Season of Bread and Bonfires

 We live on the fringe of the woods, a mile's walk from the Bay of Fundy on the North Mountain.  Christmas here means a big family trip to the woods to choose a sparse-but-beautiful tree.  We're not going to miss the opportunity to build a big roaring fire to sit around.  And if you give an Osburn a fire to sit around, she's going to want a snack.  Or a full-on meal.

For this occasion, my Mom was bringing baked beans.  I wanted to bake brown bread, but with only an hour before the slated trip, that was impossible.

I flipped through a few cookbooks and adapted a beer bread recipe to suit.  It's a quick bread, so it only takes about 50 minutes from start to finish.  I added molasses and used a bottle of St-Ambroise Apricot Wheat Ale. It baked up to be a very respectable stand in, with the added bonus of fruity, yeasty ale-iciousness.  In this season of soups and stews, a loaf of this will fit in very nicely at your next gathering or potluck.

Locally, I think this bread would be equally wonderful made with Propeller's Honey Wheat or Pale Ale, or anything you like (maybe not stout, but you never know!)  One more note: the bread disappeared before I could take a picture. Had it lasted, I would have eaten it toasted the next day with a big piece of cheese.  It will keep for a few days if given the chance.

Hoppy New Year!!


This time last year: Back to School Pancakes

Molasses and Ale Bread

1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 C. All Purpose Flour
1/2 C. Oatmeal
2 T. Baking Powder
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
3 T. Brown Sugar
1/3 C. Molasses
1 341 ml. bottle Beer

Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter a loaf pan.  In a  large bowl, whisk the flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar and salt.  Add the molasses and beer and stir until just combined.  Scrape into the loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.  Cool on a rack or wrap in a towel on your way out the door!

Simple Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Glaze

Lately all I've been wanting to eat is cake.  I daydream about cupcakes piled high with frosting, layers of chocolate and cream, caramel sauce, raspberries. lemon curd.  I've been firing up my oven at bedtime to make a quick batch of brownies and almost bought a box of crunch donuts from the grocery store last week.  I am pregnant.

Since I've been rather absent here for the last few weeks, it should come as no surprise that I really haven't been doing much cooking.  Nothing I really want to share with you, or even admit to.  But now I'm feeling better and more energetic every day, and I've even started stocking my fridge with vegetables again! 

Pregnant or not, most of us could stand to eat a little healthier.  I'm not saying that the following recipe is actually good for you, but it certainly is better for you than some of the alternatives.  The pumpkin makes the cake very moist and rich-tasting, despite the fact that there is less fat and sugar in there than in other cakes.  The glaze adds a sugary, buttery flavour without being piled half an inch thick.  The recipe makes enough batter for 1 cake and a dozen muffins to freeze and dole out in lunchbags.

If you're energetic, try roasting your own pumpkin or buttercup squash, it will make the very best cake.  You will note that this recipe uses a whole large can of pure pumpkin, rather than leaving you with leftovers. 

This time last year: Roasted Moroccan Carrot Salad

Simple Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Glaze
makes 1 cake and 12 muffins

2 C. Sugar (I use Just Us!)
1 C. Canola Oil
6 Eggs
1 T. Vanilla
3 C. cooked and mashed Pumpkin  (or 1 large can)
4 C. Flour (try 2 C. white and 2 C. whole wheat)

4 t. Baking Soda
2 t. Baking Powder
2 t. Cinnamon
1 t. Ginger
1/4 t. Cloves
1/2 t. Salt

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Butter a bundt or other large cake pan, and a 12 cup muffin tin (or use paper liners).  In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla.  Add the pumpkin and whisk to combine well.  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, and whisk just until combined.  Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full, then scrape the remaining batter into the cake pan.  Bake the muffins for 15-18 minutes and the cake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes clean.  Let cool on a rack in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan.  Make the glaze, then drizzle it over the cake and muffins.

for the Brown Butter Glaze

2 T. Butter
1/4 C. Brown Sugar
1/4 C. Milk
1 1/2 C. Icing Sugar

Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat.  Watch as it melts, bubbles, and begins to brown.  Whisk in the brown sugar, cook another 30 seconds, than remove from the heat and beat in the milk and icing sugar.

Curried Quinoa and Fruit Salad

My restaurant, the Union Street Cafe, offers a popular daily Lunch Buffet.  We serve a delicious hot entree like Chicken and Roasted Vegetable Lasagna or Handmade Pizza , a Made-From-Scratch Soup and a lineup of at least five Salads.  On the weekends, we switch to brunch offerings including Fishcakes, Walnut Crusted French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon and Baked Beans and make sure there is fruit in the salad line-up.

