October 31st: biscuits

This is my Nana's recipe. It is delicious.


Biscuits


2 cups flour
4 tsps baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
salt*
1/2 cup unsalted butter**
1 egg
2/3 cup milk


Preheat oven to 400°F. Whisk together dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Whisk egg into milk, then add mixture to dry ingredients. Stir until it just comes together. Turn out on floured surface and knead about 20 times. Roll out to 1/2-1 inch. Cut with biscuit cutter. Bake until just beginning to turn golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.


*amount not given; 1/2 tsp?
**original recipe calls for shortening; I have modified it


For a warm-up post-trick or treating supper: biscuits with Mexican Chicken Soup.

October 27th: fish & chips

I probably wouldn't have written about this recipe, which isn't too exciting, except that it stood the test of time: I ate leftovers for three days after having this for supper, and I enjoyed it each day. That is practically unheard of. From November 2011's Chatelaine: Baked Fish Fingers with Greek-Yogourt Dip. The dip was not as good as my homemade tartar sauce. Mixed with the chip dip, though, it was okay. Served with home fries and a pickle.

October 23rd: banana pudding

Greg went away for the weekend, leaving behind a heap of bananas he didn't get around to eating, that had gone past their prime. O and I resolved the problem with a banana-cooking-festus. We made two banana recipes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: banana loaf and banana pudding. The loaf was not as good as Mom's recipe, so I won't use it again. The pudding, however, was the star of the show. Delicious warm; Delicious cold. You should make this.


Banana Pudding

2 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tbsps cornstarch
2 tbsps unsalted butter, softened (optional)
whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Put 2 cups of the milk, the sugar and the salt in a small to medium saucepan over medium-low heat. If you're using vanilla bean, split it in half lengthwise and use a small sharp knife to scrape the seeds into the milk; add the pod. Cook just until it begins to steam. Add the bananas and steep them in the warm milk for about 20 minutes. Strain out the bananas and vanilla pod; discard them and return the milk mixture to the pot.

Combine the cornstarch and the remaining milk in a bowl and stir to blend; there should be no lumps. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and just starts to boil, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to very low and continue to cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes or so. Stir in the butter if you're using it and the vanilla if you're using extract.

Pour the mixture into a 1-quart dish or into 4 to 6 small ramekins or bowls. Put plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming (or leave uncovered if you like skin). Refrigerate until chilled and serve within a day, with whipped cream if you like.

Makes 4-6 servings.

October 21st: pumpkin gnocchi

I probably wouldn't have kept or written about this recipe except that Olivia loved it and ate two bowls, so her opinion wins out over mine in this case. Greg went away for a boys' weekend, so it was just me and O cooking up a delicious storm this weekend, and cook we did!


I made this recipe to use up some of our leftover pumpkin purée from the pumpkin cakes. From October 2011's Chatelaine: Pumpkin Gnocchi. It's really half pumpkin/half potato gnocchi, and somewhere between pasta and dough in taste and texture. Gnocchi is surprisingly easy to make, and cooks really quickly, with just a few minutes of boiling. I served it as suggested, with the sage butter, which I was really surprised O liked. I think I could have thrown some tomato sauce on there instead and she would have been over the moon.

1/3 of dough rolled and cut.

Cooked gnocchi with sage butter.

The recipe makes a lot (6 servings) and I only cooked 1/3 of the dough, so we have more in the freezer to cook up another day. I think I will try tomato sauce next time to see the reaction.


I served the gnocchi as a side dish (it's pretty dense) with French chicken and peaches as the main. Unbelievably, Olivia preferred the gnocchi over the peaches. This kid usually eats fruit before all else.

October 20th: apple-cabbage pork

In September, I did my last work trip of the year, to Vancouver. I picked up a few magazines to entertain me on the two 5-hour plane rides, including October 2011's Canadian Family, which I don't think I've read before. It's not a bad magazine, and I folded down a couple of recipes I wanted to try, including this one. The opportunity seemed ripe when my last box of farm veggies included three small heads of savoy cabbage. I used up all three in this recipe.


Sautéed Pork with Warm Cabbage-and-Apple Slaw 


6 centre cut boneless pork medallions (1 1/4 lbs)*
2 tsp caraway seeds, divided
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tbsp butter
3 firm apples, cored and sliced**
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bag chopped cabbage mix, or 1 lb sliced cabbage
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar***
3/4 cup chicken stock


Sprinkle salt, pepper and 1 tsp caraway seeds over both sides of pork. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan, over medium-high heat, swirling pan to distribute oil. Sear pork without moving until browned, about 2 minutes each side (oil should sizzle but not smoke). Remove to a plate.

