Fresh from the Oven: Apple Galette

Hello All-

As you may have read in my previous post, hubby and I recently went to see Chef Eric Ripert at the EPCOR Centre here in Calgary.  In preparation for the show, we purchased Chef Ripert`s cookbook, Avec Eric.  In it are stories, photos, and of course, 100+ recipes. 



Letting the caramel cool on the silicone sheet



One that caught my eye was the Apple Galette (page 256).  I am by no means a pastry chef, but I do feel much more comfortable baking puff pastry than grilling meat.  Thankfully, hubby loves to cook, so he is always on meat duty. 



The sugar/cinnamon/vanilla powder pre-baking



I had been waiting for the perfect time to try out this recipe, and when we decided to invite some friends over for dinner, I jumped at the chance to make it.  Little did I know that it would involve being in the kitchen all day long!!



Post baking

The recipe is actually quite simple: make caramel, use caramel to make sugar coating, slice apples, bake apples with sugar coating, and bake again in a puff pastry.  The trouble with this recipe is the length of time that it takes to make it.  Each step much be cooked/baked and then cooled, before you can move on.  Had I read more carefully, I would have made this a day ahead and done the final baking on the day of the dinner party.



Final product- yummy!!

 All in all, it was delicious.  The puff pastry didn`t come out exactly as planned, since I forgot to thaw it to unroll it and then refreeze it.  I think next time I`ll look to see if I can find flat sheets, rather than rolled ones.  I think that would make life much easier.  I also plan to use a different type of apple next time.  The recipe calls for Granny Smiths, and I found that they were a bit too tart for the recipe.  That could be the fault of the season, but I think I`ll go with something sweeter next time.  This was easily remedied with a dollop of vanilla ice cream...homemade whipped cream would likely do the trick as well. 

I highly recommend this recipe to anyone who is looking to wow their guests.  with a bit of tweaking to one`s tastes, it can easily be a show-stopper!!!

Cheers!
Sharon

Creamed Corn that doesn't come from a can? Say it aint so!

Hello All!

As I mentioned in a previous post, we recently purchased Chef Thomas Keller's cookbook, "ad hoc at home."  The recipes are classic dishes that don't have a lot of fuss and muss...just my style!  From what I have read through so far, he really goes the extra step to not only present a great recipe, but also to teach the reader how to make it.  There are a lot of photos and tutorials included, which I love!!!  I'll be honest, this isn't an inexpensive book, but I know it will prove it's value with how much use we get out of it. 

The first recipe that we tried was the Creamed Summer Corn.  I had never eaten creamed corn that wasn't from a can, so this was an interesting concept for me. 

Hubby ended up making this by himself since I had to step away from the kitchen for a bit.  I didn't hear any cursing, and he mentioned how he would make it again, so I'd have to say that it was likely pretty straightforward to make.  All I can say is, "WOW"!  The corn was great!!!  It has some cayenne in it, so you'll have to adjust that to your liking.  I actually liked the bit of heat it created.  We paired it with some pretty simple stuff, since I was out all day with Hannah and knew I wouldn't have much time to cook.  So, we had it with boneless pork chops (Hannah picked them out...she insisted that we have Shake and bake for dinner!), jasmine rice, and my Mother-in-Law's Peach Sauce.  Delicious all around!!

Sorry for the messy plate...I wasn't originally planning on taking a photo of it!

I ended up buying shrink wrapped corn at Walmart for this recipe, and it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  Hubby and I decided that this would be an awesome way to use up some leftover corn in the summer.  We always cook way more than we can eat and we end up feeding most of it to the composter.  I think I'll be cutting all of the leftover corn off the cobs and saving it throughout the week to make this dish on the weekends.  I am also looking into ways to freeze our summer corn so we can have creamed corn in the winter months too. 

Stay tuned for many more recipe reviews from this cookbook.  We have our eyes on the Chicken Pot Pie, Cod, Scallops...oh, the list goes on and on!!!

Cheers!
Sharon

I’m freezing…inside and out!

Hey Hey!!

First of all, thank you to those who have been so supportive of my break from knitting. I have received several messages, by email, Ravelry and here on the blog. It makes me happy for two reasons…one, it means that people actually read what I type and two, I have some great friends!

 

While taking a fiber break, I have gotten a bit reacquainted with my kitchen. If you know me well, you’ll know that I wasn’t that distanced from my culinary workspace, but I needed to work on getting out of a food rut (as I explained a few posts ago). Like any other Mom, stay at home or not, there are some nights that I just don’t feel like cooking…or I am not feeling creative. So, I thought I’d fill my freezer with some delicious meals for those “on the fly” moments.

First up, vegetable stock. There are two things that always amaze me about stocks…one, no matter what kind you get, they are loaded with sodium, and two, we always manage to throw half of the container away. In an attempt to get a bit more healthy and cost effective, I decided to make my own. I cut up carrots, potatoes, a turnip, onions, fresh parsley, peppercorns, garlic, celery, leeks, dried thyme, and a bay leaf, and threw it all in a pot with 8 cups of water. As for the salt? I only added about a teaspoon! I simmered everything for a good two hours and let it cool right on the burner. After it was cooled, I put it in the fridge overnight and put it in glass canning jars the next day. It yielded about 4 cups of liquid, which gave me two canning jars for the freezer. I didn’t want a huge amount since I also plan to make some chicken stock, so this was the perfect amount. Because I only used one or two of each veggie, the cost was minimal too. All in all, a complete success!!!

