Sunday, June 27, 2010

Grilled Asparagus


Rach-

Less than a week until you and Caleb are Europe-bound! I am only slightly jealous..

We had a wonderful stay-at-home weekend - it was nice to do some puttering. Puttering is my catch-all for anything that involves not leaving the Campbell compound. In order to be in full putter-mode I need to be wearing sweat pants and slippers. When the weather warms up I concede and upgrade to yoga capris - but, I am very strict about this- they must have an elastic waist-band. My puttering this weekend consisted of: rhubarb oatmeal muffin baking, strawberry jam making (thanks for the pointers), biscuits to accompany jam, copious coffee drinking, newspaper reading, flyer perusing, van cleaning, mountain of laundry folding, Finn chasing, Coby chasing, Mike chasing, and barbecuing.

My latest grilling breakthrough? Grilled asparagus. So easy but oh so tasty.Yum, yum, yummy, yum. Mike and I ate about half a bunch each.

Here's what I did:

I took a bunch of asparagus, placed in a ziplock with aprox 1 T olive oil, 2 T balsamic vinegar, a shake of sea salt, a few cranks of pepper, and some garlic powder/

I left this for an hour or two and then when the chicken and brats were grilling I put the asparagus on over med heat for about 8 minutes.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hey Rach - I'm in the middle of making dinner. Swiss chard, ricotta, and asparagus cannelloni, with the swiss chard from the garden, accompanied by a lettuce salad with a basil dressing, also from our little plot. Coby dove into my bowl of swiss chard and is happily munching and shredding while she watches (I'm trying to aspire my baby food philosophy to Real Food guru Nina Planck, but more on that later). Oh it's going to be tasty!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Mega Batch Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies


I wrote this last night but never got to posting.. Please disregard any weather-grumpiness. The sun is shining! All is right with the world!

R-

That cake looks amazing, Thanks for joining me in the 'rocking-your-own-birthday-cake' club.

The fake fireplace is on, cookies cooling on the racks and we've been cuddled up with quilts and books for what seems like forever. It should be the season of grilling and exotic salad concoctions, yet the most popular dinner item at the Campbell table lately correlates directly with rain-fall: mashed potatoes.

I've always had problems with potatoes - after eating them almost exclusively at dinner for the first 10 years or so of my life (that would be 6 of yours)- Joan discovered the world of rice and pasta and potatoes were relegated to wedges with hamburgers, and maybe Christmas. Mike, of potato bar fame, loves potatoes. In the past, potatoes were my nemesis. I seemed incapable of cooking the perfect mashed potato- I could roast 'em, wedge 'em, and occasionally bake 'em but mash I could not. They always turned out a bit lumpy, never the mashed potato that I (or Mike) envisioned. Well, I've confronted the lowly spud and would smugly like to declare a new winner. So, with gloomy days, the yukon golds have been pumping through my kitchen - in part because princess Coby loves them- and she really does have us all wrapped around her perfectly-pudgy little finger.

But on to cookies - this is my day-to-day chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe. I rotate batches of these babies with batches of chocolate chip squares (blondies). All is not right with the world if there is not a tupperware container stocked with cookies in my snack cupboard. This is another throwback to our Reems childhood. I still remember the moment that Mom left the kitchen - all four us us, plus Guy*, would skulk into the kitchen for a cookie-snatching. This recipe is lower fat and sugar, note not low fat, the 'er' is key to that taste/health ratio. The oats and whole wheat flour are important for the illusion of health after you've hit the cookie jar a bit too hard.

This is my mega-version of the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from One Smart Cookie. You pointed me to this recipe when I fell in love with your white chocolate chunk cranberry version at Carmen's stagette. I've tinkered with amounts and ingredients that work for me. To dress these babies up I add pecans and swap the chocolate chips with Bernard Callebaut chunks. The most important part of this recipe is the cooking time. Er on the side of caution and UNDER-BAKE. They will firm up as they cool. Because we consume so many of these on a daily basis I use a combo of whole wheat and white flour, since they are a chunky, chewy cookie this seems to work, though they do dry out after a few days so I freeze most and take out of the freezer as needed.

