White snow, brown butter

What a winter! Growing up in Ottawa really teaches you to embrace the snow in Toronto. This snow has not slowed us down at all; Lily and I are as adventurous as ever with the outdoors.

During our winter promenades, we have witnessed some odd behaviour in our Toronto neighbours. I think they need a crash course in snowy winters.

Brushing the snow off ones vehicle is apparently limited to the windshield and the side windows. I see ridiculous cars with piles of snow on their hood and roof; perhaps they enjoy leaving a cloud of white behind them? Like a cartoon?

There are several neighbours that insist on using a broom to clear their walkways and driveways. Not the heavy duty brooms you might see a janitor use; the brooms you see witches ride. in movies. kid movies.

Even when I see a proper shovel being used, most of the time the snow is being shovelled directly onto the street. Yesterday, I wanted to tell a man that if he was going to shovel onto the road (which he shouldn't, but that's besides the point), he should at least shovel to his right and not his left. Everyone in Ottawa knows that the plow is just going to push it right back onto your driveway in the form of solid, icy, igloo chunks.

But it all just adds to the entertainment this snowy weather brings.

Lily is really loving this weather. When she isn't outside enjoying the brisk, fresh air, she stares longingly out the window.




For those who don't share Lily's enthusiasm of the cold outdoors, my suggestion to you is to go and brown some butter. That's right. Melt better in a pot, then keep warming until it gets golden brown and fragrantly caramelly and nutty.

My sister in law baked us up some delicious brown butter and sea salt chocolate chip cookies a few weeks back. They were so delicious I decided to try one of Joy's recipes from her new cookbook that I got for Christmas.

The cookbook is pretty great. Her blog is fantastic, but sometimes you just want to flip through a physical book. I have dog eared several recipes and this browned butter blueberry muffin recipe shot to the top of the list.

Look at that golden-brown butter. Delish.


As usual, I mixed it up a bit. I substituted 1/2 cup of all purpose flour with 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup of quick cook oats. I also used frozen blueberries. In her book, she recommends that if using frozen blueberries, you should thaw and drain the liquid. Who has time for that? I threw it in frozen and it turned out great (I never seem to mind the purple hue that engulfs the muffin when using frozen berries). I realize that fresh blueberries work best, but in the middle of winter, I prefer frozen Canadian blueberries (PC has a great product) over berries picked and flown in from Chile.

I also opted to skip the streusel topping, much to my husband's disappointment, but purely out of laziness, not concern for the size of my waist/hips/bottom/cheeks. Next time, I promise him some sugary, crumbly topping.


The muffins are quite magical -- even with my substitutions and instruction disobedience. The inside is light and fluffy, the outside crisp. And standing over the stove, browning the butter will warm any cold hands and windburned face. Promise.

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Ma! The meatloaf!

Lily is a pretty good eater, and it's amazing how much she consumes. It took me some time to figure out some good homemade food that she enjoys. For a while, I just couldn't figure out why she preferred the jarred green beans to homemade green beans. I borrowed books from the library, scoured the internet for recipes, and asked all of my friends what foods worked for their babies. I've been so consumed by making food for Lily that I have been neglecting my own meals. We've been getting by on throw-together meals that are still satisfying, but not very adventurous or blog-worthy.

Until now.

We made a quick stop at Costco on the weekend to pick up some essentials -- at least that was our intention. Why is it that a trip to Costco always ends up in $200 worth of random stuff? This time, included in the plethora of random stuff was Ina Garten's new cookbook: Barfoot Contessa Foolproof.

You likely already know about my crush on Ina Garten. I was in awe and deeply envious of Joy Wilson (from Joy the Baker) and her cookie swap hosted by Ina herself. My favourite go-to cookbook is Barefoot Contessa at Home and not just because it's the pink one. It was as if Ina knew I was in a culinary funk and needed a little inspiration. Her new "foolproof" cookbook looks great. I've already dog-eared several recipes to try, including marinated artichoke hearts, lamb shanks with orzo, amelia's jambalaya, and chocolate chunk blondies.

My brother's birthday was this week, so I used this as my opportunity to debut a recipe from the book. Inspired by my brother's love for meat and ketchup, I bring you: 1770 House Meatloaf.

It was fantastic, but I must confess to my abundant ingredient substitutions... I nixed the chives and parsley and stuck to thyme, no panko breadcrumbs so just the regular variety, skim milk instead of whole, fennel instead of celery, and rather than the garlic sauce that is supposed to be what takes this recipe to a whole new level, I made a mushroom onion gravy.

