Baking day ...

A few weeks ago Katherine posted a recipe for a fresh apple cake and I was eager to give it a try. I don't know what made me think it was a loaf... back to basics : read the whole recipe first. Probably it was just me...and the fact that I like loaves...prefer them actually, unless it is carrot cake. But this is a large cake. 9 X 13 large as a matter fact. Here is a little slice for you. I absolutely could not make myself use the 2 cups of sugar it called for.... .. I opted for only 1, and it was still plenty. I also added a few more spices.... quite yummy. Tx Katherine.











It was a baking day.... apple cake.... some banana choc-chip muffins for the freezer....












and then... pizza.

Fresh Apple Cake

Ingredients:

4 cups finely chopped, peeled apples

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 beaten eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking soda

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Butter (or spray) a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

Combine apples and sugar. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and soda. Add to apple mixture; stir until just combined. Stir in nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Bakeat 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Cool completely in pan. This cake is very moist!

......jewel salad?

This salad always me think of emeralds, rubies and gold. It could be a special salad for any festive occasion, but, in reality, save this jewel for a simpler time. How about a day or two after a huge meal or family gathering? When all the fuss is done. It is perfect for a day when there is more time to enjoy this little beauty paired with something simple. Perhaps a slice of chicken or a little chunk of meatloaf ... or on a summer's day when all you crave is an amazing little salad all by itself. What an ornament it makes then!!










Of course, a salad has no feelings. It is silly to consider that, but..somehow I almost feel sorry for wilted, drooping lettuce as I try to salvage an untouched masterpiece at meal's end. What a waste. It's gotta be tough to be a salad ... any salad ... on a Thanksgiving table or at a Christmas feast.... forget it! Surrounded by too much turkey, potatoes, fancy veggies.... and don't forget...leave room for dessert !!!! ohhhh, the "groaning board" of superfluity .... Let's celebrate salad, especially this salad, on its own merit.... or at least just with something kind of .. uhm... simple or lacking or clever.

Use any greens that have some daintiness to them and that appeal to you.... I usually try to find a bag of baby greens or Spring Mix...something interesting that has a bit of radiccio in it to go with the colour of the beets. Add some slices of pickled beets and arrange some peeled slices of orange on top of those (I cut the peel off after making the slices).... add some thinly sliced red onion on top. Choose a flat plate that will enhance the overall appearance. It looks fine in a shallow glass bowl...but see how much more artistic it looks on the large, coloured square?

Orange Vinaigrette

1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (I like to use Rice Vinegar)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp orange zest
2 tsp Dijon mustard
optional: a little blob of liquid honey

In a two cup measuring cup or similar size container... pour the orange juice and vinegar. Add the Dijon mustard, whisk all together (the mustard is helpful as a binder to keep the vinaigrette from separating). Slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking the full time.... again to prevent separation of the liquids. I like to add a bit of sweet basil, a tiny sprinkle of salt and some honey...then whisk vigorously once more. If you don't have a tiny whisk...a fork will work just fine. I don't bother taking out or cleaning my whisk for this. If you don't need this much vinaigrette...just halve it.

You will get used to adding and subtracting once you have tried a vinaigrette a few times. It is more or less half and half ...oil and acidic .... sometimes I make a great lemon vinaigrette as well.... with honey and mustard as well. You can have a bit less lemon, a bit more honey... so that it is not too "puckery". I like to play with my own versions so I can control the salt and have no preservatives. Still have not found a bottled salad dressing that I like. Okay...there you go.... play with your food. Its more fun that way isn't it?

stuffed salmon fillet

There is a small fish shop in a fun little shopping centre near where I live. As a matter of fact, it is right between the liquor store and the cheese shop ... one shop away from an amazing kitchen and cooking appliance shop; just around the corner from my fav knickknack shop which is also only one shop away from AMA and a bank.... all in all a busy, handy, little shopping center!!














oops...forgot to mention the fly fishing shop...which has all sorts of goodies for use with bear and doll making(don't have a pic of it). The guys laugh when I tell them what I am using their "stuff" for...although one of them has a wife who does crafts and so he knows how great the racks of feathers, fur and glittery things look to us.

Anyway .... oops... where was I? totally lost the plot there for a bit. Oh, yeh... fish. I often get the stuffed salmon fillets when I go to the fish shop...then one day they were out of them. So..I asked what ingredients they used and just bought fillets... the price difference is not great..but it definitely is cheaper to make my own. I picked up some wild rice on my way home and here is my effort.










The filling is mashied potatoes ( hahahah..... better make that "mashed" ... although there used to be a mashie in Scotland in the 1800's ... it was a type of golf club! Gold mine of useless trivia; that's me! ... wish I could remember the important stuff. lol )

To the cooled mashed spuds I added a bit of beaten egg white, a little drop of oil, some cooked wild rice, tiny dice of celery and carrots. The "fishman's" wife doesn't add onions and garlic...but I did... just a smidgin to give it a bit more flavour. It can sit in a covered casserole (in the fridge) like this for hours or even for the day...

At baking time... preheat oven to 375F, 190C ..... coat room temperature baking dish (I just hesitate to put a cold glass baking dish in a hot oven) with vegetable oil..... place a dab of butter on top of each fillet, salt and pepper to taste.... and bake for about 10 to 5 minutes, uncovered. Better to check early than overcook your salmon... you can gently turn it on its side... and slightly part the center to have a little peek. If it is not cooked to your liking just bake a minute more..

