Author Archives: saltandserenity

Osso Buco Pasta Sauce

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Osso buco, literally translated in Italian means “bone with a hole”. The hole refers to the marrow hole at the center of the cross-cut veal shank. Traditionally, the cross-cut veal shanks are slowly braised in stock, wine, tomatoes and vegetables and then served with some polenta or perhaps risotto. I decided to take the braised meat off the bone, shred it up and mix it back with the flavourful braising liquid and vegetables and serve it over pasta. Any pasta that has little nooks and crannies to trap the delicious bits of this chunky sauce would be fine.  Warm, hearty, rich, tangy and just a little bit spicy, this dish really is a celebration of fall.

I especially love this dish because once the chopping and browning are done, the whole thing is covered and popped into the oven for 2 hours, leaving you time to do something else. (A little late to the game, but so obsessed. Those eyes!!! Anyone else watching?)

I blogged about this recipe before, in 2011, but it’s still a favourite of mine. I make a big pot of it every fall and have enough sauce leftover to freeze for those dark winter days when you just don’t feel like cooking.

Because there’s nothing I like better than a good makeover, here’s the image I shot in 2011. Same delicious recipe, but new and improved photography skills!

Veal shanks are dusted with flour and sautéed in oil, over high heat, until golden brown.

Carrots, onions, celery, red pepper, thyme and a hefty pinch of red pepper flakes are the supporting cast in this recipe. They don’t disappoint.

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Fried Green Tomato Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

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When life hands you green tomatoes, it’s time to get frying. Fried green tomatoes were not a part of my childhood. I grew up on KD (Kraft Mac and Cheese), Swanson’s TV dinners and Jello molds. We were a modern family!

I was recently gifted a big basket of green tomatoes and decided to make a fried green tomato salad. Never having made them before, I did a quick google search and discovered many different methods. Some swear by deep frying, other recommend a shallow fry. Some use cornmeal for breading, others extol the virtues of rice flour. I turned to Erin at Dish Catering for a lesson. Her team made them for our daughter’s wedding weekend and they were so delicious.

The secret to that outer crispy shell is Panko breadcrumbs mixed with finely chopped parsley and grated Parmesan. Set up a breading station. Dip first in flour, then beaten eggs and finally the Panko breadcrumbs.

Make sure to slice the green tomatoes quite thick, about a 1/2 inch. Lay slices on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Salt the tomatoes and leave them sit for about 15 minutes before breading.

A neutral vegetable oil, such as sunflower or safflower is good for frying. Heat oil to about 350°F. (Bust out your instant read thermometer). If your oil is too cold the tomatoes will be soggy. Too hot and the coating will burn before the inside gets creamy and soft. Don’t crowd the pan and be patient. Don’t flip until they are deeply golden brown. Drain on a paper towel, lightly salt and transfer to a wire rack to cool. They will stay crispy for at least an hour or two after frying.

If you can still find some ripe yellow and red tomatoes, it looks so beautiful to mix them into the salad. A bit of soft fresh cheese, like fior de latte or buffalo mozzarella is the perfect creamy contrast to the crispy fried tomatoes. I made a basil vinaigrette for drizzling over the salad.

A perfect way to say goodbye to summer.

Click here to print recipe for Fried-Green-Tomato-Salad-with-Basil-VinaigretteDownload

Rosh Hashanah Twisted Apple and Honey Challah

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The last time I made this challah was Rosh Hashanah 2019. We had 35 guests around the table celebrating the New Year. We won’t discuss 2020, except to note that there were only 3 of us at the table. But this year, most of our clan are double vaxxed, so we will be 16 strong around the table at the cottage in 10 days. It’s time to celebrate again.

It’s traditional to dip apples in honey, to symbolize our desire for a sweet year ahead. In my desire to be efficient and practical, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to bake my honey and apples right into the challah.

My starting point was my favourite challah dough, (Margo’s Challah) made with honey instead of sugar. On Rosh Hashanah, challah is round, a circle without an end, to symbolize our wish for a year in which life and blessings continue without end. I was inspired by cloudykitchen’s Mixed Nut and Dulce de Leche Brioche Knot. Her clever twisting method was perfect for Rosh Hashanah.

Adding apples to challah dough is tricky. Raw apples would leach too much moisture into the dough and make the challah soggy. Sautéing them first, solved that problem. To further boost the apple flavour, I spread some apple butter onto the dough.

See how it all comes together.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and sweet new year.

Click here to print recipe for Rosh-Hashanah-Twisted-Apple-and-Honey-Challah-Download

Ombre Apple-Honey Galette

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If you were at the Smiths Falls YIG (Your Independent Grocer) last week, and saw a masked woman pawing through every apple bin, looking for perfect specimens in every colour of the rainbow, that was me. I apologize for getting my germs over every apple!

