kittycafe

Chocolate Hot and Cold

In this household hot chocolate is a year round thing. Even with this crazy heat, the evenings cool down and Ms. M, the resident connoisseur usually mixes up a mug before bed.

We found some highly recommended mexican hot chocolate discs at the grocery store this winter but she did not care for them. The box languished in the pantry until I happened upon a recipe for mexican chocolate ice cream and I thought why not try to use it for this? It was July after all, ice cream season.

Since there was no custard of eggs and cream in this recipe  (just milk) I knew that it was to be eaten when made, as non-custard based ice creams tend to get too hard sitting in the freezer, even for a short time.

The ice cream was a hit but as it happened, the ice cream bucket did not freeze properly so the ice cream turned out even less than creamy than I was expecting. The good news is that it reminded me of something else - that childhood treat fudgsicles! but with cinnamon :)

 If I make this again ( I have two discs left) it will go in popsicle molds!

So what is the household expert doing for hot chocolate?

I  came across this recipe in The Best of America's Test Kitchen books, from 2008 for a hot chocolate drink mix.

Hot Cocoa Mix

3 C non fat dry milk

2 C (8oz) confectioner's Sugar

1.5 C (4.5 oz) Dutch-processed Cocoa

1.5 C white chocolate chips (I used chopped white baking chocolate squares as this is what I had on hand)

1/4 teaspoon Salt

Combine ingredients in a large bowl.

Working in 2 batches, pulse the ingredients in a food processor until the white chocolate is finely ground.

To make hot cocoa, stir 1/3 cup mix into 1 cup hot milk.

May be stored room temperature for up to 3 months.

I was dubious. It called for white chocolate and I really do not like white chocolate. But it was the "key ingredient" and the trick to utmost creaminess or so I was told, so I hesitantly made a half batch to test it out. Those chalkboard paint lids are still coming in very handy.

As you can see the jar is almost empty so it too was a hit, although Ms. M found it almost too creamy and substituted some of the milk for water. She often prefers her hot chocolate that way so I still considered the mix 100% success.

Chocolate, hot and cold.

 

Memory Food

You know the kind.  I takes you back to your childhood. Or one single place in time.

Here is one of mine.

Growing up, we had a large Italian family next door to us. There were four girls and one boy, two of which were my age and we played together regularly.

Their mother was a tiny woman who spoke very little English. She kept to her home and garden.

Every once in a while my mother would be invited over for coffee. 

And occasionally, we would hear a knock on the side door and this neighbour, Tina would be there with a big smile and with something special in her hands, plum cake.

I remember peeking from behind my mother (because there wasn't much room at the door) very excited. I had to check though. Sometimes she brought a half of plum, and the other half a lemon curd variation. The lemon curd was fine but the plum was divine! There was some illusive flavour to the plums and I could never figure out what it was. The dough was soft and not too sweet.

Years later, when her daughters and myself had grown up and we were all gathered for a bridal shower I asked her for the recipe. I got the response I was expecting. She did not have a recipe, she made it intuitively.

Could she give me a guideline?

I grabbed a paper napkin and a pen and wrote it down. Then at home I experimented until I figured out how much "some flour to make a smooth dough" was. I would have loved to watch her make it instead but this is all I had.  I was surprised to find out what made that plum filling sing.

Tina's Plum Cake.

 

The original recipe makes two large slabs but here I have cut it in half. You can double it again and knock on your neighbour's door with the other. I highly recommend it.

This is not  traditional "cake" in the North American sense of the word.

It is perfect with coffee or tea.

I don't imagine it would keep well but I have never had to find out!

Butter a 9"x 13'' metal pan or jelly roll pan)

Beat 3 eggs 

1/2 C olive oil

1 C sugar

and 1/2 C milk together.

Mix 1/2 tsp baking powder with 3.5 C all purpose flour and lemon rind.

Mix flour mixture together with wet ingredients. You may need more flour (up to 1/2 C)

The dough should be just past the sticky stage but can be handled. Use your hands in the bowl to knead gently to a smooth dough. Add flour sparingly as you need to.

Take half of the dough onto a lightly floured board and roll out a bit to fit the bottom of your pan. Lay it in the pan pressing it in with your fingers.

