I apologize for my long absence; two weeks ago, I was wrapped up in a preschool fundraiser that included a bake sale, which I was preparing for. My husband also hurt his back (happily, it is already much improved). I had a full weekend of workshops and other events. Then my kids had a stomach bug. Then I spent the long weekend traveling to Vernon, BC to visit my sister and her new baby. In brief, let me share the few foodie adventures I've managed to fit in as I fly through life at warp speed.
I found the two cupcake recipes I made for the bakesale, from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book, on a blog devoted to making all of the cupcakes in Martha Stewart'a Cupcake book, and another one devoted to making cupcakes. Handy!
Cookies and cream cheesecakes
Chai tea mini-cupcakes with condensed milk frosting
Thanks to Way More than 52 Cupcakes and Holly's 101 Cupcake Challenge for reminding me that I really need to take photos and post them on my blog. Gorgeous photos on these sites.
I also made Chewy Oatmeal Cookies from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking for wrapping individually and selling.
I'm happy to say that all my baking sold, and the majority of it sold to the preschool executive before the bakesale had even officially opened. I'd say the chai tea cupcakes were a bit dry, but I think that has to do with a cake philosophy that aims for "fine crumb" which is is usually less moist and dense, and therefore...well, dry. My family prefers moist cakes, at the expense of fine crumb.
On my brief trip to Vernon, I spent some time with friends in Kelowna, who rescued me from the airport while my sister was trapped on the Coquihalla. We stopped in at Hoang Gia Vietnamese restaurant and picked up fabulous Pho (the real thing with rare beef and tripe!), as well as a grilled meat/vegetable wrap-your-own fresh roll dish that was super yummy.
Today, glad to be home and spending time with my own kids (nieces and nephews are nice and all, and the new baby is absolutely precious, but they just aren't the same as my very own), I remembered that D got a baby gift of alphabet cookie cutters, which we have not yet used. I decided to bake cookies with him this afternoon, and it was quite a hit. He was happy and helpful, and only a bit messy, and I got a much better sense of how many letters he recognizes and how fascinated he is with the idea of spelling his name. I was worried that leaving the dough to chill for a half-hour would test his patience, but we simply read a story while we waited, and he was just fine with it.
Here is a nice whole-grain cookie recipe for rolling, cutting and decorating. Not too sweet, so it can take some icing. Our cookies weren't very big, and D was ready to just eat them by the time we had cut and baked them, so ours didn't get decorated. A different project for another day.
Chewy Oatmeal Decorating Cookies. Enjoy!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Love, Loss and Cooking
One of my very close friends is grieving the loss of her mother. Her funeral took place today. I knew this, but in the Halloween madness it was not front and centre for me until I remembered a recipe. Then it all came flooding back.
It all started with Halloween, and the discovery that my jack o'lantern pumpkins were lovely and fresh, with beautiful, thick flesh. I decided they were too good to go to waste, and planned to haul them in before they froze and turn them into something yummy.
The first time I met her, my friend's mom and I got talking about food. I was in my early college years, and just getting warmed up when it came to my food obsession. She had several interesting books and magazines, which I leafed through as we visited. While I was there, I copied several recipes down, by hand, onto folscap. One of them was Harvest Pumpkin Bisque with Nutmeg Thyme Croutons. I have made this soup at least once a year since, from that same piece of folded paper, stuffed into my recipe box. It is one of my favourite soups, and I am grateful to my friend's mom for introducing it to me, every time I taste it.
Fitting, then, that I should suddenly crave it as her nearest loved ones are wishing her a final farewell. As for me, I will make soup.
It all started with Halloween, and the discovery that my jack o'lantern pumpkins were lovely and fresh, with beautiful, thick flesh. I decided they were too good to go to waste, and planned to haul them in before they froze and turn them into something yummy.
