And you know what’s good after a long day of snowboarding? A super-easy, hearty meal that makes your house smell delicious would be just the thing! I love a good roast chicken – it’s one of our favourite meals. I’ve included my usual roast chicken recipe at the bottom because I know it by heart, but this one was equally as good and I love the built-in side dish of roasted potatoes and carrots. Add your favourite salad (or mine) to this, and it’s a lovely, fancy meal!

I was very excited about the armagnac sauce for this chicken – because as the French say, ‘la sauce, c’est tout!’ Unfortunately, during my internal debate on which enamel coated cast iron pot to use – the 5 qt oval or the 7 qt round – the smaller one lost out, which is where I think I went wrong at first. Then I decided to seal the lid with foil, but didn’t have enough to cover the entire pot, therefore not sealing the lid at all so I have a feeling that’s how my sauce evaporated. POOH. There was nothing but fat and charcoal at the bottom, although the potatoes and carrots were wonderfully flavourful and caramelized. I almost never get any sauce from my own roast chicken recipe, either, so I really feel this deserves another go so I can find out what I’ve been missing!

Check out French Fridays with Dorie to see how others made out with this recipe – this and other fantastic recipes can be found in Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful book  Around My French Table.

Cheers,
Karla

THE BEST ROAST CHICKEN EVER – Lightly adapted from Lucy Waverman’s recipe via the Globe and Mail

Karla’s note: Last summer I tried a BBQ version on a cone-shaped rack, with small potatoes and a couple of peeled garlic cloves roasting alongside in the juices in an aluminum pan, all of which of course equaled yum!

• 4 pound chicken
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1-2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped OR 1 head of garlic, top chopped off

I decided to do them as a fun treat for breakfast. I made the dough in the evening – the KitchenAid mixer got quite the workout. The 10 minutes+ that Dorie suggested to knead the butter into the dough took quite a bit longer in my kitchen. Jon was getting rather tired of the mixer whine when the dough finally came together after closer to 20 minutes. But it was lovely dough to work with and I felt it had earned the over-night rest Dorie suggested.

We have a brand new investment to help us keep our New Year’s resolution this year: a fancy-dancy elliptical trainer! So the next morning, while the charming little dough balls were rising to bubble-topped gorgessity, I was on the elliptical working off the future calories I’d be ingesting. Ha.

There’s nothing better to get you through a workout you’d rather not be doing than a reward, right? When those little brioche buns came out of the oven, all warm and golden (well, I could have foil-tented them a bit sooner, so they were a little more brown than golden, but still…), I could hardly wait to try them. Pulled apart, a little more butter and some cinnamon and sugar on top – oh my goodness, delicious!!

Once again, this post is late (but only by a few days this time!) in accordance with French Fridays with Dorie. But check out this and other fantastic recipes in Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful book  Around My French Table!

Love,
Karla

Or I could tell you how I went to my favourite butcher for the lamb in this recipe and asked for 3lbs of lamb shoulder-butt, but they didn’t have any because that cut is usually so fatty, it’s not worth the money. They sold me some chopped up leg of lamb instead and when I asked for 3lbs of that, they were like, “That’ll be about $35 and would probably feed 6 linebackers…” So I settled for 2lbs and went home elated that I didn’t have to trim off any fat for my dinner!

How about this funny little story? My dinner guests that night were some friends we’d caught up with the night before as well at the Toronto Food + Wine Expo, where we proceeded to get absolutely smashed on all the wines, spirits and yes, absinthe. Ooohh, the absinthe. The second that stuff hit my tongue, I thought, “This might have been a mistake…” Things got really surreal after the absinthe, as they are wont to do which is probably part of that dangerous spirit’s appeal, but I clearly remember turning into a Monica Geller bossy-pants at the macaron kiosk and educating some of the patrons that macarons are made from almonds, not to be confused with coconut macaroons. Good thing Jon promptly got me out of there and onto the subway where I proceeded to sleep all the way home. A few Advil and a large glass of water before bed and I was good to go for braised lamb the next day!

This was so delicious, the 4 of us ate almost all of it, though linebackers we are not. I thought it would be delicious with Yorkshire puddings, and boy was I right! I’ve thought about this a lot over the past few weeks and a reprise might be in order…

If I had posted this in a timely manner, you would have been able to see it back in November when it came up on French Fridays with Dorie. I encourage you to buy Around My French Table for the recipe!

