Buckwheat Butter Cookies

 A few weeks ago over coffee, my friend Anne brought me the most amazing cookies. Buttery and crisp with a hit of chocolate, they were quickly devoured and I couldn't help but ask for the recipe. Oh, my! So good. Mine didn't look nearly as beautiful as Anne's did, maybe because instead of rolling them out and cutting them into shapes I just shaped the dough into a log and then sliced sections off. At any rate, they were delicious. Jake's only complaint?

"Make them bigger, Mom."


Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup buckwheat flour

1 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cacao nibs (not really sure what these are or where to get them, so I chopped up some Lindt 70% Cocoa bar that was hanging out in my cupboard. I didn't chop it fine enough. The pieces should be really tiny, or it will be hard to slice the dough later)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, beat the sugar, salt, and butter together until creamy, but not fluffy. Mix in the chocolate bits and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flours together and then add to the butter mixture just until combined. I turned the dough out on the counter and kneaded it just a little to encourage it to all come together.

Shape into a log (12x2 inches), cover with waxed paper, and put into the fridge to chill. If you plan on cutting the cookies out with cookie cutters, then shape the dough into disks. I chilled the dough for about 3-4 hours.

Now..the original recipe talks about baking two sheets at a time, moving and adjusting the sheets, etc. I've never liked baking two sheets of cookies at once, so I put the oven rack right in the middle and then lined my cookie sheets with parchment. Slice the log of dough into 1/4 inch rounds and place on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

(you can also roll the dough out on a lightly floured counter and cut out shapes with cookie cutters)

Bake 12-14 minutes at 350 F, until the bottoms are golden. Slide them gently off the sheet onto a cooling rack; let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 30-ish cookies.

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Turkey Meatball Soup

Sort of like chicken noodle but with meatballs, this soup is fast and easy. I used regular thin egg noodles, but I think next time I'd go for whole wheat noodles because they stand up better to the broth. You can make the broth and cook the meatballs ahead, but freeze them separately and then thaw before heating to serve.

Adapted from Canadian Living March 2010
3 cups chicken broth
2 green onions, sliced
1 each carrot and rib celery, sliced
1/4 tsp dried thyme and pepper
1 red pepper, chopped
1 cup thin egg noodles
1/2 cup frozen peas

Meatballs:

1 egg
1/4 cup grated onion
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley (I used fresh thyme from my herb garden)
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
1 lb lean ground turkey

In a large bowl, mix the grated onion, egg, Parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, salt and pepper together with a fork. Add the turkey and mix through with your hands. (Yuk. I know!) Shape into tablespoon sized balls and bake on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a large soup pot, heat up a bit of olive oil and saute the celery until softened. Stir in your broth, and 3 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Add the green onions, carrots, thyme, salt and pepper; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the green onion, red pepper, noodles and meatballs. Simmer, covered, until the pasta is just tender (about 5 minutes). Add the peas and heat through.

Serves 4-6

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Penne with Tomato Chickpea Sauce

Have you ever tried a recipe just because you liked the picture? I do all the time. Once I even tried liver because there was a good picture (it was terrible). This recipe though, was yummy! I love chick peas, and having them in a pasta sauce was something I had never thought of before.

Chickpeas are low in fat, high in fiber and iron, cheap, and a great source of protein to try instead of meat. They were delicious in this sauce! I like my sauce thicker so I simmered it longer and added some tomato paste. Hubs, who would normally never touch a chickpea, cleaned his plate. Score!!

Adapted From Canadian Living March 2010

3 cups sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 (14 oz) can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 (28 oz) can of tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 3/4 cups penne, macaroni, or ditali pasta
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat up a small amount of oil in a skillet over medium heat and saute the mushrooms, garlic, and onion until there is no liquid and the mushrooms are browned. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, salt, pepper, oregano, and bring to a boil, stirring. Let simmer for about 15 minutes until thickened. If it's still too watery for you, continue to simmer and add about another tablespoon of tomato paste. Add the chick peas at the end, stirring and simmering to heat through.

In the mean time, cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain.

Toss the cooked pasta with the finished sauce and top with parsley and Parmesan.

