I love a good pandesal. Especially the lovely, purple, ube-flavoured ones! I've never tried making it myself though. And, arguably, I should have started with a more traditional, non-sourdough recipe for my first attempt. But I had starter that needed used, so I figured I'd give it a go.

I think this recipe was largely fine, but I was distracted and in a hurry when making it, so I didn't give it as much attention as I should have and ended up with slightly subpar results.

I didn't quite catch the starter at its peak, so it had already started to sink back by the time I was mixing the dough. I also absent-mindedly started scooping whole wheat flour into the bowl instead of the all-purpose flour that I'd been intending to use. So, instead of 300g of all-purpose flour, the final dough ended up with ~100g of whole wheat flour and 200g of all-purpose flour. This made the dough slightly drier than it was meant to be, which meant that I had trouble getting it to take up all of the flour. And, since I didn't have time to stay there and keep kneading it, I just covered it and let it sit for a couple hours while I attended to other things. This resulted in some obstinate lumps of mostly dry flour that were very difficult to properly smooth out and incorporate later. I was having enough trouble with these lumps and getting everything evenly mixed, that I decided to add a little more water. Now, what I should have done was wet my hands and work a bit of water in that way. Instead I decided to pour a little water in. And ended up adding 30g instead of the 5-10 it likely needed. So then the dough was much too wet. Which required trying to correct it with a little more flour (~40g). Not the end of the world, to be sure, but not exactly ideal either.

And then there was the shaping...

The recipe recommended rolling the dough into a log and then cutting the log into 12 discs and placing the discs cut-side-up for proofing and baking. So I did that. But I'm not really happy with the results that that gave. I think next time I'd pinch off balls of dough and round them in the usual way, placing them seam-side down on the baking sheet. Still... I'm glad that I tried it this way the first time, just to see how it worked out.

As I said, this is not a bad recipe overall. I just need to take a little more care with it next time around.

Sourdough Pandesal

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 120g ripe (fed) sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 150g water
• 300g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 c. canola (or other neutral) oil
• breadcrumbs, for coating

Directions

1. Make sure your starter is very well-fed and active.
2. Combine starter, water, flour, salt, and sugar and mix well.
3. Knead by hand or hook until dough is smooth and elastic (2-10 minutes depending on your technique).
4. Gradually work in the oil.
5. Cover and allow to ferment at room temperature for 4-8 hours.
6. Once the dough is fully risen, knock it back and allow to rest for a few minutes.
7. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and round each one.
8. Roll each dough ball in breadcrumbs and place on a greased baking sheet.
9. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
10. Rolls may either be baked now or held in the fridge and baked off first thing in the morning.
11. Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
12. Uncover rolls and bake at 190°C (375°F) for ~25 minutes.
13. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

I took the Kidlet to the grocery store with me the other day and she wanted to get an apple pie. I told her that I usually find the budget grocery store apple pies somewhat disappointing and that we'd probably be better off making our own. And, as luck would have it, when TF and I went to the grocery store a few days later, they had bags of apples on the discount produce rack: 8 apples for $2!

Now, the catch with getting discount apples is that you don't get to choose (or even know) what variety you're getting. They looked like maybe macs or galas, but I'm not certain. I know they weren't red delicious, Granny Smith, or golden delicious, but that's about all I can say. I usually hear relatively tart apples (like Granny Smiths) recommended for baking, so this probably wasn't ideal. But they were cheap and I'm still quite happy with how the pie turned out and, most importantly, so is the Kidlet.

The book contains its own pastry recipe for the pie. Initially, I was going to use their recipe. But then I thought about how much sourdough starter I have going begging right now and figured that maybe going for a sourdough pastry would be better. I felt like it would complement the apples reasonably well and let me use up a little starter, so why not? I even managed to get a flakier, less bready result this time! I think the only change I'd make next time is to add slightly more sugar to the crust. Maybe a full tsp. rather than just half. It might also be fun to experiment with brushing the crust with a little egg or milk and then sprinkling on some turbinado sugar before baking. But I didn't want to mess around with that for this time. Possibly something to experiment with, but by no means necessary.

Apple Pie

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 recipe sourdough pastry
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 8 apples, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter¹
• vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare pastry, wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
3. Combine sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cornstarch.
4. Add the apples and toss to mix.
5. Divide the pastry into two equal portions and roll out each one into a 30cm (12") round.
6. Use one pastry sheet to line a pie plate.
7. Dump the apples into the pie shell.
8. Dot the butter on top, then cover with remaining pastry sheet.
9. Trim edges and fold the edge of top crust under the bottom crust, then crimp to seal.
10. Cut a few slits in the top crust.
11. Bake until crust is golden and apples are tender (~60 minutes).
12. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
13. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
14. Serve with ice cream and or whipped cream (if desired).

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¹ I only just now realized that I forgot to add the butter. Whoops! ^Back

I've been continuing to try out sourdough recipes from the King Arthur Flour website. This one is full of inclusions and spices. And, between the starter and the oatmeal, doesn't actually contain all that much fresh flour. Which made it a bit difficult to work with initially. The dough seemed very loose and wet and had very little gluten development. I actually ended up adding ~50g of extra flour, just to try to adjust the consistency to something slightly more workable. After it had sat overnight in the cold room though, it had tightened up quite a bit and I found myself wishing that I hadn't added the extra flour after all. So, I guess next time I'll trust the recipe and go with the original amounts.

Walnut and Raisin Oatmeal Sourdough

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 120g ripe (fed) sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 250g cooked steel-cut oats¹, cooled
• 30g honey
• 30g water
• 30g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp. orange zest
• 220g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour²
• 1/8 tsp. instant yeast (optional)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 65g walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 90g raisins

Directions

1. Make sure your starter is well-fed and active.
2. Combine starter, oatmeal, honey, water, butter, allspice, nutmeg, and orange zest and mix well. (Make sure the oatmeal isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast/starter.)
3. Add the flour and yeast and mix very well.
4. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
5. Work in the salt and let stand for another hour or two.
6. Do a bowl fold and then let rest for another hour or so. Repeat until dough feels light and well-risen.
7. Work in the walnuts and raisins.
8. At this point, dough can be covered and stored in the fridge overnight or allowed to rest for one more hour before shaping.
9. Shape into a loaf and place in a banneton or prepared loaf pan. (If desired, dust the banneton/pan with some finely chopped steel-cut oats first to give the loaf a nice coating.)
10. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
11. If desired, loaf may be proofed in the fridge overnight.
12. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F) and boil some water.
13. Bake bread at 230°C (450°F) over a pan of boiling water for 15 minutes.
14. Remove water pan and reduce heat to 190°C (375°F) and bake for another 20 minutes or so.
15. Turn off oven and let loaf stand in hot oven for 10 minutes.
16. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ Oats should be cooked with a ratio of 1:4.1 oats to water by mass. I started with 100g of oats and 410g of water and cooked until the oats were somewhat tender with a decent tooth/chew to them and the oatmeal was reasonably thick. I then weighed out 250g of the cooked oatmeal and reserved the rest for another use. ^Back
2 The original recipe calls for 220g of all-purpose flour. I ended up using 120g of whole wheat flour and 160g of all-purpose flour. I think next time I'd try using entirely whole wheat flour, but sticking to the originally recommended quantity. ^Back

