You can never go wrong with a good apple crisp! This one has walnuts mixed into the buttery oat topping to give it some extra depth. It is excellent served with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Apple Crisp with Walnut Topping

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Topping

• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. rolled oats
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

Apples

• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 6 large tart apples (Granny Smith are ideal)

Directions

1. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
2. Cut in butter until crumbly and stir in the walnuts.
3. Cover and chill untril ready to use.
4. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and lightly grease a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
5. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well.
6. Peel¹, core, slice, and halve the apples.
7. Toss the apples with the sugar mixture to coat.
8. Dump the apples into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
9. Top with the oat mixture.
10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45-50 minutes.
11. Serve with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.

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¹ We tried making this with unpeeled apples. While the results tasted lovely, it was a bit difficult to serve and the peels didn't break down during baking. I would recommend peeling in future. ^Back

I've been making a lot of waffles recently, but I swear that I didn't make three batches of waffles back-to-back! I've just been bad at staying on top of doing the write-ups as I cook the things, so now I've got a huge pile to do and I keep reaching for the waffle recipes first when I sit down to type something up. So, my apologies for this inadvertently becoming a non-stop waffle train, but I do have other recipes in the pipeline, I swear! I just need to find the spoons to actually do write-ups for them. In the meantime, here's another waffle recipe!

I really liked these waffles! They weren't my favourite, but they were certainly way up there in the list for me. They've got a bit of body to them and work well as a base for either sweet or savoury toppings. I had my first one with a dollop of sour cream and some cranberries, blueberries, and haskap berries mixed with a bit of honey. TF had hers with a fried egg and some turkey and cheese. And today I decided to go for almond butter, banana, and maple syrup as my toppings. They all worked great! Definitely a nice way to start the morning.

Buckwheat-Sour Cream Waffles

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. buckwheat flour
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Combine the flours and salt.
3. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and stir to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the sour cream and milk.
5. Whisk the brown sugar into the egg mixture.
6. Slowly pour in the melted butter while whisking vigorously.
7. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just combined.
8. Stir with a spatula to make sure there are no dry lumps of flour left. Batter will be thick and a bit gluey; this is expected.
9. Pour a portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron, close, and cook according to manufacturer's directions. Repeat until all batter has been used.
10. Serve waffles with sweet or savoury toppings of your choice.

I actually made these waffles a couple weeks ago, but I've been a bit distracted and haven't had a chance to sit down and write out the recipe 'til now.

They were really excellent. Sprinkling the chopped nuts over each portion individually as it went into the waffle iron was a bit fiddly. I might try just stirring the pecan chunks directly into the batter next time. But other than that, I have no complaints. The waffles came out great and everybody loved them!

Butter-Pecan Waffles

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1 c. pecan halves, toasted
• 250g all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 2 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Melt the butter over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and nutty (6-8 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Preheat your waffle iron.
3. Finely chop the toasted pecans (preferably in a food processor). Set half of the nuts aside.
4. Add the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda to the remaining nuts and process/blend until finely ground and well-mixed. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
5. Beat the egg yolks with the buttermilk and vanilla.
6. Gradually whisk the browned butter into the buttermilk mixture.
8. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just combined. (Some lumps are okay.)
9. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
10. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
11. Pour a portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and sprinkle with ~1 Tbsp. of the reserved chopped pecans. Close the waffle iron and cook according the manufacturer's instructions. Repeat until all batter has been used.
12. Serve with maple syrup, cream cheese, and/or whipped cream.

Even more waffles!

These waffles didn't rank very highly with the Kidlet, but I quite liked them. They had an almost lacey, delicately crip exterior with a creamy interior somewhat similar to the Belgian waffles.

Photo goes here.

Toasted Oatmeal Waffles

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 1 c. quick oats
• 1 3/4 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 140g all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 large eggs

Directions

1. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter over medium heat.
2. Add the oats and cook, stirring frequently, for 8-10 minutes.
3. Add water and salt and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and cook for 3-5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and add remaining 5 Tbsp. butter and sugar, stirring until melted and fully combined.
6. Stir in buttermilk and set aside.
7. Preheat waffle iron.
8. In a large bowl, combine flour and cinnamon.
9. Sift in baking powder and baking soda and whisk to combine.
10. Beat eggs into oatmeal mixture.
11. Add oatmeal to dry ingredients and whisk to combine.
12. Pour one portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer's directions. Repeat until all batter has been used.
13. Serve with maple syrup, nut butter, fresh fruit, and/or jam.

This is a very simple dish of savory cornmeal-buttermilk pancakes topped with lightly spiced black beans. They're pretty plain on their own, but still taste lovely and are really excellent when topped with some salsa and sour cream. I'm sure guacamole, radishes, and green onions would also go great. As would a bit of cheddar cheese.

I served these as a filling, leguminous side-dish to accompany some vegetable enchiladas. A very nice meal!

Cornmeal Pancakes with Black Beans

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Beans

• 1 (470mL) can black beans, drained
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tsp. chili powder

Pancakes

• 2/3 c. cornmeal
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. frozen corn, thawed

Assembly

Use as many or as few toppings as you'd like. All are optional, but salsa is strongly recommended.

• salsa (red or green)
• sour cream
• chopped fresh cilantro
• chopped fresh oregano
• green onion, thinly sliced
• radishes, thinly sliced
• sliced avocado and/or guacamole
• grated cheddar

Directions

1. Combine the beans, oregano, and chili powder and warm over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
2. Meanwhile, combine the cornmeal, flour, chili powder, salt, and pepper; sift in the baking soda; and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter with the buttermilk and eggs.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk to combine.
5. Stir in the corn.
6. Heat a griddle or tawa over medium heat and lightly grease or oil it.
7. Make pancakes using ~1/4 c. of batter for each one and cook until golden on both sides.
8. Serve the pancakes topped with black beans.
9. Garnish with salsa and whatever other toppings you desire.

