Heavenly Pot Pie

I can't even tell you how good this was ... Delicious, sooooo yummy. It was easy to make and felt healthy. But most of all it was a meal that we could all enjoy together. With Finn's allergies we've learned to adjust recipes but I personally have been missing crusts, toppings and biscuits. Not that they feature so often on our table, but still ...

Plus, for years I have been wanting to find the perfect Chicken pot Pie recipe and this is definitely it. It is going in our forever pile of stuff to make over and over again.

Of course it helps that there are sweet potatoes in the crust ... Finn loves them. Hmmm, I wonder who he got that gene from {wink}

Chicken Pot Pie with Sweet Potato 'Crust'
adapted from Perrys Plate

I've adjusted the quantities ... this makes enough filling for 3 pies, but topping for one. Eat one pie immediately, the other two go in the freezer. Thaw completely, add topping and bake up for a heavenly and quick pot pie dinner.

INGREDIENTS

For the filling:
4 Tablespoons olive oil
4 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced
6 heaping Tablespoons rice flour
4 large or 6 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 red pepper, diced
1-1/2 Cup peas (I used frozen)
Juice from baking chicken ... This time I had ½ cup
4 cups water
2 no-sodium vegetable cubes
Meat from a roasted chicken, pulled and lightly chopped up
2 teaspoon dried thyme
freshly ground black pepper

For the topping:
3/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup Rice flour
Scant Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cup solid coconut oil
1 egg - I used flax seed as a replacement
3/4 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes, chilled .. Honestly, the first time I made this it was hot from oven but it didn't seem to make a difference. Next time I'll remember to throw it in the oven when I roast the chicken.


DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the filling:
Heat oil in an oven-safe deep saute pan over medium heat. Add the leek, carrots, red pepper and peas. Add broth (from chicken), water, vegetable cube and thyme plus salt and pepper to taste. Simmer about 10 minutes until vegetables begin to soften. Whisk in rice flour and stir until thickened. Add chicken and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm while you make the topping.

To make the topping:
Combine the almond flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Pulse to blend. Add the coconut oil in pieces, pulsing until the mixture is crumbly. Add the eggs (or presoaked flax seeds) and sweet potato and pulse until the mixture resembles a very soft dough.

Spoon and/or spread the dough on top of the chicken filling. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the biscuits begin to brown and are cooked through. If the tops begin to get dark quickly, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top while it finishes baking.

Remove from oven and let it stand for a few minutes before serving.

Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Yum, SALSA!

We eat a lot of Salsa at our house. I've always loved it but it has lately grown on Axel as a quick tasty snack. We finally found a brand that we like but we go through it like crazy so I decided to try my own. This is one of the recipes I looked at to get an idea of where to start. After reading through it, it really did sound simple. I used ordinary tomatoes and added a roasted green pepper for color.

this is what went in

Ten handful-sized tomatoes (skins removed, 5 chopped, 5 pureed), one green pepper (toasted so it's easy to remove the skin), two chilies, three red and three white onions, five cloves of garlic and 1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt.

done cooking and ready to go in the jars

Cut a green pepper in eights and put under the grill to blacken the skins. I just set a cookie sheet on top to trap the steam and loosen the skins while I chopped the onions and roughly squished and chopped the garlic. These I sauteed while getting the tomatoes ready. Half were chopped, the other half pureed in the blender and added to the pan. The chilis were chopped very finely and added as well along with 1-1/2 teaspoons salt. Simmer until it is the thickness you would like.

After taste testing with Leah, next time I would add another chili, use 2 teaspoons salt and simmer until all the wateriness was gone.

Um, yeh, I don't think these first four jars are going to even see the water bath. Leah and I ate one, another will go into breakfast burritos for dinner tonight and I have no doubt we'll demolish the other two jars within the week.

If you've never tried making your own salsa I highly recommend it. It's really quite simple and you can play around to get the flavors you want most. Best of all no preservatives or thickeners - a big plus in my book!

My house smells divine!

Is there anything better than the smell of Banana Bread?

Bananas!

We had too many. They ripened too fast.

And since I still can't stand sweet there's no way Axel could eat them all on his own.

So here's my adaptation of the recipe I grew up with. Oh, and my favorite way to eat it? Warm (even toasted) with a slice of cheese. Mmmmmm!

Banana Bread

1/4 cup milk
1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas*



Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F / 160C
2. Line a 5"x8" (13cm x 20cm) loaf pan crossways with baking paper.
3. Mix the milk and baking soda together in a cup and let sit for about 10 minutes.
4. Cream together the sugar and vegetable oil.
5. Add in eggs one at a time and cream well.
6. Stir in flour and milk sugar.
7. Add mashed bananas**
8. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.

