raw apple cake

I needed to bring a dessert offering for a summer BBQ, so I hit the interwebs. Looking through my bookmarks, I found an apple cake recipe on Simply Recipes that I took note of at one point. Looking around the kitchen pantry, I was pretty sure I had everything, so the quick decision was made!

I really liked this cake. I used granny smith, golden delicious and fuji's for my filling, making sure to leave the pieces on the larger side. This way, in the middle of enjoying the soft cake, you were hit with appley goodness.

The best part about this cake, being in a bundt pan, was the ease of transportation and serving. Throw the entire thing in my trusty cake holder and allow the indentations in the side to serve as guidelines for people to pick a large or small slice. Genius, I know! The cake went over with adults and children alike, but I'm not sure my glaze set right. Oh well, it's all a memory now as I go back through photo's.

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question for everyone - to wash or not

I'm curious to hear your opinions on fruit and vegetable washing. I come across plenty of articles online about this topic and the consensus seems - wash your produce. So do you wash your apples? Wash and peel carrots? Lettuce? Do you wash regularly, or let a peach sneak through once in a while? Do you live on the edge and eat your grapes without washing them? Let me know!

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apple tart

I was out and about for supper this past Saturday, when I realized I was supposed to be at a house party. Things wouldn't be so bad, but everyone was bringing food and I'd forgotten all about what I was taking. With dessert being a fairly quick and almost fail safe option, I figured something sweet would be perfect as most guests would have eaten by this point.

Remembering a simple and quick apple tart recipe I've been meaning to try, I utilized some puff pastry in the fridge and before you know it, Voila! I cored and sliced 2 apples (a golden delicious and a pink lady) and mixed them with the juice of 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I let this mingle for a few minutes while I prepped the puff pasty. Lining everything up in the center, I popped it into the oven and 20 minutes later, it was done. I garnished it with some icing sugar as I left the door.

It was a huge success and while I sliced it crosswise into 12-15 pieces, only a few of the 50 guests were able to get it. All the edible treats were being judged by a secret panel (for a whimsical prize), and I overheard I lost points for bringing something so good without enough. Oh well!

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rhubarb cake

I ended up putting together this cake after harvesting some rhubarb a few days back. Instead of cooking the rhubarb down, I sliced it really thin so there were coins of it throughout. Delicious and light without an over the top rhubarb profile; a big success at the homestead. I have a feeling this cake recipe may not even need a fruit addition, as it was super tasty on its own.

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bran muffins

I'm fairly certain most people have a favorite bran muffin recipe. They seem to be one of those 'regular rotation' muffins in many households, with most everyone's mom having a 4x6 recipe card tucked away somewhere. I've even known quite a few people who make them by the bucket, as the batter keeps quite well in the fridge. Me, well, I've always had a soft spot for the recipe on the back of my bran package. It's straight forward, and I never have to go looking for my mother's precious cards (I do need to transfer those one day).


Sometimes I bake them up as is, other times I'll throw in some raisins. I think over the years I've just about conquered the bite sized dried fruit market in my bran muffins. From blueberries to cranberries to wolfberries, and everything in-between. I rarely chop up bigger fruits like dried apricots and plums, but when I received a package of medjool dates from Martha's Gardens in Yuma Arizona last week, I decided to dice a few up use these. The results were lovely with the dates adding a nice bit of extra sweet moisture. Unlike many recipes, this one actually makes 12 regular sized muffins.

* Did you know there are over 100 cultivators of dates with archaeological evidence of date farming going back 6000 years! And, that medjool means 'unknown' because the original cultivator didn't know what species they were.

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clafoutis

A lot of my culinary adventures are spurred on by random things. I might see a recipe or idea on TV, hear someone talk about a new dish, or read about someone else's adventure online. This dish, was initially inspired by this version cooked up at I'm only here for the food. Kim's post, along with cherries for $2.89/lb at Superstore were reason enough to give it a go. The over the top moment came when I turned on Food Network Tuesday morning and (no word of a lie), Alton Brown was preparing this exact dish. Coincidence..or fate! Muhahahaha ^-^!

It really couldn't be an easier dessert/breakfast/snack to put together. Besides the cherries, I'm sure you have all the ingredients lying around the house. I whipped two eggs with 1/4 cup of sugar until fluffy with a slight colour change. Next I added a glug of vanilla, 1/2 cup of homo milk, and finally 1/2 cup of flour. Easy as pancake batter!

