These muffins are seriously yummy. I ate about 8 of them, and could’ve just kept going and going and going; I`m sorry I didn’t double the recipe and put a dozen in the freezer for a rainy day!

And what’s not to love? These muffins are packed with banana flavor, better than any banana bread or muffin that I’ve ever had in that regard. There is no doubt that you’re eating banana with these babies! What else do I love? The big chunks of dark, dark chocolate, balancing out the sweetness of the banana and the bits of toffee I had tossed in the batter. They are moist, not too heavy and great for breakfast, snack or dessert (I ate about 8 of them, at all points during the day, so I’m pretty sure about that!)

Banana Chocolate Chunk Toffee Muffins
adapted from Food Network

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups mashed bananas (about 2-3 bananas) (I never mash mine to a smooth mash – I like a few banana chunks in my muffins)
1 large egg
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
5 ounces coarsely chopped dark chocolate
5 ounces toffee bits, Skor bits, any bits!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, egg, melted butter and milk until incorporated.

4. Stir the banana mixture into the dry ingredients just until blended (IMPORTANT! Do not over-mix as it could result in a tough muffin). Stir in the chopped chocolate and toffee bits.

5. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.

6. Bake the muffins until the tops are pale golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out with some melted chocolate attached but no crumbs, about 30 minutes.

7. Transfer the muffins to rack to cool for 15 minutes. Then remove from the muffin tins.

When I first saw this dish on Smitten Kitchen, I fell in infatuation. When I made it the first time, I fell in love. This dish is heaven to me…not only is it bursting with the rich flavour of roasted tomatoes and basil, it has an this amazing mixed texture of juicy tomatoes and soft bread, along with a crisp crust of parmesan cheese. Add to this the fact that this recipe calls for very few ingredients and takes hardly any time or effort to put together, and you have a winning dish!

The first time I made this was at the peak of tomato season. We had bought a bucket filled with later-summer plum tomatoes, along with a massive bouquet of basil, so what better dish to make? We ate it all in one night and consequently took no photos, which is why I’m only writing about it now.

Of course, this is best made with in-season tomatoes. However, I gave it a try again this Christmas, with a mix of those terrible winter tomatoes, a few expensive Italian tomatoes, and a can of crushed tomatoes. It wasn’t quite the same – but it was still excellent. Roasting the tomatoes brings out flavour, so even those watery wintery ones can still exude a bit of flavour. I used about half a can of crushed tomatoes (so 14 oz), and it was perfect.

I definitely recommend using ripe, sweet, flavourful tomatoes. However, this dish is still excellent with mediocre tomatoes. The sugar adds this fascinating sweetness, the toasted bread gives the dish substance and texture, and the basil brings it all together.

This is one of my favourite side dishes ever, and I think everyone should put it in their regular recipe rotation! My apologies about the photos – it tastes far better than it looks, and really, it looks way better than I photographed.

Scalloped Tomatoes
adapted from Ina Garten

5, tablespoons olive oil (separated in 3 tbsp and 2 tbsp)
2 cups (1/2-inch diced) bread from a French boule, crusts removed (any bread will do though – I’ve used baguette and just plain white bread. I also left the crust intact – no reason to waste good bread!)
16 plum tomatoes, cut 1/2-inch dice (about 2 1/2 pounds) (really, any tomato will do. Read above for my variations!)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup julienned basil leaves, lightly packed
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I only used about 1/2 cup and that was perfect for me)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12 inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread cubes and stir to coat with the oil. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the cubes are evenly browned.

3. Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are done, add the tomato mixture and continue to cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil.

4. Pour the tomato mixture into a shallow (6 to 8 cup) baking dish. (I used a deep dish, and it was great. Feel free to use any 8-cup vessel you have!) Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan cheese and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot.

One of the dishes I made for our Christmas dinner was a jalapeno pepper pie. It’s a nice, crustless quiche-like frittata dish that packs a little spicy punch and has the flavours of Mexican cuisine thanks to all the fresh cilantro. Roasting the jalapeno peppers first brings out their sweetness, though they still have a great hint of spiciness.

