What Smells So Good?

Californian Zin and a Peach Tart

2009-11-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

I honestly don't know what gives White Zinfandel the bad rap it's been slapped with, because I can't think of anything particularly negative to comment on with this variety from Beringer Estates' California Collection. They were so gracious to send me two bottles of their Californian grown line, and I paired the first gift (a rich 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon) with some Roasted Squash Blossoms back in August. Though I didn't forget about this beautiful pink bottle in our wine rack at any rate, the shifting work and school patterns that came with the end of summer meant that baking and blogging had to once again take a back seat in the grand scheme of things. So, with my deepest apologies to Beringer, I will now share with you what I did do with one of their more "summery" wines!

Considering I know next to nothing about the nuances of wine, and even more so taking into account the fact that I can't actually drink anymore, I left the taste test and judgement up to my mom - the only member of the family who will still consider something wine even if it's not red! Suffice it to say she really enjoyed it - so much so that I didn't actually get a chance to use a glass or two of it myself for a peach sorbet recipe that was waiting in the wings! Luckily, I did score enough off the bat to crank out this decadent cream cheese and yogurt tart, using the otherwise forgotten peaches. Really though, the price of these bottles is more than reasonable for pretty much anyone, even a non-drinker like myself, at $7 US a pop on their website and just under $10 CAN at the LCBO. The drinkability of the White Zin made it something my mom declared she'd easily spend up to $15 on, especially during the summer - though she did suggest making spritzers with it over the Winter holidays with a gingerale or even a lemon seltzer.

Not only did I spike the rich vanilla filling with the wine, using what I could smell as almost a pear / melon / berry type of flavour to play off the juicy peaches, but I also added a decent dose of the White Zinfandel to the shortcrust dough I used as a base instead of the milk. To paraphrase Alton Brown, the alcohol in the wine doesn't bind with the gluten proteins in the flour, so the dough doesn't toughen as quickly in the rolling / pressing out process. Any sort of flavour given to the dough was kind of lost on the tasting panel of my family and friends due to the body of the filling, but I would love to see what it's like au naturel!

Zinfandel Vanilla Tart
Serves 10

Enough shortcrust pastry for a 10" pie

1 egg white

1/2 cup sugar
8 ounces light cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbsp vanilla (or plain) yogurt

2 tbsp White Zinfandel wine

1 tbsp vanilla
1 peach, skinned and diced

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Roll out pastry dough and line an 11" tart pan (preferably with a removable bottom!). Dock with a fork and brush all over with the egg white.
Bake 16 minutes. Cool completely.
Meanwhile, beat together sugar, cream cheese, yogurt, wine and vanilla until smooth.
Fold in peaches gently.
Pour cheese mixture into the baked pie shell and chill 5-6 hours before serving.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 181.0
Total Fat: 8.8 g
Cholesterol: 13.2 mg
Sodium: 167.1 mg
Total Carbs: 21.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
Protein: 3.7 g

Garlic and Dill

2009-11-23T21:30:00.000-05:00

It's no secret in our household that I am a sour dill pickle freak. I kid you not, we usually have at least a full litre jar of my favourite kosher dill Strub's in our fridge, and (provided I have someone stronger than me to open it!) I go in with a fork at least once a day for my fix. I've been like this since I was an infant too - I teethed on baskets of pickles at the pub my parents used to frequent, and every time I visited a set of grandparents it wouldn't be the cookie jar I'd hit first but the fridge! If I was at my maternal grandparent's place, you could be sure that the cocktail onion jar would be missing half its contents by bedtime. On the other hand, if I visited my dad's mom near the end of the summer, she'd have a jar or two of her homemade cukes sitting around, bursting with a garden's worth of dillweed and a plethora of fresh garlic.

It's been a while since I've had the pleasure of crunching into a home-cured briny cucumber. Grandma stopped her pickling days shortly after her husband passed away and she relocated to a smaller townhouse without a garden. I had made pickles myself only once, in an elementary Home Economics class, but they were nothing like the garlic-infused delicacies I remembered. For one, my Home Ec recipe had sugar in it, which I despise in pickled cucumbers (bread & butter? No, thanks!), and for another, there was no pepper! So I tweaked. And tweaked. Then finally, following a fateful (and fun-filled!) excursion to the BrickWorks organic farmer's market this August, meeting up with none other than Joel (of Get the Foodie 411) and a couple other Tweeters, I had everything I could ask for to make my own cured crunchers.

And what brilliant pickles they were! To toot my own horn (and loudly, I may add), these pickles rival my favourite Strub's after a good two weeks in the fridge. While they aren't quite like the giant deli-style ones from my childhood teething days (!) they are mighty fine specimens - crammed with peppery zing and garlicky body, and not a hair of sugar to muck up the works! If you like sour dills - and I mean really like them, please please please try these... you will be glad you did. Even if you aren't so glad while waiting the minimum week for them to cure!

Garlicky Dill Fridge Pickles
Makes 3 litres

8 cups filtered water

1/4 cup coarse sea salt

3 tbsp cider vinegar

2 3/4 lbs small, "warty" cucumbers (like Kirby), scrubbed and halved lengthwise

1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

20 garlic cloves, crushed

15 whole black peppercorns, cracked

1 tsp yellow mustard seed

Scrub 3 (1 L) jars and their lids well in very hot, soapy water, dry upside down on a clean tea towel.
Combine the water, salt, vinegar, peppercorns and mustard seed in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.
Pack layers of garlic, dill and cucumbers in each jar.
Pour the (very) warm brine over them, covering the cucumbers completely.
Screw the lids on tightly and place in the the refrigerator, undisturbed, for a minimum of 7 days (I recommend at least 14). The longer you leave them in the refrigerator the better they will be.

Amount Per Litre
Calories: 54.0
Total Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 9,438.1 mg
Total Carbs: 11.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.3 g
Protein: 2.9 g

Shopping Trips

2009-11-17T22:43:00.000-05:00

If you belong to the world of [slight] obsession that is food - and let's face it, if you're reading any blog like this one you do - you undoubtedly understand the special allure that shopping for anything culinary-related has. It can be quite the addiction, and if you pardon the expression, the time suck, albeit a rather enjoyable one! For instance, my family knows that if they need something from the grocery store within the time span of say, an hour or so, they don't send me by myself! I will make special trips to out-of-the-way shops of all kinds for no reason: from trawling tiny fruit sellers downtown after an acupuncture appointment, to popping into the three health food stores in town that all know be on sight, to gabbing on and on with the poor souls working at the two Bulk Barns nearby that I pretty much live in (I should even consider changing my address!), I live for anything and everything in the world of food.

I know I'm not the only one out there, either. I'm slowly converting some followers to the "foodie" mentality - including my techno-phobic mom (who still barely checks her e-mail address, let alone ever reading this blog!). I've mentioned it before (probably more than once, but it's worth repeating!) but my Mom was my first cooking teacher and is still the "queen of the Christmas shortbreads", the Challah and Brioche guru and posessor of the most perfect apple square and fresh Spy Pie technique out there. While I don't think I can ever hope to clone those talents for myself (I am coming close, but not being able to taste the end product makes perfection hard!), I've started to turn mom onto the joys of thinking about what food can mean besides just something on the table three times a day, and that making something different and "outside the box" doesn't have to be saved for Christmas! Now, we hit the grocery store every week and (even though it's a Big Bad Box kind of store) we make it almost a kind of adventure - I'll spew off all kinds of random trivia about the vegetables and new "international fare" on the shelves. The two of us are essentially herbivores too, a habit that always involves buying so much produce every week that our cart is full before we get to anything not a plant! See those photos? Yeah - those were our last two shopping trips... the bottom of the two is the result of two - yes two - grocery carts' worth of food (including 7 heads of lettuce - of which there are 4 remaining after only 3 days!). I've even convinced her to trust my judgement when it comes to trying out new, untested recipe ideas that I've passed along, either from my own imagination or from the amazing bevy of blogs I pore over.

Unfortunately, even though she's on her way to becoming a bona fide foodie, Mom just can't "get into" the mentality surrounding cooking and eating that lead me to begin writing this blog. While cooking a meal every day is treated more or less as a simple expectation on her time and energy, for me it's nothing short of therapy. Even days where I'm gone before the sun is up and don't get in the door until easily 7:30 at night, being able to crank up the stove and give myself a filling and "full" meal sends me back from the brink of burnout enough that I can focus on finishing at least a couple more tasks on my to do list before lights out. Needless to say, the majority of my "non standard" food shopping is done alone - and though I'm not in love with that reality, I was even less fond of forcing others into outings like those more than I already do.

But, here's where the awesome network of bloggers and other food-minded people out there (and especially on Twitter!) come in. This summer I was lucky enough to catch up with a couple people who I'm now grateful to call my friends - including Joel from Foodie411 - for a morning at one of the Toronto markets, and most recently the two of us along with Bon of Bon Eats scoured the St. Lawrence Market for most of a day, catching up and gleaning inspiration from pretty much everything we saw there. When we went for lunch, we all managed to come down with a serious squid craving - odd, I know, but what can I say?? We live this type of stuff! In fact, my yen for some Japanese-inspired calamari and rich mushrooms was so great that I went back to the market that day and picked up four fresh, beautiful squid along with a big handful of shiitakes that quickly became dinner!

Teriyaki Mushroom - Stuffed Squid On A Bed Of Baby Spinach

Serves 1

1 1/2 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce, divided

2 tsp brown sugar, divided

1/2 tsp rice vinegar, divided
2 tbsp water, divided
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
pinch each wasabi powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes
170g shiitake or cremini mushrooms, chopped
140g squid bodies (about 2), cleaned
3 cups baby spinach

Preheat the broiler on HI, lightly mist a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
In a small dish combine 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1/4 tsp vinegar, 1 tbsp water, 1/4 tsp ginger and seasonings to taste. Set aside.
In another dish combine the remaining soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, water, ginger and seasonings.In a non-stick pan over medium heat, saute the mushrooms in a small amount of water or cooking spray until brown.
Stir in the larger volume of soy sauce mixture and cook 30 seconds longer. Remove to a bowl.
Using a small spoon, fill the squid bodies with mushroom mixture. Reserve any remaining mixture for salad.
Move the stuffed squid onto the sheet, drizzle with remaining soy sauce mixture and place under the broiler.
Cook 3 minutes each side.
Remove to a cutting board and slice with a sharp knife.
Serve on top a bed of baby spinach along with any remaining mushroom mixture.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 216.9
Total Fat: 2.9 g
Cholesterol: 326.2 mg
Sodium: 1,494.2 mg
Total Carbs: 19.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.2 g
Protein: 31.2 g

In the Kitchen of Eden

2009-11-13T00:35:00.000-05:00

In the world of the kitchen, there are widely accepted and expected ingredient and flavour marriages that are as commonplace as the latest Hollywood divorce. Onions and garlic, peanut butter and anything (but especially the infamous grape jelly), apples and cinnamon - all are go to staples in most recipe arsenals, whether mental or physically documented. Basic and reliable combinations were some of the first things I learned as an eager "mini-baker" at my mom's elbow, and it wasn't until much later when I began writing my own recipes that I began really testing the other matchups that might be out there. I've come across some real winner over the years for sure - my best friend clued me in to the delicious mixture of tart lemon and sweet cherry one summer when we were messing around with cake mixes and frosting in her kitchen, and I re-engineered the blend for her a couple years down the road. I played with saffron, adding it to raisin-studded Challah, herbaceous breadsticks and most recently pairing it with a Merlot and walnut-packed celebration loaf for our Thanksgiving table.

