sunday one day pancakes yay!

if you know me personally, you will not be at all surprised to see a recipe for pancakes in the middle of what is supposed to be healthy, cleanse-friendly asian-food-week. see, I have this problem with committing to ideas that are just ideas… I also have a reallllly hard time not making sunday breakfasts on sundays.

so here we are, PANCAKES !!!    I’ve tried a lot of recipes over the years and none come anywhere close to these. like my brownies recipe, this one came from somewhere, but I’ve done so much modifying and tweaking over the last five or so years, that I think it’s mine now. there’s nothing redeeming in these healthwise… no fruit, no whole wheat flour…. my god, they’ve even got white sugar in them and I like them better that way! alas… they’re a really nice end of the week treat and I’m very happy to share them with you. just don’t eat them every day…

out from the cupboards flies:

1 1/2 C milk or butter milk
1 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar) * optional! if you’re using butter milk, no need to put more zip in it with vinegar.
2 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp sugar

. before you get anything going, if you don’t have buttermilk (which I never do) just get your milk in a measuring cup and add the vinegar. I originally used rice wine vinegar because it was all I had, but then I found it had a nicer flavour, so I keep using it. this will need to sit for ten minutes.

. while the milk is setting up, get your pan heating up. it’s important to have the pan quite hot for the first round of pancakes because the cold batter will really knock the temp down and the first cakes won’t be as nice and brown as the others. I use a cast iron pan and have it on medium heat for almost ten minutes before adding anything to it. if you’re using non-stick, you’ll only need to heat it for a few minutes because they’re much thinner. wait until your pan is good and hot before putting oil in it… unless you’re into smoking out your kitchen.
. ok, pan on, milk setting up, time to get out a big bowl and wisk. put all the dry ingredients in the bowl and wisk. crack the eggs in the milk mix and wisk those up too. dump the wet into the dry and gently combine. the mix should be fairly bubbly and have some lumps.

. add a small glurg of veg or canola oil to the pan along with a spoon of butter. ladle some batter into the spitting pan of goodness. turn the heat down one notch.
. don’t flip your cakes until they’re rather bubbly on top and the edges are noticeably dry/golden. don’t splash yourself with oil when you flip them – it doesn’t make for a nice time.
. once they’ve been flipped, they will probably only take half the time the first side did.

. I like to get my oven on to 250 or so and put the finished pancakes on a plate and into the oven while the other ones fry. other wise, just serve them up with butter and your favourite syrup, sugar, fruit, whatever.

miso soup, my new forever

dinner went well. there was no recipe, just a hodgepodge of good tasting things in a pot set to boil, and some fresh stuff chucked in as it was served.

a late lunch, started with coffee (kicking horse 454… not as flexible as grizzly claw, but nice if not allowed to steep for too long… oh I could write a whole post on that…). lunch. right. then lunch moved into some well needed insightful conversation with pony. then it was onto ‘by-the-letter miso soup.’

I’m using hondashi, a brand name of instant dashi, so I thought I would use a recipe from their parent website, here. I followed this exactly because I have very little experience working this kind of food, and I feel it’s best to learn the basics before intuitively building dishes. but understand that when I say ‘to the letter’ I mean… mostly. so, I heated the water at medium high because I have an ancient stove and was hungry. I also didn’t include wakame because I didn’t have any, and I generally am not big on seaweed flavours either.

the smell of just the dashi heating and dissolving in the water was so reassuring. it’s got that savoury, smoky smell of having a fire on the beach, or the feeling of being on the coast in the damp dross of winter with a fire going and an afternoon to just wile away.

I can’t tell you how pleasing it is to be able to recreate something like food in a particular style that’s literally and figuratively foreign to me. I’ve lived in canada my whole life and grew up eating well cooked, but plain and standard fare. I didn’t eat and enjoy chinese food until I was 19.

NINETEEN! this was for more reasons than just being food-shy or sheltered – that I won’t get into now – but this plays a big role in my being so excited to dip into unfamiliar yet thoroughly appreciated edible territory.

anyway, this miso soup was everything I was hoping for. it was so, so satisfying. it wasn’t too salty or too weak, it was baby bear perfect.

I am now going to down some green tea and read up on mythology.

