Healthy Dinner Party and Super Simple Salmon

We had the funnest party tonight. Well, actually, we had two parties: one for the kids and one for the adults. We bought deli pizzas for the kids and served them up with chips, veggies, and candy-coated popcorn (that's not the healthy part . . .) but then served an elegant buffet upstairs for the adults. The kids played games, made crafts, and watched movies, so they didn't mind the separation at all.

I prepped this meal in my mind many days ago, basing it around some really good salmon I got on sale last week. I popped it in the freezer, then pulled it out for today. It was only as I was assembling the meal this afternoon that I realized what a balanced, nutritious, and almost downright wholesome party I had crafted. We had cheesecake with various homemade sauces for dessert, but a slice won't kill you. Balance in all things. :)

Here's what we had:

• Chilled poached salmon with lemon tarragon mayonnaise sauce on the side
• Greek Orzo Salad (orzo, artichokes, kalamatas, cucumber, feta, onion with lemon vinaigrette)
• Pomegranate glazed brisket
• Celery, Cranberry, Blue Cheese Salad
• Mile High New York Cheesecake with various sauces and toppings.

The links are for the recipes that inspired tonight's dishes, although I had my own little tweaks and adjustments, of course. That salmon? That's the easiest part, and one of the treasures of my repertoire. It is so easy to make that we ate it all summer, sometimes with salmon, and sometimes with trout. I might even like the stronger flavour of the trout better. Hard to say. Here it is, for your enjoyment.

Super Simple Poached Salmon

2-3 pound salmon filet

Place the salmon in a pan that will hold it. If you'd like a glorious presentation, use a roasting pan and leave the salmon in a single piece. It's not a crime to cut it, though, if you need to. Fill the pan with cold water to cover the salmon, then put a lid on or cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bring to a boil (if you're using a roasting pan, you might need to put it over 2 burners) then turn off the heat and let it sit, undisturbed, for 10 minutes. Check for doneness by using a fork to open up a center section. It should be firm and pink and not shiny. Carefully transfer to a platter, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for several hours, until thoroughly chilled.

That's it. Bring it to a boil during breakfast, put it in the fridge when you clean up that morning meal, and it'll be ready for dinner. Easiest fish EVER.

Lemon-Tarragon Mayonnaise

1 egg

1/4 tsp dry mustard or 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp flaky sea salt

1 tsp dried tarragon or 1 Tbsp fresh, chopped

1 lemon, zested and juiced, divided

1 cup oil [I used 3/4 cup peanut and 1/4 cup olive]

fresh ground pepper

Put egg, mustard, salt, half the lemon juice and half the zest in the bowl of a food processor. Turn on to mix, and with mixer running, slowly, even drop by drop, add oil to the mixer. I have some notes on this here. Continue adding oil until fully emulsified, thick, and combined. Season with additional lemon juice and pepper, to taste. I made mine rather tangy. I suggest making it when you make the salmon so it has time to sit and rest and meld and yummify. If you'd prefer it as a sauce, you could thin it down with milk or cream, but I suggest doing it when you make it, as mayonnaise is a little obnoxious to thin with a stirring spoon.

Christmas Salad

OK, I only call it that because it's Green, Red, and White and had candy on it. It looked so perfect on our table tonight with our Mushroom Bourguignon, and it tasted even better. Now, I should probably put it out there at the beginning that the basis of this recipe is celery. Yup, celery. It was a winner, though, because not only was it delicious, but  I already had toasted hazelnuts on hand and so it came together in a snap. You could, of course, use any kind of nuts and it would still be delicious. I'm think walnuts or pecans would be amazing. If you're going to toast the nuts, start them first, and by the time they're finished, you're done with everything else.

Celery, Blue Cheese, and Cranberry Salad
adapted from Simply Recipes


INGREDIENTS
6 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup hazelnuts, roasted, skins removed, and coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp maple Syrup
Pinch of cayenne
Salt
1 1/2 bunches of celery (more or less, depending on the size of it)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper

If you need to roast your hazelnuts, there are 30-second instructions here. If using other nuts, or not roasting, proceed.

Slice the celery stalks on the diagonal into 1/4-inch thick slices and lay them on a large serving platter. Sprinkle cranberries over the top, then crumbled blue cheese.

Melt butter in a small skillet. Add a pinch of cayenne and salt. Add the roasted hazelnuts to the pan and toast them on medium low heat for a few minutes, stirring continuously. When the hazelnuts are hot, turn off the heat and add maple syrup to the pan. Stir to coat the hazelnuts in the maple syrup. Let glazed nuts sit in the pan to cool, stirring every couple minutes to keep them loose as they cool.

In a small jar, mix together the olive oil and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Shake to combine.

Toss nuts over the salad, and drizzle on dressing just before serving.

Cranberry Pear Crisp

Gather your ingredients—you need to make this RIGHT NOW.

Now that's out of the way, I have a confession. Are you ready for this?

I have a deep, passionate, torrid, and terribly gratifying love affair with cranberries. It's almost an obsession. It's a fruit that grows beautifully in North America, has a distinct sweet/tart flavour, and, unfortunately, is harvested only two months out of the year. OK, here's a second confession: I buy them up when they're on sale in November and keep them in the freezer. Since you really never use raw cranberries for anything, freezing them has little effect on their usefulness or versatility, so it's ideal. You should try it. They'll be gone before you know it!

