Indian or bay laurel)
• 1 small red onion, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1/4 c. raw cashews
• 1/4 c. golden raisins or sultanas
• 450g russet or (other floury) potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 bell peppers, any colour, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 c. water
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. (or a bit more) Balti Masala
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne powder

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, and bay leaves and cook for 15-30 seconds.
3. Add the onion, cashews, and raisins and cook until onion begins to brown (~3 minutes).
4. Add the potatoes, bell peppers, water, salt, and turmeric and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender (12-15 minutes).
6. Stir in cilantro, balti masala, and cayenne and serve.

This Hello Fresh recipe box was a Christmas special, and well worth it, I think. Every part of it was delicious; even the broccolini, which I don't normally go for (too bitter), had a nice sweetness to it. (Based on the packaging, it's a different cultivar.)

It has a lot of moving parts, but no one part is particularly difficult, it's just tricky to get them to all finish at the same time (I didn't manage it).

Crispy Cherry Duck with Broccolini & Chive Potatoes

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 4 skin-on duck breasts
• 1 kg russet potatoes, cubed
  
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
  
• 120mL cherry jam
• 1 bunch chives, finely chopped
  
• 700g sweet broccolini, trimmed and halved
  
• 60mL milk
• 60mL (4 tbsp) butter
  

Directions

1. Score the skin side of the duck in a grid pattern. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Place duck, skin side down, in a large, cold, non-stick pan. Heat over medium heat and and sear until crispy, 10-12 minutes.
3. Flip duck and sear other side for 2-3 minutes.
4. When duck is finished searing, transfer to baking sheet, reserving pan and fat. Roast at 425°F, skin side up, until cooked through, 10-15 minutes.
   
5. While duck is searing, add potatoes, 10mL salt, and enough water to cover to a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, until fork-tender, 10-12 minutes
6. Drain potatoes and mash in butter, milk, chives, and salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
   
7. Return 15mL reserved duck fat to pan. Add 2 tbsp water and half the broccolini, cover, and steam over medium heat until fork-tender, 6-8 minutes.
8. Repeat step 6 with the rest of the broccolini. (If you have a very large pan you may be able to do the whole thing at once, but ours is quite large and it's still not large enough for that.)
9. Add 30mL of duck fat (supplementing with butter if your duck was not fatty enough) to the pan.
10. Once melted, add the shallots and cook, stirring often, until softened, 1-2 minutes.
11. Whisk in the jam and 160mL (⅔C) water. Cook, stirring often, until thickened, 3-5 minutes.
12. Once duck is cooked, slice thinly, drizzle with cherry sauce, and serve with potatoes and broccolini.
    

The Cook's Country recipe this was adapted from was quite different; it used zucchini instead of peas, cod instead of haddock, and cooked the fish by wrapping it in foil and then baking it rather than cooking it in a tagine. But we didn't have cod or zucchini, and cooking it in the tagine was a lot more convenient than trying to individually wrap half a dozen haddock fillets, so we did this instead. And it worked out quite well! It wants some sort of accompaniment dish, but it was quite easy to put together and very tasty.

It would probably take well to additions like asparagus, too.

Haddock & Peas Tagine with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Loosely based on Cod Baked in Foil with Potatoes, Zucchini, and Sundried Tomatoes, Cook's Country, October-November 2019.

Ingredients

• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• ½-1 C frozen peas
• 1-1.5lb skinless haddock fillets
  
• 3 tbsp sundried tomatoes with their oil
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
  

Directions

1. Place onion and peas in the tagine.
2. Top vegetables with haddock.
3. Top fish with tomatoes, oil, and basil.
4. Cover tagine and bake at 450°F until fish is cooked through, ~15 minutes.
   

One of my favourite local restaurants sometimes has a burrata-stuffed Acorn squash on the menu and it is TO DIE FOR! Even the skin is delicious. I don't think my version came out quite as addictively tasty as theirs, but it was still darn good. I think, if I wanted to really perfect it, I'd want to find a way to char the skin and maybe infuse it with saltiness. This was definitely a good starting point though.

Cheese-Stuffed Roasted Acorn Squash

Adapted from Half-Baked Harvest

Ingredients

• 1 acorn squash
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. red chile flakes
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. ricotta
• 50-100g fresh mozzarella, sliced thin
• 3-4 tsp. pomegranate molasses
• 1 tsp. olive oil

Directions

1. Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
2. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
3. Combine butter, honey, brown sugar, chile flakes, salt, and pepper and mix well.
4. Coat squash halves with the butter mixture inside and out.
5. Place cut-side-up on a baking sheet (preferably one that has been lined with a silicone baking mat) and bake at 220°C (425°F) for 40 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and fill squash halves with ricotta.
7. Top with mozzarella and return to oven for 10 more more minutes at 220°C (425°F).
8. Remove from oven, transfer to serving plate and drizzle with pomegranate molasses and olive oil.
9. Serve as is or with some crusty bread.

I came across this recipe while looking for breakfast inspiration. This is a bit like a latke, but with the egg on top instead of mixed in with the potato. Rather than grating the potato for these, I julienne it to give it a bit more texture. The carrot and onion works very well with the potato, but I think you could probably mix and match the veggies to an extent. It's pretty easy to make too. The hardest part is not stirring it while it!

Korean Potato Pancake

From some YouTube video I saw once

Ingredients

• 2 potatoes, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 onion, quartered and sliced thin
• 3-4 Tbsp. flour
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. oil (or bacon grease)
• 4 eggs

Directions

1. Chop your veggies and immerse them in cold water so the potato doesn't discolour.
2. Once all veggies have been chopped and you're ready to proceed, drain them. (Don't worry about getting absolutely all of the water out.)
3. Mix in flour, salt, and pepper.
4. Heat oil over medium heat.
5. Add veggie mixture in a thin layer over the bottom of the pan.
6. Cook until pancake has begun to brown on the bottom.
7. Crack the eggs over the pancake, season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook until egg whites are fully set.
8. Cut into four individual portions/pancakes and serve.

I made this quite a while ago, but never quite got around to writing it up. It's been sitting in my queue for months now. Figured it was finally time to write it up.

I'm really happy with how this came out. It was pleasantly cheesey with little zucchini flecks throughout. And it was nice to have a zucchini bread recipe that wasn't the standard sugary quick bread that I'm used to. (Not that I have anything against the sugary quick bread! For years that was the only way I'd actually eat zucchini. But I enjoyed that this recipe took zucchini bread in a different direction.)