One of the pairings that I had dabbled in but never really pursued was tart, dark cherries and cloyingly sweet white chocolate. Not being a particularly huge fan of the white stuff myself, and not having anyone in my family who particularly clamoured for it either, the marriage made famous by Ben & Jerry's has (as far as I know) made only a single appearance in the pages of this blog - when I made the namesake cookies.

But, as it turns out, the call of inspiration can come at any time, from anywhere! After seeing a Tweet by Patricia (blogger at Brownies for Dinner), I became enthralled with the idea of creating one of her latest farmer's market finds: a sweet yeast bread filled with white chocolate chips and dried dark cherries. I set about meddling around with a honey-rich white loaf recipe from my mom's Bread Book - one that admittedly we had never made before, since home made bread was reserved for Christmas mornings - and wound up with this dense (yet tender), fruit studded treat. While it's in no way what I was looking for at the beginning of my trials, with the white chocolate pieces melting into the flour and the whole mess being more of a batter than a "dough" - my mom didn't complain at all. In fact, it disappeared so fast that I almost didn't get a photo of the finished bread to share! Good thing I did though - I'm sending it off to YeastSpotting over at WildYeast.

Cherries and White Chocolate Bread
Serves 16
1/2 tbsp active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
1/3 cup honey
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp fat free vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup "lite" margarine spread, melted
1 egg
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tbsp salt
3 oz white chocolate chunks
3 oz dried cherries
milk for brushing crust

In a large bowl (or stand mixer fitted with the dough hook) combine yeast and warm water, stirring well. Let stand 10 minutes.
Stir in honey, then gradually add 3 cups flour, stirring well.
Beat in yogurt, margarine and egg until well incorporated, then add remaining whole wheat flour and salt.
Knead for 10 minutes, until strong "gluteny" strands form.
Add white chocolate and cherries, knead in for 1-2 minutes.
Place into an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours.
Deflate dough and scrape into a large greased loaf pan.
Lightly cover and allow to rise 1 hour, until cresting the top of the pan.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Brush top of the loaf with milk and bake for 35 minutes until hollow-sounding when tapped.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 200.0
Total Fat: 3.8 g
Cholesterol: 14.1 mg
Sodium: 47.2 mg
Total Carbs: 37.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.0 g
Protein: 4.7 g

Super Strogie

2009-11-11T10:18:00.001-05:00

There is something about classic comfort food that speaks directly into your soul. While a pile of greens and sprouts is virtuous and good for the body, there is no beating a giant dish of gooey macaroni and cheese or a thick slice of warm apple pie when you need to wind yourself down. Hippocrates would have approved of the (now maligned) practice of eating when stressed out, sick or otherwise incapacitated... his motto was after all "let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"! As November continues along its merry way and the darkness of the short days takes up more and more of our free time, The stews and roasts begin re-appearing, and suddenly it's not a bad thing to have the oven on!

As a kid one of my favourite dishes was my mum's beef stroganoff. Well, it wasn't really "her" recipe (it came from the Milk calendar about a thousand years ago), but it was creamy, hearty and something that we could look forward to when we saw the stewing beef thawing in the fridge! Usually we'd have it with rice (as a kid I'd always have it in it's own bowl, no food touching!!), and we'd wipe our plates clean! When I started figuring out that my body was rejecting the things that were instrumental in beef strogie (um, like beef, butter, milk and sour cream!!) it was like tearing myself away from the animal shelters everytime I visit. I know it's the best option, but it's still a hard pill to swallow.

I did find myself a remedy to that, though! I can't really remember how I stumbled onto Eat Me Delicious' mushroom stroganoff recipe (I think it may have been when I looked up this treat!), but I am SO glad that I did - plus it gave me another way to enjoy mushrooms! I did go against our usual custom of the rice bed and stirred in some brown rice fettuccine at the very end, and veganized the recipe with soy yogurt. It's not a particularly light meal, to be sure, and it is carb-heavy, but of course you don't have to add as many (or any!) noodles. For me, though, it's a delicious way to pop into Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights event hosted at Sweet and Savoury this Friday.

Tofu Mushroom Strogie
Serves 1-2
3 oz extra firm tofu, drained, pressed well and cubed
steak spice, to taste
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp red wine
1 tsp tapioca flour
1/2 cup "not-beef" broth
1/3 cup plain soy yogurt
2 tsp dried parsley
salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice pasta (I used fettuccine), kept hot

Cover tofu with a sprinkling of steak spice, set aside.
Cook the mushrooms and onion in water over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the mushrooms have released all their liquid and it has mostly evaporated.
Add the wine and cook 1 minute, until it is slightly reduced.
Mix the tapioca flour and broth in a small dish.
Pour over the mushrooms and bring the mixture to a boil.
Add tofu to the pan, lower the heat and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in soy yogurt and parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add noodles and toss well to coat. Serve immediately.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 528.8
Total Fat: 8.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 352.4 mg
Total Carbs: 88.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.0 g
Protein: 27.4 g

Apples and Cider and Butterscotch... YUM!

2009-11-08T23:09:00.002-05:00

As I'm sure you all (well, the loyal 2 or 3 that still read my ramblings!) have probably figured out by my less than regular participation in the online world these days, I've once again been sucked into the rather large black hole that is the mid-term project and exam period at school. I'm still living and breathing food, more or less, but during the week (and some weekends, it turns out!) it tends to be less "delicious food-porn" and more "pureed [non] baby-food, reformed somethingorother" that's on my computer screen. The one saving grace of my workload thus far has been my Marketing and Merchandising course, which aside from being dead simple is actually kind of fun to work with. For instance, one of our projects has to do with promoting Canadian fish and seafood products, so drawing from my list of Toronto-area foodie pals and chefs on Twitter I was able to not only snag a couple great recipes for my handout but also a roster of awesome, local friendly restaurants for my classmates to look through.

Of course, there is other work to be done too, not nearly as entertaining as marketing campaigns but apparently essential. Unfortunately, because I tend to get bored (and therefore distracted!) quickly by the rest of my classes, the work winds up taking 3x as long as it really should! Part of it could be the fact that baking is just so much more beneficial to my stress level and interest, but naahh... let's just say it's that the work is "too much and too mindless" to be worthy of my valuable time and mental effort. Sound better, right? Yeah, I thought so too.

So to pass the time in between bursts of non-foodie writing, Tweeting, churning out an occasional post and perusing the blogs of other, more dedicated authors than I, the mixing bowls, flour, sugar and spices still come out to play once or twice a week. Would you really expect anything different?

This latest Fall snacking "cake" or "square" is my egg-free, whole grain riff on Jamie's Apple Bar recipe that she posted way back in early September. I slightly lowered the sugar in the batter portion (which I usually do as a matter of course), but then did away with any notion of real nutrition by packing it full of butterscotch chips and some spiced instant apple cider mix I found lurking in the back of our pantry. But no matter... really, if you're going to have a dessert, what's the fun in chewing on something that's a shadow of it's former self? Balance, like between work and leisure, yin and yang, et cetera, is key. And you can always freeze the leftovers - provided of course there are any!

Apple Cider Butterscotch Bars

Serves 12

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1/3 cup hot water
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 (.75 oz) packets apple cider drink mix
3 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 large apple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9x9" pan with parchment.
In a small bowl whisk together the flaxseed and hot water. Let stand 5-10 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cider drink mix. Set aside.
In a large bowl beat oil, brown sugar, vanilla and the flaxseed mixture.
Stir in dry ingredients until just combined, then fold in the apples.
Spread into the pan and sprinkle with the butterscotch chips.
Bake for 25-35 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 204.2
Total Fat: 6.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 10.9 mg
Total Carbs: 34.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.3 g
Protein: 2.3 g

The Winter Late Fall of Our Discontent

2009-11-03T21:07:00.000-05:00

Now that we've had to do away with our beloved Daylight Savings Time for another year, it feels like we've managed to enter a perpetual "twilight zone". We get up in pitch-black surroundings now, instead of with sun shining into our windows, and by the time I'm en route to school we've barely made it past that first glow. Coming home is the same story, depending on the day of the week and my schedule! Until the snow starts flying, though, I'll be content with just the dark and dim drives. Talk to me in February, and chances are it'll be a different story!

Being the time of the year that it is, between the shifting times and ever-popular midterm exams (we're in week 2 of 3 right now!), everyone's time is at a higher premium than ever before. Meals that can be whipped together, dumped into a bowl and dished up so that we can all get back to everything else are a priority, and the less fiddling around with bits and pieces of intricate recipes the better. Of course, a good meal, and preferably a healthy one, is not something that either my mom nor I are particularly willing to sacrifice. I've been turning her into quite the foodie, in fact... though she'd never admit to it in "mixed" (i.e. "normal") company. Sure enough, though, give us our Saturdays at the grocery store and the occasional trip to a fun market downtown, and we are some happy home cooks!

Finding a way to balance my "gourmet" yearnings and my "get-home-at-7:30PM" schedule was one of the main causes of this recipe's birth. I love rice (especially in sushi!!) but my favourite, long-grain brown variety takes 45 minutes to slowly simmer away. Even making a bunch ahead of time and freezing it (which I do occasionally) leaves me with more or less identical bricks of grain. If you want something rich and decadent - say, a risotto - not only do you have to cook from fresh but you also have to stand and stir... not hard work, for sure, but not exactly A-1 on my list of to-dos even on the best of days. Enter the anathema of rice connoisseurs everywhere... Minute Rice.

