Food – Page 7 – a hippie with a minivan

Family Apple Pancake…

Apples are back in season which means that Apples are plenty, delicious and cheap…

Yesterday we left on a whim to go apple picking and came back with 55 lbs of apples for about 30$… It has been beautiful lately and yesterday was no exception, It may be fall but it was warm and sunny and a perfect day to be out in the orchard picking apples off the trees and eating them within seconds of being picked..

The boys and I have been peeling and preparing apples all morning, preparing them for the dehydrator and for apple sauce and fruit leathers and whatever else comes to mind…

One of our favourite apple recipes is Apple Family Pancake… I have been making it for a few years and it has only improved with time…

This makes enough for all of us for a filling breakfast and then usually there is a bit left in the pan for picking at for the rest of the morning.

4-5 apples (peeled, cored and chopped)
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp butter
3/4 cup oats
1/4 cup slivered or chopped almonds*
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract*
1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups of milk (coconut, almond, soy etc)
2 cups of flour
3 eggs (beaten)
2 tsp baking powder

* these are optional but since I have started adding them, there is something missing when I don’t. The almond extract is the key!

First thing is to take a pan and put about 4 tbsp of butter in it. A large Cast iron skillet works best here, but any large heavy pan will do in a pinch (if you are using a cake pan a 9 in would be good).
Next, place the pan in the oven and pre-heat to 400… the butter will melt and the pan will get hot and get coated which is the goal here.
While the oven is heating up, mix the eggs and milk in a bowl, add the flour and baking powder (which you can mix together using a fork while it sits on top of the liquids and then mix until well incorporated without over-mixing. This should resemble a thick pancake batter.
In another bowl, place the apples, sugar, oats, almonds, cinnamon, vanilla extract and almond extract and then pour the melted butter over it all (remember… it’s in the oven) and mix well. Try to not eat all of this mixture right away… it basically tastes like a raw apple crumble!
Pour the batter into the hot pan and then pour the apple mixture on top and spread evenly and then place in the oven and bake for about 25-30 min….
Wait for the smell of apples and cinnamon and almonds to permeate your home and for everyone to start drooling..

You can cut into wedges and serve as is or drizzle with a bit of maple syrup…

Happy Apple season!!

Two Tier Neapolitan Cake…

Colin’s birthday cake order was a big one this year…

He wanted my vanilla butter cookie cake with chocolate butter cream icing but then wanted a smaller cake on top of that one with strawberry icing.

I am also starting to think that I need to invest in a few cake decorating tools and air conditioning. It was hot yesterday, 37 C (99F) with the humidity and even though I let everything cool it didn’t take long for the icing to start melting off the cake as I tried to decorate it using an ill fitted spatula and butter knife, but the result looked way better than I would have imagined and it tasted even better than it looked…

The first thing I did was to make full recipe, plus a half recipe of my favourite Vanilla cake which is made with real vanilla, butter and coconut milk giving it a butter cookie taste that I can’t get enough of.

Vanilla Butter Cookie cake

(recipe for one two layer cake)

2¼ cups cake flour (I never have this so I use Joy the Baker’s substitute for cake flour)
1 cup coconut milk, at room temperature
6 large egg whites (¾ cup), at room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¾ cups granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pan (grease and the flour)

2. Mix coconut milk, egg whites, and vanilla in a small bowl.

3. Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl or mixer bowl. Add butter and beat at slow speed (or use forks) until mixture resembles moist crumbs. (like when making pie dough)

4. Add all but ½ cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed for 1½ minutes. Add remaining ½ cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer.

5. Pour batter in prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes depending on size of the pan.

As I said, I made the full recipe plus a half recipe and poured 2/3 of the batter in my 9 inch round cake pan and then poured the rest into a 7 inch round pan and while it was in the oven I made the chocolate Butter cream frosting and then put aside and made a half recipe of strawberry icing, which was not only easy to make but the taste surpassed my expectations…

Those went straight into the fridge to use when the cake would be cool.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

1/2 cup butter
2 2/3 cups icing sugar, sifted with
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 – 1/2 cup coconut milk or cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1. cream the butter

2. sift together sugar and cocoa and add to butter and start mixing

3. add vanilla

4. while mixing, start adding the coconut milk or cream until you reach the desired consistency.

Beat with mixer for at least 2 min…

Strawberry Butter Cream Frosting

1/2 cup butter
2 2/3 cups icing sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup strawberry puree (I made it with fresh strawberries and my hand wand)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1. cream the butter

2. sift together sugar and cocoa and add to butter and start mixing

3. add vanilla

4. while mixing, start adding the strawberry puree until you reach the desired consistency.

Beat with mixer for at least 2 min…

I cut each of the two cakes into two layers and spread both chocolate and strawberry icing onto the first layer of the cake and added the top and iced it as if I just had one cake and then on a separate plate I iced the second tier (the smaller cake) as if was just a cake on its own also and then with one calculated swoop I placed the smaller cake on top of the larger one and added a bit more icing for good measure and then added a few fresh plump strawberry halves…

The Birthday boy was so happy!

Stuffed Buns…

I have always enjoyed dumplings, wontons and well pretty much any type of dough with something hidden inside… they are like little packages with a surprise…

I remember when I was young a friend of mine and I would go to China town in Montreal and buy these amazing steamed bbq buns and I loved them… and I bet I would still love them if they didn’t have a ton of red food colouring in them…

Last winter, I had a bit of pork left over from a batch of pulled pork I had made and after having eating leftovers, I decided to change things up a bit and added some hoisin and garlic black bean sauce and chinese five spice… it was such a delicious mix! I made my dough for buns and was about to make a normal batch of hamburger buns when I go the idea to stuff them with the mix…

What I ended up with was such a treat!!

