Imagelicious Food Photography

Pan-Fried Eggplant and Tofu with Garlic Black Bean Sauce

Imagelicious — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:06:00 -0400

I make eggplant with this sauce quite often. Sometimes I add chopped tomatoes or roughly chopped onions instead of tofu. Sometimes I add a few leaves of parsley or cilantro. A lot of times it's just eggplant without anything extra. It's still very tasty and flavourful. Usually I cook the eggplant in sauce which makes the finished dish look somewhat not too photogenic, so this time I decided to take a different approach and pour the sauce on top. I must say, however, that as soon as I took the picture I mixed everything together and it was as good as always.

For 1 very generous serving or 2 portions if served over rice noodles or vegetables.

Asian eggplant - 2
Firm tofu - 1/2 package
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Black bean sauce - 1 heaping tablespoon
Garlic, minced - 1 teaspoon
Ginger, grated - 1 teaspoon
Sesame oil - 1 teaspoon
Parsley, sesame seeds to taste

- Wrap the tofu in paper towel and squeeze excess liquid without breaking the tofu.
- Cube the tofu.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan on medium heat.
- Fry the tofu cubes until the crust forms, about 1-2 minutes, flip the cubes and fry on the other side. You may wish to fry every side or just two.
- Transfer the tofu onto a paper towel.
- Slice the eggplant and quarter each slice.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan and fry the eggplant on medium heat for about 1-2 minutes.
- Make the sauce: mix the black bean sauce, garlic, ginger and sesame oil.
- Add the sauce to the eggplant, lower the heat, cover the pan with a lid and let the eggplants soften for about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the tofu cubes to the pan, mix and heat through.
- Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and chopped parsley/cilantro.

Comments
- As I mentioned above, tofu is not mandatory in this recipe. It can be substituted for chopped tomatoes and/or chopped onion, this way everything is cooked together.

Pumpkin and Bran Vegan Pancakes

Imagelicious — Sun, 30 May 2010 09:50:00 -0400

Kate from Soupasana and I were recently talking about the sizes of Pumpkin Puree Cans and those are huge (540ml), so I've been trying to use it all up and I finally succeeded!! I've been looking for smaller cans for the last little while, but with no luck; although in my search for them I actually found much bigger cans. And I mean much bigger. I think if I were to buy them, I'd turn into a pumpkin.

I had a little bit of pumpkin puree left after making Pumpkin, Garlic and Chili Bread and "Pumpkin Pie" Bruleed Oatmeal and every time I opened my fridge it was looking at me and pleading to be used. First, I wanted to use it in Pumpkin Oatmeal again, but mornings are frantic with me trying to get ready for work and not be too late. I entertained the thought of making Pumpkin Lentil Soup, but the weather here in Toronto was really hot and eating a hot soup didn't sound like a good idea. Finally, I figured it out - Pumpkin Pancakes! I had some soy milk in my fridge which I wanted to use up, so after having to use that I figured that I might as well try to make the pancakes vegan. I completely made up this recipe and up until I tried the first pancake I was not sure if it would work. Oh my, those were really good!!! They had this characteristic yeasty after-taste which I adore because I decided to be fancy and used yeast as a leavening agent instead of baking powder. Apple sauce and Pumpkin made the pancakes fruity and Bran made them taste a little bit like Bran muffins, so they reminded me of dessert.

for 15-18 small pancakes

All-purpose flour - 2/3 cup
White rice flour - 1/3 cup
Bran - 1/4 cup
Brown sugar - 2 tablespoons
Dry yeast - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Pumpkin puree - 1/4 cup
Apple Sauce - 1/2 cup
Soy milk - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tablespoon + more for the pan

- In a large bowl whisk together both flours, sugar, bran, salt and yeast.
- Warm the milk to about 40C (body temperature).
- Add warm milk to dry ingredients and mix.
- Add pumpkin puree, apple sauce and mix well.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Fill the sink with hot tap water, place the bowl with batter into the hot water and let stand for about 1-1.5 hours, until the batter become light and very fluffy.
- Whisk in the oil.
- Brush a non-stick pan with some oil and heat.
- Drop about one tablespoon of batter onto the hot pan for each pancake and cook 2-3 minutes on low-medium heat until bubble begin to appear on the surface of the pancakes.
- Flip the pancakes and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Serve with maple syrup.

Comments:

- Baking powder can be used instead of yeast and in this case there's no need to leave the batter to rise for an hour in hot water. I still urge you try them with yeast as the flavour is very different from normal pancakes.
- More sugar can be added if they are not served with maple syrup or jam.

Pumpkin, Garlic and Chili Bread

Imagelicious — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:45:00 -0400

It took me a very long time to develop friendship with yeast. I tried and failed quite a few times before I was able to produce a real loaf of bread. Once that happened, though, I was not scared anymore. I finally understood the science, the magic behind making yeast dough. Art of Bread course at George Brown College was one of my favourite. How can you resist the smell of freshly baked bread? I love smelling my hands after working with the dough, the aroma is so comforting, calming and warm. This bread is great. It has a nice soft texture with great crust and subtle garlic and chili flavour. Both garlic and chili can either be omitted or even increased for an even more pronounced taste.

recipe adapted from carina-forum

for 2 medium loaves

Bread flour - 450-480 g
Dark rye flour - 50 g
Water, warm - 125 ml
Canned pumpkin puree - 400 g
Dry yeast - 7 g
Malt - 4 g
Sugar - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 2 teaspoons
Garlic - 4 cloves
Chilies - 3 small
Vegetable oil - 2-3 tablespoons

- Dissolve the yeast in 30 ml of water with sugar. Let stand for 10-15 minutes.

- Slice the garlic and cut the chilies in half.

- Pour the oil in a small pot, add the sliced garlic and chilies together with the seeds, heat and cook for a few minutes until the oil becomes flavoured with garlic and chili essence. Cool and strain.
- Add the rest of the warm water (100 ml) to the yeast. Add the malt, pumpkin pure and mix well.
- Slowly start add both kinds of flour and start kneading the dough adding more and more flour. You might need more or less flour depending on how much moisture is in the pumpkin pure.
- Add the salt and oil and knead for 10-15 minutes until the dough is elastic.
- Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl in a warm place. Cover with plastic wrap and let it proof for about an hour or until it's risen twice its original size.

- Punch the dough to release air bubble. Form the loaves, put them on a floured baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and let them proof for another 30-40 minutes. The dough should rise a little bit more.

- Heat the oven to 450F. Place a pan with cold water in the stove to help create steam.

- Bake the bread for 7 minutes, then turn down the heat to 410F and bake for another 35-30 minutes. Cover with foil if the bread begins to brown too quickly.

Comments

- I added a little bit of garlic oil and chili oil into my vegetable oil.
- Homemade pumpkin pure can also be used. I made the bread with canned and homemade pure, to be honest, I didn't taste the difference, but canned is a lot easier and more convenient.

- Rye flour is not required, regular bread flour can be used instead.

- My favourite way of proofing the dough is to place a bowl in a sink filled with hot tap water and let it stand there for an hour or two.

- The dough can also be proofed in the fridge over night. Let it come to room temperature before forming the loaves.

