Rhubarb Pie

We had devoured most of the pie by the time I remembered
to snap a photo. It was very, very tasty.

Rhubarb season has started in late May, and Meredith got her hands on some. She was quite excited. What she didn't know was that there wasn't enough rhubarb for the pie she wanted to make, so she winged in and threw in an apple as well. Very creative (and super tasty, of course!).

The one warning Meredith offered is for the prepared pie crusts in those shallow tin pans. They're not as big as they say they are, and there's a big risk of everything bubbling over. The next time she makes this, she's going to buy the flat pie crust and put it in her ceramic pie plate - it's much deeper and will do a better job at containing the mess.

The recipe is loosely based on one of Martha Stewart's rhubarb pie recipes, however, Meredith substituted a few ingredients, did her own thing with the pie crust and left out the plastic kittens thermal glued to the jail cell bars.

Rhubarb Apple Pie

Pie
prepared pie dough
5 cups rhubarb, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 apple, peeled, cored and cubed
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp tapioca starch
pinch salt

Topping
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp sugar
pinch salt
6 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces

1. Press the pie crust into a deep, 9-inch pie plate, trimming edges if necessary. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Prepare the crumble topping: in a medium bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, sugar, and salt. Using a spoon (or your hands) MIX in the butter until clumps of mixture form. cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Move oven rack to the lowest level and preheat to 400-degrees. 
4. In a large bowl, toss rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Transfer mixture into pie shell and sprinkle with crumble topping.
5. Place pie on a foil-lined baking sheet to catch any overflow.
6. Reduce oven temperature to 375-degrees and bake for 90 minutes, until topping and crust has browned lightly. If the pie starts to brown too quickly, cover pie in a tin foil tent.
7. Let cool before serving. 

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Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

We don't make bacon often, but when we do, we occasionally save the rendered fat in a jar and store it in the back of the fridge. I'd joke about using it to make fried bread once in a while, but I never do.

Putting bacon in everything has been a trend for some time. I think it's part of the sweet and salty combination that makes the flavours attractive. I've seen bacon with chocolate and bacon-topped cupcakes. Meredith wanted to use some of that bacon fat for cookies, so we started looking.

The more reasonable recipes used about 1/2 cup bacon fat (as substitute for 1/2 cup butter). I know - that can't be healthy. We weren't expecting it to be. And there had to be some crumbled bacon as well.

The cookies were pretty good. There was a slight aftertaste that was a little strong, but I attribute that to sediment in the bacon fat - extra salty bits. I think I should've put the hot bacon fat through a coffee filter first, because it was a little cloudy. I've done it before and I'll do it next time - if there is a next time.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup rendered bacon fat
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup bacon, cooked and chopped

1. Using an electric mixer, fold bacon fat, butter, and brown sugar. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula if necessary.
2. Continue to mix on low and add eggs, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Continue to mix and add flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula if necessary.
4. Mix in chocolate chips and bacon and let dough rest for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
6. Using a cookie scoop, spoon balls of dough onto baking sheets.
7. Bake for 16 minutes and allow cookies to cool on a rack.

inspired by Kim Conte's recipe.
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Yogurt Cereal Bars

Meredith was looking for something relatively healthy to give Jeremy as a snack - preferably something not terribly messy. We're still working on it, but these yogurt bars still hit the spot.

Meredith first attempt used oats the first time and although they tasted great, it was more of a falling-apart crumble. And Jeremy found them a little dry. He stuck his tongue out until the bits fell back onto the plate. Whoops.

The second attempt, using corn flakes (more along the lines of the recipe our friend gave us), turned out much better. The cut nicely into bars and held together. Jeremy loved them - the most important part.

Yogurt Cereal Bars

2 cups corn flakes
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup butter
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tbsp flour

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. Combine corn flakes, flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
3. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form.
4. Press half of the mixture firmly into the bottom of a greased 8-inch square pan.
5. Mix yogurt, egg and 2 tbsp flour in another small bowl.
6. Spread yogurt mixture over cereal mixture in pan and then sprinkle the remaining cereal mixture on top.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Let cool and cut into bars.

