kittycafe

Late Winter Canning

Now I know some of you are thinking: shouldn't it be 'Early Spring Canning' Elizabeth?

 This is what it looks like outside my door (I mean literally I just opened the kitchen door and clicked*) so we will not speak of this elusive thing called spring again, non?

I made two small batches of new-to-me recipes. Canning in cold weather is a wonderful idea. The windows steam up and the pots burst with some much needed humidity. And it always smells wicked good of course.

The first, Mango Marmalade is from Small Batch Canning 

Three precious jars of lemony mango goodness. I was saving this recipe for sometime in the deep dark winter - as lemons and mangoes are never in season here anyway- and this was the first chance I got. This family is crazy for mangoes and anything lemony and this jam delivers. I must make a double batch next time.

Mango Marmalade

Combine in saucepan:

2 Lemons, very thinly sliced

2 C water

 and bring to a boil, cover and reduce and boil gently 25 min. stirring occasionally.

Add 2 mangoes, peeled and thinly sliced (and then I chopped the slices in thirds)

Bring to a boil again, stirring, cover, reduce and gently boil 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 Stir in 2C granulated sugar. Return to rapid boil uncovered until you can get a gel on a cold plate, about 15 minutes.

Ladle into sterilised jars and process 10 minutes.

It's just too bad the Oatmeal Toasting Bread from last week was inhaled at break neck speed. I didn't even get a chance to photograph it.

I really have to coordinate the baking/jam efforts.

 

 

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The next small batch was for Candied Jalapenos. I actually halved the recipe as I wasn't sure of the reception this one may get** but I was intrigued and that's all it takes for me. Unfortunately, I have to wait at least two weeks to try it out. Also called Cowboy Candy there are many versions out there. The recipe I used is here. I left out the granulated garlic because I couldn't find it and the cayenne because I thought it would be hot enough. There is another version here.

* The ice around the trees is from the stream that melted and overflowed yesterday (there is a fallen tree partially blocking it's path) and then froze again and was snowed on, all in 24 hours. Well, there was one day when we could see the grass. Sigh.

**The Lad scooped one out of the pot and put it in his soup so I think it's a safe bet after all.

Typed while listening to The Husband drive the snow blower down the driveway. If you have crocuses coming up I. do. not. want. to. know.

Hearty

I didn't expect to post today but I came  home from work due to the snow storm that is going on and on and on. I got stuck 3/4 of the way into my driveway due to snow drifting.

It's the kind of weather that makes one crave hearty, stodgy food, the stick-to-your-ribs kind.

I recently went through a try-a-new-recipe-all-week phase and now I am delving deep into my considerable recipe repertoire to re-discover older tried and true ones, starting with breakfast.

Which brings me to these pancakes.

My, it's hard to take a decent pic of pancakes, isn't it? They are not the most photogenic of breakfasts.

These pancakes are from a homemade mix. We have tinkered with it over the years to get it just how we like it but It's still evolving. The original called for cornmeal and poppy seeds, which I don't fancy at all in a pancake; I don't like the grit. I wasn't too happy with the sunflower seeds the first go around but now I like them.

 So you see, there are a lot of ingredients that can be added or subtracted as personal preference allows. The best part of these mixes is that a batch can be whipped up quickly by adding a few wet ingredients.

This one also contains powdered milk so you can easily take it camping, if you are so inclined. (It's hard to think of camping when it's -10C but I'm throwing that out there anyway)

The one recent change we have made is to grind the oatmeal a bit, rather than leave it in all it's whole flake glory.

So, here it is for you to play with. Let me know how you make out.

(Next time, I think I'll add small-diced apple tossed in cinnamon to the batter) 

 

Hearty Pancake Mix

makes 12 cups mix, approx.

I cup mix makes 8 pancakes, approx.

 

4.5 C FLour

2 C quick oats

2/3 C bran

2 TBsp sesame seeds

1/4 C sunflower seeds

1/2 C powdered milk

2 TBsp salt

1/2 C Baking Powder

1 TBsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/4 C Sugar

Mix all the ingredients together and store in a large jar(s). Label the jar with the instructions, as follows:

To I cup mix add:

1 cup milk or water

I or 2 eggs (I've only ever used one)

1 or 2 Tbsp oil( again I've only used one)

 

 

 

 

Bread and Sugar

Littlest and I swore off sugar. 

