Veggie Mac and Cheese

This recipe is a hybrid of a vegan recipe for macaroni and cheese and a traditional dairy-based recipe. 

To prepare this for both vegans and non-vegans, you can set aside a portion of the noodles with the veggie-based sauce for your vegan diner before adding the shredded cheese and butter. Then, stir in the cheese and butter to finish the sauce for non-vegans.

I use an immersion blender to puree the sauce, but you could also transfer all of the ingredients for the sauce to a regular blender.

 10 ounces elbow macaroni

For the sauce:
1/4 cup ground cashews*
1 small potato (about 6 ounces/three-quarters of a cup), peeled and diced
1 carrot (about 4 ounces/half a cup), peeled and diced
1 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (or 1/4 cup cheddar and 1/4 cup Asiago is also good!)

1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water

Cook the pasta:
Cool the macaroni in boiling, salted water until al dente. Scoop out about a half a cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside (you'll need some of this water for the sauce). Now, drain the rest of the water from the pasta and return the pasta to the pot while you make the sauce.

Make the sauce:
1. Steam the potato and carrot until it's very tender and it breaks apart easily with a fork (about 10 minutes). Drain the water and return the veggies to the pot.

2. Add the ground cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to the potato and carrot mixture. Using an immersion blender, blend until very smooth. Blend in some of the reserved pasta water, a tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is creamy and smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

3. At this point the sauce is done if you want a completely vegan mac and cheese. Stir into pasta, then serve.

4. Or, you can add dairy to the sauce: Stir in butter and shredded cheese until melted and smooth; taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Stir into pasta, then serve.

*To make the ground cashews: grind dry, raw cashews until very fine (almost like a powder; it will have the consistency of almond flour)

Serves 3-4

MILLIONAIRE SHORTBREAD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 rectangular pan with parchment paper, with the paper overhanging the edges of the pan (on the long sides).


Shortbread base:
1 cup butter (cold)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder

In a food processor, blend all ingredients together in short pulses until combined. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs. Press firmly into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown.

Toffee Layer
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 can of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt (or to taste)

In a medium pot, cook the butter, sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk over medium heat, until gently bubbling. Stir constantly to prevent mixture from sticking. Gradually it will turn a light golden brown. Cook until the mixture reaches soft-ball stage (235 F, or 118 C on a candy thermometer).

Note: I like to check the "soft ball" stage by dropping a spoonful of the mixture into a cup of cold water, then scooping it out with my fingers and testing the consistency. It's ready when you can form a soft little ball of toffee with your fingers.

When the toffee is ready, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Pour it over the shortbread. Then prepare the chocolate layer:

Melt (in a bowl in the microwave) 8 oz of chocolate (whatever kind you like - I use semi-sweet or darker). You can use chocolate chips or Baker's chocolate squares, or even a bar of Lindt, or whatever you prefer! Pour the melted chocolate over the warm toffee and spread evenly.

Let the squares cool completely at room temperature, then cut into squares. After cutting, you can freeze them or keep them in the fridge.

Iced Coffee

Iced Coffee
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman


To make the coffee concentrate:
120 grams ground coffee (freshly ground is best)
2 litres of water

You will also need:
Large container with lid
cheesecloth
fine sieve
Glass or plastic pitcher (minimum 2 litre capacity)
Ice
Simple syrup (recipe below)
Milk or cream (optional)


Place the grounds in a large plastic container and add the water. Mix to combine. Cover and let the mixture sit at room temperature overnight.

The next day: Line a fine sieve with cheesecloth, and place over a pitcher. Pour the coffee mixture through the cheesecloth/sieve, letting all the coffee drip through into the pitcher. Refrigerate the coffee concentrate.

To make a serving of iced coffee, fill a glass with ice cubes and add coffee concentrate. Add simple syrup to taste, and milk or cream if desired. Makes about 8 1-cup servings.


Simple syrup: Combine equal parts sugar and water (I usually use 1 cup of each) in a pot. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Let cool, then store in a Mason jar in the fridge.


Updated Aug. 2018: To make iced coffee for 1.5 litre Bodum Ice Coffee Maker, use 90 grams ground coffee and 1.5 litres cold water. 

