Tag archive for comfort

After 45 min of sitting in front of the computer, editing photos for a totally unrelated project, it became clear that I was just procrastinating and I had no clue how to make a lasagna. This realization came as a bit of a shock to me. I have most certainly been involved in the making of these baked delights before, it seemed like a no brainer. But the truth of the matter is that I have never made a lasagne on my own.

While in the produce department of the grocery over the weekend, I found myself staring at the brussels sprouts and thinking of the lady down the aisle dishing up tiny samples of lasagna. In that moment I knew that I was going to have to make a brussles sprout lasagna. After all, I had made a pact with myself to use more brussels sprouts this season.

I wanted this dish to pull inspiration from some of the lovely winter dishes that have made me fall in love with brussels sprouts. I have sliced the sprouts thinly, mixed a little meyer lemon into the ricotta and topped the whole dish with a creamy béchamel sauce.

With spring just around the corner, and the evening becoming longer and brighter, make sure to enjoy this cozy meal sooner rather than later.

Brussels sprout + fennel lasagna

Ingredients
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 onion chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried italian herb mix
9 ounces extra-lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups brussels sprouts thinly sliced
1/2 cup fennel bulb thinly sliced
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1/2 teaspoon meyer lemon zest
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley chopped
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon (scant) ground nutmeg
1/2 cup grates mozzarella cheese

Directions
Pre-heat over to 375°.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add noodles and follow cooking directions on the package. Drain cooked noodles and spread flat on a clean tea towel.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, herbs and beef to the pan, cook for about 14 minutes or until the beef has browned. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a sauce pan heated to medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour and mix until smooth, slowly stir in the milk and add the bay leaf, salt and nutmeg. Turn pan to medium-low heat stirring occasionally until sauce thickens.

In a bowl mix together ricotta, lemon zest and parsley. Season with fresh ground pepper to taste.

Scoop enough béchamel sauce into a 8×8 baking dish to cover the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of noodles. Spread half of the ricotta mixture onto the noodles and top with half of the brussels sprouts and fennel. Add a second layer of noodles and more béchamel sauce. Next layer on all of the meat mixture and top with another layer of noodles pouring on additional béchamel sauce. Spread on the remaining ricotta, fennel and brussels sprouts and add the final layer of noodles. Pour on the remaining béchamel sauce and place in the oven.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella; bake for an additional 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes before serving.

The smell of warm bread always brings back a flood of memories from my childhood. Growing up, it seemed like something bread related was always going down. Either bread was being made, bread was rising or bread was in the oven. Ginger and I were often relegated to tiptoeing around the house (or the back yard) instead of our usual hectic antics, so that we didn’t cause the bread to fall. I even recall a time or two when my mom rushed to the flour bag and dredged her hands before answering the door so that she wouldn’t have to engage with the salesman who had come calling.

Over the holidays we went to visit a friend who had her mother visiting from out of town. When we arrived her mother was baking bread, and over the course of our visit she somehow managed to whip up a couple of loaves of very lovely smelling bread. She told me that she hadn’t purchased a loaf of bread in over 40 years! “Why have I not been baking bread at home?” I asked myself. Thanks to my mother and the years of taking part in a 6 am highschool bread baking program. I have no excuse, I used to bake bread and I like it!

After my visit I headed home and straight for my archives and began to search for my bread recipe. Back in the day when I used to bake more often I had a bread recipe that I really liked, it was simple and tasty. But as luck would have it, time and a few moves have left me recipe-less. I had to start fresh. I wanted a recipe that had a simple ingredient list, was easy to put together and most importantly, wouldn’t take the whole weekend to make. I started looking for a recipe that featured beer. One trick that I have learned along the way is that if you want a fairly quick loaf of bread, that somewhat resembles an artisan loaf, you need to add beer to your dough.

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No-Knead Beer Bread 
(make 2 rounds)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup warm water (about 100F)
12 oz bottled beer at room temperature
4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
cornmeal (for sprinkling on baking sheet)

For the sponge:
In a medium bowl use a wooden spoon to mix together yeast, flour and warm water. Be careful not to use too hot of water or the heat will kill the yeast. Once the ingredients are mixed together cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and set in a warm spot to rise for 30 minutes. I don’t have a warm place at home so I pre-heat my oven to about 75F and let the sponge rise there.