Serve with a side dish of some veggies or a beautiful salad and you have an easy wonderful meal. Bon appetit !

... a rat in the kitchen....

... but such a cute rat!

Some of you may visit my other (supposed to be bear and doll making) blog and some don't... and vice versa... so today ... same post, different blog for each of them. Not that the recipe is "to-die-for" ...although it is very tasty... but I think the situation is a fun one.






Have you seen Ratatouille yet? I love it; have watched it several times already. The wine in the glass moves like the real thing....... ..the looks on little Remy's face are priceless, his brother Emile is hilarious, .... maybe it is because I like to cook and know a few things about ingredients, herbs and recipes that it really strikes a chord...who knows. All I know is...I love it. And the thing of it is.... it definitely seems to have spurred me on this past few weeks. I have not done any bear or doll making at all... just having some fun in the kitchen.

::: aside to Judi...... I, did, however, find some parka material and some "liquid silver" fabric to use for my mermaid's tail!! }}}

Ratatouille is a common dish ... very common actually; it is a French peasant dish. Almost every cook book sports at least one and sometimes two different versions. None of them looked like the exquisite version served to the food critic in the movie. They all looked like a soup or stew and not all that appetizing to my eye.... although the ingredients were lovely veggies. But, you know how most veggies look after cooking... nyeh.... ...... and some of the recipes wanted them cooked for hours. Kept looking..... and found the original recipe used as the basis for the look of the dish in the movie. Printed in The New York Times of all places. However, it was one of those that seems pretty confusing and more than a bit time consuming. I decided to wing it and invent my own version making it look a bit more appetizing. Then, the other day, while blog hopping, I landed on the Smitten Kitchen ... and ....this! Okay...this is more like it. Simple, yet probably tastes just as great...looks very nice and the veggies still look like veggies. Copy, print, and cook.

I don't own a mandoline as she does..so the cutting takes a bit of time...but the layering is the most time consuming it seems. And... because my zucchini and my eggplant were miles apart in size...I had to compensate a bit to make it look appealing. I used two little zucchini rounds for each layer.... and cut the whole eggplant in half to begin with and then in quarters for some of the layering especially around the curves. Yes, yes...a lot of fiddling..but for the first go round..I wanted to see if I could make it look similar to the original. I like my effort.... Greg loved my effort...and it disappeared in a single sitting.



Before baking.





I served it over couscous with a few small chunks of Feta cheese sprinkled on top; a thick round of sourdough bread and lovely glass of Mouton Cadet.... who knows if it is recommended as a pairing for such a peasant dish .. lol ... but, after all, it is French as well... maybe the Baron wouldn't mind. All in all...a wonderful combination for us. I was happy about the couscous under our little layer of Ratatouille ... as the sauce is pretty flavourful and would have been almost too overpowering on its own. I still wouldn't mind trying some of the other ingredients called for in the original recipe and perhaps combining the two somehow.... ... hmmmm.......










The finished dish...over couscous...still maintaining some semblance of the original veggies even though they have been baked for 45 minutes. (sealed under parchment paper)

Check out this guy's recipe too if you are interested in other options...think I might like this one as well.

UPDATE: I have discovered that Johnny has a "other half" .... her name is Mel... check out their site...

Pork and mushrooms in gravy.....

I get to this point and somebody walks in the door and says..... something smells good already!! I love cooking for this guy. He is so easy to please.... lol .....

Brown some country style pork chops in a large skillet. I like to use my electric frying pan actually...it is big and I can control the simmering heat perfectly in it. I like the "big" part because, as many of you know, I always plan on leftovers .. I want them; I need them. For freezer lunches and for lazy days or for busy days, or for when I forget what time it is and am in the middle of a bear head or a doll arm or ... .. well, whatever happens I am prepared with great lunches/suppers in a pinch.










.... ... add onions... move things around to coat with the juices and brown bits.

This week because I seem to have been on a great roll food wise...my freezer container drawer is almost empty! Yaaay.... silly me, I love little things like that. Makes me happy to know I have a cushion and can still have a great dinner even if I don't feel like cooking.

now...where was I? ....oh, yes.......










Toss in chunks of celery ( I like to use some tops as well) and pour in about a cup or so of chicken broth. I add a few teaspoons or so of white wine, or vinegar, or lemon juice.
Use a large spoon to mix it all up well. Add some spices ... your choice, of course. I like Herbs De Provence and a bit of sweet basil and fresh black pepper. Use some salt if you like but check for flavour as the chicken broth can be salty if it is not home made. Look for " sodium reduced" if you are watching salt intake. Mix again ... and let simmer for half an hour or so. I leave the lid on to maintain all the flavour.

If you would like to add other veggies do so now... simmer a bit longer ... another half hour? You don't really have to stand over this but just come back every so often to add or stir just to check on whether you need to add some liquid and give it a taste. You could probably add all the veggies at the same time, but I prefer not to overcook mine, especially the mushrooms..so I am a bit picky as to when I add things. As usual.... your choice...as with all cooking.

How about those mushrooms? sure... add as many as you like. For me they are fairly good size and quartered. Mix it all up once again and simmer some more ..... I find that the longer I simmer this type of chop..the more tender and tasty it becomes. When it has simmered for a total of about 2 hours add some more chicken broth and a cup of water in which about 2 tablespoons of flour has been thoroughly mixed. Thicken and you have a lovely gravy with your chops. You could serve it with creamy mashed potatoes. Almost as good as Sunday Chicken Dinner.