It’s not a complex dish (taste or preparation wise) and takes no time to make it. If you like frittatas, you’ll probably like this; after all, what’s not to love about cheese and jalapeno and eggs? I think this would make a great breakfast dish, though I don’t recommend making it beforehand hand then reheating…I think it would be much better fresh out of the oven!

Jalapeno Pepper Pie
adapted from She Wears Many Hats
Printable Recipe

8 jalapenos
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/4 – 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (depending on your love for cilantro)
5 eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Begin by preheating the oven to 400°F.

2. Chop the ends off the jalapenos, cut length wise, de-seed and toss with a little olive oil, place on a baking sheet, cut side down and bake in a 400°F oven for about 15 minutes.

3. While the peppers are roasting, shred your cheeses.

4. Prep the cilantro, by rinsing and giving it a quick rough chop.

5. Next beat the eggs together along with the cream, salt and pepper.

6. When the jalapenos are finished roasting, reduce oven to 325°F, and let the jalapenos cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, peel the skins off of the jalapenos. They should easily peel off, if not cover with a kitchen towel, bowl or aluminum foil and let steam for another few minutes. Once the jalapenos are peeled, chop them up.

7. Place the chopped jalapenos in a single layer in the bottom of a greased pie plate, followed by the shredded cheeses, then the cilantro, and finally the beaten eggs with salt and pepper.

8. Bake in 325°F for about 40 minutes. Serve warm.

So what did we do with all those apples we picked? Well, not a whole lot! Not yet anyway…Thanksgiving is going to use up a bunch of them in a dessert I’m anticipating eagerly.

So while I wait for that, I decided to make a some apple cinnamon buns to tide me over. Good choice! There are many things I loved about these cinnamon buns. The dough comes together easily, though with all that rising, it does take the whole evening. It’s worth the wait though; the end result are warm, tender rolls with a swirl of apple chunks, brown sugar and lots of cinnamon. Of course, they are best right out of the oven, but 20 seconds in a microwave is all it takes to get them just as delicious the next day. I also love how these get baked in a lined muffin tin – it keeps them small (so that you don’t feel as guilty popping one, two, three) in your mouth in one sitting, and the paper-liner keeps any brown sugar/butter/apple filling pressed right up against the roll.

I didn’t make the apple cider glaze that’s included in the original recipe, but just whipped up a plain milk and icing sugar glaze that suited these buns just perfectly. I’m sure the apple cider glaze would be an amazing choice though!

I’d make some changes to the original recipe, which are reflected in the recipe below. I also halved the original recipe to make just 12 rolls, also reflected in the recipe below.

Apple Cinnamon Rolls
adapted from Paula Deen
Printable Recipe

DOUGH
1 cups 2% milk
1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons salt
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

APPLE CINNAMON FILLING
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup loosely chopped pecans (optional – I didn’t add these)
1 3/4 cups finely chopped tart apples

DOUGH
1. In a small saucepan or a microwave oven, warm milk to about 110 F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in the milk.

3. Add salt and two cups of flour and beat for two minutes. Beat in eggs and butter.
4. Stir in the remaining flour a half cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about five minutes).

6. Place the dough in a large bowl and cover it with a towel. Set in a warm place and allow to rise for 40 minutes or until approximately doubled in volume.
Roll out dough into a long rectangle about 1/4” thick.

7. Brush with about half of the melted butter.

APPLE CINNAMON FILLING
1. To make the filling, in a medium-sized bowl, mix sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans, and apples.

2. Spread the pecan/apple mixture evenly over the dough, leaving about an inch empty on all sides.

3. Roll dough over itself from back to front along the long side of the rectangle to form a log. Slice the log into 12 even pieces

4. Line muffin tin with paper liners and place each piece of the log in a cupcake liner. If they don’t fit, fold the ends together to make a “C” shape. The pieces should come to about the top of the liners.

5. Cover the cupcake tins and set in a warm place to rise for another 40 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

7. Evenly distribute the remaining ¼ cup of melted butter over the tops of the cupcakes.

8. Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden.

APPLE CIDER GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon apple cider

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix powdered sugar and apple cider until fully combined.

