Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

The internet is a wonderful thing, and getting all these great recipes each week keeps me interested in trying new and healthy recipes on a regular basis.

Hubby has type 2 diabetes, so has to watch his carb intake. Like most of us, carbs are comfort food and he needed comforting. He's been sick with bronchitis all week, but by Thursday he was feeling well enough to be up and moving around a bit more, which is a good thing because I was so busy with work I didn't have time to make the dinner that caught my eye the other day. It's Baked Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Style from allrecipes.com. Except for shopping for the groceries and putting the squash in the oven to cook, he made it all. 

After an hour of baking it really does look like angel hair pasta!

This casserole kind of reminds me of something made with sauerkraut (which I love), probably because of the tomatoes and olives combining with the squash. Hubby didn't taste it, so it might just be me.

I wish I could find pitted black olives soaked in brine. 
The canned variety are tasteless and pitting olives is tedious work. Glad it wasn't me doing it!

The one thing we did differently to the recipe below is to replace the Parmesan cheese with cottage cheese, which is pretty typical of lasagna.  I also didn't see the point of putting it back into the squash shell. Visions of toppling lasagna made me think twice.

Hubby being creative. I would have topped it like a traditional lasagna, just with mozzarella.

Baked Spaghetti Squash Lasagna 

1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 28 oz. can stewed tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 cube vegetable bouillon
black pepper to taste
1 (15 ounce) can black olives, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with a thin layer of cooking spray. Place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet. 

2. Bake squash 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife can be easily inserted. Remove from oven, and cool. 

3. Meanwhile, spray a non-stick saucepan with cooking spray. Over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until golden brown. Stir in tomatoes, basil, bouillon cube, and black pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until you have a medium thick sauce. 

4. Remove squash strands with a fork, reserving the shells. Layer each half with a spoonful of the sauce, a layer of spaghetti squash strands, olives, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers until shells are full, or until all of the ingredients are used. Top with Parmesan cheese. 

5. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until Parmesan cheese melts.

I'd recommend putting the mozarella on top and the parmesan inside the casserole. 

Really tasty, and enough for 3 meals for two. I'd definitely give this two thumbs up, but I'm too busy eating! 

Enjoy,

Kathy

Root Vegetable Beef Stew

When I was a young girl, my mom made a roast beef nearly every Sunday. My dad wasn't much of a meat eater, and would only eat beef if it was cooked to shoe leather. I grew up thinking I didn't care for roast beef much (but I did love the way my mom would cook the carrots, onions and potatoes right beside the beef — YUM in my TUM!).

After Sunday roast beef would come Monday's beef stew made from all the leftovers. Definitely did not like it. Everything was overcooked and the gravy way too thick. Just thinking about it brings makes me shudder. Sorry mom, I know you were trying to be thrifty!

Imagine my trepidation when twenty some years later I am invited to a friend's for dinner and she announces we're having stew. It's one thing to complain about what my mom made, but I was taught to eat what was put in front of me when I was company. I was so surprised when I tasted the stew and it was absolutely delicious, tender, cooked perfectly and not so thick a spoon could stand up in it!

Since then as soon as the root vegetables come out the ground and the weather cools down my mind turns to beef stew. I also make a mean pork and chicken stew too. Unlike my friend my beef stew includes lots of garlic, and red wine is a key ingredient because it tenderizes the meat and gives the stew a rich finish that makes it company worthy.

I recently made a huge batch and although I don't use a recipe, but here is what I could suggest as one:

The meat in this hearty and delicious stew is coated in a flour mixture before frying.
The flour serves as thickener without making the stew too thick.