"Pumpkin Pie" Brûléed Oatmeal

Imagelicious — Sun, 09 May 2010 12:22:00 -0400

My inspiration for this dish came from my friend who desperately needed to use up all the canned pumpkin and started adding it practically everywhere. The combination of oatmeal and pumpkin intrigued me to the point that I was thinking about it everyday for about a week before I finally bought some canned pumpkin and decided to try it out. The rest just came together easily since it was a no-brainer for me that pumpkin should be paired with classic Pumpkin Pie spices like cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. The final component, or maybe it's better to call it a technique, was a spontaneous decision. I've had my Brûlée torch for quite some time and only used it twice in the last few years. I also thought that the crunch of hard, caramelized sugar would pair nicely with the soft texture of oatmeal. The result was fantastic, warm and satisfying oatmeal that can easily double as a dessert. I know it's a strange choice to use those fall flavours in May, but the temperature dropped to +5 here in Toronto over the weekend and it really felt more like autumn than spring.

For 1 large serving

Rolled oats - 1/2 cup
Soy milk - 3/4 cup
Canned pumpkin puree - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1/4 teaspoon
Cinnamon - 1/4 teaspoon
Ground dry ginger - 1/8 teaspoon
Nutmeg - a pinch
Ground cloves - a pinch
Salt - a pinch
Dark brown suger - 1 + 2 teaspoons

- In a small pot, whisk together the milk and pumpkin puree.
- Add all the spices and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. Heat the mixutre.
- Add the oatmeal and cook whicking occasionally for about 7-10 minutes until the oatmeal is soft and the liquid is absorbed.
- Pour the cooked oatmeal into a bowl and spread the remaining 2 teaspoons of brown sugar on top. Torch the sugar until it hardens. Alternatively, place the bowl under a broiler for couple of minutes to melt and caramelize the sugar.

Comments
- Regular milk or any other type of non-dairy milk can be used in this recipe. Water can also be used.
- Use the spices according to your taste. I don't like cloves too much and next time I am going to omit that spice.
- Canned pumpkin can be substituted for normal pumpkin, which should be baked and processed in a blender.

Two Gourmet Three-Course Dinners for Two for Under 15$

Imagelicious — Sat, 01 May 2010 10:35:00 -0400

Recently I decided to participate in a very interesting contest hosted by my favourite cooking forum. The goal was to cook a Gourmet 3-course dinner for two and spend no more than 15 euros which is approximately 20 canadian dollars. The idea seemed fun, intriguing and challenging, so I decided to try it out, although I was quite skeptical. When I hear the word "gourmet" I start thinking about exotic dishes and products like seafood, truffles, caviar. Is this even possible to cook a meal for two, make it a little bit above ordinary and spend under 20 bucks? It turned out that not only it's possible, but quite easy. The most difficult part was to do the calculations. Do you know how much two table spoons of white sugar cost? I do now. And what about quarter cup of orange juice or one table spoon of butter. It was fun, exciting and... tasty :) So much so that I decided to do it twice, because as someone said "if one is nice then two is twice as nice".

It took me some time to come up with the first menu. My original idea included Banana Almond Pudding with Banana Ice Cream, Chicken in Cream-Kumquat Sauce with Rice and Mini-Quiche with Blue Cheese and Pears. Then I realized that it'll take me a long long time to cook all this with making of pastry, letting it rest, blind-baking it and then making quiches; marinating chicken and making the sauce separately first; baking puddings just before serving - too much work for a simple dinner that wasn't even a celebratory occasion. So, the menu changed and the only item left from the original idea was the ice cream.

Menu #1

Click on the link below to see both menues

-cut-

Arugula Salad with Kumquats and Orange-Glazed Scallops - 4.53

Spice-Rubbed Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Orange-Garlic Sauce, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, and Roasted Asparagus - 7.84

Roasted Banana Ice Cream - 1.37

Total: 13.74$

Menu #2:

Smoked Salmon and Dill Aebleskivers - 2.54

Red Snapper with Orange-Dill Sauce and Roasted Asparagus - 7.49

Orange Cake with Orange Syrup - 1.67

Total: 11.70$

Peanut Butter and Jam Bread Pudding

Imagelicious — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:46:00 -0400

I really like classic combination of salty peanut butter and sweet jam. I try not to eat peanut butter and jam sandwiches because unfortunately once I start, I cannot stop. One, two, three sandwiches is never enough and although my brain knows the limit, my stomach doesn't. So, I rarely allow myself to have this simple and tasty treat. Almost a year ago I saw this recipe on a food network show and I instantly knew that I had to make it. Finally, a few weeks ago I got around to baking this delicious bread pudding for breakfast. It tasted really good, like a warm peanut butter and jam sandwich with custard. This custard, however, was also something that bothered me a little bit in this dessert. The top crusty layer of the dish was divine, whereas the custard was... well... custardy. I think that next time I'll take a bigger dish and pour the mixture in single layer so that there's less custard bits and more crunchy parts. I used soy milk in this pudding but it can be made with whole milk instead.

recipe adapted from an episode of Fresh with Anna Olson

for 6-8 servings

Unsalted butter- 3 tablespoons
Peanut butter- 2/3 cup
Soy milk at room temperature- 1-3/4 cup
Eggs at room temperature- 3 large
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Vanilla extract- 1 teaspoon
Cubed baguette - 6 cups
Raspberry jam or other fruit jam- 2/3 cup

- Preheat oven to 350°F (180C).
- Melt butter and brush pan with some of it.
- Add peanut butter to remaining melted butter and heat over low heat until fluid.
- Remove from heat and whisk in soy milk, then whisk in eggs, sugar and vanilla.
- Toss mixture with diced bread and let sit 10 minutes.
- Spoon mixture into prepared pan and dollop jam over bread, pressing in slightly to incorporate just a touch.
- Place pan in a larger dish and fill it with an inch of hot tap water.
- Bake for about 50 minutes, until golden on top and set.
- Let pudding sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Pudding can be served warm or chilled.

Comments
- As I mentioned above, I think it would taste better in a bigger dish with bread cubes spread in an even layer.
- Also, one more cup of bread would be fine to add to this amount of custard.
- The result is intensely peanut-buttery.
- The pudding tastes better the next day reheated.

Warm Cottage Cheese, Artichoke and Sundried Tomato Dip

Imagelicious — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:17:00 -0400

I love food. Any kind of food: desserts, main courses and maybe one of my favourite - appetizers. Why is it that appetizers always look so much more tempting than entrees on practically any restaurant menu? Almost every time I go to a restaurant it's a struggle to choose just one starter to eat. Sometimes I secretely wish that I could have a few (or, who am I kidding, a lot) of the small dishes instead of having one entree. I guess this is why people go out to Spanish restaurants for tapas, right? My boyfriend, however, has a very different idea about appetizers. A few weeks ago I listened in disbelief when he mentioned his dislike for tapas. Really? Who doesn't like tapas? Perfect little appetizers they are! One of my favourite things to order as an appetizer is a dip. I rarely get it by myself, but sitting at a pub with a few of my girl friends and sharing a warm gooyey and cheesy dip, drinking martinis or beers and gossiping is a perfect way to spend an evening.

This recipe serves 2-4 people as an appetizer.

Cottage cheese - 1 cup
Mayonnaise (or sour cream) - 2 tablespoons
Marinated artichokes, drained - 1 jar (170 ml)
Garlic, minced - 1-2 cloves
Flat parsley leaves - 1/2 cup
Cheddar cheese, grated - 70 g
Sundried tomatoes, dry and not in oil, chopped - 30 g (about 6 halves)
Salt, pepper to taste

- Process the cottage cheese in a blender or a food processor until it becomes smooth and not grainy anymore.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and process until the desired consistency. It can be processed into a very smooth paste or left a little bit chunky as on the picture.

- Season to taste.
- Pour the dip into an ovenproof dish and bake at 350F (180C) for about 15 minutes until the dip is warm and melting.