Strawberries were on sale for Valentine's Day the last time I was at the grocery store. I picked some up because the Kidlet loves strawberries and I knew they'd disappear. Then dinnertime rolled around and, after dinner, I was feeling like I could go for some sort of sweet treat. But I was also feeling very low-effort. So I flipped through my various cookbooks a bit and eventually spotted this "recipe" for dipping strawberries in chocolate. Not exactly a new idea, but it is a relatively quick and easy one. And that's exactly what I was after, so... win!

The original recipe called for melting a little vegetable shortening into the chocolate. I didn't have any shortening, but I did have coconut oil, so I just used a bit of that instead.

Normally I ignore recipes' instructions to use chocolate chips and just chop up and equivalent amount of bar or baking chocolate instead. In this case though, I thought that I should probably stick with the chocolate chips since they generally have stabilizers in them that tend to help them set up and hold their shape a bit better than bar chocolate. I used vegan dark chocolate chips for my rendition, but semi-sweet or milk chocolate would probably also work fine. (Although the milk chocolate might take slightly longer to firm up.)

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 450g fresh strawberries
• 1 c. chocolate chips
• 1/2 Tbsp. coconut oil

Directions

1. Wash the strawberries and set them aside. Leave the stems on.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
3. Melt the chocolate and coconut oil over very low heat, stirring, until smooth.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Working with one strawberry at a time, hold by the stem and dip in chocolate. Use a spatula to assist in getting the strawberry well-coated. Aim to coat each strawberry up to its widest point, but not all the way to the base of the stem.
6. Place the chocolate-coated strawberries on the prepared baking sheet.
7. Once all strawberries have been dipped, chill for a few minutes until the chocolate is firm and set.
8. Transfer to a plate and serve.

TF loves brownies and this rich, dense, coffee-and-walnut-laced version looked like it would be particularly appealing to her. Indeed, it was!

There is no leavener in these brownies and very little flour, making them very dense and fudgy. The simple glaze on top adds even more chocolate-y richness.

Mocha-Walnut Brownies

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Brownies

• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 125g unsweetened chocolate
• 2 tsp. instant coffee powder
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. walnuts, toasted and chopped

Glaze

• 100g dark chocolate
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1 tsp. instant coffee powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 23cm (9") square pan, line it with baking paper, and grease and flour the paper.
2. Combine the butter, chocolate, and coffee in a small pot and melt of gentle heat, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, and salt and whisk to combine.
4. Beat the eggs with the sugar and pour in the chocolate mixture.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
6. Stir in the walnuts.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40-50 minutes. The brownies should be not quite set in the centre.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan set on a wire rack.
9. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by melting the chocolate, butter, corn syrup, coffe, and cinnamon in a small pot over gentle heat, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
10. Once the brownies are cool to the touch and the glaze is somewhat stiff, but still spreadable, scoop the glaze onto the brownies and spread evenly over the surface.
11. Chill until glaze is set, then use baking paper to lift the brownies from the pan, cut into squares, and serve.

I picked up a pineapple on a whim the other day. My intention had been to have it for dessert, just as is. Pineapples are so sweet and juicy on their own, they don't really need any gussying up to make them feel like a treat. But then I ran across this pineapple galette recipe. And while pineapples don't need any doctoring to make them tasty, this looked pleasingly simple and would allow me to check off another recipe int he dessert book so... why not?

This was pretty good and fairly simple to put together. That said, as long as the pineapple is properly ripe, I think I prefer a big bowl of freshly cut up pineapple chunks to the fruit in this galette form. Not that we didn't enjoy it, but the fresh fruit has a better effort:deliciousness ratio. Still... it was a fun experiment.

Pineapple Galette

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• ~300g shortcrust pastry¹
• 1 pineapple
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions

1. Mix up the pastry and chill as directed.
2. Meanwhile, dissassemble your pineapple: trim off both ends, pare off the skin, and cut out the eyes², then cut into 5mm thick slices and use a small round biscuit/cookie cutter to cut out the core from the centre of each slice.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Aim for a circle ~35cm (14") in diameter.
5. Transfer the pastry to the prepared baking sheet and arrange the pinapple rings on it, leaving a 5cm border.
6. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the pinapple and dot with butter.
7. Fold the pastry up and over the pinapple rings, leaving the centre open.
8. Cover and chill for 15-20 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
10. Uncover the galette and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 40-50 minutes.
11. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.
12. Serve plain or with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.³

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¹ I opted for a sourdough pastry, but any kind of shortcrust pastry (plain or sweet) would work. I think I only used ~250g of pastry for my galette, but I found a 30cm (12") circle to be a little too skimpy when trying to pleat it around the pineapple slices. Next time I'd just use the whole batch (which I think would've been ~325g). ^Back
2 The recipe suggested cutting spiral furrows following the path of the eyes around to remove them. TF found gouging out each eye individually to be more efficient. Do what works for you. ^Back
3 Coconut cream and/or ice cream could also be an interesting combination. Kind of a piña colada vibe. ^Back

I'm way behind on write-ups and have a huge backlog of older recipes left to do, but I wanted to get this on in before I forgot. Especially since everyone liked it so much! TF and the Kidlet were both very enthusiastic about these bowls for breakfast.

The recipe as written calls for 2 c. of yogurt and 2 bananas and said it made two servings. I did this and served half of the resulting smoothie to the Kidlet and TF and I split the remaining half. So, I guess it makes either two or four servings depending on how hungry you are. Personally, I think a half serving of smoothie with a full serving of toppings is just about right for me.

The recipe below makes half as much smoothie as the original recipe (so, 1-2 servings depending on your appetite), but I've left all the toppings at their original quantities (because I like less smoothie and more everything else in my bowl). And I've actually suggested a range for the granola (because I really like granola, especially when it's a nice home-made) batch!

Protein Smoothie Bowl

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. almond butter
• 1 banana
• 1 c. raspberries
• 1/4-1/2 almond granola (or store-bought granola)
• 1 Tbsp. cocoa nibs
• 1 Tbsp. Rice Krispies

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, almond butter, and banana in a blender and purée until smooth.
2. Pour into a bowl (or two) and top with raspberries, granola, cocoa nibs, and Rice Krispies.

