Author Archives: saltandserenity

The Ultimate Coconut Macaroons

7 Replies

Last night marked the first night of Passover. Traditionally, Jewish families, the world over, gather to retell the story of the Exodus of the Jewish people from slavery in. Egypt. When my son was little, he used to complain about having to go to the Seder. He’d say, “It’s so boring. Every year we tell the same story.” Which made my husband and I laugh, because, of course, that’s the whole point! We do this to link our past to our future, to teach the next generation. Never has the story of freedom been more relevant as now, when we await our own exodus from isolation back to freedom.

This story begins with the youngest person at the table asking the Four Questions (Mah Nishtanah). These four questions help to explain why this night is different from all other nights. This year, of course, this night is very different from all other years, because of Covid-19. In our family, we normally get together with my husband’s side on the first night, and my family on the second night. We both have huge families. I have 4 sisters and a brother and my husband has the opposite, 4 brothers and a sister. Our kids have 24 first cousins!

The Jewish people are an innovative tribe. Google, Waze, vaccines for polio, cholera and the bubonic plague, to mention but a few, were all created by Jews. During this time of social isolation, we innovate again and created a virtual Seder on Zoom.

Because we were’t able to be physically together, I mailed care packages of Passover desserts to my mom and siblings. Even in isolation, baking brings us closer together, and it has played a big part in alleviating my anxiety. This year I made marble matzoh crunch, milk chocolate almond matzoh crunch, PB&J macarons and coconut macaroons. When the lady at the post office asked the value of the packages, for insurance purposes, I almost said, priceless, because is there anything more special than receiving a box of treats in the mail?

I tried a new macaroon recipe this year. It was so good I had to share! The recipe comes from Danielle Kartes’ book Rustic Joyful Food. Food52.com posted them on Instagram and I was intrigued. They contain ingredients I have never used in coconut macaroons before.

A classic macaroon calls for mixing together egg whites, sweetened shredded coconut, sugar and vanilla. Danielle’s recipe omits the sugar and uses sweetened condensed milk. That really helps to make the macaroons moister and chewier in the centre. She uses the whole egg, not just the white,. The yolk adds richness and fat, helping to keep the macaroon from becoming crumbly and dry. She further enhances the flavour and texture by adding a stick of melted butter. The butter browns and caramelizes as it bakes, creating a rich and satisfying macaroon.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I am quite passionate about coconut. Thanks Danielle for upping my macaroon game to a new level. I’m very excited about these.

Click here to print recipe for The-Ultimate-Coconut-MacaroonsDownload

Challah with Pearls

10 Replies

This week I’m wavering between a state of anxiety and denial. It feels like we are in the middle of a Margaret Atwood dystopian novel, but, make no mistake, COVID-19 is very real.

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy and taking all the necessary precautions. Like most of my virtual friends, I’m staying in and baking. It helps me keep the anxiety at bay. There is even a hashtag for it, #stressbaking (over 22,000 posts on Instagram!). While I haven’t been hoarding toilet paper and Purell, I will admit to having a healthy stock of butter in my freezer. But that’s not because of the pandemic. I regularly have at least 8 pounds of butter in the freezer at any given time.

I have been wanting make this 5-strand braided challah for quite a while now. The inspiration comes from Katharina of the brilliant Instagram account @besondersgut. She is a bread goddess. I used my favourite challah recipe (2/3 all-purpose flour and 1/3 whole wheat) and her braiding and shaping technique. She calls it “Challah Chapelet”. I looked up the translation for chaplet, and discovered it means prayer beads, specifically, rosary beads. I thought it might be a bit sacrilegious to top my Shabbat challah with rosary beads, so my working title is, “Challah with Pearls.”

The shaping technique is actually very easy. The base is a 5 strand braid, which is one of the simplest to do. Once braided, you turn a 6th strand into a “string of pearls.” Check out the video I made.

https://youtu.be/gZ_hLoRjqbU

I was really thrilled with the results. I baked 5 challahs on Sunday and by the fourth I was fairly proficient with the shaping.

Any leftover challah is delicious for breakfast with butter, jam and honey.

