Pizza Dough

February 20, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

This recipe was posted to go along with the Breakfast Pizza, but obviously it can be used as a base for any kind of pizza!

Pizza Dough

Originally this dough was for grilled barbequed pizza, but I’ve modified it to bake in the oven. This version is half of the original recipe, so feel free to double it (FYI, 1 cup + 2 tbsp doubled is 2 1/4 cups). Makes 1/2 lb of dough, enough for tw0 8 to 10-inch pizzas. Adapted from Everyday Food magazine, July/August 2010, Issue 74, page 96. Original recipe available here.

1/2 cup warm tap water

1/2 tsp honey

1 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 cup + 2 tbsp bread flour or all purpose flour (I usually sub in 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)

Pour warm tap water into a medium bowl (water should be quite warm – almost bath water warm). Stir in the honey and sprinkle with yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy (my yeast usually ends up looking more sludgey than foamy, but it still works fine!).

Whisk olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture. Add flour and mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until it comes together in an elastic ball. Transfer to an oiled medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size. Punch down, cover, and let rise another 30 minutes while you prepare the pizza toppings. (Alternatively, let rise overnight in the refrigerator, remove from the fridge, punch down, then allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before proceeding.)

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 equal pieces. Let rest for a few minutes before using.

Stretch and roll dough to desired shape, add toppings, and bake on parchment paper in a preheated 500˚ F oven for about 10 minutes, until bottom of dough is golden brown.

Sunday Roast Chicken & Gravy

February 20, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 5 Comments

Last weekend, Nate bought me a car stereo as an early Valentine’s present, and he and Sam installed in on Sunday. I made a roast chicken dinner for them to show my appreciation – nothing like comfort food to say “thank you”!

There are a bazillion different methods for roasting a chicken, and this one is a pretty standard variation: start with a high heat, turn it down slightly when the bird goes is, rub the skin with oil to make it crispy, season the outside and stuff the cavity with aromatics. I have found that best roasting vessel is a large cast iron frying pan with the chicken on a circular rack, because that way you can simply remove the chicken and rack from the pan and use it to make gravy, without losing any of the drippings or pan juices.

What makes a roast chicken special is the gravy, and I can confidently say that I make a mean gravy. Mostly I owe this to my Dad, whose secret ingredient in chicken and turkey gravy used to be finely chopped dried, salted, Chinese blackbeans. I know that sounds totally weird and gross, but the salty, umami flavour that they imparted to the gravy was SO GOOD. I’ve taken that idea and run with it, only now my secret ingredients are soy sauce, Marmite, Worchestershire sauce, and balsamic vinegar instead of black beans. The soy sauce adds saltiness and umami and more flavour than just salt would. It also adds colour, which I think is just as important as flavour – a nice, rich, brown gravy is way more appetizing to me than a pale, thin-looking one. The Marmite also adds a bit of salt and a meaty, almost yeasty flavour. Even if you don’t like Marmite, you will like what it does for gravy. Worchestershire is a pretty standard ingredient and adds good flavour, but be careful not to add too much, as it can be overpowering. My uncle Mike gave me the idea of adding a small amount of balsamic vinegar to the gravy at the end, to brighten the flavours and cut through the richness with a touch of acidity.

The most important thing to remember when making gravy is to keep tasting it and to add liquid and seasonings in small amounts, as it is always easier to add more than it is to subtract!…

Second Saturday: Cider Tasting at Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse

February 15, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 3 Comments

Please excuse the bad quality of the photos – they were taken with my cell phone!

Second Saturday is a “club” consisting of my friends Lynette, Katheryn, Tangle, and I, where we go out somewhere for drinks and food every second Saturday of the month (hence the name).

This weekend I went on a Second Saturday outing to a cider tasting at Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, a local cidery in Sidney. Tangle was unable to join us – she was busy doing a show with her puppetry troupe, Entangled Puppetry – so it was just Katheryn, Lynette, and myself.