Take one jar of plum jam or butter and mix in 3 spoonfuls of cocoa powder. 

Spread over dough.

Roll the remaining dough into ropes and crisscross over the filling.

Bake at 350'F for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

My photo shows that I used a round tart pan ( I used a pie plate for the rest of the dough) This is because I only have my small convection oven/microwave to bake in at the moment and a rectangular pan would not fit. (It is also why the top got a little too dark and took a much shorter time to bake. Nothing however, stops me from baking!

 

Three Very Good Things, plus One

The food edition

Like Chocolate and Zucchini, here are my Three Very Good Things from the kitchen.

The Bread Making Babes made this Cuban Bread this month (I know it will be hard but come back from that blog link!) and I intrigued by the method - putting it into a cold oven to rise. It is very good: soft inside, crusty outside. There is not usually frost on it. The recipe makes two loaves and I froze the second one after I found, although delicious fresh it stales quickly. I had forgotten to take a photo of the first one.

Bread is the perfect accompaniment to soup:

Calde Verde, the recipe from here. The family raved about this one. (I cut everything into bite-sized chunks, contrary to the recipe.)

And also good with bread: jam or specifically Blood Orange Marmalade

 There is a precedent in this household, set by me, to make marmalade on the coldest winter day, particularly during a snow storm. Years ago, my first seville oranges were purchased in a blizzard.

It's the contrast right? All that blustery white cold and sweet sun-kissed citrus. This weekend was no exception. It was cold -14'C and very snowy. So marmalade it was. I made a double batch.

I tried this marmalade right out of the pan (come on, you all do it) on a wheaty black pepper cracker.

Another nice contrast.

And last but not least, my contribution, this fruity loaf. 

I have been experimenting with some baking recipes for a farm store and this quick loaf turned out just right. It is very moist. It has very little fat. Point in fact: I didn't even get to try it until day three! and it was not dry at all.

Try it with any dried fruit you like.

Here I used Thompson seedless raisins, dried cranberries, sultanas and a few dried pears, leftover from a chutney recipe.

Dried Fruit Loaf

1.5 C dried fruit

1.5 C water

1 Egg

1 C brown Sugar

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp grated citrus peel (orange or lemon)

2 C unbleached Flour

1/2 C whole wheat Flour

1 tsp Salt

2.5 tsp Baking Powder

Preheat oven to 325'F

Place dried fruit in water in saucepan and bring to a boil.

Let cool to room temperature.

In a bowl mix egg, oil, sugar and grated peel.

Add to fruit/water mixture.

Sift dry ingredients together and add to bowl, mixing well.

Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.

Toothpick inserted in middle of loaf should come out just a bit moist.

 

 

The Seasonal Treat

The sap has stopped running for this year and now we are left with one of my favourite sweets, maple syrup.

I always make one maple treat to celebrate when the new supply of syrup hits the shelves.

It's too early to rejoice in any local harvest other than some hothouse greens so it is nice to have something from nature while the garden starts waking up.

For pancakes and waffles I like No.1 light or grade A but for cooking the best is the darker, amber syrup. It imparts a more potent maple flavour and the added bonus is that it is a little cheaper - no sense selling your first born for pie. I am lucky in that, living rurally and working in a gourmet food shop, I have easy access to all fresh, local farm produce right from the farmer, maple syrup included, without ever stepping into a grocery store.

Maple Syrup Pie has been likened to pecan pie without the pecans or a very large butter tart but really it is it's own entity.  I chose the recipe below. Some used a much larger quantity of maple syrup but since I was experimenting I thought I'd play it safer with the smaller amount. You can use walnuts or pecans or go au naturel. Like it's aforementioned cousins, it IS sweet, so some unsweetened whipped cream on the side is a nice accompaniment.

I almost tinkered and made this into squares, substituting the pie crust for a firm cooked shortbread base with the same filling over top. I think I might even prefer to go that way next time.