- Serve with toasted bread or crackers.

Comments

- I made the dip twice and both times I felt like it needed a squeeze of lemon juice.

- It's a very easy dip that is not too unhealthy as it's based on healthy cottage cheese instead of mayo or cream cheese.

Yeast Buttermilk Waffles

Imagelicious — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:03:00 -0400

I resisted the urge to buy a waffle-maker for about two or three years. Each time I saw a waffle recipe I quickly turned away, I closed my eyes and I thought of something else. I tried to convince myself that a waffle is just a pancake cooked on a different surface. I talked to myself countless number of times and patiently argued with a little voice in my head explaining that I have no space in my tiny kitchen for another appliance. I tried in vain to remind myself that I don't make pancakes often and getting a special gadget is not a smart way to spend money. Finally, a few months ago I gave up. I cursed all the way to the store and desperately tried to persuade myself to turn around. And then on the way home I was childishly happy, giddy and excited, bringing a new shiny appliance home. At the end of my losing battle, in the store, staring at various shapes and sizes of waffle-irons, my mind was still trying to reason with me. "Buy a cute, round, small one," it said, "you don't need a big one, you don't have a huge family to feed." But after so many years of fighting with reason, my desires won over and I got the biggest waffle-maker that makes six square waffles at a time. How many times have I used it since then? Exactly once! Do I regret getting? Not for a second. It now occupies a what used to be an empty space on top of my fridge, next to an ice cream maker and a pop corn maker. Next on my list is a food-processor (a much more useful gadget than a waffle-iron I must say), I know I am fighting a losing battle, but I think i still have a few months or maybe even years before I succumb to that desire.

This is an adaptation of a "Belgian Waffle" recipe in Breakfast book by Williams-Sonoma. Since I changed a few things there and used Kefir as the main liquid ingredient, I don't think I can call them Belgian anymore, but regardless of what they are called, they turned out to be really good.

For about 8-10 small waffles (the book says that it serves four but it barely served two in my opinion)

Flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 tablespoons
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Dry active yeast - 1/2 teaspoon
Kefir (or Buttermilk) - 1 cup
Butter, melted and still warm - 45 g (3 tablespoons)
Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
Eggs, separated - 2 large
Cream of tartar - a pinch (optional)
Oil for the waffle-iron

- In the evening, in a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast.

- In a small pot warm the buttermilk (kefir) until it reaches 40C (a little bit warmer than body temperature if touched with a finger).

- Add the melted butter and vanilla extract to warm buttermilk and mix.

- Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well until a smooth batter forms.

- Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and leave in a cool room for a night (not the fridge).

- In the morning, mix in the egg yolks into the batter.

- In a separate clean bowl whip the egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar until soft shiny peaks form.

- Mix in the third of the whipped egg whites into the batter.

- Carefully fold in the rest of the whipped egg whites into the batter, trying not to deflate the egg whites too much.

- Generously oil the waffle-maker and cook the waffles according to the manufacturer's instructions.

- Serve with maple syrup.

Valentine's Day Weekend

Imagelicious — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:56:00 -0500

To be honest I am not really a "hearts" person. I don't "ooh and ahh" when I see pinks and candles and teddy bears. I tried doing something romantic on Valentine's Day in the past but it never worked out. The romance felt forced and fake, so I gave up on doing anything special on that day: no gifts, no cards, no dinners, maybe just some flowers and that was it. Until this year.

This time around I just *knew* that I had to do something. It felt right and exciting and... (oh, gosh) romantic! So, I hunted down some pink heart confetti, pink candle holders and lots and lots of hearts. I cooked heart-shaped food, I put it in heart-shaped plates, I wore pink, I decorated everything in pink and hearts and by the end of the weekend I was really overdosed on hearts and romance. And although I don't want to see another heart in at least a year (or possibly more), it was fun and... (oh, that's embarrassing) romantic!

I'll post the recipes later if anyone is interested.

Tablesetting

Quail eggs, olives and cherry tomatoes in a shape of Hearts with Arrows

Smoked Fish Pâté

Salmon, Egg and Rice Coulebiac

Chocolate Cakes with Cream Cheese and White Chocolate Frosting

Breakfast the next day - Grapefruit, Kiwi, Strawberry, Raspberry Salad with Grand Marnier, Coffee and Message Cookies

More breakfast food

Message Cookies - Nice

By the end of the weekend I thought I am going to go crazy from all the hearts, so I had to do something different.

Cornbread Topped Chili Con Carne

Imagelicious — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:36:00 -0500

I love chili, but surprisingly I only had it a few times in my life. I am not a chili aficionado or purist, I don't have a favourite recipe, I don't have any rules about only eating it the next day and/or cooking it in a certain way. It was my first time making chili and I loved it. It was savoury, spicy and, oh, so satisfying. At the beginning I felt like the cornbread topping was overpowering chili, but then after microwaving (yes, I do use microwave from time to time and I am not ashamed to admit it) one of the little pots, the cornbread got steamed a little bit and the combination of soft and a little bit bland cornbread soaked in flavourful chili was excellent. However, the topping can be omitted or even baked separately.

recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson Feast

For about 8-10 servings

Chili

Onion - 2 medium
Garlic - 3 cloves
Olive oil - 1.5 tablespoons
Red chili flakes - 1 tablespoon (more or less depending on how spicy you want the final product to be)
Ground coriander - 1 teaspoon
Cardamom pods, crushed - 3
Red pepper - 1
Ground beef - 700 g
Chopped tomatoes - 1 can (540 ml)
Ketchup - 4 tablespoons
Tomato paste - 4 tablespoons
Water - 125 ml
Kidney beans - 1/2 can (200-250 ml)
Refried Beans with Chipotle - 2 cans (455 ml each can)
Cocoa powder - 1 tablespoon
Salt, pepper to taste

Cornbread

Salt - 3/4 teaspoons
Cornmeal - 325 g
All-purpose flour - 2 tablespoons
Baking powder - 3 teaspoons
Kefir or Buttermilk - 375 ml
Eggs - 2
Maple syrup - 1 tablespoon
Vegetable oil - 2tablespoons
Cheddar, grated - 75 g

For chili
- In a processor, finely mince the onion and garlic. Or mince it by hand.
- Heat the olive oil in a very large pan.
- Fry the onion and garlic until they begin to soften.
- Add the red chili flakes, ground coriander and crushed cardamom pods to the pan, stir.
- Deseed and finely dice the red pepper. Add to the pan.
- Break up the ground beef into the pan and brown it well. Keep turning it to separate while it browns.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, both types of bean, ketchup, tomato paste and water to the meat and onion mixture. Mix well.
- Bring the chili to boil, sprinkle the cocoa powder and stir.
- Reduce the heat and simmer it partially covered for 1.5 hours.
- Careful not to let the chili burn. The mixture has a lot of sugar from tomatoes and ketchup and it tends to burn a little.
- After 1.5 hours the chili can be cooled and frozen or kept in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 220C (430F).
- If chili was chilled, then warm it on the stove.
- Pour the chili into a large ovenproof dish.
- Top the chili with cornbread and sprinkle with grated cheddar.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the cornbread is risen and golden brown.
- Let cool for a few minutes, serve with sour cream, cilantro and avocado.

For cornbread
- Combine the salt, cornmeal, flour and baking powder in a bowl.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk/kefir, eggs, maple syrup and vegetable oil.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine to get a wet batter.

This is the Refried Beans that I used. I really liked them in the chili as they were mostly mashed but still some of the beans were whole. The texture worked really well for this recipe.

