Maple Buttermilk Cornbread from the LCBO Food and Drink Magazine, Spring Edition

I made this recipe this morning, along with a Pouding Chomeur, in a last ditch attempt to use up last year's maple syrup before getting my new supply this week. I like cornbread. I like buttermilk, and I like maple syrup so what would I not like in a maple buttermilk cornbread. Well, it turned out to be the kernelled corn. In my view, there was way too much of it and it added a weird vegetable vibe to the cornbread. I'm just not sure that maple syrup was meant to be combined with kernels of corn and cheddar cheese in this way. At any rate, I'm serving the cornbread tonight with potato leek soup. The Pouding Chomeur is for dessert, of course.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 &1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar
• 1 & 1/2 cups fresh or frozen/thawed corn kernels

Methods: 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 inch cast-iron skillet with cooking spray and put it in the oven to heat it. Mix together the flour, cornmeal,salt and baking powder in a large bowl, then add the eggs, buttermilk, maple syrup and melted butter. Mix well and then add the cheese, green onions and corn to combine. Remove the pan from the oven, pour in the batter and bake for about 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Fudgy Lemon Squares

Recommended by my sister Penelope, this recipe is taken from the luridly-coloured pages of Woman's World magazine (2/16/18 edition). The recipe is called Fudgy Lemons Brownies. I've changed the name somewhat because brownies are brown, and these squares are basically blonder than Blondies. They're pretty tasty if you happen to be a lemon lover.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup butter at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• grated zest of 2 lemons
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Glaze:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• grated zest of 1 lemon

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 or 9 inch pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.

Mix together the sugar and butter until creamy, then add the eggs one at a time until just combined. Stir in the lemon juice, zest, flour and salt. Spread the batter in the pan and bake for 22-25 minutes. Cool completely, then combine the 3 glaze ingredients and top with the glaze. When the glaze is set, cut into squares. 

Coffee Walnut Muffins

This recipe is taken from a '70's-era cookbook by Canadian Edna Staebler, called 'Food that Really Schmecks', which focuses on the Mennonite tradition of economical and wholesome ways of preparing food.

Given that I absolutely hate to waste food, I was dreaming up ways to use some increasingly stale walnuts that were in my kitchen cupboard. Prior to using them in this recipe, I freshened the nuts by toasting them briefly in a non-stick skillet. If you happen to make these muffins, you'll note that the texture of the uncooked batter is very dense. You will also notice, I think, that the instant coffee adds a subtle background flavour that complements the walnuts. The whole effect is quite satisfying.

They really schmeck

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs instant coffee powder
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup whole milk or cream
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup melted shortening (I used margarine)
• 2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Methods:
Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F. Dissolve the coffee in the hot water and add the cream, beaten egg and shortening. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Stir in the walnuts. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Spoon the batter into a buttered muffin tin (12 muffin size) and bake for about 20 minutes.

If you eschew (Gesundheit) instant coffee and don't have any hanging about, I'm pretty sure that you could simply use 1/2 cup of strongly brewed coffee instead of instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 cup of water. 

Chocolate Guinness Cake from Nigella Lawson...thinking about St. Patrick's Day

This recipe for a moist chocolate cake containing that most famous of Irish stouts (Guinness) comes from Nigella Lawson. I love her description of the cake. Some might call the writing florid. I prefer to call it an example of an advantageous use of adjectives.

Nigella writes..."This cake is magnificent in its damp blackness. I can’t say that you can absolutely taste the stout in it, but there is certainly a resonant, ferrous tang which I happen to love. The best way of describing it is to say that it’s like gingerbread without the spices. There is enough sugar – a certain understatement here – to counter any potential bitterness of the Guinness, and although I’ve eaten versions of this made up like a chocolate sandwich cake, stuffed and slathered in a rich chocolate icing, I think that can take away from its dark majesty. Besides, I wanted to make a cream cheese frosting to echo the pale head that sits on top of a glass of stout. It’s unconventional to add cream but it makes it frothier and lighter which I regard as aesthetically and gastronomically desirable. But it is perfectly acceptable to leave the cake un-iced: in fact, it tastes gorgeous plain."

In the photo, you'll note that I have not removed the cake from the bundt pan in which I baked it. That would be the bundt pan with the defective non-stick surface. The cake looks like baked asphalt and smells a bit medicinal at this point. However, I know that this is an edible cake because my friend Jennifer made it for our bookclub meeting and it looked and tasted great. And of course, Nigella endorses it.

Ingredients Cake: 

• 1 cup Guinness 
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of butter 
• 1/2 cup cocoa 
• 2 cups of sugar 
• 3/4 cup sour cream 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour 
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda

Frosting Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese 
• 1 and 1/4 cups of powdered (icing) sugar 
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Methods:

Preheat your oven to 350° F. and grease and line with parchment paper a 9-inch springform pan, ( a smarter choice than a bundt tin). Pour the Guinness into a large saucepan and add the sliced butter. Heat until the butter is melted and remove from the heat. Whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla. Add the sour cream mixture to the Guinness mixture in the saucepan. Finally, beat in the flour and baking soda. Pour the batter into the greased and lined springform pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
For the frosting, beat the powdered sugar and cream cheese together until well combined and creamy. Add the cream and beat again until it's a spreadable consistency. This may seem like a lot of frosting but don't skimp! Remember, Nigella's somewhat over-the-top vision is that the cake should resemble the frothy head of a pint of Guinness.

