Have you ever felt, with every fibre of you’re being, that you love a place even though you’ve never been there?

I have never set foot in New Orleans but I know, just about as well as I know my own name, that I love that city.

One day I will get there and my love will be confirmed.

I just know it.

Before Katrina, I was actually been planning a trip to New Orleans but my plans were scuttled by a combination of work and other commitments. Along with just about everyone else, I was shocked, saddened and so angry to see what happened during and after the storm.

And always, I would think about New Orleans and wonder, “When will I get there?”

I’m still asking that question, but I feel a tad closer ever since I started watching an amazing show called Treme.

I’m not one to talk about much beyond baking, cooking and cookbooks on this blog, but I just have to tell you about this show because it is brilliant.

Not only does it feature several of my favourite actors (hello, John Goodman and Wendell Pierce!), I cannot even tell you how brilliant the music is.

The name of the show comes from a neighbourhood in New Orleans and the show features numerous storylines all of which follow the men and women of Treme as they put their lives back together in the months after Katrina.

The star of the show is the music, though. Without a doubt.

As I watched last week’s episode and I found myself wondering about a trip to New Orleans, I rememberd that many months ago I picked up a copy of DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style by David Guas.

I started to flip through the book and had half-convinced myself to start making beignets, even though it was very late, but then I thought why not try something a little more manageable for the evening. Having remembered a post from Molly of Orangette about caramel corn, I decided that I would go for it.

That was damn good caramel corn! Damn good like the show … hope you watch it!

Ciao!

Click here for Molly’s version of the recipe.

And on the twelfth day of the 12 Days of Cookbooks, I give you The Happy Baker by Erin Bolger.

One of my frequent lunch-time treats during the workday is to walk up to Yonge and Yorkville and stop in at The Cookbook Store, Toronto’s best store.

Admittedly, I try not to do this too often as the trip inevitably ends with yet another cookbook purchase.

I am weak. I know.

Earlier in the year, on one such lunch-time foray, I came across a book called “The Happy Baker” and my first thought was, “Well … yeah! Who isn’t happy baking?!”

I picked up the book and was instantly smitten.

Written by Erin Bolger, it’s a funny, quirky and so-cute look at the sweets that we fall in love with through life. Erin very amusingly pairs the delicious recipes in her book with stories of growing up, dating and becoming a woman.

It’s all very sweet. And it just made me laugh and it made me happy and it made me want to bake, all at the same time.

I wish I could have tried more of the recipes in the time that I’ve had the book but I did try two: Best Friends Forever, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and Better Late Than Never Peanut Butter Crispy Cups. Both treats were an enormous hit.

I actually added some peanut butter to the chocolate chip cookies and they worked beautifully.

But I really believe that half the fun of this book and the recipes is just sitting with it in the kitchen and reading the stories while you decide what to try.

I loved it all.

Hope you take a look at it!

Ciao!

Have a creepy (and fun) Halloween!

Ciao!

The recipe for these Meringue Ghosts comes from two sources. The recipe for the meringue comes from JoyofBaking.com, you can find the recipe here. I used mini chocolate chips for the eyes.

The idea for dipping the ghosts in chocolate and coconut comes from 101 Cookbooks. You can find the recipe here.

Okay.

I know I said June was going to be all Italian and stuff but I had to really struggle to find the Italian link for today’s post. So I figured I’d figured I’d use one of my favourite Italian words, dolce (sweet), to describe one truly sweet book: My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky.

I am unapologetically not a vegan. I support everyone in their food choices and understand that many people have dietary and other health issues that require certain diets. I get it.

But I love my meat, my dairy, my nuts, my flour and everything in between.

However, last year I did have the experience of having to bake a nut-free cake and it changed the way that I look at specialized cuisine, especially baking.

When I was approached with the chance to review Hannah’s book, I said yes not so much because I was interested in vegan baking, but more so because I’m a big fan of Hannah’s!

Her blog is called BitterSweet and it’s just gorgeous! Besides the fact that Hannah is an amazing cook and baker, she’s also amazing with crafts. Seriously, some of the things she makes are jaw-dropping. I encourage you to visit her blog and see for yourselves!

So what to say about her book? For starters, it’s a very pretty book. By this I mean it has tonnes of beautiful photos and is laid out with bright colours that draw you in to the recipes.

Now as for the recipes themselves, well, it’s an entire book dedicated to sweets, many of them originals and many of them veganized versions of classics.

As I read through the book trying to decide what to make, I made my way to p. 62 and stopped in my tracks.

You know when you go to parties and there’s always that big bowl of something called “Party Mix”. Well I’m the girl at the party that grabs the bowl and hogs it going so far as to snarl at anyone that comes near.

I loooooooooooooooooove party mix!

So when I saw a recipe for Party Mix Bars, well of course I had to make them. And they were so very good!

I’d like to thank Hannah for creating such a beautiful book and certainly making me think about the merits of a vegetarian lifestyle (no … I’m not switching but I am trying to be more conscious of eating habits). I’d like to thank her for being so patient as this review has been a long time in coming.

But most importantly, I’d like to thank her for creating a lovely little book with a very distinctive voice that gives vegetarians the opportunity to enjoy lots of great sweets, and everyone else the opportunity to experiment with a different way of baking.

Ciao!

Maple Coconut Party Mix Drops
Adapted from My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky.

Note: The original recipe makes a 9 x 13 inch pan of party mix bars. I’ve cut the recipe in half and chosen to make individual servings of the sweet party mix. I’ve also “un”veganized it by using butter where the original recipe uses margerine. Sorry … I don’t do margerine! I’ve also substituted some of the corn syrup with maple syrup which offers great flavour.

