Multigrain Spelt and Blueberry Sourdough (#RecipeRedux)

If there's one piece of equipment that exemplifies our kitchen, it's our ancient, enameled aluminum bowl. Deemed "the bread bowl" by my mom and I, it's been in the family at least as far back as my grandfather, who would churn out a minimum of 4 loaves a week by hand for their household. The finish is nowhere near as white as it used to be, and even the stamped name of the manufacturer has been worn off with decades of loving use and washing, but it is still sturdy and watertight and the cradle for our yearly batches of pie dough, challah, brioche and chocolate chip cookies. It's funny that I feel so strongly about a bowl, but I've actually asked my mom to will it to me so that I can keep our traditions alive.

One of the uses for the bread bowl that my mom never capitalized on was it's perfect boule-forming capabilities. A sourdough on a floured towel flips out into a perfect round dome, ready for baking, and the lightweight material of the bowl itself makes for easy transfer. To me, it only seemed natural that for this month's "Treasured Cookware" #RecipeRedux I focus on the bowl's old and new uses, and share a recipe I designed for my mom to enjoy after we returned from a trip to the Evergreen Brickworks Farmer's Market last Summer.

Alli's Bread was carrying a wild blueberry and walnut loaf that caught our attention - with a thick crust, the promise of sourdough tang and hearty whole grains supporting fresh local blueberries and walnuts, it was definitely a showstopper. We only wound up taking home a demi-boule, though, since mom isn't too fussy about walnuts in general. Sliced and toasted with a smear of honey, the loaf was deemed passable, but mom did mention wanting a different nut of some kind - preferably one that was crunchier. When I suggested the combination of hazelnuts and blueberries, her eyes lit up and I knew we had a jumping off point.

A little Googling later found me on The Fresh Loaf, where I found a perfect looking recipe by txfarmer for Blueberry Sourdough with Hazelnuts. I played around with it slightly, adding allspice, spelt flour and multigrain cereal for extra flavour and texture. Like all good sourdoughs, this one took a while to get to the final baking stage, but it was worth it - and the trusty bread bowl made just as good of a banneton as the traditional wicker baskets. The finished bread was moist, crusty, just dense enough to be substantial, and filled to the brim with fruit and nuts. Slices soon began disappearing, topped with creamy butter, peanut butter, jam and honey, and it was definitely one of my mom's favourites to date!

Also shared with YeastSpotting.

Check out the #RecipeRedux Link-up

Medium-Hot Chunky Salsa

I've made it my goal to finish all the canned goods I put up last year before I start on this year's preserving. It's not difficult - I was lucky enough to give away a good portion of them at Christmas, and since most of my family are condiment-philes like me they're certainly being enjoyed! Because we grow so many tomatoes in our backyard every year, we have a lot of sauces and salsas to get through (some I haven't even written about yet - bad blogger!), but each taste of the homemade stuff reminds us that Summer is coming, and that for the time being we can at least get a hint of sunshine from the pantry.

When it comes to salsas, my mom and I are of the mind that the chunkier it is, the better. Ironically, we don't usually eat salsa with tortilla chips - in fact, our favourite dipper is carrot sticks (but fajitas and tacos get a good dollop too!). Like most things, I favour a good dose of spice in my dip, as long as the peppers aren't so overpowering that I can't taste it! This particular batch really played to my personal tastes, blending fresh Summer tomatoes, four types of pepper and a good whack of garlic into a dippable but still chunky mixture. Not only have we been loving it on our Tex-Mex dinners, but I even incorporated some of it into soup - stay tuned for that one!


