Dhingri Mutter (Mushroom and Pea Curry)

In theory this was meant to be "gucchi mutter" (morel and pea curry). However, morels are not native to New Zealand and getting them here is an extremely expensive prospect. I mean, they're expensive anyway. I've just been spoiled by being able to get them for free from my parents in the past. But, given that getting the required quantity of morels would've cost ~$100 here, I decided that maybe it was acceptable to swap them out for a different mushroom in this case. Especially since white mushrooms were on sale for $8/kg this week.

Dhingri Mutter

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2-4 Tbsp. ghee, divided
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 c. slivered almonds
• 3-4 tsp. garlic paste
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2-3/4 c. water
• 250g mushrooms¹
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. Kashmiri garam masala
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. frozen green peas
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Melt 1-2 Tbsp. of the ghee over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, almonds, garlic, and ginger and cook until nuts are browned (~5 minutes).
3. Pour 1/2 c. of water into a blender, add the tomato paste and onion mixture, and purée.
4. If the sauce looks too thick, blend in a few more Tbsp. of water.
5. Melt the remaining 1-2 Tbsp. of ghee over medium heat.
6. Add the mushrooms, cover, and cook until they release their liquid or morels look slightly shriveled (~5 minutes).
7. Add the sauce, salt, ground chilies, garam masala, and turmeric and stir to combine.
8. Add the peas, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until heated through and flavours blend (10-15 minutes).
9. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

---

¹ If you're going for the authentic gucchi mutter, then you'll want morels, thoroughly washed and cut in half. Otherwise, Iyer suggests sliced porobellos as a tasty (if very different) alternative. I just used white button mushroom, halved, for my curry and, honestly, they were great! ^Back

I've been making a lot of waffles lately. Mostly because they're relatively quick and easy and don't require any advanced planning. I'd like to get better about doing more nutritious breakfasts, but in the meantime... something is better than nothing. These muffins aren't really any better than more waffles, but they are at least a different form factor, so I figured I'd give them a try.

Blueberry Muffins with Almond Streusel

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Topping

• 2 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 c. flour
• 45g sliced almonds

Muffins

• 140g all-purpose flour
• 140g whole wheat flour
• 150g brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 c. blueberries
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 c. butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease a muffin tin.
2. Work the butter into the sugar and flour until crumbly, then mix in the almonds. Set aside.
3. Combine the flours and sugar.
4. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
5. Add the blueberries and toss to combine.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, butter, and vanilla.
7. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
8. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins and sprinkle with streusel topping.
9. Turn oven down to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 20 minutes.
10. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.

Fall Fruit Crumble with Feijoas and Almonds

This was originally supposed to be a pear and feijoa almond crumble, but I decided to do it with a mix of apples and pears and up the feijoa content. I also reduced the almonds slightly and added in some rolled oats to give it more of the classic crumble texture.

Fall Fruit Crumble

Adapted from NZ Women's Weekly

Ingredients

Fruit Mixture

• 2 pears, peeled and chopped
• 3 apples, peeled and chopped
• 6 feijoas, scooped and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 6 Tbsp. water, divided
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)

Topping

• 1/2 c. ground almonds
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 80g butter
• 1/2 c. rolled oats
• 1/4 sliced (flaked) almonds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Combine pears, apples, feijoas, sugar, and 1/4 c. of the water and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until fruit is tender.
4. Combine the cornstarch with the remaining 2 Tbsp. of water to make a slurry.
5. Stir the slurry into the fruit mixture and cook until glossy and slightly thickened (1-2 minutes).
6. Dump the fruit mixture into a 23cm (9") square baking dish.
7. Combine the ground almonds, flour, sugars, and butter and thoroughly combine.
8. Mix in the oats and almonds.
9. Crumble the topping over the fruit.
10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-25 minutes.
11. Serve with cream or ice cream.

Cocolate-Raspberry Torte

This is basically a flourless chocolate cake. It's incredibly rich and dense with no leavener whatsoever and only the tiniest bit of flour. It then gets filled with a mixture of jam and mashed raspberries and "iced" with ganache. And garnished with whole raspberries and toasted almonds. It is delicious!