I wanted to make some smoothie bowls for breakfast, but the recipe called for granola. I considered buying some ready-made granola, but home-made granola is always so tasty and it's not that hard to make, so I opted to go that route instead. There were even a bunch of granola recipes in the same book as I was using for the smoothie bowl recipe. Convenient!

Since the smoothie bowls called for both (chia) granola and toasted almonds, I opted to make this almond granola and just use a bit more of it rather than preparing toasted almonds separately. The recipe also calls for flax seeds (which is what I used this time around), but those could easily be swapped out for chia seeds if you wanted "chia granola" as the smoothie bowl recipe calls for. That said, I think I'd be inclinde to swap out the flax for sesame seeds next time. Sesame and apricots make a great combo!

Almond Granola with Apricots

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 c. slivered almonds
• 2 Tbsp. flax or sesame seeds
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. honey
• 1/4 c. coconut oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. dried apricots, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F) and very lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Combine the oats, almonds, flax/sesame seeds, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
3. In a small pot, warm the brown sugar, honey, coconut oil, and vanilla and heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth (3-4 minutes).
4. Pour the sugar mixture over the oats and stir to combine.
5. Dump the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread into an even layer.
6. Bake at 150°C (300°F) for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
8. Break granola into small pieces and mix in apricots.

This curry contains an unusual combination of vegetables: sweet potato, celery root, and delicata squash. Sweet potato and squash are not that surprising, but it never would have occurred to me to put celery root in a curry before this recipe! It works pretty well though. It's not going to become a new favourite or anything, but it was nice to try something a bit different.

Winter Vegetable Red Curry

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredinets

• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6mm piece of ginger, minced
• 1 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste
• 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 sweet potato (~225g), peeled and cubed
• ~250g celery root, peeled and cubed
• 3 c. coconut milk
• 1 delicata squash (200-250g), seeded and cubed
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Melt oil over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for ~1 minute.
3. Add the curry paste and cook for another minute or so.
4. Add the fish sauce, sweet potato, and celery root and stir to combine.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, add coconut milk, and cook for 15 minutes.
6. Add the squash and cook until vegetables are tender (10-15 minutes longer).
7. Stir in the lime zest, remove from heat, and stir in the lime juice.
8. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with rice.

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Variants

Vegetarian/Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6mm piece of ginger, minced
• 1 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste
• 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce substitute
• 1 sweet potato (~225g), peeled and cubed
• ~250g celery root, peeled and cubed
• 3 c. coconut milk
• 1 delicata squash (200-250g), seeded and cubed
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

I made a winter vegetable curry for dinner the other day. It was good, but lacking in protein, so I made this simple legume curry to round out the meal.

The original recipe calls for making the sauce with a combination of yogurt and bean cooking water. Normally I would have made it that way, but I still had rather a lot of leftover kibbeh sauce and no kibbeh left to eat it with, so I actually ended up using a whole cup of kibbeh sauce and omitting both the yogurt and the bean water. I figured that since the sauce is basically just yogurt and chicken stock (with an added egg), that it would work well as a stand-in and allow me to use up some leftovers from the fridge. I think it worked out quite well!

I found both curries a bit lacking in punch, but that was easily remidied with a generous dollop of Laoganma (老干妈/spicy chili crisp) at the table. That said, stirring in some extra chilies, spices, and/or fish sauce during cooking would accomplish a similar goal.

Black-Eyed Peas with Tomato-Yogurt Sauce

Slightly adapted from Healthy Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried black-eyed peas¹
• 3 c. water
• 1 tsp. Better Than Bouillon
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 5 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 6-7 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 3/4 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds, ground
• 1 small (400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place the black-eyed peas, water, and Better Than Bouillon (or other stock concentrate) in an InstantPot/pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow a 15-minute natural release before releasing any residual pressure. Set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium-low heat.
3. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
4. Add the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, and cardamom and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Increase heat to medium and begin adding yogurt, 1 Tbsp. at a time, stirring well between each addition.
6. Stir in 1/2 c. of cooking water from the beans.
7. Drain the beans, discarding the remaining cooking water.
8. Add the cooked beans to the sauce along with the cayenne.
9. Season to taste with salt.
10. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
11. Uncover and cook until thickened (~5 minutes).
12. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 c. beans, but I chose to scale it back to 1 c. for my rendition. I also halved the oil. But I left all other quantities the same. ^Back

Molasses Cookies

One of the Kidlet's friends came over for dinner the other day and I wanted a dessert to offer for after dinner. These cookies looked pleasingly straight-forward and didn't require me to get any extra ingredients, so they were the winner for the day.

The recipe produced a very soft dough. I guess this is intended, but it caught me a bit off-guard. These are definitely not shape-by-hand cookies and I was glad to have my cookie scoop as it made the job a lot quicker and easier than it would have been otherwise. That said, if you don't have a cookie scoop, two spoons will get the job done. I'm just not quite as efficient with those.

Molasses Cookes

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 c. molasses
• 315g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking soda¹
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar.
3. Beat in the egg, followed by the molasses.
4. In a separate bowl, sift the baking soda into the flour.
5. Mix the ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt into the flour.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until completely combined.
7. Use a spoon or a cookie scoop to drop balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets ~5cm apart.
8. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 12-15 minutes.
9. Let cool on baking sheets for ~5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

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¹ As I'm writing this up, I'm realizing that I'm not confident that I actually used baking soda for my cookies. I think I may have absent-mindedly used baking powder instead. Whoops! I'll have to try it again sometime using the proper leavener. ^Back

This recipe didn't look like it should work. You beat a whole lot of cream into cream cheese -- not whipped cream even, just runny cream -- and then pour it into a pie shell and expect it to set up. It doesn't contain any gelatin or eggs or anything else that seems like it would cause it to set. You're relying entirely on the fact that cream cheese firms up a bit when chilled. (And, I guess, the tiny amount of icing sugar.) Neither of these seemed like they would be enough to cause the filling to set. I was dubious. But I've been surprised by recipes before! There are lots that seem like they shouldn't work, but then somehow do. So, I followed the recipe and gave it a go. It did not set. At all. The flavour is nice, but it has zero structural integrity. Oh well... Now I know.