Zucchini-Cheddar Sourdough Bread

Adapted from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Ingredients

• 280g zucchini, grated
• 250-300mL water
• 400g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 150g fresh (active/fed) sourdough starter¹
• 160g old Cheddar, cubed
• 9g coarse sea salt
• 2.5g black peppercorns, ground

Directions

1. Toss the grated zucchini with ~1/3 the salt and set aside for 15-30 minutes.
2. Reserving both the liquids and the solids, wring out grated zucchini removing as much water as you possibly can.
3. Add water to the zucchini liquid to bring it up to 300mL.
4. Add the water to the flour and mix until combined. Cover and set aside for 1-2 hours.
5. Add the starter to the autolysed flour mixture and fold and knead the dough until the starter has been fully incorporated. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
6. Add the grated zucchini, cheese, salt, and pepper and fold and knead the dough until these ingredients have been incorporated as well.
7. Stretch and fold the dough every 30 minutes for 2 hours and then every 60 minutes for three hours keeping covered between stretches.
8. If dough still seems a little sluggish, give it another hour or two.
9. Laminate the dough by stretching into a large rectangle, folding into thirds, then rolling up jelly roll style. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
10. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and round it, building up a bit of tension and pulling the gluten taut. Allow to rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
11. Round the dough again and place into a well-floured banneton or towel-lined bowl.
12. Allow to cold ferment in fridge for 12 hours.
13. Remove dough from fridge and preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
14. Turn dough out of banneton and onto a sheet of parchment (baking) paper.
15. Dust with flour and score the dough as desired.
16. Transfer the dough -- still on its baking paper -- to a Dutch oven.
17. Cover and bake at 230°C (450°F) for 10 minutes.
18. Reduce heat to 220°C (425°F) and bake for another 15-20 minutes (still covered).
19. Reduce heat to 180°C (350°F), uncover, and bake until done (~30 minutes).

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¹ I recommend doing a 1:5:5 (starter:flour:water) feeding the night before and allowing it to activate overnight. Leave it out at room temperature and by morning it should be ready to go. ^Back

This is just the instructions for making the dough. You can brush it with olive oil and give it a sprinkle of sea salt and bake it off that way or experiment with different toppings for it. Either way, it's delicious.

Sourdough Focaccia Dough

Slightly adapted from Baking Sense

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c. water + extra for kneading
• 500g hard (bread/strong/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 225g active (fed) sourdough starter
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. olive oil

Directions

1. Combine the water with the flour, cover, and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Add the salt, folding the dough and kneading lightly to incorporate.
3. Add the starter, using a similar folding/kneading technique to work it into the dough.
4. Finally, work in the olive oil. This may be most easily accomplished by pouring 1-2 Tbsp. of oil on a work surface and turning the dough out onto it and kneading the oil in. Once the first portion of oil has been mostly incorporated, add some more.
5. Once all the oil has been incorporated, try to work in a bit more water if you can. The dough should be as wet and loose as possible.
6. Place the dough in a covered bowl and repeat a stretch and fold¹ every 30-60 minutes for 3-7 hours. Amount of time required for this bulk rise will depend on room temperature and how active your starter was. Keep going until the dough achieves a light, airy feeling.
7. Dough is now ready to be shaped or may be placed in the fridge overnight to be baked the next day.

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¹ To complete a stretch and fold: Gently reach down one side of the bowl to losen the dough. Stretch it up and over itself, pulling the dough from the side over and across the centre. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat. Continue until you get back to your starting point. Carefully remove the dough from the bowl and flip it over. ^Back

Sourdough Focaccia with Prosciutto and Pickled Grapes

This was too unusual not to try! I really like how it came out. The chunks of prosciutto and sweet pickled grapes were both really nice. I found the amount of oil called for a bit alarming, but I seems to have come out okay. I think you could probably get away with slightly less oil, but I'd be hesitant to cut to too much.

Sourdough Foccacia with Prosciutto and Pickled Grapes

Slightly adapted from Baking Sense

Ingredients

• 1 batch Sourdough Focaccia Dough
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 60g prosciutto, cut into 5mm cubes
• 1/2 batch pickled grapes
• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp. dried thyme)

Directions

1. Use 2 Tbsp. of the oil to generously oil a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Place dough on baking sheet and then flip so that both sides end up coated with oil.
3. Press and stretch to form a large rectangle ~1cm (1/2") thick.
4. Cover and set aside to rise for 1-2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
6. Press fingers firmly into dough to form dimples. Dimple the whole surface.
7. Brush with remaining 2 Tbsp. of olive oil.
8. Sprinkle with prosciutto, pickled grapes, and thyme.
9. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15-20 minutes.

I've made chicken chilaquiles before and they were delicious. I figured I'd try a vegetable-heavy meatless version this time. I think this worked as written, but I'd probably try tweaking it a bit next time just to try to punch up the flavours a little more. The Kidlet absolutely loved this version. I thought it was alright, but could've done with a little more umph.

Vegetarian Chilaquiles

Slightly adapted from Feasting at Home

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. corn (or other neutral) oil
• 2-4 c. veggies¹
• 1 c. salsa or salsa verde
• 2 c. vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder² (optional)
• 1 chipotle in adobo, minced
• 1 (350g) block "Texmex" tofu, diced (optional)
• 2 c. cooked black beans (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 bag tortilla chips
• 1 c. grated Cheddar and/or crumbled feta (or cojita if you can get it)

Garnishes & Toppings

• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Scallions, chopped
• Avocado, diced
• Radish, thinly sliced
• Quick pickled onion
• Pickled jalapeños
• Fresh tomatoes, diced
• Sour cream
• Lime wedges
• Hot sauce
• Fried egg(s)

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add veggies and cook until softened. If using aromatics like onion and garlic, add them first and allow them to cook a little before adding other vegetables.
3. Add salsa(s), broth, cumin, and oregano.
4. Stir in chili powder, chipotle, tofu, and black beans (if using). I recommend using at least one of the protein options (tofu or black beans) to keep the meal somewhat balanced. Feel free to use both if you like!
5. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for a few minutes.
6. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and tortilla chips.
7. Sprinkle cheese over top and transfer to oven.
8. Broil on low until cheese is melted and just starting to brown (~5 minutes).
9. Serve with garnishes and toppings of your choice.

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¹ I used:

• 1 red onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 c. corn
• 1 c. frozen chopped kale

^Back
2 I didn't use any chili powder this time, but I think I'd toss a bit in next time. Likewise with the chipotle in adobo. ^Back

This is another untested recipe. I didn't want to wait for the kulfi to set in the freezer, so I just got a bit of store-bought kulfi for topping the cupcakes. I've included this recipe for anyone who wants to give it a go, but I haven't actually tried it yet.

