Category: cooking

The Cooking Chronicles: Strawberry Scones

I’ve always been a fan of scones, but I’ve never before attempted a from-scratch recipe without the aid of Bisquick. After seeing Ina Garten’s Strawberry Scones on Barefoot Contessa, however, I figured it was time to give it a try.

Besides choosing to use a pastry blender over my KitchenAid mixer, and substituting milk for the heavy cream, I followed the recipe word for word (though really, in the face of 3/4 pound of butter, what’s a little cream?). For the additive, I used a small package of dried strawberries I had bought on a recent trip to Vancouver.

The scones baked up very quickly, browning at 12 minutes instead of the suggested 20. And because of the mass quantity of butter, the dough resembled flaky pastry more than what’s typically expected from a breakfast biscuit. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the dried strawberries, however, as they’re slightly chewier than I originally expected. I think I’d much rather use frozen blueberries or perhaps dried cranberries and a hint of orange zest next time (the latter being Garten’s idea). I did really enjoy the sweetness provided by the dash of sugar on top though – it transforms the scone into a treat in itself.

These strawberry scones would make a lovely tea time indulgence, and really are worth the extra effort!

Strawberry Scones

The Cooking Chronicles: Almost-Cutie Pies

I received my first free issue of What’s Cooking magazine last week, and though I didn’t need an occasion to make the adorable Cutie Pies, Jane’s gathering on Saturday was a handy catalyst all the same. Mack lent me the use of his kitchen and a helping hand.

The recipe seemed easy enough, simply calling for muffins made from cake mix to start, with a supplementary mixture of pudding and Cool-Whip to serve as the filling for the cupcakes. Well, the muffins themselves turned out fine, but the filling was another story. I’m not sure if we just didn’t let the pudding mixture stand long enough to congeal, or if it was the use of no-name whipped topping that killed us, but regardless, we ended up ditching the “cream” portion of the recipe all together, as spreading the water-like substance would have been counter-intuitive. We did however go ahead with the melted chocolate topping, and to dress it up a bit, I made some shavings from a square of baking chocolate.

I’m a perfectionist when it comes to cooking, and needless to say I’m disappointed that the Cutie Pies didn’t turn out. We did make the best of what we ended up with though!

Almost-Cutie Pies

Culinary Q & A with Doug

Occupation: Teacher, Facilitator of Resumes, Cover Letters and Interview Skills, Procrastinator plus anything else I feel like that day.

What did you eat today?

Morning –> pankcakes and chocolate
Lunch –> Home made chili from the night before and chocolate
Supper –> Chicken breast, corn nibblets and (for a change of pace) chocolate

What do you never eat?

Apples and asparagus – I shouldnt have any milk products but I keep forgetting until the pain kicks in.

What is your personal specialty?

I like to personalize my ordering of others to do my cooking for me – failing that I love to order in Chinese food.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Other then my phone … spatula – only because I saw on The Hour with John Strom ,, op ,,, you know ,,, the other night that the baby naming bureau in Quebec will not allow a Quebec couple to name their child “Spatula”. Cowboy and Lucifer was also not allowed for use.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

My dad has always made breaded minute steaks and it has always been my “feeling blue with the world – run home to the family” meal that is cooked for me. The next day is the best with some Hys-salt sprinkled on top. Corn on the cob would be a must as well!

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Recently (and perhaps due to Jarets influence) – it seems to be Quiznos subs. I have no idea why we go as the staff at the Oliver Square location scares me and makes me mad at the same time. PLUS the fact that one shouldnt use their debit cards there as your entire bank number is printed on the slip. We must start a revolution and put a stop to this.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

Dadeos on Whyte Avenue. Reminds me of Pop Tate’s diner from the Archie comics.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

I loved living in China due to the places to eat around my college. Eating communially ws an interesting idea and one that I grew to love. Perhaps it was the people and conversation I miss moreso then the food.

The Cooking Chronicles: Banana Fritters

Mack was insistent that we make spring rolls to bring to Megan’s potluck on Friday. As it turns out, my Mum was kind enough to “lend” us her stash of ready-made rolls to simply fry up and go, so I thought it would be a good time to try out a recipe for Banana Fritters (as we could make use of the already-heated oil).

The genesis for my excitement was the similar dish I had at Pradera Cafe a few weeks ago – crispy, sweet, perfectly fried banana morsels that didn’t seem too difficult to duplicate. The recipe was straightforward enough – the batter was easy to whip together, and once the bananas had been peeled and sliced, all that was left was to coat and fry them (my Mum taught us a neat little trick of how to test if the oil was hot enough: place a chopstick in the oil and watch for the volume of bubbles arising from the tip). We found that the smaller pieces were easier to coat, but were labor-intensive in terms of increasing the quantity we needed to fry. And we weren’t sure if it was a result of a thin batter, but the fritters didn’t end up being very crispy in the end. Though not the most appetizing-looking product (my Dad asked if what we gave him to eat was a Chicken McNugget, haha), once tossed in a cinnamon-sugar mixture and served with ice cream, it didn’t seem to matter, and most people seemed to like them just as well.

