A quick green side for spring - Asparagus, Snap Pea, New Potato & Fiddlehead Sauteé.  Serve warm or cold, a simple medley of spring produce.  

A prepare ahead item for brunch, it's perfect along side an omelette for Mother's Day or in the evening fresh piece of fish, prepared very simply with just a bit of butter and lemon.  Quickly blanch asparagus and snap peas in boiling salted water until they're bright green, about 2 minutes.   Then remove immediately from the boiling water and put them straight into an ice water bath.

The fiddleheads require a longer cooking time to remove all impurities.  Boil for ten minutes, strain and again chill the hot fiddleheads in cold, clean water.  This removes tannins and bitterness and some people get upset stomachs from fiddleheads so you're better safe than sick.  You can see by the colour of the water after cooking just a half dozen fiddleheads that this might be a good idea, though I regularly just stream them until they're bright green, about 5 minutes, rinse and serve.

Cook potatoes until just tender, about 12 minutes and chill them in the same manner.  Your cooked vegetables can stand at room temperature for a couple of hours if needed or then can pop them in the fridge until you're ready.

A drizzle of olive oil, a bit of crushed garlic and a quick sauteé  to warm them through over medium heat, season, add a touch of chive from the garden and serve.

Asparagus, Snap Pea, New Potato & Fiddlehead Sauteé, a light, bright green taste of spring.  Good food doesn't have to be complicated.  

Believe it or not, we don't photograph every single item that comes out of the kitchen.  Case in point, the Devil's Food Salted Caramel Cupcakes we whipped up a week ago for a certain three year old's birthday.  Something I regret, because they were so good we had offers of indentured servitude in exchange for more.  But I can still give you the recipe!

A joint project with the man in my life, Chef B, I baked the cupcakes (a moist Devil's Food compliments of David Lebovitz) and he filled the center with a gooey salted caramel, a swirl of chocolate icing, some edible copper and gold, pop-rock sugar and the smiling face of Chocolate Fishes.  Moist, chocolaty rich, a gooey, salted center and rich creamy icing with the pop and fizzle of sugar and, so simple.

I'll be honest, we used a jar of salted caramel we had on hand from a local bakery, but it's not a complicated thing to make.  I've included a recipe from the blog Lick My Spoon because her photos are detailed and if you've never made caramel before she makes it easy to follow.  I love salted caramel sauce, drizzle it over ice cream, dip apples in it, toss it with some hot popcorn or...  just eat it by the spoonful.

To add filling to the center of a cupcake:  take a sharp pairing knife and cut a 'plug' from the center, top of the cake, about one inch wide and one inch deep.  Gently remove the cutaway cake with the knife and add spoon in the filling of your choice, adding about 1 teaspoon to the center of the cake.  Cut the bottom half of the cake plug off (eat the leftovers) and then replace it on top of your cupcake and cover the seam with a swirl of icing.

A huge hit with adults & kids alike.

Devil’s Food Cake Recipe - Source David Lebovitz

12 cupcakes (or one 9 inch cake)

9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup strong coffee (or water)
½ cup milk

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350* F, be sure rack is in the center of the oven.  Line muffin pan(s) with paper liners (x12 cupcakes).

3.  Add dry ingredients; cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in a medium bowl and whisk lightly to combine.

4.  In a separate bowl beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, using an electric mixer.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.

5.  In a small bowl, combine coffee and milk.  Add about half of dry ingredients into the butter mixture, add the coffee and milk, add the other half of the dry ingredients and mix, at medium speed until JUST blended.  (about 2 minutes)  If still lumpy, fold by hand, over-mixing your batter will make cakes tough, so a light hand is always preferred.

6.  Divide batter into prepared cupcake papers/muffing tin and bake for 12 - 15 minutes.  Lick bowl.  Allow to cool completely before filling and frosting.

Note:  I was low on butter for this recipe, which proved not the be the end of the world, I used the 1/4 cup I had and substituted a good quality avocado oil for the other 1/4 cup of fat.  This gave the batter a high gloss and the cupcakes a light sheen on the surface.  No one noticed a taste difference, I was pretty happy with the results.

Salted Caramel Sauce - Source: Lick My Spoon

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (Maldon sea salt flakes or fleur de sel)

Method:

1.   In large, heavy bottomed saucepan combine sugar and water over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves, but stopping as soon as it comes to a boil.  At this point you can swirl the boiling syrup in the pan, but don't stir, continue over heat.