Root Vegetable Beef Stew
1 lb stewing beef, cut into bite-sized pieces (trim off excess fat)
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup beef or chicken broth
1 cup red wine
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 rutabaga
4 carrots
2 tbsp dried Italian herbs (rosemary, oregano, basil, parsley, etc.)
2 bay leaves
2 cups chopped mushrooms
1 cup green peas
seasoning to taste

In a zipper seal bag mix together flour, paprika, salt and pepper. Add stewing beef, seal and shake to coat. In a large heavy frying pan, cook the beef in batches on medium, browning, but remove from pan when still running with juices. Set aside. Repeat. You may need to add more oil with each batch of beef. Reserve the flour mixture for thickening later on. When all meat is cooked, add onions and garlic, scraping up the browned flour until onions are softened. Add broth, scraping up brown bits. Transfer to a large pot and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Simmer gently for about an hour, or until vegetables are cooked through.

If stew seems too thin, add the flour mixture and enough water to make a liquid into a sealable jar and shake vigourously, then stir into stew. Add mushrooms and green peas and simmer until cooked.

You can serve this stew with a nice loaf of hearty bread, but we're trying to watch hubby's carbs, so we ate it without and didn't miss bread, truth be told. If you like potatoes in your stew, add them, but I find they go mealy when frozen. Some people also like parsnips in their stew, but I don't like their strong taste. Essentially you can add whatever vegetables you like.

Like all one pot dishes this is even better the next night. I made enough for about 6 meals for the two of us, so we should be good for a good while.

Enjoy (with a glass of wine, of course)!

Kathy

Thankful weekend part 3: sweet endings

Now onto my amazing pie. I personally L-O-V-E cinnamon, so any apple pie I would normally make would have to have it. However, since I met hubby I now know 3 people who don't like cinnamon, and since two of them were eating our turkey feast, I had to compromise.

What a perfect compromise this is. The flavour is given a serious jolt from a caramel sauce made of butter and sugar and is the perfect complement to the tart apples. If you like caramel apples as a kid, you will love this pie. 

Another thing I did differently was to make my pie crust completely with butter (I used a classic shortening recipe and made the substitution). Before calling me crazy, hear me out. Butter is no more fattening than shortening, but it's a completely natural product.  Shortening is full of transfat, butter has cholesterol. So, which is worse? For me shortening is given the heave-ho because it also gives me heartburn. 

And you know what? The crust was amazing! I was very worried at first. It was crumbly, but I think that's because butter crust can be worked a bit more than shortening crust and it doesn't need to be refrigerated first. It's more pliable when it's closer to room temperature. The end result was a crispy and flaky buttery crust that actually held up even the next day. A winner in my recipe book!

So, this recipe is not for the faint of heart (oh, I just realized the cholesterol/heart connection :-) As my Maman said "If you're going, go all the way". Treating yourself to pie that's just the way you want it to be is something to be thankful for, I think.

The secret to this pie's wonderful taste is the  buttery caramel sauce poured over it before baking. 

After much confusion about how to weave the lattice, here is the yummy-looking finished result.

Caramel Apple Pie

A different take on the classic apple pie. This one has no cinnamon.

Instead, a delicious caramel sauce bakes into the pie. Yummy!

1               pie crust for bottom and lattice top

1/2 cup      butter (salted)

3 tbsp        all-purpose flour

1/2 cup      white sugar

1/2 cup      packed brown sugar

1/4 cup      water

8                apples, peeled and thinly sliced

In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour to form paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar, and water, bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.

Place bottom crust in a 9-inch pie plate, fill with apples, mounding slightly. Cover with latticework crust. Carefully pour sauce over the crust.

Bake 15 minutes in a 425°F oven. Reduce temperature to 350°F and bake for 35–45 minutes. If the pie is getting too dark, cover with foil and continue baking. 

I also made homemade sugar-free vanilla ice cream to eat with the pie. I picked this recipe because I haven't yet found a good sugar-free vanilla ice cream, despite several attempts. Like my hubby, Judy Vahs' (who added this recipe to allrecipes.com) husband is also diabetic, so I thought I'd give it a try. The recipe called for a package of sugar-free vanilla pudding, and sweetened condensed milk, but then that wouldn't be sugar-free, and suitable for diabetics, would it? So, I tried using evaporated milk and making the balance of the 3 cups with 18% cream and extra vanilla. It was very good, extremely creamy tasting, but the evaporated milk wasn't necessary and left a bit of a taste. I think because I'm using a pudding mix, trying it with the lower fat variety of cream might work. So here's my next try:

Easy Creamy Sugar-free Vanilla Ice Cream

The pudding mix gives a creaminess to this ice cream, You'd never know it's made without sugar!

