Swiss Chard & Sausage Lasagne with Meyer Lemons

The weather in Toronto has been ridiculously gorgeous this week. Just ridiculous. I walked around downtown in jeans, a t-shirt and flip flops today. I used to be able to bet that we'd always get one huge snowstorm in March. But over the past 3-4 years, that hasn't happened.

The influx of spring leaves me wanting lighter, brighter flavours. I want to gently poke my head out from beneath the culinary blanket of braised, rib sticking food. Emphasis on the gently. There's nothing pleasant about a rude awakening.

So, while revisiting an old Martha Stewart magazine in search of recipes for Easter (my parents and brother are staying with us this year!), I stumbled across a recipe for chard, sausage and lemon lasagne. It hit the right notes for me - bechemel sauce for comfort, lemons for brightness, tons of chard for veggie infused goodness (and seasonality - the chard at the shops are gorgeous right now) and sausage for that awesome hit of porky goodness.

And, it came together and cooked in under an hour to boot. Rock on, Martha. For the record, I used Meyer lemons because that's what I had on hand. The original recipe calls for regular ones, but the advantage to the Meyers is you get a slightly different aroma and their skin is thinner, so they incorporate better.

Swiss Chard & Sausage Lasange with Meyer Lemons.

(from Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
¼ cup flour
3 cups milk
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
kosher salt and coarsely ground pepper
1 bunch chopped Swiss chard
1 lb sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
1 lemon, sliced paper thin
6 no boil lasagne noodles.

Directions

1. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour and cook for two minutes. Gradually, whisk in milk and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, and season mixture with salt and pepper. Stir in the chard and set aside.

2. In a small saucepan cover lemon slices with several inches of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 7 minutes. When finished, gently remove slices from pot with a slotted spoon and let drain on paper towel. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook Italian sausage, breaking up pieces with a wooden spoon as they cook.

3. Preheat oven to 350º.

4. To assemble lasagne, ladle ¼ cup of the sauce into the bottom of an 8"x8" baking dish. Top with two lasagne noodles. Layer 1 cup sauce and ½ the sausage mixture on top. Repeat with another layer of noodles, sauce and the rest of the sausage. Before adding the last two lasange noodles, top sausage with half of the lemon slices. Top with lasagne noodles, the rest of the sauce and the remaining lemon slices.

5. Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle remaining Parmesan on top of lasagne and broil for 2-3 minutes, or until top is golden and bubbly. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Sausage Minestrone Bake

Autumn rain showers leave me feeling slightly melancholic - but in the best possible way, if that makes any sense. There's something so lovely about watching the rain hit the windowpanes, while you're wrapped up in a cozy cardigan.

A cup of tea close at hand is mandatory on afternoons like this.

Of course, more often than not, autumn rain showers tend to hit while I'm walking home wearing super absorbent fabric shoes. This has happened to me twice in the past week.

Adding insult to injury, the rain stopped within minutes of my arriving home... so there was no need for cardigan. Or tea. Or to stare out the window.

And I had very wet feet.

In the end, it was the wet feet that made me long for comfort food. Inspired by two recipes from Martha Stewart Magazine, I put together a Sausage Minestrone Pot Pie.

 

Sausage Minestrone Pot Pie

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

½ lb turkey sausage, casings removed and meat broken up

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried rosemary

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped into ½" cubes

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, undrained

1 15 oz can navy beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups chicken stock

1 bunch swiss chard, rinsed, chopped

2 potatoes, scrubbed

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375º.

2. In a dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage meat and onion to pan and sauté until meat is browned and cooked through. Stir in garlic and herbs and cook for a further minute. Stir in potatoes, carrots, tomatoes with their juices, beans and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until thick.

3. Meanwhile, slice potatoes into 1/8" slices, using a mandoline. Set aside.

4. Add swiss chard to pot and cook until just tender, an additional 3-5 minutes. Pour mixture into a 9" x 13" baking pan. Layer potatoes on top of minestrone mixture, brushing with remaining olive oil as you layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until potatoes are golden and crisp and mixture is bubbly and thick.

Plum-a-palooza: A Small Plum Cake for Four

At the farmer's market this week, my husband picked up a few pounds of shiro plums. The shiro plum is a Japanese variety and isn't white, as the name might lead you to believe, but yellow.

