Two Kinds of Crunchy

I've come to the conclusion that, at a bakesale, there are two very distinct and very stubborn types of people present in any given sampling of people. There are the brownie and cake people, and there are the cookie people. I suppose if you want you can throw in the "tart" people too, but they generally will defer to one side or the other when forced to choose. Then of course, those two groups are subdivided further, forming those that like "crunchy things" in their treats and those who, like my sister and I, prefer their sweet noshings au naturel.

I used to think most people fell into my own camp - the cakey-pure-preferably chocolate group - but apparently I was quite mistaken! Especially when it came to pleasing my classmates, With few exceptions, I would get requests for "a banana cake, or something, with nuts", or a crispy cookie-like treat, over the most delicious plain brownies I could churn out. Even crunchy oatmeal-raisin-walnut cookies even went quickly, which is odd to a girl whose oatmeal cookies better be chewy and packed with chocolate chips and plump raisins. Dry raisins? Deal killer.

My mom's office is a little more "forgiving" in their clientele's palates, luckily. I know that generally, as long as it's not pie (apparently they are not pie people!) I can tote or send in anything with a decent dose of sugar and it will be decimated by the next morning. Like me, anything with chocolate is a bonus too, but they're equally happy with something new and potentially untried that appears in the break room. Apparently, they like being guinea pigs taste testers!

Well, fine then, I figured - let's test out the crunchy factor with both camps of people: cake and cookie! I had a small box of both Kashi's "honey almond flax" and "toasted berry crisp" granolas in my pantry, left over from the Food Show back in March (and no it wasn't 4 months old - these recipes were actually made in late April! Can you tell I'm a bit behind?), and it was mighty crunchy! I also had some shredded carrots taking up space in my freezer from last year's harvest, and with no requests for carrot cake in sight I figured I should probably find a way to use it too!

Since carrot cake always seems to have something crunchy in it - usually nuts of some kind or another - I figured that an almond cereal would fit right in! Looking for something "unique" to use everything in, I stumbled onto a RecipeZaar recipe for something called "Indian Carrot Bread" which was unlike any recipe I had ever seen before! This one had cooked carrot shreds and cornmeal in it to add texture and flavour, and though there weren't any nuts or crunch factors at all, I figured I'd chuck in some cereal and go with it!More modifications ensued, with more carrots and a good glug of almond milk instead of plain. The resulting  (and surprisingly low-fat) concoction was very much a cake - I would never have termed it a "bread" even though it's baked in a loaf pan - and was so insanely moist that I almost destroyed it when I turned it out onto it's cooling rack. I would say fork-eating this is essential, though frosting isn't - extra plus!

Crunchy "Indian" Carrot Loaf Cake
Serves 12
3 cups grated carrots
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup fine cornmeal
1 1/3 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 cup flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup Kashi Honey Almond Flax granola (or your favourite granola)

1. Preheat oven to 325F, grease a loaf pan.
2. In a saucepan, combine carrots and water.
3. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes - until the liquid has almost evaporated completely and carrots are falling apart.
4. Reduce heat to low and mix in the honey, brown sugar, cornmeal and milk.
5. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
6. Stir in the flours, baking soda and baking powder, then fold in the granola.
7. Place on the bottom rack of the oven and bake 1 hour 25 minutes - 1 1/2 hours, until a tester yields moist crumbs but not batter.
8. Cool in the pan 15 minutes before gently unmoulding.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 140.0
Total Fat: 1.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 51.1 mg
Total Carbs: 30.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.9 g
Protein: 3.6 g

For the cookie camp, I wound up defaulting to my mom's tried-and-true "crunchy" oatmeal cookie as a base recipe. Apparently she has a "chewy" version stashed somewhere too, but in all my searching I have been unable to find a trace of it... I'm starting to think it's a fable. At any rate, I halved the recipe, using the berry granola instead of the oats and Demerara sugar instead of her standard "golden". Still fresh off my nutrition-school high, I also added some currants, protein packed, dry-toasted soy "nuts" and a bit of textured vegetable protein crumbles.

Why? Well, honestly, I just wanted to see if they worked in a cookie application! Not adding any flavour of their own, they easily paired with the granola as a kind of "cereal", even toasting crispy in the oven while keeping the centre of the cookies from becoming rock hard. Since the nutrition profile of TVP was pretty rosy vitamin, iron, fibre and protein-wise (being formed out of de-fatted soy flour, after all) I would definitely try a half and half ratio with oats in "breakfast" cookies or power bars too (huh, would you look at that... I did that already!)! In fact, I know it's a great addition to oats for breakfast as well - the blandness really helps carry other flavours, and when you're battling with nausea or just not being hungry it's a great "sneak-in" - even when you know it's there!