3 cups   10% fat cream

1 pkg     sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix

1/4 cup  Splenda

3 tbsp    vanilla

In a medium bowl, whisk all ingredients together until blended and thickened. Freeze in a 1 quart (1 litre) ice cream maker, according to directions. Transfer to a container with lid and freeze until firm.

I was so full from stuffing myself with turkey that I couldn't really enjoy the pie, in all honesty. But I sure made up for it the next day after my turkey sandwiches. Oh my goodness, this pie is good — with or without ice cream — and that says a lot for a girl who must have ice cream with her pie.

So, I am thankful for having a wonderful hubby who likes to complement (and compliment!) my cooking with his own specialties, for a mother-in-law who is happy to let me take over her kitchen (and clean up after me to-boot!) for relatives-in-law who love my cooking, and for the good health I enjoy to make it all happen.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thankful weekend part 2: turkey and the trimmings

As I get older, I find eating turkey once or twice a year is enough for me. It's so rich somehow (well, maybe not the turkey, but the gravy and all the trimmings?). So once is good for me. But hubby and I were very excited to be making a turkey meal for our family on the Acadian Coast, there's no doubt about it.

When we lived in Yellowknife, we always hosted a Thanksgiving meal for our special friends who weren't going away for the weekend. Over the years we always served a different variety of a pumpkin pie dessert — everything from my mom's traditional (and very popular at my dad's bakery) pumpkin pie, to pumpkin cheese cake, and the ultimate: pumpkin crème brulée (I will share that recipe one day). Although I like pumpkin pie, it isn't something Acadians typically eat, and I was happy to forgo it. Instead, I've discovered the absolute best Caramel Apple Pie. Anyone I know who has tasted it, says it's the best apple pie they've ever had. But I'm getting ahead of myself, skipping right to dessert. Oh so typical of me!

This time I let Maman handle the vegetables. It was her kitchen after all. She made a mioche (sp?) of carrots, rutabaga and parsnips (essentially puréed together with some butter and seasonings). Yummy, but I was surprised how strong the parsnips were — I prefer to taste the rutabaga. She also made mashed potatoes.

Hubby is always in charge of the stuffing and the turkey and he has mastered it after 10 years. His stuffing uses pork sausage and ever since eating his, I like stuffing, but only his... He also always makes the turkey in a bag, and we usually buy a fresh turkey because it stays moist and cooks faster.

So, a true family affair. Maman invited one of her brothers and his family. Of course, I was so intent on eating, I forgot to take pictures of the meal, but turkey is turkey. It's how happy it makes my belly that's the true magic.

Hubby's stuffed turkey just waiting to come out of the oven

Thanksgiving for Stuffing!
This is the recipe that made me appreciate how good stuffing can be.

1 lb            sausage meat

1                medium onion, diced

1/4 cup      celery, chopped

1 tbsp        salt

1 tsp          pepper

1 tbsp        dried basil

1 tsp          dried oregano

1 tbsp        dried parsley

10 cups     coarse whole wheat bread crumbs

                 chicken broth (about 750 ml)

Cook sausage in skillet, breaking up with a fork as it cooks, until all the pink is gone. Pour off all but 1/2 cup of accumulated liquid. Add celery and onion to skillet, cook until onion is softened. Stir in salt, pepper, basil, oregano and parsley.

Place bread cubes in a large bowl. Add sausage mixture, gently stirring in enough broth to moisten.

Will stuff a 12 to 14 lb turkey. Bake leftovers in a covered dish at 350ºF for 30 minutes.

