Apple Pecan Quinoa Muffins

Ugh. Quinoa? Quinoa MUFFINS? Sounds gross. But Trang at work said that these are delicious. I will try before I totally slam them. Link to recipe: http://lemonsandanchovies.com/2012/08/apple-pecan-quinoa-muffins/#.UOJrl3fVqWE

Apple-Pecan Quinoa Muffins

Author: Lemons & Anchovies

Serves: Makes 12 muffins

 

Forget greasy muffins. These muffins are packed with apples and pecans and healthy, too.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (or your flour of choice)
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• ½ cup lightly-packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• ⅔ cup milk (I used nonfat)
• 1 cup chopped apples (about ½ large)
• ½ cup chopped pecans (I used candied pecans for more flavor)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 12-muffin tin (or use cupcake liners; I used a ⅓ cup muffin tin) and set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in a large bowl then stir in the cooked quinoa.
3. In a separate bowl combine the oil, milk and egg then stir into the dry ingredients.
4. Fold in the apples and pecans and spoon the batter into the muffin tin.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Notes

Substituting the apples and pecans for other fruit and nuts, as well as substituting the whole wheat flour for gluten-free flour, this would make a good base for other flavor combinations.

Strawberry Trifle Cake

Colleague at work gave me this recipe - said it was an extremely simple layer cake recipe (all it is, is assembling). Something I could do with my 2 year old toddler!

> Original recipe makes 1 trifle Change Servings Makes  servings US

> Metric Adjust Recipe (Help)

> 

> 1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

> 

> 3 cups cold milk

> 

> 1 (9 inch) angel food cake, cut in cubes

> 

> 4 bananas, sliced

> 

> 1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries, thawed

> 

> 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

> 

> Check All Add to Shopping List .Directions

> 1.Prepare pudding with milk according to package directions. In a

> trifle bowl or other glass serving dish, layer half the cake pieces,

> half the pudding, half the bananas, half the strawberries and half the

> whipped topping. Repeat layers. Cover and chill in refrigerator 4

> hours before serving.

Ultimate meringue recipe

Going to a dinner tomorrow night and I can't have dairy and my sister can't have gluten. What to make?!!!

Meringue to the rescue! Trying this recipe out tonight: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2445/ultimate-meringue

I googled the conversion between grams and cups for the caster sugar and icing sugar but I might just break out my digital scale to make sure.

• 4 large organic egg whites , at room temperature
• 115g caster sugar (a little over 1/2 cup)
• 115g icing sugar (a little over 1 cup)

1. Preheat the oven to fan 100C/ conventional 110C/gas 1⁄4. Line 2 baking sheets with Bake-O-Glide non-stick liner or parchment paper (meringue can stick on greaseproof paper and foil).
2. Tip the 4 large egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl (not plastic). Beat them on medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture resembles a fluffy cloud and stands up in stiff peaks when the blades are lifted.
3. Now turn the speed up and start to add 115g caster sugar, a dessertspoonful at a time. Continue beating for 3-4 seconds between each addition. It's important to add the sugar slowly at this stage as it helps prevent the meringue from weeping later. However, don't over-beat. When ready, the mixture should be thick and glossy.
4. Sift one third of the 115g icing sugar over the mixture, then gently fold it in with a big metal spoon or rubber spatula. Continue to sift and fold in the remaining icing sugar a third at a time. Again, don't over-mix. The mixture should now look smooth and billowy, almost like a snow drift.
5. Scoop up a heaped dessertspoonful of the mixture. Using another dessertspoon, ease it on to the baking sheet to make an oval shape (pic 3). Or just drop them in rough rounds, if you prefer. Bake for 1 1⁄2-1 3⁄4 hours in a fan oven, 1 1⁄4 hours in a conventional or gas oven, until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath and are a pale coffee colour. Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack. (The meringues will now keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for a month.) Serve two meringues sandwiched together with a generous dollop of softly whipped double cream.

Strawberry layer cake with whipped strawberry frosting

There's a lady at work who makes AMAZING cakes. I'm going to nickname her the cake lady. She brought one in the other day for someone's birthday and it was delicious - strawberry cake! It wasn't super light and had a heavy texture about it but I thought the strawberry taste might be a hit with kids. She forwarded me the recipe and here it is. Who would have thought - jello in a cake mix!