The first time I met her, my friend's mom and I got talking about food. I was in my early college years, and just getting warmed up when it came to my food obsession. She had several interesting books and magazines, which I leafed through as we visited. While I was there, I copied several recipes down, by hand, onto folscap. One of them was Harvest Pumpkin Bisque with Nutmeg Thyme Croutons. I have made this soup at least once a year since, from that same piece of folded paper, stuffed into my recipe box. It is one of my favourite soups, and I am grateful to my friend's mom for introducing it to me, every time I taste it.
Fitting, then, that I should suddenly crave it as her nearest loved ones are wishing her a final farewell. As for me, I will make soup.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Halloween Dilemmas
It still has not been agreed upon what we will hand out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. We are not against candy per se, but we also don't like to buy into rampant commercialism either. Last year was a compromise. I found some Kernels popcorn bags, and bought a few, and when those ran out we offered raisins. Raisins didn't elicit particularly enthusiastic responses from our ghoulish guests.
What I really wish is that people weren't so paranoid about homemade and unwrapped gifts. The whole 'razor in the apple' fiasco really ramped up purchased, pre-packaged Halloween treats, now didn't they? How convenient for the makers of those pre-packaged Halloween treats. (Oops, my husband's conspiracy theory tendencies are rubbing off on me.) I've been trying to figure out a way around that, like putting my address on a sticker on a popcorn ball, for example, in an effort to reassure parents that I'm not trying to poison their children. But there are obviously inherent flaws in that approach as well. The days are counting down, and no satisfactory solution has been reached. Help!
Then there's the preschool party. We've been asked to bring something, and I wanted it to be at least slightly thematic, since I'm a compulsive themer, but I didn't have a lot of time or inclination to do anything over the top. They are three- and four-year olds, after all. They aren't going to care THAT much.
A quick internet search found this: Martha Stewart's Goblin Flatbreads. Perfect! Nut free, healthy and low-key enough to please the teacher who likes to encourage people not to go overboard, using pizza dough that was already in my freezer, and I think (hope) the kids will enjoy it, as long as they're not too freaked out by the little ghosties. I'll let you know!
What I really wish is that people weren't so paranoid about homemade and unwrapped gifts. The whole 'razor in the apple' fiasco really ramped up purchased, pre-packaged Halloween treats, now didn't they? How convenient for the makers of those pre-packaged Halloween treats. (Oops, my husband's conspiracy theory tendencies are rubbing off on me.) I've been trying to figure out a way around that, like putting my address on a sticker on a popcorn ball, for example, in an effort to reassure parents that I'm not trying to poison their children. But there are obviously inherent flaws in that approach as well. The days are counting down, and no satisfactory solution has been reached. Help!
Then there's the preschool party. We've been asked to bring something, and I wanted it to be at least slightly thematic, since I'm a compulsive themer, but I didn't have a lot of time or inclination to do anything over the top. They are three- and four-year olds, after all. They aren't going to care THAT much.
A quick internet search found this: Martha Stewart's Goblin Flatbreads. Perfect! Nut free, healthy and low-key enough to please the teacher who likes to encourage people not to go overboard, using pizza dough that was already in my freezer, and I think (hope) the kids will enjoy it, as long as they're not too freaked out by the little ghosties. I'll let you know!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Sunday Dinner Menu
My husband's coworker and his wife have two boys, 5 and 3. We've been trying to get their boys and our boys together for a playdate, so we decided to invite them for dinner. Success all around! The boys had a great (loud) rough and tumble (but no crying) play, and the rest of us enjoyed a dinner that pays homage one last time to autumn fare:
Fresh vegetables and yogurt cheese dip with olives and sweet pickles (a stand-by for me from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian). Recipe below.
Sirloin steak with gorgonzola sauce (a la Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola Sauce—all my favourite ingredients in one sauce!)
Buttermilk mashed potatoes
Roasted beet salad with beet greens and feta
Balsamic roasted kabocha squash
Homemade oatmeal raisin cookie ice cream sandwiches (from Sarah McClachlan's cookbook, Plenty)
Poured a Chilean Cabernet Merlot to go with, and enjoyed immensely.