Lynette managed to score a sweet deal on the cider tasting from Groupon.com, which included nine samples of cider, a platter of local cheese, meats, preserves, and bread to compliment the cider samples, hot buttered Rumrunner cider (yum!), and a bottle of your choice of cider. It was awesome, and would still be totally worth going even without the deal – the full flight of nine cider samples is only $16 regularly, and it was enough for all three of us to get a good taste of all nine. And it was delicious, of course!

Honey cured smoked salmon from Sointula, local cheddar and Natural Pastures Comox Camembert, Galloping Goose Co. sausage, blueberry cider preserve, black olive tapenade, bread from The Roost, and dark chocolate

The ciders we tasted can be found here, in order from driest to sweetest. The first two, Flagship and Wild English, were both “ultra dry” and champagne-like, and none of us were big fans – they didn’t have a lot of apple-y flavour (at least not to our uneducated palates!). Kings & Spies and Pippins were slightly sweeter, less dry, and had more cider taste. Katheryn liked Kings & Spies, and I liked Pippins, but again, not our favorites.

Cider is exciting!

Then we had the Bramble Bubbly, a seasonal cider made with apples and blackberries. This was Katheryn’s favorite, although she swore it tasted like cranberries rather than blackberries. I could taste (and smell) blackberry, but not so much the berries themselves as the blackberry canes – you know the smell of blackberry brambles in the hot summer sun? That was what the cider tasted like. Incredible!

Katheryn and the Bramble Bubbly

Next was the Rumrunner, which is aged in rum barrels. It was seriously delicious – it had sort of caramely toffee notes and just enough sweetness. It was the cider used to make the hot buttered cider – Rumrunner, mulling spices, and butter (recipe here). Awesome!! We all had this one down as a favorite, and Lynette ended up taking it home as her free bottle.

Hot buttered Rumrunner – cheers!

The sweetest ciders started with Cyser, fermented with honey. It had almost a buttery, nutty taste that was amazing. Another favorite all round! The last two were more apératif or liqueur-style ciders. Pommeau was 18% alcohol and tasted like apple scotch or whiskey – it had the smoky taste as well as the alcohol taste. I managed to sip it without making a (really bad) face, whereas Lynette and Katheryn both threw this one back, tequila style. Not one of our favorites. The final cider was Pomona, which was like a desert or ice wine. It was delicious and syrupy, and would have been fantastic over ice cream. Again, a favorite for all of us.

Cast iron chandeliers and vaulted ceiling in the tasting room

As I said above, this tasting would be a great way to spend an afternoon, even without the deal. The cider was delicious (and even when it wasn’t to our liking, it was interesting and fun), the food was yummy (and locally sourced), and the tasting room was beautiful: vaulted ceilings, big cast iron chandeliers, long rustic trestle tables, and windows looking out over the fields and water. I will definitely put this on my list of “things to do again”!

Macarons from Paris

February 13, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 1 Comment

My aunt recently spent a month in Paris (lucky!), and she sent me a box of culinary goodies, the contents of which included some crystallized sugar, sea salt “pearls” (which apparently form naturally into these large, pea-sized balls – I’m not too sure what to do with them, but they’re cool!), green tea “dust” for sprinkling on baked goods, and – drumroll! – French macarons.

For those of you unfamiliar with the macaron, it is essentially an almond meringue petit four sandwich cookie, made of ground almonds, icing sugar, egg whites, and a delicious filling. The outside is crunchy, the inside is slightly soft and moist, and it all melts deliciously on the tongue. Macarons come in as many flavour and filling combinations as you could possibly think of, from ketchup (yes, ketchup!) to pistachio to chocolate. They are an essential French pastry, and I don’t think I have had one since I was in Paris myself 9 years ago. They were pretty much my favorite part of the trip, and as I mentioned, they come in almost every flavour imaginable, so there is no way you can get tired of them. Or, at least, I can’t.

