Frozen yogurt

cid:41E55B95-515A-412E-ABC6-9718A6DF7F9F/photo.JPG

"Crunchie" Chocolate Cakes

Pretzel Rolls

I love baking fresh rolls...but I don't always have the time. This recipe however, is a small gift to the world of breadmaking. No waiting for the dough to rise...

These rolls, twisted into a pretzel shape, are delicious eaten warm from the oven with a thin layer of butter.



Pretzel Rolls

1 package rapid-rise yeast
1 and 3/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt (plus extra to sprinkle on top)
1 egg yolk

*Dissolve sugar in the warm water. Add yeast and let sit for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and mix together (you will have to use your hands). When the flour has absorbed the liquid, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. Shape each piece into an 8 inch (20 cm) long thin roll and twist into a pretzel shape. Place 8 rolls on each of two lined cookie sheets. In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of water. Brush the egg mixture over the top of each of the rolls. Bake at 425F for about 15 minutes. Makes 16 pretzel rolls.

Fresh Pesto

Fresh pesto is a beautiful thing.

Pizza!

I have been looking for a good pizza dough recipe for years. I've tried various permutations and combinations of yeast, flour and water. All were edible, but never baked up to the crispy crust that I wanted. I seemed to always get dough that was too "stretchy". That is, when I tried to roll it out or press it into shape by hand, there was always a bounce-back factor that was, to be honest, very irritating!

This frustration goes back to my earliest attempts at homemade pizza. My mom would buy a Kraft pizza kit in a box, that included a dough mix, tomato sauce and cheese. When my parents went out and my brother would babysit me, one of the things he would do would make this pizza for us as a Saturday night treat. When I got older, it was my job to make the pizza. As it was baking, it smelled so delicious! (Remember, in the early seventies, in a non-Italian household, homemade pizza was a bit exotic.) I would line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and grease it with vegetable oil (at that time we didn't have olive oil...). Then you mixed up the dough and tried valiantly to spread it on the pan. The dough would ,to your hands, spring back at the edges and rip holes and be very uncooperative. Finally, the dough was spread with the plain, canned tomato sauce and sprinkled with the cheese (which I think was supposed to be parmesean, but was more like cardboard dust). But we loved it. I would eat a "square" and my brother would eat the rest. There were never leftovers.

So, along comes the summer holidays and I have time to go back over magazines from the past year. One of my favourite food magazines is Donna Hay Magazine from Australia. Aside from the beautiful photography, the recipes are original, easy to make and very reliable. I can't think of a Donna Hay recipe that I have tried that didn't work. I had previously flagged this pizza dough recipe to try and that was probably 6 months ago...

This dough comes together in about 10 minutes and in 30 minutes it's finished rising, and is ready to be rolled out and topped with your favourite pizza toppings.

Basic Pizza Dough (adapted from Donna Hay Magazine - issue 47)

2 packages of quick-rise yeast (original recipe uses 1 tablespoon "dry yeast")
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour (original recipe uses finely ground OO flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

* In a glass one cup measure, add the water, sugar and yeast and stir to dissolve. Let proof for 5 minutes until bubbly. In a medium bowl, add the flour and salt and stir together. Make a well in the centre and add the oil. Next add in the yeast mixture and stir until the dough comes together. Knead for 3-4 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a ball and slightly flatten. Cut into 6 equal pieces and shape into small balls (but of course, you could also make 2 pizzas or one big pizza). Lay a clean tea towel on top and leave it to rise for 30 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, take one piece of dough and roll it out to about 6" by 12". Top with your favourite toppings. I used garlic oil, mozzarella and parmesean on some (for the kids) and added chopped tomatoes and artichokes to the others (I didn't like tomatoes and artichokes at their ages either). Bake at 425F for about 10 minutes.

Asparagus Pasta with Mint Pesto

This is a very quick, fresh-tasting pasta dish...perfect for summer dining. While the pasta is cooking, you blend together the ingredients for the sauce. So in the time it takes to cook the pasta, it will be ready.

Asparagus Pasta with Mint Pesto (based on a recipe from BBC Good Food Vegetarian Magazine - Summer 2010)

400 g farfalle (bowtie pasta)
85 g fresh mint leaves (I used a 30 g package)
250 g ricotta
25 g parmesan cheese (plus extra, to serve)
200g asparagus, woody ends removed and cut into 3-4 cm pieces

* Boil the pasta in salted water, dropping in the asparagus pieces 3 minutes before the cooking time is up. While the pasta is cooking, blend together the ricotta, parmesan, mint leaves and 2 tablespoons of pasta cooking water until smooth. Season the pesto with salt and pepper. When the pasta and asparagus are cooked, drain, and return to the cooking pot. Pour sauce over the pasta,mix thoroughly and serve.

