Guava Curd Bars

Oh man, nothing like the first post of the year. Full of expectations and hope! I got a new flash for my camera for Christmas, which I'm still trying to figure out. I have a bunch of photography tutorials saved on my Pinterest, but I never seem to find the time to spend a whole afternoon learning from it. Probably because I'm usually sick of learning anything by the time I have a free moment, haha.

Did everyone have a good holiday, though? It sure went by fast. Holy crap, it feels like November was just yesterday. I've now started my last semester of my undergrad. It's a bit daunting and unbelievable how fast these past four years flew.

But enough of my personal issues, let's talk about food! I made these jam curd bars over the Christmas holidays, just following a simple recipe for oatmeal bars and stuffing it with the goods. I never thought to combine jam and curd before, but I had leftover lime curd and guava jam so I thought: 'why not? They're both tropical!'.

I was pleasantly surprised with how they turned out! They're sweet, but balanced by the tanginess of the lime curd. I added coconut to the base and topping and it adds another tropical kick. I really enjoyed these. They make a good dessert or a power snack during the day. My mom's friend went bonkers for them- he absolutely loved it!

Guava Curd Bars
Yields 1 8x8" pan
Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar (you can use brown, white or honey)
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup guava jam (if you can't find guava, use your favourite jam! Marmalade would be nice in this too)
1/2 cup lemon or lime curd

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a square 8x8" pan and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Once light and fluffy add the egg and 1/4 cup sugar until combined. Add in the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt until it's a big sticky mess.

Press 3/4 of the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the curd and jam evenly over the base and crumble the rest of the batter over the top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!

Mexican Chocolate Bars

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and cheers! Can you believe it's already Christmas tomorrow? I feel like this month just flew by, though that could be because of studying, exams and essays. I don't know about you guys, but I'm more than ready for the holidays.

My mom and I have a tradition where we go to Toronto and see the Nutcracker at the National Ballet. We've been going for over 13 years now and every time we go have high tea (usually at the Royal York) before seeing the show. The only difference now is that mom and I return to our hotel room after and drink some wine! The show was great (once again) this year. Our Nutcracker was the same as last year and, man, he was even better. He could practically fly (and, phew, the legs (and ass) on him!).

What are some of your Christmas traditions?

These Mexican chocolate bars are adapted from a recipe found in the Holiday 2012 Food and Drink. They are absolutely delicious! Smooth, rich and with just enough spice to give you a kick that leaves you drooling for more. Decadence and spice- what more can you ask for in a Christmas treat?

My gluttony aside, I hope everyone has an amazing holiday, filled with good food, tasty drinks, and awesome company.

Mexican Chocolate Bars
Adapted from: Holiday 2012 Food and Drink
makes 32 squares

Ingredients
Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 cup dark hot chocolate powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp grated orange rind
1 egg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp chili flakes (feel free to put in less if you're sensitive to spice!)
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
1 egg, beaten

Topping
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

To make the crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, walnuts, cocoa powder, hot chocolate powder, sugar, salt and orange rind in a bowl. Add egg and melted butter and stir until combined. Put mix into the prepared pan and use your hands to press it down evenly. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the crust looks matte and is dry to the touch. Set aside.

To make filling, Pour whipping cream into a small heavy pot. Add cinnamon, allspice, cloves and chili flakes to the cream. Bring the mixture to just a boil over medium-low heat. Remove and let stand for about 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 325F. Place the 1 cup of chocolate into a bowl. Return the cream to medium heat and bring it to just a boil again. Immediately pour into the chocolate and let it stand 30 seconds, before stirring it until it's melted and smooth. Stir in the egg and pour the chocolate mix onto the prepared crust. Bake in the oven for 18-22 minutes or until set with a slight wiggle in the centre. Cool and chill for 30 minutes or until firm.

To make the topping, combine the chocolate and butter in a small heavy pot over low heat. Melt, stirring, until the chocolate and butter are smooth. Use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate in an even layer over the spiced filling. Chill for 30 minutes or until the topping has set. Pull up on the parchment paper to lift the bars from the pan and cut into small squares. Enjoy!

Daring Bakers: Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies

Holiday season is the time for sharing and Peta of Peta Eats is sharing a dozen cookies, some classics and some of her own, from all over the world with us. 

