Applesauce Pancakes with a Spicy Apple Syrup

When my family was growing up I always liked to cook them a special breakfast on Christmas morning.



Sometimes it would be an overnight breakfast casserole that I make with croissants, eggs, ham, mushrooms and cheese . . .other times it would be bacon and eggs.



More often than not though it would be either pancakes or French Toast, two dishes which my children loved most of all.




These delicious pancakes are moist and fluffy, with a slightly sweet and spicy apple flavour. The apple syrup makes the scrummiest topping.



Sizzling and savoury grilled sausages are wonderful on the side.



Your family will thank you and think that you are just the most brilliant cook ever.



*Applesauce Pancakes with a Spicy Apple Syrup*
serves 4
Printable Recipe

The perfect holiday breakfast!

4 1/4 ounces plain flour (1 cup)
1 TBS sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
250ml of applesauce (1 cup)
1/4 tsp freshly grated orange zest
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 large free range egg yolks, beaten
1 TBS butter, melted
2 large free range egg whites

Whisk together the flour, sugar, bakiin gpowder, salt, and cinnamon. Blend the applesauce, orange zest, vanilla, egg yolks and butter together. Stir them into the flour mixture. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold them into the batter.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Lightly oil. Ladle the batter on in large spoonfuls, spreading it out to about 4 inches in diameter. Cook until bubbles break all over the surface. Flip over and brown on the other side. Keep warm in a low oven until all are cooked. Serve warm with spiced apple syrup and pats of butter.

*Spiced Apple Syrup*
Makes 1 1/2 cups

Delicously sweet and spicy.

1 pint cloudy pressed apple juice
11 1/2 ounces of soft light brown sugar (1 1/2 cups packed)
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 1/2 tsp whole cloves

Combine the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the liquid has reduced to about half, forming a syrup. Scoop out the cinnamon stick and the cloves. Serve warm.

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Cashew Nut Brittle

Around this time of year my mind turns to the art of making delectable homemade Christmas treats and gifts! Wrapped up in pretty packages and bows, they are a wonderful way to share the joys of the Christmas season.



I start in late November, so that by the time the week before Christmas rolls around I have a beautiful assortment ready to give to my friends. You'll find that most things can be quite easily frozen in airtight containers.



This helps to spread the expense and the work throughout the month, and helps to keep me in a Christmassy mood the whole month through.



I just love this exercise. I think it goes back to the times when I had a large and growing family. I always baked tons and tons for our Christmas holidays . . . with the size of our extended family and all of our friends, doing so just made sense.



I've never had anyone turn down a gift of a delicious homemade treat yet!



This tasty nut brittle makes the perfect gift. Not only is it quick to do, but it's also very easy. I do not recommend doubling the recipe. I always make it in single batches. It's so easy and quick though, that's not a problem really.



Buttery, crunchy and absolutely filled to the hilt with lovely buttery salty cashew nuts. This is everyone's favourite! The only problem you will have with this is to keep from eating it all yourself! Seriously!



*Cashew Nut Brittle*
Makes about 1 pound
Printable Recipe

Sweet, crunchy and buttery . . . and just stogged to the hilt with salty cashew nuts!! Quick and easy in the microwave!

7 ounces of caster sugar (1 cup)
4 fluid ounces of golden syrup (1/2 cup, can use light corn syrup)
8 ounces of whole salted cashews (2 cups)
(crush them a bit with your hands so that some are whole and some
are broken)
1 tsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Butter a large shallow baking tin and set aside.

Place the sugar and golden syrup into a deep 2 litre glass casserole dish. Stir together with a fork. Place in the microwave, uncovered. cook on high for 4 minutes. Remove from the microwave and stir in the cashew nuts. Return to the microwave and cook on high for 3 to 5 minutes. The time depends on the strength of your microwave. The nuts should only be light brown. Remove from the microwave and stir in the butter and vanilla. Return once again to the microwave and cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes longer, again this timing depends on the strength of your microwave. Remove from the microwave and carefully stir in the soda, mixing it in well. Pour onto the prepared baking sheet, spreading it out thin with a fork. Allow to cool and harden for about 60 minutes before breaking into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

NOTE - DO TAKE CARE WHEN HANDLING HOT SUGAR MIXTURES!!! They are very hot and you can get a really nasty burn!

This recipe can be easily varied by using different nuts, or a mixture of nuts, adding coconut, etc.

Prime Time for Revisiting Prime Rib of Beef

It's an iconic holiday table scene; you carving a juicy, perfectly pink prime rib while a roomful of friends and family watches, in awe of your awesomeness.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, it's sometimes more like you cutting through a dry, overcooked roast while they stare daggers at you.

