Cookbook Review - Poptails by Erin Nichols - Bellini Pops

A "boozy treat" from POPTAILS.

"Poptails" by Erin Nichols is all about putting frozen cocktails on sticks!

Living in Vancouver means long, hot summers...well ok maybe two weeks of hot weather...over the course of two months... but we Vancouverites relish those hot, dry days and try to make the most of them (well ok we complain about the heat and wonder if it will ever cool off... I think think this is why we are sometimes referred to as Crazy Canucks...). When you add two young kids  on summer vacation into the mix trying to beat the heat and have fun you can be sure our freezer has its fair share of popsicles...as a kid my favorite kind was rootbeer popsicles...I can't find them anywhere anymore but grape, lime, raspberry still seem to make the kids happy! 

Anyways, when Erin Nichols' new book "Poptails" landed in my mail box it just happened to be a really hot, wish-I-had-air-conditioning, kind of day. And flipping through the 60 cocktail-on-a-stick recipes and lush photos helped me cool off and made me crave these adult popsicles.

Erin does a great job in offering a variety of recipes to satisfy any adult craving including:

• strawberry-basil margarita
• cosmopolitan
• mojito
• moscow mule
• festive spiked eggnog
• white russian
• creamsicle
• and dessert on a stick like the "oatmeal cookie" and the "banana split"!

Obviously most alcohol doesn't freeze so Erin tells us the secret - boiling down the alcohol a little bit to keep the flavour and make it freezable!

I recommend this book for any adult having a fun party and looking for "something different" to make their guest "ooh and ahh".

I decided to make the Bellini Pops because I had a bottle of prosecco in the fridge and it didn't require the alcohol to be boiled down saving me some time.

They are delicious but definitely strong! Next time I will try them with pureed fruit to sweeten them up a bit. Btw...Erin has a recipe for "Big Girl Root beer Float" ...bet that will bring back root beer popsicle memories! Buy this book for great summer time treat ideas... even if it isn't summertime for much longer...who says a frozen treat in the fall or winter wouldn't brighten up someone's day!!

Bellini Pops from Poptails

Ingredients 
1-1/4 c flattened prosecco
20 ounces fresh or frozen sliced peaches (or other fruit)

What to do

• flatten prosecco (in your fridge) for 8 hours
• pour prosecco into moulds
• add a peach slice into each mould making sure there is at 1 cm of space at the top so the liquid to expand 
• add sticks or mould tops and freeze for at 24 hours

Note: How many this makes will depend on the size of your moulds - mine made 6.

Daring Bakers August - Pate a Choux Swans and Stabilized Whipped Cream

Kat of The Bobwhites was our August 2012 Daring Baker hostess who inspired us to have fun in creating pate a choux shapes, filled with crème patisserie or Chantilly cream. We were encouraged to create swans or any shape we wanted and to go crazy with filling flavors allowing our creativity to go wild! 

I've made choux pastry before and went from being very intimidated by the thought of this dough to realizing it's quite easy to make and work with! My previous and only use of the dough was used in creating a delicious Croquembouche so I was looking forward to using it again in making a bevy of swans. My only concern was that the final result might look more like ugly ducklings than beautiful swans!  

I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not I succeeded!  

I kept it simple and used stabilized whipped cream as my filling.

Click here for a pdf of all the recommended recipes and look below for my stabilized whipped cream recipe.

Stabilized Whipped Cream

Using stabilized whipped cream will prevent it from separating - especially useful on warm days!

Ingredients

1/4 c water
1 tsp unflavoured gelatin
1 c heavy or whipping cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla

What to do

• Chill your bowl and beaters in the freezer for 20 minutes.
• Place water in a deep microwave safe bowl and sprinkle gelatin over the water.
• Let sit for 5 minutes.
• Microwave the the gelatin mixture for three minutes making sure you you stir every 30 seconds or so or it might bubble over and make a mess!
• Let it sit for about 10 minutes so that the mixture is liquid but not warm.
• Remove your cold beaters and bowl from freezer and pour in cream. Beat until soft peaks form.Add vanilla and sugar and whip for 10 seconds more.
• Add gelatin mixture and whip until stiff peaks form.

Simple Homemade Ketchup

To go along with my homemade mustard from a few posts ago, I also made homemade ketchup. I love it - it does not taste like Heinz! It tastes like real tomato ketchup should - fresh and tomatoey!

Simple Homemade Ketchup

Customize this recipe to suit your taste - add hot sauce, chillis, extra spice - whatever your taste buds desire!

Ingredients

1 can 28oz  tomatoes (whole or chopped) 
1 can 5.5 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cloves
1 tablespoons (30 mL) nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon (5 ml) pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

What to do

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until sauce is reduced by half. Cool.

Once cooled, use a blender or immersion blender to puree the ketchup.

Store in refrigerator up to 3 months.

Five seed cracker recipe

Are they all they’re “cracked” up to be?

Homemade crackers are easy and pretty impressive…after all how many times have you been served homemade crackers…not many I bet.

Generally, ingredients are minimal, simple and quick to come to together so if you are just beginning to make your way around a kitchen or want an easy recipe to make with the kids this is the way to (google homemade goldfish crackers for kids!).

This recipe is stuffed with nutritional goodness thanks to five varieties of seeds – pumpkin, poppy, sunflower,flax and sesame!

They are great topped with flavoured cream cheese and also go well with bits of fresh bococcini and basil leaves. But really the sky is the limit... of course, they are also good on their own.

Tip: If you don't need to make all the crackers at once, just freeze any unbaked dough. It will last at least a couple of months in the freezer.

adapted from LA Times recipe

Ingredients

¼ c hulled sunflower seeds

¼ c hulled pumpkin seeds, unsalted

¼ c ground flax seeds

¼ c sesame seeds – the tan coloured ones + more for garnishing – about an extra 2 tbsp

¼ c poppy seeds + more for garnishing – about an extra 2 tbsp

2 c whole wheat flour

¾ tsp salt

2 tbsp honey

2-1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

¾ c water

Egg Wash

1 egg

½ c water

What to do

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Using a coffee grinder or blender, grind the sunflower, pumpkin seeds into a fine powder (but not so much it turns to nut butter).
3. Using a stand mixer, combine all of the seeds (except for garnish), flour, salt, honey and oil on low speed to combine.
4. Add the water and mix on low until the dough turns into a firm ball.
5. Lightly flour your work surface and knead the dough for about 30 seconds to make sure everything is combined. The dough will be tacky but definitely not sticky. If it is, add more flour.
6. Line three baking sheets with parchment.
7. Divide the dough into three portions.
8. Roll out one portion at a time so it is paper thin i.e. less than 1/8 of an inch! The smaller  the cracker, the crispier it will be.
9. Tip: Keep moving the dough a little as you roll it out. If needed dust work surface with more flour to prevent sticking.
10. Cut rolled dough into squares or diamonds… or any other shape you want!
11. Move the cut dough onto the baking sheets.
12. Tip: these crackers don’t spread so they can be placed very close together.
13. Repeat with each portion of dough.
14. Mix the egg with ½ c of water and brush over the tops of dough.
15. Sprinkle lightly with sesame and poppy seeds.
16. Bake crackers (you can bake each pan separately if needed) for 10 minutes.
17. Rotate sheets and bake another 10 minutes.
18. Rotate again and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.
19. The crackers should be golden brown, looking dry and crispy.
20. Cool the crackers on their pans.
21. They can be stored at room temperature for a week.

Happy Birthday Julia!

"Bring on the roasted potatoes, bring on the Rosé !"

Tomorrow, Aug 15, is Julia Child's 100th birthday. PBS put together this fantastic video is celebration.

Happy Birthday, Julia and thanks for sharing your passion, talent and enthusiasm for all things food!

Easy Raspberry-Lime Freezer Jam

Easy Raspberry-Lime Freezer Jam

Who knew making jam was so easy??? To be honest canning scares me - boiling bottles, sealing yada, yada, yada...not for me. BUT freezer jam is beyond easy - crush, stir, pour, done. Easy peasy.

Of course, freezer jam can't sit in your pantry because it is not properly sealed but it is great to make small batches of jam - keep a few jars for your family and give away the others to deserving friends! 

This jam has not only sweet, delicious raspberries but also a hit of lime zest which adds an amazing citrus zing to the jam.

I made a batch of home-made butter the same day as this jam - OMG when I slathered both on some fresh, warm bread! 

Note: I also made a batch with blackberries - you should too!

Ingredients

4 c raspberries, crushed (pulse in a food processor)
1-1/2 c sugar
1 package (45 g) freezer pectin
zest of 2 small limes

What to do

1. Stir sugar, zest and pectin in a large bowl.
2. Add crushed raspberries and stir for 3 minutes.
3. Spoon into 6 250ml preserving jars. Wipe clean and add lid and ring. Close tightly.
4. Let sit for 30 minutes so it thickens.

Refrigerate - will last up to 3 weeks
Freeze - will last up to 3 months

Homemade Canadian Rye Mustard Recipe

For many years I often felt left out as far as motherhood went ... you see my kids hated condiments....ketchup, mustard, ranch dressing, mayo, cheese sauce on veggies....they just wouldn't eat the stuff. Plain broccoli, carrots, noodles were fine but if you offered them anything to dip those things in they would look at you like you were off your rocker.

Now that my son is a grown up six year old with "sophisticated" tastes, he does like ketchup and mayo but he still isn't completely sold on mustard and still dispises cheese sauce on veggies.

And my eight year old daughter hates them all (well, except cheesesauce but only on macaroni) which may explain her dislike of french fries - let's face it....without ketchup fries are just ... well...potatoes. (PS - Homemade ketchup recipe coming soon!)

So luckily for me when I came across a booze filled mustard recipe I didn't have to give a moments thought to whether I was about to start my kids down a path of addiction and smoked filled pubs... cause I know they won't touch this crazy good condiment recipe...I, on the other hand, am heading down to the bar as soon as I...hiccup...finish this last bite of pretzel covered in rye soaked mustard....hiccup...

Adapted from Gifts Cooks Love by Diane Morgan.

Ingredients

1 c mustard seeds

1 c Canadian rye (whiskey)

1 c water

1 c chopped dried apricots

5 tbsp cider vinegar

5 tbsp honey

1 tbsp kosher salt

What to do

1. Add mustard seeds, rye and water into a bowl and soak 12-24 hours.
2. Add apricots and soak for another 12 hours.
3. Reserving the liquid, strain the mixture.
4. In a food processor, pulse all ingredients including the reserve liquid, to desired consistency, adding remaining liquid as needed.
5. Place in clean jars, making sure to wipe the rims and secure the lids.
6. Refrigerate for 2-3 weeks so the flavours meld together.
7. It will keep for up to three months.