Orange marmalade muffins

Do you ever get a spontaneous baking idea that you have to follow through on?

I was in the grocery store on Friday and I noticed a jar of orange marmalade. Immediately I could taste the muffins I'd make with that marmalade, warm and sunny with streaks of orange baked right into them.

Not even knowing if such a recipe existed, I bought the marmalade and rushed home to look.

Sometimes when I get inspirations like that, I have to create my own recipe. But this time I was in luck, finding the perfect recipe online in a minute. And the muffins don't take much longer than that to bake  - you can whip up the batter in the time it takes to heat the oven. That's what makes them perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch - loaded with the sweet yet slightly bitter flavour of orange marmalade, they're the perfect way to start the day.

Orange marmalade muffins
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman; makes 12 muffins)

For the muffins:

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup orange marmalade
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

For the topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp melted butter
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place 12 cupcake liners in a muffin tin.

Sift together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Place in a mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter to mix in shortening until it's in very small chunks.

In a separate bowl, mix marmalade, orange juice and vanilla. Beat in the egg. Pour over dry ingredients, and mix together gently, just until barely combined.

In a small bowl, mix topping ingredients.

Fill each cupcake liner with batter, just short of the top. Sprinkle one rounded teaspoon of topping over each muffin.

Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until done. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Foodservice Friday: Alo

Aged beef ribeye, bone marrow, watercress, shallots

Sometimes a restaurant gets such a great review that you have to go, just to see if it could possibly be that good. And occasionally a restaurant gets three such reviews. That was the case with Alo.

Toronto Life called it the best new restaurant in Toronto. Canada's 100 Best magazine called it the best new restaurant in Canada. The restaurant critic for the Globe and Mail described his experience of eating the stew as "probably the best five minutes of my year."

How could I stay away?

But such acclaim comes with popularity, and I tried making reservations a few times with no luck. Finally, I must have timed it perfectly, because just before Christmas I scored a reservation three months out - on a Saturday night!

Pinenuts, yellowfoot chanterelles, celery root, delice de bourgogne

Alo is tucked away on the second floor of a nondescript building on busy Spadina Avenue, just above a tattoo parlour. If you didn't know it existed, you'd never find it; even though we knew it was there, we were happy the greeter on the main floor reassured us we were in the right place.

The menu is different every night, with two choices per course. The presentations were gorgeous: even if I wasn't taking pictures for my blog I'd have taken them anyhow, out of admiration and respect. Technically there were five courses, but actually there were probably closer to ten (including three tiny desserts). Everything is prepared with the utmost of care. Even the butter that's served with the bread is made in-house.

And how did it taste? I adored everything I ate, with the chanterelle mushroom dish being an early contender for the best five minutes of my year.

Kampachi, rice pearls, fennel, cured egg yolk

Chef Patrick Kriss graciously answered the questions I asked him. He said his greatest influences were the people he worked for at New York's Daniel restaurant - Jean-Francois Bruel, Eddy Leroux, and of course Daniel Boulud, all of whom he described as being extremely hard-working and dedicated people. And charmingly, when I asked him what his most memorable cooking moments were, he answered, "Cooking with my grandmother when I was a child. Pies and simple roasts on Sunday."

A note to my Toronto friends: Alo is now taking reservations only two months in advance. In the name of blog research, I went on Open Table this morning to see what reservations were available, and got the message "No availability for Alo restaurant ... in next 8 weeks." But don't give up - this is a restaurant that's more than worth the wait. And when you get that reservation, be sure to tell me which course was the best five minutes of your year.

Alo
163 Spadina Avenue
Toronto ON
416-260-2222

www.alorestaurant.com

(All opinions are my own, and I received no compensation for this post.)

The first day of spring

"Wrap me close, sheets of lavender. Pour your blue and purple dreams into my ears. The breeze whispers at the shutters and mutters queer tales of old days, and cobbled streets, and youths leaping their horses down marble stairways. Pale blue lavender, you are the colour of the sky when it is fresh-washed and fair ... I smell the stars ... they are like tulips and narcissus ... I smell them in the air."

- from "Spring Day" by Amy Lowell

Today's recipe is an all-season one that I've probably never made the same way twice. Below is one simple variation, but it's easily changed to accommodate the time of year and what you have on hand. In honour of the first day of spring, you might add a little sautéed leek in with the onions. If you make it in the summer, use fresh vegetables rather than frozen. If you want a vegetarian version, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and forgo the chicken for broccoli and cauliflower pieces. Slice up a few mushrooms and sauté them along with the onions for extra flavour. You can replace the chicken with lamb, and you could top the pot pie with mashed potatoes, biscuits, or puff pastry. (If using puff pastry, cut a sheet of pastry in narrow slices and make a cross-hatch pattern.