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Secret Recipe Club: Soft Pretzels

It's Secret Recipe Club time again, and June's assignment is Karen Cooks. Karen blogs from Montana and has all sorts of great recipes that we'd love to try, including chicken marsala, grilled pineapple guacamole, venison stew, and a really tasty looking cheesecake.

After reviewing Karen's recipe index, I knew exactly what we were going to make right away. Soft pretzels. We'd conquered bagels in a previous month, and it was time for the next baking challenge.

We only changed a couple of things out of necessity: we ran out of white flour, so we substituted in 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, and, and instead of Kosher salt, we substituted some lime-infused sea salt were were given as a gift for such a special occasion.

Forming the pretzels was fun as well. Our eldest son used the pretzels as an opportunity to shape them into numbers.

These pretzels are best served immediately and don't fare well as next-day offerings. That wasn't a problem for us - they were gone by the end of the evening.

Soft Pretzels

Dough
2 cups white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp yeast
3/4 to 1 cup warm water

Topping
1 cup warm water
4 tbsp baking soda
sea salt
3 tbsp butter, melted

1. Prepare the topping (soda wash): in a small saucepan, combine 1 cup water and 4 tbsp baking soda and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve baking soda and let cool.
2. Start the dough: place all ingredients for the dough in a stand-mixer bowl using a paddle attachment and mix on low. When a ball starts to form, switch to a dough hook and knead for 5 minutes or until dough is soft and smooth and no longer sticky.
3. Put dough into a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 500-degrees and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick lining.
5. Transfer dough to a pastry mat and divide into 8 pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 5 minutes.
6. Roll each piece of dough into a long rope and shape into a pretzel (or numbers as we did). Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt, cover in plastic and let rest for 10 minutes.
7. Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes, until the pretzels are a golden brown (note: keep a close eye on them - ours were slightly over-done).
8. After baking, immediately brush with melted butter and serve.

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Cincinnati-style Buffalo Chicken Chili

Yes, another chili recipe. This one is mostly from scratch, tho. Inspired by a combination of different recipe concepts and what I happened to have available.

My original plan was to make buffalo chicken chili. However, we didn't have any bleu cheese. Not completely foiled, cheddar would still do. I also didn't have a proper wing sauce, so I used hot pepper sauce and compensated by frying the vegetables in butter instead of oil.

Then the issue of what to serve with it arose. We've had a lot of rice lately, so I suggested pasta. Of course, chili served on pasta and topped with cheese is really Cincinnati-style, so suddenly Cincinnati and Buffalo had to hash it out.

I thought the sauce turned out a little thin, however, I opted to not add any tomato paste. I also thought that the chili needed more spice. I added additional sauce when I served it. It could simply be because of the sauce I used. I'll leave it up to your own personal tastes.

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Cincinnati-style Buffalo Chicken Chili

by Daniel Saraga June-8-2012

Cincinnati chili is served on pasta and topped with lots of cheese. It's a great alternative to tortilla chips.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1/2 kilo ground chicken
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1/2 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup beer
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can mixed beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup hot sauce (or more, to taste)
• to taste salt and pepper
• 4 servings spaghetti, prepared according to package directions
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (we were out of bleu cheese :-(

Instructions

1. brown the ground chicken, garlic, paprika, oregano and cumin in 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat, using a potato masher to evenly break up the pieces.Set chicken aside.2. Heat on medium and add onions, celery and carrots. Let simmer until tender (10 minutes).3. Transfer the chicken back into the pan and add the tomatoes, beans, and hot sauce and bring to a boil.4. Reduce heat to medium-high and let simmer for 30 minutes to reduce the liquid.Serve on top of pasta, topped with cheese.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 15 mins Yield: 4 servings

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Secret Recipe Club: Vidalia Onion Pie

It's Secret Recipe Club time again, and Meredith and were really excited about May's assignment: Ellie from The Bitchin' Kitchin'. Ellie is from Hoboken New Jersey, birthplace of Baseball and Frank Sinatra.