2.  As you hold the pan over the heat at a boil, the liquid sugar will quickly begin to colour, turning golden and then to a dark amber, then add your butter, all at once.  The cold butter will cause the hot sugar to foam (if it bubbles too high, remove it briefly from the heat and return). Whisk in your butter until it is completely melted, thickened slightly and emulsified with the syrup, then remove your pan from the heat.
3.  Off the heat, add cream to the hot sugar/butter mixture, (once again, adding cold cream to the hot sugar, you will see it foam up, be cautious not to spill any on your skin) and continue to whisk until smooth.

4.  Whisk in salt until melted and caramel is a loose, creamy sauce, it will thicken further as it cools.

Store Salted Caramel in a sterilized glass jar in the fridge for up to two weeks (ya, right like it lasts that long!) warm to room temperature for most applications, or gently heat to pour over ice cream etc.  To fill the cupcakes, we used our caramel straight out of the refrigerator, because we find it easier to handle in drops and blobs when it's cold.

Chocolate Frosting Recipe

2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1.  In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk.  Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.  If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

Bake, cool.  Sauce, cool.  Fill.  Frost.  Then finish with something fun... like edible gold, copper, pop-rock sugar and (of course) Chocolate Fishes.  Beware the ensuing sugar high.  

Inspired by the delicious crisps of Raincoast fame, a few tasty items from the pantry and I created my very own variety, I give you... Fig Walnut Thyme Crisps.

I bloody love Lesely Stowe's Raincoast Crisps, must go through a sleeve of them every week.  For breakfast with almond butter, for lunch with butternut squash soup, a little appetizer with a chunk of cheese before dinner, and with spoonfuls of Nutella during  late night feeding frenzies.

Last week as i was about to put my weekly supply in the cart I figured "how hard can these be?!"  Come on, it's just a loaf, sliced and then re-baked like a biscotti.  Easy right?  As it turns out, yea, they're a cinch.

The basic recipe for Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps  I borrowed from fellow Canadian Food Blogger Julie Van Rosendaal,  who publishes Dinner with Julie.  It's a recipe that's widely available, but instead of rosemary, raisins and pecans I used figs, walnuts and thyme.

Try your own version, think savory and sweet, avoid anything with added fat (I.e: cheese), or moisture (like fresh fruit).  You want a nice dense, dry loaf to start, then let it cool or chill it in the freezer, slice it super thin and there you go, you're makin' crisps.

On my first try I didn't cut mine thin enough.  The reason you slice them so thin, I've discovered, is so you don't damage your dental work.  Good news --- I am now forced to consume these and try again.  The canine & I shall remove all the tartar from our teeth with this batch.   Have the second loaf  in the freezer, we'll whip those up this weekend, sliced THIN and update you.I really like the loaf itself I must say, pre-slice and re-bake, it's super tasty, a hint of sweetness against  the seeds & nuts.

Think YUMmmmm.

Fig Walnut Thyme Crisps Recipe

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2  teaspoons  salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 cup dried figs, chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup  flax seeds
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup flax seed, ground
1 tabelspoon chopped fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Method:

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add buttermilk, brown sugar and honey and stir to mix, don;t beat, just stir.  Add the figs, walnuts, flax seed, ground flax, pine nuts and rosemary and fold until blended.

Spray two 8”x4” loaf pans with nonstick spray and pour batter, to about 1/2 an inch from the lip of the pan.  Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch.  Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack.

The cooler the bread, the easier it is to slice really thin. You can leave it until the next day or pop it in the freezer.  Slice the loaves as thin as you can and place the slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Reduce the oven heat to 300° F and bake them for about 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes, until crisp and deep golden. Try not to eat them all at once.

Makes about 8 dozen crackers when you slice them nice and thin.

Sliced a little too thick... The next loaf I'll slice about half this thickness.

Easter at Chez Gypsy, by Chef B: green salad topped with seared duck breast, truffled potatoes & mushrooms, sometimes it's the simplest of meals that make the most memorable moments.

It's often just the two of us for dinner, the adorable three year old in our lives has a limited (but expanding) palate and we frequently entertain but largely it's meals for two, in His kitchen or My kitchen.  Coming from different cultures and creating a new life together, we often discuss family traditions and holiday memories, keeping what works and setting the rest aside, creating our own (new) traditions.

