Gateau au Yaourt (Yogurt cake)

Gateau au Yaourt is a cake that is baked widely in France and appears in a number of cookbooks.  I first learned about this cake from one of my favorite blogs, Chocolate and Zucchini.  The beauty of this case is its simplicity.  It needs very few ingredients and they are all pantry staples.  It's also very easy to assemble.  One can also add any number of additional items to the basic mix to give it a special twist.  I've added blueberries and raspberries in the past.  Some other recommendations are cranberries, chocolate chips or your favorite nuts like walnuts or pecans.  Simply fold in 1 cup of your chosen ingredient to the batter before pouring into the baking pan.  This is best baked in a 10 inch round pan but on occasion, I've used a loaf pan.  It will take longer to bake with a loaf pan but the results are just as delicious.  This is a great cake if you crave something sweet with tea on the weekend or a special weekday afternoon.

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I like sunflower oil)
1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp rum (optional)
1 and 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 10 inch round cake pan.  Line bottom of pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar and eggs.  Then add vanilla, oil and rum if you are using rum.
3. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder,  baking soda and salt.
4. Pour the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture and whisk until just combined..
5. Pour batter in greased cake pan and bake 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Farmers" Market Flowers

This blog is devoted to my food discoveries but I will veer from the path occasionally.  These are beautiful flowers from the St. Lawrence Market that I picked up this morning.  Some flowers are edible (but not these).  These are a feast for the eyes!

Sweet potato hummus

As my few followers are aware, the past few months have been difficult and my poor blog has been neglected.  Thank you for your patience.  My energy has returned and I am ready to resume my posts.  One of my current goals is to stock my fridge with healthy and tempting foods.  One of my favorite standbys is hummus. While it's easy to buy, it's also very easy to make.  The finished product is delicious and you can control the ingredients. This recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart's Whole Living Power Foods.  It uses both chickpeas and sweet potato.  I prefer dried chickpeas but the canned product is also good if you are in a pinch.  If using dried chickpeas, soak overnight, rinse in the morning, bring to a boil in salted water and simmer for about an hour until tender.  This recipe calls for tahini, a sesame seed paste, that is available in most grocery stores. 

Sweet potato hummus
1 pound sweet potato
1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas
1/4 cup lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons)
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 small garlic clove finely chopped
coarse salt (sea salt) and ground pepper to taste

1. Fill a pot with about 2 inches of water.  Bring water to a boil, add sweet potatoes, simmer and cover until cooked (10-12 minutes). Drain when cooked.
2. Transfer sweet potatoes to food processor.  Add chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, cumin and garlic.  Puree until smooth for about 1 minute.  You may add up to 2 tablespoon water to get a thinner consistency. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and season with pepper.  Cool. Refrigerate for up to 1 week in an airtight container.

This is a delicious spread on whole wheat pita.  I've been enjoying it recently as a spread on apple slices.  I highly recommend it. Enjoy!

Carrot Cilantro Soup

Over the past week,  I seem to be craving lots of vegetables.  One of my favorite standbys is a Carrot Cilantro soup from a recipe by Alice Waters.  It has a hearty base of carrots and potatoes and topped with a tangy and peppery salsa.  The recipe calls for chicken stock but the vegetables are so flavorful that I have used water instead. Another key feature of this recipe is using enough salt during the stewing of the vegetables.  I use Maldon sea salt for this and most of my cooking. If given time for the flavors to blend, I think this soup tastes even better on the second day.

Carrot Cilantro Soup
1 white onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 bunch carrots (about 2 pounds)
3 potatoes
salt and pepper
1 bunch of cilantro
1 quart chicken stock (or water)

Salsa
1 chopped red onion
juice of 2 limes
1 jalapeno pepper chopped
chopped cilantro leaves (1/3 of the bunch from above)

1. Chop onion and stew in butter over low heat in covered pot for about 10 minutes.
2. Peel carrots and potatoes, cut in chunks.
3. Add carrots and potatoes to onions.
4. Salt generously (about 1 tsp) and continue to stew for about 10 minutes.
5. Add chicken stock and simmer over low heat until vegetables are cooked (about 30-40 minutes).
6. Add about 2/3 of cilantro (chopped) to the pot.  When cooled, puree or simply mash the vegetables to get a thick chunky consistency.
7. Then adjust the seasoning with more salt if needed and a generous sprinkling of ground pepper.
8. Prepare a salsa with the following: chopped remaining cilantro, chopped red onion, chopped jalapeno pepper and the juice of 2 limes.
9. Garnish soup with the salsa and serve.