Mom's original recipe called for shortening so I've always used butter. Eureka moment this week when I used oil instead! It creates the perfect texture. Before I had always considered Banana Bread just "ok" now I might just be an addict. Yummmmmeeee!

Of course I reduced the sugar, it calls for 1 whole cup. No thank you. I find the bananas add enough sweetness.

I only had two bananas today and it was fine. I also never mash them. Just add them into the mixing bowl at the end and stir until incorporated.

If you use a 5"x8" pan like I suggest it will be very full, but it makes a lovely high loaf. Trust me.

Also gone are the days of greasing and flouring pans. I just line the bottoms or go across like I did here. It works a treat and makes it easy to lift out. Just loosen the loaf at the ends and voilá!

Passing the Torch

Oh boy ... I do love me some No-Bake Cookies and when I saw my bestie from college pin a recipe I got the hankering again. A quick glance at the recipe she pinned revealed that it was identical to the one I grew up with. Kind of nice that some recipes just stay as we remember and don't get "adapted" via via. Yep, I am fairly certain this recipe was penned into my little grey cookbook during one of those phone calls home after I had set up my own pad.

I made multiple batches of these cookies this week and gave them away as fast as I could. Axel doesn't like them (that peanut butter problem of his) and I can / could only eat so many. But ugh ... I seriously overdosed. Which probably explains why it's been three years since I made them (I know for certain I have not made them since we moved into this house).

So now it's your turn ... at least for the next three years. I think I'm good for awhile.

No-Bake Cookies

In a medium-size pan bring the following ingredients to the boil and allow to boil gently for ONE minute:

• 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
• 2 cups sugar*
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Meanwhile measure these things out so they're handy when that one minute is up:

• 3 cups oats (yes, this is one time I think instant are better than rolled) 
• 4Tbsp cocoa powder on top.
• 3/4 cup peanut butter* (I like Adams chunky for this - trust me you do not want peanut butter that has sugar added .. these cookies are sweet enough on their own)

- I don't think my mom ever added coconut and it might be good but coconut is grated to a fine dust here so I've never bother trying.

When your timer has gone off (yes set it. I don't have one and if you go over the minute you risk the mixture getting crumbly ... they still taste good but the texture of the cookies is not as good), pull the pan away from the heat and quickly stir in the peanut butter until it's mostly combined. A few lumps are ok ... in fact sometimes it's a nice surprise ... almost like a Reece's hiding in your no-bake.

Then pour in the oats and cocoa powder and mix until combined.

Working as quickly as you can drop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. I don't bother lining my baking sheet with aluminum foil or baking paper - it's just more waste. Instead, after they are cool, I use a twisting action to release the cookies from the pan.

DO NOT MAKE A DOUBLE BATCH ... unless you have double the hands to help you drop the cookies. The batter will cool, stiffen up and become crumbly. It's just not worth it.

* A word on sugar. Yes, whenever possible I try to reduce the amount of sugar in most recipes. This is one occasion where I have never tried. I just don't know what it would do to that boiled stuff you need to bind these cookies. But I do insist that my PB is sugar free. I borrowed some from my neighbour for the 3rd batch last week. Uck - waaaaayyy to sweet for this girl. But let me know if you have any tips / hints here.

Enjoy!

You know it's summer when ...

I start making this!

There are a couple versions of this salad around. I have really simplified it to just the core basics. You can always add more but I like it like this. I can't call it plain and simple - it packs way too much flavor for that. But easy - yes!

Woops - yah, there should be a picture .. but you can find those other versions here, here and here. Honestly I'd rather share really good recipes than worry about getting the right pic.

One version has sugar and melted butter in the dressing .. seriously? Others add chickpeas, corns, beans, etc which I think is fine but distracts from the lovely popping of the Quinoa (I'm a sucker for anything that pops in my mouth ... poppy seeds, figs ... ). And some add avocado but I don't like that it goes slimy in the fridge.

I make a ton of this salad (at least double) and then just eat away at it.

Hehe, Axel doesn't like it so it's mine, all mine! Well ... I do share with friends. It's just too good to keep it a secret.

Quinoa, Cilantro & Lime Salad

1 cup quinoa, uncooked

2 medium tomatoes, diced
3 scallions, chopped finely
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped

Dressing:

the zest and lime of 1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

1. Rinse quinoa thoroughly and add to a pot of salted water (some cook in bullion, again - I don't bother). Bring to a soft boil and let bubble away for about 10 minutes or until the little tails on the seed loosen up.
2. Drain thoroughly and at this point I allow it to cool down.
3. In the meantime, chop the tomatoes, scallions and cilantro.
4. Whisk the dressing together and then toss it all in a bowl with the cooled quinoa.
5. Refrigerate and enjoy!

