Kale Chips

The first time I saw Kale Chips was at winners - in the "sketchy" food/oil/vinegar/candy/tea and coffee section. I was initially quite put off by the idea (how could they be good). So the other day I was surprise when I saw Giada (On the food network), making the same chips. When I saw how easy they were, I had to try them.

 

So, they look gross, though they don't taste that way. I imagine that not everyone would like them, but for Teegan and I, who can't get enough chips - they are a good substitute. Here's what I did.

1. Wash and cut (into approx chip size) a bunch of kale - discard the stems. 

2. Throw all your chips/leaves into a bowl and cover with a few glugs of oil/a few splashes of balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. 

3. Lay out leaves/chips onto a baking sheet - you may need 2 - just as long as they are not overlapping each other.

4. Bake at 350 for 10 to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them - and flip them as you see fit. You'll know when they are done. 

Enjoy

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie:

2 Chicken Breast

2 Chicken Thighs

If it's already cooked - just shred it. If it's raw, just cut it up into 1 inch cubes and pan fry.

1/4 c Butter

1 Onion (minced)

3 Garlic cloves (minced)

1/4 c flour

1 tsp Paprika

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 c Milk (warmed - almost hot)

2 Carrots (medium dice)

1 Med. Turnip (medium dice)

1 Portabello mushroom (chopped)

1 c Peas (frozen)

- Cook the Carrots and Turnips in boiling water for 5 minutes.
- In a high wall frying pan, add the butter, onion and saute (Medium high heat) the onion till soft (3 Minutes).
- Add the garlic and cook till it smells (30 Seconds).
- Add the flour and stir till it turns slightly brown (A minute or 3).
- Add the spices - stir till Incorporated then add the milk - stir till its reduced and the sauce is a little bit thicker.
- Proceed to add the turnips, carrots, mushrooms, peas and cooked chicken. Stir everything together and let cook for a few minutes more.
- Add Salt and Pepper to your taste.

I filled my 4 mini dutch ovens with the mix - but I think an 8x8 baking dish would work.

- To finish, get a sheet of puff pastry and roll out to fit your dish. Once it's a nice fit, put a few slits in it and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 400.

Country vs. City

Recipes courtesy of Michael Smith

Country:

2 1/4 c Warm Water

1 tsp of yeast (I doubled the yeast, the original recipe calls for 1/2 a tsp)

3 c Bread flour

1 c Whole wheat flour

1/2 c grain mix (I used a 1/4 c of both wheat germ and flax seeds)

2 tsp Salt

Steps:

1. Proof yeast and water for 5 minutes, unless you have instant yeast, which can be added right to the flour mixture.

2. Combine all dry ingredients and stir together till mixed.

3. Add yeast mix and dry ingredients and stir it till everything is well Incorporated - just make sure that there isn't any loose flour at the bottom of the bowl.

4. Cover (with plastic wrap or a lid) and leave it alone (in a warm place) overnight - or for 12 hours.

5. Scrape the dough out of the bowl, onto a floured surface and knead the dough till it becomes a little tighter (This should only take a minute or so).

6. Oil the dough and roll into a loaf shape and place it in a 9x5 loaf pan. Let this sit and rise for 2 hours or so until it doubles in size. I used my dutch oven, lined in parchment paper (I don't use oil either).

7. Bake at 425 for 45 minutes. Because I baked mine with the dutch over I left the lid on for 25 minutes and lid off for another 20. If you want a harder exterior bake a few more minutes, but watch it, so it doesn't burn.

Results: I don't have anything negative to say about this bread. It was simple, it has great flavour, texture (Crust and inside) and looked like a giant hockey puck (I gave it too much room to grow vertically, so It didn't get the nice rounded shape - not that it really matters).

City:

2 1/2 c Warm Water

1 tsp Yeast (once again I double my yeast)

5 c Bread Flour

2 tsp Salt

The steps are the same as above.

The Results: It came out of the oven, crusty, hard and shiny. The crust had a good bite to it and lent itself well to the soft chewy inside. The bread came out a little on the wet/moist side (Like most overnight breads), which is in no way a bad thing.

And the winner is?

The County Bread! I loved the taste of the city bread, and in some ways it was superior to the country bread. But the country bread is just so much better for me, and in my opinion makes a nicer sandwich and toast!

All In Burger!

My All In Burger:

1 pound of ground beef
1/4 c finely minced onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 c or so of grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 egg
A handful of bread crumbs
1 T of grainy horseradish mustard
A Splash of Worcestershire
A few slices of cut up banana peppers
1 Medium pickle cut up
A pinch of dry oregano and thyme
Salt and Pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and shape into burgers.

