Boozy Charlotte

sugar cookies

Chicken Hand Pies

1 package Tenderflake puff pastry (or alternative)(this is a real time saver!)

Filling:

¼ cup red pepper, finely chopped

¾ cup onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 ¼ cups cooked chicken, chopped

1 cup shredded carrots

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

½ cup ketchup

2 tbsp olive oil

¾ cup peas (canned)

1 beaten egg

¾ cup sugar (optional)

  1. Add oil to pan, add onions, garlic and red peppers. Cook over medium -high heat until onion is translucent.  Add chicken, carrot, ketchup, and mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well to coat chicken, cover and leave over heat for 15 min. 

2. Remove mixture from heat. Add peas and stir to mix (not too vigorously, or you’ll get pea mash J). Set aside.

3. Roll out pastry dough and using a 4” round cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as the dough will yield. I usually get about 36 rounds from a package.

4.  Brush beaten egg around edges of circles. Spoon about 1 tbsp filling into center of each round, place another round to cover, and press together edges to seal.

5. Place pastries in preheated 400^o oven for 15 min, at which point you can pull them out to brush surfaces with egg and sprinkle sugar on surface, if so desired, and pop them back in for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool and enjoy!

Banana Nut Bread

Stuffed Chicken and Granny's Birthday

Stuffed Shells

Arroz con Pollo

Blueberry Coconut Buns

Sometimes you want a sweet bun. Not a cinnamon bun; not an orange bun; not a hot cross bun (although these are pretty good), but some kind of sweet bun. So you make up a sweet, yet fruity, and satisfying bun. Winter hasn't even started, but I'm already hankering after something that's a hint of tropical, and the freezer is stocked with blueberries that I purchased and froze like a maniac to use in power smoothies through the winter. So, why not pair these 2 flavours and see what comes of the marriage? Something delicious, let me tell you :) The tart and tangy flavour of baked blueberries mingles with a delicate hint of coconut flavour and boom! we're in Jamaica, man. No sweet bun would be complete without the requisite bit of cream cheese fluff on top, and the sweet creamy tang of the cream cheese frosting is a perfect accent to the fruity treat swirled inside the soft and chewy bun. I'd better give some away to avoid a sugar coma!

Blueberry Coconut Buns

You can use this basic sweet bread recipe for the bread. 

For the filling:

Assemble in the same way you would cinnamon buns. 
1. Roll out the dough
2. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the rolled out dough. Sprinkle an even layer of unsweetened shredded coconut over the dough. Spread an even layer of blueberries over the dough.
3. Starting from one end of the dough, begin to roll into a log, packing it tightly to make sure your berries don't go rolling all over the place (a few renegades will inevitably be lost; just eat those!)
4. Using a sharp knife, cut the log into blah even sections. Arrange these sections in a greased and lightly sugared baking dish.
5. Bake in the oven at 
6. Top with cream cheese frosting (recipe to come later; I just happened to have some extra in my fridge from a friend).

 

Pumpkin Pie

 (Yes, I know the picture is dark; but the pie was darn good :p)

With the arrival of October, come the requisite pumpkin "items". Pumpkin cookies at Planet Organic (love these!), pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks (another guilty pleasure), pumpkin gnocchi (delicious in butter sauce), heck, why not go for a pumpkin facial while you're at it? And, of course, one cannot forget the mainstay of the Thanksgiving table: PUMPKIN PIE! (extra whip please!)

I wasn't a fan of pumpkin pie until I was about 11; I'd never tried it until then. As a kid, I couldn't fathom that giant orange fruit with the slimy insides being palatable. Picky eater? Yes, I think so. Then at a Thanksgiving dinner, a slice of pie with whip was placed in front of me, and a little girl with red pigtails dared me to try it. So, I ate every last bit; and liked it. The warm combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice; the smooth texture of the puree; the cool and creamy whip melding with the crust and pumpkin. Definitely a favourite in my books :)  So now, after so many years of eating pie, I finally decided to try my hand at making the pie (the filling anyway; next year's feat will be making it all from scratch).

