Split Pea Soup

I've totally been nesting lately.

Not in a bun-in-the-oven kinda way (don't worry!) but in a different way. This sounds ridiculous but we got a new sectional and it's totally changed the dynamic of our living room, which is our main place to hang out. It feels like a new room. We got rid of 5 pieces of furniture (!!) and I love it in here. With a new ottoman (a Gibbons Garage sale find, 10$!), some beautiful handmade floor pillows (courtesy of the lovely Echo) I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing this weekend while Garrett was in L.A. I made some duck stock, some ridiculously sweet/easy squares and made it my goal to clean out my freezer/pantry/fridge: hence, a split pea soup.

Since we were both away last week, our fridge is now almost completely empty; it's a great feeling.

Split Pea Soup

(adapted from Company's Coming Slow Cooker Creations)

5 cups stock (I used 2 cups duck stock, 3 cups chicken stock)
2 cups split peas (well rinsed and drained)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cups ham (Mine was from the depths of my freezer from earlier this year)
2 carrotss, sliced
2 sprigs thyme
dash of salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a 4 quart slow cooker. Cook, covered, on low for 8-10 hours or high 4-5 hours. Makes about 8 cups. (1 cup = 207 calories, 2.9 g of fat, 28g carbohydrates, 5g fibre, 16g protein)

The timing of this recipe couldn't be better; today is a cool, rainy, windy day here in Edmonton. I love coming home to a house smelling like slow cooked food. Once I got home I added about 1.5 cups of water since it was SO thick. I cooked it for 9 hours but 8 would probably do it. Split pea soup isn't the most appetizing looking so I figured I didn't need to photographically document this one. But here's a cute picture of Lando, desperately wondering where Garrett is.

Operation Macaron

My dear friend Peeps and I (among others in Edmonton) could probably go to Duchess every day if our budgets and butts allowed. It's also become Garrett and I's fav place to go for a snack and a coffee pre-dog park with Lando since it's quite close. I like to try something different each time I go there but I always have at least one of their adorable, delicious macaron. I figured that they must be an awful lot of work, considering how much they cost; I also thought it would be a fabulous way to christen Peeps beautiful new kitchen!

This blog post by the Wedding Chicks is so fantastic that I'm not even going to bother trying to write my own description of how things went down, since we followed the instructions step-by-step, by the page. I'll post our pictures and our observations but definitely read their post and oogle at their lovely photos!

The blog stressed the importance of gathering all your ingredients and materials so everything is ready to go. I think working with a second set of hands was also super important. That little bag of almond meal was about $12 at Save-on-Foods so next time I may be grinding my own blanched almonds. It just seemed easier to buy it this time!

CUTEST YOLKS! Fun tip: you can easily freeze egg yolks! They can thicken then you freeze them but to prevent them from becoming too gelatinous, add 1/8 tsp of salt per 4 eggsOR 1/4 cup corn syrup, depending on what you plan to use them for later (savory dish vs. sweet dish). Label them!

It was Easter so we thought pink would be a fun color.

You'll notice that these turned out kind of lumpy and not as smooth as your traditional macaron. We have chalked this up to not having a tip for our piping bag. We need to take a trip to Russell Foods here in Edmonton and get some stuff!

Not super smooth, but great feet!

Peeps called them monster macaron since they are HUGE and couldn't stand on their own.  We went for a simple vanilla buttercream filling with yellow coloring, again for Easter!

Despite their initial unprettiness, they broke down just like Duchess and they tasted DAMN good!

Macaron are best if eaten within a couple days which was really no problem at all. All in all we learnt a lot and I think that next time we make macaron that they'll be even better! I think I might try to whip some of these up for Peeps bridal shower, if I'm feeling especially motivated. I'm looking forward to trying more flavors.

Game of Thrones

I've never read the Game of Thrones books but from what I've been told, they go into great detail about food, to the point that a couple awesome people have created a blog dedicated to their love of the books and of food. Garrett and I randomly picked up a delish looking duck and saved it to make for the Game of Thrones season premiere. Eventually it turned into a crazy feast, but here's what I did.

Lots of people asked where I got the duck; it was just from Save-On Foods, on sale one week!

Pentoshi Style Duck (Honey & Orange Roasted Duck)
(modified from Inn at the Crossroads)

Ingredients

• 1 whole duck, rinsed
• 1 tsp cardamom
• 2 teaspoon powdered ginger
• pinch of pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 orange, quartered

For the sauce

• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate
  
• pinch of pepper
  
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Rinse duck inside and out, removing gizzards and saving them for broth. Criss cross the breast to expose the layer of fat but not cutting too deep into the meat. This will help get the skin as crispy as possible!
  
  In a small bowl mix together mix together the cardamom, ginger and salt and sprinkle mixture on inside and outside of duck. Stuff duck with orange quarters and lay in roaster.
  

Side note: can someone explain to me why this much cardamom costs NINE DOLLARS?

In a small saucepan combine the honey, butter, lemon juice and orange juice concentrate. Simmer together over low heat until syrupy; pour a little of the mixture over the duck, saving the rest for a sauce. Cover roaster.

This sauce was so damn delicious, I want to make an orange honey butter spread of it next time. I may have dipped biscuits into this sauce by the end of the night...

Roast duck in preheated oven for 30 minutes, breast side up. Turn duck breast down, reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and roast covered for another 3 to 3 1/2 hours, or until very tender, flipping about every hour. Turn duck breast up during last few minutes of cooking to brown. Use a meat thermometer!