Pound Cake (with a secret ingredient)

Vegetable Curry

Brownie Cupcakes

Brownie Cupcakes (adapted from "Kitchen For Kids" by Jennifer Low)

*This recipe makes 6 cupcakes, but can be doubled.

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 30 chips for decorating

1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1 egg

18 mini marshmallows

* Preheat oven to 350F. In a saucepan, on medium heat, melt the 1/2 cup chips and butter together until just melted. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla and sugar. Add the egg and mix well. Stir in the salt and flour. Divide the batter among 6 muffin cups. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes. Top each cupcake with 3 mini marshmallow and 5 chocolate chips. Return the pan to the oven for 5-6 minutes until the marshmallows are golden.

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins (from "Modern Classics 2" by Donna Hay)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (optional)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

* Preheat oven to 375F. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and sugar. In a separate bowl, stir together the sour cream, eggs, oil and optional lemon peel. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry only until just combined. Mix in the blueberries (do not overmix). Divide the batter among 12 muffins cups. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar before baking if desired. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Almost Famous Cheese Biscuits

One of the traditions in my family is to go to the restaurant "Red Lobster" when a birthday is celebrated. At the restaurant, they serve "Cheddar Bay Biscuits" that are a big hit with my sons. They always ask for extras!

I was so happy to see a recipe for these biscuits in the current issue of Food Network Magazine. I tried them and the boys said, "Make these again!" I agree they were delicious and they were also quite easy to make. At the restaurant, they serve these with a glaze of garlic butter on top. I didn't do this at home and they were still very, very good.

Cheddar Biscuits (based on a recipe from Food Network Magazine, October 2009)

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, room temperature

4 tablespoons, cold unsalted butter, cut in small cubes

1 1/4 cups grated cheddar cheese

3/4 cup milk (not skim)

* Preheat the oven to 425F. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the shortening and pulse 4 or 5 times. Add the cheese and pulse 2 or 3 times. Pour in the milk and mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix. Drop about 1/4 cup of the dough onto a greased baking sheet. There should be about 15 biscuits. Bake 15 - 20 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown.

Easy tomato sauce

Part of my classroom program is to introduce my students to cooking. I see it as a life skill that all people need to learn, and throughout the year, food and cooking will be integrated with all subjects in the curriculum.

This week, we used the beautiful fresh tomatoes of Ontario to create a simple tomato sauce for pasta. The children each washed and chopped a tomato to add to the pot. They stirred the sauce and grated the cheese. We cooked some pasta and served it with freshly grated Italian parmesean cheese. Ms. Mantello, who is Italian, said our tomato sauce was delicious!

Simple Pasta Sauce (for about 450g package of spaghetti)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 or 2 cloves garlic, sliced

4 large or 8 small tomatoes. chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt,or to taste

1 teaspoon sugar,or to taste

* In a large frying pan, on medium heat, add the olive oil and garlic and cook the garlic until it starts to turn golden (but be careful not to burn the garlic). You may choose to remove the garlic pieces now or leave them in the sauce. Add the tomatoes and let cook for at least 15 minutes. You can cook it for an hour or more to reduce the liquid in the sauce. At salt and sugar to taste.

Serve the tomato sauce on hot, cooked pasta with a generous sprinkle of freshly grated parmesean cheese.

Fruit clafoutis

Because I love baking pies and I don't always have time to mix pastry dough, I've been experimenting with a classic French recipe called a "clafoutis". Traditionally, this dessert is made with fresh cherries, but I have found it is equally good with various summer berries. It is basically fruit baked in a slightly sweet custard.

The photo is of a version I made with fresh strawberries and blueberries that I froze when they were in season a few months ago.

It is a treat that is easy to make and receives praise inversely proportional to the effort it took to make it (my favourite kind of recipe!)

The two best recipes I tried to make a clafoutis are one from Nigella Lawson's book "Nigella's Express" and one from Donna Hay's monthly article in the magazine "Living Etc.". The following recipe is a mix of the two, plus my contribution of using evaporated milk instead of cream in the custard.

Fruit Clafoutis

about 400g of cut up fruit (enough to line the bottom of a 9" pie plate)

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar (or less)

330 ml evaporated milk

1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

* First preheat the oven to 325F . Grease the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Wash and cut up fruit and layer evenly over the bottom of the pie plate. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. Carefully add the flour (try using a sifter) and mix so that there are no lumps. Pour the custard mixture over the fruit. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes.

