Late Night Baking

It feels like I was baking things most of the day yesterday. Upon doing an inventory of things I made I guess that is true. I started out with hopes to finally bake Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies. I’ve been intending to bake these for well over a week, but I keep forgetting to buy caramels.

Yesterday morning I just decided to make some caramels instead. I’m glad I did because they are delicious. I need to learn to find all the things I need before starting things because I realized my candy thermometer was missing so I just had to test it in cold water. It works well but it leaves me with more room for error if I am not really paying attention to how the caramel is cooking. I used the Fleur de Sel Caramel recipe mostly because I like to put fleur de sel in everything I can.

After letting the caramel cool and cutting it into a million (well 64) individual pieces I put them back in the fridge while I made the cookie dough. I used a box of Aspen Mulling Spices because I had that in the cupboard, it’s volume is a bit less than the brand in the original recipe so I sprinkled some extra cinnamon, clove and nutmeg into the batter. The dough was quite soft so I ended up chilling it for about an hour before shaping balls of dough around each caramel.

I ate a couple of these for breakfast with my soy chai. Mmm. Setting the cookie on the edge of a hot beverage really does make the middle perfectly gooey and soft.

Vegetable Pot Pie

I used to make this vegetable pot pie when I was a student because it is easy and cheap. I made it for dinner tonight because I haven’t made it in over a year and a friend requested that I post something vegan. The original recipe, Incredible This-will-become-your-favorite Veggie Pot Pie, is from VegWeb. I was going to make an awesome nut loaf, but then I remembered I have only ever made it at other people’s homes because I lack a food processor and it is essential to that recipe. I’m posting the recipe as I tend to modify it below. In other news I really need to go buy some lamps/lights/fixture now that it is dark before dinner so I can take decent photos.

The recipe calls for a premade pie crust, but since I enjoy making pastry I made my own with vegetable shortening. So you can buy one or make one from a recipe you like.

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 potatoe
3 medium carrots
1 small zuchinni
1/2 cup mushrooms
1/2 cup broccoli
1 small red onion
8oz canned black beans, drained
1 package frozen spinach
garlic cloves, sage, rosemary, thyme
salt and pepper
2 tbsp flour or cornstarch

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut all the vegetable into small pieces. I throw the potatoes and carrot into a dish and pre-cook them a wee bit (microwave or oven works). Do not fully cook them or they will be mushy when your pie is done. Toss all the vegetables except for the spinach in a bowl.

In a saucepan bring vegetable broth to a boil with the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Add flour or cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Then pour the sauce over the vegetables and mix well.

Fill the pie crust with the vegetables and top with the frozen spinach. Here is where the original recipe calls for vegan cheese. I find vegan cheese fairly gross so sometimes I grate some real cheddar on the pie at this point. Top with pie crust, crimp the edge and make a few slits in the top. Bake for 40 minutes in a 400F oven.

Yesterday’s Brunch

I planned a quiet little brunch yesterday after finding more recipes to try. Bacon wrapped eggs with polenta and jalapeño-cheddar scones, which taste more like a biscuit to me but oh well.

I had some jalapenos that came from my tiny balcony garden that I needed to use up. I came across the recipe from Smitten Kitchen on at least two or three other food blogs in the past two weeks so I figured I would jump on the bandwagon and give it a try myself. The fact that these are freezable prior to the baking stage appealed to me because I can never eat a whole batch of anything on my own. Pulling out a few to bake as needed is perfect. These would be great with a soup on a cold rainy day, such as it is here today.

The eggs I found fun to make. I seem to be attracted to recipes that require a wrapping things or have various step that can be done ahead of time. This is one of the Top 100 from bon appetit, over at which two bloggers have put together a fun project of cooking their way through each recipe. I enjoy seeing the magazine photo with each of the bloggers versions mostly because my camera lacks that magazine quality ability, that and an extreme lack of good lighting in my cave of an apartment.

I think both of these start to finish took me about 1 hour. I am starting to get better at my timing of making multiple things within limited time and space. Two feet of counter space is for cooking and the only other two feet is for dirty dishes to pile up. I slowly cooked the bacon in the oven, as I find I can cook a lot more with more consistency this way. I made a full pot of polenta so I could have left overs, as I was only making brunch for two, not 8. I used some black truffle salt to give is a hint of truffle taste, yum. That salt is becoming a good friend of eggs at my house.