It was difficult to decide which of Ellie's recipes to make. Not because her blog was difficult to navigate, or because she didn't have a wonderfully easy-to-follow list of recipes, but because there were so many excellent recipes to choose from. From her Buffalo Chicken Dip, to Crockpot Barbecue Beer Chicken, to Chicken Tinga to any of awestastic cupcake recipes that would make Max from 2 Broke Girls blush.

In the end, we decided to go with the Vidalia Onion Pie. Not that I won't be trying those other recipes some time soon, but because I love onions. I can eat them raw (to Meredith's chagrin). I ran into a little stumbling block where I clearly had too much pie filling for my 9-inch crust and made a big mess on the counter. It could be because I used 1 kilo of onions instead of 2 pounds (2.2 kilos/pound). In the end, I used two nine-inch pies. However, a good, deep 10-inch crust should do the trick.

The Pies turned out amazing, of course, and we served it with a salad with sesame dressing. I ate half of one pie myself in a single sitting. The leftovers disappeared quickly the next day and the extra pie was devoured by our neighbours.

[Note to SRC members: everything is on auto-pilot for a couple of days. We promise to visit as many reveals as possible by the end of the week.]

Vidalia Onion Pie

1 10" frozen pie crust, thawed
1/4 egg yolk (for egg wash)
1 tsp water (for egg wash)
1/2 cup butter
1 kilo Vidalia onions, thinly sliced
3 large eggs (you can use the rest of the egg from the egg wash)
1 cup sour cream
3 tbsp flour
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp habanero sauce
2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450-degrees.
2. Brush egg wash on the inside of the pie crust.
3. Place crust in the refrigerator until filling is ready.
4. In a deep pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and saute until translucent.
5. Set onions aside in a separate bowl and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
6. While onions are cooling, whisk together eggs, sour cream, flour, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and habanero sauce.
7. Fold in onion mixture and pour combined mixture into pie crust.
8. Top with parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
9. Reduce oven temperature to 325-degrees for another 20 minutes, or until center is set.

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Berry Crumble Pie

With friends coming over for dinner on a Friday in March, and the dinner being one of our standards, Meredith felt that it was time to try out an experiment she had been mulling over for a while. She had the basics for a graham cracker pie crust and was working an idea for a berry filling as well.

It came together, and stayed together incredibly well, and tasted amazing, of course. Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture of a slice of the pie (it didn't last long enough) so you'll have to just believe me that the pie didn't fall apart.

Berry Crumble Pie

Part 1: Crust

1-1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup oats
1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees.
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and oats.
3. Add butter and mix in until crumbly.
4. Press mixture into a 9-inch pie plate bake for 6 minutes.

Part 2: Filling

3 cups mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp lemon juice

1. Combine berries and half of the water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 2 minutes stirring frequently.
3. In a small bowl, stir together remaining water, cornstarch and lemon juice.
4. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into blueberry mixture and continue stirring blueberry mixture for about 30 seconds or until mixture thickens.
5. Pour filling into pie crust.

Part 3: Topping

2 tbsp oats
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter

1. Mix all ingredients together until it reaches a crumbly texture.
2. Sprinkle on top of filling.
3. Bake pie for an additional 15 minutes.

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Meatballs in Amaretto Barbecue Sauce

It all started out with a Guinness barbecue sauce recipe I saw, however, the recipe called for far too much sugar. That got me thinking that I wanted to make meatballs with some kind of barbecue sauce. The researching started.

I eventually found a recipe for Dr. Pepper barbecue sauce and went from there. I know that Dr. Pepper tastes like amaretto, and I figured meatballs in amaretto sauce sounds classier. I adjusted several ingredients, found some ingredients that were lower sodium (ketchup, Worcestershire sauce) and generally used less salt, and added an ounce of amaretto liqueur for extra flavour.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make the meatballs from scratch. If I did, I probably would've added some of the sauce into the meatball mixture as well.

