Garlic Parmesan Chicken Bake

My husband and I have just started week 4 of the Plant Paradox.  Overall we've had pretty good success; with my husband being much more successful than I have.  The first few days were extremely hard for me, but we are starting to get into a rhythm.
Thanksgiving was this weekend and we knew it would be hard to follow the plan during this weekend.
So I tried this chicken bake for one of our family visits, and we were able to stay compliant without going hungry.

Ingredients:
10 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1-1/2 tbsp dried basil
1-1/2 tbsp grated Parmesan (or a bit more if you like!)
1-1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
olive oil

1-1/2 cups brussel sprouts, cut in half (or quarters if large)
1 scallion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 lemon

avocado oil for frying


1. Preheat the oven to 450F.
2. Mix the basil, Parmesan, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Add a few drops of olive oil to combine.
3. Trim excess fat around each chicken thigh.  Then gently lift the skin to create a small pocket.  Rub the herb mixture onto each thigh,

under the skin, being gentle now to rip the skin.  Generously sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with salt.
4. Heat a few teaspoons of avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Depending on the size of your skillet, you may have to fry the chicken in batches.  Place the chicken skin-side down for five minutes.  Flip the chicken over and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
5.  Move the chicken to a large baking tray that has been greased, skin side up.  If you are frying in batches, start on the second batch. Otherwise move on the veggies.

Ready to go in the oven

6. When all the chicken has been fried, add all the vegetables to the frying pan and stir to coat in the oil and juices.  Fry for a few minutes until browned and softened.  Add to the pan with the chicken.
7.  Cut the lemon into thirds.  Take the two end pieces and cut into quarters, placing them around the chicken and brussel sprouts.  Take the middle piece and squeeze the juice over the chicken and brussel sprouts.
8.  Bake in the oven, uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.  If it starts to brown too quickly, cover with foil.  When cooked, quickly flip the chicken to get the tops covered in the juices and flip back.  Cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes before serving

.

The final product

Strawberry Cupcakes with Tri-Colour Vanilla Frosting

My eldest's birthday just passed and the theme was unicorns!  This has been a recent obsession in our house so I started looking for unicorn themed ideas for the party.

The unicorn toppers I purchased.

This cookbook is amazing and
never fails me!

I came across these cupcake toppers on Amazon and decided I would bake some cupcakes for the party.  I pulled out my trusty Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book and settled on Strawberry Cupcakes.  Every recipe I have ever tried from this cookbook has turned out amazing and I always get great compliments on them.  The tips and notes she provides in the recipes are always spot on; nothing has every failed.

I loved using this and can't wait
to make more cupcakes just to use this!

I also used her Vanilla Frosting which I divided into 3 bowls and coloured with food colouring.  I used this neat tool from Wilton that lets you pipe 3 differed coloured icing at the same time.  While I was a little wary of it because I've never really piped anything before and this tool had mixed reviews, I gave it a shot and it was really quite awesome.  It does get a little messy, but overall went pretty smoothly.  And they looked positively stunning.  They were a huge hit at the party!  The frosting recipe was not enough to frost all the cupcakes; I needed about 1-1/2 to 1-2/3.  Doubling the recipe will give you plenty to work with.

Strawberry Cupcakes
Makes 34 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour (not self-rising) **
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 large whole eggs plus 1 egg white
1 cup milk
2 cups freshly chopped fresh strawberries (about 20)

Directions:
**If you don't have cake flour, measure out 1/2 cup all-purpose flour.  Remove 1 tbsp and replace it with 1 tbsp. cornstarch.  Give it a quick mix

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Sift together both flours, baking powder and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add whole eggs and the white, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.  Reduce speed to l ow.  Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the milk, and beating until well combined.  Fold in chopped strawberries by hand.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto rack and let cool completely.  Cupcakes can be stored up to 1 day at room temperature in airtight containers.

Fluffy Vanila Frosting
Makes about 4 cups

Here you can see how awesome
it looks with the three colours
piped together!

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to medium.  Add the icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium.  This process should take about 5 minutes.  Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

3. Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth.  If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container.  Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

4. If tinting with food colouring, add a drop at a time and stir with a flexible spatula until well combined before adding more.

