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.

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I enjoyed this chicken meal I made ages ago, while the air was still chilly and snow was on the ground. I made some changes to the original recipe, including adding sausage to the pot, and mushrooms and brussel sprouts. It’s a comforting meal, and I love the bright lemon and the warm rosemary, the dominant flavours. The sausage, of course, was a great touch too!

I definitely recommend marinating the chicken overnight, if possible. If not, then at least a few hours. I used skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs and thought the chicken and resulting dish was a bit too fatty. Next time, I would use chicken breasts, which would probably be a better cut for this dish. I did enjoy the crisp on the skin from cooking the chicken on the stove before popping the whole dish in the oven, where all the flavours melded together.

Rosemary Chicken and Sausage Skillet adapted from Food Network

3/4 pound small red-skinned potatoes, halved, or quartered if large
Salt
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons leaves
2 cloves garlic, smashed
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed halves reserved)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (6 to 8 ounces each)
2 cups cremini mushrooms, halved
2 cups brussel sprouts, halved
1 large onion, sliced
2 italian sausages

1. Preheat the oven to 450. Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes; drain and set aside.

2. Pile the rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board, then mince and mash into a paste using a large knife. Transfer the paste to a bowl. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and the olive oil. Add the chicken let marinate, at least 30 minutes, better if it`s a few hours, or even overnight!

3. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, cover and cook until the skin browns, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.

4. Add the sausages to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove sausages from the pan.

5. Add the mushrooms, brussel sprouts, and potatoes to the skillet, place chicken over mushrooms and potatoes and drizzle with any marinade remaining in the bowl and the juice of the remaining lemon.

6. Add the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halves to the skillet; transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.

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Yup, it’s been pretty quiet around here. As usual, we’ve been cooking lots and not finding any inclination or desire to write about any of it. I am happy that Android FINALLY got Instagram…maybe that will encourage me to post a little more?

We have been enjoying the new house, and love seeing how the spring is changing the place. Our backyard is getting tidier, we’ve gotten two new BBQs that we have enjoyed thoroughly, and we found out our front yard will be growing a surplus of oregano, mint, thyme and various other herbs we can pick whenever we like. In addition, two massive lilac trees adorn either side of our front door. Needless to say, we are happy to see spring come this way.

A little on some of our recent BBQ escapades…

For our very first BBQ in the backyard, we used the BBQ that Soli’s dad had given him, combined with grills from our hibachi. We picked up some tomatoes, endives, asparagus, onions and mushrooms to grill, coating them all in olive oil, lemon, oregano, salt.

To go with that, we bought some bison and some rabbit sausages from a butcher down the street, as well as some deer steaks. All were very wonderful, especially the lean deer. The bison sausages may have been just a little too rich and the rabbit sausage a little too lean, as it dried out quite quickly on the BBQ. We also grilled some thickly cut slabs of bacon.

Then, Soli’s Weber got delivered, and our first meal on that was a full snapper, stuffed with green onions and rubbed with lemon, salt and garlic. Again, some grilled bacon and some potatoes to go on the side. A perfect meal, the fish was amaaaazing!

As seen in the first photo, we also attempted BBQing some pork ribs, but that didn’t go quite as smoothly. The coals ended up going out, and while the texture of the ribs was perfect, and the sauce Soli made the best BBQ sauce ever, the ribs themselves were definitely a little too….gamey….

The other day, Easter Monday, we picked up some pizza and grilled that, along with mushrooms, onions and zucchini, but that’s a story for a different day.

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In the past six years, I’ve lived in 4 1/2 homes. I was living in Verdun when I met him, but within a few weeks after our first date, I had taken up residence in his apartment on Parc, visiting my place only occasionally to wash our clothes and pay my rent. In less than one year, I signed for a very loft-like apartment for us to live in on Hotel-de-Ville while he was away on a ten-day meditation. We lived there for a few years, until we were asked to leave (someone bought the building and wanted to move in to our spot). We found a place on Brebeuf and spent a few more years there together, but eventually found it a bit too small and dark for our liking. This past December, we moved into a new home right off of Prince Arthur (one with a backyard and a basement!) and we’re planning on spending a few years here.

We’ve accumulated three cats. Kitin, the grey one, has been with me for about thirteen years now. We adopted Buuda (the black one) from a rescue network and Benedict walked into our Hotel-de-Ville home one morning and just never left.

We’ve travelled around a bit. Our first vacation, about eight months into the relationship, was a sleepless 10-day trip to Vancouver, eating sushi and riding motorcycles.

Our second summer together, I went to New York City for the first time. We started the trip with witnessing an abduction across the street and ended it with patching the axle of the car with bandaids.

The following summer, I took Soli canoe camping, fully expecting him to know how to canoe. We ended up going down rapids backwards in our canoe, losing an oar, and sleeping in a tent with only one dry sweater between the two of us to act as mattress, pillow and blanket. Once you can live together in a cold, damp tent with nothing to do but draw TV screens in the sand and paddle down a river with an oar made out of a tree branch and a trowel, you know you can weather any storm.

Next summer, we took a roadtrip to the Magdalen Islands, a journey through New Brunswick, and then a stop in Prince Edward Island where I insisted on throwing lobster shells out one mile down a dark country road.

Les Isles de les Madeleines? A ferry ride to the place where all beautiful seafood lives. Our bag of scallops and lobster tail snacks were the epitome of great food.

This past summer, we spent time in San Francisco. I thought California would be hot….it isn’t. We scootered around and ate everything we could.

But that was only after spending three weeks in Hawaii…first on Big Island, where we walked across volcanoes, climbed the “highest” mountain in the world (from sea level) and stuffed ourselves with kimchi crabs.

