Graham Toffee Coffee Cake

A basic coffee cake that you can tailor to your needs.

Ingredients:

Batter:

3 Eggs

1 1/2 cups of Sugar

1/4 cup of Vegetable Oil

1 cup of Water

2 cups of Flour

3 1/2 tsp of Baking Powder

1 tsp of Salt

Crumb Mix:

1 cup of Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/2 cup of Brown Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 cup melted Butter

1/2 cup of Skor bits

1/2 cup of Chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Beat together the eggs, sugar and oil until light and fluffy.  When well mixed add in the water.  In a seperate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add that to the wet ingredients and mix well.

Combine the first four ingrediants for the crumb mix in a seperate bowl.

Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper or (if your adventurous)  use a greased 10" spring-form pan.
  Pour half the batter into the pan.  Sprinkle in half the crumb mix, all the Skor bits & chocolate chips.  Pour in the other half of the batter and then top with the rest of the crumb mix.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

The Twist:

This is really a coffee cake that you can do anything with.  You can replace the Skor bits and chocolate chips or add more.  Feel like some fruit?  Go ahead, a half cup of any chopped fruit works well though I recommend you put it on top.  How about nuts?  Sure no problem.  Another fun addition is to take caramel or chocolate ice cream topping and make a lattice across the top of the cake once it's cooled.  Replace the vegetable oil with peanut oil for a little flavour boost.  Of course if you do that remember to tell anyone you share with, it's embarrassing to accidentally poison someone.  This recipe is ripe for experimentation: what will you try?

Pho Stock

This is my recipe for Pho, my favourite Vietnamese noodle soup.

Ingredients:

Broth:

4 lbs smoked ham bones

4 qts water

1 Tbs vinegar

1 inch fresh ginger sliced

1 tsp anise seed

2 1/2 Tbs fish sauce

2 tsp salt

2 green onions sliced

8 white mushrooms sliced

Directions:

First note the water is approximate, if you have some more room in your pot you can add in a bit more water but don't exceed 5 qts.

Well this isn't a difficult recipe just a time consuming one.  Put everything in a large pot.  Bring it to a boil then let simmer 6 to 8 hours.  Remove the bones from the stock.  If you'd like to reduce the fat then refrigerate the stock and scoop the fat off once it hardens.

The Twist:

Okay so you have your stock what do you put in it?  Well there's no hard and fast rule so I'll list out various things I like to put in my pho.  Whenever you are serving Pho assemble it by the bowl then laddle on some boiling stock.  By the time it cools enough to eat everything will be cooked perfectly.

What to put in Pho:

rice noodles (you pick what type but be sure to pre cook them to el denté)

beansprouts

fresh basil

fresh cilantro

green onion

more mushrooms

thinly sliced top sirloin beef

bok choy

broccoli stem

lime wedge

Hoisin sauce

Sriracha sauce

Creamy Tomatoe and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Originally I recipe I ran across in Chatelaine, I found it needed more flavour and this is the result.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs veg oil
 1 large onion
2 garlic cloves

1 red pepper
1 large carrot
1 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cups chicken stock
796ml can of diced tomatoes (or an equivalent amount of fresh tomatoes diced by you)
2-4oz whipping cream
Directions:
Chop up the onion & red pepper.  Mix with the oil then place on a cooking sheet in the oven at 350F until well roasted.  I like to see some definite blackening before I pull mine out. Scrape everything on the sheet into a large saucepan.  Add the garlic (minced) and the carrot (peeled & chopped) to the saucepan.  Add the sugar. lime juice & cayenne pepper.  Cook on medium heat for five minutes.  Add the broth and diced tomatoes (with the juice).  Bring to a boil then let simmer for about 20min or until the carrots are very soft.  Purée in the pot with a hand blender or in two batches in an upright blender.  Stir in cream to taste.

The Twist:

The problem with tomatoes is acidity, with canned tomatoes the problem is even worse.  Luckily this is easily remedied by adding a bit more sugar  if you feel the need.  The cream also helps cut the acid and just gives it a fuller flavour.  The original recipe called for two celery stalks but I found the flavour a little dissonant with the rest of the dish.

If you happen to have it in the house I'd also recommend 1 tsp of smoked Paprika.  It really adds a nice touch.

One idea from the original recipe I did love was to make up a grill cheese then cut it into croutons to top your soup with.  The result is excellent.  The best grill cheese to make for this?  Smoked Cheddar on rye.

Brown Sugar Cake with Maple Icing

I found this recipe in some better living magazine a while back and  it has become one of my favourites.  The cake is a dense one and combined with this excellent icing makes a wonderful combination.

