Dessert By Candy

Planning Is Half The Battle

My Montreal 24 hour Relay menu is finally fleshed out last weekend. Even though the beautiful weather was calling my name, I diligently sat in front of my computer and went through the very unglamorous task of tabulating shopping list, packing list, and cooking schedule. It isn’t quite military level precision but the plan ought to keep me on track when I get flustered. On Sunday, I took advantage of a no-tax sale event and did a lion’s share of my shopping before my MRI appointment in the evening.

Most of the cooking will be done on Friday but the more labour/time intensive and frozen items are already under way. Last night, I made a batch of these Spiced Lentils, Kale, and Sweet Potato Pockets. They are inspired by a recipe I bookmarked long ago from The Kitchn. I had every intention to follow the recipe. But then, I wanted to use my favourite overnight whole wheat pizza dough. Next, I realized I couldn’t bring myself to boil kale with the lentils (the flavour! All gone!). So I improvised and made the filling using the same flavour profile. I sautéed onion, garlic, cooked black beluga lentils, kale, and spices all together in the pan.

An Experiment

I have never been fond of diets with their lists of do’s and don’ts. For me, a balanced intake of wholesome minimally processed food has served me well over the years. Why fix something that isn’t broken? I do not lack energy and I am in good physical health saved for injuries brought on by accidents.

Unfortunately, lately, something is not right. An inflamed bursa on my ankle remains persistent even after multiple draining and steroid injection treatments. Surgery will be the last resort and I am staying completely away from any activities that may irritate the bursa. That includes skating. Right now, it is a waiting game and I am praying hard that the inflammation will subside on its own with months of rest. Aside from wishing it away, I start looking into diet changes.

Baking Expert

Do you see what I see? Visions of Virgin Mary may imprint on your morning toast but my household is decidedly more secular. Look! There’s a panda on my cinnamon raisin swirl bread! Or does it look like a cute little bulldog to you? In either case, cuteness rules at Candy’s kitchen and now you cannot un-see it. I am much better at baking than I thought.

I’ve been fiercely craving homemade cinnamon swirl bread for a few weeks. A soft loaf enriched with milk, butter, and eggs and a hypnotising swirl of sugar and cinnamon. Of course raisins are mandatory but not just any dried up chewy specimen. I wanted juicy raisins plumped with dark rum. Obviously this is not a loaf that I can waltz into any bakery to bring home. It was time to take matter into my own hands.

And The Knead Goes On

Sweet yeast bread and other yeast-leaven treats are therapeutic in my concussion recovery plan. I love the leisurely schedule that alternates between mixing, kneading, fermenting, shaping, and baking. I can temporarily halt the process by storing everything in the fridge and continue whenever I’m feeling well (or bored) enough to spend time in the kitchen. I am checking recipes off my to-bake list at a brisk pace.

This danish twist caught my attention back in the holiday season. Amanda Hesser posted her mother’s Cherry Almond Danish recipe at food52 and I could not get it out of my mind. The photo accompanying the recipe showed big fat strands of bread dusted with icing sugar and sliced almonds. It did not reveal the luscious filling of rum-soaked dried cherries and almond cream but the description was enough to get my imagination racing. Of course I wanted the danish to materialize in my home.

A Quick Update

It’s a little ironic that over the next few weeks I will be cooking and baking a lot but not be able to write much about it. On Sunday, I had a bike-to-bike collision while making a right turn at slow speed. I returned to my sports doctors today and it is my second confirmed case of concussion. Just like last summer, rest will be of utmost importance to my recovery and it means computer time will be kept to a minimum. There will be no training, no television, no music, no reading once more. Luckily I have tons of recipes bookmarked and so cooking will help me pass the time.

Recipe That Inspired A Party

Last weekend I hosted my second party for our Monthly Supper Club. If you think I am an over-zealous hostess who wouldn’t let my friends have their turn hosting, well, I certainly am not. A few days after Pi(e) Day, we were reminiscing over YC’s candied bacon.  Of course that led to a search for other interesting bacon recipes which landed me at King Arthur Flour’s Maple Bacon Biscuit Bake. I fell in love fast and furious. I needed an excuse to bake that recipe and there was no better occasion than throwing a brunch party.

