Archive for December, 2008
I can’t honestly believe I just typed Day 365! Of course, thanks to leap year I still have day 366 tomorrow… I suspect tomorrow night I will be in tears and Mike will be doing a little happy jig. Or I’ll be curled up on the floor with an empty bottle of Prosecco. Except that I can’t do that, because I have to come home and write my blog post.
(As I may have mentioned, I’m not really going anywhere. Except maybe straight to bed with a book or movie on New Years’ Day night. Mike insists I take a few days off, at least. I have agonized over what to do come January 1, not wanting to lose that “real-time” appeal… I’ll decide for sure by tomorrow. I think.)
Dinner tonight was just leftover beef on a bun, carrots and spaghetti (after a months-long spaghetti famine) for W - breakfast was far more interesting. See, I need to start a breakfast blog. Mike would be thrilled.
I woke up early in a panic that I had remembered wrong and was supposed to be at CBC this morning (they did the show from Edmonton today), and couldn’t get back to sleep, so when W woke up we shared a comfy chair and ate pancakes in our PJs. Of course I could have easily stayed out of the kitchen and survived on Harvest Crunch (my choice for Christmas morning breakfast – it reminds me of staying at my Grandma’s house – she used to have us cut it with Special K because it’s so high in fat and sugar) but bread pudding pancakes have been on my to-make list for quite awhile. Plus, I am going to have to give up things like bread pudding pancakes for breakfast very soon if I want my pants to fit again. (Living in XL flannel PJs for extended periods gives one the false sense that they are not in fact wrapping themselves in a thick layer of insulating Christmas blubber.)
These are thick pancakes, with the texture of bread pudding. I want to try them with day-old cinnamon buns from IKEA. You will need to keep the heat low and perhaps even lid the pan as they cook – a too-hot pan will make them burn on the outside before they cook through to the middle. If you have bottomless pits of children, these just might fill them up. They are substantial.
You might want to top them with caramelized bananas – an easy rule of thumb is one banana to one tablespoon each of butter and sugar (white or brown) – cook them up in a skillet until they are starting to brown, but aren’t yet mush. Not that mushy bananas aren’t tasty too.
Bread Pudding Pancakes
You’ll want sturdy and/or stale bread for these – fresh sandwich bread will disintegrate with the soaking and stirring, and you’ll end up with thick, doughy pancakes that don’t much resemble bread pudding. I imagine raisin bread or leftover cinnamon buns would be pretty heroic too. Leave any crusts on.
3 thick slices of crusty bread or more of sandwich bread, torn into chunks (you’ll need about 4 cups -I mixed the lot up in one of those big Pyrex measuring cup bowls, which made it easy)
cinnamon (optional)
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
3 Tbsp. melted butter or canola oil
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
In a large bowl, toss bread chunks with cinnamon and pour milk and vanilla overtop. Let stand, stirring once or twice, for about 15 minutes, until the bread has absorbed much of the milk.
In a small dish, stir together the eggs and butter or oil and stir into the bread mixture. Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and add to the wet ingredients; stir just until combined.
Preheat a heavy skillet and spray with nonstick spray or drizzle with oil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Drop about 1/4 of batter at a time onto the skillet, spreading it out a little with a spatula if it’s too thick to do it itself. Cover with a lid and cook for a few minutes, until the bottom is golden and the pancake starts to look dry and bubbly around the edges. Flip, cover and cook until the other side is golden and the pancakes are cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter, keeping pancakes warm in a 250°F oven if you need to.
Serve warm, with sauteed bananas and/or maple syrup. Makes about 6 pancakes.
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December 30 2008 | bread and breakfast | 29 Comments »
Stay with me here – I realize the photo is not going to sell you on this one. It is the result of artificial light, a camera about to die, and lamb sausages braised in red wine until they resembled, well, I don’t want to disgust you further. I had read a traditional recipe for Saucisses aux Lentilles du Puy (Sausages with French Green Lentils) in my winter issue of Saveur, and thought it might translate well to lamb sausage and red wine. Aesthetics aside, it was quite delicious. Next time I might add garlic to the pot, or simmer the lentils in stock in place of the water. Or lacking wine (which, to be honest, I couldn’t much taste), brown the sausages and then tuck them into the simmering lentils to finish cooking.
