Coffee Cake Sounds Great!

The past couple of weeks have been busy. Registering for Food Revolution, registering for this years Art Walk, painting and of course the forever growing list of errands. However I managed to make this classic... coffee cake. The shear name just conjures up a few images... sitting around a table with friends sipping coffee, laughing and nibbling away, grabbing a quick snack, a comforting dessert, brunch or visiting a friend and refusing to go empty handed. Whichever images first come to mind about coffee cake no one can refuse it's cozy charm. As casual as this cake can be I wanted to make it a bit uplifting. I added a few tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice and the zest of one orange to the list of ingredients. I found the flavour to be a bit subtle however not unnoticeable. Next time you make a classic recipe try adding an ingredient. Playing around with flavours can be great. All so it's a lovely way to engage kids and grownups at the dinner table by asking them if they can tell what the "secret" ingredient is. - JW     

Savoury Bread Pudding

This week I made savoury bread pudding. I made a huge pan so there would be plenty of leftovers. Although I see bread pudding as being a dish one would snuggle up to during the coldest months of the year, I can also see this fluffy seasoned dish making an appearance or two during the warmer months as well. 

To make this Savoury Bread Pudding you will need the following:

1 red onion, diced

approximately 10 mushrooms, sliced

small pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

a bunch of spinach or kale or swiss chard, chopped

olive oil

balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar

thyme

tarragon

rosemary

summer savoury

smoky paprika

1 loaf of day old bread

8 eggs

2 cups of milk

salt and pepper  

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. 

Prepare all the vegetables. In a pan add some olive oil. Turn the element on to medium high heat. Once the oil has warmed up, add the onion. Stir. When the onion has soften a bit, add the mushrooms. Stir. Add the tomatoes. Stir again and let those vegetables simmer for a bit. When the mushrooms and tomatoes have soften a bit add the greens of your choice. Now the pan may look like it's going to overflow. Do not worry everything will simmer down. You made need to add some more olive oil and at this time you can add the balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar. Stir to make sure everything is not sticking and gets coated with the oil and vinegar. Now it's time to add the herbs and seasoning. I didn't give exact measurements on the herbs and seasonings because you can adjust those to your liking. Once everything has simmered and looks like this...

  

I must say at this point the aroma was very inviting. Everything in the pan had come together nicely. Remove from heat and now it's time to prepare the bread. The day old loaf you use doesn't have to be pre sliced. Since mine was, I cut each slice in half making two triangle pieces. Once all the slices have been cut, butter the bottom of the baking dish. 

Arrange half the bread slices on the bottom of the pan. Take some of those lovely simmered down veggies and spread over the slices of bread. Then placing the remaining slices of bread on top of that and using the remaining veggie mixture on top. Now there is no rhyme or reason to placing the bread. Just place them as you see fit. Trust me when  all is said and done nobody is going to notice how the slices of bread were or weren't arranged. That is the pure charm of this dish. 

Break the eggs in a large bowl and add the milk, salt and pepper. Mix together. Then pour over top of the bread layered with the veggie mixture. Making sure everything gets coated. Pop in a preheated, 375ºF oven for about 40 minutes or until everything is puffy, golden and the eggs have set. Serve immediately with grated cheese on top. 

You can always change the order of the prep work by slicing the bread first, buttering the pan then chopping the veggies and continuing from there. Bread pudding whether sweet or savoury is such a labour of delightful comfort. - JW  

    

Grandmother's Household Secrets

Before Mrs. Beeton there was your grandmother... well that is not entirely true, Mrs. Beeton was before your grandmother. However as much as an influential woman she was in household management before your mother and you, there was another influential woman, your grandmother. This book is not about household management. It is more about home remedies and baking with particular ingredients. Like vinegar, honey, lemon, bicarbonate of soda, and salt. Classic household remedies to beautify your skin, clean your home, and culinary ideas to delight. This 5 book set comes in a handy durable cardboard case to keep them all together so you will know exactly where they are at all times. I adore the fanciful illustrations. Those two adorn both the front and back case. This set will become apart of my kitchen "go to" books. Yes, I do tend to designate my cookbooks into categories. 

