Month: May 2011

Moving On

~ Lynn ~ 17 Comments

I am officially moved out. There’s still a lot of organizing to be done, but the biggest step is done. The closing was on Wednesday, and today for the first Friday in almost 5 years no mortgage payment came out of my account.

For the next 15 months or so I will be living with my parents while I wait for my new place to be built. I didn’t think I’d be able to sell as quickly as I did, but I’m glad the process is over. The last few months have been incredibly stressful for me, I’ve lost more sleep than I’ll ever be able to catch up on, and I even found a few gray hairs (the horror!) In the end I really just wanted to get out as fast as I could.

 

 

That doesn’t mean I did have any good times in my old condo. It was my first place, and I’ll alway remember it fondly. The space was huge, with lots of great light and a wonderfully long countertop.I’m definitely going to miss the kitchen. In honour of the big move I thought I’d take a look back at some of my favourite things that have come out of that kitchen, sort of like an In Memoriam post.

 

I’ll Never Be a Princess Pie

Probably my favourite post. I made them in honour of William and Kate’s engagement. The news was heartbreaking, but the hand pies were delicious and comforting.

Bacon Jam

What I loved about making the Bacon Jam was that I had no idea how it would turn out. Even after looking at all the ingredients I couldn’t really imagine the taste. The first bite was really quite magical.

Chocolate Nutella Bites

Another experiment. This was the first time I tried inventing a recipe for my blog, and I was really pleased with how the cookies turned out. It’s hard to wrong with a Nutella filled cookie!

Chicken Sliders With Pear Ketchup

Who knew pear ketchup could taste so good?

Guest Post: Strawberry Radish Tartare for Two

~ Lynn ~ 12 Comments

At the moment I’m surrounded by boxes, trying to figure out what goes where. Moving can be incredibly overwhelming, but thankfully another kind blogger has offered to help me out. 

Kristel of Kristel’s Kitchen has graciously written a great guest post for me. I actually had the pleasure of meeting her last night in real life at a Montreal Dishcrawl. My first impressions of Kristel are that she’s kind, fun, and passionate about food. I hope you enjoy her guest post and her blog as much as I do!



 

For those of you who don’t know me (or haven’t read my blog), I recently did a raw⁄living food cleanse. Though I am and always will be a true omnivore, there are certain aspects of the rawfoodism that I have decided to keep as part of my lifestyle, in an overall attempt to achieve balance and just feel better overall. In a nutshell, my objective is to be 60% rawfoodist and 40% omnivore. But you know, sometimes foie gras can taste just as good as a hot dog.

I chose this recipe because it is a simple, elegant, fresh and raw appetizer that fits perfectly with warm summer evenings that each day are getting closer and closer. I called it a tartare, because we are in Montreal and that is how we like to call things when they are served raw.

Strawberry Radish Tartare for Two

§    2 tbsp red onion, diced

§  1⁄2 cup strawberries, diced

§  1⁄2 cup radishes, julienned

§  1⁄2 cup cucumber, diced

§  1⁄2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

§  1 tbsp grape seed oil (because it is a bit more neutral in flavour but olive oil is fine)

§  Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Begin by dicing the red onion, strawberries and cucumbers. You want to take the time to cut these ingredients into a small dice. To julienne the radishes, simply slice the radishes and slice again into a small matchstick. You can also dice the radish but I like playing with different types of cut. It adds a sense of whimsy to the dish. Combine the diced strawberries and vegetables in a mixing bowl with the sea salt, the balsamic vinegar, the oil and some freshly ground pepper to taste. You can prep the ingredients ahead of time but wait until no more than 30 minutes prior to serving to combine the salt, pepper, balsamic and oil. If the mixture macerates for too long, the salt and vinegar will extract too much water from the strawberries and the vegetables.

