Peach Galette

Originally published on August 13, 2014

Martha Stewart has taught me a lot this week. First she taught me that you can boil roasted potatoes, and just yesterday she taught me the differences between certain pie crusts. I had always been making the same one – cold butter or shortening cut into flour, and then just a tiny bit of ice cold water added in to make it all come together. This way is certainly not wrong, but it does have an actual name – and it’s French! Making pie crust this way gives you what’s called a pate brisee, a very versatile crust that can be used for either sweet or savoury dishes. If you add a pinch of sugar into it, you’ve made pate sucree, a pie crust that is essentially exactly the same as pate brisee, but has sugar added into it and therefore, is used mostly for desserts. And then there’s a whole other type of pastry dough you can make that’s called pate sablee, a sandier type of dough that often has the addition of eggs and results in a tender dough that will hold its shape very well and is often used in the making of Empire biscuits.

This recipe of Martha’s calls for pate sucree, so that’s what I made. And what the heck is a Peach Galette? It’s essentially a very rustic peach pie, baked right on a baking sheet, and with no top crust. Instead, the bottom crust is made a bit larger so that it can fold over most of the top with just a bit of the filling showing dead centre. There, now you’ve been culinary schooled, just like I was yesterday.

Ingredients

For the patee brisee:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt 
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

For the filling:

4 3/4 cups fresh peaches, sliced
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 large egg, lightly beaten
About 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, for work surface

Directions:

1.) Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add the ice water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds.

2.) Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide in two. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten and form two discs. Wrap and refrigerate at least one hour before using.

3.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

4.) Stir together the sliced peaches, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, lemon juice, salt, and cornstarch.

5.) Roll out pate brisee into a 13″ round,about 1/8″ thick, on a lightly floured surface. Transfer to a baking sheet. Arrange fruit in centre, leaving a 2″ border. Fold over border to enclose fruit, leaving the centre open. Brush crust with egg, and sprinkle with a bit more of the sugar.

6.) Bake until golden brown and bubbling in the centre, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool on a baking sheet and then slide parchment paper onto a wire rack to cool completely.

7.) Serve and enjoy!

“Summertime” Pasta

Originally published on August 16, 2014

The other day we had a high of 14 degrees Celsius. On the 14th of August. It was also raining. Despite all of this, we had just gotten a new gas tank for our barbecue and I was dying to grill, char, and smoke something. So, neither rain nor chilly weather would stop me – off I went! I pretty much just threw as much onto the grill as I could so all it went, except for the actual pasta and the spaghetti sauce. The result was a pasta dish that reminded me of summertime in the middle of August.

Ingredients:

1 package bow tie pasta 
1 can of spaghetti sauce (about 3 cups of homemade)
4 Italian sausages
1 cob of corn
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 green pepper, cut into chunks
1 small zucchini, cut into chunks
1 tablespoons butter 
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
Salt
Pepper 

Directions:

1.) Place the spaghetti sauce into a small pot, cover, and set over medium-low heat, allowing it to fully heat through.

2.) Place Italian sausages into a medium-sized pot and cover with water, making sure there is about 2 inches of water above the sausages. Place them on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat to low and allow sausages to simmer for about 10 minutes. I find this allows the sausages to fully cook through before placing them on the grill to get nice and charred. When sausages are done cooking, turn off heat and remove them from the water.

3.) Place the cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and green pepper in a grill tray. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Smear the cob of corn with the one tablespoon of butter and place in the grill tray.

4.) Heat an outdoor grill to medium heat. When hot, place the sausages on and let them cook for about 10 minutes, until their casing is nicely browned and charred. When they are finished, move them to the upper rack of the grill to get them further away from the heat.

5.) While the sausages are cooking, place the cob of corn right onto the grates. Lower the lid and let it cook for about 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until some of the kernels become nicely charred. When corn is finished cooking, place on the top rack with the sausages.

6.) While everything else is cooking, place the grill tray with the veggies inside onto the grill. Lower the lid and cook for about 5 minutes, turning the vegetables at least once, until they too start to become nicely charred and the tomatoes have just begun to split. When everything on the grill is finished cooking, place it all into the grill tray with the veggies and turn off the grill.

7.) Set a large pot of heavily salted water over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. When boiling, add bowtie pasta and cook for about 8 minutes, just until it’s al dante.

8.) Meanwhile, cut kernels off cob of corn (you can do this by standing it up on a cutting board on its flat end and running your knife down the cob) and add to the grill tray of veggies. Slice the sausages up on a diagonal and also add them to the veggies in the grill tray.

9.) When pasta is fully cooked, reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Drain pasta and place it back into its pot. Pour spaghetti sauce over top, with the reserved cooking water and mix to fully coat all the pasta with the sauce.

10.) Place pasta on individual plates or a big platter and then top with the sausage/veggie mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

11.) Serve and enjoy!

Zucchini Pizzas

Originally published on August 18, 2014

Looking back on when I made these zucchini pizzas (which was just a couple of days ago) I’m so conflicted. I mean, they were good – really, really good. But I was so hoping that by slathering slices of zucchini with spaghetti sauce and cheese, my older daughter Paige – who hates zucchini – would love them. I mean, she loves cheese pizza, and you can slather spaghetti sauce on just about anything and kids will love it, right? Well, I hate to tell you, that wasn’t the case this time. She still hates zucchini and when I asked how she was enjoying this particular lunch, she said “A little bit,” which is kid speak for “I hate it. Please never make it again.” (Well, in my house anyway.) But I loved them, and my other daughter, Maddie loved them. I don’t know if I’ll make them again, simply because I don’t believe in making different things for different people and Paige really does despise zucchini. If I don’t, it’ll be a shame because they’re so incredibly easy to make and use only five ingredients (including your salt and pepper!)

Ingredients:

1 zucchini, sliced into 1/2″ inch circles
3/4 – 1 cup pizza or spaghetti sauce 
1/2 cup – 1 cup mozzarella cheese
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

1.) Place zucchini slices into a colander and sprinkle with salt. This will draw the water out so the zucchinis don’t go soggy in the oven, but don’t be too liberal with the salt, as you won’t be rinsing it off. Just sprinkle the zucchini, toss, give another small sprinkle, and then toss again. Let the slices sit in the colander for 15 – 20 minutes to get some of the water out of them.

2.) While zucchinis are being salted, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

3.) When zucchinis are salted and ready, place them on the baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with pepper. Place about one tablespoon of spaghetti sauce onto each zucchini slice. The amount you use on each slice will vary depending on how large your zucchinis are, but try to completely cover the tops of each. Then sprinkle generously with the mozzarella cheese.

4.) Place baking sheet in the oven and cook zucchinis for 5 – 10 minutes, just until both the zucchinis and sauce are hot and the cheese is melted.

5.) Serve and enjoy!

Salsa

Originally published on August 20, 2014

Today is Wednesday, and that means that yesterday was Taco Tuesday in our house. Usually I just make Pico de Gallo as a topping, but now that I’ve been working in a restaurant for the past several weeks, I’ve been able to see  how really, really good salsa is made. And even more, I’ve been able to see that it’s okay to use canned tomatoes for it. I always wrote canned tomatoes off if they were being eaten raw, just because they’re so soupy and not very fresh. But I have to tell you, that’s exactly what you want in your salsa. Or, it’s what I want, anyway. I don’t like my salsa to be very chunky, but rather a smoother concoction that can be easily scooped up. And that’s exactly what you get when you use canned tomatoes. This is a pretty close adaptation to that salsa recipe I’m always making when I’m at the restaurant, but I did change a few things up from it. (Not because their salsa isn’t good, only because I don’t want to give away all their secrets.) And no, sorry. This time I can’t tell you what I did differently. I can just tell you that it’s really, really good.

Ingredients:

1 can diced tomatoes, with some of the juices
1/2 green pepper, chopped in a small dice
1/2 onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced 
2 tablespoons pickled jalapenos, diced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander 
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
Salt 

Directions:

1.) Place a colander over a large bowl and empty can of tomatoes into it. Allow the tomatoes to sit for about 15 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally. This allows as much water to drain as possible so that your salsa isn’t too wet. When tomatoes are finished draining, place them on a cutting board and roughly chop them to break them down even further.

