Potato Pancakes

Potato pancakes or Latkes, are one of my favourites. Breakfast, lunch or dinner. There are so many ways to add flavour and spice to these reliable carbohydrates. Super easy and delicious when served with sour cream. With Latkes anything goes.  

Potato Pancakes 

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6 medium large potatoes, washed and grated with the skins on

1 small onion, grated
a dash or two of Hy's seasoning salt (no MSG added) 
about 1 tablespoon flour in replace of Mazo Meal 

2 eggs, beaten

Notes: You may peel the potatoes if you like however I quite enjoy adding the skins, it's more rustic. Try adding curry powder or other seasonings like chili powder to add more spice. If halving the recipe, the amount of onion should remain the same.   

Place all the grated potato into a large mixing bowl.

Add the grated onion. Stir to combine.

Add the seasoning salt, or whatever spices you may like and flour. Stir to combine.

Then add the eggs. Give it another good stir to throughly combine the eggs.

Over medium high heat, place a small amount of vegetable oil in a fry pan. Swirl around to coat the bottom of the pan. Allow the oil to warm up. 

Then drop by spoonfuls in to the heated fry pan. Turn when brown on one side allowing the other side to brow. Just like you do when cooking breakfast pancakes. When both sides are nicely browned remove from frypan and place on a serving dish. Repeat until all the potato mixture has been used up and you have plenty potatoes pancakes to share. Serve with sour cream or salsa. 

Notes: I made about 25 - 30 latkes... depends on the size of the spoonfuls you drop into the frypan.  

Again, super easy that your kids can help with the prep work or to add some of their culinary flare to the mix. Although if cooking a parent/adult supervision is recommended.

Have a great weekend everyone! - JD    

Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped potatoes were a dish that my mum made very often and quite possibly because it was one of her favourite dishes. I believe her recipe was a simple no fuss one. A layer of thinly sliced potatoes, then a sprinkle of diced onion, add some milk, sprinkle a bit of flour, dot with butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Repeat until all the potatoes and onion were used up. Bake in the oven until tender. Plain jane and simple. Which is the jest... or gist of the recipe, depends on how you look at it. 

The scalloped potatoes I make do have a bit more going for them. Which is fine because quite honestly one does feel the need to conjure up something once in awhile. This recipe is still easy. Just a bit of slicing and dicing which is always therapeutic. Having a food processor makes this even more easy and then you can just watch it all unfold before your eyes. Which can be therapeutic as well.  

Scalloped Potatoes

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1 small onion, finely diced

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of paprika

1 tablespoon of fresh chives

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked pepper

2 1/2 cups milk

6 - 11 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (approx 6 cups)

some butter for dabbing

Heat oven to 350ºF. Then grease the bottom and sides of a 2 quart casserole baking dish. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine the flour, paprika, chives, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium large saucepan over medium heat. once melted add the onion and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Stirring occasionally, until tender.

Stir in the flour mixture (flour, paprika, chives, salt and pepper) Cook stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly, remove from heat.

Stir in the milk. Place the saucepan back on the heat and heat until boiling, again stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. 

Spread the potatoes into the prepared casserole dish. Pour sauce over the potatoes. Cut a few small pieces of butter to sprinkle over the potatoes. Shake a bit more paprika, if you like,  over the top. 

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for about an hour or until potatoes are tender. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving as to allow the sauce to thicken.

In total I baked the potatoes for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. 

*Notes: You may add whatever seasonings you would like. Try adding curry powder to the flour mixture for something completely different. Fresh garlic and cheese. Add ham or bacon. 

Very tender melt in your mouth savoury side dish that is a perfect however if served with a salad could easily pass as the main.  

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We did! - JD 

French Apple Pie

What makes an apple pie a French apple pie? Simply, it is the topping. Traditionally fruit pies have flaky pastry tops not a buttery sugar crumble one. Since this topping does consist of brown sugar I tend to make the apple filling more spicy apple then a sugary sweet apple filling. It creates a fine balance between comforting spice and just a touch of sweetness. Make your favourite apple pie or fruit pie recipe however try this on top.

French Apple Pie Crumb Topping   (for a 9" pie) 

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1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup all purpose flour 
1/2 cup rolled oats (optional)

Mix all ingredients together until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of filled pie. Bake at 400ºF for 45 to 55 minutes. Serve warm. 

Notes: I add about 1/2 cup of quick cooking oats to the crumble topping. To add a bit of a Canadian flavour you can toss the apple filling in some maple syrup along with whatever spices you may use: cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cardamom, nutmeg... etc. 

