Leeks have never achieved the same popularity in North America as they have in Europe, and that’s a shame. Leeks are the shy cousin of the low-brow onion. Shyness in this case, is a good thing. Cutting them does not cause tears, and their delicate flavour is much sweeter than the common onion. Their natural flavour partner is peas. What better way to put leeks and peas together, than in a tart. No tart pan required, just simply fold the edges of dough in to form a free-form galette. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may recall that I have posted about galettes before, here, and here, here, and here. Apparently I have a thing for galettes. In this version, I spread the dough with some dijon mustard for zing, scattered the mustard with Gruyere cheese because, cheese! After the leeks and peas I topped the galette with an egg because everything is better with an egg on top.
The first time I made them I added the egg just before I put the tart into the oven. The tart takes about 35 minutes, which totally dried out the egg. You want the white to be just set and the yolk a bit runny. On my second go-round I baked the tart without the egg for about 25 minutes and then topped it with the egg for the last 10 minutes of baking. Perfect!
What I love about this galette is that you can serve it hot, warm or room temperature. It’s great for lunch or a light dinner, or cut it into wedges and serve it with drinks. What are you waiting for? Make it today.
If you were at the McCrae Avenue Farm Boy store in Ottawa last Saturday afternoon, and heard a high pitched squeal, that was me. For the past month I have been watching my instagram feed blow up with images of rhubarb creations. I wanted in on the fun, but there no rhubarb anywhere in my neck of the woods.
To be clear, this was not local rhubarb. It’s still too early for that here. It was that pretty pink “forced” rhubarb, which I love way more, because of that gorgeous hue. If you follow me on instagram you may have caught my teaser video.
Cooked rhubarb can be a bit mushy in texture, so I like to combine it with another fruit. Strawberries are the classic pairing, but I went rogue and opted for raspberries.
The rhubarb needs to be cooked before it can go into the tart. Roasting helps retain that pretty shade of pink. It needs sugar to tame the its astringency and some orange zest to enhance the flavour and aroma. I drained the roasted rhubarb to get rid of any excess liquid, so that my tart bottom would not get soggy. Mary Berry does not like soggy bottoms. The raspberries get mixed in after the rhubarb is roasted.
I used a deep dish 8 inch tart pan, with a removable bottom, for a dramatic presentation. You could also use a springform pan. For fun, because that’s what my life has come to, I doubled the recipe and also made 6 mini tarts.As has been the case lately, this recipe took more than one attempt to get it just right. But I am happy to report that I nailed it on the second try!
In my first attempt I pre-baked the crust for 20 minutes, added the filling, topped it with a simple French meringue and baked it for a further 30 minutes. The delicate raspberries turned to mush, the bottom crust was soggy and the meringue turned brown and was really tough and chewy.
On the second attempt I pre-baked the crust for almost 35 minutes, so that it was totally golden brown and gorgeously flaky and crispy. To solve the meringue dilemma, I turned to pastry wizard “Bravetart ” (aka Stella Parks) and she pointed me in the direction of a Swiss meringue. The main difference between the two types of meringue is that in a Swiss meringue, you heat the egg whites and sugar first, before whipping them. In a French meringue, there is no pre-heating before whipping. A Swiss meringue whips up fluffier and more stable than its French cousin and it is safe to eat without additional cooking time. If you are curious and want to learn more, Stella wrote a great piece on Serious Eats about it. I topped the pre-baked tart shells with the rhubarb-raspberry filling, topped them with the Swiss meringue, and baked them for a brief 10 minutes just to give the meringue a golden kiss. The raspberries maintained their integrity and the meringue was pillowy soft, fluffy and SOOOOO delicious, like the very best homemade marshmallows. Perfect with a cup of tea!
This is the quintessential summer salad. Tender crunchy green beans and sweet, sun-kissed tomatoes. Sadly, we are still several months away from those beans and tomatoes, but we can fake it.
Most of the year, green beans look so full of promise, all bright and green, but in truth, they are imposters. Once you cook them, they disappoint. If you try to cook them briefly, they never have that fresh snap of summer beans, they just come out tough and leathery. If you try to cook them longer, to get them tender, they just end up mushy. And let’s not even talk about winter tomatoes. Red cardboard, disguised as a tomato. Enough said.