After the one meal of turkey, hubby and I have a tradition of making what we call "Who Hash" (after Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Who Stole Christmas"). It's a way to use up all the leftovers from turkey. You layer turkey, stuffing, cranberries, veggies, gravy and mashed potatoes in a big pan and freeze it for a lovely meal near Christmas. One of our best traditions ever. Sadly, there wasn't enough stuff left over to make it, so this year we'll have to forgo Who Hash. But, there was enough turkey left over for my absolute favourite turkey meal — turkey sandwiches! Turkey, stuffing, cranberries and lots of mayo on whole wheat bread. Yah-UM!

And that's all she wrote!

Coming Up: Saving the best for last —the sweet ending to the perfect Thanksgiving meal. 

Kathy

Much to be thankful for

It was Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and although it is not a French-Canadian holiday (nor really Canadian if truth be told [we're just happy to eat turkey and have an extra day off]) hubby and I offered to make our Thanksgiving extravaganza up on the Acadian Peninsula.

It started out with being invited to hubby's uncle's place for the very traditional Porc Cotelette, which is salt pork that's been soaked to remove most of the brine, then is cooked with carrots, cabbage, rutabaga, potato and this time, sweet potato. For any of you out there who have heard of Newfie Jiggs Dinner, this is it — with a special Acadian twist. Acadians add strips of dough made from flour and water to the boil up and it makes these delicious dumpling like noodles. Yum! Now, I'm not a true Acadian because I'm afraid I can't eat the meat (way too fatty for me), but they know when I'm there to add extra veggies and pate (noodles)!

Of course I didn't take a picture, and I couldn't find one of the Acadian version, but here is a picture of Jiggs Dinner:

Taken by Stella Walsh of the Examiner

Now that I see the picture, I'm not sure what that is at 10:00, but you get the gist. I couldn't pretend to know how to make this and I doubt you could find salt pork anywhere but where eastcoasters gather, so suffice it to say if you ever come this way, you should try it.

Anyway, my contribution to the meal was Bottoms Up! Chocolate Pudding Cake, and that I can share the recipe with you. When I was growing up my mom used to make this all the time, but from a box. It was one of our family favourites, served warm with ice cream. But then I grew up, poo-poohed things from a box, so forgot about it. Until years later when I found it in a magazine. Through trial and error I've made it my own: less sweet, more chocolatey and very saucy!

Not sure what was up with me and pictures, but I took this from a blog called Foodaphilia

I love this recipe because if you really want to all you need is the pan you bake it in, and a fork to make it with. Nowadays I do it Mom's way and stir up the sauce in a bowl, sprinkle the dry ingredients over top and then carefully pour the boiling water over it all. That's the secret — when you put it in the oven the watery sauce is on top, but when it comes out, it has flipped itself over and the cake is on top, leaving a rich and gooey sauce on the bottom which begs for ice cream. Oh, and did I mention there's very little fat and no eggs? It should be called Miracle in a Pan!

Another uncle said the only problem with the recipe was the pan — it wasn't big enough! It was cleaned out, that's for sure. Here is my recipe, with a doubled sauce, because it makes this dessert soooo good:


Bottoms Up! Chocolate Pudding Cake 

Mmmm mmmm good! Way better than from a mix! 

1/2 cup         all-purpose flour
1/4 cup         granulated sugar
1 tbsp           unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp          baking powder
1/4 tsp          salt
1/4 cup         milk

2 tbsp           cooking oil
1 tsp             vanilla
1 cup           granulated sugar
4 tbsp          unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 cups   boiling water

Turn on oven to 350°. Put flour, 1/4 cup sugar, the 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, baking powder, and the salt in a medium casserole dish. Use a fork to stir until well mixed. Add milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir with a fork until smooth. Will be a very thick paste. Spread evenly on bottom of dish.

Stir 1 cup sugar and the 4 tablespoons cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle evenly over cake batter. Slowly pour boiling water over batter and dry sauce mix in dish.

Put the dish in the oven. Bake about 30 minutes or until the cake has risen to the top and forms a crust. Set the dish on the cooling rack to cool for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

Bottoms Up!

Kathy

P.S.  Part 2 of our thankful weekend is next.

Maman knows best

One of my favourite dishes that hubby's mother makes is something we call Chinese Noodles. It's delicious and so quick to make, I wonder why I never made it before the other day?