Yes, I know! Don't take away my food blogging license! The mushy, disintegrating texture that Minute Rice takes on as it cooks is perfect for things like risottos and rice pudding, and apparently it's even good for sushi (though I haven't been brave enough to test that theory yet!). Add to that the fact that we had a decent sized box of brown Minute Rice in our pantry, a lemon, some asparagus and even the remnants of a tub of fat free Philly in our fridge, and dinner was jazzed up just a little bit more. It's not risotto like your Italian "Nonna" would make, or probably even admit to knowing you cooked, but it's not dry cereal and ice cream. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Super-Fast "Fauxotto"
Serves 1
1/2 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup Minute Rice Whole Grain Brown Rice
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
6 oz asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp Kraft Philadelphia Herb & Garlic Cream Cheese (98% fat free)
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp black pepper

Heat non-stick cooking spray or 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add shallot and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
Add rice, stirring well to mix with shallot and garlic.
Stir in broth and bring to a boil.
Add asparagus in an even layer over rice mixture.
Cover and reduce the heat to low.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add cream cheese, lemon zest and juice.
Continue mixing until cheese melts and mixture is well combined.
Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
Top with black pepper and serve

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 226.5
Total Fat: 2.4 g
Cholesterol: 5.0 mg
Sodium: 584.8 mg
Total Carbs: 46.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.6 g
Protein: 9.3 g

Black [Sesame] Magic

2009-10-31T22:36:00.004-04:00

Happy Hallowe'en, everyone! I hope your evenings were safe and fun, and if you have children that did the rounds tonight that they didn't get blown away by the gales storming outside!

I never cease to be amazed by the imaginations of the food bloggers around the world that I have the fortune of keeping up with. From new marketplaces and restaurants, to unique ingredients, to whole other worlds of cuisine that I never thought of before, my eyes are constantly being drawn to article after article - and my "ideas book" is filling up faster than I can cross off the entries! I'm not complaining in the least though. Who else can sit in an otherwise dry and dull three-hour lecture and pipe up every three minutes with a new fact to build or contradict the prescribed material? While I may be a bit of a shit disturber (if you'll pardon the term) in class, I also am able to lay claim to re-igniting the passion of some of my teachers who otherwise only re-hashed material they learned in the same program only a few years before at my college! I enjoy being able to share whatever bits of knowledge I can, to whomever will listen (or at least put up with me)... especially when it comes from people all around the world!

These cupcakes are an example of the power of other cooks have over my imagination, and also of how a good idea is always worth making your own! Carrie, who writes an incredible blog you may know as Fields of Cake and Other Good Stuff, posted an entry way back in March to the Iron Cupcake event for a goody akin to the Vosges Black Pearl Bar - a Dark Chocolate Sesame Wasabi Cupcake. Now, if you know me and my love for all things wasabi, you know this would be a shoo-in for my favourites list on any normal occasion. But as luck would have it (of course!) it's also full of all the kinds of goodies I can't enjoy - eggs, dairy, and the critical ingredient sesame oil! Not to mention that the process of brittle- ganache- and buttercream-making scared the jeepers out of me (particularly the brittle... hot sugar + me are not a happy pair!). But I knew people who would love eating the cupcakes as much as I would love making them... and cupcakes, I could make. I can do cake with my eyes closed (most of the time!). Perhaps later, when time, money for butter and cream (and good chocolate!), and bravery are on my side, I will put everything together like Carrie did and it might just look half as good! For now, I settled on veganizing her creation, and I was very pleased with it! Not oily at all like I worried, and just aromatic enough without taking over the luscious chocolate flavour.

Without the embellishments of the original recipe, the cupcakes themselves seemed kind of... plain. Not boring, really (because who else puts such a decadent, aromatic and flavour packed oil in a dark chocolate cupcake?), but not really wow worthy. Enter my good pal and fellow foodie Joel (AKA the Foodie411) with his recipe for Manda Muffins, and newly-proclaimed love for black sesame seeds! Perfect. They would be the smile-marring ninjas of my recipe... I'm not mean enough to go through with my initial plan of a heaping spoonful of wasabi powder, but this addition worked nicely. Mind you... I still have some ancho paste hanging around in my fridge...

Double - Dark Chocolate Sesame Cakes

Makes 24

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

5 oz low-fat silken tofu, pureed

1 cup cooled, strong coffee

1 cup fat free soymilk

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup toasted sesame seed oil

3 tbsp black sesame seeds, toasted

Preheat oven to 375F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Make a well in the center and pour in the tofu, coffee, soymilk, lemon juice and oil.
Stir until smooth, then mix in the sesame seeds.
Spoon the batter into prepared cups, dividing evenly.
Bake 25 minutes.
Cool in the pan set over a wire rack for 20 minutes, then unmould and cool completely.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 126.2

Total Fat: 5.7 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 11.5 mg

Total Carbs: 18.2 g

Dietary Fiber: 1.8 g

Protein: 2.6 g

Pimpin' the Pumpkin

2009-10-30T20:23:00.002-04:00

Well, it's finally arrived - the eve pumpkins all around the world fear from when they're nothing but flower buds on the vine! It's the night before Hallowe'en, and here, it's when everyone in my household crowds around our kitchen table, and armed with a variety of somewhat battered, tarnished knives (and sometimes a pasta spoon or two for the really thick-walled ones) we proceed to inflict massive carnage upon the poor orange vegetables.

Of course, pumpkins don't just exist around here for carving into various miscreants - though if you are my sister, you delight in that sort of thing... this year was "attack of the zombie" themed. In the kitchen, at least, I embrace this time of year by cranking up the oven for a good week or so to churn out anything my wee brain (and even wee-er muscles) can handle. So in the spirit of All Hallows Eve, Samhain, and good old candy-grabbin' Hallowe'en, I've got three recipes - yup, a whole THREE of 'em - for you! Of course with cans of pumpkin puree lining the shelves (pumpkin shortage? Apparently our shops didn't get that memo!) it's just as simple to make these same things in the middle of May. It just might not feel the same to eat them with a glass of iced tea than with some hot mulled cider!

The first thing I whipped up was (suprise, suprise) a quickbread of sorts - subtly spiced, with a hint of fruity sweetness from both banana and pockets of dates and raisins! I added some rich, toasted pecans to the batter too, and taking a cue from a recipe in Cooking Light I even added cornmeal with my usual psyllium husk "spike" for some added texture.

Banana - Pumpkin Loaf With Dried Fruits And Pecans

Serves 12

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup psyllium
1 cup cornmeal
2 tsp powder
2 tsp soda
1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 banana
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
80g dates
85g raisins
100g chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350º F, and grease a loaf pan.
Whisk together the flour, psyllium fibre, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, pie spice and salt in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl, mash together the banana and pumpkin puree, then stir in soy milk, oil and brown sugar until well blended.
Stir in the dry mixture until just combined, then fold in the dates, raisins and pecans.
Bake 50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the pan before turning onto a wire rack and cooling completely.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 268.8

Total Fat: 11.2 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 61.3 mg

Total Carbs: 40.2 g

Dietary Fiber: 5.2 g

Protein: 4.0 g

Of course, I couldn't do just one loaf - they're so easy to whip together and they are such a great use-up for random ingredients, after all! Since everyone in our house has had the flu at least once so far (with the exception of my stepbrother, who seems to be irritatingly immune to such things) we have a good deal of ginger and related gingery things stashed around our house. This includes a rather embarassingly large amount of ginger ale, which luckily for me works great as a sweet replacement for beer in a traditional "beer bread" type of concoction like the one I made from my mom's old, 25-cent "Bread Book". Instead of 1/2 a cup of melted butter in the recipe, I used the same amount of pumpkin, and added a couple tablespoons of oil for a bit more lightness to the texture. The resulting loaf was quite cakey due to the soda content but not at all cloyingly sweet, it was actually used as a lunch side for my mom and stepdad.

Ginger Ale Pumpkin Bread

Serves 10

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 1/2 cups ginger ale (not diet)

Preheat oven to 350F, grease a 9×5" loaf pan.
Whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
In a large bowl, beat together oil, brown sugar, pumpkin and fresh ginger.
Add the flour mixture and stir briefly, then pour in the ginger ale and mix until just combined.
Bake 55-60 minutes, until tests done. Cool 10 minutes in pan before unmoulding onto a rack and cooling completely.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 206.2

Total Fat: 4.7 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 6.4 mg

Total Carbs: 37.4 g

Dietary Fiber: 2.5 g

Protein: 4.4 g

The only "problem" (and I put it in quotes because it's only a problem if you make it one!) that seems to always arise around here when making anything from a can is the inevitable tablespoon or two left over that the recipe beforehand simply refused to take into account. What the heck are we supposed to do with such a teeny bit of anything, let alone plain ol' canned pumpkin? Well, luckily I happened upon Stef's recipe at Cupcake Project for Pumpkin Graham Crackers, which lo and behold use those last 2 tablespoons up! Not having the graham flour called for in her recipe, though, I ad-libbed a blend of whole wheat flour and spelt bran (you can certainly use wheat or oat bran too), which worked perfectly fine for me. It's not vegan, since I still used honey in the dough for the whole traditional "grahamy" flavour, but if you want to veganize it I'm sure agave, light molasses or even corn syrup would work just fine!

Jolly Roger Pumpkin Grahams

Makes 36 squares, though I cut some of mine into Jolly Rogers!

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup wheat or spelt bran
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1 oz Earth Balance "Buttery Sticks" margarine (or butter), softened
2 tbsp pumpkin puree
6 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350F, place 2 cookie sheets in the freezer to chill.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, bran, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt and flaxseed. Set aside.
Whisk together the cornstarch and cold water in a small dish, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the Earth Balance, pumpkin, and sugar.
Add the cornstarch mixture and the honey, stirring well.
Add the flour mixture, blending thoroughly. The dough should be fairly stiff (at least manageable).
On a well floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/8".

Cut out squares (or other shapes) and place on the cold, ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cool completely on the sheets set on racks. They will harden as they cool.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 47.2

Total Fat: 0.8 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 9.0 mg

Total Carbs: 9.5 g

Dietary Fiber: 0.8 g

Protein: 1.0 g

Whattalottachoca...

2009-10-28T22:36:00.000-04:00

These cookies deserve an entrance. Not only are they huge frisbees of sweet, rich chocolately delerium, but they're made with hardly any flour - full instead of coconut, chocolate chips, cocoa, and of course the legally death-defying narcotic that is Nutella! I based this recipe off of one of my standard peanut butter chocolate chip cookie formulas, tweaking the sugar a bit to compensate for the sticky sweetness of the chocolate-hazelnut spread, and added in a touch of unsweetened cocoa powder and a handful of shredded, toasted coconut for good measure. With such a "small" bowl of cookie dough to play with (I had to cut the recipe down a ton since - perish the thought - we were running low on Nutella!) I figured I couldn't go halfway on the size with standard tablespoon balls of dough... after all, I was going to share the creation with Bell' alimento's Paula and the rest of the Nutella Blogroll this month for the Nutella Challenge. It should be a showstopper!

Needless to say this recipe makes enough dough for 16 cookies, but with Nutella in the mix, you wouldn't really be able to stop at one "normal" cookie now, would you? Make 8 jumbo discs... you'll be glad you did.