Over the years, we've gotten many recipe requests for customer favourites!  My policy on recipe sharing is simple: if I've got the recipe, I'll share it.  The problem is, many of these salads are inspired by what's in the kitchen that day and aren't written down.  Some glorious inventions have been made once, devoured, and never recorded. We're working hard to change that by keeping a book of notes right next to the salad bowls.  If something works, I take quick notes on what went into it so it can be re-created.

This is the most recently requested recipe, and it is supremely tasty.  It's also my sister Meagan's favourite buffet salad!  The curry powder is cooked right along with the super-healthy quinoa (an infyooosion, as kitchen gals Annette and Alexis call it) and then mixed with other lovely things like pineapple and dried cranberries.  It is a lovely home for local fruit in season and can likely survive any adaptation you can throw at it.  You can bring it to a potluck, serve it as a side dish, or make it into a lovely wrap with chicken and greens tucked inside, like Meagan would do.

This time last year: Pear and Ricotta Upside Down Cake and Sausage Stuffed Squash 

Curried Quinoa and Fruit Salad

If you haven't cooked with quinoa before, this is a great way to start!

1 C. Quinoa
2 C. Water
1 T. Curry Powder
1 t. Salt
1 stalk Celery, diced
1/4 C. minced Red Onion
1/2 C. minced Red Pepper
1 C. Seedless Grapes, cut in half (if you have all day)
1 C. fresh Pineapple, diced or 1 C. diced Apple
1/4 C. dried Cranberries
1/4 C. Almonds
2 T. Honey
1/3 C. Canola Oil or Mayo
2 T. Lemon Juice

Combine the quinoa, water, curry powder and salt in a small heavy pot.  Bring to a boil, covered, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook another twenty minutes.  Turn off the heat and let stand while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  In a large bowl, combine  the celery, red onion, red pepper, grapes, pineapple, cranberries and almonds.  In a small bowl, whisk the honey, oil or mayo, and lemon juice until smooth.  When the quinoa has cooled (you can spread it out on a tray to hurry it along if you like), crumble it into the bowl and add the dressing.  Toss gently to combine, taste, adding a little more lemon or honey if you like, then serve.

Autumn Pizza

Every Thursday morning at the Cafe I bake batches of Focaccia Bread.  It's a soft, wet dough that bakes into a spongy, chewy bread full of holes and fragrant with olive oil and rosemary.  We cut it into large squares and stuff them with chicken and roasted vegetables, or split them and layer the halves with ham, apples and cheddar.  They also stand in nicely when we run out of hamburger buns, an inevitability on busy weekends.  More often than not we mix up an extra batch of dough for pizzas.  We let our imaginations run wild, usually inspired by a quart of just-picked strawberries, a bagful of fresh herbs, or a bowl brimming with colourful heirloom tomatoes.  We're incredibly lucky.  Many of Union Street Cafe's present and past staff are gardeners.  And all the gardeners I know, especially my Dad, grow way too much for their own use.  So in through the kitchen door it comes, in bags and baskets and boxes: truly seasonal inspiration. And always gratefully received.
 This time last year: Kid Friendly Meals

Roasted Squash and Sausage Pizza with Greens
Here is last week's creation!  Feel free to sub in pita or pre-made crust if you don't want to bother making your own.  Just bake until the cheese is beginning to brown.

1 small Butternut Squash, peeled and cut in small dice
2 T. Olive Oil
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 recipe Focaccia Bread (make the dough and let rise)
generous 1/2 C. Alfredo Sauce, optional
1 bunch Rainbow Swiss Chard, chopped and steamed until tender, or 1 recipe Greens with Caramelized Onions
1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage, cooked and sliced thinly (try Meadowbrook's in the Valley)
2 C. shredded Mozzarella
2 T. freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Toss the squash with the olive oil and salt and spread onto a baking sheet.  Roast for 20-30 minutes, until squash is tender and beginning to brown.  Leave the oven on.  Prepare the focaccia dough and gently press into a generously oiled 13x18" pan.  I find this easiest to do in two or three stages, as the dough resists stretching and needs time to rest in between efforts.  Spread the dough with the the Alfredo sauce.  Top with the squash, the chard, and sausage.  Sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Bake for 15-25 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown.

Niçoise-Inspired Potato Salad

This time last year: Raspberry-Blueberry Shortcakes and Blueberry Gumbo

 

 August is my favourite month for eating!  Mostly right now I'm gorging on the huge raspberries at Gatehill Farm, finding new uses for Swiss Chard daily and eyeing my garden for the first ripe tomatoes. At Nova Scotian farm markets it is high season for cucumbers, broccoli, green and yellow and Roma beans, kale, basil and the first carrots and potatoes.  With all this abundance, it is our duty to get into the kitchen and whip up some delicious, indulgent, once-a-year high-summer meals!  With that in mind, I give you this lovely potato salad.  Nicoise Salad is a classic French salad, usually "composed", meaning that all the ingredients are beautifully arranged.  It contains potatoes, beans, tuna, eggs, capers, olives, sometimes anchovies, and fresh herbs dressed with vinaigrette.  This is a simplified version, though you could certainly add any of what I've left out.  I love how the yolk of the egg enriches the simple dressing.

Niçoise-Inspired Potato Salad

3 lb. small New Potatoes
4 Eggs
1 lb. Green or Yellow Beans, trimmed and snapped in half
4 T. Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 clove Garlic
2 T. Dijon Mustard
1/4 t. Salt
Freshly ground Pepper
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 C. slivered Red Onion
1/4 C. Chopped Parsley
2 Cans Tuna, left in chunks (optional)
Handful of fresh Basil, shredded (optional)

Cut the potatoes in half if they are larger than 1" and place in a pot with the eggs and 2 t. salt.  Add cold water to cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes.  Remove from the heat and fill the pot with cold water to cool the eggs and potatoes quickly, then drain.  Steam or boil the beans until just tender.  Peel the eggs and cut into eighths.  Meanwhile, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt, and plenty of pepper in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, beans, eggs, tomatoes, red onion and parsley and toss well in the dressing.  Taste for seasoning, then add the optional tuna and toss again gently.  Top with the basil if using, and another good grind of pepper.  This is lovely served right away, while still slightly warm, or
chilled in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Almond, Oat and Flax Thumbprint Cookies

I live in Nova Scotia, a place where practically summery hot days can occur just after a snowstorm.  Spring is more of a concept here than a reality, a very short season bridging winter and summer.  This spring has been s-l-o-w to get going, with really not a lot of dependable lovely sunshine.  Anyway, I'm not complaining, in two weeks the Union Street kitchen will be 40 degrees and sweltering.  
You can well imagine my excitement when my friend Stephanie told me on Saturday that fresh local strawberries had been spotted!   One of the Union Street girls just had a beautiful baby boy and I wanted to bring her strawberry something, but it was not to be: my favourite roadside stand just had a big "sold out" sign on it.  Oh well.  I made up these really good thumbprint cookies instead.  They are nutty with ground almonds and oats and whole wheat flour (sub in light spelt if you like).  I filled the pits of them with blueberry jam that I made last summer and some cinnamon-y apple butter that my good friend Melissa gave me.  You know when you're baking/cooking/creating something and it turns out exactly as good as you'd hoped?  Maybe better, even?  Then you keep looking/admiring/eating it, thinking, wow, that's really good. I can't believe that I made that.  So here you go, and welcome to the world, sweet little Joseph.

Almond, Oat and Flax Thumbprint Cookies
1 C. Roasted Almonds
1 C. Oatmeal
1 1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C. Flax Meal (or grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder)
2 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt

1/4 C. Butter
1/4 C. Canola Oil
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 t. Vanilla
Jam, Jelly, Apple Butter (it's fun and pretty to make different kinds)


Preheat oven to 350° and butter a large baking sheet or two.  In a food processor, grind the almonds until very finely chopped.  Tip into a bowl, then grind the oatmeal until it is a fine powder.  Add the oat flour to the bowl along with the whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt.  In a large bowl, cream the butter, canola oil and brown sugar.  Add the eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth, then add the flour mixture.  Stir (or mix with your hands) until combined.  Roll mixture into 1" balls and place about 3" apart on the cookie sheet.  Using your thumb, make a well in the middle of the cookie and fill it with jam.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, until puffed and firm.  Cool and enjoy.  These are great in your lunchbox (or so the kids told me!)

Daisy, how'd you get in there?

