Spicy Yogurt

Early on in our relationship, Mike and I would shove aside the Big Gulp cups, hop into his Fiero, and head out for romantic drives up-island. After an intense mini golf match we would head to the island's premiere dining destination - Nanaimo's Cactus Club. We never needed to open the menu, their rice bowls were that good. We found out later that it was the spicy yogurt sauce that made their rice bowls so tasty. My mom tracked down the recipe for me a few years back and I finally gave it a go. I have to hit up the Cactus Club again to see what veggies are in the original, but this attempt garnered two thumbs up by my taste-testing panel.

Haley's Rice Bowl with Spicy Yogurt

Step 1 - Chop 3 cloves of garlic and some veggies. I did my usual fridge rummage and came up with red onion, broccoli, carrot, orange pepper, mushrooms, and zuchinni

Step-2- Chop up as much chicken breast as you want. I used one large breast for two people and a toddler. I love using my trusty kitchen shears for this job. Next I sauteed the chicken in some sesame oil with about a third of thegarlic. I added a shot of soy sauce and chili sauce to the chicken.

Step 3- Set the chicken aside and in the same pan saute the rest of the garlic and the veggies until soft. Add the chicken, and about 1/2 a cup of cashews (I give them a bit of a crush with my vice-like grip as I sprinkle them into the pan).

Step 4- Next add your favourite terryaki sauce or do what I did-
3 T soy sauce,
3 T hoisin sauce,
3 T sweet chili sauce,
1 T corn starch mixed in 1/4 cup water,
1/2 cup water.

Let simmer for 5 minutes or so.

(Note: An asian-style stir fry sauce is forgiving - You need a nice balance of salty with a bit of sweet. If you don't have hoisin sauce substitute oyster sauce, or soy sauce combined with some orange juice, ginger, garlic and a spoon of honey).

Step 5- Make your spicy yogurt sauce. Combine-
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellman's low fat)
1 T lemon juice
2 T ranch dressing (it is supposed to be 2 T of powdered ranch mix)
1/4 tsp cayenne (more to taste)
1/8 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 shot of Franks Red Hot or other hot sauce (optional)

Step 6- Put it together- in each bowl, on top of a mound of rice, generously ladle on the stir fry, and then dollop some spicy yogurt on top. Garnish with green onions and some more cashews.

Mix the spicy yogurt into your bowl and enjoy!

Of Champions

Breakfast, a word originating in the 1400s, or so Encarta Encyclopedia tells me, means to break the fast imposed by slumber. Another interesting fact: Seventh Day Adventists, such as Kellog, promoted breakfast cereals to further their belief in a vegetarian diet. They earned millions of dollars on mass produced breakfast cereals in the process. It seems we’re still haunted by their idolization of the carbohydrate. I for one, tend to prefer a carb in the morning. Nothing breaks my fast better than home made bread, toasted and slathered with peanutbutter or jam, or a couple buttermilk pancakes topped with maple syrup and yogurt. I was just so lucky this morning when my loving husband clicked off my alarm at six twenty seven, mere minutes before beeping time (six thirty one, oddly enough), and whispered, “pancakes?” Me: “oh yes, love.”

So I entered the day in a puffy, deliciously-overly full, slightly disembodied state, which can be dangerous when you teach a room full of twelve-year olds. They’re small but they’re quick.

In the spirit of breakfast, and because the cereal jar was dangerously low, I baked a batch of granola this evening. My apartment smells of cinnamon, toasted oats, and warm nuts. Yum. I can hardly wait for tomorrow morning. It has taken me some time to balance my granola recipe. What follows here has been influenced by too many recipes to count, not to mention my own fixation. I think finding one’s own granola recipe is rather like discovering one’s heart song (watch Happy Feet—yes, animated penguins that sing and dance) you just know.

Rachel's Granola

Mix together in a large bowl4 cups oats
½ cup flax
1 cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup wheat germ
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 cup coconut
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt

Then add:
1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp honey
¼ cup apple sauce

Mix after you’ve added all of the sweeteners and oil. Stir until the moisture is evenly distributed, breaking up big clumps as you go.