Whattalottachoca Cookies
Makes 8
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch kosher salt
2 tbsp shortening
1/4 cup Nutella
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed into 3 tbsp cold water
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F, line two baking sheets with silicone or parchment.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, coconut, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream shortening, Nutella, sugar and honey.
Add the cornstarch slurry and beat well.
Add the dry mixture and stir just to combine, then add the chocolate chips and fold in.
Bake for 12 minutes and cool completely on the sheets.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 206.9
Total Fat: 10.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 6.1 mg
Total Carbs: 29.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.6 g
Protein: 2.2 g

Melding the Seasons with Quickbread

2009-10-25T12:09:00.000-04:00

It's funny sometimes how the seasons start to meld together over the years - for instance, I can recall times when I knew precisely when Summer had "officially" started (as soon as we went up to the marina the first time in May), and when Winter made itself known (via the first snowfall, or when Mom started making us wear our winter boots). These days it seems like we don't even get a Spring or Summer season anymore, just a "not freezing cold" lull of a few months when all the construction crews come out.

I think a large part of this "melding" of seasons is that now people in general are so busy with everything else in their lives that we hardly ever slow down to appreciate the different elements that appear throughout the year. For myself, I don't even really look at the changing foliage outside anymore - it's a given that leaves go from green to red before falling off and leaving the ugly tree skeletons behind. The only time I see enough trees at once for a decent length of time is actually when I'm stuck in traffic driving into Toronto (and locals will know the whole DVP corridor I'm talking about!). Even the foods that used to be so season specific are now commonplace at the local grocery store, and people still think nothing of picking up a strawberry shortcake or peach pie from there either regardless of the fact that without copious sugar and cream to carry it, the key ingredient is totally flavourless!

I know I'm not one to throw stones either. My family (though not necessarily me) still buys tomatoes in December and acorn squash in May, and regardless of how gaudy the markup is my mother still puts clamshell containers of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries into the grocery cart every week. I would, over the Summer at least, take any dwindling berries from the baskets and freeze them on trays before storing them in freezer bags. I had plans for some kind of cake or pie too, or possibly even a jam, but all of a sudden school started and lo and behold the freezer was still full. Couple that with some delicious, creamy and seasonal "buttah", and a general lack of willpower or motivation to do anything remotely scholarly, and somehow this loaf came about. It melds the warmth of Summer with the chill of Fall, and the intoxication of sweetness with the homey scent of toasting oats and comforting spices. It's a blending that I'm not ashamed to embrace.

Changing Seasons Quickbread

Serves 12

2 1/3 cups Roasted Sweets and Apple Butter (or pumpkin pie filling - not pure pumpkin)

1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

1/2 cup 1% milk

1 cup flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant or quick cooking)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup fresh or frozen (unthawed) small blueberries

1/3 cup sliced fresh or frozen (unthawed) strawberries

Preheat oven to 375F, lightly grease a loaf pan.
In a large bowl, beat together butter or pumpkin pie filling, sugar, egg, vanilla, flaxseed and milk. Set aside.
In another bowl whisk together flours, oats, baking powder and baking soda.
Gently fold into the wet ingredients, stirring until just moistened.
Fold in berries and stir just until combined.
Bake 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350F and bake a further 20 minutes.
Cool in pan 20 minutes before turning out onto a rack and cooling completely.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 197.2
Total Fat: 1.9 g
Cholesterol: 18.2 mg
Sodium: 81.2 mg
Total Carbs: 42.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.8 g
Protein: 4.1 g

Like Buttah

2009-10-23T23:36:00.003-04:00

Fall is my favourite season. It's unlikely, especially for someone like me (who is always cold - even in July I wear long sleeves!), but I can't help it - the colours of the changing leaves, the smells of burning leaf piles and the end of the season flowers clinging to the last rays of sunlight are just the final, pretty touches on a season so rich in every sensory experience. In fact, if you enter the kitchen of almost anyone within easy driving distance of an apple orchard these days, you might just walk into a cloud of flour and sugar, or at the very least be enveloped by the enticing aroma of caramelizing juices and warm spices.

Though I know (or my rational brain does, at least) that those smells and flavours are pretty much seasonless these days, given the year-round availability of everything from kiwis to strawberries to pomegranates, there really is nothing quite like arriving home from a pick your own farm with a giant bag or two of right-off-the-tree, hand selected apples in tow. The work ahead of you, if you're an en masse baker of pies like my mom used to be when I was younger, never seemed like much effort - with a couple kids roped in to help with turning the peeler machine, tossing fruit and spices, or even doing the basic pastry prep, an afternoon passes in the blink of an eye. No sign of the toils you undertook spoil the atmosphere either, just the lingering mixture of butter, sweet fruit and cinnamon and a pie (or three) cooling on the countertop. When we were younger we knew we hit the jackpot at the orchard when Northern Spy season came. Spies meant two things to me then, and still do today: one, that my favourite Russet apples were out too, and two that apple square season was upon us!

For the past couple years, at least, my Autumn treats after mornings of apple picking have been relegated to nothing more than fresh out-of-hand snacking. Don't get me wrong - it's still my favourite way to enjoy the bounty of any in-season produce (even the perfect, tiny purple Brussels sprouts discovered last weekend were delicious raw!), but there is something about the oh-so-buttery combination of pastry and fruit that makes home made pie that much better.

Since every year we always wind up with about a trillion more apples than we could ever go through raw, and after a while the freezer threatens to revolt if we add one more pie to it's hold, the task of "dealing with them" is usually left to me. When my mom first gave me that responsibility, I'm not sure if she really realized how potentially dangerous that could make me! I've done apple cake, pancakes, latkes (my personal favourite combination paired sweet potatoes and shredded Spies), mincemeat, muffins, crisps and more applesauce than we could care to assimilate in our minds, but somehow morphing the fruit from a solid ball into each new format somehow makes the same taste completely new again. This season I got an early jump on the apple crop when I discovered that one of my favourite local varieties - the Red Free - was out in the market. Five minutes and $3 later I was the owner of a large bag of apples, and upon arriving home found out that we also had a hefty load of *cough* imported fruit sitting in the crisper as well. Subsequent scavenging for dinner items later that night revealed some sweet potatoes just starting to edge past the peak of awesomeness, and lurking in the back of the fridge was a lone orange too.

With those ingredients at hand and a great basic recipe from Kevin (@ Closet Cooking) for roasted applesauce as a guideline, I set about making my own version of what I can only really call a "Fall butter". It's not apple butter, to be sure, but nor is it a mashed yam dish, and the flavour is one of those savoury-sweet blends that worked wonders on my morning bagels but was also used by my grandparents as a side dish with a Sunday dinner. What I couldn't finish on my own, I baked into "hand pies" and wrapped in a lightly sweetened cookie shell as well for a couple different "carry case" experiment. The crumbled graham crackers added a great crunchy texture and nutty flavour too, which helped break up the richness of the puree.

Roasted Sweets and Apple Butter

Makes 3 cups, 24 2-tbsp servings

1 large apple, chopped

2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp honey

1/3 cup orange juice

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3 graham cracker sheets, crumbled

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a shallow casserole dish.
Toss together apple and sweet potato chunks and pour into the dish.
In a measuring cup or bowl, combine brown sugar, honey, orange juice and pumpkin pie spice until well blended and smooth.
Pour over the apples and sweet potatoes, stirring to coat.
Cover casserole and bake for 50 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
Uncover the dish and bake for a further 20 minutes, until the liquid is reduced and the mixture in the pan is caramelized.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.
In a food processor, finely crush the crackers. Remove to a small bowl.
Add the roasted mixture to the food processor (no need to clean) and puree completely. If you dislike the texture of the skin (albeit pureed) use a food mill for a very fine consistency.
Add the crumbs back to the processor mixture and pulse to combine.
Serve as a pudding or pie filling.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 51.1
Total Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 24.0 mg
Total Carbs: 12.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.3 g
Protein: 0.5 g

An Unlikely Story

2009-10-19T09:10:00.001-04:00

I doubt you'd believe me if I was to tell you I wasn't always a foodie. In fact, not only was I not particularly interested in new and unusual meals and menus (God forbid I let anything like sushi past my lips), but I was a bone fide case of the meat + pasta + butter and cheese for dinner crowd. Vegetables, if they had to grace the plate, were smeared with butter or doused in cheese sauce or salad dressing. I did like fruit, however, which probably saved me from a childhood of scurvy, but the thought of sleep did not come for me as a kid unless there was a "bedtime snack" involved. If we were lucky and Mom had made some sort of cookies or cake for a school bake sale (or if she was just feeling nice) that was left over, a veritable slab of indulgence would fit the bill. At the very least there would always be something like ice cream in the freezer or Nutella and peanut butter in the cupboard for me to make a sandwich. I needed my chocolate - and to this day that hasn't changed.

What did change, though, was how I approached my love of food, and in turn developed a love for myself. At the goading of my parents, I signed up for a gym membership at the small club they went to managed by a friend of the family's named Louise. Louise was the first die-hard nutrition, exercise and general health "freak" I ever knew. Not only did she run grueling fitness classes 6 nights a week and keep the gym open almost 24 / 7, she was a certified personal trainer and nutritionist! She would preach the benefits of kale, beets, tofu and spinach for dinner (pasta was the Devil, white rice equally so!), drinking brewed, roasted chicory instead of coffee and doing away with any milk products (horrors!), and even the notion of this chocolate cake made with PRUNES. I thought she was absolutely nuts! Today, I still think she was a bit nuts, but I'm more like her now than I ever thought possible. I make it a point to go to my gym class every week if at all possible, and I sorely miss those days I don't. I eat more healthfully now than almost anyone I know (more a necessity than a wish, sadly), and even enjoy those previously dreaded nemesis foods from my childhood.

It was from a crumpled scrap of paper that I made this loaf cake recipe spring back to life, and I think Louise just might be proud of me for doing it. That is, if she believed it was me behind the scenes.