Baked Apple with Dates, Pecans and Lemon Juice

Imagelicious — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:32:00 -0500

I don't really like apples. They are probably my least favourite fruit. Well, actually I don't like fruit too much. If I have a choice between vegetables and fruit, I'd definitely go for veggies. I'd rather eat a whole tomato or a cucumber than an apple or a pear. Still, not all fruit are so low on my list of favourites. I absolutely adore mangoes and I love juicy and perfectly ripe watermelon; I crave tangerines during winters and nectarines when it's warm. Apples, however, are rarely present on my kitchen counter. But I must admit, that when it comes to pies, apples are one of my favourite choices and they only come second to cherries. So, what a girl can do when she suddenly craves that apple pie taste, but has absolutely no desire to make a pie? A Baked Apple of course! Well, the "of course" part apparently is not that obvious as it turned out that some people have never even heard of such a thing as Baked Apple.

recipe for one serving

Apple, washed and cored - 1
Dates, pitted and chopped - 2
Pecans, chopped - 1.5 table spoons
Lemon juice - 1/2 lemon
Brown sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon - 1/4 teaspoon

- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
- Pour the lemon juice inside the apple.
- Mix the dates and pecans together.
- Place the nut mixture into the apple.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, sprinkle on top of the filling.
- Place the apple in an ovenproof dish.
- Bake for around 30 minutes until the apple is soft and the skin is wrinkled.

Marble Almond Cake with White Chocolate and Green Tea

Imagelicious — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:17:00 -0500

I already mentioned earlier that cookbook that I got a few months ago - "Cakes & Loaves" - and completely forgot about. Now I am trying to remedy this situation and use it more. So, I decided to make a sweet cake from the book. I am very partial to ground almond sin baking, so when I saw a recipe that combined ground almonds and matcha powder, I knew that I just had to try it. It took me a few years of hunting in Toronto to finally buy this famous Matcha Green Tea powder, but when I finally got my hands on it, I only made one dessert with the ingredient and that was it. Lately, however, I've been drinking a lot of green tea which tastes exactly like Green Tea Ice Cream and I've been craving desserts with that same flavour.

The cake turned out absolutely perfect. Ground almonds give unique texture to the cake, white chocolate is not too pronounced but still noticable and it smells and tastes like green tea. The cake stayed soft and tender even after a few days on my kitchen table.

This recipe was a little bit strange. Although, I followed the insturctions to the letter, the batter that I got was way too thin. It was more like a pancake batter, than normal cake batter, so I had to add a full cup of dry ingredients to make it into a normal cake batter consistency. I'll list my measurements here, but just in case, don't add all the dry ingredients at the same time, add them gradually to make sure that the batter is not too stiff.

recipe adapted from "Cakes & Loaves" by Ilona Chovancova

Butter, melted - 10 tablespoons (150g)
White chocolate, melted - 75 g
Eggs - 3
Sugar - 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons
Flour - 1 cup + 1/4 cup
Ground almonds - 1 cup + 1/4 cup
Green tea powder (Matcha) - 3 teaspoons
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoons
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoons
Milk - 3 tablespoons
Salt - a pinch

- Preheat the ove to 180C (350F).
- Butter and flour a cake pan.
- Beat together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume.
- Gradually add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, milk, and melted butter. Mix until the flour is incorporated.
- Divide the batter into two equal portions.
- Fold the green tea into one portion, and fold the white chocolate into the other.
- Pour the white chocolate batter into a prepared pan and cover with the green tea batter.
- Use a fork or a metal skewer to swirl the batters for a marbled effect.
- Bake for 40-60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out dry when inserted in the middle of the cake. Cover with foil if the cake is not baked through but the top begins to brown too much.
- Let cool in the pan slightly before turning out.

Comments
- Original recipe only had 3/4 cups of flour and ground almonds each and also no milk.
- It also required only 40 minutes to bake, but I found that the cake wasn't baked through after 40 minutes and it needed about an hour, but it all depends on the oven.

Blue Cheese, Pear and Walnut Cake

Imagelicious — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:16:00 -0500

It's been quite a long time since my last post here. I haven't been cooking much, but I recently started to get back into the groove. I made a few things and they turned out pretty great. I also got a new camera - Nikon D700, so I am extremely excited and can't wait to start cooking and taking pictures again.

I got this book called "Cakes & Loaves" a few months ago. I fell in love with the pictures of the cakes - so simple, so bright, so inviting and delicious. Later, while browsing through the recipes I was a little bit disappointed - it seemed like there were just a couple of basic recipes and the rest were just multiple variations of the same idea, just different additions and flavourings. I thought about returning the book, but the pictures were too inspirational and I left it on my shelf. That was more than six months ago and I completely forgot about this gem until last week. I picked up the book and rediscovered all the beautiful cakes again. One of them just screamed my name. Blue Cheese, Pear and Walnuts - what a perfect and classic combination of ingredients. Salty, spicy cheese combined with soft, sweet pear and crunchy, earthy nuts. On top of all that, the cake is very easy to make, all the ingredients just need to be combined and baked - no whipping, melting, resting, separating, etc. needed.

recipe adapted from "Cakes & Loaves" by Ilona Chovancova

Blue cheese, crumbled (such as Roquefort) - 125 g
Pear, peeled and chopped into 1x1cm cubes - 1
Walnuts, coarsely chopped - 60 g
Eggs - 3
Milk - 100 ml
Walnut oil - 3 tablespoons
Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder - 1 tablespoon
Sugar - 2 teaspoons
Mild Cheddar, grated - 100 g
Salt, pepper

- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
- Butter and flour the cake pan.
- In a big bowl mix together eggs, milk and both oils.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix just until it all comes together and no flour is visible. make sure that the filling is evenly distributed through the batter.
- Transfer the batter into the cake pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean with no crumbs.
- Cool the cake in the pan.

Comments
- You may omit the sugar, I just like the combination of salty and sweet and I think the batter becomes to plain without it.
- Blue cheese should be strong since there are so many other ingredients in the cake. Milk blue cheese would be lost in it.
- This cake goes amazingly well with Strong Cider.

Mussels in White Wine

Imagelicious — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:31:00 -0400

I really love mussels, but somehow I rarely order them in the restaurants. They just seem like a bad idea to order, not substantial enough for a main course and too much for an appetizer. So, with all my love for this product I don't remember the last time I ate them. I think I first tried them when I was 12 years old and visited Canada for the first time. They were exotic, different, something I've never tried and seen before in Russia. Then when I was 14 years old my dad and my grandma spent 10 days driving around in Europe and we made a very short stop in Amsterdam. I don't remember much about that city which I so want to visit again. I just remember really cute houses that reminded me of doll houses, I remember a few very long hours spent in the famous Van Gogh Museum - oh, how I want to go back there and explore that museum now when I love and appreciate that amazing artist - and I remember a dinner that we had at a small restaurant. Each of us had a huge pot of succulent, steaming mussels swimming in luscious broth. I don't think I've ever had so many mussels since then or maybe it's just the memory of a 14 year old when everything looked bigger and tasted better.