And then on Kauai where we flew in helicopters and I got sick on boats, hiked to waterfalls and woke up to a view of rainforest, dozens of waterfalls and rainbows.

Of course, there’s been a lot of food in between…but sometimes, life is more than just food.

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Another year, another visit to the Au Pied de Cochon cabane a sucre done. This year’s was definitely the year to go; it was our third time, and it was definitely the best of the bunch. The food never stopped coming, and every dish we had was spectacular, making this the year to beat. I don’t think there’s a need to go into all the fatty, meaty, decadent details, (additionally, I didn’t take as many photos as I usually do, even not photographing some dishes at all!) so here’s the quick overview.

I sent an email to the sugarshack, requesting to be on their waiting list, as I had accidentally missed the December 1st deadline to call in for reservations. I got a phonecall from the sugarshack not too long afterwards, telling me they had room for a 5:30pm Sunday seating, so we borrowed a car and headed out of the city, taking a quick detour through the town of Oka, and arriving at the cabane a sucre right on time.

The table was a bit squished, and definitely chilly, but things started heating up when the food started pouring out. First, a pitcher of beer for the four of us, and Soli tried one of the custom drinks, which was incredible. I don’t recall exactly what was in it beyond spruce beer, but it was bright, a little sour, fresh, and actually had some pretty thick applesauce in it.

We waited a little bit while the people sharing our table started getting their food. We had arrived significantly later than they did, and so we had to wait for our food. However, it soon arrived, and once it did, it never stopped.

Tourtiere with foie gras, pork (extra $10 for ½ pie, $20 for whole pie) – This is my favourite dish. Absolutely heaven. It’s served with a housemade tomato chutney.

Crispy potato slices, topped with smoked herring and maple syrup

Creton terrine (sweetbreads, foie gras, black pudding) served with blinis (unfortunately, no photo here, but it was amazing.)

Sturgeon “sushi” – sweet, fresh.

Lobster and smoked meat soufflé. This year was so fluffy, with chunks of lobster throughout.

Vol-au-vent with foie gras, béchamel, cheese, and apple and watercress salad – so rich, so buttery, so perfect. One of the top favs.

BBQ pork flank/BBQ suckling pig, served on potatoes and cabbage

Roasted duck in pepper sauce

Baked beans with duck legs (this is the amount of beans we took home!)

Maple Skor blizzards, duck fat fritters (not pictured), maple éclairs, maple mini cones, maple buns, maple taffy

About the time the so creamy, so amazing vol-au-vent was being eaten, we realized we still had several dishes of food coming our way, and we had been full since the light and fluffly smoked meat and lobster soufflé. When we saw the size of the platters bearing the duck and crispy onion rings, the fatty, saucy pork, the bucket of beans bigger than my head, we knew we were in trouble. I’m pretty sure we each took about one spoonful of beans, a few pieces of crispy duck skin and about one slice of pork before declaring defeat. This time, the sugarshack was offering take-home containers, so we piled all the food in. After all, we did want to leave some room for dessert!

All the take-home containers, before piling them into a cardboard box!

Another stunning cabane a sucre experience at Au Pied de Cochon! Until next year!

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I feel so bad that all my recent photos are so unattractively lit. I am doing the best I can with the type of light I get in my house during these winter months, but it really isn’t good enough. I should build myself a lightbox, or just do all my baking or cooking on bright Saturday afternoons. At least I’m somewhat comforted by the fact that we have about 30 more days left of this early darkness.

This tropical cheesecake lets in a little warmth and light into the kitchen though! Even in the dark, cold winter, the cake lets you have a badly-needed taste of the tropics. I made this for my mother’s birthday at the end of January. I wanted to remind everyone that it can’t be winter all the time, and because my parents were heading off in a few days to sunny Mexico, so why not have a preemptive taste of it?

This cheesecake is perfect in every way. Even Soli loved it, claiming it to be one of his favourite cakes, and he is not one of those cheesecake people. The filling uses plenty of cream cheese, and a whole can of coconut cream, not to be confused with coconut milk. Coconut cream is about $4 more expensive, and is a thick, amazingly sweet more condensed version of coconut milk. I could’ve sat down with the can and a spoon and been happy! I didn’t add any coconut to the filling, as I wanted a smoother texture, but I added extra coconut to the crust, and toasted up some more to sprinkle on the top before serving. All in all, the cake wasn’t at all overly coconuty, and it was in fact an understated flavor. I am happy I didn’t use sweetened coconut. The buttery graham cracker crust was heavenly.

The roasted pineapple I made and spooned on top before serving was a perfect touch and shouldn’t be skipped! I got the basic idea from the Bon Appetit: Desserts cookbook, and while some online reviews said this topping was cloyingly sweet, I didn’t find that at all! I did reduce the sugar and not use any rum, so the true sweetness of the pineapple popped out, and it was a juicy, light touch to an otherwise pretty rich dessert. Also, I definitely recommend buying a fresh pineapple and roasting that…don’t try to cheat using the canned ones!

In the end, this was a perfect cheesecake and a great taste of the tropics for a birthday cake in January.

Coconut Cheesecake with Honey-Roasted Pineapple
Adapted from Food Network and Bon Appetit: Desserts

COCONUT CHEESECAKE
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups usweetened shredded coconut, toasted
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature (4 8-0z packages, I used 2 regular and 2 light)
4 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter melted
1 15oz can cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez)
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Wrap outside of 9 inch diameter springform pan with with foil.

2. For the crust, mix graham cracker crumbs, 1 1/2 cups coconut, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and butter in small bowl. Press mixture onto bottom and up sides of pan.

3. For the filling, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until well blended.

4. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add cream of coconut, cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice and beat until well blended.