My West Coast Canadian roots and lack of structured religion in my nuclear family made for very simple Easter celebrations, long on ham and chocolate and short on piety and sermons.  Hors d'oeuvres consisted of deviled eggs, a by-product of childhood art projects, made with store bought white eggs.  Mom often indulged us with a batch of Hot Cross Buns and Dad thrilled to lead the hunt for Easter treats complete with treasure maps, compasses and clues.  This is the Easter I know.

The Chef in my life grew up just outside Dijon, in Burgundy, France (yes, the place where they make the mustard).  This Easter he called home, aligning family members for the weekly Skype chat and caught them napping, at 3PM (French time) after a big Easter lunch.  Later that evening, while he chopped mushrooms and par-boiled potatoes, I asked what an Easter meal in Burgundy might entail.

The correct term for what you see here is Duck Magret, not Duck Breast. The Magret is from the Mulard duck, which is force fed, thus the creamy fat.

"To start we would usually have rabbit, cold... like in a terrine.  We don't have the Easter Bunny in France and so there's no attachment to rabbits, it's just another meat" Chef B says as he quickly scores the fatty side of the duck breast with a sharp knife, in a criss-cross pattern  and places it fat side down in a oven-friendly pan over medium high heat.  While the fat sizzles on the back burner, he removes the potatoes after about 3 minutes at a boil, runs them under cold water, then drains them on paper towel and sets them aside.

The duck fat begins to colour, he flips it over, drenching the lean meat in the fat to ensure it keeps it's moisture and seals in all those beautiful juices.   This takes only a couple of minutes then he turns it back over, fatty side down, and pops it into a 425* oven for about 12 minutes, turning back to his mise en place, his wine, and his story.

"There would be another cold course, usually fish.  When my Grandmother [Chef Georgette] was alive, we would poach a whole salmon, and it would be served with cold langoustines, homemade mayonnaise, and perhaps another seafood."  He coursely chops some mushrooms, a shallots or two, a clove of garlic, a bit of parsley and produces the last of the Porcini Black Truffle Pate from the fridge.

He opens another bottle of wine, and adds "then there's the hot appetizer..."   He removes the duck from the oven, turns it fat side up, again drenching the meat in the duck fat before setting it to rest, fat side down, off the heat (for about 15 minutes).

Of course, he kept the precious duck fat, he is after all, French.

The now cool, dry, half-cooked potatoes get tossed into the waiting, hot duck fat, seasoned and the pan returned to the 425* oven for about 10 minutes.  Chef B turns to the plates, now set on the table and lays a bed of dry Romain leaves across and grabs he new favorite sun-dried tomato vinaigrette.

He continues, "the hot appetizer would be served in a puff pastry shells, probably sweetbreads, escargots and rooster combs cooked in a cream sauce, like a stew."   Rooster combs?  Yes, the red, floppy thing on the top of the head of the rooster, he says they're delicious.  (It's a French thing.)

The potatoes emerge from the oven, a generous portion of the clear duck fat is removed and then the pan in returned to the top of the stove on medium heat and in go the mushrooms for a toss and a sizzle.

"The main course is usually roasted poultry, sometimes goose or duck but usually capon [a castrated rooster]..."  he says, seasoning the pan with a liberal twist of pepper and reserved dash of salt, as shallots and the thinly sliced garlic join the medley "...and a salad."

He waves the aroma of the dish towards him, breathing deeply, an appreciative gesture; after 25 years in the kitchen his nose is as usful as his palate in the flavouring of dishes.  He pokes at a potato with a knife, checking its doneness, and after turning the duck breast in the remaining fat one last time, he returns it to the oven at 425* for about 5 minutes to warm through.

"The last course would be cheese, followed by spirits to aid the digestion" he concludes, taking the last tablespoon of the precious Porcini Black Truffle Pate and swirling it with a splash of water in the jar, adding that slurry to the now full pan, with a generous pinch of parsley.

The duck is removed from the oven to the cutting board, where it's sliced.  He drizzles a touch of the tomato vinaigrette on the waiting lettuce and spoons the loose, fragrant truffled potatoes and mushrooms over top, then tops the whole works with the warm, rare duck.  Voila, Seared Duck Breast, Truffled Potatoes & Mushrooms --- the combination is cold and hot, earthy and savory, tangy and slightly gamy.