Chocolate-Raspberry Torte

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

Ingredients

Cake

• 240g dark chocolate
• 12 Tbsp. butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. instant coffee
• 1 c. almond flour
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 5 large eggs
• 3/4 c. sugar

Filling

• 1/2 c. raspberries
• 1/4 c. raspberry jam

Decoration

• 150g dark chocolate
• 1/2 c. + 1 Tbsp. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 c. sliced almonds, toasted
• ~24 whole raspberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
2. Grease two 20cm (8") round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment paper, grease the paper, and then flour the pans.
3. Melt the chocolate and the butter over very low heat.
4. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and coffee.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt and mix well.
6. Beat the eggs until lighter in colour and increased in volume (~3 minutes).
7. Gradually beat in sugar.
8. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk until not quite fully combined.
9. Sprinkle in half of the almond mixture and stir to combine.
10. Add the remaining almond mixture and finish mixing.
11. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
12. Bake at 160°C (325°F) until done and toothpick inserted in centre comes out almost clean (16-20 minutes).
13. Allow cakes layers to cool in tins for 30 minutes.
14. Turn out onto wire racks, then flip one layer onto a serving platter right-way-up.
15. Mash the raspberries and mix with the jam.
16. Spread the raspberry mixture over the top of the right-way-up cake layer.
17. Place the second layer on top upside-down.
18. Combine the chocolate and the cream and heat over low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and homogenous.
19. Pour ganache over cake and spread evenly across the top and down the sides.
20. Crush the sliced almonds and press into the sides of the cake.
21. Decorate the top of the cake with the whole raspberries, placing them evenly-spaced around the perimeter.
22. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Confession: I've never had cream of wheat as a breakfast cereal. I've had it as a savoury curry substrate. And I've used it as an ingredient. But I've never done the hot breakfast cereal thing. So I figured it was time to give it a try.

It came out a bit like cog. Thicker. And obviously more pale and without the corn flavour. But it was pretty similar otherwise. And, honestly, next time I think I'd be inclined to make it with an even higher milk-to-grain ratio next time. Maybe 1/2 c. cream of wheat to 4 c. milk, rather than 3/4 c. cream of wheat.

This was theoretically meant to be made with apricots, cranberries, and almonds. I was all out of dried apricots though, so I swapped in some chopped dried dates instead. I liked it with the dates, but I'd love to try it with apricots sometime too.

Cream of Wheat with Dried Fruit

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. cream of wheat/sooj
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. chopped dried apricots (or dates)
• 1/4 c. dried cranberries
• 1/4 c. slivered almonds

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cereal reaches desired consistency.

Kheer (Dessert of the Day)

Dessert of the Day calls this "spiced basmati rice pudding", which isn't wrong. That's what kheer is. It's a thin, creamy, basmati rice pudding with spices (and often almonds and/or pistachios).

Kheer

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 8 c. whole (3.25%) milk
• 8 green cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
• 1/2 c. basmati rice
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. slivered almonds
• 2 Tbsp. chopped pistachios
• 3 Tbsp. golden raisins
• pinch of saffron

Directions

1. Combine milk, cardamom, cinnamon (if using), rice, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced (60-80 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, lightly toast the almonds and pistachios.
4. Add the toasted nuts, raisins, and saffron and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
5. Serve hot or cold.

Kishmish Waale Murghi (Raisin Chicken)

Whole chickens were on sale at the grocery store again a couple of weeks ago. I was somewhat reluctant to get any since I was worried that I wouldn't have time to break them down before I left. But, after discussing it with Reiver, I decided to go for it anyway. I got the chickens broken down the next day and then ended up using one of them in this curry a few days later.

I ended up going with this recipe, specifically, both because it wasn't on the blog yet and because it let me incorporate some veggies into the meal without having to make an extra dish. The original recipe calls for making this with chunks of chicken breast, but I think it also works quite well with bone-in chicken pieces.

Photo goes here.