We opted to forego traditional pies this year, but replaced them with the most delicious fall harvest, sweet goodness in the whole world. You know you want it. This calls for gingersnaps, and I made my own molasses spice cookie for those, but you definitely don't need to do that. Maybe I'll post that recipe some time. Because both cranberries and pears are in season right now, they're both super cheap. GO! BUY SOME! MAKE THIS CRISP!

Cranberry Pear Crisp

adapted from Sweet Melissa Patisserie via Smitten Kitchen

Crumble

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 cup gingersnap crumbs (about 4 ounces)

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon table salt

Pinch of white pepper, [trust . . .]

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling

5 large ripe pears (I used a combination of red and green Anjou) peeled, halved, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries (about 1/2 bag)

Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (use the kind you made at home with rum. Pears ♥ Rum . . .)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, gingersnap crumbs, ginger and salt. Stir in the melted butter until large crumbs form. Set aside.

In a 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish, mix the pears, cranberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Just dump them in there. If you want a thick crisp, go for a smaller, deeper pan. I used a large (10") square dish and the ratio of fruit to crumble was excellent. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and cornstarch together then toss it with the fruit mixture in the pan. No extra spices, just sugar and thickener. This baby tastes like its fruit.

Sprinkle the gingersnap crumble over the fruit. Set the crumble on a foil-lined baking sheet if you're worried about bubble over (mine didn't because the dish was big) and bake it for about 45 minutes, until the crumble is a shade darker and you see juices bubbling through the crumbs.

Eat this thing ravenously and fresh from the oven. Or for breakfast. I think it would be great for breakfast. Or over ice cream. We used slightly sweetened fresh whipped cream and garnished with some of the leftover cookies.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO NOW! BAKE!

Green Tomato Salsa

The weather here is turning, and while the days are wonderful, often flirting with temperatures in the 70s, the nights are often in the low 40s. This, of course, means that our tomatoes are no longer enjoying the luxury of long, warm days for ripening. It is, therefore, time to find a solution for all those green tomatoes that are left on our plants (and the plants of our school garden, which no one seems to want besides us.) We harvested the other day and got close to 2 bushels of green tomatoes.

Yup.

So, I set about to find a way to use them up, and while tomatillos and tomatoes are not related, a green tomato is a grand substitute for a tomatillo in time of abundance, as evidenced by my out of this world green chile salsa.

People, this is like CHILE VERDE IN A JAR. In fact, I'm pretty sure we could brown a pork roast, dump in a quart of this salsa, add some water, and have chile verde, end of story. I highly encourage you to put some of this away for the winter. It's also good with chips. :)

I made a quintuple batch (yes you read that right) that yielded about 16 pints, but here are the measurements for a single batch of spicy green goodness. Oh baby, yeah.

Green Tomato Green Chile Salsa

makes about 3 pints

5 cups chopped green tomatoes

1 1/2 cups chopped green chiles, seeded (I used Anaheim and Tiburon)

1/2 cup chopped jalapeños, seeded (or not, at your own risk . . .)

3 cups chopped onions

1/2 cup bottled lemon juice

1/4 cup bottled lime juice

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp crushed cumin seeds or ground cumin

1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 Tbsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large pot (I used our canning pot for my giant batch!) and bring to a boil. Stir often, until all ingredients are softened. I pulled out my handy dandy stick blender (you know, the vvt-vvt,) and then slowly made my way through the 2 gallons of assorted greenness unless it was fairly smooth and well blended. You could also purée it in batches in a food processor, but that would take forever for my giant batch. After blending, boil for another 10-15 minutes, then fill your clean jars and process them. 15 minutes in boiling water should do it. I'm pretty sure if I made only a single batch, it wouldn't last through the weekend. A giant batch was a very good idea.

Now, if you have tomatillos, sub them in for the green tomatoes. I just happened to have an over-abundance of green tomatoes, so that's the route I went. We'll be making another giant batch tonight, I believe.

**NOTE: I just finished a second giant batch, and this one turned out a bit tarter than the previous. I think I used a little too much acid, so perhaps a little less lemon or vinegar for this batch? There's plenty to keep it safe, at least according to my research, so I think you can go down as low as 3/4 cup total, according to your own taste. I probably would. Of course, follow good health preserving guidelines for your altitude and comfort zone. You're responsible for staying botulism free in your own home. :)

The Best Peach Jam I've Ever Had

OK, disclaimers first: I used nectarines, not peaches, because the sale-price nectarines were riper than the sale-price peaches. So there.

Back to our show: The jam. This batch of sugary goo is out. of. control. The boys wanted to just eat and eat it once I gave them a little taster. I intentionally preserved it in smaller jars so we wouldn't eat it all in one fell swoop once opened. It has a few less-than-conventional ingredients, but I think they are completely worth it. Oh, and go easy on the almond extract—we're talking drops, not anything more. That stuff will take over if you let it.

