Snicks-inspired workplace bribery

The wedding season in the Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg Genetics & Metabolism Program is swiftly approaching.  Hubs and I are leading the pack in the first of four weddings in the department, with Jess & Kyle following a week later.  What does any of this have to do with food?  Well, Hubs and I will be looking after the always-energetic Snickers during her parents' absence.  Aside from the familiar chocolate bar association, when I hear her nickname, "Snicks", I think of Snickerdoodles.

I have some extremely fond memories of these simple-but-delicious cookies.  They were part of Aunt Mary Jane's staple cookie jar lineup.  I never understood why they were called snickerdoodles... after all, they don't have Snickers bars in them (Wikipedia offers a history lesson here).  Regardless, they've always had a special place in my heart, even if they ARE chocolate-free!

As with most cookies I've made, I used these as some form of bribery at work.  Cathy is our incredible prenatal secretary, who books my appointments, transcribes my letters, and generally makes sure that I have everything I need for my appointments (y'know, so it looks like I know what I'm doing when I see patients!)  I asked her to do me a quick favour via email, to which she replied (much like my father), "No problemo.  $20."  I asked if I could pay her in cookies instead... apparently, that's the preferred currency in the office for favours.  So, while thinking of a canine member of the department, I decided to Google my way to a new snickerdoodle recipe. 

Up close and personal with the sweet cinnamon coating that elevates these from a plain sugar cookie to something special.

 What makes this recipe different?  After all, I do have one kicking around on a creased, stained, aged index card.  Anyone who's seen a recipe for these might have noticed: they often call for cream of tartar.  This is basically a powdered form of acid (potassium bitartrate), meant to react with baking soda to provide leavening.  These days, it's already included in baking powder.  Admittedly, adding your acid and base separately allows you to adjust the ratios of each component... but I honestly can't be bothered to buy a tiny $5 tin of the stuff.  So, I selected this recipe based on its use of baking soda (which costs significantly less for significantly more.  I can be frugal!)  Also: instructional video!  Hooray!  These really are fail-proof.  Much thanks to the Joy of Baking website!

I ALMOST forgot to take pictures of the finished product before bringing them to work.

I have to admit, I had one tiny snafu with these... I didn't hear the timer go for the first batch, which made them a little more "caramelized" than the rest of the cookies (NOT burnt.  Just... crunchy).  Luckily, Dr. Mhanni seemed to really enjoy them... so much so that he suggested I routinely ignore the oven timer and make a whole batch of overly browned biscuits.  Of course, he'll eat just about anything, so I think I'll stick to the intended chewy-on-the-inside texture.

Well this isn't snickerdoodle dough... looks like mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Ice cream sandwiches AGAIN?  Maybe not...

My tradition of using cookies as peacekeeping devices at work continued with what proved to be a relatively unapplicable meeting.  I don't see children in clinic, so I had no use for an hour tutorial on how to order pediatric imaging studies.  Regardless, the meeting was marked as "mandatory", so like a good employee (who exceeded expectations on her first performance review, yay!), I attended.  Our old mantra, though, reared its head.  If I had to sit through a presentation, I was going to keep it fun with some cookies.

...but seriously, this looks more like ice cream than cookie dough.  What gives?

I had found some mint chocolate chips in Walmart purely by chance, and bought them to play around with.  Craving my favourite type of ice cream, I decided to take my standard Anna Olsen chocolate chip cookie recipe, and doctor it up with a few drops of green food colouring, a small splash of peppermint extract, and my random find.  The result?  Delicious!  Everyone seemed to enjoy them (so much so that I didn't get a shot of the finished product).  The only slightly negative comment was the dough colour... more than one person wondered if the cookies had gone moldy.  Nope.  I have slightly higher kitchen standards than that!!

Hunting for new recipes to use to her advantage in the workplace (suggestions welcome!)
-Honeybee

My Manitoba bucket list, and some Shmoo Torte

...let me guess.  You've never heard of shmoo torte.  Trust me, neither had I before moving here!