Shared with Shaina's "Let's Burn This Candle" and Beat Cancer Recipe Roundup

Whole Wheat Croissants for a #SundaySupper Easter

Sunday mornings, especially Easter Sunday mornings, call for a special treat. Between pancakes, waffles and crepes, our weekend breakfast-brunches always seemed to be carb-heavy, but around Easter (especially if we had a holiday dinner on Good Friday), my Sunday morning treat was a leftover ham sandwich with lots of mustard. Mom (and later, I) would take the cold, sliced ham, cut it into strips and "toast" it in our frying pan - essentially creating bacon but without the grease. Depending on the bread stash we had at home, it would be piled onto crispy-crust kaisers, Texas toast, cinnamon-raisin bread (weird, but it works with the mustard - trust me!) or my favourite, bagel croissants.

What is a bagel croissant? All the good, flaky texture of the croissant, but sturdier and much better for slicing. My personal favourite was poppy-seed, just like the bagel! That said, for straight-up eating, they paled in comparison to the local bakery's homemade croissants that we would get on very special occasions. Those were intensely buttery, flaking at the slightest nudge, and melted in your mouth. Paired with a little bowl of berries and bananas, a cafe au lait (and a cappuccino yoghurt if we had gone to the store recently), it was a very Parisian experience that I just took for granted as a treat!

Around Easter I start thinking of those mornings again, and while croissants are obviously still available, the bakery has shut down and the storebought ones just aren't the same. I knew that there were infinite recipes out there to make your own, but I kept putting it off - they just seemed too finicky! Finally, though, with our turn to host Easter coming around, I bit the bullet and started seriously looking at recipes.

I wanted to make the classic, but with a little bit of a healthier (and more flavourful) twist of whole wheat. Thanks to David Lebovitz, I knew it was possible - but the problem came down to quantity. I wound up combining his fantastic method (step-by-step pictures really helped!) with this one from Zest Daily and a few of my own additions - namely the use of buttermilk and a small portion of shortening mixed with the roll-in butter to minimize oozing. Luckily I chose a fairly cold stretch of the week to get my hands dirty, so the butter stayed (mostly) contained. In any event, they puffed into wonderfully flaky layers with a unique tang, perfect for brunch!

This week's #SundaySupper is celebrating Easter and Passover with a host of treats - all the meals are on the table, including appetizers, desserts and wine too! Alaiyo is our host this week - thanks!

Breakfast/Brunch:

• Colomba Muffins from Manu’s Menu
• Strawberry Amaretto Coffee Cake from Savvy Eats
• Strawberry Lemon and Ginger Scones from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Spinach Bacon Breakfast Cups from Runner’s Tales

Appetizers:

• Smoked Salmon Dip with Greek Yogurt and Capers from Shockingly Delicious
• Colorful Delicious Deviled Easter Eggs from Hot Momma’s Kitchen Chaos
• Butter-Braised Easter Egg Radishes from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Egg Salad Deviled Eggs from Noshing With The Nolands

Savory and Sweet Breads:

• Healthier Hot Cross Buns from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Whole Wheat Croissants from What Smells so Good?
• Hot Cross Pretzels from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Italian Easter Bread from Curious Cuisiniere
• Greek Easter Bread from Hip Foodie Mom
• Garlic and Cheddar Swirled Brioche Rolls from Neighborfood
• Paska Bread from Seduction in the Kitchen

Sides and Salads:

• Aunt Ruthie Mashed Potatoes from Melanie Makes
• Vegetarian Cornbread Stuffing from Pescetarian Journal
• Mixed Greens with Hot Bacon Dressing from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Passover Kugel: Veggie-Style from Take A Bite Out of Boca
• Syrnyk–Ukranian Sweet Easter Cheese from Cupcakes & Kale Chips

Main Dishes:

• Pan Seared Lamb Chops from The Foodie Army Wife
• Roast Leg of Lamb with Parsley Walnut Pesto from The Texan New Yorker
• Italian Easter Torta from La Bella Vita Cucina

Desserts:

