eat me, delicious

Epicure Selections Baking Giveaway!

2009-11-18T15:44:00.001-08:00

I'm super excited to be hosting a giveaway from Epicure Selections! I'm sure many of you can tell how much I love baking, so it only makes sense that this is a baking giveaway. It's quite the awesome package, including: Cherries & Berries, Crystallized Ginger, Dark Belgian Chocolate, Pure Cocoa, Baking Powder, 4 Piece Measuring Cup Set, Mini Whisk, and Silicone Mini-Loaf Pans (Set of 4). (Seriously, that is a lot of good stuff! The winner can go on a baking frenzy!)

I was lucky and got to try out some of these products for myself too. (Pictured is some of the stuff that's part of the package - one of the loaf pans, cherries & berries, and one of the measuring cups.) I baked up some mini loaves with the yummy Cherries & Berries (dried cherries, cranberries and blueberries). The mini loaf pans are so cute and make for easy sharing! And I love that you don't have to grease them. You can check out a previous post about some of their other products (which I love).

This contest is open only to Canadians, since they only ship within Canada. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post with your email address (or some way to contact you) and tell me what your favourite kind of loaf is or the best loaf you've ever had. The contest will be open until Tuesday November 24th at 1159pm PST. I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner.

Tomato and Corn Pie

2009-11-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

I would have no reservations going as far as to say that this pie is one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life. Maybe a tomato and corn pie doesn't sound that good but oh it really really is. My boyfriend and I were fighting over who got to eat the leftovers and who was eating bigger pieces. And instead of the traditional pie crust, it's made with a biscuit style crust. So very delicious.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Squash & Aged White Cheddar Tart with Sage and Roasted Garlic Custard
Chayote and Corn Enchiladas
Feta and Ricotta Cheese Pie

Tomato and Corn Pie
Smitten Kitchen who adapted from Gourmet, August 2009

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons or 3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 2 teaspoons melted
3/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 3/4 pounds tomatoes
1 1/2 cups corn (from about 3 ears or frozen & thawed), coarsely chopped by hand or lightly puréed in a food processor, divided
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil, divided
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
7ounces coarsely grated sharp Cheddar (1 3/4 cups), divided

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 3/4 tsp salt in a bowl, then blend in cold butter (3/4 stick) with your fingertips or a pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal. Add milk, stirring until mixture just forms a dough, then gather into a ball.

Divide dough in half and roll out one piece on a well-floured counter or between two sheets of plastic wrap (the recipe’s suggestion, but I imagined it would annoyingly stick to the plastic) into a 12-inch round (1/8 inch thick). Either fold the round gently in quarters, lift it into a 9-inch pie plate and gently unfold and center it or, if you’re using the plastic warp method, remove top sheet of plastic wrap, then lift dough using bottom sheet of plastic wrap and invert into pie plate. Pat the dough in with your fingers trim any overhang.

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. If your kitchen is excessively warm, as ours is, go ahead and put the second half of the dough in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice.

Cut an X in bottom of each tomato and blanch in a large pot of boiling water 10 seconds. Immediately transfer with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to cool. Peel tomatoes, then slice crosswise 1/4 inch thick and, if desired (see Notes above recipe), gently remove seeds and extra juices. Arrange half of tomatoes in crust, overlapping, and sprinkle with half of corn, one tablespoon basil, 1/2 tablespoon chives, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and one cup of grated cheese. Repeat layering with remaining tomatoes, corn, basil, chives, salt, and pepper. Pour lemon mayonnaise over filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Roll out remaining piece of dough into a 12-inch round in same manner, then fit over filling, folding overhang under edge of bottom crust and pinching edge to seal. Cut 4 steam vents in top crust and brush crust with melted butter (2 teaspoons). Bake pie until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes, then cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Do ahead: Pie can be baked 1 day ahead and chilled. Reheat in a 350°F oven until warm, about 30 minutes.

Easy Nectarine Cobbler

2009-11-12T22:09:00.000-08:00

The colours in this photo are kind of weird because I was playing (unsuccessfully) with settings on our new camera. (Not a fancy new camera, just a point and shoot.)

This cobbler is really yummy and easy to put together. The top is like those perfect crunchy muffin tops, and the bottom is buttery and gooey. When I made this recipe, I halved it and baked it in a 5 inch round pan instead of an 8 inch square pan. I made this a while ago and I remember thinking that I had messed up somehow so I ended up making the recipe again immediately - which means I made the whole recipe, in two halves. And I couldn't fit all the nectarines in there - I only ended up using 1/2 cup for 1/2 the recipe (when I was supposed to use 1 1/2 cups nectarines for 1/2 the recipe). Despite my confusion with what I was doing, both halves ended up turning out the same and a delicious time was had by all.

Note: I think this cobbler is different than what's typically thought of as a cobbler (with fruit on the bottom and pieces of biscuit on top). But whatever you call it, it's good!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Cocoa-Nana Bread
Plum Sour Cream Kuchen
Strawberry Cream Cake
Strawberry Lemon Sunflower Seed Muffins

Easy Nectarine Cobbler
Joy the Baker who adapted from The Pastry Queen

If you want you can add whipped cream or iced cream but we ate it without and it was delicious.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cloves
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup milk (low fat milk will work fine)
3 cups sliced nectarines, skins left on
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in a medium saute pan set over medium high heat until it bubbles and turns a nut brown color. Watch the butter closely, as it can go from browned to burnt in just a few seconds. The butter will have all sorts of browned bits in it. That’s good!

Pour the butter into an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking dish.

In a medium bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder and spices. Add milk and stir.

Pour the mixture on top of the melted butter. Here’s the hard part: do not stir! Without mixing, arrange the fruit evenly over the top of the batter. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake the cobbler for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top turns golden brown. Amazingly, the batter will migrate from the bottom of the pan to cover the fruit. (Ashley note: My fruit sort of sank but there was still some sticking out the top. Maybe because I used a smaller pan.)

Many Lovely Blogs

2009-11-10T19:41:00.001-08:00

I feel so honoured and happy to have received the One Lovely Blog award from both Xiaolu of 6 Bittersweets and Sarah of Taste My Plate! Over the past few years of blogging I've received some other awards, and they always totally make my day but I've never passed any on to other people. I've been a very bad blogger. I would like to pass this award on to some of my favourite bloggers, who can then pass it on to other blogs if they like.

A Fat Cat Who Created A Vegetarian who is inspiring in her healthy living.