Cream of celery soup

Last week my mom and I went to visit the new McNally Robinson bookstore. On the top floor is a restaurant called "Prairie Ink" that looked inviting so we decided to eat lunch there. Each week the chef features food from a Canadian cookbook. That week it was "In the Kitchen with Anna" by Anna Olson. One standout item was the Cream of Celery Soup with Blue Cheese - it was delicious.

So I tried to make the recipe at home because I had the "bendy" celery in the fridge that would be perfect for this soup. Interestingly, even though the soup is "cream soup", there is no actual cream in it, just milk. I didn't have any blue cheese in the fridge and although it made the restaurant soup great, the soup didn't need it to be yummy. It was so delicious, even the children tried it and said it was good.

Cream of Celery Soup (based on a recipe from "In the Kitchen with Anna" (2008) by Anna Olson

3 tablespoons butter (I used half butter and half olive oil so the butter would not burn)

1 cup diced onion (I used one medium onion and 4 shallots)

3 cups of diced celery (I used the bunch I had, a full bunch minus 3 stalks that I had used before)

3 tablespoons flour

3 cups 2% milk

2 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (I used 1/2 teaspoon crushed, dried thyme)

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons dry vermouth (I did not use this because I don't have any)

3 oz (90 g) blue cheese (optional)

2 tablespoons chopped chives (optional)

* Melt the butter in a large pot and add the oil. Saute the onions and celery for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and cook stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of milk and cook, stirring well for about 5 minutes. Whisk in the remaining milk, then the stock. Add the thyme and bay leaf. Simmer, partially covered, for about 10 minutes. If you wish to add the vermouth, blue cheese and chives, do so just before serving (don't forget to remove the bay leaf).

Gluten free cookies

These almond cookies have the taste and texture of shortbread cookies. They are dairy-free, egg-free and gluten-free. They are not vegan as they contain honey.

I am fascinated by healthy baked goods. After doing a lot of conventional baking in my life, I am intrigued how "healthy" baking can be accomplished. I've had my share of disasters over the years, trying to make wholesome treats for my family. Two examples are my whole-wheat pastry for pie (my mom even said this was "not your best effort"!) and spelt biscuits (that were so dense and rock-like even the squirrels would not eat them!)

Recently, I visited a local organic bakery that specializes in gluten-free baked goods. I had a lemon-cranberry muffin with a cup of organic coffee. I was surprised at how delicious the muffin was. It wasn't oily or heavy at all.

My friend Dorothy, must eat a gluten-free diet as she is sensitive to products containing gluten. When we meet for coffee, she will bring her own gluten-free treats to eat. So when I saw the recipe for these cookies, I had to try them and the result was a very good and healthy treat. So this one's for you Dorothy!

Balance Cookies (from In the Kitchen with Anna (2008) by Anna Olson)

2 cups brown rice flour (I found this in Loblaws as "Bob's Red Mill Stone Ground Brown Rice Flour")

1 cup ground almonds (I used an entire 100 g package)

3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted (put seeds in a dry frying pan and cook until lightly golden)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil -the original recipe calls for 1/4 cup oil but I needed to add more oil to the batter to make it stick together)

1/3 cup liquid honey (use the same measuring cup as for the oil and the honey won't stick)

24 - 30 whole almonds with skins

* Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix together the brown rice flour, ground almonds, toasted sesame seeds, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the oil and honey. Add this mixture to the dry mix and stir together. Try squeezing the dough together...if it does not stick together, add a bit more oil. Form small mounds about the size of a walnut on lined cookie sheet (I use a Silpat non-stick mat). Press a whole almond down on top of each cookie, paying attention to the sides as they will crumble and will need to be pushed back together. Bake for 12-15 minutes but watch to make sure they do not burn on the bottom.

Watermelon friend

Last week, I was looking after my 3 year old friend Kiley for a few hours, while her mom was working. She brought along her Bambi toy and she and I spend some time taking photos of Bambi, in various places, while we were downtown. We managed to get this picture after Kiley, very patiently, put Bambi on the watermelon for the fifth time (it kept sliding off...).

Quick fancy cake

This cake was inspired by the classic Black Forest Cake. I made it for my mother's birthday last week. A recipe for the traditional Black Forest Cake was difficult to find among my collection of cookbooks. I did manage to find one, by accident, as it wasn't listed under cakes but under "tortes".