Can you guys believe it's almost December? Holy crap, this semester has gone fast. It feels like I only just started my fourth year and now I'm already halfway done. In another 6 months I'm going to be graduating. What happened to the past four years? They've been a blur of lectures, exams, bars, alcohol and good friends. I couldn't really ask for more, huh?

Speaking of friends, this past weekend my two friends from elementary school came up for a visit. I've known my friend Emily for about 17 years. That's almost all my life. How awesome is that?

So I'm trying to get back on track with the Daring Kitchen and this month we're celebrating Christmas! We had the choice of 12 Christmas dessert recipes to try and I chose crinkle cookies, since they're a classic I've never done before. I used the recipe from Epicurious, with the only tweak that instead of chocolate I used 1/2 cup of Nutella.

These cookies were pillow-soft and went down almost too easily. They weren't too sweet; just sweet enough. We literally ate them off in one day.

So have some fun this month and celebrate! Make sure you all start baking some delicious eats. I definitely will, so expect some more posts soon!

Recipe for the Crinkle Cookies can be found by clicking here. As I said before: instead of bittersweet chocolate I used 1/2 cup of Nutella. Enjoy!

Daring Cooks: Brined Roast Chicken

Audax of Audax Artifax was our November 2012 Daring Cooks’ host. Audax has brought us into the world of brining and roasting, where we brined meat and vegetables and roasted them afterwards for a delicious meal!

So I've been pretty busy these last few months. I feel guilty. I haven't updated in ages, but in my excuse, I just started my fourth year of university. My undergrad has just flown by. I'm also doing a thesis project at the St. Joseph's Lawson Health Research Institute (what a mouthful). I'm working with Dr. O'Gorman and his two PHD students Christina and Justin. The focus of the lab is Dupuytren's Disease. I won't bore you with the scientific details, just know that it's a lot of work!

Anyway, this month's Daring Cooks challenge was one that was perfect for the cool fall weather. My mom swears by brining her turkey. It makes the meat succulent, moist and tasteful. I did my first solo brine over the summer using Anthony Sedlak's recipe and it was so good my roommate asked me to make it for her this month.

Brining may seem like a lot of work, but it's really simple. You just have to make what is, essentially, salty water and soak the meat in it. Not too hard, right? And the payoff is huge!

As I said before, I used Anthony Sedlak's brined chicken recipe from his book, the Main. I modified it a bit, but it's a great recipe for anyone willing to try this awesome technique out!

Anthony Sedlak's Brined Roast Chicken
Adapted from The Main, by Anthony Sedlak
Ingredients
Brine:
•3 cups water
•3 cups white wine
•1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
•1/2 onion, roughly chopped
•10 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
•2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
•3 bay leaves
•3 springs of rosemary
•2 sprigs of thyme (or 2 tsp dried thyme)
•1/4 cup salt
•1/4 cup sugar
Chicken:
•1 3-3.5 lb chicken
•2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
•2 sprigs rosemary
•4 sprigs thyme
•1/4 cup softened butter
•1 onion sliced into 1/4 in rings
•2 large carrots, chopped into 1" pieces
•2 bulbs garlic, tops cut off lengthways
•3 medium potatoes (white or sweet), chopped into 1" cubes
•1/4 cup olive oil
•salt and pepper

Directions
For the brine: combine all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Let cool to room temperature. Place chicken in a pot or roasting pan big enough to hold the chicken and the brine. Cover the chicken with the brine, weighing it down if you need to. Place in the fridge overnight.

Roast chicken: Preheat oven to 400C. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry. Strain brine, reserving solids. Smear half the butter and the sliced garlic under the breast skin. Tuck fresh herbs and brine solids (onion, celery garlic cloves, etc) inside before trussing chicken.

Rub remaining butter into skin and season generously all over with salt and pepper. Arrange onion slices, carrots, garlic and potatoes on a lightly oiled roasting pan. Place chicken on top. Roast in the oven for about 1 hour or until juices run clear. Rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.

Daring Cooks: Cornmeal

Rachael of pizzarossa was our August 2012 Daring Cook hostess and she challenged us to broaden our knowledge of cornmeal! Rachael provided us with some amazing recipes and encouraged us to hunt down other cornmeal recipes that we'd never tried before – opening our eyes to literally 100s of cuisines and 1000s of new-to-us recipes!

