Author: Lynn

Maple Apple Pie

~ Lynn ~ 16 Comments

apple pie slice

I hope all my Canadian readers had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

For the first time in as long as I can remember we spent Thanksgiving in Montreal. There was a very good reason for that; my cousin Ramy got married. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy. Carla is wonderful and I am very pleased to call her family. It was a beautiful ceremony, followed by an incredible feast. There was poutine at the midnight sweet table!

Yet I still craved a Thanksgiving dinner. So on Sunday my mom made us a Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixins and I took care of dessert. I went the traditional; apple pie and pumpkin pie. I decided to throw a little twist into the apple pie by using maple sugar. I was hoping for a more pronounced maple flavour, but I don’t think I used enough to get the effect I wanted. Next time I think I’ll put half a cup of maple sugar, though I’ve written the recipe as I made it.

I usually use an all butter crust recipe, but this time I used half butter half shortening. It made a really nice flaky crust, and the bottom held up nicely to the moisture from the apples. Just a note about pie crusts in general, recipes will usually give a quantity of water to add, but depending on where your flour was made and the humidity in the air you may need more or less. In this case I almost doubled the amount of water I normally use. If as you stir with a fork the dough doesn’t come together, add a little more water, then a little more if necessary.

I only have one photo for this post. By the time the pie had cooled there was no light, so I worked some leftover slices the next morning. Unfortunately the sun was so strong that even with diffused light I was getting crazy shadows. Thankfully I got one good photo out !

Sour Cream Pastry

(from Canadian Living)

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, frozen
  • 1/2 cup shortening, frozen
  • 1/4 cup ice water
  • 3 tbsp sour cream
  1. In a large bowl stir the flour and salt together. Using a box grater, grate the butter and shortening then add them to the flour. Toss the butter and shortening through the flour to cover it, then using your finger tips rub the butter into the flour until a few small pieces of butter/shortening are visible.
  2. Mix the water and sour cream together then pour onto the flour mixture. Stir with a fork until the dough comes together. Add more water if necessary. Using your hands bring the dough together and knead one of two times. Split the dough into 3 balls then flatten them into disks, cover individually with plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Maple Apple Pie
  • 4 cups apples peeled and cored (I used Cortland)
  • 1/2 sugar
  • 1/4 cup fine maple sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 2 tbsp four
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • sugar for sprinkling
  1. Toss the apples with the sugar, maple sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and flour. Set aside.
  2. Roll out one of the pastry disks till 1/4 inch thick and large enough to cover a 9 inch pie plate. Place the dough in the pie plate then fill with the apples. Dot the apples with the butter. Roll out the second disk and place on top the apples. Trim the edges then roll them in making sure to have a tight seal. Cut some slits into the upper crust, then place the pie in the freezer for 20 minutes.
  3. Preheat the oven to 450F. Whisk the egg yolk with a tablespoon of water, then brush the upper crust with the yolk. Sprinkle some sugar on the the crust (I used a course sugar to prevent burning).
  4. Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350F and continue baking for 60-65 minutes.
  5. Let the pie cool for at least 2 hours before serving.
Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins

~ Lynn ~ 18 Comments


Last weekend I made my annual journey to St-Joseph-du-Lac, one of the apple picking hot spots in Quebec. The weather was incredible, close to 30 C with the humidity and sunny. Not at all the typical apple picking weather I was expecting. Normally the air up north is cool and crisp at this time of year, instead it was hot and sticky.

There were tons of people out there. We even got stuck in apple picking traffic, who knew there was even such a thing? The traffic was frustrating, but we eventually made it out into the orchard.  We repeated last years taste test, and once again decided the Cortland was the way to go. Cortlands were originally bred from McIntosh, but they are firmer and sweeter. They’ll hold their shape in a pie, but you can also make a sauce out of them.

We got our hands on a good ladder and claimed a Cortland tree, then picked 20 lbs for each of us. Hopefully that’ll be enough for all the things I have planned!