1 cup mini pretzel twists
1 cup Chex rice cereal (or a similar cereal)
1-1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup mixed salted nuts (you can use any nuts you like)
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp. coconut extract

Spray 12 aluminum cups or 12 foil cupcake liners with a bit of cooking spray and set aside.

Combine the pretzel twists, the cereals and the nuts in a large bowl.

In a small pan, melt the butter then add the sugar and stir until combined.

Add the corn syrup and maple syrup and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook the mixture for about 3 minutes until it thickens a bit.

Turn off the heat and add the coconut exctract. Immediately pour the mixture over the cereal and nuts and stir so that everything is well coated.

Working quickly, spoon the mixture into the prepared baking cups. Each cup will take 2 to 3 tablespoons full of the cereal and nut mixture. Let cool and then enjoy!

I love crullers.

I have been known to eat … ummm … quite a few in a row without stopping or even taking a breath. I love their glazed exterior and sweetly soft interior. I love the way they melt in your mouth and slide down your throat in a rush of fried dough bliss.

When Peabody and Helene announced their doughnut event, I briefly entertained ideas of creating a new doughnut but my heart kept coming back to a recipe I’d seen in Marcy Goldman’s A Passion For Baking. For those of you that haven’t heard of Marcy, she’s the baker behind www.betterbaking.com. Her most recent cookbook is now gracing my bookshelf and from the moment I set eyes on her recipe for French Cruller Doughnuts, I knew I had to try them.

And here’s the the really shocking thing about this: these doughnuts are baked, not fried! Now I am never one to shy away from calories, but based on what everyone who tried these told me, you’d never guess that they weren’t fried.

And because I promised a month of chocolate, I decorated some of my crullers with melted dark chocolate for an added touch.

I’d like to thank two of my favourite bakers, Peabody and Helene, for hosting this great event! Here’s hoping it becomes a regular one!

Ciao!

If you’re interested in making crullers, check out Steph’s blog a whisk and a spoon for her entry to this event.

It’s hard to believe that a little over a month ago I barely had time to even talk to my family, much less blog. The long days and even longer nights put in at work seem but a distant memory.

And yet it was only a month ago that I would stumble into the house, sometimes as late as midnight. And while I’m completely in love with food, it was at those times that the very idea of cooking or baking seemed next to impossible, like a distant dream not meant for me.

Wandering into the kitchen, that late at night (or should I say that early in the morning), more often than not it was nothing more exotic than a bowl of Cheerios keeping me company. That’s lonely business I tell you - sitting at the table alone, with a bowl of cereal at 1:00 a.m.

But as sad as that picture may seem, as with all things, the long hours passed and I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Naturally, the desire for for food breathed new life into me.

Inevitably the night comes when the bowl of Cheerios is cast aside in favour of something sweeter and divine. It’s what I like to call The Midnight Snack of Champions:  walnuts with Parmigiano Reggiano and honey.

You can’t have any one of these without the other two. The mellow butteriness of the walnuts is perfect against the sharp tingle of the Parmigiano, which is perfect dripping with the golden honey.

And there is no exact recipe for this snack. The proportions are entirely up to you. I like a handful of walnuts and a chunk of Parmigiano (cut into small pieces), covered in a few healthy teaspoons of honey (preferably chestnut honey).

The only rule here is that you must eat this with your fingers being sure to lick up every delicious drop of honey.

Forget the Cheerios.

In those quiet night hours, when hunger strikes, comfort yourself with the snack of champions all the while knowing that there will only be sweet dreams to follow.

Ciao!

Technorati tags:walnuts, Parmigiano Reggiano, honey

It’s difficult not to like Nigella Lawson. You’d have to be hard-hearted indeed not to fall prey to the charms of this intelligent, witty and yes - gorgeous - woman. As a television personality, her presence is infectious. Don’t we all wish we could look so good throwing egg shells into the sink?!

I own two of Nigella’s cookbooks and love them both. Simply put, her recipes work. Her Sticky Toffee Pudding (Nigella Bites) is probably one of my family’s favourite desserts. Her Madeira Cake (How to Be a Domestic Goddess) is a quick and reliable treat when you just have to have something sweet with your coffee. And if you can make her Christmas Pavlova (How to Be a Domestic Goddess) and not eat it all in one sitting, you’re a better Cream Puff than me.

I recently had the opportunity to review her most recent cookbook, Feast. Released in paperback in September 2006, Feast follows in the footsteps of Lawson’s previous books. Beautifully photographed and written, Feast is Lawson’s statement to the world that any special occasion is worthy of a food celebration.

The cookbook is divided into many sections that cover every imaginable festivity or important moment that would necessitate a special meal. While the obvious occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas are there, there are also sections devoted to Breakfast, Valentine’s Day and my personal favourite, the Midnight Feast.

I think that Lawson is an incredible writer and it shows both in the Introduction to the cookbook as well as the introductions to each section. It’s almost impossible to argue with her logic for going all out to prepare the meals of your dreams, whatever the occasion. I found the head notes to her recipes particularly enjoyable, especially the ones that offer a glimpse of her own family life. Nothing helps a reader to identify with a cookbook than a sense of camaraderie with the author.

I think this is Lawson’s greatest success as a cookbook author. She may not be a professional chef, but her recipes are enticing and well-written. And because she doesn’t talk down to her reader, it’s easy to visualize yourself making the recipes. It’s easy to imagine what those dishes will look like on your own table in your own kitchen.

Feast has something for everyone. It will satisfy the the carnivore, the vegetarian and the cream puffs (that is, those who crave sweets!) among us. And I warn you, the pictures will make your mouth water.

