I Heart Espresso S’Mores

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espresso marshmallows, espresso s'mores, heart desserts, heart sweets, heart treats, home-made s'mores, homemade graham cookies, s'mores, Valentine's Day desserts, Valentine's Day s'mores, Valentine's Day treats

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, how about some S’Mores for your love bunnies? Although I’m into showing my love year round, I do enjoy making special heart-shaped treats at this time of year. And not just because it’s Valentine’s Day. It also happens to be my Emma’s birthday. Her birthday is the 15th and she is constantly reminding me that she is my Valentine’s present. Oh, what a precious gift!

I don’t know anyone who does not love S’Mores. So I thought I’d add my own twist to this classic. An Italian twist, of course! Heart-shaped graham cookies and espresso marshmallows! Oh yeah, you got that right. Espresso marshmallows! Dipped in dark Belgian chocolate, and then dipped again in crushed Amaretti cookie crumbs! Oh man, it doesn’t get better than this. Words cannot describe how scrumptious these Espresso S’Mores are. Now if this doesn’t tell them you love ’em, I don’t know what will!

Graham Cookies       adapted from Brown eyed Baker

1½ cups of flour
1⅓ cups of graham flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon of salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup of dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons of honey

In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, or in a stand-mixer bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and honey. Beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until blended and the dough comes together, about 30 seconds.

Transfer the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press into a 7-inch square, and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness and cut into heart shapes. Transfer to baking sheet, spacing the cookies about a 1/2-inch apart. Once on the baking sheet, decorate the cookies with the initials of your loves, small hearts, or any design that fancies you. Gather any scraps, re-roll, and cut out more cookies.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies are dark golden brown and just firm to the touch. If adding both cookie sheets at the same time, rotate them after about 8 minutes and bake an additional 4 or 5 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for a minute on the baking sheets, then transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely.

Espresso Marshmallows

4 teaspoons of powdered gelatine
⅔ cup of water
½ cup of freshly brewed espresso coffee
1½ cups of sugar
1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
powdered sugar, to sprinkle on finished marshmallow
vegetable oil

Lay some plastic wrap on the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish or pan, and lightly brush with vegetable oil. If you prefer a thinner marshmallow, use a bigger pan or dish.

Stir the gelatin into the water and let sit until ready to use.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm up the espresso with the sugar and vanilla. When warm, stir in the gelatin and water and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until the sugar and gelatin dissolves. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the espresso-gelatin mixture until it resembles a soft meringue, about 15 minutes. You really need to start this with the mixer on low for the first 5 minutes. It is a very hot liquid and it will splatter. After 5 minutes, increase the speed to medium, and then to medium-high/high for the last 5 minutes. Pour into the prepared pan and let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Sprinkle some powdered sugar onto a cutting board and invert the pan onto it. Peel off the plastic wrap.

Cut the marshmallow with the same heart-shaped cookie cutter used for the graham cookies. At this point, you can dip the marshmallows in some powdered sugar and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

Assembling Espresso S’Mores

Dark Belgian chocolate
Amaretti cookies

Melt some dark Belgian chocolate using the bain marie method. Crush some Amaretti cookies until you have fine crumbs.

Brush the underside of each graham cookie with the melted chocolate.

Dip half of an espresso marshmallow into the melted chocolate, and then dip again into the Amaretti cookie crumbs. Place on a heart cookie and cover with another heart. And there you have it. Heart Espresso S’Mores!  Happy Love Day!

The left-over marshmallows can be gobbled up as is, cut into smaller hearts and served on just 1 graham cookie, or cut into even smaller hearts and plopped into some luscious hot chocolate.  Enjoy!

Charlotte’s Chocolate-Toffee Popcorn

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chocolate, chocolate and toffee popcorn, chocolate popcorn, Fiesta Friday, Fiesta Friday #2, kids make popcorn, party popcorn, popcorn, toffee

I’m invited to a party over at The Novice Gardner. I LOVE parties! Angie is hosting Fiesta Friday, and what fun is a party without popcorn? And not just any popcorn. I walked into the kitchen last Sunday and found my girls making this sweet treat. It was Charlotte’s idea and of course where popcorn is involved, Emma is sure to be there! Foraging through the pantry, Charlotte came across some Belgian milk chocolate and toffee bits. She told Emma her idea and off they were, making a mess in my kitchen. Do you recall when I mentioned that all I wanted for Christmas were little elves to follow me around all day, picking up after me? I neglected to mention that I’ve already got my little elves, only instead of cleaning up the messes, they create them! So, drop by Angie’s Fiesta Friday #2 and enjoy the party!

