Cinnamon Swirl Fruit and Nut Bread

Yup, it's bread. It's swirled with cinnamon sugar. It has all manner of nuts, dried fruit and grains. It is delicious and not even that hard to make (I swear).

I used to have a bit of a fear of bread-making, which I am led to understand is quite common. I think it's that whole (it's alive!) yeast thing and the whole (must have hulk arms) kneading thing. But, then I got a stand mixer and it was like the doors to bread heaven opened to the song of celestial beings.

You don't need a stand mixer to make bread and you certainly don't need a bread-maker. Don't you  just hate it when you find a recipe that looks good until you get to the part where you need a bread/ice cream/doeverythingforyou maker. I am a bread-maker..that is why I need recipe. c'mon.

This is essentially a nice simple bread recipe with a little pizzazz. I encourage you to throw in whatever you think would be tasty when paired with cinnamon and slathered with butter or cream cheese in the morning. So...pretty much anything.

Recipe adapted from this one at 101 cookbooks

Ingredients:

Bread
1 1/4 cups / 300 ml warm water (105-115F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 cup / 4.5 oz / 125 g unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g whole wheat flour
1 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g rolled oats (not instant oats)
1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt

1/2 cp dried apricots (chopped)

1/2 cp raisins

1/2 cp walnuts

1 tbsp sunflower seeds and 1 tbsp milk (for topping)

Cinnamon Swirl

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Method:

Whisk warm water and honey together. Sprinkle yeast on surface of water and allow to stand until foamy (about 5 minutes).
In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. 

Slowly add yeast mixture to flour mixture, combining with a wooden spoon or the bread paddle on your stand mixer.

Knead on low for 6-10 minutes (less if using the mixer, more if using your hands)

After kneading bread should be a smooth and slightly firm ball.

Drizzle some oil in the bottom of a bowl, add your dough ball, turn to coat, cover and set in a warm place to rise. (Inside the oven works well...make sure it is off though!)

While the dough is rising, melt butter in a saucepan on low.

Add brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.

Cook on low until slightly thickened.

Remove from heat and set aside.

After about an hour your dough baby should be about double in size. 

Take it out and gently flatten the dough onto a floured cookie sheet. It should be about an inch thick.

Spread your cinnamon sugar mix evenly over the dough. 

Starting at one end, carefully roll the dough up like yule log or cinnamon bun.

Once rolled, tuck each end under the loaf and set in the center of the pan.

Brush with milk (I used almond) and sprinkle with seeds.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake loaf for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.

grey days

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I know spring is just around the corner and we've actually had quite a few sunny says here on the usually rainy West Coast, but...I just can't get enough of grey lately. Normally, my wardrobe is colourful and earth-toned. But for some reason,  right now, I've really got a case of the greys.

Easiest Ever Vegan Parmesan

Ok, so this recipe is almost too easy to post. I feel like I am patronizing you somehow by toting this as some revelation in the vegan cheese world. But, in all my dairy-alternative searching, I have never come across this particularly awesome version of parmesan. I like to think I invented it, but chances are it's just so simple that people are just walking around thinking "like...duh. Of course that's how you make vegan parmesan."

But to me, it was a revelation. It is perfect on tomato-sauced pasta. As a topping for baked macaroni. Sprinkled over squash.

And, if I must confess, since my posts have been few and far between, I thought this would be a nice quick little post for Saturday afternoon.

So, without further ado...the best and easiest vegan cheese topping...ever.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw cashews
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp mustard powder
1 - 1 1/2 tsp sea salt



Toss all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until cashews are finely crumbled.
Serve on anything  and everything you'd put parmesan on.
Ta-da!

Store leftovers in a sealed container. No need to refrigerate!

Shop Update - Dressed, Bloused and Coated

A new year means new items in the shop. Pristine whites, deep oranges and pretty little candy stripes. Enjoy.

Ruffled and Just So

Heart on Fire and Gold Dust

Gwynnevere and the Candyshop

one cozy Runaway coat

White Bean and Chorizo Soup

I love soup. If I didn't feel obligated to feed Ryan something a little more substantial once in a while, I would just make soup after soup after soup. Soup and I could run away together and have delicious soup babies.


Ok, maybe I'm going a bit overboard. Normally I don't get obsessive about one type of food. In fact, I often get bored of things quickly and I rarely make the same dish twice. But soup is so versatile! And this one especially, I'd make again and again because it is just. that. good.

And simple. As soup should be.

