Black bean soup

Every November brings "the hunt". T grew up in Northern Ontario with lots of uncles and cousins and they all get together on the family property on Manitoulin Island for a week during deer season.
All these men bring a meal (and desserts) to share and T is no exception.
This years contribution was spicy black bean soup. It was tasty and there was a lot of it!
I made a double batch and it made for two meals, which was perfect for them from what I am told.

I only remembered to take a picture of the mirepoix mixture, not of the soup itself. Silly me. But this smelled so, so good!




Ingredients:

• For the beans:
• 1 lb dry black beans
• 1  bell red pepper
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 cloves of garlic, smashed
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• For the soup:
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 red pepper minced
• 1 large onion, minced
• 2 medium carrots, shredded
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup white wine (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 1/2 chicken or vegetable bullion cubes
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse the beans and place in a large pot with about 8-10 cups of water. 
2. Cover and bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let the beans sit, covered for one hour. (Or you can let them soak overnight in cold water)
3. Drain the water, then add 8-10 cups of cold water when ready to cook. Add the bell pepper, 4 garlic cloves, onion and bay leaves to the beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about an hour or until tender, stirring occasionally. You might need to add a little more water, depending on the beans.
4. In a large, deep frying pan, add the olive oil and heat. Add in the chopped vegetables (onion, parsley, carrots, pepper, garlic).  Sauté for about 5 minutes or until soft.
5. Add the vegetables into the beans then add vinegar, wine, cumin, oregano, bullion, salt and pepper.
6. Cover and allow to simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes. 
7. Remove bay leaves, and use an immersion blender on pulse to partially blend the soup for about 10 seconds to allow to thickening. If you don't have an immersion blender you can put about 3 or 4 cups of the soup into a blender, pulse until some of the beans are broken down and then add this slurry back into the soup. Try to get  beans/veggies into the blender, not all  liquid, but also make sure to leave some beans intact for the soup!
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Serve and top with a little sour cream/greek yogurt, chopped green onions, chives or cilantro.

French Macarons

Years (and provinces) ago I found a recipe and tried it. It was an abysmal failure, epic some would say. Years later I moved and found the recipe and tried again....

I made them.
And then made them again.
Then I tinkered and made them a few more times.
By now T is getting more than a little irritated by my obsession to figure this recipe out.
Almond flour is expensive!

Now I think I've figured the recipe out and the process because honestly the process is almost as important as the actual ingredients.


Ingredients:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 large egg whites (aged, so crack separate them and leave them in the fridge for a few days or on the counter for a few hours, but in the fridge for a few days works better)
• Just a little cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup super fine (or berry) sugar

Directions:

1. Pulse together icing sugar and almond flour and then sift twice (more if needed or you made your own almond flour). I didn't think it was really necessary once and only sifted once. Do it twice, just follow this recipe to the letter for the best chance at success. Set aside for the time being.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk (or beat) egg whites on medium until foamy.
3. Add cream of tartar to the eggs continue whisking until soft peaks form. You don't need a lot, just a touch.
4. Add in the superfine sugar.
5. Increase speed to high until stiff peaks form.
6. Add colour here. Do not over beat
7. Sift flour mixture over whites and fold in by hand until smooth and shiny. This will take about 50-60 folds. You want the mixture to flow, like magma.
8. Transfer to piping bag (or ziplock bag with a corner cut off)
9. Pipe onto a parchment lined (or silpat works too, I prefer the parchment though) pan. about 1" rounds 1" apart. This might take a few to get the hang of it. Pipe about a quarter size and let it spread a little for about an inch in diametre. 
10. Let stand for 30-45 minutes. You want caps to form. The tops will be dull and have a crust on them. This is a KEY part to the macaron process. 
11. Preheat oven to 375°, drop to 325° when pan goes in. You might need to prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon or something in order to make sure the oven temp drops.
12. Bake for 5 minutes. Open the oven, pull the pan out and rotate. Put the pan back in for another  5 minutes. You do not want the tops to brown. You might have to sit in front of your oven and watch them the entire time they bake and change the length of time you bake your macarons until you get the hang of how your oven works.
13. Remove from the oven and give it a moment to rest. If macaron will not come off the parchment, use a little water on the underside of the paper to release.