Shiro plums are sweet and bright, but also happen to be clingstone, which may deter you if segmenting clingstone fruits annoys you.

Truth be told, although I had asked him to pick up some interesting fruit, I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with 4lbs of these plums. In the end, I opted to make a small plum cake and to use the rest of the fruit in a jam (which I've started and is currently sitting in my fridge waiting for a flavour infusion tomorrow - vanilla? star anise? cardamon? I definitely want the vanilla... but I can't decide what, if anything, else to put in).

Plum Cake

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

¼ cup + 2 tbsp butter, at room temperature
½ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup spelt flour (you can use all purpose instead)
¼ tsp baking soda
generous pinch kosher salt
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg white
½ tsp vanilla extract
zest of one lemon
1/3 cup plain yogurt
4 plums, halved, pitted and cut into 6-8 slices

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Generously butter and flour a small, 6" springform pan. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, sift together flours, baking soda and salt.

3. In the bowl of a mixer (or, using a hand mixer), cream together butter. Gradually add in sugars. Once mixture is light and fluffy, add in whole egg then the egg white. Once this is incorporated, add in vanilla, lemon zest and yogurt.

4. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in 2 batches, making sure each batch is incorporated before adding the next one. Pour batter into prepared pan. Smooth.

5. Arrange plum slices over the top of the batter. Place in oven for 30 minutes. Remove, loosely tent with foil and return to oven for an additional 35 minutes. Cake is done when a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.

Let cool on rack on counter. Cake is best eaten the day it was made! Might I recommend some ice cream, whipped cream or a sifting of icing sugar?

You may have noticed in the picture that I've cut the cake into more than four slices... we weren't particularly hungry, so smaller was the way to go!

Grilled Potato Salad with Bacon, Shallot and Brown Sugar

The first time I made this recipe was back in the late '90s, when my aunt, uncle and cousins were visiting Ottawa from Yarmouth, N.S. Wanting to veer away from the traditional mayonnaise based salad, we decided to try a recipe from Martha Stewart's Great Parties book. It's one of Martha's earlier books, but I still use it regularly. The recipe for Grilled Peach Chicken is a staple in our cottage cooking, just as this potato salad is.

Fifteen years after first making it, I've made several tweaks (the original recipe serves 14!) to the amount of oil and vinegar, and I always up the amount of bacon required.

In fairness, just because I cook more bacon, doesn't mean the bacon makes it into the salad. Sometimes quality control needs to ensure the freshness and... uhm... deliciousness of the bacon.

This potato salad is, compared to both the mayonnaise types and the German types, quite dry. And, that's the point. It's not meant to be swimming in dressing! It's a refreshing change from tradition and a great accompaniment to ribs and baked beans.

I've given amounts to serve 2-3 people. Adapt up as you see fit!

Grilled Potato Salad with Bacon, Shallots and Brown Sugar

(adapted from Martha Stewart's Great Parties)

Ingredients

1 lb red potatoes (new are especially nice), scrubbed
2 slices really good bacon
1 large shallot, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced into half moons
1 tbsp + 1 tsp packed brown sugar
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil, divided
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a large pot of cold, salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are almost fork tender, amount 15 minutes (for large potatoes). You want to get them out just before, as you'll be finishing these off on the grill.

2. While potatoes are cooking, cook bacon in a skillet over medium-low heat until crispy. Remove bacon, and drain on a paper towel. Crumble and set aside. Pour off all but ½ tbsp of bacon fat from pan. Add shallot to pan and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, cider vinegar and 1 tsp olive oil. Stir just until brown sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside while you finish off the potatoes.

3. Remove potatoes from heat and cut into halves, if potatoes are small, or thick slices if potatoes are large. Try to leave the skin intact wherever possible! Brush with remaining 1 tbsp of oil and place on a greased grill to get brown and crispy, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove from heat. If you're using the thick slices, you may want to cut them again into bite sized quarters. Toss with reserved dressing and season with salt and pepper.

Turkey Burgers with Ricotta and Sage

Too often, I think, we relegate flavours to a certain season. Turkey and sage, for example are classic combination for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. But, to keep those flavours together just during the cooler months seems like such a shame.

Fresh sage and parsley add depth to turkey burgers, while ricotta both lightens and moistens it. I've been making this recipe since last summer when I spotted it in a Martha Stewart magazine.