For the bread:
After 30 minutes you should have a nice bubbling bowl of sponge. Add the beer to the sponge and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the flour and salt and mix the dough until all the flour is incorporated. You should be left with a wet dough. Once again cover the bowl and return it to a warm spot to rise for 2 hours.

Once the dough has risen, use a rubber spatula to remove the dough from the sides of the bowl and turn the dough out onto a clean, well floured work surface. For more ease working with the wet dough, generously sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour and dredge your hands with flour before beginning to shape the dough. Divide the dough in half and roughly shape into two rough loaves. Sprinkle cornmeal onto a baking sheet and transfer loaves onto the sheet. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with flour, cover with a dry towel and return to a warm spot to proof for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 425F. Once the loaves have fully risen use a very sharp knife to cut a cross into the tops of the loaves. I have found that you usually need to go over the cuts a second time to make them about 3/4″ to 1″ deep. Place the bread in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. You can tell that the bread is finished baking when it develops a lovely golden crust and makes a nice hollow sound when you flick it with your fingers. Allow the bread to cool before cutting into it… haha who am I kidding. Have atter.

Growing up mushrooms were a pretty big deal. Every fall the whole family would pile into the car and head up into the woods to gather up buckets full of their earthy goodness. I have to admit that for me the joy of mushroom season came from running around in the woods searching for hidden treasure. Forging through fallen damp leaves was significantly more pleasurable than sitting down to a plate of mushrooms. The imminent  fear of death by poisoning didn’t help much either. This is not to say that I dislike mushrooms, on the contrary, I am a mushroom fearing person but as a young person cultivated mushrooms were where it was at. Unfortunately this story isn’t about the wild mushrooms of my childhood, but instead the humble Cremini.

In case you notice any side effects not listed above, contact your doctor purchasing cialis or pharmacist. Men’s body goes into regular physical reaction due to pill then immediately talk to the doctor and he can analyze the progress report with lowest price for tadalafil . Just check with your doctor and purchase viagra online find out the best possible arrangement. These two herbal pills boost testosterone and ensure hormonal balance. viagra on sale cheapest This tale begins about two weeks ago when early one evening I received a text from Ginger. I believe it went a little like this “Are you going to Deb’s book signing”. I’m sure that some of you keeners know exactly what she was talking about. But me, not so much. I will interject the fact that I am really bad with names. After a little back and forth it became clear that Deb was “The Deb” from Smitten Kitchen and her book tour was stopping at my neighbourhood bookstore. Somehow I had missed this small detail. Truth be told Smitten Kitchen was really my first foray into cooking blogs. I have tackled many a recipe from the blog and was totally delighted by the notion of meeting “The Deb” in-person. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity to go to the book signing!

On the big night I some how I managed to coax Scott into coming along with me and we headed out to the store only to join about 150 other like-minded people who also wanted to meet Deb too. Unfortunately for me most of those 150 people had shown up early or at least earlier than me! After spending two hours waiting in line I had my signed book in hand and was rushing home to begin examining the pages and planning the next meal I was going to make. And then I found it: Mushroom bourguignon. I’m not going to share the recipe with you or give you my adapted version; I’m just going to suggest that you march right down to your neighbourhood bookstore and pickup a copy of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook for yourself. So far I have made 3 or 4 recipes out of the book and nothing has disappointed. What I love most about this cookbook is that the recipes are totally approachable and you can tell that all the food was cooked in the Smitten Kitchen. No elaborate setup, just delicious food, charming words and lovely images. So glad I got to meet you Deb and thank you for the lovely cookbook!

In the heart of winter, I just want to hunker down inside and get cozy. Sometimes that might be a warm cup of tea in the afternoon or a toasty pair of wool sock and slippers as I pad around the house. Whatever the case may be, I must be talking about this idea a fair bit as my son has taken up the cry. I know it is just a two-year-old’s stalling technique as he hollers from his bedroom that he needs another blanket to be cozy, but it’s just too cute not to oblige.

This week we had snow. I’ve been waiting for a bit of the white stuff for some time now. And that big winter storm that covered the Pacific Northwest a few days ago promised to deliver. What followed was a wee bit more messy – snow, freezing rain, ice and then slush. And in the end, it seemed a little bit more treacherous than your typical snow day should be. But I made the most of it with a little quality driveway snow shoveling and some baking to keep us all cozy and fed on a winter afternoon.