When of my favourite things about apple picking is the cider doughnuts. Unfortunately, this years doughnuts were sub par, too greasy, not enough cinnamon sugar. I left the orchard craving  something more, something better. The solution was to make them myself,  but my deep frying experience has yielded mixed results and I didn’t want another disappointment. Instead I decided to make doughnut muffins with an apple cinnamon filling. The nutmeg in the batter and the cinnamon sugar coating completely satisfied my craving. They really do have the texture of a cake doughnut. The fact that they’re dipped in butter probably helps too.

Though these tasted amazing, I have to say that some of them fell apart when I took then out of muffin tin. I think it was my fault for letting the apple filling spread too much in the muffin, it basically created a complete separation between the layers of batter so the muffin top just came off. If you’re going to fill the muffins like I did make sure to make a little well in the batter for the filling.

Another thing you should know is that they are huge muffins. I adapted this from a Fine Cooking recipe, many of the commenters said they made these in mini muffin tins which I think is a great idea if you’re not using a filling.

Apple Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins

(makes 12 muffins)

Filling

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 4 apples, peeled cored and diced
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp flour
Doughnut Muffins
  • 3/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 tbsp yogurt
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 tsps cinnamon
  • 1 cup sugar
  1. Make the filling: In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the apples, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Cook stirring often until the apples are tender and release their juices. Add the flour and stir until the juices thicken. Take off the heat and set aside.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  3. Make the muffin batter: In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Add the eggs one at a time beating till well combined after each addition. Add the vanilla.
  4. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together. Add the flour into the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk and yogurt (you should start and finish with the flour).
  5. Grease a muffin tin. Scoop half the batter into the muffin tin, make a little well in each muffin and fill each with a tablespoon of the apple filling. Top with the remaining batter.
  6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden and firm to the touch. Let cool completely.
  7. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together for the topping. Dip the tops of the muffins into the melted butter then dip them into the sugar to coat.
Enjoy!

 

Butternut Squash Soup

~ Lynn ~ 28 Comments

butternut squash soup

We’re at the tail end of our Indian Summer here in Montreal. For close to a week it’s been hot and muggy, but the forecast for the weekend is cold and rainy. It’s officially time to start thinking about cold weather foods. Although I’ll miss the heat and sunshine the Summer brings, Fall foods are my favourite. Soups and stews made with harvest vegetables, shepherds pie, roasted squash; all of these are warm and comforting to me. I could go on for hours about Fall baking, but for now I’ll just keep it to these two words: pumpkin pie.

We had a little preview of the cold weather a couple of weeks ago, so I took the opportunity to get a head start on the fall cooking and made this Roasted Squash Soup. This is possibly the easiest dish I’ve ever made, if you’re new to cooking this is a great recipe to make you feel like you can do it. Simply roast the squash, onion and garlic until the squash is cooked, then transfer it all to a pot adding chicken broth and spices. Easy peasy!

Roasting the squash, onions and garlic add a sweet, caramelized, dimension to the flavour of the soup. I made it quite thick because I like it that way, but if you prefer a thinner soup simply add more broth. I also use a touch of cream to add .. creaminess to the soup (there must be another word for that, richness maybe?), but that can be omitted if you’d prefer to keep the dairy out.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

  • 1 butternut squash
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 head of garlic
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 litre low sodium chicken broth
  • 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
  • ½ tsp ground sage
  • Salt a pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup cream or half and half
  • Sunflower seeds and chives to garnish
    1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
    2. While the oven is heating, slice the squash in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon (you’ll need a good knife to slice the squash). Peel the onion and slice it in half. Place on a baking sheet season with salt and pepper then drizzle with most of the olive oil. Slice the top off the garlic head then place it on a small piece of foil. Drizzle with the remaining oil, wrap in the foil and place on the baking sheet. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes until the squash is soft (poke it with a fork to test)
    3. Let the squash cool slightly, then scoop out the flesh into a medium pot along with the onion. Unwrap the garlic and squeeze it into the pot (the cloves should slide right out). Add the chicken broth, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let the soup cool then puree in a blender or with an immersion blender.
    4. Stir in the cream and serve garnished with sunflower seeds and chopped chives.

Enjoy!

Poached Pear and Custard Tart

~ Lynn ~ 25 Comments

Money money money money, MONEY.

