Beautiful or Bust

Going into the oven...

There's an experiment in my oven.  In all appearances they are regular muffins.  Oh, how I hope they turn out to be regular muffins!

I believe this is my first experiment with going outside of a recipe for baking.  Because ,yes, I know that baking is a Science and cooking is an Art.  And I have always adhered to this basic rule.  Not today.  Today, I took what I liked from this recipe and added a little that I like from that other recipe.

In my oven are Experimental Banana Oat Applesauce Muffins.  Six have blueberries pushed into them and a lovely (hopefully!) streusel topping.  Six have a multitude of tiny chocolate chips shoved into the center - I'm hoping for a molten chocolate center, designed to please my chocolate-loving daughter.

Oh! There's the buzzer on my stove going off...

On the cooling rack...

*  *  *  *

They still look wonderful.  Though I was hoping that the chocolate chips would melt into a formidable pool of lava hot chocolate goodness, the chips still look individual.  Oh well.  I guess taste will tell how my successful  my experiment was.

*  *  *  *

This is awful, I have to try two of them.....  I hate to tell you this but they are... *tasting* ...yummy!  Definitely a more dense muffin, because of the whole wheat flour and oatmeal, and not very sweet.  I personally don't like my muffins to be very sweet.  I'm thinking of a reasonably healthy breakfast or snack here.

The blueberry streusel and the chocolate chip varieties have surprisingly different tastes, considering they are both made from the same batter. In the blueberry I taste more cinnamon, like a coffee cake, but in the chocolate chip, more banana-ness.  Who knew?

Join me in an experiment?

Experimental Banana Oat Applesauce Muffins:

Oven: 350  Baking Time: 20 - 25 min. Yield: One dozen


1 egg
3 mashed bananas
1/3 cup brown sugar (I use demerara always)
1 individual portion of applesauce (just over 1/3 c)
3 TBSP sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method:

Mix thoroughly first six ingredients in one bowl.  Combine remaining ingredients in another bowl.  Pour one bowl's stuff into the other.  Mix gently with a spoon until just combined.  Don't over mix as it activates the gluten too much.

For blueberry streusel:

Five or six berries poked into each muffin
1/3 cup of oats
TBSP of butter
TBSP of brown sugar
Combined and reserved for top.  Divide evenly between muffin tops. Double if for 12.

For chocolate chip:

Poke as many of those little babies as you would like to eat in your finished product. Or a dollop of Nutella prodded into the center would be amazing as well!

My Favourite Smoothie

Not much of a post, but knowing that I haven't posted in a week is making me want to cheat :p

My Current Favourite Smoothie is:

1. One frozen banana (keep chunks in a container in my freezer)
2. A handful of frozen blueberries
3. A handful of frozen raspberries
4. A couple of TBSP of plain yogurt
5. Silk Dark Chocolate Almond Milk (I would by plain but my daughter loves this and I have an apartment sized fridge!)
6.  A TBSP of almond butter (Currently using and loving this brand. Apparently, I am not the only one!!)

I add all of these ingredients into my Magic Bullet and pulse until ice cream-like consistency and taste.  How bad can this really be? (Sorry, no picture as I have devoured it already.)

Time May Change Me

The time change caught me completely off guard yesterday.  It's surprising how much we judge the time of day by the light, the angle of the sun.  As some of you may have seen my status of Facebook yesterday, I realized that (suddenly!) it was five minutes to six and I hadn't even thought about dinner yet.

Granted my day went south from about 2 o'clock on, when I decided to head home instead of the gym, because I didn't have enough time to fit in my workout before my 3:10 dental appointment.  As I was driving home, I heard a weird noise coming from my front tire. So I pulled into the Husky station to check it out.  Nothing.  Okay, so I continued home, still hearing the strange noise.  When I got out of my car, I thought that I'd best check again.  Oh yeah, there was definitely something amiss. I could hear the air leaking out of my front tire this time.  Sure enough, there was a large screw stuck into it.

I jumped back into the car, phoning Ken, trying to think of the closest shop that could fix my problem.  Canadian Tire - not my preferred vendor, but close enough to drive there before all of my air was gone.  Yes, it was visibly leaking.  Got to Canadian Tire and they told me it would be an hour and a half.  At least my dental appointment was with in walking distance.  I left my car with them and walked.  Boy, was it chilly yesterday afternoon, especially since I wasn't dressed for the out-of-doors.

