Oh hi picture uploader!

These are the donuts. Ugh, they were as awesome as they look. Totally crumbly and stuff. The boys ate them within reason. Only sharing because Sam is making me (geeky face).

Carob millet milk popsicles... they weren't that good actually. Ah well. I am really enjoying a new flavour, not included in the post - beet, pineapple and banana! First you get the tropical banana-pineapple explosion, which then fades and allows the beet in. I mostly used beet because I had raw beet puree for cake icing (see below) and it's just so colourful, I thought it would look nice in popsicles. Ambrose doesn't love these ones to be honest, but I very honestly do, and before we started getting a produce basket, with beets I had to figure out how to eat, I really wasn't a beet person. I genuinely like them now. Yum!

Red kale is so gorgeous. Really all kale is gorgeous. Kale is probably my favourite vegetable. Or maybe collards.

Whipping the cream cheese frosting (as per this recipe, but with a tablespoon of raw beet puree and some butter because I added too much maple and it got too thin - you DO NOT taste the beets at all! For more info on why it has to be raw beets, this post about the chemistry of beets is very informative.)

I actually also played with the cake recipe, adding a full cup of butter, if I recall correctly. I think they rose too much actually, so I am going to tweak it a little more before I publish an updated version on that (notice the steam cracks in the top)

Ambrose was a big fan. Making the icing pink makes the cake 100% more delicious :)

I've been trying to sprout beans regularly before cooking, for Tony's tummy. That is pretty simple and low-effort. However, I then skin them as much as I can, which is more time-consuming, as apparently it's the skins that have a lot of the indigestble bits (I read that in A Taste of Lebanon, not 100% sure how true it is but it makes enough sense that I'm trying it out.)

Look at all those skins in the sink!

I bought chicken feet to make stock with. Ewww, kind of! You have to cut off the nails. Ahh! They add lots of collagen or whatever.

Tony is trying GF now too, so I made him two pans of breakfast casseroles, which yielded 8 portions each. The total count was 24 eggs, about 1 lb cheddar, 5-6 medium potatoes, cooked, about 4 tomatoes and 3 spring onions, lightly cooked, and some fresh basil, and salt & pepper. I froze the portions all individually.

I've been working on opting for veganish choices if using cruelty-free animal products isn't feasible for a particular recipe, so I made coconut ice cream - two bars like this (1.45 each), 800 mL water, 1 c sugar, 1 vanilla bean, sliced, one pinch of salt, and I also added 1 tbsp dried mint - it wasn't quite enough to taste. Anyways it was nice, cooked and processed, though dry coconut bars have meat and I didn't strain, so there's definitely that flaky coconut texture. Still delicous.

Cabbage is so beautiful. ... making pork & cabbage rolls for company last week.

Tomorrow's breakfast...

Donuts!! Based on this recipe, but yeasted and fermented overnight, with kefir instead of buttermilk, and no xantham gum of course. Oh my goodness!! Real donuts!! I may bake them just because I don't think I have a suitable frying oil. Planning to make a coconut cream & carob frosting to glaze them with. Yes, it's normal that you are very excited for us! I'll report back tomorrow!

a treat and some mishmash

I gave up cane sugar and honey as the fasting part of my Lenten discipline, and it's been good, but boy I miss chocolate. Last night I COULD NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE and I made this - now, Tony said it was cheating, and maybe he's right in a way, but it has no cane sugar or honey, as per my commitment, and it's only been once outside of Sundays that I've indulged in any kind of gray area food, and it was with very deep gratitude, and well, it was so good, I have no regrets. Plus I feel like the extra effort that goes into concocting one's own chocolate bar, by the sweat of one's brow, also trains the spiritual muscles, no? Okay, so I didn't resist the chocolate urge, ultimately, but neither did I crumble and impulsively buy a corn-syrup-filled, wastefully-packaged garbage imitation chocolate bar: I took the time to make a wholesome version. I made it last night and let it set in the fridge until today, further delaying my gratification. Experiencing the true labour cost of the process of making yummy things we normally buy ready-made is good for the moral-spiritual muscles in the same way that choosing to exercise those muscles through the abstinence of those yummy things, good in themselves, is, I think... right?

So without further ado...

Get a small small dish (you could use silicone muffin cups for a very small batch). Put in a handful or two of toasted nuts  to cover the bottom, with a density that is pleasing to you in a chocolate bar (I used soaked & dried almonds a la WAPF/phytic acid protocols). In a microwavable mug, heat coconut oil - the quantity should be about half the volume of your dish minus the nuts. Once melted, mix in an equal quantity-ish of cocoa powder. Stir gently (otherwise the cocoa powder will all float into the air) until well-combined. Now pour in just a nice dollop of date syrup and a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Pour the chocolate mixture over the nuts. Let set in the fridge - how long it takes depends on how large your dish is. Simple! You could stir in some mint extract, or some shredded coconut, some dried fruit, oh! the possibilities are endless!

