I think I must have done something wrong with this cake. It came out extremely dense. It was still delicious. Very citrus-y and tasty. It was just like a brick and didn't rise at all! Maybe that shouldn't be surprising given that there wasn't really any leavener in it besides the pop. And I feel like any leavening power that the pop might've had got beaten out of it during mixing. Maybe it would've been better to mix the pop in later in the process, but the recipe said to mix it in before adding the butter or the flour, so I'm not sure what could've been done to mitigate the density without deviating from the recipe. Maybe next time I'll try adding in a little baking soda and/or holding the pop back until later in the mixing process.

7UP Pound Cake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 1/2 c. sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. lime zest
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 20 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 c. 7UP
• 370g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

Glaze

• 114g icing (confectioners'/powdered) sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1-2 Tbsp. lime juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F) and grease a Bundt or tube pan.
2. Beat sugar with eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, lime zest, lime juice, and salt.
3. Pour in the butter in a thin steady stream while beating smooth.
4. Stir in the 7UP.
5. Sift in the flour and baking soda and stir to combine.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
7. Bake at 150°C (300°F) until cake tests done (~90 minutes).
8. Let cool in pan for ~10 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, whisk 1 Tbsp. each of lemon and lime juice into the icing sugar.
10. Add a little more lemon or lime juice to taste and to get the desired glaze consistency.
11. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet.
12. Pour ~1/2 the glaze over the cake and let cool for at least 2 hours.
13. Pour the remaining glaze over once the cake has cooled completely.
14. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.

This bread ended up going really off-piste. It was meant to be a simple white sourdough bread with a tiny hit of ginger in the sponge. But I ended up with some excess soaked bulgur, so I just dumped it into the dough. And I ended up using less flour than called for since the dough seemed way too dry, even with the extra water contributed by the soaked bulgur. I think I also ended up leaving out the cream of tartar and mixing in some sourdough discard as a way to simultaneously incorporate more acidity and moisture. But I don't quite remember all the details since I failed to do this write-up immediately after making it and didn't even have all the measurements to begin with!

Possibly, given how many blanks and question marks are going to end up in this recipe, I should forgo the write-up altogether. But it ended up being one of TF's favourite breads, so I feel like I should at least make an attempt at organizing some notes for future reference.

Starter White Bread with Bulgur

Adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

Sponge

• 125g active (fed) starter @ 100% hydration
• 90g all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 c. water, divided
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Dough

• 1/2 c. skim milk powder
• 250g sourdough discard
• 1 c. bulgur, soaked overnight¹
• ~240g all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. lard²

Directions

1. Make sure to feed your starter and get it nice and active before mixing the sponge.
2. Combine the starter, flour, and 1/4 c. of the water and let stand, uncovered, for two hours.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the sugar, ginger, and water.
4. Once the starter mixture has sat for two hours, pour the liquid over, cover, and let stand at room temperature overnight.
5. The next day, uncover the sponge and mix well.
6. Add the skim milk powder, sourdough discard, bulgur, ~60g of flour, baking soda, and salt and beat for ~1 minute on medium speed (or ~50 strokes by hand).
7. Add the lard and ~100g of flour and beat into a smooth batter.
8. Switch to dough hook and gradually work in flour until the dough comes together and cleans the sides of the bowl.
9. Continue kneading with dough hook for a few minutes or turn out onto work surface and knead until supple and elastic (10-20 minutes by hand; maybe only 2-4 by machine).
10. Cover and let rest for ~20 minutes.
11. Divide the dough into two equal portions and round each one.
12. Cover and let rest for another 10-20 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, grease two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
14. Shape each round into a loaf and place, seam-side-down, into the prepared loaf pans.
15. Brush the top of each loaf with a little melted butter if desired.
16. Cover and let rise at room temperature until fully risen (2-4 hours³).
17. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
18. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 30-45 minutes.
19. If crust is insufficiently brown, remove loaves from pans and return to oven for 5-10 minutes.
20. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

---

¹ Since I was initially planning on using the bulgur for a completely different recipe where the volume of water used to soak it didn't matter, I didn't measure it. I have no idea how much water I used. It was enough that the bulgur was fairly wet without being soupy. The water had been almost entirely absorbed with only a very small amount pooling at the bottom of the bowl, but it was definitely saturated and the grains were clearly holding a lot of moisture. ^Back
2 Rather than using store-bought lard, I actually tossed in ~1/4 c. of the fat that rendered out of the pork shoulder I'd cooked the day before for the pulled pork with peach-mustard sauce. I'm not sure if this had any impact on the flavour or not. The fat looked very smooth and white, but it may have added some subtle flavours to the bread that would not have been present if I'd used commercial lard. I'm not sure, but I figured it was worth noting. ^Back
3 I don't remember how long I let this bread rise for, but I remember it being significantly longer than the 2 hours specified in the recipe. I think 4 hours is probably about right. Of course, this will vary a fair bit depending on your room temperature and how active your starter is and your flour and all sorts of other things. ^Back

We have an actual tagine, but I opted to cook this as written in a glass baking dish, in part because I didn't think I could fit all the ingredients in the actual tagine. It was decently tasty but not a favourite.

Fish Tagine with Carrots and Olives

Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan (p. 244)

Ingredients

• 4+2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• ¼ C chopped cilantro
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½+½ tsp salt, divided
• ⅛+⅛ tsp pepper, divided
• 4 halibut or cod fillets, ~185g each
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 500g carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 24 kalamata olives, pitted
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together 4 tbsp oil with the cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, ½ tsp salt, and ⅛ tsp pepper.
2. Add the fish and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes, turning once.
3. In another bowl, combine the remaining 2 tbsp oil, honey, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, ½ tsp salt, and ⅛ tsp pepper.
4. Add the carrots and toss to coat.
5. Arrange the carrot slices evenly in the bottom of a 9"×13" glass baking dish.
6. Layer half the onion and lemon slices on top.
7. Layer the fish on top of that, reserving the marinade.
8. Layer remaining onion and lemon slices on top of the fish.
9. Sprinkle over olives, then pour over reserved marinade.
10. Cover with tinfoil, leaving a small gap at the edges.
11. Bake at 375°F for 1 hour, or until fish flakes easily and vegetables are tender.

This was a decent dish, but it really feels like more of a side-dish than a main course. I think it would be good with a nice piece of salmon or maybe some chicken.

I also messed up a bit in that I forgot that this recipe called for green onions. So when TF asked me if she could use the rest on her lunch, I told her to go ahead. With no fresh green onions left, I ended up using a bit of scallion oil for roasting the veggies instead of the olive oil suggested in the original.