Matcha (Green Tea) Ice Cream

I love tea, and matcha tea is one of my favourites.  What's really neat about matcha is that it is ground green tea leaves.  Instead of steeping the leaves as you would with pretty much any other tea, matcha powder is whisked into hot water.  The powder doesn't dissolve; instead it is suspended in the hot water.  This is why if you don't drink the tea right away, the powder will fall to the bottom of your mug and you will need to whisk it again.  Because you are actually ingesting the tea leaves when you drink matcha, you are reaping the health benefits of green tea (like high in antioxidants) in greater amounts.

Matcha will give your ice cream a nice green colour!  There are different grades of matcha powder.  For ice cream you can use a culinary grade, which will not be as expensive as a ceremonial grade for example.

I use an ice cream bowl attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer.  It needs to be placed in the freezer for at least 15 hours prior to using it.  The ice cream mixture itself also needs to be chilled prior to using it; at least 4-8 hours.  And then once it has been churned, the ice cream needs to be placed in the freezer again for another 4-8 hours to firm up.  So the whole process is very slow, but it is so worth it!


Ingredients:
3 tbsp matcha green tea powder, or more to taste
1 cup milk (I used 2%, but whole milk provides a richer flavour)
2 cups heaving whipping cream
3/4 cup - 1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Directions: 

1. Sift matcha powder into 1/2 cup milk and whisk until the powder and milk is combined.  Gradually whisk remaining milk into matcha-milk mixture.

The cooked matcha mixture
cooling to room temperature.

2. Heat whipping cream and matcha-milk mixture in a pot over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally until heated through.  This should take about 5 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk sugar and eggs together.  Pour about 1/2 cup of the hot matcha mixture into egg mixture to temper the eggs; whisk thoroughly.  Add another 1/2 cup of the hot matcha mixture and repeat.

4. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the pot, whisking constantly.  Cook, while occasionally whisking, over medium-low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours, or overnight.

The churned ice cream mixture ready to firm up in the freezer.

6. Prior to pouring the cooled matcha mixture into an ice cream maker, give it a quick stir.  Then pour it into the ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The ice cream has a soft texture
even after being left in the freezer
for 24 hours.  It tastes yummy!

Chicken Curry with Homemade Naan

I watched an episode of Bake with Anna Olson the other day, where she made naan bread.  She is one of my most favourite pastry chefs and every recipe I've ever tried of hers always turns out amazing.  The recipe looked easy enough and I really wanted to make it, so I went on a search for an easy curry recipe.  I've never made a curry before, so that part was a little daunting.  Everything turned out great.
I made the dough earlier in the afternoon so it had time to rise.  As it got closer to dinnertime, I set the rice to cook in our rice cooker and started on the prep for the curry.  As the curry was left to cook for the last 15-20 minutes, I cooked the naan and everything came together perfectly.

Naan 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup yogurt
2-1/4 tsp yeast
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Add the first three ingredients to a large bowl in order.  Next add the flour, reserving 1/4 to 1/2 cup to use when you knead the dough.  Add the salt on top of the flour so it does not come in contact with the yeast.  Lastly add the vegetable oil.
2. Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon until blended.
3. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface to knead, using the reserved flour, until the dough no longer sticks to your hands.  This should take 3-5 minutes in total.
4. Place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it rise for 1 hour.
5. Roll out the naan on a floured work surface.  It will deflate as you start handling it.
6. Cut it into 6-8 pieces; no pre-shaping necessary.  Flatten each piece with a rolling pin to about 8-9" across and 1/4" thick.
7. Put in pan, one at a time, on high heat with no butter or oil.  It will take about 90 seconds on each side; the dough will start to bubble and blister.
8.  Baste with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt to serve.
9.  Roll out the next piece while it cooks, and repeat until all the pieces are done.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
6 scallions
3-4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp vegetable oil
200g tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground ginger
400g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces
100ml Greek yogurt
salt and pepper

cooked rice to serve over

Directions:

1. Thinly slice the scallions, leaving a handful of the green parts for garnish.  Peel and chop the garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes, curry powder, ginger, and cook for 3-4  minutes.  If the pan gets dry, add some water to ensure the spices don't burn.
3. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.  Make sure all the chicken is coated and is starting to brown.
4. Add 1 cup (250 ml) of water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through with no sign of pink juices in the middle of the pieces. 5. At this point you can prepare the rice (my rice cooker takes a while so I actually start it before I star the curry) and/or cook the naan.
5. When the everything is ready and the chicken is cooked, take the curry off the heat.  Stir in the yogurt and season with salt and pepper. Serve the curry over rice with a drizzle of yogurt and the naan bread.