2. Drizzle over cinnamon buns.

It seems that the hotter it gets here in Montreal, the less we feel like writing about all the great food we’re making at home. And I’m afraid that problem won’t be solved in the near future…we are soon off to visit Iles-de-la-Madeleine, about to stuff our face with lobster, mussels, scallops and clams. We haven’t left on a vacation in a few years, and haven’t smelled the ocean air in even longer, so this is an exiting adventure we’re really looking forward to. We’ll come back with plenty of lobster tales (pun so obviously intended!).

But for now, here’s a quick breakfast Soli whipped up one day. If you have the makings for a traditional eggs ‘n bacon breakfast, as well as some puff pastry, then this is a snap to make, and is amazingly good. A good breakfast tart is a wonderful thing to wake up to!

For this breakfast tart, we used some quality bacon, fiddleheads, mushroom, cheese and eggs. The end result was perfectly cooked eggs, slightly bitter fiddleheads, creamy goat cheese and sauteed mushrooms atop a flaky puff pastry crust. This recipe is extremely versatile though; substitute any ingredient with your own preference.

Could breakfast get any better? Oh! Yes, it can. Drizzle with maple syrup when you’re done and it’s ready to eat.

Breakfast Tart with Fiddleheads, Mushrooms, Bacon and Cheese
adapted from Yum Sugar

1 sheet puff pastry dough
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tsp. water
4 oz. cheese (we used a decadent goat cheese)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
8 bacon slices, cooked until crisp
4 eggs
1 tbsp butter
1 cup fiddleheads
1 cup sliced mushrooms

1. Thaw the puff pastry dough according to the package instructions.

2. Preheat an oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

3. On lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into a 10-by-8-inch rectangle. Place the pastry on the prepared baking sheet. Using a paring knife, score a border 1/2 inch in from the edge of the pastry. Using a fork, prick the center of the pastry. Brush the border with the egg wash and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

4. Saute fiddleheads and mushrooms in the butter until soft.

5. Place the toppings (bacon, fiddleheads, mushrooms, goat cheese) on the tart crust. Bake the tart for 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.

6. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place it on a level heatproof surface. Using a fork, prick any large air pockets in the pastry. Crack the eggs onto the tart, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake until the egg whites are set and the yolks are still soft, 7 to 10 minutes.

6. Transfer the tart to a platter and serve immediately.

I miss writing, especially here. Been gone, but where?

These were the days of my life since… last October. I am a foodie, but a keener of the sort. I have loved food since the start – easy hobby I figured. My mom didn’t really “love” food, but she loved the people eating it, and it showed. She gave me a head start on the whole ethnic palette idea – foreign color, flavor, and texture on a regular basis. I explicitly remember the breaded and baked calf brains served with a highly acidic, but still un-cured green/white cabbage salad. I was 7. I was not happy.

Pied de Cochon make a great calf brain omelet soufflé thing – fantastic

Taken from www.rawfish.com.au/brains-and-bacon/ - this is about what it looked like, but my mom served this with a cabbage salad and did not use any bacon.

Anyway, I started cooking and eating everywhere/everything. Traveling as a foodie is too good, especially if stop as you go… so after taking to as many markets, tables, sidewalks as there are types of bread, I decided to take a few sporadic plunges.

The Ritz Carlton – as far I know, my mentor. I worked there as a banquette server, always between the kitchen and the client. The kitchen was – the best. It’s where I saw my first 400 liter stock pot.

Other restos followed. I served mostly, but that implies always near the kitchen. Italian, Sushi, Chinese, tapas, bars and pubs – all different; all fascinating.

I eventually managed a couple for restos, but most recently, in the last year in fact, I was a chef. I cheffed for fifty, everyday.

They loved it. I loved it. Here a short list of some of what I served: Sample Menus

Why am I telling you all this? Because I went from foodie to pro, and thought you should know. Plus, I just sort of want to say thanks to all the people who truly love food and have shared with me their experience and passion – professionals and foodies, diners and dishers, servers and savants… thanks. My palette will forever know the amalgamation of texture and flavor one uses to taste the art of life…

…and with that, one of my favorites from the last year:

Crepes Terrine with Spinach, Mushroom, and Smoked Turkey

Crepes are my favorite and are in fact the first thing I learned to make after the fried egg. I know it as a breakfast food or dessert and love the way you can fill them up and roll them on your plate, blanketing them in any of many syrups, sauces, or jams. But the rich and sumptuous crepe is far more ready for a savory setting than I had earlier thought, dans la forme d’une… terrine? Sorta. Not exactly right, but serves the purpose.