So, finally I decided to try making mussels on my own and they turned out amazing and really easy. I am sure I'll be cooking with mussels more from now on. This recipe is really great and the broth is absolutely amazing. There's a lot of broth, so you may want to reduce the amount of wine, but I think the broth is the best part in this recipe. Dunk some fresh crusty bread in the broth or serve it with some cooked pasta as the author of the recipe suggests.

recipe adapted from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten

for about 3 medium portions

Mussels - 2.5 pounds
Butter - 2 tablespoons
Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
Onion, finely chopped - 1 medium
Garlic, finely chopped - 5 cloves
Canned plum tomatoes, chopped - 1/3 cup (2 tomatoes from a can)
Flat Italian parsley, finely chopped - 1/2 cup
Thyme, dried - 1 teaspoon
White buttery wine such as Chardonnay - 1 cup
Salt - 3/4 teaspoon
Pepper - 1/4 teaspoon

- Clean the mussels. Remove the "beard" and scrub them under running water with a brush to remove any sand. Discard the mussels whose shells are not tightly shut.
- In a large pot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until it's soft.
- Add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir a few times to keep the garlic from burning.
- Add the tomatoes, parsley, thyme, wine, salt and pepper. Bring to boil.
- Add the mussels, stir well to coat them in the sauce, cover the pot and cook for 8-10 minutes over medium heat.
- Shake the pot a few times with the lid on to make sure that the mussels do not burn on the bottom.
- Pour the mussels and the broth into bowls and serve with crusty bread or over cooked pasta.
- Discard any mussels that are closed.

Lazy Cabbage Rolls

Imagelicious — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:36:00 -0400

Cabbage Rolls are a very typical Russian dish, although there are a lot of variations of it in different countries like Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc. I don't remember having them at home when I was a child, but I had them at my friends' houses and restaurants. It's not an easy food to make. Well, it's not difficult, but really tedious. First, the cabbage leaves need to be separated, then they need to be boiled for a couple of minutes until they are soft and pliable, but not too mushy. That process takes time since the leaves can only be boiled a few at a time. A filling needs to be made out of ground meat and cooled par-boiled rice. Then the rolls are assembled and baked in creamy tomato sauce. You see, it's a long process which I never attempted, although I really love Cabbage Rolls. So, when I saw a recipe for "Lazy Cabbage Rolls", I was intrigued. It was indeed very lazy - cabbage is shredded and mixed with ground meat and uncooked rice, then the meatballs are formed and baked - easy. The result was great, I really loved the simplicity and the taste. I'll make these again and again for sure.

recipe from carina-forum

for about 4 servings (16 meatballs)

Ground meat - 500 g
Cabbage, finely shredded and cut into short pieces - 500 g
Rice - 1/2 cup
Onion, finelly chopped - 1 medium
Eggs - 2
Salt, pepper to taste

For the sauce

Sour cream - 1/2 cup
Tomato sauce or simple ketchup - 1/4 cup
Salt, pepper

sour cream for serving

- First step is optional: saute the onion in a little bit of oil until the onion is soft and caramelized; alternatively, for an even lazier version, raw onion can be used.
- Mix the ground meat, shredded cabbage, uncooked rice, onion and eggs together.
- Add salt and pepper to the meatball mixture.
- Form the meatballs with your hands and place them in a baking dish.
- Bake for about 35 minutes at 375F.
- Make the sauce by mixing the sour cream with the tomato sauce (or ketchup) and pour the sauce of the meatballs. Bake for another 20 minutes.
- Serve with sour cream.

Comments
- By mistake I put all the sauce in the beginning of the baking and it got absorbed into the meatballs, so I covered each meatball with a dollop of sour cream about 10 minutes before the end of the baking.
- I think you can use your favourite tomato sauce here instead of this version and you might want to use more of it.
- The cabbage in the meatballs makes them flavourful and juicy.

Quick and Easy Cake

Imagelicious — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:41:00 -0400

When I first got interested in food, it wasn't cooking that intrigued me - it was baking. I didn't even like to cook, but baking on the other hand was my passion. It was magic that pulled me in. How do those simple ingredients like eggs, butter and flour mixed together create various beautiful cakes? And what about flourless cakes - sugar, butter and chocolate - how does this mixture create luscious desserts? I still consider it magical!

I was so interested in baking that I actually went to college for baking. I took 10 courses to qualify for a Bakery Arts Certificate (I still have to apply to get it, although I have all the correct courses). It was great and I learned a lot about baking and I am really not afraid of any type of baking now: be it yeasty breads, delicate pastries or flaky tarts.

But the cake recipe that I am about to introduce here goes against everything I learned. It's really not a right way to make a cake batter, but it works and it works beautifully! It's my mom's cake, she used to make it often when I was a child and this is baking magic at its best. One of my favourite things about this cake is the crust, somehow about 3 times out of 5 the crust really become meringue-like and tastes similar to macaroons. I cannot really explain why that happens.

Here it's made with pitted cherries, but my favourite is with apples, pecans and cinnamon. I also tried it with peaches and cardamom and plums and almonds. I'm sure it will be great with almost any fruit that you can put in a pie filling.

For baking form 20x20cm

Eggs - 3
Sugar - 1 cup
Flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Fruit - 2 cups or enough to cover the baking dish or more if mixed with the batter
Butter for the baking dish

And now for the magical part

- Preheat the over to 350F (180C).
- Butter the baking dish.
- In a big bowl whisk together the eggs and the sugar just until it all comes together, about 30 seconds, no more.
- Add the flour (and baking powder if using) and wisk together just until the flour disappears and there are no more lumps, about 45 seconds, no more.
- The batter will be quite thick and there won't be a lot of it.
- Cover the baking dish with the fruit and spread the batter over. It will barely cover the fruit and it'll look like it's not enough, but it will be great. ALternatively you can mix the fruit with the batter.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes depending on your oven. A toothpick inserted into the cake should come out clean when the cake is ready.
- Cool and enjoy with a glass of cold milk.

Various fillings:

- Pitted sour cherries.
- Apples cut into peaces with pecans and cinnamon.
- Halved plums with almonds inserted into each half.
- Sliced peaches with cinnamon or cardamom.

Oatmeal Cookies

Imagelicious — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:00:00 -0400

When I was little I didn't really like cookies. Most likely because we rarely had them in my family. Cookies weren't that popular in Russia. The most popular sweet was candy. We had many different types of candies, each of them wrapped in a colourful paper. Those types of candies are not popular here at all. In North America it's all about big candy bars, whereas in Russia we had tiny morsels of sweet goodness. We had our version of truffles, just much denser and harder than the French truffles. We had little souffle candy dipped in chocolate, they were about 1 inch by 1/2 inch rectangles and only 1/4 inch thickness - perfect size for a little pick me up sweet; my favourite was pineapple flavour, and we also had vanilla, chocolate and orange. There were also a lot of different candies with layers of wafers and chocolate cream fillings. There was something magical about those sweets, I think it was the wrapping, not the typical plastic-like glossy thin paper that we get here around Snickers or Mars bars, no. Each little candy was first wrapped in the thinnest layer of wax paper, then came the silver foil and then the colourful paper wrapping with a picture. Back in USSR we used to collect those paper wrappings much like people collect post stamps here.

So, all my childhood I had those candies. There were of course cookies, but they weren't as popular and I don't really remember my mom baking cookies except for a few times. It took me quite a few years of living in Canada to fall in love with cookies, but not I absolutely love them whereas my mom is still not a fan.

