We had some dear friends over for a BBQ and I thought I would like to serve potato chips knowing how much they love them but I wanted to treat them to guilt-free chips that are not fried! These little devils are cooked in the Microwave and boy are they good. The secret is to soak them in cold salted water with a little acid, I used vinegar but you could use lemon or lime juice to help prevent oxidization. The salted water actually seasons them so you needn’t add salt after they are cooked (it wouldn’t stick to the chip anyway like it does when they are hot out of the deep fryer).
Unfried Potato Chips (Crisps)
Serves about 3-6 people
Ingredients:
3 good size white or red skin potatoes (large diameter)
30 g sea salt (more if you prefer a saltier chip)
100 mL white vinegar (to prevent oxidation and add a little flavour)
2-3 L very cold water for soaking
Directions:
Wash the potatoes skins well.
Dissolve the sea salt in very cold water (I used an immersion blender to help dissolve the salt). Pour into a large bowl of very cold water, add the vinegar and stir.
Cut the potatoes in half diagonally; then, using a wafer-thin mandolin slicer, slice from the cut end of each potato, tossing the cut slices into the cold salt water bath and allow them to sit in the bath for 5-10 minutes.
Remove slices from the water and lay them in one in a single layer on a clean linen cloth (allow to sit for 15 minutes, this will help with cooking them).
You may spray them with some good quality EVOO or leave them plain like I did.
Lay a layer of clean, unprinted paper towel in the microwave and layer potato slices on the paper towel so they do not touch each other. Microwave on 100% for 2 minutes or until some get a bit of colour. Open the microwave door and allow the hot humid air to escape for at least 1-2 minutes (it will allow the machine to cool down). Then cook for an additional minute on high, if needed, watching carefully as they burn quite easily. I found the slices I placed in the centre of the turntable cooked faster than the outside slices so I moved my larger slices into the centre. The slices will continue to cook a little after you remove them so don’t worry if they are a wee bit wobbly, but they shouldn’t be overly wobbly, they will crisp up.
Remove the slices from the paper towel and cool completely before putting them into an air-tight container. Repeat until all of the slices are “fried”.
When totally cool, store chips in an air tight container.
To make the rosemary-infused olive oil, simmer the rosemary and olive oil for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. Strain well. Top up with more olive oil to make 50 g. Then add the salt and stir well.
Combine the yeast and the flour in the large bowl for your stand mixer and fit with the dough paddle. Run the paddle for 15 seconds to combine.
Keeping the paddle on the lowest setting, slowly spray about two-thirds of the water into the flour, allowing the flour to absorb the water as you spray. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes and then add the strained olive oil and salt mixture very slowly into the dough and mix well. I switched my dough paddle to the scrapper paddle to make sure the oil incorporated well. You will need to speed up the paddle speed to fully incorporate the oil. Then finish spraying the remaining water to make a soft, sticky dough.
Turn off the machine and allow it to rest for another 5 minutes. Then continue to knead the dough on high speed until it pulls away from the bowl and the bowl is pretty clean. The dough is still sticky and soft but not as sticky as before.
Add a little more water to the spray bottle and spray a little water on the counter, the spatula, and your hands and flip the dough out onto the board. Using your hands stretch the dough for a few minutes to develop the gluten. Allow the dough to rest for a couple of minutes. When rested, work the dough again by pulling, stretching and folding it adding the 5 g of fresh rosemary as you stretch and fold. When the dough becomes smooth and the rosemary is well incorporated, make it into a smooth ball, cover it with a little more olive oil and allow it to rest covered with a bowl for 1-2 hours.
When ready to bake your focaccia, stretch the ball into a lightly oiled 23-cm x 33-cm pan right to the edges. If it bounces back, allow the dough to rest a little while longer. Once stretched, make indentations with your fingers or with the end of a wooden spoon and decorate with additional rosemary leaves. Drizzle more olive oil on top, sprinkle with flaked Malden sea salt, and allow to rest while you preheat your oven to 400° F.
Bake the focaccia for 20 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 200° F in its thickest part.
Drizzle some EVOO on top just before putting it into the oven.
JT has been playing golf a little more this year than he ever has, and he is loving it. On one such occasion, we had our dear friends back for burgers on the barbeque for dinner and this special dessert. Salted caramel is still one of those flavours that has lingered in the top ten so I wondered how it would taste combining it with Crème Brûlée. It’s actually quite lovely and worth the extra effort to make the caramel. The recipe below is an extrapolation of mysingle-serve recipe with salted caramel added instead of sugar. Add a light sprinkle of Malden-flaked salt onto the Brûléed sugar and you have a flavour explosion! You can thank me later.
Dig into the crunchy top with Malden Salt Flakes to get to the creamy, caramel crème brûlée.
Salted Caramel Crème Brûlée
A Kitcheninspirations original recipe
Makes 4 x 80 mL portions
Ingredients for the Salted Caramel:
44 mL Cream or Half and Half
11 mL Whole Milk
11 g white corn syrup
23 g white corn syrup
40 g Sugar
30 g Unsalted Butter Salt to taste (about 1g)
Directions:
Combine the cream, milk and 11 g of white corn syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat until just boiling. Set aside but keep warm.
Add the 23 g of the white corn syrup and sugar to a heavy-bottom saucepan and gently heat, without stirring, until the sugar is melted and has turned a golden brown colour. Swirl the pan around to make sure all of the sugar is melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the hot milk/cream carefully as it will bubble up. Add the butter and stir to melt. Blitz this mixture with an immersion blender until well blended.
Ingredients for the Crème Brûlée:
240 mL milk or cream
salted caramel quantity above
10 mL vanilla bean paste
4 egg yolks
40-50 g sugar to brûlée
pinch of sea salt flakes
Directions for the Crème Brûlée:
Preheat the oven to 275° F.
Combine everything but the 5-10 g of sugar for the brûlée and blitz with an immersion blender until smooth. Pour equal amounts into 100 mL bowls and set the bowls into a bain marie in a larger baking pan.
Bake for 40 minutes or until it is set in the centre. Allow to cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.
When ready to serve, sprinkle the sugar onto the top and spread by tapping and twirling the bowl evenly. Using a torch, caramelize the sugar and immediately sprinkle with a scant amount of sea salt flakes and allow to cool. Serve when the sugar has hardened.
We have been searching for a good, homemade pizza dough recipe for a very long time. Since 2017, to be precise when JT and I attended a Neapolitan-Style Pizza-making class at The Carleton Loblaws with Chef Rocco Agostino. You may remember Chef Rocco from the time I cooked his meatball recipe from the cookbook, Toronto Cooks for one of the local morning shows; Chef Rocco was also is the proprietor and chef of three of Toronto’s best authentic Neapolitan Pizza places, Pizza Libretto! It takes quite the effort to become an authentic Neapolitan pizza maker, in fact, Chef Rocco had to attend a week-long course in California to do so! We were very fortunate to have Chef Rocco’s experience in the cooking class. Did you know you had to be certified to call your pizza authentic Neapolitan? Ontario only has 4 such certifications and two of them are Chef Rocco’s restaurants! The US has a mere 98 certified Neapolitan Pizza restaurants, Canada has 13 but the entire world only has 711! This website will tell you if your favourite pizza joint is certified. Is your favourite pizza place on the list? How picky are you about the pizza you eat?
Unfortunately, the ovens at the cooking class did not get to the high temperatures that authentic Neapolitan pizza needs so the pies were disappointing but it gave me a quest. It has taken me a very long time to find the best dough recipe because our Big Green Egg doesn’t quite reach the 1,000° F (538° C) that the professional wood-fired pizza ovens do, ours only gets as hot as 600-700° F so we need a bit longer to bake. The professional pizza ovens take about 2-3 minutes to bake whereas ours will take 7-10 minutes. Still not bad in the big picture but our dough needs to be a bit more hydration so it doesn’t dry out as it bakes.
I found this dough quite by accident while looking at my Facebook feed or shall I say it found me! The author claims the dough is 80% hydration. I found that my flour did not absorb the water as readily as the author’s flour so I adapted the recipe by putting ALL of the water into a spray bottle and spraying it into the flour and yeast while the mixer is on low using the dough paddle. The water takes a few minutes to absorb so patience is required so that you are not left with a sloppy, messy, dough.
High Hydration Pizza Dough
Makes two balls of dough which result in two 30 cm or 12″ pizza
Combine the yeast and the flour in the large bowl of your stand mixer and fit with the cookie dough paddle. Run the paddle for 30 seconds to combine.
Keeping the motor on the lowest setting, spray about two-thirds of the water into the flour, allowing the flour to absorb the water as you spray. Then allow it to rest for two minutes and add the salt and mix in well.
Increase the paddle speed and finish spraying the remaining water to make a soft, sticky dough (around 5:13 on the video).
Turn off the machine and allow to rest again for about 5 minutes. Then continue to knead the dough on high speed until it pulls away from the bowl. It is still sticky and soft but not as sticky as before.
Add a little more water to the spray bottle and spray a lttle water on the board, the spatula and your hands and pour the dough on the board (5:48 on the video). Using your hands stretch the dough for a few minutes to develop the gluten (5:44 on the video). Allow the dough to rest for a couple of minutes so that it will become smooth. When rested, work the dough again by pulling and stretching it. When the dough becomes smooth, allow it to rest covered with a bowl for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into two and pull and stretch a few more times and roll it into a ball. Cover and allow to rest for 3-6 hours.
When ready to make your pies, stretch each ball into 30 cm rounds a little thicker at the edges. If it bounces back, allow the dough to rest a little while longer. Once stretched, put your toppings on. Remember that Neapolitan pizza is better with fewer toppings, particularly the sauce or base (less is more).
Notes:
I use a parchment round beneath my pies because I’ve never quite gotten the hang of sliding them off the peel.
Pay close attention to the structure of the dough in the original video, it will show you the feel you are looking for.
The recipe author used a cookie dough paddle and not the hook, I found it to help incorporate the water into the dough better than the hook would have.
Summer is finally upon us, and yes, it took a minute! With the warmer weather, we are looking for lighter meals all around and these pork patties fit the bill. The rice noodles and cucumbers make for a fresh and flavourful dish. Make a bunch of patties and freeze them, they freeze well and are very quick to cook from frozen or defrosted overnight in the refrigerator.