I got some lovely fresh herbs from my mom's garden at Thanksgiving. And I've been enjoying trying out different recipes to use them up. So far, I've been focusing on the parsley and rosemary. But I ran across this delicious-looking recipe for baked gnocchi with sage and decided to give that a try.

It's definitely not health food by any means, but it is easy and tastes fantastic!

Baked Gnocchi with Fontina, Pancetta, and Sage

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 125-250g pancetta¹, chopped
• 2-3 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage
• 1kg gnocchi
• 1 1/2 c. half-and-half (10% MF)
• 250g fontina cheese², cut into 5mm cubes
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/3 c. panko breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease a 23x33cm (9x13") lasagne pan.
2. Cook the pancetta over medium heat until crisp.
3. Drain off as much of the fat as possible, add the sage, and set aside.
4. Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions (or slighlty less).
5. Drain the gnocchi and add it to the pan with the pancetta along with the half-and-half, cheese, and pepper.
6. Stir to combine and pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
7. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15-20 minutes.
8. It breadcrumbs are not sufficiently browned, place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.

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¹ The original recipe called for 125g of pancetta, but we all really like pancetta here, so I decided to double it. That said, I do think that the smaller quantity would have been sufficient -- even if the bumped up amount was delicious! ^Back
2 The original recipe called for taleggio cheese. I couldn't find any at the grocery store, so I substituted fontina. I think oka probably also would have been good, but the fontina was cheaper and I was able to find a piece that was exactly the amount I needed, so I just went with that. ^Back

I know I just made a chocolate sourdough, but this is a different chocolate sourdough. This one contains no sugar and no chocolate, but more than twice the amount of cocoa (proportionally). And the liquid is beer, rather than water. (I used a dark ale for mine.)

While the previous chocolate sourdough claimed to be a savoury bread, I actually found it relatively sweet. This one, however, is nothing like that. It is exceptionally dark and somewhat bitter. The recipe recommends pairing it with salty offerings like pickles, cheeses, and/or cured meats. And TF found it to be an excellent substrate for Vegemite. Meanwhile, the Kidlet thinks it will make an ideal bread for grilled cheese and has requested one tomorrow.

This bread also has some of the most impressively crisp, delightful crust that I've ever achieved. And it got great oven spring. (Despite me forgetting about it for an entire afternoon and generally being pretty lax with my care and timings when making it.) Very nice overall!

Chocolate Beer Bread

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 350g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 40g Dutched (alkalized) cocoa
• 300g beer
• 80g ripe (fed) sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Refresh your starter and make sure it's nice and active.
2. Combine the flour, cocoa, beer, starter, and salt and mix very well.
3. Let dough rest, covered, for 3-8 hours, stretching and folding every hour or so.
4. Once dough feels light and well-risen, shape it into a loaf and place it (seam-side-up) in a floured banneton.
5. Cover and let rest for 2-3 hours at room temperature (or 6-24 hours in the fridge).
6. When ready to bake: preheat oven to 250°C (475°F) and boil some water.
7. Grease a baking sheet and dust it with cornmeal.
8. Turn the loaf out onto the preapred baking sheet.
9. Gently rub or brush a little water onto the crust and then slash as desired.
10. Pour some boiling water into a roasting pan and place it on the bottom rack of the oven.
11. Place the bread on the rack above the water pan and bake at 250°C (475°F) for 15 minutes.
12. Reduce heat to 200°C (400°F), remove water pan, and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
13. Turn off oven and allow bread to rest in hot oven for 10 minutes.
14. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

This is a very simple tomato sauce with lamb and zucchini. It incorporates no herbs or seasonings other than the rosemary and a bit of salt and pepper. (I did add a single clove of garlic as well, but that wasn't in the original recipe.) I also added a bit of tomato paste and some pasta water to give the sauce a little more body.

I think it probably could have done with a little more simmering, just to deepen the flavours a bit more, but it was still quite nice as it was. And doing it with the short simmer recommended by the recipe does, at least, make it a quick meal to prepare.

Pasta with Rosemary Lamb Sugo

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
• 450g ground lamb
• 1/2 Tbsp. salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/4 c. dry white wine
• 1 (~800mL) can diced tomatoes
• 2-3 small zucchini, diced
• 375g rotini (or other short) pasta, cooked
• 1/4 c. grated pecorino Romano

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion, garlic, and rosemary, and cook until softened and beginning to brown (~10 minutes).
3. Add lamb, 1 tsp. of the salt, and the pepper and cook until lamb is no longer pink (~5 minutes).
4. Add tomato paste and cook until darkened (~3 minutes).
5. Add wine and cook until almost completely evaporated (3-5 minutes).
6. Add tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10-20 minutes, stir only very occasionally.
7. Add the zucchini and cook for another 10-15 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.
9. Once pasta is al dente, add ~1/4 c. of the pasta water to the sauce and stir it in vigorously.
10. Drain the pasta (discarding the rest of the pasta water) and add the pasta to the sauce, mixing well.
11. Stir in the cheese.
12. Serve topped with additional Romano or Parmesan.

I wanted a dish with some nutritional value to go with tonight's not-very-virtuous gnocchi. This recipe allowed me to use up some of the pumpkin we had on hand as well as a bunch of the thyme that we got from my mom. And, since it's mostly composed of vegetables and legumes, it's not even ruinously unhealthy!
That said, I'm not sure I'd be willing to make this recipe again. Not because it wasn't good. Unforunately it's just way too aggravating to make.

Normally, when I cook pumpkin, I cut it in half, roast it, and then scoop the cooked flesh out of the skin. This makes it very easy to handle and use. This recipe, however, takes a different approach. I requires peeling and chopping the pumpkin before cooking. Which is just downright annoying and tedious. But, at least it got us some veg and protein.