I'd tell you how long it stays good in the fridge but I don't know. Mine never lasts that long.

Our New Favorite Cake

In fact he even requested it for his birthday instead of his former "favorite" carrot cake. But we had carrots that needed to go before we went on vacation and not a grapefruit in sight. So he had carrot cake. Mighty good it was, candles and all.

Essentially you're going to make an exquisite Yellow Cake Recipe, add zest to it, poke holes in it after it has baked and soak the top with syrup.

So ... blog reading and writing is a crazy thing. Recipe "adapting" is even crazier.

I first read about Pink Grapefruit Cake at Urban Comfort. She posted the recipe as "adapted from Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller". So if I made / make changes to her posted recipe who do I credit now?  I'll play it safe and credit both and hope that's ok with all of you.  Ugh, the world of copyright and lawyers has just ruined the old days of recipe swapping.

Honestly, you can add any zest to this. Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit ... and it would be that kind of cake. But the grapefruit is amazing .. just the right amount of perfume balanced with flavor. I am going to try Lime ... but I have other recipes where I prefer Lemon and Orange.

Very Moist Yellow Cake Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 large eggs - if you can get your hands on home grown - do ... the very yellow yolks will give your cake a wonderful color.
1 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil of your choice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
freshly grated zest*

*about the zest
grapefruit - I used the grated of one whole grapefruit - about the size of a softball.
orange - I'd use two oranges
lemon - probably 2, maybe 3 if they were small
lime - definitely 3, maybe 4

Syrup 
the juice of whatever fruit you zested**
1/2 cup granulated sugar

**how much juice?

grapefruit - all of the juice
orange - 2/3 to all
lemon - probably the juice of 2, maybe 3 if they were small
lime - again definitely 3, maybe 4

Urban Comfort says 1 cup of juice but she didn't use it all. Neither did I. I squeezed the juice of my ONE grapefruit and added the 1/2 cup of sugar to make the syrup. ❤ leftover syrup was added to sparkling water for an amazingly refreshing drink.

1. Preheat oven to 350° F / 175°C. Line the bottom of a 9" x 9" baking pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder together and stir in the salt. Set aside.
3. Beat sugar and eggs at medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is thickened and the whisk leaves a trail. Beat in the milk, then the oil, grapefruit zest, and vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate; scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Spread the batter in the pan. 
5. Bake for 45 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack.
6. Meanwhile, combine the grapefruit juice and sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and simmer for 1 minute. Set aside. 
7. After the cake has cooled for about 10 minutes, carefully turn the cake out onto a cooling rack and set right sides up. Use a long skewer to poke deep holes every 3/4 inch or so all over the top of the cake.
8. Begin brushing the grapefruit syrup over the top of the cake. It may be necessary at times to wait for the syrup to soak in, but continue until you feel like it won't absorb any more. 

Let the cake cool to room temperature. Ice if desired. Easily serves 9.

Grapefruit Icing - I skipped this ... eh, just not a fan of "icing." Buttercream frosting is another matter.
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon plus
1 teaspoon fresh pink (or red) grapefruit juice

Stir the powdered sugar and grapefruit juice together in a bowl until smooth. Using a spoon, drizzle the icing on a diagonal over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Slice the cake and serve.

Chicken with Lovage & Lemon

Easy Peasy Chicken Dinner with an added twist of LOVAGE. Love-what? If you've never heard of this herb, run over here to our Sweet Harvest blog and read a bit more. I've had Lovage in the garden for quite a few years but have only just fallen *in love* with it. I hope you do too!

Anyhoo .. this dinner .. it really was a quicky. Thrown together and into the oven to roast away while we did other Saturday things.

I used chicken thighs & legs. They were on sale. They were cheap. It meant less prep for me.

One for each person. We're two but I threw in a third in case Axel was extra hungry. 

Slice a couple of lemons and stuffed one slice and a couple of lovage leaves under the skin of the thigh.

In the middle of the pan I layed down a bed of lovage leaves and put my chicken on top. 

In a bowl I put the chopped lovage stem, a huge chopped onion (or two or three if they're smaller), a teaspoon of dried basil and the zest of about an onion. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and drizzle generously with good olive oil. Toss well and divide between the two ends of the pans.