As I read through the cookbook, I found the recipes to be clear and well-presented. Well-suited to the home cook, the recipes can be easily managed by cooks of all backgrounds and levels of experience. For those with a bit more experience, I think the recipes are generous enough that they invite improvisation and adaptation. After all, what’s better than a cookbook with recipes that inspire you to bigger and better things?

But the final proof, as they say, is in the pudding so it was time to roll up my sleeve and try some of the recipes. The first recipe I tried was Andy’s Fairfield Granola. Lawson got this recipe from Andy Rolleri of The Pantry deli in Fairfield, Connecticut. I’m a bit of a tough judge when it comes to granola recipes as I personally think that I make a mean granola.

I was pleasantly surprised by this granola recipe. It was easy to pull together and the end result was a nutty granola that was crunchy, but not too sweet. The only hiccup in the recipe as far as I was concerned was the use of brown rice syrup or rice malt syrup. I have no idea where to locate those ingredients so I used golden syrup instead(the recipe gives you that option) and I don’t think the granola suffered one bit. I also added dried cherries for colour. Delicious!

Having started with a lovely breakfast, I thought it was time to move directly to dessert. But then I thought that I should at least try one of the savoury recipes in the book. Cream Puff cannot live on dessert alone.

I found myself repeatedly drawn to a recipe for Hot Pepper Relish to be served with melon. This relish is Georgian in origin and can be kept refrigerated for several weeks. While I didn’t want to have it with melon, I was intrigued by the relish as we enjoy spicy condiments with many of the foods we eat.

I made my version of this pepper relish with hot banana peppers and jalapenos (as opposed to red chiles in the original). I also topped my relish off with olive oil after I put it in a glass jar. Without question, this was a huge hit! We ate the entire jar of relish in one sitting on toasted bread rubbed with garlic. It was spicy with a nice vinegary bite. I’ve already gotten requests for seconds.

Having gotten the savoury out of the way (yes … I know … relish isn’t the best representation of savoury but what can I say … I’m a Cream Puff), it was time to go for dessert.

As soon as I saw the photograph of the Baci di Ricotta, piled high on a beautiful stand and covered in icing sugar, I dreamt of making them. Made with ricotta, eggs, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla extract, these ricotta fritters were a snap to pull together. The batter comes together in less time than it takes to heat the oil. One of the other attractive points of this recipe is that while you are frying in oil, you’re not frying in a lot of oil, which is nice for those that are intimidated of deep frying.

These fritters were golden on the outside and feather-light on the inside. We gobbled them up warm, drenched in icing sugar which actually melted into the warmish fritters. Heaven!

Having had our dessert appetizer, it was time to get serious. We unbuckled our belts and undid our pant buttons, ready to dig into cheesecake … Chestnut Cheesecake. I have a huge love of chestnuts and find beautifully roasted chestnuts impossible to resist. This particular cheesecake called for chestnut puree which I’d never tried before. My very well stocked supermarket carries a lovely chestnut puree from France. Besides the puree, this is a very straightforward cheesecake. I decided to give my new mini-cheesecake pans a try and was pleased at how beautifully the little cheesecakes turned out. While they would have been quite good on their own, they’re pushed over the top by a rum syrup which compliments the chestnut filling perfectly.

While I would count the Hot Pepper Relish and the Baci di Ricotta as my favourites, all four recipes turned out exceedingly well. And believe me, I’m looking forward to trying many more. Who knew feasting on Nigella could taste so good?!

Ciao!

Hot Pepper Relish

Adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson.

• 8 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half
• 1 celery stick, cut into 2 or 3 pieces
• 2 banana peppers, cut lengthwise and the seeds removed
• 2 jalapeno peppers, cut lengthwise and the seeds removed
• 1 red bell pepper, seeds removed
• 1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Place all the ingredients, except the parsley, vinegar, salt and olive oil, in the bowl of a food processor and process until everything is finely chopped.
2. Add the parsley, vinegar and salt, and pulse 4 or 5 times. Taste the relish and adjust the seasoning according to your own tastes.
3. Place the relish in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours.
4. Remove the relish from the refrigerator and spoon into a fine-mesh sieve. Let the relish sit in the sieve for 5 minutes to allow some of the excess liquid to drain.
5. Spoon the relish into a sterilized glass jar, leaving an inch at the top of the jar. Pour the olive oil in, a bit at a time, allowing the olive oil to seep down into the relish.
6. Store the relish in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks.
7. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  nigella lawson, feast, granola, relish, peppers, cheesecake, chestnuts

Based on your responses to my last post, it seems that banana bread and banana cake are blogger favourites! Now that I know what you like, allow me to suggest an accompaniment to your bananas:  rum.

I’m fairly late to the world of rum admirers. To be honest, until I started baking this butter cake with rum glaze, I’d rarely tried rum. But it’s fair to say that I am now a huge fan. And I have gone on to discover that just as coconut goes well with chocolate, rum goes very well with bananas.

While I managed to use most of our overripe bananas for the mini banana cupcakes that I made, I still had some in the fruit basket, waiting to meet their fate. But instead of making more banana cupcakes, I turned to one of the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavours of the Month for November 2006:  More From ACE Bakery. Linda Haynes’ book includes a recipe for banana fritters that she and her family would enjoy while on vacation. I had all the ingredients, but I thought I’d go a step further by adding both rum and coconut to my fritters.

Wow! I would gladly start each day with these fritters. Crispy on the outside, and soft and sweet on the inside. They ooze banana and the hint of coconut and rum is just right.