To satisfy my craving for verdant crunch, I bought haricots vert, those skinny pricey green beans. I’m sure my carbon footprint is huge, because they were probably from Kenya or Guatemala, but I wanted that tender crunch. Getting sweet tomatoes out of season is as simple as buying the little grape or cherry tomatoes. They have much better texture and flavour than their big sisters. Bonus points if you can find the rainbow baby tomatoes. With the addition of toasted pine nuts, olives, capers and some ricotta salata, this salad had a decidedly Sicilian bent. For the dressing I whisked together anchovy paste (please use it even if you don’t think you like anchovies, it adds a powerful umami punch without tasting fishy), dijon mustard, garlic, lemon juice, white wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Don’t forget to garnish with fresh basil leaves.
I just got back from a long weekend trip to London, with my husband, and I am filled with so much inspiration. My god-daughter, who lived in London for a few years, sent me a list of some of her favourite restaurants. Our agenda included as many meals as we could fit in, as well as lots of walking to burn off all those calories. We ate at The Palomar, Yotam Ottolenghi’s Nopi,Dishoom, Bocca di Lupo, and Opso.
On Sunday, my husband went to a soccer match and I attended a workshop titled, “The Art of Food Stories”, put on by two of my favourite food photographers, Rachel Korinek and Bea Lubas. I will write another post about that experience next week, so stay tuned.
One of the most unique and delicious things I tasted was Sumac-Ade at The Palomar. Serving the food of modern day Jerusalem, the menu is strongly influenced by Southern Spain, North Africa and the Levant. (new term for me!!)
Sumac is a spice typically used in Middle East cooking. If you’ve ever had za’atar, then you know sumac. Mixing it into a cocktail is not a very common use of this spice but when you consider the flavour profile of this spice, it makes sense. It has a bright citrus flavour, and is used wherever you want a hit of fresh acidity.
The waiter described it as sparkling lemonade flavoured with sumac. I had to try it. One sip and I was hooked. The tart acidity of the sumac really enhanced the lemonade. I sent the waiter off on a reconnaissance mission to find out how it was made. He came back after consulting with the resident mixologist and explained that she infuses sumac in vodka for 3 days. Then she strains it and adds a small spoonful of it to a large glass filled with ice and fresh lemonade. The drink gets topped off with a big splash of soda water. Although their version was essentially non-alcoholic (just a spoonful of sumac vodka), I decided to create an alcoholic version. While you could use store bought lemonade, it really is better with fresh. You’ll need lots of lemons!It takes a bit of advance planning, but once you make the sumac infusion and lemonade, it’s quick to put together. Fill a large glass with ice. Add lemonade, plain vodka, and a spoonful of the sumac infused vodka. Top with soda water, stir and watch that gorgeous pink colour appear.
This week marks my baby’s 25th birthday. A quarter of a century! How is that possible? I think that officially makes me old, but I’m good with that. I’ve earned my wrinkles. I view them as badges of wisdom.
For his birthday cake, I knew that chocolate of some sort must be incorporated. Last year I went full-on chocolate with the ultimate gluten-free chocolate cake. I think his favourite was the smarties rainbow cake I made a few years ago. Ever since I saw the cookies and cream cake on preppy kitchen, I have wanted to recreate it. You need to check out his blog. I have picked up so many baking tips from him. Do you know about cake strips? They’re wrapped around the cake pan and they help prevent domed and cracked tops and over-cooked edges. I used them for these cakes and I had the most level cakes ever. No trimming necessary.
My son follows a mostly gluten-free diet so I created a GF version. The original cake used chopped Oreos in the batter. I found GF ones at Trader Joes, but there are several other brands of GF chocolate sandwich cookies. I made a Swiss meringue buttercream. It is a bit more work than an American buttercream, but I think the light and silky texture is worth it.
I am fortunate to be blessed with 14 nephews and 10 nieces. My nephews will inhale anything I cook or bake for them. The nieces are a bit more finicky. Two of them are vegetarian and two are vegan. One of them insists that white chocolate is the devil’s spawn. She even refused to try blonde chocolate (caramelized white chocolate). She is stubborn. Her mom says it comes from her father’s side of the family.
Although I don’t follow a vegan diet, I feel that every good baker should have one or two vegan treats in their repertoire, that they can easily whip up in the event of a vegan guest. I made these cookies for my #1 (in chronological order) niece. She thought they were fantastic. I’m going to try a few more different recipes and I’ll report back to you.
