Peanut Butter, Pretzel, and Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Who doesn't love a giant peanut butter cookie? Add in some chocolate chunks and a bit of salty pretzel and you've got yourself a winner! Seriously, all I want to eat right now is cookies. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I want cookies! 

I nabbed this recipe from The Sugar Hit, (one of my favourite blogs to follow) and added in some pretzel for a bit of saltiness. Sea salt would be good too. 

Peanut Butter, Pretzel, Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 sticks butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

8 oz dark chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup chopped pretzel

Start of by browning the butter in a saucepan. Heat is for about 5-7 minutes or until it starts to smell nutty and look caramel in colour. It will foam up a bit so use a deeper set pan. Set this aside to completely cool. You can put it in the fridge or freezer to speed this up if needed. 

When the butter is cool, place the eggs and white sugar into a mixing bowl (or stand mixer, fitted with a whisk) and whisk until the mixture is light and pale in colour. 

Add the cooled butter, brown sugar and peanut butter to the egg mixture and mix until incorporated. (switch to a paddle attachment if using a mixer.)

Continue to add the salt and baking powder. Then slowly mix in the flour, making sure not to let it fly everywhere. Once the flour is almost completely mixed in, add your chocolate chips for a final mix, until everything is well incorporated. 

Once your dough is finished you can either bake your cookies right away or let the dough chill for a a few hours/ overnight. Once you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375 F and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. Scoop out your dough out and evenly distribute them onto your baking sheet, making sure to leave plenty of room for them to spread out. You can flatten each cookie out as well, making sure they're just under an inch thick. Then bake for 15-17 minutes or until they're golden along the edges and just cooked through in the middle. 

Try not to eat them all in one go :)

Tomato Galette for One

I had a pretty big moment this week. A taste of my very first homegrown tomato. It felt like forever since I planted that little seed but finally, after all that waiting and babying it was time! After deciding that it was ripe enough to finally pick, I bit into it, still warm from the sun and man did it taste good! I mean, to be honest it wasn't the best looking tomato, kind of mutated and a bit cracked but... I grew it! That fact alone made it taste way better than any other tomato I've ever had before. I feel a bit like a proud mum. I also feel like I now need to buy a farm, move to the country and eat only the things I grow with my own two hands! 

Yeah, I'll keep dreaming here in my little Toronto apartment while the street cars rumble on by. I'll stick to little balcony gardens for now. 

So, in honour of my tasty, ugly tomato I've made a very simple galette, just for me.  Using up the half  of my tomato that I didn't eat right away and a few other things I had kicking around the fridge, this little guy came together very easily. I'm happy with this because there aren't a lot of recipes that work for just one and I'm all too often only cooking for myself. Which usually results in leftovers, which are cool but not always as exciting the next day. So after a bit of research I found out that making crust is really very simple and if you follow the ratio of 3 parts flour to 2 parts fat and 1 part liquid you'll be set to make however big or small a crust you need. However, the important thing to remember when making a pie crust like this is to keep you ingredients as cold as possible throughout the entire process. This helps to ensure a flaky crust that isn't too dense or too chewy.  

Tomato Galette with Goat Cheese, Pancetta, and Onion

Crust:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup chilled butter, cubed

5-6 tbsp ice water 

Pinch of salt

Filling:

1/2 large tomato, sliced

2 tbsp goat cheese

a bit of pancetta, chopped

a few slices of white or red onion

Olive oil

Balsamic Vinegar 

Preheat your oven to 425 F

For the crust, in a small mixing bowl combine the flour, salt and cold butter. With your hands coat the butter with the flour and continue to rub the butter into the flour between your hands, creating smaller and smaller chunks. Continue until the chunks look roughly the size of peas. I recommend chilling the dough for a few minutes here, especially if you're working in a hot kitchen. You want the butter in the dough to remain fairly cold so that it won't melt when you put it into your hot oven. Instead, you want to create a bit of steam which will create a beautifully flakey crust. 

After chilling the dough for a few minutes, create a little well in the middle of your mixture and start adding your ice water. Add it by the tablespoon to ensure your don't add too much water. Combine the mixture as you do this and stop working when the dough starts to come together. You don't want it to be sticky so just enough water until you can form a ball but it's not sticking to your hand. Again, chill that dough.

After chilling for a few minutes until it feels cool to the touch but isn't so stiff you can't roll it out. Turn your dough onto a lightly floured surface. With a floured rolling pin gently roll it out into roughly a roundish shape, about a 1/4 inch thick or so.

In the centre of your dough, crumble the goat cheese and place your slices of tomato on top. Top this with a bit of sliced onion and a handful of chopped pancetta. 

Fold the edges of the dough onto of your filling and drizzle with olive oil and a touch of balsamic. 