Bake at 250 on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper for 40 minutes. Place one in the bottom third of the oven and one in the top third. Rotate the sheets every ten minutes. Mix the granola half way through the baking time. Allow to cool, and then add 1 + ½ cup dried cranberries before scooping.

Variation: Add 1/4 cup of cocoa along with the spices

Feasting on Virtue

He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shin, and bread to sustain his heart.

Psalm 104:14-15

Food celebrates life, cultivates community, and illuminates the glory of God. Pastor McDougall reminded me of this on Sunday when he expounded upon the virtues of food and its importance in scripture. I was hooked. Obviously food is connected to praise and to the virtues of the one who made it. No wonder I’m fixated on its splendor. Conclusion: I am a very holy individual. What a relief, I feared I was a common glutton, particularly after my holiday parade of dinners, brunches, and other food-focused gatherings. I’ve been so busy eating I’ve scarcely had time to blog. I’m fortunate to have a mother and a mother-in-law who love to cook. Both laid out impressive spreads this Christmas, leaving me to the fun extra pieces, like dessert, my favourite meal.

After a hearty meal, I like to serve a light sweet dessert. My standby for such occasions comes from the Rebar Cookbook: Chocolate Mousse Blackout. I’ve made changes to the dessert so if you want to see it in its original form you’ll have to consult the Rebar Book, (or, even better, go to the restaurant). My version contains significantly less chocolate so the term “blackout” no longer suffices. That said, there is still plenty of chocolate in the cake and you’ll find it sufficiently sweet and creamy. And, as the dessert is comprised of primarily, gasp, tofu, you can afford second, even third, helpings.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Crust

3 TBSP sugar
1 cup white or spelt flour
1/3 cup toasted cashews
1/8 tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ginger
3 TBSP oil
2 TBSP water
½ tsp vanilla

1. Grease a 9 inch pan (8 inch will work too) and set aside. Combine sugar, flour, cashews, salt, cinnamon and ginger in a food processor. Pulse until a fine texture. Add oil, water, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 10 min, then set aside to cool.

Filling

250 grams good quality dark chocolate
3 boxes silken tofu
¾ cup plus 2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 salt
2 tsp instant coffee powder

1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
   Drain tofu and puree in food processor until smooth. Add sugar, vanilla, salt, and coffee powder and blend. Add melted chocolate and blend.
2. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 35 min. Don’t worry about underbaking as the
   cake tastes best creamy and soft. If you leave it in far past the suggested time it will appear much firmer but will taste dry. (If you use an 8 inch pan leave the cake in for at least 5 min longer.
3. Cool completely on a wire rack and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Food & Fiction

Happy New Year!

For a Reems, reading is as important as eating. As we head into January, that time of year when Christmas becomes a distant memory and evenings are spent curled up on the couch, I want to pass on some of my favourite titles with food themes-

1) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs- I'll have to start off with one of my favourite childhood books. This was a title that frequently wound up on my stack of library picture books. I reminisced about it to Mike, and he suprised me with a copy. If you have kids, or you wish that hamburgers fell from the sky, this is the book for you.

2) Five Quarters of the Orange - the author, Joanne Harris, is a kindred soul - most of her books heavily feature food. Chocolate is also one of her books .

3) Anne of Green Gables - Raspberry cordial anyone?

4) 100 Mile Diet- This book really motivated me to make an effort to eat food closer to home (something that I am finding much easier in BC than Alberta!). This book is written by a couple who tell their tale in alternating chapters. I enjoyed reading the male and female perspectives and came away from the book both inspired, and with a small crush on one of the authors.

4) The Sunday Philosophers' Club It was a toss up which Alexander Mccall-Smith series I would include in this list. I am a fan of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and the promotion of a Woman of "Traditional Build." However, the Sunday Philosophers Club wins for tempting my taste buds beyond bush tea.

5) Brilliant by Marne Davis Kellog - Pure chick-lit with food descriptions that made me drool.

6) Like Water for Chocolate - Hmmm, how can I describe this book? Hispanic food erotica?

So there are some suggestions. Any for me?

