on leaning in.

Homemade channa masala (with this recipe) spiced chicken drumsticks, and naan (with this recipe). The naan was ridiculously easy and SO good. Will be making that on a regular basis. With more garlic next time. 

Strawberry sponge layer cake with home made whipped cream. Topped with powdered sugar. 

Weddings make a great occasion for a reunion. We spent our weekend down in Western Massachusetts catching up with les nantais. There was hiking, cute, slobbery dogs, wonderful breakfasts, and cocktails for everyone. 

Doesn't this little piece of bark remind you of the infinity sign? 

Things have been up and down over here. Transition periods are always the hardest ones to get through, I know that's not a monumental discovery. But for the sake of my mental health, I've decided to (try to) embrace the hard parts. The pointy edges that I just want to smooth out. There are going to be difficult parts in life and sometimes you just have to lean in to them. Even though it's uncomfortable. I don't know if my strategy is working yet, but I do know I am considerably calmer this week than last. I go for long runs. I did hot yoga this afternoon and sweat everything out of my body. I wrote a story this morning for the first time since who knows how long. And now I'm getting back to work this afternoon, trying to move forward and see what's ahead for me. 

How is your week going? What recipes are you cooking up? 

xo

in the kitchen: caramel apple layer cake with apple cider frosting.

You are in for a treat! I had a special occasion to celebrate last week and I was invited to make dessert. So logically, my first stop was Pinterest, to find a bit of inspiration. I stumbled upon this recipe pretty quickly, for caramel apple layer cake from the blog a hint of honey. After drooling on my keyboard and reading through the fairly minimally-intimidating directions, I pinned it up and started gathering ingredients. 

The cake was made completely from scratch, and there were two parts that I was semi worried about. The first was making caramel sauce, which was an ingredient in the cake. First step: buy a candy thermometer. Check!

I found the recipe for the caramel sauce on another blog, my baking addiction.

Caramel sauce: 

1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/4 liquid cup water
1/2 liquid cup heavy cream, heated until warm
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Stir together the sugar, corn syrup and water in a large-ish pot. Hook on the candy thermometer and bring the mixture to a (slight) boil. 

Watch the sugar like a hawk!

During this time, you should also be heating the cream in a smaller saucepan. Careful not to heat it too fast. Mine got slightly scorched, but no big deal.

I found it was pretty uneventful until all the sudden it was eventful. Here it started turning a darker color. 

This is right after I added in the milk and stirred it viciously to keep it from overflowing. I really wanted a picture of me adding the cream to the boiling sugar, but in retrospect, I'm glad I wasn't holding a camera during these steps! 

Now stir in the butter. And the sea salt. Easy as that! Try not to eat up all the caramel before you add it to the cake mixture later. 

Now on to the cake! Growing up my mom always made two layer cakes, I think they're more fun. A little surprise layer of frosting in the middle is always a good idea. This recipe made for two 9 inch cakes.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used only all-purpose flour. So a total of 3 3/4 cups)
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1½ cups light brown sugar
¾ cup canola oil
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
¾ cup caramel sauce (homemade or jarred)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1½ cups buttermilk

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl.

Pause to take a picture of what a mess the countertop is.

In a larger bowl, combine oil and brown sugar. Beat together.

Voila your homemade caramel sauce! The recipe I used made about a cup of sauce. I measured out 3/4 cup for the cake batter, and ate the rest saved the rest for later.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Now add the dry ingredients in small batches, alternating with the milk. 

Lightly spray the cake pans or wipe them with butter. Pour in the batter and pop them in the oven!

Deliciousness waiting to happen!

Run out to the balcony and take a picture of the sunset you were missing while slaving away in the kitchen. :)

While the cake is cooking, move on the frosting! This was the other part I was slightly intimidated by, since I had never made frosting before. And because the recipe called for 7 3/4 to 8 cups of powdered sugar. Whaaaa?! I only ended up using 5 cups, and I think 7-8 may have caused heart failure. While I'll admit the frosting was a bit thin/slippery at the beginning, I put the cake in the fridge after frosting it to let it harden a bit, which really helped.

Ingredients for Apple Cider Frosting:

7 1/2-8 cups confectioners’ sugar (or 5 in my case)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice (I used juice)
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Less than one bag was used for this recipe.

Cream together the butter, juice/cider, cinnamon and salt, adding sugar as you go to get to your desired consistency.

Cakes almost done! I cooked them at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Let the cakes cool for about 15 minutes, then remove them from the pans and place them on cooling racks. Or those cool, cheap plates you bought from IKEA. Let them cool COMPLETELY before frosting.

Disclosure: I am not a professional froster, nor do I claim to be. These pictures may make you cringe at their lack of neatness, but oh well. Only so much can be done with a metal spoon and silicone spatula.

Frost the bottom cake a bit.

