Shaved Asparagus Pizza {Gastropost Mission #54}

by byn on June 4, 2013

in Bread

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

Guys, I’ve been a pizza making NINJA lately! I finally have my method down pat, and after so many years of being afraid of yeast, it’s nice to have this under control. Also, for future reference, if you defrost frozen pizza dough, refreeze it, and defrost it again, it’s totally fine.

And so, I finally got around to making Smitten Kitchen’s shaved asparagus pizza, a recipe that appears both on Deb’s website and in her book. Let’s just say I’m not the biggest asparagus fan, but shaved raw asparagus is a revelation! For this pizza, you just pile on raw asparagus shavings dressed lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper, give it a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, bake and then top with sliced green onions. It’s so nice, light and fresh for spring, and perfect fulfillment of Gastropost’s asparagus mission.

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

Pizza dough!

4-5 asparagus spears

1 tsp olive oil

salt & pepper

1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1 green onion, sliced

*you can also put mozzarella on this pizza but I left it off*

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 500, get your pizza stone in there, and sprinkle some cornmeal on a piece of parchment paper. Press or roll out your dough on the parchment paper, and sprinkle on parmesan.
  2. On a cutting board, lay an asparagus spear flat, holding by the end. Take your vegetable peeler and run it down the length of the spear, creating long ribbons. Sometimes the tops of the stalks got stuck in my peeler, but that’s no big deal. Place all the ribbons in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Pile on top of the pizza dough.
  3. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the crust is nice and golden brown. Sprinkle with green onions.

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Fluffernutter Rice Krispie Squares

by byn on May 31, 2013

in Bars & Squares

Fluffernutter Rice Krispie Squares

Last week one of my new friends from work threw a rager to kick off the long weekend right! Ha, not really a rager but it was a super fun night. Obviously I had to bring treats to dazzle everyone, and also to make sure I would be invited to any and all future parties. The first thing I decided to make was obviously Pretzel M&M cookies, the three years running champion of my annual Champagne & Cookies Christmas Party. Sure enough they were gone in a flash, and some party attendees did not even know what a Pretzel M&M was! I was happy to enlighten them.

For my second treat, I made these insane little gems: peanut butter rice krispie squares, topped with a layer of melted peanut butter chips, and then sprinkled with mini Reese’s peanut butter cups. So good. This is a great treat to make for summer picnics and BBQs: they travel well, taste great and you don’t need to turn the oven on to make them.

Fluffernutter Rice Krispie Squares

Source: Shugary Sweets

Ingredients

10 oz marshmallows

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

5 cups Rice Krispies

1 1/4 cup mini marshmallows

1 bag (10 oz) peanut butter chips

2 bags (8 oz each) Reese’s mini peanut butter cups

Directions

  1. Spray an 8″ glass baking dish with non-stick spray.
  2. Get out a big microwave safe bowl, and add the marshmallows, butter and peanut butter. Heat, remove, and stir for 2 minute intervals until everything is nice and melty and smooth. Stir in the rice krispies, then fold in the mini marshmallows. Gently press into the baking dish.
  3. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter chips and then spread on top of the rice krispie squares in an even layer. Wait a few minutes until the melty peanut butter layer cools, then sprinkle on all the mini peanut butter cups. Press them in a little bit to make sure they stick. Let the whole thing set for an hour or so, then cut into squares.

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Banana Bourbon Pancakes {Gastropost Mission #52}

by byn on May 29, 2013

in Breakfast, General

 Banana Bourbon Pancakes {Planet Byn}

I have complicated feelings towards brunch, and I believe they date back to 1998-2002 in Waterloo, Ontario and a little joint called Mel’s Diner. Mel’s was the ideal place to feed your hangover on Sunday morning and for $2.99 you got a greasy plate of bacon or sausage, toast, eggs and homefries (or Mel’s favourite, bacon, brown and scrambled, which was my standard order). The thing is, Mel’s was about halfway between Laurier (my university) and the University of Waterloo, which were just down the street from each other, and this place was always, always jam packed on Sunday mornings. The line was out the door and the tables never turned over fast enough, and I think after a while I just stopped going because I hated waiting in that line.

