Vegetable Pot Pie With Cornmeal Goat's Milk Brie Biscuit Topping

If Goat's Milk Brie doesn't get you I don't know what will. Any cheese can be used in the delicious, fluffy, cornmeal, biscuit topping but the brie just kind of called to me.... ya know?

This recipe is how I found my favourite food blog, The Curvy Carrot. She found the recipe in Bon Appetit and I've adapted it from there.

The gravy is one of those beautiful things for vegetarians, it's earthy and rich, almost meaty, thanks to the two types of mushrooms, while not being too heavy.

• 1 cup lentils
• 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (the size of the box)
• 6-8 medium brown mushrooms (or whatever mushrooms you have)
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• good chunk of turnip, chopped
• 2-3 large potatoes, chopped
• big handful of swiss chard, chopped
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 3 sage leaves, minced
• leaves from one thyme sprig 
• leave from one rosemary sprig
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste

Boil the lentils according to package instructions. In the meantime, add 3 cups of boiling water to the dried mushrooms in a bowl and set aside to plump for 25 minutes. Squeeze mushrooms out and chop. SAVE LIQUID!

Add some olive oil, mushrooms (fresh and rehydrated), onion and garlic to a pan over medium heat, and stir fry for 3 minutes. Next add potatoes, turnip, carrot (whatever root veg you like/ have) and swiss chard. Stir fry for 4 minutes. Stir in flour, sage, thyme, rosemary and cook for one minute. 

Now add the reserved mushroom liquid, soy sauce and tomato paste, stir and cover until root veg is tender (15-20 min). Add lentils, salt and pepper and add to an overproof dish (or dishes).

Cornmeal Goat's Milk Brie Biscuit Topping

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp. flour
• 6 tbsp. cornmeal
• 1 + 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 4 tbsp. chilled salted butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• a tonne of cheese, I used probably a cup.

Whisk together dry ingredients, add butter and mix with your hands until it looks like crumbs. Add buttermilk, cheese and stir. Flour your hands and lift onto your pot pie filling.

Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out of topping clean.

Eat with gusto!

Nut Lentil Loaf!

Not at all meant to be a meat loaf "replacement", this loaf is crunchy but moist, flavourful as well as being healthy and protein-rich.

The first nut loaf I ever had was baked by Maggie, mother of my vegetarian best friend. This recipe is looooosely based on that, as we both used nuts, but as it was the holidays I had a copious amount of delicious ingredients to choose from as you will see in the recipe.

Great with potatoes and mushroom or vegetable broth gravy, this loaf is so warm and welcoming this time of year.

• 1 cup red lentils
• 14 chestnuts
• 100 g cashews (a 2 hand handful) 
• 100 g walnuts
• 50 g almonds (a 1 hand handful)
• large onion
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 5 brown mushrooms (what I had)
• 5 full swiss chard leaves (stalks removed)
• 3 sage leaves, minced
• leaves from 3 thyme sprigs
• 1 tbsp. Mrs. Dash (or other seasoning blend)
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 egg

Cook lentils according to bag directions, set aside. 

Slash chestnut shells in an X and add to a pot of cold water. Bring water to a boil and simmer for ten minutes, when cool enough to handle, peel shells from chestnuts revealing a yellow brain-like nut. Pop all of them back into the water and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until you can squash them. 

Chop other nuts to desired size and toast in a 350 F oven, checking often, until fragrant. 

In the meantime, add chopped onion, garlic and mushrooms to a saute pan over medium heat, cook for 8 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add Mrs. Dash, cayenne, worcestershire, tomato paste, salt and pepper and stir fry for 3 minutes, coating veg. 

Add vegetables, chopped nuts, mashed chestnuts and the egg to the bowl with lentils and stir to combine.

Scrape mixture in a greased, parchment paper, greased loaf tin and bake at 375 F for an hour, smother in a vegetarian gravy and enjoy!

Balsamic Roasted Beets & Brussel Sprouts

Balsamic Vinegar. One of my favourite things. I received a lovely bottle from my best friend's father and have used almost half already.

The pairing of balsamic and beets came from the adorable and amazing Jamie Oliver, the brussel sprouts I just wanted to try.

Delicious and colourful, the balsamic almost all but cooked off (next time I would add more). If you aren't  a crazed balsamic fan like me, it's perfect, the vinegar acts as more of an flavour enhancer for the beets.

The two vegetables have completely different cooking times so they could definitely done separately if you wish.

• 10 medium sized red and yellow beets, cut into quarters
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Parboil the beets for 25-30 minutes, toss in a baking tray of some sort with olive oil and vinegar as well as salt and pepper and bake at 375 F for 50ish minutes.

20 MINUTES LATER

• 25 brussel sprouts, cleaned
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Parboil the sprouts for 3 minutes or until al dente. Toss in oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and add to the beets in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes. 

Love your life.

Now for some pictures of pretty beets :)

Butternut Squash Soup

A delicious, simple and healthy start to any meal, or just a meal on it's own, you will never purchase this soup again once you realize just how easy it is to make.