Pumpkin with Cannellini Beans, Caramelized Onions, and Roasted Garlic

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 heads (bulbs) garlic, halved crosswise
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 2 cans (~470g each) cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 Sugar Pie pumpkin (~500g), peeled and cubed
• 1 c. vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. breadcrumbs (preferably fresh)
• 2-3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Wrap garlic in foil and roast at 190°C (375°F) until soft (50-60 minutes).
3. Squeeze garlic from skin and set aside (discarding skins).
4. Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
5. Add the onion and cook until softened.
6. Reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking until dark and very soft (20-30 minutes).
7. Add beans, pumpkin, broth, thyme, salt, and pepper and stir to combine.
8. Cover and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 1 hour.
9. Meanwhile, toss breadcrumbs with Parmesan and remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
10. Once pumpkin is tender, remove lid and sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture.
11. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, until lightly browned on top (10-15 minutes).

The plan had been to make some rum-glazed pineapple for dessert tonight. But the pineapple had gone off, so I found myself casting about for some other last-minute dessert. There were a few different options, but the bananas foster caught my eye and something tasty, that we had all the ingredients for, and would take very little time to prepare. (And is also delicious!)

Bananas Foster

Slightly adapte from Dessert of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 bananas
• 3-4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. dark rum
• ~1 c. vanilla ice cream

Directions

1. Peel the bananas and halve them lengthwise and crosswise.
2. Melt the butter over medium-high heat.
3. When the butter foams, place the bananas in the pan, cut-side-down.
4. Cook for ~5 minutes, then flip and add sugar and rum.
5. Cook for another 5 minutes.
6. To serve, place three banana segments in each bowl, spoon a little sauce over them, and top with 3-4 Tbsp. of ice cream.

The book calls these "waffle tartines". But, looking at the recipe, they're basically open-faced croque monsieurs served on waffles instead of bread. Given that, I decided to add an egg to mine to make them heartier and turn them into waffle croque madames. They were quite good. I may actually prefer the waffle version to the traditional bread-based rendition.

Waffle Croque Madames

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

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1 c. milk
• 145g gruyère cheese, shredded, divided
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/16 tsp. ground cayenne
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 plain waffles
• 360g sliced ham
• 4 large eggs
• mustard and gherkins, to serve

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250°C (475°F).
2. Melt the butter over medium heat.
3. Mix in the flour and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes.
4. Gradually pour in the milk while whisking.
5. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, whisking often, until thickened (~5 minutes).
7. Remove from heat and stir in 60g of the cheese.
8. Mix in the nutmeg and cayenne and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
9. Fry the eggs, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper, until the whites are just set.
10. Place the waffles on a lined baking sheet and top with the ham, followed by the mornay sauce and an egg, and finally the remaining cheese.
11. Bake at 250°C (475°F) until cheese has melted (1-2 minutes).
12. Serve with grainy mustard and gherkins (or other pickles of your choice.

I can no longer remember what I made this chocolate sauce for. But I remember making it and I remember it being tasty!

Dark Chocolate Sauce

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

Ingredients

• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 c. corn syrup
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 170g dark chocolate
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions

1. Combine cream, corn syrup, and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Remove from heat and add chocolate and butter.
3. Let stand for 2-3 minutes, then whisk until smooth.
4. Serve warm or transfer to a jar and chill until ready to use. Reheat before serving.

This recipe includes some very strange flavour combinations. I mean, I've heard of both black pepper and balsamic vinegar being used in desserts before, but not both together and not in such large quantities! I was a bit nervous about the results, but I wanted to give it a try anyway and, I must say, I was quite pleased with the results! It was an unusual flavour profile, but not an unpleasant one.

Strawberry Parfaits with Black Pepper and Balsamic Vinegar

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. black peppercorns, coarsely ground
• 500g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Chambord¹
• 250mL vanilla ice cream²
• whipped cream

Directions

1. Combine the strawberries and black pepper and set aside.
2. Combine the sugar and water in a small pot, cover, and heat over medium-high heat until the sugar melts.
3. Uncover and cook, swirling -- BUT NOT STIRRING -- occasionally, until the sugar darkens into a light caramel (5-10 mintes).
4. Add the strawberries and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until any chunks of sugar/caramel that formed when the strawberries were added melt and dissolve back into the juice (2-4 minutes).
5. Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar and Chambord.
6. Cover and chill for at least an hour.
7. Once ready to serve, place some strawberries in the bottoms of three small jars and then layer some ice cream and more strawberries over them.
8. Top with whipped cream and serve.

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¹ The original recipe called for kirsch, but a) I didn't have any and b) neither TF nor I like it anyway. We did, however, have a selection of other liquors. I decided that Chambord would be a nice match with the strawberries and used it in place of the kirsch. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 500mL of ice cream, but I only used about half of that amount. Of course, the original recipe also claims to serve six and I only actually made three parfaits! So, maybe the original amount would have been fine if I'd split it six ways. That said, there definitely wouldn't have been nearly enough strawberries to do that. I had a scant pound (450g) of strawberries and I already found that a bit skimpy (hence bumping it up to 500g here). There's no way that 450g would have been enough to make six parfaits. I was honestly debating whether to bump the strawberies up to 600 or 700g. That said, I think 500g is sufficient -- if not exaclty generous -- for three parfaits. ^Back

This was an excellent salad! Like, really unreasonably good for how simple it was!

We'd already eaten all of the bell peppers that I'd cooked yesterday, so we needed a new side dish to go with the leftover pasta. I didn't feel up for putting much effort in, but this salad didn't take much, so that was convenient. And it punches way above its weight flavour-wise. I'm very pleased with this one.

Shaved Carrots with Olives and Almonds

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g carrots
• 1/4 c. green olives, minced
• 1/4 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1-2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 c. almonds, toasted

Directions

1. Thinly slice the carrots on a mandoline or a box grater. (Alternatively, use a vegetable peeler to make long, thin ribbons.)
2. Combine the olives, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt, and pepper and mix well.
3. Add the carrots and toss to combine.
4. Coarsely grind or crush the almonds and sprinkle them over the salad.

TF made some shrimp and mushroom pasta for dinner last night. It was excellent. This is the vegetable side that I made to go with it. (Because I'm trying to get a bit better about making sure we have some sort of vegetables with our pasta-based dinners.)

This is pretty basic and simple, but it was very tasty. And it let me use some of the fresh rosemary from my mom's herb garden, so that was nice.