Louise Cake
Serves 12
6 oz pitted prunes (about 1 cup)
Boiling water
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup oil (you can use applesauce as well, to make it low-fat)
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup fat free soymilk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350F, grease a large loaf pan.
In a small bowl, combine prunes with enough boiling water to cover. Let stand 20 minutes, then drain.
In a food processor, add the prunes, bananas, oil, vanilla, soymilk, and lemon juice. Puree completely smooth.
Add sugars, cocoa and salt to the processor and puree well.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda and baking powder.
Pour in the wet puree mixture and stir well to combine thoroughly.
Bake for 45 minutes, until tests done.
Cool in the pan for 20 minutes before turning out onto a rack and cooling completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 288.3
Total Fat: 9.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 16.1 mg
Total Carbs: 49.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.8 g
Protein: 4.4 g

Bread and Wine

2009-10-16T23:52:00.001-04:00

Well, World Bread Day may be almost over for another year, and I know I've already shared with you a wonderful recipe for a beautifully festive loaf, but I couldn't resist mentioning the beautiful creation that was my contribution to last weekend's Thanksgiving meal tonight. This bread has quite possibly the most involved recipe development process out of any that I've made in recent memory - it took a combination of website scouring, grilling fellow foodies on their likes and dislikes, selecting the ingredients and converting them all to a standard weight! Finally, when the whole thing was finally assembled and in the oven, I started acting like an expectant father who's waiting on the birth of a child - I kept pacing from my bedroom (where I was supposed to be doing homework) to the kitchen and back again, peering into the dimly lit appliance through the peep window to check the progress!

By the time the bread was finished, cooled and wrapped up for it's trip to the grandparents' place for dinner, I was beat... and I just hoped that there would be at least a slice left over from Thanksgiving's bread basket so I could photograph the wonderful purple interior!

Yes, I said purple! You see, the obession I had with creating this decorated boule was with adding a combination of walnuts and red wine to the dough. I had no idea if the alcohol would be damaging to the dough's condition (alcohol does not allow for gluten development at the same rate as water or milk) or moisture, and I knew that walnuts often will tint a bread dough blueish just be their volatile oils. What better (or prettier!) way to celebrate? For the dough that formed the cluster of grape leaves on top of the bread (I figured grapes, wine, why not?) I made an entirely different recipe - this one a basic, slightly sweet white bread with saffron infused water. The delicate fragrance and beautiful colour lent a special touch to the recipe that wasn't apparent until the first cut was made!

Decorated Wine and Walnut Loaf

Serves 30

2 fl. oz warm water

1 fl oz (2 tbsp) honey (or raw sugar if vegan)

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast

3 fl oz warm unswetened almond milk (or regular milk, if you like)

10 fl oz red wine

14.5 oz (4 cups) flour

7 oz (1 1/2 cups) whole wheat flour

1 tsp vital gluten

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp salt

7 oz (scant 1 3/4 cups) chopped walnuts

---

2 fl oz boiling water

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp saffron (optional, for colour)

1/4 tsp dry active yeast

2.6 oz (3/4 cup) flour

1 egg white, for glaze (optional for vegan)

In the bowl of a standing mixer fit with the dough hook, combine water, honey and yeast. Allow to stand 10 minutes.
Add almond milk and red wine, mixing well.
Whisk together flours, gluten, nutmeg and salt.
With the mixer on low, add the flour ingredients to the liquids and allow to mix for 12 minutes.
Add the walnuts and mix 2 minutes longer.
Cover the bowl and allow to rest for 2 hours.
Punch dough down and shape into a rough ball.
Place ball seam side up in a well floured towel-lined bowl or couche form. Cover and let rise 1 1/2 hours.
In a medium bowl combine water, sugar and saffron. Allow to steep and cool enough that you can touch it comfortably.
Stir in yeast and allow to stand 10 minutes.
Beat in flour to form a smooth, supple dough. Cover and allow to rise 1 1/2 hours.
Punch dough down and on a piece of parchment, shape the mirror image of a grape cluster from pieces of dough, leaving a small space between balls for rising. You will be flipping it onto the boule so make sure to assemble it backwards.
Preheat the oven to 475F and allow to sit at temperature for 30 minutes.
Turn the boule out onto a lined baking sheet.
Brush the exposed side of the grape cluster with some egg white (or water if vegan) and carefully turn onto the boule.
Brush the cluster with more egg white.
Bake loaf on the lowest rack of the oven for 15 minutes, spritzing the oven walls with water every 5 minutes.
Reduce the temperature to 425F and bake 35 minutes longer.
Cool completely on a rack before slicing, or wrapping in cling wrap and freezing.
Store at room temperature wrapped in cling wrap for up to 5 days, or slice and freeze wrapped in foil.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 157.0
Total Fat: 4.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 5.5 mg
Total Carbs: 23.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.7 g
Protein: 4.6 g

This will also be my entry to next week's edition of YeastSpotting at Wild Yeast.

Saying Thanks

2009-10-11T11:39:00.001-04:00

If you mention the word "Thanksgiving" to most U.S.A. and Canadian residents, you will likely find yourself swathed in their memories of lavish dinners, pumpkin pie and the feelings of realizing that Fall has made itself at home by now, and Winter is on it's merry way! For me, now at least, Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are rather interesting occasions. These days (I'm ashamed to admit), you are more likely to find me trying to weasel out of the family pow-wows filled with food, wine and cheer. For me, and I know that it's incredibly selfish to say it, the fact that these holidays revolve almost exclusively around food makes me more and more aware each year how different I now am compared to the rest of the "normal" people in my life. Normally I take most if not all of my meals alone these days, unless I'm in school or out for a sushi lunch or dinner with friends - mostly for logistical reasons, since I have to cook everything for myself separately, and those around me are generally not too thrilled with the idea of tofu or lentils for dinner. So when it comes to big occasions where I'm forced to try fitting the square peg of myself into the round hole of society, it's awkward all around... and more often than not the talk winds up revolving more around what I'm eating than catching up with family.

My point in my sad (melodramatic, if you will) little ramble is that only now do I realize just how much we've strayed from the real reasons we celebrate these days in the first place - being grateful for those around you, the love that you are able to both give and receive along the pathway of your life, and for the little things everyday that we take for granted. I had been thinking about it for a little while when I decided to make these scones - not that the recipe is particularly tied into any sort of event or holiday, but who I was making them for.

I realized that, just like we take the everyday things like TV and running water for granted most of the time, we tend to also take a lot of people for granted too. Bus drivers, pharmacists, tech support and even the stockists at the grocery store all too often only noticed when they make an error or omission, and regardless of their control of the situation are essentially walking targets for the anger and frustration of those they have contact with every day. Even though I regularly bring treats of cookies or muffins to my doctors, friends, teachers and even people I was meeting for the first time, I wanted to let the people I see almost more than any others know that I really did value and appreciate the fact that they come into work and do their jobs every day! To me some of the most deserving people are the wonderful staff at our local health food store and Bulk Barn. They've always been there to help me out with restocking an ingredient, special ordering supplements for me if they were out of stock, and filling me in on news with new products and offerings they think I'd be interested in. They all know me on sight, by name, as I do them, and regardless of what either of us have gone through that day it evaporates in that short space where our lives intersect.

It was for no other reason to say "thank you" that I brought out these scones, without any sort of real recipe, but rather an emotion that couldn't really be conveyed by words alone. I'm not sure if they have realized it even now, but the look of appreciation for such a relatively simple gift made me feel like I had just received the best Christmas gift in the world.

Nutty Mesquite Oatmeal Scones
Makes 12
1 cup flour
1/3 cup mesquite flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup almond flour (meal)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 oz butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400F, line a baking sheet with parchment or silicone.
In a large bowl, combine flours, oats, almond flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
In a small bowl or measuring cup beat together egg, buttermilk and vanilla.
Stir into dry mixture until everything is moistened. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
Turn onto the silicone or parchment lined sheet and shape into a rough disc.
Score with a bench scraper or sharp knife into 12 wedges.
Bake for 25 minutes and cool completely on the sheet before cutting through the score lines into separate pieces.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 243.1
Total Fat: 13.4 g
Cholesterol: 28.1 mg
Sodium: 65.9 mg
Total Carbs: 29.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.1 g
Protein: 4.6 g

The Holidays Come Home

2009-10-10T19:23:00.001-04:00

This weekend marks the official kick-off of the Fall / Winter holiday season for us Canadians. Tomorrow, those with the typical Western cultural traditions running through our veins will sit down to dinners of turkey, stuffing and all the sides (inclusing my two favourites - roasted beets and mashed potatoes) along the way. Of course, after eating more than most of us would dream of ingesting in a week, let alone one sitting, we all look forward to what I think is the best part about this weekend... the LONG weekend!

We've given up the task of doing the whole turkey dinner thing at our house since we moved, which in a way is a good thing that saves us not only money but time and energy as well. If anyone who's tried to orchestrate any sort of festive or celebration meal knows full well, the work begins well before the actual day, and doesn't stop until the last of the "company china" is back in it's safely secluded armoire at noon the next day. In another way, though, the lack of hosting either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners here leaves me feeling sort of empty emotionally, as the experiences I so valued while growing up and helping my mom prepare dinner those holidays are now lost to time and memory. A few of my most treasured rememberances include the "bath" the bird would get in our huge laundry sink as it defrosted, followed by the ceremonious slicing of the plastic wrapping and removal of the "icky bits". I still don't know why she did it (for any reason other than it was a highly amusing thing to watch), but my mom would always pick the large bird up underneath it's "armpits" and dance with it in the middle of our kitchen - anything from a quick jitterbug to a waltz! Of course after the turkey was stuffed (yes, stuffed - we've never had a problem) and safely in it's firey home, the attention would turn to making sure the cranberry sauce was ready, the veggies were ready to be steamed and slathered with my mom's famous cheese sauce, the salad was prepped and the critical detail of ensuring that just enough room was left in the oven to warm the buns and my paternal grandma's amazing cheesy mashed potatoes before everything hit the table. My mom's parents usually came supplied with a tureen of corn or green beans and a pumpkin pie, though if we were lucky enough to had found decent cooking apples this early in the season we would also have apple squares or a pie of our own as well (bonus for me, since I detest pumpkin pie!), not to mention a chocolate cake for my pie-hating sister. The combined smells that filled the entire house those days are some that I will never be able to forget, nor do I want to, as I'm sure that being someone who can't take part in any sort of "traditional" fare any more I doubt I'm tops on the hosting roster. If it was offered to me, though, it's a job I'd gladly do, just for a chance to revisit those October sundays again.

When I set about making my mom's lunchtime bread this week, I decided that I would try to steal back just a little piece of that memory - the rich aromas of toasting, slightly sweet and earthy dough, of carmelizing nuts and subtly spicy cranberries. The result was a pan of tender and fluffy buns that would have more than fit in with the rest of the dinner rolls in the bread basket.

Have a glorious Thanksgiving, to all who are celebrating, and for the rest of the world have a wonderful weekend!

