berry desserts

The Canadian Living Complete Preserving Book

The Canadian Living

Complete Preserving Book
Written by Canadian Living Test Kitchen
Hardcover, 320 pages

Canning has become huge again - thanks to a renewed interest in from-scratch cooking and non-commercial eating. And besides - it's fun! Plus you have that joyful satisfaction of seeing all those jewel-like jars of sweet and savoury treats lined up in your pantry. Canned goods make great gifts too, as they are personal and from the heart.

The Canadian Living Test Kitchen has put out a beautiful and colourful book of canning favourites from the last 35 years of their magazine, together with modern recipes utilizing recent food trends and up-to-date canning techniques.

Now you can joyfully and safely preserve nature's bounty and begin your own canning heritage.

Chapters Include:

Canning Essentials

Jams & Marmalades

Jellies

Pickles & Relishes

Chutneys, Salsas & Conserves

Sauces, Syrups & Vinegars

Liqueurs & Seasonings

Some of the recipes on my to-make list include: Cranberry Riesling Jelly, Pawpaw Hot Sauce, Apricot Jalapeno Cheese Topper, Small-Batch Zucchini Mustard Relish, Garlic Dill Spears, Irish Cream Liqueur, Korean Marinade and Peach Melba Fruit Sauce. Oh, who am I kidding? I want to make them all!

The Canadian Living Test Kitchen invites you to:
Make Your Own
Light Blueberry Jam

This jam, featured in The Canadian Living Complete Preserving Book, uses pectin designed to work with a reduced amount of sugar. It requires a shorter cooking time, so the jam has a fresh, intense blueberry flavour. It sets up fairly firm—perfect to spread on toasted crumpets.

12 cups fresh wild blueberries
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 pkg (49 g) light fruit pectin crystals or no-sugar-needed fruit pectin crystals
3 cups granulated sugar

In Dutch oven and using potato masher, crush blueberries, 1 cup at a time.

Measure 6 cups fruit. Add lemon juice to blueberries. Mix pectin with 1/4 cup of the sugar; stir into blueberry mixture.

Bring to boil over high heat, stirring often. Gradually stir in remaining sugar; return to full rolling boil. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Remove from heat. Stir and skim off foam for 5 minutes.

Fill hot 1–cup (250 mL) canning jars, leaving 1/4–inch (5 mm) headspace. Cover with prepared discs. Screw on bands until resistance is met; increase to fingertip tight. Boil in boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Turn off heat. Uncover and let jars stand in canner for 5 minutes. Lift up rack. With canning tongs, transfer jars to cooling rack; let cool undisturbed for 24 hours.

Makes about 8 cups.

per 1 TBSP: about 26 cal, trace pro, 0 g total fat (0 g sat. fat), 7 g carb, trace fibre, 0 mg chol, 1 mg sodium, 10 mg potassium. % RDI: 2% vit C.

tips
• If you prefer a smoother jam, purée the blueberries in a food processor instead of crushing them with a potato masher.
• Certo Light Fruit Pectin Crystals and Bernardin No–Sugar–Needed Fruit Pectin Crystals can be used interchangeably in this recipe.

Excerpted from Canadian Living: The Complete Preserving Book by The Canadian Living Test Kitchen Copyright © 2012 by Transcontinental Books. Photograph Copyright © 2012 by Edward Pond. Excerpted by permission of Random House of Canada Limited on behalf of Transcontinental. All rights reserved.

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Huaraches with Black Beans and Salsa

Let's get a little saucy, shall we? Los condimentos add the zest and life to cooking - and Mexican cooking is no exception. Of course one of the most popular Mexican condiments is salsa, and there are probably as many different kinds of salsas as there are Mexicans out there. This one is fairly easy to put together and can be done ahead of time. Rick Bayless, the master of Mexican cooking, calls it "essential". So I figured I should give it a try. It was perfect with the huaraches we made last night - one step up from homemade corn tortillas, they are stuffed with black beans, shaped like sandals, fried and topped with more deliciousness. Seriously good eats. Definitely a weekend crowd pleaser - feel free to double the recipe.

Essential Roasted Tomato-Green Chile Salsa
From Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen
Online source - Splendid Table
Slightly adapted for I♥CC Salsas and Sauces

Makes about 2 cups

    1 pound (2 medium-large round or 6 to 8 plum) red, ripe tomatoes
    2 large (about 1 ounce total) fresh jalapeño chiles - I used 4 seranos - see notes below on chiles
    3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
    Salt, about ½ teaspoon kosher
    1/2 small (about 2 ounces) white onion, finely chopped
    A generous 1/3 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro
    Squeeze of lime to taste