5. Pour filling into crust. Bake until puffed and set in center, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

6. Cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove pan sides.

7. Sprinkle remaining coconut around edge of cake and top each slice with some honey-roasted pineapple.

HONEY-ROASTED PINEAPPLE
1 extra-sweet pineapple, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds, cored
1 cup water
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons dark rum (optional; I did not use this)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place pineapple rings on large rimmed baking sheet.

2. Boil remaining ingredients in small saucepan 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Pour syrup over pineapple. Roast pineapple 12 minutes. Turn rings over; roast until tender and syrup thickens, turning rings every 5 minutes, about 20 minutes longer.

4. Cool pineapple on sheet. Cut into 1/3-inch cubes; transfer pineapple and syrup to bowl. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill.)

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Way, way back, when Tuesdays with Dorie first started, I was a member and baked along with everyone else. However, it soon became a little daunting and quite costly, both in the monetary sense and the calorie-count sense, as we were baking something every week. I stopped baking along after some time, though I continued to follow the blog and everyone else’s creations.

For Christmas, I received the Baking with Julia cookbook. Imagine how happy I was when I read that the new Tuesdays with Dorie group was not only beginning to bake from this book, but that the rules had relaxed, and now members only had to bake a selected recipe every two weeks. Not only that, but this cookbook is a bit more lenient on the waistline, as the cookbook is not only a slew of desserts, but also includes many bread recipes, which I wanted to get more experience baking anyway! All in all, this is a perfect situation for me, and I am excited to be involved with the group and to have something to motivate me to bake regularly!

I loved the first recipe we baked: White Loaves. It’s a great way to start, as it’s a simple, easy enough, plain bread. Making these loaves reminded me just how easy it actually is to bake bread. Granted, it is a bit time consuming, so you are sort of stuck in the house while the dough rises and then rises again, but if you’re planning on being home anyway, why not bake a couple of loaves of bread?

These white loaves are definitely easy, and call for few ingredients. It seems a lot of people were fancying them up, adding cheese and cinnamon swirls and other delicious things. I decided to start off simply, and just make the bread the way the book tells me the make the bread, and see how that goes before going all creative. I ended up with two loaves of amazing white bread, perfectly risen, with a slightly crispy, slightly buttery crust. I enjoyed eating slices just as is, nothing gspread on, not toasted, nothing! I can only imagine cheese or cinnamon swirls would’ve made this bread even more closer to perfection.

The only “problems” I had was with my standmixer and the baking time for my first loaf. The recipe makes enough dough for two loaves, but my mixer couldn’t quite handle all that dough! While it was “kneading” the dough, the hook kept getting stuck and stalling, so I ended up taking out half the dough, putting it aside while the machine kneaded the other half. I kneaded the put-aside dough, then switched…it was a long process, but I think it ended up working out, because the loaves had the ideal texture, density, crumb, everything!

The second (slight) problem was that my first loaf wasn’t baked all the way through. I couldn’t help but cut into it about 30 minutes out of the oven, and I saw its middle was definitely underbaked. I popped it back in the oven (as my 2nd loaf was still baking), and baked for another 10 minutes. Then it was fine. I also added 10 minutes to the 2nd loaf, and it came out wonderfully baked.

I’m not only looking forward to continuing to bake with the Tuesdays with Dorie group, but I am also excited to keep making this bread recipe. Nothing beats a simple bread, baked right!

For the recipe, check out the hosts’ page, Laurie’s blog slush or Jules’ blog Someone’s in the Kitchen, or better yet, buy the book, Baking with Julia!

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I had been craving a batch of chocolately homemade cookies for quite some time. Unbelievably, I don’t think I’ve made any cookies since the summer, so the craving turned into obsession and I could no longer ignore it. I flipped through the big, fat and beautiful Bon Appetit: Desserts, looking for a cookie recipe I’ve never tried and that didn’t have any ingredients I didn’t already have in the house. The winner was the Chocolate Toffee Cookies, which I adapted into what is now Chocolate-Cinnamon Caramel Cookies.

I made a few changes to the cookies. We fortunately had a little bottle of rum we had been sipping from that evening, so I splashed the 1 tablespoon of rum the recipe called for in the batter. When I turned my back, Soli generously threw in another tablespoon or so more. This made for a definite hit of rum with every cookie…I was actually a bit nervous eating one of these things for breakfast (What? I know everyone eats cookies for breakfast sometimes!).

I didn’t have any Skor or Heath bars, but I did have these super tiny chocolate-covered caramel cup chips…I can’t really think of a better way to describe them. They were a great addition, I think! The cookies didn’t have that crunch that I’m sure the Heath bar would’ve given it, but were instead studded with soft pockets of sweet, luscious caramel and dark chocolate. I didn’t add the nuts either, so the cookies were soft and moist the whole way through, with a slightly crispy edge. The texture was just amazing, and I don’t know if I would’ve even wanted any crunches to disrupt that.

The last thing I did differently, and that I wholeheartedly recommend, is adding a little bit of cinnamon to the cookies. I didn’t add so much that the cinnamon became a dominant flavor; in fact, some people who tried the cookie couldn’t quite place what it was they were tasting. I thought it pushed the cookie over the edge, making it change from super-great cookie to a super-great-amazing-favourite-cookie-ever. How can a soft, tender chocolate, cookie, filled with caramel and hints of rum and cinnamon be anything short of perfection?

Chocolate-Cinnamon Caramel Cookies
adapted from Bon Appetit: Desserts

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate covered caramels (the original recipe calls for crushed chocolate-covered English toffee, such as Heath, Skor bar; about 7 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped almonds (optional; I did not add any nuts this time)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg, the rum and the vanilla and beat again, until everything is blended together.

4. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.