Sometimes I cook it all up in one casserole, and sometimes I put it in mini loaf pans or ramekins. The latter are perfect to freeze for another meal, or to deliver to a university student in need of home-cooked food!

Chicken pot pie
(assembled from my imagination, and whatever I have in the fridge)

2 medium potatoes
milk
4 Tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
4 Tbsp flour
2 cups chicken broth
kosher salt
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen edamame or peas
1 Tbsp fresh chopped thyme or rosemary
2 cooked chicken breasts (preferably roasted), cut into bite-sized pieces

Boil potatoes until just tender. Let drain and mash with a bit of milk. Set aside.

Melt butter in a medium pot, and add diced onions. Sauté until golden-brown. Add flour, and stir until it forms a smooth paste. Add chicken broth and stir until it thickens. Add kosher salt to taste.

Remove from the heat and add vegetables and herbs. Stir in chicken pieces and combine to mix. Cover with mashed potatoes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes (when cooking in ramekins or loaf pans) or 30-40 minutes (when cooking in a single casserole).

Foodservice Friday: Byblos

The glorious brussels sprouts

Most of us have a special occasion restaurant. It's usually somewhere with terrific service, and with food so great we know whatever we order will be spectacular.

For me, that restaurant is Byblos. This is the place where I had the brussels sprouts epiphany.  The place that inspired me to make my own Middle Eastern dessert. And the place where I've celebrated my last two birthdays. Byblos has been responsible for quite a lot of happiness in my life.

The beauty of eating at a restaurant with share plates is you try more things than if you just had a single appetizer and entree to yourself. But even so, the biggest challenge about dinner at Byblos is confronting the sad realization that you can't order every single thing on the menu. So what should you order? You have to try at least one of the eggplant appetizers, the roasted red beets, the ribeye, and for dessert, order the qatayef, and the mousse cake that's covered in Persian cotton candy. Oh, and did I mention the brussels sprouts?

Crispy Qatayef, just one of the brilliant desserts Byblos serves
Photo credit: Byblos Restaurant

Byblos's brilliant chef Stuart Cameron took the time to answer a few questions I had for him. I asked him what the inspiration was for Byblos, and he answered, "There are so many amazing ingredients and flavours that are unfamiliar in other cuisines. When I first started Byblos I was amazed by the quality of products that were available. It really drove me to create new dishes that represented Middle Eastern Cuisine." When I asked about his most memorable cooking moment, he said he loves cooking during TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival) because of all the great people he meets. He also singled out getting to cook last year with Michelin-starred chef Maria Jose San Roman.

In other words, he loves food, he loves people, and both of those are what makes his food shine.

So if you live in Toronto, Byblos is a restaurant you simply must try. If you don't live in Toronto, Byblos is a very good reason to visit.

And if you go any time around my next special occasion, you'll probably see me there.

Byblos Restaurant
11 Duncan Street
Toronto ON
647-660-0909
www.byblostoronto.com

(All opinions are my own, and I received no compensation for this post.)

Joy in Mudville

"The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game."

- from "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer

I always love this time of year. Nothing feels like new beginnings more than spring training, when baseball players report to their respective camps. It's a time of innocence and of hope, when every team still has a chance of winning. I remember the first time I went to spring training, and was amazed by how close the fans got to the field, and how much fun the players were having.

After the Blue Jays had their first meaningful October in her lifetime, my youngest daughter is passionately following their spring training exploits, periodically texting me to say, "Pompey walks!" or "Goins 2 run triple ties in bottom of fourth!" (One hopes these updates are interspersed between intense rounds of essay-writing.)

Today's recipe is for apple walnut squares, a recipe that started out as a cake but works perfectly as squares to take to church or book club. And the outcome is extremely brilliant for these lovely squares, even if that church or book club is located in Mudville.

Apple Walnut Squares
(adapted from Epicurious)

Cake

1 Tbsp unsalted butter (first amount)
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2" pieces
2 medium Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature (second amount)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 large egg
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1 cup dried currants

Icing

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

For cake:

Melt 1 Tbsp butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add all apples; cover and simmer until apples are juicy and almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. Uncover and simmer until almost all juices evaporate, about 6 minutes. Using potato masher, mash apples in pan. Cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and butter and flour a 9" x 13" baking dish. Whisk flour and next 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 3/4 cup butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Stir in flour mixture, then all of apple mixture, then remaining flour mixture. Mix in 1 cup toasted walnuts and currants.