Hmmm... maybe it's because like any good son, hubby never wants to deviate from a tried and true Maman recipe. The pressure can be intense, especially when I have different tastes. Luckily in this case the dish is so simple and tasty, there isn't much I would change.

Here is the approximate recipe, but you know how it is when you make something for years without a recipe. My advice: taste as you go along...

I had to use rotini because I didn't have enough elbow macaroni, but otherwise I stayed true to the recipe. 

Chinese Noodles with Pork
4 cups         whole wheat or whole grain elbow macaroni
1/4 cup       olive oil
1 cup          celery cut in small pieces
1 medium   onion, diced
2                 pork loin chops (chicken and beef are also good), cooked and cubed
1/3 cup       soy sauce (or to taste)

Cook macaroni according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a hot pan add olive oil, celery, and onion, cooking for about 4 minutes, or until onion is softened. (Alternately, brown pork loin chop with onion and celery.) Add cooked meat and soy sauce, allowing meat to soak up the soy sauce. Add cooked macaroni, stir and serve.

Makes about 6 servings.

Honestly, the only change I would make is maybe cooking in a bit of garlic. But, I'll have to work that in gradually. Don't want to upset the apple cart.

Enjoy!

Kathy

Kitchen sink crustless quiche

Some days you just need to crack a few eggs, so I dug into my fridge, using up most of what was in there.

Here's my crustless quiche variation of a basic variety:

12  eggs (yes it was BIG)
1/2  cup milk
2 cups cheese
tomatoes, sliced
Montreal smoked meat, chopped
onion, diced
sweet red peppers, diced

In large bowl, whisk eggs with milk; mix in all the rest of the ingredients and stir in cheese. Pour into greased large glass baking dish. Bake in 350°F oven for about 50 minutes or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean.

Not bad for a fridge cleanout.

Cheers,

Kathy

An amazing dinner, if I do say so myself!

Writing work has come back with a vengeance, and by the end of the first week of eating meals out of the freezer, I wanted to stretch my culinary muscles again — even if I was exhausted. Sometimes a change of creative stream is as good as a break.

I paired a couple of recipes I found from an online newsletter to allrecipes.com for Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic and another from a Canadian cooking show I regularly watch, called Simple, Fresh, Delicious for an out of this world Beet, Spinach and Candied Walnut Salad.

I followed the recipe for the chicken breasts as it was on the website, but added a bit of table cream (maybe 1/2 cup) to the sauce just before serving. It was good and I might do it again, but I'm sure this dish is tasty enough without it. I served the chicken over a bed of whole wheat spaghettini that I seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper. Very tasty, and enough left over for two more meals (the chicken breasts were huge — not organic unfortunately). On days two and three we chopped up the chicken, and mixed it together with the pasta. It was great.

I didn't have any mushrooms, so I reconstituted freeze-dried chanterelles and morels. Wow!

Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon butter

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Rinse the mushrooms and pat dry. Season the flour with salt and pepper and dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute the chicken until it is nicely browned on one side (about 3 minutes).

Add the garlic. Turn the chicken breasts and scatter the mushrooms over them. Continue frying, shaking the skillet and stirring the mushrooms. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add the vinegar, broth, bay leaf and thyme. Cover tightly and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes, turning occasionally.

Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter and cover with foil. Set aside. Continue simmering the sauce, uncovered, over medium high heat for about 7 minutes. Swirl in the butter or margarine and discard the bay leaf. Pour this mushroom sauce mixture over the chicken and serve.

As good as the chicken was, I have to say that I first wanted to eat the entire salad that was meant for six people by myself and forget all about the chicken. This is the most wonderful combination of sweet, salty, spicy and nutty I've ever had the pleasure of eating. I'm not one for eating salad a second day, because it is so wilted, but I don't mind wilted spinach, so I put my serving for lunch the next day into the microwave for about 30 seconds to take the chill off and it was just as good or better the second time. And the third!

Roasting the beets instead of boiling them is so easy and so much tastier because the flavour stays in the beet, rather than boiling away in the water. 