Yogurt Cheese Dip
Okay, so if you've never made yogurt cheese, you should really give it a try. Dead easy, especially if you have cheesecloth on hand. I actually didn't this time, so did it the lazy way—just dumped a whole 750ml container of plain yogurt into a fine mesh sieve, placed it over a bowl, and let it drain over night. The resulting 'yogurt cheese' is the texture of soft cream cheese. The dip then calls for you to mix in:
• 1 large clove finely chopped garlic
• 20 pimento stuffed green olives
• a small handful of sweet pickles (I use homemade bread and butter pickles, but gherkins or any other sweet pickles would work)
• a pinch of something spicy (I use coarse ground chilis, often used in Korean cooking)
• salt
Mix thoroughly and serve with anything you can think of—potato chips go fantastically with this dip, but we served it today with newly dug carrots, kohlrabi and radishes. There's a lot left over though, so some of it might find itself placed next to a bowl of chips...
Fresh vegetables and yogurt cheese dip with olives and sweet pickles (a stand-by for me from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian). Recipe below.
Sirloin steak with gorgonzola sauce (a la Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola Sauce—all my favourite ingredients in one sauce!)
Buttermilk mashed potatoes
Roasted beet salad with beet greens and feta
Balsamic roasted kabocha squash
Homemade oatmeal raisin cookie ice cream sandwiches (from Sarah McClachlan's cookbook, Plenty)
Poured a Chilean Cabernet Merlot to go with, and enjoyed immensely.
Yogurt Cheese Dip
Okay, so if you've never made yogurt cheese, you should really give it a try. Dead easy, especially if you have cheesecloth on hand. I actually didn't this time, so did it the lazy way—just dumped a whole 750ml container of plain yogurt into a fine mesh sieve, placed it over a bowl, and let it drain over night. The resulting 'yogurt cheese' is the texture of soft cream cheese. The dip then calls for you to mix in:
• 1 large clove finely chopped garlic
• 20 pimento stuffed green olives
• a small handful of sweet pickles (I use homemade bread and butter pickles, but gherkins or any other sweet pickles would work)
• a pinch of something spicy (I use coarse ground chilis, often used in Korean cooking)
• salt
Mix thoroughly and serve with anything you can think of—potato chips go fantastically with this dip, but we served it today with newly dug carrots, kohlrabi and radishes. There's a lot left over though, so some of it might find itself placed next to a bowl of chips...
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Odd Bits: A Surprise Only a Foodie Could Love
One of my oldest friends orders books for the public library. She, being a foodie herself, enjoys encouraging my own foodiness, and will occasionally come across a cookbook that she thinks I'll like. She then puts it on order on my library account. I then get a call from the library, saying the book I requested has arrived. When I get there, I discover that I haven't requested the book at all, but rather it has been requested on my behalf by my thoughtful friend, who is so far two for two in nailing the kinds of books I'd like to read.
The first one was The Flavor Thesaurus, a collection of 99 essential flavours, and a discussion of how those flavours work together, with examples of chefs who have used them and/or recipes where they have been used together. I immediately fell in love with it, and tried to renew it, but it had already been requested, so I had to return it before I could finish with it. I haven't yet gone out and purchased my own copy, but I'm definitely going to—it's a book I will use as a resource, I'm sure.
The second is Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal, by Jennifer McLagan, author of Bones: Recipes, History and Lore and Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient. I have only flipped through Bones, but loved the idea of the book. When Odd Bits turned out to be my "library gift," I couldn't wait to dig into it. In fact, I couldn't resist flipping it open while stopped at a light on the short drive home.
I know I'm at risk of alienating myself from my vegetarian friends by getting into this, but I regularly have 'odd bits' in my freezer. My dad delights in passing on some of the more obscure meats that he ends up with from butchering his own animals, and friends will often line me up with their weird meat connections. Until this evening, I had a beef heart, beef liver, soup bones, chicken hearts, and pork hocks in my freezer, along with the usual hamburger, chicken, sausage, steak and so on. The heart is no longer in the freezer, because it has been transformed into a gorgeous Moroccan braise with dates and preserved lemon, served over couscous, thanks to McLagan's beautiful book, and most importantly, thanks to my girlfriend, who saw a cookbook with raw pig's feet on the cover, and thought of me.