You can almost hear them thinking, "Way to screw up $80 worth of beef, jerk. I hope there's lots of gravy."

Well, hopefully this proven mathematical method will increase your chances for success significantly. This is a new video revisiting the same method I featured in this Prime Rib post a few years ago, which only used photos. There are lots of great comments on the original post, and if you're skeptical, you should go check them out.

Here is the formula for what was called, "Method X." The rib is brought to room temperature. Overnight is good, but at least 6 hours (this is CRITICAL)! Season anyway you like. Then multiply the exact weight times 5 minutes. For me it was 5.35 x 5 = 26.75 minutes, which we round up to 27.

The rib is cooked at 500 degrees F for exactly that many minutes. Then the oven is turned off. You wait 2 hours without opening the door. You then remove the prime rib and slice into the most perfectly medium-rare meat you've ever seen. By the way, I will be posting a short how-to for a quick au jus soon. Enjoy!


Special Notes:

• To use this method you must have a full-sized, modern oven. It must have a digital temperature setting that indicates when it is preheated. Older ovens with manual controls can vary greatly, and the doors may not have the proper insulation.
• I've heard from lots of people that have used electric ovens and reported great results.
• This is a specific formula for achieving a perfectly pink prime rib cooked somewhere a shade under medium rare. I have no info on altering it for other degrees of doneness.

Ingredients:
4 to 8 pound Prime Rib of Beef, bone-in, fat cap removed (ask the butcher to explain)
kosher salt as needed
1/4 cup soft butter
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence (this is just a dried herb blend - you can use any thing you like, or just salt and pepper)

For more traditional methods of cooking Prime Rib of Beef, check out these other great recipes:
Simply Recipes' Prime Rib
Serious Eats' The Food Lab: How to Cook a Perfect Prime Rib
Mark Bittman's Prime Rib Roast for a Small Crowd

Mamuska!

Elephant & Castle shopping centre, while a total eyesore, is quite the hub of ethnic food purveyors. Not long ago, Food Stories reported on a taco van selling incredible Mexican street food within its environs. I spotted a Latin American cafe, tables parked in front of it, with happy families slurping on meaty stews. But we weren't there for that. We came for Polish food, in the shape of Mamuska! Don't ask me what that word means, but I was pointed there by a colleague.

The menu revealed startingly good value. Split into soups and starters, pierogi and big plates, we decided to start off our Sunday afternoon with a 50ml glass of vodka for £3 each, from the freezer. Served with a gherkin, it slipped down easily, warming our frozen selves and bringing a rosy tinge back to our cheeks. With it, we ordered kompot, a home-made fruit drink. It was tinged yellow and slightly cloudy; it tasted mildly of undescernible fruit and heavily of cinnamon. I found it tough going.

We decided on sharing a plate of pierogi Mamuska, boiled parcels which were filled with smoked bacon and cabbage served with sour cream. They were comforting, the dough being lighter than it looked and the porky innards of the dumpling shone through.

A pork loin cutlet, breaded and fried was served with roughly mashed potatoes sprinkled with parsley. Salads to choose from included coleslaw or sauerkraut but we settled on beetroot and it provided a tartness and lightened the dish; I had worried that without a sauce it might be dry, but the pork proved tender and juicy.

At no more than £5 a main dish, this bar mleczny was a brilliant tip. Look beyond the ugly exterior - there within the Elephant & Castle shopping centre lives some gems.

EDIT - I have since been told that 'Mamuska' means 'mama'.

Mamuska!

First floor,
Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre,
SE1 6TE

Open Mince Pies

One of the things I love most about Christmas are Mince Pies! Christmas and Mince Pies go together just like peas and carrots. You just can't have one without the other.



Mince pies are another one of those things that people either love or hate . . . kinda like fruit cake. In this house we both happen to be lovers of both!



Just one bite of a well made mince pie brings to my mind a host of sugared Christmas memories . . . and even though we do go through a fair amount of shop bought mince pies every year (Aldi's are the best) I always like to put some Christmas music on the stereo and spend an afternoon making a batch of my own.



You can buy very good already prepared mincemeat in jars of course. There really are some lovely versions out there. (Marks and Spencer's come to mind!) Or you can be really industrious and make your own! It's not all that hard and is quite, quite delicious! I sometimes add chopped glace cherries and or dried cranberries to mine as well, depending on what kind of mood I am in.



Todd just can't get enough of them. (I confess . . . neither can I!!)