 I didn't put as much frosting as I could have, since I was afraid of running out. Could have been a bit thicker in the middle, and I had plenty of frosting left over. 

I guess this was as far as I got picture-wise, until right before we ate the cake...

YUM!

Alright, a little messy. But in my defense, this guy survived a killer snowstorm, two 15 minute walks to and from metro stations, hidden under that metal bowl you saw pictured earlier (mental note: MUST BUY CAKE CONTAINER).

I would most definitely make this cake again. It satisfied the sweet dessert craving even though it wasn't the standard chocolate recipe. Fairly straightforward recipe, with no hidden traps or surprises!

Voila!

What's cooking in your kitchen recently??

xo

All pictures are my own, recipes from a hint of honey and my baking addiction.

in the kitchen: roasted eggplant with caper salsa.

This is one of my favorite recent recipes. I love capers, but don't buy or cook with them very often. After this recipe, however, I think I'll keep a jar in my fridge at all times!

via smitten kitchen.

I saw this on Pinterest a while back and decided to give it a try. I love eggplant, and was looking for some new ways to cook it.

First I cut up the aubergine into slices.

I poured a considerable (2-3 tbsp?) of extra virgin olive oil onto the tray before arranging the eggplant slices. I lightly salted and peppered them, and stuck them into the oven at 425 degrees. This is a picture from when I was halfway through roasting them (at about 10-12 minutes) before I turned them over to finish up.

While they were roasting, I worked on my salsa. The recipe from Smitten Kitchen (shown below) gives you a lot of options for substitutions, several of which I took.

Makes about 4 appetizer/salad portions, assuming people will eat two rounds each.

Roasted Eggplant:
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds eggplant (about 2 medium), in 3/4- to 1-inch slices

Salsa:

1/2 cup chopped or crumbled ricotta salata (I used feta, which was delish)
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/3 cup finely diced red onion (I used about shallots instead)
3 seeded, diced medium tomatoes (1 1/2 cups)
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves (I used freshly chopped parsley)
2 teaspoon red wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
Freshly ground black pepper

Once the eggplant slices were done, I immediately plated them and piled a good amount of salsa on top. I kept the rest of the meal simple- pork tenderloin and white rice. I could definitely imagine eating this in the summer, fresh from the barbeque. And maybe I'll try the mint and ricotta version next time. Also ate the leftover salsa with pretzels and crusty bread in the days following (yum!)

What's your favorite eggplant recipe?

xo

in the kitchen: mushrooms.

Last week a client at Mr. S.'s office brought in mushrooms for anyone who wanted to purchase them. So Monday he brought home a big container of these: 

I looked up the French word, and the best I can tell, they're oyster mushrooms. I'm only mushroom-adept enough to recognize button and portabella... They have a very sponge-y texture. The ridges on the bottom soak up water like none other, so when I washed them before cooking, I set them on paper towels to dry for awhile.

At first I wasn't sure what to make with them. I wanted to do something a bit more complex then sautee or roast them. Then I remembered the extra pie crust and dozen + eggs I had in the fridge. And the shallots. Quiche it was!

Have you ever eaten tripe? If you're about to eat dinner, don't google it. I had it once, at a cozy little barn in the middle of Southern France. It was a family picnic at a winery, and we knew the people hosting. We had a home catered three course meal served to us for free, which made it a bit hard to say non merci when I found out what the main course was.... tripe. Yea, I'll find out a way to say non merci next time. The only reason I'm reminiscing about tripe while satueeing mushrooms, is I found the underside of the mushrooms to look incredibly similar. I had to keep myself from gagging reminding and reassuring myself that it was not tripe in that pan.

Quiche crust ready to go.

Golden brown garlic, shallots, and mushrooms.

Pre-baked crust loaded with goodies. I sprinkled a bit of cheddar at the bottom of the quiche before putting in the mushrooms. The recipe called for gruyère, which would have actually been a lot better. 

Quiche before it was devoured. 

Tonight I was still on a mushroom kick, so decided to use the other half to make soup. I wanted to make soup the first night, but didn't have all the ingredients. After work today I stopped in at a fruiterie two blocks from my apartment, where they sell lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, and tons of fresh herbs. I bought a huge bunch of parsley and some thyme. I doubled the recipe that's below because I wanted leftovers, but if I cook this again, I think I'll keep the original 1 tbsp. of thyme instead of doubling that ingredient. It was good, but a bit distracting at times. Also, I didn't have worcestershire sauce so I substituted soy sauce. There was a note at the bottom of the recipe about adding more flour to thicken it up if desired, which I think I would do. And if I could find something to give it just a little kick, that would make it better. Peppercorns? Cayenne? Can you put that in mushroom soup? A réflechir.