Place your galette on a parchment lined baking tray and pop in your preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until the crust is golden. 

You can top this with a bit of freshly grated parmesan. Some fresh herbs like basil or thyme would be nice too. 

Grab a glass of wine and enjoy! 

White Chocolate, Cherry, Basil Scones and a Word on Cold Brewing

I tried cold brewing for the first time recently and now I totally get what all the hype is about. It's more than just cold coffee, to my surprise! Somehow that long and slow brewing method brings out all the little intricate flavours your favourite coffee has to to offer so I'd recommend that you don't skimp out on your beans. (Honestly I would have recommended that cold brew or no cold brew but I guess that's what makes me a coffee snob.) I've mentioned a local coffee shop here before, Sam James Coffee Bar and I have no problem mentioning them again. The best coffee and they do their own roasting which is something that seems to be picking up here in Toronto YAY! Support your local independents and grab some fresh beans.

This method is so simple it's stupid! It just takes some time overnight to steep.

All I did was grind my beans up for a few seconds to achieve a coarse grind. Then add those grinds to your handy dandy french press, using the same amount you would if you were making a hot cup o joe, fill her up with some cold water, put the top on and place in the fridge to sit over night. Make sure you don't press the plunger down as that will prevent it from steeping. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

I've read some other methods, a lot of which suggest just leaving it out on your counter top but I wanted it nice a cold so I could drink it right away. I'll try this method next time and see what happens.

With all that coffee talk over with, now a new recipe brought to you by the fabulous Marta Greber over at What Should I Eat for Breakfast Today who made a delicious looking variation on the original recipe from Monet Moutrie. I've switched it up again with some cherries, white chocolate greek yogurt and a bit of basil. It's funny how one simple recipe can go through such transformations depending on who's hands it's in. Please let me know if you try it too and what flavours you decide to use.

I followed Marta's directions very closely so the only changes are in flavours really and I only made those changes because that's what I had in my fridge at the time. Each variation sounds just as tasty though and I'd love to make them, the original way, with blueberries! 

White Chocolate, Cherry, Basil Scones

Makes 6

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup chilled butter, cubed

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1/2 cup white chocolate greek yogurt

3/4 cup fresh cherries, pitted and quartered

1 egg whisked
* for extra white chocolate goodness, add in some white chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 400 F

In a large bowl place flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk these ingredients to combine then add your butter in small cubes. Rub it into the flour mixture, leaving it chunky. Add yogurt, sugar, cherries, and basil and combine with a wooden spoon.
If you're not in too much of a hurry, I'd suggest cooling your dough in the fridge a bit before rolling it out. This is especially a good idea if the butter in the dough has gotten too soft and warm from your toasty paws.
However, I didn't do this and they still turned out great. Cooling the dough would have made them a bit flakier though. I'll try it next time and report back.
Dump this mixture onto the surface you plan on rolling the final dough out onto and knead until everything is combined and the mixture forms a ball. Roll this ball out, forming a round shape, about 2 cm high. With a cup or round cutter, cut out 6 scones and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. With a pastry brush gently brush the egg mixture over each scone. 

Place in the oven at 400 F for 15 minutes.

Enjoy with a cup of your refreshing cold brew!

Lentil Tacos with Arugula, Beets, and Goat Cheese

Who needs meat?
Actually I do but you gotta keep yourself in balance, right? To be honest I don't really eat a lot of it. It's expensive and I'm into the idea of cutting down. I don't think we really need to eat it everyday especially with all of the amazing veggie options out there.
Anyway, I just whipped these bad boys up after work. Super quick and infinitely better than those taco kits you buy at the grocery store. I thought I'd amp up the regular old taco not only with a veggie version but with a little switch up in flavour. To do this, I've used arugula, beets and a little goats cheese and I think it tastes great! Beets are one of my all time favourite veggies for their earthy, sweet flavour and the beautiful colours they come in. I've just shredded them up raw here and thrown them on top... making a mess... a tasty mess. Isn't that what tacos are all about anyway?

Lentil Tacos with Beet, Arugula, and Goat Cheese

Makes about 6 tacos. I used the smaller, whole wheat shells. 

2 cups water

1 cup rinsed lentils

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp hot paprika

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp red chilli flakes

1/4 cup strained tomatoes

3 tbsp water

1/2 small onion

1 glove garlic

1 small beet shredded 

1 lime 

arugula

goat cheese

cilantro

anything else you'd like as a topping

Bring your lentils to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes, leaving a little bit of bite. You're going to be cooking them further in your sauce so you don't want them to be too soft. 

Strain and set aside.

Cook the onion and garlic in a drizzle of olive oil. When onions start looking soft and transparent add all your spices and stir for a few seconds to bring out the flavour. Add the strained tomato, water and lentils. Cook until the lentils are to the texture you like them, about 5 minutes or so. 