Cheers,
Karla

Actually, I really should make this again. I’ll keep it earmarked for this summer when the corn is in season again.

And how good was the rice, as well? That’s one I could attempt again any day since cheesy carb dishes are pretty much my favourite things in the world, especially in the winter.

If I had posted this in a timely manner, you would have been able to see it back in September when it came up on French Fridays with Dorie. I encourage you to buy Around My French Table for the recipes!

Cheers,
Karla

I’ve started working full-time as a school portrait photographer and I’m having an absolute blast with it! Once the very busy autumn program was finished, I was asked to stay on with the graduation photography team, so that’s what I’m doing these days. I’m finally getting back into the swing of a full day of work and a more productive evening than a box of macaroni & cheese for dinner and passing out from exhaustion on the sofa afterwards…though some nights I still do that, too. I’m slowly getting back on the FFwD schedule and I know I’ve missed some excellent recipes, so I’ll try to go back and do some of them as well.

In the mean time, I made these cookies before our trip to Cape Cod at the end of July. They were intended as snacks for our 10 hour drive from Toronto to Norwood, MA, but some of them actually made it through to Falmouth, where they were very much enjoyed by our extended American family. They are only a little bit fussy for a Cook’s Illustrated recipe – I actually love the idea of a hard-boiled egg yolk in the batter and find it definitely increases the delicate, sandy texture they are meant to have. They also work well as Christmas cookies – the French butter cookie batter is excellent as a basis for almond or lemon flavoured cookies, or whatever sparks your imagination! I do need a bit more practice to make the spirals pretty like CI does!

Love,
Karla

Makes about 80 cookies. Make sure the cookie dough is well chilled and firm so that it can be uniformly sliced. After the dough has been wrapped in parchment, it can be double-wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to 2 weeks.

French Butter Cookies:

• 1 large egg
• 10 T (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter , softened
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (2 3/4 ounces)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)

Chocolate Sables:

• 1 large egg
• 10 T (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter , softened
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (2 3/4 ounces)
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 2/3 ounces)
• 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa (1 ounce)

For French Butter Cookies:

1. Place egg in small saucepan, cover with 1 inch water, and bring to boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let sit 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill small bowl with ice water. Using slotted spoon, transfer egg to ice water and let stand 5 minutes. Crack egg and peel shell. Separate yolk from white; discard white. Press yolk through fine-mesh strainer into small bowl.
2. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, salt, and cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl and beater with rubber spatula as needed. Turn mixer to low, add vanilla, and mix until incorporated. Stop mixer; add flour and mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Using rubber spatula, press dough into cohesive mass.

For Chocolate Sable Cookies:

1. Place egg in small saucepan, cover with 1 inch water, and bring to boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let sit 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill small bowl with ice water. Using slotted spoon, transfer egg to ice water and let stand 5 minutes. Crack egg and peel shell. Separate yolk from white; discard white. Press yolk through fine-mesh strainer into small bowl.
2. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, salt, and cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl and beater with rubber spatula as needed. Turn mixer to low, add vanilla, and mix until incorporated. Stop mixer; add flour and cocoa and mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Using rubber spatula, press dough into cohesive mass.

To Form Spiral Cookies:

1. Halve each batch of dough. Roll out each portion on parchment paper into 6- by 8-inch rectangle, 1/4 inch thick. Briefly chill dough until firm enough to handle. Using bench scraper, place 1 plain cookie dough rectangle on top of 1 chocolate dough rectangle. Repeat to make 2 double rectangles. Roll out each double rectangle on parchment into 6- by 9-inch rectangle (if too firm, let rest until malleable). Starting at long end, roll each into tight log. Twist ends of parchment to seal and chill logs 1 hour.
2. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Using chef’s knife, slice dough into ¼-inch-thick rounds, rotating dough so that it won’t become misshapen from weight of knife. Place cookies 1 inch apart on baking sheets.
3. Bake until centers of cookies are pale golden brown with edges slightly darker than centers, about 15 minutes, rotating baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes; using thin metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature. Store cooled cookies between sheets of parchment paper in airtight container for up to 1 week.

This soup was a delicious, especially with the tiny, perfect Ontario strawberries that are currently in season! I swapped out the white wine for a rosy pink one – this Niagara region is becoming one of my favourites. It’s especially lovely when it’s icy cold and you’re sitting on a sun-drenched patio. Actually, so is this soup!

Check out French Fridays with Dorie to see how everyone else in the group fared with these recipes. For more recipes, please check out Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table.

The thing is, I’m not a beet fan either, no matter how lovely the colour or texture or flavour. A few summers ago, I spent an entire Sunday pickling beets my *totally insane* neighbour and I grew in her backyard and I still haven’t even tried them. I can imagine they’re great, but I just couldn’t bring myself to try them. What is my problem?!

Anyway, moving on to the Salmon and Tomatoes en Papillote – AWESOME! I think my salmon fillets were a bit larger than Dorie’s suggestion of 5 oz. each, so cooking time was about twice as long as she suggested, but I loved everything about it. I went to my favourite fish market in Bloor West Village for the salmon – Snappers Fish Market. I picked up some Atlantic salmon fillets – he had Pacific salmon there, too, but it was far more expensive. I didn’t really know the difference, so I cheaped out, but whatever the case, the salmon was very tender and so tasty! The tomatoes were bursting with flavour, as well. I paired it with a lovely Lemon Risotto recipe from Smitten Kitchen and it all went together very nicely!

I used my fancy fleur de sel for the top of the fish and I finally broke down and bought myself a basil and rosemary plant for my kitchen window sill since I keep buying huge bunches of basil and can’t get them to last more than a day. Frustrating! My downstairs neighbour has a lovely crop of basil growing outside our front door, and every time I see it, I think ‘Pesto pasta!’ or ‘Salsa!’ or ‘Salada Caprese!’. I’m sure she’d let me harvest some if I asked, but I haven’t had a chance to ask yet…plus, she’s doing such a lovely job of keeping our front yard looking quasi-decent with her gardening, that I feel bad just reaping the rewards without helping to maybe weed or cut the grass…

Check out French Fridays with Dorie to see how everyone else in the group fared with these recipes. For more recipes, please check out Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table.

Cheers,
Karla

LEMON RISOTTO – adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Bon Appetit, May 2002

Makes 3 first-course or 2 main-course servings.

• 3 cups low-salt chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 1 cup arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1. Bring broth to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; cover to keep warm.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until tender, about 6 minutes. Add rice; stir 1 minute.
3. Add wine and stir until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup hot broth; simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently.
4. Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is creamy and tender, about 35 minutes.
5. Stir in cheese and remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Stir in lemon juice, and lemon peel. Season risotto with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl and serve.

I was unwilling to just slap them into the oven for 2 hours when it’s been this warm in my apartment, so I decided to adapt them to the grill instead. I marinated them for a few hours, then kept the temperature low on the BBQ while they cooked in their juices in an aluminum casserole for about 90 minutes, then put them on a rib rack before basting them with the Coke. I turned up the heat for the last 10 minutes or so to let them char and caramelize a little bit and voilà! Fantastic!

This week’s recipe is for Mozzarella, Tomato & Strawberry Salad, which sounded so lovely and outdoors-y that I couldn’t help picturing it alongside the ribs against the warm Toronto evening backdrop in our little nook of outdoor space, with some Christmas lights, candles and a bottle of rosé. It was a delicious meal!

Check out French Fridays with Dorie to see how everyone else in the group fared with these recipes. For more recipes, please check out Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table.

Love,
Karla

I’d like to say that I only bake when I’m sad or stressed, but that’s not entirely true. I pretty much bake any time, but I feel like the comfort of cookies when I’m sad or stressed really does make me feel better. And what’s more comforting than oatmeal? Very little!

I got this recipe from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Cook’s Illustrated, and I have to agree that they are fantastic. Really crisp and crunchy, sweet and salty and buttery. I love the addition of white chocolate (I’m not as picky about the ‘good stuff’ as Smitten Kitchen is – I found the white chocolate chips were just fine), but I’m always of the opinion that more chocolate is better, so I added chocolate-chocolate chips too. And since I like my oatmeal cookies with a bit of spice to them – and I love the combination of chocolate and cinnamon – I added some cinnamon and fresh-ground nutmeg, as well. They spread out a lot while baking, so I made them small-ish, staggered them on the parchment with a lot of room between so they didn’t all melt together.

Ah, the healing power of cookies.

