Category: Cooking Chronicles

The Cooking Chronicles: Individual Chocolate Cakes

While my Mum was busy carving and plating a Greens, Eggs and Ham duck she had roasted, I started on a quick dessert I had caught on a segment of Martha Stewart Living for Individual Chocolate Cakes.

A run to the supermarket gave me all of the ingredients I would need, and though I probably should have included a Pyrex glass bowl on that list (I cracked yet another non heat-proof one), my second batch escaped similar oversights.

After I combined all of the ingredients, I poured the mixture into four ramekins and put them in the fridge for safe keeping until we finished with the main course. When the plates were cleared, I turned on the oven and baked the cakes for the recommended ten minutes.

While two of the cakes came out perfect, the other two were still a bit underdone in the centres, and oozed a thick (warm) chocolate batter as I inverted them onto plates. That was a good time to rework the word “lava” into the name of the cakes I presented to my family, and they didn’t know the difference. Done again, I would have left them in the oven a touch longer, though really, the cakes were fine moist, especially when served with vanilla ice cream.

This would be a great dessert for a girls night in or an evening in front of the fire – pulled out from the fridge and into the oven when indulgence is called for.

Individual Chocolate Cake

The Cooking Chronicles: Autumn Housewarming

While I love hosting parties, they seem to take a lot out of me. Mack (and Kim’s) housewarming party is a good example.

They moved into their new apartment in May. I offered to help Mack with the housewarming preparations (mainly around menu planning), and started thinking about summer-appropriate foods to serve. June soon gave way to July, then August, and finally September, when Mack at last chose a date for the belated celebration.

To befit the cooler weather and seasonal produce, I felt a menu overhaul was in order. As well, I wanted to incorporate dishes that Mack himself would serve, namely, share plates and comfort food. And for my twist (something wholly unnecessary, but really a pleasure for me to work out) – the inclusion of at least one ingredient obtained from a local producer or manufacturer in each dish.

With those parameters in place, the following menu was born:

Housewarming menu (“lamb” should read “turkey” – I had lamb on the brain for some reason)

Every dish could be made or assembled in advance to be heated up just prior to guests arriving. The only tricky item was the turkey sliders, which would be formed that afternoon, but pan-fried while guests were snacking on other things – an entertaining faux-pas, I’m sure, but we were pretty attached to serving the mini burgers.

We spent most of Friday evening (after the debate, of course) in the kitchen, baking up cupcakes, cookies, and pita chips.

The idea for Chocolate Chai Spice Cupcakes were inspired by a similar flavour offered at Whimsical Cupcakes to celebrate the season. I found a recipe online that appealed to me even with the added step of grinding the spice mixture myself. It was a pretty fragrant mix that I wasn’t sure would work with the chocolate, but it turned out to be an interesting combination, great paired with a cup of coffee. The tops of the ‘cakes ended up being much too dry and crumbly, but that could have been a result of leaving them in the oven a few minutes too long. This was also the only item on my menu that lacked a local component, though I was so tempted to head to Kerstin’s to pick up some dark chocolate.

Chocolate Chai Spice Cupcakes

The unusual Coffee Shortbread recipe came to me by way of Flickr, which I followed to a blog. A modified Martha Stewart recipe, we used freshly-ground Transcend-roasted coffee in our cookies. The only instruction we neglected was “properly” chilling the shortbread before baking. I found the shortbread a little on the bland side, unfortunately, though Mack disagreed with me and gobbled up the leftovers once the guests departed.

Coffee Shortbread

We were up early on Saturday morning to head to the City Centre Market and ensure we had the pick of produce and meat. It was a lovely way to start a fall day, as though it was cool enough to remind us that cooler weather was ahead, the sun was bright and full of optimism for the weekend.

Back at the apartment, while Mack cleaned and tidied up, I continued with the food prep. Giada de Laurentiis’ Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables was the easiest to start with. I wasn’t sure the bowl we had on hand was big enough to combine everything, but it turned out all right. Once this dish was assembled, I put it in the fridge, and would start heating it only after the nachos were out of the oven. I think this would be a great recipe to pull out for an autumn potluck – great texture, color, and a cinch to make. Leftovers also heat well in the microwave for a nice lunch the next day.

Colorful vegetables (Kuhmann’s squash made up the local ingredient)

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

By the time I was done with the pasta, the ground bison meat we had picked up from Medicine Man Bison that morning had defrosted. The chili recipe I chose was something between the Medicine Man’s and another I had seen in Food for Thought magazine, primarily because I could not find the “Louisiana dip mix” called for in the former recipe. I had never made chili before, but after this experience, I will definitely make it again – the result was a delicious payoff for something so easy. The ground bison was notable – virtually no fat appeared when I browned it in the skillet, and at $12.50 for 2lbs, it was a decent price to pay for good quality meat. After I incorporated all the ingredients, we transferred the chili into my Mum’s borrowed slow cooker and let it simmer until the party started. It was a great dish to have on hand, as for those dropping by later in the evening, we could guarantee them something hot to eat. 