1. Roasting the basic ingredients.
The broiler method: Lay the tomatoes on a baking sheet and place about 4 inches below a very hot broiler. Roast until blistered and blackened on one side, about 6 minutes; with a spoon or pair of tongs, flip the tomatoes and roast on the other side.
The griddle method: Line a griddle or heavy skillet with aluminum foil and heat over medium. Lay the tomatoes on the foil and roast, turning several times, until blistered, blackened and softened, about 10 minutes. Don't worry if skin sticks to the foil. Cool, then peel the skins, collecting all the juices with the tomatoes. While the tomatoes are roasting, roast the chiles and unpeeled garlic directly on an ungreased griddle or heavy skillet (you already have one set up if you've griddle-roasted the tomatoes) over medium. Turn occasionally until both chiles and garlic are blackened in spots and soft, 5 to 10 minutes for the chiles, about 15 minutes for the garlic. Cool, pull the stems off the chiles and peel the papery skins from the garlic.

2. Grinding the salsa.
The mortar method: In a large mortar, use the pestle to crush and grind the chiles, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt to a coarse-textured paste (this will release a wonderfully pungent aroma), paying special attention to breaking up the chile skins. A few at a time, grind in the roasted tomatoes, transferring the ground mixture to a bowl if the mortar gets unmanageably full.
The food processor or blender method: In a food processor or blender, grind the chiles, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt to a coarse paste, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times. Add the tomatoes and pulse a few times until you have a coarse-textured puree. Transfer the salsa to a serving bowl, and stir in any reserved tomato juices.

3. Final seasoning. In a strainer, rinse the onion under running water, shake off the excess and stir into the salsa, along with the cilantro and lime juice to taste. Add water, if necessary, to give the salsa a thickish, but easily spoonable, consistency (2 to 4 tablespoons is the norm). Taste and season with salt, and the salsa's ready to serve.

Advance Preparation:
This salsa comes into its own a few hours after it's finished, especially if left at room temperature. It can be made through step 2 a day or two ahead, covered and refrigerated. Add the cilantro and onion shortly before serving.

Other Chiles:
Besides jalapeño, serranos (3 to 5 for this quantity) are also classic. It's also made with habanero (1/2 to 1) or manzanos (1/2 to 1). With habaneros, this typical Yucatecan salsa, called chiltomate, is frequently made without chopped onion or cilantro and is flavored with sour orange juice in place of the lime.

Huaraches with Black Beans and Salsa
from Fiesta at Rick's, online source Serious Eats
slightly adapted, for I♥CC Salsas and Sauces

Ingredients

    1 pound fresh corn masa or 1 3/4 cups dried masa harina for tortillas
    Table salt
    ¾ cup canned or cooked black beans, drained, plus more for topping
    ½ cup vegetable oil
    1½ cups salsa
    2/3 cup grated queso anejo or queso fresco or feta
    2/3 cup white onion, chopped
    ½ cup cilantro, chopped
    3 to 4 radishes, cut into matchsticks - I used chopped cucumber
    2 limes, cut into wedges

Directions

    If using masa harina, mix with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons hot tap water and 3/4 teaspoon salt and allow to hydrate for 5 minutes, covered with plastic wrap. If using fresh masa, combine with 3/4 teaspoon salt. Divide mixture into 8 balls. Cover with plastic wrap.

    Add drained beans to food processor with 2 tablespoons water. Blend until smooth, adding water as needed until texture resembles masa.

    Preheat heavy 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, form one ball masa into an egg shape. Using thumb, make deep, wide hole. Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons black bean mixture into hole. Pinch the masa up to enclose it and roll into a cigar shape. Place between two sheets of plastic and flatten gently with tortilla press or under heavy skillet until ¼-inch thick. Carefully peel off top sheet of plastic. Flip the masa onto your fingers and peel the bottom sheet of plastic. Transfer quickly to skillet and cook until small lightly browned in spots, about 1 minute. Flip and cook until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside on plate. Repeat with other balls.

    Pour enough oil into the skillet to generously coat bottom heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Slide two huaraches into skillet. Cook for 1½ minutes and flip. Coat top side with 1½ tablespoons salsa, a few cooked black beans, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon cheese. Cook one minute longer. Set aside and repeat with the other huaraches.

    Top the huaraches with onion, cilantro, and radishes (or cucumber). Serve immediately with lime wedges and extra salsa.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly S'mores {Improv Cooking Challenge}

Hey friends! It's time for another round of the Improv Cooking Challenge, hosted by Kristen from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker!

For this month we had to pick something peanut butter and jelly related. Can you believe I was never crazy about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Yeah, I was that kid. Weird. So I was excited to see what other peanut butter and jelly recipes live out there in the vast world of recipes. I went through my longgggg list - like 200 pages worth - of recipes from blogs that I've wanted to try, did a search for "peanut butter and jelly", and was oohing and aahing over my options. Did you know there are tons of peanut butter and jelly bars and cupcake recipes out there? I'll try them one day, but for now I was drawn to these peanut butter and jelly s'mores. Uh, genius! I love when I can find a unique, creative recipe. I hadn't heard of this idea before and was intrigued. Cuz I used to love s'mores. Loved my marshmallows burnt. Extra burnt.