Then in 2002, I discovered that pancakes didn’t actually have to come out of a box, and my days of dining out for brunch were over for good.

It is so easy to whip up delicious breakfast foods at home. No waiting in line, you can eat in your PJs and there are leftovers to snack on throughout the day. On Victoria Day Monday, I fulfilled this Gastropost Mission by inviting my friend Kristine over for brunch and an overdue catch-up session, and this was our little menu:

  • Banana Bourbon Pancakes
  • Extra Crispy Bacon
  • Maple Oat Scones with Homemade Strawberry Jam

I’m a pancake purist, but lately I’ve been branching out a little bit. For these Banana Bourbon Pancakes, you saute banana slices in butter, brown sugar, bourbon and cinnamon, then add them to your pancake batter. Whoa. Salty, crispy bacon provides a nice contrast to all that sweetness, and everything is rounded out with whole-wheat scones and the best strawberry jam. And now you know why I never go out for brunch!

Banana Bourbon Pancakes

Source: A Cozy Kitchen

Ingredients

Bananas

1/2 tbsp butter

2 ripe bananas, thinly sliced

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp bourbon

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pancakes

1 cup flour

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk

1 egg

2 tbsp bourbon

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

  1. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, then add the bananas, brown sugar, bourbon and cinnamon. Stir to coat, being careful not to smoosh the bananas. Saute for 2-3 minutes, until the bananas cook a little bit, then remove bananas to a plate to cool. Wipe out skillet.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, bourbon and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, and stir together gently until just combined. It’s okay if there’s a few lumps.
  3. Bring the skillet back to medium heat. Spray with non-stick spray, or melt a little butter or oil in the pan. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup as a scoop, and add batter to pan. Press in a few slices of banana, and let cook for 2-3 minutes then flip gently and cook for 2-3 minutes more on the other side. Pancakes take practice, and it’s all about knowing your stove and knowing your pan. I know I have to lower the heat after the first batch.
  4. You can keep pancakes warm in a low oven, 250, as you finish cooking.

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Food Bloggers of Canada Conference {Day 3}

by byn on May 27, 2013

in General

FBC 2013 Conference

This post is long overdue, but it’s finally time to recap Day 3 of the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference. Just like Day 2, we’ll go at this panel by panel:

Bookkeping for Canadian Bloggers

This session with accountant Brian Kent-Baas was all about the financial side of blogging, and how to determine what constitutes income, and what constitutes expenses for the purposes of doing your taxes. To be honest, this session was kind of confusing, and made me happy that I don’t receive compensation for posts or generate ad revenue, and therefore don’t have to worry about this stuff. According to Brian, bloggers should technically have a second set of all appliances for blogging, as well as keep all food for blogging separate, so it can be clear at tax time what was used for business vs. personal cooking. Um, what? That sounds like a nightmare. For me though, these are the two key points: 1) gifts, samples, contest winnings and swag are not taxed 2) if you’re making a couple bucks here and there, the government doesn’t care about your income, and considers you a hobby, not a business. Case closed.

Publishing – The Many Chapters of Writing a Book

Writing a cookbook is not on my list of life goals, but it was still interesting to hear the stories from everyone on this panel. We had Dianne Jacob, Julie, Charmian Christie, Corey Mintz from The Globe & Mail, and Emily Richards on stage. Alright, first of all, I used to LOVE the show Canadian Living Cooks with Elizabeth Baird, Daphna Rabinovitch and Emily, so it was a treat to see her, although she looks totally different than she did on the show. I didn’t even recognize her! The panel was really open about the changing landscape of publishing, including self-publishing and e-books.

