Ultimate Bacon Sarnie (Sandwich)

At the end of August, I read an article about an ongoing debate on the ultimate bacon sarnie (sandwich) in The Register, a UK-based technology magazine. The author, Lester Haines, welcomed readers to email in their photos by Friday, September 14, so here it is.

To prepare, Meredith and I had a deep discussion about how we'd make our ultimate bacon sarnie:

Bread: bread can be a contentious issue. Clearly, a proper English sarnie would be built upon slices of hand-sliced white bread. Well, we had just finished our loaf and chose a different avenue. Instead, we opted to get some Gryfe's bagels - one of the best bagels you can get that's not baked in Montreal.

Bacon: our initial thoughts would be to Canadianize the sarnie a bit further by using pemeal bacon. That thought lasted until we realized that we already had some traditional slices in the freezer from a local butcher.

Sauce: there was no debate here. It must be brown sauce, and it must be HP's brown sauce in particular.

Eggs: yes, our sarnie has an egg. We hope it's not interpreted as an Aussie move, we just thought it would go really well with everything, and it sure did.

Cheese: this is where things fell off the rails, sorta. We trotted off to the nearest grocer with high hopes to get some old Cheddar. We didn't want to buy the generic 1/2 kilo block of tasteless cheddar - we wanted something nice from the deli. There was only one problem: the Cheddar was made in Normandy. Say what? Yes, Normandy, France. We're hoping to be forgiven for that particular indiscretion. We're keeping the bagel, but we're hoping for proper English Cheddar for our next go.

Verdict: this is the ultimate bacon sarnie. The bagel wasn't overpoweringly dense and allowed you to taste the rest of the sandwich. The brown sauce complimented both the bacon and the egg, and the cheese, despite surrendering as soon as it touched the egg, added just the right flavour.

Ultimate Bacon Sarnie

2 bagels
1 tbsp butter
6 rashers (slices) bacon
2 eggs
2 slices old cheddar cheese
1-2 tbsp brown sauce (i.e., HP sauce)

1. Slice bagels in half and butter both sides. Set the slices on plates.
2. In a non-stick or cast-iron pan, fry the bacon and set aside.
3. Wipe out the pan and and fry eggs, over easy.
4. Before removing eggs from pan, place slices of cheese on top of the eggs and remove the pan from the heat.
5. Assemble each sandwich as follows:
   bottom bagel slice
   brown sauce
   3 rashers bacon
   egg (with melted cheese on top)
   bagel top slice.

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Mama's Pastel (Moroccan Shepherd's Pie)

My aunt sent me another of my grandmother's recipes in earlier June, for a Moroccan shepherd's pie called pastel. This is another dish that I haven't eaten in roughly 12 years - since my grandmother passed away.

Many of the measurements weren't exact, so I did need to use mu judgement along the way, and I think I'm getting better at guessing these type of things. It turned out exactly as I remember it - crispy on the outside and yummy inside.

Mama's Pastel (Moroccan Shepherd's Pie)

1/2 kilo ground beef
1/2 cup water
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt (for meat)
1/4 tsp pepper (for meat)
10 potatoes, boiled in salted water and drained (reserve 1/2 cup liquid)
1 tsp turmeric
salt, to taste (for potatoes)
1/4 tsp pepper (for potatoes)
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs, boiled, peeled and sliced
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)

1. In a deep pan on medium heat, add beef, water and start to brown the beef, using a potato masher to break up beef. Add the lemon as soon as the meat starts to break up.
2. Drain excess liquid and discard lemon, and add nutmeg, salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
4. Combine the 1/2 cup of potato water and turmeric and mash the potatoes using the 1/2 cup of liquid. Separate into two portions.
5. Grease the inside of a large casserole dish, (8" x 13") using the olive oil and gently spread half of the potatoes evenly across the bottom.
6. Spoon the meat over the first layer and gently spread, trying not to compress the layer of potato underneath.
7. Place the egg slices evenly over the meat.
8. Lightly spread the remaining potato mixture over the meat and eggs and make a pattern (or just lines) using a fork.
9. Brush the egg wash over the top layer of potatoes and bake for 45-60 minutes, until top starts to turn golden brown.