Race season and outdoor practices have begun and my free time is quickly diminishing before my eyes. I wasted no time in setting a date but hosting a large group requires a bit of planning. Fortunately, hosting brunch can be easy with plenty of made-ahead options. I scoured my list of to-cook dishes and came up with this ambitious yet unfussy menu.

Spring Brunch Party For Ten

Pimento Cheese Stuffed Tomato

Maple Candied Bacon with Dark Chocolate

Shakshuka

Sausage Portobello Breakfast Bake

Mixed Berries Grain Salad

Spiced Pear Fruit Salad with Dried Figs & Apricots

Cuban Avocado Arugula Pineapple Salad

Maple Bacon Biscuit Bake

Meyer Lemon Focaccia

Braided Lemon Bread with Homemade Meyer Lemon Curd

Cold Brew Iced Coffee with Homemade Goat Milk Cajeta

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

Family Brunch

Consider my love for entertaining at home and my love for brunch, you would think I would host brunch at home more often. Apparently, that is not the case. Weekends are prime time for training so it is rare that I get to spend mornings at home at leisurely pace. When the opportunity comes around, I am more likely to enjoy the luxury of sleeping in.

Dad suggested to meet for lunch last Saturday at my favourite bubble tea place. Despite the draw of sleeping in on a weekend morning, I invited him over for brunch instead. That was an impulse decision I made late Friday morning. Within the span of 24 hours, I came up with the following menu and a precise schedule to get everything done on time.

Weekend Family Brunch

Homemade Sweet Potato Loaf

Blue Cheese Pear Zucchini Cake Salé

Tropical Fruit Salad

Duo of Homemade Preserves: Vanilla Apricot & Maple Wild Blueberry

Chipotle Sweet Potato Smoked Sausage Hash

Sour Cherry Almond Baked Oatmeal

Pistachio Chocolate Mini Bundt with Pistachio Cream Cheese Glaze

Brewed Toasted Coconut Tea

Tic Tac Oops

It has been far too long since I last baked bread. Last winter I got into a nice rhythm of baking my weekly loaf which continued even when I was living in Fort Lauderdale during my training sojourn. Somehow, that habit fell to the wayside and I relied on the addictive Seeduction Bread from weekly visits to Whole Foods. Perhaps the post-holiday mentality is taking over. I crave the wholesomeness of bread baking once more.

The wholesome feeling is not limited to the taste of homemade bread. It’s the entire experience of kneading dough, watching it rise, and smelling the yeasty aroma wafting from the oven. I crave the connection between me and a loaf of bread from start to finish.

Dish That Keeps On Giving

I am braising brisket right now. In fact, this is the third 5lb piece of beef brisket entering my kitchen over the last ten days. No doubt this is another fine example of me overdoing things that I like (see my last entry on holiday cookies). Brisket #1 was gladly devoured by me and my friends at my Winter Solstice Party. I had merely one small slice of leftover. When the house was cleaned and back to its normal state, the feeling at home was unanimous: we needed more brisket. So off to the market I went to procure Brisket #2.

The first two briskets were prepared using the same Braised Brisket & Onions recipe from Slow Cooker Revolution. It was savoury, beefy, and melt-in-your-mouth tender. We ate it plain, we ate it between slices of challah, and we dipped the brisket sandwich in bowls of jus like a French dip sandwich. It was marvellous.

Playing With Yeast

For reasons unknown, I stopped baking my weekly bread since April and my bottles of yeast have been untouched. It’s funny how once the rhythm of daily life is disrupted, it is hard to resume the routine again. This week, I dusted off (well, not literally because that would be disgusting) those bottles and played with yeast in ways I never tried before. Both recipes were huge success though I have no human testimonial for one of them.

Let me start with one that I tasted. My brief journey in Germany left me wanting to learn more about their cuisine. More specifically, dessert. No surprise there! The word kuchen generically means cake but I associate it with the yeast-leavened fruit-studded confections I enjoyed abroad. Seriously, even McCafe in the Frankfurt airport was pretty awesome. With an abundance of tiny flavourful Ontario raspberries at home and the ennui from baking yet another buttermilk cake, I decided to make a raspberry kuchen.