WILDFIRE BAKERY BIRTHDAY CAKE

CHOCOLATE MOUSE DOME CAKE

WILDFIRE BAKERY 1517 Quadra St., Victoria BC

GLUTTONOUS FIELD TRIP

ROAD TRIP November, 2008

Victoria to Fraser Valley to Okanagan & Back

For the first time in a while, I had a road trip from Vancouver Island to Mission, and onto Penticton, BC. Three burgers, one seafood platter, cocktails and profiteroles. This long weekend had it all. My family and I were away for my paternal grandfather's memorial service. As such the weekend was filled with family and bitter-sweet reminiscences. My Grandpappy was a cook in the logging camps and tow boats in the 1930s and 1940s. In the spirit of Grandpappy, I indulged with wild abandon. What follows here is small gallery of my consumption over this recent trip.

Triple O = Triple Delight

Triple Bypass?

Ketchup/Catsup Action At White Spot in Hope, BC


Apple Rum Raisin Pie from the Market at the Cannery in Penticton, BC




Vegetarians, Duck and Cover
Theos Restaurant, Penticton BC.

This lamb shoulder (left) sitting in front of my Dad's belly is big enough to feed a Sudanese family for a week. The Seafood Platter for Two (right) was shared by four of us. I thought that the Vegetarian Dolmades and the Greek Salad were the highlights at Theos. I was too busy savouring the dolmades and salad to photograph them.

A TOAST TO GRANDPAPPY

Manhattan - sweet vermouth, whisky, ice, maraschino cherry.

I like my manhattan with extra ice and cherry "juice".

Burgers # 2 & 3 Of This Tale of Gluttony...Tasty Teen Burgers in Princeton, BC

FLAMING CHEESE!

Saganaki At Theo's in Penticton, BC

Saganaki means flaming cheese in Greek. This cheese was certainly aflame. It is salty and boozy. Sheep Cheese is flambeed for a spectator sport experience.

Theo's menu description "Greek Kefalograviera cheese, pan-fried and finished with lemon and brandy."


http://www.eatsquid.com/

oven fries

MUFFINS

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

Adapted From The Joy of Cooking, p. 784

Preheat oven to 375 F, Grease/line a muffin pan

Whisk together:

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of wheat bran

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Whisk together in a large bowl:

1 large egg

1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup of honey

1 1/3 cups of mashed ripe bananas (2-3)

6 tbsp vegetable oil (1/2 cup)

1 tsp vanilla

Add the flour mixture and mix together with a few light strokes just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Drop by large spoon fulls into the muffin tin cups.

Bake for ~ 18 minutes.

Cool on a rack before eating.

PUMPKIN PIE - ROUND 2

Meet the Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie.

The Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie is even more delicious than the golden maple. Due to the use of cream and more egg, the pie tastes like the ultimate pumpkin pie. Choose the golden maple pie if you would like a pie with less sweetness and more pumpkin flavour. Choose the brown sugar pie if you like a well-rounded, sweet pie.

BROWN SUGAR PUMPKIN PIE, The Martha Stewart Cookbook, p. 490

Makes one 8 - inch pie

1 - 12 inch circle of of pastry, chilled

2 cups fresh pumpkin puree or 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

* I substituted nutmeg for allspice and used whipping cream for the cream. I did not have a full 2 cups of pumpkin. The pie turned out excellently!
Directions:
Line an 8 inch pie plate with the rolled-out pastry and trim it even with the edge of the pie plate.

My directions: use the left-over pastry to make a couple of leaves that will adorn the top of the pie. You can bake these in the oven on a cookie sheet while the pie is baking - just make sure to check on them so that they don't over-bake.

Combine the puree with the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until well blended. pour into the prepared pastry and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and the custard is set. Let cool on a rack before serving.