Anyway. The macarons sent by my aunt were from Ladurée, a French tea salon that also has stores in London, Switzerland, Monaco, and Tokyo (just in case you are ever in those areas of the world and are craving a French macaron). The flavours in the box were Chocolate, Caramel with Salted Butter, Rose, and either Raspberry or Blackcurrant Violet – I’m not sure which. Despite the fact that they were a tiny bit stale and a tiny bit crumbly from being mailed, they were delicious. The Caramel was devine – the salted butter was just the right note against the sweet and toasty caramel flavour – and I also really liked the Raspberry/Blackcurrant Violet one – it was the most amazing purple colour. The Rose was interesting – I bit into it thinking it would be strawberry, and then got this floral aroma on my tongue that took me a minute to place, as rose isn’t usually something you taste. And the Chocolate… well, I love chocolate. That’s about all that needs to be said.

Oh, and did I mention that I’m still doing this 30 days of no refined sugar thing? Yeah, that went out the window for the macarons. They wouldn’t keep for another week (when the 30 day challenge ends), and there was no way I wasn’t going to eat them!

There are tons of websites and blog posts dedicated to perfecting the art of the macaron, which apparently can be quite tricky. David Lebovitz has an extensive resource list for macaron making on his blog, along with a delicious-sounding recipe for chocolate macarons. My trusted friend Martha also has a basic recipe with several flavour variations (such as saffron with chocolate ganache, black tea with sweet mango filling, pistachio with orange floswer cream, and chocolate with lavendar ganache) in the 2010 Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies magazine. So there is lots of inspiration floating around…

I’m planning on making them myself some day. Stay tuned.

Christmas Baking 2010 – Part II

February 10, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

Hazelnut Shortbread – triangular cookie on the left

As promised is Part I, here is the recipe for Hazelnut Shortbread. As I said previously, this cookie has a beautiful crumbly texture, great hazelnut flavour, and is not overly sweet at all. It may have been my favorite cookie this year.

Again, when baking shortbread, using real unsalted butter is a must. Because there are so few ingredients, butter really plays a starring role, and the flavour will be worth it.

The original recipe directs you to press the dough into two 8-inch cake pans and then score into wedges. I wanted to yield more, smaller cookies, so I shaped the dough into a triangular log, stuck it in the fridge until firm, cut it into slices, and sprinkled each one with raw sugar. The baking time was shorter as well, but I can’t remember exactly how long I baked them for. I would start checking for doneness after about 10 minutes.

…

Wing Wednesday at Christie’s Carriage House Pub

February 10, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 4 Comments

This evening Sam, Nate, and I went to Christie’s Carriage House Pub for wings and beer. We were worried that it would be super busy because not only was it Wing Wednesday, there was also a Canucks game on, but we got there around 6 and there was plenty of room.

Christie’s has good wings. I already knew that, but this visit cemented it. We had several flavours going on: sweet Thai chili (deliciously sticky and sweet with a chili kick), Saharan dry (crisp and spicy with a peppery dry rub), Blue Boy (hot sauce and blue cheese together in mouth-watering harmony) and teriyaki, which I didn’t taste but I’m sure was just as good as the others. So 10/10 on the wings.

So as to be slightly healthy along with my chicken wing binge, I ordered a small green salad. Often a salad in a pub is a sad thing, but this one was pretty good. The salad greens were crisp and fresh (romaine plus some spring-mix-ish leaves), the cucumber slice was not too unwieldy (I hate it when they hide a 3-inch long slice of cuke in the middle of a perfectly good salad), the carrot was freshly grated, and the pickled beet slivers on top were a nice touch, as were the dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds. I have a feeling that the sundried tomato dressing was not made in-house, but it was still tasty. I didn’t peruse the menu past the wings and salads, but the burgers at the next table looked awesome – stacked high on a hand-made-looking bun (?) and skewered with a steak knife.

Christie’s has an extensive collection of beers on tap – 34! – including lots of local island (Phillips, Vancouver Island, Driftwood) and mainland microbreweries. Every time I am there I mean to try the Back Hand of God stout, but I usually chicken out. Next time! This time I had the Driftwood ale, which was pretty good – bitter, but I’m starting to like bitter beer more and more.

The price was also quite reasonable: I had a dozen wings (29 cents each), a small salad, and the special beer on tap, which came to under $13 after tax. Pretty decent for a meal that included a beer.

I think the trick to Christie’s is figuring out when it’s not too busy, because we have tried to get in a few times before and they have had no space – and judging by the lineup at the door when we left at 7, it fills up when there is a hockey game on. But it’s safe to say we will be back to sample some more things off the menu, now that Nate’s wing craving has been satisfied.

“Healthy Cookies”

February 6, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

I made some fantastic “Healthy Cookies” from 101 Cookbooks, a food blog that features whole, healthy foods, delicious recipes, and an emphasis on alternative sweeteners rather than refined sugar. This cookie recipe calls for coconut oil, which might send up red flags for some people because it is a saturated fat, but it is from a plant-source rather than an animal-source, and therefore acts differently in the body (ie, not as harmful). My take on it is this: in tropical cultures that eat a traditional diet high in saturated fats from plants, such as coconut oil, there is a very low incidence of “Western diseases” (cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc). Mother Nature knows her stuff, and coconut oil is a naturally-occurring saturated fat – that is, not tampered with to make a liquid fat stay solid at room temperature (like margarine) – and therefore I’m inclined to think that it’s not going to do me any harm in moderation, kind of the same stance I have on butter. But if you’re worried, you can substitute olive oil for the coconut oil – just make sure it is mild or neutral-flavoured.

I also used sugar-free chocolate chips (sweetened with maltitol, which interestingly has almost the same chemical properties as refined sugar, but doesn’t mess with blood sugar levels as much AND as a bonus doesn’t promote tooth decay!) and added some ground flax seeds to the dough. The bananas can easily be substituted for applesauce or any other fruit puree (you don’t actually taste the banana, it just lends sweetness), and the chocolate chips for dried fruit (if, for example, you wanted to make breakfast cookies, Lynette!). These are super delicious and not too sweet, with kind of a macaroon-like texture. I think I ate about four in a row when they first came out of the oven, which kind of negates the “healthy” part, but oh well!

Healthy Cookies

(adapted slightly from the original recipe at 101 Cookbooks)

3 large, ripe bananas (the ones you would use for banana bread), well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm – so it isn’t solid (or alternately, neutral-flavoured olive oil)

2 cups rolled oats

2/3 cup almond meal (aka ground almonds)

1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened

2 tbsp ground flax seeds

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Mix together bananas, vanilla, and oil, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls (you may need to squish the dough together a bit, as it is fairly loose) onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes (as long as possible without burning the bottoms). These are quite crumbly when warm! Let cool and store in an airtight container.

Christmas Baking 2010 – Part I

February 2, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

Christmas cookie overload!

For me, the Christmas Season begins when I buy my first Christmas cookie magazine of the year. Usually it is Martha Stewart or Canadian Living, but whatever it is, it results in me hauling out my large stack of past years’ Christmas cookie magazines and creating lists of what I’m going to bake this year. This list drafting usually takes me a few tries before I am satisfied with the selection: old favorites, new additions, chocolate, shortbread, dried fruit, nuts, something spicy… the criteria changes a bit every year. The staples for the last few years have been White Chocolate Cranberry Almond Biscotti, Chocolate and Black Pepper Cookies, Sparkly Ginger Cookies, and Lemon White Chocolate Pistachio Sandwich Cookies. Obviously, all this baking results in a profusion of Christmas cookies, which I package up and give to my family and friends as gifts. I figure it’s a win-win situation: I get to bake to my heart’s content, and they get to eat the fruits of my labour.

(Apparently it’s not as much of a win-win for those living with me during this baking mania. Both my roommate and my boyfriend have told me that it’s torture seeing and smelling all these cookies, and but not being allowed to eat any until the leftovers after I have divided them all up into cookie tins for gifting!)