Diet, Dessert and Dogs who I wish I could convince to cook all my meals! ;) Ricki is so creative and talented (and makes healthy baking fun!), and has adorable dogs.

Obsessed With Baking who understands all of my crazy baking thoughts and over analysis of things.

La cuisine d'Hélène who takes gorgeous photos and is a fellow BC-er.

Dana Treat who always makes interesting and different vegetarian dishes that I love discovering.

Lisa's Kitchen who inspires me to cook more Indian food.

CookiePie who is always baking yummy things and just released a wonderful baking book.

montcarte who takes enticing photos and makes many awesome things including crepes terrine - who knew such a thing existed??

Spork or Foon? who writes entertaining posts, makes beautiful food & is recreating many of the Top Chef winning recipes.

The Veggie Patch, whose house I would love to eat at!

Elyse's Confectionary Creations who likes to bake up a storm and make super delicious things like samoa mascarpone cheesecake.

Tinned Tomatoes who adopted me for Adopt A Blogger and who makes many yummy vegetarian things.

Green Gourmet Giraffe who always makes interesting delicious vegetarian things like tofu and pesto crackers, and is still cooking and baking a ton with a baby! I hope I'll be like her.

Bittersweet who has an insane talent for everything including photography, creating awesome vegan recipes, and crocheting cute little things.

everybody likes sandwiches who inspired me to start my own blog and is a fellow Vancouverite!

Savoury Green Onion Ricotta Muffins

2009-11-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

I've made tons of sweet muffins, and I'm starting to get sick of them. So now I'm on to savoury muffins! For me they're a lot more versatile because I can eat them as snacks or as part of a meal. I love that these muffins use ricotta, though I was disappointed to not taste it at all. I guess that makes sense since ricotta doesn't have a strong flavour - though my boyfriend thought they tasted cheesy. You can easily modify this recipe to use your favourite herbs or add in different things like olives or sauteed onions.

It's been too long since I posted an Abby photo! I need to take more.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Caramelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls
Basic Focaccia
Oatmeal Knots

Savoury Green Onion Ricotta Muffins
Adapted from Lisa's Kitchen who got it from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe

Makes 12

2 cups of whole wheat flour (280 g)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup of ricotta cheese
1 cup of buttermilk
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons of melted butter

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and green onions.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.

In another medium bowl, beat together the ricotta and milk using a wire whisk. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Pour the ricotta milk mixture, along with the melted butter, into the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, stir until just combined.

Spoon the batter evenly into 12 greased muffin cups. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned and a cake tester inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins sit in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes.

"The" Peanut Sauce

2009-11-03T21:32:00.001-08:00

This is basically the best peanut sauce ever and I'm so incredibly happy that I came across it. I'm done trying out other recipes - this is the one! It's full of flavour, perfectly peanut-y, and it has a nice consistency that's not too thick so it evenly distributes over everything. And you make it in a blender or magic bullet. So easy, so good. You must make it. That's pretty much it! Check out Julie's original recipe to see the different options you can choose for each ingredient. She makes peanut sauce so simple and approachable! Oh by the way, of course you can do whatever you want with the sauce but I just stir fried up a ton of vegetables and tofu and ate it with noodles or rice with the sauce on top. Healthy and so tasty.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Soba Noodles with Zucchini Ribbons
Fried Rice with Scallions, Edamame and Tofu
Fresh Pear and Curry Pasta

Peanut Sauce
Adapted from Dinner With Julie

4 Tbsp. coconut milk (or I've used water if I didn't have it)
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger

Combine all the ingredients in a blender or jar and whiz or shake until smooth. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve it. Makes about a cup.

Ginger Spice Cookies

2009-10-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

It's Halloween tomorrow!!!! I'm so excited. Well excited and sad, because it will be over soon. We're going to check out a local haunted house tomorrow - it's supposed to be one of the best in the area. I can't wait! I hope you all have a Happy Halloween and lots of yummy treats! I picked up some candy corn today for my boyfriend and tried a few pieces. I always thought I hated candy corn but it is really addictive! Now onto the food...

These cookies are pure magic. They are everything I ever could have wanted or hoped for in a ginger molasses cookie. Soft, spicy, not too molassesy, a bit chewy. Absolute perfection. They're really similar to the Starbucks ginger molasses cookie which of course I love (and I know there are many other addicts for this cookie as well). These will be in my cookie rotation until forever. The only thing I might change about the recipe is to cut back on the ginger a bit to 2 teaspoons instead of 2 1/2.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Double Dark Chocolate Cherry Cookies
Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
Lime Sugar Cookies
Snickerdoodles

Ginger Spice Cookies
Bon Appétit, March 2000

Yield: Makes about 30

2 cups all purpose flour (Ashley note: I halved the recipe and used 143 g.)
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (packed) light/golden brown sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup mild-flavored (light) molasses

Sugar

Combine first 6 ingredients in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Using electric mixer, beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add egg and molasses and beat until blended. Add flour mixture and mix just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 2 baking sheets. Spoon sugar in thick layer onto small plate. Using wet hands, form dough into 1 1/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to touch, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Carefully transfer to racks and cool. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

Christopsomos - Greek Celebration Bread

2009-10-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

Seeing all the gorgeous delicious breads people have been making from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, I knew I had to steal the book from my mom! Well not steal, just borrow for an indefinite amount of time. The first loaf I wanted to try was the Christopsomos Greek celebration bread. I love the shape! It's so fun. Mine didn't turn out quite as defined though.

Looking back at the photos, it looks like such a huge monster of a bread! And it was. Not that there's anything wrong with that because it was fun to make and really delicious and soft. I love all the spices and flavours - cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves (my favourite!), orange extract and almond extract. There are also some raisins, dried cranberries and walnuts thrown in there too. The flavours are similar to the pecan fruit rye bread I made before and loved.

I think I let my final shaped dough rise too long so it became a bit too big. And I'm wondering if that's what also caused what looks like tearing in the dough? Hmm. The only other bread I've tried out of this book so far are the bagels. I feel like I'm really developing a love for bread making! (As long as I have my Kitchenaid and don't have to knead by hand - I haven't learned to love that yet.) Anyone have recommendations for good bread books?

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Golden Cinnamon Loaf
Focaccia
Oatmeal Knots
Garlic Rolls

Christopsomos - Greek Celebration Bread
The Bread Baker's Apprentice

I wrote the recipe with all the options I chose and didn't include the alternate versions.