The only change I made was that I added some chocolate to it too, to make it a true s'mores. Plus the peanut butter and jelly of course.

Overdoing it? I.think.not.

Peanut Butter and Jelly S'mores

slightly adapted from Cookin' Up North

creamy peanut butter
strawberry jelly (or whatever kind you prefer)
graham cracker
2 marshmallows
2 squares of chocolate (I used a Symphony milk chocolate candy bar)

For one s'more, break a graham cracker in half and spread with peanut butter and jelly. I used 2 normal sized marshmallows. Stick a square of chocolate in each of the 2 normal sized marshmallows and roast until marshmallows are browned to your satisfaction. Put on top of the peanut butter and jelly-topped graham cracker and then top with the other graham cracker half.

Printable Recipe

Looks like PJ was ready to dive in head first. We enjoyed this treat! It was fun to "roast" the marshmallows on the stove, but it would of course be a great idea for camping too. Put a twist on the old s'more, plus it's so easy to bring along some peanut butter and jelly too.

Oh, and check out the other Improvers' peanut butter and jelly recipes below:

Linking up here.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Perfect Croissants and More for Brunch at Luca on Sunset

About a month ago, e*starLA blogged that Luca on Sunset has the best pastries in West Hollywood, so when I got invited for a brunch tasting, I was quite excited. Little did I know I would be in for an eight-course brunch!

Our brunch started with a spread of the pastries we couldn't get enough of:
croissant, almond croissant, chocolate brioche, scone, apple danish, blueberry muffin, sweet potato speck biscuit, citrus poppy seed muffin

The pastry chef at Luca, Rebecca West, apparently was a runway model in France, where she lived off of coffee and croissants. When that career had to end, she thought making croissants was the logical next step!
Well, it's true. The croissants are definitely some of the best I've had from the buttery plain croissant to the flaky chocolate brioche. I had been looking for a good pain du chocolat or something similar ever since Bite Bar closed, now I've found one.
If I didn't have the menu of the other seven courses in front of me as a reminder, I would eat all of them. ALL.

Unlike the muffins at most bakeries where they drop a few blueberries at the top so they're visible but there's nothing inside, Luca's muffin is chock full of blueberries inside!

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Ecoholic Body: Your Ultimate Earth-Friendly Guide to Living Healthy and Looking Good

Ecoholic Body
Your Ultimate Earth-Friendly Guide to

Living Healthy and Looking Good
by Adria Vasil
Trade Paperback, 480 pages
Also available as an eBook

Adria Vasil is a weekly columnist for NOW Magazine dedicated to environmental issues for the last decade. For the last eight years of that time she has focused on individual concerns and answered questions about how we as individuals can make informed environmental decisions for our homes, families and bodies.

Adria's background is in politics, research, anthropology and journalism. Her wildly popular column, Ecoholic, mixes humour with solid research and important and life-saving information, making her one of the most well-read and well-loved Canadian columnists.

Adria on the cover of NOW Magazine green issue.

Ecoholic Body is her third book, Ecoholic and Ecoholic Home were also instant best-sellers.

In Ecoholic Body the chapters include:

Body Care Basics: Beauty and the beasts

Skin Care: What lies beneath

Body Maintenance: The daily show

Makeup: Toxic cover-up

Hair Care: Wash those chems right out of your hair

Sex and Contraception: Even educated fleas do it

Health: Might as well face it, we're addicted to drugs

Natural Health Products: An acai berry a day keeps the doctor away

Environmental Health: What goes around comes around

Health Care System: Greening the system

Clothing: Fashion faux-pas

Footwear: You've got sole

Jewellery and Accessories: The devil's in the details

Kids and Babies: Greeneology

Big Issues

There is also a large Resources section, divided by Canadian regions at the back of the book, and the all-important Glossary for all those confusing terms on the labels of our daily products.

This book is a must-have for anyone interested in making greener choices for themselves and their families and the planet, you really will be surprised at just what lurks in your cupboards.

Browse the book:

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Turkey and Onion Grilled Cheese for National Grilled Cheese Month!

In honor of national grilled cheese month, I bring you....

the turkey and onion grilled cheese.

Specifically, maple turkey and sauteed red onions. We used gouda, and it was good-ah!. And then the next day we used pepperjack, and it too was delicious. A bit of spiciness to cut the sweetness from the maple turkey and red onions. Oh my word, it melted in my mouth. I'm wondering what I could add to this already-amazing sandwich to make it even better... maybe some crunch of some sort?? Or some green veggies like spinach or something fancy?? Or I could just leave it as-is and ooh and ahh in amazement over it still.