The Sweetest Parsnips

Parsnips may be a winter food, but it is in the spring that they are at their most sublime.  Allowed to rest in the ground through the coldest season, starches in the parsnip convert into sugar.  The same thing happens when commercial farmers harvest in the autumn and then store the parsnips at around 0° for at least two weeks.  My dad just harvested his parsnips, a fine crop of huge but tender white roots that smelled sweet, earthy, and mysterious.  As a kid, I thought parsnips tasted like unlit cigars.  I still find something exotic about their taste, especially when roasted, a taste like incense, and well, tobacco.  Maybe my taste buds are weird because I could not find them described this way anywhere.


Anyway, I've been hearing whispers of putting parsnips in desserts for years and decided that I had to try it.  I used Union Street Cafe's Morning Glory Muffin recipe, tweaked the spices and grated in rich, earthy parsnips in place of the carrots.  All went well.  They baked beautifully, and when they cooled, Molly and I slathered them with Cream Cheese Frosting.  They are subtly parsnip-y, a taste that fits very well, as it turns out, with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.


Parsnip Cupcakes
I waited until the kids were halfway through eating their cupcake before I revealed the secret ingredient.  They still ate them and asked for more.

2 C. Grated Parsnip
2 C. Flour
1 C. Sugar
2 t. Baking Soda
2 t. Cinnamon
1 t. Ground Ginger
1/4 t. Nutmeg (freshly grated is awesome, but pre-ground works, too)
1 t. Salt
3 Eggs
1 C. Vegetable Oil
2 t. Vanilla
Line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners or grease well.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the parsnips, flour, sugar, baking soda,
cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl.  In another bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and vanilla.  Pour the egg mixture over the parsnip mixture and mix gently until thoroughly combined.  Spoon batter into cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, until springy and firm.  Let cool on a rack while you make the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz. Cream Cheese
½ C. Softened Butter
1 T. Vanilla
3 ½ C. Icing Sugar

Pulse in food processor just until smooth and creamy.Top each cupcake with a generous swirl of frosting and maybe grate a little nutmeg on top.

Roasted Parsnips
Perhaps the best way to prepare most root vegetables, roasting capitalizes on every bit of parsnip's natural sweetness and is super-easy to boot!

1 lb. Parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 T. (or more) Olive Oil
1/2 t. Salt

 Preheat oven to 400.  Toss parsnips, oil, and salt in a bowl, then spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet with sides.  Roast for 20-30 minutes, stirring from time to time, until parsnips are tender and caramelized. 


 

A Miracle in Cabbage

Sean and I went out for a pre-Valentine's dinner a few weeks ago at the Library Pub, a lovely spot in Wolfville with fresh and lovingly made food. Love is an essential ingredient of good cooking, a seasoning that hasn't yet been duplicated by large scale food processors and never will be.  We shared, among other delicious things, a red cabbage salad with feta and sesame.  Only love could transform the stalwart cabbage; reliable, economical, and readily available; into a dish that we nearly fought over. It's perfect: salty, a little sweet from the cabbage and a touch of honey, nutty with sesame oil and a little creamy from the feta.  This is my version, not theirs, and although I'm certain it isn't exactly the same, it is very delicious.  Bonus:if you store the salad overnight, some juice will collect at the bottom of the bowl which you can pour off and let your kids experiment with.  Rowan and I had a blast turning it pink with vinegar, dribbling in oil, turning it back to blue with baking soda, and so on.

Red Cabbage Salad with Feta and Sesame

1 T. Soy Sauce
1 T. Honey
1/2 clove Garlic, minced
2 T. Sesame Oil
1 T. White Wine Vinegar
1/4 head Red Cabbage, cut into small wedges, then sliced fine
1/3 C. crumbled Feta

In a large bowl, whisk the soy sauce, honey, garlic, sesame oil and vinegar together.  Add the cabbage and toss thoroughly to coat, then sprinkle in the feta and toss again.   This is great right away, but even better after it sits in the fridge a while.

Merry Christmas Cookie!!!

On Sunday, my friend Stephanie hosted a cookie exchange. We've talked about it for years, but she took the bull by the horns last Christmas and now I hope it's here to stay. The idea is simple: everyone bakes 6 dozen cookies, then we get together for a potluck brunch and lay all the goodies out on the table to be admired. On their way out the door, each of us loads up a box with a variety of beautiful handmade cookies. There were chocolate orange stars and trees, iced snowflakes, sugar cookies with sprinkles, and Santa shortbreads. There were gingery molasses thins, pecan cakes dipped in powdered sugar and nut bars with dark and white chocolate (I brought those). There were buttery cookies with M&Ms! There are two kinds I can't name 'cause I haven't tasted them yet, but that's really only a matter of time. Minutes, actually. 