Holiday Strategies

Admittedly, over Christmas I eat treats, a lot of treats. At a certain point I become saturated, stuffed to the top with sugar, chocolate, butter, and other terribly wonderful substances. Dinner is a slapdash affair, left over dip, sliced deli meat, a hunk of stollen. I begin to mourn veggies, tofu, and fruit smoothies, for they have been squeezed out, replaced by the pre-Christmas pickings.
Right now, a pile, no, a small mountain (think Finlayson, not Baker) of cookies rests on my counter, offerings for the weekend’s festivities. But I am not tempted. I, the ultimate sweet-tooth, ate a mere half of a cookie, and a good cookie at that, and my head spun. I’m finished on cookies, maybe forever, more likely until tomorrow.
This year, thank goodness, I thought in advance. Anticipating the ambush of sweetness, I checked out my new favourite veggie cookbook from the library, Fresh at Home, which was written by the owner of Fresh restaurants in Toronto. Healthy rice bowls, salads, and smoothies populate this book. Thus I am armed and ready. During the holiday bonanza, I like to prepare lighter meals, fresh meals. For instance, yesterday’s dinner consisted of warm bread (prepared by yours truly), soup (oh, me again), and salad (naturally). Soup in the fridge is a must. Throw some in a pot on the stove and dinner is ready in a matter of minutes. And trust me, it should be filling enough after the Friday afternoon staff treat-fest in the break room, the box of gratitude chocolates left on the counter, and the mocha that accompanied your stampede through the mall before heading home.
Typically, I look in the fridge before deciding what soup to make. Yesterday I looked on the fridge, at the pumpkin which has been loitering there for the past couple weeks. With a sweet potato on the counter, I was ready to liquefy.

This soup is really quite nice, with a smooth, sweet flavour, compliments of the sweet potato and a little maple syrup. In addition, roasting the veggie before tossing them in the pot brings out their best.

Sweet Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Toss together the following:
1 small sweet, or pie, pumpkin skinned and cubed (think bite-sized)
1 large sweet potato skinned and cubed
1 TBP olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP fresh rosemary, minced
½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Roast on a large cookie sheet in a 350 oven for about 45 minutes, or until the veggies are tender and roasted. Be sure to mix the veggies a couple of times during the roasting to ensure that the cook evenly.

When the veggies are nearly done, in a large pot use a little olive oil to sauté:
One medium onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, diced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp turmeric

When the onions soften, remove half from the pot and place in a food processor. Add half of the pumpkin/sweet potato mixture and a tiny splash of water. Puree until smooth. Now, put the puree and the remaining pumpkin/sweet potato mixture in the pot and add:
2 cups veggie stock (I use a good-quality veggie cube. If you make stock, even better.)
1 cup water
2 tsp maple syrup
1 TBSP fresh rosemary, minced

If the soup seems thin, don’t worry it will thicken as it cooks. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

Now, in the oven or a frying pan cook:
2 good quality sausages (they should be raw when you buy them)

Chop the sausage and add it to the soup. Let the soup simmer for at least 5 minutes with the addition of the sausages. Adjust seasoning by adding more salt and pepper if needed. Also, add water if the soup has become too thick. You are ready to serve!

'Twas the Week Before Christmas..

I've been hitting the flour. My kitchen is as white as the ground outside (mostly due to little white hand prints decorating my pantry). I've done it - I have attempted the Gevulde Speculaas - I use the work attempted, because while they taste amazing (judging purely from the rate they are flying out of the cookie container), this was a first attempt. I know that I have stressed and stressed some more about the importance of a slight under-bake if you want a really moist square- one with a bit of chewy "melting-in-you-mouth-ness." Well, I baked the speculaas perfectly, they taste super, but if I am being really critical, and let's face it - when it comes to food I have a high bar, I would say 2 minutes less baking time would have been the ultimate in perfection. However, this will have to wait until next year because my waistline can only handle so much.

I would like to brag, because I think I deserve to, that I made the almond paste filling from scratch. I won't say it's easy - it would be if you have a food processor, but alas I do not. Scraping the blades of my blender repeatedly, while making almond paste, was one of the first times I have really wanted a food processor. Please, if you own one please let me know which model you have and if it's worth owning it - because generally I like to stir; and I find chopping most vegetables, aside from onions, therapeutic; and I hate washing dishes; and up until renting a house with more cupboard space than I know what to do with, I have begrudged the space that unused appliances, and even used appliances, have occupied (Because of this Mike's rarely used quesadilla maker was a casualty of our move); and if you recall from my last post I am a one-bowl wonder. But I am derailing, suffice to say that almond paste can be made in a blender - just tack on a few extra minutes of pulsing and scraping to your efforts.