Roasted Peppers with Olives and Rosemary

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 4 large red and/or yellow bell peppers, sliced
• 1 sweet onion, cut into wedges
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary, chopped
• 12 kalamata olives

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone baking mat.
2. Toss the bell peppers and onion with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread out on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Roast at 200°C (400°F) for 45 minutes, turning/stirring every 15.
4. If using dried rosemary, add it after the first 30 minutes of roasting.
5. After 45 minutes of roasting, add the olives and fresh rosemary (if using) and roast for another 5 minutes.

I took a few too many liberties with this recipe. Or, at least one too many, rather.

Banh mi are meant to be made on baguettes. And that is, indeed, what this recipe calls for. Unfortunately, I didn't have any baguettes. And I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to make this, so I decided that I'd just roll with some non-honey-filled honeycakes as the bread component of these sandwiches. Go for little banh mi sliders rather than the traditional sub. Sadly, the honeycake flavour profile doesn't really mix well with the banh mi flavour profile. They are two great tastes that do not taste great together.

That said, all the individual components were good! So I do think this would have been fine had I made it on the right bread. The cilantro, mint, pickled veggies, and sri racha mayo were all delicious. And I think the bacon and eggs would have been great with them. Although I say "would have" because I did end up making another substitute here. First off, because I was making sliders rather than subs, I went with scrambled eggs rather than fried. I think scrambled worked well here, but I'd be interested to try it with fried sometime, just to see how I like it. And the other change was to swap the bacon out from some turkey breast deli meat. I was going to use smoked tofu, but I hadn't realized that TF had used up the last of it while I was away camping and neither of us had ever restocked. So turkey breast was the best substitute I could manage in the end. It was fine, but I think that smoked tofu, tempeh, or bacon would have been better.

Still, despite a few... less-than-ideal substitutions, this worked out alright as a last-minute breakfast. I would definitely keep this in my back pocket to try again someday. Especially if I had some nice baguettes on hand!

Breakfast Banh Mi

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Pickled Veggies

• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 shallot¹, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. rice vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Sri Racha Mayo²

• 1/4 c. mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. sri racha
• 2 tsp. lime juice³

Sandwich

• 8 slices bacon or smoked tofu
• 4 large eggs
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 baguette
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Combine the carrot, shallot, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a jar.
2. Close jar tightly and shake to mix. Set aside for at least 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine the mayo, sri racha, and lime juice and mix well. Set aside.
4. Cook your bacon or tofu until crisp. If using tofu, add a little fat to the pan to help it crisp up.
5. Set the bacon/tofu on a plate and either drain fat from or add fat to the pan as appropriate.
6. Either fry or scramble your eggs in the pan, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Cut the baguette into four equal pieces and slice each piece in half lengthwise.
8. Spread both halves of each baguette section with sri racha mayo.
9. Top the bottom half of each baguette section with bacon/tofu, eggs, pickled veggies, cilantro, and mint and place the top piece of the baguette on top.

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¹ The original recipe called for half a red onion, but I didn't have red onions and I did have shallots. And, honestly, I felt like a shallot would go better here anyway, so I would 100% keep this substitution in the future. That said, I think red onion would also be fine. Especially if it'd save you a trip to the grocery store. So, use whichever one is most convenient. ^Back
2 I've halved the quantities called for here because the original recipe made way too much mayo! ^Back
3 The original recipe called for lemon juice, but, after giving it some thought, I decided to go with lime juice instead. I felt like the lime would complement the other flavours better. I think either one would be fine though. Also, the recipe didn't call for any zest and I didn't use any, but I might try tossing in a pinch next time. I think it would be nice. ^Back

I made this... quite a while ago. Honestly, at this point, I don't even remember making it. But it's in my notes, so I must've done at some point. I've just been bad at keeping up with all the recipe write-ups this year. There's been a lot going on and the write-ups (along with a lot of other stuff) have been falling through the cracks. I'm doing my best to catch up now though. We'll see how far I get.

Quinoa with Asparagus, Portobellos, and Feta

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. quinoa
• 2 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock, divided
• 1/3 c. dried currants
• 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 red onion, halved and sliced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 450g asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/3 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 125g feta, crumbled

Directions

1. Combine the quinoa with 2 c. of the stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the currants and reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed (~15 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside. (Keep covered.)
4. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add garlic, mushrooms, and onion and season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Sauté until they begin to brown (5-6 minutes).
7. Add the vinegar and cook until absorbed.
8. Add the asparagus and toss to coat.
9. Add the remaining 1/2 c. of stock and cook, stirring occasionally, until asparagus is fork tender (3-4 minutes).
10. Add the quinoa, parsley, lemon zest, and feta and serve.

Dahi Malai Methi Gosht (Creamy Yogurt and Fenugreek Lamb Curry)

I picked up some stewing lamb on sale a while back. I don't often get lamb; too expensive. But we all really like it, so when it goes on sale, I try to make sure to get some. Then it's just a matter of trying to decide which of the many, many lamb recipes to cook.

I had also bookmarked a tasty-looking lamb biryani recipe for this. But it required a lengthy marinade and I didn't have time for that by the time I was getting started, so I opted for this fenugreek curry instead. Maybe next time I can try the biryani...

Dahi Malai Methi Gosht

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 onion, half sliced, half chopped
• 8-10 cloves garlic
• 5-6 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies
• 3 (4x3x0.3cm) slices fresh ginger
• 450g stewing lamb
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 c. chopped fresh or frozen fenugreek (or 1/2 c. dried fenugreek, reconstituted)
• 1 c. water
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream¹

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, salt, chopped onion, garlic, chilies, and ginger in a blender and purée until smooth.
2. Pour the marinade over the lamb and toss to combine.
3. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes and as long as overnight.
4. When ready to cook, heat ghee over medium-high heat.
5. Add the sliced onion and stir-fry until edges brown (3-5 minutes).
6. Add the lamb along wiht all of the marinade and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated (~15 minutes).
7. Add the fenugreek leaves and water and bring to a boil.
8. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is tender and the sauce has thickened (~30 minutes).
9. Mix in the cream and allow to heat through (~2 minutes).
10. Serve with naan and/or rice.