BBQ! I know it's the end of November - but my BBQ goes all year round. I recommend a headlamp!

I'm Beet Bread!

I came across - this little gem - last night. It caught my attention for a couple of reasons.

1. The dough is purple!
2. It seems pretty simple.
3. I just happened to have a bowl of roasted beets in the fridge!

Before I went to bed last night - I whisked together

1 c Warm water
1/4 tsp Yeast (if you have active dry yeast - proof these 2 together for a few minutes)
1 c Bread flour

Cover the bowl and let this rest for 12 hours or so.

The next morning, unwrap the bowl and add 1 cup of purred beets.

Proof another 3/4 tsp yeast in 1/4 c of water

In another bowl mix together your dry ingredients.

1/2 c Whole wheat flour
2 3/4 c Bread flour
1 tsp salt

Mix everything together and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Apparently the dough is suppose to be on the sticky side, so don't add to much more flour while kneading. After kneading put the dough into a bowl (With oil) and let it rest for another hour (till it's doubled in size).

This is the best I could correct the colour on this pic - mmm - pepto!

After it has doubled in size, form into 2 loafs - whatever shape you desire and let rise (on parchment paper) for another hour. Once the hour is up, cut a few slice into each loaf and sprinkle whole wheat flour over the top.

Bake at 400 for 30 to 35 minutes. If you are unsure if it's done or not, use a thermometer - it should measure 180.

Once again the pictures colour is off. That's what I get for living in a basement - and having a bad camera!

Pepper'd Rosemary Cheddar Biscuits

I love biscuits and in the last few years, I have discovered I love having them for breakfast. Sure nothing beats having them fresh, right out of the oven - but I am happy to report that they freeze quite well. In the mornings I like to take them out of the freezer, cut them in half and give them a little time in the toaster and top with butter (not that they need anymore!).

Recipe: (I adapted it from chef Lynn Crawford's recipe - HERE)

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cup Cake/Pastry Flour
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
2 T of Fresh chopped Rosemary
1 c Sharp Cheddar Cheese (or a bit more if you feel inclined)
1 c of Buttermilk
6 T Frozen Butter

Preheat the Oven to 400.
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor, and blitz till everything is combined.
Scrape the mix onto a counter that is covered with flour (To prevent sticking). At this point shape the dough into a coheisive lump (kneading is a no - no!). Then grab your rolling pin and roll your dough until it's about 3/4 of an inch thick. Cut the dough into whatever shape you desire, place the cut biscuits onto a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 18 minutes - or until the sides and top are a golden brown.

To help with the golden colour, brush with an egg wash, before the biscuits are baked.

1 egg
1 T milk

The Results:
Pros - Light, flaky, buttery, cheesy - so delicious - seriously amazing.
Cons (One Con) - I didn't get enough rise out of my biscuits. I have narrowed the reason down to 2 things. The first being - I rolled the dough out to thin - easy to correct for next time. The second being - I handled my dough to much - it came out of the processor to sticky (I should have added another 1/4 c of flour, which I did add to the recipe up top, for your sake) and It played the lets stick to the counter game, which meant I had to re-roll.

p.s. If you don't have buttermilk (which I never do), try putting 1 T of lemon juice in a 1 cup measuring cup and top the rest up with milk. It does the trick!

Bakeware/Soup/Crisp - Supper.

While at Winners today Teegan convinced me to buy some makeshift ramekins, well they aren't really ramekins but rather mini dutch ovens (I love them). So I used them tonight for supper and dessert.

Roasted Romanesque Cauliflower and Garlic Soup

When I picked this cauliflower up at the market last Saturday, I wasn't expecting to enjoy it more then the normal run of the mill cauliflower. It was sweeter with a bit of nutty flavour - quite nice.

Here's what I did - It's super easy.

I cut up the head of cauliflower coated it in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted it (with five garlic cloves still in there wrappers) in a 350 degree oven till the edges got brown and the garlic is soft - about 20 to 30 minutes.

Once cauliflower is done

Saute 1/2 an onion (on medium heat) till caramelized or there abouts
add the cauliflower and garlic (peeled)
Stir till everything is mixed
Then add 1 liter of stock (chicken or veg)

Bring everything to a boil then turn down and simmer for 30 minutes or so. Puree the soup and you are done. I finished mine in my new bake ware topped with some bread I made this morning and sharp cheddar cheese. So good!

Apple crisp

Topping:

3/4 c flour
1/4 c bran
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c toasted hazelnuts
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter (cold)
a splash of vanilla

I tend to use my food processor for my crisps topping, it does a really nice job of cutting in butter.

For the filling I used 5 huge apples and a half pint of raspberries.