My Perfect Peach/Nectarine Jam

makes 6-8 cups

3-4 pounds ripe peaches and/or nectarines

7 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup water

1 cinnamon stick

1 vanilla bean, split

1/2 tsp unsalted butter

scant 1/8 tsp almond extract

2- 3oz. packets liquid pectin

Peel, pit, and chop peaches. Give them a good mashing—I used my hands and just squished them about, but you could also use a potato masher or pulse them a bit in a food processor. I got some great textural variety using my hands; I think I'd do it again.

Put peaches in a large, heavy saucepan, and add sugar, lemon juice, water, cinnamon stick, and vanilla. Stir to combine, and put over medium heat; stir until sugar is dissolved. Add butter and almond (I warned you—be careful with that stuff—err on the side of caution, and adjust to taste) and stir to combine. Heat, stirring constantly, until jam reaches a steady boil. Add both packets of pectin, and return to a boil. Boil 1 minute, remove from heat, and bottle that stuff using good common sense.

You don't have to preserve it of course. You could just put it in jars in the refrigerator and eat it up with a spoon. Or you could put it in a sweet dough shell and have an instant summer tart. No matter what you do with it, you're going to love the complex, smooth, summery flavour, especially in the dead of winter when you pull that jar off the pantry shelf. I know I'm looking forward to it.

Spaetzle

Spaetzle is/are awesome.

Speatzle is, essentially, egg noodles that carefully toe that line between pasta and dumpling, and they are, without a doubt, the easiest pasta I've ever made at home. The trick, of course, is shaping them, and while there are super cheap, extra reliable spaetzle makers, there are also many ways of improvising at home, including pushing the noodles through a large-holed colander, and using this crazy knife technique so common in Austria. I opted to turn my large-holed, flat cheese grater into a makeshift dumpling plopper, and it sure worked like a dream! I just plopped my dough over the top and rubbed rubber spatula back and forth across the large holes to push the batter through. I'll probably get a maker soon enough (probably in preparation for winter) but for now, my grater will work.

Spaetzle

2 cups flour

4 eggs

1/3 cup water, milk or whey

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Go ahead and make it smooth. You want it to drip off the spoon in globs—not runny, but not kneadable. Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or a couple days, if you're a make ahead-er.

When you're ready to eat, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare an ice water bath. Then, cook them. The idea is let little blobs of the dough fall directly into the boiling water. This video shows the idea better than any other I found, and he does not use a special tool, just a steamer insert and a big pan. I tell you, my big hole cheese grater worked like a dream. If you have a colander with large holes, that will also work well.

I did this batch 1/2 at a time and it filled the pan about right. After you've finished rubbing the batter into the water, give it a stir and wait about 30 seconds, then scoop the noodles out with a slotted spoon or strainer, and put them in the ice water to stop cooking. Proceed with the remaining batter, following the same steps, then drain them and use them for your favorite noodle dish. We dumped ours into chicken noodle soup. It was easily 3 times the noodles we needed, but it was amazing.

Notes:

• I used whey leftover from draining homemade yogurt. It worked and I didn't waste the whey.
• You probably don't have to let the dough rest, but, in my experience, batters, doughs, pastas, and breads always work better with a little time in which the gluten relaxes. Even the time it takes to make the rest of your dinner would probably be enough time for it. Just make the batter, let it rest in the refrigerator while you make a salad, chop some herbs, prepare a sauce, set the table, etc., then throw in those dumplings and you're ready to eat!

Peach Syrup

Today our peaches were finally ready for canning. We, of course, have been eating them constantly since Monday night, but they weren't peeling and pitting easily, so we gave them a couple days to ripen up. Oh, Hallelujah! did they ripen up. They're amazing, especially for so early in the season, and we were happy to put up a dozen quarts in jars and a few more in the freezer for smoothies.

When all the peaches were packed away, I found myself with several cups of accumulated peach juice and a huge pile of peach peel. It seemed too promising to throw away, so I searched and adjusted and finally settled on making some peach syrup to have on hand for when we need a little waffle love or a pancake party.

Most of this is principle and taste based—it'll kind of depend on what you want in the end, but here are the principles:

• You need peach juice, about 8 cups. Mine was a combination of what drained from the peaches and some I made by steeping the skins in water. I let it steep until it tasted wonderful, and called it good. So, if you have more juice on hand, add less water, just plan for 8 cups total.
• You should use 1/2 as much sugar as juice. So, if you have 8 cups juice, you should use 4 cups sugar. Jams and jellies tend to use 7/8-1 cup sugar per sup of juice, but syrup doesn't need to be as thick, so you can go easy. You'll want to measure your juice before adding your sugar to make sure you don't overdo it.
• Pectin is optional. I added some because I was trying to finish two different types of stuff and the same time and didn't want to wait any longer. You're looking for a temperature between 215˚ and 220˚ for your syrup if you don't use pectin. The best way to check it is with a frozen plate. It'll cool a dribble of jam quickly so you know how it will set. It's like the water test for candy.

So here's how I made mine today, and I consider it a great triumph for people who want to use every last bit of their fruit!

Peach syrup

makes 3-4 pints

3 cups peach juice (leftovers from canning)

3 cups peach peels and small chunks of fruit

5 cups water

4 cups sugar

2 Tbsp pectin+1/3 cup sugar [optional]

Boil peach juice, peels, and water gently until the taste is about where you want it, strong enough for the flavour of your syrup. Drain through a sieve, and press all the liquid out of the solids. Discard solids. Return juice to stove and bring to a boil. Add sugar, and boil gently, stirring often, until the frozen plate test gives you the desired thickness. If you're in a hurry, mix pectin and sugar, then add to syrup (careful, it will foam up!) and cook 2 minutes at a rolling boil. Preserve using good sense.