Click here to print recipe for Challah-with-PearlsDownload

Blistered Tomato and Spaghetti Caprese

4 Replies

It’s only March and I’m already craving summer tomatoes. If you’re impatient like me, roast up a sheet pan of grape or cherry tomatoes and toss it with some pasta and fresh mozzarella. Close your eyes and pretend summer is here.

Treat the tomatoes with a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil, some salt and a hit of red pepper flakes. Roast in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Once the tomatoes start to burst and release their juices, remove from oven.

After cooking the spaghetti, I tossed it with a bit of tomato sauce. I love Rao’s. They don’t add any sugar or other sweeteners so it tastes like real tomatoes. It’s widely available in the U.S. In Canada, I buy it online. I also like to add about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar for a hit of acidity.

Finish with some fresh mozzarella and basil. This will tide you over until real summer tomatoes arrive.

Click here to print recipe for Blistered-Tomato-and-Spaghetti-CapreseDownload

Poppyseed Fig and Walnut Hamentashen

10 Replies

Purim begins this week at sundown on Monday March 9. For those not familiar with this Jewish holiday, I present to you a basic primer, my version of Purim 101. Essentially, the Festival of Purim commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in ancient Persia were saved from extermination. As in every good story, you have your heroes and your villans.

The heroes of the story are Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman living in Persia (now known as Iran), and her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as if she were his daughter. Esther was taken to the house of Achashveirosh, King of Persia, to become part of his harem. King Achashveirosh loved Esther more than his other concubines, and made Esther his queen. Like all intelligent wives, she kept a thing or two about herself hidden from her husband. Upon advice from her cousin Mordecai, she kept her Jewish identity a secret from the King.

Our story’s villan is Haman, a rather arrogant, egotistical advisor to the King. The King appointed Haman as his Prime Minister. Haman had a particular hate-on for Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down before Haman every time he passed by.  Rather than seeking to destroy Mordecai alone for this slight, Haman decided to take revenge on the entire Jewish population living in the Persian empire. The King gave Haman permission to do as he pleased. Haman’s plan was to exterminate all of the Jews. 

Nothing got past Queen Esther. She had her finger on the pulse on the kingdom. Somehow she overheard this plot to annihilate all the Jews. She consulted her cousin Mordecai and he persuaded Esther to speak to the king on behalf of the Jewish people. This was a dangerous thing for Esther to do, because anyone who came into the king’s presence without being summoned could be put to death, and she had not been summoned. She told him of Haman’s plot against her people and somehow convinced him to save the Jewish people. We’re never told exactly how she convinced him, but there are rumours! The Jewish people were saved, and Haman and his ten sons were hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai.

The holiday of Purim focuses on the pleasures of food and drink, more than any other Jewish holiday. It is a time for celebrating and letting go. In fact, traditional Jewish learning requires a person to drink until he cannot tell the difference between “cursed be Haman” and “blessed be Mordecai,” though opinions differ as to exactly how drunk that is. The traditional Purim treat is a little triangular cookie typically filled with a fruit or poppy-seed filling. The shape supposedly represents Haman’s three-cornered hat.

When I was a child, I didn’t know anyone who baked homemade hamentashen. They were always bought at Open Window Bakery in Toronto. There were 2 filling options, prune or poppyseed. Much like the New York vs. Montreal style bagel debate, a prune vs. poppyseed debate can also get quite ugly. Our family liked the prune ones better. I never really liked the texture or flavour of a poppyseed filling. But I do love a poppyseed cookie!

The hamentashen of choice in my husband’s family are my Aunt Carol’s Hamentashen, I always make a big batch of those, but every year I challenge myself to come up a new flavour. I wondered what would happen if I put poppyseed in the dough? I started with the very delicious butter dough from Jake Cohen at the feedfeed and added a heaping tablespoon of poppyseeds.

I have recently become enamoured with this fig jam (it’s killer on a cheese plate), and figured it would make a wonderful pairing with the poppyseed dough.

If you’re a Hamentashen novice, here are a few tips for success:

  • Roll dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and chill before cutting into circles
  • Don’t overfill with jam. You will regret it when they burst open on the oven.
  • Brush edges of dough with beaten egg. it acts as an effective glue to hold them together.
  • Pinch edges and corners really well when shaping.
  • Freeze formed hamentashen for about 10 minutes before baking. They will hold their shape better.
  • Brush unbaked hamentashen with beaten egg white for some shine.