Bake in at 9x13 inch pan at 350 for about 45 minutes. Though I used an 8x8 and 2 of my little dutch ovens. Now that it's cool, I must partake.

More Bread

A few weeks ago I baked my first dutch oven bread - and since then I have been hooked on baking bread.

This morning (or should I say last night) I baked another no-knead bread (in my dutch oven). This go round I was a little more exciting because this bread was a multi-grain with a bunch of seeds in it. I found the recipe here - and it goes a little like this.

2 cups of lukewarm water
1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I used 1 tsp)
2 T of molasses

Stir everything together and then let it proof - 5 to 10 minutes.

2 cups bread flour
1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 T salt (I cut this in half)
2 T chia seeds
2 T flax seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

Whisk all the dry ingredients together - then add to the yeast mixture and stir together till everything is well blended and you can't see any remaining flour. Cover and let sit for 12 to 20 hours.

After 20 hours - scrape the bubbly dough onto a bunch of flour and fold it over on itself a few times and shape into a ball. Let it rest for another hour or so (till it doubles in size again). Bake in a preheated oven (the dutch oven should be pre-heated too) at 425 for 25 - 30 minutes then for another 10 to 15 with the lid of the dutch oven off. Oh, I should say that parchment paper is helpful as well.

After that you should have some bread!

My bread turned out good. The molasses gave it a little bit of booze flavour (which I liked, but Teegan wasn't quite a fan of). If your not fond of a slight booze flavour use honey or perhaps some brown sugar instead of the molasses. The texture of the dough was a little moist for my liking, but it was in fact cooked through - perhaps it could have used a few more minutes in the oven.

It'll go great with soup tonight!

The Avocado Tree

My little tree, has been steadily climbing upwards and outwards.

Brown Butter Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnuts

First I took about 3 tablespoons of butter and browned it (on a medium setting) in my frying pan. Then I added the hazelnut and sprouts and sauteed them till everything was well coated. I then placed them into a baking dish and baked them for about 10 minutes at 350. My oven was already on, if it wasn't I probably would have just let them cook in the frying pan.

The flavour was quite nice and lent itself well to a little parmesan cheese. I will make these again!

Today's Finds!

This morning I woke up, made some coffee and was once again on my way to the market. As I walked out the door, Teegan asked me if I could get some greens, because we have been lacking on the green goodness lately.

Ask and you shall receive!

So I picked up some rapini, brussels sprouts, A weird looking green dinosaur cauliflower, turnips (which can't be seen), a pablano pepper, honey crisp apples (again) and some free range chicken eggs.

Stay tuned to see what I do with my haul.

Zucchini Bread

For the last few weeks, I have been sending Teegan to her Tuesday morning clinic meetings with baking.

I have come to realize that it's the best way to bake:

I get to make something I want.
I get to try it.
I get to give it away.
so I don't end up eating it all.

It almost sound selfish!

I have taken to making loafs lately. Probably because they can look almost healthy, which isn't always the case. So yesterday I decided on Zucchini/Carrot bread, seeing as I have already made banana, pumpkin and beet.

I found a good recipe on allrecipes, but I had to change it so I could sell it to the nutritionally aware/conscious midwives.

Bowl 1:
1 c butter/oil
3 eggs
Vanilla
3/4 c Brown sugar
3/4 c White sugar (as opposed to the 2 1/2 cups of white sugar)

Bowl 2:
1 1/2 Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 White flour (as opposed to 3 cups white flour)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Ginger

Bowl 3:
2 Small Zucchini's (course grate)
1 Big Carrot (course grate)
- both of these should come to about 3 cups-
1/2 c toasted whole hazelnuts

Mix bowls 1 and 2 together - once it's almost all mixed add bowl 3 - continue to mix till there is no more white. Pour the batter into 2 buttered and floured loaf pans and bake for an hour at 350 - till a toothpick comes out clean.

It turned out quite nice. Next time I may even add some flax seeds.

Caesar 3 (The Saga Continues)

I was quite happy with my last attempt at Caesar dressing, so things this round didn't stray to far.

My new additions:
1 tsp (about) anchovy paste
1/2 tsp (about) fresh black peppercorns
a few slices of red onion

The Other ingredients (no exact measurements):

a mix of canola and olive oil
mayo
red wine vinegar
lemon juice
mustard
parmesan cheese
garlic

I threw all the ingredients into a jar and used my immersion blender to puree.

I can't honestly say that I noticed the anchovy flavour, perhaps next time I will add more. Though the black peppercorns added a nice spice, and will make a return appearance.

Unfortunately my pics once again didn't turn out - Though I imagine if you close your eyes and think real hard, you could envision what it would look like.