This is what I'm doing right now.
We are having a relaxing evening in. No stress, no plans and no running around.
Just a couple glasses of wine and a box of chocolates with the warm glow of the Christmas tree in the background.
It's the calm before the Christmas storm.
Happy Weekend!
When life gets busy, a stir fry is a nice way to still eat healthy but doesn't take up a lot of time in the kitchen.
bon appetit!
...
chicken and sweet potato stir-fry
serves 4
2 chicken breasts, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small sweet potato, chopped
one bunch (~500 g) swiss chard, tops and stalk
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch
1 cup chicken broth
Stir fry chicken in a hot oiled pan or wok, until cooked. Set aside.
Add garlic, onion, sweet potato, chard stalks and stir fry until the sweet potato is tender.
Return chicken back to the pan, add swish chard tops, sesame oil and the blended cornstarch and broth. Cook until mixture thickens, several minutes.
Serve.
adapted from: Chicken Kumara Stir-fry, The Australian Women's Weekly-Chicken Healthy Eating Magazine.
I bought myself an early Christmas present. A new flash for my camera! Which I'm excited about because now I can experiment with taking my flash off-camera, which I was never able to do before. However, with all the busy-ness of pre-Christmas, Christmas parties, my children's schools needing extra help and having yearend bookkeeping to do, there hasn't been much experimenting at all.
Except for my kitchen gadgets I photographed. I love the simplicity and beauty of these kitchen tools shots.
Maybe more time to play with my camera in the new year!
I was pushing the grocery cart and stopped in front of the big sign: "Persimmons: 3 for $0.99"
There was a gentleman, who was filling the two plastic bags full of these fruit.
"Excuse me. I've never tried these before. Can you tell me what they taste like or how to tell which ones to pick?" I asked.
He looked at me sheepishly, responding that he's never tried them and that he was buying bags of them for his mother. I figured I'd just buy a bunch. For the price of $0.33 each, I could afford to chuck them if they weren't any good.
And I am really glad I did buy them!
The variety I bought are called fuyu persimmons. They look like an orange tomato with a hard flower-shaped leaf on top. Pick ones that are firm and blemish free. They taste sweet and it's hard to describe the taste. The closest I can describe is it's like a mild apricot? Tasty nonetheless. You can eat them like an apple or slice them up and put them in salads (as I did often) or use them in baking or atop of your ice cream.
So now, go out and try it yourself if you haven't before. Something new.
It was near the end of august and we were visiting my in-laws at their home on their acreage. "Next week, the saskatoons will be ready, bring your pail and we'll pick them" my father in law said to us.
The next week, we were out among the trees with pails. The saskatoon berry trees are small but yielded a lot of berries. Apparantly, the berries become ripe roughly all at the same time, unlike raspberries, which you must pick every couple of days.
I had never had saskatoons before. They are similar in appearance and taste to blueberries, though I find saskatoons to have more crunch. Some people say it has a slight nutty flavor to it. I ate them by handful after I cleaned them. I really enjoyed them.
I have made this galette recipe often throughout the summer and fall season. I love it because it's easier than a pie to make and I'm all about shortcuts. Free-forming the dough is a lot easier than rolling out into a pie pan, if you ask me.
You can use frozen berries, I have tried it once or twice, though you may have to add more flour to the the filling to absorb the extra moisture.
A nice reminder of the taste of summer, starting this december month.
...
saskatoon & raspberry galette with almond buttermilk crust
crust:
1-3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup ground almonds
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup buttermilk
filling:
7 cups berries of your choice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp flour
I make my crust in a food processor but you may do it in a bowl and use a knives or a pastry blender to cut butter.
In a food processor, mix together flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt and butter. Pulse until you get large crumbs forming. Slowly add buttermilk and pulse until all blended. Do not overmix.
Remove from processor and shape into a ball. Place it in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic film, for about 30 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine filling ingredients and set aside.
Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out onto floured surface to about a 15 inch diameter. Transfer to parchment paper and baking sheet. Spoon the filling onto the pastry, leaving about a 4 inch border on the ends. Fold over ends atop of filling.
(Optional: I have sometimes sprinkled brown sugar atop the edges to give a nice sweetness and look to the crust)
Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350F for about 45 minutes. The crust will be golden. Let cool on wire rack for about 20 minutes. Serve.
Recipe adapted from: Almond Buttermilk Crust: Canadian Living Market Fresh Special Issue Magazine, Summer 2008.
