Ringing in the New Year

Here's wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year. Whether you are out whooping it up or holed up in a blanket fort battling a cold like Hubby may you ring in the new year in style! Tonight our style involves warm pjs, fluffy socks, piles of comforters, and boxes of Kleenex. Yup! The Boy started out with this cold last week and he has graciously shared it with us. We whooped it up by making a fabulous pot of broccoli cheddar soup. I found the recipe on Pioneer Woman's site. It turned out so well and helped warm us up. Did I take photos of the soup? No. Why? Because I suck and as tasty as this soup is, it isn't really a pretty soup.  Besides, right about now I kind of wish we were in the spot we were last year at this time.... On the beach in Hawaii...

We curled up with our bowls of soup and watched season 2 of Flashpoint, a fantastic Canadian show about a police strategic response unit. The show just recently had its series finale and we are getting caught up on missed episodes.

Of course with it being New Year's Eve, we indulged in dessert. Sticky toffee pudding cakes! Yum! This is a recipe I found online from Chatelaine magazine and really reminds me on a Christmas time steamed pudding my Mom used to make, This one is complete with a brown sugar sauce to top it off. (Of course adding some Bailey's Irish Cream to some whipped cream doesn't hurt!)

Once again, here's wishing you a happy, healthy new year!  Here it is only 9pm and I will probably be asleep soon....there's always next year!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Rhubarb Blueberry Crumble

As I was relaxing in my newly fenced in back yard I started checking out the garden and wound up harvesting a small bunch of rhubarb from my garden. Believe it our not, I did have a recipe in the back of my mind. The latest edition of Everyday Food had a crumble recipe in it with a variations chart so you could switch out other fruits for the one used in the original recipe.

As I was chopping up the rhubarb, I only had four cups of the yummy stuff so I turned to my trusty freezer which just happened to have some blueberries nestled away inside. I adapted the recipe somewhat. Since the blueberries were so sweet, I was able to reduce the amount of sugar in the fruit. I also added some oats to the crumble topping because I always use oats in crisps and crumbles...I just do.  As a matter of fact, a few years ago, the Boy took his first foods class in middle school and came home completely appalled.  Absolutely disgusted to tell you the truth.  You see, after years of making apple crisp our way (leave the peels on, oats in the crust, butter....) The Boy had to make apple crisp in foods class the way their book said so he unhappily peeled apples and chopped them (rather then small wedges), used margarine (GASP) in the topping, had no oats to add, nor did they add nearly enough cinnamon... He really was unhappy with the foods teacher that day. (Poor kid, I've wrecked him for 'normal' foods classes....tee hee)

Rhubarb Blueberry Crumble (adapted from Everyday Food, July/August 2012)
Preheat oven to 375F

Fruit filling:

4 cups rhubarb, sliced
2 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch

Mix all 4 of the above ingredients gently in a bowl.

Topping:

6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/4 light brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup rolled oats

Cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the flour salt and oats and continue creaming until it all comes together into a clumpy lumpy texture.

Pour the fruit filling into an 8 inch baking dish.

Scatter the topping over the fruit.

This is a pile, make sure to spread it out evenly over the fruit.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown.

Allow to cool for about 20 minutes before serving (or allow to cool and heat before serving).

We actually waiting until AFTER dinner to eat this tasty treat....of course we had some frozen vanilla yogurt with it.
Soooo good.  Go make some.  Right now. Do it.
Trust me.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Sin is In Part II: Bacon Maple Cheese Cakes

Sometimes I see a recipe in a magazine and think 'What a fabulous idea! I should make that!'.  Other times I see a recipe in a magazine and think 'That's okay, I bet I can make it better!'

That's exactly what I did with a recipe from this month's edition of Food Network Magazine. They had these great looking mini bacon cheesecakes on page 124 of the May edition.  Now don't get me wrong, they look fabulous with their little pieces of bacon on top but I started thinking...

'A chocolate cookie based crust would just take over the bacon flavour'....then it was..
'Why use vanilla when you can use maple? Everyone knows maple and bacon were just meant to be together!'
'How can I get more bacon into the the crust?'
'Can it really be called a bacon cheese cake if the only bacon is actually just the garnish?'

Seriously folks, I almost hurt myself on this one!  After making some adjustments to the original recipe, I came up with a fantastic little treat with a great bacony bite and a maple taste.  This may seem like a lot of work for 24 mini cheese cakes, but come on now, it's bacon!

Maple Bacon Mini Cheese cakes

Printable recipe here

Yield: 24 minis

Bacon

Place 10 strips of your best bacon onto a baking sheet and slip it into the oven. Turn the oven on to 350F and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. You want the bacon to be crisp, but not too dark as some will cook more in the crust and some will cook more with the maple glaze....mmmmm

Drain the bacon on some paper towel. Save 4 for the crust and 6 for the maple application.

Maple glazed bacon

6 strips cooked bacon

¼ cup maple syrup (NOT fake pancake syrup...the real deal people!!)

Cut each strip of bacon into 4 or more pieces. As long as you have at least 24 you will be good.

Heat the maple syrup in a pan and add the bacon strips.  Let the syrup get all bubbly and thick (boil it down, reduce....whatever word you want to use).

Once the syrup is all thick and the bacon pieces are each well coated in a nice coat, remove the pieces to a sheet of parchment paper to cool. Save 24 pieces so you will have one piece per mini cheese cake.

You will know you've boiled it enough because you will get sugary/maple strings like this:

sweet, stringy, maple goodness!