I'll be inviting my girlfriend over for Sweet and Sour Pork Hocks with Savoy Cabbage and Capers to thank her.
The first one was The Flavor Thesaurus, a collection of 99 essential flavours, and a discussion of how those flavours work together, with examples of chefs who have used them and/or recipes where they have been used together. I immediately fell in love with it, and tried to renew it, but it had already been requested, so I had to return it before I could finish with it. I haven't yet gone out and purchased my own copy, but I'm definitely going to—it's a book I will use as a resource, I'm sure.
The second is Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal, by Jennifer McLagan, author of Bones: Recipes, History and Lore and Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient. I have only flipped through Bones, but loved the idea of the book. When Odd Bits turned out to be my "library gift," I couldn't wait to dig into it. In fact, I couldn't resist flipping it open while stopped at a light on the short drive home.
I know I'm at risk of alienating myself from my vegetarian friends by getting into this, but I regularly have 'odd bits' in my freezer. My dad delights in passing on some of the more obscure meats that he ends up with from butchering his own animals, and friends will often line me up with their weird meat connections. Until this evening, I had a beef heart, beef liver, soup bones, chicken hearts, and pork hocks in my freezer, along with the usual hamburger, chicken, sausage, steak and so on. The heart is no longer in the freezer, because it has been transformed into a gorgeous Moroccan braise with dates and preserved lemon, served over couscous, thanks to McLagan's beautiful book, and most importantly, thanks to my girlfriend, who saw a cookbook with raw pig's feet on the cover, and thought of me.
I'll be inviting my girlfriend over for Sweet and Sour Pork Hocks with Savoy Cabbage and Capers to thank her.
One Chicken, Three Great Meals
I see many benefits to buying local, happy chickens and storing them in my freezer. This week I realized how easy it is to stretch one of those largish birds (just under 6lbs.) into three weeknight meals. I'm usually not one for economizing when it comes to food, but this week I was quite pleased with the idea of using one bird three different ways.
I already mentioned the first meal: Mark Bittman's Curried Chickpeas and Cauliflower with Chicken, which I made by chopping up one leg, thigh and partial breast of my still mostly-frozen chicken. I saved the bones for later.
Next came another Bittman recipe, Anise-scented Poached Chicken with Squash which I shared in an earlier blog, except this time I had a kabocha squash, so I used that. I made the white-cut chicken dipping sauce to go with it, and served it with the poaching broth over soba noodles, and it was a hit with everyone.
The last day, we were down to a pretty pared-down chicken carcass, but it was enough to make into a broth, and save the meat for stew. I used the left over poaching liquid from the day before, and made a standard chicken stock:
Chicken pieces/back/neck/giblets
1 coarsely chopped onion
1 coarsely chopped carrot
1 coarsely chopped celery stalk
bay leaf
a few sprigs of fresh marjoram, thyme and parsley (still growing in my garden!)
Cover with water (in this case, I used yesterday's poaching liquid as part of the water I added) and bring to a boil. Lower heat, skim off foam and let simmer gently for two hours.
Strain solids and remove all the pieces containing meat and let them cool.
Then make the stew (inspired by the chicken stew in Quinoa 365)
1 T. chicken fat (skimmed from the stock)
1 c. diced carrots
1 c. diced celery
1 diced onion
1 t. minced fresh garlic
2 1/2 c. chicken stock
1 c. diced potato
1 c. diced kabocha squash
1 bay leaf
1/4 c. chopped fresh dill
chopped cooked chicken meat (removed from bones of chicken used to make stock) and giblets
1 c. diced sweet pepper
1/2 c. quinoa flour
1 c. cold chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the fat and cook the carrots, celery, onion and garlic for about 8 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Stir in chicken stock, potatoes, squash, bay leaf and dill. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 10 minutes, or until potato and squash are tender. Add chicken and sweet pepper. Remove the bay leaf.