In general food news... lately I've been into...

Fenugreek and fennel tea
Cajun spice mix, on everything
So much yogurt and kefir
Popcorn
Trying to eat through freezer stuff (we have plans to buy a half animal in the spring, so we want to fit all our present freezer stuff in just the upstairs freezer)
Trying to figure out what to do with creamed coconut (at least half the google search results are "I bought this stuff at the store, what does one do with it??") - I've been using bits of it in the place of coconut milk in curry, which eliminates the BPA concerns with coconut milk in cans, so that's nice, plus it's cheap!
Coffee flavouring dessert instead of filling my cup (I love the taste of coffee but I find its effects a little harsh when I drink it)

Also, I have a lentil cracker 2.0 post in the making! Stay tuned! ;)

Finally, do note that SPRING IS THIS MONTH! So ladies, take pictures and send them to me and we'll maybe vote on what to use for the spring layout via email! If nobody ends up having time, I'll use one I have saved from last year, but I think some fresh material could be fun!

Happy weekending!

Keep Calm and Make Meyer Lemon and Rosemary Butter Cookies

peace and food.

I'm having a shitty day. I remembered to pack some of these yummies in my lunch today, and I was so happy I did.

I'd heard so much about the mystical meyer lemon in cookbooks, magazines, and the like, but never really came across any in grocery stores. I once saw them in a Martha Stewart cupcake book, and they kind of look preserved? Kinda like jelly? I wasn't sure. 

Anyway. My ignorance was challenged yet again, once I saw the alleged mandarin-and-lemon hybrids at my hippie grocer. 

I followed My Baking Addiction's recipe here, but I used brown sugar, and didn't roll them in sugar. But honestly, the cookies were totally not flavourful enough. I barely tasted the rosemary. I really recommend using the zest of at least 2 lemons, the pulp, and using using two or three times as much rosemary.

They also keep for a while if kept in the fridge. I made them last week, and they still taste as yummy and delish as when first baked. 

enjoy anywhere. anytime. with music and milk.

getting kids to take cod liver oil

"Ice cream", portioned out!

This is the cod liver oil we use - I give Ambrose 1 tsp, so I added 1/2 tsp per serving (see description, below).

This is how it looks oily - with popsicles, the oil floats and never freezer. Ugh! With ice cream you can mix it in.

Oil mixed in - it's like soft serve ice cream. Keep in mind it was already fairly soft when portioned out. Perfect!

The answer, of course, is: ice cream.

1 banana, 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder, maybe 1/2 - 1 c milk, 2 tbsp peanut butter, blended in the magic bullet. Xylitol could also be smart if your baby tolerates it (I used to use it a lot, then it started hurting my tummy; we have a fair-sized bag - maybe I should start that again?) Freeze open with a spoon for 2 hours, stirring to break down ice crystals ever 20-30 m, as per usual ice cream making protocols. Remove from freezer, divide into 12 silicone cups, mix in one dose of cod liver oil per serving (in fact I did a half dose to minimize the flavour, and so that if he demanded seconds I wouldn't worry about killing him). Sorry the light is so bad - I was doing this at night as Ambrose was getting his teeth brushed with dad so he wouldn't see what as going on - which didn't work of course, he came to see where I was, demanded to try, and then demanded a second! Yessss! I figured it out! Mix it into ice cream, folks. Freeze cups and you're done.

Read my family's dental health saga here and here. (The only update worth adding is that I now have a close, in-real-life friend going through the exact same thing, which is really a relief, though we both obviously wish the other wasn't also going through it; thank God nonetheless for the support!)

Read about cod liver oil on the WAPF here.

Summarizing why we go to the trouble, the book Cure Tooth Decay describes various theories, mainstream and alternative, regarding why tooth decay happens or doesn't happen in various theories, across various cultures, drawing on the research of dentist-ethnographer Weston Price, going on to make recommendations for curing tooth decay nutritionally. The cod live oil fits in because our diets tend to be deficient in fish, and their omega-3 fatty acids, and their high levels of vitamins A and D. If you're not familiar with Price you can read the Weston A Price Foundation's basic guidelines in my favourite article, Characteristics of Traditional Diets, or access his book online for free here.

How do you get your kids to take cod liver oil? And what do you think of the W. A. P. Foundation?

mardi gras cookies (grain & dairy-free)

Tony's really into coconut in general, and coconut macaroons in particular, and with the whole gluten-free thing it's been just a really useful kind of treat to make.

