BRIOCHE LOAVES

I love this brioche recipe out of Ina Garten's book Barefoot in Paris. Making bread is usually labour intensive , but this recipe is very quick, the only drawback is that you have to refrigerate the dough overnight. but then the next morning you take it out and with very little effort you place it in some pans and before you know it the kitchen just permeates with the lovely aroma of fresh baked bread.

Ina's recipe makes 2 loaves one to eat and one to freeze, but in my house the second one never makes it to the freezer. My sister likes hers plain just slice an serve. I of course need butter on mine ! Either way this bread is delicious and if any is left over I think I'm going to make some Pain Perdu tomorrow. Stay tuned kids, to find out what that is.

BRIOCHE

1/2 c warm water

1 package dried yeast

3 T. sugar

6 x-large eggs, room temperature

41/2 cups unbleached flour

2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 lbs. unsalted butter at room temperate

1 egg mixed with 1T. milk for egg wash

Combine the water,yeast and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Allow to stand for about 5 minutes, until yeast and sugar dissolve.

Add the eggs and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.

With the mixer on low speed add 2 cups of flour and salt and mix for 5 minutes. Still on low speed then add the other 2 cups of flour and again mix for 5 minutes.

Add the soft butter in chunks and continue mixing at low speed scraping down the sides of the bowl until well blended. With mixer still running add the additional 1/2 cup of flour. Switch the paddle to the dough hook and mix for an additional 2 minutes on low speed.

Scrape the dough into a large buttered bow with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate overnight.

The next morning lat the dough rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Grease two 81/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-in. loaf pans.

T urn the dough onto a light floured board and cut in half.

Pat each portion into a 6 x 8 -in. rectangle, then roll up each rectangle into a cylindrical loaf. Place each loaf n a greased pan, cover with a damp towel and set aside to rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush with the egg wash when they have risen and bake for 45 minutes, or until the tops spring back and it sounds slightly hollow when tapped. Turn the loaves out onto a wire rack to cool.

CHICKEN BARLEY STEW

Well kids , summer has finally arrived to Ottawa, the weather has been downright balmy and yes I should be blogging about a beautiful summer salad or cold gazpacho,but hubby was in the mood for a comfy cozy stew/soup. As luck would have it I just came across just the thing in the Clean Eating magazine, a new take on the standard beef barley soup. The bonus to this recipe is that you make it in the crock pot the night before and voila supper is ready for the next day.
We woke up this morning to the wonderful fragrance of this hearty stew/ soup and had to fight down the urge to have it for breakfast, so we did the next best thing and had it for lunch.

Chicken Barley Stew

32 oz. low fat/ sodium chicken broth

1 T.minced garlic

1 tsp. garlic sea salt

1/2 T. thyme

1/2 T. basil

1/2 T. cilantro

1/2 T dill

2 bay leaves

1/2 T. freshly ground pepper

1 lb. cubed boneless, skinless chicken breast (uncooked)

1/2 cup uncooked black -eyed peas, rinsed

1/2 c. barley

1 medium sweet onion, cubed

3 large carrots cleaned and cut into 1/2 inch slices( I cubed them)

3 potatoes cleaned and cubed

8 T. low fat sour cream (optional)

Fill a slow cooker with broth, 8 oz water. garlic, herbs, and pepper. add chicken, peas and barley, then layer the onion,potatoes and carrots over top. liquid should just cover the vegetables. Do not stir.

Allow to simmer overnight. or at least 4-6 hours. Remove bay leaves before serving. Spoon one cup into each bowl and garnish with sour cream if desired. (230 cal. without sour cream)

SEVEN LAYER SALAD

There are many versions of this easy to prepare salad and each one is a personal reflection of it's creator and is probably as good as the next. Some even have more than seven layers. The beauty of this salad is that it looks beautiful, is a crowd favorite and usually can last for a few days in the fridge , even though dressing has been added.
Basically , the salad consists of shredded lettuce, onions ( spring onions or red), frozen peas,chopped hard boiled eggs , crumbled and drained fried bacon ,cucumber, tomatoes and a generous layer of dressing. In my case Greek yogurt with a dollop of Miracle Whip mixed in. Don't forget the salt and pepper. Using a trifle bowl will display the beautiful layers.