He tops his glass, and mine, and sits down grinning to see my somewhat gobsmacked expression across the table "what?!" he asks, as if defending the culinary obsession of hundreds of years of French history.  "YOU DON'T HAVE THE EASTER BUNNY IN FRANCE?!"  I said.

I am, forever, five years old.

A simple pasta soft, unripened cheese, lots of healthy grilled vegetables, a hint of garlic scape and a blast of balsamic reduction serve hot or cold, as a starter or a main for lunch or dinner.  Easy, fast and healthy it's the prefect meal as temperatures rise and the desire for all things growing takes over.

I'm pushing the seasons a bit, but I just can't help myself.  I can't shop without filling the cart in the produce isle right now.  If it's alive, and from the garden I want to eat it.  In the barbecue season, I grill huge platters of vegetables and stash them for the week.  If it can be cut and cooked, it can be grilled.  

In this bowl: grilled asparagus, peppers, zucchini, porcini mushrooms, yellow onions, green onions, celery and fennel all lightly brushed with olive oil, seasoned with salt & pepper make perfect base for some great meals.  

Keeping things simple, the favours of the garden shine through.  I used a little garlic scape paste, which you may recall from last summer.  I keep it in the fridge for the late winter/early spring when garlic gets punky and soft.  It's got a bright, fresh flavour without the garlic heat, but a clove of crushed garlic totally works.

Another warm weather must have: balsamic reduction.  As simple as taking balsamic vinegar and allowing it to simmer until it's thick (and the whole house smells of vinegar).  I keep it in a squeeze bottle for a drizzle over salads, pastas, fish & antipasto.  Then this pasta comes together as easy as one, two, three... four.

Grilled Vegetable Pasta with Bocconcini & Balsamic Reduction

One:  Grill and chop your vegetables.  Brush with the oil of your choice, keep your heat moderate, you want to grill them, not incinerate them.  Chop when cool.

Two:  Cook your pasta.  Any pasta, any shape, any style.

Three:  Toss cooked pasta with olive oil, garlic paste, salt & pepper over medium-low heat.  Warm gently.

Four:  Plate.  Finish with fresh cut bocconcini and drizzle with balsamic reduction and serve.

Live, Love, Eat... WELL!

Cookies for breakfast? Relax Mom, they're vegan, wheat-free, low sugar, low fat, Granola Breakfast Cookies.  But nobody needs to know they're healthy!

In my years in the kitchen at Nova Scotia's Dragonfly Inn, breakfast cookies became a popular item with guests.  Big on grains, dried fruit and nuts, they're packed with nutrition, unfortunately they're also packed with fat, sugar and gluten.  This week I looked at a way to update that recipe and make it more belly friendly to all the foodie special interest groups.

Found a recipe very similar to mine with a few little differences:  the fat is olive oil instead of butter, the glue is apple sauce instead of eggs, the flour is spelt instead of wheat, they're not gluten-free, but certainly wheat-free if you're watching your grains.

I love to bake with olive oil, it's fruity flavor adds an extra dimension to baked goods, and dam if it isn't good for you.

In this recipe I've used rolled barley as well as steel cut oats, because I wanted that full-on granola taste and a bump in nutrition (barley is a good source of iron) but you can substitute one for the other without consequence.  Use whatever dried fruit you happen to have or toss in chocolate chips or carob bits instead.

Consume without guilt, while wearing Birkenstocks and wool socks.

Granola Breakfast Cookies Recipe

(adapted from Vegan Baking Mama)

Prep time 15 minutes
Baking time: 25 minutes
Makes 12 - 16 cookies

2 tablespoons raw almonds, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup of rolled barley
2 tablespoons flax seeds
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (kosher) salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup olive oil
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
2 tablespoons dried apricots, chopped
2 tablespoons dried pear, chopped

Preheat the oven to 325*F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat mat.

Method:

1. On a parchment lined cookie sheet, toast almonds, sesame seeds, coconut & sunflower seeds in the pre-heated oven for about 5 minutes, watch for coconut to be lightly brown. (Toasting is not imperative, but it gives the cookie some added crunch, and yumminess.)
2. In a medium bowl blend together spelt flour, oats, barley, flax, baking soda, baking powder & cinnamon with a spoon or spatula.
3. Create well in center of dry ingredients, add sugar, olive oil, apple sauce and vanilla, mix with spatula until well blended.  Fold in the toasted ingredients, along with dried fruit.
4. Scoop dough with a tablespoon to form uniform mounds on prepared sheet, about 2 inches apart.  If the cookies look too high, use a wet finger and gently press them down to form flat disks.  Bake at 325*F for 12-15 minutes or until golden and crisp around the edges.
5. Place tray on cooling rack and allow cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes. (These cookies are very moist, moving them before they've cooled will cause breakage, and you'll be forced to eat them.)  Once cool and firm, shift cookies off the sheet onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Keep your Granola Breakfast Cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days.  IF you have leftovers, they freeze beautifully for lunches and on-the-go snacks.