Kishmish Waale Murghi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 c. golden raisins
• 1/2 c. slivered almonds
• 1kg skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 Tbsp. Punjabi garam masala
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 250g chopped frozen spinach
• 1/2 c. water

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, raisins, and almonds and cook until the onions soften and nuts brown (15-20 minutes).
3. Add the chicken and cook until it sears (~10 minutes).
4. Add the garam masala, salt, ground chilies, and turmeric and cook for a minute or so.
5. Add the spinach and water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through (~10 minutes).
6. Serve with rice and/or your favourite flatbread.

I messed this one up. I should've known better, but I was tired and lazy and foolishly assembled my upside down cake in a springform pan. Which, of course, meant that all of the butter and sugar for the topping ran out the bottom of the pan. Very sad.

I thought that I'd gotten the baking paper high enough up the sides that everything would be contained. Evidently, I was wrong.

The cake was great otherwise! I really liked the bit of almond flour in the batter. It gave it a nice flavour and texture. And it was still tasty even without its caramel topping. I just wish that I hadn't wasted the ingredients. Next time I'll do it in a standard 20cm (8") round pan. (Really, I probably should've just done it in a 20cm square baking dish and called it a day. I might not've been able to unmould it from the square casserole dish, but at least it wouldn't've leaked! Oh well... like I said: next time.)

Photo goes here.

Feijoa and Apple Upside Down Cake

Slightly adapted from NZ Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

• 50g butter, melted
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 6-9 large feijoas, halved lengthwise and scooped
• 1 apple, peeled and diced
• 125g butter, softened
• 100g sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 180g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 60g ground almonds (almond flour/meal)
• 2 tsp. baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 20 or 22cm round cake tin, then line the bottom with baking paper.
2. Pour the melted butter into the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with the brown sugar.
3. Arrange the feijoas, cut-side-down, on top.
4. Fill in any gaps with pieces of apple.
5. Cream the softened butter with the sugar until light (~3 minutes).
6. Mix in the vanilla.
7. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
8. Add the flour, ground almonds, and sift in the baking powder, then stir it all together until just combined.
9. Spoon the batter over the fruit and smooth into an even layer.
10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until cake tests done (45-55 minutes).
11. Let cool in pan for ~15 minutes before inverting onto plate.
12. Serve with yogurt, whipped cream, and/or ice cream (if desired).

I think there are going to be a lot of feijoa recipes on the blog for the next few weeks!

We spent the day out in Te Awamutu today, so I didn't have much time for baking. But I did at least manage to get a feijoa loaf done before we left.

This is a relatively plain one, but that's not a bad thing here. I like that it's just feijoas. Without any other fruit, no butter or oil, and not too much sugar either. I made it with a mix of plain and whole wheat flour this time, but I think it would also be good done as a 100% whole wheat loaf.

Recipe as written, this only makes a fairly small loaf. I think the pan I used was ~18x8cm (7x3"). And the loaf just filled the pan nicely once it baked up. So, if you're happy with a pint-sized loaf, then this is perfect. I would recommend doubling the recipe for a 23x13 (9x5") pan however.

Feijoa Loaf

Slightly adapted from My Kids Lick the Bowl

Ingredients

• 225g whole wheat flour
• 60g ground almonds (almond flour/meal)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 60-90g brown sugar
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250g feijoa pulp, mashed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a small loaf tin.
2. Combine the flour and almonds and sift in the baking powder.
3. Add the sugar and mix well.
4. Beat the egg with the milk and vanilla.
5. Add the wet ingredients and the feijoa pulp to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until done (~45 minutes).
8. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Feijoa season is in full swing and, in addition to just snacking on them daily, I've been trying to use some of them up in baking as well.

I've already made two huge apple-feijoa crumbles. They're great as a quick and easy dessert to use up large quantities of feijoa pulp. But I also didn't want to end up just making crumbles forever. So I went poking around the Internet looking for other recipe ideas. And boy-oh-boy, do I have a lot now! It was hard to decide where to start!

In the end, I opted for a feijoa custard tart. Mostly because Reiver really likes custard, so I figured that might be an agreeable way to use up a few feijoas.

The custard recipe called for egg yolks. I was going to just swap out the yolks for whole eggs, soas not to end up with surplus whites kicking around. But then I saw the note at the bottom suggesting that you use the surplus whites to make these chocloate-feijoa friands.