This is a very easy and tasty recipe for oatmeal cookies. They keep fresh for at least a weak in an airtight container and they have this perfect balance of sugar, so that they are not overly sweet, but sweet enough. I made 1/3 of the recipe plain, 1/3 with chocolate chips and 1/3 with raisins. I like the raisin cookies most, then the plain and then the chocolate.

recipe from sonulya.livejournal.com

for 4-5 dozens depending on the size of the cookies

Butter, room temperature - 200 g
Brown sugar, packed - 1 cup
White surgar - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - a pinch
Oats (rolled or quick oats) - 3 cups
Raisins - 1 cup (optional)
Pecans or Chocolate Chips - 1 cup (optional)

- Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
- In a big bowl using a mixer mix togher butter and both sugars until it's light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time mixing well between each addition. Add vanilla extract.
- Add flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and mix until the flour disappears from the mixture.
- Add oats and raisins and pecans if using and mix. Do not overmix.
- Place tablespoons of dough on baking sheet leaving 1 inch space between them.
- Bakie for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top.
- Leave the cookies to cool for a minute on a baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cold Beet Soup with Kefir, Cucumbers, Dill and Egg

Imagelicious — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:02:00 -0400

It's the middle of July and we still haven't had a good summer weather here. Yes, we had a couple of hot days here and there, but overall it doesn't feel like summer yet. But still, when the weather is above 24C (75F) and it's humid, I don't feel like cooking. So, I've been having a lot of sandwiches and... soups. Yes, soups, just cold soups. Actually, just one cold soup in particular. I discovered it last summer and spent a few months eating it practically every day, the combination of ingredients might sound weird to you, but the taste is phenomenal! I am not sure about the origin of this recipe, some say it's Russian, some say it's Lithuanian or Latvian, but regardless of where it came from, it's amazingly tasty, filling and refreshing.The recipe is really versatile and the ingredients can be added, increased, decreased or omitted according to taste, I've been known to exclude beets all together and added radishes. I've heard that it's really good with piping hot boiled potatoes on the side. It's a perfect easy summer soup!

recipe adapted from carina-forum

Beets, boiled or baked, grated - 1 large or 2 small
Cucumbers, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes - 2 small
Eggs, boiled, chopped - 4
Dill, finely chopped - 4 tablespoons or more to taste
Green onion, chopped - 2 (optional)
Radishes, chopped - 5 (optional)
Lots of salt
Kefir - 700 ml or more if you'd like a thinner soup

- Mix all the ingredients together and season to taste! It's that easy!

Comments
- Sometimes I am asked about the taste of this concoction. How does it taste? Well, all those ingredients without kefir make a pretty good salad, so it's sort of like a salad with lots of dressing, a.k.a kefir. Try it, it's great!!!

About the International Food Styling and Photography Conference in Boston

Imagelicious — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:15:00 -0400

It's been a month since I came back from the International Food Styling and Photography Conference in Boston. And it's been a month since I wrote something here, in my blog. Somehow every time I sat down to write, it just didn't seem right. In the beginning I was so overwhelmed by the conference, that I needed about a week to get my bearings. Then all those wonderful posts about the conference started to show up and I didn't know if I can keep up with them. I cannot take journalistic photos and I cannot write as well as those guys. So, yes, it took me a month, but I am finally writing this, although not too detailed.

The conference was amazing!! I was inspired in so many ways that I cannot describe it. I met wonderful people who I could not ever meet here. I heard countless inspirational stories and I felt so much "at home" when I knew that most people there shared my obsession with food.

But I actually had two different opinions about the conference. On one hand I absolutely loved it, but on the other hand I was a little bit disappointed with some of the talks. Some of the presenters just showed us their portfolio and that's it. It felt a bit strange paying a large sum of money just to see the same pictures that are on their websites.

No matter what my feelings were about the conference, the last day made up for everything. We went to Francine Zaslow Studio and it was an experience of a lifetime!!! How can I describe it? Beautiful big kitchen with countless of dishes, plates, bowls, forks and glasses. Large windows, amazing equipment and absolutely wonderful talented photographers, food stylists and assitants. I spent most of my time observing Deborah Jones who worked with natural light.

I came home absolutely amazed with the things that I saw and heard. I still feel a little bit out of my element. Wow, was I there? Was I at the conference? I think it'll take me a few more weeks to realize that yes, it actually happened and it wasn't a dream, but for now I'm going to keep dreaming about it.

International Food Styling and Photography Conference in Boston

Imagelicious — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:04:00 -0400

I am very excited and scared at the same time. I am going to the International Food Styling and Photography Conference in Boston this weekend. I don't really know what to expect and I don't know anyone there. I am new to the food blogging community and know any of the wonderful food bloggers yet. I know of them of course!! I know their blogs, their delicious recipes, their amazing pictures, but I don't know them any closer than that and they don't know me. So, it's a bit nerve racking going away by myself, but I am super excited to learn from the best and to meet new people.

I'll be back next week with pictures and stories

Savoury Pastries with Eggplant and Tomato

Imagelicious — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:57:00 -0400

I recently visited a fellow cooking enthusiast, and she made the most amazing and delicious lunch I had in a very long time. There was a light, summery salad made with spinach, prosciutto, mozzarella and peaches. Little pancakes with cream cheese, smoked salmon and dill. Grilled herb marinated scallops and tiger shrimp. Spaghetti with lightly cooked vegetables. And there were tiny pastries with eggplant and tomatoes. (There were three different desserts as well!!!) It was the first time she made those pastries and she used the recipe from some cookbook, but the actual dough didn't work too well. It was extremely crumbly and a bit sandy. My friend was really upset about it, but the filling of those pastries was absolutely delicious. So, I got her recipe for the filling and I used the other dough recipe that I knew would work. The result was really good! Juicy, tasty, garlicky filling wrapped in thin layer of tasty pastry. I made a simple dip for those little pies: equal measures of mayo and yogurt cheese mixed with minced garlic and cilantro. Perfect combination!

filling recipe adapted from carina-forum

makes eight medium (12 cm) pies

Pastry

Unbleached all purpose flour -500ml (2 cups)
Salt -2.5 ml (1/2 tsp)
Water - 60 ml (1/4cup)
Maple Syrup - 15 ml (1tbsp)
Canola oil - 125 ml (1/2 cup)
Oil for brushing

Filling

Tomatoes - 250 g (2 medium)
Eggplant, cut into 2cm cubes - 500 g (1 medium)
Onion, chopped - 1 medium
Cilantro, finely chopped - 1 tablespoon (my store didn't have fresh cilantro, so I used one frozen cilantro cube)
Garlic, minced - 1 clove
Cumin - 1/2 teaspoon (I didn't use it)
Tomato paste - 1 teaspoon (forgot to use it)
Olive oil, salt, pepper

- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).

- Heat some oil in a large pan and saute the onion until it's soft.
- Add the cumin and cubed eggplant to the pan and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop the tomatoes in the boiling water for 30 seconds.
- Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and drop them into cold water for 2 minutes.
- Peel the tomatoes and chop them.
- Add the tomatoes to the eggplant and cook for another 10 minutes until the eggplant is cooked.
- Add the minced garlic into the mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the cilantro, salt and pepper. Let the filling cool.

- In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
- In a measuring cup, combine the water and honey.
- Add the oil.
- Pour over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until flour is just moistened.

- Roll out the dough to 3-4 mm thickness.
- Cut 12 or 8 cm circles, put some filling in the middle and fold the circle in half to create a half-moon shape. Press the edges together with a fork.
- Put the pies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Brush the pastries with milk, eggwash, or oil.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the dough is baked through and golden brown.

Cocoa Powder and Cocoa Snow

Imagelicious — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 10:18:00 -0400

I saw this idea quite some time ago in a cookbook. I really loved the picture and wanted to recreated for some time, but all the spoons that I had didn't work. So, just recently I got a set of very lovely spoons that I figured would be perfect for this shot. First, I thought I'd wait until I make some chocolate dessert and then take this picture, but I was bored and the little spoons were so tempting. So, I decided to just go ahead and have fun with some cocoa powder.