Ingredients:
1 medium sized onion
3 cloves garlic
2 dry chorizo sausages (pre-cooked)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp smoked paprika*
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chicken stock
28 oz canned dinned tomatoes
14 oz canned white beans**
2 handfuls fresh spinach***

*Paprika comes in "hot" or "sweet". If you want a little more spice, go for the hot. That's what I like to use.
**I used canellini beans for this. But you could just as well use white kidney beans or even chick peas.
***You could use any cooking greens here. The greens you see pictured are actually beet greens which were nice...kale would work too!

In a large, heavy-bottom pot, saute onions and garlic until tender.
Slice chorizo into thin rounds and add to pot.
Saute sausage until starting to brown, about 5-7 minutes.
Add herbs and spices and saute about 1 minute.
Add chicken stock, tomatoes and beans.
Let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Before serving, add chopped spinach. Mix until greens are wilted.

Enjoy with some crusty bread or a homemade biscuit!

Let It Snow

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It may seem strange, especially to those who are up to their eyeballs in a frozen fortress of the stuff, but I really want it to snow here in Victoria.  And really, even I am starting to doubt my own sanity because, it is beautiful here right now. The sun is shining, there is barely a cloud in the sky and it is just cool enough to wear a cozy sweater - more like fall than winter. But, the Decembers of my childhood were in a snowier climate and that's still what I expect around this time of year. I'm one of those people that still gets all fuzzy and weird about Christmas and it's just not the same without the snow.

I keep hoping that it'll be like in the movies, when that California family wakes up on Christmas morning to see the Christmas! Miracle! of Snow! Of course, if that does happen, the entire city will shut down because in places like Victoria they just don't know how to handle a little white fluff. People literally start driving off the roads. And I just revel the hell out of it.

Snow just makes everything look pure and pretty. It makes the city quiet and the indoors seem even cozier. I'll admit, come February, snow is gross. It's grey and slushy and we are all sick of it by then. But, in December, snow is fresh and new and needed to know we're in another season.

Saturday Breakfast: Rosemary Sage Biscuits with Easy "Baked" Eggs

Despite the countless number of breakfast restaurants in Victoria, it often seems to silly to pay for one of the simplest meals of the day. I've been making practically the same Saturday breakfast for months now - poached eggs, pan-fried hashbrowns, store-bought toast and bacon - so last weekend I was ready to mix it up a bit.


This time, I tried my hand at zucchini-potato pancakes, rosemary-sage biscuits and a new twist on the sunny-side up egg. I did stick with the bacon because, um...it's bacon. I have to say that it was 80% successful, which isn't too bad for the weekend, am I right?


Right off I'll admit the pancakes were a fail. I have a serious lack of skill when it comes to making things crispy in a frying pan. Combined with my lack of time spent squeezing the cheesecloth and my laissez-faire attitude about using the right potatoes, that recipe was doomed from the start.


But, I like to think the eggs and biscuits more than made up for my less than perfect pancakes. Oh, the biscuits! Crispy all over with slightly flaky and flavourful insides. I could have just eaten three of these for breakfast, but that wouldn't make a very balanced meal now would it?


The eggs I came up with on a whim as a way to incorporate some veggies into the meal without going the old omelette route. I found out later that Smitten Kitchen had the same idea some time ago. And here I thought I was being so creative! At any rate, they were an easy and delicious success.


So without further ado, here are two players in a beautiful weekend breakfast:

Rosemary, Sage Biscuits
(adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe)

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1tsp baking soda

3/4 cup cold butter cut into cubes.

2-3 stems fresh rosemary (or 2 tbsp dried)
2-3 stems fresh sage (or 1 tbsp dry)

1 1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
2 tbsp vinegar.


Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F). Remove rosemary and sage leaves from the stems and chop finely. If you want to get fancy you could add in some feta cheese, chopped fresh spinach, cheddar, olives...anything really! 


Combine dry ingredients and herbs in a large bowl. Add in cubed butter and combine with a pastry mixer, two forks or your hands. Mixture should be coarse and crumbly. Mix in milk and vinegar until just combined to get a sticky dough.

Drop spoonfuls of your preferred biscuits size onto an oiled or buttered cookie sheet.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until your biscuits are golden brown.


Easy "Baked" Eggs - Mediterranean Style

4 large eggs 
1 small red onion, diced
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
3-4 white button mushrooms, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 tsp dry oregano
Salt and pepper to taste


Saute onions on medium heat in a pan big enough to hold 4 eggs. When onions become soft and translucent, add spinach, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, herbs and spices (everything but the eggs). Saute until spinach is just becoming limp (about 1 minute), then make little wells in the mixture where the eggs will go. 


Crack eggs into the 4 wells you've made, being careful not to break the yolks. Cover with a lid, remove from heat and let sit 2-3 minutes for soft yolks, 4-5 for harder yolks. Then, voila! You're ready for breakfast. So much easier than baking them in the oven, eh?