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Saturday, December 14, 2013

Maple Latte

It's Saturday morning.  The snow is coming down outside; indoors you feel cozy and lazy, wrapped up in your bathrobe.  What to make?

My current favorite is a maple latte.  Here's how:

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Butternut Bisque

Is it possible that Butternut Bisque could sound better than it tastes?  Yes, I believe so.  Smooth, light, buttery, nutty, sweet, ... Inspired by the season I decided to try my hand at this classic soup.  In the end I modified a recipe from Simply in Season, a fabulous staple cookbook to have on hand.

The Recipe:

  • 1 onion
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 Apple
  • 1 (large) butternut squash
  • 2-3 C chicken stock
  • 2 T maple syrup
  • 1 C milk/coconut milk/yoghurt (I used dilute coconut milk)
  • salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

  • Cut up onion and saute it in the butter while you chop up the apple and squash.  As you finish chopping, add them to the pot.  
  • Then add 2 c. Chicken broth + 1 c. water (or some combination of liquid which almost covers the vegetables) and cook, covered, until soft.  I went and did some fall gardening while this was happening, but I think it took around half an hour.
  • Puree with an immersion blender, or transfer in small batches to food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  Really smooth (or to your personal preference).
  • Add the maple syrup, milk, and salt and continue to puree or stir.
  • Remember to serve in bowls before you accidentally eat the whole thing out of the pot!
If you like, you can toast the seeds from the squash and use them as a garnish.  One nifty trick is to dunk all the innards of the squash in a bowl of water, and work with your hands.  The seeds will then float to the top, making them easy to remove.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Canning Adventure, part II

I'm bringing back canning and making it cool!  Perhaps -  at least I've proved that it's easy enough for a twenty-something grad student to do on the weekend.

beginnings: fruit and fresh apple cider
Yesterday morning I went to the public market with friends, picked up a cappuccino and a pastry for breakfast, and began selecting my fruits for canning.  I recently got a canning pot for nearly free at a yard sale, and was eager to experiment.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Canning adventure part I

Fortified by fresh apple cider and optimism, my canning adventure begins.  I'll let you know how it goes!


Sunday, September 1, 2013

Speculoos Spread

Belgian cookie spread.  If you haven't tried it, do so as soon as possible.  Warning: it may become a new obsession.

Delicious on waffles (thanks @sarahngu!), among other things.

A wonderful opportunity to learn self control. :)


Tuesday, August 20, 2013

summer dinner


Looking for a good summer dinner?  This one was a win.  Here are the recipes I used, with very few modifications:
panko coated chicken schnitzel
thai harvest red rice salad
This would probably also be good on a bed of fresh lettuce.

Enjoy!
Bethany

p.s. Remember to be careful when heating oil (have a shielding lid ready!), and that when you add the parsley and capers to the hot butter, their moisture could cause some exciting things to happen if the butter is too hot.  Just a friendly word of caution.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Pastries

So it begins.  Inspired in large part by the fabulous book, The Supper of the Lamb, by Robert Farrar Capon, I made it a life goal to learn how to make pastry.