Kefir Rye Soda Bread Recipe

With St Patrick's Day just around the corner, I thought I'd share this easy, no yeast recipe for soda bread. It will go perfectly with Guiness Irish Stew or, heck, with a slab of butter and jam! If you don't have kefir, buttermilk can be substituted.

Ingredients

1-3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cup plain kefir

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flours, oats, baking soda and salt.
3. In another bowl or large measuring cup, mix kefir and egg.
4. With a fork, stir wet into dry ingredients. Do not over mix.
5. Flour hands and shape the dough into a flat, round loaf.
6. Place on floured or corn meal sprinkled baking sheet.
7. Flatten into a disc that is approximately 4-5 cm high.
8. Score a cross into the dough with 1 cm deep cuts.
9. Bake for 40-45 minutes until it sounds hollow when tapped.
10. Transfer to a wire rack and cover with a tea towel (keeps it soft).

Brown Sugar- Spice Cookies Recipe

These cookies are simple, crispy yet chewy, buttery, and sweet - perfect in a lunch for the kids, or as a treat with your afternoon coffee. They also make great ice cream sandwich cookies.

Adapted from a recipe by Serious Eats. I like to add my favorite spices to this - cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. I also will often use 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup all purpose flour. It adds a bit of fiber and I like the texture of the cookie with the pastry flour. 

Leave some room around each cookie as they do spread. This recipe makes two pans of cookies (12 on each pan) so I refrigerate the second pan while the first bakes. It helps ensure the second batch doesn't spread too much.

Quantity: about 24 cookies

Ingredients

• ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (7 ounces; 200 grams)
• 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar, divided (10.5 ounces; 300 grams)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (3g)
• 1 large egg (50g)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10ml)
• 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour (285g) or 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour plus 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (4g)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (2g)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom

 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
2. Mix butter, brown sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add in egg and vanilla and stir.
4. Add to the bowl, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom and gently mix until combined.
5. Pour 1 cup raw or turbinado sugar into a separate bowl.
6. Scoop dough using a 1 inch cookie scoop, or about the size of a walnut sized and gently roll in sugar. 
7. Place on cookie sheet and press down slightly to ½ inch thickness. Place 12 on each pan.
8. Bake about 10 minutes - until golden edges appear and the tops have puffed and crinkled a bit.
9. Let cookies cool on pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Messy, Mouthwatering Drippy Beef Buns

This messy, drippy beefy sandwich is great on any rainy, cold day...or any other day for that matter.

We've had lots of beef dips before but never with peperoncini peppers until today - you can thank Ree Drummond for that! If anyone in your house doesn't like the peppers (they are quite mild) they are easy to pull out.

Based on a recipe from Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 lb blade pot roast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
2 cups beef stock
1-1/2 cups water
1 tbsp ground rosemary
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced or crushed
1 375 ml jar of pickled peperoncini peppers (12 ounces)
dash of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
2 drops liquid smoke (optional)

2 medium onions, diced
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt

8 crusty buns

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F or 150 degrees C.
2. Season the roast by sprinkling salt and pepper evenly over it.
3. Add the butter and oil, over high heat, to a medium sized dutch oven or oven proof pot.
4. When the pot is very hot (almost smoking), seer the beef on all sides. You want a beautifully brown, caramelized colour on all sides.
5. Once seared, remove beef from pot and remove left over oil/butter. You don't have to clean the pot, just get rid of the extra fat.
6. Add back the beef, beef broth, water, rosemary and garlic.
7. Remove the stems, if desired, from the peppers (I usually just pull them off) and add them and all the juice from the bottle into the pot.
8. If desired, add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke.
9. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.
10. Turn off heat, cover and place in the oven for 3-1/2 to 4 hours. To test: The beef should easily pull apart with a fork when done.
11. You can remove the beef to another bowl to pull apart or shred the beef (if your roast was held together by string - remove it!) with two forks or just keep it in the cooking liquid.
12. Heat saute pan over medium heat and add butter.
13. Add onions and salt.
14. Saute until golden brown, approximately 10 minutes.
15. Slice buns (you may want to take out some of the bread so you have room for more meat!) and pile with meat and onions. Add some extra beef cooking liquid to make a moist, drippy, beautiful mess of a sandwich!

If you want to make this the day ahead of time, complete step #10. Take out the peppers, cool and refrigerate overnight (beef and peppers separately). The next day, use a spoon to remove the layer of fat that congeals on top and discard it. Add the peppers back into the pan and reheat on stove top over medium heat. Go to step #11.