Wheat Berries with Roasted Veggies

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. wheat berries¹
• 3 c. vegetable stock²
• 3 parsnips, peeled and cubed
• 1 small (or 1/2 large) butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 large onion (preferably red), peeled and cubed
• 5-7 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil (or scallion oil)
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. dried cranberries
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Combine wheat berries and vegetable stock in a small pot and bring to a boil.
2. reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for ~1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
4. Toss parsnips, squash, onion, and garlic with oli, vinegar, salt, and pepper and dump into a roasting pan.
5. Roast for ~45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
6. Peel the garlic and return to the veggies.
7. Drain wheat berries and combine with roasted veggies.
8. Toss with cranberries, parsley, and green onions.
9. Drizzle with additional vinegar and serve.

---

¹ I wasn't sure whether hard or soft wheat berries would be better, but I had more hard than soft, so that's what I went with. I figured, if nothing else, hard wheat would offer marginally more protein than soft. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 3 1/2 c. water. I did use 3 1/2 c. of water, but opted to add an "herb & garlic" bouillon cube as well. I like how that worked out, so I think I'd just use 3 c. of stock next time. (I don't think the extra 1/2 c. was necessary since it just gets drained at the end anyway. ^Back

I had initially been thinking of making pavlova with the leftover egg whites I had in the fridge, but after considering it for a bit, I decided that I wanted to try a different egg white recipe. These little chocolate meringue cookies looked pleasingly simple, so I decided to give them a go. They were a big hit with both TF and the Kidlet.

Spumette

From The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. hazelnuts
• 140g icing (confectioners'/powdered) sugar
• 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder¹
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3 large egg whites
• pinch (~1/16 tsp.) coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and bake hazelnuts for 8-10 minutes.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 150°C (300°F) and transfer nuts to a tea towel, let cool, and rub to remove the skins.
3. Separate the nuts from the skins and coarsely chop the nuts. Set aside.
4. Grease and flour 2-3 baking sheets.
5. Sift together the sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.
6. Beat the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form.
7. Gently fold in the sugar mixture.
8. Add the nuts and fold those in as well.
9. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the prepared baking sheets. (You should get 30-36 cookies.)
10. Bake at 150°C (300°F) for ~15 minutes. (Cookies should be dry to the touch, but still soft.)
11. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

---

¹ I used "natural" cocoa powder for this, but feel free to experiment with alkalized (Dutched) cocoa powder if you like. ^Back

Continuing my way through the parfait recipes in the Breakfast Bible, I decided to give this citrusy one a try. It's ideally meant to be made with pistachios and goji berries, both of which I usually have on hand. But I'd forgotten that I'd used up the last of my goji berries a while ago and hadn't bothered restocking immediately since I don't tend to use them very often. Whoops! Fortunately the recipe also suggested golden raisins as an acceptable alternative. And those I did have!

I really enjoyed this combination. The colours were pretty and the flavours were excellent. That said, I think it also would have been fine with regular oranges. Not quite as visually striking, maybe, but I think the flavours still would have worked out quite well. And I actually really liked the sweetness of the raisins in it. The do think the goji berries would have been a nice complement to the lemon, but they also tend to be a bit less sweet than raisins in my experience, so choose your fruit according to your tastes.

I found pistachios a somewhat surprising combination here. It was good, don't get me wrong! Just unexpected. I really enjoyed the pistachios in it, but I think it would be interesting to experiemnt with different nuts too. Toasted almonds were my first idea, but I think cashews could also be quite nice. Maybe something to consider for next time...

Blood Orange and Lemon Curd Parfaits

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. lemon curd, divided
• 4 blood oranges, peeled and sectioned¹, divided
• 1/4 c. dried goji berries or golden raisins, divided
• 3 c. plain Greek yogurt, divided
• 1/4 c. chopped pistachios², divided

Directions

1. Put 2 Tbsp. of lemon curd in the bottom of each jar.
2. Top each with the sections from 1/2 an orange.
3. Add 1/2 Tbsp. of raisins or goji berries to each one.
4. Then add 6 Tbsp. of yogurt to each jar.
5. Repeat layers. (This should use up the remainder of the lemon curd, oranges, raisins/goji berries, and yogurt.)
6. Top each parfait with 1 Tbsp. of pistachios and serve.

---

¹ The original recipe called for "peeled and sliced", but I felt like cutting out the membrane entirely would make them easier to eat, so I opted for sectioning rather than slicing. ^Back
2 If you have the time and patience for it, I think toasting the pistachios before chopping would make the final result even tastier. That said, I still found it very good with untoasted pistachios, so go with whatever works for you. ^Back

This came together gratifyingly quickly. The longest part was pressure-cooking the beans, but that gave me time to dismantle the chicken and mise-en-place all the ingredients.

Quick Green Chicken Chili

Cook's Country August/September 2018 (recipe card)

Ingredients

• 1.5 C mixed dry black and great northern beans
• 6C half-strength chicken or vegetable stock (or 6C water + 1 stock cube)
• 2 tsp (~0.5L worth) Better than Bouillon stock concentrate or equivalent
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• ¾ tsp pepper, ground
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp cumin, ground
• 1 C premade green salsa
• 1 grocery store roast chicken, skinned and shredded
• ½ C fresh cilantro, chopped
• Yoghurt and hot sauce (for serving)

Directions

1. Add beans and stock to pressure cooker. Pressure cook high for 40 minutes.
2. Depressurize and drain beans, reserving 1L of cooking water. If you have less than 1L, top up with tap water.
3. Stir stock concentrate into the bean water; set aside.
4. Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.
5. Add onion and pepper and cook until translucent and softened, ~5 minutes.
6. Stir in garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
7. Stir in beans, bean water, and salsa. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
8. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 10 minutes.
9. Mash some of the beans against the side of the pot for thickness, if desired.
10. Stir in chicken and cilantro and cook until warmed through, ~2 minutes.
11. Serve with yoghurt and hot sauce; we found that this tomatillo-based sauce worked nicely.

My mom makes amazing lemon curd every year at Christmas. It's great just dolloped into little tart shells (or eaten staight out of the jar on a spoon)! And I appreciate that, unlike most lemon curd recipes, hers uses whole eggs. I should really do a write-up for it one of these days. This, however, is not that recipe. This is the lemon curd recipe from The Good Egg.

This particular recipe follows the usual method of using egg yolks only for the curd. This can be somewhat inconvenient, but we have lots of eggs right now and I figure I can always make a pavlova or some other meringue-based confection later this week.