Yield: One 3-layer, 8-inch round cake

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1-3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
• 1 (85 g) package strawberry flavored gelatin (such as Jell-O)
• 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 eggs (room temperature)
• 3 cups (300 g) sifted cake & pastry flour
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon (5 g) salt
• 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) strawberry puree made from frozen strawberries (puree itself should be closer to room temp, not frozen or icy)

For the Frosting:

• 3 sticks + 2 tablespoons (375 g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
• 4 cups sifted (500 g) confectioners' sugar (icing, powdered), sifted
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) milk
• 1-1/2 teaspoon (7.5 ml) pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) strawberry puree made from frozen strawberries (if you want the frosting seed-free, you can put the puree through a sieve before adding to frosting)

Instructions

For the Cake:

1. If you're making your own strawberry puree, remove frozen strawberries (about 2 handfuls) from freezer and place in a single layer in a flat dish to thaw slightly. Place into food processor and puree the strawberries until smooth. Stir to ensure it is nice and smooth and not icy. Measure out 1/4 cup for cake and 3 tablespoons for frosting, and freeze the remaining puree for another use.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter, line with parchment, and flour three round 8-inch pans, tapping out the excess. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the milk, strawberry puree, and the vanilla. Set aside. Sift and whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, and set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the sugar, gelatin, and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with spatula.
6. Add the wet & dry ingredients to the creamed mixture by alternating--beginning and ending with dry ingredients and mixing just enough after each addition to incorporate, but not over-mix.
7. Divide the batter in three, spreading it evenly with a small offset palette knife. If you have a kitchen scale, weigh each pan filled with batter, to ensure 3 even layers. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes clean when inserted into the center. Be so careful to not over-bake. Check cakes at 20 minutes, but not before, and once you feel it's almost ready, set the timer for 2 minute intervals. Let cool on racks for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a small metal spatula, and invert onto greased wire racks. Gently turn cakes back up, so the tops are up and cool completely.
8. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. Best eaten day one.

For the Frosting:

9. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed (I use "4" on my KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale & creamy.
10. Add remaining ingredients, except strawberry puree, and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy and fluffy. Add strawberry puree (can be cool, but not frozen or icy) and mix until incorporated.

Assembly of the Strawberry Layer Cake with Whipped Strawberry Frosting:

11. Place a cake layer face-up on cake plate or 8" round thin cake board. Place 1 cup of frosting on top, and spread evenly with a small offset palette knife.
12. Repeat until you come to final layer and place final layer, face-down. Place a generous scoop of frosting on top, spreading evenly with a small offset palette knife and working your way down the sides until you have a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake. Use a bench scraper to achieve very smooth sides. Chill until set, about 30 minutes.
13. Remove from refrigerator and cover with a final layer of frosting. Finish with any decorations of choice, or frosting borders.

NOTES:

** The icing on my cake was slightly different from this recipe.  I added a brick of white bakers chocolate to the Frosting recipe.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave (should take about 45 seconds).  Allow it to cool down but not harden.  Make the frosting as per instructions and the gradually add the white chocolate in.  Mix well.  This frosting will be soft, but once refrigerated it will be stiff.

** You may need to double the recipe for cupcakes as this cake does not really rise.  Usually you would fill the cupcake tins ¾ full.  For this recipe, fill the cupcake cups closer to the top. 

Your icing color will look pale pink like this.  To add color, use gel paste coloring.  If you use the liquid coloring, you may need to add a bit more icing sugar to the frosting.

Trang's Brownie Recipe

It's funny how some things come full circle. Years ago I worked on an IT project with some folks who went their separate ways as the project wound down. The IT world is small though and somehow some of us all came together again, this time in operational positions.

Two of the girls I worked with, Trang and Victoria, now work with me and Victoria is home of many of the recent recipes I've posted. When I gushed about a brownie recipe, she reminded me that Trang had one of the best. I scratched my head. I couldn't remember this. She said Trang had brought it in once and our PM, who usually never eats sweets, couldn't stop. So I asked Trang for the recipe and here it is! I can't wait to try it out. She says it's a "Best of Bridge" recipe.