1 cup (7 oz) poolish (Recipe follows)
3 1/2 cups (16 oz) unbleached bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 large (3.3 oz) eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup (2.67 oz) honey
1/4 cup (2 oz) olive oil
3/4 cup (6 oz) whole or low-fat milk, lukewarm (90F-100F)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp sesame seeds

1. Remove the measured amount of poolish from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough. (The poolish should be made the day before.)

2. Stir together the flour, salt, yeast, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the poolish, the extracts, eggs, honey, oil and milk. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until the dough forms a ball.

3. Mix on medium speed with the dough hook. Add more milk or flour as needed to form the dough into a soft, but not sticky, ball. It should be tacky and very supple. Mix for approximately 10 minutes. In the last 2 minutes of mixing, add the raisins, dried cranberries and walnuts. The dough should pass the windowpane test.

4. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment the dough at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until it doubles in size.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 2 pieces, piece twice as big as the other. Shape the larger piece into a boule. Transfer it to a sheet pan that has been lined with baking parchment or a Silpat mat. Mist the dough with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Place the smaller piece of dough into a plastic bag and chill in the refrigerator.

6. Proof at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the dough nearly doubles in size.

6a. When the boule is ready to bake, remove the smaller piece from the refrigerator, divide it in half, and roll each half into a 10 inch long strand. Cross the 2 strands of dough over the top of the boule. Using a pastry scraper, split the ends of each strand and coil them to form a decorative cross.

7. Preheat the oven to 350F with the oven rack on the middle shelf.

8. Bake the loaf for 20 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue baking for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and registers 190F. (Ashley note: I don't have a thermometer so just took it out when it was golden brown.) It should make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Glaze the loaf a soon as it comes out of the oven.

9. To make the glaze, combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the honey and extract and turn off the heat. Reheat the glaze, if necessary, before applying it to the bread. Brush the loaves with the glaze and immediately sprinkle the loaves with sesame seeds.

10. Transfer the bread to a rack and cool for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving.

Poolish

Note: This makes about 11.5 oz and you only need 7 oz for the recipe.

1 1/4 cups (11.13 oz) unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) water, at room temperature
1/4 tsp instant yeast

Stir together the flour, water and yeast in a mixing bowl until all of the flour is hydrated. The dough should be soft and sticky and look like very thick pancake batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours, or until the sponge becomes bubbly and foamy. Immediately refrigerate it. It will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Caramel Apple-Caramel Corn

2009-10-25T10:56:00.001-07:00

Did you guys see Peabody's supremely amazing creation a couple of weeks ago - caramel apple-caramel corn?? Of course I had to make it as soon as possible. And oh it was good. Really really good. I don't know what size bag of popcorn she used because I halved the recipe and got more popcorn than she did for the whole recipe! Unfortunately the popcorn was only nice and crisp on the first day. The next day it started to get soft and it quickly after that got really soft. I'm not sure if it's because I should have heated the caramel more or if that's just what happens (maybe because the dried apples are in there).

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Peanut Butter Fudge
Caramel Walnut Chocolate Chunk Granola
Monster Cookies
Chocolate Scotcheroos

Caramel Apple-Caramel Corn
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Makes about 25 cups.

The caramels I found were in an 8 or 9 oz bag so I didn't use them all, and I just used whatever dried apples I had. The exact amount of the caramels and apples you use are not a big deal. Unfortunately my halved version uses 1 1/2 bags of popcorn - but next time I'd probably just use 1 bag to keep it simpler.

1 1/2 80 g bags plain (not buttered) microwavable popcorn, popped

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed
1/4 cup white corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda

7 oz of caramels (unwrapped), chopped into fourths
6 oz dried apples, chopped into bite size pieces (this is probably about 1 1/2 cups)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 200F.

Put the popcorn in a large bowl or stock pot. Add the apple and caramel pieces and toss with popcorn. Set aside.

In a large saucepan bring sugars, syrup, salt, and butter to a boil, over high heat. Boil until all the ingredients has dissolved and it is boiling away at you.

Add vanilla extract and baking soda and stir quickly. Be warned, it’s going to bubble up and get mad at you.

Dump the caramel into the bowl with the popcorn, apples and caramels. Mix thoroughly.

Spread out evenly onto prepared baking sheet and place in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Your caramels will melt, but will firm back up as they cool, don’t panic. Enjoy.

Chayote and Corn Enchiladas

2009-10-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

Can you tell that this is a picture of cold enchiladas? I tried taking a picture the night I made it but the colours were all weird so just took some photos the next day. I looove enchiladas but have never attempted making them at home. Not only did I make enchiladas, but I made the corn tortillas! I was very proud of myself. Mind you I didn't have a tortilla press and pushing down on them with a frying pan to flatten them out didn't seem to get them thin enough. Plus I opted not to fry them first which is supposed to make them softer. So rather than rolling the filling in the tortillas I just layered some tortillas on the top and bottom, sandwiching the filling. It worked!

This is one of my favourite Abby pictures! Look at her little tummy! This was when she was younger (and smaller). The white fluffy stuff on the bottom is my mom's dog's head.

The filling was yummy with chayotes, zucchini, bell peppers, onion, corn, jalapeno, cilantro, and cheese. And it was topped with an oven roasted tomato sauce, which on its own I thought was okay but with the enchiladas was perfect. I tried to keep it healthier by not adding much cheese but enchiladas are definitely more delicious when there's lots of nice melty cheese! If you just add the recommended 1/2 cup you may not even notice it there. And this is easily made vegan by omitting the cheese altogether.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Refried Beans (which I ate with the enchiladas!)
Roasted Taco Chickpeas
Black Bean Chilaquile
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

Chayote and Corn Enchiladas
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

I don't think I added the cilantro when I made it. The recipe calls for Monterey Jack cheese but I just used cheddar. And it recommends 1/2 cup of cheese - but I say either omit the cheese (and make it vegan!) or add way more than that because I couldn't taste it. Remember to start on the sauce before the enchiladas!

2 small chayote
2 zucchini
1 large red or orange bell pepper
1 white onion
1 tbsp oil
1 1/2 cups corn kernels, from 2 ears if fresh
Salt
1 or 2 jalapeno chiles to taste, seeded and diced
2 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
12 corn tortillas
2 cups Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce (Recipe Follows)

Dice all the vegetables about 1/4 inch across. Keep them separate. Heat the oil in a wide skillet, add the onion and chayote, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned in places, about 5 minutes. Add the pepper, corn, and zucchini, cook for 2 minutes more, then remove from the heat and season with salt. Let cool a little, then add the chiles, cilantro and cheese.