Chocolate-Chip Oatmeal Cookies - The Mega Batch
Sorry, but if you want a smaller batch I'll let you do the math! I used to make all at once and freeze half of the batch- now I'm trying your method and freezing ziplocks of individual cookie dough balls to be baked when my cookie container is empty.

In your biggest mixing bowl cream:
1 cup butter (I can never remember to soften the butter ahead of time and always have to zap it in the microwave - I find this works well since the butter melts just enough to make it really easy to cream with the butter)
2 1/2 c brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Add:
3 eggs
3 T honey or maple syrup

Next add your dry ingredients (you can mix them together separately, I just mix in the same bowl):
3 1/2 cups flour (I use 2 cups all purpose and 1 1/2 c whole wheat)
3 cups old fashioned oats (you could try regular too)
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 generous cups chocolate chips
Other options: chopped pecans or walnuts, dried cranberries, raisins, white choc chunks....

It takes a bit to mix, just because there is a lot of stuff in the bowl.

Drop by spoons onto a cookie sheet, flatten each cookie and bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes or until just brown and set on the bottom, the tops should still look doughy. Set your timer for 7 minutes just to be on the safe side.

These don't last long, thus the mega batch!


*Note to non-Reems readers: Guy is affectionate Reems-speak for Dad

Thursday, June 10, 2010

27 Candles



Thanks for the birthday wishes Finn,

I, too, hope we can get together soon. I would also appreciate some candy if you are able to catch a ferry boat in my direction. Although, you're looking pretty eastside in those shades...Everything alright? Are you making a bid for a 'new' kind of attention now that Coby's on the scene? I gotta tell you, I've been there...cute younger sister...time to go covert.

When the brownie buzz wears off, and you're in the mood for something really crazy, try this cake on for size. Atley dug it. Even if his dad did fork into half his piece. (That, he was not too pleased about).

The Recipe is from Perfect Baking, by Flo Braker (I bet she frequently laments that first 'r' in Braker)

Auntie Sach's 27th Birthday Cake

For the Sponge:
1 cup flour
7 Tbsp sugar PLUS (Flo's emphasis) 7 Tbsp sugar PLUS 1 Tbsp sugar
7 large eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cream of tarter

Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 300 degrees.

Get out a 9 (or 10 or 12--although decrease baking time slightly) springform pan. DO NOT grease the pan.

Sift together flour and 7 Tbsp sugar

Separate the eggs.

With a hand mixer, whip the yolks on high speed for 3 to 5 min. Add vanilla and whip another 15 seconds. Should be thick, pale yellow, and have increased in volume.

Whip the egg whites (Make sure your beater is absolutely clean) for 40 seconds (ish). Sprinkle on the cream of tarter and 1 Tbsp sugar. Whip again at medium speed for 5 min, or until the whites appear glossy and stiff, but not dry.

Add the yolks and fold in with a spatula.

Sprinkle on half of the remaining 7 Tbsp sugar and fold with a spatula to incorporate. Add the rest of the remaining sugar and fold again.

Add the flour/sugar mixture in thirds, folding after each addition.

Bake for 55 to 60 min, or until the top is golden.

Invert the pan on a wire rack to cool--so the cake is upside down. (Make sure the cake pan is resting on the rack, not the cake itself). Let cool for 2 hrs.

Cool another hour, right side up, on the counter.

Remove from the pan by sliding a thin metal spatula or knife around the perimeter of the pan to loosen the cake. I also had to slide my knife beneath the metal bottom, after removing the springform sides, to loosen off the bottom.

Cream Filling
Whip 2 cups heavy cream with 1/4 tsp vanilla and 1 Tbsp sugar (more if you like it sweeter).

Melt 2 ounces chocolate. Put the chocolate in a bowl and add 1/2 a Tbsp water. Stir to a smooth paste. Add half of the whipped cream and stir with a spatula.