So, on the one hand, that meant committing to making two desserts tonight. But, on the other hand, it would neatly use up all of the eggs and let me use even more feijoas! And neither recipe looked terribly difficult or complicated to put together, so I figured I'd just go for it and make both of 'em.

I haven't had a chance to try the pie yet, but these friands were incredible! I wasn't entirely sold on chocolate friands. Classic friands are so good as is, I felt like adding chocolate and fruit could only possibly detract from them. But this combination really works! It's definitely quite different from a standard friand, but, I would argue, equally as good.

Chocolate-Feijoa Friands

Slightly adapted from NZ Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

• 5 large egg whites
• 120g ground almonds (almond flour/meal)
• 195g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/2 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) or gluten-free flour
• 20g cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 200g butter, melted
• 9 small feijoas, halved and scooped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) and grease a muffin tin (or two)¹.
2. Beat the egg whites slightly to break them up. (No need to beat until stiff; slightly foamy is fine.)
3. In a separate bowl, combine the almonds, sugar, and flour.
4. Sift in the cocoa and baking powder and mix well.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites and stir to mix.
6. Pour in the melted butter and stir until just combined.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Don't fill them too full; ~2/3 full is plenty!
8. Press a feijoa half into the top of each friand.
9. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 20-25 minutes.
10. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.

---

¹ The recipe claims that this makes 12 friands, but I actually got 18 using standard 5-cm diameter muffin tins. Obviously the exact number you get will depend on the size of your tins and how full you fill them. I felt like 18 was pretty much perfect though. ^Back

I've had this recipe in my queue for a while, but kept failing to actually make it. It was alright in the end. Not amazing, but not bad either. And I did quite enjoy the almonds in it. A decent side dish all-in-all, even if it's not the star of the show.

Photo goes here.

Roasted Broccoli with Almonds and Orange

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 500g broccoli, cut into florets
• 4 tsp. olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. orange juice
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 2 Tbsp. almonds, toasted and chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Toss broccoli with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet.
4. Roast at 220°C (425°F) for 20-30 minutes, flipping and stirring halfway through.
5. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with remaining 1 tsp. of olive oil and orange juice.
6. Sprinkle with orange zest and almonds and serve.

Symbol: I made this broccoli salad way back at the beginning of January. But I haven't been great at staying on top of the write-ups so far this year, so it had kind of fallen through the cracks. (Thank you, Reiver, for helping to make sure this recipe made it onto the blog!)

This was our salad for the picnic we had out at the Otorohanga Kiwi House. I ended up doing a tuna melt, PB&J, grilled cheese, pickle & cheese, and egg salad sandwiches on feather bread. And those sandwiches plus a few apples and this salad made for a lovely lunch spread!

Broccoli Salad

From Love and Lemons

Ingredients

• 450g broccoli
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. grainy mustard
• 1/2 Tbsp. maple syrup, divided
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/3 c. dried cranberries
• 1/2 c. almonds
• 1/2 c. pepitas
• 1 Tbsp. tamari
• 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Chop the broccoli florets into ½-inch pieces and any remaining stems into ¼-inch dice. Peel any woody or coarse parts from the stem first.
3. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, mayo, apple cider vinegar, mustard, 1 tsp. of the maple syrup, garlic, and salt.
4. Add the broccoli, onions, and cranberries and toss to coat.
5. Place the almonds and pepitas on the baking sheet and toss with the tamari, remaining 1/2 tsp. maple syrup, and smoked paprika.
6. Spread into a thin layer on the baking sheet.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
9. Toss the almonds and pepitas into the salad and serve.

This is another one of those waffle recipes that I decided to sneak onto the breakfast table even though it's really meant to be more of a dessert. (That said, there are a lot of things that get billed as breakfast foods that really should be considered more of a treat/dessert, so I feel that this is fair.)

As with some of my other recent recipes, I substituted sweetened red wine for the port and slivered almonds for sliced. I also used a mix of white and whole wheat flour for the waffles. I pretty much stuck to the script otherwise though.

