Food Road Trips

I love road trips and day trips, but the best ones of all are those that involve FOOD!!!!!  I just get soo excited and giddy finding secret spots, import foods or great bakeries.  This weekend we took a drive out to  a favourite spot of mine called Coombs Old Country Market. If you are ever on Vancouver Island and are traveling to Tofino this is a must stop along the way.  Weekends are packed with parents and wee kids checking out the goats, they are famous for their goats grazing away on the roof.  The ever expanding grounds now includes an oriental furniture market, a garden market, an expanded produce market, an ice cream joint (which seemed to be very popular this weekend even thought it was only 10 degrees out!) and the most important spot: the import food/bakery/art supply/kids toy/restaurant building.  This is where I loose myself.
Now usually I like to go on my own, I enjoy lingering, reading ingredient lists, standing in front of shelves and just admiring.  I don't like being rushed, especially when we are talking food.  I was without that luxury this weekend, mind you it probably was for the better since I left the place minus $90.
Okay so we were having friends over for dinner so I did go a little crazy, sorry we ate half of the stuff I bought so no pics.

My purchases, starting with baked goods included an awesome roasted garlic and green onion sour dough baguette stuffed with garlic, then I had to get a plain sour dough baguette, and a few pink peppercorn and swiss cheese buns which were so fragrant and floral, and lastly a sweet apple spice swirl bread, that was breakfast!!!  Yummy.  

Next stop was the import cheese section, crazy choices but I limited myself this time to the Guinness cheddar from Ireland.  I'm Irish so of course I had to try it, and boy was it ever smooth.  I then headed to the deli section, this being the west coast there is a mass array of salmon, you name it, they have smoked, candied, jerky and in every flavour.  I tried the plain and chile flake jerky both were popular.

Lastly I could have spent all day sorting through the pantry items.  They have a variety of British and Dutch candy, juices from all over the world, every dry pasta from Italy, jams, local honey, endless selection of olive oil and balsamic.

I had to stock up on my favourite salt, Maldon which is flaked sea salt.  Brush some garlic oil on your next pizza crust, a sprinkle of Maldon and you will go to heaven.  I was introduced to a balsamic glaze at work and finally picked it up for myself, you can find this in most grocery stores.  It is a balsamic dressing made from grape juice, balsamic vinegar, sugar and starch.  Awesome on sandwiches or tossed with roasted veggies or even as a dessert with strawberries.  I had to stock up on more real maple syrup, never the artificial stuff please!  This stuff is pricey on the west coast, for a half litre I paid the same price I would for 2 litres from the Mennonites in Ontario.  Luckily my parents have a supply waiting for me in their freezer, until then I must use sparingly...okay that's such a lie I can never use just a wee bit!!

My last purchase was one out of pure excitement and interest, a lemon effervescent drink from Italy!  Add a couple of spoonfuls to water for a refreshing effervescent drink, yes please!!  Turns out it wasn't as exciting as I thought; sodium bicarbonate, sugar and lemon nothing special.  But it is fun to pop in your mouth and let it fizz away just like the candy you got as a kid!

Well I think I might go and enjoy some of my finds before they disappear on me.  This spring, get out there and do some exploring you never know what you'll come home with.

Oatmeal with Stewed Fruit

Ahh, heart oatmeal, a great quick breakfast during the week or one to enjoy over the weekend.  I cannot live without oats in my cupboard.  I love to bake with rolled oats and of course to have a nice bowl of porridge.  I suppose being Irish and all it's a trademark, either that or growing up with it I love it.
Now I'm not taking about those instant packages that you get which I wouldn't even call oatmeal.  They have been so processed and broken down that you loose most of the benefits so why bother?  Because it's easy, they are convenient???  Well so is a pot of old-fashioned oats.  You can have a bowl in 90 seconds or if you don't like microwaves then 10 minutes.
By making your own oatmeal you know exactly what is in it, how much salt was added and how much sugar.  Then we come to the flavours, endless varieties that you can create yourself, plus a whole lot better using the real stuff rather than artificial flavour.  And of course buying your own oats over those packages is cheaper!!!!  Yep, you get more for your dollar...and I kinda like that, don't you?

But let's be honest plain oatmeal boring!!!!!  You gotta mixed it up here and make it interesting.  Aside from drizzling a half litre of real maple syrup I love to add fruit, best of all you don't need to add the extra sugar.  Try sliced bananas, apples and cinnamon, fresh or frozen blueberries, strawberries, whatever you like. 
Or better yet open your cupboard and find some dried fruit and make stewed fruit, don't these photos look yummy!  It's the easiest thing to do, and takes no time at all. 