So basically:

Whip your egg whites (use 2-6; I usually set aside egg whites in the freezer when I use yolks; you could also separate 2 eggs and keep the yolks for breakfast or for an egg wash in the freezer), like really beat them, till quite foamy and they hold their shape, but aren't at the dry stage. Add in your sugar, approximately 2 tbsp per egg white or to taste. Also add a pinch of salt, on small pinch per egg, and a little bit of vanilla if you like. Beat that all till it's uniform and lovely.

Now for add-ins. The simplest is plain coconut. About 1 smallish bag (probably 200 g) is good for 2 egg whites. You can also use small nuts, ground almonds, etc. You want the mixture to be thickly coconut-rich but without being dry. It should be wet when you gently handle it to put it on sheets later. It's something you sort of develop an eye for. In an evenly mixed mixture you should see the coconut dispersed with about 2 mm coating between pieces. If you have much less coconut, like at a dispersion rate equalling 1 cm or more, you'll end up with more of a light coconut meringue product. If you add much more, you might end up with cookies that don't hold together well and/or get quite dry. Anyway you'll decide when you have enough. We added coconut, pecan bits, ground almonds, AND chocolate chips today, as we won't be using sugar or honey till Pascha and we wanted to say a proper farewell.

Bake them for about 10-12 minutes at 350 until browning on top. I then remove them, let them cool a couple of minutes, and flatten them. (Egg white cookies get quite puffy.) I do this because I like the really chewy texture that results, but if you like the airy puffy texture you could just leave them in the oven. Finish them for another 5-10 m (they can be a richer golden-brown than you see in the picture with no harm done) in the oven.

Let cool on sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

Happy Lent! We're such a Roman-Greek house that I get to play with various approaches a lot during Lent. For example, the Alleluia is suppressed in the Roman rite during Lent, during Mass and the Divine Office, but in the Eastern rites there are MORE Alleluias. Isn't that neat? Anyway I feel free to pick and choose, and Ambrose is old enough to understand more of my little print-outs and explanations and things, so I have a smattering of things planned, some ideas from Pondered In my Heart, some from Catholic Icing, and some print-outs inspired by the one we used on St. Nicholas Day from the St. Nicholas Center, drawing from Catholic Culture and other sources (it's a lot of copying & pasting, not original material, and I didn't maintain credits as it was designed just for our use, so I don't feel free to share the docs here, but feel free to email me and I can send my Ash Wednesday and Lent sheets to you - leave a comment if you don't have my email address). We're all very excited for Lent this year. May you have a blessed one!

Flourless chocolate fudge cake

This year I volunteered to bring a dessert to Christmas dinner because a lot of people, including me, don't like the traditional English Christmas pudding. I decided to make the chocolate fudge cake from Ottolenghi.  It turned out really well, so I decided to make this cake again for New Year's Eve. I think it'll become a tradition at dinner parties and special occasions.

The book describes is recipe as simple to prepare, but typically with Ottolenghi the instructions are quite precise and involved. It's baked in two layers so that you'll have a firmer one on the bottom and a mousse-ier one on top. The whole process takes a few hours at least. You are allowed to bake it all at once, "for a less discerning audience, or if you want to hasten the process or are feeling lazy." In case you were afraid they were judging you!

I was unable to follow the instructions precisely because this is my kitchen scale. I think it was part of the "furnishings" of our first house, and somehow got packed with our things.  It's precise to the nearest 25 g at best. I'll give you ladies my measurements, with the book's measurements in brackets.

Chocolate fudge cake (from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yottam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi)
250-ish g unsalted butter, cut into cubes (240 g)
275-ish g dark chocolate, 52% cocoa solids (265 g)
100-ish g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids (95 g)
300-ish g whatever golden brown sugar you have (290 g light muscovado sugar)
4 tbsp water
5 large eggs, separated
A pinch of salt
Cocoa powder for dusting

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

Put the chocolate and butter in a large bowl.

Heat the sugar and water over medium heat until they boil.

Pour them over the chocolate and butter and stir until it is smooth. Stir in the egg yolks one at a time. Allow it to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites and salt to a firm, but not too dry meringue. Fold the meringue into the chocolate sauce a third at a time until fully incorporated, but it's ok to see small bits of meringue in the mix.

Pour 800 g (about 2/3) of the mixture into a prepared cake tin and level it. I don't have a palette knife so I used a spatula. Bake for 40 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Leave to cool.

When it is cool, flatten out the top (again I used a spatula) and don't worry about breaking the crust.

Pour in the rest of the batter and level it again. Bake again for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer comes out with moist crumbs.  This time you can't really level it.  It's supposed to look like that.