*Open Mince Pies*
Makes 2 to 3 dozen
Printable Recipe

These pies have a lovely flakey pastry that is made entirely in the food processor. You can use your own homemade mincemeat, or purchased. I have given the homemade recipe below. It's the best!

For the Pastry:
450g of plain flour (3 1/2 cups)
250g of unsalted butter (1.1 cups)
the finely grated zest of one lemon
150g of icing sugar, sifted (2/3 cup)
2 small free range egg yolks
milk

1 quantity of mincemeat (see recipe below)
Icing sugar for dusting

To make the pastry, place the flour and butter into a food processor. Give it a quick blitz at high speed to reduce it to a crumb like consistency. Add the lemon zest and the icing sugar and give it another quick blitz. Add the egg yolks and enough milk to bring the dough together while the motor is running. Place into a zip lock bag and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Working with 1/2 of the pastry at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured board to 1/4 inch thickness. Using a fluted round pastry cutter, cut into rounds to fit into nonstick bun tins.. (shallow tart tins) Place in the tins and fill with a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat. Roll the trimming out and cut into star shapes or Christmas trees slightly smaller than the diameter of each pie. Place in the centre of each, on top of the mincemeat. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pastry is a pale gold. Leave to cool before slipping out of the tins. Dust with icing sugar. Serve warm or cold. To reheat, place into a 170*C/325*F/ gas mark 3 oven for five minutes. Store in a tightly covered container. These can be quite successfully frozen.



*Homemade Mincemeat*
Makes approximately 1 pound
(enough for approximately 3 dozen mince pies)

A delicious blend of dried fruit, nuts, spices, brown sugar and brandy. (I use apple juice)

150g of currants(1 cup)
125g of raisins (3/4 cup packed)
25g of blanched almonds, finely chopped (1/3 cup)
1 knob of preserved stem ginger, finely chopped
1 eating apple, peeled and grated
50g of shredded beef or vegetable suet (1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
the finely grated zest and juice of one lemon
2 TBs brandy
1 TBS dark muscovado sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside for at least 12 hours to macerate.

Pistachio Meringues

These little meringues are the beginning of my holiday baking series here on Chocolate Shavings. Now that the holiday season is upon us - we got our got our first snow this weekend! - it's time to start thinking about all the baking that lies ahead!

These little snow caps are the perfect way to welcome the holidays. They are easy to make and have that perfect crunchy texture. The only trick to preparing them is making sure you leave them to dry out completely in shut-off oven before you package them. Meringues are pretty sensitive to humidity and moisture, so make sure, depending on where you live, that you aren't making these on one of those very humid days. Once the meringues are dry and perfectly crisp, you can package them as you please!

Pistachio Meringues

4 egg whites
1 pinch of kosher salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of finely chopped pistachios

Preheat your oven to 200F. Beat the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar on high speed until frothy. Add 1/2 of the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Add remaining sugar and beat again for a few minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the meringue into a piping bag and carefully pipe little bite-size meringues. Try to keep your piping hand steady and pipe the meringues keeping the piping tip at the center of each meringue. To finish off each meringue, rapidly remove the tip when you are happy with the shape of your meringue, creating a little spike on each meringue. Top each meringue with a pinch of chopped pistachios.

Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until meringues are dry and crisp (depending on the humidity levels and the exact size of your meringues, it could take less time). Turn off your oven and leave the meringues to completely dry out over night. Gently detach the meringues from the parchment. Enjoy!

You'll Heart This Artichoke Gratin

This easy, all-veggie appetizer idea is proof you don't have to make a dish, to reinvent it. For all the millions of meals I've cooked and/or eaten, I can't remember ever having cooked and/or eaten an artichoke gratin.

From what I've seen, it's usually made in a shallow baking dish like any other vegetable casserole, and always features some form of crispy, caramelized gratin topping. So, while I can’t claim to have made the original, I was pretty sure it would translate to a nice, small party bite.

I made this as a last-minute appetizer at Thanksgiving, but fried it in a skillet to get the crusty coating on the artichokes. This time I went to the broiler with even better, and less messy results.

This would make a great hors d'oeuvre at any holiday gathering, and as you'll see in the video, a deviled eggs tray makes for a cool serving platter. By the way, extra credit for getting the "bacon of eggs" joke in the recipe.

Of course, this can also be served as an extra special side dish with just about any main course. I hope you give these easy and delicious artichoke hearts a try. Enjoy!