I’m currently on a wordpress.com blog, which means that even though I own my domain my terms of service do not allow me to advertise. Those of you who don’t have ad blockers might be scratching your heads right now because you see an ad asking you how old you think Javier Bardem is. Those ads are not mine: wordpress is advertising on my blog.

I’ve considered monetizing my blog before, but given the cost of self hosting I’ve always decided against it. My trafiic is pretty low and I know I won’t make a profit. Now that I’ve realized wordpress is making money off of me I’m starting to reconsider. I’m not doing this to make a profit, but I don’t like that someone else is reaping the rewards of my work.

Have any of you made the switch to self hosting? I’d love to hear any tips or recommendations you might have. I’d also love to hear opinions on the different advertising networks out there. Is it worth putting myself on a waiting list for Blogher? Are there any other good networks out there?

None of this has anything to do with the recipe I’m sharing today. I made this tart for a dinner with some friends. She loves pears, he loves custard, and their son just loves desserts. This tart had their names all over it.  I really enjoyed the poached pears with the custard, poaching them with =cinnamon gave the tart an extra dimension of flavour.

I was a little worried that the crust would take longer to bake than the custard, but it worked out pretty well. I would have preferred that the crust be a little crisper, the texture I ended up with was almost cake like, probably because of the baking powder in the dough. Next time I think I’ll try with an unsweetened crust and blind bake it for a few minutes first.

Poached Pear and Custard Custart Tart

Pastry Dough

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp milk (if necessary)
  1. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Add the butter, then using your fingers rub the butter into the flour until there are just a few small pieces of butter left and the mixture holds together when squeezed. Add the egg, stirring in with a fork. Stir until the dough comes together, adding the milk if necessary.
  2. With your hands form a ball with the dough then flatten it into a disk. Cover in plastic wrap a refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Dough will keep for three days in the fridge or can be frozen in an airtight bag.
Poached Pears
  • 4 large pears, peeled, halved and cored (melon ballers work well for coring pears)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  1. Place the pears in medium pot. Cover with cold water, then add the sugar and cinnamon stick. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn off the heat and let pears cool completely in the poaching liquid.
Poached Pear and Custard Tart
  • Sweet pastry dough
  • Poached Pears
  • 3 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 2 tbsp liquid honey
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Icing sugar to top tart
  1. Preheat the oven to 325F
  2. Roll out the pastry dough till it’s large enough to fill a 9 inch tart pan. Place the dough snugly in the pan, trim off the edges. Arranged the poached pears on the dough.
  3. In  medium bowl, whisk the flour sugar and eggs together. Stir in the vanilla. Add the milk mixing until well combined. Skim off any bubbles then pour around the pears.
  4. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the filling is set.
  5. Mix the honey and lemon juice together, using a pastry brush glaze the pears with honey mixture.
  6. Sprinkle with icing sugar.
  7. Let cool completely and serve at room temperature.
Enjoy!

Almond and Sour Cherry Biscotti

~ Lynn ~ 21 Comments

Biscotti with almonds and dried sour cherries

Last week I did something I hardly ever do.

I read. And not just 140 characters at a time. I read an actual book. From cover to cover.

I love to read, but somehow rarely take the time to sit down with a good book. The interweb pulls me in and sucks up all my time.

But while on vacation there’s always time for a good book. Last week I got caught up in the lives of the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The book takes place just after the second World War. Told entirely through letters, it tells the story of a group of people who survived occupation by the Germans on the British island of Guernsey. The literary society is created in a moment of panic. To make the lie the truth, the characters start meeting regularly to discuss literature. In doing so they discover a love of reading that helps them get through those difficult years. Although the topic is a very heavy one, the book is lighthearted and easy to read. I was skeptical about the format, but found that the characters came alive through their letters to each other. How can you not love a group of people who insist there be pie when all there is to eat is potato?

I got completely lost in the book and finished it in a day. It reminded me why I love reading so much, and so I’ve made a promise to myself to not always let the interweb grab my attention. I will curl up with a coffee and a good book more often. And maybe nibble on a few Almond and Sour Cherry Biscotti while I’m at it.