** If you live in a humid climate, no matter how closely you follow this recipe, it just might not work. Choose a dry day if at all possible. 

Kinds I've made:
chocolate macarons (sub about 1/4 cups of the icing sugar for cocoa powder) with ganache centres.
mixed coconut flavour and toasted coconut into the ganache for an "Almond Joy" flavour.
Added Baileys to the ganache.

Made Buttercream (the kind with eggs, sugar, cooking and Jedi mind tricks) and added jams to the buttercream (Huckleberry was a fan favourite)

Used homemade lemon curd and dayglo yellow cookies



Just eaten them without filling/icing/centre, I like to think of them as "diet cookies" hahaha...

Banana berry oatmeal bake

Or eating crumble for breakfast!

My kids love oatmeal, my kids love fruit and we have had amazing weather and have a bunch of super sweet strawberries just asking to be used in something good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk 
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries or raspberries, fresh or frozen, divided

**Can add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts if desired **

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix the oats, half of the walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine. In a liquid measuring cup, combine the syrup, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.
3. Spread the sliced bananas in a single layer over the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half of the berries. Sprinkle the dry oat mixture over the fruit in an even layer. Pour the liquid ingredients evenly over the oats.
4. Sprinkle the remaining nuts and berries over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is browned and the oats have set. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
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The pierogi infatuation

So we all piled in the car a few weeks ago to go for a drive. It wasn't that nice outside, but the kids were getting over colds and we had all been stuck in the house and just wanted out. We ended up in a small town about 45 minutes away, that has a fantastic little mennonite restaurant. The make the best peanut butter chocolate pie ever. Ever. But we hadn't eaten lunch yet and although had the kidlets not been in the car I'm sure I would have just had pie for lunch, I needed to set a somewhat good example. So we had the pierogies. Not just pierogies, but probably the best pierogies ever. Ever.



We got home and a few days later both T and I were contemplating driving back to the restaurant for another helping of doughy goodness. I set out to find a recipe that would keep us from driving 45 minutes every couple of days.
After tweaking and fine tuning we came up with this little gem. Oh there is no doubt we will be making the trek again for pierogies and pie, but at least we have these that come pretty darned close.

Dough:
One 8 ounce tub of sour cream
3 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder

Filling:
2 cups dry curd cottage cheese (you can get this at Safeway)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

White Gravy
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
2 tbsp bacon bits


Dough:
Mix together sour cream and eggs until smooth. Mix together dry ingredients and then into the sour cream/egg mixture. Add more flour as need to form a slightly sticky dough. Roll out on roulepat or very lightly floured surface. You want it to stick slightly to the board to make it a little easier to get the dough nice and thin. Cut out with a drinking glass.

Mix together all ingredients for the filling and spoon a portion into the cut out dough circles.
Press together the edges to seal in the filling. I found that I would press together the edges with my fingers and then use a fork to make sure I had it sealed well.

To cook just drop them into salted boiling water for 5 minutes or so, or until dough is soft.

To make the gravy.
Add the sour cream to the melted butter in a sauce pan and whisk until smooth. Add sliced onion and bacon and allow to simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes.


Boil as many as you want and add the gravy on top. You don't need much gravy, it is rich, but man alive it is GOOD!

**Pierogies can be made, frozen and dropped into boiling water and cooked for about 10-12 minutes, which makes this a perfect recipe to do in advance**

Celeriac Soup

Who knew such goodness could come from such an ugly little root?


Celeriac, or Celery Root. I hate celery, but love this soup.
It is the perfect cold winters day food. Curl up all day in front of the fire with a good book while this sits on the stove waiting for you.


Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
4 small or 3 medium celeriac roots
4 leeks
1 small potato (red, white or yellow)
4 cups of stock (I prefer homemade if possible, but the organic low sodium one from Campbells is pretty decent)
Pepper to taste

5 year old Balderson Cheddar, shredded.


Hack the celeriac apart. Okay, no it looks like it needs to be hacked at, but just slice off the outer shell and get all the nubby bit off. There will likely be dirt all over the place, just rinse the celeriac off and chop into 1cm cubes. Cut the leaks into into thin slices.
Melt butter in a pot and add leeks in, sauté them until they're soft. Add in the celeriac and cook slowly.
Peel and cube potato and add to leek/celeriac mix
Add salt and pepper (I add a lot of pepper)
Add the stock.
Turn down the temp to allow a simmer until potato and celeriac are soft.
Can add more salt & pepper to taste. I usually add a little more pepper to mine.
Put into blender (in batches if need be) and blend on high until smooth.
Rinse out pot you used to cook in and return blended portions to it and mix together.

Just before you serve, add a small handful of the super sharp cheese and let it melt a little into the soup.

Oh so tasty.

Homemade Bread

Is there anything better than homemade bread? Fresh, warm out of the oven and covered in butter, or slathered in peanut butter and honey a la T and t styles. We've been trying to eat healthier and I've been trying to have our family eat things that don't contain preservatives, fillers and things I can't pronounce. There are some things that have been tough to move away from, not only money wise but ease as well. But some things have been easy to replace, like warm, soft homey bread.
I went looking for a bread recipe that I could make myself and bake in the oven, opposed to a bread machine recipe. Again, this is a mix of a bunch of recipes I found, tinkered with to make my own.
The bread is a little yeastier than I normally like, and higher in calories than some on the grocery shelves, but it goes fast and it has a super short list of ingredients. Perfect.



Whole wheat flax sunflower seed bread

1 1/2 cup warm water
3/4 tbsp sugar
3/4 tbsp bread machine yeast (this is what I have in my house, but I guess any dry, active yeast will work)
3-3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (works with white flour too, if you go to make it and find your almost out of whole wheat)
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (these can be omitted easily if you're not a seed person)
1 tbsp oil plus some to grease the pan and bowl(vegetable or canola)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Mix 1/2 cup warm water with sugar and yeast and let sit about 5 minutes until foamy.
Add to the yeast the rest of the water, 2 cups of flour, flax, sunflower seeds, oil and salt.
Mix in a Kitchen Aid mixer with the bread hook (or by hand, if you are so inclined) keep adding 1/4 cup of flour to the mix until the dough becomes a little stiff.
Turn up the mixer to high (or knead by hand) and let mix until dough becomes elastic. (about 7-10 minutes)
Put into a greased bowl and allow to rise until doubled (about an hour or so)
Knock down and let rise again.
Knock down and roll out into a rectangle as wide as the pan you plan on baking the loaf in and about 10 inches long.
Roll into tight log and place into a greased loaf pan.
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 25 minutes.
You might need more or less time depending on your oven.

Voila tasty, homemade bread.
I just keep mine either under a tea towel, or in an old bread bag. Keeps for about 3 days.

Bison Burgers

Yes, I said bison, like buffalo, like those large woolie things you see in pictographs and the flintstones.
I am NOT a game person, hunting creeps me out, but bison is not gamey at all and is a leaner, tastier version of beef.
It really is good. It isn't all that much more expensive than lean ground beef here in the prairie provinces.
This isn't so much a recipe as a suggestion to BBQ something a little different.
My favourite way these days is seasoned just with a little garlic, salt and pepper. Grilled and then topped with Chèvre cheese and some Sharwoods mango chutney. (please don't tell my mom I love chutney, she will never let me hear the end of it, we used to torment her mercilessly when we were growing up about how gross chutney was)

Happy grilling!