1 head Boston lettuce or romaine lettuce, torn or shredded into bite-size pieces
1 English cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, seeded, and cut into chunks
a generous handful of fresh cilantro leaves and stems, cut thinly
a generous handful of fresh mint leaves, cut thinly
a handful of peanuts, sesame seeds or finely sliced green onions for garnish
Directions:
Make the sauce first because it is best if it stands for a few hours. Add all of the ingredients to a heatproof container and combine well until the sugar has entirely dissolved. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Combine the ground pork with all of the ingredients and mix well. Measure out small portions (we wanted them for hors d’œuvres and appetizers, so we did slider-sized patties) and form into firm patties.
Grill each patty on a hot grill until sides have caramelized and the centre is 155° F (Canada) or 160° F (US). Directly from the grill, add the patties to the sauce and allow to sit in the sauce for 5-10 minutes turning a few times if they are not entirely immersed.
Meanwhile, boil enough water to cover the rice vermicelli and allow to soften to al dente! Strain.
To serve, lay the torn or shredded lettuce on each plate or a serving platter, and scatter the cucumber, cilantro and mint over the leaves. Top the greens with the strained, softened noodles and add the pork patties. Garnish with peanuts, sesame seeds or finely sliced green onions or all of the above! Drizzle with the sauce and serve the remaining sauce on the table.
This makes a light, fresh lunch or supper.
Notes:
The sauce needs to mellow because it is very limey at the beginning. The meat juices help the sauce mellow out.
We have reduced the sugar in this recipe by eliminating it from the patties, we found it balanced enough.
Check the saltiness of your fish sauce, you may need to reduce the quantity so the patties aren’t too salty.
Mac and cheese is a family favourite so it shows up on the meal plan a few times a year, usually when I have some leftover cheese that needs to be used up. This was not such an occasion. Ever since my friend Jeff the Chef over at Make it like a man posted his Cheeseburger Macaroni in an Instant Pot I have been obsessed with creating an authentic “oven-baked” Mac and Cheese in the Instant Pot! We just adore the caramelized edges of the noodles and the crispy panko topping contrasted against the soft-baked cheesy noodles of the center. This version is just as good. You can see from the top-down photo how the panko has toasted and crisped up, as well as some of the noodles that poke through the panko. If you want more crunch, allow more noodles to peak through the panko so that the air-fryer lid and do its magic!
This recipe is only made in the Instant Pot, I usually use 2-3 pots to make my traditional baked Mac and Cheese, one for the cheese sauce, one to cook the noodles and one for baking. So many fewer dishes! Plus, on a warm day, you needn’t heat up the kitchen with the oven. It’s win-win, in my humble opinion.
The crispy topping really adds to the Oven-Baked style.
Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
A kitcheninspirations original recipe
Makes 4 servings (just over 50 g dry pasta per serving)
Ingredients:
213 g dry pasta
325 mL water
3 g salt
100 g old cheddar
50 g mozzarella
125 mL milk
30 g butter
15 g flour
Good pinch of smoked paprika
40 g panko
20 g Parmesan
2 slices crispy cooked bacon
Directions:
Add the dry pasta and water to the Instant Pot and mix well, making sure the pasta is mostly submerged in the water. Put the lid on and set Pressure Cook for 5 minutes with the Pressure Release in the up position (closed).
When the cycle has completed, release the steam manually; the noodles should be half-cooked and there will be a little water left in the pot. Set Instant Pot to Sauté on High and stir in butter, sprinkle in the flour and stir to mix well and cook until a roux is formed. Add the milk and stir well and cook stirring until thickened. Add the cheese and stir until melted and thickened. Stir in the bacon. Now leave on Sauté for 5 minutes, not stirring.
Meanwhile, combine the Panko and Parmesan and mix well. Turn the Instant Pot off. Sprinkle the Parmesan and Panko evenly over the top. Set the Air Fryer lid on top and set to Air fry for 4 minutes at 400° F. After the time has been completed, turn off the pot and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
There is bacon in there, trust me.
Notes:
While the Instant Pot does create a ‘crispy’ top and somewhat crispy sides, it is not the same as a traditional oven-baked Mac and Cheese with caramelized noodles, although JT said it was quite acceptable.
You will need a good metal spatula to get under the caramelized noodles but the resting period should loosen them so you’re not fighting to get a serving out.
I generally freeze the 2 extra portions for a quick meal. Just allow it to defrost in the refrigerator and bake in a 350° F oven until warmed through.
The Swiss enjoy applesauce with their mac and cheese and that is how we prefer to eat ours too.
The Air-Fryer lid really helps toast up the top of this dish.
Years ago, back before the internet, I purchased an old Weight Watcher’s cookbook at a garage sale that I’ve long since divested myself of. In this cookbook was a tasty hummus soup that I made a few times at the cottage when we didn’t feel like much for dinner. This is my version of the recipe.
The soup comes together quickly, no need to soak the lentils, they cook within 10 minutes. Don’t salt the water they cook in otherwise the skin will become a bit tough. I puréed the somewhat cooled soup in my Magic Bullet and it made a lovely, velvety-smooth soup. Serve the soup drizzled with really good olive oil and Aleppo peppers.
Lentil Hummus Soup
Makes about 500 mL soup
A kitcheninspirations original recipe
Ingredients:
135 g red lentils, rinsed and picked through
water (to cover lentils)
45 g tahini
35 g roasted garlic purée (or fresh garlic to taste
12 g cumin
400 mL chicken stock
30 mL lemon juice
Olive oil to serve
a sprinkle of Aleppo peppers
Directions:
Add the lentils to a good size soup pot and just cover with cold water. Bring to a soft boil and cook the lentils until softened thoroughly and the water is mostly absorbed.
Add the tahini, roasted garlic purée, and cumin and cook on low for 1 minute.
Add the chicken stock and water and purée until desired thickness is achieved. The lentils will get thicker as they cool, so don’t add too much stock to start because when you reheat it, it will be too runny, add stock little by little until your desired thickness is achieved
Notes:
We use roasted garlic because it is a milder, nutty flavour than fresh garlic.
Toppings are pretty versatile but we like olive oil with Aleppo peppers for a touch of heat.
I would imagine this soup freezes well but it comes together so quickly, I only make enough for one meal.
Scones are so easy to make and they are always a crowd-pleaser. Plus, they freeze beautifully with quick defrost in the microwave or oven. I whipped these up for the soup I posted about last week and the bacon went beautifully with the green vegetable soup.
These delicately flakey scones have a strong gruyère aroma, particularly when you reheat them.
Bacon and Gruyére Scones
A kitcheninspirations original recipe
Makes 7 5 cm (2 inch) scones
Ingredients:
280 g AP flour
50 g granulated sugar
15 g baking powder
6 g salt
34 g cold butter, in cubes
16 g bacon fat
1 L egg
120 mL buttermilk
100 g grated Gruyére cheese
2 slices bacon, well done, chopped roughly
5 mL milk or cream
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425° F.
In the large bowl of your food processor, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and chopped bacon and pulse to combine.
Whisk to combine the egg, buttermilk, and the cooled bacon fat and slowly add it to the dry ingredients while running the processor. Change the blade to the plastic blade and add the cheese. Pulse to combine.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the scone dough to about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick. Cut into even squares. Lay on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced out about 2 cm. Brush the tops with milk or cream. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.
The weather in Toronto was certainly not as spring-like as we had hoped when we planned to return from our stay in Europe, otherwise, we would have stayed a lot longer! We did have a week of incredible but unseasonably warm weather in early April but that didn’t last long. We are back to grey, overcast, rainy, snowy spring so on such a day, I decided to let the garden inspire me because even though we humans find this weather unacceptable, the garden is in full bloom, bursting with green and colour! I created this simple, yet tasty green soup. Use homemade or good-quality chicken stock (and my secret ingredient) to make a tasty broth and add all the green veggies you have on hand. For me, it was frozen sweet peas, frozen broccoli, leeks, frozen green beans, some shredded kale, celery and some ripe avocado. If you want it a little more filling, add rice or gnocchi or my favourite, Hungarian csipetke (which is just pasta dough, pinched into small dumplings and cooked right in the soup).
A delicious combination of green vegetables in a rich, flavourful broth.
Spring Green Soup
A kitcheninspirations original recipe
Makes about 1.5 litres of soup
Ingredients:
15 mL garlic-infused EVOO
Handful of each green vegetables: frozen sweet peas, frozen broccoli (separate stems), leeks, frozen green beans, some shredded kale, celery and some ripe avocado, all cut into similarly sized pieces.
1.5 litres chicken stock
15 mL white miso paste (secret ingredient)
a splash of fresh lime juice
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large soup pot and sauté the leeks and broccoli stems until soft. Add about half of the kale and wilt. Add the stock with the miso paste and heat until the miso (secret ingredient) has melted and the kale is rather soft. Purée this into a relatively fine soup.
Add the remaining vegetables and heat through. I allowed the soup to steep for a couple of hours and reheated it when ready to serve.
Add the lime juice and stir well just before serving.
Allow the soup to cool completely before freezing leftovers. Do not freeze pasta or rice because it will turn to mush.
As the weather is warming up, we are allowing ourselves to once again dream of patio days sipping on summery cocktails and enjoying the company of friends. These lazy days require some lazy snacks and I have just the tasty and healthy snack for you if you have an air fryer. I have the Instant Pot with the air fryer lid, and let me tell you, it works wonders! We don’t fry a lot so I didn’t want an appliance that just did one thing so this air fryer lid addition to my Instant Pot is the perfect solution.
These spiced chickpeas are so crispy and crunchy, they disintegrate in your mouth like a chip would and then the spice creeps up on you, just a little with tantalizing flavours of cumin, coriander, garlic and smoked paprika with a hint of heat, salt and sweetness. Just perfect for a glass of prosecco or Cava. Cheers!
Air Fried Spiced Chick Peas
Makes enough for 4 as a cocktail snack.
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
Ingredients:
1 can 540 mL chickpeas, drained, rinsed and dried
40 g cornstarch
30 mL olive oil
2.5 g cumin
2.5 g coriander
2.5 g granulated garlic
2.5 g smoked paprika
2.5 g sea salt
15 g honey, divided
Directions
Mix the cumin, coriander, garlic, paprika, and sea salt until well combined.