There are many helpful hints and tips some you have probably heard before or seen floating around the internet on all avenues of social media. Each book contains over 300, they state this, traditional hints, tips and recipes. The honey book only contains 250. The recipes in the salt book I find more what I would call technical recipes... bread making, cheese making, cured meats, sauces and seasonings. The "What is" and "Throughout History" in each book gives you a better understanding of the ingredients being featured.

One recipe I found interesting came from the bicarbonate of soda, baking soda, book. It's a recipe for rice cake. Which is great if you can not eat wheat. And lately I meet more and more people who have to avoid wheat. Most of my baking and cooking isn't gluten/wheat-free so I thought I would add this one into the recipe file and share with you.  

Butter Rice Cake

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175 g (6 oz) rice cake flour

125 g (4 1/2 oz) soften butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

175 g (6 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

3 eggs, lightly whisked

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 

1 teaspoon mixed spiced

110 ml (4 fl oz) milk

Preheat the oven to 150º C (300ºF, gas mark 2)

Sift together the rice cake flour, baking powder. baking soda and mixed spice.

Place the butter, sugar, eggs and milk into a bowl and beat well.

Fold in the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.

Grease a 20 cm (8 in) round cake tin and line with baking paper. 

Spoon in the mixture and bake for 55 minutes or until cooked. Allow to cool slightly, then turn on to a wire rack. 

Seeing how I just bought this set yesterday, I have not tried a recipe from any of the five books. As always when I try them I will post them. The soda bread and lime pickle recipes caught my eye. As did some of the beverages from the lemon and honey books. If any of the household remedies work I will also let you know. - JW 

Raspberry Bread Pudding

The other day I made a raspberry bread pudding for dessert. The piéce de resistance was the cream on top! 

I took about a cup of whipping cream and added a tablespoon of runny golden honey and a tablespoon of rosewater. Whipped them all together, until just about set, which made a heavenly delight that sat on top and finally melted into all the nooks of the raspberry bread pudding. 

The sharpness of the raspberries complimented the sweet mellow floral cream. This delicately flavoured whip cream would also be best served on fruit, lavender scones, pancakes, crêpes and chocolate cake. This is an absolute must try. - JW 

Weekend Dinner

Saturday night I made baked/jacket potatoes topped with season diced chicken smothered in a cheesy beer sauce. Pure comfort made simple. 

Make your bake/jacket potatoes how you normal do. While the potatoes are baking you can cook and season two chicken breasts in a pan. Dice when finished cooking. Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Take the potatoes and cut them length wise, making sure not the cut all the way through. Open the potatoes and place them in a row. Top with the seasoned chicken. 

In a sauce pan add a good pat of butter and let it melt. When the butter has melted add about a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce. Add about 2 teaspoons of mustard. Then add about 8 teaspoons plus one for the pot of Guinness. Stir to combined. Add about 160 grams of extra strong old cheese. Letting the cheese melt. While this is happening turn the oven on to broil. Once the cheese has melted and bubbling and the sauce has thickened, pour it over the chicken and potatoes. Then place in the oven under the broil until the sauce is bubbling, things are getting crisp and there is a slight browning of the potatoes and chicken. Ensuring the sauce is still a bit runny. Serve immediately. 

This recipe is for 4 potatoes so adjust your sauce measurements according to the number of potatoes you are making. - JW  

Citrus A Cookbook

When you look at this cookbook one can say that it isn't nondescript. It's 9x12 frame screams coffee table book. However it's much more functional than that. 

I bought a bag of organic oranges and noticed that that were going off more quickly than the last bag had anticipated. I decided to squeeze the remaining oranges and do some baking. Racking my brain as what to bake I remembered this very cookbook tucked away and thought this book will pose some answers or send my creative juices flowing. It did both.

The introduction has a brief history of citrus and offers some helpful hints. Hints to note are: Use lemon juice in place of salt, for those following low sodium eating such as myself, Tenderize meat by marinating it in citrus juice, Substitute 1 teaspoon of lemon juice for 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar in meringue recipes, Add the juice of one lemon, instead of salt, to the water when boiling pasta, Never use iron or aluminum cookware in preparing citrus, as it will react with the metal, resulting in a metallic taste and darkening of food and most citrus fruits will keep at room temperature for 2 to 5 days or 2 to 4 weeks in the refrigerator. This cookbook covers breakfast and brunch; appetizers, soups and salads; main courses; relishes and condiments; desserts and beverages. Every recipe comes with a glowing full page photograph. Some are warm and inviting while others are cool, crisp and refreshing. 