I added no cream or butter to this recipe (using just a splash of olive oil) in anticipation of the courses to come, but the extra fat really wasn't missed! And in the process, an accidental vegan recipe was born!

• splash of olive oil
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 medium butternut squash, chopped in smallish cubes (the smaller, the quicker)
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups water
• 3 sage leaves, finely minced
• the leaves from a pretty significant rosemary sprig, finely minced
• salt and pepper

Over medium heat, drizzle just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a dutch oven or heavy based pot. Add the onion, and saute for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and saute for 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the squash and stir fry for a couple minutes, then add the liquid. 

There should be enough liquid to cover the squash, if not, add more water or vegetable stock. You could of course use all water, or all stock, but I really only had 2 cups of vegetable stock :) 

Add the fresh herbs (dried would work as well but should be added along with the butternut squash), salt and pepper and increase the heat to bring the soup to a boil. You can turn it down as you see fit, keeping a simmer intact. Depending on the size of your squash cubes this soup could take 15-30 minutes. I made 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch cubes and mine was done in 17. 

Once the squash is fork tender, your soup in done! Now, I waited a little before pureeing because it's very hot, but you can go ahead and do it right away if you're brave! I used an immersion blender but you could used a traditional blender (cool the soup a tad before blending though), taste for seasonings and serve!

You could pass it through a sieve but I liked the consistency (and didn't want another dirty dish).

Savory Breadcrumb Topping

• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (making you own ensures a coarser texture)
• 1 tsp. dried savory
• olive oil (enough to lightly coat, say a tablespoon)

Add breadcrumbs and savory to a small bowl, drizzle over olive oil and stir to coat.

Broil on a baking sheet for a couple minutes (watch it) until golden (it goes fast).

Sprinkle on top of soups as you please :)

Vegetarian Christmas Feast!

Being a vegetarian is not difficult, well until the holidays roll around, namely Thanksgiving and Christmas! Especially being from Newfoundland, with the traditional "scoff" being the most looked-forward to meal of the year.

Last Thanksgiving was my first meatless holiday and I had no idea what to do, same with Christmas. So this year I did a tonne of internet research and came across an amazing recipe, then more recently, another, inspired by my best friends mother. Along with a delicious soup and a vegetable side dish I had the most fantastic dinner imaginable!

RECIPES TO COME!

Soft & Chewy Spiced Molasses Cookies

Delicious. So soft. So chewy. Smells just like Christmas and fall and cuddles. All the lovely things :)

Adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• pinch of nutmeg
• 3/4 cup salted softened butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup molasses
• coarse sugar to roll cookies in

Whisk first five ingredients in a medium bowl. 

Mix butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, add egg and vanilla, mix. Mix in molasses until well combined. 

With the electric mixer on low, slowly add in the flour mixture a little at a time until fully incorporated. 

Make tablespoon sized balls with your hands, dip in sugar and press slightly onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. 

Bake at 375 F for ONLY EIGHT MINUTES! I repeat, only eight. You will want to bake them for longer but don't. They will set up when they cool, but will stay soft and delightful :)

Mormor's Syltkaktor (Grandmother's Jelly Cookies)

These cookies are of Swedish/ Danish origin, I am not.
I'm very Canadian, at some point a loong time ago I might've had a Swedish/ Danish relative but I'll never know. That's not the point, these cookies are delicious, whether or not you're Swedish/ Danish ;)

Butter Cookies

• 1 cup salted softened butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups flour (half whole wheat, half unbleached)

Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beat. Mix in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer, stir in the rest.

Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. 

Roll out floured parchment paper to a 1/8 inch and cut out a million stars. 

Bake in a 375 F oven for 8-10 minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack then fill with jam of your choice.

Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Look at these babies!
I'm salivating just thinking about them.
By FAR my favourite cookie of the year, just like a Girl Guide cookie (if you're Canadian you'll understand the heaven that I'm referring to).

The chocolate cookie I used in this recipe was a near disaster, so I'll give you another one to try. The mint icing is actually a white chocolate ganache, so decadent and minty :) :) :)

Chocolate Cookie (Martha Stewart)

• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 tbsp. salted butter
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp/ vanilla

Heat chocolate and butter in a heat-proof bowl over a bain-marie until almost melted, remove from heat and stir to melt the rest. 

In another bowl whisk together flour and baking powder. 

In another bowl beat eggs, brown sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, reduce to low and slowly beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. 

Drop 2 inches apart by tablespoon onto parchment papered cookie sheets and bake 12-15 minutes at 

350 F until cracked and shiny but still soft in the centre. 

Cool on cookie sheet then finish on a cooling rack. 

Mint White Chocolate Ganache (Joy the Baker)

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup white chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. mint extract
• a touch of green gel food colouring (optional)

Add the chocolate and mint to a medium bowl. In a saucepan boil the cream over medium heat, pour over the chocolate and mint extract and leave for a minute. After a whooolle minute, stir, watching it turn into a minty creamy puddle of love. 

Refrigerate covered until ready to assemble. Place a teaspoon of ganache on a cookie and press a cookie of matching size on top. 

Refrigerate cookies until ready to eat :)

Whipped Shortbread

Originally from an old friend of my mothers, this recipe has been baked every year, a family staple. I've become more adventurous in past years, creating variations on the regular "plain" shortbread.