Charlotte’s Chocolate-Toffee Popcorn

Popcorn kernels

Belgian milk, or dark, chocolate

Toffee bits

Sea salt, optional

Pop the kernels and spread the popcorn onto a couple of baking sheets. Melt the chocolate using a hot water bath, or bain marie. Using a spoon, pour the melted chocolate over the popcorn. Immediately add the toffee bits, so that they can adhere to the chocolate as it cools. Sprinkle with sea salt for a sweet and salty popcorn. Oh! So yummy! Perfect for any party. Have a great weekend!

Foodie Gifts

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Christmas baskets, Christmas food gifts, edible gifts, food baskets, food gifts, foodie gifts, Holiday Gift Baskets

I want to show you a glimpse of the madness that has been going on in my kitchen of late. Not including the mess. Do you know what I want for Christmas? A little elf, following me around all day, picking up after me. So every time I turn around, poof! All clean! Wouldn’t that be something?

And if I can’t have an elf, how about one of these Holiday Baskets? Filled with oh so yummy treats. I know I would love it!

Like this small basket which has: white chocolate bark with pistachios, cranberries and dried roses.

A huge gingerbread Smores. Yes, huge homemade smores filled with dark Belgian chocolate and gingerbread marshmallows! Oh baby!

Oh so yum Salted Caramel Sauce. You know, for drizzling on your ice cream. Or pound cake. Or anything really.

And Hot Chocolate on a Stick. Made with dark Belgian chocolate. Some with cinnamon. Some with hot chill pepper. Perfect for melting into a hot cup of milk.

Or would you prefer the medium basket? With all of the above plus the addition of two of my specialty jams. Bacon jams, that is! Bourbon Bacon Jam (which almost took me to Recipe to Riches), and Apple Bacon Jam with Cider.

Personally, I would choose the large basket. With everything in it plus Chorizo & Port Jam, spicy Bourbon BBQ Sauce, and some superlicious Momofuku Cookies.

Savoury Easter Pie

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Easter Savoury Pie, Filled Easter Pizza, Neopolitan Easter Savoury Pie, Pizza Chiena, Pizza Piena, Rustic Pizza

One of my fellow bloggers, John over at from the Bartolini kitchens, began his blogging journey in order to document his family recipes passed down from his mom and grandmothers. What better way to ensure these precious recipes wouldn’t be lost! I had left a comment on a post of his when I first discovered his blog and his reply stuck with me. I had mentioned how I loved his idea of keeping his family’s food traditions alive. He replied that by doing so, a bit of his mom and the rest of the clan lived on.

John’s remark stuck with me, you see, because I too no longer have my parents. My mom passed away when I was eight, which left my dad to raise 3 children. My dad took over as cook in our home, not because he knew how or had a dire passion towards cooking, but because he had no choice. My dad was an AMAZING cook! I’m not just saying that either. My friend Elizabeth still recalls his Stuffed Peppers as being the best! My friend Tonina commented once that his Tripe dish was out of this world (you clearly have to LOVE tripe to make such a statement!), while yet another friend thought his potato salad was the best! During my pregnancy with my first child, at 7 months pregnant, my dad passed away unexpectedly. This post is not about the devastation his death left me in, nor what a blow it was to both my siblings and myself. This post is about keeping the memory of my mom and dad alive. By cooking the foods my mom and dad used to cook and the foods my dad loved!

I seem to get nostalgic around the holidays. Because holidays are about family. And food. And I keep my mom and dad alive for my daughters by making the holiday foods I grew up with. My girls didn’t have the good fortune of knowing my parents, but they do know about our family traditions and the foods that made up those traditions. Pizza Chiena. “Chiena” in Neopolitan dialect, “piena” in Italian. Meaning a filled pie. An Easter savoury pie which is prepared on Good Friday, to be eaten the following day, thus ending the fasting of the 40 days of Lent. In the Middle Ages, Lent meant going without animal products. No meat, no eggs, no cheese, no butter, no dairy.  I guess you’d call that vegan. What better way to break the fast of Lent than with a savoury filled pie of eggs, cheese, and meat!

