just beet it

While I was over on Daisy Janie admiring those prints I posted about yesterday, I came across this fantastic (and simple!) recipe idea. I can't wait to try it! So perfect for a summer picnic, or to elevate a cobb salad to a whole new level.
 

 

pickled red beet eggs
{Recipe and image from Daisy Janie}

Ingredients:
1 dozen eggs
2 15 oz. cans sliced red beets
1 C white vinegar
1/2 C sugar
1/2 t salt

Directions:
Hard boil or hard cook eggs. Peel when eggs have thoroughly cooled.

In a saucepan, heat vinegar, beet juice & sugar over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. No need to boil. Set aside to cool.

In a large, deep bowl, add peeled eggs first, vinegar/beet juice liquid second and sliced beets from both cans last. Adding the beets last helps keep the eggs submerged in the liquid so they can absorb the most flavor and gorgeous color! They should set for at least 4 hours; overnight is even better.

pear pressure

How excited am I to make these?!

I just came across this recipe this morning, and something about it - I don't know if it was the pear, or the buckwheat, or the several days straight of chilly grey weather we've been having, or the Gorgeous (with a capital "G") photographs - anyway, something about it spoke to me and now I must make it, immediately. The funniest thing is, I am not even a real pancake 'fan' to be honest. I would never order them at a restaurant, I almost never make them at home - I much prefer waffles, or even crepes, on the odd occasion that I am craving something sweet for breakfast - but I am a 100% tried and true classic (bacon/sausage-eggs-homefries) breakfast lover. (Is it just me or do I talk about breakfast more than the average person?)

So, here is the recipe and a few of the beautiful photos, all from the lovely Sprouted Kitchen. Normally I would try a recipe out before posting it, but I was just so irrationally excited about this one that I couldn't wait. I will be sure let you know how they turn out, though!

PEAR + BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES // Makes 12
Adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

1 Cup Buckwheat Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 Cup Unbleached All Purpose Flour
3 Tbsp. Turbinado Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Spice Blend*
3/4 tsp. Sea Salt
2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 Cup Buttermilk
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Large Egg
2 Firm Pears (I used Bosc and Comice)
1/2 Cup Honey
2 oz. (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter

1. Sift all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, making sure everything is evenly distributed.
2. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk/milk, and butter until combined. If you don’t have buttermilk, all milk will be just fine.
3. Peel the pears, and grate them in the large holes of a box grater. Add the pears and their juices to the buttermilk mixture.
4. Gently add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir ’til just combined. It should be fairly thick – Boyce recommends letting it sit for a little while, or overnight in the fridge. If you let it rest, you will need to thin it out with milk, 1 Tbsp. at a time. Adjust to your pancake thickness preference.
5. Melt the honey and 2oz. of butter together, and keep warm to pour over the pancakes later.
6. Heat a cast iron pan, or griddle over medium heat. Add batter in 1/4 cup mounds to the pan, once the tops start to bubble, check that the bottoms are golden brown and flip to the other side. Cook about 5 minutes total.
7. Wipe the pan between batches, and rub a little butter in between.
Serve the pancakes hot from the skillet, with a splash of honey butter on top.

{I'm sorry, a splash of honey butter?!?! Yes, please.}

I feel like chicken tonight

It's a horrible gloomy day here and I have a major craving for some comfort food. It just happens that whole chickens are on sale at my local grocery store this week, so I am really excited to make a couple of my favourite go-to recipes for dinner tonight! It's not too often that I will make the same recipe over and over (I have some weird kitchen karma going on that causes recipes to work out spectacularly for me the first time, and terribly the second time, seriously, it's ridiculous). Anyway, this roast chicken recipe has somehow escaped my usual karmic influence, and it is definitely one of my all-time favourites. The same goes for the accompanying potato recipe... so delicious. Well I'm getting even hungrier now, so before I keep ranting and raving about them, here are the recipes - both found on The Dog's Breakfast (a wealth of great recipes).

Photo from The Dog's Breakfast.

roast chicken provençal

a roasting chicken (about 5 or 6 pounds)
a lemon, sliced in two
a few sprigs of thyme (or rosemary)
3 or 4 large cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper
a quarter cup of dried herbes de provence (try to get a mix that includes lavender)

Note: Stop wondering about the colour of juices and where to poke the thermometer. 90 minutes at 425º works like magic. Thanks to Ina Garten for this insight.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. (Use convection if you have the option, but set the oven to 400ºF.) Rinse and dry the chicken, then season the cavity with salt and pepper. Into the cavity, stuff the lemon halves, the garlic cloves and thyme sprigs. Rub the chicken with plenty of olive oil, season with salt, pepper, and the dried herbs.

Tie the legs together with kitchen twine, and roast for 90 minutes.