Doesn't this look amazing?! Who would have thought to add beets to a green salad but an Aussie!

Beet, Spinach and Candied Walnut Salad
6 beets, trimmed
6 cups baby spinach leaves
1 cup shaved parmesan cheese (use a vegetable peeler to shave) (As always, I used Romano)

Candied Walnuts
1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup walnuts

(NOTE: I also added 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper and 1/4 tsp salt and increased the cinnamon to 1/2 tsp. and reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup. So, so good!)

Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
salt and cracked black pepper to taste (I didn't use any salt because I added it to the nuts)

To make the candied walnuts, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk egg white, cinnamon and sugar in medium bowl. Add walnuts and stir to coat. Spread nut mixture on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cook in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until golden. Mixture will become crisp as it cools. Chop cooled mixture.

To make the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients in a glass jar; shake well.

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Wrap beets individually in foil. Bake in preheated oven for about 50 minutes or until tender. Open foil and let cool until cool enough to handle. Peel skin from beets and discard. Cut beets into large chunks.

Toss beets in bowl with spinach, parmesan and candied walnuts. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

Hubby helped by grating the cheese, but then had to do it all over, this time shaving the Romano as the recipe called for (forgot to communicate that). It made the dish, I think. Grated would have made the salad too salty, but getting a salty mouthful cheese shaving  against the sweetness of the beets and the spiciness of the nuts mad this dish was a spectacular surprise. 

I plan to make this salad for our Canadian Thanksgiving feast next weekend on the Acadian Peninsula. I can see it becoming a tradition. It would be so good with the turkey. Move over Brussels sprouts!

Enjoy!

Kathy

I'm ready for cold weather breakfast season

I got fooled by the shift in weather after Hurricane Earl. It rained and got cool, so I thought fall was here. Wrong! Summer feels as though it's back with a vengeance and the last thing I could bring myself to think about in the morning is a hot breakfast, but I'm ready when the cool weather actually hits and stays.

During the infamous visit with my sister, where it rained the entire time she was here and cleared up the moment her plane took to the skies, we enjoyed oatmeal a couple mornings before starting on our days of touring. For years I used to make microwave oats for breakfast, that I called Triple Berry Oatmeal because it reminded me of my famous triple berry crisp (I will share that recipe some day soon). 

Foolproof Microwave Oatmeal

In this photo I added an apple and some leftover blueberries. Delish!

1/3 cup oats (not instant) such as Rogers' Porridge Oats (it has additional goodness in it)

generous pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 cup frozen mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) or 1 apple peeled, cored and diced
2/3 cup very hot water
1/3 cup walnuts or other nuts (optional)

Add all ingredients into a microwaveable bowl with a loose fitting cover (to allow steam to escape). Cook on full power for 2-1/2 minutes. Let stand in microwave for 5 minutes. Stir and add brown sugar to taste.  Makes 1 serving.
NOTE: To ensure the liquid doesn't boil over in the microwave, make sure the lid is loose fitting enough to allow steam to escape. I use a small glass casserole dish with a lid that I put on cross-wise.

Yum!

You may remember way back in January and February of this year I tried apple oatmeal crème brulée, which was so incredibly sweet it was almost inedible. Well, the microwaved version with apple tasted so good I decided to try it again, made my way. Hubby and I were not disappointed. The oatmeal is chewy/nutty and oh so good. And so healthy! It is the easiest thing to make. If you don't want to freeze into servings for other days, this recipe halves easily.

Overnight Harvest Apple Oatmeal

Before adding the milk, butter and maple syrup.

2 cups steel cut oats (do not substitute, as cooking time will change with rolled oats)
8 apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 cups walnuts
8 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup ground flax seed
4 tbsp vanilla

Just before going to bed add all ingredients to a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker. Set to low and cook for 8 hours as you sleep. In the morning turn off heat, stirring in vanilla before serving. Makes 8 serving.

I personally found the addition of a bit of milk and about a teaspoon of butter made this absolutely heavenly. Oh, and I would highly recommend using maple syrup to sweeten. The way it works with the apples and cinnamon, makes me feel like a true easterner!