I won't lie. I haven't changed a darned thing except scaled the recipe down to make 4 burgers instead of 8.

Martha Stewart's Vermont Burgers

(from Martha Stewart )

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
¼ cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp minced fresh sage
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Divide into four patties and place, on individual parchment squares, in the fridge for at least an hour. This will help the burgers firm up.

2. Heat a grill (or grill pan) on medium heat. Brush turkey burgers on one side with oil. Pick up parchment and place burgers gently on grill. Peel off parchment paper. Brush next side with oil. Grill on each side for about 5 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 165º.

Serve with all your regular toppings or whip up a batch of Martha's Extra Special Sauce.

Hot Cross Buns

The first year we were living in Toronto, the Cobs bakery chain left about 10 coupons for free Hot Cross Buns in the mail boxes of our and our neighbours' mail boxes. Luckily for my husband and I, our neighbours kept throwing their coupons into the recycle bin by the boxes.

So we probably ate 7-8 free Hot Cross buns that year. It was fantastic. I love free food!

Now, as sad as I am that there haven't been coupons for the past couple of years, I have to admit, while Cobs' buns are good, they're not the best I've ever had.

Homemade is always better - especially because it'll fill your home with the sweet smell of cinnamon.

My version has no candied peel in it, but a combination of currants and sultanas along with the zest of an orange and lemon.

Hot Cross Buns

(adapted from Canadian Living and Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

Dough

3-1/2 cups all purpo½ 1/2cup cupgranulated sugar
1/4 cup warm water ¼ 1/4cup cupwarm water
1 pkg (15ml) active dry yeast 2¼ tsp pkg (15ml)active dry yeast (one package)
2 tbsp 2 2tbsp tbspcinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg 1 1tsp tspnutmeg
1/2 tsp salt ½ 1/2tsp (2 mL) salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves ¼ 1/4tsp tsp(1 mL) ground cloves
3/4 cup milk , warmed3/4 3/4cup (175 mL) milk, warmed
1/4 cup melted butter ¼ 1/4cupc (50 mL) melted butter
1 egg 1 1eggeggs
1 egg yolk 1 1egg yolkegg yolks 
zest of one large orange
zest of one large lemon
3½ 3-1/2cups (875 mL) all purpose flour
1/2 cup dried currants ¼ 1/2cup eachcup (125 mL) dried currants and sultanas

1/4 cup chopped candied pe 
Glaze

2 tbsp granulated sugar 2 2tbsp (25 mL) granulated sugar
2 tbsp water 2 2tbsp tbspwater 

Icing

1/2 cup icing sugar ½ 1/2cup (125 mL) icing sugar
2 tsp water ½ - 1 tbsp fresh (10 mL) lemon juice

Directions

1. Mix 1 tbsp sugar, warm water and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand for 5 minutes, until yeast proofs. Using the dough hook, stir in remaining sugar with next 10 ingredients (through lemon zest). 

2. Add flour, one cup at a time until a soft dough is formed. Add currants and sultanas and beat for about a minute. Remove dough from bowl and knead just to evenly distribute the fruit. Place in a greased bowl, tossing to grease all over. Cover with a tea towel and set aside in a warm, draft free location to rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.

3. Divide dough into 10 equal sections. Form each into a smooth tight ball, stretching and pinching dough underneath to make tops smooth. Place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with tea towel and let rise again for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400º.

4. Using a serrated knife or a pair of scissors, slice a cross into the top of each bun. Bake in oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.

5. Meanwhile, whisk glaze ingredients together in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Immediately after removing buns from oven, brush them with glaze. Let them cool on the pan.

The glaze gives the buns a lovely sheen.

6. Stir together icing ingredients until smooth and pipe a cross on top of each cooled bun. If you don't have a piping bag, don't stress. Just fill a plastic sandwich bag with icing and cut off a small portion of one corner and then pipe out the icing.

Enjoy licking the sticky sweetness off your fingers!

Cranberry and Almond Brunch Bread

It's only since I've begun blogging that I've realized just how often I bake breads. Honestly, when it comes down to it, I far prefer working with bread dough than finicky pastries or cookies.

Over the weekend, I was feeling like I needed a kick of fruit. Of course, we didn't have much in the house except a bag of frozen, neglected cranberries.