Wine-Braised Lamb Sausages with Lentils
2-4 slices bacon, chopped
1 Tbsp. butter or oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
12 oz. dry green, green Puy or brown lentils (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 bay leaves
a few sprigs of fresh thyme (or a bit of crumbled dried thyme)
4-8 sausages – I used lamb, but try Italian or any other kind you like
canola or olive oil
1 cup red or white wine
In a large saucepan or skillet, cook the bacon until it renders most of its fat; add the butter, onion, celery and carrot and cook for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add the lentils, bay leaves, thyme and 5 1/2 cups of water; bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for about an hour.
After an hour, heat another skillet and brown the sausages in a drizzle of oil; add the wine and a cup of water, cover and cook for 10 minutes, flipping once or twice. Tuck the sausages down into the lentils and cook for a few more minutes, drizzling any wine left in the pan over the lentils. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot. Serves 4-8.
For Christmas gift-giving purposes within my family this year the grown-ups drew names to buy for the kids (7 of each) and we agreed to only give homemade gifts between families. Not surprisingly, everything that exchanged hands was edible. (Save for my sister’s ingenious idea to have her kids read stories on CD for the littler ones.)
My youngest sister (both their names begin with A, so I’ll forgo that descriptive) makes fantastic chocolate chip cookies, of the thin, chewy, buttery sort. Her gift bag included a Ziploc baggie of frozen dough scoops (she also has one of those wee ice cream scoops that make perfect cookies) that we could just place on a cookie sheet and put in the oven to bake right from frozen. I baked a dozen, since I have friends coming by tomorrow. Deep down I knew there would be none left. I’d like to say Mike ate most of them; he didn’t.
I asked for the recipe and it’s a Martha. The butter-sugar-flour ratio explains it: MORE butter than flour! (Shortbread is generally 1 part butter to 2 parts flour. Toll House cookies and the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the Chipits bag are 1 cup butter to 2 1/4-2 1/2 cups flour. These are 4 cups butter to 3 1/2 cups flour.) They have more sugar than flour too – I kind of wish I hadn’t seen this formula. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.
Lexi’s Favorite Chocolate-Chip Cookies
From Martha Stewart Living
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugars, and beat until combined and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well blended.
Add flour mixture, and beat on low speed until combined. Add the chocolate chips, and mix until combined.
Drop 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter at a time onto baking sheets, about 2 to 3 inches apart. I usually fit 6 cookies per sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove the cookies and the parchment paper from the baking sheets, and let cool on a rack. Makes thirty 4-inch cookies.
From A: *I usually make extra dough and freeze balls of it on a cookie sheet, then transfer them to a zipoc baggie. I cook them from frozen for a few extra minutes, or eat the dough as-is…
December 29 2008 | cookies & squares and lamb | 11 Comments »
I was determined to make this cake before the holiday season was completely over, having asked for the recipe and bought coconut and pineapple and all, and this morning’s snow inspired me to – big, clumpy flakes that fell out of the sky until noon when they gave way to blowing sparkles that you could see but barely feel on our walk down to the river at Sandy (in this case, snowy) Beaches.
We had a dinner and games night planned at my Mom’s, so I had somewhere to bring the surplus. And I had been pondering the idea of fondue on New Year’s Eve (also technically this blog’s year-long wrap-up) and it occurred to me that this sturdy cake would be ideal for a chocolate fondue, for which I might otherwise make pound cake (anything firm and dense is easy to cut into cubes and won’t fall apart in the chocolate) and thin, small biscotti. In fact, a dense light fruitcake sliced thinly, spread out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and baked until golden would make mighty fine, light and crispy biscotti-esque cookies.
So then I thought of caramel fondue, which is divine served with white cheese popcorn for dipping. No, wait – maple caramel fondue. Or sticky toffee fondue. Or both!
