Shrove Tuesday pancakes

I hope everyone had a great Shrove Tuesday and is having a wonderful Ash Wednesday! Normally, I don't bother with making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, but thought I'd give it a whirl this year.

Instead of typical buttermilk pancakes, I thought I'd go with something a little heartier. Makes sense, since I was having pancakes for dinner (clearly not a typical occurrence in my household...).

Before I go on, I will preface this with a warning of why I don't make pancakes and why you probably won't see pancakes featured here in the future. Anyone who knows me, and who eats at my house, will undoubtedly know that I am notoriously not-good at making pancakes. I'm not sure what it is about it, or perhaps the fact that I have an electric stove, that I just can't find the sweet spot and get soft sponge-y pancakes. I've always left it up to others to make sure pancakes actually make it onto people's plates. Usually it's a "fend for yourself" strategy if you're at my house earlier enough for pancakes. There has only been one time (other than this post) that I have managed to get servable pancakes on the table, and for that, I was in no state to be taking photos.

Anywhoo... I opted to go with some cinnamon oat pancakes, that sounded like it would really hit the spot. I found the recipe in one of my old Canadian Living issues, and it looks simple enough.

My friends were over, so I had to make sure the pancakes were foolproof. And they were! So great in fact, that I didn't even have to throw out the obligatory guinea-pig-first-pancake!

Cinnamon Oat Pancakes (adapted from Canadian Living, January 2003) 

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 egg
1 1/2 - 2 cup almond milk
3 tbsp oil 

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, oats).
2. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (egg, 1 1/2 cup milk and oil).
3. Add the wet to the dry, stir until just combined.
4. Cook 1/3 cup of batter at a time on a well oiled medium heat skillet (or flat top griddle). 

* I found that as you let the this sit longer, the oats started to soak up the milk, causing the batter to thicken. Continue to add almond milk as needed to keep the consistency of the batter, up to another 1/2 cup milk.

Macaroni and cheese

I am a huge HUGE fan of macaroni and cheese. There's something oh so comforting about a warm bowl of these delicious cheesy noodles that just calls out to me.

Whenever I make mac n cheese, I always do it from scratch. With a cheesy bechamel sauce that I bake the living daylights out of until it's golden perfection.

However.

In recent times, I have been introduced to the President's Choice white cheddar macaroni and cheese packages, and they have changed my life.

It was before Christmas, when I had a junk food and Wii night, which included said macaroni and cheese packs. I must point out again though, how it was a junk food night, and I wasn't going to spend an hour making my mac n cheese when we were at the grocery store buying things like potato chips, popcorn and dip.

And in all honesty, for those of you who've tried it, you know. Who am I to argue?

To add a bit of variety to it, I added medium egg noodles to the plain macaroni for a bigger pot of pasta. To ensure there was enough cheese to go around, I used more milk in the sauce, and compensated with a generous handful of grated aged yellow cheddar, my trusted cheese of choice.

The result? It wasn't as white cheddar-y as the box, but it was still oh so delicious. It actually is pretty hard to go wrong with mac n cheese.

I topped it off with more grated cheddar and let it slowly melt in. Oh! It's making me hungry right now!

Tom Odell

It's been a while since I've hung out with my cousins, so a couple weekends ago, I took a trip into the city to pay a visit.

We made dinner plans to a vegetarian place in the neighbourhood (courtesy of a Groupon) before heading to a concert.

The diner we ate at is Sadie's, on the corner of Adelaide and Portland. It's a cute little neighbourhood that I quite enjoy but never seems to spend enough time in.

We caught up over dinner before heading around the corner to the Rivoli to see Jane's Party and Tom Odell perform.

Jane's Party was the opening act, and they're an awesome indie rock band. They've got a single release party coming up this month and a CD release party some time in the Spring.

Although Tom Odell was the reason we bought the tickets, I was excited to get to know another cool local band. I got to talk to them after the show, and the lovely boys even saw me off with a free copy of their EP and CD!

