I think this was meant to be a take on Sicilian apple cake. Which is an extremely apple-heavy cake flavoured with lemon that normally includes pine nuts and often dried fruit as well. My version had the apples, the lemon, and the pine nuts, but not the dried fruit. Looking at the recipe, it also seemed like it would be quite sweet and not apple-y enough -- unless they were expecting you to use very large apples indeed!¹ -- so I adjusted it a bit. I also tossed in a few sultanas, since a lot of other recipes seemed to include them. And I tried to mimic the dusting of crushed walnuts around the outside of the cake that I'd seen elsewhere.

I'm quite happy with all of my changes. Even the ones that seemed at first like they hadn't worked out.

I decided to be lazy and "crush" my walnuts in the spice grinder. But, it turns out that even using quick pulses to try to break the walnuts down gently gets half of the mixture most of the way to walnut butter by the time most of the biggest chunks have been broken down. I couldn't really press the walnut paste I'd made onto the sides of the pan as planned, so I ended up mixing a little flour in to try to help things a bit. This still didn't seem to work very well and I decided it was a lesson to do it "properly" next time and crush the walnuts by hand. Until I tasted the cake... The wanuts and flour had made a delicious crust! Almost like the graham cracker crust you might expect on a cheesecake. But thinner and crispier. I loved it! So, I think I will be doing this on purpose from now on! Just need to dial in the amounts.

Oh, and while the pine nuts in this certainly weren't unpleasant, I didn't really feel like they added much. And they are quite expensive, so I might just omit them in future.

Italian Apple Torte

Adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Crust

• 1/2 c. walnuts
• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar

Cake

• 500g apples, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 c. sultanas
• 1/4 c. pine nuts, toasted (optional)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 c. sugar
• 100g butter, melted
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 140g (~1 c.) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Working in batches, finely grind the walnuts in a spice grinder or similar.
3. Mix the flour and sugar into the ground walnuts to form a crumbly mixture.
4. Press the crust into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 23cm (9") round springform pan.
5. Toss the apples with the lemon juice and mix in the sultanas and pine nuts (if using).
6. Beat the eggs with the sugar until lightened.
7. Beat in the butter, followed by the milk, lemon zest, and vanilla.
8. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix it into the batter.
9. Pour a little batter into the bottom of the prepared pan.
10. Add the apple mixture in to top. Try to spread it as evenly as possible.
11. Pour the remaining batter over the apples.
12. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for ~50 minutes.
13. Allow to cool in tin.
14. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and carefully remove the sides.
15. If you're brave, carefully lift the cake off of the bottom of the tin and transfer to a plate. Otherwise, serve directly from the tin bottom.

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¹ The recipe called for 2 large apples. I used ~500g of apples. For me this was actually six apples. But then, my apples were quite small. ^Back

I loved these pancakes. My only complaint is that they use a partial tin of cocont milk. Partial, but more than half, so you can't get around it by simply doubling the recipe. The easiest way to solve this would be to double the recipe and fill in the missing coconut milk with cow's milk (or whatever milk you happen to have in the fridge). The way that I'm most excited to try is replacing both the missing coconut milk and the lemon juice with pineapple juice. Just to lean into the tropical vibe even more.

Tropical Pancakes

Adapted from CakeLove in the Morning by Warren Brown

Ingredients

• 4 bananas, mashed
• 1 (400mL) can coconut milk
• 6 Tbsp. milk¹
• 1/4 c. lemon juice
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 280g (~2 c.) whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. instant (creamy) oats
• 1/4 c. buckwheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Combine the bananas, coconut milk, milk, lemon juice, eggs, honey, and vanilla and set aside.
2. Combine the whole wheat flour, oats, and buckweat flour.
3. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
4. Por the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
5. Heat a pan over medium heat.
6. Add a little butter or oil to the pan and cookoff your pancakes, using ~1/4 c. of batter each.
7. Serve with butter, yogurt, chopped pineapple, shredded coconut, maple syrup, and/or yogurt with an optional dusting of ground allspice.

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¹ Or replace both the milk and lemon juice with pineapple juice. ^Back

Pork ribs were still on sale at the grocery store, so I got another rack and decided to try a different recipe with them. This is a more traditional BBQ ribs preparation. But I wanted to try the initial low-and-slow wet cooking followed by the direct heat this time around to see how it compared to Iyer's method that cooks them entirely over direct heat.

These ribs did come out moister than Iyer's, but I think I preferred the flavour of his.

Classic BBQ Ribs

Slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne (optional)
• 1-1.5kg pork ribs
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1/4 c. chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• ~3/4 c. barbecue sauce

Directions

1. Combine the sugar, paprika, onion powder, grlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne (if using) and mix well.
2. Coat the ribs in the oil and then sprinkle on the spice rub, coating as evenly as possible.
3. Set grill up for indirect heat and preheat to 150°C (300°F).
4. Place the ribs meat side down on a baking sheet.
5. Add the chicken stock and cider vinegar to the baking sheet and cover with foil.
6. Cook over indirect heat at 150°C (300°F) for 2 hours.
7. Now oil the grates and set the grill up for direct heat cooking at 190°C (375°F).
8. Brush the ribs with some of the barbecue sauce on one side and place sauce side up over direct heat.
9. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip and put some sauce on the other side.
10. Repeat the process of flipping and basting with barbecue sauce, cooking for five minutes after each iteration, another once or twice on each side.
11. Cut ribs apart and serve with additional sauce.