Kerry Apple Cake from the LCBO

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario(LCBO) has devised some pretty tasty recipes over the years to better sell its products. This apple cake is a case in point. Apparently, this cake pairs well with a semi-dry Riesling. 

Enjoy it for breakfast, and the top o' the morning to you.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup (125 mL) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• ½ cup (125 mL) sugar

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) grated lemon zest

• 2 eggs

• ¼ cup (60 mL) milk

• 1½ cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour

• 1½ tsp (7 mL) baking powder

• ½ tsp (2 mL) salt

• ⅛ tsp (0.5 mL) cinnamon

• ⅛ tsp (0.5 mL) ground nutmeg

• 3 large cooking apples, peeled and cut into ¾ inch (2 cm) chunks

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) brown sugar

Cider Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 cups (500 mL) hard cider

• 2 sprigs rosemary

• ½ cup (125 mL) sugar

Methods: 
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease an 8-inch (20-cm) cake pan and line it with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar. Add zest. Beat in the eggs and milk. Combine the flour with the baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, then add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Stir until combined. Mix in the apples. The mixture will appear to have more apples than batter. Spread evenly into your pan and sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

Combine cider, rosemary and sugar in a pot over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce for 20 minutes or until syrupy. Remove the rosemary sprigs and with warm apple cake.

Sylvia's Pineapple Muffins

Always thinking, Sylvia devised these golden muffins to use up the pineapple sauce she had made to accompany her great-nephew's birthday cupcakes and ice cream. It did not get used.

Ingredients:

• 1 small container fresh pineapple chunks with the juice
• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 rounded tsp cornstarch 

• 1 1/2 cups flour

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup oil

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla 

Methods: 

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small saucepan, cook over a medium heat for several minutes until thickened and saucy. Allow the sauce to cool somewhat before making the muffins. You'll need 1&1/2 cups of pineapple sauce for this recipe.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. In a second bowl combine the egg and sugar, then stir in the oil, yogurt, pineapple sauce and vanilla. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, and bake for 15-18 minutes.

Bobby Flay's Olive Oil Brownies

During my recent trip to Spain, I noticed that a common dessert menu item was a brownie. I think that I was expecting something more exotic and less North American. To be fair, the brownie might be served with some bitter marmalade; a Spanish flair to be sure. This Bobby Flay recipe, which uses olive oil rather than butter as the fat, feels somewhat Mediterranean to me. In any case it is el postre to end my tapas party. 

Ingredients:

• nonstick cooking spray

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes

• 3 oz high-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

• 2 oz high-quality bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

• 1/2 tsp espresso powder

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup packed light brown muscovado sugar

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp mild extra-virgin olive oil, 

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• pinch fine sea salt

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

• 2 oz coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate

• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

• 2 tsp mild extra-virgin olive oil

• (for olive oil-toasted bread crumbs) 2 tbsp mild extra-virgin olive oil

• 3/4 cup fresh whole-wheat bread crumbs

• 1 tsp sugar

• pinch fine sea salt

Methods:

Preheat your oven to 325° F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. Line it with foil, then spray the foil.

In a medium, heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, combine the butter, unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and espresso powder. Let the mixture melt over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugars together until smooth and pale. Add the olive oil, vanilla, and salt, and stir until combined followed by the melted chocolate mixture. Fold in the flour and the chopped semisweet chocolate and mix until just combined, then place in the prepared baking pan.

Bake for  about 25 minutes. Underbaking the brownies produces their fudgy texture. Cool the brownies in the pan on a wire rack, about 2 hours, then refrigerate them for 30 minutes.

In a medium heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, combine 1/4 of the chocolate chips and the oil. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Add the remaining chips, remove from the heat, and stir until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes. Pour the glaze over the brownies and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs you have managed to prepare without burning them.

The breadcrumbs: In a small sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the breadcrumbs and toast, stirring constantly, until light golden brown. Stir in the sugar and salt and cook until slightly caramelized. These things are a deluxe finishing touch. Absolutely delicious. 

Spanish Tortilla aka Tortilla de Patatas

We probably most frequently think of a tortilla as a thin round Mexican flatbread made from maize or wheat flour. However, a Spanish tortilla is a thick omelette, also flat and round, but made by frying eggs that have been mixed together with potato, onion and a lot of olive oil. The following recipe by Janet Mendal was found on the internet on a site dedicated to the tapas of Andolusia.

Ingredients: 

• 600g potatoes (1.3 pounds)

• 160 ml olive oil (that's like slightly more than 1/2 cup)

• 1& 1/2 chopped onions (I used about half of this) 

• 6 eggs 

• 1/2 tsp salt 

Methods: Peel the potatoes and either slice them thinly or cut into dice. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook the potatoes slowly until fork tender, about 30 minutes, adding the chopped onions after 15 minutes. The potatoes should not brown.

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the salt. Place a plate over the potatoes and tip out the excess oil to be used again in a moment.

Combine the potatoes and onions to the bowl with the beaten eggs and mix. Add the oil to the frying pan and pour in the mixture of eggs, potatoes and onions.

Cook on a medium heat until set on one side. Shake the pan to keep it loosened on the bottom. Place a plate on top of the pan. Hold it tightly and reverse the pan, so the tortilla turns out on the plate. If necessary, add additional oil to the pan.

Slide the tortilla back into the pan to cook on the reverse side. Slide out onto a serving plate.