the satisfaction of new from old – food

I derive an epic amount of satisfaction from making something terribly tasty from leftovers. you’ll always need to invest a little more, but it’s so worth it. BAM masher soup. Also, there’s no photo, because it’s a truly ugly looking soup, not quite as bad as french canadian pea soup, but still. let’s just say it tastes miles better than it looks.

1 tbsp butter and a glurg of oil
1/3 of an onion diced fine
1 stick of celery also finey fine
1 or 2 mediumish carrots cut to thumbnail size
a few shakes each of garlic powder, poultry seasoning, thyme, cracked black pepper
1 round tsp of chicken bouillion
1 bay leaf
1/4 C white wine
any leftover gravy you may have
2 C mashed potatoes
1-3 potatoes (depending on their size) sliced into thin discs
water

. get a goodly sized pot on medium low heat. put the oils in and melt them together
. add the onion, carrot, celery and spices. when they start to get glossy, add the bay leaf, left over gravy and wine. cook off
. add the mash, boillion and water. stir, cover and simmer on low for twenty or so minutes
. add the sliced potatoes and continue to simmer until the slices are tender

butter up some bread or biscuits and tuck in
also, please, stray from the outline here and experiment. I don’t actually measure anything I cook (the baking, I do for obvious reasons) but prefer to go by my nose and tastebuds. throw in some diced tomato or spinach or peas. maybe substitute regular potatoes for sweet potatoes and add half water, half apple juice… just be creative and adventuresome. it won’t always turn out, but I think what you learn from making a bad dish will always outweigh the frustration of having to chuck your dinner and have peanut butter sandwiches instead.

amber sunshine oatmeal cookies – they’re soft

right off the bat, I’ll confess to not coming up with this recipe in anyway. not only that, I have also forgotten where I got it from. so, someone, somewhere, I’m sorry for ripping you off. I find this recipe is fairly versatile as far and the chunks-of-something you can add into them. I prefer diced apple or dried blueberries, but raisins or chocolate chips or nuts or cranberries and orange zest would probably be pretty nice as well.

spread out before you is:

1 1/4 c rolled oats
1 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp molasses
1  egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup dried blueberries (or some other fruit, nuts, etc. chopped [if necessary] into smallish pieces)

. set le oven to 350
. cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and molasses. add the egg and stir until it’s smooth
. combine all the dry ingredients except for your fruit addition
. dump the dry into the wet and add the fruit or nut selection. stir until all combined and there aren’t any dry bits of oaty flour
. form the dough into whatever sized cookies you like to eat. they won’t spread out much, so keep that in mind when it comes to the thickness you desire. or you could mash it all together on one sheet and bake as a giant cookie you can cut into bars or wedges

. bake for 16-20 minutes depending on how crispy or soft you want them. they should be golden on the edges and cooked through in the middle, but not hard

bacon, cheddar and caramelized onion scones of tender loving… or róny sconies for short

well friends, it’s time for baking to get savoury. yes? yes. ok, so today it’s the salty goodness of bacon; the tongue tucker of sharp cheddar; and the sweet yielding lilt of caramelized onions all nestled together in a flaky scone. it’s a collld blustery ought-to-be-spring day, but it’s clear and sunny and it smells nice… so logic dictates scones. plus, I had invited my mom over after work for tea and a snack.

out of the pantry will fly:

5 rashers of streaky bacon, cut into strips
1 medium onion sliced thin
2 C self rising flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
several cracks of black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika
1 full tsp dry mustard
1/3 C cold unsalted butter
1 1/2 C grated sharp cheddar (or applewood cheddar if you’re feeling smokey and in the autumn spirit)
2/3 C buttermilk plus a bit more for brushing the scones before they hit the heat

. crank yer oven to 425
. get a frying pan on medium high heat. fry the bacon until it’s crispy. drain it and set aside to cool
. turn the burner down to low. when the bacon fat has cooled a bit, add the onion and stir to coat in the grease. put a lid on it and let slowly sautee until golden brown and translucent. you’ll have to stir it a few times, and it should take 15 to 20 minutes to get it done rightly. it’s worth it. when they’re done, take off the heat and allow to cool

. while the onions are going you can mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl
. add the butter to the flour mix. use your hands, not a spoon, to squish the butter into the dry stuff until it becomes a fine sort of crumble. it will be quite dry, but fear not, milk will save the day

