Ok, I hope I don’t make too many people cringe by saying this, but every time I eat a blackberry, they remind of ants. YES, they look like a group of ants in my mind.
Blackberries are a strange fruit, so many little black balls that pop in your mouth. We had a blackberry tree where I grew up. It was glorious to pick blackberries daily and just munch on them non-stop, fingers turning purple. Of course, there was a mad dash to get to the tree first before siblings / friends ate them.
You probably won’t look at blackberries the same now.
January is the perfect time to bake. For Christmas, my daughter gave me a madeleine pan. I was excited to make them. Sadly, after two failed batches, I’ve given up, not forever, but for now.
If you know madeleines, you can tell from the photo that they aren’t right. I can hear the Chef’s critique now as he/she bangs the madeleine on the table and breaks it in half. Good, you got the hump, but they didn’t rise properly, too dense and too brown on the edges, turn the heat down. TRY AGAIN!
There are so many recipes out there, it was hard to choose one. For the first batch, I went with Martha Stewart’s recipe. As madeleines are tricky, I thought Martha’s recipe would be full proof. Maybe it is, but not for me, I got a fail!
I then tried “another” recipe. I don’t remember which one, I randomly chose one. Again, somewhat similar to this batch. This makes me think that “maybe” I’m not whipping the eggs/sugar enough. BUT I feel PROUD of myself for getting the hump. That’s a big deal with a madeleines. You have to have the hump!
If you haven’t tasted a madeleine. they are a nice cookie type cake. There is debate on what they are called. They are like individual cookies; however, the texture is clearly a cake.
So, stay tuned. I am determined to get them right. Maybe I’ll try again next week. It’s just painful in this tough economy (groceries so expensive) to waste ingredients, but baking takes practice.
Recently, I had my annual check up. I heard the dreaded words, “Your cholesterol is high.” I’ve had this situation in the past, so I started researching online how to change my diet.
Salmon always comes up, so beneficial for our health in so many ways. BUT, I don’t like the fishy taste.
So, feeling like a little kid, I thought about how I could change the flavor. I decided to cut the salmon up in cubes, then marinated it in Teriyaki sauce. I’ve always cooked salmon with a little bit of garlic salt on it. Why not try something different. The result is in the photo.
Is the flavor better? Ah, a little, but still very fishy tasting, but more tolerable.
I always find it interesting when going out for dinner with people and they BRAG that salmon is on the menu as if it is the greatest thing to man kind. I tend to prefer white fish or shell fish. I feel like an outsider when they all order salmon and I say, “I don’t really like it.” You should see the horror on their faces!
Then, I remember years ago when I was used to eating white bread. That’s all we had as children. Slowly, I moved to eating healthier breads. First wheat bread, then multi-grain bread, etc. Now, I couldn’t even eat white bread unless it is sourdough bread.
So, won’t the same thing happen with salmon if I keep eating it? I’ll grow to like it???
Lately, so many social media posts feature “healthy” alternatives to our beloved favorites, ie brownies! As I watched the videos, the recipes looked easy, few ingredients and final product looked delicious. I felt compelled to give it a try. We’re all trying to find healthier alternatives to old recipes, right?!
Drum roll please…
Have you ever thought of making brownies with three ingredients, ie no eggs, no flour, no oil or butter, just bananas, almond or peanut butter and cocoa powder? I would never have thought this possible. You can see from the end result, they “look” delicious and like normal brownies. So, visually, they are appealing.
Now, for the taste. HUM…
No question about it, they were definitely extremely chocolatey. I liked that.
However, the texture was a bit strange. As there is no flour, they were a bit gooey. I know, you can argue that there are normal brownies with a gooey texture, but these just seemed different.
I needed some outside food critics. My daughters were happy to be taste testers. The brownies looked good, why wouldn’t they try them! You KNOW it’s not perfect, when they say, “ W E L L… they have a very strong banana taste and the texture is different.”
Of course, at first I defended my brownies as perfect, selling them on how chocolatey they were. At some point, I had to concede. YES, they had a strong banana taste, nothing wrong with that if you like bananas. However, we were expecting the old fashioned “brownie” taste in a healthy form.
So, would I make them again? I don’t think so. I’d rather make the real deal and plan for those extra calories.
A brownie should be ENJOYED, not re-invented! Laughing…
What do you do when you can’t find your favorite curry?
This S&B Golden Curry is from childhood. My father had traveled to Japan many times and ate this curry. He would get in moods for it. He also liked the Fukujinzuke pickled vegetables, they came in a can. He was insistent on eating those with the curry.
In those days, you could only find this curry in Chinatown. So, off to Chinatown we would go. We loved exploring the shops and learning to eat with chopsticks.
Well, this just means no curry. Maybe there is a supply chain issue again?
So, GUESS WHAT!
I’m going Italian. YES, I’m making bolognese sauce. Hopefully, the store isn’t out of tomato sauce.
If they are, I’ll keep going around the world. Maybe tacos or matzo ball soup? What do you think?
What’s your speciality? Having trouble finding ingredients?
The weekend is coming, maybe you have some leftovers from the week and don’t know what to do with them. I think you’ll enjoy this new cookbook from IKEA, The ScrapsBook. Different Chefs from North America create recipes out of kitchen scraps and leftovers. Enjoyed seeing some fresh recipe ideas.
They actually fry banana peels, they look like bacon. Trying to wrap my head around whether they would be tasty, they say they are. There are some interesting recipes in this e-book.
Oh, I loved the veggie pancakes they made with leftover stems from different vegetables.
I enjoy German / Austrian cooking, especially when Fall and Winter come as their recipes are nice and hearty comfort foods. Recently, I came across Karin’s Blog called, “The Austrian Dish.” What a lucky find, a site specific to Austrian recipes.
When I think of Austria, I remember the movie, “The Sound of Music.” Not long ago I was on a train going from Italy to Munich and sat next to some Canadian backpackers. They had just been in Salzburg and took “The Sound of Music tour,” which took them to all the movie locations. FABULOUS – they raved about it!
Now, back to “The Austrian Dish.” As I was going through Karin’s recipes, I started longing for a German recipe that a friend’s German mother would make on special occasions called, “Dampfnudel.” I put a request in with Karin for this recipe.
Well, I woke up this morning to see a post called, “Sweet Dampfnudel.” It was the recipe on her Blog. Dampfnudel, for those of you who have never heard of it, is a wonderful Bavarian yeast steamed dumpling that can be served savory or sweet. I have always had it as a dessert with vanilla sauce. Thank you Karin!!
History says a hungry Swedish army came to the town of Frakenfeld, Germany in the 1600s. They told the towns people that if they could feed their army a hot meal, they would not plunder the town. The head baker, Johanes Muck, saved the town by making 1286 Dampfnudels.
I enjoy German / Austrian cooking, especially when Fall and Winter come as their recipes are nice and hearty comfort foods. Recently, I came across Karin’s Blog called, “
Brilliant Viewpoint 