Lay half of the corn tortillas in the bottom of a 9x13 pan, to cover the bottom. Put all the filling on top. Layer the rest of the tortillas on top. Spoon the sauce over the enchiladas. Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.

Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

2 1/2 pounds Roma Tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F. Put the tomatoes in a single layer in a baking pan with the onion and thyme, drizzle the oil over all, and season with salt and pepper. bake unitl they're soft, shriveled, and falling apart, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Puree in a food processor. Taste for salt and season with pepper.

Chocolate Walnut Yogurt Muffins

2009-10-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

When I saw these double chocolate yogurt muffins on Cookie Madness, I knew I had to try making them. I love yogurt in baked goods. I wanted to try making them healthier though so I changed a bunch of stuff. Now that I'm looking over the recipe, I'm thinking maybe I should've added more liquid to compensate for the sugar and butter I took out (well I replaced sugar with maple syrup and butter with oil, and reduced both amounts). But they turned out nice and soft when I made them. Next time I'll add more cocoa powder to make them more chocolatey. These muffins are a healthier version of a chocolatey bready baked good, but if that's not your thing then check out this coco-nana bread I made not too long ago.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Strawberry Lemon Sunflower Seed Muffins
Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins
Applesauce-Oat Bran Muffins

Chocolate Walnut Yogurt Muffins
Adapted from Cookie Madness

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup oil
1 cup yogurt, vanilla flavoured or plain
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (215 g)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups.

Stir maple sugar and oil together in a medium size bowl. Add yogurt, egg and vanilla and stir until thoroughly blended.

Combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture, stirring only until blended. Fold in walnuts. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins and bake for 22-25 minutes.

Makes 12

Broccoli Slaw

2009-10-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

This broccoli slaw is a new favourite of mine, with sunflower seeds, cranberries, onion and a buttermilk dressing. What I wrote on the recipe was "SO addictive amazing delicious. make every week. LOVE IT. crunchy mm". That pretty much sums it up. In the summer I ate giant bowls of it with savoury muffins for lunch and dinner. But I will definitely carry this slaw into the fall, winter and spring. You might need to adjust the amount of dressing to your broccoli. Sometimes I had just the right amount, and sometimes not quite enough.

One of my brother's coworker apparently only reads my blog for photos of Abby (hi coworker!) which is awesome. (Who doesn't love when other people think ther kids/pets are cute?) And she had the excellent suggestion that I make an Abby tag for all posts with photos of her, so I did.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Mediterranean Pepper Salad
Tabbouleh
French Barley Salad
Portobello Salad with Mustard Dressing

Broccoli Slaw
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes about six cups of slaw

2 heads of broccoli (including stems) or 3 broccoli crowns
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 small red onion, finely chopped

Buttermilk Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar

Trim broccoli and cut it into large chunks. From here, you can either feed it through your food processor’s slicing blade, use a mandoline to cut it into thin slices, or simply had chop it into smaller pieces. (Ashley note: I hand chopped mine which was not as bad as I thought it would be. I just chopped it up like I was mincing an onion or something.)

Toss the sliced broccoli with the sunflower seeds, cranberries and red onion in a large bowl. Meanwhile, whisk the dressing ingredients in a smaller one, with a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Pour the dressing over the broccoli and toss it well. Season well with salt and pepper to taste.

Should keep up to a week in the fridge.

Epicure Selections

2009-10-13T18:16:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago someone from Epicure Selections contacted me and asked if I'd like to try out some of their products. I jumped at the chance! I've tried out some of their stuff before as my mom buys it so I was really happy to get the opportunity to try out some of their other products. Epicure Selections is a Canadian, family owned and women run company based in my favourite city Victoria, BC! They carry a wide variety of herb and dip mixes, spices, jellies, salts, baking stuff (chocolate, baking powder, dried fruit, etc), tea, cookware, etc. Definitely worth checking out!

In particular I love all the spice/herb blends they have. I love adding them to pasta and vegetables. And their dip mixes are way too addictive. I've actually been using the Cheese Chives & Bacon Dip Mix in pasta and scrambled eggs too though (they use fake bacon)! One thing I've yet to try is making a marinade with them for tofu - I bet that would be good. Or putting some Red Garlic Sansel on roasted vegetables mmm.

My favourite thing about the Epicure Selections products is that they can instantly make an otherwise okay meal into something much yummier. It's so awesome to have these products on hand for when I'm feeling tired on a weeknight and want something easy but tasty. And a lot of their mixes don't contain salt (though some do so if this is something you're concerned about I'm sure you could contact them and ask). They also kindly sent me their cookbook but there are lots of recipes on their website too that give you ideas for how to use their products.

The person who contacted me was so sweet to send me the things I wanted to try out plus added in some extras. And knowing that I'm a baker, she also generously offered to do a baking giveaway! Stay tuned for that.

On a somewhat unrelated note, the vanity in our bathroom has 6 lightbulbs and we had energy saving light bulbs in there previously. So they looked ugly plus only 1 of them was working. We didn't really notice or care but finally we went and bought 6 new lightbulbs (the energy saving kind but made to look like regular lightbulbs) and now our bathroom is SO incredibly bright. I thought I'd test this out by taking photos in there! Seemed to work better than doing it in the living room at night with one of those stand lights.

Caramel-Pear Tart with a Graham Shortbread Crust

2009-10-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

I went to Caprial's Desserts to look up the recipe for this tart that I made, and I discovered that I hadn't written any notes on it! Whenever I make something, I always (or so I thought) write on the recipe any modifications I made, what I thought, if I'd make it again, etc. I used to hate the idea of defacing a book in such a way but now I love it. I love flipping through a cookbook and seeing all the writing on the recipes. So with this one, I will have to try and just dredge it up from my less than stellar memory!

I made this pie for Canada Day back in July. Ever since I got this cookbook I've wanted to make this pie - pears poached in 5 cups of wine, caramel filling with pear brandy, and a graham shortbread crust. Sounded irresistible. The result was good but it tasted more like a fairly regular apple pie, and less like the amazing thing I had hoped for. I think what ruined it for me was the nutmeg in the caramel filling - only 1/2 teaspoon but it killed the delicate flavours of everything else. I bet this pie would be much closer to my high expectations without it. The caramel filling did not taste like pear brandy! Sob. Well maybe a little bit but not distinctly (damn nutmeg). The crust turned out kind of soft, but I think that's partly due to the fact that I didn't have time to let it cool completely before taking it to dinner.

