Can’t get it out of my head!!! 

“Lost in the Light” by Bahamas

…a little reward is in order. After a week of snacking on hippie bars, I wanted to make a real fuckin’ dessert, knowwhatimean?

It’s the very beginning of rhubarb season over here, which means the stalks are short and skinny, but also at their most tender and tasty. 

I made a rhubarb compote by… 

1. Chopping about 1 lb and a half of rhubarb in 1-inch pieces.  

2. Mix together 2 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water in a pot and bring to a boil until a nice light brown.

3. Add in 1 cup of spiced rum with 1 tsp vanilla and a bit of freshly ground pepper. Add the rhubarb and remove from heat. Cover and let sit about 25 minutes. Strain and reserve the liquid. Put the rhubarb in the fridge and bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to about a cup and a half. 

….Then I made a lemon yogurt mousse… 

1. Whip 250ml of 35% cream with about 1/4 cup sugar. Set aside. 

2. Re-hydrate 2 tsp gelatin in 2 tbsp water in a small heat-proof bowl. 

3. Mix together 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt with the zest of one lemon (or more to taste). Set aside. 

4. Put the bowl with the gelatin over a pot of boiling water and stir until the gelatin is completely melted. Stir into yogurt mixture. 

5. With a fouet, fold in the whipped cream. Pour into a fully baked pie shell and refrigerate for minimum 3 hours. 

….Spread the rhubarb over the whole pie or by slice and pour a spoonful of the rhubarb reduction over each serving. 

oliveryeh:

“Ok aspiring fiction writers, if you’ve ever wondered how to write a successful novel, the secret is here: kill off your characters. Of the handful of books that won the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2011, all 13 novels had the common theme of putting to death main characters…” Read more…

my heart’s all a-flutter! 

I’ve come to realise that I have less and less time throughout the day to actually sit down and have a meal. My average work day starts at 7am and goes till 5pm. I am obviously allowed to take a lunch break during that time, but it seems like I function better if I just plow through and snack on the run. That said, I need an efficient snack that is tasty and nutritious and that will pack enough energy to get me through the rest of the day. These hippie bars fit the bill. They are chewy and sweet and full of stuff that is good for you: Flax meal, sunflower seeds, almonds, dried apricots… And best of all, no butter or oil. Who says baking has to be bad for you?

1 1/2 cups puffed cereal (I use Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puffed Cereal) 

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped almonds

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons finely chopped dates

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 300 F and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. 

In a small pan, heat the honey, dates, salt, and vanilla until honey is melted and dates slightly dissolved. 

Mix together all dry ingredients and apricots. Pour honey mixture over and mix well. With slightly wet hands, scoop the mixture out of the mixing bowl and pat into the prepared pan. 

Bake for about half an hour or until bars just begin to colour. Cool completely before slicing into desired shapes. 

Mmmm. 

kelly kettle goes to africa. 

i had a similar reaction my first time. 

olive oil cornmeal biscotti w/ almonds and figs

to me, march break means an opportunity to make something that maybe doesn’t involve three pounds of butter… this recipe is from alice medrich’s awesome, awesome cookie book called chewy gooey crispy crunchy. it almost seems kinda healthy since it’s not to sweet and packed with nuts and dried fruit. mmm. 

1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal

3/8 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2/3 cup sugar (i used the maple sugar i made the other day)

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground cardamom

2 large eggs

Finely grated zest of one orange

2/3 cup coarsely chopped almonds, slightly toasted

2/3 cup coarsely chopped figs

1. Mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder in a medium bowl and mix well. 
2. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients (except for almonds, and figs) and beat with an electric mixer until light and slightly thickened. 
3. Stir in the flour mixture by hand and then add the almonds and figs. 
4. Scrape into the center of a lined baking sheet and with slightly wet hands, shape into a rectangle about 15 inches long and 5 inches wide. 
5. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until the loaf is golden on top and the sides. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 325. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes before slicing. 
6. Using a bread knife, slice the loaf crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Stand the slices up on an unlined baking sheet and return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, until golden on the sides. 
7. Resist temptation to eat hot as these are WAY better once they’re completely cooled. Awesome with a strong cup of coffee… or with a glass of red wine. 

angel landing. 

I had a slight surplus of maple syrup hanging around (sigh. The woes of living in Quebec) so I decided to try and transform some of it into granulated maple sugar. Quite a nifty little kitchen experiment for a snowy afternoon. I heated about a litre of syrup to 45 degrees F above the boiling point of water and then transferred it to a wider, more shallow pan and stirred it around for a while. Lo and behold, it started to get dry and powdery and magically transformed into this lovely sandy-sweet stuff… Kinda groovy, no? And it made my house smell like a sugar shack. Bonus.