In a large sieve, sprinkle the cornstarch evenly over the chickpeas (I did mine in two batches). Drizzle the olive oil over them and mix well.
Add the chickpeas to your air fryer and fry at 400° F for 15-20 minutes, pausing halfway to stir and separate them. I air-fried the recipe in two batches as my air fryer is not huge and I only wanted one layer so they really crisp up.
Confirm that the chickpeas are crispy (and not creamy in the centre) and pour them into a bowl and sprinkle with half the spice mixture. Drizzle with half of the honey and mix until well-coated. Return the chickpeas to the air fryer and fry for an additional 5 minutes (so the honey caramelizes). Pour onto a cookie sheet to cool completely. Repeat with the second batch.
Notes:
The spice mix is totally up to you. Just plain salt and pepper would be nice too.
These cookies came about because of two things: the first thing was, one of the items I brought home from England was Treacle, we don’t easily get it here and I was curious about it and secondly, I was cleaning out my baking drawer when I came across a small package of candied ginger so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and bake up a batch of these tasty treats. These are not low-carb, they are what they are. Sometimes you just need a treat.
Ginger Snaps
Makes about 36-46 Cookies depending on how big your melon baller is.
Ingredients:
76 g butter
100 g brown sugar
60 mL Lyle’s Golden syrup
60 mL treacle
250 g all-purpose flour
4 g baking powder
4 g baking soda
4 g ground ginger
5 g freshly ground ginger
4 g ground allspice
30 g finely chopped candied ginger tossed in icing sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
In a small saucepan gently melt the butter, brown sugar and both syrups (do not boil unless you want to end up with jawbreakers!). Cool slightly.
Sift dry ingredients together into a medium-sized bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the syrup mixture. Mix well to make a soft dough.
Using a large melon baller shape into small balls (about the size of a walnut). Place each ball about two inches apart; press down to form even rounds about 1/2 cm thick.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until very very lightly browned. Cool on the cookie sheet for a minute and then remove to fully cool on a wire rack. If you were to err, err on the shorter baking time so they don’t get super hard.
Store in an airtight container or freeze. If they get too hard, add a slice of bread or a moist brown sugar disk for a few hours.
The weekend after we returned from Europe we entertained a few friends so I needed a little sweet that wasn’t too much at the end of our meal and these little bars fit the bill. They are sweet, and chewy and have a great crunch from the caramelized almonds on top.
Almondy Butterscotch Bars
Makes one 23 cm x 33 cm (9” x 13”) pan
Ingredients:
210 g all-purpose flour
8 g baking powder
2 g sea salt
1/2 cup butter
430 g brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup of dark chocolate chips, melted
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine flour and baking powder, set aside.
Melt butter in a medium pan and blend in sugar.
Remove from heat and beat in eggs (be careful so you don’t get scrambled eggs).
Add vanilla and fold in flour mixture until entirely combined.
Spread evenly in a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ pan that has been well greased.
Melt butter, sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan; add water and salt and boil for 4 minutes.
Stir in the almonds and immediately spread over the cooked batter. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Allow the slab to cool completely and cut off the edges (makes for great snacks or a crust or crumble) and drizzle the chocolate on top. Allow the chocolate to set completely before you cut into bars.
I’ve never made corned beef from scratch before so I thought it was about time, plus my favourite butcher had a sale on them so I thought better late than never! The recipe itself is rather easy, it just requires a bit of preparation and lots of waiting. But the results are outstanding. If you try this recipe, I urge you to do it on a charcoal grill like The Big Green Egg. The Egg imparts an incredible smokiness that is not part of the gas grilling process, even if you do use wood chips. We chose a small piece of beef, only about 1 kg or 2 lbs because we had only three for dinner. The times may differ for a larger piece of meat.
A really tasty St. Patrick’s Day dinner. We could have finished the entire roast!
A good handful of smoking wood chips (we used apple)
250 mL Guinness beer
1 kg Brisket
Directions:
Remove the meat from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature (1-2 hours).
Soak the wood chips for about an hour.
Add all of the spices into your spice grinder and grind until they are finely ground.
Dry off the meat with paper towels and rub the spice rub into the meat well, using it all up.
Prepare the BBQ with charcoal (not briquettes) and the smoking chips and finesse until the Egg is 250° F. The heat should be indirect.
Add the prepared meat over a drip tray filled with the Guinness beer and smoke the meat until the internal temperature reaches 165° F, ours took about 3 hours.
Once it has reached 165° F, remove the meat and wrap it entirely in heavy foil and, return the meat to the BBQ to continue cooking until the internal temperature is 200° F, ours took an additional 1.5 hours. Remove the meat from the heat and allow to rest for 2 hours wrapped in the foil. You may reheat in a warm oven about 30 minutes before serving.
I use a Meater thermometer which is an amazing wireless thermometer with an app that tells you both internal and ambient temperatures and estimates when the item will reach the goal temperature.
If your BBQ runs out fuel at step 6, you can achieve the same result by putting the foil-wrapped meat into a 250° F oven for the finishing. Because it is wrapped at this point, the smoke does not penetrate the foil, but don’t worry, there is plenty of smokey flavour in this roast.
This recipe was one that I created because of necessity. Just before we left for Arizona, I made the BEST fried fish ever. It was a slurry of flour and beer. It was puffy and crispy, and the fish was absolutely perfectly done. I hadn’t anticipated that it would be as good, so I wasn’t ready for photography, unfortunately. And then Christmas happened and then the New Year. So here we are, well into the new year and we have resolved to lower our carbohydrate intake significantly. But we still wanted the Fish ‘n Chips I had made so I created this recipe to hold us over until we are ready to indulge in carbohydrates again. The coating is not exactly the same as the flour slurry, but it’s a good replacement. Lupin flour is the “flour’ replacement so it’s a bit heavier than regular flour because it has quite a bit of protein. If you’re allergic to soy or peanuts, unfortunately, you’re probably allergic to lupin flour so stay clear.
Lupin Flour Fish ‘n “Chips”
Serves 2
A kitcheninspirations original recipe
Ingredients:
2 pieces of cod about 90 g each
40 g lupin flour
2.5 g baking powder
15 g tapioca flour
2.5 g salt
15 mL egg whites
15 mL Vodka
45 mL buttermilk or kefir
Peanut oil for frying
1 medium zucchini, cut into finger-length chips
Directions:
Dry off the cod and allow to rest on a piece of kitchen towel in the refrigerator, uncovered to dry completely for a few hours.
Mix the lupin flour, baking powder, tapioca flour and salt together in a shallow dish, large enough for each piece of cod.
Mix the buttermilk, vodka and egg whites together in a similar shallow dish.
Dredge the cod in the lupin flour mixture until well coated. Plunge it into the buttermilk mixture, making sure it is well coated and then, dredge it again in the Lupin flour mixture so it is thickly coated on all sides. Repeat step 4 with the other piece of Cod.
Heat the oil to 325° F. It will take 10-12 minutes to cook the fish, depending on thickness, so if the oil is any hotter, the coating will burn before the fish is cooked through (the fish should be 145° F at its thickest part). Turn the fish as necessary to achieve an even, golden coating. Allow the fish to drain on kitchen paper. Keep warm while frying the remaining fish.
Repeat Step 5 for the other piece of Cod.
Serve with a tangy tartar sauce and the zucchini “chips”.
Notes:
I don’t love deep frying so I fake it in a small pot with about 5 cm (2-3 inches) of peanut oil. Just make sure you have 5 cm (2-3 inches) of space at the top of the pan because the frying will bubble up the oil.
My general rule of thumb for oil used in deep frying is to discard any oil used to fry fish because it will smell fishy. But if you’re deep frying vegetables or anything that doesn’t smell, I strain the oil and save it for one other frying.
It’s well into the new year and I must confess, we’ve been doing a low-carb diet for 2023 to shed the pounds that Covid brought upon us. Unfortunately, like most Europeans, I do love my carbs so it’s not been the easiest thing to change, that is until I discovered Lupin flour! Lupin flour is a high protein, low carb flour created from Lupin beans; if you want to learn more about Lupin flour, see this post. What I love about it is that it behaves very similarly in recipes as flour and it doesn’t have an off-putting taste like many bean flours have. Lupin flour can be bitter so make sure you find a brand that claims it is sweet.
Way back in January, we were just into two weeks of our new diet and I was starting to get a little tired of cauliflower mash when I came across Lupin flour “polenta”. It has the same creaminess and texture like actual polenta, and it gets more solid as it cools so I’ve indicated a range of chicken stock if you are reheating the polenta. I am excited to try this new flour in other recipes, like batter for fried fish, pasta and such. It’s definitely going to be a staple for the immediate future anyway.
Creamy Lupin Flour “Polenta”
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
Serves 2 about 125 mL each
Ingredients:
100-200 mL chicken stock
30 mL whipping cream
30 g ground lupin flour
15 g unsalted butter
50 g sharp cheddar cheese (or sharply flavoured melting cheese of your choice)
Salt & pepper, to taste
Aleppo peppers and finely chopped parsley, to taste
Directions:
In a small pot, add the chicken stock and whipping cream. Stir well.
Add the ground lupin flour and stir until thickened.
Add the butter and stir until melted, add the cheese and stir until melted. Season with salt, pepper, Aleppo and parsley to taste.
Serve warm.
I received a whole-hearted thumbs-up from JT on this one!
Notes:
Allergy warning: Many people who are sensitive or allergic to peanuts or soy find that they have a sensitivity to Lupin beans/flour.
As I mentioned above, this “polenta” gets thicker and thicker as it cools so you may need a bit more chicken stock to loosen it for serving if you’ve made it in advance.
The flavour of Lupin flour is not strong like chickpea flour but there is a very slight taste that is not off-putting at all. I would almost say sweet.
I purchased this brand from Amazon (around $3.00 per 100 grams) but found that Bulk Barn has it for a more reasonable price (about $1.30 per 100 grams), although I haven’t tried it yet.
Use vegetable stock and a cream and butter substitute if you are making this vegan or vegetarian.
We found this more filling than traditional polenta but less filling than something made with almond flour so the serving size should be smaller than traditional polenta.