Recipe Development 101

The final panel of the weekend presented three points of view on recipe development from Adell Shneer (fellow Gastroposter!), Stephanie Eddy and Mairlyn Smith. This was really eye-opening, and I guess I never really thought about the research and testing that goes into writing a recipe.  I don’t see myself as ever having the time or motivation to develop original recipes, but I have even more respect now for those bloggers who do. Adell’s tips are to keep copious and detailed notes in the kitchen, including accurate weights and measurements, use standard size pans, and make sure you know the names of your ingredients (i.e. hazelnuts vs. filberts). Mairlyn told us to be really specific in the directions for a recipe: tell your reader what it should look like, what appliance you used, etc. Stephanie described her process for developing baking recipes in detail, and said that she first gets a vision of what she wants to make, and ideally how it will turn out. She then goes into research mode, comparing similar recipes from different sources, and what she would change. In the kitchen, she’ll take tons of notes, and be sure to measure every little pinch she adds.  She tastes the final product warm, cold and the next day, and then evaluates if it matched up to her original vision.

Future Trends in Canadian Food Blogging

Our closing speaker of the day was Dana McCauley, who you know as a judge on my nemesis‘ show, Recipe to Riches. My epiphany during her speech was like so: Why don’t I read more Canadian food blogs? I posed this question to Danielle, my friend who introduced me to food blogs, and her answer was this: “We read American blogs, who link to other American bloggers, and the cycle continues”. Dana spoke a lot about the future for Canadian food bloggers, and what we can contribute to the overall food blogging community to make Canadian food blogging distinctive. Fellow attendee Valerie has taken that call to action to the next level, and introduced The Canadian Food Experience Project, which you can read more about on her blog.

*****

And with that, the conference was over! I loaded all my swag into Sandra’s trunk, and we made the drive home. I learned so much throughout the weekend, and have already started putting my new photography tips and tricks into practice. As I said in my recap of Day 1, by far the most valuable part of the weekend was connecting with other bloggers. I now have a lengthy list of Canadian food blogs that I read on a daily basis. I’m so happy and proud to be part of this lovely community, and thankful to FBC for this amazing weekend.

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Pavlova with Lemon Curd & Strawberries + Mother’s Day Dinner {Gastropost Mission #51}

by byn on May 23, 2013

in Pies & Tarts

Mother's Day Dinner

Mom’s choice for her Mother’s Day dinner this year was “some type of chicken casserole type thing and whatever else you think would be good”. Isn’t that the best, most easygoing dinner guest? Love it. I translated her request into the following menu:

  • Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Casserole (this recipe from Annie’s Eats with white rice substituted for quinoa), extra cheddar on Mom’s end
  • Buttermilk Biscuits & Homemade Strawberry Jam
  • Green Salad with Apple, Candied Pecans, Dried Cranberries, Sunflower Seeds & Balsamic Dressing
  • For dessert: Pavlova with Lemon Curd, Whipped Cream & Sliced Strawberries

Why have I been sleeping on Pavlova my entire eating career? I’m not really sure why it’s taken me so long to make one, seeing as how it’s basically a giant version of these and tastes like a marshmallow. Now, because it was Mom’s day, she was allowed to pick the filling, although if it were up to me, you know there wouldn’t be any citrus ever allowed near any dessert ever. In any event, this was a nice, light, fresh treat to finish up a big meal. Just a note that pavlova doesn’t really keep that well, so next time I would make a smaller one; the leftovers were a kind of a mess. I would also fill it with butterscotch sauce instead of lemon curd, but I guess that’ll have to wait until Daughter’s Day!

Pavlova

Pavlova Shell

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients

6 egg whites, room temperatures

1 1/2 cups sugar

pinch cream of tartar

+ whatever fillings you want…we had lemon curd (use this recipe), whipped cream (1 cup whipping cream, whipped with 1 tbsp icing sugar), sliced strawberries…I feel like chocolate ganache, whipped cream and crushed Oreos would also be amazing…or butterscotch sauce, whipped cream and Skor bits…you get the idea!