Pumpkin Pasta, two ways

I love pumpkin.

Now you know, and I feel oh, so liberated. I especially love it savoury-style, and this week I experimented with putting into pasta. I didn't mix it and pour it over the pasta, but actually put it right in the noodles themselves. It was an interesting experience, although mine was a little sticky. I could've saved myself a bit of time and trouble by mixing a stiffer, dryer dough.

Pumpkin Pasta

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

Combine flour and salt in a food processor, and pulse few times. Add egg and pumpkin and mix in 10-second pulses until it's raggedly mixed. Add olive oil and/or water to get a good consistency of dough, generally it will clump up. Err on the dry side. Pour it out onto a floured surface and knead it until it comes together smoothly. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for an hour to let it rest. Roll out and cut as desired, then cook 3-4 minutes in boiling water.

Sauce 1

This one's hearty and full and really more autumnal than summery, but I like it anyway. It is inspired by my absolutely favourite winter soup. It would also be great over any other pasta, but the pumpkin is creamy and wonderful. I suspect it would also be quite nice with some chopped carrot in it as well.

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely diced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (about 2 cups) black beans, drained

1-14 oz. can crushed tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

crème fraîche or sour cream and chopped cilantro, optional (to garnish)

Heat olive oil to shimmering, then add onion, red pepper flakes, cumin, and coriander. Stir and cook until onions soften. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add black beans and tomatoes. stir to combine, add salt and pepper, reduce heat and let simmer while you cut and boil the pasta. Make sure about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water ends up in the sauce, then combine sauce and pasta. Garnish with a heaping scoop of crème fraîche and cilantro, or pass at the table.

Sauce 2

Now this one's for summer. You just can't regret it.

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp honey

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

olive oil

salt and pepper

crème fraîche or sour cream (optional)

Combine lime juice, honey, and cilantro, then pour over pasta. Drizzle olive oil over the pasta to moisten, then mix. Season with salt and pepper, then mix in crème fraîche or sour cream, if desired.

Mayonnaise

I'm one of those people that just loves home made food. I'm not talking about non-fast food meals, but making things at home that are 100% easier to just buy. Why bother? It's mostly about the taste, but there's also that idea that I know exactly what's in it, it's wholesome, and I did it myself. Yes, that means I like it because of pride. Deal with it. I've tried mayonnaise before, but I've found a fairly fool-proof version that I enjoy varying with my mood.

For example, lime instead of lemon yields a tangy mayo that is great as a base for dips and dressings. Adding garlic or red pepper flakes (even in conjunction with the lime!) make for a kick that begs to be paired with roasted chicken on a toasted sandwich. Wants herbs? Yeah, so do I, just add them at the end. Adding good olive oil in small quantities (I rarely use more than 1/4 total volume) give an earthy, savoury depth. Much more than that, and it can grow bitter. Or maybe I'm using crappy olive oil. Who knows? Right now I'm loving peanut oil for its clean, rich flavour, but vegetable or canola oils work too. I tell you, the recipe is just an outline!

My favourite, and likely most dangerous, thing about this mayonnaise is that I make it with farm fresh eggs. So sue me. Disclaimer: use wisdom with raw eggs if you're pregnant, young, or paranoid. Yes, paranoia really does lead to a compromised immune system.*

I generally make a double batch and it lasts us about a week and a half, and stays nice and stable the whole time. We never get sick from it, and we love it, love it, love it. There's a good bit of science behind how and why mayonnaise works, and with a food processor, the whole egg thing is especially important. You could do yolk only, but you might want to work by hand. Personally, using a food processor is totally worth the whole egg. A blender would also work, although my processor has a handy little drip hole that makes this a practically foolproof endeavour.

Mayonnaise

adapted from almost everywhere

1 whole egg

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt (more to taste, if desired)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 cup oil

Place egg, mustard, salt, and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine. Turn the machine on, and add oil, just a drop at a time, until the mixture emulsifies (gets mayonnaise-y) and you've used a few Tablespoons of oil. [I just use my machine's dripper, and it's perfect.] Once it seems stable, add the remaining oil in a slow, but steady stream until all combined. Transfer to a screw top jar and refrigerate.

Other homemade things I love that are easier to buy in the store:

• Créme Fraîche
• Chicken Stock
• Spaghetti Sauce
• Nutella

*That might be the biggest lie/truth on the whole page.

Radish Relish

Have you ever had spring time and too many radishes? Yeah, it's never happened to me before, either.

We actually ate all the lovely French breakfast radishes form our garden, but the Community garden we work has so many radishes that they've now either gone to seed or become so big that they're really just spicy potatoes. They also didn't get thinned, so they all worked their giant selves up into their air so they're vulnerable to bugs and drying and such. So, yesterday we picked about 10 pounds of radishes—that's the weight of the roots, not the leaves—and today I set to do something useful with them.