Allow to cool while you drive to visit your friends.  This is a picture of the gorgeous English December weather. I bet you're all jealous.

Dust the top with cocoa powder before serving.  The one I made for Christmas was made the day before and it was much neater to slice than this one.  We served with whipped cream but I think plain yoghurt or creme fraiche would be nice, too. That slight tang goes well with rich chocolate desserts like this.

Enjoy!

Caramel Cinnamon Buns

Mmm C'est bon! This, my friends, is what I call 'special occasion' treat. Although my husband wishes I made them every week, I only make these puppies a few times during the year, because of the sweetness to these. Step by step:


1. Make the dough. I did this entire recipe within my KitchenAid bowl, so forget about switching bowls for this or that. Creates more dishes, and honestly, nobody's got time for that! I used this recipe for the dough, except I added a bit more flour as I found the dough to be too wet, AND I cut that salt by 3/4, leaving me with 1 tsp. Ive also subbed the whole wheat flour for white flour, depending on who I make these for. Either works fine!

2. Once youve got your dough punched down, wrap it in seran wrap and stick that sucker in the fridge for 15-20 mns. Cold dough is sooo much easier to roll out, trust me. Once its been chilling, spread some flour on your workspace and on your rolling pin if you use a wooden one. Get ready to rumble.. I MEAN ROLL! Roll your dough out in a roughly rectangular shape like so:

3. Next, take out a saucepan and melt 1/4 butter. Please use the real stuff, not that turkey fattening crap. It makes a world of a difference in baking, trust me. So, when that butter is all nice and melted, and starting to bubble, add a heaping 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and 1 tsp pure vanilla essence. Whisk away, until there are no more clumps, and heat at mid temp until bubbles start forming, then take off heat immediately. Bubbles like this:

4. Take a pastry brush and generously 'paint your dough canvas'. Dont forget the edges. Youll notice as soon as you spread it, itll solidify. Its always a marvel to me how change in heat creates such change within the molecular structure of food, making it solidify, liquify, etc. Keep about a quarter of the caramel for later. Should look like this:

5. Alright I love this part. Prepare a spice/white sugar mixture. I use 1/4cup sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (and sometimes add a pinch of ginger as well) as my ratio, but feel free to play around with that, depending on if you like it sweeter or spicier. Take that mixture and SPRINKLE YOUR HEART OUT! Cover all the dough, like this:

6. This part is pretty fun too. You now get to roll the dough. You remember when I said roughly rectangular? Here is your chance to make it as straight as you can. Start at the bottom, and if you have an edge that is longer than the rest, roll it very tightly until everything comes to an even edge. Then slowly and evenly roll all the way to the top. Now all you have to do is cut the log of sweet/spicy goodness into equal parts. I get 24 rolls out of that recipe.

7. The last step is a decision you have to make. Remember the reserved caramel? You can either keep it and pour it over the baked rolls, or like me, pour it over the unbaked rolls. Doing so will create this delicious crispy crunchy bottom to the rolls of caramelized baked sugar. Bake at 350 for about 25-35 minutes, until they are lightly golden on top.

 

Ooo yes I forgot, I always add an extra sprinkle of sugar/spice before baking!

 

YUM

You could top these with sugar icing, cream cheese icing, eat it as is.. but if you want something a little different, and a little less on the sweet side, try topping it with some Spiced Apple Butter, it is just delish!

Christmas time pictures

I should have titled this pictures in the month of December. Oh well, too lazy to change it.

Place setting for one of my good friends' birthday!

Cupcake tower (cranberry orange white chocolate)

festive salad with apples clementines cheddar and cranberries

Christmas Eve supper, brown rice with garlic mushrooms and shirmps

Quick topping for apple spice rhum caqke: melt some butter, toss in apple slices and pecans, add some brown sugar, pour over cake. BAM instant fancy thing.

I had dinner with Captain America at our annual D&D Christmas feast. Ladies, I wish I could have taken a proper picture of this kitchen. It was magazine worthy. Puts Martha to shame, it does.

Bacon wrapped chicken breast in iron cast with leftover baked taters and onions. Death to my arteries!

Drizzling fast caramel over vanilla spice cupcakes. Disregard the asthma pump,
its my secret ingredient to ensure proper breathing.

 

 

My (our) direct response to this morning's snowstorm (dark hot cocoa with minty marshmallows).
FUCK YOU SNOW

 

 

Close shot of the previously mentioned muffins.

So I think for my cooking/baking inspiration for this year's December, I was hardcore channeling Paula Deen, which was, in two words, sinfully delicious. But now I must strive to be more like Sally F. Oh wait, New Years is coming! :D