Here's the recipe if you're so inclined. I found it on Pinterest, linked to the blog called Season with Spice. I doubled it and was supposed to have 4 servings, but I find it's more like 2 1/2 or 3. At least in the middle of winter ;)

Homemade Mushroom Soup by Season with Spice
Serves 2

What you’ll need:
300g or 2 cups fresh mushrooms - cleaned and chopped finely (I used a mix of swiss brown and white button)
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic - chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 - 2 bay leaf
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp flour dissolved in 1 tbsp water
Salt to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
Dash of nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley or thyme for garnish

Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add butter and lightly sauté garlic on medium heat.
2. Add in mushrooms, thyme, bay leaf and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the moisture from the mushrooms disappears.
3. Add in chicken broth. Stir occasionally until broth boils, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4 Add diluted flour in, and stir constantly (while simmering) until the mixture thickens. Season with salt and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. Finally, add milk and heavy cream, and bring to a simmer. Turn heat off.
6. Serve hot in your soup bowl. Add freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with fresh parsley or thyme if you have them on hand. And warm up this holiday season!

The quiche recipe I found on the Martha Stewart website. I'm a little intimidated by her pâte brisée recipe. The last time I made pie/quiche crust it was chewy and way too buttery. Next time!

Bon appetit!

xo

alli

Recipe for a fabulous weekend:

• Start by buying a 12 pound fresh turkey at the grocery store downtown. Afterwards realizing that your only option transporting it home is the bus (a taxi would obviously be too easy). Clutch the turkey and cradle it all the way home like some odd-looking baby. More like an odd-looking mom.
• Buy new dishes for dinner guests Take that trip to Ikea you've been meaning to for months
•  Line the bottom of a pie crust with fresh hazelnuts (without tiny pieces of shells this year) and drizzle the so-sweet-it-makes-your-teeth-hurt maple sugarness over it. Make the kitchen smell heavenly while it bakes.
• Invite a friend over to help dress and stuff the turkey. Engage in the obligatory turkey dancing and fake turkey voices before finally setting it in the pan. 
• Mash the potatoes, sliver the almonds, sautee the green beans, and almost forget about the salad.
• Vacuum, with one hand over your eyes as you go near the fridge. Last time the vacuum was over there, a mouse jumped out. 
• Open all the windows in the apartment, because all the radiators are broken and at full blast, and the oven has been at 325 for most of the day.
• Have a moment of panic that everything you have to do won't possibly get done. Take a deep breath and go buy a bottle of wine. 
• Welcome friends with open arms. And open the bottles. 
• Listen to Christmas tunes for the fifth first time this season, the conversations overlapping each other in the best kind of way.
• Sit down to the table and only get up for dessert, hours later.
• Be thankful for the warmth of traditions, new and old. 
• Make room in the fridge for the tupperware.

My weekend was lovely friends, here's to hoping yours were too.

I don't have all the photos on my computer to put up here yet, but if you're as impatient as I usually am, you can see them already up at provincecanadienne.com. Happens to be an excellent photographer :)

See you soon.

xo

alli

pumpkin n pedi

I know, I missed yesterday!  To make up for it I took some pictures of parts of my day and I'll even include the recipe for the pumpkin oatmeal bread that I just pulled out of the oven :)

This is what I call the all-the-veggies-we-have-in-the-fridge dish.

Pumpkin oatmeal bread!

Warmed up with vanilla ice cream for dessert?  

Mani-pedi silver & gold.

Today was a very lazy Saturday.  I seem to be having a lot of those lately.  Caught up on my Grey's Anatomy, read half of The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (one of those depressing but yet can't put it down books), cooked some pumpkin oatmeal bread, painted my nails, and somehow found the motivation to get on my running gear and go out for a run right before it got dark.  At 4:45.  That's another thing that depressing around here.  Oh well.  Positive side is.... only a month until the shortest day of the year and then the days will start getting longer again.  

Tonight I think we'll continue the laid back trend that has been Saturday so far, and watch a movie.  And not worry about the overflowing laundry basket in the corner.  That can wait until tomorrow.

Here's the recipe for the Pumpkin Oatmeal Bread that I stole from Carrots n Cake.  I found her blog through pinterest when I was searching for recipes and after browsing awhile saw that she's an avid runner too.  And I think I've officially added a Garmin Forerunner to my Christmas list after reading about how much she loves hers that she uses on her runs.  Maybe sometime soon I'll do a longer post on running... but for now, the recipe!

Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1.5 cup all-purpose flour (I substituted whole wheat flour instead)
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup soy milk (I used 1% instead)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease loaf pan.
2. Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix well.
3. Pour batter into loaf pan.
4. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until top is firm, and a toothpick comes out clean.
5. Allow loaf to cool for 10 minutes and serve warm.

I'm convinced this would be good with other little add-ins like roasted walnuts, dates, or some vanilla.  Perhaps I'll try other versions of it!  Have a wonderful Saturday night!

xo

alli