Thanksgiving - Inspired Dinner Rolls
Makes 12 "dinner-roll" sized buns
1 cup active sourdough starter (preferably rye fed)
1/2 cup warm milk
1 cup warm water
1 tsp dry active yeast
3 tbsp sugar
2 cups rye flour
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp gluten flour (vital wheat gluten)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp canola oil
3 oz dried cranberries
3 oz chopped pecans

In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the sourdough starter, milk, water, yeast and sugar. Let stand 10 minutes, until foamy.
In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, cinnamon and fennel seeds.
With the mixer on low speed (or a sturdy wooden spoon), add half the flour mixture to the proofed yeast.
Add the canola oil, followed by the remaining flour mixture.
Increase the speed to medium and mix / knead for 10 minutes.
Add the dried cranberries and pecans and mix / knead briefly to incorporate.
Turn dough into a lightly greased bowl, turning to grease the top.
Cover and let rise 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
Deflate dough gently and press evenly into a lightly greased 9 x 13" rectangular pan.
Use a lightly greased bench scraper or sharp knife to cut the dough into 12 pieces.
Cover and allow dough to rise 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Bake the rolls for 30-35 minutes, then turn out of the pan immediately, separate rolls and cool on a wire rack.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 268.1
Total Fat: 7.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.8 mg
Sodium: 6.0 mg
Total Carbs: 46.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 6.3 g
Protein: 6.5 g

These rolls are off to next week's YeastSpotting event at Susan's blog, Wild Yeast.

Bibbity Bobbity Babka

2009-10-06T20:48:00.001-04:00

I'm not religious, and neither is anyone in my family, but the clan of us have a seemingly unquenchable thirst for experiencing as many of the cultural and faith-related elements of the world as we can. It doesn't matter to us what country the traditions began in, or what (if any) historical doctrines mandated their imposition or abolition over the year. We just revel in the whole emotional aspects and celebrations associated with the times special to our friends and family. In fact, the very idea of religion in general fascinates me so much that if I didn't love them all as much as I did, I'd probably be one heck of a devout follower to one of them!

One of the largest groups of friends that my parents had growing up and into their young(ish) adult years were members of Toronto's "Jewish neighbourhoods" of Bayview V illage and the Danforth. Sadly, those areas are now largely devoid of the religiously-driven bustle (the Danforth, though always known as Greektown, is now exclusively so) and the families my parents knew from before have long since dispersed around the country. However, my sister and I were lucky enough to wind up immersed in a huge array of cultural elements throughout our primary school years, including a multi-religious "end of the year" celebration before Winter break filled with music, storytelling, games like Dreidel spinning and of course tons of delicious international fare. At home every December too, my mom and I would get up early one morning and braid our yearly Challah loaf (a tradition we've kept up to this day!). Even the years my dad worked at a small IT company in Markham, the four of us would get to attend a Chanukah party where the woman of the household would fry up the most delicious latkes and treat every kid there with a piece of chocolate gelt.

This intricate, doubly-swirled and stuffed bread that took form in my kitchen is an adaptation of a recipe provided from a dear fellow blogger - Hannah of BitterSweet. Traditional, eggy creation this is not, but rather a vegan behemoth of a bread that was similarly rich and tender and ribboned with my self-created combination of almond butter, ground almonds, cinnamon, chocolate and dried cranberries. The major difference between Hannah's recipe and your typical Bubbie's is the addition of a generous helping of grated zucchini to the dough - a trick that undoubtedly makes for it's unfailing moisture even without a glut of eggs.

I have to admit that this bread was far, far larger than I would have ever imagined. As you can see from the photos, there is a lot of dough, which translated into a ton of bread to fit into that 9x5" loaf pan. Next time, I think I'll stick to a free-form twist baked on a cookie sheet to avoid the bread blowout problem I experienced. However, the resulting product was just so good according to the 4 "test groups" I passed it out to that there will most definitely be a next time to try it!

This delicious concoction is my entry to both this week's edition of YeastSpotting and also to Zorra's yearly roundup of World Bread Day (get your entries in by the 16th to participate!).

Almond - Zucchini Babka
Serves 20, generously
1 cup unsweetened almond milk, warmed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
2 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1/2 tsp salt
12 oz shredded zucchini, squeezed dry (about 2 cups or 2 medium)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 Cup Earth Balance (or other vegan) margarine, cubed, room temperature
--Filling--
3/4 cup almond butter, warmed until very runny
2 tbsp Earth Balance (or other vegan) margarine, melted
3 oz miniature, bittersweet chocolate chips
3 oz dried cranberries
2 tbsp ground almonds
1 tbsp cinnamon

In a large bowl (or stand mixer), combine almond milk and brown sugar.
Sprinkle the yeast overtop and let stand 5 minutes, until foamy.
Combine flours, nutmeg, sugar, orange zest, flaxseeds and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
To the foamed yeast mixture, add the zucchini and vanilla, stirring well.
Add 3 cups of the dry mixture to the bowl and begin mixing (on low speed), until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Add in remaining dry mixture, and allow the mixer to begin kneading the dough.
Continue working the dough with the dough hook, slowly beating in margarine cubes one at a time. It should become very shiny and soft.
Continue kneading for 10 minutes.
Turn into an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in volume.
Lightly grease two loaf pans, set aside.
Punch down the dough, divide in half and roll one portion out into a rectangle on a (very) well-floured surface. Roll it out lengthwise as far as possible- The longer the dough, the more spirals you will get in the finished bread.
Beat together the almond butter and Earth Balance in a small bowl until very fluid.
Spread the rectangle with half the almond butter, leaving 1/2" on one long side clear.
Mix together the chocolate chips, cranberries, ground almonds and cinnamon, then sprinkle half evenly over the dough.
Starting with the long edge that is completely covered, roll up the dough as tightly as possible.
Arrange the log with the two ends next to each other (like a squashed horse shoe), then twist together.
Carefully fit the twist into one pan.
Repeat with the remaining half of the ingredients. Cover and let rise 1 hour, until just about doubled.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Bake for 40 – 50 minutes, until golden and hollow sounding when tapped.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 289.5
Total Fat: 12.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 65.3 mg
Total Carbs: 41.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.5 g
Protein: 6.3 g

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

2009-10-02T21:08:00.001-04:00

I don't know about you, but this Fall it seems like the particular varieties of colds and flu that are circulating the schools, malls and generally every public place have been particularly vengeful. Not only did I get sideswiped with the stomach flu - twice - but even friends and family of mine that pride themselves on stellar immunity have managed to catch it and are at the very least feeling under the weather. I've been hard pressed to do anything lately... schoolwork, e-mails, snail mail, Twitter and of course keeping up with my poor blog!

Now all the backlogs in my life caused by my self-imposed downtime are coming up from behind to kick me into gear - it's been what feels like an endless climb to catch up but I can see the top of the pile now and with luck getting back to regular blog updates will be next on the agenda! Thank you to everyone who's sent me messages of good luck and health, they came through and I'm definitely halfway there.

One of the things I had made way back when school started at the beginning of September was an homage to the good old lunchbox staple of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Neither I nor my sister actually got to be a part of that stereotypical lunchtime crowd, though, since for our entire elementary school careers we had to live the allergy-free schoolroom life. Even at home, for some odd reason, neither of us ever really favoured the PB&J. My sister in fact never developed a fondness for either condiment, and though I liked both peanut butter and jam just fine on their own, I was way more inclined to make myself a plain (thickly slathered) peanut butter, peanut butter and honey or my personal favourite the peanut butter and golden syrup sandwich than to "taint" the mix with something like fruit! Jam, to me, had better be raspberry or cherry, and was for toast, nothing else.

I was quite particular about my peanut butter sandwich methodology too. The bread was either a single white or "plain" whole wheat regular-thickness slice, not too thick and never toasted. Crusts were fine (I was actually one of those crazy kids that adored the heel of the loaf), but they couldn't be so distinct or hard that they took away from the single-textured nature of the slice. My specifications were, of course, purely due to the whole mechanics of my perfect sandwich construction. Given the choice I would always make myself the fold-over style, so that I would get twice the amount of filling. Folding over the slice also eliminated the nasty single soggy slice phenomenon that would occur everytime the honey or syrup soaked into the unprotected slice (and no, it was- and is - not ever okay to butter the bread before making any sandwich other than a grilled cheese... even then it's only outside buttering). I hated the whole "toasted bread" factor because the warm bread would melt the peanut butter, giving it an unnerving texture contrast and odd flavour. Was I an OCD-disposed child? Sure. But I knew what I liked and I never had an issue making it for myself to assure "quality control"!

However, both my dad and my grandfather adore their peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches, no matter how they come. It was with them in mind that I first started putting together the components of this recipe, and then as a nod to the traditional recipe secreting a ribbon of jam away inside the depths of each rich, dense loaf. I chose to make the use of some end-of-the-jar remnants of both a strawberry and blueberry preserve, one in each, so a variety of good taste could be sampled over the coming weeks. I divided the loaves between us, my grandparents and my dad, and even then we had to freeze some of our share since we were (in my mother's words) innundated with tasty, sweet things that were doing damage to her waistline and my stepdad's blood sugar. At least we know it freezes exceptionally well! In retrospect, I suspect that if you were to individually wrap and freeze slices of this bread you could simply pop them in your lunchbag in the morning and they would be ready to go by noon.

PB & J Banana Bread
Makes 2 loaves of 12 slices each
2 cups flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups thick Greek yogurt (full fat)
8 large, over-ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/4 cups sugar
6 tbsp smooth peanut butter (not natural-style)
1 tbsp vanilla
2/3 cup all-fruit jam or preserves (like Smuckers Simply Fruit), warmed until easily drizzled

Preheat oven to 350F, grease and flour 2 loaf pans well.
In a medium bowl combine flours, oats, cinnamon, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together yogurt, bananas, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla until well blended.
Add the dry ingredients and stir quickly yet gently to combine. A few lumps are okay.
Divide 2/3 of the batter between the pans, then spoon a line of preserves down the centre of each loaf.
Top with remaining batter, covering the preserves completely.
Bake on the lowest rack of the oven for 65-70 minutes, tenting with foil after 30 minutes.
Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 202.0
Total Fat: 3.3 g
Cholesterol: 2.7 mg
Sodium: 62.6 mg
Total Carbs: 40.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.4 g
Protein: 4.3 g

Warming the Inside

2009-09-26T22:00:00.000-04:00

Now that September is almost over with (say it ain't so!) it seems that the weather that has been oh-so-cooperatively seasonal over the months of June, July and August feels right at home. It's settled itself in and all too soon we will find ourselves wearing ankle high snow boots, but standing knee-deep in a snowdrift. I know I'm already layering sweaters on, and the flannel bedsheets and socks have once again made their appearance in an attempt to keep my feet from turning a rather odd shade of grey by two in the morning!

But no amount of external blankets and wool fuzzies can truly warm your core. The human furnace has to be stoked from within, with rich hearty stews, steaming cups of apple cider, and bowls of oatmeal. One of the favourite tricks of mine to warm up in a hurry is to have a bite or two of raw fresh ginger - all on it's own. The flame from the tiny morsel is enough to kick-start the rest of my sluggish system, and when the annual flu strikes me down (as it always does!) a good dose of it chopped into a cup of green tea helps chase away the edge of nausea.