I really liked the result, but I wanted to try something else. I wanted to drop a spoon and take a picture the moment it falls in the cocoa powder and the cocoa flies everywhere. That didn't work out at all. I couldn't get the shutter speed fast enough even with higher ISO and exposure compensation. But the main problem was dropping the spoon and clicking my remote at the exact moment of the spoon getting into the cocoa. Yep, that was (or wasn't) fun. As a result my whole place was covered in cocoa powder, it looked like there was cocoa snow. My table, my tablecloth, floor around the table, tripod, camera, spot light with an umbrella and, of course, me - we were all covered in a fine layer of cocoa powder. It wasn't fun to clean up, but it was fun working with it and a bonus - my place now smells like chocolate!!!

and one more... having fun with dypitchs...

Sandwich with Yogurt Cheese, Roasted Asparagus and Prosciutto

Imagelicious — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:46:00 -0400

I think I found a new food addiction. Well, I still have about five avacados on my counter, but my newest addiction is this Yogurt Cheese or as it is called in Middle East - Labneh. I now use a little different method, I wrap the yogurt in a lot of cheese cloth and then hang it over a deep bowl for a couple of hours. Those few hours are enough to drain the yogurt and get a nice, soft, creamy and tangy cheese. This time it's paired with peppery arugula (my other new favourite food), salty prosciutto and roasted and caramelized asparagus. Beautiful combination for a very tasty sandwich.

recipe adapted from carina-forum

Bread
Yogurt Cheese (or your favourite cream cheese)
Arugula
Prosciutto
Asparagus (+ olive oil, salt, pepper)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
- Wash asparagus, snap off the woody ends, arrange the spears onto a baking sheet, lightly cover with olive oil, salt, pepper and roast for a few minutes until they are cooked to your liking.
- Toast the bread.
- Spread some cheese onto a bread, lightly salt it.
- Arrange a few arugula leaves on the cheese.
- Wrap prosciutto around cooked and still warm asparagus.
- Place the wrapped asparagus on top of the arugula leaves.
- Ground the pepper on top.
- Enjoy!

Avocado and Arugula Salad

Imagelicious — Sun, 31 May 2009 10:47:00 -0400

And I am back again with my favourite ingredient - avocado. This time it's paired with my new favourite - arugula. Well, I used arugula before, but only recently I fell in love with this fresh, peppery, a little bitter, spicy and even a tiny little bit garlicky green. It has the most refreshing and complex flavour that I found in any lettuce, cabbage or other salad base ingredient. It's absolutely amazing and it pairs just wonderful with buttery avocado. I really think it's a match made in heaven: buttery avocado and spicy arugula... mmm... The salad is very easy with no real proportions, but it's really really good.

recipe very literately adapted from carina-forum

Arugula
Avocado
Thyme
Oil (olive, sunflower, or even avocado oil)
Freshly squeezed lime juice
Sea salt
Lots of freshly ground black pepper

Food Photography Props and Cooking Books

Imagelicious — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:46:00 -0400

I'd like to confess. I have an addiction. I have a problem. Well... I actually have two problems and two addictions. One - cook books. Two - food photography props. I guess both of those things go hand in hand together. It's getting a little ridiculous because I literally don't have any more places in my condo to put any of these things. I mean I have a choice, I either buy more props and books or I have a comfortable place to sleep.

But the thing is that there are so many wonderful cook books that I'd like to have. I love just leafing through them during long dark winter evenings. I like discovering new recipes that I missed the first time around, I like remembering my favourite ones when I look through the books again and again. It's a journey through time. I look at the pictures and I remember what I was thinking and feeling the first time I looked at them. I remember how I felt when I cooked some of the things. It's my life, my love, my memories and I can't deny myself the pleasure of discovering new books, new recipes, new authors, new wonderful pictures. How can I?

And what about the props? I can't shoot food using the same plate over and over again. It's not even about using the same prop, it's about which foods go well with which dishes. Yes, I need different flat plates for salad and yes I need multiple bowls in different shapes and colours. I need all of them and more. Each time I go to a store, I see possibilities. This little dish would make a perfect creme brulee vessel. And this colourful bowl would go so well with risotto. And this... and this... Pictures form in my mind and dance around filling me with joy and eagerness to go home and cook and take pictures. Yes, I've never used this plate which I bought a year ago, but I will, of course, I will.

The pictures are terrible. It was overcast outside and it's quite dark in my apartment, and I had no choice but to use the internal flash. But if you'd like to see my food photography props, my cook books... my treasures, then

My book shelves

All of the books don't fit in there, so they are on top of another unit

To the left of it, there was a little space where I wanted to put some floor vase or a lamp or some kind of decoration, but it now has a lot of different rolls of papers for backgrounds. There are two levels of those rolls.

Also, I have more papers hanging on the door

To the right of the bookshelves, there's my desk. Underneath it I keep lots of my cooking magazines and some of my textiles used for backgrounds and napkins.

There's supposed to be a big 24 inch monitor on the desk, but I still haven't received it, so there are some props there right now. Don't know where to put them once the monitor arrives.

There's a small shelf above.

It's small, but long

And there's a lot of empty space on top of the bookcase and the desk unit. It's high, it's not really easy to get items from it, but it's empty. I mean it used to be empty.

And a little bit more of the ceiling shelf.

All those things were in my "office" and now let's go to my living room (yep, there's more).

In the living room I have another shelving unit dedicated to even more props.

More textiles, napkins and backgrounds.

More props

And the last one

Yogurt Cheese Spread

Imagelicious — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:33:00 -0400

I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Everyday Food magazine. Well, it's not even a recipe, just an idea, but what a wonderful and easy idea. One ingredient, a little bit of patience and you get a perfect homemade cream cheese. Mix it with fresh chopped thyme, spread on a soft slice of dark rye bread, sprinkle with lots of flaky fleur de sel, freshly ground coarse black pepper and arrange a few spicy arugula leaves on top - it's a piece of heaven, better than any dessert or chocolate. It's light, tangy and refreshing from the use of yogurt, perfect for easy summer snack. Give it a try, mix it with garlic and fresh herbs, sun dried tomatoes and olive oil, chives and roasted red peppers - the possibilities are endless!!!

recipe from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart (june 2009)

Greek or Balcan style yogurt - 1 big tub

- Place 2 layers of cheesecloth in a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl.
- Add the Greek yogurt and loosely cover with plastic wrap.
- Top with a plate that is at least 1 inch smaller than the inside of sieve and weight with a heavy can.
- Refrigirate for 24 hours for Yogurt Spread or 48 hours for Yogurt Cheese.

Comments

- After 48 hours there was still a lot of liquid left in the yogurt, so I let i drain for another 24 hours and then I actually squeezed quite a lot of liquid by hands.
- I think the better way to do it, would be to wrap the yogurt in the cheesecloth and not put it inside the sieve, but actually hang it somewhere. It'll drain from its own weight. That's the way we do cottage cheese in Russia and it only takes a few hours instead of a few days.
- However, no matter which method you choose, the result is absolutely amazing!!!!