I haven't bothered including the original recipe below as I don't think it actually works as written. Instead this is a rough idea of what I'd like to try next time in the hopes of getting something that actually holds together.

I've increased the cream cheese slightly and specified a small amount of gelatin. Hopefully that'll be enough to get it to hold together. I've also bumped up the quantity of strawberries. Not for any structural reason, just because I though it'd be nice with more fruit.

All the usual caveats here: this is an untested variation, use at your own risk, etc., etc.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

Adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• enough pastry for a 9" pie crust¹
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream, divided
• 1/2 Tbsp. unflavoured gelatin powder
• 225g cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 50g icing sugar
• 400g strawberries, hulled and halved

Directions

1. Roll out the pastry and line a 9" (23cm) pie plate or tart tin.
2. Crimp and trim the edges, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for 20-30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
4. Remove the plastic wrap from the crust and prick bottom a few times with a fork.
5. Line with parchment/baking paper and fill with pie weights.
6. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 20-25 minutes.
7. Remove paper and pie weights and bake for another 5-10 minutes until well-browned and cooked through.
8. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
9. Meanwhile, sprinkle the gelatin into 1/4 c. of the cream and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
10. Scald the remaining cream, heating it to just shy of a boil.
11. Add the gelatin mixture to the hot cream and whisk thoroughly to combine.
12. Beat the cream cheese until lightened.
13. Pour in the cream mixture and beat until smooth.
14. Mix in the vanilla.
15. Sift in the icing sugar and mix well.
16. Once the pie shell is completely cool, pour in the cheese mixture.
17. Add the strawberries on top.
18. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours to allow filling to set.
19. Cut into wedges and serve.

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¹ I was making this to try to use up some leftover pastry from a previous recipe. Feel free to use whatever sort of pastry you prefer. Shortcrust, sweet shortcrust, sourdough shortcrust, or flaky are all good options. ^Back

This simple squash recipe offered a lot of flexibility. It suggested either acorn or delicata squash, but advised that any small winter squash would work. It gave maple syrup as the default sweetener, but said that honey was also a viable alternative for a "lighter" flavour. And, although it called for thyme as the main herb, it suggested that sage or rosemary would also work if thyme was not available.

I appreciated all these options and actually ended up using a mix of delicata and acorn squash. That said, I think the delicata worked much better. The acorn squash took much longer to cook and didn't seem to come out quite as nice. TF and I also weren't really sold on the thyme with the other flavours. It was alright, but not great. The kids at the table both liked it! That said, I think I'd be inclined to try sage, rosemary, or maybe even a bit of savoury with it next time.

Not a bad recipe overall. That said, I think there are better options if you find yourself with an abundance of delicata squash. Still, I'm glad I gave it a try.

Maple-Glazed Squash with Cranberries

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 small squash (preferably delicata)
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. dried thyme¹
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 3 Tbsp. fresh cranberries, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. pecans or hazelnuts², chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Trim the ends off the squash, cut them in half, and scoop out and reserve the seeds.
3. Cut each half in half lengthwise and brush with olive oil.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast at 200°C (400°F) for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, combine the butter, maple syrup, thyme (or other herb), and orange zest and set aside.
6. After 10 minutes, brush the squash with the butter mixture and sprinkle with the cranberries, nuts (if using), and some of the reserved squash seeds.
7. Return to oven and roast at 200°C (400°F) until squash is tender (10-15 minutes longer).

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¹ TF and I weren't crazy about the thyme here. Maybe try rosemary, savoury, or sage next time? ^Back
2 The original recipe didn't call for any nuts, but I think they'd make a nice addition. Walnuts could also be a good option, but I think pecans or hazelnuts would be my first choice. ^Back

This was a last-minute addition to the dinner menu. We already had an uncut loaf of bread in the bread box, but I wanted to make some fresh bread for an acquaintance who is currently convalescing at home and the recipe made two loaves... It seemed a shame to cut the older loaf when we had one that was fresh and warm out of the oven right there! (Besides, I needed to taste test it and make sure it was suitable for gifting! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

This is a nice, simple, easy loaf to make. It rises quickly and doesn't need any special handling. I mixed a little sourdough discard into my batch, but it doesn't need it. It was just a nice way for me to keep the started happy and fed.

I adjusted the baking time and temperature a bit because I didn't trust the recipe, but I should have just gone with it. I think the original baking instructions would've been just fine! And my adjustments caused to to come out a little too dark on top. Oh well... It still tasted lovely. It just wasn't the nicest aesthetically.

Cuban Bread

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

Ingredients

• ~700g all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. hot water (~50°C)
• 125g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 1-2 Tbsp. sesame seeds or poppy seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt and mix well.
2. Make a well in the centre and pour in the hot water.
3. Mix vigorously by hand for 150-200 strokes or 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer.
4. Mix in the sourdough discard.
5. Cover and allow to rest for ~10 minutes.
6. Work in additional flour ~50g at a time until the dough achieves a good consistency. I needed ~150g for this and ended up working in another 50 or 60 more during kneading. You may find you need somewhat more or less than that.
7. Once the dough comes together, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10-20 minutes¹.
8. Shape into a smooth ball, cover, and let rise in a warm place (~30°C) for ~30 minutes².
9. Once the dough is fully risen (test with your finger), knock it back and divide into two equal portions.
10. Round each portion of dough, cover, and rest for 5 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, put a kettle on to boil, grease a baking sheet, and dust it with cornmeal.
12. Transfer the dough rounds to the prepared baking sheet and brush each one with water.
13. Sprinke with poppy seeds or sesame seeds (if using).
14. Slash a large, fairly deep X into the top of each loaf.
15. Pour 2-3cm of boiling water into a large roasting pan or similar vessel and place it on the bottom oven rack.
16. Put another oven rack directly above this and put the baking sheet with the bread on this second rack.
17. Now turn the oven on to 200°C (400°F) and set a timer for 30 minutes. The loaves will complete their second rise while the oven preheats.
18. Once the timer goes off, check on the loaves. If the crust looks nicely browned, remove the water pan and reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 10-20 minutes. If the crust is still pale, leave everything as it is and check again in 10 minutes.
19. In either case, check the loaves for doneness after the first 40 minutes of baking. (They will likely need 50, but it could be more or less depending on hydration and proofing.
20. Once loaves sound done, turn off oven and allow loaves to rest in hot oven for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool.
21. Ideally you should let the bread cool before slicing, but it's great served fresh out of the oven with a bit of butter!