We’ve struggled with a low-carb diet, particularly the lack of bread. I’ve tried the almond buns, made with almond flour but they tend to be so heavy, that I find it difficult to eat it like normal bread, you become way too full. The discovery of Lupin flour paired with Vital Wheat Gluten has changed my life. We have gone back to enjoying the foods we’ve loved before low-carb and feeling rather good about it. These dinner rolls are 2 g net carb compared to a regular brioche bun which is 34 g of carbs!
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Lupin Flour is related to soy and peanuts so if you have an allergy to either or both, you will probably be allergic to Lupin Flour.
Lupin Flour Low Carb Brioche Buns
Makes 8 hamburger-size buns or 12 slightly smaller buns or one 24 cm loaf
Ingredients:
236 g Filtered water, slightly warm
4 g Sugar
6 g Instant yeast
3 Large Eggs, room temperature, divided
55 g Butter, softened
45 g Erythritol
80 g Lupin flour
38 g Oat fiber
170 g Vital wheat gluten
3.5 g Sea salt
10 g Sesame seeds, toasted
Directions:
Combine the water, sugar, and yeast in a container and allow it to bloom for about 10 minutes.
In a bowl, combine two eggs and Erythritol and whisk until the Erythritol has dissolved.
In the large bowl of your stand mixer, whisk the lupin flour, vital wheat gluten, oat flour and sea salt together. Combine the egg/Erythritol with the bloomed yeast and mix well, add it to the flour mixture and using the scraper paddle, mix until well combined.
Once incorporated, add the softened butter to the dough and mix with the scraper paddle until the butter has been fully incorporated into the dough.
Rest the dough for ten minutes. Then knead it with the kneader hook in the stand mixer for 10-15 minutes to activate the gluten (do not skip this step, it is vital).
Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Weigh the dough and divide the total weight by 8. Cut the dough into eight equal weights and roll into a nice bun and place it onto the baking sheet. These buns will roughly double in size. Repeat with the remainder of the dough. Cover the buns with a clean cloth and allow them to proof until doubled in size (mine took just shy of 2 hours).
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Whisk the remaining egg and brush the bun tops generously with it, Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes or until the internal temperature is 200° F and the tops are golden. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes:
If the tops of the buns get too dark while baking, cover lightly with foil to complete baking.
The sugar with the yeast gets totally eaten by the yeast, not affecting the carbohydrates.
You can make this into a loaf and get about 18 slices of bread, lowering the carb count even more!
This dough is easily divided in half, you’ll just need 2 eggs instead of 3!
If you’re like me, you’ll want to eliminate the Erythritol or reduce it and I suggest that you don’t. Lupin flour does not taste like wheat flour so the sweetness helps bridge the gap a bit. I have made this recipe without the Erythritol and although the texture is not affected, the taste is and it’s definitely better with the Erythritol.
Just look at that crumb, it really has a lot of spring to it.
These little biscuits are quick and easy to make and take less than 15 minutes to bake up so you can make them last minute or bake a bunch and freeze them.
They have a nice crumbly texture.
Low-Carb Cheddar Biscuits
This recipe is per buscuit
Ingredients:
30 g lupin flour
15 g vital wheat gluten
1 egg, whisked
2.5 g baking powder
15 g Erythritol
35 g sharp cheddar cheese, grated, Divided
Salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a small ramekin (I used my Le Creuset mini Dutch oven).
Whisk all of the ingredients together until homogenized and smooth. Pour into the ramekin and top with about 10 g of cheddar and bake for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Pop the muffin out of the ramekin and cut it in half horizontally, and toast until golden.
Directions:
I found the Le Creuset mini Dutch oven a little too large because the biscuits are very filling so next time I’ll choose a smaller pan
This is my ‘”GO-TO” gluten-free cracker, not just because they are so tasty, but because they are super-easy to make and require very little equipment! This recipe is half of my usual recipe because I didn’t want leftovers but because the measurements are metric, it’s super-easy to double or triple. The only thing I would caution you about is that they burn very quickly because of the natural oils in ground almonds and the grapeseed oil but hopefully it won’t deter you from making them, they are worth it.
Almond Sesame Crackers (Gluten Free)
Makes 40 crackers but it depends on how thick you roll them and how large you cut them. This recipe was first posted in 2011 in Imperial measures.
Ingredients:
150 g unblanched ground almonds
5 g sea salt
60 g sesame seeds, I like black and white versions, toasted lightly.
1 egg
15 mL grapeseed oil
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325° F with the rack set in the middle.
Mix the first three ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk the egg with the grapeseed oil together.
Combine the egg mixture with the dry ingredients and stir until well coated and clearly mixed well.
Roll between two sheets of parchment paper to just less than 1 mm thick. Cut into 4-centimetre squares leaving the crackers on the parchment (no need to separate).
Cut off the parchment that is on top and slide the cut crackers onto a baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 checking often near the end as it burns quickly. Remove the baking sheet and slide the parchment off it onto a cooling rack. Cool slightly and snap the crackers apart. Cool completely to store.
These crackers have excellent flavour and texture.
Notes:
Add various nuts (although they should be small) to the batter for a slightly different texture.
The thicker you roll your crackers the sturdier they will be, but just less than 1 mm is sturdy enough for a good thick dip.
These crackers are quite moreish but be careful as they are also very filling so you don’t need as many to satisfy you!
I reduced the baking temperature to 325° F from 350° F because I burnt the first batch!
Since the beginning of January, we’ve been trying to do a low-carb diet to shed some Covid pounds. It’s a pretty easy diet to follow but of all the food groups that are restricted, carbs are my favourite so it’s been challenging mentally and in cooking! Until I discovered Lupin Flour and Vital Wheat Gluten. These two ingredients are an absolute game changer! We’re talking real bread, real pasta, real baking! Lupin flour is made from the Lupin bean which, unfortunately, is related to Soy and Peanuts so if you have an allergy or a sensitivity, chances are you will be the same with Lupin flour. It is also super high in protein and fibre making its net carb content quite low and easily added to a low-carb diet. There is only one small thing you have to pay close attention to when dealing with any bean-based flour, is that it is super absorbent so you can’t just substitute it for regular flour. The other revelation is Vital Wheat Gluten, this amazing ‘flour’ brings all the elasticity and bread-like behavior to the bean-four. I based this recipe on one that I found on Google, Black Tie Kitchen’s keto pasta noodles, and like any first recipe, I tried the smallest portion possible in case it bombed. I am super pleased to tell you it didn’t bomb, it exceeded my expectations!
You will notice that the pasta is quite yellow and that is due to the colour of Lupin Flour and the eggs I use which have golden yolks. The cooked pasta in the soup, I used an egg with a lighter colour yoke, but the yellow-ness dissipates when cooked.
Lupin Flour Low-Carb Garganelli
Lupin Flour Low-Carb Soup Noodles
Lupin Flour Low-Carb Ramen Noodles
Extruded Cooked Ramen Noodles. These noodles really lose the orangy colour when cooked.
This is the leftover pasta dough from the extruder. I rolled it out to the 6th thickness and cut them using the spaghetti cutter. Probably the 5th thickness would be better so that the noodles separate better.
Lupin Flour Pasta
Makes 4 servings of 236 g of raw pasta
Ingredients:
80 g Vital Wheat Gluten
80 g White Lupin Flour
2 large egg, whisked well
4 g salt
30 mL water, if necessary
Directions:
Add the wheat gluten and lupin flower in the small bowl of your stand mixer and whisk until combined. Change the attachment to the scraping paddle. Add the egg and allow the paddle to pull the dough together, if you find the dough too dry, add a few drops of water (I ended up adding about 15 mL, making it stretchy and not too sticky. Make the dough into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into four equal parts and roll it out into a disk (I usually weigh the ball and divide it by four to get four equal pieces).
Using the thickest setting on your pasta machine, roll out the dough progressing to the thinnest you can get it without it falling apart (mine was at 6 on my KitchenAid pasta attachment).
Cut your dough to your desired shapes (Garganelli requires little squares that are 4 cm x 4 cm).
Use the shaped pasta immediately or allow to entirely dry out on the counter on parchment paper for longer-term storage.
To cook, just do as regular pasta, in a well-salted water for a maximum of 3 minutes, but it will depend on the thickness of your pasta.
To make Ramen Noodles:
To make low-carb Ramen noodles, add 2.7 g of sodium carbonate (baked baking soda see notes here) to the dry ingredients and follow the instructions above. To cook, enough water to cover with an additional 4 cm more water on top (the ramen noodles will expand). do not add salt to the water. Cook the noodles for 1.5 to 2 minutes for a chewier texture. The three minutes will result as a softer noodle but it will hold its shape.
I used an after-market pasta extruder I purchased on Amazon to fit on my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. The most efficient way to push the raw dough through this extruder is to roll small amounts of dough into a pencil-thickness noodle and that way the mixer’s motor is not taxed as it is forced through the auger.
You can also use a KitchenAid pasta roller attachment, it’s always best to roll the dough by hand so it is no thicker than 3 mm before putting it through the pasta roller attachment, your motor will thank you for it. I found 5 was the perfect thickness as these noodles do swell with cooking.
As we wait with bated breath for season three of Ted Lasso, I thought it would be fun to recreate his infamous shortbread cookies. These cookies conjured swoons from Rebecca, Ted’s boss! And rightly so, a well-made shortbread biscuit will melt in your mouth with the creamy taste of butter but not choke you to death with a puff of flour.
Years ago, I met a fellow running a shortbread cookie business in Toronto, he made both savoury (my favourite) and sweet and his shortbread was absolutely dreamy. I asked him what his secret was and he said cornstarch! Who knew? So I always like to include a little cornstarch in my shortbread to make them melt in your mouth, although, this is not part of Ted Lasso’s recipe.
A lovely, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread.
Ted Lasso-ish Shortbread Biscuits
This recipe makes one 23 cm x 23 cm (9 inch x 9 inch) pan.
Ingredients:
250 g unsalted butter, room temperature
100 g icing sugar, sifted
5 mL pure vanilla extract
5 g lemon zest
240 gall-purpose flour
75 g cornstarch
Pinch of salt
Directions:
Prepare a 23 cm x 23 cm (9 inch x 9 inch) pan by lining with parchment.