Just as dialects vary from one region to another, from one tiny village to the next, so do the culinary dishes of Italy. While there are various versions to Pizza Chiena, or Rustic Pizza, this is how it’s made in the tiny village my parents are from. I called my Zia Maria (Aunty Mary) to get some instruction on their version. Quite simple really. Eggs, cheese and prosciutto. Depending on where you’re from, some will add sopressata, a dry, cured sausage, while others will add salami, mozzarella or provolone. My mom used to make this and I can remember waiting very impatiently to have a slice of that eggy, cheesy, salty delicacy in my little hands. Could you imagine a young child looking on as her mom baked a delicious pizza pie but having to wait until the next day to dig in?

We went to my sister’s home to make this, Zia Franca. She had made this before for my dad, whereas this was my first time. My Zia Maria wrote the recipe down for us and after deciphering her written words, we were left with a glass of this, a handful of that, a smidgen of…

Neopolitan Pizza Chiena

For the dough:

4 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 1/4 cups of warm water

4 egg yolks

400 g of all-purpose flour, more or less

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Begin by stirring the yeast and the sugar into the warm water, in a large bowl. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes, until foamy. Add the egg yolks and stir until smooth. Stir in half the flour until smooth, then add the remainder and start working it with your hands. We encountered a bit of a problem here. We contemplated using whole eggs instead of just the yolks. We decided to try just with the yolks. We began with 300 g of flour, as the recipe suggested, but needed to add much more, at least 400 g in the end, maybe a little more. The dough was wet, so we just kept adding flour until we were satisfied with its consistency. Knead gently on a lightly floured surface and cover tightly with plastic wrap, allowing to rise for 1 hour. Once risen, roll out a little more than 1/2 the dough to fit the bottom and sides of your pan. We used one that was about 13 or 15 inches in diameter. You can also use a rectangular pan. Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust.

For the filling:

Caciotta cheese, 2, grated

18 eggs

Prosciutto, a piece of about 300 to 400 g

Caciotta is a mild cheese made of cow’s milk and widely used for the Neopolitan version of this pie. It is not a salty cheese, thus creating the perfect balance with the prosciutto. Here in Montreal, this cheese is made only around Easter time, mainly for this savoury pie. The entire cheese gets grated, crust and all.

Italian grocers will keep the ends of the prosciutto, the butt, which is what you want for this pie. They are also great in Pasta e Fagioli (pasta & beans). Cut off the skin and some of the fat, and chop into bite-size pieces.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat with a whisk. Add the prosciutto and stir. Now for the cheese. Begin by adding half and stir together. You’re looking for a consistency that is not too liquid nor too thick (my Zia Maria’s words). So we added half of what remained and the consistency was just perfect. No need to add salt, but you can add some pepper if you like. Pour into the prepared pie crust and cover the top with the second crust. Brush the top crust with egg wash.

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven for about 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 and 1/2 hours. Give it a look after the first hour and keep checking every 10 minutes. If you see the crust is browning too quickly, just add a piece of foil paper over the top. We didn’t have to, but every oven is different. Turn off the oven and leave it in there for about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool in the pan.

And now, the confession. We didn’t wait until the next day. We didn’t wait until it cooled in the pan. We removed it, piping hot as it was, sliced into it, releasing all the steamy heat, and bit into it. Mmmmm! All of those childhood memories came flashing before my eyes! And what bitter-sweet memories they were! Happy Easter to you and yours!