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¹ Heavy cream, of course, gives you the richest, most unctuous results, but you can get away with half-and-half (10% MF) in a pinch. (Either because you're trying to cut calories or if, like me, you find your cream has gone off and half-and-half is all you can get to replace it on short notice.) ^Back

The Kidlet and I made this cake to take to Thanksgiving. It is a very rich, dense cake full of oatmeal and chocolate. And the peanut butter icing adds even more decadence.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Slightly adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 c. rolled oats
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 c. boiling water
• 225g dark chocolate chips (or coarsely chopped dark chocolate)
• 1 1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c. sugar¹
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting

• 1 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 200g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar²
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream, whipped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease a 23x33cm (9x13") cake tin/baking dish.
2. Place the stick of butter with the oats, pour over the boiling water, and let stand for 1 minute.
3. Stir the oat mixture to thoroughly combine and let stand until cooled.
4. Meanwhile, toss the chocolate with 2 Tbsp. of the flour and set aside.
5. Beat the eggs with the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla.
6. Add the oat mixture once cooled and stir to combine.
7. Mix in the remaining 1 1/2 c. of flour.
8. Stir in the flour-coated chocolate chips.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
10. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 35-45 minutes.
11. Allow to cool completely before icing.
12. Beat the peanut butter with the butter until light and fluffy.
13. Mix in the vanilla and salt.
14. Gradually sift in the icing sugar while continuing to beat vigorously.
15. Fold in the whipped cream.
16. Spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake.

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¹ The original recipe called for 3/4 c. sugar and 1 1/4 c. brown sugar. I used the full amount of granulated sugar, but only 1 c. of brown sugar this time around. The cake came out great, but I'd be tempted to try it with slightly less sugar next time. Maybe just 1/2 of granualted and 1 c. of brown. And, if that works well, I'd be tempted to omit the granulated sugar altogether on future attempts and just roll with 1 1/4 c. of brown sugar. That said, I didn't want to adjust things too much too fast. Hence the incremental approach. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 2 c. of icing sugar. I weighed my sugar and found it came in at ~125g/cup. So I used ~250g of icing sugar for my frosting. That said, I found it a little sweeter and stiffer than I'd ideally like, so I think I'd aim for closer to 200g of sugar next time. ^Back

I needed a quick vegetable side to complement a pasta dish TF was making for dinner the other day. We were out of a lot of our usual staples, so my options were somewhat limited. But we did have (more-or-less) what we needed for this kale dish. And, while the Kidlet didn't care for it, TF and I both liked it.

Sautéed Kale with Anchovies

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 300g frozen kale or 450g fresh¹
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4-6 oil-packed anchovies
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. If necessary, rinse the kale well, then trim and chop.
2. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the garlic and anchovies and sautée for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the kale, water, and salt and cook until kale is tender (~10 minutes).
5. Stir in pepper flakes, lemon zest, and lemon juice and serve.

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¹ You'll need to start with a bit more kale if using fresh to account for loss when trimming out the tough stems and central ribs. ^Back

This is pretty similar to the savoury sourdough discard we already make, but it incorporates a chemical leavener to yield a slightly fluffier finished pancake. The "batter" is just sourdough discard thinned with a little water, seasoned with a pinch of salt, and given a bit of baking powder for leavening. Chopped scallions and herbs get stirred into the batter as well. I think cilantro and/or parsley work particularly well. But you could experiment with a variety of different herbs.

The recipe suggests serving these with a dumpling dipping sauce. The Kidlet had hers with ketchup. TF went for some Sichuan peppercorn pickles. And I had mine with Laoganma and a little soy sauce. (Although next time I think I'd swap out the soy sauce for a bit of black vinegar instead.)

Much like with the other savoury pancakes, I think these go well with fried eggs. The eggs add a little protein and make the meal a bit more substantial.

Sourdough Herb and Scallion Pancakes

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 170g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/4-1/3 c. fresh herbs, chopped
• fried eggs, to serve
• condiments (soy sauce, Laoganma, pickles, ketchup, mayo, vinegar, etc.), to serve

Directions

1. Combine the sourdough discard, water, salt, and baking soda and mix well.
2. Mix in the green onions and herbs.
3. Heat a tawa or griddle over medium heat.
4. Oil or grease the griddle if necessary.
5. Drop a scoop of batter (~1/4 c.) onto the hot griddle and cook until bubbles form and edges look dry.
6. Flip and cook until browned on both sides and pancake is cooked through.
7. Repeat with remaining batter, cooking 2-3 pancakes at a time.
8. Serve pancakes topped with fried eggs and/or conidements of your choice.

Zeera Kamal Kakadi (Cumin Lotus Root Curry)

We had a small amount of lotus root left over in the freezer from the last lotus root curry we made, but it wasn't really enough to do anything with. It was, however, enough to add to a new bag of frozen lotus root to make a different curry. And a very tasty and easy one to boot!

Zeera Kamal Kakadi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. mustard oil
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 slices fresh ginger (5x3x0.3cm), peeled and minced
• 3 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, minced
• 1 c. water
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 450g fresh or frozen lotus root, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic, ginger, and chilies and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the water, salt, and lotus root and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, combine the yogurt, cream, and cumin and mix well.
6. Once the lotus root is cooked, add the yogurt mixture and stir to combine.
7. Cook until heated through (3-5 minutes).
8. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Limboo Arbi (Taro Root Curry with Lime)

I was originally planning on making just two curries for dinner tonight: one lamb and fenugreek curry and one dal. However, both curries had a reasonably long simmering stage and I found myself at loose ends, so I decided to throw together this simple taro root curry as well.

It was especially easy in my case, since I had a bag of peeled, sliced taro root in the freezer already. So there was virtually no prep needed. I just dumped the taro into a pot of hot water and brought it to a boil. Once the water boiled, I drained it immediately rather than letting it cook for any length of time because a) frozen vegetables have generally been parcooked already and b) it was sliced much tinner than the thick half moons suggested by the recipe. This seems to have worked reasonably well and I'm quite happy with the result.

Limboo Arbi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 450g taro root
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. ground asafetida
• 12 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (urad dal/white lentils/mapte beans)
• 1 c. water
• juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. Peel the taro and rise well (it will still be slippery after rinsing).
2. Cut each root in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 3-4cm pieces.
3. Place taro in a pot with enough water to cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 8-10 minutes. Then drain and allow to cool slightly.¹
5. Toss the cooked taro with the cilantro, sambhar masala, salt, turmeric, asafetia, and curry leaves.
6. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
7. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they stop popping (30-60 seconds).
8. Add the lentils and stir-fry for 15-30 seconds.
9. Add the taro mixture and stir-fry to cook the spices (1-2 minutes).
10. Add the water and deglaze the pan.
11. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens (~5 minutes).
12. Stir in the lime juice and serve.

