Oatmeal Cookies for Montero

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So, Genesis asked for oatmeal cookies in exchange for going to the store to buy me some milk and butter. It was a pretty great trade-off too because these cookies are so tasty that I’ve been gobbling them up as well. Neither of us really like raisins so that was out. Gen wanted them plain, so I set some dough aside for his boring ones, and I threw chocolate chips into mine, because why not. These are chewy and just sweet enough with a bit of spice and they can handle chocolate chips OR raisins… or both, I am sure.

A quick story about my journey to this recipe, I was looking for “the best” recipe but was having a hard time finding a recipe that really stood  out for me. I know how to add oats to my regular cookie recipes, swap out some flour, etc., but I wanted to make an outstanding oatmeal cookie. I found one good-looking recipe that said it was only good because of the soaked raisins… well that wasn’t going to work. So I thought why not soak the oats… well, googling “soaked oat cookies” results in lactation cookie recipes… something for later in life I guess. Anyway, finally came across this great recipe from Evil Chef Mom, and was thrilled to see that she felt the same about raisins as I. Anyway, these cookies are perfect oatmeal cookies. PERFECT. Well maybe not, but I haven’t had better, yet.

Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Evil Chef Mom

Ingredients

  • 2 cups rolled oats (I used whole oats… which worked… I don’t know the differences and I am alright with that)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp cardamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies

Directions

  1. Place the oats in a large bowl and sprinkle with the water.
  2. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl and whisk together.
  3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Hell, brown it if you want,just add an extra 1/4 cup. Remove from heat and pour over oats.
  4. Stir the sugar and vanilla into the oats and butter. Add the egg and mix briskly.
  5. Add the flour mixture just until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, up until over night.

    They look wet because I forgot to take a picture before putting them in the oven, so they are starting to cook here.

  6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Scoop dough onto parchment-papered baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (I had to cook mine for almost 20, and they were still chewy and moist) or until cookies are golden brown on top. Cool cookies completely before stacking or storing. May be kept in an air tight container for several days.

So delicious and because they have oats, you can pretend they are healthfood. Eat up!

Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes for my 25th!

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It was my 25th birthday on Tuesday (that’s right, mark your calendars!) and I decided on Monday night that I would bake up a batch of cupcakes to covertly celebrate. I didn’t mention the reason for my cupcake-offerings and none was asked (as they are used to weekly baking) but I was happy to see smiles all around. Gen took me out for a lovely jaunt to Granville Island and we had a romantic dinner up on The Sandbar’s patio.

 Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes

Made about 26 cupcakes.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 6-8 cups whole cherries (to be pitted and chopped… I didn’t measure the post-pitting/chopping amounts)
  • 3/4 cup of raspberry port (or some other fruit liquor that would be lovely with cherries… Kirsch perhaps)

Directions

  1. Do the cherries first, if only to avoid the frustration in the midst of baking. If you have a cherry pitter, make use of it; if not, use a bobby pin! Really, it worked for me. Rip the stem off and jab the rounded end of the bobby pin into the centre, moving it around to loosen the pit, extract pit, place pit-free fruit in bowl, grab new cherry, repeat process. Be careful, cherries are squirt-y and the juice is stain-y.
  2. Once the pitting is complete roughly chop the cherries (set aside 26 or so whole cherries for popping in the top of the cupcakes before baking) and place back in the bowl, pour your port over your cherries and allow them to soak while you prepare the rest of the batter.
  3. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line your cupcake tin.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
  5. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, or at the very least, well combined.
  6. Pour off the port and cherry juice into the butter and sugar mixture. Add the eggs, coconut milk, and vanilla and combine.
  7. Slowly  add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.
  8. Fold in your cherry pieces.
  9. Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 and push a pitted-whole cherry into the top.
  10. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, OR until the top springs back when poked.
  11. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes and then frost. I frosted mine with Dreamy Buttercream that I doused with about 3/4 cup of port… not the brightest idea as it started to separate, but with some vigorous mixing it stayed together and tasted great. Wash a bunch of cherries with nice stems, pat dry, and plop into the icing for a fancy-looking treat.

Up close and personal with a classy cupcake.

Tequila Lime Chicken (or shrimp) with Fennel and Fresh Salsa Quinoa Salad

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This is a recipe I came up with a couple years ago when I wanted to do something awesome with shrimp. I also wanted to try fennel because it scares me. Well this is a fresh recipe that is easy to jazz up with your favourite raw salad veggies. It was great with shrimp two years ago and was pretty great with chicken as well. Tequila is the great flavour booster, without overwhelming the freshness.

Tequila Lime Marinaded Chicken or Shrimp

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tbsp gold tequila
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic (1-2 cloves)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 large chicken breasts (or try it with 1 pound large peeled shrimp)

Directions

  1. Whisk together all ingredients and pour into a large ziplock.
  2. Score the chicken breasts and drop into the marinade, smoosh around to properly coat. Place the ziplock in a bowl. Refrigerate 1 to 4 hours before grilling and try to re-smoosh halfway through the marinating time.
  3. Heat grill (I used my George Foreman). Drain and discard marinade from the chicken.
  4. Cook, over medium-high heat until done. Depending on your grill, it will take from 8-15 minutes. Cook until the juices run clear, or until the meat is white throughout, turning once. For shrimp, turn once and cook for 5 to 7 minutes until pink.
  5. Serve over Fennel and Fresh Salsa Quinoa Salad with a squeeze of lime.