Melt butter in the same pan, swirling to distribute. Add apple and sauté until it starts to brown, about 2 minutes; turn apple slices. Do not overcook apple; slices should still be firm. Transfer to plate with pork.

Add remaining oil and sauté onion until soft. Add cabbage, apple cider vinegar, stock and remaining caraway and stir together. Season lightly with salt and pepper; scrape pan bottom to loosen browned bits, cover and let cook for 5 minutes until cabbage has wilted. Stir and then add pork and apples on top of cabbage [see photo]. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer until pork is warm, most liquid has reduced and cabbage is tender, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 6 servings.

*I used 2 butterflied boneless pork chops, about the same weight.
**The original recipe called for one apple. When would you ever divide one apple between six people? I used two and next time will use three. Can't get enough apple with my pork. Also, the recipe called for peeling the apple. I disagree.
***DO NOT OMIT the apple cider vinegar. The flavour is fantastic.

I thought the amount of caraway seed called for might be too much, but I put in the full amount. I was surprised first of all to find a bottle of caraway seeds in the cupboard. Then Greg and I were both surprised that we loved this recipe, and loved the taste of caraway. According to the bottle, caraway pairs well with cabbage, and so it does. This is the meal that made me feel I have my post-first trimester cooking mojo back. Enjoyment in the cooking process, check. Enjoyment of strong flavours, check. Wanting to cook/write about cooking/eat all the time again, check check check. Bring on the next three months! 

October 19th: pumpkin orzo

With quite a bit of pumpkin still to go, even having made two pumpkin cakes, October 2011's Chatelaine came in handy, with a couple of pumpkin recipes to try out. First up: pumpkin orzo. Although it looks soupy in the picture below, it is really somewhere between soup and pasta. This recipe also provided an excellent opportunity to use some of my post-Thanksgiving turkey stock. In the end we didn't love the recipe, but it was good, and made an ever-so-slight dent in the pumpkin purée supply.


Pumpkin Orzo


1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion,  chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup orzo
1/4 cup pumpkin purée
1 tsp dried crumbled sage
1  1/2 cups chicken broth
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese


Heat olive oil in medium pot over medium heat. Cook onion until starting to soften, 3-4 minutes, being careful not to burn. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in orzo, then pumpkin purée and sage. Add chicken broth and increase heat to bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender, 5-8 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if required. Top with Parmesan.


Makes 2 servings.

Served with raw veggies and boiled salted edamame.
Parmesan cheese for topping the pasta/soup.

October 16th/19th: pumpkin cake

In our last trip to the farm, we picked up a blemish free, perfectly round pie pumpkin. Olivia requested pumpkin pie; I suggested pumpkin cake. She wasn't sure at first, but came around to the idea eventually. We ended up making pumpkin cake, roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin orzo, pumpkin gnocchi and still had pumpkin left over. That little pumpkin had some bang for its buck.


First up: cake from epicurious: Spiced Pumpkin Layer* Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. (*Layer cake too much bother. I made two 8" square cakes and froze one.) I altered this recipe ever so slightly, reducing the sugar from 2 cups to 1 1/2 cups and replacing 1 cup oil with 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce. Everyone who had this cake raved about it. I thought it was good too. The icing doesn't have a tonne of sugar, and tastes more cream cheesy than sweet. It's good though.


But just so we're clear. Nothing is as good as Shannon G's carrot cake.


Day 1

First, one must start with a pumpkin.

Scrub pumpkin. Slice in half. Remove seeds; save if wanted. Discard pulp.

Bake. Water 1/2 " up the sides of pumpkin. Oven at 450°F. 45-60 minutes. 
(Please don't judge my oven. I'm a cook, not a cleaner.)

Cool. Scoop out flesh. Purée.

Strain. You are now ready to cook.

Day 2

Gather supplies.

Bake cakes (see link above for recipe, plus modifications).

Set child to work making icing.

Completed product: note flecks of orange (pumpkin) in icing.

Ratio of icing:cake not too shabby.

Eat for days on end. Reap the praise.

October 13th: Salmon and potatoes and mustard greens

Received the last of the veggies from the farm for this season, including some gorgeous mustard greens. With no idea what to do with them, I went a-looking through epicurious recipes and came up with this one: Salmon, Mustard Greens and Potatoes with Mustard-Dill Glaze. Even though I made an extra trip to the grocery store just before cooking to pick up dill, there was none in stock, so I subbed in a bit of fresh rosemary, since that was what I had. Probably not a bad substitute, but in the end, the recipe wasn't quite good enough to keep. However, if you are ever stuck with mustard greens and unsure what to do, it is good enough for that purpose; in fact, the greens were probably the best part of the recipe, so maybe make the greens and do what you want for the rest, there's an idea. I read a number of reviews online, and based on the reviews, I added the juice of half a lemon to the sauce: tasty, tasty.