I've made another pear pie from this same cookbook, and what I can conclude is that pear pies taste like apple pies, they just sound fancier. Oh and the recipe says to reserve the poaching liquid for another use - what could you possibly use it for?

Hope all the Canadians have a good Thanksgiving!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pear Pie
Pecan Tassies
Apple Pie with Brown Sugar Streusel Topping
Coconut Cream Pie

Caramel-Pear Tart with a Graham Shortbread Crust
Caprial's Desserts

The recipe recommends a 9 or 10 inch tart shell, and I used an 8" one. I had caramel filling and LOTS of pears leftover. I think I used about 3 1/2 or 4 pears, but they were quite huge. You can bake the extra caramel and pears together in ramekins. The recipe suggests you serve with softly whipped cream but I opted not to. I've slightly changed the wording of the instructions to make it more simple.

Poached Pears
5 cups white wine
1 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 cinnamon stick
1 (1 inch thick) slice of fresh ginger
5 or 6 firm pears, peeled, halved and cored (Ashley note: I think this is 5 or 6 small pears, and probably about 3 or 4 large ones.)

Graham Shortbread Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup graham flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced

Caramel Filling
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup pear brandy
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (Ashley note: I'd definitely omit this next time.)

Poach the pears:
Combine everything but the pears in a large heavy saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, add the pears, lower the heat to medium, and poach until fork-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool the pears in the liquid and refrigerate until ready to use. (For the best flavour, refrigerate them in the liquid overnight, if possible.)

Make the crust:
Preheat a standard oven to 375F.

Place everything but the butter in the bowl of a food processor. With the motor running, slowly add the butter and process until the dough forms a ball on top of the blade. Remove the dough from the food processor; if it's too soft to work with, refrigerate until it's easier to handle. Press the dough into a well-greased 10" tart pan. (The easiest way to do this is to first press it into the sides of the pan, then finish with the bottom of the pan.) Bake just until set but not brown, about 10 minutes; let cool completely.

Lower the oven temperature to 350F.

Make the caramel filling:
Meanwhile, to prepare the caramel filling, place the sugar in a large saute pan with sides or a heavy saucepan. Gently moisten the sugar with the water, being careful not to splash the water and sugar onto the sides of the pan. Cook the sugar mixture over high heat, without stirring, until you see any part of it turning brown, then swirl the pan to even out the colour. Cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes longer. Carefully add the cream to the hot sugar, taking care to pour it in slowly because it will bubble up very violently. Add the brandy and cook, again without stirring, until the caramelized sugar has liquefied again and the mixture is very smooth and a deep golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat. Let cool until tepid, then whisk in the egg and nutmeg.

To assemble:
Cut the poached pears into 1/4 inch thick slices, reserving the poach liquid for another use. Arrange the pear slices in concentric circles in the cooled tart shell, pour the caramel filling into the shell, and bake until the filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

Serve warm.

Swiss Rarebit

2009-10-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

I have discovered a new cookbook love, The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest. I now see that my life was incomplete without it! I took it out of the library, after reading Ricki talk about it and I was hooked and had to buy it. Vegetable-flecked bread? Curried sweet potato pie with coconut crust? Savory apple casserole? I could go on and on. I think I'm seriously going to make every single recipe in this cookbook. I own a lot of vegetarian cookbooks, and it is so incredibly rare that you come across a gem like this. Every recipe sounds so good, uses ingredients that aren't hard to get, and there's so much variety. This cookbook was originally published in 1982 and I guess I'm surprised at how innovative and interesting the recipes are. I think I assume that after all these years people would've come up with more interesting stuff, but that's definitely not true. This book is where it's at. I just can't believe I've gone this long without having it! I'm sure many of you already have it but for me it's an exciting new discovery (as I'm sure you can tell). I've already made 4 or 5 things from it and this is just the beginning. I don't think it can replace Rebar as my favourite vegetarian (and all around cookbook) but it might come out as a tie.

Today I'm sharing with you this delicious Swiss rarebit, which wasn't the first thing I made from this cookbook but seemed like a good thing to share right now while we're all looking for warm comforting meals. I've always wanted to make rarebit and now I want to try out other versions like with mustard and beer. This rarebit is made with Swiss cheese, mushrooms, white wine, tarragon and green onions - a wonderful combination. It makes enough to top 4 thick slices of pumpernickel (which I made using a recipe from this cookbook and it was awesome - to be posted soon), and we made the mistake of each eating two for our meal. It was super tasty and basically like a cheese/wine/mushroom fondue on toast (who can say no to that), but if you eat two slices like we did, you will feel really gross afterwards. Next time I'll just eat one piece with a big salad.

Wow I'm feeling quite verbose tonight. You'd think I'd be inspired to finish my essay right now when I'm in a mood like this, but no.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Feta and Ricotta Cheese Pie
Cauliflower Gratin
Cheddar Ale Dip

Swiss Rarebit
Slightly adapted from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest

The only thing I changed was to use half the amount of oil (and using oil not butter).

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
5 medium sized green onions, minced
up to 1 cup grated Swiss cheese (1/4 lb)
thick slices of toasted pumpernickel
freshly grated nutmeg & ground black pepper, to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet or medium-large saucepan. Add the mushrooms and salt, and cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently.

2. Gradually sprinkle in the flour, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for about 1 minute, then stir in the wine and tarragon. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

3. Shortly before serving, stir in the green onions and cheese. Keep cooking over low heat, stirring, until the cheese is completely melted.

4. To serve, place 4 generous slices of pumpernickel toast on 4 separate plates or in shallow soup bowls. Spoon the rarebit over the top, grind on some fresh nutmeg and black pepper, and it's ready to eat.

Cocoa-Nana Bread

2009-10-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

I know I know I've said so many times I don't like banana bread. But it's a pretty impossible thing to not make given the fact that overripe bananas are bound to occur. The bananas used for this loaf were from my boyfriend's brother & wife who had a bunch of overripe bananas and somehow I went home with them. I asked my boyfriend what he wanted me to make with them and he said chocolate chip banana bread, but I thought I'd go a little further and do a chocolate chocolate chip banana bread. I found it in my most favourite baking book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. It was super chocolatey, had a great texture, and was really soft. And it was equally banana-y and chocolate-y.