Fantastic Fudge Brownies
Brownies:
1 cup butter (=250 ml)
2 cups sugar ( = 500 ml)
1/4 cup cocoa powder (= 60ml)
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp, vanilla (= 5 ml)
1 cup flour (250 ml)
1 cup chopped walnuts of pecans (250 ml)

Icing
2 cups icing sugar (500 ml)
2 tbsp butter (30 ml)
2 tbsp cocoa powder (30ml)
2 tbsp boiling water (30ml)
2 tsp vanilla (10 ml)

To make brownies: cream together butter, sugar and cocoa powder. Mix in beaten eggs and vanilla. Add flour and stir. Fold in nuts. Bake in a greased 9x13" pan at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Top will appear to be underdone (falls in middle) but don't overcook. Should be moist and chewy.

To make icing: beat all ingredients together while brownies are baking. Pour on top as soon as brownies come out of oven. it will melt into a shiny glaze.

Home made granola bars

My sister Jen came over the other day with her kids and father-in-law after we visited the pumpkin patch. She also brought cinnamon buns (which we promptly consumed by Nica) and homemade granola. Now normally I detest granola. I find it way too chewy and dry and... healthy (Lord forbid). But I took one bite of hers and I couldn't stop! I asked for piece after piece until it was all gone (sorry kids).

Surprisingly, Ariana who normally eats everything didn't like it even though it had raisins and it was sweet. Must have been the texture.

Here is the recipe that I can't wait to try out:

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/gluten_free_chewy_honey_nut_snack_bars.php

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (60 mL) almond butter or natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) liquid honey
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
• 2/3 cup (150 mL) gluten-free large-flake rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped dates
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) hulled unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1 egg white

Preparation

In saucepan, bring almond butter, honey, brown sugar, oil, salt and cinnamon to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in bowl, combine rolled oats, pecans, dates and sunflower seeds; set aside.

Whisk egg white into honey mixture; fold in oat mixture until evenly coated. Press firmly into parchment paper–lined or greased foil-lined 8-inch (2 L) square cake pan.

Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour. Cut into bars.

Peanut Butter Reeses Pieces Cookies

Stole another recipe for my friend Victoria who bakes the most amazing desserts. Surprisingly, she's never owned a Kitchenaid until recently. Don't know how she survived without one!

Anyway, I've had these cookies before - yum, yum, yum. I tried to make them once but never successfully bought a bag of peanut butter cups that survived to make it into cookies. Ah well. Maybe this time...?

I'll post a photo when I finally attempt this!

Peanut Butter Reeses Pieces Cookies

Combine:

½ cup white sugar

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cup softened margarine or butter

And beat until light and fluffy

Add:

½ cup smooth peanut butter (measure PB after using half cup measure for flour and it won’t stick)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend for several minutes.

Add dry ingredients:

1 ¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch salt, more if PB is unsalted and fold in

Batter will be fairly loose. Chill some hours of overnight. Put bags of PB cups in the fridge too

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Makes 4-7 dozen depending on how skimpy you scoop the PB cookies. Be sure to get at least two bags of mini PB cups

Bring dough out at the same time you start the oven preheating. Unwrap the PB cups and put back in the fridge.

Roll 1” balls of cookie dough and place in muffin tins – use the paper liners because these are greasy! You don’t need a lot of batter per cookie – they rise a lot. Press finger into the top of the ball to spread the dough a little. Bake for 6-7 minutes, or until it starts to brown on the edges.

Remove pans from the oven. The cookies will have puffed up, firmly place a peanut butter cup in the middle of each cookie “pillow”. Cookie edges should be even with or above the candy, as much as possible. Place back in the oven for a minute or two to melt the chocolate.

Remove and cool on racks for some time until the chocolate has set back up again. This will take at least an hour. Do not rush this part.

Peppermint Marshmallows

Sandy has done it again. She wow'ed me with her mad baking skills by bringing over peppermint marshmallows. HOMEMADE! Yeah, who knew you could make your own marshmallows? To me, they were always those dry sticky things you bought in a bag from Safeway before you went camping.

But these things - ohmigod (I'm rolling my eyes to the back of my head right now as I wipe drool off the side of my mouth) they're so good you can eat them just as they are. Also, since they're homemade, you can eat them FRESH. I've never had fresh marshmallows before and now I will never have them any other way. They were fluffy and soft with just a hint of peppermint. YUMMY.

Nica ate a few. Ariana ate a couple. I ate quite a few. I took them to a party and they disappeared. I can't wait to make these! If I can successfully make this, then I will never ever buy marshmallows again. Also, people may be receiving this from me as a future xmas gift. :)

Here's a link to the blog it's originally posted on. The author has some GREAT photos and lots of other crafty ideas and recipes too.