I got a lot of great pointers from The Hungry Mouse who has tons of great photos of the process and fantastic decriptions! I had never done duck before and not being the biggest fan of poultry I haven't done a lot of chickens or turkeys and typically leave the dirty work of removing the innards to someone else (i.e. Garrett) so I was pretty proud of myself for doing this. I have all the parts, along with a TON of duck fat and the leftover bones sitting in my freezer, waiting for a day to become broth. I'm taking suggestions on what to fry with the duck fat...

I also made some simple tea biscuits...

and the rest of the crew brought their game. Wild boar roast wrapped in boar bacon, goose legs, slow cooked mulled wine, salad and cheesecake. WE ARE THE BEST.


We'll need some way to beat this for the season finale; horse heart anyone?

French Toast Casserole

I've wanted to make something like this for a long time and I figured that a Sunday off for both Garrett and I would be a great time to do it. So post gym I grabbed some bread and milk and got to it. And let's be honest, this is basically bread pudding that you eat for breakfast so what could go wrong?

French Toast Casserole
(modified from Everyday Sisters)

5 cups of any crusty bread or baguette, torn in pieces
5 eggs
2 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup Saskatoon Berry syrup
Optional: icing sugar for garnish

Let's do this thang:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease 9x13 casserole dish.
2. Pour about 1/2 cup of syrup in the bottom of the casserole dish. Layer torn bread on top of the syrup.
3. Beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread in casserole dish and press bread down to make sure it's soaked.
4. Drizzle remaining syrup over top of bread and custard. Bake for 30 minutes until casserole is puffed up and crunchy on top. Watch your dish too, some of the corners of my bread pieces were a little too crispy due to my ultra hot oven.
5. Remove from oven and garnish with icing sugar on top and serve while hot.

I threw some strawberries on top too, just for deliciousness and to look pretty! I didn't figure out the points or calories for what is likely to be a not-so-good-for-you dish, but whatevs. It's Sunday. I think you could easily modify this recipe by adding a couple overripe mashed bananas, or some blueberries or saskatoon berries, or using raisin bread. OR use maple syrup instead of saskatoon berry syrup, as the original recipe recommends.


Trying to get back to regular blogging. I've been eating out more than normal lately which is no good, both healthwise or for my wallet. It's about 3 months until Peeps wedding so I'm majorly stepping it up at the gym and while breakfasts like today don't help that, sometimes you need to forget about calories, grams of fat and sugar content. I'm over halfway to my weightloss goal that I started just over a year ago and I need to remind myself that that is pretty damn fantastic.

For optimal results, enjoy this dish with a cup-o-earl-grey tea, an Oilers afternoon game and PJs.

Vanilla and Rocky Road Ice Cream

My triumphant return to the blog world. Well, triumphant may be a bit of an overstatement; I'm just hoping my fans (Hi Mom!) will forget that whole blogpostperday challenge from a couple months ago. I feel silly not posting this fall, I've made some awesome things lately and I just need to not be so lazy. Story of my life?

For Christmas, Garrett got me yet another gift that keeps on giving: Ice Cream Maker KitchenAid attachement!


The only real con to this attachment is that it's difficult to make ice cream on a whim; the bowl needs to be in the freezer for a minimum 15 hours before use. The guide recommends to keep the bowl in the freezer at all times, but with the size of our freezer, that isn't really an option; however I anticipate it living in there during the summer. The wait time to freeze the bowl isn't so bad, since its likely that the ice cream recipe requires the mix to chill for a few hours before adding it to the ice cream maker.

I thought I'd start with the basics....

Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups half and half
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 4 teaspoons vanilla (I used my homemade bourbon vanilla, it was superb)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

How To:

1. In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half and half until very hot but not boiling; stir often. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Place egg yoks and sugar in mixer bowl and use wire whisk, or beat slowly (Speed 2) with electric mixer until well blended and slightly thick. Slowly add half and half mixture until well blended.
   
3. Return this mixture to the saucepan over medium heat until small bubbles form around edges and mixture is steamy, stirring often; do not boil!
4. Transfer this mixture into a large bowl and stir in whipping cream, vanilla and salt. Cover and chill at least 8 hours.
   TIP: Once mixture is complete, put it into a pitcher to make it easier to pour into your KitchenAid.
   
5. Mix according to ice cream maker instructions and transfer to airtight container to freeze.

Once I whipped the mixture up in the freezer bowl (which gets SERIOUSLY cold), the result was a creamy soft serve ice cream. Once it was frozen overnight, it became harder and a little more like 'traditional' ice cream. This recipe, which was in the KitchenAid instruction manual, was really tasty but slightly too rich for me; it caused more than a few tummy aches over here. I'd like to try it again with whole milk instead of whipping cream. Most of the 'dairy' can be substituted in any ice cream recipe, although consistency will vary; especially with skim milk.

After the initial success of the vanilla recipe, and a lot of leftover whipping cream and half & half, I thought I should make some more...

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups whipping cream
  
• 1 cup half and half
  
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows

How To:

1. In a medium saucepan over low heat, cook and stir condensed milk and cocoa until smooth and slightly thickened. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly. Stir in whipping cream, half and half and vanilla. Refrigerate until cold, ideally overnight.
   
   
2. Attach KitchenAid Ice Cream bowl to mixer or freeze the mixture using your ice cream maker's directions. Turn mixer on 'Stir' and mix for 15-20 minutes. With a few minutes left, stir in nuts and marshmallows.
   
   
3. Put ice cream into airtight, freezable container and freeze for 2 hours for optimal tastiness!

Both recipes have received rave reviews from, well, me. I knew when Garrett brought home the KitchenAid that I'd have lots of fun with the attachments, I didn't even think this one would be so amazing. While summer seems a million years away today, I can't wait to live off gelato and sorbet! Feel free to comment with some suggestions on what to do next!