Bacon Carbonara

1 pound of bacon

4 cloves garlic

1 cup of dry cheese, like Asiago or Parmesan. Can be whatever you want. I'm partial to piave, but we used dry aged Gouda and Asiago last time and it was really good. Just make sure when you shred it, you turn it into a fine powdery consistency. 

3 eggs

1 package of pasta - I used a long pasta just a little more robust than spaghetti

Fresh cracked pepper

Cook your pasta of choice to al dente in well salted water.

Chop your bacon into pieces and allow to cook in the pan until crispy.

Remove the bacon from your pan and remove 1/2 the fat from the pan.

Crack your eggs into a bowl and beat them add in your cheese and set to the side.

Add in your minced garlic and allow to cook a little. Do not burn your garlic, it's just awful and you want the garlic to still have a bite to it instead of the mellowed sweet kind of garlic.

Remove the pan from the heat, the residual heat from the pan and the pasta will be enough to cook the eggs without scrambling them. 

Return the bacon to the pan.

Drain off your pasta but keep a cup water in reserve for your sauce.

Dump your pasta into the pan with the bacon and garlic and toss well to coat in fat and garlic.

Add in your cheese and egg mixture and mix it in well.

Your sauce will begin to thicken, add in spoonfuls of pasta water to get your desired consistency. Add in small amounts of the water, a little goes a long way.

Dump into a bowl and top with fresh pepper and a little more cheese.

So.good.

Cheesecake cups

 

Cheater "cheesecake" cups

This is an evolution. I've been making cheater cheesecake for years, mainly because whenever I attempt a real cheesecake it's an abysmal failure. So this "cheesecake" is my go to. Excuse the use of dream whip, it does serve a purpose! And this is a fantastic last minute dessert. 

Cheater "cheesecake"

Cream cheese filling

8 ounces of cream cheese (philly type will do, but if you can get your hands on Victoria style it makes it that much better)

1 1/4 cups icing sugar

1 pkg of dream whip prepared as stated on package.

Graham crumb base

1/2 cup graham crumbs

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 can of cherry pie filling

In a pan melt the butter and dump in crumbs and sugar. Over medium low heat keep moving until the mixture begins to stick together. Do not allow to burn!

Spoon into the bottom of your glasses (mason jars, shot cups ect.)

In a mixing bowl mix up the dream whip as per the package.

Add in the cream cheese and allow to mix together.

Leave on medium low for a few minutes.

Mix in the icing sugar and allow to mix together another minute, stoppin g every now and again to scrape down the sides.

Layer the cream cheese mixture into the jars on top of the crumbs.

Layer cherry pie filling on top of the cream cheese mixture.

The shortbreads.

Yes, there needs to be a period after The Shortbreads.

I'm making a bunch of shortbreads now to freeze for Christmas. We're going away in November and I typically bake all through November for trays and gift tons in December.  Shortbreads are all basically the same: butter, flour, salt. I hve a few variations that are fan favourites in my house.
I'd post pictures, but parchment rolled tubes of uncooked shortbread isn't that impressive. Updated: I've baked and taken pictures now, all the rolls are gone and I have room in my freezer again!

Earl Grey Shortbread:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup icing sugar

2 cups AP flour

1-2 tsps Earl Grey Tea

1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter)

Cream together butter and sugar.

Add in tea

Add in flour and mix until combined.

Lay out large sheet of parchment paper and dump out contents of the bowl.

Roll into a log and twist ends of parchment to close tubes.

Freeze until ready to use or chill in the fridge for about 3 hours.

When ready to use pull log from freezer  and cut into 1/4" slices.

Put on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake in a 350 degree oven for 18-22 minutes until edges are just browning.

Double Dark Chocolate

1 cup butter

1/2 icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa

1/4 cup non Dutch dark cocoa (the higher the fat %, the better) 

1 1/2 cups AP flour

Mix together butter, sugar and vanilla until well combined.
Add in both cocoas and mix well on low.
Add in flour and mix well on low.
Allow to mix for another minute on a higher speed once the powders have been incorporated.
Or spend at least 15 minutes wiping flour and cocoa from every inch of your countertop.
Form into log and wrap in parchment. Freeze or chill for at least 3 hours in the fridge.
Remove from fridge/freezer and allow the log to soften enough to cut into slices. I shoot for about 1/4" thick.
Put on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 325 for about 14 minutes.

Piave Garlic Shortbread

1 cup butter

1/2 cup Piave cheese, grated

1/4 cup Asiago cheese, grated
1 3/4 AP flour

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp herbed coarse salt (optional)

Put the butter into your kitchen aid and allow to whip up until fluffy.
Add in the cheeses, garlic, cayenne and herbed salt.
Add in the flour on low and mix until well combined.

Form into log and wrap in parchment. 