Pistachio Kulfi

From C&C Cakery

Ingredients

• 1L whole (3.25%) milk
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp. unsalted pistachios, crushed
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 Tbsp. rosewater
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods), ground

Directions

1. Bring milk to a boil and cook until reduced to ~750mL (~25 minutes).
2. In a heatproof bowl, add ~1/4 c. of the hot milk to the sugar and stir until smooth.
3. Pour sugar mixture into the pot with the rest of the milk and cook until thick and creamy.
4. Add pistachios and cook for another minute or two.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
6. Whip the cream until thickened but not stiff.
7. Mix cream, rosewater, and cardamom into the milk.
8. Pour mixture into molds (popsicle molds should work) and freeze for 8-10 hours.

I have not tried this recipe yet. I'm posting it because it's a component in another recipe I recently made. I ended up using a different type of icing for the cupcakes, but I still wanted to record the canonical icing for anyone else who wants to make them or in case I want to try these again and feel like making the "proper" icing for them next time around.

Cashew-Cream Cheese Icing

From C&C Cakery

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. raw cashews, toasted
• 1-2 Tbsp. peanut oil
• 1/4 c. salted butter, softened
• 125g cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2-2 c. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar

Directions

1. Chop cashews in a food processor.
2. Drizzle in oil a little at a time until mixture reaches chunky peanut butter consistency.
3. Whip butter and cream cheese together.
4. Beat in cashew butter.
5. Mix in icing sugar 1/2 c. at a time until icing reaches desired consistency.

These cupcakes have a lot of moving parts. Here's how it works if you're making them to spec: first you have the cupcake (with homemade halwa incorporated into the batter), then you have the cashew-cream cheese icing, then you have the homemade pistachio kulfi, then you have even more icing, and finally the cashew-lime cookie with a lime glaze and sugar-coated fennel seeds for sprinkles. Definitely not an every day affair! But they are really good.

I'll admit, I did cheat a bit when making mine. I didn't want to wait for the kulfi to freeze overnight, so I just bought some homemade kulfi and used that. I also used some leftover vanilla French buttercream I had in the fridge rather than making a fresh batch of cashew icing for this recipe. I'm sure the cashew icing would've been amazing, but the French buttercream got the job done, made my life easier, and used up some stuff out of the fridge that needed used.

I was worried that there'd be too much going on in these cupcakes and they'd end up being more "sensory overload" than delicious, but the combo actually works really well. I do think the cupcake itself gets overshadowed a bit, but the icing-kulfi-cookie combination is amazing! Definitely a more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts situation. That said, the cookies are also excellent on their own. And I think the cupcakes would be great with just the cashew icing if you didn't feel like making the kulfi and the cookies to go on top. I think a lightly iced cupcake without the other components would also allow the cupcake itself to shine a little more. It was fun to try something so ridiculously over-the-top though!

NB: If you're using pre-ground cardamom, double all the amounts called for in the recipe. Freshly ground tends to have a much more potent kick, so I dailed it way back.

Halwa Cupcakes

Adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

Halwa

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. ghee
• 225g carrots, finely grated
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. whole (3.25%) milk or light (5%) cream
• 3/4 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods), ground
• 1/4 c. sugar

Cupcakes

• 195g flour¹
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods), ground
• 2 medium eggs or 1 large egg + 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. oil
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. raw cashews, toasted and chopped

Assembly

• ~3 c. Cashew-Cream Cheese Icing or buttercream icing of your choice
• 3/4 c. Pistachio Kulfi (homemade or store-bought)
• 12 Cashew-Lime Cookies

Directions

Halwa

1. Melt ghee over medium heat.
2. Add grated carrot, cover, and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add water and cook, covered, for another 3 minutes.
4. Uncover and cook for a minute or two to cook off excess moisture.
5. Add milk and cardamom, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
6. Stir in sugar and cook, uncovered, for another 5 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Sift baking powder and baking soda into flour and mix.
3. Stir in salt and cardamom.
4. Stir eggs, vanilla, sugar, oil and milk into cooled halwa and mix well.
5. Add dry ingredients to halwa mixture and stir until just combined.
6. Spoon batter into lined muffin wells. (This made a dozen 5cm diameter cupcakes for me, but I filled the wells nearly to the top.)
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-25 minutes. (Mine took 20.)
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Assembly

1. Once cupcakes have cooled, spread a little icing on each one. Use a piping bag if you want it to look fancy.
2. Add about a Tbsp. of kulfi on top of the icing. If the kulfi seems to be getting too soft or melt-y, pop the cupcakes in the freezer for a few minutes before continuing.
3. Spread (or pipe) a little more icing on top of the kulfi.
4. Place a cookie on top.
5. Only assemble as many cupcakes as you plan to eat right away and serve immediately!

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¹ The original recipe called for "1 1/2 c. flour". I used all-purpose since I know the author is Canadian and the default flour type here is all-purpose. Given the nature of the recipe, though, I think soft/cake/plain/standard flour would work very well. My all-purpose flour comes in at ~130g per cup, so 1 1/2 c. comes out at right around 195g. Feel free to use whatever type of flour you prefer. ^Back

These cookies were actually originally posted as part of a cupcake recipe. They're meant to be a garnish on top of the cupcake. And I can now confirm that they are delicious served that way. However, they are also wonderful on their own. And posting them as a separate recipe makes the cupcake recipe a little more manageable.

Cashew-Lime Cookies

Slightly adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1/4 c. raw cashews, toasted
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 3/8 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. lime zest¹
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods), ground
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne powder
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 small or medium egg

Glaze

• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1/8 tsp. lime zest
• 1/4 c. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• sugar-coated fennel seeds, to garnish (optional)

Directions

Cookies

1. Grind the cashews to a fine powder. It may be helpful to add up to 1/4 c. of the flour while grinding to help absorb some of the oil and prevent the cashews from turning into cashew butter.
2. Combine ground cashews with remaining flour.
3. Sift in baking soda.
4. Add salt, lime zest, cardamom, and cayenne and mix well.
5. In a separate bowl, cream the sugar with the butter until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in lime juice.
7. Beat in the egg.
8. Add the dry ingredients and stir until fully incorporated.
9. Shape dough into a log ~3cm in diameter, wrap, and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
10. Slice dough into 1cm thick discs and place on a parchment-lined baking tray.
11. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-13 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Glaze

1. Combine lime juice, lime zest, and icing sugar in a bowl and mix well.
2. Dip cooled cookies in the glaze and top with fennel seeds.