Have I mentioned that I'm extremely excited that it's October?? Ahh my favourite month and time of year. What's yours?

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Mom's Banana Apple Bread
Garden Harvest Cake
Chocolate Strawberry Loaf

Cocoa-Nana Bread
Baking: From My Home to Yours

2 cups all purpose flour (I used 272 g)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or 1/2 cup store bought chocolate chips)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan and placed it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from overbaking.)

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute, until softened. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. At this point, the batter may look a little curdled - it's okay. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only unilt they disappear into the batter. Still on low speed, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tent to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes (total baking time is between 70 to 75 minutes), or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the brad and unmolding it. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

Feta and Ricotta Cheese Pie

2009-10-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

How good does a feta and ricotta cheese pie sound? Insanely good I thought. I'm definitely a big cheese lover and couldn't ignore this recipe. It was deeelicious! Kind of like fancy scrambled cheesy eggs. There's no crust, though now that I'm thinking about it I bet a crust would make it even better. (But then I think crust makes everything better.) It would be great for a brunch, but really would be good anytime. Next time I'd like to try using half of the filling, and fill up the rest with sauteed vegetables. Adding a crust and vegetables sounds like I'm turning it into a quiche so I guess that's defeating the purpose of the feta and ricotta cheese pie, but it would be such a yummy quiche!

I think my blog might be down for a few hours tomorrow. I'm so very lucky to have my brother host all the files for my website and his server is moving tomorrow. I assume things shouldn't be down for too long? But if it's weird, then that's why.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Squash & Aged White Cheddar Tart with Sage and Roasted Garlic Custard
Apple & Spinach Tart
Cheddar Ale Dip
Onion and Mushroom Frittata

Feta and Ricotta Cheese Pie
Adapted from Dana Treat who adapted from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen

1/2 pound good feta cheese
1 pound low fat ricotta cheese
4 eggs
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup 2% milk
salt and pepper
1 tsp dried dill

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the feta with the ricotta in a medium bowl, without worrying about getting it perfectly smooth – you’ll want some chunks. Beat the eggs into the cheese, then add the flour and milk. Season with salt, pepper and dill.

2. Grease a 9 inch pie plate. Pour in the batter. Bake until golden, 35-40 minutes. Cut in to wedges and serve.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-09-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

Will you be bored if I share a peanut butter cookie recipe with you? What if it's a really good peanut butter cookie recipe that I plan on making again? I'd say this is the last peanut butter cookie recipe I'll be posting (well I've only posted one before) because between this one and my other two favourites, and a yummy healthier version, my peanut butter cookie needs are fulfilled. If you've yet to find your peanut butter cookie love, try out this recipe. I'd expect your cookies to be less flat as I think my butter was too soft.

I never tire of photos of stacks of cookies! I love how they look.

Some of you might have noticed that in the baking recipes I post, I usually put how many grams of flour I used. I know there are "official" sources out there that say 1 cup of all purpose flour weighs 120 grams (but actually some sources say 140 grams and other weights in and around there so what is "right"?). And I tried that method for a while, but my baked goods weren't turning out the way they used to, the way I liked them. So I went back to measuring flour the old way, and just recording how much I use each time (which seems to be pretty consistent). I guess I could go through my recipes and see how much I like 1 cup of flour to weigh in baking, but for now I'll just note in each recipe how much I used.

Do you have any favourites from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook? I've liked the things I've made but haven't used the cookbook that much so would love any suggestions you have!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Double Dark Chocolate Cherry Cookies
Monster Cookies
Peanut Butter Squares with Milk Chocolate and Oats
Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

Peanut Butter Cookies
Slightly adapted from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

My only adaptations were to use smooth peanut butter instead of chunky, and peanut butter/chocolate chips instead of peanut butter chips. But I prefer my peanut butter cookies without any sort of chips actually.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (Ashley note: I used 168 g.)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup smooth peanut butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (for sprinkling) sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisscross pattern, but do not overly flatten cookies. Lightly sprinkle cookies with sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies.

Refried Beans

2009-09-27T19:44:00.001-07:00

I've mentioned before that I generally don't like beans. I really wish I was one of those people that find them so delicious just on their own. But instead I'm always trying to find ways to cook them that I find really yummy. And I end up trying out a lot of recipes and only liking a select few. So I was really happy when I came across this one! These are super simple refried beans and are so very tasty. I was supposed to use pink or pinto or pinquito beans but I had black beans so used those. The recipe suggests mashing the beans after you add them to the onions but I found it hard to mash them with the onions there so preferred pre-mashing them. (Oh and if you're wondering, the little green curly thing sticking out the side on the right is part of a pea shoot! I love pea shoots.)

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pink Beans with a Cardamom Yogurt Sauce
Roasted Taco Chickpeas
Spicy Indian Chickpeas/Chana Masala
White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

Refried Beans
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

1 cup black beans, soaked overnight or 6-8 hours
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 small onions, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced

Put the beans in a pot, cover them with water, and boil hard for 10 minutes. Remove any scum. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until they're partially tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt, then continue cooking until they're very soft. Drain, reserving the broth. Mash the beans up.

Heat the oil in a nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it's nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes, adding the garlic during the last few minutes. Add a third of the beans and 2 cups of the broth. (If you don't have enough broth leftover, just add water.) Using a fork or a potato masher, mash the beans up more as they simmer, working them into the broth. When they're fairly smooth, add another third of the beans and continue mashing. Add more broth if the mixture gets too dry. Repeat with the rest of the beans. Taste them for salt and keep frying until they look dry on the bottom and hold together in the pan. They shouldn't be runny, but they shouldn't be a solid, dry mass either.

Garden Harvest Cake

2009-09-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

I saw this cake on Cookie Madness a while ago and knew I had to make it. It's full of lots of yummy things like apple, carrot, zucchini, cinnamon and walnuts! And it's pretty healthy too. I was definitely not disappointed with the results. The cake was so tasty and moist, and reminded me of carrot cake mmmm. Next time I'd like to try reducing the sugar even more (the original recipe calls for 3/4 cup and I cut it back to 1/2 cup) and try using maple syrup or another natural sweetener instead. Maybe cut back the oil a bit too?

Yaey for Friday and the weekend being here! Hope you all have a good weekend. I'm loving watching the leaves change colour.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins
Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins
Chocolate Strawberry Loaf

Garden Harvest Cake
Adapted from Cooking Light, April 2009

1 cup whole wheat flour (130 g)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated peeled Granny Smith apple (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup grated carrot (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup soy milk + 3/4 tsp vinegar (original recipe calls for 1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk)
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add grated apple, grated carrot, shredded zucchini, and walnuts to flour mixture; toss well. Combine soy milk and vinegar together. Add in canola oil and eggs, stirring with a whisk. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined.