Cut up a few potatoes, toss in oil, salt and pepper and lay on top of the onions.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 395F / 200C for about a half hour. Remove foil and bake for at least another half hour. Honestly ours could have roasted a bit longer. It was good and we were hungry but another 15 minutes or so would have meant those potatoes and chicken skin would be nice and crispy.

Turns out we the third let put it in a salad the next day - delish!

Chewy Brownie Cookies

You know the best part of a brownie - that chewy yummy bit around the edges of the pan? Well, here you have it - in a cookie! No more fighting, there's enough for everyone.

I first got turned onto this recipe on Pinterest ... it was pinned from Divine Baking but it turned out she "adapted" the recipe from Epicurous. Yep - it's nearly identical ... so I'll compare what they did to what I did ... I don't think I can really call it an adaptation because the basis for the recipe is the same ... I just changed a few things.

Epicurous	My Changes or Comments
Nonstick vegetable oil spray	I keep a stick of butter in the fridge door and just use that to grease pans (mom's trick)
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces), divided	I used 200g chocolate which is only 7-1/2 oz. That's the size of baking chocolate here so it's easy and it was plenty. The bars are usually divided into 8 squares so I break 4 apart to melt and chop the other 4 for putting into the dough as chunks.
3 large egg whites, at room temp	no change
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar	I found 1-3/4 cups is plenty (1 cup goes in the eggs first and the other 3/4 cups gets mixed with the cocoa powder)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder	Get the best European cocoa powder  you can - trust me - avoid Hershey's ... if you need some I'll mail it to you ... it's worth it!
1 tablespoon cornstarch	no change
1/4 teaspoon salt	no change

Preheat oven to  175°C / 350°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray or use a stick of butter.

Melt 1/2 the chocolate in glass bowl in microwave - I set the timer 30 seconds at a time, taking it out and stirring it each time until it's smooth. Cool slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow creme.

Use a fork to combine 3/4 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in medium bowl. On low speed, stir dry ingredients into meringue.

Stir in lukewarm chocolate and the remaining chocolate cut into chunks. The recipe says the batter will be very stiff. Mine never has been but if your kitchen is warm I would recommend refrigerating the dough for at least a half hour.

Then you're supposed to roll the dough into balls - yuck! It's sticky and sometimes not stiff enough. So I just drop it by teaspoonfuls directly onto the baking sheet. And they turn out just as pretty and round without all the hassle but be sure to leave enough space between because they will spread.

Instead of rolling the balls in powdered sugar I just sift it generously over the top - perfect and a lot less messy! (In the pictures I wasn't generous enough ... will remember to use more next time. I was also reading the comments on Epicurous ... oh my goodness, there are a ton of comments about adding things like cinnamon to the dusting sugar, or chopped jalopenos, ginger or almonds to the batter. Hehe, this is obviously for me ... not the hubby except maybe the almonds.

Bake for 10 minutes until the tops are cracked. Cool on the sheets (on a rack) for 10 minutes then transfer to a rack and allow to cool.

Epicurous says this quantity makes about 24 cookies. Diving baking says it makes 18. Yikes, I don't know what size there cookies are but mine made 32 and they were plenty big enough - a tad bigger than my camera lens cap - so definitely big enough.

Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball; roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 minutes. Cool on sheets on rack 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and allow to cool.

My GO-TO {pregnant} Salad

This being pregnant thing is crazy ... I know it's different for everyone. But I am so glad I pulled the straw I did ... I DO NOT WANT ANYTHING SWEET!

In fact it's the opposite .. the more savoury the better. Spicy, salty, you name it I am there. Salsa, Chili, Feta Cheese, OLIVES and Axel's fantastic spaghetti sauce are just a few things that get routinely rotated throughout the week.

But this week it's all about one of my all-time favorite salads. I used to order it at least once a week at a little cafe just a block from the newspaper offices in Everett.

The must have ingredients are a huge pile of fresh spinach leaves!

Plus spring (or finely chopped red) onions and lots of sliced mushrooms.

Optional ingredients include croutons, crumbled bacon and / or grated mature goat's cheese or parmesan.

But the SECRET? The secret is in the dressing!

Ok, so I don't actually use measurements .. I just start pouring into a glass jar until it looks right and adjust if necessary. It starts with soy sauce probably about 1/3 to 1/2 of the total quantity you're making. Then add a splash of vinegar - I use water I have on hand: rice, white wine, apple and you could probably even try balsamic, but I avoid just plain white vinegar - ew! Then double the quantity by topping up with oil and I always add a bit of water. Screw the cap on a give it a good shake! I love how it gets a bit foamy ... dip a spinach leaf in and taste ... maybe a bit more soy sauce (to add flavor and saltiness), if it's too strong add a bit more water. 

Let me tell you, this salad hits the spot every single time! I've had it for lunch every day this week.

With WINTER spinach I tend to tear it up quite a bit because the leaves are thicker. You can even get away with dressing this salad and tossing it a few times before serving.

With tender spinach you probably don't want to handle it as much - the leaves are usually more tender and smaller so dress and toss just before serving.

And enjoy!

Apple Spice Cake

September flew by and October was here before I could say boo! .. but was it really October?

The thermometer sure didn't agree .. we were basking in upper 20Cs (upper 70Fs) and complete sunshine without a cloud in the sky.  But the apples say fall. They've all been harvest .. and wow, what an improvement from last year. We had oodles, and we've received more as gifts from friends with abundant gardens: Quince, Pears, more Apples and fresh Walnuts - lovely!

So I confess .. there are no pictures .. the cake is gone. But wow, it was gorgeous - surely the best apple cake I've made in the last couple of years.

You'd like the recipe? Well that's easy, it can be found here. Yes, it's my staple carrot cake recipe. Just replace the shredded carrots for roughly chopped apples - I even leave the skin on. For seasoning this time I just used a teaspoon of ground nutmeg, but you can experiment too .. any combo of cinnamon, allspice and / or nutmeg work well. But don't over do it, I think the success this time was down to the wonderful flavor of the apples coming through without an overwhelming amount spice.

One thing that changes too is the baking time but I think even that's dependent on how juicy the apples are. My best advise is to start checking at 30-40 minutes and then every 5-8 minutes thereafter. The cake I baked to celebrate the 1st of October, my mostest favorite month took about 50 minutes.

I like to do mine in a bundt pan which does help with even baking .. plus it looks very pretty if served with a scoop of unsweetened whipped cream and a generous drizzle of the most amazing salted caramel sauce ever!

For Better or Worse - Roasted Tomato Sauce

It was our anniversary last week, on Thursday, we had nothing in the house and planned to go out on Saturday night but I still wanted to make a nice dinner.

We had *nothing* in the house ... except ... a bowl of very ugly tomatoes. It all looked so promising. A week earlier I had taken these photos. See those huge, multi-forking branches of big, beautiful ready-to-ripen homegrown tomatoes?

Well, a week later they looked like this! We've had a very, very rainy August and it was just too much for the dear things.



Some had ripened enough though that I was able to trim off all the bad spots, a whole bunch of garlic and a few scallions for the best ever Roasted Tomato Sauce.

It's a breeze to make ...

To spice things up just a tad, I added one. Axel 
is not a fan of hot but I didn't even notice it. 
Tonight I'm going for two and hoping for just a 
tiny kick. We can all use a little spicing up, right?

1. Cut tomatoes in half or quarters and squeeze out seeds (optional, the first batch I didn't, the batch I'm making for tonight I did - I think it will just make the sauce just that much smoother and more enjoyable.) Oh wait, "how many tomatoes?" you ask ... Enough that the bottom of the pan is covered. I used a 9" x 13" baking pan and it made enough sauce for four hearty servings.
2. Peel and roughly slice four to five or more scallions.
3. Peel as much garlic as you can stand - I probably used about 7-8 gloves and it was very garlicky but yummy good.
4. Add a chili pepper if you like some heat.
5. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and a healthy drizzling of olive oil.
6. After about an hour at 200C / 400F it looks something like the middle picture, I gave it a stir and then just kept checking it every once in a while until it was starting to brown and most of the juices  had evaporated.
7. Blend the sauce until it is smooth, serve over warm pasta and top with grated parmesan (or in my case now that we've discovered the source of all my tummy troubles - mature goat's cheese).

It turned out to be a lovely evening, Axel opened a couple bottles of wine and we devoured my peasant meal. Sometimes it pays to have nothing in the house, it's often my most creative moments. Not that roasted tomato sauce is all that original but it did make me feel better about losing that glorious crop. Better luck next year .. and here's to another 14. Cheers!

Zucchini Bread or Muffins

This simple recipe makes a wonderful, moist "bread" that's not too sweet.  The whole wheat flour adds a lovely nutty flavor and "healthy" color to the loaf.

Zucchini Bread

1-1/2 Cups / 300 g sugar
1 Cup / 235ml vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 Cups / 250 g all-purpose flour
1 Cup / 140 g whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded zucchini
1 Cup / 100 g chopped walnuts or pecans - optional

Cream sugar and oil together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add dry ingredients and mix well, the batter will be thick. Stir in zucchini

Bake at 350F / 175C for 45-55 minutes until golden brown and an inserted knife comes out clean.  Cool on wire racks for 15-20 minutes before removing from pan.  If baking muffins, check them at 25 minutes and monitor closely.

Makes two regular loaves or four mini loaves. I baked these in my Pampered Chef mini loaf pan and had enough batter left over for two ramekin-sized muffins.

Mock Apple Pie / Zucchini Pie / Courgette Pie

Click here to skip to the Recipe

Call it what you like but it's good and is sure helpful when trying to use up a bountiful zucchini harvest. My mom used to make it, we all thought she was weird or at least a couple of us did. But then I was faced with her dilemna, a HUGE zucchini that just couldn't be eaten between the two of us no matter how I did the math. A few years ago, my neighbour gave me the infamous monster zucchini along with a recipe for soup which I still need to try but it was soo hot that summer that soup didn't sound good so I turned the oven on instead. Yep, who's weird now?

So I made "apple" pies and took one to my neighbours, but didn't tell them anything. Well, these lovely people have huge sweet teeth so when I asked if they liked it they just said "it wasn't so sweet." Well, I cracked and confessed that it wasn't apple pie. A week later they baked and brought me a cake ... a Bretagne Apple Tart .. hehe with whole apples in it .. there was no mistaking what kind of pie that was.

A few weeks later I made mock apple pie again and took it to a friends. The husband is a bigger apple pie freak than Axel. We served up the pie with whip cream and dug in. Eh, it was ok but not completely doing it for me. There is just something very strange about eating a pie that tastes like apple but you KNOW it's zucchini. About five minutes into his piece, we asked Andy what he thought, to which he declared "this is an apple, APPLE pie, yummm!" Axel and I nearly fell out of our chairs, offended Andy in the process and confessed again.

The impetus to nail this recipe came yesterday when I decided to make it to take along to a cooking evening with a bunch of other ladies who also harvest at our local CSA. We have an over-abundance of Courgettes (Zucchini) and Red Beets. In the course of our evening we made five different Red Beet recipes - but that's a whole other story.

In the meantime, I can report that the pie went down a success and a few ladies asked for the recipe. Normally I would happy pass on the one I used but after I started to follow it I discovered things which were just a bit wacky so I cut back on this, added that, changed another so I'm just calling this one my own and telling you how I did it.

Mock Apple Pie / Zucchini Pie / Courgette Pie

---

6-7 cups zucchini - peeled, seeded and chopped
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Cup / 220g packed brown sugar
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

One package puff/filo pastry or a prepared pie crust or your favorite pie crust recipe. Yesterday I used a puff pastry, it was lovely and I think it's firmness held the pie together very well.

Crumble topping: Cut together: 1-1/4 Cups / 150g flour, 1/3 cup / 70g sugar, 1/3 cup / 75g butter or margarine.

1. Peel the zucchini, cut into quarters, cut out seeds (unless they're very young zucchini and then I don't bother) and chop into apple-pie like chunks. Toss these into a frying pan with the lemon juice and cook just until they're done and still firm enough to bite into. Pour into a sieve and allow to drain thoroughly while they're cooling.
2. In a separate bowl (large enough for your zucchini later), mix together the remaining four ingredients. Add the cooked zucchini and mix well.
3. Line 9-10" / 23-25cm spring-form with a pastry or the crust of your choice. Place the filling in the crust and sprinkle crumble mixture on top. If you're using a spring-form, pull the edge of the pastry away from the pan and fold down over the pie.
4. Bake at 400F / 200C for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Tongue in cheek disclaimer: I FORGOT to take a picture of the pie I made yesterday. I was stressing all day that it was going to turn into Mock Apple Flop and I completely forgot. So my pie looked different, but we just won't let that get in the way. It looked close enough.

I say Zucchini, He says Courgette

I only ever remember my mom making zucchini bread or pan-frying them like this ... but without the garlic and onions. Just a splash of salt and pepper.

And simple still tastes the best to me.  Chop on large-ish or several smalls, add a chopped red onion and a couple of gloves of garlic to a pan with a tad of butter. Don't overcook or stir them too much or they'll turn to mush. 

Tonight I even left out the salt and pepper and served them with rice, white fish and a fresh tomato salad - or toe-mah-toe salad as Axel would say.

If you think speaking "one" language at home should be easy .. think again .. we have had some funny moments and some frustrating ones.  We might say Tomato and Potato different but we spell it the same. If I'm looking for my purse, I better tell him it's my handbag that's missing. He keeps his purse in his back pocket while I keep my wallet in my purse.