So, first – prepare you fillings:

Mushrooms and Spinach

I like to use a mix of mushrooms that have been roasted and chopped with a bit of salt and pepper or a mushroom duxelle – nothing too fancy required, but feel free to experiment. Be wary of over flavoring as the finished dish is quite complex from a flavor perspective. Same goes for the spinach – roasted with salt and pepper. I mixed both of these with some onions rendered in butter for some extra flavor. Again, any approach to creating a delicately flavorful filling is good.

Smoked Turkey

I did this dish with shrimp when I was working (cooked then minced with green onion and garlic), but the deli-slice is far easier to work with. Use any you like, i.e. smoked turkey, but nothing too crazy. Finding something with little salt and fat is a good start.

Cheese

Buying sliced cheese is fun, but pricey. I like to get a few small chunks, grate, and mix (at work, this was replaced with a saffron roux and wilted spinach with onion). I also included a few intermittent layers holding brie as their prize. Remember to save some cheese to top the terrine.

Crepes

¾ cup all purpose flour (you can use any basic flour, but the texture will change)
1 cup milk
3 eggs
½ tablespoon sugar (optional, but I like the bit of sweetness)
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons melted butter

Whisk the eggs and milk together – you can optionally do all this in a blender or using a hand blender. Add the sugar, mix again. Temper the hot butter and add to the mix. Add remaining ingredients and mix for a last time. Store this in your fridge for one hour. This is required for a moist and tender crepe as the flour will have the time require to sponge-ily absorb the wet stuffs. Drink flour, drink (evil laugh)…

Heat a non-stick pan, butter it, and drop a teaspoon of the batter in the middle. Leave there until firm and then wipe it around the pan and throw it away (well, eat it, but for some reason the first crepe is never a nice one). Heat up your oven to the minimum setting and leave the crepes in there with a slightly damp towel overlying to keep them from drying.

Once done, and in an oven safe vessel, start the layering. Make sure to double or maybe triple the crepe count at the bottom so that you have something of a base. Use an intermittent method, is this case, mushrooms, turkey, cheese, mushroom, turkey, brie, as so on…

Top the last crepe with your reserved cheese, some crushed oregano, and finish in a 350C oven for a few minutes, just to melt the cheese. Remove, let rest 10 minutes, and then slice with a bread knife or another super sharp or toothy knife – enjoy.

You have the option to top with a hollandaise or other like sauce, but I like a drizzle of truffle oil and maple syrup. Serve with a sharp crisp white wine.

Now, I was sort of mentioning a shrimp based approach, but there are many options here. Enjoy ham, smoked salmon, spinach, avocado, other cheeses, other sauces, and of course – any dessert manifestation.

Weirdest breakfast ever? Probably!

Soli invented this concoction last weekend, and while it was perhaps the strangest breakfast sandwich I’ve had, it’s also one of the best. So here’s to trying new things, I guess!

The recipe is simple, if you dare give it a go yourself. Slice one baguette in half – toast it, and give it a good rubbing with a garlic clove. Top that with some beans you’ve had simmering away on the stove (Soli added sauteed some onions and vodka as a base for the beans), and at the end of cooking, toss in some cheese curds.

Prepare yourself some french style scrambled eggs, aka Ramsey eggs. There are various methods (it’s a method, rather than a recipe) floating around, but the basic idea can be found on this YouTube tutorial. The end result are eggs that are so light and creamy, you’d believe you’re eating buttery, rich clouds.

While all that’s going on, pop in some BBQ’ed eel in the oven (Soli sprinkled some brown sugar over the top) and bake it up until it’s moist and delicate inside, with a sweet crust on the top.

