Exotic Blackberry Jam - Toast Topper #88

This blackberry jam is flavoured with orange flower water and wildflower honey with a hint of cloves. Its a super special and not too sweet spread for your morning toast!

 

 

We are jam fiends around here - probably due to the amount of bread I bake! This year, as with every year, I wind up debating whether or not to properly can my batches of jam, because while they last longer (and are easier to gift), the water-bathing is often time and space consuming in our small, shared kitchen! That said, I do try to suck it up at least one day and process all the jams for the coming year - including this one that I first tried last year. It turned out to be a sleeper hit with everyone, so I was requested to make it again! This time, I simply refrigerated the jars because any I give away can be refrigerated within a few hours and the rest will be eaten in a few months (this jam will keep at least 4 months in the fridge if near the back and tightly lidded).

Unlike many "berry" jams, this one keeps the seeds in (our personal preference of course). You can certainly puree and strain the berries if you want / need this seedless though! The secret was the combination of honey, lime juice and orange flower water, which elevated the berries without overpowering their flavour. With less sugar than a "usual" jam, the fruit flavour was more prominent as well, which is what I, at least, look for in a Toast Topper. If there is any left over (if), I plan to make cookies with it in the middle or mix it into buttercream to top cupcakes!

Cranberry-Coconut Granola Bars

These Cranberry-Coconut Granola Bars are a delicious snack for after school and since the recipe serves a crowd its great for playdates or parties too!

While I am the first person to admit we have no clue what September is going to hold in terms of school, I do know that fall is around the corner and in some way shape or form kids will be in need of snacks. Depending on where you are, nuts of any kind are a no-go in the lunchbox, making many store-bought granola bars verboten. Those that are "school safe" can also be astronomically high in sugar, salt and fat - and since we all sit way more than we should (even those live wires you see bouncing off the walls), a healthier alternative is generally preferable.

Interestingly enough (for me at least) this recipe was one our school made for our Thanksgiving lunch's "dessert" last year. We always try to get the kids involved with an aspect of the holiday meals, and being the Home Ec teacher at least one class gets me to incorporate the recipe into the curriculum! Given that we were in a totally different mindset last year, it was so easy to make this with the kids, since there was no boiling the sugars or sharp implements involved. What they (and I) liked the best was pressing the mixture onto the sheet tray - them because they got to show off how strong they were, and me because it minimized my contact with the coconut (ironically, the only "nut" we are allowed at school I am allergic to!). Even though the students were pretty young (grades 1-3), the recipe also allowed us to get lessons on fractions, states of matter, food science and even history in without being forced to sit in front of a blackboard (did I just say blackboard? I must be showing my age!).

The bars were crunchy, but not hard, and if we hadn't been serving them at the lunch I would have wrapped them individually in foil so the students could have a portable snack for after school. With no oil, these are low in fat while being high in fibre, and while there is a good amount of sugar you could probably cut the granulated stuff down a little bit if you like. I wouldn't cut it too much because that sugar's melting and re-crystallizing is what helps the bars hold together and get crisp! The recipe is gluten-free as written as well, and easily veganized with ground flax for the egg and using maple syrup or agave (or more corn syrup) for the honey. Speaking of the corn syrup, this is not the HFCS that was a buzzword many years ago - this is your standard Karo, which while still invert sugar, is not the devil of the food industry. The corn syrup and honey maintain the "chew" of the bars, which was the only kind of granola bar I ever liked! In terms of add-ins, try dried cherries and pumpkin seeds, or dried blueberries and almonds (if allowed wherever you're eating the bars, of course!). The base recipe works for so many variations!

 

Gnocchi with Caramelized Onion, Duck and Mushroom Gravy

Sauteed homemade gnocchi gets topped with a rich caramelized onion, duck and mushroom gravy. Paired with roasted vegetables (from last night's roast duck) it is a hearty, filling meal for N after a long day!

Is it seriously almost September? While I haven't set foot in a (physical) classroom since the beginning of March, I feel like I never stopped working between remote teaching and remote university courses. However, the calendar doesn't lie, and while it isn't cold yet, we seem to be settling into the comfort-food mode faster than ever around here.

 

The last time N came over, I asked him if there was anything in particular he wanted for dinner. He absolutely loves duck, and while I couldn't find a duck breast at the store I did come away with a whole bird for a decent price and roasted it on a bed of veggies for one night's dinner. Being, well, me, I had planned for leftovers by making the gnocchi I posted yesterday and picking up a handful of ingredients with the idea to make a caramelized onion and mushroom sauce of some kind. I am a sucker for caramelized onions and mushrooms of all kind, so my brain went on a single track to those flavours! After running the idea past N (he loves French onion soup so he jumped on it) I started thinking of flavours - the thyme I used in the roast duck was mirrored in the gravy with a little rosemary to offset the mushrooms. A little honey amplified the sweetness of the onions while smoked paprika added smokiness that bacon would add (I didn't have any and it would have been too fatty for this recipe anyway). To thicken the gravy, I used a staple in my (and my mom's and my grandma's) pantry called Veloutine, which is essentially an instant starch thickener made by Knorr. If you can't find it (I only found it on the Canadian Amazon site), a cornstarch slurry would work fine! The resulting sauce/gravy is thick, glossy and a perfect foil for the crisp gnocchi.