Enter Radish Relish. Now, I don't know how it will be after spending a few weeks/months in the cupboard, but today it's a little spicy, a little tangy, a little sweet, and would be excellent on a hamburger. Or roast beef. It's like pickle relish (well, duh . . .) but a little more exciting, to my mind, like a cross between relish and horseradish. When you come visit, I'll let you try it.

Radish Relish

makes 2-3 pints, but I made, um, SIX batches, so I have 8 quarts.

1 pound radishes

1/2 pound celery stalks

1/2 large sweet onion (about 1 cup)

1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeds and all

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon mustard seed

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons dill seed

White Vinegar to cover

Grate radishes, celery, onion, and jalapeño in your food processor, and mix them all together. Combine with remaining ingredients in a large pan, cover with vinegar (you may want to weigh down the vegetables to keep them from floating up) and let stand on the counter for 3 hours. After sitting time, bring to boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Ladle into jars and store in the refrigerator, or follow good health canning guidelines to preserve on the shelf.

Things I love

I'm on a gratitude kick. It seems to be working for me, but it's always better if I share. Enter Culinary Gratitude:

• Gardens. I might be working multiples right now, and I can't seem to get the dirt out of my hands. Ever.
• Chocolate. Right now I'm enjoying some Callebaut I picked up in bulk, but Valrhona is my one true love.
• Fresh herbs. I finally got my cilantro planted and I couldn't be more pleased. Until it comes in, I'll have to enjoy my basils, rosemary, oregano, thyme, chives, mint, and this year's real star, tarragon.
• Creamy radishes. Maybe i'll throw that recipe on here.
• Mashed, roasted, seasoned eggplant.
• Grilled sirloin that's still pink in the middle.
• Crème Fraîche.
• Homemade mayonnaise made with fresh eggs and a touch of olive oil.
• New silicone spatulas from Williams-Sonoma.
• Cookbooks. It's been suggested that I purchased 8 of them in the last three weeks. I refuse to either confirm or deny that allegation.
• Cooling racks.
• Tart pans. I'm ready for a rectangle.
• Sourdough bread.
• Vintage bread pans
• Brownies
• Ice Cream
• Cooking for friends and family.

Crème Fraîche

I've made this before, but I made it again this week, and it's just one vat of amazing that needs to be shared. Plus, I seriously needed an update.

Homemade Crème Fraîche (Sour Cream)

multiplies with no known issues

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Tbsp buttermilk

[Optional step 1: pour cream into a saucepan and heat to 105˚F. I generally don't do it.]

Combine cream and buttermilk in a jar, screw on the lid, and shake it around for about a minute. Leave it on the counter, in a warm place and undisturbed, for 24 hours. It should thicken and become tangy. If you leave it longer, it will get thicker and tangier. Put it in the refrigerator for 12-24 more hours. My last batch turned out as thick as store bought sour cream, but the one before that only hit sloppy dollop stage. Heat+patience=better crème fraîche.

Stores in the refrigerator, tightly covered for 3-4 weeks.

Ginger Lemon Birthday Cupcakes

Jacob turned five today and asked, ever so sweetly, for lemon cupcakes for his celebration. I have a strict policy to never make a cake from a box, but it's not a snooty, foodie, I'm so good sort of thing. It's just that homemade tastes so much better and is less effort than running to the store for a cake mix. It really is. Like, I had this ready to bake before the oven heated up. I could not have run to the store in that amount of time.

These turned out dense and moist, bordering on the crumb you'd get from a rich cornbread, but would be lighter, fluffier, and altogether cakier if you skipped the whole wheat flour in favour of another scoop of all-purpose. These were decidedly muffin-esque rather than cupcake-y. They were also quite satisfying, and would be as great for breakfast as for dessert, methinks.

Lemon Ginger Muffincakes

Based, ever-so-loosely, on another spicy, delicious muffin from Dorie Greenspan

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour [mine is oh-so-finely ground]

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1-2 Tbsp ground fresh ginger, or 1/2 tsp dried

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter, melted, but not hot

2 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Grated zest of 2 lemons

Put your oven rack in the center, and preheat to 375˚F. Butter or spray a 12 cup muffin tin, or use paper liners. Put the muffin tin on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, ginger, and baking powder. Stir in brown sugar, making sure there are no lumps. In another bowl, stir together butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients into dry, and stir quickly, but gently, until the flour just disappears and the batter is lumpy. Gently stir in the lemon zest. Plop them into the muffin cups, and bake 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Thinking that the lemon of these would be rather subtle for a five year old, I shot homemade lemon curd into them, topped them with candied lemon slices, and frosted them with this to really up the lemon ante:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

juice of 2 lemons

3-3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup lemon curd (optional)

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until it's soft and fluffy, several minutes. Add vanilla and beat until combined. Add lemon juice and 2 cups of the confectioner's sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, adding more sugar, as needed, to obtain the desired consistency. Add lemon curd, if using, and add sugar, as necessary, to get it just the right thickness. This would also be nice with just a hint of ginger in it to keep the adult-level spice right where it should be, but I left it out this time.