Freeze or chill for at least 3 hours in the fridge.

Remove from fridge/freezer and allow the log to soften enough to cut into 1/4" slices. 

350 for about 18-22 minutes

Santas Secret Tea Shortbread:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup icing sugar

2 cups AP flour

1-2 tsps Santas secret Tea

1/2-1 tsp peppermint extract

1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter)

Cream together butter and sugar.

Add in tea and peppermint extract.

Add in flour and mix until combined.

Lay out large sheet of parchment paper and dump out contents of the bowl.

Roll into a log and twist ends of parchment to close tubes.

Freeze until ready to use or chill in the fridge for about 3 hours.

When ready to use pull log from freezer  and cut into 1/4" slices.

Put on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake in a 350 degree oven for 18-22 minutes until edges are just browning.

Burlap wreath

Burlap wreaths are really easy.

Using a green wreath form from Michaels, begin pulling the burlap ribbon through in loops.

Make the little loop of burlap you're pulling through, about 3" long. Go all around the wreath form, adjusting the loops as you go to make a fuller wreath.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time.

Okay, so maybe just jelly time.

I brought back grapes from Ontario last week, thinking the kids would inhale them. They didn't. They were from Vineland, so chances are they were more a wine grape than an eating grape. I didn't have enough to make wine (or let's be honest the burning desire to make wine) but I did have enough for jelly.

One jar to be precise, so instead of quantities of jam (ahem strawberry ahem) I have a nice small batch of grape jelly.

 

Now having made peach, strawberry, raspberry and jalapeño jam this summer, I was pretty confident I could figure out something for grape jelly. The only real difference between the two is the peices of fruit in the jam and just liquid in jelly.

Ingredients

1 small basket of grapes (no clue how much was in my basket, my guess it was an over flowing quart)

300-400 grams of sugar

1/2 to a whole lemon, juiced.

1/2 packet of Liquid pectin 

How to:

Put the grapes on low heat in a sauce pan.

Leave on heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When juices begin to run, mash up the grapes with a fork or potato masher.

Return to low heat about 10-12 minutes.

Put mashed grapes into a jelly bag or strainer with cheese cloth on it and allow to sit for at least an hour, preferably overnight.

Depending on how much juice you got figure out your sugar. 600ml go with about 400g, less juice, less sugar, more juice, more sugar.

Dump all ingredients into a pot and put over medium high heat.

Cook until candy thermometer says 105 degrees, skimming foam as you go.

Pour into prepared/sterilized mason jar.

As soon as it cooled I had jelly on wheat crackers and I was about 7 again.

If you have self control or have a jar of jam in the go already, it can be stored in a cool, dark place for a few months, but let's be honest here, that's not really going o happen is it?

Refinished the table

Before: The old, tired Superstore coffee table I bought when we first moved to AB in 2009 for a whopping $25.00. We had just moved, we had a new baby and were down to one income. All the really nice coffee tables we looked at were $500 plus. It looked nice, was sturdy and inexpensive.

Fast forward 7 years and that nice looking table was worn, beaten up and sadly in need of replacing. HOWEVER someone introduced me to chalk paint. 

TADA! I found a nice off-white shade and painted out the table. I had originally sealed the table with a clear coat, which immediately turned a lovely shade of smokers yellow. I painted over the sealant and love the off white colour again. I sealed it with plain old bees wax, which smells better anyhow. I have found that the bees wax seals just fine on any furniture that won't directly have something placed on it. For anything that is a table top or will have rings put on top (especially drinks or hold/cold items) you really should put a good sealant on it. It tends to wear better. That being said, it you do end up with a scratch, touch ups tend to be super easy.

I went to a salvage place in the city and found shiplap from an old barn. It was beautifully greyed and dirty. I picked out the least warped and damaged pieces and had them cut to the size of my table, with a little overlapping on the sides.

I did end up doing a little sanding on the shiplap once I had it affixed to the table. I love, love, love the grey patina, but since it had been affixed to the outside of a barn for Im not sure how long, it was splinter-y and needed a sanding in order to not be a hazard. 

I glued and nailed the shiplap to the top of my painted table and absolutely love this piece.

It has given this table another 7 years or so for about $50.00 ($15.00 for chalk paint and $35.00 for wood)

The perfect chocolate chip cookie

I live in a house full of cookie monsters. All of them.

As soon as they're finished, the big Cookie Monster burns the little piece of skin behind his front teeth on the first cookie.

These are the ones that seem to be the biggest hit.

1 cup salted butter (if using unsalted butter add a tap of salt)

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/3 cup AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup semi sweet chips

1/2 cup mini m&m bits.

In your trusty dusty kitchenaid add in the softened butter until creamed.

Add in sugar and cream together.

Add in eggs and vanilla and mix together until fluffy.