So that was your nutritionist talking... now the baker in me takes over. Eat cookies, be happy, try new things, never apologize. Especially when the results disappear in a flash!

Crunchy Kashi Cookies
Makes 18
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup Demerara sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup Kashi Toasted Berry Crisp (or granola)
1/4 cup TVP granules, dry
1 1/2 cups currants, soaked in hot water and drained
1/2 cup toasted soynuts

1. Preheat oven to 350F, grease two cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl cream shortening and sugars.
3. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.
4. Add flour, baking soda, pie spice and salt, stir in until just blended.
5. Fold in the cereal, TVP, currants and soynuts.
6. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely on sheets.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 189.7
Total Fat: 7.3 g
Cholesterol: 11.8 mg
Sodium: 14.8 mg
Total Carbs: 27.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.0 g
Protein: 4.1 g

Lasagne Day

My mom and I used to make lasagne for our family once every few months. It was a kind of ritual for us - from fighting to keep most of the noodles intact from box to pot to strainer to pan, to mom's occasional half-hearted swats at me as I'd sneak pieces of pasta out of the colander or shreds of cheese out from under the grater, to finally the breathless awe of the family when my mom finally pulled out the Pyrex dish from the oven and cut that first, cheesy piece. Even though I was a part of the process of making the dish, for the longest time, I never truly understood what lasagne was, in essence. Because it's more than just a melange of pasta, sauce and cheese that makes the meal... it's the melange of love, learning, teaching, laughter and patience too. A lasagne put together by a cook or a family that loves the end recipient always has that "little bit more" to it than even the fanciest truffle and foie gras stuffed concoction - it sounds corny but the feelings of the cook season the dish more than salt ever will.

So today, being National Lasagne Day, I'm sharing with you a recipe by one of the most dedicated family men I have the privilege of knowing: Darryl Koster of Buster Rhino's BBQ. His recipe is unique in it's short list of ingredients (including his secret Southern brisket!), yet it's unusual components perfectly mesh into a delicious, rich, cheesy whole. If you're fortunate enough to live near an area that carries his sauce (or even better, his establishment's meat!) you definitely should check it out!

Do you have a favourite family recipe you enjoy cooking with each other, or for each other?

Buster's BBQ Lasagne
Serves 10
1 tbsp olive oil
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
6 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1lb cooked, Southern BBQ Beef Brisket, chopped
6 cups spaghetti sauce (Darryl uses homemade, for NI purposes I used Prego traditional)
12 oz fresh Mozzarella, shredded
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb lasagne noodles, cooked just shy of al dente and drained

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Heat oil in a medium sized pan.
3. Add onion and cook, stirring, until translucent.
4. Add mushrooms and pepper, continue cooking until the onions are caramelized.
5. Stir in red wine to deglaze the pan and set aside.
6. Coat the bottom of a 9 x 13" dish with sauce.
7. Layer noodles, sauce, vegetables, brisket, mozzarella cheese and Romano cheese until everything has been used.
8. The top of the lasagne should be 1 layer of noodles, a thin layer of sauce, and all the Parmesan cheese.
9. Bake for 45 minutes or until a nice brown crust has formed on the top, rotating the pan 1/2 way through the baking time.
10. Let rest 10 minutes before cutting.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 673.9
Total Fat: 27.7 g
Cholesterol: 97.6 mg
Sodium: 1,627.0 mg
Total Carbs: 62.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 6.1 g
Protein: 39.0 g

It's 5 o'clock Somewhere

Sometimes I find that I have stuff in my pantry that I never remember buying, nor would I ever have and intended use for. Usually, it's stuff that won't necessarily go bad, or will store in the freezer until some moment of brilliance occurs and suddenly it all makes sense. But there's only so much freezer space that I'm allotted, and quite frankly, I've hit the limit. I'm a definite hoarder. But as they say, acknowledging you have the problem is step one to recovery, right? How perfect that my stashing habit's "therapy" involves baking - and lots of it!

One of the goodies I found when I was cleaning out my pantry and consolidating as much as I could in it was this jar of Sable & Rosenfeld's "Tipsy" chocolate sauce. I can only think that it was probably one of the items in a corporate gift basket my stepfather recieved at some function or Christmas get-together, since aside from downtown Toronto I've never seen the brand anywhere, and I certainly can't partake in a tasting due to my alcohol intolerance! However I wound up with the jar, I had it, and even though there was no marked expiry date I was fairly sure "indefinite" was not applicable. Even with the addition of booze in the mixture, I wanted to kill it before it had the potential to do any killing of it's own - and judging by the alcohol shelf-life guide it was probably best that way.

So, I had my "star ingredient". And, judging by the fact that I had a lunch date on the horizon, I even had some eaters lined up! Now all I needed was a recipe... or at least a theory. Something to jump off of!