Easy Curry Soup

I've been alone all week, so I've been having fun with delicious recipes for one. I'm not going to pretend that I'm eating like a king, because most of my meals are just some iteration of roasted brussels sprouts. I'm greedily consuming as many as I can and enjoying the combination of late winter cruciferous goodness and early spring asparagus. Tonight, however, I decided on something different, and used some of our delicious homemade stock to work a little 10 minute magic. Aside from the shrimp, this is a leftover soup, and I loved it.

Actually, in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm loving it at this very moment.

Easy Shrimp Curry Soup

1 tbsp butter

4-6 mushrooms, sliced

1/2 pound raw shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 tsp red curry paste (adjust for preference)

1-6" stalk lemon grass, pounded so it burst/shreds

1 quart chicken stock or broth

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a pot, then add mushrooms. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until soft, then add shelled shrimp and cook until done. Add curry paste, and stir to distribute and coat the meat and veggies. Add stock and lemongrass, bring to a boil, and simmer for about 8 minutes. Remove the hunk of lemongrass, season to taste, and serve.

**Notes:

• Adjust curry paste to taste. I used 1 tsp, and it was just the right amount of spicy for today's mood. I might feel differently tomorrow.
• No lemongrass? Squeeze fresh lemon over the finished product.
• Not into shrimp? Use diced chicken breast or thigh, or go veggie with broccoli.
• Like noodles? Go for it.

Garden

The best way to ensure delicious things all summer, fall, and even into the winter (I'm still using last year's herbs!) is to plan a garden. Check out this year's version here. And a shout out to GrowVeg.com for the garden planning software. Highly recommended.

Chicken Stock

We've been eating soup around here, and it's a good thing, because nothing warms you up when it's -2˚F like good, homemade, hearty, warm, soul-inspiring soup. Honestly, we don't really care what type of soup it is that's warming us, but since we've lately been trying to keep our waistlines under control while hibernating, hearty broth soups have been the norm. Now, I've always love a good brothy soup, but there's one thing that will elevate broth soup to a tastier, richer, more exquisite plain than you thought possible, and that one thing is homemade stock.

Homemade stock seemed an unnecessary task and expense for the longest time. I mean, who has hours to sit, stirring, pot watching, straining, cooling, and packaging? I quickly learned that I have time to do that, because most of it is done without your supervision—10 minutes to chop and throw together, then a few minutes every now and again to finish up the process. THe biggest bonus for us, of course, is the cost. We buy our chickens for under $1/pound (get several when they're on sale and freeze them—you can put them right in the pot without thawing!) and the rest is mostly just cheap veggies. Here's the cost breakdown:

• 3-5 pound chickens=$15 or less
• Vegetables=$5
• Fresh herbs=$5 (or dried herbs you already have in pantry)
• Water=free

So, for $18-$25, you get the meat of 3 chickens, plus 2+ gallons of stock, which, when purchased separately, look like this:

• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast=$8
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs=$4
• 8 quarts low sodium, full-flavoured chicken stock=$24 minimum

$23 or $36? I know what I like better. And the best part is that I know what's in my stock, it's fresh, and much higher quality than that from the grocery store. You know how homemade chicken soup turns into jello in the refrigerator? That's because of the collagen and gelatin from the bones of the chicken. Store-bought stock doesn't do that, and even worse, you lose many of the great things about it because of that.

We've taken to making it each week in our giant canning pot with three chickens and plenty of water, but if you're not going to be soup crazy like us, you can make it in smaller batches (in a smaller pan!) and enjoy it in smaller quantities. The other option, of course, is to make just as much and freeze it for later use so you'll never have to buy stock again (or use bouillon, which is mostly just salt, anyway.) This is the recipe I've been using, followed by the ingredients scaled to a single chicken size for those that want less stock or have smaller pots.

Rich, Elegant, Delicious Chicken Stock

3 5-pound whole chickens

3 large onions, unpeeled and quartered

10 large carrots and/or parsnips, unpeeled and chopped in half*

4 stalks celery with leaves, cut in half

1 head garlic, unpeeled & cut in half (to expose all the cloves)

20 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 Tbsp dried)

15 sprigs fresh parsley (or 1 Tbsp dried)

1 Tbsp dill seeds (or 20 sprigs fresh dill)

2 tsp whole peppercorns

2 Tbsp kosher salt

7 quarts water

Place all vegetables, herbs, and seasonings in pot, then place chickens, including giblets, if any, on top. Fill with water. Bring to a hesitant (not rolling!) boil, and cook for 1 hour. Remove chickens from pot, and cut away the breast meat, which should be fully cooked (let cook longer if birds are frozen.) At this point I break a few bones with a knife or kitchen shears to let the marrow circulate in the broth. Return carcass and all non-breast meat to the pot and cook three more hours, uncovered. Remove chicken carcasses, let cool, and harvest the meat—it'll make amazing chicken noodle soup. Let broth cool, then strain through a fine sieve into storage containers. If you're going to freeze it, I would put it in the refrigerator first so you can skim the solidified fat before freezing.

*I generally use only carrots, but today I'm trying parsnips. I plan for it to be incredible.