I do intend to do a write-up for my mom's recipe at some point, but I already had the egg book out and readily to hand, so this was convenient for today. Plus, it pleases the completionist in me to check of more recipes!

I appreciate how quickly and easily this lemon curd came together. It was simple to make and came out beautifully with a nice, tart lemon flavour. I'm looking forward to trying it in some parfaits tomorrow.

Lemon Curd

From The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 c. butter, cut into 12-16 pieces

Directions

1. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens.
2. Reduce heat slightly and whisk in butter, once piece at a time, until very thick.
3. Pour into tightly jar and store in fridge until ready to use.

We don't have shrimp very often anymore since the Kidlet started having bad reactions to shellfish. But, I picked up some small shrimp on sale and decided to give this a go as a brunch thing for me and TF.

I really like this salad! It's a great combo of flavours, satisfying, and easy to make. I do think it would be nice with a few capers added, but it's really good as-is.

I didn't have any fresh dill, so I just used dry instead. It's not quite as aromatic and vibrant as fresh would have been, but it was still tasty and much more convenient this way. I also ended up using a mix of peas and corn since I was a bit short on peas. I think both work well in this salad. And, while I did use the sweet onion as prescribed by the recipe, I think that green onions would make a decent substitute if you don't happen to have any sweet onions on hand. Oh, and I also added an extra egg just because I thought the proportions looked better that way. I might even consider adding a sixth egg next time.

For a somewhat lighter option, I think that you could probably get away with swapping out up to half the mayo with plain Greek yogurt. Especially if you added a bit of extra salt and/or capers.

Shrimp, Potato, and Egg Salad

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 450g small potatoes
• 340g cooked and peeled tiny shrimp (150-200/lb. size)
• 1 c. frozen green peas
• 1/2 c. frozen corn (optional)
• 5-6 hard-boiled eggs¹
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise
• 2-4 Tbsp. minced sweet onion
• 2 Tbsp. minced fresh dill (or 1 Tbsp. dried)
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. capers (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt²
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• cherry tomatoes (optional)
• lettuce (optional)

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes until fork-tender (~20 minutes).
2. Place shrimp, peas, and corn (if using) in a colander in the sink and drain the potatoes into the colander. (The hot water will thaw the shrimp and veggies.)
3. Peel and dice the potatoes and the eggs.
4. Combine the potatoes, eggs, shrimp, peas, corn (if using), mayo, onion, dill, lemon juice, capers (if using), salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
5. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
6. Serve as is or on a bed of lettuce with cherry tomatoes.

---

¹ I actually just dropped the eggs into the pot with the potatoes to cook. I took them out after 12 minutes and let them sit in a bowl of cold water to cool down while the potatoes finished cooking. ^Back
2 Reduce or omit salt if using capers. ^Back

I needed an easy dinner to throw together earlier this week and this chili mac recipe fit the bill. The original was written for ground beef, macaroni, and pinto beans, but suggested experimenting with different meats. I opted to replace the ground beef with ground chicken and also swapped out the macaroni with whole wheat rotini and I ended up using black beans instead of pinto beans.

The end result was okay, but slightly bland. Adding some of the leftover pulled pork really helped perk it up. I also think adding some cilantro and a few more spices would have been helpful.

Chili Mac

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil (or bacon grease)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 450g ground chicken
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, bruised
• 1 tsp. dhania-jeera masala¹
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 small (400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (540mL) can pinto beans (or black beans), drained
• 4 c. chicken broth²
• 250g macaroni (or other short pasta)³
• ~1 c. grated cheese (preferably a mix of cheddar and Monterey Jack)
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion and cook until softened (5-6 minutes).
3. Add the garlic and jalapeño and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the chicken and cook, stirring and breaking it up until cooked through (5-6 minutes).
5. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, dhania-jeera masala, oregano, and pepper and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
6. Add the tomato, beans, and broth and bring to a boil.
7. Add macaroni and reduce heat to medium.
8. Cook until pasta is done (7-8 minutes or according to package directions).
9. Stir in half the cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.
10. Top with green onions, cilantro, and remaining cheese and serve.

---

¹ The original recipe just called for 1/2 Tbsp. of cumin, which is how I made it this time. Having tasted it now though, I think I'd make it with a mix of cumin and dhania-jeera masala next time. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 4 c. chicken broth, but since I was using a commercial broth concentrate, I was worried that would make it too salty, so I ended up using 3 c. of broth + 1 c. of water. Next time though, I think I'd just use the full 4 c. of broth. ^Back
3 The original recipe called for 220g macaroni. I didn't have macaroni, so I used 220g of whole wheat rotini instead. I found that the final dish was a bit too soupy for my liking. Next time I might try using a bit more pasta to see if that helps balance things out. ^Back

I've been wanting to try this cake out for a while. I wasn't sure how the sesame and bananas would harmonize, but I thought it sounded like an interesting idea.

The cake is very nice. Light, fluffy, and moist. The banana comes through gently. I couldn't really taste the tahini, but I think it added some richness to the cake.

I cut back the sugar and salt a bit, but didn't make any other changes to the recipe. I think it would be interesting to try it with whole wheat flour next time. But I think it's good as is.

Tahini-Banana Snack Cake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 c. tahini
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 bananas
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 milk, divided
• 2 tsp. sesame seeds

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 20cm (8") square pan.
2. Combine the flour and salt and sift in the baking soda.
3. Beat the butter with the tahini and sugar until light and fluffy (~3 minutes).
4. Add the eggs, one at a time.
5. Break up the bananas and beat them in one chunk at a time (or mash the bananas in a separate bowl first).
6. Reduce mixer speed to lowest setting and mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by 2 Tbsp. of the milk.
7. Mix in 1/2 the remaining dry ingredients followed by the remaining 2 Tbsp. of milk.
8. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients and give a final stir by hand.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top.
10. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
11. Bake on middle rack at 180°C (350°F) for 40-50 minutes.
12. Cool in pan for at least 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

I was perusing the Dish of the Day book looking for breakfast ideas and ran across this quiche recipe. The original recipe included a crust, but I was trying to cut both time and calories from the preparation, so I left that bit out. I also increased the spinach a bit and added an extra egg.