PUMPKIN PIE

Pumpkin Pie - Golden Maple Pumpkin Pie with Perfect Pie Crust
From The Martha Stewart Cookbook

(I have borrowed most of her instructions verbatim, with a few of my suggestions incorporated)
Yield - two pie crusts (two shells for pumpkin pie)

Perfect Pie Crust
2 C all-purpose flour (I like to use unbleached)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C unsalted butter
3 tbsp of margarine
1/4 C ice water

In a large bowl sift the flour & salt. Cut the butter and margarine into bits and add to the flour. Use a pastry cutter or two knives (I used a metal whisk) and work the flour until mixture resembles course meal (like pea-size bits). Add the ice water little by little, pressing pastry together into a ball. Wrap & chill for at least an hour.

*My Tips:

You can also freeze this dough
When you roll out the dough, make sure the dough warms up quite a bit so it is nice and soft to roll out.




PUMPKIN PUREE from scratch:
0ne medium sugar pumpkin
Set oven to 400 F
Wash pumpkin
Cut pumpkin into 4 pieces and scoop out the seeds (you can roast the seeds)
Set pumpkin pieces onto a baking sheet
Bake until the pumpkin is very soft (~ 60 mins)
Scoop out the flesh of the pumpkin while still warm
Place into a blender with some water and milk
(if you have a food processor, you can puree the pumpkin without milk & water)
Puree the pumpkin and liquid until resembles baby food. You can store the pumpkin puree in the fridge for a few days or freeze it for longer storage. One medium pumpkin makes enough puree for two medium pies.


Golden Maple Pumpkin Pie Filling - Martha Stewart Recipe
1 1/2 C pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)
1/2 C Maple Syrup
1 1/2 Cups milk (reduce the milk if you used some to puree your pumpkin in a blender)
2 eggs lightly beaten
2 tbsp of all-purpose flour (I forgot this ingredient and had to bake my pie for 10 mins longer)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 unbaked pie shell, well chilled (once you roll out your dough, place it in the pie plate and put it in the freezer to chill it)

Preheat oven to 425 F and bake for 40 minutes (bake longer if desired, I had to bake for 5o minutes)

PUMPKIN PIE

PUMPKIN PIE
This week brought my first time making pumpkin pie from scratch.
I made one pie last weekend and I shall bake another tomorrow for Thanksgiving.

I will post photos and recipes for the filling & crust soon.

- Apron Andie

CASHEW RICE LOAF

CASHEW RICE LOAF

2 cups cooked rice

1 - 2 cups ground cashews (raw or roasted)

1 tbsp of soy sauce

1-2 tbsp of chopped parsley

1/2 an onion, sauteed

2 eggs

salt & pepper to taste

Mix the ingredients in a bowl. Press into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 375-400 F for 45 mins or until a deep golden brown colour.

Gravy:

1/4 cup almonds (raw)

spike seasoning (or other mixed seasoning shaker)

1 cup water or milk

1 -2 tbsp of flour

Blend the almonds, spike, water and flour in a blender until you have made a slurry (milky looking watery puree).

One celery stalk, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

oil

Heat oil in frying pan. Add Onion & Celery. Sautee until veggies are soft. Add the Almond Slurry and simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the gravy thickens.

Serve the Rice Loaf with the Gravy on Top. I like it with cooked Carrots!!

MANGOTINI

MANGOTINI

Ingredients:

Fresh Lime Juice

Ice

Mango Juice

Vodka

Chill Martini glasses and shaker. Add ice, juice from 1/2 a lime, 3 parts mango juice, 1 part vodka. Shake vigorously. Pour into Martini glass. Serve with slice of lime on side of glass.

TIP: Rinse the Martini glass under water and then put in freezer to chill. This will allow the glass to become extra frosty.

TIP: Use good, fresh ice. Make your ice with filtered water. I like to turn my icetray upside down over the ice bin once it has made ice. This way the ice stays fresher and little bits don't get in there. You can also have an ice container with a lid.

MUSINGS ON LIQUEUR

LIMONCELLO LEMON LIQUEUR

I first discovered Limoncello whilst in Italy as a young adult. At 18 or 19 I was in Italy with my college wind symphony for an international band festival. We were billeted with local families in the Besana e Brianza area (Northern Italy, near Milan). Amongst my vivid memories are many gastronomical delights.