Rich, Elegant, Delicious Chicken Stock

(scaled down for 1 chicken)

1 5-pound whole chicken

1 large onions, unpeeled and quartered

4 large carrots and/or parsnips, unpeeled and chopped in half*

2 stalks celery with leaves, cut in half

4-6 cloves garlic, unpeeled & cut in half

7 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)

5 sprigs fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)

1 tsp dill seeds (or 7 sprigs fresh dill)

1 tsp whole peppercorns

2 tsp kosher salt

2.5 quarts water

Pastry Cream

Since we hadn't eaten all day today, I decided it would be alright to revel in a little treat after our delicious Laksa dinner, so I started flipping through one of my favourite cookbooks for ideas and inspiration. I was compelled toward the section of Dorie Greenspan's Baking about basics. These are the recipes that come up again and again and are the foundation for other delicious desserts and variations. Well, there were plenty from which to choose including lemon cream and curd, sweet tart dough, basic pie dough, chocolate whipped cream, almond cream, and other basics that seemed anything but boring.

I settled on the Chocolate Shortbread Tart Crust and Pastry Cream. I made the crust as is, and I tell you it's fantastic—flaky, flavourful, crisp, buttery—everything you would expect from something that looks like pie crust but smells like brownies.

The pastry cream, however, I toyed with right out of the gate. You see, a few weeks ago I made an indulgent purchase and had a half pound of Indian vanilla beans shipped to my door so I could make vanilla extract. Well, that used maybe ten of them, so I fin myself in want of vanilla projects. If you don't have vanilla bean, you could easily just add more vanilla extract at the end, and it'll taste fantastic just the same. Here's what we enjoyed on top of our chocolatey crust.

Vanilla Orange Pastry Cream

adapted from Dorie Greenspan

1 cup milk

1 cup half & half

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped

zest of 1 orange, in long strips

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted to remove clumps

1/2 tsp vanilla extract, or more to taste

3 1/2 Tbsp butter, cut into bits, room temperature

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the zest from the orange, taking care to get as little white pith as possible. Combine milk, half & half, vanilla bean and seeds with orange zest in a small, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep for at least one hour, or let cool completely and store in the refrigerator overnight. The longer it sits, the more flavour it will have (I did the hour and wished for just a bit more orange.)

After steeping is completed, strain out the bean and zest, and bring milk to boiling again. Rinse the vanilla bean well and save for another use (like vanilla sugar or extract.) Meanwhile, in another saucepan, combine egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch, and whisk well to combine. When milk boils, whisk 1/4-1/3 cup of the hot milk into the egg yolks, but take care to whisk constantly to warm the yolks without letting them cook. Slowly stream in the remaining milk while whisking constantly. Put the pot over medium heat, and whisk constantly until the micture comes to a boil. Continue to whisk 1-2 minutes until cream is thick, then remove from heat.

Whisk in vanilla and let cool 5 minutes, then whisk in butter pieces until the cream is smooth and beautiful. Scrape the cream into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap over the surface, and cool completely in the refrigerator. [You can speed this process with an ice bath, like I did, stirring every few minutes.]

Scoop that vanilla orange goodness into your chocolate tart shell (or graham crust, or pie shell—all would be delightful) and eat it up.

Hearty Italian Pasta

I know, I know—pasta doesn't need to be dubbed Italian; we assume that. Be that as it may, I still like the name. I was chatting with Michelle last Friday and she mentioned that they were having her dynamite Zuppa Toscano because she still had the ingredients on hand, including kale. We gushed love of kale all over the phones in our hands, and in that moment I knew I needed kale for dinner. I had already planned a red-sauced pasta for the boys, so I hopped out of the car, ran into the store and picked up a few things to make it work: kale, cannelini beans, and corkscrew pasta. That last one was just for fun; normally I'd just use penne. All in all, it turned out well. Next time I'll add more cheese and probably more herb. I love herb, and I encourage you to use whatever you have that sounds good. I had both dried and fresh thyme, so I went there. This being the dead of winter, I'm guessing you're like me, and completely resigned to a few more months of dried, dead herb before the glories of spring.

Can it get here already?

Hearty Italian Pasta

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp dried thyme

1 can cannelini beans, drained

1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (that's the big can)

1 pound dried pasta

1 small bunch kale, chopped

4 oz. butter

1 cup chopped parsley

1 cup grated pecorino cheese (or parmesan works too)

salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté 2 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, then continue cooking until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and drained beans, and cook for 2-3 minutes more, being careful not to mush the beans too much. Put your pasta water on to boil, and add the tomatoes to the skillet with the onion/bean mixture. You're basically going to let the sauce cook and thicken while you cook the pasta. Easy-peasy. Shortly before the pasta is done, add the kale and butter to the sauce and stir well. Adjust seasoning.

Cook your pasta. When it's done cooking, nice and al dente, scoop about 1/2 cup of the cooking water into the sauce, then drain the pasta. Somehow get the pasta and sauce into the same cooking vessel. I have a giant skillet, so it worked in there for me. Cook and stir over medium heat to let everything work together. Adjust seasoning again, if necessary. Remove from heat and et it sit a few minutes to thicken. [I didn't do that, but half way through the meal when the sauce was thick and coating the noodles really well, I wished I had.] Add add cheese and parsley just before serving. Stir together and enjoy a hearty pasta meal.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

We had friends over tonight. Again. Liz is on a friend-dinner-binge, and it's been fun. We recreated our holiday brisket and served it with noodles and it was fine, but the real star was the cake. I've never really been a fan of cake; I mean, why would you eat sugary, bouncy, dry cake when you can have fudgy, gooey, drippy, flavourful everything else. You see, boxed cakes, while labeled with myriad flavours like white, yellow, and confetti, all taste about that same—like sugar. I think the person who decided that colors=flavours should be ostracized from all world societies.