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Secret Recipe Club: Donut Muffins

Note to self: do not use the camera on a loaner phone when
your phone is in the shop :-(

It's the August edition of Secret Recipe Club and my assignment for this month is Danielle from Nashville who writes Mostly Food and Crafts.

There are a ton of great recipes under the "mostly food" category to choose from. I really wanted to make her Chicken Paprikash, however, the latter-end of July and the beginning of August were crazy for me, so Meredith agreed to take the SRC project on herself - meaning that it was going to be a baking project.

Meredith chose to make Danielle's Donut Muffin recipe. She followed her recipe using a mini muffin tin - next time we might use our donut tin.

The chicken will need to wait until September (and it will definitely happen).

Donut Muffins

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and lightly grease mini muffin tins with shortening.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and egg until they're light yellow.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg and add to the egg mixture and stir well.
4. Continue to stir and add the vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla.
5. Using a tablespoon, fill each mini muffin cup about 3/4 full and bake for 5 minutes at 500-degrees.
6. Immediately lower the temperature to 350-degrees and continue baking for 5 minutes until done.
7. Combine sugar and cinnamon for the topping in a small bowl. Keep the melted butter in a separate small bowl.
8. Dip the muffin tops into the butter, then into the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

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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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Muffin Tin Dinner Rolls

Clearly, Meredith was inspired by The Muffin Tin Cookbook, by Brette Sember. She decided to adapt a recipe for muffin tins on her own when we were going to a family dinner. Not wanting to bring another dessert, she tried a bread recipe instead.

Much of the recipe is based on the Better Homes and Gardens dinner rolls recipe, however, these rolls are much bigger. The original recipe quoted 24-36 rolls, while Meredith's recipe resulted in sixteen rolls.

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Muffin Tin Dinner Rolls

by Meredith Burbidge June-1-2012

Much of the recipe is based on the Better Homes and Gardens dinner rolls recipe, however, these rolls are much bigger. The original recipe quoted 24-36 rolls, while Meredith's recipe resulted in sixteen rolls.

Ingredients

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)

Instructions

1. Combine yeast with 1/4 cup warm water and 1 tsp sugar, mix and let sit for 10 minutes.2. In a small saucepan on medium heat, stir together milk, sugar, shortening, and salt until warm (120-130 degrees Fahrenheit) and the butter is almost melted.3. Using a standing mixer, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and yeast and continue to mix. Using the low setting, slowly add the milk mixture and let combine for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl.4. Increase speed to medium and slowly add the remaining flour. Continue to beat for three minutes.5. Remove dough from mixer and shape into a ball. Rub dough with 1 tsp oil, place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise for one hour.6. After dough has risen, grease enough muffin tins for sixteen items.7. Divide dough in half. Divide each half again three more times until you have sixteen pieces. Roll each piece on a lightly floured surface and place into the greased muffin tins. Cover, and let rise for an additional 30 minutes.8. While dough is rising, preheat oven to 375-degrees.9. Brush rolls with egg wash using a pastry brush and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Remove from tins and let cool on wire racks.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour 50 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 2 hour 5 mins Yield: 16 rolls

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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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Yorkshire Pudding

In March, we were asked to review a cookbook and the title really caught Meredith's attention. The Muffin Tin Cookbook, by Brette Sember (Amazon link for our readers from the USA), published by Adams Media is a straight-to-business cookbook. If you're looking for great ideas about how to make single-serving food using muffin tins, this is the book for you.

There are 200 recipes to choose from covering breakfast, appetizers, lunch or dinner and (of course) dessert. Each recipe contains nutritional information for each serving and tidbits of information about the ingredients, context for the author or history of the dish it's based on.

Browsing through, we saw interesting things like buffalo chicken bites, salmon noodle bake, Chinese pork buns, coffee cake, mushroom tarts, and even fish tacos. There aren't many photos, however, I think a book with photos of 200 muffins might be a little much, and it's really more the experience of the flavours that you'd be concentrating on when you read through the recipes.