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¹ I would be tempted to double this next time. The cookies were good and the lime glaze helped ot give them a nice citrus-y tang, but I feel like the lime flavour could've stood to have been punched up even more. ^Back

I finally made a pavlova! I had some extra egg whites left over from making cupcakes the other day and figured that maybe now was finally the time to try making a pavlova. It's basically just a baked French meringue with fruit and whipped cream on top, but I don't really have any experience baking meringues on their own. I make French meringues quite a bit, but they're usually then incorporated into a cake batter or used as a pie topping. And while using it to top a pie technically results in a baked meringue, you're going for a completely different end result on a pie.

With a meringue pie you want the topping to be soft and pillow-y all the way through. With a pavlova my understanding is that it should be crisp on the outside and soft and chewy/pillow-y in the centre. I've never tried to make a meringue with that texture before. The recipe gives instructions, of course, but your oven and the exact dimensions of the meringue will affect the baking, so you can't just blindly follow the recipe.

I'm pretty happy with how this one came out. It was a bit more crispy than pillow-y, but it still had a bit of softness in the centre. I'm not sure whether it'd be better slightly reduce the baking time next time around or slightly increase the baking temperature and dramatically reduce the baking time. I'm thinking that slightly less time is probably the way to go. If nothing else, that'll give me another data point. Although I'll be baking it in a different oven next time, so who knows how that'll affect things?!

Pavlova

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

Meringue

• 3 large egg whites
• tiny pinch salt (<1/16 tsp.)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp. vinegar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)

Toppings

• fresh fruit or fruit compote¹
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 135°C (275°F) and line a baking tray with parchment paper (or a silicone baking mat).
2. Beat egg whites with salt until light and airy but not quite stiff.
3. Gradually add sugar while continuing to beat.
4. Beat for another minute or so to allow sugar to fully incorporate and dissolve.
5. Reduce speed to low and beat in vanilla, vinegar, and cornstarch.
6. Pile meringue onto prepared baking tray and shape into a 20cm round with a depression in the centre.
7. Bake at 135°C (275°F) for 40-45 minutes.
8. Leave meringue in the oven overnight to cool.
9. The next day, prepare your toppings: chop the fruit and/or prepare the compote and whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla.
10. Top the meringue with fruit and whipped cream and serve immediately.

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¹ I made a simple boysenberry compote for mine: 1 (400mL) can of boysenberries + 2 tsp. cornstarch, 1/4 c. vanilla sugar, and 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice boiled until thickened. ^Back

I had been hoping to try out a chile-garlic shrimp recipe for dinner tonight, but I couldn't find the issue of Cook's Country with the recipe! I opted for a shrimp Creole instead. But we were a bit shy on shrimp, so I tossed in some scallops as well. I think it worked nicely!

Seafood Creole

Adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2019

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 bell pepper¹, finely chopped
• 6 Tbsp. finely chopped celery
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme²
• 1/2 Tbsp. Creole seasoning
• 6 Tbsp. dry white wine
• 1 1/2 c. canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 c. chicken broth
• 2 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 450g seafood of choice
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 scallions, sliced thin
• 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Melt butter over medium heat.
2. Add flour and cook until roux turns the colour of peanut butter (3-5 minutes).
3. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, thyme, and Creole seasoning and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add wine and cook until nearly evaporated (~3 minutes).
5. Add tomatoes, broth, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Season seafood with salt and pepper and add to sauce.
8. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through (~5 minutes but will vary depending on type and size of seafood).
9. Remove from heat and stir in scallions and lemon juice.
10. Serve over rice.

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¹ Green bell pepper is the classic choice here. I didn't have green so I used orange. ^Back
2 If you have fresh thyme, use it! I didn't so I used dried. For fresh, you'll want ~1/2 Tbsp. ^Back

I wasn't super happy with the last recipe I made that used this creole seasoning. Don't get me wrong, it was good. It just wasn't great. Now, I don't think that was all down to the seasoning mix, but I think it was a contributing factor.

The recipe I was using called for "Tony Chacheres Creole Seasoning" and my original recipe was a copycat of that. Yes, I removed all the salt but, trust me, that wasn't the problem here! The final dish was plenty salty. So I'm definitely glad that I used a salt-free seasoning blend. But it just wasn't quite as punchy as I would have liked.

Poking around online, I found a different creole seasoning recipe. So I decided to do a sort of mash-up of the two. I haven't had a chance to test it yet, but I'm going to write it down here in the hopes that I remember to look it up the next time I'm in need of creole seasoning. (I'll leave the original recipe in place below just in case I want to try it again.)

Creole Seasoning

Adapted from Daring Gourmet

Ingredients

• 5 parts granulated garlic
• 4 parts onion powder
• 3 parts sweet paprika
• 3 parts black peppercorns
• 2 parts dried thyme
• 2 parts dried oregano
• 2 parts dried basil
• 2 parts ground cayenne
• 2 parts smoked paprika
• 1 part celery seed
• 1 part mustard seed
• 1 part dried sage
• 1 bay leaf for every tsp. of sage

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a spice grinder and grind.
2. Store in a cool, dry place until ready to use.

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Alternate Recipes

Copycat Tony Chacheres Creole Seasoning (minus the salt)

Adapted from Food.com

This is based off of a copycat recipe for a store-bought Creole seasoning except with all the salt removed. The original was nearly 1/3 salt by volume! And called for garlic salt, celery salt, and onion salt on top of that. I replaced these salty seasonings with garlic powder, ground celery seed, and dried chopped onion respectively.

Ingredients

• 2 parts cornstarch (cornflour)
• 10 parts cayenne powder
• 10 parts garlic powder
• 8 parts black peppercorns, ground
• 6 parts chili powder
• 4 parts celery seed, ground
• 4 parts ground mustard
• 4 parts dried basil
• 2 parts dried sage
• 2 parts dried minced onion
• 2 parts dried oregano
• 1 part dried thyme

I've had my eye on this drop meatball recipe for a while now. Rather than cooking the meatballs in advance and then adding them to the sauce, you add them to the sauce raw and cook both the sauce and meatballs together. This came together very easily and, although quite simple, was also very tasty. I think a few handfulls of chopped kale or spinach would work well in the sauce and make for a slightly more balanced meal. It's still tasty as is, just a bit lacking in vegetables.

Drop Meatballs

Adapted from Cook's Country February/March 2018

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 3/4 c. fresh breadcrumbs¹
• 7 Tbsp. milk
• 450g Beyond Meat
• 14g (~1/2 c.) grated Parmesan
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt²
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 5-6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1/4 tsp. red chile flakes
• 1 (828mL) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• pepper, to taste
• 1 c. chopped kale (optional)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 c. ricotta (optional)

Assembly

• 450g whole wheat spaghetti
• extra Parmesan, for serving

Directions

Meatballs

1. Mix breadcrumbs and milk and set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Mix in Beyond Meat, Parmesan, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper.
3. Working with ~2 Tbsp. of mixture at a time, shape into balls. You should get 20-24 meatballs.