Now, moving on to plating! You do not need any special tools to achieve the shape you see in the picture. Just rummage through your cupboards and look for a ramekin, cookie cutter, small cup, jar or dish that you can use to shape the tartare for serving. You can always just skip this step and using a spoon simply pile-up the tartare in the center of the plate. If using a mould, make sure you firmly pack the mixture and avoid spooning in too many juices. Unmould the tartare onto a plate, garnish with a mint leaves and stare at your creation like the pro that you are!

Pop-open a bottle of rosé wine and get ready to enjoy the long summer evenings ahead!

A toast goes out to Lynn from I’ll have what she’s having for inviting me to share a recipe of my own on her wonderful blog. Thank you!

Nutella and Sour Cherry Granola

~ Lynn ~ 26 Comments



A few days ago Marnely tweeted that she was eating granola instead of Nutella. The first thing that came to my mind was “why can’t it be both?” You may think that adding Nutella to granola is crazy, but I often add nut butters to granola to help it “clump” together. I saw no reason why Nutella couldn’t do the same thing.

At first I was going to just use Nutella and not any other nut butters. I changed my mind because of all the sugar in Nutella. A variety of sugars gives the best consistency to granola, and if I went with all Nutella I wouldn’t be able to add more sugars. Well, I could.. but then I couldn’t even pretend that it was healthy. If you make your own hazelnut chocolate spread you could probably use just that without the granola becoming overly sweet. I used coconut sugar for the same reason, it’s not as sweet as regular granulated sugar. If you don’t have any on hand feel free to use regular sugar.

My little experiment worked out really well. The granola tastes like granola, but with just a hint of Nutella in the background. The dried cherries gave it a really nice burst of tartness too. I ate some with milk tonight and it was like having Nutella cereal. So good!

Nutella Granola

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup puffed millet (or puffed cereal of your choice, I like millet because its small)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbs butter
  • 1/4 cup Nutella
  • 1/4 cup almond butter
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup almonds, chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried sour cherries
  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the oats, millet, cinnamon and salt together. Set aside.
  3. In a small sauce pan, heat the butter, Nutella, and almond butter. Stir until they are well combined and quite liquid. Remove from the heat and add the sugar and maple syrup. (This mixture tastes really good, by the way)
  4. Pour the butter mixture into the oat mixture. Stir until the oats are well coated.
  5. Pour the oat mixture out onto the prepared baking sheet in an even layer.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes, then stir and add the almonds. Bake for 20 minutes more.
  7. Let cool, then stir in the dried cherries.
Enjoy!

Mango and Egg Salad

~ Lynn ~ 8 Comments

Look! I cooked!

Well, I soft boiled an egg.

That’s the extent of the cooking I’ve done lately. I haven’t bought much food in the last few days, except for fruits and vegetables. I’ve been trying to eat my way through my pantry before moving. This has led to some creative meals. (And maybe some pizza. What? I had to say bye to the delivery guy)

So when I opened my fridge and saw a total of 8 ingredients, I knew a pretty simple salad was on the way. I wasn’t to sure how this would work out, but it was actually pretty tasty. And the yellow was so pretty I decided to take a picture and blog about my thrown together salad.

I also decided to take the opportunity to try overhead versus 3/4 shots of the salad (my first Penny tip in action!) Thoughts? Preferences? I’m not sure I was really overhead on the first shot, next time I’ll get myself a prop guy to steady me as I take the shots. I’m also not sure I like either picture. I should have used a different surface, but I was hungry, and my linens are packed. If I had more ingredients I would have added something to add a little more contrast to the picture too. Next time.

Mango and Egg Salad

  • 1 soft boiled egg
  • 1 mango, diced
  • romaine lettuce, chopped
  • pumpkin seeds
  • 1/4 cup yogurt
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Toss the mango, lettuce and pumpkin seeds together. Slice egg in half and place on salad.
  2. Mix the yogurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper together. Dress salad with yogurt mixture.
Enjoy!

Guest Post: Beef Stroganoff

~ Lynn ~ 13 Comments

Once again, a very kind blogger has come to my rescue with a great guest post. Sawsan, AKA The Food Doctor, from Chef in Disguise has written a great guest post. Chef in Disguise is full of wonderful recipes from around the world, and most come with stories of family and friendship. It’s a pleasure to read, and I’m so glad Sawsan has taken the time to share this post here!