While they were quite delicious plain, I wanted to add an additional layer of texture, so I dipped one side in honey and then into toasted chopped walnuts. The bitterness of the walnuts plays so nicely with the sweetness of the fig jam. Plus, it looks so pretty.

Click here to print recipe for Poppyseed-Fig-and-Walnut-HamentashenDownload

Homemade Pizza

Leave a reply

A while ago I arrived home to discover a pizza oven on my front doorstep. While I was delighted, I couldn’t recall buying one. Given my history of late night online ordering, my husband gently suggested that perhaps senility was starting to set in. I admitted that I am beginning to become a bit forgetful, but I don’t think I would let a pizza oven slip from my memory. I take pizza very seriously.

Turns out, it was a gift from my husband’s sister. Her husband saw it and decided that we must have it. We immediately put it to use. Over the past year, that baby has cranked out over 48 pizzas. I have learned a thing or two about pizza making that I’d like to share with you.

https://youtu.be/EBWPLtkWly8

Let’s start with the foundation, the crust. You could, of course start with a store bought pizza crust. But, what if I told you that, in less than 5 minutes, you could make your own dough, that is infinitely better than any store bought. The catch is, that once you mix the flour, water, salt and yeast together in a bowl, you need to wait at least 18 hours before you can use it. You will look at this wet gloppy mess and wonder how this will ever turn into dough. Take a leap of faith and be patient. The slow fermentation results in the most gorgeous stretchy, bubbly dough.

To shape the dough, never use a rolling pin. Stretching by hand will create a crunchy, chewy, light and bubbly crust. King Arthur Flour made a great video that I highly recommend watching a few times before you start. Remember, you are not aiming for a perfect circle. Pizza should be rustically beautiful.

Next, consider the sauce. Most store bought pizza sauces contain sugar, which makes them cloyingly sweet. Instead, buy a can of San Marzano crushed Italian plum tomatoes. Mix with garlic, salt and olive oil and let sit for about an hour. No cooking needed. The sauce is bright and flavourful. You only need a few tablespoons of sauce on each pizza. Too much makes the dough too wet.

For toppings, keep it simple. Too many toppings make it too heavy and you will have problems sliding it into the oven. After the sauce, I like to add 2 kinds of mozzarella. The first is low moisture mozzarella. I’m talking about the inexpensive, pale yellow stuff sold in blocks at the supermarket. That’s what gives you the stretchy pizza pull. Then, get a small piece of fresh mozzarella, to dot judiciously on the pizza. Too much fresh mozzarella will leave wet puddles on your pizza. A third more flavourful cheese, like provolone or fontina could be added, but not too much. Fresh halved grape tomatoes or some olives could be added. A drizzle of olive oil and a shaving of Parmesan would be welcome. If you want to add fresh basil, wait until it is cooked or it will wilt in the oven.

Whether you cook this in a BBQ top pizza oven, or on a pizza stone in your oven, wait until it is thoroughly preheated before you top your pizza. A pizza peel is very helpful to slide the pizza into the oven. I like to put my pizza crust on a piece of parchment paper, slightly larger than the diameter of the dough, and build the pizza there. It will easily slide into the oven. Once it has been baking for about 2-3 minutes, use the pizza peel to slide pizza out and pull away and discard parchment. It will burn if left in too long. You just want to let the crust start firming up a bit before pulling it out.

Your first few pizzas may look a bit rustic but they will taste amazing and the shaping gets easier with practice.

Click here to print recipe for Perfect-Homemade-Pizza-MargheritaDownload

Mushroom Farro Soup

6 Replies

The last time I made this soup, William and Kate were wed, Kim Kardashian divorced after a 72 day marriage, Oprah’s final episode aired and Charlie Sheen had an epic meltdown. The year was 2011. Here’s a photo from that blog post.

Both my photos and the recipe were in need of a makeover! I replaced the beef stock with a roasted vegetable stock and I think it’s even better. Taking the time to roast the vegetables for the stock add a depth of flavour that most boxed vegetable stocks are missing. But if you’re pressed for time, Swanson and Imagine brands both make a pretty decent boxed organic low sodium veggie stock.