I survived.  Finished my dental appointment and walked back for my car, settled the bill and was on my way home and onto Facebookland.  Unfortunately, I hadn't even considered what to make for dinner.  Silly mistake.  I usually start thinking about it around breakfast time. :)

Sear your pork first, then finish in the oven.

I knew that I had pork tenderloin in my refrigerator, because I had picked it up the day before.  However, I had not planned on what to do with it or any sides and now it was dinnertime.  My first thought was wraps, as I saw some tortillas on the kitchen counter.  Okay, pork and "what?" inside wraps.  Rice? I prefer brown, but that's going to take way too long.  I looked in my pantry.  Quinoa. (Pronounced, "keen-wah") It's healthy and quick. It only takes 20 mins to cook.  "Okay, so pork and quinoa in tortillas," I say out loud to my daughter, "and what else?" She says that she thinks that would be weird in a wrap, so I nix the tortilla.

I check the vegetable crisper.  I've got bell peppers, some green beans that should have been used last week - tossed those, carrots, green onion, cucumber and a bit of parsley.  Asian flavours... this is going to work!  I diced yellow and red peppers, cucumber, green onion, garlic, ginger and shred the carrots.  Made a dressing from soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, plum sauce (I'm out of sweet chili sauce still and this is leftover from Christmas I think - can't be that good for you then, hey?) sesame seeds, lime juice, a couple of drops of fish sauce, oyster sauce, a dollop of almond butter and bit of olive oil.  Wallah! Asian Quinoa Salad with Seared Pork Tenderloin.

Seared Pork Tenderloin and Asian Quinoa Salad.

Ken and I quite enjoyed it - the kid, not so much. Though she ate it without complaint and only let me know, when pressed, that she thought it tasted weird.  ha ha

Moral of this story?  Pork tenderloin and quinoa are both quick and easy when you are in a hurry for dinner and haven't thought it out ahead of time.  And... always keep a few good vegetable (peppers, carrots, celery, onions, etc) on hand, because they are very flexible and can be pitched into almost any recipe to make a healthy dinner.

Connie Gets Her Groove Back...?

So, finally inspiration rears its beautiful head in the spice isle.  Oh how I have missed you, Inspiration to Cook. It was not a spice that stimulated cooking creativity, no, I spotted Kitchen Bouquet.  If you've never used it before allow me to introduce you.  It's essentially liquid caramel.  Not sweet though.  It's like the bottom of the pan after you've fried a steak or perfectly caramelized onions.  Oh yes, it is liquid flavour.  And the reason I discovered it was because I went hunting online for a stew recipe.

Where is the logical place to find an amazing beef stew recipe?  The Guinness website. True story.  They actually share their pub's stew recipe.  Funny thing is, when I found it, it was a huge, restaurant size batch.  Not great for a family of three.  So the first time, I had oooodles of gravy left over.  I've since rectified that problem by scaling back and using my common sense.

Interestingly, today when I went to refresh my memory on some of the recipe's finer points, I found that the Guinness website has replaced my recipe with a new one, along-side a how-to video featuring a bloke with a thick Irish accent.  Now, I cannot say which recipe is better - I'm sure they're both delicious - but I stuck with the one that I've made before...

Furthermore, I admit that I use whichever dark beer I happen to have one hand.  This week that is Vancouver Island Brewery's Hermann's Dark Lager.  Without further ado, The Recipe....

My favourite Irish boys would be wantin' a helpin' of this.

MGuinness Beef Stew

1 lb. cubed beef
1 med. onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 leek, diced
2 good sized carrots, diced
2 tbsp. gravy browning (aka Kitchen Bouquet)
Pinch Mixed herbs (In Canada, I do believe that this is Italian Seasoning, 1 - 2 tsp.)
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp . Flour (or enough to make a nice roux)
3 Cups Beef stock
Seasoning (Salt and Pepper)
½ x Pint GUINNESS® beer (I use one bottle, 341mL)

Method
Sweat all vegetables in the butter for 5-6 mins.
Add diced beef and cook for 5-6 mins. (I know what you are thinking - "What about browning the beef first?"  Honestly, it doesn't seem to matter, though you may go ahead and do this step first)
Add herbs and then flour. Cook a little to get those herbs going and the flour cooking.
Add warm beef stock slowly over heat while stirring, scrapping up the bottom brown bits. Cook for another 5-6 mins. (In the video, the chef added beer before the stock, so I tried that today.  Only half a bottle though, I'll save the rest to finish.)
Add gravy browning
Slow cook for 1 & 1/2 hours. (I also tried putting a piece of parchment paper on the stew while it simmers - like the Irish chef from the vid.)
Finish with ½ pint of GUINNESS® beer and stir.
Season and serve with champ potato (mash potatoes with green onion) and roast carrot and parsnip. 