Littlest by the way, will now be simply referred to as "Ms.M" because even though she is my youngest, she is no longer the littlest. I am now the Littlest, at a hobbit-like 5'8".

..moving back to our story....

 So Ms.M decided to do a sugar cleanse, like her favourite talk show host. I thought it would be a snap for her because she is a salty-cracker-before-cookie kind of girl. She did miss hot chocolate, a lot! I was trying it for Other (expandingmiddle) Reasons.

If she's a salty cracker sort of girl, I'm a pastry and a sugared tea kind of girl. 

On the whole it was going really well, except for the sugar in the tea* and except for the baking. You see, I'm also a baking kind of girl, in an obsessed sort of way and several times a day I would wander into the kitchen like a lost soul, not know what to do with my hands, grab an apple and walk back out.

I didn't miss the eating of sweets, which surprised me, but oh baby did I want to turn on that oven!

So I turned to bread. 

 

I see I'm not alone; the blogs are full of bread baking these days. And I have a confession to make, something you may not know about me: I read as many, or more food blogs than any other kind.

I'm a fan of  Yeast Spotting, on Susan's blog, Wild Yeast on fridays. 

I'm not much of a bread eater for various reasons but I do like toast in the morning. So I expanded my breakfast bread repertoire.

Once a week I made a different kind of bread.

My pizza peel and baking stone have never seen such a workout since my outdoor bread oven days, which I miss.

I made many boules from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. pictured above. (Technically not breakfast bread but made for soup dinners and the leftovers were toasted in the morning)

I made spelt bread.

 

I made a sourdough starter. They say breads made with sourdough are easier to digest than those made with commercial yeast.

I made my favourite swedish limpa recipe from years ago.Oh how I love limpa. (Inexplicably this was my only fail!)

I fiddled with an Artisan Peasant Bread and made it into a Swiss meusli (a winner!)

 

I made bagels for school lunches tomorrow (I have hidden two as they are rapidly disappearing) and 

 

I made pizza.  Again from the Artisan bread book. This is not a plug, we just enjoy their olive oil dough more than my usual pizza dough recipe that I make in the bread machine.
This is greek chicken with pesto and sauteed veg and a lot of garlic, for those who will ask. 

This satisfied my baking urges. Sadly we didn't use any less butter because what I would have used in baking went on the bread :)

This week I will make a soft oatmeal loaf suitable for sandwiches because those bagels aren't going to last. 

The Sugar Cleanse was officially over when Ms. M invited a friend over and made a chocolate cake on the first day of Spring. She made this one, Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake, tried and true and well, just darned good cake.

This made the boys happy and temporarily stopped their complaining - they really missed the baked goods!

Speaking of Ms. M, she is now sucking on a cherry candy cane and waiting impatiently for the computer.

* I tried stevia (Blah!) and ended up drinking green tea. But then that little demon on my shoulder made me try this  Chai Tea Concentrate and I may never be the same.

I'll leave you with the recipe for the Swiss Meusli Bread. 

 

Best toasted with butter and honey.

This recipe makes two loaves.

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 Tbsp granular yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp salt

1/2 C Rye Flour

1/2 C whole wheat flour

1/2 C Oats

5 C unbleached flour

2 Tbsps Poppyseeds

4 Tbsps Flaxseed

1 C raisins

I tBsp each of seeds and oats for sprinkling on top.

(If I made it again I would add orange rind for that limpa feel)

Mix the yeast and salt with the water.

Mix in the remaining ingredients using a spoon or dough hook in your mixer.

Cover loosely and let rest at room temp. until dough rises and collapses (2 hours)

Refrigerate until you're ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 450'F

Use half dough per loaf and form, with floured hands into an oval shape (on peel or baking sheet) Sprinkle with oats and seeds.

I let mine sit for about an hour before baking because my house is cold, you may just need 1/2 that time.

Bake for about 35 minutes or until it sounds hollow on bottom when tapped.

Mandarins for Jam

Okay, these are clementines but the recipe calls for mandarins. The difference?

When I found this recipe last year in Apples For Jam, I knew for certain I wanted to try it. The problem was the crate(s) of clementines always got eaten before I could get my jam making mojo together. And then the season passed.