But for laziness sake, here's the recipe:

Peppermint Marshmallows:

1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 1/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. crushed peppermint candy canes (about 6)
1/8 tsp. salt

*Tip: to crush your candy canes, break them up in large pieces, then seal them in a Zip Loc bag. Put your bag on a sturdy cutting board and use a hammer to smash them into a powder. The finer the powder, the better.

1. Into a small bowl, sift together powdered sugar and cornstarch. Line a 9x13" pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Sift 2 Tbsp. of the powdered sugar mixture into pan and tilt to coat all sides. Leave excess in pan.

3. Place 2/3 c. water in a large bowl and sprinkle with gelatin. Let soften 5 minutes.

4. In medium, heavy-bottom saucepan, heat sugar, corn syrup, candy cane, and salt over medium heat until completely dissolved (about 7 minutes).

5. Pour into bowl with gelatin mixture and beat on high speed with electric mixer until light and fluffy (10-15 minutes). 

6. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Smooth top and dush with powdered sugar mixture. Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

7. Lift from pan with foil. With a small, wet cookie cutter, cut shapes and dip sides in sugar mixture. Cut up remaining marshmallows into small, irregular pieces (these are the ones I let my kids and husband eat!). Or, using a wet knife, cut into 6 large squares and dip sides into powdered sugar mixture. Then cut each of those squares into 9 pieces and dip in sugar mixture.

8. Store at room temp, loosely covered.

Hope she doesn't mind, but Sandy said she modified this recipe by:
"I make double the recipe bc one is not enough-trust me on this.  Plus, two batches fill up a 9x13 Pyrex pan nicely

If u make two batches, double everything except the cornstarch & icing sugar.

I only use 1 cup sugar per batch.

Green & red candy canes are ok.  I just add a drop of red food colouring."


I have no idea how she figures out how to modify recipes, but she has not failed me yet. So I am going to follow her modifications to the T!

Update July 2012:
How sad am I... it took me almost half a year before I found the time to make these. It's SUMMER! Anyway, first attempt went all sorts of horrible. I think I might have made myself sick. I stored them in an "airtight" container but they were so moist that the corn starch/icing sugar kept absorbing so they were constantly sticky balls of mess. Something about eating corn starch directly irks me. Maybe it's a mental thing.

Anyway, the second time I tried it, they turned out not bad. No one really wanted to eat them though because it would be perfect in a hot cup of cocoa, not something normally craved for in the height of summer. lol. Oh well. If I procrastinate just 6 more months it'll be perfect.

Caramelized Onion Spread

With the festive season comes... dinners! Lots of them this year. It's the time of year when we get to catch up with friends and family and for me, sample new appetizers and food. There were a few key dishes this year that caught my interest of my tastebuds.

One of them, was a caramelized onion spread. My sister's hubby made it as a Christmas Eve appetizer. Nica and I attacked it - eating so much that by the time we were suppose to eat our entree, we were stuffed. We couldn't help ourselves - this spread has roasted garlic and the Nicas LOVE garlic!

I will be honest - visually, it didn't look that appetizing. It's a caramel coloured brown and creamy. Kind of like hummus. But the taste was out of this world. The caramelized onions gave it a sweetness. The roasted garlic added lots of flavour while the cream cheese and mayo contributed the smooth and creamy texture and harmonized the onion and garlic. Served on crispy slices of toasted baguettes, the texture was a nice complement of crunchy and smooth. Yum.

Here's the recipe:

Caramelized Onion Spread

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 cups chopped yellow onions (or thinly sliced)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup (4 oz) block-style cream cheese

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh chives

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Heat large skillet to medium-high. Add oil, swirl to coat bottom. Add onion and garlic. Saute 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 35 minutes or until onions are very tender and caramelized, stirring occasionally.
3. Add cream cheese, stir to combine.
4. Removed from heat. Stir in mayonnaise, chives, pepper, salt.
5. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Refrigerate up to 2 days.