The sauce was excellent. We had a bit left over so I bottled some up for a couple of people.

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Meatballs in Amaretto Barbecue Sauce

by Daniel Saraga May-4-2012

The sauce is a tasty change for meatballs. Serve it with mashed potatoes for a warming meal.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 tsp (rounded) garlic puree
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 small bottle (412ml) Dr. Pepper
• 1 oz Disaronno liqueur
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1.5 kilos (3 lbs) meatballs, cooked (we used 2 lbs and kept the extra sauce aside)

Instructions

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter on medium and saute the onion and garlic for 10 minutes.2. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.3. Reduce to medium and let simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring every few minutes until thick.4. Let the sauce cool slightly and puree using an immersion blender.5. Let simmer on low for another 5-10 and pour over meatballs.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 15 mins Yield: 6 servings

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Colcannon (potatoes, cabbage, leeks and kale)

Another St. Patrick's Day has passed and this year I tried another new recipe.

St. Patrick's Day is special for us because it was my late brother-in-law's birthday. He passed away from a skiing accident a week before he turned 15. We always have a nice meal with friends and family and toast Jeremy on St. Patrick's Day. He would've been 35 this year. Our son Jeremy is named after him.

This year, dinner was Irish onion soup, corned beef, Yorkshire pudding and colcannon. Colcannon is a mashed-potato dish with cabbage, leeks and (sometimes) kale. I thought the leeks was also a neat nod to Meredith's grandmother who was born in Wales. I've never actually cooked with kale, so I thought it would be an interesting adventure.

I understand that kale can sometimes be bitter, however, I was hoping that cooking it really well in butter with salt and pepper would fix that, and it did.

From all of the recipes that I looked at to cobble this together, one in particular caught my attention in the method department so I borrowed from it. Just because of the quantities of vegetables, I split the frying into two batches, one for the kale, and one for the cabbage. I think it would've been messier if everything was in the pan at once.

The final result turned out great. I attribute the results to the butter, not-too-high fry temperature and the good company.

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Colcannon (potatoes, cabbage, leeks and kale)

by Daniel Saraga April-13-2012

This colcannon recipe is a combination of a few different recipes and methods that I read about.

Ingredients

• 8 small-medium potatoes, washed and quartered
• 1 bunch (3-4) leeks
• 1+1+1 tbsp (or more) butter
• 1 cup kale, vein removed and chopped
• to taste salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/4 cabbage (small), chopped
• 1/4 cup milk or cream
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp dried dill

Instructions

1. Boil potatoes for 30 minutes and set aside.2. Discard most of the leek greens and slice leeks into 1/4-inch crescents.3. In a deep pan, Heat one tbsp butter medium-low add half of the leeks. Saute until leeks are soft.4. Add kale and 1 tbsp butter and saute for another minute.5. Add salt, pepper and 2 tbsp water, cover and reduce heat to low.6. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring once, until kale is soft.7. Set leek and kale mixture aside in a separate bowl. Return pat to medium-low heat, add butter and remaining leeks to the pan.8. Saute leeks for one minute and add cabbage. Saute cabbage and leeks for five minutes.9. Add salt and pepper, lower heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes (turning cabbage once) until cabbage is soft and slightly browned (add water if necessary).10. Mash potatoes and add milk or cream.11. Gently fold in leek and kale mixture, then fold in leek and cabbage mixture.12. Garnish with green onion and dill before serving.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 30 mins Yield: 8 servings

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Blueberry Coffee Cake

February didn't strike me as blueberry season, but there they were. Three pints for $5. I guess I was buying blueberries!

My mistake was not having something in mind for them before bringing them home. I'm not a baker, so this would be Meredith's decision. She looked through her favourite baking books at all of her choices until she realized that she wanted something easy. No phylo. Nothing else too crazy, but that didn't stop her from boiling the blueberry filling all over the newly-cleaned stove top :-)

The final product was delicious, of course!