Did I mention they're good for you?! For the hippy in you from the hippy in me. Peace out.

Braised Pork Belly, Roasted Beets, Parsnip Mash and Green Beans, a late winter's meal, low and slow and comforting, because slow food is good food.  As the last of the winter storms blew though, bringing with it a wall of snow and freezing temperatures; I dug to the  back for the freezer for a succulent price of pork belly to be the star of a cold weather menu.

You usually find pork belly in you butcher's cooler brined, cured, smoked or maple rubbed then sliced and called 'bacon'.   The raw product is no less succulent and sweet.  This is a cut that requires long, slow cooking so you're going to want to give it some time.  When you find pork belly, it will most likely still have the skin/rind attached.  You can cook it with the skin on allowing it to crisp, brown and turn into crackling, or you can remove the rind prior to cooking and work with just the meaty bit.

I had in mind a very simple meal; melt in your mouth tender pork,  highlighted by the simplest of ingredients.  So with my deboning knife (because it's thin and stupid sharp) I gently separated the skin from the fat.  First score a line all the way around the cut, just under the skin, as a guide.  Then starting at one corner, peel the skin back cutting away the fat as you go.  Then take that very sharp knife and score the fat on top, running the knife through it about 1/4 inch deep, on a diagonal in both directions, creating  tiny diamond shapes.

Scoring accomplishes two things, it helps to create a surface that will hold a rub well and it opens the fat to help more of it render off.  We want all the flavour, but not all the fat.

The rub in question was a very simple combination:  salt, pepper, thyme and dry mustard.  I love the way mustard and thyme combine to support a meat, they don't overpower, they're background flavours that compliment rather than contrast.

That rub was pressed into the well dried meat, then left to stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes.  I often let a rub stand for a while before I cook, this helps it to adhear a bit.   In the case of pork belly you want to sear that top layer of fat very rendering as much fast as you can and creating a sealed surface.  I used my favorite cast-iron pan, over a medium heat so as not to scorch the seasoning.

Once the pork belly was well seared on all sides, remove the meat and reserve and removed the pan from the heat.   Pour off any excess fat and add a layer of onions and apples to the bottom of the pan.  This adds a level of flavor, and it helps to keep the meat from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Returning the meat to the pan on top of the garniture, add liquid;  half water and half apple juice, up to about 1/2 inch deep, then bring it to a low simmer over medium heat and cover the whole works with tinfoil and put it on the back burner on low for about 2 hours.

While the pork belly cooks, roast up some heritage beets for about an hour, with a little bit of olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of water.  This way the skin, which is generally quite bitter, took on a sweeter taste.  Some I peeled, some I left with the skin on - this was a plating choice.

Heritage beets are not the dark  purple-red associated with beets, they range from amber to red and some have a variegated flesh, so they make a colourful, bright side dish

Pork belly bubbling away on the back of the stove, beets roasting in the oven; time to mashed us some parsnips.  Nothing complicated, peel, boil until tender and mash with a bit of butter and some light cream or milk just like you would potatoes.

Mashed sides are so easy to prep ahead of time, cover then re-heat, all they need is a little moisture and voila, fresh and fast.

As the pork belly cooks be sure to checked the moisture level and test the cut for doneness.  How do you know when it's cooked?  When you're able to pierce it with a knife and there is no resistance -  it's done.  Then remove it from the pan, cover and reserve warm while you make a little sauce.

Do you really need a sauce with pork belly?  No, this is a beautiful piece of meat and it can easily stand alone, but why waste all that nice suc (brownings) at the bottom of the pan?!  It's our pork flavoured goodness, it just needs a little finesse is all.