- Cooking Light magazine, December 2011

Pulled Pork

I swear I'm not pregnant again, but I have been CRAVING pulled pork. So when my latest tv show addiction, Recipe to Riches, had it on an episode, I started salivating. The reviews looked amazing too! Luckily for me, they actually post the recipes on their website. So here's another dish I'm going to attempt tomorrow when Debs comes to visit.  Here's the link for the recipe:

Pulled Pork

• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 kilograms bone-in pork shoulder picnic roast
• 8 unit sandwich buns, such as Portuguese buns or soft white buns, halved
• 1 package coleslaw mix
• 1 cup coleslaw dressing

Sauce

• 1 cup ketchup
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup cola
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Directions

Pulled Pork

1. Preheat oven to 325F (160C).
2. In small bowl, stir together paprika, brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, mustard, cayenne, coriander and cumin. Measure out 2 tbsp (25 mL) of the spice mix; rub remaining spice mix all over pork. Place in metal roasting pan. Tightly wrap pan in foil. Bake in oven until meat is tender and falling off bone, about 5 to 6 hours.
3. Meanwhile, make Sauce: In saucepan, combine ketchup, vinegar, cola, maple syrup and reserved spice mix. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to simmer; cook uncovered until reduced to 1-1/2 cups (375 mL), about 25 minutes. Set aside.
4. Unwrap pork. Pull meat away from bones. Shred meat with two forks. Combine pork with half of sauce. Slather remaining sauce on cut sides of bottom buns; top with pork. Mix coleslaw mix with dressing; mound on top. Top with bun lids.

Luscious Lemon Pudding

I am addicted to this new show called "Recipe to Riches". A couple of recipes have intrigued me and just so I don't lose them, here is one of them. It's called "Luscious Lemon Pudding".

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 unit eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Butter 8-inch (2 L) square glass baking dish. In bowl, sift together sugar and flour; set aside.
2. Place egg whites in bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Transfer whites to another bowl.
3. Add egg yolks to same bowl and return to stand mixer. Using whisk attachment beat on medium-high speed until yolks are thick and lightened in colour. Reduce speed to medium and add butter, lemon rind and juice; beat for 1 more minute. With machine running on medium speed, alternately beat in flour mixture and milk, making 5 additions of flour and 4 of milk.
4. Remove bowl from mixer. Fold in egg whites. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Place dish in large shallow roasting pan. Add hot water to half way up side of baking dish.
5. Bake in centre of oven for 50 to 55 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Top two-thirds will be cake consistency and bottom third will be pudding consistency.

I can't wait to try baking this! My best friend Debbie is visiting tomorrow so I might just give it a shot.

Japanese Cucumber salad

The other day I decided to have a Japanese themed night. In addition to sushi, I thought it'd be nice to have a nice light salad so I attempted to make sunomono. Now, my friend Vania had given me a recipe (handed to her from her nutritionist friend Tina) and of course I filed it away, didn't document it and lo and behold, couldn't find it when I needed it. I googled "sunomono recipe" and ended up using this: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-sunomono but it wasn't what I was looking for.

Anyway, I still have to try Tina's recipe, but here it is (now documented electronically so I can find it when I need it!)

Japanese Cucumber Salad:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
- dissolve sugar over heat
- pour over cucumbers and chill
Don't forget to boil some vermicelli and wakame and if you're looking for a final kick, a slice of lemon and some prawns.

Warm Shrimp Salad

Went to Market at Shangri-La with Mela and enjoyed this amazing shrimp salad. She had mentioned she had it before and was totally hyping it up. Now normally, when something is hyped up I'm disappointed with it but this one was true. It was AMAZING. Now I just have to figure out how to make champagne vinaigrette!  Found this recipe... something to definitely try in the future.

http://how2heroes.com/videos/seafood/warm-shrimp-salad

Macaron Adventure

I met another Mom in the Oakridge Baby Time class and she looked so familiar. It turned out she was the sister of an old elementary school friend who I actually remembered (I think Mommy brain only effects my short term memory).
She organizes this event called Baker's market - http://www.bakersmarket.com/ and I can't wait to attend this event with my baking friends. She also has another side hobby which is baking macarons. She even went to PARIS to learn how to bake these! Here's a link to her website: http://www.jadorelesmacarons.com/

After browsing her blog, I was hooked. I've never eaten these little creations but they look so pretty and I vowed to have a macaron party and attempt to make them.

I found this awesome website that I've been drooling reading over for the last couple hours. 
http://bravetart.com/recipes/Macarons
The photos are fantastic and the author debunks common Macaron theories such as the effect of aged eggs, when sugar should be added to the meringue, etc.