Crustless Spinach-Feta Quiche

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. frozen chopped spinach or kale, thawed
• 4 large eggs
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• ~1/16 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 150g feta, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a pie plate with a little butter.
2. Spread the spinach over the bottom of the pie plate.
3. Beat eggs with milk, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
4. Pour egg mixture over spinach.
5. Sprinkle the feta over the surface.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~40 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

---

Variations

Quiche with Crust

Ingredients

Pastry

• 220g all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. ice water

Filling

• 1 1/2 c. frozen chopped spinach or kale, thawed
• 4 large eggs
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• ~1/16 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 150g feta, crumbled

Directions

1. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients.
3. Mix in the water 1 Tbsp. at a time until the pastry comes together.
4. Shape into a disc, wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
6. Roll out the pastry and use it to line a pie plate.
7. Crimp the edges of the crust, line the shell with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights.
8. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes.
9. Remove weights and paper and bake for another 5 minutes.
10. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and move oven rack to lowest position.
11. Fill pie shell and bake quiche as for crustless version above: spinach + custard + cheese, then bake for 40 minutes and rest for 5.

Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread (Bernard Clayton)

I'm not sure what's up with this recipe, but it was way, way too dry. Overall, the recipe calls for 6-7 c. of flour, 1 c. of starter, and only 1 1/2 c. of water. It doesn't specify a hydration level for the starter but, assuming 100% hydration, that only gives ~50% hydration for the final dough. I managed to incorporate 4 1/2 c. of flour before the dough got so stiff and dry that it wasn't even really dough anymore. I ended up having to work a bunch more water in just to get it back to a useable texture again. I didn't measure, but I think I had probably added another 1/2 c. of water by the end of kneading.

I got a decent loaf of bread out in the end, but just one and not two like the recipe promised. And I had to change the proportions so much that it barely counts as the same recipe anymore.

Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread

Adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

Sponge

• 250g active (fresh/fed) starter @ 100% hydration
• 1 1/2 c. warm water (45°C)
• 300g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour

Dough

• 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 250g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour

Directions

1. Make sure your starter is well-fed and active. If it's not, feed 50g starter with 100g each of flour and water and let it ferment overnight.
2. Once the starter is active, add the water and flour for the sponge and mix well. Cover and ferment at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
3. Once sponge has fermented, mix in the yeast and the salt.
4. Work in the flour 1/4 c. at a time (either by hand or with the flat beater of a stand mixer).
5. Cover and allow dough to rest for 10-15 minutes.
6. Knead by hand for ~30 minutes or 5-7 minutes with a dough hook. Work in a little more flour or water as necessary to achieve a good consistency.
7. Cover and allow to rise (~1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge).
8. Knock the dough back, knead a few strokes, round, cover, and rest for 10-15 minutes.
9. Grease a 23x13 (9x5") loaf pan.
10. Press the dough flat, letter fold, and roll up to form your loaf. Place, seam-side-down, in prepared pan.
11. Cover and set aside to rise at room temperature. (I didn't time it, but probably ~45 minutes.)
12. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
13. Brush loaves with a bit of water and slit tops.
14. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 20-30 minutes.
15. Once loaf is done, turn off oven and leave loaf in hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
16. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

Apparently "barm brack" is Irish for "yeast bread". It's a rich, fruity bread full of butter, eggs, sugar, raisins, and candied fruit. It reminds me a bit of hot cross buns in loaf form.

I had a bit of trouble judging when these were done. I'm usually pretty good with that sort of thing, but I think the quantity of inclusions threw me off a bit. It was still tasty, the crust was just a bit thicker than it should've been because I didn't realize that I'd pulled it out of the oven too soon until after it had already cooled significantly. Other than that though, this recipe worked out very well. (And the Kidlet absolutely loved it!)

Barm Brack

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 500g hard (strong/high grade/bread) or all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 3/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. golden raisins
• 1/2 c. mixed peel or mixed candied fruit
• 1 tsp. sugar dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water

Directions

1. Combine 180g flour with sugar, salt, lemon zest, and yeast.
2. Combine butter, water, and milk and heat to ~50°C (~120°F).
3. Add the hot butter mixture to the flour mixture and beat with a wooden spoon or the flat beater of a stand mixer for ~2 minutes.
4. Add the eggs and another 100g of flour and beat for another 2 minutes.
5. If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook at this point and continue adding flour ~1/4 c. (~30g) at a time until dough comes together into a shaggy mass.
6. Turn out onto counter and knead by hand for 10-15 minutes (or continue working with dough hook in stand mixer for 2-4 minutes).
7. Add a little more flour or water as needed during kneading in order to get a nice, smooth, relatively soft dough.
8. Round the dough and place in a covered bowl to rise for 45-60 minutes.
9. Knock back and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
10. Work in the raisins and the candied fruit.
11. Divide dough into two equal portions and round each one.
12. Cover and rest for 5-10 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, grease two loaf 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
14. Flatten each round, letter fold, roll up, and place each loaf seam-side-down in one of the prepared loaf pans.
15. Cover and allow to rise for another 45-60 minutes.
16. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
17. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for ~40 minutes.
18. Remove loaves from pans and return to oven without the pans for 10 minutes.
19. Brush loaves with sugar glaze and return to oven for another 2 minutes.
20. Turn oven off and allow loaves to sit in hot oven for another 5-10 minutes.
21. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

I picked up some raspberries on sale during my last grocery shop and decided to try making these little buckles with them. They were pretty nice! Although I had to play around with the baking times a bit since I was using six 250mL baking dishes rather than eight 180mL ones. That wasn't a huge issue though. They just needed a few extra minutes to finish cooking through.

Photo goes here.

Raspberry-Pistachio Buckles

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. pistachios, divided
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 c. fresh raspberries¹

Directions

1. Toast 1/4 c. of the pistachios over medium heat until fragrant (~4 minutes). Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease your ramekins. (I used six 250mL ramekins for mine.)
3. Add the pistachios to a blender or food processor and grind.
4. Add the butter, sugar, and salt and pulse to mix.
5. With blender/processor running, add the eggs, one at a time.
6. Pour in the cream and vanilla with blender still running and process until smooth.
7. Pour mixture into a bowl.
8. Add the flour and baking powder and stir to mix.
9. Add the raspberries and stir to combine.
10. Spoon mixture into ramekins and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c. of pistachios.
11. Place ramekins on baking sheet and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 35-45 minutes.
12. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
13. Serve plain or with whipped cream.

---

Variations

Blackberry-Walnut Buckles

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. walnuts, divided
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 c. fresh blackberries

Cherry-Almond Buckles

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. sliced or slivered almonds, divided
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 c. frozen sweet cherries, thawed (or fresh pitted sweet cherries)

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¹ ATK notes that frozen raspberries don't work well for this recipe as they're too wet and mushy. ^Back

I was going to make the Carolina red slaw recipe from Cook's Country to go with our pulled pork. However, it turns out that the slaw recipes for that issue were only actually part of the digital edition and are no longer available unless you're a paid subscriber. Bummer.