So this cold, cold week, yes another one, I was trying to come up with different culinary solutions to keeping the kitchen really toasty, like lots of baking and pots of hot soup! All very good. And then I came across the recipe again and got the big canning pot out.

I will say that you have to have a certain amount of perseverance, or maybe insanity

for this one because you have to peel each segment of each clementine. Yes you read that right.

Needless to say this takes a little bit of time and your track ball or mouse will get really sticky if you are downloading music on your computer to keep your self amused at the same time. Ahem.

(Could this be why this paragraph is now stuck on italic?)

And why there are no photos of this step?

Once you get past that bit of crazy it really is not a difficult jam.

And very tasty. Reminiscent of marmalade but not as tangy or strong, with a smoother softer consistency. It does not make a huge batch, I got just 3 jars and a bit but it is enough to bring a bit of sunshine into the house in the middle of this nasty January cold blintz. It's now -25'C wind chill outside, the kind of cold that catches your breath when you go outside and freezes the inside of your nose so that it hurts to breathe.

I'm so so not a winter person.

Thank goodness for a little sunshine and the illusion of warmth, even in a jar.

The Birthday Pie

I am rather shame-faced as I think I promised this recipe at this time last year. It gets eaten fast and I had to take a late night flash photo just to get this one. It's no excuse really as this pie is too good not to share.

Birthday pie in our house can be any pie. Littlest, who has a summer birthday, is partial to Lemon Meringue or Lemon Pudding Pie even though this year she opted for cake. 

But seeing as there are two birthdays in October in our immediate family, the seasonal pumpkin and apple variety rules and was our first "official" birthday pie.

  I know purists out there may balk at this pie, and I completely understand, as nothing can beat an unadulterated apple pie. However, we tend to think this combination of apple and pumpkin wins over an all-pumpkin pie.

 The apple layer tastes surprisingly sweet in this combination. The spices are subtly different in each layer and complement well without dominating.

Keep an open mind and give it a try. You can always put it out on your Thanksgiving table and not mention the apple layer underneath.

Birthday Pie  (Pumpkin Apple Pie)

1/4 C Butter

3 medium Apples, peeled and sliced (any variety that doesn't turn mushy when cooked. We don't want apple sauce here)

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground Allspice

1/4 tsp ground Nutmeg

1 Tbsp Flour

1/4 C Apple Cider or juice

2 tBsps Sugar

1 unbaked 9" Pie Shell

1 C Pumpkin puree

1 Egg

1/3 C sugar

1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground Nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground Cloves

1/2 C half and half cream

Preheat oven to 425'F

Melt butter in saucepan over med. heat and stir in apples, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg and cook 5 minutes.

Stir in flour, apple cider, 2 tbsp sugar.

Cook 1 minute and remove from heat.

(It's a shame there is no Smell-o-vision plug-in for computers)

In medium mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree and the next 5 ingredients. Beat until well blended. Stir in cream.

Place apple mixture in the pie pastry.

Carefully pour the pumpkin mixture over top.

Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350'F and bake 30 minutes or until centre is set.

Cool completely.

(Whipped cream to serve if that floats your boat)

Well, I did keep up one tradition at least.

I failed miserably with the Birthday Socks.

How I Failed Strawberry Math

It started like this.

I went strawberry picking the other day. An innocent enough adventure.

I called a friend to come along  but she was off to Belize for a week and needed to pack. We'll say no more about that. The Lad would not join me because he is a teenager and was busy being morose and strawberry picking requires a certain involvement with nature, which he avoids like a vampire avoids daylight.

So getting right to to the point,  I may have picked a few too many strawberries. 

I kept telling myself, "I think I need just a few more" and I was alone in the hot sun and talking to myself; not a good scenario all 'round.

And the problem with strawberries is, they don't keep.

Then the jam recipe had their math a little off. It stated 12 cups strawberries would make 6 cups crushed. Well for me 9 cups makes 6 cups crushed. Ahem. ( I start to sweat here) I crushed harder but it made no difference.

The recipe also said have ready 5 to 7 jars, so I sterilized 8, you know, the one being insurance.

The recipe made 9 jars.