Biscotti with almonds and dried sour cherries, with a hot cup of coffee

Before I give you the recipe I need to write a disclaimer. Although the biscotti were delicious, some of them broke as I sliced them. I think my almond pieces were too big. My suggestion is to make sure there are no large chunks or use an electric knife to slice the cookies.

Almond and Sour Cherry Biscotti

Modified from Food and Wine

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 cup almonds, chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried sour cherries
  1. Preheat the oven to 325 F
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the almond extract. Add the dry ingredients then mix on low speed until well combined. With a wooden spoon stir in the almonds and sour cherries.
  4. Grease a baking sheet, then turn the dough out onto. Shape the dough into a log, about three inches wide 6 inches long. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden. Place the cookie sheet on a rack to cool for 5 minutes, then cut 1/2 to 1 inch thick slices with a serrated or electric knife. Bake the slices for 7 minutes on each side.
  5. Let cool completely before serving.
Enjoy!

Love Vermont Chocolate Fudge Brownies

~ Lynn ~ 22 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that up until a few years ago my parents rented a cottage off Lake Memphremagog every summer. It was a beautiful place. The cottage was right on the water, we would sit on the dock with a cup of coffee and enjoy the sights and sounds. To me there is nothing more soothing than the sound of water lapping the shore. Around the cottage there were woods and trails. Before 9/11 you could wander through the woods and accidentally end up in Canada. The woods are much more heavily guarded now. Things change.

Since we stopped renting the cottage I’ve been to Vermont a handful of times. So when a friend of mine posted on Facebook that she had booked a trip to Burlington and could no longer go, I jumped at the chance to buy it from her.

My mom and I drove down Sunday afternoon. We stayed at the Essex Inn and Culinary Institute, about 15 minutes from downtown Burlington. Although the inn is nowhere near water, it immediately reminded me of the cottage. The air was crisp and clean, surrounding the inn are woods with hiking trails. Sadly, the trails were washed out by Irene, with trees blocking several paths. This was one of the first signs that Vermont is still recovering from the storm.

Our original plan was to spend one day in Burlington and to spend another driving around Vermont. Burlington is lovely. It’s a small city, but there’s so much to do. We shopped the Church Street Marketplace, enjoyed some local chocolates from Lake Champlain Chocolates, and ate at Leunig’s Bistro.  In the afternoon we walked to the Lake Champlain Waterfront, where we met a couple from Kent, England. These very kind people highly recommended the boat tour of Lake Champlain, unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to take it.

My favourite part of the trip took place Monday evening. We had dinner at the Inn then went for a walk around the grounds. It was a cool night which I wasn’t dressed for and I was about to suggest we go back inside when we saw a bonfire being built. We decided to sit by the fire to warm up. We were joined by an eclectic group of Inn guests, and soon we were roasting marshmallows and all singing along to John Denver songs by the fire.

“Take me home, country road…” 

It was a wonderful night and highlighted what I like most about Vermont: the people.

We changed our plans to drive around because of the roads and bridges that are still washed out. Vermont was hit unexpectedly hard by Irene, and they are still recovering. In addition to washed out roads, there are people who have lost their homes, farmers whose crops were destroyed. The photos of the damage are heartbreaking. El of Fresh New England has set up a page for those of you who would like to help here. She’s also asked that we make Love Vermont Chocolate Fudge Cake . I chose to make brownies instead, although I didn’t follow El’s recipe, these brownies were made with love.

Love Vermont Fudge Brownies

  • 6 oz semi sweet chocolate
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup maple chips
  • 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter together, stirring until smooth. Let cool slightly, then stir in the sugar, followed by the vanilla.
  3. Stir in the eggs 1 at a time, then add the flour and salt. Stir until no traces of flour are visible, then add the chips.
  4. Pour into a greased 8×8 baking pan, then bake for 22 to 27 minutes until a tester comes out clean. The longer the brownies are baked, the more cake-like they will be.
  5. Let cool, then cut into squares.
Enjoy!

Apricot Scones

~ Lynn ~ 36 Comments

If you’re interested in molecular gastronomy, you need look no further than baking. When cooking the results can be spectacular, but they almost always resemble the original ingredients; a raw steak and cooked steak both look like steak. But when baking flour, sugar, butter and eggs come together to form something that is much more than the some of its parts. I believe that the first person to mix these together and bake a cake was a genius.