Avocado Hummus

Imagelicious — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:14:00 -0400

In case if you were wondering what was that green thing in the background in my Homemade Tortillas post, it was Avocado Hummus. Since I am currently addicted to avocados, I just knew that I had to try this recipe when I saw it. I can't say that I like hummus very much. I mean I can eat it and enjoy it, but it's not something I usually crave. This recipe was a bit too much on a hummus side for me, so I think it would be better with a little less chickpeas and a bit more avocados. So, here's my less hummus-ey version, but all the ingredients can be increased or decreased based on your personal taste.

recipe adapted from carina-forum

Chickpeas, drained and rinsed - 1/2 to 1 can (add more or less depending on your love for chickpeas and desired taste)
Avocados - 2 small
Tahini paste - 1 tablespoon (optional)
Lemon juice - 2-3 tablespoons (to taste)
Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
Water - enough to thin the dip to the desired consistency (3-5 tablespoons)
Salt, pepper

- Process all the ingredients except for te water in a food processor, until they become very smooth.
- Add some water to thin out the dip to the desired consistency.
- Season to taste.

Homemade Tortillas

Imagelicious — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:02:00 -0400

It took me not once, not twice, but three times to figure out a secret to making those tortillas. And the secret is... ta-da... flour!! Yep! Just plain old flour and those tortillas need a lot of it and I mean a lot!!! The first time I made them I thought I'd go crazy from rolling them. The tortillas stuck to the rolling pin and to the surface, they refused to even resemble something close to a circle and they just wouldn't become thin at all. It was a nightmare. Sure, they tasted good, but the effort just wasn't worth it. Then I tried it the second time and... same result. It took me about two years to get over the drama of making those tortillas and I thought that maybe, just maybe, third time would be a charm and finally I was right. And it turned out to be so easy - just put lots, lots, lots of flour while rolling them. I think I used way more than a cup of flour for the surface and the rolling pin. The tortillas finally were very thin and they even remotely resembled a circle. So, yes, it's worth it. They are amazingly tasty, light, soft and crispy at the same time and buttery.

You can easily make a vegan version of these and actually the original recipe was vegan and it called for shortening, but I don't use that ingredient in my cooking, so I substituted it for room temperature butter, but feel free to use non-hydrogenated margarine for a vegan treat.

recipe adapted from The Big Book of Bread by Anne Sheasby

for 12 tortillas

All-purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups (plus a lot more for rolling)
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Butter, room temperature - 3 tablespoon
Warm water - 2/3 cups

- Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Lightly rub in the butter.
- Make a well in the center, then add enough water, mixing to form a soft dough.
- Knead the dough lightly for 1-2 minutes, then cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.
- Roll out each portion on a heavily floured surface to form a very thin round.
- Brush out the excess of flour from the tortilla.
- Heat a large non-stick pan until very hot, then add a tortilla and cook for 1.5-2 minutes or until the surface starts to bubble and the underside is speckled brown.
- Turn the tortilla over and brown the other side for about 30 seconds.
- While the tortilla is cooking, roll out another round and repeat.
- You might need to brush away some burned flour from the pan in between cooking the tortillas.
- To re-heat, wrap them in foil and place in a preheated oven at 180C (350F) for about 5 minutes.

I decided to participate in a Homemade Tortillas Challenge on What's Cooking? site

Harry Potter's Favourite Treacle Tart

Imagelicious — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:59:00 -0400

I love, love, love Harry Potter series and I am not ashamed to admit it. There's something about this universe that J.K. Rowling created. Yes, it's very dark at times, but it's still kind and bright at the same time. The magic just pulls me in and each time I read those books (so far I read them all twice), I don't want to let them go, I don't want the adventures to stop. I really love reading, and I spent my childhood and youth reading a lot of wonderful books, but somehow, although I liked them and reread some of them a few times, I never had an urge to reread a book right after finishing it. But after I turned the last page in the last Harry Potter's book I could only do so much to stop myself from picking up the first book again.

Surprisingly, food is actually a prominent subject in those books. Starting with the first time Harry met Hagrid and they had sizzling, plump, juicy and slightly burnt sausages. Oh, my, just typing those words makes my mouth water. And what about the famous feasts at Hogwarts?

"He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and, for some strange reason, mint humbugs."

And although I try not to eat that much meat now and I recently tried being a vegan for a few weeks, it makes my stomach growl. It's a carnivore heaven.

And then there are desserts.

"When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the puddings appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclair and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding..."

I am not too familiar with British cuisine, so the first time I read about Treacle Tart I didn't think too much about it. But it is Harry's favourite dessert, so I read about it again and again and at some point I looked this word up in a dictionary. I was disappointed - apparently English-Russian dictionary translated the word as molasses and what's so tasty about that? I mean it's a great ingredient for a ginger bread, but for a tart? And only a few months later I accidentally saw a recipe for a Treacle Tart in one of my books and it turned out that despite the name, it's actually made out of Golden Syrup. It took me a long time, but I finally made it and... I can see why it's Harry's favourite!

recipe adapted from Caramel by Trish Deseine

for 3 small 11x5 cm forms

For the pastry

Chilled butter, cut into cubes - 1/6 cups (37 ml)
All-purpose flour - 1/2 cup+1/8 cup (150 ml)
Soft brown sugar - 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
Chilled water - 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
Chilled vodka - 1 tablespoon (15 ml)

For the filling

Golden Syrup (or Maple Syrup or Corn Syrup) - 1/3 cup (75 ml)
Butter - 3/4 tablespoon (10 ml)
Whipping cream - 1/6 cup (37 ml)
Egg, lightly beaten - 1

- To make the pastry, mix the butter, flour, and sugar together in a food processor, or in a mixing bowl, uring your fingertips to combine, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Make a hollow in the center and pour in water and vodka (if not enough, add a little bit more vodka) to make a dough.
- Shape into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Roll out the pastry and use it to line the forms. Chill in the refrigerator for another 40-60 minutes.
- Preheat the over to 350F (180C) and put a baking sheet in the over to heat up.
- Gently heat the Golden Syrup in a small saucepan.
- Add the butter and stir until the mixture is smooth.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and gently stir in the cream and the beaten egg. Be careful not to scramble the egg, if, however, egg white cooks a little, then pour the mixture through a fine thieve to get rid off the egg white lumps.
- Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the filling has set.
- Allow the tart to cool for a few minutes before serving with whipped cream.

Just to show the size of the tart forms. I had three of those from the recipe.

Cold Avocado and Kefir Soup

Imagelicious — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:46:00 -0400

It's a coincidence that I have two avocado posts one after another. I actually made that guacamole about six weeks ago, but only got around to posting it two days ago and now another avocado recipe is coming right away. I was thinking of waiting a few more posts before blogging about this one, but it's too good not to share. The weather is getting warmer here in Toronto, it's ok to not even wear a jacket now and then, and this soup is just a perfect lunch to cool off in the middle of a suddenly warm day. It's light, it's refreshing, it's delicious, creamy, luscious and filling soup, that's extremely easy to make. I just bought a bag of five small avocados and used one for this dish, so I think I'll be making it four more times in the near (very near) future. It's basically two ingredients: avocado and kefir, which is kind of like a Russian version of drinking yogurt, although not quite like it. You can usually find it in an organic section of almost any supermarket or you can substitute it by buttermilk or very thin plain yogurt.

recipe adapted from carina-forum

Avocado - 1 small
Red onion - 1 tablespoon chopped (1/4 small onion)
Lemon juice - 1 to 2 tablespoons
Cilantro - 2 tablespoons chopped
Kefir - 200 ml (or more)
Red pepper flakes - 1/2 teaspoons
Salt, pepper

- Combine all the ingredients in a food processor.
- Process until smooth.
- Add more kefir if the soup is too thick.
- Add more lemon juice if kefir is not acidic enough.

I use this brand of kefir, it's my favourite. It's slightly carbonated and has this "champagne" effect, so the foil top is blown up a little bit; it actually means that the drink is fresh, not the opposite.