You can also toast your buns before loading them with meat - this is a good tip if your buns are really soft.

Enjoy!

Fresh rosemary.

Ground rosemary.

Spicy but not super hot.

Mouthwatering, right?

Practically falls apart.

Why cauliflower is hotter than Jennifer Lawrence - Spicy Cauliflower Couscous Recipe

Have you noticed that cauliflower is hotter than Jennifer Lawrence these days? They are constantly being splashed across the news - Jennifer and cauliflower - but honestly, I've see more cauliflower lately than JLaw. Why? Why? Why?

The price! Everyone is talking about the price of cauliflower. Last week a head of the white coniferous was selling for $7.99 - for one piddly head!

Thankfully, a secret stash of the vegetable must have been unearthed as the price came down quite a bit at my local vegetable market - two heads for $4! Even though they aren't my favorite veggie,  I grabbed four! I just had to figure out what to do with the cabbage cousin. I thought given their status of late, I had to do something more than serve them raw with ranch dip or steam them until they were limp.

This recipe has a tonne of flavour, and not a lot of calories. It reminds me of couscous without the all the carbs and calories. Did you know an entire head of cauliflower (5 inches wide) has less than 150 calories???

I added a little bit of oil to saute the onions, peppers and carrots but that's it. Spices are key in this recipe. I've listed what I use but if you hate cumin - don't add it! Add more (or less) chili powder. Kick up the curry, if that is what you like. Be generous in what you add - build up your favorite flavours.

You can add other veggies, if you like. Or add beans, meat, prawns or parmesan cheese! The choice is yours.

Here's hoping cauliflower's lower price is here to stay because I'd love to keep this dish on the menu at our house!

Now excuse me, I have to go watch "Joy" - JLaw rules.

One of my new favorite ways to eat this as a quick dinner is to slice open a pita, spread hummus on one side and then add a scoop of spicy cauliflower (warm or cold). Roll it up and eat! You could use a lettuce leaf if you want more crunch and fewer carbs.

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
2 small heads of cauliflower, cut up in small to medium sized pieces
1 small onion, diced
1/2 yellow pepper, diced
2 medium carrots. diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped as small as possible
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
3/4 tsp chili pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp sumac
1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Working in batches, pulse the cauliflower 8- 10 times until the consistency of couscous or rice - you don't want mush!
2. Place the cauliflower in a large bowl and mix in all of the spices.
3. Place a large saute pan over medium high heat.
4. Add the oil.
5. Once hot, add the onions, pepper and carrots. Saute for 3-4 minutes.
6. Add the chopped garlic cloves and the cauliflower.
7. Saute for another 5 minutes until heated through.
8. Sprinkle with parsley.
9. Serve.

Review of Terra Coffee and Tea

Perfect way to start your day or get through a long afternoon!

Terra Coffee

When Terra Coffee asked if they could send me a sample of there coffee and tea, I was excited - coffee is one thing I just couldn't live without and my kids love herbal teas! I was even more excited when I opened the box - it was chock full of coffee, teas, and cocoa and hot chocolate. Over the past month, we've had a great time brewing and drinking all of the products.

There are so many great things to say about the company and its products.

The Company

Let's start with the company - Terra Coffee. It's Canadian! Based in Montreal, Terra Coffee roasts it's coffee beans to their own exact standards. In fact, over their 30 year history, they have created their own roasting method known as Torréfaction Artisanale Granito (T.A.G). It ensures that their beans are never be under or over-roasted and that the beans' "sugars have been fully caramelized in order to create the most body as well as deliver rich flavour notes."

I also love, love , love that they believe in giving back and being socially responsible to the communities and farmers where they buy their beans through the Humaniterra Foundation.

Coffee

Terra coffee have a variety of blends and single source coffees available. You can buy them online by the bean or ground. Over the past month we've enjoyed Terra's Gran Riserva - Cuba Caracolillo and Terra Classica - Le Montreal.

Gran Riserva is part of their exclusive estate, single origin coffees selected by their own Master Roaster. Cuba Caracolillo is described as "highly intense aroma with a delicate sweetness and unmistakable hint of chocolate." We found it to be our go to morning coffee - it's rich and full bodied - a perfect way to start a busy day.

We also enjoyed Le Montreal - a blend of beans from South America, Asia and Indonesia that are roasted in small batches. I prefer this blend in the afternoon - it's a bit earthy and still rich - a perfect pick me up to ensure you get through those long afternoon meetings!

Tea

The tea samples were abundant and included:

• Bursting Berries from their Spa Collection
• Vanilla and Pear White Tea
• Lemon Citrus Green Tea
• Moroccan Mint
• Masala Chai

Their Ariel line of teas is huge and available in loose leaf and biodegradable pyramid-shaped tea bags. A portion of their tea sales also go to charity.

Our favorite by far was Bursting Berries from the Spa collection which is caffeine free an dmade from herbs, spices and fruits. Bursting Berries is a fruit infusion of dried elderberries, raspberries and other mountain berries. This tea is so fruity, fresh and sweet - no bitter notes at all.  We had it hot and made another batch cold. It's now the kids favorite tea! I foresee us making this as an iced tea throughout the summer months.

Bursting Berries from the Spa Collection

We weren't big fans of the vanilla pear tea but a friend loved it so we sent it home with her. I think that's the great thing about this line of teas - there is something for everyone.

Vanilla and Pear White Tea - something for everyone.

Hot Chocolate and Cocoa

This brings us to the cocoa and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is rich and chocolaty - perfect on a cold wintry day - especially when topped with a hand full of marshmallows.

This dutch processed cocoa is 100% organic, dark, and rich. Do you know what the difference is between dutch processed and natural cocoa? Dutch process cocoa is bathed in a potassium carbonate solution to neutral cocoa acidity. Dutch process cocoa usually has a pH level of 7 (same as water) vs natural processed cocoa that has a pH level of 5 or 6. Natural cocoa has a sharper flavour. Due to the neutrality of the dutch processed cocoa, it doesn't react to alkaline leaveners like baking soda. As a result baking powder is m ore common in recipes using this type of cocoa.

I've used the cocoa in my favorite brownie recipe with lovely results - deep, dark, fudgy.

If, like me, you live no where near Montreal don't despair - they deliver! If you sign up for their newsletter you will receive 25% off your first order.

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own.

Cardamom Vanilla Tea

So simple, so good.

A former work colleague of mine would occasionally bring a cup of this delicious tea into work for me. Her husband makes her a cup every morning!

Makes 2 cups of tea.

Ingredients

1.5 cups water
1 cup milk
2 black tea bags
2-3 cardamom pods
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 vanilla bean pod

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan.
2. Simmer for 20 – 30 mins. 
3. Remove tea bags and pods.
4. You can also add a little bit of fresh ginger if desired. Enjoy!

Mango Blueberry No Nut Granola Recipe

Every few months I make a batch of granola. The kids eat it with yogurt or milk. They also love taking it to school as a snack at recess. For this reason, I make it nut free.

This time I used coconut oil. At room temperature, it is solid but as soon as it hits 76 degrees it will begin to liquefy. By heating the oils and the spices, the spices bloom and their flavors and aromas are released. Your kitchen will smell great!

This makes a big batch of granola so I usually distribute half of it into small snack bags so they are ready for lunch boxes or snacking at anytime. The other half of the batch goes into a big container that we keep on the counter for easy kid-access!

Note about coconuts from this Health Canada site: A coconut is a seed of a fruit and nutmeg is obtained from the seeds of a tropical tree. Coconut and nutmeg are not considered tree nuts for the purposed of food allergen labeling in Canada and are not usually restricted from the diet of someone allergic to tree nuts. However, some people have reacted to coconut and nutmeg. If you are worried, consult your allergist before trying coconut or nutmeg products. 

I also make sure anyone who eats it knows there is coconut oil in it.

Ingredients

1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 c maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cardamon
1 tsp salt
8 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup wheat bran
1 cup milled flax
3/4 cup dried blueberries
1 cup dried mango, chopped

Optional
1/2 tsp fleur de sel

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In medium sized pot combine oils, maple syrup,vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom.
3. Stir over medium-low heat until just simmering and remove from heat. Watch carefully and be careful not to burn yourself.
4. Combine oats, wheat germ, bran and flax with salt.
5. Pour oil mixture over oats and stir until well combined.
6. Spread granola on two large cookie sheets.
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden. While baking, stir granola every ten minutes to ensure even baking.
8. Remove from oven.
9. If desired, add sprinkle of 1/2 tsp fleur de sel. 
10. Cool completely.
11. Place in large bowl.
12. Add dried fruits and combine.
13. Store in air tight containers.

Enjoy!