Disclaimer: I adore maple butter – on toast, on pancakes, on waffles, on a spoon, on a knife, on my finger…. need I go on. It is heavenly stuff. I am partial. Here, I have used it as a spread for these gingerbread waffles, which are pretty damn sweet all by themselves. Next time (and there will be one!) I will eliminate the brown sugar (they already have molasses – which makes them taste like the bread version of Indian pudding).
This is so fluffy, it is almost like a chiffon cake, but it is cheesecake … not sure I am making sense, but prepare it and you’ll see. The only drawback is that you barely taste the cherry flavor (and no wonder – you only add a couple of tablespoons of reduced cherry juice). Plus, I don’t think it gives such a dense color (as in the Food52 photo – I suspect enhancements of some kind were performed!).
I drizzled with some melted white chocolate, and the whipped heavy cream is absolutely obligatory!
Russian Pancakes (Blini) with Kefir I recently went to a Maslenitsa celebration (a uniquely Russian pagan holiday celebrated by eating crepes/pancakes), and enjoyed some Russian folk tales told by a talented voice-over actress, Russian tea from a samovar and a bunch of crepe-like cupcakes with fillings such as mushrooms and cream, caviar and butter, tvorog – ricotta cheese – and raisins, jams etc. It was nice and cozy. So, in a spurt of motivation, I decided to try making pancakes/blini with kefir and soda. They are a bit thicker, fluffier, and porous – due to the soda bubbles. You’ll see these holes in the pic.
I have eaten my crepes thin all my life so this was new for me. And I must say, I like it better – it is much more filling, gives more of a comfort food feel, which the ephemeral crepe achieves only after you eat a good number of them. And the pancakes themselves don’t really require a lot of ingredients (plus kefir is good for your stomach!)
I topped mine with cherry & plum jam, but they obviously can go with anything (the mushroom/onion/heavy cream sauce was divine, btw!)
The recipe is in Russian and Google translate does some weird things, but here are the ingredients: 500 ml kefir, 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 250 water, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, sugar and salt to taste, butter for frying. You beat the kefir, eggs, sugar and salt. Sift in the flour. You boil the water, add the soda after it boils – it will fizz – then carefully add to batter. Mix. Let it rest 2-3 minutes. Add oil to it. Then heat your pan, add just a little butter, when it gets hot spoon in a ladle of batter and be quick when turning the pancake – they will be ready rather fast.
Sweet Potato Poutine with Paprika Sausage, Oyster Mushrooms and Asparagus Tips
It was poutine week last week, and I already miss it. Fancy poutine experiments all over restaurants and bistros, all weird funky and tasty (except the one with the buffalo sauce and popcorn chicken….)! So, I decided to come up with my own version. Something woodsy, appropriate for winter, but of course outlandishly weird too. So first thing – sweet potato fries; second – some paprika pork sausage (like chorizo) thinly sliced and flash fried so it can be crispy; third – the sauce – regular brown gravy is boring, so I made this port-based sauce with shallots, miso, butter and port, all thickened with cornstarch (it was slightly sweet but that went well with the sour asparagus and and the salty sausage); fourth – regular squeaky cheese curds; fifth – oyster mushrooms breaded with panko and fried (this, to be honest, did not add much to the dish); sixth and final – asparagus tips, which I marinated in the juice of some roasted peppers I had in the fridge (this made them sour and garlicky -> a nice accent). Pepper and thyme fairy dust on top.
Happy, happy!
I know it is so different, it totally ain’t legally speaking “real pout(s)ine”. But it has nice complementary earthy flavors, and I can’t keep my hands off of it even after I had lunch already.
It’s Shrove Tuesday (last day before Lent), a.k.a. Pancake Day for us pagans!
My contribution are these lemony pancakes (boy, it took a lot of lemon juice, lemon zest and citric acid to get the lemon flavor to really come out!). Oh, and a cheat was involved too – some turmeric for the yellow to pop – otherwise they look like plain ol’ pancake s(not that that’s a bad thing). The recipe I used was meant to be gluten free, but oops, didn’t have all those special flours, so I used half regular / half coconut flour.
On top if is some goat butter. I experimented with honey instead of maple syrup – too sweet. The maple syrup was too light… then when switching batches around in the plate remnants of the two mixed, and the scandalous union of honey and maple syrup turned out to be perfect. I swear, it was just this once, I will never do it again, but it felt right
I waited a looooong time for the Kickstarter cookbook “Made with Coffee” to come out, cause I follow Jerry Stone and I adore the man! This recipe is in the collection which features fantastic weirdness such as Coffee Vinaigrette, Blue Cheese & Espresso butter, and Chipotle-Espresso Roasted shrimp, among others. The French Onion soup has not one but two surprising ingredients – (shinsu) miso and dark coffee, and both complement the onion/thyme aroma quite well.
Personalized warm cookie and ice cream, in a ramekin – just lovely 🙂 (wish I had a mini cast-iron pan for it actually) Followed this recipe for the cookie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4GxXU79uxk but also added a cup of rolled oats + half a cup of butterscotch chips. Made regular cookies, and then with the leftover dough, made this big ramekin one.
Dug a hole in the center, put some gooseberry jam, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream (the one made from almond milk – I used it because it isn’t too sweet), and drizzled caramel and ground nuts on top.
I remember when, like, 18 years ago this concept was sort of novel – Ruby Tuesday’s had a warm blondie in a pan with a scoop of ice cream. I swear that is the only reason I frequented the place! And now I make it at home 🙂
Bacon, cheddar and jalapenos than aren’t breaded and deep-fired. Yahoo! Can’t wait to have guests over and make this. I wish I used baked wonton cups before – I’ve been afraid that they would be too dry, but they pair perfectly with a dip-like filling.
Beans on toast have always struck me as a strange combo, but all I needed was a Full English breakfast and I’ve been hooked. This here is a different take on the subject – the beans are marinated, and the toast is not “toasted” but fried in a skillet. This last part is particularly suitable for wet toppings, because as you might have noticed, bruschettas can occasionally get soggy. The beans are mixed with fresh parsley, chopped shallots, cherry tomatoes, rice vinegar, olive oil, chili flakes, lemon zest (and maybe a bit of the juice) and chopped walnuts. Of course all the proportions will vary by taste, and this is mostly a mixing exercise, so… go for it, do your own thing.
I have always been skeptical of chia seed puddings, because they could get too slimy. But when you use suitable fruits, the “slime factor” goes down, and the best thing about chia concoctions comes out – the diverse, fun texture! I found a recipe for strawberry and chamomile pudding, but I decided to make a green version of it – with honeydew melon and kiwi. The result is so insanely refreshing that it is more suitable as a summer “cooler” type of food than a winter comfort food, but oh well… just file the recipe for later. I blended a cup of coconut milk, half a small honeydew melon chopped and three kiwis. Added freshly grated ginger, maple syrup to taste. If you have jasmine extract use a couple of drops, if not boil half a cup of water and steep some jasmine tea in it. Add to the mix (be careful though – if the tea is caffeinated, this could change the taste of the pudding). Then, add 8-9 tablespoons of chia seeds, stir and refrigerate overnight. Top with vegan whipped cream if you desire, and some blanched almond slivers.
Foodstuff 