Build your tacos with the arugula, shredded beet, goat cheese and whatever other toppings you like. Top with a bit of cilantro and a squeeze of lime. 

Enjoy!

Panna Cotta and The Great Outdoors

In lieu of my recent camping trip to Alqonquin Park I wanted to make something with blueberries. Why? Because they were everywhere! We were lucky enough to have a campsite by the water where they grow so for breakfast it was such a treat to sit by the the very peaceful lake and munch away on fresh wild blueberries. Does it get any better? 

So as an ode to those lovely Ontario berries I've put together a simple panna cotta with fresh blueberries and a spicy, sweet ginger syrup. Topped off with a little bit of crushed graham cracker. 

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Fresh Blueberries and Spicy, Sweet Ginger Syrup

(serves about 3)

Panna Cotta:

1 cup milk (any milk but whole is best)

1 cup cream

2 tsp powdered gelatin, unflavoured*

1/4 cup sugar (I used brown for extra flavour)

Half a vanilla bean

Spicy, Sweet Ginger Syrup:

3 cups water

1/4 cup sugar

1-2 inches ginger, roughly chopped

pinch of salt

Prepare your ramekins by lightly oiling them with cooking spray or a little bit of butter on a piece of parchment paper. 

Pour the milk into a small pot but don't turn the burner on. Sprinkle your gelatin evenly over the milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes or until you can see it starting to dissolve. 

Turn the heat on medium-low and whisk the mixture often, making sure that the milk doesn't boil. You just want to heat the milk up to dissolve the gelatin completely. Keep whisking until the milk is hot but not too hot that you can't keep your finger submerged for a few second. You will be able to tell when the gelatin is completely dissolved by dipping a spoon in and seeing if there are any bits on the back of the spoon when you take it out. 

Once the mixture is hot and gelatin dissolved, whisk in the cream, sugar and the vanilla pod. Make sure to scrape the caviar from the inside of your vanilla pod and add that too. 

Whisk for another minute or so, until the sugar is completely dissolved. 

Take the mixture off the heat and remove your vanilla beans. Pour into prepared ramekins.

Cover with a bit of plastic wrap and store in fridge for at least 6 hours if you're going to unmold them. About 2 hours if you're not.

For the syrup simply boil all ingredients together until the mixture reduces by about a third. You can start this before the panna cotta and let it reduce while you're doing everything else. It's very simple and you can switch up the ingredients as you like. If you don't want it to be very spicy use less ginger. 

This is a really nice recipe for summer because it's very light and simple. It's great too because you can do so much with it. Espresso is a wonderful flavour to add or something more citrusy for a brighter, more refreshing dessert. Play around with it, the possibilities are endless!

**Tips:

• You can up the amounts for this recipe easily. Use 1 tsp of gelatin per cup of liquid.
• Also, make sure you bloom the gelatin before using it (letting it sit in cold liquid for at least five minutes). This ensures that it will dissolve properly and mix evenly into the liquids. 

Crispy Salmon with Cherry Salsa

This recipe is my own adaptation of Heather Christo's recipe here. I really only switched out the strawberries for cherries, added a little tomato to the salsa and marinated the salmon. Slight changes to a seriously awesome recipe. Really, I think she's a genius! This dish is so simple yet delicious and elegant all at the same time. Now how often can you say that? 

As a side note, this recipe is also seriously healthy. Salmon is considered one of the healthiest foods you can possibly eat and cherries are full of lovely antioxidants, they can even help you sleep better! So no need to feel guilty about gobbling this baby down. 

Crispy Salmon with Cherry Salsa

Salmon:

1 filet of salmon, skin on

1/2 inch grated fresh ginger

1 clove finely chopped garlic

1/4 cup soy sauce

salt  and pepper

Salsa:

1 cup cherries, pitted and quartered 

half a tomato, diced

1/4 of a small red onion, finely chopped

a few sprigs of mint, roughly chopped

a small handful of basil, roughly chopped

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

juice from half a lemon

Rinse your salmon and pat dry with paper towel. 

Combine the garlic, ginger, soy sauce and a pinch each of salt and pepper (to taste) in a bowl. 

Place salmon in marinade making sure the mixture is rubbed slightly into your fish. Cover and let set for as long as you desire. The longer it sits the more flavour it will absorb. 

Make sure to place in the fridge if you're going to let it marinate for more than a few minutes. 

When you are ready to cook your salmon, heat up a knob of butter with a drizzle of oil in a pan. I prefer using a heavier pan, cast iron if you have it. 

When your pan is nice and hot place your filet skin side down to crisp up, try not to move it. 

After about 3 minutes flip your salmon and finish cooking for about another 3 minutes until it's just cooked through. (cooking times will vary depending on the size of your fish)

Place on a bed of arugula and serve immediately with your salsa. 

