As mentioned in my previous post, I loves me some lemon. Lemon curd is one of my favorite things to spread on toast, dollop on scones, stir into plain Greek yogurt (or layer with granola in a dessert-for-breakfast parfait), or just eat straight off a spoon. It’s also darn good in a tart shell or as a Danish filling, which is the reason I came across this particular incarnation.
Greek yogurt, lemon curd, and granola parfait
Remember my resolution to use my cookbooks more? Yeah, it hasn’t been going so well (maybe that’s why I usually avoid making resolutions), unless you count the fact that I’ve been making these black bean burritos pretty much on a weekly basis since I got the Dinner: A Love Story cookbook. (And yes, I needed another cookbook like I need a hole in the head. It’s a problem hobby!) Continue reading
Sometimes the weirdest-sounding combinations turn out to be much better than expectedt. I once had a pizza topped with cilantro pesto, apples, pecans, and smoked mozzarella, which I thought would be totally weird, but was actually very very good. The other day I happened to have corn tortillas, cheese, and cilantro in the fridge, an apple in the fruit bowl, and pecans in the baking cupboard, and I figured that a quesadilla is sort of like a Mexican pizza, right? Continue reading
Just a quick note to say that I have another guest post on the SeaChange blog: Salad Lyonnaise with Candied Salmon. In addition to the candied salmon, there’s golden fried garlic, buttery toasted croutons, and a perfectly poached egg. I think it’s a good one – go check it out and let me know what you think. 
I have a new blog crush… which is kind of an old blog crush, actually. I discovered Dinner with Julie when I first started this blog (the recipe for Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps, one of my very first posts, came from there) but somehow lost track of it in the onslaught of new food blog discoveries that followed. I’m happy to report that I rediscovered Julie’s blog and I want to make everything on it. I also want to host a pierogy bee (who’s in?). Continue reading
I know we’re still a few months away from tomato season, but I couldn’t resist. Which is odd because I don’t actually like raw tomatoes very much: I really want to, but there’s something about the texture and sometimes watery taste (I think?) that puts me off. However, roasting magically changes both of those things and turns them into super flavourful little tomato bombs. Continue reading
This is something I’ve been meaning to do for years. I’ve made pasta before, but it was using my Mum’s pasta roller, which means I was still living with my parents, which means it was a loooong time ago. Somehow rolling pasta out by hand just seemed too daunting. But then a while back I read Greg’s post about making pasta by hand and it didn’t seem quite so intimidating. Continue reading
One of the truly great taste combinations is mushrooms and cheese, so it is a no-brainer to put them together on a pizza. What is not a no-brainer is making mushroom pesto to put on the pizza instead of tomato sauce. That is brilliant. Another brilliant thing is to roast the mushrooms in the oven before making them into pesto. How have I never roasted mushrooms before? The smells coming out of the oven while they were roasting were just incredible. Continue reading
In general, one of the draws of cooking and baking at home is that whatever you make usually ends up being less expensive than if you’d bought it at the store. Unfortunately, this mayonnaise, made with avocado oil and Meyer lemons, turned out to be exactly the opposite of that: much much more expensive than any mayonnaise I would ever buy at the store.
Quite a while ago, I got it into my head to make mayonnaise with avocado oil and Meyer lemon after my uncle posted about it on his blog – it just sounded so good – and then when I finally got around to making it and discovered that a little bottle of avocado oil is fifteen dollars (!!), I was already committed. Sometimes I get overly gung-ho about a project.
Luckily, avocado oil is not a compulsory ingredient, and you could make this mayonnaise with any kind of mildly-flavoured vegetable oil. Next time I will probably use grape seed oil, and I anticipate that the results will be just as good. For that matter, any variety of lemon – Meyer or otherwise – would also work, but in this case, Meyer lemons add a nice light perfume to the mayonnaise. Regardless of the ingredients you use, homemade mayo is super easy to make and is great on a sandwich, wonderful for dipping roast potatoes, and makes awesome egg or chicken salad.
In a blender jar (immersion blender or otherwise), combine the following in order:
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (2 tbsp if using Meyer lemons)
1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup mildly-flavoured vegetable oil (avocado oil if you’re feeling extravagant)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Blend until thick and creamy.
Stir in:
1-2 tsp lemon zest (optional)
Store in an airtight jar in the fridge. Slather on anything you want to make more delicious.
I know it’s about three months late to be posting a recipe for using up Christmas turkey, but I’ve had some turkey leftovers languishing in my freezer just begging to be made into a pie. Who am I to refuse such a request? This pie will not only make your house smell fantastic, but its comfort food mix of turkey, roasted root vegetables, and biscuits will make a dreary mid-winter day seem less so!
I chose to top this pie with biscuits because they are easy and good for soaking up gravy, but it would be equally tasty with your favorite pie crust in place of the biscuits (make it a single or double crust – your choice). If you go the pie crust route, I recommend working some parmesan and black pepper into it – it’s a great combination.
In a medium bowl, stir together:
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
large pinch of salt
With a pastry cutter, cut it:
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter
Blend until the butter is in pea-sized chunks. Add:
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
Toss the parmesan into the butter-flour mixture, then make a well in the center and add:
3/4 cup cold milk
With a fork, stir in the milk with as few strokes as possible, using a folding motion to blend in the flour from the bottom of the bowl. It should just come together in a shaggy, sticky dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it gently 2 – 3 times to gather it all together. Pat it out into a rectangular shape and fold it in thirds like a letter.
Pat it down again into a rectangle and repeat. After the second fold, shape the dough into a circle and pat it out into a 7-inch round. Cut it into 8 wedges with a sharp knife, using a straight downward cutting motion (this will help the cut edge rise up and be flaky).
Transfer the wedges to a lightly floured plate, cover them with plastic, and refrigerate while you make the filling.
Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Chop the following into 1/2 inch chunks:
2 medium carrots (about 1 cup)
2 medium parsnips (about 1 cup)
4 – 5 button mushrooms (about 1 cup)
1 large or 2 small leeks, white part only (about 1 1/2 cups – wash them very well!)
Spread the vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet and toss with:
a few tablespoons of olive oil
generous salt and pepper
Roast the vegetables for 20 – 25 minutes, stirring halfway through, until softened and starting to brown.
Meanwhile, prepare the gravy. In a large pan over medium heat, melt:
2 tbsp unsalted butter
When it foams, add:
2 heaping tbsp all purpose flour
Whisk and cook for a few minutes, until it starts to smell nutty.
While whisking constantly, slowly pour in:
2 cups chicken or turkey stock
It will seem very thin and watery but will thicken up when it reaches a boil. Raise the heat to medium-high to bring it to a boil and thicken, then reduce back down to medium-low.
Season to taste with:
a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce
~ 1 tbsp soy sauce (less if using salted stock)
~ 1 – 2 tsp Marmite
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
Worchestershire, soy sauce, and Marmite are my fail-safe ingredients for awesome gravy. They add great umami taste as well as saltiness, and they give the gravy a beautiful rich, dark colour. Marmite weirds some people out, but it is killer in gravy.
Remove the gravy from the heat. To make it a bit creamy (totally optional), stir in:
2 tbsp sour cream or cream cheese
Mix into the gravy:
the roasted vegetables (straight from the oven, preferably)
3 – 4 cups of chopped cooked turkey
Pour the whole thing into a 9-inch pie plate.
Top it with the chilled biscuits and brush them with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp water).
Bake the pie at 425˚F for 20-25 minutes, until the gravy is bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown and puffed. Let it cool for just a few minutes before serving.