Enjoy!

Comfort Food

To my group of ten followers, as you know the past month has been unimaginably difficult and my blog has been neglected.  However, as I navigate the new realities of life, there will be a focus on comfort food.  Comfort food are simple meals that I can rely on during difficult times. It's easy to make, tastes great and soothes the soul.  For many months, one of my favorite meals is Yahkni Pilau.  It's a simple dish with rice and meat, usually beef or lamb but I plan to try a vegetarian version in the near future using spring vegetables. The meat is simmered in spices that serves as a broth to cook the rice.  It is not as rich as a biryani and can serve as a simple meal with a salad for lunch or dinner.  Most of the cooking time is spent with the meat simmering on the stovetop in spices and it requires very little work or effort. This version is adapted from a family recipe passed on to me by the mother of a dear friend.

Rukiya Q's Yahkni Pilau
2 pounds beef or lamb (I sometimes use less)
1 onion chopped or quartered
2 garlic cloves
1 inch piece of ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp black pepper seeds
1/2 tsp cloves
1-2 cinnamon sticks
4 black cardamon pods
4 green cardamon pods
1 bay leaf

In a large pot, add the above ingredients to 3 cups of water.  Bring to boil and simmer for an hour.  The time depends on the cut of meat but the average time is about an hour.  When the meat is cooked, strain and set the clear broth aside.  Next separate the meat from the spices.

In a large pan (I use a le Creuset cast iron pot for both parts of the recipe), heat about 1 tbsp of canola or any neutral oil.  Add one choppped onion and cook for about 5-10 minutes.  Add the meat and 1 tbsp garam masala to the onions.  Fry for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup basmati rice to the pan and stir until the grains are covered with oil.  Then add 2 cups of the clear broth, bring to a boil, and slowly simmer for 7-9 minutes until the rice is cooked.  The cooking time may be variable but it's important not to overcook the rice.  Usually after 9 minutes, I remove from the heat and set aside covered for a few minutes so that all of the liquid is absorbed.

Note: most of the spices in this recipe are available in most East Indian or Pakistani grocery stores.

Cranberry Bread

This post is devoted to comfort food.  Comfort food to me can be so many things - a hearty lentil soup at the end of a long day, pulau  or a simple cup of tea.  The past few days have required many cups of tea and the most suitable accompaniment for my tea is a cranberry ginger bread that I adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe that I found a few years ago.  It has tart cranberries, ginger which is soothing to the soul and spicy cardamon. The combination makes a wonderful bread that's reasonably healthy.

Cranberry Bread
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon (green cardamon)
3/4 cup low fat yogurt
2 large eggs
1 cup cranberries (I prefer frozen, not thawed)
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly oil and grease a loaf pan.
Spread oats on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown. Transfer to a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Place in a large bowl, stir in flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cardamon.
In a separate bowl, stir yogourt, oil and eggs.  Mix a well in dry ingredients and  add liquid ingredients. Stir until just combined.  Add cranberries and crystallized ginger.
Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out dry (this usually takes 1 hour and 10 minutes in my oven).
Serve with tea.  I think that chai may go well with this because of the cardamon and cranberries but I love  it with Earl Grey with blue flowers.

Tranquility after le weekend...

Sometimes a picture says it all...