Beat the butter until light and fluffy, add the icing sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest; whip this mixture until fluffy and completely combined.
Sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt together, add it to the butter mixture and beat on low speed, just until combined.
Press the dough into the pan evenly and cut into slices (this will make it easier to cut when baked). Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 300° F. Evenly dock the cookies with a fork and bake the shortbread for 45-60 minutes (mine were perfect at 45) or until just beginning to get golden on the edges. Cool in the pan and retrace the cut marks with a sharp, dry knife. Allow the cookies to cool completely in the pan. When cool, remove the cookies by lifting the parchment out of the pan and gently break the cookies at the cut marks but they should separate easily.
Notes:
Ted’s cookies don’t have vanilla or lemon zest but I can’t resist these flavours so I added them. Cornstarch isn’t part of the original recipe either, as I mentioned previously.
North American icing sugar already has some cornstarch in it to prevent clumping, but I’ve upped the ante and added more.
The cookies are fragile when hot, avoid touching them as you will leave fingerprints all over them.
Store the cookies in a cool, dry place or freeze them if they are not being consumed immediately, although they’re probably delicious when frozen too!
I wanted to get this cute little presentation onto the blog so I don’t forget about it next year. It’s so simple, it’s not even a real recipe, but here it is. I think I saw it on my Facebook feed but it immediately disappeared and I cannot find it, sorry. We had a bunch of kids in the mix so I diluted the boursin with cream cheese, it was still plenty flavourful and the kids loved it too.
Boursin Christmas Tree Dip Plate
Makes 4 little Christmas trees of various sizes (about 250 g of dip)
Ingredients:
150 g Boursin dip (I used one package of the fine herbs and garlic), room temperature
125 g plain cream cheese, room temperature (half a package)
1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
1 green onion, finely chopped
a handful of dried cranberry, cut into small triangles
Bread and crackers for serving
Directions:
Combine the Boursin and cream cheese and whip with a small hand mixer until thoroughly combined.
Using a small piece of plastic wrap, take some of the dip and form it into a cone shape using the plastic wrap to protect your hands, do this three more times. Varying heights will look best.
Combine the parsley and green onion on a plate.
Roll each cone into the parsley and green onion to cover the outside. Place little cranberry pieces into each tree to decorate it.
Serve on a large platter that can accommodate the bread and crackers.
If you are not serving this immediately, refrigerate covered so it doesn’t dry out. Bring to room temperature to serve.
No Knead Sourdough Pull-apart Christmas Tree Rolls
Makes 18 Dinner Rolls about 10 cm in diameter
Ingredients:
340 g bread flour
140 g AP unbleached white flour
200 mL kefir, room temperature
215 g active sourdough starter
2 large eggs, room temperature
50 g granulated white sugar
5 g sea salt
75 g softened butter, plus more for brushing the tops when baked.
Olive oil
Pickled red peppers for garnish
Day one:
Making the Dough:
Whisk to combine the room-temperature kefir and the starter in a large bowl and whisk in the eggs and butter until well mixed (the butter will be in little pieces, that is OK).
Sift the bread flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt and add it to the bowl with the kefir and the eggs. Use a wooden spoon or my favourite tool to mix, making sure to incorporate all of the flour, until a shaggy dough has formed.
Cover the dough with a tea towel to rest for an hour; every 20 minutes complete three rounds of stretches and folds.
Fermentation:
Coat the dough with olive oil to prevent from drying out. Cover the dough with a large plate and set aside to rise at room temperature for about 4-6 hours. The dough should double in size during this time.
Refrigerate the dough overnight to continue the fermentation process.
Day Two:
Shaping
Lightly flour a clean surface and turn the proofed dough out onto it. Knead a couple of times so it becomes pliable.
Weigh the dough and divide the weight into 18, cut the dough into 18 equal pieces by weight.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make each piece of dough into a smooth ball, by rolling it in your palms.
Place each ball (not crowding) onto the parchment-lined baking sheet in the shape of a Christmas tree and cover with a clean kitchen towel until doubled in size.
Baking
Preheat the oven to 350° F with fan (convection on) and place the rack into the middle.
Decorate the Christmas tree with pickled red peppers to look like garland.
Bake the rolls for 20-24 minutes or until they are about 200° C inside. Brush the buns with some melted butter.
These melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies are like no other shortbread cookie you’ve tasted. The flour and almond flour is toasted to give the cookies a unique nutty flavour. The recipe is from the 16th century so I suppose they toasted the flour to pasteurize it. I used shortening and butter to make this recipe but traditionally they are made with lard, pork lard in particular. You can read about the history of the cookies here. I flavoured my cookies with cinnamon and orange zest because it felt Christmasy. I made these treats for my cousin’s daughter’s boyfriend who has come from Spain for a year on a work visa and being his first Christmas away from his family, I wanted to give him a little taste of home. This recipe is a compilation of a few that I found online, with some personal additions (such as butter and orange zest);
Polvorón
Makes about 20 cookies about 4 cm in diameter
Ingredients:
250 g flour
60 g almond flour
135 g icing sugar
114 g shortening, room temperature
45 g butter, room temperature
4 g cinnamon
2 g salt
2 g orange zest
Icing sugar for garnish
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Toast the flour in the oven for 20 minutes or until very light brown or beige. Cool completely.
Toast the almond flour in a dry frying pan until golden, cool completely.. Combine the two flours, cinnamon, salt and whisk.
Whip the shortening, butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add the orange zest. Slowly add the flour mixture until entirely incorporated, it will be crumbly but will stick together. Shape into a disk and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to one cm thick and cut with a four-centimeter cookie cutter and place about half a centimeter apart on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Keep rolling and cutting until all of the dough is used up. Bake for 10-12 minutes, these cookies will burn quickly so watch them, they should be golden brown when done. Don’t touch them while they are warm.
Carefully slide the cookies on the parchment off the baking sheet to cool. The cookies will be extremely delicate while hot. Dust with icing sugar while hot and allow them to cool completely without disturbing them.
Serve at room temperature.
I think I would prefer to have more butter in the cookie next time.
Hearty winter soups are a staple when we are in Canada and I just love to serve soups with scones. This recipe is an old favourite but I had run out of fresh onions so I used my handy dehydrated onion flakes in this easy recipe. There is just a little time to rehydrate the onions and you’re good to go.
Cheddar Cheese and Onion Kefir Scones
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
Makes 9 large scones
Ingredients:
260 g AP flour
15 g sugar
15 g baking powder
5 g salt
2 g cream of tartar
56 g cold butter
155 g frozen, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for topping
200 mL buttermilk, 15 mL for brushing the tops
30 g dehydrated onion flakes
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Rehydrate the onions flakes in the buttermilk for 5 minutes.
Combine the dry ingredients in the large bowl of your food processor with the blades and mix well.
Cut in the cold butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Replace the blade with the plastic dough blade.
Add the buttermilk onion mixture and cheese to the flour and pulse to combine into a ball (cheese should still be frozen or at the very least, extremely cold).
If it’s really warm in your kitchen, it’s best to refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. With very little flour to prevent sticking, roll the dough into 1 cm thickness and use your favourite cookie cutter to cut even shapes (I used 5 cm squares with scalloped edges.
Place each shape onto the prepared baking sheet about a centimetre apart and brush the tops with the extra buttermilk. Add a pinch of frozen shredded cheese to each top, if desired.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
So flakey and delicious!
Notes:
I buy my cooking/baking cheese on sale in 400 g logs and I grate them into zip-lock bags and freeze them. If you break up the shreds as they freeze, they won’t stick together in clumps.
The last time I posted about this traditional Christmas dessert was in 2011 and I didn’t even bother to decorate it with the mushrooms and pinecones, this time I went all out! This show-stopper dessert is a fabulous end to a wonderful celebratory meal so, get it on the calendar for next Christmas. Fortunately, each item can be made in several days and assembled at the last moment so you needn’t spend all day in the kitchen.
The Cake
Makes one 23 cm x 33 cm (9″ x 13″) slab rolled into a log.
Ingredients:
4 large eggs, separated
120 g sugar
120 g AP flour
5 mL vanilla
5 g grated lemon zest
30 g granulated sugar, for dusting the kitchen towel
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam, for spreading before you roll it.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 23 cm x 33 cm (9″ x 13″) cake pan or jelly roll pan with parchment paper, carefully folding the corners. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Separate the eggs into two medium bowls. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, but not dry. Set aside.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and creamy and falls in a thick ribbon.
Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the pale egg yolk mixture.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour into the egg yolk mixture, then alternate folding in with the egg whites being careful not to deflate the batter.
Once all of the egg whites and flour have been folded in, the mixture will be thick. Pour it carefully into your prepared baking pan and spread it out evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until your cake tester comes out clean.
Lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment edges and lay onto a clean white kitchen towel sprinkled with the granulated sugar, remove the parchment. Spread the jam evenly onto the cake to all edges (if the jam is too thick, heat it up for a minute or so or add some kirsch to it). Taking the short end, begin to roll the cake up tightly. Twist the cloth ends tightly and allow it to cool completely. Store in tightly wrapped plastic until needed
Rich Chocolate Butter Cream
Ingredients:
76 g unsalted butter
250 g sifted icing sugar
5 mL vanilla
30 g unsweetened, chocolate melted and cooled.
Directions:
Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the icing sugar with about 30 mL of cold water as needed to make a fluffy cream and beat until entirely incorporated and fluffy.
Slowly drizzle in the cool melted chocolate and beat well.
Store in the refrigerator, and bring it to room temperature when needed.
Rubbing cocoa powder on the meringue mushrooms makes them even more authentic looking.
Meringue Mushrooms
Makes about 10 mushrooms of various sizes.
Ingredients:
65 g granulated sugar
30 g egg whites
5 g unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for rubbing into the finished meringues
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cream of tartar
10 g dark chocolate, melted for assembly
Directions:
Combine all ingredients, but the dark melted chocolate in a stand mixer bowl and beat until thick and shiny, the meringue should stand when a peak is pulled out.
Bake at 200° F for approximately 2 hours (this will depend on how thick your mushroom pieces are.