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¹ Kneading may also be done by machine with a dough hook. It shouldn't need more than 4-5 minutes worked this way. ^Back
2 The recipe called for a fast, warm rise. It actually specifies temperatures up to 37°C for as short as 15 minutes! I generally prefer longer, cooler rises. Normally I might let this bread rise for an hour or more at a cool room temperature (18°C), but I was pressed for time today, so I set the oven to "proof" and gave it a quick rise. Which worked great. It just didn't develop quite as much character as it might have with a longer rise. Luckily it got a bit of a boost from the sourdough discard anyway, so it still had a pretty nice flavour. ^Back

I got some zucchini for another recipe recently and accidentally overshot slightly and ended up with one extra one left over. Unfortunately, a lot of the zucchini recipes that I was looking at to potentially use it up called for more than one zucchini. Eventually though, I did find a few that called for more moderate squash quantities. Technically this recipe actually wanted a yellow summer squash, not a zucchini, but I figured it was close enough. And it sounded tasty. And looked reasonably healthy. Bonus!

I made a few small tweaks: reduced the sugar; added a chile, a bit of shaoxing wine (绍兴酒), and some toasted sesame seeds; swapped out the yellow summer squash for green zucchini, and reduced the oil slightly.

I think next time I'd change the order of the ingredients slightly. The recipe calls for adding the aromatics, carrots, and bell pepper together and then cooking the onion, zucchini, and peas as a separate batch before combinging everything. I think, if I were to do it again, I'd do the aromatics separately, then add the carrots and onion, then the bell pepper and zucchini, and then the peas (and maybe a green onion). It's not a huge deal though. Either order should work fine.

Vegetable Stir-Fry with Tofu

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day

Ingredients

• 340g extra-firm tofu, cubed
• 2-3 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 fresh red chile, minced (optional)
• 3-4 carrots, sliced diagonally
• 1 onion, sliced lengthwise
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
• 225g sugar snap peas (or snow peas), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1-2 green onions, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
• 1/4 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. hoisin sauce¹
• 1/2 tsp. light soy sauce
• 3/4 tsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
• 2 Tbsp. canola or peanut oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• ~1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Do all your mise en place and get your ingredients ready.
2. Dust the tofu with the cornstarch.
3. Mince the garlic, ginger, and chile (if using) and set aside.
4. slice the carrots and onion, place in a separate bowl, and set aside.
5. Chop the zucchini and bell pepper, place in yet another bowl, and set aside.
6. Chop the peas and set aside.
7. Combine the chicken stock and five-spice powder and set aside.
8. Combine the sugar, hoisin said, soy sauce, vinegar, and wine, mix well, and set aside.
9. Heat wok over medium-high heat.
10. Drizzle in 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the wok.
11. Add the tofu and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes.
12. Transfer tofu to a bowl or plate and set aside.
13. Return the wok to medium heat and add the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
14. Add the garlic, ginger, and chile and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
15. Increase heat to medium-high, add the carrots and onion, and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
16. Add bell pepper and zucchini and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes.
17. Add peas and green onions (if using) and stir-fry for 1 minute.
18. Add the five-spice powder and broth and return the tofu to the wok and cook for 2-3 minutes.
19. Drizzle in the hoisin mixture and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
20. If mixture is too dry, add a little more broth or some water. If it's too wet, cook for a minute or two longer.
21. Remove from heat and sprinkle with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
22. Serve over rice or egg noodles

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¹ We ran out of hoisin, so I made up the difference with oyster sauce. It's not quite the same flavour, but it's still a thick, sweet, umami-rich sauce, so it worked well enough for my purposes here. ^Back

These were great! The Kidlet declared them her new favourite, very narrowly beating out the buttermilk waffles from a few weeks ago.

I forgot to toast the walnuts before adding them to the batter, but they still turned out well. I do think that toasting the nuts (and maybe browning the butter) would add some extra warmth and dimension to it. But, as noted, they were still great even without that.

Photo goes here.

Banana-Nut Waffles

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 3 bananas
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs (or 3 small eggs)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2/3 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 280g all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2/3 c. walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. Mash the bananas with the brown sugar.
2. Beat in the eggs followed by the vanilla.
3. Beat in the buttermilk and milk, then slowly pour in the butter and mix well.
4. Preheat your waffle iron.
5. Ideally you would now mix all the dry ingredients (less the nuts) in a separate bowl and then pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined. If you're lazy like me, however, you will dump all the flour on top and then, without mixing, you will sift the baking powder and baking soda in on top of the flour and sprinkle over the salt. Then mix it all together.
6. Add the nuts and stir to combine.
7. Pour a portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer's directions (or a few seconds longer if you prefer extra crispy waffles). Repeat until all batter has been used.
8. Waffles should ideally be served immediately with nut butter, maple syrup, jam, yogurt, chocolate sauce/spread, and/or whipped cream. If not served immediately, make sure they are placed on a wire rack, not a plate, to cool.

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Variations

Extra-Rich Banana-Nut Waffles

Ingredients

• 3 bananas
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs (or 3 small eggs)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2/3 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. dark rum
• 1/2 c. butter, browned and cooled
• 280g all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. mixed spice
• 2/3 c. pecans, toasted and chopped

We had some harissa left over from last time we made it, and Symbol was able to divert some for this recipe before I ate it all. And it came out pretty tasty!