Now that the Olympics (and my MCAT) is done my life felt a bit empty- until I realized I have to get started on my med-school applications. Damn it. Talk about stressful! I want to just close my laptop and hope it sorts itself out. Can't you hire people to do this for you? I wish.

The best way to ease stress? Cooking. And this month's Daring Cook's challenge provided the best distraction. I love cornmeal- so many good things come from it, like cornbread, Jamaican patties, Jamaican festivals, Chicago pizza.... Etcetc. It's such an awesome ingredient- I was totally excited to use it in this month's Daring Cook's challenge.

At first I wanted to do a twist on cornbread, but then decided to do something more along the lines of Jamaican cuisine. At first I wanted to try making Jamaican festivals- deep fried fritter thing. Absolutely delicious. We had them last time I was in Jamaica and my friend and I became totally obsessed. However, when I tried to make them it didn't come out so well so I decided to try something a bit less tricky (for now).

So my mom and I settled on doing a corn fritter- stuffed full of jerk chicken. Hells. Yeah. Stupidly easy to make, tasty and filling- a great Sunday brunch with just enough spice. For something thrown together willy-nilly it came out pretty great, if I do say so myself.

Jerk Chicken Cornbread Fritters
Makes 6 fritters
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp jerk seasoning
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp salt & pepper
1⁄2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup jerk chicken (I used this recipe)
1 bunch green onions
2 tbsp oil for frying

Directions
Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, jerk seasoning, pepper and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine eggs, butter, and buttermilk. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the jerk chicken and green onions. Divide into 6 patties.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Fry each patty until golden brown- about 3-4 minutes a side. Drain on a paper towel. Serve hot with your favourite topping (I suggest mayo + hot sauce). Enjoy!

Graham Cracker Cake with Chocolate Covered Banana Chips

Hooooo-leeeee cow. What a couple of months it's been. July didn't even exist for me. It was just a blur of hot weather, humidity, studying and Supernatural. I had my MCAT last Friday, which was, honestly, the hardest exam I have ever taken in my life. Halfway through (it was a 4 hour exam) by eyes were blood shot. I got home and nearly collapsed on the couch. But! It's over and now I can finally relax and enjoy the summer fully! All there is left now is to wait for my mark and pray that it was enough!

So, I decided that, with the MCAT finally over, I deserved a cake. Hell, I deserved a cake and a whole lot of booze, but I figured I'd start out with the cake. I've had this recipe in my binder for a couple years now, but have never had the chance to try it until now. I absolutely love graham crackers- don't ask me why, I just do. Sometimes, when we make s'mores I just use it as an excuse to eat the graham crackers. Yes, I know, I'm weird, but I'm okay with it.

This cake is some sort of amazing. There's no flour in it- just the crushed graham crackers. How cool is that?? The original recipe, from Style at Home, had a whipped cream frosting- but you guys know me and my cream cheese frosting, so I had to use that instead. That, and I tweaked it one other way: I added chocolate covered banana chips. Holy crap, it was a stroke of genius, I tell you. The crunch from the banana gives the cake another layer of textural awesome, plus the hint of chocolate and banana is just addictive. I put the chips in the cake and in the cream cheese. Fantastic.

The cake is almost gone, but not because I ate it all alone (thankfully). Even my brother thought it was amazing, which is saying something since it has a minimal amount of chocolate in it! Though, we all agreed in saying the taste reminds us of a carrot cake for some reason, even though there's no carrot in it at all. I think it's from the molasses in the graham crackers plus the cream cheese frosting. Honestly though, I dunno why but it does taste like a carrot cake. Which means it tastes freaking delicious. All the awesome of graham crackers in a super mouthwatering, moist cake. Perfect for the summer. I challenge you not to finish in three days.

As a side note: for any equestrian watchers out there, is anyone else out there following the story about the Canadian jumping team and Tiffany Foster's disqualification? Absolutely heartbreaking and totally uncalled for. Seriously.

To help ease my anger I eat cake. So here's the recipe!

Graham Cracker Cake
Adapted from Style at Home
Makes one 8" two layer cake
Ingredients
Cake
• 25-30 graham crackers, crumbled (about 3 cups)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 stick (1⁄2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2/3 cup chocolate covered banana chips, chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting
• 8 ounces butter, at room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup chocolate covered banana chips, crushed
• 1/2 tsp banana extract

Directions
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease two 8" circle cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.