Photo from The Dog's Breakfast.

roasted potato salad
Serves 4 as a side dish

Notes: We’ve sometimes added bacon or lardons to this salad, or used sliced shallots instead of Vidalia onions. You can also think of adding dill, or chervil, or whatever mild herbs you like, just be sure to use a generous amount of tarragon. The roasted potatoes do not refrigerate well. You can also make this using unpeeled boiled potatoes, it makes a lighter-tasting salad that does keep well in the fridge.

4 pounds of fingerling potatoes
3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
about 2/3 C olive oil
a Vidalia onion, halved and sliced
½ C fresh tarragon leaves
½ C Italian parsley leaves
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

1. Clean and dry the potatoes. Cut them, unpeeled, into bite-sizes pieces, toss them with olive oil, salt, and a little peper, and roast them in a 400º oven for 15 – 20 minutes, or until golden and crusty on the outside, and soft on the inside.

2. Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Pour the vinegar into a salad bowl, and whisk in enough salt to balance the vinegar’s acidity. Add the pepper and mustard, and whisk to combine. Add the olive oil in a thin stream while whisking. Add the Vidalia onions and fresh herbs, and let them macerate in the vinaigrette while the potatoes finish cooking.

3. When the potatoes are done, let them cool for about 20 minutes before adding them to the salad bowl and tossing them gently to coat with the vinaigrette. Let the salad rest for a few minutes before serving so the potatoes can absorb the flavours, then taste and correct the seasoning if necessary.


So there they are, give them a try and you won't be sorry, I swear! Hope you all have a lovely Saturday, even if it is a grey one.

feliz cinco de mayo!

Photo taken by my incredibly talented friend Sophia.

To mark the occasion we are having a little Mexican-themed fiesta at our place tonight (and by 'Mexican-themed fiesta', I mean having people over and eating ridiculous amounts of Mexican food). I am so excited! We are lucky enough to have a good friend who is bringing over several of her famous Mexican dishes, including her incredible dulce de leche cake for dessert. Her mother is from Mexico and passed down all the family recipes (which are always the best kind of recipe, aren't they). Did I mention I'm excited?!

Aside from providing the venue, the Corona, and the limes, I am in charge of steak quesadillas (which have become somewhat of a specialty of mine) and the guacamole, which I love to make (not to mention eat, did I mention eating?). Since I'll be thinking about this all day anyway, I thought it would be nice to share my personal guacamole recipe (although I will be the first to say that I am far from having any Mexican heritage so I don't make any claims to authenticity).

I should also be clear that, for me, a guacamole 'recipe' is more just a collection of ingredients that I add in varying quantities until I've achieved a texture and flavour I like. I'll try to give some estimates, but really it is a matter of personal taste. One of the reasons I so enjoy making it is because you can just experiment and have fun, and if you don't like you, you only have to add more avocado and you're back in business.

Guacamole

3 ripe avocados - peeled and pitted (rinse the pits off and put them aside - don't throw them away!)

2 green onions - finely chopped (mostly just the white and light green, you don't want much of the darker green)

1 ripe tomato - finely chopped (remove the seeds and the goopy part - yes, goopy is the techincal term)

1 or 2 small green chilies - more if you like it spicier - diced (remove the seeds)

fresh cilantro - finely chopped - to taste (I like to start with a small handful and add as I see fit)

juice of a half lime

a good dollop of sour cream (I know this might be considered sacrilegious by some, but I really love the texture it gives to the guacamole)

salt (I like to use grated sea salt) and pepper - to taste (you want a good amount of salt so it makes the flavours really brighten up and pop

- Mash the avocados with a large fork or a masher if you prefer, leaving a bit of texture (you don't want the avocados perfectly smooth).

- With your fork, slowly mix in the diced/chopped ingredients. This will allow you to stop before you've added too much of anything, just in case (but if you do add too much, just add another mashed avocado!)

- Mix in the sour cream, lime juice, salt and pepper.

- Finally, take the avocado pits you saved at the beginning and place them in the bowl on the top of your guacamole. This is an old trick that keeps the guac from turning brown, and as an added bonus, I find it makes for some great presentation! (That's why I rinse them after removing them - cleaned pits look nicer arranged on the top of the bowl.)

Well, now that I am virtually drooling at the thought of the Mexican feast tonight, I will leave you with this image - possibly my all-time favourite Corona ad.

Corona image found here.

Buenas noches, indeed!

herbal remedy

I've rarely met a kitchen accessory I didn't like. A while ago I came across this lovely little herb pot from Design Within Reach - I need one! It has such a simple, clean design, it would like great on any kitchen counter, and it wouldn't even take up much space. What a great way to keep your herbs fresh and easily accessible for cooking, and it even creates a pretty, aromatic alternative to a bouquet of cut flowers.