First scrape the pan and reserve the drippings and reaming garniture in a bowl, pouring off any excess fat.  Deglaze the pan with a generous pour of sherry then add up to a cup of chicken stock.  Take a strainer and press the cooked mushy onions and apples through with the back of a spoon, and gently scrape off the pulp right into the sauce.  Reduce, season and then add a tablespoon or so of Dijon mustard to echo the mustard in the rub.

Something tells me that this will be the last heavy, winter cuz' it sure looks like spring, Baby!  Get ready to go GREEN.

Braised Pork Belly, Roasted Beets & Parsnip Mash - Recipe

Prep Time: 45 Minutes
Cooking time: about 2 1/2 hours

1 pound chunk of pork belly
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried mustard
1/2 teaspoon of both salt & pepper
1 onion, sliced thick
1/2 a granny smith apple, sliced thick
1 cup apple juice
generous splash of sherry
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 pound beets
oil for cooking

1 pound parsnips, peeled course chopped
3 tablespoons of light cream
1 tablespoon butter
salt & pepper to taste

Method:

Pork Belly: Remove rind from pork belly, score top fat layer.  Mix dry spices for meat rub.  Dry meat well with paper towel, rub spice rub all over meat and sear over medium heat.

Remove meat from pan, arrange layer of onions and apples on bottom of pan and return meat, on top of apples & onions.  Add apple juice and enough water to cover bottom garniture completely.  Bring liquid to simmer and reduce heat to low covering pan tightly with tinfoil.   Cook, on very low heat for about 2 hours, checking periodically to add more liquid as needed.

Check for doneness.  When cooked to tender, remove meat from heat and reserve warm.  De-grease pan, remove remaining onions & apples and any loose brown bits.  Deglaze pan with a splash of sherry then add chicken stock.  Pass the pulp of the garniture though a sive and directly into the sauce, then reduce.  Add Dijon and whisk, season as needed.

Roasted Beets:  Trim & wash beets well, toss with olive oil.  Roast in dutch oven (or wrap in an envelope of double thick tinfoil) with about 1/4 cup pf water and place in a 375*F for about an hour.  Remove beets, peel when cool and reserve warm.

Mashed Parsnips:  Peel, cut boil until tender and mash with a bit of butter and some light cream.

Seriously, I think you can handle the beans on your own.

In this plating, we've used the parsnip mash as a base, it cradles the pork belly and balances beets and beans and is plated first.  The sauce is a foil to the colour and is plated second, everything else then works off of that structure.

It's fun to play with your food.

Plating compliments of Chef B who arrived home just in time... for dinner.

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, here's a little taste of Ireland, straight from a storied medieval castle on the rugged western shores:  Char Grilled Scallops with Crisp Streaky Bacon, Sweet Potato & Lemon Thyme Champ. 

Head Chef Stefan Matz of Ashford Castle - a five star deluxe hotel, in Cong, County Mayo, Ireland - shares with us one of his informal menu items from Cullen's at the Cottage.  A small thatch roofed cottage on the castle's 350 acre grounds with a lean towards hearty, Irish comfort food with a contemporary flair.  Chef Matz' Char Grilled Scallops with Bacon, Sweet Potato & Lemon Thyme Champ is a fine example of Ireland's renaissance cuisine.

Ashford Castle has been on my list of gourmet escapes for many years. I am captivated by its elegance and grace, turrets and ivy covered walls.

Over the last week I had the good fortune to speak with Chef Matz at length about Irish cuisine in the 21st century. During our conversation, he debunked every Irish food myth I tossed his way, and thanks to his generosity, I had the opportunity to prepare one of his dishes at home and share it with you.

Chef Matz is a five star chef with a deep love of pure ingredients: "Each dish should have a main ingredient that has to come through.  I like to bring the natural existing flavours, support and encourage those flavours with either equal flavours or contrasting flavours to bring the main component out." 

The recipe card from the castle's kitchens had this photo attached, an outline of ingredients and method, as well as a handy scoring card, which is used to adjudicate the kitchen staff. It was almost like being in culinary school again.  My sauce was a bit thin in comparison to Chef Matz' and in our conversation, he gave me a gentle redirect on preparation.

Seared Scallops & Bacon with Sweet Potato Champ, at the Pass. Photo: Ashford Castle

"A little higher heat under the scallops to start will sear more deeply and give you the colour you need.  The sauce is really a butter reduction, deglaze with a bit of white wine, then you'll want to let those scallops release those juices and that will give you your sauce."  