Limoncello - did I meet you at a bar or at a house? Or was it after a friend had purchased a bottle, which we passed around and chugged after hopping the fence of a gated park at night? Now that we have met, I enjoy you as an aperitif or in a cocktail. My favorite limoncello cocktail is from Luciano's restaurant - featuring champagne and the lemon liquer.

I recall an Italian man describing how his family makes limoncello. Lemon rinds and sugar are mixed with alcohol and left to meld in a bottle. That's all. It is tart, tangy and sweet all at once.

BLUEBERRY SWIRL COFFEE CAKE

BLUEBERRY SWIRL COFFEE CAKE

(from "cooking smart for a healthy heart")

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups fresh/frozen blueberries

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) of margarine

1 cup granulated sugar (I reduced this to 3/4 cup)

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1 tbsp grated lemon zest

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour (cake flour)

1 1/4 cups reduced-fat milk (I used 1 %)

METHOD

1.Get out all the ingredients and let the cold stuff warm a bit

2. preheat oven to 350 F.

3. grease & four a 13 x 9 " baking pan

4. Toss 2 cups blueberries, brown sugar, & cinnamon in a small bowl until berries are coated

(reserve 1/2 cup of blueberries for the end of recipe)

5. Cream margarine & white sugar in a large bowl - w/ electric mixer @ high speed until it's light & fluffy (~ 4 mins.)

6. Add egg and egg white - beat 2 mins

7. Beat in lemon zest. Reduce speed to low.

8. Add flour alternately with milk. Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Do not over-beat.

9. Spread half the batter into pan and sprinkle with blueberry mixture.

10. Spoon remaining batter over the top of the blueberries & smooth out with a spatula.

(helps to spoon ~ 8 spoon fulls over the berries and then smooth out)

11. Use a knife and swirl through the batter several times. I found that this was done by touching the knife to the bottom of the dish and swirling around. You can also make a tick tack toe pattern. The idea is to bring the blueberry/sugar mixture towards the top a bit.

12. Bake at 350 F for 40 - 45 minutes.

13. Cool in pan on wire rack. Enjoy!!

NUTRITION FACTS:

If you cut this into 16 pieces = each piece has 214 calories, 6.5 g of fat.

1/2 cup of blueberres = 40 calories & a good source of vitamin C & anti-oxidants

LEFTOVERS

One of my favorite Italian-inspired meals is gnocchi with tomato, mushroom & basil sauce. Today I planned to make this dish and got all the ingredients except gnocchi. I forgot the gnocchi. Well, I had some left-over rice from two nights ago and decided to use that instead.

Also, I had a bunch of regular "hot house" tomatoes that were becoming overly soft, so I used them rather than roma tomatoes. I prefer roma tomatoes. Romas make a thicker sauce.

So here's my recipe for Rice with Tomato, Mushroom & Basic Sauce.

Makes one meal for one hungry person

INGREDIENTS:

4 large Mushrooms, sliced

2 large tomatoes (or 3 romas), roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, smashed

1 cup cooked rice

4-5 basil leaves

salt, pepper, hot sauce (or red pepper flakes) to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Slice Mushrooms

2. Heat pan with olive oil

3. Saute mushrooms

4. Chop / smash garlic

5. Add garlic to pan with mushrooms

6. Chop Tomatoes into quarters (or eights depending on size)

7. Add tomatoes to pan

8. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce

9. Stir together, mash down the tomatoes to release the juices

10. Cook for a few minutes until tomatoes cook and make a light sauce

11. Stir in the rice until heated

12. Wash basil leaves. Stack leaves on top of each other. Roll leaves up like a carpet. Snip with scissors into strips directly into the pan.

13. Top with fresh parmesan cheese & Enjoy!

BLUEBERRY SEASON

IN SEASON

Blueberries are in season! These ones here I had a hand in growing. They reside in my parent's backyard in the Fraser Valley. I picked out two blueberry bushes a few years' back, which were planted at my folks' place. We almost lost them once due to a mudslide (as a result of the next-door neighbour's construction), but here they are several years' later producing some of the juiciest berries around. Super food indeed!