Stewed fruit simply put is chopped up fruit, spices perhaps and some liquid, put it in a pot and cooked down. This morning I chopped up some apple, dried apricots, figs, threw in a handful of raisins, added cinnamon and topped it up with coffee and orange juice. Any liquid will do, even water, in this case though I had a pot of coffee beside me and some orange juice.  Put that on medium heat and let cook to soften the fruits and until the liquid is absorbed, done!  This will keep in the fridge for a good week or longer.

Chewy Cocoa Nib & Hazelnut Cookies

I'm on a mission, to create as many things as possible using cocoa nibs, see my post on granola bars.  I was thumbing through a local food magazine and came across a cookie recipe using ground hazelnuts and of course immediately thought of cocoa nibs, why wouldn't you?!!
The cookies are said to be chewy gems.  Figuring  they would already be sweet enough since a high chew in cookies means more sugar, the cocoa nibs seemed to be a good choice to balance that sweetness.  Well my bag of nibs was getting pretty light so this batch I used some hazelnuts to make up the full amount.  Next time I'll go for all nibs.

This recipe turns out to be a keeper!  The cookies are crispy on the outside while soft and chewy on the inside.  They were quick to make since everything is dumped together and the butter is melted so no need to do any creaming or pull out any mixers.  A great simple recipe for any non bakers out there or anyone who only has a bowl and spoon!!

After grinding the nibs down I only had 2/3 what was needed for the recipe so I added ground hazelnuts to make up the rest. If I had ground the nuts down further to a powder I would have made cocoa powder!

 The dough does have to sit in the fridge to firm up.  Once firm use a tablespoon to scoop the dough into even size bits of dough. 
  

Then roll the dough to form balls.  Now you have even sized cookie dough.  Leave room for spreading!

Cooled cookies, pre dusted

The finally, dusted with icing sugar and ready to test!!  Mind you, I was only left with half the cookies at this stage because they snapped up rather quickly

Cocoa Nib & Hazelnut Cookies

1/4 cup ground hazelnuts

1/2 cup ground cocoa nibs

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

Icing sugar for dusting

 Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium sized bowl, mix the nuts, nibs, sugar, and salt.  Stir in butter, egg, and vanill.  Add flour and mix until no flour is showing.  Put in fridge until firm, about 30 minutes.  Using a tablespoon scoop the dough and drop onto lined cookie sheets.  Roll the dough and space evenly apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until slightly firm on the top.  Let cookies cool completely, then dust with icing sugar.

REMEMBER -You can always substitute and use any kind of nut instead of the nibs and hazelnut!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hope you all have a fantastic St. Paddy's Day!

To find out how to decorate shortbread check out my Valentine's Day post.

To find the best shortbread recipe have a look here where I tested 3 varieties

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Cream Cheese Icing

With St. Paddy's Day just around the corner these Irish eyes are smiling!!!!  Why???.....Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey's Cream Cheese Icing.....mmmmm.....sooo yum!  They are only in the oven now but boy was I ever licking the spoon today; rich, chocolatey, deep and dark flavours just begged me to lick the spoon once or twice more! That was just the cake batter.  I've just finished making the icing while my wee cupcakes were a baking.  The original recipe from Nigela Lawson simply called for a cream cheese icing, but come on, how could dear Bailey's be left out of this one.  Top these cakes with the smooth, lusious, golden icing and you've got what looks like a wee pint of Guinness.  The best thing about this recipe is how quick and easy it is to make, plus you only need one pot!!  
I ended up making a half batch of the recipe, giving me 12 cupcakes,  I used some shamrock cupcake liners and decided to make little Guinness pints rather than one big cake.
I'm making another Guinness cake today and thought not to be too glutenous with a whole batch!!

Crunchy Granola Bars

I must say I love Ina Garten, of the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks and Food Network TV show. She brings such casual ease to cooking and always uses simple and fresh ingredients.  I can across her recipe for granola bars and decided to tweak it a bit after reading reviews and adding my own touches.
Never feel that you have to stick to a granola bar recipe and add all the ingredients listed, you can add anything you like.  Go ahead and add chocolate chips, dried cranberries, pecans, whatever you have in your cupboards can be tossed in.  They can be as plain as you like or chock full.....

Tool Tuesday - Silpat

I love, I love, I love my Silpat!!! A what you may ask?  The Silpat is a non-stick baking sheet made of fiberglass and silicone.  It is flexible and washable, just don't put it in the dishwasher.  Gone are the days where you need to spray your cookie sheet, where half your potato wedges are stuck to the cookie sheet, and where you have to fuss with cutting parchment paper the right size.

It took me a while to buy one, at $30 (Canadian) a sheet I always thought why bother.  Oh let me tell you how I have enjoyed having this product in my kitchen!  My cookies never stick to the pan, I can toss my potatoes in olive oil right on the sheet and pop in the oven, and melted cheese peels away.  Cleanup?.... the best part, a simple scrub in the sink and you're done.  No more stuck on cheese from pizzas or bits of potatoes to scrape off, it never happens!!