Women used to spend the better part of December baking. I remember my grandmother, Peg Osburn, mailing carefully packed handmade cookies from Pennsylvania at Christmas. The box contained at least a dozen varieties, one of which was the time consuming but much appreciated springerle, an anise-flavoured cookie that was imprinted with a special mold. No wonder I have a hard time with keeping things simple: in my family, the more complicated the effort, the more love is being demonstrated. Unless the sheer enormity of all those cookies to roll, cut, and bake, and the pile of dishes and the mess that results turns you into a complete bitch. 

Therefore, let's get real: find a few friends with good family recipes, make a simple cookie (bar cookies are the easiest) and get swapping!

Caramel Nut Bars with Cranberries and Chocolate

This recipe came out of tinkering with a Gourmet magazine pecan pie bar recipe.

 

3/4 C. Butter

2 C. Flour

1/2 C. Brown Sugar

1/2 t.  Salt

2 C. Mixed Salted Nuts

 1 C. Dried Cranberries

1/2 C. Butter

1 C. Brown Sugar

1/3 cup Honey

 2 T. Cream

1 oz. Dark Chocolate

1 oz. White Chocolate

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Cut 3/4 C. butter into 1/2-inch pieces. In a food processor process all ingredients until mixture begins to form small lumps. Sprinkle mixture into a 9x13 pan and press evenly onto bottom. Bake shortbread until golden, about 20 minutes.

In a heavy saucepan melt 1/2 C. butter and stir in brown sugar, honey, and cream. Simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, 1 minute and stir in nuts and cranberries. Pour nut mixture over hot shortbread and spread evenly. Bake in middle of oven until bubbling, about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Melt the chocolates separately and use a spoon to drizzle each over the bars. Cool completely in pan and cut into 32 bars.

Merry Christmas!

Honey Curry Dip

We throw two official staff parties every year-one in January after the craziness of Christmas parties has died down, and the other on Canada Day, just before the craziness of summer begins. There's also a Halloween party whenever someone has the desire to spearhead it. Union Street Cafe's staff are a family, albeit somewhat dysfunctional, and we truly love one another. Just as we're getting on each others' nerves, a little festive fun time can lift everyone's spirits and help us remember it's just a restaurant we work at, not an emergency room.
Of course, food figures into the fun even more then drink, so a couple weeks beforehand, I dream up some tasty snacks that bear almost no resemblance to what we serve at work. This past Thursday, that meant Greek Chicken Pitas, Vietnamese Meatball Sandwiches, miniature Hamburgers and a veggie tray with a super yummy and somehow retro-tasting Honey Curry Dip. I highly recommend it with the sweet little Sugar Snap Peas that are hitting their stride right about now.
I can also tell you that mayonnaise, being so utterly commonplace, becomes somewhat of a miracle (and I don't mean Whip) when made with your five year old son and two year old nephew. For that kind of fun, take one Egg and put it in a blender or food processor. Add a big pinch of Salt and a teaspoon of Dijon, plus a teaspoon of Vinegar or Lemon Juice. Get the motor running, then drizzle in 1½ cups Canola Oil very slowly. Watch their amazement (and maybe even your own) as the mayonnaise thickens before your very eyes! Then use it in this dip, and refrigerate the rest for your sandwiches, potato salad or perhaps licking off the spoon (you know who you are).

Honey Curry Dip
1 T. Curry Powder
1 T. Canola Oil
1 C. Sour Cream
½ C. Mayonnaise
¼ C. Honey (I use Foote Family Farms)
½ t. Salt
¼ C, Chopped Cilantro (optional, but highly recommended)

Heat the oil with the curry powder over medium high heat in a small skillet. After a minute or so ,the mixture will foam and smell very aromatic. (This step will absolutely elevate your dip above all other curry concoctions). Remove it from the heat. In a bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, honey and salt, and scrape in the curry and oil mixture. Add the cilantro and serve with assorted veggies, crackers (rice crackers are especially good) or potato chips. After chilling, the dip is thick enough to be a delicious condiment for burgers or folded into diced chicken, cranberries, celery and green onion for a killer Chicken Curry Salad.

I have personally banned this dip from my refrigerator since I cannot resist its call, but if you make a batch, please invite me over.