Ingredients:

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup of milk

Icing:
1/2 package of cream cheese at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sifted icing sugar
1/4 cup butter at room temperature
3 Tbs maple syrup

Directions:

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9x9 pan. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl then set aside.  Beat butter in a large bowl until creamy, at least one minute.  Beat in sugar and vanilla, then add eggs one at a time.  Gradually add half the flour until just combined then add half the milk.  Repeat with the other half.  Pour  into the greased pan.  Bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean about 25 to 30min.  Let cool for at least 15 minutes before icing.

Icing:
Beat cream cheese with icing sugar, butter and maple syrup in a medium bowl until smooth.  Refrigerate icing until firm, about 30 minutes.

The Twist:

The first, and my favourite, to cook up three strips of bacon until crispy.  Chop them up and add most to the icing saving a little to garnish the top.  Maple-bacon icing, so good!

Actually the icing is an excellent base and the maple syrup can easily be substituted with vanilla, lemon extract, almond extract, etc.  When doing those substitutions start with 1 tsp, beat well and then taste.

When mixing the cake pay attention to the ingredients that need to be at room temperature.  You'll find it makes a big difference to the density of the cake.

Harvest Strata

A wonderful way to take advantage of the fall bounty

Ingredients:

1 large beet
2 large carrots
1 butternut squash
1 small sweet potato
1 medium size russet potato
1/2 an onion
1 egg
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

Get out your favourite casserole dish and grease it with some of the butter.  Peel the beet and slice it thinly.  Layer it across the bottom of dish (the beet goes on the bottom or every thing under them turns purple), then dot with butter.  Repeat the process with the carrots.  Repeat the process again using the top three inches of the butternut squash.  With the sweet potato peeling is optional (I will often leave the peel on taking off only the tips) otherwise repeat the previous process one last time.

Preheat your oven to 400F

Shred you potato and onion placing them in a separate bowl, ensure the potato water makes it in too. Mix in the breadcrumbs,cheese and egg. Add salt and pepper to the mix if you wish.  Spread evenly across the top of the casserole dish and cover.  Place in the oven for 40 minutes to an hour you want an inserted knife to sink smoothly. You can switch to broil and remove your covering for 5 minutes if the top hasn't browned.

The Twist:

There is of so much you can do with this one.  Turnips, parsnips, broccoli stem, they all add their own special flavours to the mix.  Do not, however, substitute a different kind of potato.  The russet has the most starch which helps the topping bind.  Also I'd avoid using any vegetable like zucchini or egg plant that contain a lot of water or you'll find yourself eating a stew.

Another nice twist is to put a layer of bread cubes, covered lightly in an egg and milk mixture, on the bottom.  It's very tasty but be warned cleaning your dish afterwards may be a pain.

Bara Brith

This is a Welsh fruit bread, not quite as dense as a fruit cake it's easy to make and tasty to boot.

Ingredients:

2 tea bags
1 1/2 cups mixed dried fruit
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon fancy molasses
1 cup strong hot tea
1 large egg well beaten
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

Star by brewing your tea. Place two tea bags in 1 cup of boiling water and let steep for at least 10 minutes. Remove the tea bag then add the brown sugar and molasses, stir until dissolved. Add the mixed dried fruit, cover then go to work, or bed, or whatever, just don't touch for at least six hours.

Heat your oven to 325 F.  Grease a 1lb loaf pan.

Beat your egg and add it to your wet ingredients.  Don't worry if they have absorbed most of the tea, it won't affect the recipe. In a separate bowl combine your dry ingredients and mix until well blended.  Add it all together and mix well.  Scrap the stick paste into your loaf pan and do your best to level it out.  Cook for one hour or until a skewer comes out clean.  you'll need some thin longer then a tooth pick to reach the center.  Let it cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

The Twist:

The fruit you choose to use will greatly effect the end result.  Raisins, currents and dried cranberries will absorb a lot of fluid which will cause your bread to be a little more dense.  You can add another 1/3 cup of tea to lighten it up a bit.  Mixed fruit refers to the candid dried fruit often found in fruitcake. Because it is candied it won't absorb as much liquid but I find it isn't to everyone's taste.

The brown sugar and molasses take the place of muscovado sugar which is harder to get here in Canada and frankly, unnecessary.  Be warned if you choose to use blackstrap molasses instead of the fancy, it has a much stronger flavour.

The baking powder, salt and all purpose flour create a homemade batch of self rising flour.  If for some reason you actually have self rising flour you can substitute it directly.