So with the slight mishap of Mack burning himself with the hot oil (chalked up to a sacrifice for the culinary arts anyway), the experiment was a success.

Banana Fritters (not plated, boo)

The Cooking Chronicles: Classic Mac & Cheese

I was hit with a craving for Kraft Dinner on Friday night, but unable to locate a package of the instant macaroni in our pantry, I was forced to artificially subside my longing for the time being. So on Saturday, I suggested to Mack that we try out Dave Lieberman’s from-scratch recipe for Classic Mac and Cheese.

We substituted a few things, including medium instead of sharp cheddar, fresh parmesan for romano, and rotini in place of penne. We also nixed the parsley, much to my food aesthetic dismay. We followed the directions closely, and though the cheese sauce ended up like a thick fondue, our dish turned out pretty well. Of course, there were the usual adjustments that we learned for the next go around, most prominently to use less breadcrumbs, crushed finer than we did, and potentially to add a filler ingredient (like ham, hot dogs, or my vote – grape tomatoes tossed with fresh herbs). More cheese on top wouldn’t hurt either.

Was it better than Kraft Dinner? Yes. Was it worth the time and effort? Yes, and even more so with the aforementioned improvements. Onward with experimentation!

Classic Mac & Cheese

The Cooking Chronicles: Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing

Given all my harping about cupcakes, it’s a surprise that I haven’t yet tackled the challenge of making them myself. So tonight, I attempted Ina Garten’s recipe of Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing.

It was certainly the most prep-intensive recipe to date. Between ensuring that the eggs, butter, and sour cream were at room temperature, remembering to brew the coffee, and letting the buttermilk mixture stand, I definitely exceeded the time guidelines listed on the recipe. Moreover, though I dislike using an electric mixer (I’m strangely traditional that way), I thought I’d experiment with my Mum’s KitchenAid mixer this time. It wasn’t as complicated as I had expected, but I did cop out near the end and chose to hand-incorporate the buttermilk and flour mixtures.

I also used Ina’s method of ice-cream scooping the cupcake batter into the baking cups, but boy, do I need a better scoop in the future; I think gravity was a more effective helper than the lift button itself.

As for the icing – it is without a doubt the star of the show. I’m known for eating spoonfuls of peanut butter out of the jar, but with the fluffy sweetness of the peanut butter icing, I’m liable to take the bowl and run. I highly recommend this recipe for anyone with frosting-related needs.

The ‘cakes themselves rose nicely, and frosted with icing and topped with chopped peanuts, look absolutely delectable. I’m not sure if I’d go through with making the cake batter from scratch again, as it was time consuming without much difference in taste when compared with the Betty Crocker/Duncan Hines variety, but the icing gets two big thumbs up from me.

Think anyone will buy my creations for $2.50 a pop?

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing

Culinary Q & A with Megan

What did you eat today?

A granola bar, followed by a not-so-ripe nectarine, a juice box, some coffee and a piece or three of gum. Lunch is a sandwich. Dinner is whatever slop I decide to pull from the fridge

What do you never eat?

I try really hard not to eat mushrooms or raw onions. I also don’t eat Brussels sprouts or beans (unless they’re baked beans or in chili)

What is your personal specialty?

I don’t really cook. But I make a wicked Raspberry Semifreddo for dessert

What is your favorite kitchen item?

The magic bullet. It really DOES make chicken salad in 10 seconds. And makes alsome frozen beverages.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

Steak. (Taber) corn on the cob. Garlic Potatoes. Beer. And an orange ice cream float for dessert. Followed by stove top popcorn.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Um. Swiss Chalet with the parents. And Moxie’s or Brewster’s with friends.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

I like OPM for the sweet and sour chicken. But I’m also partial to Opa! And Punjab Sweets and Restaurant (it’s by my house)

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

I’d eat real Indian food in Mumbai. And maybe an orange off the tree in Florida. And fresh just-picked mangoes.

The Cooking Chronicles: Mini Linzer Cookies

My original plan was to replicate Ina Garten’s recipe for Mini Linzer Cookies in time for Valentine’s Day so I could bring the treats to work to share with my colleagues. Due to my difficulty in locating the specialty cookie cutters however, I had to delay my excitement (Call the Kettle Black didn’t have them…tsk, tsk). Luckily, my Mum found a set at Winners, so my cooking project was back in the works.

I only had enough room temperature butter for half of the recipe, which was a shame in the end, as the preparation was fairly time consuming with only a moderate amount of product to show for it. Though the directions were simple enough, between the half hour to chill the dough, the fifteen minutes to chill the cut-out cookies, and the ten minutes to allow the cookies to cool before decorating, the “idle” time dragged the process out quite a bit.

