Carrot Cake w/Cream Cheese Icing

Well I was back on Facebook and I seen this recipe.

This reminds me of a story.  We were bringing in baked goods to work for everyone to try.  Someone suggested that I bake a carrot cake.  I thought, yea, why not.  Now, Tonya was telling me, it wasn't for work.  I said it was.  Anyways, I make the carrot cake and brought it to work.  The person thanked me for making the cake and said her father will love it.

I was like: What?  What are you talking about?  

Them: Oh yea, you made this for my father's birthday, not for work.  And then, they laughed and laughed as they knew they got me to do something for them, without me knowing.

Ingredients

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
2 tsp (10 mL) cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) nutmeg
3/4 cup (175 mL) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (175 mL) packed brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup (175 mL) vegetable oil
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
2 cups (500 mL) grated carrots
1 cup (250 mL) drained crushed canned pineapple
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped pecans

Icing

1 8 oz (250g) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter, softened
1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla
1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar (aka confectioners sugar and powdered sugar)

Stuff you will need

Stand mixer with paddle and wire whisk attachment
Cake Pan
Food processor with grater attachment

Directions

Grease and flour 13- x 9-inch (3.5 L) metal cake pan; (or 2 round pans) set aside.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In separate bowl, beat together granulated and brown sugars, eggs, oil and vanilla until smooth; pour over flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Stir in carrots, pineapple and pecans. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven for 40 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan on rack. 

Icing: In bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Beat in icing sugar, one-third at a time, until smooth. Spread over top of cake.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies

These homemade lemon curd thumbprint cookies have the "WOW" factor your looking for in a cookie. A combination of sweet buttery cookies and a citrus topping, oh my...

This is what MY first attempt looks like.

Not quite like in the picture.  But they are tasty.

Ingredients

1 Egg

1/4 cup Butter

1 3/4 cups Flour

1/4 cup Icing Sugar 

Pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon Almond Flavoring (optional)

5 tablespoon Icing Sugar for Coating (optional)

15-20 teaspoons Lemon Curd

Stuff you will need

Stand mixer with wire whisk attachment

Spatula

Small wire colander

Cookie sheets

Parchment paper

Wire rack

Directions

Beat the sugar and butter until creamy. Add egg and mix until well combined. Add pinch of salt and almond flavoring.

Lastly, use a spatula to add the flour .

Form dough using your hand. It will feel soft at the beginning but will come together while kneading.

Wrap in in a cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

When the dough is chilled, take it out and form into small balls. You should get about 20 balls. Cover each one in icing sugar (using the small wire colander) and place them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Use a measuring spoon (or your thumb) to press each ball down to make dents for the lemon curd.  For my lemon curd recipe, click << HERE >>

Fill each one with lemon curd (1/2 – 1 teaspoon).

Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 12 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are nice golden brown.

Once baked, transfer onto a wire rack and let them cool down.

Keep in an airtight container.  Serve and reap the accolades.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Old Fashioned Soft Molasses Cookies

These molasses cookies are a Cape Breton Island favorite!  

Super soft and packed with the amazing, rich flavors of molasses, ginger, and cinnamon. Just like Grandpa used to make!

Ingredients

1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

1 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Molasses

1 Large Egg

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 1/2 Cups Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar, For Rolling

Stuff you will need

Stand Mixer w/paddle mixer, or a strong arm

Cookie sheets w/parchment paper

Shallow bowl

Wire rack for cookie cooling

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper or non stick cooking spray, set aside.

In a large bowl using a hand mixer, or in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat together the brown sugar, butter, molasses, egg, and vanilla until well combined.

Mix in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.

Shape the dough by rounded tablespoon fulls into 1 1/2 inch balls. Dip the cookies into the granulated sugar and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes just until set. 

Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool immediately.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

BAM! It's Beef & Barley Soup

Tonya will go on Facebook and see what recipes that other people have posted.  Then she links me, and I get the hint, she wants me to make this or that.

Being in the Navy for 25 years, we would have soup every day at 10:00, for Stand Easy.  I don't know how many bowls of soup I had over the years.  This one is always a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2–3 lbs chuck roast
2 carrots sliced in thin
2 stalks celery sliced thin
1 medium onion chopped fine
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
6 cups beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce)
1 bay leaf
2/3 cup medium Barley
1 can corn drained (14.5 ounce)
1 package beef gravy mix

Stuff you will need

Dutch Oven or stock pot
Cutting Board
Sharp Knife
Mixing bowl - several
Meat fork
Wooden spoon - for string your soup
Ladle - for serving your soup

Directions

In dutch oven or large stockpot heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add beef and sear. Remove beef to a mixing bowl.

Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, oregano and thyme and cook for just 1 minute; stirring constantly.  

Add the beef broth, diced tomatoes, bay leaf and beef back to the pot. 

Reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the roast is fork tender. 

Add barley and corn; cover with lid for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue simmering for 15 minutes.

Remove roast from the pot and trim cutting the beef away from any gristle or fat.  Cut or shred into bite size chunks and return to the pot.  Throw the gristle and fat out to the sea gulls.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Sourdough Bread without the Starter

Who hasn't had Sourdough Bread?  Most of us have, but don't feel like trying to make your own at home.  Why?  The starter.  You need to prepare the starter, about a week in advance.  Then you also have to invest time and effort to keep the starter going.