We used 3 tbsp butter for the bread. You can either melt the butter and dip the bread slices in the butter, or soften the butter and spread on the bread slices. Whichever you prefer.

Turkey and Onion Grilled Cheese

a SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl original

*Yields 2 sandwiches

1/2 of a red onion, sliced
2 tbsp butter
4 slices of whole wheat bread
3 tbsp or so of butter, melted or softened*
4 slices of maple turkey
4 slices of gouda cheese

In a medium skillet, add 2 tbsp butter until melted. Then add sliced red onion and saute until softened and golden brown.

Spread the bread slices with 3 tbsp softened butter. In a large skillet on medium-low, add the bread slices. If you have a large enough skillet, you can add all 4 slices of bread all at once. If not, you will need to do this in batches. We did one sandwich at a time, so we only added 2 slices of bread to begin with. Top one slice of bread with 2 slices gouda. Then add 2 slices of maple turkey, then some sauteed red onions. Top with the other slice of bread. Press down with a spatula or heavy object. Flip if needed. Repeat with 2nd sandwich.

*Note: You can either melt the butter and dip the bread slices in the butter, or soften the butter so it is spreadable and spread on the bread slices. Whichever you prefer.

Printable Recipe

Seriously, it was delish. It had me asking PJ why we can't or don't open up a sandwich or panini shop of our own if it's that easy and delicious, and better than what we've got at restaurants in the past! Tom and Chee aint got nothin on us!! We will FOR SURE be making these all of the time.

And whipping up more grilled cheese ideas along the way, too.

Linking up here.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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The Bread Baking Babes bake with Beer!

I am kitchen host for the Bread Baking Babes this month!

While it is true that Canadians are well represented in the Bread Baking Babes, I thought it would be fun to do a Canadian themed bread with the most Canadian of ingredients - Beer! (Extra points for using Canadian beer.)

This bread is savoury and hails from one of the most beautiful parts of Canada, B.C.

This bread is so very super-delicious - I ate half of it just toasted with salted butter. You can really taste the beer, and the toasted cheese on top is delicious! The dough is smooth and easy to work with - definitely worth keeping in permanent rotation in your kitchen.

I think there is plenty of room to play with your sausage and cheese and beer choices - I used 2 cups cooked crumbled Oktoberfest sausages, and a mix of Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses (1 cup in the dough and one cup on the tops) and a local lager. How are you going to dress up your beer bread?

If you would like to bake along with us this month and earn a Bread Baking Buddy badge - whip up your beer bread and post on or by April 29th (let us know how you liked it, and how the process went for you!) and send me an email at livinginthekitchenwithpuppies AT hotmail DOT com - with a medium-sized jpg photo (about 300x400) and a permalink to your post.

*Vegetarians and teetotalers - feel free to adapt the recipe to your needs.

Granville Island Beer Bread :
recipe courtesy of Chuck from CookingBread.com and TheKneadForBread.com

Ingredients

Night before:

    1¼ cups bread flour
    ¾ cup tepid water
    ¼ teaspoon instant yeast

Day of:

    1 - 12 oz bottle beer (room temperature)
    ¼ cup olive oil
    3 tablespoons dried onion flakes
    4 teaspoon instant yeast
    1½ tsp salt
    ½ teaspoon ground pepper
    ¼ cup sugar
    4 - 4½ cups bread flour
    1½ cups farmers sausage
    2 - 3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

Method

The night before combine 1¼ cup of bread flour, ¾ cup tepid water and ¼ teaspoon instant yeast, cover with plastic wrap and set aside till next day.

The next morning pour the night before mixture into a large bowl. Add in the room temp. bottle of beer, olive oil, dried onion flakes, 1 cup of bread flour, instant yeast, salt, pepper and sugar, with a wooden spoon mix all these ingredients together till well blended.
Mix in another 1½ cups of flour. Sprinkle some more flour onto a flat surface. Pour out the wet dough onto the floured surface, place a little more flour on top. Start to knead the dough and continue to add a little flour till the dough becomes smooth (a little on the tacky side). Knead the dough for about 8 minutes, then place into a lightly oiled bowl, turn the dough over so all the sides are lightly coated. Cover with plastic and let rise for1 hour or till it has doubled in size.

Sprinkle a little flour onto a flat surface and pour out the dough. Add the farmers sausage or any other cooked sausage you like. Add 1 cup of cheese and knead till all incorporated. Cover dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest for another 15 minutes. Afterwards cut dough in half, shape into loaves and place onto a cornmeal parchment lined cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour. Using a sharp knife score the dough about a inch deep. Sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese on top of the loaves. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30-35 minutes or till a thermometer places into middle of loaf reads 180F-190F. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

The Bread Baking Babes

This bread has been YeastSpotted!

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