Add in chocolate chips and M&M's.

Drop tbsp sized globs onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 9-11 minutes.

Allow to cool on wire baking sheet until chocolate is no longer molten and enjoy with a cuppa or milk. 

Peach fritters with vanilla bean glaze

I went back to the land of fresh produce and humidex last week and brought back a bunch of peaches.  We're all peached out now, but I had peaches left. I made jam (both kid friendly and jalapeño friendly) and b and I went through recipes until we found one we wanted to make.

I cut the sugar way down and made a simple vanilla bean glaze instead of just rolling them in sugar. I also used some freestones and some donut peaches. The donut peaches are sweeter and firmer, so it gives a nice contrast.

Peach fritters

1 cup of AP flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsps sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs

1/3 cup milk

1 tbsps melted butter

1 cup diced skinned free stone peaches

1/2 cup diced skinned donut peaches

Oil and a heavy bottom pan for frying

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

Enough milk to turn the powder into a coating about 1/3 of a cup of milk, give or take

1/2 a vanilla pod.

For the fritters:

Mix together the dry ingredients.

Add in eggs and milk and mix.

With the mixer running add in the melted butter a little at a time.

Using a wooden spoon or spatula mic in the peaches.

Heat the oil and make smaller fritters to ensure they're cooked through.

I used a gravy ladle to get about 3 or 4 bite fritters that cooked through without burning outside.

Make sure your oil is hot so your fritters aren't soggy.

Turn the fritters and cook until a golden brown.

Mix the glaze together and roll the fritters in the glaze and set on a wire rack to cool and dry.

Serve warm or allow to cool and enjoy. 

The only problem is my house smells like Stampede now.

Spaetzel

Every once in awhile I yearn for something I can only get at home. Well up on Manitoulin really. The Hungry Mooses Spaetzel and Schnitzel. I haven't been in 3 years now and I'm in a little withdrawal (and have an awful feeling the husband and wife team finally retired) so I tried it myself.

Not too shabby. b had an extra helping with extra lemon!

4 eggs

⅓ cup milk

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups flour

4 Tablespoons  butter

1 teaspoon white pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together eggs and milk. Add in the flour and saltand mix until well combined. At this point you will hae a bowl full of what looks to be a culinary disaster. You're on the right track.

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and if you have a fancy spaetzle making machine, follow the directions and meet me at the next bullet, or if you don't, keep reading. You could use a hotel pan (if you have one of those lying around and are clever enough to discern how to make spaetzle with it, please let me know. Or as I did, with wet hands and fingers and a bowl with water ready for more dunkings, pull a small handful of dough into your hand and pull strings of dough off and drop them into the boiling water. It is tedious and there is a learning curve to getting small spaetzel like pieces instead of ramekin sized globs, but it can be done.

Give the pieces a good stir and let them cook 1-2 minutes. When they begin to float to the top, it's a good chance they're done.

Remove them with a slotted spoon and keep going with this process until you're finished with all the dough (or you throw in the towel)

Once all cooked and drained add in butter, salt and pepper to taste and toss the spaetzle in a hot fryig pan for a few minutes to crisp up some peices and add some golden brown colour.

I serve with a wedge of lemon and a little more pepper.

Classic hollandaise

I've been craving eggs Benedict all week. We didn't have any ham or English muffins, but poached eggs with a classic French hollandaise fit the bill.

Hollandaise sauce:

3 egg yolks (or 4 if the eggs are small)

1 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp (plus more to taste) of fresh lemon juice

6 ounces butter

Freshly ground pepper to taste

(**if you use salted butter, you will not need salt, if using unsalted butter, add salt to taste)

Using a heavy pan whisk together egg yolks, water and lemon. It should be thick and pale before setting the pan over low heat.

Continue whisking the mixture cooking until it becomes frothy and grows in volume. Remove from heat when you can see the bottom of the pan through the whisk streaks.

You can increase the heat at this process, but I keep the heat low to control the eggs cooking. If you do go the higher heat route and your eggs begin to cook too quickly, remove the pan from the heat or put the bottom of the pan into cold water to cool the pan quickly)

Add in the soft butter a spoonful  at a time, whisking constantly until each spoonful is fully encorporated.

If it isn't warm enough and begins to seize, but over the element and allow to melt the butter a bit while whisking.

Keep adding the butter until the sauce gets to your desired thickness.

I add about another 1 tsp of lemon juice drop by drop at this point to taste.

I add cayenne on top of my sauce once it's over my eggs. And black pepper too.

** if your sauce curdles, or you have a small break in the sauce, just whisk it well to emulsify the sauce again. If it's worse, I'm sorry I can't help you because when I've buggered up a hollandaise to the point of seizing, I start from scratch... 

Warmed goat cheese, beet and mixed green salad

With pomegranate vinaigrette