Pumpkin Pie (adapted from Canadian Living )

The recipe calls for pumpkin puree. I could've gone to the store to buy a can; but I went to the farmer's market, bought a sugar pumpkin; roasted that sucker and had enough puree to make a pie AND a loaf. Just a suggestion :)

1 pie crust (or make it yourself; I wasn't feeling THAT ambitious)
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/4 cup maple sugar (or syrup)
3/4 evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove (or ginger, if you really like ginger. I don't :|)
1/4 tsp salt

1. Whisk together the puree, sugars/syrup, milk, eggs, salt and spices in a medium-large sized bowl (or you could just put it all into the blender).
2. Pour into the pie shell and bake in preheated oven (425 F) for about 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350 F and bake for another 30 minutes (toothpick/knife inserted into centre should come out clean).
3. Cool and enjoy! (with extra whip!!)

Beef Burgundy-ish

Coming from a place that produces some of the world's best beef (Canada AAA!), perhaps it should shame me to admit that I'm not much for beef. I can hear the collective gasp from my fellow Albertans. I'm not vegetarian/vegan, or any other variation of non-beef eater and I do eat beef on occasion, and today was just that occasion. I saw a recipe for Beef Burgundy in a magazine at a friend's house, and I could totally see myself eating it for dinner. It was moist and tender and flavourful and saucy and the perfect complement to the oven roasted root veggies on the side. That's the thing; if I'm going to eat beef, it has to be flavourful; it has to take on a flavour other than "beef" to floor this girl's palate. 

Beef Burgundy (slightly adapted from Good Housekeeping)

1 tbsp olive oil
~1 kg sirloin steak (original recipe calls for beef chuck, couldn't find it, and the butcher said this might work nicely; and it did :)), cut into chunks
 3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp tomato paste
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 burgundy cooking wine
3 sprigs fresh thyme (from my little herb pot!)
1 package mushrooms (crimini are quite nice, but button will work, too), sliced in half

1. Heat up the oil in a 5 quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Make sure to pat the beef chunks "dry", then add these to the Dutch oven and brown on all sides (you'll likely have to do this in batches). Once browned transfer the beef to a medium-sized bowl using a slotted spoon . Preheat your oven to 325 F.
2. You'll have drippings in the Dutch oven; add the garlic and onions to these and cook these until they are browned and tender (7-10 minutes). Stir in the corn starch, tomato paste, salt and pepper and cook for about 1 minute, while stirring. Add in the wine, and let it heat up to boiling. You'll want to be stirring to loosen up the browned bits from the pot. 
3. Put the meat back into the Dutch oven, along with your sliced mushrooms and thyme. Allow the mixture to reach boiling again. Then remove from the stove and pop into the oven for about 1 1/2 hours (meat should be fork tender at that point). Stir once in this  time frame.
4. Remove the thyme sprigs and discard. Plate up the beef with a side and dig in!

Cinnamon Buns

I wasn't kidding when I said I was a carb whore. Or maybe just a sweet bread whore.

Cinnamon buns; my kryptonite. I just love a warm, gooey, cinnamon-y, soft and hint of buttery cinnamon bun. When I was a kid there was a single cinnamon bun franchise in my home town; I keep thinking it was Cinnabon, but I really don't remember the name. Then they started closing down and all that was left were the grocery store buns. Some were okay, others meh and others had raisins (I'm sorry, but I don't see how raisins have a place in cinnamon buns!). Then one day, a new place opened in town...CinnZeo (I'm sure most Canadians will be familiar with the name). And I've had Cinnabon in the States, but (I'm sorry), Cinnabon does not trump CinnZeo. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, especially for my waistline) there are only 2 locations in my city, and they're nowhere close to my home...so sometimes I make my own (and I'm sorry, again, but these kind of trump CinnZeo).

Pepperoni and Cheese Soft Pretzels

When I was in the States earlier this year, I was introduced to Wetzel's Pretzels and Auntie Anne's delicious baked pretzels. I'm a carb whore (no shame ;)), so of course I fell in love with the soft, chewy breadiness that both brands had to offer, and I promptly asked the Google if there was any likelihood I would be able to find a Wetzel's or Auntie Anne's in Canada, or at least close to my neck of the woods. And the answer was a resounding no. A few months after I got home, while at the grocery checkout the latest issue of Bon Appetit boasted a recipe for a simple dough that could be used to make (you guessed it) soft pretzels! Let me tell you, it was $5.99 well spent :) You can go crazy with toppings, or add-ins (pearl sugar, anyone?), and this particular time I was hankering for some pepperoni and cheese pretzels (this one might look at bit strange because it was vegan pepperoni and tofu cheese) and they certainly did the trick!