Lemon-Ricotta Biscuits

I seemed to have a lot of ricotta and lemons lying around and I've always loved the combination of the two.  And muffins are a big hit in our house and pretty quick to whip up, so I went on a search for something to bring all these together.

I found this recipe for Giada DeLaurentiis that she bakes in a muffin tin but has the texture of a biscuit. I made some tweaks to fit the ingredients I had and it was delicious. 

Keep in mind that the batter is much thicker than one for muffins and it won't rise as much as a muffin while it bakes, so you can fill the tin up almost to the top. 

These taste heavenly warm, with some butter or jam. 

Ingredients: 
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
zest from two lemons
1 cup ricotta (if you don't have quite enough, you can use some plain yogurt in place)
1 large egg
freshly squeezed lemon juice from one lemon
splash of vanilla

Directions:
1. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.  Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, butter and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in the ricotta.  Next beat in the egg, lemon juice and vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy).
5. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp of sugar.
6. Bake until the muffins become pale golden on top, about 20 minutes.
7. Cool slightly.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Barley "Risotto" with Rosemary Focaccia

My husband loves barley and  always says I don't make it enough.  I'm not sure why that is.  Perhaps it's because the kids don't love it as much as he does or maybe it's the time it takes to make it.  After his request for barley for tonight's dinner, I came up with this after browsing many recipes.  If you have all the veggies chopped and ready to go in advance, the recipe isn't as time-consuming prep-wise.  Whether you use water or stock for this recipe doesn't really matter, as long as you have at least 5 to 6 cups of liquid.  This time I used half water and half chicken broth and also added a chicken bouillon cube for some extra flavour.
This makes a very large batch of barley.  This will easily serve 6 people as a main dish with even some for leftovers.
I paired this with a rosemary focaccia bread that tasted great dipped in this barley (and was the real star for the kids).

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 pkg (227g) sliced cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
1 cup pot barley, rinsed
5-6 cups liquid (water and/or broth)
1 bouillon cube (optional)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 pkg chopped spinach, thawed
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp dried dill weed
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium heat.  Saute the onion for about 5 minutes, until tender but not browned.  Add the mushrooms, stirring occasionally until they release their juices, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute or so.

2. Add the barley and stir to coat.  Add your liquid (start with 5 cups) and soy sauce and bring to a boil; add the bouillon cube if using.    Reduce the heat to low, simmering gently.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice.

3. Add the carrots, celery and dill. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.  Add the spinach and chickpeas, cooking for another 5-10 minutes, until barley and vegetables are tender.  Add more liquid if necessary to ensure the barley doesn't stick.  There should be a small amount of liquid left and the barley should have a bit of a "bite" to it. (If you'd like this "risotto" to have more of a soup-like consistency, add even more liquid [ideally stock for more flavour].) 

4. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper.

Rosemary Focaccia
This is really quick to prepare if you have dough ready to go (homemade or store bought).  The dough recipe below will make two round pizzas or one large rectangular one.  If you are dividing it in half, you can easily refrigerate it overnight or freeze for up to 2 months.  If you are freezing it for later use, wrap the dough in plastic wrap first and then place in a freezer bag.  To thaw, unwrap the dough and place it on a plate for about 3 hours to let it reach room temperature.  Before using the dough make sure it is at room temperature. 

Ingredients:
2-1/4 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1-1/4 cups warm water
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
3-1/2 cups flour

Focaccia topping
1 tbsp cornmeal
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh rosemary
coarse sea salt
black pepper

Directions:
1. In a bowl put the water, sugar and yeast and let it stand until foamy (about 10 minutes). 
2. Add the salt, olive oil and flour and mix using the dough hook until it comes together.   I find it best to knead the dough with my hands for a bit to form it into a smooth ball. 
3. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise until it is doubled in size, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down.  Knead into a smooth cylinder and divide it in half.  Knead each half to form 2 smooth balls, dusting with flour if sticking.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
5. To make one round rosemary focaccia, you will use one ball.  Lightly grease a round pizza tray and sprinkle with corn meal.  Place the dough on the prepared sheet and stretch the dough from the center outward to the edges of the pan.  (If the dough is too tight, let it rest for another 10 minutes before trying again.)  Cover the flattened dough with a damp kitchen towel and let rise for 15 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 450F.   Make dimples in the dough with your fingertips.  Drizzle with olive oil and spread around.  Sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. 
7. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Cut the focaccia into pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.