The other change I made was to swap out the barley for farro. Farro, is a nutty wheat grain that stays a bit chewier than barley. Both are quite high in fibre and protein. The soup uses both fresh and dried mushrooms. The flavour of dried mushrooms is concentrated and intense, which makes them spectacular for adding depth and richness to soups and sauces.

Finish the soup with 2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar. It brightens the soup and adds a welcome hit of acidity to this rich broth. A generous sprinkling of dill and parsley make a pretty and tasty garnish.

Click here to print recipe for Mushroom-Farro-soupDownload
Click here to print recipe for Roasted-Vegetable-StockDownload

Coconut and Lime Shortbread Cookies (Copycat Nice Biscuits)

2 Replies

Homemade cookies were not really a big part of my childhood. My mom was more into creating fancy whipped jello molds and elaborate gingerbread villages.

So, it was boxed cookies for me and my siblings. For special occasions my mom bought Peak Frean Playbox Cookies. They were iced cookies with beautiful colours and designs. For everyday, we loved Dad’s Oatmeal Cookies, Oreo and Arrowroot baby cookies. I am one of 6 children, so there were always babies in the house! My very favourite cookies were Nice biscuits.

I was craving them recently, but couldn’t find them at the grocery store. So, I did what any sane person would do, and decided to make my own. A quick online search led me to Martha Collinson’s blog. I knew that her copycat version would be a great place to start. Martha was a contestant on The Great British Bake Off in 2014. As the youngest ever contestant to date, aged just 17, she managed to make it all the way to the quarter-finals!

I slightly adapted Martha’s recipe by adding some lime zest to the dough.

I wanted that trademark fluted edge so I busted out my fluted pastry cutter. I bought it when I was in cooking school in the last century, and this was my first time using it! As a nod to Valentine’s Day, I cut out little hearts.

Tender with a crunchy bite, these cookies took me right back to my childhood. The lime zest added a welcome hit of slight acidity and they smelled amazing.

Click here to print recipe for Coconut -Lime-Shortbread-Cookies-Copycat-Nice-Biscuits-

Browned Butter Pretzel Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies

6 Replies

Cookies are a subject I take very seriously. They are my passion. I won’t waste your time by posting meh cookies. I’m really stoked to share this cookie recipe with you. Created by Molly Adams over at thefeedfeed.com, they are an outrageous, over the top indulgence. Make them this week for someone you love.

I’m not gonna lie, these cookies are a bit of work. Start by browning the butter. I promise, it’s worth taking the extra time and and dirtying another pot. If you have never browned butter before, here’s an excellent tutorial to guide you. You could skip this step, but why would you want to? It adds a deep, rich, nutty flavour and everyone will ask why your chocolate chip cookies are so good.

The browned butter needs to chill in the freezer for about 30 minutes, before creaming with brown and white sugar. Eggs and vanilla are added, then flour, baking soda and salt. And then, it gets exciting!

https://youtu.be/JvARwiD3rno

Let’s talk about chocolate. So often, friends have told me, “My cookies never taste as good as yours. I followed the recipe. What went wrong?” 90% of the time, the answer is the kind of chocolate they used. (The other 10% of the time, its the temperature of the butter – too warm). Avoid regular chocolate chips and spring for the good stuff. I have made these with chopped Lindt 70% bittersweet bars, Valrhona 64% bittersweet feves, and this week, I discovered these delicious Belgian bittersweet wafers at Bulk Barn.

Mini pretzel twists work best in this recipe. Chopped pretzels go into the dough and then after scooping the cookies, I topped each one with a whole pretzel.

Let’s chat about the toffee addition. Molly suggests making your own toffee bits to add to the cookies. It’s not a difficult process, if you have a candy thermometer. Using Skor bits is an excellent ready-made option, if homemade is not for you. No judgement! if you decide to make it, here’s a how-to video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLM43lY8fkA&feature=youtu.be
Click here to print recipe for-Brown Butter-Pretzel-Toffee-Chocolate-Chunk-Cookies

Download

Blood Orange and Gin Cocktail

2 Replies

I think we need to celebrate the fact that that we made it through January. Winter has never been my favourite season. I have tried to embrace the season by getting outdoors, cross country skiing and ice skating on the world’s longest skating rink, but, as my husband and I like to remind each other, “Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.” Wise advice for many life situations.