Pepperoni and Cheese Soft Pretzels (just barely adapted from Bon Appetit April 2012)

For the dough:
1/2 cup milk (recipe calls for whole, I used 2% skim)
4 tablespoons, sugar (divided)
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 large eggs, at room temp.
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour, unbleached
1 teaspoon salt 
1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp; cut into 1" pieces
an extra 1/2 tablespoon of butter, melted

Toppings:
1 package of pepperoni slices (or your choice of meat)
1 package of mozzarella cheese, grated

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until the temperature of the milk reaches 110-115 degrees. Transfer the milk to a 2 cup measuring cup and stir in 1 tablespoon of sugar. Sprinkle the yeast into the milk; whisk to blend. Let it sit until yeast foams (~5 mins). Then add eggs and whisk until smooth.
2. Break out the stand mixer and pop in your dough hook. Combine the 3 tablespoons sugar, flour and salt in the mixer's bowl. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients and start the mixer. Add the butter, one piece at a time, mixing well between each addition. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute, then knead on medium-high speed until the dough looks soft and silky (~5 minutes). 
3. Grab a medium-sized bowl and brush the melted butter onto it; place the dough in the bowl and brush the top with melted butter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
4. Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free area until it's doubled in size (~1-1 1/2 hours). 

Making the pretzels:

1. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 equally sized pieces.
2. Take one piece of dough (cover the rest with a tea towel) and roll it on a lightly floured surface into a (approx.) 17" rope. Form the rope into a U; lift the top left end and fold it over (or under) the opposite side. Gently press it together about 2/3 of the way down from top right side. Lift the right end up and fold it over (or under) and press it in; it should look like a pretzel :)
Now do the same thing with the 11 other pieces of dough.
3. Place 1/2 of pretzels on each sheet spaced ~ 2" apart and loosely cover them with plastic wrap. Let them rise again (warm, draft free area!) until they're puffed, but not doubled (~30-45 minutes).
4. Arrange the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (~190 Celsius).
5. If you want glossy pretzels, beat an egg white with 2 teaspoons warm water and brush this egg wash on the pretzels prior to arranging pepperoni on the pretzel. Sprinkle with grated mozzarella.
6. Pop your pretzels in the oven and bake for ~10 minutes; rotate the baking sheets and continue to bake until they're golden (~6-8 additional minutes). Let cool on wire rack and enjoy!

Welcome!

Ah, the inaugural post. Is it silly to think that all beginnings should involve cake? First word: cake; first day of school: cake; first child: why not some cake? "Firsts" are a cause for celebration, and cake is associated with celebration. So, in honor of this first post (of many, I hope), there will be cake. And a fun fact: I’m not all that crazy about frosting/icing. I’m a strange one, I know. I love me some {good} cake; it’s just the dollop of frosting on top usually gets scraped off. Maybe it’s because I haven’t come across any frosting that’s really wowed my tastebuds (most are just greasy and gross and others toothache sugary), or maybe it’s because they just put too much on there. Has anyone tried those "two-bite" cupcakes; half cupcake and half greasy sugar? Seriously, the ratio of frosting to cupcake is like, 1:1, and I feel like just a smear is enough sometimes. Just a little something to complement the cake. 

I had a hankering for chocolate cupcakes the other day, so I went to the Google and one of the top hits was this recipe. Really, the pictures suckered me in; they looked so lovely, I just wanted to grab one right out of the picture. The recipe calls for vegetable oil; with only olive oil on hand (I like it for cooking, not-so-much for baking), I substituted what I did have….yogurt. The result: slightly gummy, nice and chocolatey cupcakes. Oh, and I took the frosting on a test drive too (for some odd reason there was a can of coconut milk in the pantry); it was pretty darn good; there may be hope for me yet.

Sometimes some whip and strawberries are all you need :)
  

Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes) 

 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/4 cup yogurt
1 cup water

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 180 Celsius) and break out the muffin tin and liners.

2. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then add the wet ingredients and mix together until the batter is nice and smooth with your weapon of choice (spatula, wooden spoon).

3. Pour an equal amount of batter into each muffin cup and place in the over for about 20-25 minutes (or when a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean).

4. Remove from the oven to cool to room temperature (although nothing beats a warm muffin with a swig of cold milk ;) )

Risotto Stuffed Zucchini