Whisk flour and stock together in a small bowl. Add mixture to saucepan and cook until the stew thickens (a couple of minutes). Season and serve.
I served this with another batch of fresh oat rolls from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking cookbook. I'm on a roll (no pun intended, well okay, maybe it was) with baking buns. Easy peasy with the Kitchenaid Mixer!
I have to say that I am entirely sold on using quinoa flour in place of wheat flour for thickening soups and stews. The stew is actually noticeably more filling, I think due to the additional protein hit from the quinoa, and it thickens in a way that seems much less 'glue-like' than flour. And the flavour was excellent.
So there you have it. Three dinners for a family of four (although the kids aren't fully grown) out of one chicken.
I already mentioned the first meal: Mark Bittman's Curried Chickpeas and Cauliflower with Chicken, which I made by chopping up one leg, thigh and partial breast of my still mostly-frozen chicken. I saved the bones for later.
Next came another Bittman recipe, Anise-scented Poached Chicken with Squash which I shared in an earlier blog, except this time I had a kabocha squash, so I used that. I made the white-cut chicken dipping sauce to go with it, and served it with the poaching broth over soba noodles, and it was a hit with everyone.
The last day, we were down to a pretty pared-down chicken carcass, but it was enough to make into a broth, and save the meat for stew. I used the left over poaching liquid from the day before, and made a standard chicken stock:
Chicken pieces/back/neck/giblets
1 coarsely chopped onion
1 coarsely chopped carrot
1 coarsely chopped celery stalk
bay leaf
a few sprigs of fresh marjoram, thyme and parsley (still growing in my garden!)
Cover with water (in this case, I used yesterday's poaching liquid as part of the water I added) and bring to a boil. Lower heat, skim off foam and let simmer gently for two hours.
Strain solids and remove all the pieces containing meat and let them cool.
Then make the stew (inspired by the chicken stew in Quinoa 365)
1 T. chicken fat (skimmed from the stock)
1 c. diced carrots
1 c. diced celery
1 diced onion
1 t. minced fresh garlic
2 1/2 c. chicken stock
1 c. diced potato
1 c. diced kabocha squash
1 bay leaf
1/4 c. chopped fresh dill
chopped cooked chicken meat (removed from bones of chicken used to make stock) and giblets
1 c. diced sweet pepper
1/2 c. quinoa flour
1 c. cold chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the fat and cook the carrots, celery, onion and garlic for about 8 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Stir in chicken stock, potatoes, squash, bay leaf and dill. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 10 minutes, or until potato and squash are tender. Add chicken and sweet pepper. Remove the bay leaf.
Whisk flour and stock together in a small bowl. Add mixture to saucepan and cook until the stew thickens (a couple of minutes). Season and serve.
I served this with another batch of fresh oat rolls from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking cookbook. I'm on a roll (no pun intended, well okay, maybe it was) with baking buns. Easy peasy with the Kitchenaid Mixer!
I have to say that I am entirely sold on using quinoa flour in place of wheat flour for thickening soups and stews. The stew is actually noticeably more filling, I think due to the additional protein hit from the quinoa, and it thickens in a way that seems much less 'glue-like' than flour. And the flavour was excellent.
So there you have it. Three dinners for a family of four (although the kids aren't fully grown) out of one chicken.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Two (surprisingly) Kid-Popular Meals
Sometimes my kids surprise me. The last two nights, I have made meals that I worried would be rejected outright. Not so! Here is proof that if you push the envelope occasionally, you may be surprised with your kids' responses.
