What Is In The Garden...

A pleasant surprise in the garden as the chocolate mint, I planted last year, came back very strong. I can not wait to pick and dry the leaves for some cooking and baking over the winter months. I honestly didn't think it would survive the winter. 

The radishes are a little slow this year. I think in most part due to the rhubarb. It seems to be taking over most of the garden space. You can tell by the big green leaf in the right hand corner. The rhubarb is massive and is ready to photobomb any chance it can get. 

We started the yellow beans in planters. They have sprung up quite quickly. My daughter was excited to see her effort come to fruition. They certainly enjoy the early morning sunshine. 

I know peonies are not edible however I just had to share this photo. As always they are blooming beautifully. The ants are furiously attacking the buds for their sweet nectar.   

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! And to all my Canadian followers Happy Canada Day! - JW  

Leftovers #6 Apple Chutney Bread Pudding

There was a bit of my apple chutney hanging around in the fridge. And there was a half loaf of bread on the kitchen counter so I thought let's put these two together. After a very rainy day yesterday Apple Chutney Bread Pudding sounded very comforting. This was the perfect way to use up the leftover apple chutney. Again bread pudding is easy. All you need is 6 eggs, 1 and 3/4 cups of milk, sugar, cinnamon, butter, 10 slices of day old bread and of coarse apple chutney. 

I buttered an oven-proof baking dish and buttered the slices of bread. Then I cut the slices of bread in half. Arranged half of the bread slices buttered side up in the bottom of the dish. Then spread the apple chutney on top. Sprinkle with some sugar. Crack the six eggs into a bowl add the milk. Whisk together. Pour some of the mixture over top of the chutney covered bread slices. Wait about a minute for some of the mixture to be soaked up by the bread. Then place the remaining bread slices on top, buttered side up. Pour the remaining egg mixture on top. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Place in a preheated 350ºF oven for 40 - 45 minutes. Serve hot!  

   

Although this is not the most glamorous photo... I wanted to share this sight. I absolutely luv how the bread pudding swells and puffs up in the oven. When it does this you know it is not long before it will be reaching it's true destiny... your stomach!   

You can serve it with whatever you like. I chose a nice drizzle of golden syrup and a sprinkle of cardamom! - JW    

Love Your Leftovers

The title is simple enough. I have ate a cold slice of pizza or two and have reheated pasta and even refried potatoes. I have used up day old bread... cold tea... old cooked rice and homemade pasta sauce. When there are leftovers in our house they do not last long. I will gladly pass the leftovers into whatever I am creating in the kitchen. Leftovers are good. I think that during the winter seasons we tend to have more leftovers than in the summer. Winter we are concentrating on keeping warm and comfort food is abundant. Summer... I know for myself my appetite goes down and staying hydrated is a must. Leftovers can be a god send or a convenience worth loathing. Think of all the holiday turkey leftovers and how magically we stretch those.   

This book was a great find. Although lately at Winners I am having a hard time finding cookbooks. It is only 64 pages. The photography and illustrations are fantastic. It is a charming little book which should not go amiss. Getting you to look at your leftovers differently. The 6 chapters are given straight titles like, Raid The Fridge, Lovely Old Veg, Wonderful Carbs (Potatoes, Rice and Pasta), Make The Most From A Roast, Yesterday's Bread and Back to The Fruit Bowl. There is no reason to shamefully over glamourized leftovers. Leftovers are leftovers seeping with flavour, wanting to be used and waiting to be eaten. How to do this is based on how creative one can get and hopefully this book may be a source of inspiration.

The recipes, although sometimes typical show just how far to stretch that loaf of bread, that container of yoghurt, and those bits of veggies. There are many things waiting to be done with leftovers. Soup, stews, stir-frys, macaroni and cheese, cakes, salads, frittatas and omelettes. Within this disposable society leftovers teach us what is here today can be here tomorrow and possibly the next. That one can reduce food waste. 

Some helpful hints and tips from the book are: 

To freshen a day-old-loaf of bread is to hold the loaf for a just a second or two under running cold water. Give it a good shake then place in a hot oven for about 10 minutes. 

Don't discard dry end-pieces of cheese. Grate them and freeze them in a freezer bag. Use in a recipe that requires a sprinkling of grated cheese on top. 

Any left over spaghetti can be added to stir-fry to turn it into chow mien.

If you are left with half a lemon or lime, squeeze the juice into ice cube trays and freeze for later use.

Slice leftover roast meat. Place into freezer bags and use it at a later date in a curry.


Get creative with your leftovers. Enjoy your weekend everyone! - JW 

My Apple Chutney

I was feeling rather creative over the weekend. Pork chops, sweet potatoes and veggie couscous salad were on our dinner menu. And I wanted to make a sauce for the pork chops. I had some apples that were starting to gather a bruise here and a bruise there so I decided that an apple compote or chutney, as I like to call it would do. It's fairly easy to make provided you have some black tea, apples, cinnamon and maple syrup.

Take two tea bags, black or any flavoured tea of your choice, and place them in a saucepan with about 1 and 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let the tea steep for a bit. In the meantime chopped two apples, green or red, leaving the skin on. I used granny smith apples for their tartness. I like things to have a bit of a bite! When the apples are chopped, place them into the saucepan. Add some cinnamon and maple syrup, flavour to your taste. And place the saucepan back on the stove and bring to a boil again. Let the apples boil in the tea, cinnamon and maple syrup mixture until the apples become soft but not to soft so that they are a mushy pulp. If you find that some pieces of apple are not easy to pierce just take a potato masher and do a rough mash just to sort out those bits. You don't want to mash up all the pieces of apples. You are not making apple sauce. You just want a nice chunky chutney that has a bit of sauce. Also if you find that the sauce is a bit runny, place about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a small bowl and mix it with some water and add it to the saucepan. Do that until you have it to the desired consistency. Serve over pork chops, chicken, bread pudding and ice cream. 

