My Week In Food

This week was a particular busy one and I ended the weekend off or started the week, depends on how you look at it, with a roast beef dinner. Baby potatoes, carrots and mushy peas with lashings of gravy. 

Herb encrusted and done to perfection. Oven roasted at 325ºF for... depends on the size of the roast. The roast I had was just about 4 pounds in weight therefore it cooked for about 3 and 1/2 hours. 

Christmas baking got off to an earlier start. These chai shortbread were aromatically sound and delicious. Even more delicious with a cup of tea or coffee. 

Oh Christmas trees, Oh Christmas trees... my daughter had fun decorating these. 

Snack time! Found some exotic snacks at No Frill's. Masala Chana (Crispy Spicy Chickpea), Chatpata Dal (Hot and Sour treat of Gram) and Spicy Peanuts. Very spicy however very tasty and full of flavour.   

A comforting substantial dinner and a favourite of mine, pasta to keep one going during such a busy week. I made quite a bit so there are leftovers for tonights dinner. 

And at the end of it all... Camp coffee with Chestnut flavouring, steamed milk and a dash of cinnamon sugar. My cup does warmth over. 

Being pulled in many directions can be enlightening! Hope everyone has had a good week. - JW 

Chicory Root

A new shop opened in E-town - The Silk Road Spice Merchant. And of course I had to pop in to see what they were all about. The minute you walk into the shop your nose... and senses are in spice heaven overload. They have just about every spice imaginable and the staff are friendly. I bought Chicory Root to add to coffee. The smell faintly reminded me of Camp coffee. Not surprised seeing how Camp coffee is mostly chicory. On the side of the bottle was a suggested recipe for an authentic New Orleans coffee. It states to use 2/3 coffee and 1/3 chicory. I made as recommended and the coffee tasted richer with a slight malted flavour. Not a true Camp coffee taste however pretty close. I was thinking you could add just a touch of cinnamon however it wouldn't be New Orleans coffee anymore. Of course you can play around with the amounts to have a preferred taste.  

The chicory resembles instant coffee crystals and when blended with ground coffee it virtually goes undetected. It has a slight roasted malted caramel aroma. I also bought a Chai Spice blend for the shortbread I will be making.  

- JW  

Camp Coffee and Banana Streusel Coffee Cake

This is another Italian Centre find here in E-town. My husband remembers Camp coffee, as for myself I am slightly not as well versed. I was curious and the picture was a bit intriguing to me so I thought why not purchase a bottle. And let my baking be infused. 

Camp coffee, according to the bottle, is a product of England. However when you search for information regarding this product it comes up as being a Scottish food product. Which began it's production in 1876 by Paterson & Sons Ltd. The plant was located at Charlotte Street in Glasgow. The original drawing on the bottle was by William Victor Wrigglesworth. Although it seems to have merged and changed ownership throughout the years. It could very well be produced and manufactured in England by now. 

Camp coffee is fluid however the texture is an opaque and molasses-like one. This sticky brown substance consists of water, sugar, 4% caffeine-free coffee essence, and 26% chicory essence. It also may be used as a substitute for coffee. Mix with warm milk much the same way as cocoa or add it to cold milk and ice for an instant iced coffee. Camp coffee is commonly a baking ingredient and therefore used in coffee cake recipes. 

When there is a new baking product in the house I can not contain myself for too long before I have to crack it open and give it a whirl. Yesterday I decided to make a streusel banana coffee cake. I replaced the 1 teaspoon of vanilla with 1 teaspoon of Camp coffee. It gave it more of a rich flavour than a sweet and warm flavour. 

Banana Streusel Coffee Cake 

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1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup sour cream

1 cup mashed ripe banana (approximately 3 bananas)

1 teaspoon Camp coffee or vanilla

1 1/2 cups of cake flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder 

Topping: Mix together 1 cup of chopped pecans, 3 table spoons of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. 

Note: I omitted the pecans and just went with the brown sugar and cinnamon. However when the coffee cake had cooled I made a simple icing sugar drizzle to go on top.

Preheat the oven to 350º F and grease and flour a 9-inch square baking pan. 

Peel and mash the bananas.

In a separate bowl mix the flour and baking powder together, set aside.   

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together using an electric mixer. Beat until smooth. Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each egg is well incorporated before adding the next. 

In another bowl place the sour cream and mix the baking soda into the sour cream. Then add to the butter mixture until well combined. Stir the bananas into the butter mixture. Add the Camp coffee and stir. Add the flour mixture and stir well. Spoon a portion of the coffee cake batter in to the prepared square pan. Loosely sprinkle some of the topping over the batter and then add the remaining batter over top, smooth as best you can, and sprinkle with the remaining topping. 

Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Note: I checked the coffee cake periodically while it was baking. I did set a timer and with just a little over 3 minutes remaining in baking time I ended up pulling it from the oven because it was done. 

A rich delicate flavour that was sweet with a cup of coffee seemed to disappear fast.  

Hope everyone is having a great week. - JW