Glazed Chicken Breasts with Currant-Pistachio Couscous

Cook's Country April/May 2019 (recipe card)

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp apricot preserves
• 1 tbsp harissa
• 1+3+1 tbsp olive oil, divided
• ¼ dried currants
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½+1 tsp salt, divided
• ¼+¼ tsp pepper, divided
• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• 1½ C water
• 1¼ C dry couscous
• ½ C decorticated pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Whisk together apricot preserves, harissa, and 1 tbsp oil in a small bowl.
2. Transfer 1 tbsp of this mixture to another bowl and add currants, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, and 3 tbsp oil.
3. Heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high.
4. Sprinkle chicken with remaining salt and pepper. Add to skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides and 160°F internally.
5. Remove chicken, butter, and brush with first harissa-apricot mixture.
6. Add water to skillet and bring to a boil.
7. Stir in couscous, cover, and remove from heat; let stand five minutes.
8. Stir in pistachios and harissa-currant mixture.
9. Slice chicken and serve over couscous.

This bread is named for the precise rising time. It's designed to take just a single rise of 30 minutes in a loaf pan before baking, making it relatively quick and easy to get from mixing bowl to table.

It is pretty easy, but I found the hydration and rising time way off. I added significantly less flour than called for and still found the dough way too stiff. I ended up working in... probably a good extra 1/3 c. of water. Maybe even a bit more!

I also found the baking instructions a bit odd. It calls for baking at 400°F for 45 minutes! Normally I'd expect to bake at 350°F for about that long or start off at 400 or 450 for 10-20 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 325 or 350 and let it go for another 10-20 minutes. Doing the whole 45 minutes at 400 seems... excessive. And, indeed, the crust did end up very dark. It wasn't quite burnt, but it was getting close. Meanwhile, it seems like the interior was only barely cooked. I mean, it was fine. It wasn't raw or anything, but I don't think I would have wanted to take it out any sooner than I did. Next time I think I'd go for a more conventional approach and just bake it at 350°F as usual.

I've done my best to give reasonable values here, but I wasn't actually measuring the water I was adding, so I could be a bit off. I think it will take a few iterations to finish fine-tuning this recipe.

Photo goes here.

Thirty-Minute White Bread

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

Ingredients

• 1 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1 c. warm water
• 250g sourdough starter or discard¹ @ 100% hydration
• 4 tsp. instant yeast
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• ~600g all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Combine milk, butter, salt, and water and gently warm until it reaches a temperature of ~45°C (~110°F).
2. Add starter, yeast, sugar, and ~120g (~1 c.) of the flour and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes (or beat vigorously by hand).
3. Add another ~240g (~2 c.) of flour and beat for another 3 minutes.
4. Switch to dough hook and continue adding flour ~30g (~1/4 c.) at a time until the dough comes together cleans the sides of the bowl.
5. Turn out onto work surface and check hydration.
6. Knead by hand, working in either more water or more flour until a soft, but workable dough is achieved.
7. Keep kneading until dough becomes supple and elastic and no longer tears easily (8-10 minutes).
8. Divide dough into two equal portions and round each one.
9. Cover and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, grease two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
11. Shape each round into a loaf and place seam-side-down into the prepared pans.
12. Cover and place in oven.
13. Set oven to 200°C (400°F) and allow to preheat for 1 minute. Then TURN THE OVEN OFF.
14. Allow loaves to rise in warm oven for 30-60 minutes².
15. Once loaves are fully risen, uncover and slash as desired.
16. Return to oven and set to 180°C (350°F).
17. Bake for 40-50 minutes (including preheating time).
18. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes.
19. Turn out of pans and transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ I've been trying to work a bit of sourdough starter into all of my breads just as a way to keep it well-fed and refreshed. If you don't have starter that needs used, then you can just add an extra 125mL of water and 125g of flour to make up the difference. ^Back
2 I know, I know, it's supposed to be "thirty-minute bread"! But mine took longer than 30 minutes to rise fully. So, check at 30 minutes, but use your judgement and don't be afraid to give it a little more time if it needs it. ^Back

I opened a can of pumpkin to make some waffles the other day. Which made for a tasty breakfast, but left me with a bunch of extra pumpkin purée in the fridge. Luckily this recipe used up almost all of it. Not to mention giving us tasty muffins!

Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel Topping

Slightly adapted from Muffins and Biscuits by Heidi Gibson

Ingredients

Streusel Topping¹

• 2 Tbsp. salted butter²
• 35g all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. raw pumpkin seeds

Batter

• 6 Tbsp. salted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs (or 3 small eggs)
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 350g pumpkin pur&eacte;e
• 180g all-purpose flour
• 130g sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt³
• 2 tsp. mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 110g chopped pecans⁴

Directions

1. Cut the butter, flour, and sugar together for the streusel.
2. Mix in the pumpkin seeds and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a standard (5cm) 12-well muffin tin.
4. Beat the eggs with the butter, milk, vanilla, and pumpkin.
5. In a separate bowl, ombine the flour and sugar.
6. Sift in the baking powder.
7. Mix in the salt, mixed spice, and ground ginger.
8. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix with a spatula until almost combined.
9. Add the pecans and stir to combine.
10. Divide the batter amongst the muffin wells. (You may have a bit extra.)
11. Top each muffin with ~1 Tbsp. of streusel topping.
12. Baked at 180°C (350°F) for 20-24 minutes.
13. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.
14. Serve as is or with maple cream cheese.