Enjoy the rest of the week. - JD 

Guinness Cottage Pie

Since it is St. Patrick's Day, I made a Cottage Pie. Normally this pie does not have any Guinness however I decided to add some. It adds a bit of flavour while reiterating this pie's Irish roots. 

Guinness Cottage Pie

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1 onion, peeled and diced

5 carrots, peeled and sliced

3/4 cup frozen peas

1 pound of chicken mince (ground meat), beef or lamb would work as well

1/2 can of Guinness, or a whole can

1 large tin (796ml) of no-salt diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon thyme

1 teaspoon cumin

salt and pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch plus just a bit of water

11 medium-large potatoes, peeled and diced, cooked then mashed

You want to sauté the diced onions in a pan with a bit of vegetable oil. When just about softened add your choice of mince (ground meat). When mince is just about cooked add half a can... or a whole can of Guinness, whatever your preference is, allow the mince to absorb some of the Guinness. Add the frozen peas and sliced carrots and let everything simmer together for a bit. Allowing the Guinness to be absorbed by the meat, peas, and carrots. Then add a large can of diced tomatoes... some thyme, cumin, and salt and pepper. Simmer a bit further. then remove from heat. 

Peel and dice potatoes, for this size of pie I used 11 potatoes but it depends on the size of the pie you are making. Add the diced potatoes to a large pot cover with water and boil until tender. Once tender, a fork goes through them easily, remove from heat and drain. Mash the cooked potatoes how you usually do, add some butter, stir until melted and then add just a bit of milk. Stir until smooth... well some what smooth. They are potatoes and lumps are fine.

If the meat mixture has a bit of liquid, place the cornstarch in a small bowl and add some water just enough to moisten the cornstarch, not too thick however not to thin of a consistency. Add this to the meat mixture and stir. This will thicken the so called gravy. Spread the meat mixture in an oven proof baking dish. Place the mashed potatoes on top in spoonfuls and smooth with a fork or knife. Completely covering the meat mixture, it doesn't have to be smooth. A rougher looking topping gives it a more rustic homemade feel. Place in a preheated 375ºF oven for about 15-20 minutes until nice and bubbly and the potato topping has started to crisp. Then turn the oven on to broil and let the potato topping crisp up a bit further. Once nicely crisp, remove from oven. Let sit for a few minutes then serve. It can be served with a side of cooked kale, kale salad, or green beans.

Pi Day

Today being Pi Day I made these two delicious pies... a savoury broccoli and cheddar quiche and a French apple. Happy Pi Day! - JD 

Chickpea Flour Crackers

I guess the chickpea flour was calling out to me from the pantry so I decided to make crackers. Savoury bite sized morsels for snacking or with soup. A bit of blue cheese or stilton on top would do nicely too.  

Chickpea Flour Crackers 

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1 cup flour

1 cup chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds*
1/2 teaspoon paprika*
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil or light olive oil*

* You may want to try other ingredients such as cayenne, sunflower seeds, chives, turmeric, cumin, or curry powder.
* I used Camelina oil instead of vegetable oil or light olive oil. Coconut oil would also be a nice substitution.

Method:    

Pre-heat oven to 400ºF. Get a baking tray and set aside.   

In a large bowl, combine flour, chickpea flour salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, paprika, and parmesan cheese.

Stir in water and oil, mixing until a smooth dough forms. Divide the dough in two halves.

Place a sheet of parchment paper on a clean flat surface. Take one half of the dough and gently shape it into a square or a nicely compact rectangle. With a well floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a large square as thin as you can get it. Roughly about a 1/4 inch. You will have to keep re-flouring the rolling pin because the dough is soft and a bit sticky or lightly flour the top of the dough as you roll. 

Once the dough is all rolled out cut into small pieces using a knife or a pastry wheel cutter or a small cookie cutter. I used a pastry wheel cutter. Using a fork pierce all over the dough. This prevents the crackers from puffing up too much. Lift the parchment paper with the doughy crackers carefully over to the baking tray and place it on baking tray, parchment paper and all. Easy... no transferring onto the tray or greasing the tray. Repeat with the remaining dough. 

Bake until crackers are dry and golden... for about 10 -13 minutes. You may have to pull the really brown as they bake to prevent them from burning. Cool on wire racks, parchment paper and all, and store in an air tight container. 

What started out as a square became looking more like a geographical land mass. I rolled the dough as best I could. Cut it into squares and they were ready for the oven.  

After 13 minutes they were puffed up and browning nicely. However I found a few extra minutes helped to achieve a more toasted baked look. Easy to pull apart and crisp.

Have a good weekend everyone! - JD 

Korean Barbeque Sauce

By the start of the weekend it was decided that steak would be the Sunday Roast dinner. I decided that Korean Barbeque would be the flavour. Remembering I had a bottle tucked away, for just incase purposes, I used it because I wanted to get the steaks marinating straight away. Plus I was low on soy sauce.  