I'm going to attempt to make the Strawberries and Cream macaron after picking up some Freeze Dried Strawberries from Trader Joes. Wish me luck! If this is successful a pastry bag is definitely going on my shopping wish list.

Cinnamon-Apple Cake

Ali made this cake the other night and used Pear instead of apple. It sounded delicious, it looked delicious and I can only imagine how good it tasted. Here is a link to the recipe: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000222502

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 3/4  cups  sugar, divided
• 1/2  cup  stick margarine, softened
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 6  ounces  block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup)
• 2  large eggs
• 1 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  baking powder
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 3  cups  chopped peeled Rome apple (about 2 large)
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl, and stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife.

Note: You can also make this cake in a 9-inch square cake pan or a 9-inch springform pan; just reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes.

I can't wait to make this!

Homemade Bread

Now that I've mastered chiffon cakes, I thought I'd give my family a little respite from all the cakes and turn to... BREAD! There is nothing like fresh bread, straight out of the oven. I refuse to use the bread maker because it seems like the lazy man's method and I want to to fancy bread - with roasted garlic or olives.

A few months ago, while hooked on the Food Network, I watched this show called "Chef Academy" starring Jean Novelli. In Season 1, episode 4, he showed the students how to make bread and he stuffed Camembert inside with sundried tomatoes. God, it looked delicious and I drooled, just thinking how good it must have tasted.

I finally looked it up online and found the recipe: http://www.bravotv.com/foodies/recipes/whole-baked-camembert

You can put anything inside the bread so I'm really only going to follow his instructions and ingredients for his basic bread dough. Here is the recipe:

Basic Bread Dough
1 lb Strong flour (this is about 3 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons Salt
1 oz unsalted Butter (= 2 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons Action Bread Yeast (available from most food stores)
1/2 qt warm water (made from 1 part boiling, 1 part chilled) 1/2 qt = 2 cups
1 pinch of sugar

1. In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, butter and yeast.

2. Stir in the water and mix into a soft dough.

3. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead well for 10 minutes by hand or 5 in an electric mixer with a fitted dough hook.

4. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a floured bowl. Cover with damp cloth and leave in a warm place until doubled in size.

just before the oven

5. Once doubled turn out onto the table and gently press out the excess gas from the dough.

6. Knead a couple of times to smooth out the dough. Divide into 2.

7. Roll each piece out 1 times bigger than the cheese.

8. Preheat the oven to 450F, Gas Mark 8.

9. Place the cheese in the centre and fold over the dough adding some of the ingredients from the marinade.

10. Turn over onto a floured baking sheet so as the folds are on the base. Brush the top with olive and finish with sprigs of thyme, bay leaves cumin seeds, salt and pepper and finish with a dusting of flour.

the final result

11. Allow to double in double in size before baking in a pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes. Spray with an atomizer before placing in the oven and again 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

12. Remove to a large serving board and allow to cool before serving.

Good luck to me! I'm making it for the first time tonight with some homemade chicken soup.

Update: March 23, 2011
Well, I made this bread on March 17th. Used all purpose flour instead of bread flour but they turned out pretty good. All the photos that you see in this blog so far are from that batch. I put brie in some, and some sundried tomato soft cheese in others. Sprigs of rosemary in all. The photos don't make them look very large, but they were pretty big. Mom couldn't eat a whole one.

Yesterday I made it again, but I figured I'd try it with the whole wheat bread flour that was in the house. The dough was pretty sticky so maybe whole wheat bread requires more flour. Hmm. Something to research before my next batch. In any event, the bread turned out pretty well. All of them were smaller than the first attempt. I didn't use rosemary as much. Lots of garlic. My nephew, Calvin, made me proud as that was the only thing he'd eat for dinner. heh heh. The bread itself once baked felt heavy and I'm not sure if that was because they weren't fully cooked (some of them weren't totally all the way through) or because I had stuffed them with filler.

I wouldn't mind trying this as a pizza dough. Or filling with tomato, sausage and some green pepper to make homemade calzones.