Sauce

1. Heat oil over medium-low heat.
2. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes.
3. Add chile flakes and sizzle for 30-60 seconds.
4. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, and kale (if using).

Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Drop meatballs into sauce. Be careful; do not stir or the meatballs may break apart.
3. Cover and transfer to oven. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 30 minutes.
4. Remove lid and bake for another 10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes.
6. While sauce is sitting, cook and drain the spachetti.
7. Carefully stir the basil and ricotta (if using) into the sauce.
8. Toss the spagheti with the sauce and meatballs.
9. Serve topped with extra cheese.

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¹ The original recipe called for 11 crushed saltines and 1/2 c. of milk to make the panade. I didn't have saltines, but I did have lots of stale bread, so I used that instead. Since the bread was more moist than the crackers would've been, I increased the amount of bread and decreased the amount of milk. ^Back
2 I usually reduce the amount of salt called for in American recipes by at least half. Sometimes I omit it entirely. Had I been using saltines for the panade as the recipe directed, I would've omitted the additional salt called for. Given that the use of breadcrumbs was already reducing the salt content significantly, I decided to use the full amount of salt called for in the meatballs. (Although I still halved the salt in the sauce.) I think this worked out well, although it still probably would've been okay with less salt. ^Back

The Kidlet wanted to make cupcakes, so we decided to pick a recipe from the Something Awful cake thread to try out. I'm pretty happy with how these came out and the Kidlet definitely approved of the amount of applesauce that went into them. We opted for a French buttercream to top them with. The original recipe recommended a mascarpone frosting. I think the mascarpone frosting would've been lovely if I'd had some mascarpone on hand (or been willing to make some), but I didn't feel like putting that much effort in and the French buttercream was a lot easier to toss together with ingredients I already had on hand. I think a Swiss meringue buttercream would be another good option. I probably would've done a vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream this time around except the Kidlet voted for French buttercream so we went with that.

Oooh! I bet a caramel Swiss meringue buttercream would be really good with these cupcakes! Maybe I can try that out next time.

Apple-Cinnamon Cupcakes

From Just Jenn Recipes via the Something Awful cake thread

Ingredients

• 2 c. (~250g) all-purpose flour¹
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 3 c. frosting of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together flour and baking soda.
3. Stir in cinnamon, sugar, and brown sugar.
4. Add butter, eggs, and applesauce and stir until just combined.
5. Spoon batter into prepared tin.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-25 minutes².

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¹ Soft/cake/plain/standard flour would also work here as long as you work by mass rather than volume. ^Back
2 This recipe made a dozen 5cm (2") cupcakes for me. If you're using a tin with significantly larger or smaller wells, then you'll need to adjust the baking time accordingly. Smaller cupcakes will bake faster. Larger ones will bake slower. ^Back

Cinnamon Buns (Sourdough)

I was suppposed to make bagels today. I did not feel like making bagels today, so I decided to make cinnamon buns instead.

Cinnamon Buns

Slightly adapted from Baking Sense

Ingredients

Dough

• 250g fresh/active sourdough starter
• 1 c. milk
• 1/4 c. water
• 480g all-purpose flour¹, divided
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. instant yeast (optional)

Filling

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Icing

• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. cream cheese
• 1 c. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. Combine starter, milk, water, and 240g of the flour and mix well. Cover and set aside for 30-60 minutes.
2. Add sugar, butter, egg, and salt. If you would like your dough to go faster, feel free to toss in the instant yeast at this point. If a longer slower fermentation works better with your schedule, leave it out.
3. Mix in the remaining flour.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. You may need to add a littl more flour for this, but be very careful not to overdo it!
5. Shape into a smooth ball, cover, and set aside for 30 minutes.
6. Stretch and fold: reach down the side of the bowl and stretch and pull the dough up and over the centre, turn 90° and repeat three more times. Flip the dough over. Cover and set aside for another 30 minutes.
7. Continue to repeat the stretch and fold procedure every 30 minutes until the dough is light and well-risen.
8. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and carefully roll it out. Aim for a size of 40x45cm (16x18") while trying to avoid knocking too much of the air out of it.
9. Brush the dough liberally with the beaten egg.
10. Combine the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl.
11. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the egg-washed dough.
12. Starting from one of the long sides, roll the dough up to form a 45cm (18") long log.
13. Slice the log crosswise into 12 discs.
14. Place the cinnamon rolls in a well-greased 23x33cm (9x13") pan.
15. Brush the tops with the melted butter.
16. Cover and set aside for 1-2 hours. (The exact time will depend on the temperature of the room and whether or not you added the instant yeast.)
17. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
18. Bake rolls for 30-35 minutes at 190°C (375°F).
19. Meanwhile, combine butter, cream cheese, and icing sugar in a bowl and beat until fluffy.
20. Mix in vanilla extract and lemon juice (if using).
21. Adjust consistency as desired. Add a little milk to thin it out or more icing sugar to make it thicker.
22. Once cinnamon rolls are baked, remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes.
23. Carefully remove from pan.
24. Spread icing on top and serve!

I've been drinking a lot of tea lately. (Which is good because we have a huge tea backlog and this means we're actually slowly but surely working our way through some of it. TF and I have actually made a noticeable dent in the mountain of tea over the past few weeks!) That said, today I was in the mood for hot chocolate. I've made various types of hot chocolate before: there is the ubiquitous "just add water" powder of course and various types of homemade cocoa. This recipe is very similar to most of the homemae hot cocoa's I've done over the years, but it occurred to me that I don't think I've ever bothered to write down the basic hot cocoa formula. I just end up doing something similar but slightly different every time. So, here's one that came up in my YouTube suggestions. It's good: pleasingly chocolatey and not too sweet. Goes well with a few mini marshmallows! And it's very easy to tweak and adjust according to your preferences.

Hot Cocoa

Slightly adapted from Joshua Weissman

Ingredients

• 2 1/8 c. whole milk
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder, preferably Dutched
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• mini marshmallows or whipped cream (optional)

Directions

1. Sift cocoa powder into milk.
2. Stir in sugar.
3. Warm over medium heat, stirring frequently. Do not boil, but make sure to get it very hot.
4. Just before mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. Divide mixture between two mugs.
7. Add mini marshmallows and/or whipped cream to taste.