I have used this Korean Barbeque sauce before when pinched for time. It is fairly good and the sodium isn't too bad. There is a lot of salt... and sugar out there in products so read the labels and take the lowest whenever possible. I recommend this one if you are pressed for time however I will include a Korean Barbeque Sauce recipe if you would rather try that.  

Since the steaks were on the small side I managed to fit them all into this marinating container. The steaks must have marinated for almost 2 days. Flipping the container every so often.   

The marinating container is from Tupperware. I bought it years ago. There are these little pyramid like nibs on the top and bottom of both sides to ensure flavour flow and even marinating.

The steaks were baked in a pre-heated 400ºF oven for 30 minutes. They were baked uncovered for the first 15 minutes and for the remaining 15 minutes of the baking time I had placed aluminium foil over the baking dish. To avoid the steaks from drying out and  to seal in most of the flavour and juices. 

Even though I did not make my own Korean Barbeque sauce, which is fine. Sometimes there are just more important things that need to be done. I will include this recipe.


Korean Barbeque Sauce
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1 cup low sodium soy sauce
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 - 3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chile- garlic sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
some ground black pepper

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

Stir the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, rice wine vinegar, chile-garlic sauce, ginger, sesame oil, and black pepper together in a saucepan; bring to a boil.

Whisk cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until the cornstarch dissolves; pour into the boiling soy sauce mixture.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the sauce has thicken, about 3 to 5 minutes. 

Notes: For a spicier sauce use ground fresh chili paste. Try using coconut sugar. If you do not have rice wine vinegar then use white vinegar or even a malt vinegar it may change the taste slightly however sometimes adding a different ingredient in replace of another can be worth it. Try adding a tablespoon of minced or diced shallots.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! - JD   

Free For All Friday Night Dinners

Usually the other days of the week, for dinner, are planned with thought however I wanted to make Friday's free from that. So I invented Free for All Fridays. It is a way of having something more casual for dinner with not too much planning or fuss. This time my son, the elusive kitchen crusader, made the suggestion of beans on toast. Simple however his version pictured here has baked beans drizzled with Canadian maple syrup, topped with cooked streaky bacon, and melted cheese on top. Stodgy goodness worth every bite. Beans on toast is one of those meals that it is what it is and it is how you make it. 

Enjoy the weekend everyone! - JD   

Chickpea Flour = Chocolate Chip Cookies

For some reason I was set on buying chickpea flour. And after seeing the long row of packaged chickpea flour at the Italian Centre, here in E-town, I was even more set on trying a recipe with it. The great thing about using chickpea flour is that it is high in protein and generally no eggs are needed for binding. Why haven't I used this sooner with my baking, I do not know. 

Chickpea flour Chocolate Chip Cookies  

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3/4 cup chickpea flour*

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons caster sugar

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted before measuring

3 tablespoons maple syrup 

1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup mini dark chocolate chips

2 - 4 teaspoons water, only as needed

Makes 8 to 10 cookies only

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set a side. 

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together (flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar)

Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, chocolate chips and water stir until well combined. Add in just enough water to moisten all of the ingredients together. The dough will be fairly thick and sticky. 

Roll the dough into balls and place them onto the prepared baking tray.

Using clean fingers press down on each to flatten. If need be dampen fingers with water first, to prevent the dough sticking to your fingers.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until lightly golden.

After removing the baking tray from the oven, and here is a trick I have found out along the way in my baking travels, take a fork and press down lightly on the top of each cookie to flatten them a bit. This will compact the cookie, giving it more of a chewy centre and crisp edge. Try this tip with some of the cookie recipes you already bake.   

Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Notes: Small batches do make sense considering when using melted coconut oil because as it cools it solidifies back to it's original form. So you have to work fast. Which is not a problem as this recipe is easy, only one bowl! I found that baking the cookies for 12 minutes was sufficient. They had a lovely golden colour and the bottoms were perfect. Nice and golden all the way round. You could try and replace the maple syrup with golden syrup my only concern is that golden syrup is thicker which might change the consistency of the dough therefore possibly adding more water, as needed. If you can not find mini chocolate chips then use standard chocolate chips however you may have to give them a bash or two to make them into smaller pieces, making it easier to press them down when taken out of the oven. I prefer flattening cookies with my fingers. There is something very child like about this process however using the tools which you already have is a bonus! 

*Some store chickpea flour in the freezer.* 

This week has flown by. Seems like the weeks just keep getting busier for me. Hope everyone is doing great and having a good week so far. - JD