Meredith's first attempt was going to be Yorkshire pudding. Not a pudding in the American context, but more of a baked batter (but not quite a bread), it's standard fare in England.

We found that the puddings took about five minutes longer to get golden and puffy, however, it could've been that our oven hadn't heated properly. However, we were very pleased with the final result. nice and puffy and not too dry. We enjoyed them with our St. Patrick's Day dinner that I wrote about a couple weeks ago.

It's definitely a recipe that we'll be using again.

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Yorkshire Pudding

by Daniel Saraga April-27-2012

We found that the puddings took about five minutes longer to get golden and puffy, however, it could've been that our oven hadn't heated properly. However, we were very pleased with the final result. nice and puffy and not too dry. Recipe from The Muffin Tin Cookbook, by Brette Sember.

Ingredients

• 5 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk (the original called for skim milk)
• 2 eggs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425-degrees.2. Using a regular muffin tin, place 1/2 tsp vegetable oil in each of 10 cups. Place in preheating oven.3. In a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients. The batter will be lumpy.4. Divide among the 10 cups.5. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden and puffed.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 12 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 10 puddings

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Secret Recipe Club: Haymishe Bagels

It's time for the April edition of Secret Recipe Club, and this month I was assigned Laura Rees of This is How We Eat. Laura started to blog as a way to keep a journal of recipes she enjoyed and recipes that she created.

We chose to make her bagels because we've never made bagels before. I've always been intimidated by the idea, but I think it's because it's baking, and I'm not a big fan of that. Aside from part of forming the bagels and the boiling (a stove-top activity), I hid in the basement and made myself scarce for most of the process.

Of course, there's a cost to that as well. Meredith kinda went rogue and ended up using whole wheat flour instead of white flour. On top of that, we used regular yeast instead of quick-rise (that was my fault, I bought the wrong one because as I've mentioned, I'm not a baker), and we used honey instead of sugar to sweeten the water for boiling.

But there's more. We were so impressed with how the whole-wheat bagels turned out, we decided to make a second batch using white flour as well (pictured at the top of the post).

Haymishe Bagels

1 package yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
7 cups flour (white or whole wheat)
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 1/4 cups warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1 egg, beaten (for the egg wash, right before baking)

1. Combine yeast with 1/4 cup warm water and 1 tsp sugar, mix and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Whisk together flour salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
3. Using a stand-mixer with the dough hook running on low, slowly add the yeast, water and oil.
4. Continue mixing until the dough is stretchy - about 10 minutes.
5. Rub dough with some olive oil and place in a bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and let dough rise for an hour.
6. After the dough has risen, line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Punch the dough down and divide it into four equal parts. Divide each quarter into four equal parts again.
8. Roll each piece into a ball and punch a hole through with your thumb. Gently tease the opening and make it bigger until it's around 2-3 inches in diameter [Dan: Meredith's words, not mine!]. Place all bagels onto a sheet, cover them, and let them rise for an additional 20 minutes.
9. While the bagels rise, preheat the oven to 450-degrees (using the convection setting if available) and fill a large pot with water and the 1/4 cup honey and bring it to a boil.
10. After the bagels rise, boil them in batches, for a little over one minute (flipping them over after the first 30 seconds) and place them back on the baking sheets.
11. Brush the bagels with the egg wash and top them with poppy seeds or sesame seeds.
12. Bake bagels for 15-20 minutes or until golden, rotating the bagels between top- and bottom-shelf halfway through.

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Baba's Pan-fried Burgers with Onions and Mashed Potatoes

I couldn't tell the story of my favourite dessert from my paternal grandmother, without talking about my favourite comfort food from my maternal grandmother, Baba.

From the time my grandmother retired, she would visit pretty much every weekend, and whenever I was sick. Sometimes, I'd be whisked to her place when my parents were on the way to work and I was too sick to go to school. If I was able to keep food down, more than likely, I was getting burgers with onions and mashed potatoes. It still is my favourite comfort food. I usually stayed in the kitchen when she was making it, so when I was older, it was me who made it for her.