I must thank Linda Haynes for sending me a copy of More From ACE Bakery. It’s been lots of fun discovering this book and also finally trying some of the bread recipes from her first book, The ACE Bakery Cookbook. While the bread reciopes are rather involved, once you read through them a few times, you’ll see that they’re actually quite simple. There are a lot of steps involved, to be sure, but they’re not hard and anyone with even minimal baking experience should be able to produce some pretty nice bread.

Because the cookbooks contain so much more than just bread recipes, I think they’re very useful. If you’re looking for some new cookbooks to add to your collection or if you’re looking for gift ideas for the baker you know and love, you might want to consider these ones.

Well, that’s it. November is over. Come back tomorrow to see what the Flavour of the Month for December is!

Ciao!

Banana Fritters with Rum and Coconut

Adapted from More From ACE Bakery by Linda Haynes.

• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tbsp. coconut extract (optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. dark rum
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• vegetable oil for frying
• sugar (for garnish)
• 1 or 2 limes, cut into quarters (for garnish)

1. In a bowl, combine the sugar, baking powder, all-purpose flour, raisins, cinnamon and salt.
2. In another bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, the coconut extract (if using), the vanilla extract and the rum. Mix well.
3. Add the sugar mixture and mix well.
4. In a frying pan, heat enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Once hot, drop in tablespoonfuls of the batter. Fry for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
5. Once cooked, remove the fritters to a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Serve the fritters with the quartered limes. Squeeze the lime juice on the fritters before eating.
7. Enjoy!

Note:  You should get anywhere from 15 to 20 fritters depending on size. These should be eaten right away.

Technorati tags:  bananas, fritters, rum, coconut, ace bakery

Today would be a day that I would describe as the "typical" Autumn day. Not "the perfect" Autumn day … the typical one. Grey skies, leaves blowing here and there, quiet, and chilly, bordering on cold. A "perfect" Autumn day would have been basically the same, except the gray skies would be lightened by the sun.

As far as I know, there’s only one way to deal with typical Autumn days and that’s the application of a variety of comforting dishes to your stomach. Apply directly and as often as necessary.

As many of you know, Orchidea and I are hosting an event called "Dishes of Comfort" where we’ve asked bloggers to share a comforting dish with all by November 15th. It could be a dish from your childhood or perhaps a dish you learned to make when you first left home. Whatever the origin, it should be something that puts a smile on your face every time. I’ve already talked to you about le patatine fritte and how they are the very essence of comfort for me.

But another dish that does it for me every time is rice pudding. And this is most strange as I’ve only been eating rice pudding for about three years. I grew up eating rice and lots of it, but always in savoury dishes. I first heard about rice pudding from a close Swedish friend who explained that it was one of her husband’s specialties. Each Christmas, they would enjoy his stellar rice pudding.

Intrigued, I searched out recipes for rice pudding and tried many before I settled on one that made me happy to the core. I like it for two reasons:  it’s easy and I don’t have to share it. Now there I go again, betraying my generous nature, but what can I do? We’re talking about hot milk, butter and vanilla sugar and plump grains of rice swollen with milky goodness.

Are you going to blame me for not wanting to share?

I learned to make this recipe from Nigella Lawson’s book Nigella Bites. The recipe is called "Stovetop Rice Pudding for Emergencies" and yields enough rice for one person. Say what you want about this woman, but she certainly knows how to indulge. And on days like today, I find it almost impossible to come up with reasons not to support her.

But today, in an attempt to expand my horizons, I decided to experiment a bit with my rice pudding so that I’d finally be able to participate in the Spice is Right event, which was originated by Barbara of Tigers & Strawberries with this round being hosted by exceptional Danielle of Habeus Brulee. The theme for this round is using a spice in a different way than you normally would. Well not only am I doing that, I’m using a spice I don’t normally use at all:  cardamom.

The idea of using cardamom struck me when I stared at my screen and began drooling over the Fried Cardamom Cookies made by Gattina. I know almost nothing about cardamom so I began doing some research and was surprised to discover that it’s actually part of the ginger family and that in some parts of the world, it’s revered for its medicinal properties. Like most spices, it’s best and most powerful in its unadulterated form. In this case that would be the actual cardamom pod, but I wasn’t about to hunt out cardamom pods. Instead, I visited my local gourmet shop and bought a small amount of the freshest ground cardamom.

The aroma was heady and almost pungent, but pleasing. I couldn’t imagine tossing a handful of this spice into any food (as I often do with cinnamon … seriously), but I could imagine sprinkling in just the tiniest bit.

So as my rice pudding bubbled away, flecked with vanilla bean and slurping up the hot milk I kept adding to it, I blessed it all with the tiniest pinch of cardamom.

Heaven! And all for me!

Ciao!

Rice Pudding For One (with Cardamom)

Adapted from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson.

• 2-1/2 cups milk (the original recipe calls for whole milk but you can make it with any type of milk except skim)
• 1/2 a vanilla pod, split down the middle (if you don’t have a vanilla pod, then use 2 tsp. vanilla extract)
• 3 tbsp. butter, divided
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 4 tbsp. arborio rice (or any rice used for risotto)
• an additional 2 tbsp. sugar or 2 tbsp. vanilla sugar if you have any on hand
• 1/8 tsp. cardamom (optional, you can also add more if you like)