Minty Fresh

I used a photo from previous time I made these delicious little cupcakes. Today I didn’t make ganache for the tops because I made them to share with friends at a stitch-n-bitch and I didn’t have vegan chocolate around. In case some of those other guests are in fact vegan or lactose intolerant I made them vegan. If I make these for myself I generally make a minty butter cream icing, much unlike the one the cookbook lists because my taste buds find vegetable shortening lacks that extra flavor. Coconut oil works well as long as its cold enough to be semi solid, but I used that up last week and forgot to put it on my grocery list.

A fantastic site I visit for some vegetarian/vegan inspiration is the Post Punk Kitchen. Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero from over there coauthored one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. If you are a cupcake fan, or even a have a sweet tooth such as myself, this book is impressive. Sometime I can’t believe for myself there are no eggs, milk or butter in these delicious little cakes. I have yet to attempt all 75 kinds, but I have made many of them. Maybe I’ll try some new ones when my butter budget has reached it’s limit for the month.

I’m off to stitch some things and drink tea!

The Omnivore’s Hundred

I decided last night to do my omnivore’s hundred list. I am somewhat shocked by how many of these things I actually have tried. That being said many of these things I have had only once and that was enough. I think I may have to route some future traveling endeavors to locations where I might be able to fill in some more of this list. Even though I crossed some things out I am sure someone could get me to try it as long as they didn’t tell me what it was first. Some of these things I think I might be crazy for wanting to try, but I’ll try almost anything once.

If you want to join in, here are the rules:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (allergic to this one, although I may eat it if I had unlimited bathroom access afterward)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects I might have these situation dependant
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (I use this on my face sometimes, I have gotten some in my mouth if that counts)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. caviarlinks and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. RoadkillUm, if it was fresh I might.
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Eggs for Breakfast

I had a phase when I hated eggs and when I ate them I felt ill and had a horrible headache after. That was followed by a vegetarian phase of a few years in which I reintroduced them into my life because I was a starving student and they were a decent cheap protein. It was during that time as a student I did some home care with my friend’s fabulous grandpa. I didn’t really know how to cook much of anything at the time, or at least not much of anything that we would both eat so when I was there we kept food pretty simple. I learned two delicious things from our time together, gin in my tomato soup and coddled eggs.

I live on a street lined with several antique shops and browse them every now and then for anything that looks interesting. I am a fan of vintage costume jewelery and well aged kitchen gadgets. I found a cute little porcelain egg coddler on one such adventure. I was pleased with myself that day because it was a small fraction of the cost of buying one new. The only new one’s I have seen around her are at least $40. For eggs I think not.

Actually getting down to making them is pretty standard. Boil a pot of water, the level should come about half way up the coddlers. Butter the cup, crack in room temperature eggs, top with heavy cream, salt, pepper and today I tossed on some fresh rosemary. Find fresh eggs for this, something strange happens with the whites when they are not fresh enough. The time it takes to cook is dependent on how runny you want your eggs. I like hard eggs but today I went the proper route and had them runny. My cup holds two eggs so for me that was about 7 minutes. The eggs mixed with the cream taste delicious. Another meal my future cardiac surgeon will thank me for no doubt.

Abundance of Apples

Apples, we grow a lot of them in this province. I happen to be somewhat allergic to them when eaten raw, but I eat them anyway. I have been having baked apples filled with raisins and cinnamon frequently in an effort to use mine all up and not have an itchy mouth. I had a sheet of leftover puff pastry from last nights dinner so today I filled that with apple goodness.

Today’s recipe came from the October 2009 issue of Bon Appétit, Golden Delicious Apple and Cheddar Turnovers with Dried Cranberries. Just in case you don’t have the magazine they have it posted on the site as well. I halved the recipe only because I had one sheet of pastry to use. I threw in a mix of different apples, granny smith, fiji and pink lady because they were in my fruit basket. It would have been counterproductive to buy more apples when I was trying to use the ones I had. I used a one year white cheddar. For the record orange cheddar kind of freaks me out, but sometimes I use it for it colour. The maple makes all the difference in these. Yum. If there may be such a thing as reincarnation I would like to come back as a maple tree so I may be filled with dark sappy goodness all the time. I topped these with raw cane sugar so they look a bit more dark on the tops than if I had used white, but I like the fuller flavor it has.

Salmon Wellington

Flu season is upon us and due to my high exposure to all sorts of infectious things at work I like to try and give my immune system a natural boost. Salmon has a pretty high amount of vitamin D and as it turns out I like eating it as well. Vitamin D apparently helps fight off those invasive illness causing things in our bodies. I seem to be on a bit of a pastry kick this month so I made salmon wellington this evening for dinner.

