Caramel Apples
Recipe by Dragon

Happy Halloween Everyone! I've had fun with the #GreatHallowTweet Halloween BlogHop this week. Thank you Renee, from Flamingo Musings, for coming up with such a fun theme. Don't forget to visit my fellow ghouls and goblins to see what evil treats they've come up with.

To celebrate this most unholy day, I have made Caramel Apples for you. Enjoy!

Makes: 4

Ingredients:
20 Werther’s Original Chewy Caramels, unwrapped
20 Werther's Original Hard Candy, unwrapped
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 granny smith apples, washed, dried
4 popsicle sticks

Assorted garnishes (candies, nuts, crushed cookies) (optional)

Directions:

1.Insert the popsicle sticks into the stem end of each apple.

2.Combine candies, milk and vanilla in glass bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals until the caramel is melted. Stir with a wooden spoon after each 30 second interval.

3.Dip apples into melted caramel until evenly coated. Allow excess caramel to drip off. Scrape bottoms of apples, dip the apples in the garnishes for decoration. (optional). You may have microwave the caramel again after a couple of apples.

4. Refrigerate at 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Let it sit a room temperature for 10 minutes before serving. Store leftover apples in refrigerator.

Spiced Pumpkin Stew with Couscous

Spiced Pumpkin Stew with Couscous
Recipe by Dragon

And the #GreatHallowTweet continues with, you guessed it, more pumpkin! This is a wonderful vegetarian fall dinner and it's even better the next day. Enjoy.

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 cups fresh pumpkin, peeled, seeded, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3 cups baby spinach
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Salt and pepper to taste

Couscous:
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup couscous

Directions:
1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pan. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, paprika,coriander, cumin and red pepper flakes. Cook for another 5 minutes.

2. Add the pumpkin and chickpeas. Bring to a simmer and cook partially covered until the pumpkin is tender, about 20 minutes. Add the cranberries and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick.

3. Stir in the baby spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. For the couscous: In a glass bowl, combine the boiling water and couscous. Cover the bowl tightly with some plastic wrap. Set aside for 5 minutes or until the water is absorbed by the couscous. Fluff the couscous with a fork before serving.

5. Serve the stew over the couscous and top with the sliced almonds.

Macarons

Macarons

It's Daring Bakers time again and this month we have Macarons! I've always admired these little darlings and now I've made some myself. I'm so hooked that I can't wait to experiment with different flavour combinations.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

According to Ami.....

"In the United States, the term macaroon generally refers to a cookie made primarily of coconut. But European macaroons are based on either ground almonds or almond paste, combined with sugar and egg whites. The texture can run from chewy, crunchy or a combination of the two. Frequently, two macaroons are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or jam, which can cause the cookies to become more chewy. The flavor possibilities and combinations are nigh endless, allowing infinitely customizable permutations."

I chose to make chocolate macarons with a creamy bittersweet chocolate ganache center. I also added a bit more almond to the batter to make them stiffer. This way I was able to use a star tip to create the spiderweb-like pattern on the cookie. I did this to celebrate this week's #GreatHallowTweet event leading up to Halloween. (see the post below for more details)

To birds with one stone.....yeah, I'm clever like that. :)

Macarons
Recipe by Claudia Fleming

Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)
2 Tablespoons of dutch cocoa powder (my addition)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar, almond flour and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.

4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.

5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).

6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

7. Cool on a rack before filling.

#GreatHallowTweet Halloween BlogHop

#GreatHallowTweet Halloween BlogHop

Welcome to the #GreatHallowTweet Halloween BlogHop. This was the brain child of the fabulous Renee at Flamingo Musings. During this week leading up to Halloween a devilish group of bloggers are causing mayheim and carnage all over the interwebs. My kind of people. ;)

Be sure to visit my fellow ghouls and goblins and see what Halloween treats they have cooking.
(The list is the under Great Hallow column on the left panel.)


Pumpkin Pie
Recipe by Stephanie Jaworski of Joyofbaking.com

When I think of Halloween, I think of pumpkins. But would you believe that I have never made a pumpkin pie. Really, I hardly believed it myself. :) So when I had my family's thanksgiving dinner this year, I set out to make my first one.

But what pumpkin pie recipe to choose? There are so many out there. For the solution, I went to my Twitter friends and asked them for their favourite recipe. They didn't fail me. One friend sent me to Joyofbaking.com for Stephanie Jaworski's pie recipe. It looked amazing and it called for maple syrup whipped cream! I was sold.

It was an easy recipe to make and the end result was absolute perfection. My brother declared it the best pumpkin pie he ever had. High praise indeed. :)

Ingredients:
Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry)

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces
1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) ice water

Pumpkin Filling

3 large eggs
2 cups fresh pumpkin puree or 1 - 15 ounce can (425 grams) pure pumpkin
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Maple Whipped Cream

1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Pate Brisee: In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup (30 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour.