Basic Sourdough Bread

I've done lots of different sourdough variants, some of which are still waiting for a write-up, but I don't think I've ever written out the procedure for just your bog standard basic sourdough. Rather than giving specific measurements for this recipe, I've used baker's percentages. This means that you choose an amount of flour and scale everything based on that. Everything is done by mass. So if you're starting with 1kg (1000g) of flour, you take that as your "100%" value. This means you'd need 70-80% of that amount of water (ie. 700-800mL of water), 2% (20g) of salt, and 25% (250g) of starter. Starting with 1kg of flour makes two decent-sized hearth/free-form loaves (and makes for very easy math).

Sourdough Bread

Ingredients

• 100% hard (bread/strong/high grade) flour¹
• 70-80% water²
• 2% salt
• 25% fresh/active sourdough starter (100% hydration)

Directions

1. If your starter's been resting in the fridge, be sure to get it out and give it a good feeding or three 4-24 hours before you plan to use it. If it still seems sluggish after one feeding, give it one or two more until it seems suitably active and peppy.
2. About an hour before your starter has peaked (you'll get a feel for this as you use it more), mix the flour and the water, cover, and set aside to autolyse for 45-60 minutes.
3. Add salt to autolysed flour-water mixture and fold and knead gently to work it in.
4. Add starter and fold it in as well.
5. Once starter has been incorporated into the dough, cover and set aside for 30-60 minutes.
6. Once dough has rested for 30-90 minutes, wet your hands and carefully fold and turn four times: reach down one side of the bowl and pull the dough up and over itself into the centre of the bowl, rotate the bowl 90° and repeat on the next side, continue until four folds have been completed. Carefully turn the dough over (so that the bottom is now on top). Cover and set aside for another 30-90 minutes.
7. Repeat the fold and turn process every 30-90 minutes until dough seems light, airy, and active. This may take anywhere from 4 to 12 hours depending on the temperature of the room. If you need to leave it unattended for more than two hours, just stick it in the fridge to hold it 'til you're ready to deal with it.
8. If you're making more than one loaf, divide the dough as necessary and round each portion. Cover and let rest for 20-30 minutes.
9. Shape the loaves as desired. Try to build up the shape in a way that encourages good structure. Stretch and smooth the top to produce a single smooth sheet/film of gluten across the top.
10. If using banneton(s), flour them well and place the loaves top-side-down into the banneton(s). It is probably best to flour the sides and bottom (currently facing upward) of the loaves at this point as well. Cover and set aside to rise for 1-2 hours.
11. Place one oven rack as low as possible in the oven. Place another in the middle position. Be sure there is enough space to fit a pan/roaster on the bottom rack.
12. Preheat oven to 260°C (500°F) and set some water to boil.
13. When loaves are fully proofed and ready to bake, pour boiling water into an oven-safe pan/roaster to a depth of 1-2cm and place this on the bottom oven rack.
14. Invert the bannetons onto a greased baking tray dusted with cornmeal. Be careful not to damage the crust when you're turning out the loaves!
15. Slash the tops of the loaves.
16. Place the tray with loaves on the middle oven rack trying to avoid letting too much steam escape when you open the oven.
17. Bake at 260°C (500°F) for 15 minutes.
18. Remove steam pan from oven.
19. If bread requires more baking time (this will depend on the shape and size of your loaves), reduce oven temperature to 160°C (325°F) and continue baking until done. (Mine required ~30 more minutes at 325°F.)
20. Once loaves are baked through (tap the bottom and listen for a hollow sound), turn off the oven and allow them to sit in the oven for a further 10 minutes.
21. Remove from ove and set on a wire rack to cool.
22. Ideally loaves should cool completely before slicing.

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¹ Feel free to mix and match flours here. Try to make sure that at least 85% of your flour is a good high-gluten variety. ^Back
2 It's generally best if the dough is quite soft and loose, but this can make it difficult to handle. If you're still relatively new to sourdough, stick to a lower hydration level. As you get more experienced, you can bump up the amount of water you're using. Also, gauge the dough as you're mixing it and adjust accordingly. Sometimes the weather can affect how much water you'll need. I was planning on doing something in the 70-75% range for this bread, but once I mixed it that seemed way too dry. I ended up going with 78% for these loaves and I think I probably could've gotten away with adding even more! Pay attention to the dough and use your best judgement when mixing. ^Back

Just a quick write-up because I'm tired and have approximately 10000 things to do today. These are really good, but the dough was too dry. I had to add more milk. I've adjusted a bit below, but you may find you need more or less. Use your judgement.

Sourdough Scones

From Baking Sense

Ingredients

• 630g soft (cake/plain/standard) flour
• 2 Tbap. baking powder
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 3/4 c. unsalted butter
• 1-1 1/4 c. buttermilk¹
• 1 c. (100% hydration) unfed sourdough starter
• 2-3 eggs²
• extra buttermilk & sugar for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Sift together flour and baking powder.
3. Mix in sugar and salt.
4. Cut in butter until mixture contains lumps no larger than a pea.
5. Combine buttermilk and starter.
6. Whisk eggs into buttermilk-starter mixture.
7. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until mostly combined.
8. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and mix/knead a little by hand to incorporate any remaining dry ingredinets.
9. Pat dough to a thickness of ~2cm.
10. Use a 6 or 7cm round cutter to cut out scones and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
11. Brush tops with additional buttermilk (or milk) and sprinkle with sugar.
12. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 20 minutes.

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¹ The recipe only calls for 1c. of buttermilk, but I found I needed ~an extra 1/4 c. to get the dough to come together. That said, I was also using sour cream thinned with milk as a buttermilk substitute, so it's possible that affected my liquid balance. ^Back
2 The recipe only calls for two eggs, but mine were a little on the small side, so I used three. ^Back

Wheat Berry Bowl with Merguez and Pomegranate

This dinner wasn't planned in advance, but as it happened we had almost everything we needed on hand, even the sausages in the freezer -- the one exception was mint, which we swapped out for cilantro.

While it does need a lot of lead time, since the wheat berries take a long time to cook, it's not particularly difficult; you have ample time to put everything else together while the wheat berries cook. And the end result is delicious!

While the original recipe calls for topping some things with others, we ended up basically mixing everything together and then just serving the yoghurt sauce on the side.