Well, lets skip the starter and make our Sourdough bread without it.

Ingredients

3 cups bread flour (381 grams)
1 x 16 ounce tub plain unsweetened Greek yogurt with active cultures (500 mls)
1/2 cup sour cream (250 mls)
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
scant 1 teaspoon (just slightly less than 1 teaspoon) instant dry yeast

Stuff you will need

Mixer with dough hook, or a really strong arm
Dutch Oven
Patience

Directions

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or use a large mixing bowl and wooden spoon and your hands), add the flour, Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup sour cream, salt, and yeast.

Turn mixer on low speed and allow it to knead dough for about 5 to 7 minutes (about 7 to 10 minutes by hand using a wooden spoon and then switching to your hands). Add sour cream as needed to form a very moist and wet dough. If it’s at all dry or crumbly, add more sour cream (or Greek yogurt) until it comes together. 

I used 1 x 17.6 ounce tub of Greek yogurt and almost 1 cup sour cream. Dough will be seem like it’s almost too wet and it’s very heavy, but this is what you want. Err on the side of wetter than drier because flour and yeast love moisture when rising.

Remove dough from the mixing bowl, spray a large bowl with cooking spray, pat dough into a round ball, place it in the bowl, and flip it over once so it’s lightly oiled on both top and bottom. It will look like a dimply head of cauliflower.

Cover bowl with plasticwrap (spray it with cooking spray in case dough rises high enough to touch it) and place bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about 6 to 8 hours (I did 6 1/2 hours), or doubled in size. If you want to start this before work or before bed and made as an overnight dough and it’ll go 8-10 hours, that’s fine. 

There’s really no harm in letting it rise for up to 18 hours and the longer you let it go, the more of a classic sourdough/fermented flavor that will develop. 

If you suspect you’re going to allow it to rise on the longer side (12-18 hours), reduce yeast to about 1/2 teaspoon so dough doesn’t get too puffy and overflow the bowl.

After 6+ hours of rising, turn dough out onto a floured surface (without punching it down to preserve the air pockets and bubbles that have been created) and knead lightly for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Pat dough into a round mound, and place it back into large mixing bowl, seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 60 to 120 minutes, or until doubled in size (I did 60 minutes; I suspect the longer you let the second rise go, the more ‘holey’ the bread will be). Placing the bowl on the stovetop is a nice spot for this rise because you’re going to turn on the oven and the residual heat emitted helps with rising.

Shortly after dough begins the 60-120 minute rising, turn oven on to 450F and place a covered Dutch oven (empty) or heavy-bottomed skillet into the oven and allow it to heat for about 45 minutes. Dutch ovens are so heavy and take so long to get truly hot, and when you’re ready to bake the bread, you want the Dutch oven screaming hot.

After about 60-90 minutes or dough has doubled in size, remove Dutch oven from oven (careful, it’s screaming hot, use two pairs of hot mitts) and carefully place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of Dutch oven to prevent bread from sticking.

Carefully transfer dough from rising bowl to Dutch oven, cover it, and bake covered for 30 minutes. Don’t open the oven door or the Dutch oven lid to peek; you want to seal in the steam.

After 30 minutes, uncover the Dutch oven, and allow bread to bake uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes (I did 8 minutes) or until it’s as browned as desired. Traditional sourdough has a darker crust than most bread (sometimes almost burnt-looking, but I prefer mine on the lighter side).

Remove Dutch oven from oven, and remove bread from Dutch oven. Place it on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. As tempting as it is, don’t slice too early because the cooling process is important and should be considered an important extension of the baking process. Slice or break off hunks, and serve with honey butter, butter, jam, hummus, etc.

Bread is best fresh, but will keep airtight at room temp for up to 3 days. Older bread may be better toasted.

Notes

The yogurt you use must say ‘active cultures’.

Use closer to 1/2 teaspoon yeast if you plan to allow dough to rise for 12-18 hours.

You can substitute regular flour for the bread flour.  Bread flour has more proteins in it.  Simply add Wheat Gluten (I got some at Bulk Barn), I added about 1 1/2 teaspoon.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Poutine A La Farine (Acadian)

Poutine A La Farine is not the fries and gravy that everyone thinks about.  Poutine with the fries, gravy and cheese curds is from Quebec.

This is an Acadian dish.  My father loved it and Mum would make it for him everyone once in a while.

12 potatoes cook and mash
(Keep some of the water to use latter) from the cooking potatoes
Add: 2 teaspoon salt
Add: to the mash potatoes 4 cups flour .

Mix: together add more water if needed little at a time.
Add flour enough to make the dough elastic..... I constantly add flour as I need it each individual poutine .

(Have ready while potatoes cook)
6 apple medium sizes cut up little pieces could be more depend on how much you like to add.

1/2 lbs big raisin


Cut up pork meat (Optional some don't like the meat but it was use original recipe. I cook mine meat in the frying pan ahead. Make a flat ball in your hand like a poutine rapee.

Add meat raisin apple and close the ball well all around. Work well in hands


Boil the water ahead add salt to the water; add poutine one at a time. I dunk mine in flour before I put into the water. Cook about 1 1/2 hour slowly. It Depend the size of ball. It can be cook before that time.

I eat mine with brown sugar some like it just the way it is .

Make sure water keep boiling before adding more poutines.

Do not hard boil.

Original recipe from By Berthe Saulnier.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.