Line a mini muffin pan with liners

The crust

½ cup panko

4 strips bacon, baked until crisp

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp melted bacon fat (or butter)

Whir everything in the food processor or blender until mixed and the bacon is broken down into small pieces.

Scoop 1 tsp of the crust mixture into each liner and pack it down tightly with your finger tips.

Cheesecake

1 8oz pkg cream cheese (at room temperature)

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp maple extract

2 tsp maple syrup (optional)

1 egg

Heat the oven to 325F

Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature before starting. It will be easier to blend and make a smoother cheese cake.

Cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. (I like to use the mixer for this but a wooden spoon works the arm muscles).  Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the maple extract and syrup.  Keep mixing until smooth and blended.

Add the egg and blend just until fully incorporated.

Scoop 2 tsp of filling onto the crusts.

Bake for 15 minutes (at 325F), until the cheese cakes are set in the middle.

Cool in the pan, then transfer to an airtight container, top with a piece of maple glazed bacon and store in the fridge!

Chill for at least 4 hours....or as long as you can wait....

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Barley's Angels: Beer and Desserts, Together At Last

First of all, a quick update.  The Boy has received his luggage finally and they have started working on the floor of a library for the Salabwek Primary School in Kenya.  From the sounds of the last email, they are being kept busy!  I am dealing better now with the empty nest thing, especially now that I know the Boy has his luggage.  Hubby and I have painted the bathroom, the living room, and the front entry way.....my arms are tired.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...as much as this blog is scheduled...

Last night I had the fabulous opportunity to head out to Bistro 7 1/4 for a Barley's Angels outing.  Barley's Angels you ask? The Barley's Angels are a group of women looking for learn more about beer. Last night they held a beer and dessert pairing evening....WOW!
We were completely spoiled rotten with four beers and four full size desserts...seriously. We were expecting mini desserts....I went to the gym today!

Now let me remind you, that I do not know a lot about beer or pairing it with food I am learning so I have included the links to the beers to give you a more accurate description of each one.

First we started with a vanilla creme brulee and the Innis & Gunn Original.
The Innis & Gunn Original definitely had a strong malt flavour and bitterness that cut through the sweetness of the creme brulee.  The creme brulee was almost mousse like and wasn't very dense. It did taste absolutely heavenly although I would have liked more vanilla in the dessert.

Second, they brought out chocolate banana bread pudding with caramel sauce.  This was paired with Half Pints' Bulldog Amber Ale. Bulldog Amber Ale has a softer bitterness to it and wasn't as big a contrast to the dessert as the first pairing was.  It was a tasty combo.  The bread pudding was everything a bread pudding should be and that caramel sauce...well, I wish I had a glass of caramel sauce to drink too...

The third dessert was a wonderful goat cheese cheesecake with fig compote paired with the Innis & Gunn Highland Cask. This beer had a smoother finish than the original and I preferred this beer over the original but it really evened out  the sweetness from the fig compote.  I was expecting a sharper tasting cheesecake with the goat cheese in it but it was all sweet and all delish!

Last but not least, we had a dark chocolate espresso cake with Kaluha ganache and the coveted Half Pints Black Galaxy Beer. This beer is a dark IPA.  When you look at it, you think stout, but when you drink it, you think India Pale Ale.  This went so well with the dense chocolate cake.  The bitterness of the beer and the overt sweetness of the cake (and the ganache) made this a great way to close the evening.  It is only too bad I was too full to finish the dessert!

A fabulous night out with great food, drinks, and company! I look forward to the next Barley's Angels outing.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Simple Desserts Make the World go 'Round

I love desserts....there....I said it.   It is out there.... I love desserts!  Now of course I don't have desserts all too often.  I would if I could, but I can't....sigh....

One of my indulgences includes a subscription to Everyday Food Magazine.   I love the ideas, tips, and recipes in this magazine.  I found this recipe last summer in one of the editions and instantly knew I wanted to try it out. An instant hit I tell you.  I seem to only make this when we are at the cabin. Not sure why but that is just the way it happens.

Last summer's plum custard was a complete hit!!

This fruit custard type of dessert is so ridiculously easy...chop or slice up some soft fruit, whizz up the batter in the blender, bake....It is also so ridiculously yummy!!!

The original recipe is a Raspberry Custard but I have actually never used raspberries to make it. Raspberries never last long enough to cook with around here....we just eat them.  Yup....stand in the garden and eat them. It is a wonder they actually ever make it into the house!!

Ahh dessert at the cabin....relaxing no matter what!

Sorry, I was rambling there....Plums work so well, strawberries, any soft fruit or berry will work.

Fruit custard
Printable recipe

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups soft fruit or berry of  your choice (or a mixture!)

Pre heat oven to 400F

Melt butter in a pie plate (or cast iron skillet).

Place everything but the fruit and 1 tbsp of sugar  into the blender and give it a whir.

Oh....why yes....there IS duct tape holding the blender together.
A word about the cabin blender....it is a well loved plastic jar blender that used to be my sister's. It was once dropped....the poor thing cracked a little.
Thank goodness there is always duct tape around!  That duct tape has been holding this blender together for ages...it just keeps holding on!!
It still blends, even makes an amazing daiquiri!!


Swirl the melted butter around the pan and pour the rest of it into the blender and whir it all up again until the batter is smooth.

Spread the fruit out in the pan evenly.

A combo of strawberries, peach, plum, blueberries.....

Pour the batter on top.

Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tbsp sugar over the entire custard.

Pop it all into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  The custard will puff up a bit and be set in the middle.  Feel free to throw the broiler on for a couple of minutes to brown up the top....just watch it carefully!!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!