Then I discovered that cakes can taste like vanilla, chocolate, fruit, nuts, brown sugar, brown butter, or carrot. Or pumpkin. Or banana. Or cinnamon. This one is in the buttery, sweet, cinnamon category, and that's before the winter fruit and nuts. It's moist, tender crumb is perfect for serving anyone, but parents will especially appreciate it because it's not crumbly and messy; it stays together on plate and fork and is just dense enough to fill those last minute spaces in the tummy. Serve it with vanilla ice cream and you'll be very popular. You'll also thank yourself because it will look like a giant party cake without all the fuss. It's one layer (you could easily double it and make 2 cakes if you need) and flips over to reveal red, glistening jewels atop a moist bed of buttery cinnamon goodness. It's especially fitting for the holidays.

A note about the cranberries: They can be fresh or frozen, but since fresh are seeing their last good days, I suggest heaping a bunch of bags into the freezer for the coming months. You can take them straight from your freezer and put them in this recipe and no one will know they're not fresh. I'm sure you could sub in dried fruit, but it will be a completely different cake, so I don't suggest it at this point.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

adapted from Dorie Greenspan

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick+6 Tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup+6 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans (what I used) or walnuts would also be good.

2 cups cranberries (no need to thaw if frozen)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup red currant jelly, optional, for glazing the cake

Put rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350˚F. Pull out an 8" round cake pan. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

In a small pot over medium heat, melt 6 Tbsp butter, then add 6 Tbsp sugar and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then pour into the bottom of the cake pan. Sprinkle nuts over the bottom of the pan, then put cranberries on top. Smooth them out the best you can, but don't get too crazy about it; just make sure they at least cover the bottom.

In a bowl combine 1 stick butter and 1/2 cup sugar and beat with a mixer until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each one. Blend in vanilla. Add 1/2 the dry ingredients and blend on low just until combined. Mix in milk, then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Spoon the batter over the cranberries and smooth out the top with an offset spatula.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown and it passes the "clean toothpick (or knife)" test. Remove from the oven and run a butter knife around the edge of the pan. Invert the cake onto a serving plate. If you want to use the jelly (I've done it both ways) warm it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until liquid. Brush over the cake, and serve.

with vanilla ice Cream, if possible.

Tomato Sauce

I'm learning about the way pasta sauces should be. You see, Americans are kind of crazy about their sauces, crazy like "let's bury the carbs in blankets of thick, homogeneous, super-salted, cheese-laden, gloppy with no identifiable veggies sauces" crazy. And you know what? I don't really blame them, given the taste and texture of mass-produced pastas available in cardboard boxes on grocery store shelves. I mean, they look pretty perfect, all shaped the same and packaged so perfectly, but let's be honest—when was the last time you took a grocery store brand, 97¢ box of pasta, cooked it up, tested a noodle and thought "Oh my gosh! That's the best thing I've ever tasted!?" Exactly, and thus our love affair with sweet, goopy sauces is born.

As I've made my own pasta I've learned that sauces can be thick, thin, soupy, chunky, meaty, vegetable-laden, or thin or thick, spicy or mild. The most important thing Ive learned, though, is that your pasta and your sauce have to work together. Last week I made a hearty egg noodle with a thick, nearly tomato-less bolognese. This week I took a different approach, using an overly-thin (that part was not intentional) hot water noodle (no eggs) and a thin vegetable sauce that was laden with little chunks of tomatoes. And you know what? Despite the too-thin noodles, this combination worked.

My last word on pasta for today is this: it didn't take me any longer to make the pasta than it would have taken me to run to the grocery store and buy, then come home and cook the noodles. Pasta is easy. And it tastes good. Here's this week's flavourful sauce:

Spiced Tomato Sauce

makes enough for 1 1/2- 2 pounds fresh pasta

2-28 oz. can whole tomatoes, with juices

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 sweet onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) butter

salt and pepper to taste

Crush tomatoes by hand in a large bowl and set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil, heat one minute, then add red pepper flakes. Cook one 1-2 minutes, then add onion. Cook until onion softens, then add garlic and cook two minutes more. Add thyme, turmeric, fennel, and 1/2 tsp salt, stir and cook for 1 minute more. Add wine or broth, and cook until completely evaporated, 6-10 minutes.

At this point you should taste your onions. And swoon. Now back to our regularly scheduled recipe.

Add tomatoes and cook until you find a consistency that works for you and your pasta. I cooked mine about 25 minutes and it was perfect to coat my pasta and the liquids absorbed into the pasta itself. When you put the pasta into the pot to cook, add the butter to the sauce and stir it in until melted. Reserve 2/3 cup pasta cooking liquid and add it to the sauce just before or after draining your pasta.

You can serve this over the pasta, American-style, or the way I prefer it, combine the drained pasta and sauce together in the pasta cooking pot and cook and stir 2-3 minutes until the two have become one.

Serve with chopped parsley and shaved pecorino.