In the food processor, pulse the graham cracker crumbs and coconut until very fine. Add the baking powder and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

With the mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.Add the egg yolks, two at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed. Beat until blended. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add 1 cup of the crumb mixture along with 1/3 cup of milk and mix to blend in. Repeat until all the crumb mixture and milk are blended in.

Set up the mixer with a clean, dry mixing bowl and whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Add the cram of tartar and kick the mixer up to medium-high. Beat until the egg whites form soft peaks.

Fold half of the egg whites into the graham cracker batter, folding. Add the rest and fold until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, and smooth the surface with a spatula or wooden spoon. Top each with the chopped banana chips and bake for 25 or 30 minutes, or until the cake layers begin to come away from the sides of the pan and are spingy to the touch.

Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold onto the cake rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:
In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add in the powdered sugar until blended. Add the vanilla and banana chips and fold until mixed.

To assemble:
Place one cake layer on a plate. Spread half of the frosting on top, making sure it's level. Top with the other cake layer. Cover the whole cake with the cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!!

Cheeseburger Casserole

This weekend, three of my friends from elementary school came down for a visit. I've known these girls since before I even knew myself, if that makes any sense. My friend, Emily, has been with me since junior kindergarden. We counted- that's 18 years this September. It's a bit hilarious when you consider knowing someone that long- someone that's not related to you. Though after that long, they may as well be related to you.

It was an epic weekend. We saw Magic Mike yesterday, which was pretty damn good. Everything that you would expect it to be and a little bit more. I like how it was shot too (not just because of all the naked men, either). But mostly the weekend was full of acting like kids, drinking, and eating. One of the things we stuffed ourselves with was this cheeseburger casserole.

Now, this casserole was the first dish I ever made by myself. It's super simple, quick to make and cheap to buy (everyone has their own version of it, and this is hardly original, but when is there ever too much fo a good thing?). This cheeseburger casserole was an instant hit with my brother. He would tell all his friends about it, until they came over and I ended up making it for them too. Now it is sort of famous with our group of friends, which is amusing, since it really isn't that special. Or maybe it is, because of how genius it is in its simplicity. It's basically homemade Hamburger Helper. But 100000x10^10000 better. And very easy to personalize and tweak. You could probably make it taste a bit different each time you make it. Which I do, whether by accident or on purpose.

This recipe is what I use for the backbone of the casserole. However, feel free to add any of your favourite spices or condiments to it- because that's where this recipe really shines. I love adding Chinese five spice and BBQ sauce, but really, any combination would probably turn out to be amazing. I also picked shell pasta because I love how everything gets stuck inside them. Really, you could use any short pasta, but I highly recommend either shell or cavatappi. I like it spicy, but feel free to leave out the cayenne/hot sauce/jalapeño if you enjoy a milder spice.

All of my friends thought that this should have been the first post on my blog. I really have no reason as to why it wasn't other than the fact that I had no reason to make it at the time. Which is kind of silly, when I think about it. When is it ever a bad time to make CBC?

Cheeseburger Casserole (aka: CBC)
Serves 6
Ingredients
• 6 cups uncooked shell pasta
• 6 strips bacon, cut into cubes
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 Italian sausage, casing removed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 cups shredded cheese (use a strong cheese, like cheddar or Monterey Jack)
• Hot sauce and salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Grease a 9x13" casserole dish and set aside.

Boil a pot of salted water and cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside

Meanwhile, in a medium pan over medium heat, cook bacon pieces until crispy. Set aside on a paper towel and drain the pan. Cook the garlic, sausage and beef in the same pan, breaking the sausage up into smaller pieces until all of the meat is browned. Add in the green onion, spices, Italian seasoning and pepper and stir to combine.

Set your oven to broil. Combine the pasta, beef and bacon in a large bowl (the bowl you cooked the pasta in, if it's big enough). Add the tomato soup and 1 cup of cheese. Stir to combine. Add hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Pour into the prepared pan and top with the rest of the cheese.

Broil on high for 3-5 minutes, or until the top is bubbly and golden brown. Remove from the oven and enjoy.

P.S. This can easily be prepared ahead of time and set in the fridge even a day before. Just cook it in a 350F oven for 15-20 minutes, then broil on high for 3-5 minutes.