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.

broccoli salad

Lighter than most broccoli salad recipes, with a tangy buttermilk dressing and lots of crunch with toasted sliced almonds, red onion, and sweet dried cranberries. I am embarrassed to tell you how much of this salad I can eat in one sitting. 

Broccoli Salad with Cranberries and Almonds

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 heads of broccoli, sliced into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (it will NOT taste as good if you don't toast the nuts!)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup sliced red onion

Buttermilk Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
 
Mix the dressing ingredients together, pour over the broccoli, almonds, cranberries and onion in a large bowl, and toss well.

pumpkin bread

I wish I had a picture of this bread but I don't. Every time I think of it, it's too late. Nothing left but crumbs.

But just trust me - this recipe makes two super-moist loaves of amazing bread. It freezes really well. I've also used this recipe to make muffins and the results are just as good.

Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups dark brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

2 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

2/3 cup coconut milk

3 eggs

1 cup veg oil

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree with the coconut milk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

Line two loaf pans with parchment paper. Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 mins or till a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in pans for 15 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a rack. Keeps well, tightly wrapped, for about a week.

To make muffins: Follow recipe directions and then line a muffin pan with paper muffin cups. Fill about 3/4 full. Bake 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a rack. You should get at least 24 muffins.

Note: I always freeze one loaf and it freezes really well. I haven't tried freezing muffins so I'm not sure how well they will keep in the freezer.

Also: Asian grocery stores often sell smaller cans of coconut milk. If you can only find the regular soup-can size, you can freeze the rest of the coconut milk till the next time you make this recipe!

spring cupcakes

For these cupcakes, I used a very simple cupcake recipe and just had fun decorating them.

The lamb is my favourite...

Vanilla Cupcakes
adapted from Nigella Lawson, makes 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
*1/2 cup flour
*3/4 tsp baking powder
*1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put paper liners into 12 muffin cups.

Put all the ingredients except the milk into a food processor. Process until well blended. Add the milk, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a smooth batter.

Divide the batter equally between the paper-lined muffin cups. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

*You can substitute 1/2 cup self-rising flour for the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. It makes the recipe even simpler.


Buttercream Frosting
makes enough for 12 cupcakes

1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tsp milk

food colouring (optional)

Blend all the ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Tint with food colouring if desired.

Decoration ideas!

A Google search will turn up plenty of fun ideas for decorating cupcakes. I went with these:

Lambs/sheep: Frost the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. Cut a handful of mini marshmallows in half (or leave whole, for "fluffier" lambs). Press the marshmallows into the frosting to adhere. For the faces, I flattened a large black gumdrop with the palm of my hand and used a toothpick to make nostrils. The candy eyes were purchased. For the ears and tail, I used black licorice Goodies. Little pieces of black string licorice would work too.

Easter eggs in the grass: Frost the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. Make the "grass" with tinted coconut by putting a cup of coconut and 2-3 drops of green food colouring into a small plastic Ziploc bag. Shake and rub the contents until evenly tinted. Nestle 3 candy coated mini eggs into the frosting, and then sprinkle the coconut over the frosting, pressing lightly to help it stick.

Baby Chick: Frost the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. Pour yellow sprinkles into a small bowl. Press the frosted cupcake into the sprinkles, turning a little from left to right to make sure the whole cupcake top gets coated. I sort of rolled the edges around in the sprinkles while I was pressing them to make sure they got a solid yellow coating. Then use what you like to make the faces: I used black licorice Goodies, cut in half, to make eyes. For the beak, I cut some triangular shapes from orange gumdrops.

a classic chocolate cake

Birthday cake! In my family, you get to choose your birthday cake and it's always homemade (with some exceptions, like when somebody wants a Mario Brothers cake with a picture of Luigi on top - I leave fancy decorations like that to a bakery). The most popular request by far is for CHOCOLATE.  