Fried mushrooms on the side.

October 11th: Balsamic Beets, Curry Squash

Working our way through the waning farm veggies, and I'm happy to have a reason to cook my favourite beet recipe, from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry:

These Beets Were Made for Walkin' (Roasted Beets & Shallots with Balsamic Vinegar)

6 medium-sized whole fresh beets, about 1 1/2 lbs/680 g

12 small to medium-sized shallots, peeled (I used onions, since that what I had, and cooked them a bit longer)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp minced fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried, whatever's handy)

1 tsp balsamic vinegar (or more, to taste)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425°F. Wrap beets individually in foil. Place on middle oven rack and roast for about 1 hour, until beets are tender (you can pierce them with a fork), but not soft. Exact roasting time will depend on the size of the beets.

While beets are roasting, prepare shallots. Place peeled shallots in an 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Add olive oil and thyme and toss to coat. Set aside.

When beets are finished roasting, remove from oven and place pan of shallots in oven. Unwrap beets and let cook while shallots are roasting. Roast shallots for 15 minutes, stirring once, halfway through cooking time.

When beets are cool enough to handle, peel them. If you cut off the stem end, the skin should come off very easily. Slice each beet into six wedges. Place in serving bowl. Add hot shallots and any olive oil and thyme you can scrape from the pan (using a rubber spatula helps). Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and toss lightly. Serve hot.

Makes 6 servings.

To accompany, a re-try from last year, from October 2010's Chatelaine: Sweet & Spicy Squash. I don't know that I'll ever love love squash, but this was pretty tasty, and when you're trying to work your way through a lot of squash, as I am, this is not a bad way to go.

In total, the meal consisted of the beets, squash, boiled carrots, fried green tomatoes and fried mushrooms (this last being the only item not from the farm - not bad for a local + vegetarian meal!).

October 10th: leftover Thanksgiving feast

This year's Thanksgiving was not much different from last year's, but I made two new things, so I'll share. First up: cranberry sauce. You don't really need a recipe for this; if you buy a bag of cranberries, there will be a recipe on the bag and you can't exactly screw it up. But, for good measure:


Cranberry Sauce


1 cup sugar
1 cup water*
1 bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 tsp grated orange zest
fresh squeezed orange juice, optional*


*If using orange juice, squeeze into a measuring cup, then top with water to reach 1 cup.


Combine sugar and water and/or orange juice in saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes, stirring to dissolve sugar entirely. Add cranberries and simmer until cranberries start to burst, about 5 minutes. Stir in orange zest.


Can be served immediately (a bit runny) or cooled and refrigerated overnight, after which time, it will be much thicker.


Serves 10.

We had leftover turkey and gravy on artisan bread, and the same sides as last year: brussels sprouts and sweet potato, as well as the cranberry sauce. 

For dessert, Olivia and I made chocolate marshmallow squares. Last year for Christmas I received Company's Coming 150 Delicious  Squares cookbook, and this recipe comes from it, though I reduce the marshmallow amount just slightly, for better consistency.


Chocolate Marshmallow Squares ("Chocolate Confetti")


1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter
200 g mini marshmallows


Melt first three ingredients together in a large pot over medium heat, stirring until melted and well combined. Remove from heat and let cool about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once cooled, add marshmallows and stir to coat them thoroughly. Press into a 9 x 9" pan, lined with foil if desired. Refrigerate until firm enough to cut.


Makes 36 squares.

October 1st: chili

I planned this recipe without planning for it to be a cold, indoorsy sort of day. It just happened to work out perfectly. This chili recipe is one I've been making for years; it is simple to prepare and takes awhile to cook, so you can get the pot going then clean the kitchen (as I did) or relax (as I would have liked to do). It's also mildly spiced, so if you like your food hotter, I recommend adding some red pepper flakes or Tabasco, or spice up your own bowl. It's got loads of flavour though. The original comes from All Recipes, but I've tweaked it over the years to perfection:


Chili

1 pound (454 g) ground beef 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 798 mL can diced tomatoes 1 213 mL can tomato sauce 1 398 mL can kidney beans with liquid

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Combine ground beef, onion and garlic in large stockpot. Cook and stir over medium heat until beef is brown.
2.	Stir in chili powder, salt, oregano, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to simmer, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.
3.	Stir in beans. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes; stir occasionally.

Makes 4 servings.


In tonight's version, I added veggies from our farm box: 1 diced green pepper, added in step 1, and the last of the summer tomatoes, chopped and added in step 2. Delicious additions.


Topped with Cheddar cheese, diced green onion and sour cream, and served with a baguette on the side. Perfect first day of October meal.

Camera batteries died. iphone takes terrible indoor photos. Sigh.