I did want to try some of the beverages, Limeade Fizz, Hot Spiked Lemonade and the Lemon and Thyme tea, however, I made the Orange and Banana muffins. As I was trying to fill out the weekly school lunches. 

Here they are! When you have oranges that need to be squeezed and bananas that are turning, this is the perfect recipe. If the muffins I made can look and taste this good, try this recipe and yours will too! 

Orange and Banana Muffins 

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3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons wheat germ
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup milk
1/4 freshly squeezed orange juice
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed bananas, about 2 bananas
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Grease the muffin pan cups or just line the cups, like I did, with muffin cup papers. 
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients. In a small bowl combine all the remaining liquid ingredients. Mix well. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once and stir just until moistened. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cups or muffin papers, filling them 2/3 full.

Bake approximately 25 minutes, or until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

  
Have a great weekend everyone! - JW 

    

Spinach Pasta

Not only do I like to share recipes and talk about cookbooks I also like to share certain kitchen, cooking, baking and household products on my blog. I usually make lasagne twice a month. On one of my visits to the Italian Centre I found these sheets of oven ready spinach pasta. They were a bit on the expensive side about $5.69 Canadian. Regardless once I saw them I was itching to try them. The package states that they cook in about 25 minutes and all you have to do is soak, or in my case run hot water over each pasta sheet, for a few minutes and arrange in a pan how ever you like. Easy! The spinach noodles changed our highly regular rotated popular dinner, that is a mouthful, into something a bit more healthy and fun! - JW 

Ham and Pea Soup

I never really liked ham and pea soup. However I got it in my head last Friday to make it for dinner. My stubbornness didn't get the better part of me that day or did it! It was supper easy and most of the prep was minimal. I managed to do it earlier in the day.  

Ham and Pea Soup

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1 tablespoon of butter

1 onion, sliced

1 leek, trimmed and sliced

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon of tarragon

4 cups low sodium organic vegetable stock

450 grams frozen peas, thawed or fresh peas, shelled

7 ounces/200grams lean ham, chopped

4 tablespoons heavy cream

Salt and pepper to season

Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes until slightly softened. Stir in the leek and continue to stir and cook for another 2 minutes. At this point the smell of the onion and leeks sautéing together is wonderful! Add the vegetable stock, peas, ham, bay leaf and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for another 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove the bay leaf. That is always fun. It's like searching for buried treasure. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Place about half of the soup into a food processor or blender. and blend until smooth. Returning the blended soup back into the pot with the rest of the soup, stir in the cream and cook over low heat for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve with a sprig of fresh tarragon on top. I did the oldest trick in the book by drizzling fresh cream on top. 

I made parmesan shortbread to serve with the soup. I quite enjoyed this soup and would absolutely like to try and make a mint and pea soup. One very reminiscent of the lovely Fortnum and Mason's soup I tasted last summer. - JW 

Late Night Baking, Yesterday's Lunch and Snow!

Last night I managed some late night baking. Banana bread. One of the most comforting things one can imagine. As the kidlets laid in bed falling asleep, the house smelled delicious and inviting. I wonder what they dreamt about as the aura of banana bread wafted through the air.  

The recipe I chose was from Nigella Lawson's cookbook Nigellissima, her breakfast banana bread. The only thing I didn't add was the instant espresso powder instead I added mini organic chocolate chips. Trying this new recipe I had to try it straight from the oven. Very hot, the loaf was dense however light and very moist. It is suggested to serve it with mascarpone sprinkled with cinnamon sugar on top. That would make it rich and decadent. Having it plain suited me fine. I did get to thinking that a good smattering of almond butter would be just as nice.

I checked Nigella's website to find the recipe unfortunately it is not posted there. I did find another banana bread recipe, to which I have made. One of the ingredients is dark rum and as I recall it was delicious too. The recipe does ask for walnuts. I omitted those. To try that recipe visit her website nigella.com  and search for banana bread recipes.