Got all that? Well, top your baguette with the beans, followed by some thick slices of eel, then a complete smothering of your dreamy eggs. It’s quite the taste sensations – full of rich sweetness, salty, melted cheese, robust beans and crunchy garlic bread. Heaven must be one weird place.

I hate eggs. Can’t stand them, especially perfectly poached, atop a crispy French baked starch, delicate, slightly sweet, partial to the moment, and often impossible to resurrect. Who wants that?

No, no, love them…

I only recently learned that you can take a pound of mushrooms, cook them, and eat them, so mushroom duxelle is becoming my Marmite, only delicious (kidding, actually sorta like Marmite).

Mushroom Duxelle
1 lbs mushrooms (your choice)
2 tbs butter
salt
pepper
¼ cup wine or 2 ounces of vodka (optional as this is breakfast)

Heat skillet; add very clean, finely chopped mushrooms, salt, and butter (the butter, seeing as the mushrooms won’t stick in the beginning, can be added at the end). Give it 10 -15 with some good heat behind it. Add a good splash of wine and move it around until it reduces.

I’ve reviewed poaching eggs before, try Eggs if you need to follow up.

The croutons… don’t know what happened, by a stroke of tasty genius hit me. These are, by far, the best crouton ever! But they are somewhat rich, so maybe they won’t fly in all crouton-ish applications.

Fried Croutons
French Baguette (in France them just call them baguettes)
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste

So cut up your fresh baguette into pieces the size you like, but not too small. We are going to need a bit of moisture and a small piece would dry out too quickly. Melt the butter in a bowl large enough to hold all your croutons. Add the oil, salt, and pepper, and whisk it up. Toss your croutons in the quasi-emulsion. Bake in an toaster over (or oven) at 350F for about 15 minutes.

Using this method, the croutons fry while toasting. I can’t say I’m sure, but it seems the butter adds a light nutty flavor and nice kind of crispy browning while the olive oil goes the distance in adding a firm chewiness.

Plate up! and DO NOT go back to bed; common problem I have – rich sleepy weekend breakfasts that insist Monday race itself back. This dish is light and breezy. Out the door and off to market

ADD: Omitted from this post was the drizzle of truffle oil to finish. Truffle oil is the best money you can spend, if you think you like truffles. Dizzle here, teaspoon there, infusions, finisher, starter, star and support, pfft… anyway. I hate to know there is none in the kitch.

Soli has a good backlog of dishes he has made (from soup to poached eggs to filet mignon) that he still needs to post about, so I’m going to lighten the load a little here and write briefly about the amazing and simple breakfast he made a few weeks back: Egg-In-A-Hole (or Egg-In-A-Basket or Toad-In-A-Hole or Bird’s Nest, depending on who you speak to).

I loved this breakfast. Soli punched some holes out of normal, Italian white bread, threw the bread (and the holes!) into a buttered pan, and cracked an egg into each hole. Some pepper, some salt, turn the stove on…and then you’re done.

Soli did pop the pan into the toaster oven for a bit, to melt the cheese he had sprinkled over the top.

The end result was perfectly cooked eggs stuck nicely into toasted bread, with cheesy bread circles on the side, and you don’t even need a fork or knife. Good morning!

Summer is still hitting us hard (not that I mind!), so we’re spending a lot less time in the kitchen. However, this morning, on my first day of vacation, Soli prepared me a fantastic breakfast that had me go straight back to bed after. Wow, I love vacation!

I don’t think there’s much of a recipe for this – Soli created it rather quickly. We toasted up some St-Viateur bagels, as well as popping a tray of fresh spinach sprinkled with olive oil in the toaster oven. While all of that was cooking, Soli made a mushroom duxelle made with chopped mushrooms, butter, smoked sea salt, heavy cream, a shot of champagne (hey, it’s vacation!), and some chunks of brie. With this simmering on the stove, he poached some eggs and sliced some home-smoked salmon from the fish store, Waldman’s.

In under an hour, we had this meal plated and then sprinkled with freshly ground pepper and some chipotal peppers. It was a great breakfast – the slightly wilted, roasted spinach was perfect, the salmon nice and smooth, and the cheesy, creamy mushrooms had me licking my plate.

Hello vacation!