Allow to cool completely. When cool, rub the unsweetened cocoa powder into each cap and stem, the more varied the colour the better. Assemble the mushroom cap with the stems by ‘gluing’ the stem to the bottom of the cap with the melted, dark chocolate. Set aside in a cool, area that is not moist.
These pinecones are crunchy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside with a good hit of real rum!
Combine all of the ingredients but the dark chocolate and almon slices in a food processor and process until it makes a nice thick dough that sticks together when shaped into a ball.
Divide the dough into four equal portions and shape into a pinecone shape. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Taking whole slices of the almonds, dipped into the dark chocolate at one end, stick each piece to the pinecone shape in a circular pattern, overlapping the last one, until the entire cone is covered. You may want to place the cones into the freezer to set each row of almonds. Store in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container.
Bûche de Noël Assembly:
Spread about 1/3 of the buttercream over the jam-filled side of the rolled cake. Re-roll it tightly. Spread the remaining buttercream over the outside of the cake, it should not be smooth, but rough like bark.
Place the mushrooms strategically on the edge of the log, inter-spersing the pinecones. Sprinkle with icing sugar lightly to emulate snow. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream if desired.
Wrapping the plated cake in cellophane really makes it festive.
Notes:
Roughly chopped pistachios or roasted pepitas make beautiful “moss” on the log.
Lightly dusted icing sugar replicates a light snow nicely.
Let me begin this post by admitting that I have not had a serious Christmas baking-spree in quite a few years. People are watching their sugar intake, fat intake and intake in general and during the Christmas holidays, we tend to overeat so leaving sweets off the list seems to be a no-brainer. Plus there seems to be plenty of sweets around anyway. This year was going to be no different, I would bake a few things but not the 10-15 items I used to bake back in the day.
When we were down in Arizona (don’t worry, it’ll all tie together in the end), we hosted quite a few dinner parties and I cooked a lot. But, in order not to have too many leftover pantry items, I decided that I wouldn’t bake sweets but these dinner parties still needed something for dessert. For one such occasion, I bought a Ghirardelli Caramel Brownie Mix that turned out much better than I imagined, they actually tasted homemade! I can usually taste a chemical flavour in mixes but I have to admit, I haven’t purchased a mix in several decades so I had no idea how far they’ve come along. This mix was so yummy, I brought 2 packages back for a friend who isn’t a baker as a souvenir gift. Because I hadn’t done my marathon Christmas baking in so many years, I’d completely forgotten that my dear friend’s daughter i’s allergic to walnuts and…you guessed it, the mix had walnuts! What a bummer! I felt horrible that I’d forgotten her allergy; my usual Christmas baking had me focused on baking items without walnuts just for her! How could I have forgotten? I blame age, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. So fast forward to Christmas 2022, I baked my friend’s daughter these brownies to make up for my foolish mistake. They are a bit more finicky than my regular brownies, but they have the best texture that is worth the extra step. The changes I made to the recipe are listed in the notes below.
You might think this is an outdated photo, with the Christmas tree in the background, but I have the little tree out all year long!
118 g semi-sweet Belgian chocolate, coarsely chopped
62 g Belgian milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
200 g sugar, divided
5 mL pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 23 cm square pan with parchment.
Sift together the flour and salt, set aside.
Microwave the butter and two chocolates for 15-second spurts on hi, stirring and carefully watching it to make sure the chocolate doesn’t seize. Add 100 g of the sugar and stir to combine. Microwave for 1 minute on power 4, stir often, and then microwave for two 15-second spurts on high, stirring frequently. Mix in the vanilla and set aside.
Combine the second 100 g of sugar with the eggs in the small bowl of your stand mixer and whisk well by hand. Add half of the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture slowly, making sure you don’t scramble the eggs with the heat of the chocolate. Set aside.
Set the remaining egg mixture bowl onto your stand mixer and mix on high for 3 minutes or until doubled in volume and thickened. Gently fold this mixture into the chocolate mixture and when almost combined, add the sifted flour and salt and fold until combined.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the centre of the oven for 23-27 minutes (the centre should just be set). Allow to cool completely and cut into squares.
Notes:
The recipe has been changed to metric and some steps have been converted to use the microwave instead of a bain-marie.
I used a metal 23 cm x 23 cm pan and my baking instructions have been adjusted to suit my pan and oven.
The original recipe used bittersweet chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate but I only had semi-sweet and milk chocolate and it turned out very well.
The week before Christmas in 2022, we were in full-entertaining mode, trying to see all of our friends before we started travelling again. We have been doing more and more brunches, particularly in the winter months when driving at night can be more treacherous. I was hoping to do a simple brunch dish so I could spend more time with friends but then I saw this interesting pancake called Dutch Baby and I had to try it. It’s actually a German invention (think Deutsch) that was translated to Dutch in the states, this simple popover-like batter makes a grand entrance with its golden puffy sides and a lovely custardy-base that is perfect for brunchy-style meals. You can make them either savoury or sweet. I chose to make individual Dutch Babies to hold eggs bennies for a bunch we had just before Christmas. There is a bit of strategy so that everything remains hot and ready for serving but fear not, I have documented my process for you, easy peasy.
Individual Dutch Baby Bennies for Brunch (logistics and all)
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
This recipe makes 1 serving, please multiply by the number of people you are serving for your ingredients.
Ingredients:
1 large egg
63 mL milk
31 g flour
7 g sugar
salt
A smidge of butter for the cast iron pan
Also required per person:
Hollandaise sauce
Poached egg
about 50 g Ham, shaved, room temperature
Half an Avocado
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425° F convection, with the cast iron pan in the oven (place cast onto a rimmed baking sheet). You need to put the pan on the centre rack in the oven.
In a blender, combine the eggs, milk, flour, sugar and salt and blend until smooth. Set aside while the oven and cast iron preheat. When the pan and oven are heated to temperature, add a smidge of butter to the pan and melt coating the insides.
Pour the egg mixture into the pan and bake for 15 minutes (keep checking from 12-15 so it doesn’t burn).
While baking, make the hollandaise sauce (see notes for my recipe or use your own). Cover the finished sauce and set aside.
During the last 6 minutes of baking the Dutch baby, poach the egg for a minute less than your normal poaching time, turn the heat off and remove the pan from heat source, keep the egg warm in the water they poached in. When you are ready to serve, remove the poached egg and drain it on a paper towel. Gently reheat the hollandaise over the warm poaching water whisking so it doesn’t separate.
Assembly:
When the Dutch baby is golden (~200° F on an instant read thermometer), remove it from the pan and place it onto a warm plate. Top with a few spoonfuls of mashed avocado, ham and finally the poached eggs. Drizzle the warmed hollandaise sauce over the eggs and serve immediately.
Notes:
My oven takes a good 15 minutes to pre-heat to 425° F so plan ahead.
I used Betty Crocker mini oval cast iron pans 16 cm x 11.5 cm that were perfect for each serving.
My hollandaise is very simple: 30 mL lemon juice, pinch of salt, 80 g butter, 1 egg. In a double boiler (I love Ikea’s KLOCKREN Double–boiler insert), melt the butter and add the lemon juice and salt and mix well, heat until warm to the touch without boiling the water below. Whisk the egg and slowly temper with the warm butter mixture, whisking well. Return the tempered egg to the double boiler and whisk until thickened. Remove the hollandaise immediately from the heat and set aside. If your sauce has separated, you’ve heated it too fast and too hot; although not kosher, you can blitz the separated hollandaise with an emersion blender to achieve a smooth sauce and avoid having to start over.
To get the most professional-looking poached eggs, strain the raw egg through a fine sieve before poaching. Straining removes the excess white which usually just clouds the water and creates a messy, loosely-poached egg. I usually poach for 4 minutes, so for this recipe, poach for 3 minutes and allow the eggs to sit in the hot water, off the heat while you prepare the remainder of the meal.
If you are making this for a crowd, poach the eggs in advance for 1-2 minutes and immediately plunge them gently into an ice bath and hold them there until ready to serve. When ready to serve, bring a large enough pot of water to hold all the eggs to a light boil and reheat the eggs and finish poaching them! Serve immediately.
Happy New Year! Hope your holidays were lovely. We had Christmas Eve with my cousin’s family in their new home. It’s so exciting to have a new home and be able to decorate and start from scratch. The dinner was fabulous and it was a lot of fun opening presents with them.
Just before Christmas, we had another progressive dinner with our neighbours. This time, the theme was Indian and we were charged with the hors d’œuvres and appetizers. I (obviously), made onion bhaji to start and then we had a cup of Mulligatawny soup. These dinners always have too much food so I kept it small. These bhajis turned out so good, I decided I wanted to keep the recipe for the future. I served them with store-bought Date and Tamarind Chutney.
Onion Bhaji Revisited
Makes about 20 bhajis, depending on size. For the original recipe, please click here.
Ingredients:
2 sweet onions, finely sliced
100 g gram flour (chickpea flour)
5 g baking powder
4 g Aleppo chilli flakes
4 g turmeric
100 mL water
1 L vegetable oil for frying
Directions:
Soak the sliced onions in cold water while you make the batter.
Preheat the oil to 350° F.
Add the gram flour, baking powder, Aleppo flakes and turmeric to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly add 90 mL of the water to form a batter and mix well. Strain the onions and add them to the batter, adding about 10 mL of water, if necessary. Mix to coat the onions.
When the oil is 350° F, scoop a generous tablespoon of the bhaji mixture into the hot oil and fry until golden and the internal temperature is 200° F. Remove the bhaji from the oil onto a paper-lined tray and allow to drain the oil. Continue until you’ve fried all of the bhaji batter.
To serve, reheat the bhaji on a sheetpan in a 275° F oven for 12 minutes or until the internal temperature is 125° F.
These were gobbled up in nothing flat. I froze an additional batch I made and they are still fabulous reheated!
It’s dinner party and cocktail party season so the team at Kitcheninspirations have been busy making and freezing party food so we are never caught empty handed. The filling for these tasty little bites comes together very quickly and if you don’t have time, store-bought wonton wrappers will do the trick.
Shrimp Gyoza
For original gyoza wrapper recipe, please click here.