Cobbler

Cobbler ... of any kind works for me, but plum is my favorite and peach is just lovely.

This is my mom's recipe that I grew up on ... many many memories of yummmeeee plum cobbler made with those big fat juicy black-skinned with golden flesh plums.  Plus season was always the best, after school we would go by gather up huge bowls of plums. Shaking the tree asking it to give us more, which it happily did.  It was a huge tree and I couldn't even begin to guess how many bushels of plums mom would can, freeze or dry.

This recipe is plenty for a 9x13 pan. Tonight I made about 2/3 of the recipe for an oval dish that will serve the two of us nicely today and tomorrow, unless I have some for breakfast.

Put your fruit of choice in the bottom of the pan ... remove pits of course and cut into good-sized chunks.  I'll confess and admit that I used canned peaches tonight. Sorry, I needed cobbler and we had *nothing* fresh in the house. This was my substitute 4th of July pie!

Cobbler Topping

3/4 Cup sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 Cup milk

1 Cup flour

Mix the topping together and drop by spoonfuls onto the fruit.  Mix 1/2 C sugar and 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and sprinkle over the top.  Then pour over 1/4 Cup warm water.   It might look strange, but trust me .. you'll get the best syrupy fruity flavor at the bottom and a lovely crunchy top ... but see that spot where you can see the dry sugar, I should have mixed that in - it was still there when I took it out of the oven.

Bake for 45 minutes at 375F / 190C.

The hole in the middle, that was me checking to see if it was done .. tonight it took over an hour to bake but I only just realized that I didn't have the oven hot enough because, yep, I did the math wrong again.

Word of caution: allow to cool ... the hot fruit can cause terrible burns - trust me!

I don't know why, but our cobbler is always served upside down.  Is yours?
This is lovely topped with vanilla ice cream, but completely unnecessary in my opinion.  Happy 4th everyone!

Chicken Cauliflower Curry

We're still working on the bathroom redecoration that turned into renovation *and* my oven quit working on Tuesday so dinner needed to be something quick and on the stove top.  Easy answer:  Chicken Cauliflower Curry.  I originally found this recipe in one of the South Beach books but have simplified it and made it even yummier so that it's turned into one of our absolute favorite meals.

CHICKEN CAULIFLOWER CURRY  
(3 - 4 servings)

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion
2 chicken breasts
1 head of cauliflower
   salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon Garam Masala
1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
1 can lowfat coconut milk

This is a quick and easy meal to prepare so I'm going to give you the instructions just as I make it.

1. Warm olive oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat (for me this setting is 7 out of 9).
2. Meanwhile, chop the onion and add to pan.
3. While the onion is turning translucent, cut the chicken into bite-size chunks.
4. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to the pan.
5. Toss the chicken around with the onion until it is sealed on all sides.
6. While the chicken is sealing, I start chopping up the cauliflower (into the lid of my pan to save dishes) but don't forget to turn and stir the chicken every once in a while.
7. Once the chicken is sealed on all sides, add the curry powder, garam masala (this adds a lovely all-spice kind of deepness to the flavor) and cumin (to give it a light and airy note) and stir the chicken around to coat.  
8. Allow to the spices to lightly "toast" (about 30 seconds or so) and then add the coconut milk.
9. Stir the coconut into the spices and allow to warm up and simmer for about 2-3 minutes.
10. Add the cauliflower and cover ... normally I reduce the heat to medium and allow the cauliflower to steam over the sauce for about 20 minutes.  Tonight I forgot to reduce the heat and left it on medium-high, the cauliflower was done in 15 minutes and some of the sauce had lightly stuck to the bottom of the pan.  It was ok though, when I stirred the cauliflower under to coat it with the sauce I found the sauce had lightly browned giving it a nice golden color.

So it's 4:30, dinner is ready and I've just pulled it off the heat to wait until Axel gets home about 6-ish.  It will just take a few minutes to warm up and the "resting" time allows the flavors to fully penetrate.

Yummm, I can hardly wait ...

We generally eat it just as it is like a chunky stew but when we're being fancy I'll stir in a bit of unsweetened shredded coconut and / or toasted almonds and serve over rice.

Nutrition Facts

Then I got curious and decided to find out how good this is ... I knew it was good ... but WOW!  I entered all the ingredients into a Recipe Calculator and this is what it came up with.  I'm quite surprised. Bummer though that I used my last can of low-fat coconut milk tonight (using regular doubles the calories and does unthinkable things to the fat content) ... maybe we need to move up that trip to England (so far I haven't found low-fat in Belgium).