1. In a pan, heat the milk. As the milk heats, scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add to the warming milk. If not using the vanilla pod, then add the 2 tsp. of vanilla extract to the warming milk and stir.
2. Just as the milk comes to the boil, turn off the heat.
3. In a large, wide saucepan, melt 2 tbsp. of the butter with 1 tbsp. of sugar. As soon as the butter is melted and bubbling, add the rice and stir for 1 minute.
4. Begin adding the milk to the rice, one ladle full at a time. Cook over medium-low heat, being careful not to scorch the rice. Stir constantly.
5. As the milk is absorbed, add another ladle full of milk and continue cooking the rice.
6. After about 20 minutes, taste the rice. If it’s plump and soft, then you know it’s cooked. If not, continue adding milk and cooking until the rice is done. If you need more milk, warm up some more.
7. Once the rice is cooked and the milk has been absorbed, take the rice pudding off the heat and add the remaining tablespoon of butter, either 2 tbsp. of sugar or vanilla sugar and the cardamom if using. Mix well to combine everything.
8. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  rice, rice pudding, dishes of comfort, spice is right

After the success that I had with Dorie’s Buttery Jam Cookies, I decided that I would try one more recipe from her cookbook, Baking:  From My Home to Yours, for the Cookbook Spotlight that I was invited to participate in by Sara of I Like to Cook.

Instead of randomly choosing a recipe, I decided to make something that I was craving. So this past Sunday, I looked out the window at the chilly fall weather and thought one thing:  apples. I didn’t particularly care what form they came in, but I wanted hot, cinnamony apples to comfort me.

I checked the cookbook index and was immediately drawn to to the recipe for Flaky Apple Turnovers. While I love apple pie, I’ve always been slightly resentful of having to share. After all, a pie is meant to be shared. But why should I share my delicious apples wrapped in buttery, golden crust. Is it wrong to want them all to myself?

This is why I think that the inventor of the turnover deserves our never ending gratitude. Instead of having to split it eight or ten ways, like a pie, you get your very own little pie. All for yourself.

Or in this case … myself.

The dough for the turnovers was a snap to make. And interestingly, the dough called for sour cream which added a slight tangy flavour, but also made the crust super flaky. While the recipe called for Granny Smith or Fuji apples, I used a combination of Granny Smith and Cortland apples because that’s what I had on hand. I put the filling together in minutes and before I knew it, I was rolling out the lovely dough and cutting circles out to make my turnovers.

I cannot even describe how wonderful the house smelled while these little babies were baking. It was like the union of butter and sugar and cinnamon all rolled into one incredible aroma. While the recipe recommend baking the turnovers for 20 minutes, I baked them for 25 to develop a really golden crust. They were plump and gorgeous when they came out of the oven!

I will confess that I ate most of them.

But I did save a few. While I’m not given to sharing my pies, especially apple pies, I did save a few turnovers for my sweet friend Lisa of La Mia Cucina who celebrates her birthday today (Happy Birthday!!!). Lisa, you better hurry over. The turnovers are calling my name and I don’t know how much longer I can hold out!

Ciao!

Flaky Apple Turnovers

Adapted from Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

For the turnover dough:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into tiny pieces

1. In a bowl, combine the sour cream and sugar and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour and salt.
3. Add the butter pieces and with a pastry cutter or your finger tips, mix in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse oatmeal and has a crumbly texture.
4. Add the sour cream/sugar mixture and gently mix together with a fork or your hands.
5. You want the dough to come together into a ball. If the mixture is still a bit too dry, add a bit of cold water to help bring it together. Be careful not to overmix or overwork the dough.
6. Once you can gather it into a ball, divide the ball in half, flatten each half into a disk and refrigerate (wrapped in plastic) for about an hour.
7. When you’re ready to make the turnovers, remove one-half of the dough and roll it into a rectangle shape that is roughly 9 inches by 18 inches. You’ll need to flour your work surface well as you roll out the dough. Once you’ve rolled it to 9 by 19, fold the dough in thirds (like a letter) and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. Follow the same procedure for the other half of dough.

For the filling:

• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• a pinch of nutmeg
• 4 medium-sized apples of your choice, peeled, cored and cut into small pieces
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
• 1 egg, beaten with a bit of water for the egg wash
• granulated sugar for dusting

1. Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Add the apples and mix well to ensure the apples are completely coated.

To assemble the turnovers:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and be sure to have a rack in the top third of the oven and a rack in the lower third of the oven. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Roll out one piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch. With a cutter that is about 4 to 4-1/2 inches in width, cut out circles. You will probably get between 6 and 8 circles from the dough you have rolled out. You can reroll the scraps to cut out more circles. In total, from both pieces of dough, you shouldn’t have more than 16 circles or you may not have enough filling.
3. Once you’ve rolled out both pieces of dough and cut out your circles, take one circle and put a tablespoon or two of apple filling in the centre. Dot with a few pieces of butter. Wet the edges of the dough with a bit of water and then fold one half over to meet the other half. Seal with your fingers and then use the tines of a fork along the edges of the dough to further seal the turnovers. Poke a few holes in the turnover to allow the steam to release. Lay the turnover on the cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough and apple filling.
4. Once your turnovers are complete, brush each one with egg wash and sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar.
5. Bake the turnovers for 20 minutes, rotating the trays from front to back and top to bottom half way through.
6. If you can resist, let the turnovers cool slightly on a wire rack (for about 5 or 10 minutes) before eating them.
7. Enjoy!

Note:  Depending on the thickness of the dough and the size of your cutter, you could get anywhere from 12 to 16 turnovers. If you don’t want to bake them all, you can freeze the turnovers once you’ve assembled them and before baking them. Then you can just pull them out of the freezer whenever you want to bake them. You can bake them frozen, just be sure to bake them for a bit longer.

Technorati tags:  apples, turnovers, dorie greenspan, cookbook spotlight

For every season, I’m sure we all have certain dishes that we like to make. I can’t imagine not making roast asparagus in the Spring or panzanella in the Summer, for example. The Fall has a long list of recipes that I enjoy trying, but the one that I make over and over is a recipe for a sweet snack that is impossible to resist:  Vanilla-Orange Nuts.