I decided not to make my own puff pastry because it seemed rather time consuming and I was counting on a more fool proof dinner. Puff pastry is rather inexpensive to by frozen so I took that option today. Luckily I thought of what I was going to cook for dinner early enough it the day so I could let it thaw. I am sure I’ll give making the pastry myself a try eventually.

I have had salmon wellington a few times at restaurants and quite enjoyed it. I found a recipe on my favorite recipe site epicurious which can be found here. I pretty much followed it exactly this time around, although several reviewers commented on adding Boursin cheese and a few found the sauce too acidic. I’ll say the sauce was a wee bit acidic for my taste buds but I tend to like a vinegar taste. I’ll probably try a Savagnin Blanc next time instead of a Chardonnay that I used this time, maybe a wee bit more wine and a wee bit less vinegar. The whole white wine reduction was unfamiliar to me in the first place so I am pleased it was edible.

As a side I steamed some broccoli and sauteed them with some toasted almonds in brown butter. Broccoli being one of my favorite green vegetables and also one of those good for you veggies. The brown butter may not be so healthy, but all things in moderation right? I was a bit skimpy on the butter for the salmon and pastry made up for more healthy dose of fat. Now I am stuffed full of flu fighting goodness.

Birthday Cheesecake

I turn 27 today. I have been having cheesecake for my past several birthdays. Usually I have resorted to buying one as it seemed like a lot of effort and planning ahead to bake one but this year I decided to try out a recipe I have had my eye on for a couple years but never made.

The original recipe is Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake. Whenever I enjoy a Guinness I am reminded of a lovely friend who I think would enjoy this, aside from it being very non-vegan. Vegan cheesecakes are not what I wanted my birthday to be filled with, although I have tried some mighty tasty ones. I am pretty sure the walls of my arteries will become a wee bit more narrow after diving into this one. I do enjoy a Guinness but a local brewery, Phillips, makes a Chocolate Porter which is to die for. Chocolate beer seemed fitting for a chocolate cheesecake. I am reposting the recipe as I made it below but the original can be found on the link above.

Crust
1 1/4 cup oreo crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoons white sugar

Filling
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 pound semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup sour cream
1 pinch salt
3/4 cup Phillips Chocolate Porter
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9 inch springform pan with butter. Wrap the bottom on the pan in heavy aluminum foil so water can’t seep in (see below).

Combine the cookie crumbs, butter, 1 tablespoons sugarin a small bowl; mix; press into the bottom of the prepared springform pan.

Place the cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer set to low speed until smooth. While beating, slowly add 1 cup sugar and then the eggs, one at a time. Continue beating until smooth.

Combine the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a double boiler. Heat until the chocolate is completely melted, careful not to burn. Beat the chocolate into the cream cheese mixture. Add the sour cream, salt, beer, and vanilla; blend until smooth. Pour the mixture over the crust.

Place the pan into a large, deep baking dish. Fill the dish with water to cover the bottom half of the springform pan. This is why the pan should be wrapped in foil in the previous steps.

Bake the cheesecake in the water bath in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes; turn oven off; leave the cheesecake in the oven with oven door slightly ajar another 45 minutes; remove from oven. The cheesecake should have a nice wobbly surface which will set in the refrigerator. Run a knife along the edge of the cheesecake to loosen from pan. Chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Pour the chocolate chips into the boiling cream allow to stand for a few moments. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly and then pour over cheesecake, using a spatula or spoon to spread out evenly. Cover and return to the refrigerator for an hour.

From the box

It was cold here this morning when I took my dog out for her morning walk. My teeth chattered and geese were flying away south overhead. I needed to bake myself some cool weather comfort food. I had thought about getting a start on my birthday cheesecake but decided I’ll leave that for tomorrow, so it is more fresh the next day. Brownies today. And no I didn’t buy a mix in a box and add oil and eggs or whatever it is that those boxes call for.

Sometimes I think the recipes on packages are just there to encourage you to buy more of a company’s product, but the folks at Hershey actually have a pretty decent brownie recipe. I think it is moist and sweet enough without the mounds of chocolate butter cream they add on so I omit that part. I don’t like the Hershey cocoa powder so I guess their putting recipes on the package to make me buy things failed this time. It is freely available on the internet anyway. Personally I like Valrhona cocoa but do to its price tag and its difficulty to find I usually settle for something easier to find. I had some Ghirardelli in the pantry so that made the cocoa part easy. Hershey chips were on sale today so they won that round, although a really good bar of chocolate cut up into small chunks, or even a white chocolate would be delicious in these.

I was good and only had one spoonful of the gooey batter before baking them. My home is warm and smells of chocolate now. I’ll have to pack up a bunch to share at work tonight. I’d be eating these for every meal if I didn’t share.