Beef Stroganoff

The Food Doctor

Beef stroganoff  to me is more than tender strips of beef and mushroom cooked in a cream sauce. It  comes with a set of memories. It is one of the first dishes that “converted” my husband to a mushroom lover (though he still wouldn’t admit it). You see, my husband had a long list of things he wouldn’t even try, mushrooms were on the top of the list followed by okra, eggplant and red beans to name a few.

I personally loved mushrooms and was not ready to omit it from my menu without a fight.

I started making dishes with ingredients my husband loved and sneaking in the mushrooms, it didn’t work at first but slowly and I mean SLOWLY things began to change. Straganoff was actually the first dish (that contains mushrooms) that huzz asked me to make.

You can make this with cooking cream instead of my version with stock and heavy cream but I find mine slightly lighter. I love the addition of oregano, I think it does beautifully with both mushroom and beef. If you have never tried the oregano mushroom before, I urge you to  give it a try but if you have something against oregano please feel free to omit it. It is entirely optional.

I usually serve stroganoff with rice or pasta (fettucini is my favorite) but I know people who love it with noodles, fries or a good slice of bread. It is entirely up to your taste .

Beef stroganoff

250 gm Beef cut into strips

2-3 tablespoons vinegar

Salt

Pepper

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 can of mushrooms (you can use fresh)

1 onion chopped

1 tablespoons flour

3 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon mustard

1 tablespoon soya sauce

125 gm heavy cream

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Add the vinegar to the beef, toss to coat and set aside (This will tenderize the meat and add a hint of sourness)

Melt the butter and then add the olive oil to the pan.

Drain the beef strips season with salt and pepper,add them to the pan and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.

Push the meat to one side of the pan, add the onions to the empty space.

Stir the onions occasionally for 2 minutes then add the mushrooms, saute for 5 minutes

Add the flour and stir till it begins to change color to slight golden, add the chicken stock , allow to come to  gentle boil .

Add the mustard, soya sauce  and oregano then lower the heat stirring occasionally.

When the mix starts to thicken,add the heavy cream and stir to combine, cook for 5-7 minutes.

Guest Post: For The Love of Cookies!

~ Lynn ~ 4 Comments

In my last post I mentioned that I’m looking for people to guest post, as I’ve been incredibly busy lately. I didn’t really think anyone would volunteer, but I underestimated the kindness of food bloggers. Almost immediately Marnely of Cooking With Books sent me a message offering to help.

Marnely is a blogger I discovered through the magic of Twitter (follow her @nella22). I’ve only just recently “met” her, but can already tell that she is a kind, generous and fun person. You can see from her blog and her choice of career that she is also very passionate about food and has lots to share. I hope you enjoy her guest post as much as I did!

For the Love of Cookies!

Marnely of Cooking with Books

 I’d love to say I have great memories of my Cookies, Tarts and Mignardises class at the CIA. Baking cookies all day and taking boxes to share with roommates, what was not to love? I’ll tell you what: the homework! We were sent every day with a tray of labeled cookies to taste test. About 20 cookies a day, for the first week of the class, that’s 100 cookies in a week. You might be thinking, oh I wish I had that homework! No darling readers, you don’t. It gets old, FAST.

Day One, you were excited, “Oh cookies! Yum!” and wouldn’t even share with your roommate.
Day Two was, “Oh…cookies. Ok, let’s get this over with!”
Day Three, “Hey Roommate, you want to taste these cookies and tell me your thoughts?”
Day 3 and 4, the roommate (a cook, not a baker) would eat your cookies and help.
Day 5, you did the unthinkable. Remember wine tasting and spit buckets? Yeah, I’ll spare you the details.
That my friends, is the life of a baking and pastry student in culinary school. On Pie day in Baking Techniques, we took home 8 pies each. Good thing the CIA is visited by more than a million tourists a year, so as I walked out of class I handed them pies, cakes, cookie boxes, chocolates and candies. We feared the Freshman 15, which turned out to be more like the Freshman 22 for me.
Well, back to this post for Lynn. I wanted to share a simple but great tea cake recipe. Financiers are commonly confused with pastries but they are actually French cakes typically made in rectangular molds. Their flavor is based on both almond flour and the browned butter in it. Since berry season is approaching, this is a great way to showcase your berries! Serve with whipped cream on the side and enjoy with your afternoon tea or coffee.
Financier
Recipe from “The Culinary Institute of America” 