NOODLE BOX

SPICY PEANUT = BLISS

MARKET FRESH

Savour the Okanagan at Penticton Farmer's Market

OKANAGAN CHERRIES
Fresh from the trees, these Okanagan Cherries were spotted, purchased and devoured.



EYE CANDY
A bakery's summery offering:

Vanilla cupcakes with strawberry topper.





GALETTES GALORE
These Fruit Galettes are truly divine. A must-see, must-eat.




FRESH PICKED PRODUCE

We chose some multi-coloured chard & fingerling potatoes.

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RECIPE FOR GREENS:

1. Set up a sauce pan with steamer insert and turn on high heat

2. Wash greens (chard, kale, etc)

3. Cut off stems (especially w/ kale - get as much of the stem/core off as possible)

4. Chop into big pieces

5. Add greens to steamer pot

6. Once steam rises from pot, let the greens steam for ~ 2 minutes.

7. Remove from heat and drain thoroughly

8. For a tasty finish: toss the greens in a frying pan w/ olive oil and garlic or if you've been sauteing something else, then just toss the greens in the pan drippings. MMM MMM. As a lower fat alternative, just top w/ salt & pepper and/or a touch of lemon juice.

HERB GARDEN

FRESH HERBS ENLIVEN A MEAL

Whether you buy them or grow them, fresh herbs add a nutrient-rich vivacity to your meals.

I started growing a little herb garden on my balcony. I planted rosemary, thyme and parsley. The rosemary died. The thyme and parsely have flourished. I have enjoyed the parsely in a bean salad. Parsley, with a refreshing greeness, adds iron and a summery lift to a meal.

Floating Into Summer

Root Beer Float.

Directions:

Pour root beer into tall glass until 3/4 full. Add ice cream until topped up and fizzy.

Insert Straw & Spoon.

Ingredients:

A & W Root Beer

Vanilla Ice Cream

Spoon

Straws

Drinkable Gallery

Bikini Martini: malibu, pineapple juice, vodka & grenadine




Lemon Drop 'Till You Drop





My Most Prized Martini Pic


Ouzo with Dancing Lady





"Miss Ginger", La Distillerie, Montreal, QC



"Serendipitea" Tea Shop in Abbottsford, BC


Steamed Milk with Frangelico (Hazelnut Liqueur)

Blue Martini, made by me

Something New From A Box

This is a smooth and dreamy dessert. Dreamy in that it is so simple. Smooth - well, it's creme caramel. Creme Caramel is a sweet custard with a caramel sauce.

The kind I made was Dr. Oetker. In total it took about 45 minutes from start to consumption.
This boxed dessert requires: milk, a whisk, a sauce pan, a bowl, some ramekins (I used little coffee cups) and the box of Dr. Oetker Creme Caramel.

Though I'm certain that fresh, "from scratch", creme caramel is divine, this kind is my pick for a quick sweet tooth fix! You may just gluttonously consume all four portions yourself. I did.

Coffee

coffea arabica

coffea canephora

A social, stimulating beverage. Savoured both hot and cold. I drink two mugs of coffee every morning with homo (3.25%) milk. I love it cold and chilled as a summer refresher. In Ice Cream, (especially the Haagen Dazs variety) coffee, is one of my favourite food friends.

This week I invested in a coffee bean grinder. I decided to do so after surreptitiously purchasing beans instead of ground coffee during my trip to the supermarket. I went to the local London Drugs and bought a Cuisinart Coffee Grinder. It is fabulous. What a delight.

foodie photo fun

what makes a slaw a slaw?

cole slaw

Sweet, salty, crunchy, chunky slaw. I like it with cabbage and carrot and radish.

You can get cole slaw with take out so frequently. There's the super-drenched watery kind from those fried chicken places, which leave you wondering if the cole slaw actually originated from cabbage. Personally, I like to make my own.

It's fun to use different types of cabbage - purple or savoy to change up the texture. I keep the dressing simple: mayo, vinegar or lemon juice, salt, sugar, mustard.

Good old cole slaw. What my Grandma called cabbage salad. It is a Barbeque picnic summer family reunion side dish. On Friday, I served it up with some sauce-slathered ribs and brown/wild rice.