…

Pork Picadillo

January 31, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

A blurry pork picadillo burrito

A few years ago my friend Lynette got me a year’s subscription to the Everyday Food magazine, published by Martha Stewart Living. I have a collection of about 20 issues now, and they all contain fantastically easy and delicious recipes that are great for a weekday meal (or a weekend meal, for that matter!). This pork picadillo from the June 2007 issue is a Latin-American/Mexican dish that can be used as a burrito filling, on nachos, in a quesadilla, over rice… you get the picture. I’ve only ever tried it in a burrito, but I can imagine that it would be just as good in any other application. I love the combination of smoky chipotle heat with a hint of cinnamon and cloves, along with the sweetness of the raisins. Sounds odd? Try it – it’s wonderful!

We had this in burritos along with cumin-spiced black beans, fresh Mexican-style farmer’s cheese (available at Fairways, of all places!), sour cream, salsa, lettuce, and cilantro. I am becoming a believer in the less-is-more approach to burritos – choose a few delicious toppings that compliment the flavour of the filling, rather than overwhelming it. It also makes the burrito easier to hold, fold, and eat!

The original recipe makes a lot, but it freezes well. I’ve reduced it by roughly half and adjusted the seasonings a bit. Usually the Everyday Food magazine recipes are available on the Martha Stewart website, but for some reason I can’t find this one

Pork Picadillo

(adapted from Everyday Food, Issue 43, pg 66, June 2007)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 an onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

coarse salt and ground pepper

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 chipoltes in adobo, finely chopped (or about 1 tbsp chipotle purée)

1 tsp ancho, chipotle, or regular chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

just over 1 pound of lean ground pork (lean is important, otherwise you end up with greasy filling)

1 14 oz can of chopped or crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1/4 cup raisins, chopped

In a 2-quart pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft. Add tomato paste, chipotle, chili powder, cinnamon, and cloves; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pork and cook until no longer pink, stirring to break up any lumps. Add tomatoes, vinegar, and raisins, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partly covered, until thickened, 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve as a burrito or quesadilla filling, over rice, on nachos, in a stuffed pepper, over a baked potato… Makes at least enough for 4 burritos.

Huevos Rancheros

January 30, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

Last night we had burritos with pork picadillo filling (recipe here), and this morning for breakfast I made huevos rancheros with the leftover beans and tortillas. This is a take on the version of huevos that is served at our favorite breakfast place, Spoons Diner. Nate orders this about 90% of the time we go there, and the other week I finally tried it myself – delicious! I have no idea how authentic it is (probably not very!) but it is sure good, and very filling.

Huevos Rancheros

In a cast iron pan over medium-high heat, brown a flour tortilla on one side. Flip it over in the pan and remove the pan from the heat. Spread beans (I used whole black beans spiced with cumin, but you could use refrieds or whatever you want) over the tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. I used cheddar and a Mexican-style fresh farmer’s cheese. Place the pan under the broiler until the tortilla is browned and the cheese is melted.

Meanwhile, in a small non-stick, oven-safe pan, melt a little butter and fry 2 eggs (or just one, depending on how hungry you are). Season with salt and pepper, but do not flip over – instead, sprinkle with more cheese and place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the yolks are still a little bit jiggly.

Place the tortilla on a plate. Stir together about 1 tbsp of sour cream and 1 tsp of chipotle puree (or chipotle powder, or regular chili powder) and drizzle over the tortilla. Top with the cheesey eggs and dollop with salsa. Guacamole would also be good. Dig in.

Serves one.

Pizza Dough

Pizza Dough

Sunday Roast Chicken & Gravy

Second Saturday: Cider Tasting at Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse

Macarons from Paris

Christmas Baking 2010 – Part II

Wing Wednesday at Christie’s Carriage House Pub

“Healthy Cookies”

Healthy Cookies

Christmas Baking 2010 – Part I

Pork Picadillo

Pork Picadillo

Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros

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