I couldn't track down lemon thyme, so I substituted a hint of lemon zest, for that light lemon flavour. "The lemon thyme adds a brightness without acidity, it really is one of my favourite herbs." - Chef Matz

I liked the way the thyme moved through the dish, flavouring the sauce, the champ (the Irish way of dealing with leftover cooked potatoes, mash it with something yummy) and the scallops.  I couldn't resist tossing a little Irish Wiltshire bacon at it, but in the Castle you would find this done with streaky bacon, or as we like to call it in North America: bacon.

Simple and comforting, it was a warm and elegant lunch on a late winter day, as I dreamed of Ireland, the green countryside of Ashford Castle, and of leprechauns.

Char Grilled Scallops with Bacon &
Sweet Potato Lemon Thyme Champ - Recipe

80 g scallops, roe off (4-6 depending on size)
1 (30 g) streaky rashers, cut into four of equal pieces
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
20 g whole milk (1/4 cup)
10 sugar snap peas
5 g Pomace (1st press olive) oil (1 tablespoon)
25 g butter, divided (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoons)
Splash of white wine
10 sprigs lemon thyme, chopped fine
2 sprigs lemon thyme, washed for presentation

Method:

1. Peel and cube potatoes, boil in a large hot over high heat until tender, about 10 minutes.  In a separate, small pot, infuse milk with lemon thyme, over low heat.
2. While potatoes cook, boil water to blanch peas.
3. Dry and season scallops with salt & pepper.  Sear scallops in a large preheated pan in a little Pomace (1st press olive) oil until cooked medium rare.  Lightly deglaze pan with splash of white wine.
4. Cook bacon to crispy, remove from heat and reserve.
5. While scallops are cooking, blanch sugar snap peas, then add to scallops.  Add sprigs of lemon thyme, and 1/4 cup of butter to pan allowing it to melt and emulsify, and continue to cook until the scallops are translucent.  Allow butter to melt and emulsify, creating the sauce.
6. Drain and mash potatoes, adding 1 tablespoon of butter, chopped lemon thyme and infused hot milk (as needed).  Mash until smooth.
7. Assemble as per above image and serve immediately.

So, did I get a job in one of the Castle's four kitchens?!  No, probably not.  But that's alright with me, I'd rather sip wine and discuss whatever outrageous activity I might be enjoying next as a guest of Ashford Castle.  Archery perhaps... that sounds very... civilized.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, may it be green.

Thank you to Chef Matz who was extraordinarily generous with his time and knowledge, and to Ashford's Paula Carroll, who helped facilitate our little St Patrick's Ireland feature.   You know, I am looking for a wedding venue... however I fear the quality of the golf may distract the groom!

Ashford Castle
Cong, Co Mayo, Ireland
Tel:             +353 94 9546003
http://www.ashford.ie/index.htm

An overwhelming desire for the taste of orange and chocolate led me down the slippery slope of recipe development, creating a deep, dark and delicious Chocolate Orange Chiffon Cake that thrilled neighbours and crushed that craving.

The neighbours love it when I bake. I then scurry around and distribute goodies lest they cling to my thighs.  (Judging by how my underwear fits, I may have left this cake in the Gypsy Kitchen a little too long.)

My hunger for citrus has been at a fever pitch; last week I found myself surrounded by oranges, kumquats, pomelo, Meyer lemons and several limes.  (I think I may have scurvy!)  The holiday season denied me one of my favourite candy treats (Terry's Chocolate Orange) so I had to bake now, didn't I?

Oh sure, I could have just eaten an orange and a piece of chocolate... but where's the fun in THAT?!

Keep the cake moistened with kumquat syrup and topped with colourful bits of candied kumquat (featured earlier this week on Food Gypsy).  I often use a simple syrup on a cake before icing, it helps keep it moist longer.  In this case, the juicy orange flavour of kumquats helped intensify the citrus undertones, but this cake is so moist and rich it hardly needs help.

Finished it with a chocolate ganache and that's when this Chocolate Orange Chiffon Cake took on a life of its own.  The planned 'thin drizzle' of ganache became great, goopy globs of rich chocolate.  Instead of a refined, delicate effect it became one big, chocolate meltdown.

Sometimes you just have to roll with it... let the chocolate flow and learn something new.  What I learned was this:  finishing with a warm ganache in front of an open window, in temperatures of -18*C is not such a good idea.  Noted.

