Crazy Simple Cookies

You’ve got to love a recipe with two ingredients. Really, only two.

Take 2 ripe bananas. Mush them up with a fork till smooth. Add 1 cup of oatmeal (uncooked, flakes, regular or large flake). Mix. Form into little cookie patties. Bake at 350 degrees (I put a layer of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, ungreased) for 20 minutes.

That’s it. Aren’t you happy to have something to do with ripe bananas?

Now…having said that, you CAN add stuff….they are good the way they are, but they are also good with other stuff. Like variations such as adding a handful of chopped dried cherries, a ¼ cup of coconut, and/or a handful of chopped walnuts.

Or, like I did this time: a tablespoon of cacao powder, a handful of cacao nibs, and a handful of chocolate chips. Very yummy.

Try ‘em! Start with the simple version, then get creative and add things you like! As long as they hold together, anything goes. If your bananas are on the big side, add a bit more oatmeal. If they are extra moist or runny, you can also add a ¼ cup of coconut flour, which is really absorbent.

They are a great vegan snack, containing no egg, no butter. I don’t dread those ripening bananas on the counter any more.

A Meal with Friends

It was more like a dozen meals, shared with friends this weekend. My wonderful globe-trotting friends Kathy and Frank were booked into a beautiful ocean front resort on the west coast of Vancouver Island (that they had tried for a couple years to get in to!)

Serendipitously for me, the Captain’s Quarters at Orveas Bay Resort (the most luxurious of the accommodation options there) had a second bedroom available to me…. tucked into the eaves of a gorgeous home. It’s certainly not a cabin, but a home…full of beautiful cabinetry , books, candles, flowers, art, wicker, antiques, model sail boats…I slept like a princess in a sleigh bed with lovely linens around me…

We share a love of food and I wanted to treat them to a special meal so I brought along some grass fed beef shank steaks from my treasured organic farm supplier in Abbotsford. I flew from Vancouver to Victoria in a tiny float plane and my luggage allowance was pretty slim! I laughed because half my little carry-on bag last Thursday was half meat, and only half was clothes and toiletries.

(Actually, I had planned ahead and Kathy had already taken a pre-packed bag of mine with hiking boots, a fluffy robe and a woolly sweater from the week before) – she and Frank were travelling by car, ahead of me, having planned four days in Tofino before I joined them at Orveas Bay, and I would return home with them with unlimited luggage options!

Friday night, I got to cook Osso Buco –  a lovely dish.  You start by browning the meat then put it in the roasting pan while you prepare a sauce that will cook with it.

Sauteed onions, leeks, carrots and garlic are joined by tomatoes, lemon, wine and broth and this is put into a pan with the beef. You simmer/bake this for a couple hours, remove the meat, then put the broth/vegetable mixture through a strainer, forcing some of the soft vegetable mixture through it, to thicken the sauce. The sauce is then boiled down a bit to a thicker reduction, and poured back on the waiting meat. The tomatoes add a lovely dimension to the meaty sauce. It’s great for when you want a beef fix!

But it was so much more than a meal with friends – it was about showing appreciation and gratitude for their generosity, about celebrating being in a sublimely beautiful locale, and sharing passions and interests.

It’s been a weekend of food and wine, lounging around in the sun, taking side trips to beaches, a visit from a bear, crackling fires and relaxing music at night, deeply sound sleeps.

I love these guys. And I love this place. I’ll be back.

Beautiful Breakfast

My son ran in the Vancouver Sun Run this last Sunday and needed a good breakfast. It ended up being coconut/banana multigrain pancakes with yogurt.  Yum.

I’ve been experimenting with food photography and Instagram, so I whisked the few leftover pancakes onto mom’s gorgeous old Noritake China and plucked some bluebells from the garden.

This is a new medium for me. It’s a lot of fun to create, to paint, with food and fabric and bits from the garden or the pantry.  I’m loving this new-found form of expression. This practice reminds me that there is beauty in every day and every moment.  And celebrates it.

Roasted

Let’s see, what’s in the fridge that I should be using while it’s fresh? What can I put on pasta tonite? What would be a good side dish? How can I make some soup taste richer? What can I eat that is super lo-cal but still satisfying?

The answer to all these questions is roasted vegetables!