5. Stir in the chocolates or toffee and nuts, if using.

6. In large spoonfuls, drop batter into an ungreased baking sheet about two inches apart. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies start cracking on top but are still soft.

7. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then place the cookies in a rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

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Thanks for people’s comments on my previous post, both the ones posted on-site, and the ones emailed to me. It’s always interesting and helpful to hear the perspectives of others, especially when it comes to something so clearly…questionable.

Today, I’ll stay on the safe side and write about a great meal Soli threw together on a whim about a week back. We had picked up a Portuguese chicken a few nights before, and foolishly ordered a family-size pack of fries to go with it. Now, their fries are amazing, and I am an avid French-fry-addict, but even given these two truths, there was no way we would ever be able to finish these behemoth bag of fries. After a few nights of them sitting in our fridge, Soli decided to use them in a frittata.

I’ve got to start eating frittatas more often! They’re one of those dishes I always forget about, but shouldn’t, because they are so easy to prepare and pretty much anything in the fridge can be tossed in there with great results. This one was a concoction of lardons, a whole pack of frozen spinach and greens, a chopped onion, a sliced zucchini, a can of corn, a few handfuls of our spicy Portuguese fries, a whole lot of eggs, and some shredded cheese, all baked up in a cast iron pan and served alongside some ketchup and hot sauce. Simple, quick, delicious, and the perfect way to use up food that’s just sitting in the fridge.

There’s no real recipe here, just play it by ear. First, we thawed the frozen spinach and greens, and squeezed out all the excess water. Heat your French fries briefly up in the oven at around 400 degrees F. Next, chop an onion! We heated some butter and olive oil in a cast iron pan, and added some bacon that had been cut into cubes, then added the chopped onion. Next, we added a sliced zucchini and the can of corn niblets. Throw in the thawed greens, and heat. While it’s heating, beat together 10 eggs and add the shredded cheese. Add the French fries, and pour the egg and cheese mixture over everything. Pop it in the over at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until the eggs are firm and are puffing up. Cut into triangles and serve with salad or lots of ketchup and hot sauce!

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About a year ago, I found a recipe for a cake on someone’s blog that I knew would be the perfect cake for my mom’s birthday. I made the cake, my mom loved it, and I posted my photos of the cake, along with the recipe and about 4 links to the original recipe and words of praise to the site where I found the recipe. At no point did I ever say, or come close to implying, that the recipe was my own.

Within a few days, I received a lengthy email from the person who owns the site from whom I had taken the recipe. She told me I should not be posting her recipe as my own, which I hadn’t done, but because I hadn’t changed enough words in the recitation of the recipe, in her opinion, I had stolen her recipe.

I removed the post from my site.

Even though she hasn’t posted anything in almost a year now, I obviously still think about it. I am not a “real” chef or baker. I follow recipes and only occasionally alter them. Sometimes I mix and match. This blog does not exist because I hope to become the world’s best food-maker, but because I want to keep track of the things I make and because I want to share these things with other people, and exactly in that order. I want to remember a successful cake, I want to remember the day I made it, I want to remember what was good and what was bad. I’m not trying to gain anything with this site except for sharing what is delicious to me.

Is this wrong? I do not earn a cent with my site…in fact, I pay for its domain. It exists so that i can keep track of the food I’ve made. I love to take photos of food and I enjoy remembering and perhaps sharing these foods. Is it a harmful thing to post a recipe you’ve gotten elsewhere, with credit given? I feel privileged when someone makes something I’ve posted…is that weird?

What happened to sharing? I never pretend to have created a recipe, and always give credit where credit is due. Is that enough? What do you do with your food blog? Am I wrong?

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I made Ina Garten’s chipotle and rosemary roasted nuts for Christmas after seeing the recipe in December’s Food Network magazine. The instant I saw the recipe, I was drawn to it, and saved it in the back of mind for Christmas. This was a perfect Christmas recipe for this year…we moved on December 17th, which is really a terrible time when it comes to being able to cook or bake for Christmas. Everything was a mess, my cutlery went missing for about 2 weeks, and we have a new gas stove that I had no idea to work, so even if I had had baking pans and flour readily available, I would still be hesitant to make any cookies or cakes. I was willing to give a panful of roasted nuts a try though!

I did use the same amount of nuts and “dressing” as the recipe states, though I upped the cashews, walnuts and almonds and skipped out on using the pecans. The cashews I used where not roasted. Finally, I couldn’t find our maple syrup (you think everything is so organized when you pack it, but when 8 boxes of canned/bottled foods are staring you down to be unpacked, you realize you could’ve done a much, much better job!), so I used honey instead.

In the end, these turned out really well. I am not a massive nut-fan (I think because I grew up never really eating nuts, as I was allergic to peanuts), but these were fun to snack on, especially when accompanied with chunks of old cheddar cheese. I adore the salty/sweet flavor combo, and the orange adds a fun brightness to the whole thing. I didn’t find them spicy at all, and would actually probably add some cayenne to the mix next time. They were definitely a good Christmas dish, and the recipe makes a ton. The nuts do like to really stick together though, so be prepared to have to stab at them a little to knock a few nuts loose.

One big change I made was follow some of the reviewers’ advice and reduced the heat from 350 degrees to 300 degrees and watched them carefully after about 20 minutes. It did take a little bit longer, but they certainly weren’t burnt!

Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts
Adapted from Ina Garten

Vegetable oil
3 cups whole roasted unsalted cashews (14 ounces)
2 cups whole walnut halves (7 ounces)
2 cups whole pecan halves (7 ounces) (I skipped these and just used more of the other nuts)
1/2 cup whole almonds (3 ounces)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup (I used honey instead)
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons ground chipotle powder
4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
Kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Brush a sheet pan generously with vegetable oil. Combine the cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds, 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, the maple syrup, brown sugar, orange juice and chipotle powder on the sheet pan; toss to coat.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of the rosemary and 2 teaspoons of salt and toss again.

3. Spread the nuts in one layer. (I needed to use two cookie sheets)

4. Roast for 25 minutes, stirring twice with a large metal spatula, until the nuts are glazed and golden brown. Bake longer if they don’t seem finished, keeping a close eye on them.

5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 2 more teaspoons of salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of rosemary. Toss well and set aside at room temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking as they cool. Taste for seasoning.

Serve warm or cool completely and store in airtight containers at room temperature for up to a week.

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A lot of people just adore crème brûlée. They see it on a dessert menu, and they just have got to get it. I am not one of those people. In fact, I think I’ve probably eaten crème brûlée just a few times, and this was my first time making it.

I followed the recipe exactly, and didn’t attempt adding any other flavours. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for the best. The taste was great – rich, creamy, sweet..almost heavenly. However, they never set and it was almost pure liquid under the hard sugar layer. I read around on the internet and found that many people had a very similar problem with this recipe, so if you do decide to make this, adjust the temperature! I did bake them for longer, but it still didn’t work out. Like I said though, the flavour was all there…just the consistency wasn’t.

Crème Brûlée
from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 ¼ cups heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
3 large egg yolks
1 / 3 cup sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
About 6 tablespoons sugar or sifted light brown sugar, for topping

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 200ºF/ 93ºC.

2. Put the six baking dishes on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

3. Bring the cream and milk just to a boil.

4. In a 1 or 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla together until well blended but not airy. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid—this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the cream and milk. Give the bowl a good rap against the counter to de-bubble the custard, then strain it into the baking dishes.
Bake the custards for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the centers are set—tap the sides of the dishes, and the custards should hold firm. Lift the dishes onto a cooling rack and let the custards cool until they reach room temperature.

5. Cover each custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably longer. (The custards can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.) For the sugar to be successfully caramelized, the custards need to be thoroughly chilled.

SERVING
Serve the crème brûlée when the crème is really cold and the brûlée is still warm. You can serve the whole dessert chilled, but the sugar topping won’t have its characteristic crackle. And while I think crème brûlée should be served with nothing more then a spoon, you could offer berries and cookies as accompaniments.

STORING
The custard for crème brûlée must be made ahead so it has plenty of time to chill, but once you’ve caramelized the sugar on top, your storage time is over if your want the sugar to have crunch.

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Just a few of my favourite dessert things: Coffee cakes. Chocolate and orange combinations. Cinnamon and pecan streusels. It’s pretty obvious that I would love this coffee cake, which has exactly everything I love!

First, the cake itself. Cakes that contain sour cream are notoriously moister, more tender, more delicious. All very true for this cake! Next, the streusel. It’s got cinnamon, it’s got chocolate, it’s got pecans, and the cake has two streusel layers! One runs through the centre of the cake, and the top of the cake gets all crunchy from the layer on top. I believe there is no such thing as too much streseul. Finally, the chocolate-orange flavor combo. Neither the chocolate or the orange is predominant. The only chocolate is in the streusel, and the only orange is the orange juice and rind in the cake. They’re there, subtly, and I love it. I did add a bit of extra rind in the streusel, just because I do love orange and chocolate together.

It makes for a wonderful morning cake with coffee, so if you’re looking for a cake to serve during the holidays at a breakfast or brunch, this is an ideal choice. I was thinking that it would be the perfect cake to use one of those Terry’s chocolate oranges (the dark chocolate one though, not the milk – to sweet!) in. I think I may just have to make this cake again….

Sour Cream-Orange Coffee Cake with Chocolate-Pecan Streusel
from Bon Appetit

CHOCOLATE-PECAN STREUSEL
1 1/2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled salted butter, diced
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

SOUR CREAM ORANGE COFFEECAKE
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/3 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup orange juice

STREUSEL
1. Whisk brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl to blend.
2. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture holds together in small, moist clumps.
3. Mix in pecans and chocolate chips. (Can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

CAKE
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until blended and smooth.
3. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then orange peel and vanilla extract.
4. Mix in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with sour cream in 3 additions.
5. Mix in orange juice.
6. Spread half of batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of streusel.
7. Drop remaining batter over by heaping tablespoonfuls; carefully spread batter to make even layer.
8. Sprinkle with remaining streusel.
9. Bake cake 30 minutes.
10. Lay sheet of foil loosely over pan to keep topping from browning too quickly. Continue baking until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes longer.
11. Remove foil. Cool cake in pan on rack 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar; serve warm or at room temperature. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool completely. Store airtight at room temperature.)

Oh, and I got a visit from The Fairy Hobmother, from Appliances Online today, whose job it is to spread joy among the internet bloggers. A while back, I left a comment on one of Grace’s awesome posts, and today I got my visit, which resulted in a wonderful Amazon voucher (considering how close the holidays actually are, this is a great thing)!

And if you leave a comment on this post, the Fairy Hobmother might just be visiting you next!

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Happy National Bundt Day!!!

One of my favourite food blogs, The Food Librarian, takes on the daunting task of preparing a bundt a day for the month (check out the aptly named “I Like Big Bundts” pages!) leading up to National Bundt Day. Needless to say, I wish I worked in her place of employment! Whenever I’m looking for a bundt cake to make, I always check out her blog first, and her countless number of bundt recipes. Last year, I made a lemon bundt cake. This year, to celebrate National Bundt Day, however, I went with a bundt from Baked’s cookbook, the chocolate root beer bundt cake.