Henry and Christine's most amazing stuffing recipe

Twice a year, for Easter and Christmas, our family has the honour of going over to a family friend's home for dinner. All of us always look forward to the free range turkey and the mouth watering stuffing. It oozes with fat and is oh-so-good. I wrangled the ingredients and recipe from them. Here it is:
Ingredients:
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ground sausage meat - coarse type ( we get the deli to make it leaner)
- Bread crumbs ( can be bought in Safeway or Save-On ) granular texture not cubes
- Bacon
- Fresh sage
- Giblets from the turkey
- Sherry / brandy

In a large frying pan:
Fry diced onions and chopped bacon
Add sausage meat and chopped giblets
Remove excess oil
Add sage and sherry/brandy
Add bread crumbs and water until desired consistency
Put in oven proof dish and bake for 1 hr

World's Easiest Almond Roca

Theresa Volk from work had a kitchen party and one of her friend's brought this homemade almond roca. It was so good that wherever it went, it immediately attracted a throng of people who would suddenly decide to "hang out" around it! Needless to say, a total hit at the party. Here's the recipe that she was able to finagle out of one of her friends:

Worlds Easiest Almond Roca

Ingredients:

1 pound of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 box (454 g) graham crackers (two rows)
2 packages (100 g each) sliced almonds
1 package (270 g) milk chocolate chips
1 package (270 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Melt the butter over medium heat
2) Add the brown sugar. Gently boil for three minutes, stirring occasionally
3) Line two cookie sheets (cookie sheets need to have a lip around the edge as the liquid will spread) with the graham crackers
4) Sprinkle one package of almonds over each sheet
5) Pour butter/sugar mixture on top, spreading gently with a spatula to cover all the crackers
6) Bake for 5-6 minutes at 350 degrees
7) Combine the milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips together. Sprinkle the chips on top on let it sit for a minute or two until the chocolate starts to melt - then gently spread the chips around with a spatula
9) Refrigerate overnight

Enjoy!!!
PS: it freezes really well too!

Thai Food: Mango sticky rice

Who says Men can't cook?
Again, another male colleague of mine, Will, said that he and his girlfriend took this cooking class when they were in Thailand. They made a few dishes and one of them was this (according to him) and easy one called Mango Sticky rice. He says it tastes pretty good, as you would have it in a restaurant. I've never had it ever so it would be a complete first for me.

I copied the recipe from him because I was suppose to go to a Thai-themed dinner party at my friend Ali's, but she had a cranky baby that day so cancelled it. My loss but I figure I can still try this recipe out one day. Here's the recipe from Will's Thai Cook book:

For rice:
1 cup glutinous (sticky) rice
1/2 cup thick coconut cream
4 tablespoons white sugar (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt.

Topping sauce:
4 tablespoons thick coconut cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon corn flour dissolved in 4 tablespoons of cold water (my guess is corn flour is the same as corn starch)

Accompaniments:
1 large ripe sweet mango
1 teaspoon deep fried mung bean seeds or tasted sesame seeds.

Directions:
1. Make the rice in a rice cooker.
2. Mix the sauce ingredients together and combine with the cooked rice.
3. Make the topping by mixing the salt, sugar, coconut cream and corn flour mixture in saucepan and heating on medium until the sauce thickens
4. Peel mango and slice into 12 pieces discarding the stone. Arrange on plates with the rice and dribble sauce on top and then sprinkle with seeds.

Three Herb Butter

Three-Herb Butter

Yields about 1-1/4 cups.
1/2 lb. (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (about 3 oz.)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (from about 1 oz. parsley sprigs)
1/4 cup chopped fresh thyme leaves (from about 3/4 oz. thyme sprigs)
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage leaves (from about 1/2 oz. sage sprigs)

In a 10-inch skillet, melt 1 Tbs. of the butter over medium heat until it begins to foam. Add the shallots and cook until soft and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and boil until it's completely evaporated 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the parsley, thyme, and sage and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes more. Transfer to a medium bowl and refrigerate. When well chilled, put the remaining butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the herb mixture and beat on medium speed until blended, about 1 minute.

On a large piece of plastic wrap, shape the herb butter into a log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

Make Ahead Tips
The butter can be made up to 1 week ahead and refrigerated or up to 2 months ahead and frozen. If frozen, take the butter out of the freezer and store in the refrigerator a day before you plan to use it.

Update April 25, 2009: I royally screwed this recipe up. I was reading the ingredients and trying to cook at the same time and ended up melting the entire 1/2 lb of butter instead of just a tablespoon. Tried to save myself by taking out most of it... but it was probably too late. It had already clarified and foamed. I mixed everything together after, put it into the fridge to try and harden but have this sinking feeling that I've ruined it! Too scared to try it... it's sitting in my freezer right now.