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface, and roll into a 13 inch (33 cm) circle. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards).) Fold the dough in half and gently transfer to a 9 inch (23 cm) pie pan. Brush off any excess flour and tuck the overhanging pastry under itself. Use a fork to make a decorative border. Alternatively, you can trim the pastry to the edge of the pie pan. With the remaining pastry make decorative cut-outs (leaves, pumpkins, etc.) and with a little water, attach them around the lip of the pie pan. Refrigerate the pastry, covered with plastic wrap, for about 30 minutes before pouring in the filling.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in bottom third of the oven.

Make the Pumpkin Filling: In a large bowl lightly whisk the eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and place on a large baking pan to catch any spills. Bake the pie for about 45 to 55 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust has browned (the center will still look wet). (A knife inserted about 1 inch (2.54 cm) from side of pan will come out almost clean.)

Place the baked pie on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature with maple whipped cream. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

Make the Maple Whipped Cream:

Place the heavy whipping cream and maple syrup in bowl of your electric mixer. With the whisk attachment, whip the cream until soft peaks form.

Under the Weather

Under the weather....

As some of you already know, my health has been an issue for the past few months. My immune system seems incapable of fending off the least little bug going around. My doctor, my colleagues, my friends (and most adamantly, my mother) have prescribed rest. I am taking their advice and will be scaling back activities for a little while.

I have a few posting commitments that I will continue to honour, but over the coming weeks I will be posting less frequently. I appreciate your understanding, support and patience. You're always welcome in my Kitchen.

Dragon drawing courtesy of the fabulous and talented Bodacious Girl

xo,
Dragon

Puff Pastry And Vols-au-vent Filled With Cinnamon Pastry Cream

Puff Pastry And Vols-au-vent Filled With Cinnamon Pastry Cream

Get out your rolling pins, it's Daring Bakers time again. This month we've made puff pastry!

The September 2009 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

I love puff pastry and I use it quite a bit for both sweet and savoury dishes. It always make an impressive looking dish. I, however, have never even thought of making my own puff pastry. I've heard chef after chef saying don't bother making your own puff pastry, just buy it at the store. It left me thinking puff pastry was impossible to make. So thank you Steph for "forcing" me to try it. :)

Puff pastry does take a lot of time to make but the steps are fairly easy. I won't lie to you, there is an awful lot of butter in this recipe. OMG - the butter, but what you end up with is layers and layers of flaky melt in your mouth goodness. As Julia Child used to say, "Everything in moderation, including moderation."

The puff pastry is used to create vols-au-vent, which are little puff pastry cases designed to hold a filling. I decided to create a sweet filling for my vols-au-vent as I was taking them to share at a birthday party. I filled them with a cinnamon pastry cream. I topped the luscious cream with sliced peaches, mint and a dusting of cinnamon. Sweet, sophisticated and oh so good.

The recipes for the puff pastry and vols-au-vent are a little long, here’s a printable link to the recipe for both. Steph was also able to find an online video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia”. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough. It's quite entertaining.

Thank you Steph for a great challenge and I encourage all of you to give it a try. Be daring!

Cinnamon Pastry Cream
Adapted from the Titanic Kitchen

Ingredients:
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:
1. In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/4 cup of the sugar for 2 minutes or until pale yellow. Adding flour in 3 additions, stir until well mixed.

2. In a saucepan, heat the milk, remaining sugar and cinnamon sticks over medium heat, stiring often until the sugar is dissolved and small bubbles begin to form around the edges of the pot. Stiring constantly, pour about 1/3 of the milk mixture into egg mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Pour egg mixture into remaining milk and cook, stiring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, stiring, until mixture begins to mound and hold its shape; remove from heat.

3. Stir in butter and remove the cinnamon sticks. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the custard and cool to room temperature.

4. Beat whipping cream until stiff; add a large dollop of cream to the cooled pastry cream and fold in; add remaning whipped cream and fold in until almost combined. Place in the refrigerator until completely chilled.

My Last Supper

Update: Last night I had the most amazing dinner with some friends. We all love food and we ended up talking about what we wanted as our last meal. My answers are still the same as they were a year ago when I wrote this post. How about you? What would your last supper be like?

My Last Supper
50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals
Portraits, Interviews and Recipes
Author: Melanie Dunea

What would you want to eat for your final meal? That is one of the questions Melanie Dunea asked each of the 50 famous chefs in her book. Some of the chefs included Anthony Bourdain, Thomas Keller, Mario Batalli and Lidia Bastianich, just to name four. The answers Dunea received might surprise you. The meals ranged from a simple BLT sandwich to a decadent Roman style feast.

This book is a wonderful read and it sparked a great conversation with my friends about what our final meals would entail. I asked each person the 6 questions in the book and I ended up learning a lot about my friends.

Here are my answers.

1) What would be your last meal on earth?

I would want a long, relaxed and eclectic meal that consisted of all my favourite foods. Foods I grew up with. Foods I've discovered along the way. Nothing overly complicated and fussy, just great tasting food.