I wish the photos captured this cake better; now that it’s daylight savings, I no longer have the joy of natural daylight during the week to take photos in. Add to that the fact that chocolate cakes are already pretty hard to photograph…and you’re left with this dark brown chocolate blob of a cake. It really is a tasty cake though! I can’t say that the root beer adds any flavor to it; it pretty much is just a rich, deep, moist, decadent chocolate cake with an enormous layer of smooth, fantastically chocolatey frosting. This is one powerful chocolate cake, and the perfect cake to celebrate National Bundt Day with.

Chocolate Root Beer Bundt Cake
From Baked: New Frontiers In Baking

CAKE
2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

FROSTING
2 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao), melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup root beer
2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

CAKE
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray; alternatively, butter it, dust with flour, and knock out the excess flour.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy–do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small sharp knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto the rack.

FROSTING
1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and smooth.

2. Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the Bundt in a thick layer. Let the frosting set before serving.

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I am definitely a quickbread fan! While banana bread will always be at the top of my list, I am open to pretty much any sweet bread. The last bread I made was a rather mild-tasting, not too sweet, walnut-date bread. It has all the qualities of a banana-nut bread, but with a taste similar to date squares. It’s a great breakfast bread, and I loved toasting a slice and smearing it with some creamy brie. Because the bread isn’t (surprisingly, considering all the sugars in it) that sweet, it’s prefect with all sorts of cheeses!

I love the chunks of date in it, as well as the crunch of the candied walnuts. And one of my favourite parts? This bread is made in only one pot! If you’re looking for something a bit different from the usual banana bread, give this one a try!

Walnut-Date Bread
adapted from Honest Cooking

250g pitted dates
1 cup water
60g unsalted butter
180g granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
180g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
cup candied walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Butter 4 small loaf tins or 1 standard loaf pan.

2. Place dates in a saucepan with water and bring to the boil, then decrease heat to low and simmer for 3-4 minutes until all the liquid has absorbed and the dates are mushy. Mash to break up any big pieces, then add the butter, sugar and golden syrup. Stir until the butter has melted, then remove from the heat and stir the baking soda into the hot mixture.

3. Cool slightly, then stir in the egg.

4. Fold in the flour and baking powder, then the candied walnuts.

5. Spread the batter into the pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool slightly in the pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

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Looking for a 10,000,000 calorie dessert that’s bound to please pretty much anyone with a sweet tooth? No need to look any further!

I stocked up on cans of condensed milk last time I traveled over the border; $1.97/can vs $4.50/can? Sounds like a deal to me! I thought this would be a fun Thanksgiving dessert, and a great way to use up some of my stockpiled cans of condensed milk. They are decadently sweet, rich and perfect. The shortbread crust is so buttery, it’s great all on its own. The caramel layer, made from heating and stirring the condensed milk over low heat it extremely boring and time-consuming, but the end result is worth it. Eventually, the condensed milk thickens, then thickens more, and turns an amber colour and becomes so sticky, sweet, and heavenly! The chocolate layer (you can use any chocolate you like, but I prefer bittersweet to milk, as that caramel is sweet enough as it is, and needs something like bittersweet chocolate to cut the sweetness down) has a nice “snap” to it.

All together, every layer is gorgeous and each one plays into the other. It’s like a gigantic Twix bar, only better.

SHORTBREAD
2 sticks butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for preparing pans
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for preparing pans
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

CARAMEL
2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter

CHOCOLATE
3/4 pound good-quality bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter

SHORTBREAD
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Butter 2 (8-inch) square nonstick pans and coat with flour, tapping off excess.
3. Place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse once. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles peas. Press the shortbread mixture into prepared pans and bake until golden brown around the edges, about 20 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

CARAMEL
1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the condensed milk and 2 tablespoons of butter. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring continuously. Continue stirring over the heat until mixture becomes thick and amber in color, about 15 minutes.

2. Pour the caramel over the cooked shortbread and spread evenly using an offset spatula.

3. Cool to room temperature.

CHOCOLATE
1. In a glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter.

2. Once chocolate has melted, pour it over the cooled caramel layer. Cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes, and then place in the refrigerator to cool completely, allowing chocolate to slightly harden but not get hard.

3. Cut into 2-inch squares and enjoy, or store in an airtight container, at room temperature.

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One of the dishes I request most is tuna salad. I think this happens about twice a month, and I think it’s when my body is deprived of protein. This salad always satiates my body, and it’s an ever-changing recipe, depending on what’s in season and what’s in the fridge.

Celery and carrots are always in the fridge. Therefore, they are always in the salad. However, the last time Soli made this, he decided to lightly cook the veg instead of just adding it all raw to the salad -what a difference! There was still a crunch, but a subtle one; instead, all the textures blended together in harmony, as did the flavours.

I could offer up a recipe for this, but I think a tuna salad is better if you just add the stuff you love. Here’s what we just made, but feel free to adjust to your tastes accordingly.

By the way, did you know that you should “peel” celery before you cook with it? If you peel it, then those stringy bits no longer exist! Just pass a veggie peeler over each stalk, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Amazing!

What You Love Tuna Salad

1 pound dry pasta (whatever shape you love)

3 cans tuna, rinsed and drained
2-3 slices bacon, cubed (optional; if not, use 2 tbsp butter)
3 stalks celery, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
(whatever other veggies you love: peas, white onions, red peppers, etc)
2 green onions, sliced
2 potatoes, peeled, boiled, and cubed
3 tbsp. fresh dill
3 eggs, hardboiled, and diced
whatever else you would like to add (sweet or dill pickles, red onion, etc. all diced)

DRESSING (all to taste)
2 cloves garlic, mashed
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt
pepper
(can add anchovies, red pepper flakes, etc)

1. Boil pasta, then rinse immediately in cold water.

2. Heat non-stick pan over medium heat. Add bacon (if not using, add 2 tbsp butter instead). Melt butter or cook bacon over medium heat. Remove bacon (if using). Add celery and carrots. Cook until slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

2a. If using, dice bacon.