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¹ Alternatively, instead of peeling and cutting up the taro first, scrub it with a vegetable brush and then boil the whole (unpeeled) roots for ~15 minutes. Drain, allow to cool, and peel and chop the taro once it is cool enough to handle. Either approach should work equally well. ^Back

Honeycakes (Game of Thrones)

The story behind this recipe is somewhat convoluted. It is based on a recipe posted on the C&C Cakery blog, who got it from Inn at the Crossroads, who, in turn, based their recipe on an early modern recipe they found for honeycakes, which they modified to be closer to a dish described in the Game of Thrones books.

The quote they were riffing on mentioned cakes that had been "soaked in honey". So they made these Elizabethan-era honeycakes and then cut little holes in the tops and poured a generous quantity of honey into the centre of each one.

I'm not sure how close this comes to the treats the author had been imagining. Based on the description, I was imagining more of a small quick bread/chemically leavened cake that then gets soaked in a (possibly mildly spiced) honey syrup. But, I guess they wanted to use an old timey recipe as the basis for their cakes. I think there was a sense that this would fit the vibe of the setting a bit better. And, as written, the recipe does make delightful little rolls! (Although I think they'd be even better with a little butter added to the dough.) And, to be fair, it looks like the folks at Inn at the Crossroads did post a recipe for "modern honeycakes" that does use a chemically leavened batter baked in muffin tins to produce something more similar to what I'd originally been envisioning. (Although I have yet to try that recipe.)

I think it could be interesting to experiment with different takes on this idea. For example, I might be inclined to try making the little yeasted buns again, but try steaming them rather than baking them. Or try adding some butter and extra anise to the dough. Or try poaching them in honey syrup either before or after baking. There are all sorts of possibilities!

Honeycakes

Slightly adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

• 480mL brown ale
• 6 Tbsp. honey, divided
• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 Tbsp. instant yeast)
• 800g all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 6 Tbsp. almond flour
• 1 Tbsp. anise seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter¹, softened (optional)
• extra honey

Directions

1. Combine the ale with 2 Tbsp. of the honey and gently warm to ~40°C (100°F).
2. Remove from heat and sprinkle in the yeast and let stand for 5 minutes. (If using instant yeast you may add the yeast directly to the dry ingredients instead. No need to bloom it in the ale first.)
3. Meanwhile, combine the flour, sugar, almond flour, anise, and salt and mix well. (If using instant yeast, add it along with the other dry ingredients.)
4. Pour the yeast mixture into a mixing bowl along with the almond extract and the remaining honey.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients a little at a time to form a soft dough.
6. Work in the butter (if using).
7. Cover and rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
8. Knock dough back and divide into 20-24 equal portions.
9. Round each portion and place on a greased baking sheet or in a greased 23x33cm (9x13") baking tin.
10. Cover and allow to rise for another hour or so.²
11. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
12. Uncover rolls and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15-20 minutes.
13. Cut a small hole in the top of each roll and carefully spoon in a generous quantity of honey. (The original recipe suggested ~1 Tbsp. per roll, but I went for a somewhat more modest 1 tsp..)

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¹ The original recipe did not call for any butter and I didn't use any this time, but I would like to try adding a bit of butter next time. The rolls were certainly plenty good as-is, but I think a bit of butter might make them even better. ^Back
2 I let my rolls rise for about an hour after shaping, but, in retrospect, I wish I'd given them another 15-20 minutes. They're perfectly good as-is, but they do seem a bit underproofed. The exact timing, of course, will depend on the temperature of your room. My house is a bit on the cool side right now, so the yeast were a bit sluggish. ^Back

I've been mostly using Bernard Clayton's recipes when making bread lately, but I felt like changing things up a bit this time. I'd been looking at the King Arthur Flour website for pancake recipes anyway and figured that maybe I'd give some of their bread recipes a go. They have quite a few sourdough recipes listed, but this chocolate sourdough sounded particularly interesting. The cocoa makes for a very dark, rich-tasting bread. And the chocolate chunks add a bit of sweetness without being overwhelming.

The recipe claims that this bread is more savoury than sweet. And, while I'd agree that the dough itself is not very sweet, the amount of chocolate worked into it does shift it more away from the savoury end of the spectrum than I was expecting. It's definitely not aggressively sweet or anything and I do think it works well paired with mild cheeses as a sort of sweet-and-savoury combo, but I would still say it leans more savoury than sweet, personally. It's lovely! I just wouldn't necessarily classify it as "savoury".

Chocolate Sourdough Bread

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

Preferment

• 25g ripe (fed) starter @ 100% hydration
• 210g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• 145g water

Dough

• 480g water
• 500-600g hard (strong/high grade/bread) or all-purpose flour
• 36g Dutched (alkalized) cocoa
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 200g dark chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Combine the starter, whole wheat flour, and water and mix well.
2. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 12-16 hours.
3. The next morning, add the water to the preferment and use your fingers to break up the dough and mix it into the water.
4. Mix vigorously for a few seconds, then begin adding the flour, cocoa, and salt. Start with 500g of flour, but add a little more if the dough seems excessively sticky or loose. That said, it's probably better for the dough to be a little too loose than too tight.
5. Mix very well, then cover and allow to rest for 30-60 minutes.
6. Perform a bowl fold, cover and rest for another hour or so.
7. Wet your bench/work surface and turn the dough out. Press it into a large, flat rectangle.
8. Sprinkle the chocolate evenly over the surface.
9. Perform a letter fold (folding the dough into thirds) and then roll it up (as if shaping a large loaf).
10. Return to bowl and allow to rest for another 30-60 minutes.
11. Repeat the folding/rolling and resting process until the dough begins to feel light and well-risen. (Probably 1-3 additional fold/rest periods, but it will depend on the temperature of your room and the activity of your starter.)
12. Knock the dough back and divide into two equal portions.
13. Round each one, cover, and rest for 10-20 minutes.
14. Shape into loaves and place, seam-side-up, into well-floured bannetons.
15. Cover and place in fridge to proof overnight.²
16. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 250°C (475°F) and put a kettle on to boil.
17. Grease a baking sheet and dust it with cornmeal.
18. Turn the loaves out onto the prepared baking sheet. Optionally lightly wet the surface of the loaves.
19. Slash loaves as desired.
20. Once the oven is preheated, pour some boiling water into a large pan and place it on the lower oven rack.
21. Place the bread on a rack set above the pan of boiling water and bake at 250°C (475°F) for 15 minutes.
22. Reduce heat to 200°C (400°F), remove water pan, and bake until done (~15 minutes longer).
23. Turn oven off and allow bread to stand in hot oven for an additional 5-10 minutes.
24. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ I didn't have room in the fridge when making this bread, so I proofed mine at room temperature. I think it took ~2 hours at 21°C (70°F). ^Back

Orecchiette alla Verza

I don't think this was a favourite for either me or symbol, but we did like it, and everyone, including the Kidlet, had seconds. And while it takes a long time to prepare, it is very easy, and the ingredients, while not self-stable, keep well.