BANANAS muffins – with serious nana flavour

it’s strange for me to be sharing a muffin recipe because it seems that making muffins is all I do these days. why would that be strange for me then? well, most posts on the firdge are from food things I build here at home because I really like them. I of course love muffins, but they’ve become a work-associated food item as I make between 250 and 400 a week.
work or not, banana muffins are an essential in any baker/food preparer’s repertoire. these are dense, moist, and super-duper flavourful. I like them a lot.

before embarking on this, make sure you have 4 really ugly, super brown bananas, otherwise get out:
4 super ugly brown bananas, peeled
1/2 C oil
1/2 C milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp banana extract (this is essential!)
1/2 C white sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
2  1/2 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon

. crank yer oven to 375
. in a bowl, chuck in the bananas. mash them with a fork until they’re mostly just mush… or mash if you prefer
. add the eggs and give them a little whip with the end of a spatula

. add the oil, milk, and extracts and stir
. dump in the sugars and stir
. in another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and wisk
. dump the dry into the wet and stir until just incorporated. remember it’s important not to overmix muffin batter because it will get very hard, very quickly. if there are some smaller bits of flour it’s ok, they will get absorbed during the baking process

. spoon the mixture into a greased muffin tin. I like big bulgey muffins, so I fill the cups to the top
. bake at 375 for 20-ish minutes or until they’re a light goldeny colour

. a couple minutes after they’ve come out of the oven, pop them out of the tins with your hands, or with a knife if they’re too hot, and get them into a big tupperware and slam the lid on them. this way they will steam a little and become sticky and moist, just like a banana! if you like your muffins to be less awesome, you could just let them cool in the pan and eat them dry-ish… maybe with butter though.
. also, these are craaaazy good with a cup of blueberries added in with the wet mix

enjoy your newfound bad-banana-user-uppers and how awesome your house smells after baking them!

 

chicken corn chowda – combat dreary with dairy!

it’s cloudy, it’s cold, it’s windy, it’s off-n-on rainy and it’s november. it’s also a night where I have some hours with just the catties, and I always feel that time is best spent making food. it’s doubly rewarding to have a nice hot meal ready for when pony comes home from work.
we had a couple ears of corn in the fridge on the verge of not being so great anymore, so soup was the obvious choice. and while corn chowder is nice, I think it’s even nicer with chicken or turkey. tonight I used turkey because they had big ol’ leg/thigh combos on at the store for super cheap. inexpensive dark meat? sign me up!

also, before I get to the good part, I feel I need to honestly say that I absolutely used two recipes on foodnetwork to figure out how I wanted to attempt this meal. one was paula’s which I used as a guide for ingredients, and the other was tyler’s, which I used more for the method… though mine is different from both in the end. often when I’ve never made something before, or haven’t made it in a long time, I’ll seek out some recipes as a refresher or rough guide, then adjust to my own taste.
okok, on with the good show:

a good wooden spoon of butter (maybe 1/3 C? maybe 1/2 C?)
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, diced
3 sticks of celery, diced
1 leek, cut in half and sliced into thin semi-circles (I could do a whole post on how to clean/cut leeks, so look it up if you’re not sure)
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
a good glurg of white wine (say, 1/3-1/2 C)
1 tsp dijon mustard
several cracks of black pepper
thyme – 4 sprigs chopped, or 1 1/2 tsp of the dry stuff
3 C chicken stock (or veg if you wanna do this meat-free)
chicken or turkey, cooked and shredded – for turkey, a leg and thigh was lots. for chicken, 8 or 10 thighs… or 4 thighs and 2 breasts maybe
5-6 medium-sized new potatoes, cut into bite-size chunks
3 ears of corn or 3ish C frozen corn
1 zucchini, sliced into semi circles
2 C whipping cream
1/3 C flour or cornstarch

. a couple hours before you want to make soup, crank yer oven to 375 and get your chicken/turkey in there (in an uncovered dish with pepper and poultry seasoning on it) and bake for an hour. let it cool and then begin your soup!

. chuck the butter and oil in a big pot on medium-low heat
. add the onion, celery, leek and garlic. let these get all glossy, but not brown. stir every couple of minutes
. when the veg is translucent and lovely, add the thyme, pepper, mustard and wine. allow to simmer for a few minutes
. add the chicken/turkey, potatoes and chicken stock. slap a lid on it and let it simmer for a good half hour

. meanwhile, if you’ve got corn still on the cob, get it off. the easiest way I know is the guy fieri way (what a FN heavy post this is): get two bowls, one really big, the other small and with a flat bottom. tip the small bowl upside down into the big bowl. rest one end of corn on the smaller bowl and use a big knife to carve off the niblets in one motion. as you do this, the corn falls into the big bowl, and not all over your counter. happy days!
. add the corn  and zucchini to the soup mix and let simmer for ten minutes
. in a big cup or bowl or something, whisk the flour/starch into the cream until it’s all smooth. pour this into the soup and stir constantly as you do to avoid lumps (especially if you’re using corn starch)

. if it’s too thick, add a little milk to thin it out, or some more chicken stock
. let everything come up to a gentle boil and then shut ‘er down. it’s all done, and in the most fabulous of ways!
. serve it nice and hot with some really nice buttered bread and a green salad or all by it’s thick, creamy, hearty self

also, if you wanted to get really decadent, you could add 2 C grated cheddar and 1/4 C chopped green chilis or pickled jalapeños just before serving. so much savour, so much flavour!

Mint Cocoa Cookies – think chewy girl guide… oh my!

a while back I stumbled upon a very simple idea: mint chocolate cookies.