"Blue Moon Over Kentucky" aka
BOO (2001/07/26-2009/07/27)
You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging much and the main reason has been that my heart has not been in it. If you recall Boo became ill over Mother's Day week-end and the diagnosis was Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia. In most cases dogs can continue to live a normal life with this disease, even though they are closely monitored and usually on lifetime medication. Unfortunately, Boo was just not responding to the various medications that she was placed on. After 2 months of a valiant struggle being poked sometimes as often as twice a week to draw blood , loosing weight almost daily and suffering with with horrific side effects of the prednisone and cyclosporin,, Boo was having a very difficult time with daily living.At the end, Boo developed Diabetes( at a dangerous level) on top of everything else, and I realized that I was being extremely selfish in prolonging her misery, but in my heart i was willing her to live, and to respond to the meds, I was so hopeful and I so wanted a cure for my Boo girl, that I put on my blinders. You see I always thought that she was young enough to spring back. Our first schnauzer lived to be 161/2 years old, and I just naturally assumed that Boo would be with us for a long time.
The Grenville Dundas Vet Clinic was exceptional. Boo's vet Dr. Nancy Dejong was an angel in disguise, there are not enough words to describe her skill. compassion and drive, Nancy went over and above what would normally have been considered a level of standardexcellent care that most clients receive at the Vet's.Nancy made countless of home phone calls on her days off to check on Boo and give me the latest blood work results, her constant vigil and research to try whatever she thought Boo could handle makes her my hero. She was relentless in her effort to help Boo. Lindsay the technician , who would take Boo for her blood and urine samples, is just the "Best", in my books. She too, always has a gentle hand with not only Boo but all the animals that I have seen her with. Helen , the office manager was also extremely helpful, concerned , encouraging and sympathetic. I am know that all the vets there knew Boo and probably had some hand in her treatment. It's just a wonderful clinic with caring loving people.
Boo will be missed, I still see her in so many places around the house and garden, there is a big hole in my heart right now that with time will heal and become smaller. She gave us all a lot of love and joy.

HONEY BUTTER CARROT CAKE with TOASTED PECANS and CITRUS CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Trust me THIS is the one....read on...

Carrots are definitely at the top of the list as a multi tasker root vegetable. You name it and you can do it with a carrot. Eat it raw, shred it , boil it, mash it,bake it.It can stand on it's own, pair it up with other vegetables and of course the number one thing to do with carrots is turn them into a cake. I don't know anyone that does not have a carrot cake recipe in their recipe file. I have an least 3 recipes for carrot cake in my note book. (My mother-in-laws version, my sister's and mine that was given to me by Dell at least 30 years ago made with pineapples along with the carrots and everything else.
Alas, this is not my carrot cake...it's Ron's. He has been home now since the 1st f June, my ,"Honey-Do", list is just about complete and I can tell that Ron is itching to get back to work because he is puttering around the kitchen adding a pinch here and there to my cooking... (he thinks I don't see him do it!) and thus, after browsing through some old cooking and wine magazines came across this version of carrot cake from an L.C.B.O. 2003 Food and Wine edition.
I'll give the man some credit, THIS really is the BEST classic Carrot Cake I've ever had.

Honey Butter Carrot Cake
2C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves or all spice
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C butter softened
1/2 C honey
2 eggs
1 C sugar
1tsp vanilla
3 cups finely grated carrot
1 apple peeled and grated
1 C pecans coarsely chopped

ICING
1 250 g pkg regular cream cheese
1/2 C butter softened
2 T honey
2 T finely grated orange, lemon.lime zest or a mixture of all 3
2 tsp lemon juice
4-5C sifted icing sugar

Pre- heat oven to 350 degrees
Butter 2 ...9 inch pans
Stir flour with all the first 6 ingredients. In another bowl using an electric beater cream nutter until light and fluffy.
Slowly beat in honey the eggs one at a time.
Bear in sugar and vanilla.
Add flour mixture into butter mixture in thirds, stirring until just absorbed.
Stir in carrots, apples and pecans.
Divide batter into 2 pans.
Bake 35-40 minutes or until cake tester inserted into center comes out clean.
Invert and cool then ice.
Garnish with extra chopped pecans around the outer edges and swirls of either lemon or orange strips on top. Or leave as is..as it probably won't last long!

PEROSKI

Have I mentioned yet that our summer so far has been an extremely wet one? I don't mean to be such a grouch, but when will the sun come out and play? With all this damp dreary weather I find myself sitting at the kitchen table and preparing more fall seasonal foods, instead of sitting by the pool catching some rays. Peroshki is another one of my Mother-in -laws recipes. Pyrohy, Pyrizky and Peroski all refer to a filled pastry made of yeast raised dough. The name stems from an archaic word ,PYR, meaning banquet which indicates that this pastry was more than likely featured at banquets in days past. Ukrainian dishes are neither spicy nor bland, they are subtle and pleasing having their own indefinable qualities. But the good thing about the fillings that go into these pastries is that you can spice them up any way you like them.

As with most Ukrainian dishes that involve dough, you might as well clear your day, because you might as well make a whole batch and freeze them for that occasion when you want to pull out something for an after school snack, or a quick lunch or snack. They also make a lovely appetizer . Fillings can either be savoury or sweet. Favourites in our house are mushroom fillings, sauerkraut, meat fillings (beef, pork, veal,saugage or combination of these , or chicken and turkey) .

I had a kilo of sauerkraut still in the freezer and thought that as it was another rain day again today I would use it up and make some peroski. First i boiled the sauerkraut in it's own juices and covered it with a little water, a bay leaf and some juniper berries, to soften it up and expel some of its bitterness, Then I drained it and in some oil sauteed some onions, double smoked bacon and added some chopped kielbasa. To this I then added the drained cooked sauerkraut and let it saute and simmer for about 45 minutes on low heat until tender . Make sure that it does not burn , you may add some white wine, or some more oil to prevent burning. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a bowl, and let it cool completely, I usually prepare the fillings the night before. I realize that a sauerkraut filling is not to everybodys taste buds, but as I said you can fill it with whatever filling you desire. A very quick meat filling that I make in a pinch when I don't want to boil and shred my beef is to fry up ground hamburger meant in onions and seasonings ,when cooked through I add a can of Campbell's mushroom soup ( without the added milk), cool this meat mixture and use that as a filling.Seasoning can be whatever you feel like from simple salt and pepper to more intense flavouring like chili and hot sauce.