I realize that August is a bit early to start posting about fall apples, but Rosh Hashanah is in two weeks and we’ve got to get our ass in gear. I’m not a fan of traditional honey cake. I find it too cloyingly sweet. I wanted to find a way of incorporating both apples and honey into a dessert.

Apples and honey go together on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), like cookies and milk, every other day of the year! We dip apples in honey to symbolizes our wishes for a sweet year for family, friends and all the Jewish people. While this explanation makes sense, I have often wondered why specifically apples and honey?  Why not figs dipped into date syrup?

In researching this question, the interpretation I discovered on the website torah.org, resonated quite strongly with me.Their insight regarding the apple part of the equation, is explained this way:
“On most fruit trees the leaves appear before the fruit, thus providing a protective cover for the young fruit. The apple, however, makes a preemptive move by appearing before the leaves. The Jewish people are compared to an apple because we are willing to live out our Jewish lives even if this seems to leave us unprotected. “

The choice of honey was brilliantly explained with this insight:
“A bee can inflict pain by its sting, yet it also produces delicious honey.  Life has this same duality of potential. We pray that our choices will result in a sweet year.”

And so apples and honey it is again, this year on my holiday table.

You’ll need 5 different varieties of apples if you want to make the Rainbow/Ombre effect I produced here. You’ll need two of each kind of apple. Look for dark red apples, pink apples, red-orange apples, yellow apples and green apples. A very sharp paring knife and about 20 minutes of concentration and you will be ready to assemble.

I used my favourite galette dough as the base. Impossibly flaky and delicious it is a versatile dough. I mixed some ground almonds, honey, egg and flour to make a honey paste (frangipane) as the base for the apples. The dough is folded up around the apples in a very casual way. Nothing precious here. Sprinkle it all with some cinnamon sugar and then into a hot oven.

The colours do fade a bit when baked, but the taste is so delicious. I brushed it with a honey glaze when it was still warm, for extra shine.

A scoop of vanilla ice cream would be very welcome.

Or just plain with a cup of coffee or tea.

Click here to print recipe for Ombre-Apple-Honey-GaletteDownload

Turtle Ice cream

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The inspiration for this ice cream came from Turtles Chocolates. Creamy caramel and crunchy pecans coated in rich chocolate. Mmmmmm, I love turtles. When I told my husband I was creating Turtle Ice cream, he had no idea what I was talking about. Clearly, his mother did not have a candy drawer in the living room where she “hid” the chocolates that were meant for company.

Of course that drawer was a magnet for my sisters and I. We’d try to quietly sneak chocolates, but the drawer had a brass knocker handle that would clunk every time we opened and closed the drawer. The variety box of chocolates would be filled with half-eaten cherry and cream filled chocolates. All the nut and caramel ones were gone. My mother would be so embarrassed and angry at us when she went to serve the chocolates to company. Ah, sweet childhood memories!

Turtles were the most coveted box in the drawer and it was always filled with empty candy cups. For my version of Turtle Ice Cream, I started with a base of salted caramel ice cream from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s book, “Rose’s Ice Cream Bliss.” You will need an ice cream machine to make this recipe.

The blogosphere is awash with quick, no-churn ice cream recipes. Essentially, no churn ice cream does not contain eggs, and relies on sweetened condensed milk to thicken the ice cream. The big draw to most of these recipes is that they do not require an ice cream machine. You just mix the ingredients and freeze. Sound perfect until you taste the ice cream. No matter what flavour you add, I find that the sweetened condensed milk overpowers everything. Plus, it has a strange texture. I don’t understand the appeal.

Rose’s recipe is extremely detailed and fool proof. She walks you through all the steps and explains why things work. I’m a big fan. Her first book “The Cake Bible” is the most dog eared book on my shelf. Published in 1988, it has stood the test of time.

I dipped the top of the sugar cones with melted chocolate and rolled it in toasted pecans, because we’re fancy here at saltandserenity. Plus, it makes a pretty picture. It’s all in the details.

To the base of salted caramel ice cream, I added buttered toasted pecans and chunks of caramel candy. You can make your own caramel candy, or just buy the Kraft caramels and cut them into quarters. For the chocolate, I envisioned ribbons of hot fudge sauce rippling through the ice cream. I made a simple hot fudge sauce and layered it through the ice cream before freezing. Then I drizzled on some extra after scooping.

Click here to print recipe for Turtle-Ice-CreamDownload

Wild Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

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I last blogged about this cake 10 years ago and while the recipe has stood the test of time, my photography has not. Here are a few images from then. Don’t you just love a good makeover?

Chances are, unless you live in the northeastern area of North America, it is unlikely you have ever experienced the wonder of a fresh from the bush wild blueberry. They differ wildly (pun intended!) from their sibling, the cultivated blueberry. They are smaller, sweeter and more flavourful. The majority of them are frozen and used by commercial bakers all over North America. But, if you are lucky to live in The Maritime provinces, Ontario, Quebec or Maine, you will understand why I squeal with joy when they finally arrive in late July each summer.