Marinade prep

Fennel and Fresh Salsa Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 fennel bulb
  • 2 large tomatoes
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 lime
  • a large bunch of cilantro
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • pinch of cumin
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 2 cups water

Directions

  1. Cook quinoa with water according to directions on package. Let it cool after fluffing.
  2. Chop onion and place in a bowl with some ice water and lime to mellow the bite.
  3. Slice fennel, chop tomatoes, rinse black beans, and chop cilantro. Combine all the ingredients for the salad and taste, adjust spices as needed.
  4. Serve as side or as an awesome combo for the main.

So fresh and tasty. I definitely forgot to add the black beans to the salad, but we added them after the picture. Definitely use them, so good!

Not Crocker, oh where are you?

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I am in Toronto.

Apparently I consider this evidence that I am in Toronto!

I came to Toronto on Wednesday morning (think waking up at 4am for a 7am flight). Six of us MPubbers decided to go to Book Summit 2012 (which you might have gleaned from my extensive #bksummit12 tweeting). The conference was yesterday, Thursday, but we are here until Sunday morning. I’ve been having a great time cruising this fun city, though the heat Wednesday and Thursday was a tough sell. After some rain last night it’s nicely cooled off to, oh, 32° or so.

We are going to relax on Toronto Island tomorrow after some tasty brunch, and then an earlyish night before we head home.

Anyway, all of this just so I can apologize for the lack posts this week. I have one queued up, but it isn’t finished and it is nothing particularly special. I mean, it’s tasty, but it’s also super simple.

I hope you’ve all been enjoying cruising the recipes on here! Let me make some recommendations of stuff to try out as you wait for the next recipe!

  • If it is cool where you are (ugh, I wish!) make yourself some shepherd’s pie! There are two kinds: Beef and Lentil OR Gordon Ramsay’s.
  • Have a farmer’s market near by? Buy a box of strawberries and make these Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes (forgo the icing and totally top them with some lightly-sweetened whipped cream for an awesome summer treat!)
  • Need some spice in your life? Amazing Curry is just that, amazing!
  • Want to make something that will make your breakfasts a touch sweeter? These Coffee Cake Muffins are lightly sweet and so good! OR make my mom’s Brown Sugar Scones, which are so good, I am making them the minute I get home from Toronto.

Anyway, thanks for coming back and being awesome despite my mysterious absence! Awesome recipes to come! OOOOOOHHHH I bought the Flavor Thesaurus, so you can imagine that I am going to have some killer ideas from reading that baby! I hope your summers are going well!

Peanut Satay Dragon Bowl

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The Coup (hmm, how do YOU pronounce it? I always say it like “coo”, drawing on my french, but others say it like a chicken coop). Anyway! The Coup in Calgary is one of my favourite restaurants and it just so happens to be vegetarian and vegan, and delicious. I almost always get the same dish when I go there, I am one of those people, and when I moved to Vancouver I missed that dish very much! The other day I was wandering the internet for recipes to try and came across this funky blog, that happily had posted The Coup’s Peanut Satay Dragon Bowl recipe, right from their cookbook which I have to get my hands on when I get back to Calgary. Well first, I told her how thrilled I was to find this recipe, and second, I made it! And it was GREAT, just like the restaurant. Genesis’ quote, “This meal was f’ing amazing, you should sell the sauce!” (and Gen is not the sweary type) He also wants it known that the pictures I took do not do the deliciousness justice (sigh, my picture taking is still not the best). Anyway, stop reading, start making!

Peanut Satay Dragon Bowl

Recipe adapted with my notes, happily found here, from Meet The Coup Cooks.

We used light peanut butter, reduced sodium soy sauce, and light coconut milk with no issues except I did have to add a dash of salt to the sauce to make up for the reduce sodium soy… a stupid trade off, it was just what we had on hand. I might also add fresh ginger to the sauce next time. I will report back!

Ingredients

Sauce of the heavens (this makes a ton, feel free to halve, or save it for future meals)

  • 2 cups crunchy peanut butter (or smooth with 1/2 cup chopped raw peanuts)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • the juice of 1 lime
  • 1 can of coconut milk
  • 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 3-6 tbsp of sriracha (or your preferred chilli sauce. The recipe called for 2 tbsps, we added 6, and could’ve gone with more, taste as you go)


Stir-fry

  • 1 package of extra firm tofu (would also be great with cubed chicken, beef, shrimp, etc.)
  • 4 cups of seasonal veggies of your choice (I used zucchini, red peppers, and broccoli)
  • 1/2 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup roughly chopped peanuts

Directions

  1. In a large pot over medium heat, mix the peanut butter and water together.
  2. Continue to stir until you reach a smooth consistency, watching that you do not burn the peanut butter.
  3. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and continue to cook at a low heat, stirring often for about 20 minutes.
  4. In the meantime, in a large pan, sauté the tofu until the edges are crispy and lightly browned.  Add the chopped veggies and a splash of water to just cover the bottom of the pan. Sauté until tender-crisp.
  5. Pour the peanut satay sauce over the tofu and veggie mixture and heat until it bubbles.
  6. Serve over your favourite grains or noodles.
  7. Garnish with cilantro and chopped peanuts.

Getting ready for saucing.