This was so amazing! There are two servings left in our freezer (we ate one and froze the rest into individuals servings, thawing overnight). With the addition of the walnuts and the flax I found this oatmeal held me fine until lunch.

I can't wait until it's cold enough to eat oatmeal again!

Kathy

The best chocolate ice cream ever!

I've done it! I've made the best lower fat chocolate ice cream I've ever tasted! After months of sacrificing myself in the name of the holy grail of frozen desserts, this is THE best chocolate ice cream I've ever eaten.

When I first got my ice cream maker this summer I stuck with the recipes in the manual, and only the ones that didn't require cooking. But they just weren't ice-creamy enough. So I search and found one called Very Chocolate Ice Cream on allrecipes.com that I used as the basis for my own Chocolate Pecan Dream Ice Cream. The ratio was perfect for my 3-cup ice cream maker and it had both powdered chocolate and bar chocolate. 

It seems the general consensus for ice cream is 2 cups of whipping cream and 1 cup whole milk. The first time I made it I used all whipping cream (33%) because that's what I had, but it was too rich, even for me. Well, that's not true, it was too rich to enjoy regularly. That one was so rich you could feel the frozen fat molecules sticking to the roof of your mouth. Even richer than Haagen Dazs, which says a lot. Total fat from dairy was 33%.

The next time, planning to thoroughly impress my sister who was here for a visit, I tried a 10% table cream version in vanilla, adding a vanilla bean and extra vanilla. Oh, and because she's from Granolaland, BC — everything from the cream to the sugar to the vanilla was organic. I basically followed the chocolate version, adding in the vanilla bean and extract after looking at several recipes online. I think more vanilla bean was in order and it tasted a bit custard-like to me. I don't like the taste of egg custard. And to add insult to injury it was icy, which seems to happen when the recipe is too low in fat. Total fat from dairy was only 10%. It tasted decent, but not creamy, and not dreamy, that's for sure. 

Back to the drawing board. 

But this time — perfection! I used 3 cups of  coffee cream (18%) and wow... oh so good! Creamy, but not overly so, not icy, and completely yummy. (This is more a milk chocolate version than a decadent chocolate, but that's my preference). Just to beef it up a bit, I also made candied pecans with cinnamon and cayenne pepper for a bit of extra special punch. Yum!

So your dedicated foodie, the guinea pig of taste-testing, is now sharing her ultimate lower fat Chocolate Pecan Dream ice cream:

Chocolate Pecan Dream Ice Cream

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup 18% coffee cream

1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch processed)
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 ounces 70% semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups 18% coffee cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, milk, salt, and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a simmer. Place the egg yolks into a small bowl. Gradually stir in about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid. and return to the saucepan. Heat until thickened, but do not boil. Remove from the heat, and stir in the chopped chocolate until chocolate is melted. Pour into a chilled bowl, and refrigerate for about two hours until cold, stirring occasionally.

When chocolate mixture has completely cooled, stir in the cream, and vanilla. Pour into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's directions. (If adding pecans, add into the ice cream when you put it into your container for freezing.)

Personally, I believe it's really important to use the best cocoa powder you can find. I tried using regular  Fry's cocoa powder the first time I made the ultra-fat version, but it was a bit on the grainy side. I found Dutch processed and smooth as smooth can be. I also used good quality chocolate. 

Here is the amazing candied pecan recipe too:

Candied Pecans
1 egg white
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pecans (or walnuts)

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk egg white, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and sugar in medium bowl. Add pecans and toss to coat. Cook in preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until golden brown. Mixture will become crisp as it cools. Chop or break up cooled mixture.
NOTE: If you live in a humid climate like me, the pecans go soft if you leave them in the open air too long, so allow to cool on the pan, but then use them immediately (or put into a sealed container when cooled.

Question: after all these years and all the bastardization of the English language, why is ice cream still two words? Just doesn't seem right to me.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Now onto the world's vanilla ice cream!

Kathy