This is my go-to chocolate cake recipe


Beatty's Chocolate Cake
from The Barefoot Contessa

1 3/4 cups flour (measure the flour by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling with a knife)

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs, at room temperature (I just warm the eggs gently by putting them into a bowl of very warm water while I measure the rest of the ingredients)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with circles of parchment paper, then butter the bottom and sides of the pans and dust with flour.

Blend the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla till well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients gradually, mixing on low speed. Mix in the coffee and make sure it's well incorporated.

Divide batter between the two pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pans for about 30 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely

**If you're making the cake in advance - and I often do - just wrap them well in plastic wrap and freeze them until you're ready to assemble the cake. No need to defrost. In fact I find it easier to frost when they're still frozen. I even freeze it if it's just baked one day in advance, just to make it easier to frost.

Fudge Frosting

 

*makes about 5 cups

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to incorporate, then process until the frosting is smooth.

Christmas cookies, part 3: Mini Pecan Tarts

One-bite butter pecan tarts. So good!

When you make these, you might think, "Oh, I don't really need to toast the pecans." But I promise, toasting the nuts makes a difference.

You might think, "Oh, I can't be bothered to make pastry. I'll just buy frozen tart shells." But they won't be the same. Just sayin'.

Honestly, if you're going to make tarts from scratch, just go for it.

Mini Pecan Tarts

Pastry:
1 cup butter, softened 
6 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pastry: Beat the 1 cup butter and cream cheese until combined. Stir in the flour. Roll teaspoonfuls of pastry into little balls; then press evenly into the bottom and up the sides of 24 ungreased mini-muffin cups. (*Note: You can do this with your fingers, but I have a great little wooden tool for pressing the dough into the mini muffin cups. You just dip it in flour and press it into the little balls of dough. It was about $3 at a kitchen shop and well worth it.)

Pecan filling: Beat eggs, brown sugar, and the melted butter until combined. Stir in pecans. Spoon about 1 heaping teaspoon of filling into each pastry-lined muffin cup. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until pastry is lightly golden and filling is puffed. Cool slightly in pan, then carefully remove tarts from pan and let cool on a rack.

Christmas Cookies, Part 2: Chewy Ginger Cookies

These gingerbread cookies are soft and chewy on the inside, and sweet and crunchy on the outside (because they're rolled in sugar). 

I make a triple (!) batch of these cookies at Christmas and freeze them. They keep really well in the freezer and you can stack layers of them easily so they also travel really well without sticking.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup fancy molasses
1 egg
2 1/4  cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup coarse white sugar (try a bulk food store for this - it's usually in the same section as all the cake sprinkles and spices)
**If you can't find coarse white sugar, golden coarse sugar works fine (called "Sugar in the Raw")

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add molasses and mix well. Add the egg and blend till smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Stir into butter mixture.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate about an hour or till the dough is firm.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a teaspoon to measure dough and shape into balls (I like using my small ice cream/cookie scoop but any spoon will do). Roll balls of dough in coarse sugar and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until tops are cracked and edges are firm, but the centres should be slightly underbaked. This will ensure that the cookies turn out chewy!

Christmas Cookies, Part 1: Brown Sugar Shortbread

I haven't posted here since August!! But now it's time for Christmas baking, so I'll try to post some of the recipes I make for the holidays over the next few weeks.

John's favourite Christmas cookie is shortbread, and he loves these big wedges of Brown Sugar Shortbread. I usually make at least two pans in the first week of December...and we usually run out before Christmas, so I end up making more. These cookies freeze really well.

Brown Sugar Shortbread

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla


Prep the pan: lightly butter a shortbread mold or an 8-inch round pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
With an electric mixer, blend the butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl. Stir or blend in the flour and then the vanilla.

With your hands, lightly knead the dough until smooth. Press into the prepared pan. Prick the top of the shortbread with a fork, like this:

Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees, until golden brown. (If in doubt, overbake it a little - you don't want the centre of the shortbread to be underdone.) Cool shortbread in the pan for 15 minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack and cut into wedges while still warm.