Baking is about about proportions; the right combination of ingredients will lead to something magical. Each ingredient plays a part. The flour mixed with liquids form gluten that traps air bubbles and gives baked goods their texture. The sugar sweetens but it also adds air to the batter, contributes to browning and stops the gluten from getting too tough. Butter tenderizes and moistens.

I know all these things.

Yet somehow I still manage to mess things up.

On Sunday I decided to make banana bread. I’ve made banana bread so many times I no longer even look at a recipe. I mixed up all my ingredients put them in the oven and waited. And waited. And waited. The bread never rose, the top never browned. After about an hour and a half (the bread should only have taken an hour) I thought back on my steps and realized I had forgotten the sugar. I kept baking because I thought maybe the sugars in the bananas would somehow save it. They didn’t. When the bread wasn’t cooked through after two hours I gave up.

I’ve made this mistake before and I’m sure I’ll make it again. I wasn’t fazed, just upset at the wasted ingredients.

This morning I got up with the intention of making scones. I found a recipe from a reputable source and gave it a try. I tried even though the voice in my head said it was off. “There’s too much sugar, too much flour, not enough butter” the voice said; I ignored it. “The oven isn’t hot enough” she told me; I didn’t listen. I added more liquid to compensate for the dryness, popped them in the oven and waited. When they came out of the oven they were like overly sweetened hockey pucks.

Another failure. Had a I lost my baking mojo?

I couldn’t let this second failure get to me.

I went through my boxes and found the scone recipe I’ve always used in a pile of papers. As I read it knew this was right. Just enough flour; very little sugar; and a hot, hot oven. I started again.

Thankfully, my baking mojo is not lost. I needed to trust myself, that’s all.

This recipe is a little different than the typical scone recipe, in that it has eggs. This makes them a little more cakey, less biscuit like, but still a little flaky and layered. I used dried apricot in the scones, but anything could be added, raisins, nuts, chocolate chips. They can also be flavoured any way you’d like; spices, lemon zest, rose water.. the possibilities are endless!

Apricot Scones

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar (plus more for sprinkling on tops)
  • 6 tbsp butter, cold and cut into cubes
  • 1 cup roughly chopped dried apricots
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 F
  2. In a small bowl whisk the eggs and milk together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the butter to the dry ingredients, then using your fingertips rub the butter into the flour until there a few pea sized pieces of butter.
  4. Pour the milk into the flour and stir together with a fork until just combined, then stir in the dried apricots. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a disk, about 1 inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter or a glass, cut circles of dough and place them on parchment paper lined baking sheet.
  5. Sprinkle the tops of the scones with sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the tops are browned.
  6. Serve with your favourite jam or fruit butter.
Enjoy!

Tomato and Courgette Tart

~ Lynn ~ 26 Comments

September has what I’d call a split personality. Even though I haven’t been in school for quite awhile it feels like the beginning of a new year, a time for fresh starts and new shoes. It’s full of excitement and possibilities.

At the same time when September rolls in there’s a feeling that something is coming to an end. Night falls a little earlier every day, the temperature starts to drop. That carefree feeling that summer brings starts to slip away. When I feel it going I do whatever I can to hold on to it even tighter.

This summer hasn’t been all that care free for me. We’ve been short staffed for months, which led to long days with no time for breaks and sometimes no time to eat. On top of that a new VP for my division has once again brought a sense of uncertainty to the office. We’ve been “restructuring” for so long I can’t remember what structured felt like. All of this meant I was counting down the days to my vacation. It finally began yesterday. My intention was to sleep in, but my body had other plans so I was up pretty early.

I headed out to the Farmers Market in St-Anne-de-Bellevue and picked up some gorgeous cherry tomatoes.  I just discovered the market recently. It’s in a beautiful spot along a boardwalk. As you choose you vegetables you can look up and see the water. Shopping at a market has completely different feel than going to a grocery store. The vendors are all passionate about their products, the shoppers are all happy to be there. People are relaxed and smiling. It’s much more pleasant than the hustle and bustle of large grocery store on a Saturday morning.