I thought about looking for "red slaw" recipes elsewhere. There are definitely lots online. But, given how many cookbooks we have (and how much of a completionist I am), I figured that maybe it made more sense to seek out a coleslaw recipe in one of the many cookbooks we own instead.

A quick search of Dish of the Day turned up this buttermilk slaw recipe. I didn't have the red cabbage for it, but I did still have a truly terrifying amount of green cabbage, so I decided to just make it with all green cabbage. Not as pretty, for sure, but it was still nice. Although I think we ended up going a bit heavy on the pepper and light on the salt. I've corrected that in the recipe below.

Buttermilk Coleslaw with Carrots and Raisins

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. golden raisins
• 3/4 c. mayonnaise
• 1/2 c. buttermilk¹
• 1/4 c. sour cream²
• ~1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
• ~1/4 c. chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 2 carrots, peeled and grated
• 2-3 shallots, halved and sliced
• 3 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• ~1kg cabbage, thinly sliced (preferably a mix of red and green)

Directions

1. Soak the raisins in warm water for 20-30 minutes, then drain.
2. Combine the mayo, buttermilk, sour cream, parsley, chives, salt, and pepper and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the carrots, shallots and vinegar, mix well, and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage and raisins.
5. Add the dressing and carrot mixture and mix very well.
6. Garnish with additional parsley and chives and serve.

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¹ I was all out of buttermilk, but I remembered that I had some buttermilk powder in the pantry, so I just used 2 Tbsp. of that + 1/2 c. of water for the buttermilk component of my dressing. ^Back
2 This dressing would absolutely be best made with full fat sour cream. I chose to swap in fat-free Greek yogurt for my dressing both to reduce the calorie count and to avoid having to go out to the shops for any more ingredients. ^Back

Peach and mustard is a good combo with pork. This recipe reminds me a bit of our Christmas ham recipe. This just uses an uncured pork shoulder rather than ham and makes the sauce with lots of tomato and vinegar to create something more like a barbecue sauce.

I think this would've been beautiful done on the barbecue, but it's cold and I was tired, so I just did it in the oven. I think it really would have benefitted from a long, slow, cooking over indirect heat on the grill. As it was, I found I needed to tweak the oven cooking a bit.

I initially just cooked it at 300°F for 5 hours as directed in the recipe, but I failed to check the internal temperature before removing it from the oven and, after resting it for a while, TF found that it was a bit undercooked when she went to shred the meat. So, back into the oven it went! We ended up nudging the temperature up to 350°F and cooking it for another hour. That did the job and got it up to the desired internal temperature, but I think it would've been nice with an even longer cook time. We were just hungry and tired and wanted to get it done, so we rolled with it as it was.

Pulled Pork with Peach-Mustard Sauce

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 bone-in pork shoulder (~3kg)
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp. mustard seeds
• 2 c. cider vinegar, divided
• 1 c. water
• 7 onions, 4 sliced, 3 chopped
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter¹
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 400mL crushed tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 c. peach jam
• 1/2 c. Roman mustard² or Dijon mustard
• 1/2 c. bourbon³
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp. hotsauce
• buns, to serve
• coleslaw, to serve

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (300°F) and grease or oil a roasting pan.
2. Combine the salt, pepper, mustard seeds and grind.
3. Slather the ground spices over the entire surface of the pork shoulder and place it in the prepared roasting pan.
4. Pour the water and 1 c. of the vinegar into the roasting pan.
5. Add the sliced onions over and around the pork.
6. Cover with foil and bake at 160°C (300°F) for 4 hours.
7. Remove foil and return to oven for another hour or two (until internal temperature reads at least 80°C/175°F).
8. If pork is still not done (or if you'd like to brown the outside a bit more), increase the temperature to 180°C (350°F) and cook for another 30-60 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat and add the chopped onions and garlic. Cook until onions have softened and started to brown (~10 minutes).
10. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, jam, mustard, bourbon, honey, sugar, and hotsauce.
11. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours.
12. Once pork is done, set aside to cool for ~1 hour.
13. Remove pork and onions from roasting pan. Shred the meat and discard the fat.
14. Add ~1/2 the sauce to the shredded pork and mix well.
15. Serve the pork on buns with extra sauce and coleslaw.

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¹ The original recipe called for 1/2 c. of butter! I cut this back to 2 Tbsp. and I'm perfectly happy with the results. Next time I might even be tempted to skip the butter altogether and just skim some fat off the pork drippings to use in my sauce. Either way, I don't think you need 8 Tbsp. of butter to make a good sauce for your pork! That just seems excessive. ^1
2 I only ended up putting 1/4 c. of mustard into our sauce. I wanted to taste it first and see if it seemed like it needed the whole 1/2 c. I think it was fine with only half the amount, but more would've been better. I just got a bit frazzled toward the end of the evening and forgot about adding the rest of the mustard. At least now I'll know for next time! ^Back
3 I didn't have any bourbon handy, so I just tossed in some rum. Not the same, I know, but I didn't want to go out to the LCBO just for that, so I made do with what I had. ^Back

This recipe got significantly overhauled by symbol. As written, there's too much broth for our quinoa, so that got reduced; the spices got tweaked and oil reduced, too.

For the final "drizzle with oil" step, the original recipe calls for ¼ C of olive oil. We had just made this tagine, and it produced lots of grease; we ended up skimming off about ¼ C of the sauce, of which maybe ¾ were grease. I've approximated this with schmaltz here. If you want to keep it vegetarian, use a reduced quantity of olive oil.

Moroccan-Spiced Roasted Vegetables and Quinoa

Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan (p. 50)

Ingredients

• 3 large parsnips (or 6 small ones), peeled and cut into 1cm pieces
• 2 large carrots (or 4 small ones), peeled and cut into 1cm pieces
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ras el hanout
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp grease + 1 tbsp other sauce bits
• 1½ C chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 C quinoa, rinsed
• ¼ C dried apricots, quartered
• 3 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2-3 tbsp schmaltz or other oil for drizzling

Directions

1. Toss parsnips and carrots with oil, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, ras el hanout, salt, and pepper.
2. Arrange on a baking sheet and roast at 400°F until vegetables are tender and starting to caramelize, 35-40 minutes
3. Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan.
4. Add the quinoa, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, 12-15 minutes.
5. Transfer quinoa to a large bowl. Top with vegetables, apricots, almonds, and parsley.
6. Drizzle over schmaltz and serve.

