Tag: Food

Re: Chocolate chip walnut cookies

On By Kaye Ann C.In Food, Recipes2 Comments
This cookie has dark chocolate, white chocolate chips and walnuts

There’s nothing like the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. Two words come to mind – home and smile. And isn’t that what warm chocolate chip cookies are? I don’t know anyone who frowns upon receiving cookies. It’s a cozy sweet hug and smile adorned with ooey gooey melted chocolates and crunchy walnuts wrapped in a comforting cookie package. Before you get yourself some warm milk, below is my tried and tested chocolate chip walnut cookie recipe. If you want to go nut free, skip the walnuts and substitute another kind of chocolate or dried fruit. 

Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted room temperature butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cup all purpose flour (sifted)

¼ tsp ground coffee 

Pinch of salt

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

½ cup bar 70% dark chocolate shards (around 1 bar) 

½ cup chopped walnuts 

Dash of ground cinnamon

Procedure:

  1. Chop dark chocolate and walnuts to pea size pieces then set aside in a bowl
  2. In a large bowl cream unsalted room temperature butter with brown sugar and white sugar
  3. Once the sugars are incorporated in the butter (the butter tends to turn lighter in colour), add the egg and vanilla extract to the mixture
  4. Sift together all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt 
  5. Add cinnamon and ground coffee to the flour mixture then stir with a fork to ensure even distribution 
  6. Combine the flour mixture in the butter mixture
  7. Add chopped walnuts and chocolates in the bowl
  8. Form cookies using an ice cream scoop or a regular spoon
  9. After forming the cookies, place in the fridge until the oven is preheated to 375 degree fahrenheit 
  10. Take out the cookies and bake for 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown

**This recipe makes 12 cookies.** You can use white chocolate or milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate. This cookie dough also freezes well if you’d like to save some for a rainy day. 

Always,

K

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Re: Cornbread Recipe

On By Kaye Ann C.In Food, Recipes2 Comments

If I had to pick my all time favourite side, it would probably be cornbread. I just love how sweet yet savoury and slightly crunchy yet moist it is! It’s a shame that cornbread is not a staple in all BBQ restaurants (at least in Canada), or restaurants in general. Needless to say, I was craving some cornbread a few weeks ago and decided to develop my own recipe. It’s been a hot minute since I last posted about a recipe, and it was so much fun cr[eating] this one! This cornbread recipe makes a sweet, moist yet fluffy treat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Ingredients:

¾ cup yellow cornmeal

¾ cup AP flour

½ cup sugar 

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Salt (about a pinch)

1 cup buttermilk

5 tbsp brown butter (or melted butter)

2 tbsp oil 

2 eggs 

Splash of maple syrup

Procedure:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit.
  2. Grease an 8×8 baking square with butter
  3. Sift AP flour, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda in a large mixing bowl
  4. Add sugar and salt to the dry ingredients after sifting
  5. Mix well to incorporate 
  6. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, brown butter, oil, eggs and maple syrup together well
  7. Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients and mix until incorporated, try not to over mix the batter 
  8. Pour the mixture in the baking square, spread evenly and tap the square a few times to let any bubble burst
  9. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown

Substitutions:

I don’t typically have buttermilk in my fridge so I thought it was important to test out alternatives. Around 1 cup plain yogurt (greek or regular yogurt) works well with a little (~3 tbsp) almond milk. The almond milk helps loosen the viscosity of the batter. Bake in a 400 degree fahrenheit over for 27-32 minutes or until the cornbread is cooked all the way through. Using the substitutions doesn’t change the taste, but I did find the crust was thicker and crunchier while still keeping the inside of the cornbread moist. 

Always,

K

P.S. If you’re just starting to learn how to bake, keep it up! Baking could be intimidating at first between the measurements, temperatures and reactions, but it’s also the most fun way to experiment. I made about 7-10 cookie batters before I ever made a decent one. It taught me that failing could be fun sometimes. What matters more is how you can still find a way to creatively think of remedies. 

Re: Summer Recipes with Grapefruit

On By Kaye Ann C.In Food, RecipesLeave a comment

IMG_8296The very first recipe I posted back in the day was a trifecta of watermelon recipes for the summer. It was a really long blog post, subdivided in 3 sections for the three recipes. I won’t be doing a blog post that long anytime soon, but I definitely wanted to share with you a recipe I’ve been thinking about making for the summer months. They are, Pink Grapefruit Lemonade and a refreshing Grapefruit Summer Salad.

Ingredients for the pink lemonade:

  • 2-3 grapefruits
  • water
  • ½ cup white sugar

IMG_8317.JPGProcedure:

  1. Depending on how big your pitcher/container is for the lemonade, the number of grapefruits will vary. I only used two since my glass pitcher is not large
  2. Squeeze 2 grapefruits in a small-medium size bowl before pouring it in the container. This will help you with catching the seeds from the grapefruit
  3. Add ½ of water and ½ white sugar in a small saucepan (medium heat)
  4. Once the sugar is fully dissolved turn off the stove and stir the liquid around
  5. Pour the water and sugar mixture (aka simple syrup) in the pitcher once it has cooled down for 2-3 minutes
  6. Using a long spoon, stir the grapefruit juice with the simple syrup
  7. Add more water and ice
  8. Enjoy!