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Filling:
2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp potato starch

Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. Filling:
   In a saucepan, combine fruit and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low and let simmer, covered for around 5 minutes or until fruit is tender.
3. Stir in the sugar and potato starch and continue heating until mixture thickens and bubbles, and continue to cook for another 2 minutes before removing from heat and setting aside.
4. Cake:
   In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
5. Cut in the 1/4 cup butter and continue mixing until mixture looks like a bowl of coarse crumbs and make a well in the centre of the bowl before setting aside.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, buttermilk and vanilla and pour the mixture into the well of the flour mixture.
7. Stir the mixture until until it's all moist (the batter should still be lumpy) and spread half of the batter into a ungreased 8x8x2 baking pan.
8. Spread the filling over the first layer of batter and drop the remaining batter in mounds over the filling and set aside.
9. Topping:
   In a separate bowl, combine the flour and sugar.
10. Cut in the butter and continue mixing until it looks like a bowl of coarse crumbs.
11. Sprinkle topping over cake.
12. The finale:
    Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden and serve warm.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Just before the new year, I asked Jacob what his favourite cookie was. To my surprise, he told me it was the peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie I used to make him, (and later Meredith made for him) based on the Cookies for Rookies recipe from Crazy Plates by Janet and Greta Podleski.

When Jacob asked why Meredith's cookies turned out better than mine, Meredith pointed out to him that she knew the difference between baking soda and baking powder. Whoops!

We haven't made that recipe in years, so Meredith decided to make a batch for Jacob for a New Year's Day get-together.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 tsp each baking soda and salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup margarine
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees and prepare two cookie sheets (greased, or using parchment paper).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, and salt.
3. Using a stand mixer, cream together the brown sugar, margarine, peanut butter, and buttermilk. 
4. Add dry ingredients and mix to form a smooth dough. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Roll dough into 1-1/2 inch balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Using a fork, flatten cookies to between 1/2 and 1/4 inch thickness. Bake for 10 minutes. 
6. Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Makes approximately 30 cookies.

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S'mores Squares

I've never bought marshmallow fluff before, however, I bought two jars of it the week before Christmas.

One jar was for a dessert Meredith was making for a get-together. When I found out that she was buying fluff I immediately wanted to make a fluffernutter sandwich, but I was told that the entire jar was already called for. So I bought myself a second jar as well and made myself the famed peanut butter and marshmallow-fluff sandwich. It was yummy.

According to The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches, the fluffernutter was originally developed by one of the owners of a marshmallow factory nearly 100 years ago. However, the fluffernutter name itself is owned by the company that now owns the marshmallow flush brand.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be writing about the dessert that Meredith made. She pretty much went along with a recipe she saw in the newspaper and it turned out excellent. We bought a couple slabs of Lindt milk chocolate and they fit nicely in the pan, side-by-side. What a great idea.

S'mores Squares

1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 100g flat slab bars of milk chocolate (do not break)
1 jar (213g) marshmallow fluff (not melted marshmallows)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream butter sugar and brown sugar using an electric mixer on medium-high.
3. Add egg and vanilla, and continue to mix for five minutes, until the mixture is fluffy.
4. Add flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt, and mix on low until fully combined (2-3 minutes).
5. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and press half of the dough evenly into the bottom (about 1/2-inch thick).
6. On top of the cookie mix, place the two chocolate slabs side-by-side, and top the pan with the marshmallow fluff, spreading evenly across.
7. Flatten the remaining dough into small/flat circles, one tablespoon at a time. Place the dough on top of the marshmallow layer.
8. Bake on the centre rack 30-35 minutes, until lightly browned and let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Mostly from the Christine Loueiro, the Toronto Star.

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Chocolate Balls (כדורי שוקולד)

I read this article in the The Jew and the Carrot and immediately, I knew that I wanted to make it. It's a simple no-bake recipe for chocolate balls, kadorei shokolad, that use biscuits. The name is a literal translation of "chocolate balls," from Hebrew. The draw of this dessert is that they're apparently only made at home. Bakeries don't sell them. If you want them, you need to make them yourself.