PEROSKI

1 pkg. yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp. sugar

1 cup sour cream

1/2 lb. tenderflake or crisco

1/2 tsp. salt

3 T sugar

4 Cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water with 1 tsp sugar and let stand for 10 minutes to proof.

Beat eggs and add the cup of sour cream to them.

Mix together the lard or vegetable shortening with the remaining sugar salt and flour. Add the yeast and egg sour cream mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon , beat well. Place dough in an oiled bowl cover with wax paper and top with a dinner plate and refrigerate overnight. In the morning roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick with a cookie cutter cut out circles, place about a heaping teaspoon of filling in each circle. Pinch together sided , form in an oval and place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Let rise for about 15 minutes, brush with an egg wash and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the tops are golden. Place on rack to cool. These can be frozen and reheated in the microwave.(Depending on the size of your circle cut out this recipe should easily yield 6 dozen, I also made a meat filling with 1 kilo of hamburger meat and doubled the dough recipe , needless to say my freezer is starting to get full of goodies with all this rain weather) Oh my gosh I'm still complaining about the weather.

RATATOUILLE

It's time to clean out the fridge again, that , and the fact that Ryan had stock taking last night would be home rather late and asked for a Ratatouille to eat when he got home. It's easy to reheat and add to rice. I usually don't add mushrooms to my version of this dish, but as I said, it was clean-up time. While I prefer a green pepper because the flavour is more distinct ,alas , it was only a red pepper that I had. The point here is, that this dish lends itself very easily to substitution, so long as the main components are present. (Onions, garlic, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers.) After I assemble all of the ingredients, I clean them and rough chop everything, as Ryan likes his vggies cut bigger and chunkier..





I will not give specific quantities as it just depends on what you have on hand. Last night I sauteed, 2 organic onions, 6 garlic cloves in some olive oil, until onions are translucent and you begin to smell the garlic.

Be careful not to let the onions or garlic burn.

I like to buy my tomato paste in tubes, the cans are always more than a recipe calls for, and I know that you can always freeze the extra, but I'm not organized enough to take it out of the freezer ahead of time.

This tube allows me to use only what I need. I squeezed out a very generous tablespoon into the sauteed onions and garlic.

Once it is fully Incorporated and beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan,

I made a cup of vegetable broth, and added it to the mixture.

You could also use chicken stock if you so prefer. Continue stirring for about one minute and now you are ready to add the chopped vegetables.




Please don't add the tomatoes until the end.

The eggplant will cook off tquickly creating more liquid, the zucchini will take the longest to cook. Ryan does not like crunchy vegetables, i usually cook the zucchini fist before adding the eggplant and peppers. Last night I just put a lid on the pan and let them steam through. Then after about 10 minutes I removed the lid and let the broth reduce down a bit. when you add the chopped tomatoes it will once again create more broth.

Add the diced tomatoes (fresh or canned) and at this stage lower the heat and just let the vegetables heat through as to your desired firmness of how you like to eat your veggies.

At the very end I like to adjust the seasoning, salt, pepper, chopped basil, I also added oregano

and then garnished with some chopped parsley. Ryan likes to eat his over a bowl of rice, the rest of us like it served cold with a crust of bread. You can also add an extrs drizzle of olive oil and some olives if you have them on hand.

Rain, rain go away

It's 7:03 in the morning and we have another rain day! The patio is not being used very much this summer at all, as a matter of fact I don't know why the umbrella is still up?

Sunday was actually a nice day and we could have sat outside on the patio, but when the day was so nice it seemed a shame to just waste it. So we took the opportunity to go downtown and stroll by the Byward market and check things out. I picked up some fresh pasta and buns from LaBottega, some Polish Kielbasa from the Continental Deli, and some beefsteak tomatoes, spring onions and small cucumbers from the market. Later we had a coffee and a brioche at the outdoor cafe and just sat and watched all the tourists go by.

This year looks like we aren't going to have much of a summer, so you might as well take any opportunity to enjoy the day as they come along.

There has been cooking, of course, but rather than always running and getting the camera, I have been just enjoying the company and conversations that are taking place around the meals.It seems like everybody has been busy and it's nice to just be all together and get a chance to catch up. It's also nice to have Ron home for an extended time and be part of it all. ( I must say that when he is home I want him all to myself, but then there are obligations to be filled, dinners to be recipricated, and time for him to get in some golf with his friends, ect.) There has been much comfort foods this summer so far, Pate Chinois, Lasagna, heavier warmer meals, due mainly to the weather. On the occasion that we have BBQed, we didn't even have the pleasure of eating it outside. I think that I am sounding as blue as the weather, don't get me wrong I do love and appreciate the rain, but not for almost 5 straight weeks! Let's hope the sun comes out.