Didn't affect the taste one little bit... tangy, citrus backed flavour, grounded in rich, semi-sweet chocolate; a feel good combination.  

It must be, because now I feel GREAT, shame about my waist though.  Here one day, gone the next.  Meh, it'll be back.

Chocolate Orange Chiffon Cake Recipe

(Adapted from Mennonite Girls Can Cook)

Prep time:  35 minutes
Cooking time: 60 - 70 minutes

1 1/2 cups orange juice, heated
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups cake or pastry flour
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
zest of two medium oranges (about a 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
7 large eggs, separated
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. In a small saucepan, heat orange juice to a low simmer.  Mix cocoa powder and hot orange juice together in a medium bowl, dissolving cocoa completely.  Stir well, and allow to cool to room temperature (about 10 minutes).
2. In a large bowl combine flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda and salt, add orange zest and toss to mix.  Add cocoa orange juice mixture to dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Do not beat.
3. In a large bowl beat egg whites together with cream of tartar to form soft peaks.  Add remaining 1/4 cup of sugar to egg whites and beat until stiff.
4. In a medium  bowl add vanilla and oil to egg yolks, lightly beat with a fork or whisk.  Add egg mixture to cocoa mixture, blend until just smooth, beating this batter will make it tough, so just mix until blended.   Add egg whites to cocoa batter, one quarter at a time, using a spatula and fold gently into the whites until everything is blended and bubbly.
5. Pour into an ungreased tube pan and bake at 350º for 60-70 minutes.  (Ungreased! This cake has enough oil that it should not stick, and it needs the ungreased sides so that it can 'grip' and rise.)

Invert pan and allow to cool.  Remove to cake plate, you can plate either bottom (flat) side up or top (domed) side up.  Your choice.

This is a cake that freezes well and keeps for up to a month.  You know, if you were planning your desserts that far in advance.

Chocolate Ganache Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes

1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces good quality milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces
5 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. In a heavy sauce pan heat cream until just bubbling. Make sure you stay with it so it does not scorch or boil over, it only takes a couple minutes.
2. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate until completely melted.  Add extract.
3. Cool slightly until ganache begins to thicken, stirring occasionally.

Pour still warm, (thick) ganache over cake.  May the drizzle be with you.

When I see ingredients I haven't worked with, I often drag them home to see what new delights I can concoct.  Welcome home Kumquats, which quickly became Candied Kumquats.

If you're not familiar with the adorable kumquat, they're the midget member of the citrus family. Originally from Asia, they have thick, sweet skins, a bitter, powerful centre and are about the size of a robin's egg.  The flavour is over-the-top orange with a sharp tang finish.  If you've never tried one I suggest popping one straight in your mouth, just to familiarize yourself with the intensity of the fruit in its raw sate.

Ready yourself for an explosion of flavour.  Kumquat can easily overpower if you're not careful with it, but there are some things it loves to work with, like vinegar for a tangy pickle or lime for a tart salsa or sugar for an intense preserve or flavoured syrup.

Originally, I planned a colourful citrus salsa, intending to take us down the road of a savory-sweet endeavour, but then I had an overwhelming desire for the taste of orange and chocolate. Inspired by Terry's Chocolate Orange, I whipped up a dark and delicious  Chocolate Orange Chiffon Cake (recipe to follow in Friday's post), moistened with kumquat syrup and topped with colourful bits of candied kumquat.

The result was truly satisfying - bright, bold citrus flavour grounded in rich, dark chocolate.  Craving conquered.

Candied Kumquats Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20minutes

2 cups of roughly chopped kumquats (roughly 16 kumquats)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar

Method

1. Roughly chop the kumquats. Discard any seeds you can that are easy to get to, but they're edible so if you miss some, no worries.
2. Heat orange juice and sugar over high heat until it comes to a boil. Simmer for 4 minutes. Add kumquats and simmer for 8 minutes, until transparent.
3. Drain kumquats and reserve syrup. Return the syrup to the pan and simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce. Combine the kumquats and 1/4 cup of the syrup together.

Cool and serve or, scoop into a tightly sealed jar and refrigerate.  Can be stored for up to two weeks and substitutes nicely for marmalade.

Last week I topped a toasted flax beagle and cream cheese with the sharp, citrus twang of candied kumquats for a taste of pure sunshine.  

Orange Chocolate Chiffon Cake & Candied Kumquats, gooey & sweet!