I've certainly put mine to good use over the past 6 years (can you tell!), easily used every day.  It is starting to show its age but I don't mind because it still gets the job done.  I did have two, unfortunately one had to be tossed.  Not naming names, but someone in the house (there are only 2 of us) left the cookie sheet on the stove with an element on!!!!!  I thought it could be saved but the heat was just to hot for it, and the cookie sheet too!  I guess the heat surpassed 482 degrees Fahrenheit.  It was a sad day because I thought I was lucky to have 2 Silpats!!!  Needless to say I have yet to buy that second one.

If you bake cookies regularly you should think about picking one up, or drop subtle hints!

I just finished making granola bars on mine, no sticking to the pan here!

Shortbread

Buttery, tender, rich, melt in your mouth, that's a shortbread worthy of a gold star.   I have a collection of shortbread recipes given to me and I thought it was time to put them up against one another, to find that gold star.  The three recipes each use different sugars and oven temperature varies.

THE CONTESTANTS

 Irish Shortbread

This is my mom's recipe that she has used for 40 odd years, perhaps more.  She would always press it into a pie plate score it and dock with a fork.  I opted to roll it out and make cutouts from it.  I wanted to see how each recipe would hold up to cutouts.

This is the only recipe that uses an additional flour other than all-purpose flour, that being rice flour.  The rice flour add a tenderness and slight crumbliness to the cookie since the flour is gluten-free.  There is just the right amount so that you do not get the graininess typical of baked good made with all rice flour.

Best Ever Chocolate Cake - Part 2 Icing the Cake

 In the last entry we baked the best ever chocolate cake, now it's time to make it look beautiful. Before you begin make sure your cakes are completely cooled. Have you ever tried to ice a warm cake......did you create the great slide? Icing will melt on warm cakes and you will never want to try again! If you are tight on time just go ahead and remove the cakes from the pans and put them in the freezer for a faster cool down.

Best Ever Moist Chocolate Cake - Part 1 Baking

In three words, TO DIE FOR. That sums it up. The best ever, moistest, chocolatiest (I doubted that that really is a word but I'm still gonna use it) tastiest, I want more chocolate cake you've got it here. None other than Hershey's Chocolate Cake takes the gold. Go save or copy the recipe and come back.

I think I've been using this recipe for the past 15 plus years both at work and at home. Besides being the best chocolate cake it is also the EASIEST and QUICKEST to make. You don't need to worry about having soft butter or pulling out the mixer or your arm to cream the mixture because there is none of that. The mixing method here is simple, two bowls, one dry and one wet, combine the two and pop in the oven.

TOOL TUESDAY - Silicone Spatula

My mother taught me well, always scrap the bowl Joan! That message has been ingrained into my head ever since I was a youngster and what a good one it is. You'd be surprised, you just might get another muffin out of a batch or another cookie if you clean the bowl well.

What better tool than the silicone spatula to do it.

TOOL TUESDAY - The Juice Reamer

Every Tuesday I highlight a useful tool in my kitchen. A useful tool to me is, efficient, easy to use, and easy to clean-up!!

Today the simple but effective tool, the juice reamer, takes the spotlight.

Now you will find plenty of these out on the market, everything from stainless steel to ergonomic handles will try and entice you. These often come with a hefty price tags too, upwards of $30. WAIT, don't fall prey to these clever marketing tags.

Decorated Valentine's Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day to all. Hope you spread some love around!
I decided to make some shortbread cookies and decorate them for Valentine's.

I have probably made a few thousand decorated cookies and I can't wait to share with you my favourite secret on how to decorate them. I can understand if you look at the finished product and think, but I don't have all that time! No more folks! No need to piped the outline of the cookie and then fill that in and then finally decorate. I shall share with you here.

Valentine Wedding Cake

I was searching through my pictures and came across this wedding cake that I had made 2 years ago for a summer wedding. This could be the perfect cake for a Valentine wedding, at least the ladies would love it!

I don't like to use fondant much simply because I find the taste way to sweet. You might be able to see that my bottom layer looks like it has a little muffin top in the middle!!! I ended up putting to much filling in that layer.

TIP for you all when filling cakes, don't fill right to the edge of the cake layer, leave about a 3/8 border. That way when you put the top layer over the filling it will push it slightly to the edge and not over!

Valentine's Day

Ohhhh, an exciting time in the baking kitchen, Valentine's. Forget the commercial aspect of Valentine's Day, yummy goods baked by you for all your sweethearts, now that represents love to me.

This year cookies and more cookies kept coming out of me! I've always looked at pictures of french macaroons and I came across them the other night on DAVID LEBOVITZ fantastic site about life in France. So it was time to finally make this oh so french classic. His chocolate macaroons came out perfect, mind you my first batch I could have had more rise but the 'foot' was there. I decided to sandwich them with dulce de leche and oh do they ever look yummy!