Yes, this is another "back-to-the-Dutch-roots" recipe. As I get older I get more nostalgic. These are one of Oma Reems' specialties. Soft and spicy, with gingerbready goodness, and an almond filling that marzipan lovers like myself go crazy over. When I go to Victoria I plan to get her authentic recipe - however, for those Reemses out there, you can empathize that attempting to get a recipe over the phone from Oma, with a hearing aid that may or may not be turned on- is a feat that would try even the most patient. I thought that I would stick to the internet this round and next year attempt the Reems method. I found a great Dutch food forum and combined two posts to come up with this recipe- Gevulde Speculaas

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
3 cups flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
1/s tsp baking soda

Combine the above ingredients. Divide dough in half - roll or pat one half into a 9 by 13 pan.

Spread with almond paste - Go ahead and use store bought. If you want to make your own here is what I did (the amounts of ingredients are approximate, sorry but I was in my "chuck ingredients in until it looks right" kind of mode -

Take about 3 cups of blanched almonds. Grind in a blender or food processor. Into your blender or processor add an egg, 1 tsp of almond extract, a few tablespoons of water, 1/2 cup of honey and 1/4 cup of sugar. Add more sugar to taste if you like. Voila.

Finally, roll out the second half of the dough and put on top of the filling. I had to patch mine up, but once I covered it with flaked almonds you couldn't tell. Next time I will make this I will brush with some egg and then put almonds on top - this time round at least a third of my almonds came off.

Bake at 350 for 30 min (although recalling my rant have a peek in your oven at 25 minutes to see if they are ready). Take out when the dough looks SLIGHTLY underbaked. It will harden up on it's own. Though if you like a drier crumb I would bake for 35 minutes.

Merry Christmas and stay warm!!!

It snowed! (What does ‘it’ determine? The sky, the clouds, the weather, mother nature, God, the world? I’ve never been sure.) About five centimeters of white clotted our driveways and roads. Yeah! For once Victoria felt Canadian. Caleb and I stepped out into the world first thing. We walked a couple kilometers to a palm tree that Caleb photographed in the snow. I photographed Caleb photographing. Also, I lured him into the grocery store on the return trip. After all, on a snow day, what is there to do besides play outside and bake sugar cookies? I toted home a knapsack full of veggies and fruits and Caleb carried a bag of flour slung over one shoulder. With only two weeks to Christmas, snow on the ground, and sugar cookies dancing in my head, I knew life was perfect. Or nearly perfect, the wind was bitingly cold and the skin on my hands and face was red and chapped. I spent most of the day singing along to Christmas songs (we’ve got a whole cache of new Christmas records), mixing, rolling, and cutting dough, and crafting Christmas cards. Two varieties of sugar cookies sprang forth from my laborious activity: one, a lime drop sugar cookie, the other, a rolled sugar cookie. The second, the rolled cookie, is a play on the original sugar cookies, which, while sweet and tasty, strikes me as a tad dull, the bland face of a too beautiful model. So I jazzed, spiced and changed to develop a not-so traditional sugar cookie that includes the likes of buckwheat flour, cardamom spice, and slivered almonds. I hope you tear into these as quickly as we did! (I just ate one for breakfast).

A Not-So Traditional Sugar Cookie

Beat together:
¼ cup butter
1 TBSP olive oil
¾ cup brown sugar

Beat in:
1 TBSP apple sauce
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

In another bowl, mix together:
1 and 1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp all spice
1 tsp cinnamon

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until almost combined.
Then, Add:
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup slivered or flaked almonds

Divide into dough in two and shape into disks. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least I hour. Roll dough between two pieces of wax paper. Do one disk as a time, leaving the other in the fridge. Make sure to roll the dough out evenly, about ¼” thick. Cut out shapes with your favourite cookie cutters. Place on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Baking time depends on the size of your cookies. Larger cookies will take slightly longer. The cookies will firm up after they’ve cooled a bit. I like soft chewy cookies, and I think this recipe tastes better as such, so I prefer a shorter baking time.