Crêpes Wraps and Rolls ~ Honey Pennies

In England, Shrove Tuesday has become synonymous with pancakes... folded with a scattering of caster sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. In France they serve crêpes to celebrate family and life, bringing hope for happiness and good fortune in the many years to come. In most Commonwealth countries it is known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day. Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian speaking countries know it as Carnival. Denmark and Norway celebrate Fastelavn which they eat fastelavnsboller, also known as, Semla (a traditional sweet roll pastry). In Lithuania people eat pancakes and Lithuanian style doughnuts. In Sweden it is known as Fettisdagen, Fat Tuesday. Although in Iceland it is known as Sprengidagur, Bursting Day, and is marked by eating salted meat and peas.  

Crêpes and pancakes do make fabulous anytime food. Sweet and savoury, simple or sophisticated many delicious ingredients have been stacked, flambéd, folded, rolled, and wrapped in and on top of crêpes and pancakes. In almost every country pancakes... or crêpes do feature in one form or another, even including street food. There are blintzes, blinis, crespelles, Dutch poffertjes, flapjacks, galettes, hotcakes, pancakes, and spekpannekoek. 

Which ever you prefer this cookbook has 110 pages full of 60 inspiring recipes for crêpes, wraps and rolls. It is a handy book for brunch and party ideas and light meals. Thought I would share this lovely recipe from the cookbook... 

 

Honey Pennies with double oat heaven

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Serves 4 

for the pennies:

130g/4 1/2 oz/1cup plus, 2 tablespoons self-raising (self-rising) flour, sieved

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

2 tablespoons honey 

150ml/5 fl oz/ 2/3 cup milk

for the oats:

75g/3oz/1 cup rolled oats

74g/ 3 oz/ scant 1 cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 crisp dessert apple, grated

squeeze lemon juice

350ml/12 fl oz/1 1/2 cups Greek yoghurt

25g/1 oz/2 tablespoons butter for frying

2 tablespoons runny honey to drizzle

To make the pennies, mix the flour, salt and baking powder together in a large bowl. Whisk the egg, honey and milk together, add this to the flour and mix it all thoroughly.

For the oats, place the oats and sugar in a heavy-based pan and cook on a low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the oats are toasted. Continue to cook. stirring constantly, until the sugar caramelizes and the oats become crisp and golden. (Don't be tempted to rush this: if the heat is too high, it will burn and you will have a speckled mess!) Turn out into a bowl and leave to cool.

Mix the grated apple with the lemon juice and stir into the Greek yoghurt. Just before serving, fold in two-thirds of the crunchy oat mixture. 

Heat a griddle or heavy based pan and brush lightly with melted butter. Place teaspoonfuls of the mixture in the pan, leaving a little space in between each and cook for 1-2 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface of each penny. Carefully flip the pennies over and cook the other sides for about 1 minute more until firm, risen and golden brown.

Serve the Honey Pennies warm, topped with a dollop of the yoghurt mixture, drizzled over with a little honey and sprinkled with a little of the extra oat crunch. 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Asparagus Quiche

Leftover steamed asparagus plus eggs equal... one satisfying dinner. Add chopped red peppers and plenty of feta cheese, all with a dash of hot sauce. This is an easy weekday meal that has flavour and comfort waiting to be shared.   

Have a great weekend everyone! - JD 

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are the ultimate of oatmeal cookies. Crunchy, slightly chewy with a hint of sweetness something that will please everyone. 

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Makes about 2 dozen

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup oats, quick or rolled your choice
1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup roughly chopped dried cranberries

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Pre heat oven to 325ºF. Line a baking tray with baking parchment paper. 

In a large bowl combine and beat the butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.

In another bowl combine and stir together the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and  chopped cranberries. Add this dry mixture to sugar mixture and stir by hand until everything is nicely brought together. Add the chocolate chips and stir until just blended. 

Drop dough by spoonfuls on prepared baking tray and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges however still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  

Notes: you may also spray the baking tray with a non-stick spray rather than using baking parchment. Making them with dried cherries would be equally as good. 


Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is settling in to the week as well. - JD 

Chocolate Strawberry Ripple Cake

The inspiration for this cake comes via the Tasty video for their Chocolate Raspberry Zebra Cake. I substituted the raspberry jam for strawberry jam and my attempt at recreating "zebra stripping" turned out more like ripple. However don't let the seemingly lengthy recipe deter you. When you think about it... it's simply making a cake batter, diving it in two, adding cocoa powder to one half and jam to the other half. Pouring the batter by alternating the enhanced divided batter and then finally letting it bake. 

~ Tasty's Chocolate Raspberry Zebra Cake ~  Servings: 8-10

Base Batter:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 cup milk

Chocolate Batter:
½ base batter
¼ cup cocoa powder

Raspberry Batter:
½ base batter 
½ cup raspberry jam
1 teaspoon raspberry extract (optional)
1 teaspoon red food coloring (optional)

Chocolate Ganache:
2 cups heavy cream
1½ cups chocolate chips

Garnish:
Approximately 20 raspberries 
Powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F/175˚C. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients for the base batter (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt).
3. In a second mixing bowl, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. 
4. Add the wet mix to the dry mix, stirring constantly until smooth.
5. Add the milk, and stir until evenly mixed and the consistency is a thick liquid.
6. Evenly divide the batter into two separate bowls. Add the cocoa powder to one and the raspberry jam to other. Mix thoroughly.
7. In a greased 9-inch cake pan, alternate batters by placing roughly ¼ cup of batter in the center and letting it spread out slightly before adding the other batter (similar to making pancakes). Continue this process until the batter is used up and the pan is full of alternating rings. 
8. Bake cake in a preheated oven for 25-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
9. Cool cake slightly, and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Ganache
1. In a medium pot set over low heat, mix together heavy cream and chocolate until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth.
2. Let mix rest until consistency is thick and mix is cooled.
3. Pour ganache over the baked and cooled cake starting in the middle and circling towards the edges coating it all. 

Garnish
 Once ganache is cooled on cake, garnish with fresh raspberries and powdered sugar.

Find this Tasty video and many more at buzzfeed.com. Just click Tasty at the top.

Notes: I had to bake the cake a bit longer then implied by the recipe. 

Have a great weekend everyone! - JD 

The Best of Lodge and Trail

This cookbook was in part a fund raising project for Cross Country, Alberta. The Best of Lodge and Trail, Favourite Recipes from Alberta and the Canadian Rockies, gives you a unique opportunity to sample a bit of a broad spectrum of recipes from well established places such as The Rocky Mountain Lodges + Resorts, Purcell Lodge, Emerald Lake Lodge, Lake O'Hara Lodge and the Skokie Lodge. 

Printed in 1994 the recipes entice and may hold their place on culinary tables around the world, at home, or in restaurants, with very few alterations. It's 11 chapters, 127 pages, of regional cuisine. Whether or not you ski, or are a purveyor of the great outdoors the recipes are diverse. Offering meat, vegetable, savoury and sweet dishes plus there is even a Iced & Warming drinks chapter; which has a recipe called Heat of the Night. This one is definitely going on our cocktail list to try. 

Although the Date Loaf is tempting the Chocolate Beet Cake is very enticing. Since Valentine's Day is upon us I thought I would share that recipe from the book.

Chocolate Beet Cake

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1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

19 oz. canned beets (drained and puréed in blender)

6 tablespoons cocoa

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare one 9-inch cake pan with buttered parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the beets and sugar until well incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Bake in 350ºF oven for 25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before setting out in wire rack to cool completely.

Slightly exotic in a herbal way however if you can find some rose hips perhaps you may enjoy this recipe too.  

Nyponsoppa (Rose Hip Soup)

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2 cups rose hips (blossom ends and stems removed)

1/4 cup wildflower honey

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon potato flour

8 cups water

1/4 cup almond (slivered and roasted)

In a large kettle or pot, boil rose hips in water for 2 hours. Stir in sugar to dissolve.

Transfer about 1/4 cup of soup into a cup and add potato flour. Smooth into a paste. Slowly add back to the pot and simmer until thickened slightly.