Maple Syrup Pie

Your favourite pie pastry

1 1/2 C packed brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 C heavy cream

!/3 C maple syrup, dark or amber

2 tBsps unsalted butter, melted

1/2 C coarsely chopped nuts (opt)

Roll out your pastry and place into a 8" deep dish pie plate. It is a shallow pie but it will puff dramatically in the oven while cooking and you will want the pastry to be high enough to accommodate this. I made a braided edge that nearly got engulfed by the filling before it sunk down again.

Blind bake the crust with pie weights at 400'F for 6-8 minutes. Turn down the oven to 325'F.

Whisk together the brown sugar and eggs until creamy.

 Add the cream, butter and maple syrup and whisk until smooth.

Pour into the par-baked crust and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the nuts over top and continue baking until filling is puffed and looks dry but still trembles (like custard). This can take up to 50-60 minutes total. Do not over bake or the syrup will turn sugary.

Let cool on wire rack. It will completely set as it cools.

Serve with whipped cream.

Jog around the block several times.

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.

Eating Green

 

It's so fun and easy to show-and -tell cakes and pies and fancy breads that I fear you are getting a skewed view of the menu here at the Kittycafe.

So I'm going to rectify that right now. With this spread.

Edamame and Pea Hummus.

Delicious and good for you.

The recipe is here:

http://www.alive.com/7725a7a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=491

If you are not familiar with this magazine you should have a good look. The paper copies are available for free in health food stores here in Canada. There is also some delicious fruit and vegetable smoothie recipes available on the site. Now that it's warmer I'm back into smoothies; in the winter I get too chilled  drinking them.

 

As for the spread, I think tortilla chips would be wonderful with it. All I had were these rye crackers. In ALIVE, they accompany the spread with a soda bread, making it more like lunch.

It truly is a hummus in taste but fresher and greener. I made two changes to the recipe. First, I didn't have the 2 tablespoons of tahini, so I left that out. It worked just fine.

And second, I only used one garlic clove instead of two. I am a real garlic lover but I felt, after a trial taste, that one was fine (remember the flavour will only intensify as it sits) I think two would have overpowered the fresh taste of the peas and soybeans.

 

You can buy edamame (fresh soybeans) in the pod or shelled. (in the freezer section) For this recipe shelled is less hassle. I had both as my kids love them as a snack, lightly salted in the pod.

So enjoy in good health and I will be back soon with a jam recipe - to even things out! It's all about balance around here...

Baked Potato Soup

 I know what you're thinking: This is winter food. In my defense there are three rainy days ahead and nothing says rainy day like soup!

Actually, I love soup any time but in the heat of summer. And we are not there yet.

The recipe:

I usually do this by feel but I paid attention this time to right down the specifics.

You will need:

6 medium baking potatoes

I finely chopped onion

4 cups Chicken stock

!/3 c flour

1/3 c oil or butter

2 c milk

1/3 lb bacon, diced

salt and pepper

green onion for garnish

You can bake the potatoes ahead of time, the night before even and then this will go really fast at dinner time.  You know how to bake potatoes right?

400'F for about an hour

In a large stock pot, cook the bacon until well done but not totally crisp.

Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper toweling.

Next you want to cook the onion until soft and translucent but not brown. Now, you could drain off the bacon fat and add oil to do this but if you want to use the bacon fat, I'm not looking...

When the onion are soft you will need to add a little more oil or butter, whatever your choice of fat to equal 1/3 of a cup. You need the same amount of fat as flour...

Add 1/3 c flour and whisk to combine. It will be dry and clumpy. Keep cooking and whisking until you cook out the flour taste, a few minutes.

Slowly add 2 cups of the broth, whisking until smooth.

Add the rest of the broth and the milk.

Stir often as you heat this to almost boiling or until thickened, this should happen at pretty much the same time. Then turn the heat down.

While this is heating, take a paring knife to your baked potatoes, cutting them in half. (You can also do this before you start the soup.)

 Then cut around inside of the skin of each half, removing the potato.

Cut up the scooped out potato into small chunks. Try not to break the skins as they can become baked potato skins later in the week. Make those and your family will love you forever. In fact, I think this is the main reason they ask for baked potato soup in my house, although they do love the soup!

Add these chunks of potatoes to the pot and heat a few minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

You can add the bacon back in at this point or use it as a garnish. We usually mix it in and garnish with green onion.

 Dinner is served.