This serves about 3 or 4, depending on how generous you are with the stew itself.  I recommend multiplying if you have a larger family or want leftovers. 

I just went to taste test my stew, which has been simmering for the past hour, while I wrote this and Oh Yum! It's perfect for a rainy, dreary, blustery day like today.  It is hearty, meaty and full of delicious beef flavour.  I'm sure the menfolk will be particularly fond of this one.

Chicken Adobo - Super Easy Comfort Food

I can't say that I actually got my inspiration back today when it came to cooking, but I did actually cook a real meal that required effort today.  I fell back on a tried-and-true recipe, Chicken Adobo. What does adobo mean and where did it come from?

"According to the history,when Spanish colonizers first took over the Philippines in late 1500s and early 1600s, they encountered an indigenous cooking process which involved stewing with vinegar." - http://philippinesfoodrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/05/filipino-recipe-chicken-adobo.html

Yes, it's got a hefty vinegar punch, but if you've never tried chicken adobo, you are in for a treat.  I admit that the first time I tasted it I was looking for the hit of sweet,more like a teriyak flavour, with brown sugar and ginger, adobo is not that.  Chicken adobo is quite different, you actually get your sweet hit from eating the dish with banana.  Weird, I know.  Banana and chicken?  But trust me it works. (If you're really not adventurous, I've found peas a good substitute.)

So here's my recipe, I've changed it slightly from ones I've seen on the internet by substituting apple cider vinegar almost entirely.

Chicken Adobo  

Ingredients

• 6-8 skinless chicken thighs or drumsticks (boneless too, if you prefer)
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar (you can add some white vinegar if you want to mix)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (I used Kikkoman) 
• 4 or more cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 onion, chopped into chunks

 

Directions

Separate the thighs from the drumsticks and place into a large bowl with all other ingredients. Let sit to marinate for 1 hour.

Brown in chicken frying pan and return to marinade. Add the onion and garlic to the pan to soften and pick up the brown bits left behind from the chicken.

Return chicken and marinade to the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and continue to cook for 30 minutes, turning chichen occasionally. Uncover and let simmer to reduce another 20 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

Serve with rice and sliced bananas.

Chicken Adobo, midway through.
See the brown goodness developing?

Day One

Really, today was the worst day to start a blog about food.  I have absolutely no desire to cook.  Inspiration is not just low today; I do believe that it is dead. (I wanted to write "ded" D.E.D - dead. That's what I would say aloud.)

So what does a body do on a day like today with dinner hanging like an albatross around the neck?  We must cook for our loved ones.  We must.  We most certainly must.  McDonald's is not an option...again - oops! Did I say that out loud?

So I wander T&T like a ghost.  Haunting the frozen dumpling section to see if my ded inspiration for dinner lies there.  It doesn't.  I checked the pre-made sushi section - not there either... seriously, if I'm going to pay that much for sushi, I will have it served to me on a platter, made fresh.  But I digress.

So off to Safeway, to look in their frozen food isle.  Shall it be lasagna?  No, that will take too long.
But I must, must feed my family.  And I want it quick and I don't want to cook or chop or peel or expend any effort at all... though our dinner should be something relatively healthy. Okay, so I'm not sure that this constitutes as entirely healthy, but it's not a cheeseburger.

Strawberry & Spinach Salad with Feta and Slivered Almonds

So here's what I came up with for tonight's quick, super easy and relatively healthy dinner: Safeway's Tuscan Tomato & Basil Bisque, herb focaccia to dip in balsamic vinegar, and a spinach/strawberry salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.   I'm adding a can of white kidney beans for protein and spinach for vegetable matter.

So the bisque is gently heating on the stove, the bread is warming in the oven and I didn't have to expend an ounce of energy that I just didn't have today.  'Cause sometimes, I just don't want to cook!

Back to the Beginning

Food is a huge topic.