To prepare the salsa simply chop all ingredients and throw into a bowl. Season with a bit of salt and drizzle some balsamic vinegar over top to taste with a squeeze of lemon. Toss everything together and serve atop your deliciously crispy salmon.

Enjoy!

That Moment...

When after a day or maybe even a week of feeling terrible and completely unaccomplished you come home and make something that blows your mind.

This recipe may be simple but O M G was it what I needed. Not only did it hit the spot but everything just went so swimmingly. It turned out exactly as I wanted it to and that just doesn't happen often.

Also, those peonies! Just lovely.

For the custard I followed this recipe from Smitten Kitchen almost to a tee. Go check it out. Her blog is wonderful.

Grapefruit Scented Stewed Rhubarb:

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa's recipe here

1 1/4 cup rhubarb cut into half inch pieces

2 tsp grapefruit zest

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp white sugar

3/4 cup water

Put all ingredients into a small pot.

Bring to boil over high heat then reduce and let simmer until the rhubarb is tender and begins to fall apart.

Take off heat and let cool.

Pour over your cooled custards and top with fresh strawberries.

Had I had the time I would have liked to make little meringues with the left over egg whites. I think this would have been a nice crunchy element. Let me know if you try it.

Banana Bread + Disaster

Let me just start of by saying that I am no professional. An amateur at best. With that said I've had my fair share of cooking and baking disasters and I'm sure the fun will never end. I've got a long way to got before I can comfortably say "I know what I'm doing" when it comes to being in the kitchen.

Fail of the day: adding an extra banana to an already great banana bread recipe. 

That sucker would not bake. Although it looked and smelled great coming out of the oven. Slicing into it was another story. MUSH. No matter how long I left it in, it just would not cook. 

Oh well, lesson learned. 

I do actually have a great recipe that I've used multiple times with no issues. Here it is:

Banana Bread 

4 ripe mushed up bananas (1 1/2 - 2 cups)

1 egg

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup almond milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350

Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Beat the egg, bananas and oil in a large bowl.

Stir in milk.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Then add it to the banana mixture and combine. 

Pour final mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes or until the top springs back when touched and a toothpick when inserted comes out clean. 

Earl Grey Poached Pears

Poached pears are a very easy and rather humble dessert but what I like most about them is that they can be jazzed up very simply with just a slight change in your recipe and the addition of a little something extra on your plate. You can get so creative with the flavours, "the possibilities are endless" as Michael Smith loves to say! 

Earl Grey is one of my favourite flavours and it works really well not only in the poaching liquid for these pears but even more so in that delicious hazelnut crumble. I really enjoyed this combination of these flavours which truly elevated this simple dessert to something just a little more decadent. 

What you'll need:

(serves 2)

2 pears, peeled

3 cups water

3 bags of earl grey tea 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup hazelnuts

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

Toasted Hazelnut Crumble

Place hazelnuts in a single layer in a flat pan. 

Toast on medium - high until they turn a darker colour and the skins begin to blister and crack (you’ll be able to smell the difference). Once they’ve changed in colour and smell nice and toasty take off the heat and bundle inside a clean kitchen towel to cool. 

Once cooled, gently massage the closed bundle, forcing the nuts to rub against one another and the skins to flake off. (Not all of the skin will come off and this is okay} 

Set the skinned hazelnuts aside and start on your caramel.  

Carefully melt sugar and honey in a separate pot on a low setting and watch as it changes colour. 

Once it’s reached a dark mahogany and smells almost like burnt sugar turn off the heat and add in the toasted hazelnuts and sprinkle in a pinch of loose tea leaves (optional). 

Pour onto a greased non stick surface and place in the fridge to cool. 

This caramel is VERY hot so be careful not to touch it before it's cooled completely. 

Poached Pears

Bring water, sugar and tea bags to a boil. Add in the peeled pears, making sure they are completely submerged in the water. lower the temperature and let simmer for about 30 - 40min or until a knife can be easily poked through the bottom, thick part of the pear. (This may take longer depending on the size of your pears. Cut them in half to help reduce the cooking time.)

Let cool for at least 10 minutes in the poaching liquid. The longer they sit in this liquid the more flavour they will absorb which makes these great for a make ahead dessert or even breakfast. 

You can further make a sauce to serve your pears with, by reducing the poaching liquid. Simply pour your tea infused liquid back into a saucepan and allow to simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes or until it reduces by at least half. 

Let cool, pour over that yummy fruit and enjoy.

There are so many ways you can switch up this recipe. Get creative! Try out different teas or throw in some vanilla and cinnamon. Serve with ice-cream and chocolate sauce. Go more savoury with red wine and mulling spices. The options are truly endless!