3. Spoon batter into an 8 x 4–inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove cake from pan. Cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

Asparagus Mushroom Bread Pudding

2009-09-22T21:38:00.001-07:00

It's too bad I didn't get a more delicious looking picture of this bread pudding. While I really love having a food blog, I really don't enjoy taking the pictures for it. Especially when the light isn't good (which is most of the time, and I'm not fancy enough to set up something to fix that) or the food doesn't look that exciting, even though it might be super tasty. At one point I enjoyed taking the photos but now it just feels like a chore. However, I definitely enjoy looking at others' food photos and I admire the people who have such skill and passion for food styling. And regardless of how good or bad a photo is, I always think it makes a post better. I try and do what I can to make the food look good but mostly I just want to eat it!

Anyway onto discussing the food. I know it's the tail end of asparagus season (or so it seems since I still see it around) so I'm posting this just in time! I've never made any sort of bread pudding before, and while I've only tried dessert bread pudding a couple of times I've never liked it (too mushy). But I was quite intrigued by this savoury version with asparagus, mushrooms, goat cheese, basil, leeks and Dijon mustard. It was yummy and something different, though it was a bit mushy. Is bread pudding supposed to be mushy? I think I'd prefer to just bake it longer and have it dry out and be more like stuffing... but I guess that's not the point otherwise there wouldn't be something called stuffing and something called bread pudding!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
French Pasta Salad
Tarragon Pecan Asparagus
Asparagus and Feta Pasta
Spaghetti with Spinach Cream Sauce

Asparagus Mushroom Bread Pudding
Adapted from Vegetarian Times, May/June 2009

1 leek, white part finely chopped (1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 tbsp)
1 lb fresh asparagus (18 to 20 spears), cut into 1 inch pieces
6 oz mushrooms, sliced (1 cup)
2 cups 1% milk
2 large eggs
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 lb loaf crusty bread, cut into cubes
100 g soft goat cheese log, sliced

1. Coat skillet with nonstick cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Add leek and garlic, and sauté 8 minutes, or until soft. Add asparagus and mushrooms, and cook 4 minutes more, or until asparagus is tender. Set aside.

2. Whisk together milk, eggs, mustard, and basil in bowl. Set aside.

3. In a large casserole dish, spread half of bread cubes in single layer in baking dish. Spoon asparagus mixture over top, and cover with remaining bread cubes. Arrange goat cheese rounds over top. Pour egg mixture over all, pressing down with spoon to submerge bread. Cover, and chill 2 hours, or overnight.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake bread pudding 45 minutes, or until center is set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

2009-09-18T17:54:00.001-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I get kind of sick of banana loaf, banana muffins, and bananas in baking in general - not because I don't like bananas (I eat one pretty much everyday) but because I guess they're not exciting to me anymore. However, I've been obsessed with the idea of peanut butter and banana in a muffin together. So I made these muffins which are exciting, fairly healthy and excellent. They're really moist, don't have a too distinct whole wheat flavour, and the banana and peanut butter flavours are well balanced.

Abby loves laying on her back and sprawling out like this. When we walk by she'll roll over a bit to reach out her paw to try and grab us.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Roast Banana-Pumpkin Breakfast Bread
Banana Crunch Muffins
Mom's Banana Apple Bread
Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins

Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Adapted from Baking Bites

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (207 g)
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup mashed banana (about 2 med.)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup light buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, brown sugar, eggs, mashed banana, peanut butter and buttermilk until very smooth, making sure all egg has been well-incorporated. Pour into flour mixture and stir until no streaks of flour remain.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin tin, filling each just about up to the top.
Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
Remove muffins from tin and cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12.

Book Review: You Made That Dessert?

2009-09-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the official release date for Beth's (Cookie Pie) baking book You Made That Dessert?, and I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of her online book tour! (Check out the list of other bloggers who are taking part - near the bottom of this post above the recipe.) The book is meant for people who aren't too familiar with baking and don't want to have to buy tons of fancy tools and seek out hard to find ingredients. Every recipe includes a list of required tools (in addition to the ingredients), the prep time, and cooking time. And there are lots of helpful tips throughout the recipes (as you'll see in the coconut rice pudding recipe below), as well as chapters on the tools, the ingredients, the lingo (cut in, fold), and the how-tos (whipping egg whites).

But I think this book appeals to people of all baking levels. I was pleasantly surprised to see that in addition to some staple baking recipes (brownies, gingersnaps), Beth has also included lots of other interesting ones like S'mores Bars, Salty-Sweet Caramel Nut Bars, Rosemary Biscotti, Tres Leches Cake (something I've always wanted to make!), Caramelized Banana Bread Pudding (anyone else completely drawn into food when it says caramelized?), Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie and "New Wave" Lemon Meringue Pie (where you spoon lemon curd into a cup and then put a meringue and a piece of shortbread in it - yum)!

I love the style of the book and I really think there's something to be said for style, font choices and layout of a cookbook. I love that it lists weights for the flour and sugar (as well as saying how many cups). I love all the photos! When my boyfriend saw me flipping through it he said "Ohh that's a nice cookbook". I'm okay with cookbooks that don't have any or many photos but hey I'll admit I'm a sucker for gorgeous food photos! ;) I also love the emergency dessert section.

The recipes I wanted to try out were the coconut rice pudding and the peanut butter and jelly bars. Both were easy to make and yummy! I love how the peanut butter and jelly bars look, and they of course reminded me of a peanut butter and jam sandwich. The cookie part is so yummy and soft. As for the rice pudding, I didn't used to like rice pudding actually but after having it at a local Indian restaurant, I've changed my mind. So I couldn't wait to try out this pudding with my favourite coconut as the star. And it definitely didn't disappoint. Though I think I might have cooked it a bit long because once I cooled it it was really thick. This did not at all interfere with its deliciousness though.

Ahh I'm really tired and forgot to include links to all the other bloggers who are part of this online book tour. =) Check out:

Recipe Girl for cookies and cream cheesecake bars
Culinary Concoctions by Peabody for chocolate-chocolate chip cupcakes
Cookie Baker Lynn for banana snack cake
Two Peas and Their Pod for sour cream coffee cake
The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch for cappuccino biscotti
Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy
Baking Bites

Bunny's Warm Oven for cherry clafouti

Coconut Rice Pudding
You Made That Dessert?