Note: You can also roll little balls of dough and press with a fork to slightly flatten. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or till golden brown.

granola

A friend and I were recently having a conversation about breakfast, and how we both have a favourite breakfast food that we want to eat every single day. For me, that food is granola. 

I don't like my granola to be too sweet (even though I love sweet treats, as you can see from the recipes on this blog!). A lot of grocery store granola is way too sweet for me. Or else it's dry and tasteless. Or it has too much oil. I started making my own but it took a while to get the hang of it.

I think this recipe is going to be my go-to recipe from now on. This takes about 5 minutes to toss it all together and then you just spread it out on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for about 40 minutes.

Granola
Adapted from The Kitchn

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 

1 cup unsalted cashews

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix the oats, cashews, seeds, salt, cinnamon and cardamon together in a large bowl. Stir to combine. (Don't put in the dried fruit yet! It goes in after you bake it.)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup and vanilla. Pour over the oat mixture and stir thoroughly.

Turn the granola out onto a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the mixture is light brown and toasty. Stir every 15 minutes or so for an even color and to make sure the granola is cooking evenly.

Remove from the oven and add the chopped dried fruit. Stir to combine.

Let cool completely. The granola will continue cooking just a bit in the cooling process — it will firm up/dry out, so if it seems a little too wet don't worry.

Store in an airtight container. 

*I like to eat my granola with a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt and some fresh fruit - usually berries but chunks of banana or peaches are also good. Or you could just eat it with milk.

double chocolate cheesecake with salted caramel sauce

For those who love chocolate...and cheesecake...and caramel...this recipe is truly, seriously good.

Double chocolate cheesecake
Adapted from Anna & Michael Olson Cook at Home

Brownie layer:
 
1 cup butter
1 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter a 9x13-inch glass baking dish.

Melt the butter and pour into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the cocoa, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add flour mixture to the cocoa mixture and whisk until blended. Pour into prepared baking dish and bake for about 18-20 minutes or just until the brownie is set in the middle. Let cool completely before adding cheesecake layer.


Cheesecake layer:

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 packages of cream cheese (250g each), at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

Melt the chocolate, either in a double boiler (bowl set over pan of simmering water) or in the microwave (watch it carefully). Set aside.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until well blended.  Pour in the whipping cream and beat on high speed until thickened. Pour in the melted chocolate and quickly mix until thoroughly blended. Pour cheesecake filling on top of the cooled brownie layer. Chill in the fridge at least 2 hours. Cut into squares and drizzle with Salted Caramel Sauce.

Salted Caramel Sauce

adapted from Simply Recipes

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

6 tbsp butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

sea salt, to taste (optional)

Get all the ingredients ready before you start. This will be quick! In a 3-quart pot, over medium-high heat, melt sugar with 1/2 cup water. Don't stir it. Let it come to a boil, and let it keep on boiling until you begin to see it turning brown. It might turn brown in spots; that's okay. Don't stir it. You can gently swirl the pot to prevent any possible burning. 

As soon as the sugar has all turned brown, add the butter and stir. Remove from the heat. Pour in the cream, stirring carefully - the mixture will bubble up quite a bit. Stir in the vanilla and the salt, if you like. Pour into a glass container or jar. Caramel will thicken as it cools. Keeps in the fridge for a week or two.

 

chocolate chip cookies

Everybody has a favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe; here's mine. I like soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies (rather than crisp ones). Two tips that I can give you to get the best results are to chill the dough (for a few hours or overnight if possible), and always underbake the cookies. They should be just set in the centre, and maybe even look a tiny bit moist. The edges should just be turning golden. I get good results using insulated cookie sheets and never end up with dark or burned bottoms.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Beat butter with both sugars, baking soda and salt until well mixed, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in the flour. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the chocolate chips. If you are chilling the dough, just cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a few hours.


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Scoop the dough with a tablespoon (or a small ice cream scoop, which is what I use), 2 inches apart onto a baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just set and the edges are light golden. When you take them out of the oven, let them rest on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before you transfer them to a rack to cool.

maple caramel popcorn

Popcorn is one of my favourite snacks. One of my friends makes amazing popcorn. She has made variations with peanut butter, peanuts and chocolate (omg), and she even made a version for Valentine's Day with crushed cinnamon hearts and a chocolate drizzle. So good!!