Yesterday I made this salad for lunch and it was a bit premature on my part. We woke up to more snow! Making banana bread last night and I will be making ham and pea soup this afternoon is right on the mark.

I always serve a kale salad with most meals. This one came with all the trimmings. Radishes, tomatoes, cucumber, slices of oranges, goats cheese and slices of hard boiled eggs. I didn't really time myself however I think it took me about 7 minutes to make. Everything was on hand. Ready and waiting to be chopped. As the egg boiled away I prepared the veggies and fruit. The salad dressing was made the day before and consisted of avocado oil, raspberry wine vinegar, summer savoury, pepper, freshly grated orange rind and a bit of grainy mustard. Simple and fresh. Despite the snow I will not let it deter my summery thoughts I will be having another salad for lunch. Have a great weekend everyone! - JW  

The Creative Hostess Oxford Cookbook

I have never been to Oxford and possibly one day I will. Until then finding this cookbook in E-town will have to do. I put this book in the same category as the one done by the The Terrace Times Cookbook on London. Compact, full of tidbits and facts and all tossed with some interesting recipes. 

This book is a nice little memento of one's visit to Oxford and I can only imagine why it ended up at Goodwill. It's wildly out of date and certain recipes are a bit extravagant. The chances of coming back from Oxford and cooking up some of these recipes was possibly unlikely therefore making this book strictly a memento. A faded discarded memory... until I found it.

The majority if not all of the recipes come from Oxford restaurants and hotels circa 1981. Whether those places are still in existence remains to be seen. The drawings are quaint and done by Geraldine Marchand. The recipes are divided into three chapters. Super Starters, Main Dishes and Desserts and Teatime Treats. Recipes to note are the Munchy Munchy Salad Dip, Jerusalem Artichoke Mousse, Chicken Veronica, Zabaglione al Marsala and the Petti Di Pollo Reale.  

Note: I did google some of the restaurants and hotels; the Turf Tavern, the Opium Den, The Nosebag, The Old Parsonage Hotel and the Isis Hotel, for which most of these recipes are derived from and surprisingly found that they are still up and running with a majority having a four out of five star rating. I will share the Turf Tavern's Special Dessert recipe with notes and quotes.


Turf's Special Dessert
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This unusual jam and curd tart is a popular pudding at the Turf Tavern, an old inn much frequented by the student population. 

250g/ 8 oz Shortcrust pastry
3 tablespoons Raspberry Jam
3 tablespoons Lemon Curd
125g/4oz ground almonds
125g/4oz cooked flaky or puff pastry*

1. Line a greased 20 cm (8 inch) flan tin with shortcrust pastry.
2. Mix together the jam and the lemon curd and spread over the bottom of the flan.
3. Sprinkle over the ground almonds.
4. Cover the cooked, crumbled flaky pastry and bake in a moderate oven, 180ºC, 350ºF, gas mark 4, for 25-30 minutes. Serves 6. 

*This ingredient may not be readily available to the home cook. Lightly crushed cornflakes give it a comparable result.

"The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today." 
- Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll, 1832-1898  

AND...

I will also share the Lemon Chicken dish.

Lemon Chicken Cantonese Style 
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This light and pretty dish from the Opium Den may be served as part of a Chinese meal or with vegetables.

4 Chicken breasts 
4 tablespoons Flour 
1 Egg, beaten 
Oil for frying 
1 Lemon, squeezed
2 teaspoons sugar
1 Egg white
4 slices of lemon

1. Slice the chicken breasts into thin slices (5mm, 1/4 inch)
2. Put 3 tablespoons of the flour on a flat plate. Beat the egg in a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. 
3. Dip the chicken pieces into the egg, then into the flour and deep fry in oil. Transfer to a warm plate and keep warm.
4. Whisk together inn a bowl the lemon juice, sugar, 300ml (1/2 pint, 1 cup) hot water and remaining flour, making sure the flour is properly dissolved. Pour into a sauce pan and heat until boiling, stirring all the time, until the sauce has thicken. Adjust sweetness to taste.
5. Just before serving, stir in the egg white so that it forms strands. Pour over the chicken and top with lemon slices. 

If I ever make it to Oxford let alone one of these places I will let you know! - JW