I figured cranberries, even encased in sweet dough and glazed with icing sugar, could still count as a fruit serving, right? Right?

Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure what to call this recipe. The recipe I adapted it from calls this style of bread a "yeasted coffee cake"... but I definitely think this feels more like bread and less like cake. It would be perfect as part of a brunch, or, if you're like me (and I hope you are) as a post dinner nosh.

Cranberries and Almond Brunch Bread

(adapted from Martha Stewart's Yeasted Chocolate Coffee Cake)

Ingredients

Bread

2½ tsp active dry yeast
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
3/4 cup warm milk (100º-110º)
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
½ tsp almond extract
3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for surface
½ tsp Kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (plus more for greasing bowl)
1 large egg lightly beaten with 1 tbsp milk (or cream) for egg wash

Filling

¼ cup whole almonds, roasted and then finely chopped
1½ cups frozen cranberries, thawed
¼ cup almond or cherry liqueur (I used homemade cherry liqueur)
12 oz light cream cheese
1 large egg yolk
¼ plus 2 tbsp icing sugar

Glaze

1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp milk 

Directions

1. Sprinkle yeast and a pinch of sugar over warm milk. Let sit for 5 minutes or so until yeast proofs. Whisk in remaining sugar and the egg and yolk and almond extract.

2. Using the paddle attachment, mix flour and ½ tsp salt in the bowl of a mixer. Add yeast-egg mixture and mix gently until just combined, about 30 seconds.

Switch to the dough hook, add butter and beat until smooth (it will be slightly sticky), about 10 minutes.

3. Grease a large bowl. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a couple of times to ensure smoothness. Place in bowl, turning to coat with grease.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft free location. Allow to rise to the point of doubling in volume, about 1½ hours.

4. While dough is rising, soak the thawed cranberries in liqueur. Allow to steep for at least an hour.

5. For the filling, mix together cream cheese, egg yolk and icing sugar until smooth.

6. Punch down dough. Transfer back to floured work surface. Let rest for a few minutes and then roll into an 18" square. Brush edges with egg wash.

7. Spread cream cheese mixture over surface.

Then sprinkle with chopped almonds and soaked cranberries.

8. Roll mixture up, jelly roll style.

9. Preheat oven to 350º. Coil dough and place on greased parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet. Brush with egg wash. Let rise, covered with plastic wrap for 20-30 minutes or until risen by half.

Remove wrap, cut dough with 6 slashes.

10. Bake dough, rotating pan halfway through for about 55 minutes or until golden. Reduce oven temperature to 325º and continue to bake until deeply golden, about 15 - 20 minutes more. Transfer to rack to let cool.

11. Combine glaze ingredients and pour over bread.

Take a look at what's going on inside the bread:

Oh, so deliciously tart! The sour cranberries mix with the sweet cream cheese filling - I just love a cake that balances those sweet-tart flavours!

Happy Birthday to my husband!

Holy sweet mother of all things good. I have two magical, amazing words for you:

Baked.

Alaska.

Let them roll off your tongue and then send your imagination off to soaring heights as you ponder this retro dessert.

It's frozen on the inside.

It's crispy meringue on the outside.

Basically, it's heaven on a plate.

Why have I never tried this before?

When Phil saw me looking through the most recent issue of Martha Stewart Living, he caught me on a page with this picture:

marthastewart.com

He got all puppy-dog eyed and pleaded for me to make it for his birthday. Since he'd done such an amazing job with those molten chocolate cakes for me, it was only fair that I did the cake he wanted in return.

I won't lie to you. I had doubts. A 500º oven and ice cream? No way was the meringue that insulating. I was going to end up with a melted disaster all over the kitchen.

I was wrong. It was easy. It was delicious. We have tons of leftovers. Wanna come 'round and try?

For the record, I divided this recipe in 3, in hopes of making a 2-3 person serving, and made it in my 3 cup pudding bowl.

It still made 6 servings. Go figure.

So, I'm posting the original recipe here.

Baked Alaska with Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Ice Cream

(from Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients

 
For the cakes:
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
Salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup warm water (about 100 degrees)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 large eggs, room temperature, separated
 
For assembling:
Vegetable oil cooking spray
6 cups chocolate ice cream (3 pints)
 
For the meringue:
12 large egg whites, room temperature
3 cups sugar
Pinch of cream of tartar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cakes: Sift 1 1/3 cups sugar, the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and 1 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Combine oil, water, and vanilla.