So! Not one to buckle under a culinary challenge, I make strawberry ice-cream. ( Pat self on back for buying ice cream maker in weak moment)

Then I thought, the last bit of jam from imaginary 9th jar is going to be dessert topping. (Feeling smug here.)

 Then I make strawberry muffins/cake from an untried recipe from internet thinking I would be clever and freeze the cake for later. Another ugly but delicious muffin, a bit sink hole-ish looking.

(Stuffed strawberries in mouth while baking, feeling a little like Lucille Ball at the chocolate factory conveyor belt. They were delicious, btw.)

Quickly realize cake will not fit in freezer now that I have made the ice cream.

Swear with feeling.

Make spinach strawberry salad to go with dinner. 

 Decide to invite friends over for after dinner coffee to eat baked goods and for impromptu Strawberry Festival of sorts.

Then I pawn a container off on The Lad, who was off to a friend's house.

Still some berries left.

I figure they will keep until morning, when the family is going to have cereal for breakfast with yoghurt and 

strawberries... whether they want to or not.

Note to self:

Buy jam next year.

Go to Belize.

Easiest and Best Brownies

  

Sometimes it's all about easy.

I have a little viral something this week which has left me low on energy and so the lunch box sweet this week had to be relatively painless. Brownies were requested and I looked up my 3 million brownie recipes and then remembered this one, from a school mom/friend, that fit the bill.

These are so easy a child could make them.

And one of the best brownies I've ever eaten.

I love it when chocolate recipes call for cocoa powder instead of baking squares, which I don't always have on hand. 

I also balk at recipes that call for 1 cup of butter. I do my best to cut the amount, sometimes by half, sometimes just a quarter. This recipe calls for the full cup and I did go the full monty, but now that I've tasted them again, I think 3/4 c would suffice.

You'd be surprised at how many recipes you can cut the fat with no noticeable depreciation in texture or flavour.  It often improves the texture, making the baked good less oily. I know 'healthy baking' is an oxymoron but every little bit helps.

You can melt/sprinkle chocolate chips over these when they come out of the oven but really, they are rich enough as is and that would be one more step to the process and the name of the game here is easy.

Enjoy.

I'm off for another dose of oil of oregano.

I'd rather be having tea and brownies with you.

1 Cup (250ml) Butter, melted ( on your honour here)

3 Cups (750ml)  Brown Sugar, lightly packed ( I have no problem with the evil sugar, you'll notice)

1 1/2 Cups (375ml) All purpose Flour

3/4 Cup (175 ml) Cocoa

3 Eggs

1 tsp (5ml) Vanilla

Line a 13 x9" (3.5L) baking dish with waxed paper or spray with baking spray.

Preheat oven to 350"F (180'C)

In a heat proof mixing bowl, melt butter.

Beat in sugar, flour, cocoa, eggs and vanilla. In other words, dump everything else in.

Spoon into pan and smooth the top.

Bake 30 -35 min. or until cake is firm around the edges but still soft in the centre. It will set upon cooling.

Cool on rack before cutting.

Good Morning, let's eat!

I'm prefacing this whole post by stating how much I love toast.
I've always said that cold cereal goes soggy in milk and leaves me hungry in a hour. Packaged cereals are usually too sweet or too bland.
But the menfolk I live with think cereal is the best way to start the day. And being the food junkie that I am, I was only too happy to experiment with different homemade cereals over the years.
For a while we were making and eating a lot of the granola from the recipe in Nigella's Feast cookbook and it was good but then I hit upon this gem, from a B&B in lovely Niagara On The Lake and have had to double batch when I make it.
We eat this with plain or vanilla yoghurt and fresh seasonal fruit. I think the abundance of nuts makes it a little more filling than regular cereal so I'm not hungry mid-morning.

I have my own name for this, 'Eleven Half Cup Granola' because that's the required amount for all 11 ingredients (except the oatmeal) and I can remember to pick up the right things if I happen to be standing in the grocery store without a list.
As testiment to it's toothsomeness (say that 10 times fast) I have to say that as soon as cool weather hits I am in toast/hot cereal mode but I am still devouring this on a regular basis.

As always, feel free to substitute your favourite ingredients.