I'm not a big fan of dishes that use so many pots and pans,
but for this, I make an exception.

The most interesting part of the dish is how she made the potatoes. My grandmother wasn't kosher, however, she didn't really mix milk with meat. Well, no milk makes making creamy potatoes very difficult. Instead, Baba whisked a raw egg and a bit of water together and added it to the potatoes. I worked pretty well, when the alternative was using some non-dairy creamer.

In November, I caught a nasy cold for the second time in six weeks, and Meredith was sick as well. It's very difficult when we're both sick. Normally, my mom would come rushing over with enough food to feed us for a week (hey, she enjoys it, so why should we fight it?). However, my parents were out of town, so we were on our own for food. The past few days had been packaged soups, toast, and soft boiled eggs. I needed something more, and I thought of my grandmother's burgers.

Baba's Pan-fried Burgers with Onions and Mashed Potatoes

6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
500g (1 lb) lean ground beef
3 cups beef stock
1 egg
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup margarine
pepper, to taste

1. Place the potatoes in a medium pot and fill until the water is about one-inch above the potatoes. Add salt and bring to a boil. Let boil, uncovered for around 30 minutes, until potatoes are soft and break apart easily.
2. Add oil to a deep pan and heat on medium. Add onions and let simmer, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and begin to brown.
3. Divide the beef into six equal parts and form into patties about 1/2-inch thick. Heat a non-stick pan on medium and fry the patties for 2-4 minutes per side, until nicely browned.
4. Add the beef stock to the onions and heat on high until boiling.
5. While continuing to boil the broth mixture, add the patties. Let mixture boil for around 30 minutes, until broth is reduced.
6. When potatoes are ready, crack the egg into a small bowl, add 1 tbsp water and gently mix with a fork.
7. Drain the water from the potatoes, add margarine, and quickly mash roughly with a potato masher. 
8. Add egg mixture and continue to mash. Add pepper to taste.
9. Serve in a bowl by making a well in a pile of potatoes and placing a burger, onions and some broth in the middle.

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Chocolate Mint Macaroons

On a Sunday near the end of October, our neighbour dropped by to ask Meredith for some help with baking. She had a bunch of egg-whites left over from a previous dish and Meredith suggested making macaroons.

Not wanting to make something conventional, Meredith brought some mint extract with her. Clearly, there was already some chocolate waiting to be used.

The end result was a tasty batch of chocolate mint macaroons. Lucky me, I managed to steal a sample before they went away.

Chocolate Mint Macaroons

2 egg whites
1/2 tsp mint extract
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup chopped chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325-degrees.
2. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl beat egg whites and mint extract using an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.
4. Gradually add sugar (1 tbsp at a time), beating until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Fold in chocolate.
5. Drop mixture by teaspoon 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
7. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

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Mama’s Bollos con Chocolate (Chocolate-filled Orange Blossom Buns)

There is a very long story attached to these buns, but I won't go through the entire heart-string-pulling bit. My grandmother used to make these buns, and they are my favourite dessert.

I hadn't really had them since my grandmother passed away over ten years ago. I have one cousin who has the recipe, but she refused to share it for reasons I won't discuss here.

Well, after getting my hands on a similar recipe from one of my dad's cousins (which I was asked to not share), Meredith made the buns. They didn't turn out as expected, but the flavour was right. That didn't stop us from sharing a sample with my aunt as it was still the closest to my grandmother's buns that I had ever tasted. I just couldn't share the recipe here.

Fast-forward a few more days and we're getting ready for Rosh Hashanah. My aunt decided to go through some papers from my grandmother and found an original copy of her bun recipe - in Spanish. She translated it and gave us a copy when we got together, and asked Meredith to make a batch for the following Saturday - for breaking the fast after Yom Kippour. My aunt also made it clear that my grandmother was all about sharing the joy that food brings, and I was welcome to share this recipe with my readers.