Tom Odell's set was short, because he only has the one EP, but he played nicely, and has an impressive vocal range. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to connect with him afterward, but I was having such a good night it wasn't going to put a damper on that.

To hear Tom Odell live, check out a video I posted of his hit song "Another Love".

Espresso semifreddo

I love sweets.

Especially my ice cream.

I suffer through the lactose intolerance to get my dose of frozen heaven.

Recently, I had a surplus of whipping cream, courtesy of the basement tenant, who works at the local dairy plant. What better to make than home made ice cream?

I went all the way back to the launch issue of Donna Hay (a bi-monthly Australian magazine) for the 9-page spread on semifreddos that has an espresso semifreddo.

Semifreddo is Italian for  "half frozen", and it has the texture similar to ice cream, but so much simpler to make. Since I so (un)conveniently lack an ice cream maker, semifreddo is my frozen dessert of choice.

Making semifreddo is easy, you'll need 2 bowls - one to heat the eggs and sugar, another to beat the cream.

In your heatproof bowl over a simmering pot of water, whisk eggs egg yolks and caster sugar together before removing it from the water and beating it some more. Add the espresso to this bowl.

In the other bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks form. I recommend an electric beater for all these steps, as it gets quite tiring.

Fold in the egg mixture and pour into glasses to freeze.

Espresso Semifreddo (adapted from Donna Hay Magazine)

3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup caster sugar**
1/3 cup strong espresso, cooled
1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
shots of espresso/amaretto, to serve (optional) 

1. In a heatproof bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar until heated and frothy. Take off heat and beat another 5 minutes until pale and thick. Fold in coffee.
2. In another bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form.
3. Fold in egg mixture until just combined.
4. Pour into glasses or serving container. Cover with foil or saran wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours.
5. Serve with a short of espresso or amaretto. 

** Caster sugar dissolves faster and better, so the chance of a grainy texture after beating is lower. Granulated sugar is absolutely fine to use, but be sure to test the graininess of the egg mixture.

Deviled eggs

I have a confession.

I've never had a deviled egg before. Ever.

I know, right? Jeez..

Since it was a potluck for my birthday, I decided to make deviled eggs. I have potlucks at my house all the time, and I'm usually roped into making the main dish. That's fine and dandy with me (I also made a main at my birthday too), but I really wanted to try my hand at making deviled eggs.

I found a easy recipe for classic deviled eggs on the Food Network and used that as a guideline for mine.

I used my large stockpot to boil 9 eggs. I didn't want to crowd them in my medium saucepan, for fear they would knock and crack, causing egg white spillage. Make as many eggs as you want.

A little trick I learned to boil eggs without them cracking? Put the eggs in the water and then turn the stove on. That way you don't dunk them in while the water is boiling, potentially causing cracking when they're dropped in the water.

Once the water reached a boil, I left it to simmer for a couple minutes before turning the heat off and letting the eggs sit for 15 minutes. Then run them under cold water for a few minutes.

Slice them in half and dump the egg yolks into a bowl with mayonnaise, vinegar, yellow mustard, and some salt.

I fancied them up a bit by piping them with a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 2D open star decorating tip. Sprinkle a bit of smoked Spanish paprika on them, and voilà!

I was quite happy with how these turned out, especially since I had never even tasted one before. I got pretty good reviews from my friends, and the disappeared before some people had even arrived!

Classic Deviled Eggs (adapted from Food Network)

9 eggs
1/3 cup mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp yellow mustard
salt
smoked Spanish paprika, for garnish 

1. Boil eggs for 1 minute, let simmer for another minute before removing from heat and letting sit for 15 minutes. Run eggs under cold water until cool enough to touch.
2. Peel eggs under water. Wipe dry with a paper towel and slice in half lengthwise.
3. Remove yolks and place in a bowl with mayonnaise, vinegar, yellow mustard and salt. Mash together until smooth and combined.
4. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 2D tip, pipe filling into each egg white half.
5. Sprinkle with paprika and serve on a decorative plate.