This ended up being squash-tortilla soup rather than pumpkin-tortilla, but it still worked out very well and everyone enjoyed it a lot.

Pumpkin-Tortilla Soup

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 large corn tortillas (or 6 small ones)
• 2 Tbsp. oil, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1/2 Tbsp. cumin seeds, crushed
• 1/2 tsp. dhania-jeera masala
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 400mL diced tomatoes¹
• ~2 c. cooked black beans
• 3 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 c. cubed, peeled pumpkin (or delicata squash)
• ~1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 avocado, diced (optional)
• 2-3 radishes, sliced (optional)
• 2-3 green onions, sliced (optional)
• 1/2 c. crumbled feta and/or shredded Monterey Jack (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat to 230°C (450°F).
2. Cut the tortillas in half and then crosswise into strips.
3. Toss the tortilla strips with 1 Tbsp. of the oil.
4. Spread the tortilla pieces on a baking sheet and bake at 230°C (450°F) -- preferably on convection/fan setting) -- for ~5 minutes.
5. Flip/turn the pieces and return to oven for 2-3 minutes longer. Set aside.
6. Heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil over medium heat.
7. Add the onion and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
8. Add the garlic and jalapeño and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
9. Add the cumin, masala, and oregano and cook for another minute or so.
10. Add the tomatoes, black beans, stock, and pumpkin and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
11. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until pumpkin is tender (~15 minutes).
12. Top with tortilla pieces and fresh cilantro.
13. Optionally garnish wiht avocado, radish, green onion, and/or cheese and serve.

---

¹ I was all out of diced tomatoes, so I ended up using crushed instead. ^Back

This is another parfait recipe from The Breakfast Bible. Or, at least, it's based on one of the recipes in there; I ended up modifying it a fair bit. The original called for pinepple and papaya as the main fruits. I'm not crazy about papaya, so I swapped it out for mango. I also added a bit of shredded coconut because that seemed like it would go well. And a touch of honey because my pinapple was a bit on the tart side. I also just bumped up the overall proportion of fruit a bit. I had about twice as much fruit as the recipe called for, but I didn't end up using it all. I think I ended up using ~50% more fruit than specified in the original recipe, so I've written up my version to reflect this.

I've given ranges for some of the ingredients. Use more or less honey and lime depending on how sweet or tart your fruit is (and how sweet you'd like the finished parfait to be).

Pineapple-Mango Parfaits

Adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• ~2 c. chopped pineapple (fresh, not tinned)
• ~2 c. chopped mango
• 1/4 c. dried currants
• 2-3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1-2 Tbsp. honey
• 3 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c. unsweetened dried coconut¹
• 8 tsp. wheat germ

Directions

1. Combine the pineapple, mango, currants, 2 Tbsp. lime juice, and 1 Tbsp. honey and stir to mix.
2. Taste fruit mixture and add more lime juice and/or honey to taste.
3. Place 6 Tbsp. of the yogurt in the bottom of each of four glasses or jars.
4. Add ~1/2 c. of the fruit mixture to each jar.
5. Top each with 6 more Tbsp. of yogurt, followed by another 1/2 c. of fruit.
6. Add 1 Tbsp. of coconut to each parfait.
7. Top each with 2 tsp. of wheat germ.

---

¹ I think fresh grated or shaved coconut would be even better here, but I didn't have any, so I just used dried. Toasted coconut might also be nice. ^Back

More and more people seem to be following gluten-free diets these days. Sometimes this is out of necessity (due to things like celiac or other intolerances), sometimes it's out of the belief that wheat- or grain-free diets are inherently healthier than diets that include these starches. Regardless of the underlying reasons, the result is that it's becoming increasingly likely that a given group of people will include someone who can't (or is chosing not to) eat wheat.

Given that, I felt that it might make sense to make a few gluten-free goodies to send along with the regular cupcakes for the Kidlet's class. I've generally had good luck with America's Test Kitchen recipes, so I turned to them for a good gluten-free cupcake option.

These cupcakes were okay, but somewhat underwhelming. It's difficult to evaluate fairly though because I don't like confetti cupcakes to begin with. The Kidlet says that she ranks the cupcakes themselves about the same as the non-gluten-free ones that she made from a box mix (although she didn't really care for the vegan icing that I topped them with). TF tried one and said that they were just so-so. Given that, I'll probably try a different gluten-free recipe next time.

I do appreciate that the folks at ATK explained their recipe though. They noted that since GF flour doesn't absorb fat as readily as wheat flour, they found that they needed to swap out the butter for oil and reduce the quantity in order to avoid greasy cupcakes. Then, to restore some of the flavour and richess lost by removing the butter, they added a bit of white chocolate and sour cream. The xanthan gum is needed to help the cupcakes rise in the absence of gluten. My GF flour blend already contained xanthan gum, so I didn't bother going out and getting extra, but I think I probably should have since much cupcakes did not rise very well.

This all sounded good in theory, but I wasn't super impressed with the final result. And while some of that may be down to the missing xanthan gum and the resulting lack of rising, I don't think a lighter texture would have solved everything. As noted, I'll probably be looking for a different GF recipe next time. But at least this one did the job on this particular occasion.

Gluten-Free Confetti Cupcakes

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 115g white chocolate
• 6 Tbsp. oil
• 185g gluten-free all-purpose flour blend
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. sour cream
• 1/4 c. rainbow sprinkles

Frosting¹

• 3 c. vanilla frosting
• 3 Tbsp. rainbow sprinkles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) and add paper or foil liners to your muffin tin.
2. Heat oil and white chocolate gently, stirring often, until melted and smooth (3-5 30-second bursts in microwave). Set aside to cool.
3. Sift baking powder, baking soda, and xanthan gum into GF flour.
4. Mix in salt.
5. In a separate bowl, beat eggs with vanilla.
6. Whisk sugar into egg mixture.
7. Beat cooled chocolate mixture into eggs.
8. Stir in sour cream.
9. Add dry ingredients to wet and whisk until smooth.
10. Mix in sprinkles.
11. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin.
12. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for ~20 minutes.
13. Let cool in tin for ~10 minutes.
14. Turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.
15. Meanwhile, make the frosting.
16. Stir sprinkles into frosting.
17. Once the cupcakes are completely cool, decorate with frosting as desired.