Next, with the cold weather we’ve been having, I was craving chili. The problem was that I didn’t have any tomatoes on hand, and frankly, it was too cold to go out to get some at the store. I didn’t want to run into this same problem again, so when we did our weekly shopping trip, I stocked up on tomatoes, beans, corn, and other staples and came home to make a double batch of chili for the freezer. My chili recipe is a hit in our house, mainly because it isn’t really spicy. Hannah even loves it!! By doubling my recipe, I was able to get two large canning jars filled (each one is plenty for a meal for the three of us), and enough leftovers for last night’s dinner and some lunches this week. The best part about the chili is that it is chocked full of yumminess. I used white and red beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, and of course, lean ground beef. Added with a bunch of spices, and my secret ingredient (shhh…don’t tell anyone that it is cocoa powder!), it makes for a super yummy and filling meal. For dinner last night I also made a batch of cornbread and we all went to bed with full bellies!

Finally, I froze some banana muffins that I made last week, and some pound cakes that Hannah and I picked up at our local indoor farmer’s market. (I was told a neat trick by the ladies at the farmer’s market…put your baked goods in the fridge for a bit before you put them in the freezer…apparently it helps them keep better in the freezer) Adding all of these things to the parsley pesto and marinara sauce I made and froze this summer, we should be set for a while. (I say that, but I have plans for chicken stock and some chicken pot pies in the near future!!)

So, while most here in the city have been inspired by the cold to climb under their covers and wish the freezing temps away, I used it as inspiration and brought some of that frozen goodness inside!

Cheers!

Sharon

Some of my Latest Food Finds

Hello All-

I want to take a breather from my knitting to share some new recipes that we tried last week.  Hubby and I decided that we were in a bit of a food rut, so we attempted to try a new recipe every night for one week.  How did it go?  Quite well actually.  Hannah was even up for trying the new items, which made my job that much easier!!

First up was Chinese Pork Roast from Woman's Day Magazine.  (Click here for the link)  We changed the recipe slightly.  Hubby and I aren't huge sweet potato fans, so we opted for a few Yukon golds instead.  We also couldn't find any tenderloins the day we went shopping, so we went with a small roast. 

All in all, this came out great!  The roast took a bit longer to cook, but it was still quite fast (thanks to a 500-degree temp in the oven!).  The asparagus was awesome, and I'll likely cook it in the oven the same way again!  The potatoes were okay.  Hannah loved them, so that was the important part.  Also, the sauce was really good!!  I'll probably make that again too.

Next, I made Greek Marinated Chicken and Roasted Beets with Sauteed Greens.  The marinade for the chicken came from the book, Weber's Charcoal Grilling: The Art of Cooking with Live Fire.  It included EVOO, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt, oregano, and red chili flakes.  We got side tracked and ended up marinating the chicken for an extra day.  I can't say that the extra day enhanced the flavor at all, but the skin was delicious!  I think we'll try this one again, but perhaps on skinless chicken...just to see how much flavor gets worked into the meat itself. 

As for the beet side dish, I used two different recipes to make this.  The idea came from Coastal Living magazine, click here for link.  I roasted golden beets instead of "regular" ones.  I like the method of roasting beets from the food blog, Hungry Nation.  (To watch their video about roasting beets, click here. FYI...the salad they use them in is AWESOME!!!)  I did use the Coastal Living recipe for the greens.  Hubby used to have beet greens a lot as a kid, and he really liked these.  I skipped the balsamic and used the shallot dressing from the Hungry Nation video too.  That dressing has become my new go-to dressing!!  I love it, and I am not a huge vinegar fan.

Next up was ribs in the slow cooker.  As many of you may know, we are BBQ die-hards.  Our charcoal grill doesn't accumulate much snow, even in the dead of winter.  We also have a small smoker, rotisserie for the Weber, and a few other random grilling gadgets.  The idea of making ribs in anything but the grill or smoker is quite foreign to us, but I thought I'd give it a go. 

I used a recipe from a magazine...not from a food section, but instead from a Canadian Tire ad.  It was quite simple, asking that you dust the single ribs in your favorite rub (I used an iced tea rub that we really like), then you broil them for 5 minutes on each side.  After that you add them to the slow cooker with ketchup, wine vinegar, sugar and Worcestershire sauce, and let them go for 6 to 8 hours. 

They came out quite good, but could have been in a bit less time and been even better.  The meat fell right off the bone, and personally, I like it when you have to work a bit more for it.  I don't think these even came close to hubby's ribs cooked outside, but they weren't as bad as I expected them to be.  I don't think that this will be a go-to recipe, but I won't be tossing it out either.

I'm really happy with our attempt at finding new recipes to add to our repertoire.  I am still looking for some other new ones, and I'll be sure to post any new favorites!!!

Happy Cooking!!!
Sharon

A Recipe to Share- Prize Butter Tarts

Hello All-

I thought I’d share a new favorite recipe of mine. Honestly, I have yet to try these pies myself; since they were gone lickity-split the last time I made them! Considering that I had several native-Canadians ask me for the recipe, I am thinking that they are pretty good. So, I figured that I would share the recipe with all of you too!

So, without further ado:

Prize Butter Tarts

(From the West Point Lighthouse in PEI)

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg, beaten

2 Tablespoons milk

10 to 12 unbaked pastry tart shells (I used froen ones and they worked great!)

Mix together sugar, butter and vanilla. Stir in egg and milk. Pour into prepared tart shells and bake at 400-degrees for 15 minutes.

Yup, they are that easy! A little background info…the hubby and I had our honeymoon at the lighthouse where this recipe is from. At the time, we didn’t know what butter tarts were, so we never tried them. Now that we live in Canada and are well versed in how yummy they are, I cannot wait to someday return to PEI and try them first-hand!!

Cheers!

Sharon