I'm used to breakfast rice bowls being savoury. This is the first time that I've tried a sweet one. It's fine. Not amazing, but nothing wrong with it either. It gives slight rice pudding vibes. I think I'd add a sprinkle of cinnamon next time just to lean into that a little more.

Sweet Brown Rice Bowl

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfasts by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• ~1/2 c. cooked brown rice
• 1 Tbsp. raisins or sultanas
• 1 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• ~1/4 c. milk (or to taste)
• sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the rice, raisins, and walnuts.
2. Top with brown sugar, pour on the milk, and sprinkle with cinnamon (if using).
3. If you would like a warm rice bowl, microwave for 30-60 seconds.

I found a discount cauliflower at the green grocer the other day, so I made soup! This was delicious, very easy, and wee Eyren loved it too. We've frozen a bunch to use as baby food in the upcoming months.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1-2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3-4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/4-1/2 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Toss cauliflower with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper.
3. Spread the cauliflower out in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast at 200°C (400°F) until very tender (30-35 minutes).
4. Melt the butter over medium heat.
5. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
6. Add 3 c. of stock and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
8. Purée and use additional stock to thin soup to desired consistency. (I used the full 1 c.)
9. Stir in Parmesan.
10. Serve topped with additional Parmesan and/or fried onions.

I was really happy with the results of this recipe, but a little frustrated with the actual cooking. The noodles stuck together in big clumps and were quite difficult to get apart. And then the clumps cooked much slower than any noodles that did manage to stay separate. I don't know if the problem was my noodles, the way I broke them up, or the fact that my sauce was already boiling by the time I added them, but it was quite annoying! I think next time I'd try using a bag of the small "lasagna" noodles instead to see if that helped at all. Still... I can't argue with the results. This was excellent!

Skillet Lasagna

Slightly adapted from Budget Byte$

Ingredients

• 250g sausage meat¹
• 2-3 tsp. garlic paste
• 650-700mL tomato pasta sauce²
• 1-2 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 9 lasagna noodles, broken into 5cm pieces
• 1 c. ricotta cheese³
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
• 1 large egg (optional)⁴
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2-3/4 c. grated mozzarella (or other melty cheese)

Directions

1. Cook the sausage over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks.
2. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the pasta sauce, 1 c. of water, and Italian seasoning and stir to combine.
4. Add the noodles, being careful to make sure they don't clump.
5. Cover pan and bring to a boil.
6. Stir, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until noodles are almost tender (~12 minutes), adding more water as needed to keep sauce moist.
7. Meanwhile, combine ricotta, Parmesan, egg, and a little salt and pepper and mix well.
8. Stir the pasta again, adding a little more water if necessary.
9. Dollop the ricotta mixture on top, cover, and simmer until heated through (~5 minutes).
10. Sprinkle with mozzarella and place under broiler until cheese is melty and lightly browned (2-3 minutes).

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¹ I only used 125g of sausage for my rendition because I was tossing in ~400g of homemade bolognese along with the 420mL of canned pasta sauce. ^Back
2 My can of pasta sauce was only 420mL so I added ~400g of frozen bolognese that we had in the fridge. I know that adds up to more that adds up to more than 700mL (if you assume that the sauce is mostly water and thus you can use weight to estimate volume), but since the bolognese had a bunch of meat in it, I figured it was less... saucy than plain pasta sauce, so I probably worked out about right for the sauce volume. And the extra meat in the sauce helped to make up for the paucity of sausage since I didn't have the full 250g on hand for this. ^Back
3 I think you could probably get away with using less ricotta than this, but I didn't want to have a partial tub left over so I just followed the recipe an used it all. ^Back
4 The original recipe didn't call for an egg, but the ricotta mixture was too thick to dollop easily and I usually add an egg to my "traditional" lasagna, so I tossed one in. ^Back

I found some short-dated cream on sale and got excited about the chance to make another lemon dessert. As usual, it's not particularly budget friendly, despite coming from the Budget Byte$ blog and even with the assumption of free lemons. Beth figured it would cost just over $4 to make this pie. With lemons accounting for just over $1.50 of that cost. I figured it costs just over $9 to make here (assuming full-price cream, but zero-cost lemons). So, I mean, I guess it's still pretty good when compared to the cost of buying a dessert at a bakery or restaurant, I'm just always a bit shocked at the delta between her prices and ours.

Lemon Cream Pie

Slightly adapted from Budget Byte$

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 c. vanilla wafer crumbs
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 90g butter, melted

Filling

• 1 can (~400mL) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250-300mL heavy (35%) cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter and mix well.
3. Press into a 23cm (9") pie plate.
4. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
6. Combine the sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
7. Whip the cream.
8. Stir about half of the cream into the lemon mixture, then fold in the remaining cream.
9. Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust, cover, and chill until set (~2 hours).