Hearty Bison Chili

Next were Rachel Ray’s Apple-Cheddar Turkey Burgers, something Mack and I had experimented with two weeks before. This time however, mini versions were on tap, built with Italian Bakery baby buns we picked up at the Italian Centre, and Greenvalley lettuce we bought at the Market. Though the turkey itself turned out to be resilient to over-cooking, done again, I’m not sure I would make them again for a large, informal group gathering. Trying to balance conversation/hosting duties while cooking the slider patties was too difficult a task.

Getting the buns ready (yes, I realized the burgers were missing apple slices…after Mack pointed it out)

Apple-Cheddar Turkey Sliders

Last but not least was assembling Mack’s Slammin’ Cheese Nachos – an item Mack would probably make and serve if he were to host the party on his own. We layered Don Antonio’s tortilla chips with mozzarella and cheddar cheese with diced olives, jalapenos, and roma tomatoes from Gull Valley Greenhouses. Kim suggested that we use glass pie dishes for the nachos which was a great idea – it meant we could bake and serve the nachos in the same container.

Mack’s Slammin’ Cheese Nachos

Once everything was in the fridge and ready to go, we were able to start setting up the table and the apartment itself.

Buffet-style

Drink bucket (the only true “relic” from my summer party plans, and one I wasn’t willing to give up)

Though there seemed to be some issues with the door buzzer (and people not being able to find the apartment just behind the fire doors), everyone made it all right. We had suggested that guests eat something prior to arriving, as I didn’t think we would be able to make enough to feed fifteen hungry mouths, but perhaps it was the wrong strategy to take, as many of our friends arrived with full stomachs.

Between nibbling, chatting, fun with fortune cookies and Transformers, it was a good night overall. And with the house broken in, it’s only a matter of time before the apartment will play host to another gathering of friends.

In the living room

Thanks to everyone for coming (and to my Mum for helping us out)! Mack’s photo set is here.

EDIT: I neglected to thank Jane in my post for bringing the hummus to go with the pita chips. Thanks again, Jane!

The Cooking Chronicles: Chicken Pesto Pot Pies

I had made pesto with some leftover fresh basil I bought at the farmer’s market a few weeks ago, intent on using it for a recipe for Chicken Pesto Pot Pies I saw in the fall issue of Our Compliments magazine. I finally had the chance this weekend.

We cheated with the potatoes, and used the store-bought powdered variety as directed in the recipe, but as we were using made-from-scratch pesto and cooking the chicken ourselves, I figured it was a fair trade off. We bought individual aluminum pie plates, and once we tossed the filling together, we divided the coated vegetables and chicken between the containers and topped them with scoops of mashed potatoes. We baked them for just under half an hour, and they were done, sizzling with some of the excess olive oil in the pesto and smelling wonderful.

Though the surface of the pies didn’t get as brown as they did in the magazine photo, the top of the potato round was somewhat crusty. The pies were essentially a shepherd’s pie made with pesto instead of gravy, but while I can’t say that the pesto flavour was distinct, these pies tasted lighter because of the gravy substitution – and had the benefit of a vibrant green color instead of a drab brown tinge.

We had a few leftover pies for supper the next night too, and as indicated in the recipe, these are great to make in advance and freeze for emergencies. I will be making them again.

Chicken Pesto Pot Pie

The Cooking Chronicles: Apple-Cheddar Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

My inner control freak always has me conducting a run through of dishes I plan on making for a party prior to the event, in order to catch anything that might make it difficult the day of. For Mack’s upcoming housewarming, this meant trying recipes for Sweet Potato Fries and Apple-Cheddar Turkey Burgers this weekend.

We tweaked the sweet potato fries to include what we had on hand, which resulted in a coating of olive oil, brown sugar, garlic salt and taco seasoning. They turned out quite nice in the end, with a  sweet coating and a nice crunch. We still need to try another batch using the more recognizable orange yam.

Sweet Potato Fries

We halved the recipe for turkey burgers, as it was just the two of us, and substituted something labeled “Montreal Seasoning” in place of the Grill Seasoning, as it was all we could find in the bulk spice section of Save-On Foods. The patties cooked for six minutes on each side, as noted in the instructions, but the tenting didn’t quite work so well. Instead, I stuck the cheese-topped patties in the warm oven for a few minutes. Placed on a kaiser roll with a slice of granny smith apple, it made for a satisfying supper – the Montreal spice, in the words of Guy Fieri, was “money.” We are planning on making mini versions of this burger for the party.

Apple-Cheddar Turkey Burger (with a Bacardi Breezer product placement in the background)

The Cooking Chronicles: Ham, Egg and Cheese Bake

I’m not sure how casseroles became my weeknight dinner standby, especially because I certainly didn’t grow up eating them. At any rate, my plan of turkey burgers dashed, I resorted to a Rachael Ray recipe I had come across in the latest issue of her magazine for a Ham, Egg and Cheese Bake.

It was a simple recipe, but because I was missing half of the eggs it required, it ended up being much more soggy than it should have been, as we added a little more milk to try and compensate for the lack of liquid in the dish. So though the top half of the casserole (comprised of cheese, parsley and tomato) was quite good, I could have done without the layer of soaked bread at the bottom.