. add the bacon, cheese and onions. again, with your hands get in there and make sure everything gets covered with the dry mix. you want to avoid clumps of bacon or onion, so be thorough and tender, it’s baking remember?
. add the milk and start squershin’ around in the bowl again to get everything combined. the consistency should be quite stiff, but not falling apart. if you need to add more milk, only do so a tablespoonful at a time to avoid getting it too mushy. of course, the more you work it, the tougher and less flaky they’ll get… so beware.
. lay out the dough on a cutting board and shape into a rectangle or circle that’s at least an inch thick. cut into crescents, wedges, squares, whatever, and put them on a baking sheet. give them a brush with some milk so they get nice and golden. I like to sprinkle a bit more paprika on top and some pepper too
. fire them into the oven for 10-18 minutes, until they’re goldenish and cooked through

if you would prefer a more savoury scone, forget about the onion and chuck in a couple diced scallions instead. if sweet is your thing, try adding 1/3 cup of frozen corn niblets. and of course you can experiment with flavoured butters too… but that’s a whole other blogg…

best fudgey fucking brownies

yep. they’re so good they’re swear-worthy. these have taken (literally) years to get right, but now, I have them right and so can share them with you. as many baked things in my life, this is a variation of a recipe I got from my mom though I’ve tweaked it quite a bit. these are super dark, super dense and uber chocolatey. they hardly last one day around my place, and I think that’s a good enough reason for you to try them and see how long you can keep them to yourself.

surrounding your eager hands are:

½ C butter
5 squares unsweetened baker’s chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 ¼ C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp coffee (the dregs of a french press are just fine)
1 egg
2/3 C flour
1/3 C cocoa
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

. crank yon oven to 350. grease up your favourite brownie tin
. in a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the butter. stir to combine
. while the chocolate’s melting, mix the egg, vanilla, coffee, and sugar together in another bowl
. in yet another bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt until the cocoa lumps are gone
. once the chocolate butter mix is melted, slowly pour a little bit into the egg sugar mix and whisk as you do so to avoid the egg curdling. once you’ve got that tempered, dump all the chocolate mix in and stir until smooth
. next pour in the dry mix and mix until incorporated. pour into the greased tin of choice and fire into the oven for 30-35 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean.
. allow these to cool to room temperature before eating

these are lovely with a glass of milk, and mindblowingly coma-inducing at the bottom of a sundae…

worst bread ever bought – solution croutons

sadly, I recently bought the worst loaf of bread I’ve ever had the lack-of-luck to come across. it’s mealy and bitter; it doesn’t toast well; and even the great god of butter won’t make it palatable. so, not wanting to waste food or money, I’m attempting to remedy the sad loaf of ultimate sadness with the goodness of crouton dressups. regardless of how these turn out, here’s how to make goodly ones; lovely in salads or even just for snacking.

on the counter there is:

half a loaf of something old, stale, something like that… whole wheat or white, or both, it’s all good.
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 to 1/3 C vegetable oil (or olive oil if you’re feeling ritzy)

. crank the oven to 400
. cut up your leftover bread bits in shapes that are roughly all the same size so they bake evenly
. put everything but the bread in a bowl and stir to combine. you might as well do this with your hands ’cause you’re going to then mix the bread cubes in next. it’s best to do this with your hands to ensure an even coverage of the herby oil
. dump out this mix onto a baking tray in a level layer and so it’s not crowded. if you have to bake it in batches, that’s better than crowding them on and getting frumpy croutons
. bake for five minutes, take out and stir them, then bake for another 3-5 minutes until goldenish and toasty

for the record, in the time it’s taken me to write this, I’ve been snacking on these croutons and they did indeed save the sad bread. huzzah!

 

fall standby in what should be early spring: apple crisp

we should all know what to expect in an apple crisp… but for those sad few who don’t or have forgotten, it’s about tender baked apples, coated in a cinnamon, brown sugar glaze and topped with a crunchy oat crumble. warm or cold it makes getting up early for breakfast exciting, or sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to get an extra mouthful before your boyfriend does, quite a thrill.

you will need:
6 medium sized apples (I prefer granny smiths because they don’t turn to mush and aren’t too sweet)
1/4 brown sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flour
* optional – 1/4 C chopped walnuts and/or dried cranberries

. crank yer oven to 350
. peel and slice the apples into thin wedges
. toss the slices in the sugar, juice, cinnamon and flour (and the optional things iffin you desire)
. place in a baking pan, preferably ceramic or glass

then you’ll need:
1/3 C flour
1/3 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C oats
1/4 to 1/3 C cold butter, depends how you like it