Roasting brings out such richness and flavor in veggies, and if they’re not perfectly crisp and fresh, well, after roasting, no one will notice. Not pristine and blemish free? No one will notice that either. I have such grand hopes at the beginning of the week for all my veggie purchases, then I have a crazy work week, no time to cook properly, and by the end of the week all the glorious veggies are. still. there.

What have you got? Zucchini? Mushrooms? Asparagus? Onion, celery, eggplant? Yams? Bell peppers? Anything goes.

Cut them up, toss them in a spoonful or two of olive oil and place on a cookie sheet. I find salt is not really needed. Roast at 400 degrees or so, and check on them every 5-10 minutes and give them a turn so that all sides get caramelized. Keep going – push them till they’re getting dark brown around the edges. It’s magic how they take on another dimension of taste.

Eat your veggies. But roast them first.

Texture

I have this thing about texture….Actually what I’m talking about is the size and shape of ingredients. Chunky has its place (Waldorf Salad?) but I really like variation, and often finely chopped things. Whether it’s in a casserole, a soup or stew, and particularly in a salad. I don’t like the feel of a large chunk of fruit or vegetable as I’m eating; I’d rather have a blend of things together, playing off each other.

Variety is certainly the key in a leafy lettuce or spinach salad: you want thin slices of things, and strips, that will layer between the leaves along with fine and small and medium elements. Think green leaves, long thin slices of pear or strawberry, crumbled blue cheese, toasted pecans, thin strips of bell peppers….Yum.

In this fruit salad I wanted to taste the blend of all four things together. (I just happened to have grapefruit, apple, kiwi and pear to use that day). Chopping them up delicately made that happen. Play with cutting, carving, chopping…crafting.

Cooking with Glass

I love my glass cookware. Along with my beloved cast iron, it’s what I use the most.

Top five reasons:

-It is inexpensive to buy and replace and it is pretty darn durable.

-It goes from prep to fridge to oven, back to fridge again. Only one dish: cook-serve-store.

-You see how things are bubbling, progressing, browning (or burning) on the sides and bottom.

-It’s so easy to clean: just leave it in the sink overnight and whatever was on it will most likely
come off. (And you can easily tell when it’s clean!)

-It’s comforting to know that the material is inert.
(I still kinda cringe at Teflon surfaces – never have trusted them…)

Just to note:
One common tip is that you should reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees (Fahrenheit) when you are baking in glass pans. A good thing to check or try, especially if your oven runs a little hot, like mine.

Happy baking, pie making, casserole taking.

Refrigerator Soup

There’s always stuff in the fridge that needs to be….managed.  I do like to keep a full fridge so I can make anything I want at any time, but that comes with a high management factor.  Once a week I try and check it thoroughly to make sure nothing is wasting away, hidden in the back.

It’s always a fun challenge to take all those ingredients that need to be used and turn them into a good soup.  We freeze soup in individual containers for no-fuss lunches on work days. Boy, that comes in handy… for supper too.  Sometimes it requires some creativity!

This weeks roster included: broccoli, grated parmesan, and the accompanying rinds, cottage cheese, evaporated milk, mushrooms and potatoes. Into the pot went onions and bacon fat (always a good way to start a soup) and then mushrooms were added to the sauté.  Then some chicken stock, and the broccoli, potato and a bit of red pepper for colour. After a while, when the veggies were tender, the creamy/cheese items were added, which melted and blended in nicely.  By now, the potatoes were soft and thickening the soup.  Finally the rinds of the parmesan were hydrated and tender so I could mince them up and put them back in.

Voila!  Broccoli-mushroom-cheese soup, and a neat and tidy fridge.

Food for the Heart: 3 Movies

I saw a lovely movie about a chef the other night. It reminded me that I wanted to share a second wonderful documentary about three restaurants, which led me to recall a third, very special movie… Here are three terrific movies about cooking, food, passion, art, family, life and love.

Haute Cuisine
This 2012 French comedy/drama is based on the true story of Danièle Mazet-Delpeuch and her appointment as the private chef for Francois Mitterand. In this film Hortense Laborie, a highly regarded chef from Perigord region, recounts her time as the president’s private chef and her work at the Elysee Palace, as she is leaving her post as a camp chef at an arctic research base. The story is filled with rich elements of family food traditions but also control and bureaucracy!