Pour batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until tester inserted into centre comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool on racks for 5 minutes, then turn out and let cool completely before icing.

For icing:

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, and beat to blend.

Spread icing on cooled squares. Chill until icing sets before cutting into squares.

Baking with milk chocolate

I'm convinced there are some items that packaged goods companies put in stores specifically to trick the occasional shopper who doesn't know any better. One of those products is milk chocolate chips.

I'm the one who buys most of the groceries, but on occasion Andrew takes a list and does the shopping. And whenever I ask him to buy chocolate chips, he comes home with a bag of milk chocolate chips. (It wouldn't occur to me to write "semi-sweet chocolate chips" on a shopping list, just like it wouldn't occur to him that there's a difference.)

It's a first-world problem, obviously. But for those of you who bake, you'll know milk chocolate is best used in chocolate bars. It's really too sweet to be used in baking (where semi-sweet and dark reign). Why would anyone create a product like milk chocolate chips, other than to confuse occasional shoppers and force their spouses to buy a second bag?

So I went looking for a recipe that actually called for milk chocolate chips, and I found this winner. These are perfect for Valentine's Day, or any day when a chocolate overload is desired. The cocoa in the recipe helps tone down the sweetness, and every bite is loaded with three kinds of chocolate.

So the next time Andrew shows up with milk chocolate chips, I know exactly what to bake. Of course, the last time he offered to go to the grocery store, I wised up and specifically requested semi-sweet chips. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to specify what size, which is why he returned with a 2 kilogram (5 pound) bag of semi-sweet chips.

Looks like I've got a few rounds of these cookies in my near future.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

(Adapted from Add a Pinch)

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) butter, softened
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place semisweet chocolate chips and 2 Tbsp butter in saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until melted. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa in a small bowl and set aside.

Place sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Add vanilla.

Turn mixer speed up to medium-high and beat until pale, light, and fluffy, about 7-10 minutes. Turn off mixer and slowly stir in cooled melted chocolate. Stir in dry mixture until combined, then stir in milk chocolate chips.

Drop tablespoon scoops of cookie batter onto baking sheets, leaving 3 inches between cookies to allow them to spread.

Place in preheated oven and bake 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from the baking sheet. (They're fragile while warm, so let them cool completely before moving.)

What a 2 kg bag of chocolate chips looks like.
(See egg for scale.)

Super Bowl food

This post is a bit late coming. You already know what you're serving to watch the Super Bowl, right? Some of you are probably reading this after the outcome of the game has been decided, which is why I'm not posting a prediction here.

So hold onto this recipe for the 2017 Super Bowl - or better yet, for any occasion when you need a delicious casual meal.

My youngest daughter - that's right, the picky eater the one with very specific ideas about what she likes to eat - found the recipe online. I promised to make it as long as she ate the pepper, and didn't just use it as a bowl. She promised, and we all loved the combination of righteous (peppers!) and indulgent (sloppy joes!).

I said I wouldn't make any predictions today, but I will make one: I'll be making these terrific Sloppy Joe Stuffed Peppers again, and soon!

Sloppy Joe Stuffed Peppers
(inspired by Host the Toast and Rachael Ray)

Ingredients:

3 bell peppers (any combination of red, yellow and orange)
1 Tbsp canola oil (first amount)
1 Tbsp canola oil (second amount)
1 pound ground chicken or ground beef
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp steak seasoning blend
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups tomato sauce
2 Tbsp tomato paste
shredded cheddar cheese
green onions, chopped, optional (I forgot to use these, but I think they'd be great)
Brown rice, cooked according to package directions (to serve with stuffed peppers)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using a paring knife, cut around the stems of the peppers to remove them. Cut peppers in half and remove any leftover seeds or membrane. Coat pepper halves with 1 Tbsp canola oil. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp canola oil to a skillet, and add ground meat. Pour brown sugar and steak seasoning over the meat and mix to blend. Add chopped onions, red wine vinegar, and Worcestershire, and cook until meat and onions are browned.

Add tomato sauce and tomato paste to skillet, reduce heat to simmer, and cook another 5 minutes. Set aside.

After the peppers have cooked for 15 minutes, pull them out of the oven, and stuff with sloppy joe mix. Cook another 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and top each pepper half with shredded cheese. Bake about another 10 minutes.

Garnish with green onions and serve with brown rice.