I've been reflecting back on my past year in Manitoba, and have sort of played around with making a "Winnipeg Bucket List".  It's not ALL food-related, but it's a list of things I haven't yet done here that I would want to experience before leaving.  It would go something like this:

1. Skate on the Red River
2. Try bannock and/or pemmican
3. Eat at Fusion Grill, a "prairie fusion" fine dining restaurant
4. Have a meal at the fanciest steakhouse, 525 Wellington
5. Enjoy a delicious prix fixé menu at Inferno, a French restaurant in St. Boniface
6. Ride the water taxi... if they ever open the dock behind my building!
7. Have brunch at The Black Sheep
8. Giggle at the retro theme while enjoying fries at Ray & Jerry's steakhouse on Portage
9. Take a drive out to Lockport and go to that little roadside restaurant that Shannon keeps telling me about
10. Trek out to Gimli and get some delicious fish

I've talked about some prairie-related deliciousness before.  These would be things that I've never heard of, but are super-popular here.  If I had a loonie for every time I heard, "It must be a Manitoba thing..."  I'd long ago checked red velvet cake, honey dill dipping sauce, and puffed wheat squares off of my bucket list.  I ticked off shmoo torte only recently, though.

In Osborne Village (just a few blocks east of my apartment), there is a FANTASTIC restaurant called Baked Expectations.  I've mentioned it before.  It's easily one of my favourite little places to go.  I'd heard some of my Manitoba born-and-bred coworkers talk about shmoo torte in the past, so I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about.

From what I've been able to gather, shmoo torte is made of pecan angel food cake, layered and frosted with whipped cream, caramel sauce, and more pecans.  I'd had it on very good authority that Baked's offering was one of the best in the city.  A little Googling (and an article from The Globe and Mail) tells me that "schmoo" can mean "gooey" in Yiddish... no surprise then that this is apparently a Bar Mitzvah staple among Winnipeg's large and wonderful Jewish community.

(As a side note, my search for the origins of this cake brought me to the blog "Winnipeg o' my Heart", written by a fellow foodie with a similar Manitoba transplant past.  There's one I'll be adding to my Blogger reading list!)

So after all that, you might ask, "What did the shmoo do for you??" (terrible pun, I know.  It's Father's day... I think I'm channeling my dad's sense of humour even more today).  To be perfectly honest: I don't think shmoo and I will become the best of friends.  I mean, if you put a slice in front of me, I'd eat it... but that goes for just about anything.  I'm not the hugest fan of the texture of angel food cake, and pecans certainly aren't my favourite nut.  Add to that the relatively plain whipped cream layers, and I was just kind of 'meh' about the whole thing.  Now, the caramel shmoo sauce WAS delicious... but anything dipped in that would be good.  Overall, I don't think I'll be crawling back for more.  Which, I must admit, is a good thing... I don't need any more difficulty selecting a dessert from Baked's extensive menu!

Looking forward to checking off more Manitoba to-dos,
-Honeybee

Bar hopping

There's something about bars.  I know I've expressed my love for this form of baked good before, so it should come as no surprise that I've whipped up a few more batches since.

Uncharted brownie territory...

A few months ago, I was hit with a peanut butter and chocolate craving.  Badly.  As in, a scoop of PB on a spoon and a couple chocolate chips just wouldn't do.  My parents have this new philosophy, which I think is pretty smart: only eat what's in the house already.  So basically, no quick trips out for just one or two ingredients just because you want something; try to make do with what you have on hand.  Cuts down on food spending, food waste, gas to get to the store, etc.  I was raised by some smart people, let me tell ya.

Back to the craving.  In keeping with this philosophy, I wasn't willing to head out and buy some Reese's cups (as Hubs suggested).  Instead, I hit up Allrecipes.com to figure out what I could rustle up.  Behold!

Got a little fancy... I couldn't justify eating the whole pan, so a number came with me to work for a baby shower.

Does a brownie officially become a dainty if it's in a wrapper?  Also, has anyone heard the term "dainty" in this context outside of Manitoba?

I altered the original recipe a touch, adding about 3/4 cup of dark chocolate chips and about 1/3 cup roasted peanuts.  I also followed the advice of a commenter: in order to make these brownie-like, I mixed all the ingredients by hand.  These most definitely kicked the craving!!  They were so easy to make, too, with items I had in my cupboards.  One of my American Sign Language classmates had a birthday yesterday, so I threw together a batch just an hour before I had to leave.  I got to serve them up soft and warm, which took the edge off the misty, chilly evening.