This cake is one of those snacks that is the perfect cold-weather type of food. Rich with ginger, stuffed full of comforting, hearty oatmeal and even with a bittersweet edge of dark molasses, a simple batter transforms in the oven to something that nestles comfortably next to that mid-afternoon cuppa you enjoy in your fuzzies.

I actually decided to make this dessert - known as Parkin Cake - back in the summer when I was planning a visit to my old elementary school stomping grounds. I know of my favourite teacher there's love for ginger, and it simply wouldn't do for me to show up there after some 8 months incommunicado without some sort of nosh! When I was a student there (eons ago!! Haha) my family (in particular, my mom) were known for being the ones that always showed up to bake sale Friday and field trip fundraisers with something home made. No Snack Packs of Timbits or pre-wrapped Rice Krispie treats for us! Usually when it was our group's turn to bring something in it was a batch of my mom's trademark chocolate chippers, or if it was still within our apple-glut season her my mom's famously delicious apple squares, that made it onto the table. Even if it was just brownies from a mix (a very rare occurrence, in fact I only remember once or twice) it was mixed and baked in our kitchen, and there never seemed to be any leftover freebies for the staff to hoard after class. I do try to continue the tradition of bringing a piece of our home to my second home when I can, and with a recipe this simple to execute and comforting to eat I couldn't pass it up. Even if you can't eat the whole pan yourself (or simply want to save a few squares for later) this keeps rediculously well - either wrap it in plastic and keep (at room temperature) for up to a week, or wrap it once more in foil and freeze it for at least 3 months. I reccommend cutting it and wrapping individual squares before freezing them in a heavy-duty Ziploc for easy emergency snackage!

Nouveau Parkin Cake
Serves 8
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup barley flour
1/2 cup large-flake rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup low fat plain yogurt
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup golden syrup
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses

Preheat oven to 350F, grease a 9" square pan.
In a medium bowl, combine flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In another larger bowl, beat together yogurt, ginger, sugar, butter, syrup, and molasses.
Add the dry ingredients and mix well, but do not beat.
Bake 40 minutes.
Cool 1 hour in the pan, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 229.2
Total Fat: 6.7 g
Cholesterol: 17.1 mg
Sodium: 133.1 mg
Total Carbs: 39.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.7 g
Protein: 4.3 g

Envy

2009-09-21T15:22:00.007-04:00

My mom was in a conference for work a while back, which involved three days of non stop group pow-wows, ranting sessions and international who's whoing with barely a bathroom pause and definitely no chance to sneak out for a lunch break. Given that everyone had chosen to convene in Toronto, it wasn't too much of an issue for my mom as she brings her lunch regularly anyways and eats at her desk, but for the visiting professionals, meals were formulated based on what the office cafeteria decided to schlep up in a cart. Now, I don't mean to put that particular cafeteria's food down in any way, but really - it is a cafeteria, outsourced to the max and serving cling-wrapped, stickered and soggy sandwiches. In my entire memory I can recall eating there once, a pre-packaged lemon poppyseed muffin the size of my head, and to me it was the best thing in the world. But not lunch.

If you've read any of my bread-baking adventures, you know that I am unabashedly the source of the majority of my mom's carbo-loading during the week. I try to keep things interesting at the very least, at least mostly healthy (even the Nutella bread had whole grains and flaxeed!) and of course free of the additives and preservatives every pre-packaged sponge on the shelf is laced with. Luckily my imagination hasn't hindered the stream of loaves, bagels and rolls emerging from the oven, and since there are so many ardent bread-bakers out there to inspire me I doubt I'll struggle soon!

So, my mom was toting slices of this fragrant, sweet and packed-full-of-stuff loaf with her the week of her marathon meetings, and apparently it caused quite a stir with the visiting staff from Brazil, Moncton and Fairfax! In fact, the recipe was requested almost immediately when my mom relinquished a slice for them to taste and one of the gentlemen asked my mom if I shipped my goodies internationally. Well, I don't (namely because I can't afford to, and partially because I doubt that most things hold up well to shipping) but I did spend the afternoon after my mom's call to tell me what he said making up another loaf just for him! I didn't want to brew envious thoughts towards anyone nearby, and really... bread doesn't get much more comforting than this one.

My mom adorned her slices with honey and occasionally a thin smear of peanut butter, though I think the loaf would make a fantastic peanut butter and jelly sandwich too! I wonder if anyone looking at YeastSpotting on WildYeast this Friday will attempt this, and top it with something else??

Hit The Trail [Mix] Bread
Makes 16 "sandwich" slices
5 oz bread flour
4.5 oz whole wheat flour
2 oz spelt bran or oat bran
2 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1/4 tsp salt
1 pkg instant yeast
3/4 cup warm, unsweetened almond milk
1/3 - 1/2 cup water *NOTE: This was changed from the original, erronous amount! Sorry!*
1 1/2 fl. oz honey
1 tbsp canola oil
3 cups cranberry-based trail mix, large pieces chopped (mine had cranberries, golden raisins, cashews, peanuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds)

In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, bran, flaxseeds, salt and yeast. Set aside.
In a smaller bowl, combine almond milk, water, honey and canola oil.
Pour liquids into the flour and yeast mixture, mixing well.
Add the trail mix and continue mixing until the dough forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl (a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment makes this easier).
Knead (by hand or mixer) for 12 minutes, until very smooth and supple.
Place into a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow to rest 30 minutes.
Press the rested dough into a rough rectangle and roll up into a log, pinching the seams to seal.
Place in a large greased loaf pan, cover and allow to rise 1 hour, until dough rises 1" above the rim of the pan.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Brush the top of the loaf lightly with water, then place on the centre rack and bake for 35-40 minutes.
Turn bread out of pan immediately and cool on a wire rack completely before slicing.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 259.4
Total Fat: 11.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 31.3 mg
Total Carbs: 31.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.5 g
Protein: 8.0 g

I Call it "Rustic"

2009-09-19T12:37:00.003-04:00

It used to be a Fall tradition with my family that as soon as there were apples to be picked at our faourite orchard, we would be there. Bundled up in sweaters and coats as kids, my sister and I would waste the afternoon running between saplings and tasting every new kind of fruit we came across. In late October, when the gigantic, rock hard Northern Spies finally made their appearance, we'd be back - and sure enough the first thing to come out when we came home would be our Fall baking bible - a tattered, splattered copy of Apples, Peaches and Pears by Elizabeth Baird. We still have that book, complete with a few torn pages, a binding that no longer is really doing it's job and about 20 years' worth of cinnamon, butter and sugar crusting the well-loved pages. I've even gotten mom to leave it to me in her will.

In the past couple years, mom and I haven't done much in the way of making apple recipes together. While I gladly put together apple pies, crisps and squares any chance I get, my mom is so busy between work at "work", work at "home" and conforming herself to everyone's vastly different and incompatible schedules that what used to be the highlight of our season is now up to me to keep alive.

I knew the perfect way to breathe the life back into those tattered pages when I spotted the first "new crop" Ontario apples at the market, alongside the huge local peaches and even a few early pears. I would re-create that book, as a pie, and take my own first step into tradition. Unfortunately, as fate (or Murphy's Law) would have it, I caught the first "wave" of the seasonal flu bug and all of a sudden the double-crust, super flaky dessert of my imagination felt more like running a marathon than a simple kitchen task. But darn it, I wanted to make that pie. And I sure was NOT going to waste the fruit by letting it waste away on the kitchen counter or in the fridge! So I did the next best thing: galette. Same dough, same filling, different assembly. I didn't have to mess around with centering pie dough in a pan, fluting edges or remembering to dock the top crust. Nope, just rolling out the whole wheat pastry dough, shoving the fruit in the middle, a little bit of folding and voila - dessert.

So while it may not be traditional, or heck... even pretty, it is exactly what it sets out to be. A humble, rustic reminder of what once was, blended with the promise of new tradition. Not to mention, it's pretty darn tasty too!

Apple, Peach And Pear Galette
Serves 8
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup cold butter
4 tbsp cold water
1 large apple, peeled and diced
1 large pear, peeled and diced
1 large peach, peeled and diced
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp tapioca flour (not the granules)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a bowl, whisk together flours, salt and sugar.
Cut the butter in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
1 tbsp at a time, gradually add water until a dough forms (you may not need it all).
Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead 1-2 times to bring the mixture together, then wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour.
Meanwhile, combine the fruits in a medium bowl.
In a small dish, mix sugar, tapioca flour and cinnamon.
Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the fruit and toss well, let stand 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400F, line a large cookie sheet with parchment or silicone.
Roll out the dough into a rough circle, move to cookie sheet.
Place the fruit mixture in the centre of the dough and smooth into an even layer, leaving at least 2" of plain pastry around the edges.
Fold the edges up and over the sides of the filling, leaving the space in the middle open.
Bake for 35 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.
Cool completely before slicing.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 163.3
Total Fat: 7.3 g
Cholesterol: 18.3 mg
Sodium: 49.8 mg
Total Carbs: 24.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.6 g
Protein: 2.2 g

The Dinners of Summer

2009-09-15T17:11:00.000-04:00

Some days, dinner is devised by the wills and wiles of the stomach, the wristwatch (and sometimes the wallet!). Those days are full of adventure to be sure: they bring about the 4-alarm curries, the occasional cold cereal and ice cream dinners, the ramen noodles and the cheesiest, greasiest pizza from the joint that's still open and delivering at 11PM. Good times, to be sure, and the world of gastronomy today would be without heiarchy if not for the powerful decisions made by our gullets!

But it is the dinners determined by the height and even the waning breaths of Summer that I look forward to every year. It's the time when the garden is full of new and constantly changing possibilities every time you step outside, where the farmer's markets are essentially throwing their produce at you and even though the kids are once again ensconced in schoolrooms nobody is quite ready for the warm, golden nights to end. Nights like these lend themselves to simple grilled chicken or fish on the barbie, the first hot soups garnished with giant leaves of basil and of tomato salads varying between the simplest Caprese appetizer to a full-meal vegetarian affair with lentils and chickpeas. It is nights like these, like tonight, where it's okay to pause for a while, and just absorb the atmosphere - and even if that atmosphere has changed to a drizzly grey blanket outside, there is still warmth in your meal. In ratatouille.