• Passover Vegan Lemon Cheesecake from Killer Bunnies, Inc.
• Easter Basket Cupcakes from MealDiva
• Strawberry Crostata with Sweet Almond Glaze from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Layered Chocolate Mousse Cake from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Chocolate Hazelnut Macarons from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Rhubarb Meringue Cake {Rhabarberkuchen} from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
• Lemon Blueberry Basil Cupcakes from Brunch with Joy
• Banana Carrot Cake Bread from Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Individual Cakes with Peanut Butter Whipped Frosting from Momma’s Meals
• Gluten Free Easter Cupcakes from Gluten Free Crumbley
• Lemon Coconut Bars from Magnolia Days
• Lemon Icebox “Pie” from girlichef
• Easter Basket Cupcakes from The Ninja Baker
• Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies from Pies and Plots
• Carrot Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Swirl from Alida’s Kitchen
• Passover Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars from Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Filled Crepes from Try Anything Once Culinary
• Rhubarb Almond Streusel Muffins from Confessions of A Culinary Diva

• Best Wines for Easter/Passover Feast from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter each Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. Check out our #SundaySupper Pinterest board for more fabulous recipes and food photos.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies

Barring allergies, I have yet to find a person who loathes the combination of chocolate and hazelnuts. You may not love Nutella as much as my sister, my stepbrother or I do (we used to eat it from the jar with a spoon, and both my sister and my stepbrother smear thick layers onto their bread in the morning), but you have to admit the rounder, more "earthy" flavour of toasted nuts adds to the richness of chocolate. In particular, I loved the perfect combination of dark chocolate and hazelnuts - each ingredient buffered the other, keeping the mixture in perfect harmony. A jar of dark chocolate hazelnut spread in the house with two dark chocolate fiends (myself and my mom) was definitely a dangerous prospect!

Ironically, the only variation on the chocolate-hazelnut theme I didn't like (and still don't) was actual chunks of nuts in my chocolate. The texture was just too "out there" for me. That said, ground and pasted nuts in my brownies and cookies were A-OK with me. When I got the urge to bake recently, I decided I'd take that theme and run with it, using a vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe and adding the nutty trifecta of toasted hazelnut oil, ground hazelnuts and Frangelico for a wallop of flavour. I cut down on the sugar a tad and used whole grain flours to let the nut flavour shine, adding miniature dark chocolate chips for a grownup sweet treat. The resultant cookie is tender with just a slight chewiness to the edge, peppered with chocolate and rippled with elements of hazelnut in every bite. Whether you've been a fan of the chocolate-hazelnut combination for decades or are a recent convert, you'll be sure to find something to love with these - even more so if you dunk them in chocolate hazelnut milk... yup, I went there!

Samosa Bowl

I love a good samosa. Growing up, one of the teachers in my school (which is still, ironically, my school now that I work there!) would make hundreds of her signature fried parcels for almost every after-school event. On International Day, when each teacher (and a good amount of parents) would bring a dish to share as a fundraiser for the school, you can bet that my tickets (and my samosa-loving dad's too) would be almost entirely dedicated to her all-vegetarian stall.

I've never dared make "proper" samosas before - the pastry seemed too finicky for me to handle properly and then there was the whole "deep fry" thing that I'm scared of. But those cravings can be strong suckers and I found myself jonesing for the richly spiced filling of the snacks I loved years ago. Then it hit me - why not make a "samosa bowl"? Going with the same vein of "burrito bowls" and deconstructed sushi, I could just make the filling, sans frying, and have all the goodness I wanted for myself! I did some Googling and cobbled together a few filling recipes to find one that suited my tastes - lots of roasted cauliflower, the requisite potatoes and peas, garlic and a vast masala of spices made their way into batch number 1, which I gobbled down for dinner. To round out the bowl a bit more, I started adding other diced veggies (like the carrots you can see in the photo below) and crumbled tofu. Once everything cooked together into a lovely golden hue I knew I had my answer - crispy bits of vegetable with sweet peas and a touch of lemony zip. A single serving of crave-busting flavour!

Shared with Gluten Free Fridays