*I froze some cut up strawberries and lined the cup with sugar for presentation

Ingredients for the summer salad:

  • 2-3 grapefruits (or more)
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1-2 oranges
  • 4 fresh mint leaves
  • fennel (bulb)
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt & pepper
  • pinch of sugar

IMG_8306_Procedure:

  1. Using a small paring knife, peel the grapefruits and oranges to prepare for segmenting
  2. When the grapefruits and oranges are peeled, carefully segmented the fruits into wedges or ‘supremes’
  3. Cut the supremes into smaller pieces then put them in a medium size bowl
  4. Roughly chop the tomatoes to the same size as the grapefruit and oranges
  5. Then cut the fennel in half; we will only be using a quarter of the bulb so cut it again to make a quarter
  6. Thinly slice the fennel, as thin as you can using a knife or a mandolin food slicer
  7. Add the fennel slices into the same bowl with the grapefruit and oranges
  8. Roughly chop fresh mint then add it on the bowl. You can use some of the fennel leaves in the salad as well
  9. Add a pinch of sugar, salt & pepper
  10. Pour in about 1-2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
  11. Mix the salad together and check for seasoning
  12. Enjoy!

*You can also try adding cucumbers in this salad for crunch!

Paired with your BBQ creations, these recipes will help cool you off with the up-coming summer heat! Do you have a favourite food to eat over the summer months? Share with us by leaving a comment below! 🙂

Always,

–K

P.S. Really hoping we get a proper summer in Toronto this year! Pack on the heat and sunshine! 🙂

 

Re: Happy National Doughnut Day!

On By Kaye Ann C.In Food, RecipesLeave a comment

 

zeppoles with granulated white sugar and coconutsRound, fluffy, sweet and oh so yummy, doughnuts are one of my guilty pleasure treats! So for National Doughnut Day, I decided to experiment by making some coconut cream zeppoles. If you’re not familiar with zeppoles, they are doughnuts or fritters typically found in Italian cuisine. The coconut custard inside the zeppole is inspired by an experience I had with a Tim Horton’s doughnut. I should correst myself, a *disappointing experience eating a “coconut cream” doughnut from Tim Horton’s. I wanted to make a true coconut custard made of coconut milk or cream and fold in some unsweetened shredded coconuts. Let’s start, shall we?

Ingredients:

Dough: store bought pizza dough

Coconut custard: 1 can coconut cream (or milk), ¼ cup all purpose flour (sifted) & 3 egg yolks

Coconut topping: shredded coconut & 1 tbsp. granulated white sugar

*vegetable oil for deep frying

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Procedure:

  1. After lightly dusting my board with some flour, I rolled the pizza dough and cut them into small pieces with a knife
  2. After cutting the dough in smaller pieces, I set them aside to prep the custard
  3. Crack & separate 3 eggs then place the egg yolks in a medium size bowl
  4. In a small saucepan, pour an entire can of coconut milk/cream. If you are using cream, you may not need to use as much flour; reduce it to 2 tablespoon
  5. In medium heat, let the coconut milk/cream simmer.
  6. Once you see bubbles consistently forming on the side, add the sifted flour and mix well. Reduce the heat
  7. You’ll notice that the coconut milk/cream will start to thicken up, turn off the heat and keep mixing
  8. With your spoon, add a small portion of the coconut milk mixture into the egg yolks then mix. Make sure that the coconut milk mixture is warm not hot
  9. Gradually keep adding the coconut milk mixture in the bowl and keep mixing to avoid lumps
  10. Fold in shredded unsweetened coconut into the custard to fortify the coconut flavour
  11. Cover your bowl of custard with plastic wrap and let it set in the fridge
  12. Bring your vegetable oil up to 375 degrees (Fahrenheit) before starting to fry your dough. A trick that I learned was taking a pinch of flour and flicking it into the oil to see if the oil is ready. The flour should bubble up and immediately disappear
  13. Start frying your dough and make sure that the your deep fryer is not too crowded
  14. While the dough is frying you can take your granulated flour and put it in a bowl to prep when the dough pieces are ready to be coated. I lightly pulsed the excess shredded coconut to make it finer then added it in with the sugar
  15. When the dough pieces are fried to golden brown in all sides, take it out and dump it in the bowl with the sugar and shredded coconut. You’ve made zeppoles!
  16. To inject the custard, let the zeppoles cool down and make a small hole with a knife OR you can cut the zeppoles in half
  17. If you decided to make a small hole, I used a piping bag and nozzle OR if you cut the zeppoles in half, you can spread the custard with a bread knife and make a little sandwich
  18. Enjoy!

You don’t have to use a filling, like custard, for these zeppoles. Try using powdered sugar, cacao powder or sugar & ground cinnamon. Give this recipe a try and share with us your thoughts! 🙂

 

 

Always,

–K

 

P.S. Laura from Laura in the Kitchen has awesome Italian pastries and other Italian recipes! Aka she’s your girl if you’d like to explore more of Italian cuisine J