Obviously I don’t have a month to wrap and store it, but it was fantastic all the same. This is R’s recipe as she sent it, but I opted for other dried fruits in place of the candied cherries, which I just find a little blech. (Not to mention all that food colouring. And how do they get the cherries bright green anyway? Green plus red does not make green…) I’m not a huge fan of things flavoured with almond extract, but this worked. I’m thinking that maybe next time coconut extract would be just the thing with all that coconut. If you are a ginger fan, this would make a great vehicle for chunks of candied ginger.
You will need a very big bowl. There is barely enough batter to hold the fruit and nuts together (yum). Bake the batter in two 9″x5″ loaf pans. I’ll also add imperial measurements beside the weights, for those of you who don’t own a kitchen scale.
Light Coconut Christmas Cake
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups crushed pineapple (not drained)
2 lbs sultana raisins (about 7 cups)
1 lb shredded coconut (about 4 cups)
1/2 lb citron peel (I used a small container - 250 g – but you could use a larger one)
1/2 lb halved candied cherries (about 2 cups – I used some cherries, some cranberries, some chopped dried apricots, a few dates)
1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup brandy or fruit juice (you could just use more of the juice from the pineapple)
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and flavorings. Sift 1 1/2 cups of the flour and baking powder. Combine the fruit and nuts with the remainder of the flour (1 cup). Add the pineapple and brandy alternately with the flour and baking powder. Stir in the fruit and nut mixture. Bake in 2 loaf pans at 275 degrees for about 3 hours with a pan of water in the oven. Wrap in brandy soaked cheesecloth for a month in a cool place.
Makes 2 fruitcakes.
Dinner itself was the slow-roast beef my mom likes to make for occasions such as these – start with an 8-12 pound boneless rolled roast of beef – eye of round is what she usually uses – and preheat the oven to 450F. Put your roast in the oven (in a pan, obviously) and immediately turn the oven down to its lowest setting and leave it for 8 hours. This works well overnight or all day – make sure you don’t open the oven door to take a peek. After 8 hours, turn the oven up to 350F for about 20 minutes to heat it through, then shred with two forks and season with barbecue sauce and serve on soft buns. (Alternatively, you could brown the beef in a frying pan and then cook it on low in your slow cooker all day.)
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December 28 2008 | beef and cake | 11 Comments »
I had a bit of a scare this morning. I woke up, or rather got pushed out of bed by two three-year-old feet and licked awake by the dog, and went to get an espresso and check my blog (as always Saturday mornings are a bit like Christmas on account of the surge of comments I get for FSF), and it was GONE. This blog. Nothing there. No connection, through the www. or WordPress. For hours. P.A.N.I.C. I called tech support and they said the system was being upgraded but I didn’t quite buy it, and fretted through a three hour long panic attack which included a lot of reprimanding myself for not backing this thing up, only because I never got around to figuring out how.
I have now. Phew. The thing popped back online at around noon. There is a moral to this story: BACK STUFF UP. Just in case.
I’m sorry that some of these recipes come along a little too late, after the occasion that might call for them, as is the case with this cranberry ketchup. Maybe you’ll hang on to the recipe for next year. Or maybe, like me, you like cranberry condiments at other times of the year too. This is like regular cranberry sauce but a little more savoury – made with onions and vinegar as well as sugar and spices – and pureed to a ketchupy consistency. My mom hates it, but I love it. Some rooting around the freezer unearthed a container, so I got to have my turkey sandwich after all. (The turkey seemed a little on the dry side, so I mayoed it up a bit and added some chopped green onion and celery.)
Cranberry Ketchup
1 medium red onion, chopped
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
1 cup water or apple or orange juice
1 bag fresh or frozen cranberries
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 cinnamon sticks, or 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
A good grinding of black pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a largish pot set over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture boils, the onions become soft and the cranberries pop; about 20-25 minutes.
Let it cool a bit and then transfer to a food processor or run through a food mill until smooth. If it seems too thick, add a little extra water or juice. If you like, press it through a sieve (this is a good idea if you want to keep it in a squeeze bottle) to get rid of all the solids.
Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal according to the package directions, or let it cool and transfer to plastic containers to store in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to 4 months. Makes 2 1/2-3 cups.
Also, I decided that for all my raving about real hot chocolate this season I have yet to offer up a recipe. (Although pouring warm milk over chopped chocolate will do the trick, provided you can whiz it smooth, which can be a little tricky and is made infinitely easier with one of those little hand-held milk frother things. But please, if you have kids around, don’t let them play with them, particularly in close vicinity to long hair.)
I have heard drinking chocolate called all sorts of things, but I think “bisque” captures its essence best.
Hot Chocolate Bisque
3 cups 2% or whole milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (Lindt 70% cocoa or Bernard Callebaut – you can get nibs or flakes from Bernard Callebaut that work great)
In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, water and sugar over medium heat. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Let it sit for a few seconds, then blend it with a hand-held immersion blender. Or for individual cups, divide the chocolate among the cups and pour the warm milk overtop. Whiz with one of those little frothers to make it very smooth and foamy.
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December 27 2008 | beverages and leftovers and preserves | 4 Comments »
It turns out it’s a leap year. I thought for a minute I had miscounted, having reached day 360 (!) with a week left until New Year’s Eve. I don’t know how I didn’t notice this in February, but we have an extra day this year, so 366 it is. (Of course I won’t be stopping entirely. I can’t say for sure whether I’ll continue writing every single night, if I do Mike might move out of the house or at least into another bedroom, but I will keep this going. I have 4 more days to work out the logistics! Have I told you DwJ will be in the National Post? On January 3rd! A little ironic that it will run 2 days after this project was supposed to end…)
I think I love Boxing Day even more than Christmas Day. We did a whole lot of sitting around, playing with W’s marble games and puzzles and hockey with his new net set in the hallway, chipping away at the Boxing Day crossword (Mike was the hero of the day when he came up with haberdasheries – a 14 letter word for men’s clothing stores – finally all those years of watching This is Spinal Tap was put to good use) and grazing on Cheezies (the real ones) and stocking chocolate. We did escape to the hill to try out W’s new red sled and needed warming up when we got home, but having already plowed through the Hershey’s kisses in my pocket and half a Toblerone, the thought of hot chocolate shockingly did not appeal. So we simmered up some hot spiced lemonade, which did the trick without being too reminiscent of the mulled cider we’ve had on and off the stove all week.
Hot Spiced Ginger Lemonade
Try this with orange juice instead of lemonade, or a combination of the two. To make a simple lemonade syrup, combine equal parts lemonade and sugar in a saucepan; bring to a simmer to dissolve the sugar and cool. Add to water to taste; about two tablespoons of syrup per cup of cold or hot water.
2 L lemonade (preferably not pink)
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
5 whole allspice berries
a 2″ chunk of peeled fresh ginger, coarsely grated or sliced
In a large saucepan combine the lemonade, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger and bring to a simmer; cook for about 10 minutes. Strain into a glass pitcher, insulated carafe or Thermos and serve warm. Serves 8.
Then it started getting dark and it was apparent we’d need some sort of dinner. Normally a turkey sandwich or perhaps a skilleted turkey hash with plenty of crispy bits would have fit perfectly into our day, but all we had was a baggie of turkey – no gravy, no stuffing, and most importantly no cranberry sauce. So what’s really the point? So I turned the turkey into something that didn’t remind me of our two previous dinners at all – a pizza using a skiff of barbecue sauce instead of tomato, topped with a caramelized onion, shredded turkey, roasted red pepper and grated cheese. W thought it was weird, so he ate apples and cheese.
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December 26 2008 | beverages | 57 Comments »
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These are thick pancakes, with the texture of bread pudding. I want to try them with day-old cinnamon buns from IKEA. You will need to keep the heat low and perhaps even lid the pan as they cook – a too-hot pan will make them burn on the outside before they cook through to the middle. If you have bottomless pits of children, these just might fill them up. They are substantial.