Here’s To Healthier Breakfasts: Pear, Kefir & Honey Smoothie

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breakfast smoothies, kefir, kefir and honey smoothies, kefir smoothies, pear and kefir smoothie, pear smoothie, pears, smoothies, smoothies for kids

You know how breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day? A well-balanced breakfast should consist of protein, carbohydrates and fibre. I did say should. It seems that I’m breaking all the rules at my breakfast table because my idea of a well-balanced meal first thing in the morning is a caffè-latte, loads of carbs and fat. In lieu of a low-fat protein with a whole-grain carb and fresh fruit, I opt for a bowl of espresso with hot milk, toasted bread, preferably white baguette or rye, slathered with salted butter. And that’s it! Nothing more. After that, I’m really not up to having fresh fruit or low-fat protein. Dipping my toasted baguette into my scalding caffè-latte brings me joy and comfort first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, this is also the ideal breakfast for my girls. Minus the caffè. Although there are times that Emma requests a nice caffè-latte and I oblige. With lots of latte and a few drops of espresso. Just enough to taint the milk. And with the chaos of getting lunches ready in the morning and the girls out the door so they won’t be late for school, quite frankly we don’t have time for anything else. It’s usually toasted bread of some kind or a bowl of cereal.

Happily, Spring Break is here. No more waking up in the dark, rushing through breakfast and scrambling out the door at high speed. We can wake up at our leisure. Lie in bed with a good book. Make time for well-balanced, healthier breakfasts. Just for this week.

We begin the week with a delicious Pear, Kefir and Honey Smoothie. I make this for the girls as an afternoon snack. But today, it served as our breakfast. And a yummy one it was! I usually use Bosc pears but after having been given delicious Anjou pears from my brother, I put them to good use. Any ripe pear in season will do. Also, there is no exact measurements to making a smoothie. I use about 2 pears per person, maybe a 1/2 cup to 3/4 cups of Kefir per person, honey to your liking. We sip our smoothies through a straw so it shouldn’t be too thick. If it is, just add a little more Kefir. Too thin, add another pear. Adjust the honey to your taste. I usually add about 1 tablespoon per person.

Kefir comes from the Turkish word “keif”, which translates to “pleasure” or “good feeling”. I could definitely start my morning with some of that! Kefir is a fermented, probiotic milk product which originated centuries ago in the Caucasus Mountains in Russia. They used to consider it as a gift from the Gods. One might think that Kefir is like a fizzy or sparkling yogurt drink. This is due to its natural carbonation. The taste is mildly sweet and pleasantly tangy. The benefits of Kefir range from positive effects on tummy and bone health, to regulating the immune system. Not only is it good for you, it tastes good too! Give it a try and see for yourself.

Pear, Kefir & Honey Smoothie

Pears, skin on and cored

Kefir

Honey

Flax seeds, optional

Put the pears in a blender. Add Kefir and honey. Sometimes, I will throw in some flax seeds. High in fibre and with many health benefits, the girls don’t even notice them in there. Blend until smooth. Adjust honey to your taste. Serve and enjoy!

Chestnuts roasting…in my electric oven

Tags

chestnuts, christmas, roasted chestnuts

Alas, we have no open fireplace in which to roast chestnuts.  But that doesn’t stop me. I LOVE chestnuts. Always have. They were always a treat, perhaps because of their short life span. They appear in November and are usually gone by January. Growing up, chestnuts were de rigueur in our Italian household. Roasting chestnuts in the oven and enjoying them with my dad’s homemade wine. And because this starchy nut was so short-lived, we would gather around the kitchen table like thieves, snapping up as many of those piping-hot tender nuts as we could muster. They were so hot and we really should have waited at least 5 minutes before digging in. We just couldn’t wait. Eventually, an argument would ensue over who had eaten the most chestnuts. To ensure that I got my fair share, or perhaps a little more than my fair share, I would discreetly stash 2 or 3 chestnuts underneath the tablecloth in front of me, assuming no one would notice. And that’s when my dad decided to roast a specific amount of chestnuts per person. To be fair. As he put the roasted chestnuts onto the table, he would say to us that he had allocated 8 or 10 chestnuts per person.

Christmas time always brought an abundance of chestnuts in our home. Although my dad is no longer with us, I keep on with the tradition of roasting chestnuts for my girls. Emma is o.k. with them. But Charlotte is so much like me when I was growing up. She LOVES them! And when comes the time to decorate our Christmas tree every year, we roast some chestnuts and eat them as we go along.

You need to cut into the chestnut with a sharp knife before roasting, otherwise they will explode and make quite the mess in your oven.  Roast at 400 degrees for about 30 to 35 minutes. You could check for readiness after 30 minutes. Just crack one open and bite into it. It should be tender soft.