Enter the notion of the "crazy cake". It's not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination - it's a go-to vegan cake in it's purest form, and eggless in any incarnation, using vinegar and baking soda to tenderize and leaven like an egg would. Usually water or milk is the preferred "liquid" in the mixture, though I know for chocolate recipes I love using coffee instead! Why couldn't the same basic formula be used to use up the sauce? It was fairly liquid, definitely chocolatey, and would add a whole world of richness due to both the cocoa and cappuccino elements it had. Plus, as a crazy cake, I wouldn't be bound to making a frosting - which I have to admit I abhor.

So I did it, adding a touch of extra milk to make up for the remaining liquid needed in the recipe, using balsamic vinegar instead of regular white, and using both butter and brown sugar for flavour. As it baked, I wondered if I had made a mistake... it smelled incredibly alcoholic, and coffee-like - not a bad thing necessarily, but the smell (at least to me) was a bit much. Thankfully the aroma did dissipate after a while, and the flavour of coffee did nothing but create a mocha nuance that the recipients at my mom's office adored! I'm thinking that if you can't find, or didn't want to buy, the particular kind of sauce I used, a jar of thick hot fudge sauce (not the kind in the bottles, though) with a few shots of Kahlua in it would suffice. Or you can always make your own sauce and add the booze... if you really wanted to make the cake!

"Tipsy" Double Chocolate Cake
Serves 12
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp vanilla

280 ml (1 cup + 3 tbsp) Sable & Rosenfeld Tipsy Chocolate & Cappuccino Liqueur Sauce (1 jar)
1/3 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 330F. Grease a 9" pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add vinegar and vanilla, beating well.
4. Add half the dry mixture to the bowl, blending well, then add the chocolate sauce and milk and beat in.
5. Add the remaining dry mixture and mix well.
6. Bake for 45 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before turning out.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 208.9
Total Fat: 5.9 g
Cholesterol: 10.7 mg
Sodium: 64.9 mg
Total Carbs: 39.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.7 g
Protein: 3.9 g

The Sweetness of Corn

Summer can be a fickle thing for us gardeners. On one hand, it's full of days with humid temperatures in the high 30's where the thought of going out into the sun is more anathema than bliss. On the other, there are unbearable periods of nothing but cold, dreary rain that turn fields to mud and prevent any sort of weeding, harvesting or pruning. There are precious few days that are perfect for growing are pounced on, allowing us to get some good, honest dirt under our nails and produce fresh, delicious goodies in our own backyard.

Even when the sun is scorching, beating down on us gardeners and farmers, there is the comfort in knowing that all the heat is working to enhance the sweetness of those tomatoes, bringing those beans to bear and - possibly one of the best gifts of Summer sun - caramelizing the kernels of corn growing in the local fields. There's nothing sweeter (literally) than biting into a fresh cob of locally grown and harvested corn - if you're lucky a super-delicious variety like 'Honey & Cream', 'Lancelot' or (my personal favourite) 'Silver Queen'. Good, fresh corn will get even the sweatiest cooks into the kitchen, boiling water for their score, and even though snacking on an ice cream cone would be a more logical idea I can't say I'm alone in craving a hot, roasted ear when I'm at the CNE at the end of August.

And as if the fresh sugary kernels weren't awesome enough on their own - or perhaps if in a moment of desperation you turn to frozen, canned or *gasp* out of season grocery store fare, there is always cake.

Yes, corn cake, not bread. There is nothing bready about this tasty, buttermilk and vanilla round, except perhaps the single cup of all-purpose flour to bind the works together. The last dregs of a bag of frozen corn discovered in our basement's chest freezer - admittedly not the tastiest kernels of the year, but passable, formed one leg of a corn "tripod", bolstered on either side by cornmeal and corn oil. Semolina flour - the addition that first drew me to Jude's recipe on Apple Pie, Patis & Pate - brings a new texture to the fold as well, and adds a brilliant yellow colour! The result is nicely sweet without being - pardon the expression - candy-corn like, and a unique offering on the dessert table at a BBQ or served with fresh berries and whipped cream to crown off a delicious Summer meal.

But you will have to sacrifice some corn for this. So pick some that you don't particularly adore straight off the cob, dust off the can opener or peer into your freezer's depths. You might be surprised!

Semolina Corn Cake
Serves 14
1 cup fine-ground cornmeal

1 cup + 3 tbsp buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs
6 tbsp corn oil
3/4 cup semolina flour
1 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup corn

1. Preheat the oven to 375F, grease a 9" springform pan.
2. In a large, microwave-safe bowl, combine cornmeal and buttermilk, stirring.
3. Microwave on HI for 30 seconds, stir and allow to sit 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla, eggs and oil.
4. In another bowl combine semolina flour, regular flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Stir into the cornmeal mixture until just blended, then fold in the corn.
5. Bake 35 minutes, until tests done.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 208.2
Total Fat: 7.6 g
Cholesterol: 31.2 mg
Sodium: 35.8 mg
Total Carbs: 30.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g
Protein: 4.9 g

Medieval Maslin

Have you had your maslin yet today?