This recipe comes from the “Oh She Glows” website. Baking chocolate chip cookies without butter and eggs is a challenge. This recipe uses coconut oil and almond butter as the main sources of fat and arrowroot flour acts as a binding ingredient, holding the cookies together. They are sweetened with maple syrup, and of course dark chocolate. Use the very best quality bittersweet chocolate you can find. I adore Valhrona 64% feves. Oat flour, almond flour and oatmeal combine to take the place of all-purpose flour, so they are gluten free too!
Chill the dough for about an hour to prevent the cookies from spreading too much. I used a #30 ice cream scoop to form the cookies. That way, you ensure they are all exactly the same size and will bake evenly. A final sprinkle of flaky sea salt before they go into the oven, is a prefect finishing touch.
Blondies are often described as brownies without chocolate. I think that definition is insulting to Blondies. It’s like saying that women are men without penises. No, blondies have their own distinct charm and personality and it’s all about the brown sugar.Whereas brownies depend on chocolate for their flavour, for blondies it’s all about the brown sugar, giving the blondies their unique molasses flavour. Rich and chewy, with caramel undertones, they are a special dessert in their own right. If you are asking me to choose between a Brownie and a Blondie, I am team Blondie all the way. Although my sister Jody’s brownies are unparalleled!
A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a recipe on the Valrhona web site for blondies studded with chopped blonde chocolate. I have written about the glories of blonde chocolate here before. The folks at Valhrona roast white chocolate to coax out its caramel/butterscotch notes. Typically, butterscotch chips are added to Blondies. I loved the idea of using chopped blonde chocolate instead.
I wanted to put my twist on these Blondies. In my mind, I was envisioning a triple layered treat. A crunchy salty pretzel base and a chewy Blondie top layer sandwiched together with a blanket of salted caramel.It took me five tries to get this right. The first time, I baked the pretzel crust for about 10 minutes, added a layer of slightly cooled salted caramel and topped that with the Blondie batter. I baked the whole thing for 20 minutes, let it cool, and then sliced it into squares. As I cut it, I realized that the Blondie batter was under baked, and too gooey. They were still delicious but not what I had envisioned. Into the freezer the first batch went, for snacking.
The second time, I baked them for 30 minutes and a toothpick inserted into the top layer tested done. I let them cool, and proceeded to slice them into squares. The caramel oozed as I cut and I noticed that it had seeped under the pretzel crust. My vision of 3 distinct tidy layers had not been achieved. Again, still very delicious, but not what I had in mind. Batch 2 went into the freezer, making my husband very happy. In case you were wondering, they are absolutely fantastic straight from the freezer.
I realized I was compounding the problem, by baking the caramel sauce between the two layers. What if I baked the pretzel crust and Blondie batter layer separately and then sandwiched the two together with the caramel sauce. Yes, a bit more work, but it would be worth the effort if it worked. This trial was en epic fail. The layers did not hold together and it was just a big gooey mess. This batch went straight into the garbage.
These blondies were keeping me up at night, and not just from the sugar rush because I couldn’t stop snacking on them. I just couldn’t let go of my vision of three separate layers. It’s all about the photographs these days, and these just weren’t camera ready.
My husband came home that night to a very excited me, babbling on about a brilliant solution I had come up with to my big problem. I entered “Thick caramel layer that slices neatly” into the search box and Dr Google prescribed the Australian treat, “Caramel Slice.”
In this treat, sweetened condensed milk is cooked with brown sugar to make the caramel layer. It is meant to be baked in the oven. I replaced my traditional caramel sauce recipe with this version and tried again. Sure enough, these sliced up beautifully, and the three layers, (pretzel crust, caramel filling and blondie topping) were visible and distinct. We tasted them and while they were quite good, they didn’t have the deep caramel/toffee flavour that you can only get from cooking sugar to 380°F and making real caramel.
And then I remembered an article I had read in Cook’s Illustrated for a Chocolate Caramel layer cake. They described the problem of the caramel oozing when the cake was cut. They solved it by adding additional butter to the caramel sauce so that it would set up more firm at room temperature. I decided to try one last time. I made my favourite caramel sauce recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum, and I doubled the butter. This batch was a home run. It was perfectly balanced. it sliced up into three distinct layers. The almost bitter caramel layer in the center is the perfect bridge for the crunchy, salty bottom layer and the sweet, chewy top layer. Just a word on cutting these into squares. A very sharp knife, run under hot water and then dried, before each cut will give you those pristine clean edges. You know who you are and you will either follow my advice because pristine neat tidy edges are important to you (Hello Jody), or you don’t care about such things and will hack them into bite sized pieces, willy nilly, because they are still delicious no matter how you cut them (hello Bo). No judgment here, Just make them and enjoy them.