Wheat Berry Bowl with Sausage and Pomegranate

From Epicurious

Ingredients

• 2 C wheat berries
• 2 C mushroom stock
• 4 tbsp olive oil, divided (1+1+2)
• 1 lb sausage, peeled
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ C plain yoghurt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice, divided (1+1)
• 2 tsp za'atar, plus extra for serving
• salt and pepper
• ½ C pomegranate seeds
• ¼ C coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• ½ cucumber, quartered lengthwise and then sliced thinly

Directions

1. Add the wheat berries and mushroom stock to a large pot, then add more water until wheat berries are fully submerged with room to spare.
2. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the berries are tender and just starting to split, ~1h.
3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.
4. Add sausages and cook, breaking up, until browned, ~10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
5. Mix garlic, yoghurt, 1 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and za'atar in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
6. When the wheat berries are done, drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, and return to the pot.
7. Add the pomegranate, cilantro, green onions, cucumber, sausage, and remaining 1 tbsp of lemon juice and 2 tbsp of oil to the pot.
8. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.
9. Serve with yoghurt sauce and additional za'atar.
   
   

I'd never really thought of trying to pickle grapes before. The flavours used sounded really interested. And I had a bunch of nice locally grown grapes that the Kidlet decided she didn't like, so this seemed like a good use for them.

Pickled Grapes

From Baking Sense

Ingredients

• 1/2 (3") cinnamon stick
• 1" piece of vanilla bean¹
• 5 white or green cardamom pods, lightly bruised or cracked
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns
• scant 1/8 tsp. red chile flakes
• 227g seedless grapes
• 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1/2 c. (vanilla) sugar
• scant 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

1. Place cinnamon, vanilla bean, cardamom, peppercorns, and chile flakes in the bottom of a 500mL canning jar.
2. Add the grapes into the jar on top of the spices.
3. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small pot and bring to a boil.
4. Cook until sugar is fully dissolved.
5. Pour the hot brine over the grapes and seal the jar.
6. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
7. Once cooled, place in the fridge. Allow to sit for 1-2 days before using.

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¹ Rather than using one small piece of a fresh vanilla bean, I decided to try using a few large pieces of spent/empty pods. I also used vanilla sugar rather than plain granulated sugar to add some extra vanilla flavour to the mixture. I think this worked quite well and it made for a great way to get a second use out of spent vanilla pods! ^Back

I needed a protein-rich side dish to go with my vegetarian Jamaican patties. I thought this recipe seemed thematically appropriate. It was pretty good, but not amazing. That said, I messed up the prep a little bit, so perhaps with more experience I could do a better job of it. I'll plonk the recipe here for now in case I want to come back and revisit it later.

Caribbean-Style Stewed Pigeon Peas

From Olive and Mango

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 c. canned (or fresh) pigeon peas
• 1-2 tsp. molasses (optional)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 pimento peppers, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 c. peeled and chopped pumpkin
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme
• 2 leaves chadon beni¹, chopped
• handful fresh chives, chopped
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 125-250mL water
• 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add sugar and allow to cook until bubbling and caramelized but not burnt.
3. Stir in pigeon peas, cover, and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
4. If you would like the peas to be a little darker, stir in a tsp. or two of molasses.
5. Uncover and cook until liquid has evaporated (~1 minute).
6. Add onion, garlic, pimento, tomato, pumpkin, thyme, chadon beni, and chives and cook for a minute or two.
7. Add coconut milk and 125mL of water.
8. If you would like a little heat, add the whole scotch bonnet pepper at this point. Do not break the skin!
9. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until pumpkin is tender (20-30 minutes), adding extra water as needed.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve topped with extra chadon beni.

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¹ Chadon beni is an herb common in Caribbean cooking. My understanding is that it's a bit like cilantro, but much stronger. I didn't have any, so I just used a bunch of cilantro instead. ^Back

Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake (Sourdough)

I've been craving dessert for the last few days but I never quite get around to baking anything. Today I finially managed to throw something together with the help of the Kidlet. The batter seemed a bit more glutinous than I'd normally want for a chemically leavened cake, but it smelled divine! Next time I might try swapping in cake flour for the all-purpose (the recipe didn't specify) to see if that helps any.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake

Adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 1-2 eggs¹
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. strong black coffee
• 1/2 c. fresh/fed sourdough starter
• 120g soft (cake/plain/standard) flour
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder (non-alkalized)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 3/4 c. hazelnuts, chopped
• 1/4 c. chocolate-hazelnut spread (eg. Nutella)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Mix in egg(s), vanilla, coffee, and starter.
4. Sift in flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and mix until just combined.
5. Stir in hazelnuts.
6. Pour into greased and floured 8" round cake tin.
7. Drizzle chocolate spread on top and swirl it through the batter.
8. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40-50 minutes.

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¹ Depending on the size of your eggs. Use 1 extra-large or jumbo egg. Use 2 medium or large eggs. If you have small eggs, you may even want to use 3. ^Back

Cabbage-Lentil Minestrone with Cheese Tortellini

After a couple days we were down to half a pot of soup again, so I decided to make a few more modifications to turn it into yet another new soup. This time I wanted to take it in more of a minestrone direction. More veggies, some extra tomato paste, and a package of cheese tortellini did the trick quite nicely. I really like this version! And I've really enjoyed seeing how many times I can keep building on and adding to the original lentil-cabbage soup as well.

Cabbage-Lentil Minestrone

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe of Smoky Chickpea, Cabbage, and Lentil Soup
• 1-2 c. vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 c. cooked kidney or cannellini beans
• Parmesan rind
• 1 (400g) package cheese tortellini
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-2 carrots, chopped
• 2-3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. water (optional)
• 1-2 small zucchinis (courgettes), chopped
• 450g green beans, chopped
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. red chile flakes
• salt and pepper to taste¹

Directions

1. Add broth, tomato paste, oregano, bay leaf, kidney/cannellini beans, and Parmesan rind to soup, cover, and bring to a simmer.
2. In a separate pot, cook tortellini until al dente, drain, and rinse/shock with cold water.
3. Add tortellini to soup.
4. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
5. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add carrot and celery and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so.
8. Add zucchini and cook for 3-4 minutes.
9. If necessary, deglaze pan with water.
10. Add green beans, cover, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
11. Add vegetable mixture to soup.
12. Add chile flakes, salt, and pepper and mix well.
13. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

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¹ I was using home-made broth with almost no salt in it, so I added ~1/2 tsp. of coarse sea salt to my soup. You may need more or less depending on your taste and the broth you use. ^Back

We ate about half the lentil-cabbage soup for dinner the night I made it. I decided to try to turn the leftovers into a new soup. After dinner, I added a few more ingredients to turn it into this smoky chickpea, cabbage, and lentil soup.

The recipe below follows what I actually did. If you don't want to build this soup from a pre-existing soup, you can follow the link to the recipe I used for direction/inspiration to make this soup directly.