I also appreciate that it uses an entire cabbage, rather than ¼-½ a cabbage as so many recipes do. (The original recipe calls for only 6 cups of cabbage, but that's not how we roll.) I think it would go nicely with some onions as well, too.

Orecchiette alla Verza (Orecchiette with Anchovies and Cabbage

From The Classic Pasta Cookbook by Guiliano Hazan (p. 129)

Ingredients

• 1 package bacon
• 8 whole anchovies
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cabbage, quartered, cored, and thinly sliced
• 450g orechiette
• 1 tbsp butter
• freshly grated parmesan

Directions

1. In a large, deep-sided skillet or pot, cook the bacon. Remove to a plate, retaining the bacon fat in the pan.
2. Return skillet to medium-low heat. Add anchovies and cook until they start to break down.
3. Add garlic and cook until fragrant and the anchovies have dissolved, ~2-3 minutes.
4. Add cabbage and stir until coated with bacon fat. You may need to do this in multiple steps, letting it cook down a bit between.
5. Season cabbage with black pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until cooked down and very tender, ~30 minutes.
6. Cook pasta al dente.
7. Crumble or cut bacon into small pieces; stir into cabbage.
8. Add butter to the cabbage and toss until melted.
9. Drain pasta and toss with cabbage.
10. Serve with parmesan.

Cholar Papeeta Dal (Green Papaya Dal)

I still had a kohlrabi languishing in the fridge that needed using. And after the success of using kohlrabi as a green papaya substitute in the past, I decided to give it another go with this split pea and "papaya" dal. that said, if you have neither papaya or kohlrabi, Iyer suggests several possible alternatives. Rutabaga (turnip/swede), potato, and sweet potato are all suggested as viable substitutes in this instance.

Cholar Papeeta Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. yellow split peas (chana dal)
• 3 1/2 c. water, divided
• 450g green unripe papaya (or kohlrabi, rutabaga, potato, or sweet potato), peeled and diced
• 4 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, halved lengthwise
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 2 tsp. panch phoron
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, stems removed
• 1 tsp. Bangala garam masala
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. Rinse the split peas well and drain.
2. Add 3 c. of the water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat.
3. Skim off any foam that forms, then add the papaya and fresh chilies.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until peas are almost tender (~30 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, heat the ghee over medium-high heat.
6. Add the panch phoron and sizzle for 15-30 seconds.
7. Add the onion and dried chilies and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.
8. Add the garam masala and turmeric and stir-fry for another 10-15 seconds.
9. Add the remaining 1/2 c. of water and deglaze the pan. Remove from heat and set aside.
10. Once the peas are almost tender, uncover the pot and increase heat to medium-high.
11. Boil, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the peas are tender (~10 minutes).
12. Add the onion mixture and the salt and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.
13. Stir in cilantro and lime juice and serve.

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Variants

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 1 c. yellow split peas (chana dal)
• 3 1/2 c. water, divided
• 450g green unripe papaya (or kohlrabi, rutabaga, potato, or sweet potato), peeled and diced
• 4 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, halved lengthwise
• 2 Tbsp. mustard or canola oil
• 2 tsp. panch phoron
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, stems removed
• 1 tsp. Bangala garam masala
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• juice of 1 lime

This recipe comes courtesy of the King Arthur Flour website. I used it to make sourdough pancakes. But the authors note that it works equally well for waffles. I cannot vouch for the outcome when waffling. But it did make tasty pancakes!

The recipe as written calls for entirely white flour. But, because my starter is based on whole wheat, I opted to use a mix of white and whole wheat flour. I figure the extra fibre is a nice bonus and having at least some whole wheat flour in the sponge is probably helpful for the starter as well.

The sponge rose nicely overnight and bubbled up dramatically when the baking soda was added in the morning. Despite this, the pancakes were not quite as fluffy as I was expecting. They were still very good. Just not as soft and light as I'm used to getting from some of my other buttermilk pancake recipes. But, they're easy and use a generous quantity of sourdough discard, so I really can't complain!

This recipe makes a fairly big batch of pancakes. I didn't count, but I'd say I got well in excess of two dozen (using ~1/4 c. of batter per pancake). I think, between us, we ate about a dozen for breakfast and it looked like there were still maybe a dozen and a half to two dozen going in the fridge afterward. So, this is a fairly generous recipe.

Given that I was making such a big batch, I decided to try adding some mix-ins to some of the batter. I made the first 10 or so plain and then, for the remaining batter, I added a combination of pecans, toasted sesame seeds, and white poppy seeds. (A slightly tweaked version of a suggested set of mix-ins from The Breakfast Bible. Mostly because a) I wanted a higher proportion of pecans and more mix-ins overall than the original recipe called for and b) because I couldn't find my regular poppy seeds, so I ended up using some white poppy seeds instead.)

Given that I did these pancakes two different ways, I debated whether or not to write this up as one recipe or two. I think normally I would simply do the batter write-up and then add a separate section at the bottom of the post with a variant that includes the mix-ins. But I also added toppings (peanut butter, maple syrup, and bacon) to the pancakes with the mix-ins. And, at that point, it feels like it begins to approach the point of being a new dish/recipe. So, with that in mind, I decided to make a separate post for the gussied up version and only include the plain batter here.

Sourdough Pancakes (or Waffles)

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

Sponge

• 225g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 120g all-purpose flour
• 120g whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 c. buttermilk

Batter

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Combine the discard, flours, sugar, and buttermilk in a large bowl and mix well.
2. Cover and let stand at room temperature for ~12 hours.
3. The next morning, stir down the sponge and mix in the eggs, salt, and butter.
4. Sift in the baking soda and mix very well.
5. Let the batter stand while you preheat a griddle or tawa over medium heat. For waffles, preheat your waffle iron.
6. Lightly grease the tawa as needed and make your pancakes, using ~1/4 c. of batter for each and cooking until golden-brown on both sides. For waffles, pour a portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer directions.
7. Repeat until all batter has been used.
8. Serve with your favourite toppings.