Whisk egg yolks with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and thick, about 5 minutes. With machine running, slowly pour oil mixture into yolks, and then add sugar mixture.
 

In a clean mixer bowl, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed, gradually adding remaining 2/3 cup sugar, until medium stiff peaks form. Mix one-third of the whites into cake batter, then gently fold in remaining whites.
 

Divide batter between two 12-by-17-inch parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets, and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Bake until cakes are set and spring back when touched, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool.
 

Assemble the baked Alaska: Coat six 11-ounce bowls or ramekins with cooking spray; line with plastic wrap, leaving an overhang. Cut out 6 cake circles to fit in bottoms of bowls (we used a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter), and place one in each bowl. Top each with 1/3 cup chocolate ice cream, smoothing surface. Cut out 6 cake circles to fit on top of ice cream (we used a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter), and place on ice cream. 

Freeze until set, about 30 minutes.
 

Top each cake with 1/3 cup ice cream, smoothing surface. Cut out 6 cake circles to fit on top of ice cream (we used a 4-inch round cookie cutter), and place on ice cream. (This should fit just at the top of the bowl.) Cover assembled cakes with plastic wrap overhang, and freeze for at least 4 hours.
 

To remove from bowls, open plastic wrap, flip cakes onto a baking sheet, and remove plastic wrap. Freeze cakes while making meringue.
 

 

 

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Make the meringue: Heat egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl of a mixer set over a pan of simmering water, whisking often, until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm to the touch, about 2 minutes. Transfer bowl to mixer, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. 

 

Cover each assembled cake with 1 cup meringue. This is the fun part, if you ask me. Get your fingers in there and make some peaks!

Bake until meringue is browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Alternatively, hold a small handheld kitchen torch at a 90-degree angle 3 to 4 inches from surface of meringue. Move flame back and forth until browned and caramelized.

 

 

This is a rich dessert, so cut it into appropriate serving sizes!

Try to restrain yourself from eating the leftovers.

Happy birthday babe!

The Best Roast Chicken I've Had in a Year (at least)

One of the things I love most about winter cooking is roasting a gorgeous bird. As part of our New Year's resolution, Phil and I are trying to buy locally produced meat as often as possible. And if it's free range and antibiotic free to boot, even better!

So when he picked up a gorgeous Rowe Farms chicken last weekend, I knew we were in for a treat... I just didn't realize how amazing this bird was going to be.

I'd like to think it's a combination of this recipe and the bird's providence.

And don't get me started on the sandwiches we made throughout the week with the leftovers. The chicken was moist, perfectly salty and blow-your-mind-tasty. I swear to you, I've never cooked a bird like this before. It puts all those tiny little things you can buy at Loblaws to shame.

So, though this bird cost us 12$ as opposed to 8$, I think those extra 4$ were well worth it.

Two days after roasting it, I made chicken stock with the leftover carcass, some shallots, carrots celery and a bay leaf. After simmering away on the stove for 2 hours, we were left with an intensely chickeny stock. Gorgeous. We got a lot of meals out of that bird - not to mention two litres of stock sitting in my freezer right now!

Glorious Chicken

As a side note, this really is a great way to do potatoes. Cooking them first and throwing them in around the bird lets them soak up all those delicious juices (and fats) and get extra crispy in the oven. They're everything a roast potato should be!

Crisp Skinned Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes

(from Martha Stewart Living January 2011)

Ingredients


6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut crosswise, 3/4 inch thick
Coarse salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 whole chicken (about 4 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 small bunch fresh rosemary
3 sprigs fresh sage (my addition) 

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cook potatoes in salted boiling water until tender, 11 to 13 minutes. Drain. Return potatoes to pot, and shake over low heat to dry and fluff. Coat with oil, and season with salt. 

Mix together 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the cornstarch. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Rub skin with butter, and season with salt mixture.

 

Close up of the butter and salt mixture.

Stuff some rosemary into cavity. Pile remaining rosemary on a rimmed baking sheet.

Place chicken, breast side up, on rosemary, and tuck wings under. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Scatter potatoes around chicken. Roast for 30 minutes. 

 

Oven ready

Remove from oven, and flip potatoes. Return to oven, rotating sheet. Roast until chicken juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reaches 165 degrees, about 30 minutes more. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving. If potatoes aren't golden, toss with rosemary, and return to oven.