I buttered up the inside of my trusty dutch oven before throwing in 12 ounces of cherries. No I did not pit them..the French would scoff at you for this, and then poured in my batter.

My 400 degree preheated oven was ready, and so everything went in. It took around 35 minutes to cook through and get a nice golden crust. The recipe says to allow the clafoutis to stay in the dutch oven for 30 minutes (oh the wait!) before taking out.

The dish is tasty. The base almost has an egg custard feel too it, and the cooked cherries were wonderful, albeit, slightly dangerous pods of explosive flavour. I noticed the pits had softened, allowing the knife to slice thru when serving. I have a feeling the extended cooking time was caused by my somewhat deeper version, but I don't think it did anything to affect the end result. Would I make this again - you bet! Thanks to Kim and Mr. Brown.

* On Kim's post, he mentions the idea of trying the dish with different fruits. Looking around the net, I discovered this would be grounds for a name change. No longer would it be clafoutis, instead flognarde.

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peanut butter banana naan bread sandwich

Has this even happened before...I think it may be a first. See I grew up in a peanut butter happy family, so it's no surprise this creation was put together with a left over naan. Really, ask my brother - we love peanut butter sandwiches...with honey, jam, jelly, banana, bacon, etc..

Directions!
Take one delicious naan (un-delicious naan should be destroyed!)
Slather with peanut butter
Peel and place banana
Wrap like a croissant
Enjoy!

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Canary Melon meets 100 Mile

I just had a weird moment. I was sitting down to enjoy my first ever bite of a Canary Melon, which travelled all the way from Brazil, while watching the first episode of the new Food TV Canada series 100 Mile Challenge. Strange...I know. I'm a huge fan of local foods, and I've always been a regular farmers market shopper where ever I live, so hence the odd moment of eating this distant melon while watching a food about local eating.

Anyways, back to the melon. Having never picked one up before I punched it into google and found a great description over at Wikipedia;

The Canary melon is a large colorful melon that has a bright yellow outer rind with a pale green to white inner flesh. This melon has a distinctively sweet flavor that is slightly more tangy than a honeydew. The flesh looks like a pear but tastes like a cantaloupe. The name comes from its bright yellow color, which resembles that of the canary(bird).

It's a great description for a wonderful melon. Count me in as a fan. The new show has planted a seed in me, we'll see if it gets enough water and sunlight in the next few episodes to really grow. I'm glad they picked 6 families to follow, allowing us a fairly rounded view and I already feel sorry for the first family to drop out. It looks like in the coming weeks we will lose a couple more. Check it out if you can, let me know what you think.

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good morning yogurt

I'm definitely a breakfast person. I don't think I could leave the house, knowing I wouldn't be returning soon, without making a balanced meal. Some people can get by with a cup of coffee, glass of OJ, or a single slice of bread while rushing out the door...not me. While I usually whip up a smoothie to start my day, I haven't felt the desire to have a frozen beverage with the cold weather these last few days. So on this day, it was simple.


175 grams yogurt
30 grams fiber1
150 grams gala apple (one medium)
10 grams of protein
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Finely chop/dice the apple before combing all the ingredients in a bowl. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Enjoy the day.

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crunches like an apple. tastes like a grape

I'm a multiple apple-a-day kind of guy. So you can imagine with a habit like this it would be hard to eat the same apples over and over again. With a wide variety available at my local H&W, it's pretty easy to save myself from apple boredom. I also have a passion for red grapes; it doesn't even matter if they have seeds. So what could be better than a combination of the two. Well how about being on the receiving end of a 4 pack of grapples, which is exactly where I found myself this week.


I'd first heard about this 'creation' on the food network show Unwrapped, and learned a little about the process. They use Gala or Fuji apples (depending on the season) as a base and send the apples through a "patented liquid infusion process which includes concentrated grape flavor and water". The end result is surprisingly good. The apples retain their crisp, fresh bite and take on a fairly deep grape flavour. If you ever get around to buying a pack, they are quite expensive, I would suggested trying a slice with a sprinkle of cinnamon. It added another taste level that I found just amazing.

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pressed peanut butter sandwich

This may seem ridiculous to some, but I swear it was good. After a busy Sunday morning of cleaning, I didn't feel like making anything overly time consuming for lunch. Hence this creation. I took the last section of homemade bread, sliced it half, spread on some peanut butter and slapped it in the George Foreman Grill. I let it toast while I sliced an apple, and before you know it I had a nicely warmed/pressed peanut butter sandwich. A little like morning toast, a little like a lunch sandwich, but 100% delicious.