Ham, Egg and Cheese Bake

I would make it again, but only with the right ingredients on hand.

The Cooking Chronicles: Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

While at Save-On Foods after work today picking up groceries for dinner, I noticed that two pints of strawberries were on sale for just $1.98. Much too cheap to resist, I picked up a box and some bulk dark chocolate melting wafers to try my hand at making Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries.

It turned out to be the perfect dessert to make while I let the butter chicken simmer away on the stove. On another burner, I melted the chocolate, dipped the washed fruit, and placed them on wax paper to allow the coating time to harden. I was finished this exercise by the time the rice was ready, and the strawberries themselves were ready to be consumed when we had had our fill of dinner.

A nice weeknight treat, the chocolate-dipped berries were easy and elegant to pull together – always a plus in my recipe book!

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

The Cooking Chronicles: Lemon Tarts with Fresh Raspberries

When May asked me to bring a dessert for a lunch she was having on the weekend, I knew I wanted to make something to reflect the bounty of the summer harvest. I had a few shortlisted recipes, but flipping through the Style section in the Edmonton Journal on Saturday, a recipe for Lemon Tarts with Fresh Raspberries caught my eye.

I had intentions of going to a U-Pick farm to gather raspberries myself, but with poor timing (and a full day on the Capital Modern Tour), I ended up with a pint of fruit from Safeway. The pre-made shells made things easier, and the lemon filling was straightforward to make and set and in the par-baked tart shells. Something in the filling congealed after cooling the tarts down, but it didn’t seem to affect the taste. Finished off with four raspberries each and a dash of icing sugar, I was done. I loved their vibrant, contrasting colours.

I found the filling a tad sour for my taste (as did my Mum), but May and her guests seemed to like them enough. I’d make this recipe again, but there are too many others waiting in the wings for me to duplicate it again this year.

Lemon Tarts with Fresh Raspberries

The Cooking Chronicles: Breakfast Banana Split

Inspired by a photo of one of Annie’s meals taken on her recent mountain getaway, I made a so-called Breakfast Banana Split for Mack.

Annie’s café version was plated in a size-appropriate bowl, topped with plain yogurt, granola, and a multitude of fresh blackberries, blueberries and raspberries for bold splashes of colour. The fruit in our version was limited to the latter, picked up the day before at the City Centre Market, and the strawberry yogurt we had in the fridge. Mack had made granola the night prior, using a modified version of Alton Brown’s recipe (we omitted all of the nuts), which made my job easy – assembly only.

Mack claims the banana made the dish, though I think it was the sweet and crunchy granola that elevated a very basic fruit and yogurt starter. Layered in glasses, a fruit, yogurt and granola parfait would make a great brunch selection that can be made the evening before and refrigerated until the start of the meal.

Mack’s Breakfast Banana Split

My Banana-less Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

The Cooking Chronicles: Pantry Pasta

I have never been an improviser in the kitchen, and have always had to rely on recipes at least as a guide to make anything edible. Last week, after several days of eating out, I was so desperate for the semblance of a home-cooked meal that I resorted to anything that could be culled from Mack’s pantry and fridge.

We ended up with my “pantry pasta” – penne, tossed with a can of tomato, basil and oregano soup, half a can of water, two cups of frozen peas, a diced chicken breast that had been panned fried, and two handfuls of cheddar cheese. The result wasn’t all that bad. Mack isn’t a huge fan of peas, but I thought the added texture (and the “illusion of health”) made the pasta a tad more interesting.

Turns out it’s not that scary cooking without a recipe. But really, what I think I enjoyed most was the challenge of being able to make a meal from what was on hand and nothing else.

Pantry Pasta

The Cooking Chronicles: Man-loaf

This guest post was written by Mack, an Edmonton-based geek who fancies himself a part-time foodie. You can find him online at his blog, and on Twitter.

It all began a fortnight ago when I was hungry for some Grade A Alberta beef.

I decided to consult the 8-ball which told me to check with Sharon. She said she wanted meatloaf. So off we went to the gleaming silver mecca known as “The Superstore”. I wanted to buy Coke but Sharon forced me to buy ground beef instead. We also purchased the other necessary ingredients.

When we got back home, Sharon decided to kill a tree by printing off the recipe. I learned how to chop and onion and was surprised to find out that it didn’t cause me any tears. Sharon did most of the work and I was given the most difficult job of all – mixing everything together in the big bowl with my bare hands (grr).

Next, we got an epic fail for not having a pan to cook the meatloaf in. So we plopped it awkwardly on a tin-foil covered cookie sheet. We spread ketchup on top of the loaf and put it in the oven.

One hour later…(ding!)

We took it out of the oven and it looked pretty bad but it tasted good so I was glad. Like every other meatloaf I’ve had in my entire life, all I could taste was beef. The vegetables inside seemed to disappear. I’m convinced you could cook meatloaf with plutonium and it would still taste like meatloaf.

I still owe Sharon a meal. Maybe I’ll make veal!

Meatloaf with mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes