This recipe was good in that we all enjoyed it. It was also clearly insane!

It called for (among other things) 375g of soba noodes, 500g of steak, and an entire napa cabbage and claims to serve four! I didn't even have a whole cabbage left, so I just used the ~2/3 of one that I did have. And even that would barely fit in the wok. And that was before we added the noodles!

We all had fairly large portions last night and the wok was still basically full after dinner. This recipe clearly makes enough to serve a family of 12! So, yeah, I like this recipe, but I think the proportions (and overall yield) are a bit off. I've scaled down the cabbage and noodles here, but left the rest of the ingredients the same. Hopefully this will produce a more reasonable quantity with a better balance between the meat, vegetables, and noodles. I've also reduced the broth called for. Since I found the sauce a bit soupier than I would have liked, even after adding the cornstarch slurry and trying to cook it down.

Stir-Fried Soba Noodles with Beef and Cabbage

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 500g steak (pref. sirloin)
• 1/4 c. sesame oil
• 1/4 c. dark soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 200g soba noodles (or whole wheat spaghetti)
• 1 Tbsp. peanut or corn oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 head napa cabbage, shredded
• 1 c. beef broth, divided
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 225g sugar snap peas or snowpeas (mangetout), trimmed and halved diagonally
• 1/4 c. sesame seeds, toasted
• Laoganma (老干妈) and/or Sriracha, to serve (optional)

Directions

1. Thinly slice the beef across the grain and then cut into matchsticks (julienne).
2. Combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, and ginger paste.
3. Add the beef and toss to combine. Marinate for 1-3 hours.
4. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain, rinse, and set aside.
5. Heat the wok over medium-high heat.
6. Add the oil and swirl to coat.
7. Add the garlic and green onion and stir-fry for a minute or so.
8. Add the beef and marinade and stir-fry until cooked (5-8 minutes).
9. Add the cabbage and 3/4 c. of the broth.
10. Cover and cook until cabbage wilts (3-4 minutes).
11. Whisk the cornstarch into the remaining 1/4 c. of broth and pour it over the cabbage.
12. Add the peas and noodles, toss to combine, and cook until everything is heated through and sauce thickens slightly (2-3 minutes longer).
13. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
14. Serve topped with Laoganma and/or Sriracha (if desired).

I've been dragging my feet on making these muffins. It's not that they don't sound tasty. It's just that, based on the recipe, they a) don't look very filling or nutritionally complete and b) look very rich and sweet. More of a dessert than a breakfast. And I already have ample dessert recipes! But, I was running low on breakfast inspiration this morning and needed something, so I finally decided to give them a try. And they do taste very nice. But, as predicted, are not very substantial.

I do think you could improve the nutrition a bit by swapping out the white flour for whole wheat and replacing some of the butter with applesauce. They still wouldn't be healthy, but they would at least be marginally less unhealthy. I've written the recipe up to reflect those changes. Possibly something to try for next time...

Raspberry-Lemon Muffins

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 250g whole wheat flour
• 150g brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 125g fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp. turbinado sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease your muffin tin (preferably a 12-well pan with 2" diameter wells).
2. Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
3. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and stir to combine.
4. Carefully mix in the raspberries.
5. Beat the beggs with the buttermilk and mix in the butter, applesauce, lemon zest, and vanilla.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin.
8. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a bit of the turbinado sugar (~1/4 tsp. per muffin for 2" muffins).
9. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20-25 minutes.
10. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

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Variants

Blueberry Muffins with Almond Streusel

Ingredients

Muffins

• 250g whole wheat flour
• 150g brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 185g fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Almond Streusel

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

Directions

1. Preheat the oven (to 200°C) and grease the pan as directed above.
2. Prepare the batter as directed (with the modified ingredient list provided here).
3. For the topping: Combine the flour and sugar, then work the butter in with your fingers. Add the almonds and mix them in as well.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin and sprinkle with the streusel topping.
5. Bake as directed above.

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.

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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 made some burnt caramel sauce a while back. It was a bit too burnt, but when mixed with the next, slightly undercooked batch that I made, it was just about right. We'd been gradually using it up as a topping on waffles and desserts, but there was still quite a bit left and I didn't want it to go begging. So, when I ran across this simple tart recipe, it seemed perfect.

The original recipe actually called for making six 3" tartlets. I don't have any small tartlet tins though. But, some quick, back-of-the-envelope calculations told me that one 10" tart would require ~ the same amount of crust as six 3" ones, so I just went with that instead. And that did seem to be about right. I mean, the crust was a bit thicker and tougher than I would have liked, but I'm hoping that swapping out the AP flour for pastry flour and correcting the mistake in the recipe¹ will help with that.

Chocolate-Caramel Tart

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Pastry

• 90g unsalted butter
• 60g icing (confectioners'/powdered) sugar
• 150g soft (plain/standard/pastry) flour
• 30g natural cocoa powder
• 1 large egg
• 1-2 Tbsp. milk

Caramel

• 1 c. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. water
• 2/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Ganache

• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 185g dark chocolate

Directions

Pastry

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Sift the icing sugar and cut it into the butter.
3. Sift the flour and cocoa powder and cut them in as well.
4. Beat the egg and mix it in with a fork.
5. If the pastry is still not coming together, add a little milk a tsp. at a time until it does.
6. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a loose-bottomed 25cm (10") tart tin.
7. Place the tart tin on a baking sheet, line the pastry shell with baking paper, fill with pie weights, and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 10-15 minutes.
8. Remove paper and weights and return to oven for 5 minutes.
9. Set aside to cool.

Caramel

1. Combine the sugar and water, cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Uncover and continue cooking, swirling (but not stirring!) occasionally, until sugar is completely dissolved (~5 minutes).
3. Contine cooking until caramel is fairly dark (~4 minutes longer).
4. Remove from heat and carefully stir in cream.
5. Return to medium-low heat and cook, stirring, until smooth.
6. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
7. Once butter is incorporated, stir in the salt and vanilla.
8. Pour the caramel into the baked tart shell and chill for at least an hour to firm up the caramel a bit.

Ganache

1. Combine the chocolate and cream and warm over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. (Althernatively, scald the cream over medium heat and then pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let stand for five minutes. Then stir until mixture is smooth.)
2. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
3. Once ganache and caramel have both firmed up slightly (but ganache is still pourable), pour the ganache into the tart shell.
4. Chill for at least two hours or until firm.
5. If desired, sprinkle with a small amount of flaky salt before serving.

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¹ The original recipe calls for "1 1/4 c. (6 1/2 oz./200g) all-purpose flour". Unfortunately, I just went with the metric measurement without checking their conversions. And their math is way off! 1 1/4 c. of flour weighs ~150g, not 200! So, my pastry was way too dry an dwould not come together at all. So I ened up having to add a bunch of milk to get it to the right consistency. But that really wasn't ideal. And between the extra mixing and the extra volume and having to work it so much to get it to a not completely ridiculous thickness, it was pretty tough by the time I'd finished with it. So, as noted, hopefully by using the corrext amount of a soft flour next time, I'll be able to mostly avoid that particular failure mode. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was still good! I just felt that the pastry was a bit of a letdown and detracted from the delicious filling a bit. ^Back

This was okay once it finally cooked, but it took forever for the zucchini to cook through. More than twice what the recipe specified! Also, I had one less zucchini than called for an one onion was still nowhere near enough! I've doubled the onion and tripled the vinegar relative the what was called for in the original recipe. I think that makes for much better proportions. And I have no idea what to suggest for the bake time. I'm going to recommend starting out with twice the time called for in the recipe and then going from there.

Baked Zucchini with Red Onion and Mint

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 red onions, halved and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 680g zucchini, trimmed and halved lengthwise
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 c. fresh mint, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Put onion in a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat and then spread out into an even layer.
3. Bake at 200°C (400°F) until softened (~10 minutes).
4. Push the onion to the side and place the zucchini pieces cut-side-down in the baking dish.
5. Spoon the onion over the zucchini and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
6. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for ~20 minutes.
7. Flip the zucchini over and bake until tender (10-15 minutes).
8. Transfer zucchini to a serving dish.
9. Add the mint and vinegar to the onion and toss to combine.
10. Spoon the onion mixture over the zucchini and serve.