*the little white section is excess flour used for dusting during the shaping that decided to stay along for the baking. :)

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fruit salad - an everyday treat

As a big supporter of all things fruit (well maybe not durian), I love making a refreshing fruit salad. I consume a lot of fruit and vegetables; it is quiet normal for me to eat 2 or 3 apples during your average day, so throw in the option of fruit salad and I'm happier than a pig in "you know what". After a quick visit to h&w, I knew fruit salad would be on the menu this week.

This is the kind of recipe, if you can call it that, you almost never repeat and is a great way to discover how different fruits work together. This version for example has blood orange, which adds a distinct taste and great colour contrast. Feel free to throw in whatever you have lying around or prefer. As a side note, I seem to stumble on a fair amount of online articles where the average family/individual worries about buying fresh produce because they don't use it up and it gets wasted. Fruit salad, in my opinion, is a perfect way to extend some of that fruit, so dig in!


Ingredients;
1 - Mango
1 - Navel Orange
1 - Blood Orange
1 - Gala Apple
1 - Banana
1 - Kiwi
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup - OJ (optional)
Cointreau or similar (optional)

Place cut and diced fruit in a decent size container. Squeeze the lime juice over top and give it a mix - Enjoy! Feel free to add some orange juice to the dish if you like it a bit juicier, just remember the fruit will give off some as it relaxes. For a special treat splash some orange flavoured liquor over top.

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Dinner in the Valley of the Buffalo

A quick stop over at Buffalo Valley Variety Meats Inc recently led to the discovery of a '20% off all frozen' buffalo sale. After a quick look around and discovering some interesting meat options (python - although there was none in stock), I was leaving Blaine Verbeek's shop with a chunk of frozen buffalo sirloin.

I knew all it would take was a quick stop in the fridge last night to thaw the buffalo before I could dig in today. Cutting into the plastic package this morning, I found a heavy, dense and dark red steak ready for a small dash of cajun spice before going back in the fridge to relax in a nice spa of spicy goodness. Cooking the steak in my trusty cast iron pan for just over 2 minutes a side left it ready for a temporary tinfoil home. While letting it relax for a few minutes, I cut up some fresh cut green bell peppers and dished out a side of kimchi. The meat is fantastic, almost 'butter like' and I just about forgot to take a picture due to the tasty buffalo party going on in my mouth. I'm really happy how the cajun and kimchi flavours worked, and you have to like a healthy supper. I added a gala apple for dessert and I'm now ready to relax for Superbowl Halftime. Giver Bruce!


Sorry about the photo. My camera and the skills behind it are very poor, and nothing compared with my brothers.

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h&w produce - edmonton, ab

h&w produce
31, 9261 34 Avenue
780.436.7970


I'm the kind of person who checks flyers. In fact I love flyers, with my two favorite types of flyers being those based around electronics and food. Now Friday and Saturday are usually the be all end all days of flyer goodness from my local paper with Saturday being my favorite. This is the day h&w updates its weekly specials. Sure you can find their specials advertised in a small space tucked away in the classifieds section during the week; it doesn't compare to my excitement first thing Saturday morning.


H&W isn't a big store, they claim the south location is 4000 sq/ft, but it is big enough to hold a great selection of fruit and vegetables. The produce isn't always at its prime, you can find many items that have been picked either too early or too late, but the deals are hard to beat. This week for example, 1lb clam shells of strawberries for 98 cents. I realize it isn't strawberry season, but it's just an example of how different their prices are. The south side location was recently closed for two weeks to undergo some renovations, so I packed myself up and travelled to their Kensington location (12510 132 Avenue). With the layout being different, it took a minute to organize myself, but I found the selection and variety equal to what I am used to seeing on the south side.



If you are looking for more exotic produce they are also a great choice, as Edmonton's culturally diverse south side, has always in my opinion, been a major part of the reason h&w is thriving. I usually stop by the south side location every 2 or 3 days as I live just down the street and this gives me a steady supply of their best offerings. I reccomend you stop in next time you go for groceries, or the prices at the larger chains are pinching your pocket. Just remember; the crowds can be a little hectic at times, the produce can be hit or miss, and if you wait 5 minutes that empty space may just get filled with something even more delicious than what you came for.

3rd Location
14083 Victoria Trail
780.478.8780

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