Sounds like a kind of fabric, I know - but apparently rye bread, at least how I'm used to eating it, is not technically "rye bread". It is maslin bread. True rye loaves, as well they should be given their name, are supposed to be made of all rye flour or rye meal, leavened exclusively with sourdough and, as you might expect, form a dense, dark (almost black) brick of a loaf perfect for topping with creamy cheese and marmalade. True rye was the bread of the "peasants", helped along by the grain's capability to grow in even peat bogs and the bread's extraordinary shelf life - so while everyone would technically have a loaf for their table, those with the dark, everlasting loaves knew their place as the proverbial "bottom crust". The rich, hoity-toity class got to munch on slices of manchet - essentially today's "French bread" that was as pale as their powdered faces.

But what of the tiny pool of citizens in the Medieval "middle class", then? Well, they certainly weren't about to be allowed in line at the boulangerie for a manchet loaf by the aristocracy. As you can imagine, though, subjecting themselves to the lowly coarse grained ryes. So, unable to afford large amounts of white flour, and unwilling to sup the same as the plebians, the "mid-range" merchants mixed the two, sometimes with other flours such as barley, and formed maslin bread. A few other seeds and spices wove their way into the recipe as money and availability of those ingredients grew, and the lighter colour and texture of the bread became recognized as the "better" rye bread. Different incarnations of maslin began winding up in more sandwich shops and delis as the rye (and general grain bread) trend grew, wrapping around pastrami and encompassing all colours from almost white to nutty brown to swirls of both.

So now, maslin is what you will generally be buying when you shop for "rye bread" - most are still sourdough or at least sponge-leavened to compensate for rye's somewhat complicated habit of breaking down gluten long after wheat's enzymes have died off.  Flavour-wise, you'll usually find caraway seeds lacing the loaves, unless the label specifies it's unseeded. Fennel seeds might make an appearance too, as will molasses (or caramel colour), cocoa powder and/or coffee to make the lighter crumb of the partial rye nice and dark... hinting at the wholesome roots of the true rye without providing the same concentration of fibre and it's accompanying density.  

So when I set about to make my maslin loaf for my mom's weekly nosh, I broke out the whole nine yards - plus some. A good dose of dark rye flour and a rye-based sourdough kicked off the flavour profile, which I built on with both fennel and caraway seed, before adding a bit of crunch from poppy seeds and nutrition from wheat germ, flaxseed and cooked, toasted buckwheat (AKA kasha). Ground espresso beans and a touch of cocoa powder helped out the colour, as did a bittersweet dose of molasses and a rich buckwheat honey. Not really trusting the strength of my starter,  The resulting loaf rose well but stayed moist and slightly dense, slicing beautifully and apparently forming a delicious bed for butter and honey. You'll have to let me know what you think, and check out the rest of the submissions to Susan's Yeastspotting event on Friday.

Maslin Rye Bread

Makes 1 loaf, 16 slices

1 tsp instant yeast

1 2/3 cups rye flour

1 cup whole wheat bread flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

2 tbsp poppy seeds

1 tbsp vital wheat gluten

1 tbsp fennel seed

1 tbsp caraway seed

1/2 tsp espresso-grind coffee

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 vitamin C tablet, finely ground

1 cup active sourdough starter

1/4 cup warm water

1/3 cup warm milk

2 tbsp buckwheat honey

1/4 cup molasses

1 tbsp melted butter

1/4 cup kasha (toasted buckwheat), cooked

1/2 tsp salt

1. In a large bowl, combine yeast, flours, wheat germ, flaxseed, poppy seeds, gluten, fennel seed, caraway seed, coffee, cocoa powder and vitamin C powder, whisking well.
2. In a large jug or bowl, whisk together sourdough starter, water, milk, honey and molasses.
3. Add to the dry ingredients, begin mixing on low speed (if using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook).
4. After 4 minutes, add butter, kasha and salt.
5. Continue mixing for 15 minutes, until supple.
6. Place into a greased bowl, cover and allow to rest 40 minutes.
7. Deflate dough and knead 1 minute.
8. Re-cover and allow to rest 40 minutes.
9. Deflate dough, shape into a loaf and place into a greased loaf pan.
10. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
11. Preheat oven to 375F.
12. Bake loaf 20 minutes, then cover top with foil and bake a further 20 minutes.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 148.8

Total Fat: 2.9 g

Cholesterol: 2.3 mg

Sodium: 10.8 mg

Total Carbs: 27.8 g

Dietary Fiber: 6.2 g

Protein: 5.8 g