Despite slightly-burnt cookies and a dash too much confectioners sugar, I was ultimately happy with the experiment. They’d make a lovely tea time accompaniment or a gift-worthy treat. I hope my workmates enjoyed them!

Mini Linzer Cookies (with organic strawberry jam)

Culinary Q & A with Anna

Occupation: Attidude Adjudicator

What did you eat today?

Since it is only 10 am (on the new “Spring” time, which would have been even earlier back in “Winter”) – NOTHING. I would have consumed something had I been writing this in the “pm” part of the day. “The breakfast should be the most imporant meal of the day” is a an extinct piece of wisdom, an atrophied truth from the peasant/farming culture. What is the need for a substantial meal in the morning if you are going to spend the next four hours at a desk, as opposed to tilling land or doing other farm chores? 🙂

What do you never eat?

I don’t think there are any foods that I detest – I must have outgrown any anti-preferences that I could have had as a child. Boiled onions still hints at a sensation of disgust, however (I have never tried them, but the idea itself makes my stomach turn! :). There are some tastes/ flavours that have failed to become appealing – licorice, mint (unless it is toothpaste :), bacon, smell of “French” fries.

What is your personal specialty?

Real cottage/farm cheese (I have not been able so far to find anything in Canada comparable to the one common in Eastern Europe) with creamed buckweat honey and roasted walnuts…Unbelievably delicious!!!

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Double sink – allows for a greater dish pile-up, before the lack of space makes washing them necessary. 🙂 Also oven, as I believe in baking/roasting as the most harmless way of food thermo-preparation.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

Probably, the above “personal favourite.” Also, since there is no tomorrow (hypothetically), however, and hence no need to sustain well-being, indulgence into not-so-healthy (or not at all healthy) foods and their quantities appear to be biologically and morally permissible – a platter with a generous assortment of cheese (including the “Rockford” type – the one with mold), a tray of honey-roasted nuts (cashews, pine-, pea-, wall-, brazil-, hazel-, macadamia, almonds, pistacchios) and…coffee-cheesecake ice-cream!

Where do you eat out most frequently?

“Most frequently” for me means “once a month” (or not even that). As a friend of mine has pointed out quite astutely, “What’s the point of eating unhealthy food and having to pay for it?” (yes, the underlying assumption is that commercially-prepared food IS unhealthy). Unhealthy eating, however, can indeed be very enjoyable and appealing, so my spot of choice would be the Parkallen restaurant (Lebanese) or Langano Skies (Ethiopian).

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

The Symposium Greek restaurant on Whyte and 104 St. A temporal correction – “was” the best place, as the resaurant does no longer exist, although the sign is still hagning on the building, looking grim and abandoned.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

Any fresh produce in Ukraine (veggies and fruits, especially strawberries, apricots, and sour-cherries) – they REALLY have a taste and a flavour – unlike their rubber-resembling North American counterparts (I am too cheap to go “organic” here), a breath-taking variety of delicious dairy products (some of them have no linguistic equivalency in English), the above cheese. There is also a special type of chocolate/candy, “Hematogen”, made with butter-scotch, “regular” chocolate ingredients, and…bull’s blood (or the blood from some other domestic animals). It is usually given to anemic children in small dosages, but I can eat it by dozens of bars!

The Cooking Chronicles: Lemon Almond Polenta Cake

I was inspired to bake this cake after watching the characters in Dinner With Friends consume it. But who knew one of the main ingredients would be so hard to come by? After an exhaustive search of many major supermarkets (for the record, the grocery manager at Save-On Foods had never even heard of it), and with the help of my Dad, I was finally able to get my hands on a package of polenta flour (coarse corn meal) at the Italian Centre.

Corn flour vs. Polenta
The recipe in the playbill was written in Imperial measures, which meant the extra step of converting the quantities to Metric, but after that, it was fairly straight forward. Though I should have left the cake in the oven for a few minutes longer than I did, and let it set in the pan before attempting to overturn it onto the cooling rack (oops), I was very pleased with the end product. The combination of a generous amount of lemon zest and lemon juice resulted in a nice, refreshing flavor, and the ground almonds supplied a great texture and crunch.

As I still have quite a bit of polenta flour left, I may, out of necessity, have to recreate this cake again.

Lemon Almond Polenta Cake

EDIT: the recipe, from the Dinner with Friends program, as requested,

1lb unsalted butter at room temperature

1lb superfine granulated sugar

2tsp vanilla extract

10oz ground almonds

6 medium eggs

4tbsp lemon zest

2tbsp lemon juice

8oz polenta flour

1 1/2tsp baking powder

1/4tsp salt

  1. Preheat the oven to 320 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-inch circular cake pan.
  2. Whip the butter and sugar together until fluffy and pale. Stir in the almonds and vanilla, followed by the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon zest and juice, the polenta flour, baking powder and salt. Stir well together. Put the mixture into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for around 45 minutes. The cake should be firm in the centre and golden on top.
  3. Serve alone or with ice cream. Serves 10-12.