2.) Place the drained tomatoes into a large bowl and add all other ingredients. Stir to combine all ingredients very well and then cover and place in the fridge for an hour or so to allow all flavours to marry.

3.) Serve and enjoy!

Taco Casserole

Originally published on August 22, 2014

I’ve talked a lot about Taco Night in our house, and even about how we always have a ton of leftovers. Who doesn’t after Taco Night? I mean, you always want to make sure that you have enough beef and toppings for everyone to stuff until they’re stuffed, but what are you supposed to do with that already-cooked beef, a handful of diced tomato, and maybe a bit of cheese? Throw it all together and make a casserole out of it! It not only makes for a tasty way to use up your leftovers, but it also gives you a super easy weeknight meal that takes just minutes to get into the oven.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound – 1 pound, cooked and seasoned
3 cups cooked Spanish rice 
2 cups tomatoes, diced 
2 cups salsa 
5 hard taco shells, broken up
2 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, grated 
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce, for serving
Sour cream, for serving

Directions:

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.) Add beef, Spanish rice, tomatoes, and salsa to a large bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine all ingredients.

3.) Place the beef and rice mixture into a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish and top with grated Cheddar cheese. Put the entire casserole dish into the oven and bake for 30 – 45 minutes, until cheese is hot and bubbling.

4.) When casserole is finished cooking, remove it from the oven and sprinkle broken hard taco shells completely over the top of the casserole.

5.) Cut portions out of the casserole and place on individual serving plates. Top with shredded lettuce and a dollop of sour cream, if using.

6.) Serve and enjoy!

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Originally published on August 23, 2014

I’ve made zucchini bread many times before. It usually comes out much like banana bread, dense and dark, and maybe a smidgen more nutritious than the banana variety. But when my mom sent me this lemon zucchini bread, I knew I had to try it out. Man, what a difference it is! This comes out of your oven moist and light, and oh so much lemon taste! It’s truly delicious and the glaze makes it much more of a dessert than the snack or breakfast food my regular zucchini bread is. And while the recipe at Lilluna.com gave me a good start, I will say (modestly) that mine is better. The cook time on the original just wasn’t right and they also don’t actually tell you how to make the glaze. Granted, it’s not rocket science, but it’s still a recipe. I also adapted the recipe to be made in a stand mixer because ya know, any chance to use my stand mixer. If you don’t have one yet, just mix wet and dry ingredients separately and then combine the two just before bake time.

Ingredients:

For the bread:

2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs 
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/3 cups sugar 
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup grated zucchini

For the glaze:

1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.

2.) Place eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached and beat well. Add oil and sugar and continue beating until well blended. Then add lemon juice, buttermilk, and lemon zest and mix until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Add the zucchini and mix well.

3.) In a medium-sized bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder and mix very well. Add this mixture to the wet mixture in the bowl of the stand mixer and combine everything very well.

4.) Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan and place in the preheated oven. Bake for about 1 hour – 1 hour, 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

5.) While the loaf is baking combine icing sugar, lemon juice and milk. Stir together to completely incorporate everything together until a silky glaze forms. If the mixture is too tight, add one more teaspoon of milk.

6.) When loaf comes out of the oven, allow to cool in the loaf pan for about 10 – 15 minutes. Then, gently turn it out of the loaf pan onto a plate. Slowly drizzle the glaze over top, allowing it to run down the sides. Then allow the loaf to cool completely, and allow the glaze to set up completely before slicing and serving.

7.) Serve and enjoy!

Strawberry Pie

Originally published on August 25, 2014

I’ve been baking a lot this summer. I don’t really know why that is, as I’ve always considered myself someone who loves to cook – that is, fry, saute, roast meat and vegetables and barbecue – but has always been a bit of a klutz when it comes to baking. But this year, it’s been going okay for me, leading me to do more and more of it. The problem is, my dear husband doesn’t like too much of what I bake. He’s not big on zucchini bread at all, and even when I made strawberry rhubarb pie he snubbed his nose at it and asked if I could make just a plain strawberry pie the next time the urge to bake rushed over me. It didn’t happen until we celebrated an anniversary in August, and it was a hit! In fact, the best dessert I’ve ever made, he said. I think part of what made it so good was the pie crust I used.