Made with a variety of nuts including walnuts, almonds and macadamia nuts, Vanilla-Orange Nuts are a type of sugared nut based on a recipe from the fantastic Party Nuts! by Sally Sampson. They are fragrant with vanilla and orange and are spiced by a touch of cinnamon. They’re perfect with a glass of wine or even a mug of hot chocolate. And it’s impossible to eat only one.

Impossible I tell you!

So when Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Sensual Gourmet agreed to host CBBP #2, I knew immediately that I would be blogging about this favourite Fall recipe. Because these nuts travel well, there’s a blogger out there, somewhere in Canada, that will soon be receiving a little package with these nuts in them, among other things.

If you’re a blogger in Canada, and you’d like to take part, please contact Jasmine as there’s still time to participate.

As for me, I’m just sitting here waiting for sweet Jasmine to tell me who my blogging partner is for CBBP #2. Hurry, Jasmine! Before I eat all the nuts!

Ciao!

Vanilla-Orange Nuts

Adapted from Party Nuts! by Sally Sampson.

• 4-1/2 cups, assorted unsalted nuts (I use walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews and macadamia nuts)
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 5 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla sugar (if you don’t have vanilla sugar, then just use 6 tbsp. regular sugar)
• 1-1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
• a few drops of orange oil (optional)
• 3/4 tbsp. vanilla powder (if you can’t find vanilla powder, then use 2 tbsp. vanilla extract)
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp. finely grated orange zest

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the nuts and the butter and mix until the nuts are all coated with butter.
3. Add the sugar, vanilla extract and orange oil (if using). Toss well to ensure that all the nuts are coated with sugar.
4. Spread the nuts on the parchment paper-lined tray and make sure they’re in an even layer.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, tossing the nuts every 7 or 8 minutes.
6. While the nuts are baking, in a small bowl, combine the vanilla powder, the cinnamon and salt. Mix well and set aside.
7. As soon as the nuts are done, remove them from the oven and sprinkle on the vanilla powder/cinnamon/salt mixture, as well as the orange zest. Mix well.
8. Let the nuts cool completely. Store in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to a week. But trust me … they won’t last that long.
9. Enjoy!

Note:  The original recipe from Sampson’s book is called "Lauren’s Vanilla Walnuts." I like to use an assortment of nuts but you can only use walnuts if you like. The original recipe also calls for nutmeg (about 1 tsp.) and freshly ground black pepper (about 1/2 tsp.).

Technorati tags:  nuts, vanilla, cbbp, canadian blogging by post

As much as I love Christmas, Thanksgiving is the holiday I look forward to most.

For me, Thanksgiving Day is like a perfect photograph … crisp colours, happy faces and clarity.

I love that the sun always shines and that the air is cool on Thanksgiving Day. I love the colours of the leaves and the harvest. I love the smell of the turkey and my mother’s chestnut stuffing. I love the feeling of sitting at the table, with my family, completely stress-free. No worries about presents, greeting cards, what to wear, eating too many cookies, packed shopping malls, traffic … no worries at all.

And I am so thankful. I am thankful for my family because they are beautiful and make me laugh.

I am thankful for my friends who are always there for me, no matter what.

I am thankful for the food on my table.

I am thankful for the place that I live in and the memories that it holds.

I am thankful for this blog, and for you, and for the difference it has all made.

I am thankful for this life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Butter Tarts

This is perhaps the quintessential "Canadian" sweet. My version is based on recipes that I’ve gotten from friends and acquaintances and also a cookbook by Wanda Beaver called Wanda’s Pie in the Sky.

For the pastry:

Use your favourite recipe for butter crust. I always use the recipe from The Joy of Cooking which never fails. If you don’t have a favourite butter crust recipe, try this one from www.epicurious.com.

Once you prepare your pastry, roll it out to about 1/4-inch thick and then cut it into 4-inch circles to fit a standard-sized muffin pan. The dough may bunch up a bit as you fit into the muffin pan but this is part of the charm of the butter tarts.

Refrigerate the dough while you prepare the filling.

For the filling:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1-1/4 cups light brown sugar
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 2 tsp. vinegar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• walnut halves (24 to 36)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place a walnut half in each prepared pastry-lined muffin cup.
3. In a bowl, whisk together all the other ingredients.
4. Carefully pour the mixture into each muffin cup, being careful not to fill them more than three-quarters of the way to the top (if you fill them more than that they may overflow).
5. Put the muffin tin on a baking tray just in case there are spills.
6. Bake the tarts in the centre of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Keep an eye on them to ensure that the crusts don’t burn. The crusts should be golden and the filling should be just set.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
8. Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe will  yield enough filling for 24 butter tarts. If you make a butter crust recipe that yields two 9-inch pie shells, then you should have enough dough to fill the 24 muffin tins. If not, make two batches of the butter crust.

I sometimes add raisins to my butter tarts. If you want to add raisins, soak about a 1/4 cup of raisins hot water and then divide among the muffin cups before you add the filling. You can also use cranberries or dried cherries for a special twist.

Technorati tags:  butter tarts, thanksgiving day

I will keep this post short and "sweet".

If I ever started my own religion, it would be based on the belief that in every life there should be some fried dough covered in sugar. This idea was brought into focus awhile ago when I visited Orangette and read Molly’s post about fritters. So true!

Deciding to act on my sweet awakening, I made Cinnamon Sugar Beignets from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs. This recipe is a dream. You mix the dough at night. Go to bed. Wake up and fry yourself some beignets. Roll them in cinnamon sugar and experience bliss.