1 cup sweetened flake coconut
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup uncooked jasmine rice
1/3 cup (2.3 ounces) sugar
zest of 1 small lemon (Ashley note: I omitted this because I wanted pure coconut!)
2 14-ounce cans unsweetened coconut milk (shake cans before opening them)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp dark rum or 1 tbsp vanilla extract (Ashley note: I went for the vanilla.)

1. Put 1/2 cup coconut in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (or spread it on a cutting board and chop it as finely as you can with a chef's knife). In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon or flexible spatula, for 1 minute. Stir in the chopped coconut, sugar, lemon zest, coconut milk, and salt and bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes (tiny bubbles will form along the edges and the mixture may steam a little bit, but don't let it boil).

2. Turn the heat down to low and cook, stirring often, until the pudding has thickened (it will be about the same consistency as runny oatmeal; it will firm up as it cools), about 25 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat, pour the pudding into a large bowl, and stir in the rum or vanilla. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap, pressing down carefully so that the plastic lightly touches the whole surface of the pudding. Let the pudding cool for 15 minutes to serve it warm, or let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerate it to serve cold.

3. While the pudding is cooling, toast the remaining coconut: Preheat the oven to 350F. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup coconut in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet (no need to grease the baking sheet or line it). Bake it for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes, until the coconut is golden brown (be careful - the coconut can get too dark very quickly if you don't stir it often and keep an eye on it). Pour the toasted coconut into a small bowl to cool.

4. Spoon the pudding into individual dessert bowls, top with toasted coconut, and serve.

Pink Beans with a Cardamom-Yogurt Sauce

2009-09-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

This is the first recipe I've tried from 660 Curries - which is one of the most massive cookbooks I own with over 800 pages! I was really intrigued by a yogurt sauce where the yogurt is cooked down into curds, so decided to try out these beans with cardamom-yogurt sauce. And it was yummy! A bit spicy with lots of flavour (love intensely flavoured food). I used nonfat yogurt which I think resulted in the curds not being as big? But it was good, though I'd like to try it with whole milk yogurt. And my boyfriend liked it which means it must be good since he doesn't like beans. I hope to find many other great recipes like this one as I work my way (slowly) through it.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Curried Mushrooms and Peas
Spicy Indian Chickpeas/Chana Masala
Curried Sweet Potato Soup
Roasted Taco Chickpeas

Pink Beans with a Cardamom-Yogurt Sauce
Slightly adapted from 660 Curries

I think you can use whatever kind of beans you want - the original recipe called for kidney beans. It also calls for a specific type of garam masala but I just used one that I bought. The final flavour of your dish is going to be quite affected by the garam masala so use one you like!

1/2 tbsp oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 green or white cardamom pods
1 cup plain yogurt (Ashley note: I used nonfat and it was fine but I bet whole milk yogurt would be better.)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 cups cooked pink beans
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cardamom pods, and stir-fry until the onion turns light brown around the edges, 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the yogurt and continue to cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the watery liquid evaporates from the yogurt and leaves behind reddish-brown curd like pellets, 12 to 15 minutes.

3. Sprinkle in the turmeric and incorporate it into the tart sauce. Add 2 cups water and the beans, salt, garam masala, and cayenne. Bring the curry to a boil. Then lower the heat to medium and gently boil the sauce, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.

4. Sprinkle the cilantro over the curry, and serve. (Remove the cardamom pods first, if you wish.)

(Insanely Delicious) Basic Focaccia

2009-09-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

I've been holding out on you guys for a while (due to the backlog) on this focaccia that is the best I've ever had, and one of the best bread products I've ever eaten. I really should've posted about this sooner! I saw this focaccia on Leng's blog and she said how good it was so I asked her for the recipe and she kindly sent it. The focaccia is super soft and so tasty. Maybe all focaccia is meant to be this way and I've just never had fresh focaccia? You use a lot of oil in the pan that it's baked in so the bread basically fries on the bottom - SO GOOD. Especially the super fried corners. Yes maybe not the healthiest bread out there but so worth the indulgence. And usually I hate hand kneading dough but this one wasn't sticky and was super easy to knead.

Unfortunately the bread only keeps fresh for a couple of days so freeze it if you can't eat it all - and it does make a lot of bread so unless you're bread monsters or have a lot of people to eat it you'll probably want to freeze some. I made it exactly as directed this time, but I'd like to try it with some whole wheat flour, and maybe less oil. I know the photos don't make it look like anything spectacular but it really is! Even my stepdad who says he doesn't like eating bread really liked it.

Yes we have a little too many toys and things for Abby haha. I was surprised to find her in the little cubbyhole because she never goes in there. She's kind of too big for it.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Oatmeal Knots
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls
Oatmeal Bread
Brioche

Basic Focaccia
Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking

I messed up when I was baking it and cooked it at 350F for 8 minutes then 450F for 10 minutes. Turned out fine though.

2 pkgs active dry yeast (5 teaspoons)
1 3/4 cups of warm water (105° – 115°F)
1 teaspoon of sugar
3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
5 cups of all purpose flour (Ashley note: I used 680 g.)
2 teaspoons of fine sea salt
1 teaspoon of coarse seat salt (topping)

In a large bowl dissolve the yeast in warm water and let stand until foamy (~5 minutes). Add the sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, the flour, and the fine sea salt and stir with your hand or wooden spoon until a rough ball forms.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface by using a pastry scraper or just scraping it out with your fingers. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, 5-7 minutes. Add up to 1/2 cup of flour to the work surface and your hands to prevent the dough from sticking.

Form the dough into a ball, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in size, 1-1 1/2 hours.

Pour the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil evenly onto a half sheet pan. Turn the dough out into the pan. Press the dough evenly into the pan. (If dough is too elastic to spread without springing back, let it rest for 5 minutes). Cover the pan loosely with a dry kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in size about 1 hour.
Position the rack in the lower third of the oven, and preheat to 450°F. Dimple the dough by pressing your fingertips all the way into it, about 1 inch a part. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Bake the focaccia until golden brown, 20-30 minutes. (Ashley note: I'd check it at 15 minutes.) Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan. Cut into square or serve warm or at room temp.

Bread may be stored tightly wrapped at room temp for up to a day. Or freeze up to 2 weeks. To reheat, put leftover bread in the oven at 375°F for 10 minutes.