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¹ I've scaled the streusel quantities down slightly here since I had a lot left over after topping my muffins with what I felt was a fairly generous quantity. That said, if you would like to try it with the original quantities, you can just bump the butter up to 2 1/2 Tbsp., flour to 45g, sugar to 3 1/2 Tbsp., and pumpkin seeds to 1/4 c. ^Back
2 I missed that I was supposed to be using salted butter for this and ended up just using unsalted. This was fine, but next time I might add a pinch of salt (maybe 1/8 tsp.) to the streusel topping to make it pop a little more. ^Back
3 I included the full measure of salt here because I was using unsalted butter. If using salted butter, I would probably either omit or significantly reduce the salt. ^Back
4 The recipe calls for toasted pecans. I was feeling lazy, so I didn't toast them. I was also a bit short on pecans, so I made up the difference with walnuts. ^Back

The Kidlet has been taking a cooking class and has been bringing home the excess ingredients. We ended up getting a huge influx of cilantro this way and this recipe seemed like an excellent way to use it up.

It was cold and gloomy outside, so I opted to cook the chicken on the stove rather than on the grill as directed. I also added a few extra spices to the sauce and had to supplement the cilantro quantity with some parsley since the first bundle of cilantro had gone off by the time I got to making this. It was still very good though. The Kidlet even declared it a favourite! And it went nicely with the leftover couscous we had in the fridge from an earlier meal.

Chicken with Cilantro and Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Pesto

• 1/2 c. raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 c. packed fresh cilantro
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 3-4 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1 jalapeño, seeded
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. creole seasoning (optional)

Chicken

• ~750g skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. schmaltz (or olive oil)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Spread the pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 8-10 minutes.
3. Purée toasted pumpkin seeds with cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, garlic, jalapeño, salt, and creole seasoning (if using).
4. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over both sides of the chicken.
5. Melt the schmaltz (or olive oil) over medium-high heat.
6. Add the chicken and cook until seared (~4 minutes per side).
7. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, turning occasionally, until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F).
8. Serve chicken over couscous, rice, pasta, or substrate of your choice and top with pesto.

I finally got (most) of the dried fruit needed to make this salad. I say "most" because it calls for dried pears which I've never even seen before! I figured I'd just sub some dried apples, but they're apparently on the "do not order" list at the local Bulk Barn right now, so that was a bust. In the end, I ended up lightly oven-drying an apple and an Anjou pear and using those in my salad and I think that worked quited well!

Winter Cabbage and Dried Fruit Salad

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 500g (~1/2 a head) red cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 5-6 Tbsp. red wine or apple cider vinegar
• 5 dried apricots, chopped
• 5 dried figs, chopped
• 5 dried prunes, chopped
• 1-2 dried pears¹, chopped
• 1 dried apple, chopped (optional)
• 1 tart apple, julienned
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/8 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2-1 tsp. sugar
• 2-3 Tbsp. walnuts², chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Toss the cabbage with the salt, pepper, and vinegar, cover, and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge).
2. Add the apricots, figs, prunes, dried pear(s), and dried apple (if using).
3. Add the fresh apple, olive oil, cumin, cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. of sugar, and the walnuts (if using).
4. Taste and adjust sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil as desired.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 5 dried pears! That seems like an insane amount to me. Maybe they meant 5 slices of dried pear. I ended up putting in 1 pear and 1 apple (plus the fresh apple) and that seemed about right to me. So, I think 2 dried apples/pears total is probably about right. ^Back
2 Normally when ingredients are listed as "optional", I always add it. But in this case I actually thought it would be nice with just the cabbage and fruit without the nuts. ^Back

This recipe comes from a waffle cookbook and is suggested as a good topping for peanut butter or pumpkin waffles. I also think it would go great on bagels or with carrot or pumpkin muffins.

Maple Cream Cheese

From Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 225g cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. maple syrup

Directions

1. Beat the cream cheese with the butter.
2. Beat in the icing sugar, vanilla, and maple syrup.
3. Cover and chill until ready to use.

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Variations

Maple Cream Cheese with Smoked Paprika

Ingredients

• 225g cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/2 tsp. smoked sweet paprika
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. maple syrup

The waffle-fest continues! Today was peanut butter waffles with maple cream cheese. Very nice. The Kidlet rated them quite highly. Personally, I thought they were nice, but not a stand-out. The maple cream cheese did complement them quite nicely though!

Peanut Butter Waffles

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 235g all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 c. natural peanut butter
• 2 large eggs¹
• 2 c. buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. Mix in the salt.
4. Warm the peanut butter up in the microwave for ~30 seconds to soften it and make it easier to mix.
5. In a large measuring cup, beat the eggs into the peanut butter.
6. Beat in the buttermilk, followed by the sugar.
7. Mix the butter into the wet ingredients.
8. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just combined.
9. Pour a portion of batter into the waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer's directions. If you like your waffles extra-crisp, leave them in for an extra 10-20 seconds. Repeat until all batter has been used.
10. Serve with maple syrup, maple cream cheese, and/or jam. Alternatively, serve with vanilla ice cream and strawberries for dessert.

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¹ My eggs were pretty small so I added an extra. This was definitely the right call as the batter was still quite thick even with the extra eggs. ^Back

Kibbeh Labaniyeh (Kibbeh in Yogurt Sauce)

There are tonnes of different varieties of kibbeh out there. The authors suggest a deep fried, pine nut and ground beef stuffed kibbeh to go with this sauce. I did not have the time or energy to make the kibbeh from scratch, so I heated up some ready-made chickpea and spinach stuffed frozen kibbeh and just spooned a bit of this sauce over them.

I was skeptical about a three-ingredient sauce made of yogurt, broth, and egg, but it was honestly really nice and worked very well with the kibbeh. I think my biggest complaints were that it made way too much for the number of kibbeh we had and that it was a bit too runny for our personal preferences. Still good though!

Kibbeh Labaniyeh

From Our Syria by Itab Azzam and Dina Mousawi

Ingredients

• 3 c. plain yogurt
• 2 1/2 c. vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 large egg
• 15-20 kibbeh
• rice or bulgur, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, stock, and egg and blend¹ thoroughly.
2. Heat the sauce over very low heat, stirring constantly, until it boils. If it curdles, blend it again.
3. Pour the sauce over the cooked kibbeh and serve with rice.