You know have both chocolate whipping cream and vanilla whipping cream to fill you cake.

Ganache
Heat 1/2 a cup whipping cream until it just starts to bubble. Remove from heat and pour over 4 ounces of chopped dark chocolate. Let cool and then use to spread.

I cut the cake into three layers, filled it, then topped it with ganache.

Over the top, I know, but heck, Finn, I was like, whatever.

Peace Out,

Auntie S.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Birthday Brownies



Auntie Sach-
(Guest Post by Finn)

Happy Birthday. You are hilarious. We made Birthday brownies for you. But you're not here. So I will eat them. They are chocolatey. Come on the ferry boat and see me. Bring me candy.

I love you,
Finn

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Buckwheat Waffles


Rach-

Finn is a little put out with you right now - he fully expects you to hop on the ferry on Thursday morning and pop over to Chilliwack for your birthday celebration. He was quite disconcerted to find out that the only participation he will have in your special day is card-making and well wishing. His almost-3-year-old egocentricity is in full-swing.

I still have a bag of buckwheat flour, just waiting to try your buckwheat bread recipe. In the meantime, I made buckwheat waffles. They turned out amazing, the best whole grain waffle I've made. I followed this recipe. My only changes (I couldn't resist a little tinkering) were to swap maple syrup with the sugar and to use whole wheat pastry flour in place of the all purpose. I doubled the recipe and served them with a raspberry sauce and more maple syrup. Yum.

My exciting find while making this recipe was a whim I had to use my hand-held immersion blender to beat the egg whites. My trusty soup puree-er and baby-food mashing side-kick came into use again. Inspired with this discovery, I successfully whipped up a cup of whipping cream later on in the day. One more piece in my lazy cook arsenal.

OK Rach, Have a great day on Thursday. Your card may make it to you next week, it might be a record. Might.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Rach-

I have a bowl of flour and yeast sitting in my pantry waiting to be sourdough starter - Thanks for the post, I have been wanting to try sourdough for awhile but needed a push. Mike loves anything sourdough - I have to confess that I'm on the fence, but am hoping to be won over by a homemade product.

The rainy weather had me craving soup this week. Grey skies, combined with a bag of 5 avacados, and the cilantro growing like a weed in my little garden, pointed me in a Tex-Mex direction. This soup recipe is a template - it's very versatile and can be tailored for one's pantry. This was last night's version:

In a soup pot with maybe a tsp of canola oil I sauteed 1 roughly diced onion, 2 cloves garlic, and the tip of a jalapeno (optional). I also threw in half a sliced tomato (leftover) and 2 other roughly chopped tomatoes. I added in one large chicken breast. I stirred the vegetables and flipped the chicken breast once to brown.

Then I added approximately 2 litres of chicken stock (I use msg and salt-free powdered chicken soup base because it's easy to have in my cupboard - this chicken would taste great with homemade stock).

Seasoning (you could substitute taco seasoning instead of the following):

I added 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground pepper, and about 1/8 tsp of ground chipotle pepper (1 tsp ground chili pepper would work instead).

Oh, and I had about 1 cup of leftover tomato sauce so I added that too. I let this whole mixture simmer for about 45 minutes.

I then removed the chicken and shredded it. I used my hand-held blender to puree the vegetables (again, I do this because Mike hates any texture, you could chop the veggies finely and skip this). I seasoned the soup with more salt and pepper to taste, added a shot of garlic powder to boost the garlic flavour, and added the chicken, 2 cups of corn and 2 cups of cooked black beans.

To serve: This is the fun part, everyone can add their own topping according to preference. I even leave out the beans sometimes and let people add their own.
Toppings we like:
  • cilantro (you love it or hate it. I love it!)
  • shredded cheese
  • sour cream
  • tortilla or corn chips - I cut up strips of tortillas, brush with oil and broil them for a few minutes
  • sliced avacados- my favourite
Everyone around the table - even our littlest 8-month eater- loved this meal.