Peach cobbler

Fruit

6 cups peeled and sliced peaches

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 heaping tbsp cornstarch

pinch of cinnamon

Cobbler Topping

2 cups flour

3 tbsp rolled oats

2/3 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, very cold (put into freezer for 30 minute)

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium pot, combine the sugar, water, cinnamon and cornstarch over medium heat. Stir in the peaches and cook until slightly thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat.

To make the topping, combine the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Grate the cold butter into the bowl with the large holes of a box grater. Stir to coat the butter with the flour mixture. Stir the milk, egg and vanilla in a separate bowl and then add the liquid mixture to the butter and flour, stirring until a soft dough forms.

Transfer the hot fruit to a 9x13 glass dish. Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto the fruit, leaving some gaps between the dough to allow it to expand when it bakes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling.

Let cobbler cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

Flapjacks

In the UK, flapjacks are a type of chewy bar cookie, not a synonym for pancakes as in North America. They are simple to make and totally delicious.

Recipe slightly adapted from the BBC website.

Note: Many British recipes call for measuring ingredients by weight instead of measuring with cups. I used a digital kitchen scale to weigh the dry ingredients, and a glass liquid measuring cup for the syrup.

6 oz butter

6 oz Lyle's golden syrup (don't substitute corn syrup!)

6 oz brown sugar

6 oz large flake rolled oats

6 oz quick oats

Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a medium pot over medium heat, melt the butter, syrup and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in all of the oats. Press the mixture firmly into the 8-inch pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, until golden brown and set (the centre may still be a bit soft but that's OK).

Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

Pulled Pork

 

This recipe for pulled pork is done in a slow cooker/crock pot, but first I like to sear the meat on the grill before it goes into the crock pot.

Dry Rub:

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp onion powder

2 tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp ground coriander 

2 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp salt

 

Braise liquid:

1 cup apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar will do)

1 bottle of beer

1/2 molasses

1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I use President's Choice Smokin' Stampede BBQ Sauce)

2 tbsp of the Dry Rub (recipe above)

 

4-6 pound pork butt or shoulder

2 cups of barbecue sauce, warmed

The night before:

Put the pork butt or shoulder into a glass 9x13x2 baking dish. Rub the pork generously all over with the dry rub, making sure to get all of the meat well covered. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning:

Take the pork out of the fridge. Heat the grill to high heat.

While the grill is heating, whisk together the ingredients for the braising liquid. Pour into a crock pot and set heat to low.

When the grill is ready, sear the pork on high heat. Turn it over a few times to get all sides seared. This should take about 10 minutes. The goal is just to crisp the outside of the meat, not to cook it. :-)

When all sides are browned, transfer the meat to the slow cooker with the braising liquid. The liquid should not cover the meat, but should come up about halfway up the sides of the meat. If it's too close to the top of the meat, remove some of the liquid (or else it may overflow when the meat releases some juice as it cooks).

Put the lid on the slow cooker and let it cook on low heat for about 6-8 hours. 

To serve:

Remove the pork from the slow cooker and let it rest on a platter while you dispose of the braising liquid. Then return the pork to the slow cooker.

Use two forks to pull apart the meat until it's as shredded as you like. I like to leave some large chunks among the smaller shreds.

Add the warmed barbecue sauce to the slow cooker and toss with the pork until it's well coated with sauce. Keep the lid on the slow cooker until you're ready to serve.

Serve pulled pork on buns with cole slaw.

 

Pumpkin Scones

Made scones for the first time today. These are supposed to be like Starbucks' pumpkin scones. They did turn out very moist and the spices were just right, in my opinion. 

Erik agreed...he ate two:

Pumpkin scones
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 Tablespoons half & half
1 egg
6 Tablespoons cold butter, cubed

For the plain glaze: 
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons half & half

For the spiced drizzle:
1 cup + 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons half & half
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground ground ginger
pinch ground ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees then line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a large food processor (or in a large bowl) combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Pulse or whisk to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until well incorporated and mixture is crumbly. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, half & half, and egg. Add to flour mixture and pulse or stir until just combined. 
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 4 or 5 times to bring the dough together, then flatten into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough in half lengthwise, then cut each half into thirds, then cut each piece in half diagonally again. You will end up with 12 wedges. 
5. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden brown.
6. When scones are completely cool, whisk together the plain glaze ingredients, then spoon on top and spread slightly. Let cool for 10 minutes, then whisk together the spiced drizzle ingredients and drizzle on top. Let cool again before serving. Store in an air-tight container for 1 day.