Serves 4.

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Warm Veggie Salad

This warm roasted veggie salad is a great vegetarian meal, but it's also equally good paired up with some yummy meat. We had some fresh sausage from a local place here in town, so I roasted that up as well. Tossed with a bit of olive oil, herbs, and balsamic vinegar, then roasted to perfection, this is a yummy way to spend the evening.

Adapted from Crazy Plates by Greta and Janet Podleski

6 med sized red potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 cups of whole medium mushrroms
2 med carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 medium zucchini, cut into bit sized chunks
1 med red onion, cut into rings
1 large red bell pepper, cut into bit sized chunks
1 large yellow bell pepper, cut into bite sized chunks
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced finely
2 tsp dried oregano (or 2 Tbsp fresh)
1/4 tsp salt and black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Spray a large roasting pan with non-stick spray. In a bowl, stir together the olive oil, rosemary, salt, pepper, oregano, and balsamic vinegar. Set aside. In a large bowl , toss the chopped veggies together and drizzle with the herbed oil and vinegar mixture. Toss and mix well.

Bake at 425 F for about 30 minutes. Stir once or twice during cooking time, until veggies soften and start to brown.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with feta. Serve warm.

Makes 4 meal sized servings.

**To serve with sausages, we just pricked a couple of sausages and baked them a separate dish in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

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Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I hadn't planned to post this recipe quite yet, mostly because I haven't had the time to snap a good picture of these muffins. Light, delicious, and packed with chocolate chips, they are the best banana chip muffins I've had yet. We've been too busy scarfing them down, putting them in lunches, etc.

The muffin in the picture has 1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 peanut butter chips, which made them positively delectable!

Adapted from Bon Appetit, March 1999

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 large egg
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Line a muffin tin with paper cups.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter, and banana until smooth. Pour into the flour mixture and fold until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Fill the muffin cups until 3/4 full. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until light golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on rack.

Makes 1 dozen muffins

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Kaluah Truffles for 2

I always have wanted to make truffles, but every recipe I have found always makes a zillion of them, so I have never taken the plunge. Then I found this one and decided that finally, I'd DO it.

Truffles really are very easy. Whip cream, chocolate, a little butter, and some liqueur if you want, all melted together and shaped into balls, then dipped in chocolate. I think the trick here is to use really good chocolate, not your cheap bulk bin stuff. Bakers has this lovely 70% cocoa chocolate that I picked up, and then I had some Lindt bars in my baking cupboard that I used for the dipping part. With such a small batch you really can go with the good stuff and not break the bank.

The only thing I was a bit perturbed by was trying to shape them. There must be a trick that I am totally missing, because I'd scoop out the chocolate goodness and the second it would hit my hands, it would melt. They were slightly messy to shape and frustrating to anyone with *cough* perfectionist tendencies. I resorted to using a melon baller, but even at that some of my undipped truffles looked conspicuously like turds on a plate.

The upside is that as soon as they were dipped in chocolate and greedily devoured, the original turd-like resemblance was forgotten because they were beyond delicious. Better than any store bought truffle I have ever eaten in my entire life, really.

If you are looking for a tiny batch to try, this is the recipe for you.

Makes 6 truffles

Adapted from Canadian Living
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I recommend you use a good quality 70% cocoa)
2 Tbsp whipping cream
1 tsp butter
2 tsp Kaluah (you could try Bailey's or Grand Marnier as well)

1 oz of good quality dark chocolate, for dipping (you might need more...I melted about 1.5-2 oz and had some leftover)

In a saucepan over very low heat (or you could do this in a double boiler, but I never bother), melt the chocolate, butter, and cream all together. Stir it lots. You will have this wonderfully thick, creamy mixture that will take restraint NOT to eat right then and there.

Stir in the Kaluah, if you are using that.

Spoon it all into a bowl, cover, and put in the fridge for about an hour until it's good and cold.

Now the shaping part gets a little tricky. Do your best to scoop the stuff out into 1 tsp sized balls and roll between your fingers (palms of your hands just warms it up and makes a gooey mess) to shape them. A melon baller is really good for this. Don't try to be perfect. Stick them back into the fridge to chill for a bit.