This year, as we were eating our chestnuts and decorating the tree, we found a surprise in our tree. A nest, left behind from last Spring. We were very excited about this small gift left to us. We left it there.  When the time comes to take down our Christmas tree, we will transfer the nest into one of our trees outdoors. Our way of passing the gift forward.

Hope you all had a very merry holiday, filled with your own little surprises!

Spooky Pancakes

Tags

breakfast, Halloween, pancakes, spiders, spiderwebs

I don’t know what Halloween morning is like in your house but in ours, it’s chaotic!  You’d think it would be crazy in the evening, but no.  For us, it’s Halloween morning.  Not only is there breakfast to be made for both girls, who wake up at different times and    order different foods – yes, I did say ORDER! – but there are lunches and snacks to be made, schoolbags to be packed, clean socks to be found… I could go on, but I think you get the picture.  On top of everything else, we had to do the whole costume thing, hair, make-up… I just can’t understand why I LOVE Halloween!

So, all this to say breakfast was the usual dull morning.  I did have something special planned but couldn’t work it into our schedule.  So while the kiddies were carving out their pumpkins after school, I treated them to these.  Spider and spiderweb pancakes!.  Cute, no?

I used my own buttermilk pancake recipe and transferred the batter to a squirt bottle.   The idea was adapted from Martha Stewart.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Apple of my eye

Tags

candy, caramel apples, Halloween, kids

We were invited to dinner last night and I offered to make dessert.  Seeing as Halloween is just around the corner and we love, love, love Halloween, I thought I’d make a special treat for the kiddies.  Caramel apples! Who wouldn’t love that?

I started by inserting sticks into 8 apples and placing them in the fridge.  The Granny Smith apple is for Charlotte.  They’re her fave.

Next came the caramel.  In a saucepan, I added 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cups (175 ml) unsalted butter, 300 ml sweetened condensed milk, 2/3 cup corn syrup and 1/4 tsp salt.  Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil. Stir often or the caramel will scorch on the bottom of the pan.  Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook for 18-20 minutes, stirring often.

Don’t be daunted by making caramel. Just keep an eye on it and stir often. It will turn out perfect. This is a “soft-ball” caramel. Soft-ball is a term used when making candy. You need to cook the sugar syrup to a temperature of 235-240 degrees. To test if it’s ready, drop a spoonful of the caramel into a bowl of very cold water. With your fingers, gather the cooled caramel and if you can form a ball in the water, it’s done. Or do what I did and use a candy thermometer.  Soft-ball is even written right on it, next to the temperatures. Basically, it becomes a chewy caramel.

After 18 minutes, this is the colour of the caramel. Gorgeous, no?

I had this bottle of black & orange sugar crystals and thought it looked very Halloween’ish.

After dipping an apple in the caramel, I rolled the bottom half of the apples in the sugar and placed them on a sheet of tin foil which was slathered in butter. In the fridge they went for 15 minutes.

I melted some white chocolate and proceeded to make the spider webs with a piping bag.   I took a short-cut and used the micro.  You need to do it very carefully or you will burn your chocolate.  I placed my chopped chocolate, about 1 cup , in a glass bowl.  Working on medium power and for only 1 minute at a time, I melted the chocolate, stirring after every minute, for a total of about 5 minutes.  You really need to allow the chocolate to cool somewhat or it can become rather messy. And then, the final touch… spiders!

Note: The recipe calls for placing the finished apples back in the fridge, which I did. I took them over to our friend’s place and they were again placed in the fridge. When the time came for the kiddies to delve into those creepy-crawler-apples, they were hard. Rock hard! We suggested they wait a half hour to see if it would help, but how could they once they’d sunk their teeth into them? They continued their struggle until they’d had enough and that was the end of that. I had saved a couple of apples for the next day and this time I removed them from the fridge 1 hour before dinner. When the time came, I just had to have a bite.  Oh, gooey goodness!!! They were perfect! Except for that black sugar which tainted all our hands and mouths black!  Oh well.   Keeping in the spirit of Halloween, I guess!

You can see full recipe details, courtesy of CBC’s Best Recipes Ever, here.

Pretty Cool

Tags

desserts, kids, Sweets

I came across these refreshing treats for kids on Martha Stewart.  With the gloriously sunny days we’ve been having, why not surprise the little kiddies with them.  They’re pretty and they’re cool!