Makes 20 gyoza
Ingredients:
120 g AP unbleached flour
65 g water, boiling
pinch of salt
cornstarch for dusting
5 mL sesame oil
75 g shrimp
2 scallions, finely diced
5 g ginger, finely grated
10 g roasted garlic
20 g carrot, finely grated
10 mL soy sauce
8 g cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Butter or grapeseed oil to brown gyoza
Sesame seeds and cilantro for garnish
Directions:
Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Add boiling water to the flour and salt mixture slowly to make a dough, turn out to a surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Heat the sesame oil in a pan and add the shrimp and stir fry. Stir in the scallions, ginger, roasted garlic, carrot, soy sauce and cook for a minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool thoroughly. When cool, add the cilantro and mix well.
To make the wrappers, roll each sausage out to a manageable thickness and run it through the KitchenAid pasta roller from #1 to #4.
Cut into 7.5 cm (3 inch) rounds. Wet the edges of each round, spoon 5 mL (1 tsp) of the filling into the centre and fold in half and seal the edges. I used a handy pleater like this one to get perfect pleats.
Steam each one for 3-5 minutes. When cooked, melt butter or grapeseed oil in a cast iron pan. Pan-fry each one on one side only so it is golden and crispy. Serve with your choice of dipping sauce.
Freeze uncooked gyoza on a piece of parchment and once frozen add to a ziplock bag for future use. Frozen gyoza will cook in 3-5 minutes!
To serve, melt about 15 g of unsalted butter with 30 mL of grapeseed oil and fry one side of each gyoza. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and bits of cilantro.
Serve these tasty treats with a sweet and salty soy sauce.
Back in October, we were seeing friends more than usual as we were going to spend the month of November in Arizona; there is always a feeling of urgency to see our peeps just before we go away for a significant period of time. For one such get-together, I finally baked a Basque Cheesecake! I say finally because it’s been on my list for years! I chose the Serious Eats recipe because it was in grams and easy to half as I only needed about half of the size.
Basque Cheesecake
For the original recipe, please click here. This recipe makes one 23 cm (8 inch) cheese cake.
Ingredients:
450 g full-fat cream cheese, brought to 21°C
135 g and 15g sugar, divided
137.5 g egg (~3 whole eggs)
15 g egg yolk (~1 yolk)
115 g heavy cream
10 g all-purpose flour
5 g vanilla extract
1.5 g salt
2 g lemon zest, finely grated
Directions:
Prep the pan by lining it with 2 square sheets of parchment paper (see notes).
In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and 135 g of sugar and beat with the paddle attachment, scraping the sides frequently, until there are no more lumps and the sugar has dissolved (3-4 minutes).
Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 10 second on each addition, scraping the sides of the bowl between additions.
Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared parchment-lined pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 425° F with the oven rack in the middle.
Remove the cake pan from the refrigerator and set on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining 15 g of sugar over the top of the pan and bake until the cheesecake is lightly browned on top.
Increase the temperature to 450° and bake until the top is darker brown without burning (see notes). The cheesecake will be done when centre registers between 150° F and 155° F (65.5° C to 68° C). Or when the centre only jiggles a little bit.
Allow the cheesecake to cool at room temperature for at least 4 hours. To remove from the pan, use the overhang of the parchment to pull the cheesecake straight out and set on an even surface, remove the parchment carefully, prying it away gently or with a small knife. Serve at room temperature or store in the fridge for no more than 3 days, covered to avoid it drying out.
This is a super-rich cheesecake that really doesn’t need any accompaniments.
Notes:
The easiest way to line a round pan with parchment is to thoroughly wet the parchment and wring it out. Now press it into the round pan, leaving the excess to overlap the rim of the pan. Set it in a warm oven to dry out (doesn’t have to be 100% dry, just dry enough so that the batter doesn’t stick to it). Cool completely. If you have two same-sized pans, you can insert the second one into the parchment-lined pan to push the parchment into the edges.
Your baking temperature may need to be reduced, on my first attempt, the timing in the original recipe was off because and I burnt the cheesecake. I reduced the temperatures to suit my oven.
You really don’t need a spring-form pan to make this cake, the parchment does all the work.
Canadian Thanksgiving was October 10th, about a month earlier than American Thanksgiving. We do everything pretty much the same as Americans, except that we are not as much into American football. Thanksgiving to Canadians means family getting together and enjoying the company, the food, and the gorgeous fall colours, not so much sports. This year was a quiet Thanksgiving because we usually celebrate with my cousins’ family but my cousin and her hubby were in Europe so we only had the adult kiddos over for dinner. We love cranberry like the next guy but I always seem to have a tonne left over as I did this year. So I decided to reinvent them into Liz’s dreamy Crumble Bars. JT is in charge of making the cranberry sauce and he usually only adds about half the sugar on the package recipe but since the kids were coming over, I asked him to make it a bit sweeter so he used 3/4 of the recommended sugar. The sauce was still reasonably tart which made it a perfect topping for these sweet pastry bars. I dare say, one of my favourites. So if you have cranberry sauce left over, give these a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Cranberry Crumble Bars
Makes one 22 cm x 33 cm (9″ x 13″) pan
Ingredients:
250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100 g sugar
100 g powdered sugar
5 mL vanilla
2.5 mL almond extract
280 g flour
8 g salt
150 mL homemade cranberry sauce
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare a 23″ x 33″ cm (9″ x 13″) pan by lining with parchment.
Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the almond extract.
Beat in the flour and salt on low speed until entirely incorporated.
Portion about 2/3 of the flour mixture into the bottom of the pan and press evenly to all sides. Bake for 20 minutes. Refrigerate the remaining pastry.
After you have baked the base pastry, pour the cranberry jam onto the base and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Crumble the remaining pastry onto the top, being careful not to cover it entirely.
Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the topping is golden.
Allow to cool completely and cut into squares or bars.
Notes:
Jellied canned cranberry sauce may be too runny to work in this recipe, you definitely want sauce with fruit in it.
In early October, JT and a friend went to Buffalo to see a hockey game (hockey is absurdly expensive in Toronto and it was a nice male bonding trip). I had a friend over for dinner and I served mussels. I had about 12 left over and thought I’d like to try this Spanish recipe to preserve mussels. They turned out quite delicious so next time I’m at the Fish Monger, I will get a bag to make a batch of these tasty treats.
While the cooked mussels have a soft and spongy texture, the preserved mussels are much meatier to the bite, which makes them a bit more filling and not unpleasant at all.
Interestingly enough, I did not see these on any menu while we were in Spain, or maybe I didn’t notice them. When we are in Spain again, I will definitely search them out because they are tasty.
I may have tasted one to be sure they were worth blogging about.
In a small saucepan, combine the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, cinnamon, black pepper, and lemon peel and heat gently to a very low boil for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the paprika, vinegar, and salt and stir well.
Put the mussels into a clean glass jar and top with the warm liquid with all of the spices. Stir well. Put a lid on the jar and set it in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
To serve, remove the mussels from the marinade making sure there are no little bits sticking to them.
Strain the marinade. Add one mussel to a half shell and drizzle with a little of the oil mixture. Serve cool.
Notes:
My summer herb garden finally gave into winter so I’m using dried herbs for this recipe. The slow cooking will bring their flavour out into the marinade but fresh is preferred.
I reduced this recipe to cover the few leftover mussels I had.
I garnished my mussels with sliced scallions and diced pickled hot peppers.
Stracciatella is one of my favourite soups. Oh, who am I kidding, I adore all soups! The broth is the real star of this simple dish, homemade is best and this recipe will give you a quick solution to a flavourful broth in 30 minutes. Yes, it’s another Instant Pot recipe. I usually have homemade chicken stock in the freezer but if I don’t, I definitely have a BBQ’d chicken carcass in the freezer! This easy stock comes together quickly and I dare you to find a difference from the long, slow-cooked stocks of the past. I based this recipe on Frank’s lovely dish. The soup is more filling than you’d think, so limit the servings to the smaller side.
A barbecued chicken carcass with most of the meat stripped off.
1 onion
1 rib celery
parsley stems
15 mL better than bouillon chicken broth
Directions for the quick stock:
Combine the ingredients in the instant pot and cover with water. Put the pressure cooker lid on and lock it into place. Set the IP to Pressure on High for 30 minutes making sure the steam release valve is closed (up position).
Strain the bones and vegetables from the stock and reserve about 1 liter of stock for this soup, reserve the remaining stock for another recipe.
Ingredients for the Stracciatella:
1 L of homemade stock (see above)
2 eggs
45 g Parmesan, finely grated
few drops of lemon juice
pinch of nutmeg
Directions for the Stracciatella:
Bring the stock to a slow boil. Combine the eggs and parmesan cheese until it is whisked smooth.
Once the stock boils, slowly drizzle the egg mixture into the stock, whisk the stock around in the same direction so the egg doesn’t form one large blob.
Allow the soup to continue cooking for a couple of minutes; the egg will turn into beautiful little curds and the broth will clear.
Add a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of nutmeg and serve warm.
You may add some additional grated parmesan as garnish at the table.
The soup comes together quickly if you already have chicken broth on hand but it only takes about 40 minutes if you make the stock from scratch.
We had a long late-summer with beautiful sunny days and warm temperatures. Then it stopped. It always surprises me when temperatures drop so quickly, it’s never a slow incremental decrease, it’s a fast dive to freezing! As soon as the boiler goes on, soups get onto my menu plan. I first saw this beauty on my long-time Chicago friend John’s delicious blog and I’ve been making my rendition ever since. It’s definitely one of my favourites. In our house, it has actually taken over from restaurant Phố as restaurant Phố is far too salty and we’re all trying to cut down.
I start the stock in the morning so the aromatics have time to infuse. You can do it in the Instant Pot pressure cooking function but I like to have the warm aromas wafting through the house as the broth infuses. I usually double the batch of stock and freeze it for an even quicker meal.
An aromatic soup, flavoured with fresh herbs from the garden.
Quick Phố
Serves 2 hearty bowls
Ingredients for the stock:
2 g fresh ginger, finely minced with a microplane
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
250 mL beef broth
250 mL chicken stock
250 mL water
salt, to taste
Ingredients for the finished soup:
150 g fettuccini rice noodles
200 g very thinly sliced raw beef
fresh cilantro, Thai basil, spring onions for garnish, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Hoisin sauce, Sriracha sauce
Directions:
Combine the ingredients for the stock in a stockpot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 3-4 hours. Alternatively, you may add it to your Instant Pot and pressure cook it for 30 minutes.