3. In a large bowl, combine pasta, tuna, potatoes, egg, vegetables, fresh dill and green onions and bacon (if using).

4. Mash garlic and salt (via mortar and pestle); add olive oil and lemon.

5. Pour dressing over salad. Add seasoning (more garlic, lemon, oil, pepper) to taste.

6. Chill and serve.

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Last week, we my sister, Soli and I finally made it to Gordon Ramsay’s Laurier BBQ. I have never tried the resto when it was just Laurier BBQ, sans Gordon Ramsay, so I can’t say if it’s improved or not…I can say, however, that’s it’s excellent!

I had been reading some reviews since it opened that were not always positive or glowing. However, I either have very different tastebuds, or the food has vastly improved, because all three of us were very impressed. There was only one thing disappointing: the jars of pickles on every table that were not cleared or emptied between clients, and because there was no pickle-fork in the jar, clients would just stick their fingers or their own forks in there, meaning when you finally get a pickle, it’s coated in the finger and mouth germs of 15 people ahead of you (at least). We made a complaint about this, and the waitress said, oh! There’s usually a pincher in there…but as we left the resto and walked by at least one dozen tables, there were no pinchers in any of the jars. Gross!!

Now that my complaint is done, on to the good news! The rest of the food! The photos are not the best, since I only had a cellphone. Soli started with a Caesar, which was actually one of the best that he’s claimed he’s tasted, and I agree, it was pretty amazing. It had a heavy dollop of horseradish in it (which I believe is a typical Montreal-Caesar thing), and have a nice, smokey, BBQ tang to it. Really flavourful!

I ordered the chicken breast meal, which came with coleslaw, gravy, fries and a bun. Soli go the ½ chicken meal, my sister ordered the chicken pot pie, and there was an order of the smoked meat mac and cheese for all to share.

The mac and cheese was nice, but nothing special. It was a very small dish of creamy noodles and a few chunks of smoked meat that were a little lost among the noodles and cheese. This would not be something I would order again.

The chicken, however, was just fantastic. It was juicy and meaty. You could tell this was a good-quality chicken, one who probably lived a decent life, because his taste showed it. The skin was light and crisp, and not too salty. The coleslaw was okay, but the gravy was heaven! Heavy on the rosemary, it was thick and comforting, and was perfect with the chicken. We adored the French fries, which were sooooo crisp, Soli is convinced they are brined first. I even loved the bun, which was sweet and moist. I only had a bite or two of the pot pie, but the gravy was good, and the top flaky and buttery.

The price in the end was great too – very affordable for the quality of the food. It’s a cozy resto, and I can imagine myself spending some cold winter nights in there.

Gordon Ramsay’s Laurier BBQ
381 Laurier Ouest
Montreal, Quebec

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This is one of my favourite cakes, for several reasons. It’s amazingly quick and easy to put together, and it comes out with the perfect texture every single time. The yogurt makes is a somewhat dense cake, with a very moist crumb. It is pretty much my favourite cake texture.

Next up, all those raspberries. I like the cake with frozen raspberries and with fresh raspberries…however, whenever I bake with berries, I freeze those berries first. I think that’s an important thing for cakes as white as this one; you don’t want it baking up with swirls and chunks of raspberries; I prefer when then jewel the cake. Also, big berry pieces mean big berry flavor!

The orange peel and juice (I’ve also used lemon) makes the cake exceptionally bright and lively. And finally, that almond extract! The extract in the cake itself is not too heavy, just a background note. The glaze on the cake is a little crunchy, a little sweet, and definitely almondy.

A perfect breakfast kinda cake, an ideal snack for an afternoon, and a lighter way to end a meal in the evening…not matter the season or time of day, this will always be one of my definite go-to cakes!

French Yogurt Raspberry Cake
From Bon Appetit

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract, divided
1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt (I’ve also used vanilla – great!!)
2 1/2 cups fresh raspberries (two 6-ounce containers) (or frozen)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon (or more) water

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 12-cup Bundt pan. Whisk 2 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in medium bowl.

2. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Beat in orange juice, 1 teaspoon almond extract, and orange peel. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in yogurt.

3. Add dry ingredients to batter and beat just until blended. Toss 1/2 cup flour and raspberries in large bowl. Fold berry mixture into batter. Spoon batter into prepared pan; smooth top.

4. Toss 1/2 cup flour and raspberries in large bowl. Fold berry mixture into batter. Spoon batter into prepared pan; smooth top.

5. Bake cake until wooden skewer inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool 30 minutes. Invert cake onto plate and cool. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

6. Whisk powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon water, and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in medium bowl. Add more water by 1/2 teaspoonfuls as needed for thick glaze. Drizzle over cake. Let stand until glaze sets.

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Whenever I pass by the olive bar at the grocery store or the veggie markets, I am drawn in. I cannot resist them – the black olives, the green olives, the garlic-stuffed olives. I always bring some home and I always end up eating them all by the end of the evening. Given this love for olives, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I tried Dorie Greenspan’s herbed olives. It’s a simple recipe, doesn’t call for many ingredients, and just amplifies any olive!

I don’t think I’ll be able to bring home olives again and not heat some oil, toss some herbs and spices in, and wait a few hours. They become so much more interesting with just a few flavour-boosters tossed in there! Feel free to use whatever olives you end up having, as well as any herbs or spices you are partial to.

Herbed Olives
From Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table

2 cups olives
3 rosemary sprigs
3 thyme sprigs
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, split in half
2 bay leaves, cut lengthwise in half
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 strips lemon zest, pith removed
Salt to taste

1. Place the olives into a 1-quart jar (canning one is great). Remove the leaves from 2 of the 3 springs of rosemary and thyme and chop them finely.

2. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat, and when it gets hot, add the coriander seeds and peppercorns. Turn them in the pan just until they become fragrant. Place them in a small bowl.

3. Let the pan cool a bit, then put it over very low heat. Pour in half of the olive oil and all the remaining ingredients (spices, herbs, the two intact rosemary and thyme sprigs, lemon peel). Heat until warm and fragrant, about 3 minutes.

4. Pour the warm herb oil into the jar with the olives. Add as much oil as needed to cover the olives. Mix and let stand until it reaches room temperature. Let sit in the fridge – the longer you can hold off heating them, the better they will be! They will last about 2 weeks in the fridge.

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As some people have realized, I’ve moved the series of Hawaii posts. If you do want to read them, you can see them here:

Big Island, Day 1 (Puako)

Big Island, Day 2 (Puako to Captain Cook)

Big Island, Days 3 & 4 (Kona to Hilo)

Big Island, Days 5 & 6 (Volcano and Mauna Kea)

Kauai and Waimea Canyon

Kauai and Getting to Hanalei

And here’s our two days in San Francisco!

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I know I haven’t been posting much about food or recipes much in the last few months. It’s not because I haven’t been cooking or eating – exactly the opposite! We’ve devoured a blueberry buckle, a coconut-pineapple crisp, pasta with roasted butternut squash and goat cheese, a hearty, creamy chicken noodle soup…the list goes on and on. Truth be told, I think I’m tired of writing like this. I no longer feel the urge to take photos of the food, to write about the food…Does anyone else ever feel this way? Does it pass? Is there anything I can do about it?

Here’s a recipe from a long time ago: Martha Stewart’s Black Bottom Coconut Bars. I wasn’t a big fan. Both layers, the brownie and the coconut, were a little too dry, a little too bland. Maybe it’s my fault, maybe not…but I like my brownies gooey and chewy, so this just didn’t work for me. Some people may like it, so if you’re thinking this sounds up your alley, then check them out here. I won’t bother posting the recipe here though.

I am definitely going to finish my Hawaii series on here. Hopefully, I feel a bit more inspired to keep documenting cooking and baking endeavors by then.

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It’s definitely berry season here! I found a recipe in Bon Appetit’s desserts baking book for a cherry-lime cobbler with lime biscuits. I didn’t want to stick with just cherries, so I switched it up a bit to include some fresh strawberries, blueberries, and of course, cherries. I had some lemons and sour cream already, so I skipped the creme fraiche idea, and used the sour cream instead, along with lemon juice and zest instead of lime.

This recipe differs from the usual cobbler. The fruit is all prepared in a cast iron pan, and the biscuits are baked separately, and placed atop a bowl of a warm berry mixture. I loved having all the different berries in there, and the lemon definitely cuts the sweetness. The biscuits had a nice lemony tinge, and were fantastic to eat all alone, and even better after they had soaked up all that berry goodness.

This is a quick and easy dish, and perfect for summer and berry season. I’ve also been dolloping the berry mixture on top of the strawberry sour cream ice cream…just wonderful!

Cherry, Blueberry & Strawberry Cobbler with Vanilla-Sour Cream Biscuits
adapted from Bon Appetit

FRUIT MIXTURE
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup water
2 cups whole pitted fresh cherries
2 cups blueberries
1 cup strawberries, halved
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

BISCUITS
1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon milk

FRUIT MIXTURE
Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 400°F.

2. Stir brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt in large clad skillet, then stir in 1/2 cup water. Stir over medium heat until sugar and cornstarch dissolve.

3. Add all the berries and bring to boil, scraping sides of skillet and stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes.

4. Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice and lime peel. Place in lower third of the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until fruit mixture is bubbling.

BISCUITS
1. Whisk flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.

2. Whisk sour cream, vanilla, and lemon peel in small bowl.

3. Add sour cream mixture to dry ingredients; stir with fork just until dough begins to come together.

4. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead just until dough holds together, about 6 turns. Gather dough into round; pat out to 1/2-inch thickness. Using 3-inch biscuit cutter or cookie cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds. Gather dough scraps together; pat out to 1/2-inch thickness and cut out more dough rounds for a total of 6.

5. Transfer rounds to another rimmed baking sheet; brush tops lightly with milk, then sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

6. Bake in top third of oven at 400 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden.

7. Divide warm cherries among 6 bowls; top each with 1 biscuit and serve.

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Here’s another ice cream recipe from David Lebovitz’s book, The Perfect Scoop, and it’s a great one for now, Quebec’s glorious strawberry season. It’s not a very sweet ice cream, but really shows off the flavour of the strawberries, so make sure you use only the best berries for this ice cream. The sour cream gives it a nice tang, and the heavy cream that smooth, ice creaminess you would want. It’s a simple ice cream, meant as a showcase for the berries.

I had made a strawberry-rhubarb compote a bit later in the week and topped this ice cream with it. It got about 10x better, so definitely try something like that!

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop

1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vodka or kirsch
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Slice the strawberries. Put them in a bowl with sugar and vodka or kirsch.

2. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve and all of the strawberries are coated. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2. Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth, but still slightly chunky.

3. Refrigerate mixture for at least one hour. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

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We’re off on a 3-week vacation soon…two weeks in Hawaii (Big Island and Kauai) and one week driving the California coastline. We’ll be visiting San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, with stops along the way.

This is a call to the Internet! If you’ve eaten delicious food in any of these places, resto or market, please give me recommendations! I’ve been doing my research online, but I would love to hear more. I’m really looking for those hidden treasures, or those local spots that offer the things I don’t get up here in Quebec (especially seafood!)

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