The photo above has a combination of market tomatoes and some from my parents garden. Tomatoes fresh off the vine taste like sunshine (true story). I’ve been eating as many as I can while I can. I’ve been thinking about a tomato tart since the beginning of tomato season; once September rolled around I realized I was running out of time to make it. I stopped myself from eating all of the tomatoes and put this together. The top layer has tomato and yellow zucchini slices. Underneath that you’ll find a layer of caramelized onions and garlic, and finally there’s a layer of goat cheese and ricotta.

I was really happy with the way this tart turned out. The dough has a little corn flour in it, which I think helped it stand up to all the wet ingredients. Even the next day the crust was still crisp. The onion layer added some depth to the flavour and was a great compliment to the tomato and zucchini.  I was going garnish the tart with some fresh basil but completely forgot. It wasn’t necessary but I think it would have added a nice touch.

Although the recipe is not difficult, it does take some time to put together. There are two chilling times for the crust, 30 minutes to blind bake the crust and then another 40 minutes of baking time. To save time, the dough can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated, or frozen for a week or two.

Tomato and Courgette Tart

  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup corn flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
  • 1/4 cup  plain yogurt
  • 1/4  ice water
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 200 g ricotta
  • 350 g goat cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 yellow zucchini, sliced
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • salt and pepper
  1. Make the crust: In a large bowl mix the flours, 1/2 tsp salt, sugar, and thyme together. Using a pastry cutter or your finger tips, cut the butter into the flour until it hold together when squeezed and there pea sized pieces of butter. Mix in the yogurt and ice water. The dough should come together, add more water if necessary. Shape the dough into a disk and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Place in a 9 inch tart pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cover the dough with foil then place dried beans or pie weights on top. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
  2. While the crust is baking, cook the onions. In a large pan on medium heat some olive oil then add the onion slices. Lower the heat and stir the onions until they start to brown. Add the balsamic vinegar and continue cooking. Once the onions are browned add the minced garlic, salt and pepper. Cook two to three minutes longer.
  3. In a bowl, mix the ricotta, goat cheese and egg. Season with salt and pepper and 1/2 tsp basil.
  4. Once the tart crust is done remove the foil and the weights. Pour the cheese mixture into the crust, cover the cheese with the onion mixture, the layer the tomato and zucchini on the onion. Brush the tomato and zucchini with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and the remaining dried basil.
  5. Bake for 40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
  6. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Enjoy!

Ratatouille Pizza

~ Lynn ~ 14 Comments

I’ve changed my blog theme again. I think I might have theme ADD. That’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed with wordpress.com, it’s incredible easy to change everything. I think I might stick with this one for awhile though. Last time I changed themes I wanted something cleaner, but what I ended up with felt heavy to me. It was just too manly. This is more what I was looking for; clean, light, with a little touch of girly. I like it, and I hope you do too.

In other news, I’ll Have What She’s Having now has a Facebook Page. I realized recently that I had advertised this on Twitter and Stumbled the page, but I never actually told my readers. I’m using it as a forum to share my posts as well as posts from other bloggers that catch my, plus the occasional food news.

And finally the recipe. I saw a photo in the most recent issue of Ricardo Magazine of Ratatouille Pizza and I knew I just had to try it.

This is the perfect time of year to make ratatouille; peppers, zucchinis, and eggplants are all at their peak. It’s great as a side a couple of times but then what? I like to use it as a pasta sauce for baked pasta dishes. Ricardo recommends canning it and using it at a pizza sauce in winter when vegetables are just kind of sad. I obviously couldn’t wait that long. I used his ratatouille  recipe (translated to English below) and some store bought pasta dough as I have yet to master the art of homemade pizza dough. I topped it with cooked Italian sausage and mozzarella.

This was hands down the best pizza I have ever made, and it was better than most delivery pizzas I’ve had too. This recipe is definitely a keeper. The photos I took were all a little out of focus, but I’m sharing anyway because this was just so good.