One of the ingredients was a can of pitted, tart cherries. Now, I looked in several stores and I could not find canned, pitted, tart cherries (only cherry pie filling and cherry jam). The recipe also uses the cherry-flavoured liqueur, Kirsch, and I didn't want to invest in a whole bottle of that just to use a small amount. So I decided to forgo the classic version and make my own.

First, I made a two layer chocolate cake using a mix (it's okay to do that sometimes...). Then I made a chocolate whipped cream frosting, and added chocolate shavings and maraschino cherries. The result was a delicious, moist cake that, as my dad likes to say, "tastes like more!"

Easy Fancy Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting

2 layer chocolate cake, made from a cake mix (I used Dr. Oetker)

100 g bar of semi-sweet chocolate, cut into shavings (I used a vegetable peeler)

12 maraschino cherries, drained

500 ml organic whipping cream (organic really does make a difference in the taste)

1/3 cup icing sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

* Make the cake according to package directions. Let cool. Whip the cream until thick and mix in the sugar and cocoa powder. On the bottom layer, spread about one third of the frosting. Sprinkle about one half of the chocolate shavings on the frosting. Put the second layer on top. Spread the rest of the frosting on the top and sides of the cake. On top, sprinkle the remaining chocolate shavings and place the cherries evenly around the edge.

Easy homemade bread

I found this recipe in an old British Good Food magazine. It caught my eye because, not only to I like to make bread, but the recipe promised that it was a yeast bread that requires no kneading (?!?) I always thought that yeast bread had to be kneaded to activate the gluten in the flour so that it can trap the air bubbles of carbon dioxide that the yeast produces. Needless to say, I had to try to make that bread.

The result was a very good bread with a moist, dense crumb. I know it will make good toast in the morning spread with strawberry jam made a few weeks ago by my friend Bonnie.

It really was very simple to make and the second loaf can be frozen.

Sheila Dillon's Grant Loaf (based on a recipe in BBC Good Food magazine, February 2009)

1 lb, 9 oz (700 g) wholewheat flour (I used unbleached bread flour)

8 oz (200 g) oatmeal (spelt flour, white flour or corn meal - I used polenta corn flour)

3 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 X 8 g package quick-rise yeast

850 ml warm water

* Grease two large loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 400F. Mix the flours, salt and yeast together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the bowl and stir in the water and oil. The dough will be like very thick porridge. Divide the mixture between the two loaf pans. Cover the pans with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until the dough is just over the edge of the pan (about double the size). Bake the bread for about 40 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove loaves from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Cold summer soup

This is a lovely cold summer soup. It uses a nice mix of fresh ingredients and cupboard staples and, unlike many cold vegetable soups, it is cooked and chilled overnight. I made it recently to bring to my friend Sheri's house. I offered to come over and help her paint her porch and to bring some soup. We had a relaxing day "working". It was a very civilized way to do a house project: arrive and have coffee and homemade blueberry-cornmeal muffins; paint; lunch of cold veggie soup, homemade herb bread and cherries; paint; tea and homemade oatmeal cookies (you can guess that Sheri likes to bake...).

This recipe is based on the recent issue of Everyday by Rachel Ray. I bought the magazine because one of the feature recipes was "the best ribs you'll ever eat". Well upon further inspection, the recipe requires you to make three different sauces and needs almost 4 1/2 hours of cooking time! Although, I am sure this would make delicious ribs, I don't have the time or inclination in the summer to make 3 different sauces for just a meat dish. I made the main sauce (which required the purchase of a box of peach gelatin powder?!) for ribs to serve at dinner for my family and my mom and dad. The result was that the ribs were okay, but overly sweet.

However, the happy accident is that I stumbled upon this soup recipe. I had to change the recipe a bit because of ingredient availability and ease of preparation (for example, I didn't bother to puree it). It is really, really good.

Cold Summer Soup (based on "Summer-strone" in Everyday by Rachel Ray, August 2009)

1/2 cup Israeli cousous

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 small cucumbers, peeled and diced

1 can (14 oz or 398 ml) diced tomatoes

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 900 ml tetrapak of vegetable broth

1 medium zucchini, shredded (I used a box grater)

handful of fresh basil, chopped

grated peel of one lemon

* Cook the couscous in a pot of boiling salted water for about 8 minutes. Then drain and rinse with cold water. In a large pot, add the olive oil and cucumbers and cook until the cucumbers get a bit brown (about 10 minutes). Mix in the tomatoes, paprika, broth, cooked couscous and zucchini. Cook together for another 10 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the basil and lemon peel. Chill overnight.

White Chocolate Cake