The second attempt, using my grandmother's notes, was a smashing success. I only hope Meredith wasn't discouraged by the amount of work involved, because I'm so incredibly happy with the result.

While making the buns, we consulted with Penny from Sweet Sadie's baking to fill in a few gaps and answer some questions, and we learned a few lessons. I've also included some additional notes:

1. For our particular stand mixer, we should cut the recipe in half. There's just too much dough and we made an incredible mess.
2. Don't experiment with a milk wash instead of an egg wash. It just doesn't turn out the same.
3. You need to buy a lot of chocolate. A lot. I'm not kidding. Around a pound, depending on the size of the pieces (maybe more). It's best if the pieces you use are maybe 1-2 inches x 1/2 inch or it gets too wide rather than long. We had pieces that were more square in shape.
4. You can make these without chocolate and roll the dough into balls as well.

Mama’s Bollos con Chocolate

2 packs yeast
½ cup lukewarm water
8 eggs
1 cup oil
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup orange juice
2 tsp orange blossom water
rind from 1 orange
11 cups flour
several chocolate bars or 1 bag chocolate chips (at least)
2-3 eggs for egg wash
2 tbsp confectioners sugar (optional)

1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast and lukewarm water and let sit for 10-20 minutes.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, sugar, milk, orange juice, orange blossom water and rind. Whisk together.
3. Slowly add 4 cups flour to liquid mixture and mix using a large standing mixer with a dough hook.
4. Add the yeast mixture and mix again.
5. Slowly add the remaining flour until well mixed. Add extra flour if necessary.
6. Roll dough into a large ball, place in a large bowl and cover with plastic.
7. Let dough rise for three hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
8. To make the rolls, press a small handful of dough into a 3 x 3 square. place some chocolate at one end and roll it up. Place rolls on a non-stick baking sheet.
9. Cover rolls with plastic and let stand for a few minutes.
10. Preheat oven to 335-degrees.
11. Beat eggs for wash and brush onto buns with pastry brush.
12. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until buns are slightly golden-brown on top.
13. Sprinkle buns with confectioners sugar when done.

Buns can be frozen for later use.

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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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Banana Bread

Apparently, custard does not freeze well.

We had a three-tiered cake at our wedding. The bottom was chocolate, the top was carrot and the middle was vanilla custard cream. With a fairly decent dessert table, not much of the cake was eaten. We took a small chunk of the bottom tier home with us, and Meredith's mom took the carrot cake (which we enjoyed last year) and my mother took the middle layer home.

This year, to celebrate our third anniversary, my mom took the cake out of the deep freeze. The cake looked perfect. No freezer burn or other disfigurements. We ate some partially frozen (the custard was still mostly frozen), and it wasn't bad. We took the rest home to serve during the weekend and at our Labour Day barbecue.

On the Sunday, we served some more cake to our friends after dinner, and it was a disaster. The cake had finished defrosting and the moisture from the custard had soaked the bottom of the cake. Gross. More than half of the cake ended up in the garbage.

Needless to say, on Labour Day morning, Meredith got to work on making some dessert for the barbecue. She decided on her banana bread recipe since everybody loves it.

Banana Bread

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups (3 bananas), mashed
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1. Grease two 7 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 2 pans and preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and make a well in the centre of the bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, bananas, sugar and margarine and add to flour mixture.
4. Stir until moist (still lumpy) and fold in chocolate chips.
5. Divide mixture and pour into pans.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when stuck into the centre of the bread.
7. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes, remove from pan, and let cool completely on the wire rack.

Loosely based on Better Homes and Gardens banana bread recipe.

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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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Cheese and Onion Pie

Our friend Julia has perfect timing. Occasionally, I help her with her website, Fibre Fantastics, and in return, she cooks us dinner or sends us a recipe.

At the beginning of the summer, we were planning a brunch with some friends. Julia's email arrived right on schedule - the day Meredith and I were planning the menu. Her recipe's two main ingredients are two of my favourite foods: cheese and onions. It must be served for the brunch!