I say let there be fried dough!

Ciao!

Cinnamon Sugar Beignets

Adapted from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs.

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons fresh yeast (1 tablespoon dry yeast)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• vegetable oil

1. In a large bowl combine the water, yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Mix and set aside for 10 minutes to allow the yeast to get going.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, the remaining sugar and the cinnamon. Add the eggs and yolk and beat well with a wooden spoon. Mix in the yeast mixture, the salt and the flour.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or with a dish cloth and keep in a warm place for about two hours, or until the dough has doubled in size. Punch down the dough and then put in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.
4. When you’re ready to make the doughnuts, heat vegetable oil in a pot. The vegetable oil should come at least 3 or 4 inches up the side of the pot but should be filled no more than 4 inches from the top. Use a thermometer to determine when the oil is ready. Heat to 325 degrees F.
5. As the oil heats, take the risen dough out of the refrigerator and pat it into a rectangle that’s roughly 1-inch thick. You may need to flour your board and hands well as the dough can be sticky.
6. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, dipped in flour, cut out circles. Reroll the scraps and cut out more circles. In total you should get between 12 and 16 beignets.
7. Drop the beignets into the oil 4 at a time. Fry for 3 to 5 minutes or until they are golden. Drain on paper towels. As soon as you can handle them roll them in cinnamon sugar.
8. Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe will yield 12 to 16 beignets depending on the size of your cookie cutter. When working with the dough it may be sticky so have flour at your side. If you can’t find fresh yeast, substitute dry yeast. The ration for substitution is 2:1. So 2 tablespoons of fresh yeast is substituted with 1 tablespoon dry yeast.

Technorati tags:  beignets, cinnamon sugar, mildred pierce

Now that I’ve been a food blogger for almost two months, I felt it was time to venture forth and participate in a blogging event. After reading about the first Weekend Cookbook Challenge hosted by Sara of i like to cook and Alicat of Something So Clever, I knew that this was the perfect way to ease into the world of blogging events. And the subject was comfort food … my very favourite!

Cookbooks were consulted, websites were viewed and groceries were purchased. I knew exactly what I was going to make:  Coq au Vin. But then something happened.

I ate a bad doughnut. Not just a bad doughnut, a very bad doughnut!

Let me explain. I was on my way home from buying the groceries to make my Coq au Vin, when I decided to stop at the local doughnut establishment for a coffee and doughnut. The doughnut was so awful, I threw it out. It tasted about thirty days old and there were little black things in it that were apparently supposed to be raisins, but they certainly did not resemble anything that I would ever describe as being even remotely related to a raisin!

I was so disappointed.

What happened to the lovely doughnuts of my youth? You know the ones I’m talking about. The doughnuts that were light as a feather and never tasted of rancid oil. Doughnuts that were stuffed with REAL fillings like homemade jam and lemon curd. Doughnuts that were rolled gently in cinnamon sugar and didn’t all look the same.

What happened to the people that made these doughnuts? Those happy, smiling people who were patient and took their time in order to make the treats that they’d been making for years, that their ancestors had been making, often in lands very distant from the streets of Toronto.

Wherever these people are, they’re not in my Toronto anymore. Instead, my Toronto is being force fed stale, ugly doughnuts that all taste as though they were incubated in some laboratory somewhere where the food police make sure that every single doughnut is the same size, shape and colour. Blech!

Well I was having none of it! Once home, I marched over to The Overburdened Bookshelf and took down a book that I bought several years ago, but had never used (until now):  The Donut Book by Sally Levitt Steinberg.

Incredibly well-researched, Ms. Steinberg’s book recounts the history of the doughnut in America. And along with the history, her book offers a look at the folklore surrounding the venerable doughnut, as well as many recipes.

As I flipped through the book, I saw recipes for Cinnamon Sugar Donuts, Banana Donuts and Pennsylvania Dutch Donuts. Each one of these made me think of those incredible treats I enjoyed when I was younger. As comforting as Coq au Vin is, I decided I would make doughnuts for the Weekend Cookbook Challenge, if only to remind myself that there is still such a thing as a great doughnut!

After looking through The Donut Book several times, I decided to try my hand at a recipe for beignets. I based my recipe on one from the book called Hoppin’ John Martin Taylor’s Beignets. Now I have no idea who Hoppin’ John Martin Taylor is, but his recipe for beignets looked pretty good to me. But as I often do, I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my own tastes.

While the ingredients for the recipe were straightforward, yeast, water, sugar, butter, heavy cream, egg and flour, I decided to spice things up a bit by adding pure vanilla powder and the merest hint of nutmeg. The recipe was easy to follow, except for one step. When adding the flour to the cream and yeast mixture, the recipe indicated that I should add two cups of flour, stir well, add a third cup of flour, stir well and then slowly add the final cup of flour, only adding as much flour as needed to form a cohesive dough.

I found that I could have easily stopped adding flour after the second cup. At that point I already had a cohesive dough, but concerned that I didn’t have enough flour in the dough, I went ahead and added the third. This resulted in way too much flour. I was forced to add some water to help bind the dough. While it turned out well in the end, I think my dough was probably a bit harder than it should have been. Undeterred, I continued with heating the oil and frying the beignets. In the end I was rewarded with a lovely heap of icing sugar-dusted treats …

Overall, I’m glad that I decided to make beignets for Weekend Cookbook Challenge #2. I got to try something that I’d never made before, and believe me, the results were more than comforting! It even erased the memory of that awful doughnut.