Artichoke Hearts Gratin Ingredients:
Makes 12 halves
6 artichoke hearts, drained
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoon plain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
lemon

Classic Sunday Morning Brunch Cake

It never hurts to have an easy brunch cake recipe in your arsenal of recipes.
One that is quick and versatile, that you can use a variety of fruits with.



Berries or cherries, melded into a buttery batter and topped with a spicy nut topping . . . a combination that makes for one very scrummy yummy and leisurely Sunday Morning breakfast!



So quick to put together you can easily have it in the oven and baking in next to no time at all . . .



By the time you've tidied yourself up and gotten your Sunday-Go-To-Meetin' clothes on, it will be done, and you and your family can be digging in.



Then again . . . mmmm . . . this is so good, you just might want to keep the whole thing for yourself!



Oh, what the heck, go on . . . share! They'll never forgive you if you don't, and it is Sunday after all.



*Classic Sunday Morning Brunch Cake*
Makes one 9 inch cake
Printable Recipe

A delicious moist cake that you can adapt to your own tastes or to whatever fruit you have to hand. Quick and easy to make too!

for the cake batter:
4 TBS unsalted butter, softened
6 TBS caster sugar
1 large free range egg
1 tsp vanilla paste
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
4 1/4 ounces plain flour (1 cup)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
100ml of buttermilk (1/3 cup)
7 ounces of fresh blueberries, mulberries, raspberries,
blackberries, red currants or pitted red cherries (1 1/2 cups)

Streusel Topping:
3 TBS plain flour (about 1/4 cup)
2 TBS unsalted butter
3 TBS caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ounce chopped toasted pecans (1/4 cup)
10 whole pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 inch deep pie tin and flour it well. Set aside.

Cream the butter for the batter together with the sugar in a bowl, until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest. Stir together the floru, baking powder and baking soda. Add to the creamed mixture along with the buttermilk, mixing just until the batter is smooth and thick. Spread into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the fruit over top, pressing it down into the batter a little.

Make the streusel by combining the butter, flour, sugar and cinnamon, rubbing all together with your fingertips until crumbly. Stir in the chopped nuts. Sprinkle evenly over top of the batter. Stud with the nut halves.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Serve warm, cut into wedges.

I apologize for the use of a disposable tin foil pie pan. The last few times I have been home to Canada (read twice in 5 years) I have looked high and low for some good metal pie pans. I have not been able find any, and so I have had to bring back the only ones I could find, which were disposable tin foil pans . . . not the best, but hey, beggars can't be choosers!!

A Blurry Look at Bocca di Lupo

I won't lie. I was a bit pissed when I sat down at the bar for dinner at Bocca di Lupo, an Italian restaurant in Soho. So that's why the photos are, shall we say, a bit blurry.

Bocca di Lupo has been around for a while now, but I never made the effort to go and visit. Recently, I was pretty jealous after I heard my friends rave about the meal they had there so I hastily booked myself in. On a Friday night, the bar was packed and the place had a nice buzz about it.

Squid, prawns and aubergine were all fried expertly and were greaseless; even the aubergine, which is no easy feat. Prawns were munched heads and all.

Shaved radish, truffle and pecorino salad with pomegranates whiffed of the heady scent of truffle oil. Short sharp bursts of the pomegranate seeds accentuated the peppery flavours of the radish. At first bite I found it agreeable; soon enough I kept going back for more. It was a real grower.

A plate of raw seafood came pleasingly with three slices of each (besides the langoustine) so we could all have a fair share. Rosemary oil gave the seafood a more Italian flavour. The scallop was sweet and fresh but my real favourite was the red prawns.

The leaves of the deep fried artichoke were crisp perfection, and we managed to split the beloved heart into three.

I am a huge fan of pasta, and orrichette with 'njuda salami had the words 'extremely spicy' underlined in the menu description. They weren't lying. It was.

Pappardelle with ox cheek was my favourite dish of the night. Light as a feather pasta bathed in a deliciously meaty, hearty sauce topped off with plenty of cheese. I was loathe to share it.

I've never had teal before; I don't think I will again. Clearly I haven't learnt that anything gamier than pigeon is too gamey for me. My companions devoured this.

The only dud dish of the night was puntarelle, a type of chicory, dressed with anchovy and lemon. It tasted of grass dressed in salty fish. Perhaps if the chicory stems were sliced a little thinner it may have been more palatable, but we largely left this dish untouched.

With two bottles of wine and service, the bill came to about £45 each. It aint cheap, but I loved it. I'm now regretting skipping dessert, but there will definitely be a next time.

Bocca di Lupo

12 Archer Street
London W1D 7BB

Tel: 020 7734 2223