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 250, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Trace an 8″ circle on the parchment, then flip the parchment over.
  2. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until incorporated. The meringue will be nice and glossy. Finally, add the cream of tartar and mix again for one minute.
  3. Scoop the mixture into the circle, and use an offset spatula or back of a spoon to spread it out to fill the circle. It’ll be nice and tall, which is what you want.
  4. Bake for 1 hour, then turn the oven off, open the door, and let the pavlova cool in the oven.
  5. Gently transfer pavlova to a cake stand or platter, and add your fillings.

 

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Toasted Walnut, Honey & Ricotta Crostini

by byn on May 21, 2013

in Appetizers

Ricotta Crostini

Last month my new friend Sandra from Dairy Farmer’s of Canada dropped off a few of the winning cheeses from the 2013 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix (yes! there is such a thing!). The Grand Champion winner was Quality Inc.’s Ricotta Cheese, and it was the first time a fresh cheese has won the whole competition. I got a sample of the Ricotta, which is from Ontario, plus the Gouda (Alberta) and Blue Cheese (Quebec) winners.

Obviously this turned out to be the best ricotta I’ve ever had. It’s just so smooooooth, thick and creamy. In my cheese-loving opinion, the best way to eat ricotta is to simply spread it on some warm, toasty bread with some interesting toppings. My favourite combination was toasted walnuts and honey, followed by blueberries and balsamic reduction, and then pesto and cherry tomatoes. I think ricotta would also work ridiculously well as a replacement for goat cheese in these or these.

I also dolloped it on some homemade pizza with balsamic caramelized onions, and had some plans to experiment with it in baking (like these scones), but WHOOPS ate it all before I could.

Thanks again Sandra! (I was also excited to further test my FBC2013 photography tips, and was working on capturing the OOZE factor in this picture.)

*Note: Do I need a disclaimer here? Sandra provided me with these delicious cheeses for me to sample, but did not ask me to write about them. She’s just super nice and knows I like cheese!*

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Baked Sunday Mornings: Cornmeal Griddle Cakes

by byn on May 19, 2013

in Baked Sunday Mornings

Cornmeal Griddle Cakes

When the header note for a pancake recipe describes it as basically a “…fresh, hot, buttery, flat, crunchy corn muffin” the first thing you do is take a second to ponder each of those adjectives separately. The second thing  you do is start heating up your pan.

This pancake recipe is a little bit more involved than most, as the Baked boys have you stir up cornmeal with boiling water first, and then alternately incorporate your dry ingredients and wet ingredients into the mixture. From there, it’s basic pancakes 101.

If you don’t mind a little texture in your pancakes, this is one for you to try. If you’re more of a pancake purist, and fluffy is the name of the game, this isn’t the recipe for you. Of course to me, anything covered in butter and maple syrup is fair game!

You can find the recipe here!

More Baked Sunday Mornings here!

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Chocolate Diablo Cookies

by byn on May 17, 2013

in Cookies

 Chocolate Diablo Cookies {Planet Byn}

Here’s the final treat I mixed up for my low-key day of Cinco De Mayo treats: a spicy chocolate chocolate chip cookie with cayenne and cinnamon. I saw this recipe in my Mom’s Chatelaine and thought I would give it a try; it’s from the Tacofino Food Truck, operating out of Tofino, BC. The thing is, I went ahead and added the full teaspoon of cayenne and they were SPICY! Like, my mouth was tingling after eating one. It was weird. Also the cookies use oil, instead of butter, and I’m not really on board with that.

In any event, I put my #FBC2013 photo styling workshop to good use here, and what do you know? Adele was right; everything looks good on wood! She also encouraged the use of crumbs, which I think look kind of cute here.

Chocolate Diablo Cookies

Source: Chatelaine, May 2013

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 – 1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips

+ flaky sea salt and/or raw sugar for sprinkling

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugars, oil and vanilla. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cayenne pepper and cinnamon and whisk again until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  3. Scoop out dough onto cookie sheets, and flatten slightly with your fingers. Sprinkle with salt, sugar or a combination of both.
  4. Bake for 11-13 minutes until the cookies start to crack.