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¹ I didn't want to have to make three separate batches of icing, so I skipped the vanilla confetti icing for my GF cupcakes and just used some of the vegan chocolate frosting on them instead. Perhaps not as gastronomically harmonious, but it saved me a bunch of effort, ingredients, and dishes, so that worked for me! ^Back

Although I've learned a bit more about vegan baking over the years, I still don't have that much experience with it. I'm happy enough to replace eggs with flax "eggs" in pancake and muffin batters. And milk is usually easy enough to replace since there are now a plethora of non-dairy milks easily available at the grocery store. Sugar is fine as long as you're careful about how it's processed. And butter can usually be swapped out with some other fat, although you may have to make some adjustments to compensate for lost flavour and water content. But, despite knowing a lot of the theory of how to "veganize" a recipe, I haven't had much occasion to actually do it. So I was happy to have a well-tested vegan cupcake available when I wanted to send some goodies into the Kidlet's class for their Hallowe'en celebration.

I was really happy with how these cupcakes turned out! They were pleasingly chocolate-y and they rose very well. TF felt that they had a very slightly "off" flavour, but I couldn't detect it.

All that being said, they were a bit annoying to make. Aside from requiring the use of three separate bowls and needing to make an aquafaba-based whipped egg white analogue, I just found the batter very loose and runny and difficult to work with. It had the consistency of heavy cream and was basically impossible to scoop with a spoon the way I normally do for cupcakes. I ended up making a huge mess trying. I think I'll just decant the batter into a large measuring cup and pour it into the liners next time!

I was worried that the fact that it was so loose meant that something had gone wrong. But the cupcakes still seem to have baked up fine. Whether this was because that's how it was supposed to be or that I just got lucky and they worked out in spite of the extremely thin batter, I'm not sure. But either way, I got some great cupcakes out of it!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 190g all-purpose flour
• 1 c. organic sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. Dutched (alkalized) cocoa powder
• 30g dark chocolate¹
• 1/4 c. coconut oil
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 c. aquafaba
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• Vegan Chocolate Frosting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a muffin tin with papers.
2. Combine flour, sugar, and salt.
3. Sift in baking powder and baking soda.
4. In a separate bowl, combine water, cocoa powder, chocolate, coconut oil, and vanilla.
5. Heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.
6. Add cream of tartar to aquafaba and beat until stiff peaks form (3-9 minutes on high speed).
7. Add chocolate mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine.
8. Add ~1/3 of the whipped aquafaba and stir it in to loosen the batter.
9. Add the remaining aquafaba and gently fold it in until just combined.
10. Pour the mixture into the prepared muffin tin.
11. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15-20 minutes.
12. Let cupcakes cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.
13. Ice with chocolate frosting, decorate as desired, and serve².

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¹ Double-check to ensure that your chocolate is vegan and doesn't contain any milk ingredients. ^Back
2 ATK notes that these cupcakes are best served the same day they're made. Personally, I think they're still delicious even two or three days later, so I wouldn't worry over-much about making them ahead. I think the quality of the icing suffers a bit after the first couple days, but they're still pretty tasty even so. ^Back

I had been intending to make parfaits for breakfast this morning. But then TF reminded me of the back bacon in the fridge that really needed to be cooked and used up. And we have a surplus of eggs right now. So, instead of parfaits, TF cooked up the back bacon and I made this frittata to go with it. It's not going to be a new favourite or anything, but it was decent. Especially with a bit of chutney. And it used up ingredients on hand, so it worked out well.

Cabbage, Green Olive, and Onion Frittata

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil¹, divided
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter²
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. chile flakes
• 550g cabbage, cored and sliced
• 1/2 c. sliced green olives
• 8 large eggs
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 100g mozzarella³, thinly sliced or grated

Directions

1. Melt the butter with 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-low heat.
2. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden (~10 minutes).
3. Add the garlic and chile flakes and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the cabbage and drizzle the remaining 1-2 Tbsp. of oil on top.
5. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.
6. Stir well and cook until cabbage is fully wilted (3-5 minutes longer).
7. Add the olives.
8. Beat the eggs with the salt and pepper.
9. Pour the egg mixture over the cabbage mixture and cook until bottom is set (3-4 minutes).
10. Carefully lift up one edge of the frittata to let some of the raw egg flow under. Repeat at several points around the edge.
11. Cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes.
12. Slide the frittata out onto a plate and then invert back into the pan.
13. Sprinkle with cheese, cover, and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
14. If desired, place under the broiler for a minute or two to brown the cheese.
15. Serve with chutney or Worcestershire sauce.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 3 Tbsp. of oil. I only used 1 1/2. But I was also making this in the same pan that the bacon was cooked in, so I had all the "fond" from that to work with. It wasn't very fatty, but it was salty and flavourful. If I was making this without the accompanying bacon, I'd probably bump the oil up to at least 2 Tbsp. ^Back
2 I used the last little nubbin of butter in the wrapper. I think it was probably only ~1 tsp. maybe 1 1/2. But, again, I figured this would be fine since I had the back bacon fond to work with. (See previous footnote.) ^Back
3 I didn't have any mozzarella handy. Simmons suggests Teleme as a good choice, but I've never even heard of that cheese, so I just used the mildest melty cheese that I had: a mild, reduced-fat cheddar. ^Back

I remember the folks in the Something Awful cake thread being a big fan of marshmallow fondant. The consensus was that it was pretty easy to make, worked just as well as regular/commercial fondant for most applications, and tasted much better. (That's not to say that it tastes amazing, but the impression that I've generally gotten is that commercial fondant is basically inedible, so MMF is a big improvement on that.)

Despite all the rave reviews, I was still somewhat reluctant to try it. It sounded fiddly and easy to mess up. I was convinced that I'd end up with a sticky, unworkable mess on my hands. And I don't have that much call for fondant and molded decorations in the first place anyway, so I just haven't bothered with it until now.

I wanted to make some extra decorations for the Kidlet's class treats though and marzipan was out since that would've been an allergen nightmare, so I figured marshmallow fondant was the way to go. And, as it turns out, it wasn't too difficult or fiddly at all!