And just to prove that the Food Gods do exist, I decided to visit one of my favourite blogs, Hungry in Hogtown maintained by the very talented Rob, and wouldn’t you know he and his wife had made Coq au Vin for the Weekend Cookbook Challenge. I invite you to visit Rob’s blog and enjoy the food!

Life is good!

Ciao!

Beignets

Adapted from the recipe for "Hoppin’ John Martin Taylor’s Beignets" in The Donut Book by Sally Levitt Steinberg.

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees F if you’re using a thermometer)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)
• 1 large egg
• 2 to 3 cups of all-purpose flour (the original recipe called for 4 cups but I highly doubt you’d need that much)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla powder (or pure vanilla extract)
• 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg (or try cinnamon!)
• peanut oil for frying (you will need a candy/oil thermometer to regulate the temperature of the oil)

1. Line a cookie tray with paper towels and place a wire rack on top of the towels. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, stir together the yeast and warm water. Let proof for about 10 minutes. The mixture should look creamy and slightly foamy after the 10 minutes have passed.
3. In a small pan, combine the cream, butter and sugar. Heat gently until the butter is melted. Let the mixture cool a bit, and then stir in the egg and mix well (don’t add the egg immediately after the butter is melted as the heat of the mixture might cook the egg). If you’re using vanilla extract instead of vanilla powder, add the extract to the egg and cream mixture.
4. Stir the yeast mixture into the egg and cream mixture. Mix well.
5. In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cups of flour, the vanilla powder (if you’re using it) and the nutmeg or cinnamon. Add the yeast/cream mixture and stir with a wooden spoon (this will require some elbow grease). As the mixture comes together, if you see you have a cohesive dough, then only add as much flour as you need to ensure that the dough is not sticky. While I added 3 cups of flour, I would have been fine with 2-1/2 cups.
6. Once the dough has come together into a ball and is not sticky, turn it onto a work surface.
7. Pour peanut oil into a large stockpot until it comes about 3 inches up the side of the pot.
8. Heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches 365 degrees F.
9. While the oil is heating, flour a rolling pin and roll your dough out into a square of roughly 16 inches (the dough should be about a 1/4-inch thick).
10. Divide the dough into 16 squares.
11. Once the oil is ready, drop 3 or 4 of the squares into the dough at one time. The squares will sink to the bottom but rise to the top very quickly. Once they rise to the top, flip them and let them fry for 2 or 3 more minutes. Be careful not to burn the beignets.
12. Remove the beignets and place on the wire rack. Continue frying until all the squares are done.
13. Once the beignets are all cooked, dust heavily with icing sugar.
14. Enjoy as they are best served warm!

A recent post entitled "Back from the depths and a Xmas present …" on one of my favourite blogs, Jam Faced, made me stop and smile.  I could definitely relate.

While I had a pleasant enough Christmas holiday, I was brought momentarily down by some sort of stomach ailment or flu.  To those family members that continue to insist that my malaise was caused by excessive consumption of rich holiday food, I say nonsense! It was the stomach flu. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Nevertheless, the fact that I spent almost four days lying down and watching old episodes of "Matlock" and "Hawaii Five-O" meant that a lot of the Christmas cooking and baking I’d planned to do went out the window.

Nothing brought this fact home more so than my discovery of an unopened container of mascarpone lost in the wilds of my refrigerator.  I found it cowering behind containers of menacing leftovers that were in such an advanced state of decay that only Gil Grissom and the CSI team would find them interesting!

What to do with this found treasure? Normally I would whip up a tiramisu but to be honest, I’m all "tiramisued" out. I know that’s shocking, but trust me, tiramisu has become one of the most popular desserts for Italians at the holidays. I must have been served at least four different tiramisus this past December alone. Enough is enough … even for this mascarpone lover!

But that still left me with my dilemma. And then it hit me. I recalled reading an issue of Saveur magazine that had a wonderful article entitled "Drawing out the Flavor" by Marcella Hazan. I was so impressed by the piece that I actually went out and bought Hazan’s Marcella says….

The article (and the book) was a joy to read. I’d never been exposed to Hazan before. I knew who she was of course, but I’d never "heard" her voice as I did when I read that article. Her wisdom and and respect for the pure, unadulterated foods of her country were so compelling.

What intrigued me most was a mention in the magazine of a snack that Hazan would often enjoy as a child for merenda (mid-afternoon snack):  dates stuffed with mascarpone.

At first this combination seemed so odd. Dates stuffed with mascarpone?! But as I thought about it, I came to realize that it was a match made in heaven.  The dense creaminess of the mascarpone coupled with the sticky sweetness of the date would have to be incredible together.  Topped off with a lovely walnut half, it was pure delight.

Once this memory of food discovery came to me, I knew I had to run out and pick up some dates (the fruit that is).  As luck would have it, I attended a small gathering at my cousin’s house this evening. It was the perfect opportunity to share these delectable treats.

So here is proof positive of three things: 1) you just never know what’s hiding at the back of your refrigerator; 2) the discovery of new flavour combinations is always a joyous moment for the taste buds; and 3) mascarpone rules!

Ciao!

Datteri Freschi Farciti di Mascarpone (Fresh Dates Stuffed with Mascarpone)

from Marcella says… by Marcella Hazan.

12 fresh dates, pitted or unpitted

3 tablespoons mascarpone

1. Split open each date lengthwise on just one side, leaving the other hinged. If the dates have pits, use the tip of a paring knife to pry them out.
2. Stuff each date with a tiny scoop of mascarpone, about the size of a grape, then partially close the date over the cheese. Stuff the remaining dates in the same manner. Place the stuffed dates on a rimmed serving plate and refrigerate until you are ready to serve them.

Note:  As an added treat, place a walnut half in each date after you’ve filled them with mascarpone.