Smoky Chickpea, Cabbage, and Lentil Soup

Adapted from The First Mess

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe Cabbage-Lentil Soup
• 1/4 tsp. hot paprika
• 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1 c. chopped kale
• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 3-4 drops liquid smoke
• bones from beef rib roast¹ (optional)

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to soup and mix well.
2. Cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes.
3. Serve with salad and garlic toast.

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¹ A few months ago I disassembled a rib roast for a recipe. I used the meat, but didn't need the bones so I tossed them in the freezer in the hopes of finding a use for them later. I don't think this soup particularly needed the meat added to it, but I had it available and it needed to be used up. It certainly didn't hurt, I just don't think it necessarily added much. If you've got some bones or scraps of meat that seem like they'd go well in soup, toss them in², but don't sweat it if you don't. ^Back
2 If the bones have already been cooked (leftover after cooking a roast or similar), just toss them straight in. If the bones are raw (as mine were), slather them with a bit of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast for an hour or so before adding them to the soup. ^Back

There's been a lot going on lately and I haven't been very motivated to do recipe write-ups. I'm way, way behind. I've had a pot of soup on the go for a few days now though and I want to write it up before I forget.

I was suddenly hit by an intense craving for some sort of lentil soup. Something with a nice light broth, cabbage, and either brown or French lentils. After searching through a couple of cookbooks and browsing the internet for a while, I hit upon a recipe I liked. I found the inclusion of apple cider vinegar and white miso very appealing. And the finished soup really hit the spot. It was just what I was looking for!

Cabbage-Lentil Soup

Slightly adapted from Eating Bird Food

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, divided
• 1/4 c. fresh basil, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 6 c. vegetable broth
• 1 (828mL) can diced tomatoes
• 4 c. (~1/2 head) green or savoy cabbage, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. red chile flakes (or more to taste)
• 1/2 c. uncooked brown or French (puy) lentils
• Parmesan rind (optional)
• 1 tsp. white miso paste

Directions

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. (Sauté setting on InstantPot.)
2. Add onion and cook until softened (3-4 minutes).
3. Add carrot and cook for 2-3 minutes longer.
4. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two.
5. Deglaze pan with 1 Tbsp. of cider vinegar.
6. Add basil, bay leaf, pepper, broth, tomatoes, cabbage, chile flakes, and lentils.
7. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1-2 hours. (Slow cook on high setting for InstantPot.)
8. Stir in miso paste and remaining vinegar.
9. Serve with bread or garlic toast and salad.

This Hello Fresh recipe wants you to make tacos and serve them half-open and covered in salad and feta. The Kidlet found that form factor kind of hard to eat, but absolutely loved them as burritos and, later, as quesadillas.

We did need considerably more tortillas than it called for, though.

Smoky Lentil Tacos/Quesadillas with Corn & Poblano Peppers

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 1½ C dry red lentils
• ½ lb poblano peppers, chopped
• ½ C frozen corn kernels
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 2 tbsp mexican seasoning
• ¼ tsp chipotle powder
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ C worth of vegetable broth concentrate
• ¼ C freshly chopped cilantro
  
• a large quantity of tortillas
• toppings (salad, feta cheese, etc...)
  

Directions

1. Add lentils and enough water to cover by 1" to a medium pot. Cover and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 10-12 minutes.
3. Drain, reserving ½C water.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Add the peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender-crisp, ~5 minutes.
   
6. Add the corn and cook until warmed through, 1-2 minutes.
   
7. Season with salt and pepper, and buffer on a plate.
8. Add another 1 tbsp oil, then the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.
9. Add garlic, mexican seasoning, and chipotle powder. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
10. Add the cooked lentils, soy sauce, broth concentrate, and reserved water to the pan with the onions. Simmer until sauce thickens.
11. Remove from the heat and roughly mash the lentils with a potato masher. Stir in the cilantro and the corn-pepper mixture, and season with salt and pepper.
12. Serve as tacos or burritos, or add cheddar cheese and turn them into quesadillas.
    

This Cook's Country recipe card was a huge hit! We made a half batch (for the amount of fish we had) and most of it vanished into the Kidlet. It came together really easily, too. As written it calls for salmon, but we had trout and that also worked fine. 

We made a half batch, which was enough for dinner for all of us + leftovers for the Kidlet's lunch the next day. That's the version I've written up, but if you want to scale it back up to the original, just double all quantities.

Pan-Seared Trout with Curried Couscous

Cook's Country, FIXME which issue, recipe card p??

Ingredients

• 180mL vegetable broth
• 15mL olive oil
• 7.5mL Madras Curry Powder
• 120mL instant couscous
• 240mL cooked chickpeas (half a large tin, or 120mL dried)
• 120mL chopped spinach
• 2 (180-220g) skin-on trout filets
• cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Combine broth, oil, and curry powder in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.
2. Remove from the heat, stir in the couscous, and cover for five minutes.
3. Stir in chickpeas and couscous.
4. Meanwhile, dust the trout with cayenne powder to taste (2.5mL/filet is a good amount) and salt.
5. Cook trout, skin side down, over medium-high heat until the skin is crispy and the fat has rendered, ~7 minutes.
6. Flip over and continue cooking until cooked through, 5-7 minutes.

 We got a bunch of assorted frozen fish recently and have been seeking ways to use them up. symbol noticed this recipe in a recent Cook's Country and we decided to try it out.

It was a huge success. The recipe is written for fish alone and recommends serving it with a side of crusty bread; we served it over linguine, and I've adjusted the recipe accordingly. We both found it delicious and the only reason I didn't go back for seconds is that I'd already filled up on firsts.

This recipe is halved compared to the recipe given in the magazine, since that's how much fish we had. If preparing for more than two people you'll probably want the full-scale recipe. It also suggests skinless halibut, but we made it with skin-on filets and cooked them skin down and it turned out fine.

Halibut Puttanesca

Cook's Country, Oct/Nov 2020, p.15

Ingredients

• 2 (170-225g each) halibut filets
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground filter
• ⅛ C olive oil (or oil from the anchovies)
• 1 shallot (or ½ small red onion)
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 oz (30g) anchovies, drained and chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 8 oz (220mL) diced tomatoes in their juice
• ¼ C pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• ⅛ C capers
• ⅛ C parsley
• ½ lb linguine or similar pasta

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Sprinkle halibut with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium low heat.
4. Add shallot, garlic, anchovies, oregano, and pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant and shallot softens, 4-6 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, olives, capers, and parsley. Stir to combine.
6. Nestle halibut filets into sauce, skin side down. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
7. Transfer skillet to the oven and bake until fish is cooked through, 15-18 minutes.
8. While the fish is baking, bring some water to a boil and cook the pasta.
9. Serve the pasta topped with halibut and sauce.