*Note - You may add some dried cranberries or raisins when adding the apples to the tea. You can try other dried or fresh fruits as well. Caramelized onions are are great too! I luv adding a dash of cardamom. There are many options and playing around with flavours is a must.

Tomato and Cheese Macaroni Bake

My mum used to make this dish for us very often. As simple as this is, this was one of my favourite meals. Simple equals comfort. For all my North American followers you might remember a product called Hamburger Helper. That alone conjures up all sorts of images... the talking and ever so helpful kitchen glove... the spoon twirling around the skillet... the enduring family sitting at kitchen table and all served up with a catchy tune. Graze the grocery aisles and you will see that Hamburger Helper is still being sold today. Pick up a box and read the nutritional label and feel how fast your jaw will drop open. Worse than a carnival ride. The salt content is astounding! The only thing you are getting is shear convenience. And that is more than enough to place it back on the store shelf and walk away. 

I guess one could say that this was my mums answer to Hamburger Helper or a no fuss lasagne. This recipe is easy, fast and has low to no salt! All you need are the following: 

2 cans of 796ml of low or no salt diced tomatoes

1 package of ground turkey **or ground beef or ground chicken or veggie soy ground

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

pepper

a pinch of salt 

whatever fresh herbs you want to add

and approximately 2-3 cups of elbow macaroni 

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese  

*when cooking pasta I tend to eyeball it or cook what feels right. This may not be your method and possibly for good reason. I do tend to cook more pasta then needed. However any leftovers never go unused in our house. The suggested 2-3 cups of macaroni are uncooked. 

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Sauté the onion and garlic with a bit of olive oil in a larger pan. Then add the ground turkey. Sauté together until the meat is cooked. You may add the herbs at this time. When the meat is cooked add the tomatoes. Stir and heat through. 

Meanwhile in a large saucepan, boil water. Add the macaroni to the boiling water and follow the cooking directions on the package. Stirring occasionally to make sure the pasta does not stick together. You want to cook the pasta until almost done. You don't want to over cook the pasta because there will be liquid from the diced tomatoes which will get soaked up by the pasta. When the pasta is cooked. Drain the water slowly and add the pasta to the tomato and meat mixture. Stir to coat. 

Pour the now macaroni mixture into a large casserole baking dish. Cover with grated cheese of you choice. I used a mixture of cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan. Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven until cheese has melted. Serve immediately. 

Note: When I made this dish I made it in advance to save time. I stored it in the refrigerator until dinner time. It kept well. Therefore I had to warm it up a bit first before topping it with the cheese.

Enjoy your weekend everyone! - JW    

Late Night Baking

I followed the recipe for the vegan blueberry banana bread, I posted about last week, and I replace the blueberries with a cup of diced strawberries. Warm baked strawberries smell divine and are just as comforting. This version was equally good. Also very delicious! Although I do think I prefer the bread with blueberries. It has been raining steadily for  most of the morning with no signs of blue skies anytime soon so this makes for a lovely treat on a day like today. - JW 

Vegan Blueberry Banana Bread

Most of the time I luv to browse through my cookbook collection searching for promising recipes. However sometimes recipes just fall into my lap, as did with this one. A friend posted it and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and voila! I had all the ingredients except the soy milk. Not a problem I went to the grocery store and bought some. This recipe came from a website called Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. It is a wonderful blog with many recipes. I am not vegan however I do like to try different recipes and do not mind eating vegan dishes. This recipe is absolutely delicious! And I can not stress that enough. For the recipe click *HERE* This recipe will probably replace all the other banana bread recipes I use. Also read the thread of comments for suggestions and substitutions. I will be making another loaf this time I will substitute the blueberries for strawberries. Enjoy the recipe and have a wonderful weekend! - JW 

Rhubarb and Mixed Berry Crumble

Over the weekend this became a joint effort. Not that it takes two people to make a rainy day dessert. More like my fiancé went out to the garden to collect some rhubarb, came up with the idea for a dessert and I felt compelled to get my hands in there while things were coming together in the kitchen. Honestly I don't need an excuse to take over the helm in the kitchen... I just get in there! This was the best comfort food on a rainy day. The sharp tart taste was balance by the sweetness of the mixed berries and crumble. Super easy and so delicious. Enjoy! - JW   

Rhubarb and Mixed Berry Crumble

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4-5 cups of rhubarb stalks 

2-3 cups mixed berries

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 oz (125g) of butter

3/4 cup of white flour 

Pre heat the over to 200ºC / 400ºF.

Wash and cut up the rhubarb stalks into 2cm / 1 inch pieces. Making sure all the leafy parts are cut of - they are poisonous.

Melt the butter and add both of the sugars and flour. Mix well to create a crumbly mixture.

Put the rhubarb and mixed berries into a lovely oven proof dish. Cover with the crumble mixture. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until crumble is browned and crisp. 

Let cool for a bit before serving. May be served with ice cream or whip cream. 

Note: You could cut down the caster sugar a bit if you find it too sweet however that would elevate the tartness.