Mango Brown Rice
This started out as simply making brown rice but I had a couple of mangoes that needed using and I was using the rice to pair with meatballs that were on day three of leftovers (I hate to waste food). Regardless of how it started …
Author: Marni MacLeod
Seeded Rye Bread (Soda Bread)
My mom Marja-Terrtu (Meri for you Anglos), made this delicious rye bread over the Christmas holidays. It goes exceptionally well with smoked salmon or whatever dip you can think of. Ingredients 1 1/2 C dark rye flour 3/4 C all purpose flour 1 tsp baking …
Blueberry Cardamom Scones
My Mummu used to make these amazing blueberry pies when I was little and because she was Finnish, she always added cardamom to the filling. It seemed to lift the flavour to a whole new level. This recipe is a combination of these Cranberry Almond Scones and this Blueberry Cardamom Breakfast Scone recipe from Tasty Kitchen. However, I upped the cardamom to 2 tsp because it used to drive my Mummu nuts when people skimped on the cardmom in recipes. There shall be NO skimping on the cardamom at my house.
I used buttermilk instead of cream to brush the tops of the scones and I sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar because who doesn’t like cinnamon sugar right? Right!
I didn’t have any lemons left but if I had… I would have used the zest of a whole lemon to the dry ingredients before combining them with the wet.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Zest of one whole lemon (it helps to have a good mandolin grater)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cardamon
1 c. cold butter
1 c. fresh blueberrie (in hindsight it would have been easier to mix the dough if they had been forzen)
1 c. buttermilk
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
Buttermilk for brushing the tops of the scones
Cinnamon sugar for dusting the tops of the scones
Preheat oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda and ground cardamon together. Cut the butter into the dry mixture using a pastry blender if you have one use two knives or your fingers and blend until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in blueberries.
- Mix the buttermilk with the vanilla and almond extract and add to the dry mixture using a spatula to mix until the dough comes together (don’t over mix). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead it lightly until the wet ingredients are just incorporated.
- Divide the dough in thirds and shape into 6-8″ disks about 1″ thick and cut them into 8 even wedges.
- Put the scones on your baking sheet, brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Make 10 minutes, rotate the pan and reduce the oven to 350F. Continue baking another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Serve warm with butter and jam…or just plain.
Makes 24 small scones.
Chicken Francaise
The new family favourite Christmas alternative to turkey is Chicken Francaise. I used to make this years ago and discovered, much to my dismay, that I’d misplaced the recipe (serves me right for not putting it on the blog!). Anyway, I found this version of …
Liz’s Aunt’s Boozy Christmas Fruit Cake
I learn lots of things at book club. Two of them are that my friend Liz reads more books than anyone else I know and that she hates Christmas cake made with that nasty industrial candied fruit just like I do. But we both love …
Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Peppers
Sunday dinner is all about comfort food for me. Tonight I made a risotto with porcini mushrooms and peppers. It’s based on this BBC Food recipe for mushroom risotto with some extras and substitutions thrown in. It turned out very well and I will definitely be making this again. Some people think risotto is difficult, it’s not. The trick is to heat the stock and just be patient stirring.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped (substitute onion if you like)
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 sweet red pepper, finely chopped
- 1 sweet yellow pepper, finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 C arborio rice
- 1 C white vermouth (didn’t have any white wine but would have used it if I had)
- 4 C hot chicken stock (you could use vegetable)
- 1 Tbsp butter
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- freshly grated parmesan
Method
- Rinse the porcini mushrooms in warm water and then soak in warm water an a splash of milk for 20 minutes, then drain well.
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy based saucepan and add the shallot and garlic. Fry over a gentle heat for 1-2 minutes, until softened. Add the peppers and celery and fry for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the rice and coat in the oil. Pour in the vermouth (or wine) and simmer, stirring, until the liquid has been absorbed. Add a ladleful of the stock and simmer, stirring again, until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock in this way, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is plump and tender.
- Roughly chop the soaked porcini mushrooms and stir into the risotto, along with the butter and salt and pepper. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.
Serves 4
Daniele’s Peppers and Onions Spaghetti
My friend Daniele is from Milano. A vegetarian, he made this simple, yet flavourful, pasta dish using just red peppers and onions. Despite my crappy olive oil (he made me throw it out), it was delicious. So, I’m off to buy proper olive oil (it …
Candied Orange Peel and Citrus Scones
In the build up to Christmas my friend Liz and I decided we’d make her Aunty’s Christmas cake recipe which is fantastic. In the doing, I had to make candied orange peel and ended up with lots of extra. Oh, what do to, what to …
Peanut Butter, Nutella, Chocolate Chip Cookies
My sweet tooth was bugging me today. I had a massive jar of Nutella and one of Peanut butter that I’m sure I will not get through on my own, so I thought I’d have a go at inventing a new cookie. It’s a mash up of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from Genius Kitchen and this (really very good) recipe for Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies from Chelsea of Chelsea’s Messy Apron. My recipe makes a thinner cookie because I didn’t melt the butter and I suspect the extra oil in the Nutella made them spread more. However, I’m one of those people how actually prefer the thinner slightly chewy version so I’m very happy with the results. Warning: this cookie is super, super sweet and will send you straight into sugar crash if you have more than one (I tested it).
Ingredients
- 1 C butter, room temperature
- 1/2 C peanut butter (smooth or crunchy – I used smooth in this recipe)
- 1/2 C Nutella or chocolate hazelnut spread of your choice
- 1 C white sugar
- 1 C brown sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 C white flour (regular all-purpose)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- Regular sized bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
You’re going to need to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes (1 hour is better) so don’t put the oven on just yet.
Method
- In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment (you can do it by hand if you insist – I’m lazy), cream butter until light and fluffy.
- Add peanut butter and Nutella and cream together.
- Add the sugars and mix well.
- Add the almond extract and vanilla.
- Add eggs one at a time, allowing the first egg to fully incorporate before you add the second.
- Measure out flour into a small bowl and add baking soda to it.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just incorporated. Remove the paddle and switch to a spatula or spoon for doing the final mix.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and mix until just blended.
- Pop in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. The dough will be light and airy so it needs to chill so you can form the cookies.
- Pre-heat oven to 325
- Line a couple baking pans with baking parchment or a silpat liner.
- Scoop out golf ball sized portions of dough and place on the lined baking pan leaving a good 2″ gap between each cookie to allow for spread. I got about eight cookies to a pan.
- Bake 15 minutes or until firm around the edges not on the tops (don’t overbake!).
- Let cookies cook for 5 minutes on the pan and then move to a cooling rack.
- Repeat until your dough is gone.
- Store in airtight container or freeze them.
Makes about 4 doz cookies, more if you were to make them smaller.
Simple Onion and Tomato Quiche with Cheddar and Feta
I have to confess I did not feel like cooking tonight. However, this onion and tomato quiche fit the bill for my lazy mood. If you have extra greens, like spinach or chard, you could add them when you are sauteing the onion. Left over …