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The Paloma

by byn on May 15, 2013

in Cocktails

The Paloma

Just over two years ago, I posted a recipe for Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter & Walnuts, which was the cover recipe on the first issue of Bon Appetit I received in the subscription my friend Danielle got for me. I wrote about my major magazine hoarding tendencies, and two years later I can say I’ve definitely made progress in this area. My main problem currently is that my former co-worker stockpiles all her issues of Hello! magazine for me, which you can find everywhere in my condo.

Aside from that, I’ve got the food magazine situation under control. Unfortunately, Everyday Food wound down last year (still so sad), and I decided not to renew my subscription to Bon Appetit this year. It was just one of those things where I would flip through it excitedly when it showed up in my mailbox, but it was pretty rare that I would actually cook or bake something out of it.

The last issue I got was this past January, and I do love the January issues because they always include The BA 25: What to Eat, Drink & Cook for the year. This year, the No.1 spot on the list is this pretty pink cocktail: The Paloma. Bon Appetit describes it as “grapefruit’s new main squeeze”.

I love any tequila based cocktail (especially these), so I was ready to try this on my low-key Cinco de Mayo. The Paloma is just grapefruit juice, lime juice, sugar and tequila and it’s super tart and refreshing, and also fizzy, thanks to the addition of a bit of Perrier at the end.  I feel like next time I might add a little bit of triple sec, to make it just a little bit sweeter. Also, I’m into the grapefruit/orange combo, since I couldn’t stop thinking about Wink when I was making this! Who remembers Wink?!!

The Paloma

Source: Bon Appetit, January 2013

Yield: 1 cocktail, easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled

Ingredients

1/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup tequila (you might want to start with 1/8 cup and see how that goes)

1/4 cup club soda or Perrier

Directions

  1. Take a grapefruit wedge and run it around the edge of your glass. Sprinkle with salt.
  2. Add the grapefruit juice, lime juice and sugar, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the tequila, then some ice, and top with Perrier.

Note: BA says you can use mezcal in place of tequila

 

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Mexican Pancakes with Brown Butter Cinnamon Maple Syrup

by byn on May 13, 2013

in Breakfast

 Mexican Pancakes

What’s that you say? Cinco de Mayo was last week? I know, I know. I just didn’t really have time and/or energy to plan a feast like last year, so instead I just made myself a few little Mexican-inspired snacks throughout the day as I worked on some spring cleaning projects around the house last Sunday afternoon.

First up are these pancakes, which were an automatic re-pin when I saw them on Pinterest. If cinnamon-spiked buttermilk pancakes don’t get you amped up, the recipe also includes a brown butter cinnamon maple syrup to pour over top. Whoa. I also used my special Vietnamese Saigon Cassia Cinnamon that I ordered back at Christmastime from The Spice House. It’s a super intense cinnamon that smells and tastes a little different from regular old cinnamon you can get at the grocery store or Bulk Barn; if you close your eyes and inhale, it smells like cinnamon hearts. I’m currently hoarding the jar in an attempt to make it last until Fall (for all my baking with pumpkin, natch), but I happily used it in this recipe and didn’t regret it.

Mexican Pancakes with Brown Butter Cinnamon Maple Syrup

Source: Love + Cupcakes

Yield: Recipe below is half of the original, and I still got 13 pancakes. You can freeze leftovers wrapped in plastic wrap, and then just pop them in the toaster when you want to eat them.

Ingredients

Pancakes

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

2 1/2 tbsp butter, melted

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt

Syrup

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter

1/2 cup maple sizzurp

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and stir gently, just until the ingredients are combined. If you have lumps, it’s totally fine.
  2. Heat your preferred skillet or griddle and go to town making your pancakes. Keep them warm in a low oven.
  3. For the sizzurp, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to hiss, bubble and foam, and keep an eye on it closely until it turns brown in colour and smells nutty and delicious. Add the maple syrup and cinnamon and whisk well to combine. Pour into a little oven-proof bowl, and keep warm in the oven with the pancakes until ready to serve.

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