One of the few things that I do love about winter is blood oranges. They taste similar to navel oranges, with a slightly more floral, almost, raspberry flavour. They’re not quite as sweet as a navel orange and they have a slight hint of bitterness, which is part of their unique allure.

My favourite thing about blood oranges is the surprise element. You never know what you’re going to get when you slice one open. Sometimes they’re mostly orange, lightly veined with some ruby colouration, other times they’re vermillion and once in a while a vivid crimson is revealed. Blood oranges are one of the few good surprises left in life anymore.

I love the fact that, in this age of instant gratification, when we can get anything we want, at any time, blood oranges are only available for a few short months each year. What gives the flesh their unique hue is the presence of anthocyanins which is an antioxidant pigment. This pigment only develops if the fruit develops with low temperatures during the night. The pigment continues to develop after harvest if they are kept in cold storage.

I love baking with them. Their vibrant colour makes a beautiful glaze for bundt cake, a vibrant curd for a meringue tart, and a tangy caramel to drizzle on ice cream.

This season I decided to use them in a cocktail. While I dislike drinking cocktails, (wine for me please), I love making and photographing them. I used the blood orange in two ways for this gin based cocktail. The juice was added to some gin, a splash of Aperol and topped with sparkling blood orange soda. Then I brûléed a slice to garnish the drink. This step is optional, but so much fun. It can also be done in a skillet. The directions are in the recipe.

Click here to print recipe for Blood -Orange-and-Gin-CocktailDownload

Oat and Honey Soda Bread

3 Replies

There is something so gratifying about pulling a loaf of freshly baked bread from your oven. A yeast raised loaf takes time and a moderate amount of skill. Not everyone has the patience or desire. That’s where soda bread comes in. No yeast required. The leavening comes from baking soda.  When baking soda comes into contact with an acidic liquid, such as buttermilk, yogurt, lemon juice, or even molasses and coffee, it produces carbon dioxide gas, and the bread rises.

The simplicity of soda bread is what makes it so appealing. You probably have all of the necessary ingredients in your house already. The only thing you’ll need to go out for is some buttermilk. Regular milk soured with some lemon juice or vinegar just won’t produce the same results. If you’re like me, you likely have some leftover buttermilk in the freezer, because most recipes never use up the whole container. The addition of dried fruit and nuts is considered heresy in Ireland, but I added some raisins and toasted walnuts and thought it was delicious. Your call.

This soda bread is the perfect vehicle for delivering butter and honey to your mouth.

This recipe was created by Chef Karen Barnaby I have a very soft spot in my heart for Chef Karen. I worked for her many years ago, at the David Wood Food Shop in Toronto. I was pregnant with my first child. During my first trimester I had very powerful carb cravings. Everyday for lunch, Karen would make me a huge bowl of mashed potatoes, whipped with butter and cream, and then she would melt in a big handful of aged cheddar cheese. It was heavenly.

This soda bread is made with whole wheat flour and oats, so it’s quite a dense loaf but that’s what I love about it. The crust is craggy and the inside has a coarse open grain. Karen’s recipe is unique, as the dough contains a small amount of butter. It really helps to add some tenderness to the crumb. Watch how quickly the dough comes together.

The key to great soda bread is minimal mixing. Basically, you’re just coaxing it into shape. No vigorous kneading required . After adding the buttermilk you will think you made a mistake, as the dough will be very wet. It’s supposed to be. The high hydration level is necessary for the whole wheat flour and oats.

Honey adds a touch of sweetness and buttermilk gives it a tangy note.

Because it is such a wet dough, it must be baked in a pot with a lid. An 8 or 9 inch Dutch oven is ideal for this. In a pinch, you could also use a deep cake pan and turn a stainless steel bowl upside down as a lid. Line your pot or pan with parchment paper and gently pat the dough into a round. Using a sharp knife, score the top with an X, to let the steam, or as some legends go, the fairies, escape.

Click here to print recipe for Oat and Honey Soda Bread