Grade Nine Blondies

Hey Moochie, (Look at buckwheat post; issues have been resolved.)

I'm definitely making those crepes. For some time I have been intending to do a savory crepe dinner, so your post was perfect timing--same brain wave as usual. Now, the whole wheat cinnamon rolls went fairly well. The staff seemed to dig them. But the staff loves Tim Horton's doughnuts (which, for the record, are terrible). My cinnamon buns are in no-way Tim Hortonesque, but the comparison stands to show the nebulous nature of a thumbs up from Andy Bos. Basically, I think they call for an addition of part whole-wheat pastry flour to give the dough the softness I'm looking for. Nonetheless, my last day is going very well, thank you. I even have time to blog (shh, don't tell). But it is lunch time, so technically...

While I said I'd tell you about the dinner I made for Mom and Dad, I'm too lazy to do a full post on it. Probably a symptom of my newly unemployed nature. I've become a layabout, a vagabond, nearly.

(Suddenly, fifteen minutes early, Tom, my T.A., enters my room. I make a frantic dive for the mouse, minimize the window, and pretend to be looking over my marks. This is an odd and unnecessarily sneaky move as Tom would be unconcerned by my lapse in marking, would probably be interested in the blog, might even start reading the blog. Reems' are suspicious by nature. )

It is Sunday night and I have returned. I truly tried to complete the post earlier over the weekend. Believe me Moochie. But our internet connection is possessed (illegal in fact, the real problem). Anyhow, dinner with Mom and Dad...the topic is growing stale and a tad unappealing so I will write little in regards to it except to note that Dad was quite sure I had bought a 'special' chicken. I tried to tell him it was 'what I had done with it' (note reference to Australian movie, "The Castle"). He was unconvinced. So I guess I should return to the Quadra Street butcher for special chicken.

Sunday night and I'm feeling free as a bird with no possibility of work on the horizon. Ah, sweet unemployment. In tribute to my contract for teaching junior high at PCS, I will post my recipe for Grade Nine Blondies. These are Grade Nine Blondies because they are sweet and because they are a delicious. They are a cinch to prepare. On some days, grade nines are wonderful; other days, they leave you thin and wasted, barely able to hold you hand up to you face, and on those days, you make Grade Nine Blondies and eat a lot of them.

Grade Nine Blondies
1/3 cup butter (If you are virtuous, you can get away with 1/4 cup but you will be sorry and sad and you won't be eating Grade Nine Blondies)
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or more chips)

Preheat your oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and cream some more.

In another bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Add wet to dry, when almost combined, toss in the chips and nuts and mix until just combined.

Grease a square pan (9x9) and fill it with the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The edges should be pulling away from the pan but an inserted tester may still come with clingons.

Rach-

Hello! You must be on the home stretch of your teaching contract. I still have to make it to the store in search of buckwheat flour to make your new bread. I have left you some questions that also need to be addressed. Otherwise, I predict an emergency call in the middle of the bread-making process.

Which reminds me, I meant to tell you that my grape jelly actually does have some 'jell' to it. Do you remember last September when I called you frantically for jelly-making advice? Who knew that instruction reading and timing was so critical in the making of jelly? And who knew that 'interpretation' of a jelly recipe isn't a great idea? A few months in the freezer passed before I was able to bring myself to actually open a jar. Angels were singing the hallelujah chorus on my shoulder after I dipped a spoon in and actually met with something slightly jiggly.

Where was I? Oh yes, buckwheat- Going to the store these days is something that happens more infrequently then it used to. My little assistant chef is much better at food production and consumption than resisting the beautiful, shiny packaging at the supermarket. Despite a 'grocery shopping-with-Mommy-ban,' in the kitchen we are a team. Finn's culinary skills are becoming honed. He now asks me about finding recipes, pores over the pages of my cookbooks in search of the prettiest cookies, and has become a top-notch egg cracker. Any breakdown in this team concept he comes by honestly - like his mother he has a penchant for a sweet, buttery dough. Despite promises of bowl licking, delayed gratification is an elusive comment for a two and a half year old, and I frequently catch the little monkey with his finger in the batter.

Notice that while I have devoted a good paragraph to Finn and his foodie ways, I managed to restrain myself from actually posting pics of my children. This was difficult. It's just that they are so sweet. In 2-D photography anyway. In real life the sweetness-level is on a vastly sliding scale- Finn no longer has a light bulb in his room, and has a child-lock on the inside of his door. Coby, however, isn't old enough to be naughty yet - and now that she is starting to realize that sleep is good, it's all I can do not to nibble those cute little ears- she's so delish.

Last week I made your Six Minute Cake. It was fabulous - and while I didn't clock it I felt that the preparation time took pretty close to the promised 6. I also made the No Knead Bread. It was great, but I wasn't sure whether to take insult or pleasure when Mike's review came in- "This bread is awesome - it must be from the store."