I don’t know what happened with this pie crust. I used the same ingredients I usually do, and even used the food processor like I’ve been doing the last few times I made it. But when I made this one using The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, it just turned out…better. I don’t know why. Maybe the humidity was just right that day, or maybe the Spirit of Martha was with me when I made it. Either way, it helped bring the entire pie together in a beautiful way and made it even more phenomenal.

Ingredients:

For the pie crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon sugar 
1 cup chilled, unsalted butter, cut into pieces 
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ice water 
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream 

For the filling:

5 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/4 cup cornstarch 
2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar, according to sweetness of strawberries
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Whipped cream, optional

Directions:

1.) Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter pieces to the flour mixture and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Add the ice water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube with the machine running, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds.

2.) Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide into 2 equal pieces and place on 2 separate sheets of plastic wrap. Flatten and form two disks. Wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using (you’ll only need 1 disk for this recipe, so you can freeze the other for up to a month to use later.)

3.) Roll out pie dough to fit pie dish. Gently press dough down into the dish so that it lines the bottom and sides of the dish. Then use a knife or a pair of kitchen scissors to trim dough to within 1/2″ border of the edge of the dish. Fold edges of the dough underneath itself, creating a thicker, 1/4″ border that rests on the lip of the dish. Then, crimp edges.

4.) Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven. Pierce the bottom of the pie crust with a fork to prevent air pockets or bubbles forming while baking. Line the crust with two sheets of aluminum foil, being sure to push the foil against the edges of the crust. Then, fill foil with dried rice, dried beans, or pie weights. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes, or until firm to the touch.

5.) Place pie crust onto preheated baking sheet and reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until the crust is golden.

6.) Make egg wash by mixing egg yolk and cream in a small bowl. Then, remove ice, beans, or pie weights and foil from pie crust. Brush bottom and sides of crust with egg wash. Bake until egg wash is dry and shiny, 3 to 5 minutes. Cool crust completely before filling.

7.) Add 2 cups of strawberries to a small saucepan and mash until they are slightly chunky. Add sugar, corn starch, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and glaze has thickened; 3 to 5 minutes. Cool completely.

8.) Combine remaining 3 cups of strawberries with cooled strawberry glaze. Stir until strawberries are well coated. Spoon strawberry filling into cooled pie crust.

9.) Refrigerate at least 2 hours before cutting to allow filling to set. Just before serving, top with whipped cream, if using.

10.) Serve and enjoy!

Cake Flour Substitute

Originally published on August 27, 2014

Walk down the “baking” section of any grocery store and you will quickly become dazed and confused just looking at all the different types of flours that are on the shelves. There’s of course, all-purpose, but there’s also bread flour, cake flour, whole wheat flour, and if you go one step further, chick pea flour, almond flour, quinoa flour, and a host of others. And it seems, the more you cook and bake, the more you need to have at least several different types of flour in your pantry. And if you’re a real stickler about following recipes word for word, you can quickly eat up a large portion of your grocery budget if you buy them all. That’s why today, I’m here to tell you about one flour that has an easy substitute – cake flour.

Cake flour is used for more than just cakes. It’s also used in many tart and pie recipes, and any other recipe that calls for a lighter flour than all-purpose. But if you want to cut back on the plethora of flours in your cupboard, you can, just by using all-purpose with a bit of cornstarch in the mix.

I thought I already had this substitute in the page “Common Kitchen Substitutions” page that’s on the site. But when I went back to check, I was surprised that the only cake flour substitution was “1 cup all-purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons.” That’s true, up to a point. When using all-purpose as a substitute for cake flour, you do need to measure out 1 cup of all-purpose and then remove two tablespoons and put them back in your flour jar. But, you need to replace those 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. I don’t know how this works, but some type of science happens once the heat hits that mixture and it makes the flour mix lighter and fluffier than all-purpose alone would. And it really does work! I used this substitute when I made my Lemon Zucchini Bread, and it was the moistest, lightest dessert bread I’ve ever made.