In our increasingly global economy, where you can get anything at any time of year, fresh wild blueberries remain one of the few holdouts! They are only available late July-September. And for that I am grateful. There is something to be said for delayed gratification. Sure, you can get cultivated blueberries all year long, from other parts of the world, but nothing compares to the sweetness and burst of blueberry flavour that explodes in your mouth when you eat the wild ones.

I have only ever met one person who does not prefer the wild ones over the cultivated…my mom! She says the wild ones are too small. But I still love her anyways!

This cake is moist and dense thanks to the addition of sour cream. It is studded with tons of little blueberries and the topping is a crunchy concoction made from pecans, oats, butter, brown sugar, flour and maple syrup. And the crunch from the topping is still just as crunchy on day 2, should there be any leftovers.

There are those who believe that it is a crime to bake with wild blueberries. They are purists and feel that the wild ones should be saved for eating raw and that coercing them into a baked good is heresy. They postulate that only cultivated blueberries should be used for baking. To that group of extremists I say, “Try the grey stuff, it’s delicious!” If you have ever created a muffin or cake with cultivated blueberries, you know of the baking fiasco I refer to. They burst during baking  turning the whole cake a disgusting shade of greyish blue. Wild blueberries are well behaved. They hold their shape perfectly during baking and do not explode.

While each summer I certainly I eat more than my body weight in raw wild blueberries, mixed with Greek yogurt and Double Coconut Granola, I defend the right to use them in baked goods  as well.

You could also bake these in muffin tins as mini streusel coffee cakes. Just don’t let wild blueberry season pass without making these. If you can’t find fresh wild blueberries, frozen will be fine. No need to defrost. Loblaws (Canada) and Trader Joe’s (USA) both carry frozen wild blueberries.

Click here to print recipe for Wild-Blueberry-Streusel-Coffee-CakeDownload

Labneh with Dukkah Topping

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Move over hummus, there’s a new dip in town. Bold statement, I know, but hear me out. Labneh is essentially yogurt strained past the point of even Greek yogurt, until it is ultra-thick. Middle Eastern in origin, it is often referred to as yogurt cheese. Lush and creamy, the texture is somewhere between cream cheese and fresh chevre.

If there is a Middle Eastern store in your area, you can probably buy labneh. If not, it’s easy to make your own. Mix whole milk (5%) plain yogurt (not Greek) with some salt, and strain it in cheesecloth for 24-48 hours.

Labneh is so versatile. You can spread it on toast, drizzle with honey and toasted hazelnuts and have it for breakfast. It’s a great substitute for mayo as a sandwich spread. Check out these other delicious creative ideas to use labneh.

My favourite way to eat labneh is as a dip. I love textural contrast in my food, so I topped this lush creamy dip with crunchy dukkah.

Dukkah is a Middle Eastern nut and spice mix. The first time I had it was at Mahane Yehuda Market  (The Shuk) in Jerusalem. Vendors there sell small paper cones filled with dukkah, along with strips of grilled pita bread.  You dip the bread into the vendor’s bowl of olive oil, dunk it into the cone of dukkah and then joyfully crunch and munch your way to a very happy place. (Obviously, this was before the pandemic! No one would dip their pita into a communal bowl of olive oil these days.)

The name dukkah originates from the Egyptian word “dakka,” which means “to crush,” which is what you do to many of the ingredients that go into the mix. There really is no classic recipe for dukkah. Just follow the basic ratio of 1 cup nuts: 1/2 cup sesame seeds: 4 tablespoons spices: 1 teaspoon kosher salt.

This dukkah combination was inspired by a recipe in the Summer 2020 issue of the LCBO magazine, Food & Drink. Almonds, walnuts, and pistachios provide the crunch while fennel seed, cumin, coriander and sumac provide the spice notes. Go wild and create your own custom Dukkah mix.

You will only need about 1/4-1/2 cup of dukkah to sprinkle over the labneh. Save the extra in the freezer and use it to coat fish or chicken for baking.

Warmed pita bread cut into wedges makes the perfect dipping companion. If you live in Ottawa, you need to buy Thyme and Again’s spiced pita chips (pictured here). They are addictive.

Add a bowl of salted nuts and some marinated olives and you have a perfect snack to serve with drinks.

Click here to print recipe for Labneh-with-Dukkah-ToppingDownload

Roasted Cherries and Whipped Ricotta Tartines

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Tartine is defined as an open faced sandwich, usually on toasted bread. It has come to mean “fancy toast”, as made popular by the charming Carrie Baird, one of my favourite cheftestants on Top Chef.