. mix all of these things in a bowl with your hands. press the cold butter into the mix to make a crumble, but not a paste, i.e. don’t overwork it
. evenly distribute the crumble on the apple wedges
. bake for 45 minutes to an hour uncovered, or until crunchy on top and the apples are cooked through

Serve hot or cold, with whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream, or maybe even some cottage cheese, whatever you like really.

the ultimatest spaghetti sauce

this is pretty much my mom’s recipe for a red meat sauce. I’ve tweaked it to my tastes, as you should too. I find it’s best on whole wheat pasta, though it’s good on the regular stuff too. Serve it with a nice green salad and garlic bread (see recipe below) and lots of parmesan. It freezes well, so don’t be afraid to make a big batch.

on the ready:
2 tbsp butter
a couple glugs of vegetable oil
1 pack (I guess that’s somewhere near 1-1 1/2 lb.s) ground pork (or beef)
1 medium sized onion, diced fine
2-3 celery stalks, diced fine
6-8 mushrooms, chopped however you like
4 cloves of garlic, minced
cracked black pepper
1 tbsp beef paste (rather than salt)
2 jars of regular ragu
water
2 bay leaves
1 tin tomato paste
1 firm shiny eggplant, cut however you like (don’t omit this, even if you don’t like eggplant, cut it into big chunks so you can pick it out)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp each of italian seasoning, oregano, basil

. pick out your favourite big honkin’ pot and get him hot on low-medium heat. add the oil and butter
. when the butter has melted, add the onion, celery, mushrooms, garlic, pepper, and beef paste. get all this soft and glisteny, but don’t let it get brown

. when the veg is soft, add the pork. get it nice and browned off
. dump in the two jars of ragu. rinse them out with water you can then pour into the sauce mix so you don’t lose any flavour along the way. make sure to fill both jars to the top. depending on how thick or thin you like your sauce, you may need to add more water than the two jars full. keep in mind a good deal of water will evaporate through the next two hours of simmering
. add the bay leaves and turn the heat down to low. simmer uncovered for two hours, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot every 25 minutes or so

. add the tin of tomato paste, eggplant, sugar, and herbs. stir, and allow to simmer for another 40 minutes. you may want to add a bit more water to compensate for the thickening action of the tomato paste… your call, really.

and so, WHAM, best red meat sauce ever! and even better two days later! serve with super awesome garlic bread that’s simple and fast.

garlic bread is soooo tasty and super easy to make. get yourself some

1/3 C butter (don’t you dare use margarine)
small handful of freshly chopped parsley
6 cloves of garlic, minced
big ol’ loaf of french or italian bread

. mix the garlic, butter and parsley together in bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for at least an hour before using
. put a frying pan on almost medium heat and make sure it’s hot enough to instantly evaporate a drop of water
. carve the bread into 2 inch sliced rounds, and then cut those in half so you end up with a bunch of semicircles
. spread on the butter, but don’t go crazy with it because it’ll just melt off if you get it too thick
fry these little wedges of golden happiness in the pan, butter side down for just a couple minutes. until they’re a light golden brown. do take care not to burn them as it can happen easily with garlic

there you are; garlic bread that’s crispy, buttery, dippable, and fast!

coffee appreciation: kicking horse – grizzly claw

it’s exciting: getting the kettle filled and plugged in. opening up a fresh bag of coffee, those ever so slightly greasy beans looking up at you in all their reason-for-living-smelling-glory and then pouring them into the grinder and buzzing ’em up. removing the lid and taking a deep breath… it makes the morning (or in our case this afternoon) right and worthy.

while on our jaunt about town running errands and getting groceries, pony and I were confronted with the ever expensive selection of coffee. normally we try to get whatever’s the cheapest per lb. and still organic/free trade, usually ethical bean or kicking horse. both are great, but today we went with the kicking horse grizzly claw blend. now, I’m someone who searches for, and melts into slurs of ‘ohmygods’ over a cup/pot of coffee that resembles chocolate cake. grizzly claw = awesome cake of awesomeness. it’s deep and full, but I find the majority of its flavour is in the middle and end of a mouthful. the taste upon swallowing, is sweet in a dark, roasty, way, but not at all burnt tasting. it’s hardly acidic, and that’s a big ol’ plus in my books.
at the probable chance of losing some tasting credit from the coffee connoisseurs out there, I will happily admit to putting not only demerara sugar in my coffee, but whipping cream too! it’s breakfast that way. however you take it, all done up like me, or hot and black like róny, I highly recommend the grizzly claw.