When I showed Meredith the recipe, she also got excited. I wasn't expecting her to be enthusiastic about it since it didn't exactly involve baking or working from scratch. However, she saw great potential - a new idea (at least for her) for her holiday cookie exchange.

The trial run went really well. We unfortunately didn't have any candy-covered balls, and we ran out of sprinkles really quickly, but we didn't run out of coconut - so most of them are coconut-coated.

Chocolate Balls (כדורי שוקולד)


200g biscuits (1 small package)
3/4 cup sugar
5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
7 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
7 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Shredded coconut, small coloured candies or sprinkles in a bowl
2. Put the biscuits in a large zipper bag. Crush the biscuits using a rolling pin until they're the consistency of rice.
3. Transfer the biscuits into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, cocoa and the cinnamon and mix well. 
4. Add the vanilla, butter and milk, and continue mixing until the batter is thick and thoroughly combined.
5. Take the batter by the tablespoon and roll it into a ball in your hands.
6. Coat the balls in the coconut, coloured candies or sprinkles by rolling them in the bowl and place them on a serving tray or in mini paper muffin cups. 

Makes 42 one-tablespoon balls.

Mostly from The Jew and the Carrot.

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Macaroni in Cheese Sauce

I finally got Jacob to try real macaroni and cheese. He still prefers boxed macaroni and cheese :-(

Anyway, I asked Meredith to teach me how to make proper cheese sauce and she did, but I made one mistake. With such a mild sauce, I shouldn't have used whole wheat pasta. It didn't allow the full flavour of the sauce to come out. The next time I make this, I'll use regular pasta.

Macaroni in Cheese Sauce

1 package macaroni, prepared following package directions
1 1/2 cups milk

2 tbsp flour
pepper
2 tbsp salted butter
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Whisk together milk and flour in a sauce pan.
2. Add pepper and butter and begin to whisk on medium heat.
3. When butter melts and mixture begins to boil, slowly add cheese, constantly whisking until cheese melts.
4. Pour mixture over pasta and toss before serving.

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Apple Pie

In September, our friend Penny, of Sweet Sadie's Baking, entered a pie baking contest at Chudleigh's apple farm. Meredith assisted preparing the crust and we all pitched in to peel and core the apples.

A Ginger Gold apple at Chudleigh's.

Penny prepared for a long night of pie baking.

Meredith's pie wasn't as refined (we bought a prepared crust), however, she based her filling on Penny's method.

Apple Pie

2 prepared pie crusts
Apple Filling
4 medium Ginger Gold apples
4 medium Macintosh apples
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
2 tbsp butter
1 egg white, beaten lightly
1-2 tbsp sugar, for topping

1. Combine 3/4 cup sugar, salt, allspice, cloves and cinnamon in small bowl.
2. Peel, core, and cut apples into 1/2-to-3/4-inch slices and toss with lemon juice, then add sugar mixture and toss again. Let mixture sit for 30 minutes. Drain and boil juices with 2 tbsp butter for 5 minutes to reduce. Pour 1/3 cup of these juices back over apples.
3. Remove dough from refrigerator. If it is still stiff and very cold, let it stand until the dough is cool but malleable.
4. The pie is baked on the oven floor. If you have a pizza stone available, place it on the oven floor and cover it with foil before preheating the oven.
5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
6. Gently press dough into sides of 9-inch pie pan (glass, foil, or tin) leaving some crust hanging over the lip of the pie plate.
7. Empty the fruit mixture, including juices, into the chilled pie shell and mound slightly in centre of the pie.
8. Place the second dough round over the filling. Trim the top and bottom edges to one half-inch beyond the pan lip and tuck the rim of dough underneath itself so the folded edge is flush with the pan lip. Flute edging or press with fork tines to seal.
9. Make a 1-inch hole in the top crust in the centre of the pie. Cut four slits at right angles on the top around the centre hole. Brush egg white onto the top of the crust and sprinkle evenly with remaining tablespoon of sugar.
10. Reduce oven temperature to 425-degrees. Place pie on the floor of oven or the pizza stone and bake for approximately 25 minutes, until the top crust is golden.
11. Reduce oven temperature to 375-degrees and continue baking for an additional 30-35 minutes, until the juices bubble and the crust is deep golden-brown.
12. Transfer pie to wire rack; cool to almost room temperature, at least 4 hours.