I was perusing the local downtown bakery, erwin’s, on a lunch break. I felt terribly lucky after sampling a few of these baddies: dark chocolate and a minty chewy/soft loveliness… the most basic, unflowery way I could describe these. anyway, since starting my new job at a coffee shop that shall remain nameless (though I’m sure lots of you know where and what it is) and overhauling the baked-goods menu, I knew I wanted something similar to this awesome cool-weather treat.
enough banter and on with the goods!

spread before you is:

1 1/4 C unsalted butter at room temp
2 C sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp peppermint extract (for the love of god, not spearmint… unless you want toothpaste cookies…)
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt plus a little more… so more like 3/4 tsp
3/4 C to 1 C good cocoa, dutch processed works

. cream the soft butter with the sugar
. add the vanilla, peppermint extract and eggs and mix

. in another bowl, add all the dry ingredients together. you may want to sift in the cocoa or sift the whole mix before adding it to the wet ingredients. cocoa has a lovely way of being all clumpy and difficult to incorporate…
. dump the dry into the wet and stir to combine
. wrap the bowl with cling film and let it hang out in the fridge for an hour or so

. crank yer oven to 325.
. take the dough out of the fridge and use a spoon to scoop bits of it onto a cookie sheet. you could make them into balls and squish them down with your hand if you like round cookies, but I like mine rustic and fat so I bake ’em as they fall to the pan: wonky
. bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are done but the middle still looks a bit undercooked… though it’s really not

these should end up being soft and chewy on the inside and just slightly crunchy around the edges. if that’s not happening for you, try baking them at 300 or at 350 for different amounts of time to get the right texture

enjoy your weirdly refreshing, house and heartwarming mint cocoa cookies!

baked macaroni – not as heavy, but just as cheese-pleasing

orange food almost always does well. mind you, macaroni can be white-ish too and just as tasty, but for now, let’s all envision golden melty macaroni with a gooey-crunchy top and warm soft middle. this recipe stems from one my dad made up; the main difference being I’ve added a few more things to flavour up the pasta and some panko for extra crunch. so, if you please, crank your oven and get yourself hungry!

pulled out of your fridge and cabinets:

half a bag of macaroni, 450g or so
1/2 a small onion, finely diced
1/2 tsp salt
lots of cracked black pepper
3-5 shakes of worcestershire, depending on how bitey you like it
1 big egg or 2 little ones
1/2 C milk
1/2 a medium tub of cottage cheese, 250 ml-ish
1/2 tsp white sugar
3-4 C sharp cheddar grated
1/2 C panko or bread crumbs

. preheat thine oven to 350
. boil the macaroni, but drain it 2 minutes before it’s properly cooked. it will finish tendering-up in the oven
. in a bowl, add the egg, diced onion, pepper, salt, sugar, worcestershire and beat with a fork
. add the cottage cheese and milk and stir
. drain the pasta and pour the milk/cheese mix over the pasta and stir

. dump half the pasta into a nice casserole dish
. sprinkle just less than half of the cheese on the pasta so it’s evenly distributed
. dump on the rest of the pasta, and the rest of the cheese on that
. sprinkle the panko on top and give it a few cracks of pepper

. either put a lid on your dish, or lightly wrap it in tinfoil and bake for half an hour
. remove lid/foil and bake for another half hour or so. you may want to turn on the broiler for the last 2 or 3 minutes if you’re partial to a crispy top

I like this with cheddar, but a cheddar/mozzarella blend is nice, or gruyere and fontina… or maybe add a little blue cheese if you like it zippy. so many cheeses, so many dinners…

 

le tea biscuits

when I was a kid I tried to eat as many of these as I could. not much has changed.
yet another recipe from my mom of her mom’s. thank you ladywomen of my family for such great food.

a very simple affair:

1/3 C good shortening
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 C milk

. set thine oven to 450
. grab a goodly bowl and put the flour, baking powder and salt in it. mix to get everything evenly incorporated
. wunk in the shortening and cut it into the flour either using two knives or a fork or a pastry cutter. I prefer the latter. you don’t want to mix this with your hands because the heat from them will melt the shortening and you won’t get nice flaky biscuits
. when the mix is all crumbly, add in the milk. if you live in a dry climate you’ll need the full 3/4 cup, but if you’re in a more humid zone, try adding a half cup first and seeing if the mix is dry enough. to incorporate the milk, use your hand to fold the dry crumbs into the milk gently while giving the bowl a quarter spin with your other hand. repeat this until a loose dough is formed and it peels away from the side of the bowl
. do 5-8 gentle kneads (pressing the heals of your hands into the dough and pushing it out to stretch it a bit) and then lightly flour a flat surface so you can roll the dough out. roll until it’s 3/4 of an inch thick and cut out rounds with a glass, or just use a knife to cut them however you like
. get ’em on a baking sheet and fire ’em into the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown

these are obviously great with tea… serve hot with butter, or at room temp with whatever you fancy.

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.

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…