Waffles with Cherries in Port Syrup and Whipped Goat Cheese

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

Ingredients

• 1 c. port (or 1 c. red wine + 2 Tbsp. brown sugar)
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 strip orange zest
• 1/4 vanilla bean
• 250g fresh or frozen cherries, pitted and halved
• 140g fresh goat cheese (chère)
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 plain, malted, or Belgian waffles
• 1/4 c. sliced almonds¹, toasted

Directions

1. Combine the port, sugar, peppercorns, orange zest, and vanilla bean section and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until reduced by ~1/2.
3. Strain the syrup and pour it over the cherries. Let stand for 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, beat the goat cheese with the cream and sugar until smooth and somewhat fluffy.
5. Make your waffles (or recrisp them in the oven if they were made ahead).
6. Spoon some cherries and syrup over each waffle and top with a dollop of goat cheese.
7. Sprinkle with almonds and serve.

---

¹ Slivered will do in a pinch here if you don't have sliced, but I do think that sliced would have been nicer texturally. ^Back

This is a nice vegetable side. It's fast, easy, and surprisingly tasty. I quite liked it!

Honey-Lemon Carrot Salad

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. white wine or sherry vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 500g carrots, grated
• 1/3 c. sultanas or golden raisins
• 1/4 c. sliced almonds¹
• 1 Tbps. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Combine the honey, vinegar, and lemon juice and mix well.
2. Whisk in the olive oil and salt.
3. Add the carrots, sultanas, almonds, and parsley and toss to combine.

---

¹ I was all out of sliced almonds, so I used sliced hazelnuts for my salad instead. ^Back

I was originally planning on doing a turkey sausage and barley stew for dinner the other night, but then I found a whole chicken on sale. I had intended to cut it up and freeze it for later use. But I kind of ran out of time. And decided that rather than thawing out the sausages, making dinner with them, and then breaking down and freezing the chicken, may be it just made more sense to eat the chicken right away and save the sausages for another time. So, I ended up going with this chicken stew, which not only used up the chicken, but also the bell peppers that we had in the fridge going begging.

Spanish Chicken Stew

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 (1.5-2kg) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. butter, olive oil, or schmaltz
• 2-3 red or yellow bell peppers, finely chopped
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small (~400mL) tin diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. hot paprika
• ~2 c. cooked chickpeas
• 3/4 c. pitted green olives¹
• 3/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted and divided

Directions

1. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper.
2. Heat the fat over medium-high heat.
3. Place the chicken pieces, skin-side-down, in the pot and sear until crispy. Flip and sear briefly on the other side. Transfer to a plate.
4. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. of fat from the pot.
5. Return to medium heat and add the onion and bell pepper. Cook until softened.
6. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
7. Add the tomato and both kinds of paprika and stir to combine.
8. Nestle the chicken pieces into the sauce, skin-side-up.
9. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through (30-40 minutes).
10. Uncover and add chickpeas, olives, and 1/2 c. of the toasted almonds. Simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Sprinkle with remaining almonds and serve.

---

¹ I didn't have enough green olives on hand for this, so I ended up using a mix of green and kalamata. I do think the green olives went with the dish slightly better, but they were both good. ^Back

I had some egg whites in the fridge that needed to be used up. Normally I'd make a pavlova with surplus egg whites. But the next pav recipe that I had queued up called for mango and passionfruit, neither of which I had on hand. So I flipped through the book for other egg white recipes and hit upon these simple almond meringues.

The procedure is very simple. You just make your French meringue as usual. And then stir in a generous quantity of toasted chopped almonds. Actually, the recipe called for "very finely chopped" almonds. So, given that, I just opted for ground almonds instead. Since I had a big bag of almond flour tucked away in the freezer already. The texture is slightly different. But I figured it would be close enough and certainly saved me a lot of chopping. So, definitely a worthwhile substitution, in my opinion.

Toasted Almond Meringues

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 4 large egg whites
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. ground (or very finely chopped) almonds, toasted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. If almonds are not already toasted, put them in the oven for ~10 minutes, stirring once or twice, to toast them.
3. Warm the egg whites very gently in a warm water bath. (Put the egg whites in a small bowl and place that bowl in a larger bowl of warm water.)
4. Beat the egg whites until frothy.
5. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat.
6. Once a light foam forms, begin adding sugar ~1 Tbsp. at a time.
7. Continue beating until all sugar has been added and meringue is very stiff.
8. Beat in the vanilla.
9. Quickly and carefully fold in the almonds¹.
10. Spoon dollops of meringue² onto the prepared baking sheets.
11. Bake at 150°C (300°F) for ~20 minutes.
12. Turn oven off and allow to stand in hot oven for at least an hour or two.