Tartines are an opportunity to use up all these little bits in the fridge and pantry, and call it dinner. This one came about because I had some cherries that were starting to go a bit soft. Cherries might not be the first fruit you think about roasting, but the heat of the oven causes the natural sugar in the cherries to caramelize resulting in a greater depth and intensity of cherry flavour!

I had a mix of Rainer and Bing cherries. Rainer cherry season is so short, I always get greedy and buy way more than we can possibly eat. This is a perfect solution for those leftover, slightly less than perfect cherries.

I seasoned the cherries with olive oil, a drizzle of honey and some thyme. They only take about 10 minutes in the oven. I was inspired by The Flavour Bible to pair cherries with thyme. It’s such an excellent resource book.

The whipped ricotta is an Ina Garten recipe. She starts with homemade ricotta, but gently tells us that store bought is fine. I had half a container of store bought, about to expire, languishing at the back of the middle shelf in my fridge, so I used that. The ricotta is mixed with a bit of feta, some cream cheese and a splash of lemon juice. It all gets buzzed in the food processor, for a creamy, tangy whipped dip.

I sliced up a baguette, on the diagonal, and toasted the slices, because we’re fancy here at salt and serenity. Leftover toasted sourdough slices would be very delicious.

Click here to print recipe for Roasted-Cherry-and-Whipped-Ricotta-TartineDownload

Pesto Eggs

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A few weeks ago, my daughter mentioned that she cooked fried eggs in pesto, instead of butter. She had seen someone make them on TikTok, and tried it with great results. Took me a few minutes to wrap my head around the concept, but it makes sense, because of the high oil content in pesto. Essentially, you’re just cooking the eggs in a flavoured oil.

I made a little video to show you how it all comes together. Store bought pesto is fine, but if you want to make your own, I have included a recipe below. I have so much basil in my garden now, I’m making pesto with abandon. I like to switch it up and try different nuts, instead of the traditional pine nuts. I love it with pistachios or walnuts. Just toast your nuts first please.

Roasted tomatoes make a fine accompaniment. I often find the little ones on the vine at Loblaws. It makes such a pretty presentation. Lightly drizzle tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 400°F oven to 10-15 minutes, just until they start to split open.

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Brown Butter Oatmeal Cornflake Cookies

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When Robyn over at Sweetish Co. posted about these cookies on Instagram a few weeks ago, my brain went on high alert. Oatmeal and cornflakes together in the same cookie? Sounded like breakfast to me!

I tweaked her recipe a bit and browned the butter first. Brown butter is the like the secret sauce of baked goods. It amplifies all the flavours. It adds depth, richness and a nutty caramel flavour to these cookies. Browning butter is not difficult, but you do need to allow some time to brown and then chill it, before making the dough.

I also added some raisins to the cookie dough, because according to my family, raisins are mandatory in oatmeal cookies. I think that they would also be excellent with dried tart cherries instead of raisins. If you are a more is more kind of person, a handful of milk or blonde chocolate chunks would not be amiss. I think that dark chocolate would be too overpowering though.

Butter is composed of butterfat, milk protein and water. When you brown butter, you are essentially toasting the milk protein. As you heat the butter, and it begins to bubble and sputter away, the water evaporates and the hot butterfat begins to cook the milk solids, turning them from creamy yellow to a splendid speckled brown colour and your whole kitchen smells like toasted hazelnuts. It’s insanely gorgeous!

Pro tip: If you want to adjust any of your cookie recipes to incorporate brown butter, remember that as the water evaporates during the browning process, the butter loses some moisture, 15-20-% loss. You need to make up for that lost moisture by adding some water to the dough. For every 113 grams (1 stick) of butter you brown, add 1 tablespoon water to the dough.

Although you can certainly bake the cookies right after making the dough, I would encourage you to chill the dough overnight. A 12-24 hour rest will really result in a better cookie. Chilling cookie dough does 3 things:

  1. Helps control spreading: Chilling solidifies the butter in the dough. Butter in chilled cookie dough takes more time to melt than butter in room temperature dough. The longer the butter stays solid, the less the cookies spread.
  2. Affects Flavour: As the dough spends time in the fridge, it dries out, thus concentrating the flavours of all the ingredients, and resulting in a more delicious cookie.
  3. Affects texture: Chilling allows the dry ingredients time to absorb the wet ingredients in the dough. This change in texture results in a chewier cookie with crispy edges. Cookies baked right after making the dough tend to be softer and doughier.

If you are a member of my youngest sister’s family, please feel free to omit the sprinkling of Maldon sea salt flakes. (Imagine my excitement when I discovered the jumbo tub!) The rest of you, please sprinkle a few flakes on each cookie before baking. It’s sublime.

Let me know if you bake these and what you think.

Click here to print recipe for Brown-Butter-Oatmeal-Cornflake-CookiesDownload