Baci di Ricotta (from Nigella Lawson)

When the image for these "ricotta kisses" came up in my Instagram feed, I saved it and knew I'd be returning to it.  Easter weekend provided me with the perfect opportunity to make this lovely dessert.
I did a trial run the night before for my family and the kids ate them all up!  So I doubled the recipe to make for our family Easter get together.  I received many compliments and this recipe will become one of my go-to's.  It was fast and easy to put together; the only downside is the time spent frying the batter, but really it is so worth it.  They taste great the next day as well; if they get soggy put them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp them up again (but really they taste great either way)!

This recipe makes about 30 balls and the recipe can easily be doubled.

Ingredients:
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
vegetable oil or corn oil for frying
2 tsp icing sugar

Directions:

1. Beat the ricotta and eggs until smooth.  Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla extract.  Beat until smooth.

2. Fill a wide, shallow pan with about 1" of oil.  Heat the pan until a small bit of batter sizzles when dropped into the oil.

3. Drop rounded teaspoons of the ricotta batter into the pan, about six at a time.  In her recipe, Nigella says not to make them too big or fry too many at a time, and this is a good piece of advice.  The batter will puff up when cooking and they fry up pretty quickly.  As they turn golden brown, flip them over and leave for a minute or so on the other side.

4.  Place the cooked baci di ricotta on paper towels to remove someof the oil.  Pile the balls onto a plate in a pyramid shape and sprinkle with a thick layer of icing sugar  They taste best eaten right away!

Original recipe can be found here: Nigella's Baci di Ricotta

Rainbow Cupcakes

Our children's daycare does an activity called Toddlers in the Kitchen.  The kids get to make something and then bring it home.  It is very popular and the baked goods turn out pretty awesome each time.

This time they made Rainbow Cupcakes, which of course made my eldest a little jealous.  So I promised we would attempt to make the recipe another time.  This happened to occur over the March Break.  And of course right as we were colouring the batter, the daycare called to say the little one was ill and needed to be picked.  Needless to say, this very time consuming recipe took even more time than initially anticipated.  The end result was a beautiful cupcake with a dense texture and not too sweet taste.  We topped the cupcakes with a vanilla frosting from Martha Stewart that is always a hit!

Ingredients

 3 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1-3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups whole milk
Food colouring (red, orange, yellow, green, blue purple)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time.  Then add the vanilla and mix until combined.
4. Alternately add the flour mixture and milk to butter mixture.
5. Divide the batter into six bowls and dye each with food colouring. (Alternately, transfer each colour to sealable plastic bags and pipe the batter into the cups.
7. Bake the cupcakes for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Fluffy Vanilla Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1-2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to medium.  Add the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate the frosting, then return to medium.  This process should take about 5 minutes.  Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth.  If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container.  Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
4. To tint with food colour, add a drop at a time and stir with a flexible spatula until well combined before adding more.

  

 

We enjoyed our creations over a warm cup of tea!

Lemon Pudding Cake

I love just about everything lemon.  It adds such a nice flavour to things.  So when I came across this Lemon Pudding Cake, I had to make it!  I love how it "magically" separates to be a cake on top and a pudding on top.  I made this to bring to a dinner at a friend's house and it was a hit!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs at room temperature, separated
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter, melted
1-1/4 cups milk or half-and-half
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Butter a 9" square cake pan.
2. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt.  In another bowl, beat the egg yolks until smooth.  Stir in the lemon juice and zest, vanilla, butter and milk (or half-and-half).  Add the flour mixture to the egg yolks. 
3. Beat the egg whites to form soft peaks.  Gradually beat in the 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff, moist peaks form.  Fold a small amount of the egg whites into the lemon mixture first, then the remaining amount.
4. Pour into the prepared pan.  Set the pan into a large pan filled with one inch of hot water.  Bake for 40-50 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.