Sometimes a winter snack calls for something with a little most substance. Something that stands up to a quick dip into my hot chocolate. These biscotti fit the bill for me. There is even a little crunch of cornmeal that makes me feel all the more healthy for adding it in. And depending what I’m in the mood for, I can make them as healthy as I like. Almonds and cranberries make a nice festive cookie. As would pistachios and cranberries. Chopped dark chocolate plays to their cookie sensibilities. And dark chocolate and orange peel sounds enticing.

I like the dry, crunchy texture of this biscotti. Even the dry shower of crumbs that they always leave behind. And not that they ever end up sitting around for long, but they taste just as good on day one as they do several days later. So a little tin of these biscotti is always welcome around the espresso machine in these parts. Sometimes they will even stand in for a little breakfast tie-over while brunch is in the works. But whatever the occasion, these biscotti always seem to bring the right level of coziness to any snack.

Almond Biscotti

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Lenox Almond Biscotti in Baking

I’ve made this recipe dozens of times with many variations. It may not be authentic, but someone at my house loves chocolate! Dark chocolate chunks and almonds are a pretty addictive combination. The sky is the limit, but I’d try to keep my additions to about 1 cup in total. And since all that chocolate sweetens up the dough, I often reduce the sugar a little as well.

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

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1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup chocolate, chips or chopped your choice

Heat your oven to 350 F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the cornmeal and whisk to combine.

Working with a stand mixure, or hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar for about three minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs and continue to beat for another two minutes, scrapping the bowl as needed, until the mixture is light, smooth and creamy. Beat in the almond extract. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only enough to combine. You’ll have a very soft dough. Scrape the bowl and beaters to clean and gently stir in the almonds and chocolate.

Scrape half of the dough onto one side of the prepared baking sheet. Using your fingers and perhaps a rubber spatula, work the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Sometimes a little water on your finger tips works well too. The log does not have to be perfect. Form a second log on the other side of the pan.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the logs are lightly golden and still soft to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool the logs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes. If you turn off the oven, bring it back to 350 as you prepare the next step.

Using a wide spatula, transfer the logs to a cutting board and trim the ends of the logs. They make a perfect snack at this point! Cut the logs into 3/4-inch-thick slices and return to the baking sheet and the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden and firm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Enjoy!

Like virtually everyone in the world I have comfort zones. Rules that I live by: I don’t touch raw meat, I certainly do not wear the shorts over tights look, and my home is always in a state of controlled chaos. Every line was crossed this week.

It all started when I turned down Scott’s offer to trim and cube the beef that I was planning to stew for a dinner we were having the next day. I should have realized that saying no to his offer would mean I would have to do it myself! I had decided to make My Go-To- Beef Daube by Dorie Greenspan, you can find the recipe in her cookbook Around My French Table.

I am the product of a vegetarian home. As a kid, we occasionally had turkey at Grandmas for Thanksgiving and Christmas. There was also that one very out of the ordinary occasion when grandma went out with the dog and grandpa’s rifle and shot a Christmas duck! And once in a blue moon my mom would come upstairs from the deep freeze with a couple of drum sticks and say she wanted fried chicken the way her mom made it. So, to say that I’m uncomfortable with raw meat would be the understatement of the year.

Last Saturday morning I could be found in the kitchen bemoaning the fact that I was stuck cutting the meat to Ginger who had graciously joined me with a bottle of rose via facetime from Paris.  What I wouldn’t have given to switch places with her! By the way, I would recommend that you run out and get Around My French Table and make that Beef Daube because it was fantastic, if I do say so myself.

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Now what about all those other insane little rules you maybe thinking. Well, on Monday I pulled out a pair of dressy charcoal short, black leggings and a pair of suede boots and marched right out the front door without even a second thought. On Tuesday chaos tipped the scale and the house became a disaster zone! 20 minutes before work I was scurrying around the house trying to tidy, moving things come one room to another and prepping dinner. Things ended badly with me nearly cutting off my finger.

Today I am about to cross the biggest thickest line of them all. I am kind of a private person. I have always felt that creativity is personal. Maybe I’m a little secretive or just don’t like having to explain myself or deal with critic. But most of my projects take place around the kitchen table and are only shared with a few people. Here I am laying it all out on the table, sharing my thoughts & ideas, my history & future and my life I guess. What was I thinking!

Now for some breakfast.