P.S. This morning, I heard my husband cursing these Blondies, as he stepped on the scale. I promised to stop making them.
On Sunday, in Ottawa, we are expecting 10 centimetres of snow. I figured it was a perfect time to post a lovely spring cocktail.
The black in the title of this drink refers to Ribena, a blackcurrantconcentrate. Ribena was developed in the UK in 1938. It was originally marketed as a healthy drink for kids, owing to its distribution to children as a vitamin C supplement during World War II by the British government. I think it was served to us at snack-time when I was in kindergarten.This is a totally adult version, with gin, lime juice, tonic and lots of ice. I discovered this recipe in the Spring 2013 issue of Food&Drink magazine. Don’t forget to garnish with a few blackberries. We’re going to be fancy! If you want to go the mocktail route, a splash of Ribena is delicious with San Pellegrino and a lime wedge.
Clearly no local asparagus was harmed in the making of this soup. I had to rely on Mexico’s finest. I used leeks instead of onions as my allium choice. I prefer their gentler flavour profile for this soup. Sautee leeks and a touch of garlic. I opted for vegetable stock over chicken as I really wanted to let the flavours of the vegetables to shine through. Frozen peas are perfect for this. Puree the soup in the blender. After that, I am asking you, very nicely, to please strain the soup through a wire mesh sieve. Asparagus is a very fibrous vegetable. Straining it will give you the most velvety texture. I made some toasted breadcrumbs to sprinkle on top of the soup, I love a bit of crunch with smooth soups. When you are cutting up the asparagus, save the tips. Blanch them in boiling water and use them as a pretty garnish. A drizzle of cream or some really fruity extra-virgin olive oil is a beautiful way to finish this soup.
Marbled Matzoh Crunch is my spin on Marcy Goldman’s “Caramel Matzoh Buttercrunch”, from her classic book, A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking.
Making Matzoh Crunch, on the surface, looks like a fairly simple process.
But, there are a few details you need to pay careful attention to, so that it comes out perfectly.
Make sure you line the baking sheet with foil and then lay a sheet of parchment on top of that. If you use only parchment paper, you will be scrubbing baked on caramel off the pan. If you use only foil, you will have a very hard time peeling the hardened matzoh crunch off of the foil.
Do not use chocolate chips. Buy good quality bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate and chop it up, or buy couverture chocolate callets. Chocolate chips have less cocoa butter in them so they keep their shape during baking, making them more difficult to melt and they have less flavor than bars or callets.
Use real white chocolate. Many products out there that look like white chocolate, especially chips, contain very little, if any, cocoa butter.They will not melt into a smooth liquid, like real white chocolate.
When cutting your matzoh to fit into the baking sheet, cut along the dotted lines the matzoh has, not across them. It will cut into straight pieces.
When cooking the butter and brown sugar, you will get to a point where the butter will separate from the brown sugar and look like an oily mess. Keep stirring and it will come together and thicken and bubble. That’s when it’s ready to pour onto the matzoh.
Do not omit the step where you sprinkle the wet chocolate with the sea salt. Chocolate and caramel are sweet. You need the salt.
Once the chocolate is set, remove it from the fridge and let it sit for about 30 minutes before cutting it into pieces. If you cut it cold, right from the fridge, the chocolate layer will separate from the caramel covered matzoh. If you wait until the chocolate softens a bit, it will stay sogether with the caramel. A very sharp knife is essential. For an alternate version, use milk chocolate and chopped toasted almonds. Also very delicious.
Leeks have never achieved the same popularity in North America as they have in Europe, and that’s a shame. Leeks are the shy cousin of the low-brow onion. Shyness in this case, is a good thing. Cutting them does not cause tears, and their delicate flavour is much sweeter than the common onion. Their natural flavour partner is peas.
What better way to put leeks and peas together, than in a tart. No tart pan required, just simply fold the edges of dough in to form a free-form galette. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may recall that I have posted about galettes before, here, and here, here, and here. Apparently I have a thing for galettes.
In this version, I spread the dough with some dijon mustard for zing, scattered the mustard with Gruyere cheese because, cheese! After the leeks and peas I topped the galette with an egg because everything is better with an egg on top.