Melt the dipping chocolate over low heat in a sauce pan until smooth. One by one, dunk your little truffle centers and set them on a wax paper lined plate to dry. You can put them in the fridge to speed up the process.

Store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze them for up to 1 month.

Heh. Right. Like they'd last that long.

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Slowcooker Chicken Goulash

When I think of goulash, I think of stew. This isn't a stew but rather like a pulled chicken steeped in a goulash like broth, that you would eat with crusty French bread and a salad. I cut down the hot peppers quite a bit, partly because I'd never find habeneros at my local grocer, and Hubs can't stomach spicy fare. Having said that, I think I'd add a whole jalapeno next time instead of just 1/2 like I did, because the jalapeno tends to mellow as it cooks in the slow cooker.

Jake, as soon as he heard this was another Crepes of Wrath recipe, declared that Sydney is his favorite cook (*cough* "um, next to you of course, Mom") Sure. You just like my cupcakes.

2 lbs of boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1 large onion, sliced
1 sweet red pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (Sydney used 3 habenero peppers! 3! Wowee! My poor delicate Canadian mouth would die. DIE. )

3 large cloves of garlic
1 tbsp paprika
598 ml diced tomatoes (I used a jar of my home canned tomatoes)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I worried about this at first, concerned that it would be too vinegary. Nope! It was good)

1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a fry pan and saute the onion until it's soft and clear. Toss it in your slow cooker. Next, saute up the jalapeno/hot peppers, bell pepper, and garlic cloves until they are softened as well. Toss them into the slow cooker.

Add all the other ingredients to your slow cooker. Give it a stir to evenly distribute everything. Turn your slow cooker onto high and cook it for 4-5 hours. (the recipe does say you can cook it on low for 6-8, but I haven't tried that)

When it's finished the chicken pulls apart and soaks up all the lovely juice. Too runny for you? Try stirring in some tomato paste to solve that. We had it with hunks of buttered French bread and a tossed salad on the side.

Serves 4-5

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Coconut Curry Shrimp

Curry always reminds me of my childhood. When I was young, we lived across the street from an East Indian family, and their daughter was only of my closest friends. I don't remember much about it now, but one of my most distinct memories was of the mom standing over her stove, making chappati. She would put the dough in a pan and it would rise up high, billowing, and she'd flip it.

There is nothing on Earth as delicious as fresh, home made chappati. I haven't had it since I was 7.

Although I have fond memories of curry, I admit it kind of scares me. What if I make it too hot? Too mild? What if I do it wrong? Recently I found out that there is a woman in town who does Indian food classes and I SO want to go. In the meantime, I made this recipe from Crazy Plates. It wasn't bad-very coconutty, and nice over rice. Even though I had a horrible virus this week it felt like just the thing to beat those nasty germies into submission. Even Jake actually had a fellow student try to steal the leftovers right from his lunch.

While this is delicious, I felt it had a little something missing. Lime, maybe? Next time I'd add a bit of juice, with some salt and pepper. Still it was comforting and spicy, which was just the thing this week.

Adapted From Crazy Plates by Janet and Greta Podleski

1/2 cup each minced onion and red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 cup light coconut milk (not cream, which is used for desserts. Milk. You'll find it in the Thai food section)
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 pound uncooked jumbo shrimp, peeled
1 tbsp cornstarch (stirred into 1 tbsp water)
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
4 cups rice

In a large fry pan, heat a small amount of oil and saute the onion, red bell pepper until soft. Stir in the cumin, coriander, and curry powder, allowing them to cook and meld for about a minute. Stir in the coconut milk, sugar, and crushed red pepper flakes, stirring to get all the little spicy bits from the bottom of the pan.

Turn the heat to medium high and gently add your shrimp. Continue to cook and stir gently while they turn a lovely pink, and as soon as all of them are finished (about 4 minutes), add the cornstarch/water mixture. Stir and let it bubble, thickening up into a delicious sauce. Salt and pepper to taste, then sprinkle your fresh cilantro over top. Remove from the heat and serve over hot steamed rice.

Serves 4, deliciously.

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