this sunday, baking means chocolate chip cookies

oh yes, and how! without introduction (or much of one), chocolate chip cookies:

with the utmost enthusiam, establish the following:

½ C white sugar
½ C brown sugar (demerara, please, it really does make a difference, and that ‘golden’ crap just isn’t going to cut it)
1/3 C butter (unsalted)
1/3 C shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla (if you respect yourself, you’ll use real vanilla…)
1 ½ C flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1/2 pack semisweet chocolate chips

. preheat your oven to 375
. in a bowl, mash the butter and shortening together until combined and smooth
. add the sugar, egg and vanilla. mix until smooth
. in a separate bowl, have you boyfriend (or you can do it) mix the flour, baking soda and salt with a whisk or run it through a sieve
. add the chips to the wet mix, and then dump in the flour mix. stir gently so you don’t send flour everywhere, but get everything incorporated and happy. the dough should be fairly light, but not crumbly
. place semi roundish balls on baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until they’re the sort 0f doneness you like

if you like granola, I suggest baking these at 325 for longer so they’re rock hard. then bang ’em up with a rolling pin and sprinkle into unsweetened yogurt. in my house, this is known as róny granoly.
if it’s luxury you crave, rather than chocolate chips, do a mix of 75% cocoa chocolate (you know the lindt bars with different percentages that are supposed to be from different places like cuba, columbia, all that nonsense) wunked into little pieces along with chopped up frozen caramilk bars (as my dear friend Emelia and I used to do). they are special, let me tell you

super awesome macaroni – stuff those winter blahs with CHEESE

when it’s snowing like a bastard, grate up some cheese and stuff yo face with pasta. I luh-luh-love this recipe. it’s pretty straightforward, but I promise it delivers. if you only have cheddar (as gruyere is expensive), you may have to adjust the amount of sugar, as I find it takes out some of the bitterness without cutting the actual cheddar flavour.

equip thine self with:

4 tbsp butter
several cracks of black pepper
1/2 tsp white sugar
1 1/2 tsp chicken bouillion
3 or 4 flicks of worcestershire (pronounced wershter)
1/2 tsp dijon
1/4 C flour
2 1/2 C milk
1/2 lb. elbow macaroni
2 C gruyere, grated
1 C sharp cheddar, grated
salt to season
head of broccoli, sliced thin
equal amount of cauliflower , also sliced thin

. you need two pots: a big one for boiling pasta (salt the water, yes?); and a mediumish one for the sauce
. put the big one on high with a lid on, and the other on medium, or medium low if you’re prone to burning things. I find the timing is better if I get the sauce going before I even turn the pasta pot on
. put the butter, dijon, chicken bouillion, pepper, sugar, and worcestershire in the pot and give it a whisk until it’s all melted and incorporated
. as soon as you notice the butter mix is starting to burble, add the flour and whisk it smooth. it’s important to keep an eye on this because you want to cook out the flour for about two minutes without burning or colouring it a funny brown hue
. slowly add the milk and whisk as you do so to avoid lumpies
. at this point your water may be up to boiling and you could chuck in the pasta and stir. stir again in two minutes to prevent it from sticking together and to the bottom of the pot
. slice up the veg so that you have enough time to add it to the pasta water two minutes before the pasta is cooked to your desired doneness. this way the brocs and caulis just get blanched and won’t lose all their nutrients
. stir the flour/milk mix often so it doesn’t get a weird film on the bottom. when it starts to bubble, remove from the burner and slap a lid on it. it is verrrrrry important to allow this mix to sit for at least five minute before adding the cheese, otherwise it may curdle in an off-putting way… still edible if it happens, but you’ll lose the awesome velvety texture factor of super-awesome macaroni and cheese.
. when the pasta and veg is how you like it, drain it, but don’t you dare rinse it! the starch on the outside helps the sauce to bind to the pasta so the end result isn’t a soupy mess, but a luxurious ooze-fest of ultimate loveliness. trust me
. add the cheese to the sauce and stir. taste it to make sure it doesn’t need salt or a tad more sugar
. put a little more butter in the big pot and stir the pasta and veg around in it. ladle it into some bowls and pour the sauce on top
. smile because you’re going to be sooo pleased with yourself on this one