Next up: a personal culinary challenge that I had been meaning to tackle for months:

Oh yes, folks.  They're Nanaimo bars

I really enjoy Nanaimo bars.  I couldn't tell you the first time I ever tried one; I'm pretty sure they've been a favourite since youth.  Up until now, though, I'd never tried making them myself.  Mostly, it was the filling part of the bar that scared me.  What IS that stuff, anyway?  Mostly sugar, sure, but there's got to be more to it.  So once again, I put my trust in Ms. Olson and gave it my best shot with her recipe.  My only modifications?  I replaced the nuts with more chocolate crumbs (not a huge walnut fan), left out the coffee powder, and added some pink food colouring to the filling (since I was making these for a baby girl shower at work).  Pretty delish!

These photos highlight two of the (relatively minor) issues I had with the recipe.  When I was cutting these puppies, the chocolate layer cracked a bit.  Due to the pressure of the knife on the firm chocolate layer, the filling then smushed out the sides.  I tidied them up for serving, but lesson learned: cut these in the pan to avoid squishing as much as possible!

Despite the slicing issues, these were pretty simple overall... after I found custard powder.  Safeway wanted something like $4 for a large can when I only needed a few tablespoons... Bulk Barn to the rescue!  I love that store!  I constantly find fantastic stuff for cake baking and decorating... but more on that another day.

Wondering what bars she'll bake in the coming weeks to stave off wedding jitters,
-Honeybee

Spring is springing...

...but I'm not convinced that it's fully sprung.  The avid patio-goers in Winnipeg would disagree with me, but they're wearing shorts and tshirts, so I call their sanity into question.

The lovely Kimmi, enjoying "spring" in Winnipeg.  This was in late April, people.

Talking about the weather in the 'Peg seems more like a form of ancient prisoner torture.  One day it's gorgeous, and you're out in a tank top and capris... the next day you're shivering in pants and a long jacket.  I had been warned about the possibility of early spring snows, but was a little shocked to wake up on May 1st to a repeat winter wonderland.  It snowed again around the 12th or so, I believe, but didn't stick.  Currently, we're experiencing cold, cloudy, rainy weather that brings to mind March in Ontario... not May (almost June!).

 

Regardless, in spring, this young girl's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of food.  I do feel a significant amount of regret over having missed fiddlehead season this year (I tried them for the first time in Winnipeg last year, and loved them!)  I have, however, come across a couple of nice spring-ish recipes that put me in the mood for blooming flowers and strolls in Assiniboine Park (y'know, after the floods recede).  Here's one I made not too long ago: Lemon dill smoked salmon pasta.

I don't know what it is about smoked salmon that reminds me of spring... maybe it's the spring/summer research projects I would do on salmon DNA?  Probably not.  Regardless, this is a nice, quick, easy and light pasta (G.I. friendly!) with fresh flavours.  I used bbq smoked salmon (not lox), since it's cheaper but just as tasty; either one would work.

Lemon Dill Linguine with Smoked Salmon

Adapted from The G.I. Diet Cookbook by Rick Gallop

Makes 4 servings

    •    1 serving whole wheat linguine
    •    1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
    •    1/2 tsp pepper
    •    1/8 cup sprigs dill
    •    1/4 cup lemon juice
    •    1 tbsp lemon peel, grate
    •    2 large scallion
    •    1 1/2 cups whole snow peas
    •    6 oz smoked chum salmon (you can substitute lox or gravlax if you want)

1. In large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, lemon zest, and pepper.
2. In large pot of boiling water, cook linguine for 5-7 minutes. Add peas and continue to cook for another 3 mintues until pasta is al dente.
3. Drain pasta and peas and add to bowl with lemon mixture. Add salmon, green onions, and dill; toss to combine.

 Enjoy.  I'm off to dig my winter coat out of the closet to go to an outdoor concert tonight.  Maybe I should grab my mitts while I'm at it.

Hoping she'll be able to break the margaritas out and sip by the pool soon,
-Honeybee

Time to Thai one on!

...see what I did there?

In seriousness, though, my cravings for Thai food remain.  There must be some sort of essential nutrient or vitamin in curry for which I have a severe deficiency.  Luckily, I do believe I've found a way to have my curry and eat it too.

Mmm.  Matsaman. This one has beef in it; stay tuned for the (better) chicken version...

Have I talked about how much I love matsaman/massaman/masaman/however-you-spell-it curry before?  If I haven't, I need to now.  I have my dear Uncle-but-more-like-big-brother Pete to thank for encouraging me to try this Indian-meets-Thai dish.  Mmm, Asian fusion done right.  I don't even know how to accurately describe the flavour to you.  It's got the tangy tamarind, rich peanuts, warm spices like cinnamon and cardamom, salty fish sauce... it's a party in your mouth, and everyone's invited.  It's not particularly spicy (unless you want to make it so), just spiced.  Fan-freakin'-tastic.