Canadiana

I'm not sure what is considered a true Canadian food. Something containing maple syrup, I imagine. What do you consider Canadian food?
I think of the butter tart. And for some reason it is a cottage, summer treat. I don't know why because this is no lightweight in the baking world, nor does it rely on fresh summer fruit. I guess it's an indulgence like sitting on a dock with a good book listening to lake sounds. What we call doing nothing. And doing nothing is a big treat.
There are a lot of butter tarts to be found, mass produced, the kind that can give a Canadian icon a bad name. Then there are the homemade ones. This is the best and easiest recipe I've come across. Three main ingredients. Without the commonly used corn syrup they are still requisitely gooey inside.
I haven't given a recipe for the pastry because everyone has their own preference here. Use your favourite. No pre-made shells! You'll ruin the experience.
If you haven't ever had these before I should give the warning - these are tooth-achingly sweet.
Due to family preferences I made some plain for the purists, some raisin and some pecan.

When my husband was small his mother would not often serve dessert and rarely baked but one treat he looked forward to was a gently warmed butter tart with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top.
Enjoy the last tastes of summer.

Kittycafe Butter Tarts

I cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 TBsp or more Melted Butter
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Real Vanilla Extract

Put raisins and/or nuts in uncooked pastry shells (regular muffin cup size) and pour mixture over.
Bake at 350'F for approx. 20 minutes.
Makes one dozen.

R is for Recipes

I know you are all thinking I must have a vast collection of cookbooks crowding my kitchen shelves but in reality nothing could be farther from the truth. I have very few actual cookbooks.
But I am really very good at finding recipes, often mooching recipes, clipping and saving them.
This is my collection, in situ in a kitchen cupboard. Click on the pic for the titles.

All organised in a seemingly anal retentive way but really catalogued in a system known only to myself.

I took a day off from storing and arranging things and had a little wander through the archives.
I ended up succumbing to Black Pepper Cheese Bread to go with Littlest's dinner offering of frittata.
The kid's have one day each during the week when they make dinner. This is not really a break for me as I am there to provide ongoing moral and technical support but more so they will end up as self sufficient adults able to feed themselves in a semi-nutritious manner. Plus, if they make it, they will eat it. Anyone with children will not underestimate the importance of that last statement.
Littlest usually chooses something from the egg or cheese category (oh to be a 12 year old size zero) and this bread, along with salad, will be dinner. If she persuades her brother to make the salad, she wins extra points. We don't call her The Negiotator for nothing.
I can't describe how good this smells baking, the peppery fresh bread aroma that permeates the whole house.

Until I made the mincemeat tarts.

Well, the oven was hot and I was rummaging through the pantry which I am trying to empty (details on why this is important will make themselves known shortly) and I came across a jar of mincemeat that was abandoned in Christmas season due to time contraints and stress.
I don't know if I actually made an headway here, as the pantry contains one less item but now there is a half jar of mincemeat in the fridge. ...Wait I just found a cookie recipe.

Speaking of wonderful smells, the light fresh rain on that newly awakened earth outside was pretty wonderful as well. We have green grass, we have buds, we may just have spring after all.
It was a very aromatic day all around.

Black Pepper Cheese Bread

1/2 tsp dry mustard 2 TBsp active Dry Yeast
6-6 1/2 cups Flour 2 Tbsp Sugar
1 TBsp. salt 2 TBsp vegetable Oil
3 tsp Pepper 2 large Eggs
1 3/4 Warm Milk 1 1/2 Cups grted Cheddar Cheese

Combine mustard and 1/2 tsp warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Combine 3 cups flour with salt and 2 tsp pepper. Set aside.

Place warm milk and yeast in a large bowl and proof 10 minutes.
Stir well and add sugar, oil, eggs and mustard mixture.
Gradually stir in the flour/pepper mixture. Beat well.
Stir in the cheese.
Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff dough.

Turn out onto board and do the usual 10 minute kneading, adding more flour as needed.
Place in a lightly greased bowl , cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled - about 1 hour.
Punch down and divide into 2 greased loaf tins and cover again.
Let rise until doubled.

Brush the loaves with milk and sprinkle the remaining pepper over tops.
Bake 375'F for about 50 minutes.
Turn out to cool.
Slather with butter and enjoy.
Even better as toast!