Remove soup from heat. Stir in almond extract and garnish with slivered almonds.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day everyone! - JD  

  

Eggless Vanilla Cake

Itching to be creative inside the kitchen without any eggs had me making this gem. Neither too dense nor too fluffy, just sweet with a lovely caramel flavour. The cake slices beautifully with little to no crumbling. Canned peaches were used however if fresh are available I do recommend using those. 

Eggless Vanilla Cake

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2 1/2 cups all purpose flour or cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt 

2 tablespoons sugar, coconut, brown, or casters, your preference

1 can (300-400ml) sweetened condensed coconut milk or regular condensed milk

1 cup orange juice or water

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon caramel extract

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter

Topping:

1 can of sliced peaches, drained

Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Lightly grease and flour a 9x13 baking tin and line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.

Making a well in the centre of the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and whisk the ingredients together. No worries as a few lumps are fine. If using sweetened condensed coconut milk, empty contents of tin into a medium bowl and blend until relatively smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and smooth out evenly. Tap the pan to even  the batter out and break the air bubbles if there are any. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned. When done transfer to a wire rack to cool. Remove from baking tin and place on a large serving plate and arrange the sliced peaches on top. You may also make a drizzle icing to drizzle over top of the cake, which is what I did. 

Notes: I baked the cake in a round cake tin therefore I had to adjust the baking time... allotting more time. There is a bit of wiggle room in regards to extracts and experimenting with different flavours may be interesting. Adding grated orange rind would reinforce the orange juice. 

If making this cake for Valentines Day you could try adding cocoa powder to the mixed dry ingredients, or chocolate chips, or add rose flavouring, or decorate with chocolate icing and edible rose petals.  

This is the sweetened condensed coconut milk I used. It is under the stated 300ml however it still worked. If anything it probably made the sweetness of the cake less pronounced, which isn't a bad thing.  

Food Photo of the Day ~ Nachos

The cold weather has struck again so a round of epic nachos were in order. Crispy bacon, refried beans, corn, black beans, freshly diced tomatoes, and of course, melted sharp cheddar cheese. Topped with chopped lettuce and sprinkled with a chili pepper and lime seasoning salt. These were happily served... and devoured with salsa, sour cream, and a homemade guacamole dip. Perfect for sharing!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! - JD    

Festive Salad

While on the subject of salads this colourful salad is absolutely delicious. No leafy greens as black beans and vegetables prevail, lightly marinated in a herbed balsamic vinaigrette dressing; sprinkled with feta cheese and ripe avocados.  

Festive Salad

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1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

half a cucumber, thickly sliced and quartered

6 radishes, sliced

1 red pepper, chopped

1 orange pepper, chopped

1 small red onion, coarsely diced

1/2 cup sliced black olives, drained

2 ripened avocados, sliced in half, pit and skin removed, and cut into chunks

2 tomatoes, quartered and slice those sections in half 

1 cup crumbed feta cheese

balsamic vinaigrette, homemade or ready made, your choice 

Place all the ingredients, except the avocado pieces and tomatoes, into a large bowl. Lightly drizzle with the vinaigrette dressing. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with the crumbled feta cheese and gently toss again. Arrange the avocado chunks and tomato slices on top. Serve.

   

Roasted Cauliflower Salad

January has come and gone and lightening the culinary cuisine was in order. This substantial salad is great on it's own or as a side. It also got an honourable mention in E-town's weekly newspaper, the gastro section. 

Roasted Cauliflower Salad

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1 medium sized cauliflower, outer leaves removed, and chopped

5- 7 dried dates, chopped

1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

handful of arugula 

First in an oven proof dish, that has been lightly oiled, add the pieces of cauliflower. Place in a preheated 400ºF oven and roast for about 30 minutes. Checking every 10 minutes, and drizzling with a bit of water. When done. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Once the cauliflower has cooled, in a large bowl combined the cauliflower and arugula. Drizzle what ever salad dressing you wish, I made a simple oil, balsamic vinegar, and herbed dressing. Toss to coat. Sprinkle the chopped dates and the sunflower seeds on top. Serve.     

The honourable mention as mentioned. 


Temperatures have dipped again. Hope everyone is having a good week. Stay warm! 
- JD