So there ya go, your new cake flour substitute that will work, and that will give you all the flour you need while buying less of it. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a page on my site that needs fixing…..

How to Make Your Own Garlic Powder

Originally published on August 30, 2014

The other day I wanted to try a new chicken wing recipe my mother had sent me. Reading through it while checking all my cupboards to make sure I had all the ingredients, I was disheartened by the fact that I had no garlic powder, an important ingredient I needed for the rub they’d soak up for a few hours before being tossed on the grill. Not wanting to give up on the entire idea altogether, I did remember that I had about five bulbs of garlic sitting in another cupboard. And then the idea struck! Make your own garlic powder! I don’t have a dehydrator, but I am not to be stopped when I get an idea in my head (especially if I’m in the kitchen when it strikes) and so onward I went – on a mission to make my very own garlic powder using fresh garlic. I only used one head of garlic (after all, I didn’t reallyknow how this little experiment was going to turn out,) and that, I was hoping, would give me the amount of garlic powder I would need for  my recipe. It did; it yields about 3 – 4 tablespoons. If you want more though, just use more garlic. I promise you, this really works!

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic    $0.33

Directions:

1.) Preheat your oven to its lowest setting (mine was 170 degrees Fahrenheit.) Peel and slice the garlic very thinly. Make sure that you get them all to about even thickness so that they can all dry evenly and you won’t have some very dry pieces and others that are still moist and soft in the middle when they’re done cooking.

2.) Place all the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. (My one head fit onto one baking sheet, but of course use more than one if you  need to. The single layer is VERY important here, as the garlic will not dry out if it’s covered by other pieces of garlic.)

3.) Place the baking sheet in the oven and slowly cook and dry them out for about 2 hours (for one head,) checking on them every 30 minutes or so. You will know when they’re ready to be taken out of the oven when they are extremely dry and brittle. It’s okay if the edges turn slightly brown during this process but for the most part, they should remain white.

4.) When garlic is finished drying, remove from the oven and place into a blender or food processor. While my processor usually wins out, I chose the blender this time as the bowl of the processor is simply too big and I wondered if it would be able to get at all the garlic inside. If I do it again using more heads of garlic, I’ll likely use the processor. Process or blend until the garlic is completely broken down into a powder – and watch your face when you take that lid off; there’s a lot of dust! Remove any large bits that did not break down and/or are still moist.

5.) Use and enjoy!

Marinated Bocconcini

Originally published on September 1, 2014

I fell in love with bocconcini cheese many moons ago, when I was still a teenager working in a restaurant kitchen in my hometown. Bocconcini is really just fresh mozzarella and you’ll find that it comes in a shape that falls somewhere between an oval and a square (unless you buy the really tiny pearl bocconcini, when it then – fittingly – takes on the shape of a pearl.) The term “bocconicini” means “little bites” in Italian, and while it’s delicious all on its own, marinating them like this provides an extra oomph to any dish you’re adding them to, and can also be a great stand-alone appetizer when entertaining.

Ingredients:

5 – 8 bocconcini, cut in half (you can do more or less depending on how many you need)
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 
Salt
Pepper 

Directions:

1.) After chopping the herbs, leave them on the cutting board and add salt and pepper. (You can transfer them to a bowl or plate if you wish, but I find you lose less herbs if you don’t move them.) Mix the herb mixture thoroughly and then roll the bocconcini halves, one by one, in it, being sure to thoroughly coat all sides. Place bocconcini in a container that can be closed with an airtight lid, but leave it open for now.

2.) Place the balsamic vinegar in a bowl and, while quickly whisking, slowly add the olive oil. When dressing is mixed and slightly thickened, pour over the bocconcini in the container. Do not shake or roll the bocconcini in the dressing, just let it sit. The cheese will absorb some of the dressing, and moving them too much in the liquid can cause them to lose a lot of the herb mixture.

3.) Place the lid of the container on tight and leave the bocconcini in the fridge for two hours to absorb all the flavours.

4.) Serve and enjoy!