A few notes for those wanting to make this like I did. I highly recommend you start with a roast duck with plenty of salt, pepper and thyme over a bed of hearty vegetables like carrots and parsnips (even a utility duck will work for this purpose, and they are cheap!). After the duck finished roasting, I strained all the juices into a glass measuring cup and refrigerated it. The creamy, soft white fat rose to the top in a disc which I removed and used part of for the gravy, and the concentrated, almost gelatinous liquid on the bottom became the duck stock when mixed with a little water. Of course, if you are using a cooked duck breast (or another game bird) and don't have access to these flavourful ingredients, I would suggest either store-bought duck fat and a rich chicken bone broth or, in a pinch, butter and bone broth. If you only have chicken stock, I suggest simmering it with dried mushrooms and a scoop of collagen powder (if you have it) for an hour and straining it to add some rich flavour.

Also, if gluten is a problem, the sauce is completely gluten-free - swap in your favourite starch (polenta or mashed potatoes are always good) or use gluten free gnocchi!

 

Cheese and Potato Gnocchi

A bunch of pillowy gnocchi get an extra boost of protein and tenderness from pureed cottage cheese and a couple scoops of @nakednutrition Naked Rice protein powder. A quick 12 minute par-bake in a 450F oven sets the outsides so they don't fall apart in storage or the cooking process.

 

 

Some days inspiration comes out of the blue. I was planning sides for a roast duck planned for one of the nights N would be over (he loves when I roast it like this on a bed of veggies) and realized there was no plan for leftovers... sacrilege! However, I did have... some ingredients on hand, none of which were enough for a side dish for more than one person. I immediately thought of making a duck gravy to top a starch, namely potatoes, since I remembered the days of Thanksgiving leftovers prepared just like that. However, the heat and humidity had rendered all but one potato useless, so I immediately thought of my fallback plan - gnocchi!

For this batch I was also lucky enough to be given a carton of no-name cottage cheese that my sister bought but didn't like the taste of - when pureed, it was ricotta-smooth in texture and worked identically to the Italian cheese in the recipe! A tiny squeeze of lemon juice added the light tang ricotta normally has, and I added a bit of extra salt and some pepper to boost the flavour as well. In addition to the flour, I added in two scoops of the Naked Rice protein powder I had on hand, which not only added nutrition but kept the dough tender (not chewy like the gluten-heavy gnocchi can be). After mixing, I immediately rolled and cut out the dough and gave it a par-bake to help it hold it's shape - a step that once I learned it I will never forget! Cooked and cooled, the pillows were packed up in a ziploc and stored in the fridge for the three days till I needed it - any longer and I would have frozen the trays before bagging!

The best part about this recipe, for me, was that it made the perfect portion for 4 people as part of a meal. Not only did N have dinner one night (recipe forthcoming!) but he had enough leftovers for the next few days after adding a fresh salad or some steamed broccoli!

 

(Almost) Doubletree Cookies

I finally got around to making a week batch of the infamous Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies! I made a few variations on the original, namely veganizing them, but I also used chopped chocolate instead of the chips and pecans instead of walnuts because it's what I had on hand. They are a perfect mix of crisp and chewy with great flavour and texture!

 

While I've never been to a DoubleTree hotel in my life, I am no stranger to the knowledge that they offer fresh baked cookies on arrival. This fact alone would make me want to stay there - not because I could eat them (cookies are, unfortunately, not on my body's "do" list) but because I do the same thing here when we have guests. Whether it is a large family gathering (and I mean large - Italian families are crazy!) or simply my grandma, N or my sister's boyfriend D, there is a large chance that some form of homemade goodie will be waiting for them. It simply seems like the right thing to do!

 

While N definitely prefers peanut butter based cookies (or cinnamon cakes), my grandma is definitely one for the more classic flavours. The original cookie recipe that I found online (then rediscovered in a scaled down format) met the criteria for a classic cookie (yes, like my mom used to make) but with enough of a twist with the lemon juice and cinnamon. I set about making this batch a wee bit healthier, though, since while cookies are a treat there's no reason you can't boost flavour and nutrition - plus I was out of eggs and butter thanks to a batch of bread I whipped up the day before. So veganizing the cookie happened as a result, but I also used a touch of whole wheat flour for a bit of extra depth in the flavour department. Because you can never have enough chocolate, I chopped up a bar of my favourite kind, adding the tiny little shards into the dough as well like chocolate confetti! Pecans were always a natural choice for me, as they are my mom's and grandma's favourite nut, and we always have some on hand. 

While you can certainly bake these cookies right away, time got the best of me and I had to stick the dough in the fridge for an hour while I tended to other things. That said, like most cookies (and all those with whole grains), these definitely benefited from the chill time - the dough was thoroughly hydrated and the chocolate had solidified after the heat of the kitchen. When baked, the cookies were thin, with crisp edges and a chewy middle studded with the pecans. The aroma was pure home, and when my grandma walked in she commented how wonderful it smelled!