I was going to make pancakes for breakfast this morning. But I figured that I'd better make them sourdough pancakes since my starter is still looking pretty neglected and sluggish. But, looking at the blog, I don't really have much in the way of sourdough pancake recipes. I have one that I got off a random blog. It seemed fine, but nothing to write home about. And in that post I mentioned the King Arthur Flour website. So I figured that maybe I'd take a look there before I committed to anything. And I did, indeed, find a promising-looking sourdough pancake recipe on the site! Unfortunately, it requires an overnight sponge. So that wasn't in the cards for today. But I've bookmarked it for later (possibly tomorrow) and, in the meantime, I needed to find something else for this morning.

After spending entirely too long browsing recipes, I settled on this puffed, vaguely soufflé-esque oven pancake thing. The batter is somewhat similar to a Dutch baby/Yorkshire pudding in its proportions, but, instead of mixing whole eggs into the batter, you separate the eggs and beat the whites to soft peaks with a bit of sugar. (In that respect, it's a lot like many of the extra-fluffy pancake or extra-light-and-crispy waffle recipes that I've seen.)

The batter is poured into a hot pan and baked in the oven not unlike a Dutch baby. But the temperature is lower and the whipped egg whites give it a very different final texture.

The finished pancake is topped with a berry compote and folded over like an omelette. (Sadly, mine broke when I tried to fold it.) It is then optionally topped with some sort of cultured dairy: In order of preference crème fraîche, sour cream, or Greek yogurt.

I'm pretty happy with the recipe overall. Even if it wasn't anything like what I'd originally had in mind for today!

Soufflé Pancake with Mixed Berries

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

Batter

• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 c. whole (3.25%) milk
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

Topping

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 c. mixed berries, halved if large
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. crème fraîche, sour cream, or Greek yogurt (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Beat egg whites until foamy.
3. Add sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, and continue beating until soft peaks form.
4. In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks, milk, salt, vanilla, and butter.
5. Mix in flour.
6. Gently fold in egg whites.
7. Warm a large pan over medium-low heat and lightly grease or oil it.
8. Pour in the batter and gently swirl the pan.
9. Cook for 2-3 minutes to set the bottom.
10. Transfer to oven and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-12 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, melt the butter for the topping over medium heat.
12. Add the corn syrup and sugar and bring to a boil.
13. Add the berries, lemon juice, and cinnamon and stir to coat and combine.¹
14. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until berries are heated through (~3 minutes; longer for frozen berries).
15. Once the pancake is done, pour the berry mixture over it and fold the pancake in half like an omelette.
16. Cut into wedges and served topped with crème fraîche (or cultured dairy of your choice).

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¹ If you're using frozen berries rather than fresh, you may also want to add a tsp. or so of cornstarch along with the berries to help your mixture thicken as the frozen berries will release a lot of liquid as they thaw. ^Back

We had a surplus of chicken this week. We thawed out a big package of chicken breasts for a recipe that only actually needed ~1/3 of them. I was planning on making some sort of curry with the remainder. But, in the end, I decided to try something from Aaron & Claire's channel instead. This gochujang chicken looked tasty. And I had everything I needed to make it (except for the asparagus for the side), so I figured I'd give it a try.

The original recipe calls for skin-on chicken thighs, but I figured I could probably make it work with skinless chicken breasts. They're a lot leaner, for sure, so I was somewhat generous with the fat when cooking. And they generally take a lot longer to cook, so I cut each breast into three or four smaller pieces to allow them to cook through more quickly. And, I must say, I really have no complaints with the results! It came out great!

TF even managed to run out and grab some asparagus so we could have our greens with it. And I made a somewhat pared down version of oi muchim (basically just omitting the garlic chives), to give us a few more veggies on our plates. Sadly, I completely forgot about the soft-boiled eggs. Maybe we can have some with the leftovers tonight. But, other than my minor brain fart, this recipe worked out really well! Definitely glad I tried it.

Gochujang-Glazed Chicken

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Calire

Ingredients

Asparagus

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 400g asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 mild red chile, thinly sliced (optional)
• 1/2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. gochujang
• 2 Tbsp. gochugaru
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. dasida or chicken bouillon powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. mirin
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)

Chicken

• 600-700g skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into tender-sized pieces
• 1/4-1/3 c. cornstarch (cornflour) or potato starch
• 3-4 Tbsp. schmaltz or lard
• 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 green onions, white parts only, chopped

Assembly

• 2-4 c. cooked rice
• 4 soft- or medium-boiled eggs
• 2 green onions, green parts only, chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions

Asparagus

1. Heat a wok over medium heat.
2. Drizzle in the oil and swirl to coat.
3. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
4. Add the asparagus and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
5. Increase heat to medium-high and add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and chile (if using) and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and set aside.

Sauce

1. Combine all sauce ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

Chicken

1. Dredge the chicken in the starch to coat completely.
2. Melt ~1 Tbsp. of fat over medium heat.
3. Add a few pieces of chicken to the pan and cook, turning every few minutes, until golden-brown on all sides and cooked through (4-5 minutes per side).
4. Repeat with remaining chicken, adding more fat to pan as needed.
5. Set chicken aside and add a little more fat to the pan. If there is a lot of fond/stuck-on bits, add a splash of water and deglaze the pan.
6. Add the garlic, ginger paste, and green onions (white parts only) and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
7. Stir the sauce and pour it into the pan.
8. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened.
9. Return the chicken to the pan.
10. Stir to coat, reduce heat to low, and cook until heated through and well-combined.

Assembly

1. Place a portion of rice on each bowl/plate.
2. Top with some chicken, asparagus stir-fry, and a soft-boiled egg (cut in half).
3. Sprinkle with chopped green onion (green parts only) and sesame seeds and serve.

I've been working my way through all the suggested mix-in and topping combinations for pancakes in The Breakfast Bible. In retrospect I think that maybe the peanut butter and bacon would have been a better match for the banana pancakes, but I think it still worked reasonably well with the nuts and seeds used here.

Nutty Sourdough Pancakes with Bacon

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Pancakes

• 1 batch sourdough pancake batter
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans
• 1/4 c. toasted sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Toppings

• peanut butter
• maple syrup
• bacon

Directions

1. Make your pancake batter as directed.
2. Add the pecans, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds and stir to combine.
3. Cook the pancakes as usual, using ~1/4 c. of batter for each.
4. Top pancakes with peanut butter, maple syrup, and bacon.
5. Optionally serve with fried eggs.