My heart goes out to the members of Clarence Clemons’ family and all of the E Street Band and E Street Nation. I’m grieving right along with all of you. I’ve seen 15 Springsteen concerts, 13 of which Clarence was there. So many great moments from Clarence remembering those concerts, like at the one in Paris in 2002, from our general-admission spots on the floor, my sister caught his eye and waved and he busted out his stadium-illuminating grin at her and waved right back from the stage. Or when they played ‘You’re Missing’ from The Rising album after 9/11, Clarence, larger than life, just standing there with tears streaming down his face. Or the way he blew his sax and created such a wall of sound, it hits you like a freight train, all the way to the nosebleeds.

This song is special because we had my brother-in-law perform it during our wedding ceremony while we signed the register. I first saw this version live in Buffalo, NY in November 1999 and was blown away. Go to 2:40 to hear and see Clarence.

Peace, Big Man. You will be forever missed.

Love,
Karla

SOUL-SOOTHING CRISPY SALTED OATMEAL WHITE & DARK CHOCOLATE COOKIES – Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from Cook’s Illustrated

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 6 ounces good-quality white chocolate bar, chopped or if you’re less picky, white chocolate chips
• 6 ounces good-quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate, chopped or if you’re less picky, chocolate chips
• 1/2 teapoon flaky sea salt (like Maldon or fleur de sel) (for sprinkling on top)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Whisk flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in a medium bowl.
2. Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula, then add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Scrape down bowl again. Add flour mixture gradually and mix until just incorporated and smooth. Gradually add oats and chocolates and mix until well incorporated.
3. Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons. Roll between palms into balls, then place on lined baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart. Using fingertips, gently press down each ball to about 3/4-inch thickness.
4. Sprinkle a flake or two of sea salt on each cookie
5. Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, about 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack to cool.

So I never considered buying any myself before, nor have I had access to a huge backyard plant since leaving home, so it’s safe to say it’s been years since rhubarb and I were friends. However, roasted rhubarb? Only Dorie could get me to hit up a green grocer for the bright pink stalks and let’s chalk this one up to evolving taste buds and a new-to-me method because this rhubarb was, in fact, delicious!

I was wary about turning on my oven in this heat, so I made it one evening and decided to eat it warm drizzled over something cold. Mmmm!

It has been lovely and hot up here in good ol’ T.O., and hot weather like this always makes me long for an icy, fruity treat instead of a creamy one (although, usually when it comes to ice cream, I’m not that picky!) A few years ago, I became interested in creating my own ice cream, so I got myself the ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer and David Lebovitz’ The Perfect Scoop ice cream cookbook. I think I read that book cover to cover when it arrived and I spent the summer creating some delicious ice creams and sorbets, like Butterscotch Pecan ice cream, Salted Caramel ice cream (not in the book, but you can get it online here), Cinnamon ice cream (we had some with our pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving that year), and Blackberry-Banana sorbet. I picked up some lovely nectarines from a green grocer the other day and thought of sorbet, so I checked the book and sure enough! There was a recipe for Nectarine Sorbet!

Needless to say, the combination of warm, tart rhubarb and icy, sweet nectarine was heavenly. I feel like digging my spoon right into that picture above! It even made a lovely, elegant dessert last night out on our spruced-up outdoor space with candles, Christmas lights and a bottle of rosé as the warm evening wrapped its arms around us!

Unfortunately, I didn’t take pics of the sorbet process because I didn’t think I’d actually blog about it, but it is a the loveliest shade of pink and if you’re into making your own ice cream, I highly recommend The Perfect Scoop – if you know any David Lebovitz books or recipes, you know they are always, always delicious and the food porn is also amazing!

Check out French Fridays with Dorie to see how everyone else in the group fared with this recipe. For more recipes, please check out Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table.

Love,
Karla

NECTARINE SORBET – from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

• 6 ripe nectarines (about 2 pounds, 1kg)
• 2/3 cup (160mL) water
• 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
• 1 teaspoon kirch, or 1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Slice the nectarines in half and remove the pits. Cut the unpeeled nectarines into small chunks and cook them with the water in a medium, nonreactive saucepan, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they’re soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add a bit more water if necessary during cooking.
2. Remove from the head and stir in the sugar. Let cool to room temperature. When cool, purée the misture in a blender or food processor until smooth. Stir in the kirsch or lemon juice.
3. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Serving Suggestion: Serve it in goblets and pour some fruity red wine, such as Beaujolais, Brouilly or Merlot over top. You can also had some sweet, juicy berries and sliced nectarines.

Variation: For Peach Sorbet, substitute 7 large ripe peaches for the nectarines. Remove the skins prior to cutting them into chunks.