I'd start with simple sushi rolls followed by some Har Gow which are Chinese shrimp and ginger dumplings. Next I would want some Calde Verde, a Portuguese soup I grew up with and still love. Following the soup would be a home made gnocchi served with a sage and brown butter sauce. Next I'd want lobster, broiled and stuffed with shallots, mushrooms and herbs. Of course the lobster would be topped with melted butter. I'd follow the lobster with a roast pork loin served with green beans and a warm, creamy potato puree. Next, a cheese & fruit plate consisting of sharp and creamy cheeses, my favourite fruit (berries, peaches, pineapple, figs and mango) and an old Port. For dessert I'd want something creamy and chocolaty; my chocolate mousse. I would end the meal with some rich coffee and chocolate truffles.

2) What would the setting be for the meal?

I would want my final meal to take place by the ocean. I envision a long wooden table and comfortable chairs on a deck overlooking the ocean. A cloth canopy would protect us from the sun and the fabric would flow in the wind. The table would be set simply and adorned with fragrant white and pink peony flowers.

3) What woud you drink with your meal?

I would want Portuguese wine. Everything from a fresh Vinho Verde wine to aged tawny Port.

4) Would there be music?

Of course there would be music. There would be a piano and somebody would bring a guitar. The song list would include all my favourite songs and my guests would join in the singing.

5) Who would be your dining companions?

I would want all the people I love to be there with me. Good thing it's a long dining table.

6) Who would prepare the meal?

I'd want all the wonderful cooks in my life to help me prepare the meal. My Mom & Dad, my Aunts and my friends.

There you have it, Dragon's last supper.

How about you? What would your last supper be like?

Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge: No 9. Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

Each week (or so) I will be making a bread recipe from Peter Reinhart’s wonderful book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. The nineth recipe in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge is Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread.

Growing up it was always a real treat when my mom brought cinnamon raisn bread home. I loved it toasted and smeared with butter. There were times, when I'd go through half a loaf in one day. When my mom asked about it, I blamed it on my brothers. :)

This was my first time making this bread on my own. I made one loaf with the walnuts and one without. I liked the flavour of the walnuts in this bread but I didn't like the texture. I prefer the soft bread that I remembered from my childhood.

This is a wonderful recipe and I know I'll be making this bread over and over again.

Show some love to the other challenge participants of this challenge.

Up next: Corn Bread!

Sweet Potato and Beet Lollipops

Sweet Potato and Beet Lollipops
Adapted from Matt Dunigan

Serves: 6-8

If your kids won't eat their veggies, give these a try. No kid, big or small, can resist a lollipop. I made these for a Hawaiian themed BBQ this past weekend. This is not exactly a Hawaiian recipe but I wanted a side dish that was colourful and sunny. Well, just look at them; sunshine on a skewer. Everyone, big and small, loved them. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 large sweet potatoes
3 large red beets
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup lemon juice
zest of one lemon
2 teaspoon finely grated ginger
1/2 tablespoon lemon verbena, chopped
1 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
12 long bamboo sticks soaked in cool water for 30 minutes

Directions:

1. Place the sweet potatoes in salted water to boil for 10 -15 minutes. The potatoes should still be slightly firm. Place the beets in unsalted water and boil for 15-20 minutes. Remove and cool. Once cool peel the skin from beets and potatoes.

2. Slice the potatoes and beets into ½ inch rounds. Try to keep them all the same thickness so that they cook in the same amount of time.

3. Skewer two sweet potatoes and 1 beet per soaked stick and make sure that the top of the stick is covered by the vegetables to prevent burning. Drizzle both sides with oil and season with salt and pepper.

4. To the melted butter add honey, lemon juice, zest, ginger and lemon verbena. Stir to combine.

5. Preheat the barbeque to medium low heat about 275-300F. Oil the grates to help prevent sticking. Place a long sheet of foil (slightly smaller than the length of the bamboo skewer) from back to front on the grill.

6. Place the pops on the grill with the bamboo handles of the skewers resting over the foil to prevent them from burning. Grill for 5-6 minutes per side or until nice golden crispy char marks are achieved.

7. Baste both sides with the lemon butter dressing while the pops are cooking. Remove from grill and serve with extra lemon butter dressing if desired.

Cinnamon Buns

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge: No 8. Cinnamon Buns

Each week (or so) I will be making a bread recipe from Peter Reinhart’s wonderful book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. The eighth recipe in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge is Cinnamon Buns.

I made these Cinnamon Buns for my co-workers on my birthday back in August. I got to tell you, I loved working with this dough. It was soft, pliable and easy to work with. As much as I love the dough, these were not my favourite cinnamon buns. They weren't gooey enough. I followed the recipe but I think next time I'll add more butter, sugar and cinnamon in the filling.

The icing consistency was great but the taste missed the mark. The recipe said to use lemon extract. After using it for the first time, I've decided that I don't like lemon extract. It smelled like Lemon Pledge and it gave the icing an artificial taste. I think lemon juice would have tasted better. This cinnamon bun recipe could be a winner for me with just a few changes. I'll definitely try it again.

Be sure to check out what the other challenge participants have done.

Next bread: Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread!