Raspberry Freezer Syrup

With raspberry season here in the raspberry capital of Canada, I thought I'd share this all-year fresh tasting raspberry syrup.

In our family it is a must addition to waffles with vanilla custard. Just a drizzle also adds so much to a slice of Napoleon Torte, vanilla jelly roll, cheese cake, plain yogurt or a smoothie.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 flat raspberries (5 lbs)
• 8- 10 cups sugar

Method:

1. Puree cleaned berries in blender until just blended
2. Measure out berries into a large bowl.
3. For each cup of berries add 1 cup of sugar. I do a little less ( 8 cups sugar for 10 cups berries). Do not lessen the sugar more as it is what makes the syrupy texture and acts as the only preservative in this mixture.
4. Let sit at room temperature for about half a day, stirring every half hour or so. Ladle into clean jars and freeze. No need to seal, kept in freezer.  Makes about 12 cups. One cup is enough for a larger family serving on waffles. You can re-freeze or keep it in the fridge for about a week. 

I like to collect a few odd shaped jars to fill and give away  as a gift. In this case, I bring the liquid just to boiling, ladle it into a sterilized hot jars and seal with the original rubber lined lid, also sterilized.  Even in this case, I still advise to keep refrigerated or freeze. It does not take long to thaw and keeps it tasting like the berries were just picked.

Macarons with Rhubarb Strawberry Filling

First of all, I would not attempt to make macarons without a kitchen scale. A kitchen scale is not expensive and I also use it weighing Paska loaves to French Bread loaves for even baking.

You will just need to zero out your scale after you put a small bowl on it and then you can pour in your almond flour until you have 100 grams and then use another small bowl, zero out the weight and weigh out your powdered/icing sugar.  

I do not weigh my eggs.  I use eggs fresh from our farm and haven't found that I need to age them ahead of time.

You can use any filling you prefer, I love using heavy cream that has been whipped and very slightly sweetened. I use a whipping cream stabilizer so that the cream stays firm.  You can use a bit of instant pudding to have the same result.  

I make my recipe small so that I am only baking one pan.  That way, if I want to make different colours, I am not trying to divide the batch up to add food colouring.  

You can use a macaron pan but I use a heavy cookie sheet with no sides.  I used a sharpie pen to draw 42 little circles onto the pan. I put a sheet of parchment paper over top and then pipe my macaron batter evenly using the template I can see through the parchment.  After you have made macarons for a while, the size will become second nature but at first, it is helpful to follow a shape to make them even in size.

The last piece of advice I have is that if at first, you don't succeed, try it again.  Mine didn't turn out the first time and I've had some less than photo-worthy macarons through the years but I enjoyed the challenge of making macarons that are as beautiful as they are delicious. 

• 100 grams almond flour (ground almonds)  about 1 cup
• 100 grams icing/powdered sugar
• 2 medium egg whites
• 2 grinds sea salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• a drop or two of liquid food colouring of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 3oo F (not convection)
2. Run the almond flour and icing sugar through a sieve into a large bowl. Stir it together to make sure it is well blended.  Discard any bits of almond that didn't fall through the sieve.  Estimate the amount you have discarded and add that amount of ground almonds into the sieve to make up for the amount you are discarding. 
3. In another very clean glass bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the two egg whites until foamy.  Add the food colouring. Slowly begin to add the granulated sugar and continue to beat until the egg whites are thick and glossy.  Whipped egg whites should not move when the bowl is tipped. 
4. Transfer the beaten egg whites into the almond mixture.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the whites into the almond mixture.  Fold the two together just until the batter falls from the spatula in a wide ribbon.  
5. Spoon the batter into a piping bag that has a 1/4 inch circle opening. 
6. After you have piped out all your macarons (this recipe will make 42 circles) give the pan a few good taps on the counter to help settle the batter and to release any air bubbles under the surface.
7. Let the macarons sit until they are no longer tacky and feel dry to the touch. This could take about 30 minutes.  If the macarons have a little tip on them, gently press it down.  
8. Bake the macarons 8 minutes, open the oven to release the steam, shut the oven again and bake another 8 minutes or until the macarons feel firm.  
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before trying to move them or trying to fill them. 
10. Fill with your favourite buttercream or the filling below

Rhubarb Compote with Strawberry Cream  Filling

• 2 cups  chopped red rhubarb
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon minute tapioca

1. Combine rhubarb, sugar and tapioca and allow to sit 15 minutes.
2. Spread onto a cookie sheet and bake in the oven until the rhubarb has become tender and the tapioca has thickened the sauce. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

Strawberry Cream

• 1 tablespoon strawberry gelatin/jello
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 package Dr Oetkers Whip Cream stabilizer or 1 tablespoon instant vanilla pudding

1. Dissolve gelatin and boiling water in a custard cup (or similar sized bowl). Stir until all the gelatin has dissolved.  Allow gelatin to cool to room temperature before adding to the whipping cream.
2. Beat heavy cream and sugar and stabilizer/instant pudding in a medium bowl.  As the cream starts to thicken, add the room temperature gelatin and beat until the cream has thickened.
3. Put the Strawberry Cream into a piping bag with a star tip.

To Assemble

1. Match the macarons into teams of two. Keep the best macarons for the top)
2. Put a dab of Rhubarb Compote in the middle of half of the macarons and pipe the strawberry cream over top.
3. Put the matching macaron top over the filling and gently press together.  Refrigerate up to 24 hours or freeze.  They freeze beautifully.  

Macarons filled with buttercream (icing sugar and butter) will keep well in the refrigerator for several days.  

Pfeffernuesse (Peppernuts)

Christmas is around the corner and it's time to be thinking of making Pfeffernuese. This is a great recipe to make with a friend.  It takes half the time and is twice the fun.

There's a bit of history to these tiny spiced cookies.

 I remember being told that Mennonite grandmothers used to keep a few peppernuts in their purses during church services. When the children would become a bit noisy or restless, they would pop one of these hard nuggets into their mouths and the necessity of sucking the hard cookie and the surprising spiciness would distract the child and silence was achieved.

There are many recipes for Peffernuesse but this is my favourite.  I make them at the beginning of November so they have time to ripen.

They are always number one on the list of Christmas favourites at our house and are a bit addictive.

It's a big recipe and I have often only made half of it.  However if you make the whole recipe, you can pack the Pfeffernuesse in pretty Christmas tins to give as gifts.

Here is the recipe I use - it is easily halved if the whole amount is intimidating.
Be sure to read the recipe through before starting.

• 4 cups Roger's Golden syrup (this is different than corn syrup)
• 4 cups sugar
• 2 cups margarine or butter
• 2 cups milk

1. Combine the above ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Let mixture cool completely before continuing.

• 2 beaten eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tsp. peppermint extract (use the clear extract not the green tinted one)

1. Beat eggs in a small bowl and add extracts. Set aside.

• 12- 14 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground star anise (not anise seed)
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Place 7 cups flour in a large mixer bowl.
2. Add spices and baking powder and stir until completely blended with flour.
3. Add syrup mixture to the flour, stirring well until blended.
4. Add beaten egg mixture and continue to stir until blended.
5. Continue to add flour until dough thickens but remains sticky. You will still be able to stir it with a wooden spoon however it will take a bit of strength.The amount of flour may vary depending on your flour and the amount of humidity. Please note that the dough will harden considerably once it has been refrigerated so be careful not to add too much flour.
6. Refrigerate dough overnight or for several days.
7. Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper. These cookies will stick to the pan however if you use parchment paper, they will just slide right off and you can reuse the paper.
8. Using a tablespoon (from your cutlery drawer), spoon out a good handful of the dough.
9. Sprinkle a little flour on your counter and roll the dough into a long rope about the thickness of your ring finger.
10. Using a bench scraper or pizza cutter, cut the rope into 1/2 inch pieces and place on your prepared pans. (I get 99 cookies on each large cookie sheet)
11. Bake at 350º F  for about 15 minutes or until cookies just begin to brown. This is where having a convection oven comes in handy as you can bake 2 or 3 cookie sheets at a time.
12. Remove from pan and cool. Store in ice cream pails in a cool place.
13. The Pfeffernuesse will keep for a long time - at least 6 months - but only if you hide them..

Carrot Potato Bake

In this dish, carrots and potatoes are married together in perfect harmony under a crunchy crust.

Perfect served with Mushroom Stuffed Meatloaf or Salisbury Steak. 

• 6-8 potatoes 
• 1 1/2 cups peeled and shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 - 2 teaspoons salt
• dash pepper
• 1 Tbsp. melted butter or margarine
• 1 cup soft bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp. Seasoned salt 
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1.      Heat oven to 350°.  Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  
2.      Peel and shred into cold water, enough potatoes to make 6 cups. Drain thoroughly and pat dry with paper towel.
3.      In large bowl, combine potatoes, carrots, onions, cream, salt and pepper.  
4.      Spoon into prepared dish.  
5.      Melt butter; stir in bread crumbs, seasoned salt and parsley. 
6.      Sprinkle over potato mixture.  
7.      Bake at 350° F for 50-60 minutes or until vegetables are tender

Beef Stir Fry

Stir Fry is a good dish to make when you have things in your fridge like a half a pepper, a few mushrooms and the end of a zucchini .

When we buy a whole beef tenderloin to cut into steaks, I save the narrow ends for this stir fry.

This recipe can also be used for a pork stir fry.

For the Marinade:

• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon Montreal Steak Spice

Stir fry ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil divided 
• sliced mushrooms
• sliced onions
• red or yellow pepper strips
• zucchini, cut into strips (discard the soft centre)

Sauce ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• reserved marinade
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1-2 tablespoons cold orange juice

Method:

1. Marinate meat for at least an hour - not more than 3 hours
2. Drain meat, reserving the marinade, and saute' in 1 tablespoon hot olive oil just until meat is browned.
3. Remove from pan and set aside in a bowl.
4. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan.
5. Add onions and mushrooms and peppers and stir fry until vegetables are almost tender.
6. Add zucchini strips and meat.
7. Add Hoisin sauce, balsamic vinegar and orange juice and as much of the marinade as needed to make the amount of sauce you prefer.
8. Cover and let cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
9. Mix 2 teaspoons cornstarch with a little more cold orange juice and stir into the sauce in the pan. Cook until sauce thickens. If needed, you can add more cornstarch and juice to thicken it to your liking.
10. Serve immediately over rice or thin noodles.

Tapioca Dream Pudding

Tapioca pudding takes me back to eighth grade Home Ec, one of the first things we learned to cook. More recently, my sister mentioned making it for friends for whom it is a favorite dessert. I just had to go back to it. The lightness in this recipe comes from beating the egg white separately and adding it at the end.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg, separated
• 4 tablespoons sugar, separated
• pinch salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons Minit Tapioca
• 3/4 teaspoons vanilla 

Method:

1. In a 4 cup glass bowl, beat egg white, adding in 1 tablespoon sugar as it gets foamy.
2. Beat until stiff peaks form.
3. In saucepan, whisk egg yolk and 3 tablespoon sugar. Add salt and gradually stir in milk and then tapioca. Let sit 5 minutes.
4. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture comes to a full boil. Remove from heat.
5. Immediately, with hand mixer on low speed, slowly add hot tapioca mixture into beaten egg white OR fold beaten egg whites into hot tapioca pudding with spatula. Add vanilla. 
6. Stir after 20 minutes and scoop into dessert bowls. Serve warm or chilled, plain or with fruit. Yields 3 - 4 small servings

Note- naturally gluten free

Pfeffernuesse

Every year I am asked about this recipe, so this year, my sister called and said,
"I want to learn how to make Pfeffernusse." So we penciled in a calendar date and had a fun time in her kitchen making all sorts of recipes that we love, and learned how, too many fingers in the dough, can spoil everything.
Remember before you bake these cookies, you need to make sure your cupboard is stocked with those special spices from the deli. Find out, how disastrous it can be with two sisters in the same kitchen.

Pfeffernusse

Step One:

• 1 1/2 C honey
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon cardamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons /15 grams Neunerlei Lebkuchen Gewurz (this is a gingerbread spice purchased at Delicatessen)

1. Warm honey in microwave and add sugar and spices.
2. Cool mixture to room temperature.

Step Two:

• 1 cup margarine
• 1/3 cup sour cream

1. Melt margarine and add sour cream.
2. Now add to honey mixture.

Step Three:

• 6 cups cups flour(you may need to add 1/2 cup more as it needs to be thick)
• 3 teaspoons baking soda

1. Blend flour and soda into mixing bowl.
2. Sift together flour and baking soda and add the honey mixture and mix well.
3. I usually use my kneading hook, as this dough is heavy. One time I broke my cookie beaters.

1. Place in fridge overnight to cool. 
2. To bake, grease cookie sheets
3. Roll dough into rolls (snakes) and slice.(thickness of your index finger)
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake for 9 minutes. Just slightly browned.
5. When baked, leave cookies on sheet 2 minutes, then remove from pan.

Sometimes I leave the dough in the fridge for days and let the young ones make snakes together with me. It takes time rolling them out, but its fun if you do it with someone else and make an activity out of it. This yields about one ice-cream pail.
I actually bake a few pans every Advent Sunday, and that way they are fresh.

The best way to eat these are to dip them in a fresh cup of coffee.

Christmas Fruit and Nut Cake with Caramelized Pineapple

Fruitcake is our favorite small bite treat with a cup of coffee during the Christmas season.  Be sure that you use ingredients that are fresh.  Nuts and dried fruits that are even a bit stale will taint the fruitcake and will ruin all the work.   Fruitcake lovers will all enjoy this delicious Christmas treat.
Fruitcake improves in flavour and texture over time, so make it now to enjoy at Christmas.

• 1 cup slivered blanched almonds
• 1 cup whole blanched almonds
• 1/2 cup whole walnut halves
• 1 1/2 cups seedless raisins
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
• 1 cup / 225 grams glace cut mixed peel
• 1 cup / 225 grams glace fruit cake mix
• 2 cups 500 grams glace whole cherries
• 1 cup finely chopped dates
• 1/2 cup apricot brandy

1. Stir together all the fruit and nuts in a large glass bowl.  Stir in brandy and cover with lid or tightly with plastic wrap.  Stir occasionally and leave at room temperature until the next day.

Caramelized Pineapple

• 1 14 ounce / 398 ml can crushed pineapple with the juice
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup apricot jam
• 1/4 cup apricot brandy

1. Combine pineapple, juice and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir  occasionally to prevent scorching and simmer to reduce liquids, 30 - 40 minutes.  Once the liquid has mostly evaporated and the pineapple has started to caramelize, remove from heat, add jam and brandy.  Refrigerate overnight in sealed container. 

Fruitcake Batter

• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup room temperature unsalted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 7 eggs (should measure 1 1/2 cups)

1. Prepare 2 - 3 loaf pans by cutting brown paper bags to fit first lengthwise and then across the width, allowing the paper to come just over the edge of the pan.  Grease paper well. Alternately, for gift giving, use disposable paper bakeware.  
2. Preheat oven to 275 F. 
3. Stir together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix 1 cup of the flour mixture with the fruit and nuts and set aside. 
4. In a large bowl, beat butter, then gradually add sugar and eggs with mixer. Add remaining flour mixture and beat to combine. 
5. Use a large wooden spoon to stir in fruit and nut mixture along with the pineapple mixture. Stir well to combine.
6. Divide into loaf pans and bake.  Baking times will vary depending on size of the pan. You can bake the fruitcake in small individual loaves or square pans.  Whatever you decide to use, check every 30 minutes to start if you use small pans.  The loaves will feel firm in the center when done. Test with a toothpick once you think the top feels firm.  Regular bread pan loaf pans will be up to 3 1/2 hours. Check several times to make sure the top of the cakes are not getting too brown.  If that happens, cover loosely with foil.   The bakeware shown in the photo held 3 cups of batter, measured 1 1/4 inch X 6 inch diameter and took just over an hour to bake. 
7.  Remove from oven, remove from pan, allow to cool for half an hour and then carefully remove brown paper.  Brush with additional apricot brandy before storing. Leave cakes in the disposable bakeware pans for easy gift giving.   Seal well in plastic bags and store in the refrigerator for several months or freeze.

Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

I recently discovered this quick and easy method for preparing chicken fajitas.  The seasoned chicken and veggies are roasted in one pan in the oven.  While they are cooking, there is time to prepare the guacamole and other fixin's.

• 4 chicken breasts (about 1 pound), thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow pepper, sliced
• 1 medium onion,  halved and then cut in slices
• 1-2 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• fajita seasoning (recipe below) or 2 tablespoons of packaged taco seasoning mix
• 6 - 8" tortillas 
• Avocado, salsa, sour cream, cheese for toppings.

 Fajita Seasoning:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder  
• dash of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper  

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
3. Combine seasoning ingredients in a small bowl.
4. Distribute the veggies and chicken pieces evenly over the bottom of the pan.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with seasonings. Toss to coat.
5. Bake for 15 minutes.  
6. Stir and return to oven for another 10 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked and veggies are tender.
7. Serve hot from the oven on warm tortillas with optional toppings, as desired.

Hawaiin Style Farmer Sausage

Since I saw this recipe featured on Winkler Meats Instagram page this week, it seemed like a good time to dust it off and re-publish it.

We rather like farmer sausage around here and always have some on hand.  Farmer sausage is a smoked pork sausage; the smoky flavour is a great addition to soups and casseroles.  But if you aren't familiar with this particular sausage, I'm sure your favorite sausage would work with this dish as well.

• 1 ring farmer sausage (about 1 1/2 pounds), sliced in 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 green pepper, cut in chunks
• 1 red pepper, cut in chunks
• 1 large can diced tomatoes (796 ml / 28 oz)
• 1 can pineapple chunks or tidbits (398 ml / 14 oz), drain and reserve juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

1.  Stir fry farmer sausage for several minutes.
2.  Add celery, onions, and peppers and cook until tendercrisp.
3. Add tomatoes, pineapple, seasonings, sugar and soy sauce.  Simmer 5 minutes.
4. Blend cornstarch with reserved pineapple juice. Add to simmering sausage dish and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Serve on a bed of rice.

Serves 6.