I have a problem following recipes. I need help. I definitely plan to try the garlic gravy next time.


Nevertheless, the meatloaf turned out delicious. My brother even told me it didn't need ketchup, but proceded to add copious amounts to his plate anyway. Lily approved as well! I love when we make food that Lily can also enjoy.  She is a demanding girl, making noises, gestures, and faces to make you understand that she wants the meatloaf NOW. "Ma! The meatloaf!"

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Deleeecious quiches!

I'm going through a quiche phase. It may have started when my friend Magda made me a delicious chantrelle mushroom quiche for my birthday. It was my first chantrelle mushroom experience: delish.

Shortly after, I visited my friend Jess and her new baby girl Danika. I threw together a quick pie crust and made a quiche filling with whatever I had in my fridge. I think I used onions and mushrooms (maybe some cheese? I don't even remember.) Quiches are just so versatile.

This past Friday, I had a playdate at Magda's again and we had a gourmet lunch with two types of quiche, a green salad, a sweet potato salad, strawberry banana smoothies and apple butter cookies for dessert. That's what you get when 5 women come together for lunch!


Both quiches at the playdate were so delicious: spinach-mushroom-goat cheese and ham-red pepper-onion. I don't think I've had a quiche I didn't like. So much so that I decided to make a quiche with the can of smoked salmon pate that my mom gave me last year.

I honestly have no problems making a pie crust from scratch. It seems like it would be a hassle but I feel like it's less of a hassle than having a pie crust take up space in my freezer. I never have one on hand and whenever I take the time to make one, I find it was so easy I would do it again.

I decided to reward such domestic thinking with a new French rolling pin from Crate and Barrel. I paired it with a new deep pie dish with pretty ruffles. (Thanks to my brother and sister for the Yorkdale gift card for my birthday!) For some reason, an actual quiche dish (the one with the removable bottom) is very shallow. If I had to eat a shallow quiche for dinner I think I'd eat the whole darn thing. I like my quiches nice and deep: a higher filling-to-crust ratio and, let's be honest, more quiche fits on a plate... This ruffled pie dish was perfect.


These days I use Michael Smith's recipe for pie crusts but using the food processor. I think the last time I blogged about a quiche (wow, that was a long time ago) I used Ina's recipe which calls for both butter and shortening. Michael Smith's recipe has been just as flaky and tasty and lately I try to keep things simple.

Also, I think I've changed my mind on the idea of blind baking the pie crust first. Again, out of laziness and the need to get the quiche done before Lily wakes up from her nap, I've just poured the quiche filling straight into the unbaked pie crust (I always chill the crust while I'm assembling the filling), then straight into the oven. I think it turns out pretty great!

For this deeper dish, I used 6 eggs and 1.5 cups of milk, whisked in the smoked salmon pate, added some chopped green onions, and blanched broccoli.

I love eating quiches with an arugula salad. I find the peppery leaf cuts the richness of the quiche really well, but any leafy salad with a nice tangy dressing would go great.


While the quiche was baking in the oven, my dear friend Rebecca called me from Ireland. "Write more blog posts!" she begged. So instead of watching another episode of Top Chef Masters, here you have another blog post in less than a week!

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Pickled peppers, train trips, nursing strikes and more!

Inspired by Barney's one-minute recap of his relationship with Robin, I have decided to do a speed recap to update you all on the goings on in the Dunwell house!

Ready? *big breath*

We went raspberry picking with Emily and Lucas. Also got some hot peppers. Used Michael Symon's method/recipe to pickle them. mmmm. Highly recommended.

We rented a cottage in the 1000 islands and went on our first vacation with Lily. Lily played on the dock. She didn't fall in the gross green water, but Mackenzie did -- 4 times.



Lily is getting bigger, loving her solid foods, has two bottom teeth and a couple more cutting through on the top. She still doesn't like being on her tummy. It is unlikely she will learn to crawl.




She took her first train trip to Ottawa where she caught her first cold. *sniff* (Literally.)

A week ago, Lily went on a nursing strike. I cried a lot. She cried a lot. We forced her to drink milk from a sippy cup. The strike finally ended yesterday. Phew. 6-day strike. Not fun. Probably one of the hardest things I've ever gone through.

Dustin started his first job last week. 12 years of university. Big milestone. Next on the list: new car. Our poor '95 Corolla deserves a retirement.

Dustin is on a purge. He tried to donate my rollerblades to Goodwill. I fought to keep them. I won. He tried to donate my wedding dress. I fought to keep it. He won. Hopefully it helps raise some money for cancer research.

My goals for the next month: sew some fall/winter gear for Lily, finish a quilt, go to the theatre to watch Pitch Perfect, celebrate our 5 year anniversary (I know! 5 years! crazy!), bake a pie, eat a pie, and maybe I should really get started on finding Lily a daycare...

*exhale*

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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Pistachio pound cake

What happened to the pistachio when he walked down the dark alley?

He was a-salted.

He would have preferred being baked into a delicious, dense, crumby pound cake.

Molly Wizenberg shared a recipe a couple months ago starring the pistachio, with supporting roles from the orange, lemon, and lime. A pistachio pound cake with bright citrus notes, rich dense crumby cake topped with crunchy nuts.


I made it for a friend's birthday in April and recently repeated it to bring home to my parents on the weekend of my brother's wedding.

The recipe calls for zest from orange and lime, and juice from orange and lemon. I think that's a little silly. I just went with whatever citrus fruit I had, and used the zest and juice from the same fruit. The first time I only used lemon, the second time I used lime and orange. Both were fantastic.


When I showed up in Ottawa and presented my mother with the pound cake, she immediately told me that she was not going to share it at the post-wedding brunch on Sunday. She put it in the freezer and planned to save it for her and my dad to savour and enjoy after all the hoopla of the wedding was over. She hadn't even tasted it and knew it was good. It's rare that a pound cake isn't fantastic, what with all the butter, sugar, and eggs.

I'm not sure if they've cracked into it yet, but the one that I ate was divine. Since pound cakes take so long to bake, I like to make two smaller loaves and cut the bake time slightly; it makes it easier to share when you get one to yourself as well!

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Two Thirds of an Angel Food Cake

You can buy cartons of egg whites at the store, but you can't buy egg yolks. Whatever the reason, it is quite unfortunate since I often find myself in an "egg white" dilemma. I tend to make foods that use only the egg yolks and I'm at a loss for what to do with the whites.

I fool myself into thinking I will use the reserved egg whites soon to make an omelet, only to have them sit in the fridge for questionably too long (even for me) and I end up throwing them out. Sure, there are always the crispy-chewy meringue recipes that use egg whites, but then I have to bake them for hours and hours. And regular fluffy meringue just doesn't do anything for me: the tart or pie or baked-Alaska was just fine without the meringue layer.

My favourite egg white usage is probably Angel Food Cake. The problem is, it usually calls for a ridiculous 10 or 12 egg whites.

Fortunately, Alton Brown has a recipe, and as always, his incredibly scientific recipes are written with both volume and weight measurements. The recipe calls for 12 egg whites. For 4 egg whites, I can easily divide the recipe by 3 and make a third of an angel food cake; for 6 egg whites, half of a cake; for 8 egg whites, two thirds of a cake. You get the picture.

Dustin's birthday was last week. Although busy and tired with our beautiful newborn, Dustin agreed to watch her for a few extra hours the day before his birthday so I could prepare food for a birthday brunch with a bunch of our friends and their kids.

The brunch menu consisted of all make-ahead food: crepes with fruit and yogurt, low fat blueberry muffins, and my favourite brunch item: Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls. They are made the day before, stored in the fridge until the next morning, then proofed and baked so they are fresh. They are fantastic. Stop what you are doing and go make some. Now.

Oh. Right. Back to the egg whites. The (fantastic) cinnamon bun recipe calls for 4 egg yolks. I doubled the recipe, and was therefore left with 8 egg whites. Time to make a two thirds of a cake!

I love angel food cake. Sugary, light and fluffy, fat-free. Perfect for breakfast, snack, or dessert. For this two thirds of a cake, I decided to grate some lime zest into it. Alton has a version with cloves and cinnamon. Ina has a recipe with grated chocolate. Possibilities are endless. Just gently fold the flavouring into the light fluffy batter!

Here is the recipe in weight, rather than volume. If you don't have a scale, then shame on you. Pick one up at Canadian Tire for $10 and open up your cookbook library to great British recipes!

One third of an Angel Food Cake (adapted from Alton Brown's book, I'm Just Here for More Food)

NOTE: This recipe has been scaled to use 4 egg whites and will make one third of a cake. 12 egg whites make a full sized cake in a regular sized tube pan.


131g sugar
pinch of salt
43g sifted cake flour

4 large egg whites (120g) at room temperature
28g warm water
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the salt and cake flour with half of the sugar and set aside. If you are adding any additional flavourings (spices or grated zest) combine into the flour mixture.

Using the whisk attachment on an electric mixer, beat the egg whites, water, and cream of tartar until opaque. Slowly sift in the remaining sugar and beat until you get medium to stiff peaks.

Sift in enough of the flour mixture to dust the top of the foam. Fold in gently using a spatula. Repeat until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

Carefully spoon the mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 15 - 20 mins for this 1/3 size cake, 25 minutes for 2/3 of a cake (8 egg whites) and 35 minutes for a full sized cake (12 egg whites). Check for doneness with a toothpick (or an uncooked spaghetti noodle).

Cool upside down on a cooling rack for an hour before removing from the pan.

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Roasted Fennel and Tomato: two ways

Before Lily was born, I had bought a bulb of fennel from the grocery store hoping to whip up a delicious fennel salad. It's honestly one of my favourite salads. Thinly sliced fennel with olive oil, salt and pepper. Simple. Delicious.

But Lily was born early. And my mom came to visit shortly after. And Mom doesn't approve of eating too many raw veggies. It sounds ridiculous, but it's a very common practice in traditional Chinese medicine. I actually googled this to be sure, and found this article that supports all the craziness my mom has been teaching us all these years. It's all about energy, and finding a balance between the cold and the hot energies.  The optimal state is different from person to person, but my mother likes to err on the side of keeping oneself on the 'warm' side. Raw vegetables contribute to the cold energies, and while we're in the middle of winter, and I've just gone through a gruelling childbirth, 'cold energy' is the last thing I need.

And so, with my mother's kind reminders to stay away from raw vegetables and icy cold water, I decided to forgo the raw fennel salad.

My next favourite fennel recipe comes from another fantastic Avoca cookbook: Avoca Soups (again, courtesy of my friend Rebecca!)

There is a roasted fennel and tomato soup recipe that is so easy, and so delicious. Roasted fennel + sauteed onions + 1 can of diced tomatoes + chicken or vegetable stock. Simmered together and blended until smooth. I love making it early in the day so we can have the soup for lunch, and then use it as a delicious sauce for dinner.




I've used it as a quick pasta sauce, but this time, I used it for my cabbage rolls. Cabbage rolls freeze really well, so I always make extra rolls that are fully cooked and store them in the freezer. I slightly defrosted a serving and then added the rest of the leftover roasted fennel and tomato soup. I also added about an extra cup of chicken stock so the sauce wouldn't thicken or dry up too much.



After 40 minutes of simmering on the stove, the cabbage rolls were deliciously soft and absorbed some of the fantastic fennel and tomato flavour. I love when one recipe does double duty! And I bet my mom is proud that I didn't just chop up the fennel and eat it raw.

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Yummy Yogurt

Today I am 37 weeks pregnant! Full term. and very large. I feel like I'm in the last leg of a marathon (not that I've run a marathon... perhaps it feels like the last 3 hours of our Garabaldi Mountain hike...)

During my pregnancy, I've been trying to eat lots of yogurt. It's supposed to be a great thing to eat when pregnant (calcium for growing bones, bacteria for digestion, the fact that it's not chips...)

I don't tend to get flavoured yogurt because I find it too sweet. If I buy the kind that is "fruit on the bottom" I'll purposely leave some of the fruit at the bottom. I also never buy the fat free stuff because it's thickened with corn starch... And that's weird to me. My preferred yogurt is just plain 2% yogurt.

My favourite way to eat it is with a spoonful of maple syrup, or a dollop of delicious jam.

For Christmas, my brother and his fiancée bought me an AMAZING local jam from Ottawa. The brand is michaelsdolce and they pride themselves on using local ingredients for maximum flavour. The lime and kiwi flavour I got was divine.

Besides eating yogurt as a healthy snack, I think it's fabulous in baking. Here are some of my favourite recipes:

1. Ina's Lemon Yogurt Cake. The last time I made it, I baked it into a layered cake with lemon curd filling and vanilla buttercream icing.




2. Janet and Greta's CopaBanana Cake. I make this recipe all the time, substituting the low fat sour cream for yogurt. Whenever I want to make up my own banana cake/muffin recipe (like when I made the red fife blueberry banana muffins), I always start with this recipe and adjust from there.



3. Most recently I made a carrot pound cake. I found a recipe that called for sour cream and then adjusted for yogurt. It's amazing how tic-tac orange the batter becomes. Quite bright and cheerful for a bitter cold January.




Carrot cakes always tend to be quite moist; this one is especially so because of the yogurt. The recipe makes two small loaves but I saved some of the batter to make some mini cupcakes, sprinkling them with cinnamon and sugar. Usually I will take cakes out of the oven as soon as an inserted skewer comes out clean. For this recipe, I would make sure the edges and top are a nice golden brown, which is several (maybe even 10 mins) after the skewer comes out clean. About 60 minutes total.

Enjoy!!!

Carrot Yogurt Pound Cake

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

6 eggs

1 cup yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

½ teaspoon each baking powder, baking soda, and salt

3 cups shredded carrots


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
4. Add eggs to butter sugar mixture one at a time, beating after each addition.
5. Add yogurt and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
6. With mixer on low, add flour mixture 1/3 at a time.
7. Add carrots and mix until just blended.
8. Fill two small loaf pans that have been lined with parchment paper.
9. Bake for 60 minutes or until skewer comes out clean and the top is a nice golden brown.

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Kensington sweethearts

Jenn was my Kengsington sweetheart yesterday as we perused Toronto's Kensington market in search of desserts and other baked goods to satisfy our sweet-tooth.

I never used to be big on sweets. I always preferred a bowl of chips over a double chocolate brownie with double churned French vanilla ice cream. But this pregnancy has definitely heightened my sugar cravings. I will actually pass on the calamari appetizer to try and save room for some dessert now.

Jenn and I created our own little tour of dessert stops in the Kensington Market, sneaking in a little savoury refreshment here and there.

It's amazing how quickly we filled up on baked goods.

We started at the Moonbeam Coffee Company and started with a savoury light and flaky spinach and feta pastry called a boreka, coffee and mini chocolate croissant to finish.  All of their pastries looked divine, and there was that lovely homey Kensington Market feel that made me wish I lived nearby.

Our second stop was probably my favourite. Much smaller than Moonbeam Coffee Company, Miss Cora's Kitchen was filled with baked goods made from local market ingredients. There were options for any vegan, gluten-free, or all-the-works patron; we definitely had trouble narrowing down our choice selections for this leg of our sweets tour. Although Miss Cora was not present that day, Miss Carmel made some suggestions and we settled on a flourless chocolate cupcake, a vegan peanut butter cupcake, and my favourite: a jam-filled strawberry cupcake.  All fantastic.

Stop number three was at Panchos Bakery where we, naturally, ordered churros and hot chocolate. The churros were a little heavier than expected, perhaps even a little bland although covered in sugar. I would recommend asking for extra caramel sauce.

We made a quick stop at the Chocolate Addict and chose 6 truffles to bring with us to our last stop: Krepesz.  The Chocolate Addict is a tiny shop with a decent selection of truffle flavours. We settled on (clockwise from top left) jasmine, green tea, pomegranate, caramel sea salt, chili, and chai.  The chocolates were delicious, but I'm not sure if it was my tired palate or perhaps my under-appreciation for simple chocolate bonbons, I didn't think the chocolates were anything extraordinary.

Krepesz was our last stop.  The sit-down area was quite a bit more upscale than the average Kensington Market venue, so it was nice way to end the afternoon.  Krepesz is a Hungarian crepe shop; they also have on their menu a "chimney cake" that looked rather interesting. The afternoon of sweets (and the heavy churro) left us with little appetite, but we decided to share a savoury crepe filled with spinach, tomatoes and feta. A friend joined us and ordered a strawberry and nutella crepe. The crepe itself was delightfully light (thank goodness.)  I would definitely return and order one of the heavier dessert crepes next time (and save room for a chimney cake).

Our tour of sweet shops in Kensington Market was great. We knew there were official tours you could sign up to take with a group of people and an official guide, but doing it ourselves, and in a small party of 2, let us go at our own pace and not feel rushed (or too cramped.) I'm not sure if my sweet-tooth will remain after my pregnancy, so the timing for this sugary adventure was perfect.

I hope you've enjoyed the vicarious sweets tour of Kensington Market. Let me know if you have any Kensington Market sweet secrets you'd like to share!

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