---

¹ The fat from the almonds will destabilize the meringue and cause it to begin collapsing. This is why it's important to get the almonds mixed in with the minimum amount of agitation. The more you stir it, the more volume your meringue will lose. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for "heaping teaspoons" of meringue. I decided that I wanted a smaller number of larger meringues, so I did heaping tablepoons for mine. And the 20-minute bake time still seemed to be ample. So I'm happy with how that worked out overall. ^Back

Kugelhopf is a yeasted cake full of dried fruit. It's traditionally baked in a special toroidal pan, similar to a Bundt pan, but narrower and deeper. I don't have a kugelhopf pan, so I just used a Bundt pan instead.

Sourdough Kugelhopf

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. dried cherries
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1 c. rum¹
• 1 Tbsp. orange blossom water
• 500g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 200g ripe (fed) sourdough starter
• 130g milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 13 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1-2 dozen whole almonds
• icing sugar, to garnish

Directions

1. Combine cherries, raisins, and rum and let stand overnight.
2. Drain fruit and mix in orange blossom water. (Discard rum or set aside for another use.)
3. Combine flour and salt and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine starter, milk, eggs, and sugar and mix well.
5. Gradually mix wet ingredients into dry and knead with dough hook for a minute or two.
6. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
7. Knead with dough hook for another 3-5 minutes.
8. Work in butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time, over the course of another 5 minutes or so.
9. Work in fruit and knead until evenly mixed and elastic.
10. Round dough and place in a covered bowl to rise for 2-4 hours, stretching and folding every 30-60 minutes.
11. Knock back the dough, round, cover, and rest for 20-30 minutes.
12. Grease a 10-12 cup kugelhopf or Bundt pan.
13. Place an almond in each "peak" in the bottom of the pan.
14. Round the dough again and make a hole through the centre.
15. Place the dough in the prepared pan, cover, and set aside to rise for another 3-6 hours (or overnight in the fridge).
16. Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
17. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 25 minutes.
18. Reduce heat to 190°C (375°F) and bake for another 15 minutes.
19. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.
20. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

---

¹ The original recipe calls for kirsch, but I didn't have any (and TF and I don't like it anyway), so I used some spiced rum instead. ^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.

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..)

---

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

Since I wasn't overly impressed with the Breakfast Bible version of a Dutch baby, I decided to revert to the Weight Watchers recipe that, according to my notes, I liked much better. I still think that I like it better than the BB version. But I'm no longer convinced that it's really correct to call it a Dutch baby. Last time I said that it came out "a bit" eggier than previous versions that I'd tried. This time it was basically a baked custard. A delicious baked custard. But still definitely more like a custard than a Yorkshire pudding or a pancake. Either way, I'm happy with the result. Just maybe don't use this recipe if you really want that Yorkshire pudding/Dutch baby texture.

Eggy Dutch Baby with Nectarines and Almonds

Adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan and Weight Watchers

Ingredients

Batter

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. milk
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Topping

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 3-5 nectarines, sliced
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 c. slivered or sliced almonds, toasted
• 1-2 tsp. icing sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Place 1 Tbsp. butter in a 23cm (9") deep dish pie plate.
2. Place the pie plate in the oven and preheat to 200°C (400°F).
3. Meanwhile, combine the milk, flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and almond extracts and beat with a whisk until smooth.
4. Pour the batter into the hot pie plate and bake at 200°C (400°F) until set, but still slightly jiggly (15-20 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, melt 2 Tbsp. butter over medium heat.
6. Add the sugar and nectarines and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved and mixture thickens slightly.
7. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
8. Once Dutch baby/custard is done, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly (~5 minutes).
9. Pour the nectarine over the custard and sprinkle with almonds and icing sugar (if using).
10. Cut into wedges and serve.