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Grilled Poached Salmon with Lemon

It's very important to cook with good ingredients. Not everything on sale is really worth the purchase.

Near the end of August, I found some salmon fillets on sale at the local grocery store. It wasn't until I got it home and had a good look at it that I realized that the fish didn't look very good. It looked a little freezer burnt and when I defrosted it, it wasn't very pink or very firm.

You get what you pay for.

The final result wasn't as tasty as I would've liked, however, I know that it would've tasted much, much better if I had a decent piece of fish. I also should've sliced some onions on top as well to add additional flavour.

Grilling some yellow zucchini and peppers. The salmon is to
the right. I took this photo with a new phone app I'm having
fun with, so the photo wasn't actually snapped in 1982.

Grilled Poached Salmon with Lemon

1 side salmon
1/2 lemon, squeezed
3 small pats of butter
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced (recommended, but not pictured)
salt
pepper

1. Preheat grill on medium.
2. Place salmon on a long stretch of double-thickness (or two sheets of) foil (3-4 feet).
3. Cut the salmon into portions using a sharp knife, being careful to not cut the skin.
4. Squeeze 1/2 lemon over salmon. Arrange butter, sliced lemons and optional onions along the top of the salmon and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Fold foil over fish and turn up edges to create a poaching packet and palce on grill for 15 minutes or until flish flakes easily with a fork.

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Cottage Baked Potato

Is "awesomest" a word? That describes this potato

happily resting on the vintage cottage plate.

Spending a week at a rented cottage, I figured that food blogging was going to be out of the question. I didn't have my toolbox with my knives and basic cooking utensils (big mistake, by the way), and it'd be mostly basic barbecues, sandwiches, etc.

Meredith has very few rules for camping and cottaging, but one of them is "there must be bacon!" I'm not a big breakfast eater, so I had planned our fry-up for a dinner instead, one of the few times I wouldn't be using the barbecue for dinner. I had also brought up some potatoes hoping that I'd be able to bake them in a fire (probably not happening based on my most fire attempt).

Just before we left, I saw a great recipe from Chef Amos Miller on Cook, Eat, Share. It's his introduction that really caught my attention: "This is so simple, you'll laugh. It tastes so good, you'll cry." He wasn't exaggerating. Such little effort for such flavour. Oh, yum.

The trick was to stuff a potato with butter and something else, top it off with some bacon, wrap it, and bake it. Facing those potatoes and some extra bacon, I realized that I had an opportunity. I tried to be good and substituted the butter for margarine (Chef Miller would be disappointed) and switched the spices to what's available, but I think the idea of the recipe is to really add what flavouring you have on hand, as long as it includes bacon.

Cottage Baked Potatoes

4 russet potatoes, washed
2-4 tbsp butter or margarine
4 garlic cloves, peeled
salt and pepper
2 strips (rashers) bacon, cut in half

1. Preheat oven or grill to 450-degrees or preheat grill.
2. Using a chef's knife, slice the potatoes halfway down, lengthwise and place on two squares of tinfoil.
3. Twist the knife in the sliced potatoes until you hear a faint cracking, causing the slit to open a bit.
4. Stuff the thin slices of butter into the slit, or, using a spoon, force the margarine in.
5. Using the side of the chef's knife blade, flatten the garlic cloves and shove one into each potato.
6. Sprinkle each potato with salt and pepper.
7. Top potatoes lengthwise with 1/2 slice of bacon.
8. Wrap potatoes and bake or grill for one hour.