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¹ Itab and Dina suggest doing this in a blender, but I just used a whisk because I didn't want to dirty the blender. An immersion blender would probably be a good option, I just didn't think of it at the time. ^Back

This is an American recipe for English-style scones. They're very buttery and rich. Honestly, I think they're richer than I'm used to actual English scones being. And I even swapped out the heavy/whipping (35%) cream for half-and-half (10% MF)! I mean, I'm not complaining; they were delicious. But I am glad that I made them a bit smaller than the recipe called for.

They're quite nice with the currants in, but I would be interested in trying some of the suggested variations at some point. The savoury bacon, cheddar, and scallion version sounds great. (Although I think I'd want to reduce the butter somewhat if adding cheese to them.) And TF seemed enthused about the prospect of swapping out the currants for ginger. Which is especially noteworthy since she's not normally a big fan of scones!

English Cream Scones

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 250g all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. dried currants
• 1 c. half-and-half (10% MF)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
3. Mix in the sugar and salt.
4. Cut in the butter.
5. Mix in the currants.
6. Pour in the half-and-half and mix with a fork until just combined.
7. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a large disc ~2-3cm thick.
8. Use a 6 or 7cm round cookie cutter to cut out as many scones as you can and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
9. Combine all the scraps and pat into a disc again and cut out a few more scones and transfer to the baking sheet.¹
10. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15-17 minutes.
11. Serve with clotted cream and/or strawberry jam.

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Variations

Bacon, Cheddar, and Scallion Scones

Ingredients

• 250g all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. diced Cheddar
• 1 c. crumbled cooked bacon
• 1/3 c. chopped green onion (or fresh chives)
• 1 c. half-and-half (10% MF)

Ginger Scones

Ingredients

• 250g all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. chopped crystalized ginger
• 1 c. half-and-half (10% MF)
• 1 small egg white²
• 4-5 tsp. Turbinado sugar

Directions

1. Make as directed above (substituting ginger for currants), but brush the tops of the scones with beaten egg white just before baking and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. Bake as directed.

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¹ I got 11 scones total. The original recipe calls for making eight, but she was also using a 7.5cm circle for hers. ^Back
2 The recipe says to brush with egg white, but I've seen a lot of traditional scone recipes that call for brushing the tops with milk. I'd be inclined to go with the milk option unless I had egg whites in the fridge already that needed using. ^Back

Lubiyeh bil Zeit (Green Beans in Olive Oil)

This is another (very simple) recipe from Our Syria. My original dinner plans for the evening fell through and I needed to throw something else together quickly. Luckily I had a bag of ready-made kibbeh in the freezer, so I was able to whip up a quick batch of yogurt sauce and rice to serve them with. But that did leave the meal somewhat lacking in veggies (since I don't count the spinach in the kibbeh stuffing). These green beans were a nice way to put something green on our plates and round out the meal.

Ideally this would be made with fresh green beans or runner beans, but I had to resort to a package of frozen green beans in this case. It still turned out great. I just omitted the water and went straight from sautéing to adding the garlic. (Although I accidentally bumped the knob on the stove to "high" instead of "off" at the end of cooking, so everything ended up a few shades darker than I'd intended. It was still fine though!)

Lubiyeh bil Ziet

Slightly adapted from Our Syria by Itab Azzam and Dina Mousawi

Ingredients

• 1-2 tsp. oil
• 450g green beans, trimmed and halved
• boiling water
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2-3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• olive oil, to serve

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add beans and sauté for ~5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, boil some water.
4. Add about 1cm of boiling water to the pan and simmer until the beans soften and the water has evaporated.
5. If beans seem undercooked, add a bit more water and continue cooking until desired doneness.
6. Add the garlic and salt and cook for another minute or so.
7. Remove from heat and sprinkle with cilantro.
8. Transfer to a serving platter, drizzle with olive oil, and serve.

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles

These waffles are supposed to feature a bit of chipotle chile powder to give them a mild heat and smokiness. I didn't have any dried chipotles on hand (just chipotles in adobo), so I ground up an ancho chile and used 1/2 tsp. of that instead. I hoped that also being a relatively mild, smoked pepper, it would do the same job as the chipotle. It may have been a bit too mild though, because I didn't really find any detectable heat coming through in the finished waffles. They were still tasty though! So maybe I just need to make sure to use actual chiptoles next time... Or bump up the quantity of ancho chile powder... Or give up on the spicy angle and just add a bit of extra mixed spice or ginger instead.

I also found the batter a bit thick for my liking. Perhaps this was because my eggs were a bit on the small side. But I think, even with an extra egg, it still would have been quite thick. That said, maybe I'll try adding an extra egg next time and see how it goes... And if the batter still seems unreasonably stiff, I'll probably just add a bit more milk to thin it out.

And, while I'm making adjustments anyway... I think these would be quite nice as whole wheat waffles. Although the inclusion of the wheat bran would probably make the batter even thicker, so I'd definitely plan on adding an extra few tablespoons of milk in that case.

Photo goes here.

Spiced Pumpking Waffles

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 250g flour¹
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 tsp. mixed spice
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. (or more) chipotle chile powder²
• 1 c. pumpkin purée
• 2 large eggs (or 3 small), separated
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 c. milk³
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Sift the baking powder into the flour.
3. Add the salt, mixed spice, ginger, and chipotle powder and mix well.
4. In a large measuring cup, beat the egg yolks with the milk and pumpkin and mix in the sugar.
5. Slowly whisk the butter into the wet ingredients.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just combined.
7. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
8. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
9. Pour a portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer directions. If you'd like your waffles a bit crisper, leave them in for an extra 20-30 seconds. Repeat until all batter has been used.
10. Serve with apple butter, maple syrup, maple cream cheese, and/or whipped cream.

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¹ I used all-purpose flour for this batch, but I'd like to try it with whole wheat flour next time. ^Back
2 I used ancho chile powder for this batch, but I think chipotle would have given them a bit more kick. ^Back
3 The original recipe only called for 1 1/4 c. milk, but the batter seemed a little too stiff to me, so I think I'd put a bit more milk next time. ^Back