Turkish Delight

                                          

Two years ago, a friend and fellow foodie visited Turkey and brought back lots of edible treats for me to try.  This started my interest in Turkish food.  My favorite Turkish food is manti.  It's a tiny dumpling filled with a spicy meat mixture.  I buy it frozen; it cooks in two minutes and is delicious when I need something quick to eat. There are two sources of manti in the city; there were three but the third was a restaurant that closed last year. I've had a hankering for manti recently and on two dark winter evenings, my friend and I ventured out to two Turkish grocery stores in the city. The first was located in the downtown area but the second was in deepest suburbia. Sadly there was no manti in the two stores but we found other wonderful Turkish foods.  In the first store, we sampled the Turkish olives. They were delicious and I picked up a spicy mixture of green and black olives to try in the weeks ahead.  The olive oil from Turkey was described as the "best in the world".  Some may differ with this opinion but it is very good.  The one I sampled was fruity and light.  I would never cook with this but it is perfect for salads. I bought a large bottle and look forward to using it on salads especially in the summer months.  I also picked up pine honey to add to my honey collection.  Rose is an acquired taste.  I love rose tea and Turkish delight.  I think rose petal jam should be equally delicious and added it to my basket.  I'm also trying to cook with more whole grains.  I've tried Turkish lentils; they are richer and make a great soup.  Another grain found in the store is freekeh - a roasted greenwheat that has many touted health benefits.  I also found a bulgur mix with vermicelli that looked too tempting to pass up on.  As for spices...I love Spanish paprika but was told that Turkish paprika is rich and robust.  My final purchase was chocolate...this is February after all and who can pass up chocolate.

As for finding manti, my search continues...

A Special Banana Bread

One of my early posts has to be devoted to banana bread.  It's one of the first things that I learned to bake and I make this fairly often.  It's a great accompaniment to breakfast,  a fabulous mid-morning snack and always great with my favorite tea in the afternoon.  I've tried many recipes and this is my favorite standby.  You can add chopped walnuts, raisins or chocolate chips to the basic mix.  Because today is a cold February day, I made chocolate chips from a bar of Pierre Herme Madagascar chocolate that I brought back from Paris for a day like today to make this a truly special banana bread.

Banana Bread
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs
4-6 mashed bananas
1/3 cup water
1 and 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate (any will do but Pierre Herme's chocolates are simply the best)
(second option)
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease loaf pan.
Mix sugar and margarine in bowl.
Stir in eggs until well blended.
Add bananas and water.
Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts.
Stir in nuts or chocolate last.
Bake for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes (sometimes takes an extra 10-15 minutes)




For this bread, I used one cup of all purpose flour and 2/3 cup buckwheat flour and the results were amazing!

Winter Farmers' Market

 I love farmers' markets. These are great places to buy locally grown foods They are best in the spring, summer and fall months with an abundance of produce. However, a winter's farmers' market is special and has lots of hidden finds.  Today, it was quieter than usual after an overnight snowfall.  The fresh produce area had lots of root vegetables and the usual imports.  Today, I picked up parsley roots.  They look like parsnips but are darker in colour. I had never heard about this before but found a recipe for parsley root fries from My New Roots blog and will definitely make this in the upcoming week.  Because of the time of the year, the market was filled with citrus...kumquats, clementines, grapefruit, blood red oranges.  I stocked up on blood red oranges and grapefruit.  Another great find in a winter's market is locally made cheese.  I was lucky to pick up a two day old soft sheep cheese called pecorino fresco.  It's soft and not very tangy.  It seems to be a popular cheese that can be used in salads, pasta and I think it could be part of a great sandwich. I couldn't pass up the sign that heralded its arrival and after a small sample, I was sold.  It lasts for two weeks so I have both enough cheese and time to find many uses for this.  In the winter, I also have more time to spend in dried goods stores and there is a amazingly wide selection that can't be found even in the largest supermarkets.  I discovered mission figs today.  I was told that they tasted the same but were darker than conventional figs.  They were first grown in California and are still grown there.  Based on my sampling so far, I think they are sweeter and chewier than the other figs I've tasted.  They should go very well with my pecorino fresco cheese.  One of my cooking projects is to work with many types of flours and I  was able to get some millet flour today.   Some farmer's markets are also a great source of seafood. My last purchase today was fish for bouillabaise to warm up a winter evening in the week ahead!

Welcome to my blog!!!

After months of indecision, I've settled on a name and the blog has been launched.  Please join me on my culinary journey and discovery!