This was okay. It definitely delivered on the spinach! Personally, I felt like it could've used a little more Parmesan. And it was way under-done when cooked according to the recipe. I've adjusted both the bake time and temperature below. I've also specified a bit of extra Parmesan sprinkled on top of the frittata just before it goes into the oven to help the cheese come through a little more.

Garlicky Spinach-Parmesan Frittata

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. garlic oil, divided
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 450g frozen chopped spinach
• 6 large eggs
• 1-2 Tbsp. milk (optional)
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• ~1/2 c. grated Parmesan, divided
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/8 tsp. hot paprika

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onion and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
4. Add the spinach, cover, and cook until wilted.
5. Cook, uncovered, for another minute or two to help cook off some of the moisture.
6. If it is still wet, drain it. Set aside.
7. Beat the eggs with a splash of milk (if desired).
8. Mix in the garlic, 1/4 c. of Parmesan, salt, pepper, and paprika.
9. Add the spinach to the egg mixture and stir to combine.
10. Return the pan to medium heat and add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil.
11. Pour in the egg mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes.
12. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c. of Parmesan and transfer to oven and bake for ~12 minutes.
13. Set broiler to "high" and broil until top is set and lightly browned (2-3 minutes).
14. Turn out onto plate, cut into wedges, and serve.

A 100% whole wheat bread filled with walnuts and enriched with milk and honey. What's not to love?

I also decided to add a bit of sourdough discard to mine. Mostly to use it up. It's completely optional. Although you may find you need slightly less flour if omitting the starter since it increases the hydration by a small amount.

And I will admit that I got a bit impatient while kneading this bread and didn't get as much gluten development as I probalby should have. So the loaves tore themselves apart during proofing rather than puffing up into nice, smooth-topped loaves like I had hoped. They were still tasty! Just not as pretty or high-rising as I would have liked.

Walnut Wheat Bread

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

Ingredients

• ~800g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour, divided¹
• 3 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. skim milk powder
• 2 1/4 c. hot water (~50°C)
• 1/4 c. honey
• ~125g sourdough discard (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. Combine ~400g of the flour with the yeast, salt, and milk powder and mix well.
2. Add the water, honey, and sourdough discard (if using) and beat vigorously by hand or with a flat beater on a stand mixer for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add ~100g of the remaining flour and mix very well.
4. Add the butter and continue working in the remaining flour ~30g at a time until a soft, sticky dough forms.
5. Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes.
6. Replace the flat beater with a dough hook or turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and work in as much of the remaining flour as needed to form a supple, workable dough.
7. Knead for at least half an hour by hand or 8-10 minutes by hook.
8. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise at room temperature. First rise should take ~1 hour (give or take, depending on the temperature of your room.)
9. Once the dough is fully risen, knock it back and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
10. Press it flat and add the walnuts to the middle.
11. Fold the edges over so that the walnuts are enclosed in the centre.
12. Knead for a few minutes until the walnuts are fully incorporated and distributed throughout.
13. Divide the dough into two equal portions, round each one, cover, and rest for ~10 minutes.
14. Meanwhile, grease two 22x11cm (8.5x4.5") loaf pans.
15. Working with one portion at a time, press the dough flat, letter fold, roll up like a jelly roll, and place, seam-side-down into one of the prepared loaf pans. Repeat with remaining dough.
16. Cover and proof at room temperature. (This rise should take ~45 minutes, give or take.)
17. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
18. Uncover loaves and bake at 190°C (375°F) until done (30-40 minutes).
19. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

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¹ Clayton has you mix half of the flour with the wet ingredients first to make a batter. Beat that to get a bit of gluten development. And then gradually add in the rest of the flour. I did that this time and that's how I've written up the instructions here. But I would be tempted to try it with the Laurel's Kitchen method of combining all of the dry ingredients first, making a well in the centre, pour in the wet ingredients, and then gradually incorporating the wet into the dry, working from the centre outward. That seems to work very well for most of their breads and it would be interesting to see if it made any difference with this one. Both approaches should have a similar effect. But... I'd still be curious to compare and contrast. ^Back