This recipe is nothing past a miracle, you whip the butter into submission creating a melt-in-your-mouth cookie experience like no other.

Best with nuts added (I usually add chopped pecans) this year I kept them nut free for my cookie gift bags/boxes/tins because causing an anaphylactic reaction did not strike me as the very holiday-spirit thing to do.

Starting from the basic recipe you can add whatever you like or have lying around. This shortbread loves everything.

• 1 pound salted softened butter 
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 cornstarch
• 3 cup flour (half whole wheat, half unbleached)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and icing sugar together until very fluffy (like 4 minutes, you CANNOT over beat). Beat in cornstarch, vanilla and then flour. Now beat more, until very light and fluffy. Mix in nuts/chocolate/dried fruit as you please. 

Chocolate Orange Whipped Shortbread

• 1/2 cup cocoa (or until desired darkness is met)
• Zest and juice of 1 orange or 2 clementines

Cranberry Dark Chocolate Whipped Shortbread

• 1 cup chopped dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped dark chocolate

Drop by tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake in a 325 F oven for 20-25 minutes.

Royal Icing Sugar Cookies

     

I was finished exams on December 13th (luckiest girl alive) so I hatched an involved and extensive cookies plan! I was going to bake five (I repeat five) different cookies, with variations of some. Some family classics, some new and ROYAL ICING SUGAR COOKIES.
As an avid blog reader, I've been obsessed with the beautiful cookies almost too perfect to eat, see Annie's blog http://annies-eats.com/2010/12/22/snowflake-sugar-cookies/ as well as Shannon's http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2010/12/03/royal-icing-cookies/.

So i bought reusable pastry bags, tips, gel icing and got down to business. I started off baking a double batch of Mrs. Field's Christmas Sugar Cookies (recipe below) cut out in circles and christmas trees and left to cool all night.

The next day I set up with containers and lids, tall glasses with a cm of water and some can-do attitude! I followed Shannon's tutorial but found my own royal icing recipe as I'm not afraid of egg whites and used a hand-held electric mixer to beat the heck out of only three ingredients. Recipes like this never cease to amaze me, that you can start off with sugar and egg whites and end up with a huge bowl of silky, shiny, stiff, gorgeous, delicious icing (I didn't take a picture so you'll have to take my word for it).

After all that work I ended up with these :) (not bad for my first try!)

                                         Mrs. Field's Sugar Cookies (adapted a tad)

•  2 cups flour (half whole wheat, half unbleached)
• 3/4 cup softened salted butter
• 3/4 packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a large mixing bowl (with high sides, especially if doubling the recipe) cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed. Add flour and mix on low speed, being careful not to overmix. 

Gather dough into a ball (or two), flatten in a disk (or disks) and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate an hour or until firm. 

On a floured surface (parchment paper dusted with flour) roll out dough with a floured rolling pin to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut shapes as desired. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 13-15 min being careful not to brown. Let cool on cookie sheet for a little while then transfer to a cooling rack. 

After your cookies are cool you can hop right into icing (BUT MAKE SURE THEY'RE COOL). I know it's hard to wait, I know, I'm the most impatient baker in existence (you don't know how many cakes I've ruined due to premature icing). 

Royal Icing (adapted from joyofbaking.com)

• 3 cups icing sugar
• 2 egg whites
• splash of vanilla

Add all ingredients into a deep mixing bowl. Started off slow at first (to not cause a poof of icing sugar), beat on high for 10 minutes. I know this is a long time but you may amuse yourself by day-dreaming, phone-talking, tv-watching, music-listening or by just watching three ingredients MAGICALLY turn into royal icing :)

Divy up the icing into sealed containers depending on how many colours you need. Colour icing accordingly (a little goes a long way when using gel icing).

Add icing to folded over piping bags and pipe outlines onto your cookies. Let this dry for at least 2 hours. In the meantime keep your piping bags sealed with an elastic band and sit them in a tall glass with a cm of water at the bottom (to prevent icing from drying and blocking the tip). 

Now that the outline is dry add water to the icing little by little until you can dribble some back in the container and have it disappear within 10 seconds. 

Fill your empty piping bags with the flooding icing and flood each cookie (using the tip to help you spread). 

Let sit OVER NIGHT!

In the morning, use a clean piping bag to decorate :) Let them sit for another 2 hours and then immediately give them to people so they may be thoroughly impressed by your hard, hard work. 

And be proud, you are amazing. 

My First Post

Hello Internet :)

I'm very excited about this blog!
This past September I gave up Facebook (and all other social media) to stop wasting my life away and instead took up reading food blogs (which evidently takes up much more time).
But I consider reading foodblogs to be learning experiences instead of creeping my acquaintances exciting trip to Cabo.

I've always loved to bake.
Cooking has been coming along quickly in the past year and photography makes me smile (especially macro).

I hope to provide you with helpful recipes accompanied with photos of my (hopefully) fantastic outcomes, but I'm only human (I will also post about the disasters so you can laugh with me).

Thanks for reading!
Aja