A Quick Birthday Post

An excellent day, complete with an animated MS Paint Card from my little brother, a zojirushi rice cooker from my husband (I've never had one with English buttons before) who loves me even though I look like this in the morning:

I never noticed how seriously gigantic that coffee cup is before. No wonder I feel so twitchy on weekend mornings.

But, best of all, my husband made me a birthday dessert.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

We were destined for each other. The man knows his desserts.

And I love him for it.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

(From: Martha Stewart Great Fast Food)

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin. Dust with granulated sugar, and tap out excess. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.

Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.

To serve, turn out cakes, and place on serving plates, bottom sides up. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Chocolate Bark with Pistachios, Cranberries, Coconut and Sea Salt.

Inspired by the December issues of Martha Stewart, and motivated by feeling ill but still obligated to make something for a staff meeting on Monday, I whipped up a batch of dark chocolate bark using 5 ingredients from my cupboard.

Let's just say it was a hit. The art teacher at the school proclaimed it to be "Fabulous", which I absolutely insist you pronounce with an emphasis on the "Fah" sound, as she does.

Pistachio, Cranberry, Toasted Coconut Bark with Sea Salt

Ingredients

1 lb good quality dark chocolate (I used the leftover Callebault chocolate from the Cranberry-Chocolate Parfaits)
¼ cup toasted unsweetened coconut
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup unsalted pistachios
¼ tsp sea salt

Directions

Line a 9 x 12" baking sheet with parchment paper.

Met chocolate in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set on top of simmering water. It is incredibly important that you be careful with the water when melting the chocolate. One drop mixed in will cause the whole thing to seize up.

Pour onto baking sheet and spread into an even layer. Immediately sprinkle toppings over chocolate. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Peel off parchment, and break bark into pieces.

Dutch Baby Pancakes

I'm not a pancake person. I suppose at one point in my life I was, but then a childhood pancake related trauma turned me off of them.

It's a long story.

Okay, no, that's not true. It's a medium length one.

When I was living in St. John (I think I was about 6 or so for this incident), we had one car. My brother needed to go to kindergarten in town, my father worked in town and I went to school in our neighbourhood out in the suburbs. So, that meant we had to get up at hour zero dark stupid, pile into the car and drive Dad to work downtown. Then we'd drive back, I'd go to school and my mum would take my younger brother downtown for school.

Have I mentioned I've never been a morning person?

Anyway, to deal with the tricky problem of school mornings and breakfast, my father would cook huge batches of pancakes (usually blueberry) over the weekend and then freeze them individually. Said pancakes were then popped in the toaster (we're talking pre-microwave days) and handed to us kids to eat in the car.

We did this three times a week.

I have this very clear memory of sitting in the car one winter day, bundled up in my snowsuit, the heat barely working and being handed a pancake.

The toaster had burned the outside. It was frozen in the centre. It was my third one like that that week.

And I just snapped. No more pancakes. I couldn't stomach the thought of eating them again.

Even now, they arouse no joy in me... unless, of course, we're talking about a less traditional kind of pancake. Martha Stewart's Dutch Baby Pancake makes a semi-regular appearance (read: once every couple of months) in our weekend breakfast routines. I like to switch up the apples for pears, the cardamom for cinnamon, maple syrup (the real stuff, please) for the honey and throw in a little vanilla to the batter. Whatever you decide to do, it puffs up all golden and brown and tastes NOTHING like the burnt pancakes I used to have to eat in the car.

See?

 Have you been traumatized by a food from your childhood? Tell me I'm not the only one!

Martha Stewart's Dutch Baby Pancakes 

Ingredients

Serves 4.

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1/3 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Directions
 
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add butter. When melted, add apple wedges.

I leave the skin on for added nutrients. And it looks pretty.

Cook until softened and lightly golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in honey and cardamom, and remove skillet from heat. 

Golden and softened

In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients, except confectioners’ sugar, until smooth. Pour over apple mixture.

Mmm. Batter + Apples.

Bake until puffed and brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer pancake onto a serving platter by flipping out.

Serve immediately, cut into wedges, with confectioners’ sugar sifted over the top. And, might I recommend a side of bacon? Everything is better with bacon!

Breakfast of champions!