Inspired by Amos Miller's A Baked Potato Recipe.

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Chocolate Chip Squares

Getting ready for a day-trip to Jackson's Point in July with some friends, Meredith wanted to bring some goodies for the kids. Her first idea was to make cookies, however, she realized that making squares would be less work. Fewer pans, and I could still pack the result away in a container for the car.

The recipe is mostly from the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus recipe book (you may remember the Welsh cakes). For Jacob's sake, Meredith held back on the nuts.

Chocolate Chip Squares

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. Using a stand mixer, mix the butter and brown sugar. Add white sugar and mix again. Add egg and vanilla and continue to mix.
3. Add flour, baking soda and salt and continue to mix until thoroughly combined.
4. Add chocolate chips.
5. Transfer mixture into 9x9 greased pan.
6. bake for 25-30 minutes until set and top is light brown.

Can be cut into up to 36 pieces (6x6).

Based on the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus. Original recipe by Cye Beechey.

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Strawberry Crumble Pie

There were leftovers from Strawberrypalooza in June/July. I really didn't think we had that many strawberries. I was clearly wrong.

Wanting to get rid of the last of the strawberries before they deteriorated into mush, Meredith decided to make one more pie. This pie would be a more traditional baked pie with a crumble topping. Meredith had a recipe for a rhubarb pie that she was able to adapt to get the results she wanted - the most significant change being reducing the amount of sugar.

Strawberry Crumble Pie

Filling:

• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 cups strawberries, diced (about 1/2 inch)
• 1 9-inch pie crust

Topping:

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup cold butter

1. Preheat oven to 425-degrees.
2. In a small bowl, stir eggs and melted butter.
3. In another small bowl, combine sugar and flour and stir into egg mixture until well combined.
4. Place strawberries in a large bowl and mix in flour and egg mixture.
5. Prepare the topping by mixing the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter (using a mixer or pastry cutter) until topping looks like coarse crumbs.
6. Transfer strawberry mixture into pie shell.
7. Sprinkle topping evenly over the top and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Reduce oven temperature to 350-degrees and bake for an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until filling is set and topping is light-to-medium golden-brown.

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Vegetable Soup (Gypsy Soup)

This flavorful vegetarian soup is gluten-free and uses
Mediterranean spices for a unique, but not overwhelming flavor.

Week after week of reading Monday posts at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, I'm reminded of one of my first cookbooks - Moosewood. I don't use it often at all, but every time I see one of the recipes, it's a little push to pull out my own copy.

My very first copy was literally that - a photocopy I had made from a friend's version (the original 1977 edition, I might add). I vowed that when I could afford to buy my own copy, I would. And I eventually did. The second edition (c. 1992) is a little different. still hand-drawn, but the recipes are a bit healthier. Less heavy creams, cheeses and butter, and more yogurt and olive oil (or no oil at all).

One of the things I noticed the very first time I opened the book is that some of the methods are very labour intensive. You're hard-pressed to find a recipe that takes less than an hour. The very first recipe I made (Russian cabbage borscht) took me quite a while as I had a cabbage as big as a basketball and a stockpot to make a double batch.

On this particular day, I decided to make my own version of the Gypsy soup. I say my own version for two reasons: because Katzen's own notes lists a plethora of substitutes for vegetables, and; there's no way I'm blanching, peeling and seeding tomatoes by hand. I will, however, use a small bottle of my mom's home-made tomato sauce instead.

Vegetable Soup (Gypsy Soup)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 celery stalk, minced
• 2 cups peeled, diced carrots
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp basil
• dash cinnamon
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 bell pepper (green or red), diced
• 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

1. In a dutch oven, heat oil on medium. Add onions, garlic, celery and carrots and saute for 5 minutes. 
2. Add salt and saute for an additional five minutes. 
3. Add paprika, turmeric, basil, cinnamon, cayenne, bay leaf and water. cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add tomato sauce, peppers and chickpeas. cover and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
5. Remove bay leaf before serving.

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