The morning of the brunch, I chopped the onions started on the salads and ran (well, drove) to the bakery. The cheese pie was pretty much done when I got home.

The brunch was a success. In addition to the great company and the cheese and onion pie, we served bagels, pressed cottage cheese, egg salad, herring, my kitchen sink salad, a pickle plate and our friends brought an amazing apple pie.

Cheese and Onion Pie

• 1 pie shell
• 3 medium onions, sliced thinly
• 1 cup water
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• salt
• pepper
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. Line pie plate with pastry, prick with a fork and bake at 350-degrees for 10 minutes.
3. Place onions in a wide saucepan with 1 cup water and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce to medium-low and simmer, covered for 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and let cool.
5. Beat together eggs, milk salt and pepper.
6. Assemble the pie by placing half of the onions in the pie shell, then mozzarella cheese. Add rest of onions, cheddar cheese, and pour egg mixture over the final layer of cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until set.
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Dark Chocolate Mousse

With friends over for dinner a couple nights in a row and family birthdays on the horizon, Meredith was pretty busy with desserts. So busy, that one evening I had to make dessert (and I don't make dessert). I ended up turning some leftover rice into rice pudding and calling it a night!

We have a bumper crop of mint leaves in a garden along the side of the house. One evening, Meredith wanted to use a bit of it in dessert, so she adapted a Martha Stewart recipe and prettied it up. Meredith has never made mousse before, so it was an experience to watch. She had to improvise with the double-boiler as we didn't have one. I forgot to take a picture of her using a stainless-steel salad bowl on top of a pot of boiling water, but it worked!

Dark Chocolate Mousse

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves

1. In a double boiler, whisk yolks, sugar, and salt for 2-3 minutes, until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm.
2. Remove mixture from heat and immediately whisk in chopped chocolate until melted. Add cocoa powder and continue to whisk until smooth.
3. Let mixture cool to room temperature. In the meantime, using a standing mixer, whip cream until soft peaks form.
4. Whisk half of whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in remaining whipped cream. Transfer to a serving dish, cover with paper towel and then plastic wrap (or lid) and into the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.
5. Before serving, removed from fridge and let stand for 15 minutes. Garnish with 1/2 cup raspberries and mint leaves.

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Curried Egg Salad

This egg salad has an added zip from curry and cilantro.
It's also gluten-free.

The Monday of the May long-weekend brought guests for lunch. Completely forgetting to plan for that meal, I was out of luck in the grocery department - everything was closed.

Meredith says that I have a knack for putting a meal together in an emergency, or when "there's really nothing to make." When we first started dating, I had dropped by her place in the middle of the day but I was starving. Meredith wasn't ready to go out yet, and I'd "just have to wait until we leave because there's nothing here." Well, by the time I she had emerged from her room, to Meredith's astonishment, I had whipped myself up a sandwich from what little there was in the fridge.

For this brunch, we had some soup from the previous evening, and out of the fridge and pantry, I pulled out some eggs, half a sweet onion, some celery, a can of salmon, a half-empty tub of cream cheese, and a bit of cilantro from the bunch I planned on using later during the week. I set the salmon and cheese aside for another dish and went to work.

Curried Egg Salad

• 4 eggs, hard boiled and mashed or shredded
• 1 tbsp cilantro, minced
• 1/4 cup sweet onion, minced
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2-3 tbsp mayonnaise

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.

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Shakshuka (Israeli Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce)

During Passover, my family tends to eat lots of eggs. Mostly because eggs are in just about everything during Passover. But this particular meal wasn't inspired by that. Instead, it was inspired by a tweet I made earlier that week.

I'd been wanting to make Shakshuka for months, but I never had an incentive. And things were busy. When the tweet went out, Meredith saw it and hinted that I should consider it for dinner that week, and the wheels started turning.