Marshmallow Fondant

From The Spruce Eats

Ingredients

• 225g marshmallows
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 450g icing sugar

Directions

1. Heat the marshmallows and water, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. I did 30-second bursts in the microwave, but very gentle heat on to stovetop¹ would also work.
2. Add the icing sugar. Stir until the mixture starts to get stiff, then turn it out onto the work surface. There will still be a lot of sugar not mixed in; this is expected!
3. Knead the marshmallow like bread dough, gradually working in the remaining sugar until the mixture becomes smooth and pliable without being overly sticky. (You might not need all of the sugar.)
4. If you manage to knead in all of the sugar and the mixture is still too sticky to work with, dust the work surface and your hands with a little more icing sugar mixed with cornstarch and knead for a few more strokes.
5. If the mixture is still sticky, then adding a bit of food grade glycerin might help. I haven't tried this, but I've seen it recommended online. Shape the "dough" into a disc, pour ~1 tsp. of glycerin into the centre of the disc, and then fold it over and knead it in.
6. I've also read that greasing your hands and the work surface with vegetable shortening can help if you're having issues with your fondant sticking to everything.
7. And, if all else fails, the Internet recommends trying a different brand of marshmallows. I used No Name mini marshmallows and they seemed to work really well for this.
8. If you want to add colour to your fondant, you can separate out however much you want to colour, shape it into a disc, add some food colouring drops or gel, and then knead it in. If you'd like to colour the whole batch of fondant, you can mix the food colouring in when you first melt the marshmallows rather than waiting until after the sugar is added.
9. Wrap the fondant tightly if not using immediately and store at cool room temperature.

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¹ I've seen people recommend using a double-boiler set-up, but I think very low direct heat would also be okay. ^Back

I quite like this frosting! I don't think either the flavour or the texture is nearly as good as non-vegan frosting, but it's still very nice. And I appreciate the simplicity of the recipe: just two ingredients and only maybe 10 minutes of active time and you have a declicious vegan-friendly chocolate frosting. You do have to plan ahead a bit, since it requires several hours of chilling before it's ready to use, but it's a very easy process overall.

ATK reported issues with separation when making this frosting with bar chocolate, so they recommended using chocolate chips instead. The stabilizers in the chocolate chips prevent the mixture from separating like it would with regular chocolate. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any chocolate chips that didn't contain milk ingredients. I looked at both dark and semi-sweet chocolate chips from three different brands and the ALL contained some form of dairy! So, in the end, I had to use bar chocolate. Luckily I didn't see any separation in my frosting. I think there may have been some stabilizers in my coconut cream, so perhaps that was enough to compensate for the lack of chocolate chips.

Vegan Chocolate Frosting

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 400mL coconut cream¹
• 575g dark chocolate chips²

Directions

1. Combine the coconut cream and chocolate and heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth.
2. Press plastic wrap into the surface of the icing and chill in fridge until mixture is the consistency of cream cheese (2-3 hours), stirring halfway through.
3. Transfer to a stand mixer and beat with whisk attachment until light and mousse-like (2-4 minutes).

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¹ The original recipe calls for chilling 3 cans of coconut milk for a day or more in order to get the cream to separate out. You can then skim the cream off the top and discard the residual milk. This approach works fine, but I actually happened to have a tin of coconut cream in the fridge, so I just used that. It saves a lot of time and effort and means that you're not wasting the residual coconut milk. The original recipe only called for 1 1/2 c. of coconut cream (~360mL), but I had a 400mL can, so I just used the whole thing and added a little bit more chocolate to compensate. ^Back
2 Check the ingredients to make sure your chocolate chips are vegan. If you can't find vegan chocolate chips, you can try using bar chocolate instead (with the same diligence in checking for added dairy), just be aware that your frosting may be prone to separation without the stabilizers from the chocolate chips. ^Back

This tagine smelled amazing! The herbs... the lemon... the garlic... the saffron! It all makes a great combination. And the chicken did come out nice and tender. I feel like it smelled better than it tasted though. It's not that it was bad -- it was nice. But it just wasn't as nice as I'd hoped based on smelling it during cooking.

I only used 1/3 of the oil called for in the recipe and I still found the sauce/broth to be excessively fatty. I would have preferred a thicker, leaner sauce. This produced a very brothy dish with a thick layer of fat on top.

I think, next time, I'll skin whatever chicken parts I'm using first. The recipe specifically calls for skin-on bone-in thighs, but I might want to try it with a whole chicken that's been skinned and jointed. I figure I could just reserve the back and wings for making stock and use the legs, thighs and breasts for the tagine. I might need to split the breasts since they're pretty bulky and take longer to cook, but I think that a mix of skinless parts would probably produce a better result than the fatty, skin-on thighs did.

I'd also get a different variety of olives next time. The recipe didn't specify a type beyond "green". And normally that would be fine. I'd just go out and get a generic jar of green olives and call it a day. But since they were one of the key components of this dish and since the recipe called for such a large quantity of them, I went out to look for nice imported olives. I ended up picking up a jar of Cerignola olives as they most closely resembed what was shown in the photo of the finished dish. Having now tried them, they're not my favourite olive, but I like them well enough¹. But TF really isn't a fan. I figure maybe I can look for some high-quality Manzanilla olives or go to the Halal grocery store downtown and see what types they have available. (Maybe it would make a good excuse to finally get a jar of those little grilled olives that they have!)

Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/4 tsp. saffron threads
• 2 Tbsp. hot water
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 c. fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 c. lemon juice, divided
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 small chicken (1-1.5kg), skinned and jointed
• 2 preserved lemons, thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. whole green olives

Directions

1. Pour the hot water over the saffron threads and allow to steep for 5-10 minutes.
2. Combine the onions, cilantro, parsley, 2 Tbsp. of the lemon juice, cumin, ginger, turmeric, salt, garlic, 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil, and saffron (together with its soaking liquid) in a blender or food processor and blend into a pulply purée.
3. Place the chicken legs, thighs, and breasts in a bowl and pour the marinade over them, tossing to coat. Reserve the back and wings for another use.
4. Cover and chill for 8-24 hours.
5. The next day, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add the lemon slices and sear on both sides until browned (~2 minutes per side).
7. Remove the lemon slices from the pan and set aside.
8. Warm a tagine over medium heat. (If you don't have one, use a Dutch oven instead).
9. Add the chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes.
10. Add the chicken broth along with any residual marinade from the chicken and bring to a boil.
11. Once the sauce is boiling, cover the tagine, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through (~40 minutes).
12. Meanwhile, put the olives in a small pot with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil.
13. Reduce the heat (under the olives) to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
14. Drain the olives and set them aside until the chicken is cooked.
15. Once the chicken is no longer pink inside, add the olives and stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice.
16. Add the seared lemon slices to the tagine as well.
17. Cover and continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is very tender (~15 minutes longer).
18. Garnish with additional parsley and/or cilantro if desired.
19. Serve with roasted veggies and/or your preferred starch.

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¹ After they'd been boiled. I tried one straight out of the jar and it was nearly inedible, both gustatorially and physically. The flesh was hard and did not want to come away from the pit! After boiling, they'd softened considerably, the flavour was nicer, and the pit separated from the flesh much more easily. TF still wasn't a fan though. Hence the search for a different type of green olive for next time. ¹