My latest offering comes as a result of this store-avoidance and plays upon an effort to make do with my fridge and pantry offerings. A half tub of ricotta sat waiting for some loving. Combined with some neglected stalks of broccoli we had a great meal.

Broccoli-Cheese Crepes

First I took advantage of my sleeping beauties and made the crepes during nap time. You can use your favourite crepe recipe - I did half wheat flour and half white. It's odd, but in crepes I really don't notice the whole wheat- likely because I tend to eat them slathered with something sweet. I used a cup and a half of flour which made 10 crepes. I could only use 9 because for some inexplicable reason Finn put a not-so-fresh wash cloth on one of them.

Next came the filling. I sauteed over a low, long heat a finely chopped red onion and 1 clove of garlic. I chopped up, again fairly fine, the equivalent of about 2 cups of broccoli. I steamed this in the microwave, drained and let this cool before combining the broccoli with the onion/garlic combo and the half tub of ricotta (250 g).

Cheese sauce. I made a bechamel sauce (1 T butter, 1 T flour, 2 cups milk, salt & pepper) and added maybe half a cup of old cheddar. I spread just enough to cover the bottom of a 9 by 13 dish and then got to the business of filling my pretties.

I put a little blob of the ricotta-broccoli mixture on each crepe so that I knew that I would have even filling distribution, and then rolled them up, placing them all nice and snug in the dish. I ladled the remainder of the sauce on top, sprinkled with some more cheese and put them into a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Oh, they tasted fabulous. Combined with a salad this was a great meal. It sounds pretty fiddly, and I guess it was, but because I did it in a few steps it didn't feel like it took that long. Another nice thing is you can make this earlier in the day. I think spinach would be a great replacement for the broccoli.

I will call you soon - I feel like we haven't talked for an age - Mom and Dad gave rave reviews about Caleb's latest show. I'm hoping that it's still up in the first week of February? Can't wait to see his Cathedral Grove Pics!

H

Buckwheat Bread

H-

(Sorry, no picture. My computer hates me)

Classic on your last post, slipping in a picture of Coby beside the salad. Mutually related? Uncertain. Did she partake of the salad? Doubtful. Make the salad? Improbable. But she's dang cute.

This is a new bread recipe I wanted to share with you. Have you been baking bread? I'm quite excited about baking more bread in two weeks when I'm finished my job. I have all kinds of ideas floating around in my brain for different combination of ingredients. I want to make a yeast-risen banana bread, with coconut milk. Stay posted. Anyways, this is a buckwheat recipe I dreamed up. Don't try to up the amount of buckwheat (I well know your habit of jimmying with a recipe). The ratio is just right. Particularly as buckwheat is without gluten and actually inhibits your dough from rising. In this bread, it dominates the flavour, while the bread remains light. Anyhooo, please try it!

Buckwheat Bread a la Reems

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup bran or wheat germ
1 package instant yeast (2 and 1/4 tsp)
1 cup warm water (110-120)

2 Tbsp instant coffee dissolved in a little water
2 Tbsp melted butter
3 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup yogurt
1 egg

3 cups unbleached flour
2 Tbsp flax seed
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

Combine: buckwheat, 1/2 cup flour, bran, yeast, and water

Add: wet ingredients and mix

Add: 1/2 cup flour, salt, flax, pumpkin seeds and mix

Add remaining flour 1/2 a cup at a time, beating smooth after each addition.

Knead 5-8 minutes. Dough will be tacky. Add flour by the tablespoon if necessary.

First Rise: 1 and a half to 2 hours (until doubled).

Shape into two rounds (I used clay bakeware but next best is rounds on a cookie sheet). Place on a greased cookie sheet and let rise, covered, for 1 hour (or until doubled).

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Salad Awesomeness

Rach-

I'm still in that post-holiday, nibbling away at my chocolate letter mode. Even me, of the sweetest tooth, can get sugar-overload. So to start the New Year off right I needed to open the crisper and pull out the veggies!

Ever since we shared the Rebar salad with basil vinaigrette, I have been itching to make the dressing. I'm often reluctant to go beyond a side-salad at a restaurant, but oh, with your learned guidance I was in salad nirvana. I thought that I was going to have to do some experimenting to get my take on the vinaigrette perfected, but happily, the Rebar folk have provided the recipe in their cookbook.

I know that you have the book, but here is the recipe-

Rebar's Basil Vinaigrette

Combine in a food processor-

2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 T dijon mustard
2T honey
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 bunch basil (45 grams - I used a 30 gram bunch)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Add slowly to processor- 1 cup olive oil.

Voila. Store in fridge for up to a week.

Happy new year, say hi to C for me!

P.S. You have the sweetest niece.