Straight from my mother's and my hearts in ingredient components, my garden in provision, and a mixture of both Flickr feeds and a certain Disney film in style, this is a baked ratatouille that is perfect just in the last days of summer - especially if you have access to your own garden's vegetables. Everything but the onion and garlic we used came straight from our garden that morning, and was still warm when I sliced and layered them into the casserole dish. The frozen, leftover dregs from last year's passata formed the perfect base for caramelized onion, white wine and herbs to transform into a rich sauce, and after a long, slow bake in the oven it's finished with a smattering of crumbled chevre and popped under the broiler to brown. Perfect the day it's made (the family ate it over couscous and broiled salmon), my mom also swears by leftovers the next day stirred into a spoonful of chickpeas and stuffed into a pita.

Vive le Jardin Ratatouille
Serves 6 as a side, 4 as a light main
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/3 cup white wine
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1 cup crushed tomatoes
3 baby eggplants, thinly sliced into rounds
3 large beefsteak tomatoes, thinly sliced into rounds
2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced into rounds
1 red bell pepper, carefully cored and thinly sliced into rounds
2 sprigs fresh thyme, de-stemmed
3 1/2 oz soft goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350F. Cut a piece of parchment paper the size of a 12" long oval casserole dish and set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook slowly, stirring, until golden brown - about 10 minutes.
Add crushed garlic and cook until just fragrant, then add wine, herbes de Provence and tomatoes, stirring well. Remove from heat and pour into the bottom of the casserole.
Arrange alternating slices of the thinly sliced vegetables in overlapping rings from the outside to the inside of the baking dish.
Sprinkle the thyme leaves over the vegetables and cover with the piece of parchment.
Bake for 45 minutes, then remove parchment and bake a further 15 minutes, topping with goat cheese for last 5 minutes of baking.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 151.5
Total Fat: 6.4 g
Cholesterol: 14.6 mg
Sodium: 237.6 mg
Total Carbs: 18.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.0 g
Protein: 6.0 g

Not "A Nutter" One!

2009-09-13T16:02:00.000-04:00

You guys are getting off light this year... if you remember any of my garden harvesting or use-up posts from last year you know that our garden can become a bit of a monster when the season starts winding down. And the story should have been the same this year, really! Rows of carrots, beets, pumpkins, peppers, beans, corn, cukes and both summer and winter squash were planted faithfully in their newly mulched and turned beds, accompanied of course by a host of tomatoes, and for the first half of the summer, everything was moving along all hunky-dory and it looked I'd be enjoying beet and carrot salads and making pickles for months!

Then we had the first of two major blows to our gardening pride. A massive storm cell smashed right into the GTA, bringing at the very least gales of wind with torrents of rain and hail and at the worst end tornadoes that brought destruction to the region. Our neighbourhood was more or less smack-dab in the middle of the mess, so while we didn't get the funnel clouds we sure did get a healthy dose of the wet and windy! When we went out to assess the damage the news was not good... while our gazebo survived the fray (unlike last year!) most of the young shoots were not so fortunate. All the corn, along with most of the cucumber, half the winter squash and a good portion of the pepper plants looked like they had never been planted in the first place, and the only trace of some sort of "bed" for them was smushed up against the fencing around the vineyard. But, we still had the tomatoes, and the root vegetables, and the rest of the vegetables were slightly sheltered by the house and weren't hit too hard.

Then along came the second plight to befall the garden... at the hands of none other but famous garden thief Peter Rabbit. In just under three days, every last beet had been unearthed and eaten by the fat brown bunnies from the backyard's forest. Ironically, almost all the carrots were spared, and I hastily thinned out the seedlings so that the remaining Purple Hazes could grow to full size. None of the baby roots went to waste, however! In addition to eating them at every meal and pawning bags of them off on some fellow foodie friends I still wound up with a large Ziploc in my crisper stuffed with slowly wilting carrots! Knowing that there were only more to come, I put sails to the wind and made... yes... another carrot cake.

Want to know the kicker of this long-winded story? The next time I went out to check on the garden (after the cake was done) the rest of the carrots had been carted off. No beets, no carrots, no cucumbers... tomato salad anyone?

So, you get off light. Only one carrot-fuled recipe for you this year, but it's actually more of a fruit and vegetable melange as I sought out to not only conquer the rest of the carrots, but to finish the last bits of slowly decaying fruit and ends of the home made nut mix that was going nowhere fast. And all the components - backyard carrots, strawberries from a local farm (Whittamores), and the last of the maple syrup from a sugar bush in the Purple Woods Conservation Area - came together at the perfect moment to celebrate Sugar High Friday (Locavore Treats!) hosted this round by Mmm... Tasty!

Not "A Nutter" Carrot Cake
Serves 10
1 banana
4 oz strawberries
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
5 oz grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped mixed nuts
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a large loaf pan.
In a food processor, combine banana, strawberries, vegetable oil, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and egg. Puree completely and transfer to a large bowl.
In a medium bowl whisk together flours, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir to just combine.
Fold in carrots, nuts and chocolate chips.
Bake for 55 minutes, then cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a rack and cooling completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 308.0
Total Fat: 12.3 g
Cholesterol: 21.2 mg
Sodium: 68.8 mg
Total Carbs: 47.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.7 g
Protein: 5.3 g

Naturally Addictive Summer Candy

2009-09-08T23:38:00.013-04:00

I couldn't take it any more. The complete and utter destruction, the casualties climbing, victims rotting forsaken on the ground and slowly seeping out their remains while their skin slowly shrivel and wither away in the scorching sun. Yes, dear readers, I am talking (yet again) about the poor, grey wasteland of a garden that I am ashamed to say is all that remains of this Spring's proud seedlings. Those beautiful tomatoes - just perfect for eating right off the vine like an apple, slicing up into salad or even simply spread on a plate with some salt and pepper - are under the "iron curtain" no-touch rule imposed by the "powers that be". So, alas... I have to watch (not to mention smell!) from my bedroom window as nobody fills the role I would have more than willingly filled. Picking, weeding, watering, pruning... all those tasks I was more than willing to perform this Summer, but instead I've been all but shackled (with the few, rare exceptions that bred some delicious tomato salads and even some Ninja-esque salsa!).

But I couldn't, and wouldn't, take it any more. I had to do something, even if it was just so I could get my personal fix! Honestly - more than any other garden produce we've ever grown, cherry tomatoes in particular are the one thing I crave from the moment the tiny fruits start appearing on the vines until well after the frost has fallen and there's no hope for any new ones for another year. I eat them off the vine like the candy that nature intends them to be. I dry them for winter storage. I freeze them for later sauce making. I even add pieces of slightly damaged cherries to sauces and chili without bothering to peel them at all! Not to mention that their naturally self-contained bubbles of Summer would be fabulous in an application as unique as Thunder Cake.

So the last say of my Summer vacation, while the [step]parentals were out, I pulled my Ninja trick once again and filled a relatiely small bowl with bright red, full-to-bursting with juice marbles of tomatoey goodness. I already had a fairly solid idea of what I would do with them too: a perfect end of the season pasta filled with bites of ever so slightly charred, roasted tomato, fresh basil (again from my own garden!) some rice-based spaghetti and a decadent knob of (fairly) local goat's cheese. And I wasn't disappointed in the least! The cheese melts just enough to meld seamlessly with the sugary-sweet, hot juices from the burst tomatoes, and together the sauce forms a gauzy blanket over a bed of pasta before being showered with a chiffonade of bright green herbage. Like the second time (in a week, no less!) that I made this recipe, it's even better if you toss a very al-dente cooked vegetable like broccoli into the pan sauce and pasta mixture and allow the flavours to soak into each other and the denser plant fibres.

I still can't believe that I was able to write this post without seriously drooling on my keyboard - just looking back at the few photos I snapped pre-bite is sending me into another craing cycle! I hope the readers at Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights round up (hosted by The Crispy Cook (AKA Rachel) feel the same!

Summer's Candy Pasta
Serves 2
10 oz cherry tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tsp lemon juice
4 oz whole wheat pasta (short cuts work best, like rotini)
5-6 leaves fresh basil, chopped
3 oz soft goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 375F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Wash cherry tomatoes, then toss with salt and pepper while still wet.
Place on the sheet with the garlic and roast for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, toss with lemon juice and set aside.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Add pasta and cook to al dente.
Drain, reserving a quarter- to half-cup of cooking water, and return to the pot.
Add basil, cheese and tomatoes with enough of the pasta water to make it slightly saucy, stirring well.
Divide pasta between bowls and serve with additional black pepper if desired.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 338.2
Total Fat: 10.6 g
Cholesterol: 38.0 mg
Sodium: 165.3 mg
Total Carbs: 51.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.7 g
Protein: 15.1 g

In From the Cold

2009-09-07T18:01:00.004-04:00

So I guess it's official: Summer is over. Not according to those crazy Gregorians of course, who have it in their minds that the warmest quarter of the year lasts until the 22nd, but to gazillions of students and parents out there the lazy dog days of the season have wagged their tails for the last time this year. The Hallowe'en stuff has been out in stores near me for a good week now, probably longer, and tonight all the spiffy new outfits for the big "first day" are laid out for the all too early alarm clock's rude awakening. Thank God (for us Canadians, at least) that Thanksgiving's long weekend is only - gulp - 35 days away!

At the end of every Summer, it seems that all of a sudden our house is full of so many things that were never actually come around to over the break. Unfinished home improvements, un-hung pictures bought on vacation, photo albums half-filled and baskets (so many baskets!) of the season's peak produce are no longer able to be dealt with at leisure, and we have to relegate ourself to the "quick-fix" technique of dealing with them - gathering up everything that seems related to each other and shoving them somewhere out of the way to "get around to" when we have time! The end result (at least in the kitchen) is that eventually, it all comes bursting out at the seams - or the freezer, refrigerator and cupboard!

So it was in an attempt to ~~get rid of~~ utilize the remnants of last year's frozen fruit stash that I whipped up this loaf - a simple quick bread that can be in the oven in 15 minutes and left to cool on the countertop overnight, just perfect for slicing off a chunk for breakfast as you head out the door on your busy way. In taste, at least, it's a little bit of Summer made portable, and it's so good you may run out of that troublesome freezer fruit before you can replenish it!

Freezer Haul Quickbread

Serves 14 (if you're feeling like sharing!)

1 over-ripe banana, mashed
1 1/2 cups pitted cherries
1 large peach, pitted and roughly chopped
2 small plums, pitted and roughly chopped
1/3 cup cranberry juice
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp honey
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup barley flour
1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 325F, grease a large loaf pan.
In a bowl, combine fruit, cranberry juice, vanilla and honey. Set aside.
In another bowl whisk together flours, oats, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.
Beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, alternate additions of the flour and fruit mixtures to the butter, blending well after each addition.
Spread in the pan and place on the lowest rack of the oven.
Bake for 1 hour 40 minutes, or until tests done.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 263.7
Total Fat: 7.6 g
Cholesterol: 17.4 mg
Sodium: 106.1 mg
Total Carbs: 46.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.5 g
Protein: 4.5 g