Sausages with Black Grapes
Farfalle cooked al dente with herbs de Provence heated in butter
Steamed peas and carrots
Cucumbers (last out of the garden)
While Baby G wasn't at his best (cold and teething) and didn't eat overmuch, D had three servings of the pasta and carrots, as well as having seconds of the sausage. I'm not sure he touched the onion/grape sauce on the sausages, but I certainly enjoyed it, and it didn't seem to slow him down as far as eating the sausage was concerned. I was pleasantly surprised by the farfalle—herbs de Provence contain thyme, basil, savory, fennel seeds and lavender—and they were just right as an accompaniment to the sweet Italian sausages. Coincidence? D slept through the night and actually slept in a bit this morning. Maybe because he didn't wake up hungry?
Tonight, I was sure that I was taking a big risk serving a curry:
Mark Bittman's Curried Chickpeas and Cauliflower with Chicken
Whole wheat chapatis
Yogurt, more sliced cucumbers, and rhubarb chutney (a gift from a friend)
I was concerned the recipe was a bust, because it seems overly fussy for what it is (cook the chicken, then add the ginger and onions, then remove the chicken from the pan, then add the chickpeas and curry powder, fry THEM, then remove them, then cook the cauliflower in the same pan in the coconut milk, then add everything back in...made me wonder why I couldn't just simmer it all together for a more harmonious and tender result. I sort of did that at the end), and the spices blackened quite dramatically in the hot pan between additions. The final results looked kind of rustic, with dark bits in the sauce, but it didn't taste bitter at all. And Baby G went to town on those chickpeas, in spite of the curry powder (I did skip the chili in order to make sure it didn't get too spicy for the kids). D called the chapatis 'tortillas' and filled up primarily on them, but also the cucumbers, and tasted some of the stew. Both kids also sampled the chutney, to mixed reviews. The best part was that my husband and I got to enjoy a version of curry (we love it, but don't get to have it often because of the kids' sensitive palates) and the kids were satisfied, too! In spite of my misgivings, I would do it again. Chapatis were very easy to make with the hlep of my Kitchenaid Food Processor and Lodge Cast Iron Griddle. There are many more flatbreads in my future.
Sausages with Black Grapes
Farfalle cooked al dente with herbs de Provence heated in butter
Steamed peas and carrots
Cucumbers (last out of the garden)
While Baby G wasn't at his best (cold and teething) and didn't eat overmuch, D had three servings of the pasta and carrots, as well as having seconds of the sausage. I'm not sure he touched the onion/grape sauce on the sausages, but I certainly enjoyed it, and it didn't seem to slow him down as far as eating the sausage was concerned. I was pleasantly surprised by the farfalle—herbs de Provence contain thyme, basil, savory, fennel seeds and lavender—and they were just right as an accompaniment to the sweet Italian sausages. Coincidence? D slept through the night and actually slept in a bit this morning. Maybe because he didn't wake up hungry?
Tonight, I was sure that I was taking a big risk serving a curry:
Mark Bittman's Curried Chickpeas and Cauliflower with Chicken
Whole wheat chapatis
Yogurt, more sliced cucumbers, and rhubarb chutney (a gift from a friend)
I was concerned the recipe was a bust, because it seems overly fussy for what it is (cook the chicken, then add the ginger and onions, then remove the chicken from the pan, then add the chickpeas and curry powder, fry THEM, then remove them, then cook the cauliflower in the same pan in the coconut milk, then add everything back in...made me wonder why I couldn't just simmer it all together for a more harmonious and tender result. I sort of did that at the end), and the spices blackened quite dramatically in the hot pan between additions. The final results looked kind of rustic, with dark bits in the sauce, but it didn't taste bitter at all. And Baby G went to town on those chickpeas, in spite of the curry powder (I did skip the chili in order to make sure it didn't get too spicy for the kids). D called the chapatis 'tortillas' and filled up primarily on them, but also the cucumbers, and tasted some of the stew. Both kids also sampled the chutney, to mixed reviews. The best part was that my husband and I got to enjoy a version of curry (we love it, but don't get to have it often because of the kids' sensitive palates) and the kids were satisfied, too! In spite of my misgivings, I would do it again. Chapatis were very easy to make with the hlep of my Kitchenaid Food Processor and Lodge Cast Iron Griddle. There are many more flatbreads in my future.
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