As a Passover dish, it's excellent (well, if you serve it with matza instead of pita, slightly less excellent), as it's tasty and full of protein. I'd say that it's one of those dishes that could easily be served as breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

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Shakshuka (Israeli Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce)

by Daniel Saraga June 15, 2011

Shahshuka is an excellent lunch or dinner, served with warm pita and Israeli salads.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil3 jalapeno peppers stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped1 onion, chopped5 garlic cloves, minced1 tsp ground cumin1 tbsp paprika1 can diced tomatoes5 eggs1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled1 tbsp parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a deep pan over medium-high heat. 2. Add peppers and onions and stir occasionally for six minutes. Onions should be soft and slightly browned. 3. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, stirring frequently for 2 minutes.4. Add diced tomatoes and liquid, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 5. Reduce to medium-low, stir and make five wells in the thick sauce. 6. Crack eggs over wells, cover and cook for about five minutes, until yolks have set.7. Baste the eggs with tomato sauce using a small spoon and sprinkle feta and parsley.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 35 mins Yield: 3-4 servings

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Egg Masala

On nights without Meredith I don't always go all-out when preparing dinner. I usually make eggs of some sort.

However, on this particular Thursday night, I decided to finally make an Indian egg dish. The week before I had seen a great one at Sunshine and Smile so I was ready to go.

The recipe called for a tablespoon of cumin seeds, and the result was a bit too cumin-heavy, so in the final recipe, I recommended 1 tsp instead. Overall, it's a nice flavourful egg dish and although it takes a short while to prepare, it's a welcome change to a folded egg with cheese.

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Egg Masala

by Daniel Saraga June 8, 2011

This savory egg dish uses toasted cumin to give a smoky flavour.

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil4 large eggs, hard boiled, peeled and toweled dry4 garlic cloves, finely chopped1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped1 tsp cumin seeds1 medium tomato, finely chopped1 tsp chili powder1 tsp corriander powder3/4 cups water2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a deep non-stick pan on medium heat. Saute eggs until browned and set aside.2. Add garlic, ginger and cumin seeds and saute for two minutes.3. Add onions and salt and cook until onions are translucent.4. Add tomatoes, corriander and chili and cook for additional 3 minutes.5. Transfer mixture to a blender, add 1 cup water and blend mixture until liquefied and pour the mixture back into the pan.6. Add eggs and bring mixture to a boil.7. Add cilantro, reduce to medium-low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.8. Add eggs and bring mixture to a boil.Add cilantro, reduce to medium-low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 4 eggs

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Hamentashen

It seems like Jacob's school dismisses early just about any time there's a holiday even remotely nearby, so when Purim rolled around, Meredith decided that the afternoon was a perfect opportunity to make Hamentashen with Jacob.

She found the cookie recipe from Second Helpings, Please!, the only Jewish cookbook with Jell-o recipes (although none of them involve suspended vegetables), and made up the filling recipe from scratch.

With Jacob's help rolling and cutting the dough before filling, they were about 90-minutes in before my mom arrived to relieve Meredith and continue on with Jacob finishing off the second two trays of cookies. It's the first time he participated in the full process and didn't lose interest. Meredith was very proud of him - and very exhausted.

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Hamentashen

by Meredith Burbidge May-25-2011

These chocolate-filled Hamentashen are the perfect Purim treat that can be enjoyed any time of the year.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 4 cups flour
• for brushing milk

For chocolate filling

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.2. Combine eggs, oil, sugar, baking powder, water, orange juice, salt and flour and mix until dough is soft and not sticky. Add additional flour if necessary.3. Let stand for 15 minutes and divide into 4 equal parts.4. On a floured board, roll to 1/4" thickness and cut into 4" circles.5. Place a spoonful of filling in the centre of each circle and form triangles by folding up the sides and pinching the corners.6. Brush with milk.7. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
For filling:

1. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave on medium-low power watching carefully to not burn the chocolate (microwave times vary).2. Mix in sugar, egg, butter, milk and vanilla until thoroughly combined.Note: the butter should melt from the heated chocoate. If it doesn't, put it back in the microwave for 10-20 seconds.

Details

Prep time: 45 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 1 hour 10 mins Yield: 50-60 cookies

Dough recipe based on Second Helpings, Please!

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