Photo Credit: The Culinary Institute of America
8.2 oz Almond flour
6 oz Sugar
1.5 oz Cornstarch
Pinch Salt
6 oz. Egg whites
2 oz. Honey
5 oz Brown Butter
Raspberries or blueberries, frozen
1.      Melt butter in small sauce pan and continue to heat until the butter reaches a light brown color. Cool.
2.      Combine the almond flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl.
3.      Whisk egg whites gently, only until frothy. Add to dry ingredients and then stir in the honey.
4.      Stream in the brown butter and incorporate.
5.      Pipe into silicone molds and garnish with a berry before baking.
6.      Bake at 375 F, until edges are golden brown.

Almond Butter & Apple Sandwich

~ Lynn ~ 15 Comments

I’m moving in two weeks. I thought that once I had sold the condo my stress level would go back to normal, but that hasn’t been the case. I’m a giant ball of nerves right now. I haven’t been sleeping well, and my eating habits have been less than ideal. I have a feeling I won’t really relax until all the papers are signed. Until then, I think the best I can do is watch what I eat, and try and get as much sleep as I can.

This is an attempt at healthy eating. It’s nothing special, just some toast with almond butter, apple slices and a drizzle of honey, but it’s better for me than eating the entire box of chocolates I was actually craving. I don’t think I’ll be able to post much in the next couple of weeks. My days are filled with work, organizing, and packing. There’s not much time to cook, and there’s no space for pictures. Once I’m settled in I’ll be back with some new posts.

In the mean time, if anyone wants to do a guest post let me know!

Strawberry Ricotta Streusel Tart

~ Lynn ~ 15 Comments

All over the blog world, people are writing about cooking and baking with fresh, local, Spring produce. Here, the grass just turned green about 2 days ago. Fresh produce is still a few weeks away. The posts I’ve been reading from points south of here had me longing for fresh strawberries. The giant California strawberries we get all year here just weren’t going to cut it. Compared to a Quebec strawberry, the California ones are quite bland. I’m sure it has something to do with the shipping. How could a berry travel so far and still taste good?

Instead of patiently waiting, I opened up my last jar of homemade strawberry jam and started to experiment. In the past I haven’t done much inventing, but I have to say this was a lot of fun. I actually put my face right up to the oven window as it baked; I was so excited to try it.

What I decided to make was a strawberry and ricotta tart with a streusel topping. I have to say it turned out pretty darn good. The jam added a great hit of strawberry flavour, the cheese layer was surprisingly light, and the almond meal in the crust added a really nice texture. Next time I might add a little cream cheese to the cheese to give it a little tang.

Strawberry Ricotta Streusel Tart

Crust:

  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into cubes
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg

Topping:

  • 1 cup strawberry jam (or jam of your choice)
  • 550 g ricotta cheese
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 eggs
  1. Make the crust: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and almond meal together. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut/rub the butter into the flour until the mixture just holds together when squeezed and there are no large chunks of butter. Add the vanilla and the egg, stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture just comes together.
  2. Press half the dough into a greased 9 inch tart pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Wrap the remaining dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
  3. Make the cheese filling. Place the ricotta, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and eggs in large bowl. Stir until well combined.
  4. Once the dough crust has chilled, spread the jam over the crust. Top with the cheese mixture. Crumble the remaining dough over the cheese. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F, bake for 40 minutes until golden. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Enjoy!