These are absolutely amazing! They are easy and pretty quick to make, they are fun to eat and the kids love them and they are great to bring with you the next day for a lunch and can even be eaten cold..

First make the insides of the buns… this can be anything… bbq pork? shredded chicken? the meat mixture from my meat and sweet potato pie? curried potatoes?

My favourite?

1 lb of either ground pork or ground beef
1 finely chopped onion
1/3 cup hoisin
3 tbsp garlic black bean paste
1 tsp chinese five spice mix
1 tsp garlic powder

Sauté the onions in a bit of oil and then add and brown the meat. Drain and then add the spices and the hoisin and bean paste. Adjust seasonings if needed. Set aside and let cool.

For the dough (I use the same dough for hamburgers and hotdog buns):

1 1/4 cup of warm water + 1/4 cup of warm water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
2 1/4 tsp yeast
3 1/2 – 4 cups of flour
1 Tbsp kosher salt

First, proof the yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water.

In a large bowl (can be by hand, on food processor or stand mixer), add the water, the brown sugar, the oil and the proofed yeast and mix. Add 3 1/2 cups of flour mixing in the salt with the flour at the same time and then start mixing. add flour until the dough comes together and then either knead by hand for 10 min, mix in the mixer for 5min or process for 45 sec.

Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces.

Flatten a piece of the dough and place it in the palm of your hand.

Place two spoonfuls of the mixture in the dough and then fold over and starting at one end start pinching the sides to close it.

Pinch it closed and turn over and place on a lined cookie sheet.

Start the oven and preheat to 350, and let the buns rise for about 20 minutes.

Brush with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds…

Bake for 15-17 minutes…

I hope you love these as much as we do!

Beef and Broccoli

This is a quick supper and has so much flavour…

First you will need:

1 lb thin cut of beef sliced across the grain into strips
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp raw sugar
1 tsp tamari
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda

I found the most amazing tip somewhere on the internet a while back. I usually don’t like beef strips because they often turn out tough and chewy, however, adding a tsp of basking soda to the marinade makes all of the difference. The beef is tender, soft and absolutely perfect! However, very important.. don’t leave it in the marinade for more than 30 min!!

While the beef is marinating, make the sauce and prepare 4-5 cups of broccoli florets.

For the sauce

4 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
3 tbsp Tamari
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp water

Add an 1-2 inches of oil to your wok for deep frying, and in batches, deep fry the beef for about a minute until golden brown and set aside.

When the beef is done, pour all but about 2 tsp of oil out of the wok and heat back up…

To the hot wok add 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced and one chopped onion and stir fry until the onion is translucent.

Add the brocoli and cook until it has changed colour but is still has crunch to it.

Add the sauce to the broccoli and cook down for a min or two and then thicken the sauce with a mix of 2 tsp of cornstarch and 2 tbsp of water…

Add the beef and you are done…

You can serve this on rice, as I believe most people do, but we like it on its own…

Dehydrated Curried Lentil Soup

Let me say this first, I don’t like Lentils.

I mean… at all.. but I do want to like them.

They are cheap, they are filling and they are healthy (and how can I call myself a hippie if I don’t eat lentils!) but each time I tried a recipe I ended up hating them even more.

A few weeks ago I picked up a bag of Lentils at the grocery store determined to try et least one more time.. this week I put Lentil soup on my meal plan.

Because the recipes that I have tried in the past never worked for me, this time I didn’t have a recipe, I didn’t have a guideline… I just decided to wing it… it worked. I loved this soup!

I used my pressure cooker to make the soup as I was in a bit of a rush and I will definitely be making it that way each time…

For the soup:

Chop up 1 Large onion and sauté in a bit of Olive oil.
Add a few minced garlic cloves
Add a few stalks of celery, a few carrots and a red pepper (all diced)
Cook down the veggies for a few minutes and add some salt and pepper, cumin powder, garlic powder, oregano and basil and a few tsp of curry powder.
Add about 8-9 cups of stock (Veggie or Chicken)
Add 1 small can of tomato paste
Finally add in 2 cups of dried red Lentils

If using a pressure cooker, bring to a simmer, put the lid on, bring to pressure and cook for 20 min.

If using a pot, cook for about an hour or until the lentils have given up their shape and the soup is all creamy and thick.

Adjust seasoning to taste…

This was our meal last night and the leftovers were put away in the fridge. That is when the dehydrating idea came into play.

I am loving my dehydrator and have been wanting to try dehydrating soup that can then be powdered and reconstituted with hot water. Great for a quick meal, snack or for when we go camping…

Using the non-stick sheets in my dehydrator, I lathered about 1 1/2 cups of the thick soup onto the sheets about 1/4″ thick, making 6 trays of soup.

I put the dehydrator at the temp that I usually use for veggies and fruits, so quite warm, and after about 1-2 hours I started seeing the thinner parts were becoming very dry and crumbly. After about 6-7 hours all the trays were completely dry, even the thicker parts.

Next, I put all of the pieces in the Food processor and made it all into a powder…

It was really that simple…

Of course we had to test it out. It took about 3-4 Tbsp of powder to get a good consistency in one cup of water… it is a bit thinner than the original soup, though I could be thicker if I used more powder, but the flavour was right on and Xavier brought it into the living room and ate it all up.. so it definitely got the thumbs up!

I am so happy that not only did I make a Lentil soup that I will be making again, but it also made a great instant meal for the whole family!