Baked

Happy hump day! Hope your week (and year!) is off to a good start.

Speaking of good starts, I'm trying to be just a touch healthier for at least the first month of 2012 ;) Cutting out gluten and a little sugar, when I can, is a start, and it needn't be dry, dusty, and boring. I found a recipe awhile back while in a waiting room. I couldn't tell you where it's from as there were too many people around to rip out the entire page, so I wrote it down. Heh, heh. These are so flipping good - I hope you give them a try!

Mini Chai Tea Muffins - makes 48 mini muffins

1/4 cup cane sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup apple butter or applesauce, unsweetened
1 cup gluten free all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
2 tablespoons unsweetened powdered cocoa
1/2 cup wheat free oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chai tea mixture - steep 4 chai tea teabags in 1/2 cup hot milk. Allow to cool.
1/2 cup diced apple

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line a 24 cup mini muffin tin with paper liners and set aside. Heat milk and steep 4 chai tea teabags, and set aside to cool.

Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Stir in apple butter and honey until well combined. Stir in the flour, almond meal, flax seed, cocoa, oats, baking powder and baking soda, while slowly pouring in the chai tea mix. Stir batter until smooth. Fold in the diced apples.
Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full and bake for about 10-12 minutes or until a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean.

New Year, New Restaurant

Hello 2012! I hope you all had a great weekend. What did you get up to for New Year's Eve? Due to my incessant coughing, we had a semi-quiet night with friends. Nice way to wrap up the year.

As you may know, I'm part of a family that insists on opening restaurants. Number 4 is due to open January 4th, so I thought I'd share some pics of all of them. They were all designed by Evoke (husband and brother).

Habit is kind of like a 70's rumpus room. Paintings are by Robert Edmonds (a.k.a. my permanent date)

Latitude is a mix of marble, wood and concrete. Food and cocktail style is Latin American.

The Cascade Room is located right beside Habit. It's a modern British style "pub". I love the Queen Victoria lamp shades. 

Introducing the newest member of the group, The Union. These pics were taken yesterday, while frantic set up was taking place. South East Asian street food in a reclaimed wood, concrete and tile setting. I was asked to get some shots of the neighbourhood, focusing on textures and colour, for the backlit bar cabinets (pictured above). I want to do this in our kitchen!

You'll find The Union, right next to the Jimi Hendrix shrine (go figure) on Union Street in Chinatown/Strathcona neighbourhood. Purple Haze. Love it.

If you pop by, be sure to check out these great shops all on the same block:

Charlie and Lee

Jett Grrl Bike Studio

The Board of Trade

Land

Hogan's Alley Cafe

Have a great day everyone! Back soon.

Janis

Final Friday of 2011

I can't believe it's the last weekend of the year. Where did it all go?  It's been so nice getting to know you all. Thanks for all your support, lovely comments, and for getting me hooked on some seriously good blogs all over the world!

Wishing you all a fantastic New Year's weekend. Here's to a perfect 2012 for all!

Back soon,
janis
x

Baked

Well hello everyone! How was your Christmas? I've spent the last 6 days bed or couch bound due to a Yuletide cold/flu (what is the difference anyway?). I did pop out to my mom's for Christmas day, but that was it. Hope you managed to breeze through the holiday bug free!

I tried out a recipe for our New Year's Eve get together. Yum. Have you made yorkshire pudding before? I grew up eating it pretty much every Sunday, but only recently starting making them myself.  I thought I'd make mini ones, then top them with a mushroom compote along with a little gruyere cheese. Bite (maybe two!) size and perfect for a cocktail party.

Mini Yorkshire Pudding with Mushroom Compote - makes about 24

1 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
4 oz all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
about 1/3 cup vegetable oil for mini muffin tin

Mushroom Compote: You might want to double this recipe. I did.

4.5 oz mixed mushrooms, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1.5 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 tablespoons red wine
3 tablespoons olive oil

To make yorkshire pudding: Preheat oven to 425f. In a medium bowl, sift together flour and salt. Make a   well in the flour mixture, and whisk in the 3 beaten eggs. Add the milk, a bit at a time, while whisking away. Your batter should be a little thicker than unwhipped whipping cream. Refrigerate batter for 30 minutes.

12 minutes before you take out your batter, place 1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil in each cup of the mini muffin tin. Place in oven and heat until it smokes, about 12 minutes. Take pan out of oven and place on a stove top element/flame set on low (I do this so the oil stays as hot as possible while I pour batter into tin cups). Put one tablespoon of batter in each cup, working quickly, then place back in oven. Your oil really needs to be super hot, so the puddings rise high and are light and airy.

Allow to cook for 15-20 minutes, until puffed high and golden brown. Really try not to open the oven door while cooking, as they may flatten. Place on a wire rack to cool.

To make compote: In a large pan, on medium low, heat up your oil, then add onion and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms, red wine and thyme, and cook for another 10 minutes.

To assemble: Warm up yorkshire puddings in a 350f/180c oven for about 5 minutes. Top with a small piece of gruyere and a spoonful of the compote.

I'm definitely going to make these for the party. Pretty easy and, if you're not shooting the process, or getting over a yuletide bug, it takes no time at all. ;)

Back soon!

Janis

Joyful Friday

If you're celebrating Hanukkah, I hope you have a great one too! 

Thanks for checking in with me this week, and for leaving such lovely comments. It means a lot! 

I'll be back next week... 

janis

x

Yarn + Trees

Happy Hump day before Christmas!

I found myself, last minute, in Seattle late Monday night into the very wee hours of Tuesday. We saw Prince play at a nightclub, after his arena show. Wow and wow. Absolutely amazing. I was 5 feet away from that magical man. The show wrapped up at 4am and on the way home (2.5 hours away), we saw this spectacular display of yarn bombing. They looked beautiful in the dark with no one around.

I feel like knitting our tiny tree, in our back yard, a Christmas sweater now ;)

Back soon!
Janis

Baked

Where have the last few weeks gone? Is it really Christmas this weekend? Wow.

I've made some mocha shortbread for a little get together. Nothing like a coffee/chocolate combo. FYI, I have made these with gluten free all purpose flour and they taste the same. If you do use a gluten free flour, make sure to add 1/4 teaspoon of guar gum as well.

Mocha Shortbread - made about 22 cookies with the tree shaped cutter

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3 teaspoons instant coffee granules

Preheat oven to 300F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Cream butter until light and creamy. Beat in icing sugar and coffee granules. Sift over top the flour and cocoa and mix well. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out whatever shapes you like. Place on baking sheet, one inch apart, and bake for about 20 minutes. That's it. Done. Easy. Delicious.

Do you heaps of baking on the agenda for the week? Do you try something new every year, or do you have your family traditions that you can't do without? Let me know!

Back soon,
janis