My boys!  Figaro and Hubs joining me for curry.  I think I'll start calling this manifestation e-Hubs.

So, onto my figure-friendly recipe.  After pining for it, but not wanting to spend almost $40 to get it, I took Rick Gallop's G.I. Diet Cookbook out from the Winnipeg Public Library. This is adapted from the "coconut curry beef" recipe, which originally called for beef (duh) and yellow curry paste.  I tried the beef version, and to be completely honest, I didn't love it.  Chicken it is!  This is how I doctored it to be a reasonable, delicious facsimile of my favourite Thai menu item:

Better-for-you Matsaman Curry

Inspired by the G.I. Diet Cookbook by Rick Gallop

Makes 4 servings

• 3 Tbsp orange juice
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 chicken breasts, cubed
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 2 small-medium onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp (at least!) Matsaman curry paste**
• 1/2 cup light coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp light smooth peanut butter (since nobody seems to have caught on and made a light CRUNCHY pb... sadness...)
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 tsp Splenda
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (if you don't like it, you should probably sit this one out)
• 2 Tbsp unsalted peanuts, chopped

1. In bowl, whisk together orange juice, fish sauce, cornstarch, and soy sauce. Stir in chicken, tossing to coat. Marinade in the fridge while you get the rest of the ingredients together.
2. In large non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook onion and garlic for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in curry paste and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken and stir-fry until thoroughly cooked (no longer pink in the middle)
3. Next, stir in coconut milk, peanut butter, lime juice, and Splenda. Stir well to ensure all ingredients meld together. Cook, tossing to coat meat with sauce, for another 2 minuts. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts.
4. Serve alongside steamed sugar snap peas and basmati rice!  Mmm.

**It might be slightly tricky to find Matsaman curry paste.  You MIGHT find it in your local large grocery store, if it has a decent "International" section.  If not, Google your local Asian food market.  Aroy-D makes a very delicious version, and I know I've seen their products at Real Canadian Superstore before... try your luck!  If not, substitute yellow or red curry paste instead; they tend to be easier to find.

For the love of Pete, do NOT forget to start cooking your rice before your curry if you're using a rice maker.  9 times out of 10, I forget this crucial step and end up waiting around for the telltale beep.  This time I remembered.  I sort of like how my kitchen is reflected in the surface...

Saucy!  This time, it's chicken.  MUCH better than the beef, honestly.  I think the marinade in the first step keeps it nice and tender and juicy!

Honestly, this curry is so flavourful and rich that I didn't believe it was actually healthy.  Then, I got proof!  In keeping with the goal to eat healthier and trim down, my dear sisters, Ni and Sar, convinced me to sign up for an account on fatsecret.com.  Now, ignore the horrific name.  This is basically a food-and-exercise tracking tool... it's pretty neat.  My favourite feature?  You can enter your own recipes, and the website will calcuate fat, calories, etc. based on the ingredients and number of servings.  It even lets you share recipes with the rest of the community.  This, obviously, is right up my alley.  I've already submitted several of my favourites.  Clocking in at (approximately) 8.6 g of fat per serving, and ~330 calories (including rice and snap peas!), this is pretty decent for a dinner.

Alright.  Enough of that.  I promise I won't turn into a diet-obsessed blogger; just needed to spread the word about that neat tool, and how it totally justified this deliciousness for me.  Give it a shot if you like; you can find me listed as GeckoGurl1984!

Hoping she'll be able to continue finding more healthy-but-delicious international cuisine,
-Honeybee

Heartfelt apologies

Hi all,

Not to overly promote a catchy 90s pop song... but oops, I did it again.  Life has been throwing me a lot of curveballs lately, which usually means that by the end of the day, the only kind of cooking I want to do is of the finger variety (Boston Pizza ads, anyone?  Finger cooking, aka. dialing/going online to order takeout.  It's tempting.  I've almost mastered it.)

At any rate, as the official Honeybee-Hubs union draws nearer, I'm hoping to do more *ahem* HEALTHY cooking to tame the waistline, and blogging to tame the frazzled mind.  I have a whole backlog of gems to share with you, mostly connected with some fun 'Peg events (birthdays, showers, festivals, etc).  I shall update you all shortly... hopefully within a few hours, honestly, if I can get my grocery shopping, Mother's Day Skyping, cooking, and exercising out of the way (did I mention I was busy? :D)

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a few cute snapshots of what happens when I open cupboards to put away clean dishes:

 

This particular recipe is the very famous French creation, "Chaton dans un placard".  It's what you get when you add kitten + cupboard.  Pretty cute, non?

With heartfelt promises to update with more culinary experiments, hijinks, and stories very soon,
-Honeybee

Black bean florentine enchiladas, or "What should I do with this spinach?"

My mother, always strongly opinionated, has a very firm stance on wasting food.  During my Catholic upbringing, we were always taught it was a sin, right up there with stealing or coveting your neighbour's toys.  Granted, in a house of six, it was pretty easy to get rid of leftovers before they were past their prime.  In my new single-person dwelling, however, this has proved a little more difficult.  I will spare you any pictures.

This picture, on the other hand, shouldn't be too offensive

I do look for ways to use up perishable foods in the fridge before buying new goods.  This is what led to the following recipe: black bean florentine enchiladas.  Yup, florentine.  Spinach.  Not exactly what comes to mind when you think Mexican food, but I had a bag of baby spinach that was looking less-than-prime, at least for crisp salad applications.  I also had some tortillas in need of some lovin'.  I wanted something tasty, low fat, and high fibre with at least a couple servings of veggies... mission accomplished!

Mmm.  Melty goodness.

I basically decided to alter my standard hummus recipe by adding black beans instead of chickpeas, lime juice and zest instead of lemon, and tomato paste instead of sesame paste (tahini).  Olive oil and cumin stayed the same.  The enchilada sauce is based on Rachel Ray's original 30-Minute Meals book (published before her widespread fame), and is a staple for me.  I added the fresh baby spinach to both the sauce and the filling (I had quite a bit to deal with), and topped it all off with low-fat cheddar cheese.  Mmmm!!!  It seems like a lot of steps, but everything comes together quickly (particularly if you start the sauce before blending up the filling).

I call this one, "Enchilada cross-section, with cilantro and lime".

Black Bean Florentine Enchiladas

Cobbled together by me, for once!

Makes 4 servings (trust me, one enchilada at a time will do ya!)

• 19 oz. can black beans
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (more as needed)
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Juice and zest of 1 lime
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• About 1 1/2 to 2 cups of baby spinach
• Small handful cilantro (if you like it)
• About 1 Tbsp water (I just fill one of the juiced lime halves with water and chuck it in)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp Sriracha hot sauce (or your favourite kind, to taste)
• Salt and pepper, to taste (OR, add one packet of OXO beef bouillion.  Gives that nice beefy flavour without the actual meat)
• 4 large whole wheat tortillas (or your favourite variety)
• Enchilada sauce (either store-bought, or made as below)
• About 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used low fat)
• About two green onions, sliced thinly

1. Set your oven to 450ºF
2. Stir together everything up until the salt and pepper and using an immersion blender or food processor, process until smooth.  Add a little more olive oil if the mixture is too stiff or dry.
3. Divide the bean mixture into four portions.  Add to tortillas and roll up.
4. Put a small layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13" pan.  Place your rolled-up tortillas in the pan, and top with remaining sauce (save some for another time if it gets to be too much).  Top with green onions, then cheese (in that order, to prevent burnt onions).  
5. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or so, until cheese is melted and filling is heated through.

Florentine Enchilada Sauce:

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small white onion, grated
• 1 28 oz can pureed tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Coarse salt, to taste
• About 1 cup baby spinach leaves (or omit, for a more authentic version)

1.  Heat garlic in olive oil in a pot over medium heat until it starts to sizzle.  Add the onion by grating it directly into the pot.  Cook onion and garlic for about 2 minutes.
2. Add pureed tomatoes and seasonings.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.  
3. Add the spinach to the pot and stir until it wilts in.  If you want, you can puree it up further with an immersion blender or food processor; some people like to have the full leaves in there.  Keep at a simmer until enchiladas are ready to top.

 

So, I'll be the first to admit that the green spinach leaves made the sauce and filling look a bit... funky.  At least in terms of colour.  But honestly, I was just happy knowing I was getting Popeye-approved nutrients without the foremost flavour being the spinach.  Also, if I'm not much mistaken, this dish is pretty green-light!  Low fat, high fibre... hooray!  A feel-good meal all around.

Off to do some healthy jogging before delving into decidedly unhealthy peanut butter brownies (more on that later!)

-Honeybee