As this is a magazine recipe I will be submitting it to Magazine Monday. It’s been forever since I did a Magazine Monday Post so for those of you who don’t know, it’s an informal blog event hosted by Ivonne over at Cream Puffs in Venice. Make a magazine recipe, send her the link, and she’ll share it with her readers. Easy peasy.
Ratatouille

  • 1 medium egglant, cut into small cubes
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1/2 mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 zucchinis, sliced
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes or 2 cups Italian tomatoes diced
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 5-10 basil leaves, chopped
  • olive oil for frying
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. In a very large pot on medium high, heat about 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the diced eggplant to the pot along with a touch of salt and pepper, brown the eggplant. Once browned, remove the eggplant from the pot and set aside in a large bowl.
  2. In the same pot brown the diced onion, adding more oil if necessary. Once browned add the onion to the eggplant bowl.
  3. Brown the sliced mushroom then add them to the eggplant and onion.
  4. Brown the zucchinis and green pepper, along with some salt and pepper.
  5. Add the tomato to the zucchini and green peppers, followed by the eggplant/onion/mushrooms. Add the time sprigs to the pot then simmer for 30 minutes.
  6. Remove the time sprigs then stir in the fresh basil. Turn off the heat.
Serve as a side dish, pasta sauce or on pizza.
Ratatouille Pizza
  • Pizza dough
  • Ratatouille
  • Italian sausage, sliced and cooked
  • Mozzarella Cheese
  • Basil for garnish
  1. Preheat the oven to 450.
  2. Roll out the pizza dough then place it on a greased and floured baking sheet.
  3. Top with the ratatouille as a sauce, then the sausage and cheese.
  4. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling, about 10 minutes (keep an eye on it!)
  5. Garnish with fresh basil.
Enjoy!

Raspberry Charlotte

~ Lynn ~ 26 Comments

This weekend we celebrated my dad’s birthday. When I asked him what he wanted, he said it didn’t matter. Birthday’s aren’t important to him because growing up they were never celebrated. To me that’s all the more reason to want to celebrate now. At the very least, a birthday needs a cake.

I was eventually able to get a request for cake with pudding out of him. I had originally planned to make a chocolate pudding tart, but when my mom came home with raspberries those plans changed to a Charlotte. Charlotte’s are molded cakes filled with mousse or custard and surrounded by cake or lady fingers. They are relatively easy to make and look very impressive.

I say relatively because I had a really, really hard time getting the Lady Fingers to stand up. I read several recipes from blogs, cook books, magazines, they all gave the same instruction: stand the lady fingers around the mold. None of them explained how to get them to stand. In the end I cut them in half to give them flat bottoms, making them more balanced.

I filled the Charlotte with a layer of Grand Marnier flavoured pastry cream and another of whipped cream, then topped the whipped cream with raspberries. To tie the flavours together I dipped the Lady Fingers in a Grand Marnier simple syrup. The result was creamy and decadent; the raspberries added the perfect touch of freshness.

Raspberry Charlotte

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (divided)
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tbsp Grand Marnier (divide)
  • 1 package store bought Lady Fingers (or home made)
  • 250 ml whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1 pint raspberries
  1. Make the pastry cream: In a heat-proof bowl whisk the egg yolks with 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Whisk in the flour and cornstarch, the mixture should look like a paste. Set aside. Heat the milk and vanilla in a medium sauce pan. Heat till just before boiling (there will be some small bubbles popping up). Pour a small amount of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine (this will temper the eggs). Pour in the remaining milk, whisking constantly. Return the custard to the saucepan, turn the heat to medium and whisk constantly until thickened. Stir in 1 tbsp Grand Marnier. Pour into a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap then set aside to cool.
  2. Place the Lady Fingers: In a small sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup water with 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tbsp Grand Marnier. Let cool slightly. While cooling cut some the Lady Fingers in half, you will need enough to line the inside of a 9 inch springform pan. Lightly dip one Lady Finger in the simple syrup, then stand it up in the closed springform pan; the flat bottom of the cut Lady Finger should help it stand. Repeat until the entire rim is lined, then fill the base with dipped Lady Fingers. Pour the pastry cream into the springform pan. Refrigerate until set (about an hour).
  3. Once set whip the cream with the icing sugar. Spread on the pastry cream, then top with the raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then remove the springform mold.
Enjoy!