About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve, bring a pot of water to a boil and remove it from the heat. Add the rice noodles and allow to soak to soften 10-15 minutes.
Strain the stock to remove the aromatics and return to the pot to keep warm.
Strain the noodles and divide them into two large bowls, top with the thinly sliced beef and ladle the boiling soup over the beef. Garnish with fresh cilantro, Thai basil and spring onions. Serve the hoisin and sriracha sauce at the table to allow each person to garnish their own bowls.
We had some dear friends over for brunch in early October and I thought I’d make a “Biggy Breakfast” for us. You know the ones on the menu at your local greasy spoon: eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, and pancakes! Overboard, indeed, but it’s the type of breakfast that is easy to share. These pancakes are my favourite, so light and fluffy. I normally make them with buttermilk but I had some unflavoured Keffir on hand so I thought, why not?
Super fluffy Keffir Pancakes
Ingredients:
200 g all-purpose flour
200 mL keffir
100 mL water or milk
2 large eggs, separated
30 g sugar
10 mL vanilla extract
7 g baking powder
7 g baking soda
pinch of cream of tartar
pinch salt
1 nonstick cooking spray
Directions:
In a bowl sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
Beat egg white and cream of tartar on high speed until stiff peaks form but not dry.
Beat the egg yolk with the sugar until creamy, pale yellow and thick; add the keffir and the water or milk, vanilla and beat until smooth on a slow speed.
Fold in the sifted flour mixture gently (don’t over mix as we don’t want the glutens activated).
Fold the beaten egg white into the batter and mix together gently, do not over-mix!
Spray your skillet with non-stick spray set to medium temperature (or 350°F).
Drop about 125 mL of batter on the pan for each pancake and spread out to about 15-20 cm and cook until you see a few bubbles on the surface of the batter. Flip the pancakes and cook for about another 1-2 minutes and the pancake is not too wobbly when you touch the centre with your fingers. Repeat until you have used up all the batter.
Keep warm until you have made all the pancakes and serve warm with butter, maple syrup, fruit, and whipped cream!
In early October, we had my brother over for dinner, he was up visiting from the Cayman Islands. I wanted to make a special meal and since it was getting a little nippy, I thought soup would be a great starter. I made butternut squash soup but we didn’t have it all so had some leftovers. We haven’t had gnocchi for ages and when I saw the cutest pumpkin gnocchi come across my Facebook, I knew I had to make it with the leftover butternut squash soup. Unfortunately, I cannot find the video but it was never about the gnocchi recipe, but the cute way the gnocci are shaped…in little pumpkins! It is a bit fussy, but it’s totally worth it.
Adorable little pumpkins floating in a sea of delicious blue cheese sauce.
Fall Butternut Squash “Pumpkin” Gnocchi
Makes about 60 “pumpkin” gnocchi about 10 g each
Ingredients:
360 g leftover butternut squash soup (creamed and seasoned)
350 g AP flour
30 g butter
Directions
Put the soup and flour into the large bowl of your food processor and process until you achieve a soft but firm ,pliable dough. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Cut 10 g pieces from the dough. Roll between your palms to make a ball. Set each ball onto a parchment-lined tray. Continue until all of the dough has been shaped.
Using butcher’s string held tightly just slightly longer than the balls, push the string into the gnocchi ball four times (into fourths then into eigths) to form the pumpkin ribs. Using a toothpick, poke a small hole into the top of the gnocchi where the lines intersect for the greenery.
Cook gnocchi in boiling water until they float to the top.
Heat the butter in a frying pan and fry each gnocchi bottom until lightly golden. Serve with your favourite sauce.
This recipe has been in the family for years. My brother gave me the original cookbook in the 1970’s inscribed, “This is for me, in the long run.” It’s been made dozens and dozens of times, often around Christmas for our goody trays. This time I made them around thanksgiving because we were having my cousin’s adult kids for dinner because their parents were galavanting in Europe and they are not big pumpkin fans! Galavanting may not be right, I might be a tiny bit jealous!
Chewy Peanut Butter Squares Revisited
Makes one pan 33 cm x 23 cm x 5 cm (13″ x 9″ x 2″) baking pan
Ingredients:
140 g all-purpose flour
6 g baking powder
5 g salt
148 g peanut butter, smooth or chunky
113 g butter
330 g firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
15 mL vanilla
140 g lightly salted peanuts
1 cup icing sugar with enough drops of cold water to make a liquidy icing (but one that will set well)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line a 33 cm x 23 cm x 5 cm (13″ x 9″ x 2″) baking pan with parchment
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Heat the peanut butter and butter together until melted.
Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended.
Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in the extra peanuts.
Spread the batter into a prepared pan and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.
When cool, drizzle the melted chocolate over the top. Working quickly, drizzle swirls of the white icing in a crazy pattern. Allow the topping to set. Cut into 1-2″ square inch squares or rectangles.
Our Thanksgiving was on the 10th of October. It was a mild day, so we began with drinks and appetizer’s out on our covered deck with the heat on. My cousin’s two adult children came for dinner because their parents were in Europe and we always spend Thanksgiving together. It was a wonderful evening.
This is the turkey on the Big Green Egg.
I have taken to brining my turkey because it makes a wonderfully, juicy bird and it lessens that weird gamey flavour in leftovers. But because we were only four, I just got a breast this time around. I removed the skin and set it aside on a rack with a plate underneath in the fridge to ‘dry’ out. Then I butterflied the breast and pounded it to a relatively even thickness and then brined it for 5 hours. Then I layered the stuffing on it and then rolled it up to a nice little boule and wrapped it in Serrano ham. JT barbequed it on indirect heat on the Big Green Egg. It was a great success.
The turkey is resting. It’s best not to cover it so the skin stays crisp.
Chestnut and Sausage stuffing
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
Serves 6-8 people (we had a lot of leftovers)
Ingredients:
70 g celery
65 g sweet onion
35 g butter
65 g chorizo sausage
100 g chestnuts, peeled and roasted
125 mL chicken stock
1 egg, beaten
55 g unseasoned croutons or dry bread
Directions:
One day before serving the breast, make the stuffing: Cook the celery and onion in the butter until softened. Add the chorizo and chestnuts and mix well. Allow to cool completely. Combine the stock and egg and mix well. Add the celery and onion mixture to the croutons and pour over the stock mixture and mix well so that all of the croutons have been saturated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
One day before serving the breast, make the brine: Make up the brining liquid and cool completely, store in the refrigerator until required.
The morning of cooking the breast, carefully remove the skin and lay it on a rack with a plate underneath, do not cover. Refrigerate until ready to use. Butterfly the breast and pound it so it is even throughout. Immerse entirely in the brine and refrigerate 5-6 hours.
Several hours before setting the breast on the grill, give the stuffing a good mix, breaking up some of the croutons but keeping the mixture tight.
Dry off the brined breast and pound out a little more in case the meat retracted whilst brining. Add the stuffing evenly on the breast and roll from one end as tightly as you can. Wrap the breast in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
Remove the plastic wrap and wrap the Serrano ham around it, then wrap the saved skin around the top stretching as much as you can. Wrap the entire roll in butcher’s twin to hold everything together. Hold until ready to bake in the refrigerator, uncovered.
Bake for 2-2.5 hours or until the meat registers 165° F. Allow to rest, uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove the twine and slice the breast roll into 1 cm portions. Serve hot.
Notes:
Wrapping the breast roll in plastic wrap allows the meat to remember the shape so wrapping in Serrano ham is significantly easier.
I like the skin stretched over the ham as tightly as possible so it’s nice and crispy when served.
Resting the roll uncovered after it is cooked doesn’t let the skin become soggy, I highly recommend it.
Because the breast is brined, seasoning is not required. The Serrano ham also provides a reasonable saltiness to the breast.
For the brine, I use 72 g salt and 50 g sugar with herbes en Provence with enough water to cover the entire breast.
If you love the taste of lemon like we do, look no further…this is the lemon curd tart recipe you’ve been dreaming about! With a whole 160 mL (about 2/3 cup) freshly squeezed lemon juice, this tart will take your breath away (in a good way). Slightly sweet, tangy, crunchy, creamy and luxurious are all of the adjectives that will invade your mind as you dine on this beauty. If you love lemon, this is your tart.
Combine all of the ingredients for the pastry in the large container of your food processor. Pulse until a smooth dough has formed.
Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until it exceeds the circumference of the tart pan. Carefully lay the dough over the pan and gently press it into the pan, evening out any thin areas. Roll the rolling pin over the top to remove excess dough (either pres this dough into thin parts or save for another use). Dock the pastry bottom and bake at 350° F for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven at 20 minutes and press any areas down which have swelled during baking.
In a large, heavy-bottom sauce pan, combine all of the ingredients but the vanilla and butter and whisk to mix well.
On medium-low heat, continuously whisk until the mixture has thickened (about 7 minutes). Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and butter and mix until combined.
Press the curd through a fine seive into the par-baked tart pastry. Smooth out the top with an offset spatula. Bake for 15 minutes or until the curd has set but still jiggles a little bit. Allow to cool and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature to serve.
A delicious combination of green vegetables in a rich, flavourful broth.
Lupin Flour Fish ‘n “Chips”
Canadian Thanksgiving was October 10th, about a month earlier than American Thanksgiving. We do everything pretty much the same as Americans, except that we are not as much into American football. Thanksgiving to Canadians means family getting together and enjoying the company, the food, and the gorgeous fall colours, not so much sports. This year was a quiet Thanksgiving because we usually celebrate with my cousins’ family but my cousin and her hubby were in Europe so we only had the adult kiddos over for dinner. We love cranberry like the next guy but I always seem to have a tonne left over as I did this year. So I decided to reinvent them into Liz’s dreamy Crumble Bars. JT is in charge of making the cranberry sauce and he usually only adds about half the sugar on the package recipe but since the kids were coming over, I asked him to make it a bit sweeter so he used 3/4 of the recommended sugar. The sauce was still reasonably tart which made it a perfect topping for these sweet pastry bars. I dare say, one of my favourites. So if you have cranberry sauce left over, give these a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Kitcheninspirations 