This recipe calls for making caramel from scratch using a candy thermometer. I'm always a bit nervous when I use my candy thermometer because you have to be so precise. But if you are patient and pay attention to what you're doing, it's not that hard. Also, it gets easier with practice, so you should probably go ahead and make this recipe often. You won't be sorry.

This recipe is adapted from one given to me by a friend, who has a great foodie website here.

Maple Caramel Popcorn

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup butter
8 cups popped popcorn
sea salt (optional)

2 bowls - make sure one of the bowls is large enough to hold the popcorn, with enough room for tossing with the caramel
2 wooden spoons
1 or 2 cookie sheets
candy thermometer

*Important* Pop the popcorn using your preferred method - air popped, microwave, or stove top. Put it into one of the bowls. Then, use your hands to transfer it to a large, lightly buttered bowl. DON'T dump it into the buttered bowl. This should ensure that all the unpopped kernels are removed from the popcorn.

Lightly butter the largest bowl and the two wooden spoons. Set aside. Have 1 or 2 large cookie sheets ready to spread out the finished popcorn.

Put the sugar, water and maple syrup into a medium pot over medium high heat. Gently stir to help dissolve the sugar a little. Bring to a boil. Add the butter in chunks. Don't stir. You may want to reduce the heat slightly if it looks like it might boil over, but make sure it continues to bubble rapidly.

Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot. Cook until the candy thermometer reaches 275 degrees, or hard crack stage. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test to see if it's at the right stage by dropping a teaspoonful into a cup of very cold water; if it hardens into brittle threads, it's ready. Take a bite to test it. It should be crunchy and shouldn't stick to your teeth.

Watch the thermometer carefully! Caramel can quickly go from beautiful to burnt in just a few seconds. Another tip: sugar will continue to cook for a few minutes even after you take it off the heat, so I usually take the pot off the heat a few degrees before it reaches 275 and do the cold water test. You can always put it back on the heat for a few minutes if it's not ready.

Now the tricky part is done! Pour the caramel over the popcorn and quickly toss to coat. Add a pinch of salt if you like; toss some more.

Spread the popcorn on the cookie sheets to cool. Keeps well in an airtight container for about a week. Or you can eat it all right away, like we do.

chicken, pesto and mushroom pizza with goat cheese

This pizza dough is made with a cup of beer instead of water and it makes a big difference in the flavour, in my opinion. I use my bread machine to mix it up but you can make it in a big bowl too. Sometimes we don't make the dough and just buy dough from the bakery section of the grocery store. No shame in that, either!

Pizza Dough
(makes two thin crust pizzas)

1 cup beer
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tbsp dry yeast

If using a bread machine, just put in all the ingredients, choose the dough setting and walk away.

Or, you can: measure the beer into a measuring cup and warm it for about 1 minute in the microwave. Pour the warm beer into a bowl. Drink the remaining cold beer from the bottle (very important step, haha). Add the sugar and yeast to the bowl and stir to dissolve. Stir in the flour and salt. Form the dough into a ball (best done with your hands). Place in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest for about 30 minutes to an hour.

When the dough is ready, cut it into two pieces. Roll, stretch and press the dough into a lightly oiled, round pizza pan. Or you can roll it out on a pizza stone, in which case I don't use any oil, just a generous sprinkle of cornmeal to prevent any sticking.

Now it's ready for your favourite toppings. The photo above shows a pizza made with pesto, shredded chicken, mushrooms, goat cheese and a little mozzarella (to hold all the toppings together nicely). I added some freshly ground pepper on top and it was so good. We ate the leftovers cold for breakfast the next morning. I also like chicken, bacon, mushroom, and caramelized onion, with mozzarella and a little sprinkle of asiago. The salty bacon and sweet onion are just meant to be together on a pizza.