Per Serving (3)   Calories 139.7   Total Fat 2.1 g       Saturated Fat 0.4 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g       Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g   Cholesterol 27.5 mg   Sodium 53.6 mg   Potassium 394.0 mg   Total Carbohydrate 16.3 g       Dietary Fiber 10.6 g       Sugars 3.1 g   Protein 15.9 g

poppy seed muffins! .. or bread

I am in heaven and I won't tell you how much of this I have eaten in the last week.  I baked it twice!

Axel and I have been making a list of things we are missing ... so far we've tallied up "the Kids," cherry pie, a really good chinese and a burger with the works (that's mine, not his).  Funnily enough, Poppy Seed muffins missed that list ... not sure how - they were my breakfast staple along with a non-fat triple-tall latte with a hint of raspberry (or peppermint or almond) for years! Well I can promise you this fixed that with this recipe ... now if I could just solve the good home-made latte thing ...

ALMOND POPPY SEED BREAD

1-1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350F / 175F.  Grease two 5"x9" loaf pans.
2. Beat together milk, eggs, almond extract and oil.
3. Add in sugar, flour, baking powder and salt and beat for 2 minutes.  Stir in poppy seeds.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 45-60 minutes (depending on your oven).  Remove from oven as soon as a toothpick comes out clean.  For muffins you'll have to check but I'm guessing about 20-25 minutes.  I like the bread because it keeps fresher and makes for a smaller portion.
5. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.
6. This freezes well if wrapped in a double layer of aluminum foil.  Defrost at room temperature before serving.

The verdict:  we loved them!  Axel says they taste just as good if not better than Costco poppyseed muffins!
 

So the recipe credit?  Well, I changed a recipe that had been "adapted from Mary Engelbreit's Fan Fare" recipe book.  For starters I cut the sugar down from 2-1/2 cups (!!!) to 1-1/2 cups.  I have a firm rule about sugar and nearly always half any recipe I get ... but in my opinion the sugar should never be close to the quantity of flour - yikes!  I also left out the vanilla - actually I forgot it the 2nd time and noticed no difference.  I also cut back a tad on the oil and upped the poppy seeds!

White Bean Stew with Spinach

PHOTO CREDIT:  "White Bean Stew by jive turkey, on Flickr"

Things I loved about this recipe:

• It's packed with vegetables.
• Beans .. I love 'em for their great source of protein.
• Spinach .. Axel loves it!
• It was very quick and easy to make.
• There's only good in it.  Nothing bad, nada, nothing whatsoever.

Verdict:  A+   this recipe definitely goes on our must-make-again list.

My comments regarding Smitten Kitchen's recipe:

• I pureed the tomatoes so there were no chunks - it made a lovely orange sauce when finished. Chunks would be fine, but I just didn't want them tonight ...
• Used spinach because Axel loves it! - I just heaped it on top of the stew and wilt.
• Topped with a fried (sunny-side up) egg instead of a poached one - mostly because I've never made a poached one and I used very very little olive oil to fry it.
• I did not add ham (as seen pictured above), that addition seems to be an earlier adaptation of this recipe.
• The white wine might not have been necessary ... the jury is out on this on, might try making it without (like in next time I just don't have it in the house) and see what happens.
• A sprinkle of parmesan on top of the stew would be lovely ...

fruit cake

Color me weird if you want to but
I LOVE FRUIT CAKE.

However, I am picky, it can’t be too sweet and absolutely must be very moist.  What can I say - my mom made the best!  Actually she made two recipes - a “Light one” and an “Inexpensive One.” The latter being darker and moister, gooier and full of raisins and candied fruit.

Mom always started baking the first week of December, the first thing was always fruit cake so there would be plenty of time for it to cure.

And for the rum to soak in ... oh, yumm! Let the Christmas baking begin!

Mom's inexpensive Fruitcake

2 Cups raisins or mix of raisins and dates
2 Cups Sugar

2 Cups Water
5 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Cloves

Mix above ingredients together in a medium saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool, then add:

3 Cups Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Walnut Pieces (optional)
and Candied Fruit to taste - if you don't like candied fruit, increase amount of raisins, dates or consider chopped dried apricots.

Mix thoroughly and pour into paper lined bread pans. Bake at 325 F for 1 hour.

For maximum “moist-ness” pour one tablespoon of rum, cream cherry or other sweet liquor over baked cakes. Repeated weekly until Christmas your cakes will stay fresh throughout the New Year season too.

print PRETTY recipe card - Fruitcake.pdf

print BORING recipe card - Fruitcake.pdf