Laborie and the President have a touching connection and a love for traditional, authentic food, much to the chagrin of the machine that runs the palace….and the jealous competition in the main kitchen. Laborie’s indomitable spirit reigns. Actress Catherine Frot does not disappoint in this charming, delightful film.

Spinning Plates
This beautiful 2012 documentary contrasts three restaurants: one of the premiere restaurants in the world, a 150 year old stakeholder in a midwest community, and a small family restaurant run by new immigrants with high hopes and many challenges.

The restaurants are so different, but they all share struggles and agonizing decisions.

I fell in love with Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea in Chicago: an artist and artisan who showcases molecular gastronomy at his stellar restaurant. I marveled at the resilience of the Breitbach family. My heart ached for the immigrant husband and wife who so wanted to create and keep their fledgling family restaurant alive, putting everything on the line….Wonderful glimpses of all kinds of cooking going on! Lots of heart and soul too.

Eat Drink Man Woman
This memorable film was written and directed by Ang Lee in 1994 and was his first critical and box-office success.

This film takes place in 1990s contemporary Taiwan. Mr. Chu is a widower, master Chinese chef, and father to three unmarried daughters who don’t easily fall into line with any definition of traditional Chinese culture.

Each Sunday, Mr. Chu prepares a wonderful banquet for his daughters. This weekly meal becomes the family forum as each daughter brings her issues to the table and struggles with the conflict between their father’s traditional values and their more contemporary lifestyles.

In his review in the Washington Post, Hal Hinson called the film a “beautiful balance of elements … mellow, harmonious and poignantly funny.” Hinson concluded:

As the relationships evolve and deepen, there seems to be a surprise around every corner—for both the characters and the audience. But what is most surprising, perhaps, is how involved we become with these people. As satisfying as food can be, the fullness we feel at the end here is far richer and more complex than that offered by the most extravagant meal. “Eat Drink Man Woman” is a delicacy but also something more—something like food for the heart.

 

Bon appetit!

 

 

 

 

Spicy Salty Sweet

I’ve been experimenting with this combo of seasonings for spiced glazed nuts. This one is working quite well…You can alter to taste: a bit more sugar, less salt, more spice, change the nuts..but it makes a great, lo-carb, upscale cocktail appy.

 

Mix in a bowl:

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

 

Mix well, then add 2 cups of pecans (can be any kind you like, or a mixture). Toss till evenly coated

Place on an oiled cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes.

Watch carefully and stir the nuts a few times during baking. Don’t let them get too dark.

Spread out loosely and cool on a sheet of parchment paper.

Cookie Time

Yes… I start my Xmas baking early. It’s how I get it done….I sneak in a batch of something a few times a week and then presto, mid‐December comes around and there are lots of goodies in the freezer.

Here’s a favorite that I made last night; they’re like a little double chocolate brownie bite covered in icing sugar, and the crackle surface looks great.

Chocolate Crackles (makes approx. 48)

(dough gets made ahead, chilled, then baked – so don’t preheat the oven)

1⁄4 cup          butter

1 cup            semi‐sweet chocolate chips

1⁄4 cup         granulated sugar

2                  eggs

2/3 cup      (half a can) sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp            vanilla

1 1⁄2 cups    flour

1⁄2 tsp          baking powder

1⁄4 tsp          salt

1 1⁄2 cups    milk chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips could be fun to substitute)

3⁄4 cup        icing sugar

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
2. melt butter and semi‐sweet chocolate chips in a saucepan or in the microwave on Medium heat
3. add in sugar and eggs, one at a time, mixing well ‐  let cool for 5 minutes
4. mix in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla
5. add in flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips, mix well
6. cover and refrigerate for 1.5 hours or up to 8 hours

(preheat oven to 325 degrees when preparing to bake)

7. sift icing sugar into a bowl, roll dough into 1.25” diameter balls with palms of hand
8. drop balls into the icing sugar and toss lightly to cover/coat
9. place on cookie sheet, flatten slightly, space 1.5” apart
10. bake approx. 11 minutes, or until just beginning to feel firm
11. cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.